Junebug looked up at the vast wreckage of the ancient ship. Generations of scavengers must have stripped it of components and hollowed out the living spaces which now thronged with dirty desperate people. Her nose wrinkled at the mix of smells which rose from the streets. Smoke coiled from street vendors carts where makeshift braziers charred meat or warmed tepid soups. The common garment seemed to be shapeless brown cloth and broad brimmed straw hats but dozens of different styles were present. Some of them were familiar from other worlds Sayeeda had visited but others were alien even to her broad experience. Weapons were much in evidence all so, slung casually or peaking from waste bands or coat pockets. Few of them were as well armed as Junebug herself but she did spy a couple of Terran's in some sort of light body armor.

"Well," she said, temporizing, "I don't think we can count on finding him just hanging around." They headed off down one of the alleys, chosen by virtue of the fact that slightly more people seemed to be heading that way. Large three wield rickshaws seemed to be the primary form of local transport and several rattled by loaded with some sort of stalky vegetable that reminded Sayeeda of sugar cane. The city had been augmented with whatever had been to hand. Plastic sheeting printed with beer logos or soup flavors made improvised awnings. Here and there handmade signs declared bars and brothels with varying degrees of artistry. A particular memorable brothel was doing a roaring trade beneath the sign of a purple cat that lifted its haunches invitingly.

They walked for perhaps fifteen minutes before they found what Sayeeda was looking for. The area was upscale in the sense that the omnipresent graffiti was slightly less dense on the rusted metal walls. The bar had a large blinking neon sign out front that declared it the Ground Floor, men and a few women lounged in an outdoor beer garden with plastic decorative trees. It was far enough from the landing pads to have more locals than transients. If the kid had been here a while, it was the locals who would know about it.

"I suppose we can ask," she said and headed into the bar.

[@POOHEAD189]