We departed from the station and set a course to the contested zone. After the night of drinking, everyone was tired. I offered to stand watch on the bridge. Gabe invited himself to join me on the bridge. It would make the watch easier on me with someone to talk to.

I showed him to the bridge while the rest of the crew settled in their quarters. I sat in the captain's chair and took command of Shadow Stalker. Gabe grilled me, "How did some greenhorns get roped into running a spec ops mission?"

I did not want to give anything away or offer any information that could weaken our standing among the crew. If the crew mutinied, this ship could be turned against the Alliance. I turned to Gabe with anger in my eyes. I curled my lips to expose my fangs and hissed at him.

"Oh please, Blackbeard, I know black ops; when I see them, this ship reeks of black ops. The way you negotiated was way too scripted. Don't get me wrong, it's a good deal, but you came in with that specific deal and didn't try to undercut us. That tells me the captain has yet to negotiate outside the elven system. That means she is green when it comes to these types of actions. Your weapons are too new. They have yet to see any action. They also stand out here on the fringe; no one carries the latest military-grade hardware." Gabe pushed.

"You, however, are a mystery. I have never seen any reports of species like yours anywhere in Alliance territory. The way you reacted in the bar tells me you either respect the captain or you two have something else going on. Care to enlighten me on your relationship with the captain."

Kitty was feeding information she could source from the military about this man. Half of it was accurate, and the fleet put in the rest to offer a smoke screen on his capabilities.

"Gabe, I don't know what information you hoped to glean from me, but whatever is between the captain and me is precisely that between me and the captain. You have a firm grasp of what is going on here. I am guessing by how quickly you were to accept the job that you knew most of this before attending the meeting. My guess is you are a black ops soldier implanted out here to act as a way for the Alliance to keep track of what we are doing. The rest of your team as well. I have no problem with that, and Goddess knows that we will need all the expertise we can get to accomplish this. We still need to get a whole crew."

"I believe you have all the contacts to get information out here so we can plan our targets. When it comes to me, though, you will have to keep wondering. I don't give that information for free. You must earn that information. You will also not be able to seduce it out of me, so please don't try. I would hate to get your blood all over my hands. It's so hard to clean that out of my fur." I joked as I flashed my claws at the man.

He laughed it off, holding his hands up in surrender. "I got your meaning, princess. Now for the critical questions. Has this ship been tested against another ship yet?"

"Not yet. We are on our shakedown cruise."

"This is one hell of a shakedown cruise."

We chatted for the remainder of the shift. Mir'tan showed up on the bridge with a piping hot cup of coffee. She was looking refreshed and well-rested. "Blackbeard, here is some coffee. Why don't you get cleaned up and rest for a few hours? Then we will chat more in-depth with the new crew now that outside players can't monitor us."

"What him, captain? He is a bit of a scoundrel." I laughed at Gabe as I walked off the bridge and headed to the captain's quarters. If I could get a good nap, I needed to be cuddled up in the blankets with her sent on them. With a purr deep in my throat, I took a quick cat nap.

I was awakened by a hand petting the side of my face. It felt so comfortable, and leaned into the petting hand. I opened my eyes to see Mir'tan looking down lovingly at me. "Bean, it is time to wake up; we have much to do today."

"Can't we just cuddle a bit? I like feeling your hands rubbing on me."

"No, Bean, if I start to rub you more, you will go right back asleep. Tonight, we can cuddle. We should not have to stand watch. Now get your furry but out of bed and join me in the mess hall." She bent over and kissed my nose.

I rolled my eyes and stretched my body out. I found this was the best way to wake up. I had to freshen up before getting dressed and headed to the mess hall. I would tease Mir'tan a little since she refused to cuddle with me. I put on my sexiest corset and the shortest skirt I had.

As I walked into the mess deck, I heard Mir'tan choke on her drink, which caused me to grin momentarily. I grabbed something to eat and drink and sat across the table from Gabe. I gave him a quick hello and turned to my captain.

