First meeting with the stars, ch 2

Continuation of:
"First meeting with the stars, ch 1"  [13+]

First meeting with the stars

Chapter 2: An invisible stand

         PLE-02478, also known as Capital of Blue System for its slightly blue sun. A new world and the start of a new life.

         John's cargo ship landed without any trouble, which hinted that the welcoming party was waiting for them on land instead of in air or space. Through external cameras, they could see a dozen security guards in green clothes with their planet's insignia on and equipped with a body armor and a machine-gun. They quickly surrounded the vessel and, when they were all in position, the biggest one shouted.

         "Mister Lewisky, get out with your hands in the air. You are under arrest for the violation of the Alesia Treaty for..." He clearly had a few days to remember all twenty-three violations that he enumerated. When the commander was finished, he 'saw' no reaction from the vessel. Instead, Terryal said goodbye to John and kissed him on his cheek.

         John was the kind of man who was fun to be around. He was funny, knowledgeable, a smooth talker and he must have a successful time with the ladies... or boys from what she knew. That small doubt was his biggest fault.

         He might talk to you for hours about spectacular moments in history, philosophize with you, mention the latest science discoveries or gossip about movie stars (none that she knew, obviously), but never about himself. She might find him cute with his long hair pushed over on one side, his almost professional-looking, but rubbish clothes and he was even tall enough so hugging or a small kiss wouldn't look awkward, but this lack of thrust toward a kind stranger was uncomfortable. She wondered if he was too young to understand how therapeutic it could be.

         She got out of the ship unseen, thanks to her power, and blocked the image of the ship leaving to give its pilot a chance to fly to the cargo docks without any interference by the security forces. When the ship was far enough, Terryal unhooked the guards from her spell. They all looked surprised to see the cargo ship being replaced by a tall woman with golden hair next to her two suitcases, wearing a pure white silk-like business suit with diagonal golden stripes on the lower pants legs and yellow gloves. It took a few seconds of confusion before she heard the click of the guards removing the safety of their gun.

         "Mister Lewisky, get out with your hands up", the commander repeated, looking like he didn't want believe what just happened. "You are under arrest for violating the border protectoral act...," but again, she ignored him.

         "I am the Ambassadress of Elator, the planet your various treaties are protecting", she interrupted, talking with greater authority than the chief of guards, who looked to her like someone who spent most of his working days behind a desk. "I came here to represent my people and ensure peace between us and the other worlds."

         Unluckily for her, the chief seemed to be the kind of man who always thinks that he is the holder of the truth, and this time was no different. "There is no excuse. It is illegal to be on PLE-02492, and for that you could be sentenced for life imprisonment." The good news was that the other guards hated him for this reason. They were all looking looking at him, confused. A witty retort was in order to test the crowd.

         "My ancestors were the colonists of that planet. If my people are also subject to this law, then this arrest could be understood as a declaration of war. Do you still want to stand by your words?" she asked with a dominating look.

         "Ooh!", exclaimed a young guard, who was impressed by the retort. Her guess was right.

         The chief's face turned red as he watched his guards lowering their weapon. "Arrest her!", he ordered, but none obeyed. Resolved to do the job on his own, he pointed his weapon with his trembling hands toward the woman who still stood where she had appeared. He began to panic when his subordinates left, talking to each other, but couldn't hear any of their words.

         She used his image and his voice to order his squad to help her with the spaceport customs and her image was with them. He, on the other hand, saw her still standing at the same spot. "Stay here! Stay!" he said with his hands shaking, now alone in his silence. They couldn't hear his squealing voice. She stood invisibly in front of him, punched him so hard on his jaw that he fell on the floor and calmly whispered in his ear.

         "On my world, I made sure that people like you never get any power over others." He fainted.

         Unaware of what had just happened, ran toward the other guards walking away and talking to her image. "... and then I said 'It's not a ceremonial fork for eating, it's a back scratcher!'" she said and the others laughed. The real ambassadress synchronized herself back with her image as they carried her luggage, bringing her to the custom offices area. The director of customs kindly gave her a temporary passport under the encouragement of armed security personnel and some instructions. She had to stay in the capital city, follow local laws, stay in touch with the government and go to the infirmary to take an inoculation.

         Only one guard remained to escort her through the administrative halls to the infirmary where a stressed doctor. From what she had observed, there must have been a brawl between a few passengers. A broken nose here, a broken leg there and a woman strapped to a bed.

         "Sorry, you'll have to wait," the doctor said, turning toward the broken-nosed patient.

         "I'm a little trained as a nurse. I could do it myself."

