Chapter 4

Captain Vex’s hands knotted in the witch’s dark curls. Bella was a profoundly skilled lover. The Captain had a taste of what Bella could do on top of the lighthouse, but being the sole focus of of a sex witch’s ministrations when there were no other distractions (and Bella was feeling particularly thankful) was to be given the best possible seat in a masterclass in how to pleasure a woman.

Belita had already been turned on fiercely by helping Bella with her recharge ritual. The witch was so willing and dynamic. Belita did not frequently take women as lovers. She preferred the rough and forceful touch of a strong man. Sometimes though, with the right person, she enjoyed taking the opposite role. The witch definitely sparked that. It was her wantonness. Her sassy, taunting personality, coupled with her pliable and willing sexualty made Belita want to take charge. It occurred to her that it was what Bella wanted. The control was still firmly hers even though she’d been so willing to submit. That sudden revelation cured Belita of the faint guilt she’d felt over being so domineering. Bella was a master seductress. She’d known exactly what she was doing. She was still doing it.

“Tell me about your most memorable sexual experience,” Bella said in a throaty coo. Her hands were already busily at work spreading Belita’s wetness around with soft strokes that dipped back to her center and then spiralled out again. At the outside of each spiral before heading back in again, she flicked her fingernail against every one of the eight gold rings that pierced the Captain’s outer labia. Two rows of four, spread in a slight oval by Belita’s arousal and by how far her legs were spread, nestled in among the golden curls of her hair.

Bella found them fascinating. The idea of piercing her own most intimate places made her uncomfortable. Bella was not someone who handled pain well. Her particular kind of endurance swung the opposite direction. Even if she thought she could stomach the process, it wasn’t something she could really consider anyway. There were too many ways piercings like that could get in the way of her magic. There were a few kinds of rituals that might be strengthened by something like that. She’d have to work out the details, but it would work in theory. Unfortunately there were quite a few other kinds of rituals that would not be compatible at all. She’d lose a lot of versatility in what she was capable of. She supposed she could take them out and put them back in. Were they even removable? They must be. In the dim light it was hard to tell.

On Belita though, the rings made perfect sense. They were signs of her daring nature and bold willingness to face pain and put her body on the line for what she wanted. They were also trophies of accomplishments.

“Well, the tryst on top of Will’s lighthouse was the one that springs tae mind. That was wild,” Belita smiled, her gold teeth catching the dim light from the wall lamps.

“What made it so powerful for you?” Bella asked. Her fingertip dipped into the Captain’s wet opening, just barely threatening to penetrate. A squeeze rippled along Belita’s tanned thighs.

“The danger of it. Knowing we might be caught, that our lives depended on me sucking and fucking without being noticed,” Belita explained. The memory sent a new wave of arousal through her. She was already quite turned on, but suddenly she was flooded. Her nipples puckered around their rings.

“Wanting to go faster and do more, but having to go slow and be careful?” Bella prompted.

“Aye,” the Captain grinned. “My heart was pounding the whole time.”

“Mine too,” Bella admitted. “I was terrified.” She was smiling too as she continued her slow, firm stroking. Now, she could look back on the situation and appreciate the excitement of it. At the time she had other things on her mind.

“It was such a rush,” Belita’s eyes flashed with lust. Her butt and thighs clenched again. Bella had been waiting for a signal like that. She quickly moved her fingertip to Belita’s clit and started making circles. Her other hand busied itself with just barely probing the Captain’s slick opening. Belita squirmed and groaned, her hands reaching for her own breasts, squeezing and pulling.

“Tell me the very best part,” Bella said.

“The first push. Will’s cock sliding intae me for the first time. It was so slo-aaaah!” Belita came, hard, unexpectedly, with a buck of her hips as Bella slid a hard wet phallus into her.

“Like that?” Bella smirked.

“Oh, you sly wench...” the Captain laughed, her breathing starting to even out again. “Aye, like that.”

Bella began to slowly slide the stone phallus in and out of her Captain’s wet womanhood.

“Is that the thing your apprentice was using back at Mary’s?” Belita asked.

“Yep. Rocky, meet Belita. Belita, this is Rocky,” Bella winked.

