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Chapter 109: Pearl Bay Docks
🕑 Added 2023-02-14 17:36:01 +0000 UTCThe docks reminded Jack of a rising waterdrop, like the ones that try to jump up when you throw a rock but don’t manage to dislodge themselves from the neck of water that ties them to the sea.
Jack thought it was close-by. It wasn’t. The building rose even higher than he had estimated, and its size dwarfed practically everything around. It was like the entire city was built as an afterthought to this behemoth.
On the bright side, he found a pleasant surprise on the way there. Someone had left a bucket of water on the street, under a leaking pipe. Jack had no idea why anyone would do that, but the water smelled okay, and he needed it.
Quickly rising the half-filled bucket over his head, he drenched himself. Despite the cold water and the night chill, it was barely an annoyance to his System-enhanced body. He shook his head to get the water out. Brock yelped as some drops landed on him.
Now, Jack still wasn’t clean, but at least the blood all over him was mostly gone. He would no longer seem like a mad murderer on the loose.
He placed the bucket back in its position, silently thanking and apologizing to whomever put it there in the first place. This was a disadvantage to using only credits as currency; he couldn’t leave a coin as a token of his gratitude.
Rising his head, Jack kept walking.
When he reached the base of the building, he was already covered in its great shadow. Craning his head back, all he saw was large, interlocking plates of metal rising up and behind him. The waterdrop-shaped curve seemed smooth from a distance, but it really wasn’t; it was just a long series of tiny angles.
Idly, he wondered just how they built this thing. Could it stand on its own, or was it just magic? That would surely take away from the wonder of architecture. He also wondered why they would do this. However, when he spoke, all he managed to say was, “Wow.”
Brock nodded, panting with his tongue out. They’d run here to save time.
The tower that supported the docks—the neck of water that tied the waterdrop to the sea—was a massive gray column erected in the middle of Pearl Bay. It was surrounded by people and riddled with entrances. A dozen different lines of people stretched out in different directions, stumping Jack for a moment.
He then noticed that, of those entrances, most were large, meant for cargo. Only one was the height of humans—slightly larger, actually, to accommodate the many species of the galaxy—and it also had the shortest line. Presumably, there was another entrance just like it on the other side of the tower, but Jack couldn’t see.
He hurriedly made his way there. People gave him odd looks and a wide berth, but nobody spoke up about his bloodstained clothes and body. However, there were at least fifty people standing in line, all waiting patiently, and Jack felt rising urgency. He had to board a starship and get out of here fast. He couldn’t wait for this entire line to finish.
Just as he was considering asking people to let him pass, the door at the front of the line slid open. Behind it was a rectangular empty space, much wider and deeper than it was tall. A mirror covered the back wall, reminding Jack of an elevator.
No, scratch that; of course it was an elevator. They had to get up the tower somehow. He didn’t know what he expected.
People streamed in, and the line advanced quickly. When forty people had entered, slightly cramped but not much, the last person held out a hand, and the line stopped. A woman inside pressed a button, the doors slid closed, and—presumably—the elevator went up without a sound.
Jack was satisfied. He was now twelfth in line, which meant that he and Brock could easily get into the next elevator. He just had to wait a bit.
More doors slid open to the left and right, revealing large spaces filled with crates of all sizes. The task of carrying them seemed daunting until Jack saw two feshkurs grab a cube-shaped crate ten feet to a side and lift it easily, then move it through a wide empty corridor in the crowd.
He shook his head. Right. The System. Very helpful for menial labor. Those two feshkurs weren’t even at the E-Grade.
As they waited, Jack took a moment to admire the scenery again, this time with peace of mind. Pearl Bay was a tapestry of species and a hub of buzzing activity. There were similarities to Earth, but also many differences, and Jack found this contrast aesthetically pleasing. He took a deep breath, enjoying the clean breeze—there were no factories or cars to pollute it, and the starships moved with the Dao, not fuel.
If the town wasn’t entirely painted in shades of gray, it could have been beautiful.
