— Two years later —
„Next shuttle to Blooming: 84 minutes“, read the large display over the entrance towards the secondary docking area. The main hangar bay had also changed somewhat since he was last here, two years ago.
„Weird feeling?“, Red asked, while they waited for their pilot.
„Yeah“, Nico mumbled. His eye wandered around the hangar, lingering on the familiar parts, taking in the unfamiliar ones.
„Blooming, eh?“, Red said, pointing towards the sign. „I heard it started as a joke, and then just stuck. Nice name for a new colony, if a bit cheesy.“
„Fitting, too“, Nico answered, now turning towards the red-haired captain at his side, „our business goes well and it’s by far not the only one. I heard they cracked the ten-thousand population mark a month ago.“
„Good for them.“, Vesper joined in, the pilot who had come down the ramp. His hair was greying and his beard had just started. He wore a made-up uniform. As far as quirks are concerned, that was one of the more harmless ones Red had seen in her time.
„And they kept the name, nice touch.“, Vesper said, pointing towards the ceiling. Indeed, big glowing letters announced „Binary Bloom“ to visitors who cared to look up.
Nico nodded: „That’s new as well. Didn’t have it in my days.“
They started walking towards the exit now. The sounds of loading and unloading, of people and machines moving about, the occasional shout from a member of the docking crew. Familiar sounds, and yet different. There was an unfamiliar smell hanging in the air, too. Very subtle, almost not noticeable. Red stopped and sniffed.
„What is that?“, she asked.
The two men now stopped and took a nose full themselves. Vesper furrowed his brow. Nico thought, and then exclaimed: „Lemon. Oh I remember. Someone told me about that last year, it should be…“ and he looked around. Finally, he pointed to a wide opening partially hidden behind crates and people. There was green in the room behind it. Trees.
„It’s a new trend.“, Nico explained, „A homage to sailors on old Earth. A grove of lemon trees grown near or in the docking bay. And a gift of one lemon to every guest when they leave, as a symbolic gesture like wishing good health or something.“
„People these days.“, Vesper shook his head, and marched on. The others followed him closely.
The docking bay exit dumped them into a welcome hall that had some resemblance to the old one, but had been enlarged in all dimensions.
„They moved the market here.“, Red noticed.
Meanwhile, a few people had noticed them, were whispering to each other and looking over to them. The new market was a more open space. Fewer shops, but most of them larger. In fact, half of them looked more like offices than shops. „Import & Export“ was a common designation on those.
„Hey Nico!“, someone shouted, and approached. „Jackson!“, Nico answered, a smile on his lips, „Long time no see!“
„Indeed“, Jackson stopped in front of them, greeted Red and Vesper with a nod. He was dressed in leisurely clothing, in dark red and blue. High boots, they noticed, the latest fashion trend for men in the Junkstorm.
„Changed quite a bit the old station.“, Nico remarked.
Jackson nodded. Then, in a slightly more somber tone of voice, he added: „Finally got our fortunes turned around. The first year after, you know, was tough. The station was breaking down, damage from the raid and overloaded systems. Couldn’t get maintenance done as it should be.“
He gestured around towards the market: „But then the colony down on Aethel had overcome its starting issues and began to prosper. And the guild masters realized that piracy was not the future of Bloom anymore. The colony would need a space port so that traders with ships not suited for atmospheric flight and planetary landing can trade with it.“
Nico followed the gesture and understood: „That’s the import and export business. Clever. Be the middle-man at a favorable location, take a share of the trade.“
„Yeah“, Jackson nodded, „It’s enough for a small crew to live on. Come, I’ll invite you all to a drink. To be honest, it’s less than it looks. Many of the businesses are only open when traders arrive, or are actually run by planet-side merchants that come up to do their own deals here. Two thirds of the old Bloom is still sealed off.“
The walked through the wide alleyways between the shops and on closer look they could confirm Jackson’s words. The actual shops mostly sold everyday items or goods for travelers and merchants. Rations, supplies, that kind of stuff.
„Who’s running the show these days?“, Nico asked, while they were nearing a cafe at what seemed to be the center of the new market. Indeed, it made a larger impression from the docks. In reality, it was much smaller than the old market had been. But the wide hall, the wide spaces between the shops, and the layout made it appear huge.
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The cafe was a simple affair. It was styled after late 20th century (old calendar) movies, with colorful rounded furniture and tables, black discs on the walls that apparently were some kind of music devices back then, and a number of signs simply saying „Elvis“. Except for one right at the door, which one would see when leaving the establishment. That one said „Elvis has left the building“. The meaning of these signs remained obscure.
„Howdy“, a women dressed in something that resembled an apron more than a piece of clothing, welcomed them. „What can I do for ya?“ The fake accent made Red laugh a quick laugh. They sat down at a window, watching the market. Nico finally understood what it was missing: The hustle and bustle of the old market, where day and night people would walk, talk and do business. Not to say the new market was deserted, no. But it was a lot more quiet and calm.
„How many people on Bloom these days?“, he asked, turning around back to Jackson.
