Oolite Bulletins

Neelix wrote:

*chuckles*

That reminds me a lot of this.

- Neelix

I must confess, I do love me some Kaylee! However, I think I have established a penchant for including pretty, skimpily dressed females, whenever I can come up with an excuse.

Besides:

If you take sexual advantage of her, you're going to burn in a very special level of hell. A level they reserve for child molesters and people who talk at the theater.

Just commenting on this thread may require a public indemnity testicle insurance policy at this rate.

That and a change of name:

"Carry on Captain Morgan" Like some sort of pan-galactic Sid James, Ha, ha, ha.

ClymAngus wrote:

Shes wearing it? Or is she just passing through?

Can you now imagine that dress in zero-g?!?!

ClymAngus wrote:

Good skills, if the current work or more serious writing doesn't materialise. I see a future in erotic fiction, you can even do the illistrations.

Find me a publisher, and I am all over it!.. Err.. that doesn't sound right... };] I do find, that I really enjoy skating that thin line between risque and outright smut. Keeping it juuuust this side, with maybe an occasional quick little flash of what's on the other side! };]

ClymAngus wrote:

Mr Neelix, shame on you! There is no indication that the good Captain Morgan is going to take adavantage of the situation and bang the engineer jailbait. We have to assume as he holds the Rank of Captain that he is some what honorable.......

Can't go knobbing his way across the stars..... Well he could. But what would the feminists say? We'd be strung up, and not by our throats if you catch my drift.

Damn the feminists! Full penis ahead!

That said, I don't think my female characters have come across as being helpless victims. I much prefer a girl who can kick ass when necessary!

Also, see quote in the above message. };]

I did keep their ages relatively close together on purpose. I really have no clue what might happen there, but I am a firm believer in keeping doors open! };] (That didn't sound right either in this context.)

Paradox wrote:

Besides:

If you take sexual advantage of her, you're going to burn in a very special level of hell. A level they reserve for child molesters and people who talk at the theater.

I'll be in my bunk.

- Neelix

ClymAngus wrote:

Just commenting on this thread may require a public indemnity testicle insurance policy at this rate.

That and a change of name:

"Carry on Captain Morgan" Like some sort of pan-galactic Sid James, Ha, ha, ha.

Oh come now... , things aren't that bad! Yet.

Had to look up Sid James... the "Carry On..." movies! I should have gotten your clue! I. LOVE. THOSE. MOVIES! We of course, don't get to see that stuff here in the states, but I have managed to collect about 6 or 7 of them so far!

Neelix wrote:

Paradox wrote:

Besides:

If you take sexual advantage of her, you're going to burn in a very special level of hell. A level they reserve for child molesters and people who talk at the theater.

I'll be in my bunk.

- Neelix

My life's greatest tragedy, is when they cancelled that series...

I don't know actually. Upon reflection Star Trek has a lot to answer for.
Maybe a bit of Sid James in space is exactly what we need. I'm seeing echos of this in both yours and in the chronicles of mosfoot.

What do the rude little humans think about mostly when on earth? Sex mostly. It is the engine that keeps the species going after all.
But you can take the human off the earth but you can't take the earth out of the human. It's not going to be all gold and red onesies, pips on the grandad colar and reversing the nutron flow.

It's going to be about, making some cash, getting a good spot at the bar, getting your end away while not getting spaced.

"So, what's your name anyways?" I asked, watching her wolf down a triple decker cheeseburger. It was like watching a chameleon eat a cricket. Blink, and it's gone.

She looked at me for a second. "If I tell you, you better never call me by it. I don't like it."

"Fair enough, I will call you whatever you want me to." I said as earnestly as I could. Something told me that this was important to her.

"My name's Beatrice, Beatrice Noughty, but I really hate it. People around here just call me Bee."

"Bee it is then."

"Umm but, what did you call me, just before we came in here?"

"Oh, umm... Spitfire? Sorry, it's just..."

