Collections 101 - Part Two

       Jackal was the first to leave the mess hall, and was reminded by everyone to check on Angel. He was surprised that the boy hadn’t returned to the mess hall, so he went to the latrines, but found them empty. He knew that Angel was staying in Feral’s old quarters, though she had left some of her items behind. Falcon had issued an order for Angel to gather them up, so they could ship them back to her.
      Pressing the red button beside his quarter’s entrance, he waited for the new crew mate to answer the door. It slid open, and Angel stood before him, holding his stomach and with a green face.
      “You alright?” Jackal asked. He didn’t find the imitations funny very often, except when Lynx was the one who organized them. Otherwise, they were just disgusting and not very well thought out.
      “Please tell me the SP, wasn’t what I think it was.” Angel begged before turning around and continue boxing up Feral’s things. He was working on her underwear drawer, which was the last thing that Jackal had ever wanted to see.
      “Just means spew, it’s the fat we collect from other meals to flavor things when Socket or Beau cooks.”
      “That makes me feel better.” He held up a pair of underwear, “Damn, she must have been a big girl.”
      “Feral was Gultusian.” Jackal explained, “And yes, she was a large woman… very aggressive too.”
      “Violently or sexual?”
      Jackal rolled his eyes, “I would only know how she behaved, I have never shared my bed with another hunter.”
      Angel tried not to chuckle at how he carefully he spoke his words. ‘Shared my bed’, who says that now a day? “You aren’t Gultusian?”
      He narrowed his eyes, “No, I am human. I am too small to be a Gultusian.”
      Angel shrugged, “Big for a human though, how tall are you?”
      “Six foot seven.” He leaned against the door, “What are you five eight?”
      The blonde man chuckled, “Six foot two, thank you.”
      “Must be your complete lack of muscles that make you look smaller. Luckily we have weekly work out times, three days a week.”
      Angel stopped packing Feral’s items, “Are you serious? Is it mandatory?”
      “Yes, Falcon wants all his agents in top shape. How much can you bench press?” Jackal asked. He normally wasn’t very friendly with anyone aboard the ship, but after what the crew had done, he felt sorry for the kid. Kid? He was only a couple years younger then him.
      Angel shrugged, “I have no idea.”
      “We compete, I am in the lead. Just wanted to know how close you were to me, hopefully you can at least knock Serf off the chart.”
      “Lynx isn’t at the bottom?” Angel asked, once he folded up the last box.
      Jackal snorted, “She can bench press three hundred. That’s what happens to women when you genetically enhance them, ya know?”
      “Oh yeah, cause she’s a replica.” He put the box beside his bed.
      “Don’t call her a replica again.” Jackal growled, “She’s as human as humans can be. Whether she was in a uterus or a tank while she was a fetus doesn’t make her any less of a human being.”
      Angel stood up straight and nodded his head, “Sorry, the guys called her that before, and I thought it was alright. It won’t happen again.”
      He watched the large men walk away from his door, before it slid shut. The pure rage that had burned within Jackal’s eyes when he called Lynx a replica, had scared him. It had taken all the self control he had not to shake. “Good fucking work, Dean.” Angel said to himself in the mirror, “Why don’t you go and make the biggest, baddest mother-fucker on this ship your enemy on the first day? Already done there, buddy.” He gave himself a thumbs up.

      Lynx slowly opened her eyes, before she sat up. Arin’s arm that had been around her, fell behind her when she straightened herself out. Looking at the man laying on the bed, she knew that she wouldn’t be able to catch him today. She had put herself in a position that would make it impossible to remove him, which meant she return to base with just the information bounties. It was a disappointing prospect, but she knew the odds of getting him were slim once they were away from the race track.
      Standing up, she began to gather her clothes that had been wildly flung around the room, and put them on as she found them. Arin didn’t hold up to all his bragging about how great he was in bed, but Lynx had done her best to pretend that he had. She was worried that her hair dye might weep out with all the sweater, but it seemed to be in good condition still. Though she was certain that it was a little lighter then the night before.
      “Where are you going, beautiful?” Arin asked, propping himself up on his elbow, as she repaired her hair that was now a mess.
      “Oh, heading home. I didn’t want to be here when you woke up, didn’t want you to think I was clingy or anything.” She said with a smile.
      He scooted down to the edge of the bed, still naked from the activities the previous evening. Lynx immediately took a seat beside him, deciding that was what he probably wanted.
      Arin grinned, “You are a great girl, Lyn.” He wrapped his arms around her shoulders, “Spend the day with me. I don’t have anything important to do today. The swamp gardens are open, and I haven’t been there yet. Have you?”
      “No.” She shook her head.
      “Opened six months ago, and neither of us have gone. What do you say?”
      Lynx grinned coyly, though she was only trying to cover up a more sinister grin. “Oh, I don’t know, Arin, I…”
      “Say that again.” He took her hand that was resting on her lap.
      “What?”
      His smile widened, “My name, I like the way that you say it.”
      Lynx giggled, “You are such a flatterer.”
