(GQ #8) Mingling on the Moon

3. Getting Served in the Cafeteria

Aiden's impatience rewarded him with a lunch in the cafeteria. He ate it proudly, knowing that the other chumps were probably just getting in. The bearded ranger finished his meal and got rid of his tray. All that was left to do now was chill out and make sure he didn't get caught by the captain or his cronies.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Leon and that redheaded girl, Mia. She saw him too, but turned her head away, probably to tell the doofus with her that she spotted him.

This seemed like a good time to change location.

"Kelly? Kelly, is that you?" The voice calling after him might as well have been nails on a chalkboard.

Aiden reluctantly looked behind to see two star rangers walk up to him, but it wasn't Mia nor Leon. Instead, it was some blonde chick and a downbeat-looking dude.

"Yo, AK! It's us! Remember?" asked the girl he didn't know.

"No." Aiden answered and walked away.

"C'mooon! You gotta remember your posse!"

"We wouldn't be Triple Trouble without you!" her friend whined.

Getting passed between so many ships, Aiden couldn't keep track of everyone he met, but now that they mentioned it, he vaguely remembered some obnoxious dweebs calling themselves Triple Trouble, along with him. He also remembered wanting nothing to do with it. A bad reputation never bothered Aiden, but he'd rather earn it on his own than through association.

He tried to walk away again, but somebody must've felt like testing their luck by grabbing his arm.

Naturally, Aiden flung it off. "Don't touch me."

"That's our man, alright! I couldn't miss that ugly mug anywhere!" Blondie had no sense of self-preservation, apparently. Aiden didn't feel like wasting his breath to explain he wasn't a man. She could barely understand the word 'no,' let alone 'nonbinary.'

Her friend, on the other hand, hovered behind her. "If I didn't know any better, I'd think you'd forgotten us."

"I wish I had."

"Told'ja he couldn't forget about Bella-Bellatrix and her old pal Gordy Golden!" She elbowed her sidekick. "Aidennn, you should hang out with us! Catch up on things, you know?"

Aiden scanned the room for his crewmates. Mia was leading Leon towards some other area of the cafeteria. This would be a perfect time to leave, but the dipstick duo currently tagging along would expose him in an instant.

"Yeah." He agreed against his will. "Let's catch up."

They dragged him over to a table nearby, where some other people sat eating their lunches. Good. If he can get more people to join the conversation, they might all distract each other. It'll give him an opening to get out of there.

He started with an obvious question. "Is there a meeting or somethin' goin' on?"

"Yeah! Those new units came in today, the Celestion units." The disgust with which Bella said 'Celestion' was palpable. "There's already two other ships docked in today, including ours, and now we have to deal with a buncha flabby freeloaders hoggin' up all the food! It's nuts!"

"Plus, they're just annoying." Gordy sulked. "At least the rangers are. Us higher ranks already get a free pass to be lazy, but I can't stand how I had to bust my butt doing busy work as a ranger while those Celestion creeps get to do whatever they want." Judging by the pin on his uniform, he'd somehow been promoted to corporal.

Aiden wasn't too bothered by what they had to say. It was true that rangers were usually expected to do menial labor and physical training, and anyone who ended up on one of the Celestion ships lucked out of having to.