Dealin' in Sand

"Been visitin' the DE Embassy on Al Raqis. Sorta have to. Waitin' on that big deal Xoxo's tryin' to make with a few folks there. She's interested in buyin' sand. Said it was for makin' high quality glass stuff." The tower was slow today, so decided to head down to the hang out area on the lower level of town. Had the ear set so I could still talk to the ships comin' in. "When I got there the last time, Lily had out all this hand carved stuff made from real jade. She wanted me to buy somethin'. Not sure what all to get. I think if I got anythin' for AurorBlue she'd break it cause it was made by Lily."

"Not sure what all the jade stuff's 'bout. I know it was somethin' to do 'bout that death of the albino girl. Tryin' to figure what all the rabbits got to do with it." The sun was hot today while walkin' 'cross the tarmac. "Lily's got her own self caught up in somethin' 'gain. Can't help her this time. She's been actin' real strange these days. Not sure what all to make of it."

"In the meantime, Her kid started standin' up. Means that kid'll be runnin' 'round real soon. It'll keep her busy chasin' him all over. Might be good for her." the latest ship was settin' on the tarmac. Small cargo ship with some supplies bein' dropped off.


"More shipments comin' in. Even more goin' out. Lots of ore and such. Even sold some fresh venison. Folks been likin' that. Hell, it's better then the dry rations on a ship any day. Rory told me that we had a couple of small shipments. That's good. Keeps us in business. Gonna get a salvage trip prepped up soon. Need to make a few stops to see if its all good, or just a fools mission. Territory out there's gettin' a mite dangerous. Last time, spotted a ship..... Not reavers, not 'liance or salvage crews...... Weird sorta ships. Small, like scout ships. Looked real strange." Someone'd lit the little fireplace chimney not long ago. Was still givin' off heat.

"Had to get the horses ready for ridin'. Seems a lot of folks like to use em instead of the ATVs. Most likely cause it don't scare of the wildlife and don't tear up the ground. 'Sides, you can go at your own pace. Don't wanta rush? Just walk the horse. In a hurry? Gallop 'cross the fields. Easy as that." Sat down away from the heat. Just watched the glow of the coals... Sorta looked like spice glowin' in the sands. "AuroraBlue went ridin' one day. She's been gettin' to be a handful. Even told her as much. Sorta got a mite angered. I figure she understood that. Ran off to Seana thinkin' Seana wasn't gonna do nothin'."

"With all the stuff whats been goin' on, it's gettin' harder to keep track of everythin'. Embassy's got to be finished b'fore folks move in. Xoxo needs her sand for her glass. I got the feelin' there's a lot more to it. But her and that assistant ain't sayin' nothin' on it. Bringin' the horses in from the range and gettin' em ready for riders, Doin' tower work so ships don't get into a bender comin' in or leavin'...... Been way busy. Hard to take a seat and just relax.... Or drinkin' some spice tea. Seems I can drink that and not have to think on stuff. Its like stuff happens on it's own... almost. Yeah.. The spice can change you. Heard that on Al Raqis. But then, been already messed with a couple years back."

"The lab rat.... Been through some gorram strange stuff. Everythin' from gettin' stuck in a data stream on Necronom, to gettin' stuck in a power system on Hale's Moon tryin' to save Lily. I hear Blue sometimes. And he's a gorram artificial intelligence. So how can I hear him. Hell if I know. Then there's the faster healin' since Lily's nanites.... Might not be the brightest beacon out there, but I know somethin's different 'bout me. Been that way for a while. Since the 'liance messed with me. Maybe b'fore.... Blackburne was sorta different... Strange things happened there.