“Sir?” Rachel asked in confusion. The fact that she had never given the Admiral her full name set off alarm bells in her head.

Tharadun’s lips pulled back in a feral looking smile that Rachel knew to be an aggressive expression. “You don’t think I wouldn’t notice one of Ozzath’s lackeys snooping around my ship did you?”

“Ozzath?”

“Yes. The moment an ensign alerted me of two suspicious humans I had my ship run a facial recognition scan. I know your family are willing pawns of that arrogant narka. So I’m curious why he sent you to snoop around my ship.” The Admiral growled as he used a hand gesture to pull up a holographic file on her.

Rachels eyes scanned over the document in question. The information on it was accurate, but it was missing a crucial fact. It lacked her credentials as an ADCU officer.

In that moment Rachel made several decisions in rapid succession. She sat up straighter “I think you might have made a mistake. I might be beholden to my parents, but I am no pawn of Ozzath’s.” she reached into her purse and withdrew her officer identification.

The rift between Judge and Ozzath had been big news on Unity. Ozzath had been a major backer for the previous Chief of security, when that Chief had been forced to step down after several months of Terran riots Ozzath had cut his funding and publicly denounced Judge. Everyone one knew that their was no love lost between the current Chief and the Council man.

Tharadun wasn’t dumb. He knew that Rachel flashing her badge meant she wasn’t with Ozzath’s camp. But that also meant Rachel had a different agenda aboard his ship.

“That woman, Astarte, what is the ADCU’s interest in her?”

“She is currently a person of interest in an ongoing investigation. I was here to probe her for info. We chose your ship because of its security. Approaching you was all her doing.” Rachel explained in a clipped tone.

Tharadun relaxed in his chair. “Why do you think she decided to approach me.”

Rachel raised an eyebrow. “In all honesty. I think she just wanted to cause trouble.”

Tharadun barked a surprised laugh “Truly?”

Rachel nodded “She saw your man glaring at us before he left to fetch you, then she saw you watching us. I think she took offense to that and decided to toy with you.”

“Took offense?”

“Yes, your man saw two civilians in casual wear touring with the rest of the public and decided that since we were human we must be up to no good.”

“You were up to no good.” He pointed out defensively.

Rachel shook her head. What had her life become? She was sitting in front of a flag Admiral and telling him his crew was racist. “No, we came here specifically to find a relaxed environment with good security. And in Astarte’s mind we truly were just minding our business when some strangers decided to take offense to our presence.”

The Admiral frowned “She didn’t seem to be hostile during our interactions. If anything she seemed downright friendly.”

Rachel leaned forward “Did you notice that she never once referred to you with deference. The whole time she treated you like an equal, I’ve seen her have a similar disregard for authority before. In her mind she either see’s herself as above us in turns of rank, or simply does not care for such things. I’m inclined to think the later.”

“Us?” Tharadun mused out loud, and Rachel realized she let more slip than she had intended to. “You have interacted with her in your uniform?”

“Yes.” Rachel said simply.

“And she didn’t express fear?”

“No. In fact she treated my other persona with a disturbing amount of disregard and familiarity.”

“How unusual.” The Admiral mused “I will keep that in mind if our paths ever cross again. Your dismissed miss Heart, please don’t ever try to conduct operations aboard my ship in the future.” He said dismissively as his eyes began to look into a far away place.

Rachel didn’t waste any time and stood up to leave as soon as she could. Rachel only ever acted like an ADCU officer when around other officers who she had a repor with. It was the Arbiter who spoke with strangers.

She could put on a tough act for a while, but the added stress would quickly wear her out. The Arbiter wasn’t just an act she put on when she wore that cloak, it was a necessary divide that she needed.

~~~*~~~

Tharadun watched the Heart girl leave his office. She had surprised him.

At first Tharadun thought Astarte was the mouth of their little operation aboard his ship. The front woman to distract him from the true threat. It quickly became apparent that his assumption was wrong. Of the two, Astarte took the lead while Rachel followed meekly.

Then when Astarte had left and he tried to force a confrontation with the girl she was suddenly able to sit confidently for the first time since she entered his office.

It was a puzzling revelation, but ultimately just a distraction. He hadn’t been lying when he said he ran a facial recognition scan on Rachel, but what he didn’t mention was that he also ran one on Astarte as well.

With a few hand gestures that the ships internal AI interpreted he called up the file on Astarte along with a picture of her ship as it pulled into Unity. With another hand gesture he brought up the blurred image of the mysterious ship that attacked them in Femeri before a Kruhur fleet appeared. The images caught by the ships external camera were taken from a distance from when the ship first emerged, they were murky and unfocused and barred little resemblance to Astarte’s ship. But the mental image in Tharadun’s mind from when that ship had charged at them was crystal clear.

He then called up the local net and browsed the naval archives downloaded from humanities data archives. Astarte had claimed to model her ship after a historical ship from her peoples past. The question now was whether she was the only one who had borrowed that design, or if someone else was out there flying a Iowa shaped ship.

If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

And even if she was, Tharadun didn’t have enough clear evidence to build a case, but his instincts told him with the ADCU looking at her, a case was soon to appear, he just had to keep an eye on things.

