coming back baby Kee.”
“How old is he anyway?”
“Could be 60, he doesn’t hide his age and I know he is older than my dad. But less talk on that, you need to push the crew into prep mode. We shouldn’t linger too long. Too many prying eyes and we have a reputation for trouble.”
“You don’t say,” Luryae shot a look of incredulity, she smiled, “I had three blasters pointed at my head this morning and that was before security arrived.”
“Hey, they broke three of my ribs before even asking my name. That’s just rude.”
“Broke three ribs? You don’t even look hurt.”
“Ok, slight exaggeration. They kicked me while I was on the floor. It felt like I had my ribs broken, who’s counting?”
“Well you just did...” Luryae laughed. “And yes, our reputation is not that of law abiding citizens of the galaxy but I fear we are messing with people and powers beyond our control. What is it we are stealing for them?”
“I can’t say, not yet... the bottom line is that we will be infiltrating Terosan, but don’t worry about it. We’ll have the support we need. Look, I need to go, I wish I could tell you more but it isn’t that easy. Chin up and get our crew in order.” Zsilana placed her hand on Luryae’s cheek. “We can back out if it goes wrong. Come, let’s have another box of Jumu.” Zsilana smiled and finally Luryae smiled back.
“Hey!” A voice shouted behind them, “you can’t do that.”
“Do what?” Zsilana turned around to confront the stranger. A young male approached the two of them. Zsilana sighed. Cute but a poor opening gambit.
“I just saw you steal two boxes of cola.” The voice was wavering. Zsilana noted the lack of confidence.
“Relax, you didn’t see anything,” She replied.
“My father will have your head for this, he owns that company.”
“Your father? And who is he to be so great?” Zsilana said.
“My father is Vohosecy Gihriwu, Chief Executive of the Kyopix Consortium.”
“Hmmm, never heard of him,” Zsilana said flatly. Luryae barely repressed her laughter, she choked then let out a light cough that was clearly a laugh.
“You better give them back. Right now.” The petulant voice was gnawing at Zsilana’s patience, she straightened her back and noticed the young male’s eyes drop to watch her chest raise. The tightly fitting dress was the hook. He was right where she wanted him.
“Tell you what... I’ll pay for them.” Zsilana pulled out a real credit chip and placed it into his hand. She grabbed his wrist and then placed a kiss upon his lips. He stood still in frozen silence.
“D-D-Do you have dinner plans?” the young man smiled, visibly nervous.
“I do... but I’ll make you a better offer.” She winked. “Come to my ship and we can have supper. Luryae can sort dinner for you if you promise to wait for me when I get back.”
Luryae grabbed him by the shoulders and lead him back to Zsilana’s ship. Her grip was far stronger than his. Had he even tried to resist? Zsilana smirked.
“Dinner has to be cancelled.”
“Hmmm?” Zsilana tried to hide her disappointment. She was barely inside his luxurious apartment which sat atop the pinnacle of Ardent Light. Expensive looking art adorned every wall. The decorations were otherwise plain and minimalist but gave an air of solid craftsmanship. Zsilana half expected to see his portrait on one of the walls but couldn’t see it. Above the bed hung an abstract piece that she wasn’t able to decipher: it was a chaotic mess of colours that might have well have been a computer file dump and then framed. Her eyes wandered the room to the extent that her mind drifted from why she was here.
“My sixth wife called to say that she has to visit her company’s operations on the station... or so she says but I accidentally left my diary out. Ergo, that’s how she tracked me down. Best if you left, this could get messy. She likes shouting, if nothing else,” he said.
“Can’t be that bad can it? Let’s have a drink? Just one.” Zsilana smiled.
“I can’t.” He tried to resist the temptation. Zsilana had turned her back and walked to the whisky decanter. She sniffed the aroma then poured two drinks. She looked deep into his eyes and walked over with both glasses half-full. Zsilana smiled then stumbled with a well practised fake trip. The whisky glass slipped from her hands and covered Vohosecy’s shirt.
“Oh! I’m very sorry.” Zsilana produced a napkin from thin air and started to dab at the wet patch, “let me help you.”
Vohosecy muttered something that sounded like a curse, he pushed Zsilana’s hand back then unbuttoned his shirt. “This will need to go in the washing chute.” He pointed to a hatch on the wall.
