Mitchell's Revenge

“This is one weird place!” exclaimed Lucy as she and Jake disembarked from Mitchell’s Revenge. She looked around at the multicoloured wall panels and ugly fluorescent lighting in the docking bay.

“It only gets weirder,” said Jake as they stepped onto the tarmac and made their way towards the connecting door to the moon’s interior facilities. Two enormous vid screens mounted either side of the doorway flickered scenes of green fields and calm blue lakes at them. They both wore concealed ear pieces so that they could stay in touch with one another as they moved around.

Jake had been in contact with the Rubicon of Baryon Mining prior to docking at Tiberion. Matt, Fred and Irene were on their way to the Rubicon’s docking bay now. They had no idea how long the work would take and agreed to ping Jake as soon as they did. Other Baryon Mining ships were experiencing problems too, and they had a long list to inspect after they left Tiberion.

There was no need for Jake or Lucy to go with the technical crew, so Jake decided to take Lucy on a guided tour of the moon. Em was happily ensconced on Mitchell’s Revenge with strict instructions to stay on board and protect the ship. Ships’ engineer Henri Areva had diagnostics to run and systems to check so he was staying on board too.

Tiberion was home to a large number of facilities. It had hotels, ranging from the most basic bed and breakfast, to the most expensive full service operation, costing thousands of credits a night. There were restaurants, nightclubs, and an entertainment complex for all kinds of performances. Over the years Tiberion had hosted singers and actors of great renown, orchestral concerts, rock bands, magicians and dance of all kinds.

A cavernous indoor sports centre was currently the venue for an intergalactic ice hockey tournament. There were players, coaches and supporters everywhere. A sign at its entrance declared that the next major event would be held in eighteen months’ time. It was going to be the bi-annual intergalactic ballroom dancing championships and called on all ballroom dancers to attend.

Betting kiosks lined the outside wall of the sports centre and bookies were loudly hawking the odds on the game inside. Vid screens at the side of each kiosk rolled the odds down in an endless stream of data. Supporters jostled to place bets on the outcome of the match in progress.

There were brothels and seedy bars, taverns and amusement arcades. There was a giant roller coaster, dodgem cars and a ghost train. There was a ballroom where they could watch people dancing and get afternoon tea. There was a zero gravity fun house and a casino. There were alleyways filled with market stalls where they could purchase just about anything, except weapons. Even those could be found if they looked hard enough.

“You’ve been here before, haven’t you?” asked Lucy as they walked.

“Oh yes,” replied Jake. “A long time ago. In another life, one that I prefer not to talk about.”

“Will anyone here remember you do you think?” she asked. Jake shook his head.

“I doubt it. I looked a bit different back then. I had long dark hair and brown eyes, and a prosthetic scar down one cheek. I looked like a real pirate!” Lucy studied his face.

“I didn’t realise it was that bad,” she said quietly.

“Worse,” he replied. “I’d rather not talk about it if you don’t mind. Let’s focus on the here and now shall we?”

She nodded and continued to study her surroundings. Everything seemed grimy and the ubiquitous fluorescent lighting gave everyone an unhealthy pallor. Vid screens mounted high above the concourse flickered the same calming images she had seen in the docking bay. Text in various languages crawled along the bottom of the screens exhorting everyone to “have a nice stay on Tiberion, moon of a thousand entertainments.”

They walked along an alleyway that had the most diverse groups of stalls Lucy had ever seen. There were sweets and chocolates, cakes and pastries, and the smell of coffee was strong. She bought a stick of sweet Tiberion rock and chewed on it as they walked. It had green and white stripes and the name Tiberion worked into its centre. It was sticky and delicious.

From the food outlets they moved along lines of clothing stalls which displayed everything from ship suits to hiking boots, hats, gloves and scarves, leather goods and jackets. While Jake busied himself trying on hats, Lucy decided to update her meagre wardrobe with some new jeans, a couple of shirts and a leather jacket. She had just enough credits in her account to cover her purchases and was pleased with what she had bought.

Half an hour had passed by the time she turned around to look for Jake. She was getting hungry and thought they should find something to eat. She couldn’t see him amongst what was now a very busy walkway. There were humans of all shapes and sizes, and humanoids with hairy bodies and beady eyes. They jostled each other as they moved. She watched two of the moon’s navy clad security personnel strolling towards her scanning the crowd as they went. She could see the outline of their weapons underneath their jackets.

A couple of girls in tight fitting short skirts, neon bright lycra tops and skyscraper heels sauntered along behind the security men. Their painted faces and red lips made them look grotesque under the fluorescent lighting. They barely looked at Lucy as they passed. She could smell aniseed.

