Space Relations Pt. 06

Cut to two hours later, when The Milky Way Misfits were on stage, performing a cover of Elvis Presley's Hound Dog, while Elvis dress-alike and dock coordinator Mulligan bellowed out the lyrics.

This was the moment when five electric carts entered that area of Section F. The carts were all colored in a dark, military gray with black accents, and emblazoned with the word SECURITY in several prominent places. Deliberately, the drivers parked their vehicles in such a way as to block the other carts from leaving, and a full complement of thirty officers in riot gear exited. They brandished batons and plastic shields and lined up four abreast. Moving in cadence, they all ominously started forward.

Command Braxton and her second in command, the equally detestable Sessler, both stepped before them. Each head officer wore shiny black, leather coats and matching captain's hats.

"Follow me." Braxton said, as she led her little army toward the heart of the shindig.

The imperious woman's mere presence was enough to cause the partygoers to clear the center of the dance floor, but she didn't stop there. Braxton continued up to the stage, where the band quickly stopped playing. Mulligan closed his mouth and gulped.

"Mulligan, what in the hell are you wearing?" Braxton snarled, before pushing the man away from the spotlight. "Belay answering that. Just get off my stage!" She yanked his cordless microphone out of his hand, before facing the apprehensive crowd. "What do you people think you're doing here? You are all in violation of being in an area that is under renovation!"

"No we're not!" Somebody in the back said. "This section should have been finished up months ago, if you hadn't decided to hold back the funds for it!"

"Two officers, find whoever said that and detain him." Braxton ordered. She noticed that several people had pulled out their phones and were recording her actions. "Two more officers, start collecting everyone's phones. If these people want to act like infants, they will be treated as such. From now on, all phones on the Neptune will be banned."

"Be right back." Barbie whispered as she left Washington's side. She hurried across the dance floor and back toward where all the carts were parked.

"Where do you think you're going?" Braxton asked, when her focus sharpened on the fleeing female. "Barbie, is that you? You've been infected by that black man, haven't you?"

"Uh, pee break!" The fleeing woman replied. "Back in a sec!"

Before Braxton could mandate the officers to detain the woman, someone in the back said, "Beat the bitch!"

A few others picked up the chorus.

"I have a feeling that the detaining center is going to have a lot of visitors soon." Sessler smirked and crossed his arms.

Cruz stepped up to the front of the stage, put his hands on his hips, and announced, "I'm Captain Cock, and I know exactly what you've been lacking. I can change your life, baby!"

"Officers, detain this man for wearing that ridiculous get-up." Braxton rolled her eyes.

"You can't detain somebody for what they're wearing!" Lieutenant Washington came to the ensign's defense.

"I can do whatever I want, whenever I want." Braxton snapped. "And what is it with you people and your silly little costumes?"

"Beat the bitch." Cummings said, as he stepped forward. "If my friend Cruz is going to be detained for no good reason, then you're going to have to toss me in as well."

"Fine." Braxton replied. "The more the merrier."

"I think it's time somebody took you to the bone-yard and gave you a good boning." Cruz called out. "You really are a bitch! You do understand that, don't you?"

"Did you just threaten my life?" Braxton asked. She looked irritably at the security people. "Why has this man not been detained yet? He just threatened that he would take me to a bone-yard, whatever that is! What are you people waiting for?"

Mary stepped up to embrace Cruz from behind. "If you're taking him, you're taking me too! You smelly old bitch!"

"Look, they're already multiplying." Sessler sneered, noting the similarities between the couple's costumes.

"Will you for once be reasonable?" Washington stepped before his crew. "We're not even doing anything wrong! All we're doing is trying to have some fun out here!"

"You are this close to having your command revoked." Braxton threatened. "One more word out of you and it is gone! Ever since your pathetic little ship docked, you and your entire crew have caused nothing but trouble here."

Hoping he could still salvage his post, Washington clammed up. He was still plenty angry, though.

"Officers, start taking these people away." Braxton commanded. "Before I have you detain yourselves for insubordination! I expect my order to be followed to the letter!"

Captain, you can let her do this!

Washington looked to his side. Mary's eyes were pleading to him while she was speaking into his thoughts.

You have to say something!

But she'll take away my command! Washington thought back at her.

She's bluffing! She's only trying to make you look bad in front of the Neptune people, so she can squeeze them even harder once we leave! She knows she'll have to deal with Cocksander if she removed you from duty, and she'd rather not stir him up right now. She's bluffing!

