"Yes. Every bit as bad as that. I was sold as a slave and kept in a cage." She lowered the collar of her shirt and turned her back to him so he could see white welts of a deep tattoo that had been removed. "That is where they marked me, like I was a piece of meat. Let me help you. Please."
Priloe looked from her shoulder back to her face. The once exuberant teenager's eyes carried a seriousness that he recognized. It was the face of a survivor. He nodded. She did understand.
"What's a locker room?" he asked.
"Jack. Show Pri here the locker room and especially the shower. I'll help Millie. I want you to change into those clothes we made for you. If anyone saw you in what you have on now, they'd know there was something going on."
"Mouse, are you okay with that?" Priloe looked at his sister, who was still holding onto Jenny. She nodded her head, showing a little concern.
"I'll be nice and gentle, Millie. You'd rather be called Millie than Mouse, wouldn't you?" Jenny asked. The mask of normal teenager was once again firmly back in place.
"It's okay when Reelo says it," she answered.
"Should I call him Reelo too?" Jenny asked, raising her voice as people often did when talking to children. Milenette nodded her head in agreement.
After twenty minutes both Priloe and Milenette had been thoroughly scrubbed by the automated showers and changed into fresh clothing. The transformation was considerable. And aside from Priloe's unkempt hair, they no longer looked like the street urchins they'd been only a day before.
"Lena's calling," Jenny said to Jack. "We've got to run to dinner. We probably won't be able to come back tonight, but we should be able to get back in the morning."
"Who's Lena?"
"My sister and she has a restaurant. Jack and I work there. It's busy for breakfast, lunch and dinner." Jenny pulled out two more meal bars and handed them to Priloe. "I'll bring more next time we come."
"Don't tell anyone about us."
"I promise."
Priloe was both sad and relieved to see them leave. For all of her pushiness, Jenny had been more than helpful. Jack, on the other hand remained something of a mystery. He was friendly enough but barely spoke.
"Reelo, is Jenny really coming back?" Milenette asked once the unlikely pair had disappeared.
"I don't know, Mouse. She helped us a lot today, though."
Jenny and Jack already had a couch set up in front of the large window that pointed up into space and Priloe and Milenette lay down on it and shared a meal bar. It was nice to have a full stomach again. He didn't know how long he stared out at the stars, but he finally fell asleep.
***
They'd been awake for a few hours when Jack and Jenny arrived.
"We brought some goodies," Jenny said, pulling items from a bag that Jack was carrying.
Priloe noticed they were both wearing much different clothing than the day before – one piece and much more form fitting.
Jenny noticed him looking at their clothes. "Don't worry. We've got suits for both of you."
"I thought we had good clothing now," Priloe asked, confused.
"You do for walking around the station, but you're living in The Fort and you haven't seen the best part yet," she said.
"I don't understand what you're saying," Priloe admitted.
"Have you eaten breakfast yet?"
"No."
"Good. Try this."
Jenny pulled out a sealed container and opened the top. Inside were rolls covered with a white fluffy, coating. It wasn't something Priloe had ever seen before. Expecting his reaction, Jenny pulled out a fork and handed it to him, urging him to try it.
"Your sister makes this?" he asked after trying the delicious pastry.
"Yup."
"I like it," he said.
"They're called cinnamon rolls. Most people do."
Priloe looked over to Milenette and watched as Jack helped her eat a small roll.
"You like it, little mouse?"
"It's yummy, Reelo."
Pod-Ball
"Remember when I told you this is a pod-ball court?" Jenny asked as they ate their rolls.
"I don't know what that is," Priloe said.
"Well. Jack is the resident expert. He actually plays pod-ball with a team. I've watched the vids and they're really good. Show ‘em Jack."
Jack smiled, pulling out a small reading pad and started a video. The screen showed a room, much like the one they were sitting in, but instead of tables, crates and chairs lying on the floor, it was arranged with different types of obstacles. As they watched, the nature of the game became pretty obvious. The small ball that looked like someone had taken a scoop out of each side was thrown between team mates, with the objective of eventually throwing it into a goal on either end.
