I picked up the blaster, and then Miss Titete. I tucked the blaster into the back of my jeans, and carried Miss Titete back to the cargo ramp. There, I dumped her outside on the ground. Fact: Cat's don't always land on their feet. Especially when they are unconscious. Spitfire gave our former passenger's luggage the same treatment. I looked at Spitfire, and she looked at me. We both grinned. Then we went back into the ship and closed the cargo bay door. I guess I could have called station security, or the Galcops on her. But I doubted that would have actually accomplished anything. I did however, want to let her know, that I did not like being used! Not when it endangered people I care about. Hope she had a real bad headache!
Oh dear... as sweet as it is that he's looking out for Bee, that seems rather harsh really given that that kind of reception is about par for the course with most passenger contracts...
Oh dear... as sweet as it is that he's looking out for Bee, that seems rather harsh really given that that kind of reception is about par for the course with most passenger contracts...
Well, that just it. Every single passenger contract, should not result in an assassination attempt. I don't like how it's currently set up in the game. That should be a rare occurrence. Like 1 in 10 or so... Why is almost every passenger suddenly marked for death? In the story, I think this is his third passenger contract, and second assassination attempt. If I were him, I would be a "mite peeved" too! };] But don't worry, he's a firm believer in, "Fool me once, shame on you! Fool me twice, shame on me!". };]
Neelix wrote:
Goats? where did you get that?
- Neelix
Here! };], and scroll up on that thread 2 messages.
I would have thought that only higher paying taxi jobs had hits on them?
Don't know, maybe it's just a coincidence, but I am 2 for 3 so far... I actually died the first time, and just like the story said, came damn close the second.
Well, that just it. Every single passenger contract, should not result in an assassination attempt. I don't like how it's currently set up in the game. That should be a rare occurrence. Like 1 in 10 or so... Why is almost every passenger suddenly marked for death? In the story, I think this is his third passenger contract, and second assassination attempt. If I were him, I would be a "mite peeved" too! };] But don't worry, he's a firm believer in, "Fool me once, shame on you! Fool me twice, shame on me!". };]
I suppose there's truth in that... It's not something I'd noticed though as when I do a contract run I pull as many other contracts en-route as I can manage. When you're carrying 2 passengers, that many parcels that the cockpit is starting to feel small and almost enough gemstones to require a TC of their own, it's usually impossible to tell what parcel/contract/passenger is the actual target.
I suppose there's truth in that... It's not something I'd noticed though as when I do a contract run I pull as many other contracts en-route as I can manage. When you're carrying 2 passengers, that many parcels that the cockpit is starting to feel small and almost enough gemstones to require a TC of their own, it's usually impossible to tell what parcel/contract/passenger is the actual target.
- Neelix
So far, for this story, I am just making straight runs to the destination using the Long Range Scanner/Jump Planner "cheat". Or whatever you want to call it. I call it one of the main reasons I am still playing Oolite. };] Otherwise, I would have a bunch of dogfights and pirates in between each of the "good" parts of my story line.
So far, for this story, I am just making straight runs to the destination using the Long Range Scanner/Jump Planner "cheat". Or whatever you want to call it. I call it one of the main reasons I am still playing Oolite. };] Otherwise, I would have a bunch of dogfights and pirates in between each of the "good" parts of my story line.
I'm not sure what you are referring to there... do you mean Switeck's wormhole maker?
Bee and I returned to the bridge. I checked the station manifest, and Velete was the wrong place to try and sell our cargo. We needed a rich, high tech. planet... We looked at the charts, and there were a couple of possibilities, but it was Bee who pointed out Tianve. Three jumps away, rich, and tech level 14! "Aria, set a course for Tianve."
Before we left, Spitfire and I had a talk.
"New rules," I said, as I leaned over our armrests, to look her in the eye. "Rule number one. From now on, ANY time we come out of witchspace, we assume we are going to be jumped."
"Agreed Captain!" She said with big eyes.
"Rule number two. Passengers are NOT our friends, they are passengers. This means me, as well as you. I was just as fooled by her, as you were. Now, I'm not saying we can't be friendly and sociable, but from now on, no passengers are allowed on the bridge. And, we NEVER forget about Miss Titete."
Bee thought about that for minute. The smiled, kissed me on the nose, and said, "I understand Captain."
I kissed her on the forehead. "Okay then. Three jumps to Tianve. Let's go."
We popped out of witchspace, and I was already holding the thrust button down. "Three Galcop Vipers on scanner, Captain." Reported Aria. Well, that was nice to hear anyways. We made our way to the station.
