The Saga of Grendel and Goldilocks (pt. 6)
20 Oct 2017Ohgren
I woke up back in Skvortsov Dock. The party was over. Ventilation ducts blew wayward decorations around the hanger while limp helium balloons tried halfheartedly to figure out which way was up in the artificial gravity. The cops had scooped up my escape pod and brought it back here. For the rescue reward, of course. Hope they choked on the lousy 400 credit bounty they got for blowing up my python.Something they never tell you in pilot training is that the inside of an escape pod smells bad. Really bad. A mixture of burnt skin, burnt plastic, sweat, and puke. Still, it beat the hell out of staying in the ship. I climbed out, cleaned myself up as best I could and went off to find some coffee.
As I sat in the pilot's lounge nursing a five alarm hangover and waiting for my insurance payment to come through, who should walk in but the queen of the bowl cut herself, Envoy Roselyn Rowe. She had a much younger looking person of indeterminate gender with neon green hair and an ugly face tattoo draped on her left arm. Envoy Rowe looked imperious as ever. Green hair looked haughty in the way that only a clueless youth can.
"I heard you attacked one of our ships last night. A shame. I had to demote you from cordial to neutral. So disappointing, we had high hopes for you."
"Thanks for checking on me, sweet cheeks! I could really use one of your famous back rubs right about now." I growled low and sexy while raising my eyebrows suggestively.
I saw green hair's nostrils flair. Roselyn's lips twitched from disgust to a dismissive half smile. "Alas, I don't have the time." she boasted. "The reception last night was a smashing success and I have many promising leads to follow up on. Both the Kuanes Partners and the Alkuyuma Independents expressed keen interest in strengthening our relationships so there is much work to do."
Even if I wanted to, I don't think I could have stopped my eyes from glazing over as she prattled on with her political yammerings. Didn't mean squat to me. I guess it didn't matter to her that I had killed a few dozen or so of her faction's enemies but been outdone by a stray shot that did no real damage to the target but ended up costing me over 8 million credits. Some people just don't get it.
Grendel, you better go home. Your mama's calling and Goldilocks is mad as hell.