Space Relations Pt. 24

"Cruz and Mary taught them that."

"Obviously!"

The two started laughing, not paying attention as a small group of people appeared from out of nowhere and walked around them. All of a sudden, Washington's inner alarm went off, as the little mob quickly encircled the man and wife. That's when he noticed these strangers were all wearing woolen masks over their faces with only the eyes and mouth showing.

"You listen close and nobody gets hurt." One menacing voice said. "You're coming with us!"

The captain and the rest of his crew had left their weapons back in the ship's armory, so the only thing he could defend himself with were his fists. "Barbie, stay behind me. Listen, whoever you are, I don't think this is a good idea to do whatever you think you're doing here."

"Be quiet!" The threatening figure snapped, by its tone giving away that it was a woman under that mask. "Barbara, you have a psychic shocker on your back. If you try to warn anyone telepathically, the shocker will automatically run five thousand volts of electricity through your body."

"Yow!" Barbie shrieked.

"We're not kidding, bitch!"

"Okay, I believe you now! I won't do it again!"

"What do you people want?" Washington demanded.

"We haven't decided yet." The mob leader replied. "All we know is that we have some leverage now if we capture you. Right now, we want you to walk over to one of those covered up shuttles. We're taking you to a safe-house."

"What if we refuse to go?" Washington asked. "What if I put up a fight?"

"We'll leave one and take one. We'd rather take both of you because you have more ransom value that way."

"Don't split us up!" Barbie complained. "We just got back together!"

"Start moving then, bitches!" The masked woman demanded, shoving hard on the captain's shoulder.

Washington gritted his teeth, ready to launch a punch out.

"Yowza!" Barbie cried out. "Hey, I was just telling him to calm down. Turn that shocker shit off! It hurts!"

Hoping his wife wouldn't get assaulted any further, Washington relented and let the group start leading him away from the backstage area. As he looked around for some way to bring attention to their predicament, and as he studied the various masked figures around him, he realized they all had breasts. They were all female.

One of these bandit women lifted the canvas up high enough on the shuttle that Washington and Barbie could climb in under it.

"Make sure they're in the middle seat." The leader ordered.

Not only did four captors board with them, with two up front and two in back, but the women behind them both held shockers up against the necks of the captives.

"I'm not psychic!" Washington shouted, angry at being pushed around. "That device is not going to work on me!"

"It will if I push the manual button." The masked woman directly behind him said.

"Sit still and shut up." The leader threatened, as she got behind the driver's wheel. She brought a hand-held computer up to her face. "Rabbits are loaded. Proceeding to rabbit cage."

"Corridors are clear." Another mysterious voice answered.

The driver turned the electric engine on, and in its very slow pace the shuttle started rolling away.

"You're using the route that was cleared off earlier, aren't you?" Washington asked.

"True that." The driver replied.

"Are you going to tell us why you're doing this?"

"It is what we do." The kidnapper replied.

"How can you get away with this on an enclosed ship?"

"We have over five hundred people on board. Nobody knows what a small group of us is up to all the time. We can do anything we want."

The cart rolled on for the next couple of minutes. The captives felt it dip down to reach the level reserved for vehicle traffic. At one point, the smell of sewage was strong enough that everyone had to cover their noses.

"I know where we are." Barbie said. "We just passed the recycling plant."

"We'll just have to make sure you won't tell anyone." One of the women in back told her. "Now keep your trap shut!"

"No! Why should I? You can't force me to be quiet! Yow! Do you have to keep doing that?"

"I told you to be quiet!" Her captor persisted.

Finally, the cart rolled to a stop. Washington and Barbie were pushed to get off and led into a nearby hatch. After going inside a dark room with three of the masked women, the driver pulled away and left. The women were all wearing dark clothes, Washington observed, as he again wondered if he could overpower all three of them. He probably could, he decided, with Barbie helping him.

One captor went switch on several ceiling-mounted fluorescent lights. Right after, she activated a small device mounted on the wall. Several LED lights started to glow on the device as she worked on it. "This is a psychic dampener. It will absorb any psychic waves being produced inside this room."

