Inis Truesight and Gordon Tool

David stifled a yawn as the next shuttle arrived, swiftly docking with the arrivals centre of the space port. More visitors and tourists, loaded with credits for Luna’s shops and attractions. The shuttle disgorged at least a dozen people, to stumble across the hall in the low gravity. David smiled at the first one to reach him, a rich looking old man, probably on some relaxation tour. “Hello sir, welcome to Luna, may I enquire how long you are staying?” David passed the man a set of cards, allowing him access through the resort complex. The man grunted, looking pale “A week, then onto Centauri” David nodded as the man walked away, and turned to face the queue of people that had formed.
At the back of the line, David noticed, were a rather odd pair, a tall man, wearing a business suit and holding a briefcase, stood next to an even taller woman, with bright cyan hair, and skin even paler than the ill pensioner. David returned his attention to the line and it quickly began to disperse, people staggering towards lifts and staircases to leave the lobby.
Eventually the queue was depleted, and the two people that David had noticed reached the front, so he could get a better look. The man had the look of a rather rich business man, albeit one who visited the gym a lot, he was significantly broader at the shoulders than David was, and David didn’t doubt for a second that the man could have snapped him like a twig, his jumpsuit was a plain black, with an empty shoulder holster and a Nanotrasen emblem on the left fore arm. The woman, on the other hand, was quite slender, and she moved easily in the low gravity, far more graceful than the rest of the shuttle’s passengers, even her friend was having a small amount of difficulty. She also wore a black jumpsuit, though this had the rank stripes of a Warden on the right shoulder, as well as the Nanotrasen emblem on the left. Her face was very fine, and though she wore sunglasses, David had the feeling that she would just as easily take him apart as her friend would.
“Hello, Sir, Ma’am, may I enquire how long you are staying?” The woman smiled and leant forward, taking off her glasses, David was quite surprised to see that her eyes were a vivid purple, and then he noticed thin greyish-blue lines snaking over her skin, she was quite obviously unusual, even for a place like Luna, “We are on holiday, for one week,” The man said, smiling. David nodded and passed the two of them their cards. Before they left, the woman turned to look at him, “Can we see Old Earth from this resort?” The man chuckled as David said, “Yes, Ma’am, we are on the earth-side of Luna, it is always visible.” The man laughed, and the woman stood for a moment, and then nodded, blushing slightly, and said. “Of course, thank you”
The pair of them turned and left, leaving David to await the next shuttle.
Inis was still slightly red as they climbed the staircase, “Gods… that was embarrassing,” She squinted at the ceiling lights and put her sunglasses back on. Gordon smiled, “I am sure it happens a lot, it won’t just be you that doesn’t know that Luna is tidally locked.” Inis looked at him and smiled, then looked down at the card in her hand, “Room 2576… You?” Gordon glanced down at his card, “2577, next door,” Gordon smiled, “Just another twenty flights to go…” Inis laughed and pushed off hard from the ground, arcing gracefully through the air in the low gravity to land several metres above Gordon. She pulled a face at him, “Not that hard” Gordon chuckled, and pushed off himself, landing half a metre from Inis. By the time he landed, she was already running up the stairs, taking them three at a time, Gordon ran after her, his briefcase swinging as he hurried to catch up.
They reached their floor, breathing hard; they stood for a moment before walking down the corridor, comparing the door numbers to their cards. “2570….2571….72….73….” Gordon muttered, glancing at each door in turn. “Ah! Two thousand, five hundred and seventy six, your room, Milady,” Gordon gave a mock bow, and then grinned as Inis made a rude gesture. Inis moved forwards and opened the door, revealing an expansive, well-decorated room. “This is amazing!” She stood still for a moment, and then looked at Gordon, “How much did this cost? Especially for two rooms…” Gordon gave a shrug, “ A couple of thousand for the two weeks, a lot for you, but not so much for me,” Gordon smiled as they walked into the room. Inis glanced around and rubbed her cheek, “Fine… But I am paying for the food at least, and I won’t take no for an answer, you can’t pay for everything,” Gordon hesitated, and opened his mouth to speak, but Inis turned on him, eyes flashing, “It wouldn’t be fair for you to pay for everything, I will pay for what I can, and that includes food, for both of us,” Gordon nodded and a small grin crept onto his face, not trusting himself to say anything.
The room was truly spectacular, with an en-suite kitchen and bathroom, an immense window looking out into space, which could instead be used as a super-massive telecaster for the installed entertainment system. Gordon’s room was just as impressive, with a huge aquarium filled with modified Old-Earth fish.
Considering the time they had spent on the shuttle, they decided the next thing to do was to get some food, so they headed back down the staircase, and went to one of the multitude of planet-style restaurants in the resort. Upon seeing it, Gordon insisted that they visit the restaurant based on Stormswrath.
Many of the patrons of the restaurant turned to look at Inis as she entered, her height and her pointed ears marking her as coming from Stormswrath, and even in this restaurant, Stormswrathians were few and far between. Inis and Gordon sat down at a corner table, mostly shielded from view, and a New Magnitkan came to serve them.
“Hello their, Sir, Ma’am” The waiter looked at Inis for a moment, recognising her ethnic, “May I take your order?” Inis looked at the menu for a moment, before looking back up, “Can I have a Garin steak please? Medium rare, with chips and peas.” The waiter nodded, and wrote it down, “Make that two, please, with…” He looked at Inis, “Two space Colas?” Inis nodded, Gordon smiled and looked back at the waiter, “Two space colas.” The waiter nodded again, and left.
