Krac’s Firebrand

Chapter 2

Chapter Two

“Tower, this is the Lulu Belle coming in to repair bay A4,” Captain “Skeeter” Lulu Belle Mann announced cheerfully. “I need clearance of all incoming traffic. Oh, and you’d better put the bumpers out, boys, my thrusters are being a pain in the bunny butt right now. Frog! How are you doing on the repairs, sweetheart?”

“Two minutes, Skeeter! I need at least two more minutes!” the voice behind her frantically yelled.

Skeeter ignored the coarse curses coming over the system from the tower. She was used to them by now. She didn’t know if it was protocol for all Spaceport Towers to use such language. She’d have to ask Bulldog, her adopted father, the next time she talked to him. She was still learning all the technical talk since he let her take over as Captain of the Lulu Belle. So far, it seemed to be the norm at all the Spaceports she had delivered to.

“Captain, I have the rear thrusters working,” the high-pitched voice of her co-pilot responded. “And my name is Froget, not Frog! How many times do I have to tell you that?” the green, yellow, and black creature growled as he jumped into the chair next to her.

Skeeter laughed in delight at the slightly exasperated tone of her new co-pilot. She had picked up the medium-sized amphibian creature on the Gallus Spaceport at the last minute. She didn’t care what he said his name was, he looked just like the frogs in the picture vidcoms that Bulldog had given her as a child.

She had fallen in love with Frog’s big eyes and long, sticky tongue. He could pick things off the wall from almost ten feet away! It was the coolest thing she had ever seen, well, until he got stuck that one time. He still hadn’t forgiven her for that. How was she supposed to know that the antique paper she had picked up and hung from the ceiling was stickier than his tongue? She loved how it curled around like a streamer and she thought all the little black flying creatures on it were neat.

The only disappointment she had discovered about her new friend and co-pilot was that he didn’t turn into a handsome prince when she had kissed him one night. Skeeter sighed heavily when she remembered her disappointment. She had been sure he would change as he had looked like all the frogs in the old books. Instead, he had shuddered and made her promise to never try to kiss him again.

“Thanks, Froget,” Skeeter replied. “Tower, never mind about the bumpers. Frog got the rear thrusters working so I’ll come in backwards.”

“Lulu Belle, this is Tower One, please hold formation while traffic is cleared from the area,” a warm voice replied.

“Oh dear, sorry about that,” Skeeter whispered as she turned her short-range, class IV Trident freighter at the last minute so that she could back in between two larger long-range ships that were docked in the repair bays next to the one she had been given. The sound of metal on metal echoed through the small freighter briefly as it scraped the side of one of the larger ships as she tucked herself between them. “Tower, never mind about clearing the traffic. I was able to dock.”

“Confirmed. Locks have been engaged, Lulu Belle, and the connection duct has sealed to the rear access door,” the Tower replied. “Welcome to Newport Space Station. I’ll warn everyone you have arrived.”

“Thank you, Artamis,” Skeeter replied warmly. “How is Tila doing?”

“Her hair is almost back to normal since your last visit. I like it blue, by the way, so please leave it that way. I’ll warn my mate you have docked and will be stopping by to visit. Oh, and Skeeter,” Artemis, the Tower controller replied with a hint of laughter in his voice. “Governor Erosa asks that you try to avoid Level 2 while you are here.”

“You know it wasn’t my fault that Bulldog went nuts!” Skeeter complained as she went through the procedure of shutting down the engines. “Lucas should have known better than to try to hire me to deal with illegal transport. I could have been in trouble with the Confederation if it hadn’t been for Daddy telling me what Lucas was up to. How is he by the way?”

“Lucas just got out of rehab,” Artemis replied dryly. “They had a hard time re-growing his missing fingers. A very unusual problem considering his species.”

Skeeter winced. Lucas was an Octoply. A species that had four arms, four legs, and a dozen fingers on each hand. Her dad, Bulldog, had removed four of them on each hand when he found out Lucas had tried to use Skeeter for some unauthorized ‘deliveries’. Granted, Lucas had offered her a lot of credits to do it, but she could have been in big trouble if the Confederation boarded her small freighter.

It would have been her first run for him and her most profitable since she took over the Lulu Belle. When she had shared her new contract with Bulldog, she had been surprised when he had calmly informed her that it had been cancelled at the last minute.

Skeeter later learned that her dad had paid a visit to Lucas. By the time he got done, Level 2 had been pretty much destroyed. She grimaced again when she thought of how many fingers the Octoply would’ve had to regrow.

Skeeter turned when Frog jumped down out of his seat with a loud curse. She blinked when he peered out of the portside window, then glared back at her again. She knew from the tight look around his mouth that he was upset about something she did – again. It was the fly paper look all over again.

Sighing heavily, she turned in her chair and crossed her arms across her generous chest. “Okay, what now?” she asked belligerently.

“You don’t know?” Frog asked in disbelief. “Didn’t you hear the sound of metal scraping? You know, that loud, I-hit-something sound?”

Skeeter shrugged and dropped her hands to the well-worn arms of the captain’s chair. “It wasn’t that bad. It wasn’t as loud as the last time. I’m not very good at backing up. Besides, it couldn’t have been all that terrible. None of the alarms went off this time.”

Froget Horntip looked at the pale human female pouting back at him. He had joined her crew at the last minute as a favor to her adoptive father. What the enormous Razor-tooth Triterian saw in the fragile creature biting her lower lip and looking for all the world like she didn’t have a clue why he was so upset with her, Froget would never know. There was no way he would ever question Bulldog about his decision, though. Bulldog had a reputation of slashing, mutilating and digesting those who did.

Instead, he glanced once more at the large Confederation warship docked in the repair bay next to them. It now had a long…, Forget grimaced as his eyes moved over the mark,… a very, very long pink scrape down the side. He would have to fix it before the female decided she would. He shuddered as he remembered Bulldog’s dire warning if anything happened to his precious but very stubborn daughter.

‘Protect her, don’t let any men near her, and for Goddesses’ sake, don’t let her out into space. The girl doesn’t have a single ounce of survival instinct in her body. She lives life to the fullest. I love her the way she is. Make sure she stays that way, Froget, or else.’

‘How do you…?’ Froget remembered starting to say before the look in Bulldog’s eyes turned them to a burning red. ‘Life… fullest… no men, no space, protect at all cost… got it.’

‘Good,’ Bulldog had grinned, showing off row after row of sharp teeth. ‘The last bodyguard I sent didn’t.’

Froget had looked at the clear, liquid-filled cylinder behind Bulldog and turned a very pale green at the lifeless floating body in the tank. With a sharp nod, Froget had hurried out of Bulldog’s towering office. For once, he wished he had chosen a different profession than bodyguard for a living. He had a feeling he might not have a very long life expectancy in his new position.