Ecstasy of Gold - Ch. 4

Constance was at the welcome breakfast. It was incredibly busy and loud, with hundreds of the crew members in the large cafeteria on the ship. The cafeteria itself was large and empty except for all of the tables and a buffet at the back. Constance was introducing herself to the entire crew, making her voice extremely horse. She rubbed her throat, then her temples. Between the noises from everybody combined with all their raging thoughts, she had a crippling migraine going. Her knees started to give out, her back curling up like a wilted flower, she was about to scream for mercy from everyone when finally there was a calming break.

“Hey, sweetie…” Tasha put her hand on her back, sending a pulse of warm, soothing thoughts through Constance and breaking her link with the rest of the crew. “…is anything wrong?”

“So many new thoughts…” Constance gasped. “So much…but I’m better now…”

“That’s good.” She held out a bowl of fruit. “I got you some fruit like you asked.”

“Thanks…” Constance took the bowl. It was mostly melon with other bits of fruit she hadn’t seen before. “I can’t find Hunter anywhere…”

“We’ll find him, don’t wor…” Ariis came up and pushed Tasha aside. Tasha stumbled backwards, hurt that Ariis was throwing her aside. She rubbed her ribs, hanging her head. She didn’t think she’d actually miss Ariis constantly hitting on her. She stood in front of Constance, towering over her.

“Constance, I’ve bought you something…” She held out a box. It was small in her massive hands. Constance’s eyes lit up and she gasped. She blocked her powers so she wouldn’t blow the surprise, reading Ariis’ mind.

“Master Ariis, you really shouldn’t have…” She said, tears starting to form in her eyes. Her mind soared. The endless possibilities were stacking up, stretching into the sky. Then, she opened the box, and the endless possibilities crashed down to the deck. “…A…a dog collar?”

“No, it’s for you.” Ariis picked up the collar and knelt down. It was made of smooth red leather, with a titanium buckle and a large metal loop on the other side. Ariis got to her knees and put it around Constance’s neck. “Tell me if it’s too tight…”

“You’re making me wear a collar?”

“…so people know who owns you. It’s for your own protection.” Constance fumbled with the empty circle on her collar. It had a hoop attached to a metal piece that was flat and followed the collar perfectly. “Besides, it’s required in my culture…”

“…” Constance looked up at Ariis. She hadn’t told her yet that, from their intimate contact, she had learned a great deal about her. Telepaths picked up that information from their lovers, and she already knew more about Ariis than anyone else on the crew. She probably even knew things about her that she didn’t know herself. She knew it was about control over her, just as much as protecting her from the rest of the crew. Ariis was going to attach a chain to it whenever she felt like it, especially when they were off the ship. “…yes, Master Ariis…”

“Now, now…Don’t be sad, little love…” She twisted her head slightly, kissing Constance deeply. Constance did her best not to react to it, ignoring her. Still, Ariis rubbed their lips together just right. She blushed bright red across her checks and nose. “My lal’shallei…”

“I…I suppose it is a nice collar…” Constance sighed, her shoulders heaving up and down. Tasha groaned, walking away from everything. She couldn’t stand Constance letting Ariis treat her like a dog just because of a kiss. Constance watched her walk away, until Ariis ran her hand up under her dress. “Not here…”

“No, it’s not that.” Ariis stood back up. “I want you to wear garter belts and leather corsets, be sure you get plenty of them when you buy your clothes.”

“But I thought you…you wanted…” Constance bit her thumb, ignoring her earlier injury briefly. She stopped, switching to her uninjured hand. She knew she couldn’t argue with Ariis. She didn’t want her to start treating her like Jeremiah did. “Yes, Master Ariis…”

“Don’t worry, lal’shallei, the corsets will be only for special occasions.” She put her hand firmly on Constance’s shoulder, squeezing it slightly. “Just like the leash…”

“Leash…yes…” Constance bit her thumb. She supposed she would be fine with the leash as long as Ariis didn’t make her walk on all fours. She took the fork in the bowl of fruit Tasha brought her and speared a piece of fruit. She raised it up and bit it gingerly and nervously. She had lost track of Tasha in the crowd, worried that it was just a matter of time until her next breakdown.


