Pulp Science Fiction

[Admiral Hart]

And that was when things got weird.

Transparent images of men and women in full Mamba gear burst through the open vault door and mimed closing it behind them. They yelled things at each other, words that got mangled in a non-existant wind, and then, time seemed to speed up, and they were shooting at each other, cutting at each other, until everything went blank again. The voices around them began to scream and moan and whisper, and images of civillians trapped under rubble, being chewed up by plants, and every other conceivable way of dying surrounded the pirates.

"Oh go bitch about it somewhere else." Hart said in an annoyed voice.

And then, miraculously, the voices stopped.

"Ghosts. Always bitching and moaning." Hart sighed and walked to the back three doors. T.K., upon noticing where she was going, kept pace with his Captain.

As they got near, an image of dashing John Melrose appeared above the holographic projector.

"Good day to ye, whoever it is that finds this. I'm Black John Melrose, and if ye're seein' this, ye have me treasure. An' since I coulnnae take it with me, I wish ye all tha luck ye can get with it. Now, ye're prob'bly wonderin' 'bout these three doors here.

"Behin' each door is additional treasure, I'm not gonna lie to ye. However, it don't come without a price. Each room has a test in it. Somethin' to make sure ye're worth bein' the heir to me legacy. Now, if'n ye don' wanna risk gettin' killed er worse, by all means, leave this treasure be. But if ye're willin' to put it all on the line fer just a bit more plunder, well, we both know what kinda pirate that makes ya."

Hart did not waste any time. "Dane, Allison, open the first door." The two pirate moved for the first door while Andi said, "Captain, this is more than enough treasure for anyone to spend the rest of their life living like a king. We do not need to risk ourselves for a few more scraps of credits."

"This isn't about money, Andi." Hart replied. "This is about having the greatest legacy in the history of piracy."

The door clicked, and slowly opened, and even Hart, for a moment, was stunned by what they saw.

From out of the first vault, fifteen figures stepped out. Mostly skeletal, but with a few mechincal joints and limbs, crude, but effective--robot guards with a very macabre camoflauge. Each had a cutlass and a pistol, and two red glowing eyes.

Hart downed the first one with a laser shot, and said to Dane, "Your favorite three words. Fire at will."

[T.K.]

T.K. watched the proceedings with a slight detachment, as he analyzed the Zombies. Technically they were just robots assembled from corpses, and not really cyborgs, but they were still effective in creep factor.

Obviously this has been Pirate got off on using outdated tricks to play with people. Well, there were alternatives to this tediousness. He pulled out his Com, and thumbed Shiyou. Several times.

“Malfunctioning brat.” he changed the channel. “Ryan. Got find where Shiyounin is sulking, and get my Goggles out of my room. Bring them both down here. Someone want to play games, and I feel like playing back.”

“Me? Go to the surface?”

“Yes you. Now, unless you want to play with Shinigami later, go find Shiyounin.”

“Uh, yes Sir.”

[Dane]

"Fire at Will."

Those words where all Dane needed before his hand slipped up and pulled out his shotgun, he grinned like a man possessed as he started blasting zombie pirates into oblivion.

One got a little to close, seeming to ignore the distinct lack of his left torso. Still he marched to him, cutlass high over his head, Dane snatched the handle of machete that was laying on the floor just in time to block the zombie's high attack.

He shoved the blade back and swung across, pushing the already half corpse backward, one hand on his new toy and other gripped his shotgun, many dodges, parrys, and strikes later Dane removed the remaining arm of the former pirate bringing up his gun and shoving it into the chest of the former pirate, grinning wickedly then pulling the trigger, sending what was left of the man into further pieces.

The weapons expert didn't bat a lash when it happened, just moved onto the next target.

[T.K.]

T.K. watched bemusedly as Dane hacked into the 'Zombie' Pirates. It was quite funny, in an Idiotic sort of way.

“Boss? I have Shiyounin and your Goggles.”

T.K. spun around, and waved Ryan over.

“Good work Ryan. Hope for you yet.”

He took the Goggles from Ryan, and slipped then on before turning to look at Shiyounin who was still pouting and trying her best not to look at him.

“What do you think Shiyou? Crazy ass dead pirate thinks he's amusing. What do you say we crack his computer and show who the smarter pirate is?”

“...”

“Well, I guess I can do this on my own. Not like I could get brain damage or anything by Diving into an unknown computer system without backup.”

“.....”

