The Uju Kanu hummed with a pleasant sound as it flew through the emptiness of space. Lily loved that about her ship, as most other vessels seemed too noisy, their engines loud and cumbersome, whereas the Uju Kanu was smooth and elegant; designed for long exploration. Despite its huge size, a small crew could (and did) operate it, and Lily was proud of it...even if she did have to steal it from the HPA.
They were leaving the area where Mushi’s bar was hidden among an asteroid field, with no other ship in sight, which suited Lily just fine. The last thing they wanted was to run into any competition, or worse, an HPA cruiser. By now, they would have been alerted of Lily’s latest defiance and might even have someone looking for her. She doubted it, and long suspected her mother grudgingly kept them off her back. This was less out of affection than it was about avoiding another scandal. Lily knew the dishonor she would suffer once they learned the admiral’s daughter had defected, she just didn’t care. Her mother had made her choice to be with the HPA and supported their actions, and that's something Lily could not do.
Lily did wonder if this would increase her bounty though, not that it mattered much either way. The Mercenary Code prohibited other bounty hunters from collecting on their own unless they were deemed traitors, which even Moray couldn’t decree on a whim, not unless he wanted everyone turning on him.
“Didn’t think your ship would be so big," said Em'maliniu walking behind her. "And you only have a small crew to run it?”
“Only three so far, but always open to expanding the family."
She made her way up towards the bridge with their new client right behind her, still thinking about how she was going to break the news to the others. They had all been looking for a job with little success for the last few months since they joined her, and what they had gotten barely paid enough to keep the ship running. As captain, it was her duty to look out for her crew and their interests, and so far, she felt she wasn’t succeeding very much at this, even if they were courteous enough not to mention it.
“I see you got us one,” said Lily’s first officer, Astor Roy, as he stepped out from the galley carrying a large crate of supplies. He was exactly what one would expect from a bounty hunter. Charming rogue with a grizzled face and dangerous eyes. You know the type.
“Did you ever doubt me?” Lily asked, punching Astor in the arm as she walked past him.
“Ow, and no," said Astor. "But we are running low on fuel and food, and I genuinely don’t want to be on this ship with Acro when running out of both,” referring to the ship’s Doctor and Lily agreed.
“Well, if Em'maliniu here delivers on her end, I think we won’t have to worry about having any of our crew eating us.”
“Who’s going to eat us?” Em'maliniu asked, confused.
“Don’t worry about it dear," said Lily with a forced smile.
Astor and their client quietly measured each other for a bit before he almost blurted, "wait, is she like a space m-"
"We're not going to use that word around her if you please," said Lily covering his mouth. "Her name is Em'maliniu Hi'rioni, which I grant you...is long."
"Hmm, I say we stick with Emma," replied Astor casually before resuming his journey to the galley.
"I'll have you know my name has a cultural significance where I'm from!" said Emma angrily.
"Quite right, Emma. Now let's meet the rest of the crew,” she said before continuing to the main set of doors at the end of the corridor. The doors automatically parted to let them in, and she was greeted with the familiar voices of her other crew members arguing.
Leon was a large male tiger from Zoobia, an excellent engineer that kept the Uju Kanu running as well as Lily could have hoped. He was very kind and usually very dignified, except when it came to Acro. The large red Mantidian had a way of pushing his buttons and in fact seemed to delight in doing so, no matter how much they protested otherwise.
“I’m slaving away trying to keep this ship running and clean! Especially when it comes to you!” said Leon, pointing a clawed finger at Acro’s mechanical chest.
“What’d I do this time?” demanded Acro, waving their robotic arms in the air.
“You know perfectly well what you did!”
“I do, I just don’t know which one you’re upset about!”
“How about the arm I found this morning!” Leon roared, baring his fangs.
“What? Don’t you get rid of your milk when it’s past its expiration day?” replied Acro, hands on their hips.
“Not on the toilet!"
“Eh-hem,” said Lily, clearing her throat audibly to draw their attention.
“Sorry Captain, but this foul bug has clogged the toilet again!” Leon pointed accursedly at the Mantidian with pure distaste in his eyes.
“Keep it up hairy, I’ll clog something else,” Acro said with equal venom.