Gordon looked at Inis, “What exactly is a Garin? I don’t recognise half the names on this menu…” Inis smiled, showing her teeth, “A Garin is sort of like a cow, but a bit larger, they are sometimes used as pack-animals, but they are more useful for meat, which is delicious.” Gordon nodded, and then looked up as the drinks arrived, “Ah! Thank you,” He took a long gulp of his drink, before leaning back in his chair, opposite Inis. “I still don’t know that much about Stormswrath, mind filling me in a bit while we wait?” Inis nodded, then chewed her lip while she thought, “hmmm….. Well… I told you that there are three continents, correct?” Gordon nodded, “And that I have only ever been on Kasturfal?” Gordon nodded again, “Hmm… Well, Cevalon is the capital… And it is massive, really massive, it has nearly three hundred million people living in it, less than Lowell City, but it has the research centres… which take up a massive amount of space. I lived in the eastern coastal district, about two miles from the beach,” Inis grins, “Lots of fun… Outside Cevalon, it is mostly villages and small towns… though there are two other cities on the continent, Lartanaar, on the far western coast, and Lor’Tizar, which is in the mountains to the north, called the Silithines.” Inis paused for a breath, allowing Gordon to interject, “You grew up in Cevalon? What was it like there?” Inis shrugged, then pushed her hair back behind her ears, “It depended on where you were, the eastern coastal district was alright… but some of the others, particularly the more southern ones, were quite violent, there was always SDF troops having to go deal with one bit of trouble or another. People like me couldn’t go into the southern plains district at all, not without protection at the least. The Followers practically own that area, though we can’t do anything- Oh! Thank you!” The waiter had arrived with their food, Garin steak was a deep red colour, finely marbled.
Inis was right about the Garin, it was delicious, Gordon decided it tasted a bit like venison, which Inis had never eaten, but they both agreed it was one of the best things they had eaten in a while. After they had finished, the waiter arrived with the bill, which Gordon attempted to take, but Inis was quicker, snatching it out of his hand and running her card along the scanner the waiter had brought. Gordon pulled a face at her, as he finished off his drink. After he had finished, they collected their things and headed back upstairs, determined to get some rest before continuing tomorrow.
After saying goodnight to Gordon, Inis made her way into her room, taking off her sunglasses and dimming the lights slightly so she could see more easily. After a quick visit to the bathroom, Inis went into her bedroom, and went to sleep.

In the morning, Inis was woken up by a knocking on her bedroom door; she quickly got up and got dressed, her jumpsuit having been cleaned and dried over night, and opened the door, to find Gordon at the door. Gordon immediately took a step back, bowed, and held out his hand. Smiling, Inis took his hand, and allowed him to lead her into the main room, where he had set up a table and chairs, with steaming plates of bacon, scrambled eggs and sausages. “A little something from Mars,” Gordon said grinning, as he sat Inis down in one of the chairs, before sitting down himself. Inis laughed and began eating, the food was still hot. Gordon also ate quickly, drinking down some black coffee with it.
Inis looked up from her food, “This is delicious, thank you.” Gordon inclined his head, holding his coffee in his hand, “So, what are we going to do first? We have two weeks to see everything, but that doesn’t mean we have to leave the best till last.” Inis leant back in her chair, food finished, with her empty cup of tea on the table, “I don’t know… there is so much to see… Old-Earth… The Biospheres… And that isn’t including the theme parks…” Gordon grinned, stood up and collected the dishes, stacking them on the side, “How about we go to one of the viewing platforms? From there we can not only see most of the resort, but we can also see Old-Earth and maybe even spot Mars.” Inis smiled and nodded, “Sounds good to me, it should only take me a few minutes to get ready,”
It took Inis a bit more than a few minutes to get ready, ten minutes later, and they left the apartment, heading for the lift to the viewing platforms, colossal space elevator-esque structures stretching a mile from Luna’s surface. The platform itself was packed with tourists, which made it difficult for the two of them to get to the actual viewing port.
“Excuse me! Pardon me!” Gordon tried to manoeuvre around a family of tourists, though they remained stubbornly ignorant to him, refusing to move from the centre of the viewing port. Inis, despite her size, was also being shoved about by impatient tourists, all desperate to catch a glimpse of Humanity’s homeworld. One particularly vicious shove nearly sent her sprawling, and a man near her suddenly grabbed her necklace, yanking it hard enough to snap the chain, and sprinted away from her. Seeing this, Gordon threw himself in the man’s path, slipping his hand inside his briefcase, taking hold of a small Beretta pistol concealed inside. The man attempted to shoulder barge Gordon out of the way, but the sight of the gun was enough to send him reeling backwards, eyes wide with fright. He tried to turn back, but ran directly into Inis, who struck him in the face, knocking him to the ground.
The man gave a shriek of pain as his nose collapsed from the impact, dropping the necklace, which Gordon swiftly snatched up; hiding his pistol back in his briefcase, within seconds the resort security team had arrived, quickly cuffing the incapacitated thief and apologising profusely to Inis and Gordon for their trouble, “No, it is fine,” Inis said, taking her necklace from Gordon and inspecting the crystal for damage, “Just make sure that he can’t do anything like that again,” One of the security team nodded as the thief was being dragged off, “Yes Ma’am, he will be barred from the resort, we do not tolerate criminals here,”
Inis and Gordon did manage to see Old-Earth, the security team giving them access to the viewing port in compensation for the damage to the chain of Inis’ necklace. Though the ancient planet was but a shadow of its former glory, it was still an inspiring sight, a tribute to the adaptability of Humans.
