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Authors: Steven Campbell
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Scrub the bathrooms. Man, you guys
sure do a number on the toilets. It’s all that space food, I think.”
“That work
doesn’t bother you?” I asked.
“Hank, I was a
hard rock digger for ten years on three different planets,” he said. Then he
flashed those wonderful teeth again. “Belvaille is a sweet slab of honey. You
got a space station, not even orbiting a star, a million billion trillion miles
from anything and it’s not only working, it’s luxurious. You got people
sleeping in the streets without a care. Perfect temperature day or night. You
got casinos! You know how many planets would die for a city this nice? And any
time I want work I just go out and sniff around for clogged urinals.”
“Speaking of, let
me go use your bathroom if you don’t mind.”
“Yeah, sure,
sure. I’ll fix us some more drinks. I got two bottles.”
I was walking
to the bathroom when I thought:
“Hey, Bronze, I
eat space food too. I mean, I can use a bathroom in another apartment, mine is
kind of broken right now.”
“Don’t worry
about it. It’ll give me practice.”
In his bathroom
I looked at myself in the mirror and the area around my eye was all puffy and I
had broken some blood vessels. I had welts all over my face and far more on my
body. I thought it was a testament to Bronze that he hadn’t brought it up. I’m
sure I would have asked, “Hey, how’d you hurt your eye?” Just kind of a normal
conversation thing to ask.
Back in his
living room we talked and drank. He offered me the only chair but I knew it was
too flimsy for me so I parked on the floor. Bronze had quite a few stories and
we sat trading them.
I had stories
too, but mostly they were on the same theme: I beat up someone or someone beat
me up.
Bronze Badel
Bardel had been across the galaxy and back. Just about every one of his stories
was…bad. Bad for him. But he just seemed to find it all funny.
After a while I
felt like I was imposing. I had been hanging out drinking and chatting with
Bronze for about five hours.
He was adamant
about seeing me out.
I strapped my
autocannon back on and headed to the stairs.
In the stairway
we bumped into one if his neighbors coming up. He was surprised to see us.
“Yeepl,” Bronze
shouted, “have you met my friend Hank?”
“Everyone knows
Hank,” the man responded without a smile and clearly not as a compliment.
“Oh! Have I
been partying with someone famous?”
Yeepl walked
past us on the stairs.
“Bronze, let me
pay you a bit for the booze,” I said. I felt guilty that he was so…poor and had
been showing me such hospitality.
“No way! I
should be paying you. You told me a lot of great things about this place.”
“Let me just
beam you some credits.”
“I don’t have a
tele,” he said, seeming proud.
“You…” I had
never heard of anyone not having a tele. They were government issued. They were
free to replace. Our whole Confederation ran on them. It just boggled my mind
anyone could exist without using a tele. How did he do anything?
“Tell you what,
though, if you find some good jobs, let me know. I can do anything. As long as
it doesn’t require brains,” he laughed.
“Sure,” I said.
“Are you going to be here?”
“Until they
kick me out.”
Being kicked out
of Belvaille’s Deadsouth was an oxymoron. It’s where you got kicked to.
CHAPTER 10
At City Hall I
scanned more videos until I was bored silly. Watching tapes of people shuffle
in line from every different angle was absolutely excruciating. I wasn’t making
much progress.
I headed to the
Belvaille Gentleman’s Club.
The club had
been around at least as long as I had. It and its cousin, the Belvaille
Athletic Club, were two permanent fixtures on the space station. The Gentleman’s
Club was where all the thugs who worked for the gangs hung out. It was a place
to relax and watch sports and not worry if the guy sitting next to you was
going to kill you tomorrow.
After a few
hundred years of
sure do a number on the toilets. It’s all that space food, I think.”
“That work
doesn’t bother you?” I asked.
“Hank, I was a
hard rock digger for ten years on three different planets,” he said. Then he
flashed those wonderful teeth again. “Belvaille is a sweet slab of honey. You
got a space station, not even orbiting a star, a million billion trillion miles
from anything and it’s not only working, it’s luxurious. You got people
sleeping in the streets without a care. Perfect temperature day or night. You
got casinos! You know how many planets would die for a city this nice? And any
time I want work I just go out and sniff around for clogged urinals.”
“Speaking of, let
me go use your bathroom if you don’t mind.”
“Yeah, sure,
sure. I’ll fix us some more drinks. I got two bottles.”
I was walking
to the bathroom when I thought:
“Hey, Bronze, I
eat space food too. I mean, I can use a bathroom in another apartment, mine is
kind of broken right now.”
“Don’t worry
about it. It’ll give me practice.”
In his bathroom
I looked at myself in the mirror and the area around my eye was all puffy and I
had broken some blood vessels. I had welts all over my face and far more on my
body. I thought it was a testament to Bronze that he hadn’t brought it up. I’m
sure I would have asked, “Hey, how’d you hurt your eye?” Just kind of a normal
conversation thing to ask.
Back in his
living room we talked and drank. He offered me the only chair but I knew it was
too flimsy for me so I parked on the floor. Bronze had quite a few stories and
we sat trading them.
I had stories
too, but mostly they were on the same theme: I beat up someone or someone beat
me up.
Bronze Badel
Bardel had been across the galaxy and back. Just about every one of his stories
was…bad. Bad for him. But he just seemed to find it all funny.
After a while I
felt like I was imposing. I had been hanging out drinking and chatting with
Bronze for about five hours.
He was adamant
about seeing me out.
I strapped my
autocannon back on and headed to the stairs.
In the stairway
we bumped into one if his neighbors coming up. He was surprised to see us.
“Yeepl,” Bronze
shouted, “have you met my friend Hank?”
“Everyone knows
Hank,” the man responded without a smile and clearly not as a compliment.
“Oh! Have I
been partying with someone famous?”
Yeepl walked
past us on the stairs.
“Bronze, let me
pay you a bit for the booze,” I said. I felt guilty that he was so…poor and had
been showing me such hospitality.
“No way! I
should be paying you. You told me a lot of great things about this place.”
“Let me just
beam you some credits.”
“I don’t have a
tele,” he said, seeming proud.
“You…” I had
never heard of anyone not having a tele. They were government issued. They were
free to replace. Our whole Confederation ran on them. It just boggled my mind
anyone could exist without using a tele. How did he do anything?
“Tell you what,
though, if you find some good jobs, let me know. I can do anything. As long as
it doesn’t require brains,” he laughed.
“Sure,” I said.
“Are you going to be here?”
“Until they
kick me out.”
Being kicked out
of Belvaille’s Deadsouth was an oxymoron. It’s where you got kicked to.
CHAPTER 10
At City Hall I
scanned more videos until I was bored silly. Watching tapes of people shuffle
in line from every different angle was absolutely excruciating. I wasn’t making
much progress.
I headed to the
Belvaille Gentleman’s Club.
The club had
been around at least as long as I had. It and its cousin, the Belvaille
Athletic Club, were two permanent fixtures on the space station. The Gentleman’s
Club was where all the thugs who worked for the gangs hung out. It was a place
to relax and watch sports and not worry if the guy sitting next to you was
going to kill you tomorrow.
After a few
hundred years of
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