Courting the Ice Princess 3
Jan. 10th, 2007 06:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tygatiOh, hey, I didn't think I'd get this up tonight. >.>; Huh.
In which Angsting Occurs and we finally learn what happened to the Ice Princess's first six captains. >.>;
In other news, this story now has 24,936 words. -.-; Refer back to earlier post for why this is depressing. *SIGH*
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Combat Class Star Ship 35471990 The Conquistador
Sigma paced slowly around the perimeter of his cell, sharp eyes missing nothing, and yet still he saw no options available to him. If he'd had Tau Ceti with him they'd no doubt already be free, but unfortunately humans weren't quite as deft as Gremlins at disassembling random lighting circuits and building useful escape objects. The ship, what he'd seen of it so far, seemed fairly up to date. Combat Class, probably a bounty hunter's. That would explain the excellent prisoner holding cells.
Giving up for the moment, Sigma sat down heavily on the one low bench built into the far wall. There was no way out that he could find. Therefore, his thoughts turned instead to how he'd gotten into this mess. It had all happened very suddenly; he'd been on the bridge with Meiki and Fe'yiv when the door had slid open. Meiki and Fe'yiv had almost immediately crumpled, while Sigma himself had at least had time to turn around to face his attacker.
Not that it had done him any good. Jei's telekinesis was formidable. So formidable, in fact, that he'd barely been able to do more than get out a single word before he'd found he couldn't move. No matter how hard he struggled with all the strength in his body, he couldn't move so much as a finger as Jei floated him along down the hallways to the transport room.
Then Captain Ekaitz had come. The intense pain, the look of absolute betrayal on his captain's face had taken Sigma off-guard. Only one thing he knew of could cause an agony like that, and he wondered how long the two had been together.
Not long, he decided, running over memories in his mind. Before the mission to Rubican, Ekaitz had been the same as ever. After he'd come back and they'd dealt with the Solar Flare... Yes, there had been some disjointedness there, but nothing overt. Nothing like he'd seen a few hours ago in the transport room. So they couldn't have been together more than one night.
He winced, hoping his captain was all right. The man could be so strong and so frail all at once. Something a long time ago had broken him, and he'd never really healed from it. Now, with this additional betrayal on top of that...
Grimacing, Sigma hoped that the man he'd seen underneath would triumph despite everything that he'd experienced. There was potential in Ekaitz. More than that. If the man would stop doubting himself, Sigma had no doubts that he'd be an excellent leader.
Fixing a glare at the unobtrusively glowing light on the wall, he leaned back against the wall. That light was capable of getting him out of this place, he just didn't have the knowledge or the skill to make use of it. Not like his temperamental lover. Sigma hoped Tau Ceti was all right, and spared a brief thought for the crew that were undoubtedly being driven mad by the furious Gremlin. They only thought they'd known what an angry Tau Ceti was like.
He smiled despite himself, chuckling quietly. There was so much fire, so much energy in that lean body that he was sometimes amazed that Tau didn't burn himself out. Until meeting Tau Ceti, he'd thought it impossible for someone to be that intense all the time. The Gremlin had proved him so very wrong, not that he'd minded.
Still. The fact that the Ice Princess hadn't caught up with the mercenary ship hours ago meant that Jei had somehow disabled her before kidnapping Sigma. Tau was undoubtedly livid and snapping at anyone who so much as looked at him if his precious toy ship had been damaged. And the longer of a head start the mercenaries had, the harder it would be for the Ice Princess to catch up.
Although she would. Of that, Sigma had no doubts. If Ekaitz managed to stay in one piece and not break under the strain, he and Tau Ceti would make a very, very dangerous team. It almost made him feel sorry for Jei and his mercenaries when those two caught up with them.
There were faint footsteps, coming nearer, then the door slid open. Jei walked calmly inside, and the mechanism slid shut again. They faced one another neutrally, neither saying a word, though Jei seemed faintly surprised that Sigma hadn't bothered to even get up. Sigma wasn't sure why. Jei had already proven he could overpower Sigma, so there really wasn't much point to repeatedly attacking the man. A physical offensive was not going to get him out of here.
"You... I wanted to come apologize," Jei said, eyeing Sigma cautiously and staying as far away from the man as he could. "I have nothing against you personally, or your ship, or the... the people on board." He swallowed slightly, shoulders drooping. "It was just business. I pick you up, deliver you to the people who want you, that's that. I didn't... I didn't think..."
He wrapped his arms around himself miserably, looking almost as agonized as Ekaitz had been in the transporter room. His youth was almost painfully obvious in that moment of such blatant uncertainty. He was only twenty-two, if Sigma remembered the personnel file right. Far too young to be involved in this sort of business, though obviously he more than had the skills for it.
"You didn't think anyone would get hurt?" Sigma asked quietly, keeping his voice pitched low to avoid startling the man.
Jei shook his head slightly. "People get hurt all the time. Sometimes I'm the one doing the hurting. It happens. But this time... You all were so different. Everybody was always laughing and smiling and even when they teased each other it was never really meant to hurt. Then there was the Palace of Pleasure and..." His face crinkled up into a study of abject misery. "Nobody ever cared before. Nobody ever cared about somebody they didn't know... just another forgettable face..."
Sigma studied him carefully, noting the way he held himself, the faint tremors, the way he wouldn't quite meet Sigma's eyes and flinched away when the human moved a little too quickly. Several pieces clicked into place and he found himself drawing an involuntary breath. "You were one of them once, weren't you?" Jei's head snapped up, ruby eyes wide. "One of the pretty, nameless dolls..."
"No!" Jei backed up against the door, hugging himself tightly. "No... Not... not like that... Not like... those cages... I could get out. Did get out. I just..." He shivered violently, his wings unfurling to wrap around his body as though for safety.
Deliberately adopting a casual, relaxed pose, Sigma watched the pained young man. It was always unpredictable, dealing with those children who had been denied affection all their lives. When they finally did encounter it they either rejected it completely or were completely overwhelmed by it. Jei, it seemed, was of the latter kind.
"That's why we do what we do, you know," Sigma said softly. "Me, Tau, Ekaitz... the whole purpose of the Ice Princess is to go in where the Infinitum Government can't reach to make the universe a better place for everyone."
Jei flinched again. "Ekaitz..." He swallowed and shivered. "I never meant... I never meant to hurt him... It was just a job, like any other..." His voice dropped to barely a whisper. From the expression on his face, Sigma had no doubts that Jei could remember every second of those moments in the transport room in painful clarity.
"Just like any other?" Sigma questioned gently.
A soft breath escaped Jei's lips and the Avarri sighed. "No," he admitted. "Not at all." He looked up then, meeting Sigma's eyes for a brief moment before turning away. "This... This was a mistake, to come here. I need to go." He pressed a thumb to the reader on the wall and the door slid open.
"You don't have to do this, Jei."
The Avarri stopped in the doorway, facing away from him. Sigma didn't move, just continued talking in a low, steady voice. "If you helped me now, you'd be in a lot less trouble. You could come with me... back to the Ice Princess..."
Jei shook his head violently, hanging onto the door frame for support. "I can't. Ekaitz..."
"Is hurting at least as much as you are. If you're both so miserable, then there must have been something strong between you if it's affecting you both this much."
Twisting to look at him, Jei's eyes were dark. "He'll never forgive me."
Sigma shook his head slowly. "You don't know that. When I first met Tau Ceti, we fought almost constantly. Now, he's the most important thing in the universe to me."
"I'm not like you," Jei said quietly. "I wish I was. Things would have been... different. But I can't help who I am, or the things that I've done. I can't change those. And that means I'll never, ever be good enough for him."
He stepped out of the frame and the door slid shut, leaving Sigma alone once more with only his thoughts for company. He had a lot to think about. Hopefully, he wasn't the only one.
Custom Class Star Ship TSPKAST-0000 (16251582) The Ice Princess
The monitor was blinking insistently, but neither of the two persons present paid it any mind. One was not in view of the screen and thus was unaware of the attempts to contact the engine room, Irinar having slithered down beneath one of the damaged booster units some time ago, while the other had long since dismissed it as unimportant. Time was crucial. Tau Ceti would allow no distractions in his frantic quest to repair the damaged systems.
He seethed, white-hot fury coloring his vision and making his movements jagged and rough. Sigma was gone. Taken away from him by some space garbage. The same space garbage that had had the nerve to set off charges in his engine room and cripple his precious gift to his only friend. He snarled, cursing furiously when his angry jerking snapped off the piece he'd been working on.
When the Ice Princess caught up to those flea-bitten mongrels he was going to electrocute them all to within an inch of death, then design a torture device the likes of which the universe had ever seen and strap them into it for the rest of their miserable, worthless lives.
Somewhere behind him came a faint crackling sound, then a muffled "Oh, hey, I think I got it!" and then the one voice he really didn't want to hear right now emerged from the overhead speakers.
"Tau Ceti."
The Gremlin sat up, scowling, and turned to regard the small message screen that currently displayed the familiar, sternly handsome face of High Chancellor Pyotr Kavalerov. One of the miscreants on the bridge must have figured out how to get around the quick lock he'd thrown on the terminal and patched the call through to the engine room. On any other day he'd almost be proud of them. Today, however, he wanted to wring their necks.