“Heck, it's not like I could trip some alarm or something, and get us all killed.”

“........ I hate you.”

A reluctant Shiyounin linked up with T.K.'s Goggles. He quickly traced the computer system operating the 'Zombies'. A moment later, he found the control routines, and shut them off.

“Sorry to spoil your fun Dane, but I really want to get off this Hell hole.”

[Admiral Hart]

As the crew hauled out the large pair of chests that was in that vault, the holographic projector started up again.

"My aplogies for that last test, I confess it be more fer yer men than you. However, the next two tests are much more...cerebral." Melrose stated. Dane and Allison opened the second vault.

Hart walked inside, along with assorted other pirates. In front of them was an odd sight. The first was a large treasure chest, with, "This contains 100,000 credits" written on the side. The other was a large cryogenic storage pod, the type last used over a century ago.

"Here's the deal." Melrose's voice said. "Ye get to keep one of these. In that pod is someone--I dinnae who. But if ya take the chest, the computer kills the person in tha pod. If ya save the person, the chest gets burnt to a crisp. It's yer move. Le's see how cold-blooded ye kin be."

"We have to save the person." Andi said. "It's no contest. A life is worth more than money or a title."

Hart said nothing but bolted forward, wiping the frost from the window on the cyro tube, her eyes having passed briefly over the pair of strange, curved swords by the tank, and the military boots and the jacket and the Mamba eva suit first in one flurried motion.

She stared with a broken stare at the face slumbering frozen sleep in the tube. Maybe about her age. A slightly more orderly version of her own hair. A face very reminiscent of her own.

"We're taking this cryo pod and her effects back to the Plunder." Hart ordered. "Be very, very careful not to harm her. I want her alive and well."

The pirates, not one to questions orders, started to move the pod. John Melrose appeared again.

"Good work, whoever ye are. Bein' a pirate means ye do a lot o' things that ye will regret later. Bein' able to extend a bit o' kindness to someone, e'en at the extent o' cash, says worlds about ye. So, as me gratitude," The chest opened safely, "Take the money too."

Dane and Allison started to move for the last door, but it swung open of its own accord. "Sorry, lads. This last test is for tha captain and tha captain alone." Melrose said. "Mark me words, though, Captain, this'll be a dangerous one. More dangerous fer you than any o' the others. When'er yer ready."

Hart moved instantly for the door, Andi following her closely. "If you are going to get hurt, I am going to be there to put you together, Captain." She said, dismissing any vote of nay from the Captain as they entered the vault.

As soon as they were in, the vault door slammed shut behind them. The sides of the aerantium door glowed brightly for a moment as they fused with the rest of the wall, the wheel fell off, and all motivator systems burned themselves out.

"A good captain," Melrose began, his voice heard on both sides of the vault, "Is measured by his crew. If they be willin' to burn through this door and rescue you, than you passed the test, Captain. If they leave with all that loot ye have already gathered, then you lose. Ye will have as much fresh air as ye want--only thing ye be wantin' of is food an' water."

The Captain looked around carefully. The air vents were much too small to get through, and, though effective, hacking away at a wall with her sword would take entirely too long with water.

So she did the sensible thing and took off her environmental suit. "You're going to want to conserve your suit's oxygen for later, Andi. Might as well take it off."

She gave Jo a brief look before doing as she was told. The air was cold and dry compared to the warm moistness they had been surrounded by for the past nearly half a day.

"So..." Jo began, only a little smarmy. "Know any good ways to pass the time?"

[T.K.]

T.K. watched in slight horror as the door closed, and sealed itself closed. He didn't even have to use the Goggles to know there was only one way to get The Captain and the Doc out of there.

"I really, really, really hate this Moon."

He studied the door for several minutes, before turning to Ryan.

"Get the Class 4 we use for major hull repairs. We're going to need at least three fuel tanks. Might as well get the cook to send down some supplies as well. We're going to be here a while. Oh, and someone go tell Morgan. I nominate Ryan."

[Dr. Andromeda Reyes]

Andromeda knelt on the ground, her arms wrapped around her shivering frame to try and conserve as much body heat as she could. Several hours had passed by already, and she and Josetta were still trapped inside the vault. What few staticy trasmissions they had gotten from the crew assured them that they were working double-time to try and get them out. Various sounds beyond the fused door assured her of that as well.