Bee and I sold our cargo's. Of her original 10 credits my father had given her, Bee had spent 4.8 credits on her two cargo pods of food. She and Aria were able to sell them for 15.2 credits. She had more than doubled her money. The resulting squeal, was enough to cross my eyes. Then I checked my ears for signs of bleeding. She pulled me out of my seat, and proceeded to drag me around the bridge a she "danced" for joy. I couldn't help but laugh at her excitement. However, it made me think of something. I sat back in my chair. "Bee come here for a sec." She took that literally, and I "OOOF"ed when she landed her jump in my lap. She kissed both my cheeks, my forehead, and my nose before I got her to settle down a bit. "Bee, since you became Aria's mechanic, we ain't really talked about your umm... well, about me payin' you."
Bee suddenly became quiet and still. "But, I... I thought... we were family now Morgan?"
"Oh we are Bee honey, we are! I'm not saying anything about that..."
"But you don't PAY family Morgan!" Bee said, looking a little hurt.
"But Bee, you do a lot of work 'round here, keeping Aria fixed up and all. Don't you wanna be paid for that?"
She shook her head. "You do just as much work as me, Morgan. Do you pay yourself?"
"Umm... Well, not exactly, it all just sorta belongs to all of us..?" I suddenly understood what she meant. I really needed to be careful with her, and think things out, before I started flapping my jaw. "Okay, okay, your right!" I thought about it for a minute. Bee watched my face the whole time. "Okay, what about this. Business as usual when it comes to cargo or contracts. All money we make from those, goes toward keeping Aria in the air, ship rations, maintenance, fuel, weapons and so on. Oh, and sending some back to Pa every now and then too. Share and share alike, so to speak." I paused to get her reaction. Her eyes were big, but she nodded. "Now, anything we scoop, be it cargo, rescue pods, whatever. We split 50-50, just you and I, and that will be our pocket money." She nodded again. so far, so good. "And last, anytime we got free cargo space, you can buy cargo of your own to sell." It only took a second for her eyes to begin to glow and a grin to light up her face.
"Oh Morgain, that would be perfect!" She kissed me again, this time, full on the lips.
Twice.
She resumed her twirling, mad, dance around the bridge, until I said, "So, you wanna go shopping?" Note to self, buy some ear plugs. And some zero-G football pads.
I bought some new t-shirts... Then wandered through the shipyard and ogled the three D.T.T. War Lance's they had for sale. I also ogled the people. Terra had been right. Now that I actually looked, I came to the conclusion, that some of Bee's outfits, were down right conservative! Not all of them mind you, not even most, but a few. Spitfire had asked to go shopping by herself. I didn't like that idea at all, until she said she would wear her relay chip to Aria. And if I wore mine, then we could talk together anywhere on the station, and Aria could track her as well. A few hours later, she returned to the ship, carrying a pile of bags and boxes, with a loaded carry-all bot close behind. When I asked her what she had bought, she said it was, "Just a couple more outfits and stuff." She also bought new boots, more tools, electronic gizmos, as well as a new model. A D.T.T. Kraken. She had already assembled, and meticulously painted the ones that I had bought her. They were currently hanging from the ceiling in the crews quarters. Once she had stowed away all her new purchases, we both met with one of the stations engineers. We talked about a few modifications that I wanted made to Aria. Everything was going smooth, until I mentioned that Spitfire would be overseeing the mods. That led to an argument which required me to confiscate her hammer, and monkey wrench. Once they started talking specifics, I saw the chief engineers eyes slowly take on a hint of respect. Things calmed down, and before you knew it, they had their heads together over a set of blueprints. Chattering like a pair of red jays.
Three days later, the mods were done.
Spitfire and I, had both been scared by that last assassination attempt. It had been a close call, way too close. So, we had purchased an escape pod. To be more accurate, we had turned Arias entire bridge into an self contained unit. This way, if the ship were destroyed, there was now a very good chance that Spitfire, I, and Aria, would all survive. Bee and I felt a little better. But all those mods had drained the ships credit account. It was time to get back to work.
I bought a load of electronics, which filled our cargo bay. Bee understood, ships business came first, but I could tell she was a mite disappointed. Then we all looked at the star-charts for a place to sell them. The answer was obvious, Teanrebi. It was close by, and a poor agri. planet. Perfect! We decided to leave in the "morning" after a good nights sleep. Bee was exhausted after all the work she had done on Aria. She had been on the ship the whole time, working side by side with the stations mechanics and engineers. But she had earned their respect. In fact, the chief engineer tried to hire her away from me! "No! Umm... thank you, but I can't leave my family!" I was button popping proud of her!
