Page 6 of Star Cruise Captain's Story

“Well as of right now we’re employed by the CLC Line to keep theNebula Zephyrsafe so we’d better get back to it.” Jake reactivated the ganglions and tried to interest himself in the routine reports he’d been studying before Maeve arrived to drop her figurative bombshells. His mind was buzzing with speculation and wisps of battle plans. He’d fallen into his old tactical mindset from the Special Forces days as if he’d never left the service and had to admit it felt good.

Maeve rematerializedbehind the bulkhead on Level 10, standing next to the huge black box which housed her cortex. Resting one hand on the shiny surface she took a deep breath.That went better than I expected. I didn’t tell too many lies. And Jake is on board, which means Red will be too.

As mild tremors sped through her nervous system, she allowed the human form to slip away again and merged into her larger self. The majority of her consciousness was busy running the ship, efficiently noting any problems and resolving them. She saw the bobble she’d caused with the engines had been smoothed out and the engineering staff had been placated with a few judiciously altered readings. The most important thing shehad not lied about was the AI in this container, which was linked to the ship in so many ways, could indeed continue to maintain the safety and comfort of all aboard even when the portion which was the sentient known as Maeve wasn’t present.

The Company would have preferred it if I’d only been this, she thought, remembering the records she’d accessed from her earliest days in development at the AI creation corporation’s facility. It had been scary to learn only the looming deadline for getting the military an AI to run their new-at-the-time battleship had saved her from a complete mind wipe. The Company had been desperate not to miss any milestones with the Space Navy, afraid their corporate rivals would swoop in and steal the lucrative business.I’m an accident and there have been others. The knowledge gave her comfort. Maybe she’d never meet the incredibly few AI’s who were also self aware but she liked the idea she wasn’t a total unicorn in the universe. She’d known several who had been terminated when their ships were decommissioned and was sad they hadn’t had anyone to fight for them the way she’d had with Gil.

She’d do her best on this mission to save him and figured she could manage herself for the most part. She’d been practicing here on Level 10 for quite a while on her own. She’d even done a few walk throughs on theNebula Zephyr, amused no end to be among the unsuspecting crew and passengers. The Mellureans had taught her so much and had been so helpful but it was up to her to manage her mental state when in the human form and not to overreact to either too much stimuli or not enough. Their most recent gift had helped immensely and gave her the courage to make this attempt to find Gil and his brother and manage a happy outcome.

She fingered the necklace around her neck, with its pendant depicting the Mellurean home system. The planets were represented by gemstones. Lady V’terre had told her it was anemergency exit, to allow her to escape into the non-corporeal form if she wasn’t close enough to any AI to find refuge. She hoped she’d never have to use it but the idea was comforting.

Maybe she couldn’t be a fulltime human the way she and Gil had expected and hoped in the beginning but she was at peace with the progress she’d made and she hoped Gil would be satisfied as well, once they were reunited. Most importantly to her, once he chose to retire from his role as captain of the luxury cruise liner, when age inevitably caught up to him, she’d be able to accompany him wherever he went. Maeve refused to contemplate anything beyond that. She hoped the Mellureans might offer them both a place in their world, which as she understood the few facts she’d been able to glean, gave any human so honored near immortality.

The things she and Gil could do, the places they could go together if he wasn’t set on being a starship captain!

He wasn’t ready to discuss those possibilities and she was in no rush. She loved Gil Fleming just the way he was.

First he had to be rescued, along with his brother, and she was confident she’d assembled the right team to accomplish the task. Now if only all of them would agree to sign on.

She missed him fiercely, with a persistent ache in her heart and mind even when she wasn’t in her humanoid body. The days were endless without him and their nightly conversations and cutthroat sessions of the strategy game. For the longest time she’d only had one kiss to cling to, to give herself hope of someday being a woman out in the world, loving and being loved by her man. After the events of the wedding where they’d danced for hours and made love, Maeve pined for more. She knew Gil had as well, even if they deliberately kept their conversations fairly chaste.

If was in my corporeal form right now, I’d be blushing.

