We found the nearest terminal. It was a small box type object, similar to payphones in old Earth. Fortunately you didn’t have to pay to use these.
I activated the terminal and tapped a few icons. Cat’s face emerged on the screen.
“Well well,” she said slightly irritated, “I figured you wouldn’t call.”
“Yeah yeah,” I said, “Just quit your nagging and let me explain.”
“I don’t nag,” Cat said defensively.
“YES YOU DO,” I said, “Just ask Dad. That’s the man who has to deal with thousands of nagging sailors per day. He would know if you nag and yeah you do.”
“Whatever. Where are you right now?”
“We’re in the Tycho spaceport. Where are you?”
“Sitting in the lobby of the Aldrin Hotel.”
“You get a room?”
“Not yet. I just arrived when you called.”
“Good,” I said, “Get us a suite with three bedrooms.”
“Why?”
“Just do it.”
“Fine. You better show me the ‘discovery’ you made when you get here,” Cat said.
“I can show you now but the proof of who she is will have to wait until we get there.”
“Alright. Who is ‘she’?”
I looked at Spits. She gave me a terrified look. I guess that’s understandable. She’d kept a good poker face through my entire conversation with my sister. Though she had seen her rage and if I was her I wouldn’t be too keen about talking to her either. But Cat seemed to have calmed down enough to be tolerable right now so I figured it would be safe. And if she did do anything to upset Spits she’d pay. Dad always had to tell her to be polite.
I motioned for Spits to come in view of the screen. Tentatively she stepped in view of the screen.
“Who the hell is this?” Cat asked, “Don’t tell me you used the credits to buy a pros-”
“SHUT UP CAT,” I said knowing where she was going with this, “Just shut up before I reach through that screen-”
“And what? What’re you gonna do?” she challenged.
Sibling rivalries. Only in my case I had to outdo a girl who was captain of a rugby team, top of her class in college and spoke all the major Russian dialects (some of which were almost as common as English in the Solar System), and headed the surveillance division on a Defense Intelligence Agency recon station. A lot to live up to.
“Do you want to know? I WILL reach through that screen. Just be nice,” I said softer this time, “We didn’t exactly meet under the best circumstances.”
“So that’s what happened to your face. Also, you should remove that scar from you face.”
“Please, it’s barely noticeable.”
“Yeah ok. Just like what happened to your left-”
“Ok we don’t need to go there. Now be nice. Cat, this is Spitfire.”
Spitfire emerged in view of the screen again.
“Hello,” she said timidly. Her normally chill attitude was gone, “You’re Cat?”
Cat immediately became friendly, “The one and only! So you said you name was Spitfire?”
“Yeah. Why?”
“Hmm, just wondering,” Cat said not suspicious of anything which was rather surprising considering what she did on her deployments, “Not the strangest name I’ve heard. I mean, my dad named my brother Jett.”
Cat laughed. Spits laughed along with her. I couldn’t tell if it was genuine or forced.
“I can hear you,” I muttered.
“I don’t care!” Cat said ever cheerful.
“Well anyway,” I said, “I kinda found her when I landed in the middle of the forest.”
“Oh? And just what exactly happened?”
“Um, East Asia? Giant cat almost mauling someone who was in the wrong place at the wrong time?”
“Oh… I assumed you were the knight in shining armor that saved her?” Cat grinned. Yeah she’s still my sister.
“Damn thing nearly clawed my left arm off,” I muttered.
“It didn’t nearly claw anything off and you know it. That damned arm of yours has been through a lot worse.”
Spitfire spoke up, “I’ve heard a lot about you from Jett.”
“He didn’t say anything too bad about me I hope.”
“No… Not really.”
Cat’s eyes narrowed, “So… My brother decided to melt his frozen, black, heart briefly to save and take care of you?”
I rolled my eyes as Spitfire responded.
“I guess. I mean your brother has been extremely kind to me since he found me. I’m not exactly from here so this place is a little bit alien to me,” Spits said.
“Really? We’re not exactly from here either. Where are you from?”
