Straya, overhearing the conversation, grumbled, “The same, Captain. Whatever choice you make, I won’t fuss. With all the second chances you gave me, it’s only fair that I trust your judgment.”
Regan nodded and turned to step out.
So the girls were willing to work with Calico, if that was the decision he made. Though his team was confident in their own respective abilities, they were able to work together and be honest with their situation too. It made his job as captain easier if he knew where his crew stood, and what was on their minds.
As Regan approached Calico in the hallway, he reminded himself that even though she did these things to help them, she was conniving. She could be manipulative, as Regan had seen first-hand. She manipulated Mephistopheles, and that had to be no easy feat.
As he approached her, he began, “We’re meeting a contact of Straya’s in just under an hour. He might have some info on your old pal, Salvato.”
“And?” Calico asked. She meant no offense, Regan could tell, but he she wanted to know where she stood with the team.
“And, I think you could be of help,” Regan said intently.
Calico looked at him with surprise. “What are you saying?”
“I’m saying I think you should join our crew. But know that you are low on the trust pole, so any strikes and you’re done.”
Calico nodded.
“I mean it. We won’t tolerate any more bullshit. We work as a team, and you must be one hundred percent on board.”
“I just…” Calico started, but seemed unsure of how to proceed.
Regan nodded as if telling her she may speak freely.
“I mean… I’ve been so terrible to all of you,” she said.
“We all make mistakes.”
Calico smiled.
“But I must give you a final warning,” Regan added. “If you attempt anything… and I mean anything… regardless of your reasoning, my girls will tear you apart. You’ve heard their threats, and you know they’re serious.”
“I understand.”
“So you’re in?”
“I’m in.”
Regan and Calico shook hands. But before returning to the bridge, Regan had one final thing to say.
“When we get to this place we’re going, you’ll be coming with us inside.”
“Sure, no problem, Captain,” she said slyly.
“And you’ll be wearing inhibitor cuffs,” he finished.
Calico’s eyes went wide with surprise. Regan had upset her, but it couldn’t be helped. If she was willing to do this, then it was a big step forward in trust. And when she asked why, he explained his reasoning.
“Consider it a test,” he said. “I hear the guy we’re about to do business with is a sleaze ball, so it’s a bit of posturing on my part to flaunt such a high value prisoner. You are a princess, aren’t you?”
The two eyed one another, and finally Calico agreed with a nod. “I’ll do as you request, Captain.”
“Then let’s return to the bridge.” Regan led the way.
When they entered the bridge, Reverie, Arkei, and Straya all looked at them.
“Ladies,” Regan announced. “Calico is joining our crew.”
There was no grumble or protest. In fact, they impressed Regan with how quickly they accepted it. It probably made Calico feel better as it seemed like it was a collective invitation.
Arkei even stood from the pilot’s chair and moved aside. She made a motion for Calico to have it back, and Calico, almost bashfully, accepted the seat.
“Thank you,” she said.
“You know how to handle this ship better than I do,” Arkei replied.
Regan took a seat in the captain’s chair.
“So, where are we going anyway?” Calico asked.
“We’re headed to the Sector B-21-A filling station,” Arkei said.
Without further question, Calico took the controls in hand and cruised the ship toward their destination.
The Sector B-21-A filling station reminded Regan of something out of a comic book. In fact, it looked just like an Earth gas station, but floating in space. The only difference was that it was massive, which made sense considering ships were significantly larger than cars.
It was run down with garish neon like lights, and bits of floating trash orbiting it.
The pumps were similar, but they were on different levels so that ships could all access them accordingly, with some being wider than others.
The hoses were in fact large umbilicals, and Regan realized then that aliens were likely walking through them to fuel up, since they couldn’t very well get out of their ships in space.
There was a section where they could dock, and it made Regan nervous. His ship was far too nice for this rundown filling station. He knew the ship had defenses, but he didn’t like leaving it.
Calico set the ship down on the side and connected a hatch to the guest entrance.
“Thank you, Calico,” Regan said. He turned to face Straya. “You, Calico, and I will go down. The rest of you will stay here and keep an eye out.”
Regan felt cool striding along the sidewalk outside the filling station surrounded by the blackness of space. The sidewalk had a gravity pull keeping them down, and it felt strange, as if it were a magnet for his body. And the breathing shield was barely noticeable on the fringe of the curb.
The inside of the filling station resembled a typical tourist trap, with various little overpriced knick knacks on endless shelves. Straya had to pull him along to keep him from fiddling with the tacky collectibles.
The light bulbs were seemingly fluorescent and flickered the way they would at any neglected interstate gas station. The isles were filled with all kinds of things from snacks, t-shirts, and shot glasses. Regan couldn’t believe it. Again, it was like a bad sci-fi movie.
The group passed the counter where a young boyish blue alien with a huge Adam’s apple leaned over toward them, and with a cracking voice, asked, “Can I help you guys?”
Straya ignored him, making her way for the back door marked “Manager.”
Calico hissed at him and even threw her cuffed hands up.