“A mighty fine meeting, indeee-aaaahfuckme!” the Captain howled as Rocky abruptly started to buzz inside her. She’d never felt anything like it before in her life. Bella had whispered something to it, and suddenly she did it again. The buzzing ramped up, sending her entire lower body into spasms of pleasure. Her legs were shaking and kicking uncontrollably. Her eyes were wide and she felt like she couldn’t breathe. She had already cum hard, and the unexpected sensations were amplifying the small aftershocks into more full blown orgasms that hit her one after another.

“Dangerous things happen all the time on the ocean, right?” Bella said, pulsing rocky quickly into the Captain’s depths. “Next time something happens that gets your heart racing, I’m going to have you kneel over my face so I can lick you while Will takes you from behind.”

Belita bucked again, her hips actually coming off the bed for a moment before her feet slid out from under her. The incredible vibrations were taking away all her muscle control. She tried to respond but couldn’t. All that came out was a long, happy moan.

“Maybe I’ll have Rocky help,” Bella continued. Suddenly she slid the buzzing phallus all the way out, and replaced it with the fingers of her other hand. She hooked them upward and pulled firmly against something inside the Captain. It was that same spot that Bella had helped Will find on top of the lighthouse. Bella didn’t need help. She seemed to know exactly where it was by instinct. She put her fingers on it and began to quickly pulse and pull, hard and fast. It was like she had primed a bomb. The ramp up was fast, uncontrollable, unexpected, unstoppable. All four of Captain Vex’s limbs slammed down on the bed and pushed, her hips lifting. Her whole body tensed and then shook as the power of the strongest orgasm of her life ripped through her. Her breath came in staccato gasps. It didn’t let up. Bella just kept pulsing her fingers into that magical spot and keeping the sensations rolling. Every time she thought it was going to subside, another one hit her.

Then Bella added Rocky’s buzz right onto Belita’s clit.

Belita was lost. She stopped being able to think. Even the feelings of surprise, the small moments of revelation and reflection at how amazing it all felt were gone. All she could do was feel it. There was no room left to think about those feelings. All that remained of her conscious mind was the explosive heat and electric jolts of incredible pleasure. She had no idea how long it went on. It was like being caught in a storm. All she could do was hold on and ride it out.

Eventually the intense pleasure began to subside. Or rather, Belita began to realize that it had subsided. It took awhile for her mind to catch up. Bella had slid Rocky back inside her and reduced the strength of the buzzing. It was a slow, warm way to come down. Belita realized she was looking at Bella’s beautiful, self-satisfied face. She had no idea how long she’d been staring like that, open-mouthed and dumbfounded.

“How did ye do that?” Belita asked in quiet amazement.

Belita shrugged. “Years of practice.”

“I thought Janie was exaggerating about how good it was, and then Will did that ... thing with his fingers ... I thought that was as good as it could get,” Belita shook her head. She was holding herself up on her elbows. She didn’t remember getting into that position. “Ye ... That was even better.”

“You helped me. I wanted to show you my appreciation.” Bella tucked her hair behind one of her ears and smiled. She slowly withdrew Rocky and killed the buzzing. Belita finally completely relaxed. She felt boneless. Never in her life had she been more relaxed.

“Best cabin girl ever,” the Captain laughed. Bella crawled forward and lay down at the Captain’s side, resting her head on the blond woman’s shoulder. Belita hugged the witch to her, wrapping her arm around Bella’s shoulders.

“Don’t sailors earn medals for being good at their jobs?” Bella smirked.

“On civilian ships it’s more about earning marks, like rings or tattoos,” Captain Vex said, tapping the ring on her left nipple.

“What’s the mark for best cabin girl?” Bella grinned, tracing her fingertip around the nipple next to her face.

“Don’t know. I’ll have tae come up with something,” Belita laughed.

Daytime at Merry Mary’s wasn’t very exciting. Mostly it consisted of people pitching in with the cleaning, dishes being washed or meals being prepped, sleepy-eyed working girls and boys sitting at the gambling tables in gauzy robes with their hair in curlers and slippers on their feet while they nursed tea or water, recovering from the previous night’s work. During the day, the gaming room was more of a communal living space. It felt more like a boarding house than a cat house.

Caine came in to a handful of nods and waves, trailing a wide-eyed young woman behind him. She scanned everything with an expression of anxious interest. She slowly realized all the eyes in the room were on her. She stopped in her tracks, not following Caine anymore. Her eyes scanned the room, taking in the host of expressions. Curiosity. Amusement Worry. Some disgust. She remembered what she looked like and suddenly felt like leaving. Caine noticed and sighed.