~~~*~~~

Rachel had expected to see Astarte immediately outside of the Admiral’s office, instead the pirate was nowhere to be seen. Looking from left to right Rachel decided to follow the same path they had used to arrive here.

Rachel had kept her eyes focused firmly down the hall, which was why she hadn’t noticed anyone standing in a smaller hallway. Out of nowhere Rachel felt a cold metal pressed against her cheek.

Startled she let out a shriek and jumped away from the cold metal.

Her heart racing she lifted both fists in a ready stance, only to see the pirate hunched over with laughter.

“Your face.” She said in between breaths. “Oh that was so worth it.”

Rachel scowled “What the hell was that?” she demanded.

The pirate held up a large blue colored can of a soft drink she didn’t recognize. “I saw a soda machine on the way in, thought I’d get us a drink.” Astarte explained.

Trying to forget her embarrassment Rachel reached out for the can “What flavor?”

“Not sure. I wanted a cola of some sort, but I guess cola is an Earth only flavor, shame. There wasn’t any tea or coffee flavor either. I think this stuff is supposed to be a fruity citrus drink. I’m just guessing by the citric acid warning on the label” The pirate shrugged before twisting off the metal cap.

Rachel looked at her can and read the label. Kortiss. Immediately she jerked her head up to try and warn the pirate, but was too late.

Astarte took one sip before she spit the blue colored drink out and gagged. “Oh god, that’s awful.”

Rachel watched the normally confident women spit out a globule of blue spit and laughed. “Sorry, I was going to warn you. Only herbivores like this stuff.”

“Your telling me. Who the hell wants to drink moldy grass, and why is there citrus?”

“Its supposed to taste like Korto, it’s the blue moss used as turf around Unity. I never liked it either.”

Astarte eyed the drink with disdain. “Why did they choose moss, what’s wrong with fruit?”

Rachel shrugged as she set her unopened can next to the vending machine for whoever might want it before she picked out a different drink. “It has something to do with what can be grown in hydroponic vats around the station. Korto is easy to grow and packed with a lot of universal nutrients.”

“Blegh, soda isn’t supposed to be nutritious.” She grumbled. “Why can’t they just make some artificial flavors?”

“Because most artificial flavors are poisonous to everyone except Terrans. Most people don’t want to eat poisonous chemicals just because it tastes like something else.” The machine dropped two drinks and Rachel passed one to Astarte.

The pirate sighed “That makes sense.” She opened her can and took an experimental sniff “What’s this.”

“Super Blega” Rachel said with mock enthusiasm.

“I can see that,” she said as she read the eye-catching label. “I meant what does it taste like?”

Rachel frowned as she sipped her drink, trying to imagine how she could describe the flavor. “I don’t know how to explain it. It’s always been just Blega to me.”

“That name doesn’t inspire confidence.” Astarte grumble before taking a hesitant sip. She frowned, “It tastes like a cross between black licorice and root beer.”

“Is that good or bad?”

“Its…weird, but not bad.” She said as she took another sip. “I’ll accept it for now. Worst comes to worst I have Coke on the ship.”

Rachel blinked “You have cocaine on your ship?” she asked, astonished the pirate would so casually mention she was carrying a class seven drug.

“What, no. I meant the drink. You know, red can, polar bear, better than Pepsi?”

Rachel shook her head. “doesn’t ring a bell.”

The pirate blinked “oh you poor neglected child. That’s something we need to fix asap.”

“Asap?”

“As soon as possible.” Astarte said in English.

Rachel frowned as she tried to remember her English lessons, it had been years since she had to use it. “I think I get it.”

The pirate quirked her head “You really are a Union brat huh.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means you look human, but know nothing about your heritage.” Astarte explained.

“I know plenty about my heritage.” Rachel said defensively.

She shook her head, “No, you don’t. You only know what the Union has told you, not the real thing. Those are two different things.”

“Are you saying that everyone around me lied about Earth.”

“Not lied” the pirate said slowly, obviously looking for a way of phrasing her next sentence. “They just put a different emphasis on things, and leave out entire subjects. Like, what do you know about the moon landings?”

Rachel blinked “I know that they were a byproduct of research into ballistic missile research.”

“A, a byproduct?” the pirate asked, her tone clearly flabbergasted.

“Yes. The two global superpowers had just discovered nuclear weapons and were developing the best ways to destroy the world.”

“That is so wrong on so many levels.” She shook her head in disgust. “The moon landings were a modern miracle, a feat that took a whole decade of planning. One of Humanities greatest achievements!”

Now it was Rachels turn to be confused “People land on moons all the time.” She pointed out.

“We do now. But back then it was an almost impossible task. They were still using wildly inefficient chemical boosters, on a high gravity world. If our gravity was any higher it would have been impossible to reach escape velocity.”

Rachel put her hands on her hips “Do you really want to have a history lesson here?”

The pirate, who had begun to gesture with her hands, slumped. “Fine, but your not off the hook. I intend to reeducate you during dinner.” She said as she began to walk down the hall.

“Dinner?” Rachel asked after she had caught up.

