133. Chapter 133

After The Final Frontier, Again

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: Fortune will guide me to an early grave if I claim to own Castle. Rating: K Time: See above.

"Castle!" Kate said angrily. "Come out of there. This isn't funny. You promised you'd watch the Nebula Nine marathon with me, and now you're hiding." She pulled off her Kreever mask. "Okay! I took off the damned mask. Will you come…?"

She stepped back as the door flew open. "Castle!" She cried. "What? Where did you..?" She started laughing.

"Castle? Who is he? I'm Han Solo, captain of the Millennium Falcon. And you are Lieutenant Chloe, are you not?"

Kate stepped back to look at Castle. His Han Solo costume was perfect down to the last detail. "Where did you get that?" She took a step forward and examined the costume and her lover closely.

"There's a theatrical costume shop I know of. This was actually made for an advertisement for a Star Wars marathon at the Excelsior. It was close to my size and they were able to alter it." He drew his blaster and twirled it around his trigger finger, then returned it to his holster in one smooth move.

"You got a costume just to watch Nebula Nine with me? That's sweet, Castle."

"Who?"

She rolled her eyes. "That's sweet, Han."

"Actually, I didn't get it for the marathon since were not having the marathon tonight."

Kate's eyes narrowed and she glared at Castle. "You promised me! You said we'd watch all twelve episodes and that you wouldn't make fun, and now you're backing out?"

"No." He said with a smile. "We'll have the marathon tomorrow night. Tonight we're going to Super NovaCon. It's the last night and I got us VIP tickets." He reached into his vest and drew out two purple tickets.

"Where did you get those? And at the last minute?"

He shrugged. "I know a guy."

They walked into Super NovaCon arm in arm and walked through the crowds, stopping at booths and having their pictures taken with other cosplayers.

"Who was that last guy?" Kate asked.

"He's from that Joss Whedon show."

"The vampire one? I didn't recognize him."

"No the space cowboy one. He was the captain."

Kate shook her head. "I never could get into that one. And it was over as fast as Nebula Nine."

"I'm sure it lasted longer." Castle said.

As they turned a corner, they saw a crowd around a booth. Someone was standing up talking to the crowd. "Okay, people. The auction is almost over and the murder will be starting soon. And remember, this is for charity, the United Cancer Fund, so your payments are tax deductible."

"What's this about a murder?" Kate asked a friendly looking Imperial Stormtrooper.

"It's one of those How to Host a Murder games. This one is set on a space station, it should be fun, but it's kind of expensive." The white clad trooper replied.

"Do you want to?" Castle asked. Kate nodded. "How much are the bids so far?" Castle asked the auctioneer.

The man, dressed as a red shirted Enterprise crewman, said, "We have two left with a bid of $100 each, but I don't see the guy who bid. It starts in, "He checked his watch, "less than three minutes and you have to be here to win the auction."

"In that case, I'll bid $500 each. After all, it's for charity."

Three minutes later Kate, Rick and the other lucky winners were ushered into a futuristic looking space station. Waiting for them was the host, a handsome young man in his thirties wearing white pants tucked into shiny black boots and a dark blue jacket covered with medals and a golden sash. On his head was a floppy red beret. "Allow me to introduce myself." he said. "I am Captain Sir Dominic Flandry, Intelligence, Imperial Terran Navy. I am investigating this murder. Will you identify yourselves?"

A slender blonde teenager spoke first. "Seven of Nine, from the starship Voyager." She wore a skintight green suit and from her slenderness, Castle decided her boobs were fake.

An older bearded man was next. "Duke Leto Atriedes, House Atriedes, ruler of the planet Arrakis." His costume was obviously well made, expensive and accurate, although it did not fit that well.

A dark haired woman in leather was next. "Officer Aeryn Sun, from the bio-mechanical, Moya."

Just before Castle and Kate was a man in a gold flight suit. "Ace Rimmer, mining ship Red Dwarf," he announced. "Smoke me a kipper, I'll be back for breakfast."

