As his crushed beer hat exits to space, Izaak gives his head one final shake, and grins
"Right! Now, I'm going to finish this last Bloody Corsair, and take one for the road. Sophie!"
"Yes hon?"
"Let me pay for the drinks last night, it'll give Derek a little tab to work with," as he hands her a wad of bills, "and a little extra for the cleaners..."
Taking the final Bloody Corsair, he strolls for the door, pausing only to throw a final decicred into the tip jar.
Jack Handey Wrote:I can picture in my mind a world without war, a world without hate. And I can picture us attacking that world, because they'd never expect it.
"Hello Sophie, hows it going darling ?"
Jay sat down at his favourite stool slipping his jacket onto the next one.
"See its a little quiet here, then again all the guys and gals are busy everywhere else at the mo, so no great
shakes, keep the other people in the building happy anyway." ...
Sophie looked radiant as always.
"Ok Jay, you know me, always ways to get the punters in here and spending the creds. We aren't making a
loss, the happy hour time is always kicking. Newark staff know how to drink." ...
Jay smiled at the thought. She was a smart cookie when it came to marketing, thats why he has stolen her from
Manhattan when they had moved, and paid her rather well for just a bar manager.
"Ok love, you do what you do best, and any other traders popping past, make em welcome as always. Anyways
must get back to Cambridge, the poo's hit the fan again."
Sophie smiled knowingly.
"And my dear, if Winter shows his face in here, keep him off the juice. He seems to be back into his old habits
again. Not sure what his problem is, but keep an eye on him. I like to keep those old LSF boys gainfully
employed but not at the expense of our reputation. Standards is standards, and I won't have our name dragged in the mud cause of his paranoia." ...
Jay finished the 'Bloody Corsair' flicked his peak, slipped his flight jacket on and turned to leave.
"May have re-name this 'Bloody Helghast' if it carries on." ...
Some say he is a proud member of: "The most paranoid group of people in the Community."
All the screens light up in the bar. A computer voice announces:
'Type One Priority message from Patrick Boone!'
Silly Helghast Wrote:Ingredients:
* 1 tsp Grenadine
* 2 oz Vodka
* 1/3 Sweet and sour
* 2/3 7-Up
* 1/2 oz Blue Curacao
Mixing instructions:
Pour grenadine in glass. Add straw and ice carefully. Fill 1/3 of glass with sweet and sour. Add Vodka. Fill glass almost to the rim with 7-up. Add Blue Curacao. Do not stir.
Comment:
This drink has the same ingredients as a Purple haze or Purple hooter. The key difference is in presentation. When properly made, it becomes a tall semi-layered drink that can be produced with minimal effort.
Enjoy!
If the stars should appear one night in a thousand years, how would men believe and adore and preserve for many generations the remembrance of the city of God? - from 'Nightfall' by I. Asimov The Outcasts consider Siniestre Nube a sacred place for several reasons. Early explorers discovered a jumphole within the depths of the cloud that leads to a strange world of ringed stars and strange craft. All ships in the burrial ground are placed facing that hole to honor the Alien Spirits. - An Outcast rumor
Sophie looks at the barman.
"Did you just send him down, you know full well they are in the exec suite on the top level. Having a laugh at
other people's expense is all very well, but if he gets lost running all round here, and some thing important is
not delivered, your arse will be grass when Jay finds out.
Think on that, and clear those tables before I fire your butt for being lazy ... Move it."
The noise in the bar increased once more, with just a little laughter into glasses mingling with the hub-bub.
Some say he is a proud member of: "The most paranoid group of people in the Community."
"Hi Soph, hows it going ?"
Jay strolled into the bar.
"Ships in the shop for a short service and loadout re-spec, so I'll have a quick one while I'm here please."
Sophie slid a tall glass from the shelf.
"Sure hon, the usual ?
"Oh yeah, why change the habit of a lifetime ... Gotta make it quick though, the mechs promised me a fast
turn round. Put a couple on the tab for them from me will ya, need to keep those boys sweet."
Ice cubes crashed into the glass, along with a few other ingredients.
