Chapter 21
Music booms and crashes from the hanger deck. Harper and Beka look at each other and then out towards the noisy air. They see some doors down the hall that lead to "The Room". Beka is the first to walk up to the huge doors, which open from bottom to top, and enters the party. Harper follows her eagerly, then Trance, and Dylan and Tyr eventually also follow in. The music is fast and majestic. It scoops up the soul and intertwines it into the notes the second you walk into the door. From the entrance, the ceiling is high, but nothing really awe-inspiring. Once entering upon the dance floor however, the ceilings are wide and high; several floors set on one after another, as stairs would, and look like huge, over-sized balconies, so the DJ can still bring them the music. The entire place is flooded with every kind of creature that is imaginable, and when Trance walks in, it is truly so. Even a Vedran sits off to the side, mindlessly watching the lower species wasting themselves
away. The lights flash and blink with the music, as if the music controls the lighting, and their colors blend to the mood. Beka sees small glow-sticks in some of the people's/species' mouths, using it as a type of pacifier so their jaws won't lock when they take drugs. It is a method used ever since places like this have been invented, and has worked for so long, it continues to be used.
There are two chambers. The first one is when you first walk in. A bar sits off to the back, where some tables are also stationed. A Perseid can be seen serving drinks, along with two humans, one man, and the other woman. Lights reflect off the back of the bar onto the bottles and glasses, giving a nice, yet eerie feel to it. The Perseid looks up from cleaning his glass and sees Beka and Harper. He looks at them and smiles a very weird grimace of a smile.
"Two born every minute," he says, referring to their depressed appearance, despite Harper's outward enthusiasm, which from a bartender's point-of-view is profit.
The second chamber, is the dance, or rave, floor; the loud speakers emit a loud amount of music into the room. The lights in there are the blinking and color changing ones. The lights in the `bar area' are regular, but dim, and somewhat pitiful. Several drunkards lye across the bar table and the open tables around the area, while others dance into the bar, get a drink or two, then hop right back out onto the floor. The DJ's pit is stationed high, halfway to the second floor, and he spins out music for the mob. He is the king and they are his slaves of the music. Four floors create the dance floor. Vents air out the heat of the bodies (well, the ones that create heat anyway), and many armed guards patrol for any signs of trouble. The floors are like stairs ascending. Each level is very long, but the one above the other is slightly smaller with each intake. It is a breathtaking and dazzling sight all in one. For a drift like this, it isn't that bad. In fact, it's probably the
only `party-drift' that any of them has ever seen that is really--well--nice.
Beka sits down in one of the open lounge seats in the corner, while Harper gets some drinks. Trance sits opposite of Beka, and Dylan and Tyr proceed to their business with Mr. Yasser, heading to the upstairs rooms. A man from across the room eyes Beka. She notices but ignores the man. He seems a little familiar, but she can't be sure. The man gets up and walks towards Beka. His blue-dyed hair is more noticeable under the lighting, and his green eyes stare at Beka intently.
"What does this guy want?" Beka says under her breath.
Trance couldn't hear and asks, "What?"
"See for yourself," she says and nods up behind Trance.
Trance turns around in her seat and sees a young man with blue hair coming towards them. She then quickly turns to Beka.
"Why is he coming over here?" Trance asks.
"I don't know."
The man arrives in front of Beka. His shirt is black and his pants are black leather. When they make eye contact, Beka can't help but feel some familiarity. She remembers someone's eyes being that kind of green, but she still can't decipher who it is.
"Beka, Beka Valentine?" the man asks in a soothing tone.
"Yeah, and who are you?"
"You probably don't remember me, do you? It's been...a long time."
"No, sorry. Maybe if you give me a name..."
"It's Owen. Owen Green. Do you remember now?"
Beka's eyes grow wide and her mouth drops to the ground in shock.
"Owen? Oh my god, it's you!" she exasperates. "I hardly recognized you! Your hair, it's blue."
"I could say the same thing about you," he says, inquiring about her hair.
Beka blushes a little, then gets up to hug him.
"It's good to see you again," she says as her arms are around his shoulders. "Gosh, it's been, what, fifteen years?"
"At least," he replies. "Hey listen, some of my friends over there would love to meet you. What do you say?"
"I've got the whole night off," she says, then looks at Trance sitting. "Hey, you didn't meet my friend yet. Owen, this is Trance; Trance, this is Owen...my um, friend back when I was just starting out."