“I, uh,” Spitfire looked towards me with a pleading look. I whispered, “Saturn,” over to her. It would do until we could prove to Cat who she was.
“Saturn, I’m from Saturn.”
“Saturn?” Cat raised an eyebrow, “That’s a lot farther than where we’re from.”
“Ganymede?”
“Yeah. Jett tell you that?”
“Yup.”
“Well I eagerly await your arrival at the hotel. You too Jett!”
“Yeah whatever!” I said.
“Be nice!” Cat yelled, “You know Dad would have a fit.”
“He’s probably already having a fit. He’s probably seen the funds in that account go down,” I laughed.
“He’s going to kill you when he finds out.”
“We both know that that would NOT happen,” I said seriously.
“Fine. So when are you going to get here?”
“I don’t know, sometime today.”
“Fine. I’ll wait in the lobby until then. Bye.”
“Good bye.”
I hung up before turning to Spits.
“She seemed nice,” Spitfire said.
“Try living with her for 13 years,” I said, “She also has a temper that can make her a little difficult to deal with, as you saw earlier.”
Spitfire laughed, “Sounds like Fleetfoot.”
We walked along. This spaceport wasn’t quite as large as the one in Natal but at least I was breathing some good, processed air. Plus I was back in my element, space, and I was not on Earth anymore.
“She has a temper?” I asked.
Spitfire laughed, “Oh yeah. She’s normally pretty chill but when one of Soarin’s pranks pisses her off you better not be anywhere near her when she flips.”
“What does she do exactly?” I asked now curious.
“Well there was one time when Lightning Streak replaced her shampoo with hair dye and her white hair when from being, well white, to being GREEN!”
I pictured an angry, now green haired girl, fuming in rage.
“And that’s not the best part!” Spitfire laughed, “He blamed Soarin’ for it! Soarin’ needless to say woke up hanging by his underwear on the flagpole!”
I laughed picturing a blue haired jock hanging suspended above the ground.
“Ever since then it’s been a back and forth prank war between those two. And Lightning still hasn’t been caught.”
“Did you do anything about it?” I asked.
“No,” She smiled deviously, “Not yet. I’m waiting until they both find out who did it and then take out the past few months of torture they put each other through on Lightning. Then I’ll do something… after they’ve had their revenge.”
We both laughed as we continued walking. Though I noticed Spitfire’s happier mood seemed to be deteriorating. Something in that last conversation must have bothered her. Maybe she was missing her team. Hmm, I guess separation anxiety or something was natural in a situation like this. I guess I can relate. When I was 8 and my parents made me move out to Ganymede to live with my sister I was a little upset. Their respective jobs were both extremely demanding. Dad ran the Navy and had to deal with the politicians, a prospect of his job I did not envy. Mother was the CEO of the McDonnell Douglas/Boeing space plane and ship building corporation. The company built nearly everything the navy used. Nice family relationship that apparently didn’t have room for me.
Cat moved out when she went to college and later bought a house on Ganymede. I didn’t see much of her before even when she used to live with us. Always doing something with her girlfriends and didn’t want much to do with her little brother for some reason. Even when she was home the most we ever said to each other was “Hello” and “Goodbye.”
She wasn’t happy at first to lean I was moving in with her but she got over it. Just when I was settling in and getting used to things she got her DIA job. I got sent to a boarding school when she was on deployment. Separation again.
“Hey,” I said gently, “Are you alright?”
Spitfire looked up. She forced a smile, “Yeah I’m fine. Never better!”
Doesn’t take a polygraph to tell you shes lying. I steered her over to a nearby bench and sat her down, “Alright, talk to me. Something is bugging you and we’re not leaving until it’s resolved.”
She gave a wry smile this time. Sad but genuine, “Nothing gets by you does it?”
I smiled back, “A lot does actually but not this.”
“Fine,” she sighed, “I guess I’m missing them; my team mates. I mean, what if I never see them again? What if I can’t get back? What then?”
I placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder, “I severely doubt the universe would be that cruel as to do that to someone as nice as you. If it makes you feel better I know what you’re going through.”
“You do?”
“Yeah,” I sighed, “My parents made me move out and live with my sister when I was 8. Never see much of them anymore but I still see them once in a while.”
“Why’d they make you leave?”
“My Dad is a fleet admiral in the navy and my mother is a CEO. Not a lot of time for kids. Well I shouldn’t say that. My dad and mom had Cat when my mom wasn’t all that important in the company and my dad was merely a Captain.”
This next part was a lie but I was told to tell it to everyone who asked.
“I came about when my mom was still just a board member and my dad was Rear Admiral. After that my mom replaced the old CEO and my father moved up in the ranks. Oh and Cat hated me and wanted nothing to do with me at first. And just when we were starting to get along she got a government job and sent me to boarding school.”
“Ouch,” Spits said, “Rough life huh?”
“I got used to it after boarding school. But the point is that I know how you feel about this. But about getting back, I’m sure we’ll find a way. You managed to find your way here so there’s probably a way back.”
“What if there isn’t?” Spitfire asked hopelessly, “What if I’m stuck here forever?”
“There is a way back,” I said firmly, “You will NOT be stuck here forever. We’ll find a way.”
“But what if what happened to me was just a freak accident? What if-”
I shushed her, “No. Stop talking. Stop being hopeless. There is a way back and we are going to find it. We are going to be positive about this. Negativity will not be tolerated in this unit Captain! Do I make myself clear?” I finished with the best impression of a drill sergeant I could make.
The Wonderbolts Captain laughed before giving and exaggerated salute, “Sir, yes sir. Whatever you say SIR!”
“You sassing me Captain?” I said, popping my right eye wide open in a parodied stare down.
Spitfire shoved me away, “Oh shut up SIR!” She laughed. I rolled over nearly off the bench.
“You promise we’ll find a way back?” she asked more serious this time.
“Or die trying,” I responded firmly.
She reached over and pulled me into a hug. Ok, awkward. Girl hugging me.
“Thanks,” Spits said, “I needed that.”
“Uh you’re welcome?”
She let me go.
“Aw,” a voice said, “You guys look so cute together!”
I looked up. Standing before me was a kid who looked exactly like me. Well almost. Instead of having my jet black hair he had snow white hair that was slicked up and back on his head. Other than that he was nearly identical to me except for a few extra freckles on his face. That and he didn’t have a scar on his face or a burn on his arm.
I smiled him, “Dane! What the hell are you doing here?”
“I could be asking you the same thing,” he responded, “Who’s the girl? Did you finally take my advice and put yourself out on the market?”
Spitfire’s face turned red. I fumed at the white haired kid, “You’re an asshole sometimes. No I didn’t. She’s just a friend I picked up on the way back to Ganymede.”
“That still doesn’t explain why you’re here,” he said his arms crossed and his foot tapping the floor.
“Botched skydiving drop. Heading home,” I said, “Why’re you here?”
“I’ve been traveling all over this system until school starts. Gotta keep busy you know.”
“Eh.”
“Soo…” Dane said, “If she’s not your girlfriend, then who is the lovely lady you just happen to traveling with? Also where’s Cat? Haven’t seen that bitch in like a thousand years.”
“She’s at the Aldrin hotel waiting for us. As for the girl,” I said, “She’s-”
“I’m Spitfire,” Spits introduced herself.
Dane bowed, “A pleasure to meet you Spitfire, you have the most unusual name.”
“Well Dane is a weird name too, asshole,” I said.
“Better than Jett!” Dane laughed.
“You can blame the admiral for that.”
“Always gotta blame him don’t you?”
“Yes.”
Dane laughed, “So how exactly did you two meet?”
“Natal,” I said, “Giant cat almost mauled her. Saved her. Friends. The end.”
“That doesn’t explain a lot,” Dane said.
“I’m taking her home. She lives on Ganymede too,” I lied. Dane himself was a horrible liar and couldn’t tell if you were telling the truth. If you spoke well enough you could get him to believe that scientists set the sun on fire.
