Debt
15 Oct 2016Mara Korine
Mara looked up, tired, sore, and sick. Jim was leaning on crutches looking smug and amused. "May I sit down?" He asked. Mara nodded and they sat together quietly for an awkward moment. "You know," Jim began, "I thought you couldn't get away from me and my kind of people fast enough, and here you are looking me up. I guess you couldn't get a ship?""No. There weren't any suitable ones here, and having one brought in will take too long. My luck hasn't been good lately."
"Luck is overrated. Open-mindedness and creativity can take you further in life than just luck." Jim was ordering a beer. "I guess you don't want anything too strong. You look terrible."
"Thanks, I feel the same. I'm sorry if I was rude in the hospital. I didn't mean to hurt anyone's feelings"
"You didn't expect to ever have to find out if you had, or not. But hey, it's no big deal. I learned to not take manners for granted around you. Otherwise, we might head down the road of doing favours for each other and being nice."
"I am sorry now for what it's worth. I really wasn't thinking about anyone except myself. I tend to get focused on my goals."
"And your goal was to get away from the little people."
"I said I was sorry. I'm curious about something Jim. Francis mentioned that he had found a pilot for me that had recently been to Tosia. What were you doing out there? You're not part of the Venture and no one else has much reason to be that far out."
"Who do you think hauled your sorry butt back to Jacques? I told you before I had been to Beagle Point recently. Well, I was skirting the rim a bit before heading core-ward when I picked up your beacon. It was only a few days out so I picked you up and took you straight back here. You know, I almost ran out of fuel crossing the gap, twice. But I've got a good route now."
"And I was so rude to you! I had no idea. I am grateful you picked me up. Are you really considering taking me back to Tosia? And hold on now, if you brought me back from Tosia, how did you break your leg? That was a fresh injury when I woke up. I remember the nurse telling you how to take care of it."
"Here's where I owe you an apology. I got jumped outside the station. Station security was quick, but not quick enough. The asshole took us down before security disabled him. It happened so fast that I don't remember many details. The shields were down and the hull was critical by the time I was able to dump the cargo hold your pod was in. My escape pod wouldn't activate and there was an explosion. That's all I remember. I came to in Emergency. I think your pod must have been damaged in the explosion, or that pirate took potshots at you. Either way, you must have been spaced. While they were looking at my leg, they were treating you for decompression." Jim paused and a sullen expression took him, "I should have been able to outmaneuver him. I am better than that."
"It couldn't have been your fault. I'm still just as grateful you brought me back. I can tell that you are a good man Jim. I'm convinced that there's no one better to charter than yourself if you'll take me on. Would you consider it?"
"I'm not convinced. I'm sure you can pay enough to satisfy my needs, but if we're going to be in close quarters I think we should establish that we can get along. I want to know you a little bit more before I consider taking you. How did you find this place for instance? I know at least three guys pushing chemicals and one with high-end better than life chips down here. On the other side of the room, second booth after the horsehead nebula hologram, that's Mr Kim. He gives out jobs to those down on their luck. You don't want to know what those jobs are. He refers to the poor guys as disposables. If they survive he pays out very well. This doesn't seem like your kind of bar."
"The used ship dealer Eddy pointed me in this direction. I was given the impression that there was no other option and so I took the chance. Though getting the VIP membership took some doing. It would be rude of me to explain details, but I used connections to get through to someone here. You are looking good aside from the cast. How have you been since the hospital?"
Jim took a large sip of his beer, "Good, good. Taking it easy. I've been doing small jobs for people here on the station."
Mara looked into her juice. Awkward. What do I say now? "Hey, do you want to order some food. I think wings sound pretty good right now." WINGS? Are you serious Mara, this is what you come up with?
"Yeah, that sounds good actually." Jim gestured and a holographic waitress materialized at their table. "Two orders of wings, some chips, and another Beer. Mara, you want anything to drink?"
"Just something fizzy and non-alcoholic for tonight." Mara watched Jim placing the order. Jim was watching the waitress. After the hologram had taken their order she asked, "Were you checking her out?"