A ruckus from further behind grabbed Jack’s attention. He turned to find three rough-looking feshkurs walking next to the line of people, approaching the front of the line like it was nothing. They didn’t even give anyone a glance. Jack inspected them.
Feshkur, Level 102
Faction: Gray Mercenaries
They were Levels 100, 102, and 105. High E-Grade. Each of them would have hundreds of stats on Jack. They could probably wipe the floor with him; and they were three.
Seeing them cut in line, anger rose inside him, which he quenched at once. The Dao Seed of the Fist demanded to war against this injustice, but he held it down with iron will. That sort of mindset could work on Earth, but he was no longer the biggest fish in the pond. Now, he was just a random guy. He had to act with caution—at least for now.
Brock grumbled a bit but kept his voice down. Though he burned with anger, he trusted his Big Bro. Sometimes, the best way forward was peace.
But not everyone understood that. The ruckus that Jack had heard came from a feshkur in a sleeveless shirt further back the line. Without counting, Jack suspected the man was around the forty-people mark. If these feshkurs cut in line, he would have to wait for the next elevator.
As they passed by him, the sleeveless-shirt man grumbled something with restrained anger. The gray mercenaries ignored him. When his eyes sparked, two of his friends grabbed him, while another quickly slapped his mouth shut. The angry man resisted for a second before calming down and angrily waving at them to let him go. He then stayed in place with folded arms, glaring at the backs of the mercenaries, who didn’t turn to look back once. They simply walked to the very front of the line and waited, as if their strength was all the proof of their dignity they needed.
Jack didn’t appreciate their cutting in line, but he acknowledged that they didn’t start a fight against a weaker party.
“See that, Brock?” he said, nudging the little monkey. “That is how the strong should act. No need to brag or prove your strength.”
“They just don’t want to get in trouble.” A voice came from behind him. Turning, Jack found a Saphira smiling at him. Her eyes were purple, her hair sapphire, and her smile radiant. “If they get into a fight here, the guards will show up, and they will have to wait in line like everyone else. Otherwise, they would beat that guy to a pulp.”
Saphira, Level 67
Faction: -
“I see,” he responded. “We’re not from around here.”
“Oh, I can tell.”
“What gave it away? The blood on me, my species, or Brock here?”
She smiled. “Blood is not uncommon around here. Pearl Bay is not the kindest neighborhood in the galaxy, and everyone is okay with that. Being drenched from hair to toe is more surprising—and you’re dripping, by the way.” She extended a hand. “My name is Vlossana.”
“Jack.” Her hand felt…human. What were the differences that made them different species? Hair and eye color hardly qualified. “And this is Brock. He can’t speak a lot yet, but he’s a brave warrior.”
Brock nodded, then shook her hand as well.
“Nice to meet you,” she said. The doors to the elevator opened then, and the three of them were squeezed inside along with everyone else. People gave the gray mercenaries a wide berth, but they also gave that to Jack, which made the thirty-four remaining people crowded. Brock counted as a person for this elevator, much to the dismay of the next person in line.
The doors slid closed, and with the sound of rolling gears, they began their ascent.
“What brings you to Pearl Bay, Jack?” Vlossana asked cheerfully. Her attempt to make conversation could have been annoying in such a crowded space, but to Jack, who was filled with enthusiasm at the alien city and fear at getting hunted down, it was a godsend.
“Coincidence,” he replied. “In fact, I can’t wait to get out of here.”
“That’s delightful.”
She didn’t ask where he was headed. Jack noticed that and reminded himself not to ask either. He was neck-deep in a new culture now, or rather multiple, and he had to absorb knowledge like a sponge, lest he accidentally find himself in trouble.
“What about you?” he asked. Since she had asked him why he was here, he could ask the same.
“I’m just passing through,” she replied. “My ship made a short stop, so I came down to see the sights. It was…” She looked around, at all the natives listening to her every word. Though they were almost whispering, nobody else was speaking. “...intriguing.”