After leaving the viewing platform, they headed down to the market level, to see if they could find a new chain, after getting directions from a nearby attendant, they managed to find a jeweller.
Inis and Gordon walked into the opulent shop, glancing around at the obvious wealth on display; the defence system was also quite imposing, large robotic constructs standing immobile in the corners of the shop, loaded down with a massive array of incapacitating weaponry. Inis walked up to one of the assistants, “Excuse me, do you sell silver chains? Of about this thickness?” Inis held up the snapped chain for the Jeweller to inspect, He rubbed his chin with his hand, “Hmmm… I believe we do, come to the desk and I will bring out our stock,” Gordon touched Inis’ arm, “I will be right back, I need to discuss something with the owner,” Inis nodded, her forehead wrinkling slightly in confusion, then the Jeweller arrived with the chains, surprisingly cheap, likely due to the Tariff free economy of Luna.
“Now… Your chain is about one sixteenth of an inch…” The Jeweller picked up a fine chain from a second box, “What about this? It isn’t silver, it is electrum, a gold and silver alloy, much more rare, perfectly suited to a woman such as yourself,” Inis gave the chain a hard look, it was almost silver, with a faint golden glimmer around the edges, Inis shook her head. “No thanks, I doubt I could afford it, and silver has a special relevance to me, so I would prefer pure silver.” The Jeweller nodded, disappointed, then turned back to the largest box, pulling out another chain, This one was silver, and was even finer than her old chain, she took a closer look and saw that it had a complex interwoven pattern, “That pattern strengthens the metal, allowing us to make finer chains,” The Jeweller said, noticing Inis’ interest. Inis nodded, leaning back, “I will have that please, it will match perfectly.” The Jeweller nodded and packed the chain into a small box, “We will also take your old chain in part exchange, we can use the metal to create more jewellery.” Inis nodded, passed the chain over, and swiped her card across the Jeweller’s scanner, The Jeweller smiled, and passed the box to her, just as Gordon got back, his face slightly red, and he was slipping something into his pocket, “All done?” He asked, shifting his briefcase from hand to hand, Inis nodded, and they left the store.
“Where should we go now?” Inis asked, slipping her amulet onto the new chain, before fastening it around her neck. Gordon smiled, “It looks beautiful, how about we go to one of the leisure centres? Relax after that unpleasantness.” Inis nodded, and the two of them headed back to their rooms to get ready for the day out.
They decided to go to the Sea of Tranquillity leisure centre, which was very quiet at that time of day, they were able to sign in, in relative peace, first they decided to go for a swim, which would help the stiffness in Gordon’s knee.
They quickly got changed, Gordon into a pair of black swimming trunks, and Inis into a dark blue swim suit. The pool itself was colossal, at least two hundred meters long, and it only had a dozen or so people in it. The two of them dived in, and decided to have a race from one end to the other. Inis outpaced Gordon by a wide margin, slicing through the water easily, before waiting for him at the end of the pool.
Inis grinned, “Told you that you couldn’t beat me, you don’t live on the coast for all of your life and not know how to swim,” Gordon leant back against the edge of the pool, panting slightly, “Not my fault there are only a few seas and lakes on Mars, I managed to put up a good fight though,” Inis made a rude noise, “You didn’t have a chance!” Gordon shrugged in the water, “maybe not... I am just going to rest for a bit, you can keep swimming,” Inis dived under the water and kicked away from the wall, travelling over twenty metres before surfacing in a furious front crawl to the other end of the pool. Gordon put his elbow on the edge of the pool and watched her; he could clearly see the distinctive curves and lines that wound across her skin, though they were getting harder to see as she accelerated away, flashing water nearly obscuring her from view. Gordon pushed off from the wall and followed her, keeping a more sustainable pace. Inis glanced behind her and laughed, a clear high peal echoing around the massive chamber.
After leaving the leisure centre, they began to head back to their rooms; Inis’ damp hair had been coiled into a rope and laid over her shoulder, though it was slowly beginning to unravel as they walked. “Where do you want to go tomorrow?” Gordon asked, holding their damp swim clothes in a bag. Inis chewed her lip, “hmm, we could go to the biospheres, I hear that they have old-earth animals there, some of the last alive,” Gordon smiled, slinging the bag over his shoulder, “Sure, I have always wanted to visit the biospheres too, it was always just too far away to visit before.” Inis smiled and hugged Gordon with one arm as they walked.

In the morning, the two of them had a breakfast of pancakes and syrup, provided by the automated systems of the resort. After they had finished, they headed out to the biospheres. The biospheres were a collection of different sized biodomes that had been created before the nuclear winter that had been caused by the last world war; it had been filled with rare and exotic animals from Old-Earth, to ensure that they did not go extinct. After Old-Earth was abandoned, and Luna became an independent nation, the biospheres were opened to tourism, to help bolster the fragile Lunar economy.
Inis and Gordon arrived at the biospheres to find a large queue at the entrance, waiting for access to the controlled environments within. After a swift check of their credentials and the holiday package they had taken, Inis and Gordon were jumped to the head of the queue, and were soon admitted to the domes.
The first biosphere was based on the Amazon Rainforest; vast hundred metre tall trees crowded the landscape, blocking much of the light from reaching the sealed tunnel below, huge snakes, spiders and jungle cats prowled through the twisted undergrowth. Inis and Gordon watched, in amazement and amusement, as one of the jungle cats, a panther according to the datalog they had been given at the entrance, saw them inside the tunnel, and attacked the clear aluminium carbide armour around the path. Claws and fangs scrapped at the armour, failing to even scratch the surface. Inis and Gordon moved on to the next dome, leaving the panther confused as to where its prey had disappeared to.