"Go away, Pyotr. I don't have time right now."
"Working yourself to death isn't going to bring him back any faster," Pyotr scolded mildly. "I thought you learned that lesson once before."
"I've only been up for forty-three hours, that pushy yellow man brought me food about eight hours ago, and I'll take a bath as soon as I get this stupid engine working again!" Tau Ceti snapped.
There was a brief silence, then Pyotr's voice came again, softer. "It's not your fault, Tau."
The wrench slipped out of his hand, falling to the floor with a loud clang. He spun around to snatch it up off the floor, hating the way his vision blurred, desperately hoping that the hot tears weren't visible at the angle from which Pyotr was viewing him. "You're wrong," he managed to force out. "I didn't anticipate... I should have planned for..."
"You can't plan for every contingency, Tau. There are too many." Pyotr sounded even more tired than usual. "This is as much my fault as anyone's. No one should have access to the Ice Princess's personnel files but me. No one should even be able to find the ship but me. If you're going to blame someone, blame me."
Scrubbing his arm across his eyes, Tau Ceti finally got up and walked over to the screen, staring blankly at the image of the second most important person in his life. "I set up your security systems," he pointed out sullenly.
"I don't think it was the system itself that was compromised." Pyotr shook his head. "I can't find any evidence of unauthorized access. My best guess at this point is that someone use the public log files to track when I was communicating with the Ice Princess and waited for the right opportunity to make use of what they knew."
"Infiltrating an imposter." Tau Ceti gripped the edges of the control board tightly. "That... That must have taken time. This is no random kidnapping..."
"No," Pyotr agreed. "Whoever set this up put a lot of effort into the attempt. Obviously they want Sigma for something. That something is what I'm trying to figure out now. He's not the type to make enemies, though he was never well-liked amongst the Authorities he worked with."
Tau Ceti scowled. "They were stupid."
Pyotr chuckled quietly. "Their loss is yours and my gain. But still... he may have been disliked, but nothing in my research shows any reason someone would harbor a grudge against him. He had no real friends or even close associates amongst those he worked with or schooled with, and he has only two family members left."
"Father, brother." Tau Ceti's face scrunched up in thought. "Younger brother."
"Delta," Pyotr provided. "His father is Tria Altair, and is the Governor of Xochimi in the fourth quadrant. Delta is..." He frowned slightly, looking thoughtful. "Secretary to the Lower Chancellor of that same quadrant."
Tau Ceti snorted. "I know that look. You're going to go interrogate the kid. Try not to scare him too bad, mm'kay, Princess?"
Pyotr rolled his eyes and snorted quietly. "You are telling me not to scare someone?" He laughed when Tau made a rude gesture at the screen. "But that aside, Tau, watch your temper. If you let it get the better of you, you're going to make mistakes."
Tau Ceti scowled. "I never make mistakes." At the High Chancellor's raised brow he amended, "Almost never."
"Just keep it in mind while you're working. How extensive is the damage to the Ice Princess?"
Sighing, Tau turned to look out over the engines and the nearby power reserves. "Bad enough. I'm having to rebuild most of the main engine from scratch, and one of the two secondaries got toasted pretty severely. The experimental drive wasn't touched, but it'd take me longer to reconfigure it for normal usage than it is to rebuild the entire main engine and its components." He scowled, sulking. "For a soon-to-be-dead space rat, he wasn't stupid."
One ice blond brow shot up. "Coming from you, that's high praise."
The Gremlin muttered beneath his breath and gestured again. Pyotr shook his head with a slight smile. "Would it help if I sent a few ships your way?" he asked.
Vivid violet eyes flashed him a sharp glare. "I am not having clumsy oafs anywhere near my ship and my engines. I have enough spare parts on board to fix this three times over. All I need is time." He shot the High Chancellor a pointed look.
Chuckling again, Pyotr sighed tolerantly. "All right. Just promise me you won't overwork yourself."
"Hmph" was all the response he got before Tau Ceti went back to work, but they both knew the promise would be kept regardless of whether or not the words were spoken. In forcing him to calm, the High Chancellor had given him the clarity of mind he needed to work at the efficiency he was accustomed to.
With renewed vigor and temper held firmly in check, Tau Ceti attacked the inner core of the engine. "En guarde, demons," he murmured beneath his breath. "For I shall be the one to vanquish you!"
Planet 0000000 (Zero), The Palace of Eternity
Pyotr Kavalerov watched silently for a minute as his long-time friend and surrogate little brother went back to working his Gremlin magic on the decimated equipment, then calmly cut the connection. Tau would be all right now. He was thinking again, if not clearly then at least not nearly so muddled. It seemed to be an inherent character flaw in all Gremlins that they could get completely consumed by a project to the exclusion of all else. It was one of the reasons the race was in danger of dying out; there were cases in his files that noted more than one Gremlin having literally worked himself to death.
That, Pyotr swore, would not happen to Tau Ceti. Not as long as he was around to play the role of elder brother and interrupt his friend's obsession whenever necessary. No matter what kind of fireworks went off as a result.
Sending the data files from his terminal to his in-lens, Pyotr rose and pushed away his chair. He had a task of his own to deal with now, and one that was going to require the majority of his concentration. Theoretically, a simple secretary wouldn't have all that much power in the Infinitum Government. Pyotr had several of his own, after all, and every one of them remained completely in the dark about his various 'special' projects. Still the fact remained that someone in the Palace of Eternity had managed to locate information that no one should know about. The fact that Sigma Altair's father and brother were both involved with the fourth quadrant in some manner could be a complete coincidence... or a well-laid conspiracy. He intended to find out which.
After the first three people who greeted him once he stepped out of his office took an uncertain step back at his response, Pyotr took a moment to pull up a neutral facade. He was well aware that he could be a bit intimidating to people on a good day. Obviously it got worse when he was upset. One would think that dealing with all the worst problems in space on a daily basis would have inured him to such stresses. This time, though, was different. This was personal.
Lower Chancellor Rana Eridani's office was wide open. Pyotr stepped inside, frowning a bit at the elevated levels of clutter that seemed to be everywhere, then caught the attention of one of the two persons both clustered around the Chancellor's desk. One looked up at first, blinked fuzzily at him, then the man's eyes widened and he prodded the other. That one also took a moment to recognize him, then they both shot to their feet.
"High Chancellor!"
They both looked tired. Exhausted, even. Pyotr frowned. "Where is Rana?" he asked.
"Um." The two exchanged hesitant looks. Pyotr could almost see their tired minds struggling desperately to come up with an answer - and not the one he wanted. Repressing a sigh and letting a little bit of his irritation seep into his expression, he looked at them pointedly.
They both flinched. "Lord Eridani... he... that is... um..." Now they looked almost miserable. The one on the left wrung his hands and looked up imploringly.
"We're not supposed to... We weren't supposed to know at all. I don't think they even knew, really, but it's obvious now and he made us promise not to tell and..."
Pyotr felt his patience wearing very thin. He pinched the bridge of his nose and counted slowly to ten. When he felt composed enough to deal with the two men without wanting to strangle them, he drew in a quiet breath.
"Did you find-" A harried voice called from behind him, then someone promptly smacked into him and nearly overbalanced him. Whoever it was had been in a considerable hurry, given the force with which they'd crashed into Pyotr. He managed to stay on his feet, but a thud behind him indicated that the other person hadn't been nearly so fortunate. He turned cautiously, brows going up to discover Lower Chancellor Rana Eridani, looking even more stressed and exhausted than his two secretaries.
He helped Rana get back to his feet, then took a step back to get out of the man's immediate vicinity to avoid another accident. Like his secretaries, it took Rana a moment to recognize Pyotr.
"Lord Kavalerov..."
"Is there a reason none of you look like you've slept in days?" Pyotr asked, frowning.
Rana went red, then white. He glanced around Pyotr to his two secretaries, who both shook their heads rapidly. The Lower Chancellor swallowed and cautiously met Pyotr's gaze again, flinching at whatever he saw there. "I... that is, we... we were..."
"Let's try another tactic," Pyotr interrupted, a little more impatiently than he meant to. "Where is your secretary, Delta Altair?"
While he wasn't sure exactly what he'd been expecting, Rana Eridani crumpling to the floor with a distraught whimper wasn't it. There were the sounds of someone scrambling around behind him, then Rana's two secretaries appeared from either side to kneel next to the Chancellor.
Pyotr felt a headache forming. He hadn't gotten nearly enough sleep last night after having been awoken by the Ice Princess's emergency call, dealing with Tau Ceti had taken more out of him than he'd thought, and now he had a Lower Chancellor practically in tears at his feet. Rana Eridani, of all people. The man on Zero most often accused of being emotionless. The one who never got upset, never got angry. The only IG official who could manage to be in the same room as High Councilors Torrik and Ramadanya without a fight breaking out.
"Someone is going to start explaining what is going on here," Pyotr said slowly, "Right now."
