Chapter 34:
Jerula was bored, real bored. The ship was abuzz with ordered chaos during launch from Earth, with everyone running around doing their duties. Very quickly thereafter though, things had settled back down into the general boredom that had defined the previous leg of the trip. They had now left the Terra Luna sector and were on their way back home to Strife, once again neck deep in the monotony of space travel. Throwing some iron around in the gym was Jerula’s way of soaking up some of the free hours, a place to “shoot the shit” with people other than ones on his duty shift or his bunkmates. Some of the guys were laughing at the stories they heard about Jerula’s night out in San Francisco. Everyone had gotten shore leave, but none of them sparked a notorious legend as the Strifers that tore up a speakeasy to a Michael Jackson song. His partner in crime, Aurelius, had been oddly MIA ever since they departed from Earth. He must have been assigned to something really important because Aurelius was gone before breakfast and didn’t make it back to the bunk until well after midnight the last few days. Jerula had been able to mend his boredom on the way out here with plenty of time to surf the ship’s entertainment database, but by now had run out of rap battles and cat videos to watch. He needed something to soak up all this Aurelius-less downtime. Normally he’d want to space himself after listening to Aurelius talk about couplers and samoflanges, but he was beginning to miss it. What had he been up to? And furthermore, Jerula wondered, how the hell had he spent so much money that last night on Earth? His wallet was short a couple thousand credits.
“Hey, what time did you and Nyreen headback to the ship that last night on Earth?” he asked Paul who had just entered the bunk and was headed for the shower.
“I don’t remember. Why you ask?”
“I’m trying to figure out how much… Feels like I went out with a lot more money…”
“Maybe you lost at that game you were playing?” Paul asked.
Jerula tried to parse his memory of that night but everything got fuzzy shortly after sitting down at a table for a friendly game of dice.
“I don’t… I don’t think so… I think I remember getting the table flipped over and shoved at me for owning the other guys.”
“Well, You and Aurelius were pretty screwed up the next day. Did you drink all your winnings?” Paul asked, turning to look Jerula in the eye. After a moment of silence Paul started cracking up with laughter, “Oh man. The fact you can’t remember makes me think you guys totally did! Knowing you, you probably bought everyone in the bar a round of drinks...”
“Yeah… uh huh… Don’t know if I could have actually drank that much and lived.” Jerula didn’t know what else to say. Both those things sounded like something he would do. If he could just track down Aurelius maybe his recall of that night would help him figure out where all his money had gone.
“Why not ask Aurelius if he remembers anything?”
“I would if I could find him…”
“Well I’ll keep an eye out, he’s bound to stop by the bunk while one of us is in it sooner or later.”
“Yeah... probably...”
“Hey, by the way. You down for some poker later?” Paul asked.
“I’m always down to poke-her!”
“Nice.” Paul continued, “Rumor is Governor Maher will be joining us but keep that to yourself. Can’t have the lounge packed with junior officers and low-level techs trying to get a shot at the governor’s money.”
“Yeah. No problem.” Jerula confirmed.
Shortly thereafter Aurelius popped into the bunk with a smuggy smirk tattooed across his face from ear to ear. He was wiping grease off his hands with a rag and his top was caked in dirt and oil.
“You off duty? Poker game tonight in the lounge in a bit” Jerula asked.
“Oh… Huh… Yeah. I guess I could take a break.” Aurelius replied.
“Word is, Maher himself is gonna be there. Thought I’d save you a spot at the table.”
“Hey, yeah… Sounds great! You really are a damn good friend.”
Jerula ignored the strange, extra bouncy tone in his friend’s voice, “Don’t… Don’t mention it.”
He couldn’t help but notice just how greasy Aurelius was. He had smudges of oil all over his coveralls like he had been face down in an engine or something, “They got you greasing the doors down on G Deck again?” Jerula inquired.
“No. Just… You know… Just picking up a few extra shifts here and there. Workin’ on stuff.”
“Oh… Rough.”
Paul climbed out of the shower and Aurelius made his way over to the sink and began washing his hands.
“Hey, Jerula I found him.” Paul said, “Don’t look now, but he’s right next to you.”
“I had noticed. Seems he’s been brown nosing the chief by picking up a few extra shifts.”
“Is that whats all over his hands!?” Paul laughed.
“What can I say, chief appreciates a man who’s good with his hands.” Aurelius said.
“Ok I clearly missed something.” The three turned to see Nyreen standing in the doorway.
“Nothing big, Jerula’s missing some money, and Aurelius has been wrist deep in the Chief. You might want to let him rinse off before touching him.” Paul said.
Nyreen’s eyes widened, “Is that what’s all over his hands?”
“Ok you guys are starting to repeat yourselves. I’m going to go clean off. when I get out the jokes had better be new at least.” Aurelius said stepping past Paul and into the shower.
Throwing some clothes in a hamper, Jerula sat his wallet out on the table. “Hey. I got a question. Do you remember how much we all spent in San Francisco? You know, like when we were out and stuff? I’m coming up short and trying figure out where all my money went.”
“Oh. Umm… I dunno.” Aurelius shouted over the sound of running water.
