Chapter 16

Interstellar space, en-route to the Kratta System
Timestamp 7 / 7 / 2296
04:00 Sol standard time.

Jack ran the keycard across the lock to Lucinia’s quarters and ducked in. She was currently out, so he took liberties and started up a pot of coffee, expecting her within a half hour or so. In the common area, she had a small kitchen complete with a single sink, hotplate and a minifridge. It was capable of handling simple meals, but she rarely used it. Inside her fridge sat a few drinks, some cream and a couple of plastic containers with fresh fruits. Despite being the Captain, Lucinia wouldn’t indulge in a bunch of luxuries that the rest of the crew could not. The extent of her indulgence was primarily on what her quarters provided. Jack occasionally felt self-conscious for taking advantage of it. He sat at her workstation and pulled out a tablet, looking over some items for sale on the League-wide marketplace. When Lucinia entered, she had a worn expression on her face but cheered up some when she saw Jack and smelled the fresh coffee.

“You are a miracle worker,” she said as she poured a cup.

“Contrary to popular belief, I do use my brainses every now and then,” Jack smiled as he stood up and showed her the tablet. “What do you think of these?”

She looked on the screen and saw a pair of kissing cranes, stuffed animals sewn together at the beak in a cute kiss.

“Uh...” Lucinia bit her lower lip.

“Yeah, look, they’re really cheap! I mean look at ‘em, they’re so ... us!”

“What was that you said about using your brains a moment ago?”

Jack burst out laughing. “I know you don’t go for that stuff, this is what I really mean,” He swiped the cranes away and showed her a winning bid on a pair of tickets to her favorite orchestra, ‘Solar Symphonia’.

“Ah! Is this for real?” Lucinia took the tablet and looked closely. “Jack...”

“Yeah?”

“This orchestra is impossible to get tickets to. It is always sold out over a year in advance.”

“Yep.”

“These tickets are only two months from now.”

“Look where, too,” Jack nodded his head.

“Oh, wow, Karderak Prime. At the South Sands Resort...”

“Yes ma’am.”

“Are you messing with me?”

“Me? Never!”

“Jack...”

“Well, I figured I ought to take Kaz there since it’s where we first meoomph.” He stepped back and laughed as she back handed his belly. “Better make sure you got a clear schedule for that. These tickets cost me a fafillion lucs.”

“Consider it cleared.” Lucinia wrapped her arms around him and gave him a kiss. “We all could use some rest. I’ll make it a couple of weeks down time for the crew. Give them a chance to travel and visit relatives or just relax on the beach.”

“I could use it,” Jack grinned. “Being worked into an early grave around here.”

Lucinia smirked and kissed him again, before stepping back to down her coffee and head off to get changed.

A few minutes later, they sat together in the common area of her quarters, sipping fresh cups of coffee.

“Things going ok?” Jack saw Lucinia still carried a tired expression.

“Things are ok, Jack,” Lucinia assured him. “Just some stress and concern over meeting the contract on time.”

“We have time to find the drone ship,” Jack spoke confidently. “Most contracts we’ve done in the past barely see a day cycle before we’re done.”

“That is true,” Lucinia took a sip. “However, the nature of our quarry is very different. With the missiles, we can strike them. We need to find them before we can do that, however.”

“Yeah,” Jack nodded. “I understand.”

“Any worries or concerns circling around the crew?” Lucinia inquired.

“Most of the stuff I’m seeing is of a personal matter.” Jack said. “Pri’s quiet about her close call, but maybe that bothers me more than it does her.”

“I caught up with her too, not too long ago. She is so withdrawn that I have a hard time reading her. I feel she may have become, tolerant of such things. When you hear about them all the time, and have poor treatment cast upon you by many...”

Jack leaned back and looked up at the ceiling. “Maybe it means nothing for me to say now, speaking here, after the event, full of bravado, but I would have fucked that station up looking for her.”

“I know.” Lucinia replied. “I saw that look in your eye.”

