Episode 115. Part 3
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Rick elects to stay aboard our ship, to guard her and answer the call if we need back-up at the bar. The rest of us go, including Arden. He states he’s not going into the bar, but waiting outside to watch our backs and our escape route. Mike shows up packing a side arm. He’s coming with us, too.
Arden is around the corner of the building, less visible, but not a wit less vigilant. The rest pass inside. Everyone has their ear comms in place and their channels selected. Talking on the sly can ensue. We stand a moment on the threshold, blinking in the light of the barroom floor after the long walk in the dark.
Our vision clears and we find, with some relief, the girls are fine. They’re working the floor as bar maids, taking drink orders and cleaning off the tables. Miss Tolson is doing the work a touch awkwardly, but you do get the sense she’s hosted parties before…just not this rustic. Emma, however, is tackling the job with ease.
Muleskinner is still holding court at his table and there are two more denizens from town who are new to us. A man is playing reasonably well on the out-of-tune piano and a woman a little past her prime, gussied up in gaudy saloon gear, is singing along. Like the piano, Lucretia Wu is a touch out of tune but like the pianist, she’s a good enough artist to make the best of what she’s got.
Good googley, looks like the entire town’s turned out tonight.
The four freighter cowboys are at a table of their own, just sitting and drinking, sharing a bottle….and possibly waiting for something to happen. When we walk in, their hands drop to their hips.
Sheriff Messner is on duty behind the bar and he’s looking a bit like: What’s going to happen? What do I wanna let happen? He looks, in short, nervous.
Christian goes up to the pianist and asks if he might have a turn. The other man gives up the seat and Christian puts his fingers to the keys and plays. He plays music that is lively and that has no lyrics, giving the singer a break. He plays the piano fairly well, despite the instrument’s need for a tuning, and under the cover of the music he asks the singer for a low-down on the situation.
Arden: (whispering on the comms) Just say goodbye and let’s get out of here.
Nika goes straight to the bar to talk to the Sheriff. Rina follows and Mike takes up an unobtrusive position at the bar.
Nika: I just wanted to thank you for your hospitality. We’re gonna go and head out tonight.
Messner: You mind stickin’ around for a little bit. These…people mean some trouble. I could use the extra hand…
He makes a subtle gesture at the four cowboys at the table in the corner.
Nika: Not a problem Sheriff. (into her comm’s pick-up) Didja hear that?
Since Rina had her hand comm on and clipped to her coveralls, and was next to Nika throughout the entire conversation with the Sheriff, everyone heard it. We get a chorus of double-clicks from everybody on our team. Nika looks at Rina and then at the door. Grokking it, Rina goes outside. She comms Arden.
Rina: (quietly) Arden, there’s trouble. The Sheriff’s asked us to stay. Nika’s said yes. Tell Rick on the ship.
Arden: I’ll be going in in a few minutes, but I’m not going to sit with you all.
Rina: Fine.
Rina checks her gun under her coveralls and settles in to guard the door and wait. She leans on the front rail on the porch, wishing she smoked, since a cigarette would make a perfect excuse for her to linger outside.
Back at the ship, Rick opens up the door on the upper decks cargo container best able to give him a view of the approach from town and the other ship. He sits and he wonders just what the hell sorta gang he’s fallen in with. He asks his two pigmy alligators, Evil Tick and Smudge, what they think of this oddball crew. They don’t answer, being more concerned with crawling around in the container.
Rick: Yeah. I think they’re all crazy, too.
Rick gets the call from Arden and makes up his mind: he closes up the cargo doors, takes his rifle and leaves the ship. It’s pitch black out there, since there aren’t much in the way of streetlights, and he comms Arden that he’s on his way in.
Arden: Do you want me to wait for you?
Rick: No, I’m gonna make it look like I don’t know you.
Five minutes later, Arden moves inside the bar. He passes Rina on the porch and they act as if they don’t know each other. Arden finds Muleskinner’s table and sits down with the man. They start talking about he lost his legs in the war. Muleskinner was in the Alliance Cavalry and got hit by an ambush…and so on.
Christian is still talking to Lucretia. A lot of visitors we have here tonight, he says. Two ships, she answers. Looks like we got their whole crews. Plus the two nice young ladies.
Lucretia Wu: Something…(thinks better of it) Ah…well, it’s just good to see people. It’s good to see people in town again. It’s been a long time since we’ve had two ships! We’ll see what happens. Maybe things are lookin’ up for this little city.
At the bar, Nika takes a seat and discreetly waves the bartender over.
Nika: Gimme a beer and tell me what you know about those guys…?
Messner: (handing her the beer) Just a hunch.
Nika: Great.
Inside, everyone seems to be getting along just fine. Outside, Rick arrives and finds Rina on the porch being twitchy. He passes inside and looks around for an empty table or at least a clear spot amongst them to sit down. He finds a chair near the cowboys’ table to keep an eye on them. The cowboys seem surprised that it’s so crowded tonight and so they look nervous. Rick leans over and comments that this place sure is jumping. One of the cowboys asks if Rick is from around here and Rick answers no.
