Mitchell's Revenge
Tiberion, orbiting moon off EQ2

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

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

Jake had been in contact with the Rubiconof Baryon Mining prior to docking at Tiberion. Matt, Fred and Irene were ontheir way to the Rubicon’s docking bay now. They had no idea how long the workwould take and agreed to ping Jake as soon as they did. Other Baryon Mining shipswere experiencing problems too, and they had a long list to inspect after theyleft Tiberion.

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

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

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

Betting kiosks lined the outsidewall of the sports centre and bookies were loudly hawking the odds on the gameinside. Vid screens at the side of each kiosk rolled the odds down in anendless stream of data. Supporters jostled to place bets on the outcome of thematch in progress.

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

“You’ve been here before, haven’tyou?” asked Lucy as they walked.

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

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

“I doubt it. I looked a bitdifferent back then. I had long dark hair and brown eyes, and a prosthetic scardown 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 rathernot talk about it if you don’t mind. Let’s focus on the here and now shall we?”

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

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

From the food outlets they movedalong lines of clothing stalls which displayed everything from ship suits tohiking boots, hats, gloves and scarves, leather goods and jackets. While Jakebusied himself trying on hats, Lucy decided to update her meagre wardrobe withsome new jeans, a couple of shirts and a leather jacket. She had just enoughcredits in her account to cover her purchases and was pleased with what she hadbought.

Half an hour had passed by the timeshe turned around to look for Jake. She was getting hungry and thought theyshould replace something to eat. She couldn’t see him amongst what was now a verybusy walkway. There were humans of all shapes and sizes, and humanoids withhairy bodies and beady eyes. They jostled each other as they moved. She watchedtwo of the moon’s navy clad security personnel strolling towards her scanningthe crowd as they went. She could see the outline of their weapons underneaththeir jackets.

A couple of girls in tight fittingshort skirts, neon bright lycra tops and skyscraper heels sauntered alongbehind the security men. Their painted faces and red lips made them lookgrotesque under the fluorescent lighting. They barely looked at Lucy as theypassed. She could smell aniseed.

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

“Jake, where are you?” she askedquietly. No reply. Then she said “I’m heading towards the ballroom. Meet methere.”

She kept walking, her bulging bagsof purchases heavy in her hands. She thought ruefully that she should havebrought a handipak with her. She reached the end of the walkway and foundherself in an open space that looked remarkably like a park. Vid screensfloated above her replicating the greenness of the parkland.

There were benches positionedunderneath trees, alongside flower beds and manicured green lawns. Pathwayswound amongst the gardens. She walked to one of the flower beds and knelt downto 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. Lucychuckled to herself as she looked for the pathway to the ballroom.

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

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

“How do you do that?” she asked.

“Do what?”

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

Jake laughed. “It’s an old mercenaryskill. 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’smore to you than meets the eye.”

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

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

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

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

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

“You mean those things stillexist?”

“Sure do,” replied Jake. He pointedto 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 intoit and gave it to the attendant to send.

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

“I have no idea!” Jake laughed. “It’sworth 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 withyour legs I’d never keep up with you. You’re safe for now!”

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

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

The music was being played by anorganist in a purple suit seated at what looked like a Wurlitzer on the stageat one end of the room. They were amazed to see people dancing in close hold toa slow waltz. The men were wearing suits and ties, while the ladies werewearing long flowing skirts that swished around their ankles. Tables and chairswere positioned around the edges of the dance floor. Other people were sittingdrinking 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 stomachwas starting to rumble too. They made their way to the bar near the entranceand ordered “high tea”.

“I’ll bring it over to you,” smiledthe waitress. “Just replace a table and relax.”

Jake surveyed the room until he sawa good spot at the far end of the ballroom where he could see all the comingsand goings. They wandered over to it and sat down to watch. Lucy dumped hershopping bags on the floor by her feet. A few minutes later their tea arrivedalong 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 hightea and watch the dancers on the floor.