One of the two secretaries looked up at him, lips twisting into an unhappy grimace, then he sighed quietly. "Delta's missing," he admitted softly. "He's been missing for..." He checked his chrono. "Almost sixty-eight hours."
What? Pyotr stared at the secretary, then at Rana, doing some rapid re-evaluations. Almost three days would put Delta's disappearance at two days before Sigma had been kidnapped. That would make sense if the man had been their mole and was making certain he got away before anyone suspected him, but something still didn't feel right. Good moles were valuable because they remained in their places, undetected. Running so early was considerably more suspicious than merely continuing to do one's job.
"You have alerted the Authorities."
The secretary nodded dismally. "No leads. His things are all still in his room, his files are untouched, and there are no records of him leaving Zero. It's like he just vanished into thin air."
Pyotr frowned. A mole would have at least taken files with him. And how had the man gotten off Zero without detection? "When did you notice he was missing?"
"As soon as we got to the office. Delta's... well, he's very good at what he does, but he doesn't seem to know what sleep is for. He's always the first one in, and usually Lord Eridani has to make him leave in the evenings." The man awkwardly patted Rana's shoulder. "We used to joke that we should just set him up a cot in the office, if he wants to stay that badly..."
Apparently a fixation with work and duty ran in the Altair family. And speaking of-
"Did Delta have any... problems with his family?" Pyotr asked carefully.
Now both secretaries were looking at him in surprise. "Huh? No. He didn't really talk much about his family - hard to get him to talk about anything that wasn't work - but they were on good terms. He gets messages every now and then from his father and brother and it was always funny reading them over his shoulder because they all write the same way. Just the bare facts, no real pleasantries, that sort of thing." The secretary smiled faintly and shook his head. "It was like reading a report rather than a letter. 'These things happened. No serious injuries.' and such. What a weird family."
Delta and Sigma both missing, and from the sounds of it Delta was just as unlikely to turn against the IG as Sigma. A vendetta against the family, then?
"What do you know about Delta's father?" Pyotr asked.
The secretary that had been explaining things to him looked thoughtful. "He's a Governor of some planet in quad four... that was always funny because Delta was always so careful about making sure everyone got treated equally and his father didn't get any special treatment. We used to wonder if that ever bugged Delta's father, but then we got to read his letters and..." He laughed quietly. "I think that man would be more offended if Delta had tried to give him special treatment. Like I said, weird family."
And unfortunately for Pyotr's investigation, not the kind of family to make enemies. Yet still the fact remained that both Altair brothers were now missing, and the only lead they had was the ship identification that Captain Kai had gotten. Apparently it was time to go look a little deeper into Tria Altair's file. But first...
Pyotr knelt down next to the exhausted Rana, seeing in his mind a certain Gremlin frantically overworking himself in his quest to locate his lover. "Rana, look at me. Delta will be found, I promise you that, but if you keep on like this you're going to wear yourselves out. Tired eyes miss things. I suggest the three of you start working in shifts so that you all get some rest."
For a moment there was nothing, then Rana visibly pulled himself together and nodded slightly. "Yes, of course... Who knows how much we may have missed already." He rose slowly to his feet, both secretaries helping him keep his balance, then gave a shallow, formal bow. "Thank you, Lord Kavalerov."
Pyotr nodded. "Keep me informed. I need to know immediately if you find anything."
There were three faint expressions of surprise, then Rana's formal mask slid back into place. "Of course, Lord Kavalerov. I will let you know at once if we discover anything." He looked to the secretary on his right. "Tik, find the initial report the Authorities did. Perhaps that will be of some use to the High Chancellor."
"Yes, Lord Eridani." The man in question broke off to go do exactly that, and Pyotr thanked them all politely before excusing himself. He had a lot of work to do, and the situation had just gotten considerably more complicated.
Planet 5525685 (Kalakmul), A Small Complex
Sigma walked steadily over the uneven terrain, patiently ignoring the ache in his side where one of the bounty hunters had kicked him. He'd caught them off-guard when they'd shown up without Jei; apparently they'd assumed that just because he remained docile around the Avarri meant he wouldn't fight back given the appropriate opportunity. He'd put at least two of them out of commission before Jei had shown up to subdue him.
Interesting, though, that beyond the one kick and a particularly nasty blow to the head the bounty hunters hadn't retaliated. That meant that whoever wanted him also wanted him kept intact - at least for now. Unfortunately for his kidnappers, that gave Sigma the advantage.
Unfortunately for Sigma, they'd bound his hands. That would make fighting his way free considerably more difficult when it came to that point. Even so, it wasn't impossible. All he really had to do was get away from Jei so the Avarri's telekinesis wouldn't continue to thwart his plans. Magics could be extremely annoying at times like these.
He was led into a small complex that appeared to have been built into the side of a cliff. They were met by a group of five people, all of them the same species and one Sigma didn't recognize. They all spoke in hushed tones that he couldn't quite make out, then something was exchanged and Sigma was turned over to the new group. He was shoved roughly through a series of corridors that all looked alike - though he memorized the layout on the way in and would have no trouble getting his bearings if it came to that - before being stopped in front of yet another holding cell door. He was really getting tired of those.
A harsh shove knocked him off-balance enough that he hit the floor a little harder than intended, and in the background he could hear the door close. There was a brief moment of silence during which he shifted around so that he could sit up, then a shocked voice said in disbelief, "Sigma?"
Sigma's head jerked up to stare at the man who'd spoken. "Delta." The family resemblance was obvious in their dusky skin and blond hair, though Delta's was significantly longer and darker than Sigma's, having taken more after their mother. "What are you doing here?" He frowned, then shook his head. "Answer that in a minute, first, get these off." He twisted to present the grav-shackles to Delta.
A dark blond brow arched up as Delta moved to kneel behind his brother and inspect the bindings. "You immediately assume I still know how to do that," he commented blandly, bending down to get a better look.
"I taught you," Sigma replied with a shrug. "And you don't forget anything."
"Hmm," Delta said neutrally, all his concentration focused upon his task. A few minutes later there was a quiet click, then Sigma's hands were free.
Sigma smiled slightly as he worked circulation back into his arms. "So, back to my original question. What are you doing here? I thought you were still on Zero."
A faint glimmer of pain and worry flashed across his brother's face. "I was on Zero. I went back to my rooms for the evening, laid out everything I'd need for the next morning, and went to bed. When I awoke I was here and had the worst headache of my life." He grimaced. "I'm going to guess a tranquilizer of some kind, but that's more your field."
Considering for a moment, Sigma frowned. "Probably, but that part is less important than how you left Zero. Security on Zero is tighter than anywhere else in the IG."
"The necessary access codes alone..." Delta agreed, sitting down and folding his hands in his lap as he thought. "It's literally not possible to get onto or off of Zero without permission from someone on Zero."
Thinking of a certain Gremlin that was no doubt taking the galaxy apart right now in his fury, Sigma smiled grimly. Not completely impossible, but that wasn't relevant right now. As far as he could tell from his conversations with the High Chancellor, Tau Ceti was the only Gremlin capable of such a feat. Therefore, there was only one other possibility.
"Then someone on Zero planned this, or at the very least was an integral part of the operation." His smile turned dark. Whoever was responsible was going to seriously regret his involvement as soon as the High Chancellor caught up with him. If Tau Ceti didn't get there first. "I can only think of one reason why someone would want both of us, alive."
Delta frowned, then his eyes widened. "To blackmail father."
Sigma nodded grimly. "And father being father, he wouldn't have bothered to tell either of us if there were threats being made against him. I think he's more stubborn than you and I put together."
Delta laughed softly. "I wouldn't be so sure of that, Sigma. You weren't around to see how much it vexed him that you went into the Authorities without his permission. He still thinks you should have been a diplomat, especially now that you're retired from the Authorities and have all that free time."
"Free time?" Sigma echoed Delta's laugh. "You'd be amazed how little free time a retired officer gets." Actually, he reflected, some of the work he did now could technically be considered diplomatic. The missions where they weren't hauling someone off to Rehab, anyway.
"I still can't believe you're retired." Delta shook his head. "I would have sworn you'd be like father. Almost sixty and still driving himself to do better still. What happened?"
This was the conversation he'd been trying to avoid ever since High Chancellor Kavalerov had calmly rearranged his life. It was far easier for those of Kavalerov's 'pets' who had nothing in the way of family. To them, the crew was their family. "I... found someone who made me re-evaluate my life. Question just who I was and what I'd been doing..." He shrugged, as nonchalantly as possible.
Delta's brows shot up. "You? You're kidding. Must be somebody pretty special..."
Sigma smiled. "I'd let you meet him, but you'd probably need to be fitted for body armor first. He's... a little touchy."
"You're crazy." Delta shook his head. "Give me a calm, geeky, slightly-disorganized diplomat with a weakness for creme cookies and lemon tea any day. I don't know how you can be so focused and intense all the time. You're worse than father." He noticed the peculiar expression on Sigma's face and blinked. "What?"
"Creme cookies and lemon tea?" Sigma asked archly.
Delta flushed and looked away. "Nevermind."
"Delta."
