Outcast

by Guerin Zand

  “I’m sorry, Guerin.”

  “Whatever. So, what does the council want to talk to me about?”

  “Well to start with, there is the matter of this Bree shuttle you’ve stolen.”

  “Bullshit! I didn’t steal this shuttle. I claimed it under the ASTN laws of salvage. Totally lawful and above board. My crew and I checked real hard and we didn’t find any VIN that we could trace to the owner. Even if we did, it isn’t required by the salvage laws. Maybe you people should be a little more careful where you park your shuttles?”

  “Please, Guerin. Somehow Julie’s personal shuttle mysteriously leaves the Earth ship on its own, the tracking beacon just happens to be broken, and it magically ends up in ASTN space for you to claim by right of salvage. You expect us to believe that?”

  “You can believe whatever you want. I was nowhere near the Earth ship when Julie’s shuttle went missing.”

  “Exactly how do you know when that was, Guerin?”

  “Well, um, I don’t, but I assumed it happened after I’d left, and I haven’t been back to the Earth ship since. If I had been back, there’d be a record of it, right?”

  “Guerin?”

  “I know. Imagine the odds. They must be astronomical, I mean, it being Julie’s personal shuttle and all. Who could even imagine such a thing? So, now that we’ve cleared up this little shuttle misunderstanding you can go back to the Council and explain it to them. No need for me to go back.”

  “They need you back on Earth, Guerin, or at least back in Earth’s system. There on the brink of war again and you need to intervene.”

  “The team I left on Earth can handle that. You don’t need me. You never did.”

  “That’s not true, Guerin. Roger and the rest of the team can’t do your job. They were given the same enhancements, sure, but they don’t have your abilities. You’ve always been able to use those abilities with ease, while the others couldn’t. This whole pirate life has shown what you’re capable of now. Come back and meet with the Council. That’s all I’m asking.”

  “And if I refuse?”

  “Then I’ll leave without you. No one is threatening you or trying to force you.”

  “I just don’t see any reason to meet with the Council. I’ve been going back to Earth occasionally and keeping up on everything. Like I said, I think the team can handle it. I’ve been keeping my promise to Milly and I don’t see that I owe the Council anything more than that.”

  “Do it for me then.”

  “Is it that important to you? I don’t mean like is your job important. I mean is it personally important to you that I come back?”

  “Yes.”

  “Why?”

  “I could come up with a list of reasons, but the only one that matters is because I want you to come back. You can keep your pirate ship and your pirate crew. That’s not important. We need you back as our emissary full time.”

  “You know, if I agree to this, you’re going to owe me?”

  “Like a sexual favor?”

  “Oh, calm down. Gees, you haven’t changed much, have you?”

  “So, is that a yes, Guerin?”

  “Ok, I mean yes. I’m only doing it because you asked me to. I’ll return to the Earth ship tomorrow and meet with the Council.”

  “Why not today?”

  “Tonight’s pizza and movie night. The crew always looks forward to it. The captain, that’s me, makes pizza for the whole crew. I can’t let them down. You and your crew should join us. It’s always a lot of fun.”

  “And what guarantee do I have that, while my crew and I are here enjoying pizza, your pirate crew won’t be stealing my shuttle?”

  “Cindy, I’m actually hurt that you’d think I would do such a thing. Seriously, do I look like the sort of guy who’d steal somebody else’s spaceship?” I gave her my most innocent look, but it probably was not as effective as it once was, not with my current total dirtbag persona.

  Cindy gave me a bad little smile as she shook her head. “Ok. It sounds like fun but if you try and steal my shuttle…”

  “Trust me, Cindy. No one is going to steal your shuttle but…”

  “What?”

  “Well, as my second in command, Sestan is slated to become the next Captain Roberts when I move on, but he’s going to need a ship. I mean, we can’t give him the Vengeance with all its Bree technology. He has one all picked out I think, but, I mean since money doesn’t mean anything to you Bree, you should probably purchase the ship for him as a reward of sorts?”

