The Transdyne Awakening Read Online Free PDF Page A

appeared well nourished and healthy.
    This trip was well ahead of schedule and Clay started to relax. He had a little time to spend now. Just as on other drops here, he was curious to explore this extraordinary place. Most of his life he had been around people he couldn’t afford to trust. Somehow it was different here. He liked the whole atmosphere. He actually enjoyed spending time with John and the others. They seemed to be on a different frequency to the other people in his life and he was curious to know why.
    A plump woman with a red face emerged from the cooking area. She smiled in the two mens’ direction and started to put eating irons on the benches. “Hiya, Berta!” John called to her as the work party started to drift into the building.
    “Don’t you sit down to food in here without washing your hands, Abe Lincoln!” Berta pointed at the unfortunate Abe with an eating knife in her outstretched hand. Abe made a mock defensive gesture as if she was threatening to attack him. “I’d stay on the right side of her, Abe!” one of the others shouted. Again there was that shared laughter. Abe made his way over to the far side of the room and poured some water into one of the basins. “Just how hard has a man gotta work before he gets fed around here?” he griped.
    Clay wasn’t used to the agreeable table conversations. Where he had come from, people leaned over their plates guardedly, pushing the nourishment down with an eye out for anyone trying to steal it. Here, time was taken to savour the company as well as the food. Talk ranged over the work of the day and what the younger ones had done in studylearn. People took genuine interest in those sitting with them at the mealtime.
    An attractive, dark haired girl near the top of the bench where Clay sat was engrossed in a conversation with the man next to her. Clay could tell they were fond of each other. They sat very close together and took every opportunity to look into each other’s eyes. He felt slightly embarrassed at their signals of overt affection. His own relationships with the opposite sex had only ever been purely selfish and physical. He knew there was more to having a relationship with a woman beyond his fumbling experiences of quick sex in a pay stall. It must be wonderful to really get to know each other like those two. He envied them.
    He’d always paid for the beautiful ones. He generated enough ticks for the extra on the tab. Watching the couple at the end of the table, he thought back to his liaison with the red haired girl. She had set him alight when he first saw her through the permaglass in the arcade booth. As she stared outwards he had noticed her green eyes. What a combination; red hair and staring green eyes. He had paid a lot of money and she had been as accommodating as anyone could want. Yet afterwards, sitting alone he had nearly cried. He felt cheated and miserable. He had chided himself for his stupid expectations. What had he thought would happen? She hadn’t said a word after she had asked him what he wanted. She had forced a half smile and then just nodded and complied with his wishes. The more he had reflected on the incident, the more unhappy he had become. He thought of her sitting in that fleshbooth like merchandise on display. Everyone had to earn their credits. She was only using the natural charms she’d been born with. He wondered how many men she had entertained during that shift? He knew it was seen as just a business transaction, but something about it had deeply and adversely affected him. He could still see her in his mind; that exquisite face and tumbling, shoulder length hair. It was those eyes most of all. She had stared off into the distance as if she was trying not to be where she was. Somehow, she had managed to partially dislocate herself from her surroundings. He was sorry for her. He was sorry for himself. He realized that it was credits paid by men like him that kept her caged in that booth. He