Creators by James C. Glass

Author:James C. Glass [Glass, James C.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Science Fiction
ISBN: 9780759253124
Publisher: e-reads.com
Published: 2002-01-02T05:00:00+00:00

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CHAPTER THIRTEEN

RANI

Rani-Tan slept soundly for over an hour on the mag-lev trip south out of Jensi City, but remained somewhat groggy when the train pulled into the terminal at Congress Center. Her legs were stiff from sleeping in a cramped position across three adjoining seats in the train, and her stomach now growled insistently from hunger.

The flight north from the sea had been bad enough; it was her first experience on a flyer and the flight had been full, sixty people crammed in shoulder to shoulder with hot sunlight beating down on them, and no food service. Babar had warned her about this so she'd eaten a full meal before liftoff, but was hungry again at touchdown in Jensi City. No problem, she thought. The mag-lev terminal was three levels directly below the flyer port and she had over two hours before the departure of her train. Plenty of time for a bowl of gruel passing for barley in this part of Shanji, and perhaps some fresh fruit. Her mouth had watered at the thought as she came out into a terminal crammed with white-suited people who stared at her tri-colored robe as if she were an alien being. Their staring was not friendly, and she thought it rude. She ignored it, and followed the signs to the baggage claim area.

Moving walkways sped her down a long corridor of white marble lit softly from ceiling panels. Three walkways ran close together in parallel, at slow, intermediate and high speeds. They ran far into the distance, so following the example of her fellow travelers she hopped from one to the other to obtain maximum speed. Not only hunger drove her; after a four hour flight, her bladder was now urging some haste in locating a restroom.

At the end of the ride someone jostled her as she attempted a hop to the slow walkway and she exited at intermediate speed, nearly falling on her face. People laughed at her as if she were a peasant from the countryside--which she was. The fact she was also a Tumatsin representative to the Peoples' Congress would likely make no difference to them. It was another thing Babar had warned her about. The arrogance of Jensi citizens was well known everywhere on Shanji, but now Rani was experiencing it. And there were new surprises awaiting her.

She found a restroom, but a heavy woman in a beige uniform sat at a little table just inside the entrance, her hand outstretched. "Fifty ban," the woman said sullenly.

Rani bit her lip to avoid a rude answer. She fumbled the traveling purse from her robe pocket, found a fifty ban piece and slapped it down on the table. The woman glanced at it and frowned.

The stalls were closed, with coin-operated locks. Another fifty ban. She found another coin, but it wouldn't fit the lock. She rattled the door. "What's wrong here? My coin doesn't fit!"

"You must use Jensi-ban," said the guardian of the restroom. "If you have no money, go to the end of the stalls to do your business.

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