Kitchen Duty

Dimitra scrubbed a tin plate furiously. With each scrub her anger boiled higher. It was all Montague's fault that she was stuck with kitchen duty. Montague clunked and clattered beside Dimitra as he carelessly tossed halfway-cleaned tin cups onto the metal counter. She was positive that he wanted everyone in the whole ship to hear him, because he was certainly making enough noise. She quickly brushed a strand of her short jet-black hair out of her face. Her ebony eyes flashed with wrath at Montague.

"Hey, it could be worse." Montague shrugged as he rinsed out a tin cup. His French accent weighed heavily in the air.

Dimitra had just become a member of the Bounty Hunter Alliance aboard the Blazer S128, and she had already landed in a heap of trouble. She had, single handedly, shut down all the systems in the ship, with, of course, the unfailing help of Montague. So what, if she had accidentally pushed the wrong button when she was preparing the system for a star jump. It wasn't her fault that Montague had pushed her into it.

Dimitra sent a seething glare at Montague. He pretended not to notice it while he continued to unsuccessfully wash the pile of tin cups. Cleaning dishes was definitely not his forte. His shoulder length brown hair was tied back in a small ponytail but he still had renegade strands hanging around his face. His worn out knit sweater hung off his shoulders while his single gold hoop earring glinted randomly in the dim light. He looked more like a vagabond than he did a bounty hunter.

But his tattered and worn out clothes could not hide his incredibly handsome features. Montague looked up and flashed her a sly smile.

"So, why did you have to push the red button, Dimitra?" He asked tauntingly; his clear blue eyes laughed at her.

Dimitra dried her hands on her black pants. Her black tank top clung to her skin. The temperature had risen twelve degrees since the systems had shut down.

"You know good and well that you pushed me into that button." She seethed through clenched teeth. Her Russian accent grew stronger with every word.

"Oh, right." Montague said. Each word dripped with sarcasm. He tossed a plate over to Dimitra. She caught it gracefully and began drying it.

She was only eighteen and fresh out of Academy and she had already started her career off with a disaster.

"Well, at least we know Toldar is busy." Montague said while he quickly dried a cup. His eyes sparkled with mischief. He was twenty-four and had been practically raised by Toldar, the owner of the ship. Toldar was like a father to Montague, but that didn't stop him from causing mischief on the ship whenever he could. Toldar had often called Montague an eternal child, which Dimitra couldn't help but agree with.

"So, do you want to steal a Starshifter and go check out Sol?"

Dimitra stared at him darkly. She knew that the Starshifters (transporter vehicles) were off limits unless you had explicit permission from Toldar. She was not going to risk Toldar's wrath just to go joy riding to the nearest planet. The thought of Toldar with his six foot two build looking down on her through his spectacles in calm fury was a sight she didn't want to see again.

"Are you crazy, Montague?" Dimitra asked incredulously.

Montague smiled boyishly. "Maybe I am, and maybe I am. "

He quickly grabbed her elbow. "Come on! It'll be fun!"

Dimitra looked sadly around the kitchen. The sink was piled high with dirty dishes. Their feeble attempts hadn't even made a dint in the pile. The pots and pans hung neatly above the rickety stove and the metal cabinets lined the walls like rusty veteran guards.

She couldn't help but wonder why she had ever wanted to become a bounty hunter. She could have been anything since she had graduated at the top of her class at the Intergalactic Academy. She had even been asked to be a Law Enforcer at the Galactic Interval, but no, she had to become a bounty hunter.

Dimitra sighed heavily. "What the hell!" She said in exasperation. "I guess you only get one life to live!" She quickly followed Montague out of the narrow kitchen door. There was no telling what destruction the pair were going to cause this time.

To Be Continued...