Opening the hanger door, Violet moved slightly to the right as she casually dodged a plasma bolt that Sparky fired at her. Violet raised an eyebrow as she noticed the number of bodies on the floor. Some looked to be regular criminals, and others appeared to be police officers.

Then she looked up at her ship. Sparky had built an automated turret that fired at anything that moved, and then she hastily turned it off once she realized who it was coming through the door. While Haru lay on top of the ship in as much sunlight as possible, wearing a string bikini with just enough fabric to cover her more privet parts. And the dock worker that signed them in stood above her, using a piece of sheet metal as a fan for Haru.

The man looked terrified, so Violet fixed that. She pulled the 1911 from her pocket and fired at the man. The bullet went through one of his eyes, making him fall backward and off the ship.

“And you’re back. How was the trip?” Haru asked, not sitting up to look at violet.

“It was okay. But I didn’t get what I wanted to get … exactly.”

“What does that mean?” Sparky asked, perplexed.

“It means I got us a job,” Violet clarified.

Haru sat up and looked at her, “You got us a job atop of the one we’re currently doing?”

“Yep,” Violet said, pulling out the blueprints and the list of materials needed. “This is for you, and this is for us,” she said, handing the blueprints to Sparky and holding up the list.

“What is this?” Sparky asked, looking at the blueprints.

“Don’t know. It was something your dumbass teacher was working on with Jin before you killed him.”

“You saw Jin?” Haru asked as she jumped down from the ship and approached Violet.

“Yep.”

“How is he? I haven’t seen him in forever.”

“He’s dying.”

Haru’s smile disappeared, and she put a hand on her chest, which did nothing to stop Violet from looking at them. “He’s dying?” she asked.

“Yep.”

“But … but the best bartender ever can’t die! I need his drinks!”

“Yep.”

“What can we do to help him?”

“Yep.”

“Violet! Stop staring at my chest!”

“No.”

Haru huffed and walked back into the ship to get dressed, Violet staring daggers at her ass. Sparky shook her head and asked, “Well, I’m assuming this device is supposed to save this Jin?”

“Yep,” Violet said as the door to the ship closed, giving Haru some privacy. Violet then pulled out a device and turned it on. Then a stream of Haru undressing came on screen.

Sparky got fed up, snatched the device from Violet’s hands, and threw it. “Even if I could decipher the chicken scratch my former teacher calls handwriting. I still need a place to build it. And your ship isn’t big enough for that,” Sparky said.

“I’m well aware. That’s why we’ll stop by my place and prep a bit before we start,” Violet answered. Then retrieved the device Sparky threw, continuing to watch it. To her disappointment, Haru had already finished changing back into the harem pants and crop top. “Damn,” Violet cursed before putting the device back into her pocket.

Haru exited the ship and asked, “So, where to next?”

Violet jogged up and boarded her ship, “Home base to resupply and prep.”

“Sounds good,” Haru agreed.

Sparky stood there a second and said, “I have a bad feeling about this.”

“Keep it to yourself!” Violet yelled back and began the take-off sequence for the ship. Luckily, Haru had convinced the dock attendant to open the hangar doors so she could sunbathe. Otherwise, they would have some trouble taking off.

As they rose up and out of the hangar, Violet saw a small building on fire in the distance, and a smile played on her lips as she watched. “What’s that?” Haru asked.

“Looks like an orphanage is burning,” Violet said.

“Oh, my gods! Did you set an orphanage on fire!? Is that why the cops came after us?!”

“What?! No,” Violet said defensively. “I’ll tell you the story later. For now, let’s go.” Then she pushed the throttle forward and sped off into the stars.

***

“So, let me get this straight,” Haru said, pinching the bridge of her nose. “You killed some thugs. Intarigated an orphan for information. Then told the orphan to kill everyone inside his orphanage and set it on fire. Then you stole ingredients for ribeye. Talked to Jin. Then killed twelve officers and three civilians after revealing your true identity to them as The Fifth Reaper. And now we are going to kidnap virgins.”

“A few things wrong there,” Violet countered, “One, the orphan has a name, and it is Baun. Two, we need more than just a few virgins for the job. And three, those ribeyes were delicious.”

“That is neither here nor there! You told an ORPHAN to KILL people! And you didn’t get plates for the steaks!” Haru countered back, shaking her half-eaten ribeye in the air.

“Well, I’m getting old and need an apprentice to teach. Plus, plates are for chumps,” Violet countered back, taking a bite of her ribeye as though it were a bagel.

“You’re twenty-five!” Haru countered again.

“Yes, and assassins die young. Just look at my master. He died.”

“He died at age seventy-six, and he managed to cut off your arm!”

“Yes … well … I put a bomb in there hoping to kill him with it.”

“The explosion took your legs and your left eye!”

“Yes … well … umm … I shouldn’t have fought him when he had the high ground. The point is he’s dead and I’m the galaxy’s greatest assassin now.”

