The Busted Blues

[Stoner_Steve]

“Alright Ted, unless you manage to claw back your blind this is the last hand”
“I still don’t understand why I have to put money in without even seeing my cards”
“Its how poker works Ted”
“It sounds like a scam”
“If it was a scam you’d be an expert in it by now Ted”

Ted frowned unhappily as he slid his last chip out into the center of the table joining another two from Jasper. As Jimmy started to deal the cards out Jasper horsley cracked “So Ted” he paused for a second picking up the freshly delt cards on the table, “Are you going to enliten Jimmy and I about where you’ve been running off to every other night it seems.” Ted scowled further as he picked up his hand “No comment”. It was Jimmy's turn to prod “Common Ted, you disappear for almost a whole week and show back up with a Celestra, they don’t exactly have them down at the dealership.” Jimmy paused for a moment while looking his hand over. “I’ll take two” as he placed a pair of cards down and taking two more from the deck. “It's not stolen right, we're not trying to get caught again Ted.”

Ted sighed explosively “I’ll take four”
“No you fold” Jasper cut across him
“But I want four cards”
“If you need four cards you have a trash hand and need to fold”
“But I’m out of chips then”
“Happens”

Ted scowled again while setting the whole hand down. “Well I guess I’m out” he huffed. Looking at Jasper, “and I guess you're up” “No” Jasper grinned again “I fold too.” Jimmy laughed as he took the three chips from the center of the table. “Alright Gentlemen I’ve gotten it all but the shirts off your backs time to call it a night.” he gathered the cards before standing in the rather cramped dinette area of their shared quarters aboard Freeport Providence and disappearing around the corner into the kitchen. “A nightcap?” Jimmy offered, returning with a bottle of wine and three glasses. At the collective agreement of the other two he uncorked the bottle and poured out glasses between the trio.

Silence fell between them for some moments, each drinking from time to time. “So Ted, I need to know, that freighter wasn’t stolen right, we just…” Ted cut Jimmy off sounding exasperated “I know, I know, we just got out. It's a fully clean deal, I know what I’m doing.” It was Jimmy's turn to cut Ted off. “I’m not trying to say you don’t know how to buy a ship cleanly. I'm wondering where you came up with half a million credits to buy one. I can see you haven’t spent the credits we split, and It's not exactly like you can get out and stand on a street corner...” he trailed off at the sight of Ted's scowl. “Well if you don’t want me to prod you better fess up.”

“Fine” Ted sighed exasperatedly. “You see it all started last week….

__________

Ted entered the crowded flight deck of Freeport Providence, in the absence of a station administrator, and more importantly a departure board the flight deck had descended into a hodgepodge of chaos. Fighters and freighters covered almost every open space with the majority of their pilots standing out front of their ships. Some calling out their destination and prices for fare, others with cardboard signs with sloppy handwriting.

Approaching a rather battered Clydesdale Ted found its pilot sleeping with his feet up on a pile of crates. Kicking them slightly with his foot, “Oyi you, going to Huston?” The pilot gave a non commital grunt. “Do you go anywhere on Huston?” another grunt in response. “So I’ll just wait inside?” A few minutes later the pilot lumbered inside and they departed for the Texas system.

An hour, or was it a few hours, later Ted found himself on the dusty surface of Planet Huston, watching the Clydsdale streak back into the vast sky. As the freighter became little more than a little pinprick Ted approached a fence, almost 10 feet high and as rusty as it was useful. Finding the swing gate open, with the words “Wills Wrecking Yard” scrawled out in scrap metal along its face.

“WILL!” Ted exclaimed into the yard. His voice echoing off of the spacecraft in various states of decay. “WILL!” he exclaimed again. A faint “Over here” floated by in reply. Walking up the rows Ted found an old contact of his, sitting under a Arrow Fighter with a pry bar. A rather ugly looking rock was deeply embedded in the hull. “Ted is that you? I thought you died! It’s been almost 4 years since I’ve seen you!” Will quickly rattled off while he stood and grabbed Ted's outstretched hand. “What brings you back to this dusty corner of Liberty.” “I’m lookinh for something to get me and some cargo from a to b.” “well, we might have somethin’ working around here”

It took them the better part of an hour to work their way through the entire inventory. Despite the great number of craft littering the lot only a dozen were immediately repairable with only two starting on the first, or third try.

“Alright Ted, which is it gonna be?” Will asked, both of them standing before the only ‘working’ freighters. A “Celestra" Crayter Armed Frighter with only a largish hole in the side and a IDC K-FR-2303 "Sunburst" Civilian Freighter with the same inexplicable hole, this one however on top instead of the side of the craft. “You know Will, if I didn’t know better I’d say that these two were boarded by Pirates.” “But you do know better don’tcha?” “I do, they got papers?” “Aye, salvage titles though, Interspace won’t insure you” At Wills comment Ted burst out laughing. “I don’t think they would insure me anyways.” Ted gestured to the Celestra “Put a bow on that one for me.” “Okay, better follow me inside then” “Why?” “For the space suit obviously”

__________

“Hold the phone” Jimmy interrupted. “This whole time you had a friend you could scrounge off of but I have to feed you like some lost puppy” “Now now Jimmy,” Ted grinned, “He didn’t let me have it entirely for free.” “Oh great someone else I gotta settle up with when I meet. You know Ted just once I’d like to visit a bar and be able to open and run the tab up, not just pay yours down.” “Will doesn’t run a bar” “Goddamn Ted what did he trade you that thing for” “A Liver”

“Excuse Me?”
“Can I finish my story?”

__________

Will and Ted were both inside the trailer that represented Wills home and office. “...and that's why I need a new liver. Of course workin this place barely pays for my food and fuel, nothin close to what a fancy engineered organ would cost.” Ted stared into the table between them “Will, even if that hulk of scrap outside gets me back to the Freeport, there's no way it would be able to go far enough…” Will interjected “Ted, this doesn’t need to happen tomorrow, the doctors say I have a few months before things get real bad.” It was Ted's turn to cut Will off “these same doctors are just going to blindly stuff a liver into you, is that even a thing, can I just walk up to a hospital and go ‘hello here's a liver please replace mine’.” Ted cackled a bit “If it's that easy I got a buddy who needs a new drinking liver too!” Teds laughter faded slowly, Will frowned before speaking again. “I got it all here in a data chip, it's simple Ted, you just go to Heisenberg, you pay one of those Freelance doctors to print me a liver, you bring it back.” “Your serious” “Ted I need this.” “Fine”

The Celestia rattled and shook as Ted coaxed the craft higher and higher into the atmosphere. As he broke orbit the cockpit glass momentary fogged before clearing, no doubt he was truly in space now. As the engines wined up to a high pitch and thrust gently pulled Ted into his seat he was bound in a ship of his very own for Freeport Providence.

__________

Ted picked up his wine glass, finishing it once more. “And that’s how the Chicago Typewriter became mine” he sneered at Jimmy “lllllleeeeeegggggaaaaallllllllyyyyyy.”

“Ted, you can’t honestly expect to take a half damaged freighter all the way to Cologne.” “It's all cosmetic, I promise, and you heard me he’s got at least a few months, hopefully, maybe.” Ted trailed off and grimaced.

There was an awkward silence between the trio.

“So a Liver?”

“Yeah, a Liver.”