Ambassador Tull Redmond is looking for a quick ride home back to Earth after ending her twenty-year mission as peace negotiator for the quadrant. All she wants is peace, quiet, and to be left alone.
She boards the Earth Starship Giuseppe Verdi with its questionable leader, Captain Ben Jacobs anyway.
It's the fastest way home. Her quarters has a full bath, a space-view window, and a large, real bed!
How bad could this rule-breaking, authority-defying Captain Casanova be?
High Council hates him, true, but his crew loves him. Surely, she's too old and tired to be drawn into this bad boy of the quadrant's personal circus.
Will Ambassador Redmond get the quiet, uneventful ride home she craves?
Chapter One
A New Passenger
“Captain Jacobs? Sir, big news. Ambassador Tull Redmond is meeting us at Bridgeport Seven tomorrow and will join us as our passenger all the way to Earth,” said second-in-command Commander Zack Mankewitz of the Earth Starship Giuseppe Verdi.
“Ambassador Redmond,” repeated the captain. “Oh, I’ve heard of him, Commander. He’s the peace, love, and hope guy. He’s the most successful intergalactic mediator in this quadrant.He's been the top negotiator for twenty years. Wow, my very first five-star passenger. Yes, that is big news. I’m glad I didn’t miss him. High Council’s never trusted me with a big wig before.”
“Yes, sir. I know.”
“So, the ambassador and I will be going home to Earth at the same time. Well, I’m not sure the Ambassador is Earthite, I just assumed. Is he retiring, too, I wonder?
“Well, sort of. From what I hear the ambassador refused to sign another ten-year contract, so resigning from intergalactic mediation is the only other option. You two are lucky ducks.”
“Luck had nothing to do with it, Commander. It’s plain, old-fashioned endurance. Any special dietary requests? I heard the ambassador was a vegan.”
“No. No special food requests, but a full bathroom in quarters, and the ambassador is a woman. She’s also requested a room with a space view.”
“You’re kidding me? I’ve seen him, eh, her, from a distance. Short, pale, roundish, light-colored hair slicked back or something. Hair was hardly noticeable. Wears a big, long, hooded, monk-like robe. Kind of like a roundish beige ball. A non-sexual being.”
“Does that matter?”
“No, I guess not. The ambassador gets the job done. A full bath AND a view, huh? Well, there is only one accommodation like that aboard this ship, and that’s mine. Damn. My first five-star passenger and she kicks me out of my quarters. Oh, well. Go ahead and assign her to Captain’s Quarters, Commander. She’ll enjoy the view in the sitting area as well as the full bath. I’ll take the quarters next to mine. I don’t mind sonic showers. I’ll move my things over this evening.”
“Do you need help, sir?”
“No, thanks, Zack. I don’t have much to move. But send someone in to give the place a good cleaning and shine it up a bit. Change all the linens. Put a little welcome note or something inside. I want my first and only five-star passenger to be impressed with her deluxe accommodations, if nothing else, on this tugboat for her four-month stay with us on her way back home.”
“Yes, sir,” chuckled Mankewitz.
“Ambassador Redmond, welcome to the Giuseppe Verdi, a class one intergalactic Earth Starship. It is my pleasure to have you aboard, ma’am.”
“Thank you, Captain Jacobs.”
“You’re my first five-star passenger in a twenty-year career.”
“Yes, I’ve heard. I’ve been duly warned.”
“You have?” Captain Jacobs laughed.
“Yes. High Council strongly urged me to wait for the next Earthbound starship, which is scheduled for early next year. They say you are the juvenile delinquent of the quadrant. They say you think the rules don’t apply to you and you love to defy authority.”
“And yet, you came aboard my ship anyway. You are a brave soul as well as a successful negotiator, Ambassador.”
“Thank you, Captain. I’m not afraid of bad boys. Your safety record is exemplary. You’ve never lost a passenger or crew member. Upper management may not admire your quirky leadership skills, or your less than organized reports, but your crew holds you in the highest esteem. So, you like to bend the rules a bit, big deal. You like to cut through the nonsense, that’s fine with me. You allow your crew to become far too familiar with you…”
“And my passenger, too,” he winked, “if you’re interested.”
She ignored it. “You hate quarterly reports, so what? All I ask is that you get me to Earth in one piece.”
“Thank you for your confidence in me. I promise I’ll get you there, safe and sound. And I promise to be on my best behavior while you’re aboard my ship. May I escort you to your quarters?”
“Yes, thank you, Captain.”
“Were you born on Earth, Ambassador?”
“Yes. Eagle’s Landing, Ohio. Midwest United States.”
“And your parents, they were both from Earth?”
“Yes.”
“Are you a member of a religious order then, Ambassador?”
“No, Captain. What made you think that?”
“The ‘peace love, joy’ stuff. The non-violence lifestyle. The robe.”
“So, you have something against peace, love, joy, and non-violence, Captain Jacobs?”
“No, ma’am, I do not,” he giggled. “Maybe the robe, though.”
“I’ve been a member of the Society of Peace and Light for the last six years. It’s not a religious order, Captain. It’s a chosen lifestyle.”
“And what exactly does that particular chosen lifestyle entail? Yoga? Essential oils? Meditation? Veganism? Celibacy? Power crystals? Tea leaf readings? Tinfoil head cones?”
“I’ll forward you some information on the society if you’re interested. It was very helpful to me while I was mediating.”
“And now that you’re leaving intergalactic mediation, what will you do?”
“Now I’ll be making some changes.”
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