----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A year ago today:
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I woke up this morning across the way from landing pad: Hou- NW 8675309 & pulled my last tube of synth paste out of my pocket & had breakfast while I waited for today's pay to land.
It didn't take that long, & after about an hour, the air displacement from a relatively tiny freighter re-arranged the litter on the street as I made my way into position behind a crate about fifteen feet from where the the ship's landing ramp will drop.
Soon enough, my mark walks down the plank as I pull my knife, approach him & say: "Hey! I like your boots, want to live?"
...Hmm. He doesn't seem to understand the trouble he's about to be in, because he just sighed at me, rolled his eyes & shook his head.
Without a word, he pulled out two thin gold bars from his coat pocket & held them out to me like a pair of cards.
SCORE! I thought to myself, knowing I can stay fed with those for almost a month.
"Your a real smart tourist" I say out loud as I reach out for the bars & get to mugging the dude all proper like.
Before I knew it, the guy shifted his weight, & like a flash, broke my knife-wrist by one good hit with the bars like a hammer.
I dropped the knife & fell to my knees before the pain even started, & the next thing I know, I'm knocked on my back as the guy's boot breaks my nose and I start swallowing blood.
Oh, god...I think I'm in trouble.
Facing up at the sky, I catch a glimpse of the transport's name as the dude drops to his knees on top of me.
I blink a couple times, & the next thing I see is a fist of rushing knuckles a split second before my left eye socket shatters. (At least I think it shattered...I'm more worried right now about what I think he's doing to my jaw)
Oh god...this turned out to be a BIG mistake & I really wish I could scream.
::I'm sorry...please...I won't do it again...just stop...please, I'm begging you...(sob) ...I don't want to die...i'm so sorry...::
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'I should stop...Why don't I just stop?...I'm going to kill this guy...So, just..stop Riley.........Damnit, STOP!!'
...Crap, I think I might have gone too far...this guy is pulp.
I lift myself up & look around while holding my boot to the muggers throat, & notice a group of people pretending not to watch from across the street & in front of what looks like a bum-camp.
Oh, god...this turned out to be a BIG mistake & I really wish I could scream.
I feel guilty now, so I reach back into my pocket & toss down all six of the gold bars I have on me, & they land with a thud onto the guy's chest as I call for an ambulance through my neural net.
"These should pay for your room & board in a med-bay until you heal." I say down to him, and begin to walk across the street to offer an address of general menace to the shocked & onlooking lot:
"I'm giving this money to Mr. Crippled here, & If I find out that any of you vultures lift it off him before the medics arrive, I will turn my ship around & do the same to each & every one of you!"
"ARE - WE - CLEAR?!"
My answer comes in the form of speechless fear and averted gazes.
I turn on my heel & reboard my transport as the memory of what I've just done forces the pit of my stomach to sink with regret.
::I'm sorry...please...I won't do it again...just forgive me...please, I'm begging you...(sob) ...I don't want you to die...i'm so sorry...::
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ten months ago today:
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'Mr. Mackenzie, it is currently zero eight hundred hours, Sir.'
...
...
...'Mr. Mackenzie, it is currently zero eight zero three hours, Sir.'
...
...'Mr. Mackenzie, it is currently zero eight zero five hou-'
"--ALRIGHT! I'M UP!!"
'Sir, I have left geosynchronous orbit above Los Angeles at precicely zero eight hundred, and we are currently en-route to the Texas jumphole as you requested.'
"Aye, thanks Bob...I'll be down in a minute."
Riley swung into a sitting position on the edge of his bed & took a moment to scrape the crust from his eyes as he felt the rumble of his Bumblebee's engines under his bare feet through the deckplates & travel up his calves.
Alot has changed in two months, he thought to himself as stood and stretched while letting out an exageratedly sleepy yawn.
He traded up to a better, more liveable freighter, put aside enough cash to buy a robot to help run his ship, he suprisingly enjoys his new life as a trucker, & is presently on his way to Houston to make amends to someone he almost damn near killed eight weeks earlier.
After getting dressed & turning on the Colony News Service, Riley headed down the stairs & into the galley for a spot of breakfast as he lost his footing, following a craft-rattling boom.
"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!?" he screamed interrogatively to his robotic servant.
'We have lost power to the engines Sir, I think you should come to the cockpit'
"But what happened!?"
'I believe the gentleman on the comm channel can explain it best Sir.'
"Who? What man?"
'Unknown Sir, but he's very insistant.'
Riley darts down the hall & into the front of the ship, glaring out the window & yells into the console:
Riley hits the 'mute' button & turns to face his robotic companion.
"Do we even have a million?"
'Yes Sir: three point six million, not counting the profits made from our current cargo to be sold on planet Houston.' said Bob.
This is a new experience for Riley...up until now he's always been very lucky & has never had direct dealings with a pirate before, so, under stress & without weighing his options, decides to bluff.
"One million or death are my only two choices?" he asks into the console.
"Don't waste my time Zoner!" replies the pirate. "You can cough up the credits, or choke in space!"
"I'm just insulted that I'm only worth a million to you...don't you want to hear my counter offer?"
There was a long pause...at least it seemed that way to Riley, as he began to nervously sweat buckets & his inner voice started to panic.
'::I'm doomed. Why didn't I just shut up & pay out? What the hell do I say next? Oh crap, I'm dead. Why do I always get myself into corners like this? God, I hate Liberty. I'm so doomed.'::
He wipes the sweat from his brow as he sets a blind waypoint & prepairs to run.
::'What the hell am I doing?!':: he continues to think to himself as he watches his fingers manipulate the NavCom as if they wern't his own. ::'I'ts not too late, just agree to the price & go throw up after he's gone. Damn! I'm going to die like a gnat on Liberty's left butt-cheek!'::
"Alright," finally came the pirate's reply. "I'm listening."
::'Ok, good. I can just give him what he wants & get out of here.':: He thought to himself with a sigh of relief.
The laughter that exploded through the Erinloch's cockpit speakers was deafening as Riley began to realize what he had said, & felt his panic come close to critical mass.
"--HAHAHAHAHA!Zoner, you've got a real pair of eggs on you...I'll tell you what: 500k for giving me such a good laugh."
"That's not what my demands are, Squire." replied the habitually suicidal Discordian.
'What the hell is wrong with you?!' his inner voice screamed.
"Think about it mate," Riley continued out loud, "do you think it's wise to judge a book by it's cover?...Do you honestly believe I would be stupid enough fly an underpowered ship such as this, without direct access to protection?"
'Yes, I AM exactly that stupid!' he replied in his head.
I have contact to people VERY closeby that put the 'shadow' in 'shadow ops' & I have the power to grease the wheels that pull the type of strings that ultimately determine the length of your life.
Riley, you lying bas*ard!
"..........Heh!... listen up you crazy Zon--"
"--NO!! YOU LISTEN UP!!" he interupted both angrily & fearfully desperate to maintain the momentum of control that has, at least for the moment, swung in his favor. "When you marked me as a target, did you honstley think it through?!"
"Who's REALLY the crazy one here?!...PAY ME OR DIE!!"
At this point, Riley's mind has just completely snapped, given up trying to be the voice of reason, & doesn't even bother anymore as he hears himself begin to rant into the console...
![[Image: ijx1WzN.jpg]](https://i.imgur.com/ijx1WzN.jpg)