Si's Solar Salvage Ch. 03

"We all got lucky. Those pirates could have stayed hidden and we would have never known you were there. Fortunately for us - and you - the greedy fucks decided they wanted a little more of what didn't belong to them."

Mary looked around the table at the faces of the people she had come to think of as her family. "Sorry. I probably shouldn't talk about that stuff here," she sighed, finally realizing the impact of her questions.

"... and I probably shouldn't be talking so loudly, either, about buying a bunch of new shit," Si admitted. "I was just trying to think of what we need to pick up to make our stop as fast as possible and get our asses back out there, clearing sectors, and making money."

"Si doesn't even know how much money he has," Shiva told Mary. "That's why he's got more than any of the other tug-slugs. He keeps his head down and works his ass off."

"... and I was lucky enough.." Si started

"... and horny enough.." Shiva added.

"... to build a ship's AI that helps me work harder & faster."

"Why don't more people do this?" Mary asked.

"Think about the faces of those corpses we rendered," Si told her.

"Ah. Yeah. That would do it. I can't imagine I'd ever be able to handle that if I hadn't already been through what I'd gone through when you found me."

"Right," Staci said, reaching over to squeeze her hand. "I stay out of the way - so I don't see them - but I've even seen Si shook up a couple times."

"Can I get a couple outfits?" Mary asked.

"Shiva probably has mountains of delivery boxes sitting in front of the docking bay at this very moment. We'll need a grav-sled to move it all. I'd be surprised if she didn't buy a whole clothing store," Si said, laughing.

"I'm not that bad," Shiva argued.

"Yes, you are," Staci said, laughing. "You should see our coveralls."

Shiva's eyes dropped to the table.

Staci laughed and asked, "Did you buy her a sweatshirt and cargo-pants too - or just the coveralls?"

"You'll just have to wait and see, shithead," Shiva said, a little too loudly.

Rita brought over the pie - with another glass of milk for Mary. In less than a minute, it was all gone.

When Rita returned, Mary said, "That was the best coconut cream pie I've ever had. Thank you. Do you make it or does Karl?"

"Me," Rita admitted somewhat shyly.

"Please tell Karl..." Mary began.

"Get up," Si ordered.

"What?" Mary asked.

"He's likely to hug you - you might as well deliver your praise in person."

The group stood and started towards the counter.

"Karl," Si called out, as they headed over.

The cook looked around in alarm but then saw who it was, shuffled a couple things on the grill, and stepped out of the kitchen.

"Go ahead," Si told her.

"Thank you for breakfast, it was as good as they said it would be," she told the man. Turning to Rita, she said, "... and the pie was better than they were able to describe."

"Thanks, sweetie," Karl said, before hurrying back to the grill.

Rita wrapped the girl in a hug, and said, "I'm glad you found a place."

"Me too," Mary said, kissing her cheek.

Turning to Si, still hugging Mary, she asked, "So - besides this little treasure - did you find anything else interesting this trip?"

"You have no idea," Si said, laughing.

"Oh, I have an idea," she said, looking around the diner before lowering her voice. "By now, half the station knows about those weapons you brought back."

Si laughed and said, "Yeah, well the rest was just normal, boring stuff."

"I swear, Si," the waitress said, "you have a way of making even the boring stuff into an adventure."

"Harlan still buying?" Si asked.

"Yeah. You full? Wait! You cleared all three of those sectors already?!"

"... and then some," Shiva said, grinning at Si.

"We'll go see Harlan, do a little shopping, and maybe come see you for dinner," Si told her. "We got a few more credit-sticks that need scanned."

As they stepped out of Rita's, a hover-cart pulled up.

"Hop in," Shiva ordered.

"What's this?" Si asked.