His brother winced and stared fixedly at the wall. "Just forget about it. It's not important."
Sigma rolled his eyes. "Who likes creme cookies and lemon tea, Delta?"
"No one," Delta muttered.
"Mmm hmm..." Sigma considered. Delta spent all his time on Zero, as obsessive about his work as Sigma was about his own. As far as Sigma knew, Delta hadn't taken a vacation in six years. "So, no one who likes creme cookies and lemon tea is going to be worried that you've suddenly vanished from Zero."
Delta went absolutely rigid, his eyes wide. "Oh no..." he breathed. "Rana's going to..."
Sigma's brows shot up. "Rana? Lower Chancellor Rana Eridani? That Rana?"
His brother's gaze jerked back around to stare at him with alarmed grey-green eyes. "Rana gets... attached. Most people can't see it, but it's there if you know what to look for. He has... something of a support system. As long as all the pieces are in place, he's one of the best diplomats in the IG. But if one of those pieces breaks... or goes missing... he completely falls apart." Delta exhaled slowly. "I have to get back to Zero. We have got to get out of here."
"Believe me, I'd love to get out of here," Sigma said dryly, "But our options at the moment are limited. However, we know there are people out looking for both of us, and if the ones looking for you are even half as fanatical as the ones looking for me, it shouldn't take them long at all to find us."
Delta's worry-creased brow narrowed into a deeper frown. "They probably realized I was missing as soon as I failed to show up for work... but how would anyone know that a retired Authority had been kidnapped?" He regarded Sigma pointedly. "What are you not telling me?"
Debating several excuses in his head, Sigma sighed and shrugged. "My lover is a Gremlin."
Delta blinked. "I thought Gremlins were too technology-obsessed to remember to have sex."
Sigma laughed, then smirked. "Not this one. Tau Ceti is... unique."
"Tau Ceti?" Delta stared at him as though he'd suddenly turned green and grown a second head. "How did that happen?"
Laughing again, Sigma shifted until his back was against a wall. "It's a long story." He considered, then chuckled quietly. "But it's not like we have anything else to do, is it? All right then. It started with a group of rebels..."
Combat Class Star Ship 35471990 The Conquistador
All around him, the others were laughing, jeering, and boastfully seeing who could come up with the most outlandish thing to spend their reward points on. No one else noticed that Jei was the only one not speaking, the only one not celebrating. Once he had fulfilled his role in the job, he ceased to matter.
It was how it had always been, his entire life. He did what he was told to do, then faded into the background. None of the other mercenaries cared that without Jei and his special abilities the plan would have fallen apart. None of them ever acknowledged the fact that Jei had been able to control their prisoner when six of the others had failed. He wasn't a person, he was a tool.
No one else had bothered to ask what would happen to Sigma once he'd been delivered. It was none of their business. It didn't matter. They simply delivered their captive and got paid, and that was the end of it. The life of a mercenary.
Until now, he'd been fine with it. It was just the way life was. He hadn't realized until a week ago that things could be different. Until the Ice Princess. Until Ekaitz.
Jei wandered aimlessly through the narrow hallways of the Conquistador, unable to help the automatic comparison to the wide, beautiful versions on the Ice Princess. Like all combat ships, the Conquistador had been designed with the utmost efficiency. It had weapons, shielding, hallways, crew quarters, cargo holds, engines... all the standard ship parts. Some a little newer than others, some worth a few more points than was normal, but all in all it was just a sum of parts. Add them together, and they made a ship.
The Ice Princess was a lady. Her different areas were wildly different, yet still beautiful, and somehow there was a flow from one to the other so that you never felt the distinction. It was never jarring. Just an easy, smooth transition. There were all the standard areas, and several distinctly non-standard, but it was hard to think of her as merely a sum of her parts. That ship was almost a living entity, her various features working together like organs in a body, with the crew making up her soul.
In contrast, the Conquistador felt ugly, dull, and lifeless. Just a hunk of metal hurling through space. This ship would never soar on silver wings through a sea of stars, with a beautiful, dashing, delightfully unpredictable Elivin at her helm.
He groaned quietly and banged his head against the nearest wall. Ever since attempting to talk to Sigma he'd been doing his best to carefully not think about Ekaitz. He couldn't afford to think about Ekaitz. Couldn't mourn for what he'd never really had.
He'd known when he'd sought the man out in his office that it was a bad idea. Professional mercenaries could not afford to make attachments, especially not to enchanting captains of secret IG starships. But the memory of that one kiss wouldn't leave him alone, the lingering smell of the sea that had clung to the man, the feel of his body pressed up against Jei's. He'd thought if he could just experience the whole of Ekaitz, just once, then he'd be able to move on. Get it out of his system.
Instead, it was making him miserable. He'd never wanted anything so badly before in his life. All the old memories, the old pains, they all faded away to drown beneath the visions of glittering azure eyes and flowing blue hair. He could no longer remember what it had been like to work in a pleasure house. When he tried to picture those times, what came instead was the tingling feel of delicately webbed hands tracing every line of his body, a wet tongue mapping out every inch of his skin. The sensation of slick, satiny skin of the palest blue beneath his hands, softer than anything he'd ever touched before.
Touching Ekaitz, giving in to his desires, had been a terrible mistake. Now he could think of nothing else, and his entire body trembled in pain to think that he'd never be able to touch the man again. It wasn't fair. He'd had dozens, tens of dozens of lovers in his life. You met, you fucked, you went on your way. That was how it was supposed to work. A bit of fun to liven up the tedium of life.
Jei felt sick just thinking about it. How could he be with someone else when he knew without even having to think about it that all he'd be able to see was Ekaitz? Beautiful, magnificent, unconquerable Ekaitz.
Ekaitz, who most likely wanted to string him up and feed him to a space-larva before throwing him in Rehab for the rest of his life.
Jei bit his lip and tried not to whimper. He could still see the hurt, the pain, the utter betrayal on Ekaitz's face when the man had burst in on them in the transport room. It had shaken something fundamental in him, to see that expression on the man he l- ... on Ekaitz. He'd been planning on being well away by the time Ekaitz awoke. He hadn't expected the Elivin to wake, to find him. Anyone else he could have handled. Anyone but Ekaitz.
There must have been something strong between you.
A pained sound escaped his throat and Jei found himself wedged into the corner between a wall and a bulkhead, Sigma's words echoing in his head.
He's the most important thing in the universe to me.
There was no way Ekaitz would forgive him for what he'd done. Not a chance. But at least if Ekaitz rejected him there was the chance that Jei would be able to move on with his life without feeling like he was being torn in half. Maybe, maybe... if he tried to set things right... there might even be a chance...
Pushing away from the bulkhead, Jei turned and started moving swiftly through the ship. He had things he needed to be doing, preferably before his ommon sense reasserted itself.
Custom Class Star Ship TSPKAST-0000 (16251582) The Ice Princess
Finally, finally they were moving. The logical part of his mind recognized that a normal ship with a normal engineer would have been out of commission for weeks after a blast like that. The emotional part, however, was still despairing the delay. After so much time had passed it should have been nearly impossible to track the kidnappers' escape ship.
Ekaitz really needed to remember that 'impossible' was not a word that he should be applying to the Ice Princess or her deranged engineer. His eyes slid over to where the Gremlin was sitting on the floor, one of the control consoles partially disassembled beside him. When asked, Tau Ceti had informed him that he was 'upgrading' it. Personally, Ekaitz was of the opinion that the Gremlin just couldn't sit still without something in his hands.
On the main screen the stars outside were overlaid with a faint grid dotted with several glowing points of pink light. Every now and then one would fade away and a new point would take its place. Space breadcrumbs, it seemed, leading them on a wild chase through space.
"This seems to be going a lot easier than it should be," Ekaitz commented to no one in particular. "Shouldn't we have lost the trail a long time ago?"
From his position on the floor, Tau Ceti snorted. "One stupid merc ship? It's not like we're trying to find the Darkside." His lips curved up into a dreamy smile. "Now that would be a worthy challenge..."
Ekaitz arched a brow as he looked at the Gremlin. "The Darkside? Isn't that another of the High Chancellor's ships?"
There was a collective titter from his bridge crew, both those that were supposed to be there and those that weren't. It was predictably Meiki that filled him in, the Draconis's orange-gold eyes gleaming with admiration.
"The Darkside is the Ghost Ship," he explained. "Tau Ceti's been trying to figure out how to track it off and on for as long as we've known him. He'd probably have it figured out by now if he wasn't so obsessed with the Sweet Dream..."
Tau Ceti shot the Draconis a dirty look. "I am not obsessed with the Sweet Dream."
"What's the Sweet Dream have?" Ekaitz asked, bemused. There were several snickers.
"His brother," Jayce explained helpfully, holding his hands up in warding at Tau Ceti's sharp glower.
Ekaitz blinked and looked at the irate Gremlin. "I didn't know you had a brother."
"I won't, as soon as I figure out how to conveniently disable the Sweet Dream in an uninhabited region of space on the far end of IG territory," Tau Ceti muttered darkly.
