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Stories from the Verse
Re Verse All
Chapter 144: Takano 55
Table of Contents
Previous chapter: Hastings 228
Lauren pushed past the crowd like a force of nature, and Tommy scurried to stay in her wake. Apparently someone in front heard them coming, and the whole line stopped as Mister Beam waited for them to arrive.
“Is there a problem?” he demanded.
“Actually,” Lauren said, “we think we have a solution.” Not waiting for him to respond, she continued “Are we right in thinking that all these apartments are occupied, and we’re having trouble finding space for the night?”
The white-haired man glanced at his red-headed wife and nodded.
“Well, it’s not the same thing, but Tommy has located a large mattress store on the edge of the retail section.”
“Bathrooms?” Mister Beam asked. Tommy answered.
“Well, the bathrooms in the store itself are kind of small, but there are several restaurants near it that also have them. No showers, but, well, it’s better than sleeping in the halls.”
Mister Beam nodded. “Lead on,” he said, and Tommy oriented her computer to follow the map.
The mattress store had about eighty beds, most of them large enough for two or even three people. Tommy and Lauren found a pair of bunk beds along a wall near the entrance, and claimed these for themselves as a few people who were apparently the leaders organized the mob into sleeping arrangements. Tommy was asleep before everyone was settled, but then, her day had started several hours earlier than that for the Empire of Beam, and it had been a longer trip than usual.
There is a behind-the-writings look at the thoughts, influences, and ideas of this chapter, along with five other sequential chapters of this novel, in mark Joseph "young" web log entry #407: Versers Integrate. Given a moment, this link should take you directly to the section relevant to this chapter. It may contain spoilers of upcoming chapters.
As to the old stories that have long been here:
