Root CGD: 4046.12
CinT Ark Loc: Y3CAL.13.J (Barrier Zone – sector J)
Garrett and I had level set to each other that we felt something deeper and we both wanted to make a go of it together. The ‘love’ word had been shared freely, and I of course shed some tears while he tried to comfort me. Some of that comforting involved holding me, a few kisses that gave me hope, and of course that led to sensual touching, phenomenal sex, and pillow talk that had a ‘future’ focus to it.

“How far ahead did you see me, us?”

“I don’t know, but you were plenty round in the belly; I remember that for sure,” Garrett said, holding me a little tighter for a moment.

“And that’s the last vision or remembrance you’ve had since we were in the Exhibit Housing? Nothing else after that?” I whined.

“Like I said, the last thing I saw was we were lying in a bed somewhere; you said something about the baby kicking, took my hand, and put it on your belly, and I felt it moving. I don’t know the future date or time, but that’s the last glimpse of the future I had. Why?”

“So, before we left the Exhibit Housing, you saw that? Why didn’t you say anything?” I complained.

“I’m not sure… Sometimes those things were more like dreams than a vision of some event that would happen. I hadn’t thought to share it I guess. I mean, it’ll happen at some point; all those remembrances I had tend to happen. It’s got to be weeks, though, since I’ve had one.”

“I’d like to have known about that one,” I complained. “The Guild probably thought it was important and asked you about those, right?”

“Yeah, but they didn’t seem to care about some random glimpses of you and I. Did they ask you about having visions or seeing the future? I didn’t think any of the women had those, did they?” Garrett asked.

Do I tell him? No… He’s here, he’s real, there’s an ‘us’ now and not some remembrance or vision or precognition. And there’s the baby and I don’t want any of this to change the ‘real’ we have between us in this moment.

“They didn’t, as far as I know,” I replied quietly, lumping myself into the group of women and hoping he wouldn’t press.

“Speaking of future happenings, is this our future—tooling around in space moving goods?”

“I haven’t thought that far ahead, but for now I was thinking we could do this until we figure something else out. The baby might dictate settling down or maybe not. There are a lot of credits to be made through freighting goods, don’t knock it.”

“Me? Never… Sounds reasonable though if that’s our plan and I like the sound of credits being added to our accounts… I’m happy to be your male concubine for as long as you’ll have me,” he said, nuzzling his lips on my neck and making me squirm a little as he held me.

If you don’t think I can feel that lump at your hips pressing into my backside you’re not as smart as I thought you were. I couldn’t help but smile having thought that to myself.

“Okay… Okay now…,” I huffed, feeling those beginnings of desire for another round of having him inside of me. He had a way of turning me inside out with such ease! “If you want, I can find something for you to do on the ship,” I began, but stopped as his hand slipped between my legs and I shuddered at the pleasure something so simple gave me.

“I’m good with this,” he whispered, gliding a finger between the very slick lips of my pussy.

“I… I was thinking…,” I reached down to put my hand on his to slow him down, though I really didn’t want him to stop. “You could learn the stations of the ship, like navigation, piloting, communications, the conveyor, and engineering even. It would help to have someone else knowing as much as Cheryl and I on board.”

“Aye Captain,” was his reply before I happily let loose of his hand so he could continue to drive me out of my freaking mind one more time before I needed to leave him to go relieve Cheryl.

Root CGD: 4049.02
CinT Ark Loc: Y3CAK.66.R (Chin-ray)
Getting to the planet surface of Chin-ray had been as expected—bumpy and a bit nerve-wracking. We needed to be mindful of not only the layer of satellites that blanketed the outer rim of the planet but also the millions of random space rocks that made up the inner ring—some of those were a kilometer in size and seemingly in their own destructive orbits. It was a gauntlet every ship needed to get through when visiting Chin-ray, unfortunately, and made everyone on the bridge watching it happen live nervous.

Once past those obstacles, we had to fight the unfriendly atmosphere of this planet, which was heavily laden with moisture. The dense air made piloting the ship difficult and required nearly full engine power to slow our descent as the planet surface rushed towards us as if we were about to become yet another cratered ship. Garrett had been shadowing Dee up until we got here, and she was the one who brought us in for a landing—though it looked like she’d been worried about that until the Guild had locked on to the ship and set us down at a designated docking station.

