LJ Idol, Season 11 - Week 14
Title: A Helping Hand and Cold Hard Cash
Topic: barn raising
Russo walks out of the head, thanking all the stars and moons in the galaxy that the hot water is working again, just in time to hear a clang from somewhere inside the ship. Since the clang is not immediately followed by swearing, he’s going to assume that nothing’s wrong.
But he still wants to know what the noise is from. He goes looking for the source and finds Jamie lying on his stomach in the lounge, head, shoulders, and half his torso down inside an access hatch. The top of the hatch is lying on the floor next to him. That explains the noise, at least.
“What are you doing?” Russo asks, squatting so Jamie can hear him.
“Looking for the cash we got from that job on Prakash,” Jamie says, his voice a little muffled. “It’s in a - is that it? No, shit.”
“Why are you looking under the floor?”
“Because I put it here.”
“Why?”
“Because we were coming up on Hester Station and I had to hide it.”
If the customs officials on Hester discover that there’s cold hard cash on any ships arriving at the space station, they’ll demand a percentage before letting anyone off or on the ship. The job on Prakash didn’t pay that much, but money’s money and Russo would have hidden it from the customs officials too. But his ship is currently wending its way through settled space, nowhere near Hester Station, with no cash-only purchases in the immediate future, and usually the best thing to do with anything hidden on the ship - be it cash, contraband, or evidence of criminal enterprise - is to leave it in its hiding place.
“Why do you need it now?” Russo asks.
“Because Geni’s bar caught fire and she needs help fixing it up.”
“Geni’s bar did what? Is she okay?”
Jamie slides out of the access hatch and sits up. “Her bar caught fire. She’s fine. She called when you were in the shower to tell us. She thinks it was a short in the kitchen. Anyway, the place is trashed and she doesn’t have the credits for repairs, so I thought we could help out.”
“This has nothing to do with the fact that he has a thing for her,” Alesa says, coming from the direction of the galley with a bowl in one hand and a fork in the other.
“Of course not,” Russo says, grinning. He stands, offers a hand to Jamie to help him up, and nods his head at Alesa’s bowl. “You didn’t finish that weird green stuff, did you?”
“No. The cooktop is a disgrace. It’s tiny - there’s no reason you should both be so bad at cleaning up after yourselves. Did you find it?” she asks Jamie. He shakes his head. “And before you ask,” she says to Russo, “yes, I know that money belongs to all of us, and yes, I told Jamie it was okay if he used my share to help out his girlfriend.”
“She’s not actually his girlfriend.” Russo points to the cover of the access hatch, still lying on the floor. “Hatch.”
“Does he know that?”
“I’m right here,” Jamie says, moving the hatch cover back into place. “I didn’t think you’d mind if I gave Geni all of it,” he tells Russo. “Since she’s our friend and we spend a lot of credits in her bar.”
“I don’t mind,” Russo says. “She’d help us if we needed it.”
“That’s what Seta said too. Geni told her first.”
“Is she also sending money?”
“No, I think she’s going to drop by and help in person.”
“Doing what? Construction?” Seta’s a bounty hunter, and while she’s perfectly capable of subduing an intractable bounty twice her size, Russo can’t imagine her hauling construction materials in and out of Geni’s bar, or scrubbing scorch marks off the walls and applying new paint.
Jamie shrugs. “Maybe. I don’t know. Geni wasn’t specific.” He scratches his nose thoughtfully.
“We’re over a week away,” Alesa says, swallowing her food in a hurry so she can derail his thought process. “By the time we get there she won’t need your muscle any more.”
“You don’t know that. We have to see her anyway, to give her the money. If we turn around now I’ll have found it by the time we land.” When neither Alesa nor Russo say anything, he adds “We’d be doing a good deed. We have some time - we don’t have to be on Kelev for another couple of weeks.”
This last is directed at Alesa, who tries to hold them to a schedule despite her own tendency to go off and do her own thing.
“It’s been a while since I did any heavy lifting,” Russo says agreeably. “Does she know we’re coming?”
“No.” Jamie grins. “We’ll be a surprise.”
Alesa still has misgivings, mostly of the “We don’t have a lot of time for side trips” variety, but even though all three of them are equal partners in their enterprises, the ship belongs to Russo, and if he says they’re turning her around so they can help Geni rebuild, that’s what they do.