Owen sticks out his hand, "Nice to meet you."
Trance accepts it, "Same to you."
"Trance, do you mind if I go..." Beka begins.
Trance smiles, "Oh, I don't mind. Harper can keep me company, if he comes back with those drinks soon..."
"Okay then. Tell Dylan and the rest I probably won't be back tonight. I've got a lot of catching up to do."
"Sure..."
The two walk off to the other end of the room.
Harper comes back with the drinks in his hand and sets them down on the coffee table in front of Trance. He looks up to see Beka going off with Owen and looks strangely at him.
"Who's the guy?" he asks bluntly.
"An old friend..." Trance replies.
"Oh, I get it. He was one of her--"
Trance interrupts him, "Harper you don't know that for certain. However, I do have a feeling that he was one her old...lovers, I guess you could say."
"How old? I've never seen the guy."
"Beka said it's been about fifteen years since they last saw each other."
"Fifteen years? Really?"
"That's what she said."
"Wow..."
Trance smiles to herself a little bit.
"What are you smiling about?" he asks.
"Nothing," she says.
"Oh, no. Don't give me that. I know you...sort-of. You know something, don't you? Something's going to happen, right? `C'mon, spill it."
"You wouldn't want to know..."
"Oh yeah? Why not?"
Trance stays silent and looks up into his eyes, not moving her head. Then Harper realizes.
"Oh...that," he says sheepishly.
Trance shakes her head, and says, "See, I told you, you didn't want to know."
"So, she gets some tonight and I don't?"
"I didn't say she was going to get anything tonight," she says.
"Then what were you smiling about?"
"I just told you..."
"No, because...what a second, I know what you're trying to do. You're trying to confuse me so I don't know what you're talking about, and then I can give up and leave the subject alone, right?"
"Yeah, pretty much," Trance says, nodding her head a little.
"Well, good for you, it worked," Harper replies tiredly.
Trance smiles and decides to start up a new conversation...
*
Meanwhile, Beka arrives at a group of people, whom she is greeted by right away. Five people make up the group; two other men and three other women. Owen introduces the first women by the name of Lauren. Her hair is straight and jet black. The make-up on her face is overly done and makes her look like a gothic type person, yet when she speaks, she sounds pretty nice and friendly. In this place, no one is what he or she seems. Her clothing is as average as the times permit. Nothing really special about this person except that there is a large tattoo on her left shoulder of some kind of a flag that Beka doesn't recognize. The woman says it's of where she came from, on Earth.
The next person is of a man named Adam. He seems clean, but Beka has seen his type before. She can also see his eyes are a little off in color, which indicates he does drugs. Adam is a nice person though, and she doesn't hold his addiction against him. His attire is pretty much the same as Owen's except for that his shirt is long-sleeved and gray.
The next two women that are introduced, however, do not appeal to Beka at all. For one, they have their eyes covered with sunglasses.... It doesn't take a genius to figure out that they take Flash. The one on the left has blond hair that is almost white, and the other has brown hair that has messy red streaks in it. Their names are Atonia and Ivy. Their nails are painted black, and their clothing is odd. Nothing matches at all, and it seems as though it was all thrown together in two seconds. Their voices are low and scratched because of the other drugs they took. Beka knows there is no heart, so to speak, in them. It is just empty and dark and cold. They are the absolute dregs of society. People would take pity on them and stare as they walked by. For these types of people, their lives are completely meaningless and they do nothing to try and improve them. Most of the time they find jobs with a con-artist or a high profile drug runner...or they sell themselves for miserable
price. They are looked down upon and caste out of most places, but here they find refuge because this is one of a few places where nobody gives a damn what they do or who they are.
The finale person Beka meets was Owen's best friend, Xan. He looks like Harper in some ways. The hair isn't blond, but it is spiked and his eyes are a light blue. He's short, like Harper, and wears like clothing. The only other difference is that this man has black fingernail polish on his fingers and no cerebral port on the side of his neck. He is friendly and witty like Harper is, only Harper would surpass his wittiness by a mile, but still, it is very similar.
"Nice meeting..." Beka stops short and looks at Atonia and Ivy, then finishes, "some of you."
The night drags on with music and dancing. Owen takes her aside to talk every once and a while, until the place announces that it's closing for the next few hours, to clean. The group disperses into their separate ways and tells Owen they'll meet up with him tomorrow.
