Cargo

Chapter 1

Kate was co-captain of a cargo ship with Richard Castle as the other co-captain. They ran cargo on the outskirts of the known galaxy. They didn't usually make much money, but it was much safer. There were no pirates out here like there were farther into the system.

This run was their third from one outer system to another. They had bought this old freighter together. It had a Bridge, bathroom, bunk beds, and a kitchen/media room combination. They had walk-ins for frozen food and vegetables. It was tight, really tight.

Kate was a 26-year-old flat-chested woman. By flat-chested, I mean flat-chested. She didn't even have bumps where her tits would be. As a result, she didn't wear a bra since there was no reason to. She had been a flat-chested teenager and had never filled out even a little.

Kate thought she was pretty, but her main benefit was her long legs. She thought her legs were the best part of her body, given how flat-chested she was. Even her butt was a little on the flat side.

Rick, on the other hand, was a handsome 29-year-old. Or at least she thought so. He was a hunk, as far as Kate could tell. She got the chance to see him strip down to his shorts when he went to bed. He had a nice chest, a nice ass, and seriously long hair. Unlike her short hair, he wore his hair long.

He had one failing: he was a wanted man. Three systems wanted him. He was looking at a death threat if he went to any of those systems and got caught.

She never asked him where the money came from since she didn't want to know. But she was betting it wasn't legal.

Now, the ship itself had a living area, followed by fuel, engineering, and then the thrusters. They were a pod cargo carrier. They had pods filled with cargo from top to bottom. The larger pods were tight to the ship, with smaller pods further out.

There was a walkway down the length of the ship to reach engineering. Then, there was a crawlspace down each of the two spines where the pods were attached. There were brake thrusters on the engineering side and on the end of the spins.

There were just the two of them. It had room for four people, but they were it.

They had a full load for a change. They were looking at a good payday when they reached where they wanted to go. Their cargo was a mix of chemicals, goods, and minerals. The most precious of these minerals were duranium and tritanium. And they had pods full of the stuff.

Plus, they had two pods of Astatine. They were going to make a fortune on this trip.

Kate was sitting on the Bridge. There was only one chair, so she was alone. Right now, she was monitoring the systems while they were on auto-pilot. They were in FTL, but their FTL was the minimum required. There were faster ships, but theirs wasn't one of them.

They were on course, but they were drifting from it. Nothing Kate did could put them back where they should be. They were taking a shortcut. They were going where they had no maps.

They had navigation shields meant to deflect dust and smaller asteroids. They would have to go around the bigger ones. They had no weapons of any kind. Not even to shoot at an asteroid.

"I'm here to relieve you," Rick said from behind her back. Kate pushed the chair back and spun it so she could get out of it.

"We're caught in a kind of gravity well. No matter how hard I try, I can't get us out of it. We're still on course but just a few degrees off. Keep an eye on it." Kate got out of the chair and handed over command to Rick.

Rick nodded. "Got it. I put dinner together and left you something."

"Thanks." Kate watched him spin the chair and move it back into place. "We're down to three-quarters full on fuel, and I have no red lights on the cargo. Try to keep it that way."

"Always do. That one time notwithstanding. It wasn't my fault," Rick insisted as he looked over his screens.

"Right, just keep telling yourself that." Kate turned and left him, stepping a few feet into the kitchen/media room, where she found dinner waiting for her. Even though he was a wanted man, he had one good trait: he was a pretty good cook. This time was no different. "White chicken chili. Love it," Kate told herself while eating.

They were too far out to get local information, so they had to rely on recorded material like movies or local material that was days, weeks, or even months old, depending on where it was from.

Kate did have a few old messages from her dad. She found one and pressed play. She had already seen it again and again, but he was family.

"Hi, Katie,

I know you're outthere somewhere. I hope you're safe. Most of all,your mother and I want you to be happy.

Your cousin Sophia is getting married. But there's something off about the man. Your mother and I don't approve of him, so we won't be attending their wedding.

We purchased a new house. You'd like it. It gives us more room. Your mother says I can get lost in it when she's upset with me. Ha-ha!

Your mother has picked up a new client. I'm not really sure about this one, though. He's already in prison for murder. He claims he didn't do it, but don't they all say that? Still, your mother is going to look into it. I'm not sure anything will come of it, but we'll see.

