The Dancer's Summons

by M. Garnet

  Using the light and glad that she didn't have shoes on, she put the light in her mouth. She used her hands and sock-covered toes to crawl forward on the pipes. It was a short distance to find a square air control system, and she could crawl upon and move with more ease.

  Knowing that up above the ceiling would be one of the first places that the big guy would look, she needed to get down. But she had to find either an empty area or someplace that was busy. She kept lifting tiles and soon found that she was getting beyond the medics' sector.

  Not wanting to waste any more time, she just took a chance and dropped down into a busy place right in front of a café. It was full, and people were waiting for a seat. She fell among the waiting customers to hit the floor that was at least a ten-foot drop. She hoped the tile had fallen back into place.

  "Hey, are you okay?" A couple behind her had jumped to one side as she was trying to set up.

  "Wow," Moxxi looked around. "I slipped on something. I'm sorry, I hope I didn't hit you guys." She looked around at the floor and people's feet. "I was just hurrying and zoom; my feet went right out from under me."

  "No. We are fine. But you must have taken a real tumble." The woman was reaching out to help Moxxi get up.

  "Yes, I never even saw you until you hit the floor." The guy was also looking around.

  Nodding and brushing her clothes, Moxxi pointed at her socks. "I'm late, and that's what I get for not putting on my shoes. Sorry." She smiled and nodded and moved away, leaving the couple shaking their heads. As she was walking, she had a hand down in her tote, searching for shoes.

  When she found the soft running shoes, she stepped over against the wall to get out of the people moving in the hall. She took a moment to slip on the shoes and then went into the next open store. She picked up a small bottle of perfume since that is what the shop sold and went to the robot cashier and paid. Then she went on through the shop and out the back door.

  What she was looking for, as she moved through shops and down alleys, was a standard large opening with the announcement that led to a different type of docks. Moxxi wanted to get down to the water vessels that traveled over the swamps below the tall towers.

  Fortunately, they were not hard to find, as transportation and product sales were part of life on this strange planet that was half water and half desert. Humans had a habit of finding a way of surviving in a comfortable manner on any world that had a breathable atmosphere. This strange world produced lots of healthy air, along with a great source of food.

  With this side of the world away from the desert, the water table was high, but there were immense tracks of swamps. The usual surprising heavy growth of vegetation could germinate in low water and high piles of dirt and detritus. There were also the amazing animals that developed over eons that survived in swamps. Their history was in their scales or size, some tiny and some long, big and dangerous to humans.

  This meant that not only was there vegetation that could be processed to eat, but frogs, fish, and various similar animals to harvest. It was a generous world.

  Humans that were ingenious beings had developed all types of marvelous ways to travel across these swamps. The favorite at present were gliders that floated just above the surface and did not disturb anything. They made very little noise and were extremely fast. If they dropped down close to the surface, they kicked up a wide wake.

  Going down the first opening marked Lower Levels, Moxxi took the wide stairs. The steps with handrails had several turns and a wide metal landing at each place where you went to the next level. It was a long walk to the bottom, where the water vessels were tied up and waiting for crews, loads, or passengers.

  Checking in at a central control office station, Moxxi inquired when the boat was leaving for the next tower. It would be about two hours.

  "Damn, I'm going to be late for an appointment." Moxxi tried a big-eyed approach to look lost for the ticket agent.

  "Sorry, they schedule to make sure they have enough to cover the cost." He looked down at his screen that was embedded in his counter.

  "Look, if you don't mind roughing it, Algin's boat will be leaving soon to make the second part of his deliveries over there. You could see if he will take a passenger. It's the yellow boat down towards the end of the commercial fishers." The guy pointed in a direction.

  Giving him a big smile, Moxxi began to walk down the very wide walkway. The further she got down in the direction she walked, the busier the area became, as boxes and crates and clear cases full of water and moving swamp animals were being moved.

  The yellow boat did stand out, as most of the others were painted in darker and drab colors. There was an orange-painted boat that seemed to be busy, then a couple of the plain ones. Finally, she approached the yellow one and slowed down, trying to decide who was in charge.

  Several crates were moving towards her from the yellow boat, and she quickly stepped aside. "Careful lady, this is a busy place for any looky-looky."

  "Oh, sorry. I'm wanting to find Algin."

  The guy stopped with his load and peered at her from soft shoes to the top of her strange-colored hair. "Well, I hope you find him. He's the big guy on the back of the boat."

  Being careful, as she walked around the man with his load, she approached the yellow boat that had the name Yellow painted in black on its side. Go figure.

  There were two men on the back of the yellow boat. One was a skinny young man, talking to a grey-haired bearded man who had a belly hanging over his belt.

  "Excuse me, is it Captain Algin?"

  Both men turned and looked at the lovely young woman standing on the metal dock. All it took was transferring some funds, and Moxxi had a ride within a half hour to the next tower. Not only that, all the five men on the boat treated her like royalty. They kept sweeping off seats for her and bringing her water or offering her things to eat. They were almost tripping over each other to see that she was comfortable.

