Two - Contract and Threshold

	The time I gave them off slowly dwindled to nothing. It was now time 
for us to pick our next mission. Yes, I let the guys have a fair call in what 
we do. I'm pretty lucky we all agree on the contracts 90% of the time.

	Claire had brought up a whole bunch of possible missions. We were 
crowded around the screen discussing the possible choices. We unanimously 
ignored the House Rain contracts; those two had the same problem with that 
house that I did. The house Fin and Wing missions weren't that interesting 
either. So we were down to two sets of contracts: Leo and Lupus. "I don't 
think we should go Leo this time around," Byrder said. "I don't want a repeat 
of our previous mission."
	"Agreed," I said. "But we should check them out anyway." 
	The screen beeped. "Crash," Claire told me. "We're recieving a 
message."
	"From who?"
	"Commander Walker's office."
	"Well, what are you waiting for?! Link him through!" Commander 
Walker, our mole in the Lupus command staff, would only call us if he had a 
mission he knew we would want. The words audio only appeared on the screen.
"Good day commander. What can we do for you today?"
	"Well," he told me. "I have a mission for you. Pay is 40 million 
credits plus bonuses, bounty, and equipment."
	"Cool!" Mohammed said. "What's the details?"
	I jabbed him with my elbow. "That's not polite Mohammed." I looked at 
the screen. "What ARE we getting ourselves into if we take this?"
	He chuckled. "A two year contract on planet Rashilé."
	"No, we cannot take it."
	Byrder looked at me. "Why not chief?"
	"Two years away from Stephanie?"
	"And Roxanne," Mohammed added.
	"I'm sorry, I'm not spending two years away from my love."
	"Crash," Walker interrupted. "Does your girl have a job?"
	"She's a medic."
	"Then it works out. You need to bring your mechanics, two medics, and 
an arms dealer with you for this campaign. Just bring them along. They won't 
be involved in any fighting."
	I chuckled. "You cease to amaze me sir. We'll take the job."
	"That's good. We'll send a cargo ship over to HQ as soon as possible. 
Take care." The screen clicked off. 
	"Gentlemen," I said. "Pack your bags. We're going to be visiting some 
friends of ours."

	I called Harris up to the office. "Harris," I said. "Good to see you. 
How's it hanging with the mechs?" 
	He nodded. "They're all fixed up," he said. "Ready for you to tear 
them up." 
	I chuckled. "Well, pack your bags. You're coming with us on this next 
mission." 
	He was, needless to say startled. "What?!" 
	"I recieved a contract directly from the House Lupus command staff. 
It pays 40 mil and requires us to bring along our home staff. You're our 
mechanic. That qualifies as home staff. You coming with us?" 
	He nodded. "When do we leave?" 
	"As soon as I get our medics, an arms negotiator, and a computer 
cracker." He nodded and left.

	The next two people I spoke to were Suzie and Amber. Suzie, as you 
know, is an arms dealer. Amber was in the business of computers. She is the 
station's computer problem. She cracks and re-cracks old and new systems 
alike. The contract didn't state that we needed a computer expert. I doubted 
they even wanted one who deals with computers. So I'd try and pass her off as 
a second arms dealer or something. "You want us to join you on a mission?" 
Amber asked. I nodded. "Why do you need us?" 
	"The contract specifies that I need someone to negotiate prices for 
weapons. That's Suzie's specialty. I know how you well you work with 
computers. The contract didn't say I couldn't bring you along. I also know 
how much you two....apprecaite each other's company. We'll try and pass you 
off as something."
	She chuckled. "Suzie didn't tell you?" she asked. I shook my head.  
"I'm a qualified mechanic as well as a hacker." I quirked a brow. "Don't 
believe me? I'll go get my sheepskin and show you."
	I nodded. "All right. I'll trust you. You'll be listed as a mechanic. 
I just hope that Harris doesn't mind a partner."
	Suzie smiled. "Thank you Crash."

