FSE

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formerly SoFurry search engine

Chapter 3

"Calling Captain Comet..." A nasally voice called out over an intercom. "Will a Captain Barnabus Comet please approach the third window please?"

Barnabus gave a grunt as he got to his booted feet, trying to ignore all the snickers and quiet laughter behind him at the expense of his name. He was used to it by now. Most people found it hilarious that went by the cliché name Captain Comet. He didn't care of course. With a name like his he couldn't help but become the sort of hero he always wanted to be. Brushing off the laughter around him Barnabus awkwardly shuffled his way through the maze of uncomfortable waiting chairs and other Jacks and quickly made his way through the busy Jack center lobby and over to one of the receptionist's booths at the back wall. "Heya, Barnabus Comet here." He announced to the octopus-like alien on the other side of the glass. "I'm here to pick up a payment."

"Yes, yes good to see you again Mr. Comet." The alien behind the glass said in a distracted manner. Without looking up he flicked one of his many tentacles towards the chair in front of his booth. "Take a seat and hand over your P.A.D. please."

Barnabus groused to himself about the impersonal treatment he always got from the handlers at the center but took his seat anyway. "The payment should be around nine hundred credits, so don't you dare make a mistake like last time and deduct half of it." The Jack captain said as he handed over his P.A.D. device.

"That deduction was because you and your crew lost the package you were supposed to deliver." The handler reminded waspishly as he placed the other man's device into a slot which read the information recorded on it. "The client wasn't too happy to lose his prized Venusian palm. Nor were we in having to find a new one for him as a replacement."

"How were we supposed to know that stupid plant could spit acid and walk!" Barnabus shouted. The dark haired man huffed as he recalled all the damage that the palm had done to his poor ship. Nearly took them two weeks to get replacement parts and their AI still wasn't working right. Growing quiet after his outburst Barnabus watched silently as the man attending to him quickly transferred the money from his last job into his crew's shared account. It was only when he was sure that the transaction was finished that he asked a question that he had wanted to know since he had walked into the building. "So... would you mind checking the rankings for me?" He asked hesitantly. "Me and my crew have finished a lot of jobs so we should be at least bronze rank by now."

The cephalopod gave an annoyed sigh and tapped on his computer's keyboard for a few moments then shook his bulbous head. "Sorry to tell you Comet, but you still got a long way to go before you reach the bronze rank. Same as last time"

Barnabus slouched back in his chair and let out a long puff of air. He and his crew had been trapped at the copper rank for nearly three years at that point. Stuck doing the most menial of jobs and only going off world if they were lucky. "Alrighty then." He huffed. "Just give me my P.A.D. back so that I can get out of here and make my bank payment."

"If you insist Mr. Comet." Frowning, the tentacled man pulled Barnabus' P.A.D. out of the slot on his desk and handed it along with a receipt back to its owner. "We thank you for your continued service to the I.U.G.. Please continue your record of "excellent" service in the future."

Barnabus snatched his stuff out of the alien's tentacle and quickly got back up on his feet. Sometimes he wondered why he even bothered doing his job. Little to no pay, pain in the ass bureaucrats, and worst of all no real thanks. Leaving the unpleasant man behind Barnabus next visited the large digital bulletin board where the numerous jobs were listed, holding up his P.A.D. and waited as the large monitor scanned it and brought up the available missions for his rank. 'Let's see what we have here.' Barnabus read as he began to flip through the display of webpage-like job offers. 'Three new cargo runs... no way in hell. Humm... the boys, girls, and splecmacks club needs someone to install new bleaches. Put that in the maybe file. Ah, that new pop star on TV needs bodyguards for her new concert! That'll be perfect!'

Happy that he had found a job Barnabus reached forward to press the confirm button, but before he could it disappeared the words taken appearing over the display. "What the!?" Barnabus turned to his left to see a short hairy alien standing there his finger on the same job offer ad he had been looking at. The man tipped his strange acorn shaped hat and then scurried away. "...Figures." With only the worst jobs left Barnabus quickly took the one fixing the bleachers and began walking out of the center.

[As you can tell things aren't exactly going well at my job. Not that I'm one to complain... who am I kidding I complain all the time. Can you blame me thought? I should be racing across the stars in a high class star cruiser not rummaging through the scraps other Jacks wouldn't touch with a ten foot poll.]

New job now in hand the middle-aged man hurried his way out of the center. Rana and Alfred were most likely getting sick of waiting outside by now and the idea of annoying them further that day didn't sit well with Barnabus. Moving as quickly as he could and not watching his surrounding Barnabus failed to notice that someone had stepped in front of him suddenly until he bumped into a solid mass of scale covered muscles. Making a yelp that he later would be ashamed he made the distracted man stumbled backwards and fell onto the floor and onto his ass with little grace. "Hey watch it... oh Barney!" There was a chuckle. "Didn't know it was you."

After rubbing his now sore bottom Barnabus glared up to whoever had knocked him down. Only when he did he saw something that wished he hadn't. Standing above him was a very tall, very large muscular man, his light blue skin and dark green hair shining in the bright lights of the Jack center. Giving a groan when he saw the familiar serpentine face staring back down at him with pitch black eyes, Barnabus scooted back a few inches not wanting to be touched by him. "Heya Ekkar." He said disgust oozing from every syllable. "Sorry I bumped into you, I guess."

The other man brushed dusted off his expensive looking military armored with the back of his clawed hand. "Think nothing of it my dear." Ekkar said back with a sly and cunning voice that held a slight hissing accent. Reaching down the large alien grabbed Barnabus by the back of his vest and hauled the hefty human to his feet with no effort. "This new armor I'm wearing repels all damage and force."

"Yeah I feel real lucky." Barnabus deadpanned. As the human brushed off the dust from his cargo pants, he not so subtly gave the dragon in front of him the stink eye. Ekkar was a Fidraon a race of tall dragon like beings who were often compared to the dragons of Chinese myth. Their almost silk-like skin and incredible physiques making them objects of desire and highly sought after as models and sexual companions. Barnabus at one time had been a member of this crowd, but had long ago changed his opinion because of his experiences with the blue man standing in front of him.

