By~ Enamorada
Chicago Drift was always an…interesting experience. One had to be careful of drift dwellers, the leaches, always trying to take a ship. Especially a small one like the Defiance. Fighters always had to watch their backs when entering any type of inhabited area. The captain and crew of the Defiance were both glad to take a few days of shore leave, though. Captain Catherine Hammond, to tell the truth, was suffering from a small bout of cabin fever, and Joshua, the ships' core intelligence system, was pleased to be able to rest in peace, if only for a few days. As the Defiance docked, Cat got up and stretched.
"So we need food, more missiles…and what?"
Josh looked over from where he lounged in the navigations seat. "I'll pick most of it up, don't worry. Just relax, and see if we can't score another job or three."
Cat smiled. "Sure, just don't forget my—"
"Chocolate." Josh finished, his cobalt blue eyes twinkling. "I know. And besides, an AI never forgets."
Laughing, Cat began put her cloak on. She tied her money bag to her wrist, and grabbed her staff. "I've got two words for you: Septa Prime." And with that last comment, Catherine turned and headed for the door.
"Cat! Watch your back." Josh called as she disappeared into the crowd. Turning, he began to get ready to leave. "One mistake, and I'll never live it down." He muttered under his breath.
***
Trance Gemini, currently of the starship Andromeda, hurriedly pushed her way through the massive crowd of people on Chicago Drift. This was just great. One day into her two weeks off, and people were already chasing her. It was their fault, she reasoned. If the diamond had been that important, then they shouldn't have left it out for everyone to envy. It was just plain gloating, and that was not nice. Her mind worked furiously as she searched for a way to get out of this mess without getting the others involved. They deserved a vacation much more than she did. Suddenly her mind came across a possibility — the perfect possibility. Her eyes widened as she ducked into an out of the way dive. Quickly, she scanned the place for an empty seat. She bit her lip to keep from grinning too hard.
"Cool!" she exclaimed softly…
***
Cat took a sip of her Bronzed Blood…then promptly spit it back out as a purple girl with multicolored hair, a wide smile, and holding a yellow diamond the size of her fist sat down in the seat across from her. Her eyes widened in recognition at the face she had grown up with, "Trance!"
"Hey Cat! Listen, I need a favor." Trance never got a chance to explain what that favor was, though, because at that moment imperial guards closed in on her. Cat felt a sudden weight in her money bag and looked up at the guards lazily.
"This is the girl!" The leader, a big ugly man with pockmarks and scars grabbed Trance's arm and hauled her to her feet.
Trance's face crinkled in innocent bemusement
"What?"
Big Ugly shook her roughly. "Don't play games with me! Where is it?"
"Where is what?" Trance shot Cat an expectant glance. ~Little help here!~ she sent the thought out with all the force of a light backhand.
~Why should I? You look like you're handling it.~ But Cat got up and eased between Trance and the guards. "Is there a reason you're terrorizing my girlfriend?" she asked sweetly.
Big Ugly hesitated. Girlfriend? There was no way he wanted to get in between this, however…"She stole a priceless artifact from the Royal Batillion Embassy."
Cat processed this information. ~Priceless artifact?~ she asked Trance.
~Translates into 'big freakin' diamond.'~
~Ah.~ Aloud she said, "When exactly was this supposed to happen?"
"About ten minutes ago."
"There you go." She said easily. "There is no way it could be my muffin. We've been here for the past thirty minutes."
Trance peeked out from behind her shoulder. "Ask anybody."
He looked around the bar to people who were staring at them now. "You. Barkeep. Has she been here the entire time?"
The bartender looked at Trance and caught her eye. She smiled mysteriously and he blinked. "Yep. They've been here a while. The blonde had a couple glasses of Bronzed Blood. I've never seen it before."
Damn. Big Ugly looked back at Cat and Trance. "I'm sorry for the inconvenience, miss, ma'am. Let's go." He turned, and the other imperial guards reluctantly followed him.
Cat drained the rest of her glass before ordering two more. Trance caught the eye of all the onlookers, and presently they returned to their conversations as if nothing had happened. Trance sat, and looked at her glass. It was filled with liquor the color of oil, while a less dense red liquor was held trapped in the middle.
"I'm almost afraid to ask."
"It's a wonderful new drink, courtesy of the Preminans. Called Bronzed Blood, the original stuff is three times as strong as this, and comes from the blood of their dragons."
Trance's eyes widened. "They kill their dragons? What, are they heathens?"
"Nah. It's the dead and dying dragons they use, which is why it always smells slightly rancid. Not these, though. Synthetic. Not quite as good, but the best they can get. Young dragons are only used when the riders want strengthen the bond between them."
One eyebrow arched delicately. "And how would you know?"
"Take a wild guess, Cheat."
"Is it strong?"
"One'll knock out a jaded drunkard for the rest of the week." Cat's smile reminded Trance of Tyr right after a particularly satisfying kill. She met Cat's eye, and promptly knocked the glass back. She absorbed the feel of that satisfying burn that practically melted her esophagus.
"Oh, yeah! That's got bite!" she smiled happily. "Alright, so let's get down to business. If you don't mind?" She waved her hand about the rest of the bar patrons.
Cat sat back and stared at a candle that was on the table. Everything else began to blur at the outer edges of her vision, the candle grew in size and intensity as all other noise, sight, and smell lost focus. The golden flame flickered wildly, and then grew steady. Suddenly it went out completely. All other senses came back, though lessened. The light was dimmer, and Cat nodded to Trance that the shield was in place, and it was all right to speak her mind.
"Good deal." Trance smiled. "So really, how've you been?"
Cat shrugged. "Bored out of my mind and wishing the Gods would stop throwing me into situations like the Newberg Empire's civil war. It wasn't fun."
Trance nodded in empathy. "Could be worse. Ares let some of his boys out to play a millennia back, and I got to clean up the mess. Fun times. The Goddess recently asked me to help restore the Commonwealth, so yours truly is now a proud member of the last remaining Commonwealth ship. It's definitely been an experience."
Cat sat forward, interested. "The Lady Athena supports the new Commonwealth?"
"One of her followers helped to create the original one. And she favors the mortal, Dylan Hunt. The Commonwealth is coming, and in many places, already here. It's a privilege to be a part of it."
"I'll bet, it sounds like fun."
"What are you really doing?"
"Just fighting for hire. Influencing the rise and fall of nations here and there. So why a diamond?"
"The crew is on leave for two weeks, and I got bored. They expect to see me every day, so it's not like I can wink out to the Taurean home world for an afternoon hike. Something's gotta hold my attention."
Cat shook her head in exasperation. "It figures. Why purple?" she asked, indicating the captivating skin tone of her friend. "Not that you don't make it look beautiful, babe."
Trance cocked her head to the side. "When was the last time you saw a purple person?"
"Good point."
Cat glanced around the bar, caught Joshua scanning the room for her. He wouldn't find her, she knew, but from his slightly agitated appearance, judged it to be important. "Darling, it's been wonderful playing catch up, but at the moment, I do believe I am needed elsewhere. I'll see you around."
And with that, she dropped the shield, got up, and sauntered out of the bar. Trance watched her leave, and sighed in resignation. She'd left Trance the bill. Oh, well. One good turn deserved another. And Trance Gemini always paid her debts.
I do not own any member of Andromeda, although Gordon and Keith really make me wish I did. I didn't do this for money, nor was this done with the permission of…the people that give permission. This is just because. I hope you enjoyed it.