Genesis or Exodus
Chapter 10
"Captain Evony Fleurette Marquise, at your service."
Bo was momentarily stunned when she heard the woman introduce herself. Surely her ears were mistaken. Was this woman truly a criminal? A high priority fugitive on The Galactic Alliance's top twenty Most Wanted list? Bo began to see the resemblance from the mugshots, behind the disheveled appearance and her wits snapped back into place and her mouth went dry as she slowly and deliberately raised her rifle and pointed it at her target.
Evony noticed the movement and managed to drag her attention away from Lauren for a moment to truly focus on the mercenary, who was now pointing a gun at her. Her eyebrow raised with a piqued interest. Very attractive for a mercenary, she thought to herself, as she raised her hands up in mock surrender. "Don't shoot," Evony said with a chuckle.
The merc's lips didn't even budge in an attempt to smile and Evony scowled and turned her attention to Lauren, who looked almost panicked. Not very Matriarch like, at all. "Lauren! Would you mind controlling your Mercenary and telling her that she shouldn't shoot your friends?"
"Friend is a bit of a stretch, but you are right, Bo is being very rude." "Please lower your weapon, Bo."
Bo didn't budge, her dislike for the new visitor growing by the second.
"Didn't I warn you about sleeping with the help, Matriarch? Pay them, don't fuck them, because they'll always want more and start demanding or doing things beyond their station." Evony threw her head back and laughed. "She does look fiercely beautiful though... I can certainly see the appeal of breaking the rules, just to bed her. But enough is enough, get your minion to lower her weapon."
It was Bo who spoke, the muscles in her jaw twitching from the soldier's anger and dislike. "Get on your knees and place your hands behind your head." The Commander's voice was low and menacing. Dangerous.
But Evony had spent her time dealing with dangerous people and she wasn't one to back down. "This is starting to get old, soldier girl. I don't get down on my knees for anyone." Evony smiled, her teeth bright in comparison to her, grimy and bloody face. "Except for that one time with you in the elevator. That was memorable," she said addressing The Matriarch and giving her a wink.
Lauren blushed and winced at the same time and watched in horror as Bo moved, a blur before her eyes and struck Evony with the butt of her rifle, while simultaneously sweeping her leg and knocking the smuggler on her ass with an oomph!
The Matriarch snapped into action and shoved Bo away from Evony, who was groaning between curses and holding her head and knelt beside her, placing herself between the two women. Lauren turned her attention towards Bo, her eyes blazing. "You will stand the fuck down or I will have Genesis put you down!" Bo heard the turrets come out of their hidey holes around the hanger and train their sights onto her.
The Commander let out a low growl and Lauren's insides did a flip flop, finding the sound incredibly arousing, not to mention the fierce look of determination in her eyes. Not now, Lauren ordered internally to her deceitful hormones.
"She is on our Most Wanted list and I'm taking her in, dead or alive," Bo snapped. She ignored the clicking of the turrets.
This is going to be bad, Lauren thought.
"Hey! Now listen here, bitch..."
The Matriarch slapped a hand over Evony's mouth, resulting in, "Mm mmph smoomph."
"Shut up!" Lauren said authoritatively. The pirate Queen complied and shut her mouth.
That makes a first, she thought, letting out a sigh of relief as she returned her attention to The Commander. "You are not arresting her," Lauren said simply.
"Like hell, I'm not. Galactic Law permits..."
"I don't adhere to Galactic Law."
"Oh, I know you don't. You've made that abundantly clear in my time here, believe me. But you don't have to abide by Galactic Law in order to have Genesis stop near an outpost, so that I can dock my newly refurbished cruiser and drop my apprehended prisoner off." Bo responded defiantly.
"I am only going to say this one more time. You are not arresting Evony. She is now a guest aboard this ship and Galactic Law has NO jurisdiction aboard this Vessel." Lauren cut The Commander off and ignored the small ping of pain in her chest, at the look on Bo's face when she did it. "Now, I order you to retire back to your quarters and stay there. I will be by to talk to you later. You're dismissed."
"Did you just dismiss me? Give me an order?!," Bo exclaimed exasperated. "I give the orders. Not you."
