Chapter 15: 15

 'Cas. Cas wake up.'

Ronson was kicking his best friend in the arse. Quite literally booting her in the left arse cheek leaving a slight dusty print on the black knickers she had on. He carried on kicking her for a bit until she finally woke up, lifting her head from her pillow with a globule of drool stringing from her mouth.

'Jesus Cas how much did you drink last night?' Ronson asked.

'Yes.'

'That wasn't a yes no question.'

Ronson looked down at his friend who was tangled up in her duvet and was about to go back to sleep, until he yanked the pillow out from underneath her.

'Whatever. You need to get up and start moving around, so those nanomachines of yours know you're still alive and get working on purging you of the Smirnoff factory you drank.'

Krieger just gargled and coughed, noticing Ronson had placed a huge cup of coffee on her bedside table. He was already up, dressed, adequately caffeinated and was well on the road to recovery from his own monster hang over after taking Mikey's advice; a bunch of paracetamol and several pints of water before going to sleep. A few more pints of water when he woke and he was feeling better than ever. Well, better than he usually did after a night of celebration and karaoke. His nanomachines weren't working their best this morning but doing a typical "human" thing had stopped him from feeling as rough.

'Oh God we did karaoke in Hideki's bar.' Ronson thought to himself, kind of hoping someone did or didn't get footage of him and Krieger wailing some tune; he hadn't decided yet. It always happened though.

Krieger was banging about in her room attempting to get ready. Ronson however had already packed up some stuff to take down to the beach as the day after the Chase, was the day pretty much everybody who worked in New Edo's factories or on the many cargo ships went down to the beach to chill out; relax, have barbecues and as was standard for New Edo, get drunk. Krieger and Ronson didn't like the baking heat that much nor did they like burning or tanning, so they spent most of their time under their huge parasol; slathering SPF five hundred over each other.

'Are they always this late?'

Mikey was busy helping Justin set up the sun gazebos, tables and folding chairs they had got out of the Osiris land office. Not like there was much that needed doing all you had to do was carry the storage boxes to where you wanted to set up then push a button. The gazebos which were easily the biggest things, would unfold from the boxes and presto! No messing about with poles or fabric or making sure that everything was bolted together properly. The most important things they had brought however were the coolers. There were enough beverages of all kinds in there to fuel a small festival. And then there was the big speaker that was blaring out Galaxy Radio Network's main station, that was important too.

'Yeah, unfortunately they are.' Justin replied. The rest of the crew had turned up in dribs and drabs that morning, all bringing their own stuff and helping set up where they could. It was already pretty warm that morning so everyone had already undressed down to whatever beach clothing or bathing outfit they had chosen. Jess and Faye were obviously matching each other as per usual, with rainbow striped two piece bathing costumes. It was always easier for the men to dress for the beach as all they needed were board shorts or something. Justin, Tony, Devin, Mikey and even Zach were all out enjoying the sun; letting the steadily increasing heat warm them up. Jess and Faye had already set themselves up with beers and wide brimmed hats, ready to get a bit of a tan. Zach was already leering over all the scantily beach wear clad women who were walking past. Tony and Devin were busy discussing what books they had read recently.

'Oh my God they're here.' Tony announced as he cracked open his first beer of the day.

Ronson and Krieger marched down to the beach; both clad in black beachwear, bucket hats and sunglasses, with back packs slung over their shoulders. Krieger had a cigarette hanging from her mouth that was half burnt and Ronson was carrying a large cooler.

'Finally! We were thinking you weren't gonna turn up!' Justin shouted to the pair as they dumped their stuff under the huge parasol that had been set up. Everybody gathered round as Krieger beckoned them over, sat down under and pulled a small transfer deck out of her back pack.

'C'mon guys, bonus time.'

Michael was a little perplexed. He tapped Justin on the shoulder to get his attention as he spoke quietly.

'Bonus time? What does she mean?' Michael asked Justin.

'Oh, when Krieger wins the Chase she usually gives us all a bonus.'

Michael raised his eyebrows. The Chase always gave a huge cash prize to whoever won it that year and an even bigger prize was awarded if they killed all of the cons. God knows what Krieger won though it changed every year.

'Any reason why?' Mikey asked again. He'd never known any boss handing out bonuses just randomly like that.

'Not really.' Justin replied. 'She just does. I'm not complaining. I guess it's her way of saying thank for putting up with her.'

