In the last part of New Life, we joined Loeta as she was aboard a ship heading to the capital planet of Free Space, Jex. While on the ship she made a friend, once on the planet she and the other Doshans were shown to their accommodations.
Here's a link to part 1 if you'd like to read it for yourself.
@killerwot/new-life-part-1
A knocking at the door woke Loeta up. She couldn't be sure how long she had been asleep, but the light coming through the window gave a pinkish hue to the whole room. Loeta imagined that it must mean it was the morning. She had never seen light like this but could remember reading, about Jex. Because of Jex's sun being rose-tinted the whole world looked pink during the day.
Loeta got up and walked over to the door, as she opened it she noticed the heat coming through before the person who was standing there. Dosha was more of a humid planet, unlike here which seemed to be more of a dry heat.
"Hello. I trust you slept well. I work for the New Life program and just wanted to stop in to give you these." The Doshan woman handed over a small bundle of paperwork, which Loeta took. "They are just some different job listings and sights to see while you're here on Jex. You're a Stem?" Loeta nodded as she finished. "I am," Loeta said as she inspected some of the papers. "I haven't decided on what I'd like to work as yet." She continued.
"That's okay, not every Doshan that arrives here, knows what they want to do. Just enjoy your time and get settled in. It'll come to you. Is there anything you need?" The woman asked at the end. "No, I'm alright." Loeta responded sluggishly.
With a nod, the woman looked to her left and turned back. "We operate out of the building by the entrance, if you need anything just ask in there. I best be off now to hand more papers out. Have a nice day." The woman smiled and began to walk away. "You too." Loeta said as she closed the door.
New Life. Loeta thought as she walked over to the window setting down the flyers and ads on the table. She opened the window which let in plenty of heat, but, also a lot of sounds. People chattering, ships in the nearby dockyard, and even some of the ad-boards that were fixed to the nearby buildings. She sat down in the chair beside the table and went through the paperwork.
Nothing caught her attention, apart from one. Project Preservation. For a greener future. As she read through their flyer, it seems that it's a project spearheaded by Doshan scientists. "Our goal is to bring the natural beauty back to every Free Space planet devastated by war. But, we need help. The Free Space government helps to fund the project, but, volunteers are what is needed. To make to journey back to Dosha to bring back seeds and insects for Jex. The Outer-Wilds have already been repopulated with at least 2% of the native plants and insects of the planet. But, we still have a long way to go. All we need is you."
Loeta finished reading but, knew that it wasn't something she would want to do. She flicked through the rest but, after seeing nothing she left all of the flyers and ads on the table. Looking out the window, the ships took her main attention. She watched as one took off and headed skyward, she knew at that moment that was what she wanted. To be a pilot.
She got herself dressed and headed out, glad that she decided to bring some light clothes for the journey to Jex. Because, after a few minutes of walking the heat began to get to her. Loeta made it to the dockyard within a couple of minutes and looked around for someone to talk to. It was full of people coming and going but, she wasn't sure whether any of them were workers or not. She was fixated on one ship in particular. It was a small vessel, kitted out with some weaponry. It didn't seem uniform though, more like a ship made up of a bunch of random ships parts.
There was a building over to the left-hand side of the dockyard so she figured that must be where the workers and pilots would be hanging out. Stepping inside she noticed it was dirty, oil, dust, and many different old parts of machinery lay throughout the building. She could hear talking though, so turned a corner into a smaller room, with some chairs throughout. Most were empty, bare a couple being used by a group of different people, she saw mainly humans but, there were Triskens and even another type she had never seen before. They were small with spikey hairs covering their whole body.
"Hello?" She asked the small crowd who stopped talking to turn and look at her. "Is it my birthday?" One of the humans asked as he began to grin. He stood up and walked over. "I'm looking for someone who works here." Loeta asked. "Well, we all work here. What do you need?" The human asked. "I'm looking for work, I want to be a pilot." The human nodded. "Well, you've come to the right place. Pilots are always wanted around here. What is your ship of choice?" He asked at the end.
