Nanowrimo Day 29
I made it! \o/ I'll write up another post with my ~thoughts~ later today or tomorrow, but for now I wanted to post my last few hundred words.
"I hope you're right," Tatiana replied. "Even if it doesn't help, I want her to know that we're friendly and all. It seems like she's been very lonely for a long time."
Rebekah told them about a well-respected mechanic in town, and so the next day, Qaf rode in to get herself fixed, along with Tatiana, Kid, and Patel. While her left side was badly banged up, the rest of her was in good condition, so she was able to limp the few kilometers into the city to be repaired.
"It's so strange flying in atmosphere," she mused, as they whizzed along. "It's like going through a liquid, almost--well, I suppose air is a fluid, so it's not surprising. But it's still a very interesting sensation."
"Yes, it was strange for me flying in vacuum after doing it in atmosphere for so long," Kid said. "You're doing a really good job, though, especially considering all your damage."
"Will it be much further?" Patel broke in. She had spent the entire ride seemingly in a hurry, even though there was clearly no place on the planet where she particularly had to be.
"We're almost there," Qaf replied. "See that building in the distance? That's where we're going."
The building, which seemed small at first, turned out to be a fairly large hangar, though not as big as the one on Garvey where Hold Steady had been repaired. Inside, the mechanic looked Qaf over with a sigh.
"We don't have any cabs like this on Shakur normally," she said. "I'll have to order parts from off-world, and they'll take a little while to come. Say two weeks in all, maybe three if things don't go well."
Qaf, who was back in her human body, winced. "That long? I don't have to look pretty, I just need the jets and sensors repaired."
"Smoothing out the damage is the easiest and fastest part, I'm afraid," the mechanic replied. "We simply don't have the parts to fix the rest of you right now. Oh, and while I'm asking: how exactly did you plan to pay for this?"
"Uh, Tatiana?"
Tatiana moved in smoothly, and started to haggle. Kid pulled Qaf aside.
"Hey, this is probably going to take a while, so do you want to go for a walk or something? My pad says there's some interesting things nearby."
"Oh yeah, that would be great!" Qaf said. "We could even go with Patel. Wait, where is Patel?"
Kid shrugged. "She jumped off pretty much as soon as you landed, and I haven't seen hide nor hair of her since. We might run into her when we go out, though. If she's not back by the time we leave, we can just contact her pad. Or not; wouldn't bother me if she decided to quietly leave Hold Steady."
"No, she can't leave! She's one of us now," Qaf protested.
"Qaf, that woman isn't part of any 'us' you could name," Kid replied. "But whatever. Want to go window shopping?"
"Sure!"
Tatiana joined them about an hour later. "I managed to bargain her down to three thousand," she said proudly. "Between whatever Qaf's got saved up and our pay for this trip, we should be able to make it okay."
Qaf beamed. "Thank you so much!" she said. "We can look around some more, if you want. Oh, but how will we get back?"
"The mechanic said she could do your body today, and then we can come back in two weeks to have the other work done," Tatiana said. Kid snickered, and then Tatiana caught the joke and started giggling too.
"What? What is it?" Qaf asked, looking from one to the other.
"Sorry, it's nothing important," Tatiana said. "Anyway, we can just kind of hang out for a few hours here. I'd like to eat something first, though. Bargaining always makes me hungry."
They ended up in one of Shakur's famed steakhouses, which served the local kaloo. Tatiana and Kid had both enjoyed the food when Rebekah served it to them the previous day, and the steakhouses provided several other mouthwatering varieties. Qaf didn't eat, of course, but the restaurant provided her with a small port that could give her eating sensations, as well as the local news.
"Wow, this is so neat!" she said, as Tatiana and Kid ate. "Is this really what food feels like to eat? I can see why you all like to eat all the time."
"Not all of it is nice to eat," Tatiana said. "This stuff is definitely delicious, though. I wonder if we could raise kaloo on Hold Steady somehow. What do you say, Kid?"
Kid swallowed the bite he was chewing. "I think maybe I'll have to figure out a way to do that," he said.
"Seriously, though, this is so good," she said. "So good."
"Hey, guys," Qaf said. "I think Patel is on the news!"
"On the news?"
"Yeah, she's on the video feed now. Maybe you can see it on your pads."
Kid pulled out his pad and tapped into the local news networks. After some help from Qaf ("No, it's not that one... and not that one either... yeah, it's that one right there!"), he and Tatiana managed to find the footage she was talking about.
"New Nyeri's business district was rocked by explosions again today," the caster was saying. "It is believed that as before, these bombings are related to the ongoing political conflicts between the government and the Yeri rebels. As before, anyone with any information should contact their local law enforcement..."
As the caster spoke, the pad showed scenes of destruction. No one seemed to have been killed in the bombings, but there were several injuries. One shot showed a survivor limping away from the rubble, but to Tatiana, Kid, and Qaf, the more important detail was that the survivor's arm was slung around Patel's shoulders.
"So she left the mechanic to go to the business district?" Kid asked. "Why was she even over there?"
"I wonder if she knows the woman she was helping," Qaf said.
"I wonder if she was involved with the bombing itself," Tatiana said.
"But why would she be involved with that?" Qaf asked. "Patel's never even been to this planet before."
"That we know of. And anyway, what we do know is that she's heavily connected to the underground. The Consortium could easily have its fingers in a little intraplanetary conflict like this. We only have her word for it that she's not working for them."
"So what do you want to do?" Kid asked.
