OGENUS EARTH 🌎 🌊 {Dystopian Sci-Fi Adventure}

Stranger

"So, are you going to call Mrs. Marrow with some sort of emergency that needs her immediate attention?" Big Joe called out.

"The emergency being the swell in my pants?" Harrison called back from where he was clipping his scruffy facial hair. Their bathroom was cramped and to do this, he had to balance very carefully over the toilet. "I think I can find something better tonight that'll scratch my itch."

Having paid off their debts, they were free to live like kings for the night. Both men were starting to prepare for a revelatory evening in the company of loose women who liked good stories and mediocre booze.

"Indeed you can." Big Joe agreed, the laughter rumbling in his belly at the controls of the ship. "Oh, scheisse!"

"What?" Harrison called out, annoyed that Big Joe hadn't followed up his explicative with some sort of explanation.

"Looks like we've got company," Big Joe bellowed from his perch at the console.

"Who?" Harrison barked back, a groan ready on his lips.

"How do I know?" His cohort laughed back. Harrison disliked when he got smart about the painfully obvious.

"How many?" The derision in Harrison's voice snapped with the heels of his brisk stride.

"Four," Big Joe answered, impervious to Harrison's less-than-cheery attitude, "and a bot."

"Four?"

"What do you think they want?" Big Joe asked, leaning forward and squinting at the screen as if to absorb their intentions via osmosis.

"I don't know," Harrison answered, "but whatever it is, I don't want to know."

"Three females." Big Joe's cheeks puffed with shock as he continued to study the approaching figures.

Harrison threw a cursory glance out the window. "Two females. One of them could go either way."

A hearty roar shook in Big Joe's chest and shoulders. They didn't encounter many women in their line of work, and Harrison rarely gave a passing look to any female of rotund proportions.

The gaggle of individuals could not be more confusing, ranging the spectrum in age, gender, and walk of life. 

There was an unspoken discord hanging over their heads, not discernible to the naked eye, yet obvious to Harrison. They may have come together for a common reason, but they were far from being a team.

His keen stare hung momentarily on one of the women, something about her gave Harrison pause. 

The way she moved spoke volumes about her status, which was intriguing. She tossed a subtle look at the other young female and he understood the fissure immediately, these two did not like one another.

Typical hens, he thought, covertly posturing to set the pecking order for the rooster in the yard.

The statuesque brunette snapped her long fingers in a brusque motion at the Black Marlin, which made Harrison bristle. He gave the orders, and rarely obeyed any sort of imposed authority, as rules never seemed copasetic to his own code of conduct. However, this bird could turn out to be a handful he enjoyed, so he reasoned it might be worth his time to hear her out.

"Open the hatch," Harrison called to Big Joe.

"How many times is a pair of pretty eyes going to get us into hot water?" Big Joe reminded Harrison, muttering the comment to himself.

"Almost always." Harrison cracked his infernally charming grin, waiting for the heavy metal door to disengage and the slatted platform to touch down on the landing gate.