Chapter 37 Callie
thirty-seven
Callie
I landed inside the hangar on the lower level of the palace and powered down the ship.
Rathal helped me out of my seat and together we exited.
A rag tag group of pirates were waiting for us, Som’ae included.
The small fox woman smiled at me, her tall wide ears rotating to catch all the different sounds around us.
“Mission complete. Good job, all. Once we get the three stragglers here, we will follow the Rijitera to Korsal.”
Cheers erupted and I grinned at the merry band. I opened my mouth to say something when the sound of the hangar doors that led into the palace opening turned my attention.
A dirty, blood spattered Patty was standing in the doorway with an equally bedraggled Rema behind her. Aga was just to their left and the cranky croc looked like he’d been put through the wringer. Just what in the hell had happened to these three?
I strode across the room to them, eyes burning, throat clogged, and yet still managed to rib her.
“Took you long enough,” I teased, pulling her into a hug.
She smelled like smoke and the burning ozone from plasma discharge.
Her hair was wild and tickled my face where I laid my cheek against the top of her head.
Patty hugged me back hard before pulling away to give me a once over, her bright eyes wide. “Where have you been? What happened? Tell me everything.”
Rathal chose that moment to saunter up behind me, draping his arm across my shoulders and purred into my ear. “Are you going to introduce me to your friends, dearest? Or shall I have to beg?”
Patty’s eyes got even bigger, her mouth opening and closing.
I grinned first at her and then at Rathal, patting his hand that he’d splayed over my collarbone. “It’s a really, really long story, but um, this is Rathal… my husband.”
Stunned silence filled the air after my introduction.
“I do believe you’ve given them the surprise of a lifetime, dearest wife.”
I snickered, leaning back into him. “You know, I think you're right. Just look at her face. It's like a fish out of water, gasping for air.”
Patty’s mouth snapped shut before she burst out laughing. “Holy shit, dude. Who are you?”
Rema’s pretty face was smudged with soot and blood, but even he managed a surprised smile. “An imposter, surely. Our Callie wouldn’t joke during a fight.”
“Yeah, she’d be all ‘rules this and proper procedure that’,” Patty said, waving her hand in the air.
“Technically, the fight is over,” I said, rolling my eyes at them.
“Semantics. So? What happened?”
“Good dick,” Rathal and I said at the same time and burst out laughing when both Patty and Rema’s eyeballs looked ready to pop out of their heads and roll across the floor.
“Well fuck me blind and move the furniture! Callie found her sense of humor! Someone call the Church. It's a miracle."
Aga moved to stand on the other side of Patty, a stupid grin on his green scaled face. “Should we record this occasion for the history books? Notable Killjoy Finds Soul, More On Page Six”
I was surrounded by comedians.
“Hardy har har,” I said, before giving Rema a quick hug and peck on his cheek that had the poor shy male blushing, “I missed you too, Rema. More than I did this little pain in the ass.”
“That’s a lie. You love me the most, admit it. I bring your life joy. You’d be so sad and bored without me. Tell her, Rema. I’m the best.”
Rema held up his hands, his pale face twitching with suppressed laughter. “Don’t you two bring me into this.”
I pulled Patty into my side and led the group over to our band of cutthroats and gestured to between them.
“Fam, meet the pirates, and the Matriarch Som’ae who—no matter what Rathal says—is the leader of the pirate station Erral. Som’ae, pirates, meet Patty and Rema. Some of you already know about Aga. Now, let's go. We got places to be and people to kill.”
“We will meet you on the Vengeance. We have been instructed to dock our ship inside the Mother for safe keeping so we will see you on board. I look forward to speaking to you all further,” Som’ae said, dipping her head at us before gesturing for the others to follow her to their shuttle.
“Let’s get moving,” I ordered, pulling both her and Rathal along by their arms.
Patty snapped her fingers at me. “There she is. Alright, but you’re gonna explain the sexy, well dressed Anubis later.”
“Oh, I like her.” Rathal beamed.
Patty leaned around me to give Rathal a wide eyed curious look. “Where did you get that shirt? I want one.”
Oh great. Just what we needed. Sheer shirts for Patty. She didn’t wear bras. Said they were torture devices meant to suppress womens tiddies and that nipples had to breathe.
Rema shot me a pained look and I shook my head in defeat. There was no stopping it now.
“I handmade it. I am talented in many things, but I like to think cloth making is my strongest. I also make a mean cup of coffee. Did you know I imported the finest coffee beans from Earth?”
