Privateer's Commission -Ch 4- (Patreon)

Quickly as he could, Ralph flipped through the possible locations to pick up food for the trip. Sorting through them one by one as they appeared on his traffic logs.

Additionally he was trying to find somewhere they could do some limited shopping since he didn’t think for even a moment that Marionette had everything she needed in her single piece of luggage. It was far more likely that she’d stuffed the bare essentials and quite possibly forgot more than she remembered.

Though this was only after locking every single control on the ship that could be an issue. All of it was locked to his biometrics now and wouldn’t open.

Certain systems that needed more security also required a pin additionally to the biometrics. There really wasn’t a way for Marionette to do anything to the ship now.

There was a certain amount of trepidation to the situation still.

Unease that left Ralph feeling like he was making a mistake by letting her stay instead of just dumping her the first place he could. Leaving her behind and moving ahead with his life.

The only thing that kept him from doing that was his own situation. Where he had quite literally tried to rob a police-officer with a brick.

To go to jail just to be fed for the first time in days.

The very same uncle that’d ruined the Turlan name had abandoned a young Ralph on a back-water planet that didn’t even have a Confed building to hand out food, let alone contact anyone for help without money to start.

Clicking his tongue Ralph knew he needed to call Michael and see how he was doing. It’d been a week or two since he’d put in a call last and he was due to check in with him.

A new traffic data packet pinged in the notifications box in the corner.

Ralph tapped at it and then opened the packet in his browser.

Moving straight to the search function he put in shopping and pulled the results by distance.

The first result was the same one as the previous search.

As were the next two.

The third however, hadn’t been in the last packet.

It was a wandering mega trader moving planet to planet.

They would never stop for anyone, but welcomed anyone to come drop by their massive ship if they were nearby.

Glancing at the ship’s previous flight itinerary in the traffic history he saw it’d just come from a major planet. Which meant it was loaded with goods and heading for a nearby planet.

“If I offer them information on what’s going on in Ginil, maybe they’ll give me a price break,” muttered Ralph as he quickly entered coordinates to shift their flight path.

They were only roughly an hour away from Gin and still within their space.

Technically it’d be a risk to deviate from their previous flight path, but he really did need to hit up a shop.

This was their best chance to be able to get what they’d need.

He quickly put in a request for docking permission with the expressed reason of shopping as well as information brokerage.

“All done.”

Flinching at the sudden words spoken behind him, Ralph looked over his shoulder. Marionette was still dressed as she had been previously, looking incredibly put together.

“Done?” he asked, confused. He had suggested that she take a shower or familiarize herself with the ship while he did some work.

She certainly hadn’t taken a shower and he had no idea what task she could be done with otherwise.

“Yes! I went ahead and sorted out your clothes in the drawers and moved them over,” she exclaimed with a bright smile. “I also went through the closet and got that sorted out into the storage.

“Now I’m all squared away and I put the suit case in the closet.”

“Ah, well, that’s handy then. That’ll make shopping easier,” Ralph grumbled. It would probably take him a while to get used to having someone else on board. She’d snuck up on him without even trying.

He had written off the pat of her shoes on the plates as a need to clean the air-ducts again.

“Figure out what you’re missing? What you need? I’m sure you forgot things. Your suitcase wasn’t very big either,” Ralph continued as he looked to his screen. The permission to dock and board the ship had just been granted. “You said you brought a tablet, but did you bring a toothbrush? Shampoo? Deodorant?”

He wanted to ask if she had birth-control but couldn’t bring himself to do it.

“Yes, that’s-yes. You’re right. I’ve forgotten a lot of things. I have a lot of really pretty clothes that I can wear for you but nothing really casual or comfortable either,” Marionette admitted and then gave him a smile that was partly a grimace. “I don’t know if my bank accounts will work out here?”

“I’ll cover it for now. You can… pay me back,” Ralph muttered.

“Oh definitely! Most assuredly,” gushed Marionette with a laugh. “I’m Lady Smiling Siren after all! That’s what I’m here to do!”

Ralph felt his mouth twist to one side as he began to rapidly put in the coordinates to dock. It would be moving in space so he’d have to rely on the AI quite a bit as well.

“We’ll be there in about twenty minutes,” he said. “I’ll be here for the whole docking procedure. Not something I can really look away from.”

“I’ll go take that shower then. Take a look around. Can… I use the computer?” she asked.

“Sure, sure. I made you an account. It’s just MWinslow, password Siren,” he replied offhandedly.

“Thanks!” Marionette said excitedly.

