Chapter 3: Dinner time Rumors
TARMEIN PRIME was torus shaped, er, maybe I should say doughnut shaped, and it was always rotating. That centrifugal force helped create the artificial gravity that stabilized the colony. It also meant the inside of the doughnut-shaped ring was walkable.
The ground seemed to go on uphill forever.
Above me loomed a faraway glass ceiling. The vastness of space swirled outside that ceiling, broken by the hub at the center of the doughnut.
Elevators led up to the hub, placed on the ground at equal intervals like spokes on bicycle wheels. Maybe it would be more accurate to say this place was like a bike tire rather than a doughnut, then, with all those spokes leading from the outer rim to the central hub, Army HQ is supposed to be there.
When I got to Army HQ it didn't take long before I was out of there, Lieutenant Serena had already told them about me, so I got through my business there quickly and painlessly. Along with the 19,000 Ener I'd harvested from the space pirates, I received a prompt payment of 150,000 Ener for the information about their whereabouts. Now, my total funds are 2,669,000 Ener. Nice!
Man I miss meat, big juicy meat, it's rare to find some off world and the food they serve in space is complete and utter garbage, I really need a chef for my soon to be established crew.
I got to ask the Army about commodity prices around the colony.
Basic meals were about five Ener, going up to ten to fifteen if you wanted to get fancy. A liter of clean drinking water would cost you three Ener;
Anchorage fees for spaceships were 150 Ener for twenty-four hours. I guess you could say one Ener was roughly equivalent to one USD or so, which meant that water was pretty pricey. Same with the anchorage fees;
$150 a day was rough. But such were the costs of being in a colony.
Air was included in those prices. Both the air and the water were valuable around here. Really, when I thought about it, it was a pretty honest price given how precious resources like those were for a colony.
Hmm. Assuming I slept in my ship, a day's stay at this colony would mean three meals for fifteen Ener, four liters of water for twelve Ener, and anchoring for 150 Ener, for a total of 177 Ener.
Nice! I can stay here for forty years, if I wanted to, that is.
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Well I got a piece of good news, two if I'm not mistaken.
First is that I found this little restaurant in the capital of the colony that serves real food (as real as artificial foods can go) . It's not sloop nor is it nutritional fluid, that's what's most important to me.
As I'm enjoying my food (meat, with a side of meat, plus meat for dessert) I hear the conversation going on at the table beside mine.
"I mean can you still believe it, a swordsman of that caliber here in our little colony, just happens to fight a legion of the governor's men with you here to see it, wow I still can't believe my luck"
"wait you still on that, that was like two days ago, it's old news at this point"
"So you're telling me that you there been news on par with that into the past two days?"
"OK ok you got me, it's boring as hell on this rock, but it we both know we can't afford the price of getting a ship, we can't even afford a ride to another colony of planet, and before getting that far we can't even afford to pay for the paperwork for interstellar travel."
At that point I inserted myself into their conversation "Ahhh gentle man, I didn't mean to earsdrop but I did hear a bit of your conversation. Would you please regale me with the tale? I'll make sure to make it worth your while. I spoke while ordering drinks for my new friends.
After they gave me all the information I needed, I gave them 5000 Ener each, and I'm guessing by the way their eyes are bulging it was a lot
How much do they actually earn here, it should be a lot as this is a mining system. (oh how wrong I was these people were earning about 100 Ener a month)
As I was about to leave the restaurant I was stopped by an angel, a small ball of energy ran up to me and hugged my leg.
"Um mister, are you going to go and save the nice swordsman?" say what you will but children were my weakness, especially the girls, it seemed even in this world Abigail still affected me.
"Don't worry sweety, I'm going to go get the nice swords man and bring them here to finish the nice meal you made them that they never got to finish." I spoke while ruffling her hair.
"Oh! Before you go I have something for you to go and give her" and there she was rushing off to the kitchen in the back.
Man!, Children are so cute, I can't wait to have my own.
Ahh she's back, and it seems she has some rice balls with her "Please give her these, these ones will better than the ones she ate before, because they are not from the floor"
My God she's an angel.
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After leaving little Hana's restaurant ( that's the name of the girl) I was about to head over to the governor's mansion but when I saw my clothes I realized
Ima need some new clothes.
I now stood before a full-length holomirror in the shop named Vanguard's Edge, the colony's premier tactical outfitter.
The centerpiece was the Cropped Aero-Tactical Jacket (45,000 Ener). Its dark, slate-gray material was reinforced with carbon-weave plating at the shoulders, bearing the sharp, military lines of an elite soldier, having grown up under a military man's care I was more drawn to military styles than anything.
Beneath it, I wore a Nano-Fiber Compression Suit (12,000 Ener) that clung to my lean, frame, mapping the dense muscle I'd developed during my years suffering under gramps Spartan training.
My lower half was also equally armored: Kevlar-Threaded Cargo Greaves (28,000 Ener) tucked into Mag-Lock Combat Boots (35,000 Ener), designed to keep my feet both warm and protected.
A complex Kinetic Webbing Harness (55,000 Ener) crisscrossed over my torso, its matte-black straps was meant to help me control the micro-thrusters connected to my ankles.
And the piece de resistance was the long, fraying Aether-Silk Red Scarf around my neck. It was a gift from the man who had sacrificed his own arm in order to save my life, only to be returned on the day I achieved my dream.
The smart-fabric immediately adjusted to regulate my temperature the moment I wore it.
I ran a hand through my shaggy, black hair, my gaze settling on the sharpness and intensity of the eyes reflecting back at me. I had tried so many times to make them seem warmer but to no end, so I made a point of acting warm so as to not scare people off.
I looked less like a well off mercenary and more like a high-tech reaper, plus I even made sure they gave the materials that could stretch, like really stretch.
"Total cost to about 175,000 Ener sir," the shopkeeper droned, tapping his terminal.
I didn't even blink at the price, for my safety and life was priceless.
I adjusted the scarf one last time, feeling the weight of the promise it held.
"This is still not the best, but I am loving the design, when I get to the Imperial Capital I will get ones of better materials, but I will keep tee design," I muttered, my voice dropping into a low whisper so as to not offend the shopworker.
He turned away from the mirror, the tails of his red scarf reaching his legs when he stood tall flickering behind him like a flame as he stepped out to find his swordsman.
Current Funds: 2,489,000 Ener.
Now it's time I go get my first potential crew member.