Live from Planet Frystar

8. The Aftermath

Galek leaned back against his workbench, arms crossed, watching as Grint continued to stew in his own bad decisions.

For once, silence settled in the shop.

Well. Almost.

"Galek believes he has a moment to breathe. A foolish assumption."

He sighed. "You're really gonna do this to me now?"

"Absolutely."

Before Galek could argue with the sky again, a new problem walked through his door.

A Customer With an Impossible Request

The moment the door slid open, Galek felt the disaster before he even saw it.

A large, hulking alien with six arms and the unmistakable look of someone who did not understand the concept of "maintenance" stomped inside, dragging behind him what used to be a spaceship.

Used to be.

Because what stood before Galek could not, by any legal definition, be considered a functioning vessel.

It was, quite frankly, a pile of wreckage, held together with what appeared to be duct tape, welding mistakes, and sheer desperation.

One of the engines was actively smoldering. The hull had at least five large holes in it. A single, lonely tire hung from a broken piece of metal, which made no sense because spaceships do not have tires.

Galek blinked. "What... what am I looking at?"

The customer, a heavily scarred brute named Torgg, not its first time in this shop, crossed all six of his arms. "Ship."

Galek gestured vaguely. "You sure Torgg?"

"A reasonable question."

Torgg nodded once. "Need fix. Tomorrow."

Silence.

Galek stared.

He looked at the pile of barely recognizable scrap.

He looked back at Torgg.

Then back at the ship.

Then at Grint, who was still sulking in the background.

Then back at the ship again.

Then, finally, back at Torgg.

"You want me to fix this," Galek said slowly, pointing at the wreckage, "by tomorrow?"

Torgg nodded. "Yes."

Galek rubbed his temples. "My guy. My dude. My large, multi-armed friend. You do realize this thing is-"

Before he could finish, a random piece of metal fell off the ship and hit the floor with a loud clang.

Galek pointed at it. "That. That just happened."

Torgg shrugged. "Fix."

Galek dragged a hand down his face. "Alright. Let's just-let's just break this down. This thing is missing an entire cockpit. Your main thrusters are held together with zip ties. And there is a literal tire attached to your ship for no reason. Why?"

Torgg squinted. "Decoration."

Galek threw his hands up. "OF COURSE IT IS."

"And so, Galek finds himself at yet another crossroads of his misfortune. He cannot refuse this job outright. Torgg does not seem like the type to take rejection well. But fixing it in one day? Impossible. He must find a way to stall for time, or suffer the consequences."

Galek exhaled slowly. "Okay. So. Tomorrow is... ambitious."

Torgg frowned. "Not ambitious. Fast."

"Yeah, see, the thing is, your ship-"

Another chunk of metal detached itself and clattered onto the floor.

Galek pointed again. "-is doing that. Which is a problem."

Torgg shrugged. "Still flies."

Galek opened his mouth, then closed it again. He considered trying to explain the sheer impossibility of that statement, but he had the sinking suspicion that Torgg did not care.

Instead, he forced a customer service smile. "Alright. Listen. Normally, for a full rebuild like this, you'd be looking at-"

He picked a random, completely absurd timeframe. "-about three months."

Torgg's eyes narrowed. "Not good. Need ship tomorrow."

Galek forced the smile wider. "Right. Okay. How about... two months?"

Torgg didn't blink.

"One month?"

No reaction.

"Two weeks?"

Nothing.

Galek leaned in slightly. "Do... do you understand how time works?"

Torgg grunted. "Time is enemy."

Galek sighed. "You know what? Hard agree."

He pressed his fingers together. "Okay, best I can do: one week. That's final. Otherwise, I'd have to steal parts off other ships, and you do not want me doing that."

Torgg considered this.

Galek held his breath.

Then, finally, Torgg nodded. "One week."

Galek exhaled sharply. "Oh thank the stars."

He turned to Grint. "You still sulking, or you gonna help me fix this disaster?"

Grint muttered something incomprehensible but grudgingly got up.

"And so, the mechanic has bought himself time. Whether it will be enough, however, remains to be seen."

Galek shot the ceiling a glare. "You could just say, 'good luck.'"

"That would be inaccurate."