before the fall of the divine shadow
There is nothing really special about a class 5 cargo vessel. Probably because it was built on an out of the way cluster planet by people with no real imagination. It was made in three parts bridge, cargo bay, and engine room. Those three parts were then assembled in that order to make a ship that looks like a brick. A very plain brick. This particular ship's pilot is named Ned. His navigator is a slightly more intelligent women by the name of Dall. She tends to be more inquisitive than her captain and is presently looking around the bridge. Its a plain room with riveted metal walls, discolored by a lack of cleaning. In the front of that room is the viewing window and the instrument panel. In the back of the room is the door that takes her to the cargo bay and away from the dull captain. She frequently leaves through this escape when he has been to long in space. Ned sometimes has a hard time with his hands. They tend to wander around. If Dall gets close enough.
"I wonder what his shadow wants with a couple of corpses," says Dall.
"Well he musta had a reason or we wouldn't be gettin paid so good," her fearless captain grunts.
"Maybe he wants those funny ships they had," suggests Dall.
Ned rattles off one of his usual statements, "Well, its not our place to question his shadow.."
"I think ill check on the cargo," says Dall obviously frustrated by her captain's lack of willingness to think. She slides out of her chair and walks the familiar path to the cargo bay. Ned takes this opportunity to stare longingly at her retreating backside.
"Women, always curious," utters Ned.
The cargo bay is a simple metal box with a door at either end. One to the bridge and one to the engine room. Most of the bay is stained green from an algae that was picked up on some strange planet and was never totally washed away. Today was one of the few days that Dall actually took an interest in the cargo. They had hunted for months to find the little bugs and they're pilots. Dall reaches out and puts her hand on one of the bugs. She walks along the length of it running her fingers along the bumps and grooves. The bug reminds her of the insects that used to fly around on the cluster. Luckily the spray killed those pests along with most of the populations pets.
"Strange little things," she tells the green tinged walls.
Dall walks past the second bug ship and comes closer to the 2 crates in the back of the cargo bay. The contents smelled so horrible when she and the captain pulled them out of the bugs. They were 2 men mummified by the extremely low atmosphere left in the bugs. Even with the mummification they still looked to be in an advanced state of decomposition. She was glad when they sealed them up in the crates. She didn't look forward to unpacking them.
Again she says, "They don't even look human anymore. What could he do with them?"
The Lexx however is a different story. Never has a more interesting ship been built/grown. The most destructive single ship ever made. It would be nearly impossible to describe this ship as it keeps growing. It is a massive bug containing an amazing crew. Stan the captain: former security guard class 4, former arch-traitor, a reluctant (though perverted) hero. Xev: a surprisingly chaste love-slave that is part cluster lizard. 790: a 790 model robot head that is obsessed with Xev. Kai: the last of the Brunen G and a recently freed divine assassin. Now on the bridge Stan instructs the Lexx on the type of planet they are looking for.
"C'mon lexx its not that hard," pleads Stan.
"I'm not sure what you mean Stanly," replies Lexx.
"I just want to find a nice planet with attractive women and good food," says the frustrated captain.
"What is attractive Stanly?" asks Lexx.
"Good looking, hot, you know pretty," says Stan
"Quit your babbling Tweedle. Why would the Lexx listen to a revolting bag of meat like you?" asks 790 in a disgusted voice.
"Because I'm the captain and not just some silly... robot head! Why don't you go bug Xev?" says an irritated Stan.
"Sadly, my beautiful ball of lust is in the cryo room," replied 790 in a hurt tone.
Inside the cryo room Xev is talking to the pod that encompasses Kai. The hurt look on her face is a sign of the need of her love-slave programming.
"Why do you have to be dead? You have everything I need except for life. Why can't there be more men like you?" Xev asks in a sad voice that seems made to break hearts.
On the cluster The Divine Shadow is standing in a room with Dall, Ned, and their cargo. His Shadow approaches the twin crates.
"Well what are you waiting for?" He demands.
Ned produces a crowbar from behind his back and proceeds to pry open one of the crates. The room fills with a dark stench as the crate snaps open. His Shadow peers intently down at the contents.
"We sealed up what was left of 'em Well as best we could anyway," says Ned nervously.
"How are the ships?" demands His Shadow.
"They look like they would fly again after a little work," Dall replies.
"Excellent," says His Shadow as he gestures for the guard at the door.
"So about that b-bounty?" stammers Ned as His Shadow withdraws from the room.
"I worship His Shadow," states the guard as he pulls out his black pack. Dall screams but it is cut short by the sound of the black pack doing its work. Ned was thinking intently about what he could do with Dall's half of the bounty. Until the guard turned towards him.
TO BE CONTINUED