Chris Hechtl [The Wandering E 13 Degrees of Separation (v5.0)

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.“Darling that is a marvelous idea,” her mother said turning a beautiful smile on her daughter.Then her face clouded with a thoughtful look.“Though finding some rich man to take care of me, I mean us would be appealing too.” she murmured.Mairi sighed, shaking her head mournfully.Her mother was on to that again.She'd harped about her great plan for the entire trip.A sugar daddy she called it, someone to take care of her in her 'old age'.Her thoughts turned to why they'd ended up here instead of their intended destination.When the MM as the crew called her picked them up in Senka while passing through to Triang she'd been eager to go.Her mother hadn't she didn't want to lose the world she'd lived in.She hadn't been happy about losing Edgar or any of the other contacts she'd made over the years.Friends she called them, though Mairi knew better.They were all users, each preying on the other in turn.She'd been tempted to leave her mother there.Sorely tempted.After all, she had to leave the nest sometime right? And her mother was an adult, she could theoretically look after herself right? She'd been doing it since she'd been twelve and pregnant with Mairi, or so she liked to tell her daughter over and over.Of course Mairi knew better.Granddad had been the real one taking care of both her and her mother during that time.She smiled a little when she thought of the MM.It was her first experience on a starship, she'd liked the experience.Much better than the Tin Plated Bitch, though it was pretty run down, even more than her little tug.She'd had enough to pay for their tickets and to transport the Bitch.But when the chief caught her wandering he'd drafted her to work.She hadn't minded, it had kept her busy, and the ship credit's he'd paid her were for an untrained hand but had gone a long way to pay her mother's gambling debt she'd somehow racked up.How the hell her mother had found a game.she fought a sigh of exasperation.That had certainly soured her mood, finding out about that just before they had arrived in Triang orbit.Finding out her mother had put her ship for collateral had seriously put her in a foul mood.They'd had heated words over that, luckily ship's security hadn't been called.She'd made it clear to the crew that the bitch was hers and off limits.What her mother did to pay her debts.After that her mother had fewer games to play and therefore stayed in their quarters and sulked.Mairi didn't care, she was kept busy working off the debt anyway.Mairi's foul mood hadn't lasted for long, because when they had arrived in Triang they'd found out about the news of admiral Irons and Antigua.The Captain had been fascinated by the newly restored factory station and had changed course for the nearby system.A few of the people had been put out about the course change but he was the Captain.They were given a choice, be dropped off in Triang or head on to Antigua and possibly to Pyrax through the B450a warp chain down to Gaston and then back over to Pyrax.Many people were as intrigued by the station as the Captain and crew were so no one had taken him up on his offer.They'd even picked up an extra 100 passengers for the short hop.The ship had been crowded but again she'd kept busy and away from the passenger lounge.She'd never seen so many people in one place in her life and it was a bit scary for her.Fortunately the Captain's course change had altered their ticket.The Captain could have stiffed them but he was an honest sort and he'd given them a partial refund.So, instead of getting off in Pyrax as they'd thought they'd gotten off here in Antigua on Antigua prime.When it was finally their turn Mairi took charge.They asked about the Tin Plated Bitch.The interviewer was amused by the name.He shot her a look.She just shrugged it off looking away.“I didn't name it, I just fly it.”“Okay.”“Anything else to declare?” he asked.She put the bags on the counter.He put them through some sort of rectangular scanner and then sorted them out on the other side.“Why'd you put it in the box if you're just going to ruffle through it anyway?” Olga asked.He turned to her and was hit by her high voltage smile of charm.Mairi tried hard not to roll her eyes but it was difficult.Her mother flirted with just about anyone who wasn't another split it seemed.The customs agent smiled back and then shrugged.“The scanner only gets some of it, we have to eyeball the rest.He took out a bottle of hooch and looked at it [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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