“Yeah, remember, you lost our bet and now have pay for dinner and desert.”

“Okay, but why would I be there?” she asked. She had totally forgotten all about that.

The Pirate lifted her hands behind her head and Rachel had to turn her eyes away again. “What’s a date without a dinner. Speaking of which, did you have somewhere in mind or did you want me to decide?”

Rachel froze. “Date?” she asked out loud.

Astarte saw that Rachel wasn’t walking and turned her way “Uh, yeah. What else would you call this?”

“Uh, um, a meet up…between two people.” she answered, her voice going unnaturally high.

“Yes” Astarte said slowly like she was an idiot “Also sometimes called a date. Come on, what else could this be?” she said while turning up both her palms in a helpless gesture.

An unwitting interrogation. Probing for information. A set up. But Rachel couldn’t say any of that. Once she realized that Astarte wouldn’t have known about her attempts at prying for information it really did seem like they were on a date. But, but “But two women can’t date.” She said firmly.

The pirate sneered “Says who?” she challenged.

Rachel blinked “Everyone, society, nature.”

“Fuck’em”

Rachel blinked again “Fuck, nature?”

The pirate frowned “no, not nature. But the rest of them. Fuck what they think.”

“But, but its unnatural!” her words felt more like a plea.

“Again, says who. Because nature sure as hell doesn’t give a shit.” She cocked her head to the side. “You really believe what your saying don’t you? You really think what your feeling is unnatural?”

“I don’t feel anything.” Rachel said flatly.

“Bullshit! You’ve been blatantly checking me out all day. I’m not offended, but you really shouldn’t lie to yourself.” Now it was her turn to put her hands on her hips.

“That’s, that’s not-”

“-Not what I think?” she interrupted. The pirate let her hands fall off her hips and strode forward until she was uncomfortably close. Rachel wanted to back away but her feet were stuck in place. The form of the pirate loomed over her, standing as tall as any man she had met. “Tell me your heart isn’t racing right now?” the pirate said in a whisper Rachel could barely hear over the pounding in her ear. “Tell me your stomach isn’t doing flips? Tell me your mouth isn’t dry?”

Instinctively Rachel tried to swallow but her throat was as dry as the desert.

Astarte saw it and smirked “Thought so.” She leaned back. “So, you’re either coming down with a sudden case of fever, or your feeling something much more common and less deadly. Well, usually less deadly. I think Romeo and Juliet are outliers.”

Rachel’s legs shook a bit, but she locked her knees before the pirate could tell. “I, I don’t know what you want from me.” She forced out.

The pirate looked her up, and then down, slowly. Before letting out a defeated sigh. “A lot of things in fact. But I’m not going to force you.” she stepped back, and Rachel could finally breath.

“Your, your not?” she asked in confusion.

“Well yeah, I might be horny, but I’m not going to make you do anything you don’t want to. That would just be wrong.” She said bluntly, as if all that was obvious, and Rachel was the idiot for thinking otherwise.

Even with the pirate at a comfortable distance Rachel still wasn’t able to think straight. Instead of letting the matter drop she felt the warm flush in her face turn to red hot anger. “Then what was all that about!” she growled.

Now it was Astarte’s turn to be angry. “That was me getting pay back. Up until now I thought we were having a fun time and I was looking forward to dinner. Then you tell me that this wasn’t a date, that I was unnatural for thinking so, and that you didn’t feel the same.” She growled back. Her eyes had hardened, but once the last word left her lips her eyes softened. “I don’t like being lied to.” She said bitterly.

“I, I didn’t lie.” Rachel heard herself say.

The pirate gave her a pitying look. “No, you were lying to yourself first, and I should have seen that. That’s on me for getting upset.” The pirate looked to towards the ground, and looked genuinely vulnerable for the first time since Rachel had met her.

For a traitorous moment Rachel felt the urge to step forward. Felt the urge to shove down all her misgivings and reach out for Astarte.

Thankfully, the moment she was about to reach out a ring came from her wrist device.

She lifted her wrist and saw a message from the Central precinct. “THE CSP HAS BEEN ATTACKED, ALL UNITS ARE BEING RECALLED. REPORT TO YOUR DIRECT SUPERVISOR, IMMEDIATElY”

Then a second message came in directly from Judge. “THE ASSASSIN ATTACKED HEADQUARTERS. EIGHT DEAD. RETURN AT ONCE.”

Astarte head had perked up again. “What’s that?” she asked curiously. All previous anger gone.

“Its work, something happened. Its important. I need to go.” Rachel said as she processed the message.

“Don’t let me stop you.” the pirate said, she then took a half step to get out of her way and then paused. “Will I still see at your parents next party?”

Rachel blinked “I don’t think I have any other choice.”

“There’s always a choice, even if it doesn’t seem like it.” the pirate said with a mischievous grin that hinted at what choices she might make. Likely something bold and chaotic “Do you still want to be my totally platonic escort then?”

Rachel didn’t even hesitate. “I already said I would.”

“Just wanted to make sure. Go deal with whatever this important crisis is, but I expect a story later.” Astarte said before finally stepping aside so that Rachel could run out of the Iron Tree.