Why the Planetary Guild had invested in this one-off planet as a communications hub was anyone’s guess. It was the second time I’d been to Chin-ray, and while it might have been nice to hang out for a day, I wanted us loaded and out of here quickly. We had a much more lucrative cargo to figure out once we got to Libat III.

“Status?”

“About a third of the twenty-five hundred satellite dishes have been loaded. Max says he’s going to be bleeding power to keep these things secured in their bays,” Cheryl replied.

“I think we’ll manage; we’ve loaded more than this before and not had any issues. What’s the projected weight again?” I asked.

“Two-point-two million kilos… We’ll be pushing it, but I agree we’re well within load tolerances.”

Max was the new engineer Cheryl had hired a little over two years ago to replace David, the one who’d passed after taking that second hit of Senian with the other four male crew members we had at the time. David had been with us for six years and knew every creaking noise this ship made and what it meant. Max was skilled, according to Cheryl; it’s just I didn’t know him well enough yet to trust his judgment when it came to my ship or what I knew I could demand of her.

Even though Cheryl had gotten each of those male crew members into stasis the day I’d been pulled from the ship, none had survived the drug. While eating lunch on Oenic, Cheryl and I had talked about how lucky I’d been to have skipped that second hit of Senian, instead taking that first dose of female hormones. I now had a small grain-sized implant that keeps my hormones well in the ‘female’ zone, even with the craziness pregnancy added to managing those hormones.

I think I could agree I was pretty lucky right now considering the alternative path my life could have taken.

“Time to complete the load?” I asked.

“Rough guess, four hours… Max says the hydrogen leak in the main sequencer line is fixed for now, but we’re going to need that replaced on Libat III when we get there. He says it’s a minimum three-day fix.”

“How’s that going to play with our next client's needs?”

“I doubt they’ll be pleased we’re unable to head out when they’re expecting…”

“Figures… Let’s reach out to them beforehand, give them some warning, and give them an opportunity to make other arrangements if they can’t wait for us to be ready to go. Keep me posted on the loading; I want out of here without any Guild intervention—if you know what I mean.”

“Yes, Captain…”

Root CGD: 4057.96
CinT Ark Loc: Y3CAX.04.A (Varino)
We’d gotten out of Chin-ray unscathed and on time but landed on Varino during the one period or season or whatever they called it where the planet was engulfed in one giant dust storm. That made navigating to the warehouse facilities to offload the satellite dishes incredibly difficult for both Cheryl and Dee. It took both of them sitting at the helm to get us on the ground. I’d been taking shifts piloting the ship to get back in the swing of things, but it would have probably ended badly had I tried to land us here today, so I had happily let them manage getting us safely on the ground.

Garrett had been piloting the ship under Cheryl or Dee’s supervision—mine too—and he was turning out to be a natural. I think he enjoyed it, navigating and piloting this beast of a cargo ship. Once you got the hang of it—barring some crazy situations we could run into—the Barrow Gar was an easy ship to pilot. She might not be the sexiest ship out there, but she could be fun to pilot.

I really was enjoying Garrett’s enthusiasm to learn and take on additional responsibility—besides being my male concubine, as he liked to remind me in private. While often monotonous at times, there was joy to be had working on this ship and even a bit of peacefulness. Of course I especially liked that his enthusiasm followed us away from the bridge, when we were alone, so that was an added bonus to working with him.

It hadn’t gone unnoticed by me that while we were pulling shifts together or around the rest of my crew, he never veered from addressing me as “Ma’am” or “Captain”. Garrett doing that validated my position, skill, and experience for managing this ship's operation. I valued that as much as his loving me and the…

“Captain…”

I could tell by Cheryl’s tone coming through the speaker there was a problem: “Go…”

“I’m being told we’re short one technician on the delivery, and we’re going to be docked twenty percent unless we return to Chin-ray to secure him and bring him back.”

“No…”

“No? What are you thinking, Ma’am?” she asked, confused.

“No, as in we’re not getting docked, and we’re not about to waste sixteen days ferrying some idiot back here when he should have been loaded with the satellite dishes in the first place. We’ve got other business to attend to and maintenance that would make that trip all but impossible,” I complained, knowing full well she knew all of that already.

“Understood… Let me send Commander Perry up there so you can work that out with him directly.”