[If you're wondering why I'm being so nasty to the blue hued man in front of me I can give you your answer with one word: Ex-boyfriend. Me and the smarmy bastard were together for several years before we broke up on incredibly bad terms which I'm not going into right now. What I will say though is that time in my life that I spent with him is something that I wish I could just forget it. Not that the mighty Ekkar Anguis feels the same way about the whole thing. Can't tell you how many times he's tried to get me to come back to his bed like some obedient little puppy. I've tried to avoid him best I can, but somehow he always seems to accidentally bump into me. If I didn't know better I'd believe that he had me bugged or something.]

Taking joy in the cold reception he was getting from the shorter man, Ekkar chuckled deeply. "What has you down here anyway Barnabus Robertson? You still can't tell me you're still playing Jack-of-all-trades." The dragon man held up Barnabus' P.A.D. and began reading it much to the surprise of its owner who frantically reached for it, only to have the device held up higher and out of his reach. "Humm... well it seems that you are. Though you're still not very good at being on you own yet are you?"

Having to Jump Barnabus finally snatched his property out of Ekkar's clawed hands and scowled up at him. "How I'm doing at my job is none of your business, Ekkar!" He snapped. "And I don't go by Robertson anymore, its Comet now!!"

"That sounds like a name from one of those old earth movies you made me watch in bed." The blue man chuckled. When his companion responded to what he said by blushing Ekkar had to bite his bottom lip to keep from laughing out loud. "Well... isn't that just the cutest thing." He teased. "Then again that always been you Barney... cute. Tell me do you still have that tattoo on your right but che-"

"-Why are you bothering me." Barnabus quickly interrupted. The now completely embarrassed the human glanced around, annoyed when he saw that several other people were giving him smiling looks. "Don't you have somewhere else to be you big sellout?"

Ekkar's mood suddenly changed at that, his amusement drying up and being replaced by peevish irritation. "Don't go brushing me off Barnabus." He warned. "You remember what I used to do to you when you were a bad boy." A smirk appeared on his muzzle. "In fact you used to mouth off to me just to be punished."

"Yeah well that was in the past and right now all I want is for you to fuck off." Snubbing his nose up Barnabus tried to walk past the Fidraon but was stopped by a heavy hand on his chest. "Let me go."

"Play nice for once will you." Ekkar said quietly but firmly. "All I was doing was teasing. You know like we used to?" His features lightening the taller man leaned down until he could look into the human's amber eyes. "I do miss you after all. How about after I get paid we can go and get something to eat?" Ekkar reached behind himself and pulled out a P.A.D. this one a sleeker, more expensive model then Barnabus' was. Pushing the on button he showed the other man how much he had earned during his last job, Barnabus having to keep himself from gasping when he saw the total. "I got plenty of extra cash in my account from so we can wine and dine at the best restaurant on the colony. And after... I'll take you back to my ship and show you my captains quarters."

Ignoring the sexual portion of the dragon's words completely Barnabus stared at the large number displayed in front of his eyes in complete awe. "What did you do to get a ten figure payday?"

"Well part of it is from a little military job I did for the government." Ekkar said smugly. "It seems the rebels on Zarmina-4 just couldn't handle me, my crew, and our fancy new laser bazookas. As for the rest I came about if from starring in a new commercial for some tasteless soda or something."

"I can't believe you actually do stuff like that." Barnabus chuckled. "Real Jacks shouldn't do stuff like that. They should be more concerned with doing their jobs and acting like heroes."

"What's wrong with having sponsors?" Ekkar growled. "They give you good gear and money and it's always nice to get some recognition. I just broke a deal to have a movie made out of my personal story. A cool 6.5 million credits if it goes through."

"WHAT!?" Barnabus let his mouth hang open comically at that. With that much money he could pay off his ship, buy a fancy building in the residential district on the colony, and then spend a year at a tropical resort with spending cash to spare.

Ekkar couldn't help but snicker at the wide-eyed expression on the bearded human's face as he stared at his P.A.D.. It always amused him when he got that look, reminded him of the first time he had undressed in front of him. "You know Barney... my offer to rejoin my crew is still on the table." He brought up. "If you accepted I'd gladly let back into the fold." Giving a growl Ekkar pushed the other jack against the closest wall, resting his palms against the flat surface while he peered down at him and grinded the growing bulge in his pants against Barnabus' beer belly. "Back into the fold... and back into my bed."

Being trapped and rubbed up against instantly drew Barnabus out of his stupor and with as much strength as he could muster, he violently pushed away his unwanted assaulter and slipped out from under him. "I'm not coming back to you... I mean your crew Ekkar, never." Turning around Barnabus once again started to leave.

Chasing him Ekkar began shouting after the human with no mind to the fact that they were in public. "You're making a really big mistake Barney trust me!" He said. "You could be a successful Jack again like you were years ago when we worked together."

Barnabus tapped at his right shoulder then back. "If I remember correctly all that success had its price." he said.

"The only price was the one you paid when you left." Ekkar pointed out harshly. "Look at you Barnabus, you're a joke now! You should be on my arm, part of a platinum Jack crew. You were a good Barn and you could so easily have all that again if you were by my side."

Barnabus let out a long breath what had just been said was tempting. With the sort of money and fame Ekkar possessed he could easily live out his dreamed of being a space hero. But, he just couldn't do it. Not if it was with someone like the scaled son of a bitch behind him. Without turning around the middle-aged man said a quick "Goodbye asshole" over his shoulder and walked out of the Jack center and onto the busy sidewalk outside.

