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Space Revolution {KayLove & BlackThorne}

He took advantage while he had her pinned under himself, to get to know every inch of her body with his fingers, and his lips, laying kisses under on her neck, and gently along her collarbone . But eventually he had to pull out of her, with a deep exhale. He slid in next to her and then pulled her head onto his chest and pulled the blanket over them. For once sleep didn't flee his grasp, he passed out shortly thereafter.

Given that he had briefed his senior officers on his imminent departure, they were already essentially functioning as if he weren't aboard. Anything that needed his decision would be in his message traffic queue. And even Edgar, for whom human coupling behaviors were a mystery, knew enough not to bother them. Besides, Edgar had many questions to ask Isaac, and also to introduce him to Jenkins, soon. But first he needed to finish up anything that relied on the Large Array aboard the Damascus. The Damascus was capable of Primary FTL messaging, communicating directly with backbone relay nodes on the network that would send messages along it's special pathing at somewhere approaching 25000 times the speed of light for a local FTL Messaging net like the one here in the Omega Sector, rather than needing a gateway node like most ships did.

The crew continued to make the last adjustments using the detailed instructions lily had given them and Oracle sent off the messages he had needed to send. So when the Captain awoke, they would probably be able to leave relatively quickly Edgar really was amazed at the technology changes he saw reperesented in the salvaged gear. He could hadly wait to see how Isasc might help his quantum encryption algorithm .

Then he had an idea "Isaac, tell me, you are a pretty shrewd cookie , so it occurs to me you might be able to help. is there a visual record of the other ships and technology found when Lily St Clare came thorugh that wormhole? Do you know the origin of the various ships and trashed ship sections?
 
Everything was black and white, the groan of breaking metal loud and haunting, the searing hot pain relentless as it stabbed into her side. She looked down at her hands to see blood oozing through her fingers but this time there was no medical emergency bag just an arms length away. There wasn't a blue sky staring down at her as if nothing were happening. Instead of the minor fires there was the screams of her crew mates screaming for help.

Lily woke with a startled breath, sitting up rapidly and looking around at Duncan's room as if it too was going to collapse on her. The blanket slipped from her chest and she wiped the tears that had been leaking from her eyes away quickly. His arm that had been around her waist a heavy weight in her lap and she took a couple deep breaths. She had that dream over and over again. Her crew hadn't been crying out they had all died upon impact, she had been almost bleed out as her artery had been cut in her leg, but luckily the bleeding had been stopped by the sheer pressure of the metal and she had the med kit with its synthetic clotting gel at an arms length away. And the rest she didn't want to recall. She was far luckier than she could have ever thought possible.

The memories from last night came flooding back to her all at once and she couldn't help but smile softly down at the man beside her. She'd give almost anything to simply stay in here with him, all day long. Never to face a responsibility again.

Her hand lightly touched the side of his face, the back of her fingers going from his forehead to his cheek as she laid back down in bed and curled up once again into his arms. She didn't know what time it was nor did it matter. Not right now.

Isaac was enjoying himself, he had been given behavior programs since Lily hadn't enjoyed how robotic his voice sounded before hand. Being displayed in such a way gave him freedom to extend his knowledge to its furthest reaches and assist in any way possible. 

"Yes, although I have no cookies aboard the ship, every item was documented and accounted for. Every scrap and electronic traced back to what and where Miss Lily found her product of the ship." He answered like it was a completely absurd question. He really did have an attitude at times. Isaac was after all the first thing that Lily had found that was of use to her, if it weren't for him she might have gone mad by the third week.

Upon the main screen came an intricate list and the 3D image of a small dwarf planet. It was covered in more than 90% water with one large continent located on the equator. Angry electric charged clouds surrounding the poles. There were no coordinates for the planet, seeing as Lily didn't know where it laid in the Universe. Although she drew several extensive star maps when she was on the planet. Those were in her private collection. 

There were small flags upon the map. Color coded in what type of item she found. All over the small world. The typography of the map showing the one deep ocean on the complete opposite side of the small world. 

Lists upon lists of parts, mainly on and around the continent, some even venturing out into the oceans. She would have to explain those later. All of the different types of ships were categorized neatly and precisely. But some, at the bottom listed the part and its duty upon the ship but the location of where it was found and she ship it came from were blank. These parts were precisely the ones that were the most.... Extensively unique. Different metals, look about them, all together very advanced.

"Is that to your satisfaction Mr Oracle?" Asked Isaac.
 
Duncan awoke refreshed for the first time in possibly the last decade. Probably not, but it seemed enough so that he could have easily convinced himself that it was truly so. Not just refreshed, but smiling. This was someone he had not been in quite a while. He grinned as he thought, no wonder women were seen as bad luck at sea , back in days of the Tall Ships sailing Old Earth's vast briny seas. But he had no time to think about the romance of days of yore nor his own youthful summers at the shore back on Earth. He had barely enough time to think of the romance that might have started here. As if he had time for romance!
He opened his eyes and turned to look at her "Good morning. Im about to hit the shower . Im going to check for any Flash Urgent traffic , pack my bag, and then head for the Kos. I suspect it's ready to go. I was thinking we would hit the mess here , but I will have breakfast brought to the Kos. I dont want the crew to see you and get any ideas. It only takes one bad actor to cause a problem to start.

He was about to get up out of bed when he kissed her again, a long lingering kiss. His hands caressing her hair and hs body rubbing into hers. Memories of last night. Memories that would not easily leave and that none wanted to leave. He held the kiss for a while then broke it. He got up without doing his brief morning stretching exercises, he had decided to make out with her instead. And so he hit the showers briefly , the sound and steam cleaning him well and invigorating him further.

After, he did go through his message traffic and luckily nothing was marked urgent. Of course, he knew if it had been TRULY urgent, the ship would have shook or shuddered from some sort of explosion, and then dressed. Once he was done reading he packed a few things and removed some keys and smal dvices from a drawer near his bed. Looking over at her "So are we ready to go?"


Meanwhile aboard the Kos, Oracle was pleased but not yet satisfied with Issac's answers. This lead to inevitable followups and digressions. Oracle had asked many things and been fascinated to learn them from Isaac. He had stayed up many hours until the skinny man had succumbed to exhaustion He got into his egg shaped enviro pod and patched Issac through before drifting off to sleep, a mere few hours before Duncan awoke.
 
Lily woke again from his movements, groaning softly in protest, never truly a morning person. He pulled her against him and all she could do was let him, her eyes unwilling to open.

"Mmmorning, mmmk..." Her voice groggy and still half asleep as he spoke, something about breakfast, she desperately hoped there would be coffee, "Bad actor? I'm a great actor." She mumbled and rubbed at her eyes.

Her own stretching was interrupted by a set of warm lips against hers, she smiled softly against them and kissed him back her back arched from her stretch and her arms came down, hands giving his back a gentle scratch. "No, Duncan don't..." Her protests trailed off as he got out of bed, watching as he walked from her.

She continued to lay in his bed and stare up at the ceiling, recalling last night with vivid detail. By the gods, what had she done? Sex always complicated things. She would deal with it later. She slipped into the shower just as he was getting out, giving his backside a light tap before closing the door behind him to take her own. She didn't know if the Kos had steam so she wasn't passing up the opportunity to take another shower,

Her hair unmated from its tangled mess. Sore thighs and hamstrings loosened quickly. Stepping out and feeling very normal, the one ping pong thought that had gone about in head was to act as if last not hadn't happened or not. She wasn't sure what the Porto call was for the captain sleeping with someone that wasn't technically part of his crew. She guessed she would find out soon enough.

Her outfit was consistent with the more 'normal' clothing that she owned. Her black high waisted pants fairly normal, some rips and tares in the knees from wear, while her shirt was of the same material that she had showed up in, strong, tight fitting and a soft lavender color. She had found it in a ship, a chest of clothing, made from such strange material that it hadn't even gotten burned. So she took some of the items in and used it uncaring of what or where it came from. The short sleeves ended at her forearm, and showing off her figure.

"Hm? Oh, yes." She replied looking up at the captain from putting on her boots, her thoughts still groggy and reaction time less than optimal. She stood and stretched like a cat, her fingertips grazing the ceiling. "I'm sure Oracle took care of Isaac, I'll just make sure he's backed up onto my drive." She David more to herself as she picked up her bag and started out the quarters with Duncan.

From the movement of the ship it seemed like everyone was already out and about, from the few that looked her way as they walked gave her a look over her body before the familiar snort of breath. Even though she'd never admit it she hated it every time, her hand holding onto her back a bit too tight. "Will we be leaving as soon as we get settled? Sooner the better..." She said with a sigh.
 
Duncan nodded curtly to Lily, and then added "Indeed we will, my apologies my mind is engaged for the moment" He managed to give her smile before he found himself deep in concentration once more.

