so close you can touch it.”
Tasso grinned, “Really? Gee whiz, thanks!”
The passenger sneered, “ ‘Gee whiz’? Really? Who the frak talks like that!”
Tasso grinned wider, “Grandpa always says cusswords are the sign of a weak mind and a limited vocabulary. Or was it a limited mind and a weak vocabulary?”
The driver laughed and pointed at the other passenger, “He’s got you pegged, don’t he?”
The passenger frowned, “You calling me stupid, boy? Frakking son of a—”
Tasso quit listening. He stared out the window at the spaceship. It looked much bigger than it originally appeared to be when he’d first seen it. It towered over the terminal building. He could now see most of the craft was sitting in a hole and he wondered how far down it went. There was a short fence surrounding the hole and a huge ramp leading to the spaceship. The ramp was big enough for a tractor-trailer to drive into the ship with room to spare.
The flitter pulled up close to the ramp and eased to a stop. The driver shut the engine down, its sound going from a quiet whuff to a whimper as they settled to the ground.
“Can I get out and look around?” Tasso asked.
“Get out? Oh golly gee whiz, I should hope so, yeah,” the passenger said with an edge of sarcasm. “We didn’t come all this way to sit and look at the frakking thing.”
Tasso jumped out, rushed to the fence, and looked down the hole. The ship went down a long way. Ramps coming from and going into the ship were flooded with light as tractor-trailers floated across the ramps on heavy-duty anti-gravity drives. A stream of cargo was loading and a stream of cargo was moving off the ship and into underground tunnels. Most of the loading must have been completed because he saw some of the ramps moving away from the ship and hatches were silently closing.
He looked at the ground level ramp. Their flitter had parked right at the edge of the ramp. They would’ve blocked any traffic, but it seemed most of the cargo transfer was taking place below ground. The flitter passenger walked across the ramp.
There was a man lounging by the open hatch. Tasso was amazed at the man’s outfit. He was wearing a hat, a big hat. The wide brim would protect a man from sun and rain. Why a spaceman would need to wear a hat was a mystery to Tasso. The man also wore boots. They weren’t work boots like Tasso’s hand sewn jack-o’-lantern hide boots or the city style soft boots worn by Tasso’s escorts. This man’s boots had high heels and pointed toes, both capped with shiny metal overlays, ornate swirls in colorful patterns covered the boot tops, and his jeans were tucked into the boot uppers. His ornate silver belt buckle was as huge as Tasso’s fist and his shirt was a work of art, with a line of horses stitched across the shoulders and around the chest.
Music flowed from the ship’s open hatch. Tasso couldn’t see anything beyond the hatch because the bright afternoon sun made the inside dark. The flitter passenger waved Tasso to join him at the hatch.
Tasso saw the ship’s name, Escorpión Rojo , stenciled on the side of the ship near the hatch. The man in the big hat grinned at Tasso as he tried to make out the words.
“Escorpión Rojo,” the man said. “It is Spanish for the Red Scorpion. She’s a beautiful ship, is she not?” The man was darker skinned than Tasso was used to seeing. He had dark hair that was long, black, and thick. However, he had a big friendly grin with white teeth.
“Yes sir. It is impressive,” Tasso agreed. “I haven’t seen any other spaceships to compare it with, but it’s impressive.”
The man nodded, “First of all, the Escorpión Rojo is a ‘she’. She is not an ‘it’.”
“Sorry. May I touch her?”
“Sure. Why?”
Tasso said, “I read in the repair manual that our shuttle was made of unpolished stainless steel, unlike spacecraft that are made with a ceramic titanium mix.”
“Yep,” the man replied. “It
Tasso grinned, “Really? Gee whiz, thanks!”
The passenger sneered, “ ‘Gee whiz’? Really? Who the frak talks like that!”
Tasso grinned wider, “Grandpa always says cusswords are the sign of a weak mind and a limited vocabulary. Or was it a limited mind and a weak vocabulary?”
The driver laughed and pointed at the other passenger, “He’s got you pegged, don’t he?”
The passenger frowned, “You calling me stupid, boy? Frakking son of a—”
Tasso quit listening. He stared out the window at the spaceship. It looked much bigger than it originally appeared to be when he’d first seen it. It towered over the terminal building. He could now see most of the craft was sitting in a hole and he wondered how far down it went. There was a short fence surrounding the hole and a huge ramp leading to the spaceship. The ramp was big enough for a tractor-trailer to drive into the ship with room to spare.
The flitter pulled up close to the ramp and eased to a stop. The driver shut the engine down, its sound going from a quiet whuff to a whimper as they settled to the ground.
“Can I get out and look around?” Tasso asked.
“Get out? Oh golly gee whiz, I should hope so, yeah,” the passenger said with an edge of sarcasm. “We didn’t come all this way to sit and look at the frakking thing.”
Tasso jumped out, rushed to the fence, and looked down the hole. The ship went down a long way. Ramps coming from and going into the ship were flooded with light as tractor-trailers floated across the ramps on heavy-duty anti-gravity drives. A stream of cargo was loading and a stream of cargo was moving off the ship and into underground tunnels. Most of the loading must have been completed because he saw some of the ramps moving away from the ship and hatches were silently closing.
He looked at the ground level ramp. Their flitter had parked right at the edge of the ramp. They would’ve blocked any traffic, but it seemed most of the cargo transfer was taking place below ground. The flitter passenger walked across the ramp.
There was a man lounging by the open hatch. Tasso was amazed at the man’s outfit. He was wearing a hat, a big hat. The wide brim would protect a man from sun and rain. Why a spaceman would need to wear a hat was a mystery to Tasso. The man also wore boots. They weren’t work boots like Tasso’s hand sewn jack-o’-lantern hide boots or the city style soft boots worn by Tasso’s escorts. This man’s boots had high heels and pointed toes, both capped with shiny metal overlays, ornate swirls in colorful patterns covered the boot tops, and his jeans were tucked into the boot uppers. His ornate silver belt buckle was as huge as Tasso’s fist and his shirt was a work of art, with a line of horses stitched across the shoulders and around the chest.
Music flowed from the ship’s open hatch. Tasso couldn’t see anything beyond the hatch because the bright afternoon sun made the inside dark. The flitter passenger waved Tasso to join him at the hatch.
Tasso saw the ship’s name, Escorpión Rojo , stenciled on the side of the ship near the hatch. The man in the big hat grinned at Tasso as he tried to make out the words.
“Escorpión Rojo,” the man said. “It is Spanish for the Red Scorpion. She’s a beautiful ship, is she not?” The man was darker skinned than Tasso was used to seeing. He had dark hair that was long, black, and thick. However, he had a big friendly grin with white teeth.
“Yes sir. It is impressive,” Tasso agreed. “I haven’t seen any other spaceships to compare it with, but it’s impressive.”
The man nodded, “First of all, the Escorpión Rojo is a ‘she’. She is not an ‘it’.”
“Sorry. May I touch her?”
“Sure. Why?”
Tasso said, “I read in the repair manual that our shuttle was made of unpolished stainless steel, unlike spacecraft that are made with a ceramic titanium mix.”
“Yep,” the man replied. “It
Similar Books