  For Moxxi, the ride above the wet forest with its swamp and animals and many flowers in bloom was fascinating. In some ways, she was glad that she had been forced to escape and take this strange ride. Sure, the boat smelled of fish, and the men were a little too helpful. But to see the birds and the slimy things down in the water was amazing.

  She didn't regret the cost of the ride. In fact, this fast-gliding boat ended her trip almost too soon. Moxxi decided the ride with the fishermen was better than the standard fixed trip and faster. The Captain enjoyed showing her the flowers and animals. He pointed out where he said was their favorite spot for shellfish.

  When they helped her out at the dock, they gave her a small bag of cooked fish food that they assured her would keep for several days. They all wanted to escort her to either a hotel or the space docks. She needed to get lost from anyone following, so she took time to talk to all of them.

  "I had a boyfriend. He is tall and handsome with very dark eyes and moves very fast. But he was dominating and got to the point where he hurt me." She pulled up her shirt where she had gotten bruises from crawling up into the ceiling at the medic area. "I need to get away from him because if he catches me this time, he will kill me. He will fool you and put on a very nice front."

  With that, a couple of the men got angry, and they all assured her that there was no way anyone would know that she had been on their boat or had come to this tower. Moxxi shook hands with everyone and kissed the Captain on the cheek that brought a few cheers. Then she was gone down the pier to start up the long wide stairs.

  If you walked far enough and didn't mind the guards and the cameras, some elevators went up to the first upper level. For apparent reasons, Moxxi felt a healthy walk up the steps with workers and those that lived here was the right choice.

  It took her a couple of hours to get up the stairs and across to where only shuttles were landing. All the regular spaceships and freighters had to land at the large tower that had such a setup that could handle any size of vessel. But a lot of the ships sent shuttles to the
other towers to drop off or pick up people. Some special water delicacies could be bought at a better price out at the source. Every tower had an area for the planet's flyers and the shuttles from outsiders.

  There was a decision that Moxxi had to make, and it was if she wanted to go as a passenger on a ship or as a worker. She did have some talents and one recommendation. The BoseIn Lines had promised they would give her a favorable report if anyone asked about Traci Cen.

  Being a worker on a ship made the chance of disappearing the better choice. A lot of times, passengers were posted or registered for insurance reasons or to meet government standards. What she did was go to shuttle after shuttle, asking if there were any openings for hard workers of any kind.

  Knowing she was getting to the end of the line but hearing some talking of new ones landing, she took a moment and moved out of the way of the busy workers. Leaning against some empty crates, she pulled out a wrap from the bag that the fishermen had given her. They had told her to eat the sandwich on top right away.

  With one bite, Moxxi had to smile. It was one of the best sandwiches she had in a long time.

  "I wish I had time for a quick bite." A crewman looked over at her as he was trying to restack a load that had tumbled sideways to scatter across the metal floor.

  Smiling, Moxxi held out half the sandwich. "Can you eat while you work?"

  He looked at her for a second and then took the large offering with a smile in return. "Lady, when can we get a contract?"

  Contract was a term for two people to commit for each other to form a family. It had many different names and terms on worlds around the system, yet the one word was understood everywhere.

  "Sorry, I'm not looking to settle down. What I'm looking for is a job on a freighter. I have recommendations, yet no one is hiring."

  "Hey," talking over the food in his mouth, the man stopped. "There is a shuttle that just came down back there from the freighter State Access. They came here to drop off two crewmen who got hurt in an accident in one of their storage bays. There is a good medic set up on this place. Go back there and try for a job. Their XO is probably with them and will be looking for workers."

  "Thanks." She gave him a big smile and took off in the direction indicated.

  It took a bit of talking and the fact that there was no one else applying for work before Traci Cen convinced the XO to try her out at half pay. It would only be until their next stop. Traci agreed and made her way to the back of the shuttle out of the way. There she offered some tidbits of shellfish to those who were close.

  Report: Asset is out of control. I will continue to hunt for the trail. Details to follow.

  It was a good thing she had something to pass around as the XO wanted to stay dockside while he checked out on his men's condition. Someone had bulbs of water, and there was even a bottle of something stronger passed around. By the time the XO did get back and ordered them to return up to the freighter they had been around until night had set in on this side of the planet.

  For Moxxi/Traci, this had been fortuitous as she was out of sight with no means of anyone finding her on an un-named shuttle on an unannounced stop due to an emergency. She would have been glad to sleep in the stuffed seats on the shuttle. After all, she still had food in the fishermen's bag.

  Then it dawned on her that she had no idea what type of freighter she had signed onto or where it was going for its next stop. Traci could only hope it was far away from this place and a particular man with dark eyes.

  Chapter Twelve

  The freighter State Access carried equipment, and that explained the accident. The equipment was large and small, but all were heavy and hard to keep tied down or stacked correctly. This was a very large freighter, as was expected for one that hauled heavy equipment.