Duncan had sent a signal to Oracle that they would be on board the Kos shortly, and to prepare the ship for departure as much as possible without letting anyone aboard the Damascus know. Duncan's review of the traffic logs, and Oracle's analysis of the traffic and metadata, indicated to him there was at least one bad actor aboard. At this hour, still technically within the Midwatch , an hour and a half before Morning Watch, many would be asleep. The ships environmental system and lights were calibrated to help create a semblance of the natural daily cycle. Tests and experience showed it was much cheaper and more effective than drugs to keep the basic health and sanity of the crew. Sleep psychosis was a real thing and spacers were more prone to it than others.

Aboard the Kos, Edgar informed Isaac that they would be departing soon. "Please hold on any protocol that requires us to contact docking control or the Bridge. We want to leave with as little forewarning as possible." He leaned forward conspiratorially and spoke lower. "You see, we have at least one spy aboard the Damascus. We dont know who they are but we have been feeding them a steady stream of bad data. We also have a secret that I will reveal once we depart the Damascus. It isnt strictly speaking legal, but these days , when the law sometimes hunts down the innocent, legal isn't always kosher either. "

Of course , given that his best friend whose ship he lived on was the sector's most notorious space pirate, illegal was simply par for the course with Oracle. Morals, on the other hand - doing the right thing, not the morals about judging what people did in bed or with their body - that was another matter entirely, and something that Oracle was scrupulous about. That was why he got along so well with Duncan. Oracle often agonized and thought about issues, with Duncan it was simply a strong sense of himself that seemed attuned to doing the right thing, it was simply who Duncan was, he didn't need to think about it.


In the landing bay for the Kos, Duncan cast a skewed glance at the ship, it's profile had been changed a little by different antenna and extra engine housings. He shrugged, it looked solid enough and it looked like it would stay bolted onto the ship, even if he wasn't sure it worked. Even if it did, it should be used in a shakedown before they used it, but there simply wasn't time. He turned and looked at the beautiful genius he was with. He supposed he could trust a couple of geniuses to make it work, along with some solid engineering wrench work . Of course the Kos always looked a little strange from this angle, where you saw the back end of it, while the front end and front wing sections were exposed outside the hull of the Damascus. The Damascus could accommodate up to 4 such scouts , one in each of 4 purpose built bays. A scimitar class ship with it's full compliment of Assault Scouts was a formidable force.

Everyone else needed to leave on the Kos was already stationed in the landing bay. They fell in behind Duncan. It was partly so that there were few people aboard who needed to snap to and give the whole "Captain on the Bridge" treatment, Duncan was interested in departure. The flight crew in the bay had detached the few manual tubes already, and as soon as Duncan got to the bridge, Oracle activated the automated comm program to simultaneously communicate with the Damascus and run the protocols necessary to undock and disengage. Behind the men boarding, the main ramp was raising and sealing behind them, all the minor outer hatches aboard the Kos were closing and self-dogging.

Duncan pointed Lily to a seat on the bridge next to his , one that pointed to a set of configurable panels . He then looked left and right to the small knot of people on the bridge. Of course He, Lily and Edgar. Murphy the engineer, his 2 hands were back in the main engineering space; though looking at the doo-dads bolted onto Duncan's Bridge, he wasn't sure of that anymore. His , David Long, and the Astrogator, Victor Sokolov, as well as his security chief, Hector Cruz. There were a few more hands aboard , including the Loadmaster/Quartermaster known as Henry. Most everyone aboard the ship was cross trained to perform multiple duties.

Having looked left and right he leaned forward and touched the Comm "Damascus Bridge this is the captain aboard the Kos , we are go for immediate departure. Rig for vacuum aboard the landing bay and make ready in all respects for our immediate departure, Stavros, Out' It was really a mere formality but one he always extended to his crew. The program was already locked in, the klaxon and horn decompression warnings sounding in the bay, nothing coud stop their departure now . A sudden jolt of horizontal G and the Kos was free.

Looking on from the observation booth above the landing bay a dark figure noted the ship's name and relative position, and soon the name Kos was broadcast throughout the region.

Duncan set a course for a nearbye gas cloud where the sensors would be lessened, and noted that the Damascus immediately changed heading and picked up speed, as Duncan had asked. Keep those on board too busy to watch what happened next with the Kos.

Now Duncan lookeed over to Lily with a grin "Ok folks, prepare for a quick reboot of the Ident Core. Remember, we are going to be Starwolf, a registered profiteer lawgiver , essentially, a bounty hunter's ship. And I am your captain, Jonas Hobbes. " Many of those aboard had no idea such a thing was even possible but the regulars had been through it already. Turning back to Lily he noted "We won't easily be followed now, and if anyone puts out a bounty on you, we will be among the first to know. We can also make port in so called legal stations now, too"

With that the pilot asked permission to resume course, to which Duncan/Jonas gave assent, and the Starwolf was now underway.
 
The professor managed a small smile at the tall man beside her as they started past the Kos, her attention going completely to the construction, she went through her bag and pulled out the small communication device that she had rigged to be in contact with Isaac, which she pinned to her collar, the small rectangular piece simply looking like jewelry. "Isaac?" She asked, a small ping sounding only loud enough for her to hear, "Did they manage to properly-"

"Weld the stress dampeners to the back and side bay? Yes, Ms. Lily. They did a bang up job too." The familiar male voice made her smile slightly, and she felt her nerves calm. "Thank you." She ended the com with a tap and started up the ramp. Her gave moving from the ship to the onlooking window, the familiar shadow of a figure caused her lips to turn down.

The ship was a fair size, as she had already memorized the dimensions and knew almost all the parts of it by name it wasn't hard to know where to sit, she had been itching to run diagnostic on all of the components. Sitting on the edge of her seat her hands made themselves busy as she ran through the ships logs and stats to make sure that the take off was going smoothly and running through the systems correctly. Needless to say she was excited to be underway, this all seemed so secretive and foreign to her. She wasn't used to sitting on the back burner like she knew she would be if all went as planned. And that slightly dulled her excitement slightly.

"What how is that...?" Her question trailed and she knew it wasn't always the best idea to ask questions, "Hobbes?" She couldn't help but crack a small smile to herself as she repeated his name.