„Two hundred, give or take a few. Permanent residents I mean. There’s almost always one or two ships docked as well. Lokton has opened a casino recently, we hope it’ll drag in some more visitors and make the other ones stay a day longer or something.“
Nico pursed his lips and nodded. „Two hundred.“, he repeated, „living in a third of what used to house ten thousand. Luxurious living.“
„One of the few perks.“, Jackson agreed, „I have twice as much space to myself and the misses as we used to. But a lot is just empty. The guild masters are telling us that now, soon, any moment there will be more people living up here again, but it’s not been happening so far.“
Red looked up from the menu she had been studying: „So the guild is now running Bloom?“
Jackson nodded: „As much as it needs running. We’re just a bunch of folks that haven’t given up yet. It might work out in the end, it might not. Anyway“, he changed the topic, „what brings you to Bloom, Nico? Didn’t think I’d see you here again.“
„Neither did I, old friend. But here I am. Just passing through, to be honest. Like you said: Space port for ships that don’t do atmosphere. We’ll be taking the next shuttle down. I had made a promise, at least to myself, that once our business took off, we’d open an office on Aethel to give some jobs to the old Bloom people. We’re finally at that point. Took a year or so longer than I thought it would.“
The waitress came back to their table to take orders.
„Hot tea for me, spring flowers.“, Jackson ordered.
„What’s this ‚coffee‘ thing on the menu?“, Vesper asked, „It says original antique recipe.“
The waitress smiled and told them: „It’s a kind of bitter tea, but thick and dark, from roasted and powdered cherry pits. It’s an acquired taste, for first-time drinkers we recommend to take it with one third of cream, to soften it.“
Vesper nodded: „I feel adventurous. I’ll take one.“
„With cream?“
„Yeah“, he answered, „I feel adventurous. Not please-burn-my-tongue-out salty.“
„The house-recipe lemonade sounds good.“, Red picked. „Make that two.“, Nico added.
„So“, Jackson continued their conversation, „just passing through. That’s a shame, really. Wouldn’t you want to stay for a bit?“
Nico creased his forehead: „No, not really. In fact, Red here had to pretty much force me to agree to this stop. We have a small shuttle, and I’d have taken that down to the surface.“
Red shook her head and rolled her eyes: „He’s exaggerating. What he calls a shuttle is more of a lifeboat. Yes it can make the trip down and up again, but it’s not really intended for that.“
They sat quietly for a while, until their drinks arrived. The conversation was flowing less afterwards, as if everything had been said. Vesper tried his so-called coffee and made a face, for a second apparently thinking about spitting it out. Then, with visible effort, he swallowed the hot liquid.
„Damn me“, he said, „the lady didn’t exaggerate.“
The others shared a short laugh and returned to their drinks. The smells of coffee and tea hung over the table, mixing with the typical faint smell of re-filtered space station air.
„Anyway“, Jackson said after a while, „got to get going.“
He waved his watch over the payment dot in the center of the table and stood up. „It was a real pleasure seeing you again, Nico. And your crew. Have a good trip.“
They thanked him and he wondered off, leaving them at the table of this old-style cafe.
„It’s Bloom, alright.“, Red slowly stated, „But it’s also not Bloom. I get why you didn’t want to come here.“
Nico nodded. „But thanks for bringing me anyway. It’s a weird feeling, true. But I think if we had not done it, I would feel like I should’ve.“
„An hour about until we go down. Anything special we should be doing?“, Red asked.
„Taking a walk, I think.“, Nico replied, „To see a bit more of the old lady before we say goodbye.“
„Uh“, Vesper pointed out: „we’ll come through again on the way up.“
„Yes“, Nico said, „But on the return trip I want to go straight from the shuttle to our ship. Being here does open up a couple old wounds. Mostly internal. I should’ve been a better governor at the end. Still beating myself up over some of the stuff I did back then.“
Red put a hand on Nico’s: „Don’t. I’ve been a captain for a long time. Our job means that we need to make decisions in the moment. It’s easy to see something in a different light in hindsight. If you made a mistake, learn from it, that’s all. Everyone makes mistakes. Smart people don’t repeat them.“
Nico shot her a faint smile. „You’re right, but that doesn’t mean I’m wrong. I could’ve been better.“
Vesper had listened to their exchange. Now he stepped in: „Is that why you left at the end?“
Nico stopped and looked at the pilot. His eyes went up, left, right and back down, as if he was scanning something in his head.
„Might be.“, he finally said.
Then, without another word, he finished his drink and stood up.
They walked through Binary Bloom for about forty minutes after that. Enough time to see everything there was to see. Indeed, most of the old station was still closed off and sealed away. What remained was in all manner of conditions. Some was carefully maintained or even modernized, some was falling apart from neglect. A lot of light, a lot of shadow.
When the time came, they walked back to the docking bay and into the secondary area. This was the only part of Bloom that was actually new. For some reason, the new masters of Bloom had decided to separate the planetary traffic from the interstellar, and divided the old docking bay in two uneven parts, enlarging the secondary part by removing some interior walls and adding the rooms behind to the docking bay.
It looked like a public spaceport. There were rooms for waiting, luggage check-ins and an information booth. It was mostly deserted, with just a few service people hanging around.
Their shuttle came on time, and six passengers left it, walking past the three. A few minutes later, they boarded and took their seats. Half an hour later, they were over the ocean, piercing through the clouds, and Blooming came into sight in the distance.
— THE END —