"No... It's alright... I, kinda like that... Spitfire..."

"Ok, it's settled. Bee, or Spitfire when it suits. My names Morgan. Morgan Black."

Bee grinned. "It's nice to meet you, Mr. Morgan Black."

I gave her a mock glare. "Just Morgan will be fine. Anyways, where are your parents?"

The grin faded from her face. "My daddy's dead. He died about four years ago. He was an engineer here on the station. A bunch of them were working on some kind of secret project for the government. Something went wrong, and there was an explosion." Bee fiddled with the straw in her super, extra large, chocolate shake. "My mom didn't handle it well. She started drinking, and staying out all night. Finally, about three years ago, she didn't come home at all. When I tried to find her, someone said they saw her get on a cruise liner, with some guy. I never heard from her after that."

"Wow, that's pretty rough. I'm sorry Bee."

"It's ok, I can look after myself. Besides, I'm almost seventeen now anyways." SLURRRRP! There went the shake.

Sevent..? "You're sixteen..?! You said you were almost eighteen, and that you could prove it even!" Sixteen... And with that figure! This girl was going to be pure, unfiltered, bloody mayhem in a couple years.

"Sorry?" She gave me an evil little smirk and a wink.

Couple of years my ass... But I couldn't help but like her. Abandoned at thirteen, and managed to survive all by herself. And she didn't take gruff from anybody. Yep, I had to admire the girl. "So where do you live Bee?"

The smirk disappeared and a thin film of ice covered her pale grey eyes. "Why? If you think we are "going back to my place"..."She said, while making finger quotes in the air.

Life for this cute little blossoming girl, obviously hadn't been all that easy the past couple years. "Hang on there Miss Spitfire! All I meant was, with your parents gone and all, where do you live, where do you sleep?"

A long second passed, and then the ice melted just as quickly as it formed. "Oh, I make do." She said. "Sometimes, the pilots let me stay on their ships if I am working on them, or while they go for a little R&R in the station. And there's other places I can crash when I need to."

I got the picture. "I see. Well Bee, are you still interested in fixing Aria?" Her eyes lite up!

"You bet! You'll see, I'm ten times better than those fancy pants engineers. My daddy used to let me help him when he worked on stuff. He and I used to build and fix stuff all the time. He was really smart, and he taught me everything he knew!" The last sentence was spoken around a huge yawn.

I laughed. "Okay then, how about this, you can stay in the crew quarters for as long as I am in the station. You'll have the whole place to yourself, as I don't have any other crew, except for Aria. Tomorrow, we'll talk about getting parts, and how much you're gonna charge me."

"Aw heck, you bought me dinner, you're giving me a pace to sleep. You pay for parts, and breakfast too, and I will do it for two credits!" Her eyelids were starting to droop. A full belly, and thoughts of a safe place to sleep were taking their toll on the poor kid.

"Deal!" I held out my hand,and without hesitation, she grabbed it and we shook. For such a little thing, she had a hell of a grip! "Let's go, I want you to meet Aria!"

We reached Aria, and walked to the back cargo bay doors. Bee held out her hand, running it down the side of the ship as she walked. "She's beautiful." She said.

I grinned. "I think so too." I touched the pad, and the bottom door lowered. Before it had even hit the ground, Bee had jumped inside, her head craning around to take it all in.

"Johansen robotic loading arms." She nodded her approval. "First class!" She seemed to want to touch everything. "Thermo-king ion couplers... nice." And on went her inventory as we made our way to the stairs. "Might want to replace those mag-belts on the scoop conveyor though. That was one of the only problems on these D.T.T. ships, they did a recall on them, so you should be able to have them replaced at no charge."

"Been on a lot of D.T.T. ships?"

"Nope, this is only my second one. My first, was an old Heavy Metal freight hauler. Pilot needed a new de-icing unit installed."

"So, how do you know so much about them then?" I asked, as we worked our way toward the crew quarters.

