Galactic Marshal II
by
Hilltopper

CHAPTER 14

“What do you mean?”

“A representative of The Alliance is taking us to dinner at the resort. You need to look sexy, kitten.”

I frowned at her as I got out of the pod.

“I hope you are kidding. We came here to meet with The Alliance to avoid a crisis and to help George in the process.”

Karen shook her head.

“We do it their way or forget it. When I contacted them, this is what they wanted. So, the first thing we do when we land is go shopping to get you the perfect dress.”

I rolled my eyes and headed into the command center. Coop was already there.

“Hey, Jonnie, or I guess it’s Gina now.”

I glared at him.

“I see you’ve talked to Karen.”

“No, a message was waiting from The Alliance when we arrived in the area of Prowhiness. It amazes me how they always know when we get here.”

“Yeah, we now nothing about their technology, do we?”

“No and that is a problem. By the way, there is also a message waiting from the council.”

I grimaced.

“OK, play it.”

‘Jonnie, what the hell do you think you are doing? Get back here now or we will issue arrest warrants.’

The message ended. I looked over to Coop.

“Well, they didn’t mince with words.”

Linda walked in.

“I need help with George.”

I smiled.

“At least it’s George again.”

She blushed.

“I was just trying to obey the council by calling him Georgia. I guess that’s irrelevant now.”

“No kidding, they are threatening us with arrest.”

I followed Linda to George’s pod. He looked disgusted.

“I am so tired of being so helpless.”

“Don’t worry about it. We are glad to help and you will soon be up and around.”

“I sure hope so.”

We placed George into a chair in the common room. Coop came in.

“I’ve got the lander ready. It’s programmed to land at the resort landing pad.”

Karen stood up.

“Gina and I are going down to meet The Alliance representative.”

She turned to me with a grin.

“Go get yourself ready.”

I groaned and went to my room. Since the Prowhiness resort is quite warm, I chose a green sundress and sandals. I made my face up to reflect my sex kitten status. I sure hope this is worth it. I walked back into the common room. George laughed.

“At least I don’t have to look like that.”

I just shook my head and headed to the lander. Karen followed. Once we settled in, I contacted Coop.

“OK, I’m as ready as I’ll ever be.”

“Alright, sit back and relax. You should be down in about 20 minutes.”

We separated from the ship and started down. I never thought I would be doing this again.

“Karen, I’m really not sure about this.”

“Don’t worry, Gina, I’ll protect you. We are just having dinner and, hopefully, make plans for the trade.”

“I know but --- oh, hell, let’s just get it over with.”

“That’s the spirit.”

I sat back and watched us land. A car met us and we were taken to the hotel. There was a nice women’s shop off the lobby. Karen excitedly entered it. I did not feel her joy. She had me try on a dozen dresses. Finally, I came out of the dressing room to wide eyed approval. The dress was purple, very short and very tight fitting.

“Karen, this is not me.”

“Nonsense, you look fabulous. That is definitely the one.”

Of course, I needed shoes as well. They were much higher heeled than I liked. I dressed in the new outfit and we headed back into the lobby. We waited there for the representative. There was no mistaking him as he entered. He looked like the others I had seen. He spotted Karen and walked over.

“It’s good to see you again, Karen. You left us in a bit of a rush last time.”

“It was just a misunderstanding. We meant no harm.”

“Yes, a tragic lack of knowledge on our part.”

He turned to me.

“Please forgive us. We meant well. I am also very pleased to meet Karen’s lovely mate.”

He took my hand and kissed it. I turned a bright red. He laughed heartily.

“Oh, she is a treasure. I am so glad you both could come. Please, let’s go into the dining room.”

We followed him and were seated.

“Let’s eat and enjoy each others company before we get down to business. The meal is on me.”

So, we had a wonderful meal while making small talk. It was hard to believe we were sitting and talking with an alien. Of course, I knew this was not his true self but then neither was I. After the dessert dishes were cleared away, he stood up.

“We are going to my lander so we can talk in private.”

I didn’t like this. I looked over at Karen. She nodded slightly. We exited the hotel and were driven to a small but quite impressive landing craft. We entered and sat down. Immediately, the ship took off.

“Hey, what gives?”

“Don’t be alarmed. We are going up to my ship. The others need to be in on any discussions.”

He settled into the pilot’s seat and started talking to someone. I leaned over to Karen.

“Did you know about this?”

“No, the invite was only for dinner. I assumed we would discuss things over the meal. All of my other talks with them have been on their ship so I guess it should not be a complete surprise.”

“I wish we had known before hand so we could have alerted Coop. Do you think he will let us contact our ship?”

“I’ll ask.”