Now away from exes and stuffy office workers a relieved Barnabus stared down at his hands, pissed at himself when he noticed that they were shaking a little. "Dam it" He cursed. Why did dealing with Ekkar always rattle him so badly? Maybe it was because every time he heard that hissing voice he thought back to their last day as a couple, when it was shouting at him at top volume. The sounds of Rana and Alfred calling out to him broke Barnabus out of his memories and back to reality. Turning towards them he tried his best to calm himself and give them a cheerful grin as the two younger Jacks walked up to him. "Heya guys, how was your shopping?"

Alfred held up a plastic bag with the words galactic books on it. "It went very well Captain." He said cheerily. "Sorry I got so distracted that had to go to the center alone."

"Think nothing of it." Barnabus waved the younger man's concerns off. He understood his medic's obsessive need to acquire book after book of information. "I'm just glad Rana was here to keep you from trying to buy out the whole store again. Besides I'm a big boy you know. I can handle going places all by my lonesome."

"So, big boy did you get everything go smoothly in the center?" Rana asked. Barnabus wordlessly presented his P.A.D. to her. "Good, that should help us a little around the ship. Were you able to find us another job too?"

"You know you could try not riding my as for once Najjar" Barnabus said well naturedly. "Maybe I'd like to rest up for a few days before working again."

"I thought you liked people riding your ass Captain." The Middle Eastern woman shot back with a smirk.

Barnabus blinked a few times taking in what she had just said then stuck out his tongue at his long time friend's little joke at his proclivities. "You're right, but I usually choose more... masculine riders."

"Sure you do." Rana laughed. "And I wasn't trying to nag. I was just getting down to business."

"I hear ya mom." Barnabus pressed a few buttons on the electronic in his hands, Rana's pocket giving a beep in response, indicating that the exchange of money he had just sent went through to her device. "Here... you two go and take this to pay off the bank and get supplies."

Alfred gave the older man a confused look. "You're not going to be coming back to the ship with us?"

"Naw." Barnabus shook his head and looked down the street. "I think I'm going to stay ashore for a little bit longer."

Rana gave her captain a frustrated look. "You're not going back down to that strip club in the slums are you?" She asked. Now wasn't the time to be spending ogling cheap stripers.

"No..." Barnabus drawled. "I'm just going to walk around for a bit, maybe get a quick meal at a fast food place." There was a deep sigh and a look exchanged between captain and second in command. "I just need some alone time after..." the middle aged man drifted off and peered over his shoulder at the jack center, the encounter with Ekkar still fresh in his mind.

Rana nodded towards the Jack center. "Something happen in there?" She asked with concern.

The one word reply was. "Ekkar."

The brunette gave an "oh" of understanding. She knew all too well what sort of person her captain's old boyfriend was. Having once had the misfortune of being mistaken as Barnabus' straight fling by the pushy Fidraon. "Take as long as you want Captain. I'll handle everything while you're away." Taking Alfred by his arm Rana began leading him away from the older man. Only shortly responding to the confused man's question of who was Ekkar was with a hushed. "Not now, ok."

[Watching as those two kids walked away I realized how much of a lucky bastard I was to have someone as understanding as Rana on my team. Hell that same thought would have to go to the other two members of my crew to. Most other Jacks would have left me long ago. After all we really didn't finish all that many missions. Then there was the fact that because of my low rank as a captain the jobs that we did complete never really paid out very well. I'm surprised that all three of them haven't been scooped up by some other Jack crew because of all their skills. And you know what I'd let them go if the offers came by, I'd insist on it in fact. After all just because I can't cut it as a good captain doesn't mean they have to be punished. Then again... with the way they are I'm sure they try their damdest to convince me to let them stay. That's just how loyal they are. I just wish that there was some way for me to repay them for all of their loyalty.]

As he began walking around the jack center to the downtown district, Barnabus gave another sigh and stuffed his hands into his pockets. He didn't know where he was heading but he knew it would help clear his head a little. He wished that he could find a way to make things better for himself and his crew. If only that one big job would come along that would allow them to buy new equipment, upgrade their ship, and get them the recognition that they so sorely needed. But being jacks of their level meant that a job like that wouldn't just show up outta the blue. They had to be lucky and that Barnabus Comet wasn't too much.

"B-B-But you just don't understand the importance of this discovery!" A voice suddenly shouted, breaking the depressed Jack captain out of his thoughts. "This could change everything about what we know about the ancient byways and the people who created them!"

"That may or may not be true sir, but as I told you the Jack centers do not take missions of that type." A second voice said with an exasperated huff. "If you're so concerned about it I suggest you try contacting the government. They should reply to you in about a year or so."

"But that isn't soon enough!"

'What the hell is that about?' Curiosity getting the better of him, Barnabus walked over to a nearby alleyway where the voices seemed to be coming from. Carefully he peered around the corner and down into the dank and narrow passageway. Standing a few feet from the street there were two men. One of the handlers from the center and old, short, and pudgy little blue skinned man wearing a stuffy looking suit with mismatched socks and bowtie. The pair was in the middle of a heated argument, both of them waving their hands wildly as they tried their best to be heard over the other.

"Please won't you reconsider putting my offer on the bulletin board?" The shorter man implored. He held up the suitcase he had with him and shook it at the younger man in front of him. "I have nearly five hundred thousand credits here. I'd be more than happy to slip a few thousand your way if only you'd do this for me."

The Jack handler stared at the suitcase with nervous eyes. "Sir..." He began slowly. "... ... No, I can't do it I'm sorry. The nature of your mission is completely against the rules and standards that the U.I.G. have put in place. Now please leave this propriety and don not come back unless you have another job offer." that said the handler turned around and reentered the Jack center through a side door.

"Blast it all." Seeing the closed door in front of him the little blue man gave a defeated groan and stared down at his feet obviously distraught.

Barnabus on the other hand was practically grinning ear to ear from his hiding spot behind the corner. The guy had over one and a half millions credits!? With money like that Barnabus could do everything that he wanted. Hell he could buy a brand new ship outright. With that thought it was decided, he was going to get that job come hell or high water. Turning into the alleyway Barnabus called out to the short man standing there. "Hey sir... SIR! Can I talk to your for a bit!?"

