Part Nine: Make Your Own Fate

Anreus Free Spaceport loomed in front of the Christa. The station was several miles in length, an O'Neill cylinder a half-mile in diameter. Solar collectors and light-pipes lined the outer hull, supplying power and natural light to the station.

The Spaceport orbited the farmworld Anreus, a planet devoted to the production of foodstuffs. The traffic between the planet, station and orbiting ships was constant, as cargo and people were moved about.

A center of activity, the Anreus Free Spaceport seemed a haven of peace to the crew of the Christa.

"Commander, we're being hailed." Rosie said from her post.

"Put it through."

"Welcome to Anreus Free Spaceport," a woman's voice said, "a center for trading and recreation, outside of political borders. Docking instructions and station regulations are being sent to you on a sub-channel. Enjoy your stay."

"Well," Connor said, "hopefully this'll be uneventful."

"I'll second that, Connor." Goddard replied.

The crew got through customs without incident. Thelma had the Christa sealed up tight, and so the others were all free to go aboard the Spaceport.

Aboard the station, it seemed a great burden had been lifted off of all of them. Even Suzee's face lit up, presented with the incredible space station and its varied inhabitants.

"Listen up, everybody." Goddard said, just outside the Bazaar. "We've got three days here. For that time, you're on your own. You can stay here, or back on the ship. And remember, if you need to contact anyone, these comlinks AFS administration gave us are set to channel 1134-C. Have fun, but watch yourselves."

The crew all melted off into the Bazaar, leaving Goddard and Davenport outside. The stardog turned to the teacher, offering her his arm.

"Well, shall we?"

Radu and Elmira walked through the crowd, drawing odd looks from passers-by. Few people had ever seen a Spung and an Andromedan together, much less in what appeared to be a friendly- or more than friendly- relationship.

"This- this is really the first chance we've ever had to be together in peace." Radu said, awkwardly.

"It's the first chance to be in peace I've had in a long time." Elmira remarked, offhandedly.

"Oh, oh... I-I'm sorry..."

Elmira stopped, turning to look Radu right in the eyes.

"It's all right, Radu. You have no reason to apologize. My entire life has been propelling me towards you. It's our destiny to be together..."

They moved closer, their lips almost touching, when Radu's shoulder was grabbed from behind him, and a powerful arm swung him around.

"What are you doing?" An obviously angry Andromedan asked him.

"What? I-I... Uh..."

"You're associating with one of them?! The Spung enslaved our people, used us to fight the Terrans, and millions of us died! And now, you are here, about to kiss a Spung?! What kind of Andromedan are you?"

"I-I..."

Another Andromedan grabbed Elmira.

"Let her go!"

Radu slugged the Andromedan holding Elmira, knocking him into the stall behind. The Andromedan's dense mass collapsed the stall, dropping a mass of small trinkets on him.

Radu turned to the other aggressor.

"Leave us alone."

"Don't worry," an authoritative voice behind him said, "you'll be plenty alone in the brig."

Meanwhile, Connor and Harlan were being dragged through the Bazaar by their female companions. Suzee's attitude had picked up considerably since their arrival on the station, as had Catalina's. Even Connor was feeling more up than usual, but he suspected it came from seeing the two young women happier. Harlan, however, seemed to be considering something he found to be vastly important, and he kept looking from one girl to the other.

Then, they found a clothing store.

"Well," Connor said, jokingly, "we're doomed."

Harlan laughed, snapping out of his reverie. Suzee and Cat shot him looks of amusement.

Wow, Connor thought, I haven't made a joke, even a bad one, in a long time...

"Hey," Harlan whispered to him, hanging back as the girls went into the clothiers, "what do you think about Cat?"

"Cat? Um, well... She was my foster sister... And the other Cat was nice enough... Why?"

"So, you've got no interest in her, right?"

Connor caught the emphasis.

"What? No." He paused, thought for a second. Absolute repulsion crossed his face, only for a second. "Ick. She's my sister, man. She has been for as long as I can remember... That's... Ick... That doesn't even deserve consideration."

"Well, I was just... Just asking. What about Suzee?"

