The Money Star by Lymon Jon

Author:Lymon, Jon [Lymon, Jon]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Published: 2012-02-23T04:30:00+00:00

30

They cruised past dark frames of unfinished skyscrapers, and cranes frozen like extinct dinosaurs, their long, skeletal necks peering down at a surface devoid of life. Either side of the periodically tarmacced road a few neons flickered. A Starbucks. A Hilton. A Shell. But outnumbering the established Earth brands were those for fuel companies that hadn’t yet made a name for themselves on the mother planet. Garish combinations of flickering coloured light bulbs decorated the entrances to these independent fuel stations that each offered the same fuel at the same price, the only differentiator being the extras that came with purchase. Free freeze-dried food here. Free engine ‘once-over’ there. Free ship wash. Free map of the solar system. One station even claimed no purchase was necessary to claim a free gift with purchase.

All the stations the Baton Uric cruised past sold liquid hydrogen ready-mixed with liquid oxygen for rocket propelled ships.

“Are you sure it’s just liquid hydrogen we need and not oxygen as well?” Bettis asked.

“That’s what we filled up with back home, that’s what we need to fill up with here,” said DT.

“No one seems to stock it on its own,” said Bettis scanning the neons.

They drove past huge warehouses stacked to their corrugated iron roofs with the same dehydrated meals they had brought with them from Earth. After passing two warehouses because Bettis couldn’t make up his mind which one he liked the look of best, they pulled in at a third and selected more freeze-dried spagbols, chilli con carnes, jam sponges and apple crumbles.

“Do you do anything else?” DT asked, hoping to introduce a little variety into his diet. The sales assistant pulled a face which suggested it was a question he’d been asked many times before. “You can have whatever you like, as long as it’s on our shelves,” he said.

Once DT had paid and the sales assistant had loaded the boxes into the bare cupboards in the galley, and waited for a tip which never materialised, the Baton Uric continued its cruise down the main street in search of a fuel station that sold pure liquid hydrogen.

“There’s one.” Remnant pointed to a flickering neon announcing RDM Fuels, Purveyors of Pure Liquid Hydrogen for Advanced Nuclear Powered Ships. For the crew, the vision was the equivalent of seeing a water fountain in the desert. The station’s forecourt was dominated by a huge fuel tanker that was once silver but now riddled with red dust and rust marks which suggested it had taken up permanent residence, delivering fuel straight out of its long, oval tank, negating the need for underground storage.

A middle-aged woman watched them turn in and she approached the ship, her stride way more confident than it should have been. It was a walk that immediately reminded Remnant of Elena. He slid open a side window in the cockpit and peered down at her.

“I guess you boys have come looking for a good time, huh?” she called up, smiling at Remnant who was instantly smitten by her good looks and American twang.

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