Slackers of the Inner Sphere
Chapter 44: Scratching An Itch

SS Wildfire
Pirate Point
Early Dawn System
New Colony Region
2nd June, 3065

The ear-slitting shriek of the alarm clock built into the bulkhead woke Swindelli and he had to swat at it twice before he finally hit the off button. He rubbed his eyes with the same hand, his other arm trapped beneath the body that was still asleep at his side, a spray of red hair across his chest. He glanced down at the very naked Cassidy London who had somehow managed to sleep through the alarm and still snoring softly. The night before had been stress relief, pure and simple, but it had been highly enjoyable stress relief. There had been a certain attraction between the two of them for a while, but the events on Jasper's Landing had apparently put and to that until she had sat down next to him in the mess hall the night before with a bottle of something Penwald had concocted on a ramshackle still he kept locked away in one of the Bulldog's unused passenger smelt like used paint-stripper, tasted a hell of a lot worse and probably killed more than a few of Swindelli's taste-buds on the way down, but it did the job of getting you from vertical to horizontal in a short a time as possible. That wasn't to say that what happened between them had been some kind of drunken mistake; they had both been sober enough to realise what they were getting themselves into, nor stop them from fully enjoying each other's company when they got back to his cabin. But it was the cause of the hangover that felt like it was splitting his head clean in two, while his mouth felt like something had curled up and died inside it.

London moved her arm, the sheet shifting to give Swindelli an excellent view of her naked body. It had been longer than he'd cared to admit since he'd last been with a woman, and the night before had proved an interesting distraction.

"You going to sit there staring at my chest all day?" London asked, her eyes still closed, "Or are you going to make some coffee." she pulled herself up into a seated position, making no attempt to cover herself up, "Times like this I regret I quit smoking. I know it's a bit of a cliché, but I always did enjoy a cigarette after sex."

"So, last night was..." Swindelli looked at her, trying to work out what she was expecting from him, besides a cup of coffee.

"Scratching an itch." his bedfellow looked him in the eye, "Yes, it was fun, and yes, it's something I would consider doing again some time, preferable without the cry of 'Yippee Ki-Yay' I'm sure I heard at one point." She laughed, "you don't have to worry, Rick, I'm not looking for a relationship. I don't do romance; in my line of work it's a complication I just can't afford. So every once in a while, when the need arises, I..."

"...find someone to scratch your itch for you?" Swindelli nodded as he pulled his robe on and crossed the small cabin to the coffee machine he'd had installed, "You never have said just what you're job is, or where you're from."

"My job is getting something or someone from Point A to Point be with the minimum of fuss." London stretched her arms above her head, "As for the second question, that's where it gets complicated, but I suppose we have time while the coffee brews." She took a deep breath, "I was born on a world called Ålborg, a long, long way from here. My parents where JàrnFòlk, but they were killed in a blood-feud with a rival clan when I was two. My older brother raised me pretty much single handed, but he was eventually declared skåret, or outcast." She closed her eyes, "I was sixteen when he went away on a job and never came back. By then I was already an apprentice navigator on a freighter running supplies out to some deep-range ComStar base. I spent the next couple of years moving around, from ship to ship, going wherever the work took me. I stopped keeping track of individual worlds along, long time ago, but I've been to all four corners of the Inner Sphere, around most the major periphery realms and even out on a couple of Interstellar Expeditions scouting missions to far away places with strange sounding names. Hell, I've even went to Huntress on one job."

"You've led an interesting life." Swindelli mused as he filled two bulbs with strong black coffee, "Can't leave much time for a social life."

"Like I said, in my line of work, that's not a commitment I can allow myself." London took one of the drinks and sipped at it, "I can't let myself get attached to anything I'm not willing to walk out on in 30 seconds flat if the situation goes to hell. I have no home to go back to, no friends or family to threaten or interrogate. I have a few stashes scatters on random worlds, and more than a few numbered back accounts where my pay is piling up the interest. When the total reaches enough for me to just up and disappear," she pointed to the hatch with a whistle, "I'm gone. Mine ain't a line of work you grow old in."

"That doesn't sound like any kind of life to me." Swindelli shook his head as he leaned back against the bulkhead, his arms folded across his chest, "I know that the odds are stacked against me, but I've always had at least an apartment I can call home, even back on Outreach."

"That's your life, Major, and I'm not going to begrudge you it." London looked around the room, "I don't know about you, but I don't have to be on duty 'till 1600hr. What do you say we have another go at itch scratching?"

"Has anyone ever told you you're unusually forward?"

"I've lived my entire life in space; working, eating and sleeping in close proximity to other people. Spend enough time doing that and you gain a much more pragmatic approach to sex and nudity."

