Galactic Marshal II
by
Hilltopper

CHAPTER 6

“George, put your eyes back in your head and your tongue back in your mouth.”

“Sorry, it’s just----------you’re a woman! Holy shit!”

I looked over at Coop. He shrugged his shoulders and gave me an ‘I told you so’ look.”

“We already know that.”

“I know but-----you’re really a woman!”

“Oh, for gods sake, get a grip! I have to look like this for our trip to Prowhiness. I can’t wear pants and look like a mistress.”

“Yeah, I just didn’t think it would be so real.”

I rolled my eyes.

“George, we are acting out a part so we can make contact with some one that can help us find Mary. That is all this is.”

Just then an alarm went off. Coop jumped up.

“That is probably our signal. Be right back.”

He hurried into the command center.

“George, you better spruce up some and grab your things. We will more than likely be leaving soon.”

George still looked dazed.

“Yeah, OK.”

He left as Coop came back.

“That was the signal. They want you to start down in the shuttle within the hour.”

“That shouldn’t be a problem. George has gone to get his grip.”

Coop looked at me hard.

“You be careful down there. The situation is going to be new to you.”

I laughed.

“I’ll have my protector.”

“That’s what I am worried about.”

George walked back in. I picked up my bag.

“Don’t worry, Coop, we will stay in touch.”

George and I went to the shuttle and buckled in.

“I can’t call you John down there. What name should I use?”

“You mean besides ‘mistress’.

George blushed deeply.

“Sorry, I know this is hard. I guess I’ll go with the name I used while undercover in Basteria, Gina Coleman.”

“That makes sense.”

Coop came on line.

“I’ve programmed the shuttle to follow their signal. Just sit back and relax.”

The shuttle left the ship with a rush and we were on our way down. It took about 20 minutes to arrive at the resort. The place was amazing. It was on the shore of a very blue lake. Everything was immaculate. After landing, we were met by a beautiful girl.

“Welcome, Mister Jones. Please follow me.”

George put his arm around me and we walked to the registration desk. I was completely ignored. Another gorgeous girl greeted George.

“Good morning, Mister Jones. Welcome to Prowhiness. What is your friend’s name?”

George pointed to me.

“This is Gina Coleman.”

She wrote down my name but did not acknowledge me. She handed George an envelope.

“This is your information packet. It should answer all your questions. Cindy will take you up to your suite. Enjoy your stay.”

We once again followed ‘Cindy’ as she led us to our accommodations. It was, to say the least, luxurious.

“If you need anything, just push the button by the vid.”

She smiled big and left without even looking at me.

“Wow, this is great!”

“Yeah, if you’re a man. They didn’t act as if I was a person.”

“Aw, don’t take it hard, I know you’re a man. Besides, what’s not to like here; a great room and beautiful women.”

I laughed.

“George, you have a one track mind. But you’re right. Everyone here is gorgeous.”

He looked at me slyly.

“Including you.”

I gave him a look.

“Just remember who I am and why we are here.”

“Don’t worry, but it doesn’t mean we can’t have fun while we’re waiting.”

I went to the bathroom. When I came out, George was looking at a sheet of paper.

“This must be our itinerary. Looks like it’s lunch on the veranda and then a beach party.”

“Lunch sounds good but I’m not sure about the beach.”

We found the veranda with no trouble. The food was fabulous. The only downside was the constant ogling I was receiving. I was not used to that and didn’t like it one bit. From George’s expressions, he didn’t like it much either. After eating, we went back up to our room. George was excited.

“Well, how about the beach party?”

“No thanks! I don’t have a bathing suit anyway.”

“Let’s try that button. Cindy said ‘anything’. Beside, it might look suspicious if we didn’t attend the party.”

I sighed.

“OK, see what you can do.”

“Great, uh, what size do you wear.”

“Just say a twelve.”

George pushed the button and, in a few seconds, Cindy popped up on the vid screen.

“How can I help?”

“We need a bathing suit for Gina, size 12.”

She smiled.

“Sure thing, it will be right up.”

She was just too happy for my taste. About 20 minutes later, there was a knock on the door. George retrieved a small box. I looked dubiously at it.

“Well, open it. We need to get going.”

I looked up at George and then back down to the box. It sure was small! Sighing, I opened it. My worst fears were realized. The thing in the box was tiny to the extreme and, to make matters worse, it was bright pink.

“George, there is no way I am wearing that thing!”

“You have got to. The only way we are going to find any information is to be with people.”

“OK, you wear it then.”

“Very funny. Just try it on.”

I shook my head but went into the bathroom. I stripped off and put the suit on. To say that I filled it out was an understatement. It covered what was needed but just barely.

“Well, are you coming out?”

I opened the door and walked out. George’s eyes widened considerably.

“Where did those curves come from?”

“Genetics”

“Wow!”

“Let’s go before I chicken out.”

We made our way to the beach. I don’t think I would have felt worse if I was naked which I practically was. I know it was common on Fledora but I never had gotten used to it. Here, it was embarrassing to the extreme. The party was in full swing. We found a spot close to the water and sat down.

