Chapter 87 A date with a fashionista

Luke closed the gate and went back inside. In the living room, there was a fidgeting, Ned was standing in the room, looking around irritably, croaking.

"What do you mean, a dump? A bit of tidying up and everything will be shipshape again." 

She looked at him doubtfully. She let out a long, drawn-out squeak.

"What do you mean, a dump? Give me an example!"

She raised an eyebrow and growled. 

"That's a one-off, Ned!"

She laughed in reply.

"Come on, I'll show you that beach I told you about." 

He walked across the terrace outside, in front of which was a large pool and a staircase leading down to the beach. Ned followed him, gazing out to sea, croaking.

"Well, this is a secluded area and there's an electric fence around the property."

She touched the water with her toes. Luke grinned, heard the doorbell ring again.

"So today is really ..., you can go in." 

He went to the gate, saw several SUVs parked. 

Sue got out, ran to the gate.

"You said the place had come down."

" It is, until everyone said. "

Her grandfather got out of one of the SUVs, came closer. 

" I ... I'm sorry ..." 

"Then come in." 

He opened the gate for the SUVs to enter and they drove in. He closed the gate and went to the house. His mother looked around.

" He really came down here. "

"Landscaping company is coming in the next few days and painters for the facade too. The technicians said the house is fine, a few minor things. " 

Babsi, Gitte and Liz got out of the SUV. It was she who came running up to him and gave him a hug.

"You see, the beard wasn't an act," Babsi said. 

"It's real, I'll probably lose it when I'm back in the core system." he patted Liz on the head. 

They went inside.

"Bettina said she found drugs on you," came from Gitte.

"From the local gangs." He went to the sofa.

" Sit down."

They did so. 

"So, I've got water, canned coffee and Pepsi."

 His mother looked at him in horror.

" Luke, the Ai, is going to balance your account in the next few hours. "

"When Sue said you were living in a dump, we ..." Babsi looked around.

"I'll stay here for now. It's expandable. "

" But what about the gangs?"

" There are shark-infested waters, they end up in them. So no problem. " He looked at his watch, then at Babsi.

"You asked me about the markers then, why?"

Babsi blinked.

"There was one of those things dug up in Europe, from the looks of it, but the auction's over..." 

"Hhmm" Luke went to a shelf, pushed things aside, found a tablet from the house system and clicked through. A holo window opened up in front of the sofa, with a lot of flickering. Luke looked at it.

"Hhmm, I guess I'll have to get some of these at auction," he walked over to the sofa. 

"Who did the auction?"

" Some fashion czar. " 

Luke typed in the search term, found the auction.

"They didn't sell, they're supposed to sell again. Hhmm tomorrow, actually."

He clicked on the auction, clicked on participation and the large form popped up. With a waiting list. 

"Great, just for fashion freaks." 

"Why are you suddenly interested in this?" Alex asked.

"Oh, just an instruction from a bigwig. The time difference is getting on her nerves to annoy me even more. "

" Time difference?"

" Sure." He pulled out his cell phone.

" Bettina also said that she saw an alien bride..."

Luke looked up.

" The bigwig I was talking about."

" Why?"

" It's slower here than in the core systems and when I find and activate anchors, it adapts to the core systems. That's why I want to see if it's really an anchor. "

"Uh-huh..." 

Luke went through the numbers, found one from Leo. He pressed it and it beeped.

"Yes, hello?" came from Leo.

"Hello Leo, do you happen to have Bill's number?"

" Luke?! "

" And are you still living with your parents?"

" Uh ... no ... Ted and I have a plantation now ... but my parents still have the farm ... why? You've been away for so long, I mean ..."

"Been away Leo" he went to the fridge and pulled out a coffee pot.

"You've been saying that since school Luke."

"I'll stop by your parents' house in a few days. Do you have Bill's number?"

" Yes. We meet up from time to time. I'll send it to you."

She hung up suddenly, it beeped and he got the number, which he clicked on and waited.

"What?! I said I don't want to know anything about you idiots!" he said, extremely annoyed.

"Hey Bill!"

" Luke darling!" 

"What are you doing tomorrow?"

" Oh darling, just doing stupid snipes to me."

" Do you want to go to a fashion auction with me? "

" Darling, since when are you interested in fashion? "

" Ah, more for the stuff, but they say. Only for fashion people, and you're the only one I know there."

