[font=Georgia]'Mr. Cole? Ms. Minami Kuriyama is waiting for you.'
[color=#FFFFFF]'Thank you Mrs. Sinser. Let her enter.' 'She's on the way, Mr. Cole.'
The large office-door groans and a small japanese woman in the midst of her twenties enters the room. She makes a short bow and comes closer to his desk.
'Ms. Kuriyama I am aghast to see you leave. We have a need in good pilots than you are. You see the universe is more insecure than ever before. The Gallic nations push from the north and the Outcasts push from the East. What will happen if Kusari can't hold the pressure any more? I have learned to know you as a determined and intelligent person. In the last three years you have become a good Bounty Hunter... Someone with brain... Unfortunately this is not the normal case in our business. Many join because of the money. They didn't win in their lives or jobs and have to look for another occupation. But you, you have been hunting for the nobility of ideals. You are a woman that knows why you are doing something. It will be a heavy loss when you go.'
She looked sheepish to the floor and then raised her head to speak.
'Mr. Cole. You know that this was not a simple decision. I've been thinking about it since I began here as a greenhorn. It is a fundamental decision whether to be payed for hunting without knowing the background of our targets or learn to know your real enemies better and optimize your strategies to start working at fundamental problems in our society.
When we left earth and our old systems we had to start from zero again and built up our new world. But we soon split up in different groups that worked against each other with partly illegal actions and nobody saw a reason why to change it. I will give you an example. When we discovered the Outcast colonies not too far away from here no one ever even tried to integrate these groups. Now we hunt them like animals and get hunted like animals because nobody ever sees the other side: Their families, hometowns and visions.' She silently took a breath and continued. 'It is important to have an institution like the Bounty Hunters that takes care for us in Sirius but it will not solve our problems.'
'I can see your point Ms. Kuriyama. It is sad that there are no efforts to find a real solution. Where will you go when you leave our house?'
'I am not sure but I will try to find a way to work as independent as possible and not getting controlled by inadequate thoughts.'
'Then you are free to go. I wish you the best.'
Ten seconds of silence filled the room.
'Thank you. Sayonara Mr. Cole', said Minami and turned around.
Mr. Cole, still sitting in his heavy chair, believed to see her smile when she closed the door behind her.
On the way to the terminal Minami took two steps at once. I am gonna see my parents again once more before I leave to other, still unknown challenges.
Her heart beat fast and shivers ran down her back.
I am Minami Kuriyama.
I am 26 years old and was born in Honsho.
I love this planet and its beautiful sunset.
My parents told me to never give up in finding real freedom and I still chase this dream.
WE ALL DREAM A LOT.
SOME ARE LUCKY,
SOME ARE NOT.
BUT IF YOU THINK IT,
WANT IT, DREAM IT,
THEN IT'S REAL.
YOU ARE WHAT YOU FEEL.
It was a warm sunny day in autumn when Minami celebrated her 13th birthday. She and her family had a lot to do while preparing dinner and cleaning the house although it was a very small one. She stood in front of the large birthday-table and at all the presents she got. Electronics, music and books ' of course more than one book. Minami preferred scientific books about astronomy and history. Her age didn't play a serious role in choosing the topic because she was able to understand the really hard topics. Her parents noticed her talents very early and began to assist her in school and permanent self-contained learning. That was also a reason why her parents suffered under a constant pressure of her relatives who wanted Minami for Samura. But all of this was far away that day.
The wooden floor creaked while she leaned forward to grab a large book with a solid and precious book cover. It was a book about Sirius, already used and the pages were yellowed on their sides. Most publications existed only in digital form but Minami enjoyed the magic of such heavy writings. The magic to flip a book open and softly feel the facile elevations of the printed letters. She laid her hand flatly on a page in the book and let her fingers glide down the slightly page. A warm sunray fell through the compact clouds directly onto her hand. She raised her head and looked straight into the sun. The light was so bright that she had to close her eyes. The sun didn't usually shine so intensive on Honsho. Her parents and some of her relatives were outside and she watched their shadows dance in the evening-sun, which rays broke through the leaves and made a bizarre spectacle on the floor.
Suddenly the door opened and her grandpa entered the living room holding hands with her young brother Akira. 'All alone here, little Minami', he detected ironically and suggested: 'Why don't you go outside to your parents while I will go for a walk with Akira. He is a little bit hyped up of all the events today.'
Minami looked at her brother. He wasn't even her half age but they noticed that he also would become a clever person. 'Mata ne!', said grandpa and disappeared in the dark backrooms of the house. Minami walked outside where Mom and Dad sat at the table and were talking about anything with her aunt and uncle. She didn't pay attention to this and walked to the buffet where she picked up a deliciously looking cookie. 'It will be dark soon', her mom said and looked at the rose-colored sky. 'We should go inside.' Her relatives went to the door and only her dad was about to help her mother carry all the stuff inside. When Minami picked up a bowl with salad to carry it inside, her mom gave her a kiss on her forehead and told her to enjoy the day. No work on that day, no learning, not doing anything. She was just happy and relaxed. The guests were about to leave and disbanded very formally. Minami took a deep breath and thought about her family. Although it had always been a very hard relationship between her parents and the rest of her family she liked all of them somehow.
