Call Girl

Chapter 23

Lucile had been given permission to land and had just finished doing so. "So what do we do first?" Kate was ready to get off this ship. She had been trapped in this space for over a month and she was done with that.

"You get to stay here while I go shopping for food and get it delivered, hopefully," Rick told her.

"WHAT!? Like HELL! I've been stuck in this ship for over a month. You at least get to get out." Kate was skipping over just where he got to go. She was stuck on him just getting out.

Kate also knew how to open the door and made one entire step toward it before Rick stopped her.

"LET GO!" She was getting out and he couldn't stop her.

"Kate, this is one of my success stories, but I don't think you'll like the locals all that much." Rick attempted to warn her and watched as Kate shook her arm loose and opened the door. She didn't even make it out the door when she screamed and stumbled backwards, lost her balance, and almost broke her arm to keep from falling into the hot tub. However, that had her tumbling onto the sofa, then landing on the floor.

Now she was sore in various places in addition to being angry and scared. "What the hell was that thing?" She had thought Zorgons were bad. Whatever that thing was was even worse.

"A local, just stay there." Rick motioned for her not to move and changed his form. Wide-eyed, Kate clapped both hands over her mouth to keep from screaming again. Staring, she watched Rick or whatever that thing was exit the ship.

He had been gone for a few minutes and Kate was still sitting on the floor, ignoring her hurt arm, hurt butt, and trying her best to forget what she saw. "Lucile?"

Lucile appeared. "Richard is right outside. He is still trying to make arrangements for a number of things plus paying our fees for landing here," Lucile explained, hoping that helped.

"What the hell was…is…whatever that thing is? Was, you know what I mean." Unfortunately forgetting what she'd seen was not working.

"They are called the Xanth, which is the best English translation I can give you. On Earth you would call them intelligent cockroaches that have evolved over time to walking on two legs and using their other legs for construction. A few have retained their ability to fly so there are soft delicate wings under that hard shell," Lucile explained.

"COCKROACHES!" Kate hated cockroaches. She used to stomp them flat or spray them with Raid or some other insecticide to kill them. "And you brought us here?" Oh, she was going to give Lucile a piece of her mind for this.

However, just then a cockroach walked into the ship. The sight of it had Kate crawling backwards till she hit a wall. It was going to kill her or eat her or just rip her apart, she just knew it.

Then it changed into Rick and she began breathing again but didn't move. "I tried to warn you," Rick told her and stepped down to the living room to join her.

"Oh, shut up. Cockroaches! Really?" Kate still made no attempt at moving. For one thing the door was still open so one of them could actually enter their ship.

"Believe it or not they have a very well organized society. No wars, no famine, they're excellent at construction and since they eat nearly anything they're also excellent at generating food."

"Yeah, I'll just bet they are." Kate saw Rick hold out a hand to help lift her up and while she didn't take it at first she did eventually. "So now what? I'm sure as hell not going out there." Kate waved her hand at the door. "They'll eat me."

Rick was all set to try and explain that they weren't going to eat her but changed his mind. "I've arranged for a delivery that should be here in about four to six hours. It might be best if you hide upstairs when they deliver it. After that we'll be moving. I know of a nice quiet island that has lots of sand and no neighbors so you can lay out on the sand and work on your tan."

"No neighbors?" Kate questioned him.

"Not a single one, save for any local wildlife like bugs or something," Rick confirmed.

Her hand shaking, Kate pointed at the door again. "Those things are bugs!"

"I mean teeny tiny bugs. But if you don't like the beach…." Rick trailed off since he had another idea but that meant snow and it would be freezing cold up there.

"NO! The beach will be fine. Do we have sunscreen?" She hadn't been out in the sun for what felt like forever. "Just no bugs, please!" Kate begged him.

o- [:] -o

Kate saw them coming and got way down low so she didn't have to see them. Then it got worse. She could hear them. All the clicking and clacking that they made. She was even pretty sure she could hear their legs inside their ship. She was going to have to scrub the floors clean after this. Then it got worse if that was even possible.

"What is that smell!?" Kate held her nose closed.

Kate was forced to wait till it was all clear and she could come back downstairs.

"WOW!" Rick hadn't been exaggerating about them getting supplies. It was stacked higher than last time. "Are they gone?" Kate whispered at Rick since he was standing at the door looking out.

Kate watched the door close. "Just left. We're next," Rick told her. "Find your swimsuit if you can reach it." Rick pretty much stayed right where he was. All the other space was taken up with supplies.

That had Kate looking but while she saw the sofa itself that held all her clothes, there was no floor space for her to stand to reach them. She couldn't actually stand on the sofa and get it open. "I don't think I can." It was one big sofa, not divided up into sections.

"Birthday suit, maybe?" Rick grinned unabashedly at her.

Kate began to grin back since she was not bashful about being naked in front of him. Then her grin faded. "We better have a lot of sunscreen where I can reach it." Parts of her had never seen the sun before. She would be burnt in no time. However, her grin came back as she thought about it. Her nanites would fix her sunburn. She just needed to eat something.

o- [:] -o

Kate was lying naked on a blanket on a beach on an island under a full sun.

