Everybody’s Got Something to Hide

(Except Me and My Monkey)

All I wanted was to get paid and get out of there. I docked Gregor’s ship at the station depot and went to meet him at some scuzzy office. There were plenty of rough-looking spacers unloading the cargo, but at 47 I had the luxury of mostly being off their radar.

“Hey, momma, I like a mature lady,” said a man ten years older than me at least.

“Thanks.” I winked at the old perv.

It was nice to know I still had it, but 20 years in a pilot seat, even in low gravity, will pretty much wreck anyone. I took my mature self through the office door. Gregor was there talking to some other guy and three big albino looking aliens with gnarly teeth. They all seemed startled by me walking in on their little meeting. They looked to Gregor, who nodded towards me.

“That’s her.”

One of the big albino’s took a weapon off his belt and pointed it at me. The words hey and what didn’t even escape my lips. I woke up with no idea how long I’d been out.

“Hey, what?”

I was in a cleanroom on a freezing cold table. I pulled the white sheet up around my shoulders. I was still sleepy, like waking up from a wonderful nap. I stretched and my back felt great. I hadn’t had a back pain free day in two…