"So, where's your hideout located at?" Lana asked Strokanov from the
pilot's seat of the Blue Fireball, her name for the new ship.
"We're probably too late now," replied Strokanov, "They move the base every twenty hours. They should move it in about eight hours, and it's at least nine hours from here to there."
"Why are you so, cooperative?" Lana asked. "I'd have thought I'd have to threaten you again to get you to talk."
Strokanov snorted a laugh. "I hate working for the pirates," he muttered.
"So… why are you one then?"
"I said I hated the pirates, not being one."
"So why join them?"
"Like the old saying: 'strength in numbers.'"
Lana sighed. "What do you pirates get out of pillaging planets anyway?"
"Fun!" Strokanov chuckled. "And it little bit of bounty too!"
"Haven't you ever thought of doing something, say, more legit?"
"Legit?"
"You know, legitimate?"
Strokanov paused. "Nope."
"Why not?"
"Being a good boy? No thank you. Why are you such a peace-preacher?"
"Hey, I never said I was," Lana said. "Besides, with no criminal record, I'm not hounded every day by others that want my head on a stick."
"Yeah, well, you get pretty rich being a pirate."
"You hurt or kill other people to get rich."
"Survival of the fittest."
"You're a creep."
"You're a wuss."
Lana and Strokanov pouted and turned their faces away from each other. "Just tell me where the base is," she finally said, "Or where it's going to be."
"They don't tell anyone," said Strokanov, "Not even me."
"Can you take a guess?"
"Hmmmm… No, I don't think so…"
Suddenly, Lana felt an itching on her back underneath her armor. She tried to rub her back into the armor into the seat, but the itch prevailed. She felt musky inside her suit, and then she remembered that she left her shirt onboard the Fireball; swallowed whole by the strange orange space-blob. "Strokanov?" she asked.
"Yeah?"
"Did this ship come with a shower?"
Strokanov thought. "Think so," he said.
"You take over," she said, getting up and rubbing her back and waking out of the control pit.
"But-" Strokanov began.
"Look, just fly the thing," Lana groaned, walking off.
Lana took two steps from the entrance to the control pit and turned to her right, standing straight in front of a tall thin door. Opening it up, Lana stepped inside the tiled room it contained and shut the door behind her and locked it.
The small square bathroom contained a sink built into a small counter with a mirror, a toilet on the right corner and a small shower stall on the left corner.
Lana sighed and took off the top of her armor, letting it noisily clang to the floor. Lana opened up the pelvis armor of the suit and let it drop off her body and onto the floor beside the top of her armor. After taking apart the leg armor, Lana piled up the armor components into a small lump in the corner by the door and undid her bra and slid off her panties. Tossing one of the two towels in the bathroom onto the floor beside the shower door, Lana opened the stall and reached inside, turning the water knob on. The shower sputtered briefly and then sprung to life, and soon a cloud of steam wafted into the room and hung from the ceiling. Feeling that the water was just the right temperature for her, Lana stepped into the shower and closed the door.
The sensation of warm water splashing over her body instantly relaxed Lana as she let the stream of water douse her head. Ruffling her hair in the spray, Lana felt truly calm and serene. She picked up a lather puff from the small nook within the shower and squirted a bit of bottled liquid soap onto it. Rubbing it with her hands until the lather was nice and frothy, Lana rubbed it on the itch on her back and scrubbed.
After ridding herself of the troublesome itch, Lana continued to pamper the rest of her body in the same fashion, when she heard a sudden knocking at the bathroom door. "Is that you, Strokanov?" Lana called through the shower stall.
"Lana?" came the muffled voice of Strokanov, "We, um, have a little problem…"
"Can't you take care of it yourself?" Lana moaned.
"Um, no, not really, er, you see…"
"I'm sort of busy in here, Strokanov," Lana said, rather annoyed as she shut off the water flow. "What's the problem?"
"You know how you left me to pilot the ship?" Strokanov weakly asked.
"Yeah, so?" Lana asked in return, stepping out of the shower stall.
Suddenly, the ship violently pitched, throwing Lana to the wall. The door of the bathroom burst open as well with Strokanov stumbling through it, with him pinning Lana's shoulders to the wall. Lana looked down at her bare breasts, and then shrieked. Strokanov received a swift swat to the cheek as Lana pushed him off of her.
"Ow!" Strokanov yelped, falling to the floor and rubbing his face.
Lana quickly grabbed a towel and wrapped it around herself. "What's wrong?" Lana asked in a panic, clutching her towel tightly to her body.
"We hit an asteroid belt," Strokanov said, rolling to his side. After another sharp roll of the ship sent both of them to the floor, Lana scrambled to her feet and dashed over Strokanov and into the control pit.