"Do you want to go to my place and talk some more?" Owen offers.
"Sure, I'd like that," Beka answers.
They walk to his room, on the other side of the drift, down a long wide hallway. It is clear so anyone walking in one of these can see the outside of the larger complex of the drift. Several other people are also walking along this way. The way the drift is designed is made so that smaller, more private sections branch off, away from the music and outsiders docking. Beka can see at least four other things like this while she is walking through the clear, tunnel-like hallway.
When they finally get to the sectioned off area, they must go through a maze of hallways. Beka wonders how she'll ever get out if she suddenly wanted to leave. They finally reach Owen's room, and he punches in a code for the door to open. It does and they step in. The first thing that Beka notices is how surprisingly clean the place is.
"You sure keep the place clean, don't you?" Beka notes.
"Well, I don't have a lot to get it dirty with," he explains.
She nods and sits down at a table. The room itself is a fairly good size. It's not big, but satisfying for one person. Little decorations of life hang everywhere. There's even a dartboard in the `kitchen' area. Over to her side, she notices a CD player hooked up to some speakers.
"You have one of these things?" she inquires about the CD player.
"Yeah, I got that a while back from a junk yard. Didn't cost me hardly anything. It was in okay shape, so I fixed it up and voila, instant music...if you've got the music for it."
"You have discs for this thing? How many?"
Owen smiles and opens a closet door. He takes out two boxes and sets them on the table.
"That many," he says.
"Where did you find all these?"
"Here and there. They really aren't that hard to find, if you know where to look."
"Wow...you really have changed."
She opens up one of the boxes, finds it all there, and starts to sift through it all. CD's from the 20^th and 21^st centuries, on old Earth calendar of the English, that is. Finally, she finds one and opens it, then places it in the player. The button to play is hit and music emits itself from the speakers. Though neither of them can understand the words, they like the melody and beat. It's a kind of rock, which was pleasing to the ear after going to a mega-party rave all night. Beka smiles and looks at Owen.
Beka starts, "So, besides being an engineer, what else do you do? I mean, what's your life like?"
"It's different," he says. "Sometimes I get to go out with a cargo ship with some supplies and see other places, but otherwise I'm here."
"Anybody special in your life?"
He smiles, "No. You?"
"No. Just me," she says, then pauses a moment before speaking again. "But there was this one guy...it doesn't matter now anyway."
"What, why?"
"He died..."
"Beka, I'm sorry."
Owen puts his hand on hers to give comfort and show a type of support. Beka doesn't cry, nor does she whimper. She simply lowers her eyes and relaxes her face.
"Do you want to talk about it?" he offers.
"No. I'm over it now. I am," she reassures herself.
"Okay," he says and brushes her hair.
The quietness of the room shows itself at last. The only noise, which isn't really noise, is the music, still playing in the player. It is soft, and instead of making the silence go, it seems to accent it somehow. Beka feels like a live statue, cold and empty. The only thing she can think about is nothing and everything, which is really nothing at all. The focus is not there and her head becomes dizzy and dumb. Her eyes fall heavy; then, a spark of something tingles through her body. The warmth of Owen's hand breaks the previous feelings and everything is lightened again. Everything is in perspective. She looks up at him. Those eyes, so green with feeling. She can't remember what went wrong so long ago. Finally, she asks him:
"What went wrong?"
Owen looks back at her and says, "What do you mean, with us?"
"Yes."
He ponders this question for a minute, then answers, "I guess we were too young. You had your life and I had mine. Then, we both just stopped caring and left each other. Well actually you left me...but I guess that doesn't really matter now."
There is long pause. Beka feels a little guilty about leaving him.
"I'm sorry I hurt you," she finally says.
"I'm sorry I didn't try harder," he replies.
"I guess we're both sorry then, right?"
"I guess so," Owen says.
Another one of those long pauses comes and there is silence once again, until Owen breaks through it and says:
"But you're back now. That means something, right?"
"Yeah, I guess it does."
The two get closer and seem to be infatuated, but a ring from the door interrupts the moment.
Owen's face shows frustration and his throat lets out a moan of displeasure. He reluctantly gets up after the second ring and opens the door to see Xan standing there.
"What is it Xan?" he sighs.
Xan pears into the room and sees Beka at the table looking disrupted somehow.
"Sorry man, I didn't think anyone else was here," he says, then looks at Beka, "Hey, how are ya?"
