Chapter 2
Arrival
Tar looked around at the thriving space station filled with all types of races. The aroma of food was in the air, some of the scents appetizing while others were not. He was uncertain as to what some of the creatures he saw might eat. There was a walking worm, it was large, black, and shiny. Something similar to their Adidas, which were like Earth grasshoppers, only intelligent walked by. The creature had large reflective eyes and eight appendages that it used as arms and legs.
He felt someone watching him and turned. His body froze and he stopped breathing. Her hair was like dark honey and her eyes were hazel. Her lips were plump while her body was amazing. She stared a moment then she hurried away.
“You’ll get nowhere with Patty.” The male next to him said with a grin.
“Who is she?”
“She runs the place. If it wasn’t for her, none of those kids would survive. I’m not sure exactly what she is, but she was born here. I’m certain of that. I’m Geoff, what’s your name?”
“I’m Teran. It’s nice to meet you.”
“You should have never come here. This place is toxic. It’ll eat you alive.” Geoff said before he hurried off.
A male dressed in a military style uniform stood off to the side observing all of the new hires. “You all need to fall in line.” He demanded. “I’m the leader here. My name is Leader Orson Trevers. You can all me leader or sir. Since the moment you stepped out of the shuttle, you became mine.” He strutted down the line of males looking coldly at each one when he stopped in front of them. Stopping in front of Teran, he grinned. “Looks like we have a pretty boy. I won’t take it easy on you. You’d better be able to do everything you said you could.”
Damn. They’d thought his looks would help him here, but apparently the boss didn’t like good looking guys. Trevers moved on and made comments about some of the others. They’d all been sized up and judged. He’d failed to make a good impression from the start.
An envelope was handed to each of them. “In two hours come back here for a tour of the place.” Trevers said.
Teran looked in his envelope and found a key card to his room. Pulling his luggage behind him he made his way to the hall where his room was. Opening the door he was relived. It was small, but the bed looked comfortable and he had an attached bathroom. There would be no public facilities. He also saw a small kitchenette. There was everything he needed right here.
Now he put his suitcase on the bed to unpack it. He quickly found a place to hide his communicator in the torn mattress and put up a surveillance device after scanning to make sure they didn’t have one. A lowly guard was hardly worth the trouble of watching away from work. At least that was his hope. Having a free hand to check things out was what he needed.
Now that he was settled, he decided to go out early and get the lay of the land. That would give him a bit over an hour before he needed to be back where Trevers would expect them all to congregate. A bit of food wouldn’t hurt anything either. As he stepped out of his room his stomach rumbled. The smell of something delicious hit his nose and his mouth watered.
Following his nose, he headed to the cafeteria. The place was packed with employees and what looked like travelers visiting the station. This appeared to be the go to place to eat. He had his new ID with him and that should get him a meal. As he stood in line he listened in on the guards and other employees that were talking.
“Don’t know how Patty does it. The food here is the best.” A guard commented.
“She’s not human, she’s more.” His buddy said.
“I hope she doesn’t leave while I’m here.” The guard declared.
“She won’t. They keep her in line by threatening the little ones.” His friend informed.
“How do you know so much, Alan?” The guard asked.
“It’s like this, Tom. I’ve been here since she was born. Stick with me and I’ll help you survive this place.” Alan offered.
“You’re my best buddy. You know that.” Tom reassured. Alan just nodded. They began to gather up their trays to drop off at the bin.
The line moved up rather quickly. Once he made it to the food he saw things were clearly labeled and you could press a button to choose the language if Earth proper wasn’t your thing. The selection was good, better than he was used to seeing on space stations when he was on leave. Many of the foods available were Earth in origin. Maybe that was because a large number of the guards and other employees were originally from there.
Taking a couple of cabbage rolls, he moved up where he grabbed some barbecued ribs, a roll, some slaw, and a large piece of pie. Showing his ID badge to the cashier, she waved him through. He went to the soda fountain and got a glass of cola.
Sitting at the end of a table with a few occupants at the other end, he began to enjoy his food. It was delicious. At least eating here would be no hardship. Two of the people sitting near the center of the table were lab assistants. He stayed quiet hoping they would talk about the lab and what they were doing.
“Hurry up, Karl. We need to get back before Dr. Gilmore comes looking.”
“I’m almost done, Seth. We still have time on our break.”
“You know Gilmore. She won’t care when she is doing her testing. Poor kids will get the worst of it, but there’s always some left for us.” Seth said.
