We worked all week while changing shifts and giving each woman a chance to pilot the ship in slightly different and dangerous situations. Perginia only wanted to fly the shuttle, despite having the skills for both small ships and large ships. She was pretty fearless in the shuttle's operations and could manoeuvre it as it if was an extension of herself. That was impressive by itself and she actually enjoyed it. As far as I could tell, she enjoyed flying even more than Rhubin did.
By the end of the week, I found the strengths and weaknesses of each woman and knew that given enough time, they could work on those weaknesses and make them into strengths... or they could remain paired up and then those weaknesses were covered by their co-pilot. When we gathered together for a company meeting and sat down to eat together, just like I had us do for every meal, I discussed all of this with them.
“Okay, I have to admit that having a second person that's just as qualified in the co-pilot's seat is a relief, especially if something odd happens.” Deborah said and nodded to Beatrice. “Like two days ago and that stray piece of debris headed towards the ship.”
“I'm just glad I saw it.” Beatrice said.
“I'm just as glad that I didn't fight for the controls when you shouted and scared me.” Deborah said with a chuckle.
“It was a close call.” Perginia said. “None of the gravity sensors picked it up, either.”
“I'm not sure how it evaded our sweep.” Gleas said. “We checked the area just a few minutes before.”
“Things can move very fast in space, especially in close quarters like this and things bump each other.” I said and they looked at me, so I described how at one point I had warned Rhubin during the last salvage operation about a small piece of metal coming at a high rate of speed, then it turned out to be one of the main structural beams from a huge ship.
“Oh, goddess.” Gleas said. “Perspective is so weird, isn't it?”
“It definitely scared us into being more cautious.” I smiled. “Not that Rhubin needed the reminder.”
“He's a great pilot.” Kalina said. “They use his piloting at the Battle of Fogaris as an example of active defensive manoeuvring.”
I chuckled. “That's actually a good description for it.”
We all finished eating and when the discussion ended, the women exchanged glances and then they all looked at me. I ignored the pointed stares for a few moments, then I took a deep breath and let out a long and dragged out sigh.
“I suppose you're all waiting for my decision.” I said and all of their thoughts coalesced into the same thought. 'Let it be me'. “The first thing I need to say is this.” I looked at each of them. “Like the military, there's to be no personal fraternization with anyone inside the company.”
“Wait, what?” Beatrice blinked her eyes at me. “You're saying we can't socialize?”
“We wouldn't be sharing meals together all the time if that were the case.” I said. “Having and being friends is fine. I actually meant having sex.”
“Oh.” Beatrice sighed. “I guess that's fair.”
“I was on a ship once and the women there... well, they had no problem sharing the new man on board and passed him around when they were through with him.”
The five women stared at me for a minute, then their faces flushed red.
“I escaped that situation, barely, and only Rhubin got caught. It was weird and interesting to see how the dynamic worked... and didn't work... and I do not want that for this company.” I said. “In fact, if you caught any of the tension between me and the others, it's because of a similar situation that happened a few weeks ago when we tried to hire a temporary pilot.”
Perginia caught onto the hint immediately. “Was it the blonde or the brunette?”
“The blonde. She was on the other ship and she joined my crew when Rhubin and I left that ship.”
“Which means she was one of the contributors? Or collaborators?” Beatrice asked.
“It's more like she was an enabler.” Gleas said as she understood. “I'm surprised you hired her.”
“She was a passenger at first, then she became the backbone of the shipping business.” I said. “I had thought she had gotten it out of her system by then and when we spent some alone time together...”
“She got you, too?” Deborah asked, surprised.
I chuckled. “Not right away, and a lot of things happened beforehand. When I got back to the ship, I kind of fell into being with her and...”
“It was great and then one of you messed up.” Perginia said, and I nodded. “That was why you made a spectacle of yourself the first time. You said it was for a mistake you made, so it had to be for her.”
“Luxea didn't like that I showed everyone that it was her that killed the aliens in that scout ship and I tried to get everyone to concentrate on me.”
“That definitely worked.” Kalina said and laughed. “That was the best time I've ever had!”
“You were at the first one?” I asked and she nodded.
“I didn't get to brush your hair, though.” Kalina said and looked at my fuzzy head. “Oh! I'm sorry!”
I shrugged and rubbed my hand over my head. “It's all right. I remind myself of what happened every time I turn my head.”
“Can we date crew members while off the ship?” Gleas asked. “That would be personal time, right?”
I opened my mouth to say no, then sighed. “I'm not here to police your personal lives, especially since I've been guilty of sleeping with coworkers.” I said. “I'm just trying to mitigate the potential fallout from work relationships being hurt or broken because of personal feelings.”
