{"data":{"id":13847,"title":"The First Run: Episode Three","rsi_url":"https:\/\/robertsspaceindustries.com\/comm-link\/serialized-fiction\/13847-The-First-Run-Episode-Three","api_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-links\/13847","api_public_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/comm-links\/13847","channel":"Undefined","category":"Undefined","series":"The First Run","images":[{"id":1571,"name":"SorriLyrax_test2.jpg","rsi_url":"https:\/\/robertsspaceindustries.com\/media\/khggyuby7bo7rr\/source\/SorriLyrax_test2.jpg","alt":"","size":1760627,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","last_modified":"2014-04-17T20:30:23+00:00","api_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-link-images\/1571","similar_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-link-images\/1571\/similar"}],"images_count":1,"translations":{"en_EN":"When the tears came, I couldn\u2019t hold them back, which only made how I felt even worse.\n\nI don\u2019t cry easily and I certainly don\u2019t cry in public. In fact, the only time I ever remember crying in front of other people was at my mother\u2019s funeral, and then I didn\u2019t care what people thought of me.\n\nMost of the travelers that came through the port were on business, so they were loading into the hovertaxis that would take them to their meetings. When I started sobbing, it was as if I\u2019d developed a very contagious plague and suddenly there was a bubble of space around me.\n\nI buried my face in my elbow, snorting back the snot that threatened to leak out onto the sleeve of my favorite sweater.\n\nWhen the tears finally dried up, I took a deep and trembling breath.\n\nThat man, whoever had taken my MobiGlas, had not been an actor. That much I knew.\n\nI\u2019d seen men like that come into the Golden Horde before, and my father was always quick to point them out and quick to send me into the back to take inventory. There was something visceral about them, like they were predators set loose in a pen of sheep.\n\nI\u2019d been willing to delude myself up in the station, thinking that the captain could be an act, part of the trial mission that I was being sent on. But that delusion was shattered now.\n\nIt also made me realize that the company might have sent me with the wrong files, or they were the intended files, and had planned on sneaking them through station security. And this man, clearly a criminal of some kind, had known about them.\n\nWhich made retrieving them even more important. I pinched my arm, mad at myself for being so cavalier with the MobiGlas. If I couldn\u2019t get it back, I\u2019d surely be released from FTL, maybe even fined for my carelessness, and then I\u2019d have to go back to my father not only a failure, but also in debt.\n\nBut how was I going to get the MobiGlas back?\n\nAs Captain Hennessy had said, I was a wet-behind-the-ears newbie. I didn\u2019t know who this man was, or where he was going. And now he had a good ten minute head start on an electrocycle, while I was still on foot.\n\nMy stomach growled at that moment, reminding me of another problem. I was starving. Weak with hunger, in fact.\n\nMy father like to say that I ate like a bird, if that bird was a condor. I like to think I had the metabolism of a humming bird, but it meant I was always eating.\n\nGiving up meant getting something to eat. It\u2019s not like I had a way to find this guy.\nI decided I\u2019d find a spiced lamb kabob vendor first, while I considered my options.\n\nWhen I grabbed the straps on my backpack, my hand hit the camera button and my face flushed with excitement.\n\nI quickly unshouldered the backpack and rummaged through until I found my other MobiGlas, the personal one. I\u2019d forgotten I had it, with (hopefully) a camera running, but who knew, with my luck?\n\n\u201cPlease still be recording, please still be recording,\u201d I muttered as I brought up the camera files.\n\nI let the relief whistle out of my lips when I saw that it was still taking video.\n\nFlashing back to ten minutes ago, I replayed the scene. The camera button was lower down, so it was showing him at an upward angle, looking right into his chest and chin. Then the view bounced around with me when he grabbed the MobiGlas and rode off.