ganymede rising
by Jonathan Shepherd
EPISODE 4
The nightclub was called The Hive- and for good reason. It was like
being inside a giant egg, and there were small alcoves and balconies lined
level by level up the walls where small dance floors and bars and private
cells were inlaid almost like the lair of a colony of bees. Small robotic
serving drones emerged from a cylindrical holding pod that attached to the
ceiling like a giant metal stalactite. Multi colored light orbs and laser
emitters floated at different heights, and speaker pods circled in a
regular pattern, floating around in rings from the huge dance floor at the
bottom all the way to the top.
Jenna took a sip of her cocktail and still mustered a smile
even though Edward was
being totally serious. From their privacy pod near the top of the club she
could see through the various kinds of hemp and tobacco smoke all the way
to the dance floor- where she really longed to be. Still, she knew what
they were talking about superceded partying- and the club was open all the
time- she could go dance her memories away when they were done talking.
“Jenna… are you listening to me?” Edward stared at her. “And
would you mind putting your hair on a less distracting setting?”
“Edward, don’t be such a jerk!” Jenna snapped back to the
conversation, and she slipped one of her fingers around to the back of her
neck and whispered a command. Her hair had been set on an oscillating
pattern of different shades of
violet, and she changed it to solid black.
“Better?”
“Much…. I don’t think you realize the importance of what I am
telling you. And
you promised only one drink…”
“I am listening to you Edward. I have just had a rough day
working… and I need to wind down. I think we need to get back to Earth
first chance we get- so we can all get together and figure out what we are
going to do from here. I haven’t seen Tanya in a while anyway- and we just
need to focus. I mean, if this security web you discovered is still
around, surely there is a way we can tap into it. It’s all too
coincidental. I mean, with Senator Sinclair dead there must be a lot of
confusion back home- but that doesn’t mean that everything is going
straight to hell right away. And two cocktails just makes me normal Eddie-
not drunk… and you want me to be normal right?”
“Impossible…” He said. “I don’t think you have a normal bone
in your body. But you are as sharp as a tack as usual. Our instinct is to
panic here and feel like we have lost all… but we all know better. I have
lost touch with most of the others… but I still know how to reach them
all. I guess with the quiet that had fallen over the issue… it was easy
for us to be lax.”
Jenna sat back and took another sip of her vodka. Smooth
going down and warm in the belly…a deep breath and a glance around her
kept her in the moment.
“So what’s the plan?” She said. “Where do we go from here? I
have another week on the project, and I am going to keep my eyes on the
ship arrival list for any heavy freighters… but Tanya can’t see what it is
called? I need some detail to work with here, but I will go with what I
have. Anyway, you’re leaving tomorrow right?”
“Yes. I hate it. I want to know more, and it is so much easer
to find things out here on Ganymede than back home. But there is plenty
going on there for me to look into. I just don’t know who to trust
anymore. I try to keep my professional autonomy, but it just doesn’t
always fly that way. I want to be loyal to the Consulate… but then I fear
that this whole thing is rotting from the inside.”
“Don’t worry Eddie- let’s just try to get our minds off it
for now. I know what I need to look for and you know what you need to do-
so let’s promise to keep in touch even if it is expensive… and we will
piece everything together as quickly as we can. Kay?”
Edward smiled at her. Tanya may be the counselor, but Jenna
was always able to put a smile on his face.
“What did you have in mind Jen? I gotta get some sleep you
know…”
“Nonsense. Come down to the Pit with me for one more drink,
and then if you wanna go… go.” Tanya reached back and made her hair a
glowing yellow and stood up.
“Oh, alright. You are really a bitch you know that?”
“But of course… only the best for you baby.”
With that the pair stepped out of the alcove and into one of
the small lifts that ran up the walls of the club. Here they were
subjected to the pounding bass and electronic whining of the music-
designed to keep all the club goers in a euphoric state- drug-induced or
otherwise. The lift gracefully dropped them to the lower level where they
stepped out into a sea of people and walked over to the nearest bar,
totally missing the second lift that dropped behind them, and missing the
two men who stepped out of it and followed them…