“You mean what happened between you and the blonde? Luxea, wasn't it?” Kalina asked and I nodded. “Then is she leaving the company if you've broken up?”
“I'm not sure what she wants to do; but, she said that she can't leave until we finish this salvage operation and we recoup the money from buying this ship.”
“Wow, is money that tight?” Deborah asked, a little surprised. “What about us?” She looked at the other women and back at me. “Why are you dangling a lucrative job in front of us if you can't pay us?”
“The company doesn't have a lot of currency at the moment; but, I do.” I said. “I even paid for all of the food and supplies that were brought on board with you.”
“You paid for it?” Beatrice asked. “How?”
“Inheritance from my parents.” I said. “I didn't have access to it until recently and as far as I could tell at the time, it was well over twice what this ship was worth.”
“Wow.” Deborah said. “Why aren't you pompous and arrogant like most rich people?”
I laughed. “In case you haven't noticed yet, I am arrogant.”
“Not like them.” Deborah said. “I think you're more overconfident than arrogant.”
“Yes, definitely overconfident.” Perginia said. “I've seen a lot of your broadcasts and the propaganda videos from the government and the military.”
“I'd like to say I've been humbled.” I said and rubbed my head again as I sat back in my chair and sighed. “It's more like I've been refocused onto my original plan.”
“What's that?” Kalina asked.
“I shouldn't say until I make a decision of who to hire.” I said and the women perked up. “Do you want me to make that now, or do you want a day to relax and find out then?”
“There's no way I can relax for a day if I have to wait.” Gleas said. “I'd rather know now.”
The other women agreed and I nodded.
“I really needed a good shuttle pilot...”
“YES!” Perginia pumped her fist into the air, then caught herself. “Sorry.”
I chuckled, then closed my eyes for a moment to give them a blank face, then opened my eyes. “I know the rest of you are here for different reasons, and I know you have different expectations, and I also know that each of you believes that you deserve the job more than the others.”
The other four women exchanged depreciating glances for a moment and looked back at me.
“This was a fairly hard decision, especially after seeing how you all work this week.”
“How could you see us? You were out in space and salvaging...” Gleas asked and then covered her mouth. “I'm sorry for interrupting.”
“Before you jump to conclusions, I didn't review security footage from the cockpit, even though I could have.” I said. “Also, there are no security cameras inside the personal rooms... or the bathrooms.”
Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author's preferred platform and support their work!
All five women visibly relaxed and the thoughts they had about how I was watching them evaporated.
“You've all acted professionally, both during work and during your off time, and I was honestly surprised there hasn't been any conflicts between you, considering you are relative strangers and just spent a week together in space on a stressful job.”
Three of them laughed and two had slight blushes.
“Does that mean I missed something?” I asked the two who blushed, Gleas and Kalina.
“It's not really a conflict.” Gleas said and looked at Kalina. “She's dating my ex.”
“Will that be a problem if I hire the two of you?”
“No, I...” Gleas took a breath and let it out.
“She doesn't want children and I do.” Kalina said, which went right to the heart of the problem.
I looked from one to the other, then settled on Kalina. “What are you doing applying for a space salvage job if you're planning on having kids?”
“Trying to make money, of course.” Kalina said. “If I get hired for the three months you've estimated for the job, I won't have to work again for a year.”
“Ah, I see.” I said. She could take the time off after this job to have the baby. I thought and looked at Gleas. “Are you okay with me hiring her for three months?”
Gleas looked at me for several moments and then looked at Kalina, then she steeled her thoughts and nodded to me. “If that's all she needs to make them both happy, then I'm okay with that.”
“Good.” I said. “Does anyone else have any other short term or long term plans that a job like this might interfere with?”
The other women shook their heads.
“All right.” I said and stood. “Kalina, I'd like to offer you a three month contract, standard pay for flight with a one percent bonus as danger pay from the salvage when it's sold.”
“Th-thank you!” Kalina said happily and the other three sighed in defeat.
“Don't look so glum.” I said and they looked at me. “Gleas, I'd like to offer you a job... a permanent job... as the primary pilot for this ship.”
“Wh-wh-what?!?” Gleas exclaimed. “P-permanent?”
“The perks are better than a temporary job and...” I started to say.
“I thought this job was only for the salvage operation.” Beatrice said. “Why didn't you say it was a permanent job?”
“I read the ad that Rhubin posted. Nowhere does it say that it's a temporary position.” I said and they all stared at me. “I wanted to hire a pilot for the ship, not just while it's in the Fogaris system.” I chuckled. “How would I get the thing back to base if I didn't have a pilot to fly it?”
They all sat there and stared at me and didn't say anything.