"I don't know." Loeta had to think for a moment. The others in the room began to laugh. "I've never flown one before, I was hoping I could learn here." She continued. "This isn't a flight school. I doubt you'll find a pilot around here looking to teach either. Usually, people come in with experience before asking for work." Loeta looked around at the grinning faces of the others in the room and a wave of embarrassment washed over her. "If you go and do some tests there'll be work here for you, but, no. Nobody around here is going to be hiring an inexperienced co-pilot. So we can't help you."
Loeta nodded and walked back outside into the Dockyard, hearing the others back in the room break out laughing once more. She, thought then maybe she could ask in the New Life building if they could sign her up for flight school. Or at the very least, put her in touch with some kind of teacher.
Loeta decided then though, that before asking she would clear her head by going for a walk around the city. She thought it would be good for her to get to know the area a bit if she was going to be spending the next few years here.
The city was busy, the people didn't seem friendly. Each person she passed by seemed to stare through her. At one point she considered stopping into one of the bars she passed, but, in the end, decided against it. The Ad-boards blared out their audio recording, which echoed throughout the streets she walked down. At one point she felt as though she was being programmed, imagining briefly that the ads were turning her and everyone in the vicinity into mindless zombies. That was just a fleeting feeling, one which she almost had to laugh at herself for thinking.
It was a few hours into her walk when she reached a street that wasn't as busy as the main walkway. She could hear some chatter from not far away, looking to see a Trisken, squatting by a ship. While a human hunched over watching the Trisken. Loeta approached them as they were in mid-conversation. Each was wearing simular looking clothes. Leather, with solid pieces of metal over areas, like their shoulders, elbows, and knees. As well as that they were both wearing boots.
"The coordinator's shot. We'll have to fly back manually." The Trisken said in an impatient tone. "I've never seen a ship like that before." Loeta said. The human turned quickly. While the Trisken jumped to his feet, also turning with a hand on his holster. "I thought you were a Peace Keeper." The Trisken said with a sigh of relief as he loosened his grip on his blaster. "It's not a ship. It's a speeder." The human said. "What's the difference?" Loeta asked. "Speeders don't stay in the atmosphere. While ships can go into space." The Trisken said giving a slight grin to his human friend.
"I was looking to learn how to fly." Loeta said. The Trisken turned back to inspect the speeder while the human leaned against it. "That right? Have you ever flown before?" The human asked. "No." Loeta answered. "We're not in the business of teaching." The Trisken said, without turning around.
"No, we're not. But, if you're interested we could have some work for you. Maybe you could pick up a thing or two along the way." The human said. "I'm looking to learn how to fly space-faring vessels." Loeta said. The human shrugged. "Speeders and Ships are more or less the same. The only difference is when you fly a speeder you run the risk of crashing." "You can crash ships too. But, out in space objects are few and far between." The Trisken added at the end. The Trisken clicked something on the speeder and stood up to activate it. The engine sputtered a few times and then kicked in. Smoke shot out of it and Loeta could feel the heat from the engines as he started to rev it.
"You're free to join if you want. We're heading back to the High Flyer HQ." The human said as the Trisken hopped on the speeder's middle seat. The human sat in one of the side seats. "I'm Charder, on account of my burnt-up scales. This sorry excuse of human goes by the name Fainter, because, he has a tendency to faint when he takes Chems." The Trisken said, giving a chuckle at the end.
"We can't guarantee any work, of course, it's down to the boss whether or not there's any going." Fainter said as Charder continued to mess with the speeder's controls. "Should we wear helmets?" Loeta asked.
"Trust me. If we crash, a helmet isn't going to save us." The two of them started to laugh as Charder finished speaking. Loeta had a feeling that it was dangerous. But, felt herself walking to the speeder anyway and hopping in the spare seat.
The End
Here's a link to the final part of Loeta's chapter New Life.