Patty’s eyes were watery when she looked at me. “What did he just say?”
“Coffee, Patty. Real coffee. With cream. Lattes. Cappuccinos. Ice machiatos,” Rathal purred.
“I think I’m going to faint.”
I pushed at Rathal’s shoulder. “Quit charming my friend and get on the ship before you give her a heart attack.”
I pressed Patty down into one of the seats behind the cockpit and strapped her in tight and gave Rathal the stink eye until he raised his hands in surrender and took his own seat.
I ignored him when he started securing his restraints in an exaggerated fashion.
Aga and Rema eyeballed the last seat before Rema chuckled and gestured for Aga to sit.
“I can’t sit in these chairs comfortably anyways, old friend. I will be fine,” Rema said, grabbing a metal pipe near the roof for support.
“We aren’t going far anyways, Rema. Everyone is waiting for us on board the Vengeance,” I told him as I slid into the cockpit seat and started flipping switches.
“What ship is the Vengeance?” Patty asked, her hands busy unbraiding and re-braiding her tangled dust covered hair.
Her armor was covered in blood droplets and white dust like she’d been near a building collapse.
I wanted to ask her what happened but I figured it could wait until we met up with Jack so she only had to explain it one time.
“You’ll see,” I told her cryptically and then punched the throttle to dodge her next question. It threw everyone into their seats and Rema braced one hand on the back of Patty’s to keep himself upright. I kept my angle less severe so he could keep his feet under him where they belonged.
The pink clouds were thick as we passed through them, the rougher aircurrents rocking the ship hard enough to get a few nervous laughs out of my passengers before we broke through into the upper atmosphere.
The primary star was behind us casting a soft blue glow over the Vengeance as she loomed on the outer edges of the planet's orbit. Her white hull grew larger and larger as we approached and I could practically feel Patty’s need to ask questions vibrating the airwaves.
A portion of the hull split apart at our arrival and I glided inside, my gaze roaming over the space.
The hangar wasn’t white, which was a relief.
White walls, floors and ceilings with white shuttles and Fangs would have gotten hard to look at, that’s for sure.
Instead it was a soothing, familiar, industrial gray much like every other Earth standard military vessel in existence.
“Park her in number two, Callie. Cut the engines as soon as your nose clears the yellow indicators on your HUD. The umbilical will pull you the rest of the way in,” a friendly midwestern male voice said over the external speakers inside the cockpit.
Number two was a tuning fork shaped docking platform some two hundred feet in the hair with a bright red number two shining over it on my HUD.
I maneuvered higher with my belly jets and nosed into the yellow flashing line on my display and then cut the engines like the LSO had said.
Long silver tendrils about as thick as my thigh snaked out from the front of the docking platform and sucked onto my ship, pulling us until we were fully docked.
“Ship secured. You can exit out of your ramp, there is a platform there that will take you to one of the lifts. We’ll maintenance your ship and clean it up for you if you want, or do you want us to replace it with a Fang?”
I was kind of partial to the her now. “Can I keep her and still get a Fang?”
“Yes ma'am. We can do that.”
“Alright. Let’s do that. Do you know where we are supposed to go from here?”
“Yeah, Jack’s waiting for you in front of the lift. She’ll take you where you need to go.”
I unstrapped, dropped the ramp, and stood. “Alright. Thanks.”
“No problem!”
I turned to the other’s, catching Patty’s eye. “Jack’s waiting for us.”
Patty’s whole face lit up. “I fucking knew it! This is a Mother ship isn't it? How cool is that? Oh. My. God. Is Hella on board?!”
I nodded my head. “Yeah. You weren’t kidding, dude. She’s crazy scary.”
“I told you! God, I love that big woman. She better have food. She’s a great cook. Like full on Betty Crocker, suburban mom kind of cook. Pancakes and sugar cookies.”
When I gave her a skeptical look she raised her hands.
“I swear to god!”
“I’ll take your word for it. Come on, let's go see what the next step is.”
Rema helped Patty to her feet, and followed Aga out of the ship with Rathal and I bringing up the rear.
“Was Hella a good cook while you were growing up?” I asked him as we walked down the ramp to the extended platform that would take us to a catwalk that edged the ship.
“My love, we had chefs. Hella didn’t cook. I suspect that was something she picked up on Earth.”
“You’re a spoiled rich bastard, aren’t you?”
His arms snaked around my waist and pulled me close. “And I aim to make you a spoiled rich woman. We can be pampered together.”