"Are you out of your mind?" Captain Paris asked in horror of the dock mechanic's repair quote.
"Sir, you must understand!" The mechanic said." This refit is long overdue. This ship's an accident waiting to happen!"
"That can't be right! I just had her looked at Taza station!"
"How long ago was that?"
"I don't know! A month?"
The mechanic signed looking over his dirty clip board. He wiped a rag across his forehead and stuffed it between his coat and his sash.
"In 10 years I've never seen a ship so poorly maintained." He sighed. "It's really a wonder you made it down in one piece."
"Look, I haven't got the time or the money to refit the whole damn ship!" The Captain said.
"You've got eight grav generators on the hull. Four of them don't work. Do you know what happens when your gravity generators can't keep your ship in the air?"
"The drag chutes seem to get us down well enough." The Captain said.
"They're not designed for that. I can fix these in just a couple of hours, but with the recession and all, I really can't go any lower." said the mechanic.
Captain Paris looked over the document. It was a fair enough price for the work being done. It just wasn't money he wanted to part with right at that moment. With little other choice, he sighed and approved the work order. The mechanic took the form and got right down to work, leaving Captain Paris alone on the pad.
As the sun reached it's highest point in the sky, Charlie and a short bearded man approached the ship from the city.
"How does she look, Captain?" Charlie asked as he approached Paris.
"A lot better in a few hours." He replied. "I'd be a lot happier if the bastard wasn't so stubborn with his prices.
"We're probably his first customer in weeks." Charlie said. "It's not exactly prime real estate."
"Still, with the last job folded up, we've got to find some way of making money." Said the Captain.
"Well, I might have someone who can help with that." Charlie replied pointing to the bearded man.
"You must be the Captain." The man said extending his hand. He was a gruff looking fellow with rusty red hair and a patchwork uniform made from more colors than the Captain had seen on Sonas.
"That's right." The Captain said, shaking the man's dirty hand. "Captain Sullivan Paris of the good ship Celeris."
"I'm James Ivan." The man said with a smile.
"Mr.Ivan runs the salvage yards." Charlie said. "He's looking for a charter to run his operation out of."
"That's right sir!" Mr.Ivan said cheerfully.
"Celeris is a deep space transport." The Captain said. "We don't do much orbital work"
"I Just need a good ship to get me and my equipment in the air."Mr.Ivan said. "There's work to be found wherever you go! Well, anywhere but here actually."
The Captain looked at Charlie.
"His paperwork is good." He said.
The Captain turned again to Mr.Ivan. He didn't look like much to Paris, but cash flow was slow and a nice cut of the salvage could pay for the ship repairs.
"Alright Mr. Ivan." The Captain said. "Bunk is fifteen hundred credits a day. You can store whatever you need in cargo two."
"Don't you worry Captain, this equipment will pay for itself in no time!"
YOU ARE READING
Rebel Star - The Scarlet Insurgent
Science Fiction"They say the war ended twelve years ago with the destruction of the Earth. But we, the chosen, will rise from the ashes and we will not stop. We will never stop, not until the Corporation and its children are brought to dust. Those who have fallen...
