Chapter 10: Moving On Is Harder Than It Looks Part 2
The crew laughed after a few drinks from the restaurant. Real food (even if it was mealworms) and good company was a lot more of what they needed than they realized. Vivian finished off her plate, taking a small sip of her beer as she sat across from Three while sitting beside Two.
"You know I don't say this enough. But you guys are great man," Three grinned, his words slightly slurred, patting Four's shoulder who sat happily beside him.
"You don't ever say that," One reminded.
"Really?" Three grinned.
"Never," Four agreed.
"Well I gotta tell you. You guys are the best," Three grinned.
"Really?" Two smirked amused by Three's drunken state. Three pointed at Two looking at Vivian.
"Oh you should hear something about this woman here," Three began, Vivian glanced at Two with curiosity.
"Let me guess she's good in bed?" Vivian questioned.
"Well…" Three looked up. "Besides that."
"Careful," Two sang. Vivian nudged her playing along.
"That being?" Vivian raised a brow at him.
"The moment I liked this girl, she abandoned us on a planet. But she came back and suddenly I'm like I really like this girl," Three laughed. Two looked at Vivian shaking her head and rolling her eyes mouthing "boys". Vivian amused looked back at Three trying not to laugh.
"But!" Three began again. "You might have some competition on your hands doll face."
"Is that so?" Two egged on. Three eyed Vivian making her blush.
"Yep! I mean look at this girl," Three motioned to Vivian who leaned back in her chair.
"Please don't," Vivian scoffed. Two nudged her.
"And?" Two asked smirking.
"Oh come on. Rich? Badass fighter and a pirate captain? Let's it face it doll face, she's almost on the same plain as you," Three continued, taking another sip of his alcohol.
"Just remember that she's your captain," Vivian pointed at Two who smirked.
"Ooo look at that. Even the pirate girl is on my side," Two sang. "Sorry Three the girls are against you two to one."
"That doesn't sound that bad on certain conditions," Three smirked.
"Careful…" Vivian sang.
"Like what?"
"Oh I'm sure there's some things that she can do better than you," Three winked at Vivian.
"Such as?" Two asked.
"Ordering me around for starters," Three smirked. "And with a girl like her. I might actually obey."
Vivian turned beat red. Two smirked at her.
"And here I thought you hated taking orders from women," Two teased.
"I'm willing to make a few exceptions," Three grinned, winking at Vivian and eyeing her drunkenly. "Especially under certain…conditions."
"No…" Vivian rolled her eyes. Two laughed a bit.
"Well if you plan a mutiny than I'll blame the pirate," Two joked. Vivian laughed with the others.
Five appeared amongst the crowds, finally meeting up with the group.
"Oh hey sunshine!" Three grinned, putting up his fist to fist bump with Five. Five looked around her in confusion.
"What's going on?" Five asked puzzled.
"Don't leave me hanging Fiver," Five grinned but Four pushed away his extended arm.
"You're getting along," Five observed.
"Of course we are! We're best pals," Three laughed, shaking Four. Five furrowed her brows.
"Are you drinking?" she asked in surprise.
"Of course we're drinking. Makes things fun come and sit down," Three insisted. "Want some?"
"Party of drunkards. Although not my first and not my worst," Vivian joked.
Five sat at the edge of the table looking worried.
"What's the matter?" Two asked seeing the destressed look on Five's face.
"It's Six…I'm worried about him," Five admitted.
"Why what happened?" One asked.
"I'm afraid he might have left the station," Five swallowed.
"What?" everyone asked.
"That bastard stole the ship?" Three asked anxiously, getting up. "Hey! Come in you bastard!"
Four grabbed Three pulling him back into his seat.
"No…not really. The ship is still here," Five corrected.
"What?" Three questioned, sitting back down. "Are you drunk? How could Six have left the station without having the ship?"
"What do you mean he's left the station?" Two asked curiously.
"I think he's using Transfer Transit," Five commented. Vivian swallowed, straightening up.