The second biosphere was based on the Mariana Trench, the tunnel itself was pitch black, and hidden speakers created ominous groans and creaks, adding to the atmosphere of immense pressure surrounding the tunnel. Inis and Gordon couldn’t see very much, dark as it was, until the tunnel began to fill with a bioluminescent glow as countless angler fish crowded the armour, their lights bathing the pair in a sickly light. The angler fish shoved and attacked each other, each wanting to be the first to find a fault in the armoured tunnel, to get to the people within. Soon, the anglers were joined by a massive squid, easily fifty metres long, wrapping it’s tentacles around the tunnel, gnashing it’s beak in vain, trying to crush the tunnel. Inis pulled Gordon on quickly, the continuous assault on the tunnel abated as they passed into the next dome.
The third biosphere was based on the Sahara desert, a vast trackless wasteland, filled with the skeletons of those who had fallen prey to its traps. Even inside the tunnel, the heat was tremendous, both Inis and Gordon began sweating as soon as they entered the tunnel, heat inducers and lighting panels working together to replicate the remorseless sun of the desert. The sands stretched in every direction, as far as the eye could see, with not a single living thing in sight. Inis and Gordon drank greedily from their water bottles as they stood, watching for any sign of life, and they were rewarded when a small pack of camels crested a nearby dune, headed for an oasis near the tunnel. A number of smaller creatures, kangaroo rats, sand voles, followed behind the camels, using them as shade from the sun. They suddenly scattered as a cobra rose from the sands in their midst, and struck, grabbing hold of an unfortunate rat. The stricken animal had barely squeaked before the cobra had vanished again, hiding in the cool under the sands.
In the next biosphere, there was a river swamp, crowded with fallen trees, crocodiles and insect life. A small herd of gazelle came to drink at the river and, as Inis and Gordon watched three of them were seized and dragged into the water by the hungry crocodiles, causing the rest to flee the scene, leaving their former friends to be shredded by the crocodiles in the river.
Inis and Gordon passed through a multitude of other domes, watching as massive birds soared over mountains, or as immense lizards stalked goats across arid landscapes. They ate the small lunch they had brought with them, while watching a family of polar bears wander across artificial icecaps. They were both hungry again by the time they finished viewing the domes, so they headed back down to the resort’s restaurant level, to see what they could find.
“Hmmm, well there is a Magnitkan restaurant over there… A Martian over there… I think I can see a Biesel too,” Gordon glanced around, scanning the names of the restaurants. “Mmm, how good is Martian food?” Inis asked, resting her chin on Gordon’s shoulder. Gordon smiled, “Pretty damn good, let’s go there,”
The Martian restaurant had a wood-panelled, quite dim interior, with well-worn tables and chairs, and a long wooden bar at the far side, with various drinks on tap, with bottles of liquor behind. Gordon walked up to the bartender, who was busy cleaning a glass, “Hello sir, could I get two steak and ale pies and chips, and…” He glanced at Inis, “Two beers please, “Inis smiled and nodded, The bartender put the glass down, “Certainly, take a seat, I will bring your drinks and food over shortly,” Gordon thanked the bartender and the two of them moved to a two seat table, at the edge of the room, near a dark smoky window, that allowed them a view out onto the food court outside.
The bartender brought their drinks over, and assured them that their food would arrive momentarily; Inis thanked him, and paid for the drinks, to Gordon’s slight dismay. They sat for a few minutes, Inis looking around the restaurant, interested by the rustic setting in the middle of a super-complex. Gordon leant back, eyes half closed as he relaxed in his chair; rich, delicious smells were drifting from the kitchen.
By the time the food arrived, Inis had already finished half of her beer; her face was slightly flushed from the alcohol as she paid for the meal. They both started eating immediately, the pastry was thin and crisp, working perfectly with the thick, rich gravy that filled the pies. It wasn’t long before they had both finished their pies, and had begun mopping up the remaining gravy with their chips.
After they had finished, they headed back up to the apartment level, both of them lethargic from the long day, and the alcohol in the beer. After giving Gordon a kiss on the cheek for the food, Inis went into her apartment and went to bed.

When Gordon woke up, Inis had already been up for an hour, looking to see what they could do today, once he had eaten, they decided to go to a theme park, something neither of them had done before. So they headed off for the Ulysses Crater Theme Park.
“Tickets please,” The toll booth operator droned, holding out his hand with a scanner in it, Gordon nodded, and swiped their cards across it, verifying their details. After the bleep of confirmation, the toll booth operator, nodding along to the music playing through is headphones, cycled them through into the park. Inis and Gordon were jostled by the immense crowd that swarmed through the central plaza of the theme park, all going in different directions, some holding food, some holding toys, some holding screaming and crying children.
Inis winced at the noise, and the two of them quickly moved through the crowd towards a quieter spot to plan the day. “Gods, this is loud,” Inis almost shouted to Gordon, he nodded and motioned towards a gap between two buildings, they both headed for it, grateful to get out of the hustle and bustle of the tourists. “You were right about the noise,” Gordon said, rubbing his temples, he had left his briefcase at the apartment, to difficult to keep safe at a theme park. Inis nodded, pushing her sunglasses back up her nose, “where should we go first?” Gordon walked over to a map on the wall near the entrance of the alley, “Well, if we go over there…” He points to the west, over the crowd, “That is the water rides, over there…” He points to the south, along the edge of the plaza, “This is the roller coasters, and…” He looks at the map again, “To the north is the souvenir stores and restaurants, and to the east is the zoo,” Inis made a rude noise, “Don’t need to go to a zoo after going to the biospheres,” Gordon grinned, “Nope, I didn’t think so, how about we go to the roller coasters first? It will be easier than trying to cut across this crowd,” Inis nodded, looking at the map herself, “Sounds good to me.” The two of them set off south, headed to the roller coaster section of the theme park.
