by Adam DiSalvo
“It is.” Lusio replied.
Serena pranced over to the bar and took a seat next to Raffa.
“Hey! That was pretty cool back there. How did you know they wouldn’t follow us?”
Raffa took a sip of his fancy drink. He smiled wide and pulled the drink back to behold it.
“Wow!” Raffa called out. “Lusio this is incredible!”
“Right?” Lusio responded. “It’s unreal.”
Lusio bent down reaching for another thin glass for Serena.
“How did I know they wouldn’t follow us,” Lusio repeated readdressing Serena. “Well, that would require me to tell you a little bit about myself. Could be slightly incriminating.”
Serena laughed.
“Lusio, you just helped us illegally EL into open space. I’m sure we have enough evidence on you already!”
Lusio placed another slender glass on the bar top and placed three more large pieces of ice into it. He then poured the rose gold flaked rum over the three giant cubes.
“That’s definitely true,” came another voice from the opposite side of the room.
The three turned to see Theneece walking up in her sleep wear. She was barefoot.
“Is that Athronin?” Serena chuckled, pointing to the little armored man, wielding swords on Theneece's adult pajamas.
“Hell yes girl, it’s Athronin!” clapped Theneece.
“I love it.” Serena replied.
Theneece took a seat next to Serena at the bar.
“This is a great ship Lusio.” Raffa noted, taking another sip.
“Thanks!” Theneece interrupted. “I actually designed it!”
An awkward silence ensued.
“Well, then is it your ship?” Serena asked cutting through the tape.
“Ha! No it is not!” Lusio barked.
Theneece made a face at Lusio who handed the cold Nepheri rum to Serena.
“C’mon gimme some too!” chirped Theneece, hopping up and down in her seat.
“Rope your cavaldos girl. I’ll get you your fix!” Lusio snickered as he grabbed for another glass.
Theneece stuck her tongue out in Lusio’s direction.
“Theneece actually did design this ship,” Lusio admitted as he placed another glass on the bar.
Theneece turned and flashed a crazy face at Raffa.
“I designed it for deep space getaways for the Steel House corporation.” Theneece added. “Lusio helped me steal it.”
Raffa and Serene both gasped. Raffa grinned.
“No shit?” Raffa replied taking another sip. “Goddess damn it this stuff is good!”
“I’m glad you like it!” Lusio offered.
“Why did you want to lift the ship from Steel House?” Serena digressed.
“Because fuck Steel House. That’s why,” Theneece barked. “I gave my youth to that company who promised to return me to my twenty year old self after sixty five years of service.”
“Oh no!” Serena gasped.
Lusio shot Raffa a sideways glance.
“When my time was up and I inquired about cellar regeneration, they gave me some line about how sixty-five years ago my application must have never been filed. Blah blah blah,” explained Theneece while waving her hand about and taking a sip of the cold beverage.
“I like where this is going,” admitted Raffa.
Lusio smiled and sipped his drink.
“Just imagine an eighty-eight year old version of me all rickety and ready to take on Steel House,” joked Theneece, hobbling around as if using a cane.
She pitched her voice up like an old lady and waved her drink in the air.
“Listen you dirty rotten bitches! I want my goddess damned youth back! Give it to me!”
Serena and Raffa burst into laughter.
"I know right?” Theneece giggled. “So I sent a message to Lusio through a friend of mine and I offered him all of my retirement money if he would help me steal this ship.”
“Theneece please don’ take this the wrong way but, you look fantastic,” Raffa observed. “Why would you need cell regeneration?”
Theneece smiled.
"There’s actually a cell regernation system onboard!” squealed Theneece.
“No way!" gasped Serena.
“Yes!”
“You already used it!” Serena yelped.
“Yes!” Theneece repeated. “I’m currently 89 years old and I look and feel fantastic!”
Theneece jumped out of her seat and twirled around in place.
“You look twenty years old! That’s amazing! Are there any side affects? I can’t imagine it’s that healthy for you. No offense.”
