Shoshone Station: The Galactic Consortium season 2

Episode Two: To Be or Not To Be #5

Dhanvin broke from the crowd as the captain and security wheeled Randy off towards the nearest healers station. "Good evening," he said to Sophia.

"Good evening," Sophia replied with a smile. "How are you?"

"Good," he said.

"These are friends from the surface," she said, gesturing around her and then introducing Tamela, Kerry and Sherry. "I was going to take them to that noodle shop where we met. You could join us if you want."

"I would be delighted," he said. "I want to check out this crew I supposedly demanded."

Sophia pinked and looked away. Dhanvin merely laughed. "No worries," he said. "I'm happy to help these three settle on the station. And Sara will be thrilled to have more of a crew. Really, these diplomatic hold ups are just silly."

Sophia felt hyper as they made their way down the main hall. One moment she was excited and fought the urge to skip or run, wanting to get to the court and relive her first real experience onboard the station. The next moment she wanted to turn around and go back, certain she had oversold the experience and they would be disappointed.

Tamela squeaked at the sight of Treeka, and Sophia knew she hadn't oversold the experience. "I've seen these on the internet, C'thon?"

Dhanvin nodded.

"This is Treeka," Sophia said to the group. "And he makes the best noodles on the station. Isn't that right, Treeka?"

"I do my best," Treeka replied.

There wasn't room at his small stall for all of them. So after a protracted period of introductions, bows and small talk, Treeka and his wife served them each up a bowl of noodles, gave them a large plate of appetizers and they found a table in the observation area.

It had been mid-afternoon when they went down to pick up the others. Now it was late evening. The view from the observation area was incredible. The stars here, above the atmosphere, were bright and clear. Sophia had been so busy getting her life settled on the station that she hadn't taken the time to come here this time of night and she was as amazed as the others.

The next day was an official rest day. Unlike weekends on the surface, or perhaps increasingly like the weekends in bigger cities, rest days were only partially observed. Schools and official public economy jobs were mostly off, but shops would be open and the vast majority of the people seemed to set their own schedule for work and off time. More often than not, Sophia would take whatever temporary assignment she could get in order to earn a little extra money.

Nonetheless, the next day was a rest day and the observation platform had a small crowd. Tapanga's drum party was just visible down the curve of the station and the rhythmic pulse drew many. The crowd was mostly consortium but the number of Americans was growing. Ray was on the edge of the crowd, watching but not dancing. The Shoshone Natives were getting more comfortable and exploring the station at large and the crowd was mixed with them.

A Shoshone couple had a black lab on a leash. A familiar rust colored form went pass. The dog wagged its tail and moved forward to sniff at it. Zeera stood suddenly, grasping her rear end. "Why, why I never!" she sputtered, looking at the dog, who jerked back with an uncertain look. Kerry nearly spilled her bowl in shock.

It was hard to see who was more shocked by the exchange, Zeera or the couple with the dog. Kerry and Tamela both covered their mouth. Sophia shushed them angrily.

The couple muttered an apology and quickly moved on.

"Zeera," Sophia called. Zeera gave a sheepish glance in the direction of the dog and Sophia could tell she was really embarrassed and wondering just how many people had observed her humiliation. Better to pretend we didn't. "How are you this evening?"