“Can we have a look around it then? My pilot also needs to have a look at the bridge.”
“There is no way I can let your pilot aboard until you’ve bought the ship,” he said, eyeballing Calegg distrustfully.
“Why?” I asked.
“He’s a damned infernal Torax man. Why do you think?”
“He’s flown our ship for years and we’ve never had a problem,” Ember lied. “We’ll just leave and find someone else who stocks this ship.”
“It won't be on D10-8841. Look, seriously,” he said conspiratorially. “This ship is worth a million senlar. If I sell it, I’ll be famous around here. If anything happens to it, and I let a Torax onboard before it was bought, I’ll not just be a laughingstock, I will be eliminated. Do you understand?”
He was certainly believable, and everything Calegg had told us previously, led me to believe the salesman, “Okay, can we at least have a look? Without Calegg?”
“Of course, sir. Right this way,” he smarmed, smarmily.
I felt truly awful for Calegg. I looked over to him, “I’m sorry, dude. But don’t worry, this bad boy will be yours to fly soon.”
“It’s okay. I’m used to it by now,” he said, glumly. His color went a really dark shade of red, which I assumed meant he was pretty upset.
With no other options, aside from cutting our collective nose off to spite our collective face, we went on board the ship. Looking around inside, it was a freaking dream. It was a different level, even compared to the Fystr ship we came to this quadrant in. It had a communal canteen, a gym and a loading bay with a small landing shuttle so we wouldn’t always have to take the ship down to the planet’s surface every time we wanted something. Even the bridge was in a whole different league. It was all just so much sleeker and sexier than anything we were used to, without being gaudy. Now, we just had to hope Calegg and Elyek could figure it out quickly.
“It’s amazing,” I said quietly to Ember.
“I know. I can't believe this is going to be ours. Finding Elyek was a damn godsend.”
“Let’s just hope nothing goes wrong with the transaction.”
“Well, we saw Elyek had the money. I sensed nothing but honesty from them,” Ember said, then fell silent as the Hixus salesman moved towards us.
“Are you happy with the ship? Does it meet your expectations?” he asked.
“Absolutely. It’s a beauty,” I replied.
“Excellent. If you will follow me, I’ll go and get the necessary documents in order for you.”
“Not yet,” I said quickly.
“Oh?”
“We’re waiting on a payment from our employers. It may take a day or two, but we’ll complete the purchase when we get the money. Once we do get the payment, we’ll need to leave promptly so familiarizing ourselves with the ship before purchase will be necessary,” Ember cut in, in a curt tone.
The salesman didn’t look happy, “I understand. Well, when you do have the necessary funds, please do come back and ask for me. My name is Qigufumasculis.” When he said his name, his voice changed timbre and it just sounded like noises.
Ember and I looked at each other in utter confusion. “Dude. I have no idea what the fuck you just said your name was,” I said, being as direct as possible.
The Hixus sighed. “How about this? Quig,” he said impatiently, his voice still took on a strange keening sound when he said the shortened version of his name.
“Okay. Let me try that. Quig,” I said, trying to replicate the sound he made.
I received horrified looks from both Calegg and the Hixus and Ember burst out laughing.
Calegg finally stepped in, “Don’t worry Qigufumasculis. I’ll ask for you when we return,” he said, matching the Hixus’ name sound for sound and receiving a grudging nod from the salesman.
“Seriously Calegg, dude. You hung me out to dry there. Why didn't you step in earlier?”
“I didn’t know you were about to massacre the shortened version of his name and offend his entire culture, Captain. Forgive me. I’ll try to predict your social inadequacies a little better in the future.”
“Calegg, you can be a right wanker sometimes. Do you know that?”
Ember continued to snigger. Calegg remained silent.
“Sorry about that,” I said to the salesman. “Can I ask for whatever manuals you have on this baby and any operational info for us to work on until our funds come through.”
He nodded coldly, clearly not quite over whatever offense I'd given, then led us to his office. He went to some filling units, pulling out leaflets, brochures, and other paperwork. He didn't ask us to sit so we remained standing.
“Here is all of the information I hold on the ship, from specs to operational manuals. I have also included the purchasing papers so when you return we’ll be able to make this transaction as quickly and as painlessly as possible. I’m sure we both want you to be on your way with all haste,” the cheeky bastard said, as he handed over the stack of documents.
“Until we meet again then,” I answered.
We left the dealership armed with everything we would need, then headed back to our own little slice of dilapidation.
For the next few days, Calegg and Elyek poured over everything we had brought and whatever else they could find about piloting the ship. Elyek proved their worth, showing us a kind of information search engine on the ship we already owned. It made me really miss the technology we had at home. I thought we must be able to get similar things to smartphones here, but when I asked Elyek what was available, the answer wasn’t encouraging. Apparently, because of the whole ‘thousands of different planets’ situation. Network
