Extinction (Extraterrestrial Empire Book 1)
Page 32
“I bet they did,” said Karr, laughing.
Ace looked over to a chief standing by. “Gotta light, chief?”
The chief looked at the captain, as cigars were not allowed on the bridge.
Karr nodded. “Go ahead and light it, chief. And please light one for me, too.” Karr pulled a cigar from his pocket and smiled.
***
Hours later, Karr and Navy XO Melissa Mahan celebrate in Karr’s stateroom …
“Would the captain like another?” asked Melissa, walking in a pink nightgown and carrying the bottle of champagne. Karr’s eyes tracked Melissa’s large, voluptuous breasts like a Space Navy radar station. The gown hid only enough from view to make her even more desirable.
“I’d love another, Melissa, especially since I’m off duty. I could use something sweet.”
Melissa smiled. She sipped her drink and walked over to Karr and sat on his lap. She gave him a soft, wet, sticky kiss that tasted of sweet champagne. When she finished, she grinned. “So, am I sweet enough for your taste?”
Karr grinned like a kid in a candy store. “I like the champagne taste very much, but the girl is to die for.” Karr reached over for another kiss.
Melissa broke the kiss, pushed him slightly back and spoke seriously. “You fool, Karr, you almost did die for me! You shouldn’t have risked it back there. You could have lost the whole ship.”
Karr frowned a smile and held up his glass, as if toasting. “For what is a life to live if you can’t do it with someone that you love. I fell for you Melissa, I admit it, and I think that maybe the aliens were right, we’re weak. But on the other hand, it’s our weakness that gives us strength, and I know that sounds crazy coming from the captain, but I’d do it again. Plus, I knew I had Ace Archer and the crew. I knew we’d figure something out.”
Melissa pulled Karr into the bed. She started to pull off his shirt. “You’re just lucky.”
“Hey, I think I’m being attacked,” Karr said, jokingly.
“It’ll be painless. I figure since the aliens didn’t get a chance to eat you, I would.”
Karr laughed. “I feel like I’m at one of Ace’s poker games, losing the shirt off my back.”
Melissa started to unbuckle Karr’s trousers while giggling. “I heard he’s good at poker. He even has a not-so-secret strip poker game going on now. We should join in later. He invited us.”
“Strip poker? I think I’d rather just get eaten by you, sounds a little safer, plus it doesn’t break any fraternizing rules. But maybe we can join in later at the end for a drink.” Karr laughed as Melissa took off her clothes, enjoying what he was sure was the best part of life.
***
In the corner of the private R&R Club Venus, Ace Archer, Ivan, Jimbo, Kiya, and a few others noisily played a strip poker game. All were down to wearing t-shirts and underwear, except for Tanya, the bartender, who was no longer wearing a bra. The room was somewhat cool, and her nipples stood erect like a soldier at attention. Bottles of Jack Daniels and Russian vodka were being passed around. Everyone looked drunk. Ace and Ivan were smoking cigars, as was Tanya. A music holo-graph of a man named Sixto Diaz Rodriguez was playing a song called “To Whom It May Concern” on the wall. It was a song about the sadness of waiting for love, but filled with hope.
Ivan took a swig of vodka, shook his head trying to figure out his cards. He looked at Yogi, who was sitting in the corner on a chair resting next to an empty bottle of vodka. Ivan was at a loss figuring out other people’s cards and Yogi wasn’t any help. He tried to focus his drunken eyes, staring over at the light-skinned African queen, Tanya. His eyes naturally drifted toward the two bare breasts. Tanya wasn’t very good at poker and recently lost her bra. Ivan tried to focus away from the voluptuous headlights and grumbled. “Tanya, you lost your bra, don’t ya think it’s time to quit? You distract my game, and Yogi, too.”