“Oh no dear, seriously? At some point if you can afford it you should try it,” suggested Theneece.
Serena made a face and looked over at Raffa who nodded his head.
“It’s really expensive,” he verified. “Even if you have the machine itself. The stem cells required to operate it are at their best when they are not cloned. You can imagine how hard those are to come by ethically.”
“I only used ethically sourced stem cells,” justified Theneece. “All vetted vendors.”
Lusio chuckled.
“Hey!” Theneece laughed.
“It does suffer from the law of diminishing returns though.” Raffa expounded.
“What do you mean?” asked Serena.
“Well, each time you use the device,” Raffa explained. “ You age twice as fast as the last time you used it. Am I right?”
“How many times have you used one Theneece?” Serena prodded.
Theneece nodded her agreement.
“Only the one time. In about seventy five hours, I went from an eighty eight year old body back to a twenty one year old body. I’ll be back to my eighty eight year old self in about thirty to forty years or so.”
“Wow,” Serena let out. “I never imagined such a device even existed.
“Ah, the beauties of living in an aristocracy.” Lusio sighed.
“Imperial Monarchy actually. So, how did the ship come to be in your possession?” Raffa pried.
Lusio pointed with his glass to Theneece.
“As you can imagine. I never really cared about the ship. I had no where to park it. Shore it. Whatever. And I definitely didn’t have the fuel for it."
“But it had your cellular regeneration pod inside.” Serena called out.
“Yep!”
“Genius." cheered Raffa.
“When Lusio asked me what I was going to do with the ship I told him I was just going to scuttle it."
Raffa sat up, shocked.
“What? This beautiful ship?”
“That’s why I offered to buy it from her.” Lusio interjected.
Raffa sat back into his chair.
“Okay. Okay.” nodded Raffa. “So, what? You bought it from her then what, sent it to a chop shop where they retagged it for you?”
Lusio laughed.
“Jokes on you because I sent it to Cantiga."
“You what?” Serena spat.
“Looks like the Tall Geese is returning home.” jested Theneece.
“Wait. So after you two stole the ship you sent it to the yards on Cantiga? To who?” Raffa asked.
“Well when my crew and I lifted the ship from dry dock in orbit above Cal’utha we learned the ship hadn’t been tagged yet at all.” Lusio explained. "No transponders of any kind. No identifying hardware or software.”
Lusio took another sip of his drink.
“There weren’t even that many guards protecting it.”
“Did you kill the guards?” asked a concerned Serena.
“No we didn’t have to. I bribed them to look the other way.”
“How much did that cost?” Raffa wondered.
“I used most of Theneece’s retirement money to get it done. Though, I didn’t exactly tell them I was taking the ship.”
Raffa whistled loud.
“You know those guys went to jail forever right? Over a few th
ousand bits?” Raffa chided.
“Tens of thousands actually and listen,” Lusio sat up straight. “You could never bribe one of my guys."
“You got a ship out of it though didn’t you?” Serena remarked.
“I did! We have three now. Worth the investment.”
“And you got your twenty year old body back!” bellowed Raffa raising his glass towards Theneece.
“I did!” she rejoiced tipping her glass to Raffa then taking a sip. “I also saved plenty for my golden years while working for those assholes. I still have some left even after paying Lusio.”
“Then why are you here?” questioned Serena.
“She’s my CFO.” answered Lusio. “And my chief engineer.”
Theneece smiled and sipped her drink, perking up her eyebrows.
“Financial officer slash engineer, huh?” Raffa noted. “You keep impressive company Lusio.”
“Why thank you Mr. Calderon.” replied Theneece in a cartoon accent.
“A financial officer that hacks trams and shoots like a soldier?” cracked Serena.
“Hey, Serena easy!” offered Raffa.
Theneece sat up and leaned on the bar top.
“No, that’s fair,” she replied. “Listen sister. This system doesn’t give a shit about any of us. Even more so if you’re not ether born.”