Rick: But it’s a pretty nice place. I’m surprised that so many people left, what with all the interesting plants. Have you seen the kinds of orchids they’re growing?
The cowboys think his comment on the interesting plants is mighty funny. It is, actually, considering the main cash crop here is cannabis. They ask Rick if he’s from the other ship. Yeah, Rick arranged for some transport. He’s in the business of growing plants of the medical and ornate variety, and he’s looking to sell some plants. The cowboy opines that this is a strange place to choose, saying that Jibril or Micah would be better venues since they are bigger cities.
Cowboy: So who all’s the captain of that ship? (extends hand) I’m Bean, by the way.
Rick: (shaking hands) I’m Rick.
Bean: You look kinda familiar.
Rick: You know, I get that a lot. It’s pretty funny. I have a common face, I guess.
Bean: Yeah. Maybe that’s it.
Rick notices the cowboys checking their watches throughout the conversation and rises, asking if they want anything to drink from the bar. They point wordlessly to their bottle: no, we’re good. Rick excuses himself and goes to the bar for a cup of nasty. The Sheriff asks what’s going on. Rick tells him they seem to be waiting for someone. That much is obvious.
So we wait.
A little while later we hear Rina murmur over the comms:
Rina: Our potdealer is back. He’s coming this way.
Thus forewarned, we continue what we’re doing. Christian plays the piano, Nika sips her beer, Arden chats with Muleskinner, Rick drinks his cup of nasty at his end of the bar and Mike watches from his end. So it’s no surprise when another gentleman walks in and we recognize him as Aaron Marquess, the man who arranged our cannabis cargo for the pothead, Chong, in New Lyon on Beaumonde. What’s he doing here?
He sees us at the bar and pretends not to recognize us, but we can tell he’s a little taken aback. He buys a round for the cowboys at the table and then sidles up to the piano where Christian is playing something cheerful and bouncy.
Marquess: Christian Edge, right?
Christian: (doesn’t miss a beat) That would be me.
Marquess: I never forget a face. Not a face such as yours. It’s quite a sight in a town like this.
Christian: (smiles) You flatter me.
Marquess: Well, when I can get away with it. Can you give up your keyboard for a minute?
Christian: Absolutely.
Christian stands up and shoulders his rifle, thanks the singer and the pianist, and goes with the dealer to the balcony. Summer is on the balcony and sitting in the lotus position. Christian nods at her and continues on. He and the dealer lean on the rail and look out over the crater.
Marquess: Confucius says every obstacle is also an opportunity.
Christian: Indeed, he does.
Marquess: I find myself in the somewhat embarrassing situation of having hired a bunch of goons to beat your crew up. However, I am perfectly happy to change that deal—
Christian: If we give you a better offer.
Marquess: —if you give me a better offer than the person who contacted me.
Christian: To just beat us up?
Marquess: That’s all he wanted.
Christian: There’s a whole lot of questions I have, but my immediate concern is not being physically harmed.
Marquess: Yeah, I’m with ya.
Christian: I’m just curious as to how you got them here so quickly.
Marquess: Oh, these boys? They’re just from Jibril.
Christian: So they’re relatively local. Well, how much are we talking about?
Marquess: Uh, twelve hundred?
Christian: How long do we have to decide on your offer?
Marquess: Uh, what time is it?
It’s 20:30 hours, or 8:30 PM.
Christian: It’s not that far from nine.
Marquess: Well, don’t take too long.
Christian: I’ll tell you what. Give me ten minutes to speak to the captain.
Marquess: You have a captain.
Christian: Yes. I am in charge of negotiations but the final decisions go to the captain.
Marquess: Who is the guy?
Christian: You see the lovely lady at the bar? That’s her.
Marquess: All right.
Marquess goes back inside, pats Muleskinner on the shoulder, gives the singer a kiss, and sits down at another table. Arden asks Muleskinner who that guy was, and Muleskinner answers it’s somebody local who fancies himself an entrepreneur. Christian goes to the bar, turns his comm channel on so he can brief everyone at the same time as he leans in between Nika and Rick to tell them what’s up. It takes less than a minute and he asks if we can make the dealer a better offer.
Nika counters that giving the dealer our money still won’t get the cowboys off our backs. Christian says they won’t beat us up if they’re not getting paid. They become the dealer’s problem. Or maybe the dealer is trying to extort money from us. Nika agrees it’s a strong possibility. Also, Christian adds if we leave now, it all goes down. So what do we do?
You know, we should’ve just taken off when we had the chance.
Rina: (over the comm) You think we should shoot them?
Her comment catches Arden off-guard and he slams his beer mug down, sputtering.
Christian: But we had to be sure.
Nika: And we could’a just taken off, Christian. Lemme finish my beer before we start the brawl, please.
Christian: Sure. But on the other hand, we know a lot more now than we knew before. Chances are we’ll know a lot more. If we survive this.
Can’t argue that.
Rina: (over the comm) I’ve got a full clip. I’ve got ten shots.
