Part 7
“What are your rates?” asked the grizzled old woman manning the corndog station.
“Excuse me?” Nole said, through a bite of corndog.
The woman indicated Nole’s questionably-labelled t-shirt. “What are your rates?” she asked again, this time with a crude leer. Nole gagged on his corndog, and spit out the mouthful.
“Hey!” said the waste droid nearby. His head fell dejectedly as he moved to sweep up the spat-out food.
“I don’t want to know what you were thinking, but I am the Captain of a merchant ship, madam,” Nole said with a noble tone to his voice.
“Aw… that’s a shame. I woulda paid nicely,” she said, winking.
Nole gagged again, and the woman cackled.
“Merchant ship, eh?” she said. “I used to be in that business, myself. Had the prettiest ship you ever seen. Course, that was before the war.”
“What war?”
The woman stared blankly at him for a second, then continued. “She was called the Heart’s Desire. We had many a fine run together, me and her.”
“She and I.”
“Eh?”
“Nevermind.”
“Say, you know, if you’re interested… I’ve got a business friend who’s in need of a merchant ship,” the woman said, leaning close and peering around suspiciously. Her frazzled gray hair brushed over the corndogs in front of her, and if Nole had seen, he would have gagged again.
Ever the keen businessman, Nole accepted immediately. Of course, he would normally have consulted Alena first, but under the sway of the heady scent of corndogs being made, he was like putty in the old woman’s hand.
Jenny Gaines's Blog 