13 Degrees of Separation

by Hechtl, Chris

  “Good. Just what we need. Let's give her all the support we can,” Alice said with a smile.

  “Any word from Zap?” Savo asked.

  Alice sighed. “They put us off. They want to see what we can do and if we'll survive this quarter,” she said.

  “That figures,” Savo replied with a note of disgust in his voice.

  “They were interested in the ideas though,” Clio said.

  “Yeah! I'll bet!” Savo growled. “Are we going to be there to greet our wayward lady?” he asked. “I mean, we should throw her a party or something,” he said.

  “Let's see if she can get her ass back in one piece. But I'll toss a day of free food and drink to her. Put it on her tab I mean,” Ralph said.

  Savo chuffed a laugh at that and shook his head. “You're all heart Ralph,” he said, slapping the man's arm.

  ...*...*...*...*...

  Kenny Kennet was put out by the beacon marking the nearby Aten asteroid as the property of the Yard dogs. Yan Fu mildly asked how that had happened. Embarrassed Kennet vowed to put a stop to it. He tried to block the filing but to his chagrin Clio had already filed the appropriate documents and they had been preliminarily approved. He fumed and then turned his attention to other ways of putting the brakes on the company before they got out of his control.

  ...*...*...*...*...

  Mairi returned with the rock. The crew of the Yard dogs greeted her silently at first as she climbed out of the tug. When she slapped the 2 ton rock and turned to them. “What? You want me to take it back?” she demanded.

  Savo started to clap. After a moment the others did too. The chimp came forward grinning and slapped the girl on the shoulder. She winced and flushed, now embarrassed. She oofed in surprise as Alice hugged her and then shook her, saying something she couldn't hear over the clapping and cheering. Mairi nodded dutifully and then Alice passed her on to Harif.

  “We'll get this to the furnaces,” Shari said, grinning. She already had a torch out. “We need that grizzly box and grinder though,” she said, looking at Freeze.

  “Yeah, yeah,” he said, waving off her look. “I know. It'll take some time to build them.”

  “Time we may not have. But I getcha,” Shari replied with a nod as she slapped her faceplate down. “You folks may want to step back, we've got a job to do,” she said, waving to the others. Hastily all but Howie stepped back. Howie had a hover pallet, he was ready for the first load.

  “Very cool kid,” Savo told the girl, patting her shoulder again and then clutching it. “But at least let us know when you put your ass on the line okay?”

  Mairi looked down at him and raised an eyebrow. “You of all people were worried?” she demanded sounding a bit hurt. Didn't he trust her?

  Savo snorted and pointed to Alice. “Me? Nah, I know you better. Alice though...” Alice sighed and held up her hands in surrender. She mouthed a sorry. Mairi nodded.

  “Come on kid, time to get some food into you.”

  “I can go back out,” Mairi offered. Then her stomach growled. It had been a long 12 hour flight.

  Savo looked at her and snorted as Alice scowled and pointed to the hatch. “You're tug isn't the only thing that needs fuel. Listen to the lady, she's a mother. Come on, food, and rest. Tomorrow you get to go out and do it again.”

  “Right,” Mairi said and shrugged, looking over her shoulder to the group tearing the rock apart. It was going fast. She grimaced. It had taken her almost an hour to scoop up that much. At the rate they were going it'd be gone in under an hour.

  “Don't worry I'll refuel the bitch and check her out,” Harif said waving. “See you tonight?” he asked.

  She blushed and then nodded and then let Savo and Alice drag her out. “Okay, okay, coming. Geesh! Just let me stop at a refresher along the way. That was a long flight!” Savo chuckled as they passed through the hatch.

  ...*...*...*...*...

  Mairi was amused when she got home and found an e-mail in her in-box. She checked, a note from her mom saying she'd be out late, and another from her bank. She frowned and clicked on the bank. She found a deposit from Yard Dogs and blinked. After a moment the figure made her grin. Well! She put the tablet down and sat on the couch and chuckled for a good minute. She was on her way to bigger and better things!

