Arrival

Dillgar Zephris stepped off the Maglev train as he gazed out at the starport around him. He had been here one other time with his father many years ago.

Dillgar liked to go with his father on jobs. He liked to watch the work and tried to help whenever he could. After his 10th birthday his father started to train him on the finer points of engineering. His father was pleased with how quickly Dillgar picked up new concepts and always pushed him to learn more. Now that he was twenty he had a very good working knowledge of most electrical and mechanical systems. Over the last couple of years Dillgar had begun to read about starship drive systems and weapons systems. He was fascinated with the raw power and intricate designs that he read about. He longed to get his hands on some of these systems to see how the worked up close. Unfortunately there was little of that technology around these days. When this type of equipment was found it quickly found its way into other vessels. Since the collapse any working high tech parts were worth their weight in platinum.

This is why Dillgar was so surprised when a friend of his fathers from the city called to tell him that a starship had arrived and wanted to talk to him about a possible spot as an assistant engineer. To say he was excited would have been an understatement. He had barely slept in 3 days and he was now in the city to talk to the captain and chief engineer. He had to be at his best for this interview. As he stood there in the boarding area he decided to freshen up and get a quick bite to eat. There was a small diner near the exit to the private ship docks that looked inviting.

As he entered the diner he could tell this was a well used facility. All of the tables were full and only a few seats at the bar. He hopped up on one of the stools and grabbed a menu. The place was very busy and quite loud.

Dillgar felt a heavy tap on his shoulder and turned around to see a huge furry bear-like creature hovering over him.

“Could you move over one seat please?” asked the creature in very good talosian.

“Sure” Dillgar tried not to look too hurried but slid over to allow the bear in. As he turned back the bear suddenly moved to the farther seat and a young lady sat down between them. She had the most beautiful long blond hair Dillgar had ever seen.

She turned to Dillgar, smiled and said “Thank you sweetie.”

“Any time!” Dillgar smiled back at her. She was gorgeous and he found himself staring a bit at her. She either didn’t seem to notice or didn’t care. The bodysuit that she was wearing showed off her curves very well. She turned back to talk to her friend the bear and Dillgar ordered his meal.

As he was eating the meal he kept looking around the diner. There were all sorts of different races here. He saw feline races, a bird-like creature, and even one large monkey looking creature with a tool belt on. There were also at least a dozen different humanoid races present here.

Suddenly something went past his left ear and he felt the breeze it caused. As he turned the blond was holding a smaller human by the throat and the bear was beginning to stand up. The people in the area moved away as fast as they could, knocking over chairs and spilling drinks and food on the floor.

She turned to Dillgar. “Sweetie, you need to keep a closer eye on your things around here.”

Dillgar then noticed that the person she was holding had a grip on his tool bag. He snatched it from the would-be thief and checked his other bag quickly. Everything looked in order. “Thank you! Thank you very much!”

“Bruno, would you like to show this bug the way out?” She asked as she turned to the bear.

“I would love to Angel” Bruno replied.

Bruno reached out and grabbed the man’s jacket. His hand was huge against this little human’s chest. People again hurried to clear a path to the door. Bruno lifted the man off of the floor and waited for a moment, glaring at his prisoner.

“Don’t ever let me see you again little man.” Bruno growled at him.

The thief was visibly shaking as Bruno lifted him higher and suddenly threw him through the door several meters away. Everyone heard the crash as the thief came to a sudden stop in a merchants stand across the walkway outside.

Slowly everyone began to relax and resume their meals and conversations. Dillgar turned back to Angel and Bruno realized that his mouth was agape. They both smiled back at him as he snapped his mouth shut.

“Please allow me to buy you both lunch. It’s the least I can do for rescuing my tools.”

“Well thank you sweetie. That would be very nice of you” Angel said smiling at him. Bruno sat down and had an enormous grin on his face.

Dillgar suddenly realized what the bear was smiling about as his meal was brought to him. The pile of food was more that Dillgar could eat over several days. He chuckled to himself as he lowered his head. He felt an arm go around his shoulder as Angel leaned over to him and whispered “Don’t worry sweetie, you’ll learn.” She smiled at him and went back to eating her lunch.