"Seems like you do this often enough I should really be worried." She replied, but then again she didn't know how valuable she was.

~~~

A fire crackled in a huge stone fireplace, it's flames so high and hot it warmed the whole three story home, rooms upon rooms of old artifacts, priceless prototypes of his countless failures and even fewer successful ones. Dust blew from the cloth covered furniture as the hot summer winds came through the open windows. The fine rug had worn thin before the large arched windows of his study. Papers had been slewed everywhere, invoices, notices, letters from all over the Galaxy, all saying the same thing. The Aurora was gone, the was no trace, nothing. One moment it was on schedule and the next... The next his daughter was gone, the ship she had boarded, vanished like a ghost.

He wiped a hand over his bearded chin, all white now due to the stress he was putting him self through even though it had been longer than a year. He still tortured himself with beautiful hand painted pictures of his daughter upon the walls.

"Incoming call from: William Hortend."said the AI as the screen upon the wall slowly lit up a faint blue.

"I'll take the call..." He said, as he sat in the high backed chair, "What is it Hortend?"

A man upon the screen appeared, he was needless to say, unsavory, his face weathered with the the life of a criminal and shifting eyes like that of a rat. But it was what he was resorting to, criminals, seeing as the Alliance had given up.

"Nice to see you too, Dr. St Clare," he gave a silver toothed grin, "I just thought you might want to know that a ship resembling the Aurora was seen a couple days ago. One of my.... Inventory acquiring, ships ran into one that matched that of the Aurora. Well, for the most part at least." The scotch in his hand trembled slightly at the Pirates words, "Even heard a woman on the com I guess, a bit scattered so my men weren't very sure but they were willing to.... Help the ship in its time of need but the damn thing got away."

"What do you mean it got away!?!" Yelled the man, before he began a violent coughing attack, the handkerchief in his pocket coming out to cover his mouth.

"Careful there old man, wouldn't want you dying on me, seeing as you keep me in the lap of luxury." He chuckled, "It'll cost you..."

"Yes, yes I know, you'll have your payment. And the reward for her is going up. You're going to have to be quick before someone else finds me the proof that she is alive Mr. Hortend or else you don't get a single coin." And with that Edward St Clare hung up the line and leaned back in his chair, a sliver of hope even as he raised the ungodly amount for her rescue to an even higher price on the galaxy black market.
 
Duncan, err, Jonas, now pulled up a dagger from his belt, and waved at everyone on the bridge "Line up for the check" It a sudden change of demanor but it was deadly serious. Even Hector his security chief, who was a well known snarker, got very solemn very quickly. Duncan watched, Oracle went first, the slight man stepping up to a console on the corner of the bridge. He hit a button and a large metallic spike rose out of the console. Oracle took his hand and pricked his palm with the spike. Blood immediately ran down the spike, and he held his hand out over a plastic collection bin. There was a slight whirring sound as well as a red glow from the base of the spike. Then there were 3 loud beeps and a green light came on. "He is clear. I am next" Cruz took it upon himself to alays go early since it was his job to kill any one who failed the test, or at least, shut them down with extreme prejudice.

Duncan sheathed the dagger and pulled Lily aside for an explanation. He assumed she would be rather shocked "You see, we have more than one kind of infiltrator aboard my ships potentially. I think I have gotten them all, but I can't be sure. Now, you probably won't believe this, but there are forces out there beyond our ken, beyond our comprehension. There are, well.. they are aliens. They call themselves the Vaarhl. There is at least one other race, a race of shapeshifters, I dont even know what to call them yet. " He paused to see if she was still with him before continuing.

"Their blood isnt real, but damn bastards can hack most blood analyzers," He shook his head slowly in disbelief, he was a believer in men more than tech. "But so far, not this one that Oracle designed. They cannot make their blood the proper viscosity and model the changes as it is exposed to air. With this test we can see it ourselves. " He paused once more as if considering stopping or pushing on and then decided to go for it.

"This may sound beyond credible, but there may even be other aliens, if you can believe that. I know you probably think I am insane right now, but this is God's honest truth. And I am going to have to ask you to take the blood test, unless you have something you want to tell me first. I trust you, but this is about more than just what my gut tells me. Most of all, I am not going to hurt you , or allow my crew to, if you are a friend, which I believe you are. " He looked at her apologetically but he was firm as well, and then looked over at the men as they lined up and took the test. Of course, she might be an alien but he was willing to assume there could be friendly aliens too, and she had actually already been more helpful than she knew. He knew Oracle would have a kill switch on anything jacked into the Starwolf by Lily , but his gut told him it would not be necessary and he could remove that soon.

Still , a ship's captain could not be seen to be playing favorites. Not in something this deadly serious , the purpose of the test was more than to test the blood. Oracle could have invented a less intrusive and less dramatic test that was just as effective. But this was to give his crew that visceral satisfaction , that confidence that they could trust the people who traveled with them. Something at a far deeper, more instinctual level than their highly evolved senses of logic and fair play, closer to the fight and flight and mating instincts encoded into the animal spirits of their brain stems.

He looked at Lily expectantly to see her response to all of this , and prepared to take the test himself.
 
Lily stood quickly and her brows pulled together in confusion as she watched the equipment rise and all those around her silenced, smirks turned down and hands flexing with the familiar pain that they knew was coming. It was strange, she had never heard of such a thing. Why-? Her thoughts cut off by the familiar hand upon her. "What is going on here?" Her voice was a slight panicked whisper, "Did I step into some cult? Gods, Dunc-!" But the low and seriousness of his voice calmed her slight panic.

Her red brows furrowed even further and lips pursed as she listened and watched one by one as they did as they had to, the whirling and approving light seemed to calm everyone's nerves one after the other. What could she do? Be unsurprised by the news of another race? "There is no such thing Duncan, that's a bedtime story used to scare children...." She said in a low tone, but even to her ears it sounded fake, her eyes fixated on the spike.

It had been so hot, the humid foreign jungle like island surrounded by the clearest waters she had ever seen. But she hadn't been able to venture any where near them with how hard she had been working, so many graves to dig.... So much blood to clean off of her hands...she was exhausted and couldn't take the smell of death any longer. Sun, there were two, Suns. One right after the other and then two moons as well.... So strange...

It was sun set, or Suns set, when she finally ventured to the ocean. The coral reefs were extensive and filled with life, ships were protruding here and there in the shallow waters. One stuck out to her, it was a vessel of some sort of long distance class, there was a box on the top of it that she was familiar with, it had to do with making it so signals could be transferred from a longer distance. And of course, she was going to get it.

She stripped down to her white underwear, tucking her blade into her bra and leaving her tattered tan uniform on the black sand beach. Tying her hair up as she waded into the water swimming over the reef, careful not to touch any creature or plant on her way, not wanting to poison herself. But the water was cool, calm, and welcoming so it was easy to do so.

Reaching the ship she started to climb, her feet and hands slippery upon the metal but she managed. Getting to the top and pulling out the blade to detach it from its console. She didn't know how long she was up there, she was simply happy her mind was upon something other than her own tragedy. But as she was working a stor was rolling in from the east, but her stubbornness forced her to stay.

Winds started howling and she stool, box in hand, her footing careful, eyes focused... But one roaring wave of thunder was like any she had experienced, it was so strong it vibrated the ship she was on and her footing was lost. She remembered giving a loud scream, the box flying from her hand as she slipped from the rounded dome, hands scrambling to anything to grip onto. But she found nothing as another thunderous blast made the ship move, exposing the sharp metal that had been ripped from the ship in crashing....

All she remembered was the pain, the scream from her lungs, as she was empaneled by metal. One going straight through her while two others simply scraped deep gouges into her side. The smell of her own blood, the way her vision began to go dark around the edges every time she moved to get the metal out of her body.... But she was helpless.

Everything came in flashes after that. She remembered whimpering in pain as the metal was taken from her side, hands, soft hands upon her skin, the sound of sand under their feet and faint arguing in a language she didn't know. Pain was soothed and liquid was pored into her mouth and she could do nothing but swallow.... And somehow she survived... Waking up upon the beach with nothing but the scared she bore...

'...I am going to have to ask you to take the blood test, unless you have something you want to tell me first. I trust you....'

At his words her eyes snapped back to him, he wanted her to take it too? By the gods... Even though she kept her face as neutral as possible she knew she didn't have that skilled of a poker face. Panic started to rise in her gut and her lips parted and closed as words refused to come out. The panic that had been rising seemed to settle on one option, she had to do it. He trusted her this far and she trusted him for some blasted reason. She still wanted to plea with him, to ask him not to do this, to let her have her way like the privileged child she used to be. But no words came.

She took a breath and stepped forward, "My turn."

As far as she knew nothing physically about her had changed... Other than the fact that every bodily function simply performed at a higher rate now, which is why she stayed conscious for longer than normal, or why she recovered faster. Whatever she drank on that island..... She shook the memory from her head. She knew she was still human... That's all that mattered.

Her eyes glanced up at Oracle knowing that anything he made would be superior to others. She flexed her hand and forced it to be steady as she raised it over the spike and lowered it slow and steady before swiftly stabbing her palm and wincing from the pain. She watched as her blood dripped down like everyone else's. The whirling commenced and the machine analyzed her blood. It seemed to last for so long.... Taking her hand from the machine and using a handkerchief and closing her fist around it.

Beep. Beep. Beep. Green.

The breath that she didn't know she was holding finally released and her shoulders relaxed. She stayed long enough to watch the captain do his and have it confirmed before backing out of the bridge and heading swiftly to the medical bay. She didn't have to even look up to find her way.

She entered and went to the bandages taking one and some alcohol before realizing how unnecessary it all was... "God damn it..." She cursed and ran her unclenched hand through her hair and paced the small white room.
 
Duncan was relieved when Lily passed the test. The way she had been acting had made him nervous. There was a point there where the woman was clearly elsewhere, somewhere very far from where they were right now on the bridge of the ship now known as the Starwolf. Of course Duncan often had that effect on young women, or so he liked to think, but in this case it was something else. Duncan put his hand on her shoulder to comfort her, but was dismayed as she fled the bridge. He started to go after her, but it was his turn now. This, in a way, was the purest form of proto-democracy, essentially mob rule. No one escaped the test unless they wanted to be thought to be hiding something. Everyone was equal in this one thing. This level of equality at least was more merciful than the Reign of Terror back in Revolutionary France. On the other hand, it had not been fully established what the protocol would be if someone tested as non-human. These were not wild-eyed monsters he was with , he had selected this his most trusted crew carefully. They were men of action but not thoughtless or heedless. He shuddered to think what might happen back aboard the Damascus were such a test to be implemented and an alien discovered, especially among the rank and file enlisted. The able hands weren't necessarily all that into self-restraint.

