Dust and Echoes/In the Immediate Distance - Chapter 2 (pt. 1)

Brandon Cailan walked along the dim light of the pier, still foggy from the previous night and just bright enough for the automatic lights to start to blink out one by one. A ship’s engines roared overhead, and a squat, elongated metal tube with jets attached settled down onto one of the docking platforms in front of him. As Cailan boarded the sardine can paid for by his temporary employers he imagined, and not for the first time, what it would be like to be known all across the galaxy. He didn’t salivate over the idea like many people that were half his age did; he quite liked boarding a ship and turning only a few pretty female heads. He only thought about it in the way a man who had given up one path for another would wonder what he would be doing down that other road. The man to Cailan’s right, for example, was trying to see himself finally free in his own house, in his own art studio; but into his beautiful paintings kept slipping the grotesque lifeless figures he could not keep away - on street corners or in houses, or cradling a bowl of vibrant tropical fruit in bright yellows and greens and reds, so many reds, and they all shared from a pool of only a few faces.

Brandon Cailan was the image of the old world’s man, no doubt about it, with his short-cropped hair and dark, rugged beard, but he gave off an air of strength in an open and calm way. His current job was as security guard at one of the larger companies on the fringe colony Ione, primarily in the Customer Service and Complaints department. Even though he was far over-qualified, his tendency to deter conflict made it an easy workload, affording him precious time to casually peruse the internet and occasionally to look for ships leaving Ione for the mysterious Diplomatic Zone. There were rarely any vessels that went so far from the commercial center of Sapien space - The Sapien Republic did not allow unauthorized pilots to fly close to areas not under their jurisdiction. The government rarely released information about the Diplomatic Zone to the public at all, which interested Brandon enough for him to travel planet by planet to get there. He had stolen ships from very rich and bigoted people who wouldn’t miss them, had hitched rides on mile long freighters, and had worked jobs like the one he now had to pay his way across the remaining distances. He was now almost to edge of commercial space and had one more lengthy trip until he reached a planet where he could stow away on a military ship. A military ship was easily the safest way into the Diplomatic Zone; if a person got caught by the military they were shipped back to commercial space, to be placed under permanent house arrest on an inner colony with monthly check-ins - not to mention an unholy storm of Non-Disclosure Agreements. If a person got caught by one of the shipping giants that brought supplies to the DZ, however, there wouldn’t be a body left for the funeral.

There did not seem to be any ships that would suit Brandon’s needs at the moment. He decided to busy himself with the task he had been trying to accomplish for the past couple of days: getting acquainted with the new customer service intern. They always hired customer service reps to be pretty, and to calm the angry customers, but this new one was actually worth talking to. It prompted Cailan to limit his usual first contact tactics and to actually listen to her. She was blonde, almost surprisingly short, and somewhat peppy when on the clock, but she gained a sharp dry wit when there weren’t any customers around. She helped pass the time nicely. Cailan waited for things to slow down, and said,”Heh, I’ve got a complaint for ye.”

Holly, Customer Service and Complaints representative, answered with an almost reflexive sarcasm. “And what exactly do you have to complain about?”

“We security guards are woefully under-equipped.”

Holly laughed. “You have electric batons, Caliennan pepper spray, and impenetrable vests that protect from almost any weapon available to citizens. What else could you need?”

Cailan shrugged. “I think we desperateleh need a coffee machine and some donuts.”

Holly, customer service representative, smiled and replied. “Well I  want our employers to make something that actually works, but sometimes wishes just don’t come true. Anyways, did you hear about Ecosynth visiting Ione this week? Biggest terraforming and transportation company in the republic deigns us with a visit, and they’re hiring. Rumors abound about that, but the most common one is that the company is looking for someone to carry out a secret job dealing with the Diplomatic Zone. My guess is a little extra is going into some of their newest shipments.”

“Hmm,” said Cailan, “ I wonder if that’s what Gunningham was talking about?”

“Who’s Gunningham?” Holly asked.

“Some lass from a company that needed my very particular lack of skills.” Cailan smiled.

“What did you say?” She wasn’t smiling anymore.

“No, obviously. I believe I am having too much fun at the moment living without fear of the law, or at least of a good old-fashioned kneecapping.”

“Good move,” said Holly, “they do loads of good setting up new colonies and supply lines things like that, but they make sure to offset it with drug deals and overall shady business. They keep it a secret, but my sister Alex is in higher management and she tells me some of the stuff they cover up. Did you know that they sold highly dangerous prescription depressants to refugees of a natural disaster ‘to keep them docile’? All under the table of course. There are even rumors that they caused the natural disaster in the first place through intentional faults in the terraforming. Something about making money off of both the disease and the cure.” Holly shook her head, as if condemning the company in one simple motion.

“So,” replied Cailan with a slowly forming grin, “they really wouldn’t like hitchhikers, would they?”

“Don’t even think about it Brandon,” Holly hurriedly replied. “The ‘long arm of the law’ doesn’t really reach out here very well, you know that!”

“Don’t worry about me miss,” Cailan reassured her. “It’d take quite a bit to get me close to Ecosynth in the near future.”