Chapter Seven - Sorting Some Things Out
Throughout the day, solid progress was made on the repairs and enhancements to the ship. Baxter and Kent worked together on an engine overhaul while Cyan made sure everything ran smoothly, interjecting and performing the job herself whenever something did not. The kid, Kingsley, was the runner, gathering parts and shuffling tools back and forth. Rusty worked on his regular day-to-day duties on the station. Jak worked hard at trying to look busy.
Rusty had requested that everyone meet together for a dinner that evening. By that time, the overhaul was mostly complete and the ship was running better than ever. It looked like a different spacecraft than the one Jak brought crashing into the landing bay the day before. Everyone separated and went back to their respective quarters to scrub the grease from underneath their fingernails. Jak had a shower and met Baxter before going down to the Roadhouse.
“What did you think of Cyan?” asked Jak as they descended in the elevator.
Baxter carefully considered his words before beginning with, “Smart ... Hot as hell ...” He thought further. “Bitchy. She’s just the way you like them. Except for the smart part of course.”
Jak gave him a resentful look and waited for the elevator doors to slide open. Coincidentally, they walked out of the lift at the same time Cyan was walking down the hallway on her way to the bar.
“Hey, Baxter,” she said as he kept walking past them.
Baxter proudly looked at Jak. “I think she likes you.” He barely managed to get the words out before erupting into laughter. Jak punched him in the arm.
Cyan had cleaned herself up and was wearing a form fitted long-sleeved shirt and pants, which accented her perfect figure. Jak noted how the heads of the station’s other visitors turned to follow her down the hall. He was in the perfect viewing position, directly behind her. Jak nearly tripped over his own feet at least twice.
Jak and Baxter sat down in the last two adjacent seats around the circular table. Cyan took an empty seat on the opposite side. Rusty, Kent and Kingsley had joined as well and were already going on with their various conversations.
One of Rusty’s waitresses came over and dropped off a few plates of fried food. Jak was glad the food was deep fried, since even weirdo alien foods tasted the same after five minutes in the deep fryer with oil unchanged for the last few years. This way one didn’t have to pick through the stomach turners and nightmare foods. Everyone was supplied with a large mug of Rusty’s home brew.
Rusty tapped his glass with his fork and said, “Attention everyone.” His voice carried over the others without even trying to speak loudly. He lifted his clear glass mug, urging everyone else to lift their own. “Here is a toast to all of you, for your hard work and blood and sweat over fixing Jak’s junk.”
Everyone clinked their glasses over the center of the table.
“And here is to the riches Jak will be bringing back here.”
Everyone clinked their glasses again.
“Easy, Rusty,” said Jak. “No pressure, okay?”
“Aye,” said Rusty with a huge laugh.
Kent spoke up. “The ship should be ready to go tomorrow. I’ve got a few final diagnostics to do on it and I’m gonna take it out for a quick spin in the morning to check a few things. When are you guys planning on taking off?”
“Probably very shortly,” answered Jak, “if not tomorrow. I don’t want to get too far in debt with the old man here.”
The first in a series of laughs flowed around the table and the good natured conversations and elbow jabbing continued throughout the night, increasing in relation to the growing pile of empty glasses on the table.
Jak went up to the crowded bar to stretch his legs and get another drink. The bartender caught his ear for a couple of minutes, delaying Jak’s return to the table long enough to cross Cyan’s path, on her way to the bar. It irritated Jak when she ordered a drink from the bartender and turned around to wait for it with her back to the bar as if to observe the crowd. She was three feet from Jak and hadn’t said a word, let alone acknowledged his existence. This was the problem with beautiful women, he thought. They think they are too good for the universe. Jak knew he had fought far deadlier foes than her.
“What is your problem with me?” he asked.
“Who says I have a problem?” she said in response without bothering to break her view of room to look at him. She replied with a question. Jak hated that.
“Listen, honey, I—”
In the blink of an eye Cyan had stepped over and turned to face Jak up close, making an intense and threatening eye contact.
“Listen, buddy,” she began, with what would have sounded to most like hatred, “I think it’s you who has the problem.”
With the girl inside of his personal space, Jak could for the first time see her sparkling blue eyes clearly and he realized she still smelled like fruit. Maybe not fruit, but some kind of fruit blossom or something. He couldn’t decide if he was very turned on or very scared of her. He was starting to think that this girl was nuts.
“Look, I’m not gonna apologize for last night. It won’t help. So instead, I’m gonna pretend this isn’t happening right now and introduce myself like we’ve never met before.” Jak stuck out his free hand. “I’m Jak Phoenix and it’s a pleasure to meet you. I’d prefer if no one gets hurt here tonight.”
She looked at him and then at his outstretched hand. In the back of his mind, Jak was afraid she was going to break it. But, something in her seemed to soften ever so slightly, as her scowl morphed into a thin smile. She decided to play along and reach out to shake his hand.