Sparky examined Violet as she swallowed a mouth full of steak. “That explains all the cyber tech in you,” Sparky said, stating the obvious.

“Yep!” Violet agreed, shoving the last of her steak into her mouth and then whipping her hands on her pants. Then she turned to the ship’s navigation counsel to her left and began entering in coordinates.

Sparky looked over Violet’s shoulder as she entered the coordinates and stopped chewing as she recognized them. Quickly swallowing, she asked, “W-where are we going?”

Violet finished entering the coordinates and looked over her shoulder to give Sparky a knowing smile, “Oh, you know.”

“Home base?” Sparky asked, her voice getting a little higher.

“A real fucking home base,” Haru answered, finishing her steak.

Violet laughed, hit a few buttons, flipped some switches above her, and pushed the throttle forward. Space stretched and bent as they entered hyperspace, and stars flew past at an increadible speed. A few seconds later, they emerged from hyperspace at the edge of an asteroid belt. Violet smirked at Sparky, who was starting to turn green. “What’s wrong, Sparky? You look a little green,” Violet asked innocently.

“Oh, nothing,” Sparky answered, her voice still a little high.

Laughing again, Violet pushed the throttle forward and entered the asteroid field. She then put on her headset and pressed a button twice on the side of it in quick succession. Then a male voice came through the headset, “Please state your docking clearance code.”

“Victor Victor Victor Five Five Five. Code: Seven Three Six Zero. I’m back, baby.”

The man on the other side of the line went silent for a moment as he verified the docking clearance. “Welcome back, sir. Docking bay one is cleared for your arrival. Sending orbital drift charts now,” the man said.

“Ten-four,” Violet said as she received the orbital drift charts.

“I’m going to change before we arrive,” Haru said and stood from her chair. Sparky took over the seat when Haru closed the door.

Violet immediately took out the video streaming device and watched Haru pick out clothes. Sparky reached over and took the device out of Violet’s hand, “Focus on flying!” Sparky chastised Violet.

“Hey! Stop doing that!” Violet complained, not looking where she was flying.

Sparky was about to protest when she looked out the viewport and exclaimed, “Look out!”

Violet turned and saw a massive asteroid coming straight toward them. She immediately pushed the yolk forward and sent the ship into a dive. She barely missed the massive asteroid when she had to roll to avoid two smaller asteroids and barely squeezed between them as they collided.

Warning lights flashed in the cockpit as the ship’s onboard computer spoke, with the voice of old earth’s 1960s Bitchin’ Betty, “Pull up! Pull up!”

“I know!” Violet yelled back while pulling back on the yolk and bringing the throttle back. The ship made a sharp drift and avoided colliding with another asteroid. “Fuck this!” Violet cursed as she pushed the throttle all the way forward.

The Mauler sped forward, and Violet began evasive maneuvers. The ship rolled, dove, ascended, and made sharp turns throughout the asteroid field, narrowly missing hundreds of asteroids as she flew. All the while, Bitchin’ Betty blared, “Pull up! Pull up! God danm it! You’re the worst piolet ever! PULL! THE FUCK! UP!!”

“I regret giving you sentience!” Violet screamed as she narrowly weaved through a cluster of massive colliding asteroids. Then everything went quiet as they reached a clearing in the asteroid belt.

A dwarf planet with crisscrossing lines of lights snaking across its surface floated there, its gravity and thin atmosphere pushing the asteroids around it like a swimmer through ice water. Violet gently rolled the ship to get it prepared for landing. As she rolled, an asteroid that hid in her blind spot scraped against the wing of her ship, creating a loud and awful scraping sound that reverberated through the ship.

“What was that?!” Haru asked from the other side of the door.

“Nothing!” Violet and Sparky answered simultaneously.

The man on the headset spoke, “That was some fancy flying, sir. Next time stick to the drift chart.”

“Yeah, will do. I’m going to activate auto-piolet and change my … everything. Over and out,” Violet said.

Haru entered the cockpit, and Violet pushed a button to activate auto piolet. Turning, Violet admired Haru’s fashion choice. She now wore a fine brown suit with a white dress shirt. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and she now had fake glasses. Haru noticed Violet’s stare and looked down at herself, “What? Did I miss a button?”

“No, no. Just haven’t seen that suit in a while.”

“True. But considering where we’re going, I figured I’d take it back out of storage.”

“Speaking of, I have to change as well,” Violet said and walked past Haru, intentionally leaving the door open she Haru could watch.

Haru closed the door and looked at Sparky, who was slumped against the arm of her chair. “What’s wrong with you?” Haru asked.

“You weren’t here for it,” Sparky groaned.

Haru shrugged and looked at the console noting the timer that read one hour before landing at R.I.C.M.E. Inc. Haru cracked a small smile at the acronym and leaned back in the chair for a nap.

***