"Don't much know how it all got started....", sighin' and tryin' to put all my thought together, "B'twixt tryin' to do some work for BlueSun and doin' a search, stuff just, well..... Happens. Seems some of it started with hidin' Lily and Seana gettin' all riled I took her. Ok.... So maybe I wasn't all in my right mindset. But when you get blinded for a long while you tend to not see with your eyes....." but with your heart. Can't admit to it when so much is at stake. "Hell, Xoxo's been a mite nice to me of late. Even gave me some work settin' up stuff at the new BlueSun offices on Washburne. So maybe I pulled her out of the water on Dragon's Egg and called for help. Didn't think she'd be owin' me nothin'. Then she asks me to go and find the cub."
Somehow she figured it'd be good to search on Al Raqis. Headed there the first time only to get a lot of 'liance chatter. Seems they were tryin' to find me. Tillery got hold of me on my personal comm and got me to a safer spot to hole up for the night til I could get back to Dragon's Egg. Xoxo needed transport to Colchester to talk to someone there 'bout storage for some of the company stuff. Tabi was over at the Dragon so we went on in. Was a mite cold out there. Dark too. Didn't bother me much seein' as I can see pretty good in the dark. Anyway, Xoxo and Tabi talked..... Didn't much like how Xoxo was goin' on 'bout me bein' one of her boy's. I do some freelance work for her, but I don't work for the gorram company."
Lookin' out of the ship window, could see the station spinnin' slow in the black over the new moon that was gonna be home. Depends on how you see it. At this point anywhere is home.... "After Droppin' Xoxo at the station, was able to stop at the waterin' hole to get a drink and see who all was 'round..", had to grin at seein' her again. "Brooke was there! of all the folks I hadn't seen in a long spell, it was her. Told me she was out here on her own.... of sorts. Sounded like Dex left her... Gorram Shame. And the kids were in a good school. She looked a mite sad from the way she was tellin' me 'bout her. One bright note.... AT&S Was bein' set up on the station to help keep the business runnin'. Good thing too. Better up there then on the ground. reduces the fuel costs for cargo haulin' and salvage."
Put in a final call to the flight crew for dockin' then prepped for linkin' up with the dockin' ring, "Strange thing.... Been gettin' some pics on my data pad screen. Most were of what looked like AuroraBlue and her wanderin's....One of the first pics I got was a mite blurred but its what got Xoxo wantin' me to search for Anna. Said I needed to find her pronto. Then got more random pics." The ship bumped against the dockin' ring. Could hear the magnetic clamps seal tight against the hull. "Didn't want to believe it, but when I first got to Al Raqis the last time, it was like some kind of static in the air.... Somehow the sands were more bright... but it's all how you see it I s'pose. Went wanderin' for days out in the heat and sand 'til I found a scent. It was faint, but real familiar. AuroraBlue.
Started shuttin' down the systems and engines b'fore goin' to the airlock, "Seems there was one pic that stood out. Been told of this Ardra bein'. Even got sent a pic of it... her... Aiya, don't know what to call Ardra....But there it, she was. A few other pics showed AuroraBlue touchin' her. That had me a mite unsettled. Who wouldn't be. From what all Lily was workin' on for her...." Grabbed my jacket and small duffel then went to the hatch, "Got a bunch of pics from some source.... Blue maybe."
"That second flight to Al Raqis had me on days of huntin' for clues and askin' 'round to see if anyone had contact with AuroraBlue. Found her tent and some mixed cargo she had tucked behind and in her small tent. Decided to leave her a feather. One from Dragon's Egg. Found it down by the water... Ice was meltin'. Eagles. Meant somethin' important to me." Opened the hatch and stepped into the canned atmo of the station. Had to let talk to Xoxo on the last shipment what came to Washburne.
"Spoke to some folks to see if they spotted Anna. Xoxo'd mentioned some pilot named Georgia. Found her a day or two after findin' the tent in the hills. She said the cub'd been there... After a long talk on explainin' who all I was and why I was searchin' for her."My boots clanged on the station deck grates all the way to the lift., "Ended up doin' some calls back and forth b'fore sendin' AuroraBlue's bear to Georgia to give to her. if nothin' else it'd let AuroraBlue know I was lookin' for her and was thinkin' of her. Said that when Anna was ready to come home, I'd head back and pick her up. My gravity was back and stronger now."
The lift was bein' a mite slow today... Too slow. "Then yesterday I get a new set of pics... Was of Anna setti' with a beggar. But then the pic was different.... Took me a mo to figure it out. One showed her settin' with the old feller..... the next.... Was a whole new angle. The beggar was still settin' as he was... Just the angle of the view was.... "Gorram it. Stupid lift finally decided to stop at my level. "Meant a new set of eyes. Well, sort of.... Its a mite strange.... Blue's been sendin' the pics. Least thats what I figured. Showin' where all Anna's been and what all she's been up to.... Now its a whole new view. Like Blue's with her... In her?"
Got into the lift and hit the lower level office button. Started pacin' on the way down...."So it's not just AuroraBlue lookin'.... might be Blue's in there too. Yeah, yeah.... Maybe I'm a mite touched. You'd be too if you kept bouncin' from cold to hot a couple times in a couple weeks. But seein' is beleivin'.... Just got to wait and see."
"While on Al Raqis, grabbed one of the reward posters. Xoxo had someone set em out so if anyone found her, Xoxo'd know. Its how I ended up runnin' 'round the desert. Hell, I'd run out there again to find AuroraBlue. The sands or the snow... Don't matter much when it comes to her. Gravity bein' back makes everythin' a lot different... How we see stuff..... Everyone sees it different. Just happens to be in the eye of the beholder I s'pose." Xoxo's office. on this level. Got loff the lift and grumbled all the way to the door.... Eye of the beholder... Wonder how other folks see it...
