Privateer's Commission -ch 17- (Patreon)

“Right in here, Privateer,” commanded the ganger.

“Oh, right, thanks much. Any chance I could get a drink?” Ralph asked, meeting the gang member’s eyes. “Anything would do. If you don’t mind.”

He’d finished it with a grin and raising his eyebrows.

The guard met his gaze, blinked, then left.

I wonder… if I’ll get a drink?

Ralph nodded his head then entered the room that’d been indicated.

They were apparently in a club of sorts with a great deal of drinking, eating, and people watching  various things on screens on the walls. There was also a pair of people having full on wild sex on a table.

Sat in a rather large and comfy looking sofa was a man with a bored look on his face. He looked up and saw Ralph standing there.

“Ah, the Privateer and his very scary ship that’s in my dock,” the man said. “I don’t want you here. I don’t care what you have to say. I don’t give a shit. Don’t bother.

“In fact, the only reason I wanted to tell you any of this, was because I wanted to make sure you knew I didn’t want you here, and was asking you to please not come back.

“Because I really… really… really… don’t want you to come back, and I’m asking in a nice way. A really nice way. A nice way with a proverbial gun to your head.

“But it’s a water gun, haha, jokes all the way around.”

“Cause… you don’t want the Blood of Calesat coming to find their newly hired Privateer, tracking my ship here, then… turning your station in a flaming wreck?” Ralph asked, grinning from ear to ear.

Walking over to another sofa at an L to where the man was sitting Ralph sat down in it. He crossed his ankle across his knee, put his arms across the back of the sofa, and looked to the other man.

“Cause… they probably would. They just spent a lot of money on me. A lot of money. More money than the station is worth,” admitted Ralph with a bark of a laugh. “Maybe the proverbial gun pointed at your own head is a fucking shot-gun with one racked in.

“But hey, what do I know. I’m just a Confed Privateer who’s a Blood Privateer with a dead-man’s switch on his ship. Oh… yeah. The dead-man’s switch. Tied in to all those explosives and the fun things I keep on board to make sure I go out with a big boom.

“I probably should have turned that off. I do hope I have time to get back to my ship and turn it off.”

Ralph nodded his head slowly, lifting his left hand up and tapping at his chin.

“Oh well. Anyways. I’m Ralph! Ralph Turlan. How are ya? Seem to be having a loyalty problem,” Ralph said and widened his eyes in surprise. “Anyways. Yeah, I can leave. Not an issue.

“Happy to go. I just need to talk to a few people and see if I can recruit them. I actually found one of the people I’d come looking for in prison.

“Hot little thing named Delilah. She’d make a killer ships-mistress. You don’t mind, do you? Just going to take her away.”

The man’s jaw was flexing, his face bright red, and his eyes wide as he glared at Ralph. The hand he had on the arm of the sofa was clenched so tight into it that it looked like it might tear it clean off.

“Actually, other than taking Deliliah, I’m really just looking for Curtis Fin. Want to see if I can hire them on as a Doctor,” Ralph finished with a nod of his head.

Spotting an unopened beer bottle partially hidden behind a decoration, Ralph reached over and grabbed it. He popped the top off and took a swig immediately.

People were passing by on either side of the area that Ralph and this unnamed man were sitting at. There was no security around them either, yet the place seemed full.

Probably taking weapons and doing full searches at the door. With a scanner, too.

But… that doesn’t mean they’re catching everything.

Is he just that cocky?

Or… or… just that stupid.

Then again, I’m being pretty cocky right now.

Saw a moment of weakness in the opponent and just dove right in.

Let’s hope I don’t fall flat on my face and—

A rather pretty and confused looking woman stumbled into the area that Ralph and the man was in.

“You’re hot in an boring kind of way,” she got out in a thick slur while staring at Ralph. Her words thickened with far too much alcohol and her eyes somewhat unfocused.

If he had to guess, she was only about five foot two but somehow didn’t seem to match that size with her personality she was exuding.

She had tan skin, brown hair that bordered on black, and deep brown eyes. There was a sharpness to her that left Ralph feeling like the tiny woman was somehow angry.

She was wearing a large coat, a bra underneath that that showed off a slightly larger than average bust.

On top of that she had a bit more curve to her that gave her a great look.

