Chapter 1: Ring of Fire

"You just let old Gino handle the grav inhibitor. It's all part of the fee. She'll get you a bird's eye view of Mt Salbarii, no sweat. And the canopy's pressurized - hard to do any smooching in a respirator mask, amiright? Gino's got it all sorted out."

"Let's call it Cr450 and call it a day. Special discount on account of your lovely smiles. Final offer."

In contrast, a quick call to Simi at the visitors center will reveal they can get you a grav vehicle rental for Cr100 a day, but you'd have to arrange the removal of the inhibitor yourself.

Zuni's eyebrows waggle up and down at the girls when Gino mentions the mile-high club and the pressurized canopy. But at that price...

"Any wiggle room there, Gino?" Zuni asks but he knows guys like this and isn't hopeful.

Fallon elbows Zuni lightly in the ribs. "Come on, don't badger our new friend Gino. He already gave us a generous 50Cr discount. And I'm sure he's got bills and mouths to feed at home. Don't you, Gino?"

Gino responds with a smile. "Many! I'm just a humble small business owner supplying services with no judgement and no questions asked."

The way he emphasizes those last words makes it sound like he might not actually think you want to have intercourse in the back of his vehicle, just plausible deniability for whatever you're up to. But then again, his learning, toothy grin makes you waiver back the other way.

"450Cr and you disable the grav inhibitor. Tomorrow, we'll pick up our rebreathers and climbing gear, for assistance if nothing else, and scale the volcano in ease and comfort by your manly side."

Seally looks at the others for agreement before she offers her hand to close the deal.

Fallon nods in agreement.

"Oh! I doubt our friend here wants to scale an active volcano with the likes of us, do you Gino?"

"Yeah, I'll be staying on the ground. And word to the wise, if you get caught with the inhibitor removed, I'm gonna act very shocked and deny taking any part of that. But you all seem like smart people, I'm sure you'll be careful."

He forwards you the paperwork. It's a lot less complex than typical Imperial contracts, but they probably have a simpler and less litgious judicial system here. You are agreeing to pay for damages you cause. If you lose it or completely destroy it, you owe Gino for the price of the vehicle.

The paperwork indicates the value of the truck at Cr100,000. A brand new air/raft would cost around Cr275,000 for example, and this junker has got to be a century or older. But, given the lack of places to buy a new grav craft on this planet, it isn't an unreasonable sum.

Fallon's eyes bulge and she sucks in air between her teeth. She looks around at the others. "We must return this vehicle in exactly the shape we borrowed it in."

Seally signs it personally. She doesn't have that much credits on her, but out of all of them, she can probably make it work easier than, say, Zuni. And hey, maybe it won't go pearshaped!

"Don't work, Fallon, everything will go as smooth as the skin on our asses"

Zuni looks over the details, his eyes widening with each second. "You got that right. Fallon. We should record the condition of the vehicle. Just in case ... you know ... there is any misunderstanding about its condition when we bring it back."

Chuckling, Zuni says,"I don't share your confidence Seally because my ass isn't smooth but I'm excited to try it anyway."

Nothing a little waxing and a few weeks of lotion can't solve," Fallon responds as she makes detailed notes and photos of the vehicle in its current condition just in case.

"Yeah, we’re going to need some footage of this shitbird before our friend here takes off. No offense." Alerio had been here dozens of times. Squabbles of the status of returned goods. Nothing but a headache and some paperwork.

"Cheaper to climb." she says, finally. One finally opportunity to not possibly fall 100k further into debt.

Seally gulps a little. " Repairs are one thing, having it destroyed is what triggers the replacement value. Climbing a volcano in thin atmosphere while carrying salvage gear isn't without major risks, either."

She clutches Alerio's hand. " We'll make it work. Come on, we're so close! "

Zuni snickers at Fallon. "Will you be doing the application?" His joking around was to break the tension brought about by such a dangerous mission. They had a tall order in front of them and they might not come back.

"We will have to be on our toes, ladies. We can easily do this but it will take all our ingenuity and care. Volcanoes are tricky beasts."

"I have a strict 'Look but don't touch' policy with colleagues. But keep me updated," she winks.

Turning slightly more serious, she says, "I've never actually seen a volcano before. Not in person or even been on a world with one."

"Well, you’re about to become very well acquainted with one." Alerio says, with a slap on the shoulder.

"Tomorrow then? Who’s driving this hunk of junk up there?"

Zuni fake smirks at Fallon and then answers Alerio. "I don't mind driving a vehicle full of pretty women, cruising the volcano action. But I will certainly defer to you ladies if one of you is hankering to. I can always assist and remain close by." He waggles an eyebrow but only once this time and then becomes serious.

"It's going to be a challenge with all those thermal currents up there. We might be buffeted around like a toy. It's hard to know until you're in it."

217:1115

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You spend a luxurious night in the penthouse suite. You watch a small dust storm pass in the distance from your balcony, which turns into a sparkling prismatic light show. For dinner, they bring you the alderman tataki, which is as good as Greener told you. When you hit the sack, you find yourself wrapped in astronomically high thread counts, and splayed out on huge, premium mattresses. Whale sounds that synchronize with your circadian rhythms automatically start playing when you turn out the lights, but you figure out how to disable that shit pretty quick.

Morning comes, and Gino delivers the truck as promised. You take precautions against Gino scamming you, scanning the condition of the vehicle. The canopy on the back is indeed something. On the side, a sign boldly exclaims Shaggin' Wagon. Inside, the decor is all bead curtains, purple shag carpet, lava lamps, and pillows with psychadelic prints. The crate just barely fits.

"Okay, she's all yours. Enjoy your 'adventure,' folks!" Gino finishes with a wink and finger guns, and walks off while double-checking his the credits you've transferred to his account.