Flung Out of Space (and Time)

"Yes, Lt. Ortega," Mother replies in my ear.

My neural net tells me that Fenster is on an upper floor. We make our way up the stairs to the third floor, picking our way past couples of all pairings making out. Tamurales has a well known reputation as the party planet, its red light district is the largest in the system and maybe in the systems on each side of it. It also has the largest settlement of Arturian's and wherever they go pleasure and debauchery follow. This reputation makes it the favorite hub of all the transport ships in the Company's fleet. Captains will go out of their way to schedule leave time on this planet as it keeps the crews happy. Jenna and I could be happy with leave on just about any planet in any system in the Confederation, though, as all we need is each other and a room. Reaching the third floor we find the signal for Fenster. Behind the frosted, opaque door I can hear some loud screaming of the Arturian variety. I bang three times on the door as hard as I can.

"Fuck off!" Fenster screams. The yelling of the Arturian, sounds like a male to me, continues.

"Come on Fenster, you know I don't want to do this. Markos is calling everyone back to the ship." I call out.

"I know, bitch, I'm connected to my neural net. I just don't give a shit."

"Get your ass out here and onto the ship before I have the Captain charge you with insubordination and dock your pay." My only leverage over him is money and he knows that with Markos becoming much more of a hard ass, and discipline focused, lately that he will lose out on money.

From behind the door I can hear Fenster grunting loudly and the poor Arturian screaming out, if he doesn't finish soon that creature will lose its fucking voice. They, almost in unison as Arturian's can come on command and make sure to time theirs with male human partners as they know that the male of our species values this ability, cry out in orgasm before I hear Fenster stomp into the bathroom. He storms out in a few minuets, behind me I can feel Jenna count time and tap her foot, with an angry look on his face. Behind him I can see the Arturian sprawled out on top of the bed, sweating profusely. It looks immensely satisfied as it reaches over and collects the wad of cash Fenster left it.

"I hope you tipped him," I say when we hit the street.

"This better be fucking good, Ortega," is the gruff response I get from the angry Fenster.

"Hey, I didn't ask for this. I chewed out Markos too for taking away everyone's down time. And from the looks of it the only person to get laid out of the crew was you so stop being a baby about it."

"Please, I know you two went right to that hotel." Fenster scoffs.

"No, we ate first, then had a few drinks. The we went to our hotel and Markos forced his way in right as we were getting into the grove."

P.O. Fenster, a small and wiry man with narrow, rat like features, grins at this. He walks slightly in front of Jenna and me as we make our way to the landing zone where our ship is docked. The Elagabalus shines bright under the lights of the loading dock, a glimmering and sleek ship that is silver in color. Walking across the metal gang plank that runs between the ships I see all sorts of other star craft. There's a few war ships, the soldiers being brought onto the planet for some R and R, getting away from the increasingly bitter and deadly conflict with the Jolanai rebels, as well as a few of the mid-sized transport ships like ours. The rest of the zone is filled with the smaller, independent contractor run ships. While they don't work for the Company they do get its blessings to operate in Confederation territory. The more unscrupulous of the operators illegally move goods into and out of non-COPS systems. None deal with the Jolanai, only pirate ships risk that. The money is great but so is the danger. If caught by a COPS patrol ship an unsanctioned pirate ship can be shot down without warning. The Confederation had to move to such extreme measures when they discovered pirate ships transporting weapons into the Jolanai system.

Chapter Two: Mistrust, Deepening

Local stevedores are loading twenty-one stasis pods onto the ship and Nero, our android is setting them up. Jenna shoots me a confused look as we walk past the stasis chamber, a look I return. Most tera/mining crews run in the ten to fourteen range, not in the twenties. Walking onto the bridge I get even more confusing news. On the monitors I see even more stevedores, plus about twenty rough looking individuals, loading heavy boxes into the hold. Captain Markos told us this was going to be a transport only mission, not a transport and load/unload one. Why do these miners need equipment, some of which are clearly marked as weapons? I see another man talking with Captain Markos, up here on the bridge like he belongs here. Only crew members are allowed onto the bridge, what's going on here?

