I injected a stim into my neck and immediately felt the effects of the stim drug working on me and repairing my nose. Skin stitched itself together and burned as it did so. Then it started to itch. I’m going to be scratching my nose forever. I just know it. I thought this as I examined myself in a mirror and scratched my nose.

I took a moment to admire myself in the mirror. My long beautiful flaxen hair, blue and yellow piercing eyes, and perfect complexion. I gave myself a flirtatious wink, then slipped out of my skin-tight black tee-shirt, revealing my scars from battles long past and the three Roman numeral VVV on my right collarbone. Then pulled a black tank top from a nearby locker. I didn’t know who the shirt belonged to, nor did I care since they had died, just that the top fits nicely.

Once I finished changing, I made my way back to the bridge where Haru waited for me, stepping over bodies along the way. I turned the corner to the corridor and saw Haru dragging a dead body down the hall. I walked up to her and asked, “What cha doin’?”

Haru dropped the body unceremoniously, revealing her clean clothes. She wore baggy harem yoga pants and a cropped top with a lovely boob window showing off one of her two tattoos and accentuating her beautiful mounds and abs. The window showed a thorny rose she had tattooed on her sternum and the other one I had only seen a couple of times before on her back. It’s a cobra tattoo that bites down on her right collarbone, and the snake’s body crisscrosses her back and wraps around her right leg, stopping at her ankle.

Catching her breath, Haru answers quickly, “Removing the bodies before they decompose.”

“By dragging them?”

“Yes, by dragging them. How else are we going to remove them?”

“That’s easy. Come, my young apprentice, I shall show you the ways of the lazy fucker,” I said, sounding like an old person, then walking back to the bridge. Haru begrudgingly agreed and followed. Once back at the bridge, I moved the dead bodies outside the airlock door, and Haru helped. Once we finished, I closed the door with a quick thought command and went to one of the computers. I began accessing the ship’s control systems, opening the rest of the airlocks within the vessel, and adding as much air pressure as possible to everywhere except the bridge. This, of course, set off safety protocols, which I had to bypass and only took a few extra minutes.

Once completed, I accessed all six exterior airlocks and opened them simultaneously. A loud whooshing sound emanated from behind the airlock to the bridge. I accessed the airlock security cameras and saw the thousands of dead bodies flying out of the ship’s airlocks. Once we stopped seeing bodies flying out of the airlocks, I closed them and set the air pressure to normal, which would take about an hour to hit livable levels.

“See, easy peasy,” I said happily.

Haru rolled her eyes, “Well, great. Now, we only have enough oxygen to last us a few days. That means we can’t make it to any port to repair the ship without suffocating ourselves.”

I became less happy after hearing that and went to the navigational systems across the room to find our location. The computer spat out a collection of letters and numbers, which I didn’t recognize for a moment, then remembered what they meant. A sly smile spread across my face as I said, “Oh, you know there’s one place we can go.”

“I do?” Haru asked, then looked over my shoulder to see what I saw. Then she remembered our location and the location of the closest starport, “No. No, no, no, no, no. Absolutely not. No,” she said, backing away.

“It’s the only place close enough, and with our warp drives, we’ll get there in less than an hour,” I retorted.

“Yes, but you know what he’s like and how he acts. No,” Haru continued to complain.

“Which is why I would never consider it if you weren’t here. After all, you are his favorite.”

“And you owe him money!”

“Which, the weapons and armor on this ship can more than pay for when we meet with him.”

Haru’s face screwed itself into a frown, “Do we have to go there?” she whined.

“Yes. Also, the other three places within range all want our heads in ways that sex and money can’t buy. Plus, they’re the only place we can hide the ship for a little while.”

“Ahh, fine. But I’m not sleeping with him!”

“All right, but you should at least wear the metal bikini.”

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“I will not wear that thing for him!”

“I never said it was for him. I’m talking about me. Wear that thing for me!”

“No.”

“Aww, come on! Throw a bitch a bone here! I’m sexually starved, and my only companions have been battery-operated!” Haru rolled her eyes, pushed me out of the way, and sat in the nearest chair to begin setting the coordinates for the ship’s nav computer. I raised an eyebrow, “That wasn’t a no.”

“And it wasn’t a yes. Now sit your ass down.”

“Sexually or—”

“Otherwise,” Haru finished my sentence and hit enter on the nav computer. The sound of the engine roared throughout the ship in a low hum as stars brightened and elongated before the Reaver sped off into space.

***

Once we exited light speed, I stood from the wall I laid against since I didn’t sit down as Haru told me to do and got flung against the steel wall of the bridge. It hurt a lot, and I felt sore afterward. I stretched and twisted my body, feeling my vertebrae pop into place with loud cracks. I looked up to see Haru looking at me with a raised eyebrow and a knowing look.

“Told you,” Haru said, smirking.

“I’m fine,” I said, drawing out each word, “Just a little sore. Nothing some stretches won’t fix.”