"Oh darling, that touches my heart. The look on TV is still your look?"

Luke had no idea what he was saying.

"Uh, yeah. I'm wearing a beard at the moment. "

" You come by my place tomorrow morning. Get dressed and we'll have a nice auction night, see you tomorrow!" 

He hung up and sighed. 

"So?" came from Gitte.

"Well, I've got a date with Modezarin."

They stared at him.

"I'm sure we could have got a place there, Luke."

"Yeah, but this way I get some more clothes and I need new ones anyway."

Liz shook her head. 

"The clothes look really good on you..."

Luke grinned.

" With old suit, at least I could walk around in core systems without attracting attention. "

Babsi looked at him, perplexed.

"What are these core systems?"

"The centers of power, in short. They set the official language, the laws, etc. etc. "

" I see, and what does that have to do with us?"

" Well, since the Trade Alliance is here, their laws apply here too. The taxes from here are paid with the trade goods. "

" Wait, since when do we have to pay them taxes..."

" Since the first contact and the ability to deliver products. Otherwise we'd just be a useless planet, low civilization. They would just sit in orbit, study everything and then decide what we do here. Either isolate until the technology is advanced enough. Extract or wipe out with bombs and recolonize. "

" And you know ... "

Luke took a drag on the fag.

" Huh?"

" How do you know that?"

"I've been reading in the archives and watching holotapes." 

A loud splash could be heard outside from the swimming pool.

"What was that?" asked his mom.

" Oh, my roommate decided to go to the pool. "

" Roommate?" Luke nodded, went to the patio door and got out. Ned was swimming in the pool.

"That's your roommate, an . Alien?" came from Gitte. Alex was as white as a sheet.

"Yep, yep. She's been complaining for ages that there's nothing on the moon and she'll only get fat there. So," he pointed to Pool. 

"Alex what?" asked Babsi.

"The emissary of the trade alliance..." 

Ned dived down and resurfaced with his head on the edge of the pool, looking at Luke and the others. 

"The water's too cold, can you at least make it warm?" 

Luke walked along the edge and stopped in front of small terminals attached to the edge.

"Here, you can make yourself warm, too, add stuff."

Ned swam to him, looked at the terminal and tapped on it. 

" Your water looks so warm from above, brr just too cold." She looked at the can in Luke's hand, reached for it and sipped. Looked at Alex.

"There." 

Gitte nudged Alex.

"Eh, sure, I thought I wasn't allowed down ..."

Ned swam in her direction, put his arms on the edge and sipped the can.

"It's more for the getting to know you protocol, Viren Ppff. "

She sipped the can again.

Luke took a drag on the cigarette.

"Luke, how are you going to get there?" asked Gitte.

Luke looked at her. 

" With the express to the airport, I'll pick Bill up in the morning and we'll be there in the evening, that should work."

" Let's do the transportation there."

"Okay." 

"And how are you going to get to Bill?" 

He grinned.

"I'll teleport."

Ned looked at him.

" You've reached the limit for the next two days, otherwise the system will be overloaded."

" Why? I've used the teleporters in the central system a lot."

Ned emptied the can.

"We only have the basic equipment here."

He hung his head. 

"Why do I get the feeling he's gotten used to it?"

Ned looked at Babsi.

"The bad thing is that even though the biodata is stored, there's always a risk in the calculation. "

"Well, I'll have to get a car." 

" Isn't there one here in the house?"

" Hhmm yes, but they're not in order, they've been sitting around for years. "

He went into the garage, there were a few cars there, but they were either rusted out or had been scrapped by the gangs. The only thing that still looked roadworthy was an old Jeep Wrangler, built in 1992, matt gray. 

He inspected it, opened the hood, everything looked fine. He looked around the garage, at least the tools were still there, so he changed the fluids and replaced the battery. Poured gasoline into the tank, because the bandits here apparently had their own vehicles. 

Got behind the wheel, looked for the keys.

"How can you do that?" his mother asked.

"Mechanic training in the armed forces and non-stop repairs to my spaceship."

She sat down in the passenger seat.

"Why didn't you ask about the cars you ..."

He found the keys.

"Well, Grandpa took the BMW. She crashed the Ford."

He started the car, which sputtered to life. 

"I took everything I cared about back then. Even the wreck of the Ford." He checked the gauges.

"But it'll be a while before I've repaired and upgraded it." 

He turned off the engine. His mother looked at him.