      His smile began to fade, “If you want this to be a one night stand, then I’ll understand. Maybe you didn’t think it would go as far as it did, and now you are scared. I just felt so much electricity between us, ya know? It would please me to no end, if we could test this out a bit, perhaps find out there is more to it.”
      Lynx nodded her head, “Sure, I would like that. But I should go home and change my clothes, this dress is a little formal. I’ll meet you outside the garden’s alright?” She stood up from the bed.
      He grabbed her wrist, forcing her to look into his eyes. “Promise, Lyn? Don’t say that you will if you are just going to stand me up. Like I said, if you want this to be a one night stand, then it can be.”
      Leaning forward, Lynx seductively, but gently kissed his lips. “I said I would be there, and I will be.”
      Arin licked the after taste of her kiss from his lips, “I’ll be waiting, Lyn.”
      “You won’t be for long.” She winked, before exiting his bedroom.
      With a quick sigh, he threw himself back onto his bed, before jumping to his feet to find some clothing to wear.

      Lynx ran out of Urga to his ship, but came to a immediate halt when she saw another hunter ship beside her own. She knew that it was Jackal’s ship, because she watched him exit it. He stretched his legs for a moment, as he had never fit right within the small fighter ship. After a moment, he noticed that a dark haired woman was watching him, but before he said anything the face of the woman was recognized.
      “Falcon sent me down to…” He began, but as she got closer he realized that she was in a dress. He had never seen her formally dressed, and it had stopped him in mid-sentence. It was as if he had remembered again that Lynx was a woman, even though he had forced himself to forget when she joined the ship two years before. The fact that her cleavage was visible wiped away any memory that she was a crew mate.
      “To what? Fetch me?” She barked, as she climbed into her ship and grabbed her duffel bag. She pulled out a brown pair of pants, boots, and a tight white shirt, along with her brown hood and cloak.
      Not even given far warning to him, she stripped down to her underwear and began to pull her clothes on. Jackal decided that if she wasn’t going to be embarrassed of his presence, then neither was he. Putting on some make-up, she checked herself over.
      “I am this close to getting Arin Retu.” She put her thumb and index finger an inch apart. “I will not come back now, when he is within my grasps.”
      Jackal tried to hide the excitement in his voice. “That’s fine, I have an information bounty down here.”
      “I already have Brugo and Orgolin, and I initialed them in the database.”
      He looked at his data pad, he sighed. He had taken one of them, but didn’t notice her initials beside it.
      “Which one, did you take?”
      “Orgolin.” He mumbled, “I didn’t see the damn initials.” This would mean he would have to pay a fine for returning without a bounty, he cursed himself for not taking several.
      Lynx’s hand held out the disk, she was standing a little to close for his own comfort. “Here, it was really easy to get. I mean I literately took it out of the guys hand when he wasn’t looking. No fighting, no bloodshed. Easiest ten thousand caps that I ever made.”
      “I don’t want your damn pity.” Jackal hissed, “I already owe you.”
      “You don’t owe me anything, now…”
      “No!” He barked.
      Lynx folded her arms, “Ok, here is the deal. I have to meet Arin Retu at the swamp gardens right now. He has two body guards with him, now I don’t want to kill them, and Arin is worth more alive then dead. I have to get him away from his guards, with a little seduction, I am sure that I can, but I don’t know if I can carry him back here alone. You help me with that, and you can have the disk.” She held out the disk to him again.
      Jackal snatched it away from her, “Deal.”
      She began to walk ahead of him back into Urga, “Oh, and Jack? Next time a woman is changing, turn your damn back. What are you a pervert?”
      He cracked a grin, as he put the disk into his ship, before following her at a distance into the city.

      Lynx walked with her hand in the crook of Arin’s arms. The gardens was a collection of plants, mostly flowers that grew all over the planet. As a manner of impressing her, and making her job all the easier, Arin had paid to have the next three hours to himself. Though his body guards kept within arms reach, and Lynx had a strange feeling that it was she that they were trying to guard Arin against. They seemed nervous, whenever Lynx made a sudden move.
      “Then perhaps we can do to one of the fine theaters. Do you enjoy musicals, Lyn?” Arin asked her.
      She shrugged, “I’ve never been to one… not a professional one that is.”
      “They are a great deal of fun. Hearing someone singing live in front of you always beats recordings, and these people have amazing voices. They don’t even wear microphones.”
      “I think they build the theaters so they don’t have to.” Lynx informed him.
      He nodded, “Indeed they do. Though some are designed better then others.” Arin ran his arm behind her back, and kissed her neck briefly. “You know…” He began to whisper, then shook his head.
      “No, what? Tell me.” She smiled.
      “I’ve always wanted to be with a woman in a public place.” He whispered, “Think you can help me with that fantasy.”
      She blushed, before whispering back to him. “With your body guards watching?”
      Arin snorted before he chuckled, “Of course not!” He spun around, “You two wait here. There is a flower I wish to show Lyn.”
      “Sir, I don’t think…” One of them began, but Arin silenced him with a glare.
