Part 18

I told you we should have bought insurance.
Can you at least save the "I told you so"s until we're out of the damn hospital?



Are you well, sirs?
Pilot! I thought we might have lost you!
You up and about already? Looks like you got luckier than we did.
I was not in as much danger as you imagined, sir. We...that is to say, my species, have extremely advanced regenerative capabilities, sir. And we can temporarily shut down our metabolisms should external conditions prove inhospitable, sir. It's why I was the only one to survive the Noble Venture, sir.
Man. Wish I could do that. Would have helped me through a lot of history classes, back in the day.
Yes, sir. Regarding that, sir. It is with some regret that I must announce my resignation, sir.
Wait, you're quitting? Why?
I failed you, sirs. This incident marks the second ship that has been destroyed because of me, sirs. Quite unacceptable. I am clearly not fit to hold a pilot's licence, sirs, and I shall be having it officially revoked tomorrow. My sincere apologies, sirs.
Whoa, whoa. Let's not overreact here, alright? I mean, it's not your fault. You aren't exactly trained to fight off pirates, are you?
No sir, but...
Look, don't worry about it. Nobody died. The ship can be repaired. The cargo can be replaced. All we've really lost is some money.
Besides, if it hadn't been for your flying, we'd have been taken out long before the crew and the passengers could evacuate. Probably before we could even make that distress call. When you think about it, you actually saved everyone's life.
...did I, sir? Did I really, sir?
Yes. You did.
...
Thank you, sir.





Mr. Slev? Mr. Tark'la?
That's us.
Galaxy Police. If you haven't already been informed, your ship was attacked by Baid-Rowel bandits. They've been more and more of a problem lately, but I assure you that we're doing all we can to bring them to justice.
So you didn't catch them, then.
...as I said, we are doing all we-
Right. So when people are littering, you're on that shit within seconds, but when we're getting blown to pieces you-
Sir, the Sanitation Police are an entirely different department. I can't speak for their activities.
How is our ship anyway?
Compete write-off, I'm afraid. Everything worth salvaging was taken by the bandits, along with the cargo. We're doing our best to track it all down, but we can't guarantee-
Yeah. That's police talk for "It's gone." We get it. Thanks for letting us know, officer.
So we've lost the cargo and the ship?
Don't panic. It's a setback, yeah, but we've got more than enough to afford a new ship. A couple of months and we'll bounce right back.
I suppose...





Gentlemen? I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is that it looks like you're both going to make a full recovery. It'll be a while before you're back to running marathons and whatnot, but we don't foresee any permanent damage.
Awesome.
What's the bad news?
Well...by the time you arrived here, you were in extremely bad condition. Over 60% of your bodies were in need of total reconstruction. And unfortunately, it seems as though you didn't have any form of insurance. I'm afraid the bills will be considerable.
Oh, psh. Don't worry about that, doc. We can handle it. What are we talking, ten grand? Twenty?
220,000 kubars.
...
Shiiiiit.



So that's it, then. I suppose we'd better start looking for job vacancies.
Bullshit. After all that, you wanna go back to fast food slavery?
I'm not saying I want to, but what choice do we have? Our ship is ruined, our cargo's gone, and we're as broke as we were when we started out. Probably more broke, actually.
Well...we can start over, you know? Get another loan. Zinn even said we could come back to him if we wanted. I'll get in touch with-
No. No way. We're not dealing with Zinn anymore.
Look, I don't like it any more than you do. But you know what? I'm NOT going back to flipping burgers. Not now. Not after I was just starting to become someone. So complain all you want, but I am doing this. Are you in or not?
...
What?
I don't think I can go through that again, Tark'la.






Yeah. Alright. That's fine. I mean, if it's not what you want, I can't force you. Wasn't really fair of me to drag you into all this in the first place.
So you do what you have to do, okay? I'm pretty sure I can manage on my own anyway. Got more than enough experience now to keep things afloat by myself. Got a few new ideas I wanna try out, too.
And, you know, the pilot'll still be around. If I need someone to talk to.
...
Hey doc. Can we get some more painkillers in here?