Trance's Tale - Chapter 1

Time: CY 10084 April 5161
Location: Bathsheba spaceport

In a deserted warehouse devoted to temporarily storing goods recently offloaded from visiting spaceships an old fashioned wooden crate began to rock back and forth. The rocking increased until the box fell over onto its side. A moment later a portion of the top of the crate was pushed open and a figure wearing a particoloured catsuit wriggled out of the crate. The figure was young, petite, and female, but definitely not human. The two most obvious things that announced she wasn't human were her skin color and her tail. Her skin was purple, in places it actually sparkled as if some one had sprinkled glitter dust over her, while her tail, which was currently wrapped around a backpack, would have if it was erect stretched from the base of her spine to just over her shoulder. A closer inspection would have revealed that the tops of her ears were not rounded like a humans but pointed, rather like an elf's from Earth's mythology.

"Well that was easy enough," thought the girl as she swung the back pack up and onto her shoulders. "Now all I have to do is find the Andromeda Ascendant. I bet the port authorities know where she is." Then after ensuring that the area really was deserted and no one would notice her leaving the warehouse, she left the warehouse and headed towards the largest building in the spaceport area.

The Bathsheba spaceport wasn't too different from the spaceport on the girl's home world, if anything the Bathsheba spaceport was the busier of the two spaceports. The sun was different however. It appeared much larger than the sun her planet orbited. The girl's limited knowledge of astronomy told her that it must look bigger because Bathsheba was closer to it while the fact that the temperature seemed not too different from her home suggested that Bathsheba's sun was cooler than her home world's.

Bathsheba's spaceport was cosmopolitan enough that non humans were if not common at least not a rarity. She attracted a few curious glances, and a few more frankly appreciative ones from the males working the area, as she headed towards what she assumed was the administration building but ignored them all. Her problems started when she made her inquires about the Andromeda Ascendant. There was no ship by that name in port, nor were there any records stating that it would be arriving on Bathsheba anytime soon.

"That's the trouble with precognition," thought the girl. She was an optimist by nature and refused to let a minor thing like having to wait for the starship to arrive dampen her spirits. "Sometimes you know something is going to happen, but just not when. I guess I'll just have to find a place to stay for a day or so until she arrives."

It wasn't until she tried to rent a room at one of the hotels near the spaceport that she realized that things might not go as smoothly as she had hoped. "I'm sorry, miss, said the man at the receptionist desk, looking down at the collection of crystals before him, "but we don't accept off planet currency. You'll have to get it exchanged to crowns before you can rent a room."

Annoyed but still unperturbed she followed the desk clerk's directions to the nearest bank only to be met by rejection once more. "I'm sorry ma'am," said the teller "but we don't have any exchange rates for your currency. In fact the bank has no record of your home planet at all. I'm afraid we won't be able to help you."

By now it was getting late and the sun was starting to set. She was getting tired and hungry as well. She still had most of a bottle of water in her backpack, but she had eaten the last of the food she had brought with her while she was still hiding in the crate. It was also getting chilly. She remembered a grassy area not too far from the bank. There had been people walking and picnicking in the area when she had arrived at the bank. Maybe she could spend the night there. The park was mostly deserted. She picked an area that was partly sheltered by bushes, thinking it might protect her from the wind that was starting to pick up. Then using her backpack for a pillow she lay down and attempted to sleep ignoring the growls coming from her stomach.

Her slumber was interrupted by someone tapping her on the leg. She woke up to see a uniformed man standing over her. "I'm sorry, miss but I can't let you sleep in a public park. I don't know what you're doing here but I can call the child welfare authorities if you need help."

"No thank you, sir" lied the girl shamelessly, realizing that the man must be some sort of police officer or security guard. "I really should be getting home. It was a busy day and I thought I'd lie down for a few minutes and rest. I must have fallen asleep. My parents will be frantic. I need to get home."

"Well...," the policeman looked reluctant as if he wasn't sure he should let the girl go.

"It's really is OK, sir. Please don't take me in. I'll be in even more trouble than I'm going to be in now if they have to pick me up."

The police officer nodded his acceptance. "You'd better contact them and let them know you're on your way. I don't want to find out there's a missing child report out on you when I get back to Headquarters."

"Thank you sir," said the girl as she picked up her backpack and began to walk back towards the business district. As soon as the officer was out of sight the girl sat down on one of the benches near a public transit stop. She closed her eyes and very quickly fell asleep.

Her sleep was once more interrupted by someone nudging her leg. This time the nudger wasn't in uniform. He was considerably older than the girl, possibly in his forties, expensively dressed with rings on several fingers of each hand. He smiled down at the girl. "Looks like you didn't have any luck getting your money changed at the bank."

The girl scrambled to her feet noticing that it was early morning. "What do you mean? How did you know I had trouble in the bank?"

"I was there when you were talking to the teller yesterday. You probably didn't notice me but I noticed you." He paused and smiled as if to soften the possible ways the sentence could be taken. "There can't be too many purple girls with tails in the port. Let me guess, you were on one of the ships that landed yesterday, working passage so to speak, and the captain dumped you when when he got bored with you. I've seen it happen before.

"I think I might be able to help you out. I know a couple of girls about your age that could use another roommate to help pay the rent. Why don't I introduce you to them. I have a ground car nearby. We can use that. My name is Fagin, by the way. What's should I call you?"

The girl's instincts and her stomach began a heated debate. Her instincts said that Fagin shouldn't be trusted. Her stomach argued that trust was a luxury when starvation was the alternative. When Fagin offered to buy her breakfast and mentioned that it was supposed to rain that night her instincts surrendered to her stomach's arguments.

"Trance, Trance Gemini."

Prologue

Chapter 2