Chapter Five
It had been one hell of a party.
Jack, however, showed no negative effects from the previous night’s carousing, and his eyes shone brightly as he sprawled in his command chair, sipping at his morning coffee. He peered over the rim of his cup at Quinn, who, for the first time in Jack’s memory, arrived late to the command deck. Her tight ponytail, normally without a hair out of place, was in a state of mild disarray. Jack attempted, unsuccessfully, to hide his smile.
“Catching up with an old friend?” he asked innocently, to be met by a mild snarl as Quinn poured some coffee for herself.
“Something like that.”
“Should I be expecting Giles to join us anytime soon?” asked Jack.
“Ask him yourself,” replied Quinn brusquely. “I’m sure I don’t know anything about it.”
“If you say so,” murmured Jack but not loud enough for Quinn to hear. Quinn and Giles’ on-again, off-again relationship had been the subject of much gossip amongst the crew of theMaracaibo, but the two continued to act as if they were merely friends and shipmates.
A moment later, the doors to the command deck shifted open once again, and a slightly rumpled-looking Giles stomped onto the deck. He and Quinn nodded, as if they were just seeing each other for the first time that morning, and then Giles slapped Jack on the arm.
“So what’s the plan, Captain?” rumbled the burly man, before turning to obtain his own cup of coffee. In their earliest days, the three had bonded over their shared need for a cup of the hot liquid to kick-start their brains at the beginning of the day. “And where’s your lady?” continued Giles. “She not a morning person?”
“I think she may need her beauty rest,” said Jack. “At least, she was too beautiful for me to disturb, so I let her sleep.”
Quinn curled her lip, and Jack burst into laughter. “I know, Quinn. Such sloppy sentimentality is shameful.”
“Your words,” murmured Quinn into her coffee.
“To answer your question,” said Jack, ignoring her, “as you both know, we’ve a belly full of treasure, and our crew is already spending their shares in their minds. A wise captain would give them shore leave for a while before we do anything else.”
Giles looked at the captain narrowly. “But you’re not going to.”
“Not quite yet,” answered Jack. “We’ve one more fish to fry.”
Quinn arched an eyebrow but said nothing.
“Go on,” prompted Giles.
“We need to give the crew shore leave somewhere far enough away from both Palamar and Myrios that everyone can cut loose without worrying about a knife in their backs.” Jack tapped some keys on the arm console of his command chair and brought up a star map. “We also want it to be someplace our lads and lasses can have a good time, not some backwater world.”
Under Jack’s key commands, the star map on the main display shifted and zoomed in to focus on a particular planet.
“Tarma.” Giles stole a quick glance at Quinn, whose face was carefully neutral.
“Aye. Tarma,” said Jack. “Enough of a play-planet for everyone to have a good time, and for those with coin to burn to find a place to spend it. And on the way, one more whale to harpoon.” He brought up another image. On the main screen was an enormous, sleek cruise ship.
“A pleasure liner?” said Giles, appearing startled. “We’ve never hit anything like that before. Too many civilians; too many variables.”
“This will be different,” Jack asserted.
Without a word, Quinn turned and marched off the command deck.
Jack sighed. “Nav officer, chart a course to Tarma. Begin preparations for warp, but do not engage drives until my command.”
“Aye aye, Captain,” replied the navigation officer.
Jack stood up. “Giles, find Quinn, and the two of you come to my quarters. We’re going to need to discuss this in private.”
***
Aria rolled over in her comfortable bed and sleepily brushed strands of hair from her face. She felt tired and lazy, her bottom still tender from Jack’s spanking, and her pussy sore from his hard use of her. “I could get used to waking up like this.”
