BEYOND THE PALE: ( The Outlander ) Read online

  Chapter Eighteen

  He awoke the next morning realising that he had another day in his own company. He made a drink and returned to his room waiting for everyone to set off for work. He was feeling a bit rejected after the events of yesterday and this was fuelling his growing sense of loneliness and isolation. He didn’t want to stay at home, and neither did he want to spend another day in Central. He opted instead to spend half a day downtown. This time he wouldn’t have a running commentary supplied by Ray Scott, but he would have much more freedom to blend in and have a look around.

  He chose District 18 as his destination and headed to the nearest Metro station. This journey was clearly going to require a number of interchanges. There were no direct routes to Downtown on the elevated lines, so he had to get off at a main terminus that provided a descent service. This was a large box lift where each lift car was about the size of a freight container. The station he chose only had two such lifts and yet this service was overly subscribed. He had to join a queue and wait for a space on a descending lift. He didn’t manage to get a seat and he had to hold on to an overhead support and hold his balance until the lift reached ground level four hundred yards below. He then followed directions supplied by the readout on his glasses to find a tram stop on the relevant tram line which would take him into the heart of District 18.

  Holly Bush was the closest precinct to the tram terminus, and it was as good a place as any to get off and have a look around. The first impression that struck River was the garish and tawdry overtone to the place. Unlike the Central Zone, there were no personalised adverts appearing on the display of his glasses, but in place of that was a welter of conspicuous and obtrusive advertising on everything from flyers to animated billboards, shop fronts and any rentable space. There was little variety in their messages. There were brazenly sexual in their imagery, or they were pertaining to the culture of gambling that was so pervasive here. The implication was that an instant purchase of something or other could provide an instant payout or offer a lottery chance of a life changing win. All the small independent shops used a prolific amount of neon which had to stand out to compete with each other and against the bigger purveyors of neon like the clubs, casinos and arcades. There was a spectrum of colours, much of it flashing and some animated which illuminated the streets making up for the lack of natural light. Holographic projectors placed life-size imagery in the middle of pavements and walk ways. The images were of exotic dancers or salesmen presenting their products. They would appear realistic apart from the blue or green hues and their semi transparency. River would step around them but he noticed that other pedestrians walked right through them as if they didn’t register.

  There were many more ex-natives amongst the people here; maybe twenty percent. In the central zone, he had rarely seen another ex-native and when he did they were usually a sales assistant or a caterer. Despite feeling a small satisfaction of being amongst his own, River did not really feel any more at home here than he did in the central zone. Both cultures alienated him, and he wondered how these other ex-natives seemed so pre-determined to living in this seedy culture. He wasn’t being high-minded, he did try and lose his reserve, and he even visited a table dancing bar.

  He stuck to his earlier conviction not to drink anymore alcohol and ordered a few sodas. When the bar tender realised that he wouldn’t be drinking, he pulled out another more discreet menu that offered a number of different narcotics. River declined his selection, despite having to listen to the bar tenders spiel promoting the best narcotic offer of the day. The man wasn’t impressed. It became apparent to River that his time in this bar would be very limited unless he could find something more expensive than soda to spend his credits on. The problem was that there was literally nothing on offer that appealed to him. He wasn’t interested in a personal erotic dance supplied by one of the dancers, or sex upstairs in a mezzanine chill out zone, that appeared from his current view point to be just a mass of heaving couples. River declined those offers as well. There was something quite unappealing for him about the sexually liberal culture that pervaded the Metropolis despite whatever social class you belonged to. It was like sex had no meaning other than erotic titillation or sexual stimulation. There was no passion or love involved at all. It was if the emotions which he associated with sex had been removed. Perhaps this explained a lot about Audrina’s attitude to sex. It was no wonder that most conception in the metropolis was performed through in vitro fertilisation. Sex and love were like antonyms of each other.

  River decided to just tuff it out and leave his purchase history at two sodas. He looked around admiring a few of the table dancers and noticed that one girl was an ex-native. For some inexplicable reason he found it difficult to look at her; maybe she reminded him of his sister. What he did see of interest however, was an action documentary showing in the background on one of the wall mounted screens. Although the sound was off, the show seemed to be an expose of the daily regime of Environment Rangers. A scene came on display in which a platoon was being dropped off at an insertion point, and they were securing the area against hostile threats. River recognised the backdrop. It was Lizard Ridge and he immediately got excited and left his seat to get a closer look. As he did, a dancer gyrated her way along the counter responding to his interest. This was upsetting to River because she was now obscuring his view of the wall screen. When he moved to the side, the dancer mirrored his move continuously blocking his view. He elected to approach the counter and ask her if she would mind moving somewhere else. However as he got closer to her, she squatted on her heels with her legs spread wide thrusting her g-string closer to him so that he might swipe a few credits on an attached money reader. River did no such thing. He politely asked the girl if she would mind dancing somewhere else so that he could see the rest of the TV show. This did not go down well at all, and she stepped off the counter and walked over to have a word with the bar tender. He in turn called over the doorman and River was summarily asked to leave.

