The lights moved from one spot to another as the ships came and went. I could not imagine this had been going on for 20 years, and they had only taken half or less. As a laser cut through the glacier, the whole mountain lit up with different colors. It was beautiful, but I felt sad to think one day it would all be gone.
I said to Owsee, "seeing all this reminds me of the lakes back home on earth. We had so much water we would swim in it for fun."
Owsee, "you can swim? Me too. I even have a pool in my ship. It's really just a water storage room, but you can swim in it. When we get back I will show it to you. Maybe we go for a swim."
I said I would like that.
After another pass over the mine, we headed back. Owsee showed me how to fly. He was right about how easy it was. He pointed out where we were on the screen and the ships locator beacon. The return controls were just point and click. I tapped in the information and we were off, on our way back to the main part of the ship.
On the way back I worked the vowel sounds with him and tried to remember the rules. He picked it up very fast, he had a good memory. He was soon sounding out words, and writing short sentences.
When we got back the small ship turned around and docked automatically.
Then he said, "let's take a swim."
As we walked to the water storage area he would point to things like the wall, floor, or a door, and try to spell them. He did very well. When we got to the, so-called, pool. I found it to be 50 feet wide, 30 feet deep and a good 100 feet long.
He said, "you can swim in your clothes if you want, but I don't like to walk around in wet things."
"Neither do I," I said.
So we stripped down and jumped in. The water was not too cold, and felt great. We splashed about and showed each other the different ways we could swim. Then he said, "watch this," and he climbed up a stairway to a platform 20 feet above the pool and jump off, going in feet first. Not to be outdone, I went up to the platform, and dove in headfirst; then swam underwater to him.
He said, "I don't think I will try that."
We then sat on the side of the pool for a time and talked about the places on our own planets where we had been swimming.
I asked him if he had a towel, and he said, "what is a towel?"
I told him it was something you used to dry off with. He said, "come with me." And we went to a corner of the room where a 5 foot hose hung from the wall. He hit a button and warm air blew down on us.
He said, "I can make it stronger."
And he turned a knob until we almost fell down.
Then he said, "I think we are dry," and turned it off. "Was that a towel?" He asked.
"No," I said, "that was a blow dry."
He said, "I have many handy things on this ship. I will teach you about all of them, as we have time."
We were putting our clothes back on when he said, "I think you have already noticed that in the waste disposal rooms they are locked on storage."
I said, "yes I saw that. So I guess you're not hooked up to the stations waste systems."
He said, "no, I never got around to it, I'll have to do a purge after I take off. However, for now we need to just leave the control on storage. As I teach you more about my ship, I will need to give you override control. So, remember not to purge the system until we are in space. Or many years of waste will be dumped on the station. I am not sure how deep it will be, but it sure would be a stinking mess."
I said, "I sure would not want to be responsible for that."
We then walked about the ship as he showed me different workstations and crew quarters. There were 20 separate rooms of different sizes for the crew.
He said, "take your pick, I never used them."
He talked about how bad it would be here after he sells the mine. And that some of the people will want to go with him, even if it was just to be dropped off somewhere else.
He said, "I have been thinking about it for years. The ice mines will only last another 20 years anyway, and then there will not be much of a reason for anyone to come here. Everyone knows that. And I think I can make a better deal if I sell now rather than later. But it really depends on you."
"Why me?" I said.
Owsee, "I have collected many stories during my stay here, but I think you could be the key to much more if you are as good as I know you are. I will make you a bargain. Keep teaching me and come with me to my home world; it's only three days away with this big ship. If you don't like my world I will give you the ship I confiscated and all the supplies you can carry. If you do like my planet, I think in less than a year or so I can guarantee you ownership of the big ship. What have you got to lose?"
I said, "it sounds good to me, but it still seems like a dream. I've been lucky a time or two in my life, but something always comes up to knock me down. What the hell, I may as well give it a try."
Owsee, "good, let's go to the Drink Drunk and celebrate. I'll get my bag and meet you at the airlock by the receiving bay."
When I got to the receiving bay I saw a flashing light, indicating there was a delivery while we were gone. I opened the door and saw five barrels of the orange rum from the Drink Drunk. One had a tap on it but was still full; it was not the one we were drinking from.
Then Owsee showed up, and looking at them said, "look, the labels on them are a medical supplies seal. The bartender is a smart one I think. We shall need to thank him."
“Back to the Drink Drunk”
As we walked along the docks Owsee got a call on his com-badge and started telling workers what to do. As we passed one worker, with a laser torch that was cutting a piece of metal, my cloak brushed too close to his work and was cut a bit.
The worker shouted out something that my translator interpreted as an apology, and an accusation of blame. I looked at the cut in my cloak, which was Silver side out, and it healed itself in seconds. But not fast enough to prevent the worker from seeing the silver/gold of my Elvin ware. The worker then took a step back, made a very gracious gesture with his hand, and said, through the translator, "forgiveness."
I only looked at him for a moment before just walking on. The man looked at Owsee for a moment, then went back to work.
Just before we reached the door to the station I could see two workers, about 50 feet away, arguing about something. I sort of wished I could hear what they were talking about, and the ear piece, that I had forgotten I had on, gave me a translation. Something about the wrong tool for the job.
As we walked into the station I mentioned it to Owsee and he said that all I needed to do was to concentrate, and I would be able to hear anything I could see, no matter how far it was. He said I could also get instant translation as someone was talking, just by looking at them.
Just before we went into the Drink Drunk, we stopped as Owsee pointed at one shop then another, and so forth, telling me what kind of store they were and what they sold.
Then he said, as we turned to go inside, "but we will see them all later I think. Right now, I feel like I need to sit down again. I think the swim got the best of me."
We walked to the same table we had the last time we were at the bar.
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 you 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."
New Title 1 (The traveler) Page 6