When the Sun Sets, the Moon Rises
I wrote this story back in the 90's for Taipan (anyone remember them?) it was in response to a story that someone else had written that I thought had a lot of possibilities for a sequel. I never submitted it for print however, for a number of reasons, not the least of which was that I moved and it was too much of a pain at the time to stay in touch with the people running things.
Basic set up: Tobi is a big star, but not the brightest bulb in the bunch. She ends up in a very bad position, with her career and hope destroyed. Well what kind of a pirate would not look for a way to make money off of such a situation? Remember, the rules are different for the famous!
When the Sun Sets, the Moon Rises
Trask sighed as he looked over his share of the booty from the latest raid.
"Why the long face Trask?" Asked Blatherskite as he cleaned his rifle. "Of course with one like yours that could be an improvement!" he laughed.
"Oh, just that the pickings were so slim, I don't know why the Captain bothered with that last ship at all. Ten years I've been on the Iktome, and if the raids keep going like this it'll be ten more before I can take a decent stake out of here."
"Trask you've been leading the raids since before I signed on, you've already got a decent stake, what are you waiting for?"
"Enough to buy that club I always wanted," he sighed again, "Grunts don't get the share that the officers do."
"Yeah, ain't that the truth. And then there's buying out of the brotherhood."
Trask nodded, "Yeah, a fine scam that, as if any of us would be telling the truth of our lives!" He laughed and Blatherskite joined in with him.
"So what did you think of that Tobi gal the Captain snared?"
Trask shrugged, "Just another stupid kid led astray."
"Yeah, still," He laughed, "With her kind of money you wouldn't need a stake! Too bad the Captain didn't share that booty."
"I think the only 'booty' the Captain had in mind was the more physical kind," Trask snickered.
Blatherskite laughed again, "Aye, Aye indeed!"
They chatted on as Trask cleaned and racked his own gear, the talk of pirates after another successful raid.
Later that night as Trask laid in his rack his mind turned over the words the other had spoken, 'With her kind of money'. He'd been a pirate twenty years now; he'd served with some of the craftiest criminals that ever flew the spacelanes. Surely there had to be a way...
Niki Sun-Goes-Up looked up from her work as one of the crew walked in to the medlab. It was Trask, one of the older pirates aboard the Iktome, he was rumored to be as tough as he looked, and the warthog looked plenty tough. Scars from years of leading boarding parties and raids covered his body, as well as his face. Handsome he was not.
"What brings you up here Trask?" Niki asked. She normally did not have much to do with the rough mercenary, truth was she feared him like many onboard; the stories that circulated about him weren't particularly nice.
Trask looked around making sure there weren't any curious ears nearby.
"I heard you're rooming with that Tobi gal," He said keeping his voice low.
Niki's eye's narrowed, "What of it?"
Trask blinked at the other's expression, "Just what's your problem?"
"That girl's been through enough, she doesn't need the likes of you chasing after her!"
Trask stared at Niki a moment and then laughed, "Do you think a girl like Tobi could ever in a million years be interested in a guy like me? _Really_now! Look at me Nikki, I don't think there's an uglier pirate on the whole ship!" He shook his head still chuckling.
"Then what do you want?"
"She's from my home world. I haven't been there since I left very long ago." Trask sighed and smiled a bit crookedly. "It would be nice to hear my native language spoken again."
Nikki eyed him, "I hear anything bad from her, and the next time you're up here, I'll get even."
Trask raised his large hands and smiled, "I'll try not to upset her."
"Just be sure you don't..."
"Who is... OH!" Tobi exclaimed opening the door, and looking up at one of the largest and possibly ugliest warthogs she'd ever seen.
"Greetings to you good lady" Trask said in Zulu, performing the ritual greeting bow that was typical of his childhood.
Tobi suddenly smiled and made the customary curtsey in response "And greetings to you good Sir! How do you come to know my language?"