	I went down to the med-bay to talk to Stephanie's supervisor. The 
creature (he doesn't even qualify as a creation of the humans!) is pure evil 
when it comes to sending his nurses onto mercenary contracts. "You don't have 
to pay them," I said after he quickly said no to my request. "It'll come out 
of the contract pay. I'll even pay you guys the balance owed from them not 
working here." 
	The beast chuckled. "Sure," he said. "Oh, wait! They can't leave. 
They're needed here." 
	I growled and grabbed his collar. "Listen you. This isn't about what 
you think. I need these two nurses or I don't get paid. This contract lasts 
two years. Get that? Two bloody freakin' years. The two nurses I'm requesting 
are the girlfriends of one of the men in my unit and myself. We can't stand 
two years away from them. Now, do you let them out, or do I kick your ass?" 
It nodded. I dropped him. It's so easy to negotiate with the jizbag.
	Stephanie must have seen this and walked over. "What's going on?" 
she asked. 
	I chuckled. "How would you and Roxanne like to join us on a trip?" 
She gave a questioning look. "The contract I've got demands that I take two 
medics with us. You won't be involved in taking care of an entire army, just 
me, Byrder, and Mohammed." 
	She rubbed the back of her head. "I don't know," she said. 
	I became a little desperate. "The contract lasts two years," I said. 
"The planet we're going to is a grass planet." 
	Her eyes lit up. "With real fields?" I nodded. She grabbed my shirt 
and gave me a kiss. "Where do we meet you?" 
	I smiled. "Loading bay three-alpha," I said. "See you there."

	The next morning, we met up at the designated area. "Mechs are all 
loaded," Harris said. "Extra parts are also loaded. All that needs to be 
done is for us to get on." 
	I nodded and turned to our medics. "You ready girls?" I asked. 
Stephanie and Roxanne nodded. I smiled and turned to Mohammed. He was 
laughing for some oddball reason. I turned to Suzie. "Ready?" 
	"I've got our negotiation prices ready," she said. I looked at Amber. 
She was decked out in overalls and carried a tool box her under her arm. 
"You're ready?" I asked. She nodded. "All right. Let's go."

	The cargo ship was a long hunk of metal. It had many weapon systems 
just in case we were attacked by interspace strike jets. It was big enough 
to hold all 5 of our mechs and the four jets Byrder had picked. I know what 
three of them were, but the fourth was merely listed as "Spirit." I wish 
Byrder weren't so silent about these matters. Anyway, along with the mech 
and jet storage, it had a storage bay for the ammo and spare weapons we 
packed, a living cabin, and our sleeping quarters. We'd board and I'd assign 
sleeping quarters. There would probably be no argument with my assignments. 
I'd try for everyone's best interests.

	We entered the main cabin and sat down. "Buckle up," I said. "We're 
getting ready to depart. Sickbags are along the sides of the couches and 
chairs. So if your stomach can't take the Gs, take the bag out now." Roxanne, 
Harris, and Suzie quickly took out the bags. I pushed a button on the wall. 
"Pilot," I said. "Set a course, Sector 02531-B, Planet Rashilè." The ship 
started to shake. Slowly, we could feel ourselves rise in the air. We all 
heard the hanger doors open. The ship jerked and we were soon off planet. 
Roxanne lost her composure and hurled into the sickbag. Mohammed patted her on 
the back. "Get it all out," he said. 
	She raised her head, looking a little woozy. "I hate puking." 
	I reached into my pocket and pulled out a roll of pepermint canides (now
where the hell did I get these?!). "Suck on one of these," I said, tossing 
her the roll. "It'll ease your stomach when we cross the warp threshold." 
	Roxanne looked at me. "There's more?" she moaned. I nodded. She popped 
one of the candies into her mouth. 
	"Hand it here," Harris and Suzie said. Roxanne tossed them the roll and, 
eventually, I got it back. 
	I offered a piece to Stephanie, who refused. "I'll be fine," she said, 
grabbing my arm. 
	"Threshold in 15 seconds," the pilot warned. "Grab onto whatever you can," 
I said. Everybody grabbed onto their chair. We heard the hyper-thrusters heat 
up. Suddenly, the engines lit and the ship went from 0 to fuck in less than a 
second.

