The Pirate Nicolette

I know what you're thinking. What happened to Earth? Was it blown up by aliens, you're thinking. Nope. Hell, after the few humans that managed to escape and found other suitable planets to live on only a few had aliens AND they called the humans aliens; most were hostile, some nice, and only two races annihilated everyone. But that was decades ago. Now just about everything is half or part human or has some sort of connection with the human race. Not only because humans fall in love with everything, but because when the human race went looking for a new 'Earth' they scattered. Like roaches when the lights come on making almost every half human look human. It seems the human trait is a dominant one. Which brings me to my favorite subject; me.

My mom, a thought reader, fell in love with my father an astral. Astrals can change their features, but my father was a lower ranking astral. Meaning he could only do minor differences like change his hair color.

This is how mom and dad came to meet. He was a common worker, she an illegal, both working in the village. Passing each other enough times to recognize and eventually fall in love and be Eternally Forever. Their greatest joy had to be when I was born. It was evident I was a mind mover. If I wanted my bottle and my parents didn't move fast enough I would bring my bottle to me. The first time I did this my father almost lost one of his 5 hearts.

When I was almost 10, I also inherited some of my father's abilities. I could change my hair color, hair length, hair style, eye color, and skin color. I can't look like anyone else or copy their physical features. I can come close, but I still retain my own body shape. This is why I'm a minor astral. Major Astrals could change their body shape and even fool a computer eye or hand scanner.

I remember when I was younger playing 'go find the hidden' with friends in the jungle that was our backyard and realizing I can change my skin to match the background. I lengthen my hair and turned it a deep green at the roots and let it melt into a deep brown at the tips. I matched my skin with my hair and turned my eyes a deep green, so I can keep them open and see around myself. My friends thought it was s'cool that I was an astral like them. When I came out of the jungle excited about my change I ran to my father who didn't have a heart attack, but fainted this time. I had to change back to my boring blond hair and blue eyes.

At 16, I also found out that everybody could not hear other races thoughts. I assume it was normal that if you focus hard you can hear their thoughts. This is the only reason why I'm good at shielding my mind. I didn't want others to read my thoughts so I built up a stone wall. If I knew it was a gift I wouldn't have spent hours in my room practicing my stone wall.

The only reason my mother didn't know was she assumed I didn't have the gift and she always shielded. It was second nature for her to shield and not try to read others thoughts. And I can only read thoughts when I try really hard or when someone is projecting thoughts. Luckily, every race either knows how to shield or has implants to shield their minds. Now a days, the local birthing centers implant shielding devices into the brains of newborns. Lucky, those of us born before 45,721 have to learn to shield.

When my mother realized I did have the gift, after I responded to a thought she hadn't meant to project when she was tired, she shouted what any mother would shout. "Nicolette, you can read minds?" In which my father yelled, "WHAT?!" And that was followed by a loud thud.

My father was fine. He didn't have a heart attack or faint, this time he was jumping over our eating table and tripped on the new center piece. This caused him to fall between two sitting chairs that promptly ripped off one of his arms. It grew back, but he was late to work the next day.

I discovered that my parents planned for the confederacy army to come the day after my graduation to hone my skills. After 15 years of education they were going to force me into the confed and I would spend another 5 -- 10 years. I didn't think so. The day I graduated I stole my first ship and became a pirate all with a childhood friend named Blurco.

This brings me to my current situation. Blurco and I were in a non-confed bar, sitting in the dark, in the corner drinking non-alchy when a group of pixies approach us. Pixies aren't what old-Earth imagines. Pixies are like old-Earth witches. They can't fly, but they can use magic. You can always tell a pixie by their skin color. It always seems to glow and there are never non-good on the eyes pixies. That's why every race wants a pixie and this is why pixie usually mate only with other pixies. Selfish bastards.

These pixies were good on the eyes. There were 6 of them total all males and one female. The female was pink. The male pixies were two green ones, a red one, a black one, and a white one and all of them were staring at Blurco and me.

I calmly arch a black eyebrow. I change all the hair on my body to be as black as an abyss. I think it makes me look bad-ass. Blurco stands up with his hands raise in surrender. That startles me. Usually Blurco likes to fight.

"What's going on," I ask Blurco.

"Shhh, Nico, let me handle this." Blurco says under his breath.

"He lai my sister," said the red one.

"He," I look at Blurco and stand up, "did what?! I sucker punch Blurco right in his nose. "You icer. You flickin icer," I curse while I attack him. My palms hitting his arms, chest, face, I don't care as long as it inflicts damage.

"Nee-co," he grabs my arms and says my name slowly. "I know you have feelings for me and I was going to tell you, but it just happened. I-."

Blurco got cut off by the green pixie that was now looking at me with more interest. "You're the Pirate Nico. Let's terminate the astral and turn the human over to the confed for the gold purx on her head."

"Whoa! Eliminate Blurco if you want, I'm going to leave." I threw Blurco a glare and inch around the table when a white pixie points a saber at my chest.

"You shouldn't have done that," Blurco warns him.

Too late, I already gather enough energy and threw him into the wall causing him to put a pretty indentation of his body into it. He stays against the wall for a moment suspended before gravity finally claims him and he slides to the floor. I stare at the remaining five challenging them to make a move as they stare back at me with incredulous expressions on their faces.

It was no more than 30 seconds when I put my palms on my head squeezing it and screaming, "My head, my head." Ever eat a cold Stea and then your brain spasms from the coldness. That's how it feels overloading my brain. If I lift anything heavier than 5 pounds my brain overloads. Trust me on this.

