The vibrancy of the new Darju was dazzling. Flurew assisted her with her final shedding the previous evening, and this morning, she felt amazing. The sheen that her new scales had given her made her feel refreshed and happy. She stood looking at herself in the reflection monitor and smiled.
“Breakfast?” Flurew asked as she walked out of her room.
“Yes, please,” she replied, smiling happily.
“You have polished up well this morning,” Flurew said, looking at her brightly coloured new scales.
“Thank you. I meant to ask you last night if it would be possible to get a yhuse off this morning?”
“Oh. Why is that dear?”
“I was hoping to see if I could have a look at Cylion’s brother's ship.”
“I can come over and cover for a yhuse. Do you know when exactly?”
“Erm. No, not yet. I have not confirmed it with her brother yet. I hoped to see Cylion when she arrives to arrange it before he left.”
“Ah. Cylion is not in first thing.”
“Oh. I was not aware.”
“She messaged me this morning. She went out with her brother last night, and they got into a scuffle with a couple of the Shriven. One of them bit her tail, so she had to go to the doctor and get it seen to first thing. I do not know why we allow the Shriven in the spaceport. They are always causing problems.”
“I hope she is okay?” Darju replied sincerely.
“Ha. I am sure she will be fine. Catlops are said to have at least nine lives, and an injured tail will not stop her. She said she would be in as soon as she can.”
Darju sat on one of the floor cushions and looked out of the large window that viewed the mountain. She would have to wait until the next cycle, after all. ‘Oh, well, at least I am not shedding anymore’. She thought, sulking a little from the missed opportunity.
Flurew walked over and handed her a large plate of herjy berry pancakes.
“You made herjy berry deliberately, didn’t you?” Darju said, frowning.
“I don’t know what you mean, dear,” Flurew chuckled.
The pancakes were amazing as always, and she wolfed them down and took her plate back into the kitchen. Although small, Flurew’s kitchen was crammed full of every exotic ingredient she could find from the traders. While she no longer worked in the cantina each day, she spent her time creating new recipes. Darju had never eaten so well since arriving at the spaceport, and the food was much nicer than the plain old creb biscuits she always had at the pod.
“I better head over to open up,” Darju said.
“I will call in later to see how you are doing. This will be your first morning alone.” Flurew replied.
Darju had not even considered that from the conversation with Flurew. She was so used to working alongside Cylion that she suddenly came over with nerves.
“Are you sure I can do it by myself?” Darju asked.
“You will be fine, dear. Cylion has told me how well you have been doing since you started there. She has no concerns. I would advise maybe taking herjy berry juice off the menu until Cylion returns this morning.” Flurew chuckled.
Darju rolled her eyes but could not disagree.
—
It was early second sun when Cylion arrived at the cantina. Part of her tail was wrapped in a synth pack which gave her usual stunning appearance a strange look as it swished behind her as she walked.
“Hi, Cylion. Is your tail ok? Flurew told me what happened."
“Yes, thank you,” she replied, purring, “The doctor said I need to keep a synth pack on it for two cinteps, though,” she replied as she swished her tail in front of her and looked at the grey pack attached to her tail.
“I hope you gave those Shriven what for,” Darju replied.
“We did,” she replied, grinning. “How has business been this morning?”
Darju had not even considered how it had been since arriving at the cantina. She had been working non-stop. She had just finished unstacking the chairs when the first patrons arrived. They were the usual morning regulars, and they all complimented her on her new look, making her feel like she shone even brighter.
“Business has been going well. I did as advised by Flurew and removed herjy berry juice from the menu this morning.”
“Probably for the best.” Cylion chuckled as she picked her apron up and tied it around her waist.
“I had been really hoping to speak to you about seeing your brother. I saw his amazing ship at the hangar last night, and I would love the chance to go on board and have a look at it.”
“I am sure that can be arranged. I will have to introduce you to him when he gets here.”
“He is still here?” Darju asked excitedly.
“Yes. He has a meeting with the spaceport officials this morning, so he is staying an extra cintep.”
“Oh. That is amazing. Gretu said he would have left this morning.”
“He usually would have, so you are in luck.”
It was mid-second sun when Cylion’s brother turned up at the cantina. He was a stunning specimen of Catlop. As he approached the cantina, Darju even heard him get whistled at by a few of the younger female Apelore who ran one of the closest stalls. His fur was the purest black that Darju could ever remember seeing, and the sun bounced off it, giving him a majestic look.
“Hey, sis,” he said as he walked up.
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“Your meeting go okay?” Cylion replied.
“Yeah. Hufry has agreed to the new terms, so the boss will be happy when I return to the office.”
“That is good to know.”
Darju stood behind the servery and just stared at this beautiful specimen of a Catlop.
“And I am guessing you must be Darju,” he said, walking over.
Darju suddenly realised she had been staring at him the whole time, and her cheeks flushed yellow with embarrassment. “Yes,” she stammered, looking away.
“I am Mylico. Nice to finally meet you,” he said, holding out his paw.
“Darju,” she said, not making eye contact with him.
“Mylico. Turn down the charm now!” Cylion said, glaring at her brother.
“What, sis? You know I must keep it up for appearances,” he replied.
“And I know what you are really like,” she replied.
“Ok,” he replied. As Darju watched, Mylico’s fur lost some of its sheen.
Darju looked at him with a confused expression. “It is a Catlop trait,” he said, smiling at her confused face.
“I did not realise you were able to do that?” Darju said open-mouthed.
“Why do you think they always send Catlops to negotiate,” he replied, purring seductively.
Cylion clipped Mylico on the back of his ear, “Enough!”
“I did not know they did,” Darju replied.