Next morning, I got up, and was "walking the ship" as I called it. Just a visual inspection that made me feel better, as well as more in touch with the ship. I was heading back to the bridge when I passed a not-yet-quite-awake Bee in the hallway, making her way to the common room. "Mornin'!" I said, as I tousled her bed-head hair as we passed.
"Morning." She muttered back, as she shuffled down the hall. It wasn't till I was in my seat, and doing the systems check, that I realized Bee had been completely naked when I passed her. And I hadn't even blinked. I laughed to myself.
Bee bounced onto the bridge, wide awake and rarin' to go, a few minutes later. One of her new outfits. A black, diaphanous, tutu like skirt, which barely fell below her waist, and a matching top. She had matched those, with calf high combat boots, and her ever present tool-belt. Whatever... We strapped in, got our launch window, and headed out.
We popped into Teanrebi space, and found ourselves in a cloud of yellow lollipops! I slammed the throttle to it's limit and hit the injectors. But all the blips stayed yellow, they were ignoring us.
"Whew!" Both Bee and I said, at the exact same time.
Then, in the distance, I saw laser fire. Whatever it was, it was out of scanner range, but it was between us and the station.
"Somebody might be in trouble." Bee said. Her eyes big, but she had a small smile as well.
"You could be right darlin', let's check it out, carefully." I hit the injectors again, until we started getting idents from Aria. Sure enough, a group of seven spacers were being hit by six pirates. "Aria, target the closest ship with offender status." It was a Mamba. I hit the mil., and made it disappear. That got their attention! The other spacers were also opening up on the pirates by this time, I saw 2 more pirates disappear in balls of flame. Then, one of the spacers. "Aria, target that ship, the one that just killed that spacer.
"Target acquired Captain." It was another Mamba. I red-lined the front mil., and then skunked him with the rear. Poof. By that time, the other pirates had all been dispatched by the rest of the spacers and traders.
Forty Eight. We continued on to the station without further incident.
We got a good price for our electronics, and I bought a load of furs. I knew we wouldn't make too much on them, so I left room for 5 more pods. Bee jumped at the chance, and bought 4 containers of food. Again, at 2.4 credits each, spending almost her entire profit from her first sale. That left us with one empty slot, and I left that open, in case we had to scoop something. There still weren't any contracts for us, and I wanted to make sure Bee got a good price for her cargo, so I decided to go to Anle. A rich tech 11 planet right next to Tianve. This wasn't a bad little route. Once we refueled, we were off again.
It was a thirty one hour trip, and both Bee and I was feelin' a mite tired, so I told Aria to hold down the fort while we got some shut eye. Didn't seem like I had barely shut my eyes, before I was woken up again. It was Bee was standin' beside my bed. "What's up Bee?"
"I'm sorry Morgan, can I sleep with you?"
I could hear the catch in her voice. She'd been crying again. "Sorry? What the hell you sorry about? Crawl on in here! Fact is, I'm glad you showed up."
"Really?" She asked. I flung my arm out, and she snuggled right into my side. Her head on my shoulder, and her little hand on my chest.
"Yes really! You done seen my room and bed at home. Look at this big ol' room (it really was a huge room!)! Some nights, even knowing, that you are just across the hall, I get to feelin' down right lonely in this big ol' empty bed.
"I will keep you company then." She draped her leg over mine, and gave me a squeeze. I lay there in the dark, wishing I could do more to help her. After a while, just when I figured she must have gone to sleep. I heard her whisper real soft, "You big fibber." She cuddled closer, and finally drifted off. She didn't have any more nightmares for the rest of that cycle.
We made Anle the following cycle. I took us over to a fuel station as we were a bit low, and that always makes me nervous. It cost more to re-fuel at these stations, so I only filled her to about three quarters full, then we headed for the station. Wasn't long, before we saw lasers in the distance. I approached cautiously. Looked like a pack of yellow blips were chasing one lone orange blip, and offender.
"Get him Morgan!" I didn't give her a hard time about the Captain thing. Hell, we were family. "No Spitfire. There's a whole group of clean ships after him, and they don't look to be in any trouble. Besides, what's our rule?"
"We don't attack them, unless they target us first." She recited. "But what about that group we helped before? They didn't target us first."
"No, but that situation was pretty clear cut. A group of pirates attacking a group of traders. I will do my best to help another spacer if they are being attacked. But that ain't the situation here. No Spitfire. We don't know what's goin' on here for sure, and in cases like this, I think we're better off minding our own business."
"Ya, I guess your right." She said, somewhat reluctantly. We continued on to Anle station.