  “A reward for what?”

  “For turning me in to the Bree and telling you where to find me.”

  “I told you we found you on our own. No one...”

  “Oh, please, Cindy. I’m not upset that they ratted me out. That’s how one gets promoted in this business. Don’t lie to me and tell me you didn’t have help finding me.”

  “So, let me see if I’ve got this right. You steal a shuttle from us and...”

  “Allegedly! You have no proof I stole anything, and I deny my involvement in anything other than a lawful salvage claim.”

  “Whatever!” Cindy just shook her head. “Now you want to keep the ‘allegedly’ stolen shuttle and you want us to compensate the next Captain Roberts with a ship of his own?”

  “Yes. That would be the reasonable thing to do, don’t you agree?”

  “And if we don’t purchase him this ship?”

  “Then I’d have to stay here until we earn enough to buy a ship for him. I can’t just dump Sestan and the rest of the crew off on some planet with no means of transportation.”

  “Ok, ok. Really, Guerin, could you possibly be more of an asshole?”

  “Do you really want to find out?”

  Cindy rolled her eyes. “Have Sestan send us the details on his dream ship and we’ll arrange to have it at the Earth ship tomorrow when you arrive. Anything else?”

  “Well, we’ll have to see what the rest of the crew wants to do. We may have to make some other arrangements.”

  “Let me guess. You want to keep the slave girls?”

  “They’re not slave girls anymore, Cindy. They’re accountants with benefits, and they’re good at their jobs.”

  “Oh, I bet they are.”

  “Besides, I wasn’t really talking about them. It’s my ship’s engineer / navigator, Senri. She is from a Collective race known as the Chendek I believe. I’m hoping she’ll stay on with me.”

  “Why? Are you sleeping with her as well?”

  “Do you really think all I do is shag space babes?”

  “No. I don’t think it’s all you do. I think it’s mostly what you do! I just caught you in bed with two of your crew, so I don’t think I’m wrong.”

  “I’m totally hurt. There is nothing going on between me and Senri. The crew actually warned me that I’d probably rather not know about her sexual proclivities. They said it was one of those things that couldn’t be unknown, so I took their advice.”

  “So, what’s the problem then? Why is a citizen of the Collective a member of your merry band of pirates?”

  “I didn’t really want to pry too much into her background, but she may be sort of wanted for some crimes or something back on her homeworld?”

  “Guerin? What sort of crimes?”

  “She may have accidentally, on purpose, caused a Trogan diplomatic envoy’s ship to sort of go boom or something like that?”

  “Is Senri her real name?”

  “I couldn’t say, I mean um, probably not.”

  “What do you expect me to do about this?”

  “If she wants to stay with me, then I’d like you to make her little Trogan incident go away. Wipe it off the records so to speak. Grant her a full pardon, amnesty, so she can go back home one day.”

  “I’ll see what I can do, Guerin, but she’ll have to at least agree to stay on with you for a while to earn that amnesty.”

  “I’m sure she’d agree to that.”

  “Tell me honestly,
Guerin, did you have Sestan contact us? Is this all part of one of your little plans?”

  “Cindy, how can you think I would do such a thing? I would never deceive you like that. I mean, that would make me no better than the Bree!” I gave her my best bad boy smile and waggled my eyebrows.

  “Guerin?”

  “What? Was the pizza night a little too much?”

  When we first worked together, back on Earth, I would throw a pizza party at my place every week for the team. If a Collective shuttle was in orbit, we’d invite the crew down to join us and everyone looked forward to pizza night. After I was married, team pizza nights stopped. Having free time with my family became the most important thing to me. Even then, I still held pizza night every week with my wife and daughter.

  Cindy came up behind me while I was putting my plates in the recycler and gave me the biggest hug. “I forgot just how much fun it was to be around you. I’ve really missed you, Guerin.”

  I managed to loosen her grip enough to turn around and return the hug. “You know I’ve missed you as well. How have you been?”

