He sat back, replenished in royal red and purple as befitted his rank. His robe was trimmed in Neo tiger fur, the last of that feline species to exist on his planet. He stroked the fur as he listened to the report. He had been briefed about the incident and had made certain his ire was well known. Heads would literally roll for such incompetence and bungling. Such things could not be tolerated.
“Yes sire.”
“How far back does this push us?” The emperor demanded, eyes cold as he stared at his staff.
The industrial adviser winced. “At least a quarter Sire, perhaps two. The damage to the civilian infrastructure is extensive. The fusion reactors did a lot of damage to themselves before they could be scrammed. Fortunately the loss of life was minimal. Fortunately also, we had backups and back up to the backup files.” He waved a hand to indicate the palace balcony where they could see the lights coming on as the sun went down.
“So no real harm done?” the emperor demanded, turning to his most trusted aide.
“I don't know,” long term?” the aide asked and then shrugged.
The emperor waved an airy hand. “I mean while taking El Dorado into account.”
The aide froze and then shook his head. “No sire, no harm done to our long range plans when we take that into account.”
“Good,” the emperor whispered, turning to look at the nightly vista outside his palace balcony. The capital was quiet beautiful, but his eyes were on the ships and space stations in orbit. “Good.”
The End
Yard Dogs
Cast:
Antigua: Ralphie Irish bar, Alice,
Savo, Howie, Petunia, Shari, Ezri, Sparks, Freeze, Regina, and others.
Jake
Olaf: only other experienced space hand. Friend of Petunia
Kaira: space rigger. Experienced electrician in the station. New to space walks.
Gord- security
Desi: sales rep
Brock: green space hand
Yuri: Female Veraxin space hand and junior pilot
Clio and other AI help
Theo force: paramedic
Olga Jersey: mother to Mairi, blue hair, small elfin body. Reddish gold eyes. Exotic beauty. Gambler. Looser.
Mairi Jersey: small blue haired red eyed pilot. 17. Smart girl, hard to read but good with math, orbital and spacial mechanics. Excellent depth perception.
Harif: wanna be mechanic works on the bitch
The Warners: Taylor and Rasha: reservist officers on station council. Shareholders of Yard dogs. Control military assets in system as well as one and only gas giant refinery in system.
Hishina Fu owns part of shares of Yard dogs secretly. W out husband's knowledge.
Toni Chambers: daughter of Captain of Kiev 221, works in the media
Kennet: Jr station council member, spy for the pacifists. Resistance from other council members.
Dreyfus: attorney for McDougall
Malcolm and Ian McDougall: twin industrialists on the station.
McDougall mining and refining corporation
Sunrise metal fabrication
Peter's Plastics inc
Umbrella corporation
Zark freight
Rinwerk's industrial works
Zap Electric and gas
Chapter 1
Little Mairi Jersey paused as she got off the boarding tube, moving to the side to avoid anyone else coming in behind her. She checked her bags with one hand and the duffel slung across her back. She had her clothes as well as her mom's. Her mother was coming, a case of nerves had sent her to the refresher again.
Mom... she'd regretted taking her mother. She knew she did already, now that her eyes spied the casino sign. “Great, that's just great,” she swore softly. She ran her free hand through her wavy hair.
She had hair now, real hair, about two centimeters long and not the peach fuzz she normally sported. On a whim she'd let it grow out on their way here. It had taken nearly a year to get from Senka to here. She finger combed her hair once and then dropped her hand, clenching it a few times. “Come on mother,” she growled through gritted teeth.
“Waiting for someone?” a voice asked. She turned and noted a chimp working on a piece of equipment. She turned back with a sigh.
“Yeah, my mother.”
“She meeting you here?” the chimp asked, finishing up what he was doing and racking his equipment. She turned to note it was welding equipment. Interesting.
“No, well, yeah. She's in the refresher. Again,” she growled, looking down passageway.
