Total pages in book: 112
Estimated words: 105936 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 530(@200wpm)___ 424(@250wpm)___ 353(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105936 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 530(@200wpm)___ 424(@250wpm)___ 353(@300wpm)
“Not by choice,” I said heavily. This was going to come out sometime, it might as well be now. I raised my voice so everyone could hear. “Crewman Jerx disobeyed orders and went to an unauthorized sex house.”
Before granting shore leave for most of the crew, I’d sent Snuffy out to research the local houses of ill repute. He’d found a decent one where the girls, boys, and bots were clean and which had security for the clients so they wouldn’t get robbed, drugged, or killed.
I had believed this place had enough variety, even for someone with a jaded sexual palate like Jerx, and the Crew had been informed that it was the only safe and acceptable place to visit. There had been some grumbling when I announced it, but not too much. It was right by the spaceport, meaning the men would have maximum time to enjoy the house’s favors before they had to get back for dinner in the Mess Hall.
But apparently it hadn’t been good enough for Jerx.
“So you left him just because he went to an unauthorized sex house?” Frux demanded, his eyebrows raising almost to his hairline.
“No,” I said harshly. “In fact, I ran into him on the way back from my negotiations with the Salashions.” I hadn’t told the Crew what had happened with the Salashions—and I wasn’t going to. I would tell my Chieftain if he asked, but if I was still able to get the goods he’d specified, I hopefully wouldn’t have to say anything at all.
“So you ran into him and told him not to bother coming back to the ship?” Frux demanded.
“No.” I glared at him. “Frux, you’re this close to landing in the Brig for the night. Let me fucking finish!”
His eyes narrowed but he held his tongue and simply made an elaborate hand gesture for me to continue.
“I ran into Jerx…or what was left of him,” I went on. “You see, he apparently refused to pay the sex worker he’d gone with and she set her pet spiker on him. Before I could intervene, it bit off his head.”
There was a collective gasp around the Bridge and I saw Crewmembers giving each other wide eyes.
“This is a heavy loss,” I said, though to be honest, Jerx had been an asshole and I certainly wouldn’t miss him. “I wish I could have reached him in time to stop what happened, but the fact is, I didn’t.”
Another lie. I’d been too busy being fucking terrified out of my mind that Jessina was going to get killed and eaten as well to worry about Jerx. As far as I was concerned, he got what he asked for. But of course, I couldn’t say that to the Crew.
“So that’s it?” Frux asked at last. “That’s your final word on the matter? What about his body? What about his family?”
“I’ll be speaking to his family when we get back home to Rigelis Nine,” I said sharply. “As for his body, there wasn’t anything left of it. The spiker ate him from his head down to his boots—in that order.”
Of course I hadn’t seen that, but it was reasonable to assume. The last look I’d had, the hungry beast had been busy consuming Jerx’s torso. I assumed that it had continued.
My words caused another gasp from the Bridge Crew but Frux was still staring at me with narrowed eyes.
“So we’re just supposed to take your word for it that Jerx is gone?” he wanted to know.
“If you’d like to go search for him, you can take one of the lifeboats,” I offered. “But since I saw him get eaten, you’re not going to find much. Unless you want to dig through a pile of spiker scat, that is.”
Frux’s mouth went tight and he sniffed.
“You realize, of course, that I’ll have to put this in my report.”
“Go ahead,” I said, shrugging. “I’ll be putting it in mine as well. You know I don’t like losing a Crewmember but Jerx was the one who decided to go to a sex house that we hadn’t vetted and approved beforehand. I can’t keep people safe if they don’t obey orders.”
Frux leaned close to me.
“This isn’t over, Captain,” he hissed in a low voice. “I know how you felt about Jerx—I know you whipped him for trying to get to your little pet Catamite!”
I wanted to fucking punch him, but that was beneath me as a Captain.
“What exactly are you trying to say, Frux?” I said in a normal tone of voice. “If you’re accusing me of something, you’d better put it in your report. Yes, Jerx attacked another Crewmember and yes, I punished him for it which is my duty as the Captain of this vessel. That’s all in my report as well and it has nothing to do with the way he died—which was a direct result of his own insubordination.”