Kine looked at the guitar in the store window. It was black, shiny... and expensive. Sighing, he looked down at his sister, who was clinging to his right arm.
"You're serious."
She smiled up at him, her blond hair tied in a ponytail today with a pink ribbon.
"Yup! You get a guitar, I get a keyboard, maybe we talk some others into learning the drums or something. We can spend our time writing and playing songs!" She was practically bouncing, and seeing his expression just laughed and looked back into the storefront. "Come on! I know you used to play! It'll be fun! We need something to do while we sit and wait! Besides..." Amanda squeezed his arm tighter. "... we can do something together this way."
Ah, thought Kine, so that was the reason. He considered. He HAD enjoyed playing guitar when he was a kid. Mostly hard fast stuff, the kind Amanda hated with a passion. Hmm... this had possibilities.
"Tell you what," he said, stroking his chin with the hand attached to the arm without the brat attached to it. "We're gonna be on Rhea for a few more days getting supplies. You can go around asking people if they play anything or are interested in learning, and if you can get enough people willing to buy the instruments then I'll get the guitar."
Amanda jumped up and kissed his cheek, then gave him a mischievous grin.
"Well, no matter what, I have enough to get a keyboard!" With speed and determination she marched into the music store, pulling her protesting brother with her.
****
Lessa sat on the cargo bay floor nude, her arms resting on her crossed legs. Wendi sat in front of her, copying her position. Before the other day she had never seen a pregnant woman exposed like this before, and it was still all the younger girl could do to not stare. She kept her eyes on Lessa's calm face, and listened.
"The secret, really, is to be willing to die, but to want to survive." Wendi nodded. "You have to have the trust to run across that open field at your enemy. To know with all your heart that death is a certainty at some point, and if it comes now so be it. BUT!" Lessa struck her fist on the hard smooth floor. "Your death will not come cheap! You are not throwing your life away! You are doing it because it will achieve some goal, because drawing their fire will allow your companions to flank them, because one of you must get close enough to throw a grenade at them, whatever! Everything you do must be for a reason, a reason that will advance your goals. I sometimes fight based on instinct, true..." and Lessa smiled, "... but I think I've trained my instinct to be pretty smart!"
Wendi smiled back. This was what she wanted. To get into the mind of this warrior she admired.
"Who trained you?"
Lessa's smile faltered. She looked down into her lap, and Wendi panicked.
"I... I'm sorry, Mistress! Forgive me!" Lessa shook her head, and with a sigh she moved her arms behind her and leaned back. Her breasts thrust themselves forward, eyes on the arched ceiling high above them. She was silent for a few moments.
"Who trained me... the universe did. I'm the way I am because that's what it takes to survive in the world. The weak die. Especially those who get between me and survival."
There was silence for a few moments, and Wendi wasn't sure if there would be more.
"Fuck on a fuck stick! Who turned the gravity up in here?!?"
Lessa was on her feet in an instant, with Wendi just a moment behind her (although that delay seemed forever in her mind. Would she EVER be good enough?).Both turned to face the source of the voice while getting into combat stances. A fully clothed Ger looked at them, eyes wide. His hand was on the gravity control panel next to the door, and as the girls relaxed they started feeling lighter.
"Um... hello, ladies. Am I interrupting anything... sexy here?" Lessa gave him a dark look, which he ignored. "Well, regardless of what you're playing at, I'm afraid we have to use the cargo bay for actual cargo. So, unless that's the way you want to greet the dock workers once that big door over there opens, you may want to dress and leave." He turned and walked over to a loader, giving it a once over before it came time to use it. Wendi and Lessa shared a glance, then laughed. Lessa walked over to where she had shed her clothes and started dressing, while Wendi just looked down at her body.
"Should I be offended that he didn't keep staring?"
Lessa chuckled, slipping her panties up her legs.
"If you care about that, I don't want to see you again." Wendi looked over at her in horror. "Your body is a weapon first. Any other use should be far from your mind, until our task is done. Even then," Lessa added, "any who don't appreciate you for what you are shouldn't concern you. Never change to please them."
Wendi nodded, and went and started dressing. It had only been Ger, after all. It's not like it had been Kine dismissing her like that...
****
Babies were expensive.
Oh, not to have. Not only could you get free ones just from being stupid while having sex, but now apparently you could just find them lying in the street. But, actually KEEPING them... Jenny was now having second thoughts that they could actually do this.
Hanna was holding the now diapered and sleeping infant in her arms as they walked through the third baby store they'd come across. Cribs, toys, clothing, food... it was all going to add up very quickly, and the more money they spent on this the less they'd be able to save up for when they eventually left the ship. Jenny lifted up the tag on a high chair that turned into a stroller.
"Maybe she can earn her keep if we charge girls for the right to babysit her." Hanna laughed, stroking their daughter's light covering of black hair. She walked over to a plastic playpen, giving it a good shake with her free hand.
"Think you can make something better than this stuff, Love? Maybe we should go to the hardware store for the big stuff and just buy the bare necessities in a place like this."
Jenny ran a hand over the playpen, then dropped to the floor and took a good look under it. It didn't look too hard, really. Hanna could make all the fabric coverings and such... she looked up at her wife.
