“We’ve still got a meeting to make on Jantoh, you know how angry Connor gets when we’re late. So let’s get there and get it done.”
“Aye, aye, Sir,” she said it with such a smile.
“I’m not a fucking pirate.” It took almost everything I had not to crack a smile of my own, as I finished growling out the words.
“You’ll always be my space pirate, Captain.”
I almost laughed, but my heart just wasn’t in it right now. Sure, today had been a win, but it had drained me. Seeing those horrors left a stain on me, one that couldn’t be cleaned away with a simple shower. Even now, standing in a pair of sweats and in the safest place I knew I was still on edge. Ice was waiting for me to say something, but it just wouldn’t come out.
Ice took pity on me and finished her update. “Jumping to FTL in five.”
Aye, aye,” I said over the comm. She laughed and the sound buoyed my spirits just a bit. God loved to test my patience with that woman, but part of me loved giving it back to her. If she wasn’t the best in the black, then I would have tossed her out into space years ago. Ok, maybe I wouldn’t have spaced her because her talents outweighed her sarcastic mouth, but sometimes it was a slim margin. Now all I had to do was check on Kyra, and I could try and get some sleep.
I switched the comm channel from the bridge to the medbay. “How’s our girl, Doc?”
“I was only able to give her a brief examination before she left. Something happened to her out there, but she just isn’t ready to talk about it.”
“So aside from the mental aspects of her detainment, she is physically ok?”
“Nothing a little rest and a few weeks of relaxing won’t cure. I also gave her a small injection of our healing bots. It should help to ease any pain and repair the tissue damage faster.”
“Thank you, Richard. Check in on her again tomorrow for me.”
“Of course, Captain.”
I killed the comm. So something had happened to her, maybe more than just getting snatched and knocked about a bit. Not that that wasn’t enough to make anyone feel a little jumpy. Just look at me, I was in my safe space and still on edge, and I hadn’t even been kidnapped. I needed to give her a little more time before I went to talk to her. Not only did I not want to pry if she wasn’t ready to talk but I still needed to get my own head on straight. My body was still aching from getting shot and stabbed. I really wasn’t in the mood for painkiller dreams tonight, so I took a couple shots of whiskey before slipping into bed. The warmth washed over my body, and the alcohol eased the worst of my symptoms.
A knock sounded at the door to my cabin just as I was about to fall asleep. “Come in,” is what I said. What I thought was this had better be fucking important.
The door was shrouded in shadow so I couldn’t tell who it was right away. They closed the door behind them and locked it, before walking into the small amount of light given off by the running lights built into the decking. It was Maze. She looked like a fucking train wreck. Her eyes were puffy, and her nose was red. She just looked at me and didn’t say a word.
This wasn’t the time for talking, she had come for comfort, and I knew just what she needed. I lifted the sheet, and she slipped into my bed. Maze turned her back towards me, and I pulled her tight against my body. Sex was the last thing on either of our minds. All either of us was searching for was the comfort of another person. I wrapped one arm over her side and pulled her tight against my body. She clung to my arm like it was a lifeline, and I guess it kind of was.
Sobs tore through her body, and I felt myself starting to shake right along with her. It had been a bad night that ended well. That didn’t make up for the shit we went through, but at least we had something to cling too. I whispered into her ear that everything was going to be ok, and eventually we both fell asleep.
Chapter 7
Samantha Ripley, A.E. 3054
Working the late night dinner shift in the sex district wasn’t exactly glamorous, but it paid the bills. It also let me work three nights a week instead of five, which freed my time to focus on what was really important. Acing flight school was the most important thing in my life. It was the one thing that guaranteed I wouldn’t live and die on the same planet. Just the thought of being able to fly off into the black and making the multiverse my home was enough to help me forget about the few jerks that could make this shift a nightmare.
I preferred to think about what made this shift great. The women and men that came in after a night of work tipped damned well, and they were easy to take care of. Well, at least most of them were. They tended to come in wearing baggy sweats and just wanted to relax after a long night of work.
The horned up men and the trickle of women that came from the clubs tipped just as well for the most part. As long as they satiated whatever need drove them to the district in the first place. They tended to order something quick to soak up the alcohol they consumed before heading back to their normal lives.
I hated to admit it sometimes, but I was grateful for this job. Without it, I’d have to work at least five days a week and maybe even a few doubles to make enough to stay in school. No one else paid this kind of money and was as flexible with the hours as Max was. As far as I knew, I was the only kid in school that was going to leave flight class debt free, which freed me up to direct my own future.
That didn’t mean it was all roses and sunshine. At least once a shift some asshole thought it would be ok to pinch my ass, or try and pull me onto his lap. The first time it happened I had been outraged, but all that seemed to do was encourage him. Now I had a new method of dealing with the ass-grabbers, I just spilled a little hot coffee on their crotch. It tended to quickly readjust their priorities. Although every now and then, one of the assholes would try and come after me, that was when my friend Lenny came into play.
Lenny was a three hundred and forty pound former Blitz player. And while some of that muscle had turned to fat since his retirement, he could still toss just about anyone around with relative ease and for those that provided too much trouble, well, let’s just say Lenny had a backup plan. I’m not sure if it was registered, but he carried a badass firearm for when things got a little too heated.