There was a chorus of laughter from all around and Ekaitz shook his head slowly. "I'm glad I'm not a member of your family. It sounds like you're worse to them than you are to people you're trying to assert your superiority over."
"I do not assert superiority over people!" Tau Ceti exclaimed, completely giving up on the disassembled console to jump to his feet.
"No?" Ekaitz asked, amused. "Then why are you trying to track the Ghost Ship?"
Tau Ceti appeared honestly bewildered by the question. "Because no one else ever has."
Ekaitz laughed. "That would be my point. You have this strange need to show up everyone else, prove you're better than them."
Tau Ceti blinked. "I am better than everyone else."
"Thus your superiority issues."
"I do not have superiority issues!"
"Then name just one person who's better than you at something. Anything." Ekaitz paused as Tau Ceti immediately opened his mouth. "And Sigma doesn't count."
The Gremlin's mouth snapped shut. He stood still for several long moments, the tip of his tail twitching back and forth as he thought, then he sullenly muttered something that Ekaitz didn't quite catch.
"What?"
Tau Ceti shoved his hands in his pockets before turning and walking firmly toward the door. "Never mind. I'm going back down to the engine room to make this bloody ship go faster." A few moments later he was gone, and the entire bridge burst out laughing.
When they finally caught their breath, Fe'yiv turned to regard Ekaitz with a mirthful smile. "I think he likes you," she pronounced solemnly, silver eyes gleaming.
Ekaitz arched a brow. "Really?" he said dryly. "How can you tell?"
"He likes you," Meiki confirmed with a confident nod. "He's been a lot nicer to you than to any of our other captains."
There were a number of snickers, then Dralikkzion offered, "Our very first Captain got into constant shouting matches with him over everything. Eventually, Tau Ceti zapped him with electricity and threw him, literally, out the Princess's primary cargo hatch."
Ekaitz blinked. "You're kidding. Is he alive?"
"I think so," Dralikkzion replied with a shrug, "Though I've been told he gets odd twitches every now and then as an after-effect..."
"Okay, so compared to that..." Ekaitz shook his head.
"The second one stormed off after telling the Princess that he couldn't take any more prima-donna Gremlin antics. Turns out Tau Ceti'd figured out the man was trying to kiss up to him and had him running pointless errands all over the ship." Jayce snickered quietly. "That was fun. And they call us Vrill stuck up..."
"The third one was arrogant," Q'inn explained, taking up the story. "He seemed to think that the Captain should have access to every part of the ship, including Tau Ceti's workshop. One day he actually tried to break into it." All of them winced. "That was the last time we saw him, though from a few things the Princess has said we're pretty sure he wound up trapped in a Sardoran zoo for a while..."
"The fourth one was really stupid," Meiki said, grimacing. "He figured he could get on Tau Ceti's good side by offering to sleep with him and he wouldn't accept it when Tau Ceti told him no. That's the one Sigma put in traction."
There were several murmurs and nods and one voice commented, "I think he's still there..."
Ekaitz swallowed, suddenly seeing what they meant when they said that Tau Ceti liked him. He would not have wanted that particular Gremlin angry with him. "And the fifth?" he asked, not sure if he wanted to know the answer.
Fe'yiv laughed. "Oh, that one was funny. Tau Ceti had it rigged so that the captain's security codes randomly changed, including the one to his suite! I think he spent three or four nights sleeping in one of the rec rooms before he finally gave up and left."
"And the sixth one got left on a mining station in the middle of nowhere," Ekaitz finished up. "Remind me never to get on that man's bad side."
Everyone laughed again, then Meiki patted his arm reassuringly. "See? So he does like you. We all like you. Maybe you'll actually be the one that stays."
Ekaitz smiled faintly. "Thank you, Meiki. I'd like to stay, but... after this..." His smile faded.
"It wasn't your fault," Jayce protested. "Nobody could have expected Jei would turn out to be a spy. I still can barely believe it. This is like the most secretive ship in space! There should be no way that could happen!"
Despite the murmurs and reassuring words, Ekaitz still felt miserable. The Ice Princess and her crew were his responsibility. He'd failed them. This was the ship where the impossible was not only possible, but likely. They should have planned for that to work against them as well as for them. He should have planned for it. There was no excuse. All he could do was try his hardest to set things right.
He was still going over all the different possible ways that the High Chancellor was going to fire him when Jayce's startled voice interrupted his thoughts.
"Captain! The merc ship, the one we're looking for! It's coming right at us!"
They all scrambled for information. Dralikkzion confirmed the identity of the ship, adding that it wasn't quite flying right. Ekaitz tried to get a call through to the engine room, but the buzzing static he got let him know that Tau Ceti had disabled the communication lines again.
"Meiki, get down to the engine room and let Tau Ceti know. Q'inn, Zion, transport room. The minute we get an opportunity I want you over there. Jayce, status!"
They all scrambled to comply, Fe'yiv's voice breathing disbelievingly, "It's not slowing down..."
"Get ready to turn around and pursue! Jayce?"
The Vrill blinked at his console, then blinked again. Finally he turned to gape at Ekaitz. "Incoming transmission... from that ship."
For a span of three seconds there was dead silence, then Ekaitz snapped. "Let's hear it."
Jei's nervous face filled the screen and Ekaitz felt a sharp pain in his chest. What he'd done already wasn't enough? He had to come back to finish the job?
"Jei."
The Avarri flinched. "Um, I know I'm the last person you want to see right now but believe me I have a reason and this ship is really a bitch to fly solo and would one of you please tell me how to make this thing slow down?"
The span of silence was shorter this time, then Jayce murmured quietly, "Combat Class..." A moment later he was rattling off instructions which they could all see Jei scrambling to obey. Two minutes later the ship had stopped half a kilometer away and they were back to the tense standoff.
"What do you want?" Ekaitz asked, forcing himself to keep his voice steady.
Jei flinched again. "I..." He drew in a deep breath. "I did something really stupid, and unforgivable, but I have to at least try to make it right. For..." He hesitated, his gaze seeking out and catching Ekaitz's. "I know you'll never be able to forgive me, but I can't just..." He exhaled sharply in frustration. "Please let me make it up to you." The last was barely a whisper.
"You realize we're going to turn you over to the Authorities at the first chance we get," Ekaitz pointed out coldly, wishing it didn't hurt so much when Jei lowered his head dejectedly.
"Yeah, I know. I guess I deserve that much. But first I want to help you get Sigma back. I know where he's being kept, and I know how to get into the complex." Jei's crimson eyes were pleading.
"How are we supposed to trust you, after what you did?" Fe'yiv asked softly, prompting another cringe.
"I don't know..." Jei sighed in despair. "I wouldn't trust me, so there's no reason you should, except that I really do want to help, and I owe it to... to Ekaitz and Sigma at least..."
Ekaitz considered. "Lower your shielding."
Jei blinked blankly. "Err... how?"
Again, Jayce walked him through it. A few moments later Q'inn and Dralikkzion emerged from the bridge doors and approached Jei with caution. The Avarri stood up and turned to look at them, nodding slightly. "I won't fight you. I really truly just want to help."
"Q'inn?" Ekaitz questioned.
"The whole crew seems to be unconscious, and most of 'em have grav-cuffs slapped on them." The Hellcat shrugged. "Looks like they'll be out for hours."
"Return to the ship." Ekaitz hesitated. "All three of you."
Two minutes later Jei was on the bridge of the Ice Princess and Ekaitz had absolutely no idea what to say. Seeing him on the screen had been painful. Having him standing right in front of him, being close enough that he could reach out and touch, that was agonizing. Before he quite figured out what to do, however, the bridge doors opened once again and Tau Ceti stepped through.
Jei went white. Tau Ceti hissed and snarled, "You..."
Between one blink and the next the Gremlin had crossed the bridge and punched the Avarri hard, sending Jei flying backwards into one of the front consoles. He stalked forward, standing over Jei threateningly, electricity crackling along his entire body. "Where is he?"
"Kalakmul," Jei managed to gasp out, blood streaming down his face from both nose and lip. "He's on Kalakmul."
For one long moment it seemed as though Tau Ceti would do more, then he turned and stiffly stalked to the other main console. Before he got there Jayce had already input all the commands and computed the course, leaping aside before the Gremlin was quite within reach.
"Tau Ceti," Ekaitz said quietly. For a moment there was no reaction, then slowly the Gremlin turned to face him. "Can you disable the mercenary ship so that they can't flee while we're away?"
He could see the struggle in the Gremlin's violet eyes, the desire to go tearing off after Sigma warring with the need to punish those responsible. Finally he nodded curtly and stalked back off the bridge again. Via Sigma's in-specs Ekaitz watched the transporter flare to life as Tau Ceti went over to the mercenary ship, then return a minute or two later. They all jumped as the Gremlin's voice came over the speakers.
"It's not going anywhere. Now get this bloody ship moving before I lose my patience and decide to test out the experimental drive and smear your atoms all across the cosmos. I'll be in my workshop if you need me, but I highly suggest you don't."
Jayce had the ship moving before Tau Ceti had even finished speaking.
