"Ah, come on people, they were dead anyway. Most spaceports will hold you at dock for days if you have a body on board. Then the whole crew and the ship have to go through de-tox; which costs the ship's Captain a fortune. So, if your mother dies out here, you bury her in space. That's just the way we do things."
"Well, let me tell you how we do things," Zarco said hotly. "Our religion preaches reverence for the dead. Even if they are our enemies. There is a service and then the bodies are cremated and their ashes spread to the wind."
Drew shrugged and started walking again. "So what's the big difference? Bodies torched and tossed to the wind, or bodies cast into space to implode. That's the problem with religion, there's always all this nit picking."
Drew was sitting at the controls of the ship when the others returned. She pointed at the view screen where a green planet hung in space.
"So, there you go, people. I've punched up co-ordinates, and in eight minutes we will start re-entry procedures. I suggest that you strap in." She got on the comlink.
"Purple Cat to Garbage Scow, do you read?"
"You might have told me you were dumping bodies, Drew," an angry voice spit back.
Drew laughed. "Don't blow a gasket, Van. It will all burn off on re-entry. Come in closer. I'm not expecting hostiles, but considering my cargo, who knows?"
"I read, and am changing grid in accordance."
"Oh, baby, I love it when you talk that comlink lingo. Hey, Van . . ."
"Yes?"
"I miss you."
"I miss you, too."
"Over."
"Over and out."
"Why is that thing following us?" Jealousy dripped freely from Zarco's lips.
"Because I have no reason to trust you people. For all I know, you need a good Salvager for your war efforts. Lots of governments have tried to buy me before. You might have heard of my memory loss and cooked up this whole thing. How do I even know you are who you say you are?"
"But the Lockhedes!"
"You might have fooled them, too."
"What about your friend, Erik? You heard what he said!" Fitz said.
"Hell, Erik was running smugglers. Which means he'd sell his sister into prostitution to turn a buck. No, I hate to tell you all this, but you still haven't convinced me that this whole thing isn't just some cock and bull story."
"But the war is over. We have never had any need for Salvagers and we sure don't need any now that we're at peace," Zarco said.
"Maybe you'd better tell the Lockhedes the war is over, because I'm not sure they know it. Besides, usually after the war is when you need a good Salvager most. The country is usually going through a post-war depression, and they could really use all the metal and parts that got left on the battle field."
"I have crews . . ."
"That can't get half as much use out of scrap as one good Salvager. And I'm the best." She smiled, and her ego all but glowed right through her teeth."Everyone knows that."
"My country is quite solvent. We don't need to trade in trash," Zarco started.
"Salvage." Drew corrected.
"You are ridiculous!" Facto hissed.
"Yeah, well, you're a shit-head."
"I still want to know why he's following us," Zarco said.
"Protection. Plain and simple." She didn't elaborate.
"Commencing re-entry in 5, 4, 3, 2 . . ."
The ship started to rock as they hit the planet's atmosphere.
"This looks like it could get rough . . ."
A siren started wailing.
"What's wrong?" Stasha screamed in obvious panic. She hadn't lived her sister's life of the last five years, and she'd had just about all the excitement she could handle for one day.
"Shit!" Drew started punching buttons. "Fuck!"
"What's wrong?" Zarco demanded.
"Purple Cat calling Garbage Scow. Fuck it! Van, do you hear me?"
"Loud and clear."
"What's wrong?" Zarco screamed.
"We're all going to die horribly if you Royal fucks don't shut up!" Drew screamed back. "That's what's wrong."
"Van, the descent engines won't kick in. I've got no forward thrusters."
"Go to manual."
"Oh, gee, fuzz head. I never would have thought of that. I have taken it off computer. The computer isn't the problem. So, unless by 'manual' you mean that I should go turn the propeller by hand, we'd better come up with something else, because the gravitational pull is only going to increase."
"Can you reach escape velocity?"
Drew checked her readings.
"I don't have enough fuel to break the planet's pull now. Why didn't you think of that earlier?"
She looked out the front screen at the planet rushing towards her, and had to swallow the lump in her throat. "God, this isn't my fucking day!" Think, she had to think, there was always a way out. Damn pirate ship, if only she was on her good ole salvage barge . . . Salvage barge.
"That's it! Van, snag us with the tow-line and tow us in."
"That might rip your ship apart."
"I'd rather die up here than down there. Come on, Van."
"Get ready."
Van Gar looked at the human. "Hang on to your hat, monkey boy, we're going to lasso us a ship."
He turned the Garbage Scow's descent engines off for awhile, and allowed it to get dangerously close to the other ship, then he released the tow-line, slammed the descent engines back on, and turned on the electro magnet at the end of the tow-line.
"Prepare for hook-up."
When the tether caught hold of the other ship, it jerked both ships roughly.
"You're on tether."
"Really, Van? I thought my head just wanted to go visit Mr. Back Wall," she spit back. "Are you going to be able to guide us in?"
"Not really."
The ships shook violently.
"You have to realize, Drew, that most of the time we're towing in something that doesn't have anything living in it. Besides, when we have towed something, it has always been behind us."
"What are you saying, Van?"
"Well, let's just say that I'm in a wagon, and you're pulling me, and there's a hole in the road, so you have to stop."
"Yeah, so?"
