-
Jul 18th, 2005, 09:17:58 PM
#1
TheHolo.Net Poster
Hey baby, you've got something on your butt: my eyes.
Some jobs ain't all that glamorous, but money is still money.
Oord Tupa was brown and kind of lumpy, which sort of figured. After all the Hutts had terraformed it from something a little browner and a little lumpier, and without a breathable atmosphere to speak of. Maybe they had aspirations of making it in their own image. After all, there were a few close-cropped patches of green on its mottled surface, where a thousand spacers let their animals out mid-transit to graze, and to crap, adding to the general brown-ness. The planet hosted a reasonable Twi'lek population. After all, where there's crap, there's mushrooms, there's Twi'leks. Or so the saying goes. That's not racist or anything. Those Twi'leks love mushrooms.
There were a few gleaming silver buildings on the planet's half dozen townships, which was indirectly hilarious. Somebody was incredibly hell bent on selling this place, and must have cleaned the premises three times a day. They were hard at work trying to take money off of the crap-shovelers, cattle herders, and Twi'leks, and anybody else with the odd misfortune to find themselves on Oord Tupa.
Add me to that list, except that I didn't have plans on staying a whole cycle. I put Layla down in the morning, finding a spaceport on the far side of the biggest continent. As podunk as Oord Tupa was, it had enough amenities for me and my crew. Hot chow, cold fuel, and plenty of people with credits in their pockets and an undying urge to leave Oord Tupa.
In short, places like this were always good to pick up a few outbound fares. Considering the only work I'd had in the past two weeks was womp rat extermination on Geonosis, I was itching for slightly better pay. You get 50 credits for a gross of dead womp rats, Not exactly breaking the bank there.
I powered down the repulsors on Layla, and rose from my chair to stretch. Climbing down the tube to mid-decks, I engaged the gangplank, and raced out to breathe fresh air...
...and stepped in an eopie pie.
"Damn."
-
Jul 18th, 2005, 09:32:22 PM
#2
Anything would be better than Geonosis. I had gotten rather adept at cooking womp rat, however, so we hadn't starved, although at times I had wished for death. The meat wasn't bad once it was cooked long enough, but Sanis always complained about the lack of pink meat inside his rat steak. I tried explaining to him about bacterial infections, but nothing needed to be explained after he cooked his own meal and ended up spending all night in the refresher.
Cirrsseetto and Daani hadn't liked the cooked meat either, but after Sanis' little demonstration they had quieted their complaints. Everyone was glad to be away from the red planet with a little spending money in our pockets.
Scratch that; read: in my pockets. Daani and I were going to restock the galley while the two males went in search of work. Suited me fine - two weeks cooped up in the Layla while the boys hunted rats was too long. Not that I wanted to hunt rats.
I shuddered at the thought, and smacked into Sanis' back when he abruptly stopped at the foot of the ramp. "Hey! Sorry." I wrinkled my nose. "What is that smell?"
He signaled at his boot, and looked around for somewhere to scrape off the poodoo. "Hurry it up with the shopping, okay? We aren't here to restock your wardrobe."
I folded my arms, and locked eyes with him. Gods he was cute. "I know, I know. Daani and I are gettin' the grub and comin' right back here to find some fares."
and if you go, furious angels will bring you back to me
-
Jul 18th, 2005, 09:40:16 PM
#3
-
Jul 18th, 2005, 09:46:24 PM
#4
-
Jul 18th, 2005, 09:47:59 PM
#5
Daani snatched the list out of her brother's hand, and eyed it with a mournful look. "Wherrre's the food?"
-
Jul 18th, 2005, 09:52:40 PM
#6
I reached over and took the datapad away from the munchkin, and scrolled through the list with a few taps on the pad. "There's no way we can afford all this."
I caught Sanis' exasperated look, and added, "But of course, if I haggle..." We'd had haggling lessons on the trip over from Geonosis, may-I-never-see-that-planet-again. He'd finally declared me improved, but only after a makeout session that had scalded the walls of his quarters. "If that's how you're planning on talking down the price, James..." My cheeks got a little hot thinking about it.
Sanis was talking to me, and I jerked out of my momentary daydream. "Sorry, what was that?"
-
Jul 18th, 2005, 09:52:45 PM
#7
-
Jul 18th, 2005, 10:05:18 PM
#8
-
Jul 18th, 2005, 10:13:38 PM
#9
I snagged the little droid out of the air, and tucked it into the front pocket of my shirt. Shaking my head a little at his blasters, I reached for Daani's hand, only to spend a few moments trying to grab her as she slapped away my hand.
"We'll be fine. If I run into trouble..." Daani scampered around Sanis as I tried in vain to grab her arm, "I'll just throw Daani at them and run." Success! Daani giggled as I snatched her from Cirr's side and yanked her to mine. At eleven standard years old, she was already almost as tall as I was.
