It was a kiss that shook my very core and rearranged the stars. I shouldn't have done it, I know this, but I couldn't help it. The bridge was empty, just me and her and the stars that just shifted themselves. She turned her head to look out the window of the bridge.
"Jack. Are you drunk?" she asked. "Will you remember this in the morning?" she finished. He rubbed his eyes and sat down in his captain's chair. He motioned for her to sit beside him in Rige's copilot seat. The ship was on auto pilot, and the crew had been asleep for about five hours now.
Jack was staring out the window while he took a drink of his thermos. "Don't worry… Coffee." He assured her as she watched him sip on it. She felt something strange at this moment. She didn't care that he hadn't answered her question yet. It was a strange and overwhelming feeling of relief, love, and an overall sense of wonder as she watched him.
He smiled that famous smirk that he was known for. "Yes." She looked at him. "I will remember this tomorrow." she smiled.
"How do you know?" she questioned back at him. At this point, he had not even turned around to face her. He sat there with his gaze still fixated on the stars.
"Do you know the story of the lady of the stars?" he asked as he took another drink of coffee. "No, but I would most like to hear it."
He folded his arms and leaned back in his seat, keeping his gaze forward. "The story goes that a woman of the exact planet we were just on, Cerion, snuck onto a cargo ship, carrying ammunition." Ade was drawn to his mouth and the way he seemed to feel passionate about the way he talked. "Weeks went by before anyone would find her. They started to miss rations and couldn't understand why they were running so low on medical supplies. She was pregnant and was trying to escape Cerion dominance by migrating to a new world." She watched him in complete and utter fascination. "About four days into the trip, she had a miscarriage. All the medical supplies that came up missing now had an explanation." He suddenly looked sad. "There was blood everywhere. She smelled awful. The cargo crew had no idea what to do for her." He brought the thermos up to his lips, hesitated for a minute, and then took a drink. "After a couple of days in the med bay, she died from exhaustion and blood loss. The men, being on a ship, didn't have the tools for a proper burial. So, after many hours of debate on how to dispose of the body. The captain had to make a hard decision." She could tell that he looked perplexed as he talked about the lady. "He decided to release her body into the cold, dead space."
Ade watched as he rubbed his eyes again. "You don't sleep much, do you, Jack?" She got up and started to massage his shoulders.
"I sleep when my mind allows me to." He relaxed his shoulders and closed his eyes.
"Will you remember in the morning?" he shook his head, yes. She leaned close to his ear and whispered, "You carry too much weight on your shoulders." He started to drift off, and for a moment, he forgot he was on the ship. He forgot he was a pirate for information. The only two people that existed were him and her. The universe existed for them.
The door to the bridge opened, and Rige walked in. "Jack…" she stopped as she noticed Ade rubbing his shoulders. "Oh, sorry. I'll be going." Brim opened his eyes.
"No, what is it sport?" he insisted. Jack stood up and tried to look as if nothing were
happening.
"It's nothing, really." She said as she turned around. She then stopped and looked at Jack. In her eyes, you could tell she wanted to tell him something. Something burned inside her. The interruption gave Jack the time he needed to regain his composure.
"Well… I must be getting back to my quarters." He said as he rubbed the back of his neck. "We do have to inform the crew on everything tomorrow." She looked at him and let out a long sigh. She felt as though she had missed her moment. That another chance to be a wild and frivolous citizen of the galaxy had passed her by.
What was it she had asked Jack? "Does it hurt? Coming close to what you want, only for it to pass you by?" How ironic this question seems now.
"Cerion hasn't changed very much since the last time the crew and I ventured out into its wasteland." Brim said as he talked to his watch recorder. "I didn't see any signs of her." He stared blankly into the abyss of space out the window of his quarters. "Hopefully, she was too busy running her saloon to know I was on the planet."
Jack walked over to the desk that sat by his bed and poured a big glass of whisky. "It has been four days, twelve hours, and forty minutes since I have slept. When Jean mentioned Cerion, I was worried we'd run into her. I was in no condition to deal with the repercussions of Ade meeting her, not yet."
Jack closed his recorder and laid down on the bed. He stared at the ceiling and pondered so many different things. Ade had completely surprised him tonight. She wasn't what she seemed, and that kiss. That world-shattering kiss. But, he needed to forget about it. She was a queen—a queen of women, none the less. He checked the time. He needed to close his eyes and try to catch some sleep. He closed his eyes and for the first time in the better part of four days…. He slept. He didn't dream, nor did he move a muscle. It was one of those dead nights of sleep, where the body mends the soul.