Eventually Krieger stood up and placed the transfer deck on the table under the gazebo, raising her freshly opened can of beer as she did.

'Now you know I'm not about long gushy speeches or anything so I'll keep it short. Thank you guys for sticking with me and Chris I know it's not easy doing what we do and it's usually all dodgy as fuck, but we make the best of it. You guys are the best at what you do and we're proud to call you all family.'

'So lets have a great trades holiday guys. Team Osiris!' Ronson shouted out.

'TEAM OSIRIS!' Everybody chanted back and raised their drinks in a toast.

Eventually after some banter and hugs from Krieger, nearly everybody had received the bonus she was handing out.

'Mikey I know you've not been with us that long, but you've been brilliant.' Krieger said to him as she laid a hand on his shoulder.

'Brilliant is an understatement Cas, he's been fucking amazing. I'm glad we hired you dude you're a culinary master.' Ronson said.

'So this is from me to you.' Krieger said as she pressed her finger on the transfer deck after Michael had done the same.

Within seconds his holowatch pinged notifying him he had a message. It was his bank confirming there had been a successful transfer in to his bank account. As he brought the message up, he read that thirty five thousand credits had been transferred in to his account and was verified available.

Thirty five thousand credits. That was a years salary to him that had just gone straight in to his account, because his boss felt like it.

Michael had never even had a thousand credits in his bank account never mind over thirty five thousand. He kept his mouth shut as he'd noticed that everybody else had done once they received their transfers. He figured it was a thing that Krieger didn't like talking about, she didn't seem like the kind of person who appreciated being showered with thanks praise over something like that. He'd never even got a bonus or anything when he was working back on Earth. But he started thinking of all the things he could do now. He had a very good wage coming in every week now that gave him a comfortable lifestyle where he could afford his rent and bills, buy himself some nice things and stock up his own fridge and pantry with good food and ingredients; not the cheap junk he was buying before just to survive.

Life was just getting better and better for Michael. He had already started planning stuff he could do to his apartment to make it more liveable and comfortable. Like buy a new bed which he really needed as the one he had was on its last legs and the landlord wasn't wanting to foot the bill for a replacement. In fact, if he budgeted properly, he could probably even buy his own apartment. Maybe if there was one available in the unit that Devin lived in which was a lot nicer than his. It was an idea at least.

As the morning went on, more and more people came down to the beach. The beach itself was pretty big, long as well and was littered with street food vendors and ice cream vans. Most people brought their own food or supplies for barbecues and the crew of the Osiris were no exception. Some clever person had set up a barbecue hire business right next to the beach and made an absolute killing during the trade holidays, as well as a steady income throughout the year. Michael had prepared various meats and side dishes ready for the barbecue they would be having shortly, but was under strict instructions to not cook it himself as that was Tony's job and he did it every year. So he wasn't about to step on Tony's toes. He had however set everything up ready for Tony to start later on. In the meantime, everybody got comfortable on sun loungers and deckchairs and knocked back several beers.

'I didn't think they let pasty white puddings out in the sun.'

Krieger felt something shoving her leg. She lifted up her sunglasses and spun her legs round, jamming her feet in to the warm sand as she sat up and squinted at Frank who was hovering over her. She glanced round him to see his crew were setting up their stuff at the barbecue station bit next to the Osiris crew. She rolled her eyes.

'And I thought they didn't let complete dickheads out in public. What do you want Frank?' Krieger retorted. Frank grimaced slightly before he spoke again.

'Aw c'mon Krieger chill I'm just having a laugh. Let's just have a good day today, we are your beach neighbours after all.' He replied, pointing his thumb behind him at his crew.

Everyone was there except K-Pop who hadn't returned from his off-world family wedding yet. Krieger knew all of Frank's crew and actually quite liked them, it was Frank who was the problem with his constant piss-taking of her. Frank also had twins on his crew; Japanese brother and sister Yamato and Shoko who were in their twenties, Roberto who was an Italian cousin of Franks who everybody just called Chef Bob as he was the Vittoria's cook, Yves who originally hailed from the Ivory Coast and then there were Frank's American folk, burley mechanic Debbie who hailed from Louisiana, Heather from Minneso 'Cas. Cas wake up.'

Ronson was kicking his best friend in the arse. Quite literally booting her in the left arse cheek leaving a slight dusty print on the black knickers she had on. He carried on kicking her for a bit until she finally woke up, lifting her head from her pillow with a globule of drool stringing from her mouth.