"Fine, thanks," Beka says--almost sarcastically.
"Well, you mine-as-well tell me what you came here for now," Owen says.
Xan looks to his side, then says, "Right, well, I sort-of need--needed a...uh, a drill...yeah, but I see you're busy, so I'll just get one later."
"No, no. Let me get it for you. After all, you won't go away until I do, right?"
"Yeah..." Xan says.
He looks over to Beka while Owen is getting the tool.
"So, you and Owen go way back, huh?" he asks.
"Yeah, way back," she says without looking at him.
"So, how far back are we talking about here? Like, childhood, or what?"
"He was..." she pauses for a moment, then decides to continue. "He was my first love, let's just say."
"Oh, so he was your first..." he trails off. "Never mind."
Owen comes back into the area.
"Here you are. Now, go," he orders Xan.
Xan smiles at Beka and yells, "Hey, it was nice talking to you! Owen's sure a lucky guy!"
"Have fun with whatever you're building!" she shouts back.
Owen closes the door and turns back to Beka.
"What did you tell him?" he asks.
"Nothing," Beka sweetly responds. "Just that you were the first guy I slept with."
"Oh," he replies. "Well, do you think we can still manage?"
Beka smiles and laughs, "That was the worst pick-up line I have ever heard! You're going to have to try harder than that."
"Okay," he says and walks up to Beka.
Owen leans down and kisses her, holding his hands on her face. Beka responds and kisses him back, swept in a sudden burst of passion. Owen breaks the kiss and barely has the breath to say:
"Was that better?"
"Yeah," Beka replies, also breathing heavy. "That was better."
She brings him back to her, and kisses him deeply, returning the gesture. You can imagine what you like, but what happened next was in a state of lust and love, or rather in between the two. Beka would not be coming back for the night, and no one would disturb them until "morning". It was sounds of promise and regret, yet all the while nothing was more splendorous and indulging than it. Some would say it was wrong, others would say it was fine, and the other few would feel it was a way for the two to vent their worries and problems. Perhaps it was, and it may work...for a time. They have known each other for many years. How then can one say it was an act of lust? At the same time, how could one say it was an act of love? It is neither, therefore it is somewhere in the middle, balanced and neutral, fun and unforgettable. And as the music continues to play, their emotions bounce off the walls and seem to light the whole room in every color.
~~~~~~~
Beka is the first to wake. She looks around for a moment. Owen is still sleeping, so she decides to get up out of bed. Her mind is flooded with thoughts of what she has just done. She starts to become scared and a little confused of why she feels scared, and can't think of anything to do except run. She begins to put her clothing back on and gather her things when Owen begins to wake. Beka silently walks out of the room and towards the door. She presses a button and the door opens. Looking back one more time, she exits and begins down the corridors.
Not more than a moment later, the door opens again and Owen comes out. He is dressed only in his pants and his hair is a blue mess. Beka can hear him, but presses on down the hallway. Owen runs up in front her, preventing her from going anywhere.
"Beka wait," he says.
"Don't Owen, please."
She tries to get around him.
"Why are you leaving?"
"Because...I don't belong here, with you."
"What do you mean?"
"Owen, I really don't need this right now."
She tries to pass him again, but he doesn't allow her.
"Did I do something?"
Beka shakes her head, "No, you didn't do anything. I just can't stay here. I can't do this again."
"Can't you tell me what the matter is?"
Beka smiles a little and puts her hand on his shoulder. She leans in and gives him a kiss on the cheek, then steps back.
"Good-bye Owen," she says and walks past him.
Owen stares at her walking away. When she finally turns the corner, he moves back to his room slowly and notices a picture turned upside down on the floor. He picks it up and turns it over. It is of a group of people: Harper, Beka, Trance, Dylan, Rommie, Tyr, and Rev. It was taken after the first world was signed to the Charter as a type of reminder of that day. Everyone finally joined together, working as a crew, and showing friendship all the while. It was a picture of the family that Beka had came into and the family that she would keep, no matter the odds.
"Well done Valentine," he says to himself. "Well done."
~~~~~~~~~
Beka looks back as she's turning a corner and runs into someone, almost falling back.
"Sorry," she says and looks up to see Tyr standing there. "Never mind. I take that back."
He rolls his eyes a little and looks the other way.
Beka asks in a simple tone, "What are you doing here?"
