“What happened to it?”
“Beats me.”
“No, seriously.” Livewire glanced over his shoulder. “This thing has been rewired. I’m surprised you didn’t blow up the entire ship when you tried to use it. Nothing is where it’s supposed to be.”
“Like I said,” Remy replied, “it came that way.”
“Dude, this machine is so seriously botched.” Livewire snorted and turned back to the food replicator. He started yanking wires out by the handful and unscrewing stuff. Part after part fell to the floor until all that was left of the replicator was the shell.
Remy didn’t know what to think when Livewire suddenly sat down on the floor, grabbed his little bag, and pulled it closer. He opened the bag and pulled out a bottle of purple liquid and a cloth.
“You got a bowl?”
“A bowl?” Remy asked.
“Yeah, I need to clean these parts. They have so much crud on them I’m surprised the replicator was working at all.”
Remy turned when he felt Gigi nudge him. He smiled when his mate held a small metal bowl out to him. “Thanks, angel.” Remy carried the bowl across the room and set it on the floor next to Livewire then crossed back and resumed his position in front of Gigi.
Livewire poured a large amount of the purple liquid into the bowl then began setting the parts into the metal bowl one at a time. He’d put one in, let it soak for a moment, then pull it out, replacing it with another part. Each piece that he pulled out of the bowl, he wiped down with the cloth in his hand until they gleamed. He even cleaned the wires.
Finally, Livewire stood up and started putting everything back into the replicator. Remy didn’t understand half of what the man was doing, but he wasn’t a mechanic. There was a reason he didn’t work on the ship’s engines or computer parts. He was lousy at it. He made a much better commander.
“There, all done,” Livewire said as he snapped the panel back into place. He spun around and looked at everyone. “Who’s hungry?”
“Not me.” Remy shook his head. He wasn’t going first. No way, no how. He’d seen what that machine could do, and he didn’t trust it, even if Livewire did. Besides, he’d much rather eat Gigi’s cooking.
Colt, Crank, and Blade all shook their heads. Colt growled. Pax and Gigi made a quick path back into the kitchen.
Livewire rolled his eyes. “Fine, I’ll test it out.” Livewire turned back to the machine and tapped in what he wanted.
Remy braced himself, ready to grab his mate and run when he heard the machine start up. He blinked when all he heard was a small whizzing sound, and a moment later a large glass of milk and a plate of cookies materialized on the tray under the machine.
Livewire grabbed the glass and plate and carried it over to the table. He sat down and proceeded to dip his cookies into the milk and eat each one. By the time he was done, the rest of the guys were leaning close, their eyes watching Livewire raise the last cookie to his mouth as they licked their lips.
Livewire picked up the glass of milk and drank it all down then set the glass on the table. He wiped his mouth on the back of his sleeve then folded his hands together as he looked at everyone. “Anything else you want me to look at?” He wore a smug smile on his face with a gleam of pride shining in his eyes.
Remy chuckled as he pushed away from the kitchen doors and started toward the corridor. “You’re hired for now, Livewire. Tank will see that you’re assigned a room and give you a list of assignments.”
“Hey!” Gigi snapped as he barreled out of the kitchen and planted his hands on his hips. “Does this mean I’m not the cook anymore?”
“No, angel.” Remy pointed toward the newly repaired replicator. “This means that you can use the food replicator to assist you in cooking. I still expect home-cooked meals from my cook.”
“Oh.” Gigi’s face flushed.
“I prefer as much fresh food as I can get, but there will be times when we can’t buy any or barter for any. That’s when you’ll need the replicator. Until then think of the replicator like a tool, just like the stove and the spice shelf.”
“Okay, that makes sense.”
Remy chuckled as Gigi bounced back into the kitchen. A moment later he could hear pans clanking around. He knew his angel was satisfied his place was secure on the ship. He could hear him humming.
“Tank, plot a course to Beta Five,” Remy said into the com link in his ear when he reached the doors leading out of the mess hall. “We still have a job to do there.”
“Remy, I still need those detonators,” Crank said. “I never got them, and I can’t do the job without them.”
