Shiva
Shiva already knew most of the details but Si answered any questions she had.
"They'll transfer me over to the new ship?" she asked.
"That's what Virgil says. We'll get you backed up to a portable drive - just in case. That would make me feel better - but I'm sure I'm not the only one with a customized ship's computer."
"That would make me feel better too, Si. I think I would miss you."
"I'd definitely miss you, sexy. I would have lost my mind by now if it wasn't for you."
"You heading to see Rita?"
"Yeah."
"Can I come?" Staci asked.
"You'll need to ..."
"... change to Gwen?"
"Yes. I need to get you some clothes."
"I like your clothes."
"Yeah. I don't know. I'm not sure if you wearing my clothes just suggests that we're lovers - or if it suggests that you were naked when I found you and you're wearing them out of necessity."
"You're overthinking, Si," Shiva said.
"Probably."
Once Staci had finished changing to look like Gwen, Si leaned in to give her a kiss. The overbite was almost endearing. He was still convinced that it would be hard for her not to look sexy.
"You hot for Gwen now, too, big boy?" Shiva taunted.
"Hush, you."
The computer snickered.
Si glanced at his data-pad, checking his inventory.
"I'll probably stop and see Josiah's replacement after I check in with Rita," Si told Shiva. "By the time I get back, I'm hoping Virgil will have us set up at the new place and we'll get started moving whatever I haven't sold."
"Grab those credit sticks. You've got several that need checked," she told him.
"I think I might wait on those. I've got some shit to pawn too. We'll probably be here a day or two. I can fuck with that shit later. Let's get moved first."
"Roger, Roger. Staci?"
"Yes, Shiva?"
"Try not to look too cute - and take care of our boy," the computer cautioned.
"I'll do my best," the alien replied.
~~~
"Hi, sweetie," Rita said.
"Hi, Rita."
"I was talking to the girl, tug-slug," Rita said, laughing.
Si shook his head and smiled.
"Let me drop this off and I'll get Karl to make another. I didn't realize you had company," she told him, setting the food down in front of Staci. "Coffee okay, hun?"
"Yes, thank you," Si's companion replied.
"We'll talk when I get back," the waitress said, looking into the girl's hazel-green eyes.
Staci/Gwen nodded.
"She's very smart," the alien told Si as the woman went to get his breakfast.
"She takes good care of me. Karl - her husband - is in the kitchen. I don't know what I'd do without them."
"Go ahead and eat, Stace. She'll have something out for me in no time."
Si's dinner-date moaned as she tasted the food.
"Yeah. It's just breakfast - and I get the same thing every time - but it tastes so much better than that shit the food-fabricator makes - even with as much as I spent on that damned thing."
"Scooch," Rita said, dropping in next to Si and setting the platter and coffee mug in front of him.
"This is nice," Si said, smiling at her inquisitively.
"Your new friend ... is ... uh ... unique. I'm not the only one who has high-quality scanners. You are probably safe most places at Seb's but you may want to be really careful about taking your friend off the ship anywhere else."
"Yeah, me and Shiva talked about that."
"Shiva being more cautious than you?"
"Yeah."
"Listen to her."
"I try to," he said, smiling and shaking his head.
"Eat," she told him. "I'm Rita," she said, extending her hand to Staci.
Staci shook the proffered hand and said, "Staci. Nice to meet you."
Rita quirked an eyebrow at the Terran-sounding name but just smiled and nodded.
"I assume you're heading to see Harlan next, Si. Sit here a minute. I expect you'll have a couple visitors soon."
Si continued piling food into his maw but raised an eyebrow.
"Try not to get too much of that down the front of you. One of your visitors won't care - but the other might notice."
With that, she stood, refilled their coffee cups, and headed back to her station. She had just cleared their table, and was returning with two slices of coconut cream pie when Si saw the crewman he had talked to on the commercial shuttle - who was being followed by a man in a fancy suit. Si slid out of the booth, brushed the crumbs off of his clothes, and stepped forward to extend his hand to the crewman.
"You guys come out okay?"
"Thanks to you. Never got your name."
"Si."
"Nice to see you again, Si. I'm Gil," the man said, finally releasing his hand. "So - two things. First, the passengers passed a hat and asked me to tell you that this doesn't mean much but they're super thankful." He handed Si a credit-stick.
"You shouldn't ..."
"I know you'd do the same. Take it. As I said, it's just a token. Lots of people were freaking the fuck out when we dumped out in the middle of the space-lane. You undoubtedly saved our lives. That brings us to number two. This, here, is a big shot from the company."
The suit stepped up and extended his hand. Si took it. It was a real handshake. Si was a little surprised - and then felt embarrassed for thinking that. His cheeks pinked a little.
"My name is Stan Meski," the man said, finally releasing Si's hand. He extended a credit-stick. "On behalf of the company, I have been tasked with giving you this and extending our warmest thanks. That holds the salvage value for the vessel you rescued - as well as a token reward to symbolize the company's appreciation for your quick thinking and heroic actions."