“I’m Cyan,” she said, “and I’d prefer to not have to hurt you.”
Jak could now see that her fierce demeanour was a mask. This was the way she kept guys away. She thought he was an idiot and was afraid to let her guard down. Either the beer, or something he said, had cracked her tough shell a bit. He felt the tension of the room disintegrate as he finally broke through her armour of anger.
The bartender arrived with her drink, so she stepped aside and took the glass. She gave Jak a slight nod and headed back to the table. Even the relaxed look in Cyan’s eyes made it very clear that she could easily kill him if she needed to. He shared a quick confused glance with the bartender and headed back to the table, sat down and was greeted by a slap on the back from Rusty.
“So, Jak,” he said so everyone could hear, “I have a question for you.”
“Okay, shoot,” Jak replied. He mistakenly made eye contact with Cyan and she looked away.
“How would you feel about taking these guys out with you on this mission as a crew?”
Jak took a long sip of his drink. Rusty had attempted to wait until Jak was liquored up to pop his question. He had made the mistake of overestimating Jak’s intake. Due to the heavy night before, he had only slowly nursed a few drinks tonight and was absolutely clear headed.
Jak swallowed his drink, put his glass down and simply said, “No way.”
“Come on, my boy, these three are some of the best characters I know.”
“I’m sure they are,” said Jak. “And that’s the reason they aren’t coming. No offence to you guys,” he continued, using his glass to point to Kent, Cyan and Kingsley, “but I’m not gonna be responsible for dragging any of you out for a fight with a guy you barely know. Besides, I work alone.”
“What about Baxter?” asked Cyan.
“I work alone with Baxter.” Jak paused and saw the perplexed faces around the table. “What’s so confusing?”
Deep down, Jak appreciated the offer. Kent was getting older and his home was in the mechanic shop, in a stationary position fixing ships. Kingsley was a kid he hardly knew. Cyan was a potential psychopath, who probably had no interest in going anyway. Besides that, he wasn’t going out there to command a ship. He was going out to fly a ship and make ridiculous last minute decisions. He was irresponsible and comfortable with that fact when it only risked himself, and maybe Baxter,
but not when it would put others who had helped him in harm’s way. He realized they would probably think he was a callous jerk, but he was prepared to accept the stigma if it didn’t get them involved.
Jak had always worked alone when he first started running missions out in Azore’s Crown. His first partner had been Murdock, in a segment of his life which had ended in near disaster. Reluctantly he had brought Baxter with him on a few missions and it seemed to work out. Death defying escapades had created a bond between them, which resulted in Baxter staying on the ship. Deep down, Jak considered Baxter his only true friend.
“Are you sure you’re gonna be alright out there?” asked Rusty.
“Yes.” Jak took another long drink of his beer. Rusty made great stuff.
“Murdock’s been lucky against you lately, you know,” said Rusty. Jak realized Rusty had screened and chosen his words as carefully as possible.
Jak put his drink down. “What are you saying? That I won’t be able to take care of Murdock?”
“No, no, no, my boy, that’s not it at all. I’m just looking out for you, that’s all. Can I change your mind?”
“Absolutely not.”
“Then I won’t mention it again,” said Rusty. He knew when Jak’s mind was made up and there was no sense in continuing once his decision was final. Jak nodded in appreciation.
“Now let me guess,” said Jak to the others at the table, “you guys are all pissed at me now, aren’t you?”
They all smiled and shook off the comment, trying to assure Jak that he hadn’t offended them.
“We think this sounds like a suicide mission anyway,” said Kent. “Especially with you at the wheel.”
“I’d much rather stay here than get in that ship of yours,” said Cyan.
“Hey, Kingsley,” said Jak to the young man, “you haven’t said anything all night.”
Kingsley gave a self-conscious laugh in response.
“Say something kid, you’re making me nervous.”
“This is the part where you make fun of Jak,” explained Rusty with a laugh. “Or Baxter,” he added.
Baxter had found a plate of some type of hot wings and was busy eating. He figured there was no need to say anything. They seemed to be working this one out quite well on their own.
“I’ll grab you guys another round on Rusty here,” said Jak. Rusty laughed, mimed a physical injury and laughed again. “But, I’m gonna take off and get some sleep, so I’m good and limber for our take-off tomorrow.” He caught Cyan in another glance held for just a little too long. Jak turned to face Rusty directly and spoke in a lower volume. “Is it all right if we meet in your shop tomorrow morning? I need to restock my weapon supply.”
Rusty shook Jak’s hand again. “See you then.” Jak nodded in reply.
He stood up and received a few parting waves from the table. Baxter raised a hot wing. Jak went to the bar, ordered a round for the table as promised and headed out. He couldn’t get over how smooth he was.