A Free Online Science Fiction Novel- “Liberty” Chapter 5- Sarah

*Note- A short prologue is on chapter one. Each chapter has a link to the next to make reading it easier.

This is chapter five of a novel I am sharing online, titled Liberty, A Daughter Universe Novel. I use the word “Liberty” because it relates to this story on multiple levels.

Comments and criticisms are welcome and encouraged.

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Sarah’s Apartment

Residential Ring Three

Capitol City

ECA

Friday morning

Sarah Morgan somehow slept through the alarm, checked the time when she woke and cursed herself; she had less than an hour before Lucas would be there. I’ll have time for a quick breakfast, she thought while using the full five minutes allotted to shower. The water pressure seems low. She then put on a pair of lightweight slacks and a thin, white blouse she felt would be comfortable for a long ride, brushed her auburn hair, and applied just a touch of makeup then went to the kitchen, only to realize it would have to be a light breakfast. I really should’ve taken time to order proper groceries.

The lights flickered, then steadied. Great! Low water pressure, flickering lights—what ever happened to the idea of building maintenance?

“Charles,” Sarah said to her apartment’s AI, “I have almost nothing in the kitchen. Will you order for me so the pantry and fridge will be properly stocked when I get home Tuesday? I’ve been so busy at work this week, I forgot to order anything.”

“Of course,” Charles replied. “I will collate your previous purchases and order the same products and preferred brands.”

Sarah smiled a sigh of relief. “You’re a lifesaver, Charles.”

“If you would like me to, I will place the same order weekly until you add or change anything rather than simply reminding you.” Charles already illuminated a reminder on the refrigerator door on Mondays, but feeling rushed that week, Sarah had ignored it.

This is what happens when I put things off, she thought. I have no one to blame but myself.

“That would be wonderful, Charles, thank you,” Sarah replied. Charles was a Class V AI, an upgrade from the Class IIIs that came with the apartment but was nothing like Lucas’ AI, House. Still, Sarah had named the AI and thought of ‘him’ as a friend.

She brushed her auburn hair, again, and wondered, for the third time, if she was wearing the right clothes then she chastised herself for being nervous over how she looked; it was not her first date with Lucas. They had been together at least three nights a week, and most weekends since they had been introduced by her employer, the senior partner in the top four largest law firms in the ECA. Sarah did not care for fundraisers, finding most of the guests to be far above her in income range, and rather boring, but at his insistence, she’d agreed and had met Lucas at what Sarah considered an too plush, ‘over the top’ affair the previous winter.

She had spent the remainder of that evening with Lucas on the rooftop veranda drinking hot cacao and talking about their work, cultural events happening in the city, growing up and Sarah’s father being an astronomer, the few stars that could be seen in the city, and how Lucas had, as a child, been to a place dark enough to see the Milky Way and had a trip planned to that place for the coming summer. They were so engrossed in each other they had not noticed as guests, all of whom had stayed inside, slowly left and she and Lucas were the last guests there. As they stood from the bench Lucas had asked her if she would like to take in a gallery exhibit with him and had given her his contact information, to show he “wasn’t some playboy out to get beautiful women” or something to that effect so she had given hers. He had even waited with her as her car was brought around.

Sarah had been a bit surprised when he had called the next day to confirm the date at the Dali exhibit. Afterwards, he had suggested dinner, which she accepted, and he made a call to a restaurant and reserved a table. She was shocked when they walked into the restaurant; she knew the place had a four-month waiting list. And the meal was unlike any she had ever had, with grown-in-the-ground vegetables and grass-fed beef. He had then asked her out twice more, each to a different experience, followed by dinner and then he had invited her to his downtown condo.

“For a cup of real coffee,” he had said. “My own blend. And you must see the view, the city is beautiful at night!”

Sarah did not normally go home with a man after only a few dates, but Lucas had been a perfect gentleman and she already found herself trusting him, so she had agreed to go to his condo.

But when she saw his “condo” was the penthouse on the one-hundred- twentieth floor of a prestigious tower and the view over city lights that disappeared into the distant fog over the ocean, she was glad she had accepted his first invitation, to the Dali exhibit. That, the restaurants she would otherwise never have been in, the foods she’d never have tasted and now an incredibly stunning view of the city. The posh restaurants, the gallery openings… those things fell within the reach of celebrities and many people of considerable wealth, but she could not imagine even best-selling authors could earn enough from writing to live in such a building. There was no longer any doubt in her mind that Lucas must be independently wealthy. He had mentioned a wealthy grandfather who had funded the preservation of a town called Liberty. Perhaps his grandfather had been rich enough to fund Liberty and still leave enough for Lucas live so well.

At that time, of course, she had no idea of Lucas’ identity and just how rich he had become on his own, using the considerable wealth left him by his grandfather.

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As Sarah waited, she glanced out the kitchen-area window. A bird with a light-brown back and wings and blue spots on its white breast and throat, talons gripped onto the ledge, head cocked to the side, watching Sarah. She was stunned at the beauty of the bird but more so by the fact that other than gulls along Seaside and the pigeons sometimes seen around shopping districts, birds were rarely seen in the city.

“Charles, can you identify that bird for me?”

“I do not see a ‘bird’, Sarah. In fact, I have never seen any bird here.”

“It’s right there, on the windowsill!” Sarah turned to the window, but the bird had vanished. I must’ve frightened it away...

“Never mind, Charles. It’s gone now.”

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Sarah shook her head to clear her mind. She loved Lucas and he loved her; that was all that mattered. She got her bags and set them by the door, ready for Lucas to arrive, then walked out into the morning sun.

“Good morning, Sarah,” a voice called out from above. Susie leaned over the rail of the first-floor balcony above Sarah’s apartment. First floor units were expensive but far less than ground floor units. They also did not have their own exterior entry. She and Sarah had become friends in the few years Susie had lived there. Sarah smiled.

“Good morning, Susie.”

“You’re not dressed for work- do you have a day off?”

Sarah smiled. “I’m taking a long weekend, so I’ll be off Monday, too.”

“Lucky you,” Susie replied. “They have me scheduled to work Saturday! Can you believe it? And I can’t remember the last time I had a weekday off.”

“You know I normally don’t like to miss work- it makes it that much harder to catch up. But Lucas invited me to take a short trip with him.”

“That sounds like fun.”

“Well, he promised me a weekend I’ll never forget.” Sarah smiled. “He’s taking me to some small town in the mountains- to a car show, of all things! I’ll know soon enough if it lives up to all the hype,” Sarah replied with a laugh.

Susie had seen Lucas’s Lincoln picking up Sarah and knew she spent many nights at his home, but she did not know Lucas was an O’Connell. “Your relationship with him is getting pretty serious, isn’t it?”

Sarah smiled, thought about Lucas, and looked up at Susie. “I hope so!”

“Have a good time, I have to go now, get ready for work- some of us can’t just take off work whenever we like,” she said with a smirk.

“I’ll bring pictures,” Sarah laughed. “See you Tuesday.”

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Chapter 6

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This story was originally posted on Simily.co.

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