Off-Duty

It was one of Gareth’s off days. He pressed Ariana that he would get that krubble — but she said, “rest is important too… I’m not giving you a choice…”

He gave in. Ariana was always right. What he would give to make love to such a good girl…

Gareth decided to wear plain clothes. A blue shirt and black jeans. A pair of red sunglasses. Messy brown hair. He got into his rusty cruiser and set off to a blue zone with no real direction.

He settled on planet Basel-34. It was a nice humid beach planet. Big orange palm trees and lighter shade orange sand. The sea was crystal blue. He landed. And strolled through to a sports bar.

Got a beer.

“Woah… What the heck… This is from Earth…” Gareth said to the bartender.

“Yeah we got a rare shipment from Sola-3,” he said.

“Good stuff…” Gareth said.

He was feeling better already. Earth beer, sports on all channels, and a beach for when he wanted to dip his toes into the water.

He drank four pints and then felt a bit tipsy. He went over to a group of girls.

“Wanna dance ladies?” He said.

They laughed and ignored him. He laughed and walked away. He ended up playing galaxy destroyer on a VR headset in the sports bar which was much cooler.

A small crowd circled around him as he was reaching the high score. He was an incredible fighter pilot so a dumb video game was nothing.

“Woah… He’s gonna reach 9000… No way… Impossible…” The crowd intensified.

Even the girls who rejected him came over to see Gareth.

9000! The sports bar was going wild. Gareth kept going 10,000! 11,000! Then from the corner of his eye he saw a blonde babe smile at him. Boom. He was blasted away.

He got up and staggered.

“He reached 11,000 drunk? Insane…” Someone in the crowd said.

He walked over to the blonde babe. He didn’t recognise if she was from that group or another.

“I’m Gareth,” he smiled.

“Xindy,” she said, “Are you okay?” She noticed he was tipsy.

Xindy had pale white skin, long platinum blonde hair, and purple eyes. She had a few bumps on her forehead and cheekbones. She was slender and had hips. Big perky breasts underneath a beige dress. There were little x-marks detailed on her dress and a large x-buckle.

“I’m okay… A little drunk…” he said, wobbling over, “but nothing another beer can’t fix!”

“I think it’s home time buddy…” the bartender said.

“It’s okay… We were just going now, dear,” Xindy said.

She guided him out of the bar and over to the beach. They sat on a bench looking over at the sunset.

“Gareth Gaten right?” She said.

“You know my last name! Gaten Gaten Gaten…” he trailed off.

“Yes I do… You need to sober up, Bounty Hunter… I need your help…” she said looking into his eyes.

Wait… This was getting heavy.