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Trance's Gift - Chapter 4
Time: CY 10088 May 5166 – Day 2Location: Bathsheba spaceport Lowport district
As they walked the short distance to their destination Beka noted that neither Harper or Bailey had spoken out loud about the money she had been reaching for. When they stopped at the door to Jenni & Concepcion’s home Bailey pounded on the door with her fist. At first there was no response but after Bailey knocked a second time Beka heard someone say loud enough to be heard through the door, "Okay, Okay, I'm coming."
A few seconds later the door opened revealing the young woman Beka knew as Jenni. As soon as Jenni saw Bailey's uniform her eyes narrowed in suspicion.
"What do you want Sub Inspector?" she asked. "You've got no reason to be here. We haven't broken any laws."
"Relax, Miss Beaulieu. I'm not here to make a bust. I'm just escorting some mutual acquaintances. I believe you know them from yesterday. They want to talk to you and Miss Pavlovina "
A look of confusion came over Jenni's face as she tried to remember where she had seen Beka and Harper. Taking advantage of Jenni's distracted state of mind Bailey asked for permission to enter before the other woman could shut the door or tell them to get lost. "May we come in to talk?" she asked as she began to step through the door.
"Umm." Jenni replied as she was forced back from the open door allowing them to enter.
As she entered the dwelling Beka was surprised that the interior of the apartment was in better shape than she'd expected given the conditions of the exterior and the fact that flash addicts lived there. The room was neat and reasonably clean with only a few makeshift repairs visible. As Beka was coming to the conclusion that based on the room's condition the girls hadn't given up on themselves yet a raven haired woman entered the room.
"Damn it Jenni. How many times do I have to tell you not to..." her tirade immediately stopped when she saw Bailey in her uniform.
"Captain Valentine, Mr Harper," said Bailey, "I'd like you to meet Adouilda Beaulieu and Consuela Pavlovina . They took care of your crew member while she was here on Bathsheba. Miss Beaulieu, Miss Pavlovina I would like you to meet Captain Rebekah Valentine and Seamus Harper. Captain Valentine is Grape's boss. Mr Harper is her husband. They want to talk to you about Grape.
From her position slightly behind Bailey Beka noticed that Jenni was wearing considerably less make up than the day before and her eyes were almost back to a normal shade of brown. She was also sporting what would soon be a real beauty of a shiner as Harper liked to call black eyes and another large bruise on her cheek. There were also a number of old bruises that Trance had been sure were hidden under the heavy make up on Jenni's arms that her clothing hadn't been covering. Beka also noticed that Jenni was showing the early signs of flash withdrawal. The woman, who she assumed was Concepcion, appeared to be approximately the same age as Jenni Like Jenni she also showed signs of flash addiction but she wasn't as far along as the other girl.
"Concepcion!" exclaimed Jenni. "these are the two I was telling you about I met yesterday. They're from the starship Grape works on now. We need to give them some tea. You start the tea while I get some chairs from the kitchen. You would like some tea wouldn't you?" she asked Beka and the others. Deciding that the tea had to be better than the coffee she had had at the police station Beka agreed. A few moments later Concepcion returned with a plate bearing some battered mugs. One of which was decorated with flowers. "This one was Grape's favorite," the girl said almost shyly as she offered it to Beka.
As soon as everyone was seated the girls began to bombard Beka with questions which she did her best to answer. The baby was a girl. Her name was Aurora. Yes, Trance really was the Maru's environmental system tech. No Trance couldn't come visit. The police still had a warrant out for her arrest if she left the Maru. Bailey had the grace to look embarrassed at that particular disclosure. Yes, Trance and Harper were really married. She married them herself in her capacity of master of the Eureka Maru.
It didn't take long for Beka to realize that the girls were not just interested in hearing how Trance was doing, they desperately wanted to know that she was doing well. The needed to know that at least one of their little family had escaped the trap that was Lowport for someplace better. Deciding that it wouldn't hurt to give the girls some of what they were looking for Beka embellished the stories slightly. She included the story of Harper's shootout with Wister and his gang on New Texas as a way of letting them know that Harper was worthy of Trance. By the time she had finished that particular story even Bailey was looking respectfully at Harper. Eventually the tea, which was considerably better than the coffee, was gone and the conversation began to dry up.
"I really wish we could see Grape again," said Jenni looking at both Beka and Bailey. "Do you think it would be possible for us to visit her if she can't come to see us?"
