Chapter Six — Part 1

I lay in bed, a sticky sweat covering most of my body. The ship’s life support systems were temporarily off-line, and Idaho was making its hot, humid way into my quarters. Staring at the ceiling, I wondered how Fluff slept through such sickening heat. I could barely stand the feeling of sweat slipping off my chest, making the places under my arms and between my legs slick and uncomfortable.

“There’s nothing so exciting as Idaho in the summer.” I said sarcastically.

The place was flat, terribly flat. And hot, the humidity around ninety percent. Fluff had recommended Idaho because of its relatively low population density. I wondered why anybody would want to live there. A mosquito buzzed my ear, seeking blood.

We’d set down the night before, and Fluff and I hadn’t bothered to get out of bed yet. Last night we had gone to bed, and he did to me what I felt at the time was the ultimate insult. He’d kept his hands to himself. Shortly after life support came back online, restoring a comfortable atmosphere to our room, Fluff sat up, stretching, then let his legs slide out over the edge of the bed.

As I waited for something romantic to happen, he got up and took a shower. Having been so completely ignored, I got up and searched the Persimmon’s outdated memory files for anything that might resemble the data crystal that we were supposed to be looking for. I did this from my private console. When Fluff came out of the shower, I was still undressed, and still working at the computer console, only now I was trying to look seductive.

Fluff set his bottom at the edge of my bed, stared at me for the longest time, and I thought he was going to make a move. When he didn’t, I took action, walking over to him and sitting on his lap. He looked away from me. I thought to myself. He’s just avoiding me because the last thing either of us need right now is a kid.

Of course, I wasn’t too fond of father and mother holding a shotgun wedding in a cornfield in Idaho. Not only would Tiffany and Kotian be upset with the thought of being grandparents. Fluff had expressed this as a particular concern of his on many occasions.

“Isn’t it romantic?” I said. “I’m the Captain of a pirate ship.”

“Yeah.” Fluff admitted. “Real romantic.” I would’ve done anything to turn him on, but he didn’t seem to love me like I love him.

He changed the subject as quickly as possible. “I was wondering if you would do me the honor of giving me some lessons in sword fighting.” Fluff said. I was surprised; my parents always teased me because I wasn’t very good with a sword. As we fought, Fluff got me pinned up against a barricade, and I had to think fast to escape defeat.

“I love you.” I said.

It caught Fluff off guard. Fluff let his sword drop and I put a mock stab through his chest, doing a little victory dance on the cargo hold floor. Lim, Kotian, and Tiffany gave the ship a once over while we talked and kissed. Fluff would push away when I got too serious, and I was beginning to wonder if I would ever win his heart. My crew reported to me at the most inopportune times. Over all it was a most wonderful day.

Lim showed me his results. “We have full weapons, but one of the shielding coils is damaged. We’ll lose twenty percent of our shield power when it finally burns out.”

“Make a list of the parts we’ll need to steal to ensure that our ship keeps flying.” I said. I kissed Fluff on the neck, but it felt cold. Okay, so maybe I couldn’t win his heart. But what happened to change his mind so quickly? I looked across the room in the mirror.

Am I ugly? I asked myself, not for the first time.

Kotian and Tiffany step forward together. “I’ve got the repair drones on line, and Tiffany got the service drones working. The ship had a crack in the left forward impact strut. The problem is already repaired. Otherwise the Persimmon is fit for flight. Captain Bit, can I speak to you as your father.”

“Sure Papa.” I answered respectfully. “What is it?”

“I really do hope you two are using protection.” Kotian said, obviously uncomfortable.

“I’m a virgin.” Fluff blurted out, embarrassed.

I flushed red, and slapped him. A welt rose up where I hit him, I tried to apologize, then thought better of it. “You have just ruined my reputation.”

I began to think, perhaps Fluff’s physical age was less than his true chronological age. I was only about thirteen angel years old. I had only been an angel for thirteen human lifetimes. Fluff might be thousands of angel years old. The age difference and experience difference might very well play a part in his behavior. As an angel, it would be very easy to remain a virgin for thousands of human lifetimes.