Chaos in the Night 8

Chapter 8

When Newtonius set its orbit and the first tri-photon cage shuttles arrived, Omja Phookan boarded with the Inspectors. As they were checking the log books and tagging the cargo, Omja was seeking out the starship's seer, who was slow in waking up. Actually, Milo had set his waking coordinates for a week past arrival time, hoping to avoid some crew members who might be getting up on the wrong side of their coffins. Omja entered the seer's quarters with the help of a sleep master (another expense to forward on to the escapees bill) and with an override code Milo was groggily awoken.

As a seer, Milo was granted some of the nicest accommodations on the vessel. He had a regular sleep coffin and an oversized coffin, big enough for a party, and the room itself was nicely fitted with chairs, a couch and an entertainment center. Seers were a well paid necessity and for the most part treated like dignitaries. Milo liked to stay outside of deep sleep for extended periods of time, so as part of his contract he had the quarters specially designed. The oversized deep sleeper was a must for those times when he took a midshipman or galley cook in for a long nap.

He was used to waking up at the finish of a trip alone, though. “Hello, who are you, and what the hell do you want?” Milo slicked his mussed hair back and stepped naked from the coffin. Omja handed him a towel, but Milo ignored the gesture and stepped into a corner upright cleansing tank.

“I am Omja Phookan. I have a deal for you, sir.”

Milo stepped from the cleanser after a moment and accepted the towel. “I'm under contract for the return trip.” Secretly he was hoping this strange man might have a better option however; Milo wasn't sure he'd make it through the return trip alive, not if he couldn't pay off his gambling debts.

“You have many obligations. I have a client willing to absorb these for you, for a favor.”

Milo threw done the towel and began rummaging through a pile of wear suitable for the tunnels. He was anxious to get off this boat and to see something new, even if it was just an elaborate system of tunnels and the occasional sun dome. “I don't know who you've been talking to. I have a few minor debts, but they're nothing I can't resolve myself. I can make it all up in one night on Titan – I know plenty of suckers just waiting to gift their shiny pennies into my coffers.”

“I know more than you think; I know how many threepenny bets you've actually lost and how deep in the red you are. And I know how many of those 'suckers' are on the lookout for your shenanigans, sir. In fact, I've had help spreading the word on Titan that you, Milo, are en orbit and on your way in.”

Milo deflated and sunk onto his couch. “Alright, Omja whoever the hell you are; I know when I'm out of chips. What's the deal?”

–

Stephen shuddered in the auto-doc compartment. For a couple of days he slept like a baby while the machine hydrated and repaired his stress points. He wasn't terribly beat up, but the R and R did him a world of good. Draybeck, on the other hand, was just a heartbeat away from death. The rescue couldn't have happened at a later time, or the broken slave would have surely died that day.

Stephen climbed from the auto-doc, bored, and dangled his feet over the side. His friend's machine was humming along, repairing and replenishing Draybeck's ravaged body. When he came out his organs would be healthy, and his skin would be scrubbed, regrown, and smooth as a newborn's.

“Heal up, Dray, buddy; we're on our way home.” Stephen didn't know how, or who, had rescued them. He only knew what he was told: 'Do not leave this room. Within weeks you will transported back to Earth. If they find you, you will undoubtedly be tortured and sent back down to die.'

There was no way in hell he was going to leave this room. “Damn,but I'm hungry,” Stephen said to himself. He laid back down in the auto-doc and dialed up some nourishment. Not steak, and for sure it wasn't a mellow, but how else was one to pass his time in a crummy Titan meat locker?

–

Elena Consuelos and Annie were tethered to a boom and jumping around like acrobats in the Copernicus dome. The ground was deep with specially grown Titan loam and when they fell down from dizzying heights their feet, or arms, would sink into and spring forth from the vegetation. The biggest hazard was falling into each other, but when they came close they would gently collide and fold themselves together to brace against the fall. The boom was placed far enough from the dome sun that they didn't risk overexposure, but whenever they flew too close to the dome's edge a definite chill from the outside environ crept into their bones, just like a cold current would sweep the legs of a swimmer treading water in the warm gulf sea of Earth.

Elena happily noticed the ambergris necklace swinging off of Annie's neck, bouncing away from her floating breast. She said it was her most precious gift and never took it off.

Annie felt the jewel vibrate as it touched against her skin, and she clutched it and held it into her milk white cleft. “I'm feeling a little space sick; I think.”