"Oh that's clever…" she whispered. Three looked between Vivian and Five in confusion.
"What the hell is Transfer Transit?" he asked. Five went through a thorough explanation of the answer, leaving some of the crew members for their jaws to drop. Until Five put out a brochure of the procedure.
"I read the brochure," she stated matter-of-factly.
"Hold up. Start over what's Transfer Transit?" Three asked.
"No, I don't get is why would he use it in the first place?" Two asked. "Especially after the last time."
"This says DNA tests required. That's really risky," One read the brochure. "He's putting us in danger."
"That kind of things are confidential," Four remarked.
"It's true I've had enough business that way to prove that notion," Vivian commented.
"He's been acting weird…I just don't want him hurt or anything," Five assured.
After a moment, Two stood up.
"Let's head back to the Raza, something's gotta tell us where he could've possibly gone," Two insisted as the others followed closely behind. "Whatever he's doing can't be good for us."
…
The crew strolled back to the Raza as quickly as they could without being noticed.
"We'll start by searching in Six's room. There's got to be something that gives us a clue on where he could've gone," Two ordered as they entered the ship.
"What a great time for it too. Freaking killed my buzz," Three groaned as he started to sober up as they headed towards Six's room. Vivian tried not to laugh at him. Three looked over at her.
"What?" he asked. "Hey how come you aren't buzzed right now?"
"I moderate my drinking," Vivian smirked. "Besides I have much more things to entertain me that doesn't include beer."
"Like?"
"Can you focus?" Vivian rolled her eyes as they approached his door Five worked on the codes to get them inside. Three eyed her as she stood beside him.
"Depends on what I'm focusing on," Three grinned. "And now I don't need my buzz."
"Focus," Vivian sang as Five opened the door to Six's room. Everyone filed in one by one scouting for something that would lead to where Six could've possibly gone.
"Look don't you think this is a little bit of an invasion of privacy?" Five asked.
"What like when you stole my bullets?" Three asked with a little snark in his tone. Vivian raised a brow him.
"She stole your bullets?"
"That was different. I thought you were dangerous," Five reminded. Vivian nudged her.
"And more and more you impress me sunshine," she whispered. "Remind me to stay on your good side."
"What are we looking for anyway?" Five asked.
"Anything that'll lead him to us," Three replied, looking through the lockers. "Son of a bitch I knew it!"
Everyone looked at him as he came out of the locker holding a good handful of green protein packets.
"He's been hoarding the not so craptastic protein packets from us. I've been having to eat the blue ones this whole time! They taste fishy," Three complained.
"Can you get in?" Two asked as Four wrestled with Six's computer.
"No…password protected," Four stated.
"Try Six?" Two asked. He tried it nothing.
"There's gotta be a way to bypass the password," Four answered. Suddenly everyone paused, looking at Five.
"Oh no…I can't," Five refused.
"We have to find Six," Two sighed.
"Think of it as a way of proving his innocence," Three added. Five after a moment sighed defeatedly.
"Fine," she accepted, taking Four's place in the chair and immediately started working on the computer. Everyone watched her as she did a bunch of tech crunching and accessing files on his computer.
"That's weird, there's nothing here except for some article about a terrorist attack," Five mentioned, clicking on it.
It displayed a video snippet from the news, giving info of a space station losing 10,000 lives by a terrorist group. Suddenly it released security footage of Six in that same station. Everyone looked at the frozen still of Six.
"And you thought I was bad…" Three commented as he bit into a protein packet. Five stared at it in disbelief.
"I don't understand," Five breathed. "That has to be a mistake."
"Everyone let's gather up a game plan. Let's head to the mess now," Two ordered. Everyone left except for Vivian with Five. She put a hand on her shoulder.
"This can't be right…" Five stated. Vivian gripped onto her shoulder.
"Come on," Vivian beckoned. "The others are waiting."