"Jesus Christ, can't you even fly a ship?" Lana snarled, jumping into the pilot's seat and grabbing the handlebars.
Strokanov sped into the pit with her. "You expected me to fly this ship, with human-modded control sticks and with these hands!" he snarled back, waving his large three-fingered clawed hands in front of him.
"Shit! Couldn't you have done anything else-?" Lana roared back, steering the ship to a sharp right.
"No, considering I can't read a damn thing other than Isnekt writing!"
Another violent jolt of the ship from a colliding asteroid pitched Strokanov to the wall. "Why didn't you tell me?" Lana screamed back at him.
"I tried to!" Strokanov yelled back at her, just as another asteroid hit the ship, throwing it to its left.
Lana only growled in defeat. "Just sit down and let me drive," she growled.
"Like you're supposed to," Strokanov growled back.
"Will you shut up?" Lana fired back at him, taking a wild pitch to the right.
Then, the ship was calm. "Don't you ever tell me to shut up," Strokanov snarled at Lana.
"Don't you ever- burst in on me like that!" Lana roared back at him.
"Hey, I didn't choose to do that!" Strokanov shot back, "You're not even my species!"
"You pervert!" Lana yelled.
"You- you-! Bitch!" Strokanov screamed back at her.
Lana roared. She stormed out of the control pit and stomped back to the bathroom. When she returned, she wore the cannon portion of her armor on her arm and aimed it at Strokanov. "You call me that one more time, or if you do that to me ever again, I swear to God I'll blow your head right off your fucking shoulders!"
Strokanov sprung out of his seat and tore open his chest and quickly took a small laser pistol from his chest cavity. "Don't you point that at me!" Strokanov snarled, aiming the pistol barrel at Lana.
"Then you point that away from me!"
"You first!"
"You!"
"You!"
Silent minutes passed between them with their weapons aimed at one another. Finally, Strokanov said, "Well if you're so pissed off about it, then for God sakes, put on some clothes!"
Lana growled and let her arm cannon down. "Fuck you," she snarled to herself, turning back to the bathroom and slamming the door shut. When she came out again, she was in her normal clothes, except with the absence of her shirt, having to do with just her bra. Strokanov stored his gun back inside his chest and closed it shut. He and Lana resumed their seats and Lana took the controls of the Blue Fireball. "I'm sorry," she bitterly muttered.
"I'm sorry too I s'pose," Strokanov grumbled.
"We're probably too late now," replied Strokanov, "They move the base every twenty hours. They should move it in about eight hours, and it's at least nine hours from here to there."
"Why are you so, cooperative?" Lana asked. "I'd have thought I'd have to threaten you again to get you to talk."
Strokanov snorted a laugh. "I hate working for the pirates," he muttered.
"So… why are you one then?"
"I said I hated the pirates, not being one."
"So why join them?"
"Like the old saying: 'strength in numbers.'"
Lana sighed. "What do you pirates get out of pillaging planets anyway?"
"Fun!" Strokanov chuckled. "And it little bit of bounty too!"
"Haven't you ever thought of doing something, say, more legit?"
"Legit?"
"You know, legitimate?"
Strokanov paused. "Nope."
"Why not?"
"Being a good boy? No thank you. Why are you such a peace-preacher?"
"Hey, I never said I was," Lana said. "Besides, with no criminal record, I'm not hounded every day by others that want my head on a stick."
"Yeah, well, you get pretty rich being a pirate."
"You hurt or kill other people to get rich."
"Survival of the fittest."
"You're a creep."
"You're a wuss."
Lana and Strokanov pouted and turned their faces away from each other. "Just tell me where the base is," she finally said, "Or where it's going to be."
"They don't tell anyone," said Strokanov, "Not even me."
"Can you take a guess?"
"Hmmmm… No, I don't think so…"
Suddenly, Lana felt an itching on her back underneath her armor. She tried to rub her back into the armor into the seat, but the itch prevailed. She felt musky inside her suit, and then she remembered that she left her shirt onboard the Fireball; swallowed whole by the strange orange space-blob. "Strokanov?" she asked.
"Yeah?"
"Did this ship come with a shower?"
Strokanov thought. "Think so," he said.
"You take over," she said, getting up and rubbing her back and waking out of the control pit.
"But-" Strokanov began.
"Look, just fly the thing," Lana groaned, walking off.
Lana took two steps from the entrance to the control pit and turned to her right, standing straight in front of a tall thin door. Opening it up, Lana stepped inside the tiled room it contained and shut the door behind her and locked it.
The small square bathroom contained a sink built into a small counter with a mirror, a toilet on the right corner and a small shower stall on the left corner.
