Page 7 of Star Cruise Captain's Story

“Sure.” Gil had to fight to contain his exultation. Radihe Two was where the hostage trade was supposed to take place and where his brother was last known to be alive as a prisoner.

Main sat back, eyes narrowed. “You don’t have any questions? You don’t care what the jobs are? What the pay is?”

“You’re Arturo Main, got a rep as a good guy who pays well, no bullshit. I don’t care what you need done—why should I? My rap sheet is longer than your dick and I’ve done it all from wetwork to kidnapping to grand theft.” Gil looked at the crowded, noisy club. “Got no reason to stay here and no ties. I like to keep on the move, you know? Footloose and hard for the authorities to find. Just don’t let me get bored.”

“No problem there.” The crime boss’s grin was thin but genuine. He tossed a data chit at Gil who snatched the tiny item from the air. “The information and access code for where to meet up in the morning is there. Standard pay scale. Chance to move up in the organization if you do a good job and don’t piss anyone off. Got me?”

“Again, no problem. Appreciate the opportunity. Your gang has a top notch reputation and I like to work for the best. Reduces the chances of unintended consequences like getting busted.” Gil pocketed the chit and retreated from the table as Arturo switched his attention to the woman seated next to him, sliding her top off her shoulders, revealing her ample breasts.

Having accomplished his goal for the night, Gil returned to his spot at the bar, where the girlie he’d been fondling quickly rejoined him. He bought her a drink and toasted his new assignment with her. “Come to my room with me, darlin’?” he asked when their bottles were empty.

“I thought you’d never ask.” A bit unsteady, she slid off her stool and looped her hand through his arm.

Without appearing to do so, Gil watched the bouncers, who were keeping an eye on him. One was a cyborg and the other was a four-armed green alien standing seven feet high and he didn’t want to tangle with either. Putting his arm around the woman, Gil steered her out of the bar and onto the street. They headed for his hotel, which was a dump close to the spaceport. Once Gil ushered her into a robo groundcar and provided the address, she settled against the cushions with a sigh. “I don’t get this kind of treatment often, big spender. Most guys wannado it out behind the bar or maybe in the rooms upstairs. This is gonna cost you extra, taking me offsite.”

“No problem. I booked a solid job tonight and I want to party in private,” Gil said. “I don’t like to share.”

Once they got to the hotel, he helped her out of the vehicle and hugged her close as they took the antiquated elevator to his floor. Once he let her into his room, she began shedding her cheap, barely there top and he hastily brought her a drink from the minibar. “No rush, sweetheart, we’ve got all night.” Anticipating her question, he added, “I’m paying for the whole evening, don’t worry. Now drink up and then we’ll go take a shower.”

She emptied the glass, set it on the table and tugged at her skirt, revealing a black thong underneath. Raising one hand to her forehead, she staggered. “I must have drunk too much before we left the bar because now I’m all kinds of dizzy.”

Gil caught her as the knockout drug in the drink she’d consumed rendered her unconscious. As gently as he could, he removed the short skirt, leaving her in her underwear and carried her to the bed, tucking her in like a kid. In repose the hard lines of her face relaxed and she looked younger, if not innocent. “Sleep tight, have good dreams and I’ll be gone in the morning,” he said, even though she couldn’t hear him. Going into the bathroom he stripped and took a fast shower before bedding down on the ratty couch. The girlie was part of his cover story but he had no desire to touch her. A vision of Maeve crossed his mind briefly and he pushed it away. No room for those emotions right now.

The girlie would wake up confused, with no trace of the drug in her system. She’d pocket the huge tip Gil planned to leave and report to her pimp the spacer had occupied her all night and paid for it. If anyone checked up on what Gil had done afterbeing invited to join Arturo’s crew, they’d be satisfied he was a hard drinking, hard partying mercenary and nothing more.

Three days later,after a flurry of hasty communications to obtain unpaid leave for the six crew members who’d all agreed to join her team, and several in depth meetings on Level 10 to discuss plans and share intel, Maeve’s group took a public shuttle from theNebula Zephyrto the surface of the planet. Once they reached the spaceport, they withdrew to a practically deserted portion of the facility and stood in a circle, surrounded by gear. The rucksack next to Owen rocked in place and the cargo master leaned over to release Midorri, the ship’s alien pet. She climbed up his huge frame was if he was a tree and sat on his broad shoulder, tail curled around his neck like a muffler. Making soft chirrups, she gazed at Maeve with her huge eyes.