\n\nI replayed the scene three times until I saw what I needed. The first was the license plate on the electrocycle, including the rental company sticker on the back. Unless he\u2019d planned the whole theft weeks ago, including an incorrect file, I might be able to uncover his identity through the rental company.\n\nThe second clue, but the more worrisome one, was that he was wearing a deep-space jumpsuit under his leather jacket. I\u2019d only seen his face when he grabbed the MobiGlas, but the camera recorded his chest.\n\nIt seemed probable that he had a ship hidden on-planet somewhere or in near orbit. Which also meant he wasn\u2019t going to return the electrocycle.\n\nBut if I could find out where he rented it, it might tell me where he had touched down. It was a chance, anyway, but only if I was on his trail right away. Which meant I wasn\u2019t going to get to eat.\n\nI sighed.\n\nThen I hailed a taxi, a diesel land cruiser rather than a hover since that\u2019s all I could afford, and when the driver asked me which direction, I paused. I needed to be moving, even if I didn\u2019t know where he was going. So I was going to have to make an educated guess.\nSouth was the wealthier region, so it was doubtful he\u2019d dropped in there. North was more industrial, so lots of security cameras. Which left west or east.\n\nA quick review of the map on my MobiGlas showed me that the west side of New Alexandria was less populated. I found a village along the main roads and told the driver to head there. West also made sense because he was on an electrocycle, which needed roads, which the farms and country folk would still use.\n\nWhile he drove, I started calling the area rental services, asking if a man too big for a bike had rented one recently. No one wanted to tell me anything until I told them that: one, it was my husband and he was trying to leave me and my new baby, and two, that he wasn\u2019t planning on returning the bike.\n\nI found the right company on the third try. It was out west, about a hundred kilometers from the city. I did the math on the taxi and realized I would barely have enough funds. If I needed to go any further west, I\u2019d be broke.\n\nOnce I was settled into the seat, I had massive regrets about what I was trying to do. It would be safer to turn back, conserve my funds, and spend my time until the journey figuring out how I was going to earn the money to pay FTL back.\n\nMy other option was to just say the hell with it and stay on planet, finding a job appropriate for my skills, whatever those were.\n\nBut a little hard seed in me just didn\u2019t want to let this opportunity go. I\u2019d been planning and saving for years to get to this point. I couldn\u2019t let a little bad luck keep me down. That, and I didn\u2019t want to return to my father empty-handed and in debt.\n\nI slammed my hand on the seat, earning a reproachful glance from the driver. And then my stomach growled, earning a smirk.\n\nAnd right as a light rain began to sprinkle against the taxi windows, we passed a row of outdoor food stalls at least a kilometer long. Right away, I could hear the callers, yelling out their fare in their spacer\u2019s drawl: fried cheese dumplings, tunnel bird stew, apple pops, quick beer, and the like.\n\nWe passed the stalls at a languid pace due to the traffic. If I hadn\u2019t been so hungry, and staring longingly at each passing stall, I might have missed the behemoth, huddled under one of the awnings.\n\n\u201cPull in here,\u201d I said, and we stopped behind a huge transcontinental delivery truck with wheels as tall as me.\n\nThe behemoth was finishing up a pair of kabobs, spiced lamb, I guessed, based on the contented look on his face. Figures. He was still sucking the meat off the stick, so I decide to make a run for one of the stalls. I needed something in my belly, I was downright dizzy.\n\nThe rain had picked up, and I dodged through the crowd towards one of the food stalls with the shortest lines, wiping the water from my face. Fried cheese dumplings. I wasn\u2019t a fan, but I wasn\u2019t going to be picky either.