…
"This isn't like him at all. This has to be a mistake," Five objected as Vivian followed her into the mess with the others.
"Why because he's nice to you?" Four asked.
"He would've told us if something was wrong," Five continued.
"We have to find a way to get to him. Figure out what he's hiding," Two informed.
"How are we going to do that?" Three asked.
"Transfer Transit," Five answered.
"We need to find him and figure out what he's up to," Two agreed. "Although it is risky."
"What if I stand guard of the pod?" Vivian offered.
"Still way too risky," Two objected.
"Why?" Vivian asked.
"A pirate queen helping out a fugitive that won't end well," One explained.
"Well I'm not going, I'm not going into those pod things. Being all defenseless for the GA to get to us," Three objected.
"For once I agree with Three," One agreed. "If something were to happen, the authorities could snatch us at any moment."
"I'll go," Four volunteered.
"Six would do the same for me so I'll go too," Five volunteered.
"No…with Android offline you're our residential tech expert and we need you here on the ship," Two disagreed. She looked at One. "You're going with him."
"What? Why?" One asked in a semi-panic.
"Six respects you. You can get him to come around," Two replied.
"What about Halvor? Can't she go in?" One asked pointing at her.
"I could…but I've had more than my share of business there that I rather not be resurfaced," Vivian warned.
"Besides having her here with Five gives us extra protection just in case things go down," Two explained. "If that's okay with you captain."
"Fine by me," Vivian agreed. "Better not be trapped in a box anyway. And the transfer process gives me some minor headaches."
"Great…" One commented sighing in defeat.
"Good. I'll help you guys get settled at the station. I'll pick up some supplies and see if we can get a good deal on a repairman while you're gone," Two informed. "You three keep an eye on Android and if anything suspicious happens on the ship."
Vivian, Three and Five nodded in agreement as everyone split up.
…
Vivian followed Two as she, One and Four headed towards the entrance of the Raza.
"Five is keeping an eye on Android. Make sure this place is locked up tight while we're gone," Two informed as they reached the entrance.
"You got it," Vivian agreed.
"You going to be okay with the two of them on your own?" Two asked.
"I think I can handle it," Vivian replied.
"What about Three? You guys okay now?" Two asked. Vivian nodded.
"For now, I would say that we are," Vivian agreed.
"Hand me your coms," Two suggested. Vivian looked at her oddly before reaching into her ear, grabbing her coms. Two worked on a few adjustments before handing it back.
"There I set you on our frequency in case something happens," Two explained as Vivian placed it back in her ear. "I'll try to rummage some supplies while the boys are out. Don't go out unless you absolutely need to."
She looked over at One and Four.
"You two call the ship if there are any complications got it? Otherwise try to be discrete," Two ordered.
"It's hard to be discrete if they have your DNA on file," One commented. Two rolled her eyes.
"Just grab Six and get him back on the ship," Two ordered. "We need answers."
She opened the door following One and Four out as Vivian closed the door behind them locking the ship tightly.
Vivian snapped her fingers as she made her way back down towards the med bay. She noticed Five was keeping an eye on Android who was still in sleep mode. She went towards the mess hall seeing Three eating more green protein packets.
"You're still eating those?" Vivian asked as she reached went to the fridge to get some water.
"Hey…Tiny's been hoarding them for weeks. I've been having to eat fishy crap for that time period," Three joked defensively.
"How are you feeling?"
"Sober," Three scoffed. "It was a good time though. I haven't been that cheerful in a while."
Vivian smiled a bit. Three bit into the protein packet, eyeing her for a moment.
"So, uh…the others finally go out?" Three asked.
"Yeah," Vivian replied simply.
"And Five?"
"With Android in the med bay."
"You know you never gave me that discount. Does that mean we skip a few steps in?"
Vivian looked over at him furrowing her brows.
"What?"
"You know," Three smirked throwing out the trash, washing his hands. "Have a few drinks…"
He grabbed the towel walking over to her.
