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Outlaw Hard: Coming of Age	By : Outlaw_Hard Category: +M to R > Outlaw Star Views: 2112 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Outlaw Star, nor the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 5
- 6
- 7
The station that orbited Yovust VIII was not particularly large compared to other stations in the galaxy, but it did a brisk business with traders and merchants, acting as a fuel waypoint and repair depot. The Yovust system was rich in minerals, which attracted miners, merchants, and pirates. Piracy had been on the rise recently, which is why the station put out bounties on any ship that preyed upon others.
Gene had done his homework before making his way onto the station. Even he could apply himself to some planning, now and then, when the need was great. His need was very great. Not that he would want that desperation to leak out and spoil the fun. He intended on enjoying every bit of this.
The station’s docks and locks area was busy, with numerous people (both human and non-human) going about their business. As Gene walked along the concourse leading to the commercial section of the station, he checked the time and saw that he had a few moments to spare.
Upon entering the commercial section of the station, he located a small flower boutique near the connecting corridor. Just the thing to seal the deal.
Gene stepped into the shop and was struck by a multitude of floral fragrances. Flowers covered nearly every square centimeter of wall space. A few customers browsed the huge assortment. He knew just what he needed, so he spent no time glancing through the selections and walked up to the counter where a clerk was waiting.
The clerk was an attractive woman who appeared to be in her 20’s, with a bright smile and cheerful attitude that seemed to match up very well with the overall feel of the shop. Gene offered her a warm and confident smile.
“Welcome to the Yovust Flower Shop, how may I help you sir?” the clerk greeted Gene.
“Hi there..” he started, but caught himself just in time. He was just about to start hitting on this woman, even though he had a prior engagement with another gal. This is precisely the trap that he would have gotten himself into in the past, but he was smarter than that, hah. He switched gears and continued, “Do you sell single long-stem roses? I’m looking to make a good impression, if you know what I mean..”
The clerk nodded, “Yes sir, we have some here in the case behind me. What color did you have in mind?”
“Uh, red would be best I think. Maybe one that hasn’t opened too much?” he replied.
“Of course!” the clerk replied, “Let me get one for you..” and she turned to the aforementioned case.
Gene’s eye ran up and down the length of the clerk’s figure, admiring it while she was retreiving the rose. Maybe if things went nadir with his hot date..no. She already knows he’s intending this flower for someone else and she’d turn him down no matter how hot he was. Maybe he could concoct some sort of sob story to help win some sympathy? It seemed like so much work though..
“Here you go sir, one red long-stem rose,” the clerk stated as she held the flower in her hands. “Did you want a small vase to go along with it? Or should I package it with a moisture tip on the end so that you can hand it over to its intended recipient?”
“Sure, a moist tip is always a good thing,” he replied and winked without even thinking. After a brief moment of silence, he mumbled, “Um, sorry, force of habit..”
The clerk didn’t seem phased beyond a simple raising of one eyebrow, and carried on with the task of applying a preservative tip onto the cut stem of the rose. She then wrapped the rose decoratively and offered it to Gene, “Here you go sir, that will be 74 Yovusian Credits.”
“Thanks, I’ll put it on my ship’s tab..” he replied, punching in his station credentials into the machine used for payment.
Once the purchase was complete, the clerk bowed, “Thank you for choosing Yovust Flower Shop, have a wonderful rest of the day cycle!”
Gene waved and made his way back out into the commercial section. It was about time for his date, so he started making his way to the place he was meeting her at.
It was a short walk through the commercial concourse to a cafe located in the heart of the section. The cafe was stylish, but casual, and was filled with a variety of people. There were stationers in their color-coded work togs taking a coffee break, travelers grabbing a bite to eat, and aliens sipping strange drinks that Gene couldn’t immediately identify.
A woman sat at the coffee bar, dressed in red. Though she wasn’t the only woman dressed in red at the cafe, the short skirt and fancy top was just as she had described to Gene on the “meet and greet” directory he had used to set up the meetup. Given her long legs and trim physique, Gene was certain that he wouldn’t be disappointed with this little adventure.
“Garnet?” Gene called out to her as he came up next to her.
“Gene?” she replied as she turned to face him.
He grinned and nodded, “Yep, that’s me. I hope you weren’t waiting long..”
“Oh no, I only just arrived,” she replied with a smile. She had pretty green eyes that stood out beautifully against golden tan skin, a small cute nose, and luscious lips painted a dark golden brown that set off her skin tone. She had long chestnut brown hair with highlights, held back from her face on either side with decorative butterfly hair pins.
Gene’s smile turned into a grin as he took in her appearance. She also took a moment to take in his own appearance and appeared to be pleased as well.
He had taken the time to clean up and wear a nice outfit, not that he didn’t look awesome in everything he put on. Still, it paid to pay attention to things like that now and then, and this was one of those times where it could make the difference between success and failure. He felt that he was firmly on the success side of things with this first impression made.
He sat down next to her and asked, “Would you like to get something to drink here? Maybe something to eat?”
She shook her head, “I’m okay, but thank you.”
Gene nodded and leaned back a bit, “If you don’t mind me saying so, you look amazing..” offering her a dashing smile.
