Disclaimer: Please see Prologue
Part Four: Why Don't You Get a Job?
The crew of the Christa converted Titania's room, the fourth in the women's block, into a meeting room of sorts. The bed, with help from a resident Andromedan, had been propped up against the wall and Catalina had donated the extra mattress to Radu, who just barely managed to avoid hitting the bedframe with two. Derezians, he thought, must be a lot lighter than Andromedans, or even humans.
The seven people plus one cloned-spliced baby sat in this room now, barely managing to squeeze in and sit on the floor. The topic of conversation: employment.
"We have an advantage, at least," said Rosie. "All of us have some physical ability that can be used to get a manual-labor job."
"Except the humans," mentioned Bova. "And manual labor is pretty much ruled out for them in more than one gee."
"That's OK!" said Rosie. "You guys will be able to find jobs anywhere in this city! They don't have to be manual."
"Manual will pay more than fast food," said Harlan. "But I guess I will have to practice saying 'Do you want fries with that?'"
Radu and Catalina looked at Harlan strangely.
"We don't know the language," said Catalina. "How are we supposed to get a job if we can't communicate?"
"How do you think I managed to talk to them?" said Seth. "Fifteen minutes plugged into a thought machine and you'll have a sixth-grade vocabulary. Wonderful invention it is, I wish we had technology like that but it's strictly government-regulated. It's what they did to me first thing, and Radu while he was in the tank."
Radu looked at the commander with curiosity. "They did *what?*"
"That's why you were in for 2 hours instead of one. I figured it would be easier to get it over with then, and you got a longer session anyway. Usually you have to be awake for it, but since you're a latent telepath yourself they said it would work anyway."
"I can't speak Derezian..."
"Not until you hear it, you can't."
Radu shrugged. He'd had worse things in his head than foreign languages. "What about everyone else?"
"That wonderfully charming woman who gave us our Monstrous Bill will be coming to this place tomorrow to get you all charged."
"Love the sound of that," said Bova.
[pic]
"This city is huge," said Rosie, looking up at the buildings towering over her head.
"Yes, it is," said Radu, grasping her small hand in his. "Must be full of dangerous people too," he said, looking at her small, young-looking body.
"Oh Radu, don't you become Mister Macho Protector. I can take care of myself, you know. Not many people would like to attack a girl who can burn a hole through them."
"I'm still going to worry about you. A lot of people are going to think you are a helpless little girl."
"I'm two years older than you, Radu."
"Yeah, but I look fifteen years older than you."
"Oh, let's not argue, OK?"
"OK... I wouldn't want to argue with you anyway. But if anyone tries to lay a finger on you, I'll break their arm."
Rosie looked over at Radu. He had changed in appearance since she met him in Starcademy over five years earlier, but he still tended to worry. She thought, though, that some of Harlan's confidence had worn off on him. This Radu would be willing to fight for her and not be afraid.
"Thanks. I love you, Radu."
There, the smile. Rosie loved Radu's smile.
"Yeah, I love you too, Rosie."
[pic]
The next evening, the crew of the Christa sat in their makeshift gathering place, eating fast food from the joint where Harlan now worked. Radu and Rosie had both gotten jobs doing lowly construction jobs, Rosie helping several other people to weld metal beams together, and Radu, with the help of an alien woman, loading the welded beams onto a truck and unloading fresh supplies. Goddard and Davenport had been reduced to cleaning personnel at a nearby hotel, and Catalina, unable and unwilling to leave Titania alone, had gotten a bottom-rank, new-kid job working at a multiracial (damn was it multiracial) day care center where nobody EVER mixed up the kids. Bova had snagged the best temp job of them all, talking an electrical repair crew (the kind that did dangerous, high-voltage stuff) into letting him join. Since he could take an electrical jolt higher than the repair crew could with safety gear on, he had been hired as their canary-in-a-coal-mine, testing switches and wires for current before the others got to work.
"Only got zapped three times today!" said Bova, antennae crackling slightly. "The last one would have killed any of the guys but I took it like a MAN! Hah!"
"Are you sure you are all right?" asked Radu, who could hear Bova's rapid pulse.
"Well, to be honest, I think that last one was a little too much, but I'll be fine! It was a fluke anyway, the first two didn't even hurt!"
[pic]
Xenia looked down on them... the two aliens, walking alone in the early morning darkness to their new jobs. The taller one was strong, with a lot of mass... the smaller one not as strong but with internal energy that burned at her senses. Either of them would be perfect to siphon. A way off of this blasted, awful planet, on to new solar systems, new planets, new crimes to commit. Perfect.
Xenia jumped from the fire escape of the old warehouse she was living in and began to follow them. Not today, she thought. But later... later, when they are going to leave... later.