“Well, I suppose we should go back to our rooms for the night, because everyone but Kalina needs to reconsider your requirements and expectations about the job. We can meet again for breakfast and I'll find out then if any of you are interested in an actual job.” I said and left the dining area.
I didn't want to listen to their discussion, so I put up a soft sound block in my mind and their voices faded into the background noise of the ship. I went to my room and stripped off, hung the uniform suit up, then hopped into the shower to quickly clean up and went to bed. Just as a precaution, I covered the door with a thin layer of Presence and made it solid. I hadn't done it all week; but, if one of them decided that they didn't want a permanent job, they might also decide that having some alone time with me would be the best going away present they could have.
*
“It's been a week and he still hasn't decided.” Luxea said as they watched the vidscreen in the living room. She had salvaged a lot that day and needed to unwind.
“Are you really that anxious about it?” Simone asked and grabbed a small handful of thin wafer-like things and ate some. “What are these things, anyway?”
“Something the locals eat.” Luxea said and ate a couple of the thin wavers herself. “I think they are dried flower petals or something.” She sighed. “If he hires another beautiful woman, I might scream.”
“Is that why you didn't look over the files Rhubin sent you?” Simone asked.
Luxea nodded. “I didn't want to know beforehand what they looked like.”
Simone laughed. “You don't honestly think he's hiring eye candy, do you?”
“No, but... if given a choice...”
Simone shook her head. “Now you're really letting your old personality take reign.” She said. “Where's the welcoming and happy Luxea I met when I came onto the ship?”
Luxea opened her mouth for a moment and then sighed. “She's not that happy anymore.”
“Yeah, I know.” Simone said and looked back at the screen when the thirty foot tall vermin smashed into another house and picked up two poor souls and ate them. “I'd tell you not to blame yourself for that... but...”
Luxea sighed. “I've tried to apologize...”
Simone snorted a laugh. “No, you haven't.” She said and Luxea gave her a look. “I don't need 'the look' from you. Every time he tries to come near you, you flinch and hesitate. You barely spoke to him the last time he was around and because of that, he didn't say goodbye to either of us when he left the ship.” She sighed. “Of course, me getting after him for what he said to you didn't help, either.”
Both women ate more of the wafer-like flower petals and watched the screen. Surprisingly, they both imagined the thirty foot tall monster was Hunter and the woman he currently held in his claws was them. When the monster ate the woman and she didn't scream, they both thought that was appropriate.
*
Rhubin rolled over in bed and his scruffy black hair and moustache rubbed across the pillow and irritated his nose. He rubbed it and moved the hair out of the way and laid on his back as he stared up at the ceiling. He agreed with Hunter that he didn't want their company to end up like the long haul transport, where they passed people around like toys and had fun with them until they were bored.
Unfortunately, when he had researched the women to hire, one of them had struck his fancy and hit all of his buttons. He knew they would have a lot in common and he had added her to the list, just for fun. According to Hunter's daily updates on them and their performances, she was working out to be one of the top contenders for the job. If she got it, then he was going to be in serious trouble.
Rhubin reached under the blanket and closed his eyes as he concentrated on the woman's face, then her chest, then on her plump ass. “Oh, goddess!” He said and made a mess much faster than he had ever made a mess before. “I really need to get laid. And fast.” He climbed out of bed and went to the bathroom to clean himself up. After that and changing his clothes, he went back to bed and slid under the covers. He was quite tired after losing some essential nutrients and expending so much energy.
Rhubin fell asleep with thoughts of making a quick run to the Dizahl System and visiting a particularly dark bar where not a lot of questions were asked and the lights stayed off.
*
On the second ship, each of the four remaining women walked down the hall and stopped near Hunter's room to stare at the door. Not all at the same time, of course. They hid from each other and made sure that their timing was just odd enough that they didn't meet each other. They hadn't coordinated it; and yet, the movements and times spent staring at the door never crossed and they all went back to their rooms shortly after. None of them had build up enough courage to go to him and to ask his advice about what they should do about the very important decision they had to make.
*
The next morning, I woke up at my planned time and dressed in casual clothes, because no matter what the women decided, I was taking a day off from doing everything. Unlike them, I had worked each day all week and wanted to relax. I stored everything into a bag of holding and left my room to head to the kitchen. Once there, I thought about prepping breakfast for everyone and gave their rooms a quick glance. They were all in various states of getting up and getting dressed, so I gave in and stopped fighting my nice tendencies and made five more meals. As each woman came into the kitchen to make themselves breakfast, I handed them one of my prepared trays.
