Gypsy.

Most of the merc-pirate crew were assembled in the ship's galley. The vast majority were human males, though a few aliens and women were scattered amongst the noisy crowd. The mercs wore a motley assortment of uniform and civilian clothing, with no two pirates dressed the same. Camoflage and leather, mixed with jewelery and high power weaponry seemed the most popular. Calvo judged their number to around fifty. Usually a ship of this size would be handled by a dozen at most, but piracy was a labour intensive enterprise. The more they outnumbered a ship's crew or outpost personnel the shorter any fight would be and the better their chances of taking slaves alive.

Sparks and Calvo pushed their way through the raucous throng, greetings and jokes being directed toward them from some of the pirates. Reaching a bank of food and drink dispensers Calvo chose a couple of glucose energy drinks, they had a drinking tube attached and he could drink them through the bandages. The old man was peering through the crowd searching for something.

"There's Gypsy." He said, indicating the direction with one of his tentacles. " 'Ead for 'er table lad."

Calvo shouldered his way forward to the table with Sparks following in his wake. Two women were just finishing a conversation. One, a muscular alien of a species Calvo couldn't recognise left as they approached. The other was clearly the woman they sought. Her hair was a glossy black mass of tight curls that hung to her shoulders, framing an olive skinned face with high cheekbones and a wide sensuous mouth. Her eyes were such a dark brown that they appeared black and they shone with vitality and mischief. She wore a tight leather corset that pushed her breasts up and displayed her genourous bosom and cleavage. A short leather skirt and high stilleto heeled boots showed off her slim shapely legs. Large gold hooped earrings pierced her ears and a smaller golden ring was set in her nose.

"So Sparks, your wizened old heart survived another jump." Gypsy laughed, her voice a sultry lilt. "And you've got your little helper handsome with you."

"Go fuck yourself you 'arlot." Sparks retorted. "My 'eart will outlive a cheap 'ore like you."

Gypsy's mouth curled into a grin and she slapped one of her slim tanned thighs, her dark eyes flashing.

"At least if I fucked myself I would do a better job than your ancient withered cock could manage." The beautiful merc shot back.

"I wouldn't dirty it by sticking it anywhere near any of your scabby 'oles." The old engineer sneered.

Sparks sat down at the table and took a swig of his drink. Calvo took a seat and unsealed one of his drink packs and threaded the tube through his bandages. Sucking some of the sweet juice into his mouth he washed away the acrid taste of the hyperspace feeding tube from his throat.

"The chief says you're to give us an 'and scanning the slaves." The engineer told the exotic merc. " 'e wants the job done afore we 'it port."

Gypsy's smile widened and she licked her glossy red lips. Her brightly painted nails stroked the soft flesh of her thigh and she tossed her head.

"Mmmm." She purred. "Now there's a welcome task. I was hoping to get a look at those pretty little bitches you've got trussed up in section fourteen. I want to pick myself a good one to party with before we offload them."

"Thought you'd be 'appy." Sparks said with a smirk. "Got a few studs down there too, so you'd best bring a tape measure. Not that there's likely to be any with a cock big enough to fill your saggy snatch."

They all finished their drinks and the two mercs stood up and headed off with Calvo tagging along behind them. Gypsy's ass swayed enticingly just in front of him. The exotic merc was as tall as he was in her spike heels and her long legs gave her a sexy predatory gait. Calvo mused on the remark she had made about picking a **** to party with. It seemed obvious the pirate crew would make good use of the slaves before they were sold and that could mean he would have an opportunity to get to one or more of the guardwomen in private. Perhaps together they could come up with an escape plan before he was unmasked as an imposter.