      “Wait here, we will be back in twenty minutes.” He snapped, before pulling her towards the back of the gardens near the fence.
      Lynx didn’t know where Jackal was, and could only hope that he managed to sneak into the gardens before Arin had them emptied. “I think they know why we came back here.” She tried to avoid any more physical contact with the man.
      Arin grinned, pushing her against the cement fencing. “Good, they will be jealous upon our return.” His body pressed against her, and he began an assault on her neck with his lips.
      When he brought his head up to order her to pull of her pants, a large arm came around his neck, and a cloth covered his face. Arin was out cold within a few seconds, and Jackal allowed him to fall to the ground.
      “Well, I didn’t think you would take him out for me, but thank you.” Lynx kneeled down to check his pulse.
      “And what would you have done? Fucked him in the gardens, and hope you got a chance to knock him out?”
      Her eyes wandered up his legs and body, until she found his face. “Something like that.”
      “You would of slept with him here… knowing that I was watching you?”
      “I didn’t know where the hell you were.” She grinned, seeing his shocked face. “Oh, realizing you missed out on a live porn session, did ya?”
      Jackal glared, “That’s not what I was thinking at all. Have you… did you… you have, haven’t you?”
      “Considering that wasn’t even a comprehensible sentence, I have no idea.” She stood up from her squatting position.
      “You know the guys always told me that you slept with some of your bounties, but I didn’t really believe it.” Jackal watched as she leaned down and threw Arin over her shoulder, then turn to the fence and try to shove him over.
      “You do what you have to do to get close to a bounty, Jack. Don’t tell me you’ve never done so with a female bounty.”
      He stepped beside her and began to help her balance Arin on the top of the fence. “I am more of a shadow lurker, then an undercover hunter. I wait for my bounties to put themselves in a position where I can overtake them… like I just did.”
      Lynx pulled herself atop of the fence, “Well, I wait for them to do that too, except they do it when I am within their presence.” She jumped down. “Ok, push him over.”
      He let go of the man’s body weight, and then pulled himself over the fence. Lynx was already walking ahead with the man on her shoulders. They were outside the city limits, and therefore none of the officials could do anything about it.
      “Do you realize how many diseases can be transmitted through sex, Lyn?” He asked, jogging up beside her.
      “I get regular check ups, besides I am genetically altered. Some diseases have no effect, while others I can sense.”
      He glared at her, not liking the thought at all, but decided that it was just best to drop it all together.
      “Thought you needed help carrying him?” Jackal asked as they got within sights of their personal transports.
      “Can you open the cock pit and let down the freeze cage?” She asked, and Jackal complied. “You knocked him out, so I’ll carry him.” She told him, once the blue tube was down and open. Gently, she placed Arin inside, before shutting it. “Ok, freeze him.”
      Jackal pressed a couple of keys in the cock pit, and Arin stiffened before her eyes.
      “He was a nice guy, just made a bad choice in a career.” Lynx told Jackal, as he came to stand beside her. The freeze cage lifted into place and they both watched to ensure that it went into position correctly.
      “Falcon’s son arrived.”
      “Shit!” Lynx barked.
      Her profanity shocked him a little, as he didn’t hear her do it often. “He is upset that you were not available for the line up.”
      “I didn’t know that he would be arriving the same day! Why didn’t he tell us that?” Lynx began to climb into her cock pit, and put her helmet on.
      Jackal climbed up to face her, as she belted herself in. “Maybe not, but you should of asked before you took off. I hardly think it was professional the way you handled…”
      “Thanks, Jack.” She pushed him backward, forcing him to jump down. “Last I checked, I managed to make it this far without a father, and I think I can manage the rest of the way without one.” The lid began it’s slow decent downward, until she couldn’t be seen anymore.
      The ship hovered upward, the strong winds it caused forced Jackal to take several steps backward, until he decided to take cover in his own ship. When he was inside, and ready to take off himself, he looked up into the sky to find that Lynx was already gone. She hadn’t even waited to ensure that he had gotten off the planet, which was a rule that Falcon had. He shrugged, he wasn’t going to report her for disobeying the rule, but it annoyed him.

      Angel was in the docking bay with Mac and Beau, they were fitting his ship with some better weapons as well as a high quality tracking device. Lynx had recently updated her personal transport, and had left her old laser cannons for anyone to take. They were in near new condition, and Beau had told them that she updated her weapons once a year. Most of the crew, especially Feral would reuse her old parts, and she never asked for any compensation. Always shrugged and told them that she was just going to throw them anyway.
      “Thanks for the help.” Angel said, once Mac was finished. Beau really hadn’t done anything, except tell him how to install them incorrectly.
      “Any time.” Mac stood up and wiped the grease from his hands onto an old cloth.
      “You didn’t mess with them, did you? No initiations with my guns, right?”
      Mac shook his head, insulted. “Of course not, Falcon would kick my ass. These are for saving your ass, and possibly mine if I am ever out there. No way in hell would I fuck with them.”
      “Incoming transport.” The computerized voice sounded.
      “Hey, Socket fixed the broadcasting program!” Beau said excitedly. “Thank god, I was so tired of having to run to the screen every time it beeped.”