  River had arranged to meet Audrina in the foyer of Gold Shield Securities at five-thirty. Despite the complex and arduous journey, he reached the financial zone in plenty of time. He wasn’t really in the right frame of mind for his up town date with Audrina. It had been a mistake visiting downtown earlier in the day. He had found that experience in the underbelly of the citadel draining. He had been looking forward to meeting some naturalised or second generation natives, but all he had got was disappointing encounters. Those that he had talked to had all but forgotten their roots. They had become just another street underclass and their native morality had been usurped by a certain street life savvy.

  With the time getting closer to five-thirty, River walked into the grand foyer of Gold Shields. Audrina wasn’t there yet, so he phoned her to confirm that she would be soon coming down.

  “Didn’t you get my text message,” she rebuked him over his communicator. “I said that I had to work late, and that you should meet me at six-thirty instead.”

  “Damn I got here early; I guess I can wait for you though.”

  “No don’t wait here” she insisted. “Go down the block towards the metro station. There is a bar called ‘Whispers’ nearby; wait for me there. River followed her instructions and found the bar. It was a cocktail bar which served as an after work meeting place for financial types. Lots of diffuse wall lighting that gave the place an intimate glow. Today’s clientele were mostly large parties of work colleagues and a few couples. He was the only person on his own there, so he sat at the bar counter and ordered soda. River spent the remaining time watching a financial news channel that was showing on a wall screen with subtitles only.

  Audrina walked in closer to seven o’clock. Her morning medical, and a shitty day at work had not lent itself to putting her in the right frame of mind either. She didn’t even apologise or explain why she was late but did complain that River should have secured a wall snug to sit down in instead of the bar counter. They surveyed what was left,
but they were all taken now.

  River took the opportunity to look her up and down. She had changed clothes at work and was wearing clothes suitable to party in. Her dress looked really expensive but the hemline was really short showing off her attractive long legs. He was just about to tell her that she looked nice, when she beat his compliment off the starting blocks with some criticisms of her own.

  “So what did you want to do on this date,” her emphasis was on the word ‘did’.

  “I thought I would take the monorail to central zone and visit the Park there and watch the sunset together, and then maybe have a meal.”

  “Yes, sounds interesting,” she said sarcastically. “I think I better make our arrangements tonight. And by the way, people don’t usually call it the monorail. They call it the ‘elevated’ or the ‘Metro’. You sound like a greenhorn. Anyway, what I need you to do now is to go and freshen up a bit in the gentlemen’s rest room; you smell frowsy. Lord knows what you have been up to. I want you looking dapper and spruced up if you are going to be hanging with me and my friends tonight. I can’t do much about your clothes, but you can fix your hair.”

  This had probably been the most put downs and insults River had experienced for a long while. He got up and went to the rest room as she suggested. He didn’t want to argue, after all he had come here to cheer her up, but now he wished he hadn’t. He checked himself over in the mirror. He did look a bit dishevelled especially considering how nice Audrina was looking. Once he realised he was alone, he used some of the scented soap to wash under his arms and his crotch. He also took some wax to style his hair and some cologne to smell nice. A sign by the dispensary asked for a contribution but seeing as River had no idea as to what the price of those products was, he didn’t bother to swipe any credits. Audrina did approve when she saw him and she let him know that he looked handsome which went a long way to making him feel more comfortable.

  “Okay handsome, here’s the plan for tonight,” she said assertively. “We leave here and head over to Style-Seekers, which is a club over in District 5. And, we are not getting the monorail, we are getting a taxi,” saying the word ‘monorail’ in an accent similar to River’s. He realised she was making fun of him, and he reciprocated by tilting his head and crossing his legs in an imitation of the distinct way that she did. She laughed, “Come on. Chop chop,” as she stood up and waited for him.

  A taxi rank was always close by in the financial district. They got in the cab as it pulled up and Audrina tapped in the south western sector destination which bordered the financial zone at the southern perimeter of the metropolis. She swiped payment which would be a premium rate in this part of the citadel. Audrina was used to paying for River; it didn’t seem to register with her that he had his own credits. Of course those had been kindly donated to him from Nathan’s account. The automated taxi found its way through District 5 which seemed like a crossover between the recreational area in the financial zone and the uptown sector of the central zone. It dropped them right opposite Style Seekers. The building looked like a large black gemstone. It was an ostentatious 4 storey black glass building architecturally designed in the shape of a multi-sided cut diamond. The ground floor was a networking bar which was free to enter, but expensive to drink in. There were many revellers congregating outside, but the door security were not letting drinks pass outside. Audrina led and River followed her as they thread their way through the dense crowd inside. She was spotting people that she knew all the time and saying hello but continuing her path to the bar counter. She pushed forward to squeeze through a gap at the tightly packed bar counter and seductively but assertively beckoned a bar tender. In a relatively short space of time, she had procured two tall drinks; both cocktails. River held on to these for her, wondering where his soda was, as she now set off towards the wide and ornate staircase. River noticed how well she navigated through dense crowds by pressing her body sensually against the men in a group. They always cleared a space for her and tried to flirt with her. This was usually scuppered by River using his brawn to push past them after her. She acted like the sharp end of a wedge and River was the blunt end. The bottom of the wide stairwell had been sectioned off with an ornate black and gold rope barrier. Security stood behind this together with a cashier who scanned anyone who wanted to pay to go upstairs to and enter the night club. Once again Audrina paid, and they made their way up past the security and into the club. The club had a split level floor, in which the higher raised area served as the dance floor. The lower sections were different in size and shape and served as seating areas. They recesses were situated randomly around the main dance floor like the indents in a chesterfield chair. Audrina led River about the dance floor whilst she investigated each little island of seating looking for her friends. He followed her like a lamb completely over awed by the loud high energy music, the impassioned dancers and the array of attractive girls dressed very provocatively.

