Note; I am happy to announce the revival of Adventures across the Starways. Introducing Rob, (aka - rbo) as my very talented co-writer. Our plan is to take you for a wild ride across space, as we encounter more bizarre adventures!

Chapter 16

After the harrowing episode with Victor Sive looked forward to some R and R time on planet Sargo. She planned on putting that ugly business behind her and have a bit of fun with Jason. From what she'd heard the whole crew was due for some shore leave, not all at once, but by shifts. She smiled, as she remembered Jason telling her he would take care of all the arrangements for their little romantic getaway. That included a very nice hotel as well as dinner and dancing afterward. She packed a small bag for their overnight stay, of course, this included her special little black dress and matching accessories.

They were the first to leave the Angel on the shuttle craft, Zlanta and Donny were to meet them later in the evening at the dance club. The rest of the crew made ready to transport down soon after Jason and Sive. Sive smiled, as she looked at the bustling city, as they were taken by air-cab to their hotel.

The hotel was not the most expensive on Sargo, but it had everything one could want with courteous staff and clean comfortable rooms. Server robots were stationed in each set of rooms, ready to, of course, serve clients' needs. Sive was impressed, as she looked around their adjoining rooms. Soon afterward Sive showered and changed, hoping Jason would approve.

Meanwhile, after showering and dressing in semi-formal clothes, Jason returned to Sive's door and raised his hand to knock. She had heard his footsteps, knowing his stride. Before he could knock, the door was jerked open. Jason's knuckles hit air knocking him a little off balance. Sive stood there, grinning up at him waiting for his approval. He gazed at the lady in front of him; she looked even more beautiful than ever in her sexy black number that hugged her curves.

She had used her nanites to enlarge her already stunning eyes and her lips into a mischievous pout. A light touch of makeup completed the look she had been after. His eyes told her what she wanted to know. She smiled back; Sive was enjoying the moment as well; she felt renewed. It was a great feeling after all the stress on the ship. She broke the trance she seemed to have placed on him, grabbing his hand she said, “Come on, I'm starving!”

The restaurant Jason had in mind was located only a few blocks away, but he hailed a Johnny-cab anyway. He wanted this night to be special. They had a great dinner in one of the better restaurants. Jason had, of course, steak and all the trimmings, while Sive had the house special of Greek lemon chicken with roasted potatoes. They both had the infamous, "Sex in a Pan" for desert. Laughing at the name. Sive told him it was actually an ancient recipe from earth. (you're curious!)

As she finished the last delicious bite, she looked up from her dish to find he had been staring at her. She blushed. She cleared her throat and smiled. She didn't want the evening to end. "Jason, this was truly splendid. Thank you, now I need to work this wonderful meal off, how about some dancing? Do you know of a place?” Sive asked.

He grinned and replied, "I certainly do, the best one in the city called the Sargo Club. We'll meet Donny and Zlanta there when they can get away. I do want to warn you that the club can be a little rowdy at times. With Sargo being a busy port there are always some people ready and willing to live it up, especially when the out-world pole dancers are performing in town.

When they arrived at the Club, Sive found herself at home as she had worked in places, such as this to earn her enough credits to live and still stay anonymous, when she was on the run. It was crowded, brassy, even flamboyant and so noisy you had to shout to be heard. She loved it. They soon found a table that was near one of the poles. A scantily clad, pretty, sweating waitress took their drink orders quickly and within minutes was back putting the drinks on a napkin before asking, “Will that be credits or a standing tab?” Jason answered, “Standing tab please.”

They had just finished their first drink when Jason spotted Donny and Zlanta at the entrance looking for them. He waved his arm until Donny saw them. He grabbed Zlanta's arm and pushed his way through the crowd to their table. Leaning close to Jason's ear he shouted, “We were able to get away a little earlier than I thought. I hope you had a good dinner. The food here is terrible, but I heard the dancers are knockouts.”

