Cavalier's Gambit 2 -ch 6-

Chapter 6

“— and that covers the shares,” Miriam said, looking up at him with a wide smile. Her eyes crinkled. “Thank you for insisting I receive a share as your handler… Wayne. You are just so very adorable.”

“You’re not just a handler anymore, Miri,” Wayne said with a laugh, looking across the small table to her. They’d returned to the station after a short debrief, a photo of his squad standing in front of the drop-ship with more than a few of their Walker’s in the background. Most notably Warhorse, Squire, and Patchwork.

“Well… thank you. It’s rather nice. To be fair though, it’s a lot of good loot. More than a few of those Freebooter’s of the nine taken are salvageable. MDF and Confed are both offering good prices for it all since they can recover them and use them.”

“Just give my shares to Tink,” Wayne said with a chuckle, then he froze, looking at her. “Wait, you’re my girlfriend, too, now. I can just give my shares to you! You can handle it all for me.”

Miriam stared at him, blinked, then blew out a slow breath.

“Yes, I can handle it… dear,” Miriam said, shaking her head with a smile on the last word. “I’m not sure why I was surprised the moment you said you wanted to turn them over to me to handle, but I suppose I shouldn’t be. I think you would’ve done it previously if Tink hadn’t handled it as well as she did. Which she did mind you. I never thought she did anything wrong.

“I was surprised at how often she wanted specific or certain parts but given all that she’s done to upgrade your Walkers… I no longer question even that. So… I will handle the shares, but I plan on walking every single little bit of those Freebooters by our amazing Armorer. She’s got an entire squad of Walkers to manage after all. She’s even working on what I suspect is… a very nasty and scary looking Dreadnought.”

“Another one?” Wayne asked, somewhat surprised. He’d made sure everyone got fair shares of the Freebooter fight, including Miriam. If his squad never had to worry about getting a fair share, there wouldn’t be room for miscommunication later about pay.

“Not another one, per say, she is… building it. Herself. She got a Faesin internal-cockpit and got it to fit a CompO external module. She’s literally slowly piecing together a Dreadnought around it. A lot of it has come out of parts and pieces from salvage shares, as well as just buying things outright.

“It’s her take on ‘Patchwork’. I think you inspired her, Wayne. I’m a bit nervous at what she ends up building though. It’ll probably rival a Titan with the weight and maneuverability of a Dreadnought or a Heavy Assault.

“She’s… very… talented. And beautiful. And her figure is better than mine. And… and I’m very jealous of her.”

Miriam said the last with a laugh and a confused look, staring at Wayne as if she had no idea what to even think of that. Or that she’d just admitted it.

“You know what’s funny, Josie said the same thing,” Miriam remarked with another laugh. “I wonder what Tink would say to the fact that we’re both envious of her and jealous of what she has.”

“Probably not much,” Wayne said with a grin. “Tink would probably turn as red as a tomato, look away, stammer out an apology, then go find a Walker engine to pull apart and not think about what you said at all. She just… lives her life in her own way, and if you’re in her way, she’ll move around you. I got really lucky finding her the way I did. When I did.

“Anyways… how much time do I have before I need to meet with Josie and her dad? And you’re coming, too, right? You’re our three-way partner.”

Miriam opened her mouth to respond, hesitated, then blew out a breath, her brow coming down and creasing. Till she finally shook her head.

“You realize that I’m not interested in women, right?” she finally said. “Neither is Josie. We both just went with it because you were the one saying it and pushing.”

“Thats fine, but in the same breath, I view you and Josie as a package deal. My beautiful hander and my lovely princess. Can you honestly tell me my life would be the same if one of you left?” Wayne insisted. “Well, that’s not quite true. I did tell Josie I’d leave if you ever left.”

Miriam, grimaced, nodded her head, and looked at the table. Then she snorted in a very un-Miriam like way and smiled at him.

“That explains so much,” she murmured. “Alright. Give me a kiss, a hug, let me grab your butt, and then you can go. Tink will want to see you. She’s in the garage working on Patchwork 2.0.”