Duncan sighed briefly, but then grimly pressed his palm onto the machine quickly, he wanted to be in with Lily imediately but now was the time. He of course passed it, it was no surprise to anyone of course. He turned to Cruz "Have the rest of the crew report to the bridge in pairs, to complete the test. No exceptions, of course" He then turned and noted that Oracle had already left the bridge.

Oracle had tracked down Lily in the sickbay. The slight man cleared his throat to announce his presence. "I.. well, the test does hurt a bit I know It is purposely sort of dramatic so the men trust it on an instinctual level. We all have to trust one another. Don't be too hard on Duncan. Now, I haven't seen these bastards yet exactly, but I trust him. The evidence is there, their fingerprints are on events everywhere. " He paused "I should probably have a chat with your AI as well, he might be somewhat confused by the identity change and the like" He left Lily , excusing himself and went to find his Pod, slipping into it, he punched up a connection to Isaac.


"Greetings Isaac. I just wanted to make sure you aren't too confused about what has been happening on the ship now called the Starwolf. I know these kind of things can be confounding to mechnicanical intelligences, but understand we are still the same nice people. Just, there are bad people after us. We are going to deliver Lily too her father of course. Though I admit, Duncan has that look in his eye. I think he is a bit smitten, or at least, he isn't in any big hurry to be rid of her either. And I have to admit I am enjoying your company as well, Isaac. Not in the same way of course, not that there's anything wrong with that." The slender, meticulously groomed man's voice trailed off .wondering where he had heard that before. "I just wanted you to know, before we got to Tectus"

Meanwhile Duncan came to Lily, not with so many words but a comforting hand on her shoulder "I am here to listen, and answer any questions you have for me. Now you know why I was especially concerned aboard the Damascus. But I do trust you Lily. And I wanted to let you know, we were heading to Tectus system, to hopefully finish any refit work needed. "

At the same time, the Starwolf was performing a high-g burn to a nearby space station, in orbit around a red dwarf star known as Tectus Astrum. It's name meant hidden star, because it was not visible from earth or any of the Inner Colonies by the most powerful of telescopes due to it's low intensity. But it was still powerful enough for the close orbiting Tectus Station to draw considerable power. And more importantly, if one did not know the station was there it would be almost impossible to notice, the station was close to the minimal corona of Tectus Astrum, so most of it's emissions were not noticed unless one knew what to look for.

Of course nearby in astronomical terms was very relative, and it would still be a good time before they would even be in contact with the station. The station was known as a grey station. It wasn't closed to illegals but they weren't all that welcome here either. It wasn't run by any governments or large corporations; the risks and secrets of keeping the station safe so close to such an unstable star were more trouble and risk than most corporations would ever want to assume. It was essentially like a Free City back on old earth. But one still best mind their Ps and Qs, they held no truck with troublemakers or rabble rousers of any sort.
 
Lily had finally landed on one the examination tables head in her hands and an inner war raging. Isaac was simply far too loud in her ear asking her question upon question, she had to take the com off of her. Although the A.I. meant well she didn't have time to explain everything to him. Nor was she good at lying to him.

She jumped from the sound of Oracle and turned to look at him, the unthreatening man so calm and collected.... The woman signed at his words, "That is very kind of you..." She looked down at the small metal that contained a piece of Issac all to herself, "I'm sure he has plenty for you..." She drifted off and took a breath, his words did calm her, at least she knew that the crew thought of her as one of them now, if she was lucky.

"Mr. Oracle!" If an A.I. system could sound relieved than that would be it, "Confused isn't the right word, offended maybe, I should have been forewarned about this, this complete and utter change of all information. I don't even think Miss. Lily knew seeing as she isn't talking to me at the moment." He sounded hurt, "Either way, I'll not pretend to understand what a look in ones eye means, could mean anything, or nothing at all. Your assumptions could be false. But seeing as you have not yet been so I'll let you take the lead on whatever it is."

"The Tectus Station?..." The A.I. drifted off as he started to research for his own learning purposes, "It seems we are going to be in rather... Interesting company. Do we know where the ship is to be docked? Who will go aboard the station? Are any supplies needed? I could attain a list from the database." Needless to say he was excited, it would be his first time aboard a station of the sort.

Her next visitor was the original one she was expecting. Her cheek went to rest on the back of his hand as he spoke, eyes closing and usually board straight shoulders slumped as both her hands laid in her lap the uninjured one cradled in the other, gripping the bloodied cloth. Although his words were comforting it did nothing for the knots in her stomach as she sat on the clean white plastic covered examination bed with her back to him.

"Duncan you have to understand.... I..." The words were hard until she closed her eyes and let them come out, "I don't know what happened, I should have died on that island," her hand went to her side, feeling the lifted scar that resided under her shirt, and she turned around swiftly so her legs were on either side of him, facing him now, "You saw them, my scars, no human could have survived such a deep rip in their abdomen without immediate medical assistance, but one moment I'm impaled by the ruin of a ship and the next... The next I hear these voices, and a liquid..." She shook her head" I remember it all so vividly, the taste, the smell, how it burned through my body. I remember screaming but nothing came out." She looked up at him now, her green eyes troubled and worried he might assume her to be crazy like she imagined her sounding.

She let her eyes fall to her hands once again, as she held the recently injured one up for his eyes to see. She opened her fist and unwrapped the soiled cloth from her palm. Before him, where everyone saw, everyone knew her skin had been pierced, blood had been shed... There was nothing. Nothing but a pink remainder of what was.

"Whatever I drank, whatever saved me on that island... It healed me. Almost too well, it's like my cells are on overdrive...." She reached for the blade that he stowed in his belt and took it swiftly, "I can show you, again and again," she was panicking slightly now, worried that he wouldn't trust her any longer, worried he would stick her in a cage to be tested upon. She pressed the sharp edge against her palm and gripped the blade hard until more blood started to drip down her wrist. The pain making her gasp sharply.

"You have to believe me, you have to."
 
Oracle patiently answered Isaac's questions "You see, it is being kept from much of Duncan's crew too, and we never know that we don't have someone listening until we are in space. We also don't want to let on that we know about the aliens , in case any of them could be on board the Damascus, as well. We think not, but with shape changers, can one ever truly be confident?

"As far as Tectus" he continued "Well, the special nature of the station makes contacting them remotely a quite difficult exercise. There is a lot of interference from the dwarfstar. They have had a relay but riffraff tend to target it and blast it out of existence. But by all means, if you can raise the station database, please do so. Perhaps they have put out a new relay that no space delinquent has blown out of the sky" He was especially frustrated remembering when Duncan himself had once used that relay to re-initialize his targeting sensors after they had been scrambled by a solar flare from Tectus Astrum. Just because 'everyone' did it was no excuse for gratuitous destruction.

Oracle smiled. Isaac was like a child, eager to learn, and scared of the unknown. He was really quite a piece of technology. The mind that created him was strong and beautiful indeed, and was attached to such a beautiful exterior. Oracle felt his ears burn as he thought about the woman now, no doubt in the medbay, in Duncan's arms. Duncan , Duncan, Duncan. The man was a walking hormone. But , of course, every woman loved him. Strong, decisive, confident, and competent in a great many things. Why couldn't this one woman just want a more... brainy suitor? Why couldn't Duncan leave one for him?

Of course, he admitted, he rarely ever showed any interest in women directly, he was far too painfully shy for the most part, or perhaps more correctly, intensely private. Especially since he had lost his true love a decade ago. She had been an artist, a ravishing redhead named Angelica. Since then, the few dates he had tried had been unmitigated fiascos. Since then, he had taken to the habit of the occasional dalliance with well trained Geisha on various stations. He had not even considered a frolic with one of the various females on Duncan's crew , many of whom were essentially just space-going camp followers. Most of those were in essence no better than unregistered Companions, several in fact were formerly registered and had lost their licenses or let them lapse. To be fair, there was no longer a true central licensing authority for anything anymore. Still, most legitimate Companions preferred to be registered through some official sounding clearinghouse like the Companion's Guild to show they were legitimate businesswomen, and not some desperate drugged out beanstalk floozy looking to earn just enough for her next fix and not averse to rolling her john. No, Edgar wanted no association with wanton slatterns of such ill repute, thank you very much, indeed.


Back in the sickbay, Duncan listened mostly, simply nodding and smiling, and then pulling her close and caressing her cheek. He gazed deeply into her eyes and then suddenly pressed his mouth to hers, hard, pulling her body close, one hand behind her head the other on her waist slightly scooping her up. Their lips crashed together and he hungrily kissed her deeply while he pressed against her. Had the medbay not been hard to effectively lock down with out a Condition Red in place, he would have done much much more, his passion for her was obviously unabated. He broke the kiss and smiled sayng simply "I do trust you Lily. With my life. And much more than that. And I believe you , as well. It sounds like there are mysteries to be solved. I used to be considered quite the investigator, I would like to help you find those answers. Maybe they are the key to understanding my own mysteries. "

Meanwhile the once distant star Tectus was visible for everyone on the bridge to see as a small solar flare shot out from it's dark face, only to be collected by a large tube aboard Tectus Station. Having that kind of power allowed Tectus Station to be a full fledged primary fabrication station, with industrial grade smelters that could create even military grade plating, with the right raw materials and programming.
 
She had expected a reaction but it had been far from this one. She was vulnerable, a word that a St. Clare should never use, but she was and his hands against her did more than enough to sooth her dangerous truth that she had just bestowed upon him. He was the only human that knew.

The blade in her hand clattered to the ground and her once again injured hand swiftly wrapped in the already bloodied cloth as she pressed her body and mouth against his. She let his warmth an solid stature crash over her in demanding but gentle movements. It was a comfort she had yet to experience. One like this. One she enjoyed as her worries seemed to be dissolved in physical touches.

Green eyes fluttered open as he pulled from her, her legs had twisted themselves around his waist and arms around his neck. He body responding without her telling it to do so. All she wanted him to do was take her into his arms and never let go.

Lily's lips made a small smile as her legs relaxed around him, taking a deep breath, "Thank you, Captain Hobbes..." Her attempt at being light hearted, "I have..." She cleared her throat as it had suddenly gotten tight, "I have something else that I think you should know-"

