6 NOV 3302: New Hire
06 Nov 2016Pitchzer0
This sucks.The Imperial faction that now controls Vesuvit has instituted a lockdown at Suri Gateway. Lockdowns are a great opportunity for someone in my line of work, freight and people still have to move, the 'verse stops for no one. But thanks to my..ahem...arrangement with the powers that be, I am currently grounded.So what's a guy supposed to do when he can't find work?
Head to the bar, what else?
I looked out towards the bar at the small group of people seated on stools. The Snake Hole was busier than usual today, my little quiet corner of the station wasn't so quiet anymore. Most of the tables in the dimly lit bar were occupied, with more people coming and going. Miss Janet was running around the place serving drinks and food, occasionally she would bark an order at her husband behind the bar. The background noise of conversations was thankfully drowning out the tones of whatever horrible muzak Miss Janet was playing today. While it may be a boon to Miss Janet and her husband, I was finding the influx of new thrill seekers a bit annoying. But for the most part, if they leave me alone, I don't care. Then again, someone always has to rock the boat.
Take for instance, this guy. His group comes in a finds a table. Unfortunately for him, his table is one chair short. He scans the room and then makes his way to my section, and before he can make an utterance, I prop my right foot on the chair. I look him in the eye and rest my right hand on the grip of my repeater. I made sure he was able to see my right hand and he got the hint and scurried back to his group, no doubt telling them how he just had a dance with danger with the badass in the back corner.
Ugh, damn tourists.
"With people skills like that, no wonder you drink alone."
I turned my head slowly to the left to see who made the comment, but I left my right hand on the grip of my weapon, I don't like surprises.
She stood about a foot away from the table with her arms crossed. Dressed in cargo pants and a turtleneck sweater with a long, well worn green duster. She wore her blonde hair short, the ends coming to a point on both sides of her face. The light from the bar outlined her silhouette, I could almost make out the two slug throwers she wore on her hips.
"Maybe they just don't like my personality." Our eyes locked, the steel blue color of her eyes were standing out in the dim light.
She stood there sizing me up for another minute.
"I am looking for work, and scuttlebutt says you are the guy to ask." She said.
I held her gaze for a couple seconds, then took my right foot off of the chair and used it to push the chair into her direction. Before the chair finished moving, she had already grabbed it and sat down. I waited until she got comfortable.
"Who sent you?"
"I did." A mystery voice said, as two shot glasses and a bottle of Old Sol were placed on the table. Miss Janet, eyed me as she straightened back up and held the drink tray to her chest. "You need a reliable pilot, and she is looking for work. It seemed like a good idea to me!" She turned around and walked back into the din of conversation as she headed back to the bar.
I relaxed a little. If the mystery lady across the table is being recommended by Miss Janet, she should be on the up and up. That woman doesn't make many mistakes. Hopefully she isn't some Sothis biowaste hauler who lost their stash buying an Anaconda and flying without a rebuy. I poured two shots and slid one across the table, she caught it without spilling any. Steady hands.
"Got a name?" I threw back my shot of Old Sol.
"Coffey. Shayna Coffey." She swallowed her shot of Old Sol, flipped the shot glass over and flicked it back to me. Her facial expression clearly said ' pour me another'.
"So Shayna Coffey, how did you end up in this lovely establishment?" I poured two more shots, slid hers back across the table to her.
"Long story short, I'm stuck here. Was working second watch on a freighter, but they bugged when the lockdown was issued. Of course, when they split they also took all my stuff. No extra clothes, not even my rucksack. Basically all I got is what I have on me. I came in here to drown my sorrows with the little cred I had left. I started talking to Miss Janet, one thing lead to another, here I am." She downed the shot quicker this time, and tapped the glass on the table twice. I sat up a bit and handed her the bottle, she poured another.
"Got no fam or friends that can help you out? Sounds like you just got caught in a bit of a jam." I downed my shot and reached across the table to pour myself another.
"Nope. Had a husband, but he ran off with some luxury cruise bimbo. No kids. My family is near Ailoth. After that sorry excuse for a man left, I sold what I had and decided to see the 'verse. I was bored sitting in one spot." She finished the shot and put the glass on the table. She locked eyes with me again.
"What kind of flight experience do you have?" I grabbed the bottle to pour myself another shot.
"I flew trade ships for awhile, T-6 all the way up to the T-9. I also spent some time running security in Neits."
"That was a nasty bit of business awhile back."
"Yes." She said. "I was there. I flew a Viper in the conflict for Neits Jet Life LTD."
"No shit? What's you Pilot's Fed rank?"
She reached into the pocket of her duster and provided a datachip. I pulled out my comlink and slid the chip into the reader. After a short beep, her dossier began to scroll across the screen. Trade rank, merchant. Combat rank, Expert. I was right she did have some skills. I sat the comlink down and locked eyes with her again.
"What's your call sign?"
"Valkyrie." She said.
"What do you look for in a 'mate?"
She was about to pour herself another shot when her demeanor quickly changed. She fixed me with a cold, hard, stare.
"Look. I don't know what you are on, and I know we have sat here and had a few shots, but I don't do that. I am looking for decent work, if you are looking for a new space waifu or someone you can call 'Babushka' I will just leave now and stop wasting my time." She began to get up.
Now I know I've thrown back a few, but I wasn't even buzzed yet. It took me a second to figure out her misconception.
"No, no.. Not that! Shipmate. Basically its like this: only things that I ask of crew is that they perform their job efficiently, and try to cause as little trouble as possible."
She slowly started to sit back down.
"In this line of work, I need to know you have my six. Not all of our contracts will be....legitimate. So if it goes bad, I need to know you aren't going to introduce new venting options to my body."
She pondered this for a minute. "So I get my own quarters? Last ship I had to share with crew, it was...awkward. Led to a disagreement with one of 'em, but I handled it."
"You get a private bunk, with your own refresher. How did you end the disagreement?"
She poured herself a shot, downed it, and put the glass on the table in one swift motion.
"I waited until the sexist asshole went to use the head, I covered the seat with adhesive polymer. They had to rip a few layers of skin off to remove it. Told him if he ever made a move on me again, I would make sure to glue his balls to his ass." She flashed me with a smirk.
I reached over the table to grab her shot glass and the bottle. I poured two more shots and handed her back her glass. I held my glass up and she clinked hers with mine.
"You're hired."