Maverick: A Supernatural Space Opera Novel (Witching on a Starship Book 1)

by J. A. Cipriano

  “That movie was overrated,” I said, crossing my arms over my chest as the waitress ignored me because she was too busy leaping out of her skin with joy. “Whatever.”

  I wasn’t sure why I was so jealous of how much attention she was paying Oliver. She definitely wasn’t my type.

  “I would! Thank you!” she said, practically melting into a puddle before my eyes while I slammed my shot of Jameson.

  Oliver scribbled something on the picture before offering it to her. “Here you go, Ericka!” He smiled at her, and I struggled to retain my lunch.

  I turned back to the remains of my own burger and sighed as my phone rang to the tune of Warrior by Ke$ha. A quick glance across the table revealed the two of them lost in thought over some finer point in Reign of Fire because, of course, she’d seen the movie even though no one else had.

  Well, either way, they wouldn’t mind if I took a quick call. I fished my phone out of my ratty three-year-old Coach purse and glanced at the screen. My heart sank. It was my dad. I’d totally forgotten I was supposed to call him back about dinner tonight.

  “Fuck,” I said, answering the phone as I got to my feet. “I’ve gotta take this.”

  “Take your time,” Oliver replied as I put the phone to my ear and made my way toward the exit because it was way too loud in here to talk. I’d barely made it six steps when the waitress had sat down in my seat.

  “Hey Dad,” I said, pushing open the door and stepping into the patio area. “What’s up?”

  “Hello, kitten. Ready for tonight? I figured we’d hit the Voodoo Lounge and then play it by ear? Maybe pick up some chicks, do some blow?” my dad asked in his cheery “I’m higher than a kite” voice.

  “For the last time, I don’t do drugs,” I replied, shaking my head at him because my dad had never actually graduated from being a twenty-year-old with unlimited cash. I’ll be honest, I’ll never know what my mom saw in the billionaire playboy, but it sure as fuck wasn’t decency. In fact, I hadn’t even known the guy until I was out of high school. We’d met when I’d needed money for college, and my mom suggested I ask my dad for the cash. When she’d revealed who he was, I’d laughed in her face.

  Then he’d landed his helicopter in front of our small suburban home and gotten out.

  I don’t know if you’ve read the stories about Terrence Stone’s drug-fueled sex binges straight out of Wolf of Wall Street, but I thought they were over-exaggerated at first too. They’re not exaggerated. No… those stories, if anything, are tame.

  “About that, I’m going to have to cancel,” I said, trying to ignore the lump in my throat that came from cancelling on him once again as I spoke. Part of me was relieved because while fun, going out with my dad was an experience I could do without ninety-nine percent of the time. The problem with people who had more money than God was that the rules didn’t apply to them, and my dad had been alive long enough to pretty much prove that factoid true a few dozen times. Guess we knew where I got my fondness for breaking the rules from, eh?

  “Aww, why? Is it a girl? Because if it is, I know this sweet little thing who will make you forget all about it,” he replied, his voice filled with as much concern as I’d ever heard him have. “And if that’s not good enough, I know a few more. We could do a whole ten virgins thing even? What do you say? Let your dad try to buy you some happiness.”

  “I’m going into space to fight an alien,” I said, trying to ignore the mental picture he’d put in my head. The absolute last thing I wanted to do was roll around with ten paid virgins. That sounded like a recipe for a lot of complaining and shyness, and I was definitely not into that sort of thing.

  “Is this about that Maverick thing?” he asked before the sound got muffled and I heard him yelling at someone behind him. “Your mother said something about that…”

  “Yeah, rain check?” I asked, trying to ignore the tiny tidbit that mom had talked to him about the Mavericks. I hadn’t known they were still talking. It also didn’t help that I felt kind of bad for canceling, and not just because I’d canceled the last six times he’d asked me out. Why? Because Jen hadn’t liked me going out with him even though I’d never done anything, and she, well…

  I gripped the phone a little harder than I meant to as he replied.