“Ain’t none of you have any manners,” He said to the room. A few of them smiled.

“Nope,” one amused looking woman with breasts nearly as large as Bella’s said saucily.

“You don’t usually bring in new girls,” a fellow with the body of a carnival strongman and the face of an attractive woman said.

“She ain’t a new girl,” Caine said. “I’m just looking after her for a while.”

“Isn’t that what you said about Tonya?” the saucy woman with the large breasts asked. “And look at her now.” The room chuckled.

Caine sighed. “Janie, these are Mary’s Merries.”

“H-hello,” Janie said with a small wave.

“Room full of ill-mannered harlots, this is Janie,” Caine said. The room echoed the greeting.

“She’ll be around for a while. Not sure how long. I’m going to put her up in Bella’s room.”

“Tonya’s already claimed it,” a slender redhead said.

“There’s room for two,” Tonya said with a shrug.

“Good,” Caine nodded.

“Hey, wasn’t she the girl who got-” one of the gigolos asked.

“Yes.” Caine said tersely. “She was. Since you’re a hopeless gossip I’m sure you’ll tell everyone all about it as soon as we’re gone, so there’s no use in trying to keep it quiet. Yes, she’s the one from the docks. That’s why she’s here. The Kidds want her dead. I’m going to make sure that doesn’t happen. Any questions?”

The room was quiet. A few faces nodded silently. The saucy woman with the large chest pushed her chair back and stood up, walking over to where Janie still stood riveted in place.

“I’m Sasha,” she said. “You hungry?” Janie nodded. “I’ll go see what the cooks have going.” Sasha walked out of the room.

“I’ll show you where the room is,” Tonya said standing up. “C’mon.”

Caine nodded. “I’m going to go talk to Chance. If you need me, holler.”

Janie nodded and started following Tonya. The eyes in the room followed her until she left, then all turned to the gigolo who seemed to know who she was. “I was on the docks yesterday when there was a big standoff between some rich guy and Jakob Kidd. That Janie girl got held hostage...” The voice trailed off as she followed Tonya down a hallway.

“Don’t pay them any mind. They won’t judge you badly, they just all love gossip,” Tonya said.

“They aren’t what I expected,” Janie admitted.

“They’re just people, same as everyone,” the smaller girl shrugged. “I’m Tonya.”

“I suppose you know who I am,” Janie said wearily.

“Well, no. Not really. I probably know more than most of the people here though. You know Belladonna, right?” Tonya asked. “You were part of whatever she got swept up into before she took off on that boat?” They went down a flight of stairs. The walls went from wood to stone.

“Yes,” Janie said. “I’m not sure how much about I should talk about it.”

“I’m not a gossip,” Tonya said. “I won’t pry though. Your business is your own. Caine says to help you out, I’ll help you out.”

“He seems to have a lot of respect here,” Jaine said.

Tonya opened a door and they were suddenly hit by a wave of steam and a faint, rank odor. “He does. More than just about anyone. Most of us have a debt to him in some way or another. Some of us owe him a lot. I know I do.”

“What’s that smell?” Janie asked, her face wrinkling.

“Sulfur. Welcome to the baths,” Tonya smiled.

Mary’s hidden gem was a hot spring. It had been discovered by the original owners of the property, who built an impressive imperial-style bathhouse. Unfortunately, at the time Bastard’s Bay just didn’t have enough people to make the expense of the project pay off in the long run. It was sold to the previous owner, who decided to build an inn on top of it. That didn’t work out so well either, so it was sold to Mary, who turned it into a brothel and gambling house. They didn’t even offer access to the baths to the public. They were strictly for the people who worked there.

The heat and humidity were intense. The room was huge, with stone pillars providing support. All along one wall were shelves cut right into the stone. A stack of towels sat on a bench. In the center was a rectangular pool of clear, steaming water. A man and two women were in it, sitting in one corner talking quietly. They’d looked up when Janie and Tonya came in, but it was hard to see thought he steam and they seemed more interested in their conversation than the new arrivals.

“Put your clothes there,” Tonya said gesturing to the shelves in the wall. A week ago, the idea of bathing in public would have horrified her. Now, it didn’t. It occurred to her that more people had seen her naked in the last week than her entire life before that put together. Even if that hadn’t been the case, she was too tired to care about modesty. She pulled off her clothes unceremoniously. When her bustier was revealed, Tonya’s brows rose.

