Private The Lucky Credit

[Yula Perl]

With Horizon Tech steadily growing, Yula found herself both elated and stressed with the increase in business. It was becoming increasingly difficult for her to meet deadlines on her own, so much that the Zeltron often spent weeks at a time at her shop on Terminus, working well into the evenings. Her mother, ever the business-minded one in the family, made a simple suggestion: Why not hire help?

As weird as it sounded for her to employ someone to do a job she was so used to doing, weeks passed and she found that she could not get rid of her mother’s voice. It was on a routine trip to Bespin that she saw the flyer posted on the board at The Lucky Credit. Sitting at the bar, she flicked the ash of her cigarra into the tray beside her—a holdover of her polite upbringing—while going over the details of the flyer she’d plucked from the public notice board moments before. Mechanic for hire. That was all she’d needed to know.

“Hey,” She flagged down the bartender. “Know where I can find…” She glanced down for a moment. “….’Norest Tandpett’?” The bartender grunted, giving her an expectant look. “And uh, I’ll take a Tatooine Sunrise.” Satisfied, the man behind the counter wiped his hands on a less than clean towel, nodding his head towards a young man at the other end of the bar.

Yula turned her head, smoke curling lazily from the thin cigarra between her lips. “Him? You sure? Looks young.”

Norest "Sprocket" Tandpett

 

[Norest "Sprocket" Tandpett]

Norest kept his eyes on the glass of Best o' Bespin he ordered earlier, trying not to stare at the woman talking to the bartender. He noticed that she had one of the flyers he put up in all the cantinas in the city.

"Could this be it?" He wondered. "Is she my ticket off this damned planet?" The woman sure didn't look like a captain of a spaceship... At least not like the ones Norest usually saw in Cloud City's docking station. "Does that even matter?" He thought. "Hell, she could be a talking tauntaun for all I care if she's gonna get me out of here."

He took a sip from his glass and flinched a little. He hated alcohol, but he needed to look tough to get the job. He glanced at the woman, waiting for her to approach.

 

[Yula Perl]

Yula mulled over her options for a little while. For some reason, she had expected the face behind the flyer to be a little older, more weathered and experienced. But if life in the Outer Rim had taught her anything, it was that judging someone based on appearance alone could be a big—and sometimes deadly—mistake. She’d even experienced suspicion towards herself at first, given that Zeltrons often took up other occupations.

In the end, she decided that there was nothing to lose in talking to him.

Downing a quarter of her drink, she exhaled slowly as the burn of the alcohol cut a path down her throat and warmed her insides. Sliding off the stool, she simply approached the young man nursing a glass of his own.

“Hey, you’re Norest, right? The mechanic who’s looking for work.” She held up the flyer in gesture before placing it on the counter between then, slipping into the seat next to him without prompting. “I’m Yula—I run a small droid and ship repair business on Terminus. Interested in talking?”

Norest "Sprocket" Tandpett

 

[Norest "Sprocket" Tandpett]

"Yeah, I'm Norest, but everyone calls me Sprocket."

Norest looked at the pink-skinned woman talking to him, his mind racing with how to reply. Should he start with a short introduction, or maybe he should just cut straight to the chase? Norest looked up and saw her staring at him with an expectant look. "Say something!" He scolded himself in his head.

"So..." Norest stopped abruptly and continued a moment later, now with a deeper voice: "So, you're looking for a mechanic, huh? Well, you're in luck, because I'm probably the best one you can find in Cloud City." Norest was really tempted to cringe in his seat at his delivery of the line. He took a sip from the glass he held and forced himself not to shudder again. "I need to keep this up just a little longer!" He reminded himself. He took a deep breath and spoke again, with his forced deep voice. "Even though I tend to keep to ships, I always look for opportunities to improve and learn new skills, such as droid repair."

Norest noticed the entire time he was looking at the glass he was holding. Wondering whether his potential employer is as embarassed and uncomfortable as he is, he looked up at her face.

 

[Yula Perl]

Yula smiled politely, though it didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Sprocket it is, then.” Nicknames, aliases, these were all common things in the Outer Rim, and even moreso among people who worked in the mechanical trades.

“The best, huh?” She grinned this time, and it reached her eyes. Wasn’t unheard of—though he appeared young, some of the most talented folk in the galaxy had deceiving looks. “I service ships from time to time, so it would be good to have an experienced ship mechanic on the roster.” Her hand idly twirled the glass as she watched the young man, marveling at the low cadence of his voice.

The kid was anxious as hell, and there was no hiding it from the Zeltron. But she didn’t begrudge him—he had character. And so far, honesty. “I like that.” She took a deep drag from her cigarra, tapping the ash onto the counter of the bar this time. “If you’d have told me that you had droid experience just to get the job and I found out later, I’d be pissed.” Yula grinned widely, please. The cigarra went back into her mouth, resting at the corner of her lips. “Always good to learn new things, too. Too many of the older folks are set in their ways and don’t give a damn about the new tech. But the galaxy’s always advancing, and we’ve gotta keep up.” She nodded, as if Sprocket had agreed to what she’d said.

“Where’d you learn the trade, anyhow?”

Norest "Sprocket" Tandpett

 

[Norest "Sprocket" Tandpett]

Norest looked at the woman and felt a drop of sweat dripping down his back. He was seriously considering lying about having experience in droid repairs, but now he was glad that he didn't go through with it. Whoever that woman was, he didn't want to see her angry. He just had a feeling that it wouldn't end great for him. But then again, he lied when he said he's the best mechanic around... Norest started panicking. "What the hell was I thinking? Lying?! Really, Norest?!" He berrated himself.

He felt his throat aching from forcing the deeper voice. He quickly took a swig from the glass of Best o' Bespin in his hand, but that didn't help. The burning sensation he felt down his throat only made it worse. "Dammit... I guess it's time to come clean with everything..." He thought. And so he did.

"I'm so sorry, this is my real voice, I tried to sound a bit more intimidating, also I'm not really the best in Cloud City, I just serviced cloud cars all my life and helped my father do so, I am nowhere near the best, I'm closer to average..." He felt a single tear flowing down his cheek after saying that, but he quickly wiped it with his hand and continued speaking as fast as he could. "Please don't be mad, miss, I just really need this job to get away from here, I'm sorry for lying!" He blurted out trying to hold back the tears, but right after he finished speaking he couldn't keep it in. He wondered how much of that breakdown he should attribute to himself and how much to the alcohol he drank.

Norest hanged his head trying to avoid eye contact with the zeltron and started quietly sobbing. "You're pathetic. Next time don't lie." He thought to himself. His vision became more and more fuzzy, and his head started spinning faster and faster. "Damn alcohol... Why did I even drink...?"

Yula Perl