  “I’ve been good. Like I said, this is my first mission command. I’ve been working with your team on Earth for the most part. You know that Roger and Katie got married and they have a son. Steve and Jackie are bonded now and are talking about children.”

  “I always thought Steve was perfect for Jackie. She was always so shy, and she never liked me. She thought I was a total asshole.”

  “Well, she was right about you.” Cindy smiled. She just had to get that dig in.

  “I know. That’s why I always thought she was the smart one in your group.” Cindy’s elbow found my waiting rib cage with a little more force than I thought necessary. “OWWW!”

  “They’ve been taking care of business on Earth while you’ve been out playing pirate, but they need a rest. It would be nice if you’d return to Earth and let them get on with their lives for a bit. They didn’t complain when you decided to run off and become a pirate. You may need to break in a new crew though.”

  “Ok. I get it, but I didn’t ask about them, I asked about you. Have you found someone?”

  “Yes, but he loves someone else. He always will.”

  “Cindy, you have to take your own advice and let it go.”

  “Why. You won’t let go of Milly. That’s it, isn’t it? If she wanted to come for you she could have, but she didn’t. I did. I just mention her name and I can see the pain it causes you.”

  “I know that, Cindy. I don’t know what Milly is thinking, or why she’s doing what she does. When I heard the Council was sending someone out to find me, I’d hoped it would be her.”

  “Gee, thanks. I’m sorry I’m not Milly.”

  “I didn’t mean it that way, Cindy. I’m happy it was you. It’s, I mean, you should know, we bonded when she visited me on Earth after my recruitment. She’s part of me. I thought I could ignore that when I married Anna, and I did for the most part, but not entirely. Not being able to love Anna totally like she deserved. Always having part of me belonging to Milly. Anna knew it, and even though she said it didn’t matter, I know it did. It’s what got her killed. If I had been worried about her, and not how I could get back at the Council for what they did to me and Milly, I would have seen the attack coming.”

  “That’s ridiculous, Guerin. Nobody thought your wife or daughter were in any danger. Everyone missed it.”

  “But as soon as it happened, I knew exactly who it was and why. Had I been thinking of my family first, I could have prevented it. I know it.”

  “You’re wrong, Guerin. After the attack, you knew, but there is no way you could have known before then. Even then, you saw what was happening before anyone else, and because of that, you were able to save your daughter and Diane. If you’ve been beating yourself up over this for the last two hundred years you’re a bigger asshole than anyone thought!”

  I know she was trying to cheer me up, but other people can’t really know what is in or behind your thoughts. I know what I was thinking then and how much I wanted to stick it to the Council. Maybe Cindy was right, nothing would have changed if I wasn’t preoccupied with the Council. The difference is, at least I wouldn’t be questioning my actions like I had been ever since that day. It’s a lot easier for others to forgive you or even not see your mistakes.

  I just shrugged my shoulders and said, “I’m not sure that’s actually possible, Cindy.”

  Cindy returned to her ship. I’m sure she made contact with the Council and informed them I would be returning. While she was gone, I gathered the crew together and let them know what was going on. I gave them all the choice of either coming with me, and doing the Council’s dirty work back on Earth, which of course paid shit, or going with Sestan as crew on his new ship. Sestan was delighted to hear he was getting his own ship, but the rest of the crew was not as happy.

  Jarno, a Trinixean crew member, said what most of the rest of the crew were thinking. “What about us? Sestan gets a new ship but what do we get? What incentive do we have to remain with you, or ship out with Sestan? Maybe we’d just be better off on our own?”

  “That’s why we’re discussing this, Jarno. I’ve made a deal for Senri. If she wants to stay with me there’s an amnesty deal from the Collective in it for her. I can discuss that with her on the side. The rest of you will all receive accounts with the credits you’ve earned as part of the crew. Crystal and Cheyenne will take care of that. So no one is getting cheated out of any of their earnings.”

  “But Sestan gets a ship on top of his earnings?”

