Read Online Hard Luck Hank: Screw the Galaxy by Steven Campbell - Free Book Online

for a face-to-face about the Dredel Led. Though I couldn’t tell them
anything that Rendrae hadn’t already printed.
    I opened the door and it was Jyen. All
blue-skinned and big-eared and adorable.
    “Ah,” I said. “Come in.”
    I was still tired, but better to get this over
with as soon as possible. I had some real concerns without this hanging over
me.
    She remained outside.
    “Do you have what I asked you to get?”
    “Well, I have this giant rucksack of drugs, but
the exact contents aren’t, you know, precisely what your list detailed.” I
fumbled with my tele. “I’ve got the specifics here, I can transfer the info.”
    “Could you drop them off, please?”
    I knew I wasn’t in any place to argue, but some
odd thing in me made me say: “Is this going to take long?”
    “No,” she said with a bright smile.
    I stepped back inside and heaved the drugs over
my shoulder and headed out. Jyen seemed a bit startled when I came out.
    “That’s it?” she asked, pointing to the bag.
    It was one of those times again when we were on
different wavelengths. I immediately thought she was asking essentially, “Is
that small amount all that constitutes my drug purchase?” As if I should have
come out dragging a transport ship. Or maybe a destroyer.
    “Yes. Yes, this is it,” I answered
sarcastically.
    “Oh, it just seems like a lot. Can you carry
that okay?”
    My attitude brightened. If she was expecting
less, then maybe this won’t turn out so rotten. Maybe I can make up in quantity
what I was lacking in everything else.
    “No, it’s fine.”
    She led the way and to my surprise, she
literally entered the apartment building directly across the street from mine.
I suppose that’s how she knew I was home. She must spend her time staring out
the window, checking for her drugs.
    We headed up a few flights, mostly because I
was following her. I normally would have taken the elevator. I don’t like
stairs much. Going up stairs I’m positively glacial, especially when carrying
an unwieldy storehouse of narcotics.
    We came to her place and she opened the door.
    The apartment was completely unfurnished.
Looked unlived in. Except for the druggie sitting on the bare metal floor
against the wall.
    “Hank, this is my brother,” Jyen said,
pointing.
    I didn’t really care. Yeah it was unusual for
someone who was maybe 5’2” with electric blue skin and practically tentacle-like
ears to say she was related to a 6-foot lanky man with pale skin, an oddly
misshapen face, and from what I could tell under an unkempt mass of scraggly
hair, normal-sized ears. But it was simply none of my business.
    What was apparent, though, was that all these
drugs were for him. If anyone on Belvaille was an addict, it was this guy. His
fingernails were long and yellow and almost beastly, and they picked at his
uneven face with an insect-like rhythm.
    “Where do you want this?” I asked, looking
around. But there was no difference between here and there, as there was no
furniture. So I just put it on the ground.
    The junkie immediately moved closer. He could
probably tell what kind of drugs they were just from the sound they made when
they were laid on the floor.
    “Jyonal, this is Hank. He’s the one who’s
helping us,” Jyen said somewhat maternally.
    I wasn’t sure how much I was “helping” them,
unless they had an incalculable fear of living long lives and being aware of
their surroundings.
    “So,” I began uneasily, “I’ve got these notes
on the drugs.”
    Jyonal scurried over and untied the sheets with
his skinny fingers. He spread out the drugs and his mouth opened in what
approximated awe. He brushed his hands over them, turning this and that,
lifting some, smelling others. It was almost animalistic.
    He then grabbed one that particularly caught
his eye. He looked at me and reached out and took my hand in his. I don’t have
much of a sense of touch in my palms, but his skin felt rough and flaky. He
then sprinted out