Chapter Forty-Five - Driftwood

Owing to its origins as seventeen stations tucked under a single trench coat, Driftwood station had a very loose set of laws, rules, and regulations.

Initially, the two stations that met and started Driftwood, Drifter Station Seven and a small geostationary docking port whose name was an alphanumeric string, had their leadership sit down and compare notes.

The result was a Driftwood station with a set of rules pulled from both stations. Some had been cut out, others adjusted, and everyone was as displeased as they should be after a good negotiation.

Then a third station joined, and they sat down once more, compared notes, made changes, adjusted the regulations. Before they were done a fourth station joined, then a fifth.

At some point the matter went to committee, which was a polite way of saying that the problem was given to a team of unpaid, overworked interns who didn't have any real incentive to figure it out.

Now, Driftwood's charter was simple: Don't fuck around and you won't find out.

With as many contradictory rules as they had, everything was a crime, and so nothing was as long as the right people were in the know.

It was anarchy, but they made it work. The locals actually lived fairly decent lives for people stuck on a drifting space station. The number of itinerants was high, but every so often Driftwood Security would scoop them up and toss them onto a ferry heading out to wherever. Plenty of money exchanged hands here. Ships docked and didn't want any attention, and not getting attention cost extra.

A ship refuelling engineer on Driftwood station could expect to make a healthy $16 an hour, which was about two bucks shy of what they'd make around Mars. But the fee for keeping their damned mouth shut was an easy hundred, and that made one hell of a difference. It was more than a lot of corporate ass-kissers made around Jupiter.

As the Sappho and the Held Together came in and docked in two side-to-side berths, Aurora found herself loosening her pursestrings and pouring out a few thousand into the local economy to keep things on the down-low. She barely even blinked at the expense.

"Alright," Missy said as she stretched. The last bit of flying was done by computer, and the Sappho's navigation and manoeuvring software was pretty decent, but she still had to sit at the console and keep an eye on things for a few solid hours. "So, what now?"

"I suspect that we're going to want to meet the crew of the Held Together," Ivil said. She currently had a small worry. That Missy and Twenty-Six would scamper off right away now that their home ship was so close. Still, there would be some delay. "It's going to need a fair amount of repair, I imagine."

"Urgh, yeah. More than Two-Six can handle on her own. We're gonna need to hire outside help on this one," Missy said. She stood, stretching her back out as she went.

Surprisingly, Driftwood had artificial gravity. It was something that very, very few stations could afford. It either meant that there was someone using a core to create an artificial downwards pull, or the station had a machine built by someone with the right set of cores.

That kind of thing didn't come cheap.

Ivil stood herself, it was just the two of them on the bridge at the moment. "Will you be heading out right now?" she asked.

"Think so," Missy said. "Aurora mentioned that she needs to research something, and I think Twenty-Six will be working on the Sappho first. It's pretty spotless, but there's some regular maintenance to do anyway, and it'll ease her into things. Plus, between you and me, I think she's afraid of starting on the Held Together."

"Oh?" Ivil asked.

"It's a lot."

That was fair, she supposed. The old ship had been through a lot, it would take a lot to keep it going. "Where are you going, exactly?" Ivil asked.

Missy frowned. "Why? You planning on making me stay here?"

"Not at all," Ivil said. "The last thing you need to worry about is me interfering with how you want to live, or me stifling your growth. I'm merely curious. And, to be honest, a little bored."

Missy sniffed. Her lips were drawn into a thin line, and she had a hand on her hip as she looked at Ivil, then she rolled her eyes and turned towards the exit. "You can come," she said.

Ivil didn't hasten to follow, but she did stand from her seat and walked after Missy, catching up with the woman as she opened one of the lockers set into the walls and pulling out some gear. First a handgun fit into a holster that she strapped on, then a simple coat to hide the gun pressed against her side.

"Are we expecting trouble?" Ivil asked.

"Not all of us are impervious to gunshots," Missy said.

"That's fair. There's a lot of power in just being able to kill someone, even if you never plan on doing it. It makes negotiating so much easier," Ivil said.

"Speaking from experience?"

Ivil nodded. "Of course. So, are we going anywhere in particular?"

Missy looked at her for a long while. "There's a bar that I've been to on this station once. It was pretty alright. How about you buy me a drink while we're there. And there's someone I have to meet later. An old... friend."

"I wasn't expecting you to ask me to go bar hopping with you," Ivil said.

"I've been giving what you said some thought is all," Missy replied as she started towards the airlock. Ivil followed after her, and soon they were both waiting for the lock to go through its decompression cycle. "I'm pretty damned sure I'm not the one for you. Or for anyone else. But I get what you're looking for."

Ivil blinked. She hadn't expected Missy to start talking about emotions and the like in such a casual way. "You understand me?"

Missy laughed. "Fuck no. But I get you. No one wants to be alone, Evelyn. There's a lot of power in that. Back home, it was one of the only things keeping the anarchy at bay, because we all knew that as free as we were, we still needed to act a certain way or we'd be free to be alone."

Ivil nodded slowly, uncertain of where this conversation was going.

The airlock opened, and they stepped out into a small hangar space. There were a few discarded old pallets to one side, and more free space than the Sappho had room in its hold. Likely this was where items being loaded and unloaded from a ship would go, but they weren't here for that.

"So, where's this bar of yours?" Ivil asked.

"It's called the Bar Station," Missy said. "One of the stations that got folded into Driftwood back in the day was this failed entertainment thing. Think part casino, part restaurant-thing. Lots of crap like that. Anyway, Bar Station is... I have no idea."

"Helpful," Ivil said with a small grin.

"Hey, I've only been on Driftwood a couple of times. It's a maze. And sometimes they move things around too, which doesn't help. There's always a map though, and shuttles."

"We'll find our way over," Ivil assured her.

She was slightly worried about leaving the ship, but Sonic Spectre was nearby now, and she ought to be able to handle any moderate threats on her own.

She was more interested in Missy's intentions. "So, is this a date or not?" Ivil asked.

"If you keep asking it won't be one," Missy said. "Look, I'm good with hookups, alright? My entire life I've never had trouble with that kind of thing."

"I see," Ivil said. She could understand why. Missy had an attractive visage and was lean and dangerous. While Ivil had a broad range of what she could consider attractive, Missy certainly fell into the upper part of that range. "What about longer-term relationships?"

"My job didn't allow for that," Missy said. "Closest I've ever come was stringing a mark along for a while. If I ever wanted to get... close to someone, I'd take a day or so off the Held Together and find someone to have some fun with."

Ivil wasn't sure what to think about that. She tamped down on the jealousy she was feeling. It wouldn't do to be envious of strangers. At the same time... well, she was never looking for someone puritanical as a companion, but she also didn't expect someone who was so... open about her needs.

"You got a problem with that?" Missy asked.

"No, I don't think I do," Ivil said honestly. If that's what shaped who Missy was today, then so be it. Of course, if they were to go beyond merely dating, then Ivil expected a little more faithfulness in that regard. She wasn't sure if that was too much to ask for or not. She supposed that this was what the dating process was made for, in any case.

***