Fuck! The way she’d said that meant Perry was likely standing there listening to one side of the conversation she’d just had with me.

“I’ll convey him up… Out...”

I got up from my command chair, located the signature for Commander Perry standing next to Cheryl in the cargo hold, locked onto him, and conveyed him to the bridge.

“Commander… How can I assist you?”

“Captain Ferris?” he asked, looking at Garrett sitting at the helm before looking towards me after Garrett pointed my way.

What an Idiot! I just spoke to you…

“Captain Ferris, I’m a—I’m Commander Perry, LST 1 Station Section Communications Specialist in charge,” he said, walking towards me, extending his hand, and shaking my offered hand politely, if not a bit weakly.

This is going to suck and this guy is going to just piss me off more than I already am!

“My first officer says your loadmaster on Chin-ray neglected to procure and store an asset needed for the installation of your cargo,” I stated.

“Not exactly…”

He knew that wasn’t the exact conversation Cheryl and I had just had, but it was what I was holding onto for the moment.

“Care to explain how your load master and supply chiefs on Chin-ray both forgot to make a technician available along with these dishes we’re delivering?” I asked, smiling innocently and trying to not sound annoyed.

“Well, that’s not… You see the technician hadn’t realized your ship was…,” Perry began saying, but I interrupted him.

“I have a very tight schedule I’m working with, and docking my delivery fee and requiring me to make a sixteen-day round trip to secure your asset—which your people didn’t make available—isn’t something I’m prepared to accept.”

“I’m sure it’s not what you want to…,” he didn’t get to finish his rebuttal.

“You’re right, it’s not what I want, and I’m not going to…,” and this time I was interrupted.

“Those dishes, they’re the DCS33’s, right?” Garrett asked.

“DCS44’s actually a couple model years newer,” Perry replied.

I gave Garrett a look and a slight head nod, ‘No.’.

“What’s your technician doing for you, Commander?” Garrett asked.

“Standard installs to the BEPS modules, well actually—training my guys to do that,” was his reply.

“No software upgrades? Not that that couldn’t be done asymmetrically via carrier link after the BEPS system is brought online,” Garrett asked and answered, I thought.

“Correct, as far as I know… Who are you exactly? You seem to know a lot about our systems,” Perry queried.

“I’ve got a few years of experience with setting up the DCS33s; I’m sure I can get your staff over the hump and your 44s connected to the BEPS,” Garrett said, turning to look at me. “Captain, I can do that while you’re handling the other items on our schedule if that’s acceptable.”

No! Not what I want, and besides that I’m not leaving you here!

“A moment,” I said to Garrett and headed to the small ready room off the bridge.

When we were inside and the door closed, he spoke first, because the look on my face told him I wasn’t pleased.

“Look, I don’t want to get stuck here without you, but it solves the issue with your schedule and keeps the Guild happy. Plus we don’t get docked twenty percent; how’s that not a good thing?”

“Not the point… Well, okay, some of… I’m not; no, I don’t want to leave you here. Perry can kiss my ass!” I barked.

“Come on, Cam, you know this makes sense… They’ve got twenty-five hundred of these things to set up. I can train them, hang out, and sat-link you every day. Then after your Libat III run, you come pick me up, or I catch some Guild supply ship to meet you somewhere. What I’m out of your sight, twelve to twenty CGD’s day at the most,” he said, reaching out to take my shoulders for a moment before pulling me into a hug.

No! This is not what I wanted!

Root CGD: 4064.24
CinT Ark Loc: Y3CBA.53.D (Libat III)
“You’re joking; tell me you’re joking…”

“I wish I was, Captain, but that’s the going rate for the part,” Max stated.

Fuck! Sixty thousand credits for a fucking sequencer hose or line or whatever the fuck he’d just told me it was! Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!

“How long?” I growled as politely as I could manage given the hit we were about to take.

“I can have it done in three days…” he replied.

“I need it done in two,” I complained.

“I can hire someone to help me with it; it might cost an additional ten thousand credits though...”

I looked at Cheryl, who hadn’t said anything since this conversation started and she sort of shrugged her approval. Alternated plan…

“Tell you what, you get it done in two days for seventy-K, and I’ll bump you ten-K for your efforts. But this fix doesn’t go sideways for six CGD months, or I pull back that ten-K, deal?” I asked.