The first ride they went on was called the Slingshot, and after getting off, Inis swore that someone behind them had thrown up, the noise was unmistakable apparently, Gordon hadn’t heard anything, he had been too busy watching Inis’ face turn green as the ride had spiralled around the track. On the second ride, however, it was Gordon that looked like he was going to be sick, it had been in zero gravity, and his stomach had objected to the way it span around.
After going on another three roller coasters, the two of them decided that anymore really would make them puke, so they decided to go get a snack at one of the take aways, before going to the water rides.
They decided to get some ice cream, since the day was rapidly heating up, Inis paid the mildly extortionate prices and they started walking towards the water park. “Having a good day so far?” Gordon asked, putting the remains of his melted ice cream in a nearby bin. Inis, her ice cream still in her hand, smiled and nodded, “This entire week has been awesome, you planned this perfectly,” Gordon grinned as Inis put the rest of her ice cream in a bin, “Which ride do you want to go on first? I chose the Slingshot,” Inis looked around, “hmm… how about that log flume?” Gordon chuckled, “Sure that will be fun.”
Inis and Gordon climbed out of the flume, soaking wet. “That went well,” Gordon laughed, wringing out his jacket, the water falling slowly in the low gravity. Inis scowled at him, she had been drenched, she had coiled her hair into a rope again, and her jumpsuit was soaked through, sticking to her, “You did that on purpose!” She accused, scooping a handful of water from the bottom of the flume to throw at Gordon. “Hey!” Gordon yelled, then laughed, and threw some water back at her, “Not my fault you wanted to go at the front, I told you that you would get soaked,” Inis stuck her tongue out at him, and started wringing the water out of her hair. Gordon eyed her appreciatively, “How about we go get something to eat? Give you some time to dry off.” Inis nodded, putting her hair back over her shoulder, and they went back to the food court.
After getting a small meal at a café, they decided to call it a day; they had already been out for six hours and they were both pretty exhausted, so they steeled themselves, and headed back out into the crowd.
They moved through the crowd slowly, it was even more tightly packed than before, with shrieking children running around, and drunks blocking any quick exit, even with Inis standing nearly a head above everyone else, the crowd was proving intractable. They were slowed even further when a drunken brawl erupted to their left, and the crowd surged away from it as security personnel closed in. Gordon and Inis moved closer together as another group of drunks passed close by. One of them spotted Gordon.
The man glanced across Gordon, and then his eyes flashed back to the Nanotrasen emblem on his shoulder. The man himself had a large Einstein Engines logo on his chest, he gestured towards Gordon, and the group homed in on the two of them.
“Some Nanotrasen scum? We don’t appreciate your type around here, how about we show you just how much we don’t appreciate you?” The man leered at the two of them, the other two thugs trying to surround them as they moved back.
In a sudden flurry of movement, two of the thugs charged forwards, Gordon neatly sidestepped his assailant, before grabbing the over balanced man by the scruff of his neck and slamming his knee into his face, knocking him unconscious. The other grabbed Inis into a bear hug, lifting her from the ground, Inis gave a gasp as the pressure from the attack forced the air from her lungs. Before Gordon could come to her aid, the last thug leapt at him, shoving him back, Gordon grunted and lashed out, striking the man in the chest. The man gave a roar of pain and shoulder barged Gordon, knocking him to the ground. Gordon curled into a ball as the man kicked him, out of the corner of his eye he saw a security officer looking on, uncertain, then, he saw Inis’ head dart forwards, her teeth locking on the neck of her attacker. With a strangled yell, the man dropped her, only to have her twist in the air and kick him in the groin, sending him to a private world of pain. Gordon lost sight of Inis as kicks rained down on him, he was fortunate so far that no bones had been broken.
Gordon glanced up as the kicks ceased, to see that Inis had wrapped her arm around the man’s neck, muscles standing out as she strained to keep hold of him. Gordon clambered swiftly to his feet, and struck the man across the face, breaking his nose, the man gave a howl before a second punch knocked him out.
Inis let the man drop as a security team ran over; she had blood running down her face and neck from biting the first man. The first security officer approached apprehensively, baton at the ready, glancing at the unconscious or incapacitated men. Inis pulled a small hand towel from her bag and wiped the blood from her face, “Officer, we aren’t going to attack you, they came after us.” The officer nodded, putting his baton away slowly, “We saw, I apologise for the delay in our arri-“ Gordon made a short, sharp cutting motion with his hand, “Cut it, just deal with them, we were leaving anyway,” The officers nodded, and began cuffing the three men, while Inis and Gordon continued walking out of the park.
