"Argh!"Gee cursed and snatched his arm back from the edge of the portal, thankfully not spilling his coffee with the sudden action. He turned his arm slightly to look at the jagged pink scar running down his forearm that was the last surviving remnant of his old partner, Jug -- unless there were still some micro-bits of him floating around from when Gee'd sent him out the airlock, that was.
"Stupid git," Gee muttered whenever he was reminded of waking up to see Jug slashing at him with one of the kitchen knives. All because Jug wanted to take over the operation himself.
Gee shook his head and gazed back out at the stars. It still left a bitter taste in his mouth. Three years they'd had a perfect partnership, then a midnight attack Jug knew he'd botched as soon as Gee opened his eyes. He'd only taken Jug on because they were in the same Centurion unit, which just went to show you couldn't trust even the ones who were supposedly sworn to have your back. Not like his dad who'd worked with his partner for nigh-on forty years.
He took a sip of his coffee, testing the brew by rolling it around in his mouth for a moment, then swallowing and waiting for the aftertaste to hit. These beans were from the newest trees he'd spliced and had turned out the best brew yet. He could charge a mint for them in the right market...like the court on Vahid.
He looked into the inky liquid, seeing his own griseled face reflected there. He'd avoided Vahid for seven years now. Plenty of time for her to have moved on, more like time for her father to have married her off to some aristocrat. She would have hated the life of a space scavenger/farmer that he led. Heck, sometimes he hated it, and he'd only been planetside for a sum total of six years in all his life. Three of those on Vahid. Where he'd met her.
He shook his head again and pushed off the portal. Enough daydreaming. It never got him anywhere. He had trees to tend, grubs to process, and that new ship he'd scavenged to strip down before he hit the market.
He walked towards the bridge, seeing the multihued lights of Vahid whenever he looked out a portal instead of stars. If he corrected his ship's course now, he could be there in a couple of weeks. He didn't even need to worry about seeing her, he reassured himself. It was doubtful she went to the market anymore.
The clarion alarm sounded through the ship. Gee grimaced and downed his coffee. "Why are there so many damn pirates these days?" he muttered, then took off running for the bridge.
YOU ARE READING
SmackDown: Back to Our Roots
Science FictionOur previous two SmackDowns were both massive successes, and it's high time for another. You might remember the last one was heavy on the "game" elements, maybe even too heavy. This time we're going back to the basics and keeping it simple. It's jus...