The pain relaxes and I look up and see the 4 male pixies on the ground and the pretty pink one standing up glaring at Blurco.

"Who is she," Pink pixie demands pointing at me.

"A friend obviously," I answer and move past them going out the door.

"My captain," I hear him reply before I round the corner.

Was I in love with Blurco? No. Did I like him? I guess. Ever been intimate or lei him? Hell no. But was I cracked off that he was lei-ing anybody? Hell yes.

"Nico!" I roll my eyes hearing Blurco call my name. "Nico! Stop!" Yeah right, I keep walking. "You don't love me!" It doesn't take a Ultrainian Scientist to figure that out. "But I love her!"

That stops me. I turn to see him running to me threading his way past different races. "I love her Nico. I want to spend Etern with her."

"Then go spend eternity with her," I shout at him.

"He can't," Pink says, "my father won't allow it."

Where the hell did she come from? "Then run off together."

"Nico, her father is..." "King Vilston," she finishes.

"King Vil -! Of the fairies!" I stare at Blurco. "You lei the King of the Fairies only daughter! Princess..." I faltered. I couldn't pronounce her name..

"Pinkshythum," she replies, "but everyone calls me pink."

Of course, why didn't I see that one coming? I take a deep breath. I knew Blurco and I would part eventually. "Well we had fun, Blurco. We'll always be friends and I'm not mad at you." I give him a hug and laugh at his astonish look. I pivot and crash into a big burly man with a collar around a subkillian.

"That's slavery," I say aghast. Slavery was abolished again after many humans, subkillians, killians, and every other race tried to terminate their masters in 23,230.

"His price for stealing a beacon," the man says in Klondike. Half human half Klondike. His mother had to be blind. Klondikes are ugly to every race.

"How much?"

"What?"

"How much to pay off his debt?"

"35 purx."

"For a beacon?" He was cheating me and he knew it.

"Plus interest." The Klondike laughs opening his mouth to show hidden pinchers.

"Here!" I thrust 35 purx into his greedy palm. This to my relief shuts him up.

He blinks, but hands me the leash. I lean forward to the 5 foot reddish brown subkillian and unclasp his collar. He smiles at me showing brilliant white teeth. "What's your-?"

"Pinkshythum!" I stand up. It seems Pink's brothers are awake from their little nap.

"Shizo," Blurco curses and runs off gripping Pink's hand.

"Stop, you too Nico!" I hadn't moved, but that comment sure did encourage me to. I ran right behind Blurco levitating small things to slow Pink's brothers down. I saw my ship come into view. Mentally, I push the button to lower the loading dock so we can get on.

Pink trips and I run pass her and Blurco. I enter my ship and push the close button. They better get on or I'm leaving them. I sit in my pilot's chair and start the controls. I hear footsteps pounding on the dock, so I know they are in. I pull a lever and pull on the steering wheel throwing us into the air and away from Pink's brothers. Blurco sits down in the co-pilot chair.

"Where to captain?"

"You left Pink?"

"No," she replies. She walks to Blurco and puts a hand on his shoulder.

"Where do you both want to live? We'll go there."

"And what the hell am I suppose to do? I'm a pirate Nico. I don't know anything else. This is what I do."

"What about her, Blurco? What is she going to do? She's no pirate." I grab a star map and stare at it. I hate stupid star maps. Sure they tell you what galaxy you're in, but have you ever try reading one. It's like staring at a blank wall and making it make sense.

"I know how to read a star map." She reaches forward and flips the map upside down. "I can be your navigator."

"Yeah, she's the navigator." Blurco seconds her.

"You're cloaking device is fixed, captain." I turn to stare at the subkillian.

"My cloaking... that's never worked." I look at him with puzzle amazement on my face. Where the hell did he come from? How is everyone able to sneak up on me like this? I'm much better than this.

"He's the mechanic," Blurco states the obvious.

"And I'm the pilot." Blurco smiles widely.

"We finally have a crew," I mumble.

"And didn't you always want a crew?" Blurco smiles knowing that this was my dream; to be a real captain with a crew that I can trust."

"Okay," I sigh.

"Now, what about pay," Pink says.

I groan. "Hey, you're the one that wanted a crew, Nico."

"Fine," I smile inwardly. I already know what I'm going to say and Blurco probably knows it. "I give each of you 5 purxs a week. You're rooms are down the corridor and to the left."

I look at Blurco and Pink who are smiling at me. I turn to look at the subkillian and he smiles. "What is your name?"

"Wrench," he says holding it up.

"Okay," I continue on with the rest of my speech. "the kitchen is through the corridor and to the right. Buy whatever you want personally, but this ship will always have food, even if we don't have a cook."

"Uh," said wrench. "I can cook."

"Okay, wrench will cook."

"I'm not wrench."

I look over at wrench and do a double take. Standing right behind wrench was an identical subkillian. I must be getting old. I miss two of them?

"I'm cook. My brother is wrench."

"How? What? Okay, is there just the two of you?" Both Wrench and Cook nod. "I freed you?" Wrench nods, Cook doesn't move his head. "Okay, I want to know the story. First how Blurco and Pink met, what happened when I was grabbing my head in that bar, and how the hell Wrench and Cook got on my ship without my knowledge.

The next 3 hours orbiting in space was the most interesting 3 hours I have engage in. I've never heard more fanciful, but honest stories. And sharing our fears, thoughts, wants, lives is what really made us a crew, but if you want to know more on that I'll tell you later. Right now I just want to sleep and do a little jig at finally having a real crew.