Kate and Rick introduced themselves.

Captain Flandry pointed to the outline of a body chalked on the floor. "There has been a murder. The victim was thought to be a humble tailor, but in fact was a high level spy for the Roidhanate of Mersia, the enemy of the Empire. I will need to ask you why you are here on this station."

Seven spoke first. "I was sent to purchase food for my ship. I arrived on a shuttle only hours ago and went to Hoffgran's shop. When did this being die?"

"Less than an hour ago." Flandry said, flirting with the woman.

Duke Leto spoke. "I was on my way back to Arrakis to join my son and wife. I was just here changing ships. I decided to stop at the bar and have a drink. I went straight from my ship to the nearest bar. Tro' Bhan's it's called."

The leather clad woman spoke. "I'm searching for my husband, John Crichton and a girl named Chiana. They were supposed to come here and come right back. I'm afraid they may be in trouble. I walked to the information center to try to get word of them."

Ace Rimmer smiled. "I was testing a new trans-dimensional spaceship. Very dangerous, not that something like that would bother me. I was in front of Barlennan's, taking a thorn from the paw of a razor tooth Vorlag. Poor fellow."

Castle looked at the index card he had been given with his character's background. "I'm here refueling my ship. I met the young lady here, "He gestured to Kate, "and invited her to dinner. We asked a crewman in the landing bay and he suggested Kordofan's."

Kate was next. "My ship needed Thorian blaster ammunition. I came here hoping to buy some at the Armory. I met this man, as he said, and we were looking for a place to have dinner." When Flandry winked at her, Kate quickly took Rick's hand and leaned against him. Flandry's attention returned to the dark haired woman.

"I assume you are all Imperial citizens or are from star nations friendly to the Terran Empire?"

They all nodded.

Flandry pointed to a diagram of the space station. "All of you would have had to have passed the victim's tailor shop to get to your varying destinations. Did any of you have need for a tailor's services?"

They all said no. However, Kate noticed something. "Duke Leto has a tear in his jacket under the left armpit. He would have needed a tailor."

To her surprise, the Duke threw the Seven of Nine into Aeryn Sun who both slammed into Flandry. Then the Duke ran for the door. Castle tried to stop him and got a knee in the groin for his trouble. However, Kate punched him in the pit of his stomach and he went down. Kate landed on top of him, with her knee in his back. "NYPD!" She yelled. "Stay Down." She reached for her cuffs only to remember that they were in Rick's car along with her sidearm. "Castle, at least give me my badge. You still have it don't you?"

Castle bent over her and handed her the badge. He remained leaning over her.

"Castle do you have to hover over me like that? Call security. Or call 911."

"Kate, "Rick whispered, "you really should have changed your underwear before we came here. You're giving everyone quite a show wearing only a thong under your Lieutenant Chloe dress."

Kate stood up, blushing. "You keep him down. I'll go find security."

It took nearly an hour, but the police finally figured out what had happened. "Duke Leto" had stolen his costume from a vendor at the con. Knowing the vendor had gone home, he decided to wear his costume to the last night of the con. However, the jacket was a bit too tight for him and he had split a seam.

Rick kissed Kate when they returned to the loft. "You even solve crimes at phony murders. Detective Beckett, you are truly remarkable. I salute you." He kissed her again. "And I'm sure you would have solved the murder on the space station as well and hauled the killer in."

Kate laughed. "I did. I talked to "Flandry" while you were with the uniforms describing your gallant fight with the thief. He told me that the smuggler was the obvious contact for a high level spy. You were going to be the killer. I would have hauled you in and you'd have been vaporized or something."

He smirked and shook his head. "Nonsense, I would have shot first, gotten to the Millennium Falcon and made my getaway, with the beautiful woman."

"I'm afraid I'll have to take you in, Han." She took his hand and led him to the bedroom.

"Are you going to interrogate me?"

"What's your safe word again?"

"Apples. It's apples."

"I can probably remember that."