02-01-2010, 12:15 PM
Jape Mahre strode in under the bright sign strategically placed to entice pilots just in from the tarmac landing strip. He was there for much the same reason as all the other myriad of starskippers that had ducked in here over the years, to get a belly full of liquor and a flying job.
His first impression of the establishment was one of comfortable familiarity, for it seemed every spaceport in the sector had a pub in the same place with the same layout. Even the faces of the patrons seemed somehow eerily similar to every other he'd seen... The thought made him smile, a wry expression that earned him a strange look and a cautious nod from the barkeep.
Jape nodded back and ran his eyes down the bar past him, inspecting four men stationed there in various stages of recumbence. Finally his gaze raked off the end of the bar and flitted across the smattering of circular tables that filled the rest of the joint. There were several likely suspects for work there; some obviously waiting for just that purpose, the blatant invitation written plainly on their faces.
A woman waltzed in past him just as he had completed his assessment. Her long legs were silken and shapely, bare to mid thigh. Her garment was a single wrap of thin electric blue faux-silk that apparently started under her right arm, swept around her ample breasts, dove south cinching around her tight little bottom and pinned at her left hip with a clasp of ornate emerald. It was a sparse ensemble simple and elegant, yet extremely effective in its main goal: showing off her exquisite figure.
Jape, never lacking in brazenness, followed her to a table and sat down opposite her. Her steel gray eyes narrowed and she tossed her head, making her long, lustrous chestnut hair float in an elegant halo around her lovely face.
Been a long cruise, captain? she quipped in a sultry voice, not meant to be sensual but sensual all the same. Jape felt himself stiffen slightly at the sound of it. Yes, it had been a long cruise. But, until he saw her he hadn't realized just how long...
Yep, he admitted, but give me a couple of days and I'll be ready for another one. She smiled and pursed her lips minutely.
You looking for a job or a good time...? she asked.
The two... mutually exclusive? he retorted without missing a beat. She chuckled at that.
I see you're also into a little witty repartee or is that your notion of foreplay?
Whatever works, Jape stated succinctly and motioned for a drink. Get you one...?
I'll get my own, tiger.
An independent lady. I like that. He leaned forward and stared sweetly into her face. So which will it be... a good time or a job... or... both...?
Not so fast. She paused to order her drink from the waitress then looked into his face with an enigmatic smile as he ordered his. Fact is, I do have a job and, I am intrigued with your moxie. Of course, if I had a credit for every pilot that ever came on to me I'd be even richer than I am, but... you are somehow different. That is what intrigues me... Now you tell me why. Tell me about yourself.
You want me to read to you the Book of Jape. Is that it...? He frowned then his eyes glazed over a bit and he looked back up at her and started talking. He didn't know why... It was the first time he had shared it all. Maybe it was because she was the first one that really seemed interested.
I was born in a backwater post in this sector, product of an accident. Don't know my biological parents, unlike most I never cared to find them, figuring if they don't want me I don't want them. All I know is they got rid of me. Ended up in a state run orphanage after they shipped me out on the next available supply ship. Never was adopted but spent two years there and then began a long tedious run of foster homes. I moved every other year or so until I reached my sixteenth birthday. Then I liberated myself by stowing away on a starfreighter. Crew found me and, instead of dumping me off at the next landfall, adopted me. That's where I learned my trade. Captain Peyton took me under his wing and showed me the ropes, how to barter for trade, how to avoid the pitfalls of pirate traps and even how to avoid the law when necessary... When I announced five years later that I wanted to get a ship of my own and go my own way, he shocked me by fronting the capital for a little freighter. End of story. He smiled at the attentive lady before him and winked. I just got in from her maiden cruise, in fact. Busted her cherry and now she's ready for a real run.
And that's where I come in...? she asked coquettishly.
Is it...? That depends on you, I suppose.
