Erikenai Stone
Erik moved his queen forward, checkmating Ro for the fourth time in a row. Ro threw her hands up in the air, exasperated. "Where did you learn to play like that?"
Erik replied after yawning, "I once served aboard a merchant's ship a few years back as a cabin boy. The other cabin boys used to play holochess all the time, and bet money on it. On my first day aboard the ship, I lost all my money in the game. One of them took pity on me, and offered to teach me to play it properly, and a few tricks besides. I accepted, and gradually I developed a knack for it."
Ro replied, "Well, I'm bored with this game. The results are sooo predicatble." With that, she stood up, and started pacing the room.
Erik turned to the Firestone which Grin had let him store in the port cargo hold, where they are. The craft was anchored down with a 'block' on each wheel. The block was strapped on each wheel and the bottom of it was magnetic, and so it stuck to the floor, preventing the craft from rolling.
Then he turned to Ro, who was looking very bored. He looked at the control panel next to the door, and inspiration struck. "Hey, Ro!"
Ro turned towards him. "What?"
Erik grinned mischievously. "Want to try a science experiment?"
Ro looked curious. "What sort of science experiment?"
Erik's grin widened, and using an important sounding voice. "Well, it has to deal with the human emotions mainly. Basically, we are going to find out if, under conditions of zero gravity, your boredom becomes alleviated. Shall we begin?"
Ro smiled and replied in a fake voice, "Very well, Dr.Stone."
Erik moved to the control panel near the door and fiddled with the control panel, turning off the gravity generator. Then, he felt himself lift up.
He laughed as he flew around the room, bouncing off the walls. "My mother always told me I was bouncing off the walls!" he called to Ro. "I guess she was right!"
But Ro was too busy laughing for Erik to know if she had heard him. Erik was feeling happy, but then he remembered his family. His mother and siblings had each hugged him in turn, and they all had been crying. Then Cory punched him, calling it 'payback' for leaving them (but playfully) and they all had laughed. Still, the thoughts of the people who had brought him up made him a little homesick.
Ro shouted, "Erik, watch out!" shaking him out of his daydream. Erik turned to see that the cans of blue and yellow paint that Grin had lent him to paint his room had spilt, and their contents was floating in parts all across the room. And he was drifting right towards one.
"Oh, Kriff." he muttered, as he floated through it, getting paint all over him in the process. He looked at Ro, who was similarly coloured, and laughing hysterically.
"Alright that's enough!" called Erik, chuckling, and floated over to the control panel and turned back on the gravity. Everything fell to the ground. Including Ro, who landed on her rear with a thump and an indignant, "Hey!"
At that moment Grin called them up using the comm, and Ro grinned. "He's gonna get a shock when he sees us!"
A few minutes later, after Grin had briefed them on the change of plans, Erik asked, "Hey, Grin...if we're going to Myrkr, can we stop by to see my friend Zoruul?"
Grin looked curious. "Who's Zoruul?" he asked cautiously.
Erik replied, "A guy who owns a space station away from most large towns. People who don't want to be noticed land there."
Grin raised his eyebrows. "What sort of people would that entail?"
Erik replied, "People with...not so respectable professions. They've formed a small town around Zoruul's station. Zoruul practically owns the place. The planet's government has no control over the area, but Zoruul and his guards do. I think you'd know him better by his other name:Zed."
Grin paled. "You...you mean the-"
Erik waved a hand dismissively. "Arms dealer, gang leader, smuggler, whatever you were going to say, it's true."
Grin gulped. "And you're friends with him?"
Erik smiled. "Sort of. I saved his life once, when the ship I was on had landed in posrt. There was a gang war in town at the time, you see. In any case, Zoruul then declared himself forever indebted to me. He gives the best equipment available in the galaxy. Though, when I tried asking him for an extra pair of rocket boots, he said that they were too rare to be found...still, we can get good stuff from him. Plus, he can guarantee our ship's safety."
Before Grin could say anything, Jasek spoke up, "Umm...Grin?" he muttered nervously."The sensors are picking up multiple objects at high speeds...and I think they're meteorites!"
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