"My dad loved the D.T.T. line of ships. He used to bring me the models to put together. I even fitted one with micro grav-plates once, so I could make it float around my room. I had to leave them behind when I finally got chased out of our old apartment. I always dreamed about flying in one someday. The Snake Charmer and the War Lance, that you were looking at earlier, are my two favorites! Although they say they are now updating the Tomahawk. They're calling it the Tomahawk MKII!" She paused to yawn again. I opened the door to the crew quarters.

"HOLY SHI..." She slapped her hand over her mouth, Her eyes were huge as she looked around. "This is... wow. Just wow! Which one do I sleep in?"

"Which ever one you want, there's nobody else here." I grinned. "But before you turn in, let's go meet Aria." Aria could access every part of the ship, and was no doubt listening to us at that very moment. But for some reason, I felt that the bridge was where she really "lived". We entered the bridge, and Bee's jaw dropped. She looked like a little kid on their first visit to DisneyPlanet. "Aria, I would like you to meet Miss Bee Noughty. Also known as Miss Spitfire."

"Welcome Miss Noughty." Said Aria.

Bee walked over to a panel of blinking lights, set into the wall of the bridge. She opened up a small access panel, and reached up to gently touch whatever was inside. "Thank you Aria, it's very nice to meet you."

I walked up behind her, and peered over her head, to see what she was looking at. Behind the small, six inch panel, was what appeared to be a rather large computer chip. In it's center, however, was a glowing crystal. Each facet was a different color and the colors flowed and changed in a non-stop rhythm. "Is that Aria?" I asked, feeling somewhat awed.

"Yes, that's the A.I. chip that holds her algorithm."

I reached out and gently touched the chip as well. "Wow, I didn't even know that was in there!" I said, feeling a bit ashamed.

Bee closed the panel and turned in a circle, taking in the bridge. "Aria, you are beautiful!"

"I... thank you Miss Noughty."

"Please call me Bee." She glanced at me and smiled. "Or Spitfire if you like."

"Very well, Bee. I am pleased to make your acquaintance."

Bee yawned again. "Is she always like that?" She asked me.

"Like what?"

"I dunno, so formal?"

"Oh, well, ya, I guess so."

"Hmmm..." Was Bee's only reply. She yawned again.

This time, I yawned in reply. "Okay, well, I think I'm gonna hit the sack. See you in the morning Bee."

CLANG! BANG! CRASH!

I was awakened by an awful din the following morning. "ARIA? SPITFIRE?!"

"Sorry Captain Morgan!" Came the distant yell.

I stood, yawned, and stretched, then padded down the hall in my bare feet and pajama bottoms. I stepped through the open door to the common room. There, kneeling on the floor, butt in the air, and her head inside an open access panel, was Bee. Tools and parts scattered all around her. I slapped my hands over my eyes so fast it stung, and then turned my back to the room. "Spitfire! Where are your clothes?!"

"Oh, umm, in the 'fresher Captain Morgan. I didn't want to sleep in that clean bunk with my dirty clothes, so I took a shower. But I was so tired, I forget to put my clothes in the 'fresher last night. It's not like I'm naked. I'm wearing a towel!"

"Not when your bent over like that, your not!" Hell , even now that she was standing up, that towel was loosing the fight to keep everything covered!

"Oh... sorry Captain Morgan, but please, don't tell me your all prudish about skin and stuff."

"I am not... prudish! But hell girl... And what's with all this Captain stuff today?"

"We are on board your ship. And while on board, you are the Captain, and it is proper procedure to address you as such." She was starting to sound like Aria! Speaking of which...

"Aria?"

"She is quite correct Captain Morgan. Those are the procedures we agreed to while on Lave station."

"Okay, okay. I give. But just Captain then. Let's skip the Captain Morgan bit." I grumped.

"Very well Captain." Both Aria and Bee chimed at the same time. Bee giggled.

"Oh hell. I need some coffee."

"Is he always like this?" Bee asked Aria.

