Do coals burn in space

                                                                    Chapter 3

                                                        Do Coals Burn in Space

A chill ran down Al’s spine. “Did I really have to do that?” he thought. As the eyes of everyone in the tavern hunted him like vultures.

“Breaking it?” The woman looked towards Al in anger. “Explain, what do you mean by that?” she said as she turned to the man behind the counter.

“Well, uh… where do I even begin? I guess we could look at the screws and bolts he’s been replacing near the elbow. They’re a lot more rusted than the rest, not to mention a few clearly missing ones,” Al said as he got near the arm, noticing a few other details. He smiled for a moment, almost mocking the previous repairer’s job.

“Screws?! For all I know, she could’ve been fishing or something. These screws rust a lot faster, you know,” the man replied.

“Okay, then I’ll humor you. Let’s say she went fishing. Who on earth fishes with their elbow?” Al commented sarcastically, regaining a bit of confidence. The drunks in the tavern even laughed a little. “And why would the rust only be on the screws, not the arm itself?” he added.

“Well, my repairs had nothing to do with the elbow area. I was doing a few tolerance adjustments on the shoulder,” the man said, feeling backed into a corner.

“I’m honestly surprised you knew what ‘tolerance’ means,” Al snapped for a moment. “But no, your repairs had to be on the elbow. See those scratch marks?” he pointed to a few curved scratches near the elbow joint. “These are recent. The paint has been scratched away, but the metal under there is still perfectly shiny. I believe you said she goes fishing with her elbow, or am I mistaken?” Al commented, handing the arm back to the woman.

The man snapped. “Listen, kid, you just barge in here thinking you can tell me how I do my job. Why don’t you just scurry back over to the little hole of a lab you came from, and you can burn to death while you’re there.” The man shouted.

Al’s face twitched a little, but he ignored the man. “Anyways, ma’am, if you need the repair, it’s actually a very simple one. I’ll do it for…” he stopped for a moment. “Rio, what’s a good price for an arm repair?” Al whispered, asking Rio.

“I’ve seen people repairing similar problems for the equivalent of fifteen, maybe twenty bullets,” Rio replied, almost stunned at Al’s quick thinking.

“I’ll do it for five bullets, or whatever the equivalent is,” Al offered. “Three if the people here could stop staring,” he added.

The woman almost laughed at Al’s offer. “Only five bullets? Fine, I’ll take you up on that offer, but know that if it doesn’t work, you’re dead,” she responded to the offer.

“I wouldn’t worry too much about that,” Al responded. “Anyways, Rio, I need to go on a quick purchase run for some materials. I think I saw a market area earlier. I’ll need a few bullets.” Al stretched his hand out, grinning. Rio sighed but tossed him a bag anyway.

“W...Wait, I’m coming too,” Rika said, following Al out of the tavern.

The moment they got out, Al let out a sigh of relief. “Too many people.” He looked back at the tavern.

“S...So, where is this market?” Rika asked while looking around.

“Oh, I have no idea. I just wanted an excuse to get out. We’ll go look for one,” Al replied, beginning to walk in a random direction. “And of course, my clothes smell like smoke now,” Al sighed.

“S...Since I have graced you w..with my presence on this purchase run, I...I’d like my payment,” Rika said, again gripping onto her hat.

“I’ll find you something once we get finished buying the things we actually need,” Al replied, a little frustrated. Then he could smell something he recognized: rust and grease. He began rushing towards the shop, trying to avoid bumping into the masses of people as much as he could.

“W...Wait!” Rika shouted, before casting a floating spell on herself. Her black boots started to glow from the bottom, and she slowly floated above the crowds. “W...Where are we going?” she asked.

“I can smell a shop,” Al stated without giving much context.

“A food shop?!” Rika asked excitedly.

To Rika’s disappointment, Al stopped at what to her looked like a store selling a bunch of junk. Al’s eyes lit up as he saw the piles of machinery. His brain raced to find ways to use them all.

“Did ya need somethin’?” the shopkeeper asked.