Hearing the deep voice talking to him the blue alien snapped out of his funk and raised his head up as Barnabus came closer. "W-What?" He asked not having heard what he had said.

"I said: I wanna talk to you pops." Barnabus repeated. Giving the man a friendly grin the human stuck his hand out for him to take. "People call me Barnabus Comet, you?"

The other man took the offered hand, giving the human a suspicious look. "I am Professor Morry Tworows head of archeological studies at Aquarii Station collage."

"Wow that's a fancy title, isn't it?" Barnabus chuckled awkwardly. When his little joke didn't seem to go over to well with the other man Barnabus decided to get right to business. "Well... anyway Mr. Tworows, the reason why I wanted to talk to you is because I was just wondering if what I just overheard you say was true. Is that job offer for real?"

"Um... y-yes, yes it was." The older man nodded slowly, still unsure about the stranger in front of him. "I came here looking for a Jack crew to take on a little task I have to have done." The elderly man tightened his grip on his suitcase. "I even had five times the usual amount for this sort of job line up."

"Yeah I heard that too. Five hundred thousand, right?" Barnabus could hear the own excitement in his voice and had to remind himself to remain calm. This guy wouldn't take him seriously if he allowed himself to squeal in joy about the prospect of so much.

"Yes that's how much I offered..." The professor took a few tentative steps backwards. Why did he have to say how much money he had brought with him? Was he about to get robbed by this large brute and left for dead in this alley? "...If-if you'll excuse me sir I think it's high time I-"

"-WAIT!" Barnabus shouted desperately. The skittish collage profession gave an unmanly yelp at the volume the other man had used and began shaking, holding up his suitcase as a makeshift shield. "Sorry... sorry I didn't mean to shout I just didn't want you to run off." Barnabus quickly apologized. Taking a deep breath the excited man then continued in a more professional manner. "I was just trying to find out if you were serious about the offer." He explained. "Cause if you are then, I think I have the perfect Jack crew for you to hire."

The little man frightfully peeked over the suitcase. "You do?"

"Yup!" Barnabus placed both his fist on his hips and struck a pose similar to the ones he had seen superheroes make on comic books he read as a kid. "I forgot to give you my full introduction earlier. I'm Captain Comet! Space hero extraordinaire and part time Jack captain!!"

Professor Tworows gave Barnabus a look of pure confusion at the overly dramatic introduction. Somehow the way the younger man was acting wasn't very comforting. In fact it only unnerved him more, making the dark haired man before him look like a lunatic. "Excuse me?"

Barnabus could feel his face growing red as he was stared at. 'Why do I always get carried away with that?' He complained to himself. Breaking his heroic pose Barnabus tried again, this time in a more dignified manner. "What I meant to say was that I'm the captain of a really good Jack crew and if you're willing we'd be more than happy to do the job for you. Under the table of course."

The older man relaxed a little at that. "What rank are you?"

"Copper." Barnabus said in an almost whisper, hoping that the professor would mishear him. The professor hearing what he had said perfectly clearly huffed and turned around with a dismissive snort. There was no way he could trust a task as important as the one he had to such a low level crew. Barnabus was right on his heels though grabbing the elderly man by the shoulder. "Wait, wait, wait pops. Don't be scared off just because we're so low on the totem pole. Me and my crew will do whatever you want us to in less than twelve parsecs. And you know, you really don't have a choice if you want this done."

"A parsec is a unit of measurement my boy not time." Professor Tworows snapped back waspishly. But as he stood there, Barnabus' heavy hand on his shoulder he did mull over his options. The Jack center had flatly refused his job offer and the government would take forever to even hear his proposal no less actually doing it. Realizing that he had no other option if he wanted to get what he wanted the portly man peered up at the human's amber colored eyes. "Fine... but if I do hire you, you have to promise that no one but you and your crew will ever hear about any of this. Am I clear?"

For the first time since he had heard the job offer Barnabus began to worry. "Why exactly did the center deny your request?" He asked.

Morry glanced around them quickly, trying to see if there was anyone else listening to them. Upon finding that they were truly alone he motioned for Barnabus to come closer with his finger and began whispering to him in a conspiratorial manner. "You see I was denied because the mission I proposed would take a Jack crew off to the outer rim of I.U.G. space in order to acquire a relic from a certain small green planet."

"What's so bad about that?" Barnabus gave the other man a puzzled look. "Seems like a standard treasure hunting job."

"Well... the planet I'd be sending you to is off limits to normal citizens." The professor told him. "The race which inhabits it is still in the Bronze Age it seems and you know that poppycock rule about interfering in undeveloped worlds."

"Now it makes sense why they didn't want to accept the job." Barnabus said. "Even with the commission they'd get from that much money." Any Jack center or Jack for that matter stupid enough to take on a job like that would be in danger of losing their license or worst. The interplanetary United Government had a habit of making certain people disappear when they went out of bounds of the more important laws. 'Maybe I should just tell him to forget about it.' He said to himself. 'After all it's not like there aren't plenty of legal jobs I can-"

"-Please Mr. Comet I know it is a lot to ask, but I am imploring you now. Your are my only choice now if I am to get the artifact on time for my symposium." The old man gave Barnabus a pleading look. "I'll add another two thousand to the total to sweeten the deal. Make it a full seven hundred thousand."

"I don't know." Barnabus said tapping at his chin. The payday was appetizing, but could he really go as far as to do something illegal like sneaking off to a "forbidden" planet. No he couldn't do that. It wouldn't be right to steal from a primitive people. About to tell the other man his decision Barnabus opened his mouth to speak but as he did the sound of loud reggae music suddenly came drifting from the directing of the street. Shifting his eyes out towards the street Barnabus watched as a large bus passed by the alleyway's opening. Plastered all over the side was a gaudy video advertisement for some sort of sports drink. The spokesperson featured in the ad was a smiling Ekkar who wore a loud Hawaiian shirt, shorts, and sandals. "Drink the colony's top voted sports drink: Solar wind soda." The reptile said cheerfully. "It's approved by me, Ekkar Anguis, best Jack captain in the entire universe! If I like then you know it's a winner."