“Where the hell is he?” she wondered. She summoned her memory of the moon’s layout studied on the way into port and decided to make her way towards the ballroom and some afternoon tea. She had never seen a ballroom or people dancing in the old fashioned way and she was curious. She pinged Jake on her earpiece.

“Jake, where are you?” she asked quietly. No reply. Then she said “I’m heading towards the ballroom. Meet me there.”

She kept walking, her bulging bags of purchases heavy in her hands. She thought ruefully that she should have brought a handipak with her. She reached the end of the walkway and found herself in an open space that looked remarkably like a park. Vid screens floated above her replicating the greenness of the parkland.

There were benches positioned underneath trees, alongside flower beds and manicured green lawns. Pathways wound amongst the gardens. She walked to one of the flower beds and knelt down to smell the roses. She jerked her head back with a start. They were artificial. She reminded herself that it was a closed environment on a moon, after all. Lucy chuckled to herself as she looked for the pathway to the ballroom.

A sign hovering midway through the park indicated which way to go. She set off at a brisk pace and reached the entrance a few minutes later. She sat on the front step with her shopping bags on her lap and looked around. Jake materialised silently at her side and sat down next to her on the step.

“Sorry,” he said. “I ran into someone I knew.” She looked curiously at him.

“How do you do that?” she asked.

“Do what?”

“Appear so silently. It’s as if you’re a ghost. One minute you’re here and the next minute you’re not.”

Jake laughed. “It’s an old mercenary skill. Move as silently as a panther! I’m not just a pilot with a pretty face you know.” Lucy smiled at him.

“I always knew that!” she laughed. “There’s more to you than meets the eye.”

“Just like you. Shall we go inside and get some afternoon tea?”

“Yes, let’s,’ said Lucy, getting up from the step and heading into the building. Jake paid the entry fee and was handed an old fashioned printed map.

“Will you look at this!” he said, opening it to show Lucy.

“How quaint!” she said, studying it carefully. “It’s as if they’re stuck in some kind of time warp. I’ve been to art galleries on EQ2 where everything’s digitised and broadcast through your earpiece as you walk around. This is so out dated.”

“Why don’t we send Anja a postcard?” Jake suggested.

“You mean those things still exist?”

“Sure do,” replied Jake. He pointed to a rack of Perspex postcards showing a 3D picture of the ballroom. “Look here. Anja would love to get a postcard from the moon!” He quickly chose a card, scribed a message into it and gave it to the attendant to send.

“Are you sure she’ll get it?” Lucy asked as they walked further inside.

“I have no idea!” Jake laughed. “It’s worth a try don’t you think?” Lucy shook her head and smiled at him.

“Just don’t ask me to dance next, OK?”

“Can’t dance, can’t sing. And with your legs I’d never keep up with you. You’re safe for now!”

Following the printed map they made their way to the ballroom. It was a vast high ceilinged room with two levels of seating above the dance floor that culminated in a garish neon light fresco. The lights snaked and swirled across the ceiling in a multitude of colours, pulsing in time with the music. Their faces took on an even worse hue than they had under the fluorescent lights. The floor stretching out before them was a maze of ugly two tone parquetry.

“Good grief!” exclaimed Lucy. “This is so ugly!” Jake nodded his agreement.

The music was being played by an organist in a purple suit seated at what looked like a Wurlitzer on the stage at one end of the room. They were amazed to see people dancing in close hold to a slow waltz. The men were wearing suits and ties, while the ladies were wearing long flowing skirts that swished around their ankles. Tables and chairs were positioned around the edges of the dance floor. Other people were sitting drinking tea and eating sandwiches. Lucy could not believe her eyes.

“I told you this place was weird,” chuckled Jake. “And this is the least weird of it!”

“Food,” muttered Lucy. “I need food. Let’s get afternoon tea and watch for a bit.”

Jake readily agreed as his stomach was starting to rumble too. They made their way to the bar near the entrance and ordered “high tea”.

“I’ll bring it over to you,” smiled the waitress. “Just find a table and relax.”

Jake surveyed the room until he saw a good spot at the far end of the ballroom where he could see all the comings and goings. They wandered over to it and sat down to watch. Lucy dumped her shopping bags on the floor by her feet. A few minutes later their tea arrived along with a multi-tiered cake stand crammed with sandwiches and tiny cupcakes. Lucy poured strong tea for them both and picked up a sandwich.

“This is delicious!” she exclaimed, beaming at Jake. “We should come here more often!”

They settled back to enjoy their high tea and watch the dancers on the floor.