Burn Baby Burn: Science Fiction

The weekend was hers, and she was elated. She'd been having her eye on a particular young man, and she thought that if she finagled him into the corner of a bar where she knew the bartender and could get him to pour extra-strong drinks, she might even get him drunk enough to consider taking her to bed, scars and all. It was a measure of how far she'd fallen that she now had to consider getting a guy's beer goggles firmly in place before she could even *hope* to persuade him to bed her; it wasn't two years ago she'd been the one turning down extra-strong drinks. That was before the shuttle's shield gave out on reentry. It lasted just long enough to keep her alive. For a long time, she wasn't sure if she was grateful or pissed--

Inspiration: Yay, weekend!
Story Potential: High
Notes: Though this is really more of a character sketch than a story idea. I suppose it could be the old reluctant/washed-up pilot put forward for the good of XYZ....