“My butt huh? Can’t say no to that… though you better be careful pretty lady, you’ll put ideas in my head,” he said, stood up, and went over to her. He kissed her, just as she’d requested, kneeling down before her, and hugged her as well.

“Good, get those ideas. You’re mine tomorrow night. I got a date approved by Tink,” she said.

Then grabbed his butt with both hands.

***

Wayne didn’t know what to say.

He was looking at what was indeed a Dreadnought being built. One piece at a time and in a way that he imagined would be very scary when Tink finished it.

In the moment Miriam had told him about the cockpit, he had forgotten. But now seeing it, he remembered he’d seen it before. When he’d only started working with Tink.

“Oh! W-W-Wayne!” squeaked Tink from the side. She came over in a red and white pair of coveralls. She was lugging over what looked to be whole crate load of wiring, hydraulics, and harness work. It looked like a lot of similar things he’d used to build around the cockpit of Patchwork to make sure it could handle what he’d put on it.

“Hello my love,” he said, smiling at her. He wasn’t about to offer to take the crate from her, because he knew her. She would put it down where she wanted it. She would adjust it how she wanted it. She would make sure everything in it was where she wanted it. Then she’d wipe her hands on her coveralls, come in for a kiss, and look at him, then look away.

“Building me Patchwork 2.0 are you?” he asked with a laugh as he watched her put her crate down. “Or are you going for something like ‘Charger’ or ‘Destrier’. Because if this is like Warhorse, I’m sure the naming convention will probably change

“You do like pushing that Cavalier angle. Everyone just falls in line with what you want.”

He could already see just how massive and destructive this thing would be as he looked at it.

“Ah, yes! Y-y-yes I am. This is… th-this is Destrier. Yes. Warhorse will be changed to Courser. It’s-it’s old… very old… from Sovereign Earth writings. The Destrier was a compact and heavily muscled horse. The Courser was faster with more endurance. Natalie will take whichever one you don’t take, I think. Her old Walker will just be… be… m-mothballed until we need it.”

Tink had rubbed her hands all over her coveralls, looked at him, then away, then moved into him. She didn’t grab him with her whole body, but she put her hands on him. Touched him.

Then dropped her forehead down against his chest.

She wanted to hug him he imagined but she was covered in dust, grease, and oil on her coveralls. Before he could contemplate it, she grabbed his jaw, tilted his head down, and kissed him.

It lasted for longer than he expected it, but then she ended it, stepped away, looked at him for a few seconds, then away again.

“I’m having… so much fun,” she said, grinning as she looked at her work area. The entirety of the hangar was more or less a playground for her. There were Walker parts all over in various states of repair, teardown, or rebuild. “I got Miriam’s message about the Freebooters. I’m-I’m… I’m taking a few parts, nothing whole. If we need a Walker we can buy it outright right now.

“Oh, good job by the way… Wayne.”

She looked at him now and he was struck by how pretty she was after the work she’d had done. Incredible, really. Tink was a woman of beauty, personality, and talent.

“You r-realy made that fight look easy. I watched it. Several times. It-it looked impressive. You even minimized the damage and spread it out!” she said, bouncing in place a bit with a wide smile. Her brand new straight and perfect teeth making it hard to look away from her. “It really helped me get an idea of how you and your group works. I’m-I’m-I’m going to change some things as well to Mick and Sal’s Walkers.

“They’re nice. They were very thankful about the changes I made already. Oh, also I…I like Barbie. She took me out to eat when we came back from your planet. Just the t-two of us. She’s nice. Though she was really interested in you.”

Tink said it all while staring at him. Staring at him and never looking away.

Wayne didn’t look away either, he merely stared back at her. Unsure of what to say or do and how he could even respond to her.

“You’re staring at me,” Tink finally blurted out.

“I mean, yeah, Tink, you’re kind of devastatingly pretty now, alright?” Wayne said before his mind processed it. “I was attracted to you before but now it’s a bit unnerving. You kinda make almost everyone else look a bit modest in comparison. Miriam and Josie were both saying that they were jealous of you.”

Tink immediately turned a bright and deep shade of red. To the point that he swore she was going to pass out from all the blood rushing to her head.

