Mon Apr 11, 2005 1:54 pm by Steel_Fang
A new chapter is now online!
Chapter 1
Planet Manhattan, New York System. 2 years later
The Liberty sleeper ship swung into view as Trent prepped his Sabre for landing after another successful mission. Liberty Rogue Perry Johnson was tied up in the cargo hold, and payday was only minutes away. Trent lowered his ship until it hovered a few feet off the ground, activated the gravpad, and the Sabre came to rest a foot off of the surface of the landing pad. Trent then punched in a few commands on the control panel, and the cockpit opened with a hiss, followed by a motorized hum as a telescoping ladder extended from the side of the ship to the ground. Trent climbed down.
Two men were waiting for Trent on the landing pad, both wearing Liberty Navy suits. One of them pushed a small cargo transporter, specifically designed for handling escape pods. They approached Trent, and flashed their IDs.
“Mr. Trent, we’re with the Navy. Is Mr. Johnson ready for transport?”
“Yeah. Follow me.”
Trent led the Navy personnel to the side of the Sabre and flipped open a small hatch, revealing a numeric keyboard. He typed a number sequence, and then pressed ENTER.
The Sabre’s underside cargo hatch opened, and Perry Johnson’s escape pod was lowered onto the transporter via a tractor beam, where it was automatically scanned. One of the Navy officers turned to Trent and removed a data pad from his pocket, and Trent did the same.
“Well, Mr. Trent, it looks like Mr. Johnson is alive and well. I’m transferring your payment now.”
The officer executed a command on his data pad, and the screen on Trent’s pad flashed green twice. The transfer had been successful.
“There you go. See you around, Mr. Trent.”
“Thanks,” Trent replied.
Trent closed up the Sabre, pocketed his data pad and walked off. But before he could get some R&R, he had to make a pit stop. A little something for Juni…
As Trent entered the shop he recognized the man behind the counter, Julio Mendez, the man who owned the store.
“Oy, Trent! Good to see you again!”
“Hey, Julio,” Trent replied as he approached the counter. “You got the *ahem* package?”
Julio beamed. “Yessir, it came this morning. Hang on, let me go get it.” Julio turned and headed through the door that led to the back of his shop.
Julio’s small shop, unlike most other shops, was a place where you could buy or sell practically anything. Several people accused him of being an Outcast or Corsair, due to his family’s apparent Hispanic heritage, but Julio’ family had arrived in Sirius aboard the Liberty sleeper ship. And contrary to belief, he did not deal in contraband.
Julio returned from the back of the shop, carrying a small velvet box and set it down on the counter. “I hope you know what you are doing, man. These are very hard to come by, especially including your specifications, and it can get you into a very messy situation.” Julio smiled.
“Thanks, Julio,” Trent replied, “but I think I know what I’m doing.” Trent opened the box.
Inside the box was the embroidered message “Marry Me.” But behind those two powerful words sat an Inamorata engagement ring. This extremely rare ring was made to celebrate the coming of the year 800 A.S., and featured a rather large diamond bordering the inside curve of a gold crescent moon. Only 800 had been made. The year that the ring was made had some significance, being the year that Trent first met Juni, as well as their assistance in saving the colonies from the Nomads.
Trent turned the open box in his hands, noting the pure gold that made up the ring. It was too beautiful to be removed from its resting place. Trent stared at the diamond and smiled. Its tone was a deep blue, exactly the color that he had requested. Juni had always had a thing for blue…
The sound of Julio loudly clearing his throat brought Trent’s attention back away from the ring. Trent closed the box.
“You do remember our agreement, don’t you, Mr. Trent?”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Thirty thou.” To Trent, Juni was worth much more than money. He pulled out his data pad and the screen flashed red once as Trent paid Julio the money, then he pocketed the ring and left. It was late and he should be getting home.
Trent quietly entered his house, crept to the bedroom, and peeked through the door. He noted with relief that Juni was already in bed, asleep (they had been living together for the past few months). Trent removed the ring’s box from his pocket, held his breath, and tiptoed on in.
Juni had the unusual habit of keeping a small glass of water on her bed stand to hydrate herself when she woke up. Careful not to wake her, Trent removed the glass of water and put the ring in its place. The next morning when Juni would wake up and reach for the water, she would find the ring instead. It would be the most wonderful wake-up call of her life.
Trent got dressed for bed and crawled under she sheets beside Juni, and lightly kissed her forehead. She smiled in her sleep. Trent rolled over and dozed off.