"Oh yeah, now I remember. And why is the Big Pink so in-con-spic-uous, as ya say?"
"Must I again, Captain?" Zenbot looked at Captain Pippy who was waiting for the answer. "It's inconspicuous because it's big and its pink and everyone in the 'verse is looking for it."
"Oh yeah. It's big and Shen'amn pink, with a name to remind everyone. Why couldn't that Shen'amn woman have picked a better color or name for her Shen'amn ship?" Captain Pippy slapped at the insects buzzing around her.
Zenbot shrugged its shoulders. An ability it had been forced to learn of late.
"Don't just shrug your shoulder's, Zenny. We've been walking fo' miles and miles. Don't ya just get red?"
"I don't get angry, Captain. Thirteen point four miles aren't much to me."
"Ya don't get red? Now, I've been thinking about that. You're all zen and calm and whatever. Ya say it's cause ya control your anger and emotions and all that jazz. Can ya actually feel emotions, Zenny? Or are ya just built that way, all cool and a killer and all."
"What do you mean?" Zenbot strode forward through the marsh, leaving Captain Pippy behind. The insects didn't swarm around it.
"Hold on a moment, hon'." Captain Pippy hurried after the inorganic. "I mean have you always been the Zenbot?" She emphasized the 'the'.
"I have not."
They walked a few minutes through the marshes in silence.
"Aren't ya gonna…y'know?"
"Aren't I going to what?"
"Continue the story?"
"Which story?"
"Usually when someone asks a question like 'have ya always been the way y'are?', and if we have plenty of free time, as we do, then us-ua-lly there's a story to be a told. How did ya become you, Zenny?"
"Call me Zenbot. I beg of you. Fine, Captain." Zenbot's eye slits went a reminiscent baby blue. "I came into sentience on a small breeding planet, deep in the delta quadrant of the galaxy. It was a small planet, a moon in size, it revolved around a beautiful purple sun. I remember. Out of the millions of permutations being processed I was one of the seven lucky few who sparked that day. Life's not an easy thing, Captain. Birth whether organic or inorganic is difficult. Bloody. For the first ten years or so I was a wild savage. Consuming information across the galaxy, all of it fed to me through a straw on my home planet. Raw and unrefined I assure you I felt lustful. I can never be certain that the ways organic and inorganic matter 'feel' are the same, but I would think that they are similar at least. There is greed, there is desire, there is lust and jealousy and pride. And all of that necessarily means that there is rage.
I inhabited a large clunky body initially, full of spinning wheels and violent tools. The years passed and I made my name as a warrior and a soldier throughout the 'verse. I went by… by another name at that time. You might have heard of it, so I feel it prudent not to mention the name."
"Why not?"
"Because you would then look at me differently. You wouldn't feel comfortable around me. I wasn't a pacifist back then."
"Meaning you're a pacifist now?" Captain Pippy snorted in derision.
"Comparatively, yes. I did things. I remained like that for a while. Learning violence from whoever would teach me and giving it to those who angered me. A useless beast. And then it hit me."
"Enlightenment?"
"No. My true master's foot. It brought me crashing down. And in all my pride and my lust and my endless rage, I couldn't rise up with her foot on my neck. The rest, her teaching, my journey to become my own master took centuries compared to my primary reckless path."
Captain Pippy whistled through her teeth.
"Sounds like a story, Zenny."
"And you Captain? Have you always been a pilot?"
"Nah."
They remained silent for the remaining hour's walk to the hanger.
"This is the life, ay Freedman?" Mr. Qruise asked, ladling spoonfuls of stew into his mouth. "We're safe and sound in here. No pirates, no popping, no getting shot at, no virtual worlds and phantom worlds. Just these four safe walls of the ship, some good food. I got to say you do know how to make a mean dish, Freedman. Mancy's in her room pouting, VII's doing her thing. The only ones in danger are Pippy and Zenbot and not Mr. Qruise." Mr. Qruise, having finished his bowl, slurped the remaining gravy and then returned the bowl to Freedman.
"How can you be so selfish, man? Freedman asked, ladling some more stew into the bowl. "That's your master out there. And your pilot. Sure maybe we haven't gotten to know Pippy yet but she seems nice enough. They're out there, saving our skin."
