Chapter 6: an empty glass
24 Jun 2023Nick Euphrasia
I looked around for the outfitting station, not too far away from the hangar, I looked around and saw what looked to be a short lady with glasses as thick as magnifying glass in overalls covered in grease. “Hi, I'm looking for Macy? Macy the Keeper?” I asked softly, trying not to be loud. “That’ll be me” she said in an unsurprised voice, like its on the daily that people do look out for her. I remembered what the engineer in Diaguandri said “Trix said hi” I said straightforward and to the point. “Great, my boys will unload your ship now, thanks commander, here’s something for your trouble” she transferred to me what looked like 1 million in credits. “Oh but uh Trix, you see she already-” she cut me off and said “Don’t worry about it, here take it, it’s hard to find commanders like you who’d do work like this, so here, don't be shy and don't be a stranger, get yourself something nice, or hit the bar or something I don't care. It's yours, you earned it” She said as she was frantically carrying tools to a ship nearby. I saw as the two men unloaded my cargo, they scanned the barcode using what looked like a hacked scanner and confirmed the package was from Trix. They carefully loaded the cargo on a trolley avoiding anything rough and checked for any damages on my ship just before they closed my cargo hatch. One of the men gave me a thumbs up and made their way into the station.“12 million for the outfitting, 9 million was for this job, I paid the balance of 3 million for the outfitting to make up for the difference. 1 million in tips. So now I'm left with 1.7 million in credits plus and minus the fuel I topped up in Diaguandri and the vacation.” I recalled everything and I remembered it was Commander Phoenix who gave me the push I needed to get here. I sent him a dm to tell him of the news and he replied with “SSSHHhhh dont send this type of info through comms man! THEY are watching us!” Stunned, I asked “Who?” he said “The Guardians… They’re everywhere!!” I take it as he is probably somewhere getting high. Welp, might as well take the load off and hit the bar, let's hope they serve nothing with moving tentacles: I thought to myself.
Looking at the time, it looks to be 7.30PM Bubble Central Time. Being in a starport you might be lucky if you find one that orbits the planet according to day-night cycle. Sadly for this starport, it’s always sunset. Every time. I walked over to the bar and ordered some brandy, well you can’t compare regular brandy to Lave’s finest, but it does hit the spot. I turned to face towards the window of the bar outside the station, watching as ships come and go. It was then I noticed, that light brown hair, those green stunning eyes “Sheira?” I muttered the words ever so slightly. I don’t know what came over me, I got off my seat and walked over to her. “Sheira, right?” as she turned to face me, she was surprised to see me, “Commander Nick? What brings you back here?” She asked if she was happy to see me? I couldn't tell, “Yeah, I had some cargo to ship here from Diaguandri, I thought of getting a drink and some food before I check in to the quarters. How are things? You just got off work?” I asked, hoping I’d be able to start a conversation with this beautiful girl. “Yeah my shift ended and please have a seat” I gladly accepted her offer and sat across from her with the ship hangar window next to us. “It’s nice isn’t it?” she asked, unsure if she was talking to herself or to me, I answered anyway “Sure is, nice looking at hunks of floating metal in and out of a cramped mail slot.” I said. She laughed, that is one cute smile she’s got. I wanted to ask so many questions But I feel like it would be inappropriate as we’ve only ever met over the counter once. Where she works.
“Some of these hunks of metal travel millions of lightyears across the galaxy, some return and some don’t. Each one tells a different story” She said, defending herself from my joke earlier. “That’s a very interesting way to put it” I said to her. “Want to hear about the Legendary tale of Commander John Jameson?” She asked with a glow in her eyes, I knew she really wanted to tell me regardless. I’ve heard the story many times, in school and at the Pilots Federation. There were many versions of the story, and I wouldn't mind listening to her version. “Okay let's hear it” as she was about to start, I could hear a rumbling noise, as she put her arms on her waist. “I-I’m sorry, I need to get back, it’s going to be late, we’ll take this up another time-” She said frantically, I noticed that on her table was only an empty glass, assuming that she didn't drink anything fancy from the bar what with all the artificial colourings would have stuck on it even if you empty the glass. The glass was clean which I can only assume she had nothing but water.