To Part Four
In which Angsting Occurs and we finally learn what happened to the Ice Princess's first six captains. >.>;
In other news, this story now has 24,936 words. -.-; Refer back to earlier post for why this is depressing. *SIGH*
---
Combat Class Star Ship 35471990 The Conquistador
Sigma paced slowly around the perimeter of his cell, sharp eyes missing nothing, and yet still he saw no options available to him. If he'd had Tau Ceti with him they'd no doubt already be free, but unfortunately humans weren't quite as deft as Gremlins at disassembling random lighting circuits and building useful escape objects. The ship, what he'd seen of it so far, seemed fairly up to date. Combat Class, probably a bounty hunter's. That would explain the excellent prisoner holding cells.
Giving up for the moment, Sigma sat down heavily on the one low bench built into the far wall. There was no way out that he could find. Therefore, his thoughts turned instead to how he'd gotten into this mess. It had all happened very suddenly; he'd been on the bridge with Meiki and Fe'yiv when the door had slid open. Meiki and Fe'yiv had almost immediately crumpled, while Sigma himself had at least had time to turn around to face his attacker.
Not that it had done him any good. Jei's telekinesis was formidable. So formidable, in fact, that he'd barely been able to do more than get out a single word before he'd found he couldn't move. No matter how hard he struggled with all the strength in his body, he couldn't move so much as a finger as Jei floated him along down the hallways to the transport room.
Then Captain Ekaitz had come. The intense pain, the look of absolute betrayal on his captain's face had taken Sigma off-guard. Only one thing he knew of could cause an agony like that, and he wondered how long the two had been together.
Not long, he decided, running over memories in his mind. Before the mission to Rubican, Ekaitz had been the same as ever. After he'd come back and they'd dealt with the Solar Flare... Yes, there had been some disjointedness there, but nothing overt. Nothing like he'd seen a few hours ago in the transport room. So they couldn't have been together more than one night.
He winced, hoping his captain was all right. The man could be so strong and so frail all at once. Something a long time ago had broken him, and he'd never really healed from it. Now, with this additional betrayal on top of that...
Grimacing, Sigma hoped that the man he'd seen underneath would triumph despite everything that he'd experienced. There was potential in Ekaitz. More than that. If the man would stop doubting himself, Sigma had no doubts that he'd be an excellent leader.
Fixing a glare at the unobtrusively glowing light on the wall, he leaned back against the wall. That light was capable of getting him out of this place, he just didn't have the knowledge or the skill to make use of it. Not like his temperamental lover. Sigma hoped Tau Ceti was all right, and spared a brief thought for the crew that were undoubtedly being driven mad by the furious Gremlin. They only thought they'd known what an angry Tau Ceti was like.
He smiled despite himself, chuckling quietly. There was so much fire, so much energy in that lean body that he was sometimes amazed that Tau didn't burn himself out. Until meeting Tau Ceti, he'd thought it impossible for someone to be that intense all the time. The Gremlin had proved him so very wrong, not that he'd minded.
Still. The fact that the Ice Princess hadn't caught up with the mercenary ship hours ago meant that Jei had somehow disabled her before kidnapping Sigma. Tau was undoubtedly livid and snapping at anyone who so much as looked at him if his precious toy ship had been damaged. And the longer of a head start the mercenaries had, the harder it would be for the Ice Princess to catch up.
Although she would. Of that, Sigma had no doubts. If Ekaitz managed to stay in one piece and not break under the strain, he and Tau Ceti would make a very, very dangerous team. It almost made him feel sorry for Jei and his mercenaries when those two caught up with them.
There were faint footsteps, coming nearer, then the door slid open. Jei walked calmly inside, and the mechanism slid shut again. They faced one another neutrally, neither saying a word, though Jei seemed faintly surprised that Sigma hadn't bothered to even get up. Sigma wasn't sure why. Jei had already proven he could overpower Sigma, so there really wasn't much point to repeatedly attacking the man. A physical offensive was not going to get him out of here.
"You... I wanted to come apologize," Jei said, eyeing Sigma cautiously and staying as far away from the man as he could. "I have nothing against you personally, or your ship, or the... the people on board." He swallowed slightly, shoulders drooping. "It was just business. I pick you up, deliver you to the people who want you, that's that. I didn't... I didn't think..."
He wrapped his arms around himself miserably, looking almost as agonized as Ekaitz had been in the transporter room. His youth was almost painfully obvious in that moment of such blatant uncertainty. He was only twenty-two, if Sigma remembered the personnel file right. Far too young to be involved in this sort of business, though obviously he more than had the skills for it.
"You didn't think anyone would get hurt?" Sigma asked quietly, keeping his voice pitched low to avoid startling the man.
Jei shook his head slightly. "People get hurt all the time. Sometimes I'm the one doing the hurting. It happens. But this time... You all were so different. Everybody was always laughing and smiling and even when they teased each other it was never really meant to hurt. Then there was the Palace of Pleasure and..." His face crinkled up into a study of abject misery. "Nobody ever cared before. Nobody ever cared about somebody they didn't know... just another forgettable face..."
Sigma studied him carefully, noting the way he held himself, the faint tremors, the way he wouldn't quite meet Sigma's eyes and flinched away when the human moved a little too quickly. Several pieces clicked into place and he found himself drawing an involuntary breath. "You were one of them once, weren't you?" Jei's head snapped up, ruby eyes wide. "One of the pretty, nameless dolls..."
"No!" Jei backed up against the door, hugging himself tightly. "No... Not... not like that... Not like... those cages... I could get out. Did get out. I just..." He shivered violently, his wings unfurling to wrap around his body as though for safety.
Deliberately adopting a casual, relaxed pose, Sigma watched the pained young man. It was always unpredictable, dealing with those children who had been denied affection all their lives. When they finally did encounter it they either rejected it completely or were completely overwhelmed by it. Jei, it seemed, was of the latter kind.
"That's why we do what we do, you know," Sigma said softly. "Me, Tau, Ekaitz... the whole purpose of the Ice Princess is to go in where the Infinitum Government can't reach to make the universe a better place for everyone."
Jei flinched again. "Ekaitz..." He swallowed and shivered. "I never meant... I never meant to hurt him... It was just a job, like any other..." His voice dropped to barely a whisper. From the expression on his face, Sigma had no doubts that Jei could remember every second of those moments in the transport room in painful clarity.
"Just like any other?" Sigma questioned gently.
A soft breath escaped Jei's lips and the Avarri sighed. "No," he admitted. "Not at all." He looked up then, meeting Sigma's eyes for a brief moment before turning away. "This... This was a mistake, to come here. I need to go." He pressed a thumb to the reader on the wall and the door slid open.
"You don't have to do this, Jei."
The Avarri stopped in the doorway, facing away from him. Sigma didn't move, just continued talking in a low, steady voice. "If you helped me now, you'd be in a lot less trouble. You could come with me... back to the Ice Princess..."
Jei shook his head violently, hanging onto the door frame for support. "I can't. Ekaitz..."
"Is hurting at least as much as you are. If you're both so miserable, then there must have been something strong between you if it's affecting you both this much."
Twisting to look at him, Jei's eyes were dark. "He'll never forgive me."
Sigma shook his head slowly. "You don't know that. When I first met Tau Ceti, we fought almost constantly. Now, he's the most important thing in the universe to me."
"I'm not like you," Jei said quietly. "I wish I was. Things would have been... different. But I can't help who I am, or the things that I've done. I can't change those. And that means I'll never, ever be good enough for him."
He stepped out of the frame and the door slid shut, leaving Sigma alone once more with only his thoughts for company. He had a lot to think about. Hopefully, he wasn't the only one.
Custom Class Star Ship TSPKAST-0000 (16251582) The Ice Princess
The monitor was blinking insistently, but neither of the two persons present paid it any mind. One was not in view of the screen and thus was unaware of the attempts to contact the engine room, Irinar having slithered down beneath one of the damaged booster units some time ago, while the other had long since dismissed it as unimportant. Time was crucial. Tau Ceti would allow no distractions in his frantic quest to repair the damaged systems.
He seethed, white-hot fury coloring his vision and making his movements jagged and rough. Sigma was gone. Taken away from him by some space garbage. The same space garbage that had had the nerve to set off charges in his engine room and cripple his precious gift to his only friend. He snarled, cursing furiously when his angry jerking snapped off the piece he'd been working on.
When the Ice Princess caught up to those flea-bitten mongrels he was going to electrocute them all to within an inch of death, then design a torture device the likes of which the universe had ever seen and strap them into it for the rest of their miserable, worthless lives.
Somewhere behind him came a faint crackling sound, then a muffled "Oh, hey, I think I got it!" and then the one voice he really didn't want to hear right now emerged from the overhead speakers.
"Tau Ceti."
The Gremlin sat up, scowling, and turned to regard the small message screen that currently displayed the familiar, sternly handsome face of High Chancellor Pyotr Kavalerov. One of the miscreants on the bridge must have figured out how to get around the quick lock he'd thrown on the terminal and patched the call through to the engine room. On any other day he'd almost be proud of them. Today, however, he wanted to wring their necks.
"Go away, Pyotr. I don't have time right now."