"I'll take your word for it." Swindelli looked at the clock on the display built into the bulkhead beside the bed, "But I have to go see Kobayashi and Kerensky about our financial situation. We need to resupply if we're ever going to make it to Astrokaszy, and we're a little low on cash."

"Pity." London pulled the bedding up and turned on her side with a yawn, "Hope you don't mind if I sleep off the rest of my hangover?"

"Like I could stop you." Swindelli shrugged as he grabbed his wash-bag and headed for the hatch with the intent of hitting the showers, "I'll try not to wake you when I get back."

"Whatever." London mumbled, already half asleep.

Slipping out into the passageway outside, Swindelli closed the hatch as quietly as he could, then almost jumped out of his skin when he turned to find Kerensky standing behind him.

"An interesting choice in bedfellows." The former Star Captain shrugged, "Still, probably safer than your ill-advised infatuation with Hitomi."

"Hitomi is a college." Swindelli responded defensively, "Nothing more."

"Still, I would recommend directing your interests, elsewhere." Kerensky warned, thoughtfully, "I still do not fully understand the attraction of a monogamous relationship, even if one intended to produce offspring, but I know enough to see that she is devoted to her husband, who could very easily arrange for a little, accident, the next time you went to pilot your BattleMech."

"I have no intention of pissing Baker off, or of trying to destroy his marriage." Swindelli shook his head, "I may be a bastard, but I'm not an total bastard; even I have some standards."

"Keep that in mind." Kerensky nodded, still confused as to why the freeborn of the Inner Sphere considered 'bastard' to be an insult, "I will see you in the mess hall when you are ready."

JumpShip L. Ron Hubbard
Nadia jump-point
Early Dawn System
New Colony Region
2nd June, 3065

"We are fast running out of time." Precenter Jamal paced back and forth across his cabin like a caged tiger, "If we do not catch these Mercenaries and recover to destroy the test subject soon, we will have no option but to go to the others and tell them what happened. Their response is likely to be, regrettable."

"So say the least." Adept Hawksmoor nodded, happy to see that her superior and mentor seemed to be operating on a more even keel, even if he did insist on walking around with empty tissue boxes on his feet rather than shoes, "I'd always assumed that the experiment had been approved..."

"The bane of true genius is having to deal with the limited minds of others, even if they are the ones paying the bills." Jamal smiled warmly, "Inform Captain de Peña that we will be heading in-system."

"Sir?" Hawksmoor looked confused.

"An old friend of mine runs a, retreat for battle-weary military officers, on Early Dawn." Jamal chuckled to himself, "He is one of the few people I trust, and he may be able to help us."

"Sir, the Righteous Indignation reported that they lost the Mercenaries trail in the Detroit system." Hawksmoor protested, "Surely we should go back and look for them?"

"I TOLD YOU TO NEVER CALL ME SHIRLEY!" Jamal snapped, his eyes wide with anger.

"I meant no disrespect, Sir." Hawksmoor bowed her head as she reached around for the syringe she kept hidden in her robes for just such an occasion, "I was merely seeking enlightenment."

"Yes, indeed you were." The Precenter nodded, seemingly calm and serene, but with a wild look in his eyes, "There is more than one way to skin a cat, my dear, as you are about to learn."

SS Wildfire
Pirate Point
Early Dawn System
New Colony Region
2nd June, 3065

"We should be able to sell the Mech's we captured on Shoreham with ease." Kobayashi sat at one of the tables in the mess hall, a laptop computer open before him, "We'll have to go below market prices if we want cash, that goes without saying, but we should be able to get enough cash to make it to Astrokaszy."

"We can sell the Wraith and the Commando with ease; not exactly uncommon in this part of the 'verse." Swindelli nodded in agreement, "The Hatchetman might be an issue; it's still a primarily Lyran design."

"And it has taken the most damage: replacement parts would be hard to come across locally." Kerensky frowned, leaning back in his chair, "We may have to sell it as scrap."

"If that's the case, then so be it." Swindelli shrugged it off, "Pity there's not anywhere local we could offload the Buccaneer without people asking too many questions. But a couple of salvaged BattleMech's is one thing; a Star League vintage DropShip is another."

"It's settled then." Kobayashi nodded, "We start towards Early Dawn by a course that makes it look like we came in to the Zenith jump-point, sell the Mech's and get what supplies we need before heading back out. With any luck, we can reach Astrokaszy without having to make any more unscheduled stops or unexpected surprises."

"Seyla." Kerensky agreed, "That would be nice, for a change."

To Be Continued...

Slackers of the Inner Sphere:
Nothing Good Ever Happens To Them...Unless It's Followed By Something Bad