Then she suddenly leaned over and kissed him on the cheek, one hand lightly ruffling his hair. After that she was gone, leaving behind a faint fragrance that he didn’t know the identity of.

But it smelled good.

Sniffing twice more he put his mind to his work.

Or at least tried to.

Several times he’d found himself leaning back in his chair to peak back at the living room, though he couldn’t see Marionette.

***

“Docking permission granted,” the voice stated. “And welcome to the Starbound Bazaar, part of the Interstellar Bazaar network. If you’re not a member, you’re missing out on great deals!”

Marionette made a confused noise as the air-lock hissed and then cycled. Her artfully arranged face breaking from the partial smiling mask she’d been wearing.

“They’re somewhat common,” Ralph said and stuck his hands into his coat pockets. “They’ll also scan as us we go in to look for weapons. It’s a no-no to come armed on a place like this.

“Smaller stores you might be able to get away with it. Those places prefer hard-currency or trade though rather than anything digital.”

“Are-are they like pirate outposts?” Marionette asked in a breathy whisper.

“I mean, you can get some pretty good smuggling contracts there. Sell things you don’t want to handle anymore or deal with. Most of the people there aren’t the kind you’d find mixing with the common public.”

“But you’ve been there,” Marionette pushed, looking excited. The door finished opening and there was another beep as it locked into place.

And they still couldn’t find my hold-out blaster.

Well.

I’ll need to take it over to Xas and see if they need to make any upgrades and maybe buy a few more.

“Of course,” Ralph confirmed and then moved forward into the docking bay.

Considering there were more than twenty spaces to dock it was a long bay. Only a third of them had been filled as well though given the location and what was going on, that wasn’t a surprise.

Moving out of the bay Ralph grabbed a shopping cart after entering the main store. He also scanned his Bazaar card and stuffed it back into his wallet.

“This is so bizarre,” whispered Marionette, still wearing her revealing and perfectly cut clothes.

“I mean, what were you expecting?” Ralph asked. “What all did you think of Privateer life? What did those stories of yours have?”

“Attacking ships. Destroying them. Getting plunder. You know, booty and the like,” Marionette mumbled as Ralph went straight to the hygiene products. Marionette had put a list together and knew more than a few items would be over here. “Buried treasure, dealing with hostile planets and natives, going to those… those… pirate… planets and stations. Getting wenches and making them your ships-mistress? I guess?”

Ralph chuckled at that as they rolled down the aisle.

“You’d have several pistols and a sword and-and fight other pirates as well as outsmart military commanders,” Marionette concluded. “Was it all fake?”

“Yes and no. A lot of that can happen but you’d have to put yourself in that position,” Ralph admitted and gestured to the products. “And what does my Lady Smiling Siren need?”

Blinking with a start, Marionette looked over.

She made a happy noise and grabbed a rather flowery looking deodorant. Moving over a small amount she grabbed a very basic looking toothbrush and then started looking at hairbrushes.

“Your toothbrush is your own thing but... I prefer an electric one myself. Get what you want. I’ll help you cover the costs without it being debt. So you don’t owe me a bunch right at the start,” said Ralph and gestured to one nearly identical to his own.

Marionette smiled at him then chewed at her lower lip. She quickly put the manual toothbrush back and grabbed the one he’d suggested. Then she grabbed several types of brushes and a number of hair care products.

A pair of scissors and several other things all went into the basket.

Then a large amount of makeup and related products all went into it next.

Ralph noted that Marionette’s taste was expensive.

Given how she’d gotten a simple toothbrush at first he figured this was on him for saying what he had. He’d have to put down a budget with her on the next trip.

“Thank you for making this easy,” Marionette whispered almost under her breath. “Easy on me, that is. I admit I half expected to have been made to pay my way six or seven times over by now with you. I was really nervous and you’ve been nothing but kind.”

“If you’re my Lady Smiling Siren, I only have ground to lose by being mean or cruel,” Ralph argued. “Besides, I’ve saved up a decent bit of credits. We’ll try using your own bank account first and that might make this even easier. Since your currency will probably be wiped out in a day or two.”

“That’s a very good point. If my account is still active we should go right back in and spend it all, since I’ll lose it anyways,” Marionette declared as she threw in a number of feminine hygiene products. “How long will it be before we come to another store? A while?”

“A month or two. Nothing terrible,” he answered.

“That’s good!”

“They make it seem like it was forever between? In the stories that is,” Ralph asked, deducing it was one again her own imagination.

“They couldn’t really dock due to being pirates.”

“Well, I’m not a pirate. I’m a Privateer. A licensed pirate. Very different.”

