Free Desert Stars by Joe Vasicek Page B

can’t keep track of
everyone personally, they require you to have the proper
documents.”
    “ What kind of
documents?”
    “ Well, it depends on the
dome. Here at Aliet Dome, most people keep them on personal storage
drives. In some of the domes, however, they use special identity
chips embedded in their bodies.”
    “ In their bodies?” Mira
asked, eyes widening. Jalil shuddered; the idea of embedding any
kind of electronics inside him made his skin crawl.
    “ Yes,” said Sarah. “But
don’t worry, you don’t need any of that; a standard handheld
datachip should be fine.”
    “ How do we get these
documents?” Jalil asked, barely disguising his relief.
    “ Well, since you’re only
applying for a pilgrim’s visa, it shouldn’t be too hard. First,
we’ll have to go down to the embassy to get a blood
sample—”
    “ Blood?”
    “ Don’t worry, it’s
perfectly safe. They’ll take your biological data, combine it with
your birth year and your tribe, and issue you passport datachips
after inputting all that into the main district registry. Even
though you’re both old enough to be considered independent, you’ll
need my signature as next of kin to verify your tribal
affiliation.”
    “ So you’ll help us do all
this?” Jalil asked. His head was swimming with all the convoluted
instructions—if he had to do all this himself for him and Mira,
he’d be totally lost.
    “ Of course! Besides, I
know some people who can help speed up the process.”
    “ How long will it
take?”
    Sarah touched her chin and looked up
in thought. “Oh, maybe two or three weeks,” she answered. “There’s
no way to know for sure.”
    Jalil’s stomach
fell. Two or three weeks, he thought to himself. In that much time, they
could easily drive another four thousand miles across the
desert.
    “ Is there any way to make
it go faster?”
    “ Not without paying a lot
of extra money. Understand: without my friends, you’d have to wait
almost twice as long; that’s standard for most tribesmen. And I
understand you’re carrying a firearm?”
    “ That’s right,” said
Jalil. He picked up his father’s rifle from the floor and laid it
across the table.
    “ Hmm,” said Sarah,
frowning. “This complicates things. It’s Sathi’s personal heirloom,
isn’t it?”
    “ Yes,” said Jalil,
nervously tapping his foot on the floor.
    “ I know that Aliet Dome
will let you take it so long as it’s unloaded and you have a
ceremonial license. I’m not sure about the other domes, though.
We’ll have to check that on the planetnet.”
    “ What will they
do?”
    “ Worst case scenario,
they’ll confiscate it.”
    Jalil perked up at once. “Confiscate
it? You mean, take it from me?”
    “ I’m afraid so,” said
Sarah. “But don’t worry—we’ll make sure to keep that from
happening.”
    “ God-willing,” he
muttered. Blood rushed to his cheeks, and he gripped his father’s
rifle tightly with both hands, as if afraid someone would
immediately climb up to the rooftop and seize it from
him.
    “ I’d be surprised if you
didn’t find a way to get it through, though.” She leaned forward
and opened the thermos. “More tea?”
    “ No, thank you,” said
Jalil.
    “ I’ll have some,” Mira
said softly.
    Sarah nodded and filled her cup. As
Mira gingerly lifted it to her lips, Sarah filled her own and
replaced the thermos on the table, steam lifting up a few inches
before wafting away on the cool night breeze.
    “ There is one more thing,”
she said, setting her cup in her lap. “Mira, I’m afraid you won’t
be able to wear your headscarf in Aliet Dome.”
    Jalil frowned, and he turned quickly
to glance at Mira. Though the twilight had long faded into
darkness, he could tell by the dim light of the streetlamps in the
lane that she was blushing.
    “ Why?” she
asked.
    “ It’s the law here,” Sarah
answered. “You’re allowed to wear a headband like mine, but you
cannot completely cover your hair or your