"Like what?" I interjected.

"Prudish and grumpy." Replied Bee.

"I have had no previous opportunity to gauge his opposition to nudity before now. As for "grumpy", I have observed that behavior only rarely."

"I'm not prudish or grumpy!" I growled, as I stomped out with my coffee to get dressed.

Coffee downed, and pants on, I returned to the common room. Bee was next to the fresher, pulling on her shorts as I entered. "Oh crap.. sorry." I clapped my hand over my eyes again. I heard an evil snort.

"For what Captain?" Asked Bee, with an extra helping of innocent.

"Nothing, nothing. So what were you doing in that panel earlier?"

"Oh, well, Aria and I found the hoses and filter I needed to fix the water recycling system, so Aria bought them, and had them delivered. Then I fixed it!"

"Already? I mean, you did all that this morning?"

"Sure! Not all of us sleep in you know!" She said, with another smirk.

"Wow, umm.. Okay, thanks!"

"No problem! It was a pleasure to work on Aria. Now, you promised me breakfast, and I'm starving!"

Six large pancakes, six slabs of bacon, two eggs over easy, two slices of white toast, and a large glass of orange juice. And that was just her breakfast. I watched in fascination as she kept shoveling the food down. Then as she finished, she suddenly became quiet, glancing at me occasionally, through her unruly bangs.

"You turn shy all of a sudden?" I asked.

"What? No, umm, so, they should be done with the maintenance on Aria later today. Umm... You going to leave then?"

"Oh, ya, Aria and I haven't really talked it over yet, but I imagine we'll probably leave sometime today." For some reason, that thought made me a bit sad.

"Oh ya, well, you gotta make a living, right?" She gave an awkward little laugh. "Ya, I got things I gotta do too." She sat there staring at the table.

"Well, Come back to the ship with me, I need to get your cred-chip. I still owe you two credits.

"Oh ya, sure."

The walk back to the ship was very quiet. "Wait here, I might be a minute or three." I said at the bottom of the ramp.

"Ya, okay..." She said, scuffing her boot on the ground.

I went up to the bridge and flopped in my seat. "Aria?"

"Yes Captain?"

"What do you think?"

"About what, specifically, Captain."

"About Spitfire."

"She seems to be a competent mechanic. Her repairs to the water recycling system were efficient and competent."

"No no, I mean what about asking her to be crew? She knows more about you than I do, and she could keep costs down and keep you running, and... and... well, it just feels like the right thing to do."

"Then I would suggest that you hire her as crew Captain. It would be a sensible choice."

I suddenly felt a lot better!

"You're right Aria. We need her, and you know what? I think she needs us too!" I jumped off the couch and ran for the ramp.

Spitfire wasn't there.

N svaavs fnlf fur'f fgbjrq njnl.

This is extremely readable and enjoyable. You and mossfoot both seem to inhabit a wildly different Ooniverse to mine - you're more Harry Harrison, I'm more Heinlein or maybe Jerry Pournelle... in pale imitation, agreed. Keep 'em coming!

Malacandra wrote:

N svaavs fnlf fur'f fgbjrq njnl.

I don't remember where to go to decode this! };]

Malacandra wrote:

This is extremely readable and enjoyable. You and mossfoot both seem to inhabit a wildly different Ooniverse to mine - you're more Harry Harrison, I'm more Heinlein or maybe Jerry Pournelle... in pale imitation, agreed. Keep 'em coming!

Thank you very much Malacandra! I can think of no better compliment than to be compared to Harrison! I did warn readers that my Elite/Oolite lore knowledge was practically non existent. So I am just winging it so to speak. }:]

I did start reading your story as well, but then found myself on a project with Mossfoot, and building my new Tomahawk MKII and writing my story, and work... Well, lets just say, I hope to get back to it soon. I love the idea of writing from a female characters point of view.

Paradox wrote:

Malacandra wrote:

N svaavs fnlf fur'f fgbjrq njnl.

