Karmlyn Sen-Tiago used the bigger brush to style her brownish hair. Somewhat bushy on top with most of it hanging about a half-meter down her back. When she was done with that, she took the smaller brush, and smoothed out a ruffled spot of fur on her cheek, Slept on the pillow wrong again.
The lady mymar looked in the mirror at her overall appearance. The humans on her home planet of Absolin didn't usually pay much attention to it. But most elsewhere they did, including here. Her skin was covered with a short coat of golden-brown fur, minus her palms, and of course the hair. Her face reflected her feline ancestry, but most humans still found it ladylike. Her eyes had huge green irises, green as flawless emerald crystal, with comparably large round pupils. Triangular ears poked through her hair. They were a little higher on her head than a human's but they were not a great deal larger.
She was about the same size and height as an average-sized human lady, and had a sleek and slender figure. She had put on a fancy-looking green dress to match her eyes. The majority of mymar had brown eyes, but there were other colors, including green. There were stories among mymar that green-eyed women were fun, but also potential trouble. Karmlyn smiled a little at the thought. She liked the idea of being trouble, but not being in trouble. At least not trouble she couldn't handle.
While she could get a dress anywhere, her shoes usually came from mymar worlds. The reason: her feet were a couple inches longer than a similar-sized human's. Her heeled shoes were on the floor, just a couple feet next to her, in this corner of her bedroom where she dressed. Rather than bend down to get them, she reached for them with her tail. Mymar had prehensil tails about a meter long with the tip having an underside with little fur. Karmlyn put one shoe on, then the other. She then put on a gold necklace with a charm made up mostly of crystal. Then she put on a couple of gold braclets with fancy patterns.
Those dresses of hers made on Absolin, including this one, had a folded-over slit in the back, so her tail could hang out the back of it if she wanted it to. Either they were made that way or had been altered when taken to an Absoloni tailor. But usually, mymar women didn't bother with it, keeping all but the lower part of the tail under the skirts. On trips like this one, Karmlyn went further. Thinking that the sight of it would bother a few humans, she usually kept in under her dress and curled up out of view durring visits to planets like these.
The dressing area had a countertop next to the mirror. There were several bottles of perfume from several worlds. The Absolini one was getting low, so she gave herself a couple of sprays from a different bottle, one with a soft and flowery scent.
Finished, she opened the door to the hallway and stepped back into the corridors of her starship. She had bought the stock light freighter with help from her uncle. She used it to both conduct business for him, either delivering a cargo or negotiating a trading deal, and to do a little personal sightseeing. This ship was painted bright red, which complemented the name Karmlyn gave it: Red Star.
She and her droid kept the interior cleaner than most freighters, light or larger classes. Karmlyn often bought a plant or two before leaving a planet, and added to those she put on board when she got the ship, by now there was quite a collection. The ship also boasted a jacuzzi, some music players, and a holo-projector with a varied library of travelogs, music tapes, dramas, etc. She was only twenty-six, but had been flying on her own in space for several years. She had developed a taste for travel, and enjoyed herself whenever she could. She had also been developing her skills as a gambler, and was starting to get a reputation in places.
Her droid, a three-foot tall cylindirical-shaped armless robot with wheels on it's underside to move it around, rolled up to her. "Well Beepo," Karmlyn spoke to the droid, "I'm off to see what Planet Lagos has to offer. Hope this dress fits in with local fashion."
The droid gave a loud "wheet wheew" whistle in reply. It's single optical receptor seemed to wink at her.
Karmlyn grinned, "You little tinwit," she spoke in mock chastisment, "You sure know how to give an answer." The droid ignored the first half of the remark and beeped in response. Karmlyn continued, "Now that we've taken care of Uncle Scullinar's shipment, I think I'll have a little fun. There's a casino near the spaceport. I also heard about a quality restaraunt nearby. After that this evening, I could check out a night club. I've heard the night life in the city of Krennel can be quite a thrill."
The droid beeped some more, "Oh don't worry, I'll be careful." Beepo followed her as she walked down the corridor to another room. Next to the holo-projector was her purse. She took it, and went through the contents. There was a perfume sprayer, small mirror, and brush for cosmetics. There were also several hundred credits in coins and an electronic credit stick that registered several thousand in cash. There was also a small set of macrobinoculars. There was a small comlink in case she needed to radio her droid. In case she ran into anyone who couldn't speak either Galactic Standard or Aglir, the language of the mymar on Absolin, she had a pocket language translator. And anyone trying to rob her would get a nasty surprise. She had a small "Stingbeam" blaster in the purse, small enough to be concealed in her hands if she wanted. However, it held only enough power for a few shots against unarmored targets.
Karmlyn had done a little target practice using a low-power blaster and targets while her ship was in hyperspace, but had spent more time on computer card games to keep her gambling skills sharp and a few holo-movies on the planet. She had never had to use the "stingbeam" before, and felt confident about her safety.
