Prompt 18 - Cleaning

Prompt 18—Cleaning

    “The ship needs work,”

    “Well I can see that, but how much will this end up costing?”

    “You want my best guess?”

    “Please,”

    “I’d have to say something along the lines of, uh . . . twelve to fifteen,”

    “Really?”

    “I’m not a hundred percent on this, but I’ll snap a few pics and take it back to the office. I can crunch the numbers there,”

    “That’s ridiculously cheap,”

    “Well I wouldn’t say that,”

    “Fifteen dollars?”

    “What? No no no. Fifteen thousand,” he chuckled, a little too much in my opinion. Embarrassed, I tried to recover, 

    “Of course not fifteen dollars,” I laughed too, nervously, “Yeah, I was, um, joking,”

    “Oh, well,” still laughing, “thank you for that. I haven’t had a good laugh in days.”

    I thanked him for his time and he left. It was time for me to get started. Fifteen thousand was slightly more than just fifteen, but it was well within my price range, especially for a project such as this.

    You see, about a year ago, I was cleaning out my grandfather’s attic, and I found a key card. This card was old and faded, and I was certain it’s magnetic strip had worn out long ago, but I was curious. Fortunately for me, the company name was still legible: Caligatus.

    It got me nowhere, but the logo was familiar. And that brought me to a large warehouse. Miraculously, the card still worked and granted full access to the grimy and gritty inner-workings of a spacecraft repair shop. The place needed a desperate cleansing. One would be hard pressed to find a single surface not covered by a thick layer of dust, not to mention cobwebs. What remained of the tools (presumably) was rusted and corroded beyond recognition, and the structure itself was crumbling. The windows and vents must have been non-existent because to top it all off, the place stank like sulfur.

    Now normally, this would repel me instantaneously, but I was in it for a greater reward: the Audax itself. Yes! The famous mercenary ship of legend is now under my ownership!

    Granted, it too needs cleaning. The hull is littered with scorch marks and gashes, no doubt from deadly skirmishes. The engine is rusted to its core and all thrusters have long gone out of date. And the gaping hole on the starboard side is a huge impediment. But I’ve got the money. I’ve got the time. Lets get to work.