Eddie was unceremoniously thrown off the ship. One slight disagreement with the Captain, with almost no blood and only a little hull damage, and he was out. Now he was stranded on some Xeno planet. He was still standing bemused when one of the Officers threw his gear at him and sealed the ship. His wristband turned red and disintegrated. Fuck, that meant the Captain had gone the whole way and revoked his contract. That meant he was going to run out of money. Shit. Like his ancestors before him, like every sailor ever abandoned in a strange port, he went to find a drink and a job. Then it started raining.
Two hours later, Eddie was becoming worried. The city was empty, everything was closed and every building dark. He had searched for hotels, bars, cafes and had found nothing. It was getting dark and cold. His comms had nothing of use on the planet, just a generic map of the city. There wasn’t a single venue on it. Finally, he saw a gleam of light down a dark alley. He didn’t hesitate, hurrying to get there before it disappeared into the darkness.
It was everything he expected. The smell was foul, the barman irritated and the customers surly. Heaven, after the rain. He quickly booked a room, although the manager seemed surprised when he wanted it for the whole night and not just for an hour. As he idled over his oddly flavoured whisky, he tried to start a conversation. Nope. This was not a friendly place. Finally, bored and slightly drunk, he pulled out his fiddle. It was light enough to drag from one ship to another, strong enough to withstand the odd heavy fall. He had no plans to play, he just needed to check that it had survived its trip from the ship.
No-one seemed to care about what he was doing, so he ran scales on it. The bow was dry, so he reached for the rosin. He suddenly became aware of the absolute silence that had filled the room. Shit. The barman was some central-worlds type, with built-in ugly and too many sharp teeth. Eddie was quite surprised when it brought the bottle of whisky over. ‘You should have told me you were a Priest.’ He put down the bottle. ‘On the house. Play for us. We all need your prayers around here.’
Eddie was lost, but he could read a room. Everyone was watching him. They were swapping seats to get a better view. He didn’t get the impression that it was a question, at least not right now. Well, music soothes the savage beast. He hoped. He started with ‘A fig for a kiss’, then went into ‘The butterfly’. If he might have hoped for applause, he certainly didn’t get any. Mind you, that was a human thing. Probably. The room had the sort of hushed silence he had encountered at a poker game, not a bit of a session. He put down the bow, simply to take a drink, and it was like someone let the air out of the room. Tails sagged, crests fell and the unhappy shuffling of bodies filled the room. The barman sighed, ‘Thank you Priest, two prayers was a privilege.’ Eddie had quickly worked out what that meant, and hell, he was here to make contacts. ‘Friend, I have only begun. I’ll play if you’ll listen, and if the whisky gets better.’
By the time he reached ‘The Wind that Shakes the Barley’, he was tired and drunk. He had long since stopped watching the audience, just enjoying the freedom to play. Finally he had to stop. ‘Friend, I can do no more tonight. I need sleep. No doubt I’ll be around tomorrow, if I can find something to eat along the way.’ The barman had a strange expression on his face, well stranger than usual, and put some form of currency down in front of him. The customers, of which there seemed to be a lot more than he remembered, started to do the same. The whisky blurred the event, since he just smiled and nodded. The barman had been telling them in a low voice that the Priest would be back tomorrow. Looked like he had a gig.
The morning carried the same grey rain. On top of the hangover and the hunger, it didn’t improve his mood. His fingers were stinging. How long had he played last night? Beside his bed was a neat pile of currency. He didn’t recognise it, but it might buy breakfast. Then he realised he wasn’t in the shitty room that he had rented. This place looked clean, and it had windows. Maybe no breakfast then, or he had got a free upgrade. Although in his experience ‘free’ was the rarest element in the galaxy.
