by M. D. Cooper
Misha didn’t know how to reply to that. Up until meeting the crew of Sabrina, Misha had thought his life was unusual. Yet the captain here talked of full skin replacement and alien microbes in the same breath as though it were the stuff of every other Tuesday.
Maybe it was….
He busied himself with setting the food on the table and over the next few minutes, the entire crew arrived and took what appeared to be their customary seats.
Nance sat on Cargo’s right, while Cheeky sat on his left. Across the table sat Finaeus, Jessica and Trevor. Misha felt strange sitting at the foot of the table, but no one said anything as he settled into his seat and everyone began to dig in.
“Good-looking spread you have here,” Finaeus said. “Even managed to get the steak just right. Glad to see you had time to do up mashed potatoes too.”
“Thanks for that,” Misha said. “I got ambushed a few times in the middle of my prep. Was a bit distracting.”
“Just trying to spice things up,” Cheeky said with a wink.
Misha was glad to see she was dressed again, although her halter top and the skirt she now sported didn’t hide much. It was an amusing contrast to Jessica and Nance who showed very little skin—though it was reassuring to see Nance no longer wore a hazsuit. Maybe she’d relax a bit.
“Gonna have a lot of practice in the galley,” Jessica said. “You’re on cooking duty for a month.”
Misha groaned. “I thought we were kidding about that. I’m sure I could earn my keep some other way.”
The crew all looked at one another and shook their heads.
“Nope,” Cargo said. “I think this is you for the foreseeable future. If you’re not happy with the arrangement, you can always get off when we get to Kidron.”
“Don’t worry,” Finaeus said as he clasped Misha on the shoulder. “I’ll still be around to help when you get distracted by all the pretty women on this ship.”
“Me?” Misha exclaimed.
“Wouldn’t even take advantage of me,” Cheeky said, her lips turned down. “And I didn’t get to sample any of the locals on the station.”
“Sabrina!” Misha exclaimed.
“Good,” Cheeky grinned. “Glad to know I didn’t do all that extra swishing for nothing.”
Misha sank in his seat, heat suffusing his cheeks. He couldn’t help but look at Trevor, worried he would take umbrage.
Instead Trevor laughed. “What’s wrong, Mish? That’s the official pastime on this ship. Not like we’re a bunch of prudes. Well, except for Cargo.”
“Nah,” Cheeky said around a mouthful of steak. “Cargo was doing the bartender back on Hermes—wait! Damn! How is it Cargo got action and I didn’t? I’m such a failure.”
“You know I’m right here, right?” Cargo asked with raised palms. “Just because I’m not a nymphomaniac like the rest of you doesn’t mean I don’t get to enjoy myself when it’s called for.”
“Cargo, therein lies the difference with you. It’s always called for.”
Misha noticed that even Nance was nodding—which surprised him. She had come off as a bit of a prude. Maybe that had more to do with the ‘lout who left her’ as Sabrina had put it.
“So, what do you think of the ship, then?” Trevor asked.
“Umm…interesting,” Misha said. “It’s obvious you’ve all been together for some time. I feel like an outsider. And there’s always an inside joke going on.”
“I know what you mean,” Finaeus said, reaching out and slapping Misha on the back. “I’ve only been aboard a few months, myself. It’s a weird little ship, isn’t it?”
“He’s not wrong, Sabrina,” Misha said. “For instance, I think you’ve been messing with me a bit.”
“See?” Misha asked. “How many ship’s AIs have weird-ass senses of humor like that. Not to mention that she takes offense at being called an artificial intelligence.”
“Intelligence aside, there’s other stuff like your amazing medbay—though that may just be because Nance appears to be a severe germaphobe. Oh, and why do most of the ingredients in the galley here have the labels torn off. Did someone just want to make my life miserable?”
“Stars, that’s been such a pain in the ass,” Jessica said. “I used cayenne pepper on my oatmeal the other day instead of cinnamon. That was a surprise and a half.”
“Nice!” Finaeus crowed. “I swapped those two, hoping it would get someone.”
“Asshole,” Jessica said around a mouthful of food.
“So, you did it just to mess with people?” Misha asked Finaeus.
“Hell yeah. Need something to while away the long weeks between the stars.” Finaeus grinned.
“So how much do you hate us?” Jessica asked.
The question caught Misha by surprise. Were they trying to make him hate them? Was all this weirdness just a hazing ritual?
That couldn’t be it. It didn’t explain how they’d escaped RMs, or why they had mednano his body couldn’t detect. Plus, a host of other little things, like the water showers, or even the décor in the ship. It was all so foreign.
“Where did you guys say you were from again?” Misha asked.
“Told you he’d figure it out,” Trevor said.
“Well, we kinda telegraphed it,” Cheeky added.
Sabrina chimed in.
“I still don’t think we should tell him,” Nance said. “No offense, Misha. You seem like a nice guy.”
“We talked about this, Nance,” Cargo said.
