“Attention, Edenelt Traffic Control.  This is Bear, Captain of the Fortune’s Favor, requesting permission to land.  Our Transponder is 187FM-L.”  Bear spoke over the comms.

 

                “Fortune’s Favor, this is Edenlt Traffic Control – you are cleared for landing pad H22.  I repeat H22.”

 

                “H22, Copy.  Thanks.  Fortune’s Favor, out.”  Bear guided the ship through the starport until he was above landing pad H22 and lowered the ship to the ground.  Most of the starport’s landing areas were made of fused ceramacrete, and extremely sturdy.  The ship touched down gently, and with some relief, Bear powered down the engines and locked the ship down.

 

                “Attention crew.”  Bear called over the intercom.  “We are docked at Edenelt.  Crew meeting in common room in five.”

 

 

*              *              *

 

 

                “Finally!”  Sarah exclaimed, as she grabbed her ID and a few more of Hortencia’s hair ties.  Her brown hair was tied back in a loose pony tail, keeping it out of her face, and she could barely contain herself as she rushed to the common room to wait for the others. 

 

                Hortencia was second to arrive, and she was grinning.  “Hey, Sarah!  Looking forward to our visit?”

 

                “You bet!”  Sarah replied.  “I’m going to need to do some research though first.  I don’t want to pick a doctor that’s a hack – I want someone with good outcomes.”

 

                “I got you covered, gal.”  Hortencia replied.  “On the way in I researched the top three biosculpt clinics on Edenelt.  Two of them are in Landing – that’s the city outside the Starport – and both are pretty good from the reviews I saw.  I think either one will give you good results.”

 

                “Thanks Hortencia.”  Sarah exclaimed.  “That was super nice.”

 

                “Hey, we girls and soon to be girls need to stick together.”  Hortencia smiled. 

 

                Drago came in next, with Herc, and Bear followed moments later.  Drago was fairly alert and chipper – but Bear looked a little tired – after flying the ship into the inner system for four hours, he looked fatigued.

 

                “Hey.”  Bear said, grabbing a drink from the fridge.  He cracked the tab, and took a long swig.  “I think we need to discuss what is happening next, at least a little.”  Everyone nodded in response.

 

                “We have cargo to sell – and cargo to buy if we make a profit.  We are here for Sarah to get some biosculpt done too.  All this will take about a week or so.  Sarah, do you have any problems doing cargo first?”

 

                Sarah thought.  “I can sell the cargo, if you want – but I am itching to get the Biosculpt done.  I can’t buy new cargo until I know where we’re going next, and how much we’ll have in the cargo fund to buy cargo.”

 

                Bear thought about it a few moments, and nodded.  “Then let’s sell cargo, and see how much we have to spend – and while you are getting biosculpt, the rest of us will decide where we are going next.”

 

                “I’d like some input on where we go next.”  Sarah remarked.  “If possible.”

 

                “It should be fine.  I think, for one, we should maybe move away from Traltha for a while.”  Bear remarked.

 

                “What about Burston, Bear?”  Drago asked.  “You haven’t been back in years, and I’m sure your Grandmother would love to see you.”

 

                Bear looked at Drago and scowled.  “You know why I haven’t been back.”

 

                “Yeah, I know big guy.”  Drago responded.  “But what about your Grandma Lisette?  She raised you – and I bet she misses you like crazy.  You should see her – and it would give me a chance to visit my parents too – maybe introduce them to Hortencia.”

 

                “What!?”  Hortencia cried out.  “You didn’t tell me you grew up on Burston!”

 

                “It wasn’t a big deal.”  Drago replied.  “I grew up with Bear.”

 

                Sarah nodded.  “So if you grew up with Bear, how come he has an accent, and you don’t?”

 

                “Because Bear’s family speak Slav, and Galactic Standard is his second language, while my family spoke Galactic Standard and its my first language.  I speak a bit of Slav, but I haven’t used it at all since leaving Burston.”  Drago replied.  “Are you okay with visiting my parents, Hortencia?”

 

                “Yes!  I mean, yeah sure – but I’d like you to visit mine soon too, if we’re introducing each other to our parents.”  Hortencia replied. 

 

                “I think that’s fair.”  Drago said.  “Sure.”

 

                Sarah smiled, knowing Drago had no idea of what he was truly in for, assuming the Addams Family that Hortencia belonged to was anything like the Addams Family of the old Terran movies.   “You lived on Caledonia, right Hortencia?  How far away is that from here?”

 

                “Not far, actually.”  She replied.  “It’s about three weeklong jumps from here, I think. Maybe four.”

 

                “I suppose if I visit my grandmother, we can visit your parents,” Bear replied, although he did look markedly unsure of the entire proposition. 

 

                “Bear,”  Drago said.  “If it’s too hard on you, we can do it another time.”