"She doesn't mind, she's just a hologram. It's what she was programmed for. Why, you jealous?", Jim joked and then sipped at his beer.
"No, definitely not. Just wondered what the appeal was."
"Idle gawking honey. Nothing more."
Mara's head was starting to clear and the small feeling that she would rather he gawk at her instead of a hologram annoyed her. It was clear she'd made a terrible first impression and he wasn't the type to get involved with anyway. Imagine taking him home. Hi Dad, meet Jim. He spends his free time in sleazy bars amongst criminals. Isn't he wonderful? When the food arrived she ordered a coffee to go with it. Damn it, I am feeling jealous. That's going to have to stop.
"So tell me a bit about yourself, Mara. All I know is from our brief time at the hospital, and from tonight. What are you doing so far away from everything? Are you out for fame, fortune, or freedom?" Jim inquired.
"For science, I think. I'm signed on with the Borderlands Venture and we are surveying the Tosia sector. But I'm also doing a side project while I'm out. This is the first work I've taken on since my thesis and I really need it to go well. I've got one month to gather enough data to make it onto the list of primary contributors to the preliminary results report being published soon."
"Ah, so fame it is."
"Well yes, and no. I'll be known in certain circles no matter what I do. My mother is a known figure at the University of Gernsback in the Psi Octantis system. My father owns so many properties and businesses that they've named moons after him. What I want for myself is to stand out and away from them. I want to be worthy of the attention that I get, and without possible dispute."
"So what's the rush then? If this didn't work out then it sounds like you have the resources to just try again, or to do something different?"
"A failure when you have a track record of success can be forgiven. When it's your first foray, it might even be forgiven when you change direction and follow up with something you truly excel at. But science is what I'm good at. I couldn't possibly pursue another career and be satisfied. The venture should be easy. It will be simple data collection and some analysis. I'm very good at that. The harder task will be the side project I mentioned. I need to collect readings at such a fine scale that even taking them here would be impossible. I need to minimize all influences and get as close a reading to the extragalactic state as I can. That's why I need to be out at the rim, there's not as much noise as anywhere else in the galaxy. That's why I signed on with the Venture in the first place."
"So this Venture project is just your ride out there?"
"And a suitable backup plan if my true goal fails to produce results. I can still be sure of success. But I do need to ensure at least that success."
"I think I get it now. Ah-hah! Wings are here." Jim observed as a wheeled tray rolled up to the table with their order. The holographic waitress materialized and made sure they didn't need anything else.
Why did I suggest wings? It's possibly the messiest food ever created.
Jim was clearly enjoying the wings, and bragging about their quality being the best on the station when he paused and watched Mara for a moment. "Are you going to eat any of those, or are you just deboning them?" He asked.
Mara had been pulling the bones out of several wings with care and had accumulated a neat pile of food and a pile of scraps. She hadn't yet taken a bite. "I don't see any need to get my hands messy more than once." She answered while cleaning her fingers off with the towelette provided. She picked up a morsel of chicken with her fork and popped it into her mouth with a triumphant smile.
"Well, I guess you're neat at least."
"I do try," Mara confirmed and felt a small amount of guilt when she remembered the current state of her hotel room. I will try. I am neat as long as I don't drink. Which I won't. I'm making that promise to myself now. And this time, I won't break it. "How about yourself Jim, what are you like?"
"I'm just a regular guy, I guess. Keep my ship in order and keep my head down when it comes to work. I'd rather get out of trouble's way than go looking for it. Easier that way, less repairs. I learned how to fight when I was young and my dad and I would get into it. I learned how to avoid them when I grew up and left. Ancient history now."
Jim was shifting in his seat. What could he be thinking?
"Gotta piss, be right back." He declared getting up, "I mean, I need to use the washroom if you'll excuse me."