"I'm only a low level reader." Barbie anxiously admitted. "I couldn't get that far outside this room even if I tried. Am I free to talk, or are you going to come over and zap me again?"

The masked woman shrugged back.

Barbie shook her head in disbelief, before she turned to address her husband. "We're in Section K or L. There is hardly any surveillance around because nobody ever comes this far into the bowels of the ship. This is where Cammie was hiding all the alcohol back when she was in command. Hubby, if we get out of this room, we'll find a comm console mounted on the walls on every other intersection. We can have security people scouring this section of the ship within five minutes of making the call."

"You're talking too much!" One of the women standing by the door barked at her.

This was a tiny wisp of a woman, the captain noticed, as she hardly stood at a couple of inches over five feet tall. Barbie could basically sit on that brat while he duked it out with the other two women. He glanced at his wife, who motioned at the captor finishing up with the dampening device.

"I want that one." Barbie growled. "She's the one that's been zapping me in the back. That little one, you can kick her across the room like a soccer ball, for all I care. I want you to choke that third bitch out, but you leave that first one to me."

The two biggest women weren't bigger than Washington, but they were holding devices just a couple of levels less painful than electric cattle prods. Still, between Barbie and him, Washington thought they had a good chance of winning a tussle against them.

"I'm not afraid to fight you!" The masked woman shouted at Barbie.

Barbie took a step toward her. "Then put that shocker down so we can see what you're made of!"

Washington scanned the room while the pair of women argued. It was made of mottled cement, about fifteen by fifteen feet wide. Along with the smaller hatch, there was a wider roll-up door along one wall, where forklifts could bring inventory in. At the moment, the only items in the room were a handful of empty plastic crates stacked up in a corner.

Casually, Washington made his way over to the crates, pretending he was simply looking for something to sit on. The crate was sturdy, he discovered, but it wasn't that heavy. It was plenty good enough to swing around and knock those shockers out of the women's hands.

"Barbie, why don't you come over here and have a seat." He said, as he thought his intentions at her.

His wife took things one step further. She picked up another crate and took it over close to where the three women were. Defiantly, Barbie threw the crate down and sat on it. Following her example, Washington carried his own crate over and sat on it.

They didn't think this through very well, did they? He thought at Barbie.

No, his wife thought back. These are rank amateurs. I'm serious; I want the first crack at that bitch that zapped me. Are you ready?

Before Washington could reply, the three women started talking to one another. Maybe they'd started to suspect that things would not go well if they all scuffled. The biggest two women stepped outside. They were the ones holding the electric zappers.

This left the little one alone and unarmed with the captives. She was just standing there fidgeting with her hands, with her head lowered. She didn't look so tough anymore, the captain noticed. In fact, the lieutenant felt something familiar about her.

I'll nail her with my crate, Barbie conspired. Then we'll nail the other ones when they come back inside.

Wait, Washington mentally replied. Let me try something first.

"Hey, you with the mask." Washington called out. "What's your name?"

The girl glanced at him, before she went back to playing with her fingers. A moment later she stuck her hands in her pockets. With her squeaky voice, she answered, "Alice."

"Alice, I'm Lieutenant Washington."

"I know who you are."

"Why are you doing this? Did the other women put you up to this?"

"You see how your friends left you alone with us?" Barbie cut in. "You think you can handle the both of us?"

"Barbie, hold on for a second." Washington calmed his wife. "Alice, did the other women put you up to this?"

Alice shrugged. "Kind of. It was kind of my idea, too."

"And you think it's okay to kidnap people like you're doing now?"

When Alice didn't reply right away, Barbie jumped in again. "Answer him!"

"No, it isn't right." Alice said, meekly.

"Why are you doing this?" Washington said.

It took a few moments before the girl answered. "For attention, mostly."

"Explain it to him." Barbie directed.