	"We've sucessfully crossed the threshold," the pilot said. "We've got 
two and a half months until we reach out destination. Crash, you may now assign 
bunks." I unbuckled myself and looked at the crew. My sight, for some reason, 
always get shot when we cross the threshold. It took a second to focus. I wish 
I didn't. Harris, Suzie, and Roxanne were muzzle-first in the sickbags. I 
nearly lost it. 
	"OK," I said, trying to ignore my stomach's churning. "If you're done 
blowing chunks, deposit the bag in the refuse hole in the sides of the wall." 
The three let go of one more round and put the bags into the holes. "Thank 
you for contributing to the universal crowd control system," I joked. "Now, 
everyone get unbuckled. I'm gonna start assigning quarters." They all unbuckled 
themselves. Suzie and Harris had regained their composers. Roxanne didn't. 
Mohammed had to help her stand. "Let's see. Harris...would you mind sharing a 
room with Byrder?" He shook his head. "What about you Byrder?" 
	"No prob chief," Byrder responded. 
	"Fine. You two can take room 4 on living deck 2." The two picked up 
their bags and left. "Amber," I continued. "I'm assuming you want to share a 
room with Suzie." Amber nodded. "Room 3, deck 1. And please keep it down at 
night." They picked up their bags and trotted off. "So that leaves the four 
of us. How am I gonna split us up?" Stephanie and Mohammed looked at me with 
longing eyes. I smirked. "What do you think Roxanne?"
	She looked up at me with a sickly look. "I wouldn't mind sharing a room 
with drop dead sexy here," she said. 
	I turned to Steph. "You up for sharing a room?"
	"With you?" She grabbed my ear and pulled me down. "We shared a bed," 
she whispered. "I'd love to share a room with you." 
	I smiled. "Mohammed, you two are in Room 8, deck 2. And, as I told 
Suzie and Amber, keep it down at night." Mohammed flew me the finger. "You 
need help?" He shook his head as he picked up all of his and Roxanne's stuff 
and hoisted Roxanne onto his back. She wrapped her arms around his neck and 
they tromped off. 
	"Where are we gonna sleep?" Stephanie said. 
	I looked at the roster. "The only free rooms are Room 2, deck 1, and 
Room 7, deck 2." I looked at her. "Which one do you want to hear?" I asked. 
	She debated. "Here's a thought. Can't we alternate?" I shook my head. 
"Oh well. Room 2 then." 
	I looked at her. "You're serious?" She nodded. I picked up our bags 
and we went down to the living decks.

	I swear to the Guardians, she must have travelled on this class of 
ship. She managed to pick out the fanciest room I've ever seen. A king 
sized bed, a sofa, a daybed in the shape of a heart, the works. "Did you 
know about this?" I asked. She laughed, grabbed my shirt, and kissed me. I 
instantly dropped the bags. "Damn! You gotta stop grabbing my shirt like 
that. I'm starting to like it." 
	She smiled and took her bags. "Dibs on the big dresser," she said. 
	I laughed. "No argument there, Lost Angel. I only brought uniforms and 
two sets of casual wear." 
	She chuckled. "I swear Crash, you gotta loosen up." 
	I snuck up behind her and wrapped my arms around her. "I can't! I care 
too much for my friends, my mechs, and my profession. I mean, you do want a 
super fancy wedding, don't you?" 
	She giggled and pushed me away. "You card!" She thought I was joking. 
I know, in my heart, she wants to marry me. I pray each night that the next 
mission I take be the big one that lets me retire. I'd love to marry 
Stephanie.