\n\nDespite the shortness of the line, it moved slow. I clenched my fists and willed it to go faster, but that only seemed to slow it even more. My stomach added a few grumbles to go along with my muttered swears.\n\nAnd just as I finally reached the front and the stall vendor, a tan leathery man with numbers tattooed on his neck, asked in his lyrical drawl, \u201cWhatchu want, ladybug?\u201d I saw the behemoth moving to his electrocycle parked nearby.\n\nWhen he got on and sped away, I cursed and ran back towards the taxi. The vendor called out after me, \u201cI didn\u2019t want cho business, anyway!\u201d\n\nI followed the behemoth in the taxi for another thirty kilometers and the whole time I had fantasies about food. Then the behemoth turned off the main two-lane road and headed down a gravel side path that ran between a couple of farms. It was getting close to dark, and the cloud layer made the light dim and flat.\n\nI had the taxi go past, then circle back around, and go down the gravel road. Past the farms, the landscape turned to forest, though the trees were short and squat and had yellow-green leaves that smelled like eucalyptus through my open window.\n\nWhen I saw the lander through a gap in the trees, I had the driver drop me off. He asked if he should wait, but I didn\u2019t have the money for the ride back, so I told him to leave. He took my payment through the MobiGlas, which drained my account down to the dregs.\n\nI crept down the path, noting the tire marks in the wet grass. When I made it to the edge of the clearing, I hunched down and looked around. Except for the steel-gray lander, marked with burns on the nose from numerous re-entries, the clearing was empty.\n\nCrouched on my heels, a moment of rationality hit me square in the chest. What in the deep space was I doing here? This man was likely a killer, and at the very least, a criminal.\n\nClosing my eyes, I listened to insects chirping amid the trees. Right at the moment I decided to abandon my foolish quest to get the company MobiGlas back, I heard a twig snap, somewhere behind me.\n\n\u201cPersistent little scrum,\u201d said a voice, from about the location of the broken limb. \u201cIt seems Dario found himself an ally.\u201d\n\nThe diction of the speaker rightly confused me. It was the smooth dialect of an Earther aristocrat, not a thuggish brute the size of a Vanduul warrior.\n\nBut I didn\u2019t get a chance to see the speaker before something stuck me in the back and I went unconscious.\n\nto be continued \u2026","de_DE":"Als die Tr\u00e4nen kamen, konnte ich sie nicht zur\u00fcckhalten, was nur dazu f\u00fchrte, dass ich mich noch schlechter f\u00fchlte.\n\nIch weine nicht leicht und ich weine auch nicht in der \u00d6ffentlichkeit. Tats\u00e4chlich war das einzige Mal, dass ich mich daran erinnere, dass ich vor anderen Leuten geweint habe, die Beerdigung meiner Mutter, und dann war es mir egal, was die Leute von mir dachten.\n\nDie meisten der Reisenden, die durch den Hafen kamen, waren gesch\u00e4ftlich unterwegs, also luden sie in die Hovertaxis, die sie zu ihren Meetings bringen sollte. Als ich anfing zu schluchzen, war es, als h\u00e4tte ich eine sehr ansteckende Plage entwickelt, und pl\u00f6tzlich war um mich herum eine Blase voller Raum.\n\nIch vergrub mein Gesicht in meinem Ellenbogen und schnaubte den Rotz zur\u00fcck, der auf den \u00c4rmel meines Lieblingspullovers auslaufen wollte.\n\nAls die Tr\u00e4nen schlie\u00dflich vertrockneten, atmete ich tief und zitternd durch.\n\nDieser Mann, der mein MobiGlas genommen hatte, war kein Schauspieler gewesen. So viel wusste ich.\n\nIch hatte schon einmal solche M\u00e4nner in die Goldene Horde kommen sehen, und mein Vater war immer schnell dabei, sie darauf hinzuweisen und mich schnell in den Hintergrund zu schicken, um eine Inventur durchzuf\u00fchren. Sie hatten etwas Eingeweides an sich, als w\u00e4ren sie Raubtiere, die in einer Schafherde losgelassen wurden.\n\nIch war bereit gewesen, mich in der Station zu t\u00e4uschen und dachte, dass der Kapit\u00e4n ein Akt sein k\u00f6nnte, Teil der Versuchsmission, auf die ich geschickt wurde. Aber diese Illusion war jetzt zerbrochen.