Captain Jack was keeping his eyes on Hunter, who was sitting in the corner of the cafeteria with his fedora tipped down over his face. Frank, the ship’s main pilot, walked over to him. He was a little short and a little pudgy, with short black hair and pale skin. No one would guess he was a pilot just by his looks. Most would assume pilots were athletic, but no one knew the ship’s controls better than him. He dressed in casual clothes, jeans, t-shirts, and boots mostly.

“What are you doing, captain?” He said, looking around. He didn’t see anything for the captain to be so concerned and focused on.

“Watching Mister ‘Hunter’…” Jessie gestured over at Hunter. Frank looked over at Hunter. He was clearly asleep, leaning against the wall, legs sprawled out in front of him. Frank recognized him from the rumors that were already going around the ship.

“Yes…I can see why you’d want to keep your eyes on someone causing so much trouble…” Frank’s voice rang with sarcasm. He was constantly making smart ass remarks, bugging some and getting laughs out of others. Jessie was one of the former, not the latter. “He’s the one who…knocked boots with Ariis, isn’t he?”

“…knocked boots?”

“Yeah, I got nothing…” Frank rubbed the back of his neck. “But I understand why he’s sleeping so much…That’s got to be draining.” Frank hated that he wasn’t getting a laugh out of Jessie. He had to keep going until he got something out of him. “He’s lucky he wasn’t scissored in half or had his pelvis crushed. Though…that has to be one of the top ways to go…”

“Yeah, yeah…Ariis is a big girl…” Jessie groaned. He actually felt sorry for Ariis, knowing how long it had been since she even had a date. “Stupid fear like that is the reason she had to BUY someone to be with.”

“You still think no woman in her right mind would want to have sex with another woman, don’t you?” Jessie shot Frank a glare, taking his eyes off Hunter since he got to the breakfast. Jessie didn’t feel he had to explain how he felt to Frank or anyone. “Awkward…”

“I don’t have to explain my morals to you.”

“With all due respect to my boss…” Frank said quietly, walking away, “…you are the last person here who should be talking about morals.”


Hunter was trying to sleep off a hang over in the corner of the cafeteria. Jessie told him it was vital that he be there so he wouldn’t be shot. He understood how jumpy the crew was from his encounter with Karen. He had seen her a couple times in the party. Karen had showered and done up her makeup, for her at least. She was still the plainest one in the room, which wasn’t necessarily bad. She looked much better than she did.

As Hunter tried to sleep, he heard a cheery, bright voice.

“HELLO!” He grit his teeth and growled. He did have hit hat tipped over his eyes, a universal sign to leave someone alone. But, since it was a woman’s voice, he had to see who it was. The pest was a beautiful young woman that looked like a goddess. She had long, perfect raven hair, blue eyes, and a gorgeous body. She had large, ample, firm, and round breasts. Her body was nicely muscular, with curvy, wide hips. She was obviously an engineer, wearing a jump suit, though she had the top half tied around her waist, only wearing a small tube-top to cover herself. It also revealed the intricate tribal pattern tattoo she had in the shape of a diamond on the small of her back. To top everything off, she had to visible straps to a thong on her hips in a V. It was clear to anyone she would have been comfortable walking around the party naked. To top things off, instead of the usual slight stench the other engineers had, she smelled of strawberries. “My name’s Kelli!”

“Isn’t it a little early to be that cheery?” He groaned. The only reason he could put up with her is that she was bent over and he could see down her cleavage.

“I don’t think so…” She scratched her head, actually thinking about his question. Hunter wasn’t going to say anything, hoping she would go away. “Huh…I guess I don’t know. Anyway, I work with Tasha in engineering. I’m kinda her boss.”

“…right…” He groaned again, telling himself that at least the show was good. “How old are you?”

“Twenty-six!” Kelli said in a brightly, smiling from ear to ear. “Why?”