She set off after them.
Part Four: Why Don't You Get a Job?
The crew of the Christa converted Titania's room, the fourth in the women's block, into a meeting room of sorts. The bed, with help from a resident Andromedan, had been propped up against the wall and Catalina had donated the extra mattress to Radu, who just barely managed to avoid hitting the bedframe with two. Derezians, he thought, must be a lot lighter than Andromedans, or even humans.
The seven people plus one cloned-spliced baby sat in this room now, barely managing to squeeze in and sit on the floor. The topic of conversation: employment.
"We have an advantage, at least," said Rosie. "All of us have some physical ability that can be used to get a manual-labor job."
"Except the humans," mentioned Bova. "And manual labor is pretty much ruled out for them in more than one gee."
"That's OK!" said Rosie. "You guys will be able to find jobs anywhere in this city! They don't have to be manual."
"Manual will pay more than fast food," said Harlan. "But I guess I will have to practice saying 'Do you want fries with that?'"
Radu and Catalina looked at Harlan strangely.
"We don't know the language," said Catalina. "How are we supposed to get a job if we can't communicate?"
"How do you think I managed to talk to them?" said Seth. "Fifteen minutes plugged into a thought machine and you'll have a sixth-grade vocabulary. Wonderful invention it is, I wish we had technology like that but it's strictly government-regulated. It's what they did to me first thing, and Radu while he was in the tank."
Radu looked at the commander with curiosity. "They did *what?*"
"That's why you were in for 2 hours instead of one. I figured it would be easier to get it over with then, and you got a longer session anyway. Usually you have to be awake for it, but since you're a latent telepath yourself they said it would work anyway."
"I can't speak Derezian..."
"Not until you hear it, you can't."
Radu shrugged. He'd had worse things in his head than foreign languages. "What about everyone else?"
"That wonderfully charming woman who gave us our Monstrous Bill will be coming to this place tomorrow to get you all charged."
"Love the sound of that," said Bova.
[pic]
"This city is huge," said Rosie, looking up at the buildings towering over her head.
"Yes, it is," said Radu, grasping her small hand in his. "Must be full of dangerous people too," he said, looking at her small, young-looking body.
"Oh Radu, don't you become Mister Macho Protector. I can take care of myself, you know. Not many people would like to attack a girl who can burn a hole through them."
"I'm still going to worry about you. A lot of people are going to think you are a helpless little girl."
"I'm two years older than you, Radu."
"Yeah, but I look fifteen years older than you."
"Oh, let's not argue, OK?"
"OK... I wouldn't want to argue with you anyway. But if anyone tries to lay a finger on you, I'll break their arm."
Rosie looked over at Radu. He had changed in appearance since she met him in Starcademy over five years earlier, but he still tended to worry. She thought, though, that some of Harlan's confidence had worn off on him. This Radu would be willing to fight for her and not be afraid.
"Thanks. I love you, Radu."
There, the smile. Rosie loved Radu's smile.
"Yeah, I love you too, Rosie."
[pic]
The next evening, the crew of the Christa sat in their makeshift gathering place, eating fast food from the joint where Harlan now worked. Radu and Rosie had both gotten jobs doing lowly construction jobs, Rosie helping several other people to weld metal beams together, and Radu, with the help of an alien woman, loading the welded beams onto a truck and unloading fresh supplies. Goddard and Davenport had been reduced to cleaning personnel at a nearby hotel, and Catalina, unable and unwilling to leave Titania alone, had gotten a bottom-rank, new-kid job working at a multiracial (damn was it multiracial) day care center where nobody EVER mixed up the kids. Bova had snagged the best temp job of them all, talking an electrical repair crew (the kind that did dangerous, high-voltage stuff) into letting him join. Since he could take an electrical jolt higher than the repair crew could with safety gear on, he had been hired as their canary-in-a-coal-mine, testing switches and wires for current before the others got to work.
"Only got zapped three times today!" said Bova, antennae crackling slightly. "The last one would have killed any of the guys but I took it like a MAN! Hah!"
"Are you sure you are all right?" asked Radu, who could hear Bova's rapid pulse.
"Well, to be honest, I think that last one was a little too much, but I'll be fine! It was a fluke anyway, the first two didn't even hurt!"
[pic]
Xenia looked down on them... the two aliens, walking alone in the early morning darkness to their new jobs. The taller one was strong, with a lot of mass... the smaller one not as strong but with internal energy that burned at her senses. Either of them would be perfect to siphon. A way off of this blasted, awful planet, on to new solar systems, new planets, new crimes to commit. Perfect.
Xenia jumped from the fire escape of the old warehouse she was living in and began to follow them. Not today, she thought. But later... later, when they are going to leave... later.
She set off after them.