Something about the shit eating grin on that insufferable bastard's face just caused Barnabus to bristle. The way the Fidraon was getting butt loads of money for selling out while he and his hard working crew worked their butts off. Deciding then and there Barnabus glanced back over to the short blue man next to him. "We'll do it... we'll do the job for you Professor Tworows."

"Good, good wonderful!" The professor now smiling went over to a trash can and put his briefcase on top of it. "Just let me transfer you the finer details to your P.A.D, ok?"

"Sure thing pops." Barnabus said peering over the other man's shoulder as he opened the case. 'I just hope I can convince the others to go along with all this.'

***************

The Aquarii interplanetary spaceport was busy as usual that day, Barnabus having to push his way past the crowd of regular dock workers, uniformed military personnel, and bothersome tourists as he slowly made his way back to his own ship. For Barnabus the spaceport had always been a lively and busy place where people all came and went at breakneck speed. Something which the Jack captain had always enjoyed about it ever since his father had brought him there as a kid nearly three decades ago. There was just something about the old wharf style the colony builders had given the place that appealed to his sense of history. Maybe it was the way the glass and white stone buildings which lined the large boardwalk reflected the warm light of the colony's artificial sun. Or maybe it had something to do with the hundreds of impressive docked starships. All of them large and beautiful, waiting at the many piers for their next journey into the inky blackness of space. Whatever it was Barnabus knew that as long as he lived at Aquarii colony there would be no other place where he would rather spend the majority of his time then down by the docks. Save for the occasional visit to a strip joint that is.

Unfortunately for the middle-aged man tough, this day his usual activity of enjoying the sights and sounds of the neighborhood had been replaced with the nervousness he felt about what he had just agreed to do. After the professor had transferred the details to his P.A.D. Barnabus had spent the better part of two hours debating with himself whether or not he should just erase the information and forget about the whole thing. But every time he tried to do just that, another voice in the back of his head would remind him of what the offered pay would do for him and his crew's future. Ship repairs, better equipment, better jobs, everything.

All he had to do to make it a reality was convince his crew to go along with his whole haired brained scheme.

Changing direction at an intersection Barnabus turned off of the main boardwalk and began traveling down one of the less populated piers. The thick crowds and upscale stores thinning out as he walked, being replace by seedy establishments and dangerous looking ne'er-do-wells who eyed him suspiciously as he passed them. Eventually the bearded man came to a stop in front of an old looking and slightly rusted starship. Its small size making it look puny when compared to the other glorious starships he had just passed at the more upper-class area of the spaceport. Glancing up at the vehicle from his feet Barnabus' let his eyes pass over the entire ship, taking in every small detail and making mental notes about needed repairs. When he came across a logo that was displayed on the hull he let a fond smile cross his face. It was a unique emblem, a fiery comet with the words "Wild Comet" painted sloppily over the burning rock. He had done the image himself the day he had bought it second hand off a used ship lot.

[A real junker isn't she? At least that's what I've been told numerous times by others. Of course I don't really see things the same way. Then again I'm sort of biased cause I happen to own this charming junker. I named her the Wild Comet and in case you're wondering. And no, it's not named after me in case you're wondering, I'm named after it. She's an F-class star cruiser which has been deployed for nearly... thirty years, so me and her are from the same generation. Most other people with a job like mine have turned away from this sort of model long ago. Believing that the old ships are too bulky or not fast enough for the day to day like of a Jack. I say the hell with them, I'm proud of my baby here. Sure the Wild Comet isn't the best looking or the fastest in the galaxy, but the old girl has heart and in the end that's all that really matters to this guy right here.]

Knowing that it was now or never to inform the crew about his decision Barnabus walked around to the back of his ship and up to a small palm reader which was next to the raised drawbridge-like entryway to the Comet's cargo bay. Raising his hand he pressed it against the reader and waited. It took a few moments for the old device to register that it was being touched, but the screen finally lit up after a few seconds, making a loud clicking sound as it scanned its owner's hands. However instead of reading Barnabus' palm and lowering the doors like it was supposed to do. A red X appeared on the screen followed by a buzzer noise.

"Really old girl?" Barnabus sighed. "Come on let me in..." With growing irritation the Jack pressed his hand against the panel again and then after getting the same X he did it again and again. each time with the same outcome. Finally his eyes twitching and his teeth gritted Barnabus raised his fist and punched the scanner, the device blinking a few times before a green circle appeared on the screen alongside a ding. The large bay doors finally lowering slowly with a rickety wheezing and forming a ramp so that he could enter.

After grumbling about yet another new repair he'd have to make Barnabus took a deep breath, steeling himself for the arguments he knew were coming then strode inside confidently with his head up high and spirits raised to the challenge. He was the captain after all, what he said should without any arguments. Unfortunately the "Captain's" building confidence instantly evaporated when upon entering the cargo hold the first thing he saw was Rana, clipboard in hand, standing in the middle of the room, quietly fuming to herself.

'You know maybe...' Barnabus thought to himself as he tiptoed backwards. 'I should go and get a drink at that bar I passed on the way here.' The yellow bellied Jack turned tail with all the grace befitting a heavy set man, trying his best to make a quick retreat. But the only thing Barnabus ended up doing was accidentally stumbling into a stack of empty boxes. The tower falling to the metal floor with enough noise to make him curse at his own clumsiness.

"What the..." Hearing the noise behind here, Rana quickly whipped her head around towards the sound, her eyes landing on a sputtering Barnabus as he glared at the boxes he had just knocked over like it was their fault that they fell. "Oh... it's just you Barnabus." Rana said with a relieved sigh. Tucking her clipboard under her arm the brown haired woman walked over to her captain with a little wave. "I thought we had rats again or something."