“…no reason.” He tipped his hat back over his eyes, ignoring her while she chattered at him. He didn’t talk back, just letting her talk and talk and talk. Eventually, she did get bored and wander off. It seemed to take FOREVER for him, though.

Hunter felt a bump next to him, waking him up. He tipped his hat up, blinking slightly. He turned his head and saw Tasha sitting next to him. She was sprawled out next to him much like he was. He could tell she was angry, not that he cared.

“You know, Constance is looking for you…” Tasha growled slightly at him. “And here you are, sleeping through everything.”

“I’m not hiding…” He groaned. “Besides, she won’t have me forever…”

“Of course, she loves you, so you have to run off.” Hunter tipped his hat back over his face. He didn’t respond to her, trying to drift off to sleep. “You know she loves you, don’t you?”

“She’s sixteen.” He groaned, trying not to talk so much that he wouldn’t fall asleep.

“Oh, and that means you have to run off?” Hunter could hear the rage that was boiling up behind her voice.

“Maybe you’d like it better if she loved you?”

“…Keep your sick fantasies to yourself.” She snarled. “There are worse things than a cute girl liking you, Hunter.” He tipped his hat back so he could talk to her, accepting he wasn’t going to get anymore sleep for a long while. He was drained from having sex with Ariis, surprised by how tired she made him. He was going to explain that it was more complicated than he was willing to tell her. He thought about it for a split second, but was interrupted by Ariis.

“Hey, handsome, what are you up to?”

“Well, I was trying to sleep, but Miss Tasha here…” He pointed at her with his thumb, “…seems to have an objection…”

“You up to going to the gym?” She said, putting her hand on her hip. “We could do some sparing with the boys. Then later, if you’re up to it, we could do some one-on-one sparing.” She put her hand out to him. He took it, standing up. Tasha growled again.

“Oh, so you’re just going to sleep with someone behind Constance’s back!?”

“I’m her master. I can have sex with anyone I so choose.” Ariis defended herself. “She can have sex with anyone I so choose as well, and I’m NOT forcing her to fuck anyone. I don’t see the problem here.”

“Of course you don’t…” Tasha groaned. She got to her feet. In her anger, she couldn’t help but wobble towards the door because of her hurry. “No yet…”

“Tasha! Wait!” Constance pulled up her dress slightly so she could run to Tasha’s side. She gasped, exhausted by everything that was going on. “Dear…I’m sorry…about the collar…”

“I’m…I’m not really mad at you, Honey…” Tasha sighed, puffing out her cheeks slightly. “I’m sorry I got so mad at you…”

“…honey?” Constance turned to Tasha outside of the cafeteria. “You just called me honey?”

“Do you mind?” Tasha coughed nervously. “You’re awfully sweet, after all…”

“You may call me anything you’d like…” Constance smiled, but her smile quickly faded. “I think…I saw Hunter leave with Ariis…and I…I don’t know what to do…”

“Well, he gave you money, didn’t he?” Constance nodded. “Well, what if you…spent the money on something for him to remember you by? Like…well, his poncho’s ripped, we could replace that. We could get him a gun…”

“Cigars, he likes cigars…and he’s given me a lot of money…” Constance held the card out, the held another one. “And Master Ariis can cover any needed extra for that and…a little gift for you…”

“You don’t…”

“Yes I do.” Constance hated interrupting Tasha, but she had to. “Name literally anything money can buy, and I will get it for you…”

“Anything?” Constance nodded emphatically, sending waves through her long, beautiful hair. Tasha thought about how beautiful her hair was, like strands of silver, but knew Constance could read her mind. She thought about how weird that thought would seem. “…I don’t know why I’m telling you this…but I thought it would be…nice to have a little tattoo…right here…” she ran her fingers along her pelvis, “right along the panty line…just a little heart…for my lover to find…one day…”

“It should be a little heart.” Constance hung her head. She was too shy to look at Tasha while she spoke about something like this. “Just a little heart…maybe you could put an arrow through it when you get married.”

“I don’t think I can get married…” Tasha laughed, putting her arm out to Constance as they walked. Constance gladly took it, happy that things between her and Tasha weren’t as badly screwed up as she thought.