While Jack slept, Ade was in her quarters, questioning all she had ever known. The alien with the blonde hair and the porcelain skin doubted herself. The glasses still sat on the desk. There, his glass was. The glass that had his lip imprints all over it, she couldn't stop looking at it. It is needless to say that she had never felt this before for someone.
It was on her sixteenth birthday that she was named queen. Her mother, the queen before her, died suddenly and unexplainable. A lot of women die of a form of advanced cancer in her world. Most likely to do with the pheromones that run rampant on the planet. Her mother, however, was healthy all the way up until the day she dropped dead. She was in the throne room, presiding over some form of issue. When all of a sudden, she slumped down in her chair and closed her eyes. Before her head hit the floor, she was dead.
Ade loved her mother more than anything in the galaxy. She was the only thing she had in that whole world. She never knew her father, obviously. Her mother told her that he was a brave warrior from a far off-planet. When a parent dies, the feeling of loss never goes away. They carry that weight with them until the day they take their last breath.
Ade sat on her bed and wondered what her mother would have done at that moment? The beautiful royal would have never been in that situation. "I wonder if she had ever felt this way?" Ade said to herself as she still watched the glass make no movement.
She looked at the door and wondered if he wanted her to come to find him. The pheromone blocker was running low, almost depleted. She only had a few chances left to see what this feeling was, running through her body.
"He is a pirate. An ass of a person. He drinks way too much and swears under every breath." She said, trying to convince herself. "His eyes… His hair…. His presence… These things just made me feel overjoyed in the moments." Ade was overthinking herself to sleep. She couldn't help it at the moment. She decided to lay her head down and get some sleep. As she closed her eyes…. A knock on the door.
"Ms. Ade… It's Rige. Do you have a minute?"
"Please, come in." It was at this moment that she felt the exhaustion enter her body. She was usually in bed right at sundown on her planet. The door crept open, and Rige looked at her, smiled, and nodded her head.
"Thank you for giving me a chance to talk to you." Rige stood in place over by the door. Rige always seemed awkward around Ade.
"Please, have a seat." She said as she made a motion for the door. Rige smiled at her and nodded her head again.
"You know, Rige, you don't have to be so formal with me all the time."
Rige found her seat by her bed and noticed the two empty glasses on the desk. "Tell me those both aren't Jack's," she said as she put the whisky bottle back in the drawer.
"No… He got me to indulge in a few glasses." Ade said as she chuckled. "Is he always like that?" Rige looked up at Ade. "So persuasive." She finished. Rige seemed to be getting relaxed at the question. She started to chuckle too.
"He has been that way ever since I've known him." She took the whisky bottle back out and poured two glasses. She pushed the glass over to Ade. "I think it comes with the job he does." They both picked the glasses up and took a big gulp. "He, in some form, keeps the galaxy at peace. He seems to be a guardian of the information that some people shouldn't obtain."
Ade looked at Rige and quickly lost her smile. "Who gave him the power to decide if they should have it or not?" Ade took the glass off the desk and poured another. "We do not have this on our planet." She threw the glass back. "I have come to see what Jack likes about it."
Rige looked sad. "Jack doesn't like it because of the taste." She explained. "You either drink for one of two reasons. You drink in celebration or because you are sad." Rige finished. At this moment, Ade's heart sank so low that you could hear it in her sigh. She looked up from her sadness.
"What can I help you with, Rige?" Rige looked up at her and poured on more glass, but Ade took the bottle away from her as she stopped.
"Maybe we should stop for the day." She placed the bottle in the drawer.
"Your highness…." She looked embarrassed as she said it. "I mean, Ade. Jack seems to like you a lot." Rige threw her drink back. But, Ade hadn't noticed this at all because she became somewhat catatonic at the notion of Jack liking her. "I need a favor from you… If I can bother your royalty like that?" Ade snapped out of her euphoric trance.
"Don't be silly. Of course, you can." Rige got up and walked over to the door. She fiddled with her hands a little and turned around quickly.
"I want to get Jack's permission to be with Shin-To." She looked very nervously at Ade. She smiled and shook her head in an understanding manner.
"I think that under Jack's tough exterior is a man with a big heart." She patted the side of the bed. "Come sit by me, young one." Rige made her way over to the queen. As she took every step, she could hear her heartbeat. "Tell me, Rige, do you feel love for Shin-To?" Ade asked as she pulled the whisky out of the drawer and poured two glasses.
