He found himself almost completely naked inside a voidship that looked like an expensive brothel. At least, it looked like how he imagined an expensive brothel would look like. Residents like him weren’t allowed inside places like that, and even if they had been, he could have never afforded it.

He quickly put on his… outfit. It was of the same purple and gold elements as the lieutenant’s. It sat very tight around his chest, abs and legs and had no sleeves. He could feel his bulge stick out and the definition of every muscle in his body shone through. Whomever designed these clothes, had to have been some oversexed hedonist with wild plans. Still, it was better than having to walk around in his underpants. He took a look around him.

The ship's interior was as outlandish as its exterior. Whomever had this ship made, had an obvious love for the color purple, luxury and decadence. A dark purple carpet covered the floor. The walls were all either covered in purple or golden draperies. Soft purple sofas were positioned in a pit in the center of the room around a square, glass table. Behind it was a kitchen and bar area that had white marble countertops with a gold colored tap. The room was surprisingly spacious and in no way resembled what you’d expect a spaceship to look like..

The lieutenant had avoided eye contact with him so far. She was unusually tense and looked defeated. Her usual haughtiness had seemingly evaporated. She showed none of the feistiness that he had come to expect from her. Whatever the captain had done to her, it looked like it had broken her spirit. This wasn’t the lieutenant he knew. This was a dulled out, squashed version of her. In any other scenario, he would have felt pity for her, but under these circumstances, it only furthered his contempt for her. She had seemed different when they had first met, but she now exposed herself as just another spineless citizen. They were all the same, the lot of them. They all talked a big game and walked around like they were hot shit, but crumbling at the first sign of adversity.

He didn’t like it one bit. If they were going on a potentially dangerous mission together, he had to know where they stood. It also did him no good to have to deal with a defeated woman that might not care if she lived or died. He had to find out so he could take appropriate action. She may have given up, he sure hadn’t.

‘So tell me, what the hell is up with these clothes, this ship and this mission? How long am I going to be stuck inside here with you, looking like prostitutes?’

She looked up at him for the first time. Her eyes looked dulled out, like she hadn’t slept much recently. ‘Please, don’t make this any harder than it already is. It’s not like I want to look like some drug baron’s mistress either.’

‘So is that what this is? A runner? Are we smuggling kerosine now?’

Her face turned into a painful expression. ‘You’re closer to the truth than I’d like. We do in fact have around fifty thousand kilos worth of kerosine stashed in the secret compartments all over this ship. It’s part of our cover.’

‘Fifty thousand kilos?! He exclaimed. Do you have any idea what the street value of that much kerosine is?’

‘Around two-hundred-and-fifty-million sists.’ She said with a blase expression, as if that wasn’t a fortune large enough to live like a king for four lifetimes.

‘That sounds about right’ he said ‘With that much money in our pockets, why are we even doing this mission at all? We should just make a run for it and live like royals!’

He had expected her to react either annoyed or curious to his idea, lethargic even, instead she gave him a startled look that worried him. It was the expression of a whipped dog that looked like its abusive owner had walked in holding a belt. He could only think of one reason why she’d react like that to a mere joking suggestion. This ship was bugged. The captain was listening in on them. She feared any repercussions that could follow from him running his mouth. He’d have to be very careful choosing his words going forward. Seemed like he had more work to do before he could get out of the Fifth’s suffocating grip.

‘We will do no such thing, private.’ There was a sudden fury in her voice. ‘We will stay professional and do our mission as agents of the Fifth.’

Her reply eased his concerns. The fury in her voice betrayed that she still cared. She may be down right now, but she was still in the fight. At least he didn’t have to worry about her purposely crashing the ship into a meteor or anything.

‘I’m sorry, lieutenant. I was merely joking.’ He said, playing his part of the charade they were now putting on. ‘This is all very new to me. The mission, the drugs. I’ve never done anything like this before.’

‘I understand, but this isn’t the time for jokes, Voss, and don’t call me lieutenant. We’re covert now so we don’t use ranks.’

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

‘Then what do I call you?’

‘You can call me Ida.’

‘Ida huh? Fine by me. So tell me, Ida, what’s our mission and what’s expected from me?’

The lieute... Ida waved her hand towards the seats in the spacious dining area. ‘Let’s take a seat. We’ve got about fifteen minutes before we’re ready for launch. Do you want some coffee?’

‘No thanks, I’m not that desperate to go to the bathroom just yet.’

She chuckled. It was the first sign that she was easing up a little. ‘No I’m talking about actual coffee, not the black death they serve in the mess. There’s actual coffee aboard this ship. Ledian coffee. It’s a tropical planet that produces the finest coffee in the known universe.’

‘Real coffee, huh? I could use some of that. It’s been a long day and I can’t even remember when I last had anything that even resembled anything close to coffee.’

‘I can imagine.’ She walked over to the open kitchen area. Her tread had become slightly more steadfast. Her slouch was lessening too. ‘What scenario did they give you guys by the way? The void bike or the shipbreak scenario?’