      “Jackal or Lynx?” Mac asked him in the tone he used when he was making a bet.
      “Jack, defiantly. Bet he couldn’t even find her.”
      “Ok, then I get Lynx. Cooking duty?” Mac held out his hand for Beau to make the deal, and he shook it.
      They both watched as Lynx’s ship entered into its dock, beside Angel’s own ship. Stepping out of her transport, she took off her helmet and threw it into the cockpit before heading towards the freeze cage bot.
      “I win!” Mac yelled, causing her to stop dead in her tracks.
      “What the hell?” Lynx asked. When he said nothing, she continued her short journey. The cage bot looked like a mechanical arm on wheels, and would remove the cage from her ship and place it in the storage area, before replacing the cage. She flipped it’s on switch, “Dock 2.” She informed it.
      Beau looked over at Angel, who had been staring at Lynx since she boarded. He elbowed Mac, and pointed at the commander’s son. Mac chuckled, “Don’t stare too long, she doesn’t like it.”
      Angel returned to reality, his cheeks flushed when he realized that he had been caught. “That’s a replica? Her hair is brown.”
      “She dyed it, normally it’s white.” Beau looked over his shoulder as Jackal docked.
      The large man jumped out of his ship, and chucked his helmet back into the cockpit. Racing over to Lynx, who was standing at the bounty computer, she was entering in her recent success into the database.
      “Hey!” He barked at her, and she turned her head to face him. Jackal didn’t even care that the other three were there watching them. “I am not trying to be your father. All I was doing was letting you know that you pissed Falcon the fuck off. Maybe if you were so god damn full of yourself, and took other people into consideration…”
      “Are you kidding me? ‘Mister I am so fucking self absorbed that I gave Lynx the silent treatment for two years because she took my spot’” She rubbed her eyes and made crying noises like an infant, “is telling me to take other people into consideration.” She pointed at herself with two fingers.
      “You’re a real bitch, ya know that?”
      Beau and Mac had never heard Jackal talk so much in one conversation, while Angel felt disappointment that he might be watching a lovers’ quarrel.
      “Yeah, well, this bitch, saved your ass and just handed you ten thousand caps.” She turned her two fingers onto him, and pointed at his chest, but never touched him.
      Jackal laughed sardonically, “Oh, wow that didn’t even take you a day to throw back into my face, did it?” He pulled the disk from his pocket, “You want it back? Here…” He threw it at her, “I don’t need your god damn pity!” Turning around he stormed off down the hall, his hard stomping echoed for several moments.
      “Apparently you do, Mister Second Best!” She yelled, the men standing behind her caught her eye and she turned to face them. “What the hell are you staring at?” She barked before turning back to the database computer.
      Picking up the disk, she entered in Jackal’s code which she knew by heart, and informed Collections that he had retrieved it. Most of the crew knew each other’s codes, so in case one of them returned injured they could report the mission’s success. She entered the disk into the storage unit, before ensuring that a new freeze cage was installed on her ship.
      “How are ya? My name is Angel.” A hand was presented in front of her.
      Her eyes fell down to his smooth hands and fingers, it looked like he used lotion and perhaps got manicures. Of course, Falcon did the same thing, so she wouldn’t of been surprised. She didn’t respond or touch his hand, just continued to inspect her ship.
      Both Mac and Beau laughed at Angel’s attempt to make friends with her, though they tried to be quiet so not to pull Lynx’s attention to them.
      When she was certain that it had been installed correctly, she headed for the hall. Angel was not easily dissuaded and continued to follow her. He came to stand in front of her, and began to walk backwards.
      “You may have heard that I was coming. I am the new crewmate, it’s a pleasure to meet you. I read up on most of the crew on my way here, and I have to say keeping the top producer title of a Grade A ship for two years is tough. It’s very impressive.”
      Lynx got to her quarters and opened the door, she turned around the face Angel who was blocking the door from closing.
      “You never told me what you wanted me to call you.”
      Placing her hand on his chest, she shoved him out into the hall. “Lynx.” She snapped, before the door shut him out.
      Mac and Beau chuckled as they had been following him, and witnessed the entire thing.
      “She’s cold.” Angel said turning around to them.
      “Ah, that was her being nice. She hit me the first day that I got here.” Beau told him. “I should use hit, she punched me in the face and broke my nose.”
      “Ouch.” He looked at her door. “She warms up though, doesn’t she?”
      Both men laughed and headed back to the dock, Angel was close behind them. They all needed to bring back a couple of bounties, and had taken ones on the same planet. Mostly because it was Jackal’s day to cook, and they would must rather eat off ship, then have anymore beans.

      The buzz came to Lynx’s door, and she opened it, revealing Goose. She allowed the commander’s wife in, then shut the door immediately. They both sat down on her bed, Goose’s silence made her slightly uneasy.
      “Is he really mad? I didn’t know that he was coming that day.” Lynx asked, turning off her data pad.
      “No, it was probably for the best. The guys would of probably picked on you, and Angel would of thought it was ok. Which by the way, have you met him?”