Max’s smile said everything, and he disappeared after a quick and somewhat satisfying, “Yes, Captain…”

I looked at Cheryl, who looked pleased.

“He’s not getting shore leave, no time with the fix needing to get done. I felt like I needed to make it up to him, plus if he gets the job done in two days—golden, right?” I asked.

“You made the right choice; I’d have done the same or something similar. Look, stress isn’t good for babies… I know you’ve been on edge since we left Garrett on Varino, even with him calling a couple of times a day. How about I meet with our client tonight? I’ll take Alex as muscle, and you just relax,” Cheryl replied.

“No, I’m going, and I’d like to dress up, feel a little bit more human, and less like this ship’s captain. Can you help me with that?”

Her smile was all the answer I needed.

Root CGD: 4064.74
CinT Ark Loc: Y3CBA.53.D (Libat III)
It took three hours of concentrated effort for Cheryl to get me made up to meet our client at a local cantina. Cheryl had trimmed my hair, helped me style it, and done some form of alien magic applying makeup so that my face didn’t look so tired and bland. Some people might even say I looked borderline pretty at the moment.

When I finally got a look at myself I was totally shocked at the image staring back at me. Cheryl had coordinated everything I needed to wear, and once I was fully dressed the full-body halo mirror in my stateroom kept me from speaking for an entire minute. If I needed to explain an out-of-body experience, this person looking back at me would qualify as such.

“How did you do…,” I couldn’t finish my sentence before my voice cracked, and I could feel the tears welling.

“Wait! No, no, no crying! Happy thoughts! A lot of money on the line tonight! Think about counting all those credits!” Cheryl said from behind me. “You do look beautiful, Cam, and this dress does show off very nice legs… But don’t cry, damn you! It’ll ruin everything.”

When Tommy and Alex, our muscle that would be shadowing us tonight, saw us both dressed and ready to go, there was no mistaking we’d made an impression on the both of them. It was absolutely an ego kick to be thought of as desirable, or as Cheryl had said once she’d gotten dressed, ‘We are a couple of hot babes tonight!’

I might have complained about feeling fat or looking bloated, but she assured me I looked amazing and no one would look at me and think, pregnant lady coming through.

Cheryl and I had entered the cantina ahead of Tommy and Alex who waited five minutes before coming in and take up a position close by. Once she and I had made our way through the crowd to a table near the back, Cheryl ordered herself a drink and me some kind of herbal tea concoction that made it look like I was also drinking, but there was not alcohol involved with mine. Drinks delivered, we both had a view of the entry and could see Tommy and Alex after they’d come in. With as crowded as the place was, I was happy each of us was armed with a small concealed plasma weapon – if things went sideways.

Just another typical shady nighttime rendezvous on Libat III.

“They’re here…,” Cheryl said leaning in close, over the noise of the crowd.

I picked them up quickly, two men, one wearing some kind of cloak-robe-like garment that hid his entire head and face. When they noticed Cheryl, they headed our way.

“Ladies… Is Captain Ferris joining us?”

“This is Captain Ferris,” Cheryl stated.

He looked surprised, but maybe he’d checked into me and wasn’t expecting I’d changed a bit.

“May I?” he asked, display for us a small scanning device in his hand.

I nodded, and he pointed it at me discreetly, looked to be reading the screen, and eventually smiled.

“Nice to meet you, Captain Ferris. You’ve changed a little according to the bio-linear scan; is this new?” the more normally clothed of the two men asked me.

“Is that going to be an issue?” I challenged.

“Of course not, your ship's reputation is well known and suited for our needs. I’m Jake, and this is Keagan,” he said, offering his hand, which I took.

Keagan didn’t move, so I didn’t offer to shake his hand. I couldn’t see his face very well, and I didn’t like that he was obviously trying to hide his appearance from us. We didn’t have fancy scanners to tell who these two were, but they were paying for discretion, and in the end, a credit was a credit—as long as we weren’t caught.

“I’ll get us a couple of ales and be right back,” Jake said as Keagan finally decided to move and sat across from me.

Four minutes passed, and nothing was said at the table, but I got the sense Cheryl didn’t know this Keagan guy and had only been dealing with Jake. When Jake returned, he placed the ales on the table, sat, and did a quick look around the cantina.

