STR Gazer Chapter 8

Over the next two weeks when Alashie wasn't in school she was at the warehouse customizing transports for Xavier's customers. None of her customizations were detectable hidden in a panel to the naked eye and jamming technology to machines. Money was flowing in and Alashie was barely going home trying to keep up with the demand. Alashie popped in the rivets to the quarterpanel on sleek "Corvette" hover transport and catches a glimpse of Xavier and Aries walking in wth a pizza.

"What up doe. You hungry?" Xavier says with a mouth full.

"Is that Pizza Popolis? Hell yeah. Did you get the soder too?" Alashie returns

"Lash you've been burning the midnight oil a lot. I appreciate you getting these orders done but.....when's the last time you went home?" Aries says as he sits down

"Or showered. Por el amor de Dios"

"Fuck yourself Xa. I went home yesterday for your information. Or the day before. What's today? Tuesday?" Alashie says looking down. "Maybe shit would go faster if someone else was doing shit besides me!"

"Whoa whoa mija. You know what this is. You the mech. Everyone plays their part." Xavier says raising his voice. "Now shake a leg. I got a Skyline that needs to be turned into a tank."

"Xa maybe you should be cooling on the orders a minute. We gotta be on someone's radar." Alashie says in a low voice.

"Zhè bùshì zài gǒu shǐ. This song and dance again? We made over 20 a piece in these last two weeks and you complaining? We getting life changing money y usted que dispara? Xavier says sharply.

"Who the fuck you think you're yelling at Xa. You bet if I don't turn another wrench in here your life is gonna still change or you gonna be the same hoodrat letting ya mom fight your battles? Don't bite this hand. It's the one that feeds you bitch." Alashie says meeting Xavier eye to eye

"Hey. Oh. Wait a minute. Let's not do all that. Alashie you're under a lot of stress. I have to be honest you're putting a lot of it on yourself. You know this place is always open to you but you don't have to live here because we have clients. Nobody else in Old D is doing what we're doing so they'll wait if they have to." Areis says calmly.

"Some of these folks ain't too fond of waiting" Xavier quickly interjects.

"They'll fucking wait." Aries says " Lash go get some rest. Don't come back for a few days. The transports will still be here. My sources say the Fed is none the wiser to who hit them. We're platinum."

"We're platinum" Alashie says absently

"Shit yeah. Take your PMSing ass home. Look at this gear head trying to get all gangsta." Xavier laughs.

"Sorry Xa" Alashie says with her head down " I didn't mean to..."

"Just don't. Just don't say that anymore." Xavier says. His voice cracks ever so slightly.

"Aries I don't have enough to finish all the orders we have now." Alashie says changing the topic.

"Well shit. We need another smash." Xavier says excitedly.

"We can't so soon! You as wreckless as Jelun buying all that shit." Alashie observes

"Yeah he on that loonie shit for real" Xavier chuckles

"Actually it makes more sense to hit them fast." Aries says while giving Xavier the evil eye. "If we can hit a few places before the Federation gets their bearings we can get off the grid and have enough to hold us over for quite awhile. Oh. and my brother is my concern. Not yours Fùzhì?"

"Yeah yeah. So where can we smash that'll give us enough to be able to 'lay low' so the cobarde over here can get the panies out of the bunch." Xavier asks giving Alashie the finger. She sticks her tongue out in return.

"I can only think of one place. It'll take a lot of planning but we can do it"