“Wow, what is that? Where did you get it?” the smaller girl asked.

“The mainland. They’re in fashion there right now. I’m not sure how long it will take for them to reach the islands,” Janie said, peeling herself out of it.

“Soon, I hope. I want one,” Tonya grinned. Janie gave her a faint smile in return, but her heart wasn’t in it. She folded her clothing and tucked it away. Tonya gave her a pained, sympathetic look. She probably thought Janie hadn’t noticed, but she did.

Tonya peeled her own clothes off as well. All she was wearing was a robe and a pair of slippers, so it was quick. By the time Jaine had finished trudging to the water’s edge, Tonya was naked and collecting a basket from another nearby bench.

As soon as Janie’s foot dipped into the water her eyes went wide. It was hot. She stepped in and sunk down and let the glorious heat wash over her. An involuntary groan escaped her lips and suddenly she was aware of every ache that had built up over the last few days of stress and sleeplessness. The heat seem to reach into her body and start leaching out her pain almost instantly. Time seemed to cease flowing. She had no idea how long she sat there just breathing and letting the weightlessness and warmth soothe her. Suddenly the tears came. There were no sobs or sounds. Just rivulets from her eyes as the tension she’d been carrying was finally released. Tonya watched, saying nothing. Janie sat there, crying quietly and staring into space for a long time. Her eyes finally drifted shut and Tonya began to worry she was going to drift off to sleep.

“Here,” Tonya said, passing her a small bottle. “It’s special soap for your hair. Makes it really soft. Our alchemist makes it.”

“You- have an alchemist?” Jaine said, her eyes fluttering open. She sniffed, her nose a bit stuffy from the tears.

“Yeah, she’s a bit on the crazy side, but knows her stuff. I’ll introduce you later,” Tonya smiled.

Janie unstoppered the bottle and sniffed it. The scent of rose petals and vanilla briefly overpowered the smell of sulfur from the water. Her eyes went wide and she began undoing the braid in her hair.

“Let me,” Tonya said moving in next to her. “Just turn a bit.”

Janie did, letting the smaller girl pull the braid out and fluff out her hair. It was in desperate need of a wash. Tonya gently tugged on it. “Head back. This is going to feel amazing.”

Janie tilted her head back and Tonya used a cup to pour water over her hair. Over and over the warmth cascaded through her hair until it was sopping. Then Tonya began working the special soap from the bottle into Janie’s scalp. Her fingers felt wonderful.

“So how do you know Bella?” Tonya asked.

“I ... she’s... “ Janie had no idea how to answer that. What was Bella to her? They barely knew each other really, but they were lovers, and Janie’s feelings were strong. “She’s my friend.”

“Do you know what happened with that ship? She told me she would be going with Mister Sterling from the lighthouse on some kind of adventure, and then the Kidd gang got involved and she left early,” Tonya sounded mostly curious, but there were undercurrents of worry and bitterness that Janie picked out.

“There was a fight here,” Janie said.

“Yeah, I missed that. I was down here. Saw the aftermath though. Lots of blood,” Tonya said, still working her fingers into Janie’s scalp.

“The Kidd gang came for us. We managed to elude them and almost got away, but they found us on the docks. They took me hostage and traded me for the brother of the man who was stabbed here,” Janie said. “Everyone else made it to the ship, but I had to stay.”

“That’s awful,” Tonya said.

“It was,” Janie nodded.

“Close your eyes.” Tonya began pouring water over her head, rinsing the special soap. “They’re alright though? Bella is alright?”

“So far as I know, yes,” Janie said. “How do you know Bella?”

“I’m her apprentice,” Tonya said proudly.

“Oh, so you’re a witch also,” Janie said, more commenting than questioning.

“I suppose so. I don’t know how to do much yet, but I’m learning,” Tonya shrugged. “Here, this next,” she said, handing Janie another bottle and a cloth. “It’s the regular soap.”

It smelled strongly of honey. Janie poured a generous amount onto the cloth and began to lather herself up. “Oh, this is wonderful,” Janie sighed. “I missed good soap.”

“Other than the smell, isn’t this just regular soap?” Tonya asked.

“I’ve been using Will’s soap. He uses something that is like a coarse powder. It’s like washing yourself with sand,” Janie said wrinkling her nose again.

