Vacation: Night Chills

                            By:

                         Fox Cutter

03/05/96:

I passed down the hall of the ship, trying to blink the
sleep from my eyes. It was one in the morning, and I had my
jacket tucked under my arm, and was looking for a bed to
sleep in.

I had already decided against trying to bunk in Steven's
room, as he normally hits the sack around midnight. In fact,
I only knew one person on the ship who would still be up at
this time of night, and that was Samantha.

Stopping in front of her door (room 201) I gently knocked on
it. It was a bit of a risk dropping in during the middle of
the night, but she had invited me to after our last date.
Though I think her intentions were a bit out of sync with
mine.

Inside there was a bit of shuffling, and the door opened a
few inches. "Fox?"

"Yep."

She opened the door, standing just inside, dressed only in a
nightgown and robe. "What are you doing here?" she asked, a
slight smile on her face.

I shrugged. "Oh, the heat in my room is broken, and is down
really low. Oriana has no problem as she has fur, but I was
freezing. So I was wondering, mind if I steal your couch for
the night?"

She rolled her eyes, grinning a bit. "All right, come on
in."

I stepped past her, she being kind enough to hold the door
open, and threw my jacket onto the couch. Looking around her
room I was impressed, "This is more of an apartment than a
cabin."

"Yes," she said, standing beside me, "Most of the full-time
crew have one. I think there are only three of the crew have
a place off ship."

I nodded, walking around the main room. There was an open
kitchen to the side, and two doors, one open showing her
bedroom.

"Have a seat," she said, moving into the kitchen. "Want
anything to drink, a glass of wine perhaps?"

I shook my head. "Do you have any Rithen tea?"

She paused, "No... in fact, I've never even heard of that
blend."

"It's some of the best tea I have ever found. Makes
everything else taste like water."

"Where can I get it?"

"Um... Verse 132-738. It's a limited access, so you'll have
to go through your local trade council if you want some."

"Ah," she said, coming out of the kitchen. She handed me a
wine glass, "How did you come across it?"

I looked down at my glass. "Don't worry, it's water," she
said.

I grinned, and took a sip. "Thanks for remembering. How I
found it? Well I sort of landed in a field of it, on my
fourth or fifth time using the Folds."

She tilted her head. "You're a Fold Walker?"

I nodded. "Yep." I didn't mention that I was a Natural,
though. I don't usually fling that around. I find people
give me too much rank if they know about it.

"Listen, I'll go get you a blanket or two. I'll be right
back," she set her glass on a table as she said this.

As she went off, I noticed a single picture on the table.
Looking at it, I saw that it was a family picture, of two
adult raccoons, and a young kit, about eight or so I would
guess.

"That's Rachel, my daughter. We're divorced."

I nodded. "Cute kid. I take it she's with her father?"

"Nope, she's with her mother" she said, setting the blankets
onto the couch.

"You're her step-mother then?"

She grinned, "Wrong again."

I raised an eyebrow. "Care to explain?"

She chuckled a bit, and motioned to her body. "This is the
reason why her mother and I got divorced."

I blinked, then blinked again, then got it. "Oh. You make a
good female."

She laughed, "Most people tell me that, though usually the
guys say it AFTER they see everything."

I shook my head. "Don't push it," I said with a smile. As
much as I would have enjoyed jumping into bed with her, I
felt I didn't know her well enough yet.

She shrugged, looking slightly disappointed. "Your loss,"
she said, picking up my jacket, and throwing it onto a
chair, knocking something out of it.

I looked down at what fell out. "That's Oria's handbag."

Samantha picked it up, replacing what had fallen out, "Small
bag."

"Well she always..." I trailed off as my eye caught
something that Sam was putting back in. "Give me that."

She handed it over, "What's so important about that?"

It was a small glass vial, about an inch tall and thin with
a red plastic stopper in it. Holding it up to the light I
saw it was half-filled with a light blue liquid.

Gently prying the stopper off, I sniffed it, and smelled
nothing. Then I gently caught a drop on my finger, and
tasted it. I knew exactly what the taste was, and I spat it
out into my water, stopping the vial back up.

Sam looked at me as I held the vial, my hands were shaking.
"What is it?"

I closed my eyes. "It is Bliss," I said with a heavy voice.

"What?"

I shivered, not believing this. "It is _THE_ addictive drug
of choice."

"WHAT!"

I looked her right in the eyes, "This is a new vial, as it
can only last a few days without some kind of special
storage, otherwise it breaks down. Which means someone is
selling it on your ship."

She sat down in the couch. "Oh shit!"

I nodded sitting down next to her, still holding the Bliss
tightly in my hand.

"And," I paused licking my lips, "of the two doses, one has
been taken..."


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This story is copyright 1996-2003 by Fox Cutter. Hardcopy
reprints limited to one per person, all other rights
reserved. This story may not be distributed for a fee except
by permission of the author, and this copyright notice may
not be removed.