"Get me a discount…see where it goes from there?" Three continued as he hovered over her.
"You sure you're not drunk?" Vivian questioned. Three smirked.
"Oh I'm getting a buzz all right but it's not from the alcohol," Three teased. "The others won't be back for a while."
"What about Five?" Vivian swallowed.
"She can entertain herself. Besides the ship is locked up tight, isn't it?" Three reminded. Vivian swallowed uncomfortably.
"You okay? You look a little pale," Three observed.
"I think I'm just having a side effect from…all the stress," Vivian replied. Three sighed, looking behind him before grabbing her hand, then forced her to look at him.
"Do you mind if we talk…a little more privately than here?" Three asked looking around the room.
Vivian swallowed. She nodded slowly, grabbing his hand in return as he led her out of the mess hall and into the hallway.
"Three what are you-?" Vivian questioned as he lightly pulled her down the corridors.
"Shhh," he hushed as they reached the door of the med bay. He peeked through seeing Five and Android with her now being awake. Three rolled his eyes.
"Well we can't go that way…" Three whispered.
"Here we'll go this way," Vivian whispered, grabbed his arm leading him the other way towards her room. They reached it punching the codes as she opened the door. They made it inside unnoticed, with Vivian locking the door behind her.
"Well…This works. Better than my guns scattered about…" Three began, sitting on the edge of the bed.
"Uh huh," Vivian crossed her arms about her chest as Three looked up at her.
"Look I know…the whole thing with Sarah wasn't easy for you," Three sighed. "I mean how do you think I feel with a woman who used to-"
He cleared his throat.
Vivian shifted in her place watching him.
"Well…it's not that important now, is it?" Three asked. Vivian scoffed. Three swallowed. "You mind if I ask you a question?"
Vivian shrugged as he got up standing in front of her.
"Since day one…you've been well nice to me," Three started motioning with his hands. "I mean you even gave me money when we first met. Weren't you afraid I'd take advantage of that or something?"
"I guess I just like being a risk taker," Vivian scoffed. "You have to be if you want to live life the way you want it."
"You know I'm a criminal, right? Even if I don't remember any of it," Three reminded.
"That's implying I don't have a past either," Vivian sighed. "I'm not exactly innocent."
"Maybe you're biting off more than you can chew with me," Three scoffed. "I mean-"
"You're talking to a pirate captain," Vivian interrupted. "If anything this entire ship is biting off more than they can chew by having me on board."
"Yet you're still here," Three smirked. "That still doesn't tell me why you're nice to me."
"You're going to think I'm...soft," Vivian scoffed. Three laughed.
"Oh come on sweetheart you're far from soft," he nudged her. "Out with it. You told me Sarah wasn't the only one who thought I wasn't a total ass. Does the pirate heiress think otherwise?"
Vivian tried not to laugh.
"Come on sweetheart," Three eyed her. Vivian bit her lip. "You can tell me."
"Do you promise not to tell anyone?" Vivian whispered. Three rose a brow.
"Ooo pirate girl has some secrets. This'll be good," Three grinned. "I'm sorry but if it's juicy enough I might blackmail you."
Vivian rolled her eyes. Three put up his hands.
"Kidding…mostly," Three smiled. Raised a brow at him and he rolled his eyes. "Okay I promise…pinky swear…blood bound, whatever you pirates do to seal a deal."
Vivian took a breath.
"Okay fine. You want to know?" Vivian asked as Three put out his hands as if to proceed.
"Since I became captain…I have not had one person other than my family…defend me the way you did," Vivian breathed. Three furrowed his brows.
"Hold on, what do you mean defend you?" Three asked. Vivian rubbed her arm embarrassed.
"With Derek. You were the first person to treat me like…an actual woman. Not a captain, not a crewmate…a woman," Vivian swallowed. "You came back and defended me. Not because I ordered you to. You even told Two not to space me when I came aboard your ship."
Three swallowed looking at her seriously.
"You could've just walked away," Vivian smiled. "But you didn't."