"OK, we can try it. Why don't we get just what we need for right now, then go home and make a list of what we really need for our cabin."
Hanna nodded.
"We should also try and find a good book on babies, then take her in for the twins to look over. If she needs any medical care we want them to be able to stock up before we leave this moon. Besides," Hanna added, smiling down at their child again, "it'll be good practice for them for when Lessa gives birth."
Jenny stood up, and leaned in to give Hanna a quick kiss. Her eyes then widened.
"We haven't named her yet!"
"I have," Hanna said, eyes on her wife, "if it's OK with you."
"Yes?"
"I wanna name her Irene, after the girl who died rescuing me."
Jenny looked into Hanna's beautiful eyes, and nodded. She looked down at the baby in her arms then, and let her fingers softly stroke the sleeping girl's cheek.
"Hi, Irene... we're your mommies..."
****
Randy watched Mari pack her things.
Andy fidgeted next to him, legs kicking as the two sat on the edge of Randy's bed. He frowned at his younger brother, wishing he'd stop. Andy could be such a kid. Couldn't blame him, though. Randy was upset too.
"Do you HAVE to go?"
Mari didn't look at him. He sighed. OK, they had been ignoring her. Doing their own thing, hanging out with some of the older boys. Still, they liked her. HE liked her. Little three year old Pug had already abandoned them, taken by four girls who wanted to be his mommy. They saw him all the time, of course, played with him, but he lived elsewhere. And, now...
"Look, Mari, you can stay here. We like living with you."
"Yeah," his brother nodded. "Stay."
"Nope!" Duffle bag full, she turned to them, smiling. "Wendi said I could live with her and Sirenia! That way the two of us can train together, and other stuff! You two wanted your own room anyway!"
If they had wanted to be by themselves, he thought, they could have done so any time. There were still lots of empty cabins. Trust a girl not to understand.
"Fine," he grumbled. legs kicking in unison with Andy's. "Go."
Dropping the bag, Mari came over and hugged him. A quick hug, releasing the slightly younger boy before he could even react, doing the same with Andy.
Then... she was gone.
The two sat, alone in the large cabin. Andy put his hands on his knees, stopping his legs.
"Maybe we can go live with Sean. I heard someone say he likes boys."
****
Sean was drunk.
He honestly hadn't been sure he could do it. The way things had been of late, everything he had set his mind to had been a total failure. Thus, the very idea that he could sit here at this pool table in the rec room and actually succeed at getting himself totally shitfaced should be considered as a very positive achievement. He wasn't a total loser.
There was a problem, however.
Sean raised his head and looked at the bottle in front of him. It was very clear-ish, not the brownish it had been when he started this endeavor. That, he thought, meant something. But, what... he reached out an unsteady hand and raised the bottle. It was light... and light was shining through it... hmmm... ah! It was empty! That was it! He was out of booze!
Out of booze... that wasn't good, was it? How could he keep succeeding at being drunk if there was no drink? Must get more... from where? Sean's gaze hovered over to the bar against the far wall. There were bottles there... with brown stuff in them. Also green and red stuff, but that's not what he wanted. His skin was brown, so he drank brown stuff. Or, was his skin brown BECAUSE he drank brown stuff? No, no... he was pretty sure his skin wasn't white back when he drank milk as a baby. Although, he had liked chocolate milk...
Oh, right! The booze! He had to get over there! Could he do it?
... no.
Sean put his head back down. He was a failure. His plan for this evenings encounter with alcohol had been fatally flawed: he had set up his base of operation too far from his supply depot, and now his supply lines had been cut.
He was such a cunt.
So, now what?
Well, he could leave. Leave the ship. Nobody would miss him. Well, Shelly had said she had wanted him to stay, but then she was a cunt too. Cunts should stick together. Although, maybe only lesbians said that. But, regardless, he should leave. Go, walk out the hatch, onto this moon... and find a bar. Because he wasn't going to be able to stand up for long without a bar to hang on to. Hmm, is that why they call those places bars?
His head hurt.
Sean heard the door behind him open, and someone enter. He had been alone in this room for hours. Most everyone was off the ship, or doing various things. Some had stopped in, but seeing him they quickly left. Even Shelly hadn't stayed long. The cunt hadn't stuck around.
Ha.
The sound of a chair being moved broke his train of thought, and he felt it being placed next to him on the right, someone sitting in it. Whoever it was said nothing for a few moments, then finally spoke in a tired voice.
"I see you're being productive."
Sean turned his head, still keeping it on the pool table railing, and looked. It was Vince. The long haired blond looked... haggard. Sounded it, too. Not fit and healthy like he was. Sean struggled to raise himself, and felt Vince put a hand on his back to keep him from falling backwards. He looked at his lover.
"Hey."
Vince removed his hand, and used it to reach over and pick up the empty bottle. He shook it.
"Mission complete?"
"Yeah..."
Vince shook his head.
"When you never visited, I started to get worried. Thought maybe they weren't telling me something... then I thought maybe YOU were in fact telling me something." His eyes were moist, and his very kissable lips trembled a bit. "I see now that you were."