“Enough! You’ve been shipmates for months now, how is it that you still haven't gotten over each other? No! Do not answer that!” She added quickly before they each launched into another tiresome tirade.
“You will have to wait to tear each other apart, we finally got ourselves a client. So be on your best behavior, and Acro, that means not asking the client if she’s particularly attached to her left arm.”
“When it comes to taste I’m ambidextrous, so either works really.” They replied carelessly.
“Acro…” she said, letting her Captain tone seep into her voice as a warning.
“Yeah, yeah, everyone keeps their limbs…just ruin the fun for the rest of us.”
Both followed her back to the main hall and down towards the lounge area as she filled them in on the details of their new job. They had some questions, but overall, they were just as happy as her to finally get some work. They had both joined Lily when she asked, but admittedly, with few other choices. Most humans still didn’t fully accept Zoobians to go as far as to hire them, and Mantidians, well, it would be a while before any species in the galaxy would feel comfortable around them.
Finally, they made it to the common room. They used it mostly to blow off some steam in their own way. Astor would come here to relax by cleaning his cybernetic leg regularly, Leon had a spot on the couch to curl up and nap on, and Acro... nobody really asked them what they were up to, but Lily once caught the good Doctor measuring Astor’s remaining leg. ‘In case I have to reattach it one day.’ they had said unconvincingly.
Lily entered the spacious room and went straight for the bar/kitchenette in the back. She prided herself on a few things like her swordsmanship, her ship, and especially her crew. They had only been together only for a short time, but in that time, she had striven to reward them for their efforts by doubling as the ship’s cook. She beamed with pride every time they ate her dishes with a smile, even though they often insisted on taking their food with them to their rooms instead.
“Make yourself comfortable, Emma. Our home is yours while we’re on the job,” said Lily, pulling a few bottles of ZZZ beer from the fridge.
“It's still Em'maliniu," she muttered bitterly, "but thank you, Captain."
They all went to sit at the central table, beer in hand, just as Astor made it inside. “All right, we’re flying on autopilot, now we just need a destination. Do we have one?” He looked sharply at Emma.
“Um, well, yes. The first thing we need to do is find a codebreaker for the data stick.”
“Does the Coalition have someone?” asked Lily.
Emma squirmed in her seat uncomfortably before saying in a quiet voice, “Yeah...in Mantidian.”
There was a palpable silence as everyone stared at her, only Acro seemed unfazed as they looked around them for a reaction. When no one offered one, they loudly said, “All right! Haven’t been home in a while. And just in time for the tourist season!”
Leon and Astor both looked grim, and who could blame them? Mantidian was not exactly a popular destination by any means, the giant bug species had long been feared for their consumption of pretty much everyone other than them, and while they had made a lot of progress in switching to artificial meat and controlling their worse impulses, most people still didn’t dare venture to their home planet.
“You failed to mention that little detail before,” said Lily, tapping a gloved finger on the table.
“My handler told me they had a contact on one of their hives who is something of a tech genius, did some work for the Coalition on the side breaking the HPA’s code. Don’t know their name, but they live on the thirty-third level of the 47th Hive. They should be able to decipher the message in this thing,” said Emma, holding the data stick tight in her hand.
Lily did some calculations in her head, and truth be told, they weren’t that far from Mantidian. It was supposed to be more welcoming for humans now, and if Acro was anything to go by, they should be relatively safe there. Besides, they were bounty hunters! The danger was part of the work, and this was nothing compared to what others regularly had to deal with.
“Are we even allowed to go to Mantidian?” asked Astor.
“Oh yeah," replied Acro with obvious delight." "They’ve become more open to tourists in the last decade. I mean, sure, a few go missing now and then, but tell me that’s not true of any other planet.”
Lily smiled and got up, “What the hell, let’s do it guys. Part of being a bounty hunter is going where the job takes you, and if that means we have to go to a hive full of man-eating bugs then so be it.”
“Yeah! That’s the spirit! I’m sure most of you will make it!” cheered Acro.
-------------
Captain Arkady stared out into the cold empty vastness of space with dull eyes. He would have rather been stationed on the Central Planet, or at least in one of the colonized worlds when he was promoted in rank last week. Instead, he was given his own ship, The Indomitable, and ordered on patrol duty along the edge of HPA space.
