by Sarah Noffke
McClain’s Tavern, BFE/Desert District, Planet Kezza, Tangki System
“Do you know anything about this place?” Eddie asked Lars as they strolled through the greasy doors of the bar.
Lars halted and gave Eddie a long look of contempt. “I’m from Kezza, but that doesn’t mean I’ve been to every establishment on the planet. It’s fairly large, you know.”
Julianna scanned the smoky bar, pushing the ferret back into the inside pocket of her jacket. It squirmed, daring to rub its wet nose against her finger, and she withdrew her hand with disgust. Eddie had refused to carry the ferret, saying he was allergic. She was pretty sure he was still pissed about the rodent rescue mission. Lars had offered to carry the animal, but he had been salivating at the time so Julianna had declined the offer, not wanting to tempt the carnivore.
“That sounds like an excuse, Lars,” Eddie said, striding into the bar, which was mostly empty. “I’ve frequented a ton of bars on rather large planets. What did you spend your time on Kezza doing, anyway?”
Lars followed. “Learning, working, hiking… You know, I actually didn’t drink until I met up with you two.”
Eddie gave Julianna a look of horror. “I believe your friend is implying we drove him to drink.”
Julianna offered Lars a commiserate expression. “It’s true. I’ve done it to the very best. It’s my sullen mood. I turn people into alcoholics.” She nodded in Eddie’s direction. “And he’s just a bad influence, plain and simple.”
“I resemble that remark,” Eddie said, a look of mock offense on his face.
“I’m buying you a dictionary for your birthday,” Julianna said, cutting around the two men and sidling up to the dusty bar.
“I was joking. ‘Resemble.’ ‘Resent.’ It was supposed… Oh, never mind.” Eddie joined her with a roguish smile on his face. “What are you getting me for my birthday? It’s coming up, you know.”
“I didn’t, actually.”
Julianna held up her hand to get the attention of the bartender at the far end of the counter. She was human, with light mocha skin and a tough expression that Julianna could respect. The woman wore ripped jeans and a black leather jacket. There was no doubt that this woman—their Liesel Magner—was tough, and for good reason. This place was filled with the lowest of the low.
Kezzin hooligans played cards in the corner, and there was a knife stuck into the table. In a neighboring booth, two aliens sat hunched with hoods hiding their faces. In the shadows of the darkened bar were other scoundrels, drinking their warm beers.
The woman didn’t offer them a smile as she trotted over, wiping a mug with a dirty bar rag. “What can I do for you?” the woman asked in a no-nonsense tone.
“We were actually looking—”
“Look around this place,” the bartender interrupted Julianna. “I don’t answer questions like what you’re about to ask. It doesn’t matter if I’ve seen the Kezzin you’re looking for. I’m not going to tell you anything. It’s better that way.”
“Actually, it’s you—”
The bartender held up her hand to stop Julianna and turned to the woman who had materialized with a tray with empty glasses. In contrast to the insolent expression the bartender wore, the waitress had kind eyes. Also unlike the bartender, the waitress wore flowing bohemian pants decorated in yellows, blues, and pinks, and a knit top to match. She had short wispy blonde hair and curious blue eyes.
“Gin wants another round,” the waitress said, tossing her head in the direction of the table where the Kezzin were playing cards.
Julianna watched with interest, as did Eddie and Lars.
The bartender stuck her hands on her hips. “Tell Gin that he pays in advance. I’m not letting his gang guzzle drinks they can’t afford. I learned my lesson the last time, and the time before that. Good-for-nothing thieves!”
“All righty,” the waitress chirped. The bangles on her wrist clanged as she trotted off.
Julianna kept an eye on the girl, worried that she was about to walk into a bar fight. She was of average height, but lean in build. Against a gang of Kezzin, the human didn’t stand a chance. The group in the back hollered loudly now, one of the Kezzin toppling his chair as he bolted upright.
“Look,” Eddie began, “we’re looking for Liesel Magner. Are you her?”
The bartender narrowed her green eyes at them sharply. “Who wants to know?”