Karen got up and sat down beside the alien. I could not hear what was said. She came back a few minutes later. She shook her head.

“He says we can contact Coop once we are on their ship. I guess we have no choice but to wait.”

It seemed like it was taking a long time to reach the ship. After a bit, the alien ship finally came into view. It was not the merchant ship we had been on before. This one was something else. I had never seen anything like it. The ship was obviously armed and built for speed. The alien noticed us looking.

“Do you like my ship? It is my personal cruiser.”

I really didn’t know what to say. Karen spoke up.

“Very nice! It doesn’t look like it would hold many individuals.”

He laughed.

“We don’t take up much room.”

Our shuttle was docked to the ship. The hatch opened and the alien directed us to a small room. It had 2 reclining seats and nothing else. Karen and I sat down. I had a bad feeling about this. The door shut.

“This doesn’t look much like a conference room. In fact, if I didn’t know better, I would call this a passenger cubicle for traveling.”

Karen nodded.

“I hate to say this, Gina, but it looks like we are going on a trip.”

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I walked into the command center and put my hand on Coop’s shoulder.

“Shouldn’t we have heard from them by now?”

Coop looked back at me with a frown.

“Yes, Linda, I’m getting worried. I think I will contact the resort space port.”

I went back to George while Coop inquired about Karen and Jonnie.

“Has he heard anything?”

“No, I think something has gone wrong.”

“Don’t worry about John. He is pretty handy and Karen looks like she could handle herself as well.”

“Yeah, you’re right. I’m probably worrying for nothing.”

George took hold of my hand.

“I want to thank you for staying with me.”

I smiled.

“Oh, it is my pleasure. I’m beginning to take a liking to you.”

He laughed.

“You sound like John. I’m feeling something, too.”

He pulled me down to him and kissed me. It had been a long time since I had felt this way about a man. When my husband was killed by those ruthless marshals, I swore off men. Karen saved me from a particularly bad situation and brought me to Fledora. Since it is a planet of only women, I was very comfortable there. When Gina arrived, we became best friends. Then, I found out she was really a male marshal. I was very conflicted but it helped me to overcome my fears. I finally broke from the kiss. He suddenly had a panicked look.

“You know I may not regain the use of my legs. Are you sure you would want half a man? Hell, if you look at me, I’m not even that much.”

I couldn’t help myself. I kissed him back.

“Does that answer your question?”

He grinned big.

“You could have become a lesbian?”

“Not hardly.”

Coop came back then.

“We may have a problem. According to the space port, our shuttle is still there but the alien shuttle took off a couple of hours ago. They don’t know where it was headed. I talked to the man at the desk of the resort hotel. He said Karen and Jonnie left with the alien. It’s beginning to look like the alien has taken them to his ship wherever that is.”

“Oh, great, now what?”

“We have no choice but to standby. We can’t contact them and there is no way we could find that ship.”

I shook my head.

“I knew this was a bad idea. I hope Jonnie and Karen haven’t gotten themselves in trouble.”

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The ship started shaking slightly. The face of our representative alien appeared on a screen above us.

“You two better strap in. We are leaving.”

His face just as quickly disappeared.

“Shit! This can’t be happening. Where do you think we’re going?”

Karen sighed.

“I’m sorry, Gina. I can’t imagine what is going on. They already know that an exchange won’t work, so I don’t think we are being kidnapped.”

“I agree. This makes no sense. You know, they haven’t let us contact Coop yet either. I would feel a lot better if we weren’t out of touch.”

Suddenly, his face was back on the screen.

“I want to apologize to you. Our leaders have decided that we should get to know each other better before we do further business. Your escape off the merchant ship left them uncertain about your race.”

Karen spoke up.

“You said we could contact our ship when we reached this ship. We would like to do that now.”

“That has been taken care of. We sent a message telling them that you are accompanying us to our home planet.”

I stood up.

“Wait a minute.”

“Karen, please control your mate. Everything is settled. In a few minutes, your door will open. Turn left and go to the end of the corridor. This will lead you to our galley. My mate and I will be waiting for you. I should also warn you that we will be our true selves.”

The screen went blank. Karen turned to me.

“Well, this will be an historic event no matter what else happens.”

I sighed.

“It’s the ‘else’ I’m worried about.”

True to his word, a few minutes later, our door opened. Karen stood up and pulled me to my feet. To my surprise, she kissed me. I once again turned bright red.

“Sorry, Gina, but I had to do that. I don’t know what we are facing. You are still the best thing in my life.”

“It’s OK, you just surprised me. I would like to say it was bad but, truthfully, it was not.”

She smiled and started toward the door. I was still a little weak kneed but I followed. We went down the corridor and looked into the galley. To say that what I saw shocked me was an understatement.