	There was a knock at the door. I went over and opened it a crack. 
"Who's there?" I asked. 
	"It's us," Suzie replied. "Can we come in?" I looked at Stephanie. She 
nodded. I opened the door. Suzie and Amber walked in. 
	"Nice place," Amber said. "What did you do? Hold this room for 
yourselves?" 
	I shook my head. "I'm used to travelling by dropship. This transport 
is kinda new. Stephanie picked. If I knew this was here, I would of let you 
two take it!" 
	Suzie snickered. "We're joking! We're happy where we are. We even got 
one of those day beds as well." 
	I shuddered. "Please. Don't use it for your "routine" when we're in 
here. Please?" 
	She nodded. "For you," she said. "Anything." 
	I thanked my lucky star. "Unpack," I told them. "I'm holding a meeting 
as soon as I'm finished unpacking. I'll page you as soon as I'm ready." 
	They moaned. "But we just got here," Amber whinned. 
	I looked at Stephanie, who nodded. "Don't worry luv," I said in a 
British accent. "We'll 'ave ya over for tea and crumpets afterwards." 
	Amber smiled. "You're so funny when you speak in your Brit accent," she 
said, giving me a playful punch in the arm. The two left. 

	I called the meeting after I was sure I finished unpacking. Since we 
had no formal meeting room, I held it in the main living cabin. "So what's 
the deal?" Mohammed asked as I entered. 
	I placed a small, disc-shaped device on the table. "This was delivered 
to me before we left," I said. We turned it on. A holo-graphic image of 
Commander Williams' head appeared. 
	It looked at us. "Great to see you all," it said. "I haven't much time 
to talk, so here goes. You'll be passing through a month's worth of Leo 
territory. They've set up several listening posts in order to catch you. 
These posts, however, only monitor communications. Your first assignment is 
to lock all communications channels except for Channel L147." 
	I looked at a screen. "You heard the man. Lock down all channels except 
for that one." 
	There was a beep. "Channels locked," the computer replied. 
	"I hope you picked good people Crash," the image continued. "They're 
all you will see for at least a month. I'll talk to you then." The image 
turned off. We all looked at each other. 
	"One month?" Mohammed asked. 
	"And all we see are each other?" Byrder added. 
	They all looked at me. "Oops?" I asked. That wasn't one of my best 
management decisions.


	As promised, I invited Suzie and Amber to our quarters for a drink. 
"Y'all are too kind," Amber said. "But why did you really bring us?" 
	I picked up my glass. "Tony's pissed because we tore his mechs apart 
in a fight," I explained. "I snatched you two up so you wouldn't get hurt." 
	Stephanie looked at me. "That's so sweet," she said. She wrapped her 
arms around me and gave me a kiss. 
	Suzie shook for a second. "Well," she said. "Thank you for caring." 
	I smiled and took a sip of my drink. "These things don't taste so well 
at 12 at night."
	"It's midnight?" Amber asked. I pointed to the clock that was on the 
wall. "We should go."
	I nodded. "Keep it to a dull roar."
	"We're not doing that tonight," Suzie said. "We're way too tired." I 
nodded and walked them to the door.

	"I'll have to get used to a bed," I thought as I preped for bed. It 
was all this crate had. That was the bad news. The good news was that, other 
than the daybed, there was only one. Even greater news was that Steph said 
it was all right if I shared it with her. So I was lying there in nothing but 
a pair of sweatpants, waiting for her to slip into her nightwear. Suddenly, 
there was a scream. "Steph," I asked, suspecting it was her. "Are you all 
right?" 
	"I'm fine," she said. "But that scream is unsettling." I got up and 
walked to the intercom. 
	"Suzie," I said into it. "Was that you screaming?" 
	"You heard it too?" she asked. 
	"Yeah," I replied. "Sorry for disturbing you." I turned the dial that 
was there. "Mohammed." I waited for an answer. "Mohammed," I repeated when 
none came. 
	"Uh, Crash," he said. "I'm a little busy at the moment. Can you call 
up later?" I heard Roxanne in the background cooing and begging for him to 
come back to bed. I realized what was going on and apologized.
	"I guess you found the scream," Stephanie said. 
	"Yup," I replied, turning from the intercom. "Ready for-" I gazed upon 
Stephanie, who was dressed in a lovely black silk nightgown. "Wow," I said. 
She sat down and patted the bed, telling me to join her. I blindly sat down 
next to her. Was she trying to be a little too friendly? She is the only one 
who knows about my love of silk. It's a nice fabric; I just love how it feels 
against my fur. She caught my empty gaze and gently took my muzzle. 
	"Ready for bed, White Knight?" she asked. Numbly, I nodded. I eased 
myself to my side of the bed and under the sheets. Stephanie slipped in 
after me, cuddling up to my body. All my senses blew up. The love! The pure, 
unadulterated joy! The delicate silk up against my body! It blinded me for a 
second. And in that one, blinding second, I felt that life was complete. I 
put an arm around Stephanie and gave her a kiss. "Not tonight," she cooed. 
"Maybe tomorrow." 
	I tensed up. "W...what?" 
	"Maybe tomorrow," she repeated. She relaxed her head on my bare chest. 
	"AGH!!!" I thought as my mind trailed off into slumber. "She wins!"

