Space Rogue

by Jay Toney

  "Tanya will assign your cabins and get you situated. She will also issue you all new jumpsuits."

  Chapter 4

  "Tanya, open a comm channel to Anaxous IV, and inform them about the hyperspace interdiction field and our encounter with the Crimson Tide pirates."

  "Message sent Captain."

  Following the marked trade lanes, our passage through the debris field was uneventful. Soon we were approaching the space station.

  "Anaxous Station, this is Captain Roberts of the XP 0555 requesting docking clearance."

  "Captain Roberts, you are cleared to dock, green section dock 5."

  "Natasha, take us in."

  "Yes dear."

  "Randolph have you been messing around with Natasha's programing?"

  "Captain, I was just making her a sound a little more human. You know she has feelings too. You should try treating her more like a lady. Besides, she likes you."

  "Commencing docking maneuvers, my little love muffin."

  "Natasha, please behave yourself."

  "I'm sorry Cappy," She pouted.

  All of my bridge officers laughed at our exchange. After docking I had Tanya and Doc see to replenishing our supplies and expended ammunition. Randolph and I headed to the starship maintenance docks to see about selling the corvette. We met with Mr. Hampton, a local ship broker.

  "Mr. Hampton, l have acquired a corvette, which I am considering selling. I have brought a cargo manifest and list of needed repairs."

  "Captain Roberts, I will need to transfer the ship to my facilities and have my crew verify its condition before making any genuine offer. May I ask how you acquired this ship?"

  "It is a captured vessel, from an encounter with the Crimson Tide."

  "Lately we have had problems with that pirate organization attacking lone ships in our system. They have been capturing, and scaring off traders. They are constantly eluding our patrol ships. It's about time some one stood up to them. For your help with ridding our system of those pirates, I will give you the best offer I can.

  After returning to green section I contacted Jane, with my comlink.

  "Jane issue all of our new crew members 100 Credits each, call it a sign on bonus. Keep them restricted to green section. We will be departing as soon as business is concluded."

  "Yes dear."

  "Not you too."

  "Sorry Captain, I couldn't resist it," she laughed.

  "Captain, if you don't mind I have a few purchases I would like to make myself?" Randolph asked.

  "Go ahead, I'll see you back aboard the Queen Anne's Revenge."

  I headed to station offices, where I looked for open job commissions and bulletins. Nothing caught my attention, nearly all postings were for in system transportation and cargo hauling. They did not pay what I was accustomed to earning. It looked like the Crimson Tide were disrupting out system trade.

  Traders lane had plenty to offer visiting spacers, their were hotels, restaurants, bars, boutiques, and all kinds of entertainment. I randomly chose a bar and ordered their best fire water. I didn't care what the name of the drink was, nor did I care about its ingredients. All I cared about was that it had the desired effect of burning on the way down, leaving a warm feeling in the stomach, and dulling the senses. The bartender recommended Xanthian Blood. The drink was a translucent white with something red swirling around in it. It was an alien drink, that fit the affects I described to the bartender. The drink went down smoothly, and had a pleasant flavor, so I ordered another. After a few too many of those I woke up in a strange hotel room, looking down the wrong end of my blaster. As my brain slowly started working, clearing the haziness in my mind, I had the vague recollection of having had a tumble with a beautiful red headed woman. In fact it was the woman holding the gun pointed at me.

  "I would like to thank you for the very enjoyable night. Now I must ask you for all of your credits."

  "The cash is in the front right pocket of my pants. You are welcome to it. I hope we had a memorable night. I can't quite recall whether we had or not. If you would like we can have another go at it. I'm sure we will outdo last nights performance and depart with even more pleasant memories."

  "An enticing proposal, perhaps the next time we meet Mr. Roberts," she replied while scooping up all of my clothes.

  Before she could leave I asked, "Do I at least get a name to remember you by?"

  "Beverly," she answered over her shoulder as she departed.

  I used the hotel comms to contact my ship. Unfortunately for me it was Tanya who answered the call. Fate must of had enough my antics, and decided it was time to punish me. I asked Tanya to bring a change of clothes to me at the Hotel Dryad telling her that I some how lost my clothes.

  "Was she a blonde, brunette, or a red head?"

  "Red head," I answered.

  "Was your performance so bad that she stole everything including your clothes?"

  "Actually, Beverly told me that she enjoyed spending the night with me, and agreed to another night of passion, the next time we meet."

  "So, she has a name this time? Your standards must be improving."

  Tanya was mad at me, but I couldn't understand why. She wouldn't commit to a relationship, nor would she have casual sex with me, outside of a relationship. She entered the room shortly after my call, while I was still trying to figure her out. With a disgusted look on her face she said, "l don't know how you keep getting yourself into these predicaments."

  Her question was meant to be rhetorical, but I answered anyways, "It was easy, I got just a little bit drunk last night and it seems that I got entangled with a beautiful red headed woman. As beautiful as she is, she is not nearly as beautiful as you are. I don't remember meeting her, or much else, before waking this morning. My memory of last night is a little foggy. You know, these things wouldn't happen to me, if you would be my lover, and watch over me. If l was with you, I would never consider straying. Nat de Tomcat would be content."