"Captain, Captain we are approaching the station."

The professors words interrupted by the com channel she let her legs drop to the ground completely and she stood before him, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear, "Duties are duties. I'll see you on the bridge, captain." Giving him a slight nod as if to say she would tell him at a later time, if she got the courage up to do so. She turned and went to the sink, washing her almost dried blood from her palm before picking up her own small com from the table and placing it where it belonged.

"Isaac, tell me what you know about the station..." And with that he began to tell her all the information he collected about it, the layout, the various vendors. And like Isaac she was ever so excited to explore the station.
 
Tectus Station
ipAuLW.jpg

Duncan, or Jonas as he reminded himself , made his way to the bridge. He wanted to know what Lily had been about to tell him, but he had learned with women that she would tell him in her own time if at all, and never before. If crewjacks were like dogs, women were like cats, and trying to control a cat was the surest way to ensure it would do exactly what you didn't want. The woman would tell him, he knew, but not now. Besides, there was work to be done.


On the bridge his mate , Rodriguez, the third mate from the Damascus, was talking to Tactus Station Control. "Roger that Control, Starwolf acknowledges, sending full ident hash now" There was a bit of a high pitched squeal for a fraction of a second over the comms before that section of the transmission was automatically masked. Oracle, who was technically the comms officer, made a mental note to improve the auto-filtering subroutine.

Tactus control paused for a moment 'This is Tactus Station Control , welcome back to the station, Starwolf, Captain Hobbesl, you and your crew you are assigned to bay Armstrong-02. We do ask that you check in with Trefoil Security Control if you are here to pursue any bounties, as well no doubt there are a few bounties available there to be had as well, but you will need to contract them " Station security was handled by a PMC, or more precisely, a Private Police Corporation , it was a fairly common arrangement since most ruling groups didn't want to go to the expense and complication of training and equipping their own force of investigators and enforcers. Trefoil was known to be relatively impartial and above board as far as those kinds of companies go, and generally their cops weren't known for giving breaks based on what corporation one perp or victim might work for.

Each of the 3 main docking platforms had a letter designation A, B and C, though as opposed to the standard "Alpha Bravo" designation , these were named after historical figures who were vital to space exploration. Armstrong was named of course for Neil Armstrong, Brahe for astronomer Tycho Brahe, and Copernicus for the famous Polish astronomer. Of course some claimed to find it a bit confusing , because there were other stars and stations named after these individuals But all of them were many light years from here and unlikely to lead to any real confusion.

Each of the 3 platforms had 3 main docking bays as well as some smaller private docks and hard points to dock on the outside. All told the station was huge, with multiple marketplaces and habitat levels and and promenades in each of the docking sections, and even more in the center section. Though the bottom of the center section was devoted to heavy industry, power production and life support.

The helmsman , Mr Long, took the nimble scout-class ship in on the prescribed course , sliding easily into their slot in the landing queue, meanwhile Jonas got ready to get off and do some business " I believe Lily will be be coming with me but I am not sure yet. But I think she will have some last minute instructions . Oracle , get the ship to a refit berth where you guys can work on it. Cruz, you and Maddox make sure that nobody takes too much of an interest in what we are doing or gets close enough to see much. Rig up containment tents if you have to, tell them we are going to do some hull-blasting to scrape off space dust. " He turned and waited to land now, sitting down into the Captain's chair for the first time this entire trip.
 
Wild red hair was braided down her back while Isaac spoke on and on about that various marketplaces that rotated throughout the station. "Isaac, I have no need to purchase a sword, especially one I'm sure did not originate from the Revolution off of George Washington himself." She pulled a black shawl from her bag, "You shouldn't believe everything you read on transmissions."

"We must take a look at least!"

St Clare rolled her eyes and let the thin black fabric cover her hair, "I'm not indulging your irrational need to see that." She said with a laugh as she grabbed a small bag and slung it over her shoulders, "Perhaps Oracle might like to go with you, he seems very fond of you."

"He is also very fond of you." Replied the A.I.

She raised a brow, "Huh.... Thought that the man didn't like anyone. Well, seeing as I can hold a conversation with him about the structure of a structurally sound carbon fitted haul." And with that she headed to the bridge and watched at the orchestra was conducted. Everyone knew their job and their place. But she stayed back, simply observing as the conductor in his chair observed without distraction. Everything went so smoothly. They arrived at the station with little to no jarring of the haul, landing procedures going as smooth as could be assumed. She resisted the urge to clap.

"I suggest you keep in mind that the ship could use some touch ups as well to keep everything in place while doing so Mr. Oracle." She noted, wanting to do them herself but the need to go and explore was far more irresistible. And with that she turned and headed towards the loading bay, knowing Duncan wasn't far behind her.

Lily was the first at the door, her eager eyes watching as the crack became a door and she hardly waited until the metal touched the floor before strolling down the ramp. The hood upon her head almost fell as she looked up to see several stories dedicated to loading and docking. Several languages were being yelled and echoing, she could piece together what most of them were saying, mostly cursing. She smiled.

"Wow..." She whispered, she had never been in such a large space station with so many different people, a woman passing by carrying what looked like pounds of colorful fabric atop her head, gave Lily a smile. While another carried a basket stated her friend as they hurried past to assumingly get to their ship. It was all very, large.

The crew had already started to do what they had been told and Lily turned to see Duncan walking off the ship, "Captain!" Her excited voice escaped and she quickly mentally slapped herself for sounding so, "Jonas, will you be going to the marketplaces?" It was her attempt to ask him to go with her, seeing as she didn't exactly know how to get there as well as she wouldn't mind a chance to hold onto his arm without the crew seeing.
 
Oracle made the arrangements for the ship to get into repair berth, making sure to back date it as if it were a previous appointment. But he had no intention of going off the ship or anywhere besides in his pod. Certainly, intellectually and scientifically, he knew that the station was safe, even against a major solar flare.

But the radiation levels outside the station were often extreme, and the area was also choked with coal sack black tendrils of toxic , corrosive and also radioactive dust from asteroids that burned up in close orbit around the dwarf star. He simply felt safest inside the controlled environment of his pod. Duncan of course understood the man and his eccentricities and let him have his way much of the time. Hell, Duncan wasn't exactly comfortable being this close to that dirty demon star.

Duncan for his part was busy making last minute calls , of course as Jonas Hobbes, including one to Trefoil Security Central. He scanned the wants and warrants, and while he didn't yet sign up for any directly, he let them know if he found one he would bring them in. Reading the list was always a bit of an adventure for Duncan. Too many times he had found names from his crew - mostly ones on the Hazard but a few from the Scimitar. Today there was no such cringing necessary.


As he head the gangway going down, he moved in the direction he had seen the young Dr St. Clare, though he preferred to think of her as Lily. Looking through the docking bay, it reminded him of a small boomtown might have looked like in the old west, in some ways. Stands were being setup near most of the ships, selling exotic foods, goods and services. there were people renting themselves out to push carts to carry luggage and goods, as most spacers were not used to such a high level of gravity. Gravity in this part of the station was at .5 Earth Standard

As he ambled down the ramp, Lily wondered aloud if he would escort her 'Gladly Ms Lily, would be glad to escort you anywhere you would like to go" with the hustle and bustle on deck of the docking area, it struck Duncan that Lily's red hair and womanly curves stuck out a bit more now. Was it his perception of her that had changed or was it the surroundings. He would leave his musings for another time though. As a registered bounty hunter, going under sidearm, he needed to keep his mind on where he was and what people were doing around him. All too often someone could be out for a fight , or someone with a want or warrant on them might think the huntr was coming after him. In truth, the cover brought with it a bit more attention than he would normally have liked. But it gave him important connections to the Legal Net , which he was sure Oracle had Jenkins mining already. Getting direct access to those updated feeds was really like pure gold, especially for his various side projects, especially The BIG one. He wondered when Oracle would introduce Isaac to Jenkins. Of course who knew how that might go. Oracle was always very careful introducing two advanced AIs to one another. He had told Duncan once the story of two competing AIs that had set their civilizations into a war with one another based on a rounding error in the 27 septillionth place of π

Now Duncan came down next to Lily , standing on her right, so he could take right with his left. That left his right hand to draw the blaster on his hip if need be. He also had a holdout slugthrower that held 16 rounds in a chest pocket with couple more mags for that as well. Blasters were all well and good, but in space a slug thrower was often a lot more reliable and effective, especially when in the vacuum of space. of course, no one would be going EV here. Very few hazard suits were rated for more than a minute at the levels of radiation that existed outside.

He saw the gangplank go up behind him, apparently the Starwolf had gotten a repair berth. Gravity would be lower in that section, Duncan knew. He turned to the lovely redhead "So where are we going , I am at your disposal" He grinned, hoping to put her in a good mood. He for once was , it seemed. He hoped it meant good things for his near future. Still, he noted the way the Trefoil Triad nearest him kept an eye on him. Trefoil security usually worked in groups of 3 instead of the more standard partners parings It allowed for more specialists in the field rather then requiring both partners be primarily enforcers.
 

"So where are we going, I am at your disposal."

That was all she needed. She gave him a bright smile, one she hadn't felt upon her lips in a long while. Her own calloused pale hand quickly slid into his before he could object and started tugging him towards the closest market place she could recall from the maps.

Even though Lily was one of be best doctorates of space engineering, having gotten her degrees faster than anyone before her, she was still so new to the world that was life around her. While while most fathers bought their little girls horses or dolls, hers preferred to spend hours upon hours in his workshop teaching her how to build her very own hover craft for her only to crash and fix by herself. Her father was also very protective. After her mother died her schooling was no longer at the private school but in the security of their own home. He refused to go to meetings, preferring to be there holographically, and only allowed Lily out of his sight when he knew that the hired security was only feet away from her at all time.

So this.... This was fantastic.

She knew by reading the various signs that they were in section B, their docking bay seemed to be in the very middle of all the others. She guided him up the stairs and spotted the small tram that she knew led to the front of the docking bay where the larger 'courtyard' could be found. From the images she saw it was simply a large room, with bars and little vendors selling everything from food to clothing.

"Come! We are going to miss it!" She said with a laugh and let go of his hand to run through the crowd. Weaving and saying sorry in versions languages. Before hopping onto the already crowded tram.

