Alexander Outland: Space Pirate (41 page)

“Libsuno.”

There was silence in the cockpit.

“Oh, great choice, Nap. Plenty of good supply shops there.” Randolph trotted out.

“Never been, but I’ve heard it’s a nice planet.” Lionside sounded like he’d heard all about it and couldn’t wait to see if the rumors were true. Apparently the steroids were wearing off. He went off after Randolph.

“You sure, Nap?” Tanner sounded nervous.

“Kid, you had five girls at one time as your initiation into manhood. Libsuno will seem tame. Besides, the best chefs in the galaxy have restaurants there.”

He brightened up. “Oh, great. I’ll get dinner going, then. Just something light, since we’ll be eating on-planet.”

“I want a mineral bath,” the Governor said, voice on full quaver.

“I’ll make the reservation the moment we land.” Slinkie said, annoyance in full force.

“Good. I’m an old man and I’ve been battered about for the past few days.”

“Yes, yes, got it. Tanner, help the Governor back to his cabin, will you?”

“Sure, Nap.” They left, the Governor still complaining about his aches and pains. Near as I could tell, no one had asked how he’d managed to rig an entire battle cruiser by himself. I hoped they never did. The Governor liked all the young folks. Janz the Butcher saw most of them as, at best, necessary evils. And he’d just proved
we didn’t really need more than him and me to be successful.

But, that was a worry for another time. I kept a firm hold on Slinkie while I set the coordinates for the jump. “You sure we have to go to Aviatus?” She sounded much quieter and a lot more scared now that it was just us and Audrey.

“Yeah, but I promise to make you forget all about it for the next few days.”

“You could have had all the women of the French Tickler Armada, you know.”

I sighed. “Slink, I keep on saying it, and you don’t want to believe. If I’ve got the best girl in the galaxy, why would I want any of the others, or even all of them?”

Checked to make sure everyone was strapped in, per the grid. Seemed like it. Pulled Slinkie to me and planted the big one on her right as I hit the hyper-jump button.

Nine minutes straight of kissing. Not my record, but still, well worthwhile. Never let it be said that the Outland couldn’t plan things down to the smallest details.

L
ibsuno, like the Outland, always lived up to its hype. Nothing like vacationing on a planet that didn’t allow extradition to make you feel a lot more relaxed. And if you wanted it, Libsuno found a way to ensure you had it.

Ran some fast errands, then took the whole crew to dinner at a restaurant Tanner insisted was run by the best chef in the galaxy. The food was good, but it wasn’t what I was hungry for.

I booked us all into rooms at a nice hotel—not the top of the line, but one of the better ones—then shooed everyone off. Had Tanner and Lionside take the Governor to his mineral bath—Slinkie and I needed some alone time.

“How can we afford Libsuno?” Slinkie asked as I scanned for bugs and explosives. “I don’t know how we could afford that dinner, let alone staying at this hotel for a week.”

“Nitin had a small fortune on him. And I withdrew against his credit lines the moment we disembarked. Not sure if I managed it, but I’m hoping I drained the de Chance family coffers.”

Another beautiful fact about Libsuno was that it didn’t report financials to any other government. Money in a Libsuno account was money no one was ever going to trace. The Governor and I had drained every credit line Nitin had had a card for—the access
information for his accounts were listed in the coded documents I’d lifted.

We’d run the money through several of Janz the Butchers’ business accounts and it was now resting safely in Libsuno National. Everyone had a cut, though they didn’t know it. Sure, the Governor and I had the biggest cuts, but those were the prerogatives of leadership and being the ones who were able to do all the fun things with credit lines and bombs and such.

Still hadn’t found what the two Dragon keys and the one little key Nitin had kept in his wallet went to. Figured we’d find out sooner, later, or not at all. Until then, they were kept in my inner jacket pocket.

Room cleared of any dangerous explosives and all monitoring devices rendered null and void, I locked the door, dragged her into the bedroom, and locked that door, too. Put the intercom and phone on do not disturb. Slinkie laughed. “Nap, what’re you doing, you featherbrain?”