         The doctor sighed and walked toward a cabinet. She took a vial and a gun-like syringe and gave it to Terryal. "Take that. A 10 milliliter dose," said the doctor, and then she pushed her away because an other injured person arrived. It was a fat man yelling untranslatable profanities.

         Terryal walked behind a curtain so she couldn't be seen and followed the seemingly idiot proof instructions on the syringe. She pumped what she hoped was the right amount - if everybody kept the base ten numerical system. She pulled up a sleeve, placed the syringe nozzle on a vein and she was faced with the choice of two triggers. She deduced the numbers on the triggers from the pump gauge and pressed what was supposed to be the first trigger. Blue goo came out of the nozzle, a different color than the liquid in the vial, so it must be antiseptic gel. She pressed the second one and she was injected with the serum.

         She cleaned her arm, rolled back her sleeve and pushed the curtain. Apparently, the new patient was so bothersome that her security guard was helping the doctor restraining him. She left the vial and the syringe on a desk and took the opportunity to leave the spaceport on her own.

***

         Now in the City, people in the street kept looking at her for two obvious reasons that she could guess. She obviously looked disoriented in this unfamiliar land and the second one was that her clothes were too fancy and out of fashion for them, due to a cultural difference. She, in turn, also stared, but at others and all around her, too.

         Different building architecture, strange traveling machines, odd clothing, skin tones she had never seen before, non-humans that looked very different than in the pictures inside the trader's database and many other things she was surprised to see. She could have spent the entire day wandering like this, but decided to focus on more important business before getting a headache from the amount of new information.

         She asked for directions from someone who looked like a police officer, and after walking a few minutes, she was standing in front of the most reputed jewellery store of the city. It looked very fancy and shiny. Upon entering, the staff, all in matching stylish suits, noticed her luxurious appearance and converged toward her.

         "May I please take care of your belongings?", asked one.

         "If you need any kind of refreshment, just say the word", said an other.

         "Are you being served Madam?", asked a third.

         "Yes... Water... I want someone to appraise a ring of mine", Terryal answered in order.

         "Very well", said a forth one that came out of nowhere and surprised her. "Please come with me."

         The gang showed her to a chair and left her. After a few minutes, a non-human biped came to greet her. It, Terryl could not tell the alien's gender, had green skin and big eyes that covered most of its face, and its eyelids were almost fully closed.

         "Is it you who requested my presence for a ring evaluation?", asked the appraiser politely.

         "Wait a bit. I'm sorry that I have to impose this on you." She removed her left glove while making sure that nobody could see her hand without physically hiding it. In other words, five people should see a floating ring on an invisible hand. The appraiser looked confused, but did not speak a word. A good sign that her power went beyond species. She then struggled for a moment to remove her ring and gave it to the big eyed alien. She had no regret in selling it. At one time, it had a sentimental value, but not anymore. It was the time to let it go.

         The appraiser looked at it and immediately shivered. It even had to fully open its eyes for a slit second to examine it once more. "I'll be right back", it said nervously and then left the room.

         While re-gloving her left hand, a store assistant brought her some water in a crystal glass. As she finished drinking her water very slowly, the appraiser came back: "I called the curator of Paxma's Museum of Geology and he told me that this cut merata stone on the ring I am currently holding in my hand is bigger than the one they claim to be the biggest uncut merata stone in the known universe".

         "So this makes it the third biggest one", she informed the alien.

         "THIRD?", the appraiser shrieked and coughed as it lost its breath in surprise. "Where did you get it?"

         "A wedding present from my people. I couldn't say no to sixteen million people. How much is it worth?"

         "How much? It's inestimable."

         "Good. Are you free to come with me to the bank? I want to take out a loan and put this as a collateral."

         The appraiser looked shocked to be asked to take part in the process of selling such a rare and beautiful teal jewel, but Terryal gave a convincing stare to show how determined she was. Not wanting to let go of such a treasure just yet, the appraiser agreed and took most of the store's security guards with him to protect the ring while they walked to the first bank of the city just two doors away.

         Terryal spent most of the rest of the day at the top floor of the bank, reading and signing contracts as the local economy tumbled, expanded, retracted and bounced due to her ring's influence on the open market. At least, according to a television set on a financial channel. She waited for hours, even ate dinner there. It was a noodle vegetable soup with unfamiliar spices.

         When her patience reached its limit, she took out her book and read a few lines before the bank director arrived. In the end, she got a fascinating little electronic debit card with high security features that gave her access to an unlimited amount of money, for the moment, with a certain maximum withdrawal per month. She was more impressed by the lack of physical money than the amount itself since she hadn't had money trouble for the past century. She did, however, know its value and its power. Looking at the card made her think back to her childhood.

