Free Spacers. What I understand is that the Free Spacers and the Federation hate each other, but both use the Jeffies as go-betweens. This sort of interstellar politics isn’t taught at my school. I’ve picked it up from my Forbidden political conversations with Alicia. And from Hank.
“It’s landing near the hanger,” I said.
Alicia shushed me. She was listening to her CommLink. “I’ve got to go,” she said excitedly. “They’re calling in all the mechs to work on the Spacer’s ship. What an opportunity!”
I offered to take her in the hovercart. “It’ll be faster than walking.” And it was a good excuse to get closer to the Spacer’s ship.
Well, a hovercart is faster than walking, but it’s not faster than running. Oblivious to the whining fans of the hovercart, Alicia and I talked about the Free Spacer. Although she had seen her share of Spacers, she had never been inside one of their engines.
For the past two forms, Alicia and I have been best friends. Or least as best as we can be considering she’s almost twice my age, and the Jeffies aren’t supposed to fraternize with us Feds. I never had anyone to talk to until I met her. Unlike my parents, she understands why I worry about how things work instead of how they look. Alicia has surreptitiously taught me all she can about ships, their engines, and how they’re put together. I talk with her about my failed attempts to fit into Bohemian society. And my fear of being shipped-off like my cousin Lee. We’ve even talked about our problems with sigpairs.
The hanger is easy to find -- you can see it from all over the port.