Bee sold her four cargo pods of food for 8 credits each. Her eyes were big, and her jaw, near hit the floor! She now had almost 43 credits that were all her own! "I'm rich Morgain! I'm RICH!" And that led to another round of hootin' and hollerin' and dancin' 'round the bridge. I couldn't help but get up and join her this time.
"Now Bee," I said. "How 'bout we take the original 10 credits that Pa gave you, and put that away in case you need it someday? That will still leave you with almost 33 credits to play with."
I thought I might be in for a fight, but she never even blink an eye. "Okay Morgan, Will you lock it in the safe for me?
Too proud for words, I transferred 10 credits onto a cred-chip, and we put it in the bridge's "secret" safe. Then she asked if we could celebrate and do something special, and that she wanted to treat me to dinner! I told her I would love to go to dinner with her, and so she chased me off to my room to "get cleaned up and dress nice." I thought that was all a bit much, just to grab a couple of hamburgers, but I figured I would humor her. After taking a shower, I put on my "sunday best". A button up black shirt made out of a satiny material, and a new pair of fancy black jeans with a black leather belt. I polished up my pair of good boots,and looked at myself in the mirror. Not too bad if I may say so m'self! The shirt was just a little tight in the shoulders, but other than that, I thought I was lookin' pretty sharp. I went back to the bridge, and Aria informed me that Spitfire was still in her quarters, getting ready. I arranged for Aria to be refueled, and puttered around till finally, I heard Bee enter the bridge behind me. I hopped off the couch and turned to say, "I'm ready t..." The words died in my throat.
I forget, that my little Spitifire, is almost 17 years old. But I got slapped-upside-the-head reminded of it at that moment. I had seen her in most every kind of outfit imaginable, including buck-ass-naked. But I had never seen her like this before.
I was speechless. I was more than speechless, I was in shock.
She wore, what appeared to be, a gold collar. Cut out in filigree, and inset with tiny, ruby like, gems. It had a white satin hood attached at the back, which was pulled up over her head. The hood shadowed the top half of her face, and her huge, light grey eyes, glowed in that darkness. In stark contrast, it left the lower half of her face exposed to the light. The red glitter on her lips, sparkled, like powdered rubies. The golden collar narrowed to a point on her chest. From that point, two narrow strips of white satin, flowed down over each breasts, leaving the front and sides of the dress, completely open. Inches below her navel, the two front strips were joined together by a golden pin, with a sparkling red ruby like gem in it's center. From there, they fell to brush the tops of her tiny toes. High around her waist, a tiny, delicate, golden chain, supported a narrow strip of cloth in the back. About twelve inches wide, it almost-but-not-quite covered her bottom, as it fell to trail on the floor behind her. Instead of shoes, she had delicate gold rings on each of her middle toes. From those rings, tiny gold chains, trailed across the tops of her feet, and attached to gold anklets that matched the her collar. On each wrist, she also wore matching gold bracelets, all were inset with tiny ruby colored stones.
She looked like some mythical, virgin, goddess.
"Well, what do you think?" She asked, barley above a whisper.
"I... I... Umm... I..." I trailed off. And right then, it hit me like a cargo pod full of lead. I suddenly understood what Terra had been talking about in the kitchen that day.
"You don't like it do you. Oh! I knew I looked silly!" I could see tears beginning to well up in her eyes, and a deep red blush spread from her face, all the way down her neck to her chest. She was embarrassed! She had done all this for me, and she thought I didn't like it. "I'll go put on something else." She turned away so I wouldn't see her cry.
"NO!" I shouted, making her jump. "No..." I repeated again and ran across the room to stand in front of her. I started to reach out. To grab her shoulders. But I stopped. She was just so, ethereal. I didn't dare try to touch her. "I... It's just that you... Your just so..." I continued to stammer. She looked up at me, her grey eyes, glowing in the dark, with tears on the very edge of spilling over.
"What? Silly? Stupid? What?" Her little chin gave a quiver.
"You're just, so... so beautiful." I finally managed to say.
Her chin stopped quivering, and her eyes narrowed. "What?"
"I said, that you're beautiful Bee. You look just like a... Well, you look like a goddess!"
Her eyes grew wide in the shadows. "Morgan, please don't tease me right now."
"Oh darlin' I ain't teasin' you!" I did take her shoulders in my hands this time, and I looked her dead in the eye. "I mean it with all my heart Spitfire. I have never seen anything so beautiful in all my born days!"
"You really... You really think I'm... I'm beautiful?"
"Bee, I'm as serious as a heart attack! Which you almost gave me, when I turned around. And honestly, if I could think of a word, better than beautiful, I sure would use it right now, and still fall short!