“Well that sounds unpleasant,” Tonya chuckled. “You starting to feel a bit better?”

“Much. It’s amazing how good simply feeling clean can be,” Janie nodded. She was still tired, but her mood had lifted considerably.

“Don’t I know it. The first time I was brought down here I’d been living on the streets for half a year. Best bath of my life,” Tonya nodded earnestly.

“Oh you poor thing!” Janie said, a bit shocked at how casually Tonya had mentioned such a terrible ordeal.

The small girl shrugged. “It was just the way life was then. It’s over now. There’s a lot of us here with stories like that.”

Janie was quiet at that. Thoughtful. She continued to wash herself then dipped into the water to rinse. The silence became a bit awkward after a while.

“Did I say something wrong?” Tonya asked.

“No, not at all,” Janie assured her. “This place isn’t anything like I thought it would be.”

“Just wait until it gets dark,” Tonya smirked. “It might match your expectations a bit better then.”

“I admit, I am curious,” Janie smiled. Her stomach rumbled loudly. Tonya looked down at it through the water.

“You ready to get out? I bet Sasha has something to eat for you by now,” Tonya said, standing up.

Janie nodded and followed, leaving the soothing heat behind. Her body was so warm now that the cool air felt soothing rather than chilled. She dried herself with one of the towels from the bench and reached for her clothes.

“Just take them with you. We’ll find you something else until we get them washed. You just got clean. No sense in putting dirty clothes back on,” Tonya suggested.

“Well I can’t very well walk out like this,” Jaine said, looking down at herself.

Tonya laughed. “Sure you can. If you’re feeling modest just wrap the towel around yourself. Around here, that’s more than most people do.”

Jaine’s brows furrowed for a moment, then she wrapped herself in the towel and picked up her clothes. “This all feels like a strange dream,” she said with a small shake of her head.

“I felt that way for the first few months of being here too,” Tonya grinned.

They left the baths behind and headed back upstairs.

Belita’s gold rings caught the faint light of the wall lamps as Bella flicked them gently with her fingertips. “These are so much fun,” she said between kisses. “Where did you come up with the idea?”

“It’s a Nivalese tradition,” Belita said.

“You are definitely not Nivalese.” Bella giggled. Nival was a continent populated largely by very dark skinned people. No one would ever mistake the blond captain for one of them.

“No, but at the time of my eleventh trip around the Horn, I had a Nivalese first mate. He had his pierced with ivory crescents. When I joked about running outta ear space, he reminded me that I had a lot of other options. He did this one right as we passed around the tip of the horn,” she said tapping her left breast, “and the other one on the way back, right out on the sterncastle.”

“Isn’t that the most dangerous part of that trip? I hear that’s a very narrow strait, full of ice and monsters,” Bella said. Her dark eyebrows were as high as they would go.

“The sirens aren’t really monsters. Their mating calls just have a strange effect on men,” Belita shrugged, enjoying the sensations as Bella continued to play with her nipple rings.

“Driving them mad enough to try to swim through freezing waters is a little worse than strange,” Bella snorted. “How do you deal with that?”

“There’s a few tricks. Stopping up the ears is a good one. Having a musician play to interrupt the power of their song is another. Crewing a ship only with women and deaf men is the most reliable way. There’s a few ships that make their living that way. The Kestrel was one of them for a while, until the Blood Tide closed off the passage,” Belita smiled.

“What if a woman is attracted to women too? Does the song still draw them?” Bella asked.

“A bit, but not to the same extent. I’ve never seen a woman ever want tae jump overboard. They just get really horny,” Belita snickered.

“Sounds kinda fun,” the N’madi witch grinned, bringing her lips down to nip at the Captain’s rings.

“It is. That’s why my crew is so comfortable with each other,” Belita twitched her shoulders inward at the little spike of pleasure, squeezing her breasts together for a moment. “After the first orgy breaks out on the deck, there aren’t many taboos left.”

Bella’s eyes widened. “That doesn’t sound so bad at all. I’ve only ever heard that the Devil’s Horn was the most dangerous place on the seas, and that Sirens were like Succubi, luring men to their deaths.”

“I bet ye heard that from men,” Belita snorted. “I can think of a dozen places more dangerous than the horn. We’re headed tae one of them now.”

“What are the Drifts like?” Bella asked, continuing her nibbling and teasing.