There was a clatter and then a familiar figure came rushing forward. “I'm coming, I'm coming. Just nervous,” her mother said, brushing at her poodle skirt. She'd said it was her lucky skirt for some reason and refused to part with the patched thing. Mairi turned away muttering about time. Her mother poked her. “Hey! Mind your manners lady. I am your mother,” she said.
“Yeah. I know that mom,” Mairi muttered rubbing her arm where her mother poked her. She was self conscious about all the eyes on her. Some thought it was a parental discipline session. She was just glad her mother was acting half way decent. Now if she could only get her past that damn sign before she saw it...
“Oh! A real casino! As I live and breathe! I never thought I'd see a real one! Come on!” She grabbed her daughter's arm but her daughter jerked back.
“No mom, quarters first then food then work. Remember? We agreed? You were turning over a new leaf?”
“But, I just want to look...” Her mother said mournfully. Mairi took a deep breath, set her shoulders and gripped her mom's hand. “I mean...”
“No mom,” Mairi said gently. “Because you can't stop at just looking. No,” she said firmly as their eyes met. “No means no. We've got priorities. We've got just enough money for a week's lodgings, exactly what we will need to get the bitch unpacked and for me to get fuel and find some work.”
“I...” Her daughter held her steely gaze. Finally her eyes fell. “Fine,” she muttered, crossing her arms. She looked around and away.
“You've got to check in first,” the chimp said, pointing to the custom's booth. “Full med check too. We don't want any viruses or nothin here,” he said.
“Oh? Thanks mister.”
“Howie. Welder tech first class,” he said, holding up the badge clipped to his collar lapel. She looked at the image on it and then nodded.
“Thanks um Mr. Howie.”
“Don't mention it. And it's just Howie.”
“Sure, um, thanks,” she said wiggling her fingers in a thanks and good bye. She turned to the custom's booth. The other passengers on the good ship Mariah's Mischief were already there milling about in line. It seemed like they had some time to kill.
“Oh let's go over there!” her mother said eagerly, grabbing her arm to get her attention. Mairi turned as her mother tugged her off balance. “See?”
She looked to where her mother Olga Jersey was pointing. Then she looked down to see the stern looking security officer under the water park sign. She turned to her mom. “Later mom,” she said patiently. “We've got to check in first,” she said.
“Oh very well,” Olga sighed and stomped to the line. Mairi shook her head and went over with her. She stood there, moving forward obediently when the line moved. After a while she got tired of looking at the posters she couldn't quite read clearly yet so she pulled a tablet out of her patched pouch and hit the on button. A few quick taps and she was in the local net. She tried to parse through the words but reading had never been her strong suit. She'd been exceptional at mechanics and spacial orbital mechanics but puzzling out one unfamiliar word after another had her exasperated. She looked up and spotted a sign. “Yard dogs! Hiring now.”
“Well! That's interesting,” she muttered turning. It wasn't as flashy a sign as some of the others though. Tiny really, and not in a place people could easily see it. There were a bunch of signs, some were about various restaurants, a pizza place, a sub joint, a grocery store and o
f course the casino and the water park.
“I so want to go there,” Olga said, staring lovingly to the casino. Mairi caught her look and sighed, knowing her mother would break her promise the first chance she could. She looked at the sign with baleful eyes and then caught the “Now hiring” just under it. Her lips pursed in a slow whistle.
“Mom, what about working there?” she asked.
“You... you don't think they'd hire someone like me!” her mother looked up and laughed. Her laugh startled a couple ahead of them. Mairi smiled as they looked back at her. They shrugged and looked on.
“Anything is possible mom, fresh start. And just think, if you are in the casino, and working for them you'd get your gambling itch and not lose your own money!” She was fairly certain her mother would never go for it, but she had to try.
“Darling that is a marvelous idea,” her mother said turning a beautiful smile on her daughter. Then her face clouded with a thoughtful look. “Though finding some rich man to take care of me, I mean us would be appealing too...” she murmured.