“Ah, huh. Well, while you stretch, I’m going to take inventory.”

“Why?” I asked, bending over and going into a downward dog stance.

“So we know what we can give in trade and not die.”

“Oh, okay,” I said, going into upward dog, “While you’re at it, find what we have for food. I’m starved. Oh, and find some booze!”

Haru rolled her eyes, “Fine, but you’re cooking.”

“Deal,” I agreed, standing and swinging my arms in clockwise circles with fingers curled. Then we heard beeping from a console in the front of the bridge, and I stopped swinging my arms around to look toward the noise. “Uhmm, what’s that?” I asked apprehensively.

“That’s the communications console,” Haru answered, as apprehensive as me.

“Long-range?”

“Short.”

“Oh no,” we said simultaneously.

Haru immediately ran to the console and sat in the chair in front of the screen while I took a spot next to her, ensuring I would be off-screen. Once we settled, Haru fixed her hair, adjusted her breasts as she answered the call, and spoke in Japanese, “Hi, Okiri. Did you lose weight?”

The man on the screen looked unimpressed, and as I had known him before, he hailed from the first world, Earth, Japan, to be specific. He had several hundred extra pounds back then, but now he looked fit and athletic with a chiseled jawline. His slanted brown eyes stared daggers into Haru as a scowl creased his face, “Hana, why are you here?” Okiri asked in Japanese, but the comms console translated it into English.

“Uhm, well…Uhmmm, we need your help,” Haru responded, being as polite as possible.

“Help?! Why should I help you after you broke my heart!?”

“Uhmm… Agh!” Haru exclaimed as I kicked her off the chair, spun it around, and sat down, crossing my arms on the top of the chair and resting my chin on my arms. I got impatient with the whole politeness thing and wanted to get down to business.

“Hey, Okiri! Long time no see, fat ass!” I exclaimed, not bothering to speak in Japanese.

Okiri grew visibly angry at the insult and said, “Fives! How dare you enter my system again and insult me in such a rude manner! Men, get ready t-”

“Now, now, Okiri. Before you get all bent out of shape, I’m here to settle my debt with you.”

Okiri raised a hand to his people off-screen and said, “So, you’re going to return my mother’s pearl necklace that has been in my family for generations!?”

I froze momentarily, remembering why he put a bounty on my head. I had stolen that ancient pearl necklace expecting to sell it for a fortune, but it turned out to be fake, so I sold it for a few credits, stole it back, and set it on fire. Can’t replace something that was destroyed. I grimaced before answering, “Oh, that. I sold that a long time ago. Did you know it had fake pearls? Anyways, although I don’t have that, I have a meteor diamond to give you. It’s uncut and pure.”

Okiri scoffed, “And you think one meteor diamond would replace my family heirloom?”

“Hana will fuck you in ways you could only imagine.”

“When should I expect the diamond?” Okiri asked, suddenly intrigued.

“I never agreed to this!” Haru yelled.

I opened the blast shields around the bridge to look through the force field viewports. I saw nothing but endless space and said, “Depends on how close we are to you.”

“You are approximately ten AU away from my station.”

“Great! I’ll have that diamond and Hana ready for you when we arrive within the hour. Maybe longer. You know how she is.”

“I never agreed to this! No!”

“I do indeed,” Okiri said with a broad smile.

“See you soon,” I said, smiling and waving my fingers as I ended the call.

“I fucking hate you,” Haru said, crossing her arms and legs while turning her back to me, giving me a good look at parts of the tattoo on her back.

Unfazed, I knelt behind Haru and wrapped my arms around her, pulling her close. Haru didn’t resist, doing her best to ignore me. Then I put my lips against Haru’s ear and whispered, “I’ll make it up to you after. I promise,” then pulled away from her slightly as I felt a shiver run through Haru’s body.

“P-promise?” Haru asked, studdering.

“Promise,” I whispered in her ear again, my warm breath sending another shiver through Haru’s body.

Haru sighed and leaned into me, nuzzling her head underneath my chin. “Fine, I’ll do it,” she relented after a few minutes.

“That’s my girl,” I said, placing a kiss atop Haru’s head. Haru turned and looked up into my blue and yellow eyes, then leaned in, giving me a small kiss on the lips. She tasted like cherries.

We soon pulled away from each other, and Haru stood, “All right, I got to go and see if the three-D printer can print leather clothes ‘cause I don’t have mine with me.”

“What are you looking for, full-body dominatrix type or sexy lingerie?”

“Dominatrix, I also need straps.”

“Ooh, spicey. I got the suit on my ship. But no straps. I do have some paracord, though.”

“That’ll do,” Haru said, unenthused.

“Great! Lead me to my ship!” I said, standing. Haru looked at me with a raised eyebrow. I shrugged, “What?! I don’t know my way around the ship.”

Rolling her eyes, Haru said, “Fine. I’ll show you the way,” then, she walked to the airlock door, and I lagged behind her, watching Haru’s ass as she walked away.

***