"Jesus, you almost sound like her…" Three groaned.
"Like who?" Vivian asked. Three hesitated before he sighed.
"Sarah…" he whispered.
"Maybe we think alike for a good reason," Vivian encouraged lightly.
"Yeah still trying to figure that one out," Three looked around.
"Captain…" Sarah's voice made Vivian jump. She swallowed, looking towards a mirror seeing Sarah standing there, motioning her towards Three. Three furrowed his brows at her,
"Halvor?" he asked noticing her staring at the mirror hanging from her wall. She didn't notice his voice for a moment as she stared at Sarah's reflection matching hers. Three looked at her reflection then at her.
"Hey…" he whispered standing behind her looking at her in the mirror. "You alright there captain?"
"It's okay Vivian…" Sarah smiled sweetly. Vivian's eyes watered up as she stared. Three raised a brow at her in the reflection as he put a hand on her shoulder.
"Hey…you okay?" he repeated. She closed her eyes, turning to face him nodding slowly. She opened her eyes seeing him smile slightly.
"You were starting to scare me for a sec. Like you were seeing a ghost…" Three scoffed in amusement. Vivian put her hand on his as it rested on her shoulder. Three swallowed as he moved his hand up to her neck.
"You going to be okay?" he asked.
Vivian leaned in to his hand, eyes closed.
"Yeah…" she answered softly. "Just give it time…"
Three hesitated as she took away his hand, kissing his palm.
"Thank you… You're a good man. You just need to see it," Vivian whispered, opening her eyes. His eyes were closed from the gesture. He could feel the tingling anxiety of his hand wanting to explore.
"Anytime…" he breathed, opening his eyes staring at her as she watched him for a moment. He backed away his hand slowly from her clearing his throat.
"Is there anything else you wanted to ask?" Vivian asked rubbing her arm in uncertainty.
"So does that mean I was right about you having the hots for me?" Three scoffed in amusement. Vivian just eyed him. "I mean I don't mean to be cocky but it's kind of hard ignore this."
He motioned to himself. Vivian rolled her eyes laughing.
"Shut up," Vivian scoffed. "You're definitely a cocky bastard. You wouldn't've lasted two months on my ship."
"Maybe," Three smirked. "But you can't tell me you don't love it."
"Well, then again you'd get what's coming to you. The men would immediately get into fist fights with you."
"That's because I'd be stealing their women. Not because I want to. But because they can't get enough of me," Three smirked. "Besides, maybe I can get you to come around."
He eyed her nudging her as she laughed rolling her eyes.
"Yeah…the day I admit that. I'm running my own ship," Vivian scoffed.
"Who knows I might join you if that day comes," Three grinned. "I mean if you ask nicely."
"And why would I need you on my ship?" Vivian smirked.
"I don't know. Heavy lifting, body guard of all the creepers," he smirked. "Booty calls in the middle of the night."
Vivian laughed. Three stood in front of her laughing a bit. She smiled making him stop.
"Thank you..." Vivian said gratefully.
"For what?" Three scoffed in amusement.
"For coming out with me. For talking…" Vivian shifted. "It's been a while since I've had a night out with a crew. And not have the weird staring on top of it."
Three eyed her.
"Well the night's still young. We can you know…" Three smirked, motioning over to her bed. Vivian blushed smiling in amusement.
"Is this what you were really trying to do? Flatter the pirate girl and get in her bed?" Vivian asked half-joking.
"Who me?" Three asked giving a fake defended look. "Flattering isn't my strong suit. I call it like I see it."
Vivian tried not laugh.
"Oh really?" she asked. "So what happens on your normal plans on getting to the end goal of someone's bed."
Three grinned looking up at the ceiling, putting his hands in his pockets, rocking back and forth.
"Well for starters. It usually starts out with some hot chick hitting me her number. We get to chatting. She finds me irresistible and bing bang boom I'm waking up the next morning trying to avoid breakfast with a hot blonde who I don't call again," Three smirked in amusement. Vivian rolled her eyes.