"Will do Jay, see you're keeping the rest of them busy too."
"Yep, seems you can't keep a bad pirate down these days, you know how it is.
The drink went down in one.
"Gotta run, look after everything will ya, if you need anything, give me a yell."
Some say he is a proud member of: "The most paranoid group of people in the Community."
A spinning, pearlescent titanium globe floated into the Ship Inn and moved towards Sophie.
"Uh, which one of the few remaining Fnordettes are you?" queried Sophie. "Do I need to reach for my blaster, or the primo 2KV DC tap...?"
*It's Dis, Sophie! I've given my notice at the Blossom. It seems Mal is lonesome. He just acquired a new tub, and sent me this sad, endearing, entreating comms to come down and join the TAZers. Apparently he needs the occasional sailing master when he's off up north wearing his other noses. So, I grabbed a wee X-Scow up in Toke, and I've been schmoozing the GMG and Zoners to get my new papers.*
"Well, that's a shock. I thought you were content up there rousting those soused Epsilons and KNT Traders! I know things haven't gone the best for the Fnordettes.. Merci off somewhere thru the rift with Beau.. Kitty gone rogue and possibley Nomad-infected.. Susan, Anne, Lawrence, the rest.. not a peep.. and Sophie Noire..." A tear crept on to Sophie's cheek.
*Yeah, that's sorta why I stopped off in Newark, girlfriend. Thought we could share a few memories of your namesake.. maybe get some closure. Why in Goddess' name Pops and Mal are keeping her "remains" in a box, I can't fathom. She deserves a decent burial in space.*
"She was a corker, ol' Black Sophie, facing that SCRA thug in his cruiser head-on in a bloody Raven's Talon. The gal had guts. Not sure why her planet-size brain was in neutral. Guess we'll never know.."
There was silence for a moment. *Soph.. I believe I will have some "juice" for the road. Pour yourself one on me. Remember that time she stole Pops' ship to go shopping in New London..?*...
((And so is born the [~V~]Chaogirl_Dis, and the [~V~]Malaclypse regains an old Pilot, F-unit, and dear friend.))
"Morning Soph. Gimme a flaming-whatever and a packet of crisps, if you'd be so kind my dear."
"You're looking a little frazzled Mr.P."
"Yeah. Looked at the old bank account, seems like these earners I've been doing lately, pretty as they are, just aint pulling in the cash. I've picked up a job ferrying toffs and propeller-heads from Cambridge up to Sigma 17. God knows what they've got going in that planet up there, must be something big to need all those scientists.... probably some kind of vast Frankensteinian experiment. But at least the pay is good.... and to top it off I've been contracted to ferry whatever green goop they're cooking up back to Cambridge. It's been a right payday."
"Sounds like a bit of plain sailing."
"Not quite.... many of the routes are through some pretty heavy asteroid fields. I spend half the trip banging off rocks and trying to steer her back on course, and the other half listening to a bunch of squealing academics over the intercom. Which reminds me, I gotta have a word to the physics department on CU.... I think Mr.Newton got it wrong, judging how the tiniest little rocks can knock a fully laden transport around like a dolly."
"Here's your drink and breakfast, hon."
"Cheers. So anyway in Theta I finally gets into open space near Corfu base. Thirty clicks of nothing but pretty scenery. I put her into autopilot straight on to the s-17 jumphole, and I sits back to relax. And what happens? Some stupid bloody Bounty Hunter comes screaming out of nowhere, plows straight into me. Knocks me, my ship, and 800 yelling geeks for a six. I wore a cup of coffee all over my new jumpsuit, and just after I had it dry-cleaned."
"So you're having a bit of fun then for a change!"
Dis "looks" at Pete (who does seem less disheveled than he was last visit to the Blossom..).
*Meh! Try piloting a bloody X-Scow through that crap. It's tiny, but it turns like it has half of Sirius growing out of its tail! I gotta get a new ride soon...*
*Sophie, Put Pete's "breakfast" on Reggie's tab, eh? He's hangin' with the hoi poloi now.. he can afford it.*