Well, I do have some work for you but let's talk about it over dinner... I'll drive, she stated as she rose unceremoniously, tossed a ten-credit disc on the tabletop and waltzed out the way she had come. Bingo, he thought and hurried after her.
His first impression of the establishment was one of comfortable familiarity, for it seemed every spaceport in the sector had a pub in the same place with the same layout. Even the faces of the patrons seemed somehow eerily similar to every other he'd seen... The thought made him smile, a wry expression that earned him a strange look and a cautious nod from the barkeep.
Jape nodded back and ran his eyes down the bar past him, inspecting four men stationed there in various stages of recumbence. Finally his gaze raked off the end of the bar and flitted across the smattering of circular tables that filled the rest of the joint. There were several likely suspects for work there; some obviously waiting for just that purpose, the blatant invitation written plainly on their faces.
A woman waltzed in past him just as he had completed his assessment. Her long legs were silken and shapely, bare to mid thigh. Her garment was a single wrap of thin electric blue faux-silk that apparently started under her right arm, swept around her ample breasts, dove south cinching around her tight little bottom and pinned at her left hip with a clasp of ornate emerald. It was a sparse ensemble simple and elegant, yet extremely effective in its main goal: showing off her exquisite figure.
Jape, never lacking in brazenness, followed her to a table and sat down opposite her. Her steel gray eyes narrowed and she tossed her head, making her long, lustrous chestnut hair float in an elegant halo around her lovely face.
Been a long cruise, captain? she quipped in a sultry voice, not meant to be sensual but sensual all the same. Jape felt himself stiffen slightly at the sound of it. Yes, it had been a long cruise. But, until he saw her he hadn't realized just how long...
Yep, he admitted, but give me a couple of days and I'll be ready for another one. She smiled and pursed her lips minutely.
You looking for a job or a good time...? she asked.
The two... mutually exclusive? he retorted without missing a beat. She chuckled at that.
I see you're also into a little witty repartee or is that your notion of foreplay?
Whatever works, Jape stated succinctly and motioned for a drink. Get you one...?
I'll get my own, tiger.
An independent lady. I like that. He leaned forward and stared sweetly into her face. So which will it be... a good time or a job... or... both...?
Not so fast. She paused to order her drink from the waitress then looked into his face with an enigmatic smile as he ordered his. Fact is, I do have a job and, I am intrigued with your moxie. Of course, if I had a credit for every pilot that ever came on to me I'd be even richer than I am, but... you are somehow different. That is what intrigues me... Now you tell me why. Tell me about yourself.
You want me to read to you the Book of Jape. Is that it...? He frowned then his eyes glazed over a bit and he looked back up at her and started talking. He didn't know why... It was the first time he had shared it all. Maybe it was because she was the first one that really seemed interested.
I was born in a backwater post in this sector, product of an accident. Don't know my biological parents, unlike most I never cared to find them, figuring if they don't want me I don't want them. All I know is they got rid of me. Ended up in a state run orphanage after they shipped me out on the next available supply ship. Never was adopted but spent two years there and then began a long tedious run of foster homes. I moved every other year or so until I reached my sixteenth birthday. Then I liberated myself by stowing away on a starfreighter. Crew found me and, instead of dumping me off at the next landfall, adopted me. That's where I learned my trade. Captain Peyton took me under his wing and showed me the ropes, how to barter for trade, how to avoid the pitfalls of pirate traps and even how to avoid the law when necessary... When I announced five years later that I wanted to get a ship of my own and go my own way, he shocked me by fronting the capital for a little freighter. End of story. He smiled at the attentive lady before him and winked. I just got in from her maiden cruise, in fact. Busted her cherry and now she's ready for a real run.
And that's where I come in...? she asked coquettishly.
Is it...? That depends on you, I suppose.
Well, I do have some work for you but let's talk about it over dinner... I'll drive, she stated as she rose unceremoniously, tossed a ten-credit disc on the tabletop and waltzed out the way she had come. Bingo, he thought and hurried after her.