Trent and Jeff walked down the street towards a destination Trent wasn’t sure of. Trent was taking in all the sights to really care. There were skyscrapers that were mostly very thick glass, as well as smaller shops with signs in the window proclaiming the various items they had for sale. The way the sun reflected off of the buildings made for quite a sight. He could see people going about their business and he could see the occasional slacker here and there too. He was also thankful to see a few spots of nature like a few trees dotted around the place. He knew they were planted by man but he was still always glad to see them. It was a shame there were very few natural forests left. Overpopulation had it's downsides. At least humanity had realised how vital plants were to life and had set up several tree farms and man made forests. They also served as natural preserves for the wildlife that would have lived in natural forests. Trent owned quite a few of them himself. Trent pulled a leaf from one of the trees they passed and stuck it in his pocket before turning to Jeff.
“Okay so first things first, I need some grub. You know anywhere nice then?” Trent asked Jeff.
“Sure do” Jeff replied, pointing to a shop in the distance. Trent could make out some tables outside, which identified it as a café. He sped up a bit, causing Jeff to run to keep up with him. Opening the door his nose was hit by the smell of well cooked food. Looking around he spotted some free tables and went up to the counter to order his food.
“What can I get you sir?” Said the guy behind the counter. He was the typical grease covered teenager you expect to find working at a fast food place. Some things never change, Trent thought to himself. Smiling at his thoughts he looked up at the menu and checked how much change he had.
“Just two burgers and some soda please” He said, turning round to Jeff asking him if he wanted anything.
“I'll take the same” Jeff said, after checking his own money. With their food in hand they sat down and started eating. Trent ate his first burger in a few bites; he didn't realise just how hungry he was. After taking some of his soda, he decided to take the second burger a bit slower. He decided to ask Jeff a question instead of digging straight in.
“Say, where is the shipyard around here anyway?” Trent asked. Jeff swallowed the burger he had in his mouth before replying.
“There's one a few blocks away. This is the closest food joint to there which is why I brought us here.” he answered. Trent chuckled and took a bite out of his second burger.
“Well I figured it wasn't the food.” he remarked. “Still, when you've not eaten in a few days anything will do.” he sighed.
“When was the last time you ate?” Jeff asked him.
“I think it was a day or two before I crashed. I was on my way back to Earth to resupply actually.” Trent replied. Resupplying was one of the few reasons he came back to Earth. Being curious about how much things had changed was the main reason.
“Oh”, Jeff replied before going back to eating his burger again. Then a thought struck him.
“Wait you can't die, do you really need to eat?” Jeff asked. Trent rolled his eyes.
“Well yeah”, was Trent's sarcastic reply, “My body still needs proteins and energy, and I get hunger pains just like everyone else. Let me tell you after going longer than most people can without food, you really start to hurt, and you get pretty weak too.” Trent explained. Jeff hadn't actually thought of that. The rest of the meal passed mostly in silence. When they were done they threw away their rubbish and headed out the door.
“Alright, which way now?” Trent asked Jeff. He looked around and couldn't see anything that really stuck out like a shipyard. Normally you could notice them from quite a distance.
Jeff looked around and pointed to a skyscraper. “It's just past that place over there”, he said. “Homeworld Shipyard.” That explained why Trent couldn't see it. A skyscraper like that would hide it quite well.
The two of them headed off together down the street. Trent was taking in the sights again. He really had been away for too long. He was a big fan of natural beauty, which he supposed explained why he enjoyed being in space so much. There wasn't as much natural beauty on Earth anymore. The human race may change the way the world looks but even they would have trouble changing the way space was arranged. He had some favourite spots on Earth but he was always being distracted by space. If he had stopped staring at the sun and turned round just a few minutes earlier, he might not have been shot down actually. Though he considered the trouble worth it for that sight. He was very content to just let the universe move around him and go with the flow.
They reached the shipyard and Trent let out a whistle as he looked around. There were ships of all sorts here. Some destroyers that were mostly military class but civilians were able to get some of them, mostly for protection. A few merchant ships that focused on hull space and shielding, with some weaponry to fend off pirates or thieves. Most merchants typically took an escort though if they expected any real danger. He found a desk in the middle and walked up to the it, this one operated by a tall woman with long blue hair.
