Disclaimer: See Prologue
Outlaw Star: All in the Name of Love
Chapter IV: Part 2
Inside, the club was rather dark. Missing, were the bright neon and strobe lights Gene was accustomed to at most of the clubs he favored. Here, there was a sizeable dance floor but no one was dancing yet, and a stage with instruments but no band playing. Faintly in the background they could make out music but it was way too soft to hear clearly, let alone dance to.
"This place is lame, let's go." Gene immediately observed and insisted.
"Wait a minute. Let's give this place a chance. Maybe the band is between sets." Jim insisted, "Let's head over to the bar and find out."
"Okay." Gene responded impatiently.
They made their way over to the bar, taking in the appearance of the crowd. While more than half the people in attendance looked and dressed like most everyone else they've seen in the past 6 months, there were small groups of people dressed in odd, dated clothes, sporting strange hair styles and strange looking glasses.
At the bar, the bartender also sported retro-styled clothes and haircut.
"Good evn'in folks. What might be your poison for tonight?" He said in a flawless Liverpool accent.
"Poison?" Aisha's expression told him she didn't understand.
"Your choice of alcoholic beverage."
"Oh, Ctarl Ale."
"Sorry Missy but alls we have is what was brewed or distilled on Her Majesty's Isle back in the 1960's."
"Her Majesty's?"
"That's right, Her Majesty, Elisabeth, Queen of England."
"Mmm, so what do you have?" Aisha asked.
"Might I recommend a pint of the pitters."
"Umm, okay."
He quickly grabbed a mug and poured the room temperature beer from tap and handed it to Aisha.
"And you Miss, what might you like?"
"Umm, I'll try one of those as well."
"Very well," he poured a second mug and handed it to Melfina.
"And you my diminutive sir."
"Did they have ginger ale back in the 1960's?"
"They most certainly did." He poured Jim a glass of ginger ale and ice.
"And you sir. What might be your poison? Wait one moment, let me guess, Scotch on the rocks, with a twist. I'm I correct?"
"All except the twist part."
"Very good sir. … Here you go. That will be 22 wong. Gene pulled out a wad of bills and handed the bartender 500 wong.
"That's to cover whatever else we drink tonight and whatever's left is your tip. Alright?"
"Yes sir, very good sir." The bartender placed the money in the register. "By the way, my name is Thomas. If you need anything, anything at all, just ask me." He smiled and waved as we proceeded to wait on other customers.
After downing his drink, Gene placed this glass on the bar and waited for a refill. It took Thomas only a few seconds to respond to Gene's unspoken request. While filling the outlaw's glass, he asked. "So is this how this club is all the time? Seems pretty dead."
"Oh, no sir, the band is just on its break. They should start back up any minute now."
"Band? I thought this club was dedicated to a band that made music back in the 1960's. Surely their not still alive?"
"Oh no sir. You see this club is not just dedicated to the Beatles but for what they represented as well: live performances, real music, real rock and roll. So we bring in band imitators. Groups that share a love for the Beatles and their music, and help to preserve their memory by not just playing their music but by imitating their appearance and style."
"Umm, so is this band any good?"
"Most definitely sir. We've had our current band for about the past four months and they've been a great improvement over our last band."
"How so?" Jim asked.
"Well, you see, our last band was more interested in making it big on their own right. They just played here because it was steady money for them. And we kept them around because, well lets be honest, there aren't that many retro bands to begin with and certainly even fewer this far out in the frontier. This group we have now is actually made up of four local lads who grew up listening to the Beatles because of their parents. Being able to play the music of the Beatles as the Beatles is like a dream come true for them. And speaking of the band, here they are now."
"Hello Thomas, might we get a glass of lemonade before we start our next set?"
"Sure, but wouldn't you prefer to have four separate glasses?"
"Pudum bum."
"Ha, ha, you get us with that one every time."
"Say lads, we got some first-timers here. They've never even heard of the Beatles before."