Garnet giggled softly and shook her head, “You’re looking pretty good yourself. I wasn’t sure if you were going to end up matching the profile that you used, but it seems that you weren’t faking any of it.”
Gene nodded, “Yeah some guys lie about how they look on there, don’t they?”
She smiled and nodded, “The last guy I met up with posted a picture of himself from ten years earlier, when he was serving in the Space Forces, all buff and hot. He apparently let himself go after he left the Forces..”
Gene winced and shook his head, “I’d never let myself go like that. It’d just feel all..wrong..you know?”
Garnet smiled and nodded, “It takes effort, but its worth it.”
Just as Gene was about to comment further, he heard a familiar voice in the background, across the way from where he and Garnet sat. Jim..?
He looked around and spotted Jim sitting a few meters away, chatting with a woman he didn’t recognize.
Jim seemed to be having a very pleasant conversation with the woman, with the both of them laughing often through what seemed to be a casual conversation. He couldn’t quite make out anything they were saying, though.
Garnet asked, “Is everything okay, Gene?”
Gene turned back and nodded, “Uh, sorry, my partner Jim is over there. I didn’t realize he would be here.”
Garnet’s eyes widened, “Your partner..? As in, your...boyfriend?”
Gene blinked and shook his head, “No no, he’s my business partner and best friend! There’s no way he could be my…” but the words didn’t quite make it out of his mouth. He just sort of sat there, a little surprised and confused. “Uh, anyways, no, he’s like a little brother to me.”
Garnet frowned a little, but nodded in understanding.
Gene rubbed his face to try and collect his thoughts, as well as his emotions. “Sorry about that, where were we?”
Garnet replied, “We were about to talk about where we wanted to go from here. Did you have a place in mind or would you rather I choose..?”
Gene grinned, getting himself back on track. “Right. There’s a place in the next section that I had in mind..”
He couldn’t finish his sentence before warning klaxons began blaring through the entire station. A large explosion shook the station and sent both people and tables onto the deck.
Gene reached out and grabbed Garnet before they both hit the floor, Gene using his body to absorb the impact and protect Garnet from the fall. A moment later, they began floating upward, the artificial gravity having disappeared.
As people began floating upward, a handful of people dressed in pressure suits rushed into the concourse, using handholds situated along the top and sides of the station section.
Gene checked to make sure that Garnet was okay before calling out to Jim, “JIM!! Jim where are you!?”
Jim and his woman friend had been thrown to the deck along with everyone else, but he had recovered and was trying to help the people around him grab hold of the handholds that were recessed into the floor just for this situation. He looked up at Gene calling his name.
“Gene! Are you okay!?” he replied loudly through the chaos.
Gene called back, “I’m okay! I’ll be there in a…” and he paused, looking back to where Garnet had been a moment before. She was nowhere to be seen.
Jim replied, “I’ll be right there Gene!” and after helping another person get a grip on the deck handhold, he began making his way towards Gene, carefully avoiding the various flotsom that the lack of gravity had created with loose items.
Jim held onto Gene’s arm when he reached him, “What the hell happened Gene? Are we losing air, or is this just a generator power failure?”
Gene shook his head, grabbing onto Jim in return for stability as they used their feet to anchor themselves to the deck. “The emergency team seems to be checking into it,” motioning up to the suited figures crawling their way along the walls and ceiling, stopping every few handholds to check for failures in the station’s hull.
Jim nodded, “There’s not much we can do, let’s head back to the Outlaw Star, just in case we have to abandon the station.”
Gene nodded in agreement and they began making their way back to locks and docks, helping a few people who were floating just out of reach of the decking as they went.
They were just about to reach the bulkhead that lead to the connecting concourse to the docking area, right next to the flower shop, when the airtight doors slammed shut and the suited station workers pulled out weapons.
Jim remarked, “This doesn’t look good Gene..”
Gene replied, “Damn right it doesn’t..”
The loudspeaker that had been sounding the warning klaxon was silenced, followed by a deep voice that boomed out over the concourse, “People of Yovust Station! You’re now esteemed guests of the Blades of Anarchy! Don’t do anything stupid and you’ll live to tell the tale!”
Screams rose from many of the people as the pressure-suited armed thugs began herding people into the center, out of reach of the handholds and thus at the mercy of the lack of gravity.
One thug moved in on Gene and Jim, waving his gun at them, shouting, “Move you two! To the center with the others!”
Jim traded a glance with Gene and they both nodded slightly. Jim’s eyes trailed over toward where there were a bank of emergency escape pods set in the wall. It was mandatory that stations be equipped with pods in case of sudden decompression or fire. They were built to hold up to 4 people, 6 in a pinch.
Gene followed Jim’s gaze and saw what he was intending. His face crooked a smile and he glanced back to the thug with the gun, his arms stretching upward in a sign of surrender.
Jim’s arms also slowly went up, but he also let go of his foothold on the deck and the movement caused him to start floating upward and away.
The thug growled and the gun’s aim trailed upward to follow Jim. At that moment, Gene launched himself into the man, making sure to knock the weapon’s aim wide of Jim.