“You brought a few of your crew with you,” Jake said casually.

“I gave them shore leave; they walked in just before you did,” I replied.

“Everyone is armed,” he said, smiling.

“When isn’t someone armed on Libat III?” I chuckled.

“True, very true,” Jake said, laughing as if he meant it.

I gave Cheryl a quick glance and then looked back at our clients before asking, “Alright, what are we doing here?”

That statement got movement out of Keagan, and I tensed up as he reached up and pushed the cloak from his head… I could only stare and felt something in my stomach flutter. Alright, that’s an attractive-looking guy. Very…

“We need to transport a two-by-two meter Hannal box to Theta-Spect,” Keagan said.

“Guild sensors will pick that up half a galaxy away… Can’t help you,” I stated, not able to take my eyes off of Keagan.

“It’s shielded and won’t be a problem,” he replied.

“I’d need to see it and test your shielding,” I stated, and I saw out of the corner of my eye that Cheryl was nodding in agreement.

“We can arrange that,” Jake said after setting his mug of ale down after taking a sip.

“On second thought, a Hannal box—a Guild-controlled and regulated metal on its own, going to Theta-Spect—a known rebel-sympathizing planet last I’d heard… Yeah, I'm not sure I’m interested in making that kind of run,” I said and began to stand.

Keagan’s hand flashed out across the table and gently covered mine before I could even consider pulling it away. Something about his touch stopped me dead in my attempt to stand, and I just stared at him, waiting for him to either say something or move his… No… Oh fuck! This, it couldn’t…

I finally saw what I was missing in the man sitting across from me and shuddered. I’m sure by the look on his face he felt me doing that after having recognized the small V-shaped scar on his hand. My head snapped back up to take in his face. I recognized the jaw line, the lips, the brown mustache… What the fuck is going on here?!

“You alright, Captain?” Keagan asked. “I don’t often get this kind of a reaction from a beautiful woman.”

I slid my hand out from under his, took Cheryl’s arm, and said shakily, “We need a moment…”

Root CGD: 4064.89
CinT Ark Loc: Y3CBA.53.D (Libat III)
“You’re kind of freaking me out right now, Cam… What do you mean, ‘That is him’?” Cheryl complained inside of the women’s bathroom at me.

“I’ve, I… I’ve seen him before,” I whispered.

“Okay, but this,” she said, swirling her palm in front of me, “is a whole lot more than an ‘I’ve seen him before’ reaction. What is going on?”

I motioned for her to switch to speaking via our wrist communicators in ‘masked mode,’ and we now looked like two women standing silently in the bathroom to anyone entering or leaving. I told her quickly about not only seeing Keagan but being with him completely.

“Wait, ‘with him’? Like, with him, with him—sex with him?”

“Yes…”

“How is that even possible? You think you saw some future with him in a vision? Look, I have had some pretty intense and realistic dreams; are you sure that’s not what’s happening here? I mean he’s good looking and all, but some on, this guy?” Cheryl asked.

“The visions happened; Garrett saw me as I am now—even months along in my pregnancy. The other men saw their coupled partners, but none of the women did. I have to believe what I saw wasn’t some dream and some kind of precognition,” I complained.

“You realize you weren’t exactly male when you had these ‘visions’…”

“I get that, though biologically I am, though I got heavily kicked toward being female, I guess.”

“You said your doctor told you your brain changed to be more ‘female’ due to the hormones; maybe full-on men saw their future love interests, and you being in-between got a garbled version?”

“Maybe… I feel like I need to see where this goes with him, at least talk with him a little more,” I countered.

“So, we’re taking the job?”

“We’ll let them sweat a little, see where this goes for a few more minutes before deciding,” I said, heading towards the door to rejoin our potential clients.

Root CGD: 4064.93
CinT Ark Loc: Y3CBA.53.D (Libat III)
When we returned to the table, Jake was gone, but Keagan was still there, though his hood had been put back on. Something felt off; I couldn’t put my finger on it, but I scanned the cantina for trouble.

“Where’s your friend?” I asked after we’d sat.

“Unexpected guests arrived, so he slipped out the back. Surprised you didn’t see him pass you, he just left,” Keagan said as if he weren’t all that concerned. “We should probably wrap this up, though; if those guys get wind I was with Jake, they might want to speak with me.”