\n\nEs machte mir auch klar, dass das Unternehmen mir vielleicht die falschen Dateien geschickt hatte, oder es waren die beabsichtigten Dateien, und geplant hatte, sie durch die Station zu schleusen. Und dieser Mann, offensichtlich ein Verbrecher irgendeiner Art, hatte von ihnen gewusst.\n\nDas machte es umso wichtiger, sie wiederzufinden. Ich kneifte mir in den Arm, w\u00fctend auf mich selbst, weil ich mit dem MobiGlas so ungezwungen war. Wenn ich es nicht zur\u00fcckbekommen k\u00f6nnte, w\u00fcrde ich sicher aus dem FTL entlassen werden, vielleicht sogar wegen meiner Nachl\u00e4ssigkeit, und dann m\u00fcsste ich zu meinem Vater zur\u00fcckkehren, nicht nur wegen eines Misserfolgs, sondern auch wegen Schulden.\n\nAber wie sollte ich das MobiGlas zur\u00fcckbekommen?\n\nWie Captain Hennessy gesagt hatte, war ich ein Anf\u00e4nger mit nassem Ohr. Ich wusste nicht, wer dieser Mann war und wohin er wollte. Und jetzt hatte er einen guten zehnmin\u00fctigen Vorsprung auf einem Elektrofahrrad, w\u00e4hrend ich noch zu Fu\u00df war.\n\nMein Magen knurrte in diesem Moment und erinnerte mich an ein anderes Problem. Ich war am Verhungern. Schwach vor Hunger, in der Tat.\n\nMein Vater sagt gerne, dass ich wie ein Vogel gegessen habe, wenn dieser Vogel ein Kondor war. Ich denke gerne, dass ich den Stoffwechsel eines brummenden Vogels hatte, aber das bedeutete, dass ich immer a\u00df.\n\nAufgeben bedeutete, etwas zu essen zu bekommen. Es ist ja nicht so, dass ich einen Weg hatte, diesen Kerl zu finden.\nIch entschied mich, zuerst einen gew\u00fcrzten Lammkabobverk\u00e4ufer zu finden, w\u00e4hrend ich \u00fcber meine Optionen nachdachte.\n\nAls ich die Gurte an meinem Rucksack packte, dr\u00fcckte meine Hand auf den Kamerataster und mein Gesicht err\u00f6tete vor Aufregung.\n\nIch l\u00f6ste schnell den Rucksack und st\u00f6berte durch, bis ich mein anderes MobiGlas fand, das pers\u00f6nliche. Ich hatte vergessen, dass ich es hatte, mit (hoffentlich) einer laufenden Kamera, aber wer wusste, mit meinem Gl\u00fcck?\n\n\"Bitte noch aufnehmen, bitte noch aufnehmen\", murmelte ich, als ich die Kameradateien aufriss.\n\nIch lie\u00df das Relief aus meinen Lippen pfeifen, als ich sah, dass es immer noch Videos machte.\n\nAls ich vor zehn Minuten aufblitzte, spielte ich die Szene erneut ab. Der Kamerataster war tiefer unten, also zeigte er ihn in einem Aufw\u00e4rtswinkel und blickte direkt in seine Brust und sein Kinn. Dann h\u00fcpfte der Blick mit mir herum, als er das MobiGlas ergriff und davonfuhr.\n\nIch wiederholte die Szene dreimal, bis ich sah, was ich brauchte. Das erste war das Nummernschild auf dem Elektrofahrrad, einschlie\u00dflich des Aufklebers des Vermieters auf der R\u00fcckseite. Es sei denn, er hatte den gesamten Diebstahl vor Wochen geplant, einschlie\u00dflich einer falschen Datei, k\u00f6nnte ich in der Lage sein, seine Identit\u00e4t durch die Vermieterin aufzudecken.\n\nDer zweite Hinweis, aber der beunruhigendere, war, dass er einen Weltraumanzug unter seiner Lederjacke trug. Ich hatte sein Gesicht nur gesehen, als er das MobiGlas ergriff, aber die Kamera nahm seine Brust auf.\n\nEs schien wahrscheinlich, dass er ein Schiff hatte, das irgendwo auf dem Planeten oder in der N\u00e4he der Umlaufbahn versteckt war. Was auch bedeutete, dass er das Elektrofahrrad nicht zur\u00fcckbringen w\u00fcrde.\n\nAber wenn ich herausfinden k\u00f6nnte, wo er es gemietet hat, k\u00f6nnte es mir sagen, wo er angekommen ist. Es war sowieso eine Chance, aber nur, wenn ich ihm sofort auf der Spur war. Was bedeutete, dass ich nicht essen durfte.\n\nIch seufzte.\n\nDann rief ich ein Taxi, einen Diesel-Landcruiser und nicht einen Schwebewagen, da das alles war, was ich mir leisten konnte, und als der Fahrer mich fragte, in welche Richtung ich gehen sollte, hielt ich inne. Ich musste umziehen, auch wenn ich nicht wusste, wohin er ging. Also musste ich eine fundierte Vermutung anstellen.\nDer S\u00fcden war die wohlhabendere Region, also war es zweifelhaft, dass er dort hineingekommen war. North war industrieller, also viele \u00dcberwachungskameras. Die nach Westen oder Osten verlief.