Beside the sink was some basic ration bars and water. Also a half-bottle of whiskey. The breakfast of kings. After a serious shower and dragging some fresh clothes from his pack, he felt ready to face this new world. Or at least find out its name, for a start. As he reached the barroom, it seemed nicer than he remembered. Maybe the cleaners had been in. Even the barman looked happier. Probably just the daylight and a good night's sleep. ‘Good morning, friend. Any chance you could answer a few questions? I’m afraid I know nothing about your city, other than the spaceport. Also, I need to grab something to eat and find any Ship Company offices around here. The barman stiffened. ‘But you will return? People are expecting your prayers tonight’ Eddie grinned, ‘Yeah, I’ll be back tonight. Could you hold my room for a couple of days? I’m going to need an address If I’m looking for work.’ The barman relaxed, ‘Sure, I’ll hold it as long as you want. I don’t get guests like you very often. As to food and the rest, you wait here and I’ll get you a lift to the city centre. Just call him when you want to come back, save you getting lost out there.’
The taxi driver was like drivers all over the galaxy, chatting about his city the entire way. Eddie learned it was called Airinn, something that brought an immediate smile to his face. That was the playlist for tonight sorted. His Comms had begun updating, filling in the blanks as it crawled local sites. The reason he hadn’t found any hotels or venues was simple. There weren’t any. Anything listed as music was a church, anything listed as a hotel was a brothel with a bar. Since he couldn’t reliably tell any of this species' genders, he could have been surrounded by ladies-of-the-night or whatever they were called around here, and not known about it.
Then he found a restaurant that served human food and lost his curiosity about anything else. He pointed it out to the driver, who drew a sharp breath, ‘Friend, that place is expensive. My broodling has a place much cheaper, much nearer.’ Eddie nodded, ‘Next time, maybe. I need to find out if there are any other humans on-planet, and they probably eat here.’ He pulled out the wad of local currency he had been given, ‘Will this cover it?’ The driver snorted, ‘Yes, probably for a few weeks. You must be one hell of a Priest. Call me when you’re ready to go back. I’ll be around.’
The restaurant was clean, with booths surrounding the walls. He reckoned they might cover a hundred people, tops. Taking up the centre of the room was an odd instrument. It looked like someone had crashed a piano into a church organ. It was being played, badly, by one of the locals. Everyone was ignoring it. Frankly, it sounded like the sort of noise you find in a dentist's waiting room. The server approached him, guiding him to one of the smaller booths. ‘Sir, I will fetch the human menu. Can I get you something to drink? We have human beers, if you wish.’ Eddie relaxed, ‘Do you have coffee?, because I could seriously do with a coffee.’ The human menu turned out to be burgers and fries, or deep-fried poultry and fries or just fries. Fine, this was his kind of healthy hangover food.
When the server returned, he asked him the crucial question, ‘So, are there any other humans about? Are they working around here?’ The server nodded. ‘We get a few in, mostly passing Engineers and crew. Only one regular, working out of the TTTA offices, but he’s not here for the next few days. Would you like me to give him a message?, we help him keep track of your people.’ Eddie nodded, passing over the address of the bar. ‘Sure, I’m staying there for a few days, tell him I’m looking for a ship. Thanks.’ The server read the address, ‘Sir, there are better places...perhaps I could look for you.’ Eddie shook his head, ‘No, it’s fine for a few days. If I need to stay longer, I’ll get back to you.’
The burger was fine, but the coffee was truly excellent. He suspected some of the Engineers had adopted the place, since normally the Xenos couldn’t make coffee to save their lives. He meandered around the city, trying to define what was so truly alien about the place. Some buildings were polished, beautiful even. Others looked like something you would find in a slum, and they sat side-by-side. Weird. Then he decided he had had enough and called his taxi back. He might grab a nap before the gig.
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There was a quiet knock on the door, and Eddie opened to the barman, ‘Ahh, I was just wondering if you would come down. I’m afraid there’s a lot of people who have heard about you. Please?’ Eddie shrugged, ‘Sure. Give me ten minutes.’ As he walked down the steps, it didn’t sound busy. Then he reached the barroom. Xeno’s were packed tight around the room and all the tables had been removed to make space. The only clear place was the chair at the bar, the chair he had sat on yesterday. Except that it had been replaced with a more elaborate chair. A bottle of whiskey and a glass rested on the bar, but no-one else seemed to be drinking. The barman watched him arrive, relief filling his crest. ‘Welcome back, friend. I found some human beer if you would prefer, but that is our best whiskey.’