_ "I am a child of the veldt like you. I never expected to see another on this ship, trapped in such a sad state of affairs as myself."_
Tobi sighed, "Yes, it seems I have. I was such a fool"
_"Fools can be saved, but there is often a price involved..."_Trask said walking into her room uninvited and slowly pushing Tobi back, letting the door close behind him.
Tobi inhaled sharply trembling slightly, "Please don't..." she whispered eyes showing their whites as she was backed against the wall.
"Good lady, I still have some of the manners of my youth, regardless of the matter that I am a pirate. As in the tales your mother told you however, sometimes the fool can be saved, but the cost will be great and the danger greater still."
"Anything!" Tobi said, heart soaring at the prospect of being free of these dangerous people, that evil Roberts. "Anything at all!"
"Do not be so quick, it will cost you dearly, and my price is not negotiable. The only thing I will not ask for is your body. But I warn you I will ask for a great deal and if you cross me I will kill you, because I will most certainly be killed myself. Understand?"
Tobi nodded, giving a shudder of relief when he said he didn't want her body. The thought of sleeping with him wasn't pleasant, one of his tusks was broken near the end, and his face was well scarred, along with the parts of his body that the uniform did not cover.
"Yes, I understand."
_ "Good. Now, tell me about home, I have missed it for so many years..."_
Trask headed back to his quarters a half hour later, making sure to admonish Tobi to not speak a word of their agreement to anyone. He had enjoyed talking about his homeworld with her, while she was not from the same city as he was; she had traveled enough in the beginning of her career that she was familiar with it. They made plans to meet once a week or so to continue to talk about their memories of the past. Trask wanted people to get used to the two of them spending time chatting, besides he really did enjoy the time; she was lovely. Hearing words of one's long lost home come from the lips of a beautiful fem did much to help raise one's spirits.
The next month was a busy one for Trask, he had plans to make and things to do. When the Iktome docked at a port to sell off the spoils there was the usual shore leave, though Tobi's was heavily supervised by Roberts himself. Tobi had confided in him that Roberts was trying to get her in bed again and had asked him what to do.
"Well he made you a crew member, so he can't force himself on you or there'll be problems with the rest of the crew. Even pirates have rules," Trask grinned. "But don't anger him, tell him you need time."
He'd then bid her good-bye to take care of a special delivery before they left port.
§
Jimmy was sitting at his desk, re-reading for the tenth time the note that had been delivered to him only minutes ago. Even by a mail torpedo it was still several weeks old, but it held a hope. One that after the eyewitness reports and that damning piece of video had finally raised his spirits.
'Dear Jimmy', the letter began, 'I work for an insurance company. I am what is known to the trades as a '_recovery' _specialist. I was working, undercover of course, on a ship trying to recover an item when your employee was brought onboard. I can tell you now that she was tricked and deceived, sadly however she will never be so innocent again.'
Then came the good part, the part that gave him hope that his biggest star wasn't gone for good.
'I may be able to save her, though the risk is great. She wasn't taken for ransom after all, but other things.'
Jimmy's eyes burned at that. Imagining what his innocent little Tobi had probably been put through.
'You must inform the authorities that you have hired a man to go after her. Then go to Rigel II and wait. If I succeed we will meet you there. If I fail, I will be dead. You may also inform them that she's been drugged and treated poorly, though I tell you privately that while she may be down, she is not yet_broken.'_
Jimmy read it three more times before picking up the phone and making arrangements. With any luck he'd be back in business soon. He only hoped that Tobi would still be in shape to continue on in the business.
§
Tobi was constantly on her guard, trying to avoid Roberts and his advances as well as the now obvious resentment from Chakhan, the first mate. She was still doing her job on the bridge and doing it well. She'd seen the price of making mistakes and now that people knew she wasn't the Captain's sex toy people weren't afraid to give her grief. The only thing that seemed to have saved her from some of the more nasty encounters onboard were her friendships with Nikki, who was respected, and Trask, who she found out was downright feared.