Just then the owner of the club stopped the band and called out for silence, once the noise had toned down enough for him to be heard, he introduced himself. “Welcome...welcome I am your host Sam. Let's get right down to it with the first dancer, Raven. From the curtains stepped a very tall dark slim female that wore a semi-transparent gown that seemed to be made of multi-colored scarves. They were all woven and tied to cover but did nothing to hide her charms. She had on a large brimmed hat that shadowed her face so that little could be seen of her features.

Raven sauntered across the stage like a large cat and stopped, hip-shot, lazily surveying the open-mouthed faces staring up at her. Slowly, she reached up and grasped the brim of the hat, then, with a twist of her wrist, sailed it into the darkness. Her face, with its exotic features, was exposed. Her large, totally black eyes had an oriental tilt to them, above a beautifully shaped but slightly large nose. The full, pouting lips opened to reveal brilliantly white teeth with strangely elongated eye teeth, almost fangs.

Her hair, which had been tucked in her hat, cascaded down over her shoulders and back until it reached to her hips. It glistened in the light like wet black ink. She entwined herself around the polished pole in the center of the stage and began a slow sensual dance, all the while loosening the scarves that covered her body. One by one she sailed them into the audience, gradually quickening the tempo of her seductive movements as the music accelerated.

The crowd of admirers that had been noisy when she first appeared was now nearly silent as they stared up at her. The stage was swiftly being covered with coins, tokens, jewelry and whatever else was used for exchange on Sargo, even articles of clothing.

The tempo of her dance quickened until Raven was spinning faster and faster, scarves weare discarded until there were three, sometimes four, in the air at the same time.

Suddenly, the frenzied music came to an unexpected halt. So too did Raven, her arms raised, head back, beads of perspiration draining from her body, covered only by two wet, flimsy scarves clinging over her breasts and loins she stood motionless as if she had been frozen in time.

The room plunged into total blackness for just moments. When the lights came back, the stage was empty. The room erupted in enthusiastic applause, whistles, and shouts. The owner appeared to catcalls and demands for more. A few waitresses were picking up the booty from the stage floor.

Shortly after receiving their second round of drinks. The next dancer came on stage. She wasn't as polished as Raven, but the men enjoyed the show anyway. As Sive worked on her second drink she watched the girls dance thinking, “They are good...I'll give them that, but I think I can wow these people just as much. In fact, why don't I?” An idea was forming.

Not long after the second dancer was done, Sive decided to slip away to see if she could bribe one of the dancers into letting her take her place. She grinned, as she thought about the look on Jason's face, when he finally realized it was her. Excusing herself, Sive quickly found one of their change rooms and knocked on the door and whispered, “May I come in for a moment?” Hearing a muffled “Yes” she opened the door, stepped in closing it quickly behind her. In no time Sive told the girl what she wanted and why. She smiled nodding her head, as she listened, where upon, some credits changed hands. Sive had lucked out; this girl was very close to her size. She was told to pick anything she wanted from her wardrobe. After looking over the various costumes, Sive decided on a little harem outfit. The top showed off her midriff and was very low cut. The short flared skirt was just long enough to cover her butt. Luckily she was wearing black lace panties that matched her dress, and she couldn't help but grin to herself. Last of all the girl handed her a Bling set of jewelry consisting of a necklace, earrings, and browband. All very flashy.

When it came to pole dancing, the fewer clothes, the better. Slipping out of her dress, Sive looked at her bra; it followed the dress. Taking up the top Sive slid her arms into it pulling it over her bust. It was a perfect fit, next she stepped into the skirt pulling it up over her hips adjusting it to her satisfaction. Last of all was the jewelry. As she headed out, she gave the girl the thumbs up and said, “If I don't get back ... just keep the dress.”

Once in the hallway, Sive chuckled to herself as she changed her appearance. She now had long curling deep auburn red hair, blue eyes, long legs and an athletic build. Patting her hair, she twisted most of it to the back, so it didn't get in the way of her performance. With a satisfied smile, Sive glided to the dance floor, stopping at the music station long enough to tell the DJ the song she wanted played before walking right past Jason's table.