“We could convey to my ship,” I stated.

That got me a small kick under the table from Cheryl, and when I looked at her, she didn’t look happy.

“Let’s not draw unneeded attention to the Barrow Gar,” he said while looking over a shoulder and then back at me.

“Alright…” I said not seeing anyone paying us any attention other than Tommy and Alex—though they were doing that subtly.

“When can your ship be ready to leave?” Keagan asked.

“We haven’t established our fee yet; we’re in the middle of a repair that will keep us grounded for two CDG days, and I want to test your shielding before I even consider the job.”

“That’s problematic, the two days. Any flexibility in that?”

“Only if you have a nuke engineer at your disposal I could borrow.”

“I might, for a price, of course,” he was smiling at me under his cloak. “I can assure you the shielding on our box is in place—it’s currently within three, eight, or maybe two kilometers of where we’re sitting, and there’s no indication the Guild has any idea it’s here.”

Really? You’re smiling at me about the Guild not having detected your box? You aren’t cute, and I’m beginning to not like you.

“You’ve got people inside the Guild. Who doesn’t? I’ll make a discreet inquiry,” I countered.

“I’d prefer you not do that,” he said, looking to Cheryl for a moment and back to me. “We’re prepared to give you half of your fee upfront and the rest upon delivery.”

“No… All up front, and the fee is six hundred thousand credits—Mendoria credits.”

“Ah, Mendoria credits… Difficult to come by and worth a premium compared to the standard Guild coinage. I can offer you three hundred, half upfront and the rest on delivery.”

He hadn’t choked on my Mendoria credits request and knew they were worth twice to three times the Guild’s credits typically used in commerce. Counter offer…

“Five, all Mendoria, and all upfront, or we’re going to have to pass,” I said as deadpan as I could muster.

He was studying me, obviously trying to read whether my final number was in fact my final number.

“Time to Theta-Spect?” he asked.

“Cheryl, what four CGD days?” I asked, not looking at her.

“No more than four, unless we run into pirates or the Guild,” she replied.

“We’ll see neither; I can promise you that,” he said.

“We’ll? You’re coming with us?” I asked.

“For 500K in Mendoria credits upfront and my Hannal box, yes. I won’t need anything but quarters you offer any of your crew to sleep and some food.”

“We can provide you those things.”

“Very well, and I can provide your engineer assistance,” he said, standing. “Shall we find a quieter place to convey out of here?”

Root CGD: 4065.51
CinT Ark Loc: Y3CBA.53.D (Libat III)
We’d gotten back to the ship late last night and by all accounts hadn’t raised any Guild suspicions. Cheryl had seen to getting Keagan settled, getting him a bunk in the crew’s quarters before she joined me in my stateroom afterwards.

“I’m not sure I like this guy,” she’d begun, “And all this memory stuff you told me about having with him, that’s just strange, right?”

“I know, but all of it, every memory or vision, was of some guy who I know had feelings for me, maybe even loved me,” I countered.

“Yeah, and isn’t that guy Garrett?” Cheryl complained.

Of course it was Garrett who had my heart, but how did Keagan fit in? I could argue those visions with Keagan made it easier for me to accept being a woman, maybe even introducing me to the pleasure of being a woman. Ugh!

“Yes, and I know this is confusing, but I need to follow this path a little to see if I can understand all these memories I’ve had with him.”

“What’s to understand?”

“Why I was seeing him in those visions and not seeing Garrett, though they mirrored what Garrett and I were doing together most of the time. Garrett and the other men held with us all had these visions of their partners before they showed up and various glimpses of their partners in the future too… Garrett told me one of the last ones he’d had while we were captive was of us lying together and feeling the baby moving in my big belly.”

“Look, Keagan Being here is a bad idea, Cam. It’s not too late to pass on this job, especially with the added danger of a Hannal box! You have to see that, right?” she’d asked, though sounding more like she was pleading with me to hear her.

“I do, and I fully understand the risks our cargo poses, but the credits for such a simple run if that box is truly shielded and we can get through to Theta-Spect without being accosted? I really don’t think we can pass up this opportunity. We could maybe get a hold of his shielding method for future smuggling if it truly works, and we could open up some potentially lucrative runs.”

