Post by TheD on May 26, 2014 9:20:51 GMT
“If you have to count your money, you haven’t got enough of it.”
“Keogh? What?” The words got to him through a blur, his reply delayed.
“If you have to count your money, you haven’t got enough of it! You asked for more of my wisdom, and this is one of my life’s principles. Never failed me. Not once.”
Hunching forward, Chilton’s hand moved up to his forehead, wiping away a thin layer of stale, cold sweat. The smell of the dump that Keogh dragged him into after their last trip was nauseating.
Yelling loudly to make himself heard over the background noise, Keogh ordered another round of drinks.
“You don’t look so fresh, pal. One day you’ll learn. Or become a man. Whichever happens sooner!” A roar of hoarse laughter escaped his throat, followed by a large swig from his bottle entering it.
“One day, one day…” Chilton’s thoughts trailed off, his eyes suddenly fixed on one of the serving girls, struggling to deny the rough advances of a customer. A large, burly man rushed to the scene and hit him square in the jaw, sending him flying.
“Evening’s End is a rather fitting name for a place such as this, don’t you think?” Keogh’s mocking imitation of his manner of speaking riled him. “We go out, have a lot of fun, and then come here at the end of our day, and enjoy ourselves even more. Maybe you can’t handle this much fun? Eh?”
“You almost died. You almost died.”
“I did not!”
“You…” Chilton struggled to recollect, “You messed up your approach on the last run. The Eel knocked out your shield in two volleys. The Naut’s projectiles penetrated your armor, it shredded your CO2 scrubbers. If we’d been any deeper into Flux Space you would have died.”
“Well,” Keogh raised his arms up his side slowly, his hands extended in acknowledgement, “Even the Conflux can get lucky. Anyway, my pal down at the dock said it was a five minute job to fix her up again.”
A service girl, mistaking his gesture, passed the table, placing another round of drinks in front of them.
“That was three hours ago. Three hours.”
“Hey darling, hang on - let me give you a tip, eh? Eh? C’mere you little cherub--” Keogh reached for his pad to wire credits to the girl. A message was flashing on the screen. “Here you go sweetheart, you are too good to us, truly! I will never forget you!”
“Is it fixed?”
“What?”
“You have a message. Can we leave now?”
“Hang on, le’ me..”
The blur in Keogh’s eyes disappeared as he read the message, his eyebrows lowering in a frown. “What the-- what! That guy has finally lost his mind! Ten million credits?”
“I told you it was bad.”
“No, not the repair, for something he found in our sensor logs. He says if we’d docked at a TRI station they would have confiscated them without even telling us. If we don’t want them then he’ll sell them to someone else.”
“Let me see, let me see.” Keogh handed the pad over. Chilton’s eyes rushed over the excerpt of the log the engineer included.
“What an idiot. Does he think this is the first time someone tried this kind of bullshit on me? I ain’t never gonna pay ten million credits for a bunch of squiggly lines.”
“Pay him. Pay him right now.”
“You are out of your mind!”
“Fine. I will, then. We need to leave right now.”
“Leave? Where to?”
“Solrain. I need to call in a few favors.” He rose from his seat, Keogh following suit.
“This better be good, Doc. I’m in no mood for more bullshit from anybody.
“This is bad, but perhaps in a good way. Let’s go.”
“Keogh? What?” The words got to him through a blur, his reply delayed.
“If you have to count your money, you haven’t got enough of it! You asked for more of my wisdom, and this is one of my life’s principles. Never failed me. Not once.”
Hunching forward, Chilton’s hand moved up to his forehead, wiping away a thin layer of stale, cold sweat. The smell of the dump that Keogh dragged him into after their last trip was nauseating.
Yelling loudly to make himself heard over the background noise, Keogh ordered another round of drinks.
“You don’t look so fresh, pal. One day you’ll learn. Or become a man. Whichever happens sooner!” A roar of hoarse laughter escaped his throat, followed by a large swig from his bottle entering it.
“One day, one day…” Chilton’s thoughts trailed off, his eyes suddenly fixed on one of the serving girls, struggling to deny the rough advances of a customer. A large, burly man rushed to the scene and hit him square in the jaw, sending him flying.
“Evening’s End is a rather fitting name for a place such as this, don’t you think?” Keogh’s mocking imitation of his manner of speaking riled him. “We go out, have a lot of fun, and then come here at the end of our day, and enjoy ourselves even more. Maybe you can’t handle this much fun? Eh?”
“You almost died. You almost died.”
“I did not!”
“You…” Chilton struggled to recollect, “You messed up your approach on the last run. The Eel knocked out your shield in two volleys. The Naut’s projectiles penetrated your armor, it shredded your CO2 scrubbers. If we’d been any deeper into Flux Space you would have died.”
“Well,” Keogh raised his arms up his side slowly, his hands extended in acknowledgement, “Even the Conflux can get lucky. Anyway, my pal down at the dock said it was a five minute job to fix her up again.”
A service girl, mistaking his gesture, passed the table, placing another round of drinks in front of them.
“That was three hours ago. Three hours.”
“Hey darling, hang on - let me give you a tip, eh? Eh? C’mere you little cherub--” Keogh reached for his pad to wire credits to the girl. A message was flashing on the screen. “Here you go sweetheart, you are too good to us, truly! I will never forget you!”
“Is it fixed?”
“What?”
“You have a message. Can we leave now?”
“Hang on, le’ me..”
The blur in Keogh’s eyes disappeared as he read the message, his eyebrows lowering in a frown. “What the-- what! That guy has finally lost his mind! Ten million credits?”
“I told you it was bad.”
“No, not the repair, for something he found in our sensor logs. He says if we’d docked at a TRI station they would have confiscated them without even telling us. If we don’t want them then he’ll sell them to someone else.”
“Let me see, let me see.” Keogh handed the pad over. Chilton’s eyes rushed over the excerpt of the log the engineer included.
“What an idiot. Does he think this is the first time someone tried this kind of bullshit on me? I ain’t never gonna pay ten million credits for a bunch of squiggly lines.”
“Pay him. Pay him right now.”
“You are out of your mind!”
“Fine. I will, then. We need to leave right now.”
“Leave? Where to?”
“Solrain. I need to call in a few favors.” He rose from his seat, Keogh following suit.
“This better be good, Doc. I’m in no mood for more bullshit from anybody.
“This is bad, but perhaps in a good way. Let’s go.”