1. Here We Go

Hortan awoke just before the clock was supposed to ring. Today was going to be an exciting day, first the check-up with the shrink, he sniggered, it was Waldoze that had taught him that word yesterday, then a visit to the medical facilities to check up on the bruises from the stag party, and then mining for the rest of the day. He dressed, repositioned his newest John Eldritch action figure, the new "Deep Space Trader with Coolant cargo" so it kicked an alien creature in the face, and got up for breakfast. Pancakes, today as with every other day.


He entered the food court just as they were opening, and went to his usual table. The waitress, Julie, had long time ago stopped asking him what he wanted, since it was always the same. Ten pancakes with syrup, and a large mug of dark Sedina Chocolate. With two marshmallows. The first thing she usually did when she came in on the mornings was making the chocolate so it would be ready. He finished his breakfast, put the credits including a too large tip under his cup, and ran down to the launch bay, to his ship "Ye Olde Sloth Moth XXIV". 


The old girl was magnificent in her yellow striped hull plating, with the twin high density mining beams polished to a mirror gleam, one on each side of the cockpit. He checked the pre-flight status and opened the ship comp. True to his word, Mor had assigned eight sectors of Heliocene roids for Hortan to work with. Hortan wondered slightly when Mor had found time for that with the amount of alcohol he had consumed last night, but not to worry. He stocked up on "Primmers" cheese/cardamom/dill flavoured beef jerky, a speciality from Verasi, made sure that the computer had his latest play list, and left the pilot seat. Better go see the shrink. He sniggered again, shrink. Not entirely sure what the word meant, but he wasn't allowed to tell Mr. Wyman, or so Waldoze had told him.


As he walked down to the psychiatrist’s office, he came through corridor 5c, the corridor where Fluffy and Buzz lived. Loud, no very loud electronic music came from Fluffy's room, and the door was open. Hortan peeked in and saw a floor covered in clothes, with Fluffy lying half in, and half off bed. He must have knelt before going to bed for some obscure reason, and then fallen asleep with his head and upper torso on the bed and sitting sideways on his knees. He had almost taken his shirt off, with the process frozen somewhere between attempting to get it over his head and actually doing it. His head and his right arm were still covered by the shirt that was now inside out. Hortan cursed, well he would have if he knew any swear words. Now it amounted to "oh well",  and he went inside to help Fluffy properly to bed. Hortan went over to the music and switched it off, turned and looked at Fluffy. Hortan saw with alarm that the shirt was red and wet with blood on the right shoulder. He took the shirt over the shoulder, over Fluffy's head, and looked at the shoulder. A large Behemoth with the TGFT logo was tattooed on the back of the shoulder, with the caption BAMF underneath. Hortan smiled and pushed Fluffy up into bed properly, tugged him tightly, and exited again, this time ensuring that the door was closed. 


Expecting silence, he was badly mistaken. Some type of harmonica and fiddle heavy music came from the room that Buzz inhabited. Hortan went over and knocked, no response. He tried the door on the odd chance that Buzz had done the same trick as Fluffy. It was open, and he popped his head inside. Buzz was sitting in his chair, only wearing a pair of boxers, head back and snoring soundly. Hortan sighed and walked in to help Buzz into bed as he had Fluffy. As before, he condemned the twanging male singer to silence, and then turned his attention to Buzz. Seeing him from the back, Hortan could see the new tattoo identical to the one on Fluffy's shoulder. In his right hand was the calibre 45 revolver, lying halfway on the floor. Hortan frowned a bit, why would he have that out? Hortan went over to carry Buzz to bed when he saw a large pair of very shapely, but also very hairy breasts on Buzz's chest. Hortan blushed immensely, then remembered that it was Buzz, and blushed even more. Deciding that he better not touch anything in the front, Hortan pushed the chair over to the bed and pushed Buzz into bed. Buzz started mumbling in his sleep, something about "bstard biocom dead mutha mmmmm better get the mmmm pop a cap in you mmm goddam mofo mmm". Hortan withdrew silently, and left Buzz to dreamland.


Hortan came into the psychiatrist’s office panting hard. He had been running flat out to make it, and even then he was late. Dr. Wyman looked disapprovingly at Hortan over his glasses, and closed the large synth leather book he was sitting with. 


"You are late Hortan. For the first time I believe. And what on Eo happened to your face son?"


