Their best ship is the Commerce, captained by the both famous and infamous Jake Xavier Stone.

A man sits in a chair in a dimly lit office staring out at the work being done outside. A smile spreads warmly across his face. He reaches down and presses a button on his desk.

"Mission Entry #1,
This is Captain Jake Xavier Stone of the Intergalactic ship Commerce. It is with a glad heart that I watch the final preparations made for our upcoming journey. As I now look out the aft deck-viewing screen, I see the engineers removing the couplings and fueling the Faster Than Light propulsion system.
I feel deep regret that this will be the last time I will travel to the stars in MY ship and…"

"Isn't that because you can only seeming get it up if the chick your with is green or has antennae?" A man says as he steps out of the shadows.

"Damn it Saw, can't you see I'm trying to complete the official log. I don't need shit like that in the log. Get the hell out of here till I'm finished."

"All I'm saying is that if you catch some crazy space disease this time out, I will let your member fall off this time," says Saw as he removes himself from my private quarters.

Saw or Sawbones William West is one of my oldest friends. We originally meet at the Intergalactic Training Compound almost twenty-five years ago and we've been together ever since. He has the bedside manner that is more fitting to a civil war med tent than an Intergalactic ship, hence the name, but I still love him dearly.

His words hit home as I recall some of the awful things I've gotten us into over the years. There was the time on the planet Revel with the Antarian twins, or the time on Swigglebottem with the Head Ministers wife and two daughters. I have, at times, been a complete bastard. If the Intergalactic Protection and Discovery commission knew half the things that I had gotten up to on my past exploits, I would have been decommissioned years ago.

As it stands this is my last Intergalactic flight, as I can no longer actively serve as a captain and must accept my promotion to Admiral and the lost of my ship. This is the IPAD's way of putting me out to pasture without just coming out and doing it.

What a grand last trip I plan to make this.

There has been an uprising on the hinter edge of the republic and I have been chosen to bring it to a close. All I have been told so far is that I was the perfect man for the job. This could be for several reasons, such as past experience with the hinter edge or conflict resolution, but who knows for sure.

I have been given this one last chance to shine and I damn sure will take it.

"Computer, please recommence log entry starting with phrase, My ship… and hope only to be able to fulfill my duty and protect my ship, my crew and the people of the protectorate." I'm still looking out of the aft deck-viewing screen as I end the log entry. "Alright Saw come back in, I'm finished."

"You can be such an officious prick sometime. What the hell is the mission about anyway? We are both to old to be doing this shit anymore." he says. "Why in the hell do we have to go? Or more importantly, why the hell do I have to go? Just because you're jonesing for one last crack at a three breasted blue chick, I don't think I have to get dragged along."

"I have no damn idea what this is about any more than you do and you know it. Don't bust my thack just for the sake of busting it. And you know that I would never go to deep space without the best damn ship doctor in the entire universe. Now lets get to the command deck and look in on the final preparations. I have something to deal with."

On the lift to the command deck Saw stewed. He always had the same ritual before we left on a long mission, bitching, moaning, and complaining about having to go into space. Deep down, below his need for this ritual, was a real love for the adventure that space always brought us. I think my ability to see that love is the only reason we have stayed friends all these years and why I haven't blown his head off just to shut him up.

As we reached the command deck I looked around at all the fresh young faces staring at me as I entered the bridge. From almost all their faces there was a love and admiration that has come from listening to stories of my past exploits while growing up and going to the ITC. One face did not reflect love, just hate and resentment and that face belonged to Frank Stewart, my new Executive Officer.

"Captain on deck" Frank yells at the top of his voice, with a slight sneer on his face.

All of the crew jump to their feet and salute.

"At ease" I look directly into Frank's eyes, "All of you."

Frank's problem with me is that this ship and mission was supposed to be his. He had been in preparation for this mission for months and at the last minute the rug had been pulled out from under him and he was replaced with me yesterday.

