She beckoned at the team for them to come, and Juliet was the first to answer. She told Mitch and Mike to come with her, and they approached the table. Telsia took the liberty of the introductions.
�These are my friends.� She announced. �This is Michael Jaworski, Juliet Jurot and Mitch Csatlos.�
�If I may ask,� Juliet spoke up, �why do you have such strange names?�
Cyanne laughed aloud. �They�re not our real names! They�re nicknames.�
�Yup.� Snoddy chuckled. �Ya really think my mama would really name me Snoddy?�
�Why do you have them?� Mitch wondered.
�It�s kind�ve a way �f forgettin� th� past. Lots of us gots pasts we�d rather forget. Bein� with th� newsies, we cin be new people an� the street trash we was before we was newsies don�t exist no more. If you guys�re newsies now, you cin pick some nicks for yourself.�
�Um�we don�t plan on staying too long.� Telsia clarified. �Only a few days, at best.�
Dutchy frowned confusedly. �Why?�
�We�we�re travelers.�
�Really? So where ya from?�
�Uh�S-San Francisco.� Mike said, to the rescue. �We�re all from San Francisco.�
Snoddy whistled. �All th� way from California, eh? Must�ve been a long trip.�
�You could say that.� Telsia said.
�So, any of you gonna pick up a nickname?� Cyanne asked.
�I got one.� Mike said. �I guess maybe I�d like to go by it.�
�Then let�s hear it.�
�J-Man.�
Mitch snorted. �J-Man?�
�Yeah! Those holo-�I mean, those matches we have every now and then, haven�t you ever heard me shout, �do not mess with J-Man?��
�I�ve heard that before.� Juliet verified.
�See? So you guys can call me J-Man.�
�Welcome to th� ranks, J-Man!� Dutchy spit in his palm and held his hand toward Mike.
Mike grimaced, as did the other three. Juliet was the one who spoke up.
�You do know that�s a health hazard.�
�A what?� Dutchy cocked an eyebrow.
�You can spread hazardous microorganisms quite rapidly through saliva emissions such as that.�
He glanced at Cyanne. �Was that English?�
Cyanne shrugged. �I don�t have a clue.�
Juliet straightened. �I�m just saying that it�s unhealthy to spit in your hand and then make such a gesture as shaking with another person. You can spread disease very easily that way.�
�But we do it all th� time. No one gets sick. Least not that I cin tell.�
The door opened and several more newsies entered. Dutchy and Cyanne peered over their booth and waved at their friends.
��Eya, Blink �n� Frizz!� he waved toward them. �C�mon over �ere, we got new recruits!�
�Really?� Frizz questioned excitedly, tugging at Blink�s arm. �Come on, Blink!�
�It�s very nice to meet you!� Frizz said. �Have you met Jack yet?�
�Not yet.� Cyanne replied. �That�s who we were waiting for.�
�Ah, �e should be by soon �nough.� Blink spoke up. �You know �im. But �e was in a better mood t�day. Then again, �e might not be back as soon as we expect.�
�Hey guys!� a blonde girl strode up.
�Hey!� Blink called back. �Spat, meet th� new guys. We got�um�what�re y�all names again?�
�I�m Telsia. This is Mitch, Juliet, and Mi�er, J-Man.�
�Nice to meet you.� Spat�s eyesight cruised over Mitch. �Very nice.�
Mitch blushed, and Juliet couldn�t hide her soft giggles. Even Mike had caught Spat�s once-over and was tempted to burst out laughing.
�Th� rest of the newsies should be comin� by soon.� Snoddy informed. �Looks like you guys had some food back there cuz Frank looks �bout t� clear it away.�
�By all means, he can.� Mitch stated.
�I�ll take care of it.� Mike said.
�Somethin� th� matter with th� food?� Dutchy inquired.
�We�re used to�different food.� Juliet answered.
More newsies entered, and again, Dutchy and Cyanne introduced them to the away team. But this leader, Jack, still wasn�t among them.
