Author's Note: If you have are reading my romance novel Glasses and Garters, then you know I write romances a little bit more slowly then most. My characters often think about other problems in their lives, and love just sort of happens. I try to be realistic as I can to real life. Please, enjoy this story and post reviews as often as you would like.End of Author's Note.

Standing at the ramp, Evan waited for the rest of his clients to arrive. It was the only way he could afford to pay for both his own food and that of his crew, while he paid off his and their debt to Sahale. He was the crime lord that had brought together the crew to begin with. Each owed an over whelming debt and would spend a good decade paying him off. Everyone had a different story of how they came to be indebt to Sahale, but they were forced to be his lackeys. Being the only ship that traveled to the outer edges of the Autarchic Regime they found at least a dozen or more people to ship. Their prices were cheaper then that of the government ships, and no stops were made that weren’t necessary. Of course, it was still dangerous as they had to ship drugs and illegal weapons into the larger planets from the moon that Sahale ran.

They were stationed in the docking bay, the medium cargo ship sitting in the middle of the circular landing pad. Several docking bay workers were walking around, cleaning up after other ships. The landing pad could hold up to three ships, the size of Evan’s spacecraft. On most planets there were several places to land, but Minagog was a tiny planet. He dropped off his load to be shipped to suppliers in the larger planets. Having the biggest shipment was also the most dangerous. The small amount of supplies that a merchant would receive would be a slap on the wrist, compared to the penalty he and his crew would get.
Looking into the shiny frame of the ship, he checked his hair and made sure his false uniform was on correctly. His black hair was parted, and he smiled to check his teeth. The years hadn’t been good to him, but he still thought of himself as a handsome man.

He looked over his blue uniform once more to make sure there weren’t any grease marks. Most people wouldn’t fly with them if they knew they were not a legitimate business. He counted thirteen people that had entered the carrier craft and knew that there was still one more.

“All unloaded.” Dill, his co-pilot, said as he came to stand next to him. He meant that the weapons they were to deliver to the small planet were finally out of their hands.

Dill stood slightly taller then Evan, but they had often been asked if they were brothers. Both had the same black hair, sharp facial features, and thin but muscular builds.

Evan nodded and looked at the entry way. “Waiting on one more.”

“We almost ready? The passengers are getting restless.” Sparks came out from the ship.

She was their mechanic and a damn good one. Her cherry brown hair was always pulled into a pony tail and her uniform was always covered in grease. Evan didn’t remember a time when he hadn’t seen her with some type of dirt on her babyish face.
“Still got one more coming.” He told her, as Mitch, or Doc as he was nicknamed, walked out of the ship and stood next to his sister. He looked like a masculine version of Sparks, right down to the pony tail. Except Mitch was much cleaner and of course the doctor of the ship. The two of them didn’t really give any information about how they had come into Sahale’s grasp, but no one was forced to speak on it.

They were a secretive bunch with each other just as much as they were with strangers. All of them had been together for two years, but little was known. When they did find out something it was normally an overly chatty bounty hunter that had come to collect one of them. The bounties were why they started to use nicknames when passengers were around.

“Please tell me that’s your last passenger.” Dill said in a begging voice.

Evan looked over at the door as the blonde haired woman entered. She was dressed in a black skin tight uniform with a utility belt resting on her hip. Her hair was pulled into a braid that ran down to her mid-back. Her beautiful face carried a dangerous but seductive grin as she approached the ship.

Evan immediately looked at the blasters on her utility belt, as she offered out her ticket. They didn’t find their passengers instead had friends of Sahale locate potential clients for them and give them the yellow data chip. Taking the chip, he put it into his data pad and it came out positive for payment.

“I don’t feel comfortable with you walking around with those blasters.” Evan told her.

She looked down at her utility belt and then back up to him, “Then they are doing their job.”

“I’m Dill, this here is Capt’n.” Dill began and then pointed at the two across from them. “Doc and Sparks.”

“Guess that makes me Bubbles.” She glared at him and began up the ramp.

“Don’t hesitate to ask me for anything on your stay aboard.” Dill told her as she disappeared into the ship.

“Oh geeze, Dill, are you going to do that every time we get a half way decent looking passenger?” Sparks snapped.

He gave a nod, “Not like we ever have time to make any stops, if you know what I mean.”

“No, I don’t.”

Evan walked towards the ramp, “Ok, that’s all. Let’s get going.”