“I know you’re right. I hate that bitch.” Karl observed. “I wish she had those needles shoved up her…”
A com buzzed. “Yes? Sorry Dr. Gilmore we’ll be right there.” Seth gave Karl a long suffering look.
The two guards gathered their trays and hustled out of the cafeteria once they dropped the trays off. It was surprisingly easy to learn about this place. Everyone seemed to speak unguardedly in the cafeteria. That was neither wise nor risk free.
He dug into his food enjoying every bite until he was finished. People had left while more had come in, but these were either the quiet type or they weren’t affiliated with the space station. Some spoke of interesting things like politics and the situation on Earth which was growing ever more serious, but it had little effect on his mission so he didn’t listen closely.
Looking at the com he’d been issued, he saw it was time to head to the meeting if he wanted to be there early. After all, the early bird caught the worm. He’d be able to watch everyone as they arrived. Dropping his tray in the bin, he headed out the door.
His plan had been good, but he wasn’t the earliest one there. The gorgeous female he thought was called Patty stood off to the side waiting for the others to arrive. Approaching her, he stopped right in front of her. “Hello, Beautiful.” He greeted with a grin.
“Hello.” She said without a bit of welcome to her tone.
This female wasn’t the most sociable one he’d met. Never had he had to try to catch a female’s attention. He didn’t know what to do. “Is this a good place to work?” He asked.
“It’s fine for one such as you.” She replied.
“What is one such as me?” He asked.
“Someone looking for a place to hide while Earth falls. You’ll make good money, the work is easy, the food is the best, and you can ride out your contract easily.” She responded.
“The work is easy? Does that mean I won’t have to hurt anyone? I don’t like to hurt patients especially children.” He replied.
“You won’t be around the children. New guards protect the entries and exits and search incoming supplies and people.” She answered.
He didn’t like the fact that she seemed to take a dislike to him and believe he was only capable of simple tasked. It sounded easy enough that a child could do it. There was also something about her that called to his inner Phoenix and that was a surprise. Others were now arriving and they didn’t talk anymore. He would get her alone again sometime and continue the conversation.
Trevers arrived looking around to get a count. “Someone is missing. I expected it to be pretty boy, but it’s not.”
The guy who was late was a knuckle dragging bone head. Maybe these were the kind of guys Trevers preferred, because he simply grunted pointing to a place in line and the guy fell in. No more was said.
“Let’s get started. We’ll be taking a tour of the areas all guards have access to. Because of the sensitivity of certain areas and the value of the intellectual property, we won’t be going to the labs or the areas volunteers are staying. Follow me and Preston will bring up the end of the line.”
Trevers began to walk through the station as he kept up a lecture on rules, expectations, and pointed out areas like showers and locker rooms for the guards. “Here’s the cafeteria and when we are done we’ll end up here in time for supper.” Trevers observed.
They walked through the gym which was modern and well equipped. There was even a ring for boxing or wrestling. “Some weekends we have matches with prizes for the winners. There are also side bets for entertainment.” Trevers continued.
Again he stopped before they exited the gym and he had them all line up. “Anyone have any questions?” Trevers asked.
“How and when do we get paid?” Bonehead asked.
“An important thing, getting paid. You get payed the first of every month and in your packets you have a paper you must turn in where you select direct deposit to a bank or card, a check, or cash. Carrying cash can be dangerous here so I suggest the other forms. If you have trouble with your packets, come see Preston and he’ll take good care of you.” Preston grinned, but he didn’t look helpful.
“Now let’s finish the tour. Here is the back exit to the station. You’ll see there are scanners set up to find bombs or weapons. There is also a body scanner to show you if someone has illegal goods hidden inside them. Any issues you find, separate the person and take them to the room next to the scanner and lock them in. Call a supervisor to deal with them. Do not under any circumstances deal with them on your own. Every few people, the computer will pick one to search. Only those are searched upon exit. Now let’s go to the entrance.”
Trevers led them back the way they had come. It seems their security wasn’t that good. Perhaps it was on purpose. “Now this is the entrance. Anyone without special approval or ambassadorial rights is searched coming in. I don’t care if it’s your mother, she gets searched. We have the same scanning devices here as at the back. Guards work in pairs. They take turns switching back and forth between watching the scanners and searching the people coming in. Any questions?” No one seemed to have any.
“Good, now let’s head to the cafeteria where we can all get some food and sit down and relax.” Trevers got in line first and they all fell in as they were except for Preston who stepped up and slid in behind Trevers.