“How far are you willing to go with Keagan?” Cheryl asked, softening her tone.

“Go? No, no, no, I’m not doing anything with this guy, other than the job we signed up for and to satiate my curiosity as to why I’ve been seeing him in my head for months. Come on, Cheryl, the actual guy from my visions or remembrances shows up here in all of the worlds and galaxies the two of us could be in simultaneously and you want me to believe that’s simply a coincidence? No, I’m exploring this and going to see if I can get some answers,” I stated as confidently as I could.

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” It was the last thing she’d said before exiting my room last night.

I hadn’t slept very well last night; my usual habit of falling asleep quickly due to being tired all the time from being pregnant hadn’t happened, and I was paying for staying up too late. Garrett not being here likely played a part in not being able to get comfortable in bed alone. I had spent a few hours last night trying to categorize and remember those instances, visions, where Keagan had been with me.

It took longer than expected to eventually realize the key to what I felt with him when we were together was that I was actually with Garrett. Physically, Garrett was standing in for Keagan, no matter the situation those visions put me in with him or my emotional state while seeing myself with Keagan. Garrett was a part of the puzzle, and what we had shared was real.

I’d have a vision of myself straddling Keagan’s body, believing I could feel him inside of me, his hands on my breasts encouraging me to let loose and bask in what I was feeling—but none of that was real. What was real—every time the mist of those visions would fade, Garrett would be physically there, holding me, making love to me, and filling my soul with a joy and calm I’d never thought could exist.

How was that even possible? How was he…

I looked up to see the monitor at my door had chimed, and Keagan was standing there. I wasn’t sure I had the energy to deal with him right now, but I felt a spark at seeing he was at the door…

“Come!” I said softly, and the door to my room opened. “What can I do for you, Keagan?”

“I’m trying to coordinate your inspection of the shielding on the Hannal box. What’s your schedule looking like, Captain?”

“I’m free right now,” I said, standing, feeling confused and on edge that the man I’d seen in my mind so many times was actually standing in front of me.

“Excellent… If we can convey a few kilometers from where we were last night and make our way back towards the city center, I can get you that look at the box.”

“Okay… Do you mind if I ask you a question?”

“If you wish,” he replied.

“I don’t need to know what we’re transporting; it’s none of my business, but a Hannal box? I get its ability to hide what’s inside from all scanning technology available to us, but the material itself is actively scanned for by the Guild. Most of the shielding attempts I’ve ever seen aren’t foolproof. Seems like transporting whatever you’ve got in that box could be done out in the open with less risk.”

“Excellent points, but Hannal has an added strength—containing that which is put inside of it once sealed.”

“So we’re transporting something potentially volatile?” I asked with an edge in my tone.

“Not volatile in the explosive sense, but potentially to life forms in its raw state without significant processing,” he replied casually.

“Had I thought to ask last night in the cantina, I would have doubled my fee. My first officer is advising me we could make easier coin doing other things with our time.”

“Likely you could, I’m hoping this isn’t a renegotiation attempt…”

I nodded it wasn’t.

“As to your fee, we would have paid twice the amount agreed upon had you asked,” he said, smiling. “We could be doing this run again soon, and if you deliver on your ship's reputation, we might be amenable to doubling the fee for your services the next time. Some good news in regards to the repair: Max and I have gotten everything torn apart. He should have the part in hand by the time we return, and with any luck, we could be out of here late tonight or early in the morning.”

Did I trust this guy? No, but I wanted to for some damn reason. Just looking at him, listening to him, and seeing his mannerisms and facial expressions had me questioning what I’d told Cheryl last night about not ‘doing’ anything with this guy. I wanted to touch him, have him touch me like in those remembrances, to feel what I felt while seeing him…

“Shall we go?” he asked.

Root CGD: 4065.70
CinT Ark Loc: Y3CBA.53.D (Libat III)
I had Cheryl convey Keagan and me to a location across town from the cantina we’d met at last night. He’d said it would be a bit of a walk, but I’d told him I was up for it—at least until it started to rain; now I wished we’d have conveyed closer to where we were going. We’d been walking in silence for close to ten minutes when Keagan took my hand and stopped us in front of a shop. I have no doubt the look on my face showed I hadn’t expected him to do that.

Why didn’t I want him to let go of my hand or hadn’t taken it from him?

