13 Degrees of Separation (29 page)

Both lads were clean cut, Jake was a bit older and more
reserved. Unlike Harif he was in a clean suit and didn't bounce around the bar.
Jake's head swiveled around when Ralph talked to Harif, he could tell the lad's
greenish hazel eyes took everything in. He had glasses on, probably a holdover
from living on the planet. Their medical staff could correct his eyesight when
they had time.

He had brown hair, straight and ear length. Harif had black
curly hair and black eyes. He put on an air of innocence that didn't fool Ralph
for a moment. Behind that innocent act lurked a joker.

Harif was the only one with some training they could use,
but all of it was on paper. He has a mechanics license, which was the most
important thing. He'd admitted to experience in his family's garage on Antigua,
but had no space experience. His mechanical prowess was therefore questionable.
From the records Clio accessed he'd just squeaked by on the licensing exam, not
really a good sign. He admitted it right off. “Look, I know you're not into
training someone, but like my dad said, start em off from the beginning and
train em like you want. I'm the man for that.”

“We'll see.”

“Just give me a chance. I'll do my damnedest not to
disappoint you,” Harif said. The kid's earnest expression made Ralph sigh. For
some reason he was stuck with this job, hiring the crew since everyone else was
not available. “Fine. Probationary basis. Report to the bay next shift.”

Harif smiled. “Thanks! You won't regret it!” he said with a
wave.

Jake was 26, new to the station and unemployed. Both young
men were eager to be in at the beginning of a business but leery about how far
the company could go. “I need a job,” Jake admitted.

“Jobs a job kid. We'll make it work. Everyone's got bills
to pay,” Ralph replied.

“Yeah but um, when does this pay?”

“Soon. But if you want pay now I'll work you as a bus boy
here if you need the extra creds. It's not much but it'll hopefully get you by
until things pick up,” Ralph said. Jake nodded, suddenly relieved.

“A trainee,” Ralph said, looking at Harif as the young man
exited the bar.

“Hey man, at least he's honest about not knowing. But he's
eager to learn,” Jake said. “I'll cover for him if you need it.”

“You're an unknown too kid. Don't get cocky,” Ralph said,
eying Jake.

“Sure sure,” the young man said, waving the look off.
“Where do you want me to start boss?”

Ralph nodded in approval. “Get an apron and I'll show you.
It's not hard, just don't break anything and don't bump into anything and
you'll be fine,” he said.

...*...*...*...*...

There were immediate problems with Harif, their so called
mechanic. Savo escorted him into the berthing slip and made the introductions.
Mairi looked up from the thruster and grunted.

Harif walked around the Bitch, shaking his head. When Mairi
noticed his attitude she looked up in annoyance. He was an ass she thought, he
liked to talk the big talk but she realized right off he didn't know squat
about ships. He ripped into her, moaning about her half ass work on the Bitch
and how he'd have to do it all over. She'd had all she could do not to deck the
smug ass. If Savo hadn't been there making the introduction she might of.

Harif screwed around, puttering, humming, making notes and
examining the ship for an entire shift after Savo left. Furious, Mairi had to
do the work to at least get the ball rolling. The next morning Freeze and
Sparks came by to lend a hand. Mairi was pissed when Harif smugly took the
credit for her work. She went off on him, publicly shaming him. He turned red,
angry and humiliated as Sparks and Freeze gave him a dirty look.

“Look, you two sort this shit out on your own time. Right
now we've got a bird to get going. Now come on. I'm not a mechanic but I am an
electrician and an electronics tech. I'll take that. Harif, you look into the
mechanics,” Sparks ordered.

Freeze waved a hand. “What about me boss?” he joked.

Sparks gave him a mock glower. “Well, you can either do
your usual and stand around scratching your ass, or....”

“Or you can dive into the life support,” Harif said,
catching on.

“Got it in one kid,” Sparks replied with a nod. He turned
back to his partner. “Well?”