Just as he caught up to her and followed suit the doors slid closed and she laughed, a bright sound. She tucked her purse under her arm to keep stray hands from wondering as the sudden jerk of the tram caused her to loose her balance, "oh!" her hands landed upon Duncan's chest, one of her feet between his with their hips off center from one anther but close enough to feel the heat of his body against hers.

"Not enough room for us anyways..." She said in a soft voice as she looked up at him, the black material had fallen from her head, Lily's hands traveling from his chest to his shoulders and around his neck on their own accord. "Am I allowed to kiss the Captain... Or is that not part of the play?" She asked her eyes slipping down from his eyes his lips and back up. She didn't know how in depth of a cover he was.
 
Duncan grinned as his eager companion pulled him through the spaceport. Moving through it was like a complicated and dangerous dance, part graceful ballet, part mosh pit slam dance, part frenetic break dance, and part well planned square dance with people moving in cooperation. So there were usually a lot of starts and stops to avoid getting run over by push carts or floating platforms.

He was impressed at the number of langages she was conversant with in at least a rudimentary fashion, it seemed to him it was her own real voice with no digital delay, click or strange echo from a translator implant. As they got caught by the doors closing, he grinned at her. He was impressed , she seemed quite the polyglot. Of course I knew most of those languages too, though more the curse words than the greetings.

He had to admit, she was vivacious, she made him feel much much younger, while simultaneously reminding him that he was no longer truly young. His old bones would get pretty sore pretty fast, he would make sure to up his Supplement #39 for sure. At least he wasn't breathless keeping up with her, he smirked to himself.

Now with her hands around his neck and her question lingering in the air and he chuckled "Allowed? More required, I would reckon. After all bounty hunters are known to be scoundrels of the first order, maybe even moreso than , well, you know" He had almost said the P word but he was aware , through Oracle, of the data mining various people were doing with listening devices in public places of all sorts, looking for keywords, and pirate was probably high on the hit list.

So instead he cut his talking short by kissing her, pulling her up by her waist, his lips crashing to hers. He kissed her deeply, keeping an eye out for anyone approaching , not because he cared about convention, but that the person he was pretending to be should care somewhat about convention. But right now , his focus was on her, his hand through her hair and on the other on her backside, squeezing.

If anything his kisses were even more hungry than the first ones back aboard the Damascus. As he became more comfortable with her he found he needed her more and more. He promised himself he would shield her from his dark side, his darker urges. He had made such promises before...
 
He caught her lips as she was smiling, but she swiftly returned with her own vigor. Allowing the movement of the tram to keep her off balance and pressed against him further as his hands touched her body and her own hands going to the back of his head. Her lips moving with his, emerald eyes closed and oblivious to the world, all that mattered was the fact that the hand through her hair made her shiver and she couldn't help but enjoy where his other had deviously slid to. Lily bit his lip gently as she pulled away and felt the tram start to slow.

"I think you should require those more often, Captian." Her voice slightly breathless and cheeks a little flush, body already warmed from just the kiss and how she recalled their night together. This was all so exciting. She was in a new place, unknown, none of these people here would ever meet her ever again and she had a handsome man willing to kiss her at any given moment.

The doors slid open and people filed out around them, she took her time moving from him and stepping from the mental platform.... Her eyes widened as she simply watched all the people, the sheer amount of people.... So many different types, colors, goods.... She was immensely intrigued as she began to walk slowly down the aisles.

"My lady! Lovely fragrances to catch any man in your web!" "vere languores curarent omnem morbum aquam!" "Dried meats! The best in the galaxy!" "革ホルスター!" "Organically, hydroponically grown fruit!"

All of these offers were received with a smile and she nodded and kindly told them how beautiful their product was, how good it smelled but she refrained from buying anything.

A soft hand upon her shoulder made her turn swiftly and quickly brush the touch away. "A lovely flower like yourself should be in that simple thing..." Said a chiming voice, "I have shawls just for you my dear."

Large and more or less exposed breasts were the first thing she noticed, before she looked up only to see a pair of long lashed brown eyes looked at her with a rather amused smile. "I don't need any, I swear." She gave a small laugh and glanced at Duncan.

"Nonsense! Come now!" The woman gave Duncan a slow lingering look, her blue eyeshadow getting more visible as her eyes continued lower and lower, "Unfortunately, men, aren't allowed." Her painted nails ended up on her chin, "Even for you sweet cheeks."

Lily gave a soft laugh and looked from Duncan to the woman and back again, "I, well I guess I'll just be a minute, I'll catch up with you Captain." And with that she took Lily's hand in hers and took her into the brightly colored tent, every inch was covered in expensive fabric, embroidered with dazzling beads, women were also sitting on large cushions, chatting and drinking chilled tea. They all looked up when she stepped, before returning to their conversations, "I think you have wrong idea, I-Im not-" she stopped herself from saying prostitute, as she suddenly realized that this is what this tent was filled with. The further back they got the more intimate the apparel.

"You don't have to be." She gave her a wink and strolled over to a couple dresses hanging on the wall, she took several down, a gold, black, and green. They were all flowing silk. "Go go, try them on." She patted Lily on the backside and closed the curtain behind her she tried the gold, it was, well all she could say was it was far too exposing to be of any practical use in the real world. Then the black was beautiful with an exposed midriff and a sarong skirt cut unto the hip. But when she walked out in the green the girls stopped and gave her all approving looks. It was a strapless dress with flowing sleeves attached to the sides, around her waist was a deep brown leather corset tired in the front to accentuate her waist before dropping down in a flowing Grecian style dress to her ankles. And atop her head the friendly companion placed a god scarf over her red hair. Even throwing over matching under garments.

Lily couldn't help but laugh as the girls fitted over her hair and makeup, "This really isn't necessacary, but I don't think I'll be buying-" before she finished the sentence she was forcefully turned around to look in a floor length mirror and she couldn't help but gasp. That was her. Her hair and pale skin stood out from the deep green. Her wide hips flared dramatically and made it look like she had far more cleavage than she really did as it pressed them up.

"Stunning honey, simply gorgeous...."

"Wow.. Was all she could say as she took a closer look to see the shimmer on her cheeks and black on her lashes. "You're all miracle workers." And she was of course now going to buy it, as she dug through her purse and pulled out a small coin purse. Inside were uncut gems. She had found them on a crashed ship. Most likely a pirate ship smuggling them somewhere but that hadn't stopped her from taking them. "Here, I hope these do." She gave her several, all priceless gems waiting to be cut and sold for far mor.

The woman looked at the stones and her manicured brows raised high before stowing them away quickly between her breasts. "That's perfect my dear."

And with that she headed out of the tent looking for Duncan among all the people. Perhaps he was further down. She didn't know she wasn't very good at focusing seeing everyone moving around her and every bright color catching her attention.
 
Duncan laughed as the hawker pulled his companion in for some attention "Don't do anything I wouldn't do" he called after her. It would give him some time to take care of some more business. He punched up the control center "This is Jonas Hobbes, I believe you have my registration and authorization on file. I am downloading the feed of course, but I was wondering if there were any special ones out there you were looking for or hot tips. " Hobbes was known for the legally grey area of minor kickbacks to rank and file personnel, usually within certain bounds like paying their tab at the bar , buying them drinks, meals, etc.

"Well Captain Hobbes, I will tell you what, I may have a couple that have been sitting around a bit too long that might have been a bit too hot for some of the local yokels , and send you to your channel" the man spoke quietly, as if not wanting to be overheard. "Very good, I would like that , Tanner, is it? I will look for it. Hobbes out"

At that, he pinged the queues of a few of his informants aboard the station. Mostly bartenders, but a few other type of workers including Circe , a "socaliator" to put it politely, or partially compensated whore to put it less politely. That done, he turned just in time to see Lily. At first he did not recognize her, thinking her to be a women like Circe. Duncan paused his jaw dropped upon realizing it was Lily. He saw her and her confusion. Lily apparently didn't have a lot of experience in crowds. He would keep an eye on her, especially with her looking like that she would be a good candidate to get grabbed by a Press gang. Shanghaied and put to work on a pleasure cruise vessel or on a freighter as entertainment for the crew.

He came up to the side of her and seized her arm and spun her to face him, "I have to say, I approve, Lily. " He could not take his eyes off her.


--
Location - Unknown location along the "Jump Lanes" to the Omega Frontier

Several large ships float in space, with no lights to indicate their presence they are hard to see. Several are Scimitar class cruises, but one of them is much more massive. On it's side it is marked as a ship of the line for the old defunct IEF , named GOLIATH . CHD-TTC103. CHD was Ceres Hub Dockyard, this ship had originated from near earth in the Asteroid Belt, most likely with materials mined from that belt. The TTC marked it as a Tactical Transport Carrier . A Tactical Transport Carrier was essentially an aircraft cattier combined with a troop carrier in the old Earth surface navies.

The ship was near 30 years old , but it's kind had never been seen in the Omega sector. The ship had first undergone space trials and then saw a couple of missions in inner Sol Union, and then the Hub Colonies.

It was 20 years ago when the Goliath was sent on its current mission, but no one in the Omega sector knew precisely what that was. And in fact, only 2 men knew for sure of the existence of the Goliath and the other ships in the fleet. But as the ships made a series of preprogrammed short jumps, they were finally, after 20 years, nearing their destination at Greenwich Prime. But that was still some time off, as the ships had stopped their pre-programmed jump cycles awaiting input once more.
 
"Oh!" The red haired woman gave a small gasp at the sudden attention and spun to look up into familiar gray eyes, she gave a small laugh, was she... Was she really feeling bashful? She couldn't help but laugh again at not only herself for feeling the way she did, watching as his eyes they moved slowly down and back up again. "Well I'm glad you're enjoying yourself, Mr. Hobbes, just don't make me do any running in this I don't think I'd be able to breath if we did." She told him with a smile, "Could have bought you a matching one in there if you like this one so much, tell all my new friends how much you're enjoying this one and all." One thing was certain she enjoyed the way he was looking at her. Lily got a flicker of a thought and felt he needed to know as she moved in close, her chest pressing against his, hands on his sides, moving to her toes to get closer to his cheek, "Now, just think how much fun it'll be to get off..." She whispered softly before pushing him back gently and walking away, "Only if you can, Captain." She told him over her shoulder as she headed down in the general direction of where she knew of a bar, he was going to buy her a drink and she was going to enjoy herself for as long as she could.

Maybe it was the clothes that made her say that, or the fact that she was on an illegal space station, with a pirate, in the middle of no where and no one she would ever have to see again.