He took the beer, some sort of stout. This looked like it could be a long evening. He took a minute to tune up and then decided to enjoy himself. He had played in plenty of pubs before, this one was just a little weirder than most and he needed the practise. His last captain had hated the ‘noise’, eventually pissing him off enough to have a row. He kicked off with ‘Farewell to Erin’, went back over the tunes from the previous night, then headed into ‘The Exile of Erin’. Pretty soon, the atmosphere in the room heated up, then a few of the xenos began drinking. Soon it felt like a proper session, but without anyone interrupting with a tin-whistle. After an hour or so, he waved over the barman, ‘Friend, I’m going to take a small break and another beer. I need to freshen up. If anyone asks, tell them my throat and fingers need a break.’
All the eyes in the room followed him as he made a dash back to his room, but he could hear the barman explaining that he would be back. There were some serious trad fans on this planet, but no-one seemed to know the words. Whatever. He had a more pressing issue to deal with.
When he came back in, the atmosphere had changed again. You could hear a pin drop. Then he noticed a new chair. Well, to be honest, he didn’t notice the chair, he noticed the dark women sitting on it. She had opened the whisky. This must be the ‘he’ that worked at TTTA. Xeno’s, like humans, weren't always great on gender. He picked up the fiddle and said hello, ‘Hi, give me a minute to chill out the crowd. Do you know any of the tunes? I could do with some help.’ The woman smiled, ‘Yes, I know some of your tunes. I know ‘Farewell to Airinn and The Exile of Airinn. Can you play those for me?’
Eddie smiled. He had figured the locals would like the name, no point in disappointing them by correcting the spelling. He kicked off with the mellow voice beside him joining in, word perfect and pitch perfect. When he moved on to other songs she sat and watched him play, tapping her fingers to the rhythm. She perked up again when he played ‘Erin go Bragh’ and ‘Erin’s Star’. They filled another hour with songs before he decided to take a break, since the crowd seemed back in good humor. ‘That was amazing, you have a fantastic voice. Can I ask your name?’ She laughed, ‘Oh, I’m called Airinn, that's why I loved your songs. So rare to find it in something as beautiful as those prayers. I had to come and see who had arrived.’
Eddie was confused, but happy to find out more, ‘Well, trust me, that name is very popular at home, I’m sure I could find another hundred or so more, if you don’t mind the spelling. Were you named after the city?’ Eddie wasn’t watching as the barman turned pale and the crowd moved back as much as they could, which turned out to be a lot more than when they had first arrived. ‘Oh, something like that. Can we sing ‘Erin’s star’ again? I think I have it now.’ Her eyes swept the room. ‘And I’m sure they would love to hear it again.’
It was only with the promise that he would play the next night that Airinn was willing to let him stop. His voice was shot and his fingers were ready to fall off, but that had been a hell of a session. Finally he called the barman over and told him that it was over for the night. He wasn’t sure, but it didn’t look like the same barman. Younger and fitter, maybe a son, he guessed. In fact the crowd had got younger as well, perhaps they had come to join their parents. His mind was mostly on the attractive woman that wanted to meet him tomorrow. This planet was picking up nicely. Then the barman silently put two large piles of cash in front of him. He seemed at a bit of a loss, ‘Priest, I never thought I would see that. Thank you. Your room is ready.’
They had put him in a different room again, this place was a full suite. Nice, especially the full bath. He was too tired to sleep, too full of adrenaline and the buzz from the gig. He soaked away an hour, sipping on the whisky that had been waiting for him. Someone had cleaned his clothes and packed away his gear. Then he sprawled out on the bed and slept, dreaming of the dark haired girl with the soft voice.