	I slept late. There was no way in hell I was moving. But, that one piece 
of me that says "You've got a job to do!" acted up. Around 9, I eased my way 
out of bed, got dressed, and went to work. There was absolutely nothing to do. 
I wasted 4 hours going over the message Williams sent me, checking on the mechs 
and inventory, and going over old, useless reports over and over. I soon came 
to the horrible realization that, no matter how hard I tried, I had a month 
or more of free time. I went straight back to my quarters. Stephanie wasn't 
there. "Not in," I mumbled. I put my jacket on a chair and threw myself onto 
the daybed. The silk sheets against my back eased the tension as I stared at 
the ceiling. I reached over the to the radio and turned on some very slow, 
very romatic music. "Hold up," I said, totally bursting the moment. "This 
isn't want I had it set to." 
	Out of nowhere, Stephanie's hand appeared and started to rub the side 
of my face. "I changed it White Knight," she cooed. I didn't respond. There 
are several ways to put me into a temporary paralysis. Stephanie knew them 
all. Rubbing the side of my muzzle with her delicate hands was on top. I 
didn't pay attention as she showed where she was hiding. She strolled around 
to the side of the daybed, kicked her shoes off, climbed onto the bed, and sat 
down on my chest. She reached with her other hand and started to massage the 
other side of my muzzle. My eyes just about rolled into the back of my skull. 
I watched as she leaned in closer and closer. Our lips locked. I closed my eyes 
and enjoyed the moment. The moment turned into minutes. Slowly, I regained my 
strength. Suddenly, I was fully aware of the situation. 
	"Should I pull her body onto mine?" I asked myself. "Should I try and 
take advantage of her? NO! What am I nuts?!" I decided to be submissive and 
let her have total control. Maybe I'd get lucky. Stephanie's lips left mine. 
I opened my eyes. She was sitting on my chest with a broad smile on her face. 
"What was that for?" I asked. 
	She giggled. My body quivered with joy. I love it when she giggles. "I 
kept my promise from last night," she said. I stared blankly at her. "You tried 
to make a move on me last night. I refused. But today, I went after you." I 
smiled. I didn't make a move on her the previous night. But if that's what she 
wants to believe... 
	"Well," I said. "Could you make another move on me? I've got all the 
time in the world." She smiled and rested her body on mine. 
	"I'd love to," she said, playing with my hair. 
	I smiled. "You're real frisky today. What's up with that?" She frowned. 
"Not that that's a problem. I like the extra attention." She returned to her 
happy self and gave me another, less time consuming kiss. "In that case," I 
said after her lips let go of mine. "Why don't we just do it?" 
	She shook her head. "Not yet," she said. "Maybe on the return trip. For 
now, let's just...." She kissed me again.