  When she settled down she checked the room. She'd set her mother up with an account yesterday morning, with a strict lecture on using it. Her mother had muttered about it but had shut up when her daughter had given her a pointed look. She looked around and then picked up the tablet.

  She'd been tempted to give her mother credits to go shopping, but knowing her mother she'd buy clothes or gamble with the money and not use it to buy food. She flipped through the net until she found the nearest grocery store. She clicked the link and then ran the tip of her tongue over her lips as a few times as she scrolled through the listings.

  Alice had told her she could order like this, order food and not have to go to the store. Just fill an electronic basket with a list of goods, click check out, and then use her thumb to approve the order. Her thumb print and biometric scan would link to her account where the amount would be debited. When the charge cleared the grocery store would fill the order and send it via a delivery bot or agent within an hour. Very cool, she thought, also very convenient. She hunted for her favorites as well as actual meals. She chose items that had a good shelf life as well as a few necessary basics her mother preferred. She'd have to try coffee later though, now she didn't want to experiment.

  ...*...*...*...*...

  Mairi received an unsolicited job offer from one of the industrial corporations that had snidely turned her away. McDougall sounded nasty, almost ordering her to come work for them. That ticked her off, she worked for who she wanted too. She snorted, scanning the message. Either they were interested in her because she'd proven herself and brought in asteroids... or someone wanted her away from the dogs. Either way she was in no hurry. She flicked the message to electronic trash but then thought twice and saved it. Just in case she thought. Then she opened her second e-mail, this one from the board.

  She was gratified by the totals she'd brought in, but then her eyes caught a line she didn't understand. Her index finger hovered over it and a helpful pop up came up. It explained that it was a station tax, newly enacted on all resources that come into the station and were not used to repair or maintain the station. Pissed that the station took a cut of the rock, her rock she cursed.

  She was even more pissed when they charged her for fuel, docking, maintenance... fees... she threw her hands up in the air. “I do my own damn maintenance and fueling! And docking! It's all manual. What the hell!” She turned and angrily punched in an e-mail address.

  Instantly Clio's face was on the screen. “Yes?”

  “We need to sort this out. This is ridiculous,” Mairi said, waving her tablet. “This? This is bull. Who the hell did this?”

  “You are correct. We are sorting it out now. It's not us, it's someone getting cute. I'm tracing it while I block it now.”

  “Well someone better damn well pay me for my own work. I'm charging triple time to the ass who thought this up. Triple overtime!”

  “Well,” Clio said, looking at the address. “Gotcha,” she murmured, tagging Kennet's signature and then sending a thousand copies to a bunch of in-boxes and then slapping a read only tag onto the original. Kennet again. He'd gotten cute and now as the humans said, 'had his hand caught in the cookie jar'. Very well, she like Savo had their own thoughts on such actions, cut the damn hand off.

  “I've got to go. I've got to handle this.

  ...*...*...*...*...

  Kennet swore as his in-box filled with first a lawsuit, then a second, and then subpoenas. He scanned them quickly and then swore again. Damn them! Who... Clio! He saw, noting the address. And not just Clio, D'red the traitor had signed off on this! The head attorney to the station of all people! He scanned it again and then swore. He'd have to respond, and he'd
have to make an apology. Possibly restitution. What was worse though was he'd been caught. He tried to cover his tracks only to find not only a read only tag on the original and copies, but also a red tag of evidence in a judicial inquiry. No not good. He was now being publicly identified and that made him incredible uncomfortable. That well and truly sucked. Well, he'd have to fall back to an ally and see what they could do.

  ...*...*...*...*...

  A knock on Mairi's door made her look up in surprise. At first she was worried about it being the landlord but then shrugged it off. She warily checked the camera feed above the door. “Harif?” she said in surprise and then got up.

  Harif blinked as the door swung open and Mairi was standing there like a blue haired beauty. She was wearing one of her mother's blue silk robes with one shoulder exposed. White lilies were printed on the robe. “Hi,” he said smiling. He held up a flower.

  “Hi,” she said shyly, taking the rose and sniffing it. “Wow. What's the occasion?” she asked, smiling coyly.

