makes her slick so she cuts through atmosphere like bare toes through a fresh cow patty. She just squishes right through. Of course, that isn’t the technical description, but you should get the picture.”
Tasso didn’t really get the picture, not knowing for sure what a cow patty was. Nevertheless, he ran his fingers over the exterior of the ship. It did feel slick, as if nothing would stick to it.
The man said, “When we lift off, the engineers run a charge through the hull so it actually even repels space dust.”
Tasso looked at his fingers. The ship felt slimy, but it didn’t leave a residue on his hands. “Thank you.”
“ No hay problema, mi joven amigo .”
Tasso looked confused. “Sorry? I don’t understand.”
“I said, ‘no problem, my young friend.’ Don’t worry, you will pick up the lingo quick enough while you’re working here.”
“Working here? No. I just stopped by to see a spaceship.” He turned around to look for his escorts. Both men were gone and the flitter was nowhere to be seen. Tasso’s bag sat on the ground at the far end of the entrance ramp.
“That’s not what your man said. You might as well grab your bag and we’ll get you settled in before take off.”
Tasso backed up a couple of steps. “No. There’s some kind of mistake.”
“Relax, amigo ,” the man said. “I’m on hatch duty and all I know from the notes on my duty log is that we have a Saronno court order to take you aboard for a training cruise. I don’t know squat about Saronno laws. This is a Texican ship and we won’t force you to do anything you don’t want to do.”
Tasso was ready to turn and run until he realized he didn’t know which way to go.
“ Calma, amigo ,” the man said, holding his hands up, palms outward. “Relax, my friend. Let me get the head wrangler down here to straighten things out. Bien ? Okay?”
Tasso said, “Okay. Can I call my uncle?”
The man said, “Sure. Do you need a holo-vision set or something?”
Tasso pulled his dataport off his chest. He waved it at the man in response. Tasso selected his uncle’s code from the list and the dataport placed the call. There was no response and the call went straight to the message center. Tasso dialed again, using an emergency code. The call went straight to the message center again.
Tasso turned back to the man. There was a short, dark haired woman standing next to him. She was dressed the same way, except her boots and hat were a matching bright red. The woman looked down at the man’s boots. “New? What happened to the pair with your granddaughter’s rendering of a spaceship sown into the uppers?”
He looked sheepish and nodded. “I lost one of them out an airlock a while back, and as strange as it seems, the captain wouldn’t go back and let me pick it up.”
“How could you lose a boot out of an airlock?”
He smiled, looking more embarrassed than ever, “It’s a long story involving a deep pile of manure, a six pack of beer, and a bet that I could clean them quicker in a vacuum than with a wet rag.”
The woman shook her head sadly. “Is there any wonder you keep getting stuck on dooty duty?” She slapped the holographic display floating in mid-air near the man’s dataport so it turned to face her. After a quick read, she said, “It looks right to me.”
The man shrugged. “Maria, I don’t think he wants to go.”
“Huh!” Maria snorted. “He must be as smart as he looks. There’re times I don’t want to go on another drive. I’d like to stay home and put my feet up, but we don’t always get what we want, do we?”
The man laughed. “Si, amiga, some of us are so far down the organizational chart that what we want is so far off we couldn’t see it on a clear day with a scope.”
She looked at Tasso. “Stefan is right, Señor Menzies. We won’t force you to do anything you don’t want to do. Look at this dataport, por favor ... if you please. This is you, is it not?”
“Yes,
Tasso didn’t really get the picture, not knowing for sure what a cow patty was. Nevertheless, he ran his fingers over the exterior of the ship. It did feel slick, as if nothing would stick to it.
The man said, “When we lift off, the engineers run a charge through the hull so it actually even repels space dust.”
Tasso looked at his fingers. The ship felt slimy, but it didn’t leave a residue on his hands. “Thank you.”
“ No hay problema, mi joven amigo .”
Tasso looked confused. “Sorry? I don’t understand.”
“I said, ‘no problem, my young friend.’ Don’t worry, you will pick up the lingo quick enough while you’re working here.”
“Working here? No. I just stopped by to see a spaceship.” He turned around to look for his escorts. Both men were gone and the flitter was nowhere to be seen. Tasso’s bag sat on the ground at the far end of the entrance ramp.
“That’s not what your man said. You might as well grab your bag and we’ll get you settled in before take off.”
Tasso backed up a couple of steps. “No. There’s some kind of mistake.”
“Relax, amigo ,” the man said. “I’m on hatch duty and all I know from the notes on my duty log is that we have a Saronno court order to take you aboard for a training cruise. I don’t know squat about Saronno laws. This is a Texican ship and we won’t force you to do anything you don’t want to do.”
Tasso was ready to turn and run until he realized he didn’t know which way to go.
“ Calma, amigo ,” the man said, holding his hands up, palms outward. “Relax, my friend. Let me get the head wrangler down here to straighten things out. Bien ? Okay?”
Tasso said, “Okay. Can I call my uncle?”
The man said, “Sure. Do you need a holo-vision set or something?”
Tasso pulled his dataport off his chest. He waved it at the man in response. Tasso selected his uncle’s code from the list and the dataport placed the call. There was no response and the call went straight to the message center. Tasso dialed again, using an emergency code. The call went straight to the message center again.
Tasso turned back to the man. There was a short, dark haired woman standing next to him. She was dressed the same way, except her boots and hat were a matching bright red. The woman looked down at the man’s boots. “New? What happened to the pair with your granddaughter’s rendering of a spaceship sown into the uppers?”
He looked sheepish and nodded. “I lost one of them out an airlock a while back, and as strange as it seems, the captain wouldn’t go back and let me pick it up.”
“How could you lose a boot out of an airlock?”
He smiled, looking more embarrassed than ever, “It’s a long story involving a deep pile of manure, a six pack of beer, and a bet that I could clean them quicker in a vacuum than with a wet rag.”
The woman shook her head sadly. “Is there any wonder you keep getting stuck on dooty duty?” She slapped the holographic display floating in mid-air near the man’s dataport so it turned to face her. After a quick read, she said, “It looks right to me.”
The man shrugged. “Maria, I don’t think he wants to go.”
“Huh!” Maria snorted. “He must be as smart as he looks. There’re times I don’t want to go on another drive. I’d like to stay home and put my feet up, but we don’t always get what we want, do we?”
The man laughed. “Si, amiga, some of us are so far down the organizational chart that what we want is so far off we couldn’t see it on a clear day with a scope.”
She looked at Tasso. “Stefan is right, Señor Menzies. We won’t force you to do anything you don’t want to do. Look at this dataport, por favor ... if you please. This is you, is it not?”
“Yes,
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