	When my systems kicked back in, I found my shirt on the other side of 
the room. The sheets were messed up and Stephanie was fast asleep, finding my 
arm to be a damn good pillow. "What time is it?" I moaned quietly. I looked 
over to the wall. It was one when I returned. Stephanie seduced me, and now 
it was 2...... I looked down at her. She was garbed in a tanktop and a pair 
of loose fitting shorts. "Oh man, don't tell me we did." I closed my eyes. 
"C'mon old boy, think!" I ran the last hour through my mind. I came back, 
threw myself onto the bed, and hit the music, which Stephanie had so cleverly 
changed. "What else?" I asked myself. "She paralyzed me. There's a three 
second blank and the next think I know, she's on my chest." I concentrated. 
I realized then she was wearing that get up before the seduction. The 
question now was what the hell happened in that 50 minute blank afterwards? 
I looked at Stephanie again. "Who cares?". I pulled her a bit closer. "If 
this is sin," I whispered into her ear. "Baby, count me in." She must have 
heard this comment. She smiled and rested her head closer to mine. I 
manipulated my head to give her a kiss. Once again, I was asleep.

	The knock at the door an hour later woke me from my slumber. Stephanie 
was still asleep, thank the Guardians. I raised my head a bit to look at the 
door and put it back down. I figured whoever it was would leave me alone if 
I ignored him. "He's not answering," I heard Byrder say. 
	"I saw him come in," Mohammed said. "The door hasn't moved since." 
	"How can you tell?" 
	"Intuition. That and the fact I can't see the threshold. Now stand 
back." I suddenly heard metal scraping on metal. Mohammed was picking the 
lock! 
	"Play dead," I told myself. The door opened and I made like I was 
asleep. I heard Mohammed and Byrder shuffle over to the daybed. Their 
silence was torture. Finally, I felt someone touch the bottom of my foot. I 
gave whoever it was a kick and acted like I was rudely awaken. "What?!" I 
asked. 
	Byrder backed away. "We'd like the key to the bar."
	"In my jacket pocket. Bring me the keys." He did as he was told. I gave 
him the key. "Go. Enjoy yourselves. Invite the others. Just don't bother us. 
Please?" 
	"Will do cap," Mohammed said. I rested my head down again and waited 
for them to leave.
	Stephanie began to stir. "Who was that?" she asked. 
	"Don't worry. It's all taken care of. Now, come on, go back to sleep." 
	Instead, she sat up and stretched. "I heard Byrder and Mohammed."
	"They wanted the bar key. I gave it to them. Now, lie back down." 
	Stephanie scrathced the back of her head. "What time is it?" she asked. 
	"Uh....I think it's three," I replied, looking at the clock. 
	She licked her lips. "I'm a bit famished." 
	I sat up. "Since you prepared this whole set up just for me, why don't 
I cook something for you?" 
	She smiled. "Do you know how to make soup?" 
	"Do I?" I replied. "That's what we survive on when we're not in the 
mood for take out!" I took out a pot and started to boil some water. 
	She licked her lips again. "You know how to cook?" 
	"Mohammed and Byrder don't know how to. So I felt a bit obliged to." 
She chuckled. 

	After we finished, we went down to the bar. I didn't think there was 
one on this crate. And yet, here it was, with a full liquor cabinet. Mohammed 
had taken my advice. The guys were at the bar and the girls were at a table. 
"Y'all rested up?" he asked me as I walked in. 
	"Yes," I casually replied. "I am." He frowned. He was trying to set me 
off. He's always doing that. He's only succeeded twice. "Move over. I'm 
tending." He slipped from behind the bar and I took his place. "Need a 
drink?" I asked Stephanie. She shook her head and went over to the table.
	"So," Byrder said. "What happened?" 
	I looked at him. "Huh?" 
	"You know what I mean. We caught you and Stephanie all cuddled up on 
the daybed. What's up with that?" 
	"Oh." I looked at the bar, trying to remember what happened. "I honestly 
don't know." Mohammed snorted. "I'm serious. I returned from my rounds and 
layed down on the daybed. Next thing I know, Stephanie's on my chest giving 
both sides of my muzzle a paralyzing rub. She kisses me and..." Here comes 
the lie! "...The next thing I know, Mohammed's awakening me." 
	"That's a bloody lie!" Mohammed said. 
	"I'm not lying!" I retorted. "I can't remember anything." That was the 
truth. There was a big hole in the picture.
	The alarms started to go off (saved by the bell!). "What's going on?" 
I shouted. 
	"We've got intruders," the pilot replied. "Deck 5. Pirate boarding 
team. Need someone to go and neutralize them." 
	I went over to the nearby storage locker and opened it. "Perfect!" I 
exclaimed. "Byrder! Mohammed!" I tossed them each an assault rifle. "Harris, 
you in?" He shook his head. I tossed him a rifle. "Watch the ladies." I 
tossed Amber and Suzie a rifle each. "If they try and get in, blast their 
balls off." They smiled. "Gentlemen, let's go."

