Shana's bar and grill was on Bottom, towards the front of the court and sat directly in front of the bay windows, so you could sit at a bar and literally watch the world spin underneath you. Their state department diplomat, Barry and his partner Badu had told them it was one of the landmarks onboard and not to be missed. In fact, they had taken the liberty of reserving the main floor for the entire crew tonight.
The timing was good for Fox, at least. After Nara had left that morning he'd gone back and checked into a small single room for himself. He'd wandered the markets and taken in the sights, but he was frankly, getting bored. And lonely. That surprised him. Just over twenty four hours ago he stepped off the Corelean, feeling like if he never saw some of those people again, it'd be too soon. But an entire day of wandering through crowds of strangers made him long for the familiar.
Which is why he was one of the first to arrive Shana's for that night's feast and party. Not the first, but one of the first.
Captain Lannister was sitting in the far corner. He was nursing some drink in a large bowl and reading on his slate. It was projecting a holograph podium of sorts with three screens angled in a half circle. He saw Fox enter and waved.
"Doing some reading?" Fox asked as he came up.
"Yeah, figured out how to translate their script. Still, it's an automated translation and somewhat butchered."
Fox looked at the pages. "Decompression dynamics in near vacuum conditions. A little light reading?"
"There's something I want to talk to you about, Fox," Lannister said. Fox raised an eyebrow. Lannister waved his hands. "It's work related and I'm a little drunk, to be honest. Just look me up tomorrow or the next day, some time before the banquet."
"Okay."
Lannister's second in command, Walsh, showed up with a drink in his hand. Lannister turned off his slate and greeted him. Over his shoulder Fox saw Runningbear, hunched over at the bar by himself. He straightened.
"You don't have to leave on my account," Walsh said. "And we're off duty..."
"Yeah, I see somebody I got to talk to. I'll check in tomorrow, okay." He aimed this at Lannister, who nodded.
Fox clapped Runningbear on the back as he pulled up a seat. "Hey, bro, what's up?"
He got a single grunt for a reply.
"I woulda thought you'd be with that girl, Aloka."
"Had a fight," Runningbear replied, tossing back the wine glass and draining it.
"Ow, sorry," Fox said. "What did you fight over?"
"Immigration." The bartender wandered by. "Another," Runningbear said. She gave him a look that wondered if he'd had enough and then she shrugged and refilled his glass.
She looked over at Fox.
"I don't even know what you got," he said uncertainly.
"Wine's the hardest stuff, they have. They don't allow hard liquors," Runningbear said.
Fox shrugged, "can't say I've ever been much for the hard stuff. Something sweet and not too alcoholic?"
She nodded and handed him some sort of hard cider beverage. He nodded his appreciation and turned his attention back to Runningbear, who was already halfway through his next glass of wine.
"Immigration? Funny thing to fight about."
"I want to keep seeing her," he blurted out. "She did, too. Only I made some comment about her coming to earth, to be with my family maybe, and she got all huffy. Said she was born a Turik and she'll die one. Insisted I had to go live on some station somewhere, with her people."
"So?"
"That's not how it's done," Runningbear roared, banging his fist on the table. "The woman goes to the man's family."
"Maybe not in the consortium."
"She can come to earth. It's the way it's supposed to be," Runningbear insisted. "I, I got the navy. I got family. I can't just leave all that."
"And she can?"
Runningbear gave him a look and Fox decided now was not the time to try to rationalize with him. "So its over? I'm sorry dude, that must suck."
"Yeah, thanks," Runningbear said, turning back to his drink. "It sucks."
They drank in silence for a long while.
"So," Runningbear slurred out, "where's your amazon?"
Fox snorted at his description of Nara. "She got an assignment from her commander already."
"So it's over?"
"Naw, I don't think so. Not totally. She's going to be on earth for sometime." Fox held up his metallic arm. "I'm going to be stuck on Shoshone station for some time. We'll hook up when she can. See where this goes. Lucky for us I guess, gives us sometime to figure out where this is heading before we have to make any firm decisions."
"I wish I had some time..." Runningbear broke off and gave a heavy sob.
Not wanting to spend the entire evening with a sappy drunk, Fox elbowed him. "Hey, hey, none of that. Look at me. Remember when we were kids? I mean really little kids. All those goofy science fiction shows we discussed at school and shit? We did it man, we went into space and we seduced a couple of hot space women."
Runningbear threw his head back and roared. He leaned forward and pounded the bar, laughing until tears came. "God damn it, Fox. Only you'd think of that."
Fox raised his glass. "Come on," he commanded. "To all the space women we've loved, and the ones we haven't yet." They drank their toast as the others started to filter in.
