And celebrate we did. The mercs conjured a keg of blackmarket synth-whiskey and Ronna laid out a feast. Sam, Tom, Elias and Rex treated us to the dubious poetry of miner songs. After my third refill from the keg, I joined in. My pitch was slightly off, which I made up for in volume.
Heavy metals, did I pay on the next day. I’ve had worse hangovers when I was studying at Uni, but back then I was young and reckless.
Sam snickered when he saw me. I glared at him over my instant coffee.
“Ignore him. The ugly bastard finally got laid.” Tom, senior miner on the job, walked in.
“Jealous?”
“I’ve got five kids, man. Number six is on the way.” He winked at me as he poured himself a cup of coffee from the liquid dispenser unit on the table.
“Tough woman, your wife.” I commented. The purifier tablet I’d taken was beginning to do its work, cleaning my body and clearing my head.
“Tough man, your husband,” he gave back. “Or just stupid. Why does he let such a beauty out of his sight?”
“Why, thank you. He’s a lawyer, not a miner.” I shrugged, smiling at the flattery. That’s what I like about miners. You don’t have to dress up or even wash to be complimented.
“Morning.” Ronna yawned, stretching as she walked over to the table. I turned to her as she sat down beside Zac.
“Morning, Ronna. Can you send these off for me when you check for parcels? And please get me some painkillers for my teeth.” I passed her a message stick.
“No probs, Doc. It’s good to get out of this dungeon for a while. Sucks that there is no dentmedic at the station.” She smiled at me and pocketed the stick.
“Thanks. It’ll have to wait until we get back to civilisation.”
After breakfast, Ronna, Tom and one of the mercs left for their two day trip to stock up on food, consumables and news. At the end of my shift that day, I had a pretty good idea of the size and location of the ore bed. I copied the data to my own pad. Call me paranoid, but the system failure on Beta Tern XI had nearly ended my career a decade ago. Better safe than sorry.
However, if I could trust my nose, I would soon be very sorry. With Ronna away, there was no telling what the miners had tried to do to our dinner. It did not smell edible. That was my last thought before my head hit the desk and I blacked out.
Heavy metals, did I pay on the next day. I’ve had worse hangovers when I was studying at Uni, but back then I was young and reckless.
Sam snickered when he saw me. I glared at him over my instant coffee.
“Ignore him. The ugly bastard finally got laid.” Tom, senior miner on the job, walked in.
“Jealous?”
“I’ve got five kids, man. Number six is on the way.” He winked at me as he poured himself a cup of coffee from the liquid dispenser unit on the table.
“Tough woman, your wife.” I commented. The purifier tablet I’d taken was beginning to do its work, cleaning my body and clearing my head.
“Tough man, your husband,” he gave back. “Or just stupid. Why does he let such a beauty out of his sight?”
“Why, thank you. He’s a lawyer, not a miner.” I shrugged, smiling at the flattery. That’s what I like about miners. You don’t have to dress up or even wash to be complimented.
“Morning.” Ronna yawned, stretching as she walked over to the table. I turned to her as she sat down beside Zac.
“Morning, Ronna. Can you send these off for me when you check for parcels? And please get me some painkillers for my teeth.” I passed her a message stick.
“No probs, Doc. It’s good to get out of this dungeon for a while. Sucks that there is no dentmedic at the station.” She smiled at me and pocketed the stick.
“Thanks. It’ll have to wait until we get back to civilisation.”
After breakfast, Ronna, Tom and one of the mercs left for their two day trip to stock up on food, consumables and news. At the end of my shift that day, I had a pretty good idea of the size and location of the ore bed. I copied the data to my own pad. Call me paranoid, but the system failure on Beta Tern XI had nearly ended my career a decade ago. Better safe than sorry.
However, if I could trust my nose, I would soon be very sorry. With Ronna away, there was no telling what the miners had tried to do to our dinner. It did not smell edible. That was my last thought before my head hit the desk and I blacked out.
This work by Kat is licensed under a Creative Commons Namensnennung-NichtKommerziell-KeineBearbeitung 3.0 Unported License
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