The Pirate Commander (The Space Pirate Chronicles Book 3) Read online

  Contents

  Title

  Disclaimer

  Links

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Links

  The Pirate Commander

  The Space Pirate Chronicles Book 3

  George Lambert

  Copyright © 2015 Blue Orchid Books

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are fictional, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual places is purely coincidental.

  Not recommended for younger readers.

  Also by Blue Orchid Books:

  AEGIS COLONY:

  The Sands of Osiris (Book 1)

  http://www.amazon.com/Sands-Osiris-Aegis-Colony-ebook/dp/B00SRGECZS

  The Jungles of Verdano

  http://www.amazon.com/The-Jungles-Verdano-Aegis-Colony-ebook/dp/B0158SLBEC

  The Ice of Solitude

  http://www.amazon.com/The-Ice-Solitude-Aegis-Colony-ebook/dp/B0179O73ZO

  THE SPACE PIRATE CHRONICLES:

  The Space Pirate (Book 1)

  http://www.amazon.com/Space-Pirate-Rags---Riches-Saga-ebook/dp/B01895UW0K

  The Pirate Captain (Book 2)

  http://www.amazon.com/Pirate-Captain-Rags---Riches-Saga-ebook/dp/B0190IYZBC

  The Pirate Commander (Book 3)

  http://www.amazon.com/Pirate-Commander-Space-Chronicles-Book-ebook/dp/B019S3IXNK

  THE FLUX AGE:

  The Lycan Society (Book 1)

  http://www.amazon.com/Lycan-Society-Flux-Age-Book-ebook/dp/B0129QVD4E

  1

  The atmosphere was tense at Deep Blue. The oceanic trading facility had been on high alert as soon as the new Emperor Galactus had decided to pay the planet a special visit on his ‘tour’ of the outer rim.

  Charley Silverton knew for sure that spelt trouble for her Pirate Guild. She only had days to consolidate her assets, assemble her crew and ensure that both her ships were ready for action. She still had to pinch herself at the concept of that last element. She actually had two ships! That mining run for MinCorp had proven to be most lucrative, though it had come at a high cost. The Bandit Guild, or Silent Runners, were now hellbent on killing the pirates. And if that wasn’t enough, the Emperor himself had decreed that all criminal guilds be hunted down and destroyed as soon as possible. For now, Deep Blue allowed Charley and her comrades to walk free and do as they pleased. It was only a matter of time before the first Imperial scouts arrived to prepare the way for the Emperor. Charley planned to be long gone before that happened.

  As Gronko was still in the hands of doctors having his new hand fitted, Charley’s first point of business was to sort out her two ships. She traveled with Harry Teks down to the shipyard to inspect all the work the Deep Blue engineers had done for them.

  She had to admit that both ships looked magnificent. They were armadillo heavy fighters but Charley had ordered a special paint job in the colors of the Pirate Guild - red, white and blue stripes.

  The Surprise, Charley’s personal ship, was in fine working order and had been completely refueled.

  The other ship had been repaired and thoroughly cleaned. Charley was happy to see that the interior was pretty much the same as that of the Surprise.

  Charley’s second ship needed a name. She glanced at Harry, who knew what she was thinking.

  “That ship was on death row before we arrived,” the old pirate murmured. “Maybe we should call it the Phoenix?”

  Charley grinned. “Perfect,” she said. “You have a knack for these things, Harry.”

  She squeezed the older man’s butt with a wink. In the past few days the pair had become even closer. In between organizing their resources they had found every opportunity to make love in the loft area of their penthouse suite at the Ajuna Sapphire Hotel. Often Vanessa, Charley’s new recruit, would accompany them. Charley sensed that the girl had developed a fondness for Harry, just like she had, but she wasn’t worried about it at all. Harry Teks was like a wandering minstrel and it just felt right that Charley share him with others. Besides… Charley enjoyed getting up close and personal with Vanessa anyway. The girl they had found in the service of the bandit Petyr Fallon was extremely attractive and Charley was the first to appreciate that. She liked to think she was in good shape too, although she looked forward to changing her hair back to her natural blond color.