"Well I hate to break it to you slick but that's not a game plan of keeping a woman," Vivian joked.
"Well those aren't exactly serious connections obviously," Three defended lightly. Vivian scoffed.
"Clearly," she joked. "So you're not trying your big bullet proof plan on me to get me to bed?"
"Well…I guess that's for both of us to figure out, isn't it?" Three asked. He closed the gap a bit leaning forward. "Although as of my recent past, I would say bagging a pirate queen would be an exciting first."
"Until you have to deal with my father…then you immediately regret it," Vivian sang. Three backed off looking up at the ceiling in thought.
"Ooo…that's a tough call," Three bit his lip as he looked at her. "Have one of the scariest pirate overlords hate you forever."
Vivian raised a brow at him laughing as he grinned, moving closer to her, hovering over her with a smug look on his face.
"OR…risk having a secret sexy rendezvous with a hot pirate who can't admit she wants every inch of me," he continued. He eyed her. "Tough call…"
Vivian tried not to laugh as he thought for a moment, then eyed her again.
"You sure you it's worth the risk?" Vivian egged him on.
"Yeah you know what I think I can take on big bad beardy face for a little fun," Three grinned. "I mean you're much more attractive than he is. So I think you get some pointers on that."
She slapped him in the arm laughing.
"That's my father you're talking about!" she shrieked jokingly. Three grunted as he felt the slap on his arm.
"Oh come on he's a big scary Redbeard and doesn't want to admit it," Three laughed. She slapped him again and rolled her eyes.
"You're such a pain in the ass," she smirked.
"Oh yeah? Yet you still wanted my number. That's gotta count for something right?" Three grinned.
"Sure it does big guy," Vivian smiled slightly. She felt his hand reach out towards her arm.
"Come on admit it," Three sang.
"Make me," Vivian whispered playfully. Three grinned as he leaned down to close the gap between them.
"Ooo, that sounds like a challenge," he purred, inches from her face. "You sure you want to invite that trouble?"
"I'm a captain, let alone a pirate," Vivian leaned purring in his ear. "I enjoy a challenge."
Three grinned, shivering with anticipation as he felt her lips along his neck.
"Well then. How can I say no to that?" he breathed. Vivian leaned into him as he wrapped his arms around her waist then suddenly froze as they heard a static sound within their coms (muted on their end to their relief).
"Three, just got word from One and Four, they're on their way back with Six," Two's voice appeared in both of their coms. "I need everyone to report to the mess in 15 minutes."
"Son of a bitch…" Three groaned. He unmuted his coms. "Can I skip out on the town meetings for once?"
"Is something more important going on?" Two asked. Vivian smirked as she leaned in nipping his neck forcing him to grip onto her without yelping in surprise.
"No…" Three gritted his teeth giving her a look but she just smiled in amusement.
"Then I'll meet you in 15," Two announced. He muted his coms.
"Well you heard her. Looks like we're summoned," Vivian laughed softly in his ear.
"You trying to get me in trouble?" Three asked looking at her in disbelief.
"What can I say? I like to see you off guard," Vivian smirked, "Now come on. Let's get to the mess."
"Aw do I have to?" Three groaned. Vivian grabbed his hand, leading him to the door. "We were just getting started."
She turned around facing him.
"Tell you what," Vivian began. "You do this for the crew…"
She stepped closer leaning towards his ear.
"And I'll make sure your invitation stands when things around here are nice and quiet," Vivian whispered. Three swallowed.
"Promise?" he asked glancing at her.
"All to yourself," she replied alluringly. "I promise."
She kissed his neck again, feeling him tense and groan at the gesture. She backed off as she opened her door, seeing Three's frustrated, determined eyes as he stood there.
"You're making it real hard to give a damn about the others you know that?" Three asked as he followed her out. Vivian laughed as he grinned as they headed to the mess.