“Ah…?” she squeaked out, before turning away from him, going head down into the crate and started to sort things out. As if it had been when she’d come in here to do. “I-I-I… s-see. I see. Yes. Mmm.”

Wayne laughed, sighed, shook his head, then laid a hand on Tink’s back.

“Let’s just say karma repaid you back in full for all your troubles. Alright? Now, I wanted to come see the Dreadnought. It already looks pretty impressive,” he said, his hand lightly rubbing back and forth between her shoulder blades. “Is there anything you need from me Tink. Anything I can offer you or give you that might help you shift things or… just… make you happy?”

“No. I’m already… already as h-happy as I could be, honestly,” she said, her sorting slowing down. She had been pulling out a great deal of synthetic fibers and cabling. Sorting it by size and type it looked like. “I’m really happy. Happier than I ever thought I could be. I have a… I have everything. Everything, Wayne. There is nothing else I could ask for.”

She paused, tucked her chin in to her chest, then stood back up, slowly, her eyes moving toward him and sticking with him. Though there was one moment where it seemed like she’d look way.

“Thank you, Wayne. I-I… thank you,” Tink said, twitched, then turned toward him, turned away, turned back toward him, then hugged him. She jerked his head down, bit him on the neck, kissed him, then she ran away.

Literally.

Leaving her crate, the parts, and everything else as she sprinted for the cougar class ship she called home. The Cavalier’s Redoubt as she’d named it. Storming up the stairs, jerking the door open, then shooting inside.

Only to turn around, move to the top step, stand there, almost like a princess in a tower, one hand on the door, and stare at him.

“I’m happy, I’m thankful, I-I-I-I l-love you, I’m sorry about the bite!” she said, slammed the door shut, and vanished inside. Then the whole ship began to rock violently.

His implant and it’s AIs starting to throw out wild calculations about displacement, angle of movement, and what could possibly cause it.

Which really just came down to Tink running back and forth across the whole length of the ship, then the other way.

“Where’s Tink?” asked a voice from behind him, causing Wayne to turn around.

He found Barbie and Cara both closing on him.

“She ran away after she told me she loved me,” he said honestly, then pointed at the wobbling Cougar ship. “She’s currently doing zoomies.”

“Oh. Alright then,” Barbie said, scratching at her stomach as she looked from the cougar, to Wayne, to the Dreadnought. “She’s uh… building you a Dreanought.”

“Yeah,” he agreed. “Tink is a special kind of ladies.”

“Doing zoomies,” added Barbie.

“And bit you,” Cara said, peering at his neck. Her head slowly tilting to one side. “Ahhh, that… oh, her bite looks perfect now.”

“That is a rather perfect bite,” Barbie said, also craning her neck to the side, looking at the same thing Cara was. “Maybe I should go see her dentist. I’ve got a bit of a weird bite. A lot of my bite hits at the front first.”

“It’s not a bruise. Just skin irritation,” Cara said, sounding as if that were a bad thing for some reason. “I have some snaggle teeth. I should go to. Let’s book together. That’d be nice to go with someone.”

“Did you two actually want something from Tink or something else?” Wayne asked, putting a hand over the bite Tink had given him. He felt awkward with two attractive women looking at what Tink had done to him. “Something I could do for you maybe or something else?”

“I need money,” Cara said, standing up and looking at him directly.

“Oh, uh, alright. How much do you need?” Wayne asked, not even considering not giving her the money.

“Just money,” answered Cara with a shake of her head. “I don’t have any.”

“You spent it all already? That’s kinda surprising. Alright, still, just tell me how much you need,” responded Wayne. He’d take care of Cara. She worked hard for him.

“I… wait,” stated Cara and held her hands up in front of herself. “You make it sound like I should money. I thought I didn’t have any. Explain this to me? I think I’ve missed something.

“I’m not stupid, I’m quite smart, I just… didn’t understand your language and I was focusing on other things for a while.

“Help me, my perfect Lord?”