A single tear found it's way over her long lashes, and rolled slowly down her cheek. I reached for the handkerchief in my back pocket, and attempted to wipe it away. She grabbed it from my hand before I reached it however. "Morgan Black! You mess up my makeup, and I will kick your ass SO hard...!" She carefully dabbed at her cheeks and eyes.
She was wearing MAKEUP?!? I lifted the front of her hood a mite, so I could really see her face. Not only were her lips covered in ruby red glitter, she also had a dark eyeliner, and what looked to be pure gold dust on her eyelids. I let the fabric fall back into place.
I moved back a step, so I could take in the whole picture once again. "I just can't get over it Spitfire! I can't believe that's really you in front of me!" I stood there shaking my head in wonder.
She blushed again, and this time it reached all the way down past her breasts. Her eyes met mine, and she began to smile. She turned in a circle so I could see the whole outfit at once. "So you really do like it?" She was still scared I might be teasing her.
I looked her straight in the eyes. "No Bee, I don't just like it. I can't even say I love it. Just like saying your beautiful, them words, just ain't powerful enough to tell you what I think. But I'm just a poor country boy Bee, and I just ain't got any other ones strong enough I can use.
Her smile was complete, and her eyes sparkled from the shadows of her hood. "We better go, or we're going to miss our reservations.
Reservations?!
You know, I don't think we are going out for hamburgers after all...
Last edited by Paradox on Mon Aug 04, 2014 2:54 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Well, my brother, whose place I'm staying at for a few weeks (or more) has the goats (along with a menagerie of other critters).. and right little Houdinis some of them are too.. I've spent a couple of hours on each of the last two days, helping catch escapees and patching holes in fences.
And thanks for the link.. but we plan on getting the bastard in trouble with the law.. since he's broken it several times in the few weeks leading up to the eviction.
Most games have some sort of paddling-pool-and-water-wings beginning to ease you in: Oolite takes the rather more Darwinian approach of heaving you straight into the ocean, often with a brick or two in your pockets for luck. ~ Disembodied
Well, my brother, whose place I'm staying at for a few weeks (or more) has the goats (along with a menagerie of other critters).. and right little Houdinis some of them are too.. I've spent a couple of hours on each of the last two days, helping catch escapees and patching holes in fences.
And thanks for the link.. but we plan on getting the bastard in trouble with the law.. since he's broken it several times in the few weeks leading up to the eviction.
Ah, okay, makes sense now. };] The link was just for fun. I had to laugh at a couple of their suggestions.
Goats are amazing critters when it come to getting out of things. Even jumping on each others backs when it was time to "go over the wire" so to speak! };] Good luck Dizzy. If there is such a thing as "good vibes", then know I will be sending them at ya! Maybe I should sell "landlord voodoo dolls"! }:]
Once we stepped off the cargo bay ramp, I held out my arm, real gentlemanly like. She smiled as she hooked her arm though mine, and I proceeded to escorted her through the station. A space station is a world unto itself, and they are chock full of people! People wearing every type of clothing imaginable! Strange, exotic, bizarre, risque, non-existent, glowing, flashing, conservative, revealing, you name it. But in the midst of all those outfits, my little Spitfire glowed like a burning white star. People were stopping on all sides, to watch us walk by. They pointed and whispered, and smiled, and some even waved!
Spitfire stopped walking and looked me up and down. "What are they looking at?" She asked.
"They are lookin' at you Bee, not me!"
"Nuh huh..." She said looking around at the people.
"Ya huh!" I replied.
A little girl waved shyly at her. "Ain't she pretty mama?" She said.
Spitfire blushed and waved back. We reached a transport kiosk, and she was about to summon an autocab, but I stopped her, and instead, pushed the button for an autolimo. "My treat." I told her. She giggled and bounced. Which sort of ruined the whole goddess thing she had going on, but it sure did interesting things to the front of her dress to make up for it!
She had made reservations at a very upscale restaurant. A fancy pants place called, Le Gourmet Bistro Galactique. I wasn't sure what that meant, but I was fairly certain they didn't serve hamburgers. Two men came out and opened the our doors, like we wasn't able to do that ourselves. The one that got Bee's door forgot to shut it as he watched Bee walk up the steps, and the limo took off with it still open. Then, there was a bit of a race up the steps, to see who was going to open the next door for her. I won, and escorted her through it. A man was standing behind a tall, tiny, little desk. He was scribbling in a book when we walked up.
"May I help you? He asked, without looking up.
"Um... I have a reservation." Said Bee.
"Name please?" Said the man, sounding bored.
"Um... Spitfire?"
"Spitfire?" Echoed the man. He finally looked up at us.... and continued to look.