Beka decided it was time to get to the point of the visit. "I’m not going to beat around the bush about why we’re here. The two of you took care of Trance while she was here on Bathsheba. Without the two of you she wouldn’t have survived. Harper and I owe you for that and we pay our debts. We're here on Bathsheba to pick up a a high priority shipment so we’re not going to be in port any longer than we need to be. Trance has asked that we bring you two with us when we lift ship. I agreed. Like I said we owe you. You can ride with us to Sinti and start new lives there. Someplace where you have a chance to do something better than this." She waved her and to encompass most of Lowport as she said 'this.' Beka paused to let her offer sink in then added, "Officer Bailey has assured us that since you’re not wanted on any charges here there would be no problems with it if that’s what you want to do."
After sharing a quick panicked look with her roommate Concepcion answered "We can’t go. We’d love to go with you but F...... our boss would never let us."
"We’ll be able to taking you some place where you’ll be safe from Fagin and Sikes." Beka responded letting them know that she knew about Fagin and Sikes. "No," Jenni blurted out. "No you can’t, because no matter where you take us they’ll find us."
It was painfully obvious to all three of the visitors that the girls were more afraid of leaving their source of flash than they were of Fagin and Sikes.
"You’re just afraid of losing your source of flash." Bailey said dismissing Jenni’s lie.
"No we’re not" Concepcion insisted. "Fagin and Sikes have connections everywhere."
"That’s BS." Beka snapped. "I know better. My dad was a flash addict so I know how flash addicts are. When I was a kid there were times that me and my brother went hungry because he spent his money on flash instead of food. There were also times when he turned down a good paying job because it would take him too far from his source for too long. You two are doing exactly the same thing. Fagin and Sikes are your source of flash aren’t they. And you two will put up with anything as long as it doesn’t jeopardize that. I'm not going to waste my time arguing with you. If you decide you want to take me up on the offer you know where to find me. But make up your minds fast because once my cargo is loaded we're lifting off and if you're not aboard you'll spend whats left of your lives being used by any man with enough money to buy your next fix and hoping Fagin or Sikes doesn't decide to beat you just for the thrill of it."
"We'd really like to go with you but we just can't." Concepcion said with downcast eyes.
"And that's a load of crap!" Harper's sudden outburst surprised everyone except Beka who was only surprised that he hadn't spoken sooner. "I grew up in that little corner of hell called Earth and this place is almost as bad. The only things that make this place better is there are no Dragan's grabbing people for their slave gangs, no Magog raids, and there are better places to go to on this planet. Guess how the Dragan's kept their slaves from escaping?" Harper paused momentarily for it to register but not long enough for anyone to interrupt him. "They gave their slaves flash and got them hooked that’s how. That way they could literally work their slaves to death and they wouldn't even try to escape because the Dragan’s were the only source of flash on the planet. That's what Fagin and Sikes are doing to you. By giving you flash they made you their slaves. Is that how you want to live, as their slaves? Is that how you want to die?" When he finished speaking there was an uncomfortable silence in the room.
Beka got out of her chair before either girl could formulate a response. "Come on Harper, Officer Bailey. There's no reason for us to to stay here any longer. I've said what I have to say and I still have to arrange to have my cargo loaded aboard the Maru."
"How do you live with your self?" asked Bailey when they were out the door. "You see what the FTA's done here yet you work for them."
Beka was in no mood to be lectured. Her visit with Jenni and Concepcion had raised too many painful memories so her answer was less than polite. "You've got no idea what you’re talking about," she said. "I saw the condition of the intrasystem section of the port. You mudfeet can't even support your own economy. If the FTA wasn't subsidizing your spaceport you wouldn't have one at all. You think the FTA is one organization working together to keep the little guy down. Well it isn't. There're maybe a thousand companies that make up the FTA. But only the top dozen or so have any real voice in how things are run. One guess whose benefit they run it for. The rest, like Tri -Galaxy, were pretty much given the choice of join or be put out of business. They pay their dues and hope none of the mega corps that run things don't decide to gobble them up for a light snack. You're right. I am working for an FTA organization, but they're as much a victim of the Alliance's policies as Lowport is. Now unless you actually have something intelligent to say you can drop me and Harper off at the spaceport. I need to make arrangements for our cargo to be loaded aboard the Maru."
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