Jago: The Millennium Galaxy Race

Chapter 12: Gifts

The next day Rei took me shopping.

"What are we looking for?" I asked. We were inside a travel shuttle heading deeper into the city this time.

"Tammy asked if we could get her some items for her projects."

We traveled almost to the center of the city before getting out in front of a bunch of small shops. Rei glanced at a map on the hologram bracelet she wore.

"It should be close by here," she said searching around between people. "There it is!"

It was a small store filled almost to the brim with electronics and trinkets. Rei began gathering specific items while I surveyed the stuff on sale. Something glowing caught my attention. I picked it up to take a closer look.

It looked like a little star in a tiny black vial.

"Ah, I see you activated the firestar."

I turned to see to see a woman with scaly jet black skin. Definitely not human, but she did have soft green human eyes.

"Those are rare," she said. "It's one of the galaxy's tiniest stars. It's said that if it resonates well with you, when you die, it will also burn out and be reborn anew for someone else to carry."

I looked down at the vial in my hand. The firestar flickered for a moment before slowly burning out. What did that mean? I wasn't dead. I raised my eyebrows at the woman, wondering if she had an explanation.

"Ah, so it's not you, but someone your soul has connected with who would resonate well with it. They've left an impression strong enough to allow the star to glow momentarily."

I didn't know how, but I knew Kiko was the one who activated it. It had to be her. She loved the stars; she was the only one who spent more time in the sky deck than me.

Once, when we were both gazing into space I'd glanced at her, and suddenly she was more intriguing than the rare meteor shower of lights we were lucky enough to witness. Her face lit up as streaks of light glittered the dark room like it was raining twinkling stars. I knew she could feel me watching because soon her eyes met mine, but I still couldn't look away. We had held each other's gaze, and I was mesmerized. Then she smiled, making my heart race. That was the first time I knew I wanted to stay on the Jago. A memory I would never forget.

"How much?" I asked.

"Since you know someone who will resonate well with it, I'll sell it to you for six thousand Yomen."

I wasn't sure if that was a bargain or not, but I wanted to get it for Kiko so I bought it. Then I felt bad only getting something for her, so I browsed around to find gifts for the others.

I looked in a pile of scrap I thought Tammy would find interesting and found something else that caught my eye.

It was small and rectangular, and I could easily squeeze it in my fist, but what I liked about it the most was its color. It was mainly silver but also radiated a sheen like Tammy's hair. I didn't know what it was, but it reminded me of her and was pretty, so I decided to get it.

It was harder to find stuff for Rei and Cashel, so I ended up getting them memory flashers. They were rings that could capture an image and display it as a hologram or you could send it to another programmed ring, which is what I figured Rei and Cashel would do the most.

Altogether I spent almost my entire allowance on gifts. I didn't care though because it wasn't like I had any other reason to spend it. I helped Rei find the rest of the items on her list; then we headed out to flag down a shuttle. I was about to call one passing by, but she suddenly gasped and grabbed my arm, pulling me aside.