Washington remembered what Cummings said earlier about Mary. 'She hasn't been wrong yet!'

Captain, please, you can't let her get away with this! Mary begged.

Washington cleared his throat, and said clearly, loudly, "Stop!"

The security team, who didn't look forward to detaining so many people for such frivolous reasons, were the first to pause. This angered Braxton even more.

"Get all of these people out of my sight!" The cruel commander yelled.

"No!" Washington stepped forward, only to see Sessler step in his path. "You are both wrong in what you're doing, and it's time somebody stood up to your tyranny."

"Say goodbye to your starship, lieutenant." Sessler goaded.

"You've been in command of a starship for exactly five minutes," Braxton laughed at his face, from high up on the stage. "And you think you can tell me what to do?"

"I think that you need to readjust your attitude or else!" Washington shouted.

That's it, Captain! Give it to her hard! Mary thought at him.

"Or else what?" Braxton gave him her haughty expression.

"Or else I'm going to pull my nine inch dick out and slap you across the face with it!"

Braxton's face showed shock, as she realized how many people still had their phones out recording her. She knew she'd have to get every single phone or risk that some twerp would post it on the galaxy-wide web, and possibly, the recording would make it back to the wrong eyes and ears all the way back on Earth. "What did you just say to me?"

"I said you can suck it!" Washington growled back.

Just then, Barbie bounced back on the stage, holding out her own phone. "Somebody wants to talk to you!"

"Didn't I fire you already?" Braxton grimaced in the woman's direction. "Get out of my face, before I have you court-martialed!"

Barbie hurried past her and to the DJ stand. "Fine, I'll just plug the call into the audio equipment myself, so everybody can hear."

"Beat the bitch!" Margo shouted, followed by a round of cheers from her fellow Vamps.

"Beat the bitch!" Several others repeated the chorus. "Beat the bitch!"

"All of you will pay dearly for this! All of you!" Braxton menaced. "Do you hear me?"

Barbie plugged her phone into an audio port on the DJ's mixer.

Captain, use your guns, now! Mary urged.

Although Washington didn't think it would do any good, he shrugged and pulled out his confetti pistols. He fired them high in the air. Two small, rainbow clouds suddenly blossomed. The sight of the confetti, coupled with the loud sound of the guns, was enough to quiet everyone down.

"You have just lost your ship, lieutenant!" Braxton snarled. "And your flight status is hereby revoked. You are no longer in command of anything!"

As the commander's voice faded away, the entire crowd heard a very loud chuckling coming from the massive DJ speakers. When the chuckles ended, a confident and booming voice took over the airwaves. "I don't think so, Braxton."

The commander's head snapped toward the speakers. "Who is that? I'll have you detained as well!"

"You don't have the authority. This is Admiral Cocksander."

Suddenly, Braxton's face looked ashen.

"I have some interesting paperwork in front of me, courtesy of an anonymous source." Cocksander's voice related. "They're test scores, from officers who've applied for administrative positions on the Starship Neptune. I have here the applications from one Negro woman, one Asian male, two Hispanics and one person of Indian descent. All of these people have two things in common, Braxton. One, they have very high test scores, and two, they were all turned down by you personally. I've been comparing their profiles to the people who actually got the jobs these minorities applied for. The officers you hired all had substantially lower test scores, and they all happen to either be related to you, or related to people in your social circle back here on Earth. And finally, all of the people you hired are very distinctively Anglo. You do understand that Space Corps prides itself on promoting racial and cultural diversity, as well as promoting the most qualified personnel."

"I can explain that." Braxton said, trying to save face.

"I have some other paperwork here as well." Cocksander continued. "Here are some orders signed by you, restricting the hours and the quantity of alcohol being served. And here is a current manifesto of the alcohol you have been sitting on in the cargo holds, as well as a log of how long it's been sitting there. Not only have you been keeping your crew from enjoying themselves, but you've also failed to complete the ship's renovations on schedule. Even worse, you have failed to promote social events and camaraderie in accordance with our firmly established guidelines. It's no wonder I've been receiving complaints regarding the lack of a positive atmosphere on the Neptune, dating from as far back as eight months ago."

"Well, I can explain that as well!" Braxton said.