"Now that Blackbeard is awake from her cat nap, we can start the business. I know that we all played a role for the bar's patrons, but I think we should get down to the real business of the mission. I know that we are all part of the fleet. We will work on pushing the Orcs back deeper into their system. Since we are operating out of fleet mandate and guidance, the payout will be as discussed on the planet. We still have open seats on the team that we can fill if you know any potential people to fill those spots. Most importantly, according to the fleet, we are all dead." Mir'tan started her little meeting.

Max spoke up first, "What specialty do you bring? I want to know who I am going into battle with."

The captain smiled, "I am highly proficient in close-quarter combat, especially bladed weapons."

It was my turn to speak up. "I am a long-range sniper, and my specialty is infiltration. I can fight in close quarters if anyone wants closer inspection of my claws." I gave a wide, toothy smile to everyone. I know that was probably over the top. I just felt like, after last night, I needed to establish my place as the ship's first mate.

"I would like to take a go with you on the mats, little kitty," Jade responded to me and gave me a playful wink. I was a little taken aback by this show of flintiness from her. Mir'tan cleared her throat, breaking me from my ponderance of the situation.

"You will all get mat time to work out and prepare for any planned attacks we may." Mir'tan glared at me, obviously not happy with the flirtatious way that I dressed for the meeting. "We have your weapons locked up in the armory. Which you will be able to access through Shadow Stalker. I require that the weapons stay in the armory unless we go out on a mission. I dislike the idea of unsecured loose firearms on my ship."

"Gabe, why don't you give us some intel on potential targets we can hit."

Gabe got up and explained the three targets we could hit quickly, which were somewhat low-risk for the first few runs. So that we can get a feel of the ship's capabilities and practice as a team before we take on challenging targets. I thought this was a good idea, especially when it would only take three weeks to get within range of these targets.

Mir'tan stayed behind to talk to me after our little meeting. "Bean, you will make me jealous if you keep doing these flirty things in front of others. You know that you are mine alone, right?"

"Mir'tan, I know I am yours, just as you are mine. I only ever want to flirt with you. I wanted to tease you for not giving me any cuddles earlier. This outfit is only for you. Now let me change so we can practice on the mat." I cocked my hip and looked over my shoulder at her. I blew her a kiss as I walked out of the mess hall to put some more appropriate clothes on for fighting.

I have my black leathers that were perfect for close combat protection. My gauntlets hung on the closet wall, so I grabbed them and headed to the gym. It had been a while since Mir'tan and I had gone out against each other. The last time we did that, we both ended up in medical.

The gym had lots of equipment and a large area to spar. I saw that Jade and Evelyn were practicing an unarmed martial art. They both looked like they had lots of practice. Their moves were fluid and fast, with no hesitation. If any of those strikes landed, they looked like they would hurt.

I wanted to watch them keep going at it, but Mir'tan walked onto the mat with her sword and hooked her finger at me to come for her. Great, now I was going to get my butt spanked by her. I grabbed my gauntlets and pranced up to her. "Let's have some fun, Captain," I told her.

I moved in to remain out of range of her sword. I crouched, keeping my legs coiled to spring if I needed to. I stalked around her, trying to get an open shot of her. I needed to get her to the ground where I had the advantage. I knew that a long, drawn-out fight up on our feet would give her more advantages over me.

I noticed her movements were trying to herd me to the open mat. That would limit my ability to bounce off multiple surfaces and redirect my attacks. I liked that method of attack. It made it harder to predict if I could use numerous surfaces to move through. She was learning more about my plans of attack. I watched some nature videos of predatory cats moving in their environment. I was trying to incorporate that more in my movements. It felt so natural to me.

Mir'tan finally jabbed with her sword, which I quickly blocked with my gauntlet. I was patient, though; I knew that the attack was nothing more than an attempt to get me to move in closer. I decided to try something different. I did a diving attack that I knew she would twist out of the way for and bring her sword up in an attack. I was prepared for the attack and turned out of the course. Once I landed, I sprang back at her, twisting in the air and catching her in the back of the head with my knee.

She moved with the attack, minimizing my blow's effectiveness, but it got her momentarily on the ground. I was not in a position to take advantage of my attack. It allowed me to move on the mat so I was closer to the corner than I wanted to be. We went back and forth, pushing the advantage, but ultimately Mir'tan kicked my ass. I laid back on the mat with her in the mount. "So, you're on top tonight," I whispered to her.