Also there was a datapad, which had a disk with maps and information of places she'd be likely to go. Besides the spaceport and the casino in Krennel, the mostly-human planet Lagos didn't have much to offer a space traveller interested soley in a quick credit. For someone like Karmlyn, however, there were other places. There was a huge castle a few hundred kilometers away that had been converted into a musem. Further away was a wilderness reserve with a huge variety of interesting but non-threatening animal life.
She planned to see those, and more, but first the casino. As she walked to the entry/exit ramp, the droid beeped again. She turned, "What is it, Beepo?"
The droid moved to the kitchen area. It was out of view for a few moments, then reappeared holding two plates in small grasper arms usually withdrawn inside. It whistled questioningly upon coming back into her view.
"No, Beepo," Karmlyn grinned, "There's no need to set up two plates. Just because I brought a date on board last time doesn't mean it'll happen again, at least not right away." What wasn't mentioned was that her "date" was really a business dinner, in which she represented her uncle, held on the ship as the corporate represenative wanted privacy. Kamlyn headed on, "Just watch the ship. I'll probably have dinner at that restaraunt I mentioned. See you."
Beepo watched as its mymar owner walked down the ramp. Then the hatch closed. With its owner gone, the droid just turned down the lights and turned its own power down to what Karmlyn called "sleep mode." It would re-awaken if the hatch opened, or Karmlyn called it.
"Islyne!"
At the sound of her name, Islyne "Jinx" Jixsi stopped work on the access pannel. She put down the wrench, and got up. She was a young adult mymar, at the age of nineteen. Unlike others, her hair and fur had no color, solid white. Her eyes, the only part of her with any color, were a soft blue. Both were the result of albinism.
Her bodily shape was close to ordinary. Compared to a human female, she was about an inch and a half shorter than normal, and her figure was a thin average. She wore a grayish jumpsuit. It had a fold in the back for her tail, but she had been keeping it in her trouser leg during the job. The reason: the greasiness of the task. Black stains on her white fur showed up very easily, as well as those on her clothes and work shoes.
Islyne thought she knew who the speaker was, "Captain?"
"I need you over here."
Islyne then began walking down the corridor of the light freighter. She had signed on a few weeks ago as a temporary crewman. She had worked on everything from repairs on the ship, cleaning up, including dishes, helping with loading and unloading, and other forms of general labor. She was the only non-human among the crew.
She soon found the captain, just outside the bridge area. He was middle aged with an athletic build. He was looking over a datapad as she walked over, "You asked for me?"
"Yes." the captain answered, glancing at the pad, then looking at her, "First of all, I'd like to let you know you've been a great help since signing up."
"Thank you."
"Unfortunetly, something else has come up. You are aware that we made a deal to haul a shipment from our next stopover on Lagos to Nuklon?"
"I have heard, but what does this have to do with me?"
"I just went over some facts on Nuklon society. It appears they have some rather hostile beliefs and superstitions about felines."
"You mean -?"
I'm afraid after all our work on Lagos is done, I'll have to let you go, at least until we happen to meet again. I will pay you for an extra week."
Islyne lowered her head a little, sighing slightly, "I guess I should be thankful for any small blessing."
"I'm sorry, but it's too late to back out of the deal now. You're a good worker, and I'm certain you'll soon find another job somewhere else."
"I suppose."
"Well, I'll let you get back to work. I don't have anything else after that pannel, so just relax afterwards until we de-hype in Lagosian space in a few hours."
"All right." Islyne turned around and walked back in the direction she came. As she went, the captian couldn't help but think about her, Nineteen years old, and I've yet to see her raise her voice or express much emotion. What is it with that kitty girl?
About an hour later, Islyne turned off the sonic shower, and exited the stall to the small dressing room. The only thing she was wearing was a small medalion on a necklace. She usually kept it underneath her clothes. In the center of it was what looked like a fractured blue saphire. The outer edge looked like it once had lettering, but it had molten away from heat of some kind.
She had brought in a fresh jumpsuit, also gray, a pair of undergarments, as well as the work shoes she cleaned up earlier. Thinking of a chance for a little practice, she closed her eyes, put her index finger and forefinger to her temple, and concentrated. The undergarments squirmed, then flew to her free hand. After putting those on, she went over to the jumpsuit and shoes rather than will them over, Shouldn't develop an overdependance, then began dressing.
As she dressed, she thought about her next move. She knew how to stretch her money, and could last a while between jobs. Since she was here, she could get a temporary job on the planet and look around the place durring off hours, doing a little exploring and sightseeing. Islyne had been away from Absolin for a few years now. It was often a lonely existance, but not much more so than back home.
It had all began when she was a little girl. She was just a normal girl with a normal apperance and a normal name: Jelica Jixsi. And she had led a normal life, until age eleven. Then, for whatever reason, she fell into coma. The doctors could do nothing, so her parents took her to a temple, hoping for a miracle.