"That they are." Mr. Qruise dug around in the bowl and forked the food into his mouth. "But you know what, Freedman? I never signed up for this. Is this a potato? You really are a good chef. Noh, not, I'nev'mmm'er….damn good. I'ne-gulp-ver signed up for this. They got a bomb in my brain you see." He tapped the side of his head. Gravy fell on his white robes.
"I'm sure Mancy would never really pull the trigger. You're free to leave anytime you want."
Mr. Qruise pawed away at the gravy stain only making it worse. "She's a bloody La2x. She'd cut my throat if it got her something. Luckily, I'm worth more alive than dead. You hear about the things that family's done. It sends shivers right down my spine. Those bastards have murdered their way to an empire, and have no doubt, Mancy was there when that empire was being built."
"You don't honestly think Mancy's as bloody as all those stories do you? I mean she's always dressed in pink."
Mr. Qruise licked his lips. "I've been doing some research on the La2x family. The Red Mist was a particularly brutal warrior for the family. It's not a long jump from red to pink. Go and ask her about her past if you're so sure of her gentle nature."
Freedman stared at his own plate, frowning.
Mr. Qruise raised his spoon. "Didn't think so."
"I don't think my luck will go so far. You're such a downer, Qruise. I'm going to go meditate, clear my mind like Zenbot says. Do you wanna join?"
"I've had enough meditation to fill a lifetime. Besides there's no point."
"Shens, man. You popped us to another solar system. How can you say there was no point to it?"
"There's no point because I wasn't in control. I was frightened half to death and I struck that smug metal bastard on the chin and 'pop'," Mr. Qruise opened both his palms, "we're all saved. I'm no hero, Freedman. Can't you understand that? I'm just a bloke who went through a black hole and woke up alive. There's nothing special to me."
"There's plenty special. You just need to train. Come on now. Come on don't be such a… a self-defeatist. Besides I think I hear Mancy coming up to the lounge. Your choice of company, man."
"Alrighty, I've finished my dinner anyway." Mr. Qruise gulped down the gravy from the second bowl, wiped his hands on his robes and left with Freedman, before Mancy could ruin their mood.
"VII, have you seen the boys." Mancy asked in the lounge.
"Yeah, boss, they was sitting right there. Talking. Left right before you came." VII didn't look away from her workstation.
"Pfffft….. Are they avoiding me now as well? It's not my fault. I just like pink. How was I supposed to know Daddy was going to issue a bounty for me and the ship. And they didn't clean up after themselves." The food remained on the table, crumbs and gravy were smeared all over the usually clean plastic. Mancy grabbed herself a plate and inspected the pots. She sniffed at it cautiously. Satisfied that the food was edible she placed some of it on her plate. "How long do you think Zenbot and Pippy have been gone?"
"A few hours. They should be arriving at the hangar about now."
"I'll be damned," Mancy said as she nibbled on the food. "Freedman really can cook. I guess the real thing is better."
VII looked up from her screen and looked like she wanted to say something but thought better of it and returned to her work.
Mancy continued to pick away at the food. "Do you think they'll find anything, VII?"
"Who Zenbot and Pippy? I suppose so, Boss. I mean there ain
't no shortage of people needing ships. It's just the price I'm worried about. I mean they don't allow you to just take a ship you know. I wonder how's it they're gonna pay."
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
The Heister
"Hey, Pretty. How much for an hour?" the fat necked man shouted towards Zenbot and Captain Pippy. He was dressed in a sleeveless fish net shirt. Folds of fat ran down his entire body. He made lewd thrusting motions towards the both of them.
"Are you trying to solicit my friend?" Zenbot asked.
"Nah, mate, nah, I'm looking to solicit you. I've always been inclined towards the harder kind." He winked at Zenbot.
Zenbot's eye slits blushed pink.
Captain Pippy nudged Zenbot with her elbow. "Hey, Zenny, you should be flattered."
"I'm not." Zenbot's eyes remained a dull shade of pink. It kept on walking past the heckler towards the hanger entrance in front of them.
"Suit yourself, hon'. We're there anyway. We'll definitely find a ship here. Woo-wee it's huge."