"Thanks," Si said, blushing again.
"Now."
Si looked up. The man's eyes were focused on him.
"I have spoken to every single passenger and employee who was on that transport. I cannot begin to tell you how anxious they were - stuck there - in harm's way. I am grateful to whatever deity will listen that you came along when you did. I am the VP of Customer Relations and - as much as this could have been a monumental catastrophe, I sincerely care about our customers - and your brave actions are beyond the ability for us to assign a value."
"Thanks."
"If you need anything - and I mean anything, contact me."
From the look on the man's face, Si believed him.
The man extended his hand again. When Si took it, he said, "It was a pleasure to meet you, Si. If you had been here to see the tears of joy when those passengers were reunited with their families, you would have a small sense of the true value of what you did."
"Thanks, that means a lot," Si said.
"Like I said, Si. Anything," he said, nodding. He turned and headed towards the exit.
"Never met him before," Gil told Si, "but he ain't lyin'. He talked to every person, brought their families in to see them, and made sure they all got back to where they needed to be. The last of them cleared off yesterday."
"Thanks, Gil."
"Take care, buddy. That suit's serious about his offer, by the way."
Si shook the crewman's hand again before the man turned to leave.
Si glanced over at Rita. She pointed him back to the booth. He dropped back into the seat and started on his pie.
"I almost ate yours," Staci told him.
"Rita can bring you another one."
"She said she's gotta bake some more."
"You want it?"
"Yes but you eat it; it's fabulous."
"You're fabulous and, yes, this is my favorite."
"It is my favorite too."
Si snort-laughed - and then groaned as he felt her foot massaging his cock beneath the table.
"This is my favorite too," the alien said.
"You gotta stop. Somebody else must be coming to visit us and I need to not have a massive hard-on when they get here."
"Massive is right."
"Hush."
"Yes ... master."
"Stop."
Staci grinned shyly and bit her bottom lip.
"Seriously. I'll take you back to the ship."
Staci giggled, quirked her eyebrow suggestively, but took her foot away.
The door opened and Virgil walked in. Si stood to his feet - and then realized that Seb was behind the ship-buyer. Virgil stepped up, shook his hand - and then Seb followed suit. Si glanced from the station owner to his employee but Virgil's eyes told him to focus on Seb.
"So," Seb began, "I'd planned to actually start making a profit off of your rent - and then you went and fucked up that plan." He grinned before continuing, "On behalf of everyone on this station, Thank you. That transport company exec has been in my office for two days straight. I cannot begin to tell you how happy they are. I may not know you but I know you're solid. Based on that - and your actions - I'm sure you didn't even think about all of that when you were saving those people's lives. Hell, you do that shit every day. It's gruesome, thankless work, and you do it without complaint - more efficiently than anyone else."
Si was a little surprised to hear the station owner curse - and more impressed that it sounded like he knew what salvage operators really did.
"Your rent on the new space will be exactly my cost - just like it was on the old space. You make all of us money, even if I'd love to squeeze a few more credits out. In reward for your quick-thinking and life-saving actions, I have directed Virgil and the others to install some upgrades on your new ship and beef up the security for your new home. It is my hope that you will stick around here for a long time. Not only are you good people but you're making the rest of us look good. Thank you."
Seb shook Si's hand and Virgil stepped up.
"Since I know you detest the standard food-fabricators, we'll be installing a deluxe kitchen in your new ship ..."
"Old Timer," Si said.
Virgil laughed and said, "I like it. The Old Timer will have the best kitchen available. We'll replace the standard renderer with the best ones I can find; instead of one, you'll have a pair. I've got my guys working on beefing up the scanners, as well. You'll have the same micro-scan but we'll bump out your long-range - on both passive and active. Our weapons crew will quadruple your defensive capabilities. Dock-side and space-side, we'll beef up the security on your docking-bay. I would offer to increase your storage-space but I really don't want you hoarding resources."
Virgil smiled as he said the last bit. Si smiled back. Virgil pulled out his data-pad, tapped a few buttons, and a notification popped up on Si's pad.
"By the time you get to your new home, you'll find three cargo droids waiting for you. That last bit is a little selfish on our part. You're already exponentially faster than the other tugs because of your larger work-crew. Any chance we could get you to sell us a copy of the specs you use - so we can build some for the other operators?"
"Probably. I'll have to have Shiva build you a non-customized version of their control-program. I'm not sure what she's tweaked."
"That's your ship's computer?"
"Yeah."
"Nice. Let me know, will ya?"
"We'll hang around until it's done. I think I can find a few things to keep me busy."
Virgil laughed and said, "The boys are telling me two or three days on those upgrades. I won't be able to drop the new ship in until those are completed. You okay with Shiva staying on the Fool's Errand for now?"
"Yeah. She's a little nervous about the switch so I need to track down a portable back-up drive."