  A team of engineers stood waiting with lightboards. Charley had an opportunity to overhaul the weapons systems of both ships.

  “What do you think, Harry?” she asked her companion.

  Harry took one of the schematics off the engineers and looked at it closely.

  “I think we should keep the forward lasers,” he said at length. “They have many uses and you never run out of ammo.”

  Charley agreed with that. The only risk with lasers was overheating, but if one used them carefully, that wasn’t likely to be a problem.

  “The Surprise has extra storage capacity,” Charley commented. “I don’t think the Phoenix needs that.”

  “Good point,” Harry agreed. “It makes sense to load that ship with missiles for protection.”

  “A mixture of long and short range,” Charley told the head engineer. “This ship will ride shotgun with the other.”

  “I understand,” said the engineer. “We have a wide range of missiles and if you sacrifice the main cargo bay we can install racks of each kind.”

  “Do it,” Harry said, turning to Charley. “The extra cost will be worth it in the long run. Especially with Imperial ships on their way.”

  Charley nodded to the engineers and took her leave with Harry. She checked her wrist pad - it was time to go check on Gronko at the med facility.

  As she rode the drop shaft through Deep Blue, Charley was glad to see Molly Tanner far below them, scanning the corridors she and Harry had just travelled through. She was Charley’s new bodyguard and looked to be worth every cent. She was a middle-aged woman, probably in her forties, which meant she was experienced, calm and as tough as nails. Charley felt a lot safer with Molly around, especially considering there were now a number of bounties on her head.

  Charley and Harry arrived at the med facility and strolled through the white chrome front entrance. They were probably mid-level on Deep Blue’s south side, and Charley could see sunlit ocean through the wide windows. The day was uncharacteristically clear and calm for Deep Blue, a world of storms and heavy oceans.

  Charley located Gronko’s recovery room using her wrist pad. The big renki was propped up in his bed, flexing his new, gold-chrome hand in childlike wonder.

  “Girl,” he grunted as Charley walked in with Harry. “I think this will do nicely.”

  Charley smiled, happy to see that Gronko wasn’t too traumatized. It had been horrible seeing that bastard Holger slice his arm with the vibroblade. And a pity that she hadn’t been able to salvage the weapon before Vinnie Teks had laid the Silent Runner space station to waste. Charley cleared her head of such thoughts. She was consciously trying to block Vinnie Teks from her mind.

  “We look after our own, G
ronko,” Charley said. “I expect you to smash skulls with that hand, you hear?”

  Charley had meant it in jest, but Gronko clearly took her seriously.

  “I’m in your debt, human,” said the alien. “Where there’s trouble, I’ll be by your side.”

  Charley didn’t doubt it for a second. Renkis seemed to have strong notions of loyalty and debts of honor.

  “That’s good, Gronko, because I need a skipper for my second ship, the Phoenix,” Charley said.

  Gronko’s eyes widened and for the first time since she met him he seemed lost for words.

  “I used to fly haulers back home,” he said proudly. “I won’t let you down, Charley.”

  And that was also the first time he had referred to her by her real name.

  Charley nodded her appreciation. “You’ve earned it, Gronko. I’ve also booked you a room to yourself in the Ajuna Sapphire. You can head straight there to recuperate. But be ready for my call for launch. We may need to leave quickly.”

  “Aye aye, Captain.”

  2

  Charley left with Harry, her mind occupied with Guild matters as she stepped into the drop shaft. From a personal perspective, her motive for assigning Gronko his own room was pretty simple. One - he was more than capable of looking after himself. Two - there was a lot of sex going on in the penthouse suite and she didn’t want the big renki to feel embarrassed in any way.