Gordon clenched his fists as they walked away, “That coward…” Inis looked at him, questioningly, Gordon hissed through gritted teeth, “I saw him just stood at the edge of that fight, too scared to help us, his cowardice put us in danger… it put you in danger.” Inis glanced back at the officers, and she saw the one with the baton standing back, letting his colleagues deal with the men. Inis looked back at Gordon, “Are you okay? Did he hurt you badly?” Gordon shook his head, his lips still tight, “Just some bruises and scrapes, I am more concerned about you, are your ribs alright? He could have broken them,” Inis smiled, “I stopped him before he could, it was close though, what happened to the first one? I didn’t see him go down, only the other one kicking you,” Gordon chuckled, “His face and my knee had a disagreement, never fight when you are drunk, bad things will happen,” Inis smiled, then said, “I could do with a drink now, though, shall we head back to the apartments?” Gordon nodded.
Back at the apartments, they both sat at Inis’ dining table, sipping at their drinks, they had ordered them from room service, a tequila for Inis, and a martini for Gordon. Inis looked concernedly at Gordon as he shifted in his seat and winced in pain, “Are you sure you are alright? I have some medicines if you need them, and it looks like you do,” Gordon grimaced, and downed the last of his whiskey; “You aren’t going to stop bothering me about it, are you?” Inis shook her head, smiling; Gordon let out an exaggerated sigh, holding his hands in the air, “Fine, Do as you will,” Inis stood up and went into her bedroom, returning a few moments later with a small first aid kit.
“Hold still, this will hurt,” Gordon nodded, not saying anything as Inis applied ointment to his injuries, several of the kicks had landed heavily, his back and arms were covered in large, lurid bruises, he hissed in pain as Inis prodded one of the bruises on his back, before she applied some anaesthetic ointment. “Right, I think that was the last one, try not to get into any more fights this week,” Inis smiled as Gordon turned around. Gordon nodded, “How are you feeling? You got beaten nearly as badly as me,” Inis chewed her lip for a moment, before lifting up the side of her T-shirt, revealing a large purple bruise stretching across her midriff, Gordon nodded, then took the ointment from her, and began applying it to the bruise.

In the morning, the two of them were still quite sore from the fight, though it was fading quickly, the ointment accelerating the healing of the bruises, they were barely visible. Inis insisted on reapplying ointment to the worst of Gordon’s bruises and cuts, and, despite her own protests, Gordon also insisted that she should also have a reapplication of the ointment. They had a large breakfast, another of Gordon’s Martian breakfasts, before getting changed and heading out for the beach, to relax. Before they left, Gordon gave Inis a pair of shaded contact lenses for the day, since it would be difficult for her to wear sunglasses while swimming.
In the early morning, the beach was still quite empty, not that it would ever become as crowded as some old-earth beaches, The resorts reputation for exclusivity ensuring that it was rare to have overused facilities. There were only about a dozen other people on the beach, scattered over the mile long stretch of white sand, with a few boats near the horizon, the two of them got changed in some beach houses, Gordon into a pair of trunks and a light T-shirt, the bruises on his arms and legs still quite visible, and Inis changed into a light blue bikini, the large bruise around her midriff still visible.
Gordon smiled at Inis, “You look like a vampire… In a good way!” he said hurriedly as she scowled at him and kicked some sand towards him, Inis smiled, wrapping her hair back behind her ears, “You look great, like the things you find under rocks, but great,” Inis grinned, then dodged as Gordon lunged at her. Inis asked, “Want to go for a swim? I am sure the water isn’t too cold,” Gordon chuckled, “The water is artificially heated, it is always warm,” Inis stood for a moment, then sighed, “I really need to learn more about this sort of thing…” Gordon laughed, “Race you to the water?” Inis smiled, turned, and ran, her long strides leaving Gordon behind.
The two of them swam for a while, before Gordon hired a pair of surfboards from a vendor, Inis chewed her lip, “I don’t know how to use those…” Gordon smiled, passing her one of the boards, “I do, I can show you, it isn’t as hard as it looks,” The two of them headed back to the water, the sand sticking to their feet, Gordon set his board down on the water, before lying down on it, Inis did the same with her board, next to his. The two of them paddled out into the bay,
Once out in the bay, the two of them began searching for a large enough wave, after they found one, Gordon showed Inis had to move up onto the wave, and ride it back towards the beach. It wasn’t soon after this that Gordon saw Inis’ surfboard drop out of the wave as she fell off.
Gordon paddled over to her, dragging her board behind his, “You alright?” He called, pulling up along side her. Inis nodded, gave him a thumbs up, and dragged herself back onto the board, “I tried to stand up, and it was a bad idea…” Gordon grinned, and then manoeuvred his board next to Inis’. “Yup, standing on the board is hard,” He reached out, and gave Inis’ board a hard shove, sending her spinning. Inis gave a yell, turned her board around, and charged back at Gordon, paddling furiously. Gordon sent his board onto a nearby wave, and surfed back to the beach, Inis in hot pursuit.
After handing the boards back in, the two of them decided to have some food, they got some fish and chips from one of the shops on the board walk, and slowly walked up and down the beach, eating and talking.
“Why did you join NT? I mean, I am glad you did, but I thought that you would have preferred to join your own planet’s military, rather than the security department of a corporation,” Gordon asked Inis, picking at his chips. Inis smiled, and said, “Well, I did try and join the military, but I got turned down, since I had no real experience… and when they turned me down, Nanotrasen gave me an offer to be a Warden, and get some experience and training. Once I was fully trained, I planned to go back and join the SDF, but I am not so certain I want to go back now…” Inis blushed slightly. Gordon looked quite solemn, glancing at Inis, “You want to stay because of me?” Inis nodded awkwardly, looking slightly embarrassed, Gordon smiled slightly, and put his arm around her shoulders as they walked.
After finishing their food, the two of them headed back to their apartments, as it was getting quite late. After saying goodnight to each other, they both headed to bed, the next day already planned.

