Chapter 5: Captain Alex

Even from where he stood, Laurence could feel those impossibly pale blue eyes trained on him as if they were capable of seeing straight into his thoughts. The coldness within them seemed to affect his blood. It ran with a chill that raised gooseflesh on the back of his neck. The set of her lips, which held the color of fine burgundy wine, did nothing to reassure him of her fair reception of him to her boat. Her gentle waves of auburn hair were pinned behind her head and allowed to cascade down her back. Everything about her was beautiful, but her presence was so commanding that one tended to overlook the fact that she was so petite, so slight. No woman that Laurence had seen managed to make a pair of flared thigh military jodhpurs and spotless black, jack boots look so elegant. Granted, the tight, light beige cotton tank she wore under a pair of suspenders that held her gun belt in place might have helped bring forth her feminine appeal. Her slender, delicate fingers drummed idly against the simple silver hilt of a rapier on the hip opposite the one that bore the holster that contained her plasma pistol. Laurence just knew his heart and breathing had stopped at the sight of her, but more from fear than from appreciation of Captain de Sade's loveliness.

"Ah, my dear Captain!" To Laurence's horror Nigel strode right up to the woman without a care. Worse, he lifted her hand when he reached her then placed a sweet kiss to her dainty knuckles. Laurence expected the woman to draw her rapier and run Mr. Wellington through, or to at least pull her pistol and shoot him in the foot for his bold familiarity. Instead, all she did was roll her eyes with a long-suffering sigh. "As always a pleasure to lay eyes on your visage."

Captain de Sade pulled her hand out from Nigel's grip then flapped it at him in a graceful if dismissive gesture, her lips pressed together. "Don't be tiresome, Nigel." Her voice was a silken alto that sounded capable of achieving volumes that could range from a sultry whisper to a commanding shout. Laurence decided that never before had a ship and her captain been so well paired.

The Horotech mustered up some courage, enough to approach the pair with a slight clearing of his throat and a strained smile that he tried to make look more confident than it was. He at least would be able to say later that he didn't flinch when the Captain turned her attention to him instead of on Mr. Wellington. The smile she gave him held little warmth, but that might have been the influence of her eyes.

"Hello, Captain de Sade." Laurence's voice wavered only slightly as he greeted her. He adopted what he hoped was a smart stance, his hands clasped behind his back, mostly so she wouldn't notice that they were shaking. "I am reporting for duty, and may I say that I am enthusiastically looking forward to serving on such a splendid craft?" There. That wasn't too bad. Was it? It was difficult to tell by the Captain's reaction.

"No less than I expected, Mr. Kane," she replied in a flat tone of voice. Whatever thoughts she had on her Horotech were hidden behind a well-controlled expression of cool disdain. Silence then lingered between them as if she waited for him to do something interesting.

Laurence fought against the urge to fidget in place and lowered his eyes before he belatedly remembered to remove his hat in the presence of a lady. He fumbled the bowler from his head but was grateful that it gave his hands something to hold on to. "Ah...as directed, I read through my hiring packet, but...if you please...my job description was somewhat lacking in details. Perhaps...at your convenience...we could discuss it. You and I." He swallowed as the Captain arched a delicate brow. "Over tea." Both he and the Captain ignored the quiet titter that was barely contained by Mr. Wellington.

"The details I gave you are no more and no less than what I had intended to give you, Mr. Kane." Captain de Sade's chin came up into a more prideful cant. Her smile didn't seem to warm, but there was an edge of amusement to it that made her seem more human. "I expect you to fill in the blanks since you would know better than I what tasks are required of a Horotech. Any lack in your performance will be brought to light in time and remedied immediately."

Laurence blinked in open bewilderment. Never before had he encountered an employment where he was responsible for writing his own job description as well as hold himself to standards. Always he knew some form of management would look over his shoulder, place expectations on his performance that may or may not have anything to do with his actual work. Apparently, the same assumptions applied to Captain de Sade was a mistake. Additionally, he began to get the impression that one would be wise to not try to anticipate how the Captain's mind worked. That was both reassuring and daunting.

"Y-yes, ma-" Laurence broke off his words as a blush came to his cheeks. She arched a brow at him again. "Captain. I mean. Yes, Captain," he stammered.

Nigel studied his fingernails until Captain de Sade spoke. "Take him to his quarters, Mr. Wellington."

Her eyes never left the Horotech as she began to turn to ascend the stairs. Laurence felt himself begin to breathe again just in time for her to pause in her steps. "Oh and," this time she waited until Laurence looked at her, "welcome aboard, Mr. Kane." Her lips melted into a tight smile before she turned completely to climb the stairs.

Nigel watched their Captain stride up the stairs then draped a companionable arm around Laurence's shoulders. He encouraged the Horotech to start back towards the stairs by the entrance to the mess hall. His voice lowered to a husky undertone that was colored by open amusement. "Butter wouldn't melt in the good Captain's mouth, but she has an ass you could bounce a coin off of."

"My God, man!" Laurence's outrage at their Captain described in such disrespectful words overrode his withdrawn nature. He skewered Mr. Wellington with a scowl of disapproval as he pulled out from under the Historian's arm. To his continued consternation, all his protest seemed to do was amuse Mr. Wellington because the Historian started to laugh with a pleased grin on his face.

"Do calm down, Mr. Kane," said Nigel around his mirth. He gave Laurence's arm a gentle prod to keep him moving. "I've said much worse to her face, and the fact that it has the benefit of being true is what keeps me in her good graces."