\n\nEine kurze \u00dcberpr\u00fcfung der Karte auf meinem MobiGlas zeigte mir, dass die Westseite von Neu-Alexandria weniger besiedelt war. Ich fand ein Dorf entlang der Hauptstra\u00dfen und sagte dem Fahrer, er solle dorthin fahren. Der Westen machte auch Sinn, weil er sich auf einem Elektrofahrrad befand, das Stra\u00dfen brauchte, die die Bauern und Landbewohner noch benutzen w\u00fcrden.\n\nW\u00e4hrend er fuhr, fing ich an, die Vermietungsdienste anzurufen und fragte, ob ein Mann, der zu gro\u00df f\u00fcr ein Fahrrad war, k\u00fcrzlich eines gemietet hatte. Niemand wollte mir etwas sagen, bis ich ihnen das sagte: Erstens, es war mein Mann und er versuchte, mich und mein neues Baby zu verlassen, und zweitens, dass er nicht vorhatte, das Fahrrad zur\u00fcckzugeben.\n\nIch habe beim dritten Versuch die richtige Firma gefunden. Es lag im Westen, etwa hundert Kilometer von der Stadt entfernt. Ich machte die Rechnung auf dem Taxi und erkannte, dass ich kaum genug Geld haben w\u00fcrde. Wenn ich weiter nach Westen gehen m\u00fcsste, w\u00e4re ich pleite.\n\nAls ich mich auf den Sitz gesetzt hatte, hatte ich gro\u00dfes Bedauern dar\u00fcber, was ich vorhatte. Es w\u00e4re sicherer, zur\u00fcckzukehren, meine Gelder zu sparen und meine Zeit bis zur Reise zu verbringen, um herauszufinden, wie ich das Geld verdienen w\u00fcrde, um FTL zur\u00fcckzuzahlen.\n\nMeine andere Option war, einfach nur die H\u00f6lle damit zu sagen und auf dem Planeten zu bleiben, einen Job zu finden, der meinen F\u00e4higkeiten entspricht, was auch immer das war.\n\nAber ein wenig harter Samen in mir wollte diese Gelegenheit einfach nicht verstreichen lassen. Ich hatte jahrelang geplant und gespart, um an diesen Punkt zu kommen. Ich konnte nicht zulassen, dass mich ein wenig Ungl\u00fcck im Zaum h\u00e4lt. Das, und ich wollte nicht mit leeren H\u00e4nden und in Schulden zu meinem Vater zur\u00fcckkehren.\n\nIch schlug meine Hand auf den Sitz und erhielt einen vorwurfsvollen Blick vom Fahrer. Und dann knurrte mein Magen und verdiente ein Grinsen.\n\nUnd gerade als ein leichter Regen gegen die Taxifenster zu spr\u00fchen begann, kamen wir an einer Reihe von mindestens einen Kilometer langen Verpflegungsst\u00e4nden im Freien vorbei. Sofort konnte ich die Anrufer h\u00f6ren, die ihr Essen in der Deichsel ihres Abstandshalters schrien: gebratene K\u00e4sekn\u00f6del, Tunnelvogeleintopf, Apfelpops, Schnellbier und dergleichen.\n\nWir passierten die St\u00e4nde aufgrund des Verkehrs in einem langsamen Tempo. Wenn ich nicht so hungrig gewesen w\u00e4re und sehns\u00fcchtig auf jeden vorbeifahrenden Stand gestarrt h\u00e4tte, h\u00e4tte ich vielleicht den Riesen verpasst, zusammengekauert unter einer der Markisen.\n\n\"Halt hier an\", sagte ich, und wir hielten hinter einem riesigen transkontinentalen Lieferwagen mit R\u00e4dern so gro\u00df wie ich.\n\nDer Riese beendete ein Paar Kabobs, gew\u00fcrztes Lamm, sch\u00e4tzte ich, basierend auf dem zufriedenen Blick auf seinem Gesicht. Figuren. Er saugte immer noch das Fleisch vom Stock, also beschloss ich, zu einem der Verkaufsst\u00e4nde zu laufen. Ich brauchte etwas in meinem Bauch, mir war geradezu schwindelig.\n\nDer Regen hatte sich aufgehoben, und ich wich durch die Menge zu einem der Essensst\u00e4nde mit den k\u00fcrzesten Linien aus und wischte mir das Wasser aus dem Gesicht. Gebratene K\u00e4sekn\u00f6del. Ich war kein Fan, aber ich wollte auch nicht w\u00e4hlerisch sein.\n\nTrotz der K\u00fcrze der Linie bewegte sie sich langsam. Ich presste meine F\u00e4uste zusammen und wollte, dass es schneller ging, aber das schien es nur noch mehr zu verlangsamen. Mein Magen f\u00fcgte ein paar N\u00f6rgeleien hinzu, um meinen gemurmelten Fl\u00fcchen beizukommen.\n\nUnd gerade als ich endlich die Front und den Verkaufsstand erreichte, fragte ein brauner ledriger Mann mit t\u00e4towierten Zahlen auf dem Hals in seinem lyrischen Zug: \"Was will der Marienk\u00e4fer?\" Ich sah, wie sich der Riese zu seinem Elektrofahrrad bewegte, das in der N\u00e4he geparkt war.\n\nAls er einstieg und wegrannte, fluchte ich und rannte zur\u00fcck zum Taxi. Der Verk\u00e4ufer rief nach mir: \"Ich wollte sowieso kein Cho-Gesch\u00e4ft!