Music booms and crashes from the hanger deck. Harper and Beka look at each other and then out towards the noisy air. They see some doors down the hall that lead to "The Room". Beka is the first to walk up to the huge doors, which open from bottom to top, and enters the party. Harper follows her eagerly, then Trance, and Dylan and Tyr eventually also follow in. The music is fast and majestic. It scoops up the soul and intertwines it into the notes the second you walk into the door. From the entrance, the ceiling is high, but nothing really awe-inspiring. Once entering upon the dance floor however, the ceilings are wide and high; several floors set on one after another, as stairs would, and look like huge, over-sized balconies, so the DJ can still bring them the music. The entire place is flooded with every kind of creature that is imaginable, and when Trance walks in, it is truly so. Even a Vedran sits off to the side, mindlessly watching the lower species wasting themselves
away. The lights flash and blink with the music, as if the music controls the lighting, and their colors blend to the mood. Beka sees small glow-sticks in some of the people's/species' mouths, using it as a type of pacifier so their jaws won't lock when they take drugs. It is a method used ever since places like this have been invented, and has worked for so long, it continues to be used.
There are two chambers. The first one is when you first walk in. A bar sits off to the back, where some tables are also stationed. A Perseid can be seen serving drinks, along with two humans, one man, and the other woman. Lights reflect off the back of the bar onto the bottles and glasses, giving a nice, yet eerie feel to it. The Perseid looks up from cleaning his glass and sees Beka and Harper. He looks at them and smiles a very weird grimace of a smile.
"Two born every minute," he says, referring to their depressed appearance, despite Harper's outward enthusiasm, which from a bartender's point-of-view is profit.
The second chamber, is the dance, or rave, floor; the loud speakers emit a loud amount of music into the room. The lights in there are the blinking and color changing ones. The lights in the `bar area' are regular, but dim, and somewhat pitiful. Several drunkards lye across the bar table and the open tables around the area, while others dance into the bar, get a drink or two, then hop right back out onto the floor. The DJ's pit is stationed high, halfway to the second floor, and he spins out music for the mob. He is the king and they are his slaves of the music. Four floors create the dance floor. Vents air out the heat of the bodies (well, the ones that create heat anyway), and many armed guards patrol for any signs of trouble. The floors are like stairs ascending. Each level is very long, but the one above the other is slightly smaller with each intake. It is a breathtaking and dazzling sight all in one. For a drift like this, it isn't that bad. In fact, it's probably the
only `party-drift' that any of them has ever seen that is really--well--nice.
Beka sits down in one of the open lounge seats in the corner, while Harper gets some drinks. Trance sits opposite of Beka, and Dylan and Tyr proceed to their business with Mr. Yasser, heading to the upstairs rooms. A man from across the room eyes Beka. She notices but ignores the man. He seems a little familiar, but she can't be sure. The man gets up and walks towards Beka. His blue-dyed hair is more noticeable under the lighting, and his green eyes stare at Beka intently.
"What does this guy want?" Beka says under her breath.
Trance couldn't hear and asks, "What?"
"See for yourself," she says and nods up behind Trance.
Trance turns around in her seat and sees a young man with blue hair coming towards them. She then quickly turns to Beka.
"Why is he coming over here?" Trance asks.
"I don't know."
The man arrives in front of Beka. His shirt is black and his pants are black leather. When they make eye contact, Beka can't help but feel some familiarity. She remembers someone's eyes being that kind of green, but she still can't decipher who it is.
"Beka, Beka Valentine?" the man asks in a soothing tone.
"Yeah, and who are you?"
"You probably don't remember me, do you? It's been...a long time."
"No, sorry. Maybe if you give me a name..."
"It's Owen. Owen Green. Do you remember now?"
Beka's eyes grow wide and her mouth drops to the ground in shock.
"Owen? Oh my god, it's you!" she exasperates. "I hardly recognized you! Your hair, it's blue."
"I could say the same thing about you," he says, inquiring about her hair.
Beka blushes a little, then gets up to hug him.
"It's good to see you again," she says as her arms are around his shoulders. "Gosh, it's been, what, fifteen years?"
"At least," he replies. "Hey listen, some of my friends over there would love to meet you. What do you say?"
"I've got the whole night off," she says, then looks at Trance sitting. "Hey, you didn't meet my friend yet. Owen, this is Trance; Trance, this is Owen...my um, friend back when I was just starting out."
