“Late 1980’s actually,” I said.
“And what the hell were you doing?” asked Aleesha.
“Dancing, I think. That’s what I did at home, anyway. No-one seemed to care back there.”
“I think the crowd liked the music,” said Alison. “I’ll get us some water,” she added and left.
I was suddenly aware of hits on my social profile, but with three lovelies around me, I wasn’t going to turn on looking mode. I didn’t need to.
The DJ pinged me to ask what else I had. I pulsed him several more, but didn’t go back on to the dance floor when they played. People liked them all the same. We sat there for a while sipping water, soaking in the music. Suddenly everyone started forming lines. I wasn’t familiar with this tune, but Amanda jumped up and pulled us all into a line. I quickly pinged the night club PC for the dance steps and it pulsed them back to me. I set them primary and off we went. Like most line dancing, I was very mechanical about the movements. Specific dance movements were not my thing, so I just let the overrides do the work. The song finished and we stayed on the floor. The DJ pinged me to ask if I had any line dances he didn’t know. I pulsed him two, with the dance step files. Several songs later, ‘the Bus Stop’ started playing. I set its dance steps to primary and started off, waving towards the DJ. Every one stopped and watched for a bit and then started joining in as they accessed the steps. By the time it stopped, I could tell some had cancelled the auto-steps and were dancing naturally, having picked it up easily. The DJ played it again immediately, and by the end, everyone had joined in. Next up was ‘Nutbush”. I set those steps to primary and started off. Some watched, others glazed and followed after me. Again, the DJ played it twice. At the end, I headed for the table again. I needed a drink. The ladies joined me.
“You are full of wonders,” said Amanda.
“He’s full of something alright,” said Aleesha grinning.
Alison just hung on my good arm.
We let a few go by and then went back out on to the dance floor for some slower stuff. Alison took my arms and we fast waltzed around the floor for a bit.
“Where did you learn to dance so well?” she asked in my ear.
“Required learning at lower school,” I replied into her ear.
I pinged the DJ for something slow and several songs later he obliged. Alison pulled in close and put her arms around my neck and mine went around her waist. We stayed like that until the end of the song and left the floor. Amanda and Aleesha turned up as well. I hadn’t seen where they were.
“Time to go?” asked Alison with a grin.
“I think so,” I agreed.
I flipped a sort of salute at the DJ, got one in return and we collected our guns from the front. It was a slow walk back to the hotel for us, or in my case, a slow limp. I had overdone it, but I hadn’t had so much fun in a long time. Sarah hadn’t been much for dancing.
Back in the hotel, there was a round of good nights. Amanda and Aleesha did their commune moment and Aleesha sat in the easy chair overlooking the door, while Amanda headed for the second bedroom with a knowing smirk. Alison led me into my bedroom and started tearing my clothes off.
Twenty Five
“RISE AND SHINE CAMPERS!” shocked us awake the next morning. Amanda went on in a more normal voice, “Thirty minutes to departure. Get your skates on.”
Alison and I hurried through shower and dressing, grabbed our guns, and the four of us ran for the ship. Well, ran wasn’t the right word for me, but ‘fast hobble’ wasn’t right either.
We had barely stepped on to the ship, when the hatch closed and the sounds of departure started. I headed up to the cockpit to watch George flying the ship. He backed it out without any problems and had us on our way to the shipyard.
When we arrived, instead of docking, George was given guidance into one of the major repair facilities, which enclosed the entire ship. When Moose was solidly resting on the base of the repair dock, a docking collar attached to the forward airlock and we made our way into the shipyard proper. Bob met us inside.
“What’s all this?” demanded the Colonel. “I was expecting an inspection team at an outside lock, not this.
Bob looked to me.
“I’m sorry Colonel, we got you here under false pretenses. I wasn’t happy that the last Gladiator got adjudicated to me since it was a team effort to take it. So I made a deal with Bob to trade it for some upgrades for Moose. Add some antlers, so to speak. I hope you will accept.”