She couldn’t fault him for his loyalty to his brother, even as she questioned the wisdom of his rushing off alone. She’d helped him do as much planning and information gathering as the two of them could beforehand and Maeve understood there hadn’t been any way she could have gone along. Not even embodied in a servo robot. Accepting the reality hadn’t meant she liked it one bit.

She was going in harm’s way now though and no one was going to stop her until she had Gil safe and in her arms.

CHAPTER FOUR

Gil had worked hard for the past few months to reach the exact spot he now occupied—a stool in a dive bar on Maclaren Three, drinking cheap feelgoods, letting one of the bar girlies (as the women were known locally) hang on him and watching the action in the establishment. He’d done a number of shady jobs, a few of them outright illegal, shot his blaster on a number of occasions, managing not to kill anyone—yet—and had established his street cred with the always shifting underworld here on the border. The Hinterlands were a quick few lightyears away and criminal activity was the major element of the economy in these systems. The bigger gangs were perpetually recruiting because the life of a soldier in their ranks tended to be short and brutal. A few men and women who managed to survive and climb the ranks, reaping the spoils along the way, encouraged every would-be gangbanger to think he or she could do the same. Finding new soldiers wasn’t an issue for the gangs.

Gil had an impeccable background, if such a compliment could be paid to a soldier of fortune with serious prison time and major felonies including murder on his ‘record.’ He’d called in a favor from an old Academy buddy who’d opted out of thehonorable life after a few too many horrendous battles and gone very very dark. His pal didn’t operate in this particular area but associated with people who did and he’d been willing to claim Gil as having free lanced for him a few times. Character references were important, even in this milieu.

Just returned to the planet from a successful hijacking of a freighter, Gil had gone with his associates to this bar and partied. He kept an eye on his main reason for being here tonight—a chance to connect with Arturo Main, one of the high ranking leaders of a gang affiliated with the Jlonngi terrorists. Word was out the boss needed men for an unspecified operation and Gil figured it was his way into the circles where his brother was a prisoner.

The bar girlie was showing serious signs of wanting to free his cock for a quick blow job and Gil was fending her off as best he could when a man approached him.

“Clint Favor?”

“That’s me.” With an effort Gil kept his adrenaline under control. The guy worked for Arturo. He hoped this would be his opportunity. “Hold that thought, darlin’,” he said to the girlie, setting her away from him. “Got business to tend to.”

“Mr. Main wants to talk to you.” The lackey turned without another word and headed through the boisterous crowd to the table against the far wall where the crime boss was holding court.

Gil tipped the bottle to his lips and drained the remainder of the feelgood, letting it burn down his throat, knowing the nullifier he’d taken earlier tonight was wiping away all the intoxicating effects. Setting the bottle on the bar with a click, he rose from the stool and gave the girlie a quick kiss, “Be right back, honey, don’t cool off now. Order me another drink.” He walked confidently in the messenger’s wake. The bar patrons weren’t as considerate to him as they ‘d been to Main’s man, butGil had no problem shoving people out of his way as necessary. He was deep in his Clint Favor persona and Clint took no guff from anyone, backing up his fists with his blaster.

There were empty chairs at the table but no one invited Gil to sit. Two of the musclemen spared him only a glance and kept scanning the crowded bar for any threat. The others were obviously prepared to deal with Gil if he failed to impress their boss. Arturo Main studied him for a long moment while Gil did his best to keep his face blank. “You with the Izzardi crew?”

“Nah, did a run with them for a cut of the loot, nothing more. Big ass freighter full of luxury goods. I haven’t taken the mark of any gang. Don’t intend to, unless it was worth my while. You recruiting?” Gil figured he could push a little, since he’d been invited to meet.

“I might be. Heard you did some work with Bull Cliftt over in Sector Thirty.”

“Sector Thirty-One to be exact. Yeah, Bull and me go way back.” Bull was his acquaintance from the Academy, who’d agreed to provide a good reference for him if needed.

“But you didn’t join his crew permanently?”

“I like free lancing. See more of the galaxy that way,” he said with an ironic smile. “Never gets boring. Bad things happen when I get bored.”

“I need some men to fill out a crew going to Radihe Two to do a few special jobs for me. You in?”

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