\"\n\nIch folgte dem Riesen im Taxi noch drei\u00dfig Kilometer und die ganze Zeit \u00fcber hatte ich Fantasien \u00fcber Essen. Dann verlie\u00df der Riese die zweispurige Hauptstra\u00dfe und ging einen Schotterweg hinunter, der zwischen einigen H\u00f6fen verlief. Es wurde fast dunkel, und die Wolkenschicht machte das Licht dunkel und flach.\n\nIch lie\u00df das Taxi vorbeifahren, dann wieder umherfahren und die Schotterstra\u00dfe hinuntergehen. Vorbei an den Bauernh\u00f6fen verwandelte sich die Landschaft in einen Wald, obwohl die B\u00e4ume kurz und gedrungen waren und gelbgr\u00fcne Bl\u00e4tter hatten, die durch mein offenes Fenster nach Eukalyptus rochen.\n\nAls ich das Lander durch eine L\u00fccke in den B\u00e4umen sah, lie\u00df ich mich vom Fahrer absetzen. Er fragte, ob er warten sollte, aber ich hatte kein Geld f\u00fcr die R\u00fcckfahrt, also sagte ich ihm, er solle gehen. Er nahm meine Zahlung durch das MobiGlas, was mein Konto bis zum Abschaum leerte.\n\nIch schlich mich den Weg hinunter und bemerkte die Reifenspuren im nassen Gras. Als ich es bis zum Rand der Lichtung schaffte, kr\u00fcmmte ich mich nach unten und sah mich um. Bis auf den stahlgrauen Lander, der mit Verbrennungen an der Nase von zahlreichen Wiedereintritten markiert war, war die Lichtung leer.\n\nAuf meinen Fersen geduckt, traf mich ein Moment der Rationalit\u00e4t direkt in die Brust. Was in aller Welt wollte ich hier? Dieser Mann war wahrscheinlich ein M\u00f6rder und zumindest ein Verbrecher.\n\nAls ich meine Augen schloss, h\u00f6rte ich Insekten, die zwischen den B\u00e4umen zwitscherten. Im Moment entschied ich mich, meine dumme Suche nach der Firma MobiGlas aufzugeben, ich h\u00f6rte einen Astbruch, irgendwo hinter mir.\n\n\"Anhaltendes kleines Geb\u00fcsch\", sagte eine Stimme, von der Stelle des gebrochenen Gliedes. \"Es scheint, dass Dario einen Verb\u00fcndeten gefunden hat.\"\n\nDie Diktion des Redners hat mich zu Recht verwirrt. Es war der sanfte Dialekt eines Earther-Aristokraten, nicht ein Rohling von der Gr\u00f6\u00dfe eines Vanduul-Kriegers.\n\nAber ich hatte keine Chance, den Lautsprecher zu sehen, bevor mir etwas in den R\u00fccken fiel und ich bewusstlos wurde.\n\nwird fortgesetzt.....","zh_CN":"When the tears came, I couldn\u2019t hold them back, which only made how I felt even worse.\n\nI don\u2019t cry easily and I certainly don\u2019t cry in public. In fact, the only time I ever remember crying in front of other people was at my mother\u2019s funeral, and then I didn\u2019t care what people thought of me.\n\nMost of the travelers that came through the port were on business, so they were loading into the hovertaxis that would take them to their meetings. When I started sobbing, it was as if I\u2019d developed a very contagious plague and suddenly there was a bubble of space around me.\n\nI buried my face in my elbow, snorting back the snot that threatened to leak out onto the sleeve of my favorite sweater.\n\nWhen the tears finally dried up, I took a deep and trembling breath.\n\nThat man, whoever had taken my MobiGlas, had not been an actor. That much I knew.\n\nI\u2019d seen men like that come into the Golden Horde before, and my father was always quick to point them out and quick to send me into the back to take inventory. There was something visceral about them, like they were predators set loose in a pen of sheep.\n\nI\u2019d been willing to delude myself up in the station, thinking that the captain could be an act, part of the trial mission that I was being sent on. But that delusion was shattered now.\n\nIt also made me realize that the company might have sent me with the wrong files, or they were the intended files, and had planned on sneaking them through station security. And this man, clearly a criminal of some kind, had known about them.\n\nWhich made retrieving them even more important. I pinched my arm, mad at myself for being so cavalier with the MobiGlas. If I couldn\u2019t get it back, I\u2019d surely be released from FTL, maybe even fined for my carelessness, and then I\u2019d have to go back to my father not only a failure, but also in debt.