Owen had insisted on bringing Midorri, who had assisted him in a previous combat situation. The extent of her abilities was unknown, as was her species or home planet but she certainly seemed ready for anything right now. Maeve had no idea how the creature would be helpful but she took a somewhat fatalistic view that it might be good luck to have the animal with them. She hadn’t planned to bring Owen’s wife Tyrelle but the alien empath had insisted Owen wasn’t going without her. She’d argued her presence would be value added since most of the team had serious PTSD issues from their previous military service, which was bound to get stirred up by the demands of this mission. Tyrelle could help each person handle their memories and emotions with her power and ensure there were no meltdowns at critical moments. Owen had resisted her accompanying them even more strongly than Maeve had but eventually a compromise was brokered whereby Tyrelle wouldremain aboard the ship with Theo Knox and not be involved in the dangerous operations on the planet.

“All right, the clock’s ticking,” Jake said, pulling Maeve’s wandering attention away from her consideration of the extra team member. “Where’s this ship of yours, Maeve?”

She’d tapped into the spaceport’s infrastructure, pleased to find she could carry it off almost as easily as she entered theNebula Zephyr’ssystems. Now she projected a holo in the middle of their tight circle, showing their current location and a blinking red X where her newly purchased ship theValkyrie Revengewas berthed. “She’s provisioned and ready to go.”

“Looks like a long walk.” Owen sounded philosophical. He hoisted his rucksack. “The sooner we get started, the better.”

“I’ve arranged ground transportation for us,” Maeve said as a pair of large robo carts came up and stopped neatly. “Room for all the gear and seats for us to ride.”

Muttering their approval, the others piled everything onto the two carts and climbed into the seats. Jake took Maeve’s elbow and drew her slightly aside. “You hacked the spaceport?”

“It wasn’t very hard. I didn’t go into the deepest layers, or anything classified. Problem?” She was proud of her accomplishment.

“We don’t want to call unnecessary attention to ourselves,” he said.

“The authorities won’t find a trace of my presence and I’ve erased the commands I used to get us the carts. I’m not a novice at this kind of thing, Jake.” He might be the team leader but he didn’t get to tell her what to do when it came to her own unique capabilities. Prickles of annoyance drifted through her mind like tiny red sparks but she was grateful for the distraction from the difficulty she was having over his light grip on her elbow. Maeve wasn’t used to being touched and the stimulus made her anxious. Physical contact with Gil was a different matter to herstill unfolding psyche—she loved him and craved the feel of his hands. “Can you please not touch me if at all possible?”

“This isn’t theNebula Zephyrwhere you’re the supreme authority with override powers and visibility into everything,” he said, releasing his grip as he walked to the nearest cart with her. Obviously preoccupied with the subject at hand, he added, “We’re out in the big wide world of the Sectors and we have no idea what kind of security traps there might be. The Sectors might frown on our little foray and especially if anyone figures out we have a self aware AI with us, Mellurean citizenship or not.”

“I’m careful.” Grumpily she hopped onto the cart and took a seat.Guess I’d better not mention I erased all records of us arriving and our movements through the building. Jake means well but he has no idea what I can do. And the Mellureans can do so much more than I’ll ever master.All she’d ever wanted after meeting Gil long ago on their battleship was to be human so she could be with him. Now she also dreamed about becoming a Mellurean herself, not that it was remotely possible. Even with her vast intellect and abilities, she was like a young child compared to what the ancient aliens could do. Maeve was determined to learn all she could from them, however and luckily she interested them enough to share a limited number of simple (for them) things with her.

The carts rolled through a door to the outside and trundled across the huge landing fields. Maeve made sure the carts were linked to the traffic control AI. She had no desire to find herself underneath a ship trying to land or in the path of one taking off. As rapidly as they progressed she was erasing their backtrail. The closer the carts came to the ship sitting by itself on a remote section of the pad, the more excited she got.

Red gave a whistle of admiration. “This is some beauty you bought, Maeve. You must have a sky high salary to afford a ship of this caliber.”

Hastily she answered to blunt any suspicion. “I invest. I have excess mental capacity most of the time and I can’t simply watch soap operas all day and night. Investing is like a different kind of entertainment for me.”

“I’m going to start asking you for financial tips,” Owen said. “Since you’ve got enough squirreled away to fund this expedition in style.”

“When we get back from this trip, I’d be happy to advise,” she said. The realization struck her that if the team survived and succeeded in retrieving Gil, relations between herself and this group of humans would never revert to the way they’d been previously. For better or worse she now had humans in her life instead of at a distance as mere work colleagues. Friends might be too strong a word to use at this point in their changed relationship but she could actually see herself giving Owen stock tips and discussing investments with him. The line which had separated her from the crew before was irretrievably broken now by her actions assembling the team. These elite crew members had known she was more than the usual type of AI but spending time with them in her human form and going into battle with them would forge new bonds.I hope there aren’t going to be any more unintended consequences of my actions to save Gil.

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