 

                “No, Drago.  You are right.  It is past time I went home – to say goodbye to Sorcha, if nothing else.  If I keep carrying this with me, I will not do well.  I also miss my babushka.  I have been gone too long.”  Bear looked like making this decision was pretty hard for him to do.  “It is past time.”

 

                “It’ll be okay, Bear.”  Sarah offered.  “If you want, I’ll go with you, while Drago’s introducing Hortencia to his folks.  That way you won’t have to do it alone.”

 

                Bear smiled, and nodded.  “Thank you, Sarah.  I think I would like that.”

 

                “Well, if that’s all decided,”  Sarah said, standing up.  “I’d better get to work on selling that cargo…  Oh and Bear, I’ll need my share of the money from before so I can actually pay for my biosculpt, and maybe get some clothes and gear afterwards.”

 

                “Da.  I will go to ships locker, and get everyone’s pay.  If we are being here for a week, we all might want to do some shopping.”  Bear stood, and waved to the others.  “I will have the money in about 15 minutes.  Come with me if you are in a rush.”

 

 

*              *              *

 

                Sarah returned to her cabin to call up the planetary datanet.  Edenelt had a class A starport – which basically meant it had everything a spacer might need.  Its cargoes and shipments were dialled into the planetary datanet, so finding a buyer and seller for various cargoes took only a few hours instead of a few days.  It also had shipyards, drydocks, repair slips and a number of other amenities that made it extremely popular with spacefarers.  One such amenity was the presence of a Traveller’s Aid Hostel – which Bear had informed her had excellent food for a reasonable price.

 

                Most of that didn’t really concern Sarah at the moment, though – so she plugged into the cargo sales, and looked for someone who might be interested in exotic Tralthan spices, or barrels of liquid fuel.   Going through the dozens of cargo adds was time consuming – but after almost two hours, Sarah had three potential buyers for the two cargoes the Fortune’s Favor carried.  She called them up, and set up appointments to deal.

 

                I guess this is do or die, she thought.  I hope I manage all right.  It wouldn’t be very auspicious for my first trade if I give away the homeworld, would it?  She grinned to herself.  I can do this.  People don’t change – just their toys.  She got busy comparing the costs other cargoes like hers had sold for in the past, so she could better gauge the value of her cargo.  No point in letting yourself get ripped off, she thought. 

 

                The time passed quickly as she did her research, and soon, she headed to the cargo bay to await the first potential buyer – a woman named Joyce Cardawell.  She was a broker, working for one of the megacorporations on Edenelt, and Sarah hoped she could get a fairly good deal with her. 

 

                Joyce, when she arrived, was short and thin – 152cm at most, and weighed maybe 50kg at most.  She had short blonde hair with silver beads woven into it, and wore glasses.  To Sarah, they looked like they were for fashion, and not necessity.  She was dressed conservatively and professionally, and carried a briefcase with her as well as a fancy wrist computer.

 

                “Hello?  I’m Joyce Cardawell.  I’m looking for Sarah Kerrigan?”  She said, looking past Sarah, obviously looking for a woman.

 

                “Hello Miss Cardawell.  I’m Sarah – or I will be in a few days.  I came to Edenelt to get some Biosculpt done.  Can we still do business?”

 

                Joyce looked a little surprised, but shook it off quickly.  “Of course.  I understand you have some liquid fuel to part with?”

 

                “Indeed we do, shipped in from Traltha.  If you’re interested, lets start talking.”  Sarah began.

 

                “Indeed.”  Joyce replied. 

 

                The two got down to dickering over prices, and Sarah did her best, but Joyce seemed to know exactly how much they were worth, and what she needed to resell them for.  Sarah got a decent bargain – but much less than she had hoped.  She sold each ton of the liquid fuels for 11,000 credits each – which was a small profit.  She and Joyce shook hands, and a half dozen robotic stevedores entered the ship to offload the cargo.

 

                I guess 60,000 credits profit is pretty good for my first trade.  Not bad, Sarah!  She smiled to herself, hoping the next trade went just as easily. 

 

                About thirty minutes later, she met with Walter Jinsekki – a proctor for a large luxury liner who wanted the Tralthan spices for one of their cruise lines.  They bargained for some time – and she managed to sell the last four tons for 8250 credits each – which was a 30% increase over what she paid for them!  Sarah was rather pleased by the time the cargo was all offloaded and shipped out.  She had made a total of 67,000 credits in profit, which made her feel fantastic!

 

                Now all I have to do is do it again, and again, and again.  She thought.  No pressure.  She sighed, and closed up the cargo bay, and went to tell Bear how the trades had gone.  “I’d better make an appointment for the biosculpt too, or I could be waiting for quite a while.”  She muttered to herself.  “I’ll get that done first.  Bear can wait a few minutes.”