         After leaving an orphanage where no one liked her, she lived in the harbor city of Ramdor. She had to learn how to survive on her own the hard way and had to work eighteen hours a day just to be able to afford food and shelter. As she grew older, she had to steal clothes from shops since she had no money. Unfortunately, she was often caught and punished.

         Her money problems and the fear of starving were not the least of her worries. As time went by, trade routs changed and Ramdor was forgotten. The city became poor and violent, and one day she left in the hope of finding something better. Many years later, after she got involved into politics, people were so grateful for what she had done that they were more than happy to give her anything she wanted and more. Even then, she took only what was necessary and often tried to work for it in exchange.

         Still, with this new debit card it was a comfort not to depend on the kindness of strangers anymore.

         Waiting for her outside of the bank was, once again, an armed welcoming party, but this time it was more friendly. Weapons were not pointed toward the bank. The government must have heard word of her presence at the spaceport and the financial turmoil that she caused with her ring. They reacted by bringing an official welcome to her. "Well, not today", she thought.

         All the new things she saw today were enough and she needed to rest before it started to overwhelm her. She changed into her casual clothes in a bathroom, bought sunglasses from a passing businessperson, and got out unseen by hiding herself for the fourth time. She didn't like using her powers on others without asking or at least give a warning, but she didn't have any other choice at the moment. She had to get to a hotel, rent a modest room and sleep before an even bigger day.

         Retracing her steps back to the spaceport, Terryal quickly found a hotel - or at least a skyscraper with big letters on its side and an entrance that looked like the one for a chic hotel. It seemed to her that it was too close to the spaceport and its constant grumbling sound, but since the place looked like a profitable establishment, it would mean that the engineers who built the building must have made it soundproof somehow.

         Terryal saluted the superfluous doorman and entered for the first time ever, as she had just realized at the moment, into a hotel. It looked exactly like in the movies back home with clients walking all around followed by servants in demeaning suits. She waited in line at the front desk until a clerk, a young man of around twenty years or so, greeted her.

         "Welcome to the Clearmont Hotel. How may we serve you?"

         "Hi. I would like to rent a room with one bed for... an indeterminate amount of days. Is that possible."

         The clerk found his answer after typing on his computer for a while. "Yes it is. You will be charged for at least a week stay, first two weeks at full price and the following with a five percent discount. You will be charged on your debit card per day and both you or the Clearmont Hotel must give a two days notice before ending the renting agreement. Now what kind of room do you want?"

         "What kind? Just give me a normal one."

         "OK. It will cost one hundred and thirty credits per day. May I see your debit card?" Terryal took her card out of her pants pocket, put her thumb in the middle, and when the green light turned on she gave it to the clerk. "Thank you, Miss Ambassa... Oh! Ooh!" He was definitely surprised and so much surprised that he went to talk to someone at the next register. "Boss, I think we got that woman from the news", she could hear him whisper.

         The boss, a forty-ish woman with too much hair gel, switched places with her employee and check Terryal's identity on her debit card. "A very warm welcome, Ambassadress, to the Clearmont Hotel. I am the manager", the manager repeated what the clerk said before. "We thank you for choosing our renowned establishment for your stay. What's this? It would be an insult for us if people learn that someone of your stature stayed in such a room. Let me upgrade you to the penthouse, free of charge."

         "Excuse me for a moment," Terryal said before the manager put another foot in her mouth. She walked toward the clerk that had done perfectly fine what he was told, now serving a young couple. "Excuse me, but are they checking in?"

         "Yes, Ms." he answered timidly.

         "Then let them stay in my room, the penthouse, and I'll take theirs and pay for it. Well, if it's OK for them."

         "Is she serious?."

         "We'll take it!"

         "And... done," said the clerk. Happy to have done this small act of rebellion, he took the debit card from his shocked boss and gave it back to its owner. "Now just press to approve."

         She put her thumb once again on the card until there was a bell sound. The nice clerk gave the keycard to her room to a bellhop and she walked away. Now grinning, Terryal turned to the hotel manager. "Now instead of insulting me to save your prestige, I'm insulting you. Have a good day."

         On their way to her room, Terryal did not speak a word. She felt impolite for not talking to the strong bellhop boy, but the strains of her magic and her long walks were taking their toll. Making it worse, she even embarrassed herself when she gave the boy some change from her world, but only realized it after closing the door to her room. With a deep sigh, she hid the almost finished sunset by closing the blinds. The day was over, so she drew herself a bath with bathing oils and salts. She sat on the bed to relax her poor, old, aching feet and waited for the bath to fill by removing the red flower petals on her bed meant for the couple.

----==============o==============----

The story continues in:
" First meeting with the stars, ch 3"  18+: A new contract for John.

Note: I need to research medical terms for the serum dosage. cc is concentration if I remember.