Tanya leaned over, pushing her soft cushion bosoms on Ivan’s arms and seductively whispered into his ear, “Ivan, you ugly sexy baby, I just wanna get even. This is my last hand. Ace is cheating, and I wanna figure it out. I got eyes …” She pointed two drunken fingers at her eyes while staring at Ace.
“I got eyes, too,” said Ivan, staring at Tanya.
Tanya laughed. “Win or lose, you and I got eyes for each other, okay?”
Ivan smiled. “We do.”
Captain Karr walked into the club and looked at the commotion, shook his head and smiled.
Ace chuckled. “Tanya, you may have the best eyes of the bunch, especially with the way I heard you handled a gun on that loose robot. But I’m not cheating. I just play the cards I’m dealt, as we all do in life. So, are you in or out?”
“Damn,” said Tanya. “My cards suck, I’m out … I’m not sure how you can have such good hands. I bet you’re bluffing, but I’m outta clothes.”
“Well, you still got your underwear,” said Ace, smiling.
Ivan stared at his cards. “I’m out too—I keep getting dealt bad cards.”
“I think Ace is lying. He’s gotta be cheating us outta this hand,” complained Tanya, standing up and putting on her blouse. “Ivan, let’s get outta here.”
Kiya gave a drunken smile. “He cheats, Tanya. He’s a man … they all do.”
Ace held his tongue and stared at his cards, no emotion showing. It was just him and Kiya. This was surely the last hand, the hand with bragging rights.
Kiya put her face close up to Ace and smiled. She stared directly into his eyes. “I got you on this hand. I can read you.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure,” said Ace, nonchalantly taking a drag off his cigar.
Kiya smiled ever so deviously. “I’ll bet your little Homer Simpson underpants I got a better hand.”
“Ha,” said Ace. “And will you take off your panties and dance for me if I win?”
“If you win, we’ll both leave the room and I’ll take my panties off in your stateroom,” Kiya said with a sexy, drunken smile.
The room started to cheer, hoot, holler, and whistle.
“Ha, if you add in a strip club pole dance, I’m in.”
“You don’t have a pole in your stateroom.”
Ace laughed. “Oh, believe me. If you take off your panties, I’ll show you the pole.”
“You’re a pig!” yelled back Kiya. She threw a chip at Ace. It hit him in the face.
Ace laughed. “Okay, you lose, I win the game then.”
“No, no, it’s a deal. If I lose, I promise to give you a private dance you’ll never forget.”
“Mm … now that sounds really interesting. Okay, show me your cards.” Ace threw down three kings and pair of jacks. “Beat that!”
Kiya nervously laughed, looked at her cards, placed them face down, and stood up. She walked over and took the cigar from Ace’s mouth, took a puff, nodded to the people at the table, and, without showing her cards, grabbed Ace. Hand in hand, she left the table, leaving her cards lying face down on the table.
Ivan and the others quietly stared at Kiya’s face-down cards. Once Kiya and Ace were out of the room, Ivan picked up Kiya’s cards and looked at them privately and smiled. Kiya had three Aces, and two queens! She’d won. Someone had finally beaten Ace!
Jimbo asked what everyone else wanted to know. “What cards she holding?”
Ivan smiled. “We’ll, I don’t think cards matter—Ace won, don’t ya think? And so did the team.”
Karr walked up to the table and raised a glass. “Yes we did. I think humanity won this battle, thanks to all the men and woman aboard the Aurora. Let’s drink to the future of mankind and to the Space Navy!”
Everyone picked up a glass and cheered.
Captain Karr sat down and couldn’t help but look at Kiya’s cards and laugh to himself. He knew that human life was nothing more than one big, galactic bluff. He silently prayed that humanity would survive its nascent venture into space—but then again, as Ace said many times, “You can only play with the cards you’re dealt.”
&n
bsp; Karr closed his eyes and envisioned humanity’s cards set face-down amongst the bright stars, lying somewhere in the dark recesses of the galaxy … waiting for someone, or something, to flip them over.
THE END