Tatiana stood. "Find Patel, first of all, and get her to tell us what's really going on. After that, we can figure out what to do next."
"I hope you're right," Tatiana replied. "Even if it doesn't help, I want her to know that we're friendly and all. It seems like she's been very lonely for a long time."
Rebekah told them about a well-respected mechanic in town, and so the next day, Qaf rode in to get herself fixed, along with Tatiana, Kid, and Patel. While her left side was badly banged up, the rest of her was in good condition, so she was able to limp the few kilometers into the city to be repaired.
"It's so strange flying in atmosphere," she mused, as they whizzed along. "It's like going through a liquid, almost--well, I suppose air is a fluid, so it's not surprising. But it's still a very interesting sensation."
"Yes, it was strange for me flying in vacuum after doing it in atmosphere for so long," Kid said. "You're doing a really good job, though, especially considering all your damage."
"Will it be much further?" Patel broke in. She had spent the entire ride seemingly in a hurry, even though there was clearly no place on the planet where she particularly had to be.
"We're almost there," Qaf replied. "See that building in the distance? That's where we're going."
The building, which seemed small at first, turned out to be a fairly large hangar, though not as big as the one on Garvey where Hold Steady had been repaired. Inside, the mechanic looked Qaf over with a sigh.
"We don't have any cabs like this on Shakur normally," she said. "I'll have to order parts from off-world, and they'll take a little while to come. Say two weeks in all, maybe three if things don't go well."
Qaf, who was back in her human body, winced. "That long? I don't have to look pretty, I just need the jets and sensors repaired."
"Smoothing out the damage is the easiest and fastest part, I'm afraid," the mechanic replied. "We simply don't have the parts to fix the rest of you right now. Oh, and while I'm asking: how exactly did you plan to pay for this?"
"Uh, Tatiana?"
Tatiana moved in smoothly, and started to haggle. Kid pulled Qaf aside.
"Hey, this is probably going to take a while, so do you want to go for a walk or something? My pad says there's some interesting things nearby."
"Oh yeah, that would be great!" Qaf said. "We could even go with Patel. Wait, where is Patel?"
Kid shrugged. "She jumped off pretty much as soon as you landed, and I haven't seen hide nor hair of her since. We might run into her when we go out, though. If she's not back by the time we leave, we can just contact her pad. Or not; wouldn't bother me if she decided to quietly leave Hold Steady."
"No, she can't leave! She's one of us now," Qaf protested.
"Qaf, that woman isn't part of any 'us' you could name," Kid replied. "But whatever. Want to go window shopping?"
"Sure!"
Tatiana joined them about an hour later. "I managed to bargain her down to three thousand," she said proudly. "Between whatever Qaf's got saved up and our pay for this trip, we should be able to make it okay."
Qaf beamed. "Thank you so much!" she said. "We can look around some more, if you want. Oh, but how will we get back?"
"The mechanic said she could do your body today, and then we can come back in two weeks to have the other work done," Tatiana said. Kid snickered, and then Tatiana caught the joke and started giggling too.
"What? What is it?" Qaf asked, looking from one to the other.
"Sorry, it's nothing important," Tatiana said. "Anyway, we can just kind of hang out for a few hours here. I'd like to eat something first, though. Bargaining always makes me hungry."
They ended up in one of Shakur's famed steakhouses, which served the local kaloo. Tatiana and Kid had both enjoyed the food when Rebekah served it to them the previous day, and the steakhouses provided several other mouthwatering varieties. Qaf didn't eat, of course, but the restaurant provided her with a small port that could give her eating sensations, as well as the local news.
"Wow, this is so neat!" she said, as Tatiana and Kid ate. "Is this really what food feels like to eat? I can see why you all like to eat all the time."
"Not all of it is nice to eat," Tatiana said. "This stuff is definitely delicious, though. I wonder if we could raise kaloo on Hold Steady somehow. What do you say, Kid?"
Kid swallowed the bite he was chewing. "I think maybe I'll have to figure out a way to do that," he said.
"Seriously, though, this is so good," she said. "So good."
"Hey, guys," Qaf said. "I think Patel is on the news!"
"On the news?"
"Yeah, she's on the video feed now. Maybe you can see it on your pads."
Kid pulled out his pad and tapped into the local news networks. After some help from Qaf ("No, it's not that one... and not that one either... yeah, it's that one right there!"), he and Tatiana managed to find the footage she was talking about.
"New Nyeri's business district was rocked by explosions again today," the caster was saying. "It is believed that as before, these bombings are related to the ongoing political conflicts between the government and the Yeri rebels. As before, anyone with any information should contact their local law enforcement..."
As the caster spoke, the pad showed scenes of destruction. No one seemed to have been killed in the bombings, but there were several injuries. One shot showed a survivor limping away from the rubble, but to Tatiana, Kid, and Qaf, the more important detail was that the survivor's arm was slung around Patel's shoulders.
"So she left the mechanic to go to the business district?" Kid asked. "Why was she even over there?"
"I wonder if she knows the woman she was helping," Qaf said.
"I wonder if she was involved with the bombing itself," Tatiana said.
"But why would she be involved with that?" Qaf asked. "Patel's never even been to this planet before."
"That we know of. And anyway, what we do know is that she's heavily connected to the underground. The Consortium could easily have its fingers in a little intraplanetary conflict like this. We only have her word for it that she's not working for them."
"So what do you want to do?" Kid asked.
Tatiana stood. "Find Patel, first of all, and get her to tell us what's really going on. After that, we can figure out what to do next."