'Jesus Cas how much did you drink last night?' Ronson asked.

'Yes.'

'That wasn't a yes no question.'

Ronson looked down at his friend who was tangled up in her duvet and was about to go back to sleep, until he yanked the pillow out from underneath her.

'Whatever. You need to get up and start moving around, so those nanomachines of yours know you're still alive and get working on purging you of the Smirnoff factory you drank.'

Krieger just gargled and coughed, noticing Ronson had placed a huge cup of coffee on her bedside table. He was already up, dressed, adequately caffeinated and was well on the road to recovery from his own monster hang over after taking Mikey's advice; a bunch of paracetamol and several pints of water before going to sleep. A few more pints of water when he woke and he was feeling better than ever. Well, better than he usually did after a night of celebration and karaoke. His nanomachines weren't working their best this morning but doing a typical "human" thing had stopped him from feeling as rough.

'Oh God we did karaoke in Hideki's bar.' Ronson thought to himself, kind of hoping someone did or didn't get footage of him and Krieger wailing some tune; he hadn't decided yet. It always happened though.

Krieger was banging about in her room attempting to get ready. Ronson however had already packed up some stuff to take down to the beach as the day after the Chase, was the day pretty much everybody who worked in New Edo's factories or on the many cargo ships went down to the beach to chill out; relax, have barbecues and as was standard for New Edo, get drunk. Krieger and Ronson didn't like the baking heat that much nor did they like burning or tanning, so they spent most of their time under their huge parasol; slathering SPF five hundred over each other.

'Are they always this late?'

Mikey was busy helping Justin set up the sun gazebos, tables and folding chairs they had got out of the Osiris land office. Not like there was much that needed doing all you had to do was carry the storage boxes to where you wanted to set up then push a button. The gazebos which were easily the biggest things, would unfold from the boxes and presto! No messing about with poles or fabric or making sure that everything was bolted together properly. The most important things they had brought however were the coolers. There were enough beverages of all kinds in there to fuel a small festival. And then there was the big speaker that was blaring out Galaxy Radio Network's main station, that was important too.

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'Yeah, unfortunately they are.' Justin replied. The rest of the crew had turned up in dribs and drabs that morning, all bringing their own stuff and helping set up where they could. It was already pretty warm that morning so everyone had already undressed down to whatever beach clothing or bathing outfit they had chosen. Jess and Faye were obviously matching each other as per usual, with rainbow striped two piece bathing costumes. It was always easier for the men to dress for the beach as all they needed were board shorts or something. Justin, Tony, Devin, Mikey and even Zach were all out enjoying the sun; letting the steadily increasing heat warm them up. Jess and Faye had already set themselves up with beers and wide brimmed hats, ready to get a bit of a tan. Zach was already leering over all the scantily beach wear clad women who were walking past. Tony and Devin were busy discussing what books they had read recently.

'Oh my God they're here.' Tony announced as he cracked open his first beer of the day.

Ronson and Krieger marched down to the beach; both clad in black beachwear, bucket hats and sunglasses, with back packs slung over their shoulders. Krieger had a cigarette hanging from her mouth that was half burnt and Ronson was carrying a large cooler.

'Finally! We were thinking you weren't gonna turn up!' Justin shouted to the pair as they dumped their stuff under the huge parasol that had been set up. Everybody gathered round as Krieger beckoned them over, sat down under and pulled a small transfer deck out of her back pack.

'C'mon guys, bonus time.'

Michael was a little perplexed. He tapped Justin on the shoulder to get his attention as he spoke quietly.

'Bonus time? What does she mean?' Michael asked Justin.

'Oh, when Krieger wins the Chase she usually gives us all a bonus.'

Michael raised his eyebrows. The Chase always gave a huge cash prize to whoever won it that year and an even bigger prize was awarded if they killed all of the cons. God knows what Krieger won though it changed every year.

'Any reason why?' Mikey asked again. He'd never known any boss handing out bonuses just randomly like that.

'Not really.' Justin replied. 'She just does. I'm not complaining. I guess it's her way of saying thank for putting up with her.'

Eventually Krieger stood up and placed the transfer deck on the table under the gazebo, raising her freshly opened can of beer as she did.

'Now you know I'm not about long gushy speeches or anything so I'll keep it short. Thank you guys for sticking with me and Chris I know it's not easy doing what we do and it's usually all dodgy as fuck, but we make the best of it. You guys are the best at what you do and we're proud to call you all family.'

