Chapter 164: Shelia's Last Resort and Karashel Slimes the Slope

Chapter 164: Shelia's Last Resort and Karashel Slimes the Slope

“And one final thing,” Sheila said to her crew as they lounged on the bridge, “I know she’s cute and all but keep your eye on Sheloran. I don’t know what her deal is, but I do know she can get on top of you before you can blink.”

“Dare to dream, right Eno?” Gloria smirked.

“Could you please take a break from being a complete bitch just this once?” Eno growled dangerously. Good ol’ Eno was as nice as could be... riiiiight up until he wasn’t.

You didn’t want to see that. He was in the crew for a reason. Only Gloria had the balls to really fuck with him.

“Yeah, she’s a bitch,” Sheila said, “but that bitch has a point. Eno, you are a great guy, but this might not be the time for, pardon the pun, your ‘white knight’ routine. I don’t expect there to be any real trouble. If I did, I wouldn’t let that thing prowl around so freely... but... and I’m not saying there will be trouble, but if there is...”

“There won’t be!” Eno snapped.

“I know... I know...” Sheila said reassuringly, “But, if there is, don’t get in front of my shot, alright? That’s all I’m saying.”

“You would shoot me?”

“Of course not, dipshit!” Sheila snorted as she tossed back a beer, “I wouldn’t take the shot, and that little blue demon would kill both of us... You did watch the snuff flick, right? If she goes ‘pop,’ we had all better be on our game.”

“She won’t go ‘pop’ if Gloria wouldn’t try so hard to make it happen!” Eno snarled accusingly.

“And one point for the white knight,” Sheila smirked. “Gloria, stop fucking with the frog, got it?”

Gloria muttered something under her breath.

”Got it?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Gloria grumbled, “I’ll leave little miss pissy pants alone... Christ... That fucking thing is getting on my last nerve.”

“What do you have against Sheloran, anyway?” Lorna asked.

“It’s her whole... act...” Gloria smirked, “I just want to sell coffee,” she said in a whiny voice, “I’m not a bad person!” Gloria wailed, holding her hands to her cheeks, “Oh, I’m soooo... pooping scared Eno... Hold me!... Finger my gills!” Gloria gasped as she lunged at Eno wrapping her arms around him, laughing as Eno bounced her off the floor.

“SHE NEVER ASKED ME TO FINGER ANYTHING!!!” Eno bellowed. “The only thing she has ever done is hold my hand!” Eno exclaimed and then groaned. He knew what was about to happen.

“OooooOOooooo!” Gloria crooned suggestively, “You two are up to hand holding already?”

“Gloria!” Sheila snapped. “Stop baiting Eno. Eno, stop simping over the frog. It’s weird.”

“I’M NOT SIM...” Eno bellowed as everyone burst into laughter, “You know what? Fuck all of you!”

Eno rose to leave.

“Ok, ok...” Sheila said reassuringly, “I’m sorry Eno. Come back, please,” she said trying to keep a straight face. “I won’t fuck with you anymore, I promise. We might have a vote.”

Eno sat back down, glaring at Gloria.

“And Gloria,” Sheila added, “don’t forget what happened last time you pushed Eno just a bit too far. We might be stuck out here for a while, and we don’t need to be wasting medical supplies.”

“What happened?” Lorna whispered to Jacob.

“I’ll tell you later,” Jacob whispered back, “Let’s just say you don’t want Eno to go Yellowstone, trust me.”

“Next item,” Sheila said, looking at the tablet, “repairs. We have the second coming of combat spacecraft sitting in our hold and a pilot who really needs to kill something.”

“Our shipbuilders are in Sol,” Greg replied, “and we are about as hot as you can get. How bad is it, Bunny?”

“Bad,” Bunny replied, “They have covered the Barnard’s Star system in drones, and I mean covered it. There are thousands of them flying constant patrols. Nothing is getting in or out without tripping hundreds of alerts. Sol is even worse. The whole fleet is mobilized. They are flying patrols everywhere. Every port, every shipyard, even little mom and pop junkyards are getting regular visits.”

“What about the Kuiper Belt?” Sheila asked.

“They are even out there,” Jessie chirped. “That’s where the battleships and carriers are.”

“Even Eris?”

“The Retribution is hovering right on top of it.”

“New Tokyo?”

“The Alduin.”

“Makemake?”

“The Sovngarde,” Jessie replied. “I’m telling ya, the Navy is out there in force. It’s so bad that the Kuipers are letting them... Oh, and they are pissed at us, too. They blame us for bringing the heat down on them.”

“What they aren’t blockading,” Bunny said, “they are flying regular patrols over. Turns out they even knew about places we didn’t think they did.”

“What about the scattered disk?” Sheila asked. “They can’t have all of that covered.”

“Stiletto squadrons and trawlers,” Jessie replied. “I think we kinda pissed them off... and our ‘friends’ say that they think Gloria’s reaper was built in the Sol System, which it was. They also figure she’s going to need serious repairs, which she does.”

“What about the builders?” Sheila asked.

“They got a visit,” Bunny said, “but they are pros, and nothing was found. They aren’t getting any more heat than anyone else, but any shipbuilder or repair specialist has eyes on them. They have a drone hovering outside their shop, like every other shop in the system.”

