PLAN B - with nods to Firefly

It finally happened.  I've been invited (private invitation only) to submit to a short story anthology that allows me to do a genre-mashup of crime and space opera! 

Here, in a nod to Firefly (love that series) is the opening to Plan B. 

Plan B

By

Melodie Campbell

She looked like a Vegas-Minor showgirl. Her hair was too blond, her lips were too plump, and her figure owed a lot to a fancy surgeon. The only thing that seemed genuine was the scowl on her face.

I knew from the start, she was gonna be trouble.

“Mind if I vape?” she said, holding the small pipe between two fingers.

I shrugged. “Be my guest here. Only not when we get on my ship.”

She raised an artificially high eyebrow. “And you are?”

“Tosh Malloy. This is Drake.” I gestured to the tall black bodyguard to my side.

She threw a quick glance at him, and then turned back to me. “Tosh. Unusual name for a woman.”

“It means ‘Pirate’ in Cryon,” I said.

The blue eyes went wide. “You’re a pirate?”

         “Not anymore,” I said. It was partially true.