The Captain put her hands behind her head and relaxed into the pillows, smiling and stretching with a throaty purr. “Unpredictable. They are constantly changing. I’ve only ever seen them from the outside. It’s a daunting sight. Awesome and humbling.”

“You think we can make it through?”

“No idea. That’s what Will and ye are here for,” Belita shrugged.

It dawned on Bella how much trust the Captain was putting in Will’s abilities. “Why would you take that risk? You barely know us.”

“Will looked me in the eye and said he could do it. I know boasts when I see them. He’s either delusional, or completely confident. Ye seem wary and sensible enough not tae hang around with a delusional person. I think Will really believes he can do it. I’ve been waiting for someone like that tae come around for years,” Belita idly stroked Bella’s hair, staring at the ceiling while she talked. “I was afraid it might never happen, or that if it did, it wouldn’t be me tae recruit them.”

“You aren’t worried that we might all die?” Bella asked.

“I’ve run the Horn twenty times. I’m nae afraid of dying at sea. If I’m going tae die somewhere, I want it tae be doing something no one has ever done before,” Belita smiled.

There was a knock at the door. Belita sighed and rolled herself off the bed, shrugging into her coat and holding it tight around her naked body. She opened the door and squinted. “What is it?”

“Ship sighted. Looks like a Magistrate frigate. They’re headed our way,” Danica said.

“I’ll be out in five minutes,” the Captain said, shutting the door.

“I guess that means I don’t get to return the favor for helping me with my ritual,” Bella said.

“Nae, not right now. I think we caught the attention of a Magistrate patrol ship. They’re going tae stop us and want to snoop around,” Beita said. She started picking up her clothing from the mixed up trail on the floor.

“Does that happen a lot?” Bella asked.

“In areas where the Magistrate is trying tae establish more control, yes,” Belita said. “We don’t have anything tae worry about. We aren’t pirates or smugglers. We’ll let Lord Morant handle it.”

Bella sat up in the bed and looked around. “Can we not mention the whole ‘witch’ thing to them?”

“Of course. I’ll make sure the crew knows tae keep that under wraps,” Belita said, tugging herself into her breeches with a few eye-catching bounces.

“Oh, and can I ... uh, well, do you have a mirror I can have?” Bella asked.

“Ye can use the one on the wall, right there,” the Captain said with a gesture toward a large oval mirror with a wooden frame carved into the shape of waves.

“No, it’s for another ritual. The mirror has to be mine. It can’t be borrowed,” Bella said with a shake of her head.

“Is it going tae be broken?” Belita asked.

“No,” Bella shook her head.

“Can it stay there on the wall?” Belita asked.

“Well, I could put it back after I’m done, yes. I just couldn’t give it back to you. Ownership is important to the spell,” Bella said.

“It’s yours then. Ye can have it. I’ll just borrow it when I need tae,” Belita said, finishing the buttons on her shirt.

“I feel a bit like you just found a loophole in how this is supposed to work,” Bella snickered.

“I have a knack for that,” the Captain shrugged. She pulled on one of her boots and set her foot on the edge of the bed. “Oh cabin girl,” she smirked. Bella laughed and started pulling the laces tight and fastening the polished buckles.

“Whatever ye have planned with the mirror, ye should wait until we’re clear of this patrol ship. They’re going tae want tae look everywhere,” Belita said.

“Of course. I don’t want the Magistrate anywhere near me while I’m doing witch stuff,” Bella agreed.

The Captain put her other boot on the bed for Bella to work on. “What kind of spell are you going tae cast on the mirror?”

“Do you remember my apprentice, Tonya?” Bella asked.

“Dinnae think I met her.” Belita shrugged back into her coat and picked up her hat.

“Well, not officially. She was the one who was with Will and I at Mary’s,” Bella said.

“Oh, aye! The wee lass that came so hard she fell outtae her chair,” Belita giggled.

“That would be her. I’m going to see if I can communicate with her,” Bella smiled.

“Interesting. Having a way tae talk with folks in port could be useful,” Belita said, starting to head for the door.

“I’ll let you know how it goes,” Bella shrugged.

The Captain stepped out into the sun and shut the door behind her. Bella flopped down onto the bed again and looked over at the mirror. She didn’t like having to wait.

“Permission to come aboard!” The crisp, authoritarian voice called out from high above on the other ship.