"Yeah just little ol' me." Barnabus chuckled nervously. "Just coming back to the ship after going for a long walk and all. Like I do all the time. Nothing out of the ordinary and all that, heh-heh."

Rana raised an eyebrow at the strange behavior, but decided not to bring it up. "... ... Anyway I'd like to report that me and Alfred paid the bank off and were able to get everything on the list we made?" She said handing over her clipboard. "All that's left before we head out again is to take inventory and do some routine system, checks."

"That's good." Barnabus took clipboard out of his second in commands hands and visually ran down the list before he gave her a pleased, "Great, can always count on your to handle things around this joint.", and returned it.

"Someone has to Barnabus." Rana joked with a wry chuckle. Going over to the stack of boxes that had fallen over she began stacking them back up. "Not like your three lug heads have the sense to get things done by yourselves. You need me."

"If you say so mom." Glancing over at her Barnabus couldn't help but find amusement in the scowl which was shot back at him. Rana hated it when one of them used that little nickname on her. Though she did fit the "mom" role on their little ship. They could all count on her to take care of things and they all depended on that. "Heya speaking of the guys, where are they?" Barnabus asked. "There's sorts something I want to tell you all about."

"I'm right here Captain." Alfred's voice came from out of nowhere. Peering to there right both Barnabus and Rana watched as their ships medic walked into the hold with a cheery smile on his face. "Just finished checking all my medical supplies Rana. Everything present and accounted for."

"It took you four straight hours just to count everything in your cabinets?" Rana questioned with an air of suspicion.

Alfred blushed at the older woman's inquiry. "What? I had to make sure everything is in place in case we need it."

Barnabus gently patted the younger man on the back, a knowing look on his face. He and Rana always liked teasing their easily excitable crewmate. "You sure the reason you were in sickbay so long wasn't because you were doing another one of your little experiments again?" He asked.

The redness creeping over the light skinned man's face only worsened telling them all that, that was exactly what he had been doing. "Ok, maybe I did check my Farrillian fungus specimens a little." He admitted at last. "But I did take innovatory too."

"Sure you did kid." Barnabus looked around the room and realized that the third member of their crew had yet to make an appearance. "Hey... where's Moah? Shouldn't he back at the ship by now?"

Rana dipped her chin down towards the floor. "He came back around the same time we did." She informed him as she continued to stack boxes. "As soon as he got inside he said something and then ran off into the engine room."

"I hope whatever he's up to this time it won't lead to explosions." Barnabus sighed. "I'm still trying to get my eyebrows to grow in right." The two younger members of the Wild Comet crew snickered softly to themselves only stopping when Barnabus pretended to clear his throat. "So anyway... I'm going to go down to the engine room and get him real quick ok? After you two finish here come to the common room so that I can show you all our next mission statement together."

Both Rana and Alfred gave curt replies and went back to sorting through what they had bought that day as Barnabus left the room. Walking through the short corridor and down the stairs to the lower floor of the ship the older man began to wonder again how exactly he would explain the nature of their new mission. He could try lying to them about it he supposed. Tell them that he had gotten it at the center from some sympathetic receptionist who took pity on their crew. But as soon as that thought entered his head the bearded man shook it off. That's something Ekkar would do, lying to his crew. And Barnabus would never do something as slimy as dragon would do.

Reaching the engine room Barnabus pushed the heavy two feet thick door open with a little trouble. "Man I'm getting old." He complained to himself. Stepping into the steamy and hot room, crisscrossed with pipes and spider webs, Barnabus had to wait a moment for his eyes to adjust to the low red lighting that illuminated the creepy room. Walking further into it he couldn't help the feeling that ran right down his spine. The engine room always reminded him of those old space horror movies he watched. The ones where unsuspecting space marines got ambushed by aliens with phallic shaped heads. 'Let's just hope I can fine Moah before one of them finds me and lays eggs in my stomach.' He joked to himself.

It was then that the sound of eerie humming began reverberating through the air. Becoming frightened Barnabus' started to hyperventilate a little, his breaths coming out in puffs as he frantically shifted his eyes from right to left. It wasn't until he realized that the song being hummed was row, row, row your boat that he calmed down, realizing that it had to be his missing crew member. "Heya MOAH!" Barnabus shouted. "Where are you pal?!"

There was a clanking sound as the person humming dropped something, then a gruff but friendly sounding. "Barnabus!"

"Yeah buddy it's me! Come on out so I can talk with you." Barnabus waited patiently as the sounds of someone moving around him sounded in the steamy room. Suddenly a large shadow fell onto him from behind and before he could turn around Barnabus found himself being grabbed from behind by a pair of large shaggy arms that lifted a good two feet off of the ground as he was pulled into a crushing bear hug and swung around.

"BARNABUS! Gi suzfu tagg lossa naw, no fu, no fu!" A gruff growling voice said in a strange language. "Gi sashu hoot yert, yert jick tanzo loppen! Todori cozo emplat? Todori wakfu nu-se flat shidor? Todori mooka na-"

"-Moah!" Barnabus managed to gasp out, above the string of words he didn't understand. Using every bit of strength he had the barely breathing man wiggled himself around in his attackers grasp, coming face to face with a brown furry muzzle and black colored eyes with red pupils which were located on a fuzzy bear-like head. "Sorry to interrupt whatever you're saying there, but could you please let me down Moah? Your sort of squeezing the life out of me here buddy."

"Doosha Barnabus." The gruff voice said apologetically.

Suddenly Barnabus found himself dropped to the floor, a yelp coming from his mouth as he fell which was quickly followed by a groan of pain as his ass started to ach. Falling twice on it wasn't doing his poor behind any good that day. After rubbing his sore bottom for the second time that day Barnabus frowned up at the creature that had just dropped him, getting a toothy grin back in response.