I think his impression is that I pulled rank on him to have one last spin on my ship before turning it over, but this wasn't the case and I wanted him to know it.

"Could you join me in the captains' chamber XO."

"Sir, Yes Sir."

I walk across the deck smiling at all of the new recruits on board. They seem impossibly young and some are beautiful. When the hell did IPAD start getting such sweet looking JO's (Junior Officers)?

"Eyes front you dirty old bastard. Most of these woman are young enough to be your daughter" Saw whispers in my ear as we approach my chamber off the deck.

"Bugger off Saw, since when don't you like them young?" He winches remembering a SNAFU on Betelgeuse III, with a misunderstanding of their age of majority laws.

The door to my chamber slides open and I take my place behind the desk. There are two chairs in front of the desk but Saw takes a seat in the far corner and only Frank comes up to the desk. He stands next to the seat waiting to be asked to sit down. God I hate all of the pomp in IPAD.

"Please sit Frank"

"Sir, thank you Sir."

"Please stop talking to me like that or I will fire you out of a weapons launch first chance I get. This meeting is to clear the air between us and establish our working relationship for this voyage."

"Permission to speak freely sir."

"Granted, and when that door shuts in this room it is always present. And for the love of god, while we are in here call Jake."

"Sir yes sir, ah sorry…Jake. As XO I expect the relationship to be dictated to me. As you have taken command away from me."

I interrupted. "That is one of the things I wanted to talk to you about. I didn't ask to come on this mission, let alone assume command. I am glad I was asked, but I didn't initiate it. I had assumed that I was already retired."

"Then why the change?"

"I don't know. All I know at this point is that for some reason I was asked for specifically and that further information will become available while we are in transit."

"It's probably the hope of the commission that he is killed on this mission so they don't have to put up with him back on Earth" Saw added.

I don't respond to my friends quip, but do give him a stern look.

"Now Frank, we both know that this is my last trip and this ship and crew will be yours when it's done. I will depend on you to help with a number of the tasks of captaincy during this voyage. The one thing that I will make abundantly clear though is, outside of this room, you follow the orders that I give you without question or hesitation. You have studied my past mission and me and know that some spontaneous decision I make don't always seem to make sense. But as my track record speaks for itself they always seem to pay off."

"Now what would you like to add?"

"This is where you are supposed to lavish praise on him and tell him that he was your idol growing up."

"Damnit Saw, that is enough. If you aren't going to be productive to this meeting go back to "testing" your pharmaceutical samples."

"Huungh" is all that Saw adds.

"Contrary to what the Chief Medical officer has said, you weren't my idol growing up. One of your reckless decisions on the mission to Deplet left my father stranded on that planet for three years when I was a child. I think you are, and always have been, a menace with a horseshoe up his ass. I will follow orders as given, but don't expect a puppy that is willing to follow you into hell itself."

"Oh, I like this kid already" Saw thru in.

"Fair enough Frank, please see to the completion of the pre-flight preparation and contact me in the aft viewing-deck.

At this, he stands and salute's me. I return his salute and he spin a precise 180 and marches stiffly out the door.

"Damn, I need a drink" Saw says

I walk over to the cabinet and remove a very special bottle and two glasses. I sit back down at the desk and Saw joins me.

"Ah, some spirits from the holy island of Islay and over 50 standard years old."

It has been a tradition that Saw and I have shared since graduating from the ITC.

I was given a small Solar System class frigate and I appointed him the medical officer on it. My father presented us with a crate of 25-year-old scotch. There were 25 bottles, one to represent each year that I would be eligible to command a space vessel. We toasted the beginning of each journey with that years' bottle.

This was our last bottle and there wasn't a hell of a lot left in it, much like the two of us.

"Good journey" I saluted

"Good journey" Saw returned.

We both thru back the first swig of the amber liquid and relished the burn that it caused.

"God I love this stuff" Saw said.

"I know you do," I said as I reached out and patted the back of his hand, "I know you do."

I smiled to myself and looked out the window one more time.