Just Another Commodity
By: X
X0832001@yahoo.com
Rated PG-13 for Cursing
Disclaimer: I own nothing and am getting no money
"A bit of a scrape" was quite an understatement. The Maru had never looked so bad. Before he had even crossed the threshold Beka could see her little engineer diagnosing problems and making notes on a little pad that had appeared magically from somewhere in his low hanging tool belt. Drawing her attention away from the boy muttering to himself she looked around for Rev.
Beka didn't see Rev approaching from a doorway behind her. She heard the door open and the familiar shuffle of the Maggog's feet. What Beka saw was the boy jerk his head up so fast she expected whiplash. Terror was in his eyes as he drew himself back against the smooth metal wall. Rev made the mistake of opening his fang filled mouth to speak. Harper made a strangled cry and shocked Beka by literally climbing the walls.
The kid leveraged one foot on one wall, the other on the opposite side of the corner and jammed his fingers in a gap in the deck plates above his head. He was mere moments away from swinging through the ceiling when Beka found her voice. Stepping between her Wayist and her engineer she barked "Get down here monkey man. Rev is safe."
"He's Maggog" snarled the boy. It took this long for Beka to remember her bony young man was from Earth. Earth was a world ravaged by Maggog and under the tyranny of the Neitzchiens. Rev was probably not going to win any popularity contests among mudfoots like this boy.
"Rev, can you make yourself scare for a while?" The Wayist nodded and retreated. When he was gone Harper hopped down from his perch. He was glaring warily at Beka. "I forgot to warn you about Rev."
"You have a Maggog on your ship!"
"He's a Wayist monk, he's safe."
"Maggog are not safe" he sighed and pulled out his pad again. Beka had to admit she was slightly surprised at how quickly he had gotten back to work.
"So you are OK with this?"
"You need me, you hired me, and I'll do my job. Keep him away from me and we'll be just fine Ma'am." Harper headed for the engine room, eyes darting from side to side in search of the Maggog.
The kid sure was industrious. Once he got the lay of the land Beka couldn't stop him from working. She watched him for a few minutes but it was clear he didn't need her help. He was a brilliant crackpot. After spending a few hours setting up the details for her next salvage run she went to check on the boy again. She found a boot sticking out of the wall. Rolling her eyes at the bizarreness she found a panted leg attached to the boot. Further investigation revealed the rest of the Personnel Unlimited Inc. employee wedged in her Slipstream core.
"Hell-lo" she called. The boy snapped to attention so fast he just missed smacking his head on the roof of his little tunnel. Hands down and now leaning back on his elbows in order to make eye contact with his boss the kid waited for her to speak again. "Just seeing how repairs were coming."
"Right on schedule Ma'am"
"Harper, don't call me Ma'am." He nodded. "Now this schedule, since you get paid by the day I assume it has you finishing in what? A week?"
"No Ma'-Boss" he smirked "I'll be all done here tomorrow." Beka was shocked. Harper smiled. Looking around if she ignored the scattered tools she could see repairs had been made. She was pretty impressed.
"Keep up the good work then"
"Right-O Boss" He twirled a welder in deft fingers and got back to work.
Beka left the kid alone again and went to open her mail. It was mostly bills and credit warnings. She had expected to be out at least a week for repairs. If the kid was true to his word she could afford to take on a short run for the day after tomorrow. She plopped down in her chair and looked through the few offers she had. Her luck held out and the final note was just what she was looking for. She sent a reply to the sender and stood up. This was really turning out to be a pretty good day.
Her stomach growled. Glancing at the time she realized it was already 1900. She needed some dinner. On her way to the mess she passed a meditating Rev. The Wayist glanced up at her from his position on the floor and smiled. "Dinner?" he asked. Beka nodded.
"Care to join me?"
"Maybe Master Harper would prefer to dine with you. By the sounds coming from that room the boy hasn't stopped for a meal."
"Wow, I will then. Thanks Rev" she started to walk down the hall again but added, "Thanks for giving the kid space. It's not your fault Maggog wig him out."
"Ah, it is just a grim reminder of the cruelty of my brothers who have not found the Way."
"He'll be gone and things should be back to normal day after tomorrow." Then she headed for the engines again.
Harper was hanging like a bat from a coolant pipe in the ceiling of the engine room. He was making adjustments midway up on a conduit that clung to the wall. Beka gaped at him. "You ready for a break Harper?"
"Yeah, like you pay for me to take breaks"
"Harper I got you at 8 in the morning. You aren't due back until 2300, that's 15 hours!" Harper dropped from the bar he hung from.
He nodded, "yep" as if he didn't understand why Beka thought this was unusual.
"You job lets people work you 15 hours without stopping to eat or rest?"
"They want happy customers; customers don't like to see their investments slacking."
"You're not an investment, you're a person. How can your company treat you like that?"
"I'm just glad to have work Boss" Beka sighed. She had been through some tough times when work was scarce. She wondered how much she would be able to give up to avoid scraping together some life on an alien street. Probably more than she thought.
"Well we are having dinner then."
She sat the bony young man in a chair at the table. He glanced around nervously. This had not happened on any of his other jobs.
"What do you want to eat?" she asked. He looked beyond confused. In his entire life this question had never been posed to him. No one even asked him if he wanted to eat, let alone giving him a choice. Beka realized her mistake and set a bowl of leftover soup in front of her guest. Holding the spoon like a barbarian he consumed the food faster than Beka would have though possible.
She told herself that she didn't care about hard luck cases, that she had a hard life herself. The simple scene of this young man crouching on her kitchen chair licking the bowl clean made her doubt these things." She really had never gone hungry in her life. She assumed he did regularly. He bounced off the chair.
"Thanks Boss, that was real nice of you." He spun on his heel and headed back to the engines humming happily. A bowl of soup and a 15 minute break had made this the absolute best job he had ever had.
Harper kept working after his diner. At precisely 2300 there was a knock on the Maru's hatch. At the door was the girl from her search for an engineer. Beka was confused. The girl only smiled a sly smile at Beka. "824 ready to go?" She asked
"Yes, I was just letting him go. Are you his keeper?" Beka was a little annoyed Personnel Unlimited hadn't trusted her.
"Not at all ma'am. The company doesn't even know I'm here. It's just some of 824's lady clients think he's a little more like 3492 and get a bit aggressive. I'm just making sure he doesn't need help." It took Beka a minute to understand what this girl had said. Before Beka could think of a response Harper appeared behind her.
"771, she's cool."
"Good" Harper turned to Beka
"I'm practically done. You're already space worthy. I still need to work on the sensors and maybe the weapons tomorrow." He fished around in his oversized pants pockets and retrieved a card with simply "82420" written on it. "If you want me tomorrow just ask" he explained. Beka nodded and watched the boy head off with the girl. She expected friendly banter, maybe a playful shove between friends as she watched them cross the few hundred feet to the building. It didn't happen. Harper was dragging his feet, clearly reluctant to return. The girl seemed to understand and just nodded. Beka watched the door close behind them. She didn't understand. That kid made no sense.