Not So Different

Chapter 7

The stars were a beautiful sight to see.  They drifted across the sky as the earth rotated, creating dazzling streams of light.  As Jet looked out at the stars, their light seemed to reflect in her in her liquid chocolate eyes, making them dance with white fire.  When she gazed at the stars, she seemed to come alive with a new energy.  When I realized I was staring at her, I quickly turned my attention back to the stars. 

We both watched the stars in near silence until they began to fade in Grestonville's light.  I felt a wave of resentment to our society, for polluting such a beautiful sight.  I quickly tucked that feeling away as the train slowed to a stop at the eastern Grestonville Mag terminal.  Slowly I stood, stiff from travel, and stretched my taunt muscles.  When I had finished I noticed Jet was staring at me with a curious look on her face.  I shot her a questioning look. 

"You stretch like my friend Lily's cat," She said with a small smile and I couldn't help but chuckle. 

"Well, that is my nature," I replied, referring to mutant traits.

"I suppose so," Jet said with a contemplative expression.  She opened her mouth to ask a question when the doors suddenly slipped open.  Quickly she shut her mouth and turned her full attention to the terminal outside of the train, no doubt searching for police.  I did the same, scenting the air for gunpowder, and listening for the on and off clicking of radios.  Thankfully I didn't find any evidence of police or government officials in the terminal.  Satisfied that the coast was clear, I grabbed Jet's duffel bag and slung it over my shoulder, then walked out of the train, Jet behind me.

"So what do we do now?"  Jet asked as we waded through the mobs of late night commuters, likely going to either pubs or the graveyard shift. 

"We find somewhere to bunk for the night," I replied, following my list of things to do when you don't want to be found.  I'd had plenty of experience perfecting this list when avoiding foster homes over the years.  Then again, they had never really looked for me too hard.  "Come on."

I lead Jet out of the terminal and pushed my way through crowds of evening commuters, either headed for the pub of the graveyard shift at work.  After about five minutes of throwing elbows and constantly checking over my shoulder to make sure Jet was still behind me, we reached the entrance and exitted into the cool night air.  I breathed in the air deeply, glad to not be surrounded by people, and rubbed my temples to get rid of the headache caused by so many voices on my sensitive ears.  The chill of the night felt good after the stuffyness of the six hour train ride. 

"So which way?" Jet asked, looking around tentetively.  I could tell by her body language that she was not comfortable being on the streets after dark.  I couldn't blame her, the streets were dangerous enough in the day time, she knew that well enough, but at night they could get pretty rough. 

"That way," I said pointing to west towards a brightly lit area of the city.  There, I guessed, we would find most of the city's pubs, restaurants, mini casino, illegal drug dens, and, I hoped, a cheap hotel.  If I were on my own I probably would have opted to stay in an abandoned building to save money in case of emergency, but I didn't know how well Jet would handle that. 

Walking down the station's steps, I took the lead, headed towards the lit up part of Grestonville.  Street lights shone dimly above us, as they did in all of the poor sectors of any city.  The lights were only bright and reliable in the wealthy sectors, which was ironic considering the wealthy didn't walk anywhere, they just puttered around in their electro-cars.  Everything good was saved for the wealthy government workers, while the middle class and poor were left to fight for the scraps.