20061127

3.6

Saeera jumped up out of bed, and cried out into the dark. Her PDC beeped at her waist. She switched it off, and tried to catch her breath. It took her a moment to remember where she was. It felt strange, sleeping in a real bed, and the foreign feeling confused her at first.

She turned and sat at the edge of the bed. She could no longer hear the sounds of the Quetel working on her ship. She stood up, grabbed her bag, and walked out into the hall. The rest of the house was dark, but she found her way to the kitchen. Rix sat asleep on the sofa across the room. His head had fallen forward and the book he had been reading now lay on the floor by his feet. She stood looking at him for a minute, and then walked to the kitchen table. She pulled a wad of money out of one of her jacket pockets, and quickly counted it. It was the small remainder of the money she’d made on her last job, and what would take Rix two weeks to earn. She put the bills on the table, and on top, and empty glass to hold them down.

“Thanks for everything, Rix,” She said to herself. “I’ll see you soon.”

She opened the kitchen’s screen door, and walked out into a cold, windy night. It was dark, but from what she could see, her ship looked perfect. She opened the side hatch, and climbed aboard her small craft. The door hissed as it sealed behind her, and she took a seat at the control panel. The new parts looked weathered and questionable, but when she hooked her PDC in, the panel came to life.

Saeera set her course, and the engine started to whir. The jets fired, and a moment later, she saw a light turn on inside Rix’s house. Within a few seconds, she was up in the air, and on her way.

The screen door creaked as it closed behind Rix. He stood, holding the wad of bills she’d left. Dammit, Saeera, he thought, thumbing the bills with one hand. He looked down at the money. What the hell did you have to go and do that for?

He looked back up into the sky. He put the wad of bills into his shirt pocket.

“Thanks.” he said out loud. “And good luck…wherever you’re going.

He stood, looking up and following the lights of her ship, until he lost them, and she was gone, disappearing into the night sky.

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