Escaping Relativity
Chapter 19

“I can’t believe you just did that,” Xander said, one hand on his hip, the other gesturing at Lennie.

“Why not?” Charlie looked up at him.

He seemed so much taller from down here. It was the second time in as many minutes that she’d been on her knees in front of him; well counting the store, that made three times. Sheesh! She was going to have to stop making a habit out of it. Charlie could hear her mother in her mind, “It isn’t seemingly for a young lady to act anything but like a lady, Charlotte.” She just shook her head and stood up.

“Why not?,” Xander asked her back sarcastically. “Because you could get hurt, or killed!”

“Oh, I get it... I might get killed saving Rolara, and then won’t be able to save Brick too. Don’t worry, Xander, I’ll live, I’m not done yet. I’ll save Rolara and Brick, and everything will be fine.”

“Charlie, damn it! That’s not what I meant,” Xander argued, but it fell on deaf ears.

“It’s okay, Xander. I know, and it’s okay. Can you tell me where I need to go to freshen up, and do you have anything other than this I could wear? I don’t think this is quite slaver style, they’d probably walk right by me.”

“Huh? What? Clothes...um, I don’t know, we took a haul last lunar cycle and if there’s anything at all left, there might be some in the repository. It’s down the way there, not far, to the left.”

Charlie walked away while Xander was still confused. It was always her best tactic, changing subjects so fast it took a computer to keep up, then ending on a close-ended question with directions. It worked every time.

Being nosey, Charlie looked through mostly perfectly made rooms until she found a room that had several different boxes and crates in it. Some were open, some were still sealed, but there were tools on a shelf built into the wall. Picking up a long piece of metal, it took most of her strength to pull it away. Imagine that. The shelf was magnetic, to make sure nothing would fall in any kind of crash or bad driving, she supposed.

Finally, she had the tool in hand and went to work on the nearest crates first. By the third crate, she found something. It wasn’t exactly a dress, it looked to be a monk’s cloak, but she could make it work. She headed into what looked like a bathroom, and the door swooshed closed behind her. They were all pocket doors on steroids, and she didn’t even have to press a button to operate them. She was up to date on all the latest technology on Earth, but she was seeing some things that were way out of her pay-grade and clearance level here.

There was a square place on the floor, and only because it was in a corner of the room, and because it was made of a different material, she wanted to assume it to be the shower. This time, there was some buttons on the wall, so she went ahead and undressed, hanging her own clothes in a crate on the wall. She wasn’t sure if that’s what the empty bin was for, but it was going to have to work as a hamper right now. She took off her jewelry and placed them on another magnetic shelf. Those things were nifty.

Standing just outside the square, she hit one button, and jumped away just in time as a hard, clear material incased the square from ceiling to floor. Sprays of water moved from bottom to top and down again, followed by a soapy spray, followed by another spray of water then air from the top down. Of all things holy! They wanted her to go through a car wash! For Pete’s sake, was it the only way?

Okay, she could do this, she could do this, it was just a shower, and the walls were see through, so there was that. No need for her claustrophobia to kick in. Suddenly the walls were gone, and she’d felt a relief she didn’t know she was counting on. She was thankful it was over, when she hadn’t even had her shower yet. Alright. She could do this.

Nodding her head, she steadied herself. Walking into the middle of the square, she pushed the button and got ready. The walls enclosed her, but she’d been expecting that. Then, the water started up and she held her breath, quickly spinning around and jumping as it began to shoot in areas propelled water had no business going. Shit! She hadn’t thought about that! It wasn’t but a few seconds later and the soapy water started and her dance continued, without, her not being able to help her natural reaction. But by the time the second round of water came through, all could think about was having that damned soap out of the places it went, so she stood still cursing the entire time, and praying the air was the most effective part of the bathing process.

As soon as the clear walls disappeared she ran so fast, she almost busted her ass getting from one flooring to the next. She was definitely clean and most certainly dried, but be damned if she was going through that again. She didn’t care how dirty she got.

Turning her attention back to the task at hand, she began putting the monk robe on. It looked like it was some kind of ceremonial thing, it was pitch black, with a beautiful stripe of camel colored satin-type fabric with burgundy stitch-work. The inside was soft and comfortable, the outside was rich. Too bad it was going to have to see her knife. She was going to have to show enough skin to make someone pay attention, but be demure enough to not draw too much attention.

The first thing she did was cut off the sleeves, the next thing she did was cut two slits up the front of each of her legs on either side of the beautiful camel and burgundy pattern. The slits were up to mid thigh. She couldn’t allow it to be much higher or she would show too much. The next thing she did was take her hair and put it up in a messy bun, strands of hair wisped over her face, but her neck was empty and her neckline was low but not low enough to show cleavage. Taking one of the sleeves, she made a belt to cinch the fabric around her waist, showing the extent of her curves without making the garment skin tight. This was it, there was only one thing left to be done.

She put her boots on, making certain her knife was in one boot and Lady was in the other. Then she walked out of the restroom and onto the command deck, or whatever it was called. She was going to have to find these things out. It would make her thoughts so much easier to think.

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