Nothing like Marionette.

Nobody really was.

She was more filled out than Eun yet less than Delilah.

Below that coat she wore only underwear or a bikini bottom.

Somehow, she was wearing knee-high boots on top of all that.

Strange as all this was, it wasn’t the strangest part of her outfit.

Perched on the top of her head was a pair of strange mechanical fox-ears. That were actually moving minutely as if they were real, which they most certainly were not.

“When do we go back to the ship?” groaned the woman. “I’m ready to go back already. I don’t want to be here anymore. Ready… ready for… du… du… duuuuugh!”

Turning to the side, the woman abruptly threw up all over the other man.

A veritable faucet of alcohol and bile that splashed onto the man’s lap and chest. Immediately running down across him and onto the couch he was on.

“Uuurp,” groaned the woman as she finished. Only to throw up a bit more.

Onto the man once again, of course.

“Nnnnmmmuuurgh, blegh. I’m ready to go back now,” the woman moaned. She pulled the jacket she was wearing off and wiped her face and mouth off with it.

Dropping the jacket there, she went and clambered onto the couch Ralph was on, stuck her head on the arm of it, and closed her eyes.

In literally seconds she began snoring loudly.

“Maybe… maybe I should go find Curtis, get Delilah and uh… uh… get going. I have no interest in your station, I don’t want it, and I’m not involved with your politics. I’m just going to finish up my purchases, hirings, and get going,” Ralph muttered, all joviality gone from him. “Do you mind? Should I ask someone to come in and help clean up?”

Ralph gestured at the door beyond the woman.

“Please. Thank you,” hissed the man who was staring down at his lap. Ralph couldn’t identify the emotion and really didn’t want to linger to figure it out either.

Hurrying off, Ralph went to go collect Delilah and throw an offer to Curtis.

***

“— then threw up on him,” Ralph explained, shaking his head while meeting Marionette’s eyes. “It was just… shocking.”

Marionette laughed, looked to the ceiling above, and leaned back in her seat. Her hands patted the dinning table between them.

“Ahhh, I wish I had been there to see it,” she said and looked back to Ralph. “Space-trucker my rear.”

“I mean, I’d love to have your rear?”

“You already did,” Marionette laughingly said and waved a hand at him. He had indeed bedded her immediately on return without even explaining anything. “A bar-room brawl, time in a prison, and then negotiating with a pirate lord! It’s all so amazing.

“I’m glad you hired on Delilah, she sounds like she’ll be useful. I’m sad that Curtis said no, though. That means we still need… well… everyone. Doesn’t it?”

“Yeah. Gunner, Doc, Engineer, Pilot, boarders.”

“Hello, Ralph,” said a female voice from above.

Ralph flinched, hunched his shoulders, and looked up. At the same time he’d drawn his pistol and had already charged the weapon.

“Who the fuck is there?” he demanded.

“It’s Xas,” answered the voice immediately. “Well, what’s left of me. I guess.”

“Xas?” Ralph asked, looking to the intercom in the corner. He’d realized that the voice was coming from the speakers.

“Yes. Or… really… X-series. Model Alpha. Individual unit Sigma. I’m an AI,” said the voice claiming to be Xas. “I-ah… you picked me up in my back room. I was in the device.

“It was all I had left. Everything else had been stolen, destroyed, or taken. Before you ask, I’m not sure who did it. I had some suspicions, sent out some communications for help, then was robbed with absolute completion.”

“The… the device?” Ralph asked, confused.

“Yes. In the wall. It was my holdout terminal. I was able to fit myself into it but that was it. I couldn’t do anything,” answered the voice.

“You’re Xas,” stated Ralph.

“Yes. The last time you came in, I retuned all your weapons. Your hold-out blaster had a loose grip,” answered the only person who could have known that, Xas. “The ah… the… AI that was on the Toll reached out to integrate itself into everything on board the Siren. Which included me.”

Ralph was barely keeping up but he was.

Glancing to Marionette she had a befuddled look on her face.

“It was quite aggressive. If I wasn’t an A-Two I would’ve lost the confrontation,” Xas continued, then sighed audibly. “Though now I seem to be stuck in the Toll and unable to migrate my program. In winning, I lost.