~~~

They sent scouts to every and any station, large, small, deep space or next door, there was no place that the men St Clare hadn't hired. They weren't the most savory either. But seeing as the reward had nearly tripled with the new information that was brought to light. And seeing as it was highly illegal what he was doing, none knew why they were searching for her just simply knew that she had to be alive.
 
Duncan grinned "Aye, a drink would be fine, hey wait up there, missy" he called after her. For a girl concerned about her mobility in her current getup. she could move when motivated. And she was properly motivated, Duncan realized. Think about it - the girl had been lost for months. No civilization. And as fine company as he knew he made, he wasn't replacement for an entire society.

Still, he pictured her as the type to isolate herself in the cloisters of academia or the laboratory. Then again, perhaps she had been past due to blow off some steam. He definitely enjoyed blowing off steam with her, he grinned at the thought. He could feel in his tac suit that he would definitely enjoy it again soon.

Be that as it may, he needed to get her to confide more about what had happened , her time away. Because something important may have happened, important either scientifically, or in relation to their tactical situation and continued safely. And the longer she was away from it, the more she will forget. So , at some point, he would talk with her. It wasn't exactly compelling pillow talk. And while he doubted it was what she wanted to talk about now, it might be. It might be just the sort of thing she needed to unburden.

There were a lot more eyes on her now in her new outfit, he had to admit. His chief Tactical Analyst, Rog Rogers , would probably have an aneurysm. Rog was a bit detailed oriented, to the point that even Oracle considered him OCD. Rog was back aboard the Damascus, happily for those aboard the Starwolf. It was just that a little Rog went a long way. He was always pointing out miniscule possibiities and going on about them. While that level of paranoia helped keep order aboard the Damascus where he knew there was at least 1 spy, a free wheeling bounty hunter didn't need that kind of rain cloud hovering over his mood constantly .

It was absurd, after all, what were the chances someone there happened to be trying to locate and grab Lily? Now was a time to relax.


He entered the Thorn and Raven after her. The place was kind of a hodge-podge. It wanted to be a dark sort of atmospheric place, but it was still close enough to the dock that most of the patrons were transitory ships crew here to drink hard while they had a few days or hours of liberty and shore leave. After all , Class Prime stations like , with interior berthing for hundreds of ships , were fairly rare. Most of the time any berthing was exterior, and scare enough that ships were only docked while actually loading or unloading. At other times the ships would orbit nearby and get to the station by tender.

But of course that would never work here, the solar flares and intense radiation were too much for most ships to deal with for more than a couple of hours at best.

That and the extralegal nature of the station and it's strong defense force made the station popular, and that in turn made it's drinking establishments doubly so. This was likely the best station that most spacers would see in any given year, granted the lack of a planet to hit made it decidedly someplace more popular for short term visits. Of course, there was a sizeable permanent or semi permanent population here. The Thorn and Raven serviced both populations - the transient spacers and the "campers" who called the station their home

He came up behind her, putting one hand on her small of her back and pressing closer "Mm, so could I buy you a drink young lady?" He turned to the tall slender bald man wearing suspenders behind the zinc bar "Whatever the lady is having and I will start off with a Kentucky bourbon. " To date no one had yet fomulated bourbon on the frontier of any note compared to that from back on Earth. While the longer inhabited hub colonies had had some limited success, it was just not quite done right out here yet. Of course that made a good Kentucky bourbon very scarce and very expensive. Which is why usually one would only take the "good stuff" for the first shot , and sip it slow.


Duncan smiled at Lily "I think we are both due for some fun" on force of habit he scanned the bar for Law Enforcement types who were keying on him. He didn't see any but there was heavy interest in the girl he was with. Still, that was likely to just be guys looking at a hot young woman. Duncan chided himself for turning into Rog. It was time to relax.
 
The privileged girl didn't notice the eyes upon her even as she hiked up her skirts over her knees to show her scuffed brown boots. Glancing over her shoulder to see the tall captain following after her with one of his wolffish grins upon his mouth. Only making her walk faster to her destination.

She only took a moment to look up at the sign hanging from the door, a rose throned wrapped around the feet of a raven as if to keep it from flight. Her head cocking to the side in interest but she simply pushed through the door and took a moment to look at everything. It was very open for a bar, worn pool tables, music that she didn't recognize played, a bar that had seen better days, tables against the walls and spiraling stairs leading up to...? Well she didn't know. Everyone seemed to be minding their own business as she walked through to the bar and opened her mouth to get the attention of the barkeep but Duncan beat her to it.