Lauren was saddened that things had gone from bad to worse so quickly. And she hated that she was going to have to hurt Bo's pride even more. Lauren's voice was filled with regret when she spoke next, hoping to soften Bo's anger, which was radiating from her in waves. "Commander Dennis, with all due respect, I ask that you please return to your quarters until further instructed. You were briefed before this mission, am I right?"
"Commander Dennis! As in The Galactic Alliance's golden soldier? Fuck me, Lauren! What the hell is a Galactic Alliance soldier doing on Genesis?!"
Bo glared at the disheveled fugitive that Lauren was protecting with her body as a shield. She had lowered her rifle, the moment Lauren had gotten in the way. The Commander was livid and confused by what she was seeing. It was obvious there was history between The Matriarch and the low life scum she was protecting. "I'm pretty sure that's not the first time you've said that to her. Which port does she stop in at, to see you?"
"Any port she likes," Evony said with a snarl. "Now, why don't you be a good Alliance lackey and do what The Matriarch wants, and run along back to your quarters? I'll send her along, once I'm done with her."
Lauren had had enough of both of them. "Shut up, both of you!" Lauren gave Evony her most scathing look, before she focused on Bo again. The brunette was standing there, her body tight and rigid, her jaw flexing and her finger twitching on her trigger guard. "I'm sorry that my personal life has once again interfered with your mission, Commander Dennis and I know that you are used to being the one issuing orders, more than receiving them. But, I'm pretty sure that when you were briefed for this mission, you would have been informed of the stipulations that came with the assignment and I hate being the one to remind you that on this ship, you are answerable to me. That if I give you an order, you are to follow that order to the letter. Correct?"
Bo straightened her rifle and stood at attention, "Yes, Matriarch, unless the order is against my prime directive and will put your life at risk, I am to obey."
"So, obey soldier slut and piss off!"
There was a loud cracking sound as Lauren delivered a quick blow to Evony's nose. Ignoring the woman's outcry as she cradled her now bleeding nose, The Matriarch turned her attention back to Bo, who still stood at attention, just outside of the escape pod's doorframe, with a small smile gracing her lips. "So please obey my order, Commander Dennis," Lauren said, her voice calm but authoritative.
Bo saluted the blonde, "Aye Aye, Matriarch." And without another word, she turned on her heels and walked towards the hanger door. Lauren watched with sadness as Bo jumped onto her hover disc and disappeared out the main entrance of the huge hanger, the turrets following her till she was out of sight, before retreating back into their containment housing.
"I thing you broge by gose."
Lauren used her bracelet to summon some Orai to assist her. "You deserved it and you'll survive," she responded without a hint of remorse. "I doubt my relationship with The Commander will, though," Lauren said softly, more to herself than to Evony. The Matriarch stood up and helped her old acquaintance up too, guiding her over the pod door laying on the floor of the hanger and to the awaiting gurney. Lauren aided the Orai and got Evony settled when they arrived and informed Vex that he would be getting another patient to patch up.
"Right! I'll see you later then, yeah? Vex will make you better in a jiffy."
"Wait! You're not coming with me?" Evony sat up and looked imploringly at the blonde who just stared back at her with cool neutrality. "No, I have something more important to deal with," The Matriarch responded, turning her back on her ex-lover and racing to see if she could at least put some patches on her crumbling and fragile relationship with Bo.
The Matriarch clung tightly to the two data crystals in her hand, as she made her way through the long and winding corridors of Genesis. She had stopped by her personal archive, which was the most secure place on her vessel. Genesis only allowed her access and had been instructed to destroy the contents, when it was her time to pass over into the next existence, with the other departed Keepers. 'Keepers' was the original name of her kind and Lauren knew that there were very few beings alive in the multiverse that knew this information. They were the keepers of the knowledge and secrets of everything they encountered, whether it be animal, vegetable, mineral, or cultural observations and languages. It wasn't just dealings in science that kept Lauren's coffers full, in order to keep Genesis maintained and serviced to the highest of standards… No, the biggest sources of income were secrets and information. Those were what she dealt with, on a daily basis. The Matriarch would wake to find hundreds of communiques from her brokers. She had thousands of people spread throughout the Galaxy, finding the people that needed her services, but she was always careful and was free to pick and choose who she gave aide and information to.