'So lets have a great trades holiday guys. Team Osiris!' Ronson shouted out.

'TEAM OSIRIS!' Everybody chanted back and raised their drinks in a toast.

Eventually after some banter and hugs from Krieger, nearly everybody had received the bonus she was handing out.

'Mikey I know you've not been with us that long, but you've been brilliant.' Krieger said to him as she laid a hand on his shoulder.

'Brilliant is an understatement Cas, he's been fucking amazing. I'm glad we hired you dude you're a culinary master.' Ronson said. 

'So this is from me to you.' Krieger said as she pressed her finger on the transfer deck after Michael had done the same.

Within seconds his holowatch pinged notifying him he had a message. It was his bank confirming there had been a successful transfer in to his bank account. As he brought the message up, he read that thirty five thousand credits had been transferred in to his account and was verified available.

Thirty five thousand credits. That was a years salary to him that had just gone straight in to his account, because his boss felt like it.

Michael had never even had a thousand credits in his bank account never mind over thirty five thousand. He kept his mouth shut as he'd noticed that everybody else had done once they received their transfers. He figured it was a thing that Krieger didn't like talking about, she didn't seem like the kind of person who appreciated being showered with thanks praise over something like that. He'd never even got a bonus or anything when he was working back on Earth. But he started thinking of all the things he could do now. He had a very good wage coming in every week now that gave him a comfortable lifestyle where he could afford his rent and bills, buy himself some nice things and stock up his own fridge and pantry with good food and ingredients; not the cheap junk he was buying before just to survive.

Life was just getting better and better for Michael. He had already started planning stuff he could do to his apartment to make it more liveable and comfortable. Like buy a new bed which he really needed as the one he had was on its last legs and the landlord wasn't wanting to foot the bill for a replacement. In fact, if he budgeted properly, he could probably even buy his own apartment. Maybe if there was one available in the unit that Devin lived in which was a lot nicer than his. It was an idea at least.

As the morning went on, more and more people came down to the beach. The beach itself was pretty big, long as well and was littered with street food vendors and ice cream vans. Most people brought their own food or supplies for barbecues and the crew of the Osiris were no exception. Some clever person had set up a barbecue hire business right next to the beach and made an absolute killing during the trade holidays, as well as a steady income throughout the year. Michael had prepared various meats and side dishes ready for the barbecue they would be having shortly, but was under strict instructions to not cook it himself as that was Tony's job and he did it every year. So he wasn't about to step on Tony's toes. He had however set everything up ready for Tony to start later on. In the meantime, everybody got comfortable on sun loungers and deckchairs and knocked back several beers.

'I didn't think they let pasty white puddings out in the sun.'

Krieger felt something shoving her leg. She lifted up her sunglasses and spun her legs round, jamming her feet in to the warm sand as she sat up and squinted at Frank who was hovering over her. She glanced round him to see his crew were setting up their stuff at the barbecue station bit next to the Osiris crew. She rolled her eyes.

'And I thought they didn't let complete dickheads out in public. What do you want Frank?' Krieger retorted. Frank grimaced slightly before he spoke again.

'Aw c'mon Krieger chill I'm just having a laugh. Let's just have a good day today, we are your beach neighbours after all.' He replied, pointing his thumb behind him at his crew.

Everyone was there except K-Pop who hadn't returned from his off-world family wedding yet. Krieger knew all of Frank's crew and actually quite liked them, it was Frank who was the problem with his constant piss-taking of her. Frank also had twins on his crew; Japanese brother and sister Yamato and Shoko who were in their twenties, Roberto who was an Italian cousin of Franks who everybody just called Chef Bob as he was the Vittoria's cook, Yves who originally hailed from the Ivory Coast and then there were Frank's American folk, burley mechanic Debbie who hailed from Louisiana, Heather from Minnesota who had the best accent and Armenian-American Narek. And of course, the lovely Erik, who had noticed Frank was bothering Krieger and walked over. He sat down beside her on the sun lounger and nudged her shoulder with him. At least Erik was here and was just being his lovely self.

Feeling a bit better after Erik's little nudge. She nudged him back and gave him a beer.

ta who had the best accent and Armenian-American Narek. And of course, the lovely Erik, who had noticed Frank was bothering Krieger and walked over. He sat down beside her on the sun lounger and nudged her shoulder with him. At least Erik was here and was just being his lovely self.

Feeling a bit better after Erik's little nudge. She nudged him back and gave him a beer.

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