“Tell me about it,” Jack replied, nodding. Now, he knew why this girl seemed so excited to chat. She had tourist syndrome. “And what made you approach a blood-stained stranger?”
She shrugged. “Curiosity. I enjoy meeting interesting people.”
“Of course.” Jack nodded again.
The rest of the ride went by in silence. The elevator stopped, the doors slid open, and Jack found himself in an eight-year-old’s fondest dreams. Starships hovered everywhere, ranging from the size of a gondola to a large yacht’s. The largest ones remained outside, though they could fit through the large openings in the wall. The smallest ones hovered anywhere they wanted, crowding the empty wooden floor that stretched for hundreds of feet in every direction.
Aliens—mostly feshkurs—moved cargo, while others streamed in and out of ships on wooden ramps. There were a million different clothing styles. Hundreds of voices shouted at each other, struggling to be heard over the chaos. The passengers of Jack’s elevator dissipated among the starships, leaving him and Brock gaping just outside the doors.
The starships were fascinating themselves. They were shaped as elongated pyramids and painted in various colors—mostly dark ones, though Jack did spot a small pink starship. They had round windows on their sides and one or two doors at the back, where the base of the pyramid would be if they weren’t hovering sideways. The first door of each ship was roughly human-sized, and through an open one, Jack caught sight of a sleek interior. The largest ships had a second one as well, which was large enough to accommodate the transportation of cargo.
If teleporting a person cost ten thousand credits, Jack could only imagine how much large crates would cost. The Animal Kingdom—who probably ran the teleporters—was fleecing people for all they were worth.
“Gape all you want, just move away from the door before the next elevator arrives,” Vlossana said from the side, laughing merrily. She waved at them. “It was nice meeting you, Jack and Brock. I wish you the best of luck in any endeavor you pursue.”
Jack refocused. “Thank you, Vlossana. Best of luck to you, too.”
She waved, then disappeared into the crowd.
Right. We must move, Jack thought, tearing his sight from the starships and aliens to inspect the docks themselves.
The floor was wooden, wide, and empty of furniture or buildings. The tower in the middle continued behind Jack’s back, stretching another fifty feet up to support the ceiling, a dome-shaped construction of wood filled with little arcs. It spread from the highest point in the very center, where the tower met it, to end in wooden walls that reached the floor between the openings for the starships.
Everything looked wooden, but Jack suspected that was only for decor. There had to be metal underneath—at the very least, the exterior was metallic.
Though it was currently night, the docks were filled with light. Squat chandeliers hung from the ceiling, emitting what felt like sunlight to Jack’s skin. Outside the openings, dots of light shone from the city below.
Brock grabbed Jack’s forearm and pulled him towards an opening. Unable to resist the temptation, Jack followed, quickly reaching the edge, just before a two-foot-tall protective fence. The opening was a half-circle rising from the floor, with a radius of around fifteen feet. There was no starship on this particular opening, which gave Jack and Brock an unobstructed view.
And it was beautiful.
They were hundreds of feet into the air. From this height, they could see Pearl Bay stretching before their eyes, illuminated by discreet lighting—less than an Earthen city would have. The buildings reached halfway to the horizon, whereupon they were replaced by rolling green hills filled with purple trees. Water glimmered at the very ends of their vision, somehow radiating faint light, while two moons—one whole and one half—filled the dark night sky. At least night was the same color as it was on Earth. Without any pollution to hide them, stars shone in the thousands, and Jack could only recognize a few of the constellations he was familiar with.
He was captivated by wonder. A moment later, he shook himself awake.
“Come on, Brock. We must find a ship to get us out of here.”
Looking around, one side of the dock area was occupied by what seemed like an open bar between two openings. People of all kinds sat on stools around tall tables, discussing animatedly or in hushed tones. Most drank what looked like beer. A counter was at the very back, and a metal sign above it spelled, “Morning Star.”
“A bar at the docks…” Jack chuckled. “I guess some things never change, right, Brock?”
Brock gave an excited cry, and together, they headed for the bar.
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