Aurora Saga 2 Immortality for Life (14 page)

The vast city was now stretched out directly in front of him.

‘Wow! I’ve only ever seen pictures of cities in books. I’ve never actually been to a real city before. It’s huge! Look at all those building, they’re so tall. Look Kalrea, there are people down there. What are those?’ he said, pointing out the front window of the shuttle, in excitement, towards the ground at a vehicle, which was suspended beneath an overhead track.

Kalrea glanced out, before saying, ‘They call them mono-pods. They’re a form of personal transport.’

‘Have you been to Onliv before, Kalrea?’

‘No, this is my first time too. This is not a planet I know much about.’

‘Wow! And… And what’s that over-’

Kalrea interrupted him. ‘Sorry Zoren, but we’re nearing one of the landing zones. I’m going to have to take over now. You’re learning fast, but you’re not that good.’

Zoren gazed out at the landing area, where there was a melee of various sized ships trying to find somewhere to set down.

‘Where are we going to land?’

‘Just down there.’

‘But, there’s no space down there.’

Kalrea flew the shuttle into the crowded landing area. There was a very small space in-between to two large ships. Another small craft had attempted to land there, but the pilot must have found it too difficult because the ship moved away looking for another space. Kalrea headed directly for the space.

‘You can’t be serious,’ he said and then thought,

She’s never going to get it in there.

With great precision the shuttle descended, landing swiftly and neatly between the two larger ships.

‘There, told you we would fit,’ Kalrea said and then powered down the drive.

Zoren and Kalrea left the manic landing area behind them, and sauntered into a large quiet square with only the occasional person passing by. The square had an immaculately maintained blue grassed area at its centre, which was ringed with tall blue trees planted at regular intervals around its edge and surrounded by a paved border in front of tall white buildings. The orange light reflected off the walls of the buildings, resulting in the square appearing to be in star-light, even though it was in the shadow of the buildings. There were many seats beneath the trees and up against the walls of the buildings.

Overhead of them a white mono-pod, which was suspended beneath a large metal track, screamed by.

Zoren found he had to take deeper breaths than normal, so with concern asked,

‘Kalrea, the air feels very dry and I’m finding it hard to breath.’

‘That’s because there’s twenty-three percent less oxygen in the air than what you’re used to, so yes, you’ll notice the difference. Don’t worry! You’re just not used to this level of oxygen and may feel a little bit more tired.’

He gazed upwards at the building that towered skywards directly in front of him. Only the highest rooftops were in direct star-light, but the light was bouncing between each building creating reflections of different intensity all the way down to the ground. He hurried over to the nearest building and felt the wall.

It’s cold and very smooth.

‘What are you doing?’ Kalrea asked him.

‘I’ve never been near a building before. I wanted to feel what it was like.’

He turned and watched a man and woman as they passed by. The man had a spiny pet wrapped around his leg, it was a doump, and Zoren recognised that it was the same type of animal he saw back on Xim’gu. The man was wearing brightly coloured clothes, but the woman just bland greys.

Peering in excitement towards the centre of the square, Zoren said, ‘I can see trees, and those look like plants.’ Then, feeling the need to have a closer look at them, he rushed over to some flowers, which were beneath a tree.

Wow! What a lovely sent,
he thought, taking a deep breath.

‘Kalrea, come here! You must smell these.’

Kalrea ambled over and then smelt the flowers.

‘That’s different,’ she said very surprised. ‘It’s... it’s very pleasant. Yes, pleasant.’

Zoren turned and stared at her.

‘You’ve never smelt a flower before, have you Kalrea? Just like me!’

‘No, Zoren, I haven’t, but we don’t have time for this. Remember why we’re here, please!’

‘Yes, of course. Where do we need to go?’

‘We need to find somewhere to sit.’

‘But, I thought you said we need to go.’

Kalrea went over to a nearby bench, which was beside a tall tree and sat down. She then started to observe the people in the square.

Zoren sat alongside her and then asked, ‘What are you doing?’

‘I’m watching people.’

‘I can see that, but I don’t understand why?’

‘There are some computer systems in the buildings around here, but none are interconnected. It seems that they control people’s use of computers here on Onliv. I need to get access into the main network to find where your people have been taken and for that I have to find an access point.’