Jack closed his eyes and let out a huff. “I told her I’d have her back, watch her six anywhere I could.”

“You always do.”

Jack looked as if he wanted to say more on the matter, but he was silent for a few moments, then went on to a new topic.

“Kazzie’s doing good with her training and retention. She should be good and ready when I pass her off to you for her final round of training so she can get her OVM [Ordinary Voidsmariner] certification.”

“Right on.” Lucinia smiled. “She might just be able to make a competent officer out of you yet.”

“Hopes and dreams.” Jack shot back.

“Anything else of a serious matter?”

“Nothing serious, no,” he took a sip. “What about your end?”

“Nothing of a major issue,” Lucinia replied.

“Get any more info on what’s going on with the aft cargo hold?” Jack asked.

“No,” Lucinia replied. “Nyka’s camera has not caught anything other than the standard fare. Lights turn on and off occasionally, sometimes there’s some interference on the camera itself. Nothing else to speak of.”

“The plot thickens...” Jack scratched his head.

“My ship’s a bit broke, I want it fixed...” Lucinia lightly joked.

“Speaking of broken ships,” Jack cleared his throat. “Are you alright with me hiring Spurius to do some extra work to my Scapa? I hadn’t the time to fully service it before I left Artema and it could use some work.”

“Yes, absolutely. Can you work out a plan with him so he can do the work, and maintain his duties?”

“I can, “Jack nodded. “It’s nothing that could affect my capability to use it in the immediate future, but it will need to be done at some point. Gonna need to see what kind of parts are available at any ports we stop at.”

“Does it need a lot of work?”

“No, not really,” Jack shook his head. “Some basic maintenance and some parts are wearing out.”

“If you need Nyka’s help, you should talk to her too. Just make the arrangement like the one with Spurius.”

“I will,” Jack assured her.

“Zakia and Andor might be able to help as well,” Lucinia offered.

“Zakia possible, Andor, Eh...” Jack shrugged.

“Not a fan?”

“Not a Frenon fan, no,” Jack shook his head.

“Well, whatever you feel you need to do, make it happen,” Lucinia nodded.

They lay on the bed a short time later, still clothed and on top of the blankets. Looking up at the glowing art on the ceiling, Jack cleared his throat.

“You asked for my company tonight. Was there something specific you wanted to talk about?”

“In the fight today, I think killed someone,” Lucinia replied, tearing up a little as she felt the realization sink in. “I saw them in the window, and I fired my gun at them. I saw them fall back from a wound that had to be fatal, it had to be.”

“You might not have killed them,” Jack tried to assuage her.

“I hit them in the eye...” Lucinia let out a deep breath.

“Oh,” Jack bit his lip momentarily. “They were trying to take Pri. They were willing to kill us to take her and turn her into a pit slave or worse.”

“I know, I understand.” Lucinia answered. “It’s just...”

“Doesn’t make it feel any better.” Jack finished and she nodded against her pillow. “Knowing that they were going to harm or kill someone you care about, eases the conscience a bit. On my part it does, at least.” Jack said.

“Sita and Cardox, they seemed happy about the fight. Is there something I’m not understanding about what happened today?” Lucinia looked at him and he shifted to better face her.

“They’re coping in their way. Both have nearly a decade of combat under their belts. The fact they survived that fight relatively unscathed would be cause enough for their celebration. I don’t think they worry too hard about the lives they took. After a while you grow cold to it.”

“I don’t want to get like that, Jack.” Lucinia said quietly. “It scares me to think people can get that way. We have had very little in the way of gunfights in our line of work, nothing even on the level of today. I want it to stay like that.”

“I agree,” Jack replied.

“This mission became contradictory to its intent. The whole plan of purchasing these missiles was to keep you safe on board. Instead, the whole team became caught up in a conflict. I had to hear it from Proculus about how dangerous that was. I finally had to put him in his place which left a bad feeling between us.”

Jack reached over and took her hand, feeling her grip back.