 

 

*              *              *

 

 

                The call to the clinic went well – Sarah was able to book an appointment for the next day, which was pretty damn good, considering back on old Terra she’d probably have to wait weeks or longer for plastic surgery.  I guess the old rule “money talks” is still true, she thought.  The whole procedure would cost about 8,500 credits – but she was able to get rush service for 10,000 credits total – which was a nod to spacers, who usually didn’t have time to take more than a few days on planet. 

 

                Sarah was pretty pleased with herself, and headed out of her cabin to look for Bear; he was in the common room, playing a zombie game.  “Bear?”

 

                “Da?”  Bear replied, pausing the game – the game in the common room was not a sim design – it was more for several people to pick up and play, and was strictly a holovid system. 

 

                “I just wanted to say I finished the cargo trades, and we ended up about 67,000 credits in the black, which is pretty damn good for a first try.”  Sarah said, not trying to brag.

 

                “Da, that is good.  Good job!  Any word on the biosculpt?”

 

                “Yeah.  I have an appointment tomorrow at the Breckenridge Clinic for noon, and I’m expected to be there for about three to four days.  I’ll be sedated for a lot of it, and I’ll need a while to come out of the sedation when the process is finished.  I was wondering if you could give me a lift to the clinic, and maybe pick me up when I’m done?”

 

                Bear smiled.  “I would be honoured, Sarah.  Drago and Hortencia might come with us as well – they will want to wish you the best.”

 

                “That’s awesome.  To be honest, I’m a little scared.”  Sarah confessed.

 

                “You would be silly not to be.  People will react to you differently.  You saw some of that already in Sims, if just from me.”  Bear looked a bit uncomfortable.  “I am sorry I made you feel self conscious.”

 

                Sarah put her hand on Bear’s shoulder.  “It’s alright, Bear.  I know it’s not easy for you either.”

 

                Bear just nodded.  “Are you waiting to buy cargo till after, then?”

 

                “Yeah.”  Sarah replied.  “I’m going to wait.”

 

                “Okay.”  Bear looked like he didn’t know what to say.  “Would you like to join in Zombie hunt?”  He asked, offering her a controller for the game system.

 

                Sarah chuckled.  “Sure – after all, nobody cares what happens to Zombies, right?”

 

                Bear smiled again.  “Da!”

 

                She sat down on the couch next to Bear, and for the next hour or two, killed, burned, stapled, electrocuted, chainsawed and mowed down zombies in what she believed was the most realistic, gory video game she’d ever seen.  It was exhilarating, but it was also exceptionally violent and action packed.   It was fun, but not for the weak of heart, and Sarah was surprised to see just how good Bear was at the game…  When he played, it was almost like he had a sixth sense, and his score reflected it.  Sarah comported herself well, but was obviously not in Bear’s league.

 

                At the end of the game, their characters made it to a ‘safe house’, and Bear saved their progress.  “It is just us for dinner tonight.  Drago and Hortencia went out on a date.”

 

                “Good for them!” Sarah remarked.  “I hope they have a great time.”

 

                “Da.”  Bear agreed.  “Do you have plans for this evening?”

 

                “No, not really.  Is there something you’d like to do?”  Sarah looked curious.

 

                “I figured we could either watch movie, or play a sim.  Whichever you prefer.”

 

                Sarah thought about it for a few minutes, and realizes she didn’t want to watch a movie – she wanted to spend more time as the female her.  “Did you want to do a sim?”

 

                “Sure.  Did you have something in mind?”  Bear asked.

 

                “How about we go back to the Wraith and see what the game has to offer now that I know some basic sword moves.  It might be fun.”

 

                Bear grinned wide, so much that Sarh thought his face might split.  “Da.  That sounds good.  I will meet you there.”

 

                “I do have one question, Bear – if I might ask.”

 

                “What, Sarah?”

 

                “Why do you make your avatar so handsome?  You’re not ugly.  Are you self conscious?”

 

                Bear thought about his answer a bit before speaking.  “I know I am not ugly – but I am not good with speaking to people.  Looking handsome is a way for me to see what it would be like to be good at speaking to people.  I am average – I know this, and I don’t mind, but I wish I was good with people, like you Sarah.  You have way with people that makes them sit up and listen.  With handsome face, people in sims sit up and listen.  I guess its way I have to even the playing field.”

               

                “Thanks for sharing, Bear.  I honestly don’t think you need it, but I think I understand.  I’ll meet you on the wraith in 15 minutes.”

 

                “Da.  See you soon.”  Bear got up, and turned off the console, and headed into his room.

 

                Sarah thought of the last time she was in a Sim with Bear – how they ended up locked in each others gaze.  I hope I know what I’m doing, she thought.  She headed to her room to suit up in the VR gear.