“Damn it.” Remy rubbed his jaw as he tried to think of any other place they could pick up some detonators. With a price on their heads, the number of people they could go to had significantly lowered.
“What’s a detonator?”
Remy glanced up to see Gigi standing in the doorway. “It’s something Crank uses to detonate explosives. Make them go boom.”
Crank laughed at the confused look on Gigi’s face. “It’s a small, thin, silver tube-looking thing about the size of my pinky.” Crank snickered as he held up his hand. “Well, if I had a pinky.”
Gigi frowned. “A thin silver tube?”
Crank nodded.
“That wasn’t by any chance what you were trying to buy at End of the Line when we met, is it?” Gigi grimaced and held his hands in front of him, about a foot apart. “Little black box with twelve little silver tubes in it?”
“Yeah, how’d you know?” Crank asked.
Remy frowned when Gigi’s face flushed. “Gigi?”
“I might have picked it up and put it in my bag when I was trying to escape the firefight you all were having with those men on the dock.”
Remy’s eyebrows shot up. “You have the detonators?”
Gigi’s lips quivered as the corners lifted up. “Maybe?”
Tank watched Remy take the command chair as Livewire got to his hands and knees and crawled under the helm with only his lower half visible. Tank bit back a smile when Livewire’s ass began to wiggle around.
“I take it we’re keeping him?” Tank asked Remy, but his eyes stayed glued on Livewire’s wiggling form. He sure as hell hoped the mechanic knew what he was doing. One wrong snip and they would either take a freefalling nose dive or Lady Blue would shut down and be dead in the water…er…space.
Tank’s hands jerked away from the console when Autopilot Engaged flashed on the screen a few times in front of him and then stayed constant. Hot damn. They were back in business. Tank didn’t have to stay chained at the hip to the helm anymore.
Livewire’s hand appeared behind him as he tossed a few wires onto the floor at his feet. Tank stared down at the macramé of wires and wondered if that was a good thing.
“How long before we get to Beta Five?” Remy asked, pulling Tank’s attention away from the mechanic under the helm.
“One hour, Commander,” Tank replied as he heard a sizzle and then a curse below his legs. Tank scooted his legs a little to the left. Fear of getting zapped made him scoot just one more inch over.
“Good work, Livewire,” Remy stated as the communication vid-screen flickered and then went through the process of rebooting, data scrolling down the monitor screen. “We haven’t had that baby working in eons.”
“How the hell did she even make it out of the spaceport?” Livewire complained from under the helm.
“Very carefully.” Tank chuckled. His right leg jerked when he felt something stab his ankle. “Watch it down there.”
“Get that damn tree trunk out of my way then,” Livewire shouted up to Tank. “It’s tight enough under here as it is without interference from body parts.”
“Autopilot is on. Why don’t you go get something to eat from the replicator?” Remy snickered from behind him.
“Until he,” Tank said, pointing to the wiggling backside, “comes out from under there, I’m not chancing anything.”
�
�Holy shit,” Blade said slowly as he leaned forward, his eyes glued to the window in front of them. His finger shot out. “Look.”
Tank and Remy turned their heads to see a ship the size of theirs shoot in front of them and then make a one-eighty turn. The two ships sat face-to-face. The communication vid-screen flickered, and then a man with red eyes and closely cropped black hair sneered at them.
“Hello, gentlemen.”
Remy sat up straight, matching the man’s sneer. “I am Commander Remington Vystal. You are in my way, and I’m making the offer just once to stand down and let us by.”
The man’s laughter was cold and void of humor. “I’m quite aware of who you are, Commander. I’m also aware that you have something that belongs to me aboard your ship. If you return it, all will be forgotten. I’m making this offer just once, as you so eloquently put it.”
Tank nudged his toe against Livewire as his eyes stayed glued to the vid-screen. He wanted to laugh and pump his arm when a few seconds later Phasers online flashed across his control panel. He loved when crew members could read each other’s minds. Livewire’s hand came from under the helm, giving Tank a thumbs-up.