  “The ship is for continuing our work in the ASTN. Any crew who join with Sestan will get an equal share in the new ship. Again, Crystal and Cheyenne will take care of the details.”

  That was just the tip of the iceberg when it came to the crew’s questions. I had to explain the new ship would not be of Bree design. All of the advantages this pirate crew had in the past would no longer exist. They’d have to stay in ASTN space. Taking down Trogan merchant ships wouldn’t be as easy as it had been. This upset a lot of them, but not as much as the idea of staying with me and not earning anything in the process. Only Senri, Crystal, and Cheyenne were interested in staying with the Vengeance.

  Even with the amnesty deal, Senri was not particularly interested in staying with me. She liked earning money, and like me, she enjoyed hurting the Trogans. I never asked her what they had done to her, and she never asked me. We sort of both just knew that the other had their reasons and it was best left at that. When I explained to her the Collective’s goal to help humans advance in order to provide a firewall against future Trogan expansion, she agreed to stay on. She insisted on one condition. She would not have to answer to the Council or the Collective. She would only answer to me and she expected to be included in on any action against the Trogans.

  Crystal and Cheyenne were a surprise. They followed me back to my cabin to discuss staying with me in private. I wasn’t sure why they’d want to stay on with me. We had fun together for sure, but it was just fun. When I mentioned to them that they shouldn’t decide based on feelings they might have for me, they both laughed, I mean they laughed really hard, and for a long time. After what seemed to be forever, they finally were able to control their laughter. They could tell by the look on my face that I had been serious. They apologized for hurting my feelings, but I knew they didn’t really mean it.

  “Well if you’re done laughing at me, Crystal, perhaps you’d explain why you want to stay with me?”

  “Because we know we’ll be safe with you.”

  “So, you just have sex with me so I’ll keep you safe?”

  “No. We have sex with you because it’s fun, sometimes.”

  “Sometimes?”

  “It can get a little boring on the ship, Guerin, and sometimes we have sex with you for fun.”

  “So sometimes, when you’re bored, having sex with me can be fun?”

  “Yes,” Cheyenne said it like it was so obviou
s only an idiot wouldn’t know it. “You didn’t seriously think we were madly in love with you, did you?”

  “No, Cheyenne. It’s just, well I mean, it was a possibility, right? It makes a man feel good to at least think it’s possible. When you tell me it’s just sort of fun sometimes when you’re bored, well that sort of ruins it for me. That and the way you two just laughed at me.”

  Crystal shook her head, while still laughing a bit. “Sorry, Guerin. We didn’t think you were so sensitive.”

  “I’m not! It’s just, as a pirate captain, I think I deserve a little more respect then you two laughing at me.”

  “We’re not being disrespectful. We always joke around with you, and we don’t do it in front of the crew.”

  “Well, I guess you should tell me why I should want to keep the two of you with me. Sestan will probably need you more then I will.”

  Cheyenne looked concerned now. “We thought you had offered us the choice of who we wanted to go with. Are you saying we can’t go with you unless you have a need for us? Are you mad because we had a little fun with you? We didn’t mean to upset you.”

  “It’s not that. I was just surprised when you said you wanted to talk to me about staying on. It makes more sense for you to go with Sestan. That’s why I thought that you might have feelings for me that I wasn’t aware of. You can stay with me if you want, no conditions. Maybe, if you just want to stay safe, I could arrange for you to stay on the Bree Earth ship if that would interest you.”

  “No, we don’t want to stay there. There has to be something we could do to earn our keep on the Vengeance.” Crystal gave me a very suggestive look.

  “Oh, that’s not going to work on me now.”

  “Then what do you want from us?”

  “I said you could come with me, Crystal. If you want to help me, then perhaps you can, but as part of my team, and not just as Vengeance crew members.”

  Cheyenne and Crystal exchanged confused looks and Cheyenne asked, “We don’t understand?”

  “The project I have to go back to Earth for. There is a lot to do. We have a lot of financial work that Isabelle has been taking care of, but if you’d be interested?”