Theneece took a large gulp from her drink.
“Steel House is one of the largest ore mining companies in the inner system. That board of directors and investors are monsters. They’ve stolen pensions. Covered up work place accidents. Wrongfully terminated people. Denied insurance claims. They’ve destroyed families! I was glad to turn pirate and spend my later years fucking them over.”
Theneece sat back down on the tall bar chair.
“I’d kill any one of them. They’d do the same to you. Make no mistake."
“On the topic of pirates,” Raffa interrupted, swirling his drink. “Lusio, how well networked are space pirates. Legitimate pirates.”
“As far as reputation goes, if you’re a good one, no one knows who you or your crew are. On the other hand some folks know who not to mess with.”
“What do you mean?” solicited Raffa.
“Well, sometimes when you take a ship that’s too high profile like a cargo vessel or mining vessel full of ore, or maybe a military vessel, then your teams might be too big to keep it all quiet. Silencing is pretty common in the pirate business.”
“Silencing?” puzzled Serena.
“Assassination,” Lusio clarified.
“Oh!”
“You can never get everyone though if you start that mess.” Lusio added.
“Best to stick to leisure vessels, I’m assuming?” Raffa postulated.
“Exactly,” confirmed Lusio.
Serena took another sip of Nepheri rum and smiled.
“This flavor keeps blowing my mind Lusio. It’s so good. I didn’t expect it to have the texture of chocolate cake as well.” Serena fawned.
“Heh, I’m starting to feel it now that you mentioned it. It’s been so long since I broke this out, I forgot how it felt.” Lusio acknowledged.
“Really?” Serena frowned.
“Yeah really. I got this from that friend I was telling you about.”
“A gift! No way!” Raffa doubted. “I heard the Nepheri won’t even sell it to you unless you speak a specific Nepheri dialect of like, eight!”
“True, actually,” Lusio confirmed. “This stuff is very illegal in their society. It's similar to our alcohol, only for them, much more intoxicating. They’ll lock you up for a long time for making this stuff."
“So you’re saying that not only does your friend speak Nepheri but, also knows the right people to get it?” Raffa pressed.
“Precisely. You want his blood type too?” Lusio teased.
“I must meet this person,” Raffa pleaded.
“Heh. Well.” Lusio stammered. “I have no idea when that’ll happen.”
“What do you mean? Does this mysterious friend exist for not?” Raffa cajoled.
“Oh they do. We just haven’t spoken in a while,” Lusio revealed.
“Oh? How come?” Serena asked.
“We parted ways a while ago after they started taking jobs that were way too insane. Even with my spec ops experience those missions were suicide.”
“Those missions?” Serena pointed out. “Are you saying they were successful on at least one of those missions?”
“Yeah. Several actually.” Lusio conceded. "Since they've gone dark though, I haven’t heard from them.”
“That’s awful, aren’t you worried about them?” stressed Serena.
“I’m sure they’re fine.” Lusio predicted. "It’s the nature of the business.”
“Holy goddess,” spouted Raffa. “This stuff is starting to hit me pretty hard. I think I’m ready for bed.”
Serena looked down to see Raffa’s empty glass.
“Raffa! You drank the whole thing already?”
Lusio picked up the glass and examined it.
“Goddess bro, that was at least fifteen ounces!”
Raffa's company of three burst into laughter.
“I told you to take it easy!” roared Lusio. “What were you thinking?”
“I’m not sure,” admitted Raffa as he stepped out from his tall chair.
He moved slow and with care.
“Are you going to be alright Mr. Calderon?” Theneece asked “Here. Let me help you your room.”
“Yeah. Sure. That would be nice,” smiled Raffa.
Theneece giggled while she stumbled a bit getting out of her chair.
“Woo!” she shouted. “Good times!”
Theneece took Raffa by the arm.
“Oh, your hands feel so nice,” Raffa observed.
“Thats just the Nepheri rum talking dear. C’mon”
Theneece led Raffa out of the room as Serena took another sip of her drink.