Nikki had told her a number of stories about him at first to try to warn her off from him. But as Tobi assured Nikki that he hadn't laid a hand on her or even hinted at it, Nikki grew less worried. Even if she couldn't understand how two such opposites could strike up a friendship. Nikki was sure Trask wanted something, she just couldn't figure out what beyond Tobi's body it could be.
Trask himself just bided his time. He knew that Tobi's manager should have gotten that note several weeks ago by now. And the Iktome had hit two more ships in that time. He let the others of the crew believe he was trying to get in Tobi's jumpsuit, but was taking the long approach due to the obvious barrier he had to overcome. Chakhan had personally told him that Roberts had a good laugh over the rumor, but if he was to bed Roberts' former toy he'd be more then happy to rub the Captain's nose in it. Trask had a good laugh over that one; he'd been around enough ships and seen enough Captains usurped by their mates to know that Chakhan was just waiting for his own chance.
Personally Trask didn't care what happened to either of them, his next plan was so simple that no one would ever suspect it. And it was almost time.
"Excuse me, Sir?"
Chakhan looked up from his desk, seeing Trask standing there in the doorway. He once again marveled at just how ugly that warthog was, not that warthogs were good looking to start with. But Trask had been a pirate over twenty years and those years had not been kind.
"Yes Sergeant, what is it?" Chakhan sighed, he didn't like being interrupted when doing manifests, the Iktome would only be in port a few days and he wanted to take his own leave.
"Well Sir," Trask leaned in a bit closer lowering his voice, "I was thinking about something you said a few weeks back, and well, I was wondering if you might be able to give an old warthog a hand. So to speak."
"Hmmm?" Chakhan sat back in his chair and looked at the trooper. Everyone knew what Trask had been trying to do for the last several weeks now. "Just what exactly do you need?"
"Well, I think I can score tonight Sir, iffen you know what I mean!" Trask winked at the smiling first officer. "But those guards Roberts assigned, they'll only mess things up. Now if you could arrange me as her guard for a little portside shopping trip..."
Chakhan laughed and quickly wrote out the order. He knew that Roberts would fly off into a rage over this if the warthog was successful. Might even have him killed! If Chakhan couldn't turn that situation to his benefit, then he was surely losing his touch.
"Done Trask!" he said handing over the orders. "Good hunting," He smiled.
"Thank you Sir!" Trask beamed and headed off to get Tobi.
Trask led Tobi away from the spaceport, making sure they weren't followed.
"Are we safe yet?" Tobi asked in her native tongue.
"No, and it will be years until we are. Now, this is what it will cost you. You are to marry me, five year contract, and I get half of everything_you own at the end of that time."_ He stopped and looked at her, "It will be a marriage in name only. I do not expect you to sleep in the same bed with me, or even the same room. However that will be our secret."
Tobi nodded. She didn't mind the money so much, she had lots. The marriage she wasn't happy about, she had always hoped to marry another Zebra and then for love. But it was only five years and she didn't have to sleep with him either. She could do it.
"One last thing, you cannot tell people the names of the people onboard the Iktome or even its name. We're going to tell people you were drugged, and your memory is somewhat fogged. I'll make up the rest. If the brotherhood thinks I have sold them out, they will have us both killed. But if I pay the retirement fee and keep my mouth shut, they'll even block Roberts from any of his more extravagant revenges."
Tobi nodded, "What about Roberts anyway?"
Trask grinned, "Oh don't worry, I left him a letter." and then he set about finding a bank to make a large withdrawal on Tobi's bank account, before taking her to a spaceport on the other side of the continent. By the time anyone noticed they were gone, they'd be in jump space.
§
Captain Roberts was annoyed. He scowled at Chakan who had no idea where Tobi was; just that she had taken liberty like most of the others. The brotherhood had a large presence here on the planet so it wasn't like she could run off, now could she?
Robert's didn't like it all the same, when he had finally gotten back from town with the fancy clothes and other trinkets he had bought to win her back into his bed he found that she had been gone nearly ten hours.
He sighed and went to use the fresher; he might as was well be clean when she showed up. He had some very potent brandy for tonight if the clothes and the trinkets didn't turn the trick. He was used to getting what he wanted.
