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A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.
Lao-Tsu, The Way of Lao-Tsu
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The muscles already burned with every movement. '81...82...83.' My back was numb from the pressure against the hard black bench. '86...87.' My breathing had to be controlled with an iron fist or I would hyperventilate. '91...92.' But I was going to do this. I wasn't going to humiliate myself. '96...97.' I glanced over at Tyr, wondering if he could see my strain, if he knew I was close to losing it. '101...102.' Exhaustion was an understatement, but I wouldn't allow it to control me. '105...106.' Twenty pounds had turned into two hundred. The burning of my every sinew ceased, tranforming my arms into near lead. '108...109.' Only one more, and sweet victory was mine. '110!' I dropped the barbells, allowing my arms to fall to my sides, and closed my eyes. Triumph tastes much sweeter when one isn't on the verge of collapsing.
"Beka, are you all right?" Tyr was standing over me. I could hear his voice, but couldn't open my eyes.
I groaned. I didn't want to move, but I knew I had to stretch or I would definitely be feeling this tomorrow. I forced myself into an upright position and began stretching my sore body. "I'm fine, Tyr."
Dylan walked into the room. "Beka, we're going to be at Utrecht in an hour. I want to talk to you before then, but I'll let you finish exercising first."
"I was just leaving. You owe me, Tyr." I grabbed a towel from the rack and draped it over my shoulders before turning around and smiling at Tyr. I walked out into the corridor with Dylan.
"I want you to go down to the planet with Harper and Lise."
"Why?" I would have said more, but speaking took extra air I didn't have.
"They'll fill you in on the details. There's something we need to acquire. Be in the Hangar Deck in forty five minutes. You're free to take a shower and rest before then."
"I could really use both."
I returned to my quarters, tossing the towel onto my dresser. I looked at myself in the full-length mirror. My gray sports bra was drenched in sweat. Beads ran down all of my exposed skin. My hair was tangled and matted down. I looked like hell, and wasn't far off from feeling like it. No wonder Tyr was asking if I was all right.
I threw off my clothes and took a long warm shower. It relaxed my tense muscles and put me in a much better mood. But I was still rather tired. I plopped down on my bed and set my alarm to go off ten minutes before I had to be in the Hangar Bay. I drifted off very quickly.
The loud annoying alarm buzz pulled from a peaceful slumber. I didn't open my eyes, only grabbed the clock and flung it into the nearest wall. It still screamed its annoying song at me.
"Damn it! Why did you have to put metal reinforcement around it Harper?!" I jumped out of bed and turned off the clock. I slammed it down in its place. The metal made a clanging noise before silence returned. This was probably the most abused alarm clock in the galaxy. I was not a morning person.
I trudged over to my closet. 'Where am I going again? Oh, Utrecht. Yeah, that's right,' I thought groggily. Utrecht's society based a lot on physical appearances. Their belief was basically 'The tougher, the better.' I grabbed my leather outfit and changed into it. I would take my gun with me, making sure it was visible in my belt. But I hoped I wouldn't have to use it. It would all depend on the precinct. Some you avoided at all costs, but others weren't bad. A couple, like Bren and Falcha, were stopless parties. They were dominated by several gangs that often used innocent passers-by to induct members, if you weren't careful.
I reported to the Hangar Bay to find Dylan, Harper and Lise already there. Lise acted apathetic, but I could tell she was at least a little bit nervous. Harper just looked thoughtful and serious Dylan was calm, as usual, but I could see the internal conflict in his blue eyes.
"You're going down to Utrecht to acquire a cerebral port for Lise," he said.
"That's illegal." I was stating the obvious, but I couldn't think of anything else to say. I knew Dylan wouldn't approve of something illegal without a good reason, but it still wasn't like him.
"I need to learn thousands of years of history and technology to function here," Lise said. "And I can't really do that without a port to help me."
She was correct. She had no modern knowledge, the knowledge that we took for granted. Without it, she couldn't do anything with her life. But if she did have a cerebral port and the right data rods, she could integrate into our world with ease. I understood Dylan's choice to allow her to do this and supported it.
I assumed my role in this excursion was as a tour guide and guardian of Lise and Harper. This was a tough planet, and both of them, especially Lise, needed someone to watch over them who had spent time here. Getting lost could easily cause you to lose your life or make you really wish you had.
"After the Messinans are safely on the planet's surface, you can take the Maru down," Dylan said.
"The Maru knows Utrecht very well," I said, remembering all of those days living on the edge. Somtimes I missed that life of cons, running and the constant rush.
"We're going to Falcha. I've got a friend there who's in the business. I found an ad from the planet post for his more...legal merchandise," Harper said.
