Lustral || Complete

V

     "I should have known the other passenger was a female." A muscled woman with golden eyes glared at Liri as she and Ardon ran onto the command deck.

     "Who cares right now?" Ardon bellowed as he looked at the heavily armed military craft blocking a quarter of the star-speckled viewscreen. "Jax, can't you fly this thing or has all the fur you've eaten thinking it was a bug finally gotten to you?"

     A burnt-orange orangutang's appendages deftly flew over the buttons of the navigation terminal. A silver band around his neck held a voicebox, it spoke with an irritated male tone as the mammal moved its mouth, "Shut Puff-da-magic-dragon up before I zip us over there and dump him and his new girlfriend off with the authorities."

     "The hell you will!" Ardon's wings twitched then expanded from his body as he took a step towards the primate.

     The golden-eyed woman held her hand up. "Don't start that shit on my boat."

     "Syd, you've already accepted the job, so do it!" Ardon argued.

     Rushing to a squawking terminal with flashing red lights, Syd pressed several buttons and asked, "Why the hell didn't Nico tell me that there was a Venusian involved, they are always getting into trouble whenever they leave Venus."

     "Liri likes adventures, so I thought I'd give her a good one," Ardon countered. "And they are after me for a job I just completed."

     Her golden eyes scrutinized him. "You weren't tagged, were you?"

     Rubbing the back of his neck, he confessed, "Yeah, it's why I called for the best to get us out of here."

     "Ardon's a liar, and we don't need this headache, so why not just let the vultures have him, boss?" Jax swiveled around in the pilot's seat, frowning when he spotted Liri.

     The radio crackled to life. "Captain of the Calypso, this is Commander Hemann of the Pathfinder. You are harboring a dangerous fugitive and have not responded to our previous two hails; according to code 375.93 of the Core Alliance Military Corps, we have the right to board and impound you, your crew, and your ship. Tractor beams will be initiated momentarily. We ask that you disengage your engines and turn off all power but life support. Any resistance, and we will be forced to open fire."

     Syd shook her head. "Sorry, kids, but I don't want to have the Military up my ass ever, so I have to back out of this deal."

     "Please," Liri begged, her eyes pleaded with everyone. "I will give you a new ship if you help me."

     A loud clang sounded, and everyone's eyes darted to a tiny human frame nestled under a lifeless terminal. He hefted a wrench up into the air and smiled sheepishly. "Sury, tis' slick."

     Jax rolled his large, dark eyes. "Butterfingers, the mechanic over there, obviously thinks this is a good idea."

     "I already paid for your services, so this discussion is moot." Ardon stepped in front of Liri and sliced his arm through the air as if he was chopping off the discussion. "Syd, tell your pet to get us out of here, please."

     "Keep us from being caught, Jax, but don't run," Syd instructed. She glanced between Ardon and Liri a few times. "I can't do this job. The heat from this won't wash off anytime soon, and I need to keep flying and making money the only way I know how."

     "You dirty—" Ardon squinted and shoved a finger in her face. "I'll let it slip that you backed out on a deal, Nico Copella helped broker."

     "You don't have the balls to do something like that to me, or Nico." The muscled woman glowered. "And it's true, a deal is a deal, but I haven't even received your retainer fee yet, so I can cancel at any time. However, if pretty girl wants to give me a new ship to save your dumb ass, I'm open to new negotiations."

     The Calypso and all its occupants swayed as tractor beams attempted to catch them in its field once again.

     Liri stepped close to Ardon and said, "I don't have any clue how long it will take us to find what we are looking for, but help us until we do, and I'm willing to pay each person handsomely for their loyalty as well as give you a ship double the size and power of this one."

     "I like the sound of that," Syd said with a twinkle in her eye. "But how can I know you're good for the money?"

     "My name is Lady Liriandra Delaney, ruler of the coastal islands of Zimma of the planet, Dubrovn. My family owns most of the continents and three of its seven moons."

     "No way. There was a bunch of noise over Dubrovn politics about six months back or so." Jax ran a hand over his head before pulling something off, inspecting it, and shoving it into his mouth as he continued issuing commands into the ship's computer.

     "We are usually a peaceful planet, but there have been some unsettling changes that I disagreed with. It's why I'm taking an extended vacation away." She laced her fingers with Ardon's. "And why I'm looking for an adventure."

     A smile pulled at Ardon's lips as he gently squeezed her hand.

     "Zimma is some of the most exotic property in the known galaxy," Jax spoke up. "I have no idea why someone who looks like that is with this loser, but if she's telling us the truth, she's loaded."

     Syd was shaking her head, disbelief contorting her features.

     The ship rocked, and Jax bellowed, "They got a hold of us."

     "Maybe you should have been flying instead of eating the bugs off your head," Ardon growled.

     Syd blinked a few times before snapping to and asking, "Where to, Lady Delaney?"

     "The Obsidian Cluster."

     "You have got to be shitting me," Jax griped.

     "Get moving, and I'll send you the coordinates in a second," Syd ordered as she pulled up a holo map.

      The orangutang's fingers buzzed over the controls, shooting the ship towards the military craft, jerking them around like they were white water rafting. "I'd rather be locked up in The Purgatory Orbital Compound than deal with shapeshifters and hive-minded mantis that plague that system."

     "We can leave you in the next waystation if you want," Syd offered with a frown. "But you get us out of here, or there will be hell to pay."

    "I am already, I am."

     The Calypso picked up speed as another ship fell in behind them and began firing warning shots.

     "Watch it!" Syd warned as the ship bounced.

     "I got it!"

     "If you had it, then why are we heading straight for them?" Ardon asked.

     Captain Hemann's voice sounded over the intercom again, "You have been warned and are now acting hostile. We will take any necessary action to stop you."

     Red lasers zipped through the expanse. The Calypso jerked, zigged, and zagged out of the way as the viewscreen filled with nothing but the Pathfinder's hull.

     "Hang on to your shorts, beauties, and aliens," Jax exclaimed just before jerking the ship up. A red laser shot from the Pathfinder skimmed the Calypso's underbelly, and directly hit the ensuing craft in a fiery explosion.

     The Calypso stopped jerking around for a few heartstopping moments before the stars in the viewscreen stretched into long lines, and Earth was nothing more than a distant blip within seconds.