  “I just thought since we've got a little time you'd like to take a walk. Maybe see where that came from,” he said.

  “Sure,” she said, shrugging. She needed to stretch her legs. “Come in, let me get changed,” she said. She turned, placed the flower on the counter and then went to her room.

  Harif snorted and closed the door behind him. He looked around and then picked up the flower. He opened a cabinet and found a spot covered glass. He rinsed it out and then added some water and put the flower's stem in it. “There,” he said.

  “Oh,” Mairi said, coming in behind him. She was running her hand through her hair, finger combing it. She was still getting used to having hair. “Thanks,” she murmured.

  “It's not a proper vase but it works,” Harif said. He nodded to her. She had a yellow blouse on, a little big for her though, so she'd rolled up the sleeves above her elbows and tied a knot in the midriff. She had a pair of red shorts on and black spacer shoes.

  “What?” she asked looking down at herself. “I don't have a stain do I?” she asked, checking her front.

  “Now, you just... well, let's just say you'll blend in,” he said, chuckling. “Shall we?” he said, stepping to the door.

  She looked at him with suspicion as she stroked an errant hair over her ear and then shrugged.

  He took her through the station, but when he got into some sections he covered her eyes so she couldn't peek. She grumbled at first, but the horse play made her laugh after a the second time he did it. She could smell plants, a lot of plants, their heady perfumes were intoxicating. Finally he uncovered her eyes. She blinked and then her eyes widened in delight at the park. She gasped at all the grass and flowers and other plants.

  It was gorgeous she realized, feeling tears prick her eyes. How could she have missed this?” she thought. She looked up to the sky, it was blue with puffy clouds. “What the heck?” she asked.

  Harif looked up as she pointed. He chuckled. “It's a projection,” he explained. Her hand dropped and she nodded catching on. “Come on,” he said, taking her hand and tugging her along. “This is what it's like to be ground side! I want to show it all to you!”

  ...*...*...*...*...

  After her second run Alice caught Mairi in a grimy coverall when she came in to the bar to report in. She took one long look and then tisked tisked. Mairi looked down and sighed. “Sorry,” she said.

  “Don't be sorry! We screwed up child not you!” she took her apron off and tossed it behind the bar. “Come on. Let's get you fed and then you and I will go get something more appropriate for you to wear,” she said.

  “But...” Mairi complained and then her stomach growled. Alice snorted. “Okay you win,” Mairi sighed. “At least on the first part. I've never been a clothes horse like my mother,” she grumbled.

  “Yes well, you are a bit of a tom boy, that's for sure,” Alice said and then smiled. “Ralph!” she called. “Ralphi!” she called again, this time louder. She slapped the bar with her hand. The gunshot crack made Mairi wince.

  “What!” Ralph drawled from the back room. He poked his head out. “What is it this time woman?” he demanded.

  Alice's eyes flashed. “I'm going out with Mairi here. You've got the bar,” she said.

  “What??” Ralph demanded, coming out. He glared, fists on his hips.

  “I said,” Alice replied with some teeth in her reply. “You've. Got. The. Bar. Deal with it,” she said, and then took the girl by the elbow and left.

  When they were outside she caught Mairi's stare of disbelief and sputtered a laugh. “And that's how you put a man in his place dear. Come on. I know this dress boutique on the fourth level that has some gorgeous colors that will match your hair!” She grinned. “This is going to be fun. I've always wanted another girl to go shopping with!” she said.

  “What have I gotten myself into,” Mairi laughed, letting herself be dragged along.

  ...*...*...*...*...

  Several hours later Mairi sipped at a straw, amazed by all the shops they had been into. She'd had her hair styled, something she'd never had done in her life. Her hair done, nails, she felt like a million credits. Her feet hurt from all the walking in the new shoes. She was exuberant though, she had several bags stuffed with goodies, all in her size. Her mother couldn't pouch any of this! “This by the way, is my way of thanking you for all you've done. You are a tremendous young lady and I for one am very proud of you,” Alice told her.

  “I've... I've never had new clothes,” Mairi admitted softly. She wasn't sure what to say.

