The Invictus was a sleek and ferocious looking ship. Alyssa shivered slightly at its intimidating profile, the top deck bristling with weaponry. Charles zoomed in the disy so that now they were looking at the ship’s internals. From what she could tell, this Assault Cruiser was easily 10 times bigger than John’s current freighter.


    “You could upgrade the engines and FTL drive, using this extra space here” The admiral pointed animatedly at the rear of the ship. “You also won’t need the barracks, so you could turn this area of the ship into a cargo bay” He gestured excitedly at the holographic map. “I’d keep the docking bay for a shuttle in case you need tond somewhere the Invictus is too big to dock at.”


    “You’re still on the books right?” Charles asked John. John nced Alyssa’s way and nodded. “Great!” enthused Charles “That means we can keep the gun decks unchanged!”


    Alyssa suddenly realised this was a pet project for Charles. Perhaps he had spected on what he would do with the ship if he had ever been in John’s current situation. It was funny to see the mid-50’s Vice Admiral behaving like an enthusiastic schoolboy. She managed to keep a straight face.


    “What about crew?” John asked.


    Charles waved his hand dismissively “Automation will take care of that.”


    “Ok I’m interested” John replied cautiously “Just how much does a Terran Federation Assault Cruiser go for nowadays?”


    “Well I can pull a few strings for an old friend” Charles grinned “Besides, not having to dmission all the weapons will save the shipyard a fortune” he went on conspiratorially.


    John waited, patiently.


    “Call it 150 mil. Most of that will be covering the new parts and retrofitting costs”


    John’s face spread into a big grin, matching that of the Vice Admiral.


    “Wow, he’s actually going for it” Alyssa thought to herself. “Boys and their toys!” she smiled, unable to resist the eye roll. She looked back at the men to see they were shaking hands vigorously, grinning like maniacs.


    They left the office, John bouncing along with a spring in his step as they walked back to the Fool’s Gold. Charles had volunteered to start the retrofitting work immediately and had promised they would get everythingpleted in a week.


    The navy munitions team had unloaded the Tyrenium the moment the deal had been struck, so it was strange to see the cargo hold looking so empty when they had boarded the freighter. The couple entered the cockpit, taking their usual seats. John was humming happily to himself as Alyssa rotated her co-pilots chair to face him.


    “So what’s the n now?” Alyssa asked curiously.


    “Well I did promise you a shopping trip” John smiled at her as he entered the course to take them down to Gravitus, the they were currently orbiting. The freighter’s engines ignited with a shudder and the ship lifted off.


    Alyssa pped her hands excitedly. “I doubt I can top your spending spree though… 150 million credits in one morning! That’s got to be some kind of record!”


    John grinned, excited at the prospect of owning his old military vessel.


    “Commander John ke, proud owner of the Invictus” She stated, emphasising his rank.


    John smiled at the teenager “Ah, I wondered if you had picked up on that. It’s my old naval rank before I retired.”


    “Retired?” She asked pointedly, her eyebrow arched.


    John was momentarily startled before he replied honestly “I sometimes forget just how perceptive and intelligent you are.”


    Alyssa smiled at thepliment.


    “Ok I’m officially retired, but I still hold my rank and still assist the Terran Federation from time to time.” He paused, thinking of the best way to describe his situation. “Think of me as a Special Ops consultant. I help out asionally, like the rescue the other day. In exchange, I hold a military grade weapons license and get ess to a few handy gadgets” John exined.


    “Like the chrome device you used to steal that armour, when we saved Cra?” Alyssa volunteered helpfully.


    John winced. “We requisitioned it, we didn’t steal it.”


    “Potato, Potahto” She giggled mischievously.


    Heughed along with her “Ok, ok. But yes, that code breaker works on most T-Fed doors. Anything my rank would grant me ess to.”


    “Sounds awesome Commander” Alyssa replied, throwing him a mock salute.


    John sighed theatrically “You aren’t going to let that go, are you?”


    Alyssa got up and sat in hisp, kissing him soundly. “No, Sir” she purred in a sultry voice.


    She nced over his shoulder at the console, seeing it would take 2 hours for the ship to reach the. “Come on” She said to John, standing and leading him by the hand to their cabin. “It’s lunchtime and I’d like my tummy to go down before I try on any clothes.”


    3 hourster and the happy couple strolled into one of the most exclusive boutiques on the. It was a quiet time of the day and the handful of shop assistants were milling around the store attempting to look busy, whilst not actually doing anything. They all seemed to look up as one and appraise the new customers when they walked in. Whilst the blonde was effortlessly beautiful in a natural kind of way and herpanion ruggedly handsome, they both looked to be military from their outfits. Military typically did not mean big spenders in their experience, so most of the girls sighed in disappointment and returned to refolding clothes.N?velDrama.Org owns ? this.


    One of the girls, a very pretty brte approached them with a friendly smile on her face. “Can I help you?” She volunteered.


    Alyssa read the girl’s name tag. “Well Rachel, I need lots of new clothes so I look really hot for him” she exined helpfully. “The gentleman requires some new outfits as well, so we will need someone to assist so that he looks his most handsome.” She looked over at John to check if he approved.


    Heughed and nodded, enjoying seeing the beautiful teenager enjoying herself.


    “He’s also very wealthy, so I’d like you to be especially nice to him!” Alyssa added encouragingly.