A Starship Called Starsong

Chapter 61

I didn't have much in the way of civilian clothing, but I had a couple of outfits. I chose the one that would blend in the most on this planet, although that task wasn't going to be too hard in a massive port with several docking stations where the flow of tourists outnumbered the locals.

I headed down the corridor as my excitement started to build. After two days of nearly endless trade meetings, I was ready to simply unwind and enjoy the sights. I saw Cynthia walking down the corridor ahead of me, also in civilian clothing. I hailed her, "Cynthia, are you also heading out for some ship-leave?"

She turned around with a grin. "Yep. I want to check out the main market. They are finally letting you loose?"

I replied, "No meetings for the rest of the afternoon, which is a relief. I wouldn't mind checking out the market before finding someplace to eat, mind if I join you?"

She smiled happily. "Sure! What part of the market do you want to check out?"

On the Tyndel, we had occasionally had our ship-leaves on the same evenings, and it had always been fun. I thought about our options for a moment before saying, "From what I have heard, this market is huge, and there aren't really designated sections for certain goods, so it is a pretty good mishmash."

"Oh, good. If you get distracted by technology, I can probably find something interesting nearby..."

I grinned at her as we started walking down the ramp. "I wasn't that bad."

She rolled her eyes. "You spent half an hour talking with the one seller about the pros and cons of two almost identical Analyzer software add-ons..."

"I only did it once, and that was because they were on a massive blowout."

"Sure..."

"How about this, I will ignore electronics if you agree to not drink any alcohol?"

"Hey! I only ever made that mistake once!" She was a lightweight who was unable to handle much alcohol – and she knew it.

I waited silently with a slight smile as we went with the flow of the crowd towards the elevator lobby. Everyone kept walking, even when we managed to get onto a moving walkway that let us cover far more distance in a shorter time.

She finally gave in. "Alright, alright. They were both just one time occasions. I can agree to that deal as well."

We were both eager to check what might be available on this planet. The ride down the elevator was crowded, but we were both too impatient to take the escalator. We exited the base of the docking station tower as we looked around. The market had built itself around the base of the tower, so we didn't even have to catch a taxi.

I glanced at Cynthia. "Any preference on a direction?"

She shrugged wordlessly, so I just picked a random direction. She followed my lead as we entered the market. We knew the booths closest to the docking station base would have the highest prices, so we mostly glanced at the wares as we walked by. It didn't take long for us to get past the first few dozen rows of overpriced stuff.

We slowed our pace as we gazed at the various things for sale, occasionally pointing something out to the other. The market was a busy place, regardless of how spread out it was. I was able to pass through the crowds unnoticed and unremarked. I liked this port just because of that detail.

I knew a good quarter of the crew from the Starsong were already out and about as they enjoyed their own ship-leave, but this place was so big that I hadn't spotted a single one of them yet. This wasn't the only market though, and some may have caught a taxi to a less crowded market.