by M. D. Cooper
“What about approaches and space ports?” Cheeky asked.
“Looks like each world has precisely one small station, and one ground-side spaceport—for the public at least. It appears there are also private spaceports for what they call House Business.”
“House Business, eh?” Cheeky asked. “Sounds like a hoity-toity system. I think we should just wait out here ‘til Sabs shows up, latch on and go somewhere else.”
Jessica was inclined to agree. This place was too full of unanswerable questions. Two women showing up on a ship stuffed to the brim with weapons and an AHAP infiltration droid was bound to raise questions.
Granted, they could space all the weapons, but then they’d still need a convincing reason to show up in a system that seemed to get almost no interstellar traffic.
“Let’s get away from the dump zone here, and lay dark and wait.”
“Won’t be hard,” Cheeky said, “we’re almost completely dark as it is…minus the freakin’ shiny hull we have. We really should do something about that. We’re a damn flashlight in space. Nearby stars give off less light than we reflect.
“Surprise! We have a ship on our ass,” Jessica said. “First stealth tech we’ve seen in Perseus.”
The ship was a cruiser, roughly seven hundred meters in length. Its design reminded her of ships from the late twenty-seventh century she had seen in museums as a child.
Jessica toggled a control on her holoconsole. “Hail coming in. It’s full visual.”
“Uh, Jess, we’re both naked and I’m sweating my boobs off, can you not do full visual?” Cheeky asked.
“Thanks Iris,” Cheeky said.
A man appeared on the holodisplay. He wore an ornate dress uniform and stood on a large bridge crewed by at least a dozen people in similar formal attire.
His sandy hair was cut short, and a thin beard ran along his jawline. Dark brown eyes lay beneath his strong brow, and his lips were drawn in a thin line.
“This is Captain Antaris of the OSS Acadian Light, please respond.”
“Captain Antaris,” Jessica responded. “I am Jessica Keller, skipper of the Beauty. How can we help you?”
Captain Antaris’s lips curved upward into a slight smile as Jessica spoke. “On the contrary, my fair lady, it is I who would like to render my assistance to you. What are to women of such immeasurable appeal doing so far from Primus?”
“We just jumped into this system, we were under attack by pirates, and this was the best vector available. As you can see, our port engine is damaged.”
“Indeed, you are far from home—that is a Bennian ship unless I miss my guess. I trust you are uninjured? We could take your ship aboard the Acadian Light and offer repairs.”
“We would very much appreciate your gracious offer, but…forgive my inquisitive nature…are you Serenity’s official space force? We do not have extensive records of this system.”
Captain Antaris smiled benevolently. “Few do. We keep to ourselves, and prefer to be left alone. Praetor Kirkland of the Orion Freedom Alliance sees to it that we are left undisturbed as much as possible.
“However, that was not your question. I am of House Laurentia, the keepers of the Moon of Arcadia. Serenity has no ‘official space force’ as you call it. Each of the five Houses of the High Table fields its own navy and we share the duties of patrolling the jump points into Serenity.”
“That’s very cooperative of you,” Jessica replied, noting a brief lowering of Captain Antaris’s brow as she spoke. “And lucky of us to run into such a chivalrous representative of what must surely be the greatest of the Houses of Serenity.”
“Indeed, you are fortunate,” Captain Antaris said with a grave nod. “Normally House Charlemis patrols this jump point. We noted that none of their ships were present, and travelled here to inspect their notable absence. You are lucky we did so. I am not certain your ship would reach Serenity Primus in its current condition, and the thought of you two ladies in distress is not something I care to consider.”
Iris said.
Jessica replied.
“I too was not enamored of the prospect of attempting to travel insystem in our current condition,” Jessica said to Captain Antaris while slowly shaking her head. “It would have been dangerous in the extreme.”
“Excellent!” Captain Antaris said with a sharp nod and a winning smile. “I’ll have my navigation officer send you an approach vector and we’ll have you safely in our docking bay in minutes. Then I shall greet you properly and we shall dine together. There you may regale me with the tale of these pirates and how you escaped their clutches.”
“You are far too gracious,” Jessica replied. “We cannot wait to greet our saviors in person.”
“And I you,” Antaris replied.
Jessica cut the connection and turned to Cheeky. “Shit Cheeks, if they step aboard this ship they’re going to think we’re the pirates.”
Cheeky’s eyes were wide and she shook her head. “Seriously Jessica? We can play damsels in distress all day long and come up with a story about the weapons. But that’s not our biggest problem.”
