a short story I've written (thoughts, opinions, guidence, editing all gratefully recieved)
Fru’s joints ached as he hurried across the marble courtyard to the Serdome. Cryostasis was all very well, but when you got to 104 you needed slightly more than 10 minutes to recharge the old bells and whistles. His feet shuffled across the smooth floor, the sound whispering in the warm air. Above him the two suns sparkled through the translucent dome like rainbow glitter. The Serdome was a manic throng of people, business associates, soldiers, and market stall traders. They were all races and all species, each hurrying to complete whatever task they had in hand or claw.
At the centre stood a huge multi-storey building filled with finely decorated offices and fashionably gaudy conference rooms decorated with the latest in artificial art. To Fru, it looked like a garadiun hun beast had been released with an overdose of hypersynth and a child’s painting set but who was he to comment on fashion. It was the hub of the Business Sector and Fru had a delivery on the three hundredth floor. He ran a hand through his thick white hair, and wished he looked a bit smarter than the grey Bucklim Knight Trading and Delivery overalls allowed him too. He was 90% sure that someone had been paid an excruciating amount of money to design clothing for Bucklim Knight and the best they had come up with were grey overalls with black arrows on them. Apparently it reflected early 20th century art.
It wasn’t like such things affected him so much these days. He had never been one for all the youth treatment when he hit his 90’s and besides a couple of extra High Vit Tablets every now and then, he thought he didn’t look too bad for his age. Prolonging the inevitable wasn’t going to achieve anything, so he was happy to go when it was time for him to do so, and not a moment later. Delivery work bought enough credits in to keep his few vices at bay, and the rest was spent on keeping busy and well fed. But seeing all the pristine suits, dripping with exclusivity and rich credit, made him feel far older than he was.
The massive grey box hovered serenely next to him. Fru poked at a couple of buttons on the side and its speed slowed to more of his own pace. Not for the first time, he considered just sitting on it and letting it take him the rest of the way. The doorway dematerialised when Fru approached the entrance to the Surdome. The throng of people around him seemed to speed up as though entering the building had injected some form of urgency into their footsteps. Fru flashed his card at the reader and waited for it to accept him for who he was. The machine cooed peacefully and let him through the gateway with his package.
Fru took a long look around. It had been a while since he had traveled to the planet Rachdas and even longer since his last visit to the Surdome. He was sure there hadn’t been so many military officers last time. But then what did he know about business and trade. Feeling very small in the busy reception, he guided the grey box to the nearest grav chamber. A flock of twittering women separated to let him pass and he winced at their high pitched chatter.
The cool air of the grav chamber was a welcome relief from the stuffy reception. Behind him, two soldiers stood smartly at ease, grinning and discussing their previous nights conquests. Fru wasn't entirely sure what grinding zurkecs meant, but he had a pretty good idea. He sighed inwardly and remembered when he had that kind of energy. Now he just couldn't wait to curl up back in the cryostatis tube.
The two soldiers got off at the same level as he did, and then proceeded to follow him to the meeting room identified on his handheld device. He pressed the entrance button and the door opened almost immediately. The two soldiers behind him politely excused themselves and entered the room. Fru and the grey box were impatiently ushered in after them. A number of fashionably suited businessmen were sat round an enormous glass table. Varying military officers were also sat and a loud debate was in progress. Fru had no idea what about and didn't really care. He'd made so many deliveries in the last 60 years, he had lost the curiosity of what it was he was delivering and why. He used to love to know what precious item lay in each package, what event or conversation had occurred to warrant such deliveries. In his earlier years he had eavesdropped on a thousand conversations, gleaned tidbits of information here and there. On more than one occasion he found he could sell the information as well, and the bonuses from these transactions had paid for things like his very comfortable new complex on Primus 1.
But these days he found he could no longer be bothered. He didn’t even follow much of the newsreels any more. The excitement had worn thin after a while, and information transactions were frequently more life threatening. Although he wasn't too bothered about extending his life, he did have issues with it being cut off quickly and violently.
The debate was heating up and the deep growls and macho shouts from varying males in the room were getting louder. Impatient to get the relevant forms signed and be on his way, Fru coughed politely. It was as if they had only just noticed him for the first time. A burly officer in a black uniform strode over to him and frowned. Fru ignored the frown and simply held up the handheld device for his thumbprint. The officer did as he was bid, and then again and then again. By the fourth form on the device he was getting a little impatient. Fru smiled and held up a placating hand. He had no idea what all the different forms meant - half of them were in tweng so he didn't even understand them anyway. He just handed them over to the person in charge to confirm what they were receiving and ensure there were no problems.