Unfortunately, that meant she had to deal with the Galactic Alliance, because like it or not, the common man wasn't able to pay the sorts of fees required to keep Genesis flying and archiving. The Galactic High Council paid premium rates, so that she could still help the less fortunate, whenever she was able. And that sometimes meant dealing with the so called 'Enemies of the Alliance'. Evony being one of them.
To Lauren, Evony was a valuable tool when needing precious and/or questionable cargo delivered, with a minimum of fuss and complete discretion. The smuggler was really a humanitarian but disguised as a snarky, sassy and occasionally murderous pirate Queen. What The Matriarch clung to, in her hand, would hopefully persuade Bo, to an alternate way of thinking.
It was a risk, because it would implicate her in dealings that clashed with The Galactic Alliance's outlook on the way things should be. Their way was right and everything that was different to their way, was wrong.
Lauren was putting a lot of trust in what Vex had told her about Bo and the type of woman Lauren believed her to be and she was scared to death, as she pressed the button to announce her presence outside The Commander's quarters.
For a moment, The Matriarch thought that Bo was just ignoring her, then remembered that the brunette had a persistent habit of wandering off, when she was supposed to be in her living quarters. "Genesis?"
"Yes, Matriarch."
"Is Commander Dennis in her living quarters?"
"There are no life signs within Commander Dennis' living quarters"
"Are you picking up her signature in another location?" For a panicked moment, Lauren wondered if Bo had slipped back inside the hanger and taken off, abandoning her mission in the process, but dismissed it as an impossibility. Bo wouldn't give up on her mission, no matter how difficult Lauren was making her job. She relished challenges and sought them out if she could. She took the most difficult assignments, Lauren had discovered from her latest research and that was what made The Matriarch so wary. This job was below Bo's pay grade, so to speak. Lauren knew that she herself was considered a valuable asset by The Galactic Council, but she sensed a more sinister angle was being played, even if Bo wasn't aware of it yet.
"Yes, Matriarch. Commander Dennis is in the Conference Room on Deck 3 Section F. She is on a secure line to her superiors."
"Keep her there, Genesis. No matter how much she protests," Lauren responded, already racing along the corridors once more. And as she took a corner way faster than was regarded safe, she made a snap decision that went against her core beliefs, because her paranoia simply could not be quashed. "And Genesis?"
"Yes, Matriarch?"
"Make a data crystal recording of that communique, if you please."
"Complied," responded Genesis, in her soothing and non-judgmental voice, inside her head.
The Matriarch had started communicating through her link, after assessing that Bo was indeed not in her quarters, as ordered, and was instead talking to someone from The Galactic Alliance. She still held tight to the crystals in her hand and was even more unsure about whether to give Bo so much power over her. And then, there was the other part of her that was scared that Bo wouldn't look at her the same way as she had, when The Commander had left the infirmary, earlier that day. That look had taken her breath away. There had been so much emotion translated between them in that moment. Intangible, but undeniable. Lauren had seen love reflected in those beautiful, dark eyes. Much different than the look she'd given her in the hangar, before departing in a storm of anger, frustration and wounded pride. Lauren could hear banging getting louder and louder as she approached the conference room, housing a very pissed off Commander Dennis.
"Genesis, when Commander Dennis is about to collide with the door, one more time, please open it."
"As you wish, Matriarch."
Lauren arrived just in time, to see Bo come charging out of the newly opened door and slamming into the corridor wall in surprise and landing on her ass, in an ungraceful heap.
The Matriarch barely stifled her laugh as she came to a halt beside the cursing soldier and looked down at her.
"You hit my ship; you hit me," The Matriarch said neutrally with an edge of annoyance.
"Genesis wasn't letting me out," was Bo's feeble excuse, as she blew a stray piece of hair that had escaped her ponytail during her exertion, out of her eyes.
Lauren thought The Commander looked cute as she sulked on the floor, but couldn't allow herself to get distracted just yet. Fantasies were for bedtime, in her dreams. They helped keep the nightmares at bay. "I ordered Genesis to keep you here, seeing as this seems to be your new living quarters, because unlike you, my ship can follow orders." The Matriarch uttered with sarcasm.
