Quarter Share (Solar Clipper Trader Tales) by Lowell Nathan

Author:Lowell, Nathan [Lowell, Nathan]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Ridan Publishing
Published: 2010-05-02T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 16

Gugara Orbital

2351-December-09

I finally got ashore on Gugara Orbital. After Pip’s experience on Darbat, the more experienced crew adopted us. The problem was that he and I couldn’t leave the ship at the same time. We were the only two mess crew so we were, by definition, in alternating watch sections. One of us had to remain aboard at all times. It seemed a bit silly to me. We never did anything after the evening meal clean up, but those were the rules. The upside was that I got to know some of the other crew members better.

Pip and I flipped a coin for first night liberty, and I suspect that he threw the call so I could go. I think he felt guilty because I’d missed Darbat entirely when he got mugged on the first night.

“You go and have a good time. I’ll poke about the station net from here and see if I can find a deal we can go in on, okay?”

“But where’s good? You know Gugara. Gimme some recommendations.”

We sat on the mess deck and before I knew it, people surrounded us, all talking at once with advice on where to go.

Brill Smith took me by the arm and drew me out of the throng. “They’re all crazy. Half of them will be broke by the time we leave. What do you want to do?”

“I have no idea. This is the first time that I’ve been off Neris since I was a toddler. I don’t remember much about being out of the system. Come to think of it, it’s been almost ninety days since I’ve been off the ship. Can that be right?” I started counting on my fingers. “I came aboard three days before we left Neris, and we were forty-five standays to Darbat. Then four more there, and forty-four to here.” I blinked in surprise.

“Oh, for crying out loud, Ishmael. And you’re still sane?”

I grinned. “Well, that’s open to debate, but I am shocked. It seems like yesterday, sorta. I can’t really remember a time when I wasn’t here, other than some fuzzy kind of idea that I used to live somewhere else.”

“Wait ’til you’ve been doing this for ten stanyers. You really won’t remember. You didn’t get to go ashore at Darbat, did you?”

I shook my head. “I was just changing into my civvies when the Darbatis brought Pip back.”

“What were you going to do there?”

I blushed and answered, “Eat.”

“Seriously? You work in the galley and you wanted to get off the ship to eat?”

“Cookie is amazing. He’s an artist in the kitchen.” I shrugged. “But once in a while, I’d like to eat somebody else’s cooking.”

“Tell you what. In honor of your earning your engineering-half rating, let me take you out to dinner. A few of us were planning on going to a nice place we know up on level six. They have great steaks and good beer. You can get out and stretch your legs a bit. My treat for dinner. You’re on your own after that.

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