Part 26

No, no, and no. Not happening. That's final.
But...
Look. Neither of us have any idea how to take care of a dog, and you know that. We don't know where this thing's been, we don't know what it has, we don't know if it's going to run riot and give everyone rabies...we can't keep it. I'm sorry.
...I suppose you're right. Come on, boy. Let get you back out-
GRRARRARFF
Argh!
_ohshit
My leg! My leg! Get it off!
ARGRWARRGARFF
Pilot! Get in here now, and bring a fire extinguisher!
Very good, sir.





Little hellspawn.
I dunno. I was just starting to like it.





Well. This is a new one.
I just got the message this morning. What do you think?
I don't know. What exactly would this entail?
From what I can tell, it means a fifty percent increase in all our capacities. Cargo, passenger and fuel. But, uh, only from the base values, so those mods we had done on Xeen won't be taken into account.
Ah, but you must consider the increased running costs, sir. Larger ships consume more fuel, and you would also need to expand the crew by fifty percent. Not to mention your insurance premiums would no doubt rise, sir.
For all the difference that makes.
Okay, but still. I think we should do it. Hell, two more crew members is only another three grand a week. That's nothing compared to the extra we'd make from everything else.
True. And that higher credit limit couldn't hurt either.
Alright then! I guess we're getting ourselves a bigger ship. Go us.



Okay. Insurance premiums I can see. Crew, I can see. Why is it suddenly costing more to advertise too?
Because it takes more to fill up the ship now.
So? What, because our ship is 50% bigger, we have to buy 50% more ad? What kind of sense does that make?
Maybe we're paying them to come up with a better slogan.
What's wrong with our slogan?
"We've got a golf course, bitches"? You don't see anything wrong with that?






Well, I guess I did consider "motherfuckers" for a while. I just figured "bitches" was snappier.



Look at all this stuff! Man, that upgrade came just at the right moment. The good times are about to start rolling again.
Speaking of upgrades, though...
Right. Let's give this another shot.



Hello, and...
Oh. It's you. Well?
We need a five kuarp engine. Or are you "sold out" again?
Possibly.
What do you mean "possibly"? Are you or aren't you?
We're not sold out now. We might be depending on how long this conversation takes.
We'll take one. Now what was it, eleven thousand?
Twenty-one thousand.
Twenty...what? It was eleven last time we were here!
And now it's twenty-one.
This is bullshit! You can't just-
Uh-oh! I've got an order coming through here. Someone wants to buy a hundred and twenty 5-kuarp engines, apparently. Why, I do believe that's our entire stock!
Fine. Twenty-one.



Alright. That's all installed and ready to go. Thank you for shopping at L-Tech. We hope you enjoy your new engine.
Thanks. Sure you don't wanna spit on it for us or anything?
What, again?



So. Have you entertained the idea of apologising to him at all?
Bah.