      Lynx nodded, “I didn’t expect the commander’s son to be so… ah… what’s the word?”
      “Arrogant? Annoying? Beau-like?” Goose rose her eyebrow as she sprouted of terms.
      “I was going to say cute, but now that you mention it… maybe those too.”
      Goose laughed, “Sorry, his presence here does not make Falcon happy. And when Falcon is in a bad mood, then I am in one.” She sighed.
      “Falcon got something against his own son?” Lynx asked turning off the data pad on her bed.
      “No, he’s got something against the way Angel has something against me.”
      “Say what?” Lynx scoot back on the bed, so her back was against the wall.
      Goose copied her, and crossed her legs. “Angel does not like me. He thinks that I am too young, and just out for Falcon’s money. His mother died a few years back, but she was in the process of divorcing him, though Angel has a selective memory and doesn’t remember that.” She shook her head, “Wait, I started that story wrong. Falcon’s job kept him away from his family for months at a time, and when he came back he was only there for a few days. His wife refused to live aboard the ship or expose her son to that environment. Not that I blame her, you understand…”
      Lynx grinned, “You are rambling, Goose.”
      “Do me a favor? Can you call me Lauren, while we are in private? I know Falcon prohibits it, but I’ve known you since you were a girl. Besides, I really hate that I’ve started to call myself Goose in my own head.” She frowned.
      “Sorry, you were rambling, Lauren.”
      She cleared her throat, “And I can call you Ryanna, right?”
      “In private, sure.”
      Goose nodded her head, “Ok, anyway, back to what I was saying. Angel’s mother threw a fit when she found out that Angel wanted to be a hunter. Blamed Falcon for the whole thing, and then started telling Angel that she knew he was cheating on her with younger women who worked under him.”
      “Ah, and Falcon denied it, and then he turns around and marries you, which confirms his mother’s suspicions in his mind.” Lynx finished the story, knowing that Goose would go on forever.
      “Right.” She inhaled deeply, “I want him to like me, but I’ve read some of the things that he has said about me in his letters to Falcon. I can’t just get them out of my head, you know?”
      “Goose, I mean, Lauren. Whatever he had said or done in the past, leave it there. Now that he is here, right in front of you, everything can start fresh. He won’t be able to deny that you love Falcon because he will see it. Hell, the rest of the crew can see it, so he will have to. You two get to start fresh. Pretend, those letters were from a little child, and now that child is a man. He has a new outlook, a new way of thinking.”
      She smirked, “You are right. I have to just let it go and start with a clean slate. Even if he gives me dirty looks every time I walk past him.”
      “Hey, everyone on this ship loves you, you’re our Mother Goose.” Lynx put her arm around her, “And no one will let him hurt your feelings. He better not do it in front of me, I’ll tell you that much!”
      Goose’s smirk turned into a smile, “Thanks, Ryanna.” There was a moment of silence, “So, you think he’s cute, huh?”
      “In the same way I thought Beau was cute, then he spoke and all attraction faded away.”
      She laughed out loud. “What did he say?”
      “You know, he was actually very nice. Said he was impressed with me, and all that other good stuff. I don’t know, maybe it wasn’t what he said, but he gave me an wholesome feeling.”
      Goose stood up from the bed, “Jackal is making lunch right now, so I hope you are in the mood for beans.”
      “Yum.” She placed her feet on the floor.
      “Oh, and I got a communication that the medical ship was enroute to our location. Apparently, it’s time to take more samples.”
      “Fun, guess I have to stick around for a couple of days until they get here.” They started to exit her room.
      “You know, your hair is still brown.” Goose told her, “You should probably wash that out before lunch, you know how strict Falcon is.”
      Lynx nodded, “Can you hold my clothes, so I can change in the shower? I really hate the idea of running through the halls in a towel with a new crewmate around.”
      “Sure, go grab them.”

      Entering into the mess hall, Lynx was surprised to find everyone there. Goose had told her that most of them had went off ship for bounties. Yet, Beau, Mac, and the new crewmate sat at the table eating their beans in gravy. Serf stood from the table again to grab her a tray.
      “I swear, Serf, if anyone stuck that tray down their pants and you hand it to me, I will make you eat your beans out of the toilet.”
      The red head looked down at the tray and cursed under his breath, “I only took one bite out of mine.” He said, before washing the tray to get himself some more food.
      Beau and Mac laughed, they really didn’t care whether Lynx or Serf ate off the tray as long as one of them had to. She sat down next to Jackal and across from Angel. “Oh good, beans, you’ve never made these before.” Her words dripped with sarcasm.
      Jackal never responded to anyone but Falcon when he was eating, so she knew that she was safe from any retort.
      “Yeah, what a treat.” Mac added.
      There was an long silence while everyone ate their food. Though Angel was certain that the rest of the crew was comfortable with extensive pauses in their conversation, he wasn’t yet.
      “So, Lyn, you were down on Yersus for a long time. Sneaking in a little fun, were you?” Angel asked.