In the quiet night, Airinn was wondering about a scruffy Irishman and his strange prayers.
In the morning, the new barman tapped gently on the door, ‘Sir, you said to call you for lunch. The taxi is waiting.’ Eddie had forgotten about that, his thoughts sliding back to last night and promptly derailing as he thought about Airinn. He grabbed his jacket and headed for the door. The lights were off, the windows bright. It looked bigger, then he realised that there was no furniture. He dismissed the thought as he headed away in the cab. This time his driver was less helpful, babbling about some local religious event planned. Apparently it was awesome. Then his stomach reminded him that he hadn’t stopped for breakfast. Deep-fried poultry with fries was the only solution. Perhaps tomorrow, he might try something local. Or just have fries.
The restaurant was oddly quiet. He noticed the bizarre piano thing was unoccupied, thankfully. A human man, middle-aged and tired was waiting at his table. ‘Hi, you must be Eddie. I work with the TTTA, my name Phil. We need to talk.’
Eddie sat down. ‘Oh, I thought that was someone else. How many humans are on this planet? Phil sighed, ‘Exactly two, right now. That's why we need to talk’ He nodded towards the centre of the restaurant , ‘You know why that noise has stopped? Because they don’t want to pray right now, not with the goddess of music walking around. Well, the Goddess of everything, really, but she has a thing about music. If they play badly, and they do, she can get pissed.’ A voice behind him suddenly spoke, ‘Indeed, or she can get pissed when people speak out of turn. Nice to see you Phil, but if your company wants to sit on this planet any longer, I suggest you come to the concert tonight. In the meantime, I would like to have lunch with Eddie. Alone.’
Eddie watched as Phil legged it out of the restaurant with surprising speed. Certain things had begun to crystallize in his mind. ‘So, Airinn, they named the city after you, not the other way round. I don’t often get to meet a city. The odd ship, but that's about it. Are you an AI avatar or something?’ Airinn just grinned. ‘Something like that. I’m having the burger. What about you?’
Part of Eddie was a little in shock, but most of him was just happy to see her. In space Avatars were just people, even if they weren’t really. You just sort of ignored it, and treated them as they wished to be treated. He wondered why Phil was making a fuss, to be honest. It was just a surprise. They spent lunch laughing about the previous night and planning the playlist. She seriously loved any songs with her name in it, she thought it was amazing. She laughed like a drain when he had to admit there were no songs about an Eddie, unless you included stuff about rivers.
This time Eddie wasn’t blind. He vaguely remembered the dingly, foul smelling bar from a couple of days ago. Now it was a massive, beautiful theatre with a long polished bar and a deep stage. The barman stood helplessly at his spot, ‘Please, friend, she did all of this, for you. If you disappoint her, she will bring it down in a thought.’ Eddie had to admit that was a hell of a chat-up line. ‘That's OK, we had lunch, we’re all good. She said she would be in later.’ The barman seemed to run out of words at that point.
Airinn was feeling ridiculous, worrying what the human would think. She was older than him, from a different species. Still, she crafted her fiddle carefully and practised for the afternoon, just in case. She hadn’t had this much fun in a long time.
They were sitting at the bar, waiting for the crowd to settle in. It was taking a while. ‘So , Airinn, did you ever travel? I mean, you know in space. I know that some AI’s settle down, build a city, raise a people. It sounds nice.’
Airinn sighed, and finished her beer, ‘Eddie, I’m not an Avatar, not exactly. I’m the planet. The whole, entire planet. I’ve been to space for several billion years. When the first aliens - Xenos - arrived, I helped them. I like you lot, always tearing around, looking at things. Once they realised I was aware of them, they went all weird on me. This is the most fun I’ve had in ages, at least since the last ice-age anyway. Can you check my fiddle again? Are you sure it’s okay?’
Eddie had never dealt with a planet with stage fright before, but he just smiled, ‘It's beautiful, like its creator. You ready? One...two...three