  “Hey, kitten. Sounds good. Let me know what you need, okay? Love you. Ciao.” The line went dead in my ear, leaving me standing there watching cars park in the nearly full parking lot. Part of me wanted to go back home and crawl under my bed, but if I did, I might think about Jen, and right until now, I hadn’t. No. Going into space to confront vicious aliens would be good for me.

  I turned on my heel and made my way back inside the restaurant. As I approached our table, I saw the waitress shaking hands with Oliver while he tossed a few bills on the table.

  “It’s my pleasure,” he said before releasing her hand and glancing at me with a devilish smile on his face. Then he began walking toward me, leaving the star-struck waitress to wipe her gooey hands on her pants. “You ready? Because I need a cigarette.”

  8

  As we arrived back at base, my phone began to buzz once more. A quick glance at it revealed a text message from my mother dearest confirming she was with Marty and to call her when I got the chance. I nodded, and as I made to do just that, Chloe appeared right in front of me dressed from throat to ankle in black spandex that made my imagination run a bit wild, just saying.

  “Where the fuck have you two been?” she growled, the words coming out in a wave of rage that hit me so abruptly, I forgot all about my phone even though I’d been in the process of opening my contacts list.

  “What do you mean?” Oliver asked, glancing at the gold Rolex on his wrist. “We’ve got like an hour until launch.”

  “Oh My God, seriously?” Chloe snarled, grabbing the fish guy by the wrist and jerking him toward her until they were eye to eye. “Did you forget we have the briefing before the mission, and we can’t get started until you two dumbasses are on the fucking ship?”

  Embarrassment filled me up as I stared at her. I hadn’t had any idea, but I might have if I’d gotten my holo to work. Man, I really needed to get with it. They were paying me after all. I should attempt to be a good employee.

  “Sorry,” I mumbled as Chloe shoved Oliver toward the far door. He stumbled, trying to regain his balance as the werewolf settled her amber eyes on me, nostrils flaring.

  “Why do I smell egg and beef?” She leaned in close then, totally invading my personal space as she sniffed me like she was some kind of dog.

  “Um… personal space much?” I asked, raising an eyebrow at her as I fought not to take a step backward. If I did, she’d take it as a sign of weakness, which was a really fucking bad idea when dealing with rage beasts who liked dominance games.

  “You have eaten, haven’t you?” she snapped, practically shimmering with rage as things began to crawl beneath her skin like thousands of scurrying ants.

  “Yeah, so?” I replied, pointedly pushing past her and following Oliver toward the ship. The fish guy had scurried away so quickly, he was practically a distant speck in the distance. “What’s wrong with that?”

  “What’s wrong?” Chloe yelled, throwing one arm over my shoulder and pulling my head toward her own with so much strength, I nearly cried out in pain. I wasn’t sure if she was doing it to show off, but color me impressed. Her hard muscle pressed into my flesh as she leaned in close to my ear so her breath was hot on my neck. “What’s wrong is the captain won’t let us eat until after the briefing, and I’m fucking starving, and the reason I’m starving is that we’ve been waiting for you two to show up for the last half hour.”

  “Oh,” I said, suddenly feeling sheepish. “Why didn’t you come with us?” I held out my phone because it was still in my hand. “I called you, but you didn’t answer.”

  It was a lie, but I was betting she didn’t know that. Besides, if she checked, I could use my magic to make it look like I’d called. I mean, okay
, that little trick had never worked on Jen, but still, a girl’s gotta try, right? What was the alternative? Take responsibility for my actions? Fuck that noise.

  “You did not,” Chloe said, but she sounded unsure of herself. “Tinkerbelle and I have been sitting in that room watching Superstore the whole time. Trust me, I’d have heard the phone.”

  Only as she spoke, she was already pulling out her own phone, and I had to fight the urge not to smile. It was in a bright pink case covered with Paw Patrol stickers. As she held the phone out in front of my face and began thumbing the passcode in, I called upon my magic, using it to slow down time.

  As the world slowed to a crawl, I called her on my own phone while reaching out and poking her device with my thumb, mentally going through the motions to change the phone’s settings so it looked like I’d called her earlier. Okay, so it was a bit sneaky, but she was a werewolf and had me in a headlock.