      Her eyes went from Angel to Jackal, “What the hell did you tell them?”
      “Nothing!” Jackal barked, and several beans fell from his mouth back onto his plate.
      “That’s disgusting.” She curled her lips, and returned to eating.
      “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to suggest anything.” Angel said when he realized that she wasn’t going to respond. “I just wanted to have some polite conversation, and get to know…”
      “You aren’t allowed to talk to me!” Lynx snapped at him.
      “Huh, what? Why?” Angel looked at Beau who was beside him for an answer and found none.
      “It’s nothing personal, those two asses aren‘t allowed to either.” She point at Beau and Mac.
      Angel chuckled, as did the other two. “What are the circumstances or objectives that need to be met before you will talk to me?”
      “You need to have a vagina.” She said taking a big bite of her food.
      Beau and Mac laughed like school boys at the mention of the word ‘vagina’.
      “Well, Jack seems to be chatting your ear off lately.” Beau announced.
      “Maybe, Jack has a vagina now.” Lynx retorted before taking another bite.
      Everyone laughed except Lynx, when Jackal stopped shoveling food in his mouth, and slowly turned his head towards her. His eyes were narrowed, and a deep frown was plastered across his face. “Excuse me?”
      Lynx swallowed down her beans, “I said, maybe you have a vagina.” She used her spoon to point at him.
      “No, I don’t think so.” He responded, his voice calm but the resentment was transparent.
      “Do you think or do you know?” Lynx asked, “There is a difference.”
      He cocked an eyebrow, a grin tugged at the corner of his lip. “Would you like me to show you?”
      Beau and Mac both made ‘oh’ sounds, as if Jackal had just issued a challenge to her. Angel tried to hold back his laughter, he had read the public logs for the ship, and had discovered that Jackal and Lynx were marked as rivals.
      “No, I can already see a dick without you pulling down your pants.” Lynx riposted.
      All laughter stopped, none of them had ever heard Lynx call him a name like that to his face. Beau had made that mistake once, and Jackal had scared him so badly that he actually peed himself. They watched as Lynx didn’t back down, her eyes glaring right into Jackal’s. The grin that had been tugging on Jackal’s lips was birthed, and he began to chuckle.
      It was a sound that none of them were use to hearing, even Lynx was a little startled. Her eyes shot to Mac as if asking him what the hell was going on.
      “That one took me a minute.” Jackal said before turning back to his food. He looked up at the shocked faces around the table, and remembered himself. “You get that one for free, only because I called you a bitch in the docking bay.” He snapped, and stood up.
      Cleaning off his tray, he exited the mess hall. Lynx watched him leave carefully, ensuring that he wasn’t going to say anything. “That was… odd.”
      “Yeah, I thought you were dead.” Serf said.
      “Jack wouldn’t touch her, or else Falcon would be all over his ass. Guys hitting guys is ok. Girls hitting guys is ok. A guy hitting a girl, no fucking way.” Mac informed him. “Yeah, now don’t you have work to do.”
      Serf frowned, and stood from the table, he had barely eaten anything, but knew to leave when they told him to.
      “I thought you guys left the ship.” Lynx said as Socket entered the mess hall.
      “Thank you, I appreciate that everyone told me that lunch was ready.” The aging man barked and filled his tray, and even took a seat at the table.
      “Thought we didn’t have the right to talk to you.” Angel teased.
      “No, but I have the right to speak to you three when I damn well feel like it.” She answered, then turned her eyes to Mac.
      “We were going to head down, but Falcon said Jackal had already made food for all of us. So…” Mac didn’t have to finish, she could fill in the rest.
      Another pause in the conversation made the hairs on the back of Angel’s neck stand up.
      “I need to get laid. We have got to get off ship after this.” Beau said.
      “You aren’t suppose to leave ship just to do that.” Socket notified him.
      Beau swallowed, “I’ll do a couple bounties, but I need a girl. It’s been like three months.”
      Mac nodded, “Me too.”
      His friend looked at him, “No shit, they know that you only get the girls I pawn off on you. Of course, it’s been as long.”
      “Damn, what the hell is your problem?” Mac frowned.
      Beau turned his eyes to Lynx with a grin, “Of course, I won’t have to leave ship if a certain lady aboard…”
      “Nice try, Beau.” Lynx stood up, “But I got some last night.” She washed her tray.
      “You always get some when you go planet side, what are you doing do down there?” Mac questioned.
      Lynx shrugged as she headed towards the door, “Either my bounties are easy or I am hot.” She licked her thumb and touched her butt with it, before making a sizzling noise. “Sounds like the latter.”
      They all chuckled, including Socket, who also shook his head. There were times when she couldn’t distance herself from the crew enough, and then other times she was just one of the guys. He had often thought of telling her that the guys would ease up on her if she acted that way more frequently, but always told himself that it was none of his business. Lynx knew what she was doing, he hoped.

      Angel entered the gym, knowing that he would probably be scolded by Falcon for being an hour late. He had a legitimate reason, his contact planet side had taken his sweet time bringing him the information that he needed. Though, he doubted that would matter much to his father. That was the way it had always been, if anything went wrong it was always your own fault, which was a life motto that Angel couldn’t live by.