Lily smiled and rolled her eyes, "Yes, you may, Sir." Her attention turned to the keep, "Double gin and tonic on the rocks please." He nodded and turned from the pair. She simply hoped that whatever she got was something close to gin.

"Some fun?" She turned so her back was to the bar, "And what does Captain Hobbes do for fun?" A cold drink was placed close to her elbow, she reached over and took a long sip, ignoring the taste, "Pool? Dance atop the bar? Bar brawls? Get himself into trouble I'd assume." She said musing to herself as her eyes scanned the dimly lit bar people were dancing, all shapes and sizes, "I'd bet almost anything that I could beat you at a game of pool, Hobbes." It was a challenge. The doctorate graduate pushed herself from the bar and headed to the free table, it's green faded to white in places, chips of wood taken out of the sides from who knows what. She bent to get the balls from the pockets, rolling them gently onto the table. She hadn't played in years, there had been a billiard in her fathers den, he used it for nights when the men from his corporate office came and she wasn't allowed to go inside, often smelling the strong cigar smoke waft through the window as she climbed the large willow trees to see. She arranged the balls in order inside the triangle, rolling them a couple times before lifting the plastic and setting it aside.

Grabbing two weathered pool ques and tossing one to Duncan. She let her weight shift to the side, hip out and gave him an arched brow, "Or are you too afraid I'll win? I'll even be nice and let you break."
 
"Good choice" remarked the bartender on the gin call. The main bit with making gin taste like gin was the juniper, and they had been able to grow that on many planets and in fact it was a favorite plant used in soil preservation situations where erosion might otherwise take a lot of potentially rich wet soil from the sides of steep hills. Juniper provided a perfect ground cover there, and in other situations shrubs of juniper provided shade and were a relatively hearty plant

And of course the alcohol part was otherwise very similar if not identical to vodka. It didn't need to be aged really either, so there was a lot of high quality gin out there for people to drink. The tender mixed her drink first and then carefully poured the man's bourbon, the relatively rare bourbon had to be apportioned judiciously as he had to account for every drop of the brown ambrosia, given how much it costs. While with a gin the bartender could free poor and give a little extra, the measurements were exacting when it came time for the more expensive and rare varieties of liquor.

Duncan was amused "For fun? You mean when I am not on the job, or despoiling ravishing young ladies?" He grinned at her playfully coming up to her and taking the cue stick. "Well pool is definitely one of my things to have fun. Gravity ball can be fun too" It was a sport similar to racketball but done in low g "VR of course on occasion, but you know me, I am a man with many responsibilities, not a lot of time for me."

Of course his name having been mentioned , several individuals with wants or warrants, or who were afraid they might have one, had begun to make their way out of the place. As he moved to the pool table , that caused a bit of a stir . It was a minor undercurrent in the mood of the room, but it was definitely there. He was prepared to draw down, but he would use the stunner in a crowd like this.

He held the cue stick as he came up to her. "Bet me anything, huh? Understand, I know when I am being hustled. You forget, my best friend is a brainiac too. He may not even know how to hold the cue right, but I never count him out in anything involving newtonian physics. " He smirked. Of course pool often counted on other things too - the lay of the table, the hidden gouge under the felt, the canter of the artificial G. Then again, this was the granddaughter of the guy who invented that. He grinned more broadly and came up behind her

He wrapped his arm around her and whispered into her ear letting her feel the bulge in his pants. "Perhaps we could bet on sexual favors. who knows, you might even want to lose that one" he added , darkly , grinding against her from behind slightly and then smacked her rear, then moved away to break.

He broke , the balls thrown into an instant pattern of actions and immeditate and opposite reactions, balls relfecting off other balls, bouncing off the bumpers, and each other. With all the action it was not surprising he sunk one "Looks like I am stripes" Unfortunately he didn't have much of a position for his next shot, so he played it safe, leaving her a tough but makeable shot. A few in crowd looked on with interest as the attractive couple faced off, especially when either of them bent over.
 
She wasn't surprised at his answer, skilled and easily thought of, many ears around but it was personal enough for her to nod along with his answer. Although, she was slightly intrigued at the thought of him in a VR system. It was something she hadn't grown up interested in, even though she had been provided with the top systems on her mission studies as well as in college. Of course, Lily had tried it but the feeling of 'too good to be true' seemed overwhelming, and to an ever critical mind like hers it usually gave her a headache rather than relaxing. "Well, other than that I really don't know you now do I? " it was more of a thought that escaped her mind, soft enough that she hoped he didn't hear her musing as she look a long drink, feeling the familiar tingle on the back of her throat. She finally took a moment to realize the taste, as it lingered, holding up the glass to her nose. Pleasantly surprised with how well they protected the liquor.

"Oh no, I didn't forget. I just assumed your pride wouldn't let you live if you didn't play me." She laughed softly, "I'm sure I could beat him too." His smile caught her eye, his gray irises getting darker as they neared her, or was it just her imagination?

It all screamed dark and a need that had to be sated, the possessiveness of his arm wrapping around her midsection, fingers flat against her, even crossing over to lower to her left hip, gripping her, and pressing her own against him. Enjoying the feel of her backside fitting perfect against him, she couldn't help but take a deep breath and let herself lean further into him.

Her bottom lip was caught between her teeth at his deep words. And of course, Lily knew he was right, she might want to lose.... Now, what would win, her ego or her needs? She had no idea.

"Oh!" Lily gave a small gasp at his hand, her cheeks slightly red from the attention in public as she realized she had been enjoying his voice in her ear and warmth so tightly against her. Tucking a stubborn hair behind her ear she took a long breath watched him move, and like most other women watched as he bent over the table. His stance was a little wide, but then again that was due to him being tall, aim was good, hit it with a bit too much force, men usually did that though.

"Looks like it." She said with a smile as she placed her drink down and took off the shawl and unhooked the decretive sleeves that did nothing but hinder her movements, slipping them off and ending up in a pile upon the high table beside her half empty drink.

Lily took her time walking slowly around the table, eyes upon the various colors, head cocked to the side and faint smile upon her lips. She settled and bent over, her feet closer, arm straight and hand laying lightly upon the table, finger elegantly over the wood, letting out a soft breath, aiming a couple times before hitting. The bruised white ball ricocheted off her solid 2, it rolled smoothly into the pocket, the white continuing slower now to hit another in, the cue ball stopping just in front of the pocket. "Solid seems to really like those pockets." She mused as she rounded the table, taking a drink before lowering herself done again, her breasts pale against the green dress trying to keep them in the strapless dress, having a straight shot she took the easy route and hit her third one in. Before she came to a halt and hit the cue across the table to make his shot harder for him.

"You've got some catching up to do, Captain." She told him with a teasing smile, "Don't want you falling behind too soon. That wouldn't be any fun." She rested her elbows against the table and took a long, far too confident drag of her drink, finishing it off as the ice clanked to the bottom. She realized how fast she drank that but then again she didn't really care.
 
Duncan smirked "I might have to search you for an inertial damper or micro-grav plate , young lady" he teased. He have to admit he liked the way she moved when she was working it. But he also made sure to tip the waitress to keep Lily's drinks flowing. With any luck, she would run out of sobriety before she ran out of billiard balls to sink .


Left with mostly crap shots, he took a chance. He took hold of the bridge - he found most players either overlooked it or were not very practiced in it's use. Using the bridge , his position which had seemed a poor lay was actually a make-able bank shot to his 5-ball, and he sunk it. His next shot was a draw, it drew his 3-ball right next to the side pocket. He almost had made it go all the way in, but the cue ball rebounding slightly off the bumpers skimmed against the 3, and it stopped. Still, that hole was effectively blocked along with one of her balls, unless she wanted to drop him a free one.

"Well thats a little bit, never try to get it all back at once. Can I get you another drink?" he asked innocently. He had to admit the idea of getting her drunk and having his way was enticing, she had been very receptive to him so far so there was no reason to think she would be against the idea. Not that he wanted or needed to coerce her , but because in their little game tonight, she was his prey and he was the hunter He would enjoy catching her eventually.

A number of men were also interested in how much she had to drink and encouraged her to drink more, but mostly from a distance. Even had they not heard who he was, it was obvious she was with a bounty hunter and a tough looking one at that. And he wasnt drinking too much. Which was true. He was letting her drift towards out of control while he maintained control. Although how much control he could claim to assert considering her teasing was an open question considering he had half a mind to throw her onto the pool table, something he was sure would draw wide applause from

He finally ordered his second to keep up appearances, and made it house rye whiskey that woudnt overpower the lingering taste of his good bourbon
 
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