"What do you mean its not the right shade?" Dave was trying to remain calm. His morning had had began with the same marital argument. His wife had spent too much of daves money and refused to explain herself. Dave had tried in vain to wrestle her credit cards from her bag and as usual he had lost the fight. A bruise above his right eye and that feeling of weekness, knowing he could never win put dave into a fowl mood.
"its a red rapter and its been painted red!"
It had taken three tonnes of violet aluminium spacepaint to cover the rapters engine fender. The rapter had collided with a spacewreck on its last voyage and the insurance company had paid for a new body panel and some paint work. Mr oldcodge the rapters owner had come to collect the craft and was complaining that the colour was not the right shade.
"you are in space!, who is going to see it? How often do you get pulled over and someone says do you know your back wings the wrong colour. I can imagine it now the space police giving you a ticket for incorrect use of colour in space. When space is essentially pitch black what does it matter if the colour is a bit off shade?"
Mr oldcodge put his hand in his pocket and pulled out a fusion torch. The torch illuminated the entire reception area with a bright light temporarily blinding everyone within sixty feet. An elderly lady standing at the reception counter fell backwards in a panic.
"oh my god what the hell is that?"
Smarting from the light she took off her glasses and rubbed here eyes. It took a moment for her to regain her composure and after replacing her glasses she glared at mr oldcodge.
"I could have been blinded then sonny, watch where you're pointing that thing". The old lady adjusted her hat and marched towards the complaints dept.
Mr oldcodge pointed the torch through the reception window and aimed it at his parked spacecraft. The rapter lit up and the whole side of the craft was now visible.
"Now look. That back wing is definitely a different colour than the front one. If I take that home the wife will go nuts. She loves that piece of junk, she couldn't be seen in a spaceship with different coloured wings. What would the neighbours say. I'd never hear the end of it if i took that home. It's the wrong shade of red. Its no good you will have to paint it again"
Dave looked at mr oldcodge like he was talking to an idiot.
" you are joking! It took us two months to paint it last time. You cant just put some paint in a spraygun and splash it about you know. It takes two hundred rolls of masking tape to cover that side. We had to truck a tanker load of paint from saturn two. And i'm not even gonna talk about all the sandpaper we used".
" I don't care, my wife wont ride round in a spacecraft with an off colour back wing!"
"How about a nice stripe down the side instead? We could have that done by the next symester!" Dave pulled a brochure from under the counter and showed some images to mr oldcodge. A newer model rapter with a wide green stripe down the side took mr oldcodges fancy.
" the mrs would love a pink stripe. Can you do a pink stripe?"
" YES! and if you come back on thursday it will be ready"
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