“Yeah, but talking about something doesn’t mean I immediately acquiesce.”
“You guys told me right away,” Trevor said.
“That’s ‘cause Jessica was all hot for you.” Cheeky grinned. “It was gonna come out in pillow talk soon enough.”
“Pfft!” Jessica said and stuck her tongue out at Cheeky. “I have more restraint than to—”
“Stars, just tell me or shut up about ‘it’ already,” Misha interrupted.
No one spoke for a moment, and the crew all looked at one another, smiles breaking out across their faces.
“Hey. Misha,” Finaeus said. “They teach you about the schism between Orion and the Transcend here, right?”
Misha nodded. The schism was ancient history, but they were taught all about the evils of the Transcend in school. Not to mention constant government propaganda—though little of it existed this far out.
“Look up Jeffery Tomlinson’s brother,” Finaeus prompted.
Misha accessed the academic database in his memory implant and his breath caught when the entry appeared superimposed over his vision.
“Shiiiiiiiiiit,” he whispered. “You’re…you’re Finaeus Tomlinson!”
“Uhh…thanks. I think?”
THE END
THE DANCE ON THE MOONS OF SERENITY
PERSEUS GATE – SEASON 1: EPISODE 3
BY M. D. COOPER
FOREWORD
I had a blast writing this story; to a certain extent, it has satisfied my desire (for a time) to write high fantasy. It also has a touch of a Dune feel to it. However, if there are any stark comparisons, I hope you’ll forgive me as it has been decades since I read Dune, and any direct correlations are entirely unintentional.
I’ll also note that while this story focuses entirely on Jessica and Cheeky, I do intend to have the whole crew back in the limelight in the next book: The Last Bas
tion of Star City.
That book will also give you some time with Misha and his first few days aboard Sabrina, so if you have a hankering for that, it will come, trust me.
Finally, as I wrote this story, and layered on the political and cultural layers to the Houses of Serenity, I found that I really could have made this into a full-length novel. Alas, Amazon does not allow the changing of pre-order dates, and missing a date has severe consequences, so the real world dictates that I must keep this story as a novella.
However, perhaps some day we’ll revisit The Serenity Ordus and the Houses of Serenity....
M. D. Cooper
Danvers, August 2017
THE HOUSES OF SERENITY
The Houses of Serenity control the Serenity System and occupy the five moons orbiting the gas giant, Serenity Primus. Together they are the Serenity Ordus.
Five of these houses are known as the High Table, and each controls one of the five moons of Serenity.
These are the moons, their houses, leaders, and scions.
The Moon of Acadia
House: Laurentia (Head of the High Table)
Leader: Anastasia
Scion: Kristina
The Moon of Mesophis
House: Nebacken
Leader: Lena
Scion: Lorana
The Moon of Gallas
House: Charlemis
Leader: Justina
Scion: Pharis
The Moon of Yucana
House: Mepholec
The Moon of Teros
House: Paladis
HEALING WATERS
STELLAR DATE: 10.14.8938 (Adjusted Years)
LOCATION: Healing Waters Mineral Spa, Olvives, Kidron System
REGION: Orion Freedom Alliance, Perseus Arm
“This is the life,” Jessica said as she leaned back in the warm water. She closed her eyes and listened to the soft sounds of the bubbling stream echoing off the walls and ceiling of the cavern.
“Mmmmm, you say something, Jess?” Cheeky asked.
Jessica cracked an eye open and watched Cheeky float by, only half-submerged in the buoyant water.
“Exactly,” Jessica said with a dreamy smile.
Cheeky paddled closer and reached the edge of the pool where Jessica sat with her feet hooked into stirrups on the bottom of the pool to keep them from floating up.
Cheeky let out a long sigh of contentment as she settled into place next to Jessica. “We need to get a mineral water cavern on Sabrina. Think we could convince Nance to go with it?”
Jessica laughed softly. “Doubtful, she still avoids touching me as much as she can manage. I can’t imagine what she’d have to say about whatever is probably in this water.”
Cheeky looked around at the water, which sparkled with a purple light in Jessica’s vicinity. “Yeah, when I asked her if she wanted to come here with us, she said something along the lines of ‘What? Soak in pond scum inside some asteroid? No thanks!’.”
Jessica laughed softly, swirling her hand through the water. “Seriously, what could possibly be in here that our mednano can’t deal with?”
“Jessica! Seriously. Don’t say things like that, I just got real skin back, I don’t want it to get infected and peel off or something.”
Cheeky gave a soft laugh. “I think you have me mixed up with Jess. She has the shiny skin.”
“Whatever,” Cheeky said with a snort.
Jessica reached out and patted Cheeky on the shoulder. “Your skin looks good, Cheeks. Just the way it’s supposed to.”
“Good thing too, these folks in Kidron are more into standard fare. I would have had slim pickins if I still had my plasti-skin. You’re lucky you’re celibate now, Jess. You’d never get any here, being all glowy and stuff.”