The officer took a closer look at one of the forms on the hand held. Fru watched his face scrunch slightly in concentration as he read the varying options available to him to tick. His hair was cropped close to his head like many officers, and a thick sheen of sweat marbled his temple. The officer started to meticulously tick through the form, checking each question as he went and answering one of the varying options available. He reminded Fru of some aged ape trying to figure out how to retrieve the fruit from the puzzle.
Fru was aware of the complexity of tweng delivery forms, and knew that the person taking the delivery had to be quite specific about what happened with the item once received. He’d heard the horror stories of the tentacled Hystan assassin taking out the concubine that had ordered it instead of the emperor it had been ordered for, but had generally cast them off as stories for telling over a good glass of hypersynth.
In the background the remaining delegates at the table continued their discussion. Fru looked around and mildly scratched under his arm. The officer sighed loudly and continued to concentrate on the complex wording, slowly marking off the answer to each question. When he heard his name mentioned, he turned sharply to bark an answer to the group. He wiped his hand across his temple to clear the sweat and then perched on a seat to get a more comfortable position for completing the remaining form. As he did so the handheld device chirruped a warning.
“Goddamit!” the officer cursed and Fru leaned over to see what he had done. The device had blanked the form completely. Sighing, Fru tapped a few buttons and the answers and ticks reappeared in the relevant boxes.
“Is that what you put?” he asked politely. The officer had been distracted again by the debate at the table.
“What?”
“I asked if those are the answers you completed?”
The officer squinted and glanced at Fru impatiently. He briefly scanned the document again and then nodded.
“Yes, yes its all fine, just leave it here will you? I’ll have a squad take it to the depot as soon as I’m done here.”
Fru handed him the autopen and asked him for his signature on the final two lines. The officer scrawled a lengthy line across the screen and then got up from his seat, pushing past Fru as he did so.
Fru shrugged. He pocketed the handheld and flicked a couple of buttons on the grey box. It settled smoothly onto the ground. Fru headed out of the door and back to his ship.
When he passed through the final layer of cloud and ozone he switched the ships generators off and took off his shoes. The old cruiser clanked and rattled when the engines slowed down, but held together as usual. Fru started sending the data back over to Faxon, the company on Primus 4 who had asked for the package to be delivered. The remaining data would then be sent to Bucklim Knight Trading and Delivery so they could arrange a credit transfer. All Fru had to do was make sure the right people got the information and then he was in the stasis chamber and back on Primus 1 with a nice healthy credit bonus.
There was a crackle of static and a face appeared on the view screen at his port station. The old man frowned.
"Fru, are you receiving?" Said the woman on the screen from Faxon. Fru hit the transmit button.
"Loud n clear Norel, is there a problem?"
Norel shook her head slightly and then shrugged.
"Don't think so, I just wanted to check these forms." Fru grinned.
"Sweetheart, whatever they signed is right by me. I don't even know what half those forms say!" he replied. "If you’re happy with them, then I am."
“It’s ok,” said Norel thoughtfully. “He’s confirmed the red box, not the green, but he’s signed and sealed it, so it seems to be ok.”
Fru watched her press a number of other screens and check the data. She looked at one, and then at the other. Fru glanced at one of the copies he had kept and noted the product code with interest.
M457HY4988
DENSTRON ANTIMATTER INVERSION DEVICE MARK 23
HIGHLY EXPLOSIVE
“Ma’am I not completely aware of the full contents of the delivery but if you want me to go and check the details or collect it again, you're going to need to negotiate with Bucklim Knight” He said after a while. “I don’t have any involvement with the package or what they do with it after delivery.”
Norel looked up and then grinned.
"Naah I think its ok by the looks of it Fru. Thanks again for your help!"
Fru nodded, "Not a problem!" he replied, ready to sign off.
"Oh wait! Fru? Hold on the line a tick, I just want to ask you a quick question."
Fru nodded impatiently, thinking of the cosy warmth of his statis chamber. He watched Norel mark her print on the handheld and then turn to shout over her shoulder.
"HEY JARAN! YEAH! GO AHEAD ON THE MARK 23!"
Some considerable distance behind the exhaust debree of the old cruiser, the shrinking planet exploded. Human reaction took a long moment to catch up with reality and then Fru’s eyes opened wide. He visibly cringed. A second later the shockwave passed over. The little ship grumbled under the strain and then settled. Norel looked back up at the screen and smiled.
"So yeah, Fru, did you want to go out for a drink when you get back?"
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apathetic