“Hey, I just thought of something,” said Summer. We had just gotten off the air trolley, and were now strolling along the streets. “You need a job, right?”

I didn’t want to think about it, but she was right. I was flat broke, and had nothing except the clothes on my back, an empty wallet, a smashed cell phone, a Nintendo Switch. And to top it off, I was starving, since I hadn’t eaten anything for two days except some porridge at the hospital. I needed money, bad. But back in my own world, the only job I’d been able to get flipping burgers at a terrible fast food joint. It didn’t seem likely that I could find something better here. Or anything at all- so far I hadn’t seen any fast food restaurants in this world. Frankly, I was enjoying my time off.

“You’re right, I do need money,” I answered. “But let’s not be too hasty. I just got out of the hospital. Maybe I should hold off on working for a while.”

“But then how will you make money?”

“I was sort of hoping you’d cover me for a while…”

Don’t judge me too harshly. I was just surviving in the best way I knew how—by mooching off someone nice enough to help me.

Summer hesitated, and then responded:

“It’s true that you were unconscious yesterday, but you seem fine now. I don’t mind paying some small expenses to help you out, but my own money is pretty limited, and I think it’s better if you take care of yourself. You seemed really interested in airships during the air trolley ride. Want to check out the airship docks? They’re close to here, and they’re always looking for young men like you.”

“Wow, that would be perfect. Would they really hire me though?” Working on an airship sounded much cooler than my previous job!

“I’m sure they would. It wouldn’t be glamorous of course, just manual labor and hauling cables. There’s always a shortage of men who want to do that stuff. But you can work your way up, if you’re smart.”

Manual labor? Hauling cables? I can do that!

“Sounds great! Let’s go!”

We walked down the street and entered a massive tent, like a circus tent. Inside was a scene of pure chaos: multiple blimps, each surrounded by a swirling mob of workers and complex machines. Separated from the blimps were what looked like the hulls of sailing ships, but with no masts or sails. I saw quite a few men here, much more than outside, but it was still more than half women. The men were all shirtless and quite muscular, and the women were also rather butch-looking. There was a loud din of tools clanging and banging, and a strong smell of engine grease in the air. I couldn’t help but feel a little intimidated in this rough-and-tumble environment.

Summer had never been here either, so we had no choice but to ask random people for help getting a job. Most people were not very helpful:

“Don’t waste my time, small fry”

“Can’t you see I’m busy here?”

“Shut up and get out of my way!”

Those were the sort of responses we got. But after some persistence, we eventually found someone who helpfully directed us to a back office for an interview. The office was very small, almost totally filled by a single heavy, wooden desk. The desk was covered by a mountain of loose papers, which seemed to have been dropped randomly. The walls, floor, and ceiling were all wooden, but covered in dust and engine grease. They muffled the clangs and shouts of the dockyard outside, but not by much. Heavy leather overalls were hanging from a nail on the wall, filling the room with the smell of engine oil.

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Sitting at the desk was a gruff, serious looking woman. She looked to be about 50, with a lot of scars, gray hair, and an eye-patch over one eye.

“Yeah? Whatd’ya want?” She said. We had only just met, but I could already tell she was a lot less kind than the other women I’d met here.

“We were uh… hoping you could hire him? He needs a job.”

“Yeah? You got experience with airships?”

“Well… no, not exactly.” I said. “But uh… I’ve read a lot about them.” Playing videos games counts as reading, right?

“Oh really? You know how what the difference is between a balloon and an airship? You know how to build a supercavity? You know where all the major jet streams are? You know how to build a steam engine, and when to use it?”

“Uh… no.” I had no idea how to answer any of those questions.

She rolled her eyes at me. “Then the only thing you’re good for is to be a dockhand. Well, that’s fine—that’s the only thing we’re hiring for anyway. Take your shirt off.”

“Huh?”

“You heard me. Take it off. Let me see your muscles.”

I glanced at Summer. “Is this… a normal part of the interview?” She nodded, so I did as Sydney had asked.

Sydney walked over to me and started squeezing my arm muscles. “Hmm… you’re kinda skinny, aren’t you?”

I was getting pretty uncomfortable now. “Do you really have to touch me like that? I’m not some bodybuilder, but I’m strong enough.”

She ignored me and continued feeling my arms. “Sure you are, boy. Well… let your aunt Sydney take care of you, I’ll get you bulked up properly. Then you’ll be a proper air dockie, ready to handle any airship. And maybe me!”

Summer slammed her hands on the table. “Now that’s going too far! That’s sexual harassment!”

“Right, sorry.” Sydney backed off. “Anyway, yeah, I’ll hire ya. But I’m warning ya, you’re gonna be mighty sore for a while.”

“That’s fine!” I said. “But how much does it pay? And what kind of training do I get?”

“Full time dockies get $5 per day. If you want to be an apprentice engineer, we’ll subtract half to pay for your training. And you’ll have to pass a test, too.”

“Only $5 a day? What kind of sweat shop is this!?” I was outraged—I used to make more than that in an hour!

Sydney glared at me. “$5 is more than fair, for a string bean like you who doesn’t know fore from aft. It’s more than the average pay in this city, too.”

I turned to Summer to confer with her. “Is that true?”

She nodded. “$5 is fine, that’s more than a lot of jobs pay. But I’m worried about your long-term future. That kind of work is very tough on the body, and you won’t be learning much, just doing manual labor.”

“That’s OK. As long as the pay is good, I’ve never been one to worry too much about my future.” I was telling the truth. Besides, this place looked really cool!

“Well said, boy!” Sydney slammed her fist on the table. “Just work those muscles, haul the ropes we tell you, and let the future take care of itself. That’s the perfect attitude for a dockie.”

I was about to accept the deal, but Summer objected. “No… please think about it more carefully. You need to think about your future, too. I think you’re smart enough to be more than just a dockhand, someday.”

I wasn’t sure I agreed, but I appreciated her support. Summer was just too nice to me.

“Fine,” Sydney waved her hand. “I’ll put him in the apprentice classes, so he can learn while he works. But you’ll only be getting half-pay, understand?”

“Wait, classes? Half-pay?” I had only come here for a job, not to go back to school. But before I could argue, Summer answered for me.

“Thank you! That sounds perfect. He’ll take it!”

So, with that, I started my new career as a “dockie.”

Sydney pulled out some paperwork, and I signed on the dotted line. I, Eddie Ezler, was now a third-class dockhand and apprentice engineer. I would be taking classes in the morning, and then spending the rest of the day hauling on ropes to land the vast airships that flew in from other cities, and unloading their cargo and passengers. Not exactly the career I had planned on when I was growing up, but I couldn’t help but be excited. Things were looking up!