Love on the Rocks - 11. Chapter 11

Sasha and I awoke the next morning having breakfast together. Both of us were sore after last night. Thankfully, he didn’t have to be on duty until 08:00 hours. We were approaching Low Point Station, and I was invited to the Bridge again. The Captain once again gave me the ship. I smiled as did Sasha. When we finished the briefing, I dismissed everyone to the arrival stations. When I entered the Bridge Sasha was already calling out orders as I walked up to the Captain’s chair and patted his shoulder.

“Remember approach only at the speed you are willing to hit it at.” He smirked over at me as I called for the Comm’s Officer to open a Link to station control.

“You’re on Link 2, Captain.”

“Thank you.” I tapped the code to open it.

“Good morning, Low Point Station Control, this is Captain Marc Alexander aboard the Sara Maru. Requesting docking clearance and 6 tugs for maneuvering.”

“Good morning, Marc. What’s up? You're out of the miners now.”

“Hi Betty. No. It’s packed full of miners. We’re riding heavy this trip.”

“Figured since you wanted 6 tugs. And we are putting you in D-7. It’s going to be tight with 2 other Jumpies in there.”

“Sounds good Betty. D-7 it is. Don’t be too upset if I scare the neighbors.” She laughed.

“If they can’t take a joke, they shouldn’t have come down to Low Sec. Talk to you later at the Station Board meeting.”

“See you there Betty. Alexander out.” I looked around the Bridge and found several people had laughed at our banter.

“D-7 if you please, my love, and don’t scratch the paint.” He twisted his head in my direction.

“Yes, dear.” He murmur’d then spoke louder.

“Helm D-7, posted speeds to the turning area, please.”

“Aye Sa. D-7” I watched as we approached and looked at the dock. I walked forward to the view port, then turned to Sasha.

“Sasha, magnify the last ship on the dock, please.” The center of the viewscreen enlarges to show the last ship. I just stood there looking at it.

“Helm All Stop.”

“Aye, Captain Helm answers all stop.” I turned and headed back over to the captain’s chair and tapped the Link open again.

“Low Point Station Control, this is Captain Marc Alexander. Get me the Watch Officer. Now.”

“What’s wrong Marc.” Asked Sasha. I just patted his arm.

“Marc, what’s the problem?”

“You weren’t kidding about it being crowded. That stain brain Boche is over the docking marker by 100 meters at least. Send Station Security down there to bang on his hatch and have three of the tugs attach to move him into the proper position. Then lock him down until he pays the extra fees for us having to moor him properly.”

“That idiot. OK Marc, I’m on it. It will take a few minutes.”

“Fine by me. Tell them the Alexander in command of the incoming vessel wants our fees covered too, for him screwing up our docking time slot.”

“Make sure you file that when you get in.” I turned to Sasha’s mom, and she nodded, heading to a console.

“Already being filed as we speak, Betty.”

“Good, and the lads just rousted them. The tugs should be there in 5.”

“Thank you much and have a nice day.”

“As always. It’s a pleasure doing business with you, Marc. Never a dull moment when you are around.”

“Thanks Betty. See ya at the meeting tonight. I have a few new choice words I want to have with them.” She laughed and said.

“Sounds good Marc. Station Control out.”

I closed the Link as we watched the tugs move in and grab the Jump Freighter as they pulled their Locks and Docking Clamps in before moving them back 100 meters. The tugs pulled out, and I smiled as I turned.

“There you go, dear. Plenty of room now. Take us in, please.” I had a few chuckles around the Bridge including his mother.

“Aye Captain.” He attached the tugs and turned us, then walked us into position. I looked and sighed before I reached down and hit the Link for the tugs.

“Tug Leader, this is Sara Maru Actual. Standby for altitude correction. We are dropping by 6 meters. I say again we are negative 6 meters.”

“Copy Sara Maru Actual, you are good for negative 6 meters.”

“Helm, Z minus 6 meters.”

“Aye Captain, Z minus 6.”

“Thank you.”

“Carry on Sa Jasenka, as I step out onto the bridge wing to send some rude gestures over to Captain Boche.” He snorted, as did half of the bridge crew.

“Aye Captain. Enjoy.”

“Oh, I intend too. This guy is an idiot.”