“We know about Felix Castile,” Julianna said. “We know what he did to you.”
“You don’t know anything,” the bartender spat. This was going to be harder than they had thought, even though they had the ferret.
Eddie pulled out cash from his pocket and slid it across the bar. “We’ll take three beers, and you can keep the change.”
The bartender eyed the money. She probably never got tips here. But if she’d open up and talk to them, she wouldn’t have to work at this shitty-ass bar anymore.
A bit reluctantly, she took the money and filled three dirty mugs from the tap.
Julianna merely eyed the drink when it was set in front of her. “What if we told you that we have something that you’d want? Something Felix took from you?”
The woman, who had been watching the ruckus in the back, drew her gaze to Julianna. “My dignity? My freedom? My reputation? What exactly do you have that that man took?”
Julianna started to pull the squirming ferret from her pocket when a loud crash resounded.
“Those fuckers! They break my shit and then turn tail and run,” Liesel said, darting around the bar and hurrying for the back.
Lars, who had also not touched his drink, looked at Eddie and Julianna. “We don’t have tails, so I resent that description.”
“She’s one tough cookie,” Eddie said, taking a long sip of his beer. He apparently didn’t have the same reservations about the drink.
The waitress hurried over to the bar carrying a tray of broken glasses. In the back, Liesel could be heard making a series of threats to the gang of Kezzin miscreants.
The waitress laughed to herself as she slid the broken glasses into the trash.
“What’s so funny?” Julianna asked.
The woman looked up at the group like she hadn’t noticed them before. She had a dreamy look about her. “Oh, this group does this every week, and it’s always the same story. You’d think that Logan wouldn’t allow them in here.”
“Logan?” Eddie asked.
“Logan is the owner of the bar,” the waitress said. The waitress was serenely attractive. She had old-soul eyes and an unflustered expression on her face, even with the chaos in the back.
“But the bar’s name is ‘McClain’s,’” Lars stated.
The waitress nodded. “None of us go by our real names anymore.” Her eyes slid to the side, as if she had been accosted by a sudden thought. “Maybe we’ve outgrown them, or they don’t work for who we’ve had to become.”
Julianna didn’t really understand hippie types, but this woman seemed to be wise and also exceptionally positive. The slight pirate smile hadn’t dropped from her mouth while she talked.
The bartender made another threat—this one with a firm finality to it—then stomped back to the bar. When she was behind the counter again she roared, “I mean it, Gin! No more fighting!”
Liesel had some lungs, Julianna thought, her ears ringing. The ferret had jumped inside her jacket from the loud noise and was now clawing at her boob. Damn it, stop it.
“Did he pay up?” the waitress asked.
Liesel nodded. “Yeah. You can give his group another round, but then we’re cutting him off.”
“Okey-dokey,” the waitress said, filling a row of dirty mugs.
Eddie finished his drink and slid his glass forward.
“Is that your way of asking for another?” the bartender asked.
“No, I think I’m good,” Eddie said. “But back to what we were talking about before. We’ve sought you out because we need an engineer.”
“Then why are you lookin
g for me?” the woman asked.
“We’re a rogue squadron with the Federation,” Eddie began. “We got rid of Felix and took over his ship. We want the original chief engineer who—”
Liesel strode forward and slammed her hand on the bar in front of Eddie. Behind her, the waitress watched with cautious eyes. “Look, pal, I don’t care about that fucking ship. Whatever problems you inherited when you took it over aren’t mine.”
“We figured you’d say that,” Eddie said, his voice steady. “That’s why—”
“Did you now?” Liesel asked with contempt in her voice. “What made you figure that out? Was it that Felix had me thrown in jail? Ruined my reputation? Stole everything I had?” She leaned in close to Eddie, her eyes hot. “Why don’t you take your fucking ship and get as far away from here as possible. I want nothing to do with it.”
Julianna reached into her jacket pocket, unnoticed by the bartender. “Even if I went to all the trouble and risked my life to return this guy to you?” She withdrew the ferret from her jacket and held him up above the bar.
The bartender blinked dully at Julianna, as if trying to compute what she was seeing.