What happened was not entirely clear. What was obvious was that an explosion brought down part of the temple. Fortunetly, no one was badly hurt. She was found with the very necklace she now wore, and woke up shortly afterwards. Unfortunetly, her recovery had side effects. First of all, she had amneisa. Almost all of her personal memory was gone. She could remember facts and figures, but virtually nothing from her childhood experiences. Second, her golden-brown fur and blonde hair became replaced by white, and her eyes became bluish. Her body had lost the ability to produce pigments, and developed albinism. This was a rare condition among mymar.
There were two other odd things. For whatever reason, she began calling herself "Islyne" instead of Jelica. She genuinley thought that was her name, and her parents and freinds went along. Also, over time, she began developing certain abilities. She developed some power to move things by telekenisis, percieve by ESP, and other mental powers. Her abilities were limited, however. She was unable to levitate for very long an object weighing more than what one of her hands could comforably hold. While she could influence a person mentally, such as willing a pirate to keep looking one way while she sneaked down another, any blatant concflict with common sense or someone with a strong will would render her efforts useless.
She tried to keep her abilities a secret, but enough found out to spread stories about her. Psionists were very rare, on Absolin and everywhere else in the known galaxy. Rare to the point their abilities were dismissed as "nonsense" by more than a few. Among those who did believe, most people had a distorted image of them, and viewed them with a mix of fear and awe.
To understand what a few people suspected about Islyne, one had to look at Absolin's history and legends. The mymar were not native to Absolin, but another planet named Terryl. Acording to lore, centuries ago in Terryl's Dark Ages in a war-torn country called Aglir, a lone mymar lady from a large group of refugees came across a spacecraft undergoing repairs: Astra Mixin. Supposedly having powerful mental abilities, she was able to communicate with the spacers, and not only convince them to take her group to another world, but return with other ships and get more refugees. It was unclear just how many were evacuated, but some guesses put the number at over a hundred thousand. The spacers left behind some medical and farming technology, then left. They never told anyone about the planet, which the former refugees called Absolin for an old Aglirian word meaning "refuge." The planet remained unknown to the rest of the galaxy, being far from regular hyperspace lanes, until found about a century ago. By that time, the one hundred thousand felines had grown in number, benefitting from many things including the medical and agricultural knowledge unknown to their Terrylian counterparts, to nearly a billion. Today, there were more than five times that number on Absolin alone.
After their settlement, the mymar on Absolin began developing their new home. Astra Mixin left the leadership to others, and eventually married and had two children. They went on to have five children. These five grandchildren of Astra Mixin, according to legend, had similar powers to her. Two were of pure heart, but two turned to evil. One, Islyne Mixin, was wicked-minded at first. But the good pair pleaded with her, and she eventually repented. She in turn tried to convince her one-time allies to repent. But they refused to listen and arranged her disapperance, her fate unknown. The noble two then confronted the evil pair and killed them.
The story of Islyne Mixin became an Absoloni tragedy: the once-wicked youth who reformed, only to die trying to turn others to good. Some versions of the story had her simply killed. Other endings portrayed her mind trapped in some kind of eternal prison, awaiting release.
And now came along this albino mymar, this ghost of a mymar, calling herself Islyne. She herself could understand what some other mymar wondered about her. Yes it defied rational explanation, but still ... Preists were often keeping an eye on her. People on the streets stared at her, or avoided her alltogether. As an adolescent, she often found it difficult to make freinds. She was sometimes teased and ridiculed due to her white apperance. With some of the stories floating around about her, she was sometimes blamed, usually teasingly but sometimes not, whenever something went wrong. This soon led to her getting a new nickname:
Jinx.
She often found it easier to get along with those of the human community on her world rather than other mymar. She listened to stories of the worlds out there, and thought more and more of seeing the galaxy. Finally, one day, she signed up as a crewman on a cargo ship and left. That was three years ago.
So far, she had been to a number of places and had a few adventures. Her powers enabled her to help a few people at times. One of the more notable times was when she helped stop a pirate raid on a passenger ship she was on. She found out word of that reached home, and while it had gotten her some praise, there were those who felt her presence caused the attack in the first place.
Throughout it all, she had endured, remaining composed, showing no anger, keeping a softspoken manner. Yet, she wondered at times, including now:
Was it worth all this?
She looked at herself in the mirror. Her face appeared expressionless. It seemed she had forgotten how to smile. Her fur, even her clothes appeared colorless, except for the eyes. And the eyes, they radiated, sadness?
She looked down at her medalion. She imagined an alternate self in some other universe, a place where Jelica Jixsi grew up as a happy, ordinary mymar girl, laughing and playing. Her gaze then shifted back to her reflection. That incident years ago saved her life, but left her changed. Sometimes, she wasn't sure just what she had become. She held the medalion in her hand, Am I still that little girl, now all grown up, or am I really Islyne Mixin, come back to life?
For a long time, she just looked at her reflection and the medalion. Then she went back to finishing dressing. This time, she had her tail outside rather than kept down her trouser leg. She put the necklace back underneath her jumpsuit, then left the dressing room.