It was sort of depressing. I smiled tightly at Sanis, and pulled my charge away from the Layla and down the dusty brown street. With Sanis still watching, I patted my pockets, making sure the credits were all secure in the front pocket of my pants. They were.
I eyed Daani, who was taking everything in with rapt attention. "You better not mess this up, kid."
-
Jul 18th, 2005, 10:17:20 PM
#10
She sighed, pulling as far away from James as their joined hands would allow. "Don't worrrrrjy, jI'll be good."
The pair walked in silence down the streets of Oord Tupa, until something caught Daani's eye. "Ooh! Look!" She jerked away from James' grasp, and darted to a booth along the side of the street that sold silver and jade rings. "Jamesss can jI have one, puh-leeeeze?"
She popped one on a finger and held it up high to look at it. It was beautjiful!
-
Jul 18th, 2005, 10:20:33 PM
#11
-
Jul 18th, 2005, 10:26:04 PM
#12
"Daani! Put that back right now." I hurried over to where the youngster was admiring a bauble that was ridiculously overpriced.
"Obly twenby crebits, little Miss. A beal!" The man who was tending the stall was overweight and greasy looking. His smile lit up his entire face, nearly splitting his visage in two.
"A what? Oh, a deal." I pulled the ring off of Daani's hand, and to her credit she only muttered under her breath.
"But yes, yes, a beal it is for twenby crebits." His smile faded as I put the ring back with the others and dragged Daani away.
-
Jul 18th, 2005, 10:31:35 PM
#13
Daani looked mournfully over her shoulder at the stall, and the equally mournful forrda who tended it. His face lit up again as another person stopped to look at the pretty rings and bracelets laid on the table. She lost sight of the stall in the growing crowd of travelers and vendors.
"Jamesss, Cjirrrr would have gotten me jit." Daani raised her eyebrows at the hyuu-man female.
"He would not have, and you know it. Remember the list? And we need food before we need trinkets."
She was right, and Daani knew it, but she couldn't resist pouting anyway. She was still pouting when James pulled her into a small, dark shop, labeled Micah's R pairs nd Par s Best in the Bus ness open u til sev n.
-
Jul 18th, 2005, 10:33:54 PM
#14
-
Jul 18th, 2005, 10:37:48 PM
#15
"Cirrsseeto, might I remind you that this drive shaft is out of alignment. Now would be a good time to calibrate it. Shall I take the mains offline?"
A cyllindrical MARCUS unit peered out of Cirr's toolbox, pushing the bag of pork skins aside.
-
Jul 18th, 2005, 10:40:45 PM
#16
-
Jul 18th, 2005, 10:47:09 PM
#17
-
Jul 18th, 2005, 10:57:21 PM
#18
The likeliest place, and the closest, was Micah's R pairs nd Par s Best in the Bus ness open u til sev n. Micah turned out to be a Toydarian, which wasn't surprising. He wasn't blue, and that was surprising. His skin was a sickly shade of orange, and I didn't feel like prying into why.
Instead I leaned my elbows on the counter top, and coughed. "Excuse me, but do you happen to have a synchronizer for a port stabilizer for a YT-1300 Corellian freighter on hand?"
Micah fluttered over. "Do I? But of course I have one. In fact, I have five! I even have two that are brand new, never been used." His bulbous eyes looked me up and down, and I felt like pulling my shirt together over my tank top.
"How much arrre thejy?" Daani was leaning all over the dirty counter, ears twitching this way and that. Micah hovered backwards a little at her voice, but soon recovered.
"Only seventy-five credits, and if I give one to you for less... why I'd be slitting my own throat!"
-
Jul 18th, 2005, 11:09:56 PM
#19
"James, a moment perhaps."
The droid module urged discretion, and when they were out of earshot, continued.
"The particular models were selling for 80 credits retail when they were introduced on the market over a year ago. I believe his asking price is abnormally high."
-
Jul 18th, 2005, 11:19:12 PM
#20
Daani smiled a gap toothed grin at the toydarian, and her fidgiting hands found a circular bit of metal on the counter. She fiddled with the washer, still thinking about the ring back at the stall in the open air market, and slipped it on her finger.
Micah busied himself with 'tidying' the shelves behind him, but Daani could tell he was straining to hear what James and MARCUS were saying. It was what she did when she was trying to overhear Sanis and Cirr talking about her.
She grinned her sharp teeth at the forrda and proclaimed, "Can jyou help me? Thjiss jiss sstuck on my fjingerrr." Daani held up the hand with the washer 'ring' on it. "jIt kjinda hurrts."
Posting Permissions
- You may not post new threads
- You may not post replies
- You may not post attachments
- You may not edit your posts
-
Forum Rules
Bookmarks