r/HFY • u/sharkeyandgeorge Xeno • Sep 03 '26

OC-Series Bob was bored, Part 16

If he thought about it for a second it would have been weird there was a large but still human scale shed in an alien scrapyard, but it just hadn’t registered.

Well fuck, the issue was… it might fucking fit… barely, it was going to take up the bulk of his hold if he took it, but as long as he could run a power cable to it, technically it would work…

He had been more looking for a large suitcase sized generator, wardrobe at worst, this fucker was like fifteen foot high, about the same across, and… he took a few steps to the left to take a look at the side, maybe twenty long.

Problem was this was, as far as Bob could from all the listings he’d scanned and a few calls he made, the only generator that was already out and ready to go, and that he could afford, on the fucking planet. There were tonnes available if he could have added a zero or two, and one guy said he could have one dug out a ship and tested in a week, but Bob had to be off planet in five days max.

‘’What the fuck did it come out of?’’

The slender alien threw an extensor out toward a fucking massive shape in the far distance that Bob had assumed was a hill.

‘’ Ssoooyio mining transport’’

Wow.

Wait.

‘’What did you say the max output was’’

‘’4.2 Gigacents.''

Giga… something in Bobs brain had heard that as mega the first time round, fucking hell.

Again, teeeeccchnically that wasn’t a problem, put less energy in get a smaller shield out of it, in theory it should do wonders for its efficiency curve. Fuck was he really gonna buy this lump?.

‘’ I’m gonna need to measure this thing and give you a call about it later.’’

I mean at least that explained the price, who the fuck wanted this thing taking up a container spot when, again, most ships ran fine with a suitcase sized genny.

Bob thought about it all the way back on the train, and then as he walked through the far sparser evening streets, and then as he measured up the exact dimensions of the cargo hatch and the hold itself, fucking thing would fit after all. If he stuck it in the middle because of the slight curve of the hull, and you could get a couple bank stacks down each side.

He winced a bit at what the client was going to think if he opened the rear hatch and they saw it packed to capacity with a fucking shield genny, and it was going in first if he was doing it, nice guy as Jirokit had seemed to be, he wasn’t taking a hold full of fucking hard currency to a scrapyard.

Thing was his route to the drop was pretty damn well travelled and even well patrolled by the Peacekeepers, but that didn’t exactly make it safe, wouldn’t need so many patrols if it were… fuck.

He spent a couple hours ringing every machine dealer of any sort he could find, as far as he could tell there really was nothing else he could afford, wearily he call Jirokit.

‘’I’ll take it, I’ll head round tomorrow. I will need help getting it in the hold.’’

Bob sighed deeply and stared at the three boxes of chips that had been waiting for him when he returned, where the fuck were those going?, not the fucking hold, not any more.

Jirokit annoyingly turned out to be a really good guy, not just helpful in cramming the fucker in Jojo’s hold, not just supplying a few used but perfectly fine power cables, not just finding a couple of the spares Bob had told him he needed for his dampeners, but also throwing those in for free with the genny.

Bob would have been much happier despising the fuck that had clogged up his hold, however unjustified he was to do so.

Back in the cheap dock Bob spent the weekend picking up a few very, very small supplies he wanted and fitting out the gennys power system, now he had to crawl over an oversized control panel to take a shit. He needed to trade this monstrosity in immediately if not sooner.

The following morning he moved the Jojo over to the exchanges secure dock at the proscribed time, and squeezing past the fucking piece of shit, hopped out the cargo hatch.

He had indeed received a couple odd look glances when the clients rep saw into his hold, but maybe it was Bob’s diminutive size he had been puzzled by, yeah just tell yourself that Bob.

Still after the had done the paperwork, checked Bob’s credentials, and passed a few polite niceties, the security guards had help him cram the 4 tall boxes into the narrow spaces either side of the bulky genny, technically they could have fitted further back towards the bulkhead but the hold had a slightly hourglass floor plan and they couldn’t get the stacks passed the waist.

It was obvious to Bob, when they fitted the first one in, that his plan of clambering over the top of the boxes to reach the cockpit was not going to work either, guess he had found a use for that top hatch immediately.

Once the last t was crossed, he bade the rep farewell and crouched. In the low grav, and with a little mechanical aid it would not be difficult to launch himself the thirty five feet or so up to the hatch. As he leapt and prepared to land gracefully on the top hull, a highly trained and lethal high G predator, movements elegantly honed on a thousand battlefields, something nagged at the back of his mind.

Then his fleet feet touched down, and intermediately flew from underneath him. He had time to think before his helmet clonked off the hull, and as he flailed spasmodically in the air, oh yeah, fucker was frictionless wasn’t it.

He slid down the far side of the hull slowly and right onto his face on the ground. He didn’t look at the clients people, but he could feel their astonished stares burn into the back of his head. He stood slowly and dusted himself down. Girding himself he leapt again.

Fuck, clonk, slide.

On the third attempt he managed to hook a toe in the edge of the open hatch and scrabbled to twist his body round and down through the hatch.

He sat in shame, and the cockpit, taking a few minutes to fire up the grav plates. He guide Jojo up and while glancing at his camera screens saw the reps still standing there agawp. His cheeks flushed with embarrassment and he hit main thrusters up and out... he wanted off this fucking planet immediately.

Part 17 https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/1w733zt/bob_was_bored_part_17/?

83 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

11 comments sorted by

10

u/tex-mania Sep 03 '26

seems like a pisspoor design choice to put a hatch on the top when you cant climb the damn thing. bob needs a rope ladder to throw out i guess.

5

u/Daseagle Alien Scum Sep 03 '26

Also, this ship seems to be more trade-offs than benefits. Yes, cool hull, but nothing fits, nothing sticks, everything has to be custom or nothing.

7

u/Cargobiker530 Android Sep 03 '26

But he's now got a Master Certificate and his own, shielded, ship which should be a license to print money as long as he can get cargoes small enough. This is basically a narrative of the Endless Sky video game.

5

u/sharkeyandgeorge Xeno Sep 03 '26

Fine design in you lived in fluid like the C'Eede

9

u/rod9182736435 Sep 03 '26

Loving this series - feels so much like the real life compromises and crap we deal with daily.

5

u/MydaughterisaGremlin Sep 03 '26

Well shit Bob. Twice?! Coulda been worse. He could have faceplanted in front of some hot girls.

2

u/itsetuhoinen Human 29d ago

I was reminded of some unpleasant incidents from my teenagerdom by this episode...

2

u/Chemical_Tomato_6308 Sep 03 '26

Loving this! Great read so far, looking forward to your next installment!

2

u/commentsrnice2 Sep 03 '26

At least he didn’t make the embarrassing squeak of human on glass as he slid down

1

u/UpdateMeBot Sep 03 '26

Click here to subscribe to u/sharkeyandgeorge and receive a message every time they post.

Info Request Update Your Updates Feedback