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Chickadee: Part 3
🕑 Added 2022-03-25 23:07:47 +0000 UTCWithout moving his head Jun slowly turns his eyes to look to his right, his mind racing to assess his options. He considered a hard bank to throw her off balance but by the way she had her tail anchored to the seat beside him he realized that wasn’t going to do a thing. “Well hello there little…”
“You keep your hands on the wheel.” She interrupts. “Try anything and your head’s going to have some extra ventilation.”
“Okay, okay. I’m just flying here.”
“Level us off. Everything nice and smooth. No sudden motions.” Keeping her gun against his skull she shifts in between the seats to climb into the copilot side. She settles down, her knees up at her chest and sitting sideways, she pulls the pistol back but keeps it trained squarely on him. “We’re going to have a nice conversation you and me.”
“Fine by me.” He says as he pushes the control forward to bring the Dee horizontal. Out of the windows the blood red sky deepens an even darker shade as down below the inky fractal shapes of the swarms appear like slowly shifting continents on a crimson sea. Down below he could hear the big cargo door closing along with the clatter of something metal being thrown across the bay.
“Find the woman!” Comes Remus’ voice.
“I found her.” Jun calls back.
“He touches me and you die!” Posey’s grip tightens on her weapon.
“Whoa there. He won’t touch you.” Jun assures her. At just that moment Remus was crawling his way up through the hatch from below. Dripping with Critter ichor and limping from his leg bite he starts toward the cockpit. “Stay back big man.” Jun says in a serious tone. “Our new friend here just wants to talk.”
The wolf sees the barrel poking out from the side of the copilot seat and pauses just beyond the door. His teeth bared and a low growl rumbling deep in his chest he waits for his moment.
“So, what shall we talk about?” Jun asks.
“Well, the way I see it, I’m looking for a job and you said you had a vacancy.”
“Serendipity is it?”
“Opportunity more like. Consider this my application.”
Jun smirks, despite the threat she posed. “At gunpoint? This is an unconventional interview.”
“I didn’t think you two would be the types to stand on convention.”
“Fair observation.” He replies. “You’ve got moxie, I’ll give you that.”
“Keep your moxie flyboy, it’s a job I’m after.”
“Put the gun down!” Remus’ growls through sharp clenched teeth.
“Stay back you big shaggy bastard.” Posey warns, keeping the pistol on Jun. She’d learned the hard way that Remus valued the fox’s life more than his own.
“Alright little lady.” Jun keeps the conversation rolling. “Say we were interested, what position are you after?”
“Engineer, obviously.”
“Obviously.” Jun says. “Qualifications?”
“I’ve been turning wrenches since I was a little pink squeaker.” She brags. “Practically anyway. My dad was a militia mechanic. Followed in his paw prints.”
“Base pup?”
“Yep.” She nods. “I’ve worked on every damn thing under the sun, waves, and earth. Frankly I’m better than a Scav ship like this deserves.”
“Please.” Jun lifts his snout indignantly. “We are not ‘Scavs’. We are salvage specialists.”
“Whatever you say flyboy.”
“Big talk.” Remus interjects. “That dead walker down there tells me you ain’t all that.”
Her nose twitches at the slight at her professional pride. “That’s not fair. I didn’t have the parts I needed. Even I can’t work miracles.”
“What were you doing out here anyway?” Jun asks. “Its a long way from anywhere.”
“None of your business.”
“Evasive.” He quips. “Not a good trait for a new employee.”
“Not employee.” She corrects him. “Partner. I want to earn an even share of this bird.”
Jun glances back at Remus, surprised by mouse’s gumption, but the wolf’s yellow eyes were locked on the copilot’s seat waiting for even a split second to pounce on her. “That’s quite a commitment.”
“Let’s just say I’ve got no better prospects at the moment.”
“You’re on the run.” Jun states as it clicks together in his mind. “You must have done something bad too if you’re risking the badlands to get away.”
Posey’s whisker’s twitch. After weighing up a lie she opts for the truth, and it somehow sounds even more false than the fib. “It’s not like that. I can’t go back but…I didn’t do anything wrong.” Her round ears droop as she sees the pilot’s skepticism. “Really. Just a victim of fate. I didn’t do nothing.”
“Yeah right.” Remus scoffs.
“We’ve heard that before.” Jun says. “In the Hells it doesn’t matter much anyway. Most of us are running from something out here. How do we know you’re as good as you say?”
Posey snuffs and motions her twitching nose toward the panel. “How’s the ship flying?”
Jun looks down at the controls and grips the wheel harder. “Actually…really good.” He looks duly impressed. “She’s flying smoother than she has in a long time.”
The mouse perks up. “You’re very welcome.”
“That was you?”
“What do you think?”
“Huh.” Jun flies a lazy S curve through the air just to feel the Dee's noticeably better responsiveness. “Yeah, it’s definitely different.” He looks back to his shipmate. “If she can do that in just a few minutes…”
“Don’t even think about it.” Remus warns.
“Your bird isn’t what she appears. Not much to look at but she’s got it where it counts.” Posey says, her eyes drifting upward where the engine thrummed away a deck above. “Where on this blasted Earth did you two Scavs find an Overture engine? And how'd you fit it to a ship this small?”
“Who knows.” Jun shrugs. “It was there when we found her.”
“You found this ship?”
“We find a lot of stuff.” He says. “If you’re demon enough to survive it the Hells have their treasures.”
