THE ADVENTUROUS LIFE OF A LOUSY COWBOY, ISSUE #6
08 Jun 2016Mike Syron
[ ongoing story, go back: ISSUE #5 ]Future, somewhere in space
Mike adjusted his tie, the only one he'd ever got. It was quite colorful, some would even say downright brash. Like the black shirt with the fine golden pattern and buttons he was wearing, it had been a gift from a woman named Mareika, a mechanic he'd met on the docks some lost years ago. After exchanging a few loose words which weren't even very friendly to begin with, they somehow ended up staying in a hidden tiny bar, squeezed between other engineers and mechanics, and were talking about the pros and cons of having a little fridge for beer built into the main console of a Cobra. While drinking something that was called Carbonized Hydrogen Fusion Blaster and listening to really awful and loud music. Life had been fun for a few weeks, Mike thought in a moment of regret.
He sat in a dark holo cabin, two meters in diameter, and was waiting. For this appointment he had dressed himself in the best clothes he had, his hair was washed and coifed, the chin was shaved and the beard combed and trimmed. He felt good, as good as he could. He believed.
Then suddenly the cabin was flooded in bright light when the projection unfolded itself like some cheap origami trick, creating the perfect illusion of some huge office. A big but fragile looking desk with a dark surface stood in front of a wide wall of glass. You could see a few nice buildings farther away and a lot of trees and other greens, a very yellow colored sun sat in the dark blue sky above the peaceful setting, some birds were singing.
And letters were engraved into the glass, forming the words: deLacy Interstellar Insurance Division.
The whole office was a virtual muck-up, it was as real as the holographic projection. The well-dressed man that showed up lastly looked like the prototype of a salesman, sitting in a very comfortable chair. His underpaid real-life counterpart was sitting most likely in some cube of a open-plan office far away, looking at an holo screen.
„Mister Syron, nice to meet you!“ said the salesman with a sonorous voice. „I’m Don Draper, your personal advisor at DIID. You were asking for an appointment regarding the insurance of your ship, so - here were are!“
Mike cleared his throat. „Yeah, nice to meet you too. I think we’ve got a little problem here and I hope we can solve it easily. It must be just a little misunderstanding.“
„Fair enough, let me see.“ Mister Draper looked onto something that wasn’t on his desk. „Mmh, alright. The report says that you’ve lost your ship, a Viper Mark Four, in a system called LTT forty-one forty-two. In which a civil war is taking place at this time. You had no duties to discharge there, well, at least no official duties which you couldn’t refuse …“
„Excuse me, Mister Draper. Please. - When I arrived in LTT, the state of affairs were still quite peaceful, debates were taking place and negotiations were made. I had a job to do and I was willing to finish it. But then the whole shi… - I mean, the whole situation got pretty crazy suddenly.“
„Yes, yes … - This all sounds very comprehensible to me. But I think it is very … uhm, unfortunate that your flight recorder got lost. So we can’t be absolutely sure about the when. And your contract with DIID is very clear in this regard, it does not include damages because of acts of God, especially if you can avoid them by all means.“
Mike sighed and closed his eyes for a moment, thinking about. Mister Draper smiled confidently and stated: „That’s a nice … cravat you’re wearing. - It is one, isn’t it? I see them not so often, I’m wondering on which planet people are wearing them regularly. Does it have any use if I may ask?“
Mike blinked. „What? - Oh, no. It has no use, it’s just some … uhm, colorful piece of cloth. Purely for stylish reasons. It was a gift, I just wear it sometimes.“
„It looks good on you, it’s a quite exceptional piece of fashion. These colors are really vibrant, so life embracing!“
„Thank you - but we should stay focused on the topic … if you don’t mind.“
„Yes, of course! I’m sorry.“
„Alright, given that we can’t be sure about when I arrived at LTT - why’s that a problem for me? I always paid the fees and, as you can check yourself, did only ask you for help one or two times before. I'm giving my best to keep the ship in good shape all the time.“
„Mh, it was about seven times, Mister Syron. But please - go on.“
„I was talking about the Viper, yeah?“
„Alright, alright!“ Mister Draper showed a patronized grin, lifting his hands in excuse.
„I still ... have troubles to understand why are you rejecting my request for disbursement of the insurance sum. I - I had no choice there, you see? I'm not crazy and I never was eager to find myself inmidst a civil war fighting for my life. This you can believe me, Mister Draper."
The salesman took a deep breath, drumming his fingers on the desk. "You like to get to the point fast, don't you? Honestly, you look like a very reasonable man to me, Mister Syron. But my hands are somewhat bound, I've to follow rules and regulations as everybody else here at DIID and I'm not making the last descision. But perhaps we can find a fair compromise. - Please, don't get me wrong, but just out of curiosity ... how did you manage to survive?"
Mike rubbed his chin, his blood pressure went up a litte. The entire thing was still giving him a hard time, he still didn't digested yet. "Yeah, that's a story of its own ..."