Surreality (Part 22)

I sure if anyone read this blog and liked my story... there would be excitement about me finally continuing it... they might even like the fact that this update it like three times bigger then previous updates. But as no one reads this and probably no one likes my story, so I shant be expecting that^^ anyhoo enjoy the story and expect more soonish as the writting bug has bit me again.....



The massive wobble my ship suddenly preformed reminded me of a detail that Tamas had mentioned earlier, about the fact that their ship was still being pursued by a Draconian fleet. With this information currently in the forefront of my consciousness I decided it was time my ship went elsewhere, so I ordered the ship to find the third star to the right and go as fast as possible in the other direction, adding that the ship could make random detours whenever it felt like it, which turned out to be an exceptionally frequent occurrence. Tamas and his crew were not agreeable to my “fly around randomly till we lose them” method of flying, Minaroro didn’t seem inclined to comment on it and instead took a nap in her cell, so I was left to explain to them the benefits of flying like a drunk maniac. “You see, they can’t track our course if we don’t have one”
I explained brightly as we headed for the bridge. “And what if we “randomly” fly right into a trap?” Tamas’s second in command, Yaholo, pointed out as we entered the bridge.

I must say the sheer size of the Draconian fleet that was present on the display screen reminded me of the first time I looked at the Milky Way. “Well, we won’t have to worry about flying into a trap.” I pointed out after a few moments of staring at our impending doom. “Ship quickly evasive maneuvers get us out of here” Tamas said calmly despite his body conveying a sense of urgency. “Now, now hold on one minute there old boy” I said putting my hand on his shoulder “This is my ship I’m the one who gets to give it orders, besides it has just occurred to me that the Draconians are hunting your old ship and most likely have no interest in my ship.” With that I turned to the screen that floats around the bridge and asked the computer to give the Dracoinains a ring as I wished to talk to them. Tamas and his crew attempted to talk me out of this course of action, unfortunately for them they all tried at the same time which took something from their argument and when they tried to talk me out of it individually they were interrupted by the computers cheerful declaration that the Death Bringer of the Draconian fleet was in no mood to talk to inferior beings and that we better make it quick as she had more pressing concerns and that if we didn’t hurry she would vaporize us.
The woman who appeared on my floating screen bore a mild resemblance to Minaroro but her face had three very large scars that started above her right eye and ended on the left side of her neck, it looked like she had been mauled by a large beast but the scars looked just as slow and deliberate as they did on Minaroro, I have suspicions they were there as proof of her rank. “Hello, I’m new in this part of the galaxy and its laws so I was wondering if I was trespassing in your territory?” the Death Bringer seemed mildly curious as to the reason I showed no fear of her but did not question me about it instead she smiled, Tamas and his crew shuddered. “No you are not trespassing, no one can own deep space you are free to travel as you like only when you enter solar systems must you ask permission. I would like to know if you have seen any other ships pass this way recently?” the Death Bringer asked sweetly, the tone of her voice reminded me the villains in movies when they were trying to be nice. “I passed a freighter a few days ago but that’s the only ship I’ve passed lately, sorry”. The Death Bringer looked me over for a few seconds then cut the transmission, the computer then informed me that the Draconian fleet was moving passed us. “How did you do that? Draconians can sense when a person is lying” Yaholo asked in disbelief. “I didn’t lie, the freighter WAS the only ship I’ve passed lately” I said with a shrug. “But…I…we…ooooh” Yaholo realized that their ship had never actually “passed” mine, after that she began looking at me with a disturbingly large amount of admiration, Tamas just chuckled.

“So then, where would you like me to drop you off?” I inquired after the Draconian fleet left my ships sensor range. “We have to rendezvous with one of our agents in the Xantares system to get new orders from high command, can you take us there?” Tamas asked idly as he tried to grab the screen that was floating just outside his reach. “Computer could you please take us to the Xantares system” I requested as my stomach informed me of its desire for sustenance, thusly informed about my poor stomachs suffering I ventured off to the galley to get some food, naturally I did not inform Tamas where I was going as I did not think it was necessary for the captain of a ship to tell her guests about all of her going-ons. While I was ravenously devouring a wonderfully toasted piece of toast, the ships computer was directing most of Tamas’s crew to their temporary sleep arrangements, except for Yaholo who was unfortunate enough to find the Habanera peppers that looked like raisins.
I figured since I was already in the galley I would bring Minaroro a slice of one of my favorite late night snacks, toast with butter and sugar sprinkled on top, and while there, maybe find out something about her.