---

Four days past and all was going well, they had dropped off seven of their passengers and were heading towards one of their last planets. All other stops would be space stations or moons, which always gave Evan time to breathe. It would be less likely for anyone to identify them once they were out of main space.

Walking into the community room, he looked at the Galactic Hologram Mapping System or GHMS that was being displaying their current position in the center of the room. Surrounding the map was a large table with several stools welded to the floor around it. At the back of the room were two hall ways one leading left and the other right, following both straight would lead to the quarters. The doorway ahead of him lead down to the engine room, storage, and of course the exit ramp. Before going down the ladder there was Doc’s office complete with two medical beds.

The community room and the quarters were kept nice for the passengers. Plants grew from pots that were welded to the wall as well as friendly paintings. They even had several pictures taken of the crew looking professional and pleased. The crew only used the community room when it was not in use by the passengers, limiting their food consumption until everyone was asleep. Evan didn’t remember the last time that he had seen his entire crew together in the same room. At the docking bay, he had seen four of them, but there was still Main Frame and Dirk. Main Frame normally helped Sparks out in the engine room, but he was more then useful when it came to computer related problems. Dirk did most of the haul work, but was really not meant for anything but brute force in a battle.

Evan looked around the community room, there was some trash on the ground which he picked up and placed in the disposal. To the right of the table was the food and bowl dispenser, which was the only form of food they ate. It was nothing more then the needed proteins and nutrients mixed into a disgusting vomit looking mush. The worst was that it came in three flavors, pork, berry, or unflavored. Neither of them tasted like they were named and only seemed to be colored to their namesake.

They couldn’t complain, it wasn’t like the broken down spacecraft could contain anything that could spoil. The community room and the quarters were the only rooms with climate control, and therefore he and the rest of his crew spent time sweating at their designated work areas.

Pressing the metallic button a silver-ish bowl dropped down for him. Turning to the food dispenser, he read the sigh above it. ‘Help yourself.‘ it read with several smiling faces eating the mush, Sparks had made it for them. A lot of times the passengers brought their own food, but were welcome to eat their mush.

“Unflavored.” He mumbled to himself as he pressed the dispenser button, and placed his bowl underneath the nozzle. A gray like slime drizzled into the bowl, every so often the spout made a moist noise as chunk would be spit out.

Placing the bowl on the table, he looked towards the hallway when he heard Dill’s voice. He often got frustrated with the controls, especially when Evan was not with him. It took two men to fly the ship, which made it difficult for them. Each man had to sleep and were given six hours to do so, while the other cussed at the ship. They didn’t trust the ship’s auto-pilot, and with good reason. It had failed them within the first few weeks and had taken them directly into an asteroid field, where they were all certain they would die.

They had made it though, just like they had made it through much worse. Sitting down, he began to suck down his gray slime. It tasted worse then it looked, but the other flavors were never any better.

He could hear one of the passengers snoring rather loudly, which always made Evan chuckle. Several passengers had already complained about how it was disturbing their sleep, but there was really nothing that could be done. It was always a problem for them whenever they were transporting. If they had enough beds, Dirk would sleep in the quarters where he would cause the annoyance.

Looking up, he thought he heard a beep. It wasn’t one that his ship made, standing up he turned around and walked towards the hall to the left. Underneath the glowing red light was the woman who had called herself Bubbles. In her hand was a data pad, which she sat on the floor with her legs crossed reading. She had unzipped her black jumper slightly, but still wore her utility belt. Evan noticed a utility band on her wrist that hadn’t been there before. He guessed she had gotten it out of her luggage which was delivered before she had arrived.

There was another beep as her thumb tapped the data pad, changing it to the next screen. She bit her lower lip as she continued to read.

Something about this woman made him uneasy, she just didn’t seem like a citizen of the Autarchic Regime. He couldn’t put his finger on exactly why that was, but he had been thinking about her since she boarded. It was the first time that he had seen her since they had left Minagog.

“Hey, Bubbles, what are you doing?” Evan asked.

“Bubbles?” Her eyes shot up.

“Hey, you are the one who said that was your name.”

She gave a deep sigh then rolled her eyes and looked back down at her data pad.

“So?” Evan asked, and she looked up questioningly. “What are you doing?”

Holding up her data pad, she waved it at him.

“I meant, why are you out in the hall?”

“The others are sleeping and I want to read.” She said it in a matter-of-fact voice.

Clearing his throat, he crossed his arms. “It’s rather late, shouldn’t you be sleeping with them?”

Her cold stormy gray eyes pierced through his skin, suddenly sending a chill down his spine. “I have already slept.” With that, she turned her eyes back to her data pad.