Owen sticks out his hand, "Nice to meet you."
Trance accepts it, "Same to you."
"Trance, do you mind if I go..." Beka begins.
Trance smiles, "Oh, I don't mind. Harper can keep me company, if he comes back with those drinks soon..."
"Okay then. Tell Dylan and the rest I probably won't be back tonight. I've got a lot of catching up to do."
"Sure..."
The two walk off to the other end of the room.
Harper comes back with the drinks in his hand and sets them down on the coffee table in front of Trance. He looks up to see Beka going off with Owen and looks strangely at him.
"Who's the guy?" he asks bluntly.
"An old friend..." Trance replies.
"Oh, I get it. He was one of her--"
Trance interrupts him, "Harper you don't know that for certain. However, I do have a feeling that he was one her old...lovers, I guess you could say."
"How old? I've never seen the guy."
"Beka said it's been about fifteen years since they last saw each other."
"Fifteen years? Really?"
"That's what she said."
"Wow..."
Trance smiles to herself a little bit.
"What are you smiling about?" he asks.
"Nothing," she says.
"Oh, no. Don't give me that. I know you...sort-of. You know something, don't you? Something's going to happen, right? `C'mon, spill it."
"You wouldn't want to know..."
"Oh yeah? Why not?"
Trance stays silent and looks up into his eyes, not moving her head. Then Harper realizes.
"Oh...that," he says sheepishly.
Trance shakes her head, and says, "See, I told you, you didn't want to know."
"So, she gets some tonight and I don't?"
"I didn't say she was going to get anything tonight," she says.
"Then what were you smiling about?"
"I just told you..."
"No, because...what a second, I know what you're trying to do. You're trying to confuse me so I don't know what you're talking about, and then I can give up and leave the subject alone, right?"
"Yeah, pretty much," Trance says, nodding her head a little.
"Well, good for you, it worked," Harper replies tiredly.
Trance smiles and decides to start up a new conversation...
*
Meanwhile, Beka arrives at a group of people, whom she is greeted by right away. Five people make up the group; two other men and three other women. Owen introduces the first women by the name of Lauren. Her hair is straight and jet black. The make-up on her face is overly done and makes her look like a gothic type person, yet when she speaks, she sounds pretty nice and friendly. In this place, no one is what he or she seems. Her clothing is as average as the times permit. Nothing really special about this person except that there is a large tattoo on her left shoulder of some kind of a flag that Beka doesn't recognize. The woman says it's of where she came from, on Earth.
The next person is of a man named Adam. He seems clean, but Beka has seen his type before. She can also see his eyes are a little off in color, which indicates he does drugs. Adam is a nice person though, and she doesn't hold his addiction against him. His attire is pretty much the same as Owen's except for that his shirt is long-sleeved and gray.
The next two women that are introduced, however, do not appeal to Beka at all. For one, they have their eyes covered with sunglasses.... It doesn't take a genius to figure out that they take Flash. The one on the left has blond hair that is almost white, and the other has brown hair that has messy red streaks in it. Their names are Atonia and Ivy. Their nails are painted black, and their clothing is odd. Nothing matches at all, and it seems as though it was all thrown together in two seconds. Their voices are low and scratched because of the other drugs they took. Beka knows there is no heart, so to speak, in them. It is just empty and dark and cold. They are the absolute dregs of society. People would take pity on them and stare as they walked by. For these types of people, their lives are completely meaningless and they do nothing to try and improve them. Most of the time they find jobs with a con-artist or a high profile drug runner...or they sell themselves for miserable
price. They are looked down upon and caste out of most places, but here they find refuge because this is one of a few places where nobody gives a damn what they do or who they are.
The finale person Beka meets was Owen's best friend, Xan. He looks like Harper in some ways. The hair isn't blond, but it is spiked and his eyes are a light blue. He's short, like Harper, and wears like clothing. The only other difference is that this man has black fingernail polish on his fingers and no cerebral port on the side of his neck. He is friendly and witty like Harper is, only Harper would surpass his wittiness by a mile, but still, it is very similar.
"Nice meeting..." Beka stops short and looks at Atonia and Ivy, then finishes, "some of you."
The night drags on with music and dancing. Owen takes her aside to talk every once and a while, until the place announces that it's closing for the next few hours, to clean. The group disperses into their separate ways and tells Owen they'll meet up with him tomorrow.