"Of course." Mara wasn't sure what he had been thinking but she hadn't expected that. He must be trying to be on his best behaviour around me. Mara smiled at the thought but had her introspection interrupted by two men that had approached the table. The larger of the two sat beside Mara, pushing his way into the booth. The second man sat across from her and indulged himself with tasting the wings, making a face and dropping the half-chewed mess on Jim's plate. Mara's stomach turned as she began to feel well out of her league.
"You're not thinking about leaving the station?" The man sitting across from her asked, "Not without handing it over."
"Handing what over? I don't know what you're talking about."
"The chip princess. And you do know. We've tracked your ship and you were using it. Since you obviously know what it is, you would have rescued it from your crash. We want the three-one-two chip. Now."
"Look I really don't know what you're talking about!"
The large man beside her gripped Mara's arm and applied enough pressure for her to gasp and buckle at the shock and pain. The man across from her took her juice and sipped from it.
"You know, I've always hated this stuff. I should really give it another chance."
The man finished the rest of the juice and continued, "You have until tomorrow evening. You will come back here, and you will give us the chip. You won't be later than 9:30. Do you understand?"
The large man sharpened his grip for a moment and then released suddenly as Francis was approaching the table. The bartender's face was cold and intense. He spoke to the table, "Is there a problem here?"
"Not a problem in the world," answered the man sitting in Jim's spot.
"Because I know who comes in with whom, and I know who does business with whom and you two gentlemen do not have any business with this lady that I'm aware of. And so you have no business with her here without running it through me first. Understood?" A click followed by an electronic whining sound started to spool up from Francis's direction.
"Hey no problem," said the man smiling, "No need for that, we'll be on our way." He took another wing and both of the intruders got up and headed toward the exit accompanied by the bartender.
Jim had missed the entire affair aside from seeing the two men being escorted out.
"Wow! Look at that, I haven't seen Francis have to escort anyone out in a long time. Jeez those guys must have messed up bad."
Mara was shivering and not really paying attention to him. He turned his attention to her, "Did they do something to you? Are you ok? Are you into something serious here?"
"I don't know. I didn't think so."
"You didn't think so? You mean you thought you'd left it behind or is this a surprise," he paused, "no this is a surprise isn't it. You look like a spaced chiphead. Well, Francis has your back down here. That's why business gets done. No trouble in his establishment."
"What about when I leave?" Mara thought she would start crying but her eyes remained dry. I'm in too much shock to be emotional. This is bad. It didn't even feel this bad when they were hurting me. "The larger guy, he was hurting me. He gripped my arm and the other one kept making threats. I was angry at the time. That's all I could feel was angry. Now I'm terrified."
"Francis! Another beer!", Jim shouted at the bar.
"No thanks, I really can't tonight."
"It's not for you Mara. Looks like I'm going to be saving your ass again. You know this simple charter job just got a lot more interesting. And you're going to owe me." Jim received his refreshment and drank half the glass in one go before continuing, "It's not going to be the type of debt you can pay with cash. You understand?"
"I understand. Thank you, Jim. You don't know how much I appreciate all you are doing for me."
Jim nodded and began, "Ok, let's go over what you're going to do next. I've smuggled people before and I know how to keep you out of sight."
Jim's plan made sense, and he repeated it enough times that Mara could remember even in her present state. She wasn't to stay at her hotel. She would proceed to section seventeen and make her way to hangar forty-one. There she would not find Jim's ship but she would wait to see if any trouble had been following her. Jim had friends at that hangar who were expecting this and were prepared to defend her. After she waited at the checkpoint for half an hour she would board their ship and take off. Jim would meet them at a nearby star system.
"That should throw off the amateur's, and bring anyone desperate to get you out into the open. I'll be running a sweep of my ship for bugs and re-scrambling my protocols before and after launch so they shouldn't be able to track my ship. Oh, hand me your comm. You need to get rid of it now."
Mara nodded and handed it to him. He brought it up to the bar and handed it over.
This is it isn't it? There' s no time to think about it or reflect. We're doing this now!
"Jim, thank you."
"This isn't charity. You owe me, Mara. Remember that."