As we slid past the ship, I did indeed give the one-finger salute to the Bridge. I stood out here listening as I watched while Sasha placed us between the two ships and against the dock. Our tugs departed as I walked back over to stand next to him, as he secured each station and thanked them. I thanked everyone also before I turned the ship back over to his mother. He walked me down to the cabin and helped me bring my gear down to the Lock. Kissing me before I left the ship. I told him where my quarters were located and I should be done with the Station Board Meeting around 21:00 hours. Hopefully sooner. He kissed me again before I had to go check on some issues in the family offices here.

“Welcome home dear. Did you buy out Ernesto?”

“Mom.” I drew it out in exasperation at what I was sure was to come. “No, but I got an Ice Miner out of it as well as the parts I wanted.” She smiled before she asked.

“Are you still dating Sasha.” Ah, there it is.

“Yes. I’m still dating Sasha. He’s coming along nicely. We’ll stay together for a few more months before we separate and remain as friends.” She sighed.

“Does he know this?” OK. Here is where my eyes roll. She knows better than anyone I don’t play with people’s minds.

“Yes Mom. As a matter of fact, we just talked about it two nights ago. He was also told the day I picked him up for Tammi’s Bonding.” She nodded and let it go as she detected the anger rising in me over this subject. I always said that there was someone in my dreams. Someone taller than me will be my life mate. Leaving her office after getting a hug, and walking over to the cubical I used while on station. I got so much more work done here than in my cubbyhole sized quarters. I really only use it for sleeping lately and hook ups with other people so I would have privacy. Everything was looking good. Tapping into the station’s cargo system, I watched as my cargo was identified and would be unloaded to my storage area by my hangar area for easy access. The smile grew on my face as I checked the hangar and ship logs. Tom has been busy burning my credits. I pulled the long overdue maintenance reports to review. It only took me an hour, and I was practically jumping up and down on my seat, as I could see in my mind the ship was coming together nicely. Once Micah get’s here in two days, I should be able to actually finish this in about a month. 6 weeks at the most. I placed the listing on the Station Net for 4 more engineering types for 4 weeks of work. Usually there are several on station at any one time. Some between contracts, some waiting on quarter pay while the ship is in for a major yard job. Quarter pay, a berth and two meals a day. Even that third meal is enough to eat through your pay over an extended time. Not a word is said when these people disappear for a month or two during these massive jobs. It helps the Corporation to keep their people over the long term. I smiled as I already had three people send me their service jackets for my review. I popped them open and browsed through them quickly. All of them were off two ships. Dropped into the station listing and smiled. Bingo. Found where I can pull people from. One ship was in for a major reconstruction of the interior and exterior fittings while the other was in for a Main Reactor replacement. That’s a long slow job and is done by our specialist, not ship’s crew. It also meant the ship was in cold iron status, a fancy way of saying, ‘no onboard power.’ By the time I was done with that, I had 7 more service jackets in my inbox. I smiled as I tapped out a message to Micah along with a Link to view the files. He tapped back, ‘Good. That will give me something to do on the flight down.’ I smiled as I tapped back. “That was what I thought. I had Sasha and his parents to visit over my three-day trip. Your 13 hour flight, I hope, is at least a red-eye overnight. See you when you get here.”

Last night’s meeting was long and tedious at some points, although it was necessary. I smiled at the thought that I was able to miss the last one. On the bright side, several people had heard about my deal with Ernesto and congratulated me. I had a chance to speak with Uncle Fran and Aunt Gloria. That turned out to be very nice and I am sitting down with them for breakfast tomorrow morning. Well, my second breakfast anyway after I walk Sasha to his ship. My thoughts drifted to last night. He was very frisky when we made it to my quarters. I hope we didn’t disturb the neighbors too much and I am a little sore this morning. Shaking myself out of those thoughts, as I had more work to do today before we meet tonight. I looked at the time and decided I could fit Sasha in for lunch. Heading into the docking area, I saw the steady stream of cargo being offloaded and loaded. They were staying overnight just for myself and Sasha. I smiled at the kindness of his parents. They were concerned too, the day that Grams and I Comm’d them to talk over our problem with Sasha. They were hesitant at first, but after the first few weeks, they saw the changes in Sasha. His mother even admitted she thought we loved each other, but we weren’t the others true mate. I agreed. I do love him and he isn’t my mate. I am still looking for him and I know it is a male. Taller than me. Of that, I am sure.