Standing above the perturbed man was a behemoth of an alien. Its seven foot tall and heavyset body covered in a pair of dark gray workers coveralls that had shaggy and unkempt brown fur spilling out of the chest, sleeves, and legs of the garment. Holding out his clawed hand the hairy creature said a few more words in his strange language and waited for Barnabus to take it which the human did after giving an exasperated sigh.

"You know..." Barnabus began as he was literally lifted to his feet. "You know, you don't have to hug me every time I come back home from my errands." The hairy man in front of him went to open his mouth but the brunette quickly held up his hand and stopped him. "Yeah, yeah I know its tradition and all to greet someone like that on your planet. But Alfred can't keep spending money on bone fuser to repair broken ribs, ok?"

Moah gave a small pout as he nodded his head to the quasi order. "Doosha Barnabus, doosha." Suddenly getting a look of surprised the large man said something excitedly and placed the goggles on his head over his eyes. Then before Barnabus could ask what was wrong he quickly lumbered over to a nearby computer console and began typing away at the keyboard. Paying no mind to the fact that he had just been talking to someone.

Watching as his mechanic typed furiously at the keyboard in front of him Barnabus couldn't help shaking his head. Moah always did something like this. You could be having a conversation with him and the next thing you knew he'd get that look of inspiration on his bear-like face and walk away having gotten some sort of idea for something.

[I know what wondering. What the heck is this monster and why do I let him roam free in the bowls of my ship. Well to answer both your questions I'd like to introduce you to Moah Zash. The weirdest mechanic you'll ever have the fortune to meet. He's a big guy, sure and his manners and smell can be a little overwhelming at times. But under all that brown fur is a mind of someone who can work miracles with anything mechanical or electronic. I have no doubt that if given the time he could build a fusion reactor from just a calculator and a washing machine. He's personally responsible for keeping this ship in the air when we head out into space and for making sure that it doesn't end up falling apart while it sits here at the spaceport. Moah says that his skills are just a genetic quirk. That his people the Girunjh are all super geniuses when it comes to fixing and creating things. But even if that is true I still believe that Moah is the most skilled and creative out of all of them.]

Going over to Moah, Barnabus rested against a nearby pipe and watched him for a few moments. "So... what have you been working on down here Moah?" He asked the Girunjh. "The ship's AI again."

Moah nodded and shifted to the side a little so that Barnabus could see what he was doing. Barnabus leaned forward but was unable to read the rows of computer text written on the illuminated screen. "Yeah... that's a bunch of numbers you got there alright." He quipped. "So does that mean we can start using the computer again or what?"

Moah pointed up and nodded his head again. "Yaggho Barnabus. Utto sanhu..." The furry man stopped mid-sentence and seemed to think something over, then in broken English he said. "Computer. Is. Ready!"

Barnabus clapped his hands. "Now that's some good news." He said happily. The computer that controlled some of their systems had been on the fritz ever since the incident with the walking plant a few weeks ago. "How about we try it out right now?" Standing up straight Barnabus coughed into his head then gave a command. "Computer: tell me what the temperature inside of the ship is right now."

The sound of static came over the ships PA system followed by a garbled mess. Frowning Moah struck the side of his computer and miraculously corrected whatever was wrong, the computer buzzing before it responding to the captain's question with a loud, "WELL HOOOOOWDY CAPTAIN!" The AI said with an incredibly thick southern drawl. "I reckon that it's a balmy sixty-two degrees at this here ranch house, I reckon. Better hitch up your drawers and shut the front doors a'fore the cows sneak inside to get out of the heat, YEHHAW!!"

Barnabus, mouth hanging open at the sound of the campy Texan accent coming over the intercoms turned to Moah with a wide-eyed look. The several moments of silence following the reply were to be expected, just as Barnabus' response to it was. "What the hell..." He couldn't help but laugh at the absurdity of the situation. "W-where the hell did you get the new audio program from?"

Moah said something with a chuckle and held up a paper bag in one clawed hand and a fast food soda cup in his other. Both of the greasy items displaying a cartoony cowboy with the words "Uncle Pappy's Western Smokehouse and Family Restaurant" coming out of him in a speech bubble.

"Your can fix it right?" Barnabus asked with a groan. "Maybe dial back the... Yosemite Sam a bit? Cause there's no way I'm waking up to that every morning." When Moah said the word that the human knew was "No" he rubbed his forehead feeling a headache coming on. Not being able to afford a proper AI program was one of the pitfalls of being a low rank Jack team he supposed. But hopefully the mission he had just picked up would rectify that. "Come on Moah, if you can stand leaving your little workshop down here for a little while, there's something I need to tell you and the others in the common room."

Moah gave a grumble at having to stop on his project, but stood up anyway and began padding towards the door with the dignity of a surly child. "Yaggho Garzzo."

Barnabus snorted at the way his fuzzy crew member was acting. Moah was notorious for being a little childish when pulled away from his "art". Shoving his amusement away though the bearded man jogged after his friend, the human and Girunjh leaving the cramped engine room together and quickly making their way into the Wild Comet's comfortably furnished common room.

Seated on the couch in the middle of the homey looking room were Rana and Alfred who gave their hellos as the duo entered. Rana giving her captain a knowing look as the bearman grunted back at them. "You have trouble getting him to come out of his workshop?" She asked referring to Moah.

"Not so bad this time. Only had to ask him once." Barnabus replied. The captain couldn't smirked as Moah gave him a sour look and went over to the couch, taking his seat with a flop that made the piece of furniture tilt to one side for a second, Alfred and Rana sliding down and bumping into him, before it fell back down. "Ok, now I have some good news and some bad news." Barnabus made eye contact with each of his crewmember's one by one, trying to judge their reactions.

