Gris' driver has a name: Ske. It came up I don't know how many chapters ago, but ever since he's almost always been referred to as "my driver" by Gris. Maybe this is intended to show off Gris' callous and uncaring attitude towards his underlings. Or maybe Hubbard got more than halfway into the story before realizing he hadn't thought up a name for the character, quickly threw together a three-letter nonsense name, shoved it in a chapter near the book's start, and left the rest unchanged.
Well, Gris stalks over to his driver for another attempted shakedown. Ske is sleeping the sleep of the well-fed and partied-out, but upon being jostled awake reveals that he's used all the money Heller gave him to get Tug One cleaned, and the "tup" party set up, and the dresses for the Countess - Heller had this lowly Apparatus scumbag choose the outfits for his girlfriend? Interesting that he did that instead of picking them out personally. But Ske apparently had enough taste to satisfy both Heller and Krak, hinting at hidden depths.
Oh, we also learn Ske was a former commercial pilot who murdered a flight attendant before fleeing to become a smuggler. So is Heller a messiah figure now, able to reform and uplift killers and criminals like Ske?
Anyway, Gris slugs his driver for failing to have any money for him, and demands that they fly to his "town motel" in Government City. Which confuses me - doesn't he have a room at Spiteos? He and Heller were bunking together until the Countess moved in, right? I guess he's too tired to go that far.
But Gris' room is not only locked but barred, and soon a shrieking harridan named Meeley, the owner of the place, starts screaming for rent when she finds Gris. When no money is forthcoming she smacks him and throws all his stuff out of his room, vowing to tell every other landlord what a lousy tenant he is.
So now Gris is homeless (ignoring Spiteos). Ske suggests Gris shack up in his office, which while uncomfortable is the only place he has left (ignoring Spiteos). The chapter ends with Gris - say it with me now - feeling miserable, harboring fantasies of violent revenge against Heller, and subsequently feeling suddenly sick.
Tune in next week for another exciting installment from Mission Earth, in which Soltan Gris does paperwork and plans to renovate his office!
Back to Chapter One
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