The Ninth Life

Shan'ica SilverPheniox

1: Interesting Strangers

Shane blinked her eyes open at the sound of an annoying buzzer. It took her only a moment to identify the sound as the wake up alarm for her cryotube. Shane half growled, half yawned, and stretched. Or, at least, she attempted to stretch. Half way thru the manoeuvre her hands hit the top of the cryotube. Swearing under her breath, Shane opened her tube and dropped lightly to the floor, landing on all fours. The other passengers had begun to emerge from their tubes as well, and many were standing around the passenger cabin stretching or rubbing their stiff muscles. Ignoring the few curious glances from nearby passengers, Shane began her own series of stretches lying on the cold deck of the ship.

"Look mommy!" A young boy of about 3 years said, tugging at his mother's skirt and pointing at Shane. "She looks like a kitty cat!"

Shane stopped stretching long enough to look at the fascinated child and his horrified mother. Smiling, Shane waved to the child, who giggled at the attention. She ignored the mother, who was trying to move the child as far away from Shane as she could. Shane shook her head and returned to her stretches. She was used to that. People feared that which was different than them, and Shane was extremely different. But it was the fact that she looked too human that scared them. But fuck them. She didn't care if they all feared her. It was better for her, in fact. It kept people from paying attention to her and her actions.

Finished with her stretches, Shane stood up and brushed the dust and dirt off her clothes. Amazing how a floor that hadn't been walked on in 18 weeks could be so damn dirty. Shane didn't think that dust existed in space. She scanned the crowd that stood around her out of habit. Not much to perk her interest. Families traveling to visit relatives or trying to find a better life. Business people trying to save a few credits by traveling coach. A few people who looked like they were on the run. No one that presented a threat to her. No one worth noticing. Then she saw him.

Shane wasn't sure what it was about the handsome man standing half in the shadows against the far wall of the compartment that caught her attention. There wasn't anything really interesting about him. It was more like something instinctual was telling her to pay attention to this man.

"Attention passengers, may I please have your attention." A shrill male voice boomed across the intercom, causing Shane to cover her left ear, which was only a few feet from the speaker. "We will now begin unloading the coach cabin. Please have all your identification ready for the customs agents."

Shane rolled her eyes behind her dark glasses. Custom agents. How annoying. She hoped her employer had taken care of everything, as per their arrangement.

As the crowd began to move Shane redirected her attention to the mysterious man. She noticed now that he had a companion with him, a young woman, barely out of childhood. It was hard to tell that the mysterious stranger's companion was female by looking at her. She was dressed in male clothing and had shaved her head. She looked very much like the man she accompanied. The only thing that told Shane that the girl was a girl was her scent (which Shane could smell even over the rest of the passengers).

Shane pressed herself back against the cryotubes to allow the other passengers to pass her. She liked to get off ship last. That way no one was behind her, so she couldn't be stabbed in the back. It had been a lesson painfully learned. But the habit would now allow her to get closer to the pair that had caught her attention. They had almost reached her now, and as far as Shane could tell, they hadn't noticed her. Now that was strange. It was rare for people not to notice her when she wasn't trying to be inconspicuous. They were almost next to her when the girl finally noticed her. She paused for a moment, shock and a little fear evident on her face. Her pause caused her companion to also notice Shane. His face betrayed no shock or surprise, but she couldn't see his eyes (they were hidden behind a pair of dark goggles), so she couldn't be sure exactly what he was thinking.

"Go ahead." Shane purred, a little of her fangs showing, and she motioned for them to proceed. The man looked like he wanted to be the last off the ship, but obviously not wanting to cause a scene he just nodded politely and pushed his companion forward. While he tried to appear like nothing was amiss Shane noticed how his shoulders and back tightened, as if he expected an attack. How strange, she thought. She let the pair get little bit ahead of her in an attempt to make them feel more at ease before she followed them to the air lock.