She laughed at me and helped me back up. I needed to grab some water. That was a long workout. I need to figure out how to get her on her back quicker.

I sat on the side as Evelyn challenged Mir'tan to spar with blades. They moved around the mat gracefully; their swords moved like they were part of their bodies. It was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. They eventually called it a draw.

Jade sat down beside me, "that was some incredible fighting. I never expected you to do so well against the captain when you didn't have a ranged attack like her."

"Last time we fought each other with weapons like that, she smashed my tail, and I scratched up her face. I was walking funny for a couple of weeks." I shivered as I remembered that day. "It was also the day we became friends."

I noticed Evelyn kneeling in front of Mir'tan. "Your Majesty, please accept my blade as yours." Everyone turned to look at Evelyn. My eyes were wide in shock that she had found out.

Jade looked at me, "you knew she was royalty."

"Yes," I said in a nervous voice.

Dax just looked at Max, "I told you so." They then went back to working out.

Mir'tan was in shock as she was called out. "Why don't you introduce yourself now," Gabe responded angrily.

"I'm Bean," I said, waving my hand to take a little pressure off Mir'tan.

It didn't help take the pressure off of Mir'tan; if anything, it got a lot of weird looks from everyone there.

Mir'tan just rolled her eyes. "Yes, I am the second princess, Mir'tan. To anyone else, I am just Captain Cook. I can't make myself or the rest of the crew a target because someone outside the ship knows my name. Now, the Alliance has no problem making me dead to my family so that I could be on this mission, so you should not have a problem with it either."

She looked very frustrated by this turn of events. I walked over to her and put my arm around her to comfort her and take her back to her quarters. When I found myself with a blade at my throat. Evelyn gave me an evil eye, "you should not act so familiar with the princess." She spoke with such fury. I froze, not wanting to get sliced down.

Mir'tan was quick to bring her blade up to Evelyn's throat. "You will not threaten my Lor'hi. I will strike you where you stand if you ever threaten her again.

Evelyn quickly dropped her blade, "my apologies, My Lady Bean. I did not understand your status. Will you please forgive me?"

"Sure," is all I could say as I walked Mir'tan back to her quarters.

I tried to console Mir'tan but didn't know what was happening besides her being outed as a princess. I sat there just hugging her.

A little while later, Mir'tan finally spoke up. "I am sorry, Bean, I made your life exceedingly more difficult by telling Evelyn you are my Lor'hi. She is now honor bound to report this to the Elven council and my parents. We might be able to prevent anything from happening for a short time, but eventually, you will be brought before the council to be judged. Our love will not matter in their eyes; you are not Elven or a man."

"I will fight whomever I need to so that we can be together," I told her. "Besides, aren't we dead now, according to the Alliance?" I asked hopefully.

"No, my family will have been informed of my actual status. The Alliance would never put me in this status without permission from my family. I know you don't see what all this will mean for us; I just didn't want to put you in this position so early."

"I am yours forever. I will do whatever is needed for us to be together. You did nothing that you need to be sorry for. I am happy I don't have to hide our relationship now. How about we go back out there with our heads high and finish our workout."

For the next three weeks, we trained together so that we were all familiar with each other and could work well together. We planned how we would each move through the ships and what areas would be essential to hit. With our plans made, I was assigned to sneak into the bridge and take out any resistance. I would be armed with my pistol and my rifle.

I worked on my armor to be in perfect condition for our upcoming fight. We practiced moving through our ship with our armor on so that we would be familiar with moving through corridors. I spent much time trying to move as stealthily as possible from compartment to compartment without being caught by the crew and ship sensors.

As we got closer to the suspected intercept area, we went dark and did passive scans of the site to find the ship. We got a signal and moved to intercept the vessel. It was a large cargo ship. It could fit five shadows in its hold. This might be harder than we thought it was going to be. I just hoped there would be fewer guards than a cargo vessel.

We followed it to gauge where it was going and if it communicated with other ships in the area. Shadow Stalker did not detect any transmissions coming or going from the spaceship. It was now time to attack.