  "So what you are saying is that you got drunk, picked up a stranger, had sex, and don't remember any of it."

  "Well she may have picked me up, I don't remember. I only have a few vague memories, but that is essentially it."

  "That is no excuse; it's disgusting!"

  "You didn't by chance bring any clothing?"

  She tossed me a light pink skintight jumpsuit that she had selected from her wardrobe saying, "Get dressed, or would you rather walk back to the ship naked?"

  I had to think about that for a minute or two before putting the jumpsuit on. Playing dress up with Tanya, as a part of role play with sex would be fun, but I didn't think that's what she had in mind. I asked anyways.

  "Nat what makes you think I would ever have sex with you? How many times have you needed my help after getting rolled by some cheap floozy?" Not waiting for an answer she marched me back to the Queen Anne's Revenge. Needless to say the walk back to the ship was one of the most embarrassing events of my life. There were several people whistling, clapping and giving cat calls. I even received a few marriage proposals, from men. De Tomcat felt neutered, and I wanted solitude to lick wounds. Tanya's words cut deeper, than a blade of a saber ever could. Once in the ships airlock, I removed the garment, and handed it back to Tanya thanking her. I walked the rest of the way back to my quarters naked, rather than continuing this humiliation. If she ever was in a similar predicament, I would get even.

  Even as mad as I was at her, I still wanted her as my lover. She is the love of my life, and I wanted to be with her. I've been chasing after her since she became a member of my crew. I was sure she felt the same way, but just wouldn't commit to me for some reason.
Even now, my desire to be with her, was continuing to grow stronger, and stronger.

  Chapter 5

  "Captain, I have an incoming call from Mr. Hampton," Tanya said.

  "Put it on screen."

  "Captain Roberts, I have completed my assessment of the ship. I am prepared to offer you 250,000 credits. I can have the money transferred to your ship immediately."

  "Thank you Mr. Hampton, it has been a pleasure doing business with you."

  "Has any one seen Randolph?" I asked.

  "He brought a crate aboard a few days ago, and has been locked in his cabin since. He's not answering comms or inquires at his cabin," Jane said.

  "Some one get Randolph and bring him to the bridge," I ordered.

  I wondered what he had been doing locked away, these past few days.

  "No need Captain," Randolph said, stepping onto the bridge.

  "Randolph what have you been doing locked away these past few days? No one has been able to get hold of you." My curiosity piqued, I was dying to know.

  "Working of course."

  Randolph was a little dotty at times. When he got involved in a project that interested him, he tended to ignore everything until finished.

  "Doing what?"

  "It's easier to show you, than to try to explain it."

  "Natasha please come to the bridge," Randolph said, addressing the ship's AI.

  I thought, what was he doing? Did he finally loose it? While trying to assess his mental state, I was completely taken by surprise. An extremely sexy, not to mention totally naked, synthetic person walked onto the bridge. She was a brunet, with a light tan complexion. Her eyes were baby blue, and she had all the right curves, in all the right places. She looked as if she could be Tanya's twin sister.

  "Nathaniel, get your tongue off the deck and back into your mouth!" Tanya shouted.

  My mind went completely blank. The shock of seeing a beautiful young woman, not to mention naked, stepping onto my bridge left me dumbfounded. It was as if I was seeing Tanya naked on the bridge posing for me.

  "Randolph what have you been doing to that sexbot?"

  It was a completely rhetorical question. I knew what I would be doing, but that didn't fit Randolph. He would be more likely to try making out with a toaster. Jane had the presence of mind to take Natasha by the hand and escort her off the bridge and get her into some clothing.

  "She is not a sexbot any longer, Captain. I saw her while we were doing our errands and just had to purchase her. You have been without a copilot for quite some time. Seeing her I got an idea. Knowing how you like beautiful women, I decided to make an Avatar for Natasha. With an Avatar the ship would be more functional, and it would be easier for you to remember to treat Natasha more like a lady. Her frame work is heavy duty and extremely flexible. I upgraded her power supply, increased her memory, and replaced her simple processor with a positronic brain. Then I twined her neural network with the ships Al, linking her to Natasha. She is now Natasha's avatar. Now Natasha can do things that she was never capable of doing before."

  "You mean you haven't been having sex with her?" I asked, just to be sure.

  "Of course not Captain. She's not my type. However, she is completely sexually functional. In fact all of her sex routines have been integrated into her core memory. She can do things, you haven't dreamed of doing yet. Natasha is capable of both giving and experiencing sexual pleasure. Oh, and Captain, I think she loves you."

  Chapter 6

  "All hands commence undocking procedures." I announced over comm. "Natasha, take us out. Set course for Beta Ceti."

  "Separation complete Captain, we are moving away thrusters only."

  "As soon as we clear the station go to cruise speed."

  "Yes dear, did I tell you how much I love you?"

  "Natasha please refrain yourself."