“Hmm.” The gun lowers from Jun’s head to his chest as Posey’s shoulders relax just a little. “This whole damned ship is a fucking disaster though. You got a slow leak in a gas cell, you got corroded valves, you’re fuel mixture is piss poor, you got loose bolts everywhere, you got tubes patched with plumbers tape, you got jury-rigs holding together other jury-rigs. And that’s just at a glance. I’m afraid what I’m going to find once I really take a look. It’s amazing this thing even flies. Have you guys even heard of basic maintenance?”
“We know some basics but that’s not really our thing. And I told you Renwick wasn’t much of a mechanic.” Jun smiles. “Drank more than he worked. Isn’t that right big man?”
“Rrrm.” He grunts.
“We’ve been doing what we can since he…um…left.” Jun flicks one his canines with the tip of his tongue as he thinks. “This is what you’d be signing onto. You think you’re up to the job?”
“I’ll have her singing pretty in no time.”
“You really think you can get my baby back to her best?”
“And more.” The mouse states confidently. “Just wait until you feel what I can do with her. She’ll be like a brand new bird.”
Jun liked the sounds of that. “You hear that Remus? Like a brand new bird.” He looks over to Posey and the pair share a little moment of budding respect.
“We aren’t lookin for a partner.” Remus says, breaking the moment. His fists had relaxed and the growling had stopped but his eyes were still wary. “Alright. We won’t kill ya. We’ll set ya down at the next settlement.” He swipes a bit of guts from his snout and flicks it to the floor. “That’s the deal. The only deal we’re offerin.”
Just then the robot clanks its way up the ladder to join the rest on the main level. “Miss Posey…”
“Shut up Scraps.”
“Yes Miss Posey.” It comes to stand beside Remus’ knee. Remus glowers down at it.
“We could use an engineer.” Jun dares to suggest, the gun trained on him dips further to gut level. “This could actually work.”
“No.” Remus replies. “I don’t like her. Can’t trust her. She’s no good.”
“Well fuck you too.” Posey retorts.
“Rrrr.”
“Listen wolf.” Posey says. “You almost killed me and I nearly killed flyboy, but neither happened. If you’re willing to call it even so am I.”
“You’re being hunted.” He states. “We don’t need the trouble. No way. Nothin about you smells right.”
“Here I took you for boys who could handle a bit of trouble.”
“We can handle it fine.” Remus says. “Still don’t mean we need it. You ain’t worth it mouse. And I ain’t no boy, bitch.”
Posey is about to reply to that but Jun jumps in. He knew that Remus wasn’t the type you could convince of something all at once. “Well, there it is then. Decision’s been made. We’ll take you as far as the next station then you’re on your own.”
There was something in Jun’s tone that told Posey to trust him. “I keep the walker.” She says.
“Nope.” Remus says as he pulls the hammer off of his back. “That’s fair salvage. You keep your life and your tin can.” He kicks Scraps. “That’s it.”
“But…”
“I’d take the deal.” Jun advises.
She looks into his beautiful jade slitted eyes then sighs. “Fine. It’s more than the Crits would have offered I guess.”
“Good.” Jun says. “Now, could you PLEASE put the gun down!”
Posey peers back at hulking Remus worried about what he would he do when she lowered the weapon. He snuffs and shakes his filthy head sending bug juice against the nearby bulkheads. “I’m takin a shower.” He hangs up his hammer, turns and heads off. “If you fuck us I’ll tear your head from your body.” He promises bluntly as he disappears through the heavy hatch style door into the living quarters.
“He doesn’t mean that literally of course.” Jun jests with a foxy smile.
“He won’t tear my head from my body?”
“Oh no.” Jun says as pulls back on the wheel to start to climb again. “He’ll definitely do that if you double-cross us. But if you fuck us…probably not.”
She rolls her dark eyes and tucks the pistol away in her boot. “You wish flyboy.”
His grins widens, an impish glint in his eye. “That’s right. You’ve got metal man there to keep you company.”
“Keep me…company?” Her little pink nose begins to darken with a blush, Jun thought it adorable.
“Your robot went into battle mode while you were unconscious.”
“Battle mo…?” Her eyes widen. “Ohhhh nooooo!” She shrinks into her seat and covers her eyes with her hands.
“I’m not sure that weapon was military issue.”
“Oh my God.”
Jun lets out a high infectious yipping laugh. “I didn’t take you for a pink sort of girl. Struck me as more of a tomboy.”
“Shut up!”
“Hey, a lonely life on the run.” He teases, his green eyes twinkling. “A girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do. No judgment here.”
“You’re going to make me regret not killing you, aren’t you?” She slips out of the seat and stomps over to pick up her robot. “Is there a spare bunk in this rust bucket?”
With a chuckle and nod of his head Jun says. “Ren’s old room. First one past the door. It’s all yours for the trip.” He glances back. “You’ll have to wait your turn for the shower. Just…give the big man some space, alright?”
“Sure.” She goes to leave but pauses. Without turning back toward him she asks softly. “Hey flyboy, what’s your name?”
“Jun.”
“Jun.” She nods. “Well, thanks for not leaving me down there Jun. I owe you one.”
He pats the throttle. “Thanks for getting Dee off the ground.”
“Sure.” She hesitates a moment longer before hurrying off. Just before she disappears through the door his keen ears catch her whispering harshly to Scraps. “You weren’t supposed to show that to anybody! I swear I’m going to turn you into a…” Her voice fades as the hatch closes behind her.
Jun laughs and shakes his head. Things had just gotten a whole lot more interesting aboard the Chickadee.
Comments
Grimbous
OMG, I didn't even think about that character! Not consciously anyway. I knew I should have made her a bunny, god damn it. lol Also, now I have the Rescue Rangers theme stuck in my head. 😂
manjak8
so far quite good, is mouse girl reference chip&dail?
Meat Toilet
Really liking this short! Hopefully it's not super short lol