"And you will have your chance to explain, personally, to myself and to the Space Corps executive council." Cocksander replied. "You are hereby ordered to relinquish your command of the Neptune. Along with First Lieutenant Sessler, you are to shuttle back to Earth immediately. You will leave your starship no later than eight hours from this exact moment. Your administrative choices will be placed under investigation. If your authority has been found to be either negligent or abusive, your appointees will be removed from their posts and you will be severely reprimanded. Lieutenant Washington?"

"Yes, sir." Washington spoke up.

"You will conduct private interviews with any Neptune personnel wishing to file a complaint against Commander Braxton. You will forward these, and a copy of any video recordings from whatever celebration was taking place, before and after the arrival of Commander Braxton. Please have security escort both Braxton and Sessler to their apartments so they can start packing right away. You may continue with your social event, as long as Space Corps regulations are observed."

"Yes, sir!"

"That is all." Cocksander clicked off.

Washington had barely started turning in the direction of the security people, when they all rushed up over and quickly led the two tyrants away. Neither Braxton nor Sessler fought with them, and both left in somber resignation.

The security supervisor came over to shake the lieutenant's hand. "Is it okay if we come by in an hour or two and party with you guys? There's a bunch of us about to get off."

Washington opened his mouth to reply, but Mary beat him to the punch. "Only if you promise you won't bully anybody when you're off duty. That goes for the others as well."

"Yeah, okay." The man nodded. "We can do that. We're as glad that Braxton's out of the way now as anybody else. She was making our lives hell, too."

"Then we'll see you soon." Mary waved them off. After this, she turned to face Washington. "You did very good, captain."

"Thanks to you." The lieutenant admitted. "How much of the last ten minutes did you know was going to happen ahead of time?"

"Well, none of it, really." Mary admitted. "It was such a dynamic situation, with so many people crowding my mind all at once. I just felt that you should speak up, because it was the right thing to do. I'm really glad it worked out."

"Trust me, I'm as glad as your are." Washington nodded, and smiled. "Give me a hug, Mary, and thank you for everything. I especially like the costume."

"You're welcome." Mary said, as the two embraced.

"Hey, mister, are you giving a hug to my woman?" Cruz poked the lieutenant on the shoulder.

"Come here, you." Washington was so overjoyed that for once he didn't feel insecure about hugging another man.

"Is this a group hug sort of thing?" Cruz asked. "Because if it is, I don't want to leave anyone from the crew out."

When the lieutenant nodded, Cruz began making strange hand signs at the others. Brukenfooken, Cummings, Margo and Willow all joined in.

As the entire crew held each other, Mary suggested. "There's always room for one more, you know."

Washington glanced over at the stage, where Barbie stood alone.

"Well, I'll just call her over, and we'll include Barbie in our group hug as well." Washington said, cheerily.

"You're not getting what Mary is trying to tell you, baby." Cruz said. "It's a bit deeper than that."

Washington glanced at the pretty ensign next to him. "What are you trying to tell me?"

Mary repeated, "There's always room for one more."

The words slowly sunk into the lieutenant's head. "Do you really think she would?"

Mary nodded. "I know she would. She really likes you, captain."

"It's a big step, just asking somebody to do something like that." Washington said. "I mean, look at everything she'll be leaving behind."

"I wouldn't mind her being on the ship." Margo shook her head saucily. The big woman still looked super-sexy in her Goth cheerleader outfit.

"Stop ogling women like that, you pagan." Cruz reprimanded her.

"I will, if you touch my butt." Margo dared. "With your tongue."

"Are you randy, baby?" Cruz asked.

Margo nodded. "Randy for a man."

"I do believe you have been cured!" Cruz squealed. "The universe has finally corrected itself! Mary, will you deflect the rest of the Vamps, while I enlighten Margo in the ways of male seduction?"

"Sure, if you promise to seduce me next." Mary nodded. "But first, the captain's got a big decision to make."

"I do, don't I?" Washington replied. He glanced over at Barbie, and thought a single sentence in her direction.

Nervously, Barbie approached the group. She looked across at the cast of characters. They all glanced back at her. Cummings, who had been at Washington's side, opposite Mary, scooted over far enough to make room for one more person.

Barbie grinned, cutely, and embraced both the lieutenant and the navigator.

"Welcome to the crew." Washington smiled, right before he planted a big, wet one on Barbie's lips.

"Aww." Cummings said. "Isn't that just the perfect ending to a perfect day?"

And it certainly was. Wouldn't you agree?