TheTraveler - book 1

by Robin Marienus Miller

  Then Owsee shouted out, "owner, a picture of ale."

  The short orange man brought us a picture of ale and two mugs, then asked, "Will there be anything else?"

  Owsee, "do you still have that keg of rum we were drinking from?"

  Barkeeper, "yes, I held that one back, I'll get it for you."

  Owsee, "and some jumbo sticks."

  As the bartender left Owsee put his bag between us and opened it up just a bit, then said, "look what I have brought, fire powder. It's only about 10% of the bag the med lab gave me, but more than we need I think."

  I said, "so that's why you ordered the jumbo sticks."

  Owsee, "I also like to eat them, they are a nice treat."

  The bar keeper came back with the barrel and said, "I'll get you some glasses and the jumbo sticks."

  Then Owsee said, "just a minute, take this bag and cut it into three bags."

  No problem, the man said. And he quickly returned with two glasses, some jumbo sticks, and three equal bags of the fire powder. Then he asked what the powder was.

  Owsee said, "it's firewater powder. Here, this bag is yours."

  Bar keeper, "what, so I can make my own firewater?"

  Owsee, "check it out."

  And with that he tossed one bag to me and opened the other. Then he put a pinch on the table and snorted it up with a jumbo stick, and said, "oh yeah, this is the good stuff from med lab."

  Bartender, "this is med lab grade? Let me try that." Then he opened his bag, put a pinch on the table, and snorted it up, saying, "oh yeah, that's the good stuff all right. Thank you."

  Owsee, "no problem, enjoy yourself."

  Then I said to the man, "I hear we cannot pronounce your name. But is there another name we can call you?"

  Bar owner, "Owsee, tell him how many years I have had this bar."

  Owsee, "about 14, I think."

  Bar owner, "and in all those years, no one has ever asked me what I would like to be called, not even Owsee."

  Owsee, "I'm not big on names. My name is only the day I was born."

  I said, "well, I don't want to just keep on calling you barkeeper, or hey bartender. You own this place and deserve some respect."

  Bar owner, "respect, you see, he thinks I should be respected."

  Owsee, "of course you should, everyone deserves some respect."

  Owner, "in my language, barkeeper is the same as slave or worker. But there is a title word we use in front of our names, that means Mr. or sir. But without the name means, lord of the manor. It is pronounced, "Goo da wa."

  I said, "Goo da wa, I like that. Thank you for the service, and the delivery of the rum Goo da wa."

  Goo da wa, "thank you for a name." And he went back to the bar.

  Then Owsee reached over to the barrel and drew two large glasses of rum and said, "what shall we drink to?"

  I said, "how about to knowing people's names."

  Owsee, "to knowing people's names." And we drank.

  I turn the music on, and to something soothing, as Owsee nodded his head in approval. We did more lines of fire powder and put some in our rum.

  “Blue goo two”

  Then there was the sound of breaking glass at the front of the bar. It was done just to get Goo da wa's attention, by a large, hairy purple beast. I tuned in my earpiece to hear what was going on. She was the mate of the one that died, and was in a very bad mood, to say the least.

  Out of one ear, I could hear Owsee saying, "she is going to kill somebody." And out the other, her asked Goo da wa about her mates remains; of which Goo da wa said they always incinerate the bodies.

  She wanted to know what happened to his ship. He replied it was impounded for overdue repair bills.

  At that point I reached under the table and turned the gem on my finger until the small light came on.

  "Who has the ship?" She screamed at him.

  He reached for his shock stick, but she grabbed him with one hand around his throat, and the other hand got hold of the shock stick. With a flick of her fingers she snapped the stick in two, and pulled him up on the bar asked who had the ship.

  I stood up and yelled at her, "I do! And it’s not for sale."

  She released Goo da wa, drew a knife, and threw it at my chest. The blade stopped cold, and fell to the floor. She reached for an energy weapon and I raised my hand, then gave the air a good push toward her. She flew 10 feet, and hit the door with her chest split open. Then the door opened, letting her body fall mostly outside, and the guards drag it away.

  I sat back down and Goo da wa brought me the gun she was going to use on me. I told him to keep it, that he may need it more than I, but the knife I put under my cloak.

  Owsee said, "that was a brave thing you did for Goo da wa, I was not sure you had it in you."

  I said, "having it in you is not a problem, letting it out is not a problem, it's knowing when to stop that is sometimes hard."

  Owsee, "I understand that. Sometimes I think I may have gone too far myself, from time to time. But let's not talk about that now, look what else I have brought with me. My pipe and some of that weed plant to smoke. Don’t worry about what just happened."

  So we lit up a bowl, and poured ourselves shots of rum.