  The penthouse was quiet when Charley returned. FIGJAM was offline, possibly dreaming about naked women. Vanessa had gone shopping and was being guarded by hotel security staff. Molly entered behind Charley, her security duties over for the time being.

  “Thanks, Molly,” Charley said. “Take some time to relax. Have some breakfast on the deck.”

  Harry grabbed Charley’s hand. “A word, Charley?”

  There was something urgent in the old man’s eyes. Charley nodded and followed him to a private table out on the open deck. The crash of waves and the salty smell of the sea greeted them. Charley liked to sit out here as often as she could.

  “I’ve been keeping my ear to the ground,” Harry said as they sat down. “There’s a local situation you should know about.”

  “Money?” Charley asked, getting straight to the point.

  “Most definitely,” Harry said with a twinkle in his eye. “Possibly within days too.”

  “What’s the plan?”

  “As you know, the Deep Blue Company runs a krill farming operation here in the wild ocean,” Harry began. “Their workers are forced to man submersibles that dive to more than two miles under the surface. The water is so cold and pressurized down there a human without protection is killed instantly. Anyway, it seems these submersibles aren’t well maintained by the Company. The workers are often crushed and left for dead. Deep Blue cares more about profit than safety. Conditions are so bad the workers are ready to revolt.”

  Charley considered the situation. Clearly there was opportunity here if one was bold enough to grab it with both hands.

  “So you’re thinking that we could maybe take on a few tons of contraband krill and sell it direct to the salukar?”

  Harry nodded. The salukar were the reptilian species that paid top dollar for Deep Blue krill.

  “Risky,” Charley commented. “But tempting.” She looked up the stock index for Deep Blue krill on her wrist pad. It was a very lucrative commodity.

  “We only have a small window,” Charley said. “What’s your plan?”

  “There’s an entire unit of submersibles two hundred miles south of here,” Harry said. “They’re prepared to offload their harvest directly to us. For a price.”

  “I think we can offer a better deal than Deep Blue,” Charley said. “Offer them thirty percent.”

  “Done,” Harry said. “But we need to be ready when the submersibles come to the surface with their catch.” He checked his wrist pad. “We have around five hours.”

  “We’ll be ready,” Charley said, fingers dancing over her wrist pad. “I’ll have the shipyard install our weapons straight away.”

  “I’ll call Vanessa back to the penthouse,” Harry said. He gave Charley a meaningful look. “Maybe we have time to…?”

  Charley grinned. It was always the way lately. Harry, Charley and Vanessa couldn’t get enough of each other now that their little triangle had started. Even though time was tight, she felt excited at the prospect of another session.

  Vanessa returned breathless from her shopping. Charley told Molly to guard the front door as Vanessa modeled her new clothes in the upper loft area. Charley and Harry lay back on the bed, enjoying Vanessa in a state of frequent undress.

  “Why don’t you show us your new lingerie?” Harry asked with a wry grin.

  Vanessa smiled back and returned wearing a sexy pink two-piece that presented her cleavage nicely.

  “Come over here,” Harry commanded, his voice tight with anticipation. Charley noticed he was rock hard already.

  Vanessa came over and unzipped Charley’s utility suit, massaging her sensually. Charley knelt to face Vanessa, her arms reaching around the other girl’s back so she could unhook her pink bra. The bra came loose and Vanessa pulled it free. The girls massaged each other for several minutes while Harry watched. After a while Charley decided to pull her suit off completely. As usual, she wore nothing underneath. Harry also got rid of his pants and joined the fray. After a while he pushed Charley back to the bed and knelt between her legs. He kissed her inner thigh tenderly, his tongue running soft, lazy circles. He knew it drove her crazy.

  Charley almost gasped at the amazing sensation, knowing it was all over for her. Her whole body stiffened as she throbbed with pleasure.