She looked hard at me, obviously not happy, but not wanting to turn the offer down.
“What were you intending to do?” she said.
Bob replied, “Add four heavy point defense turrets, two up, two down, and a missile launcher forward. It will mean doing a lot of structural strengthening of the hull, as the ship wasn’t designed for this. It will also need a power upgrade and an AI upgrade to provide the military support in case the AI has to run the guns. The turrets will have four guns each, with manual or auto fire capability. They won’t let you take on anything major, but they should keep missiles from hitting you and they will hurt a fighter who takes you on. The launcher will be a fifty magazine with two refills, and allow selection of what you want to fire, if you load it with different types.”
The Colonel’s mouth opened and closed without saying anything.
“Just say yes,” I said.
“Yes,” she said. “How long will it take?”
“About two days, maybe three. But you should plan on the third day having a test flight with live firings. Your gunners will need to update themselves to the latest protocols. I know what your Dropship carries, but these are a couple of levels more advanced than they are,” replied Bob.
“Which brings me to part two,” I said.
She raised an eyebrow.
“We want to put a torpedo launcher on the top of the Dropship. It will give the pilot thirty solid direct fire punches that could be used against anything that tries to interfere with a drop mission, and it would be useful in supporting a ground assault. Just needs a pilot with good aim. It won’t interfere with its primary role. It will need some hull strengthening too, and we did check that it would fit into the hanger bay. It will also give the Dropship a side role of a light support fighter should you need one again. As far as I can tell, this hasn’t been done before, although who knows why as its obviously needed. So it will surprise the hell out of whoever you use it against first.”
She smiled at that. And nodded.
“I’ll get on with it then Colonel. I’ll let you know when it’s all done and you can inspect it. Anyone who wants to see the lad’s new ship can follow me.” He went blank for a moment, presumably giving orders, and then strode off. I followed him, as did George.
“We’ll wait for you on the station, ping me when you’re on approach,” yelled Amanda after me. I waved in acknowledgement.
After a good walk, we came to a full build bay. My new ship lay there, seemingly complete. I held my breath for a few moments, and slowly let it out.
“She will be ready for you tomorrow, young Jon. We will be finishing the fitting out-today. You should go shopping for what else you'll need. Any of the guilds will sell you the maps you need for the nav system. You will need linens for the bed and basic kitchen stuff, and if you plan to be eating aboard, you will need to think about food.”
“Where is Wanderer?” I asked.
“Not far, you want to see her?” replied Bob.
“Yes please.”
“This way then.” He headed off in a new direction. “Oh, by the way, what do you want to call your new ship? We need to register a name.” I thought for a moment.
“Is ‘Excalibur’ being used these days? That would be a good name for what is a new type of Heavy Privateer.”
“Good name,” said George. “I like it.”
Bob glazed over for several minutes as we continued to walk.
“It is not in use in the Australian sector registration. I�
�ve put in a request for it, subject to it not being used elsewhere. Even then, they may let you have it as a new type of ship regardless, as ship types have preference and it’s not often that the Australian sector puts out a new type or class of ship.”
We stopped at a landing bay.
“Here she is. I will leave you with her and see you tomorrow.” We bade goodbyes and he left.
I looked at Wanderer. She looked alone and rather small, sitting there in the landing bay. It had been less than two weeks since I’d walked aboard her for my first trip in space, and then she had been the largest and most impressive ship I’d seen. I sighed.
George followed me in. The cargo bay still had our trade goods sitting there. I’d completely forgotten we had deliverables. I wondered idly why I hadn’t heard from those taking delivery. We headed into the cockpit, now completely repaired. I sat down in the pilot’s seat and George sat in the jump seat behind. I swiveled round to face him.
“Just think,” I said, “if I’d been sitting in that seat you’re in when we came through the jump, we would all be dead.”
“Small mercies,” he answered. “Why weren’t you?”
“Uncle sent me to the cargo bay for some reason and I was on my way back. Be damned if I can remember why now though.”
