Ch. 1.1

The Human Bearer

1.

Riordan watched dispassionately as his luggage was transferred on the conveyor belt and waited, trying hard to rein in the slight tremble in his fingers as he smoothened out the pockets of his old kaki jacket. A small glimpse in the mirror like surface of the bot handling the luggage could tell him he looked tired. He searched for the small vitamin infuser in his right pocket. A small puff had to be enough to bring back the shininess in his black eyes, and to make the small fine lines around them disappear. One day away from being 30, he wasn't old, but he was not the youngest of the batch of human bearers either.

He stole a few glances around him, as he used another puff for good measure. His face was attractive enough by human standards, but there was no way he could tell what a Xeno bitch like the one who had bought him would like. The smooth black hair reached his shoulder and he had spent a small fortune on hair care products to make it shine, too. The first impression counted, and while he could have spent more on new clothes, he wanted to capitalize on what he knew were his assets, aka his face. He just hoped his owner was not going to reject him. Maybe the Xeno wanted a baby faced youngster like many around him? He had sent his file ahead and he had been accepted, but that didn't mean Xenos could not change their minds. They were known as fickle creatures.

He sighed. At least, they were not going to make him return the initial fee he had been paid. The not so bright side was that he had already spent that on smelling nice and super vitamins to make him look younger without having to go under the knife and purchase artificial enhancements. Not that he had that kind of money anyway. Unlike other humans around him who looked almost 100% plastic.

It was not like he could afford to look down on the others. But nonetheless he showed teeth when a china doll with perfect symmetric features and eyes as blue as the sky grimaced after a quick look down his clothes. Whatever, they were all whores for hire anyway. They were all here for the pay.

The luggage felt heavy and real in his hand, after the interplanetary flight that had made him feel weightless. He was still not used to this type of travel.

Another bot stood in front of him, waiting. Unlike on Earth, where humans were obsessed with making bots look humanoid, here, on Xeno, robots were a dull affair, tall thin cylinders with a front panel for scanning information. Riordan showed the plastic tag inserted in his wrist and the bot blinked green and began moving away, Riordan on its tail.

The transportation device seemed comfortable despite its dubious design. Riordan had to lay in an almost flat position. Probably Xenos could care less about watching the scenery on the road to their destination. Riordan almost felt like sleeping, but now it was no time to treat things lightly.