The people Lenny tossed out tended not to come back, but not everyone was that smart. One asshole did come back. He waited outside and tried to pull me into his hovercar when I left. The bastard kept screaming something about teaching me a lesson. Lenny fired a shot into his back window forcing him to let me go. When the man got out of his car to give Lenny a piece of his mind, he ended up leaving with his arm broken in three places. When he threatened a lawsuit, we just played the external surveillance video for the police and that was the last we heard of it.
The next morning I bought a stungun. It made me feel a little better, but it just wasn’t enough to make me stop feeling helpless. I was under no illusion that he would be the last customer I had that took things too far. What if the next guy managed to knock my weapon away and got me in the car? I needed to be able to stop that from happening. That’s when I found out about Lenny’s other talents.
So I went to the only person I had seen in a fight. Lenny gave me the address for a dojo that he trained at sometimes. They trained a modernized version of Kung Fu. It was still considered outdated, so people didn’t expect it and weren’t trained how to defend against it. That was three years ago, and I hadn’t felt like a victim since.
The bubbly blonde with pink streaks in her hair was holding up her coffee cup again, which stirred me out of my trip down memory road. I wasn’t sure what she was on, but if she didn’t start to pace herself, the caffeine was going to jump start her into an early grave. I grabbed my coffee pot and made my way over to her table.
She set down the cup as I approached. “It’s about time.” She made a pouty face at her friend. “You’d think when your only job was to pour coffee, you could do it well.”
“The same thing goes for spreading your legs,” I mumbled filling up t
he cup. The table went deadly silent and then the other girls started laughing uncontrollably.
Blondie looked up at me with a snarl curved across her lips. “What’d you say to me, bitch?”
One of her friends reached out and grabbed her arm. “Calm down, Tracy. She’s just trying to do her job, and you’re being a catty bitch.”
She pulled her arm free and glared at her friend. “Just because you want to bang her, doesn’t mean she can talk to me like that.”
Bang me? Did she just say the hot little brunette wanted to bang me? How could you not be flattered, but at the same time, I didn’t swing that way unless you counted that one time with Marcy Flowers. I shook my head to dispel where that line of thought was going to take me. As much as I hated to admit it, Tracy was right. My job was to serve coffee and to make sure these women came back for more, not to insult what they did for a living. They probably didn’t like being defined by what they did for a living. I know I didn’t. It had been a tough day studying, and I was letting my frustration over quantum engine protocols get the better of me.
All five of the women were staring daggers at each other. If I wanted to get out of this with a salvageable tip, then I need to make something happen. “I’m sorry about the comment.” Tracy looked up at me slightly shocked. “I know you work hard, and you come here to relax. Your coffee is on me.”
She gave me sassy little look and turned back to her friends. “See bitches, the waitress knows her place.”
My arm started to move forward almost of its own accord. I managed to stop myself from pouring the rest of the pot over her head, but it was a close thing. I moved the pot away from her, thankful that she hadn’t noticed my momentary lapse in judgment. This job meant too much to me to throw it away on someone like her. So instead of covering her bottled blond head in coffee, I filled up her cup and topped off the rest of the cups at the table.
A few giggles followed me on my walk back to the coffee station. I let them wash over me, reminding myself that I was working towards bigger things. I hated taking the high road, but soon I’d be surrounded by the stars, and I’d get to leave this rock behind. None of those women could say the same thing. One more year and I’d be able to write my own ticket anywhere.
I set another pot of coffee percolating on the brewer. God knew Miss Six-Inch Pumps and Super Fake Boobs was going to be needing another refill soon. Max hit the bell, and I swiveled around to grab the next order. Two burgers and fries for table five. These two guys looked like they had seen better days or at least shorter ones. I had a feeling most of this food was going to finding its way back out onto the floor of an autocar. The two men looked up at me with bleary eyes and nodded in acceptance of the food.
The bell rang again, and that’s when I saw him for the first time. Dark hair, with just the right amount of black stubble on his face. He was wearing dark faded jeans with a form-fitting white T. The man completed his ensemble with a black leather jacket. It gave him just the right amount of badassery to make him stand out. He slid his shades back, pulling his ear length black hair with them. He gave me a quick nod flashing a brief smile and moved into the last vacant booth. Max hit the bell again to get my attention, and the spell the hottie had cast over me was broken.
It was like all the noise rushed back in at once. I could hear the five women talking about how they would give him a ride for free. One of them even gave him a little catcall. I knew how they felt, there was just something about him that ignited a little fire between my legs. I gave him one more quick glance before grabbing the plates and earning a nasty glare from Max.
It wasn’t like I wouldn’t be talking to the guy soon enough. I was the only waitress at night, so I’d be taking his order. I dropped the food off to three guys that were busy trying to make eyes at my table of five ladies. That wasn’t going to happen unless they had the credits. That was one thing guys never seemed to understand, a working girl didn’t give it up for free. One of them gave me a look to see if I might be an easier mark. I hit him with my resting bitch face. Thankfully It was enough to shut him down quickly.