“Is it just me or does the ship feel sad?” I looked at him. That showed a bit more perception than I had expected from George.
“It’s not you. The ship does feel sad.”
“What will happen to it?”
“It needs to go back to Outback Orbital. It belongs to the family company. I guess someone in the up and coming generation will get to fly it.”
“It won’t be you.” It was a statement, not a question.
“No, won’t be me. The cosmos seems to have other plans for me than to be a trader captain. I’ll probably tow her back after my ship is complete and run in, and the pirates let up on me. Which reminds me.”
I turned back to the console and started up the main computer. I downloaded the manifest and our purchase list, so I could follow up both. Then shut her down again. I was about to get up, when George stopped me.
“How are you getting on with the ladies?” he asked with a grin. “I gather you have something going on with Alison?”
“Is it that obvious?”
“Pretty much.” His grin got bigger. “You know the twins have the hot’s for you too, don’t you?”
I blushed. This time I did hunt down that override and turned it on. The blush vanished.
“They won’t act on it while they are still guarding you though. Professional code. They have been bending it pretty badly as it is, but they won’t break it.”
“How will that sit with Alison do you think?” I asked.
“She knows she only got a look-in because they couldn’t act. And as I think you know, in our line of work, the next job could be our last, so no one begrudges anyone a good bonk. She knows how the twins feel, and she shares that, so I doubt she will stop them if they decide to act on it before we pull out for our next job. Knowing those three, anything could happen, or nothing. But don’t you tell them I said that, or I’ll never hear the end of it!”
“I won’t. I’m still sorting out how I feel about them. It’s all so new for me. I had a friend back home, Sarah, and we made love the night before I left in case I didn’t come back, which I didn’t. We’d been friends since lower school, and then it got more personal, but we never did anything like share a shower together. It was her idea to take it further, almost as if she knew I’d not be back, and she wanted to remember me a special way, but neither of us really knew what we were doing. Back home we were both sixteen, so it was only just legal. I wasn’t exactly prepared for what has happened here. Other than Sarah, none of the girls paid much attention to me, so I had no expectations. I like all three of them, so it’s very confusing. What about you? Anything happening for you?”
“Not within the team. I know several of the girls like me a lot, but we won’t take it any further than barracks stuff. It’s not worth the risk. I don’t have any trouble finding company when I want some. We mercenary types usually don’t. I just put out a status of ‘available’ when I am looking, and they usually come to me. But that’s partly why I mentioned that to you. Having two very sexy ladies flirting with you but not going any further can be frustrating and I was trying to tell you how to relieve that. As I think you found out, the twins will give you space if you bring someone home with you. Not that I think you will while we are still around. Will we be off first, or you?”
“I don’t know. I’ll be testing the new ship tomorrow, and if that goes ok, I’ll try a test flight somewhere. The pirates are zero for six in three engagements so far. Assuming they are sick of me, then where I go from there is anyone’s guess.”
“Will you let me fly her sometime? I’m not a fighter pilot, but it would be fun to have a go.”
“Sure, let’s see how things go.”
With that, we got up, closed up Wanderer, and headed for the shipyard’s shuttle dock.
Twenty Six
I pinged Amanda as were on approach to the station and she met us at the station’s shuttle dock. George went off on his own, and Amanda and I headed for some shopping therapy. I found I needed a woman’s touch when it came to selecting bed ‘stuff’. She wasn’t much use with kitchen stuff, but she knew what Moose carried so was able to point things out for me. I needed another travel sled to be able to carry it all. We stopped off at the Traders Guild so I could get maps for the Australian sector and the adjoining Sci-Fi and American sectors, in case I went there any time soon. We eventually found our way back to the hotel.
The first thing I did was contact the consignees for Wanderer’s cargo. As it turned out, none of them had heard of what had happened and had not expected delivery on any particular date. I cannot say I understood this. However, arrangements were made to pick up the consignments from the shipyard, and I emailed Bob the details so collection could be made.