"I thought you put that up." Ade shook her head. "Well, sadness or celebration, right?" They clinked their glasses in salute and threw them back. They kept doing this until they were a little lightheaded. They started to giggle and joke.
They drank long into the morning until Ade's face became somewhat sad. "Rige." Ade whispered into the early morning. Her head full of dreams that she never had, and her heart full of hope that she never thought would be possible. "Do you feel love for Shin-To?"
Rige shook her head. She never said a word. She lifted her head and looked Ade straight in the eyes. "Yes. Yes, with everything I know to be true in this galaxy. I do." Ade tried to hide the sadness behind her smile. Rige noticed. She knew better, probably all the time she had spent with Jack.
"Do you have love on your planet?" Rige asked. Ade looked away from Rige, out towards the window. She got up and made her way to the door.
"Shall we get some coffee?" Rige watched her make her way effortlessly to the doorway. "Yes."
At this time, Jack was waking up from his deep dead slumber. He arose, and he felt refreshed, different, but not at all. It was the first time he felt at ease, peace of mind in a very long time. He opened his watch and began to preach to it. "I'm in a dangerous situation—a woman who can't love by birthright and a pirate who's afraid to let anyone in. I'm not saying that in the grand scheme of things, I'm supposed to be happy. Hell, if I know my luck, I'll be on the other end of the Reaper's scythe soon enough." Jack closed his recorder and walked to the door. He needed coffee. Not a whole lot of people were up and roaming around the ship at this hour of the morning. They had set the ship to make around about in about three hundred miles, navigating around the atmosphere. The never-ending circle while the crew slept in their chambers.
Jack finally reached the mess hall, and there she was, sitting in the middle of the empty cafeteria with Rige. They were sitting, enjoying each other's company. If Jack were any lesser of a man, he would be wondering why she wasn't thinking of him. Did the kiss mean nothing? But, Jack knows not to even dive into those questions. He walked to the counter and pushed some buttons on the oversized computer. It took about thirty seconds for the machine to drop a cup and dispense the coffee, but Jack was milking it for all the time he could. Finally, Jack turned around and made his way to the girls.
Rige looked like she had never been to bed, but with that blue skin one can never tell. Ade looked as if though she had a lot on her mind, like Jack.
"Hello, ladies," Jack said as he pulled the seat out and sat down by Rige. Very strategically. Ade felt as if it were some kind of show of power, but she waved off the thought.
"Hello, Jack," Rige said as Ade took a big sip of coffee.
"How did you ladies sleep last night?" Jack smiled and winked at Ade. Now he was giving her attention? What kind of game was he playing?
"We didn't," Ade announced to the table. "We drank mostly. Talked about life and love." Jack looked
embarrassed. "It is a funny notion, this love. We do not have it on my planet. But, it seems that your people give themselves over to it almost immediately." Jack smiled and took a sip of coffee. Rige could tell at this point, this was a battle of attrition.
"That's the thing about love, sweetheart, it is a chemical. Sort of like alcohol, you drink enough to get your fill, and then you sober up." Rige felt uncomfortable as Jack explained how a pirate viewed the overall meaning.
"Jack, you don't believe that," Rige said as she playfully slapped his arm.
"How did you sleep, Jack?" Ade questioned, honestly hoping that he will say lousy.
"For the first time in about five days, I slept fine." He took another sip of the coffee. "Turian ground coffee… Nothing like it in the whole galaxy." Jack said as he lifted his cup up to examine the liquid. "Are you ready for today, Ade?" Jack asked as he sat his cup back down. Jack was now just pushing her buttons. Seeing how far he could push her before she broke.
"Yes. I am quite ready for the day."
Rige didn't understand what they were talking about, but she didn't really want to know at this point. She felt as if she were a third wheel in this conversation. She pushed her chair back and stood up. "I should go. It seems as if you two have some things to discuss."
Both looked at Rige and smiled. Jack put on his charming smirk, and Ade calmly waved goodbye to her. After she made her exit, both of them sat there for what seemed like an eternity in silence. Jack was watching her with a twinkle in his eye. Like she was the only thing he would ever need. She had her head looking down towards the table.
"I still remember," Jack said as he slid his coffee cup towards the middle of the table. He stood up and walked out the door. Ade had the biggest smile on her face as she stared blankly at his cup.
"He remembers."