“They say that they might be able to sneak out a few people,” Jessie chirped, “But it’s going to cost us big time.”

“Well, if they can do it,” Sheila replied, “we’ll pay them.”Ñ00v€l--ß1n hosted the premiere release of this chapter.

“What about the Oort cloud?” Gloria asked impishly.

“No!” Sheila exclaimed, “Just... no... Not them.”

“They have a shipyard,” Gloria said with a wolfish grin.

“And they think the universe is 7,000 years old!”

“And you know the Navy isn’t there.”

“I said I was done with Marx, Mao, and Hitler,” Karashel replied with a little smile that Caw had learned was a very bad sign. “I’ve moved on to the 21st and 22nd centuries now. The events leading up to their third global conflict and what happened afterwards are far more useful than starry-eyed idealists like Lenin and Pol Pot.”

“Who is Pol Pot?”

“Oh, nobody,” Karashel muttered absently. “Come on...” she muttered as she shook her tablet. “How long can it fucking take?”

“How long can what take?”

“Oh, sorry,” Karashel said, turning off her tablet and looking up at Caw for the first time, “work stuff.”

“You’ve had a lot of that here lately,” Caw replied, “I hardly ever see you anymore, and when I do, you barely have the energy to curse at me. Is everything ok?”

“Not especially,” Karashel replied with a chuckle, “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but a lot has been going on in the Federation here lately.”

“Yes, a lot of systems are really struggling,” Caw replied, “I honestly don’t know how some of them are going to make it... Oh, progenitors... Are the Baleel, you know... ok?”

“It’s my job to ensure that we will be,” Karashel replied, “And I am very good at my job,” she added with a moist but feral gleam in her eyes.

She paused.

“Um... Caw...” she said, looking up at him earnestly, “I just want you to know how much I appreciate you and the time you’ve spent with me and everything you’ve shown me... You mean a lot to me, and I hope...”

“Kara?” Caw asked with concern.

“Oh, nothing,” Karashel smiled, “I just want you to know, that’s all.”

“Thank you,” Caw “smiled”, “that means a lot. You mean a lot, Karashel, and now so do the Baleel! Nobody has ever asked us what they have. Oh, we have so much to share with you!”

“I hope you feel that way in about a—“

“Councilor Karashel!” an unpleasant voice rasped angrily.

Karashel’s eyestalks whipped around excitedly. It was the one person she had been waiting for.

Councilor Nemat of the Gvorta was scuttling up, radiating annoyance.

“Councilor Nemat!” Karashel gushed pleasantly, “I am so happy to see you.” (and she actually was... very happy.)

“What is the meaning of this?” he snapped as he shoved a small cube projecting a hologram of a text document into Karashel’s eyes.

“We were speaking,” Caw said icily as he watched the loathsome arthropoid bully his friend.

“It’s ok, Caw,” Karashel said with a defeated tone. “This is work stuff. I won’t be a moment.”

“One of you people had the audacity to present themselves to our bureau of trade, on our homeworld requesting... no... demanding payment after I told you not to press the issue!”

“Oh, I’m terribly sorry, Councilor,” Karashel said in a timid little voice. “It wasn’t my idea! I told them that it would make you angry. It’s just that you said that you couldn’t transfer funds because of the network, so my boss thought that if we took possession of the payment and then physically transported it back home, it would be ok.”

“Well, it isn’t!” Councilor Nemat shouted. “We need to maintain a reserve for emergencies. You will get paid when we decide you get paid and not one second before!”

Councilor Nemat then splayed his hands in a sneer.

“Besides, it shouldn’t be a problem,” he said with a little chuckling hiss, “according to the documents you filed, you should have no problems with a little delay, right.”

“Oh... yes... of course...” she said, looking downcast. “Right,” she added nervously, “no problem... nope... none at all...”

“Then this issue is settled,” the Gvorta councilor said with a dismissive wave. “Don’t trouble us again.”

“Could you...” Karashel stammered, “Could you maybe give me that in an e-mail, or a memo, you know, something in writing that I could show my boss? Otherwise, they will just keep bugging you.”

“Fine...” he hissed. “Someone from my office will give you something. Now send the next shipment immediately, or you will regret it.”

“And, just to be perfectly clear,” Karashel said, “you are absolutely refusing to pay and are not establishing a timeline for said payment?”

“Yes!” Nemat shouted, “How many times do I have to tell you. You will get paid when you get paid, and that’s it!”

“Ok,” Karashel replied. “I understand.”

“Well, it took long enough,” Councilor Nemat sneered, “Creators, you people are so stupid.”

With a flip of his robes, he scuttled off.

“What an asshole!” Caw hissed, flaring his crest.

Karashel wasn’t paying attention.

She pulled out a communicator from her shawl-jacket pocket.

“He took the bait,” she said quietly. “Do it.”

“With pleasure,” a feminine and very predatory vulxeen voice replied.

“...Kara?” Caw asked dubiously.

Kara looked up at him.

Caw shuddered. The last time he saw that look was in the woods, just before he had his people open fire.

“Ok, time for lunch!” Karashel said brightly as she returned to normal. “Where do you want to go?”

“... our bench outside?” Caw replied dubiously, “Um... Karashel...”

“Yeah?”

“Do I want to know?”

“Nope.”