18 Isten 1117: Fugitak – Adar/Hinterworlds (0602 C5A027A-5 Lo Ni De A 125 Na F2V M3D)
Varan came back into the room sometime around 0200. I woke up long enough to realize who it was, then went back to sleep. When I did wake up some hours later, he was still asleep.
The rooms we were in didn’t have a private fresher, so I went to the communal one at the end of the hallway. I had it to myself; it seemed as if we were the only guests here. After cleaning up, I went back to the common room to get some coffee and something to eat.
Whoever had programmed the fabricators here had apparently been in the Navy; the coffee was strong enough that it could probably have held shape without the mug. I also grabbed some bacon and eggs. It’s hard to screw those up, even from a fabricator, and it was fine once I got over the fact that every strip of bacon looked identical. But it tasted like bacon which was all that mattered.
Then I got to work. The first thing I had to do was to sell the spec cargoes I had picked up. I tried checking the local net, but there wasn’t a lot there. Though, I suppose that when there are only about 250 people on the entire planet, there wasn’t a lot of discussion going on.
Actually, the planet had more than 250 people on it. A lot more. The real population was in the thousands, but most of them were contract workers for the permanent residents. Not that it mattered, really.
I eventually found a few buyers, mostly from outlying homesteads who had just learned we had come in. Hard to believe that we were only two parsecs from the nearest Imperial planet and yet the landing of a Free Trader was significant news. As a Traveller, it’s sometimes too hard to realize how many people never leave their homeworld, or even pay that much attention to what happens beyond it.
I finished up a little after midday. The common room had filled up while I was working and was now starting to empty again. I looked around and saw Jami in an intense conversation with one of the local women. I waved in her direction, but she didn’t appear to notice me.
Looking around further, I saw Varan standing near the entrance. I waved in his direction as well and he, after a final look around the room, came over.
“What’s up, Captain?” he said as he sat down. He looked around then saw the waitbot, started to flag it over, then lowered his hand.
“Not a lot so far,” I said. Made us about 120 k-creds this morning.
“Really!” He said, sitting up a bit. “Not bad, for here.”
“Everyone wants something.”
“Nice job!’
“So… how are your own dealings with the locals going?”
“Um… let me get some lunch first.”
“Hey, I’m not here to pry into your business.”
“Not all of us have your suave charm.”
“It’s a gift.”
“It’s… not bad,” he said, suppressing a laugh. “But I do need something to eat.”
I waved towards the dispensers. “Help yourself. I probably should get some lunch too.”
I wound up with a beer and what the dispenser claimed was a sandwich, but instead of bread, I wound up with meat and cheese between two thick leaves of some kind. I couldn’t even identify it. I thought about asking the Grayswandir what it was but in the end, shrugged and ate it. It wasn’t bad, and I guessed I got my vegetables for the day.
Varan was eating pak’tmi, thin strips of cheese and nearly raw meat. It was a Vegan dish, and I was surprised to see it available here. I pointed.
“At least Do’rex has something he can eat.”
Varan waved one of the strips at me. “I think this is his template. It tastes like it anyway. And I’m pretty sure this wasn’t on the menu yesterday. He probably uploaded it sometime during the night.”
“We’ll probably get fined for that.”
“Yeah, they’ve got fines for everything. I think that’s how they supplement income around here.”
“Regimented, too,” I said. “I’m looking at setting up interviews for cargoes and passengers, and apparently they have fixed times and places for everything.”
“And every place is here,” he said, gesturing around the room as he took his last bite. “It seems like they use this one room for everything.”
“Yeah, the meetings I’m setting up have all been in here. And only during certain times; I can’t interfere with meals.”
He concentrated on his meal for a bit, then looked back up. “You know, I was kinda surprised you were in the room alone last night.”
“I have to sleep sometimes.”
“I thought you and Saahna had made up?”
“No. She’s backed off a bit from her ‘hands-off’ stance, but we aren’t back together yet. Why?”
“I just… had heard you were back on.”
Why was Varan suddenly so interested in my relationship status? I thought for a moment, then suddenly realized what had happened.
“She shut you down, didn’t she?”
He flushed and looked away. “Hey, we’ve been working closely together for years. And have you seen her in a CES?” He shook his head. “I thought you were out of the picture so I figured I could make my move.”
“I know Saahna well enough to know that didn’t end well.”
“And I thought she was dangerous with a gun…”
I laughed at that, feeling oddly relieved at what he had said. Maybe? I didn’t want to think about that too much.
“Hey, be glad she only used words. I’ve seen what she’s done to some other guys who got friendlier than she liked. Besides, I thought you were out last night, anyway?”
He shrugged. “I was. Then… her husband called in the middle of the night.”
“That must have been awkward.”
“You would think, but apparently it wasn’t that big of a deal to either of them. I felt kinda weird about it though, so I left as soon as she went back to sleep.”
“Should have stayed. Different planet, different customs. You’re a good enough Steward that you should know that.”
“Yeah, I know. It’s just the first time I’ve hit that one.”
“If you see her again tonight, just go and apologize. She may get over it.”
“You looking after my sex life now, Captain?”
“No, I just want the room to myself.” We both laughed at that.
Passenger and cargo offers started to trickle in, and the two of us looked over them for a while. Then he excused himself to go supervise the life support orders for the week and probably to talk to his local friend. I looked around a final time. Jami and her friend had left, and if Saahna had come through I hadn’t seen her. I picked up my notes and headed back to the room to go over the offers in more detail.