Ralph threw on a grin with his words as he leaned over the cart.

“Now, my Lady, that took care of a large part of your list I imagine, yet it’s most certainly not empty. What next?” he asked and gestured ahead in the aisle.

Ahead of them was a very dirty and haggard looking trio of men. They all had eyes for Marionette and watched her closely.

Ralph had noted them earlier and mostly disregarded them.

They’d stare but that was likely the end of it.

And if it isn’t… well… they’ll find out why my ship’s the Smiling Siren.

Marionette gleefully led him around on a shopping extravaganza. To the point that they’d needed a second cart.

She had filled it with things she wanted in case her bank cards were working. If they weren’t, she’d just declare that she couldn’t afford them and ask it to be put back.

Ralph wasn’t going to let that happen, however.

He planned on buying it for her regardless.

Which was somewhat spoiled for him when the first cart when through without a hitch. Marionette’s card providing authorization without issue for the goods.

Saying nothing she’d immediately put the next cart up and went through the process again. The price on this cart was easily double that of the first.

“It declined,” the checker said with a frown while staring at the screen, only to turn his eyes to Marionette.

“Uhm?” Marionette asked in a confused tone, her head tilting to the side.

In other words, the bank didn’t think to block her external transactions and someone did so after the first went through.

“Here,” stated Ralph and then promptly handed his card over to the checker. “Also, I wanted to broker some information. Any chance there’s someone who would want to hear it?

“While I’m at it, could you have someone take my purchases on board? I’m in dock three. Leave it in the cargo bay there. The security cameras are on so please let them know they’ll be recorded.”

The clerk only nodded at all that and took the card. It was swiped quickly and handed back. All while Marionette looked incredibly nervous, tapping her fingers together in front of herself.

You know, for someone built for subterfuge and had a plan, she’s very open and honest with her feelings. I think I read her wrong a bit.

Was everything that happened in the port an act and her putting forward a role?

This feels far more like the person she actually is.

Though… damn is she cute.

Gnawing at her lip again, Marionette had been gazing at Ralph.

“We can get a card in your name later,” he said with a grin. “Sorry, slipped my mind.”

Marionette’s smile was like an orbital strike and flattened his will in a moment.

“Sir, if you wouldn’t mind, could you step over to that office? Someone will talk to you about the information there,” said the clerk. They’d clearly gotten a message on their screen about it. “Your purchases will be moved to your ship.”

Ralph had a strange itch on the back of his neck. One that left him feeling like he needed to change his plans.

It was a feeling he’d developed over bargaining with people who would be more than happy to shoot him down just as quickly as to make a trade with him.

Grinning, Ralph nodded his head at that and escorted Marionette off to the side with a hand on her back.

He was going to send her on ahead of him.

“Ah, right over here,” said a voice from the door Ralph had been indicated to go to. It was an older man with thin brown hair and dark eyes.

Nothing set himself out as odd or different but Ralph’s feeling of unease had increased. As if this person had sensed Ralph was now on edge.

“Watch yourself,” Ralph said quietly while smiling at the other man. “Be ready.”

Marionette stiffened against his hand but she made no outward appearance of being concerned that’d be visible.

Easing in closer to Marionette he put her against his right side and then turned his arm inward. Moving it into his coat and where his blaster was behind his back.

He figured it was mostly disguised and would only look slightly odd.

Walking up to the door the older man who’d waved them older moved inside. Looking into the room he saw it was an office.

“Oh no need, no need,” Ralph excused himself right at the door. Not going inside and holding Marionette right there. “I was just wondering if you were willing to throw a Privateer some credits for info about that armada around Gin.”

The man’s demeanor changed with that being said.

Either it was dropping the fact that Ralph was a Privateer or mentioning the invasion fleet.”

“Oh?” asked the man. It sounded like he was stalling for time to figure out what to say. “I would most definitely spare credits for that.”

“That’s great. I love being paid for information. It’s a lot easier to deal with than say the military,” Ralph said with a laugh. “I already had to pull a gun on a person today then threaten an admiral when he started poking around into my business.

“I thought for sure they’d try to board me and I’d finally end up using my dead-man’s self destruct on my ship. Haha. Whew, silly me, right?

“The too long didn’t read is it’s a full scale invasion. They already took the port and got it to stand down. The citizens have no idea what’s happening at all as far as I can tell.

“Full takeover would be my guess. That house is going to get incorporated. Quickly, too.”

Blinking several times, the man’s face drained of color.

“Ahahah, I can certainly understand that. How-how much were you looking to get for your information?”