  If that wasn’t what magic was for, well, what was it for?

  As time snapped back into place, Chloe raised the phone and stared at the missed call in her log. “How?” she murmured, and as she spoke, I pulled my head free of her grip and put my hands on my hips.

  “Well, I think someone owes someone else an apology,” I said, nodding at the werewolf.

  “Um… sorry?” Chloe replied, eyes flitting from the phone to me and back again. Then rage unlike anything I’d ever seen flashed across her face. It was so intense, I actually felt it like scalding heat. I raised my hands as she lunged at me, wrapping her hands around my neck and lifting me into the air.

  “What the fuck?” I cried right before she cut off my oxygen supply with her thumbs.

  “Did you just magic my phone to lie to me?” she asked, voice so calm it was actually scarier than if she’d been angry. Calm people are calculated and deliberate. Rage beasts? Not so much. It scared me enough I was about ready to try blasting her across the room.

  “Yeah,” I admitted, trying my best to look repentant. “You were making me feel bad, and I don’t like feeling that way.” I nodded, and as I did, she dropped me, causing me to fall the foot and a half to the ground and stumble as my arms went out in a vain attempt at balance.

  “You could try just being a decent person,” Chloe replied as I fell on my ass. “That does wonders for making you not feel bad.” Then, before I could respond, she turned on her heel and strode off in the direction Oliver had gone.

  “That’s an excellent point,” I mumbled, getting to my feet and following behind the werewolf. Jen had said something similar a couple times, but I’d mostly ignored it because that required me feeling worse, and if I hated feeling bad, I really hated feeling worse. It was also why I’d stopped going to counseling because he’d implied the problem might be me, and I didn’t think it was because I was awesome.

  A sigh flitted from my lips as I crossed the base and found Chloe had stopped just beyond the corner, and for a second, I almost thought she was going to forgive me.

  “I just realized you probably don’t know where to go since you don’t even have your bronze sandals, and you haven’t been to the briefing room.” She grabbed my wrist then and began dragging me toward the left fork in the hallway. “And if I just stomped off because you’re a total bitch, I’d have to wait longer for you to show up, which means it’d be even longer until I ate.”

  “I am sorry about that,” I said, trying to smile at her. “Next time I’ll bring you a doggie bag or something.”

  Chloe stopped so abruptly I crashed into her back. Then her head craned toward me. Her lips were compressed into a thin line, and her eyes were narrowed, revealing just flashes of the amber beneath. “Is that supposed to be funny?”

  And that was when I realized why a pissed off werewolf might not think the term “doggie bag” was funny. “No… I’m just an idiot,” I capitulated. “Seriously. Ask my ex.”

  “Yeah, somehow I don’t think I need to do that,” she replied, rolling her eyes at me. Then she began pulling me forward. “Come on.”

  9

  “Look, if you wanted me naked, you had your chance,” I said, crossing my arms over my chest as I glared at Captain Brand. He was wearing one of those suits identical to the werewolf’s and was holding a similar one out toward me.

  “I don’t want you naked. I want you wearing the uniform we provided for you,” Captain Brand said, fixing me with his eyes. I squirmed uncomfortably and looked away. “It was clearly specified in the memo that you were to be in the uniform when you arrived in case the meeting ran long and we didn’t have time to change in between. If you don’t wear it, the pressure from launching will literally push your organs out of your skin.”

  He took a step toward me, all hulking cyborg male, and blasted me through the soul with those stupidly deep eyes of his, eyes that were very disappointed with me. Was this what it was like to have your dad be angry at you for something you’d done? I wasn’t sure because, well, my dad was a bigger child than I was, so the idea of him being disappointed with me was laughable.

  “Sorry,” I muttered, my cheeks flushing as I looked at my feet and wondered why I cared so much about what he thought.

  “Don’t be sorry. Just be better,” the captain said, holding a uniform out to me. “So change.”

  “I’m not changing in front of you people,” I replied, snatching the uniform from his outstretched hand.

