"I'm not from around here."
No shit. "None of us are." Guzzi turned from the woman to watch the vision - some weird third-level alien sport that looked like basketball, but with lethal looking teeth involved. "We don't see many like you out here. We don't really see many like anyone..."
The woman nodded. "No shit." She took off her jacket. Flight suit, no trappings. "My ship needs a pilot. There don't appear to be too many options."
Guzzi gave up on the vision and turned back to... "Who are you again?"
"Call me Jazz."
Guzzi nodded. Give a bit. Give a bit more. Tease it out. He hated this game. "Look, either tell me what the shindung you want or get lost. My shift starts in 50 minutes and I'm still sober."
Jazz signalled for more drinks, pulled him into a nearby booth and shoved him into the seat. "Look, it's your call. You help me? I get you off this shithole. You don't? Get drunk. Whatever. I don't care. Just point at someone who can fly first."
"No." He waved for the drinks. "I need more. More story. Not drink. Well, that too." He drank. "What the shindung is going on? Why is it going on? Why now? Who else is involved? What's in it for me? Do I get my own quarters? Is this a semi-permanent thing or are you gonna shove me out the airlock at the next shithole we come to so I have to sell my arse to get another shitty job? Again?
"We're not all desperate to get outta here. Well. Not all that desperate. " He deliberately paused for dramatic effect, and then spoke in a growl, "So for shindungs sake. What's. The. Deal?"
Guzzi met Jazz's cold stare, then she grunted.
"Fair enough. We're going exploring, further out along the arm. No questions. Only the ship I've acquired doesn't have a pilot. So we need one. And we have zero time to get one."
"Right," said Guzzi. "Why?"
"I said. No. Questions."
"You want me to pilot, you tell me where we're going."
Jazz considered her drink.
"All right," she said at last. "We need a pilot to fly the ship, because we're gonna find us some aliens."
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Continue reading:
- The Garship (G2): https://steemit.com/story/@drwom/the-garship-part-2-of-guzzi-a-sf-story-of-many-parts
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Picture courtesy of pixabay.com
