I waited to track down Alexandra until Haru finished doing things to Okiri. Whatever that may be. I did my best not to think of it for the sake of my sanity. So, I explored the ship and orientated myself with it as a distraction.

The top deck had the bridge and the weapon controls seating seventy-four people. Two consoles for broadside cannons on each side, sixty anti-air turret controls, and ten miscellaneous consoles for some other weapons. I made a mental note to ask Haru about those controls. Then went down to the second deck, which had the barracks for the soldiers and crew, plus the mess hall and kitchens. They even had a fully stocked bar. I took a quick shot of whiskey before moving on.

The third deck had the armory and security areas. The fourth had detention cells, interrogation rooms, and contraband rooms with my weapons and illegal equipment. I stopped and retrieved a few of my knives and weapons. Then made my way to the fifth deck, which had the hangers filled with starfighters. I examined them to determine the models.

The VX-12 is a short-range space fighter capable of Mach fifty in gravity areas, such as planets, and Mach seventy-five in space. It had a thin nose, and the wings tapered off into a Y shape, so the ship looked like an old-world peace sign. They looked to be equipped with mark X (ten) plasma drives, a railgun, and MG-X30 fifty caliber machine guns. Not a half-bad fighter, but improvements could be made. The starfighter tended to have poor maneuverability in any condition. It didn’t have inertial dampeners, so they couldn’t speed up or slow down quickly unless the pilot had a death wish.

And the sixth level had the cargo bay and escape pods. Though emergency escape pods had been on every level, this level had enough for the whole crew. Once I finished exploring, I returned to the second level and went to the kitchen to fix up some food. After a few moments of indecision between M.R.E. lasagna and chocolate pie, I decided on the lasagna and left the pie for Haru. After all, once she returns, she’ll need something to eat to cheer her up.

I pulled out a pot, filled it with water, and placed it over a burner to get it boiling. Then I leaned back against the opposite stove and waited and listened to the flames. Something felt off to me. I heard background noise where there shouldn’t be noise. I took a deep breath and cleared my mind, listening intently. A slight static noise came from behind me and the soft sound of gentle footsteps.

No boots. Not a cleaner or repair person. Static noise? Stealth generator. Someone else is here. Good at stealth and technology. Sounds like little Alexandra is here to collect on a bounty. How fun! I moved out of the kitchen, walking past the static noise to see how the generator worked. Standard stealth generators bend light and leave a slight waviness where the person stands. This generator, however, didn’t have any waviness. Impressive. Zander and I were working on something like that a while back, but someone stole it, and I lost interest in it. As I thought this, I didn’t stop and kept walking out of the kitchen.

As I walked by, I heard a sharp inhale from Alexandra. Judging from the location of the sound, Alexandra only came up to my chest, making her around five feet tall. As the door closed behind me, I sat at the closest table and leaned back, spreading my arms and crossing my legs, completely relaxed. Then I took a deep breath and listened for the sound of static. One minute later, the door to the kitchen opened slightly, and I heard static.

The static sound approached slowly with the pitter-patter of tiny feet. Once the sound got close, I lunged and tried to grab the person I assumed would be Alexandra. I just barely missed, and the sound of static quickly disappeared. I laughed, “Well done! That’s quite an impressive stealth unit. If I recall, Zander and I were working on a stealth unit like the one you’re wearing now. Did he complete it, and you killed him for it so that you’re the only one in possession of it?”

“Zander was an uninspired imbecile. With no genius to his name,” a female child’s voice responded, “I made this stealth unit, and I am the only one who can use it.”

“Oh, I see,” I said, turning around to listen for the voice’s origin, “So, you found his project finished it, and Zander wanted to copy it and make a bunch of money. Sounds like him. But you said no and wanted it for yourself, so you killed him. No, you’re young. You didn’t speak out against him. You just took it and killed him with the fire. Am I wrong?”

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Silence followed the question, then Alexandra said, “You are incorrect. I did speak out. But it’s not like that bastard listened.”

“Ah, true. And now you’re on the run and need to get some money. No money, no components. No components, no inventions. No inventions, no fun in life. So, you want me dead. After all, my head is the most valuable thing on this ship.”

“Also incorrect. I have plenty of money to make inventions. But a little extra never hurts,” Alexandra said, then a bolt of electricity flew past my head, barely missing me.