Mairi sighed, shaking her head mournfully. Her mother was on to that again. She'd harped about her great plan for the entire trip. A sugar daddy she called it, someone to take care of her in her 'old age'. Her thoughts turned to why they'd ended up here instead of their intended destination. When the MM as the crew called her picked them up in Senka while passing through to Triang she'd been eager to go. Her mother hadn't she didn't want to lose the world she'd lived in. She hadn't been happy about losing Edgar or any of the other contacts she'd made over the years. Friends she called them, though Mairi knew better. They were all users, each preying on the other in turn.
She'd been tempted to leave her mother there. Sorely tempted. After all, she had to leave the nest sometime right? And her mother was an adult, she could theoretically look after herself right? She'd been doing it since she'd been twelve and pregnant with Mairi, or so she liked to tell her daughter over and over. Of course Mairi knew better. Granddad had been the real one taking care of both her and her mother during that time.
She smiled a little when she thought of the MM. It was her first experience on a starship, she'd liked the experience. Much better than the Tin Plated Bitch, though it was pretty run down, even more than her little tug. She'd had enough to pay for their tickets and to transport the Bitch. But when the chief caught her wandering he'd drafted her to work. She hadn't minded, it had kept her busy, and the ship credit's he'd paid her were for an untrained hand but had gone a long way to pay her mother's gambling debt she'd somehow racked up. How the hell her mother had found a game... she fought a sigh of exasperation. That had certainly soured her mood, finding out about that just before they had arrived in Triang orbit. Finding out her mother had put her ship for collateral had seriously put her in a foul mood. They'd had heated words over that, luckily ship's security hadn't been called. She'd made it clear to the crew that the bitch was hers and off limits. What her mother did to pay her debts... After that her mother had fewer games to play and therefore stayed in their quarters and sulked. Mairi didn't care, she was kept busy working off the debt anyway.
Mairi's foul mood hadn't lasted for long, because when they had arrived in Triang they'd found out about the news of admiral Irons and Antigua. The Captain had been fascinated by the newly restored factory station and had changed course for the nearby system. A few of the people had been put out about the course change but he was the Captain. They were given a choice, be dropped off in Triang or head on to Antigua and possibly to Pyrax through the B450a warp chain down to Gaston and then back over to Pyrax.
Many people were as intrigued by the station as the Captain and crew were so no one had taken him up on his offer. They'd even picked up an extra 100 passengers for the short hop. The ship had been crowded but again she'd kept busy and away from the passenger lounge. She'd never seen so many people in one place in her life and it was a bit scary for her.
Fortunately the Captain's course change had altered their ticket. The Captain could have stiffed them but he was an honest sort and he'd given them a partial refund. So, instead of getting off in Pyrax as they'd thought they'd gotten off here in Antigua on Antigua prime.
When it was finally their turn Mairi took charge. They asked about the Tin Plated Bitch. The interviewer was amused by the name. He shot her a look. She just shrugged it off looking away. “I didn't name it, I just fly it.”
“Okay.”
“Anything else to declare?” he asked. She put the bags on the counter. He put them through some sort of rectangular scanner and then sorted them out on the other side.
“Why'd you put it in the box if you're just going to ruffle through it anyway?” Olga asked. He turned to her and was hit by her high voltage smile of charm. Mairi tried hard not to roll her eyes but it was difficult. Her mother flirted with just about anyone who wasn't another split it seemed.
The customs agent smiled back and then shrugged. “The scanner only gets some of it, we have to eyeball the rest. He took out a bottle of hooch and looked at it.
“Uncle Edgar's finest,” Olga supplied as the man tried to puzzle over the label.
“Hooch?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay there is an import fee for that.”
“Lucky us,” Mairi sighed and waved him on. He tore through her mother's accumulated clothes and then through the three coveralls Mairi had.
“So you going to be here long or passing through? Heading to the planet?”
Mairi shook her head. “No, we're spacers. Senkan's born and bred. I've got the Bitch and I want to put her to work as soon as I can.” She craned her neck to see around him to the machine chattering away on the counter. A card popped out with her mother's picture on it. She blinked in surprise. She hadn't seen a camera. She looked around but didn't find it.
