Chapter 10.
David opened his palm and used the little key to unlock his irons. Rubbing his wrists, he looked back at Jim in disbelief. The young brunette glanced at him as he drove, smiling. A laugh caught in David's throat as he looked over his shoulder. The Remnant wasn't fading into the distance, but had turned and began following the longboat. "Uh- Jim? We're gonna have company pretty soon." David looked back at Jim but the young man wasn't swayed.
"Don't worry about it." Jim smiled and continued strait on his course. The ship was gaining on them, causing David to become anxious.
"Jim-" David grabbed the side of the longboat. He could see the crew of the ship clearly, swinging swords and guns at them. The longboat was going as fast as it could handle, but it was no match for the bigger, stronger power of the ship. "Jim!" David dodged as a bullet went flying past the longboat's side.
"Wait!" Jim was pushing the boat with all it had- the engine roaring with effort. They could now hear the crew behind them as they started pulling up behind the longboat.
"Where do you think you're going?" One alien shouted. "Thought you were clever, did you?" Another sneered at them, hanging off one of the shrouds.
David grabbed his chest and stared in fear at the ship behind them. Jim wasn't fazed- and smirked when he saw his target approach. He counted down in his mind and elbowed David's shoulder. "Hang on!" he shouted over the noise. In an instant, they had swerved to the right at an 80 degree angle, just missing the barriers of an asteroid field. The Remnant wasn't so fortunate, and slammed into the hunks of rock at full speed. Jim laughed heartily and looked back at the wreck he'd created. David turned to look over his shoulder and whooped with excitement. The two men laughed and shouted war cries into the etherium as they flew off.
David sat back and stared into the sky. The two of them were free; from persecution, from fear, and from death! At least for now. They were officially deserters- which was a shameful thing to be. But David had friends in the admiral's office on Lenperron. If only they could get to a communicator- he could get a message to the Admiral. "Where are we going?" David turned to Jim.
"Somewhere they won't think to look." Jim looked ahead to a large planet about 50 leagues away. David was skeptical about this hiding place.
"Yuforra? Jim- Yuforra is a native planet that the Military has bases on at every port and every village." Jim only smiled and veered to the left, bringing a smaller planet into view about fifty-three leagues away.
"Kinnos is not." Kinnos was a planet controlled by a pirate ring- protected through an old contract between a senate of officials and a group of relentless pirate lords. Kinnos was one of the few planets in the galaxy that the Military couldn't set foot on. The agreement was renewed every ten years to assure the protection and freedom of the pirates taking refuge there. The reason it was so close to a Military controlled planet was so that it couldn't be forced to renounce its contract and be taken over unjustly. An ambassador was always at the ready if there was ever a grievance between the pirates and the law.
"Brilliant!" David beamed and grabbed Jim's face to kiss his cheek. It was full speed ahead to Kinnos- past the two suns of Yuforra and into the spaceport of Helk. Upon arriving in the early morning on Kinnos, the port was abuzz with life; drunkards singing along streets, vendors bartering with passerby and prostitutes hanging over the balconies of windows. The streets were covered in storefronts and trader's tents- all shouting and displaying goods. Jim pulled in to a berth and a long snouted alien approached him with his hand outstretched. Throwing a line of rope over the side, the alien took it and tied off the boat to a land anchor. Jumping over the side, the boys moved to head up the street, but the alien blocked their path, his hand outstretched again. David reached into his pocket and grabbed what he had; three doubloons. The alien frowned and cleared his throat. "It's all I have." David shrugged. The alien huffed and walked away to tie off another ship pulling in. Jim and David exchanged a look before moving up the street. They walked side by side- minding their own business. Even on a free planet like Kinnos, you didn't want to get under any unsavory character's skin. As they passed a dirty little pub on their left, a voice called down to them.
"Hey handsome!" A beautiful dark skinned woman in a dark purple gown twirled a curl of her thick black hair. "You been on tour a long time? Why don't you come up and we'll release some of that tension for ya?" She winked at David when he looked up at her. A too-skinny fair skinned woman stood beside her, wearing a green striped dress with a yellow tie at her waist. David smiled politely.
"Thank you," he called up to them. "Perhaps another time." He began to walk away when a red-haired woman called down from the next window.
"What about your friend there?" she giggled. "He looks sweet enough to bite!" the girls giggled and dangled their legs out from under their skirts.
"Come on up!" The little blonde called. "We'll do two for one- we're so bored up here! We haven't seen some real gentlemen in a long time!"
David grabbed Jim's hand and he then held it up for the women to see. "Sorry ladies- we're otherwise engaged." The women stared for a moment, before beaming.
"Me-ow!" The dark-haired woman cooed. "Won't you share, cutie?"
"Shut up Katrise!" The little blonde elbowed her. "Can't you see they're in love?"
"Alright drama queen." The black-haired woman pushed the blonde back into the room behind them. "Get us fired, why don't you?" The little blonde stuck her head out once more and waved as David and Jim walked away.