Just then, Al remembered what they came here for. Disappointed he couldn’t buy what he wanted. “I’ll just take some screws and grease.” But then something caught his eye.

“That’ll be four bullets,” the shopkeeper replied as he began gathering the items.

“Can I ask a question? Has anyone been buying these?” He pointed to a few oddly placed X-ray tubes.

“Yeah, a lot. Heard they’re called Xtubes or something. Why? Want one?” the shopkeeper asked.

“Not now, no thank you, I’ll come back for it later,” Al replied as he paid for the screws and grease. He promptly left, slightly concerned. “Why are people buying X-ray tubes of all things? I doubt it’s for medical equipment, when a lot of people can use healing magic now, so why?” Al thought.

“M...Mortal, hey Mortal,” Rika called to Al. “C…Can we stop by this shop for a moment?” she asked.

“It’s not the time for foo… Oh, that’s a magic store? Sure, we can stop here,” Al responded as he looked to where Rika was pointing.

As they entered the store, Al could make out the soothing smell of old books. Rika headed off to a stand with staffs. “E...Excuse me, how much is this one?” she asked, pointing to a wooden staff wrapped in an indigo fabric.

“Ah yes, good eye, girl… hmm, that one, I’ll sell it to you for just thirty bullets, what do you say?” an old dwarf answered, stroking his beard.

“Th...Thirty?! Isn’t it a little expensive?” She looked towards Al, waiting for an answer. He quickly grabbed a book and headed towards Rika.

“What if we get this along with it, maybe a little discount?” Al tried to haggle with the dwarf, giving a smile.

“Hmmm, yes, yes…. You know what? If you buy the staff, I’ll give you the book for free. How about it?” The dwarf offered confidently.

“We’ll take that offer then. I, uh, thank you, magicness,” Al replied, paying the bullets, leaving the bullet pouch almost empty. “Rio won’t be happy about this, will he?” Al thought. As the dwarf began wrapping the staff in some cloth and handing it to Rika. As they exited the shop, Rika kept admiring the staff she just bought.

“Rika, quick question. This book is titled ‘Magic Basics,’ correct?” Al said, sounding a little confused and pointing to the book cover.

“Y...Yes, I would think that’s obvious,” she said.

“I was testing something,” Al replied. “This language isn’t from our Earth. How was I able to read it? Actually, how could I understand Rika? She’s clearly not from this world. Her speech looks English, but I doubt they speak the same language as us in whatever universe she’s from. I guess it’s possible we merged with variants of ourselves during the meltdown, but wouldn’t that also give me different memories if that happened?” By the time Al was done thinking, they were back at the tavern.

“Looks like you took your time,” Rio said, looking at Al and Rika floating just overhead. “I’d like my money pouch back now,” Rio asked.

“Yes, here it is.” He tossed Rio the almost empty pouch and turned to the woman. “Please, if I may have your arm,” Al requested.

“Here, you’d better get it fixed,” she threw the heavy metal arm towards Al.

“Al, what happened to the money?” Rio asked, slightly frustrated.

“What money?” Al sarcastically replied. As he sat on the porch of the tavern, beginning to take out the rusted screws and replacing them one by one. The old screws crumbled the moment they hit the ground. He then pried the joint apart to wipe off the old grease and apply the new grease. “This smells terrible, so block your noses.” He then began to move the grease through the gears of the arm, moving them one by one. He then moved towards the shoulder, fixing up the tolerances the previous repairer messed up. “There you go, one arm,” Al called out.

“That was quick. Remember, you’re dead if it doesn’t work,” the woman put the arm on, seeing the gears spin but without the intense scratching sound. “I’m impressed. How much did you want for it again? Five bullets?” She said, a look of surprise on her face, as she took out the bullets, handing them to Al. “Actually, I’d like your help with my ship,” she requested. “I’ll pay you, of course. How about a hundred bullets? Oh, and I forgot to give you my name. I’m May,” she offered.

“Yes, we’re taking the offer,” Rio impulsively shouted.