She stopped at the nearest vacant pole, wrapped her hand around it so that she was facing Jason. As the music started, she swung her body around and started to move on the pole. All eyes were on her as she smiled and swayed her hips. Her eyes glanced at Jason, lingering on him longer than any of the other men. As her hips swayed back and forth, her hands slid from her throat to the outside of her breasts, lingering there, before moving down, always moving with the music. Fingers splayed out, her hands moved to her waist, hips, her eyes locked on Jason's again and again, as she smiled sensually.

Without warning there was suddenly a loud noise, the music stopped followed by the lights. Seconds later the emergency lights came on. A curious tapping noise could be heard. Everyone was looking around unsure what was going on. Suddenly there was an explosion that took out the far wall; the aftershock knocked Sive off her pole.

Two guards from the doorway quickly ran over, drawing their guns and just as quickly disappeared in a flash of light before they had a chance to fire. The crowd in the room watched in shocked silence as a group of twelve men entered the room, all with guns drawn. Sive stared at them, “Pirates!” she whispered in alarm. The one in the center of the group caught her eye. He was tall and athletic looking with dark hair and blue eyes. He wore a dark leather jacket, one glove on his left hand and three large rings on his right.

“Ladies and gentlemen... can I have your attention?” his voice echoed through the room. “I'm here to relieve you of your excess wealth.” He looked the crowd over before turning to a short chubby man issuing an order, “Collect their wallets and jewelry Torin.” Torin nodded in delight as he proceeded to rush around collecting the valuables. “Please don’t resist, for your knowledge you have the honor of being robbed by Captain Murdock.” He grinned insolently.

“Arrogant jerk,” Sive thought to herself as her lip curled in disgust.

Most of the pirates walked around the room looking threatening. One, who was wearing a bright orange shirt decided to have a closer look at one of the waitresses. He grabbed her arm and pulled her close. She tried to push him away which only caused him to tighten his grip. One of the guest's from the crowd stood up looking at the distressed woman, “Leave her alone!” he called out. The pirate pushed the girl away and pointed his gun at the guest.

The grin on Murdock’s face suddenly faded. “Leave him, Fido, no unnecessary killings.” The rest of his men were too busy laughing and helping themselves to food and drink to notice. In defiance, Fido walked up to the man and placed his gun under his chin.

“Fido!” Murdock barked, whereupon Fido threw him a dirty look. Not finished with him Fido turned back to the man and struck him in the face causing him to drop to the floor.

Murdock became angry. He knew Fido was testing his resolve. He had ordered Fido to kill the guards quickly to make sure no one else would do something stupid. He didn’t like killing; it was done only as a last resort. If this score was to pan out, he needed everyone's cooperation.

Murdock glanced around until he came across Sive, there was something about this girl. She had a different attitude from the others. “You,” he ordered pointing at her “Dance for us.” Most of his men stopped what they were doing and cheered in agreement.

Sive tried and failed to keep her temper in check “Go to hell!” she snarled.

“I suggest you dance; else my men might decide a pretty thing like you should come with us… for private dancing. Someone get some music back on!”

With that threat, Sive reluctantly started dancing as Murdock slowly walked away. Some of the other dancers also started dancing to take some of the pressure off of Sive. “Snake,” Sive thought to herself while looking at his low life men who were all grinning lewdly. She couldn't help but notice Fido had an especially huge grin on his mug as he looked at her breasts. “And don’t you get any ideas you freak!” she whispered to herself as she continued sliding up and down the pole.

Meanwhile, Murdock had made his way over to Jason’s table. “Nice to see you again Jason.” He said with an amused smile.

“It’s been a while,” Jason replied trying to sound unconcerned.

“And how is your business, I hear the Tainted Angle has a VIP on board.”