"VISIT you..." Why would Sean have to make a special trip to visit... oh, right, he was hurt. Got a boo boo when Don got his brains blown out. They got the raw deal out of that exchange. No, no, that's unfair... he hadn't said that out loud, had he? Nope, didn't look like it. Good. His eyes wandered over Vince, and saw he had two crutches leaning on the other side of him against the table. Sean's eyes wandered down and saw the big inflatable cast on his leg. His eyes came up to meet Vince's.
"Yes, the leg is doing better, thanks for asking. The twins did an incredible job."
"Good... good to hear it. Glad you're better." He saw Vince just shaking his head at him.
"I thought I loved you, you know. Thought it was worth all the danger to be with this incredible, sexy man. But... I was wrong. It's not worth it. YOU, Sean... you are not worth it."
Vince slid off the stool onto his one good foot, and grabbing the crutches propelled himself over to the bar. He grabbed a bottle, then swung himself back next to the pool table. He gave Sean one more long look, then sighed. He put the bottle down next to the empty one.
"Goodbye, Sweety."
With that, he left the room.
Sean looked at the bottle for a long time, then a thought came to him.
"Didn't even get to tell him he's a whinny bitch and I'm leaving him..."
****
Mel was outside the ship, talking to the Rebel guard.
He was a nice guy, really, and they were hitting it off quite well. Being bored and of the opposite sex had a lot to do with that bonding, but it was established early on that both were already spoken for. If anything, this freed them up. When you don't have the worry of actually trying to impress the other person or trying to build up to a real romance/seduction, you can flirt with impunity. It was also nice, at least for Mel, to talk to someone new for a change. Things were so... known on the ship. There were no surprises.
The sound of footsteps came echoing from beyond the Liberty's open hatch, and Mel looked over from her position sitting against the entry bridge wall. She wasn't expecting anyone.
Vince appeared inside the airlock. He was dressed in a horrendous purple one piece outfit with a low cut neck line and yellow ruffles. He was managing to use his crutches and at the same time pull a small cart loaded with travel cases. Mel got to her feet, as did the guard Wesley. Vince made it out of the ship, and stopped in front of them. Mel raised an eyebrow at him.
"Going somewhere?"
"Away from this evil deathtrap," he replied, his voice happy and upbeat. He saw Mel glance down at his leg, and grinned. "I consider myself lucky to have only damaged that while with you guys. But... enough is enough." His grin faded.
Mel nodded. Kine had told her of Sean's problems with regard to his boyfriend, so obviously things had come to a head there. Of all those to be the first to leave, though, she wouldn't have picked him.
"Well, best of luck to you."
The Rebel guard put a hand out, shaking his head.
"Wait, wait, wait... you're intending to STAY on Rhea? In Catty?!"
Vince looked at him, puzzled.
"Well, yes. I can't very well stay on the surface. It's a bit cold out there. Why, is there a problem?"
"Yes there's a problem! We can't just let anyone come to live here! There are rules to follow, immigration protocols to deal with! Damn it, we have standards!" Vince was looking at him as if he had heard all of those words before in a different context, but really couldn't figure out what they were supposed to mean in this case. He looked at Mel, to see if she could help. She was about to do her best when there was a voice from the other end of the bridge.
"OK, what's going on here?"
It was Dock Master Timothy.
He came up the walkway, his bright orange uniform crisp and sharp. His eyes landed on Vince.. and he stopped dead in his tracks. Vince's eyes found his face, and the younger man sucked in his breath. There was silence, as the two just stared at each other. Mel glanced between the two, a sly smile crossing her face, as the guard just lowered his head and shook it in disgust. Mel stepped forward and put a hand on Vince's shoulder while looking at the Dock Master.
"Vince here was thinking of leaving our fine crew and living in Catty. He has no place to stay, though..."
"Oh!" Timothy's eyes widened, and he started stammering. "W-well, we can't have people just wandering around! V-vince, you said? A beautiful name! I'm sure we can find accommodations for a fine newcomer like yourself! Oh! What happened to your leg?!? Let me help you with those bags!" He rushed up to the blond and went to grab the cart handle. His hand brushed Vince's, and both men paused, blushing. Vince's demeanor became more submissive, and as the two started walking away their hands began accidentally brushing against one another.
Mel laughed, and slid back down the wall into her former sitting position. Problem solved!
****
An hour later, Mel's conversation with a new guard just come on duty was interrupted by a small group coming up the bridge. Kine and Amanda were in the lead. Amanda was smiling and skipping as she carried a number of shopping bags, and Kine was... pushing a keyboard on long thin metal legs that ended in wheels. Some other items were perched precariously on the keyboard. Mel just shook her head. She had the feeling she'd be hearing quite a bit from her man about the day's events.
Behind them, walked Hanna and Jenny, hand in hand. Jenny was carrying a number of shopping bags as well, and Hanna carried...
A baby!
The four stopped in front of Mel and the guard. Mel looked from the keyboard to the baby, then at the four shoppers. She shook her head.
"Do I WANT to know?"
Kine shook his head in reply.
"Nope."