“Just look at the display… I’m being told we’re being followed,” he said softly next to my ear.

I suppressed the urge to look around, instead getting my left hand over to my right to engage my wrist communications device in masked mode to speak to Cheryl. I did that partly because we needed to know if there were threats out there, but also to distract myself from feeling his breath warm on my neck.

“Keagan is telling me we’re being followed,” I thought and waited for Cheryl to reply.

“I’m not seeing anyone down there that looks to be following you or even transmitting anything…”

“We’ve got nothing,” I said to Keagan.

He was silently looking into the store's window, obviously listening to whatever person he was in communications with.

“Four shops down, two of them, on the other side of the cruise way… They’re a couple, holding hands, but definitely Guild agents,” Keagan replied.

“I have them; let me track them… Okay, they conveyed onto the street you’re on after you’d crossed that last alleyway. Something isn’t right with their signatures; I can’t track them to their conveyor origination point, so that can’t be good,” Cheryl stated.

I relayed what she’d said quietly to Keagan. He nodded but was staring at me, obviously paying attention to whomever he was talking to in his ear. I watched as he moved to standing behind me, wrapped his arms around me, and leaned in to kiss my neck.

“We need to move before they send others,” he said.

I know he felt me shiver slightly and I lightly put my hands over his.

“Convey out of here?” I asked.

“No, we go inside and wait for help.”

“Help?”

“Come on,” he said, taking my hand and leading us into the store.

“Are they moving, Cheryl?” I asked.

“No, but I’ve got another couple of guys coming from the other direction with invalid conveyor signatures,” she stated.

I told Keagan, but he continued to guide me towards the back of the shop.

“Cam, a large delivery hovercraft, is rounding the corner in the alleyway behind the shop you’re in. Let me convey you both out of there,” she said sounding mildly panicked.

“Hold,” I said, looking at Keagan. “We’ve got company about to be out back of this shop. Maybe a Guild transport craft…”

He was ignoring me, looking over his shoulder to the front of the shop and then back at me.

“Now,” I heard him saying as we were conveyed from the shop to some kind of craft that was rumbling slowly on a cushion of air. “Portable conveyor, your first officer just told you about this craft. Contingent plan, but we’re not staying for the rest of the ride,” he stated.

As if on cue, we were conveyed to a street I recognized as being close to the cantina we’d met in last night. Keagan still had a hold of my hand, but I was… I saw him looking at me smiling, saying something, but I couldn’t hear him exactly, and then I saw his lips coming closer to mine. Was he going to kiss…

“Quickly, this way,” he said snapping me out of that vision, leading me, not letting go of my hand.

We entered a rundown cantina and headed towards the back of it, through doors that lead into the kitchen, and out the back door to an alleyway. In the alleyway he stopped to look at me for a brief moment, and then headed to the door across from the one we’d just exited. We entered and were now in a small storeroom now; it looked familiar, and he was smiling at me.

“You saw this happening, didn’t you?” he asked.

“What? Saw what?” I choked the questions out a bit surprised he knew what he was asking.

He began to lean in towards my face, but before he could kiss me, I turned away and snatched my hand from his and barked at him, “What the fuck, Keagan?!

“You were part of their program; you know full well what I’m talking about, Cam.”

“Program? Have you lost your mind?” I complained.

“Tell me you didn’t see me leaning in to kiss you before it happened,” he said.

“Cheryl, do you have me?” I thought knowing he couldn’t hear me talking with her.

There was no reply, and that meant my wrist communicator was being jammed. Fuck!

“Who are you? How did you know I saw you about to kiss me?” I asked, unable to move.

“Someone trying to limit the Guild’s use of that technology…”

[---]

Author's note: Life is getting in the way of completing this story. Yes, it's going to come to an end and there will be some loose ends tied up into decent bows, but your imagination is going to be called on to firm up some of the future Cam ends up living. Getting you to a stopping point is going to take a couple more chapters - and even that's not going to be the full Cam story - so expect down the wormhole I'll pick up her journey in another series. Until then, next weeks chapter might be delayed a week because of life's unavoidable demands. I apologize for that and want you to know I'm working as hard as I can to get this series completed. I hope you'll stick around. Thank you and BIG Hugz! Rachel...

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Thanks for reading...

Rachel M. Moore