Most officers aspired to have their own ships, but not Arkady. As nice as the Cetus Class Cruiser was, he found being on a ship for weeks or even months at a time both boring and limited. He much preferred to be where society was and remain in contact with his circle of friends and his family’s large estate.
Comfort did not come easy in space, even for a Captain, and Arkady did not care for it. Still, he did enjoy the rise in position and seeing even more men and women bend to his every command, no matter how insignificant.
Just this morning, he had ordered a poor ensign to fetch him the latest report from their dealings with the Malteahn government, which only a lieutenant or above in rank could request. It amused him immensely to see the poor boy fret nervously as he failed to acquire it, and even more so when he assigned him cargo duty for a month as punishment.
Yes, Arkady was feared by his own soldiers, and that’s the way he liked it. Better they obey without question and know better than to think they could ingratiate themselves with him. After all, he was from an old and rich family and he had a reputation to maintain.
His father, a military man himself, had insisted he became an officer and ensured his way into the Academy. After that, it was smooth sailing thanks to his name, and he was made lieutenant immediately. There had only been one person granted a higher privilege than him on graduation, and it was that very person who he hoped to run into again out here.
A low beep on the communication stand woke him from his thoughts. He reached for it with annoyance, wondering who could be calling. Immediately, he stood up and straightened with a salute as the holographic display showed the supreme admiral of the HPA fleet, Helen Baek herself.
“Captain,” she said, her voice as neutral as her expression, but Arkady knew better than to be lulled into a false sense of ease around her. She was like a sword, dangerous even when sheathed.
“Admiral! To what do I owe the pleasure of your call?” he said nervously.
“I have no pleasure in calling you, particularly for what I have to say.” She said without qualms.
It has been brought to our attention that a Coalition spy managed to avoid a raid we set to snare her after she crippled one of our bases. What's worse, she managed to escape with the data stick the on-duty officer was carrying.”
“That does sound like a problem,” said Arkady.
“Indeed, Captain.” She replied, not the least amused.
Now she paused, looking down as if hesitating on what she was going to say next, which seemed very out of character of her. Finally, she looked back up and there was steel in her eyes again.
“We received a report from one of our sources in the underworld, they said the spy made it to one of the hubs for bounty hunters and hired a crew to help her. Mistakenly, we only sent a few men after her." The Admiral looked displeased even as she spoke about them. "We do have to tread lightly with their sort, given our agreement with them.”
“Of course, Admiral, but why tell me?”
“Your ship is the closest to their last known location, so we’re ordering you to pursue and actively search for the vessel carrying the spy.”
Arkady knew it was dangerous to push it, but there was something she wasn’t saying yet, and he couldn’t resist learning more. “If I may be so bold, ma’am. You could have sent that order through a transmission. Is there a reason you wanted to tell me in person?”
It didn’t take long for him to realize he had gone too far, the Admiral looked at him with such anger in her eyes that he gulped unconsciously, barely able to keep eye contact with the tiny hologram.
“I called you so that you see for yourself how serious I am about my next order, Captain." Her tone certainly left no doubt about that. "I want them brought in alive, particularly the bounty hunters transporting the spy. They are not to be harmed or mark my words, you will find yourself not only demoted but working on the mines of Mendax along with its natives. Do I make myself clear?"
“Yes, sir!” said Arkady, genuinely scared, but also feeling triumphant. He had confirmed what he suspected, that the bounty hunter in question was the admiral’s own daughter. They had all heard the rumors that she had gone to join their ranks after defecting, a fact that no one dared talk about anywhere near the admiral to this day.
“One more thing, I’m sending a special operative to oversee this mission. Expect them to arrive in the next 24 hours before you proceed, they will keep me informed of everything and make sure you stick to your orders. That is all.”
Without another word, the admiral logged off and the hologram disappeared. Arkady found the notion of having to deal with a babysitter annoying, but there were ways around that. This was the moment he had been waiting for, a chance to get back at the woman who had humiliated him and cost him his impeccable record. Yes, his orders were to bring Lily Baek alive, but there were always so many accidents in the line of duty. One could hardly fault him if the same happened to her. He would make sure of it.
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