A man passed by them. He looked at Kalrea then instantly away. Then another woman did the same thing.

Why is everyone looking at Kalrea? That woman definitely looked at Kalrea. Why did she look disgusted?

‘Kalrea, I don’t see many other races here on Onliv. I can see two Drulfians over there with masks on, but they’re the only people I’ve seen who don’t seem to be Gullin.’

‘The lack of oxygen puts most off coming here. It’s not nice having to wear an oxygen mask all the time. There! That’s what I’m looking for. See that woman over there in the distance, well she’s now using a terminal at the corner of that building. Hopefully that will give me a way of accessing the main network.’

Kalrea got up and marched over to the terminal.

Zoren watched her for a moment, but then could not resist having a look at a nearby tree. He touched its blue craggy trunk, which was sparkling as if it had metal in it.

It’s all rough. Ow! And sharp,
he thought, glancing at a small cut on his finger.

A dark-green tripedal insect was crawling on the trunk of the tree. He moved his hand closer to it, but quickly pulled it away when the insect rose up on two legs as if to defend itself. On its green belly was a long red spike.

That doesn’t look like it wants to be touched.
Zoren noticed another one scurrying across the blue grass, heading for another tree.

He glanced back to the terminal, but Kalrea had gone.

Where is she?

He anxiously looked towards the other nearby buildings.

Ah, she’s now over there at another terminal.

Zoren felt relieved.

Kalrea returned and as she sat down alongside him said, ‘I know where they are. H’furni Raxom took them to a place called the Liyp building this morning.’

‘Excellent. So where is this Liyp building?’

‘We’ll need to take a mono-pod, but first I have a problem. My picture has been transmitted to all the planets near Xim’gu. I’m recorded as being extremely dangerous, the most severe rating for a person. That really upsets me.’

She killed several Frinduls by pointing at them and she thinks that this should be considered normal.

Zoren shook his head, but he knew that Kalrea was concerned over how she was being portrayed, so said, ‘Remember you killed a lot of Frinduls in that bar. If you were watching that, what would you think?’

‘I do understand what you mean, but what worries me is that it won’t be long before I’m recognised.’

‘Maybe you have been already. Have you noticed that people seem to be looking at you?’

‘Yes, I had noticed that,’ she replied.

Zoren peeked at Kalrea and then at the people strolling by. He then said, ‘Well, you do seem to standout a bit. Their clothes are completely different to yours. The women here don’t seem to wear any colours and there’s definitely nothing as revealing as what you’re wearing.’

‘I need to change!’

Zoren was still observing those walking by.

‘We need to-’ He stopped abruptly when he turned to Kalrea. The tattoo on her left cheek had disappeared and her hair was now blond. ‘You’ve... You’ve changed your...’

Kalrea smiled. ‘How do I look as a blond?’

‘Different!’ Zoren commented. ‘So can you change anything else?’ he said cheekily, raising his eyebrows and glancing down at her breasts.

‘Zoren, the answer to that is no. I mean what would your wife say?’

Kalrea stared at a passing woman. She got up and started to follow her.

‘What are you doing, Kalrea?’ Zoren said, catching her up, just as she was about to follow the woman into a small alleyway.

‘I must get some different clothes.’

‘What do you mean?’ Zoren said, and then thought,
My God, what is she going to do? No, she can’t kill her for the dress.

‘Stop, Kalrea. I said, stop!’

Kalrea glared at him as she stopped.

‘What’s wrong?’

‘You can’t...’ Zoren said, and then realising what he was going to say, continued his sentence in thought,
kill her. Wait! I could be wrong,
so in a sheepish voice he added, ‘What I mean is… Er... What were you going to do?’

‘I was going to ask her where she bought that dress from, why?’

‘Oh…’ he said and then thought,
See you idiot, she’s not like that
. He then added,
‘
Er... Good idea.’

Kalrea looked down the alleyway for the woman, but she had disappeared around a corner. She saw another woman who was passing in the square and rushed out to her, leaving Zoren in the alleyway.