“Between the museums, food, and our night out… Now I know Earth is one hell of an expensive place but…”
“Maybe you got pickpocketed in San Francisco? Hard to keep an eye on your wallet when you’re partying. I know I spent more than I expected too.” Aurelius said.
Jerula cocked an eyebrow in the direction of his showering bunkmate,“What do you mean?”
“Nah, no reason. Yeah, hey… Sorry man.”
“I remember having it after the first and second round of drinks.” Jerula began counting on his hands trying to retrace his steps. “Cover charge… Pitched in for the cab ride… Drinks up until our dance number… Dice game… That’s where things get fuzzy...”
“You mean… you don’t remember?” Aurelius asked.
“Remember what?”
“No seriously… You don’t remember what happened?”
“No! Remember what!?”
Maybe it was Jerula’s imagination but he was starting to think Aurelius was deliberately waiting to answer him, “You lost that money to me in a dance battle!”
Jerula felt the brooding anger and frustration on his face slip into an unimpressed frown, “Very funny… You couldn’t dance you way out of a room if the floor tiles lit up…”
There was a short pause while Jerula contemplated how much he lost. The noise of Aurelius’s shower echoed through the room.
“Man. Two thousand credits down the… drain…” His own comment and the sight of the oil soaked clothing Aurelius had been wearing switched on a lightbulb in Jerula’s mind, “Holy shit! You son of a bitch!”
“What!” Aurelius yelled back.
“You didn’t…”
“I didn’t what?”
“You didn’t… You son of a bitch.”
“Whaaaa?”
Jerula pointed at Aurelius’s discarded clothing, “That’s engine grease!” His eyes widened.
“Yeah? Nah, What? No it ain’t”
Jerula went running out of the room. He heard Aurelius tare off after him, his wet bare feet slapping against the deckplate. Behind them both Paul and Nyreen began laughing hysterically. Jerula’s running steps echoed in the corridors and he could hear Aurelius’s behind him, as if the two were trying to race, but this wasn’t for fun, Jerula was out for blood. First it would be the damned hopper Aurelius bought with his money, and then maybe Aurelius himself. Jerula cursed all the way to the cargo deck and into the large room they had used as a lounge during the passage through the Gate earlier in the trip. Jerula came punching into the room so fast he startled a couple technicians working on some loading equipment.
“Where is it? Where the hell is it!” He yelled.
The shaken technicians looked dumbfounded, clearly having no idea what he was talking about.
Aurelius came up shortly behind him, panting and clutching a towel around his waist. Jerula looked him right in the eye, “Where is it, Strifer? Where is it? I know it’s here! You gonna get socked!”
“Where’s what?” Aurelius pushed out between breaths.
“That planet hopper! You bought it! I know you bought it! You bought it with my money! You’ve been working on it since we left. You’ve been working on it every chance you get! That’s the oil that was on your hands!”
Aurelius looked over at the frightened cargo crew, “Sorry. I told him he needs to switch to decaf.”
Jerula looked around the cargo hangar. He didn’t see any planet hopper, just a bunch of large crates and a few pallets of random equipment with blue-and-burlap tarps pulled over them. Jerula stood there feeling both stupid and confused, maybe he had shot his mouth off too soon? Nah, he knew Aurelius. It made so much sense, but a planet hopper was too big to miss. It could have been in one of the larger crates in the room, but he figured Aurelius would have had to take the whole thing apart to fit it in.
Jerula stood there shaking his head before leaving the cargo hangar and blowing past Aurelius. He was feeling dumb and embarrassed but still not totally convinced.
“Man… You really don’t remember what happened do you?” Aurelius said, catching up to Jerula, still clutching the towel around his waist.
“You wanna enlighten me!?” Jerula barked.
“You were feeling generous after your game of Dice.” Aurelius continued, “You handed me a wad of cash and before I could give it back… Well the night kind of got away from me. I was just sobering up while I was handing everything I had over to a Terran who seemed totally befuddled someone actually wanted the damn thing…”
Jerula was fuming but a part of him couldn’t blame Aurelius. Handing him a grip of cash in a drunken generous gesture did sound like something he would do, so did buying a round for everyone in the bar. He had done these types of things before on a few occasions. If the position was reversed he would have done exactly what Aurelius had. Right now he was feeling a little more frustrated with the fact Aurelius had put him on for so long, letting him make a fool out of himself in front of Paul and Nyreen and the crew in the cargo hangar,
“Why didn’t you say something earlier?”
“What? And miss being able to see that face!? Man I had you going!” Aurelius laughed.
“You’re an ass!”
Jerula felt Aurelius try to playfully shove him but either he hadn’t put enough weight into it or Jerula was just too big and mad to let it change his stride.
“Don’t worry, Strifer. We get our paychecks for this mission when we get home. I’ll pay you back in full.”
Jerula took his time responding to Aurelius. They had nearly walked all the way back to their bunk before he continued, “Fine… Ok, fine… Just tell me something…”
“What?”
“Where is?” Jerula asked.
“Its… Its around... Just not ready to show it yet. Gotta finish making it all shiny before I unveil it.”