"Is that right. Well I suppose introductions are in order. I'm John, this here's Paul and George, and the short funny looking one introducing himself to your lady friends there is Ringo."
"Hi, I'm Gene." He shook hands with the three.
"Please to make your acquaintance." Paul said.
"Same here," added George.
"So what might your names be?" Asked Ringo.
"My name is Melfina."
"And I'm Aisha." They shook his hand.
"Ah, Melfina and Aisha, two lovely names for two lovely ladies."
Melfina blushed. Aisha giggled. "Your silly."
"So what brings you to Cielo Rojo?" Ringo asked.
Not ignoring his flirtatious advances, Gene answered. "Melfina is the navigator aboard our ship. And my girlfriend," placing a possessive hand gently on her shoulder.
"Oh, I see." Ringo took a good look at the intimidating looking outlaw, then he leaned in a little closer to Melfina as if to whisper something but spoke loud enough to be heard by his band mates and the crew.
"Well, if you ever get tired of dating the tall, dark and handsome type; you might want to try the short, pale and funny looking type instead," taking that moment to straighten his tie.
Melfina raised her hand to her mouth to stifle a laugh. With that, John and George each grabbed Ringo by an arm. "Alright loverboy, time to play some music."
With that they dragged him toward the stage.
"Well it was nice to meet all of you. I hope you enjoy the show." Paul nodded and followed after the rest of the band.
"That was, weird." Gene said, letting his hand drop away from Melfina's shoulder. The change in his posture didn't go unnoticed by Melfina. Her body instantly missed Gene's warm gentle touch. And she noticed how Gene had thrown out his chest and straightened his posture, making himself appear even taller than he already was, when he addressed Ringo. Now he was slouching, leaning back against the bar.
'So am I your girlfriend when it's convenient for you Gene? When you want to keep other prospective suitors away?' She mused as she saw him scanning the room, his eyes occasionally stopping to get a better look at the pretty women in the club. 'When it doesn't cramp your style as a lady's man.' She wanted to ask Gene these things but
she decided that now was not the time nor the place. 'He just finished taking on almost 200 wanted criminals; he's a hero in this town. The last thing he needs now is a neurotic girlfriend accusing him of cheating on her when he's standing right next to her.'
She took another drink and turned her attention to the stage waiting for the music to start.
'' Good evening all, we're glad you could join us tonight, especially our honored guest, the outlaws that cleaned up our planet. Let's hear a round of applause for the crew of the Outlaw Star.'' Warm and friendly applause broke out throughout the club.
''And I thought they didn't recognize us.'' Gene told Mel.
''Not possible after this afternoon's celebration. The whole planet knows about Gene Starwind, Aisha Clan Clan and the crew of the Outlaw Star.'' Thomas said from behind them.
''This song is dedicated by our drummer, Ringo, to two very lovely ladies, Melfina and Aisha. A one, two A one two three.''
''Laa
If there's anything that you want,
If there's anything I could do,
Just call on me
And I'll send it along,
With Love
From me to you.
I got every thing that you want,
Like a heart that's oh so true
Just call on me
And I'll send it along
With Love
From me to you,''
Melfina turned to Gene, ''Gene do you want to dance?''
Gene smiled. ''Not right now.'' He took another drink.
''Oh, okay.'' Melfina bowed her head slightly.
Angered by Gene's earlier possessiveness of Melfina and now his apparent neglect of her, Jim turned to Melfina, ''Hey Mel wanna dance.''
''Sure.'' She brightened up. They grabbed each other's hand and made their way to the dance floor.
''Hey, wait for me!'' Aisha set her mug on the bar and chased after them.
~~~~~~~~~~
AN: Sorry for the shortness of the chapter but this is the only way I can make time to edit it. Chapter 4 is pretty light. Lots of silliness with a few moments of angst thrown in.
Hope you like it. If you do, let me know. If you don't, let me know that too, and why. That way I can try and make it better.
A. Amishi