Re: Stories From Jupiter
Here's the next instalment in the story, haven't posted in a while due to work and travelling all about the place.
Dex Fitzroy and Mia Carina
Dex walked through the tunnel that connected the city and his ship. He grimaced, not a clue. Not even a whisper. She was out there somewhere, he knew it, but if he could just get one clue, just one, he could be moving with direction. Island hopping was getting him nowhere. At least the old man had given him something. Equa. But even that was not enough. Equa was a big place. The biggest place ever in human history. That haystack would be his next stop. Dex opened the door to his ship and stepped through. He made his way to the cockpit. He entered and stopped. On the lounge at the front of the control centre sat Mia. Dex’s mouth opened slightly, ready to say something. But no words came, instead he closed his mouth into a smile, small and barely noticeable. Mia did not turn around or say anything. Dex sat at his seat and flew his fingers over the controls. The ship responded, breaking away from the city and powering its engines, pressing on to Equa.
Mia stretched out on the control centre’s lounge. Dex grunted disapprovingly.
“Just so we’re clear,” said Dex. “I don’t want you in the control centre.”
A carefree hand lazily rose above the lounge’s backrest, from Dex’s view it looked like it was reaching up from the floor.. It rocked back and forth, a sleepy wave.
“Fine, fine,” yawned Mia, “but can’t a girl get some shuteye?”
Mia stayed where she was. Dex punched the controls. Mia sat up as she felt the ship obey.
“We’re changing course,” said Mia.
“That would suggest we had a course to begin with,” replied Dex.
“You have an idea of where you’re going then?”
“Equa.”
“…Equa. That’s a big place. Needles and haystacks.”
Equa was the largest manmade structure in human history. Stretching right around Jupiter’s equator, it was a city, the capital, spanning one hundred kilometres north to south. “Jupiter’s Second Ring” some had called it. While gleaming glass giants towered up from it, signalling peace and prosperity, the shadows that were cast by them hid and nurtured the opposite. The crimes and criminals that lived in the dark were not as extreme as those on Ruffin, but they certainly made their presence felt.
“You ever been to Equa?” asked Dex.
“Once or twice,” said Mia. “You?”
“Used to live there,” replied Dex.
“Which district?”
“Kanno.”
Mia nodded, “I’ve heard of it.”
“We were turning it around too…”
“What is it you’re looking for?”
“A woman.”
“I’d gathered that, but I must remind you that this one here won't be bunking with you.”
“Not like that. Looking for someone specific.”
“Any idea where you’re gonna start looking for this mystery woman?”
“Kanno,” said Dex. “That’s the last place I saw her.”
“You haven’t already looked?”
“A million times,” said Dex. “And I’ll look another million times.”
“Some would say you’re obsessed.”
“They’d be right.”
“Can’t you just forget about it?”
“No.”
“Your life, I suppose.”
Dex leaned back in his seat. He closed his eyes.
“You ever been consumed by something?” asked Dex. “Like something grabs a hold of you and just won’t let go?”
Mia stood up and walked up the stairs at the cockpit’s front. She folded her arms as she walked to the seat in the centre of the room. She sat on the armrest and looked at her feet.
“Yeah,” said Mia.
“What did you do about it?” asked Dex.
“Hid it, tried to lose it in a box,” said Mia. “But I couldn’t let it go, because it was…”
“Part of you?”
“…yeah.”
“What is it you can’t let go, Mia?” asked Dex.
“My life,” replied Mia.
“Vague and mysterious,” said Dex.
“And you’re not?”
“We all got cards we want to keep close.”
Dex held his hand up. Mia narrowed her eyes.
“Why don’t you just tell me to shut up?”
“Shh!” Dex kept his index finger raised as the others curled back into his palm. Dex pricked his ears. Mia’s eyes darted around the room. She shot Dex a quizzical look. Dex’s eyes looked to his right, a series of storage compartments caught his attention. His raised finger pointed to the compartments, then down to the control panel. He rammed his finger into the panel. One of the compartments sprang open. Mia gasped. Dex rolled his eyes in frustration.
“People aren’t allowed in the control centre,” said Dex.
Out of the compartment, a young girl, of about seventeen, stepped nervously out.