Zech got Sala to the sickbay on the ship without any problems. Unlike the rest of the ship, the sickbay was purely utilitarian with no ornamentation at all. Everything was stainless steal or pure white fabric. Zech knew she would be safe in the sickbay, heading off to the pod. He knew it caused the disruption on the ship. He turned, running down the hallway as fast as he could. ‘As fast he could’ was blindingly fast, less than Ariis’ or other Akyllisians, but still far faster than regular soldiers.

He didn’t bother changing his armor. It wouldn’t get in his way if he got into a fight. He didn’t want to waste the time, either. The ship was still on emergency power, and that had him worried simply for the fact that the back up reactor should have kicked on by now.

He finally got to the hangar where the pod was. He got a rifle from a close gun vault and tried to open the door. It buzzed, ignoring his command. He growled, ramming his hand into the crack of the door, forcing it open. With a loud screech, the door opened.

The hangar was pitch black, but he turned on his thermal visor. The room was dead cold, except for traces of heat. He knew where the light switch for the room was, going over and pressing the button. With a click, it diverted emergency power into the normal lights. There was a loud buzz, but most of the lights only flickered, never staying on for longer than a couple seconds at a time. Still, he saw what he needed to see.

The pod was cracked open like a giant egg. Strange slime dripped from its jagged edges. The scientists that were studying it were all laying around it on the ground. Each one was killed in a different and horrible way. Some were completely disemboweled, others had their skulls smashed open, and still others had their throats ripped out. Many others were no longer whole and almost impossible to separate from the carnage in the room. He instantly knew that whatever was in the pod, it was a pack. There was no way this many people could have been killed by one creature so violently so quickly. That’s when he heard it. It would have been easy to mistake for a gentle breeze if they weren’t on a starship. He turned and fired, a black blur flying through the air towards him. It grabbed him, sending them both tumbling across the floor. Zech swung his rifle, knocking it off him. The creature hissed, disappearing in a black streak. He fired at it, but it was moving too fast for him to track. That was a feat in itself. It rushed up behind him, slashing at him again. He could feel its claws slicing into his armor. He grabbed it, but it passed through his hands.

He knew there was only one thing he could do. He gabbed the closest girder and pulled his belt of grenades and small EVA jets off. He pulled the pins and threw them at the hangar doors. The belt exploded in a massive blast, blowing the hangar doors off. All the air sprayed out of the hangar in a massive blast, rushing faster and faster until it was hurricane. The bodies and the pod were sucked into space, but it was impossible to tell if the creature was. Space outside the hangar was dead and black with no stars outside. The emergency doors finally closed, slamming shut and stopping the wind. He slammed against the deck, quickly looking around for the creature. It was gone, or at least near as he could tell it was. He headed into the ship, getting multiple emergency signals from all over the ship. He knew it could only mean the other creatures were still loose.


Sala was relaxed in the sickbay. She had just been through a long series of intensely personal exams, and was just glad they were finally over. She was just glad that, for once she had a female doctor instead of the male ones. Sala knew they got some sort of sick pleasure examining the women on the ship. Still, it was going to be over soon. She stayed in bed, keeping her hands over his stomach. She was already thinking of baby names for her child.

“What do you think about Ryan if it’s a boy?” Sala rubbed her stomach as she talked to the nurse. She knew it was all in her head, but she could feel a growing warmth in her stomach. “It’s a human name, but…”

“My first husband’s name was Ryan.” The nurse said, making notes. “He was a good man. It’s a fine name.”

“What about if it’s a girl?” Sala asked, looking down at her stomach. “I have no idea what to name it if it’s a girl…”

“Well…” The nurse went over to a cabinet, pulling out a syringe and a number of drugs. “I think if it’s a girl, I’d name it a native name…”

“I always liked Sayla, follow the gamily tradition and name her after me.”

“Well, due to the hormone you so…wisely took…” the nurse held the drugs up to the light, inspecting them carefully, “you are actually pregnant with fraternal triplets.”