“Good morning, Captain. It must be lunch time.” I smiled.

“Indeed, it is. He’s on the Bridge?” I asked the crew person on the Lock as I logged in. He checked the tablet.

“He is Sa.” Saying after a review of a screen.

“Thank you.” I headed for the lifts and Bridge. I stepped into the familiar organized chaos that was the Bridge during loading and unloading operations. It took me a minute to spot that head of dark hair I love to run my fingers through when we were having sex. I weaved through the starboard side and came up behind him. The person he was talking to smiled as she glanced at the time and my arms wrapped around his waist while my chin dropped onto his shoulder for me to kiss his neck.

“You know now they think it’s lunchtime and I will not get any more work done until after lunch.”

“I could always cancel lunch and tell them I am here for sex instead.” He snorted as he leaned more into me, making me hold him from falling backwards.

“I’m not sure that would help them, but I would enjoy that.” I smiled as I kissed his neck again.

“Back to work, you slacker.” He chuckled.

“Yes, Captain.”

I left the ship after lunch and headed for my quarters. Checking the Station Net listing again for Engineers and I had 17 total. Noticing that Micah had already been in the system and checked the ones he wanted to talk to. I sent out the messages after I had double check, he would be ready to meet them at that time I thought would be best. Like many things that happen behind the scenes, these people would be hired as day workers, since they can’t be hired as crew. In that way, their corporation would never know the crew was working for someone else during their yard time. That problem is solved for now. I moved onto the next one. I planned a nice dinner for two at one of the restaurants for tonight. Sasha was leaving tomorrow, and I needed to have him well fed before I took him to bed for the last time for another three weeks. Then I have to be up in High Sec for a meeting and I will take a shuttle over to the next sector to board Sara Maru for an overnight flight back to Joshua Seventy-Seven Station. Where I will stay for two nights before I shuttle back down to Low Sec. Then he will be down a week after that. We’ll have two nights together. Then three weeks later, I am heading back up the Pipe to Joshua Seventy-Seven Station. I will stop at Vandermain Station to spend a night with Sasha and his family before continuing to Seventy-Seven. Then I fly over to Lima Sector with Zoe, Ernesto and a few other crew to pick up Arctic Bear Claws for her acceptance trials. Two days of trials, including a test in the Ice and then, if all is good, Ernesto signs off on it and I fly her back to Seventy-Seven. Then jump a shuttle to Westport Sector to catch Sasha for an overnight, then back to Seventy-Seven for 3 days of mining Ice and dialing in Arctic Bear Claws before Sasha arrives. An overnight with him, then back out to the Ice again for three more days, then another shuttle to Weissman Station and a three-day trip with Sasha down to Low Point Station. Two days there with Sasha and then out to the Rocks with Bear Claws. Busy, busy, busy. But hey, I’m racking up the travel points on the Shuttle Service. I thought with a smile.

We had a nice meal last night and Sasha was clingy as he knew that this would be the longest period we had been separated yet. I had to give him credit. He was handling it well as I walked him back to his ship and followed him up to his quarters to change. He gave me a questioning look as I stepped up the ramp and carded on to the ship with him. Once we closed the hatch of his cabin, I pulled him in tight and kissed him. I was slow and I let the love I felt for him be known. I didn’t want the long separation at this time, either. It was my way of saying, ‘not yet.’ He knows we will split apart at some time in the future, but this isn’t the point where that happens. Sasha sighed into my chest.

“I love you too Marc.”

“I am glad you understood that message. Just in case. Yes Sasha. I love you too. Until we meet again, my boyfriend.” He kissed me again.

“Until we meet again, my boyfriend.” I smiled as he stepped back, escorting me to the Lock before heading up to the Bridge. I headed back to my family’s section of the station to meet with my Aunt and Uncle. I had an idea, and they had the items I would need. I hoped.

* * *

That was productive as usual and also very enjoyable catching up with the two of them. Dad had discussed my Sasha issue with them and they were impressed with my maturity in the matter. They also gave me ideas for my ship. Then I pulled up the materials list and headed to my meeting with Micah, who had arrived this morning. We were going to head over to the hanger to check on the work we were going to do and so he could have time to look around at our available equipment. I smiled at the thought of having two ships at once. Zoe had been studying hard and I am confident that she will pass with high marks. I just turned the corner when I had reached one of the offices and entered. 20 minutes later, Micah and I were heading to the hangar. After an hour of checking items and work, Tom showed up. The introductions were fast, and I had disappeared to check some of my messages before they turned up on the Bridge talking about different systems and such. I smiled as I listened to them.