Gene punched the thug in the gut and smashed his faceplate into his knee. The faceplate was undamaged, but the force caused the thug’s head to slam into it, and then backward, likely causing a mild concussion. With the thug dazed, Gene ripped the gun out of his hands and kicked him in the groin, sending him floating out towards the center where they were gathering the hostages.
Using the momentum generated from the kick, Gene glided towards Jim and grabbed hold of him, equalizing the speed at which they were drifting, but also causing a small spin to their movement. It wasn’t pretty, but they were both headed toward an escape pod.
Another thug yelled out alarm when he noticed his buddy drifting towards the group and pointed toward Gene and Jim.
Several began moving towards the pair, though they did not shoot at them just yet. It seemed that they weren’t ready to decompress the concourse at this point, which would negate having taken hostages in the first place.
Gene laughed a bit at their luck, but Jim just grimaced in concentration, focused on the approaching escape pod hatch. When it was in reach, they opened it and ducked inside.
Jim slammed the big red launch button as soon as the hatch closed. Clamps opened and jets fired, sending the escape pod safely away from the station and out into space. Gene laughed and gave the station the finger through the small porthole that faced toward the station, though it was just a symbolic gesture since no one could see him anyways.
As the pod continued on its trajectory away from the station, Jim turned on the short-range communicator. The station was broadcasting a warning for all ships to not come near and that a section had been hijacked. Shaking his head, Jim called up the channel used for communicating ship to ship and found the frequency which he could use to reach Gilliam.
“Gilliam! Do you read me? This is Jim, I’m with Gene and we’re in an escape pod,” Jim called into the comm.
After a brief moment, Gilliam replied, “Jim, I’m very glad that you and Gene escaped. The station has locked down all of the ships that are docked here. A pirate gang has infiltrated the station and is holding a section full of people hostage unless their demands are met.”
Jim replied, “Gilliam, do what they say for now. We’re both safe and sound, so long as we don’t get picked off by any pirates. Where are the others? Are they onboard or are they on the station?”
Gilliam replied, “They are all onboard, Jim, safe but worried about you both. They are listening in on this communication and are relieved you are both safe. I will let you know as soon as we have clearance to leave the docks and retrieve you.”
Both Gene and Jim sighed in relief. “Thanks Gilliam, Jim out.” With the comm cut, Jim looked over at Gene and grinned, “Well that was exciting..”
Gene leaned back in his chair and smiled wryly, “It was the wrong kind of excitement. I had a hot date lined up, damnit..”
Jim raised an eyebrow, “Oh? Yeah, why were you out at a cafe? I didn’t think that was your scene..”
Gene glanced back at Jim, “I met up with a gal using the meet and greet. We were just about to go to the hotel too.. Was that why you were there too? I saw you with that woman..”
Jim shook his head, “That was just business. She’s got some jobs that we can take on that seem promising. I hope she’s okay..”
Something in Gene felt very relieved at what Jim said. He frowned in a moment of inner confusion. “Uh, well I’m sure she’ll be okay. Maybe she got out in an escape pod too?”
Jim shrugged, “All I can do is hope so, yeah.” He eyed Gene, “Trying to get laid? Why am I not surprised..”
Gene hmph’d and crossed his arms, “It’s all your fault. If you hadn’t...uh..nevermind.”
Jim tilted his head at Gene, “If I hadn’t done what? Why is it my fault your hormones are out of control, as usual..”
Gene shook his head, “Uh, wha..? What do you mean out of control as usual? I’m always in control..!”
Jim couldn’t help but snicker a little at that, “Control implies that you can keep your desires in check, not constantly feed them and bow to their will.”
Gene rolled his eyes, “What do you know about desire anyways? You’ve never even been with a chick, why are you picking on me for wanting to get some action now and then?”
Jim’s face turned sour and he looked away, “Yeah, I know, I’m still a damn virgin. So what. I’m just not..I haven’t found the right person, that’s all.”
Gene’s frown turned into a snide grin, “You’re just chicken is all. You’re afraid some girl is going to hurt your little feelings, am I right?”
Jim shook his head, “No..it’s not that at all. I’m just a lot pickier than you. You’ll sleep with anything that walks.”
Gene laughed, “Yeah? Why don’t I do you right now, if that’s the case..uh..wait, that didn’t come out right..”
Jim looked back at Gene, “What did you say?”
Gene’s expression screwed up in confusion, “I meant...I mean..uh…”
Jim’s eyes grew wide as Gene struggled to walk back what he had said. “What are you trying to say, Gene..?”
Gene’s face turned bright red and he looked away from Jim, shifting uncomfortably in his seat. He stopped stammering and just stayed quiet, unable to look him in the eyes.
Jim reached out and put his hand on Gene’s arm, “Come on Gene, spit it out..talk to me buddy? What’s bothering you? You’ve been acting weird lately..”
Gene jumped at Jim’s touch, but didn’t shy away from it. He tried to relax and uncoil his body, but he found that instead of calming down, his heart rate kept getting faster, his chest tightening.
He finally looked Jim in the eyes. “Jim.. I…”
To be continued...
- 5
- 6
- 7
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Outlaw Hard: Coming of Age