“Not much. It’ll go live, or already has, very soon. You knowing will just give you a chance to be the first on the fringes to fleece migrants, soldiers, and refugees,” Ralph offered. “Just pay me what you think is fair. What you would owe me for that information. I’m not looking for any large payout or anything strange.

“Credit it to the account I used today if you don’t mind. I’m a bazaar member you know. You guys always have great rates on soda and my Lady Smiling Siren here loves a good deal.

“I really don’t want to stick around in this space too long so you’ll have to forgive me for leaving. The military already told me to leave post-haste.”

Ralph nodded his head, his eyes flicking around the room to confirm his thoughts, then began leading Marionette toward the exit.

He didn’t miss the fact that two people were hustling out ahead of him at a near run.

“You might have a bounty on your head,” murmured Ralph, grinning all the while. “We’ll need to go list you as my ships-mistress so it gets cleared. They were acting rather strange to me.

“They didn’t know I was a Privateer, but they seemed to have an interest in us. That leaves you and only you.”

“They were?” Marionette asked in a smooth tone. She had put on a mask of a beautiful if slightly bored woman. It reminded him of when they’d first met in the port.

“Very. It’s fine. We’ll be leaving shortly and this’ll be the end of it,” Ralph promised.

Turning the corner into the bay, he saw the people who had been running out, were now rushing into the bay the Siren was in.

They’d planned on doing something stupid after all. They weren’t going to load my purchases at all.

Well.

I’ll have to write this down in the Turlan family ledger.

This bazaar is not to be trusted in the future.

By the time they reached the ship the two men and their carts were both racing back out of the ship. Moving past him and not looking at either of them.

Which all but confirmed Ralph’s thoughts.

Any man would look at Marionette.

No sooner than they were on board then Ralph hit the ramp closure and went straight to the cockpit.

Before he’d even fully sat he’d fired up his AI and made it run the electronic defenses upward immediately.

As well as to harden their communications and any other port of entry on the Siren.

Ralph didn’t bother with clearances, permission, or anything else as he set to leave the bazaar.

Instead he forcibly detached the locking clamp with a burst of electromagnetism through the hull of the ship. It was a tool he didn’t have to use too often but it prevented anyone from holding onto him if he didn’t want it.

“Goodness,” Marionette said from the co-pilot seat. She had buckled herself in and was looking at the display in front of her. “Can I help? I’m really good at sitting here and looking pretty but I’d rather help somehow.”

“Nope, not really. It’s fine,” Ralph muttered as he flung the ship around in a quick spin, then hit the thrusters to full.

They’d be blasting back off into space toward the Blood in seconds and leaving it all behind. He didn’t plan on leaving his instrument panel for a while.

Just in case people wanted to follow them.

Until he could list Marionette as either booty or personel, her bounty would remain. The former sounded like the better option since he could claim her as material and get the bounty for her, too.

Something to talk out with her soon.

For now though, another task.

“Actually, you can help a lot,” he started and glanced over at her after they’d mostly hit a cruising speed that you could move around in.

“With a task other than sitting here and looking pretty I hope? I’m really good at it but… I’d like a task?” she teased with a lovely smile. She was being flirty while nervous once again.

“Put away our groceries, please?” he asked with a smirk. “If you don’t mind my dear Lady Siren.”

“Oh! Of course! I can definitely do that. I’d be a terrible Lady if I couldn’t even do that much,” Marionette blurted out and then started to unbuckle herself.

Or tried to.

It took her several attempts to figure it out, and Ralph didn’t mind staring since the belts gave her a lovely look and how it separated her cleavage.

As soon as she was free she gave him a kiss on the cheek, and then hovered over him.

“Thanks for buying the whole second cart by the way,” she purred, her hand coming up to run through his hair. “It was sweet of you the way you did it. I didn’t expect it. I thought we’d have to put it back.

“I think you’re right about the bounty but it felt weird how it happened to me. Explain it a bit more?”

“Pretty sure they got the ping on your bounty from using your card. It was right after that after all. Again, they didn’t know I was a Privateer, despite the ship and registry. They didn’t look into me,” Ralph remarked. “And you’re welcome. Consider it a gift. If I want to keep my Lady at her best I have to give her the best, don’t I? Her starting point is already so incredible that it’ll be hard for me, but I have to try.”

“Goodness… look at you… you made it seem like Privateers were just boring space-truckers. Now you’re becoming all warm and flirty.”

Marionette drug her fingernails along his scalp, hesitated a moment longer, then headed for the back.

Ralph most certainly watched her go this time. Turning his head to watch her retreating back as she moved down the corridor.