Chapter 26

The 4km ride on the Mag-train from the main Spaceport that was close to Gamma was fun.

Senior Detective Darla Taylor met us at the station. We then loaded our gear into what Darla called a buggy as they weren’t enclosed, they didn’t fly, and they had had large, heavy wheels. She escorted us to our accommodation, where we were supposed to be living for the next two years.

I wasn’t impressed. We’d had a larger apartment at the Enoggera Army Base, and it was certainly not as filthy or in a poor state of repair as this one was. As we looked around at the dump, she mentioned the cost of our accommodation.

She told us that due to price rises on Luna, we would be charged ten percent more than we had been told on Earth, and it would automatically come out of our pay. I asked if we had to live in the assigned accommodation.

“Well, no, but you won’t find cheaper, it’s very expensive to live here. You won’t get the UNSEC subsidy if you move out,” she warned us.

I made a call while I stood there looking at her. “Hello, is it possible to speak to my Aunty Anne? It’s Danny Carmichael calling.”

I waited a moment as her personal secretary switched me through to Anne. “Aunty Anne, is your offer still available? We have arrived safe and sound, but the room we were offered is appalling. I wouldn’t house a pig in this sty.”

I waited for her to stop giggling at my choice of animal being ‘a pig’, and she rattled off an address and a name. I thanked her and looked at the woman, who was supposed to be my new boss, and repeated the address and told her who would be there to meet us.

Darla blanched and took us back to the buggy. She drove us through an airlock and down a 3km tunnel into one of the other Domes. It was really cool looking into outer space through the wide Oznglass tunnel that surrounded us and seeing the other domes that had darkened to block out most of the sunlight.

The new dome was called Alpha-IV, and it was the first Community Dome built back in 2057. Considering its age, it had weathered well, and the buildings in it had been maintained a lot better than those in the dome that we had just come from. It was originally designed to house about two thousand people.

As we entered the quadrant, I noticed that it had a large sign proclaiming it to be the property of Connors Corp. International. This dome only had four quadrants and no inner cap. The buildings were interesting as they looked like a pile of children’s blocks piled into the inner corner of the quadrant.

Darla parked outside one of the building entrances that had a sign saying, ‘Connors Tower’ over the doors. We grabbed our stuff and followed her to a check-in counter like those you’d find in most hotels. It was surprisingly upmarket looking and tastefully decorated.

I asked for Sarah Connors and said that I was her cousin. Two minutes later, a tall, pretty blue-eyed blonde was hugging me.

“Danny, I’m so glad you decided to stay with us after all. Wow! Where did you find the hunk? You lucky thing, he is darling.”

I introduced Justin as my husband to her, and she gave him a quick hug.

“I’ve met your father, the Major. He is such a dear. I’m not surprised he kept you away at school, Justin. You must have had the devil of a time, keeping the women off you.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure those in the know are aware that you have been claimed by a Connors. Once word gets around, your virtue will be safe. We Connors women do tend to be a bit protective of our males.”

Sarah turned to Darla, “Thank you for collecting them, SD Taylor. I was under the impression that they were coming tomorrow, or I would have met them. The family will show them around1 and I’ll bring them to work with me next week.”

Darla forced a smile and then turned and left without a word. She hadn’t spoken to us since we got back into the buggy to leave the horrible apartment.

Once she was out of earshot, Sarah said, “Fuckme! She is such a bitch. Did she try that increased rent and crappy accommodations on you, Danny?”

“And it was a hovel,” I added without hiding my disgust.

Sarah shook her head. “They are only hovels because the owner, who I won’t mention, refuses to keep up with the maintenance. It amazes me that they can look so bad already, considering Gamma is only ten years old.”

“I’m surprised and appalled that she tried it on you. Not very smart of her, considering that you’re detectives, and you are assigned to be on her team. You would have found out with a call to Humanities that you were being ripped off.”

“Not to worry, Nanna said to put you up at our place. At the moment, we have four suites free that we keep just for the family. Other members of the family are off doing other things. You won’t get kicked out, as it’s first in, best dressed, with our lot.”

“So, what do we owe in rent?” I asked her as she led us to a lift after helping us grab our stuff.

“Nothing, you’re family. We own this whole dome. It costs us the same if the room is empty, as if someone is in it. Now, it’s a self-contained apartment. If you wish to purchase or order up food and cook it yourself, that’s your prerogative.”