“Well, you do now. Anyway, once again, it is nice to meet you, Darju. Cylion has told me all about you, particularly the herjy berry stories.” he said smiling.
Darju felt her scales colour again at his comment. “Is there anyone that does not know?” she replied grumpily.
“Sorry, Darju, but you do look funny each time it has happened,” Cylion replied, chuckling. “Mylico. Darju wanted to ask you if she could have a tour of your ship?”
“My ship?” he replied, frowning.
“Yes, your ship.”
“Why would you want to look around that old Rustbucket?”
“Rustbucket? It looks beautiful, the design of it and its silver colouring.” Darju replied, a little stunned that he had called it a Rustbucket.
“She has never been on a ship before,” Cylion added.
“Well, sure. I will grab a miklatey, and then we can head over if Cylion can spare you,” he replied.
“That would be amazing,” Darju replied excitedly.
A yhuse later, Darju was standing at the side of the silver teardrop-shaped craft. Her mouth was open in amazement, this close to one. Mylico had escorted Darju into the spaceport and through the owner's side rather than her having to work through the hustle and bustle of the transportation queues.
“Well, this is her,” Mylico said.
“Her?” Darju replied.
“Yeah. She is named Cylius.”
“Who is Cylius?”
“Cylius was our mother's name.”
“Oh. I am sorry. I did not realise she had died. Cylion had never mentioned it.”
“Mum passed away several PT ago now. She had always been a little adventurous and lost her final life in a caraty duel.”
Darju had never heard of caraty or knew what a duel was. Rather than wanting to sound dumb in front of Mylico, she carefully responded. “That is sad to hear.”
“To be expected. She had always been a nipuser and chasing the next rush. It is an unfortunate trait of many of my kind.”
“What is a nipuser?” Darju asked, confused by the term.
“Nip is a recreational Catlop drug. Those who use it are known as nipusers. It heightens the senses but can make you think you are more than you are.”
“I have been learning so much since I left the pod to come here,” Darju replied.
“Anyway, let me show you Cylius,” he said as he swiped his paw over a black screen on the ship's hull. There was a clicking sound and a couple of small beeps. The ship's side suddenly opened, and a set of steps unfolded.
“After you?” Mylico indicated.
Darju walked up the short set of steps into her first spaceship. Her eyes were like saucers as she took in every detail of the ship's interior. She asked hundrrds of questions while Mylico explained what various bits were or did. She had yet to learn about most of what Mylico described but knew she wanted to learn how to fly one.
“This is amazing,” Darju said as she looked at the universal cartography display. She placed her hand into the holographic feed and pinched her claws together as the image switched and zoomed in on where she was.
“It is slightly better than standard but not the best on the market,” Mylico replied.
“I have never seen a universal thingy before,” Darju replied.
“All ships have them, but some are graphical, others holographic. Without them, we would not be able to navigate anywhere.”
“Do you often go off-world?”
“Every cycle. I spend my time travelling around the sector confirming the contractual negotiations for work.”
“I wish I had your job.”
“Ha. I doubt it. Most of the time, it is boring old contractual negotiations, nothing exciting discussing the shek rates for labour.”
“Compared to my life, it is.”
“Your life? You work in the best cantina in the spaceport. Do you know how many would give to have your job?”
“Really?” Darju said, frowning.
“Oh yes. You do not realise how well you have got it. If you ever went to Werthij, you would see the state that many citizens live by.”
“I thought that was the capital city?”
“It is, but not everything is as good as citizens expect with a larger city. Due to the recent rise in Juty taxes by the Throne, several thousand workers were laid off. It has caused unnecessary tension in the capital at the moment.”
“I had no idea!” Darju exclaimed.
“There was a large protest just before I headed over here. The Apelore military had to be called out to keep the peace.”
“Why do we never hear about it on the holo-feeds?”
“Because the Throne won’t allow it. You do know that everything that appears on Playverse is controlled and authorised by the Throne. No one can transmit or show anything without prior consent.”
Darju was unaware of any of the issues that were going on in the wider system or anything about the Throne and the Royals. She knew of them but nothing about them.
“My mother had always wanted to be a Cryster on Playverse. She did have auditions and partly succeeded, but that was many PTs ago now.”
“If she even made it onto Playverse briefly, then she must be an amazing Cryster.”
Darju had no idea how good her mother was; she knew she was the best in the pod, but compared to wider Cryster’s, it had never even been a consideration. “When I see her again, I will ask her.” Darju started to feel a little melancholy from the direction of the conversation.
“Next time you visit Cylion, would it be possible to go for a flight?” Darju asked with trepidation, changing the subject.
“Do you have a universal timecard?” he asked.
“What is one of those?”
“To leave the orbit of any system, you must have an authorised universal travel card; otherwise, it alerts the local authorities of an unknown biological life form being transported. The system was implemented many PT’s ago to prevent kidnappings.”
“Oh. I don’t. How do I get one?”
“You must fill in a standard FG78UTRS form and submit it to the Bureau of Transportation. Usually, it takes a couple of cintep to get one approved. They will normally also do a holoscreening just to confirm your identity.”
Darju’s head was reeling. She had no idea what was needed or what went on outside of her reclusive life in the pod. It seemed daunting. They climbed down from Cylius and stood back in the hangar.
“I can help you fill the forms in later if you like?” Mylico asked.
“That would be great if you do not mind?”
“No, not at all. Anything for a friend of Cylion. Anyway, I need to get to another meeting with some traders before the sun falls.”
Darju had not even realised what the time of day was. She had been so entranced in the ship. “Oh. I had no idea I had been away for yhuse. I better get back to the cantina. Thank you, Mylico, and I will see you later if that is ok.”
“No problem at all,” Mylico replied as Darju began to run back to the cantina.