"Working yourself to death isn't going to bring him back any faster," Pyotr scolded mildly. "I thought you learned that lesson once before."
"I've only been up for forty-three hours, that pushy yellow man brought me food about eight hours ago, and I'll take a bath as soon as I get this stupid engine working again!" Tau Ceti snapped.
There was a brief silence, then Pyotr's voice came again, softer. "It's not your fault, Tau."
The wrench slipped out of his hand, falling to the floor with a loud clang. He spun around to snatch it up off the floor, hating the way his vision blurred, desperately hoping that the hot tears weren't visible at the angle from which Pyotr was viewing him. "You're wrong," he managed to force out. "I didn't anticipate... I should have planned for..."
"You can't plan for every contingency, Tau. There are too many." Pyotr sounded even more tired than usual. "This is as much my fault as anyone's. No one should have access to the Ice Princess's personnel files but me. No one should even be able to find the ship but me. If you're going to blame someone, blame me."
Scrubbing his arm across his eyes, Tau Ceti finally got up and walked over to the screen, staring blankly at the image of the second most important person in his life. "I set up your security systems," he pointed out sullenly.
"I don't think it was the system itself that was compromised." Pyotr shook his head. "I can't find any evidence of unauthorized access. My best guess at this point is that someone use the public log files to track when I was communicating with the Ice Princess and waited for the right opportunity to make use of what they knew."
"Infiltrating an imposter." Tau Ceti gripped the edges of the control board tightly. "That... That must have taken time. This is no random kidnapping..."
"No," Pyotr agreed. "Whoever set this up put a lot of effort into the attempt. Obviously they want Sigma for something. That something is what I'm trying to figure out now. He's not the type to make enemies, though he was never well-liked amongst the Authorities he worked with."
Tau Ceti scowled. "They were stupid."
Pyotr chuckled quietly. "Their loss is yours and my gain. But still... he may have been disliked, but nothing in my research shows any reason someone would harbor a grudge against him. He had no real friends or even close associates amongst those he worked with or schooled with, and he has only two family members left."
"Father, brother." Tau Ceti's face scrunched up in thought. "Younger brother."
"Delta," Pyotr provided. "His father is Tria Altair, and is the Governor of Xochimi in the fourth quadrant. Delta is..." He frowned slightly, looking thoughtful. "Secretary to the Lower Chancellor of that same quadrant."
Tau Ceti snorted. "I know that look. You're going to go interrogate the kid. Try not to scare him too bad, mm'kay, Princess?"
Pyotr rolled his eyes and snorted quietly. "You are telling me not to scare someone?" He laughed when Tau made a rude gesture at the screen. "But that aside, Tau, watch your temper. If you let it get the better of you, you're going to make mistakes."
Tau Ceti scowled. "I never make mistakes." At the High Chancellor's raised brow he amended, "Almost never."
"Just keep it in mind while you're working. How extensive is the damage to the Ice Princess?"
Sighing, Tau turned to look out over the engines and the nearby power reserves. "Bad enough. I'm having to rebuild most of the main engine from scratch, and one of the two secondaries got toasted pretty severely. The experimental drive wasn't touched, but it'd take me longer to reconfigure it for normal usage than it is to rebuild the entire main engine and its components." He scowled, sulking. "For a soon-to-be-dead space rat, he wasn't stupid."
One ice blond brow shot up. "Coming from you, that's high praise."
The Gremlin muttered beneath his breath and gestured again. Pyotr shook his head with a slight smile. "Would it help if I sent a few ships your way?" he asked.
Vivid violet eyes flashed him a sharp glare. "I am not having clumsy oafs anywhere near my ship and my engines. I have enough spare parts on board to fix this three times over. All I need is time." He shot the High Chancellor a pointed look.
Chuckling again, Pyotr sighed tolerantly. "All right. Just promise me you won't overwork yourself."
"Hmph" was all the response he got before Tau Ceti went back to work, but they both knew the promise would be kept regardless of whether or not the words were spoken. In forcing him to calm, the High Chancellor had given him the clarity of mind he needed to work at the efficiency he was accustomed to.
With renewed vigor and temper held firmly in check, Tau Ceti attacked the inner core of the engine. "En guarde, demons," he murmured beneath his breath. "For I shall be the one to vanquish you!"
Planet 0000000 (Zero), The Palace of Eternity
Pyotr Kavalerov watched silently for a minute as his long-time friend and surrogate little brother went back to working his Gremlin magic on the decimated equipment, then calmly cut the connection. Tau would be all right now. He was thinking again, if not clearly then at least not nearly so muddled. It seemed to be an inherent character flaw in all Gremlins that they could get completely consumed by a project to the exclusion of all else. It was one of the reasons the race was in danger of dying out; there were cases in his files that noted more than one Gremlin having literally worked himself to death.
That, Pyotr swore, would not happen to Tau Ceti. Not as long as he was around to play the role of elder brother and interrupt his friend's obsession whenever necessary. No matter what kind of fireworks went off as a result.
Sending the data files from his terminal to his in-lens, Pyotr rose and pushed away his chair. He had a task of his own to deal with now, and one that was going to require the majority of his concentration. Theoretically, a simple secretary wouldn't have all that much power in the Infinitum Government. Pyotr had several of his own, after all, and every one of them remained completely in the dark about his various 'special' projects. Still the fact remained that someone in the Palace of Eternity had managed to locate information that no one should know about. The fact that Sigma Altair's father and brother were both involved with the fourth quadrant in some manner could be a complete coincidence... or a well-laid conspiracy. He intended to find out which.
After the first three people who greeted him once he stepped out of his office took an uncertain step back at his response, Pyotr took a moment to pull up a neutral facade. He was well aware that he could be a bit intimidating to people on a good day. Obviously it got worse when he was upset. One would think that dealing with all the worst problems in space on a daily basis would have inured him to such stresses. This time, though, was different. This was personal.
Lower Chancellor Rana Eridani's office was wide open. Pyotr stepped inside, frowning a bit at the elevated levels of clutter that seemed to be everywhere, then caught the attention of one of the two persons both clustered around the Chancellor's desk. One looked up at first, blinked fuzzily at him, then the man's eyes widened and he prodded the other. That one also took a moment to recognize him, then they both shot to their feet.
"High Chancellor!"
They both looked tired. Exhausted, even. Pyotr frowned. "Where is Rana?" he asked.
"Um." The two exchanged hesitant looks. Pyotr could almost see their tired minds struggling desperately to come up with an answer - and not the one he wanted. Repressing a sigh and letting a little bit of his irritation seep into his expression, he looked at them pointedly.
They both flinched. "Lord Eridani... he... that is... um..." Now they looked almost miserable. The one on the left wrung his hands and looked up imploringly.
"We're not supposed to... We weren't supposed to know at all. I don't think they even knew, really, but it's obvious now and he made us promise not to tell and..."
Pyotr felt his patience wearing very thin. He pinched the bridge of his nose and counted slowly to ten. When he felt composed enough to deal with the two men without wanting to strangle them, he drew in a quiet breath.
"Did you find-" A harried voice called from behind him, then someone promptly smacked into him and nearly overbalanced him. Whoever it was had been in a considerable hurry, given the force with which they'd crashed into Pyotr. He managed to stay on his feet, but a thud behind him indicated that the other person hadn't been nearly so fortunate. He turned cautiously, brows going up to discover Lower Chancellor Rana Eridani, looking even more stressed and exhausted than his two secretaries.
He helped Rana get back to his feet, then took a step back to get out of the man's immediate vicinity to avoid another accident. Like his secretaries, it took Rana a moment to recognize Pyotr.
"Lord Kavalerov..."
"Is there a reason none of you look like you've slept in days?" Pyotr asked, frowning.
Rana went red, then white. He glanced around Pyotr to his two secretaries, who both shook their heads rapidly. The Lower Chancellor swallowed and cautiously met Pyotr's gaze again, flinching at whatever he saw there. "I... that is, we... we were..."
"Let's try another tactic," Pyotr interrupted, a little more impatiently than he meant to. "Where is your secretary, Delta Altair?"
While he wasn't sure exactly what he'd been expecting, Rana Eridani crumpling to the floor with a distraught whimper wasn't it. There were the sounds of someone scrambling around behind him, then Rana's two secretaries appeared from either side to kneel next to the Chancellor.
Pyotr felt a headache forming. He hadn't gotten nearly enough sleep last night after having been awoken by the Ice Princess's emergency call, dealing with Tau Ceti had taken more out of him than he'd thought, and now he had a Lower Chancellor practically in tears at his feet. Rana Eridani, of all people. The man on Zero most often accused of being emotionless. The one who never got upset, never got angry. The only IG official who could manage to be in the same room as High Councilors Torrik and Ramadanya without a fight breaking out.
"Someone is going to start explaining what is going on here," Pyotr said slowly, "Right now."
One of the two secretaries looked up at him, lips twisting into an unhappy grimace, then he sighed quietly. "Delta's missing," he admitted softly. "He's been missing for..." He checked his chrono. "Almost sixty-eight hours."