	"They've taken 30% of deck 5," the pilot told us. "They're sealed off, 
but they're trying to clear the doors." 
	"Understood," I said. "Keep an eye on us. When nescessary, raise the 
phase shields." 
	"Will do."
	The grav-lift came to a stop. "Lock and load," I ordered. We all 
powered up the assault rifles. The door opened. The pirate on the other side 
became an instant pile of molten flesh.

	We started to sweep the halls for the location of the breech. 
Mohammed's "shoot first, to hell with the fucking questions" attitude came 
in handy. Any pirate that we encountered was blown into small parts. I swear,
he enjoys his works too much. Especially when he gets to send some poor 
pirate's brains to the other end of the hall. However, to his dismay, we 
quickly came upon the breech. The pirates had set up a small guard to protect 
a long tube that was connected to our ship. The guards spotted us and fired. 
The pilot was quick on his feet and raised the shield. I growled and charged 
up my rifle. "You know," I shouted. The pirates stopped. "I hate pirates. 
None of them have survived me." I raised the rifle. "You will be no 
exception." I fired. The next thing I knew, a maintenance droid had smacked 
me upside the head with it's robotic arm as it went to go clean the blood off 
the walls. I looked to Mohammed and nodded. He climbed up the tube. We waited 
for five minutes. 
	He slid down. "Help me with the door," he said. We forced it closed. 
The tube disengaged. Seconds later, there was an explosion. "That's what you
get for fucking with the Jade Wolf pirates."

	That night was full of questions. "I wanna know something Angel." 
	She got out of bed and hugged me. "What's up?" 
	"Well, remeber after our second kiss?" 
	She smiled. "Yeah, It was magical." 
	"Uh, yeah. Anywho, after we locked lips, I blanked out. The next thing 
I knew you were asleep and my shirt was off." She nodded. "Can you fill in 
that hole? Did we just kiss or did we....you know?" 
	Stephanie shook her head. "We didn't. She coaxed me back into bed. I 
took her into my arms. "Can I ask you something?"
	"Go for it." 
	"Were you being submissive?" 
	I chuckled. "Of course I was. It would have been rude to take control. 
Besides, you looked like you were having fun." She smiled and rested her 
head on my chest. "You know," I said. "I have nothing to do tomorrow." 
	She giggled. "It's OK." 
	"That's not what I meant. I was wondering if we could do something 
together. Of course, if you don't want to, we don't have to." 
	She laughed. "Of course I would. It'll be a surprise for you."

	I woke up the next morning. I went through my usual morning routine (I 
know you have one) and went over to my dresser. It was empty. "That's odd," 
I said. I went over to the closet we shared. My uniforms were gone. "Truly 
odd. Oh well, they've all seen me without a shirt. They wouldn't mind if I 
went without one to ask Mohammed if he has an extra." Yes, I know. When you 
talk to yourself like this, you must be going stark raving mad. Anyway, I 
went over to the door and tried to open it. It wouldn't budge. I gave it my 
full strength. I ended up on my back. "Ah shit!" I cried. "What the fuck's 
going on?" I sat up. "Must be Stephanie's surprise." I said. I looked around. 
My clothes were gone, the door was bolted from the outside, the daybed curtain 
was pulled over, the.... I snuck up on the daybed. "I know your back there," 
I whispered. I counted to three and dove through the curtains. Stephanie was 
nowhere to be found. "Fuck! She must have gone out." I heard somebody start 
to fiddle with the door. It was my turn to play with Stephanie's mind. I 
slipped into the space in between the daybed and the wall. The door opened. 
	Suddenly, the curtains opened. "He doesn't suspect a thing," Stephanie 
squealed, not noticing me. She drew the curtains back. "I can't believe 
Roxanne brought this skimpy thing. Thank god we're the about same size." 
Skimpy?! Oooh, I was in for a show! "Oh man," she cried. She must have found 
out I wasn't in bed. "Hopefully Mohammed has no extra shirts." I waited 
patiently for her to change. The curtains soon opened and closed. "Now, I 
wait." 
	I chose this moment to get out of my hiding space and creep up on her.
"Wait for what?" I asked. 
	"For Crash to come back," she replied, not realizing who I was. "When 
he does get back, he's in for a real raiser." I tapped her shoulder. She 
turned around.

