Chapter 24 (Susan Ivanova)
With the initial help from the Vanguard and the simple route to the city of Tyrone, it should have been an easy journey. However, that was not the case.
Susan had been standing at her station for most of the damn day waiting for the city to arrive.
Initially she was given the coordinates by an overweight and overdressed trainee Vanguard, who was currently participating in a race to earn his stars. However, Susan was not impressed when she arrived at the coordinates only to discover a lump of metal commonly known as a beacon. Later in the day more transports arrived, only to be as equally shocked as she was. It quickly became apparent that something was terribly wrong.
Sure, Susan would have loved to spend all day chatting to the captains of the neighbouring ships, but her legs began to itch and she really wanted that skin cream. The Centauri cargo was worth more than a year's salvage and she wanted to hand it over to some dealers for cold hard credits. Tyrone was the closest and best city to hand her haul over to without too many questions. So where was that damn city?
Just as everyone assumed the worst, a small blip appeared on radar. Then the swirling clouds gradually gave way to the huge city as it slowly maneuvered itself back into position. Susan watched in amazement as the queue of ships scampered over each other in order to get out of the way. Every vessel had powered down their engines. Now having to cold-start them to get out of the city's way was no easy task. Hyperspace and conventional engines were always shut down to save fuel. Engine fuel was very expensive and only a few cities could produce the stuff. This was a disadvantage Susan knew all too well.
"Ma'am, Tyrone control is calling us," Roger said, bringing Susan back to reality.
Susan stared at the titanic city that appeared out of the mystic red clouds; she hesitated for a moment before responding. "About time they showed up. Put them through."
"This is Tyrone control to vessel one-one-seven-nine-five, you are clear for docking bay two." Susan scrunched her nose at the mechanical voice that identified her ship number and ordered her to a bay. "What's this, don't they have human control staff anymore?" She murmured.
As her vessel entered through the outer shield hatch and into the city that was lit up by lights in the sea of darkness, Susan yawned at her station and spotted Roger taking some sporting glances at her. She'd seen him do it from time to time, and this time she decided to play with him. "Excuse me, what are you looking at?"
Roger jumped at his station. "Kyahhhhh! Nothing, Nothing. Sorry Susan, I was distracted."
"Don't call me Susan. Who gave you the right to call me that? Do I not look like your captain?"
"Y-Y-Yes…"
"What is my name?"
"C-Captain."
"That's right, don't you forget it!" Now Susan was right next to Roger. She made sure that he could smell her perfume and maneuvered her slender body inside his personal space. It became obvious that the man was breaking under her playful advances. She decided to increase her cruelty. "Don't think you are off the hook that easily. I saw you looking at me. Why?"
"Ah, I just…just..." He stuttered and failed to answer. Susan was annoyed. Why can't he just say that he was looking at my ass? That would have been a flattering comment. Then a call came over the communication system. "This is docking bay two. You're clear to land, please follow the docking beam."
Saved by the bell, Susan thought. Roger may have gotten away with it this time, but she'd be sure make an appointment with him later, to continue her little torture.
Susan gazed at the huge area of land just outside the city limits that housed a multitude of buildings: shipyards, warehouses, construction sites, offices and transportation networks zigzagging into the city. Numbers marked on spacious pads indicated each landing area that was connected to the loading warehouse. From there, goods would be shipped off to the highest bidder.
However any supplies that would benefit the city would be taken and paid by the city's resource department. She loathed that department because they often undercharged for her goods and it was barely enough for fuel. She had no choice but to operate on the black market as it would fetch a good price. The city's authorities didn't mind as long as they got some of the cut too. Even in this state of human civilization, they were still twisted and devious as always, but Susan enjoyed the challenge.
After the vessel landed in its designated spot, albeit slightly off centered, Susan emerged from her vessel with her trusty crew in tow. "Make sure everything is where it's supposed to be. I don't want my stuff going missing until I've talked to my contact."
Roger looked calm. "Yes, captain. It'll be here when you return."
Susan walked down the gangway and onto the hard outer floor. The rubble at her feet prickled through her shoes and she was glad to be back on solid ground. Still, this solid ground was part of a ship in its own right, a ship that passed itself as a city. For the first time in months, she felt the wind brush through her hair and smelled the familiar scent of industrial solvents, burned metal and fruit.
She paused. Oranges? The smell was almost as good as sex. She couldn't remember the last time she tasted oranges. The only time she'd seen one, let alone tasted one, was back on Earth before the Earth-Minbari War. Unfortunately, oranges failed to survive in space. Before long there were no seeds left and oranges became things of the past.
Susan walked up to a desk beside the two warehouses and saw the plump fruit just sitting there, waiting to be touched. The round oily skin, its small little dimples. Then Susan imagined the individual sections of orange that could be peeled away and then burst in the mouth, releasing a torrent of flavor. She almost wet herself at the mere thought and was transfixed by this small orange. She could not hold back the desire.
With slow and precise movements, like stalking her pray in space, she edged forward, picked up the fruit and held it in her hands. It felt better in her hands. It felt heavy and she gripped the fruit with all her will. She would never let it go.
Suddenly, a brawny man sprang out from around the corner and snatched the fruit from her. With one bite, the enormous man, all in spoiled clothing and greasy looks, devoured half the fruit. He finished the second half as quickly as he had the first.
