Stellar Objects

Chapter 25: Golden Handshake

Andra stared at the sky as the spaceship hurtled towards her.

As it got closer, she thought the hodge-podge ship looked more at home on the rubbish Heap than in space. It had been clearly stitched together from pieces of other ships and Andra guessed those other ships hadn't given up their parts willingly.

"This now feels like a very bad idea," said Shakes. He grabbed her hand and pulled her back a few steps as the space ship grew four landing gears and came to rest on the rubbish.

"I hate to agree with you," she said, "but you might be right."

The airlock opened and a figure stood silhouetted against the yellow glow of the interior. A gangplank unfurled, touching down on the squishy soil.

"What is that?" asked Shakes as the figure stepped out onto the gangplank, and into the harsh sunlight.

The creature stood upright, had two arms and two legs, but had a face like a sea creature Andra thought she recognized from a picture book.

"Crawl away infants," the creature commanded. Andra recognized its voice as Kraylx's.

Andra squeezed Shakes' hand for good luck. He sauntered towards this fish out of water.

"Sorry, sushi," said Shakes. "I'm your buyer."

"I don't do business with children," spat the humanoid squid.

"Good," said Andra. "Cuz neither do we. We've got the money if you've got the goods."

"Show me," said Kraylx, suddenly more comfortable doing commerce with kids.

Andra knew that adults, even alien ones, were obsessed with money. They loved looking at it, talking about it, killing people for it. There was something about money that she didn't understand; it had a power over adults that turned them into something else...like rats.

"Show me you got the crate," replied Shakes.

Kraylx made a sound like a whistle and a long, grey tentacle burst from the airlock door. Andra stepped back, worried it was going to scoop her up. But she noticed it held onto a metal box with a sucker. It dropped the box at Kraylx's feet and the alien tapped the tentacle as if it was a pet. Andra noted not to tell George about the tentacle, fearing he'd want one too.

Kraylx opened the crate and white steam hissed out. A small cloud wafted towards Andra and she was worried it might burn her, but the mist was cold, not hot.

"All the vials are accounted for," said Kraylx. Andra peered in, and counted six rows by eight columns. Six times eight was....? She didn't know her timetables, but the crate looked full to her.

"Now, show me my money," the squid demanded.

"Wait," she said. "How do we know the vials are legit?"

"I have a reputation to uphold," he said. "That's what keeps me in business. That...and my laser cannon. I torch anyone who double-crosses me."

Andra noticed the other thing adults loved more than money was talking about themselves. She wanted to keep this squid squawking while Simmo and his gang made good on their side of the trade. If she was going to lose her bracelet, Andra wanted to ensure she got what she'd bargained for.

"And what other business do you do?" she asked.

"I get things," he said. "For anyone without the conventional methods of acquisition. And I don't ask questions like you do."

"My associate is merely curious," said Shakes.

"You know what curiosity did to the cat, little girl?" said Kraylx.

Andra hated being called little; and hated being called a girl. She had half a mind to rip a few of the tentacles off this squid's face, but the other half reminded her of her mission. She swallowed her pride, kept her cool, and kept Kraylx distracted.

"And if you are curious," she said, "here's your money."

Andra heaved her bag to Kraylax's feet. Shakes followed her lead. He bent over and inspected the loot. She noticed his hands had scales as they sunk into the bags of gold.

Behind the alien, Andra spotted Simmo's gang scaling the space ship and silently removing panels and parts. His crew were the most efficient scavengers on the Heap, and in a matter of minutes, they'd have the ship stripped of its most valuable and resalable components.

Unaware of the meticulous deconstruction behind him, Kraylx pulled out a handful of gold coins and screamed.

The sound was awful; a blend between a screech and a howl. Andra had never heard anything like it, but she was pretty sure it didn't mean 'thank you.'

"I cannot spend this!" stated the squid. "This is Martian money."

Shakes grabbed a coin from the alien's hand and shoved it at what Andra guessed was his mouth. "Taste it, go on."

Kraylx pressed the coin against on of his writhing face-tentacles. His eyes widened.

"Exquisite," he purred.

"The gold's pure," said Shakes. "You can melt it down, reform it. And for your trouble, there's ten percent more than you asked for."

Kraylx's facial tentacles intertwined, as if he was thinking hard. "Then our business is concluded," he announced, easily picking up both bags. "And should you kids ever need to acquire...anything; you call Kraylx first."

Andra could see Simmo's crew still on the ship and she knew she had to stall for time. "Like what kind of stuff, Mr. Kraylx?" she asked, feigning respect where she actually had none.

"There's nothing I can't get," he said, "because this galaxy's full of the stupid and the corrupt."

As he spoke, Andra caught Simmo's eye. The gang leader was watching his crew from the port side of the attack ship. He caught the cue and shooed his people off the ship.

Andra smiled. "We'll keep that in mind, Mr. Kraylx," she said. "Stupid and corrupt. Bye now."

She reached for the crate and hoisted it into an embrace. She didn't want it out of her hands, especially with Simmo's gang lurking around.

Kraylx carried his bags of money up the gangplank. "One more thing," he added. Andra gulped. "Thanks for bringing me here; best smelling place in the universe. It's sweet and peppery, like my home egg."

Shakes rolled his eyes at Andra and they walked away, getting quickly out of the squid's sightline.

They didn't get far, however, before the screech-howl rang out over the Heap. Kraylx must've just discovered that his ship had been scoured and scavenged.

"I'm gonna fry you kids!" he screamed.

Andra reached into her pocket for the comms link. She pressed the call button and hailed the Ghandi. "Um, Judson, we could really use that ride now."

"Something's wrong," he replied. "I'm locked out of the remote. You're on your own."