Pay Me, Bug!

Chapter 15

WHEREIN Our Hero Learns Of Yet Another Complication

When Amys, Grif, Morgan and Bennet entered Bay One they saw Cyrus and Ktk standing by the lift, arguing.

"Six hours," Cyrus insisted.

Ktk chittered in disagreement, insisting it would be at least twelve.

"All right then," Cyrus said. "That's the wager--six hours or less, I win. Twelve or more, you win. Anything in between is a draw."

Ktk agreed.

"What are they betting on?" Bennet asked.

Grif shrugged and looked at the group. "Only six of us? I expected more enthusiasm. This is as close to shore leave as we'll get in a while..."

"It's Hari's turn to stay on board," Cyrus said. "Cutter, Gurgan and Vod are keeping him company."

"OK," Grif said. "Let's go."

Tyrelos Station was actually two separate cities sharing the same location. The first city, built before the dome was erected, was tunneled into the rock itself and consisted of sealed, airtight buildings leading to an underground complex that delved deep into the rock. The second city appeared after the dome had been built and there was no longer a need for self-contained environments. The second city was more traditional in design, with buildings that rose high into the air instead of deep into the ground.

Most of the city infrastructure was located in the first city. Everything Grif found interesting was located in the second.

Grif, Cyrus, Amys, Ktk, Morgan and Bennet were in the second city, slowly making their way out of the transport hub that serviced Docks 71-80 and into the city proper. The view was spectacular. The dome provided a clear view of Obin, including some of its more prominent storms, and a swath of what appeared to be stars (but were actually fragments from the proto-ring) spread across the sky like a shining belt. The second city had no true day or night cycle: light that came through the dome was reflected off Obin, which was always visible, and bathed the city in a state of perpetual twilight. Most of the city supplemented this natural light with light fixtures, but some parts did not. Those were dangerous neighbourhoods, and people who had to walk through them didn't do so alone or unarmed.

The second city was filled with noise: noise from business storefronts advertising their goods, noises from tinned music pumped in through speakers outside of bars, noises from the air cars and grav sleds racing through the air, and noise from the citizens and visitors all talking, laughing, arguing, and occasionally spilling blood.

They made their way to a Metroline terminal and waited for the bus to appear. It did, eventually, floating a few meters over the ground traffic and slowly coming to rest on the loading platform. It was only partially full, and they were all able to sit together in the middle of the bus.

"Where are we going?" Bennet asked. He looked dazed, apparently overwhelmed by the chaotic nature of the city.

"Bar," Grif said. "Good place to relax. And do business."

"Relax and do business?" Bennet asked, raising an eyebrow. "Odd combination."

Ktk replied that perhaps Bennet needed to find more enjoyable work.

Bennet stared at it blankly.

Grif smirked.

Bennet looked at the others for a moment, then shrugged apologetically. "We don't run into too many of them in Alliance space, and when we do they're wearing voxes. Perhaps if Ktk would agree to wear one for the rest of this trip, my people could--"