In the morning, the two of them had nearly fully recovered from their injuries, and both of them found it considerably easier to move, They had decided earlier in the week, that today they were going to go to the shops, to get souvenirs and keepsakes for themselves and their friends., after breakfast, the two of them set off for the main concourse of the resort, where most of the shops were.
“How about this for your father?” Inis asked Gordon, inspecting an ornate flask in a shop window, it was quite large, with ornate engravings of space ships and star systems, Inis saw the Tau Ceti and Sol systems on it, in near perfect detail, and she could even make out Luna and Titan. Gordon looked at it for a moment, before shaking his head, “No…. He already has his own special flask… It would have to be something else…” Gordon walked into the shop, and inspected the wares, “This… On the other hand… He would like,” Gordon had picked up a small glass bottle, filled with a golden liquid, the shopkeeper came bustling over, “Genuine Old-Earth whiskey, and finest quality! Good choice, sir, Good choice” Gordon looked slightly uncomfortable, but he paid for the whiskey, which the shop keeper then put in an impact resistant case, and left. “Okay… now we just need things for…” Gordon rattled of a list of names, only some of which Inis recognised, “And we still need things for your family too, Gollee, Caylais, your parents, Delindivar…”
It took a few hours, but they finally managed to find a souvenir for everyone, after a quick trip back to their apartments to drop off the shopping, they headed back out to find somewhere to eat, and do some shopping for themselves.
They headed to eat at a Junian Restaurant, Jupiter was quite well known for its curries, especially onboard enclosed space ships and research stations. Inis ordered a chow mien, while Gordon went for the speciality chicken curry.
After their food arrived, the two of them ate slowly, relishing the change in pace from the other days, they had no set plans this time, no new things to look at. Gordon did, however, have to keep ordering more water, he had underestimated just how spicy the chef had made the curry, and after Inis had finished, she sat watching him, in amusement, finally give up and eat her left over chow mien instead of abusing his stomach any more.
“Never. Eating. Curry. Again.” Gordon stated, as they left the restaurant, Inis smiled at him, and said “It is your own fault for ordering the spiciest thing on the menu; you knew it was from Jupiter,” Gordon grimaced, then said, “Maybe… Anyway… What should we do now? We haven’t bought anything for us yet,” He smirked at Inis, “What about shoes?” Inis punched him on the arm, “You know I don’t like clothes or shoe shopping, I prefer simple things… Probably why I am with you,” Inis danced to the side as Gordon tried to poke her, she pulled a face at him, “I speak the truth,” she laughed. Gordon scowled at her, then pointed to a nearby shop, “What about some audio tapes? Or some games?” Inis chewed her lip for a moment, and then nodded, and the two of them walked into the shop.
“What system do you have?” Gordon asked Inis, as he flicked through the games, Inis shrugged, “Don’t have one, Gollee did, I just wasn’t interested enough,” Gordon gave her a look of mock horror, “No game system!? The horror!” He grinned at her, she walked over and began looking through the games as well, soon, she was at the counter, discussing the prices of various game systems, with Gordon’s advice, she bought a PX-3000 game system, along with several games for it, Gordon also picked up a few games and audio tapes, after he had paid for his, they left the shop.
They headed into a few more shops and bought a significant amount, including snacks for the night they were going to spend on the PX-3000, then, quite tired and legs aching, they headed back to their apartments.
After resting for a while, and eating a small dinner, Gordon helped Inis set up the game system, hooking it up to the TV in her room. The first game they played was a 2D fighting game, in which Gordon beat Inis resoundingly. Over the next few hours, the two of them devoured all of the snacks, and Inis finally managed to beat Gordon in a match, though he beat her immediately afterwards. Finally, as it approached midnight, Gordon headed back to his room, and the two of them got some sleep.

In the morning, Inis woke to find out that Gordon had already planned the day; they would be going on an Extreme Low Orbit around earth, in a fusion powered shuttle. Though Earth itself wasn’t that much to look at, the energised helium released by the fusion drive would make a truly spectacular aurora behind the shuttle. Inis could tell that Gordon had been planning this shuttle ride from the first day, if not earlier, he had all the things they would need all ready, as well as booking them tickets in the premier cabin, giving them the best view.
The two of them ate a small breakfast, wary of the high gravity that would result from the shuttle ride. The ride itself would last for hours, lunch would be served mid-flight, once the acceleration had eased somewhat. After eating, the two of them headed out to the shuttle dock. As they left, Inis noticed Gordon put something else in his pocket, something he had not organised earlier, she dismissed it, probably just something he forgot.
At the dock, there was a long line of people, though only four others had premier tickets, Inis, Gordon and the other four were ushered forwards into the shuttle, being directed to the rear cabin, with the best view.
The cabin itself was very impressive, with polished wooden panelling over the metal walls and floor; even the acceleration couches were more luxurious, with soft fabric interiors, rather than hard metal or plastic. The rear of the cabin was a colossal window, stretching to both walls, the roof and the floor, giving them an unparalleled view of space behind the ship. Inis felt slightly guilty when she thought about how much these tickets must have cost, though Gordon just kept saying that it wasn’t much, Inis was sure that it was.