It just wasn't happening nearly fast enough to suit her. After spending over half the day in the warm environmental suits, the cold air of the vault had been a bit of a shock on her faintly sweat-soaked body. Her clothes--her usual silk blouse and slacks--were still damp from it, making the chill even worse. She was fighting the urge to let her teeth chatter only by the barest of margins.

"Andi, you're just being stubborn."

The doctor lifted up enough to shoot Josetta a wounded glare from where the Pirate Captain sat across from her. The redhead looked much less put out by the cold than she did, though not entirely unaffected. She wasn't wearing her coat at the moment, after all. And the damp and frigid temperature was having some rather . . . visible effects on her body. Which Andromeda was trying really, really, really hard not to stare at, or own up to the fact that it was making her want to.

"You know damned well both of us would be a lot less uncomfortable if you would just get the hell over here and cuddle." Josetta smirked a little. "Sorry, 'hold each other for body heat,'" she corrected blandly.

"I'm just fine, thank you," she somehow managed to force out, ignoring the way the last few syllables chattered a little uncontrollably.

Josetta seemed to consider her for a moment, caught her giving a somewhat violent shiver, then her blue eye suddenly hardened. The Captain got to her feet and Andromeda gasped. "Don't!" she yelped, in vain, as apparently Josetta wasn't taking a no for an answer anymore.

The redhead threw herself down next to the dark-haired doctor, then curled an arm around her waist and somewhat forcefully tugged Andromeda closer. She found herself plastered up along Josetta's side whether she liked it or not. Blessed heat seeped into her clammy skin. Soft, subtle curves pressed into her own. A faintly spicy scent that was wholly Josetta Hart drifting into her brain.

Liked it.

Andromeda gave another shiver, though this time it had nothing to do with the temperature, her whole body stiff and taut with tension. She stared at the nape of Josetta's neck, not daring to look any higher, her expression somewhat likened to that of a wounded animal. And the soft words left her mouth before she had a chance to check them.

"So this is what being tempted to hell feels like."

[Admiral Hart]

Hart put an arm around Andi and said, "Why not give into temptation, Doctor?"

Andromeda stared at the Captain for a good long moment before breaking away, muttering, "Neither of us are free to indulge in that."

"Why not?" Hart asked. "All we have here is time. Might as well have some fun while we wait."

At that, Andi pulled away wholly and said, glaring, "You're married, Captain, and I'm no adulturess. No matter how..." She trailed off, blushing uncomfortably before looking away again.

Hart became a bit more serious now. "How what, Andi? Is it temptation, or how you feel about me?"

Her fists clenched. Jo could read Andi's expression clearly. She was right on both counts.

Hart stepped towards Andi, and she shrunk back. "N-no. Don't. Please Josetta."

"We both want this, Andi." Jo murmured softly. "You know we both want this."

"You're still a married woman, Captain. That has not changed." Andi replied. "Please...please do not push this any farther."

Captain Hart had a predatory, hungry look on her face. "You couldn't stop me if I took what I wanted. You wouldn't want to. I could just grab your hair, shove you against the wall and take you if I wanted to."

The Doctor recognized that look from the other night. And also seemed to respond to it by, rather than simply growing scared, growing flushed as well. Almost wanting. Almost.

Jo took another step forward and then stopped, as if realizing what she was about to do. And, then, unexpectedly, she drew back, and slumped against the wall, sliding down with her knees in front of her chest, and, even more unexpected, the most feared pirate in the solar system began to sob.

"What's wrong with me?" She said through the tears. "Why can't I stop thinking about you? Why is it that I can't love my husband as much as I love you? Why do I not want anybody as much as I want you?"

Andromeda looked completely blown away by this revelation. She tentatively reached out a hand and knelt by Jo, putting it on her shoulder. "I'm sorry."

"I want you so bad but it makes me feel like a horrible person every time I see that look on Morgan's face." Jo sniffled. "But I can't not want you, Andi. When I go to sleep, when I wake up in the morning, when I touch myself in the shower, it's you I'm thinking of. Always."

Her face turned a dark, guilty red, and her breath held for a second before she frowned with determination. "I know it's hard . . . to fight it. I . . . there are a lot of nights I don't want to fight it anymore either. If . . . if we did give into this, I would probably love every minute of it. But," She got teary eyed again, "so much bad would come of it, Josetta. It would hurt Morgan. And Cassi. And I don't think I could live with myself for doing that to them."

Josetta chuckled darkly then, tears still streaking her cheeks. "How selfish would I be if I said the first thing that came to my mind when you said that was, 'I don't care'?"