Paul and Nyreen were applauding as Jerula and Aurelius walked back into the room. They had clearly been laughing themselves sick ever since Aurelius stormed out after Jerula in nothing but a towel.
“Bravo!” Paul exclaimed.
“They’re so much more fun than Jenkins.” Nyreen added.
Paul turned to face Nyreen, “Well there was that one time with the ham.”
“Yeah but he was mostly dressed, this is still better.” Nyreen said.
…
Jerula was pissed as he made his way down to the lounge. Paul and Nyreen were already setting up the card table. His eyes were promising murder to anyone who looked at him wrong. By now he was sure he had given that money to his face squid of a bunkmate, but Jerula wanted to be angry and Aurelius’s little joke earlier hadn’t helped things anyways.
Paul and Nyreen were already there when he came into the room. Their happy welcoming faces quickly turned to ones of concern as they saw that Jerula was still clearly steaming.Jerula took one look at Paul and Nyreen standing there, and let out a bellowing laugh that did little to reassure them. He went to settle in at one of the seats, “Whatcha doing standing there shaking for? Come sit down, folks will be here soon, and I have to win back some money I lost on Terra.”
Paul and Nyreen both complied, still somewhat uneasy, wondering what had set Jerula off. They didn’t dare ask as they went to sit down. Jerula filled them in, and Nyreen began to laugh very carefully, gauging Jerula’s reactions the whole time.
It wasn’t long before the rest of the seats around the table were filled. Most of the players Jerula knew in passing, but none by name. Sure enough, there was Governor Maher, looking tired and stressed and, to Jerula’s calculating eye, rich. He recognized the look of a man who was weary of the world and needed to relax. He clearly didn’t mind if he had to part with some money to do it. Jerula hoped he’d be able to win back some of his missing money.
Jerula looked around at the rest of the table before announcing, “Ladies, gentlemen, and everything in between, the name of the game is eight-card nova. Randomizer at fifteen and starbursts high.”
He looked at the motley crew gathered before continuing. “Minimum bet is ten creds, and no, I don’t offer any credit.”
With that, the night began.
...
The games went on for some time. Maher watched his crew unwind around him. As they relaxed, so did he. These were the kind of people he wanted to be around. The kind of people he wanted to be if he was being completely honest with himself, but no, that was a road no longer open to him. Too much had happened, and some roads you shouldn’t travel twice.
Maher put down his cards with a grin twelve parsecs wide, “I got a photon spread, folks. That beats anything you guys have hiding under your drinks or up your sleeves.”
Everyone at the table groaned and passed their chips to Maher. Paul hesitated, “Damn, Governor. It’s just like you bureaucrats. Always taking money from the little guy. Ha-ha.”
Maher had seen him around a few times. Maher leaned back in his seat, spreading his hands, placating, “Don’t blame me, friend. Blame the cards. I can’t help it if they like me better than you.”
Maher leaned forward as the next hand was dealt by Jerula. Maher liked the way he had about him. He’d have to keep an eye on him. Jerula dealt Maher his next hand. He wouldn’t have to pretend to lose with this one—it would happen on its own. He slid forty chips into the pot and relaxed.
As the night wore on, players dropped out of the game, most leaving with all their pay still on the table. The last to leave were Paul and Nyreen. Nyreen pulled Paul away from the table with a knowing wink. To Jerula’s credit, he kept the teasing of his friend’s pending interlude to a tasteful minimum, although the jackhammer motions were a bit unnecessary.
Jerula looked at Maher with a glint in his eye, “What ya say, Governor… Why don’t we cut this penny ante crap and raise the minimum to a hundred?”
Maher was more than happy to comply. If this kid wanted a real game, he’d be happy to deliver. The two men slid their chips to the center of the table and looked at each other. Jerula cracked first, leaning back and letting out a bellow of a laugh. “Shit, Governor, how the hell bad did things go on Terra that it’s got ya slumming down here with us dregs?”
Maher let out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding and joined Jerula’s laughter. “You have no idea, son… You have no shipwrecked idea.”
Maher placed a card down on the table and began to tell Jerula everything, leaving out only the parts about Pacius.
“Ain’t you afraid of what they might do to ya for screwing with the U.P.E like ya did?” Jerula asked.
Maher privately was but couldn’t admit it, “No, and I’ll tell you why. Fear is their weapon. They use it to keep people looking over their shoulders instead of looking up at them. They want us afraid. If we’re all scared, then we need them, but if we can break that, then they have nothing… I once knew a man who threw away fear and did what he thought was right, and the UPE tried to destroy him. He beat them, and no matter what they did, they couldn’t take that from him.”
Jerula looked across the table with scarcely concealed admiration on his face. “Damn… You got a hell of a pair.”
Maher smiled, “No, I’ve got the starburst.”
Laying down his cards, Maher reached out for the chips at the center of the table.
All of a sudden, he and Jerula were thrown from their chairs. Chips and cards went flying, glasses and drinks smashed on the floor. The ship had been hit by something, and Maher suspected it wasn’t another piece of debris.