Birthday Surprise!
11 Nov 2017Illeana Grimm-Turner
Location: “The Landing Pad” - Gunn Terminal (Abrog System)Date: 29th October 3303
“HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!”
Illeana stepped back and clasped her hands together in front of her face as a wide grin slowly appeared. She both loved and hated surprises, and Stacy knew that. Over the years she had struggled with getting used to being the centre of attention, but she appreciated the gesture nonetheless.
“How dare you!” she said, turning to her sister and playfully slapping her shoulder. “You promised me! You promised it would be a quick hello to Alex then a quiet girls’ night in!”
The brunette, who was almost as tall as Illeana herself, simply smiled with her full red lips and gave a quick wink with her big brown eyes.
“Well, it wouldn’t have worked if I’d said we’re going to your surprise party, now would it?” Stacy responded, pulling her in for a quick hug. Turning her around, she guided her into the bar and in amongst the small crowd of people who had gathered for the celebrations. Within the group were family friends, old classmates and the occasional partner, but, most importantly, one familiar face stood out from the throng.
“Mitéra!!” Illeana broke from her sister's gentle grasp and walked briskly towards her mother, who was standing patiently by the bar. As Illeana approached, Martha pushed herself off the bar, brushed her platinum blonde hair away from her bright, amber eyes, and walked towards her daughter. Once they reached each other both women embraced in a tight hug and placed a kiss on each cheek.
“How long has it been? Two? Three Months?”
Smiling at her daughter, Martha replied, “Too long Illy, too long. You can blame my boss, she’s been working my fingers to the bone.”
“I heard that!” came a voice from further down the bar, and Martha moved over slightly to reveal an older, slightly greying woman with a sarcastic frown on her face that grew into a friendly smile.
“Hello Lucy!” Illeana waved, pulling herself from her mother, “We got everyone here today haven’t we?”
“It’s a special occasion, Illy, of course we do!” Alex shouted from the back room as he emerged with a box of various alcohols.
“Trust you to be hiding when the big moment came.” Stacy teased.
“Well, some of us actually work for a living, instead of batting our eyelashes and getting money for it.” Alex snipped back at her, sticking out his tongue jokingly.
Illeana shook her head at the pair as they bickered, opting to keep out of it and instead deciding to greet as much of the crowd as possible. There wasn’t a lot of them, a dozen at most perhaps, but it was enough to fill the relatively small bar. It only took a few minutes for her to pick her way through and exchange pleasantries with them all. Once that was done, most of the group splintered off into segments and talked amongst themselves, while Illy sat with her mother and Lucy and caught up.
“Take it Jacob decided not to show?” Illeana said, more of a statement than a question. She’d come to expect as much from the man, who spent most of his time working shifts as a System Security Pilot.
“How many times do I have to tell you? He is not Jacob to you, he is your father.” Martha chastised her daughter, taking a sip of her drink, “You know he’s supposed to be getting a promotion soon, one that will hopefully let him work from home, but look… Can we not do this, Illy, not today, please?”
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to. I’m glad you guys are here at least.” Illeana shrugged, not wanting to upset her mother. She was about to change the subject when Alex did it for her.
Wandering in with a large cake, a single candle in the centre of it, and singing a song that had endured for a millenia, and the rest of the group joined in; “Happy Birthday…”
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Location: Thargard Ring (Abrog System)
Date: 30th October 3303
Stepping from her Sidewinder, Illeana hoisted her backpack over her shoulders and strode across the pad. Last night had been good fun. There had been jokes, drinks, laughs and even some impromptu karaoke. Thankfully she’d had the presence of mind not to get too drunk, unlike her mother who was now curled up in bed back home, complaining she was ‘dying’ and uttering phrases like ‘never again’ and ‘bet it was that cake’. Illy shook her head and smiled to herself; her mother could be so melodramatic. But no matter, as she had a message from Stacy to meet her at her workplace, ‘Lightyears Ahead’.
The place was quite an impressive sight. A large, crisp white building, with large glass windows displaying scale models of various vessels. Large automatic doors slid open silently as she approached, although a notification must have gone off in an office somewhere. No sooner had she’d cleared the threshold than a bespectacled woman in a sharp suit appeared from a back office to greet her in her best customer friendly voice.
“Hello! Welcome to Lightyears Ahead, how can I help you today?”
“I’m here to see Stacy. Tell her Illy is here to see her, please.” Illeana replied politely. Despite the manners, the woman huffed slightly before turning quickly on her high heels and clicked away back to the office. Moments later Stacy emerged, wearing a similarly sharp suit, her long brown hair tied into a neat bun.
“Hello Adelfí.” Stacy said, walking over and giving her little sister a quick hug.
“Hello Stacy,” replied Illeana, nodding her head in the direction of the office. “What’s her problem?” she asked.
“Who? Oh... her? Nothing. You get an executive position, some toes get trod on apparently.” replied Stacy, shaking her head, “Come, I’ve got something to show you.”
Stacy swivelled expertly on her heels and led Illeana towards a door marked ‘Showroom,’ tapping away on her data-pad as she did so.
