Total pages in book: 61
Estimated words: 55551 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 278(@200wpm)___ 222(@250wpm)___ 185(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 55551 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 278(@200wpm)___ 222(@250wpm)___ 185(@300wpm)
“That’s obviously not me,” I laugh. “I’m flattered that you think it is. That’s a much younger woman with an incredible suit and an even greater tolerance for commercial amounts of sodium and preservatives in her diet. If I tried to eat even one of those things, I’d be on the toilet for a week.”
“What is that about?” Clara Have A Nice Day suddenly shifts gears with me. “I used to be able to eat anything, and now if it has so much of a hint of dairy or wheat or soy or egg or any number of what should be innocuous substances in it, it’s like I took some kind of dietary explosive device.”
“I know. I don’t know what it is. All they say is that you have to modify your diet, but surely there’s something else going on. It feels like a conspiracy, but not a fun one. I do have some supplements that help, from time to time, but they’re in my cabin. I guess you’ve got to hold me for the authorities, though, and I’ll miss the ship’s departure. My mother-in-law is going to be so smug about this. I’ll never hear the end of it. She’ll probably think I did it on purpose. I swear to god she’s trying to force a divorce between my husband and me…”
Clara Have A Nice Day’s interest has been piqued in multiple different ways now, and I am almost certain she is going to let me board the ship. I’m no longer just a tedious three-dimensional pawn she can push around. I’m potential gossip, drama, and commiseration. We’re practically best friends right now.
“Go up quickly,” she says, standing to the side. “I won’t say you were here.”
“Thank you!” I don’t wait for her to change her mind. I rush up the gangway and do my best to once more blend into the heavy crowds thronging the many decks of the ships as they attempt to find their cabins, or relocate friends and family, while also being awed by all the entertainment options surrounding them. This place is one big flying casino, essentially. There are gambling machines on every corner, and in the middle of the main deck there is a gaming floor with what has to be more than a hundred attendants in sleek black and white suits ready to take your money in the most charming and entertaining of ways.
This is perfect for me. All I need to do is hover around one of the accommodation corridors long enough for someone to leave with the intention of gambling, slip into their room before the door closes, and start putting myself a new outfit together.
This is a ship where Lady Luck rules supreme, and she has been smiling on me today. I hope she continues to favor me for just a little bit longer. All I really need is for this big vessel to depart and I can consider myself entirely escaped. Thorn might have people out looking for me, but it’s pretty clear that the ships departing his planet don’t consider his crisis their problem. Once we hit open skies, we will be entirely out of Thorn’s jurisdiction, and he’ll have no way of reclaiming me.
There’s something surprising about how easy this all is, even while I’m afraid. Or maybe I’m not afraid. Maybe I’ve been focusing on doing what I need to do so much that I haven’t had time to be afraid. There’s still no time for that.
I slip into one cabin after another. Obviously nobody has a suit for pirates with them, but they do have some pants I can wear, and putting pants on makes me feel instantly better. I also find some socks and some pretty sweet boots. The pants are a nice dark black color, and the boots are white and have a thick platform heel. There’s just something about a nice pair of boots that really makes one feel secure and sexy at the same time. There’s power in good footwear.
I find an undershirt which snugs me nice and tight, making me feel very controlled and contained. Then I grab the clothing that looks most generic and will help me blend in with the other passengers. Right now, brightly colored windbreakers with interstellar patterns are very much in, so I put one of them on. The back contains the letters HMS Mandalay in large pink and gold lettering. I also grab a visor with similar branding. Perfect. My face is covered and I look like any one of several hundred people on board.
Maybe I don’t need the chip anymore. Maybe I needed it back when I started, but my criminal self has developed a lot in the last few years, and I’ve learned a lot.
“All guests are to return to their cabins in preparation for departure.”