"Major?" What the shit is this? They have access to our internal comms as well? It's almost as if our ship has been commandeered, Jenna now gives me a worried look. "Major, all equipment has been stowed and the droid tells me that he needs another hour to get the stasis chambers fully installed. He states that they are an older model and need to be upgraded. That will take another three hours on top of instal time. Seek permission to grant upgrade time to stasis chambers. "

"That's a negative, Captain," the Major answers. He stands with his back to the bridge with his arms clasped behind his back. "You tell that droid he has thirty minuets, repeat thirty minuets to complete the installation. Get your troops up there to assist and meet me in the Captain's chambers."

My heart sinks, these are not miners. The Major turns on his heel and walks swiftly off of the bridge. He's a man with slightly graying hair, right at the temples of his nearly shaved head, and a clean shaven face. His face is hard and his eyes dead, he has the look of a stone cold killer. Captain Markos turns to face both me and Jenna with a slight grin on his face, a grin that falls when he see's the looks on our faces.

"Captain, this is highly irregular!" I cry out.

"Not now, Ortega, I have far too much to do to listen to your shit." He holds up a hand.

"If those are miners than I'm an Arturian prom queen." Pushing past his insult. "It is expressly against Company policy, and written into our contracts, for C.S.S. ships to transport troops and weapons. We could all lose our flight licenses!"

"They're not troops, they're miners. I told you this Ortega, I don't have time for this."

"Well, make time, sir." I cut him off. "This is all of our careers you're talking about."

"They're a retired unit, fought for too many tours per Confederation guidelines. They still wanted to serve and got transferred to a mining unit. Per them they are so used to the military order that they keep it. I don't need you worrying about this, I need you and Hwang to get downstairs and make sure Fenster and McMannus are sober enough to get the supplies stored and up to regulation." I stand there dumbfounded. While plausible it sounds quite improbable yet I have no evidence to fight the Captain on this. "You have your orders, Lieutenant."

Jenna and I head off of the bridge and take the access ladder down to the hold. The last miner, a gruff looking woman who has a military issue short haircut, is stepping onto the loading platform. It heads up to the main deck soundlessly, that silence is broken by the sound of McMannus shouting angrily. We make our way past the stored "mining equipment" and into the engine room. A narrow hallway, with the cooling ducts on each side that protect the reactor that powers our ship, connects the hold and the engine room. As we pass through it we hear the whirring of the cooling ducts and then step into the bright, white engine room. McMannus is bent over at the waist, fighting the good fight against throwing up.

"He's not gonna puke, is he?" I ask Fenster.

"Jury's still out on that one." He replies without looking up at me. Instead he keeps his eyes on his friend and drinking buddy.

Our crew is basically paired off, me and Jenna and Fenster and McMannus, while the Captain is becoming more and more solitary. He even spurs the company of Nero. While the Company doesn't expressly prohibit intra crew romances it strongly looks down upon them but Jenna and I do not care. The boys are not lovers but are inseparable, like brothers. Walking over here I could see that they've already stowed the provisions that the stevedores loaded onto the ship but the Captain made it clear he wanted us off the bridge and to get off his back.

"What brings you two down here?" Fenster finally looks up at me once he see's that his buddy is not gonna puke.

"Captain ordered us down here," I shrug my shoulders. "Wanted us to make sure the provisions were stowed properly."

"And are they?" Fenster can get a bratty tone to his voice and it comes out now.

"Yes, jackass, they are. The Captain didn't like my line of questioning about what, and who, we are transporting."

"This shit stinks to high heaven, you ask me." He looks right at me, into my eyes, something he never does. I hold his look.

"It does. Those people are not miners."

"Miners, my ass," McMannus spits. The alcohol reduction injections will sober you up but also wear off quickly. Once they do you get the aftereffects of a night of drinking. McMannus is clearly hung over now that he's done the heavy lifting of loading and storing provisions and priming the reactor.

"Exactly, they look like Confederation troops to me." Jenna finally joins our conversation. She will typically hang back, only jump in to remind people she's still there. I never forget her when she's around.

"Could be, could also be private outfit. Company probably thinks there's some kind of thieving or threat of rebel attack at this Colony and has hired private dicks to handle security." McMannus says, head still between his legs.