Falcha was one of those party precincts that wasn't extremely violent, but by no means was it a safe place. Being armed was a must. "Lise, you need a gun."
"I don't like carrying weapons," she said.
"You'd rather be mugged, raped, beaten and left for dead in a gutter by one of the gangs?" I knew it was harsh and probably scary for her to think about it, but I had to let her know what she was getting into.
She shook her head, eyes trained on the ground. "I don't have a gun of my own."
"You can use mine." Dylan handed her the gun from his belt.
"But that's your gun," Lise protested.
"I'll just get another one from the arsenal," he said.
"Thank you." She hugged Dylan. "For everything. In case something happens to me."
"I won't let anything happen to you. If you can't trust Beka Valentine then you can't trust anyone," I said. I meant it, too. Lise was the type of person that just grew on me with time.
"I'm heading back to Command Deck. Good luck." Dylan exited the Hangar Bay.
"Now, you get the honor of being a passenger aboard the great Maru," I said.
"Is she your ship?" Lise asked.
"Yes, she's my ship."
"Wow. That would be amazing to own a ship and be able to fly it. I've flown a few small planes, but nothing near as cool as a space faring vessel."
"You've flown a plane?" Harper asked.
"Yeah. It's a lot of fun. I even have a pilot's license."
"I would've loved to fly an old Earth plane as much as riding a Harley."
"My best friend's dad had a Harley. I rode on it a few times. He even let me take it on a spin around the block once."
"I'd love to stand around and chat, but we've got a mission," I interrupted.
"Sorry Beka," Lise said.
We boarded the Maru and flew down to the surface of Utrecht. I landed the Maru in one of the large gray shuttle lots. We exited the ship and were greeted by the familiar scent of burned shuttle parts. Every lot was the same. We walked closely together into the city part of Falcha. Lise was obviously in awe of the large buildings, bustle surrounding us and shuttles flying overhead.
"Do you know where your friend is, Harper?" I asked him loudly, trying to get above the noise.
"Yeah. He should be two streets over," Harper replied.
Lise was staring at the shuttles, standing still. I grabbed her arm with one of my hands and Harper's with the other and pulled them both through the crowd. It took nearly ten minutes just to get to the next street, which fortunately wasn't as crowded. There were several bars and other establishments on this street.
"What's that?" Lise asked, pointing at a neon lighted window with a large sign advertising female escorts.
So she didn't know what a female escort service was. "Ask Harper. He knows a lot more about it than I do."
"Thanks a lot, Beka. It's an escort service. You know what that is, right?"
"Oh...I just thought the lights were pretty." She blushed.
She couldn't read Vedran. It suddenly occurred to me. That was why she had to ask what the building was. I reminded myself to find a data rod on Vedran while I was here. I knew we didn't have one on Andromeda. It was taught to children so there was no real purpose to have one.
We eventually found ourselves in the street Harper said his friend would be on. I glanced up and down it. It appeared to be a business oriented street with reputable shops in view. One that particularly caught my eye was a clothing store specializing in newer fashions. I glanced at Lise's clothing. It was completely out of date. She didn't look like she belonged here at all. Since this hadn't taken much time, I decided we would stop by the shop and see if there was anything Lise liked after we got the port.
"He should be in that shop!" Harper pointed at the window two doors away from the clothing store.
We crossed the busy street and walked into the shop. An alien was behind the desk. "What can I do for you?"
"I'm a friend of Jerry's. Is he here?" Harper asked.
"No, he's at home in the apartments down the street."
"What number? I really need to talk to him."
"417."
"Thanks."
We walked back out into the street. "We go down to the apartments now," I said.
"The apartments aren't a place for women, ya know? Give me the discs, Lise, and I'll go get what we came for. You ladies can wait here."
"Harper, I've been here a lot, and I can go to the apartments if I want," I said.
"There's stuff there that I'd rather not take Lise around," he said.
"I've seen a lot more than you probably think," she said.
"You can go alone, Harper, but please be careful."
Lise handed Harper the discs. "Yeah. Be careful, Harper. I don't want anything to happen to you."
"We'll be in the clothing shop down a few windows. Come there when you're done," I said.
"Okay." He walked away. I hoped that he would keep his mind about him and not do anything stupid.
Lise and I headed to the clothing store. Its name was Galactic Fashion, one of those franchises that was on every technological planet in the sector. I usually didn't do my shopping at this kind of store, but it fit Lise's age. The store had current fads, as well as things that just never went out of style.
"I don't like dresses." Lise crinkled her nose as she looked at the selection in the front of the store.
"Neither do I. The better stuff is usually in the back or the holo-log."