‘Excuse me! I hope you don’t mind me asking, but I love the dress you’re wearing…’

Zoren was feeling annoyed with himself for thinking wrongly about Kalrea.

The woman put her hand over her mouth and then pointed to Kalrea. She seemed a bit startled.

‘Zoren… Zoren!’ Kalrea said, hurrying back.

‘Sorry, I was… miles away.’

‘There are some shops off the square that sell a range of clothes. I need to go there and quickly.’

‘Why?’

‘Never mind why. I should have looked into this planet’s culture, that’s all!’

Kalrea rushed out of the square and entered the first clothes shop she came across. Zoren had a job to keep up with her. As he arrived inside, Kalrea was being met by a shop assistant whose expression said everything about how she looked.

‘I’m looking for something to wear. Something casual,’ Kalrea said.

‘Young lady, what are you doing out in your underwear?’

Zoren’s eyes widened.

Underwear! No wonder people were looking at her.

‘I managed to get my access revoked from my apartment,’ Kalrea replied to the woman. ‘Do you have something that would look good on me?’

‘Come right through here,’ she replied. ‘My, my… Let’s get you dressed. Your husband did the right thing bringing you here.’

Husband! What? She thinks I’m Kalrea’s husband.

As Kalrea was in a back room, Zoren stood gazing out of the window of the shop. He felt the dio-plastic wedding bracelet on his wrist and then had a flash-back to the day after he and Sabri had been joined in matrimony.

*****

‘Well, we’re now married,’ Sabri said with excitement, ‘let’s have a look at our new home.’

‘But we’re not supposed to move in until tomorrow.’

‘Come on!’ Sabri said, pulling him by his arm. ‘There’ll be no one there, and I have access.’

After descending to deck two and approaching the door to their new home, Sabri entered a pin in the keypad adjacent to the door and, when the door clicked, she pushed it inwards.

They stepped into the living area, which was totally empty of any furnishings.

‘The room looks really dull without anything in it,’ Zoren commented.

‘My mum has made us some cloth murals as a wedding present. They’ll help a lot. We could have some chairs over there by the window, a desk over there, a-’

While Sabri continued to talk, Zoren approached the window and gazed out at Linud. ‘Wow, what a view!’

‘We’re really lucky to be on this side of the space station,’ Sabri said excitedly. ‘I think your father had something to do with that. As an elder he managed to persuade the council to let us have this apartment.’

‘I love it,’ Zoren said. He had a tear in his eye. ‘I’m so happy, Sabri.’

‘Me too,’ she replied. ‘All we need now is some children running about.’

Zoren raised his eyebrow. ‘Now there’s a thought!’ he said, before kissing Sabri…

*****

As Zoren got back to focus on where he was, he suddenly felt very lonely. He took a long deep breath.

I wish you were here, safe with me. Where are you Sabri? I hope you’re all right, wherever you are.

He glanced back to the door behind which Kalrea was trying some clothes with the help of the shop assistant.

Come on Kalrea! How long does it take to put a dress on?

Kalrea emerged wearing a plain dark-grey dress, which totally obscured her figure and almost touched the ground. It made her look ten years older.

‘That will be 8000 umo, please? Could I have your account number?’ the shop assistant said to Zoren.

‘What?’ Zoren said, totally flabbergasted.

He turned to Kalrea.

‘Oh, yes, of course,’ Kalrea replied. ‘It’s 347826-74829H.’

Thank goodness that she’s able to link into the computers around here. I hate to think what we’d do if we couldn’t pay for that dress.

‘Please confirm your ID by placing your hand on the reader.’

Kalrea placed her hand on a large pad and Zoren was not surprised to see it was accepted.

‘Thank you,’ the shop assistant said, ‘I hope you sort out the access to you apartment,’ then turning to Zoren, she added, ‘Shame on you!’

What does she mean? Why is it my fault? Kalrea said she was locked out of her apartment, so why should it be something to do with me?

When they left the shop, Zoren asked Kalrea,

‘Why did she say that to me?’

‘Well Zoren, here on Onliv the man pays for everything when he’s with his wife.’

‘But you’re not my wife!’

‘I’m glad you didn’t say that in the shop.’

‘Why?’

‘Try explaining why you’re with a woman in her underwear then.’