Rolling forward and taking cover behind a table, I pulled out a few weapons to take inventory. I had the kyoketsu-shoge, several throwing knives, two plasma pistols, and my plasma blade bracelets, one of which had been fried on the last mission. I pulled out some throwing knives since I needed Alexandra alive.

“All right then. Let me take another wild stab. You’re not running from the law. You’re running from the underground’s law. Zander had a knack for making friends and connections. Something you don’t have,” another bolt of electricity struck the table I hid behind, “Case in point. And you and I both know the underground runs off a straightforward rule, survival of the fittest. Zander had friends with all the strongest people in the galaxy except for Okiri. So, since you killed Zander, everyone wants you dead but can’t find you because Okiri’s territory is so vast, and he’s helping hide you. But you can only hide for so long. You need to know that you’re safe. And well, the safest thing you can do is get some reputation.”

“Be quiet and die already,” Alexandra said, her disembodied voice coming from my right.

I wasted no time reacting and plunged a dagger into nothing, feeling the blade hit something metal. I then grabbed the air and held the solid figure in a bear hug, immobilizing the invisible Alexandra. Then I got head-butted by nothing. I had to hold on tighter, so I released her for a second, adjusted my grapple, immobilizing Alexandra’s arms, and kept her head looking down.

“Well, reputation is earned and not given,” I continued as Alexandra struggled, “Zander is a tough bastard to kill even when he’s drunk. But anybody could kill someone with a keyboard and a few mouse clicks. So, you didn’t get a whole lot of credit for it. But killing the galaxy’s greatest assassin face-to-face. Nobody would even consider looking you in the eye, let alone try and kill you.”

“For once, you’re correct. Why don’t you let me go so I can end you.”

I laughed at that, “Ha! You really are bad at negotiations. Here’s a counter-proposal. You join me.”

Alexandra stopped struggling, “What?”

“If people know you’re connected and protected by me, nobody would even think of hurting you. Plus, I need your particular expertise with my current mission. The pay is excellent and near limitless. All you have to do is not kill me and agree to help me on my mission. You get safety and money, and I don’t have to kill you. It’s a win-win all around,” I said, then slowly let go of Alexandra and stuck out a hand, waiting for a handshake.

A minute passed before Alexandra uncloaked herself. She wore a skin-tight black suit that accentuated her lovely curves but, to my disappointment, also showed Alexandra’s very flat chest. She undid the faceless mask she wore, revealing violet hair tied back into a warrior wolf tail that ended in hot pink. The sides of her head had been shaved smooth, revealing cybernetic circuitry. Her eyes had been replaced with more cybernetics, giving her black sclera with yellow dots running hidden circuit paths, and her irises had also been made yellow and glowed. Her young small angular face looked rather cute to me.

Then Alexandra stuck out a hand and said, “I shall accept your proposal, Mrs. Reaper.”

I accepted the proffered hand and said, “Glad to have you aboard, Sparky!”

“Don’t ever call me Sparky,” Sparky said.

“Too late. You’re now Sparky,” I said with a smile, waving her off, then I laughed at Sparky’s reddening face.

Before Sparky could yell at me for laughing, the doors to the mess hall opened, and Haru walked in, looking disheveled. Her yukata had tears, and I could see Haru had nothing else underneath. Haru slowly made her way to me and leaned in for a hug.

I happily accepted and reveled in the feel of Haru’s bountiful breasts before asking, “So, how did it go?”

Haru sniffed, “It was horrible. He’s upgraded since the last time. There’s now a cow milker.”

“Ewwww. At least you didn’t have to drink it this time.”

Haru looked up at me with a disgusted and regretful face before saying, “The milker leads to an ice cream machine!”

“Ewwwww. Ewww, Ewww, Ewww. Do you need something to cheer you up?” I asked, and Haru nodded, “Okay, I’ll get you some pie. While I get you that, meet Sparky! Our new member!” I said, introducing them and walking into the kitchen.

Sparky looked at Haru wide-eyed and said, “He told me that was a vacuum. And vanilla flavoring.”

Haru gently pulled Sparky into a hug and said, “Oh, you sweet summer child. Let’s do introductions later when I’m feeling better. For now, I need to eat something.”

“And that’s my cue!” I exclaimed as I returned the mess hall with a bag of M.R.E. apple pie.

“No.”

“But-”

“No. Just-just no,” Haru said, taking the Apple pie as she walked away to return to her room and get cleaned up.

***