The Final Stroll on Perseus's Arm (Perseus Gate Book 6) by M. D. Cooper

Author:M. D. Cooper [Cooper, M. D.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The Wooden Pen Press
Published: 2017-12-12T16:00:00+00:00

* * * * *

Jessica was the last one to walk onto the bridge, freshly showered and back in her favorite purple shipsuit.

“Took your time,” Cargo grunted.

“You said we had ten minutes,” Jessica said as she sat at her console.

“It’s been almost fifteen,” Cargo replied.

Jessica sighed. “Cargo. Nance and I had to get to the armory to pull our armor off, and then shower. It’s a miracle I made it this fast.”

“I made it in ten,” Nance replied. “I don’t need to shower, though—wait, neither do you, Jessica, what are you talking about?”

“When I do a big discharge in armor like that, my skin gets a weird smell. It’s hard to describe, like ozone sweat. It’s really unpleasant.”

“OK, well, now that Jessica’s fresh as a daisy—” Cargo began, only to be interrupted by Trevor who leant over and buried his nose in Jessica’s hair, taking a long breath. “Trevor…seriously.”

“Sorry, it does smell really good.”

Cargo sighed. “Sometimes I think I’m the father and you’re my unruly brood.”

Cheeky was leaning against the back of her pilot’s seat and flashed a mischievous smile. “So, if you’re the dad. Who’s the mom? I kinda feel like it would be Jessica. But then she’s cheating on you with Trevor.”

“I’m definitely not the ship’s mom,” Jessica said with a snort. “Ship’s mom is definitely Nance.”

“Me!” Nance squeaked. “Why is everyone always calling me mom?”

“Because you do the most scolding,” Finaeus said with a wink as he leant over and pinched her arm.

“Fin! Stop that! I’ll make you scrub—” Nance stopped as half the crew burst out laughing. She sighed. “OK, maybe you have a point. But dad and I have a purely platonic relationship. Don’t go getting any ideas, Cheeky.”

Cheeky raised her hands and grinned. “I don’t play match maker anymore. I’m monogamous now.”

“I don’t really see how those two things are related,” Jessica said.

<They would all be doomed without us,> Iris said, her tone both wry and mournful.

<You got that right,> Sabrina added. <I kinda feel like I’m ship’s mom, anyway. You have no idea how much I clean up after all of you. It’s like you’re my own personal parasites.>

“I’d like to think that we have a more symbiotic relationship,” Cheeky said with a wink.

“Great, now that we’ve got this out of our systems, can we all get up to speed on what the hell is going on?” Cargo asked.

Over the next ten minutes, each group related their experiences and what they’d learned from the Lisas and Captain Hunter.

“You know what this means, right?” Jessica asked, looking around at the crew.

“Yeah,” Misha nodded. “We’re made. Not only does the Orion Freedom Alliance know we’re here, they know what ship this is, and they know that good ol’ Finaeus is aboard.”

“We’re close to the inner edge of Orion space,” Cheeky said. “We could skip around inhabited systems, not make any more stops ‘til we get to the Inner Stars.”

<We’re at least a year from the Inner Stars, though,> Sabrina said. <We can’t carry that much fuel.

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