The next thing I did was look up the purchase list. Most of it was easily obtainable. A few were not. For the first time, I went onto the local exchange market and checked out prices and availability. While I wasn’t yet ready to buy, I wanted to know what I was doing, and if anything was not available. It seemed that Wanderer was how Gaia received specialty goods which we couldn't make ourselves, and covered this by purchases for Outback Orbital which consumed the bulk of the space. Wanderer also took back the latest in books, hollo's, music and other entertainment.
I also checked on the price of space-worthy containers. It occurred to me I was in a position to supply a lot more than Outback normally could afford to buy, and while most of it would not get down to the planet for a year, at least it would be on the Orbital waiting, regardless of what I was doing at that time. While I hoped to get back to Outback and Gaia in a year’s time, who knew what tomorrow was going to bring?
However, there was no point in doing anything until I could safely get Wanderer and a cargo to Outback. At the moment, that was problematical at best. Hopefully the new ship would prove to be the difference in convincing the pirates to leave me alone. A part of me didn’t think so, but I could only hope. The alternative wasn’t something I wanted to think about.
Emails took up time as usual. We had a light lunch and went to the Mercenary Guild gun range again. Amanda showed me where to borrow some long guns and I spent some time trying them out. After some practice, I was tested at various ranges. It was a good start and once again I scored in the late seventies. We took several of the assault courses and I had a minor improvement over the previous scores. All I really needed was practice. I needed to schedule some time most days in order to get better scores. That depended on what I was doing, and I didn’t know that yet.
Back at the hotel late in the afternoon, I finally went into the bedroom. It had been cleaned, but on the bedside table I found a little pile of buttons. When I looked at the shirt hanging on the cleaner
section of the robe, I found it had none. It seemed Alison really had torn my clothes off last night, quite literally. I had a good chuckle, put shirt and buttons in a hotel bag for mending, hung it outside the suite door, and pinged hotel services to collect it.
Thinking about the hotel, it occurred to me that I’d taken advantage of the hotel for long enough, probably too long. Given that I expected to have my own ship to sleep on the next evening, I pinged the hotel to expect me to check out in the morning. I let Amanda know that as well. Having made the decision, I packed both travel sleds, leaving out only a shirt for the next day. This included my Uncle’s gear, but I was not ready for looking at any of it yet, I just packed it.
Dinner was a quiet affair in the suite. Alison and Aleesha turned up together. I started by telling them their bodyguard duties would formally end in the morning, once they delivered me to my ship, freeing them up for whatever next job the Colonel organized for them. I didn't know what I would be doing after that, beyond a test flight, but assuming I was around and they were free, I wanted to see all of them again as much as possible as I valued our friendship. I know they considered themselves under some obligation to me still, but I tried to dispel that, and move us on to being good friends instead. We already were, but there was still a ‘client’ barrier there, which I wanted to remove. They took it well, maybe they even anticipated it. The rest of dinner was all small talk and just enjoying good company.
After clearing away, I was surprised when Alison took Amanda’s normal chair and went blank the way Amanda and Aleesha normally did. I looked from her to the twins. They looked at me with identical grins. They both left the sitting room, leaving me wondering what was going on. But not for long. An “Oi” sounded and so I headed into the bedroom to see what they were up to.
Both of them were standing beside the bed. I stopped just inside the door. Amanda motioned me to close it. I did. Then as I watched, both of their suits, in exquisite slow motion, rolled back into their normal belts, leaving them in just their skimpy underwear. They both did something unexpected then. They took their belts off. Both together, they slid their tops off and then their briefs, leaving them standing in front of me in identical nakedness. I’d seen them like this before, but this was really different, much more provocative. A pop-up asked me if I really wanted the override and I answered it with a no. Immediately, my jeans started getting tighter. Moving both together, the twins came over to me, pulled me over to the bed, and slowly took my clothes off. At that point, all restraint ended.
Hero at Large (The Hunter Legacy Book 1) Page 16