“See anything you like sir?” She asked Trent with a playful smile. Trent ignored her flirting for the moment and looked behind her and pointed to a ship that was a good size for him. It was small but livable, just what he was after. Something he could live in, but not so big that he'd get too lonely and be tempted to take too many people with him. From the information on the board above it, this ship held 4 or 5 people comfortably. It was also known as “The Piranha”. The weird names people think for their ships thought Trent. Still he wasn't much use at naming things himself sometimes. The few times he had bought a ship first hand he hadn't bothered naming them at all for a while until he randomly thought of something.
“How much for The Piranha back there ma'am?” Trent asked the receptionist/saleswoman. She looked slightly disappointed at this reply before regaining her demeanor and checking the records.
“Let's see here...” she said, thumbing through the pages “Ah here it is. The Piranha, 4 person ship but can handle five, 2 manned gun turrets and 3 automatic ones, missiles can be mounted but you need a license for those.” At this Trent pulled out his license. The lady gave it a once over and handed it back, “Okay so you can have missiles attached. It also comes with a heavy duty shield and an engine that while not that powerful, can be upgraded. Though it's light speed engine is out, and you'll have to buy a new one. Because of the engine it's on offer and will currently cost you 30,000 credits.” she finished. Trent checked the money in his pockets. He was just shy, having only 28,000. It'd been a while since he had needed a new ship. He turned to Jeff.
“Hey Jeff could you lend me two grand? I'll pay you back pretty quick.” He asked. Jeff was taken a bit off guard, but he had grown to like Trent. He thought having a reason to keep him around, like him owing money, might not be too bad. He thought he might have made the decision a bit fast, but once he had made it, he knew he wouldn't be able to convince himself not to.
“Um, okay, but let me just go get it.” Jeff said once his mind was made up.
“There's a cash machine over there sir” The lady said, pointing to an ATM that was outside a bank across the road. She had a little trouble comprehending just who would walk around with twenty eight thousand credits in their pockets. If he was going to pay cash then he had to pay it all in one go. At least the ATM was close and Jeff wouldn't have to walk far with a large sum of money. Jeff thanked her and went to the machine. He came back a few minutes later, two thousand credits in hand. He handed it over to Trent who handed it over to the lady along with his own 28,000 and asked her for The Piranha. She took his money, put it away, and gave him the paperwork to sign. Once that was all taken care of she handed him the launch codes and ignition keys he would need to take off, as well as the keycard to open it up in the first place. Trent and Jeff went to the ship, opened it up and had a look inside. It was roomier than Trent thought. He found the cockpit, which had two main chairs at the front and then three smaller ones behind those. He found a kitchen, complete with a fully stocked fridge. He wondered about the quality of the food, and decided he should check it out later. Or maybe just replace it outright. He found a main sitting area in the middle with a large table, and what looked like a projector in the middle of it. He found that the ship had 4 bedrooms. Each one had it's own bed, causing Trent to believe something on some other part of the ship became a bed. He found a medical bay, and a fairly large hold too. All in all he had found a great ship. Or so he thought. It was then he found the engine room. The lady wasn't kidding about the engine. It was in terrible shape. The only reason it was still in the ship was to show the person who was buying it how it was fitted. He figured he was going to need a new one. He already owed Jeff money too. After finding everything he went back to one of the bedrooms and laid on the bed there.
“Now what?” Jeff asked him as he walked into the room. He'd had a look around the ship himself and found it to be very impressive. He'd never been in a starship before and so the experience was very new to him.
“Now,” Trent replied, shutting his eyes and sticking his hands behind his head, “I try to get some sleep. Neither of us slept last night, you must be tired too.” Trent surmised.
“A bit”, Jeff admitted sheepishly.
“Well get yourself on a bed and get some sleep. This ship is partly yours you know.” Trent said, surprising Jeff a little. He smirked as he heard Jeff walk off to another bedroom. Jeff also had a pretty big smile on his face. He couldn't really believe he did actually partly own a ship. He found another room, laid down, and dreamed about what he might see if he took off in this ship that was partly his.
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