"I... Yes, Spitfire."
The man continued to stare at her like she had grown 2 heads or something. I was getting a bit peeved now.
After a few seconds, I bent over, and positioned my head between his and hers, forcing him to look at me. "The lady said, her reservation is under the name Spitfire..?" I prompted him.
"Oh, yes sir! I am so sorry Miss, umm, Madam err..."
"Miss Spitfire will do just fine." I informed him. Spitfire was gripping my arm like she was afraid of being snatched away.
"Miss Spitfire here, just made a killing in the commodities market, and is treating me to dinner to celebrate!" I said proudly, mainly because I knew what commodities meant... I gave him a big wink over Spitfires head.
"Miss Spitfire, Yes, I am sorry. I am sorry for the stare, It's just that you are so..." Mr. Fancy Pants waved his hand at her from top to bottom. Then bunched his fingers together, put them to his lips, and made a kissing sounds as he flicked them away. "Magnifique!" He grabbed a datapad from his little desk and touched the screen a few times. "Oh yes, here it is! But that table! No, no, no, that will never do! He pushed a button on his pad and spoke into it. "Jamie? Jamie! Prepare v.i.p. table number two immediately." He looked at us and said, "One moment please Miss Spitfire. Sir. A minute later, Mr. Fancy Pants opened the next set of doors, and motioned for us to follow him.
Talk about swanky! This place was fancier than the guest quarters on-board Aria. Gold and crystal chandeliers, sparkled from the ceiling, with the flickering flames of hundreds of holocandles. Down the center of the room was a wide, red carpet, and to each side, were dozens of round dinner tables, covered with long, red silk table-cloths, edged in gold. Holocandles flickered in the center of each table as well. The walls were covered in rich, dark red wood. And hung with large, fancy, gold framed paintings all around. He led us down the center of the red carpet. When I say led, I mean, he somehow made it seem more like a royal procession! Conversations on both sides of us stopped, as people of all kinds watched us walk by. At the end of the room, was a low, half circular, platform, just a single step up. On it, were three more tables, while above it, hung the largest chandelier of all. All three tables were currently empty, but Mr. Fancy Pants led us right up to the middle one. He walked around to the back of the table, and pulled out a tall backed chair and held it. Spitfire looked at me, unsure what to do, so I led her around the table to the chair, and held her hand while she settled herself into it. Mr. Fancy Pants then helped her scoot it back in place. She looked up at him, her eyes big and luminous, and said, "Thank you very much."
Mr. Fancy Pants gave a a genuine smile and said, "It is my pleasure Miss Spitfire!" I sat myself down right next to her. I didn't have much choice, as she wouldn't let go of my hand. Another man brought us each a menu, and then left right away. Mr. Fancy Pants said, "My name is Alphonse. If you need anything at all, just ask for me." And with that, he was gone.
From where we sat, we overlooked the entire room, and everywhere we looked, faces were looking back. We hid behind our menus. I looked over at Spitfire, and all she said was "Wow..." I laughed. We started looking over our choices.
"Spitfire... I don't know what any of these are!" I said, confused.
"Me either!" She said. We sat there for a few minutes trying to figure out what to do. When the same man who'd brought our menu's, came back with a bottle in a big silver flower vase.
"Champagne, compliments of the house." He said, smiling at Spitfire.
"Oh, she ain't old en... OUCH!" How she managed to kick me that hard with out her work boots on, I don't know. But it sure enough hurt!
"Thank you very much!" She said. The man grinned big, and proceeded to open the bottle. Then he filled her glass. I had to hold my glass out, and then clear my throat to get some.
When he left, I said,"That hurt, and you know you're not..."
"I'm sorry! But PLEASE Morgan, just this one glass. Just this one time, PLEASE?"
Sigh. Like I'm gonna say no... We still hadn't figured out what we were going to eat when the man came back to take our orders. We asked about this and that, but after hearing about gen-snails, and mutogoose livers, we gave up. "Do you have anything like a hamburger?" She asked. I nodded enthusiastically.
"A hamburger Miss? I umm... I will go ask Mr. Alphonse."
Mr. Alphonse came over, and said, "Miss Spitfire, hamburgers are not usually on our menu, but I will ask the cook if he will do something special for you."
Spitfire blushed, and thanked him again, and Mr. Alphonse disappeared into the kitchen. When he came out, he gave us a nod, and then returned to his little desk.