I hadn't thought of this. Mercenaries could be what these people are. For now they're dressed in civilian clothing and not Confederation uniforms but that means nothing. If this is a covert op that is using our ship as transport then they would most likely be dressed in civilian clothes until after they come out of stasis.

"Markos said the Colony had a rash of suicides and needs a whole new crew. He's gotten really good at bullshitting us lately." I let that thought hang out there.

This causes the four of us to go quiet. It's always bad news when you cannot trust your captain and I feel the bad vibes settle in. We stand there in silence, pondering what will come of this mission. The entire crew is tired, overworked and in dire need of a break. We should have spent three or four days here before heading back to our home system, Quantos. Once there we were due for a full month off. Jenna and I had a plan to spend a full week in our apartment and doing nothing but eating delivery food and having sex. The thought of a full week just with my love makes me giddy, even if I now know that it will be some time until we get that opportunity. The silence is broken when McMannus retches, loudly.

"With that, gentlemen, we'll take our leave." I reply and turn to leave.

Once we're in the hold, and alone again, I push Jenna in between two large boxes of equipment in the dark hold of our ship. Pressing her body up against a box I kiss her, desperately and full of urgency. Her breathing gets slightly labored and it gives her energy. She pushes me back, hard, and holds me against a box. All the while she never breaks our kiss. Grabbing my wrists she presses them into the box up above my head. This causes a slight moan to escape my throat. My lover kisses me harder before moving to kiss my neck. I can feel my thighs tingling, remembrances of what she did to me not an hour ago.

"Lieutenant Ortega, Sergeant Hwang, your presence is require on the bridge. Repeat: Ortega and Hwang to the bridge immediately." It is Mother, on the ship the voice is a rich, male tone as per the specification of Captain Markos.

"Fuck me," I mutter as Jenna lets my hands go.

"Seems like that's not gonna be the case until we clear this planet and get into stasis," Jenna laments.

I follow her back up the ladder, enjoying the view as we climb, until we hit the deck. Walking onto the bridge I see Captain Markos in his chair and Nero, tall and thin with ear length blonde hair, at the navigation screen. Standing, again with his hands clasped behind his back, is the Major. A fresh flush of anger and distrust crashes over me. Jenna reaches out and lightly squeezes my arm, just above the elbow as a way of calming me down. She knows, like deep down I do, that an outburst now will do me no good. I sit down at the controls and strap myself in. Jenna takes her position at the back of the bridge and straps into her own chair.

"Major," A voice calls out on the comm. "We're secure in the hold and the stasis chambers are fully installed."

"Roger that, Captain Williams."

"Ok, Lieutenant, we are cleared for take off." Captain Markos orders. "Lets ease out of here, we've got human cargo this time."

"Roger that, Captain." I reply, keeping my mind on the task at hand. "McMannus, Fenster, strap in, we're cleared for take off."

"All systems are a go, Ortega," Fenster calls over the comms. "Ready for take off."

"This is Confederation Sanctioned Ship Elagabalus to Tamur control."

"We read you, Elagabalus. Airways are clear, you may take off when ready."

"Mother, proceed with disengagement of the locking systems." There is a loud click as the locks disengage.

The ship floats up from the loading bay and I steer it upwards to exit the bay. When our nose is pointing upwards I ease up the thrusting lever and we proceed out of the docks. On this edge of the city there are no more skyscrapers, no taxi ships zipping around, and our exit is clear. Looking out the great windows I can see the deep green sky mixed with the slightest hint of grey. While this planet has a yellow sun its rings are a green-grey color and the sun filters through them to give the atmosphere this tint. It truly is breathtaking and piloting our ship into and out of atmospheres is my favorite part of my job.

"Elagabalus, you are clear of the city. You may fully engage your thrusters. Happy trails." Air control calls into our ship.

Pushing the thruster lever to the max the ship rockets into space after the thrusters really roar to life. The front windows light up in great swaths of color: greens, oranges, reds, yellows as we pass through the atmosphere and into space. I bank the ship to the right to keep clear of the rings and we hurtle into deep space. We pass by the tiny, rocky moon of this planet after an hour or so and then settle into the empty expanse of this system.