Bo popped up onto her feet with the graceful agility of a jungle cat and met Lauren's challenging gaze with an animosity that surprised the blonde Keeper. "I decided that I may as well return my leader's call, seeing as you had no need of my services. I don't like being idle and it feels like I've been idle for months since coming aboard this ship! I'm not allowed to perform any of my functions to the best of my abilities. I'm wasted here."
Bo's words wounded Lauren deeply and also confirmed her theory that The Commander wasn't informed or certain about why she was really here. Bo must have noticed something in Lauren's eyes because her own softened and she readjusted her body into a less aggressive stance.
"I need to talk to you about what happened in the hangar with Evony."
" I can't right now. I'm supposed to be meeting my squad in the Mess, right about now. That's why I was trying to get out so forcefully. I need to go over our plan for when we go planet side. We will be at Old Earth soon and have no idea what to expect when our boots hit the ground."
Lauren placed a hand on Bo's shoulder to stop her from leaving. The other hand gripping those crystals even tighter, now also biting into her palm. "Now, Bo. It is not a request. I need to talk about this now, it's important and if I don't do it now, I may never do it..." Lauren's voice came out as barely a whisper for the last part, "and then our relationship may be permanently damaged and beyond repair. I don't want that. Do you?"
Bo puffed out her chest and blew out a frustrated and defeated breath, "So you are ordering me to listen to your explanation of why you just defended a low life piece of criminal scum, that should be locked in the brig, as we speak?"
"You are making this way more difficult than it needs to be, damn it! Please go back into that room and take a seat. Please keep an open mind as I trust you with information that I am reluctant and scared to share with you."
The Commander raised her eyebrows with piqued interest, as the more open and emotional tact seemed to thaw the last of Bo's current resentment towards The Matriarch. "Fine. Just to show you that it's not just your ship that can follow orders. I will listen to what you have to say, but I wasn't joking about my prior arrangement."
"I have already had Genesis inform your Squad that you will be late for dinner."
Bo shook her head in wonderment and slight agitation. "It amazes me this connection you have with Genesis, but you couldn't have known that I'd agree to listen." The Commander crossed her arms, the open jacket allowing Lauren a nice view of the top of Bo's ample bosom beneath her skin-tight, light, ballistic weave undersuit. "And I will try to keep an open mind, if you will do the same in admitting that you have genuine feelings of attraction towards me. You certainly ogle at me enough."
Lauren pulled her gaze away from Bo's chest and melted at the dimple filled, amused smile that greeted her. She felt the blush heat her face at Bo's statement. "I don't ogle!"
A splutter of laughter escaped Bo as she turned around and re-entered the conference room. "Come on, you perv! Let's get down and dirty with the nitty gritty information that is supposed to change my mind about arresting your ex-girlfriend."
"This is serious, Bo. Please don't think it isn't. And do you promise to keep an open mind and not interrupt me till I'm done?" Lauren pleaded, needing desperately to set the right tone for the conversation that was to follow. She followed The Commander back into the conference room and took a seat across from her at the end of the twelve-seated, brushed metal table.
Bo raised her hands in surrender, "I promise. Cross my heart and hope to die."
The Matriarch frowned at the strange words and Bo's actions as she said it. "I've never heard that expression before."
It was Bo's turn to frown too, because she also had no idea where she'd learned it and she told Lauren as much. "I don't know where I picked up that saying, but I do promise to pay attention to you and stay quiet till you are done. Satisfied?"
"Yes. Thank you for not holding a grudge about earlier."
The Commander's features hardened, and her hands clenched, "It's not forgotten, Matriarch. Just pushed aside, for now. Can we just begin already?"
The question is, where do I begin? Lauren pondered to herself. Her confidence was low, but she had to try. "Yes. Fine. Let's get started" ...
Authors Note: Hi there! I know you guys may be pissed that it ended there, but i need time to gather my thoughts for this important conversation . So bear with me and I'll try not to disappoint. I appreciate each and every one of you for reading my story and love receiving your reviews. So thank you, thank you.
I am grateful and blessed for Rafi who is always such a strong force of support and encouragement. Bless you.
And a huge thanks to GG for editing this and the other chapters since I have started writing again.
I look forward to people'sthoughts about how the story is going.
Thanks again.
Doccubus21 xo