	"Don't do that!!!" she cried. She was on the other side of the room, 
half out of breath. 
	I chuckled. "A raiser?" I asked. 
	She frowned. "Since you find this so funny, I'm not showing you." She 
picked up a bathrobe and covered herself up. 
	"I'm sorry," I said. She turned her back on me. "I'm sorry Angel. I 
didn't mean to laugh. How can I make it up?" She ignored me. I got up, went 
over to her, took a rose from the table, and fixed it in her hair. "I didn't 
mean to scare you. I can understand if you don't want to talk to me anymore."
	She turned around. Most guys would fake a sincere look. I don't need 
to fake it. She smiled. "I guess you're right." She pushed me onto the 
daybed. She took off her robe, revealing a very small bikini. 
	"Whoa!"
	She smiled and leaned forward. "Like what you see?" 
	"Of course!" The lights sparkled in her eyes. If I weren't paying so 
much attention to those big, green pools of hers, I would have noticed she 
had removed her top......

	"Crash," the pilot told me at the end of the month. "You've got a 
message. The sender tells me to tell you to recieve it in your mech's 
cockpit." 
	"Understood," I said. I was in the mech bay anyway, so I climbed into 
the Dark Wolf's cockpit. "This is Crash. How may I help you?" 
	There was a chuckle. "Is that how you answer the phone?" Commander 
Williams replied. "You sound like a take-out service."
	"Hey commander! What can I do for you?" 
	"Simple," he said. "Send me your position and your crew roster." 
	I tapped a control pannel. "Transmitting." I said. 
	The radar screen turned on. It showed my profile. "I'm reviewing the 
profiles as they come in." The profiles slowly creeped by. As soon as they 
finished, Suzie and Amber's pictures popped up. "They're Disgraced?" 
	"Yeah. Gotta problem with it?" 
	"No. We're trained not to worry about it. Some of the troops actually 
like them." 
	I chuckled. "Yeah, but those are actors." 
	He chuckled. "You're right. I'll keep this info confidential. Expect 
an escort in an hour." 
	"Acknowledged. Crash out." I turned the intercom off.

	Rashilè! The very meniton of the name is enough to make one happy. 
It's one of the few planets with actual names (others include the original 
names of the 9 planets in the old Human solar system). It was a grass planet, 
so Stephanie would definitely get to see a plain or field. It was the place 
where the religion of the Guardians (which I'm a proud member of) formed. It 
was a center of commerce. It was the crossroad of the five houses. Heh, I 
love war. Makes these planetary corner stores fun to walk through.

	We all contributed to the on-going struggle for civil obedience when 
we crossed the threshold. I'm used to crossing out of norm space, but 
crossing back in....well, my stomach kills itself. "We're heading to the 
North Break military base," the pilot informed me. "Area 10235b." 
	"Thank you pilot," I woozily said. "Should we buckle up now?" 
	"I'm gonna begin re-entry proceedures. Buckle up." I buckled myself in. 
	"Crash," Byrder said as he snapped his buckle in place. "Isn't that 
the base where Axen is stationed?" 
	I thought for a second. "I think so, but I'm not sure. Guess we'll 
find out." I looked out a nearby window. Rashilè looked so beautiful. "It's 
probably spring down there. Prime hiking weather." 
	Mohammed chuckled. "Yeah. Too bad this is a business trip."