Just as Jenny had said, Jack was in the video playing with two others on his team. Priloe marveled at the acrobatics of the contestants as they spun around, pushing off the obstacles, spinning around poles and stopping and starting. Just as he thought the ball couldn't possibly be prevented from entering the goal, an opposing team member would snatch it up and the flow of play would reverse.
"Why are they floating?" Priloe asked. The players were wearing suits that had small blue jets blasting out from their feet and wrists, allowing them to change direction and move all about the large space.
"All of the courts have a different setup for gravity. The one we're watching is actually .1g. See how they float downward if they haven't just pushed off?"
Priloe watched and noticed that she was right.
"It's always different though. The only thing that stays the same is the length of the court and the location of the goals. Oh, I suppose both sides have to be identical too," she clarified.
They watched the match through to the end. The announcer finally declared that the team Loose Nuts had won the match.
"Is that you guys? Loose Nuts?" Priloe asked, looking at Jack.
He nodded affirmatively.
"You're good."
"Thanks," Jack said. Priloe realized it was the first time he'd ever heard Jack speak.
"We thought that maybe you'd like to play pod-ball with us," Jenny said.
"How? I don't have a suit like that."
"We brought one with us. We thought maybe we could put Millie in the penalty box. It's really safe, but she could see everything that's going on."
"I want to play," Milenette said.
"Of course you do, honey. We'll play with you first and then when it starts getting too rough we can sit in the box together. How about that?"
This mollified Milenette.
Jack showed Priloe how to pull the vac-suit on over his clothes and then looked back to Jenny with his eyebrows raised. "No AI," he said.
"Oh, no problem. I'll find a basic model. I'm sure there are plenty around," she said. Priloe could tell that she was hiding something but couldn't imagine what it was. "Right, there it is. That should work."
She pinched at something in front of her vision and flicked it at Priloe. He wasn't sure what she was doing, but as soon as her hand stopped moving a vid screen jumped up in front of him, floating in mid-air.
"What is that?" Priloe fell back a step and the screen followed him.
"Take it easy. I should have explained first. That's your heads-up-display or HUD. You haven't ever had an AI assigned to you. That's an Artificial Intelligence. Basically, to use the vac-suit - and really most things on the station - you need to have one. See, on the HUD it's asking if you want to use the AI? You just need to say yes."
Priloe was confused, but decided to agree anyway. There were words on the HUD but he couldn't understand what they said. "Yes. But I don't know how to read."
Literacy level set to zero. Learning mode engaged. Station records updated for Priloe Miles Sharpe. A voice sounded just beneath his ear from the collar of the vac-suit. He jumped at the unexpected noise. The words on the screen disappeared.
"What was that?"
"Nothing b
ig. The AI must have found your records," she said.
"It knows who I am?"
"Sure, you must have lived up here at some point. I think it also decided to teach you to read."
It wasn't news to Priloe that he'd lived in the city. According to his mother, it was where he'd been born. The fact that the city might have information about his past, however, was news. He still held out hope that his mother would come back, having abandoned him and Milenette in Nannandry. More important to him was the possibility of an education.
"It will do that?" Priloe asked hopefully. Jenny made it sound like a bad thing, but he desperately wanted to know how to read and do his numbers.
"Try to stop it," she said ruefully. "But that's not the fun part. Now that you have an AI running, you can power the suit's arc-jet gloves and boots. We call ‘em AGBs. You haven't used ‘em before so you won't go real fast, but I think you'll like it." Jenny pointed at a console on the wall. "Jack, turn the room down to point-two"
Jack opened put his palm on the surface of a panel. Suddenly, Priloe felt much lighter than he had - like he was almost floating.
"That's .2g," Jenny explained. "Personally, I like point-one or zero, but since it'll be new for you, I'll give you a break.