  “I gathered that,” Alice said sympathetically. “Me too. It wasn't until I was older and married to Ralph that I could get the occasional outfit when Kiev stopped somewhere. But when our son was born, well...” she shrugged.

  “I didn't know you had a kid,” Mairi said as they walked along the corridors back to the bar. Or at least she thought they were going to the bar, she'd missed a few turns.

  “He stayed on the Kiev with his wife Brea,” Alice said with a sniffle. “I miss them sometimes, so I keep busy to try to put them out of my mind. It's hard, but they needed the break.”

  “Break?” Mairi asked.

  “Kiev was overloaded with people. She was never designed to hold that many, and even though the admiral rebuilt the ship with the crew we were still pretty packed. A lot of people wanted families of their own but we couldn't support them.”

  “Oh.”

  “Yeah,” Alice sighed. “So some of us decided to get out of the younger generation's way. Let them prove themselves and have the adventures. We had our fill, now we're starting a new one here,” she said, indicating the station. “I was going to have another child but well, Ralph needed to lose some weight and we got into the Yard, and well, everything...” she sighed.

  “Yeah.”

  “I'm going to have a child again. Hopefully someone like you dear,” Alice said. Mairi looked up in surprise. Alice smiled. It was a nice warm smile that made her blink. Before she knew it Alice hugged her to her side. “I'm so very proud of you, you know that?” she asked, wrapping her arm around Mairi's shoulders for a hug. Mairi nodded, head down. “Now come on. Let's go give Ralph a conniption when he sees the bill,” she said wickedly, hip bumping her charge.

  Mairi laughed as they kept walking.

  ...*...*...*...*...

  Olga was wined and dined by a young suave Terran. The rich corporate flak used her to get to Mairi, quickly winning over the impressionable Olga. Olga was easy, the woman was eating out of his hand in under an hour. His good looks were one of his Major assets he thought smugly.

  Two days later Olga was excited about introducing her to her daughter. Mairi however was tired, cranky from another long shift but at peace with her own hand in it. It was the others and how they still fumbled around that bugged her. That and the crap they were still getting from the station and entire universe it seemed. She was seriously considering Savo's idea of moving the 'entire kit and caboodle' to the
yard's barracks when it came online later next month.

  The hatch opened and she nodded to her mother. Her mother smiled widely and pulled a man into view. Mairi turned noting the intruder dressed in a brown business suit. He was slick, black hair, rubber smile... Mairi smelled a rat when her mother introduced Mario to her, and her to Mario. Mairi wasn't happy about his smooth smile, good looks, and apparent knowledge of her and everything she did. She didn't understand what someone like him would want in someone like her mother, after all, mom was still in her twenties, but she wasn't all that hot, nor did she have any money or power. Instantly suspicious she watched him with narrowed eyes. Her mother shrugged off her glare.

  The young man smiled. She saw however, how he shuddered in ill concealed contempt and revulsion when her mother first petted his arm and then turned her smile onto her daughter. He realized she was onto him but tried to stick to the plan. He tried to win her over, “How about you come to the winning team. Make something of yourself.”

  Mairi's eyes flashed dangerously. “I am on a winning team. We just need a fair game and a level playing field,” she said using one of Savo's pet phrases.

  “The Yard dogs are yesterday's news. They are dead before they ever got going. They know it. They're just wasting time. Your time. We'll double what you're being paid now.”

  Her mother clapped her hands together. “That's wonderful! When does she start?” she asked, eyes shining.

  Mairi fumed, angry that her mother had jumped into this. “I haven't agreed to anything yet,” she growled.

  “We'll have our people transfer your ship for disposal and get you a new one. You'll have to share it, unfortunately we can't build another, no one can right now but you'll have plenty of time off to spend your earnings here on the station or down on the planet. I'll have the work crew in the slip in an hour,” he said smoothly, ignoring the girl. After all, technically she was still a juvenile.

  “That's wonderful!” Olga said, smiling beautifully. “Isn't it dear?” she turned, giving her daughter a pointed look to go with the warning tone in her voice. The implied threat went right over Mairi's head.