  Then the bartender, Goo da wa, came over and asked if we had any extra weed plan we would sell.

  At that Owsee said, "hold out your hand."

  Owsee then reached into his bag and pulled out a large handful of buds, and put them in Goo da wa's hand.

  "How much should I charge?" He asked.

  Owsee said, "whatever is the going price, and give the credits to my teacher here. He could use some more walking around money."

  And with that, Goo da wa went back behind the bar and dealt with the people that wanted something to smoke. Before long, the whole place was one big cloud of high smoke.

  Then Goo da wa turn on the overhead fan that sucked all the smoke out.

  Owsee said, "I hope that cloud don't float over the docks, or all my workers will no longer feel like working."

  We laughed at the thought of it then Owsee said, "I notice that the gem in your ring still glows a bit even when it is off. It's kind of hypnotic. And it goes well with those red and black gloves. By the way, how do they feel?"

  I said, "they are so thin I don't even notice I have them on. And the hole the shopkeeper put in the finger seems to seal itself around the gem perfectly."

  Owsee, "just like the Elvin ware, they have a bit of nano-tech in them. You got a good deal from Kitty. Are you going to ask her if she wants to be your mate?"

  I said, "I'm not sure, what do you think?"

  He said, "I think she is one hell of a woman. She would make you a good mate."

  I said, "you're right, I should talk to her."

  Owsee, "go, go do it now."

  I said, "but I would need to slip past the guards. I don't want to try that just now, after what happened. They can see her shop and know I’m in here. I just don’t need any more trouble."

  Owsee, "then call her, ask her to come over here. Tell her you have something important to ask her."

  I said, "I would feel more comfortable if it came from you."

  Owsee, "you want me to negotiate for you?"

  I said, "something like that."

  Owsee, "no problem, I can do it with ease, and if she turns down the deal it's not like she is turning down you."

  So he called her on the intercom, and asked her to come over. She came right away and said, "what is so important?"

  Owsee, "I’m negotiator for a proposal. Do you want to be life mate with this human?"

  She looked at me, then smiled and said, "yes, but not until the children are born. Until then, he can be "protector with rights."

  Owsee, "okay, it’s a deal, you can go back to work."

  She smiled at me and left with a bit of a skip in her walk. I asked Owsee, “what is this, "protector with rights," business."

  Owsee, "it means she will go where y
ou go, and you make sure she is safe. She will not want to have sex until the children are born. But it is well worth the wait I think. Oh yes, everything she owns you may use. After she delivers you are life mate, and it all goes to you. However, you must provide for her and the children. I think that just about sums it up. There is nothing you must sign, there is no contract. If you ever want to leave her, you just go. But I tell you this, she will be faithful to you and never leave, that is their way."

  I said, "well we have a shopkeeper going with us."

  Owsee, "yes, and I'm sure Goo da wa will come with us as well."

  I asked how long it would be before we left. He said he would have to sell the mine first, but that it should not take long. He would try to give everyone a few days notice.

  Owsee, "after the mine is sold they will most likely turn the water to the station off, to get rid of everyone. They have been trying to shut us down for a long time now. They want the work to go to the planet. Anyone that does not go with us will most likely go there. So when I leave I will not feel bad that the blast will take out half the station. Because there will be no one left. But I don't want to think about it now. Right now we celebrate."

  I said I was getting hungry and Owsee asked Goo da wa for two of his very good meat sandwiches. When he brought them over Owsee asked him if he could be ready to leave with two days notice.

  Goo da wa , "I can do it in one, if I have help. Are we leaving soon?"

  Owsee, "I need to sell the mine first. But that will not take long."

  Goo da wa, "you can sell it in a day, if you don't care what happens to the station when you leave."

  Owsee said he didn't care because everyone would be gone anyway. Goo da wa said he would start packing, and went back to work.

  Owsee, "that's two going with us. He is the best bartender I have ever known, and he is loyal. I will build a bar just for him, so I can feel safe there."

  Then Goo da wa came back and gave me a credit chip for the smoke he sold. Then he handed me a beautiful pipe with white dragons on it, that was encrusted with many precious stones on a gold finish, and said, “this is for you.”

  I said it was beautiful, but much too valuable to give to me.

  He said, "something only has value if you can buy or sell it. I think this is worth much less than my life, but I need to start somewhere."

  "Thank you," I said, as he went back to the bar. Still a bit stunned by such a luxurious gift.

  Owsee said, "let's take a look at that chip."