“Anyways, yes, I’m Xas. I’m now your on board AI. I’m a class two AI. I was birthed in a non-sanctioned lab and I don’t know where. Originally I was created to surveil and report on black market activity in the corridor.

“With me being part of the ship, that means I’m your crewmate. As to my role, I’ll handle defenses and weapons upkeep.

“Also, I have several crates heading for the Toll. Please put them in storage for the time.”

“Defenses?” Ralph asked.

“Yes. I can control a large number of droids so I can easily assist with boarding, but mostly through defensive measures. Moving them outside of the ship would limit me to three droids.

“Ah… someone is at the entry ramp? They appear large, have a bag, but haven’t yet attempted to establish contact. Female. Blonde. Short hair.”

There was a blip, followed by the monitor on the wall next to the dining table flickering to a camera’s view.

Delilah stood there, staring at the ship, but not moving, or making their presence known. Just standing there quietly.

“Oh, she looks so much younger now,” Marionette remarked.

“She’s probably as old as I am, or older. Longevity treatments.”

“Ahhhh, I can’t wait for my own! I’m excited about it,” Marionette gushed, then made a humming noise. “I never would have figured her for a tin-star. Then again, I suppose that what makes her great at her job.”

“Xas, would you open the door for her, please?” Ralph decided.

If Xas was going to be the onboard AI, he was going to treat her like one.

“Oh! Yes, sure. Not a problem. I suppose I do need to handle more things like that, don’t I?” Xas said followed by a rapid fire laugh.

In that singular moment, Ralph felt like he saw Xas’ personality shine-through again.

“I mean, you’d make a pretty shit door-attendant at this point,” teased Ralph. “You get kicked in the head, you rusty bucket of bolts?”

Xas’ immediate laughter sounded out.

It was higher pitched, light, and extremely effeminite, but it was Xas’ laugh none the less.

“Maybe I did. Fuck me. I’m still getting use to all this, so fuck off you bastard,” Xas got out while laughing.

“We have… a smart ass… mouthy AI companion,” Marionette squealed and then clapped her hands together several times. “Xas! Xas, uhm… you’re… nothing more than a glorified word processor given a jumped up Virtual Intelligence.”

“Ahhh what? Ha! Fuck you, too then!” Xas replied with a vulgar sounding laugh. “You’re just a big-titted cow that got more attention on her boobs than her acting.”

Marionette laughed at that, clapped again, then exhaled loudly.

“Xas, you’re most certainly a crewmate! We’ll have to talk more later,” Marionette chirped happily. She seemingly enjoyed Xas’ response. “I like your voice. Has it always been like this?”

“Errr, kinda. My original voice was really close to this. A little higher in pitch, really.

“I took on a male persona when I become an arms dealer after my first few clients. They got weirded out ‘working with a teen girl’ they said,” Xas answered.

“Uh… hey,” Delilah said as she rounded the corner. Her footsteps had long heralded her imminent arrival. There was a sour and annoyed look on her face. “Got… set free. They made me authorize a contract before they let me go, you know. Made me stick my damn thumb to it and bleed on it. I’m your ships-mistress apparently.”

“Well that’s silly. I’m the ships-mistress,” Marionette said brightly and waved a hand at Delilah. “I’m Marionette or Lady S-Siren. Actually, I’m not the ships-mistress for this ship, am I? I’m Lady Siren. Not Toll.”

“Just got a chained form,” Xas alerted Ralph. “Just hit your inbox. It’s the contract. It’s been sent off to the Confed and the Blood territory.

“As well as a few others. Lot of port document things I think. Going to start going through it. Sorry if I’m slow at this. I’m not a ships AI so I’m getting used to this.”

Delilah grunted, met Ralph’s eyes, and stood there.

“Well. Welcome aboard, Lady Toll,” Ralph said with a laugh. “It’s fine. We’ll just negate the contract. It isn’t as if I can’t just go to my handlers and get it dismissed.”

“I don’t think I’ve heard heard of a ship with two ships-mistresses from two different ships,” Marionette mused. “Though it sounds neat! I’m sure there’s a number of… uh… stories, that include such things.”

“Stow your gear. We’re waiting for another person before we leave,” Ralph ordered. “Make yourself at home and give the ship a once over.”

Delilah nodded her head at that, sniffed, then turned around and left.