\n\nBut how was I going to get the MobiGlas back?\n\nAs Captain Hennessy had said, I was a wet-behind-the-ears newbie. I didn\u2019t know who this man was, or where he was going. And now he had a good ten minute head start on an electrocycle, while I was still on foot.\n\nMy stomach growled at that moment, reminding me of another problem. I was starving. Weak with hunger, in fact.\n\nMy father like to say that I ate like a bird, if that bird was a condor. I like to think I had the metabolism of a humming bird, but it meant I was always eating.\n\nGiving up meant getting something to eat. It\u2019s not like I had a way to find this guy.\nI decided I\u2019d find a spiced lamb kabob vendor first, while I considered my options.\n\nWhen I grabbed the straps on my backpack, my hand hit the camera button and my face flushed with excitement.\n\nI quickly unshouldered the backpack and rummaged through until I found my other MobiGlas, the personal one. I\u2019d forgotten I had it, with (hopefully) a camera running, but who knew, with my luck?\n\n\u201cPlease still be recording, please still be recording,\u201d I muttered as I brought up the camera files.\n\nI let the relief whistle out of my lips when I saw that it was still taking video.\n\nFlashing back to ten minutes ago, I replayed the scene. The camera button was lower down, so it was showing him at an upward angle, looking right into his chest and chin. Then the view bounced around with me when he grabbed the MobiGlas and rode off.\n\nI replayed the scene three times until I saw what I needed. The first was the license plate on the electrocycle, including the rental company sticker on the back. Unless he\u2019d planned the whole theft weeks ago, including an incorrect file, I might be able to uncover his identity through the rental company.\n\nThe second clue, but the more worrisome one, was that he was wearing a deep-space jumpsuit under his leather jacket. I\u2019d only seen his face when he grabbed the MobiGlas, but the camera recorded his chest.\n\nIt seemed probable that he had a ship hidden on-planet somewhere or in near orbit. Which also meant he wasn\u2019t going to return the electrocycle.\n\nBut if I could find out where he rented it, it might tell me where he had touched down. It was a chance, anyway, but only if I was on his trail right away. Which meant I wasn\u2019t going to get to eat.\n\nI sighed.\n\nThen I hailed a taxi, a diesel land cruiser rather than a hover since that\u2019s all I could afford, and when the driver asked me which direction, I paused. I needed to be moving, even if I didn\u2019t know where he was going. So I was going to have to make an educated guess.\nSouth was the wealthier region, so it was doubtful he\u2019d dropped in there. North was more industrial, so lots of security cameras. Which left west or east.\n\nA quick review of the map on my MobiGlas showed me that the west side of New Alexandria was less populated. I found a village along the main roads and told the driver to head there. West also made sense because he was on an electrocycle, which needed roads, which the farms and country folk would still use.\n\nWhile he drove, I started calling the area rental services, asking if a man too big for a bike had rented one recently. No one wanted to tell me anything until I told them that: one, it was my husband and he was trying to leave me and my new baby, and two, that he wasn\u2019t planning on returning the bike.\n\nI found the right company on the third try. It was out west, about a hundred kilometers from the city. I did the math on the taxi and realized I would barely have enough funds. If I needed to go any further west, I\u2019d be broke.\n\nOnce I was settled into the seat, I had massive regrets about what I was trying to do. It would be safer to turn back, conserve my funds, and spend my time until the journey figuring out how I was going to earn the money to pay FTL back.\n\nMy other option was to just say the hell with it and stay on planet, finding a job appropriate for my skills, whatever those were.