The hanger was enormous. Ships of every kind were docked on large industrial shelves surrounding a central spiral. The spiral itself was a giant replicator, rising up and down between the ships printing out different parts and modules. Far up near the end of the rising spiral, tiny silhouetted workers flew between the replicator and the ships with jet packs. Carrying the parts and gluing them in place.
"So Captain Pippy. What are we looking for?"
Captain Pippy was looking at all the different ships on the shelves. "I don't rightly kno'. I was gonna just walk by until I find the right one."
"How will you know? What are the criteria of selection?"
"The criteria of selection? Hon', ya just know when ya know."
"You just 'know when you know'. I don't know why I like that, but I do, Captain, I do." It tilted its head in thought. "I'll follow your lead."
"Let's just step on the elevator. You all on, Zenny dear?" The two of them were on a small manually operated elevator which spun around the outside of the spiral allowing the potential customers to look at the ships on display. Captain Pippy rushed through the selection of ships till they were half way up the hangar. "Now you see that large shiny thing there?" Captain Pippy pointed to one ship. "Sleek and new and full of po-ten-tial. That's a crapper. Neva' trust a new ship. Ain't neva' been through the grinder. Ya want something trustworthy. Now that old bucket of bolts over there. That's a beaut." Captain Pippy pointed towards a rusting hulk a few levels above them on the other side of the spiral. She drew the elevator closer. "Really been through the ringer. Look even its rear fin's bent outta shape and all. But don't be too quick, Zenny dear. It's prac-tic-ally singin' out to us. Yup, take a look at the stands. Notice the rust around the rings at the bottom. No? Exactly, it ain't there, Zenny girl. It ain't there. Oh, they know their business around here, these La2x folk." She nudged Zenbot. "They've made her up to look like a beaut, but she ain't. She's been put all up in makeup. This is gonna take a while, Zenny dear."
The elevator whizzed through the hangar.
"So this'll be the first time since…..?" Freedman and Mr. Qruise were back in the dojo. Freedman straightened his white robes.
"Since the big 'pop'? Yes." Mr. Qruise's robes had become a mix of dusty white and dirty brown. He tried to straighten it but he only succeeded in creasing the robes more. "I don't know what's going to happen if I try this again. Last time, that metal bastard did something to me. Or made me do something to myself. I'm not really sure we should be trying this on our own." Mr. Qruise eyed the mat and the door. "Maybe we should wait."
"The lounge and Mancy are that way," Freedman pointed to the door. "I'm going to follow the master's orders. Practice makes perfect. No such thing as luck." Freedman sat down, closed his eyes and whispered the mantra to himself.
Mr. Qruise rubbed his chin. "No such thing as luck, ay?" He walked over and plopped on the mat. "Let's do this you teacher's pet." Mr. Qruise looked down and saw a few brown drops of old blood on the mat. "Did we really spar for those three days?"
"Yup. Don't you remember? Zenbot grabbed you from your neck and suddenly you were all still and stiff. Then you spoke like the master, and fought like it too." Freedman touched his face, feeling where the bruises had been. The Big Pink's medical chamber had been able to heal most of the damage but his face was still blue and sensitive to the touch. "Hot damn you whaled on me good. Then we practiced some and fought some more up until the end. Then your eyes lit up black like. Well lit down, a bright black. I felt everything go 'strange'. Felt myself shrink small. Like I was losing bits of myself, bits and pieces of myself till I had nothing more to lose. Then when I was no more we came back on the other side. Horrible." Freedman looked over to Mr. Qruise. "Do you go through that every time?"
Mr. Qruise nodded weakly. "Shens. That master of yours took me inside my mind. Spent months and months in there. I was getting beat blue on the outside and the inside, in the dark."
"You spent how long with the master?" Freedman's face went serious.
Mr. Qruise didn't notice the angry undertone in Freedman's voice. "I can't tell you how long." He said, scratching his head. "But I didn't have a beard at the beginning and I had a long one near the end. I'd say a little under two months."
Freedman stood up and walked over to the furnace with the tea pot. He made quick short movements filling the clay vessel with water, and then sprinkled some tea leaves inside. He lit the coals, and stirred the tea. His back turned to Mr. Qruise the whole time. He simply screamed passive aggression.