We watched fancy people come and go for a while, and all of them seemed to watch us as well. Every now and then, someone would pass our table, and nod or say howdy-do. Finally, three waiters came out of the kitchen, loaded down with platters. They began setting up little tables all around us and laying out plates left, right, and center. One waiter offered us a choice of bread. After we picked what we wanted, he arranged 2 slices side by side on each plate. Another waiter, then placed a large meat patty on each. More bowls and small plates were than arranged all around us. There was 3 or 4 kinds of cheese, different kinds of lettuce, onions, and sauteed mushrooms. Not to mention ketchup's, and mustard's and other dressings. It was like having our own little buffet. Spitfire giggled and laughed as she tried different things, and we would share bites back and forth, when we found something we particularly liked. We even forgot about all the people out there watching us.
After we finished our gourmet hamburgers, they wheeled over a cart, stacked like a pyramid, with different types of dessert. I was too full to eat another bite, but my little Miss Spitfire, managed to put away a huge slice of chocolate cake. There was more giggling and laughing, as she tried to feed some to me. And that's when I noticed the champagne bottle was empty. As well as half of a second one! Now when had that happened? I had only had two glasses myself.
They brought the check, and both our jaws dropped a bit. I was going to pick up the tab, but Spitfire wold have none of it, and forked over enough to buy 2 cargo pods of food stuffs! Mr. Alphonse was there as we started to walk out, and he even kissed Spitfire's hand, as he told her to please come back sometime. Once we were back on the street. I started for a transport kiosk, but Spitfire grabbed my hand and said she didn't want to go back to the ship yet.
"Let's go do something Morgan, please?" She said as she pulled me away for the terminal.
"What do you want to do Bee?"
We could hear music coming from somewhere, and she started pulled me toward it. We found a park sector further into the station. Most every station has a few of these dedicated areas around. It gives people a place to go and relax. They were usually planted with trees, grass, flowers and such, just like this one was. It was currently in night mode, so the lights were all turned down to dim glows. They had a stage set up, and people were sitting in the grass and on benches that were scattered all around it. A real band, rather than a robotic one, was playing the music there. Spitfire pulled me down to the grass, and we sat there and listened for a while. Eventually, the band changed places with a new group, and a pretty young brunette girl took the mike and started to sing. Her voice was beautiful, and seem to flow through the crowd. People sitting in the grass, and on the benches, were swaying back and forth to her song. Spitfire stood up, and started to sway to the music as well. She had her arms out, and her head flung back and she started to twirl and dance. I didn't stand, or try to join her. She wasn't trying to dance with me. She was dancin' for me, as well as for the sheer pleasure of it. A circle seemed to magically clear around her, and people gathered around it to watch. The music seemed to dance and spin with her, as she moved around the circle. Her hood fell back, and her white hair flew out in every direction, like a cloud before the moon. One moment, it would conceal her face. The next, it would fly away to reveal her flashing grey eyes, with their golden lids, and her ruby lips. As the song reached it's climax, Spitfire spun and leaped into the air. When she landed, she promptly tripped and fell... Right on top of me. I managed to catch her and break her fall. She was laughing, and the people around were applauding and laughing as well. Both for the singer as well as Spitfire's impromptu performance.
She had gone rag-doll limp, so I laid her on her in the grass on her back. Then I quickly, and delicately, re-arranged the strips of cloth that made up her outfit, putting them back to where they all belonged.
"That was so beautiful." She said, laying there looking at me with those eyes, a smile playing over her lips.
"Yes, yes my little Spitfire, it was. It was very beautiful!"
She gave me a big smile then and closed her eyes. "I think I'm a little tipsy, I can feel the station spinning!" She said.
"I think you're a lot tipsy!" I said. She just laughed. "Ready to go home now?"
"Ya."
I helped her stand, and then we headed for the nearest transport kiosk. I called an autocab, and helped her in. She sat, leaning against my side, with her head on my shoulder. She was asleep before we reached the ship. I managed to get her out of the cab, and then carried her up the ramp, through the ship and to her bunk. I was in a dilemma about what to do with her outfit. I knew she wouldn't want to sleep in it, but I couldn't wake her enough to take it off. Finally, I just took a deep breath, and began undressing her. It took me a while to figure out all the catches and clasps and such, but I eventually did it. There was an old t-shirt of mine, that she occasionally wore to bed, but when I tried to put it on her, she just pushed it away. So, I gave up on that, and lay her in her bunk. I pulled the covers over her, and carefully hung up the delicate little strips of cloth that made up her outfit. I gathered up all the gold bangles, and set them on her desk. Then I made my way to my own room. I hadn't even finished getting myself undressed, when Spitfire appeared in my doorway, shuffled over to my bed and crawled in. Oh well. I climbed in beside her, and she snuggled close.