#####
A fair number of the crew were already at Shana's when Cheyenne arrived. There were even a fair number of the Corelean crew, eager to regroup with the Americans one last time. Mandy was introducing Daksha to the earth tradition of karaoke in one corning, crooning some love duet together. Fox and Runningbear were both very drunk already. The munitions crew were gathered around a table, drinking toasts and seeming well on their way to joining the two Native Americans in drunkenness.
Cheyenne heard her name being yelled and caught sight of the missile command crew, Madsen, Jensen and Dan, gathered in one corner. Bakala was with Dan. Their table was laden with food and drinks.
"Dan's being telling us about the courtesan Bakala hired for them," Jensen said with a grin as she found a seat. "You want a drink?"
A waitress appeared as if on command.
Cheyenne looked at her healers. Lana shrugged. "Your body shouldn't have too much alcohol, but a drink won't kill you. And I would adore a half glass of the sweetest muscatel you have."
"A whole half glass, let's not go crazy," Bakala joked.
"Not much of a drinker, really," Cheyenne said when her turn came.
"No worries," Janda replied. He turned towards the waitress and ordered two glasses of something that didn't translate. "It's an herbal concoction," he explained. "I'm not much of drinker either. You'll like it and it's a mild euphoric. Not so hard on the body as alcohol."
"Dan, a courtesan?" Cheyenne prompted.
"It's not what you're thinking," he said. "I know, I had the same thought. She's an older hanuman, retired from providing any sort of service herself years ago. It's not what courtesans here are really about anyway, that's more prostitutes. This woman...she's kind of brilliant. You go in and talk for five, ten minutes. In that time she gets a feel for your personality, your tastes, etc. From there she plans everything. All you have to do is sit back and enjoy."
"Plans what?"
"Your whole day. We did a full spa package yesterday, massage, mud bath, the works. Then we had a date, nice meal, entertainment, a hotel room for after. It was spectacular." He turned and kissed Bakala. "I've really the best boyfriend."
Bakala blushed and insisted it was he that had the best boyfriend.
The waitress returned with their drinks. Cheyenne tasted the herbal concoction that Janda had ordered her and found it sweet with a slight tang, but not unpleasant.
They talked for a long time about nothing. Kleppie showed up late, with Kavi in tow. They both ordered Soma, the common herbal beverage.
Looking around Cheyenne felt a sense of disconnection. They were going home, all of them. Jensen talked about seeing his wife and kid, a fire in his eyes. Several people came to their table to ask the others about their plans for their next leave, back on Earth, or what assignment they thought they'd land when they got back on duty.
Mandy and Daksha had turned sappy, singing each other sad love songs at the karaoke station. It was apparent from his drunken ramblings that Runningbear's affair with the consortium girl was already over. Even Dan and Bakala's flirtation was tinged with a bitter sweet feeling.
Only Cheyenne had no leave waiting for her. When she thought of earth, it was with a vague sense of panic about what would happen with her kids. When she thought of Lana, her heart warmed with expectation. She had time to really explore what this was. It was the only ray goodness in her near future and she clung to it.
She saw Fox waving his arm around drunkenly and reminded herself it wasn't her alone. There were four of them, Cheyenne, Fox, Lannister and Kismet, that still needed some advanced medical treatment. They would be together on Shoshone station.
It was small comfort. She'd gotten to know Fox and Lannister better than ever on their stay onboard the Corelean. While she liked the two of them, she didn't have the same warm feelings that she had for her own crew. Kismet, she barely knew him and he'd only be there a week or so before he, too, was ready to return to earth.
She sighed. "I'm tired," she admitted to Lana.
"Of course," Lana said. "We should probably get you back and into the tank for the night. Don't push yourself."
She interrupted the others party to say goodnight.
"I think I should get going, too," Kleppie said with a nod at Kavi. Madsen wagged his eyebrows suggestively as the two left together. Cheyenne wondered, Kleppie hadn't seem to caught the homecoming fever either. He had seemed distant and distracted most of the evening. Cheyenne shrugged the thoughts off and concentrated on getting home. She had been up all day and was more tired than she cared to admit.
The market was dimly lit, but not totally dark. Most of the shops were closed, covered with a sheet or simply left empty. Was crime so rare? As soon as she thought it, she realized she was being silly. As soon as a theft was reported to security, the culprit would be caught. The citizens of the consortium had grown up knowing this.
A few places glowed with light and few citizens outside the two crews had found reasons to celebrate into the night. Curiosity about these revelers warred with her exhaustion but as soon as the hotel was within sight, exhaustion won and she turned her attention to getting inside and back in the tank.