Moonstrike 14 Space Pirate Interlude

Ji Min twisted the shower water off and stepped onto the white hotel rug around 8 pm. The room was overfull of citrus scented steam. The mirror was a foggy smear on the wall and when she moved, her reflection looked like a ghost.

She pulled on the hotel robe and did some skincare, hair still protected in a plastic cap from the water. Her music was playing faintly from the desk. Ji Min sang along under her breath, swaying and dancing a little in place. When she was done she sauntered back to where she’d laid her pajamas out on the bed for the night and pulled them on. It was a silky black set with shorts and a button-up long sleeve shirt. She was turning down the covers when there was a knock on her door.

Her hotel door.

“What the fuck,” Ji Min said quietly. She frowned. But she didn’t hesitate on her way to the door. She was moving to check the peephole when a voice called out.

“Darling,” came the cheerful call.

Oh. Ji Min was grinning as she swung the door open. “Hey babe,” she said, directly into the barrel of Issa’s blaster.

She registered the pirate’s fanged grin, the glint of jewelry on Issa’s lip, and the blunt feeling on the back of her hand as she smacked Issa’s weapon into the doorframe and then twisted it away in a smooth motion.

“Shit!” Issa exclaimed, laughing. She leaned into the motion, bending over and cackling until tears sprouted in her eyes. “You took my advice!” She reached out for her weapon. Grudgingly, Ji Min gave it back.

“Shut up,” Ji Min grouched, and pulled the space pirate into her room before anyone came to investigate the noise. She latched the door immediately and doublechecked that the curtains were pulled close.

Issa let Ji Min manhandle her into the room and then waited, still giggling as she checked over her beloved blaster for dents before she put it away at her hip. “Wow, darling dolly,” she cooed. Ji Min dodged the hands that reached out for her face. “That was new! Where’s the hitting stick?”

“The hitting stick is dead,” Ji Min said, still a little sore about it.

Her friend sobered up fast. “Sorry to hear that, love.”

Ji Min waved it off. “It’s fine,” she said. “Oh, god, I do have things to tell you.” She collapsed onto the bed. A moment later the mattress creaked as Issa threw her own body down. “Nothing is on fire, right?”

Issa hummed thoughtfully. “If it is, I didn’t do it. I’ve been a very good girl.” She crossed her legs at the knee and let her dangling foot nudge at Ji Min.

“You’ve been a fucking liar is what you’ve been,” Ji Min said dryly. She elbowed Issa. “Me too, by the way.”

“Oh?” Issa rolled over onto her stomach and propped her chin on her hands. “Do tell.”

“Well, I’m defrauding the government.”

Issa’s lips twitched. “This is a good start.”

“They’ve recently hired me.” Ji Min kept her voice flat for the punchline. “In law enforcement.”

Her friend howled with laughter.

She had to raise her voice to go on. “You’re looking at the newest graduate from the Mid-Country Interstate level heroism program.” Ji Min gestured grandly at herself. “They’re paying me, Issa. They’re paying me and they’re training me.”

Issa was crying with tears by this point. “How did you manage that?”

Ji Min stared straight up at the ceiling. “Fuck if I know,” she said honestly. “They found me. They thought I was a vigilante.” She paused for a moment. “Because of my fighting with Hammer.” She eyed her friend sideways. “So, you know, fuck you very much for saying nothing good would come of that grudge. I’ve got a salaried position now.” She stuck her chin out haughtily.

It took a while for Issa to calm down enough to speak. She wiped at her face with both hands and pushed off of the bed to stand and sway in place. Ji Min sat up to watch her. “This is good stuff, thank you for the laugh. And here I also had a career opportunity in mind.”

Ji Min drew her knees up to her chest and rested an elbow on them. “Do go on.”

Issa pulled out the desk chair and sat on it backwards. “I’m about to come into a new ship,” she chirped, eyes crinkling in satisfaction. “It’s lovely, I’m so happy. Eventually I was thinking that it might be really nice to go out together on one of my runs.”

“Oooh,” Ji Min enthused. “When do you get to pick it up?”

Her friend reached her hands forward and played with her fingers, twisting and twining. “Whenever NASA finishes making it, I suppose. I was wondering if you’d like to take a little peek with me, find out when they ought to be wrapping up?”

“Oh, that makes sense,” Ji Min said. She cocked her head. “Is whatever they make going to be up to specs for you?”

“No, no,” Issa said, shaking her head. Her jewelry tinkled with the motion. “But it’s much easier to modify than start from scratch. Anyway, are you up for a late night? If not, we could schedule something out-”

“Tonight is fine,” Ji Min assured, a grin snaking onto her face. “I could really use a night out.”

“I brought a wardrobe change, just in case you don’t want your little sneak gear associated with me,” Issa said warmly. “Shall we play dress up?”

“I absolutely want to be a space pirate tonight.” Ji Min reached out with playful grabby hands. “What do you have for me?”