“I literally already set you up with a bank account, I had the money you’ve been earning from missions being directed there, and the shares you’ve earned have gone to you as well. If you didn’t act on the shares they would’ve converted to cash-outs and then added to your account,” Wayne explained with a small nod of his head. “I gave you the bank card for it a while back. Don’t you remember?”

“I… that… was I distracted at the time?” she asked, her delicate brows pressing together as she considered what he’d said.

“Maybe? I can’t remember what you were doing and I admit I didn’t linger it uh… eh… it’s… fine,” Wayne said with a laugh, sighed, and ran a hand through his hair. “In fact, it’s probably still there. If it’s not, we’ll just head over to the station-bank.”

Cara and Barbie were both looking at the cougar class ship now.

Wayne looked that way as well.

The ship was bouncing up and down now.

To which his AI promptly informed him that it was likely that something inside was jumping up and down. Over and over and over.

“You know, Cara, I think it’s time you got a room,” he murmured. “Maybe it’s time we just… considered the cougar as Tink’s little mansion and leave her to it. She seems to like it. It’s probably because it has a similar shape to a hallway.”

“That makes sense,” Barbie said with a small nod of her head, a strange almost pout like look on her face. “I’m so jealous of her.”

“Me too,” Cara confirmed.

“Is everyone jealous of Tink? Miriam and Josephine said the same thing,” Wayne blurted out with a laugh, looking at the two women.

“She’s really pretty,” Barbie stated, turning to look at Wayne. “With a figure I might be able to get with a lot of surgery.”

“Talented, highly intelligent in her… job,” Cara added, as if she had wanted a different word but didn’t know it. “Serves a perfect Lord and was the first to see him.”

Barbie nodded at that.

“Right, anyways, come on then, my perfect Warrior, we’re taking you to the bank and then the station administration,” he said and looked at Barbie. “You have a room on board already, don’t you?”

“Oh yeah. I got one the day I took World for myself,” she said and gestured at the big Dreadnought she piloted. “I put in for a room and the station administrator immediately gave me one. It’s in the same hall as you and Miriam.”

Wayne clicked his tongue at that. He was starting to suspect that the hall he lived in, was going to become person specific. Now that he was thinking about it, Wayne had already noted that Sal and Mick were also in his hall, and even Captain Wendy had been moved into it.

“Nat moved while you were visiting your homeworld,” Barbie offered helpfully, only confirming his thoughts.

“In other words, when I go claim Cara is a citizen by virtue of me vouching for her, Michael is just… going to… put her in the hall with us. Other than Tink who prefers the hangar where all her toys are,” Wayne summarized. He looked back to the cougar class ship. It’d settled down now. “She’d once told me that all she wanted to do was work on things. Even if I wanted her to move into the hall, she’d prefer to be here in the garage. With everything she can fix, tune, and adjust and all the tools I’ve bought for her.”

“I… will you buy me tools?” Cara asked suddenly.

“I mean, you mean weapons, don’t you? Actually, yeah, let’s go shopping,” Wayne said suddenly, looking at Barbie and Cara. “Let’s go to the Walker bazaar and see what’s being sold. Err… after, after I assign Cara as a citizen through me.”

“You’ve said that twice now,” murmured Cara after a pause. He felt like she wanted to talk more about shopping but his words had brought her up short. “I think I understand. But… explain?”

“I’ll just say you’re a citizen, because you serve me, and that’ll be it,” Wayne said with a shrug. “You already have a bank account and I had to get that set up through Wendy and Miriam. Honestly… you probably are already a citizen I just never asked.

“Actually… let’s go see Wendy. It’ll be a good time to drop in on her. We just did that mission that’d come through her anyways.”

“I’ll stay here,” Barbie said, then looked to her Dreadnought, then the cougar. “I want to try and coax Tink out and see if I can’t get her help with World. We’ve been working on getting the speed up and she did amazing, but I wasn’t able to use it as well as I wanted. I want to see if she can help me calibrate my implant to World.”

Wayne nodded and looked to Cara with a smile. Then he felt a bit silly and offered the smaller woman his arm.

To which Cara looked at it, frowned, then looked to his face. Only to grab the inside of his elbow with one hand and hung on.

“Lead on, my perfect Lord,” she growled.