“Oh my…” Sala smiled. “I…I guess I’ll have to think of a few names…”

“You should name one after the captain…” she put the medicine in the syringe, flicking it slightly. “After all, you’re going to manipulate him for money…”

“I had no choice, I…” Sala noticed the alert lights were blinking, “…what’s the ship on alert for?” The nurse turned towards her, holding the syringe ready between her fingers.

“Ignore that, I have a shot for you now.”

“What is it?” Sala asked, stopping her. She hated needles, and didn’t want to get shots unless they were absolutely necessarily.

“That’s not important now. You just need t…” The nurse jumped slightly as Zech burst through the door. Sala smiled slightly when she saw him even though she couldn’t see him in his armor, knowing he was the only Enhance Marine on board. He took his helmet off, putting it on his belt and confirming it was him.

“What are you still doing here!” He yelled at them. The sirens were still going off in the ship behind him. In his helmet, his visor displayed chasing warning across the entire ship, telling him the creatures were on the move. He only got brief glimpses of the creature before, not enough to be able to tell what they really looked like. Still, flashes of what he saw would haunt his dreams for the rest of his life. “There was an EVAC order for this entire section!”

“I was getting checked up, and the doctor never…AH!” The nurse stabbed the needle into her arm, slamming down the plunger. She could feel whatever was in the needle burning into her veins. She grabbed her arm, desperately trying to stop the drug’s path. “What was that?!”

“I’m protecting my captain’s honor!” The nurse said with a proud smile. Sala’s knees gave out, collapsing to the ground. She gasped for air, feeling like she was roasting from the inside. “The drug will drive the life from your womb and kill you from the inside.”

“Wah…wuh…why would you do this to me? To my children?” Sala started to cry. Zech as silent, thinking of everything he could do. He had to do something to save Sala. He thought of everything available on the ship. He picked up Sala, rushing over to the bank of cryo-chambers the sickbay had for emergencies. They were essentially glass cylinders with beds you laid the patient down in. Fortunately, there were few cases of extreme illness or injury on the ship, so there was a handful available.

“What do you think you’re doing!?” The nurse ran over, blocking his path. “She dared to impugn the honor of our captain and you’re saving her!?” It was getting harder and harder for Sala to breathe. Sweat was pouring off her, and she was crying in pain.

“Either give me the antidote to the drug you gave her, or get out of my way!”

“There is no antidote!” The nurse laughed. “Put her in cryo and you’ll just be delaying the inevitable!”

“Then get out of my way!” He knocked her aside, running to the pods. Sala shook and trembled, wheezing as she drew breath. Her face had gone from dark grey to pale white and blood red. She cried in pain as he put her down in the pod as gently as he could. As he backed away from her, she grabbed his shoulder.

“Zech…” She cried, tears pouring down her cheeks. She pulled him close, kissing him deeply and passionately. She held the kiss for as long as she could, pushing him away as she started to cough. “I…I…”

“I know.” He stepped over to the controls, working them as fast as he could. His hands moved in a blur, getting everything set up as fast as he could. The glass tube turned around Sala, completely enclosing her. The cryo system sprayed freezing white gas into the chamber, engulfing her. Zech looked at her in the pod.

It was eerie, seeing her frozen in the moment the gas sprayed in the chamber. She had teardrops frozen on her cheeks, beautiful icicles frozen over her. Her face was an incredibly pale gray, and she had a look of utter sadness on her face. As Zech finished programming the pod, he saw the nurse aiming a rifle at the cryo-pod. Zech dove in front of the pod, letting the shot splash across his back.

“The karak must die!” She yelled, aiming the rifle at him again. “Get out of the way!”

“If you don’t stop aiming at her, I’ll kill you.” The nurse didn’t tremble in the slightest, aiming her rifle straight at his head. Zech didn’t tremble either, drawing a pistol from his hip holster and firing in one clean motion. It sent a bolt of plasma straight into one of her eyes and through her head. She was dead the instant it touched her. Zech put his pistol away, turning to the pod and putting in a code so no one could tamper with Sala. He put his hand on the glass. “I’m sorry, Sister…”


Constance and Tasha were almost done shopping for gifts. Together, they were going to the weapon’s shop to get a gun for Hunter. Tasha was carrying the boxes for Constance while Constance was still hanging on her arm. Constance was beaming with happiness with her gifts. She knew Hunter would love them and never forget her.