The customs agent nodded as he handed them their photo id's. “Good for you. We need people like you out here. Job listings are over there or on the tablet. I'll give you a card with the web address.”
“Thanks,” Mairi said, smiling on her own this time.
“Sure thing,” he said. He ducked and put her clothes back into the duffel in a wadded up mess. “Sorry,” he said.
“I'll deal with it,” Mairi said, taking the bag. He passed her the pouch and other bags and then had each of them go through the walk through scanner. Then he padded them down. Her mother squirmed, laughing and complaining she was ticklish. Mairi just wished he'd get it over with.
He had them sign a bunch of forms on a tablet and then pay the due. He had them read out loud the various rules and regs of the station and then he signed off on that and provide thumb prints. She wasn't sure what that was about but just shrugged it off. When she was done she moved to the indicated door. Her mother lingered, chatting amiably.
“Any ideas on finding a rent?” Mairi asked over her shoulder.
“Transient quarters. Blue 1179. But you'll get that after you go through a checkup. Through here ladies,” he waved to the next door. Mairi nodded and moved through the door with her mother still behind her. When she noted her mother hadn't followed right away she turned and grabbed her mother's hand and jerked her into motion.
“Bye,” her mother said, waving her fingers and smiling again.
“You're impossible you know that mom?” Mairi sighed, pulling her along.
“But he's cute!” Her mother wiggled and strutted.
“Yeah and my age mom. Give me a break. You're embarrassing me,” she sighed gripping tighter.
“Owe!” her mother complained. She let go. “There is no harm in flirting dear. It's a good way to break the ice and make contacts.”
“Right.”
“And you are lucky I've been taking supplements or you'd of broken my wrist,” her mother hissed softly.
“Sorry,” Mairi replied slightly repentant. She hadn't meant to squeeze that hard.
Nurse Ezri overheard the exchange. They made small talk, Mairi and Olga took t
urns explaining some of their life and the events in Senka. The nurse listened politely as she checked them over professionally. She drew blood, Olga turned pale and looked away, gulping furiously and trying hard not to barf. Mairi caught the nurse's concerned look and just rolled her eyes. “Mom can't stand needles,” she explained.
The small nurse snorted and pulled the needle out and then squirted a white foam over the pin prick. The foam rapidly hardened. After a moment she wiped the excess off and the wound was gone. “There all better,” the nurse said.
They talked about their health, giving Ezri a basic file to go off of as the medical scans on their blood and urine were done by the various machines in the room next door. Finally Mairi was given a clean bill of health but Olga was dinged for STD's. She was given medication to take along with the bone supplements they were both ordered to take. Mairi gave her mother a baleful look as she dutifully took the printed directions and paid for it all.
“You are hereby warned not to engage in any sexual activity until you receive a clean bill of health by medical,” Ezri intoned, giving Olga a serious no nonsense look.
“You can't...” Olga flushed, angry.
“We can and we will,” Ezri answered, eyes flashing. Ogla sat back, eyes wide. “No sexual contact. No transmission of blood, saliva, or other biological transfer until you are clean. That's an order Mrs. Jersey.”
“Consequences?” Mairi asked, eying her mother as the Nurse had Olga sign and finger print that she understood the order.
“She'll be deported if she breaks the rules. We're serious here about preventing any outbreaks so keep clean. At least until you are given a clean bill of health. After that you are on your own.”
“Great. Well, mom not screwing every Tom, Dick, and Harry for a while. How novel,” Mairi muttered just loud enough for the other two women to hear. Ogla flushed and grabbed her daughters wrist and dragged her out of the room as Ezri pretended not to notice.
...*...*...*...*...
Howie looked over to Shari and grunted. She snorted in agreement. They were still working directly for the station, but hopefully not for much longer... IF they could get the shipyard off and running. Big If there. Right now it was getting dicey. It was disgusting what the paper pushers on the station and corporations were doing. The so called executives were cutting themselves bonuses even if they failed, giving themselves pay raises and all kinds of perks, but the guys and gals doing the actual work, laying their lives on the line were getting the shaft.
13 Degrees of Separation Page 17