Page 99

Megan Mulry was talking about "Page 99″ on Twitter, and I thought you might be interested in seeing page 99 of "Pirates".  After the jump…

…were doomed.

Star put the cap back on the bottle and popped his memory chip out of the console.

He turned, saw the look on my face, and made a sad smile. "I really am sorry. I tried the best I know."

"I know. It's not your fault. I guess we're just not meant for each other."

"It is…kind of. I think." He sat on the bed and ran his hands through his hair. "I need to tell you something. You deserve to know." His eyes were full of pain and I was afraid he would start crying again. "But I can't do it now. Tomorrow, okay?"

I sat down next to him and took his hand. "Okay."

It wasn't until we got to the communications cluster the next day that we could talk about what had happened the night before. The privacy chambers had no privacy; our workplace, however, was clear. The irony wasn't lost on either of us.

After we got the morning diagnostics and utilities started, and had the encryption utility loaded up, I called Star over to my desk. I put a training holo on, in case anyone came in, and took his hand. "There was something more you wanted to tell me, last night."

"I don't…feel anything…when I touch you. I'm not like other guys. The only way I could finish was by thinking of…" He swallowed and stared down at his feet. "Thinking of someone else. A man."

"Well then, I guess we're even," I said. "I have the same problem."

"But…it's okay for you to be attracted to men." The pain and shame in his voice was gone, replaced by confusion.

"No, no…ugh. I mean, I‟m attracted to women. I saw Valka Parl naked, just for a moment, when she was changing out of an airsuit after emergency training, and I think of that sometimes." I squeezed his hand and looked around the room. "My mom says I might not get pregnant the first time. We might have to try again."

He grunted.

"Maybe if we agree that it‟s okay to think about whatever we need to think about to get through it, just for the two of us, it might be a little better?"

"Yeah. That would make it better."

I looked over at the console, realizing I had missed something important. "Where did you get that Merchant holo, anyways?"