The hairdressers was a place called “Magic Cuts” outside the Edenelt Starport. It was a cut above the bargain basement places that frequented the starport providing cheap grooming for spacers – it had several good ratings on the planetary datanet, so Sarah had good feelings about the place.
When they got there, the place was busy, but not packed, and some chairs were available to allow walk in customers to sit while they waited. The hairdressers looked like it was a reasonable size, holding enough chairs for at least a half-dozen or more hairdressers to work simultaneously, and the air in the place was redolent with the smell of shampoo, ammonia and hair dye. There were several women and a man or two from all walks of life getting their hair clipped, shaped, dyed or styled.
Sarah took a look at the costs of various procedures, and recognized most but not all of the available things. One that fascinated her was the one listed as “Polychromatic Dye” – it was quite expensive – over 200 credits (which was close to $1000 in Terran money). Sarah went up to the desk, where a young lady of maybe 18 years was waiting, although Sarah supposed she could be anywhere from 18 to 40 years old with Prolong treatments.
“Hi. I’m Sarah Kerrigan. I have an appointment with Julie at 3:30pm”
“Great!” The young lady replied. “We’ve got you right here. She’ll be ready for you in a few minutes.”
“Do you have time to give my friend over there a haircut? We’re due to leave the planet later today.” Sarah asked, pointing at Bear.
“Yeah – I think Brianna has room in her schedule in about 20 minutes.”
“Then I will wait.” Bear replied. “Thank you.”
Bear and Sarah sat down to wait, and Sarah oddly felt eager and a little apprehensive. “I’ve never had a haircut as a lady before, Bear.” Sarah remarked quietly under her breath. “I’m a little nervous.”
Bear smiled, and gave Sarah’s hand a squeeze. “Don’t be. It is just haircut. Not so different from what you are used to, I bet.”
“Maybe, Bear. It feels different.” Sarah replied.
Bear just nodded, and patted her knee in comfort. Sarah, unsure of exactly what style she might like, picked up a data slate and started scrolling through sample hairstyles. Some of them were rather fanciful and others workmanlike. She fancied something stylish, but shorter – easy to control and easy to manage without a lot of hair experience. Something that would stay mostly out of her eyes. After all, she thought, I can always let it grow later as I get more comfortable with it. She found three styles she liked, and showed them to Bear.
“You want me to pick?” Bear asked, a little confused.
“I’d like your opinion.” Sarah replied. I know which one I’m favouring – which one do you like?”
Bear thought a moment, and pointed at one – and Sarah smiled. It was the one she had picked – with short bangs, but a kind of swept bob that would bring some hair alongside her face in an arc.
“That’s the one I liked, too. The others might work – It depends.”
Bear nodded, and pointed – it looked like one of the ladies was approaching.
“Sarah? I’m Julie. I can take you now.”
“Oh! Thanks, Julie! I’ve got some hairstyles here – can we look at them?” Sarah replied.
“Sure! Come on and sit down.” Julie motioned to her workstation, and Sarah sat down, and got covered with a thin plastic sheet to protect her clothing from the cut hair, as well as a paper strip to prevent hair from falling down her neck. Julie looked at the hairstyles, and nodded. “I think that’s a pretty nice look for you, Sarah. It gives you a strong competent look without being too frou frou for day to day use. I take it you’re a spacer?”
“Yeah. We’re leaving today. I wanted to get done before we left.” Sarah remarked. “Could you tell me what Polychromatic Dye is?”
“Sure thing!” Julie answered. “It’s a dye with nano-bots and micro LED’s embedded in it… When you signal it with a wireless data slate, you can program your hair color for the day. It takes about 10 minutes for the hair to change to any other color – even colors humans don’t normally get, like blue or green, and it stays that way until you either change it out for a different color, or until the dye washes out in about a month or so. The nano-bots spread the dye so that your roots don’t start to show until the dye is about to wash off. It’s a really nice effect. Did you want to try it?”
Sarah thought a moment. “Sure! Why not? I’ll treat myself.”
“Cool!” Julie replied. “We’ll need to wash your hair – the dye won’t stick to dry hair and freshly washed gives a better hold.”
“No problem.” Sarah laughed, and got up to go lay down at a sink in the back of the room.