She continued, "To play pod-ball, you need to learn how to control your arc-jets. You and your AI need to agree on what gestures do what. To start off with, though, the basic maneuvering is pretty simple. If you push both of your hands in any direction at the same time, that's the direction the jets will fire. Same with your boots. Try it, but remember to give yourself room to stop."
Priloe hesitantly pushed his hands down to his sides and felt a thrill when little blue jets fired from beneath his hands and pushed him upward slightly.
"Good, do that with your feet too, the AI will sense your legs pushing," Jenny instructed.
Priloe pushed harder and all of a sudden was flying away from the ground too quickly. He covered his head with his arms in preparation for crashing into the ceiling, only he didn't. He felt a strong arm wrap around his waist. He turned to see that Jack had grabbed him.
"Hold on," Jack said, shifting the much smaller Priloe around to his back. Once Priloe had grabbed on, Jack maneuvered through the room, dodging the various obstacles expertly, demonstrating braking and acceleration. After a few minutes he set down next to Jenny and Milenette.
"Me too," Milenette requested. Jack was all too happy to oblige and pulled the small girl to his chest. Much slower this time, he gracefully flitted around the room, to her apparent glee.
The four continued to play like this for the next couple of hours. Eventually Jack pulled out the actual pod-ball and they played catch in the low gravity.
"We've got to go to lunch," Jenny finally said after they'd reset the gravity and collapsed on the couch.
Priloe started peeling off the vac-suit.
"You can keep the suit. We used Jack's brother's industrial replicator to manufacture it last night. It's no big deal," she said.
"It's too much, Jenny. You have to give it back." Priloe didn't want to give it back, but he also knew that someone would be looking for it and he didn't need the trouble.
"It's yours, Priloe," Jack said.
Priloe looked at Jack, surprised. In the short time he'd known him. Jack had said maybe five words. Jack nodded at him with a smile and then started toward the door.
"Well, there you go," Jenny said. "Oh, before I forget. I left a dozen meal bars in the bag we brought. Just in case you get hungry."
"I don't know how to thank you," Priloe said.
"While I'm gone, work with that AI and it will start on your literacy skills. I bet you know more than you think, but the AI will help you put it all together. Oh, and one more thing. I haven't said anything to her, but I think you should meet my sister."
"I don't know, Jenny."
"Just think about it. No pressure."
Priloe looked at her, finally gaining the courage to ask a question that had been bothering him. "How did you find Milenette and me so easily?"
"Oh that? It wasn't hard to guess which apartment you'd hidden in. Then I just put a tracker in the clothes we gave you. I'm not sure we'd have thought to look in the air ducts. Although, I think we'd have found you anyway. Especially considering how different you looked before taking a shower."
Priloe considered her words. She and Jack had been very helpful and he was starting to feel like he owed them too much. How would it go for him when he told her no?
Jenny continued, "See you tomorrow?"
"You need to remove the trackers or we have to give the clothes back," he said flatly.
"Alright." Jenny looked at him sheepishly. "I'm sorry. I just didn't know how we'd find you again. Are we okay?" She folded the sleeve of his shirt up and removed a small two millimeter wide disc.
Priloe just shrugged.
Lena's Diner
For the next several days, life was filled with pod-ball, lessons and visits from Jack and Jenny. Priloe wondered at the strange quiet life he now lived. Back on Nannandry every day had been filled with the excitement of scraping by for survival, every moment dedicated to just making it one more day. A small part of him missed the action.
"I'm growing moldy in here," Priloe said to Jenny while they sat on the couch and stared out at the stars.
"That's a silly thing to say. What are you talking about?"
"You know. Milenette and I are just sitting around or doing lessons with the AI or playing pod-ball. I feel so… I don't know… trapped, I guess."
"Come to dinner tomorrow. I'll send the instructions to your AI. You just have to take the central lift down to twenty-four, we're right there. You really can't miss it."
"What if someone asks too many questions?"