Regan just shrugged at the boy as they passed by.
Without knocking, Straya opened the door and all three of them entered. She closed it behind them.
The creature before them was perhaps the most disgusting one Regan had seen yet. He was oddly proportioned, from his heavy and wobbly arms to his outstretched gut, which his long chubby fingers rested upon. Hair covered his body and puffed out where his sleeveless shirt ended at his shoulders.
He had a thick, long tongue which hung out of his mouth, dripping onto his shirt. It was resting on his forearm, and Regan figured it must have been several feet long and maybe a foot wide. He couldn’t get over it.
On his desk was a massive greasy sandwich. It was partially eaten and surrounded by various cups of condiments. There was a blue one, a white one, and a sauce that seemed almost clear, except for the oil swirling through it. Overall, it looked disgusting.
When the creature saw Straya, his eyes lit up.
“Well, well, well,” he said, his tongue sliding around when he spoke. “I knew you’d come crawling back.”
Straya rolled her eyes. “Hey, Tookie,” she said.
“And what have you brought with you there?” Tookie asked, pointing at Calico. “A beautiful thing, ain’t she! Prisoner? Perhaps a hostage?”
“Tookie…” Straya tried to interject.
“I’m sure you plan on collecting a lot of dough for her,” he continued, ignoring Straya’s attempts to stop him. “I know her species.” He cupped a hand near his mouth and mocking a whisper, he said, “Royalty.”
Tookie winked at them, then laughed. He lifted the sandwich and dipped it heavily into the white sauce. He took a sloppy bite then repeated the motion again. Regan wondered if a tongue that size required extra flavor.
Juice and slop slid down his tongue with each bite. And instead of pull
ing his tongue into his mouth, he wiped it off with his hand and rubbed his hand in his mouth to collect the sauce.
This guy is fucking gross.
Tookie caught Regan glaring at him, having not noticed him earlier, and pointed with the sandwich.
“Class C?” he asked.
“Sure is,” Straya said. She crossed her arms and arched a brow at Tookie. “So don’t piss him off.”
Tookie smiled and lifted his head. His tongue dragged across the table during the movement. He set his sandwich down and turned back to face Straya.
“Oh, very intimidating,” he joked, raising his hands up in mock fear. “But does he have a tongue like mine?” He used his tongue to slick back his hair, as if the display was supposed to be flirtatious to Straya.
She stifled a gag.
Yep, he’s a slimeball, all right.
Regan was done watching and listening to this goon. “We’d like your help,” Regan said firmly.
Tookie rubbed his greasy hands on his shirt and raised his eyebrows as if listening.
“We need to get in touch with Salvato,” Regan finished.
Tookie then took on a serious expression.
“Why you want him?” Tookie asked. He wore a concerned expression, as if he didn’t like that this name was dropped in front of him unexpectedly.
“Let’s just say we have our own reasons,” Regan said simply. He liked the mystery he put in the air with the remark, and it made Tookie even more concerned.
Just when Tookie was about to speak, a loud urgent banging on the office door interrupted them.
It caught the entire room off guard. Straya’s hand went to the handle of her gun, but she didn’t unholster it just yet.
“W-who is it?” Tookie shouted.
Regan noticed Tookie’s fingers were scratching the desktop. He was nervous about something. Regan wasn’t liking the situation.
The knock came again, harder this time. Then, in a single burst, the door flew open with the little blue alien boy charging in. It was as if he were pushed, because Regan had a hard time believing that this boy was the one doing the banging.
“Sir!” the boy shouted. “He’s here!”
“Who’s here?” Tookie asked nervously, but Regan assumed he knew.
Then the boy was yanked back out of the office by a big, slimy tentacle. Just then, a giant slug squeezed in, barely able to fit through the door.
The slug ambled, but it was due to heavy muscle mass as opposed to fat. The slug had two strong tentacles extruding from his back, and it was clear they could break just about anything. The slug also had significant, dense eyebrows. They were furrowed and made him look angry.
Or maybe he really was angry.
“Oh… Slobbers! Hello!” Tookie said. His tone had changed, becoming welcoming and less in charge, losing the flirty tough guy attitude he was carrying before.
“Don’t ‘hello’ me!” Slobbers said. His voice was thick, like he had a throat full of watery phlegm. Bubbles formed on his mouth when he spoke.
Regan noticed that when he moved across the room, he left a trail of thick slime on the ground.
Damn, these gas station aliens are nasty!
“I’m here to collect!” he continued. And when he noticed Regan and the ladies, he pointed one of his muscular, slimy tentacles at them. “Who are they?”
Tookie was nervous and wasn’t sure how to respond, but he ultimately muttered, “I don’t have it.”
Slobbers dropped the tentacle to the ground, making a loud crash. There was no question that those tentacles could crush them all.
“Well, I figured as much,” Slobbers said. “So I guess that means you all get to die!”
Without hesitation, Straya drew her pistol and fired three quick shots. They blasted him right in his chest, but the blasts did nothing. Slobbers’s disgusting skin could clearly absorb anything that was sent its way.