‘They didn’t tell you, huh?’. He knew he had to be careful with his words here. Stories about secret laboratories filled with heinous crimes were not the kind of thing the Fifth would want to see spread around. ‘We didn’t get a scenario. We were sent to a forward outpost that had been attacked by voidcapers. Let’s just say some awful stuff had happened there before we got to the station. Stuff which I’d rather not talk about.’

Ida frowned. ‘I can imagine. Those voidcapers can be real animals. Deep space life does things to your levels of humanity. Bad things.’. She finished making the coffee and poured both of them a steaming hot cup. She continued talking as she did so. ‘Those bastards have been getting more brazen since the scourge happened. Interplanetary collaboration isn’t what it used to be. Those bloody pirates have taken advantage of that and are performing raids they’d never even dream of doing five years ago.’

She brought the cups over to the seating area. The smell of fresh coffee hit his nostrils. It had been a long time since he had smelled something so pleasant. For a second, his mind wandered towards a distant memory. He found himself transported back to one of Saltpetersburg’s sparse parks on a fresh spring day. He had recently been accepted into Herbert’s and his parents were still alive. It was a pleasant memory from a time when he had still been naively optimistic. In those days the sky seemed to be the limit. He missed those days and that version of himself.

He could feel his body relax and for a moment he didn’t even mind that he was in the presence of this darned woman sitting opposite him. To be honest, her outfit also helped distract him from the resentment he harbored towards her. The deep cut chestpiece of her suit revealed a little more cleavage than what was conductive in a professional setting. He imagined his bulge sticking out of his tight leggings had the same effect on her too.

Ida sighed: ‘War is brewing.’

‘War?’ He asked incredulously. ‘Isn’t that a thing from the distant past?’

‘It was a thing from the distant past, yes. It seems that for some reason it’s being dragged into the eight millennium with us. Or at least it will be soon if the reports are true.’

‘Reports?’

‘There are reports of mass military build up in the eastern fringes of the empire.’

‘Who is building up an army then, and who are they planning to fight?’

Ida took her time to answer his question. She stirred her coffee and took a sip, visibly enjoying its taste. The delay in conversation angered him a little. It felt like she didn’t take him seriously and was toying with him. Could it be game on again? Had she recollected herself enough to challenge him again? If she did, he’d have to squat that attitude out of her soon enough. He wasn’t in the mood to play around with her anymore. Not after how she had lied to him.

‘Good questions, Voss. They’re the same questions we’ve been asking ourselves. They’re the questions we’re being sent out to answer.’

Voss took a sip of his coffee. Ida hadn’t been lying. This was some damn good coffee. It was by far the best he had ever tasted.

‘So how are we going to do this? Since every planet is closed off, we can’t just fly in and nose around now, can we?’

‘We’re going to look for their fleets and observe them.’

He nearly spat out his coffee. ‘You want to fly up to a warfleet and hang around to observe it?!? That’s suicide!’

‘No, I don’t want to fly up to a warfleet and observe it. I’ve been ordered to fly up to a warfleet and observe it. Besides, it’s not like we’re going to fly right into it. Our mission is to stake out possible locations by probing them from afar.’

‘And we’ll do so in a needler, wearing these porno outfits so that in case we get caught, they don’t know who we are or where we’re from?

‘Astute observation, Voss.’

‘I see…’ He knew what that meant. Under no circumstances were they allowed to get caught. He wouldn’t be surprised if their ship had been rigged. Set to explode in case they were being boarded. Either that, or they had somehow blackmailed Ida into blowing up the ship herself if needed.

‘Your task on this mission is to maintain the ship and the drones. We had to use old, standard models from a bygone era because they’re the only ones we had available that can’t be tracked back to Fosfat in any way or form. You’ll have to repair and modify most of them to get them to work properly. I’ll be piloting the ship and navigating.’

‘Is there a status report on the ship? I’d like to know what I’ll be working with and what state it’s in.’

‘It’s a state of the art cold fusion engine driven ship. Very well maintained and it’s faster than anything else we possess. It’s capable of flying for prolonged periods without ever having to refuel.’

‘Perfect for smuggling then.’

‘Perfect for military reconnaissance.’ She replied dutifully. It seemed like she was hellbent on giving the captain the impression she took this mission very seriously. He couldn’t blame her for that. The captain’s punishments had a tendency to leave a nasty imprint on someone.

‘How about the ships central computers? He asked.

‘We’ve got access to the navigation and piloting controls. Most of the other systems are behind an unbreakable firewall though. Our top experts have tried to get through it for months, but it simply can’t be done.

He smirked at her. ‘I’ll have a go at that computer then.’

‘You can try all you like, it’s impossible.’

Their conversation was interrupted by a message that got played on Ida’s watch. ‘Launch bay vacuum. Please confirm ready for launch.’

‘Ready in sixty seconds.’ Ida replied.

‘Better drink up, Voss. It’s time to get to work.’