AUTHOR'S NOTE: After a night's sleep, I came down, turned on the laptop and saw that since publishing the last chapter, this story got well over 1,000 views. Thank you all so much for the follows and the reviews, people- I really, truly appreciate it!
Well, this chapter may appear a bit bland compared to chapter 6 but I promise the story will pick up again in the next chapter.
As always, enjoy the chapter and don't forget to review and criticise.
The glass felt like ice against Tarah's skin, chilled by the night air outside of the vehicle as she rested her head against it for a moment, closing her eyes.
It was soothing and comforting.
Occasionally, when her lashes flickered open, she would see out through the window and into the darkness and the odd illuminations present from the streetlights and buildings that flashed past. It reminded her of how stars shimmered through the deep vastness of space when soaring past aborad a spaceship.
It was nice to not have to run or walk for a change. It was nice to not have to jump out of a falling shuttle again, though it could have been worse. Since there had been some concern over Tarah injuring her leg again, Khan had taken the force of the fall for her, ensuring that she wouldn't be harmed. She highly doubted that her welfare concerned him, but he probably didn't want to care for her needs as an invalid again.
He'd advised her to act shocked about the crash in front of the family and, once they were out of sight and earshot, they had run as fast as they could down the winding country road.
They knew where they were going. Khan had memorised the route they needed to take to get to the city before wiping the ship's records.
They had walked and run (the running was to avoid being seen by the oncoming police and fire engines that were heading to the crash site) for miles and miles- almost a whole day, time wise- until they reached a small town, where Khan had called what was known as a "taxi".
She hadn't been aware of such a vehicle's existence but Khan had explained to her that it was a vehicle that another being drove that you had to pay to ride in.
"What's pay?" she'd asked him, unfamiliar with the concept.
"A useless human concept to envision enrichment," Khan had responded gruffly. He didn't seem to like the idea, which was apparently that if you wanted something, you had to give someone "money" for it. This ranged from material goods to acts which needed to be played out by others- and they presently needed someone to drive them somewhere, requiring payment.
Fortunately, Khan had money so that hadn't been too much of an issue. The issue was making sure that it wouldn't be easy for them to be tracked by the authorities if they were linked to the crash; therefore they had ridden in about five different taxis of various firms for what should have been a simple hour's journey. They had gone into the urban areas and out again, just to confuse their pursuers, if they currently had any.
Finally, when the web of deception had been weaved well enough to catch any flies on their trail, the last taxi's destination matched their final one.
And there they were, Tarah with her head against the cold window and Khan sat straight and upright in his seat beside her, staring out of the front window shield. The driver in the front had stopped trying to make small talk long ago- they hadn't particularly maintained an interesting conversation. He was probably eager to drop them off and get on his way.
The longer they drove, the more frequent the lights were becoming. Buildings took shape and people starting to become a regular sight. Occasionally, a group of people would stagger out of a specific building, a racket of rhythm and tune practically exploding from the structure. They would shriek and laugh and sing and fall over.
Eventually, the cab driver was freed of his intimidating and quiet patrons as the taxi pulled up to a specific street corner. He turned to them expectantly and Khan passed him a paper note wordlessly as Tarah sat up and opened the door, shuffling out with her rucksack so Khan could do the same.
Liberated of his customers, the taxi drove off into the night and mingled with the endless traffic and other vehicles hovering above the road. They watched it do so for a moment, and then Khan turned and began walking down the pavement in a tall stride.
Earth food was not familiar to Tarah. In the instances when she required food, on the Augment programme, it had been simply prepared and contained mainly tasteless, though it had contained proteins, carbohydrates, fibres and sugars, as their developed bodies still needed to have the basic substances found in food.
Earth food was largely different in comparison.
Earth food ranged from healthy foods to unhealthy foods, the latter being the most easily accessed and most popular with the general public, it seemed, from the number of people that were dining in the grubby establishment they were.
Not that there had been much choice. The only dining places available were grubby ones that sold foreign foods.
Perhaps that was why Khan had chosen here to eat. There were so many other restaurants that if someone called the authorities then the people who would arrive wouldn't know which one they were in- the names were all similar and most of them sold the same kinds of food.
That, and the foods served were- though much more degraded to what he had been used to- the kind that he had been served in a time where he was a ruling power on earth; the ruler of Asia and the Middle East, no less.
It gave him the slightest feeling of nostalgia- of a better time of his life.
Though it was nowhere near as tasteful or enjoyable, his rice was familiar of his past diet and that was enough.
Tarah, sat across the table from him on another cheap plastic bench, didn't seem to have the luxury of familiarity but she was eating all the same and without complaint. The only reason they were willing to eat this greasy, cheap food was because they were starving.
The cost might have also been a factor, as it was cheap food and Khan wanted to preserve as much money as possible.
As Khan had mentioned, his resources had been limited when they were stranded, so food had been very scarce. They had been able to survive with what they had but it had required careful rationing and, since they had arrived on earth, they had been famished.
As the girl finished her last forkful of rice, she addressed him. "What now?" she asked as the silver metal clinked against the porcelain plate.
"We find a place to rest," was the simple answer, as Khan did not want to draw to much attention to themselves. His aim was for them to appear as sightseers who, after a long day, had come in for a late meal and they would then leave, appearing to search for a nearby hotel.
Of course, he had no intentions of doing the latter. Any kind of interaction with others was a huge risk to their safety and their affiliation could not be so easily bought- humans were only loyal to each other for three reasons- relationships, morals and money.
And they had none of those bargaining chips on their side. Any authority official could enter a hotel and ask the staff about who they had said they were and where they were going.
He let her know once they left, taking the backstreets so as to avoid the huge crowds of people and their hearing.
"Then where are we going to go?" Tarah questioned, glancing up at him.
He met her gaze, looking behind his shoulder. "Somewhere where it is safe to talk," was Khan's answer.
She took the emphasised hint that it wasn't safe for them to talk in public and followed him the rest of the way in silence.
There were only two visible sources of light in the darkness of the basement of the abandoned apartment building (or court, as that was what apartment buildings were called around here) they currently inhabited- the first was the faint glimmer of streetlight from the small, high window that rested just above the level of the outside pavement.
The second came from a container of crackling fire, burning the fabric Tarah had been carrying in her bag since they had jumped from the falling shuttle. There was very little smoke as the fuel used had been rubbish and papers that had littered the basement.
Being part of a court, it was still a living space, though small. There was a bathroom connected to the main room, which served as the living quarters and bedroom, as well as a small second room, though it seemed too cluttered to be usable unusable. The place wasn't particularly hygienic, either, but they were fugitives, or they soon would be- they couldn't afford to be picky.
Her hat removed, Tarah lay on the couch, absorbing the heat of the flames a few feet away. She stared into space, not quite able to let sleep claim her from all the thoughts going through her enhanced mind. Were they going to be alright? How long were they going to stay in hiding?
What were they going to do once they weren't in hiding?
She looked at Khan for a moment, who was sat across the room on a foldable bed, actively tapping on his tablet device again with his spine in its usual rigid position.
She could only imagine what he had planned.