"We're going shopping."

~~~

When they pulled up to the place that sold hover-carts, Si looked over at Shiva. She giggled and said, "I thought it would be more fun this way. Besides, we needed a family outing - and - we can pick the one that has everything we want." He just shook his head.

The girls ooh'd & awe'd and dragged him from the one with cup holders to the one with rhinestones. In the end, he got one that Shiva could drive remotely - with seating for six - and a large covered cargo area in the back.

Since it was early morning - and they were a short drive away - they took their new transport to visit Cherry at the Pleasure Palace. She met them at the entrance and ushered them inside - and up to her office.

"My, but you've got an exotic collection," she told Si, glancing at Staci, before looking at him and raising her eyebrows.

Ignoring her suggested topic, he said, "You asked me to bring..."

"Shiva, right?" she asked, looking over the auburn haired sex-bot - who was wearing a sweatshirt, cargo-pants, and work boots.

"Yes. It's nice to meet you," Shiva said, extending her hand.

Cherry took it and said, "Very nice." Turning to Si, she asked, "So, you transferred your AI..."

Shiva interrupted, "I backed myself up to a portable drive, transferred my AI from the Fool's Errand to this body, and reset the ship's computer to the factory defaults before we traded it. This is, now, my primary consciousness. I, of course, also installed myself on our new ship."

Cherry looked more closely at the android, realizing the implications of her words. "Congratulations, Shiva."

"Thank you... madam," Shiva said, smirking at her double-meaning.

Cherry grinned as well.

"If I was in the market for a body that was a little less prone to attract unwanted attention...?" Shiva asked.

"Hmm," Cherry said, "I can see why you might want to. Unfortunately, all of my models are focused on a more... uh... direct approach."

"Perhaps the company you buy from..?" Shiva pursued.

Cherry dropped into her chair and tapped a few buttons. She looked over at Si's datapad just before it pinged. "Try that comm-ID. That's the salesman I use. He's been pretty helpful."

Si tapped a few buttons and Cherry got a notification that he had sent her 100k credits.

"What's that for?" she asked.

"I appreciate your assistance," he replied.

"That wasn't necessary but you'll forgive me if I hang onto it?"

"It is nothing. Like I said," Si replied, glancing at Shiva, "we are all very thankful for your help."

"I love you, too, Si," Shiva told him. Turning to Cherry, she extended her hand once more, and said, "I do, very much, appreciate the opportunity to stretch my legs - so to speak - and you were instrumental in that. I seriously can't thank you enough."

The businesswoman took Shiva's hand but she was at a loss for words, her mouth hanging open slightly. Shiva finished the handshake and turned. Si led the way back out of the building. Cherry followed them to the door and then gave a little wave as they drove away.

As they drove to Harlan's, Shiva asked Si, "How much are we willing to spend for biped androids that could help with piloting, salvage, and defense?"

"I don't know. What's the difference in price between the base model and the top-of-the-line?"

"Base is 500k; sky's the limit after that."

"What do you think about starting with two of the base-models and see what you can do with those?"

"That's kind of what I was thinking. Male or female?" she asked, smirking.

Staci laughed and said, "He likes being the only one with a penis."

Mary laughed - but then thought of their last four-some and blushed a little.

"They'll be here in two weeks," Shiva said.

"Do I have any money left?" Si asked, laughing.

"Are you shitting me, big boy? You won't even notice it's missing."

"How much have you spent today?"

"You don't want to know," Shiva said, laughing.

Si asked Harlan who might want the bamboo. He gave Si a Comm-ID and coordinates. The commodities buyer gave them 95% of market-price for everything else they had brought in. Si looked the contract over and signed it.

"That was a lot of zeros," Shiva snickered as they headed back to the docking bay.

"I know," Si said.

"Well, don't be so damned happy about it," Staci said, smirking.

"I don't know what to think. Rita acts like I'm rich. I just clean up wrecks," he said.

"... and save lives," Staci added.

"We zapped a few pirates in the balls with a stun-stick," Shiva added, giggling.

"I need to call Virgil," Si said.

"He's on his way now," Shiva told him.

"You don't even need me anymore, do you?" Si asked her.

She batted her eyelashes at him and said, "Well, I was kind of hoping you could knock me up someday."

Si gaped; the girls laughed until they couldn't breathe.

They were still moving all of the delivery boxes into the docking bay when Virgil pulled up. "What'cha got for me this time Si?"

"Freighter turned pirate scow," the salvage operator replied. "It's rough - and smells like shit."

"Let's take a look."

Twenty minutes later, Si was signing the contract. He barely even looked at it. It was just more credits in the bank. He wasn't even sure how he could make the account balance stop growing at this point.

"I'll send a pilot over," Virgil said, hopping onto his hover-cart.

"Tell him to bring a gas mask," Shiva laughed.

"It's not that bad," the ship-buyer replied, "but close."

Si smiled and waved as the cart pulled away.

