Mission Anchor: The Aftermath

Chapter Two

My name is Maeve. I am 17 years old. I was seven when I moved to Aqualite with my family. Ever since, it has been a wonderful home. My family and I live in the borough of Rucoba. I work as a trader. I buy things from one person and sell those items to another for more. It doesn't make me too much money to be filthy rich like the millionaires on Earth, but it's enough to make a living, and provide for my family too. I also have another part-time job on Mareita as a mechanic. I help fix the boats and the ghers-underwater cars that have jets.

My best friend is a boy named Lorcan. He's 17 as well, and also works as a trader. His family lives across the street from us, so when we were younger, sleepovers occurred almost every night. And it was super convenient and easy; you could just walk across the street, ask if you could have a sleepover, then go back across to get your stuff.

Right now, I'm on my way to Mareita to start my weekly Saturday shift. I work 7am to 3pm on Saturdays. I can't sleep in, but it's only one day a week I have to wake up early, so I'm cool with it. Then I work from 4pm to 12am, Sunday through Friday. Weekdays are torture, because it's long hours after a long day of school, but if that's the time when I have to work to get money, then so be it.

I hopped in my family's gher, and drove it to the train station's parking lot. Train stations on every borough have terminals that can take you from one borough to another. It's like going to a train station and getting off at a stop in a different town.

It's a spacious place, with terminals everywhere for shuttles going to different boroughs. Every station in Aqualite has 28 terminals for the shuttles: each destination borough gets two tunnels for inbound transport, so 14, and two each for outbound transport, so another 14.

It has most things an airport would have, like a convenience store, ticket booths, security measures, and areas to wait in while your shuttle comes.

I scanned my ticket card and went to sit in the waiting area at the shuttle tunnel going to "Rucoba". I started using a ticket card last summer since I have to go on daily trips to Rucoba. You renew it every January 1st. It has enough tickets on it for me to go two ways a day for 400 days, in case I need to go on multiple trips in a day. It would be an inefficient hustle to buy single tickets every day, so the ticket card is great because you only pay for it annually, and it's a tiny card that is hard to misplace if you need it every day.

I was sitting in my seat, peacefully reading my book--all books are laminated in Aqualite so they're waterproof--"A Peaceful Getaway", when someone, bumped into me and walked away, causing me to lose my page in my book.

"Hey!" I said in frustration, turning to face the guy.

"'Hey' is for horses!" the guy said, his voice fading. He scanned his ticket card and walked back my way. He did a sideways smile. It was Lorcan.

He sat down next to me, carefully minding where he was putting his stuff. He looked at me and said, "Sorry about that, Mae, I thought I was going to be late for the shuttle. Guess I'm not." he shrugged.

I shoved his closest shoulder, rolling my eyes. "Yeah, right. You've never been late before."

"There's always a first for everything." he replied and then pointed out the window, "See? I was almost late!"

I looked where he was pointing, and sure enough outside the window, there was the shuttle pulling into the tunnel. It was a long, capsule-shaped vehicle that easily glided through the water, at a steadfast pace. It was like a mini submarine. 

I shook my head with a chuckle. "Guess you are. C'mon." I put my bookmark in a random page in the book and put my book back in my bag. I closed my bag, hopping up from my seat, and headed for the line to scan my ticket and get on the shuttle.

Lorcan followed closely behind me. He glanced at his watch. "Geez, it's already 6:45. We're going to be late! How mad do you think Hug's going to get at us?"

"We'll make it in time, I know it. It's only like a five-minute ride to get to Rucoba." I scanned my card.

"If you say so,"

"I'll be right. I always am."

"Whatever you say, Mae." he smirked, and wasted no time getting his card scanned and boarding the shuttle.

The interior of the shuttle was huge. It had two floors, with about 30 two-seater rows on each side of the shuttle. It had air conditioning, and a fan at the top of the two floors for more cool air. There was a narrow staircase to go from one floor to the other, making a wide space in the shuttle, so you could see the other floor without going to it.

We sat where we always do, the right side in the 17th row on the top floor. This gives us an optimal view of Aqualite, and the middle rows are also just fun to be in.

"So Lorcan, ready for another day of work?"

"You bet!" he said sarcastically. He lowered his eyes, side-eyed me, and shook his head.

I just started chuckling. He gave me a goofy puzzled expression, and soon enough, he started laughing as well. Other passengers turned to look at us weirdly, but it didn't matter. What mattered was that I was laughing and having a good time with my best friend.

Time passed, and soon, we were arriving at the terminal at Rucoba. We got off and headed out the station to start our track to work.

Rucoba was an interesting place. It had lots of high sand piles and dozens of rocks, making it not the prettiest place ever, but not the ugliest place ever either.

We turned the corner, making small talk as we went about our festivities over the weekend, and soon approaching a place that looks like a junkyard. Our job. One of the many trading centers in the borough.

A tall man walked up to us and sneered, "You were almost late. Get here sooner next time."

That's Hug for you. Same old, same old. Some people just never change.

"We're deeply sorry, Hug. The shuttles are all backed up today, so it's behind schedule a bit. I promise you; we'll get here way earlier before our shift tomorrow." Lorcan stated.

"You better. Now get to work. Lots of things to trade today!" He said, putting on a fake smile and turned on his heel, just as customers were coming up to him.

"Welcome. What can I do for you guys?" he asked sweetly, his voice dripping of sarcasm. They started chatting and walked away.

I turned to face my friend. "Well, that was...something."

"Tell me about it. But he's always been like that, Maeve. Changes tones in an instant. Now c'mon, let's get to work. We have "lots of things to trade today!" Mimicking what Hug had previously said.

I punched his shoulder ever so slightly and walked away, approaching the incoming customers to talk about trading their items.