So she ignored the strong urge to go back to the ship, instead allowing the human tide to sweep her along, deeper into the station. The desire to go back didn't fade, if anything got stronger as the minutes passed, getting closer to the deadline when Aiden would leave without her. But she pushed it to the back of her mind.
Maybe if she could find the people in charge of this spaceport, they'd have some office where they offered advice and assistance to people like her who needed help. Not just with finding out about her past, but with possibly starting a new life that didn't involve flying around in a pirate ship getting shot at.
It was good to keep her options open.
It turned out that finding Midpoint's administrative offices wasn't all that hard, after asking around with some of the friendlier looking people she passed. Unfortunately, once she got there she soon discovered that they weren't exactly the type to go out of their way to help someone in need.
In fact, ignorant of the universe as her lost memories had left her, she still found it obvious that they were more than happy to exploit her. The man she spoke to was quick to recommend employment opportunities on the station, almost all of which involved sex work. And pretty much all of them stipulated some kind of contract that said she couldn't leave for five, ten, even twenty years once she signed on.
“Of course,” he said with a slight smirk, eyeing her in a way that made her uncomfortable. “I might be able to find you a better job if you make it worth my while.”
Lana wasn't quite sure what that meant. She tried taking out the few remaining chits from what Aiden had given her, but the administrator just laughed. “No, if you wanted to bribe me it would take a lot more than that. Luckily you've got something else valuable that I'm interested in.”
She still didn't have any idea what he meant; it took a bit more hinting before he outright explained what he wanted, in great detail, as if she was some kind of idiot.
Disgusted, Lana immediately left. She didn't know exactly what sex work entailed, but if the crew of the Last Stand considered themselves to have saved her from an ignoble fate by freeing her from slavery in a brothel, why would she willingly sign on to the same life in some filthy, noisy, dangerous spaceport?
Getting shot at as a privateer seemed like a better alternative.
That inner voice was now screaming that it was time for her to go back to the ship, before they left her behind in this miserable place. But she saw that she still had time, and anyway, Aiden had suggested she use the leftover chits to buy a snack. That was surprisingly tempting at the moment, since the discouragement of the last couple futile hours had left her ravenous.
It turned out that once she returned to the loudest, noisiest part of the station, it wasn't hard to find people selling food. In fact, food and entertainment were the main things on offer, along with various novelties a curious buyer might purchase on impulse. She found a stand with a line in front of it offering meat and vegetables roasted on skewers, and with the surprisingly cheap prices was able to buy two with her remaining chits.
As soon as Lana took her first bite she realized two things: first, that putting hot food in her mouth burned it, which was so painful tears blurred her eyes, and she heard people around her snickering as she hastily spat it out.
Second, that meat and vegetables roasted on skewers were delicious, even tasted with a burned tongue. So delicious, in fact, that she finally realized that eating could be enjoyable, not just a way of meeting a bodily need.
Lana savored the food as she ambled along the concourse, searching for the place where she'd first entered it from the Last Stand's dock. As the minutes passed she discovered with worry that she couldn't find it, in fact, didn't recognize anything around her, which meant she must've wandered into a part of the station she hadn't been in yet.
She slowed down, holding the two half-empty skewers, and looked around. Did she go back, search the other way? Or since the station was a big circle did she keep going, hope to get back to something she recognized? She wasn't sure how big the concourse was, and had no idea if her visit to the administrative offices had taken her more than halfway around.
And her glances at various time displays showed she had less than an hour to find it.
After a bit of deliberation she kept going, quickening her pace to almost a jog, skewers held forgotten in one hand. At some point, she must've had the idea of leaving the concourse to run along the corridors on the inner ring, which would be a shorter distance and take her directly to the Last Stand's dock.
She left the crowds behind and hurried through more empty corridors, mostly full of workers busily loading and unloading cargo. Instead of shops and vendor kiosks, the walls here were mostly lined with notices and station schedules. Lana barely even glanced at them in their hurry, at least until a familiar looking ship on a notice caught her eye.
She froze, recognizing the menacing, martial image of the Last Stand that Ali had shown her when she asked to know more about the ship they were on. One taken before they'd made renovations to its