" What, gas isn't popular out there, so something modern is coming in. House, I don't care, can keep it. " He got out of the jeep.

They talked for a while longer and then headed out. Ned spotted the hot tub in a bathroom and settled into it. He ordered something to eat, and after an initial skeptical look from Ned, she tried it. 

When he was about to leave the next morning, Ned stopped him.

"Where are you going?"

"To get some clothes and then to an auction."

She stared at him.

" You need clothes? "

" Well ... Variety wouldn't be bad, to be honest. "

Luke groaned inwardly. He pulled out the nanobag and rummaged around in it, pulling out a set of cloaking chips he'd gotten from John at some point. Never used and, as far as he knew, still the most advanced. 

He attached them to her head and put an inconspicuous chain around her neck. She watched him curiously. He picked up his cell phone and activated a program.

"The flaps only here on the planet, they don't know that. So what skin color?"

She thought about it.

"Like the ones on TV. Blonde hair..." 

Luke programmed, pressed the start button. She gasped for air, grabbed her head, rushed to a mirror and looked in it.

"Is that just holo?" 

" Well, it's changed your physical appearance." 

" Ohh!" She patted herself down. 

10 minutes later he raced to Bill's mansion, stopped when the gate opened and went inside. 

Bill came out in what he thought was an offending colorful robe.

"Darling! " he looked at Ned, who was still busy with her fingernails.

" so Luke, barely dumped my sister and already new ones?" 

Luke raised an eyebrow.

"Well, that's my roommate and an alien."

" I see. And why does she look like those things that run around down at the beach?"

"She's got class." Ned got out, walked over to Luke and looked at Bill.

"Sorry about the circumstances. " 

" ah, how polite come in " They followed him. 

Inside, it looked the same as always. 

"Where did you leave Eddie?" 

Bill looked at Luke.

" I kicked him out, he cheated on me for a tennis player. A tennis player! If it had been a rugby player, I'd have forgiven him, but Tennnis. Phew!" 

He turned to the two of them. 

"So if it's an alien, I want to see it. "

Ned looked at Luke.

"Go ahead, Bill's better than what's traveling in the core system when it comes to clothes."

Ned pressed a button on the chain and changed into his alien form. 

Bill came closer and scrutinized them. 

"Oh, lots of human parts, that's easy. Luke, since you were talking about fashion, do you have anything from other aliens?" 

"Like what?"

Bill tapped his lip. 

"A fashion catalog would be best."

"I'll get you one." 

Bill buzzed around Ned, measuring her completely, scurrying to clothes racks and pulling out several items. Ned had to try them on. Luke got a suit without a vest and tie.

Luke put it on.

"It's plainer than the others."

Bill nodded.

"That's true, but it's completely stain-resistant. Elastic and made of nanofabric. "

"Ah, that changes the shape."

" Right, but I don't have the equipment to program it. So it's just nice fabric."

" I like it anyway. "

Ned had changed into futuristic office clothes and was looking at himself in the mirror with amusement. 

"She's really having fun ..." 

" Yep, and what are you going to wear?" 

Bill grinned.

"I've already got something on." 

He turned around and Luke remembered.

"Oh crap, now I forgot to send the registration there. "

"Darling, what do I care about a registration for the fashion auction, you'll see, how did you imagine we'd get there? Limo Jet?"

" Hhmm, you'll be surprised. "

They drove to the underground entrance where they were let through. Luke parked his car there and they took the subway to Europe. Sarah and Gills were waiting for them in the tower. They looked at each other superstitiously. 

Luke raised his hand.

"Hey! You guys still look so young when I was gone. "

They hugged. 

Walked to the garage, where an SUV was waiting and another, with a Global Force soldier standing next to it, staring at his watch. Sara and Gills grinned.

"Oh, Peter..." 

He raised his finger. 

"Don't start with that. I don't know what your boss has done, but I'm sure my squad will get you there and back."

Gills grinned.

"Peter, you're going to protect a fashion czar."

Peter looked at Luke.

"Him? Why would I be protecting Specter."

"Not Luke," Gills pointed at Bill.

Peter raised an eyebrow. 

"That's a fashion czar, so if you reach blindly into laundry baskets and find the first best one out, you're one?"

Bill looked at him.

"That's what makes the competition, I carefully pick out what annoys the others the most."

Peter nodded. 

"Good, then get in."