Zsilana stared at his lightly defined abs. Not bad shape for his age. “Do we have time?”
“Time? Time for what?”
Zsilana, “Y’know... before your wife comes.”
“No. We don’t have time for that.” He stared at her, it genuinely looked like anger but she didn’t care. Another barrier to overcome and she liked a challenge, despite how short lived this one would be. Then, again, there was another waiting for her back on the ship. This could be the plot for maintaining control: neither knows about the other. Bargaining chips were always needed when business went sour.
Zsilana stepped forward to take his shirt, she stepped too close and pressed her lips against his. Gently sliding her tongue into his mouth she grabbed for his belt as he feigned resistance. He pushed her back then undid the belt himself, he grabbed her by the waist and pulled her closer.
“Clothes. Off. Now!” Was all he managed to say.
“Captain.” Luryae stumbled to her feet and saluted Zsilana as she entered the bridge. Zsilana had caught Luryae with her feet upon the captain’s computer panel.
“Luryae!” Zsilana snapped but then relaxed with a smile, “no feet on my computer. Ready the ships for departure.”
“Things didn’t go well?” Luryae Kee asked.
“I need to go shower,” Zsilana beamed.
“Oh! I see,” Luryae smirked, “well then Captain. It seems I better make this ship ready.”
“We need to leave sharp. A transmission just came in as I was leaving. Our target ship is heading into the sector so we’ll have less time to prepare than usual but let’s make every second count.”
“Yes, Captain,” Luryae replied to Zsilana, “You hear her.” She shouted to the rest of the crew on the bridge, “release the docking clamps and take us out from station. Let the other ships know our route.”
Zsilana leaned close to Luryae, “where’s the young one?”
“In your quarters.”
“Good. I hope he has been treated well.” Luryae nodded in response.
“Captain?” Luryae asked.
“Yes?”
“May we speak... in private?” Zsilana pointed to the forward lounge.
The pair stepped inside and sat opposite each other at the oblong conference table. Luryae spoke, “Captain, what are we doing here? The crew is spooked, they-”
“They can’t know just yet.”
“But-”
“Just tell them it’s a routine extraction.”
“And the truth of it?” Luryae pressed for answers.
“The Terosan government has purchased a powerful piece of equipment from the Hayf Imperium. The system is being tested nearby and this is our best chance to take it. Kyopix have people on the inside that will deactivate the shields upon our arrival. We will extract the device along with the Kyopix engineers. They will have everything prepped for us. We just need to show up and do our part. It’s a routine extraction.”
“But, won’t it—”
“It’s a routine extraction,” Zsilana repeated more forcefully.
“Hayf? That doesn’t sound routine to me. I have a bad feeling about this, we’ve never been near Hayf space before and with good reason. The stories never end in a pleasant way.”
“But they are just stories. Have you ever met anyon
e that has survived? Besides we won’t be in Hayf space, far from it.”
“No one survives that’s why we haven’t met anyone,” Luryae complained.
“And if no one survives then how do the stories get out?”
“Well... you know what I mean. They don’t deal with any other species in the galaxy except to destroy them. No one has ever seen them and no one will go near them. That’s good enough for me to know this is crazy. What’s a bucket of bolts like this ship going to do against their destroyers?”
“Look, the risks are high but we’ll make it through. Tell the crew to prepare for extraction and then stay focussed. We’ll make it, believe me on this one. We’ve got some of the best engineers out there to help us make this go smoothly. Let’s talk more later, I really need to shower.”
“Yes, captain.”
The ship was loaded and ready to leave Ardent Light. Zsilana slouched in her chair, she watched on the viewscreens as her crew went about their tasks. Silently she beamed with pride, being Captain had its merits. You picked the destiny.
She leant over with one hand casually stretched out towards the assistant’s chair. Zsilana lunged then clasped Feyu’s hand. The displays of affection were too casual, Luryae had said. It was simple jealousy. This wasn’t a military ship, and discipline had never been a problem anyway.
“After this job we’ll visit the pleasure domes of Kriin,” Zsilana smiled, she kissed Feyu’s hand. He writhed uncomfortably, Feyu didn’t seem to enjoy the attention. The two chairs sat on a raised podium above the rest of the bridge crew. “Soon it will be time for you to see what makes us