Through the Rift

[Malaclypse 666]

The small, serviceable but battered Camara freighter touched down gently at Canaria Spaceport.

a small hovertaxi met the tall, dark man with "mediterranean" features who alighted from the Camera.

"Eh? oh, is there.. a Square here? In the city?" said the pilot when the h/t beeped at him and queried for destination. The pilot stuffed his lanky frame into the taxi, resembling somewhat an old terran golfcart, sans wheels. The taxi immediately lifted and turned towards the center of town.

The man, Sigismundo Celine, had been named after an ancient Terran ancestor, from the regions of Naples and the coastal islands of old Italy. He had followed a raggedy trader who had insisted one day while chatting in the Canaria Cafe, that he had come through a rift from another dimension.. a parallel world, of sorts.

Politics had changed the Sirius Sector he had left. Politics, and unwarranted changes, and.. heartbreak.

Siggy had waited on that "other" side as long as he could. He had finally decided to cast his dreams aside there, for the chance of recreating them somewhere else. Or, at least, new dreams.

As the hovertaxi entered town, Siggy felt at home, yet noticed subtle differences. There was also more commotions and activity than back "home". As if something had occured recently to stir a sleeping hornets' nest.

The taxi dropped Sigismundo off at the Square. It took only seconds for him to note the absence of the familiar outdoor tables of the Canaria Cafe. He walked towards the spot he had grown to call home on the old Canaria. What he found where the cafe would have been was a dusty deserted butcher shop. Perhaps meat was out of fashion these days...

In the back however, were several deepsinks, huge wall-length cutting blocks and prep areas, with shelving and racks above. With a partioning wall about 3 meters this way...

"Well. Perhaps I have found the Canaria Cafe after all."

Little did Siggy know that one of his first customers was also of the ancient Celine bloodline.. an older gentlemen, once known as "Lightfoot".

*(There may be more.. and this is not the Cafe aforementioned. Thanks.)*

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[Malaclypse 666]

Sigismundo took a short break from is remodeling project. The partition which would divide the kitchen area from the Cafe proper had been roughed in. It only required finishing and painting. Ovens and other kitchen equipment had been ordered, and should be arriving within a few days.

Siggy, looked at the rough, hand-painted sign he had made at his new apartment located up the nearby street. It was not named Rue Zaftiger, as it was on the "old" Canaria; but it was in essence the same street.

The sign said: "Wanted: Kitchen and Wait Staff. Apply within!"

"Well, might as well start interviewing. We should be ready to open in a week's time or so."

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[Malaclypse 666]

It was a sweet deal. Goddess was smiling when she put me in the Battleship Hood Bar with the disgruntled young aspiring pirate. ... "I've been trying to get into the Mollys, but those Titans are just too damn tough for me.."

The talk went round to trading and some of the sweet Zoner runs. He perked up. We walked down to hangar deck, and there she was. A Greyhound with hardly a million klicks on her. If we traded, I'd be keeping my "bling", of course, scanner, thruster, armor. My Camara had plenty of shield and armor for this lad. And I'd be upgrading the Greyhound's stock shields and weapons as a first priority.

He hemmed and hawed at first when it came to my battered Camara. Nothing would serve but we take her up. He got quickly into the techniques of running the sleek and maneuverable craft. He laid on the full velocity thrusters with glee, and ogled the screamer mines and CMs at the ready. The two shield buster turrets i had acquired were what finally clinched the deal.

As he lifted towards Cambridge to try the Neutron run I had suggested, I turned and walked towards my new thoroughbred.

This would make all those Zoner courtesy calls I still had to make a great deal speedier.

And besides, I owned a Cafe now. Who had time for trading?

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