42. Trackers
1685 Words
By dinner, Tye and I are done trying to figure out a name.
I stare at the ceiling. "I can't even think of any other names."
My Dipak looks at us. "What about Evol?"
"Like evil?"
"Evol. It's love backwards."
The furry starts jumping up and down, making a happy noise.
Tye nods. "That's a good name."
"It sounds a lot like evil. But he seems to like it. Evol it is." It jumps in my lap and snuggles me. "You are so smart Evol."
Dipak smirks. "So what did you 2 do today?"
We give him a dirty look.
Him and Marcus start laughing.
The future me and both sisters stumble their way to the table and plop down in chairs. "Tye refuses to get out of bed."
Future Dipak crosses his arms. "Why in the hell would you take the kids off the ship and then lose them?"
"They were fine."
"We wanted to show them another planet. They got to be on another planet at least once."
"And they got to see how the disguises work." Future me rubs her eyes. "If you want to yell at someone, I pick Tye."
"We're going to stop at Meta. We'll be there a few hours tomorrow. Everyone can get off the ship. You have to use disguises though. I'm going to put trackers on everyone."
Tye sits up quick. "What's Meta?"
"It's a man-made area. It resembles an entire planet at this point though. But it's an area for trade."
Thora sits up. "The place is huge. It has big districts. There are areas to trade and shop. The biggest dance club in the galaxy is there. It's like a huge party constantly in that sector."
Coral nods. "There's an entertainment sector too. That one is so big. It has entire amusement parks in it. All kinds of rides. Also, it has humongous movie theaters."
Future Marcus smiles. "I want to check out the horror section. Big ass haunted houses. They even have some you can pay to scare the hell out of you with your worst fears."
I jump up. "I WANT TO GO WITH YOU."
"You can't bring bear."
My Dipak, Tre, and Marcus laugh.
Dipak smirks. "She would probably pee on you."
Tre nods. "He'd be carrying her around while she holds him and cries."
I sit down and snuggle the furry.
Future Dipak smiles. "We'll make a day of it. We'll get there early. I'll put trackers on and set everyone free. It'll take a couple of hours to get the repair done, but after that I'll join you. We'll leave when everyone gets tired. This went faster than expected anyway. We're ahead of schedule."
They sit around for an hour telling us about everything on this trading planet. It sounds amazing with so much stuff to do. I really want to see the horror place though. I've never been to a haunted house. Maybe I can get away from everyone and sneak through 1. No one would know.
Tye puts his arm around me. "What do you want to see tomorrow, babydoll?"
"I'll follow you guys each around for a while. I'm sure you'll go in different directions."
"Yea you'll probably get to see everything that way."
Future me stands up. "I have reservations at the rotating café at 1:30. I know it's late for lunch, but it'll be worth it. That place is amazing." She picks up a black box. "I'll give everyone an itinerary with the locations of the lunch place and when we should meet there. Oh, and we need to give everyone a prepaid money card. No one can do eye scans or fingerprints. Even in disguises, they still come back to us... And everyone needs a map. The place is huge." She runs out.
"They have shuttles there. Almost everywhere. In every sector, all over the place. Get in one and tell them where you want to go. They can move you around in the sector or to an entirely different one. It does cost some money, but we'll get you cards."
"I got the bands." Future me runs in.
"Let's not overwhelm them, woman."
"We can show them how the bands work. Are you going to track us?"
"Yes."
"You can put ours in. That way they can see how that part works."
"Alright."
"I put $2,500 on each band. That's more than enough. And the ship will pay for lunch and dinner. Remember to leave some for drinks and snacks. Water is like $20. Everyone take a band. It wraps around your wrist like this." She passes them out.
"Come here."
I move over and sit on Marcus. I snuggle with him and the fur ball.
She puts one on my wrist. "It's princess style."
"It's pink with a silver tiara on it." I show it to Marcus and he smiles. The boys got blue, black, and gray. I'm special.
