Decker walked on to the bridge of his ship, groaning slightly when the men aboard stood at attention. "I've told you all before, this level of..." he waved his arms around to motion to them all standing at attention, "this is not needed. You guys don't have to stand at attention when I walk in or even call me captain. I'm no better than any of you. There's no need for military precision and shit. We're bounty hunters. Nothing more. Nothing less." He went to his seat and began going over the logs from the night before. His crew relaxed and went about their normal duties, making sure the ship continued to run properly and keeping an eye out for any dangers on their current course.
"You should learn to accept that we're gonna react that way to you, Decker. You're our captain. We respect you."
Decker looked up from the log on his console and glared at the man standing beside him. Jori Blake stood a bit taller than Decker himself. They had known each other for the better part of eighteen years and Decker couldn't have chosen a better person to be his first mate and best friend if he'd tried. Though sometimes the other man did make him want to toss him out of an airlock. "If they actually respected me they'd stop calling me 'captain' and standing at attention every time I entered the room."
"But you are a captain. And more importantly, you're our captain," Jori gave him a pointed look, daring him to say otherwise.
"Whatever. I'm not going to be called captain on my own damn ship. The next person to address me like that is getting marooned on the next planet we pass."
The men knew it was an idle threat. One their captain made at least once every other day. They still respected him though, even if they didn't believe his threats.
"If you say so, Decker." Jori chuckled and rolled his eyes in amusement. "We received a call a bit before you made it to the bridge," his voice took on a serious tone as he began talking again. Though the two men often joked and teased each other they both took their job very seriously. "A guy in the Delta quadrant, named Zair, is looking for someone to locate a woman for him."
"We're bounty hunters, J. Not matchmakers."
"I told him as much. Seems he's been looking for her for a few years now. She wronged his kingdom and they've been hunting her down to make her pay."
Decker rolled his eyes and groaned in annoyance. The one thing he hated more than being called 'captain' was dealing with alien politics. "Can't someone else do it? We kinda just specialize in Earth matters."
"He's offering a twelve-figure sum for her. But, only if we bring her in alive."
"Shit. Who is this woman and what the fuck did she do?"
Jori pressed a button on Decker's console and a picture of a redheaded woman with golden skin and sapphire eyes came up on the screen. "She's a priestess from the temple of Dalei on Sambaria. According to this guy they had an arranged marriage and she went AWOL the night before the wedding. Their villages have been at war with each other since before Earth had its first government and this marriage was supposed to create an alliance and bring peace to both villages."
"You know you're making that twelve-figure sum sound less and less appealing."
"The ship's main computer is in need of an upgrade and this could very well cover that and allow us all to take a much-needed break. None of us has been planetside in over two years. These small jobs aren't cutting it. We need upgrades, provisions, and a break. Especially you, Decker. When was the last time you even went to see her?"
"Not since the funeral. Alright. We'll take the job. You guys can get your rest, and I can see about picking up a small job to keep me busy while we're on Earth."
"...Alright. I'll go let him know we'll take the job." Jori walked off, heading for a communications console to contact Zair.
Part of Decker was already regretting taking the job, but he knew Jori was right. It wasn't healthy, physically or mentally, for him to keep his crew out here as long as he had. Artificial gravity didn't do much to prevent bones from deteriorating. Not like being on Earth or an Earth-like planet and dealing with natural gravity. Plus their ship was rather old and probably wasn't keeping them as safe from the radiation of space as it used to when he'd first gotten it when he got out of the military. He let out a groan and grumbled something about 'stupid responsibilities' under his breath before turning his attention back to the picture of the woman on his console. Something about her seemed familiar, but he couldn't quite place a finger on it. He didn't let it bother him long though, chalking it up to some subconscious prejudice that made all alien races seem similar in his mind. He didn't really believe that though, but it allowed him enough delusion to ignore the picture and close the file.