Each one was surprised by this and when all five of them sat down at the large table, I placed my tray on the table and sat myself. No one said anything and we all quietly ate our food. I lifted the soft mental block I had put in place and could hear their thoughts about how good the food tasted. I didn't delve any deeper than their surface thoughts and waited patiently as we all finished the meal.
When we were all done, I gathered the trays up and slid them into the available slot and went back to the table and sat down. All five women tried to stop themselves from staring at me and I had to chuckle at that. That got their attention and then they had to look at me.
“You're all acting like school girls that are afraid to be disciplined by the cross teacher.” I said and all five of them let blushes show on their faces. “I have to admit that it's endearing... and a little annoying.”
I saw their surprise and their surface thoughts reflected that.
“You don't have to be nervous. You're grown women. We're here to discuss things. You can say whatever you want and I won't judge you harshly or react negatively.”
“Is that true?” Gleas asked. “I just... I've got family here, but... if the job takes me away from them, I...”
“That's what discussions are for.” I said. “So, tell me all of your concerns.”
Gleas looked across the table at Kalina and then at the other women around the table.
“I can block them from hearing this if you want.” I offered and she looked at me in surprise.
“No, I... I can say this. If I can't, then I don't deserve the job.” Gleas said.
I gave her a smile and she described her family, her friends, and her social life that had been perfect until recently. She even managed not to look at Kalina when she said it. She described that she didn't want everyone to think she was running away from everything if she did accept the permanent job; but, she also didn't want them to think that she gave up a great opportunity by refusing, just for a social standing that she knew was damaged because of what had happened between her and her ex.
I reached out and took her hand and she startled for a second, then I shared my calmness technique with her. “Thank you for telling me all of that.”
“I... I tried to... to go to your room last night.” Gleas admitted. “I wanted to discuss this with you and see what you thought, before I made my decision.”
“Are you sure that you weren't trying to put me into an awkward position?” I asked and her face flushed red for a moment, then the color faded and she looked into my eyes.
“I honestly wanted your opinion on how to handle the situation I'm in... however... if something did happen, I... I would have to refuse the job and I wouldn't say no to you.” Gleas said. “Not because I wouldn't want it, because you would have broken your own policy.”
I nodded. “Then how about we compromise on the job?” I asked. “Rather than the permanent position, it'll be a trial for the first two months. At the end of that time, you can reconsider your options and make a final decision then?”
“Do I have to wait the full two months?” Gleas asked. “What if I change my mind next week, or only a month from now?”
“That's the best thing about making decisions. If it's not pressured, you can weigh all the good things against all the bad things and make an informed decision.”
“What are some of the bad things?” Perginia asked.
“I can't tell you everything if I don't hire you.” I said and held a hand up to stop her protest. “You already know that some systems will react negatively to a 'warship' entering their space.”
“What if I refuse the job?” Perginia asked.
“I'll look for someone else or do what I did with the other pilot. I'll go out in just a space suit.”
“You're crazy!” Perginia and Beatrice said and I laughed.
“I'm definitely not on the good side of mental stability, not after what happened with that explosion. My anger keeps threatening to break out and I'm very eager to hunt down the people that did it.”
“Is that what you're going to do next?” Perginia asked.
“That has a both a yes and a no component that I can't elaborate on for the same reason.”
“Then I'm in.” Perginia said. “The news said they had three buildings wired to explode and you disabled two of them.”
“You saved fourteen people from that explosion.” Deborah said.
“I also killed fourteen people that knew about it and didn't say anything.” I said and all five women were shocked and stared at me. “Let me make this clear.” I said and stood. “Anyone that crosses me or people I care about, they will pay. Either with their lives or the destruction of their businesses and resources. I will take revenge on the people responsible.”
“Then I'm in.” Deborah said. “I can't stand it when people think they are too powerful to be touched by the law when they break it.”
I was the only one that caught Perginia's slight nod of agreement.
“I'm in, too.” Beatrice said. “If you know the people responsible, I want to help.”
I looked at Kalina and she shook her head. “I'm keeping the three month temporary contract.”
I turned my head to look at Gleas. “You don't have to wait the two months to decide. You can choose at any time and don't let the current mood sway you.”
Gleas chuckled. “Are you kidding?” She asked. “Who could say no with this kind of atmosphere?”
Perginia laughed. “That's the spirit!”
“So...” Deborah took a breath and let it out. “...who are you going to choose as your pilot?”
“Since you all seem to be adamant about helping me out with this, it all comes down to your skills.” I said and let them sit in anticipation for several moments.
“Stop teasing me!” Perginia said and slapped my hand. “Just say it!”
“All right, you've forced my hand.” I said and frowned.
They all leaned forward in anticipation, eager to hear their own name when I spoke.
I gave them all a stern look. “I'm hiring... all of you.”