Susan was enraged. "You animal, don't you know you can't snatch something from a woman's hand without asking!"
The man bellowed, "Lady! This is mine. Now buzz off and let me enjoy my food or I'll hang you in the rafters to dry."
"You dyke digging tosspot. Just who the hell do you think you are? Why, I should kill you on the spot…" Susan was livid. This filthy rag of a man had just taken the most succulent piece of fruit she'd seen in a long time, and now this lowlife was talking to her like some trash. No, not any more.
She was about to strike the heavyweight giant across the face when someone barged around the corner, took her hand and tried to calm the situation. Susan needed a moment to recover from the sudden rescue, if she could call it that, and her eyes refocused on the longhaired individual.
"What do you think you're doing? I was about to kill this asshole," Susan exclaimed.
"I don't think that would be wise." Marcus gestured between Susan and the man, indicating the obvious size difference. It was simple mathematics. The man was a giant.
Susan lowered her hand and took the gesture as a warning, but she still snarled at the man who mumbled something about Vanguards and slinked off into the darkness.
Now Susan was furious at her wasted effort. First she was about to let the grubby man have all her wrath and then this longhaired wannabe prince sprang around the corner and interrupted her. No sense letting all that anger go to waste. She turned on her would-be rescuer. "Hey, who the hell are you and what do you think you are doing? I had him right where I wanted him."
"I'm sorry, Susan, but I think you were out of your league on this one."
"I'm sorry, who the hell are you and how do you know my name?" Realizing that her hands were raised to strike him, she forced herself to relax and listened to his answer.
"My name is Marcus Cole. I'm the dear sweetie that introduced himself when you blacked out everybody else on the communications channel."
Susan's eye widened. "Oh really!" She slapped him across the face. "That's for the trouble you caused me and the sly insults you beamed across my bridge."
"Sly? What do you mean?" Marcus appeared uncomfortable and unsure of himself, but Susan was not going to bow down to his puppy dog eyes.
"The 'Oh, such a lovely voice you have there' and 'you look fabulous Susan.' Do you often try and chat up female commanders on their way to this city?"
Marcus scratched his head and avoided her eyes. "Well, I don't think I said it quite like that. I was being friendly." Marcus suddenly changed the subject in a smooth transition that impressed her. "And speaking of friendly, why don't I offer you a warm welcome to the city of Tyrone and a first class tour to the farm greenhouses on the outskirts of the city. There are hundreds of ripe and ready to pick oranges which I would be happy to purchase for you."
Marcus seemed arrogant, like a prince on horseback with a huge grin on his face. But Susan could not pass on the idea of…oranges… She had forgotten the taste. The tangy scent lingering in her nose was all she needed to convince her to accept the offer.
Marcus grinned like a boy and kindly escorted her away from the dingy loading area. An overhead crane drowned out his rambling and Susan could not hear anything. Once the huge crane passed, Marcus explained that he had just arrived on the city.
"Wait one minute. If you just arrived on this city, how the hell do you know the location of the oranges?" Susan was not going to fall into this trap; this longhaired weirdo was clearly up to something. What, was another question.
"I make it a habit to learn where all the essentials are and I ran into someone selling oranges." Marcus pulled an orange from his pocket and teased her. "He told me where I could find them."
Susan looked at the orange, eyes transfixed. Her mouth watered and she wanted it. She was just about to grab the fruit, but Marcus nudged it away, mischievously teasing her. Susan resented being controlled by a mere stranger. She gave him such a look of scorn he immediately handed the delicious fruit over.
Staring in the direction of her hands, She glanced at Marcus. He raised a brow in response. Susan was as ecstatic as a child finding a bag of candy, but she didn't want to share it with anyone. She glanced around to see if anyone was watching. But Susan didn't want to show her weakness for the delightful fruit and she certainly didn't want Marcus to think she owed him anything. He was still a man who meant nothing to her.
She dug her forefinger into the textured skin of the orange and heard the pleasant spray of encased juices that ran down her hand. Its cool trickle sent a tingle up her spine and she had the divine impulse to eat the fruit before she pealed it. Susan resisted the urge and removed the thick skin and tore the orange in half. The slices were plump with flesh and juice, and her mouth watered in anticipation.
The citrusy smell brought back memories of her last encounter with an orange and those specific memories made her feel delighted. She peeled the first slice away from the rest of the fruit. It was a slice of heaven, something she had forgotten during the years of hiding and running and then the eventual successes of her own ship and crew.
Susan couldn't restrain herself any longer, she slipped the first slice between her lips, enjoying the cool sensation against her tongue.
She didn't taste much at first, but when she bit down, she sputtered ever so slightly as the tangy flavor caught her off guard. She moaned in delight. She thought she remembered the taste, but re-experiencing it after so many years made her realize how awfully inadequate that particular memory was.
"Tasty?" asked Marcus, grinning from ear to ear.
Susan jumped having lost herself in this stupid piece of fruit. Heat rushed up her face as embarrassment filled her. "Why you…" She lifted her hand to slap him, but she caught herself. After all, he did help her out of a difficult situation and introduced her to the fruit gardens. She decided to let him off the hook, scrunched her nose at him and walked off, holding what was left of the fruit.