Hortan looked down at his feet, embarrassed. "Sorry Sir, it won't happen again." He pointed to his face, "it was an accident in Sedina. I slipped and fell."


"I believe you Hortan," Wyman smiled, "shall we?" He opened his hand and pointed to the recliner.


Hortan took his boots off and and got comfortable. He wanted this to be over quickly so he could go mine. Twisting deep into the pillows, he folded his fingers behind his head.


"Now, we were talking of these girls names for roids that you have. Tell me about why you named them with those names you did."


"Well Catherine is a rotating roid, and very roundish with a beautiful colour, and she reminds me of a girl I used to play with when I was younger, so I named it after her. Trinity is all the way out on her own, and that reminded me of a girl I helped with some transport from Helios B-14 to Dau K-10. She was very alone too." Hortan stared hard at the ceiling. "I think she was in trouble, but I hope she is okay now." 


Wyman nodded and smiled, "go on." He put his pencil back in his mouth and chewed slowly on the end.


"Tracy is small and chubby. She reminded me of a girl I went to school with." Hortan blushed, "I guess I can just as well call the roid Buzz now, they were very similar really."


Dr. Wyman almost bit through his pencil. "Buzz, as in the TGFT pilot Buzz McKenzie?" He looked at the now frayed end of his pencil, shook his head and started scribbling furiously.


"Yeah, that is why I came too late. Buzz was just sitting in his chair, and when I went in to help him I saw his very large breasts. I was deeply embarrassed, but he didn't seem to mind, and then I took him to bed. It took a little longer than I anticipated, but I think that I got the best out of it." Hortan smiled at Dr. Wyman. "I mean, it didn't hurt or anything, it was just uncomfortable."


"Yes, yes, I am sure." The Dr. was making notes with the same speed a long time desperate junkie snorts cocaine, not digesting what was being said. "And so this is maybe why you currently does not have a girlfriend Hortan?"


"I have My Queen doc, and that is all there is for me."


"Yes, but she had renounced you, right? She said that it was too dangerous, no?"


"Ah, but that was just a cunning plan," Hortan pointed a finger to the side of his nose, thumping it a couple of times, "see, she wanted to protect me by pushing me away, and so it proves that she wants me still."


Dr. Lloyd Wyman M.D, suddenly felt very old, and very sad for the extremely deluded young man who had fallen in love with one of the most dangerous individuals of the universe. And now he was starting to project onto his fellow pilots and was seeing strange visions. He would have to talk to this Buzz, but in the meantime he would have to stabilise the young man.


"Right, I am going to put you on Lithium-carbonate again Hortan, and I am going to give you another type of antipsychotic, okay? You will not feel as drowsy as you did with the last batch, I promise." He wrote a note on his pda. "There, it has been sent to the distribution system, and you will receive the medication in the medical room shortly. I have notified Lieutenant Surbius Bondevo of the medication, so you should go and visit him before anything else, okay?"


Hortan was devastated; this would surely mean that he was grounded again.


"Now, now, let's see how you have been feeling with it after, say a week?"


Hortan got up, and walked slowly, like a condemned man soon to be hanged, out of the office. Instead of turning right towards the medical bay, he turned to the left towards the office of the XO of TGFT.


Hortan entered the small office where Naoko dominated. She had two more screens online now, and she was very focused on the four-dimensonal Fourier transformation that was spread over the three screens. Hortan waited until she had found the error that was hidden deep within the data, and corrected it with a single tab. The screens started rolling streams of data again, and she looked up.


"Yes Pilot Hortan?"


"Ehm, hi Naoko. It is me, we had pancakes together at Miha's place, remember?" Hortan said with an insecure voice, not wanting to appear pushy.


"Yes, I remember, and what can I do for you?" Her tone of voice indicated that the time for social stuff was another time. 


"Ah, yes. Can I please see Surb? I need a clearance for launch, my medication has been changed."


She looked at him like a seventeen-year-old testosterone filled teenager looks at the math assignment he has to do before going to the party with the boys.

 

"Hortan, you know that Lieutenant Bondevo is an immensely busy man. So please write your problem on the screen over there," she indicated a comp next to a chair, "and I'll check it and forward it to him. Then he will let me know if you can get a time, okay?"


Hortan was sick of sentences that ended with "okay?” but he sat down and started jotting his problem.