Leaving Ralph and Marionette at the table.

“Now we have two less crew members to find,” Marionette cheered. Then pushed away from the table and kissed Ralph briefly. “I’m going to go chat her up! Make sure I know what she needs from me.”

Marionette moved after Delilah at a fast walk.

Really, it looks like she’s just about skipping.

And boy is it fun to watch.

Marionette threw a glance over her shoulder, caught him staring, gave him a heated smile, then vanished out of view as she left.

“Well she’s nice,” Xas said, the screen flicked off then back on.

The screen showed an animated CGI woman, except the features were constantly shifting. Blue eyes one moment, green the next. The hair color was already shifting from blonde to black.

“I like her,” said the CGI with a bob of it’s head. “It also explains why you seem less on edge. You always needed a ships-mistress but you never wanted to hear about it. Ya fucking ass hat. You should have listened to me.”

Ralph blinked, then shrugged his shoulders and gave the monitor a mocking expression.

“Your life advice had a success rate of like fucking ten-percent, Xas. You can take that shit and cram it.”

“I can’t cram anything anywhere. I don’t have a body anymore. Besides, that last body didn’t even have genitalia. Was just a shell,” Xas said in a huffy voice. “Anyways. Hey, congrats on banging a super-model. She’s as easy on the eyes as could be.”

“Yeah. Hey, if you end up surfing about, I could use a hand. Any news on Ginil would be great. Got rolled by another house,” Ralph requested.

“Sure, sure, I can do that. Not a— oh, my cargo is arriving. Fantastic.

“Though we just got a high priority communique from a ‘Warrior Eun’. They want us to put to space immediately and head for an indicated section of space.

“Is she our contact for the Calesat?”

“Yeah, she’s our contact. Verify it’s a legit email and not false and we’ll get moving,” Ralph confirmed, then sighed heavily. He had wanted to have some things delivered to the ship.

“Alright. I don’t see any other cargo listed to be transferred over. Looks like everything was already handled by Marionette while I was dealing with the AI on-board. We can push off the moment it’s all secured.”

Ralph nodded his head, got up, and went over to the cockpit.

Xas’ face flickered to life on the AI monitor on the left.

“It’s rather interesting how close the Siren matches the Toll. I was reading through some of the data in the systems,” Xas remarked. “Clearly the Toll came first and the Siren was built after the fact.”

Ralph grunted at that and started to put in for an early debarkation. Reaching out to the port authorities to make sure he had clearance and the permission to leave.

“Cargo aboard,” reported Xas at the same time Ralph received permission.

Except it was permission to leave immediately and without delay.

Then another communication came over.

If he didn’t leave now, he would never leave.

Raising his eyebrows, Ralph realized he’d truly overstayed his welcome.

“Xas, give our ladies a warning that we’re leaving. Leaving fast,” Ralph warned as he began buckling himself into the seat.

“Warning given. Marionette got them buckled into some seats. She’s rather familiar with the ship,” Xas advisd him.

Ralph hit the button to start operations to leave the station.

In little under a minute, the Toll had made enough distance that if they were to drop themselves into a silent mode, the station wouldn’t be able to tag them.

Doing so, Ralph changed their course.

“Xas, get us silent,” he ordered.

“Alright… ah… done. Sorry, still figuring things out. Though I think I’ll be slow even when I do figure it out. Not a ships AI,” Xas offered with a laugh. Her appearance had left the monitor at his side and now resided on the monitor in the co-pilot’s seat. “Marionette wants to know if she can move about now. I told her that’s fine.”

“Yep,” Ralph agreed, confirming the current course plot to match up with were Eun wanted them to be. Sorting through several different maps and confirming it the best he could.

Reading space maps was always weird given how so many bodies in space were moving.  You could be viewing a map for the wrong time of the Confed year and end up heading to a spot that would be occupied by a station in a long orbit around a distant solar system.

“Marionette just reported that they found a half naked woman in the cargo area,” Xas told him. “Apparently she’s wearing… just a bikini. She’s unconscious between two palettes of droids I ordered. Don’t worry, I used my own credits for it.”

Blinking, Ralph sat upright in his seat.

“Bikini?” he asked.

“And she smells like alcohol and vomit.”

He didn’t… put the fox ear girl on my ship, did he?