If you’re looking for love in all the wrong places, why not settle for a one night stand?
Running Up the Tab
Star wranglers looking for love
FLASH ROGERS, STAR WRANGLER AND PILOT of a Wild West themed intergalactic cruse liner, walked into a star bar. Not just any star bar, the crown jewel of his cruise ship’s star bars, Eta Argus, a club illuminated by free floating dust and floor to ceiling windows to the stars. One cocktail cost a week’s salary, so Flash nursed it through the evening as he checked out the women who drifted through, accepting drinks from single male patrons.
He dressed casually because his official uniform made him look like a cosplay dork. Fringe vest, chaps, cowboy boots and holographic ten-gallon hat. His navigator loaned him a suit and tie for the evening (“loaned” meaning rented for another week’s salary) and even though it fit, it lacked the stylish lines of the other men’s virtual tuxedos.
The space cowgirl slipped into the seat next to his. A space cowgirl with a vest sized and darted for D-cups, a fringe miniskirt, electric blue boots and a holographic five-gallon hat.
When he’d nursed the last drop from his drink, he left a tip next to the glass and rose from his chair. That was the moment the space cowgirl slipped into the seat next to his. A space cowgirl with a vest sized and darted Four D-cups, a fringe miniskirt, electric blue boots and a holographic five-gallon hat.
He swallowed, ordered two drinks, and introduced himself. “I’m the ship’s pilot.”
“I’m in entertainment,” she said. “And it’s been a grueling day.”
He spoke of piloting the Jupiter/Saturn circuit; she spoke of riding bareback on stud horses. The evening continued, and she allowed him to place his fingers over hers. She laid a hand on his knee. He leaned into her shoulder. “You’re the girl I’ve been waiting for all my life.”
She checked her holographic watch. “And you can be my soul mate too, at least for the evening, but it will be another thousand credits to continue.”
from a story idea by Lily Tiller
Find my books
Wry noir author Phillip T. Stephens wrote Cigerets, Guns & Beer, Raising Hell, the Indie Book Award winning Seeing Jesus, and the children’s book parody Furious George. Follow him at Phillip T Stephens.