Nika: (into her beer) Shoot to maim, please.
Christian turns around and orders a drink from Messner, saying:
Christian: Yeah….there’s going to be trouble.
Nika leans past Christian to address Rick.
Nika: You ready for a bar brawl?
Rick: Yeah, I should be ready for a fight.
Arden quietly tells Muleskinner that he might want to get out of here. As Nika and Rick make their plans as to who to take down first, Christian suggests the element of surprise. Why not have our mechanic come in with her gun drawn and tell them to put down their weapons?
Rina: (over the comms) Excuse me?
Nika: You just wanna jump ’em?
Christian: I just want to cover them.
Nika: Let’s just jump ’em. We may as well get it over with. I don’t wanna pay that yutz 500 credits.
Rick: I can punch the big one in the face….
Christian: I just think that if she has a gun on them before they can draw their guns, they’re less likely to draw their guns.
Nika: Nobody should bring a gun to a fist fight. That just ain’t sportin’.
Christian: So you just want to jump them? Because if you do, my ability to take them on is about as good as my ability to…yeah. I’m perfectly willing to bring a gun to a fist fight because that’s what they’re doing.
Rina: Oh, hell yeah.
Nika: (under her breath) Oh, frakkin’ hell…
Christian: But on the other hand there’s the chance one of the innocents will be caught in the crossfire and shot.
Rina: Then clear them out.
Rick: You guys are crazy.
Nika: You think?
Rick: Maybe we could lure them to the balcony and knock them over the edge.
Rina: I like that plan.
Nika starts to laugh.
Nika: (to Rick) I like the way you think.
The familiar sound of a shotgun being cocked carries across the barroom floor. Sheriff Messner’s had enough. He’s got his shotgun up and out and cocked, and he’s got his game face on.
Messner: Bar’s closed!
Nika jumps.
Nika: Holy shit!
Christian: Well, that’s one way to end a bar fight.
Messner: Everybody outta the bar. Go home. Last one out is gonna get a backside fulla buckshot.
Arden: But that means someone’s gonna get it.
Messner: That’s right.
Rina: You don’t have to go home but you can’t stay here.
Christian turns to Messner and asks how much is owed for the drinks. Messner waves it, telling him to just leave. Christian leaves three credits anyway and goes to Summer on the verandah, and asks if she’s like an escort out. Rina’s off the porch and already around the corner of the building, positioned ready to shoot any of the bad guys as they exit the building. Nika turns to the cowboys at the table.
Nika: Well, damn, and you didn’t even buy me a drink. After you.
She waves them to the door with a flourish. The cowboys looks confused. The dealer looks confused and then nods.
Marquess: Okay, this’ll work. This’ll work.
At his table, Arden turns around.
Arden: What’ll work?
The dealer is already up and moving.
Marquess: (to the cowboys) I’m gonna go talk to the Sheriff and you guys, why don’t you head back to your ship?
Meaning he isn’t gunning for us anymore.
Marquess: Well now, Sheriff, we weren’t gonna mess up anything for you.
Messner: Get your butt outta here.
Marquess goes.
Nika waves the cowboys through the door again. They head out cautiously and Nika sees them to the door to keep an eye on them. No telling if they’ll try to pull a fast one and ambush us on the way out. Rina keeps her gun trained on them but refrains from shooting. Inside the bar, Muleskinner is wheeled out by Lucretia and the pianist follows behind. Messner motions the girls to hang back, let him deal with this. Then the Sheriff looks at us.
Messner: You, too. Listen, I don’t wanna repay your hospitality with the opposite, but I’d like you to leave too, please. Somethin’s not right here.
Skedaddle, y'all.
We all get out of there, relieved to have avoided a messy barfight. The Sheriff has demonstrated he’ll keep an eye on the girls and for a protector, they can’t do much better than the lawman of these parts. Nika orders Rick to stick with Rina and escort our friends back. Meaning the cowboys. Mike puts a hand on Nika’s shoulder, saying:
Mike: There’s more to this than meets the eye.
Nika: Yeah, I’m pretty well aware of that.
Mike: It’s okay to keep your eye on them but they’re not the sort to ambush.
Nika: I know. My primary focus is to get back to the ship. And that’s it.
Mike: May be.
Summer and the girls see us out on the porch. Christian turns to Summer and offers to escort her home. She demurs, saying she can take care of herself. And leaves. Christian turns to the two girls next, kisses them both on the cheek and wishes them well in their new life.
Arden: Christian. Hurry.
Down the street, Maquess has caught up with the four cowboys and we can just make out his words as he claps one on the arm and gestures at them to follow.
Marquess: Come with me, guys. Change of plans.
He leads them in a direction other than the ship. Arden starts making impatient noises. Back to the ship, people, back to the ship.
Nika: Check the ship before we even lift off.
Rina: Oh, hell yes.
There could be bombs, booby-traps. Anything, really. We get back to our ship and we see that our airlock stairs are down and the door gaping open.
Shit.
It sucks to be right.
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