“What are you reading?”

Sighing, she dropped the data pad into her lap. Her eyes turned back to him, “Is there a reason you are bothering me?”

“I still don’t trust those blasters is all, and I think it‘s a little strange that you are sitting in the hall reading.”

“Have I not been a prime example of a passenger? No trouble, I leave you to your flying, and don’t bother the other passengers.”

Evan nodded, “Yeah, but I looked at the manifest, you are our last drop and it’s in neutral space. You are going to be alone with my crew for a few days.”

“I’m sure your crew can handle me if I get out of hand.”

“Yes, we can and we won’t hesitate either just because you are a woman.”

She grinned, “I wouldn’t of paid you to transport me if I thought you would.” Her eyes went back to her data pad and there was another beep as she flipped to the next screen.

Evan turned his back on her and walked towards his food, taking a seat, he noticed a movement coming from the right tunnel. Dirk stood leaning against the wall, his dark blonde hair was a mess. He crossed his massive arms, and stared down the left hall. Even leaning against the wall, he was still far taller then Evan or Dill.

“I didn’t know you were sleeping in the quarters.” Evan said to him, when he realized the snoring had stopped.
“Yeah, there are beds now.”

“Thought they were more free beds in the left quarters?”

Dirk gave a nod, “Yeah, but that woman sleeps in there. I traded a bed there for one in here.”

“What bothers you about her?”

“She sleeps with her eyes open and only then for about three hours, and then she’s up in that hall for the rest of the night.” He pointed to the hall, “She’s there now, isn’t she?”

Evan gave a nod as he sucked down some of the gray slime.

“Something unwholesome about that. I don’t trust her.”

“She isn’t bothering anyone, so let it go.” Evan picked up his bowl.

Turning around he pulled down the latch that opened the door to the dish steam cleaner. Placing his bowl into the machine, he closed the door and turned back to Dirk.

“All I can say is as soon as that woman is off the ship and we have space between us, the better I will feel. She’s got some cold eyes, and I don’t like that she won’t give up those blasters. She also…” Dirk stopped talking when she walked into the room.
Walking to the stool that Evan previously occupied, she placed a small bag on the table, then sat down. Opening the bag, she pulled out a circular plate with a metal cover. It took her a moment to unlock it, but when she did, both Evan and Dirk started to drool. Maybe it wasn’t the best food in the world, but it looked better then the gruel they were having to eat. Evan had remember seeing serving dishes like those she was using before. High class and expensive, the food was kept cold, warm, or hot depending on the settings. They also kept the food edible for two weeks.

“You eat well too, I see.” Dirk mumbled and glared up at Evan.

Grabbing a bowl from the dispenser, he began to serve himself some of the mush. Picking the berry flavor, the slime came out with a pink hue and red chunks. He sat down across from her, glaring as he fed on his mush.

“How can you afford to eat like that and not have your own ship? I mean those plates costs about as much as a my ship.” Evan asked.

“Hell, you could afford a luxury flight.” Dirk added.

Looking up she grinned, “Who is to say I could fly a ship if I had one? And perhaps I would rather be transported in a ship that bypasses security checks.”

“Wha…what?” Evan stuttered, “We don’t bypass security checks.”

Chuckling, she continued to eat, ignoring anything else that was said between Dirk and Evan.

He made his way back into the control pit, and took his seat. “I can’t wait to get rid of that woman.” Evan told Dill.

“Which one? The one with the three kids, they litter up that damn room. I swear every time I go in there…”

“No, the one who wears black. I don’t trust her. I knew I should of picked my own passengers, this always happens. We get a shady character coming through and then a bounty hunter comes or something ends up missing that keeps us grounded for three weeks.” He sighed, “Then Sahale thinks we are doing it on purpose, and adds his ‘loss’ to our debt.”

---

Evan walked out into the community room, afraid that he would meet with their mysterious passenger. She was the only one left now, and though she kept well to herself, he did bump into her on occasion. It would only be three more hours, and then they wouldn’t have to worry about her anymore. He was surprised to see most of his crew gathered around the GHMS, it wasn’t that they were together, but more to the fact that they were eating out of the strange containers. The strange passenger was sitting around the table with them as they all ate her food.

“So, then…” Sparks said, she was laughing so hard she could barely talk. Doc looked embarrassed, but was still laughing. “Doc grabs the gun and fires it, and… and… it’s isn’t charged!”

Bubbles laughed, “If I had a cap for every time that has happened to me, I could retire.”