"We're like nobodies." Alice admitted. "We do our same stupid job every day and then we go party the same way every night. It gets boring to keep doing the same stupid routine all the time, but we have these long contracts that keep us stuck here. We want to do something big to get everybody's attention. We want everybody to sit up and take notice of us."

"And by kidnapping us, you'll achieve that... that notoriety you're looking for?" The black man asked. "There are easier ways to get attention, you know. Hey, wait a minute!"

Washington stood up and walked toward the girl. She didn't flinch away from him or cower, but instead looked directly into his face. Her eyes were a mix of brown and hazel. Washington also observed that she barely came up to his chest, just like another girl he'd messed around with, from back during the first time they'd visited the Neptune.

"It can't be." Washington said in disbelief. He reached out to grip her mask, with the intention of removing it. The girl reached up to grasp his arm, not to push him away, but to hold him.

"It is her, and you know who I'm talking about." Barbie said. She slid one of the crates over so that it ended up bumping into the backs of Washington's legs.

The lieutenant wondered if maybe Barbie meant for him to beat the tiny girl up with the crate. He reached out for the bottom edges of her woolly mask, slowly bringing it up to reveal the face beneath it. He saw auburn hair tied back into a knot, milky pale skin and lots of freckles. "You're from that Goth gang on the Neptune, aren't you?"

"The Vamps." Alice admitted. "Do you remember that time when you made out with me, right before Braxton lost her command? Do you remember that?"

"Of course I remember!"

"Half the guys I make out with don't remember me." Alice sighed. "I want you to know that you were the most perfect kisser I've ever swapped spit with."

The girl was infatuated with him. She lifted her chin and parted her lips hopefully.

Washington took a look behind him, watching as his wife rolled her eyes. Barbie had pushed the crate over for a reason, he realized. Washington used his legs to slide the crate over next to the wall. He didn't have to prod Alice to stand on it; she did this on her own. Now that she stood nearly face to face with Washington, she leaned forward. Her little lips were soft and tender, the lieutenant found, when compared to the rough kissing they'd shared the first time.

"The Vamps are a lesbian gang, aren't they?" Barbie sighed, causing the two kissers to part. "You know, I was looking forward to having some quality time with my husband. Now I have a horny little woman to get in our way. I guess we'll have to make it a threesome."

"Really?" Washington asked. "That's a great idea, Barbie!"

"I've never slept with a Captain before!" Alice squealed.

"And you won't, unless we find a more comfortable place to have our frolic in." Barbie said. "I'm not doing anything in this ugly room." She walked off in the direction of the wider roll-up door. "I used to know the bypass codes for all these old storage rooms. You don't know if they've been changed recently, do you, Alice?"

The girl shrugged back.

Barbie studied the console for the wider door. She pushed a few buttons, then tried a second time, but she frowned when her codes didn't work. "They've been changed already. Maybe the emergency manual override is still the same." After tapping in another code, she read the display. "Okay, that one worked. Hubby, you'll have to pick up one end while I lift the other. Otherwise the door will go up lopsided and get stuck."

The door rattled as they lifted it, the two soon discovered. Still, they tried to keep things quiet until they had it up by a couple of feet. This was high enough for them to crawl under to get out. Barbie went first, making it as far as her fat ass before she got stuck. With Alice's help, Washington got the door up a couple of inches further.

Alice was charged up with adrenalin now, Washington noticed. These people, he thought, all they needed was some sort of adventure and excitement to get them going again. Well, at least a little of that, as too much adventure had overwhelmed his second wife and crewmember Willow. Every individual had their own range for what they could handle. Maybe he could ask Cruz and Mary to work on that for him, so they could come up with a way to prevent some of this boredom and reckless behavior from taking place and causing disruptions in space vessels.

Like a mouse, Alice slipped under the door. She peered her small face back in to make sure Washington would follow.

"I know where we can go." Alice said. "I'll take you guys there."

The lieutenant took one last look at the hatch. Their other two kidnappers were probably out there smoking cigarettes and totally oblivious that their prisoners were about to escape. He went down on his stomach and slid his way out, hoping the dust from the floor wouldn't dirty up his crisp uniform.