Looking around, he realized Patty had disappeared at some point along the way. He wondered where she was all day. From what he’d heard she practically ran the place so she should have an office. The line moved quickly and he piled his plate full of Italian food. It was his favorite since they had it one night a week on the ship when they patrolled.
He sat with some of the new guys at a big table while Trevers, Preston, and a couple guys he’d not seen before sat at a smaller table. The new guys were quiet for the most part. Trevers and Preston spoke quietly, but his supernatural hearing could pick out the words.
“Who you gonna pick to fight this weekend?” Preston asked.
“The pretty boy and the great ape that was late. It’ll be brains versus brawn. My money is on the ape.” Trevers said. “I won’t bet much just in case.”
“I’m betting on pretty boy. I think he’s stronger than he looks.” Preston said. “No cheating, right?”
“Who? Me? I’m offended you would suggest I’d do that. I save that for the big fights.” Trevers declared. “This is just two little fish.”
“Sawyer bringing in some of that flat face tomorrow?” Preston asked.
“Yup. A whole medical cooler full.” Trevers admitted.
Damn. Flat face was the nickname for a new and expensive designer drug. If a person overdosed, it flattened the features on their face and they stayed that way in death. Made it hard to identify the victim. Things were just getting complicated.
“The newbies won’t be messing it up will they?” Preston asked.
“No, we are putting each new guy with an experienced guard. They all know medical coolers are checked out by supervisors only. It’ll be alright. It’s coming in on Night Wing. Don’t you have a thing with the captain?” Trevers asked.
“Soon Ing is hot, but a bit too violent for my taste. I’ll be hiding out with a bottle of whiskey and a softer female.” Preston observed.
“I’d give her a try, but Deloris would unman me.” Trevers admitted.
“You letting her keep a leash on you?” Preston asked.
“Not at all. She said she’ll let me go if I ever want it, but don’t be dipping my wick elsewhere until then. She’s sweet as hell in bed, and mean as shit everywhere else.” Trevers admitted.
“The one I’d like to stick it to is Patty, but that stuck up bitch don’t like males. I believe her and Ladonna are shagging each other.” Preston suggested.
“I’d pay to watch that. They are both hot as hell.” Trevers said.
“What about Deloris?” Preston asked with a chuckle.
“She said I can’t bang anyone, not that I can’t watch them bang each other.” Trevers pointed out.
“There’d be a line around the block to watch that.” Preston concluded before the two men began to eat their food.
There was no more talking, but they’d said enough. He would call in the tip about drugs on the Night Wing. That way they’d never make it here. Teran hurried to finish his eating. Once he was done he dropped his tray then headed to his room. He scanned it before he pulled out his com.
“Hello? Tar, is that you?” Justice asked. He was temporarily in the office helping out since Cash was off.
“Yes. I have a tip. The ship, Night Wing is carrying a medical cooler full of flat face. It is expected to arrive tomorrow, but must be stopped before it is near here.”
“I will take care of it. Be careful, if they are dealing that they are more dangerous than we thought.”
“I will be careful. I had better go.”
He felt better now that he’d done his part. Justice would take care of the rest. It wasn’t that he knew him well, but what he knew of him was good. The male was reliable and capable. With nothing else to do, he checked his envelope seeing he was scheduled in the morning for entrance duty.
Setting his alarm, he showered in his closet sized bathroom and went to bed. Although he tossed and turned for a while, eventually he got into a deep sleep. In his dreams he chased Patty, but some unknown female caught her instead and took her away. That was when his alarm went off.
Jumping up, he hurriedly dressed and got his gear on. Once he left his room he went to the cafeteria. He was eating before the other recruits showed up. They looked tired and not quite ready for work. Looking at them made him glad he’d gone to bed early.
Trevers showed up with Preston to take stock of the men. “Once you’re done eating, we will escort you to your assignments.” Trevers said before he got his food and ate quickly. Teran figured Trevers could eat whenever he wanted to. That was part of being in charge.
Once they were all done, they lined up and Trevers lead with Preston at the end. Only a third of the men were present. Some would work nights and others would fill in on other days. They all worked five twelve hour shifts a week. Even though two guards covered the entrance and two the exit, there were other points covered by other pairs of guards.
Extra guards were used in the warehouse and other areas for loading and unloading. There was a heavy turnover so they wouldn’t have extra for long. Trevers took them to the entrance first. “Doss, this is Teran. He’s your responsibility to train so do it right.”
After that they left and it was Doss who would fill him in on all he needed to know. “Let’s start you on the scanning equipment. You watch it while I do the searching and explain what you need to know. Okay?” Doss asked.