“Making sure that, this time, nothing disturbs us. Hopefully the building won’t catch on fire or fall down or something.”

She shook her hair out. “You’re sort of building this up to impossible heights, you know. I mean, I know your reputation. Maybe I’m not going to live up to your expectations.”

“I’ll risk it.”

Pulled her into my arms and got us out of our clothes in record time. I’d fool around with the sexy undressing another time. Right now, I was still waiting for something, anything, to come and try to interrupt us.

Stopped worrying about that by the time I got her into the bed. Something about being up close and extremely personal with Slinkie’s naked body made my mind focus on one thing only.

Making love to Slinkie was a revelation in a lot of ways. Probably the most shocking one was that, as everyone had said and this confirmed, I really was in love with her. It was the best, for me, ever. But, there was still the niggle of worry—what if it wasn’t all Slinkie had
heard it would be? Oh sure, she’d sounded like the planet had moved for her, but she’d also insinuated she knew how to fake a scream.

She rolled on top of me, and I got the dove-look, combined with something I’d never seen before. She looked ready to go and keep on going. Her body moved against mine in a way that confirmed this look. She really was my perfect girl.

“Oooh, Nap. You know… you really
are
da tomcat.”

“You’re quite the little tigress yourself.”

Slinkie purred at me. “You have no idea. Now, take me Around the Galaxy again.”

“Is that an order?”

“Royal decree. Make it so.”

“You’re my kind of princess, babe.”

“You’re my kind of pirate.” She gave me a searching look. “You really willing to give up all the other women in the galaxy for me?”

Pulled her to me and kissed her. Not for nine minutes, but for a good, long time, emphasis on good. “What other women?”

She heaved a happy sigh. “It’s official. I have to admit it—I do love the Outland.”

“And just think—you haven’t seen anything yet.”

As I gave Slinkie her first patented Outland Horsey Ride, I realized it was official for me, too—I could, point of fact, now die a happy man.

 

As my Great-Aunt Clara always said, dying happy’s great, but living happy’s preferred by nine out of ten, and the tenth man’s leaning towards it, too. My addendum to this adage? If you can keep the happy in bed with you for a week straight, that’s good. But two weeks straight is even better.

So many to thank, so little time. But I’ll give it a shot.

First off, must thank the coolest, best agent out there, Cherry Weiner, for always believing in me, in this book, and these characters. A huge thank you also to all the great folks at Night Shade Books, in particular Jeremy Lassen for taking on Alexander and his crew without hesitation, and Ross Lockhart for a truly smooth editorial flight.

To my crit partner, Lisa Dovichi, and all my beta readers, especially Mary Fiore and Veronica Cook, for lots of time spent. And for always laughing at the jokes. Even the tenth time around.

To all the friends who said “this book is great, of course it’ll get published” I send a big “wow, you were right!” along with my thanks for their constant belief. Special shout outs to Adrian Payne, Matt Payne, Kay Moran, and Willie Everhart for going those extra special cheerleading miles.

Special thanks to author Seanan McGuire for guidance and support, even during deadlines.

Last but in no way least, love to my spousal unit and the fruit of our loins for all their love, support, and seeming willingness to put up with having to live with an author. It’s a tough job, but you do it better than anyone and I love you for it more than you probably realize.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

G.J. Koch writes science fiction. Not the hard stuff, though. Because that requires actual scientific knowledge or at least actual scientific research. Knowledge may be power and research may be cool, but they take time away from writing jokes, action, and romance, and being witty in the face of death is what it’s really all about. Check out G.J.’s rollicking Alexander Outland: Space Pirate series from Night Shade Books and reach G.J. at Space… the Funny Frontier (
http://www.ginikoch.com/GJKbookstore.htm
).

Alexander Outland : Space Pirate
© 2012 by G. J. Koch
This edition of
Alexander Outland : Space Pirate
© 2012 by Night Shade Books

 

 

 

Edited by Ross E. Lockhart

 

All rights reserved

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

eISBN : 978-1-597-80424-0

 

 

 

 

Night Shade Books
http://www.nightshadebooks.com