Total pages in book: 61
Estimated words: 55551 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 278(@200wpm)___ 222(@250wpm)___ 185(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 55551 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 278(@200wpm)___ 222(@250wpm)___ 185(@300wpm)
“Excuse me, driver. How far away is the port?”
The driver doesn’t respond to me. I notice he has something in his ears. Maybe he can’t hear me.
Oh well. Doesn’t matter really. I sit back, close my eyes, and let events unfold as they have been set in motion. The closer the port, the more likely I’ll get off this planet before Thorn notices. If it is further away, it will probably be the first thing he locks down. I’m taking a lot of chances here, but I take a lot of chances everywhere, I suppose.
The vehicle slows to another halt, and I get out of it. I am very underdressed. It would be a good idea to get some clothing that will make me look a little less like I escaped from a hospital.
The port is bustling though. There are aliens of all kinds around here, the majority of them not actually saurian. I move through with the crowds as they sort of filter up and into the busy building, which appears to sit at the edge of the city. That makes sense. Most cities don’t put the port at the center.
I move through the port until the way to the docks themselves is barred by security personnel who predictably ask for my papers. Of course I don’t have any. I am barely clothed, for gods’ sakes. What I do have, however, is my ability to readily spin a tale.
“You’re not going to believe this, but I’ve managed to lose my passport with the rest of my baggage, which contains my clothes and shoes. I was transiting through the Gemini system and I think they probably ate it, stole it, or sold it. Anyway, if I don’t get to my sister-in-law’s wedding in the next solar cycle, I am never going to hear the end of it. She’s been planning it to coincide with the astral flares of three separate suns for the last two decades, and the conjunction doesn’t last all that long. I had the rings in my suitcase, and losing them is going to be enough of a blow…”
The agent, losing interest in my story, waves me through. Obviously, I am not from this planet. I am not a saurian. I do, however, look like exactly the kind of human whose sister-in-law has an overly complex dream wedding the entire family will be forced to travel to the ends of creation to accommodate.
“Thank you,” I say. “May you never have to attend a destination wedding.”
That’s the sort of wish that turns a stranger into a friend, which means I get a bored smirk from the agent who will forget they ever saw me within the next few minutes, because I have told them the kind of story that makes one aggressively forgettable.
I am now past external security and have access to the docks themselves. Once again, I blend in with the crowd and let it sweep me along through the vast facility. Finally, we end up on the docks proper, the place where ships of all kinds are loading stock and trade and passengers. This represents my last barrier to escape. All I need to do is get aboard one of these ships and let its great engines transfer me off the planet.
The fun thing about complex systems requiring a great deal of security is that once you break them down piece by piece, they become much less complex and much less secure. I know whoever is running this place would insist that it is impenetrable. Hell, Thorn probably thinks his place is escape-proof. He’ll know better soon enough.
I look at the various ships, trying to decide which of them is the best target. I want something with a lot of passengers. I want to blend in with others, and I want the opportunity to help myself to a few of their supplies, communally speaking.
The attitude I have now is a workmanlike one. I’ll do what I need to do, and I’ll freak out later as time permits. This is not a time to lose my nerve. I am very, very close to one of my most daring escapes yet, and I will not allow the fact that the implant in my head no longer shields me from thoughts of the consequences of my actions to stop me.
So why aren’t my feet moving?
I can see the perfect ship up ahead. It even has other human passengers. I can see them on the decks. I don’t think they ever got off the ship. They won’t have clearance to set foot on this world. And they’re probably too smart to push their luck and do any sightseeing. Interstellar cruises can take an entire lifetime, and the people who go on them become such seasoned travelers they no longer become space-sick, or risk things like unauthorized departures on primal alien planets. The people up on those decks will almost all have contented themselves with footage taken by drones for their viewing pleasure.