heartbeat. I didn't understand half of what the box said, but Heart seemed very excited, and as he shifted through various features like news channels, low light, and UV, I started to understand why.
The other items he had me pick up were the best comm unit the store had and a compact signal repeater. The dampers interfaced with those, but the real power would actually be in the microcomputer housed in the comm unit.
After feeding my stomach and his excitement on our new toys, we headed deeper into the city itself. Our destination was on the opposite side, in what was essentially the low rent district. The city was set up in rings sitting on top of each other. The upper city handled all of the tourists and people who could afford to live on Ganymede permanently, and the lower city laid underneath was very similar to Luna's setup. The vicinity of the ports and the casinos created their own economies regarding property values, developing a fun-house mirror effect. Swapping from above to below the values shifted dramatically because labor for each area was reversed.
The Spacelanes Lodge was my goal was mid-sized inn setup with full room and refreshers. Although Heart was a big ship and fully equipped most of the ships we saw were sparse and only designed for moon-to-moon jumps. From what we could gather, the place was a bit of a local hangout, but not an exclusive bar. I didn't need to be a Mariner or a Legionnaire to go in. I'm sure the bar had its regulars, but I shouldn't draw too much attention being an unknown either.
When I arrived, my first impression boiled down to thinking the place was a dive. A completely unfair assessment. Anything in Sol looked like a dive compared to White Caps, after I had recently spent several lunar months in her. Spacelanes wasn't even a fraction the size of White Caps. Probably fit in the public section, even. The more I thought about it, the more I realized the place is probably what White Caps looked like long ago. The main entrance opened into a diner, but I could see a breakfast counter with the kitchen behind off to one side and a full bar on the other.
I slid to the kitchen side and grabbed a stool. “Be right with you, Hon.” a server shouted as she hurried past. The place wasn't overly busy, but enough to keep the couple of servers hopping. I guessed around thirty folks total, and not all human. The presence of non-terrestrials was actually fairly surprising. Most of the other species require slightly higher O2 levels, so Terraformed places weren't exactly comfortable for them. Much like being on Terra wasn't exactly pleasant for Looneys. As I scanned the area, Heart did the same, but he was creating a map and giving me hard data about everything in the club. I have to admit, the feed was slick, and I not only wondered where he was all my life but how I was ever going to live without him in the future.
Nikki, according to the nametag slid up “What it'll be, Hon?” I told her coffee for the moment but asked her about Corrupt Cousin Teddy from the port. “You must be new, darling. Stay away from him.” She dropped her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “You're better off hitting the job boards. That’s the kind of guy who will end up getting you in the wrong crowd.” I confided I was indeed new, and asked her if there was anyone a little more trustworthy. She told me she'd think about it and grabbed my drink.
Heart chimed in “She seems nice. Do you think she can help us?” I nodded and hoped he could pick up the motion. We would need to figure out a way to talk in public. His ability to talk to me was great, but I lacked the same ability. Long ago I had heard an adage, if you see an issue, imagine yourself a month in the future dealing with it as a problem instead.
This had happened to me long ago when I was still a trooper. I had spotted a bad connector on a hopper. No big deal. We marked it and put it on order. The thing is after walking by it three times, it
The other items he had me pick up were the best comm unit the store had and a compact signal repeater. The dampers interfaced with those, but the real power would actually be in the microcomputer housed in the comm unit.
After feeding my stomach and his excitement on our new toys, we headed deeper into the city itself. Our destination was on the opposite side, in what was essentially the low rent district. The city was set up in rings sitting on top of each other. The upper city handled all of the tourists and people who could afford to live on Ganymede permanently, and the lower city laid underneath was very similar to Luna's setup. The vicinity of the ports and the casinos created their own economies regarding property values, developing a fun-house mirror effect. Swapping from above to below the values shifted dramatically because labor for each area was reversed.
The Spacelanes Lodge was my goal was mid-sized inn setup with full room and refreshers. Although Heart was a big ship and fully equipped most of the ships we saw were sparse and only designed for moon-to-moon jumps. From what we could gather, the place was a bit of a local hangout, but not an exclusive bar. I didn't need to be a Mariner or a Legionnaire to go in. I'm sure the bar had its regulars, but I shouldn't draw too much attention being an unknown either.
When I arrived, my first impression boiled down to thinking the place was a dive. A completely unfair assessment. Anything in Sol looked like a dive compared to White Caps, after I had recently spent several lunar months in her. Spacelanes wasn't even a fraction the size of White Caps. Probably fit in the public section, even. The more I thought about it, the more I realized the place is probably what White Caps looked like long ago. The main entrance opened into a diner, but I could see a breakfast counter with the kitchen behind off to one side and a full bar on the other.
I slid to the kitchen side and grabbed a stool. “Be right with you, Hon.” a server shouted as she hurried past. The place wasn't overly busy, but enough to keep the couple of servers hopping. I guessed around thirty folks total, and not all human. The presence of non-terrestrials was actually fairly surprising. Most of the other species require slightly higher O2 levels, so Terraformed places weren't exactly comfortable for them. Much like being on Terra wasn't exactly pleasant for Looneys. As I scanned the area, Heart did the same, but he was creating a map and giving me hard data about everything in the club. I have to admit, the feed was slick, and I not only wondered where he was all my life but how I was ever going to live without him in the future.
Nikki, according to the nametag slid up “What it'll be, Hon?” I told her coffee for the moment but asked her about Corrupt Cousin Teddy from the port. “You must be new, darling. Stay away from him.” She dropped her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “You're better off hitting the job boards. That’s the kind of guy who will end up getting you in the wrong crowd.” I confided I was indeed new, and asked her if there was anyone a little more trustworthy. She told me she'd think about it and grabbed my drink.
Heart chimed in “She seems nice. Do you think she can help us?” I nodded and hoped he could pick up the motion. We would need to figure out a way to talk in public. His ability to talk to me was great, but I lacked the same ability. Long ago I had heard an adage, if you see an issue, imagine yourself a month in the future dealing with it as a problem instead.
This had happened to me long ago when I was still a trooper. I had spotted a bad connector on a hopper. No big deal. We marked it and put it on order. The thing is after walking by it three times, it
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