"Do you want to go to my place and talk some more?" Owen offers.
"Sure, I'd like that," Beka answers.
They walk to his room, on the other side of the drift, down a long wide hallway. It is clear so anyone walking in one of these can see the outside of the larger complex of the drift. Several other people are also walking along this way. The way the drift is designed is made so that smaller, more private sections branch off, away from the music and outsiders docking. Beka can see at least four other things like this while she is walking through the clear, tunnel-like hallway.
When they finally get to the sectioned off area, they must go through a maze of hallways. Beka wonders how she'll ever get out if she suddenly wanted to leave. They finally reach Owen's room, and he punches in a code for the door to open. It does and they step in. The first thing that Beka notices is how surprisingly clean the place is.
"You sure keep the place clean, don't you?" Beka notes.
"Well, I don't have a lot to get it dirty with," he explains.
She nods and sits down at a table. The room itself is a fairly good size. It's not big, but satisfying for one person. Little decorations of life hang everywhere. There's even a dartboard in the `kitchen' area. Over to her side, she notices a CD player hooked up to some speakers.
"You have one of these things?" she inquires about the CD player.
"Yeah, I got that a while back from a junk yard. Didn't cost me hardly anything. It was in okay shape, so I fixed it up and voila, instant music...if you've got the music for it."
"You have discs for this thing? How many?"
Owen smiles and opens a closet door. He takes out two boxes and sets them on the table.
"That many," he says.
"Where did you find all these?"
"Here and there. They really aren't that hard to find, if you know where to look."
"Wow...you really have changed."
She opens up one of the boxes, finds it all there, and starts to sift through it all. CD's from the 20^th and 21^st centuries, on old Earth calendar of the English, that is. Finally, she finds one and opens it, then places it in the player. The button to play is hit and music emits itself from the speakers. Though neither of them can understand the words, they like the melody and beat. It's a kind of rock, which was pleasing to the ear after going to a mega-party rave all night. Beka smiles and looks at Owen.
Beka starts, "So, besides being an engineer, what else do you do? I mean, what's your life like?"
"It's different," he says. "Sometimes I get to go out with a cargo ship with some supplies and see other places, but otherwise I'm here."
"Anybody special in your life?"
He smiles, "No. You?"
"No. Just me," she says, then pauses a moment before speaking again. "But there was this one guy...it doesn't matter now anyway."
"What, why?"
"He died..."
"Beka, I'm sorry."
Owen puts his hand on hers to give comfort and show a type of support. Beka doesn't cry, nor does she whimper. She simply lowers her eyes and relaxes her face.
"Do you want to talk about it?" he offers.
"No. I'm over it now. I am," she reassures herself.
"Okay," he says and brushes her hair.
The quietness of the room shows itself at last. The only noise, which isn't really noise, is the music, still playing in the player. It is soft, and instead of making the silence go, it seems to accent it somehow. Beka feels like a live statue, cold and empty. The only thing she can think about is nothing and everything, which is really nothing at all. The focus is not there and her head becomes dizzy and dumb. Her eyes fall heavy; then, a spark of something tingles through her body. The warmth of Owen's hand breaks the previous feelings and everything is lightened again. Everything is in perspective. She looks up at him. Those eyes, so green with feeling. She can't remember what went wrong so long ago. Finally, she asks him:
"What went wrong?"
Owen looks back at her and says, "What do you mean, with us?"
"Yes."
He ponders this question for a minute, then answers, "I guess we were too young. You had your life and I had mine. Then, we both just stopped caring and left each other. Well actually you left me...but I guess that doesn't really matter now."
There is long pause. Beka feels a little guilty about leaving him.
"I'm sorry I hurt you," she finally says.
"I'm sorry I didn't try harder," he replies.
"I guess we're both sorry then, right?"
"I guess so," Owen says.
Another one of those long pauses comes and there is silence once again, until Owen breaks through it and says:
"But you're back now. That means something, right?"
"Yeah, I guess it does."
The two get closer and seem to be infatuated, but a ring from the door interrupts the moment.
Owen's face shows frustration and his throat lets out a moan of displeasure. He reluctantly gets up after the second ring and opens the door to see Xan standing there.
"What is it Xan?" he sighs.
Xan pears into the room and sees Beka at the table looking disrupted somehow.
"Sorry man, I didn't think anyone else was here," he says, then looks at Beka, "Hey, how are ya?"