"Best wishes!" she called. Jim gave a thumbs up but didn't turn to look at her. Farther down the street, Jim spotted an inn. It looked decent as far as the up keep, and rather busy with all the noise coming from inside. The two men made their way to the door and as they did, they passed a trio of grimy looking characters. Two of them were tatted with full sleeves, and the third from head to toe. They eyed the boys as they headed toward the inn. The third man, tall and muscular with short black hair- elbowed his friend and winked. He reached out and put a hand on Jim's shoulder as he passed, stopping him.
"Hey pet," he leaned toward Jim's face. "if you need somewhere to sit in there, come ask for my lap!" he winked at Jim, who just stared at him with disgust. David squeezed his hand and the two tried to walk away; but the man walked right behind Jim, talking near his ear. "Staying here tonight? I could make arrangements to have us share a hammock. Nothin' fancy, mind you- just something we can wiggle around in." David came to a standstill and turned to look at the man.
"Look, I don't want trouble with you." The man frowned at David.
"I wasn't talkin' to you, anyhow." He gave David's uniform a once over. "Your highness." David continued to glare from the corner of his eye as the man moved to stand in front of Jim. "So, what do you say?" he smirked. Jim stared silently as the man moved closer. "What can I do to have you tonight, pet?" David let go of Jim's hand and moved him back with his arm. "Hey! We were having a conversation, old man!" The hot-headed pirate moved to grab David by the collar, but not before David sucker punched him right in the nose. The man's head shot backward, and he grabbed his now bleeding nose. "What the fuck?!" he raised his hand up to defend his face, but he didn't make it before David punched him square on the jaw. This sent the man back a few steps, clearing the way for Jim and David. Grabbing Jim's hand, David rushed past the pirate to the doorstep of the inn.
The trio of men glared at the pair. David stopped at the door and pulled a ring off of his finger, holding it up for them to see. After he saw they were all looking at it, he took Jim's hand and slid the ring on his finger. Scoffing, the tatted trio turned and moved away from the building. Satisfied with their reaction, David smirked and walked through the open doorway into the inn.
Though it was busy, there were a handful of open tables and some seats at the bar. Two waitresses were making their way through the crowd, exchanging dishes with refills. Jim and David made their way to the side of the bar that was open, and caught the attention of the man behind the counter. A four-armed insect alien came to the end of the bar.
"Are you who we talk to about accommodations?" The insect shook his head and pointed one hand to the right at a busty woman wearing a dark red shirt and an apron. David thanked the man and approached the woman. She was flirting with a table of men before she saw the officers approach. When she inspected their uniforms, she scowled.
"And how can I help you, officers?" she rested one fist on her hip. David cleared his throat and politely did a half bow. Jim did the same.
"Ma'am, we are just looking for some accommodations for a while. We won't cause any trouble for you- and would graciously accept any room you have for us." The woman raised an eyebrow and looked between Jim and David. She opened her mouth to tell them to leave before she saw their entwined hands. David's ring caught her eye, sitting comfortably on Jim's ring finger. Her mouth closed gently and she looked back up at their faces.
"You two deserters?" she asked in a gentle voice. They nodded solemnly- and the woman heaved a sad sigh. "Alright." She pulled a ring of keys from her apron. "I have a room on the third floor, the last door on the left, I believe." She handed a key from the ring to Jim, who smiled at her.
"Thank you."
"Don't mention it. I can usually weed out the fakers in the first minute." She put on a crooked smile. "Make yourselves at home." She gestured to the bar before turning away and going back to work. David let out a sigh of relief. Jim slipped the key into his pocket and looked up at the taller, bearded man.
"Do you need a drink?" David shook his head. "Me either." The two of them made their way up the flights of stairs, observing the views from the hall windows as they passed. At one point, David yawned, causing Jim to smile. The last few days had taken it out of both of them. They had a lot to think about- but were both too exhausted to discuss anything. As they got to the end of the third floor's hall, Jim pulled out the key, clicked it in the lock, and threw open the door. Both of them shuffled in like zombies, silent except for David's groans as he stretched.
David shed his Jacket and pulled his shirt over his head; dropping both to the ground. Next, he bent down and unlaced his boots before pulling out his cramped feet. With a jolted movement he unbuckled his pants and breeches and let them fall around his ankles before he flopped onto the bed with a grunt. Jim smiled and did the same, except he folded his clothes and left on his breeches to sleep in. Jim walked over to the bed and sat on the edge, shaking David's shoulder. "Move over." David groaned and rolled onto his back. Instead of moving, he pulled Jim down to him. "Or not." Jim chuckled. David just grunted and tucked an arm around Jim's waist; spooning him. With his other arm, he pulled a pillow under Jim's head and rested his own head on his elbow. "Uh- Day?" Jim turned his head to look at the half-awake man. David just groaned and pulled Jim closer against him, nuzzling the back of Jim's hair. Jim smiled and rested his head against the pillow, feeling his eyes getting heavy. After a few minutes though, David felt Jim shiver in his arms. Groggily, David removed his arm from Jim's waist and pulled a blanket from by his feet up to cover them. In the same movement, Jim rolled over to face David and curled one arm under his pillow and the other by his chest. David pulled the blanket gently over Jim's shoulder and rested his head down under a second pillow. Pulling the younger man closer with his free arm- the two of them fell into a deep, peaceful slumber.