Chapter 5

I hate it when these Navy people want to talk to you, nothing good is going to come out of it.

"Hello, Captain Todd," said the Commodore with a big smile on his face and his hand outstretched.

We exchanged chat for a few minutes then he got down to what he wanted.

"You've heard of Paradise, I'm sure?" he said.

"The planet and not the place in the bible," I replied with a chuckle.

"Right, well, this planet is just right for growing crops, good climate and fertile soil" he said. "We have great expectations of it feeding the whole quadrant."

"But, I hear a 'but' in there," I said.

"Well, yes, the planet has no natural resources at all," he explained. "Everything has to be shipped in."

"And?" I said.

"Well, the last two shipments never arrived," he said with a sad sigh.

"Oh," I said.

"Well, you have this reputation, you see," he coughed. "Of getting through were others have failed."

"Hey, I've only got a Starlight," I said. "My hold is just about big enough for the post."

"Yes, yes," he said. "We understand all that, but you recently brought in a Slaver's ship, an old Titian hauler, well, we acquired her, upgraded the engines and fitted a force field generator and then loaded her up to the gunnels with agricultural equipment. Now, she's sitting in moon orbit with a volunteer crew waiting for orders."

"Oh," I said.

"We'll give you a temporary commission of, let's say, Lieutenant Commander," he chuckled.

I stood in the doorway and watched as Candy worked on the engines. It was a breathtaking sight for she, as usual, wasn't wearing much, just a pair of faded shorts and her dirt streaked body glistened with sweat.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Changing all the seals and gaskets," she said without looking up. "I thought it was about time after we pushed my beauties up to Warp 6."

"Fine, fine," I said. "How long before you're finished?"

"Tomorrow, captain," she replied looking up. "Have we got a job then?"

"Yeah," I said turning away.

Lila was in the cockpit running diagnostics.

"Here, load that in," I said handing over a disk.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Latest upgrade to the Nav. computer," I said.

"But," she said.

"Got it from the Commodore, just now," I explained.

"Commodore," she said pushing the disk into its slot. "Does this mean we've got a job with the Navy?"

"Escort duty for a big hauler," I explained.

"Escort duty?" she repeated. "Where?"

"All the way to Paradise," I said with a laugh.

"So, are you clear, Lieutenant?" I asked after explaining my plan.

"Yes, sir," he said but one thing was clear and that was he wasn't very happy.

"Look, Lieutenant, the job is to get your load to Paradise," I said, "So you go the long way round, it'll be safer. Ok, so what can you get out of this old tub?"

"With the new engines, she tops out a Warp 3.1," he replied proudly.

"Well, don't push them unless you have to, then run as fast as you can," I said.

"Yes, sir," he replied.

He was not happy, he wanted death or glory, to slink off round the back way was not his or the Navy's style.

"So we are the bait, then," sighed a very naked Candy.

"That's the plan," I said, my hand running over the hollow between her torso and her hips. "We should be able to out-fight or out-run anything we find out here."

"Well, I hope they're paying us a load of lovely cash," she said.

"Don't worry, they are," I said with a smile for the amount of money they offered was nothing short of criminal. Makes you think that this job may be dangerous.

"Captain," interrupted Lila from the cockpit.

"Not now," I groaned for I was just getting near. "Shit."

I was slowly thrusting between Candy's slim thighs and now wasn't the best time for any interruptions.

"Now," she said sternly.

I lifted myself off a grumpy Candy who wasn't impressed either.

"Full spectrum scanner pulses," said Lila with a smile. "They're certainly searching for something."

"Shit and double shit," I shouted. "Ok, ok, status please?"

"We're flying dark, force field on maximum, all weapons charged," said Lila.

"Speed, warp 2.5," chipped in Candy who had padded naked after me.

"Right, interception course please," I ordered, "and Candy, put some clothes on."

"I can't see anything," observed Candy who was looking out of the cockpit windows.

"What's the best distance for your baby?" I asked Lila, referring to her Plasma cannon.

"No more than 10 klicks," she replied. "After that, the Plasma bubble becomes unstable and will collapse."

"There," pointed Candy.

It took awhile, but slowly, the shape became clearer then in a flash she was passed us.

"Recognise her, anybody?" I asked.

"No," the girls said in unison.

We turned after her and speeded up.

"Right, I want to set up for a shot right up her tail pipes," I said. "She's bound to be protected and she'll be most venerable there."

"She's doing warp 4 captain," said Lila whose head was fixed to the sensor hood. "Can't get a shot from the Plasma cannon chasing her like this, only the Phaser cannon up front can."

"Shit, ok what will a 10 gig shot up her tail pipe do?" I asked.

"Nothing good, that's for sure," giggled Lila.

"That's my gun," said Candy.

"Ok, Candy," I said. "Go and get your self settled in."

"Are we going to attack her or what?" asked Lila after we had followed the strange ship for a couple of hours.

"We don't know anything about that ship," I said. "She could be some innocent trader."

"Not likely," scoffed Lila.

"No, not likely," I agreed. "But if she's here, then our old Titian is safe from her attentions and that's the important thing. No, we'll keep her in sight and just wait."

For the next three days we tracked her, keeping well out of range, but keeping tabs by her huge active sensor sweeps.

"She doing a search pattern," observed Lila.

"Yeah," I agreed. "Right in the middle of the flight path to Paradise."

"Some innocent trader," scoffed Lila.

"What the fuck?" I shouted for my whole world had just suddenly turned upside down.