It was the waitress who showed a reaction, slapping her hand to her mouth. “Sebastian!”
The ferret scratched Julianna’s hand, leaving red marks. She dropped him onto the bar and he ran past Lars and Eddie, rounding the corner and then leaping off its surface. The waitress caught him in her arms, and he snuggled into her neck.
Chapter Twenty-Two
McClain’s Bar and Grill, Warehouse District, Planet Kezza, Tangki System
“You’re Liesel?” Eddie asked, staring at the hippie waitress whose ferret was trying to put his face in hers.
She giggled, tickled by the creature’s whiskers. She didn’t hear Eddie as she petted the ferret with tears starting to well in her eyes. The waitress lifted the ferret into the air and looked him over. “Sebastian, is this really you?” She laughed. “It has to be.”
The bartender turned to Liesel. “Is that the rat you’re always going on about?”
Liesel covered the ferret’s ears. “He’s a ferret, and doesn’t like to be called a rat. That’s what that man called him.”
“Do you mean Felix Castile?” Lars said, speaking up for the first time.
Both women spun around and looked at the three. The bartender stepped forward to block the waitress, threading her arms in front of her chest. “Look, Liesel doesn’t want any trouble, so why don’t you all get out of here?”
“Which is why you pretended to be her,” Julianna stated. “You’re Logan, aren’t you?”
Liesel patted the larger woman on the side of the arm. “Thanks, Logan, but I’d like to talk to these people. They did bring me Sebastian.”
Logan eyed Liesel suspiciously. “You’re too trusting. They obviously brought him because they want something.”
Liesel laughed, her eyes brimming with merriment. “You’re the one who lets Gin in here even though you know what he’ll do. I know nothing about these people except that they’ve brought me back my best friend.”
Logan seemed to consider this for a long moment and then picked up the tray. “Speaking of Gin, I’ll take him the drinks before he breaks another chair. You can go on break.”
“Thanks,” Liesel said, setting the ferret on the countertop. She reached underneath and pulled up a can that rattled with metal objects.
The ferret rose onto his hind legs with his little hands extended.
“Look what I have for you, Bastian,” she said, rattling the can. “It’s your favorite. I’ve been collecting them for months.”
The ferret climbed up and dunked his head into the rusty can before withdrawing a sparkplug. Eddie hadn’t noticed how flexible the animal was, or his remarkable dexterity.
Liesel took the sparkplug from the ferret and eyed it. “Yep, you’re right. That one is probably still good, but we’ll have to test it. I think you’ve still got it.” Her eyes were dazzled, and she was obviously overjoyed by having her pet back safely.
“Got what?” Julianna asked, her eyes glued on the strange scene before them.
“Oh, right,” Liesel said, turning to the group as the ferret continued to scavenge in the can of sparkplugs. “Sebastian isn’t just my best friend. He also is my assistant. He has an incredible instinct.” She pointed to the can. “Those are all old sparkplugs I’ve found. I’m pretty certain he can still pick out the duds from the useable ones.”
“No way,” Lars said, his eyes wide.
“Way.” Liesel turned to the ferret, who had pulled out two more sparkplugs and laid them to the side.
“Those are the usable ones?” Julianna asked, pointing to the pile starting to accumulate.
Liesel shrugged. “Probably. I’ve never known exactly how his mind works. He is a ferret, after all.”
“Right…” Eddie said, drawing out the word. “A ferret who assisted you with ship repairs, is that right?”
“Oh, where are my manners?” Liesel said, clapping her hands together. She bowed slightly to them. “Thank you endlessly for returning Sebastian to me. I can’t express how happy this makes me. I never thought I’d see him again, and now…” She clapped again, the smile never leaving her face. “I must know, how did you find Bastian?”
“This one risked my beating heart to accomplish the task,” Eddie stated, pointing at Julianna.
Waving him off, Julianna said, “I had to break into a Trid underwater base. It’s done, and now you have your animal.”
Liesel smiled, looking genuinely happy. “Yes, and again thank you. Now the question is why? Why did you return Sebastian to me?”