"Mother, switching to autopilot." I call out.

"Autopilot engaged, Lieutenant Ortega." Mother calls out.

I let out a loud exhale of breath and click out of my chair. Behind me I can hear as Jenna and Nero get out of their chairs as well. Standing up I stretch my arms up above my head, hearing my back crack. When I turn around I see this Major leaning in and talking to Captain Markos. Without hearing what's being said it would seem as if the Major is giving our Captain orders. If he is a private citizen, as the Captain claims him to be, then not only should he not be on the bridge but he would also not be able to issue orders.

"Captain Williams," the Major calls out on the comms.

"Yes, sir?"

"We're going to rotate by squad, starting with First Platoon, Squad A. They are to eat, taking no more than twenty minuets, and then they will rotate into the stasis chamber where the droid will put them under. When Squad A moves to the stasis chamber Squad B will move in to eat. Then we move to Second Platoon and repeat with Squads C and D. Then the crew will eat, set coordinates and be put under."

"Understood, sir," Williams calls out. On the monitor I can see him turn around and start spitting out orders. I'm still not liking this situation one bit.

"Captain Markos, keep your crew in place. I'll signal you when it is time to bring them down for their meal."

"Understood." Markos has an odd look on his face.

"I'm sorry, I didn't hear that."

"Understood, sir."

The Major stomps off to the mess hall leaving us in stunned silence. Captain Markos turns away from us, in disgust, and I can hear him cursing under his breath. Nero silently makes his way out of the bridge to get to the stasis chambers. Looking over to Jenna I can see her jaw slack in shock.

"What in the hell have you gotten us into?" I angrily demand.

"Ortega, I have had it with your shit today. Any more outbursts and I'll notify the Company to dock your pay. Mother, send word to my chambers when it is time for our meal."

"Yes, Captain Markos," Mother responds.

"You two stay here; Ortega, relay the orders to McMannus and Fenster." He flatly states before turning heel and marching away. I let out a loud exhale in frustration.

"Fenster, McMannus, come in," I call out.

"What's up, Ortega?" It's McMannus.

"Some funky shit. Orders from the Major are as follows: the miners will eat and then go under stasis first. We will be told when we can take our meal and then head into stasis."

"Since when do we take orders from someone other than the Captain?"

"Since today, I guess. We're just as stunned as you are. Hang tight down there, you've got a good hour or so to kill." I wearily reply.

"Roger that, Ortega."

I plop down into my chair again and begin rubbing my temples, my head is both spinning and pounding and I stare blankly at my lap. For the life of me I cannot figure out what our Captain is involving us in. It almost feels like we've been conscripted without our knowledge. I feel Jenna walking up to me and then sitting on my lap. She takes my hands and pulls them from my head and I look up at her. Her strength and resolve centers me, brings me back from the brink.

"All we can worry about is our jobs," she reassures me. "We take these people to the destination, drop them off and head back. That is the mission we've been given and it's our job to complete it to the best of our ability. Once we return from it we can report this irregularity to the Company."

"You're right," I concede. "And they are going to hear from me, I can assure you that. I will be logging an official complaint about the lack of leave and the...irregularities of this mission."

It feels good to let my anger out and Jenna knew just how to drag that out of me. God, I love her so much. Right as I'm about to tell her this the Captain walks back in. Jenna hops off of my lap and stands next to my chair. The Captain shakes his head and motions me towards him. Slowly I stand up.

"I need to speak with you, now." He orders and then walks into the hallway.

Following him out of the room he stops and turns towards me, invading my space. I hold back my tongue and wait for him to continue. He spends a few moments glaring at me, what he's attempting to do here I do not know. I stand at attention, waiting for him to continue.

"You two are to act like professionals from here on out, do you understand me?"

"No, sir, I do not," I think I know what he means but I'm going to make him say it.

"It is not professional for my Sergeant to be sitting on the lap of my Lieutenant. It is not professional for my Lieutenant to be engaging in a romance with her underling. The men and women on this ship carry themselves differently and you and Sergeant Hwang will act accordingly."

"Because they are military?" I ask, defiance forcing its way up into the forefront of my mind again.