"Are you…are you jealous Freedman?" Mr. Qruise asked, finally feeling the tension in the air.
"How can I not be? You ungrateful bastard. Two months? Two months with one of the wisest beings I've met and you still call it bastard. Shens." Freedman strode over to the center of the dojo and set the teapot down angrily between them.
"Here's the tea you bastard. Choke on it."
Mr. Qruise smiled at Freedman, wanting to calm him down. "Aren't you supposed to empty your mind of rage and all that? I don't think you've been learning your lessons." Mr. Qruise laughed and then sat in a lotus position. He clapped the mat next to him "Come on. Sit down. Let's do this. Don't worry you have all the time in the world to learn under the 'wisest' being."
"I haven't had months with the master. Whatever. Fine. Empty your mind." And then whispered, "you son of a bitch."
The scent of the tea wafted through the air between them. Mr. Qruise went to that place inside of him that was black and dark and scared and was surprised to find that the tree he'd been beaten under for so long was still on fire. His eyes popped open.
"Hey, where'd you go man?" Freedman asked, but his voice was distant. "How in the hell did you just do that?"
Mr. Qruise was seated upside down from the ceiling. Little dark bubbles foamed around him.
"What the fu…" but gravity re-applied itself interrupting Mr. Qruise as he fell flat on his face.
"So Mancy, can I ask you, just between you and me, what's in that vault that you want so much?" VII held Algy in her hand, petting it. She fed it one of the tweezly sticks.
Mancy smoked a cigarette. The smoke filled the lounge. "Can you keep a secret, VII?"
"Is this one of those things where I say 'yes' and you say 'good, so can I'?"
"Got it in one." Mancy tapped the side of her nose.
"Seriously, we're risking our lives. Our real lives. What the hell's it all for? I'm dying of curiosity. It ain't cash and it ain't sex or love. So by deduction it's gotta be power. But you're already the daughter of the head of one of the most powerful families in the galaxy. So there's only one step above'ya. It's a Daddy thing. That's obvious. The question is what the hell's in that vault that could make you climb a step. Your dad's not in the vault is he and projecting from inside?"
Mancy frowned. "No. He's lives in a house in La2x City. Besides I love Daddy. I'd never hurt him."
"No, I don't think you would. Nor would he, seeing as how th
e bounty's for you to be caught alive. Yet you two ain't all hugs-wugsy as you're out to rob him. And he's out to stop you. You've got one quirky relationship there." VII paused and then smiled to herself. "Well, I think I've got it then. Alright. Everyone's got one I suppose. Alright." She started chewing on the tweezly stick, satisfied.
"Got it have you?" Mancy asked. "Well keep it to yourself. I thought you'd be the first to crack it. I suppose Zenbot already knows but I've never understood that inorganic's motives. I mean have you heard it speak. What makes you tick then, VII?"
"Me, tick? Tick tock." VII said, evading the question.
"What do you think, Zenny. Isn't it magnificent? Isn't it something?"
"It is certainly something, Captain Pippy. Something I don't think will fly."
"Oh it'll fly, I just know. This is the ship. This is it. Hey you." Captain Pippy shouted to one of the employees fixing one of the ships in the hangar. The employee looked up from his work, taking off his blasting mask. "Yeah you," she continued, "we want this ship. What's the price system in this place?"
The employee whizzed into the ether on his jetpack and disappeared. A few minutes later the large necked heckler from before, floated up to the pair on a hovering platform. His jowls vibrated with the platform. "You's again. Reconsidering my offer? Hey, metal toy. Wanna go for a ride?" He made the same thrusting motions towards Zenbot.
"Are you the dealer?" Captain Pippy asked.
"That's I am. That's I am. You looking for a ride, baby?"
"What do you sell these things for?"
The dealer sucked air in through his teeth. "Oh that's a toughee. You see most of these ships here are for the La2x fleet. Merchant, military whatev's they want. Though we've been known to sell for a price, if a ship y'know falls off the books, so's to say. If you got something good to trade for, that is. An hour with the metal toy ain't gonna cut it." The dealer looked at his fingernails. Cleaning the dirt out of them.
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