"As soon as the pilot comes, we'll grab a couple sticks of that bamboo and go see the contact Harlan gave me."

"And shop for clothes?" Staci asked.

"Yes," Si sighed.

"Yay!" Mary cheered.

Si smiled and she came over and gave him a hug and a kiss.

"You all good? Should we run you by a medic?" he asked the young woman.

"I'm good, Si. Thanks for worrying. I promise not to spend too much on clothes."

"Sugar-butt, you can spend as much as you want, you're never gonna catch Shiva."

"Why's she sugar-butt?" Shiva asked, glaring in faux indignation.

"Cuz you're 'wild thing'," Staci said, laughing.

"You ain't wrong!" Si said, joining her.

The pilot appeared and Si pointed him to the ship. Shiva came out of the Old Timer with a bag full of credit-chits. The four of them hopped on the hover-cart and headed north.

"We selling the electronics to that one guy again?" Shiva asked.

"That's what I'd planned."

"Okay. You stopping there first?"

"Yeah - then the bamboo - clothes - Rita's and then I've got a hot date."

"Anybody we know?" Staci asked, laughing.

The four quieted as they crossed back over to the north-side. Si stayed to the middle of the lane - the area set aside for carts - steering clear of pedestrians who occasionally darted across in front of them.

They were almost to the electronics vendor's shop when a man ran in front of the cart and threw himself to the ground. Si slammed on the brakes. Staci and Mary gasped and barely kept from flying off.

"Si!" Staci yelled.

Si turned to find some stranger trying to pull Staci off of the cart. The man brandished a blade at Si and kept pulling on Staci's wrist. Shiva had stepped off the cart to look at the man on the ground. She took two steps towards the assailant and he turned to face her. She punched him in the forehead and he dropped like a sack of potatoes. She glanced all around and saw two more men shrinking back into an alley. She glared at them and they fled. She checked behind her but didn't see anybody else.

She stood over the man on the ground. When he rolled over and looked at her she told him to stay where he was.

"I'm hurt. I'll sue. You'll pay for what you've done."

She glared at him but didn't say anything.

Si looked at her and she told him, "Stay put. Two minutes. Hand me your datapad." Si handed it over.

As she focused on the datapad, the guy on the ground started to act like he was going to try to get up. She stood on his fingers. He screamed and twisted around - trying to free his hand.

When the station guards arrived on the hover-cart she said, "I'm an android. I recorded the incident. I've transferred the footage to this datapad. You can watch it or give me a Comm-ID and I'll transfer it over. I've already transferred a copy to the security office."

"Who are you?" the officer asked.

"Me? I'm nobody. He's Si Sanfrid. I'm not sure what they wanted but Seb will vouch for Si."

The guards glanced at Si and then watched the video - pausing it a couple times. They handed the datapad back to Shiva and put the two men in restraints.

"They hit me," the one man claimed as they got him to his feet.

"You will likely be charged with attempted kidnapping. You may want to shut up until you get an attorney. Although, with the evidence she recorded, I'm not sure that will do you any good."

The first officer stayed with the cart. The other went and checked the alley before returning. On his way back he said, "Have a good day, Mr. Sanfrid. Sorry for the trouble."

"Rita warned me," Si told Shiva, as they got moving again. "I thought we'd be safer this way. I hate leaving her behind."

"Rita had the clothing lady come down last time, right?" Shiva asked.

"Yeah. I guess I should've just done that again."

"We'll be fine once the twins get here," Shiva said.

"The twins?"

"The guard-bots I ordered."

"You've already named them, haven't you?"

"Ruth and Leslie," she replied.

"Ruth-lessly? Ruthless?"

Shiva smiled.

As they pulled up to the electronics shop, Si asked Shiva, "What'd you just buy?"

"How do you know I bought something?"

"Cuz you have that smug look you get when an 'order received' notification comes through."

"I don't have a look for that."

"Yes, you do," Si said.

"He's right," Staci said, laughing.

Mary laughed as well and started shaking her head.

"Restraint cuffs like those guards had," Shiva admitted finally.

"I've created a monster," Si said.

Shiva looked proud of herself; the other two giggled.

The electronics dealer was happy to see Si - and happier to buy his stuff. The contact Harlan gave him was pleased with the bamboo samples and offered what Si could only assume was a fair price.

Si tried to relax in the cart when they got to the clothing store but the girls weren't having it. They frog-marched him inside, dropped him onto an upholstered chair, and paraded out so many outfits that Si felt like he was at a fashion show in Paris on Old Terra.

"Have y'all ever heard of 'work casual'?" Si groaned. "This is like shopping for Halloween costumes with drunk college coeds."

The girls giggled and ignored him.

When Mary walked out wearing her next selection, Si's eyes just about bugged out of his head. Shiva grabbed the girl's breasts and pulled her in for a smoldering kiss. Si shook his head and pulled out his datapad - hoping to distract himself long enough for his hard-on to go down so he could stand up when they were done.

An hour later, there was no room left in the cart to buy anything else - so they headed home.