For the next half hour, her hair was luxuriously massaged, soaped, washed and rinsed, then partially dried by a blow dryer. Sarah found the entire experience intoxicating, and loved being pampered by the hairdresser. This was much better than a normal haircut! Once that was dealt with, Julie began applying the nano LED dye, and it surprised Sarah that it had a rather neutral smell – like rubbing alcohol, she thought. She had expected an ammonia smell, from habit. It took about fifteen minutes to set, and then Julie washed the rest of the dye out, and placed her back under the blow dryer for a short while, until her hair was damp – but not soaked.
Sarah returned to Julies workstation, and Julie began cutting and shaping her long blonde locks, while chatting about her family and Sarah’s job. Sarah found the pleasant chit chat to be similar but different from when she was John – instead of being an annoyance, it was rather engaging – and Sarah really felt she was being accepted as just another woman. The feeling felt wonderful.
By the end of the process, Sarah could see Bear was already finished and waiting. His haircut looked handsome and neat, and it made him look considerably more professional. Sarah glanced at the clock and realized almost two hours had passed! Did Bear wait all this time? she wondered. He must be bored out of his skull. “Thanks for waiting, Bear.” She called out.
“It was worth it.” He said, smiling. “You look very nice.”
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Sarah blushed a bit. It did look nice. “Thanks – and thanks to you too, Julie. This is great!”
“You’re welcome! Would you like to see how to change the hair color now?” Julie asked.
“Yeah!”
Julie took the data slate and showed her how to wirelessly sync with the nano-bots in the hair dye, how to program the new color, and how to set a password so pranksters couldn’t hack the nano machines and change her hairstyle on her without her permission.
“Cool! Thank you!” Sarah gushed. This is super cool, she thought.
“No problem, Sarah.” Julie said, leading her to the front desk to pay. “That will be 215 credits, Miss.”
Sarah took the handset and transferred 230 credits. “Keep the rest as a tip, okay Julie?” Sarah figured for what she had done a $75 tip was pretty damn extravagant, but she felt so damn good she wanted to give it.
“Thank you, Sarah! I really appreciate it!” Julie gushed.
“Me too!” Sarah replied. “You all paid up?” She asked Bear.
“Da. My haircut cost 5 credits – 8 with tip.”
Sarah hung her head. “I spent too much, didn’t I?” She looked mock upset. “It was a nice treat.”
“It is just a woman thing, I think. You look nice.” Bear replied.
“Well, that’s the point, I guess, isn’t it. Otherwise I’d have gone to one of the cheaper places.”
“Da. Are we ready to go back to the ship?”
“Yeah, let’s go.” Sarah looked one more time in the mirror by the front desk before she left – and wow, did she look great. Her smile was so wide it nearly split her face in half as she walked out of the hair salon.
* * *
Back at the Fortune’s Favor, it hadn’t taken long to prepare to leave Edenelt, so once Bear and Sarah arrived, they were able to lift off and begin the long trek to the outer system where the Fortune’s Favor could engage its jump drive and make the leap to Burston, Bear’s and Drago’s homeworld. Sarah had been on the bridge for some time, getting some instruction from Bear about the controls – and noting how they differed from the Hyperion’s controls. Sarah figured the tech leap would be difficult but not insurmountable, especially if the Pilot training Sim Drago had sent her was as good as he claimed it was.
“Thanks for the training, Bear. I think I’ve taken in all I can at the moment.” Sarah said.
“No worries. You learn quickly. The Hyperion must have been a fairly advanced ship for its time. Your skills are not far off what you need to pilot this ship. Just be aware this ship is not exactly cutting edge, okay?” Bear replied.
“Okay.” Sarah replied. “I’ll see you at dinner.”
“I won’t be eating until we get into jump space. I can’t leave the bridge until then.”
“Okay, then I’ll bring dinner to you, okay?” Sarah asked.
“Okay.” Bear replied, grinning.
Sarah headed back to her cabin – she had about two hours until dinner and still had some stuff she wanted to do online on the VR player. For the next hour or so, she picked out various outfits and ensembles for her avatar in the sim – not just to primp her avatar – although that was part of it, but also to see how a variety of clothes would look on her. In a way she was seeing what fashions looked good on her, and what didn’t. It was an interesting learning experience – and it was kinda fun in a childish way.
After, Sarah headed out to the common room for dinner, to find Hortencia there, without Drago.
“Hey, Hortencia. Where’s the Drago?” Sarah asked.