It was only when they nodded back at him that he continued in a fast voice. "The good news is: The job I lined up for us will give us the biggest pay day you could ever imagine. Which means more components for Moah's projects, more specimens for Alfred's experiments, faster engines so that Rana can-"

"-What's the bad news Comet." Rana cut in. she leaned forward resting her elbow on her knee. "There's something you not telling us." She sing-songed.

Barnabus cringed. His ever observant female crewmember had seen right through his stalling tactic. "Well... the bad news... it's something about the job that you might not be crazy about. But please just hear me out until I get it all out ok?" He begged.

Rana gave her captain a raised eyebrow. She recognized that tone all too well. The older man had used the exact same one numerous times when he did something that could get them all in trouble. "Spit it out captain."

Barnabus gave a worried frown and opened his mouth to speak. 'He goes nothing.' He thought to himself. Taking a deep breath he quickly began to speak. "You see I didn't get this job from the Jack center. Actually I sort of got it when-"

Outside of the wild comet a group of grizzled and muscular spacers were walking past the small starship joking and laughing as the made their way down the pier, all of them coming home after a rough mission in space involving barbaric space pirates. It was a complete surprise to all of the men that when the sounds of shouting and arguing that they actually jumped at the sheer volume at the voices involved. All of them giving each other frightened looks before they decided that they would rather be somewhere else and ran off down the pier like scared rabbits.

Back inside the ship Barnabus stood in front of his three friends grimacing as Rana and Alfred began berating him about what he had just told them. "I cannot believe you would even consider taking a job so incredibly illegal!" Rana shouted. "Do you know what could happen if we were caught?"

Alfred thankfully replied to her loud question. "We could lose our license!" The thin man panicked. "Or w-w-worst, we could end up in jail! I-I don't think I could survive in jail! They'd break me like a toothpick!!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa hold up guys! No one's going to get themselves arrested." Barnabus said waving his hands wildly. "The military ships don't check the hyperspace corridor we're going to use. So the chances of us getting throw in the clink are so incredibly small it's laughable."

"Fine let's say we don't get caught." Rana started with a sigh as she pinched the bridge of her nose. "What kind of Jacks-of-all-trades would we be if we started taking Illegal jobs? We all agreed that we would never do this sort of thing." The upset woman gave her older friend a disappoint look. "We're supposed to be hard working people who do honest day's work."

Barnabus stared down at his feet a little ashamed to look Rana in the eyes.

[I knew Rana was right. That what I proposing would go against everything I had promised myself when I left Ekkar's crew and started out on my own. You see taking illegal jobs as they're called by some is completely frowned upon by the branch of government that handles all of the Jack-of-all-trades. They actively encouraged other crews to go as far as to report those who broke the Jacks handbook's golden rule promising them that they could get rewards or better yet increases in ranks for acting as turncoats. If anyone found out what they had done to get the money they would be in danger from all sides. Then there was the fact that all this would go against my dream of becoming a real space ace. Not a single one of those old heroes would go against the rules like this. But even knowing all that I knew deep down that we needed the money. We needed to show everyone that we weren't some has-been crew who couldn't cut it.]

Barnabus dared to raise his eyes to meet his second in command's gaze. "Look... I know this job is a little..." He corrected himself as his crew opened their mouths to argue. "... Ok a lot shady but we need the money guys. We need to get repairs for our ship and better equipment in order to compete with other Jacks. This is the only way I can see to do it. One illegal job I promise. Then we keep it straight for the rest of our careers." The middle aged man gave a cheesy smile. "And you know for me doing anything straight is going to be real hard."

Rana couldn't help but crack a smile at the lame joke, but she couldn't agree to this. Opening her mouth she started to argue with her captain again. But before she could Alfred spoke up. "You know Rana the Captain is sort of right on this." The Middle Eastern woman gave the blond a shocked expression. "Yes I know it's crazy that I'm the one saying this, but it's true. We need do to something."

"I still don't know." Rana turned to Moah who in the time since they had started to fight had begun taking part the remote control for their television and was in the middle of combining it with some sort of electronic device he had taken from his pocket. "Moah... what do you think about all this?"

Not looking up from his project Moah said a few sentences in rapid succession and then chuckled. "He said: I don't care as long as I can keep building stuff." Alfred translated for everyone.

Rana's shoulder sagged. Why was it that these three lovable goofs could always get her to go along with the stupidest things? "Fine." She said finally relenting. "I give in, but when this blows up in our faces I reserve the right to tell you "I told you so" first ok?" She held out her hand for Barnabus to shake.

Barnabus took her hand eagerly. "It's a deal Rana." He said giving it a shake.

"Great, so where is this "job" anyway?" Rana pulled her hand out of the older man's grasp and started walking towards their cockpit. "You just said it was a few days away when you told us about it."

"I don't know..." Barnabus took out his P.A.D and opened up the details concerning their mission. "Um, it says that we have to go to a planet called Ver-dough-moe?"

"Verdomo!" Alfred said with growing excitement. The medic went over and snatched Barnabus' device out of his hand, the Jack captain having to blink a few times before he realized that it wasn't in his hand anymore. "Wow I just read an article on this place. They had to close a research lab on it because of funding." Alfred said beaming at the display. "I can't believe we're going there! Imagine what sort of things we could learn."

"Guess that explains why the professor was so keen on sending us there to get that artifact." Barnabus said snatching back his P.A.D.. "Wonder what kind of planet it is. Hope it's not like that icy one we had to deliver swimsuits to."

Moah made some sort of comment which had Alfred smile only brighten more. "Moah just said that an old friend of his was part of the research team sent to the planet and that she told him that Verdomo is a beautiful tropical paradise."

"Well I'm all in for paradise!" Barnabus got a look of satisfaction on his face. He had convinced his friends to go along with this crazy mission of his, convinced them that the money was good, and now they were going to be going to a nice planet where nothing wrong could possibly go wrong. "Maybe we can make up some margaritas and spend a few days being lazy after we finish."

"Captain..." The crew of the Wild comet sighed in unison. Why was their leader such an idiot sometimes?