Free Rookie Privateer by Jamie McFarlane Page B

come out ahead by shipping the materials and selling them to the market, but Colony 40 had a deal with M-Cor and we weren't allowed that option. We were free to ship other materials that way, just not ore or ingots. Dad explained that it would be hard to get M-Cor to make regular stops if they couldn't count on a good cut. As it was with the recent pirate action, M-Cor would not be at all pleased to have lost so much material. If they hadn't been so close already, they might have skipped us entirely.

 
     
     
GOODBYES
     
     
    I was thankful for all of the activity that took my mind off my missing foot. I didn't feel any pain at all and had even inspected the stump without the medical cap on it. It looked like any other part of my leg. The doctor showed me a replacement prosthetic I would be able to wear. The least expensive technology could be manufactured on one of the station's replicators. It spent a considerable portion of my savings to buy the pattern. I knew my folks would want to pay for it but with their recent losses, I couldn't let that happen. I was a free EMC and didn't want to lean on my parents. Yup, I did just say that.
    The break-in period for a prosthetic takes several weeks. This basic unit would interface with my AI and had the ability to mimic fairly realistic ankle and foot movement. I would never dance with it, but I would eventually be able to walk without crutches. Trying it on for the first time took me nearly two hours. It probably would have been easier if I had taken the doctor's advice and waited for a human physical therapist to help me learn how, but I was done with all that. My AI and I could get through this on our own.
    Nick and Jack were at the shop with their mom, Wendy. Between M-Cor's arrival, new equipment coming in, and miners scrambling to make their final load, they were run ragged. Nick offered to let me use his apartment for the maiden voyage with my new leg.
    I wasn't supposed to wear the prosthetic for three more days, but I wanted to see Tabby off to the Academy standing on my own two feet. The idea of her thinking of me as a cripple drove me like nothing else could.
    I soon discovered the feedback you receive from an inexpensive prosthetic leg is extremely limited. For the first couple of seconds, I thought I had it down cold, only to discover I was leaning past the point of no return. At .6 gravity, the apartment floor showed me pretty quickly who was boss. Gravity was a bitch.
    By the end of the afternoon my leg was unbelievably sore. It chafed where the cuff attached and hurt like crazy where the stub rested on the prosthetic foot. I hoped it wouldn't always be like this. I thought about taking some of the pain meds the doctor had prescribed, but I didn't like doing that. I would rather be sore than foggy. I removed the prosthetic (I couldn't refer to it as my foot yet) and headed over to the Gravel Pit, another diner/bar much like Millie's, using crutches.
    It was hard to get through the crowd at the Pit. People stopped me to ask how I was doing, shake my hand and whack me on the back. All of these things play havoc with my balance and I was getting annoyed. Fortunately, Tabby saw me and knifed her way through the crowd. I was surprised by her new haircut. Her long copper hair had been cut off. She now boasted a flat-top with shaved sides. I wasn’t sure what to think about that.
    After a couple of "frak off" and "stow it dickhead" responses from Tabby, the crowd around us thinned out. Tabby had decided celebrity wasn't something she was interested in. I gave a couple of apologetic shrugs to some of the more offended, but I really didn't care.
    Tabby grabbed my arm to help me through the crowd, but a short bark from me stopped her in her tracks. She settled for clearing a path back to the table where Nick and Mutt were sitting. It took us nearly ten minutes to get beer ordered.
    "How did team Paradox Blue do? Didn't you play M-Cor One today?" Mutt had been pretty quiet