Besides, a little physical labor never hurt anyone.
Topic: barn raising
Russo walks out of the head, thanking all the stars and moons in the galaxy that the hot water is working again, just in time to hear a clang from somewhere inside the ship. Since the clang is not immediately followed by swearing, he’s going to assume that nothing’s wrong.
But he still wants to know what the noise is from. He goes looking for the source and finds Jamie lying on his stomach in the lounge, head, shoulders, and half his torso down inside an access hatch. The top of the hatch is lying on the floor next to him. That explains the noise, at least.
“What are you doing?” Russo asks, squatting so Jamie can hear him.
“Looking for the cash we got from that job on Prakash,” Jamie says, his voice a little muffled. “It’s in a - is that it? No, shit.”
“Why are you looking under the floor?”
“Because I put it here.”
“Why?”
“Because we were coming up on Hester Station and I had to hide it.”
If the customs officials on Hester discover that there’s cold hard cash on any ships arriving at the space station, they’ll demand a percentage before letting anyone off or on the ship. The job on Prakash didn’t pay that much, but money’s money and Russo would have hidden it from the customs officials too. But his ship is currently wending its way through settled space, nowhere near Hester Station, with no cash-only purchases in the immediate future, and usually the best thing to do with anything hidden on the ship - be it cash, contraband, or evidence of criminal enterprise - is to leave it in its hiding place.
“Why do you need it now?” Russo asks.
“Because Geni’s bar caught fire and she needs help fixing it up.”
“Geni’s bar did what? Is she okay?”
Jamie slides out of the access hatch and sits up. “Her bar caught fire. She’s fine. She called when you were in the shower to tell us. She thinks it was a short in the kitchen. Anyway, the place is trashed and she doesn’t have the credits for repairs, so I thought we could help out.”
“This has nothing to do with the fact that he has a thing for her,” Alesa says, coming from the direction of the galley with a bowl in one hand and a fork in the other.
“Of course not,” Russo says, grinning. He stands, offers a hand to Jamie to help him up, and nods his head at Alesa’s bowl. “You didn’t finish that weird green stuff, did you?”
“No. The cooktop is a disgrace. It’s tiny - there’s no reason you should both be so bad at cleaning up after yourselves. Did you find it?” she asks Jamie. He shakes his head. “And before you ask,” she says to Russo, “yes, I know that money belongs to all of us, and yes, I told Jamie it was okay if he used my share to help out his girlfriend.”
“She’s not actually his girlfriend.” Russo points to the cover of the access hatch, still lying on the floor. “Hatch.”
“Does he know that?”
“I’m right here,” Jamie says, moving the hatch cover back into place. “I didn’t think you’d mind if I gave Geni all of it,” he tells Russo. “Since she’s our friend and we spend a lot of credits in her bar.”
“I don’t mind,” Russo says. “She’d help us if we needed it.”
“That’s what Seta said too. Geni told her first.”
“Is she also sending money?”
“No, I think she’s going to drop by and help in person.”
“Doing what? Construction?” Seta’s a bounty hunter, and while she’s perfectly capable of subduing an intractable bounty twice her size, Russo can’t imagine her hauling construction materials in and out of Geni’s bar, or scrubbing scorch marks off the walls and applying new paint.
Jamie shrugs. “Maybe. I don’t know. Geni wasn’t specific.” He scratches his nose thoughtfully.
“We’re over a week away,” Alesa says, swallowing her food in a hurry so she can derail his thought process. “By the time we get there she won’t need your muscle any more.”
“You don’t know that. We have to see her anyway, to give her the money. If we turn around now I’ll have found it by the time we land.” When neither Alesa nor Russo say anything, he adds “We’d be doing a good deed. We have some time - we don’t have to be on Kelev for another couple of weeks.”
This last is directed at Alesa, who tries to hold them to a schedule despite her own tendency to go off and do her own thing.
“It’s been a while since I did any heavy lifting,” Russo says agreeably. “Does she know we’re coming?”
“No.” Jamie grins. “We’ll be a surprise.”
Alesa still has misgivings, mostly of the “We don’t have a lot of time for side trips” variety, but even though all three of them are equal partners in their enterprises, the ship belongs to Russo, and if he says they’re turning her around so they can help Geni rebuild, that’s what they do.
Besides, a little physical labor never hurt anyone.