  They had a lot of people working on the ship, but no extra ones, as each body cost the Captain and the company a daily pay. Within the ship hierarchy, unless you had unusual specific training, you started at the bottom. That meant cleaning in the engine room.

  Cleaning was not as dirty as it sounded. Traci started her job after getting some simple instructions. First of all, this ship had an excellent air filtering system. No dust motes were floating in the light beams like there was in the sunshine on planets. They had small sucking robots that constantly traveled the walls, floors, and even the ceilings to keep everything spotless.

  But there were places that the little robots could not enter or reach because the spots were in a different shape or were not exposed. In the engine room, there were miles of pipes, cables, and interlocking wires. Here was where the human touch was still needed. There were oil and dust and a collection of odd residues that required to be removed from everything.

  It was tedious, mind-numbing work, but for Traci, it was the perfect hiding place. She didn't complain and just did the job as required or perhaps a bit better than the other man who was also new and at the bottom of the list.

  By the end of the second day, the engine room boss was sending Traci in one direction and Fedor, the other new guy, in the other direction. It didn't take long to realize that she had been assigned an easier sector. She didn't look to see where Fedor was in the long noisy room with so many distractions. Traci just used the special little machine in her one hand that sucked up everything. She had a great rag in the other that could wipe up oily stains without streaks with one swipe. She was standing on a stool, cleaning on pipes that were overhead, when her wrist announced it was time for lunch.

  They could step outside the engine room to a small area with a cleansing area, and a setup where many people down in this lower part of the ship could gather and eat or visit. This meant that Traci could take a moment to clean up and then go out and get the box meal sent down from the mess hall.

  The food was good and generous. There were lots of vegetables, fruit, and always a piece of meat. The only drink was clear, clean water. There were some complaints about the drink, but Traci was happy with everything, made one more trip to the cleansing room, and returned to the engine room in plenty of time. She saw the head of the department noticing each person who returned. He even nodded at her as she passed the point where the scan logged in her wrist.

  After the first week, as she came into the engine room and started to go over to pick up her equipment from a closet, the Chief stopped her.

  "You know I got a problem."

  Traci looked around with a frown. "I hope I'm not part of the problem, sir."

  "Well, actually, you can help correct it. I have a man that can't report to work on time either for the start of his shift or for breaks. So, I need to put him at the bottom, but I only have room for two in the hygienic section. So, I wonder if you would mind if I moved you up to help with records?"

  Now she looked back at the man and fought to keep a smile from her face. Records was simple if done correctly. It involved taking the readings from all of the different consoles in the engine room and entering the information into a pad that would then update the information to the bridge.

  "Well, sir, anything to help out." She accepted the unusual pad and listened to the instructions. Now she began to walk into areas she had not seen before.

  Yet fate said there was never going to be problems when you throw a bunch of people into a limited space for long periods of time. There was a man who had lost his job and been taken back down to cleaning pipes. He came into the engine room to see a newbie, a pretty young woman walked around doing his old job.

  So, he was angry, and he gathered his friends and complained. Perhaps he added some details and left out others, as he discussed in whispers how the woman got his job. Rumors spread, and people took sides. Some who knew the truth laughed at him, and others just liked something to talk about. After all, the long trips between stops and jumps were often boring.

  So, it was only a short time that Traci found herself in the middle of a division among some of the crew. There became a strange quiet battle within the ship. People would bump int
o others in a hard way and act surprised when something was said about the contact.

  For Traci, things became missing from her bunk, but no one could get into the locked cabinet. She soon learned not to leave anything out on her thin mattress. Still, she found she would have to go to the Chief Steward to get a replacement for a missing pillow or blanket.

  At some point in these requirements, the Chief who watched his supplies dwindle in places that seldom were called for notified up the chain of command.

  Then things began to accelerate as the wrong person bumped into someone who just swung back with a fist. That incident led to a full contest in a hallway that couldn't go far in the tight area. There were some lessons learned in this senseless struggle of taking sides.

  There came a time when someone bumped into Traci in the wrong way so that she was supposed to fall back into a piece of equipment. What happened was that with her able sense of balance, she just used the momentum of the push to let her turn on one foot. She knew this was a hit on purpose, one of several within the last few days, and she was angry.

  As Traci's hands hit the ground to stabilize her, one leg came up with accuracy to hit the man behind her on the chin. The surprise strike to him, as he was leaning towards her, let the swinging foot contact with full force. He went back instead to fly and settle on some other equipment. He didn't move.

  There was a shock from a couple of his friends and some big grins from everyone else. Not everyone was on Traci's side, but a lot of people could appreciate a bully being put down.

  The culmination that brought everyone up in front of the Captain’s table was a riot in the mess hall. The strange part of the investigation turned out that the center of the problem, two individuals were not even in the mess hall at the time of the riot. Both Traci and Mem were on their jobs in the engine room and had heard rumors of the destruction in the mess hall.