“Lunch?” They both looked at me like I had spoken in an incomprehensible language until Tom’s stomach growled. “I’ll take that as a yes.” I said and led the way to one of the cafeterias to eat.

Tom had to head back to class for an exam and said he would Comm later as Micah and I headed back to the little office to interview our day hires. We saw eight and hired three. I actually considered that a win, as I only really expected to hire two. I also had to check my funds, as that meant one extra person to pay that I was responsible for. Then I also had to start looking for a permanent crew to help me run her. I tapped out my requirements and dropped it on to Station Net with a date of two weeks from now. That was the point I would start interviewing people. I laughed at the look on Micah’s face when I showed him what my Uncle had just sent me.

Your new toys will be aboard Arctic Bear Claws by the time you take her out for acceptance trials and the other set for Bear Claws should be coming down on the Sara Maru with the Jasenka’s in three weeks. I smiled as I couldn’t wait to see the look on Tom’s face when we go to load them aboard.

Dinner was a private restaurant side room affair with me, Micah, Tom and the three new day hires. We were going over the items and schedule of what needed to be done, also that Micah was in charge when I wasn’t around. Tom understood why that was, and I was glad he did. I spent the rest of my evening alone after a nice 5 minutes standing under the hot water of the jets. Early to bed, early to rise. And I was up early as my Link chimed. I groaned as I rolled over to grab it off the tabletop next to my bed.

“What?” came out long and drawn out.

“Good morning, Marc. Time to get up. I need you to take over one of Thatcher’s ships. His Captain had to take emergency leave last night for a death in the family.”

“Who?”

“Charlie Matson. His grandfather fell off the country house roof. Broke his neck, they are saying.” I knew Charlie. Nice person. Don’t understand the falling off the roof bit. Why would you be on the roof, anyway? I was confused, and it had more to do with being groggy as it was 03:30 hours in the morning and what was Dad doing up at this hour?

“Fine.” I grumped out. “I need to send out orders to my people before I go over there.”

“They need you aboard by 05:00 hours.”

“That’s nice Dad. I have a crew now too and ships. I will be there when I can get there after I inform my people of what to do in my absence.” He smiled back at me.

“OK Marc. Thank you, and I’ll let Thatcher know you are coming.”

“Thanks. And which dock is it in?”

“A-6. It’s one of the newer Maulers they bought last year.” I didn’t rise to the bait.

“A-6 got it Dad. I’ll be there as soon as I can.” I closed the Link.

“Lights,” I said into the air and my room lit up. I waited a second for my eyes to adjust before I crawled out of bed.

Changing, grabbing my gear and tapping out orders took 30 minutes. I made a double check of everything and headed down to the cafeteria for breakfast. I locked the gravtrunk in a secured slot before I grabbed my food. Looking around the place, I noticed a few people I knew but didn’t really associate with. I got a few looks when people saw my Captain’s insignia. That was normal. I was heading down the dock towards the ship as I heard a voice behind me. I turned to greet Jay Thatcher as he approached.

“Thanks Marc for coming over on such short notice.”

“Lucky I was in for repairs. How is Charlie doing?”

“He was shocked at first, then he talked to one of his cousins and got pissed off at the stupidity of the old man going up there. But like he said, he made his own decision, and no one could talk him out of it.” I nodded.

“He’ll be back in a few days. Can you cover for three?”

“Standard contract?”

“Plus 20 percent for pulling my ass out of the fire.” “Done.” Said as we shook hands. “I’ll handle it. Where are we headed?”

“Just over to Seraph Sector. Got a small crew in there you can hook up with.”

“All the information is loaded already?” I asked.

“Yeah. Leslie Johnson is the 1st. She started loading everything late last night and made sure all consumables were topped off. You’re good for 2 weeks on supplies.” We reached the ramp, and I let him go first. He logged me on and headed to the Bridge introducing everyone as we passed. Then he took the Captain’s seat and dropped me in as temporary as Captain for the next three days. Once I signed off the ship, I was out of the system.

“I need to get running. Thanks again Marc.” We shook again.