The other four passengers definitely fitted Inis’ idea that the tickets were expensive, one was a middle aged woman, wearing expensive synthetic fabrics, and she had left several, what Inis suspected were, bodyguards outside, probably a wealthy heiress. Of the other three, one was a youngish man, dressed is some ridiculous fashion that involved ruffed shirt sleeves and what looked like a waistcoat. The man kept glancing at Inis, a fact that Gordon hadn’t missed. The other two passengers looked like a wealthy old couple, strapped into two adjacent acceleration couches at the far left. Inis selected the couch at the far right, when the young man tried to take the couch next to her, Gordon gave him a warning look, before taking it himself. The man glared at Gordon, before sullenly taking the last couch, between Gordon and the heiress.
Gordon glanced over at Inis, who smiled at him, both of them were strapped securely into their couches, and it wasn’t long until the pilot announced over the intercom that they were about to begin the flight. The young man called out, “Hey, girl, if you get scared, I am right over here,” He gave a derisive laugh, and smirked at Gordon when he glared at him. Inis said, “Ignore him Gordon, if he does anything, then you can do something, until then, lets just watch the trail,” Gordon nodded, then grunted as the ship accelerated up to five gees. The sudden acceleration brought cries of alarm from the elderly couple, but other than that, it was quite as the acceleration slowly increased to seven gees, and held there.
Inis tried to turn her head to look at Gordon, but the strength of the acceleration was too great, she couldn’t move at all, not even a finger as the shuttle slowly reached its top speed, Inis could see the plasma flume of the engine, just below their window, there was a slight blue glow on the atmosphere below them, as the particles collided.
They were at seven gee acceleration for several minutes before the pressure began to lessen, Gordon gave a sigh of relief as the great weight lifted, allowing him to move again, Gordon wasn’t the only one who was pleased about this, he could hear relieved sighs coming from the elderly couple, and Inis, who had turned to face him. “That was not a pleasant way to fly… I prefer NT anti-gravity plating and Bluespace… Much more comfortable,” Gordon chuckled, undoing the straps of his couch, “It may be unpleasant… But the view is definitely worth it.” Inis glanced out of the window to see a brilliant, glowing aurora following in the shuttle’s wake, greens, purples, reds and blues swirled around as the shuttle’s exhaust disrupted the atmosphere, even though the trip had just begun, the aurora was already hundreds of miles long, Inis thought it must be visible from Luna, it was massive. She reached around and undid the buckles of her couch, turning to sit on the side of it, now that the shuttle had returned to a steady one gee acceleration, she noticed that the other people in the shuttle had done the same, and the heiress had already got up to stand by the window.
Inis and Gordon get to their feet and walked over to the window, everyone else was already there, staring at the spectacular aurora, the young man glanced back, and leered at Inis, she ignored him, taking hold of Gordon’s hand, and his leer turned into a disgusted sneer, and he looked back at the window.
Even that obnoxious brat couldn’t prevent the others enjoying the aurora, they developed a game to spot shapes and animals in the aurora, which they all found enjoyable as they stood, transfixed by the glow.
The ship dipped lower and lower into the atmosphere, until it became enshrouded in a corona of white light, sparks flying off as the outer hull heated up, while everyone was safe inside the thermal insulation, where they could stand and enjoy the lightshow, the aurora now stretched thousands of kilometres long, and was several hundred across, filling the cabin with unearthly light.
The aurora grew in intensity as the ship reached its optimal flight path, where it would remain for several hours, completely illuminating the cabin with vivid purple light, Inis’ hair looked black under the light, and she had to wear another set of contacts to be able to enjoy the sight of the aurora. A few minutes after this, the shuttle crew brought a buffet table, and chairs, for the passengers, the food, though tasty, was some lacking in texture, due to the possibility of zero gravity, and the fact that crumbs and electronics don’t mix, some of the food was soft and tacky, though this minor complaint was outweighed by the taste and variety. Huge salmon and lobsters were brought in and served to the six passengers, along with a great variety of salads, all things that didn’t leave crumbs, The buffet was finished off with a glass of Old-Earth wine each, a rich extravagance, considering its rarity.
After they had eaten, the six of them returned to the window, to gaze at the aurora, they had nearly travelled halfway around earth now, spreading a brilliant, purple glow across the planets equator, Gordon turned to Inis and smiled, “Are you enjoying this?” He asked. Inis nodded, staring out at the glow. Inis took her gaze from the aurora to look at Gordon, she smiled, “This is wonderful,” He chuckled, and then reached into his pocket. Suddenly, Gordon dropped to a knee, pulling a small box from his pocket; Inis froze, shocked, as he held the box up, and opened it.
Inside was a golden ring, inset with a large diamond with silver fittings, Inis opened her mouth to speak, but Gordon cut her off, “Inis Truesight, will you marry me?” The young man’s face was red with embarrassment as everyone in the cabin turned to face Inis and Gordon, attention drawn away from even the aurora. Inis stood, shell-shocked, staring at the ring, before nodding slightly, “Yes” She whispered. Gordon smiled broadly, rose to his feet, and slipped the ring onto her left ring finger. Inis suddenly jumped forwards, hugging Gordon hard, he staggered backwards, before hugging her back, and the other four passengers began to clap and cheer, even the young man, though grudgingly.
The rest of the shuttle ride passed quickly, the heiress and the old woman came to congratulate Inis, while the old man, and even the young one, celebrated with Gordon, the shuttle crew brought in a bottle of champagne for the pair of them, as Gordon had planned, which they shared while the shuttle was on the return flight.
Once they were back on Luna, they had to gather their things quickly, it being the last day of the holiday, with some help from a staff member, they managed to load all their belongings onto a trolley, and they took it back down to the visiting shuttle dock. After talking to, and being congratulated by David, they boarded a shuttle back to Biesel.