“You’re Drake?” Remy growled as his canines dropped. “I’ll give you Gigi when hell freezes over.” Remy gave Tank a slight nod.
That was all Tank needed. He slid his hand up and hit the touch screen on the control panel. The phasers whirled as they charged to full power. Sliding his finger to the right, Tank pressed the next button on the control panel. The pulse cannon fired blasts from Lady Blue, hitting Drake’s shields.
It didn’t do any real damage, but it bought Tank enough time to drop below Drake’s ship and engage thrusters, shooting past them and trying his best to get them the hell out of there.
Gigi desperately grabbed for the counter as the ship suddenly dipped. His pots and pans slid off the counter, crashing to the floor. Gigi quickly grabbed the pan of roast before it took a nosedive off of the counter as well. Pax scrambled to save the large bowl of mashed potatoes but ended up lying on the floor with them.
“What the hell,” Gigi shouted when he flew backwards and hit the wall. The ship was obviously using thrusters to gain speed, but Gigi couldn’t figure out why. Since Gigi had the detonators, they were headed to Beta Five for a job. Why would they need such great speed?
He pushed himself to his feet and saw the roast lying on the floor next to Pax. So much for a freshly cooked meal. They might be using the replicator after all.
“Are you okay?” he asked as he crossed the room and helped his assistant to his feet. The poor guy had garlic mashed potatoes all over his clothes and in his hair. “Go take a shower while I go see what’s going on.”
“What about the mess?” Pax pointed to the ruined dinner.
“We’ll clean it up after I find out why our crew is acting like they’ve lost their minds.” Gigi left Pax in the kitchen as he stomped out of the mess hall and made his way to the bridge. Total chaos was what he walked into. The crew was shouting instructions back and forth while Remy paced the small area.
“What’s going on, Remy?” Gigi asked as he crossed over to his mate. He gasped when he saw the vid-screen and recognized the ship hot on their tail. His finger trembled as he pointed toward the screen. “That’s Drake’s ship!”
“We figured that out, angel, when he blocked our ship and threatened us,” Remy said as he ran a hand over Gigi’s hair. “Don’t worry. We’ve been in tighter situations than this.”
Gigi glanced at the vid-screen again, worried that they may not get out of this tight situation. Drake was ruthless and would stop at nothing to get him back. “I’m sorry,” he whispered down at his hands.
“For what, angel?”
“For bringing my problems aboard your ship.”
Involving these men was the last thing Gigi had wanted to do. They’d been nothing but kind, and he hated that Drake was now their problem as well. He would leave, take his problems with him, but that was pretty hard to do out in space.
His head was lifted when a knuckle was tucked under his chin. Remy was staring at him intently, a touch of anger in his eyes.
“Our ship. You are a part of this crew now. When one of us has a problem, we all have a problem. Start thinking of us as a unit, Gigi.”
Gigi noticed Remy didn’t use the endearment his mate had given him. Remy must be really pissed. He nodded his acknowledgement that he had heard Remy, but his eyes flicked back over to the vid-screen. The ship following them was gaining.
“What are we going to do?” he asked as his eyes darted back up at his mate. “He won’t stop.”
“Leave that to us, angel.” Remy winked and then released Gigi’s chin. “This is what we do. And we’re really good at it.”
Gigi breathed out a sigh of relief that Remy wasn’t angry with him any longer. But they still had the problem of Drake chasing after them. The words were on the tip of Gigi’s tongue to tell the crew he would go quietly so they wouldn’t have to be involved, but he knew that would only piss Remy off again.
Besides, he liked being a part of this crew and would rather die than go back to the empty and lonely existence he had with Drake. Being a sex slave was horrendous enough. Being Drake’s sex slave was a nightmare Gigi didn’t want to return to.
Gigi squared his shoulders, finally accepting the fact that they were a team and he needed to start acting like he was a part of the crew instead of a stowaway. It was high-time they took this asshole down!
“What do you want me to do, Commander?” Gigi asked with steel in his voice.
