Shoshone Station: The Galactic Consortium season 2

Episode One: Not a Good Day to Die #6

Sophia watched Dhanvin depart. She shook her head, not sure what to make of him, or any of them really. They all seemed so friendly up here, not what she expected at all. Dhanvin, 14 below, she repeated to herself. If she went to his office in the morning, he could find her a job. Or so he insisted. Was it really that easy up here?

She looked around the court. They had referred to it as a laborer's court and they assured her account, something like .247, was more than enough to pay for a cheap hotel and food for the night.

And laundry. She smirked. They had not said one word about her gender, though scratching her face, it had to be apparent she had not been born female. They had not reacted to her being homeless, at least not the way she had expected. But they had impressed on her more than once that she had enough money for laundry. Message received.

The court was two stories and she was on the bottom floor of it. It was probably as wide as the rim court, but the lack of windows, the number of stalls in the center and the press of the second story balcony made it feel less open.

Scanning the shops on the far side of the court she saw two humans in white uniforms lounging in front a narrow store front. Next to it was a clothing shop, and then what appeared to be a barber's shop. An ape woman, they called them something else, hanuman, was getting her facial hair trimmed.

Next to the barber's was a brightly lit store that seemed to sell personal items that Sophia couldn't name or identify. A woman with a thick brow wandered the aisles, searching for something.

Sophia had been raised to believe that evolution was a hoax and creatures like Neanderthals and these ape people weren't real. Evolutionist taught that they were primitive beings, ancestors to modern humans.

Both wrong. The Consortium claimed that evolution was really a simple science, not so different from gardening. Create condition X and creature Y will evolve. Neanderthals and these apemen were simply different branches of the Simian line, not lesser than humans nor greater.

The scent of stir fry from a nearby stand caught Sophia's attention and her stomach growled, despite her recent meal. The smell was coming from the nearest stall, which seemed to be selling several variations on the same rice stir fry to a growing line of patrons. The next stall over appeared to be a coffee stand or something like it.

Sophia turned her attention to her own side of the court. She had no clue what any of the store fronts here did, but according to Dhanvin the opaque glass doors in front of her led to a cheap motel, one that would serve for the night.

The doors opened for her as she stepped up to them. Inside was a tiny lobby, the whole of it no more than five meters square. A rust color dog lay curled up on a couch to her left, watching a view screen. The right wall was entirely taken up with a counter. A small office was behind the counter space. In front of her, a passage way led deeper into the hotel. She saw other patrons heading down the passage way in her direction.

She moved out of their way and stepped up to the counter. She watched the other patrons as they passed. The woman was in a blue sarong, with sandals on her feet. The man wore pants and a loose fitting red shirt. He, too, wore sandals. Makes sense, she thought, everywhere is basically inside up here. They were talking, something about supper.

A movement behind the counter caught Sophia's eye and a moment later a creature was hopping up on a stool to regard her. It looked like an oversized poodle, thick curly white hair covered it's body. It's face featured a snoot-like mouth filled with sharp teeth and tall pointed ears. It growled out something that Sophia's collar translated as "can I help you?"