�Where th� heck is Jack?� Snoddy wondered aloud. ��E�s usually never late for a meal.�
�If he doesn�t show up, Dutchy and me can take you to the lodging house.� Cyanne offered. �The first night�s free, and after that you pay two cents a night. Kloppman wakes us up at the crack of dawn and wants the lights out by eight.�
�That doesn�t sound too bad.� Mitch commented.
�The girls are on the upper level.� Spat said. �One floor below is the boys� level. Kloppman doesn�t allow boys in the girls� room, but he allows girls in the boys� room.�
�Why is that?� Telsia asked.
�He says that it�s inappropriate for young men to enter the room where ladies sleep. Since the guys are slobs and have all the cards, Kloppman allows us to go in to talk and play poker.�
�We have plenty of beds open on our level.� Frizz said. �You can have a top or bottom, whichever you prefer.�
�Us guys ain�t so lucky.� Snoddy said. �All th� beds are taken. �Cept for Swifty, �e�s in th� refuge right now, so his bunk is open.�
�So what do we do for sleeping arrangements?� Mitch asked.
�You cin either sleep on th� floor, ask someone t� bunk with someone else, or bunk with someone else yaself.�
�Er�the floor sounds just fine for me.�
The door opened again, and the entire room seemingly came alive. Telsia looked up to see a tall young man with a dusty black cowboy hat enter the room. She felt her heart flip-flop once. He was quite handsome.
�Its about time, Cowboy!� Blink called.
��Ey Jack, git over here!� Dutchy beckoned. �Got new recruits t�day!�
So this was the leader of the newsies. Physically, he seemed perfect for the role of leader. Telsia noticed his physique to be quite appealing, and those lovely hazel eyes of him were simply intriguing. Handsome best described him, even if he was rather filthy by terms of his clothing and the dust on his face.
�New recruits t�day, huh?� Jack said, striding over with a nice smile on his face. �So who we got?�
�Four people.� Snoddy replied. �This�s Telsia, Juliet, Mitch, �n� over there at that table�s J-Man.�
�We�ll only be staying a few days.� Telsia murmured. �We just�need some money quickly and then move on.�
�I see.� Jack said. �Welcome to th� ranks. I�m Jack Kelly, but you cin call me Cowboy. This�s my walkin� mouth, Davey.� He swung an arm around the boy next to him.
The new newsies nodded to him, and he couldn't help but analyze them carefully. They were all so mysterious in some way. What exactly, Jack couldn't tell. Perhaps it lay in the fact that these people wore nice clothes. The clothing they wore was incredibly nice and in no ruin whatsoever. If they had clothes like this, why could they want to join the newsies?
Then Jack looked at the redhead called Telsia. He hadn't paid much attention to her until now. Now that he saw her, he could see that she was quite pretty by his standards. She had long red hair surrounding her shoulders and mysterious blue eyes. Her lips were full and skin pale, and she had a very nice figure. In fact, all the people with her were in good physical shape.
The black-haired girl, called Juliet, was also very pretty, but her eyes were so blue. Jack had never seen eyes as blue as hers. They shone against her olive skin and outlined her nice figure. But still, what was it about her eyes? If Jack didn�t know any better, he would say her eyes almost looked�inhuman.
J-Man and Mitch, the others with Telsia, were possibly the best physically made young men Jack had seen in his life. Especially Mitch. Jack had noticed the way Spat was eying him, deeply intrigued. Jack almost felt a twang of jealousy at their being so physically fit.
He returned his attention to Telsia. When their eyes met, she blushed somewhat and lowered her head. And Jack felt a shiver in his tailbone. She was awful pretty. Could she-
�Say Jack, we sold our papes already.� Dutchy spoke up. �When we�re done �ere, which should be soon, we�ll take �em to th� lodgin� house an� get �em settled in.�
�Uh�okay.� He stammered. �Welcome to th� newsies, guys.�
�Thank you.� Telsia murmured in response.
When he left and Dutchy and Cyanne began chatting with Mitch, Telsia waved Juliet over and gestured for her to lean down. When she did, Telsia whispered into her ear.