The sun bent towards the horizon and the sky turned deep pink. She walked to the the lake at the end of the accurate-cut lawn. The warm, wet grass under her bare feet felt wonderfully natural and soft. Her look swept over the water and watersides. It was completely silent. She enjoyed the nature and the warm breath of the wind. A sweet smell surrounded her body and she outstretched her arms widely. Purple rain started falling from the clouds and ran down her skin and lips.
The whole landscape and all of its beauty got destroyed when her father ran out of the backdoor and called my mothers name. There was panic in his voice. 'They took Akira, they took Akira. He is gone.'
Forever... She knew it.
Until this moment everything had been fine. Then Minami had to learn that beautiful days are perishable...
[font=Georgia]One of the great cities on New Tokyo is New Fukuyama. Its lights were shining bright in the glowing nights when the myst of Saza-River ascended over the watersides. The blood in the loop of the city was never sleeping. Cars, metrotrains, flying hovercars drove and flew 24h from car park to car park, from train station to train station. And so many people: Thousands, millions, it didn't matter. You are always an 'Anon' in the copse of the city.
Minami channeled her way through downtown to her small flat where she lived for 2 years now while studying at the university. Although she got almost shocked when she first arrived there she now felt kind of comfortable. She had everything she needed in this room with a kitchen and a beautiful bath. Besides her communication systems she owned a large book-collection which stood in her living room. The only picture that could be found on her desk was the one of her parents and her brother. There had never been a guy in her life. It was the compromise she had to take for being intelligent and always busy. Anyhow she needed someone who could satisfy her mind and wishes. She always thought about it when she was all alone at home, staring at the never ending rush on the streets.
Minami squeezed through a large crowd to get on the market of agricultural food. The smell and muggy air made it hard to breathe freely. A bad taste in her throat made her choke and she managed to get a bit more space. Her eyes looked for her destination. Where to go?
On Honsho the days were clean and the air fresh of the salty breeze from the oceans that were all-around. It was a natural thing for a child to go and play outside. They enjoyed summer and the mild winters that seemed to last for aeons. Later she learned that a summer actually lasted about one earth-year. Her mom and dad moved when to a medium-sized-town when Minami turned one year old because her father began to work for the Gas Miners Guild there while her mother opened a flower-store right beside their house. Minami remembered herself as she always visited her young mother there. She probably never had many customers but she did the job for the other people that needed a little bit of alternation in their daily-grinds. Many of them just came to talk and liked to listen to her mother, who really was a great listener to everyone who had problems. Mom then always sat on the table on which was meant as a place where to cut the flowers . Sitting there she listened to her visitors. When Minami used to visit her she usually sat in a half-separated room, browsing the literature about plants and animals. Self-made cake of her mother with big, natural strawberries with cream, taking pictures in the forest or on the sea with her friends, getting trouble when she laid her dirty, bare feet on the table after a day without shoes, painting her face with flowery-colors... All that was gone. Until she left her house on her 16th birthday she had never seen so many people on one place.
Then it became normal. Something was wrong. She knew it. Aggression, nervousness, fear. It was an old market, only the big bright displays at the stands showed that it was a new age and not the old earth. The restless crowd clashed and moved in waves without making a step forward or backwards. Someone screamed in a strange accent, not far away from Minami. Then a shot echoed and the crowd moved antlike apart. Through a line of people she could see how an old man lay motionless on the floor. Blood ran down his stomach. A shaking, haggard man with a pistol in his left hand looked apologetic and shocked in the staring eyes around. He babbled: 'He... he... He didn't even gave me a chance. Somebody help me.' He ran to a woman that was dressed like a businesswoman and tried to grab her hands. She turned around shocked and quickly to refuse his touches. 'Gomenasai. Gomen... Please...' She pushed him away and two Policemen rushed through the lines and grabbed the murderer. One bowed down to the dead man. 'Saicho Katagama, Samura', Minami heared the officer say. The other one grabbed the shaking guy and turned his arms so hard on his back that it cracked loudly and the guy screamed horribly. 'What... what will happen to me....?', he asked while he was carried away but he already knew the answer; Minami saw it in his eyes when their views crossed for a short second. That was one of the moments when Minami's stomach began to hurt again because of all the things she had seen.
Unable to move, she stood there, lost, her mind flowing in thoughts, her arms and legs tired and her eyes open, staring into the endless skies, praying for freedom.