He shook his jiggly face then smiled at Straya, but it wasn’t a kind smile. It was a smile that said ‘I’m going to smash you.’
Regan had to think quickly, and he scanned the room. The desk was covered with nothing but food, food trays, drinks and…
Salt!
He wasn’t sure if it would work, but he knew what happened to Earth slugs when salt touched their skin, and besides, he had to try anything at this point.
Regan dove for the salt shaker, broke off the top on the edge of the desk, and unleashed a spray of salt all over Slobbers.
It worked better than Regan expected. The slug started seizing violently. The bubbles coming out of his mouth turned to foam. His eyes grew large, taking over the sulking eyebrows that previously dominated his face.
His tentacles raised into the air behind him and started to shake, melting and dripping off massive chunks of ooze. It was splattering on the ground.
Then it happened. To everyone’s surprise, Slobbers outright exploded. Gunk and goop went flying everywhere in the office, covering all the surfaces in a fresh layer of stinky sludge. Regan, Straya, Calico, and Tookie weren’t spared, covered from head to toe.
“He slimed me,” Regan said. But of course no one else got the reference.
“How did you know to do that?” Tookie asked in awe, slime shooting from his body as he jumped with excitement. “That guy has been squeezing me for years!”
“Class C instinct,” Regan replied without missing a beat. He realized how impressed all of them were, and likely how intimidated Tookie was. Now was his chance to take full control.
He walked up to the desk and rested his hands on it, looking Tookie in the face. He said, “And unless you too want to feel what my instincts are capable of, I suggest you answer Straya.”
Straya stepped forward and also put her hands on the desk.
“I know you have some mob connections,” she said. “So tell us how we can get in touch with Salvato. No questions asked.”
Tookie nodded and raised an arm as if expressing a willingness to cooperate.
“Okay, sure,” he said. “While I’ve never been in contact with him personally, I’ve got connections. I’ll pull some strings. You have my word on it. Give me your communications code and I’ll let you know what I can find out.”
Calico then stepped forward and put her bound hands on the desk and gave him the number. Tookie seemed surprised by the prisoner giving him directions, but at this point, he was willing to accept anything.
Once he had their communications code, they started to leave the office, dripping sludge with each step. Regan paused at the door and looked back at Tookie.
What could one more dash of intimidation hurt?
“Oh, and Tookie,” he said. “You’re welcome.”
Regan left the office with a grin on his face.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Regan, Straya, and Calico returned to the ship as a slimy disgusting mess. They were dripping with goop from head to toe. Arkei halted them at the door before they entered the bridge.
“Um…” she started with an arm raised. “What happened to the three of you?”
“You don’t want to know,” Straya answered.
“We just had ourselves a little situation is all,” Regan said. “But I want to get out of here fast.”
“What’s the rush?” Arkei asked.
“Our cargo is too hot to sit around here while we wait for Mr. Tongue to get Salvato’s contact info. Not to mention this Tookie tongue guy seems to attract trouble.”
“I agree,” Calico said. “He has our communications code. He can contact us.”
It was the first time Calico spoke as part of the team, and Regan liked it. He liked the way she handled herself inside the filling station as well. But he knew that she still wanted the data cube for her own cause, so he would have to keep the lines of honest dialogue open between all of them.
“Arkei, can you get us out of here?” Regan asked.
“Sure thing, Captain. But I don’t know how to operate the FTL controls.”
; Calico was about to walk over to the pilot’s chair but stopped herself because of the dripping goop. She pointed to a series of controls to the left of the pilot’s controls.
“That lever starts the sequence,” Calico said. “The button on the bottom is where you input the coordinates. The button in the center locks them into place pending no problems, and the button on top will fire up the FTL drive. After that, drop the lever down to punch it.”
Arkei shrugged her shoulders as if that was simpler than she thought.
“We can also do a micro jump,” Calico continued. “Which I recommend given our time frame. We should just jump anywhere now and worry about a better jump location after.”
Arkei gave her an appreciative nod. “Well, I’ll get us going. Meanwhile, the three of you should get cleaned up. You smell horrible!”
Regan agreed, as he’d been trying to ignore the smell this entire time. He remembered the shower in the captain’s suite and mentioned this to Straya.
“It’s big enough,” was her simple reply.
Regan watched as Straya led Calico out of the room and down the hallway.
Well… why not?
Straya led Calico to the shower in the captain’s suite and was surprised that she hadn’t seen it before.
“I thought you knew this ship inside and out?” Straya asked.
Calico seemed shy about it, but shrugged her shoulders.
“Mephistopheles liked it when I gave myself cat baths,” she said. Her usual coyness disappeared and now seemed to be replaced with embarrassment. “And besides, Mephistopheles had never taken it that far with me. I haven’t seen the master suite at all.”
“Well, don’t be shy,” Straya said before proceeding to strip down naked.
Straya’s willingness surprised her, but she liked to be in charge over Calico, and perhaps this was just another example of her showing the feline she knew the ropes.
Galactic Bandits Compilation Page 22