Dipping His Pen in the Office Ink, Page 2

  Chapter Two

  The shuttle was like a fucking ride that could soar off the rails and kill everyone at any second. Yeah, I hated flying. It took all my willpower to get onto that spaceship. The entire trip took the fight out of me. By the time we hit orbit, I was a mess of random shakes and occasional murmurs that no one could understand. One guy even thought I was having a seizure. It was a long fucking journey. We landed smoothly and I was the first one unbelted and standing at the exit door. It opened slowly like the last piece of clothing on a hot guy doing a strip tease—opening slowly, showing bits and pieces of the good stuff. I saw white and gray rock on the ground. I clutched my single carry-on bag and my fake identifications in my hand. I squeezed, folding the papers a bit as the door opened completely.

  “Welcome to the colonized moon,” a holographic neon green sign flashed.

  The clear dome covered a section about the size of New York State. It was huge. Each building was near one hundred floors tall. They blocked out a good chunk of the craters and general deadness of the moon. There were signs for tourists advertising a trip to the first moon landing. I could smell stale air from the oxygen generators. There were sections of rock dug up, filled with dirt sprouting small trees. The noise was just like an earth city. Noisy with the humming of hover car engines and the occasional shout or two. I made my way along the thin platform a few feet off the ground. I walked through some kind of detector. No idea what for, but it didn’t beep at me. Some burly guy took my papers from my hand. The edge tore a little because of my death grip. He placed them in a scanner. It screeched then spit out a steel square that looked like a credit card from the olden days. It had my new name on it and a series of numbers. Then I was pushed forward down a set of stairs and I was officially on the moon.

  The landing zone was filled with anxious families waiting for loved ones. A few overly eager transport drivers were yelling at each other. I held my bag tighter and stuck my card in my pants pocket. I was wearing those loose jeans that let you move around more freely. They were black like my shirt. Plain, simple, just your average guy moving to the moon. I went for the nearest transport vehicle and he took me to my new home. I was almost squirming to see it. We pulled up to a short building with only five floors. I gave the driver my card, he swiped it, and I got out.

  There was so much I had to do. I managed to get a job set up before I came—only because of witness protection. I could have stayed on earth with friends, but it wasn’t safe to involve them because of Sean. Damn, I hadn’t thought of him the whole way up here. Now it made me frown. I had to booby trap my fucking apartment.

  My new black sneakers squeaked as I walked on the flat sidewalk. It was rock, crushed down to create a flat surface. The building was gray, the windows thick and probably airtight in case the dome had a malfunction or terrorists. I opened the door to my new home. Maybe this would be a good change for me.