"Touch the top of it. Do you see the screen pop up on your arm now? Good on that screen is the time. So, you'll know when to go to lunch. No one should be late. It also has your money balance on there. Everyones should say $2,500. Right?" We all nod. "To use the money, you just tap the bracelet on the money box where you pay. If it gets low, let one of us know. But I think that's plenty for a day."
Future Dipak comes in with some kind of machine in his hand. "Come here, and I'll put them in quickly." Thora walks up to him, and he puts the machine against her arm. He pulls a handle and she jumps. I jump when she does. Then future me and Coral do it too. Then he puts one in himself and the other boys. They all jump when it happens. "What's going on is, it's shooting the capsule into their arms. Then they can be tracked. We can see exactly where everyone is. This works if you get separated, or we can see where anyone is." He looks at me. "Can I put yours in now?"
I shake my head and bury my face in Marcus.
"They only last about 48 hours and then they dissolve. It feels like a pinch going in, but it's not bad. I can't let her go in without it. The place is huge and some areas aren't safe."
Tre sits up. "Who will be able to track us?"
"Anyone with the band. So, anyone at this table."
"Put mine in." He winks at me. "I'll tell you what it feels like baby."
Future Dipak puts the machine to his arm. I hold Marcus so tight.
"AAAAHHHHHH!" I jump straight up. All the boys jump. Tre about has a heart attack.
Future Dipak jumps away from Tre and holds the machine in the air.
Evol hops off me and onto the table. He waddles down to my Dipak and jumps on his chest. Dipak snuggles him.
"Sorry I squished Evol."
Everyone cracks up laughing.
Future Dipak rubs his eyes. "I thought that was Tre. I was like, what the hell? I haven't done anything yet."
Tye nods. "I thought, damn you scream like a girl."
Tre shakes his head and laughs. "We can try again now."
Dipak puts it on his arm. "3..2..1. It's in."
Tre smiles. "It's a little pinch. It doesn't hurt already. Can he put one in you?"
I shake my head.
Dipak puts it in the rest of my boys. They say the same thing. Then it's my turn. I hide my face against Marcus. I feel him touch my arm with it and I go tense. Then he shoots it in my arm.
I jump and cry. It did hurt.
Marcus snuggles me. "All done. You did so good."
I wipe my eyes and nod. I cuddle him and play with his hair.
Future Dipak smiles. "She's tired."
I shake my head and Marcus and Tre nod.
Future me stands up. "I made reservations at the castle at 7pm. I know it's late, but it's last minute. I can't get regular times and I didn't want to eat lunch at 1:30 and dinner at 3:30. That won't work. So if you look at the calendar on the screen again, click it. It shows lunch and dinner there now. It will also give you an alarm about 45 minutes prior. You need to finish what you're doing and go to the place. We will meet in front of the buildings 15 minutes before our time slot to eat."
Dipak nods. "Also, there is a big area in the trading zone that is red. I mean literal red. It has red lights in it and red streets. Do not go in that. Drugs, prostitution, pretty much anything illegal on most planets, you can get in that area. It is also redded out on the trackers. If you go in there, it will alarm me immediately. I will come in there and drag you out. I will put you back on the ship, and you won't be allowed to go back."
"BUT."
"You are entirely too young. You won't understand half of what you are seeing. You are so innocent, the men would try to drug you immediately." He thinks about it. "This is a place where people go to hire other people to kill for them. It is a very bad part of Meta. You can not go there. Everything is legal."
"But."
My Dipak shakes his head. "You'll get your ass beat all the way back to the ship."
"FINE."
"You got threw to her in a hell of a lot fewer words than I used."
I snuggle Marcus and play with his hair.
"That goes for everyone. No one goes in there. It will alert me and I will be pissed."
Future Marcus smiles. "You going to beat my ass all the way back to the ship too?"
"If I have to damn it."
They all laugh.
I stretch. Then my eyes close. His hair is so soft.
- Writer