He noticed the envelope on the floor of the fresher stall and picked it up curiously. It was addressed to him, and ripping it open he read the letter inside:
Captain,
I have decided to take my share of my 'earnings' and retire, as is our custom in the brotherhood. As you may have guessed I have taken it in the form of Tobi. As I see it, you can take this one of two ways:
You could tell everyone that a grunt outfoxed the fox, thus appearing weak. Then call on the brotherhood for vengeance, thus broadcasting it further. Besides, while I may not be as famous as you, I was a pirate long before I came to your employ and am not without friends of my own who would surely seek to profit at your loss of face.
Or you could tell the crew that you knew about this and approved, your idea even, as Tobi was too high profile and was more of a bother to the ship than she was worth. Tell them you thought it fitting to reward my years of service with her, implying you took advantage of an ugly old warthog stricken with her beauty, while simultaneously punishing her for refusing your advances.
I have a plan you know, so as long as you leave me be no one will know the Iktome's involvement or your own. Also I have paid my retirement in full to the brotherhood and am still a member in good standing. So revenge would cost more then it would be worth. I can promise you that personally as well Captain.
Remember, you never know when you may need a favor, and a 'hero' on the outside could one day do you quite a service. After all, I haven't changed, just found a new game.
Roberts howled at the words on the page! Torn between anger and astonishment, who would have thought that ugly scarred and battered pig could think of such a plan? He was tempted to think that Chakhan had lent a hand, but Chakhan would never had given him the out that this letter provided. He stopped and pondered that a moment, he'd been spending so much time in his little chess game with his first mate that he hadn't been wary of what the pawns on the board might be doing.
Tobi was a liability, there was no doubt about that and he would have had to do something about her sooner or later. He crumbled the paper up and thought about how to best play this to his crew. The suggestion on the paper wasn't bad, but he wanted more mileage out of this one. Something that would keep Chakhan really off balance.
§
Jimmy looked up as he heard a familiar voice calling his name.
"Jimmy! Jimmy!"
It was Tobi, and she was smiling! Maybe his number one star was okay after all! As she walked up to the table he couldn't help but notice the large warthog holding her hand. As beautiful as she was, he was ugly. His face and arms a covered with scars, one tusk broken at the tip. And he was definitely _not_smiling.
"Jimmy! It's so good to see you," Tobi gushed sitting down across from her manager. "I almost thought that I'd be stuck on that _dreadful_ship forever!"
"Well, you're back among friends now hon. Though I don't know how we're gonna explain this to the authorities, much less your fans..."
"She was kidnapped," Trask growled. "It should be obvious."
"Uh, I don't think I've had the pleasure?" Jimmy started.
"Oh Jimmy, this is Brad. He's the one who saved my life. Who got me out of there!" Tobi said and leaned over to hug the warthog.
Jimmy couldn't help but notice something flash on her finger when she did that.
"I'm also the one who sent you that letter," Trask said. "I believe I did mention how she was being treated?"
Jimmy nodded, "Yeah but the eyewitness accounts...?"
"Are worthless, I was there. I saw it. You go hire someone to track down those 'eyewitnesses' and you'll find she went hysterical and passed out and had to be carried away. Like I said, she was drugged; they just edited the film to make it look like she was going along."
Jimmy stopped a moment and thought about that tidbit of information. "Well if that's true..."
"It is, now go hire a good PR firm, a few detectives and a room full of lawyers and we'll get through this in no time at all."
"Excuse me, but I'm Tobi's manager. I'll decide what's best for her."
"Well," Brad said breaking out into a large smile, which suddenly made Jimmy wonder if talking like that had been a smart thing to do. "I'm_her new husband and under the law all her contracts can be reviewed in a court of law. So if you want to _continue being her manager, you'll do as _I_suggest from now on."
Jimmy blinked and looked at Tobi, who nodded and showed him the ring. "Isn't it sparkly?" she grinned. "I mean it's so, so _wow!_Just like in the movies, he's my knight in shinning armor!"