“He’s feeding Herc and putting him down for a nap – he’s been rambunctious all day and he needs a time out. Herc I mean, not Drago.” Hortencia smiled at her own joke. “Your hair looks great, Sarah!”
“Thanks!” Sarah replied. “I feel great too. I got some cool Polychromatic dye.”
“OOooh! I wanted to do that a few months ago, but I didn’t have the money then. I should do it soon! Is it fun?” Hortencia asked.
Sarah looked a little bashful. “I don’t know. I haven’t tried changing it yet.”
“Well you should.” Hortencia replied, smiling. “No point in spending good money on something you won’t use.”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right.” Sarah replied. “Dinner?”
“No thanks. I’m going to wait for Drago.”
“Okay. I’m taking some dinner to Bear – he can’t leave the bridge until we jump. I’ll be back soon.”
Sarah retrieved a meal from the refrigerator, and warmed it up – which consisted of pulling a tab on the end of the packaged meal, and waiting while some of the meal compartments cooked through, while others remained chilled – usually for some of the deserts. This meal was Shrrk Steak and something resembling mashed potatoes, with thick brown gravy and some apple cobbler for desert – it was one of Bear’s “go to” meals, she had noticed, and she hoped it was all right.
It was a short walk to the bridge, where she found Bear brooding.
“Hey, Bear. I brought you some dinner.” Sarah said.
Bear turned, and his brooding scowl turned to a smile. “Thank you, Sarah. I am a bit hungry. I was just thinking about going home.”
“Home isn’t a good word for you, is it?” Sarah asked.
“Home to me is the ship,” Bear began. “Where I can be free. I have seen so many worlds as a scout, I don’t think I can be satisfied with just one of them anymore. No – this is something else. I miss my Babushka, but I am mostly brooding over bad memories – dark thoughts and sadness. I try to avoid it, but sometimes it creeps up on me.”
“Bad memories of what happened to Sorcha?”
“Yes – but not just that. Every year for one night we hide in terror, as things best left undescribed hunt the surface of the world. We hear them – their screams, their roars and gnashing teeth. It is like a night of terror, and it leaves its mark on you. Off worlders don’t understand – not really – how much it scars us. Still, it is our world, and we refuse to leave. Most of us, as adults refuse to speak of it – and the children tell each other stories of what they imagine walks the night. There is something evil on Burston, Sarah. I do not know what it is, but it holds sway that one day a year. It is the day we hide and pray for succour.”
“Monsters.” Sarah whispered.
“Da.” Bear replied. “And now you know why I learn to fight. One day I will travel into the woods, where no one goes. I will find the source of this evil, and I will learn what stalks the night on Burston. I will probably not survive to tell it, but I don’t care. If my people can be free of this evil, it is something I need to try. And if they cannot, it is something I need to learn. For me, the not knowing is worse.”
Sarah sat next to Bear, and handed him his dinner, which he put on the console to cool.
“You’re not doing that soon are you?” Sarah asked.
“No.” He replied. “I am not ready. I need someone to watch my back – and Drago would do it if I asked, but I cannot take him away from Hortencia. He deserves a good life, and it is likely neither of us would come back.”
“You’re okay with doing something that dangerous?”
“Da. If it would let me know the truth, I would risk twice or more to find out. To find out why we must hide, or die – and why only one night a year? Has some dark pact been struck between this evil force and the original settlers – or is it something more or less than that. I will find out one day, even if it is the end of me.” Bear looked solemn, like this was something he had long promised himself to find out, or die trying.
“And if you survive to tell the tale?” Sarah asked.
“Then I will take my ship, rejoin my friends, and we will fly free again. I will know the truth, and if there is a just and kind god, the knowing will give me peace. I will make my peace with Burston, and travel the stars until I find a new home, or until death takes me.”
Sarah sat quietly with Bear a few moments, taking his statement in. That he meant every word of it, she had no doubt – but she wasn’t sure about the monsters Bear ascribed supernatural powers to. Not yet – her Terran upbringing told her that monsters were myths – that human beings were worse than any mythical monsters out there – but the tiny part of her that was superstitious kept wondering if there was a grain of truth to what Bear had said. She sat quietly with Bear a while longer, and stood up. “I should let you eat.”
Bear nodded, the moment between them having passed. “Da. I should eat before it gets cold. Thank you for dinner, Sarah.”
“You’re welcome, Bear.” Sarah replied, and headed to her cabin, lost in thought.