  A short while later the threesome lay back on the bed, happily exhausted. They lay there for around ten minutes, just listening to each other breathe. Charley felt they were really developing a special connection, a unique bond. She didn’t mind sharing Harry with Vanessa at all. Their union had come about naturally. Each person seemed to bring something unique to the table. The chemistry was just right and Charley wasn’t about to mess with that. Besides, they were heading back out into the big bad galaxy. That place was hazardous enough the make the odd bedroom adventure almost a necessity. It was how Charley relaxed, and she was certain the others felt the same. The best part of it all was that no one seemed to have intense emotions one way or another. They were all affectionate companions, that was it. Vinnie Teks, on the other hand? Well, that was another matter.

  A message projected from Harry’s wrist band. “We’re a go,” the old pirate said, a bundle of urgency all of a sudden. “We need to meet with the krill harvesters.”

  Charley settled her debts with the hotel and gathered her things. Harry had taught her that a true pirate always traveled light and was able to leave a location at a moment’s notice. She scooped up FIGJAM and slotted him into her belt.

  “Another fuckin’ adventure,” he whined. “Can’t we just stay here so I can watch you having sex?”

  “However much I enjoy that,” Charley began sarcastically. “I also have a Guild to run. And pirates have lavish tastes. We need to earn a living.”

  “All you’ve earned from me is an erection.”

  Charley just smiled. She was used to FIGJAM’s belligerence and had grown to enjoy it.

  Once everyone was ready, Charley, Harry, FIGJAM and Vanessa rushed down to the shipyard, Molly taking point with blaster raised. Gronko met them at the dock that anchored the Phoenix. Charley took a moment to admire her new ship.

  “Treat her nicely, Gronko,” she said. “If anyone attacks, toast ‘em.”

  “You have my word, Captain,” Gronko said solemnly before marching up the connecting ramp.

  Charley looked at Molly. “He needs at least one support crew. For safety if nothing else. I don’t wanna lose that ship.”

  Molly stood tall and seemed as though she would salute.

  “Anything you say, ma’am,” she said formally, following Gronko
into the Phoenix. Charley wondered how Gronko would fare with Molly by his side. They would need to get along - this next mission depended on it.

  “OK - let’s go,” she ordered, leading Harry and Vanessa up the connecting ramp to their own ship. Harry gallantly opened the top hatch for the ladies. Charley was about to slide into the navigation chair but thought twice. It was time she assumed the responsibility of piloting the Surprise. She would need to feel the pressure of a mission sooner or later. She couldn’t have asked for a better mentor than Harry Teks. At the very least she would have a steady hand by her side.

  Harry saw her in the chair and grinned. He squeezed her thigh as he sat beside her and activated ships systems. Vanessa stood behind Charley and rubbed her shoulders before strapping herself in.

  “Surprise to Deep Blue, request launch,” Charley said.

 

  3

  Charley smiled as she initiated an automatic launch sequence. If only Deep Blue could know what she had planned. She didn’t feel guilty about it at all. Companies like Deep Blue were ruthless money-makers. Skimming the occasional cargo off them hardly represented an ethical dilemma. She just hoped the company didn’t engage them in battle if they found out what was going on. She had no interest in taking out private security personnel. They weren’t bandits or criminals and they didn’t really deserve to die.

  Once the Surprise was clear of Deep Blue’s shipyard dome, Charley assumed control and guided the ship in the direction of the locator waypoint that Harry had plugged into the nav computer.

  The day had clouded over by now, with thick banks of grey pressing down like a vice over the horizon. Charley flew under the dark clouds as best she could whilst keeping an eye on the huge swells that rolled in this open ocean. On more than one occasion she saw the huge fin of a lasher whale, rising and falling through the brine. The ping of the locator waypoint got louder as Charley neared their destination. She checked her rear screens and was reassured to see the Phoenix following on her shoulder. The great thing about armadillo class fighters was they were just as adept at planetary flying as they were deep space travel. It was this flexibility that gave them their true worth.