“Want to go swimming?”

“Are you kidding, this thing couldn’t stand the strain.”

George laughed.

‘Maybe but it sure looks good. Want me to put some sun tan lotion on your back?”

I glared at him and pointed at the water.

“Go!”

He went into the water and walked out up to his chest. It wasn’t two minutes before I had a visitor.

“Hey, doll, need some lotion?”

“Thank you but no.”

This one didn’t take to no. He sat down beside me and laid a hand on my leg. My skin was starting to crawl. It took all my will power to smile.

“Sorry, I’m with someone.”

He looked around.

“Not that I see. If you were with me, I wouldn’t leave you alone.”

He bent down closer. I looked out toward the water. George was charging out toward us. The guy stood up to face him. Before the guy could utter a word, George hit him up side of the head. He dropped like a rock. I grinned.

“Thanks, that was getting very awkward. It is not a good way to meet people, however.”

“Yeah, well, he deserved it. After all, you’re my girl.”

I rolled my eyes.

“Let’s go back to the room. I’ve had enough beach time.”

After entering our room, I went into the bathroom and removed the bikini. I donned a fluffy white bath robe and threw the suit into the trash. When I came out, George was looking at that itinerary again.

“It says here that tonight is dinner and dancing.”

I plopped down on the couch.

“I think I would rather have a relaxing evening in bed.”

George’s eyes brightened.

“Alone!”

He sighed.

“It will be a great place to mingle. How else are we going to find anyone?”

“Yeah, I know. OK, but let’s keep our eyes on the mission. I’m going to lie down for a bit.”

I went into the bedroom and lay back on the bed. This had been a horrible day already. I shuddered to think about tonight. But it had to be done. We needed information as to what happened to Mary and I didn’t have any other way to get it. I guess I dozed off because, the next thing I knew, George was knocking on the door.

“Gina, it’s getting late.”

“OK, OK, I’m up.”

I opened the door and George almost fell into the room.

“Did it say how formal this dance was?”

“Nope, but I think you should wear something sexy.”

I shook my head. George was just being George. I had brought a pretty fancy black velvet dress that should do. I shooed George out and got dressed. I used evening makeup and let my hair flow back instead of my usual pony tail. Four inch heels completed the picture. I must admit, I looked darn good. I walked into the living room and George stood up.

“I just can’t get used to how good you look as a woman.”

“Blame it on Fledora. It wasn’t my idea.”

“Yeah, well, you sure are good at it.”

I let that go. We went down to dinner. Once again, the food was amazing. The waiter kept flirting and George was beginning to get up tight. Finally, the band struck up and people started out to the dance floor. I was not a dancer but George seemed to think it best that we do. We had both had a good bit of wine with our meal and were feeling the effects. It turned out that George was actually a very good dancer. I felt very awkward and tense. This was not a comfortable position for me. As the night wore on, the drinks kept flowing and George became very inebriated. His hands were beginning to have a mind of there own.

“Let’s sit down a bit. I’m getting tired and these darn shoes are killing me.”

George just laughed and kept on dancing. Finally, I had enough and pushed him away. I could see his anger flare and knew he had to be stopped now. He never could hold his liquor. When he came at me, I chopped down on his neck and he collapsed into my arms. I threw him over my shoulder and walked out of the room. The looks I was getting were strange. I guess it did look weird having a woman handle a large man this way. I took George up to our room and flopped him onto the couch. He looked like he was out for the night. I put a blanket over him and went to bed.

This whole day had been a bust. We found no one to talk to and George was a complete idiot. I was getting weary of dressing and acting like a sex kitten. The frustration of missing Mary and Raylan was taking its toll. Of course, I really didn’t know what I expected to find here. For all we knew, Mary might never have been here and no one knew anything. In that case, I didn’t know what to do next. I finally drifted off to sleep.

I awoke to a crash. I guess George was up. I washed up and put on shorts and a tank top. My hair was back to its pony tail. When I walked into the living room, George was sitting with his head in his hands. He looked up.

“God, I shouldn’t drink. This always happens.”

He suddenly looked pale.

“Uh, I didn’t do any thing, uh, that I shouldn’t, did I?”

“Not at all, you were a perfect gentleman.”

He looked relieved.

“Whew, you’re my best friend. I wouldn’t want to do any thing to change that.”

“Nope, we’re good. Now, how about breakfast?”

He paled again.

“I guess.”

We went down to the breakfast bar. I was starved and loaded up a plate. George appeared to be a little green. We sat down and started eating. After a bit, I noticed a woman across the room looking intently at me. She looked sort of familiar but I couldn’t place her. A few minutes later, I saw her motion to a waiter. She talked to him a couple of minutes pointing our way. Since our name tags were at our table, I guessed she was asking our names. The waiter walked by us and then went back to her table. He said something and she smiled then nodded. As we were finishing, she walked over to our table.

“Hi, Gina, I thought that was you. I remember you from The Midnight End on Fledora. You were a good friend of Karen’s. She still talks about you.”

That brought my head up for sure.

“What do you mean ‘still’?”