"Holo-log?"
"I'll show you." I took her to the center of the store. There was a raised table with a panel on it. I read the Vedran and made the selection of all clothing items excluding dresses and the like. A hologramatic model wearing a pink and yellow outfit popped up out of the table.
"That's cool. But I hate pink...and yellow, too."
"I'm not fond of them, either." I limited the search parameters even more.
We narrowed her selection down to four different outfits. The first was a black sleeveless top that went up to the neck and down to the mid-stomach made of a vinyl-like fabric and matching pants. The second was an Earth cloud and sky pattern on a t-shirt. The pants had the sky on them also, but they had a triangular strip of silver down the sides. The third was a black full body suit with silver and golden stars covering it. The last, and my personal favorite, was a black short shirt that went down to right above the belly button with matching pants. It detected moods of those who touched its wearer and showed that by a color change.
Lise headed to the fitting rooms to try on the outfits. She had gone through three of them and was walking out in the fourth when Harper approached us.
"You look great, Lise!" He placed a hand on her shoulder, and the entire outfit turned cherry red.
I looked down at the mood chart. "You are madly in love, Harper."
Lise and I laughed when Harper blushed. "You should've told me it did that!"
"So...were you successful?" I asked in a low voice.
"He'll have it in an hour or less. He's just got to pick it up from his source," Harper replied.
"Well, we've got an hour to kill, then."
The outfit Lise was wearing showed a bit of cleavage, and when she bent over, I caught Harper looking. I nudged him and chuckled. 'Men,' I thought. 'They never change.'
"What is there to do?" Harper asked. "I haven't been here much."
"There's a club near here that I used to frequent."
"Sounds good to me," Harper said.
"Me too," Lise said.
"I really like that suit you're wearing." He walked over to the cashier and paid for it. "Don't change out of it anytime soon, baby."
"Thanks," she said.
Harper dropped the receipt on the floor. "Would you get that for me, Lise?"
"Don't," I said.
"Why not?" she asked.
"That's the reason he likes what you're wearing."
"That's not nice, Harper!" she said and hit him.
"Oh yes it is. It's a very nice view." He grinned.
She walked with her arms crossed over her chest out of the clothing store, watching Harper. "I'm sorry for hitting you."
"I'm not sorry for looking." He laughed.
They continued their petty arguments the entire way to the club.
A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.
Lao-Tsu, The Way of Lao-Tsu
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The muscles already burned with every movement. '81...82...83.' My back was numb from the pressure against the hard black bench. '86...87.' My breathing had to be controlled with an iron fist or I would hyperventilate. '91...92.' But I was going to do this. I wasn't going to humiliate myself. '96...97.' I glanced over at Tyr, wondering if he could see my strain, if he knew I was close to losing it. '101...102.' Exhaustion was an understatement, but I wouldn't allow it to control me. '105...106.' Twenty pounds had turned into two hundred. The burning of my every sinew ceased, tranforming my arms into near lead. '108...109.' Only one more, and sweet victory was mine. '110!' I dropped the barbells, allowing my arms to fall to my sides, and closed my eyes. Triumph tastes much sweeter when one isn't on the verge of collapsing.
"Beka, are you all right?" Tyr was standing over me. I could hear his voice, but couldn't open my eyes.
I groaned. I didn't want to move, but I knew I had to stretch or I would definitely be feeling this tomorrow. I forced myself into an upright position and began stretching my sore body. "I'm fine, Tyr."
Dylan walked into the room. "Beka, we're going to be at Utrecht in an hour. I want to talk to you before then, but I'll let you finish exercising first."
"I was just leaving. You owe me, Tyr." I grabbed a towel from the rack and draped it over my shoulders before turning around and smiling at Tyr. I walked out into the corridor with Dylan.
"I want you to go down to the planet with Harper and Lise."
"Why?" I would have said more, but speaking took extra air I didn't have.
"They'll fill you in on the details. There's something we need to acquire. Be in the Hangar Deck in forty five minutes. You're free to take a shower and rest before then."
"I could really use both."
I returned to my quarters, tossing the towel onto my dresser. I looked at myself in the full-length mirror. My gray sports bra was drenched in sweat. Beads ran down all of my exposed skin. My hair was tangled and matted down. I looked like hell, and wasn't far off from feeling like it. No wonder Tyr was asking if I was all right.
I threw off my clothes and took a long warm shower. It relaxed my tense muscles and put me in a much better mood. But I was still rather tired. I plopped down on my bed and set my alarm to go off ten minutes before I had to be in the Hangar Bay. I drifted off very quickly.