“Anytime Jay. See you when we get back.” I said to his retreating back as I chuckled. I turned to Leslie and held out my hand, which she took with a smile.

“Shouldn’t you have sat your Boards by now so you can sit in this seat?” She cocked her head at me.

“You’re not trying to call me old in a nice way, are you?” I barked out a laugh as I held my hands up in surrender.

“Not at all Leslie. I just figured you would want a decade of Captain’s pay behind you before you retired is all.” That made everyone laugh as she promptly called me a brat.

“That’s Captain Brat to you. And as much fun as this conversation has been. Let’s get this mining vessel chewing rock so I can work on my own ship’s problems.”

“Of course Captain. Hear that people. That is how you change the subject with a smooth delivery.” I laughed as I sat back in the chair and set up the systems the way I wanted them. She was getting all the station’s reports and bringing the ship to life as I sat back to enjoy the ride. As a sign of trust in her, I just interjected where the Captain’s authorization was needed.

We had been out here two days now, and I was watching the temps carefully on the Crystals. “So, are you going to hit Jay up like you did Ernesto?” I chuckled.

“Heard about that, did you?”

“My hearing still works good enough in my advanced years. I also hear you have an official boyfriend now too?” I sighed.

“Yeah. Sort of. We’ll be splitting up in the near future. About 4 months from now.” That statement had her interest almost as much as my mining hacks did on this ship’s output. We had arrived 30 minutes behind schedule and we were still the top ore producer in the group. It was going to be a good bonus. I was also keeping track of all the variables. Power usage, Crystal temperature, amount of ore, grade of ore. It was looking good. Even with the 30 minute delay in getting started. And my bonus on top of my pay would cover my own crew costs, plus my flights to see Sasha. As is customary. My settings were my settings and would disappear when I did. Unless I sold it to Jay Thatcher and his gang. I kept my fingers crossed so that I could pull that off again.

By the time we had left the fields and headed for home, I had to yell twice at the Mining Boss to get their act together with my hauler. They had tried twice to hold us up with late pickups to slow us down, but I just dumped the cans and marked them. Then sent a Link message to Jay. Leslie was just shaking her head at the stupidity of the Mining Boss in thinking he was going to bully a Captain named Alexander into losing his mining bonus. Jay clarified I was doing him a favor by coming out here and I had priority on the hauls. And that he could see the numbers for himself, and I was out producing everyone, as such, should have priority because I was saving everyone’s asses from an ass chewing for not hitting a group quota. That, in turn, changed the tune of several Captains out here. As they found out who I was, they double checked I didn’t need a pickup before them. And the rumors about me grow. Again. Leslie patted my shoulder.

“You’ve got that Alexander gene kid. It shows in your yelling style.” I laughed with her. It didn’t take long before I had a few messages to read, including one from Jay asking if I had all the information I needed, as Leslie had mentioned my tweaks to the Crystals to him.

I just responded, that, “I thought so and how many Maulers do you have?” His next response was full of laughter as he replied.

“22.”

“Thanks. I’ll drop you a proposal in a few days.” Adding that to my thoughts as we plied our way through space to the hangar. I smiled as I sat back after reading Micah’s report. Then Tom’s. I was thrilled now that I came out here. I tapped out a message to my Dad.

“Hi Dad. So, was this just to help Jay or was it also to get me the information I needed to work out another deal for my Crystal Harmonics settings?” It didn’t take long before he replied.

“Hi Marc. Actually, I didn’t think about the settings until after I had asked you to go out with them. You were the only person I could think of that could have made it on time or close to it. Then I figured you would pick up on it if they were not as good as yours. Have fun, Dad.” I smirked.

“Thanks. I’ll have something together by tomorrow morning. Do you have time to go over it with me?” It was after we docked that he replied.

“I could join you for our working lunch. I have nothing planned for that. And I dropped by the hanger last night. Tom gave me the tour and introduced me to everyone. It’s looking good. They are making good time.” I laughed and responded.

"Except for Tom and Micah, the remaining three are temporary employees, and they're keeping their side work a secret." I was waiting for dad to respond by reading and signing my final reports for this trip.

“Nice touch. Talk to you tomorrow, then.” I smiled and shut the system down after I had made sure all of my tweaks were reset to original settings that they had before I changed them. I thanked everyone and hugged Leslie goodbye. She was always fun to work with. I also dropped a note to Charlie, expressing my condolences on his loss.