  “Turn around then,” the captain said as he, himself, turned. “No one wants to see you naked either.”

  “Whatever,” I snapped, a flash of rage exploding through me as Oliver, Chloe, Jeffry, and the fairy turned away from me to stare at the far wall. The smell of the lunch in the corner drifted through the air, and it was then that I almost sorta kinda felt bad. Here I was causing more problems, and I was the newbie. Maybe I could try to be a little better, especially since they were paying me a billion dollars in gold to be here.

  “Are you suited, yet?” the captain asked, and the annoyance in his voice made me want to sink into my shoes. “Because we haven’t got all day.”

  “One second,” I said, moving toward the corner as I pulled off my stolen T-shirt and dropped it on the ground. Then I stepped out of my skirt, so I was standing there in my matching purple bra and panties. It sort of made me sad because I’d worn them to surprise Jen, and well, guess the surprise was on me.

  I sighed and pulled on the uniform and was amazed at how easily it slid on. I mean seriously, it didn’t snag on my legs like a wet suit, which was what the material felt like. No, it slipped right on, and as I grabbed the zipper that started on my left ankle and pulled it up to my chin like I was wearing a giant onesie, which I guess I was, I realized I looked fucking awesome in black leather.

  Hell, it almost made me wish I had glasses because as I brushed out my dark hair so it fell over my shoulder, I sort of looked like Baroness from GI Joe, and she was one bad ass chick.

  “Ready,” I said, and as I spoke, the captain turned to appraise me.

  “Good, you’re wearing it. If you weren’t, you might suffer during the launch.” He smiled at me. “You should direct yourself to your holo. It can go over the full extent of what your suit can do.” Then without another word, he moved back toward the front of the room. As he turned back to his presentation, an alarm began to beep. He glanced in the direction of the sound and scowled at the flashing red light.

  “Seriously?” Chloe snarled, glaring at me as the captain’s shoulders slumped.

  “What?” I asked, looking at her for an explanation, but as her eyes met mine and sent mental daggers flying at me, I wished I hadn’t.

  “Guess we’re out of time,” the captain said, nodding to the room. “Grab something if you like, but it can’t come on board. The ship will leave in the next ten minutes.” He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Let me see if I can find out why they pushed up the launch.”

  With those words, he left the room followed by Jeffry. I looked at Oliver, but instead of pretending like he knew me, he of
fered his elbow to the fairy, who landed lightly on it. Then they left the room too, leaving me alone with Chloe who had literally leapt the conference table and had pulled the metal lids off the container, causing the smell of garlic to fill the air.

  Her nostrils flared as she took a whiff of the contents before opening the next tray. She let out a scream of rage. Her entire body went rigid as she turned toward me and gestured angrily at the two trays.

  “Pasta and fucking soup.” She flicked her hand at the trays. “I need meat, goddammit.” She smacked her chest with one hand. “I’m a goddamned werewolf, not a rabbit.”

  “Yeah,” I said, glad I’d gone to get a burger, and as I had that thought, a smile flitted across my face. This was a problem I could fix.

  I called upon my powers and used them to send me right back to Red Robin. As the restaurant materialized around me, I strode toward where the waitresses picked up food and grabbed two plates waiting for delivery. The cook turned, and as he saw me, shock spread out across his face.

  “Wait, you can’t—“ The rest of his words were cut off as I teleported back into the conference room.

  Chloe was begrudgingly chewing on a mouthful of pasta as I placed the burgers on the table in front of her. “Friends?” I asked, gesturing to them. “Because if we are, I might be inclined to share.”

  Her eyes widened in surprise as she stared at the two burgers I’d just brought.

  “Did you steal that for me?” she asked, which made me feel a little bad. I mean, she didn’t know for certain I’d stolen it. “Because while I don’t condone stealing…” She took another step toward me, practically drooling as she moved closer and inhaled sharply through her nose.

  “Steal is such an ugly word. Besides, you don’t know I stole it,” I said, and as she opened her mouth to reply, I waved her off with one hand. “How about you eat your burgers and show me the way to the ship?”