Jessica laughed. “I’m monogamous, Cheeky, not celibate.”
“Same difference,” Cheeky said with an exaggerated shrug.
“I get more than you do. You have to do without whenever we’re not docked,” Jessica said with a note of superiority in her voice.
Cheeky’s eyes darted toward Jessica and one corner of her mouth turned up. “Think so?”
“Well, I know Nance still isn’t in the mood—unless you’ve been giving her an outlet for her frustrations.”
“Nah.” Cheeky shook her head. “Nance still needs some time after Thompson. It’s only been a few months. Maybe when we get back in the black I’ll feel her out…figuratively speaking.”
“Right, figuratively.” Jessica laughed.
“But just because Nance is in recovery from that giant hairy asshole whose name we no longer speak, doesn’t mean I’ve been resorting to mechanical assistance.”
Jessica, realized what Cheeky must be getting at and turned to look at her friend full in the face. “Nooooo.”
Cheeky nodded and closed her eyes, a small smile of satisfaction her lips. “Oh yeah, he’s like a well-aged wine. Good vintage too.”
“But he’s…Finaeus…he’s…weird. And he’s Sera’s uncle… that’s even weirder.”
“Eh.” Cheeky shrugged. “He’s funny, and he and I…well, we have a special bond.”
“Just ‘cause you almost got sucked into a black hole together that one time doesn’t mean you should go shacking up.”
Cheeky cracked an eyelid and looked at Jessica. “Seriously? That’s like…the best reason ever for shacking up with someone. I bet there are no two other people alive who have been through what he and I have…and survived. Thank you again for that, by the way. After that fancy flying I feel like you should be Sab’s pilot.”
Jessica snorted. “Don’t start with that again, Cheeky. You and Sabs are made for one another. If you ever decide to leave your body, you’ll be a starship.”
“Leave my body?” Cheeky asked, aghast. “I would never leave this body…although…I wonder what it would be like to be the SS Sexy.”
Jessica laughed. “Now you’re just avoiding the fact that you’ve been screwing the old man.”
“Don’t you give me any grief, Jessica. You’ve told me about your escapades back in your youth. I don’t have half the notches on my bedframe that you do.”
“Yeah, well, a lot of that was for work,” Jessica said with a scowl.
“OK, taking out your work, our notches are about even,” Cheeky said. “The point is, you’ve been confined to quarters on starships before for screwing everyone onboard and causing no end of marital spats. Why does the thought of Finaeus and me bother you so much?”
Jessica looked up at the ceiling of the cavern, some ten meters above; glad no one else was in the pool to overhear this conversation. “I don’t really know. I guess it’s because he’s so old!”
“So are you,” Cheeky said with a soft laugh. “I still think you’re totally fuckable.”
“Thanks Cheeks, glad to know I pass muster with you…even though I’m so old.”
“Well, you are. You’re what? Two hundred?”
“No! I’m…”
“See, old!” Cheeky grinned and gave Jessica a small tap on the arm with her index finger. “You have a hundred years on me.”
“Yeah, a hundred years is normal, but Finaeus has thousands of years on you. He…ugh…”
Cheeky giggled. “That was your I-just-thought-of-something-gross sound. Spill it.”
“I was just thinking of some sort of way to describe how old he is, and this mental image popped into my mind of how big the pile of toenails he must have clipped would be if it were all put together.”
Cheeky snorted. “And that’s terribly gross?”
“I did the math…it’s bigger than Sabrina.”
“Nooooo…” Cheeky breathed. “Piya? Give
a girl an assist on that one?”
“Well, that’s good at least,” Cheeky said with a grin. “Imagine hauling a ship full of toenail clippings?”
“This is the weirdest conversation I’ve ever had,” Jessica said with a grimace.
“I sincerely doubt that,” Cheeky replied. “I know for a fact that you and I have had at least eleven conversations far stranger than this one. Though two of those have also centered around your distaste for toenails.” As she spoke, Cheeky raised a foot out of the water and wiggled her toes at Jessica.
“Well, your toenails don’t bother me,” Jessica said. “They’re perfectly manicured. Cargo on the other hand…guh.”
“His toenails are fine, he just doesn’t clip them that often,” Cheeky said with a shrug.
“Does he know we have nano for that?”
“Seriously, Jess, you’re starting to remind me of Nance here. Just because you don’t have to clip your toenails…”
Jessica stuck her foot out of the water. “That’s because I don’t have any. Best part of no real skin is no real toenails.”
Cheeky laughed. “Stars, you’re weird, Jess. Though I’ll admit, they look pretty cute, like little blueberries.”
“Yeah, totally adorbs,” a voice from behind the pair commented.
Jessica turned her head and studied two women standing in the entrance to the cavern. They were both armored, and held pulse pistols. One had thick white hair pulled into a braid, and the other was bald with shifting tattoos covering her head.