“The consequences of a decision can be long lasting. Don’t let this cloud your judgement. You made the right call. I let you down out there.” Lucinia shifted on her side and put a hand on his cheek. “The second year into the Artema war, I was asked to pick a building for my section to have a few hours rest in. It was a simple command, almost a joke really, since most of the buildings in the town we were in were rubble. I chose the best looking one and we went in and found a couple dozen refugees of other races. The loyalists hated other races by that point and these ones had paid dearly for that.” Jack let out a deep breath. “I remember there was a pair of Kakrin kids, a brother and sister like Nyka and Rusu. A Praeminian couple was looking after them. Anyway, we briefly discussed moving to another building, but decided to stay. As we were warming some food and our medic tended to a few of the wounded, a Loyalist airstrike hit the building. Half my section was incapacitated, so were most of the refugees. Many didn’t make it. A bad decision can come at any time, completely unintended or unforeseen.”

“I’m sorry for that,” Lucinia said sympathetically.

“Don’t be,” Jack replied softly. “It was a loyalist bomb that ultimately killed or wounded everyone. That’s what I keep telling myself when I start thinking of those kids lying dead beside their guardians. Kakrin share so many features with Lexocanus, it gets me now and then when I see Nyka and Rusu.”

“So, I need to tell myself that it was ultimately those gangers that started the fight?”

“When it starts to bug you, you’ll have to, because in the end, it’s reality.” Jack answered.

Lucinia nodded and was silent for a few moments. “Is that why you have such a sympathetic stance with Nyka and Rusu, because of that event?”

“I never really considered it,” Jack thought in depth for a few moments. “I don’t know.”

“Was that what you went back to Artema for?”

“No,” He shook his head. “No, that was for some things ... worse than that.”

Lucinia had a hard time imagining the man beside her, fighting in a brutal war with the capability of doing what he needed to survive, no matter how ugly it may be. She wondered what kind of things had happened that he considered so much worse than what he had just told her.

“I don’t know who you were,” she said intently. “But I fell in love with you for who you are today. That kindness and compassion for the others no matter their culture or race, I saw it time and time again. I see it with Kaz and with Pri. I see it with the Lexocanus. I’ve seen it with Spurius, Charm and Saito. I see how easy you get along with most of the crew. I saw it with that young Praeminian we had on board, Tako. Some of the old crew were getting carried away with the joke about his name, but you stepped in before I even caught wind of what was going on.”

“I found him in the fore cargo hold, mad, and almost in tears.” Jack said.

“He made sure he said goodbye to you specifically, when he left.”

“Too bad we lost him. Wish he didn’t keep it a secret for so long.” Jack sighed. “Shoulda fired that fuck head who was tormenting him much sooner. Don’t even say his name,” Jack said. “Fuck doesn’t even deserve to be remembered.”

“He didn’t last long,” Lucinia stated. “ I made sure he got a proper citation on his file. Went right to the top of the voidfarers union. I doubt he found work anywhere else.”

“Beautiful,” Jack smiled. “Hope he’s working for a vet somewhere, shoving suppositories up some sick animal’s ass, though even that job would be above his grade.”

“Did you ever keep in touch with Tako?”

“Yeah,” Jack nodded. “I have his contact information. He’s on the deck of a cruise liner, about four hundred light years coreward of us.”

“Good place to be,” Lucinia noted. “Much safer than out here on the frontier.”

“He’s doing well, always asks about everyone that was on board during his time here. He wants to call you, but I think he feels uncomfortable with his sudden departure.”

“I wish I could have stopped him,” Lucinia said. “But the damage was done. I think he needed to escape the ship itself, to shake the memories.”

“I think so too,” Jack concurred. “You could send him a message though, if you want to make contact. I think he’d like that. Might help him to put the past to rest.”

“Pass on his contact information and I’ll get in touch.” Lucinia said.

“Where do you see yourself in another five years?” Lucinia asked Jack a short time later.

“Not too sure,” Jack scratched his chin, looking up at the art on the ceiling. “Things are becoming much deeper than I anticipated.”