I don't remember where to go to decode this! };]

rot13.com

Paradox wrote:

Malacandra wrote:

This is extremely readable and enjoyable. You and mossfoot both seem to inhabit a wildly different Ooniverse to mine - you're more Harry Harrison, I'm more Heinlein or maybe Jerry Pournelle... in pale imitation, agreed. Keep 'em coming!

Thank you very much Malacandra! I can think of no better compliment than to be compared to Harrison! I did warn readers that my Elite/Oolite lore knowledge was practically non existent. So I am just winging it so to speak. }:]

I did start reading your story as well, but then found myself on a project with Mossfoot, and building my new Tomahawk MKII and writing my story, and work... Well, lets just say, I hope to get back to it soon. I love the idea of writing from a female characters point of view.

You're winging it very successfully so far - and the style has been feeling very "Bill the Galactic Hero does Oolite".

I enjoyed making my narrator ambiguously gendered - it's taken me until an episode or two back to get around to naming her. I hope you enjoy it when you get back to it.

Malacandra wrote:

N svaavs fnlf fur'f fgbjrq njnl.

You're on! And just for the record, I finished writing the next chapter last night, so I didn't cheat! };]

Malacandra wrote:

You're winging it very successfully so far - and the style has been feeling very "Bill the Galactic Hero does Oolite".

I enjoyed making my narrator ambiguously gendered - it's taken me until an episode or two back to get around to naming her. I hope you enjoy it when you get back to it.

Your first chapter threw me for a while with the whole "waking him up bit", I must admit. };]

"SPITFIRE?" I yelled. There was no answer. I walked around Aria to see if she had just wandered off, but I couldn't see her anywhere. Now where that hell cold she have gone?! I walked to the burger joint we had eaten at the night before, but didn't see her there either. After wandering around the station for almost an hour, I thought of the sales area where we had first met. As I weaved my way between the hulking ships toward the War Lance, I heard voices.

"We done told you before, dock rat. Stay outta our way! You keep taking jobs that belong to us!
"Ya!" Said another voice. "We could'a made an extra six hundred credits on that 'Charmer job if it hadn't been for you, ya little bitch."

I started running toward the voices.

A third voice added. "I say we make her pay us back boys. You're lookin' pretty growed up there dock rat. Let's take a look and see just how growed up you are!" there was a nasty laugh. I heard Spitfire scream, then a THUNK! Then a man howled and yelled. "Your gonna pay for that to you little..."

I rounded the corner behind an old Cobra MK3, and saw them. Three station mechanics had her cornered against a bunch of cargo containers. One of them, was hopping on one leg while holding his shin. He was also holding Spitfire's bikini top. The other two, had grabbed the now topless girl by the arms, and were trying to hold her as she kicked, bit, scratched, and struggled. Her hammer lay on the floor out of reach, but she had a large monkey wrench that she was trying to bring into action. I grabbed bully number one, the one doing the kangaroo impersonation, and threw him into the containers. Head first. One of the other two let go of Spitfire, and advanced toward me. His swung a roundhouse right, that slid past my cheek. I put all my six foot four inches, and two hundred and twenty pounds, behind a right hook to his gut. I heard the air whoosh out of him as his feet left the floor. When they touched down again, the rest of him followed, and he puddled up at my feet, sucking for air. I heard a CLANG from behind me and whirled around. Bully number three now lay on the floor as well. Spitfire had opened up his scalp with her monkey wrench! I heard a groan as bully number one started to come around, so I grabbed him by the scruff of the neck, picked him up, and shook him.

"You and your friends get the hell outta here before I call station security. And if I ever see any of you again, there won't be enough left for security to mop up!" I let him go, and once all three had managed to find their feet, they hobbled away as I watched them. I grinned. Spitfire had clobbered one of them in the shin with her hammer, then knocked one senseless with a monkey wrench! She had sure earned her nickname today! I turned to compliment her fighting skills, and saw her lying on the floor. I ran and knelt beside her. She was curled in a ball and was crying and sobbing her little heart out. I sat down next to her and gathered her up into my arms. She reached out and clung to me as I smoothed her hair, and told her that it was all over, and that she was all right. After a minute or two, she began to calm down.