\n\nBut a little hard seed in me just didn\u2019t want to let this opportunity go. I\u2019d been planning and saving for years to get to this point. I couldn\u2019t let a little bad luck keep me down. That, and I didn\u2019t want to return to my father empty-handed and in debt.\n\nI slammed my hand on the seat, earning a reproachful glance from the driver. And then my stomach growled, earning a smirk.\n\nAnd right as a light rain began to sprinkle against the taxi windows, we passed a row of outdoor food stalls at least a kilometer long. Right away, I could hear the callers, yelling out their fare in their spacer\u2019s drawl: fried cheese dumplings, tunnel bird stew, apple pops, quick beer, and the like.\n\nWe passed the stalls at a languid pace due to the traffic. If I hadn\u2019t been so hungry, and staring longingly at each passing stall, I might have missed the behemoth, huddled under one of the awnings.\n\n\u201cPull in here,\u201d I said, and we stopped behind a huge transcontinental delivery truck with wheels as tall as me.\n\nThe behemoth was finishing up a pair of kabobs, spiced lamb, I guessed, based on the contented look on his face. Figures. He was still sucking the meat off the stick, so I decide to make a run for one of the stalls. I needed something in my belly, I was downright dizzy.\n\nThe rain had picked up, and I dodged through the crowd towards one of the food stalls with the shortest lines, wiping the water from my face. Fried cheese dumplings. I wasn\u2019t a fan, but I wasn\u2019t going to be picky either.\n\nDespite the shortness of the line, it moved slow. I clenched my fists and willed it to go faster, but that only seemed to slow it even more. My stomach added a few grumbles to go along with my muttered swears.\n\nAnd just as I finally reached the front and the stall vendor, a tan leathery man with numbers tattooed on his neck, asked in his lyrical drawl, \u201cWhatchu want, ladybug?\u201d I saw the behemoth moving to his electrocycle parked nearby.\n\nWhen he got on and sped away, I cursed and ran back towards the taxi. The vendor called out after me, \u201cI didn\u2019t want cho business, anyway!\u201d\n\nI followed the behemoth in the taxi for another thirty kilometers and the whole time I had fantasies about food. Then the behemoth turned off the main two-lane road and headed down a gravel side path that ran between a couple of farms. It was getting close to dark, and the cloud layer made the light dim and flat.\n\nI had the taxi go past, then circle back around, and go down the gravel road. Past the farms, the landscape turned to forest, though the trees were short and squat and had yellow-green leaves that smelled like eucalyptus through my open window.\n\nWhen I saw the lander through a gap in the trees, I had the driver drop me off. He asked if he should wait, but I didn\u2019t have the money for the ride back, so I told him to leave. He took my payment through the MobiGlas, which drained my account down to the dregs.\n\nI crept down the path, noting the tire marks in the wet grass. When I made it to the edge of the clearing, I hunched down and looked around. Except for the steel-gray lander, marked with burns on the nose from numerous re-entries, the clearing was empty.\n\nCrouched on my heels, a moment of rationality hit me square in the chest. What in the deep space was I doing here? This man was likely a killer, and at the very least, a criminal.\n\nClosing my eyes, I listened to insects chirping amid the trees. Right at the moment I decided to abandon my foolish quest to get the company MobiGlas back, I heard a twig snap, somewhere behind me.\n\n\u201cPersistent little scrum,\u201d said a voice, from about the location of the broken limb. \u201cIt seems Dario found himself an ally.\u201d\n\nThe diction of the speaker rightly confused me. It was the smooth dialect of an Earther aristocrat, not a thuggish brute the size of a Vanduul warrior.\n\nBut I didn\u2019t get a chance to see the speaker before something stuck me in the back and I went unconscious.\n\nto be continued \u2026"},"links_count":0,"comment_count":57,"created_at":"2014-05-02T00:00:00+00:00","created_at_human":"12 years ago"},"meta":{"processed_at":"2026-05-09 05:25:12","valid_relations":["images","links"],"prev_id":13845,"next_id":13848}}