“You’re sure we should buy him a weapon?” Constance looked deep into Tasha’s eyes. She had learned that she didn’t have to read Tasha’s mind to know when she was being honest about something. She could tell simply by how Tasha blinked. If she closed her eyes for a second just before she talked, she wasn’t sure or was lying.

“Oh yeah, guys like Hunter love weaponry.” Constance nodded, but then thought of something, biting one of her knuckles instead of her thumb.

“But he already has a couple guns…”

“Connie…” Tasha whispered. She put her forehead against Constance’s as she stared at her slightly. “I’ll tell you something about Hunter’s weapons, but you can’t tell him I told you, alright?”

“…Alright…”

“SERIOUSLY….” Tasha stressed, gritting her teeth slightly. “He’d get really pissed off if he knew the way I talked about his weapons…”

“Tasha, you trust me with knowing about your magazine, you can trust me with this.”

“Alright…” Tasha took a deep breath. She took her forehead off Tasha’s. “Hunter’s weapons are CRAP. I mean a slug thrower and a plasma sprayer? Not a plasma RIFLE, a sprayer? It doesn’t even focus the plasma into BOLTS. It just sprays little orbs.” Constance tilted her head.

“…that’s bad?”

“You bet your ass it’s bad.” Tasha said with a laugh. “You’d be lucky if they didn’t splash across armored targets. And a slug thrower!? You might as just walk into an airlock and open it up! It’d be a lot quicker way to kill yourself and not take everyone on the ship with you! The only reason he hasn’t been slaughtered or accidentally killed himself is that he knows his weapons so well…”

“So…what should we get him, gun-wise?” They stopped in front of a large, armored door. Constance was instantly concerned, having a small panic attack.

“Don’t worry. It’s for security in case raiders attack so they can’t use our dealer’s personal stash.” Tasha quickly searched through all of her pockets, digging endlessly. Through all the pockets her jumpsuit had. “I bet Kelli never has this problem…of course, she’s always half naked, so she never uses enough pockets for it…yeah…”

“Did you see the size of…her girls?” Constance said, gesturing to her chest with her hands. She thought it was the most polite way she could put things in public. “Do you know…if they’re real?”

“Oh yeah. Real and glorious…Unbelievable, isn’t it?” She finally found the key card in all of her pockets. Tasha decided to tell her something since no one else was around to hear her. “You know, she use to strip to pay for her engineering masters. She still has a pole set up in her quarters…uses it for exercise.”

“She’s certainly built for it.” Constance said with a smile. “How that little tube top managed to hold them back is beyond me…”

“Willpower, Constance, sheer willpower.” Tasha slid the card through a card reader. The door creaked and groaned, rusty gears, hydraulics, and joints working and rubbing against each other. The door slowly retched open. Tasha pulled Constance back so she wouldn’t be hit by the door as it slammed against the wall. “This is where we can each get personal weapons, weapons that are too costly or impractical for wide-spread use amongst the crew. You might want to get something for yourself while we’re here…” Tasha walked into the dark room, Constance following slowly behind her.

The room was poorly lit, but there were countless guns on racks on the wall and in cases on the floor. There were guns as far as the eye could see. Guns of all different makes and models. There were even rocket launchers and flame throwers in the cases. Constance was scared of everything, keeping her hands close to her chest. Tasha walked on fearlessly, so Constance quickly scampered so she could catch up to her. Tasha looked in the cases as they walked.

“Welcome, Miss Tasha.” An old man, heavy set man walked out from behind a set of cabinets. He was heavy, but not morbidly obese, with orange hair and green eyes. His skin was covered in freckles from working outside for a living. Finally, he was well-enough off that he didn’t have to do manual labor to support himself. Granted, he got to where he was by selling illegal weapons, but life wasn’t perfect. He wore a dress shirt with rolled-up sleeves and business suit pants. Both were far from high-end, but that didn’t matter. “Preparing for the big raid coming up?”