A small, sad smile crossed Andi's face. "But you do care. Otherwise you wouldn't be crying. You'd have 'grabbed my hair and shoved me up against the wall' by now."

Jo looked away, her voice cold and torn. "So, what now? Do we pretend this never happened? That we feel nothing for each other and suffer silently, forever?"

She stared down at the floor at that. "I don't know, Josetta. I . . . I don't have any answers either." Tears dropped from her face. That face Jo would have killed for. "M-maybe . . . maybe it would be easier if I . . . went to work on another ship?" She glanced at Jo, obvious in her expression she did not want to do this. "Maybe it would be easier for everyone that way."

"Except us." Jo replied in a small, bitter voice, locking determined eyes with Andromeda's.

Andi started to cry in earnest, wrapping her arms around herself and turning away. "What do you want me to say?! What do you want me to do? I love you, Jo! I have for years, but you . . . We can't! I just can't do this anymore." She started to sob then.

And Captain Hart was up and, against everything that was right in this situation, against everything they had talked about, wrapped her arms around Andromeda's belly and held her from behind. Andi turned and, rather than break free, clung to her captain.

"I love you so much, Andi. It hurts me so much to love you like this." Jo mattered, petting her hair softly.

Jo pulled back a little and gently lifted Andromeda's face. Andi said quietly, "We shouldn't." And Jo said softly back. "I know. But we're going to anyway." And then, they were kissing, softly, gently, wonderfully kissing. And, just for this moment, all those little voices that were telling them to not do this, all those worries and mores and concerns, were lost.

[Dr. Andromeda Reyes]

It was a strange thing. To love something so much, and yet hate yourself so hard for doing it.

Andromeda sat curled up against Josetta between her bent knees, her head pillowed on the taller woman's chest while the Captain slowly ran her fingers through the doctor's now-loose and decidedly disheveled black hair. Her blouse was half unbuttoned, probably crooked. She hadn't really cared much in putting it back together a moment ago, from when Josetta had near-torn it apart in the middle of their ill-advised frenzy. Just as the ties and cuffs of the redhead's tunic were still undone, the silk material now untucked from her pantaloons. Both of their mouths were reddened, swollen. And the doctor had a very noticable hickey coming up on the front of her neck.

Andromeda shivered a little, starting to remember the cold now that her body was cooling down again, even more sweaty than she had been before. Josetta just tightened her hold, pressing a kiss into her hair. Andromeda just closed her eyes a little on the pain/pleasure that action envoked.

She knew full well that what they had just done was wrong. So wrong on so many different levels she couldn't even begin to count them all. Yet Andromeda had been so lonely. For such a long, horrible time. And knowing that Josetta loved her as much as she loved the powerful female had been a temptation she couldn't seem to fight. The selfish part of her had reveled in it, every touch, every kiss. Her whole body throbbed with wanting, a passion so fierce it threatened to burn her alive. And though nothing had come off but their tops, and their hands hadn't strayed much farther than that, Andromeda still felt somehow sated afterward--despite the stinging ache still clamoring for attention between her thighs. For many minutes afterward, Andromeda had cuddled into Josetta's warmth and finally known contentment after what seemed like an eternity of uncertain chaos.

Only now, after the fire had started to cool down, did that uncertainty begin to creep back into her heart and mind. I shouldn't have done that. I can't do it again. It will only hurt worse, if I let it continue. I need to pull away now. Salvage what's left of my sanity. What's left of my heart. Before it's too late to turn back. Unconsciously, Andromeda's arms tightened a little harder around Josetta's middle, her head burrowing deeper into the Captain's tunic.

A small, defeated voice inside of her acknowledged then that it was already far too late.

Both women jerked a little as the vault door suddenly swung wide. And both of them wore identical looks of guilty horror as the first one who stepped through the passageway was the tall, dark-featured First Mate. Morgan hesitated on the threshold, and then his expression of concerned worry slowly melted into a cold, stone mask.

[Admiral Hart]

Jo stood not a moment after, gently pushing Andi away. "Is all the treasure gathered?" She asked Morgan with a 'We'll talk about this later' look on her face.

Morgan stared at her before saying. "Yes. Captain. Everything but the two of you." He said, the last three words tinged with bitter pain.

"Alright." She started to pull on her environmental suit, Andi doing the same. "Let's get off this god-forsaken moon. We have what we came for."

But, the three of them knew, even with the treasure and their new, forzen passenger, they were taking away with them much, much more than they had bargained for.