Lana sighed and took off the top of her armor, letting it noisily clang to the floor. Lana opened up the pelvis armor of the suit and let it drop off her body and onto the floor beside the top of her armor. After taking apart the leg armor, Lana piled up the armor components into a small lump in the corner by the door and undid her bra and slid off her panties. Tossing one of the two towels in the bathroom onto the floor beside the shower door, Lana opened the stall and reached inside, turning the water knob on. The shower sputtered briefly and then sprung to life, and soon a cloud of steam wafted into the room and hung from the ceiling. Feeling that the water was just the right temperature for her, Lana stepped into the shower and closed the door.
The sensation of warm water splashing over her body instantly relaxed Lana as she let the stream of water douse her head. Ruffling her hair in the spray, Lana felt truly calm and serene. She picked up a lather puff from the small nook within the shower and squirted a bit of bottled liquid soap onto it. Rubbing it with her hands until the lather was nice and frothy, Lana rubbed it on the itch on her back and scrubbed.
After ridding herself of the troublesome itch, Lana continued to pamper the rest of her body in the same fashion, when she heard a sudden knocking at the bathroom door. "Is that you, Strokanov?" Lana called through the shower stall.
"Lana?" came the muffled voice of Strokanov, "We, um, have a little problem…"
"Can't you take care of it yourself?" Lana moaned.
"Um, no, not really, er, you see…"
"I'm sort of busy in here, Strokanov," Lana said, rather annoyed as she shut off the water flow. "What's the problem?"
"You know how you left me to pilot the ship?" Strokanov weakly asked.
"Yeah, so?" Lana asked in return, stepping out of the shower stall.
Suddenly, the ship violently pitched, throwing Lana to the wall. The door of the bathroom burst open as well with Strokanov stumbling through it, with him pinning Lana's shoulders to the wall. Lana looked down at her bare breasts, and then shrieked. Strokanov received a swift swat to the cheek as Lana pushed him off of her.
"Ow!" Strokanov yelped, falling to the floor and rubbing his face.
Lana quickly grabbed a towel and wrapped it around herself. "What's wrong?" Lana asked in a panic, clutching her towel tightly to her body.
"We hit an asteroid belt," Strokanov said, rolling to his side. After another sharp roll of the ship sent both of them to the floor, Lana scrambled to her feet and dashed over Strokanov and into the control pit.
"Jesus Christ, can't you even fly a ship?" Lana snarled, jumping into the pilot's seat and grabbing the handlebars.
Strokanov sped into the pit with her. "You expected me to fly this ship, with human-modded control sticks and with these hands!" he snarled back, waving his large three-fingered clawed hands in front of him.
"Shit! Couldn't you have done anything else-?" Lana roared back, steering the ship to a sharp right.
"No, considering I can't read a damn thing other than Isnekt writing!"
Another violent jolt of the ship from a colliding asteroid pitched Strokanov to the wall. "Why didn't you tell me?" Lana screamed back at him.
"I tried to!" Strokanov yelled back at her, just as another asteroid hit the ship, throwing it to its left.
Lana only growled in defeat. "Just sit down and let me drive," she growled.
"Like you're supposed to," Strokanov growled back.
"Will you shut up?" Lana fired back at him, taking a wild pitch to the right.
Then, the ship was calm. "Don't you ever tell me to shut up," Strokanov snarled at Lana.
"Don't you ever- burst in on me like that!" Lana roared back at him.
"Hey, I didn't choose to do that!" Strokanov shot back, "You're not even my species!"
"You pervert!" Lana yelled.
"You- you-! Bitch!" Strokanov screamed back at her.
Lana roared. She stormed out of the control pit and stomped back to the bathroom. When she returned, she wore the cannon portion of her armor on her arm and aimed it at Strokanov. "You call me that one more time, or if you do that to me ever again, I swear to God I'll blow your head right off your fucking shoulders!"
Strokanov sprung out of his seat and tore open his chest and quickly took a small laser pistol from his chest cavity. "Don't you point that at me!" Strokanov snarled, aiming the pistol barrel at Lana.
"Then you point that away from me!"
"You first!"
"You!"
"You!"
Silent minutes passed between them with their weapons aimed at one another. Finally, Strokanov said, "Well if you're so pissed off about it, then for God sakes, put on some clothes!"
Lana growled and let her arm cannon down. "Fuck you," she snarled to herself, turning back to the bathroom and slamming the door shut. When she came out again, she was in her normal clothes, except with the absence of her shirt, having to do with just her bra. Strokanov stored his gun back inside his chest and closed it shut. He and Lana resumed their seats and Lana took the controls of the Blue Fireball. "I'm sorry," she bitterly muttered.
"I'm sorry too I s'pose," Strokanov grumbled.