      He found a white tank top and some dark blue sweat pants in his quarters, which were standard issue for Collections agents. A small white towel around his neck, and he was ready for whatever training they were going to throw at him. Inside the gym, everyone was busily going through their routines. The gym equipment was all powered by magnets and gravity, there were no more weights to add and remove. So, watching Lynx bench press a steel bar wasn’t exactly exciting, except she didn’t wear the white tank top. Her hair pulled back in a pony tail, and a sports bra on, Angel made a beeline for her.
      Everyone sported a large tattoo on their backs, though Angel couldn’t see Lynx’s. Mac had his name plastered across his back and it appeared to be formed out of guns. Both Goose and Falcon had their open wigged birds, while Beau had a woman in a swimsuit. Angel couldn’t be certain, but it looked like the woman had probably once been naked and another artist had done the bathing suit. Jackal had the large canine on his upper back, ripping into the flesh of a carcass.
      Both Falcon and Jackal were from a time though, when male bounty hunters would get a lot of tattoos. Though Jackal had been on the end of the fad, his body still had several. Though Falcon’s always interested Angel more, as there was one of a baby’s face on his father right arm, and behind that was an angel. It had been the only proof that he had that his father even cared that he was alive. However, on the left upper arm, his father had a falcon and a goose flying together with flowers designing a heart around them. There were many more tattoos on his father’s body, showing victory and some defeats. Though he kept his arms clean for only the very special things in his life. Angel had always noticed that his mother was not among them.
      Mac jumped down from the chin up bar, and elbowed Beau who was beside him using the punching bag, as he watched Angel approach their female crewmate. Falcon said nothing to his son, who was late, mostly because Goose was forcing her low impact yoga upon him. He really didn’t feel comfortable yelling at his crew while in a pose called the lily. Even Serf came out of his little corner with his twenty pound dumbbells to watch Angel.
      “Need someone to spot you?” Angel asked her.
      “No.” Lynx replied, placing the steel bar upon it’s perch. “I’m done.” Standing up, she wiped the sweat away from the black padding.
      He looked at the four large paw prints tattooed onto her back. Where the claws would be, there was red ink to show the blood from them digging into her back. “Spot me then?” He asked sitting down on the bench.
      She gave a nod, and walked around behind him. “Three hundred alright?”
      Angel knew he couldn’t lift that much, though he had never really done much gym training. Without a word he laid down, deciding to give it a chance. Lynx looked over at Jackal who was using the bicep curl, he put it down, and leaned back. It seemed everyone was watching to see what Angel could do.
      Placing his hand on the bar, he pushed up gently at first to gauge the weight, and then with all his might. It didn’t even rock on it’s perch under his strength.
      “Maybe a little lower.” Angel whispered to her.
      Leaning over Lynx turned the dial to two hundred. “There.” She watched him try again, but there was still no movement, so she adjusted it again to a hundred.
      Angel didn’t have any problems lifting that, though Lynx would of started to laugh if he had. She began turning it up in ten pound increments until one fifty was decided to be his max. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Jackal chuckle at him, but she also witnessed him staring at her. His recent behavior had been making her uneasy, though Jackal had always made her feel that way. In the past it had been through ignoring her, not with excessive attention.
      “Pretty good.” She told him then yelled out, “One fifty!”
      The entire crew started to laugh, and Mac ran to the wall and wrote down Angel’s name and the weight. “Wow, Serf has him beat by twenty pounds!”
      “Hey, I can do one seventy!” Angel barked, sitting up from the bench.
      “No, you can’t, we already tried one sixty, you said to turn it back.” Lynx corrected him, and stole Beau’s punch bag.
      “Ah, I am tired. Think I am going to shower.” Goose said before any arguments could break out.
      “I’ll be done in a moment.” Falcon told her, as she headed for the exit.
      “Want to come with me, Lyn?” Goose asked as the door slide open.
      Lynx gave a nod, and with one final blow to the bag headed out into the hall behind Goose.
      Falcon jumped to his feet once he was sure that Goose was gone, and began to use the other equipment. His wife didn’t want him using the weights anymore, but he seriously doubted anything he could do on the mats could keep his muscles in proper form.
      “Why do you even do that sissy stuff, anyway?” Beau asked, sitting down on the bench press.
      His commander stopped doing leg curls, and glared at him. “It makes me feel pretty.”
      The room burst out in laughter, except for Jackal who shook his head. After the humor faded, they returned to the rituals. Falcon hadn’t gotten upset that Lynx left the gym earlier then usual, mostly because she had been the first to arrive. He had no idea how long she had been there before him, but whenever someone beat him they would always be given leeway for the day. Of course with Goose, he was become later with each passing day. He swore that woman was trying to be the death of his respect on this ship, though he couldn’t blame her for worrying about his health.
      “What’s up with the back tattoos?” Angel asked out loud.
      “You’ll get one when we decide you are part of the crew.” Falcon told him.