  Audrina found her friends in a small seated recess, and she pranced down the steps to squeeze in between two girls on the circular bench seating of their snug. River being her rearguard as usual followed her and sat at the end of the line. The guy beside him turned and introduced himself as Todd. He then went on to introduce the other six people in the group besides Audrina. River found it hard to hear him and difficult to remember many of the names. He recalled that one girl was called Sam, but he wasn’t sure which one of the three girls she was.

  Todd tried to strike up a conversation with him but he couldn’t find any common ground. He asked him where he worked, meaning for which bank. River replied that he didn’t work. Todd seemed taken aback but asked him instead what he had been up to today, and River truthfully replied that he had visited Holly Bush in District 18. That was a conversational breaker; Todd had no interest in what transpired in Downtown, and after that he found an excuse to talk to someone else. River instead gazed up to watch the people dancing in a tight pack around their sunken circular snug. Most of the dancers were moving and gyrating in very suggestive and erotic style. This seemed to be the prevalent way. He thought it not too dissimilar to the table dancers in that bar in District 18. Of course the girls in that Holly Bush bar were only wearing thongs, but here due to the positioning of the dance floor, he couldn’t help but see up girls skirts as they danced. This felt inappropriate to him particularly as these girls were not paid exotic dancers. So he returned his attention to the table and to Audrina. She was acting gaily and was obviously having a good time. He watched her taking large sniffs out of an inhaler that was slowly passing around the circular table. When it reached River he declined knowing it to be a narcotic. River knew that the effect of any narcotic on his body would be similar to that befuddled state he found himself in when he had the alcohol. Right now, he had some expensive alcoholic cocktail in front of him which he daren’t drink. It pissed him off that Audrina knew him so little that she would have bought this for him. He was partly annoyed because he was thirsty and wanted a soda. He realised that he was getting testy. There was a lot going on that was not right for him. The music was too loud and although tuneful, it was most obviously tuned in the wrong pitch. He could feel the amplified vibrations unsettling his sacral chakra. River made sure that he meditated every day to balance and correctly align his chakras. He also conducted a set of breathing, posture, and body movement exercises daily. These were all pertinent exercises which enabled him to attune his mind, senses, reactions, and body movements. As a result of his daily regime, he was aware of his body in ways that people here seemed ignorant. He could palpably feel the chi energy that flowed through the invisible infrastructure of his chakras. Therefore he felt that this alone constituted enough reason for him to leave.

  He wasn’t sure how he was going to leave; whether it would be with or without Audrina. She had gone on to the dance floor with two of the girls. They were all getting excited and carried away. River wondered what effect those drugs were having on her. She was definitely acting sexually excited.
She had steered her two friends over to dance literally a couple of feet above him where he was sitting and she was gesturing to him. When he looked up, what he could see was so sexy it was almost pornographic. She was raising her hemline with one hand as she gyrated and grinded on the dance floor above acting as his own private dancer. This was erotic and exciting for River because he still found Audrina so very attractive. However, she was also dancing intimately with both of the other girls. As each girl pressed themselves frontally into each other, Audrina was reaching behind to raise their skirts and show River what they hid underneath. Of course he found this little display both sexy and erotic, but this behaviour didn’t feel correct to him. He wasn’t liberally minded sexually and he only wanted Audrina; she seemed intent on enticing him with her friend’s bodies. When she beckoned him to join them up on the dance floor, he had reservations because he was concerned about moving rhythmically to this loud music which was tuned to the wrong pitch. Audrina noted his rejection and glanced angrily at him. She then beckoned another of her male friends who was sitting at the table and he very quickly climbed the few steps to join her and the other girls. That guy wasted no time stepping in the middle of the three whilst they all railed up against him. It made River angry to watch Audrina in particular rubbing herself against the man’s hips and then spooning him from behind. River racked his brains to recall the name of this guy. He remembered it was Stannis and he considered climbing up there to deck the man, but he realised that it was nothing personal and that in truth it was Audrina who was making him see red.

  He looked away feigning disinterest which seemed to be effective at inducing Audrina to return to the table along with Stannis who didn’t seem to want to leave her alone now. River glared across the table and when he saw Stannis offer her Audrina a pill after having taken one himself, River reached across the table to stay her hand before she could take it. She pulled her arm back in recoil, and glared at him. Still maintaining her angry stare, she now took the pill from Stannis and popped it in her mouth washing it down with some alcohol.