“Well, Logan is right that we want something,” Julianna began, pushing her untouched beer out from in front of her.
“Oh, don’t drink that. We never wash those glasses.” Liesel grabbed Julianna’s and Lars’ mug, but paused when she looked at Eddie’s empty glass, offering him an apologetic smile.
He waved her off. “Don’t worry, I’ve drunk worse and paid more for it, both in money and aftereffects.”
Liesel grabbed three new mugs from under the bar, these clear and clean. She filled and set them in front of the group.
“Thanks.” Eddie lifted the mug and look a long drink. The head of the beer stuck to his lip when he pulled it away.
Julianna took a sip as well, enjoying the crispness of the beer. It wasn’t half bad, considering what a dump this was. “Liesel, the reason that we’re here—and brought you Sebastian—is that we have a mechanic aboard the ship you once knew as Unsurpassed.”
For the first time, the light expression dropped from Liesel’s face. “That ship only brought me problems. It was the beginning of the end for me.”
“We understand that,” Julianna told her, “but it doesn’t have to be that way. Felix made a lot of problems for a lot of people, and we’ve been trying to fix them—clean up what he did.”
“Then what are you doing with his ship?” Liesel asked.
It was hard for Eddie to fathom that the woman before them was the prized engineer Hatch wanted. She seemed too flowery to be a mechanic, but this just proved that appearances could in fact be deceiving.
“After we defeated Felix, we took possession of his ship,” Julianna explained.
“How do I know that you’re not as evil as he was?” Liesel asked. “Pirates take ships that don’t belong to them.”
“We defeated him, and we needed a ship. There was no reason to let a good ship go to waste,” Julianna said. “And now we need your help with that ship.”
“Help? With that ship?” She shook her head. “I don’t know you, and I’ve learned my lesson about working for people I don’t know.”
“That’s an excellent point,” Eddie stated after taking another sip. “We knew you’d be unwilling to work on the ship, which is why we risked a lot to bring you Sebastian. And we also know that Felix ruined your reputation, which is why we’re offering you the positio
n of Chief Engineer aboard Ricky Bobby.”
“My old job?” Liesel regarded him sideways, not looking at all convinced.
“Our mechanic, Dr. A’Din Hatcherik, asked for you personally for this position,” Julianna explained.
“Dr. A’Din Hatcherik!” Liesel exclaimed, looking at the ferret as if checking to see if he found this ridiculous as well. “That’s who your mechanic is? You really are with the Federation, aren’t you?”
Eddie nodded his head and then lowered his voice. “Yes and no. We work on missions on the frontier—the fringe, if you will. Things the Federation can’t dabble in for fear of overstepping boundaries.”
“Like taking care of Felix Castile,” Liesel guessed.
“Yes, exactly,” Julianna affirmed.
“You know he was trying to take over a planet’s population? Enslave them all?” Liesel said, scooping up the ferret and holding him protectively to her chest. “That’s when I’d had enough.”
Eddie nodded. “We know. Luckily we were able to stop him before that happened.”
“Good,” Liesel said, combing her fingers over the ferret’s head. “I was locked up before that and didn’t know what happened, and when they released me I had nowhere to go. Thankfully Logan gave me a job.”
As if on cue the bartender hurried over with an empty tray. She regarded the three with a vicious expression and turned to Liesel.
“So?” Logan asked her friend.
“So I think they’re telling me the truth. They want me as chief engineer,” Liesel said.
“They’re going to give you your old job back on that blasted ship? That good-for-nothing evil ship?” Logan asked.
“A ship is an organic being,” Liesel explained. “It’s neither good nor bad, but rather the product of the people on it and the places it travels. Just as intentions directly affect the body, so does a mission affect a ship.”
“Would you stop spouting that mumbo-jumbo?” Logan shook her head, but still smiled.
“I’m just saying…” Liesel’s voice trailed away and she suddenly became engrossed in petting her ferret again.
Logan turned to the three. “How do we know that you all are good and your missions aren’t going to land Liesel back in jail?”