      He cocked his head, “Uh, I don’t want one if that’s alright. I am not big on pain.”
      The crew chuckled, “Tough, it’s a ritual and you aren’t going to be the first to break it. I’ll have Jack hold you down while they do it.” Falcon barked.
      With a swallow, Angel turned away from his father and went back to what was the beginning of many long, silent work out sessions with the crew.

      The moment he stepped out of the showers and was on the way to his room, Beau came running up with a large grin on his face. In his hand was a blaster, that was suppose to be holstered at all times while aboard ship. Angel was about to remind him when he noticed the training symbol on the barrel, it wasn’t an active weapon. Instead it was used in the simulation room, where they would test their accuracy and practice.
      “Falcon says you need to get your scrawny little ass to the simulation room.” Beau told him, like a little brother would tell their sibling when their parent were pissed at them.
      “Why?”
      “We compete against each other about once a week, sometimes more if Falcon gets an itch. Who ever wins gets a special treat.” He leaned against Angel’s door when they arrived.
      “What kind of treat?”
      “It’s different every time.”
      He sighed audibly, “Alright, let me get my clothes on and I’ll be right there.”
      “Better hurry, Mac and Lynx were about to start when I left. Mac normally wins, but Lynx sometimes comes out on top. You’ll probably duel one of them, since you didn’t come in time to lose to me.”
      Angel chuckled, “I am pretty good with a blaster, if I don’t say so myself.”
      “We switch up the weapons during the exercise. You’ll see. I’ll tell them you are on your way.” With that Beau twirled around and ran down the hall like an excited school boy.
      Entering his room, he began to pull his clothing on. Angel wasn’t use to this much competitiveness, as on Grade B ships and below, the crew worked together on missions. No one went planet side without a partner. He had been warned by his old commander that Grade A ships were competitive, he just didn’t understand to what degree.
      Exercising, bounties, and now weapon abilities, would there ever be an end? What was the point of all this anyway? He wondered if his father thought it made the hunters strive to be better. Working with a team and wanting to ensure he was the best he could be had been what worked for him all these years. The stress of competition was now added to the already taxing work they had to be perform, he didn’t know if he could handle it.
      Making his way to the simulation room, he entered into the control booth. It stood twenty feet above the black simulations room, so that bystanders could watched everything. Lynx and Mac weren’t firing at each other like he had thought, instead at hologram targets. Some where smaller then others, indicating distance, and others moved around the room. The targets did fire back, and whenever one of them was hit a counter on the wall would display how many hits and how critical they were. It also showed how many kills each of them had received.
      At the moment Lynx was leading, mostly because Mac had taken several unfavorable hits. He was gaining ground though. Both were dressed in black jumpsuits that could detect their hypothetical damage. With nothing to hide behind, both were left in the open, jumping and flipping around to avoid hits.
      Falcon flipped a switch and ordered for them to change from blasters to rifles. Both ran towards the chest in the corner and threw their guns in, before pulling out their rifles.
      “This is where he always gets her.” Beau whispered in Angel’s ear. “She can’t fire a rifle without a scope or laser point. Sometimes, she has better days then Mac though.”
      “Hush.” Goose ordered.
      Angel watched the battle go on for several moments, before his eyes wandered over to Jackal. The large man was standing close to the window, his arms folded across his chest. He had seen Jackal’s score, and the man had come in dead last. Though he had read that Jackal was more of a hand to hand combat fighter.
      Occasionally, Jackal’s face would twitched, though he did quite well at hiding it. Angel always noticed small things, as it was his job to do so. It took him a moment to figure out what the twitching was related to, but Angel linked it to whenever Lynx got a good shot. He was actually cheering for her in his own silent, tough guy way.
      At the last minute, Lynx took a critical shot that lowered her score just enough to be behind Mac. The timer sounded and it was all over. Just the way real life battles were. One mistake and it was all over.
      Lynx and Mac didn’t shake hands, instead they tossed their weapons into the chest, and Mac immediately went into bragging mode. Entering into the control booth, Lynx frowned at Falcon.
      “Oh, I so totally kicked your ass!” Mac spouted off.
      “Enough, Mac. I would hardly call that a victory.” Falcon snapped, “You didn’t win by your skill, instead because Lynx wasn’t paying attention to her surroundings. Consider it a win by default.” His eyes wandered over to his son, “You are up, get in the jump suit and get out there.”
      Mac grinned, “How good are you with guns?” He asked, as Angel stepped into the small changing room and pulled on the jump suit.
      “I’m alright.”
      His grin widened, “I’ll be the judge of that.”
      “Then why even ask me?” He realized that Mac had walked away from the changing room door when no answer came. Stepping out of the changing room, he winked at Lynx who was staring at him. “Like what you see?” The jumpsuit fit his body’s form snuggly.
      “If there was more too look at, probably.” Lynx retorted.
      Angel smiled. “There is more here then you could handle…”
      “Angel, get down there!” Falcon ordered.
      His father’s voice caused him to jump, but he quickly made his way down to the simulation room.
      “Start with blasters.” Falcon said over the broadcast.