Remy’s lips pulled back in a smile. “I need you to go make a big celebration dinner with all the trimmings.”
“Celebration dinner?” Gigi asked as some of the steam deflated out of him. He stared at Remy in confusion. What on Lady Blue could they be celebrating?
“Yes, a celebration dinner.” Remy grinned. “We’ll need a celebration dinner when we defeat Drake.”
“Oh.” Gigi giggled and clapped his hands together before pressing the tips of his fingers against his lips. “I can do that. One celebration dinner coming right up.”
Gigi ran off of the bridge to clean up the mess in the kitchen and prepare the biggest celebration dinner he’d ever created. He knew being the cook wasn’t much in way of being part of the team fighting for their very survival, but everyone had to eat, right?
Chapter 10
“Commander, we’re coming up on Kulak,” Tank said. “Do you want me to go around?”
Remy frowned as he considered their options. They usually steered clear of Kulak. Besides the fact that it was a pretty unfriendly planet, it was also Crank’s home world. He refused to step foot back on the planet since the day he’d left years ago.
But they were running out of options. No matter how fast they flew or what crazy maneuvers they used, they had been unable to shake Drake’s ship. They were stretching the ship to her limits. If they didn’t slow down soon and let the thrusters recharge, they would burn up fuel cells and then everyone would be sitting ducks.
“Crank?” Remy asked. He didn’t want to demand that Crank land on his home planet, but Remy had to ask. It seemed like their only option. “How do you feel about this?”
“They won’t like it,” Crank said after a minute of silence. “They might even hand us over to Drake just for the fun of it, especially if they learn I’m onboard.”
“What are our chances if we don’t land, Tank?”
Remy really didn’t like the grimace that crossed Tank’s face. Even Livewire was getting in on the act. He sat on the floor next to Tank’s feet shaking his head. Remy sighed and plopped down in his chair.
“Options? Anyone?”
“If we land on Kulak,” Crank said, “we’ll be able to let the thrusters recharge, but if we’re caught breaking their territorial boundaries, the Kulakians will either turn us over to Drake or string us up themselves. They are not known as a peaceful people.”
“Ta
nk?” Remy asked.
“If we keep going at this rate, the thrusters will burn up in another thirty minutes. I’ve pushed the Lady Blue about as far as I dare. Any more fancy maneuvering and she just might shake apart.” Tank shook his head. “She really needs a rest, Commander.”
Remy nodded. He knew they were in deep shit. They seemed to only have two options, and both of them were dangerous. Sometimes it really sucked being commander. “All right, I want the ship locked down. Tank, find us a nice hole somewhere to hide. Crank, any suggestions?”
Crank hit a series of buttons on his console until a map of the planet below came up on his screen. He pushed another button, and a light shot up creating a holographic imagine of the planet. Crank flicked the image with his finger and it spun around.
“Here,” he said as he pointed to a spot on the holographic world. “This valley is pretty far from any populated areas. Or at least it was the last time I was here. The valley is hidden enough that we might be able to avoid detection even from space.”
“Okay, Tank, plot a course for that valley,” Remy said. “Crank, I want you and Blade to check our weapons and ammo in case we get any visitors while we’re on the ground. I want everything else strapped down. No unnecessary use of power.”
Remy jumped from his chair and started for the door.
“Commander, where are you going?”
“To let Gigi and Pax know what’s happening. As much as I want to keep them occupied making that dinner, the kitchen needs to be shut down until the thrusters recharge. The less power we use, the less chance we’ll be detected.”
“Gigi!”
Gigi rolled his eyes when he heard Remy shout. He glanced at Pax, shaking his head. “You would think he’d just come in here and tell me what he wants instead of yelling through half the ship.”
Pax giggled. Gigi smiled as he dried his hands off, tossed the towel on the counter, then walked out of the kitchen. Remy was just walking into the mess hall when he came out. “You bellowed?”
“Shut down the kitchen, angel.”
Hagen, Lynn and Glenn, Stormy - End of the Line [Lady Blue Crew 1] (Siren Publishing Classic ManLove) Page 10