“Well that helps,” he said, “Well I have to go find my parents. Sure they’re wonderin where the hell I am in this huge ass place. See ya at school!”
“Yeah nice seeing you too!” I said joked.
He gave me the finger before running off to some other end of the spaceport.
“Just who the hell was that?” Spits asked as we stood up.
“That was my… cousin Dane,” I lied, “Didn’t you see the resemblance?”
“What was up with his hair?” she asked as we walked towards the exit, “It was white as snow.”
“Meh,” I shrugged, “Don’t know. He was born that way. Kinda funny cause it’s the opposite of mine.”
“He seemed nice enough.”
“Don’t let that fool ya. He only acts polite around ‘The Ladies’,” I said in a mock Fonzie accent, “Other than that he’s one of the craziest nuts you’ll ever meet.”
“Didn’t seem crazy to me,” she said.
“That kid nearly blew up the science lab in our school. He ‘just wanted to see what would happen when he mixed the purple stuff with the yellow stuff’. Bastard nearly blew the school up.”
“Did he get in trouble?”
“No one ratted him out but the teacher was a little jumpy after seeing flames shoot out of the sink and into ceiling. Then the sprinklers activated and flooded the room in a half a meter of water.”
“That must have been hilarious,” Spitfire laughed.
“That boy was always my polar opposite but we got along like two peas in a pod,” I smiled.
We reached the exit of the spaceport. We emerged into a bright light of the city. The city was similar to the Ganymede domes but here the buildings were different. The dome was the same Geodesic design at home but here the tall skyscrapers went through the dome and into space in some cases. Many of them were melded into the huge beams that kept the dome rooted to the moon’s surface. Lights lined the structure, providing light when the sun wasn’t hitting the moon.
The spires here were a lot larger than in Natal. Artificial gravity here only existed inside the dome and in the buildings that extended outward. Meaning that many of the structures that extended into space were only supporting a fraction of their original weight at 1 G.
The architecture here was different too. It still had a modern look with a hint of a lunar aesthetic. A lot of the structures were dark gray or black, fitting in with the moon’s surface. A lot of the buildings had large glass super domes atop them. Everything from conference rooms to night clubs rested inside. All along the outside edge of the city were the lunar suburbs. The upper parts of the skyscrapers had maglev train tracks running from building to building, similar to Natal.
“Whoa,” Spitfire said. She stared up past the dome and into space beyond, “This entire city is on the moon?”
“Pretty much,” I said, “We need the dome to keep the atmosphere in as the moon doesn’t have one. If the dome wasn’t there we’d be dead.”
“It’s like that on our moon too. Though we don’t have anything quite like this.”
“Mhm,” I mumbled, “Thank god they speak English here. I was getting tired of reading Portuguese.”
We walked down the sidewalk. I found a recycler and tossed the old map in. There was a small billboard near the edge of the sidewalk. A map was currently displayed.
“Ok,” I said as we walked up to it, “We’re here,” I pointed at the star on the map that had a ‘you are here’ written inside it. The map was an incredibly detailed view of the ground level of the city.
I tapped the screen. A window with a keyboard came up. I typed a few keys in and pressed enter, “And this should help us find that hotel.”
A route loaded on the screen. Wow.
“All we have to do is walk five blocks that way?” Spitfire asked as she pointed down the street.
“I guess,” I said tapping the screen, “Well might as well get going. Don’t wanna keep Cat waiting.”
We crossed the street and got walking. Spitfire seemed a little less interested in this city but I guess that’s understandable. After you see one city in this system you’ve seen them all. Well most of them. A few were pretty cool like the Europa capital city and the Ceres Ring City.
“So how do you plan on proving to you sister who I am?” Spitfire asked.
“I was thinking about that,” I said, “I was thinking that you could maybe show her your wings. Kinda hard to dispute that.”
“I guess,” Spitfire said considering it, “But how would we do that without… Well you know…”
“I considered that too,” I said hastily, “Just cut a hole in the back of one your bras or whatever and just slip your wings through.”