"Who, Lena? She won't. She already knows that Jack and I have met some other kids. Besides, she's really busy during dinner."
"Are you sure?"
Jenny pinched her fingers and tossed the directions to a restaurant called Lena's Diner. It was an action Priloe had become used to in the short time he'd been around Jenny, as she was forever giving him something to look at.
"So you'll come?"
"Yeah. Why not?" Priloe decided.
***
Priloe was up early the next morning, the excitement of having something to do driving him. He cleaned both his and Milenette's clothes in the suit freshener in the locker rooms and they both showered. By 0745 he was ready to go and sitting impatiently on the couch waiting.
"Will they have muffins, Reelo?"
"Remember, we don't have any money, Mouse. We can't ask for food."
"How do we get money?"
It stopped Priloe short. He wasn't sure how to get money on a space station. Jenny had explained that just about every location was monitored by video and stealing was something the station's AI would look for and report.
"I don't know, Mouse. We'll figure it out, though."
"I know."
"Incoming comm from Jenny Dontal," Priloe's AI instructed. He'd taken to always wearing the vac-suit as it gave him access to the AI.
"Hi, Jenny," he said.
"The dinner rush is starting to slow. Why don't you bring Millie down?"
Priloe wasn't sure why Jenny insisted on using the name ‘Millie,' but he hadn't been successful in changing her behavior.
"Sure. We're coming," he said.
Show the directions that Jenny gave me last night, he said to the AI. He loved that he could ask the AI virtually anything and it knew exactly what he was thinking.
His HUD displayed a map of the corridors of the level he was on and drew arrows on it for him. Jenny had explained to him that more advanced AI's would actually show the directions in the space in front of him, but his suit wasn't powerful enough for that.
"Ready, Mouse?"
Milenette took his hand and they walked out the door.
Getting to the central core turned out to be relatively easy. The pod-ball court
was at the end of a long corridor, and it only took a couple of turns before they found themselves in the very middle of the station. Four, two meter in diameter, transparent tubes dropped down from the ceiling and pierced the floor. It had to be the lift that Jenny had been talking about, but he had absolutely no idea how to use them.
How do I get on the lift?
“You need to summon the lift, requesting that from your AI.”
Summon the lift, please.
The top of the transparent tube he'd been staring at turned a light shade of red and pulsed slowly. A minute later a round, elevator car arrived and a panel opened up, allowing entrance. With Milenette in tow, he stepped inside.
For a moment he stood there, not sure what to do next.
“Please indicate which floor when operating an elevator,” his AI instructed patiently.
Floor twenty-four, please, he said.
As the floor dropped beneath them, Milenette clamped down on Priloe's hand. They watched as the car they were riding in dropped four floors. By Priloe's count that put them back on the same floor where Jenny and Jack had originally discovered them.
"Here we go, little mouse," he said as the elevator car stopped and the doors opened.
For just a moment the foyer in front of the elevators had been empty, but a group of station workers approached causing a rush of adrenaline to sour Priloe's stomach. He led Milenette out of the elevator car and breathed a sigh of relief as he realized the workers had no interest in them and were just looking for a ride of their own.
The clanking of dishes, the buzz of happy customers and the smells of freshly baked goods drew them to the diner. Priloe caught Jenny's eye as they rounded a corner and got a good view of the restaurant. The script ‘Lena's Diner' was boldly illuminated by turquoise neon-style lights with a bright pink coral background. Priloe's ever observant AI pronounced the two words and highlighted them individually as they were intoned.
"Pri, Millie, you came," Jenny exclaimed. "Just a second, I'll clear a spot at the bar for you."
The diner had been set up with a row of booths along one long wall and a low white bar, with backless red stools which separated the dining area from the service area. Jenny picked up a stack of plates and dropped them on a cart. About halfway into the diner, she wiped the bar top down and gestured for Priloe and Milenette to sit.
Cutpurse (Privateer Tales Book 6) Page 4