You remain our only child. All attempts at getting pregnant again have failed. Your mother refuses to find out whose fault it is. She says it's too late now anyway. We'd be old and likely dead by the time your brother or sister reached high school. What can I say? We tried.

I'm not so sure about that, what with cloning coming into its own. Some say that cloning an entirely new body isn't that far away. However, getting you out of your old body and into the new one still hasn't been figured out. Maybe that's next. Who knows?

That's about it for now. Stay safe out there, and please be happy. That's all your mother and I want your happiness, Katie. And maybe to find a man you can marry. I know, I know, it's wishful thinking.

Bye." He waved and was gone.

"I'm safe, and I'm happy. Well, as happy as I'm ever going to be, I guess. Bye, Dad." She turned the monitor off. She sat there unsure just what to do with her time.

She'd already read all the books they had onboard. Some of them she'd even read twice. All of their movies were old ones. This far out, they didn't get the new ones. Unless someone had connections and neither of them did.

"KATE!" Rick yelled, so she went to the Bridge and stood behind his chair.

"What is it?" Kate queried.

"That gravity well is getting worse. We're not just off course by a little. We're off by a lot now," Rick told her.

She leaned down and put her head right next to his. "Yeah, we're off by three degrees already. I wonder why? Scans don't show a black hole out here, or we'd pick that up. What's worse is we're already at maximum deflection. Any more, and we risk losing a cargo pod or two, and we can't afford that. We've finally got a full load, a good one."

Rick sighed. "I was looking forward to a nice payday. If I adjust the course further, we'll strain the couplings securing the pods. I don't think we have a choice here."

Kate looked at him. His head was right there, and his lips were just a fraction away from hers. It wouldn't take anything for her to kiss him. She stood back up quickly. It was too much of a risk. If they became lovers, it would ruin everything. They got along well just like this.

"Keep an eye on it. Maybe we'll reach the center of the problem and shoot out the other side," Kate told him, adding, "and you're still a good cook."

"Thanks." Rick took the compliment and turned his head to look up at her. Like him, she wore a paper uniform. It was lightweight, disposable, and easy to wear. Even wearing that, he could tell she was flat-chested. He always thought of himself as a tit man. The bigger they were, the better. She had nothing or nearly nothing. Though she was pretty, at least he thought so.

"What happens if it gets worse?" he questioned her, then focused back on his screens.

"We deal with that when it comes. I don't know. We can't risk losing a pod. I guess we allow the gravity well to suck us up. Just pray it doesn't get worse. I'm going to bed. Wake me if anything changes." Kate patted his shoulder.

"Will do," Rick replied.

Kate went to the bunk beds and stripped down to just her panties. She didn't wear a bra; she didn't even own one. Kate had never owned one since there was no need. She debated whether to wear a sleep shirt to cover herself but decided not to and got into bed. She had the bottom bunk while Rick got the upper bunk. They each had a closet on either side of them which housed whatever clothes they had.

Kate tried to go to sleep. She tossed and turned and punched her pillow a few times. Finally, she drifted off.

~oo0oo~

"Kate." Rick tried his best to wake her. She wasn't covered, and he could see she was completely flat-chested. She didn't even have bumps where her tits would be. It confirmed his suspicions, but he didn't dwell on it.

He tried a little louder. "KATE!"

"Wha?" Kate blinked blearily at him.

Rick was getting impatient. "You'll never believe what we just found, not in a million years."

"What?" Kate was still half asleep, but she was waking up. That was when she noticed her upper body was exposed, and he could see all of her. Well, the top half of her, anyway. She scrambled to cover herself but then decided what the hell. He had already seen her topless. "Wait, what did you find." Kate sat on the edge of her bed, not even trying to cover herself. Her panties hid the rest of her.

"Come see for yourself." Rick left her and went back to his Bridge chair.

Kate got up, and just for a moment, she thought about going the way she was. Modesty prevailed, so she dressed in a paper uniform and went barefoot to the Bridge. "What?" Kate knew she sounded like a broken record, but she wasn't entirely awake.

Rick pointed at the glass. "Look for yourself."

Kate looked but wasn't sure what it was she saw. "What is it?"

"It's a Dyson Sphere, Kate, an honest-to-god Dyson Sphere! That's what created the gravity well." Rick could barely contain himself in his excitement.

"A Dyson Sphere. …A DYSON SPHERE!" Kate was wide awake now. "Are you sure?"

