The ride back was quiet. Captain Valance wasn't brooding, that wasn't the word. He was pensive. She tried not to look at him. Thankfully the view outside was amazing. Ashley could see the hurricane meeting the electromagnetic break wall. Before it was mostly circular, a gathering of clouds around a dark center. As she looked on the hurricane was taking on an oval shape and wisps of white clouds were starting to break free.
“How long do you think it'll last?” She asked.
“The war?”
“Um, sure.”
“They've been fighting for almost ten years. Regent Galactic is engaged with this government and another super corporation, it'll go on until they win. A few more years maybe.”
“So these people aren't going to win?”
“We haven't been in this area of space for more than a few months, but is there anywhere you haven't seen a Regent logo? They're in every port.”
She thought for a moment. It was true, she even liked a few of the shops Regent Galactic owned, particularly Fresh N' Green and Spacerwares. Then again, everyone loved Spacerwares.
“They're desperate. This idea of using me as the poster boy to their privateer recruiting initiative is the kind of thing a government low on options resorts to.”
“Could it work?” She stared out the starboard side view as the last of the massive ships were disappearing from view.
“It's a long shot. I've never heard of it working before. The best thing about having a lot of privateers in your system is that when you surrender and the war has come to an end, a lot of the privateers just don't stop. Get enough privateers and you end up with either a great big mess or an easy rebellion.”
“So even if they surrender the fight might not be over.”
“That's right. The Trade Minister would move on though. He'll have an easy time making a place for himself somewhere else in the Galaxy if he becomes known as the man who put a successful privateering effort together. I just hope he keeps to his end of the bargain.”
He didn't say anything else the entire way back to the windowed hall overlooking the Samson.
She couldn't stand it anymore. “So we're going to be privateers?” She still couldn't believe it even though the Samson had done privateering before. Stephanie was the only one left aboard who had been around back then and she talked about how much money they made, how exciting it was, but she often acknowledged that they lost a lot of people, took a lot of risks.
He stopped and turned to face her. His expression was serious but not at all intimidating. “As soon as we get our letter of marque. He has to pass it by the Minister of Defence's office and who knows who else.” He took her shoulders in his hands. It was hard not to remember Silver's accusation that she was some kind of surrogate daughter. “It'll be dangerous for everyone. You don't have to stay on if you don't want to. I'll make sure you get certified so you can find work.”
She couldn't believe what he was saying. It was always a little different between them. He always treated her with a little more consideration, had a little more patience for her and when no one was around he seemed kinder, more at ease. “I don't want to leave. I owe you too much.”
“You don't owe me a thing. You don't owe anyone.”
“Do you want me to stay on?” She asked before thinking. If he didn't want her along she didn't want to know.
“Of course I do. I just don't want you to feel trapped. As long as you're on the Samson you're in just as much danger as I am. Finding work on another ship would be easier.”
“I know, but the easiest road isn't always the right one. I've talked to people who helped with the people in the cargo train. They told me what it was like back there. If we can do something to damage Regent Galactic I want to be there, they have it coming.”
Captain Valance smiled and let her shoulders go. He turned and walked a little further down the hall to the broadest window overlooking the Samson. He leaned on the railing and watched the repair crews working on the large breach in the rear dorsal section.
She walked over and leaned on the railing beside him. “Do I remind you of your daughter?”
If he was surprised by the question he didn't let on. “I don't know her. I've only seen her on one holographic security recording.” They looked on as the workers pulled an older piece of hull plating free and a disposal robot collected it. “If I could choose a daughter out of the people I've met over these last few years, it would be you.”
She looked at him for a moment. He had really said it. It didn't look like he was kidding either. Tears started to well up, she turned away. Where did this come from? There was joy but it came with a kind of pain. The person standing beside her was like the Captain she had known, only there was a human side he was sharing that seemed to emerge more and more.
He put a hand on her shoulder and she turned into him. His arms came around her protectively. She felt small but safe. “Are you all right?” Came the hushed question.
“Everyone trades for the upside, everyone wants something wherever you go. Except for you. You've just given and I spent so long wondering, asking myself what does he want? What is he after?”
“Something I can't buy, you're not someone I want to see drift through the crew like so many others.”
She looked up to him, he smiled down at her. “Why me? I still don't understand. Do you want to be my lover? My father? My master?”
“I would like to be your Captain since you're staying on,” he said with a chuckle. “I think being your Captain, being their Captain,” he said, gesturing towards the Samson. “means something different to me now.”
She just stared at him. He wasn't the same man at all.
“I feel like someone turned off the gravity. Ever since we took that cargo train in the wrong direction for all the right reasons I've been weightless,” he said quietly.
A smile spread across her face and he let her go. “Now that makes sense.” They stepped back over to the railing. “I think.”
More repair team members entered the mooring bay and Stephanie came around the corner and stopped as soon as she got a look at Jake and Ashley. They looked contented with each other's company in the silence as they looked over the ship. “I'm interrupting something,” she said, putting her hands up and starting to turn back.
“Nope,” Ashley said with a sniffle, wiping her eyes. She half turned her head to address Stephanie. “Captain was just telling me how he's feeling different.”
Stephanie walked to the railing and leaned her back against it between the pair. “Radiation sickness is cleared out sir?” She asked as she picked at the fitting of her gloves, pulling the fingers then drawing them back into place. It was something she had done since her early days in the infantry, even though the gloves included in the vacsuit were always fitted properly.
“It has, but I don't think that's what Ash meant.”
“Oh?”
“Something feels very right about going after Regent Galactic,” he said quietly. “Like I've found the right path for us.”
“What about your daughter sir?”
“The lead we have is too old. We could try to follow it up but I get the feeling she's still in hiding. So the Minister will use their Intelligence agency to find her.”
“Wow, he must owe you some favour.”
“Well, I also promised that we'd be their mascots for a new privateering initiative.”
Stephanie turned around to face the ship. The repair crew had started to remove one of the barrels on the upper turret. It had been split at the end. “Privateering again, I thought you said the last time would be the last time.”
“That was when we were only doing it for the payday.”
Stephanie looked at him. “This really is for good isn't it? You really aren't going to be checking the hunter's board and picking up other work.”
Jake only nodded slowly.
“I never thought I'd see it,” she looked back down towards the ship. “I still wish we could find your daughter
