The Independence Mutiny

Chapter 2: Blue Moon...

"All hands to special sea and anchor detail," said Johnny over the PA, and hands ran to their post near various hatches ready to deploy. The FEDERATION passed through the lock of the ersatzosphere of the Moon, a man-made membrane keeping air close to the surface of the moon. They passed over the beautiful spires of the Navy Academy and the city of Fort Aldrin next to it. Though they had been over many times, none of the crew had ever been there, except Shifty and Emma to visit their parents in the brig, and Alice when her parents were stationed there. Soon they were flying over the the vast cornfields of the Mt. Marilyn area, and found their usual berth next to Port Pleasant. The crew piled out the hatches onto the weather deck, and deployed the fenders that reached under the hull. As the boat eased down, the hands moving fenders where the hull would not rub against the apron and keeping an eye on clearances, the Skipper adjusted power and heading to compensate for the air currents. The boat bounced on the fenders and more crew jumped off to secure it to the berth tie-downs. "Secure from special sea and anchor detail." Then he jumped down from his position on the flying bridge.

The Skipper and the XO jumped almost immediately into a waiting truck driven by a less than savory character, "Stay here and don't jerk around. I'll be back in three hours." The crew accepted the ridiculous order: the only thing at Port Pleasant other than the cornfields was the honky-tonk, and that was off-limits to anyone under twenty-one.

After the truck went out of sight, the crew's quarters again became the site of a council of war, all attending this time. Johnny stayed in his seat.

"We gotta act normal until we touch down in Olympia. We only pretend to tie down the boat. Now Jupiter's gravity is insane, so that should hold the boat down long enough. The 'net shows a few good locations to hide near the port. We run into one of those places and they'll chase after us to make us unload the cargo. We ditch 'em, pile into the boat, and find a new buyer."

"What if some mob goons show up to meet the ship? Won't they murder us?" Alice asked.

Ed spoke up, "We're showing up early. I'm gonna alter our log so Skip thinks we're running behind. He radios the mobsters our ETA, then we show up three hours ahead."

"And the radio will be inconveniently busted when the mistake has been realized," added Dennis the Radioman.

Now it was time for the crew to pick up supplies of their own. Frank pulled out his binoculars and stayed on the boat with Dennis to act as watch. Johnny, Alice, and "Big" Millie headed to the bar with a wad of cash to find some info. Deb and Jimmy headed into the cornfields to round up the extra grub they would need for the extra trip. Emma, Ed, and Shifty went to examine some of the neighboring vessels.

Johnny was easily the tallest of the party. Lean, dark haired, and with slightly slit eyes, he always looked serious, or pissed. Alice was tall for a girl, short blond hair and a slightly stocky build. Big Millie was anything but. Smaller than even her sister Deb, from a distance she looks like a fully mature woman, then you realize she is actually right next to you. The three hid behind a car, out of sight of the bar's bouncer.

"Okay Millie, strut your stuff," ordered Johnny.

Millie took off her space scout shirt, revealing the orange halter top she had on, pulled off her skirt revealing tight boy shorts, and put on a pair of wedgies, and strutted in front of the bouncer. "Hey big boy," she cooed, thinking, if he reaches out and finds out I'm only an arm's length away, we're busted. Millie beckoned, and started to back up. The bouncer followed.

"Hey little girl, you want to party with me?" the bouncer called back. Johnny and Alice snuck in. When they disappeared in the doorway, Millie slowly circled around, followed by the bouncer so she was between him and the door.