"Are you sure this is what we should be doing?" Rick was just as naked, on his back, on his own blanket under the same full sun.

"Absolutely! Can't you just feel the sun's rays?" Kate smiled with her eyes closed since she was finally completely relaxed. The thought of walking, talking cockroaches was no longer on her mind.

"I feel like I'm being burnt to a crisp," Rick complained and Kate's smile got wider.

"I could give you some of my nanites if that would help." Kate grinned widely, kept her eyes closed, and soaked up the sun.

"And just how would you do that?" Rick was actually curious as to just how she thought she could do that. Short of cutting open an arm and getting him to drink some of them he didn't see how. And he certainly didn't want her to do that.

Kate snapped her eyes open since she suddenly had an idea that just might work and even if it didn't it was certainly going to be fun.

o- [:] -o

Kate fell off of his face onto her blanket. She had gotten up and sat on his face so he could eat her. Three orgasms later and while he might not have any of her nanites, she had certainly enjoyed trying to give him some of them. There was just one thing about her idea.

"Now I'm starving. I'm cooking." Kate jumped up and ran to the ship. She didn't know what she was going to cook yet but it was going to be something. Something worthy of three orgasms.

o- [:] -o

"Feeling better?" Kate gave him a face that said she was really sorry. She had just finished spreading a cream over half his body. Except for his face. That part of him on this side wasn't burnt.

"NO!" Rick did his best to trying not to move. Moving hurt so he wasn't moving.

"How was I supposed to know an alien could get a sunburn," Kate argued. Still she knew it was her fault. She had wanted a beach and he had given her a beach. They had come here to get food mostly because of her. Now he was in pain because of her.

"What can I do?" Kate felt tears begin and wiped away the one that escaped.

"I can't die, remember? I'll be fine eventually. Lucile, time to take us back. I have to finish my research or we won't have money for a future home. And you, my mate, had better be ready by then." Rick raised his hand and pointed at her.

Kate heard the message loud and clear. If she wanted to help him she needed to know what she wanted to do with her life and be ready by the time his research was over.

o- [:] -o

Two months later and they were back for more supplies. It also meant they were now short two months and were going to need eight months to complete Rick's six months of research. So two more months and Rick would be done.

Once again Kate was downstairs searching the freezer looking for dinner when she heard it and covered her ears with her hands. His damn system might be noisy and more than a little obvious but it also meant he was home.

She wasn't sure just what this meat was but it tasted okay and since they were running low on it that also told her his research project should be almost over.

Coming back upstairs she found him sitting on their bed. She also knew that look well now. It might be an alien face but she would recognize him anywhere.

"What happened this time?" Kate put the meat down, joined him on the bed, and put an arm around him.

"I…it's…I found something and I think it means we should leave now and report this to my client. It's just that if I think it means what I think it means, my client will come here and kill them all." Rick was a lot like Kate in this. He didn't believe in genocide.

"That bad?" Kate thought they were incredibly ugly and the stories Rick told her had given her a couple of nightmares, but did they deserve to be killed? She wasn't so sure of that.

"Bad enough, Kate. All they really need is a more reliable power source. They're a lot closer to FTL than I thought," Rick revealed.

"OH, SHIT!" Kate wasn't stupid. This race was a little dangerous. However, it wasn't six months yet. "So what do we do? FTL sounds bad. Maybe they can come and just destroy their FTL research," Kate said hopefully and watched Rick shake his head.

He knew that wasn't what his client did. It was basically an all or nothing for them.

"Take us home, Lucile. I think my research project is done here." He was also glad to leave. He knew he was going to hear animals screaming for their lives for days if not weeks to come.

Lucile materialized. "Setting a safe course. Prepare for FTL, entering FTL now." Lucile had heard everything and she quietly agreed with Rick. This race had just gotten themselves killed. The client wasn't going to put up with this.

"Hungry?" Kate asked him while still holding him.

"Just so long as it doesn't scream for its life," Rick answered and looked at her.

"I promise it and I will not scream. It's still frozen and I'm not interested in screaming. Just so long as you don't tickle me again." Kate saw him turn to face her and watched him start to grin. "Meany!" She slapped his arm and got up to make them dinner.

o- [:] -o

It didn't take nearly as long for them to reach their client's home planet as Kate remembered. But she had an excuse. Since Rick never left her they made love to each other a whole lot more so Kate was much happier.

After landing, Kate was hiding out upstairs. She had already seen one of them and still thought they were ugly. Just a different kind of ugly than Zorgons.

Rick was gone most of the day much like last time. Finally the door opened and she watched him walk in and close it again.

"And?" Kate waited for him to explain.

"They're organizing a strike group even now. The threat of gaining FTL was the deciding factor just like I knew it was." Rick stepped down to the living room and sat down next to her.

Kate wasn't sure just what to say. They were scary and grossed her out but did they really deserve to be slaughtered down to the very last one of them?

"So you got paid and did they have another job for you?" Rick had said something about going somewhere. "Something about Sur'Kesh, I think?" Kate thought she was really getting used to being out in space. She was married to a real live alien, after all.