The loud annoying alarm buzz pulled from a peaceful slumber. I didn't open my eyes, only grabbed the clock and flung it into the nearest wall. It still screamed its annoying song at me.
"Damn it! Why did you have to put metal reinforcement around it Harper?!" I jumped out of bed and turned off the clock. I slammed it down in its place. The metal made a clanging noise before silence returned. This was probably the most abused alarm clock in the galaxy. I was not a morning person.
I trudged over to my closet. 'Where am I going again? Oh, Utrecht. Yeah, that's right,' I thought groggily. Utrecht's society based a lot on physical appearances. Their belief was basically 'The tougher, the better.' I grabbed my leather outfit and changed into it. I would take my gun with me, making sure it was visible in my belt. But I hoped I wouldn't have to use it. It would all depend on the precinct. Some you avoided at all costs, but others weren't bad. A couple, like Bren and Falcha, were stopless parties. They were dominated by several gangs that often used innocent passers-by to induct members, if you weren't careful.
I reported to the Hangar Bay to find Dylan, Harper and Lise already there. Lise acted apathetic, but I could tell she was at least a little bit nervous. Harper just looked thoughtful and serious Dylan was calm, as usual, but I could see the internal conflict in his blue eyes.
"You're going down to Utrecht to acquire a cerebral port for Lise," he said.
"That's illegal." I was stating the obvious, but I couldn't think of anything else to say. I knew Dylan wouldn't approve of something illegal without a good reason, but it still wasn't like him.
"I need to learn thousands of years of history and technology to function here," Lise said. "And I can't really do that without a port to help me."
She was correct. She had no modern knowledge, the knowledge that we took for granted. Without it, she couldn't do anything with her life. But if she did have a cerebral port and the right data rods, she could integrate into our world with ease. I understood Dylan's choice to allow her to do this and supported it.
I assumed my role in this excursion was as a tour guide and guardian of Lise and Harper. This was a tough planet, and both of them, especially Lise, needed someone to watch over them who had spent time here. Getting lost could easily cause you to lose your life or make you really wish you had.
"After the Messinans are safely on the planet's surface, you can take the Maru down," Dylan said.
"The Maru knows Utrecht very well," I said, remembering all of those days living on the edge. Somtimes I missed that life of cons, running and the constant rush.
"We're going to Falcha. I've got a friend there who's in the business. I found an ad from the planet post for his more...legal merchandise," Harper said.
Falcha was one of those party precincts that wasn't extremely violent, but by no means was it a safe place. Being armed was a must. "Lise, you need a gun."
"I don't like carrying weapons," she said.
"You'd rather be mugged, raped, beaten and left for dead in a gutter by one of the gangs?" I knew it was harsh and probably scary for her to think about it, but I had to let her know what she was getting into.
She shook her head, eyes trained on the ground. "I don't have a gun of my own."
"You can use mine." Dylan handed her the gun from his belt.
"But that's your gun," Lise protested.
"I'll just get another one from the arsenal," he said.
"Thank you." She hugged Dylan. "For everything. In case something happens to me."
"I won't let anything happen to you. If you can't trust Beka Valentine then you can't trust anyone," I said. I meant it, too. Lise was the type of person that just grew on me with time.
"I'm heading back to Command Deck. Good luck." Dylan exited the Hangar Bay.
"Now, you get the honor of being a passenger aboard the great Maru," I said.
"Is she your ship?" Lise asked.
"Yes, she's my ship."
"Wow. That would be amazing to own a ship and be able to fly it. I've flown a few small planes, but nothing near as cool as a space faring vessel."
"You've flown a plane?" Harper asked.
"Yeah. It's a lot of fun. I even have a pilot's license."
"I would've loved to fly an old Earth plane as much as riding a Harley."
"My best friend's dad had a Harley. I rode on it a few times. He even let me take it on a spin around the block once."
"I'd love to stand around and chat, but we've got a mission," I interrupted.
"Sorry Beka," Lise said.
We boarded the Maru and flew down to the surface of Utrecht. I landed the Maru in one of the large gray shuttle lots. We exited the ship and were greeted by the familiar scent of burned shuttle parts. Every lot was the same. We walked closely together into the city part of Falcha. Lise was obviously in awe of the large buildings, bustle surrounding us and shuttles flying overhead.
"Do you know where your friend is, Harper?" I asked him loudly, trying to get above the noise.
"Yeah. He should be two streets over," Harper replied.
Lise was staring at the shuttles, standing still. I grabbed her arm with one of my hands and Harper's with the other and pulled them both through the crowd. It took nearly ten minutes just to get to the next street, which fortunately wasn't as crowded. There were several bars and other establishments on this street.