�Listen.� She said. �I heard that headline of theirs mention that beam of light over a High Street. After we�re taken to this lodging house, I want you and Mitch to investigate. See if you can find any evidence that the ship was there.�
�Yes sir.� Juliet replied before adding slyly, �but you�d better learn how to hide that blush the next time that young man gives you the once-over.�
* * *
Telsia found herself isolated by assessing the current situation and declining every invitation to join the other newsgirls. There were eight in all: Cyanne, Frizz, Spat, Crescendo, Dancer, Duchess, Kip, Nevada and Seven of Nine. Mike had been tickled pink when he learned that this lodging house had a Seven of Nine as well.
When the Seven of Nine they knew had decided several weeks ago to choose a crewman to go on a date with, Mike had been second in line, behind Harry Kim, to hopefully fill in that spot. He had whispered to Telsia that maybe he would have a chance with the Seven of Nine here until she introduced her boy, Bumlets. Once again, Mike was rejected by a Seven of Nine.
It was late when Juliet and Mitch finally returned. Mitch went to apprise Mike of the situation while Juliet went straight to Telsia with her report.
�Status.� Telsia ordered.
�We scanned the entire route of High Street.� Juliet detailed. �Mitch found traces of an ion trail overhead, but it seemed to end abruptly right there. We were unable to find anything else.�
�Well, that�s something. Tomorrow we�ll all go down there and investigate. Hopefully the ship won�t be much farther away.�
�Very well. Do you want me to tell Mitch and Mike?�
�By all means.�
Telsia�s combadge chimed.
�Chang to Telsia.�
Telsia heard Juliet�s tiny sigh of relief when she heard his voice. Then she looked around at the other girls, and none of them had heard Chang ring in. Telsia pulled the combadge from her pocket, tapped it, and brought it close to her mouth.
�Telsia here.� She said in a hushed whisper. �It�s good to hear your voice, but I need to move to a more private place. Standby.�
�Understood.� Austin�s voice confirmed.
�Juliet, you go tell Mitch and Mike.� She glanced around quickly and saw the window with the fire escape. �There�s a fire escape there, it looks like it leads to the roof. I�ll go up there.�
Juliet nodded and the both of them rose and went their separate ways. When Telsia slid onto the fire escape and closed the window behind her, she took her combadge and tapped it again.
�Austin, are you still there?� she whispered.
�Yes.� He said. �I�ve been successful in securing a temporary job at the distribution center where newspapers are manufactured.�
�Excellent.�
�Have you joined those newsies yet?�
�Yes, we have. This means we�ll see you first thing tomorrow morning if you meet us there.�
�You will. I�ll be working at the window where the newsies buy their papes.�
�Good. Then if there�s any other information we need, Juliet can tell you telepathically.�
�Do you have any info for me now?
�We do. Juliet and Mitch went to High Street to investigate that strange sighting. They�ve detected an ion trail, but it leads to nowhere.�
�Should I come by and check it out?�
�Maybe sometime tomorrow afternoon, if you have time off then.�
�I should. If otherwise, I�ll tell Juliet.�
�All right.� Telsia heard the tapping of someone coming up the stairs. �I need to go. I�ll see you tomorrow, and contact me only if there�s an emergency.�
�Understood. Chang out.�
She slipped the combadge back into her pocket and turned toward the person coming her way. It was Jack, the leader of the newsies. She hadn�t seen him since they had met in the restaurant earlier that day. He grinned when he saw her.
�Hi.� He said. �I din�t know anyone else was up �ere.�
�I didn�t know anyone else would come up here.�
�Some of us do. It�s a good place t� be alone an� think when we need it.�
�It is.�
Telsia turned her back to him and looked upward at the sky. She had never seen the sky this way before. The stars were lonely and isolated, having still been undiscovered by humans. It would be another one hundred and sixty-three years before first contact with Vulcans.
The moon was what shocked her the most. It looked so different here. She could see Lake Armstrong and New Chicago from where she stood. It looked so barren without all the cities and starports.
