Empty Toward The Moon

Chapter Thirteen

I was waiting at the airlock and first off the ship when we finally docked at New Cali station. I was surprised that we hadn't have to dock in orbit of the station, but we must have arrived on the stations down-time. It wasn't too busy, so the smaller ASF cruiser was able to connect directly to the station. I sent a quick text comm to both the Captain and the XO, thanking them both for rescuing me and accommodating me while they delivery me back to civilisation. I invited them to come and visit me if they ever found themselves on Briller Corp Prime without anything do do.

The station was a torus shaped, older style habitat in orbit around the New Cali planet. It looked like one of the older models used back when the system was first colonised. The torus was actually quite a lot larger than I first thought, the images I saw of it as we approached made it look a lot smaller from the outside. The hollow ring held all manner of condo buildings, park lands, business parks and shopping complexes. The green belt was a main feature throughout the whole internal torus.

I made my way out of the military sector of the space dock with a borrowed ASF visitor's pass, then slipped into pedestrian traffic that ebbed and flowed past the popular docking section of the station. A short series of lifts and avenues lead me into the station proper, where I could look either left or right and find the huge inner doughnut ring filled with tiered balconies overlooking flat roofed apartment blocks, green-ways and park lands. It was really lovely to view.

[You are scheduled to meet with Mr Mo Philippe from the local branch of Briller Corp. He has arrived outside of the military checkpoint for you. I believe we passed him on our way out. Did you know this space station has the equivalent of two decades worth of digital entertainment? It would take me two decades to view the material. It would take you seventeen hundred years. There is a restaurant that sells traditional Hawaiian luau food? Roasted pineapple sounds delicious.] I hummed in affirmation that I'd heard him. He went on to describe the different number of foreign restaurants and the scattering of alien cuisine eateries. Some of those descriptions sounded downright awful.

[I have located a trade freighter that has births available for passage. There were actually a number of freighter long haul tickets available, but the reviews were not promising. Philippe was just notified that you'd already passed through the military checkpoint and didn't meet with him, as arranged. He looked decidedly upset. He is now telling his subordinates to find you and kill you. Did you know there is a double- decker bus relic in the station museum. And something called a bobble-head collectives archive.] Nova was excited. I could hear it in his voice. He rambled from one topic to the next, without a breather in between. I nearly missed the part about the local Briller Corp manager wanting me dead.

You in his backlogged communique? I asked.

[I've backed logged everyone's communique, my Dear.] Eww, that accent was a dead ringer for my cousin's head of security, a weasely guy with a thin frame and receding hairline.

Nope, don't do that. Stick with the usual accent, please Nova. I don't want to go have a shower just to wash that ick off.

[I've located a local money lender and exchange. Make a right at the next street, then take the third corridor. Follow it until you get to the banking sector of the station. The fees are nominal, but they will ask for ID. Oh wait, I found a lender that doesn't ask for ID on currency exchange. Its in the same direction.]

I followed Nova's directions and found myself outside a door down an alley way just past a few notable banks. It took me less than five minutes to get a credit chip worth four hundred thousand exchanged for a loaded money card that I can use in most major stations. I lost nearly ten percent in the translations, but considering the money wasn't mine in the first place, I really hadn't lost anything.