"Fine, thanks," Beka says--almost sarcastically.
"Well, you mine-as-well tell me what you came here for now," Owen says.
Xan looks to his side, then says, "Right, well, I sort-of need--needed a...uh, a drill...yeah, but I see you're busy, so I'll just get one later."
"No, no. Let me get it for you. After all, you won't go away until I do, right?"
"Yeah..." Xan says.
He looks over to Beka while Owen is getting the tool.
"So, you and Owen go way back, huh?" he asks.
"Yeah, way back," she says without looking at him.
"So, how far back are we talking about here? Like, childhood, or what?"
"He was..." she pauses for a moment, then decides to continue. "He was my first love, let's just say."
"Oh, so he was your first..." he trails off. "Never mind."
Owen comes back into the area.
"Here you are. Now, go," he orders Xan.
Xan smiles at Beka and yells, "Hey, it was nice talking to you! Owen's sure a lucky guy!"
"Have fun with whatever you're building!" she shouts back.
Owen closes the door and turns back to Beka.
"What did you tell him?" he asks.
"Nothing," Beka sweetly responds. "Just that you were the first guy I slept with."
"Oh," he replies. "Well, do you think we can still manage?"
Beka smiles and laughs, "That was the worst pick-up line I have ever heard! You're going to have to try harder than that."
"Okay," he says and walks up to Beka.
Owen leans down and kisses her, holding his hands on her face. Beka responds and kisses him back, swept in a sudden burst of passion. Owen breaks the kiss and barely has the breath to say:
"Was that better?"
"Yeah," Beka replies, also breathing heavy. "That was better."
She brings him back to her, and kisses him deeply, returning the gesture. You can imagine what you like, but what happened next was in a state of lust and love, or rather in between the two. Beka would not be coming back for the night, and no one would disturb them until "morning". It was sounds of promise and regret, yet all the while nothing was more splendorous and indulging than it. Some would say it was wrong, others would say it was fine, and the other few would feel it was a way for the two to vent their worries and problems. Perhaps it was, and it may work...for a time. They have known each other for many years. How then can one say it was an act of lust? At the same time, how could one say it was an act of love? It is neither, therefore it is somewhere in the middle, balanced and neutral, fun and unforgettable. And as the music continues to play, their emotions bounce off the walls and seem to light the whole room in every color.
~~~~~~~
Beka is the first to wake. She looks around for a moment. Owen is still sleeping, so she decides to get up out of bed. Her mind is flooded with thoughts of what she has just done. She starts to become scared and a little confused of why she feels scared, and can't think of anything to do except run. She begins to put her clothing back on and gather her things when Owen begins to wake. Beka silently walks out of the room and towards the door. She presses a button and the door opens. Looking back one more time, she exits and begins down the corridors.
Not more than a moment later, the door opens again and Owen comes out. He is dressed only in his pants and his hair is a blue mess. Beka can hear him, but presses on down the hallway. Owen runs up in front her, preventing her from going anywhere.
"Beka wait," he says.
"Don't Owen, please."
She tries to get around him.
"Why are you leaving?"
"Because...I don't belong here, with you."
"What do you mean?"
"Owen, I really don't need this right now."
She tries to pass him again, but he doesn't allow her.
"Did I do something?"
Beka shakes her head, "No, you didn't do anything. I just can't stay here. I can't do this again."
"Can't you tell me what the matter is?"
Beka smiles a little and puts her hand on his shoulder. She leans in and gives him a kiss on the cheek, then steps back.
"Good-bye Owen," she says and walks past him.
Owen stares at her walking away. When she finally turns the corner, he moves back to his room slowly and notices a picture turned upside down on the floor. He picks it up and turns it over. It is of a group of people: Harper, Beka, Trance, Dylan, Rommie, Tyr, and Rev. It was taken after the first world was signed to the Charter as a type of reminder of that day. Everyone finally joined together, working as a crew, and showing friendship all the while. It was a picture of the family that Beka had came into and the family that she would keep, no matter the odds.
"Well done Valentine," he says to himself. "Well done."
~~~~~~~~~
Beka looks back as she's turning a corner and runs into someone, almost falling back.
"Sorry," she says and looks up to see Tyr standing there. "Never mind. I take that back."
He rolls his eyes a little and looks the other way.
Beka asks in a simple tone, "What are you doing here?"