Chapter 13

The Sumpter from the Rockpig came into land in the docking bay and the ramp lowered, allowing Kazlaena and Pri to exit. As they headed down the hall on D deck, laughing and giggling, Jack came out of the amenities room at the end.

“Sa mallow, sa mallow,” Kazlaena came racing up to him. “ ‘ow come you are all soaked?”

“The wash basin is screwed up, blasted me in the face from beneath the faucet...” Jack looked a little disappointed for a sec, then gave her an inquisitive stare. “Did you mess with it?”

“Um, nooo.” Kazlaena pleaded innocence.

“I think you did.” Jack reached in and grabbed her, feeling her squirm in his grasp.

“Not me, not me.” Kazlaena tried to wriggle free, before using her nose to poke at his ear.

“Unhand Sheriff.” Pri said as she walked up and tried to free Kazlaena.

“Sheriff? Uh, Pri?” Jack looked at her curiously.

“Yes?” She asked.

“You uh, your ... eyes...”

Pri had forgotten about the cosmetics on her eyes and a blast of embarrassment radiated through her.

She realized she had walked past so many of the Rockpig’s crew, getting peculiar, even curious looks, but nothing that had made her feel uncomfortable.

“Isn’t Pri so pretty like sat?” Kazlaena said as Jack set her down slowly, still staring at Pri as she hid her face.

“Uh, yeah, like wow...” Jack spoke slowly, then reached up to pull her hands down so he could see her eyes again. “Good to see you trying new things.” He said softly.

“New look does harbor interest. Perhaps future plans will include more new things.” Pri said back and Jack felt some enthusiasm in her voice.

He gave her a wink, then tickled at her belly as Kazlaena grasped one of his arms and tried to hold him back. Pri took hold of the other arm, then used her free hand too rub her knuckle over his head.

“Grrrrrrr. Ape man go rage mode. Hur-a-hur-a-hur.” Jack growled as he partly broke free, somewhat due to Kazlaenas laughter making her loose her grip.

He managed to get hold of Pri’s tail with the Vandean clinging to his torso. Pri let him go, mouth slightly agape, hoping he would release his grasp on her tail. Jack took her tail and brushed her chin with her own tail feathers a few times, mimicking painting a bit. He then handed Pri her own tail and picked the Vandean up, tickling her silly. Pri looked at her tail for a moment, then let it go so she could hide her face and her laughter at the ridiculousness of the situation.

“So, did you two have fun or what?” Jack asked with interest.

“We did, we did,” Kazlaena said, taking his hand as they headed up the hall.

“Time was well spent.” Pri leaned against him momentarily, letting out a bit of a purr before they hit Kazlaena’s quarters and Kazlaena darted in.

“Um, ‘ey, Valeria ‘as sa gift for you.”

“Oh?” Jack saw her open her pack and hand him a bag.

Jack took it and saw a plastic bag of walnuts inside, letting out a bit of a sigh. He saw a card that read ‘Keep crushing nuts boyo’.

“Um?” Kazlaena looked at him.

“My fav...” Jack replied half-heartedly.

“Ok.” Kazlaena shrugged, not really understanding.

“Well, I’m glad you two had fun,” Jack bumped fists with Kazlaena and patted Pri’s stomach. “You really did, yeah?” He asked Pri quietly.

“I did.” Pri smiled, resting a hand over her pocket containing her commpad.

“I hope you continue to try new things Pri.” Jack said. “I like to see you smile; we all do. You might not think it, but you have a beautiful look to you when you’re happy and smiling.” He gave her shoulder a pat. “I’ll catch up with you before the meeting.” Pri nodded and he and headed out.

When they had split back to their own quarters, Pri opened her commpad and looked at the photos Valeria had captured of her. All of them were of her enjoying activities and smiling, something she would likely have avoided otherwise. She stopped at the last one, seeing herself with bright eyes and a beaming smile, recoiling in surprise over a simple board game they had been playing. She glanced at the text that had accompanied the photos.

“Anytime you think you won’t have fun or enjoy something with others, just look at these photos sweetie. You were the brightest star in that room today.”

Pri took a breath and held the commpad to her chest, feeling a welcome stir in her core as she thought of both Jack and Valeria’s words. She smiled brightly and nodded to herself, vowing to put the time in to be more involved and share in the crew’s lives, rather than choosing to be so withdrawn all the time.

In the ready room, Jack sat in his usual seat. Pri sat beside him, with Cardox and Sita in the center row at the back of the room. Lucinia was seated at her desk while Proculus was at the front of the room, briefly setting up his program on the wardroom viewscreen. Everyone but Proculus was astonished and encouraging of Pri’s new look. Proculus didn’t spite it, he just really didn’t care either way.

“Alright,” Proculus went to his first page. “Junkers Refuge requires the standard inox list for star farers. That’s Kaxapox, Rontenyl B, C and X, Extrapian flu and Mazar status. No-one on board is a Mazar carrier, so access should be no problem, and no-one would be on board without all these inoculations, so entry is a go.” Proculus went to his next page, “Small arms are permitted. Pistols and small caliber sub guns only, no rifles, energy weapons, destructive devices or any weapon firing a projectile faster than eighteen hundred feet per second or in excess of five hundred and forty joules of energy. Our weapons kit will be permitted to KN-12 pistols and KN-19 sub guns as they meet the requirements.”

“What about pattern guns, First Officer?” Sita asked.

“No go,” Proculus replied. “Too indiscriminate with wide field of effect and our stock is over the velocity limits.”

“Could choke them up and equip a velocity reducer,” Sita countered.

“Station side security will confiscate them under the belief they will be tampered with later,” He saw Sita nod in acceptance and moved on. “Standard team composition applies. Cardox as team lead, Pri as second in command and medical, Jack as comms and Sita as extra security, as a demo position is not needed.”

“Ah nuts,” Sita frowned. “No fun this round.”

“We’re going to buy munitions Sita...” Jack gave her a grin “ ... not void the entire station.”

Pri gave Jack a bit of a nudge as he laughed. “Voiding entire station may yet offer favorable result. Missile payment would be rendered un-necessary.”

“And place a bounty on us from every fortune seeker in a thousand light years.” Jack remarked. “Starting with the renegade Sezar that lead the ‘mercs’ to commit such a despicable act.”

“Renegade Sezar would run a hard merc crew with strict discipline standards. More than what ‘stink-stick’ sucking Coralane could step up to.”

“See,” Sita exclaimed. “She might be quiet but she’s a dom.”

“What?” Pri turned around grinning. “Clarify remark?”

“A dom, you know, a dominant.” Cardox said quietly, pretending to act uncharacteristically shy as he spoke, despite everyone in the room being able to hear clearly.

Pri turned around and looked at the captain, flush in the cheeks.