When I entered Minaroro’s cell her body stiffed abruptly and she slowly looked me over as if trying to decide if I was an immediate threat to her and if so the best way to neutralize me, ignoring this I presented her with the toast I had brought her and pointlessly added that I had brought her a snack. Minaroro seemed unsure of how to respond to my offering and cautiously sniffed the toast then took a small bite, her eyes widened so slightly that I thought I had imagined it at first then her face returned to it’s normal emotionless state. “That was very good” Minaroro said several minutes after she had finished the snack I gave her, “Not to sound ungrateful but why would you bring your prisoner a treat?” Minaroro inquired with what seemed like a slightly confused curiosity, “Are you trying to pump me for information?” She continued without waiting for my answer, “I have no knowledge in regards to troop deployment or any sensitive information, so any attempts at interrogation will be pointless” the confidence in her voice gave me no reason to doubt her words, but as I was not there to interrogate her, I was indifferent to what she knew about her peoples military movements. “Actually”, I began “I could care less about your people or their war efforts, I actually came here because you interest me and I wish to learn more about you, as well as offer you a position on my crew if you‘d like” I was barely able to contain my laughter at the confused expression on her face once she heard this, although I was not sure why I added the last part, it had more or less slipped out on its own accord.
“You would let a Draconian become part of your crew?” Minaroro asked after a few minutes of awkward silence, I don’t know why but something about her seemed to make me want to constantly mess with her head. “Sure as long \as you don’t try to kill me in my sleep…or while I’m awake for that matter, I don’t see why I should mind.” this time I couldn’t stop the grin that broke through my defenses and spread across my face. She looked up at me, startled by my candor and then stared at my grin for a few seconds before smiling weakly in return. “well since your now part of my crew I can’t have you sleeping in this dump, although the ships computer did say this was our finest cell. So I will have your new quarters ready for you by tomorrow, I will leave the cell door unlocked , feel free to get a snack, get some sleep and try not to kill anyone, okay?” I had tried for a business like tone but ended up sounding a little to perky, I’m going to swear off hanging out with the ships computer for at least a week if this perkiness keeps up. Minaroro seemed less stressed after I said this though, most likely she was trying to figure out what to do with her life and my offer seemed to give her something. We spoke for about ten minutes more about whatever came to mind then I bid her good night, she seemed far more relaxed when I left her then I had seen her so far, I fell in to my lightly orange colored unconsciousness with a smile on my face.
The next morning started out nice, I had emerged from my state of conscious inactivity early and went to the galley and started making breakfast, a few minutes into my cooking I looked up to find Minaroro watching me, damn she is quiet, I greeted her and invited her to sit and I would make her my specialty; scrambled eggs with toast. We chatted for a while until the smell of my cooking had extracted Tamas and his crew from their slumber and lured them in to my galley. I must say that their reaction to Minaroros presence was less then diplomatic, one might even say rude, I was shocked how fast they managed to make their weapons appear and how Yaholo fit such a large firearm into the oversized t-shirt she was wearing as her pajamas. So given the circumstances I tried my hand at something I have had no experience with up until this point; trying to pacify a situation instead of making it worse. “first of all good morning all.” I felt I was off to a good start so far “I made breakfast for everyone.” they seemed to be relaxing slightly” Yaholo would you please not point your weapon at my new crew member.” at this point, I believe, is when instead of making the situation better I may have accidentally exacerbated it.

The silence that followed my revelation was broken when my ships computer announced that Minaroro was now added to the ships crew roster, this in my opinion was less helpful then what I said to try to calm things down. During all of this Tamas just looked amused, was there anything that man did not find amusing? “I’m not sure you can claim my prisoner for your crew without asking me” Tamas pointed out as he sat next to Minaroro and started serving himself some eggs. before I could respond to this the computer broke in with a statement that made Tamas nearly choke on his eggs “Actually according to interstellar salvage laws prisoners are classified as cargo, and any cargo recovered by a ship involved in a ship to ship collision when that ships is not responsible is legally that ships property, therefore as soon as your ship collided with this one your prisoner was no longer yours the ownership of said prisoner was transferred to Captain Birk.”
After that everyone put their guns away and while grumbling they sat down and started serving themselves food, Yaholo looked like she had just ate a bushel of lemons and Minaroro staunchly refused to look up from her plate, the rest of Tamas’s crew looked irritated and Tomas was blissfully enjoying his eggs and ignoring the lot of us. “Did everyone sleep well last night?” I’m fairly certain that the little part of my brain that knows when to shut up might be broken. The glares I got from Tamas’s crew informed me that I should have stayed silent. “I slept wonderfully thank you for asking, Captain” the ships computer replied brightly, this time everyone save Minaroro turned and glared at the speaker on the wall where the computers voice had come from, then Minaroro surprised us all by giggling softly.