"I'm sorry." I heard between hiccups and sniffles.

"Sorry for what Bee? Ain't none of that was your fault, you hear?" She was still curled in a ball on my lap now, and I was curled around her like a protective shell. I rocked her gently back and forth.

"But this isn't the first time Morgan. There are always drunks, or HIC pilots who try to make me HIC do things, or some mechanic or other who figures I "owe" him. But I have always been able to fight them off or talk them out of it. After a while, most of them learn better than to try. But this time...HIC! This time, there were three of them Morgan, and I HIC was scared. Not of having to HIC fight, but of what they were going to do to me!" She broke and started sobbing again.

"There, there, now. You know, when I come around that corner and seen that bully hoppin' up and down on his one leg and a howlin' like a scalded dog, I darn near died laughing!" Bee gave a half laugh, half sob and wiped her nose on my shirt. "Hell little Spitfire, it wasn't you I was coming to save! It was those poor men who was in danger! And that poor man you bashed in the noggin with your wrench, will probably be seein' double for a week!

Bee punched me halfheartedly in the chest, and tried to laugh between sniffles and hics. "Yessiree, why if it hadn't been for me saving them, you would have had all three of them boys tied in a knot and hanging by their family jewels!" This time, she laughed in earnest. She wiped her nose on my, rather damp, t-shirt again.

"Sorry about your shirt." She said, with a vain attempt at wiping it with her hand.

"Oh that's alright, had worse than that on me at one time or another, I'm sure." I wiped the last of her tears from her cheeks with my thumb. "Bee, why did you leave when I went in to get your cred-chip?"

"Oh Morgan, I didn't want your money! I liked being with you and Aria, and I didn't want you to go, and I didn't want to say goodbye and..." She was starting to well up all over again.

"Now, now, that's enough of that." I lifted her from my lap, and sat her on the floor in front of me. I lifted her chin with my finger so I could look her in the eyes. "I didn't go inside to get your cred-chip. I had that with me all along." I pulled the chip from my pocket and handed it to her. "There's five credits on there for you."

"five credits!" she looked at the chip like it was made of gold. "But Morgan, that..."

"No buts, no arguing. You earned it, and it's yours."

"But, if you had this with you the whole time, why did you go back into the ship?"

"Because little Spitfire, I wanted to ask Aria about hiring our first crew member."

"Crew memb... Who? You don't mean..." Her grey eyes were red from crying, but they were focused on mine like a drowning man looks at a rope.

"I mean you, you little grease monkey! I asked Aria what she thought of hiring you as our ship mechanic!"

"And... She... what did she..."

"She said it wasn't a bad idea. Which, coming from Aria, is a pretty good recommendation! So, what do you say, would you like to come with Aria and me and be our mechanic? I will pay yo..." With a squeal that made my eyeballs vibrate, Bee launched herself at me. She locked her little arms around my neck, her momentum pushed me onto my back on the floor, with her on top of me. Her head was buried against my neck as she hugged me, but I could hear her muffled voice.

"Yes, oh yes, oh yes, oh yes! I want to go more than anything in the world!

I laughed, making her bob up and down on my chest. She lifted her head and looked at me. She was grinning ear to ear. She pushed herself up from my chest until she was straddling my stomach. "You know what else Morgan?" Her smile had suddenly turned into a very mischievous grin.

"What..?" I asked, apprehensively.

"That man took my top." She had been topless this whole time, and I hadn't even noticed!

"Oh! I umm... I..." You know what it's like, when someone tells you NOT to look at something... Ya, well I just closed my eyes.