“Actually, I’m here to help my friend Constance here pick up a weapon.”

“OH, right. Constance there is the new crewman we were welcoming this morning.” He hit his forehead with the palm of his hand. “Sorry, so much work piled up on me so fast I didn’t know what to do.” He said to Constance, putting out his hand. Constance shook his hand reluctantly, not wanting him to pick up on her fear of all his guns. “Don’t worry, Miss. Those are all held in place by super-magnets, and the ammo’s kept locked up in a safe in back. There’s no way any of these could hurt you unless you were trying to do it on purpose.”

“Alright…” Constance lowered her hands and bowed to him slightly. “Pleased to meet you, Mister…”

“Just call me Kevin, it’s fine.” He put his hand out to her, but she looked down at it. It was covered in grease and oil. “Oh, sorry. I had to fix one of the rifles earlier. It’s real messy work.” He grabbed a rag and started wiping off his hands. “So, what can I do for you today? You’re a little young to be buying a gun, aren’t you, little lady?”

“I’m sixteen, thank you…” Constance groaned. “And it’s not for me, it’s for a friend, Mister Hunter.”

“That’s too bad, because I happen to have this.” He pulled out a small pistol. It was very small. It fit in the palm of his hand and had an ivory handle and sleek chrome details. “It uses small batteries and packs that give four shots a piece at maximum power.”

“I…I could never use a gun…”

“Nonsense, just hold it and tell me what you think.” He put the pistol in Constance’s hand. Constance was surprised how light it was. It felt cool and smooth against her skin. It wasn’t too heavy, and didn’t seem to signal the stigma in her mind other guns did.

“It’s…nice, but Master Ariis doesn’t want me wearing a gun belt…” She held it out to Kevin.

“Oh, that’s why we have these.” He went over to the counter and dug around behind it, finding a small box. He put it on the counter and opened it, looking Constance over and digging through it. He took one out and put it on the counter. “Garter holsters designed so that it won’t disturb your dress. No one will be able to tell you’re wearing it until you draw it on them.”

“Big demand for those, Kev?” Tasha looked through the box slightly.

“No, that’s why I still have every size.” He held up a black one with an expandable loop. “Now, I’ll include this and five ammo batteries and packs for…well, half the price of the gun.”

“You want price and a half on the gun?”

“I’m sorry.” He shook his head and his hands. “I mean, I’ll sell you the gun for half-price and I’ll include everything else for free.”

“Why?”

“Well…That’s not important.” Constance had to know why, ignoring him brushing off her question. She stared at him briefly, going into his mind. Truth was that she reminded him of the girl that gave him his first kiss when he was young. A beautiful blonde-haired girl named Anika. They had been friends for a long time and were going to start dating when she was thrown off a bridge and killed. Constance didn’t want to invade his privacy anymore, stopping before she found out anymore.

“Oh god…” she shook her head, rubbing her eyes. She realized she had to quickly cover up for what she said, coming up with a cover. “…thank you. That’s so nice of you, Kevin.”

“No problem. Besides, we all need a little protection around here.” He held out a key pad. “Thumbprint there, please.” Constance nodded and put her thumb on the pad. As it scanned and processed, getting the money from Ariis’ account, she had to ask him one more question.

“Mister Kevin, sir…it there anything you want me to call you?”

“…anything I want you to call me?” Constance nodded.

“Like Master Ariis had me call her…Master Ariis, Captain Jessie…”

“No,” Tasha groaned, hitting her head against the wall. “My dad did NOT…”

“Frank wanted Frankie…”

“Call me whatever you want, sweetheart.” Kevin said with a smile.

“…I like ‘Kev’.” Constance said. She had pulled it from his mind on accident when she scanned him about Anika.

“Kev it is, then.”

“Alright, Kev…” Tasha rolled her eyes. “What do you have in the way of rifles?”

“Well, if you’ll allow me to show you…”