Sparks continued to laughed, “Yeah, same here. Now Doc never touches the recharging canisters.”

“Well, you guys seem to of made it out alright. How’d you manage to get rid of that bounty hunter?” Bubbles asked as she filled her mouth with some mashed potatoes.

“Dirk saved our ass as usual.” Sparks laughed, and looked over at Dirk.

“That’s my job.” He said with a grin, before taking his own bite of food.

Evan shook his head, “That traitor.” He thought to himself, realizing that Dirk was just being nice so he could have a decent meal. “What is going on in here?” Evan snapped.

“Hey, Capt’n!” Sparks chirped, “She’s sharing the wealth!”

Bubbles turned her head to him and smiled, “Got three more left, you and your co-pilot can have them.”

“You said I could have one more.” Dirk said with a mouth full of food.

She smiled when she looked back at him, “Do you want the fish, chicken, or steak?”

“Steak.” He said, with a large wad of steak in his cheek already.

Reaching into her black bag, she pulled out one of the containers and handed it to him, then turned her eyes back to Evan. “You two can decide between the fish and chicken.” She held out her bag.

“Is it poisoned?” Evan questioned.

She raised an eyebrow.

“Damn, Capt’n! That is so rude!” Sparks snapped. “We’ve eaten it and we are just fine.”

“Why are you giving it to us then?”

Bubbles shrugged, “I won’t need them were I am going, and I don’t want them to go to waste. They were packed for me, and it took me a lot less time then was expected to do my job.”

“Oh, and what is your job?” Evan snapped, as Dill walked out into the community room. He immediately turned his attention to Dill, “Who the hell is piloting?”

“Main Frame.” Dill responded.

“He can’t pilot!”

“Oh, don’t worry. We are on course, he can handle it for ten minutes.” He looked at Bubbles who was offering out her bag to them, “I wanted to make sure that we are stopping by the Antronia Space Station before we head to Nagolia.”

“Yeah.” Evan responded.

They always stopped at the space station, they didn’t know why Dill always had to go there. It had something to do with Sahale, and they always figured he was given an extra job to do.

“Fish or chicken?” Bubbles asked Dill.

“Fish.” He answered, and watched Bubbles pull out the container and offer it to him.

“Make sure you get the container back to me.” She said with a smile, then took the last one out. “Here you go… Capt’n.”

He frowned, then turned his back on her. Walking over to the dispenser, he got himself a bowl and began to pour himself some mush.

“I’ll take that.” Dill said before Dirk could clear his mouth enough to talk.

Bubbles handed it to him, and then spun back around to face Doc and Sparks.

“He’s stubborn.” Sparks whispered to her, as Evan sat down between Doc and Dirk, he glared across the GHMS at her.

“I noticed.” Bubbles responded.

He snorted, “It’s won’t be my fault if you all die from poisoning.”

“You want me to taste your food to prove it to you?” Bubbles asked him, and he glared down at his mush.

“No, you are probably immune.” He mumbled, then went back to eating the pink slime.

She looked at Sparks and threw her hands in the air, “I tried.”

Evan glared up at her, his spoon dangled from his hand. The strange woman sat across from him, speaking with Sparks. Though she told the woman stories, it seemed that Bubbles had no intention of sharing any tales of her own. She was a strange woman, but had they met at a cantina, she would have been the first woman he would of drank up enough courage to speak to. Her eyes were cat like and gray. She had a wide smile that he normally found unattractive. He would never of admitted it, had Dill not spoken non-stop about how good-looking she was.

Her looks alone didn’t blind him to her strange behavior though. There was something about this woman that didn’t sit right with him. If she had poisoned the food, she didn’t look at all disappointed that he hadn’t accepted it. Which made him wonder if he was her target to begin with. Sparks and Doc were normally the ones that the bounty hunters came after. They had a joined bounty of over two fifty hundred thousand capitals, but only if they were both brought in alive.

They never asked the two what they had done to of brought such a large bounty on their heads, and they appreciated everyone keeping to themselves. It wasn’t their choice to stay together anyway, the entire crew had to do business in order to pay back Sahale. None of that was important now, he needed to know about this woman in front of him, and what she wanted.

“So, Bubbles…” Evan began and the woman looked at him, “I asked you what you did for a living, and you never answered me.”

With a grin she leaned forward, “If I told you, I would have to kill you.” A grin flashed across her face, while Sparks and Doc began to laugh.

Even though she said it light heartedly, Evan saw the seriousness in her eyes.