Rocket Girls

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER TWO

"Where the hell is it?" Mila shouted, running up and down the ridge. There it was, her markings, the two hills, the northern crevasse, the Fire Falls all the way to the East. Great. She was in the right spot, the exact right spot on the map.

So where the f**k was Spectra and their ship?

Flora tilted her head to the side, observing her behaviour. "What are we looking for? Is it small?"

"No, it's not small. It's a f*****g rocket! A big, honking rocket," Mila shouted with her arms wide in a gesture of 'big honking rocket.' She knew she shouldn't be shouting with the Pyrites possibly out looking for her, but she was so frustrated. She sat her ass on the grass and kicked the ground, fussing and cursing silently this time.

"There are no burn marks on the ground," Flora observed.

"I can see that, thank you very much," Mila snapped at her.

Flora popped her lips a few times and went to sniff some flowers, letting her vent.

After ten minutes or so, Mila stood up and dusted herself off. "Well, there's little point in denying the facts. Fact is, my ride is not here. So, I should get a new one. Flora?"

"Mmm?" Flora perked up, raising her head. She had a mouthful of berries in her mouth, juice dripping down her chin.

"You've done so much for me already, but will you help me out a little more?"

"Thure," Flora nodded happily with her mouth full. "Want thum berrieth?"

Flora sat on the dirt, waiting for Mila to chew through her nails. She laid hands on her leg, giving her the gift of healing. It wasn't that serious after all, all it took was mostly some old-fashioned first aid.

"Do you have any credits on you?" the Enosian asked, finally turning to her.

Flora shrugged and pressed her lower lip. "Nope. What would I use them for?"

Mila let her head hang in disappointment. "f**k. Alright, let's see."

Flora perked up and raised her finger helpfully. "Oh, oh! I've got some seeds in my bag, will those do?"

Mila stared at her for a long moment, pushing her jaw forward. Then she finally said in a flat tone, "No, Flora, seeds will not do." She dove into her backpack, looked secretly at something for a long while and frowned deeply at it, then fished out her credits. She gave Flora enough credits to get rations to last them both for five days. Flora was sure that the Enosian was overplaying her injury to enlist her help. Patrols of heavily-armed Pyrites were walking up and down the small town. Fire Falls wasn't what you'd call a big city, but it had plenty of shops and a healthy, bustling activity of day-to-day life. It was inhabited mostly by Pyrites, but there were some other races as well, like Flora herself. It wasn't that unusual for someone like her to walk around.

An Enosian, on the other hand...

Now she would stand out, especially when the Pyrites were out there specifically looking for one. That was why Mila acted drowsy and asked Flora to go in the town in her stead. She didn't mind, really. And she was much more clever and perceptive than people gave her credit for. She grasped the credits Mila gave her tightly in her hand and hopped around, running into the town. "I'm going on an adventure!" she shouted, jumping around the place with arms flailing.

And suddenly, THUMP!

She had faceplanted on something tubular and immovable, and then fell on her butt. The credits fell out of her hand and rolled out into the street.

She raised her eyes up slowly with a gulp.

Above her loomed an enormous Pyrite, fat and circular, staring down at her real hard.

"Hey, little girl. You shouldn't run around in the street, you know. Where's you mom?" the fat Pyrite woman asked with a deep but soft voice.

Flora pushed herself up and dusted her pants. "I'm not a child! I'm twenty-one years old, if you must know. Hrmph." She pouted exactly like a child would.

The fat woman chuckled, making her jowls and her fat boobies jiggle. "Ha! Okay then, fine. You still shouldn't run around bumping on people, especially someone as small as you are."

"I'm not small! You're just too fat!" Flora snapped at the twice as tall and four times as heavy red woman. She stomped her foot down, and started to pick up her credits from the ground.

"Well then," the fat woman said, waving the comment away and going about her business.

"Fat lady, wait!" Flora shouted at her.

"What is it now?"

"Do you know of any places that sell spaceships?"

"Planning to leave the planet, are we now, little one? Well, you might wanna check out Petra's junkyard, she might have something that's spaceworthy."

"Thanks!" Flora cheered at her. "Sorry for calling you fat!" she shouted, even louder, making everyone on the street turn to stare at her.

The fat woman rolled her eyes and silently walked out of there.