“It’s not?” Jessica couldn’t imagine what was more concerning.
“Jessica, we have one san unit and just twenty minutes to clean up. Not to mention find clothing that won’t make these people think we’re harlots who stole this ship.” As Cheeky spoke, her voice rose at least one octave.
“OK Cheeks, you go shower, I’ll see if Addie and I can’t clean this place up a bit. Oh, and Iris, I don’t really like the idea of all these weapons in other people’s reach, can you do something about that?”
* * * * *
Twenty minutes later, Cheeky and Jessica stood at the top of the ramp as Piya settled the ship onto the deck of the cruiser.
Cheeky wore an armless, floor-length gown with a high slit and long black gloves. It hugged her figure and showed off her cleavage with little left to the imagination, but it was the most formal clothing she owned. She completed the outfit with a pair of her more sensible shoes with only six centimeter heels.
Jessica, on the other hand had a far more limited selection. She had planned to go shopping on Olvives, and only had the pants and camisole she had worn to the spa.
Fortunately—sort of—the outfits from the Retyna Girl shoot were still aboard the ship. The most formal thing Jessica could find amongst them was a knee-length pencil skirt that practically welded her legs together, a fitted blouse, and a long-sleeved bolero jacket.
The light pastel blue of her skirt and jacket contrasted nicely with her skin, while the lavender blouse was nearly the same color as her glow.
Somewhere on the ship was the pair of low heels she’d worn the day they’d escaped from Hermes station, but Jessica couldn’t find them anywhere, and the next best thing was a pair of knee-high
boots with eight-centimeter heels.
Jessica shifted uncomfortably and tried to separate her thighs enough to take more than a small step. She was reaching back to use a string of nano to cut a slit into her skirt when Cheeky stopped her. “I know what you’re thinking, Jess. Don’t do it.”
“Why? I can barely walk in this thing.”
“What did you notice about the bridge when you were talking to Captain Strong Jaw?”
“Lots of starchy uniforms,” Jessica replied. “And a strong appreciation for brass and chrome.”
“Seriously Jessica, and here I thought you were a detective once. There were no women on that bridge.”
Jessica thought back and realized Cheeky was right. They hadn’t had a full view of the room when Antaris had been speaking, but what they had seen had shown only men.
“Check the external feeds,” Cheeky added. “There are only men out on the dock. No women.”
“OK, so it’s a boys-only club. What does that have to do with my skirt? Isn’t showing more leg better?”
“Jess, you don’t walk, you stride. You move like you’re in command of every room you enter. A little mincing will help here. Go with it.”
Jessica didn’t like the idea, but Cheeky had a point. “OK, but if I trip and fall you’d better not laugh.”
“Deal. However, can you sparkle a little less?” Cheeky asked.
“This is as little a glow as I can manage,” Jessica replied. “I’ve discharged as much power as I can without shorting out anything on the ship.”
“I guess it’ll have to be enough. Maybe Antaris will like exotic—or at least be too polite not to say anything.”
Jessica sighed and took a final look around the ship. There was simply nowhere they could put all the weapons strewn about. At least they’d dumped Addie’s crate in the dark layer.
Regarding Addie, Jessica and Cheeky had debated where to hide her, and it was Addie herself who had suggested the best location.
The AHAP was laying on Jessica’s bunk, beneath the mound of clothing from their frantic preparations. They were counting on the apparent propriety of these people to mean that they wouldn’t rifle through a ladies’ clothing.
Jessica palmed the control to lower the ship’s ramp and the pair slowly and carefully walked down and onto the Acadian Light’s deck.
At the head of two columns of soldiers, stood Captain Antaris, accompanied by another man. Both were drawn up with backs straight and shoulders level.
The two men’s eyes never deviated from the women’s, excepting when they bowed at the waist before stepping forward.
“Welcome aboard the Acadian Light,” Captain Antaris said with a warm smile. “This is my First Officer, Commander Perry.”
“It is a sincere pleasure to meet you,” Commander Perry said in a smooth tenor as he inclined his head.
“Thank you for your warm welcome,” Jessica replied. She didn’t know if women bowed to men in this culture, and decided not to. “This is my dearest friend, Cherrie.”
“A pleasure,” Cheeky said, her voice carrying none of the outrage of her mental tone as she held out her hand to shake Perry’s. A small gasp escaped her lips as Perry brought her hand to his lips and kissed it.
