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Chapter 2
Bang! He jolted awake as he heard the sound reverberating in his quarters. He heard footsteps outside
the door, then a faint voice.
“Sir, we’ve docked at the station.”
Already!? he thought to himself. I thought it was another 18 hours till we arrived. Man, I must have slept
a long time. Ignoring the fact that he left his quarters a mess, he got out of bed and changed into his clothes,
then packed up the rest of his gear and headed out the door to the hallway. The rest of the travelers where
also exiting off the ship and heading to the station. He followed them through the rest of the vessel then down
the ramp and into the docking bay. Apparently, they where one of the first ships in the bay because out of the
100 spots available, they were the 4th ones to arrive. All the more time for me to warm-up he thought to
himself with satisfaction. He walked over to the door that lead out of the hanger, and then walked down the
long, dimly lit hallway into the main lobby where everyone, even the spectators had to check in. He walked up
to the desk, and spotted an amazingly beautiful receptionist had come to help him.
“Hello sir, can I be of any assistance? The light skinned receptionist said.
“Yes you can ma’m” he answer politely, his accent coming out painstakingly obvious. She frowned but
kept on speaking in a delicate way, almost like a mist setting down on a cool summers morning.
“Would you like to spectate in tomorrows event, or are you a registered participant?
“I’ve come to participate in tomorrows event, and I’d like to sign in so I can go and find my room. That is,
if you would be so kind as to let me do so.” There he went with his accent again….. The receptionist looked at
him with an awkward look, almost as if she had found someone or something she had been searching for.
“I can’t seem to place your accent, but I think I’ve heard it somewhere before..”
“Where do you think you heard it before?”
“No, it’s nothing..” She looked away as to be ashamed to have brought up such a trivial matter.
“Please, tell me where you’ve heard it from.” He looked at her urgently, into her turquoise eyes that
shone so brightly.
“Well, I had a few relatives that had the same accent, just like yours, and the only place I’ve heard it from
was Colony Transcendence. But that colony was destroyed in a bandit raid a few years ago…… You must be
from somewhere else I guess…”
“I…” But then he caught himself. Should I reveal that I was one of the few that survived the attack?
“I….I wasn’t at the colony at the time of the raid, but I did originally live there. I guess I still haven’t lost my
accent after all these years” he said, with a fake smile plastered on his face. The receptionist didn’t seem to
catch it.
“Oh, so I was right? Ha, I knew I wasn’t fooling my self.” She chuckled as she gave him the sheet to sign
in. “Um, I hope I’m not intruding, but did you lose any family in the raid?”
“No, you aren’t intruding at all.” He smiled, another fake one. I can’t bring up my sister, I know I’ll
become all emotional over it again. “No, I was the only person living there fortunately. I didn’t lose anything
except my belongings, which wasn’t very much at the time.”
“Oh, well, I guess that’s a good thing…..in a sense.” She giggled again, and saw that he had signed in.
“Well I guess I’ll direct you to your quarters. Let me just check the computer………hmmm……last name?
“Faux.”
“Ok…..Fale……Farner…..Forester….ah, there you are. Faux, room 274. Here’s your key.”
“Thanks Mrs….”
“Kelly. My name is Kelly.” She smiled a warm smile, her soft skin radiating a golden glow.
Kelly! That’s way to close to Kely….. His heart started aching again, and it was obvious on his face that he
was in turmoil.
“Mr. Faux, are you ok?” He concern was genuine, it’s almost as if they were good friends, even though
they had only met 5 minutes ago.
“Yeah, I must have just had a dizzy spell there….” You are turning into such a liar……
“Ok.” He concern washed away in an instant. “I wish you good luck in the competition. I’ll be looking for
you.” She winked at him as he walked off.
I think she likes me…… he thought to himself joyfully.
He walked off down the hall, and then up the stairs marked Rooms 200-300 then walked down the long
hallway to room 274. Getting out his keycard, he slide it into the slot and the door opened with an ease. He
walked in and set his bag down on the night stand next to the queen size bed. He unpacked everything, and
placed everything just as he liked it. Just like home he thought. No, not just like home. Home had Kely. There’s
no Kely here, and there never will be. He walked over and flopped down on his bed, exhausted from all the
effort he had put forth today, just to stay standing. Everyday gets harder and harder. There’s got to be
someway to counter this ever coming weakness. But no matter what he tried, he couldn’t seem to find
something that worked. His vulnerability was always going to be open. If an enemy knew about that, he could
almost surely take him down. Unless I can find some way to change this weakness into a strength. But that was
for another day. Tonight, he slept soundly, but still, having horrible regrets of past actions that were never his
fault to begin with.
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