The bell went off again, and I was dropping off food to blondie and her friends. I dropped it off quickly making sure they had everything they needed before working my way down to tall, dark, and handsome. Everything about his look screamed dangerous. Was it wrong that all I wanted to do was get closer to him? I never did this kind of thing, especially not where I worked. The last thing I needed was to get involved with some guy that came into my diner.
When I stopped in front of the table, he looked up, and I was mesmerized by those baby blues. My normal spiel died on my lips. This guy gave off the rock star or famous actor vibe big time. What in the hell was he doing here?
He broke the tension by smiling at me, and it brought me at least part way back to my senses. I managed to stumble through my welcome and ended it with a, “What can I get for you?”
“Do I know you from somewhere?” he asked, just the hint of a smile twitching at the corners of his lips.
Whatever spell he had cast over me was broken. He was one of those guys. Looking for an easy mark at the end of a long night, and he had just the looks to pull it off. “Nope,” I said shutting him down right away. I made sure that my face said back off before I continued. “But I’d be happy to take your order.”
His face registered just a tiny bit of shock, and a little bit of anger crept into his eyes. Now that I had him pegged, it didn’t matter to me. If he were a problem, Lenny would take care of him, but until then it was business as usual.
“I’ll just have a glass of juice, and a piece of pie.”
“You got it.” I turned and started to leave, and I felt his hand clasp around my arm. He had barely moved, but the force of that action was enough to spin me around. He waited until our eyes locked and then he spoke to me again. This time the words felt intense, but they came out as merely a whisper.
“Are you sure we don’t know each other?”
Something danced around the edges of my perception. I felt a pull of compulsion just to tell him whatever he wanted to hear. I shoved that thought away. No man was ever going to have that kind of power over me. Falling into that trap was the old me, the scared me. I wasn’t that girl anymore. I wasn’t willing to just say whatever it took to get out of the situation. That me died three years ago. I looked down at where his hand was resting on my arm until he let go. Then I fixed him with a stone cold glare, the one I reserved for when something completely disgusted me.
“I’m sure.”
Walking away, I noticed Lenny watching me. He tilted his head towards the booth I had just left, silently asking me if I wanted him to give the guy the boot. I just shook my head and moved towards the pie station behind the counter. I could handle this guy, he was just an arrogant playboy used to getting his way.
Not to mention the fact that every tip helped, even the ones from assholes. I filled up a glass of orange juice and grabbed a slice of our famous apple pie. By the time I went to drop it off, Tracy had already slid into the booth next to the guy and they were chatting. I dropped off the food and made a quick detour to grab the blonde hosebeast a new cup of coffee. I put the coffee down in front of her and dropped off the check.
You would think a woman in her line of work would have better instincts about men. They had to be able to spot which Johns were trouble before they got in a closed room with them. This guy was the kind of trouble women should be running from. He gave me the creeps as soon as he opened his mouth. Now, I couldn’t stop watching him out of the corner of my eye. It was like I was waiting for him to do something horrible. There was just something off about him, you couldn’t see it at first, but once you did, you couldn’t not see it. I wasn’t sure if I’d feel comfortable until he was gone.
It didn’t take blondie long to get the guy’s engine revving. He finished his pie, and she started to lead him outside. I watched them turn left towards the alley. Classy. The big surprise was the hundred credit
chip the guy left on the table. It had to be my biggest tip of the night. A nice tip didn’t make the guy any less fucking creepy, though.
I finished clearing the next couple of tables as people finished their meals. It was starting to get early, and people had places to be. Once the majority of the tables had been cleared and the bills paid, I cashed out my tips for the night. If I left now, I’d still be able to grab four or five hours of sleep before class. It wasn’t a lot, but it would have to be enough. I let my mind wander back to what we had been working on in class today and didn’t even realize I had made it to the door until I bumped into Lenny.
“Want me to walk you out?”
“Nah, I’m ok, Lenny. The only creep that came in tonight left with that blonde bimbo ten minutes ago.”
“Just get home safe, and I’ll see you on Saturday.”
“Sure thing, big guy.” I gave him a quick hug before turning and heading for the door. I couldn’t wait to get home and get out of these smelly clothes. That’s one thing no one really knows about unless they work in the industry, but your clothes stink when you get home. You can’t get rid of the smell until you wash them. I didn’t know if it was the greasy air, or just being around food all night, but whatever it was there was no way around it. Getting rid of the fried food and stale sweat smell was definitely my first order of business. A hot shower and a cup of calming tea was all I needed before crawling into bed.
Chapter 8
Samantha Ripley
I turned left as I was leaving the diner. It was the fastest way to the main drag and an autocar ride back home. I had almost made it past the alley on the left when I heard the large trash bin banging against the alley wall. Jesus, not only were they still going at, but they were doing it behind a dumpster. Shaking my head, I continued past the alley and then stopped. The huge dumpster had just scraped across the ground. Something like that should have been impossible. The things weighed like a thousand pounds, so even with both of them resting against it, the thing should have never been able to move.
Forced Compliance (The Galactic Outlaws Book 1) Page 6