  Pouting she replied, "Aye, aye Cappy."

  "Captain, remember she has feelings, and needs to be treated with kindness and compassion," interjected Randolph.

  "Be good to the ship and the ship will be good to you," Doc said.

  "I'll try."

  "Natasha, I'm sorry."

  She got out of the pilots seat, and came over to the command chair and jumped onto my lap, bouncing up and down while saying, "Thank you Cappy." Before I could respond she started kissing me very passionately.

  "l think she likes you. Maybe you two should get a room," Tanya teased.

  "That would be fun Cappy, do you want to?" Natasha asked, placing my hands on her breast. "I like Tanya too. She can join us, if she likes."

  "Maybe a little later," I said.

  Tanya rolled her eyes and gave me a dirty look saying, "Don't even think about it."

  "Why not, it would be fun cuddling with Cappy and his girlfriend. We have reached the safe departure point, now switching from thrusters to main engines. We are maneuvering to Beta Ceti jump point, estimating 8 hours to jump," Natasha informed us.

  "l don't think cuddling is what Cappy has in mind," Tanya replied, confused by Natasha's announcement.

  "l'm quite good at multitasking, being in two places at once. If Cappy doesn't want to cuddle, I can think of more fun things the three of us can do. I have an extensive database containing several different sexual positions we can try, like the pinwheel, many of which can only be accomplished in zero gravity. Have you tried zero gravity sex?"

  Natasha joined Tanya and began caressing her body seductively and kissing her neck. "I want you too," she whispered in Tanya's ear.

  "Ladies, if you will be so kind as to excuse me, I have a cold shower calling my name." After copious amounts of cold water, I started feeling a little relief. Without bothering to dress, I laid down on my bed for a short nap. A little siesta is what I needed to sort my thoughts out. While dreaming of both Tanya and Natasha, I felt a warm presence join me in bed. I didn't wake up, thinking this was part of my dream.

  Some time latter, Tanya entered my cabin. "Nathaniel! l came here to... maybe join you in bed. Buy I see that you have already been preoccupied with Natasha."

  Taking stock of my surroundings, me in bed naked with an equally naked Natasha, I began to see what she was thinking. The evidence before her was damning. As innocently as I could I said, "Tanya this isn't what it looks like, nothing happened."

  "l like cuddling with Cappy." Come join us, I like you too," Natasha said.

  A look of utter shock, came over Tanya. Without saying anything else she stormed out of the cabin.

  "Natasha, who is flying the ship?"

  "l am of course. I am quite good at multitasking. I can be in two places at once now."

  Maybe I should try talking to Tanya, I thought. We have been together as friends for quite some time. Knowing her though, it would be safer for me to wait and let her cool down first.

  This time a cold shower wasn't going to help. There was very urgent business that needed immediate attention. "Natasha, lets have some fun, and I don't mean cuddling. I would love to make love with you." If Tanya is going to accuse me of having sex with Natasha, I might as well be guilty.

  "Cappy, make love to me." Natty pleaded climbing on top of me.

  We made love together again and again. Exhausted I laid in bed cuddling with Natasha, thinking of both Tanya and her. Maybe someday I thought.

  Chapter 7

  "Captain, we are receiving a distress signal. It's coming from a tramp freighter that's under attack. Captain, I do mean "tramp" freighter," Tanya reported.

  "What is her status?"

  "Sensors indicate she is being attacked by a single vessel
. It's hard to tell at this range, but I believe it to be frigate class," Natasha replied.

  "Natasha set an intercept course maximum burn. Condition Red. All hands battle stations."

  "Heroics rarely pay well," Doc said.

  "l think we'll take our chances this time."

  "Cappy, we are in range of our close range sensors. The attacking ship is frigate class, their transponder is being purposely garbled."

  "Tanya, open a hailing channel."

  "They're not responding Captain. However, they are receiving and monitoring."

  "This is Captain Roberts of the Revenge. You are ordered to break off your attack and surrender."

  "Cappy, they are running. Shall I pursue?"

  "Negative, let them run. We have achieved our goal."

  "All hands stand down from battle stations."

  "Captain, we are receiving a hail from the freighter Lucy. She wishes to speak with you," Tanya said.

  "On screen. This is Captain Roberts of the Revenge. How may I be of assistance?"

  "Captain Roberts, you are my hero, and very handsome too. We can use some assistance getting our engines and shields back on line. Excuse my manners, my name is Amber."

  "Natasha, bring us along side and commence docking maneuvers."

  '"Yes Cappy, I love you."

  "Captain, to show our appreciation, you and our crew are invited aboard the Lucy as our guests. We have shopping boutiques, our liqueur isn't watered down, and of course we will provide entertainment free of charge."

  "Thank you Amber, your hospitality is certainly appreciated. We will be along side momentarily."

  Tanya came over and gave me a deep and surprising kiss. I had been dreaming of this moment for a long time. "Behave yourself Captain, if you want more."

  Having just had my tonsils tickled, I couldn't speak. Maybe a little friendly competition was just what de Tomcat needed, I thought.