"I have the money and yes, they did have another planet for us to research. I don't know much about them, either. Any more than I did the Zorgons," Rick tried to explain.

"Oh, swell." Kate knew just how well that had worked out. "What did you tell them?"

"That I could take the job in about a year if it was still available. We need to get to Sur'Kesh for you which is about five months one way," Rick said.

"We don't really have to, you know. You don't have to do this for me. I can think of something." She didn't want him taking them this far away just for her and her idea.

"You're my mate and I love you, so yes, we do. It's the only place I know that can provide what we're after. Even my client doesn't know anything about this place. I'm not sure what they would think if they knew. We just need Lucile to get us there." Rick was doing this.

Kate wasn't sure she could love him more but suddenly she did. "You're sweet and I love you, too, husband." Kate was still not willing to use the word mate. "So how much money did they pay you and is it enough to at least start construction?"

"It's enough to finish paying the architect and engineers and get a quote from a contractor. Now what the contractor says about costs is another matter. We can make a small detour and find out. It shouldn't add too much time to our trip.

"Just be ready for where we have to stop to get supplies. Not all of them have space flight, much like your planet," Rick warned her.

"So long as they don't look like cockroaches or Zorgons. Please!" Kate begged.

"Luckily no, but we'll need to stay the night," he said. "Supplies get delivered tomorrow, then we can leave."

"In other words I need to stay in hiding so I'm not grossed out," Kate informed him.

"You really need to get used to seeing aliens. Didn't you say something about Star Wars having lots and lots of aliens?" Rick queried.

"That was a movie which was nice and safe. This is real. Really real and extremely scary," Kate fought back since so far, too many of these aliens were a little hard to see and very scary looking.

Since Rick didn't see a way to talk her out of it. "Dinner? Since you've proven that you're really good at it."

"Thank you." Kate kissed him. "My mother thanks you, too." Kate kissed him again. "Now I need to think about what to cook." She hadn't really thought about it yet.

o- [:] -o

A quick trip to what would be home went pretty fast.

"We need to be quick since reaching Sur'Kesh is going to take about five months. I'll talk to the architect and engineers and find a contractor with their plans. You need to talk with TiPhar to find you a retail space you can rent. I was thinking that finding a space at the space dock might be a nice central space to be. Plus the space dock has built-in security that you can benefit from. There isn't much trouble here, but never say never," Rick told her.

"TiPhar." She was going to be all alone with her.

"Kate, you are my mate. I chose you, not her. You have nothing to fear from her and she's the director of this space so she's who you need to talk to to get a space." Rick didn't see the need for her to be jealous of TiPhar.

"I know that." She truly did know that, but that didn't stop her mind from thinking Rick would want TiPhar over her.

"Just let her help you. We'll be spending two days and one night. We need to load up on supplies. Fill all the empty space we can find." Rick kissed her.

o- [:] -o

"Mr. Castle, it is good to see you again. And you as well, Katherine." TiPhar had warning that Castle was coming so she met them instead of one of her staff.

"Two days and one night is all. We have somewhere to be. Kate has a question for you," Rick told TiPhar. "Decide where you want to eat tonight. Have fun." Rick gave Kate a quick kiss and left those two after paying for parking.

"How may I help you, Katherine?" TiPhar was willing to help her.

"I..." Kate worked at gaining some control over her jealous demon. "I have an idea for a store and Rick said you could help me find a place I could rent to sell items I don't even have yet. It might be a year or more till I'm ready." Kate didn't need space now. Why waste the money?

"Future retail space. We are going to need my office for this. Please follow me." TiPhar began walking. "And I see you have adapted to our planet very well."

Kate was wearing one of the dresses she had bought there as well as everything else. She just needed to get her hair braided again.

"It's quite nice. I like it here a lot. It has an elegance that's very alluring. There's literally art everywhere." Kate was even seeing things here let alone everywhere else.

"We try. Please step in." TiPhar made space for her and it looked a lot like an elevator to Kate except she didn't feel anything if they were moving at all.

"May I ask a question?" Kate decided to confront her jealous demon head on. "Why didn't it work out with you and Rick?" She was tall, she was beautiful, and she was clearly intelligent.

"I attempted to capture his heart. I was apparently not what he was looking for. I think we could have been happy. I have had some time to reflect on just what went wrong. I reached a conclusion that I was just too business-like for him.

"I have spent time apart working on that. I believe I still have some work to do," TiPhar admitted to her. "May I ask a question? You will not be leaving again till later tomorrow. Are you willing to help me be less…focused on business?" She had won Rick so maybe she could help her.

Kate's smile got wider. "You've met someone."

"Perhaps." TiPhar was part non-committal and not sure if he was interested in her.

"I would love to help. You're going to need to point him out to me, though, and tell me all you know about him." If this took TiPhar out of the equation Kate was all for it.

"Thank you for not questioning me as to why," TiPhar said gratefully as their elevator finally stopped.

"This is going to be fun." Kate had never set up anyone with someone else in her life. And maybe this would make TiPhar a friend instead of Kate being jealous of her. She could really use a good friend.