Freeze of course had to have the last laugh. He stood there
scratching. Sparks rolled his eyes and raised his screwdriver. Freeze snorted
at the implied threat. “I'm going, see? I'm going,” he said slinking off.

Harif later pulled a series of pranks on Mairi to get even.
No toilet paper in the bathroom, gluing the toilet seat up, locking her in the
bathroom, juvenile shit. She was cold, knowing full well who was doing it.

She didn't have any idea about hazing, or how it was performed.
Howie however did, and he snorted as he watched the pranks unfold. The more the
girl didn't respond the more Harif was encouraged to do something more...
risky. He wanted to be on hand to see it.

Sparks and Freeze took themselves off to rest before their
shifts started. They'd ignored the crap Harif had pulled, fully aware that
either the girl was going to start hitting back soon or she'd deck him. The kid
was cocky, and Freeze wasn't happy about having to catch a few of his mistakes.

“This sucks,” Mairi muttered, working in the cockpit.

“What?” Howie asked, coming in with more parts. He was
playing gopher, running broken or worn parts to the replicator in their
warehouse for rebuilding and then running the parts back. He was a bit
disappointed, so far nothing had needed welding or cutting. The few bit of
metalwork he had done were limited to banging out some dents in the hull and
banging the port support strut back straight.

“Sticky valve still. I'm not sure what the hell's going on.
At this rate we're going to have to replace the entire fuel line on the port
side.”

“Well, now's the time to do it, since the ship's all opened
up. Rather do it now then when it's too late,” Howie said.

Mairi looked up. “Do me a favor, can you check the fuel?”

“What am I looking for?” Howie asked, setting the new RCS
thruster down on a bench in front of the tug. “Here?” he asked, pointing to the
port RCS they were working on.

“Yeah. I don't know what that idiot did. I'm trying to
figure it out. He said he fixed it. But my sensors are still showing a clog.”

“Okay...”

“I'm going to set it to spray. Stay off to the side and see
if anything comes out and what,” Mairi explained.

“Okay...” Howie said, standing to one side.

“Here goes,” Mairi said, hitting the key and then looking
to her port side. Howie gasped, eyes clenching tight as something sprayed him.
Then there was a burp.

“Duck!” Mairi screamed, hitting the abort.

A burp of lame licked out from the port RCS facing 90
degrees. Howie dived to the side as flames licked the air. The fuel vapors from
the fuel all over him ignited. He howled and rolled on the deck, trying to put
it out.

“What the hell?” Savo said, coming in. He swore and turned,
grabbing an extinguisher as Harif came in all smiles. “Don't just stand there!
Get a blanket and help! Savo snarled, fumbling the extinguisher wand up and
pressing the trigger. Foam sprayed all over the rolling chimp dousing the
flames. Klaxon alarms were going off. He swore again.

“What the hell happened?” Savo asked, coming over to check
on Howie. Howie looked up and swatted at a few hot spots on his coveralls.

“Guess I need a new suit,” he said.

“You're lucky it's fire proof. You okay?”

“Medium to well done actually,” Howie said rolling onto his
back. Savo grunted and stuck his hand out. Howie took it and let his partner
pull him to his feet. Savo slapped him on the shoulder. “Damn that was close,”
Howie growled. He was glaring at the cockpit.

Mairi was there swearing. After a moment she looked up with
a glare. Her eyes lit on Harif. “You! You ignorant stupid Slike!” she snarled,
climbing out.

Savo turned on the human just as Harif muttered an uh oh
and turned. “Freeze mister!” he barked, using command voice. Harif froze and
then flinched.

“Someone want to tell me what happened?” Savo snarled as
Mairi's boots hit the deck and started for the mechanic.

“I'll tell you, this slike messed with my ship!” she
snarled, cocking her arm back for a punch.

“Freeze!” Savo growled again as Harif flinched once more.

“This true?” Savo asked, getting in between the two. The
girl stood there, red eyes gleaming with barely suppressed mayhem. “Is it?” he
demanded, turning on the kid. Harif shrugged.