Jason was silent as he remembered the last time he had crossed paths with Murdock. The pirate had stolen his cargo and nearly cost him his ship. It had taken years to rebuild the business back up, and now he was back again. Jason felt the bitterness seep into his gut.

Murdock continued to smile brashly, watching Jason's face. Glancing around again, he still couldn’t see anyone who matched the VIP’s description. He knew as of now, the rest of his crew was searching Jason’s ship and confiscating his cargo.

The communication on his wrist buzzed “Any sign of her?” he asked.

“No Captain,” a voice replied, and Murdock’s smile faded as he eyed Jason.

“Where is she Jason? I understand she is worth a shipload of credits. You know where she is, so don't deny it. I was told she would be here with you.”

“And who told you that?” Jason asked, to his dismay someone had betrayed him to his nemesis.

Fido walked over to Jason’s table his gun pointing directly at the captain. “Talk scum or you will be as dead as those guards.”

Murdock suddenly lost his patience he glanced over at Donny, “Well where is she?”

Jason suddenly felt ill as his head turned towards his friend, Donny, the traitor? He had known him for years, shared stories, been his best man at his wedding and had even faced death more than once with this man.

To Jason’s further shock, not daring to look at Jason, Donny stood up frantically looking around the room “I don’t know, she was here just a few minutes ago! I promise she couldn’t have gotten far. Do you have that description I sent you? The one I sent as soon as I knew she had a price on her head?”

Zlanta sat there open mouthed in shock. She loved this man she kept blinking suddenly realizing she didn’t know him at all. She was confused, and Donny was loyal to his friend and captain. He had risked his life to save theirs over the years, and now he betrayed them to this pirate scum. All for a few credits? She became livid with anger but kept it to herself for now.

Jason had heard enough he slowly stood up, and before anyone could stop him he struck Donny across the face. Donny fell to the floor moaning, blood running down from his broken jaw.

Fido refocused his gun on Jason, some of the other pirates laughed, but Murdock was not pleased with how this was going. They should be back on the ship by now. He drew his own gun firing a warning shot at Jason’s feet. He heard a gasp from behind and looked over at the sexy dancer he had first talked with. She had stopped dancing and was looking very concerned. He raised his eyebrow wondering, “Did she know Jason?”

At that moment Zlanta pulled out her hidden gun to stun the distracted pirate, but Fido was too quick and with a flash of light Zlanta disintegrated before Sive’s eyes.

Murdock knocked the gun from Fido’s hand “I SAID NO KILLING!” he growled in anger. Fido couldn't hide his contempt. His lips curled in a snarl as Murdock, continued, “Return to the ship… NOW!”

Disgusted Fido obeyed, tapped a button on his wrist and vanished from the room.

Jason quickly drew his gun hoping to kill the pirate while he was distracted, but Murdock was too quick stunning Jason before he got a shot off. “Damn it!” Murdock thought to himself,“This is turning into a disaster.”

“Men it's time to return to the ship. Mr. Ming, you will escort the new Captain of the Tainted Angel, Donny, back to his ship. If the girl turns up contact me immediately. As of now, you are under his command." Ming gave Murdock a disgruntled look before helping Donny up off the floor. Donny didn’t say a word, and he kept staring at the spot where his wife had been standing only moments before. Ming had to repeatedly shove him as they exited the room.

Murdock cleared his thoughts, “Men take the former captain back to my ship. Once in the brig, we'll have all the time we need in which to extract information from him. Two of his men walked over and picked up the unconscious Jason, they both tapped the devices on their wrists and all three men instantly vanished.

Sive tried to smoother another gasp. She couldn’t believe what was happening. Jason was taken, Zlanta dead, Donny’s betrayal. She had only just started believing she had found real friends and that she was safe with them. All was disappearing before her eyes!

Murdock turned to look at the dancer once more. He noticed a tear running down her cheek. He pointed his gun at her, “I believe you should also come along with me.” He said with a grim nod of his head.