Connor looked over to where the two girls were looking at a sweater, which they apparently liked. He looked at Suzee, and a smiled crossed his face...

"Hey, Connor." Harlan waved his hand in front of Connor's face. "Snap out of it."

"What? Oh. Um," Connor paused, considered what to say. "Ah, Suzee's a very... Very nice girl. I... I'm glad I'm friends with her."

"Sure, friends." Harlan gave a short laugh. "You've got it bad, man."

"Wh-what?! I don't... Don't know what you're talking about."

"Don't worry. She has that effect on guys. Pretty girls usually do. Of course, if you don't have any interest in her, either, I guess I've got a decision to make."

"What would that be?"

"Which one of them to ask out tonight..." Harlan headed towards Cat and Suzee.

"H... Hey... Wait a minute..."

Rosie and Bova had managed to get themselves thoroughly lost.

The Mercurian had dragged her less-than-upbeat companion towards the Zoo which was prominently advertised throughout the Bazaar, but had gotten horribly off- track when Rosie had insisted that they stop to help some poor man who was lost. This, unfortunately, had resulted in their losing their comlinks, and having a fair bit of their money stolen.

Bova wasn't surprised, and Rosie wasn't discouraged.

No-one else on the station seemed to be as benevolent as Rosie: They asked many people for help, and got none.

They now found themselves in a shantytown inside the industrial sectors of the station. They were probably nearer to the hull, because the gravity was higher than standard. However, this portion of the station was full of some very unsavoury characters.

Someone grabbed Rosie from behind.

"Well, well. Two of Goddard's little crew." A rough voice taunted them from behind.

Bova turned to see Ubi hoisting Rosie off of the ground. Next to him, Reaver leveled his blaster, square at Bova's head.

"You might laugh off electricity, shorty, but I doubt you'll find phased plasma as tasty."

Bova put his hands in the air, his face impassive.

"That's right. Just go along, nice and easy. That way, neither you or your girlfriend here get hurt..."

Bova zapped Reaver, knocking him backwards and off of his feet. Ubi dropped Rosie, and grabbed for Bova, who shocked him.

"Run, Rosie!"

She and Bova took off, into the press of people, fading into the crowd.

Radu was indeed alone, in the cell. The walls were sufficiently soundproofed that even his Andromedan hearing couldn't pick up a thing. The only sounds were his own. It was horrible, the silence.

His only wish was that Elmira was with him. He guessed that she was nearby, but had no way of proving it. It only made him feel even more alone.

He decided to sleep, and visions of the Spung fleet, destroying and conquering haunted his dreams.

Goddard and Davenport were eating lunch at one of the many restaurants in the central core garden, when Goddard got a call on his comlink.

"Goddard here."

"This is AFS security. We picked up two of your crew after a fight in the Bazaar just two hours ago. We though you might want to bail them out."

"I'll be there as soon as possible."

The link shut off. Goddard looked at Davenport.

"Sorry, TJ. Looks like I've got to go. Probably Harlan reacted badly and got someone else in trouble with him..."

"Don't worry about it. We'll continue this... At dinner?" She smiled, slightly.

"Sure."

"Oh, look at this!" Suzee exclaimed. "Connor, c'mere!"

Connor moved over to where the girls were, reluctantly. They were at a rack of shirts, holding one up. Men's shirts.

Uh-oh...

Suzee held it up in front of him. He heard Harlan snickering behind him.

"See?" Suzee said. "Wouldn't it look great on him? Grey seems to be his colour..."

Connor's face shifted through various shades of red...

"I don't know..." Catalina paused, thoughtfully. "Maybe a red one?" She smirked, noticing his embarrassment.

"Maybe blue?" Suzee replied.

Goddard stepped into the security office. Behind the desk, a reptilian Kysanti lounged, half asleep. He wore the blue uniform of the Anreus Free Spaceport, with patches marking him as a security officer.

"Ahem," Goddard cleared his throat, "I was called down here. You have two of my crew in holding?"

"Maybe..." The security officer said, barely moving, "I'll need to see some ID."