"What's that?" Lise asked, pointing at a neon lighted window with a large sign advertising female escorts.
So she didn't know what a female escort service was. "Ask Harper. He knows a lot more about it than I do."
"Thanks a lot, Beka. It's an escort service. You know what that is, right?"
"Oh...I just thought the lights were pretty." She blushed.
She couldn't read Vedran. It suddenly occurred to me. That was why she had to ask what the building was. I reminded myself to find a data rod on Vedran while I was here. I knew we didn't have one on Andromeda. It was taught to children so there was no real purpose to have one.
We eventually found ourselves in the street Harper said his friend would be on. I glanced up and down it. It appeared to be a business oriented street with reputable shops in view. One that particularly caught my eye was a clothing store specializing in newer fashions. I glanced at Lise's clothing. It was completely out of date. She didn't look like she belonged here at all. Since this hadn't taken much time, I decided we would stop by the shop and see if there was anything Lise liked after we got the port.
"He should be in that shop!" Harper pointed at the window two doors away from the clothing store.
We crossed the busy street and walked into the shop. An alien was behind the desk. "What can I do for you?"
"I'm a friend of Jerry's. Is he here?" Harper asked.
"No, he's at home in the apartments down the street."
"What number? I really need to talk to him."
"417."
"Thanks."
We walked back out into the street. "We go down to the apartments now," I said.
"The apartments aren't a place for women, ya know? Give me the discs, Lise, and I'll go get what we came for. You ladies can wait here."
"Harper, I've been here a lot, and I can go to the apartments if I want," I said.
"There's stuff there that I'd rather not take Lise around," he said.
"I've seen a lot more than you probably think," she said.
"You can go alone, Harper, but please be careful."
Lise handed Harper the discs. "Yeah. Be careful, Harper. I don't want anything to happen to you."
"We'll be in the clothing shop down a few windows. Come there when you're done," I said.
"Okay." He walked away. I hoped that he would keep his mind about him and not do anything stupid.
Lise and I headed to the clothing store. Its name was Galactic Fashion, one of those franchises that was on every technological planet in the sector. I usually didn't do my shopping at this kind of store, but it fit Lise's age. The store had current fads, as well as things that just never went out of style.
"I don't like dresses." Lise crinkled her nose as she looked at the selection in the front of the store.
"Neither do I. The better stuff is usually in the back or the holo-log."
"Holo-log?"
"I'll show you." I took her to the center of the store. There was a raised table with a panel on it. I read the Vedran and made the selection of all clothing items excluding dresses and the like. A hologramatic model wearing a pink and yellow outfit popped up out of the table.
"That's cool. But I hate pink...and yellow, too."
"I'm not fond of them, either." I limited the search parameters even more.
We narrowed her selection down to four different outfits. The first was a black sleeveless top that went up to the neck and down to the mid-stomach made of a vinyl-like fabric and matching pants. The second was an Earth cloud and sky pattern on a t-shirt. The pants had the sky on them also, but they had a triangular strip of silver down the sides. The third was a black full body suit with silver and golden stars covering it. The last, and my personal favorite, was a black short shirt that went down to right above the belly button with matching pants. It detected moods of those who touched its wearer and showed that by a color change.
Lise headed to the fitting rooms to try on the outfits. She had gone through three of them and was walking out in the fourth when Harper approached us.
"You look great, Lise!" He placed a hand on her shoulder, and the entire outfit turned cherry red.
I looked down at the mood chart. "You are madly in love, Harper."
Lise and I laughed when Harper blushed. "You should've told me it did that!"
"So...were you successful?" I asked in a low voice.
"He'll have it in an hour or less. He's just got to pick it up from his source," Harper replied.
"Well, we've got an hour to kill, then."
The outfit Lise was wearing showed a bit of cleavage, and when she bent over, I caught Harper looking. I nudged him and chuckled. 'Men,' I thought. 'They never change.'
"What is there to do?" Harper asked. "I haven't been here much."
"There's a club near here that I used to frequent."
"Sounds good to me," Harper said.
"Me too," Lise said.
"I really like that suit you're wearing." He walked over to the cashier and paid for it. "Don't change out of it anytime soon, baby."
"Thanks," she said.
Harper dropped the receipt on the floor. "Would you get that for me, Lise?"
"Don't," I said.
"Why not?" she asked.
"That's the reason he likes what you're wearing."
"That's not nice, Harper!" she said and hit him.
"Oh yes it is. It's a very nice view." He grinned.
She walked with her arms crossed over her chest out of the clothing store, watching Harper. "I'm sorry for hitting you."
"I'm not sorry for looking." He laughed.
They continued their petty arguments the entire way to the club.