~~~

They arrived to find the delivery truck dropping off more of Shiva's purchases.

"I understand the space suits," Si said, "but what are the turrets, drones, and that other shit for?"

"Defenses," Shiva replied.

"Are we taking the fight to the pirates now?"

"I'm just a prepper," she said, grinning. "Besides, your operation is getting bigger and we might attract the wrong kind of attention."

"I'll give you the wrong kind of attention," he growled.

"Promises, promises," she purred.

The delivery guy handed her the box of restraint cuffs, climbed back into the driver's seat, and drove away. The boys already had her new toys sitting in the Old Timer's cargo hold.

"How soon are we heading to dinner?" Shiva asked.

"Want to spend an hour on the droids?" Si asked her.

"Yeah, Staci and Mary can put the clothes away while we get started."

"Where are we putting all of this?" Staci asked.

"I tacked a couple clothes rods to the wall in Mary's room," Shiva told her. "We'll just turn that room into a walk-in closet."

"Should I move our things there?"

"Yeah, leave Si's shit in his room. I'm thinking about having the boys carve out that wall in between."

"You might as well," Si admitted.

"Alright," Shiva said. "Help us with this for a few minutes and I'll go make sure they don't screw this up. Throw the bags and boxes on Mary's bed but keep shit away from the wall on Si's side."

"Okay," Staci said. "We'll drop these off and help Si with the droids until you're done. Can we get a tall mirror in that room too?"

"I'll order one," Shiva said.

Mary snort-laughed - and then squeaked when Shiva pinched her butt on the way by.

Si started on the droids, checking the schematics that Shiva had drawn up. When Staci and Mary returned, he handed the datapad to her.

"What should I do?" Mary asked.

"Do what I do, sugar-butt," Staci told her. "We'll turn you into a droid engineer."

When Mary looked over at Si, he winked at her and then went back to working on the droid he'd started converting.

An hour later, Shiva called out on the ship's intercom for everybody to come check her work. They had to wait for the boys to exit the hallway first. Each of them was carrying a chunk of metal to the renderer.

"What should we do with the other bed?" Staci asked.

"We'll just leave it shoved against the wall for now. I thought about pushing the beds together but I'm worried somebody might fall through the crack - and no cracks about the size of my crack," Shiva said, glaring at Si.

He raised his hands in surrender but his huge smile said it all.

"Let's go see Rita and then get back here and spend a little more time on the mining droids," Shiva said.

"Thanks for taking out the wall," Si said, sneaking a kiss. "I think that helps."

"We need a bigger shower," Staci lamented. "It would be fun if all of us could fit together." She wrapped Mary in a hug.

Everybody washed their hands and then they took ten minutes to hang up the clothes they had bought. After that, they headed out to the cart. Mary remembered the credit-sticks and ran back to grab the bag. As soon as she was aboard, they headed for the diner.

~~~

Once they'd had their second breakfast of the day - and another slice of pie - they started going through the credit-sticks with Rita.

"How many sectors you want this time?" the T-Fed liaison asked Si.

"Shiva's toys come in two weeks, the last run only took like four days... give us a half-dozen and we'll try to be back in a week."

"We'll be back," Shiva said. "I'll have those miner droids converted by the time we drop in. That'll make us 30% faster - and that's before I start figuring out what I'm doing with those construction drones."

"Not sure I can find six together," Rita said.

"We can do a loop," Si said. "That would probably be more efficient going forward anyway."

"Can I get you to do me a favor?" Rita asked.

Mary surprised everyone when she interjected with, "The Queen of Coconut Cream can have anything she wants."

She must have said it pretty loudly because even Karl was laughing.

"Your wish is my command," Si said, bowing dramatically.

"I sent Ruger out a week ago. He's got one of your helper-droids working with him. He should've been back by now."

"Add that to our sectors. We'll head straight there first," Si told her.

"Thanks, Si."

Si was going to tell her that she was worrying him - but he could already see how concerned she was. He didn't know Ruger that well but if Rita was worried, there was probably a good reason.

As soon as Shiva had their sectors - and they'd all given Rita hugs and cheek-kisses - with a wave to Karl - they darted out the door and booked it back to the docking bay.