“Ok, I think that’ll do. Just need to find a changing room.”
“We can do that at the hotel. I have a knife we can use.”
“Alright.”
We walked along until we reached the hotel. It looked simple enough other than the fact it took up an entire spire and reached into the sky towards the dome.
“Ready for this?”
“As I’ll ever be.”
We stepped in.
***
“Jett what the hell is taking your girlfriend so long?” Cat said as we stood outside the bedroom door. Cat being Cat got a TWO person suite, similar to what we had when were in Natal only the living room had no balcony but both the bedrooms did.
“I don’t know. AND SHE’S NOT MY GIRLFRIEND,” I said, “And you had to get a two person suite? Really? Even after I asked you to get on for three?”
“Not my fault. All those suites are booked three weeks in advance for Summer’s End week.”
Originally a week of night partying for college and high school kids it quickly escalated. Two hundred years later it was a system wide holiday. Sometimes called Vegas week it was basically a week where you could do nearly whatever you wanted, within the law, and not be judged by others for it later. Many of the crazy traditions were inherited from Mardi Gras. Parties, balls, galas, all sorts of parties happened. People dressed up in crazy costumes for the occasion. Another unwritten Mardi Gras tradition that was inherited was the tossing of beads to the ladies for… well one could guess. Needless to say the system stopped for a period of seven days for a week of wild parties and other questionable activities.
“Three weeks?” I said, “Really? Three weeks?”
“Apparently the hotel rooms are being extensively decorated. You still haven’t told me who this girl is.”
“You’ll find out in a second. Hold on,” I said. I knocked on the door, “Spits? Having trouble?”
“Just a little!” She yelled through the door, “Where did you put the knife?”
“It’s not in there?”
“Unless you tossed it off the balcony then no.”
“Jett sometimes you are an idiot,” Cat laughed.
“Really? I’m an idiot? Just what exactly would you call what happened last year during Vegas week? I’d say that classifies as IDIOTIC,” I said as I searched my pockets.
“Hey what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas,” she said defensively, “You know the rules; I’m not responsible for what happened that week.”
“Still won’t be able to unsee that,” I said as I pulled an object out of my pocket, “Ah here it is.”
I pulled out a sleek metal handle. The color was a touch screen black color and incredibly sleek. A small slit was at the top of it. I tapped the handle and a series of controls popped on. I tapped a circular button and the blade popped up.
“Still can’t believe I let you make that,” Cat said.
“Ah lighten up,” I said twirling the blade, “I needed a stronger knife and the ones they sell at the store suck too much. Besides, hard to beat a Tritanium alloy blade. Thing won’t break, get dull, or fracture. Virtually indestructible.”
“You had to add the fancy smart glass tech to the knife?”
“Hey if it’s worth doing it’s worth over doing.”
“I hate to interrupt this friendly conversation here,” Spitfire said, “But the knife?”
“Oh right,” I said slipping the knife underneath the door, “Here.”
“Thank you.”
A series of cutting sounds could be heard followed by some fumbling.
“Alright I think I got it,” she said.
“Just what exactly did you want to show me?” Cat asked.
“This,” I said and opened the door. Spitfire stood in the doorway, clothed for the most part, with her wings fully extended behind her.
“You know,” she said flapping her wings, “This is a lot better than shoving these things under the bra.”
“SO yeah,” I turned to Cat, “This is my friend Spitfire.”
Cat mumbled something before her eyes rolled up into her head as she fainted, her body making a thump when it hit the floor.
Oh gosh this chapter feels forced. Sorry for it being boring but more interesting things will happen later.
Jett: It better. I'm getting tired of running around the system like this.
Me: Stop complaining before I write you into a sex scene with Crazy Pinkie Pie.
Jett: You wouldn't
Pinkie pulled out a large kitchen knife. Slowly she walked towards Jett as he backed up against the wall-
Jett: Fine Fine, I'll stop. Just don't-don't finish that.
Me: Trololol