Gav's story 

Now it's a well known fact that every pub needs a bouncer to keep an eye on things. To keep the peace when customers get too rowdy and to stop the riff raff from entering the pub in the first place. 

Angus though, considered hiring a bouncer a waste of money. He would wave his metal fist in the air and generally that was enough to make trouble makers think twice. That was until the crew of the Arkaroola dropped in for a quick drink before taking the bypass to Eden.  

Eden as everyone knows, is a pleasure planet, the whole place filled with night clubs, luxury resorts and cellar doors where you can taste wine, whisky or just about anything that takes your fancy. The Arkaroola had just completed a long and excruciatingly boring trip to the farthest end of the Western spiral arm of the galaxy to check if anything new was happening there, which it wasn't, and were now prepared to reward themselves with a week of living it up on Eden. 

They were all fired up, more than ready to party when some bright spark spotted The Pub. "We'll just have a quickie before we hit the bypass," Captain Zob said to Wilson, his second mate.  

"Righty ho," agreed Wilson. Leaving the A-I in charge of the bridge, the entire crew poured out of the ship, through the air lock and into The Pub. They were a motley bunch of opal miners, mostly humanoid, though there were a couple of Venturi, their spikes carefully flattened down against their backs to avoid accidently spearing anyone and a Wookie.  

The Wookie had been taken on at their last stop, to fill the gap left by the previous Weapons Officer who had forgotten to clean his sonic rifle properly before firing it, one too many times. The Wookie had been a bit of a disappointment so far though, Zob confessed to himself. He looked fearsome enough, eight feet tall and all that orange hair and long teeth, but the warlike exterior hid a peace loving creature who would rather negotiate a settlement than shoot first. Oh well, thought Zob, beggars can't be choosers. 

The crew ordered pints of the best bitter, cold, and proceeded to settle in for the evening. Things started to get a little rowdy after the fourth round when Captain Zob decided it was really time they should be getting back to the ship while he could still see straight. More or less. 

"Time to go, everyone!" he said in a loud voice. A few of the crew got reluctantly and rather unsteadily, to their feet, but a goodly portion who hadn't finished their last pint, stayed where they were muttering under their breath. "Piker!" "Rack off, hairy legs!" 

Captain Zob reached down to grab one man by the shoulder, "Come on! That's an order everyone! Back to the ship, now!" 

Afterwards, no-one could remember exactly who threw the first punch, but in a matter of seconds, The Pub was filled with brawling crewmen and women. Glasses went flying, chairs were toppled and someone was tossed over the bar, knocking Angus, who had been looking elsewhere, to the floor. In a flash he was up. He leapt over the bar and waded in, fists flying. He was absolutely furious at all the damage being done to his lovely pub. Somebody was going to pay for this! But one man, or android to be technical, even with a metal fist, couldn't take care of thirty brawlers, despite what your favourite TriVid might have you believe. 

AAARRRR! Seemingly out of nowhere came an almighty roar that had everyone clapping their hands over their ears to avoid being deafened for life. Knees trembling, people looked around to see what had caused the dreadful noise. 

They didn't have to look far. The Wookie had risen to his full height and was glaring around the room. He pointed in the direction of the exit with one hairy paw. Everyone stayed frozen in place, unable or unwilling to move, until the Wookie picked up the nearest crew member and hoisted him above his head as easily as if he were a kitten. He tossed him towards the exit with one powerful flick of his shoulders. Not bothering to watch as the crewman opened the door rather painfully with his head, he turned and reached for another. 

That was enough, in under a minute The Pub was completely clear of Arkaroola crew, except for the Wookie. 

"Thanks," panted Angus. "Want a job?" 

The Wookie considered for a moment. "I'm really a peaceful kind of guy," he said. "I wouldn't want to be a security guard, or anything like that." He smiled ruefully, causing all the regulars to leap back a few metres. "I knew I was making a mistake, taking that Weapon's Officer job." 

"What's your name?" stalled Angus, as he thought furiously. A real live Wookie would not only provide security but would be a major attraction, there weren't that many of them this far out from the centre. 

"Call me Gav," said the Wookie. 

"Well Gav, how about I create a special position for you? Public Relations." 

" Hmm. I prefer Ambassador," said the Wookie. "It sounds grander somehow." 

"It's a deal!" said Angus.