“You've got nothing better to do so you've got to cause
some hate and discontent,” Savo asked, voice cooling. “Nearly getting people
killed?” his voice softened into a silky blade. Harif shrugged again but then
his shoulders hunched.

“It's not like that. I had it planned to just poof. She was
running a test, and it'd send a half second spurt and then the poof would freak
her out. Just a joke.”

“Just a joke?” Howie snarled, fists clenching. Savo put a
hand up between his partner and the kid. The girl was pissed but she didn't
have a chimp's rage or strength. The kid just didn't know when to quit. Mairi
snarled and returned to the tug.

“Seemed like a good idea at the time. Too bad she can't
take a joke,” Harif said, looking over across the berth to the girl on top of
the tug. The girl didn't look up, just flipped him the bird. Harif glared.

Savo looked at the girl and then back to the young
mechanic. “There are jokes that are funny, and pranks that are malicious and
borderline criminal. Get your head out of your ass and figure out the
difference,” Savo said, starting out mild but then ending in a warning growl as
his eyes locked onto the kid.

Harif's hands came up in front of him. “Ouch.” He sounded
sarcastic, like he didn't mean it. Savo's eyes narrowed. The kid was cocky, he
thought he had it all figured out. He thought that he was the indispensable
man. He didn't realize that he could be replaced. He didn't realize that it was
Mairi that was the indispensable woman here.

What Harif didn't know was that Mairi had started studying
for the mechanic's exam. From what Clio had reported after sending her the
links to the practice tests, she had a little way to go with the paper side but
she had the hands on down cold.

“Yeah, well, you deserved it asswipe. Clean up your act or
I'll clean the floor with you,” Howie snarled, fur bristling. “I owe you for
this little prank,” he growled, showing his canines. Harif's eyes went wide at
that implied threat. Howie could smell the trickle of urine from the kid. His
sphincter was probably tight enough to crush a brick right about now. He
snorted but held his brown eyes to the kid until Harif gulped. Finally Howie
chuffed and turned away.

...*...*...*...*...

Harif made a half hearted apology to Mairi later the next
day. She ignored it, concentrating on the mechanical valve assembly she had in
front of her. Since they were doing an overhaul she'd decided to clean up some
of the jury rigged repairs she'd been forced to do in Senka, this being one of
them. But every time she tried she couldn't get it right. She was getting
frustrated, and his interference didn't help. Now he wanted to make nice? She
growled for him to leave, hoping he'd get the message. He poked her and she
swatted his hand away. Finally she rounded on him. He reached around her and
fixed the spring she had been working on. She looked at it and then pulled the
lever, watching the action of the valve work properly finally.

“Thanks,” she said grudgingly.

“It's my job to be helpful. Sorry we got off to a bad
start. I... I guess I was nervous. I... look my family never worked with girls
in the shop so I didn't know how to handle it. Dad said women don't know jack
about this stuff. It's obvious though you do.”

“Yeah. Been doing this since I was six,” Mairi said, not
looking at him.

“Cool,” he said, sitting next to her, feet dangling over
the side of the tug. “Me too. But I get all klutzy when someone is watching or
testing me. I dunno why. It's annoying. I know I know it, but when someone's
looking over my shoulder...”

“You screw up. Right. Quit the crap though, we're on a
timetable.”

“Yeah I know,” Harif sighed. “You hear the Mariah's
mischief left?”

“It did?” she asked, surprised.

“Yeah. I wanted to go on it. I chose this job instead,”
Harif said. “I couldn't afford a ticket and well...”

“They didn't want to take you on as crew?” Mairi asked. He
nodded.

“Look can we start over?” he asked, hand out. “Harif Mjoln,
mechanic in training. Space mechanic that is, I'm pretty good with ground side
stuff but this...” he shrugged.

She looked at the greasy hand for a moment before she
shrugged and extended her right hand hesitantly. He caught it and shook it, her
arm, and her entire body. He smiled. “Mairi, Mairi Jersey, pilot and flight
engineer. As soon as I get passed the tests,” she grumbled.