"Look for yourself." Rick pointed at the screen, which showed it to be round. It wasn't a smooth round, but it was round.

"I'll be damned." She put her head next to his and looked at the screen. "Do you know how much material it would take to make a Dyson Sphere?" Kate proceeded to answer her own question. "It would take up the entire system. Even the gas giants would have a solid core. Think of the engineering it would take to create such a structure."

"I know, I know, but there it is. Do we have a look?" Rick turned his head and found her lips were right there, just a faction of an inch away from his. The urge to kiss her was almost overwhelming. He was a red blooded male who had needs, and Kate, even though she was flat-chested, was a woman and a pretty one at that, and it had been a long time since he got laid.

Kate looked down, and all she saw was his mouth begging to be kissed. But she stood up instead. "You're damn right, we'll have a look." But then Kate had a thought. "What if someone is still operating it, Rick? I mean, someone built it. What if they're still around? What if they decide to shoot at us? We're dead meat."

"Come on, Kate. Where the hell is your sense of adventure?" Rick challenged her.

"I'm thinking of the payday we have coming our way. We're a fully loaded freighter. We're easy pickings," Kate retorted, "unarmed, very easy pickings."

"I've already looked. There aren't any signals coming from it. There's nothing but the Sphere itself. Come on, we have to take a look. We suit up and go across and look. We can fire a line or two to secure us to the side of the Sphere so we don't move. What do you say?" Rick pleaded with her.

Kate sighed. It was tempting, very tempting. "Fine, we'll go look. But we go armed." She knew the ship itself wasn't armed, but whoever was in it could be.

"YES! I knew you'd see it my way." Rick got busy. He had to maneuver them into position to fire a couple of lines to hold them in place first. But before anything, however, he had to get them closer. They were still pretty far out.

~oo0oo~

Kate showered while Rick maneuvered them into place. It was an air shower with just a hint of water thrown in. They had only so much water and limited space in the waste tank, so they had to be careful.

She came out of the shower, already dry, and put on a new pair of panties, followed by a new paper uniform. Then she returned to Rick. "How's it going?" she asked, tilting her head and looking for herself.

Rick turned his head and sniffed. "You smell fresh. Did you take a shower?"

"Yes, I did. So how's it coming?" Kate asked him again with a touch of impatience.

Rick looked back at his screens. "I'm trying to find us a place to tie off, to find an airlock. You'd think there would be one somewhere. What I would dearly love to find is an opening, someplace to fly the ship through."

"Forget it. That's too dangerous. One, we don't know how to open it. Two, if you do, how long is it going to last? It might decide to close and cut us in half. Three, we don't know what's on the other side. Yes, there's a sun, but what if it's unstable?" Kate made up her mind. "No, it's far too dangerous. Just keep looking for that airlock." She stood back and watched from there.

Rick sighed as he moved ever so slowly. He didn't want to miss it. But then, Rick saw it. "Now that looks like an airlock if ever I've seen one," he commented.

Kate knelt to look for herself. "Yep, that looks like an airlock," she agreed and got to her feet.

"Maneuvering into place," Rick said while doing it. "Firing anchors." He fired four and drew them in even closer. "We're all set," he told her a moment later. "I'm going to shower now, and then we can get suited up and go across." Kate stepped away so he could move the chair back and spin it.

Kate closed her eyes and covered them with a hand. Except she moved a finger slightly and took a look. She didn't see much, but she liked what she saw.

They had been together for a while now. It was just that during all that time, they never showered at the same time. One was in bed while the other one showered.

She took down her hand while he showered and covered her eyes when he came out. But she cheated yet again and took a peek. This time, she saw more of him and liked what she saw.

He was dressed and took down his spacesuit. Kate took hers down, and they put them on except for their helmets.

"Once we close up, we'll have four hours. So two hours out and two hours back with 15 minutes to play with as a safety," Kate reminded him, aware that he already knew that.

"Setting the timer…Now." Rick set his timer, as did Kate. They put on their helmets, walked over to the weapons storage, and took out a rifle. Then they went to their airlock, stepped inside, and closed it. Drew out all the oxygen and opened the outer door.

"Communications check," Rick told her.

Kate nodded. "I read you loud and clear."

"And I read you. Here we go." Rick stepped out and pushed off, sailing toward the airlock, and Kate did the same.