She slapped me on the chest. "Oh don't you backslide on me now! Come on get up." She stood, and then held her hand out to help me up. "Now give me your shirt." I slipped my soggy t-shirt off over my head, tear stains, snot, and all, and handed it to her. She slipped it on, and giggled as it fell past her knees. She gathered it up as much as she could and tied it in a knot on the side. "What now? She asked.

"Well, I guess you should go pack up whatever you're going to take with you, so we can load it on the ship.

She picked up her hammer and monkey wrench from where they had fallen, and put them back in her tool belt. "Okay, all done." She said.

"What? Don't you own anything else you want to take?"

"When you don't have a place of your own, you can't keep a lot of stuff to carry around. You never know when you might have to run in the middle of the night." She hitched her tool belt higher on her shapely little hips. "These were my daddy's, and they are all I have now."

The neck of my t-shirt was so big on her, that one side had slipped off her shoulder and down arm clear to her elbow, almost exposing her entire brea... "I think we need to go shopping!" I said, averting my gaze, and heading off toward the main part of the station.

She giggled as she ran to catch up.

"What about this one?" Bee asked, for the two hundred and forty seventh time.

She was modeling a black, pleated leather, practically non existent, micro skirt. And a black, open weave, mesh top. "I can see right through that!" I said, while trying not to be "prudish". She gave me The Look. The one that translates to, "In case you haven't noticed dummy, it's HOT in those access tunnels and engines!" For the two hundred and thirty fourth time.

"Ya, ya, I know, but your not going to be livin' in the access tunnels and engines!" I had pointed out. Again. Shopping for clothes, with a sixteen year old girl, is almost as much fun, as dodging lasers from half a dozen pirates. While blindfolded.

The next outfit resembled a pair of sleeveless overalls. Overall shorts that is. And by shorts, I mean the bottom of her butt cheeks were peeking out, even when she was standing up straight! And she hadn't bothered to put on a top. "I can see your butt cheeks." I informed her.

"Cute, aren't they?" She asked, with her mischievous grin.

I took a deep breath, and let it out slowly. "What about umm... underwear, don't you need any, you know, stuff?"

"I already picked out some panties." She had chosen just three pairs of little string things, like the ones my pa used to call "butt floss", 'cept these were smaller.

"But don't you need more than three?" I asked, perplexed.

"Nah, I don't wear panties that often."

Sigh... "Well what about them other things, for your top?"

"Bra's?" She looked down at her inadequately covered breasts. "I hate wearing those things. Besides, I don't need them. I'm not sagging or anything!"

Bump, bump, bump, went my head against the wall.

To give her credit, she didn't go for the usual frilly, pink, girly, froo froo stuff. Most of it, as she would point out, had some form of "practicality". The leather skirt for instance, had a number of outside pockets, for "carrying tools", as did the overalls. Her big purchase however, was her new mechanic tool set. It was in a large black case, shaped sorta like an old steamer trunk standing up on one end. It stood as tall as she did. "Oh Morgan!" She ran her hands over it in an almost reverence. "Isn't it beautiful!?" She unlatched it and pushed it open. She had to touch each tool, and tell me what each one was used for. "Can I get it Morgan? Can I please?"

I looked at the price tag and gulped. "It's four credits Bee, that will take most of your chip. Why don't I bu..."

"No Morgan, I want to buy this for myself, please? It's important, and I'm going to need tools to keep Aria flying, and I..."

"Okay, okay, it's your money Bee, you can spend it on whatever you want to."

She squealed and leaped onto me, wrapping her arms around my neck, and gave me a fierce hug. I hugged back, and then set her on the ground. "You go pay for it, and have them take it to Aria. I need to go buy a few things myself. I will meet you back here in ten minutes." She spent her last credit on her "wardrobe", at least what there was of it, and a few other odds and ends that she described as "secret" or "personal". Girls, sheesh! Well, that's okay, I bought a few "secrets" my own self.