“The pleasure of meeting you is certainly all mine,” Perry replied.
Jessica beamed at Captain Antaris and held out her hand as well, which he kissed while never breaking eye contact with her.
“Your radiance is truly enthralling,” Antaris said to Jessica. “When we talked over the holo I thought it was from damage to your ship’s systems, but I can see that’s not so. You positively glow.”
“I’ve been told that,” Jessica said. “Where we’re from it is not an uncommon modification. It is easy enough to achieve.”
“Truly fascinating. It is as though your skin sparkles. Is that what makes it such an enchanting color?” Antaris asked.
Jessica nodded and gave a coy smile. “Yes, it’s a side effect. Although, you can see that I like the color.”
Antaris laughed, a warm chuckle that reached his eyes. “So it would seem. Come, we shall dine while my engineers assess the condition of your vessel and what it will take to repair it.”
Cheeky glanced at Jessica, worry in her eyes. “Jessica, these men will think us barbarians when they see what is on our ship. You must explain to them how we came to have this cargo.”
Jessica looked at Cheeky and nodded gravely. “Yes, Cherrie, we must be nothing but honest.”
“What is this?” Captain Antares asked. “What is aboard your ship?”
“The pirates we escaped from were using us to smuggle weapons. We managed to drug one of them and then escaped on our ship. However, their illicit cargo is still aboard.”
“Weapons, you say?” Perry asked, his eyebrow’s arched.
“Yes,” Jessica said with a long sigh. “Hundreds of them. We don’t know what to do with them.”
“Don’t worry,” Antaris said. “We will clear your vessel of those stolen goods when we repair it. Consider this troubling issue no more. Come, you can tell us about these pirates and your harrowing adventure while we dine.”
“You are most gracious, Captain Antaris,” Jessica said.
“Nonsense. It is nothing,” Antaris replied as he turned and held out his arm. Jessica carefully stepped forward and slipped her own arm through his.
She had a moment of fear that Antaris would take a great step forward and she’d topple over in the tight skirt, but he must have observed how it would limit her steps and he measured his pace accordingly as he led her between the rows of soldiers.
“In which system did you say you were attacked by pirates?” he was asking. “I’ll be certain to send a missive to the appropriate authorities regarding your plight.”
Jessica had looked up other systems that would match the Sexy’s inbound vector, and only one—other than Kidron, of course—aligned. It wasn’t perfect, but it would have to do.
“We had been passing through Dsmir,” Jessica answered as she concentrated on holding her ankles straight. “Cherrie and I were shopping for new dresses on one of their stations, when we came back to our ship—already half loaded with weapons. The pirates forced us to load the rest of them, but that was when Cherrie was able to slip into our galley and get a dose of her sleeping medication that we fed to the guard posted on the ship.”
“Forcing two women of your obvious quality to load cargo?” Antaris shook his head. “This is why we have a little to do with the surrounding systems as possible.”
“And you fly about with no escort?” Perry asked. “Were there no men with you on your excursion?”<
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“Dsmir is normally quite safe,” Jessica replied. “Cherrie and I have visited their renown spas many times. They have an exceptional reputation…though that seems to have slipped.”
“You’re quite fortunate that we were at this jump point,” Antaris said. “House Charlemis is not known for their generosity. They may have simply destroyed you for being in Serenity without authorization.”
Jessica patted Antaris’s hand. “Well, then our luck has held. We are quite fortunate indeed.”
They approached a set of wide doors at the end of the bay, which led into an ornate passageway. Brass rails ran along the bulkheads, and soft carpets lay beneath their feet. Above, silver light fixtures cast long shadows down the corridor.
“The Acadian Light has been the flagship of House Laurentia’s navy for over a thousand years. It has fought and won many battles against the other five Houses of the High Table—and lesser houses as well. My father passed its command to me before he died—much to the chagrin of my brothers.”
Jessica nodded quietly as Antaris told of the many battles the Acadian Light had fought in. Or rather, what Antaris considered to be battles. Most of the battles between the houses appeared to be squabbles over imagined insults and slights.
Jessica wouldn’t have considered half of them to even qualify as skirmishes. Sabrina got into bigger fights in every other system they travelled to.
“How long have the five houses held the Serenity System?” Jessica asked. “Most of the other stars in this region have only been settled for a few hundred years at most. If this ship is over a millennia old, does it date back to the original settlement?”