Goddard inserted the identicard he'd been given at customs into the desk-mounted reader.

"Goddard, eh? From the Christa... Okay, we've got your two crewmembers... One Andromedan, named Radu... And, one Spung, named Elmira... That's... um... a 200 credit fine... If y'ask me," the officer took Goddard's credit chit, deducting the correct amount, "you're just askin' for trouble, with a Spung an' an Andromedan on the same crew... OK, just sign these forms..." The officer handed Goddard a small stack of flimsiplast.

"Oh, great. Paperwork."

"Don't worry. It usually only takes a few hours..."

Bova and Rosie stumbled around another corner. They were lost in the deepest portions of the station, with no idea how to get out.

"We're doomed. Completely doomed." Bova said, breathlessly, "we're totally lost, we have no money, no comlinks, and we haven't seen any station personnel since we left the Bazaar! We're probably going to die and rot down here..."

"Oh, Bova... Cheer up! It could be worse."

"How?"

"Well... We could have not gotten away from Reaver, right? Or, we could be captives of the Spung still... There's lots of ways it could be worse."

Bova couldn't do much more than stare at Rosie, bemusedly. Slowly, a smirk crossed his face.

"You're probably right, Rosie."

Connor was in one of the store's changing rooms, trying on the shirt Suzee and Cat had picked for him. Outside, he could hear Harlan and the girls talking, laughing.

Hrmph. Connor thought, jealously, gotta decide which one of them to ask out, eh? Well, I'll show him. I'll just... Just what? Ask Suzee out? After what Harlan said? His cheeks flushed, again. Well, I can't very well go out with Cat! Well, I've faced killcruisers, giant spiders, and worse... I guess a little thing like asking Suzee out to dinner can't nearly be as tough. I hope...

Finished changing, Connor stepped out of the cubicle, ready to show the others how he looked in the shirt. He walked forward, gave a little turn, and stopped.

He noticed Harlan was still apparently weighing his options carefully.

"Well?" He asked.

Suzee's face lit up when she saw him.

"See, Cat? I told you grey was his colour."

"I guess you're right." Seeing Suzee's expression, she winked at Connor. "Say, Harlan. I think I see something over there that would look nice on you."

"What?" Harlan snapped out of his deliberations, surprised. "Me? Um, okay."

The two of them headed over towards the shirt racks.

"So, uh, you... You like it? The shirt?" Connor asked Suzee.

"Yeah. It looks nice on you." She picked a bit of lint off of his shoulder.

"So, then... Um... Wh... I was, um, wondering..."

"Yeah?"

"I was wondering wh... What... What your plans for... Uh, for, um..."

"For...?"

Connor paused, took a deep breath, and steeled his nerves. Suzee watched him expectantly.

"I was just wondering if you'd like to have dinner with me tonight?" He almost closed his eyes, flinching back, expecting the worst.

"Sure, I'd love to." She smiled warmly, looking him right in the eyes.

"Ah, uh, wonderful. Great! Ugh, I'd better change back... I doubt the store would appreciate my accidentally walking out with their shirt..."

He headed back into the changing room.

Miss Davenport was in the quarters she'd rented for their stay aboard AFS. Commander Goddard had sent a message, telling her that he would be bringing back Radu and Elmira shortly. The concept of it having been those two involved in an incident, and not Harlan and someone he'd dragged into it, shocked her.

She had the sneaking suspicion she was in for more shocks before their stay on the Anreus Free Spaceport was over...

Rosie and Bova were resting in a small room off of a corridor. They were chatting with one another, trying to pass the time, trying to keep away the fear.

A small metallic ball rolled into the room.

"What's that?" Bova wondered aloud.

He was answered by a blinding flash of light, and a high-pitched whine, which incapacitated them both.

When the stun grenade subsided, Reaver and Ubi stepped into the room.

"This time, you're not getting away..." Reaver pulled two slap-patches out of his pouch, and stuck them on his captives.

For Rosie and Bova, the next thing they saw was a comforting darkness...

The end of Part Nine: Make Your own Fate

Up next, Part Ten: And the Stars, like Diamonds...

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