We arrived back at Aria, just as the first of the packages were being delivered. Bee took over and directed the assorted drones and bots, like a queen commanding her army. Her tool box was secured in a corner of the hold beneath the stairs. It was a small area, perhaps 12 feet by 16 feet, that had been designed as a workshop. This was her throne room. "No, over a little more. TO THE RIGHT! Stupid drone.., Now turn it... The OTHER way!" And so it went, until all her purchases had been stored to her satisfaction. I left her to stow her clothes, and assorted mysterious stuff, in her area of the crew quarters, and went to the bridge. Aria and I ordered forty tons of computer parts, and once those had been delivered and loaded, I requested a launch window. Bee had already changed into one of her new outfits, may the gods have mercy on me, and filled her new tool belt with her new tools. A few choice pieces from her fathers collection, were now hanging as prized decorations in her quarters. I did notice she kept the hammer.

I wanted to head toward Lave eventually, and see Pa and hopefully Terra, so we decided to set course for Isinor. It being a poor agri. planet, we thought we could get a good price for our computer parts there. We launched and hit witchspace without any drama. It would take four and a half days to arrive, and we would have to make four fuel stops on the way. That evening, we ate dinner in the common room, and I made a mental note to have Aria increase our ship ration orders. Spitfire could sure pack it away! After dinner, I told Bee to hang tight while I went to my quarters to get something. I came back with a large box and set it on the table in front of her.

"What's this? She asked.

"Aria and I, wanted to give you a gift. You know, to sort of welcome you to your new home".

"Captain, I knew nothing of thi..."Began Aria.

"Aria, would you have agreed, if I'd had time to tell you?" I interrupted.

"Yes Captain."

"Okay then! Now hush."

Bee carefully opened each flap and reached inside to pull out the first smaller box. It was a model, a D.T.T. Atlas. She set it very slowly on the table top, and reached in for the next. It was Aria, a D.T.T. Snake Charmer. The box in her hand started to shake. I looked at her face, and was surprised to find tears streaming down her cheeks. She sobbed. I came around the table, and took the box from her hand, and set it next to the first. I knelt next to her chair. She had both hands to her face now, and her little shoulders were shaking uncontrollably. I put my hand on her back. "Hey now, what's wrong? You said you lost your models, and..."

Once again, I found myself adorned with sixteen year old girl. Her arms around my neck so tight, it made breathing a bit difficult. She cried into the side of my neck in deep gut wrenching sobs. I settled on the floor, with her curled in my lap, as I stroked her head and back. This was getting to be a regular event! I coo'ed, stroked, and rocked, and finally the sobs turned once again, into hics and sniffles. "What wrong Spitfire? I though you would like them. I can send them back..." She punched my in the chest. Hard.

Between hics and sniffs, she said. "They're the most wonderful presents ever. You remembered my daddy gave me... I just... I have been running, and hiding, and just trying to survive for so long now. And this was just the most perfect, wonderful gift, and you're wonderful, and Aria's wonderful, and... Everything is just suddenly so perfect and wonderful... I, I guess I am just a bit overwhelmed by it all."

Aww heck, I was starting to tear up a bit myself, by the time she ran out of gas. I also made another mental note... have Aria buy me more t-shirts at the next stop. Bee finally calmed down, wiped her eyes and nose on my shirt, and finished pulling out her presents, while I went and changed. The third model was a D.T.T. Cyclops, and the last was the D.T.T. War Lance. When I came back, Bee walked up and wrapped her arms around my waist and gave me a hug. "Thank you Morgan, thank you so much, and you too Aria!"

"Shouldn't that be Captain, now that we are on board ship?" I smirked.

She punched me in the gut. When I doubled over, she grabbed both my ears, and held my head in front of hers. She looked me dead in the eye for a few seconds, then she gave me a long, hard kiss on the cheek. She let go of my ears, gathered up her presents, and swished out of the room, taking them to her quarters. Once I had recovered, I made my way to the bridge. We had a re-fueling stop coming up. I sat on the couch and grinned.

It was nice having crew.