“So where is the rest of the crew?” pressed Serena.
“Would you like to go see?” Lusio offered.
“You mean they’re not doing what we're doing right now? Sitting around drinking otherworldly drugs, talking?”
“No definitely not. Well probably the drugs part. Most likely there’s a party on the crew deck.”
“Seriously? Why isn’t Theneece with them? Why aren’t we there with them?” Serena yelled.
“I just asked if you want to go down there,” Lusio smirked.
“Yeah! Lets go!” ordered Serena pointing. “Which way is it?”
Lusio pointed the other way. Serena held out her hand.
“Captain. Please show me to the deck where the party’s at.”
“Let’s get it,” smiled Lusio taking Serena’s hand.
Lusio led Serena out of the captain’s lounge and down a hallway. Serena gripped Lusio’s hand tight.
“Really though, how come Theneece isn’t at the party?”
“Shit. Theneece looks pretty young but she’s only got the pretty part. Sometimes she comes down to cut loose with us but, mostly she keeps to herself.”
“What possessed her to join us tonight then?”
“I think she finds Raffa interesting.”
Serena laughed.
“Oh is that it?”
“Look, if she wanted to fuck him we all would have known.” gestured Lusio with his free hand. “Trust me.”
“Okay!” Serena giggled. “Hey, I noticed when we were ‘rushing' onboard that you have more crew members than were with your away team.”
“Yeah there’s thirteen, besides me and Theneece.”
The two approached a door vibrating to the sound of muffled electronic music.
“Does Theneece normally have access to the captain’s deck?”
“No she —“
The door slid open.
“Captain!” cried someone just on the other side.
A man stepped out from the room with the music blasting and gave the captain a be
ar hug shoving Serena aside. He had a long beard similar to his captain and wore no shirt. The man smelled like a gym sock and was drenched in sweat and glow rods. He was clearly drunk. Serena covered her mouth in smiling surprise.
“I see you brought the hot secretary!”
“Shut the fuck up Marley! Get the fuck back in there before I space you!” Lusio threatened with a grin.
They followed the man inside. The room was more like a night club rather than a common area. There was a bar similar to the one in the captain’s lounge, only larger and each bottle was secured by a self locking arm. A young man stood behind the counter with a defeated look while some of the crew members danced in front of a small, make shift MC booth. The woman spinning music danced along expressing her obvious enjoyment. The other crew members were spread about the couches and lounge chairs placed around the room.
“By the way asshole this is Serena. She’s a lead engineer at Genotech,” Lusio barked.
The man spun around and snatched Serena’s hand in his sweaty grip.
“Helo fancy new friend named Serena,” he slurred. "I’m Kenotha Marley. I’m the navigator. Kinda.”
Serena furrowed her brow.
“Kinda?” she followed trying to hide her smile.
“Yes, well, when I’m not totally fu— er, messed up,” he stammered.
“Good! Best behavior Marley!” Lusio demanded, slapping his friend on the back. “C’mon Serena. Let me introduce you to some more of the crew.”
“Only the nice ones!” Kenotha warned, smiling wide as they passed.
“No shit,” sighed Lusio under his breath as he led Serena to the bar.
“Should we even drink right now?” Serena assessed as the bass vibes thumped on.
“Not alcohol that’s for sure. Two waters please, Tank!” requested Lusio as he stepped up to the bar. “Whats up bro? You lose a bet or something?”
Tank was huge. His head and face were completely shaven and he wore a tight, black v-neck t-shirt and rugged, black cargo pants. He poured two waters and handed them to the pair.
“I have to man the bar while Lexa spins tonight.” Tank revealed. “I lost to her twice in cav’at. She called in the favor.”
“Twice?” Lusio laughed. “Bro. You ever leave your house without your rain coat in a shit storm?”
Tank huffed.
“No.”
“You know what else you don’t do?” Lusio jeered as he threw a crumpled up napkin at Tank. “You don’t play cav’at against Lexa!"