It turned out to be a pretty close approximation of Issa’s outfit, in purple and silver instead of Issa’s blues and brass. Ji Min got kitted up, gloves and all and pretended not to know Issa was snooping through her things. She took a moment to admire the accompanying mask before stuffing it in her pocket. It didn’t have the full face coverage of her usual sneaking mask, but it was big enough to obscure her brow line, nose, and cheekbones.

“Can I put some makeup on you?” Issa’s hands twitched towards Ji Min’s face.

“Doll me up.” Ji Min sat down and tilted her face up expectantly.

She wound up with painted beauty marks and silver lip color that she’d never wear, applied in an oddly pointy elongated style that made her mouth look wider. It was foreign and Ji Min felt a little disquieted by the person in the mirror. But that was the point, wasn’t it? She thanked Issa and they left.

“This yours?” Ji Min said, impressed by the car Issa had waiting outside.

Issa huffed. “God, no,” she said, and slid into the driver’s seat. “I can’t get a car. I don’t have a license.”

Ji Min hesitated a moment before getting into the passenger seat. She trusted Issa’s technical skills. Driving wasn’t actually difficult. “That’s not true at all, though,” she pointed out. “They’re not going to check if you have a valid license. You just need the cash to buy it.”

There was a moment of silence as Issa started up the engine. “This is probably still easier,” Issa said, clearly unwilling to admit she’d made a mistake. “It was so convenient. I found this outside of a steak restaurant. It was lonely, Ji Ji.”

“Someone is going to have a long walk home,” Ji Min muttered, a little sympathetic despite being amused. She adjusted the heating vent to point away from her face. “So, tell me about this rocket?”

Issa gave her the specs as they drove into the night. Ji Min was hardly an expert, but her adjacent expertise in mechanics was enough for her to get the broad strokes of what Issa was talking about.

She hadn’t responded back in the hotel, but in the back of her mind Ji Min was playing with the idea of taking Issa up on her offer. She’d been sourcing merchandise for Issa off and on for a couple of years at this point and the idea had occurred to her. Who wouldn’t think about it?

But it was a fantasy. Going off planet with Issa had been out of the question. Piracy and smuggling were dangerous. Ji Min was a pretty damn strong metahuman, but she’d just been a regular person. She’d slow Issa down at best, die in the void at worst.

But now? With a bit of formal combat education? It was starting to seem more plausible.

‘I need to look into the next stage of my training,’ Ji Min decided. ‘I want to be able to handle anything that comes up.’

She kept her thoughts to herself and talked shop until they were near where Issa had stashed her longer distance transport option. They’d figured out what the cargo for Issa’s triumphant first trip back out would be when they parked the car in a hidden lean-to.

“It’s just a silly little thing,” Issa said, clearly embarrassed as she led Ji Min to her hovercraft. “I just threw it together from what I had around. It’s not nice but it’ll get the job done.”

“All it needs is two seats and to go fast,” Ji Min reassured, stepping through the opened hatch. “You’re not a cruise service.”

Issa shot her a sideways smirk and nodded as she got inside and pulled the hatch shut.

The flight to Texas was exhilarating. Ji Min couldn’t help but whoop at the sight of cities flashing underneath them. Issa glanced over at her eager for her reaction, eyes sparkling with the connection between them.

“I get this more now,” Ji Min said, tearing her eyes away from the window. “I see why you do this.”

Issa’s returning smile was confidential. Then she focused back on the flight. “There’s a blueprint in the compartment up front,” she said. “Would you look that over? I’ve marked my preferred entrances but I’d appreciate your opinion on it.”

She looked it over and approved Issa’s first and second choices, but suggested a different backup exit. Issa took the correction with easy grace and landed them a good walk away from h
the center. Ji Min took the lead at the space center.

It was easy. Shamefully easy, considering the funding that went into the place. They dodged a few security guards and evaded a few cameras. There was only one that they couldn’t avoid. Issa shot at it from a distance, plastering something gooey and opaque to the lens.

“Gross,” Ji Min said conversationally.

“Jelly gun,” Issa replied, just as pleasantly. “I put it on ice cream.”

Ji Min hissed. “Why do you need your ice cream toppings delivered at velocity-” She cut herself off when she realized how close they were to the next expected patrol.

They managed to get to the records area, look up what they needed, and get back out without encountering anyone or getting caught on film, so far as they could tell.

“A month and change,” Issa sang, giving a twirl before she opened up the hovercraft. “I’m so close to freedom!”

Ji Min couldn’t stop smiling as she got in. “How long will it take for you to make your modifications?”

Issa hummed as she hoisted herself into her seat with a wholly unnecessary bit of showmanship. “If I can have all my materials on hand already, a week at maximum. Do you want to help?”

“If I’m free I would love to watch you work,” Ji Min agreed. She pulled the hatch shut before Issa could get to it. “Wanna get drinks before bed?”

Issa toasted an imaginary glass at her as they lifted off.