"Well, let's say that you don't see the hole, and I have to make the wagon stop by dragging my hands on the ground."
Drew thought for a minute. "When I finally see the hole and stop, you still won't be able to."
"It's taking everything the reverse thrusters have now to keep us from plowing into the planet. I have no control over where the Scow is going, it's just following your lead."
"So, I'll lead, then," she answered thoughtfully.
"Drew, what are you going to do?"
"Put on protective headgear and start looking for a hole."
"Good luck."
"We're going to need it."
Drew had her hands on the ship's control, manually guiding both ships. Her eyes hurriedly went over charts and graphs.
"Van, we're going in."
She could practically hear the whine of the Garbage Scow's engines as it strained to keep both ships from crashing into the planet's surface. They were getting close now.
"Van, release the tether. Now!"
"Roger." He pulled up on the release, and the smaller ship dove like a rock. He ran well over the top of it and landed roughly in a pile of sand. He shut the ship down and then he quickly threw off his helmet and started out of the ship.
"Come on, monkey boy." There was no answer. The human sat limp in his chair. "Ah, damn. I wish I'd been nicer to him, now."
Van Gar exited the ship, stepped into the soft sand and sank up to the top of his boots. He looked down at the Purple Cat, which lay at the bottom of the dune he had landed on top of. A good quarter of its nose was covered. It lay there in the bottom of the hole like an egg in a bird's nest, and seemed to be intact. Of course, the Garbage Scow appeared to be intact, and the navigator was still dead. The sand slowed his pace, and it seemed like it took hours for him to reach the ship, when in fact it took only a few minutes. He beat on the hatch.
"Drew, Drew, can you hear me? Drew!" He had just turned to go back to the Scow and get the torch when the hatch opened, and Drew stepped out of the ship.
"So, I fell in the hole. What happened to your wagon?"
Facto appeared to have broken an arm, and they were all pretty shaky, but aside from that, they had all survived their crash. They started the climb up the dune towards the Garbage Scow.
"So, do you know where we are?" Van asked Drew.
"Some big desert on the planet Gar. I was just looking for a soft place to land, I wasn't taking in place names."
"There is only one desert on the planet, and that is the Galdart," Fitz sounded less that happy.
"So, we are in the Galdart desert." Drew shrugged. She looked at Facto. "What's the big deal?"
"This desert is two thousand miles across, the temperatures can reach one hundred thirty degrees in the day and thirty-two at night. There is no water, and the only organic life form is the Hurtella," Fitz informed them.
"So, we put out a distress signal, and someone will come pick us up in less than an hour."
"The Galdart desert is in the middle of the country of the Lockhede," Facto said harshly. "Of all the places to land us, you would land us here."
"Would you rather I have smashed you into a mountain closer to home?" Drew said hotly. "Besides, it's not even hot here."
"That's because night is falling, even as we speak."
"Oh."
She looked at Van Gar, whose jump suit was hanging open till it was almost indecent. She also noticed that his cuffs flapped in the breeze. "Van, fasten up your suit, you're going to get sand all in your hair."
"I can't, I ripped the Velcro off of them," he said, adamantly.
"Why?" Drew asked, shaking her head.
"Rats," Van answered, and stomped into the ship.
Drew looked around at the others. "Did I miss something?"
Drew went and got a beer out of the fridge and opened it.
"Could we send a message to your people?" she asked Zarco.
"I'm afraid any transmission would be picked up by the Lockhedes, and they would get here first. And they are our people, yours and mine." Drew made a gurgling sound, which could have meant anything, and began punching up screen after screen of what looked to him like nothing but garbled letters and numbers. But it was obvious that she was reading it.
"Couldn't we take this ship and go to our country?" Zarco asked
"The Scow won't be going anywhere for a long time." It was obvious by the tone of Van Gar's voice that he blamed Zarco personally for what had happened to his ship. "Bringing in both ships like that burned out all four thrusters. We're lucky we're not all dead."
"Speaking of dead," Drew shook her head towards the navigator.
Without a word, Van Gar went over, picked him up and carried him out.
"Where the fuck is everyone?" Drew asked Zarco.
"Fitz and Facto went to find medical equipment with which to fix Facto's arm, and I believe your sister went to her quarters. I'm afraid it's all been a bit much for her, and the sight of one more corpse was more than she could handle." He looked around."So, at long last, we are alone."
She turned to face him, then looked around quickly to see if it was true. Her distaste showed on her face.
"You really don't remember me, Taral . . . Drewcila, but I remember you. You are so different, and yet in so many ways, you are so much the same. If I scrape away all the hardness, I can still see you. I have to wonder if we are not all just victims of our circumstances. I see in you all the same traits you once had, but they have twisted to fit your new life. Your keen mind has saved us more than once. In a way, I love you more than I ever have."
He moved close to her, and took her in his arms. She started to push away, then decided to see just what he was up to.
"Please, just this. I ask no more of you now. Please, it has been so long. I know you don't know me, but believe that I know you, that I love you. If I could do it again, it would all be so different. Oh, how I have ached to hold you, to caress you."
Curiosity over came her better judgment . . . the way it usually did . . . and she wrapped her arms around his neck. When his lips met hers, she responded. She felt him warm against her, and she was not repulsed. He wasn't a bad little kisser, either. But she certainly didn't feel any deep stirring within herself.