The Kiss: An Anthology About Love and Other Close Encounters(115)

“It's large, and empty. Some say it is beautiful but its charm soon wears off,” he replied, starting to get a sense of where this conversation was going. Despite her sweetness she wasn't very subtle.

“Do you need any more crew? I'm not very expensive and I work hard.”

He stopped walking and gave her his full attention. For a moment she met his gaze again but she soon lowered her eyes to focus on his booted feet.

“I'm sorry, but I cannot buy you,” he replied. “You're very sweet, but...”

“I understand.” She turned her face back to him and he could see the tears threatening to fall from her green eyes. Such a reaction was unexpected.

“What do you do for your owner when you're not helping Captains with their shopping?” He carried on with his browsing and tried not to dwell on her emotions.

“Mostly I help him with his stall here at the market, selling, wrapping the valuables and sometimes with selling other slaves. I'm good at haggling.”

He stopped their conversation to purchase his final item, a bottle of strong single malt whiskey. A special crew member who'd never had a present appreciated a good drink. Once it was wrapped and in the slave's arms she resumed her list of skills.

“I also run messages and other errands a lot, as well as some management tasks. On top of that, I've been trained to look after a household and keep its books in order.”

She stopped talking and followed on so he figured the list was finally complete. It wasn't what he'd expected. Most of the slaves here were for companionship or other relational services but she seemed to have genuine intelligence and skills. It occurred to him that as a free person she'd have made a good addition to his crew.

“I'm surprised you're still for sale with a resume like that.”

“There have been a few offers, but my owner rejected them when I asked him to.”

He raised his eyebrows and she noticed.

“I didn't want to be bought by the men who offered money. I persuaded my owner that I could fetch a higher price elsewhere for the other things I can do. In the mean time I've orders to earn as much as possible.”

As she finished speaking they reached the edge of the market and the transport from his ship. She helped him load the packages in the cargo space and smiled at him.

“I'm really sorry I can't buy you. As a Unified Federations Captain it's just not something I can do. Slaves aren't allowed on our ships, but I'm sure someone will come along who can.” As he spoke he placed a small credit note into her hand, then kissed the back of it. She smiled and thanked him but he could see the disappointment in her eyes.

He had to push it from his mind as he glanced at the time and saw he only had five minutes to present himself to the Federations building, and the admiral residing there, for his next mission.

His ship had docked earlier than expected so he'd had time to use up, but now he was forced to hurry the small hovering transport along to the only building in the area that looked well kept. It was also the only one made of materials other than wood, and the brick and stone stood out for him to travel towards.

This planet had been colonised for over fifty years, but other than the working class farmers, slave owners and various officials stationed here, the rainy climate hadn't attracted many people and the indoor market was one of few tourist attractions for off-world visitors.

He rushed up the steps and through the archway to the atrium of the building where a receptionist greeted him before he could look around.

A minute later he was shown into the commanding officer's room. A balding man sat behind a desk with a built in display. When Dylan walked in it showed a map of the nearby star systems, with enemy territory in red and their own in blue. The map had a lot of red on it.

“Sir, Captain Dylan Gray, reporting for orders.”

“Ah, Captain Gray, come in, sit down.” The commander waved his wrinkled hand towards the chair nearest to him. Dylan did as he was told. Until now all his orders had come from his previous captain, the now Admiral Keane. Before him sat someone who'd been an admiral for over ten years and probably didn't hold out much hope to be promoted further.

“What mission have you got for me?”

“We need you to take some food from here to another planet of ours. It's a relatively new colony and the planet's recent crops failed due to drought. They're also having problems with a few diseases and need medical aid.”

“That sounds more like a job for a cargo runner. I have a reasonable amount of space for cargo but my ship's outfitted for battle not deliveries.”

The admiral didn't reply but motioned towards the map. On the other side of all the red was a blue blob that spread around one solar system and towards the left edge. Somewhere off the map he knew the blue connected up.

“That's where I need you to take it.”

“Across all that area?”

“Yes. The supplies need to be there in as few days as possible. A transport could take it around the edge and be there in just over a week but you could go through the middle in half the time.”

“When do I get started?”

“Right away. The cargo is already on its way to your ship. We can go there now and talk over the rest of the details on the way.”

The admiral stood up again and Dylan had to hurry to his feet. For an old man he could move faster than Dylan expected.