“I heard you’ve been trying to save up some money?” Stacy asked as they turned down a flight of stairs and entered a room where several ships lined the walls. They were all categorised as ‘small’ vessels, but there was nothing small about them. Standing amongst them, one could feel positively dwarfed by the collection of spaceships. Looking around she could identify several of them, having seen them in her own travels over the past couple of years.
“Hauler, Keelback… oh, a Viper… That’s the Mark Three, right?...” Illeana said, bubbling over the sight of so many vessels in one place. Stacy just chuckled to herself, and nodded at her sister's enthusiasm over what, to her, were simple commodities. Nonetheless, it was apparent to Stacy just how much of her mother Illy had inherited.
“...And this one I….” Illeana stopped, she recognised the basic profile of the vessel. It was definitely a Cobra. But she’d only seen the Mark Three’s. This one was wider, a bit more on the bulky side. Yet it retained the flat, almost triangular shape of the body. “I don’t recognise this one.”
“No? This here is a Faulcon DeLacy Cobra Mark Four.” Stacy rattled off, using her data-pad for reference.
“Mark Four? I was looking to buy the Mark Three, but this must be better than that, right?” Illeana approached the vessel, somewhat awestricken by it.
Still utilising her data-pad for reference Stacy gave a few more details, “An extra hardpoint, more internal space, stronger armour. On paper it’s better for sure. A little slower and less maneuverable perhaps, but other than that.” She finished with a slight shrug.
Illeana reached out a hand to touch the landing strut, but pulled back before reaching it, as though it were a forbidden act. Before continuing on, a bit of sadness in her voice. “It must cost a fortune, I can’t quite afford something like this yet.”
Turning back to her sister, she added, “How come I haven’t seen this before? Are they rare or something?”
“Only if you consider Alex’s coasters rare. You remember the ones with the little dog flying the ships? Customers were supposed to try to collect them all to get a free drink, but there were so many of them…”
“...He nearly put the bar out of business!” Illeana interjected, laughing at the memory, “He still has boxes of them in his attic, if I hear correctly.”
“He does indeed, Vlákas he is.”
The two stood silently, reminiscing at Alex’s ill-conceived plan to boost business in the bar. The idea, in principle, wasn’t a bad one; it was the execution that failed. By printing off so many of each coaster, he made it too easy for people to swap between each other, meaning everyone that visited for the next week had at least two or three free drinks per visit.
Still smiling, Illeana asked, “So, you said you wanted to show me something?”
“Yep, it’s right there.” Stacy said, gesturing behind Illeana
“What?” Illy spun then stepped back, not convinced she understood.
“The ship. It’s your birthday present. From all of us. Me, Alex, Mother, even Father.” Stacy said, “Well, not exactly. They’ve all chipped in. Everyone has put in what they can afford to bring the price down as much as possible, but it’ll still cost you.”
“Wha.. How much?” Illy said, tears of joy welling in her eyes.
Stacy responded by simply showing her the data-slate with the information on it.
“You’re joking, right? No way your boss is ok with this.”
“Just pick a name, and sign yours. The rest has been taken care of.” Stacy said, and grinned.
Illeana hesitated for a brief moment, before taking the data-pad and scribbling her name at the bottom of the document. This was it, she wouldn’t be easy prey for any old pirate thugs anymore. She could travel further too, which opened up more possibilities in trade. The vessel could even hold more cargo, so every run could yield better returns. The prospects were growing in her mind like crazy, her excitement building with each new one she thought of.
“I’m glad you like it. Have you picked a name for it, then?” Stacy asked.
To Illeana, there was only really one name appropriate for her new vessel.
“Elefthería,” she said, matter of factly, “Her name is Elefthería.”
“Freedom?” Stacy said inquisitively, “I like it!”
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Location: Thargard Ring (Abrog System)
Date: 1st November 3303
Sitting in the pilot's chair of Elefthería, Illeana went through pre-flight checks. As expected, everything was functioning normally, and she was prepared to go at last. The previous twenty-four hours had been a whirlwind; selling her Sidewinder, transferring all of her belongings across to her new ship, and saying thank you to all of her family and friends who had afforded her such a lavish gift.
It had confused her as to how exactly they’d managed to afford it. Things had certainly changed since she was little. Her family could hardly be considered poor nowadays, but, even then, ships cost an exorbitant amount. It turned out that ever since the pirates had interdicted her almost a year ago, everyone had been putting money aside to help her upgrade. Stacy had taken it upon herself to work her magic with her boss too, which helped drive the price down, especially as it had been taking up space in the shop inventory for months.
No matter the circumstance, Illy was giddy with excitement, awash with happiness, and itching to take her new ship into space.
Looking out through the cockpit window she could see her Mitéra, Adelfí and Adelfós in the waiting area overlooking the pad. Ignoring the continued absence of her father for yet another major occasion in her life, Illeana waved to her mother and two siblings, requested departure permission, and spooled up her engines. Once the docking clamps had been released, she pointed Elefthería up towards the stars; there was a pop, and the ship vanished into witchspace.
Special thanks to Stryker Aune and NFC Phisto for their general feedback and edit suggestions, with more thanks to Jemine Caesar for that and her use of that magical red pen of hers!