"You're just hung over Bee. Trust me, I know. Been there, done that."
"But I feel so sick!"
"Ya, well remember this, the next time you have champagne. One or two glasses, not one or two bottles!"
"SHHHH!...ow. Don't say that word. I'm never drinking anything ever again!" I couldn't hold it in any longer, I had to laugh! She grabbed a pillow and held it over her head. When I finished laughing, she threw the pillow at me and gave me a murderous glare. I went to the common room and opened the medkit. I mixed up a Buzz-Kill with some other goodies and stirred it into a cup of coffee. She'd still have a little headache, but she'd feel a whole lot better than she did now.
I returned to my room, just in time to see her running naked for the bathroom. I followed, and helped hold her hair out of her face, while she heaved and retched. Then I got a cold washcloth, and held it on the back of her neck, while she drove the porcelain hover truck. I cleaned her face with the washcloth, and then made her drink some of the coffee. The first few sips had her hovering over the toilet again, but eventually, the Buzz-Kill started working it's way through her system. She finished the coffee, and I helped her up, and pointed her in the direction of her room. Then I headed for the bridge. Aria ordered a load of computer parts, and we were just waiting for them to be loaded, when Bee reappeared and flopped in her seat.
"Feel better now?" I asked as I handed her a couple aspri-tabs.
"Yes, thank you." She said quietly. She took the tabs and swallowed them down.
The cargo loaded, and ship launched, I had Aria set course once again for Teanebri. Twenty minutes into the trip, Spitfire was feeling like her old self.
"Thank you for taking care of me this morning. That was really sweet of you." She said.
"Of course honey Bee! Lesson learned?"
"Lesson learned. By the way, where did we go after the restaurant? She asked.
I grinned big. "What? Don't you remember?"
"Everything's fuzzy, I... I remember music...?" She asked.
"Yep, we strolled down to the park and listened to some music." I was grinning so hard it almost hurt.
Her eyes narrowed at me. "What's so funny?"
I just had to do it. "Aria, would you play that video we got off the local morning new feed please?"
"Yes Captain." On the main vidscreen, a video began playing. It showed the pretty brunette coming up to the mike, and begin to sing her song. But moments in, the camera swung around to follow a young goddess, spinning and dancing to the music.
Spitfire stood up and stepped closer to the vidscreen. She had both her hands to her face, covering her nose and mouth. Her eyes were huge as they watched the video, but whether from horror or fascination, I couldn't tell. She didn't speak during the whole broadcast. At the end, it showed her fall into my arms, and me lying her on the grass. Then the video panned around the clapping and smiling crowd, before fading out. Spitfire backed away from the vidscreen, her legs bumped into mine. She slowly turned to look at me, her eyes still huge and her hands still covering her face from nose to chin. "Oh my..." She just stood there and stared at me. "I'm sorry..." her voice muted behind her hands.
"Sorry?! What the hell are you apologizing for now?! Weren't you watching that same beautiful, little goddess that I was, just now?"
"But..." Her voice faded out.
I reached out and pulled her into my lap. I pulled her hands away from her face. "Aria, play it again please." We watched her dance together this time. She stared at the screen, eyes wide and mouth open. The third time through, I paused it here and there to point out peoples faces. Most were big smiles, a few were open mouthed, and some, watched in pure awe. I was one of those.
"You see, they all thought you were beautiful too. Just like me."
"I can't believe I did that. I can't believe that was me!"
I played it one last time, and this time, I froze the image on Spitfire. Her eyes were closed, and a smile played across her lips. Her arms were stretched out to each side of her body, and one shapely, muscular, bare leg, was lifted beside her. She looked like a ballerina caught mid-stride. "Now, describe the girl in that image!" I said.
"I... I, can't..." She looked back at me again, blushing and embarrassed.
"Well, now you understand my problem. There just ain't no words to describe you."
She blushed even harder, and turned back to the frozen image. "I... was... beautiful."
"No." I corrected her. I lifted her off my lap, and set her on the floor. Then I stood up, took her face in my hands, and tilted her head up to look at me. "You are beautiful! Even in those tiny, thread-bare, cutoffs and what's left of that poor shirt, you are beautiful!" I kissed her on the forehead and said, "Now, before your ego gets to big to fit in our cargo bay, go look after your chores. You wasted the whole morning, playin' sick." Then I turned her around, and gave her a good slap on her half-bare bottom. She squealed and laughed and ran through the door to the hall. A second later, she poked her head back in.
"Thank you Morgan. I love you too." And then she disappeared down the hall.
After she left, I stood looking at the frozen image for a few minutes more. "Aria, save that video to my personal storage please."
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