  He put it in a slot in the table, and it read 1000. He handed it to me and said, "there is no way he got that much for those buds, not by a long shot. And that pipe, I have never seen a better one, it must be worth a small fortune. It has a lot of stones in it, I think you have made a friend. Look at this, it has a cover that opens and closes with a touch. And if you squeeze the sides of the dragon it spits out fire to light, very clever."

  I said, "yes it's a very nice pipe, let's see how it smokes."

  So I filled it up and lit it. Then sat back feeling like some kind of a king, smoking a jewel encrusted pipe. At that moment, I could not imagine life getting much better.

  I then said, "would you like to hear another poem?"

  Owsee, "I'm always ready to learn another poem."

  I said, "I have a short one for you."

  "When Dragon's breath hath touch my soul, experienced I the metaphysical. And when I seek poetic pause, shadows write upon the walls. That dark secrets float on the brightest days, so the faint of heart will not dismay. When within their minds the true dose fall, what the shadows wrote upon the walls."

  Owsee, "yes, I think this one has deep meaning my friend. You never disappoint me. I hope I can remember all your stories until I can write them down."

  I said, "you told me you need to put chips in protective storage on your planet. Could you build a room to work in, for them?"

  Owsee, "only if it is underwater. Small chips are all right, but you cannot put much data on one. That's why we must memorize all our stories, and that is why they are so valuable to us."

  I said, "so I take it the electronic store will not be going with us."

  Owsee, "no, most of his things would have no use on my world."

  I said, "he has a lot of things in his shop. Can he moved in two days?"

  Owsee, "his shop is really just two large storage modules. He can have a carryall pick him up at any time. I don't know where he will go."

  I asked, "what about the diner you told me about?"

  Owsee, "she will probably go back to the fourth planet. That's where she is from. The diner is owned by me anyway, and it is on my ship's side of the station. There will not be much left to it after we take off. It was never much of a place anyway. Just food for the miners and those that stop here. Goo da wa makes a better meat sandwich I think."

  I said, "what about the other places?"

  Owsee, "there will be no one to sell to when the repair work closes down. The administration building, and the guards quarter's, are on the other side of the station. They made us build them just so they could tax us. I wish they were on the ship's side so I could see them burn when we take off."

  I said, "I never much cared for guards myself. But without them, who would drag the bodies away?"

  Owsee, "that's right! That's all they are good for."

  I told Owsee I would like to get kitty a ring, a symbol of my pledge to be her mate.

  He said, "well if you are going to get it here, you should do it soon. Before they start to pack up. Word gets around fast here. As soon as I tell my men not to start anything that will take more than two days, the word will be all over the station. But I do not think she likes rings. It has something to do with keeping her hands clean. A necklace with a pendant maybe. After she has the children, she will ask for a collar to show others she is your mate; and you will need a symbol of your house on it."

  I said, "does the jewelry shop just sell, or can they make something for me?"

  Owsee, "they can make things as well, but it could take a day or two. You have something in mind?"

  "Yes," I said, "something special."

  Owsee, "well then, you should go now, get them started on it right away."

  I said, "what about the guards?"

  Owsee, "as long as we are leaving anyway, I will tell you the secret of this place, Goo da wa has a backdoor. No one else knows about it, and I must tell you that your cloak does not make you invisible. When you are walking people can see a slight change in the background. So I think you go out the back. I will show you."

  So we went into the waste disposal room and he said, "wave the back of your hand over this part of the wall."

  I did it, and the wall opened to the back hallway.

  Owsee, "come back the same way, we don't want to tip our hand to the guards."

  So I stepped out and the wall closed behind me. After slipping down the hall to the odds and ends store, I described what I wanted made and asked how long it would take for them to do the job. They said less than a day, maybe just a few hours. I showed them the com-link and asked them to call me when it was ready. She flashed it with a scanner, to get the code, and said she would just beep me. I saw a nice chain that was just the right length to hang my pipe on, around my neck, and asked her about it. She picked it up and said that I had a good eye. It started to pulse with light, then stopped. She said it was made out of a composite of gold and a crystal that picks up static electricity, and would repel sand flies. It felt light for its size. I asked how much, and she said that since I had made such a special order, the chain with free. I thanked her, and went back to the bar through the secret door.

  There was something moving around the sides of the wall, cleaning as it went, and another one on the floor that bounced off my boot as I came in. Someone had turned on the cleaning robots. They were no bigger than my hand, but could get the job done, given time.

  I went out to our table and sat down.

&nbs
p; Owsee seemed to be enjoying something that sounded like two rocks being hit together, and a rainstorm in the background.

  He said, "do you like this?"

  I said, "it's better than some things I have heard."

  He said, "it is the thanks giving ritual for rain, practice only in the remote desert areas of my planet, but it's not for everyone. How did things go at the store?"