Trask couldn't stop smiling as Tobi gushed on and on. And to think the critics said she couldn't act! Jimmy was buying it whole.
"Well I'm gonna go powder my nose for a moment. You two men can talk shop while I'm gone!" she smiled and bounced off to the ladies room.
Jimmy noticed the number of people who watched her go and pointed. It wouldn't be long before the word spread. He turned back to the warthog, Brad she had said.
"Well Brad, umm, thanks for getting her out of trouble and congratulations on the marriage and all. But I have to tell you; I found Tobi and made her into the star she is. I know the business. You just let me handle things and everything will be fine."
Trask leaned over until his nose was inches from Jimmy's, making the rodent's whiskers twitch nervously. "Just like you watched her while she got herself grabbed by pirates? Got her lined up in those awful movies?" He growled softly.
"Now you listen to me. The only reason I'm not having her fire you on the spot is that you did a lot to get her where she is today. But from this point on I'm the one calling the shots. Understand? I risked a lot to save her and neither one of us is safe by a long shot. And after dealing with pirates who'll gut you as soon as talk to you I think I can handle anything a bunch of media suits can throw at us. Remember that and we'll get along fine."
"And if I don't?" Jimmy tried to bluster back.
"You'll find out just how I got these scars." Trask snarled. "Now start making those phone calls and get us those lawyers. We're gonna spin this whole thing so that by the time our honeymoon is over she'll be getting more movie offers then you can handle."
Jimmy shivered a bit at the intense stare that Brad was giving him, suddenly noticing that Brad's hands were slowly clenching and unclenching, like there was a neck inside them. He quickly reached for his phone to start making those calls.
#
Tobi smiled as she looked in the mirror at her nude body. Trask or rather 'Brad' as he called himself now had delivered all right. He'd not only gotten her out, but used the publicity to catapult her to an even higher level of fame and stardom, if such a thing could be believed. She'd done five movies in the last four years and they'd all been blockbusters. People just couldn't seem to get enough of her, and the stories that circulated about her and her mysterious husband seemed to only make them hungrier for more.
The stories he had made up had enough truth in them to keep the authorities at bay and the more famous she got the less questions were asked. He'd been right about that too, and had used his imposing looks, as well as his imposing 'personality', to negotiate her some rather nice parts in those movies. She suspected he'd done a few things to promote her career that she didn't want to know about, but through it all he'd treated her like a princess and he had kept his word that he wouldn't hurt anyone.
She smiled to herself as she slipped into her nightie, her voluptuous figure highlighted to scandalous delights. Trask had seen her in this outfit before, and she liked the way his eyes followed her when he had. He'd kept his word though and never once tried to bed her even though she could see the interest in his eyes. He'd worked hard for her and become her closest friend and confident, giving her sound advice and helping to guide her career. Even Jimmy was amazed at his business sense. And now that their 'marriage' was coming to an end, their five year contract almost up, she'd come to a very surprising realization.
Tobi strutted into the bedroom and putting her hands behind her head she flung her hair up and struck a provocative pose and looked at the large bed before her and the warthog looking bemusedly up at her from within it.
"I think you wanted a different room Tobi?" Trask chuckled, enjoying the view all the same.
"Oh no, I think I've found the right room," she smiled. "I was thinking of negotiating a new agreement," she giggled, "as you like to say to those suits."
Trask blinked, confused, "A new Agreement?"
Tobi smiled and pulled the covers back, noticing that Trask was scarred in quite a few places. "Yes, a more permanent one," she whispered huskily
Trask smiled slowly as comprehension dawned and pulled the Zebra close. "I expect these meetings to be very demanding." He chuckled softly in her ear.
"Oh definitely, but I've got five more months to convince you to see things my way." She moaned softly as he kissed her neck.
Trask just smiled and worked his way down her neck, after all these years she was his now and he sure wasn't fool enough to turn this offer down.
Who said the world didn't have happy endings?