Shoshone Station: The Galactic Consortium season 2

Episode Five: Adam #2

Sophia walked the lanes of the Bottom Court, looking over the merchandise. She spied Lucinda towards the end of the lane and made towards her. Lucinda had recovered, though there were large stretches of time she couldn't remember and she often joked that she had no idea how she had gotten so old. But she was herself again.

Her and Charles and decided to stay on the station. Charles loved driving the tram for the medical wing. He loved taking the kids to the park and playing the part of a surrogate grandfather. He loved talking to the young parents, or really anyone who would listen to him.

He'd cashed in the majority of his investments, the exchange rate not withstanding. He'd bought a small stall for Lucinda to sell jewelry, scarves and other small fashion accessories. It was a blend of stuff from the surface, stuff from the Consortium and a growing line of her own jewelry that she commissioned from artisans in the Shoshone collective. She had a good eye for fashion and it seemed like the couple would be as successful on the station as they'd been on the surface. They both had the same unconscious arrogance that many rich people had, but they were both friendly and Sophia found it hard to dislike either of them.

"Sophia," Lucinda called out in greeting. She'd adopted Sophia as her new "station daughter" and Sophia found she returned the favor with real warmth. "Come, I've a new shipment and this is perfect for you."

She had a small amulet with medium sized crystal in it. On the surface, or so Sophia thought, they valued gemstones for their perfection. The Consortium had access to perfect gemstones and technology to create them at need. What they valued above everything was the random imperfections that made the gemstones unique.

"A gas diamond, but look within," Lucinda prompted. There were areas on most gas giants where the pressures were so great that it literally rained diamonds. The Consortium worked with creatures natural to such environments, giant whale-like creatures that swam through the gases. The creatures would bring up diamonds to stations higher in the gas giant and Consortium engineers would reward them with blasts of chemicals that served as nutrients for them.

They took the small perfect diamonds for various industrial uses and thought little of them. But they poured through the imperfections to find unique items for faceting. This one seemed to have a small gold cross that shifted and moved depending on which facet Sophia looked through.

"It reminds me of that bracelet you wear," Lucinda said. "And it would look good on you."

Sophia hadn't thought of her sister Shaelynn in weeks, despite still wearing the crucifix her sister had given her. She looked toward the windows of the court, tears in her eyes. Would she ever reconcile with any of her family? Probably not. It made her sad.

"It's gorgeous," Sophia said, hiding her emotions.

She felt a familiar presence at her side and looked over to see Bankim. She smiled. She noticed he tended to find her in crowds and she found she liked that. Wanting a distraction from her mood she found a bright blue scarf off the table and draped it around his neck. "That looks great on you," she joked.

He posed. "Does it?" he laughed.

"If you are done teasing the boy," Lucinda interjected after a few minutes. "I've a new piece from the collective that would look great on him."

"He's fun to tease," Sophia said, a twinkle in her eye. Out of the corner of her eye she watched Bankim's reaction. He blushed but seemed pleased.

Lucinda had a band that went across his upper arm. It was made from stretchy material that managed to look like leather. It was embossed with traditional Shoshone patterns and had a couple of small metal feathers hanging off, painted in bright colors. It did look great on him.