What? Pyotr stared at the secretary, then at Rana, doing some rapid re-evaluations. Almost three days would put Delta's disappearance at two days before Sigma had been kidnapped. That would make sense if the man had been their mole and was making certain he got away before anyone suspected him, but something still didn't feel right. Good moles were valuable because they remained in their places, undetected. Running so early was considerably more suspicious than merely continuing to do one's job.
"You have alerted the Authorities."
The secretary nodded dismally. "No leads. His things are all still in his room, his files are untouched, and there are no records of him leaving Zero. It's like he just vanished into thin air."
Pyotr frowned. A mole would have at least taken files with him. And how had the man gotten off Zero without detection? "When did you notice he was missing?"
"As soon as we got to the office. Delta's... well, he's very good at what he does, but he doesn't seem to know what sleep is for. He's always the first one in, and usually Lord Eridani has to make him leave in the evenings." The man awkwardly patted Rana's shoulder. "We used to joke that we should just set him up a cot in the office, if he wants to stay that badly..."
Apparently a fixation with work and duty ran in the Altair family. And speaking of-
"Did Delta have any... problems with his family?" Pyotr asked carefully.
Now both secretaries were looking at him in surprise. "Huh? No. He didn't really talk much about his family - hard to get him to talk about anything that wasn't work - but they were on good terms. He gets messages every now and then from his father and brother and it was always funny reading them over his shoulder because they all write the same way. Just the bare facts, no real pleasantries, that sort of thing." The secretary smiled faintly and shook his head. "It was like reading a report rather than a letter. 'These things happened. No serious injuries.' and such. What a weird family."
Delta and Sigma both missing, and from the sounds of it Delta was just as unlikely to turn against the IG as Sigma. A vendetta against the family, then?
"What do you know about Delta's father?" Pyotr asked.
The secretary that had been explaining things to him looked thoughtful. "He's a Governor of some planet in quad four... that was always funny because Delta was always so careful about making sure everyone got treated equally and his father didn't get any special treatment. We used to wonder if that ever bugged Delta's father, but then we got to read his letters and..." He laughed quietly. "I think that man would be more offended if Delta had tried to give him special treatment. Like I said, weird family."
And unfortunately for Pyotr's investigation, not the kind of family to make enemies. Yet still the fact remained that both Altair brothers were now missing, and the only lead they had was the ship identification that Captain Kai had gotten. Apparently it was time to go look a little deeper into Tria Altair's file. But first...
Pyotr knelt down next to the exhausted Rana, seeing in his mind a certain Gremlin frantically overworking himself in his quest to locate his lover. "Rana, look at me. Delta will be found, I promise you that, but if you keep on like this you're going to wear yourselves out. Tired eyes miss things. I suggest the three of you start working in shifts so that you all get some rest."
For a moment there was nothing, then Rana visibly pulled himself together and nodded slightly. "Yes, of course... Who knows how much we may have missed already." He rose slowly to his feet, both secretaries helping him keep his balance, then gave a shallow, formal bow. "Thank you, Lord Kavalerov."
Pyotr nodded. "Keep me informed. I need to know immediately if you find anything."
There were three faint expressions of surprise, then Rana's formal mask slid back into place. "Of course, Lord Kavalerov. I will let you know at once if we discover anything." He looked to the secretary on his right. "Tik, find the initial report the Authorities did. Perhaps that will be of some use to the High Chancellor."
"Yes, Lord Eridani." The man in question broke off to go do exactly that, and Pyotr thanked them all politely before excusing himself. He had a lot of work to do, and the situation had just gotten considerably more complicated.
Planet 5525685 (Kalakmul), A Small Complex
Sigma walked steadily over the uneven terrain, patiently ignoring the ache in his side where one of the bounty hunters had kicked him. He'd caught them off-guard when they'd shown up without Jei; apparently they'd assumed that just because he remained docile around the Avarri meant he wouldn't fight back given the appropriate opportunity. He'd put at least two of them out of commission before Jei had shown up to subdue him.
Interesting, though, that beyond the one kick and a particularly nasty blow to the head the bounty hunters hadn't retaliated. That meant that whoever wanted him also wanted him kept intact - at least for now. Unfortunately for his kidnappers, that gave Sigma the advantage.
Unfortunately for Sigma, they'd bound his hands. That would make fighting his way free considerably more difficult when it came to that point. Even so, it wasn't impossible. All he really had to do was get away from Jei so the Avarri's telekinesis wouldn't continue to thwart his plans. Magics could be extremely annoying at times like these.
He was led into a small complex that appeared to have been built into the side of a cliff. They were met by a group of five people, all of them the same species and one Sigma didn't recognize. They all spoke in hushed tones that he couldn't quite make out, then something was exchanged and Sigma was turned over to the new group. He was shoved roughly through a series of corridors that all looked alike - though he memorized the layout on the way in and would have no trouble getting his bearings if it came to that - before being stopped in front of yet another holding cell door. He was really getting tired of those.
A harsh shove knocked him off-balance enough that he hit the floor a little harder than intended, and in the background he could hear the door close. There was a brief moment of silence during which he shifted around so that he could sit up, then a shocked voice said in disbelief, "Sigma?"
Sigma's head jerked up to stare at the man who'd spoken. "Delta." The family resemblance was obvious in their dusky skin and blond hair, though Delta's was significantly longer and darker than Sigma's, having taken more after their mother. "What are you doing here?" He frowned, then shook his head. "Answer that in a minute, first, get these off." He twisted to present the grav-shackles to Delta.
A dark blond brow arched up as Delta moved to kneel behind his brother and inspect the bindings. "You immediately assume I still know how to do that," he commented blandly, bending down to get a better look.
"I taught you," Sigma replied with a shrug. "And you don't forget anything."
"Hmm," Delta said neutrally, all his concentration focused upon his task. A few minutes later there was a quiet click, then Sigma's hands were free.
Sigma smiled slightly as he worked circulation back into his arms. "So, back to my original question. What are you doing here? I thought you were still on Zero."
A faint glimmer of pain and worry flashed across his brother's face. "I was on Zero. I went back to my rooms for the evening, laid out everything I'd need for the next morning, and went to bed. When I awoke I was here and had the worst headache of my life." He grimaced. "I'm going to guess a tranquilizer of some kind, but that's more your field."
Considering for a moment, Sigma frowned. "Probably, but that part is less important than how you left Zero. Security on Zero is tighter than anywhere else in the IG."
"The necessary access codes alone..." Delta agreed, sitting down and folding his hands in his lap as he thought. "It's literally not possible to get onto or off of Zero without permission from someone on Zero."
Thinking of a certain Gremlin that was no doubt taking the galaxy apart right now in his fury, Sigma smiled grimly. Not completely impossible, but that wasn't relevant right now. As far as he could tell from his conversations with the High Chancellor, Tau Ceti was the only Gremlin capable of such a feat. Therefore, there was only one other possibility.
"Then someone on Zero planned this, or at the very least was an integral part of the operation." His smile turned dark. Whoever was responsible was going to seriously regret his involvement as soon as the High Chancellor caught up with him. If Tau Ceti didn't get there first. "I can only think of one reason why someone would want both of us, alive."
Delta frowned, then his eyes widened. "To blackmail father."
Sigma nodded grimly. "And father being father, he wouldn't have bothered to tell either of us if there were threats being made against him. I think he's more stubborn than you and I put together."
Delta laughed softly. "I wouldn't be so sure of that, Sigma. You weren't around to see how much it vexed him that you went into the Authorities without his permission. He still thinks you should have been a diplomat, especially now that you're retired from the Authorities and have all that free time."
"Free time?" Sigma echoed Delta's laugh. "You'd be amazed how little free time a retired officer gets." Actually, he reflected, some of the work he did now could technically be considered diplomatic. The missions where they weren't hauling someone off to Rehab, anyway.
"I still can't believe you're retired." Delta shook his head. "I would have sworn you'd be like father. Almost sixty and still driving himself to do better still. What happened?"
This was the conversation he'd been trying to avoid ever since High Chancellor Kavalerov had calmly rearranged his life. It was far easier for those of Kavalerov's 'pets' who had nothing in the way of family. To them, the crew was their family. "I... found someone who made me re-evaluate my life. Question just who I was and what I'd been doing..." He shrugged, as nonchalantly as possible.
Delta's brows shot up. "You? You're kidding. Must be somebody pretty special..."
Sigma smiled. "I'd let you meet him, but you'd probably need to be fitted for body armor first. He's... a little touchy."
"You're crazy." Delta shook his head. "Give me a calm, geeky, slightly-disorganized diplomat with a weakness for creme cookies and lemon tea any day. I don't know how you can be so focused and intense all the time. You're worse than father." He noticed the peculiar expression on Sigma's face and blinked. "What?"
"Creme cookies and lemon tea?" Sigma asked archly.
Delta flushed and looked away. "Nevermind."
"Delta."
His brother winced and stared fixedly at the wall. "Just forget about it. It's not important."
Sigma rolled his eyes. "Who likes creme cookies and lemon tea, Delta?"
"No one," Delta muttered.
"Mmm hmm..." Sigma considered. Delta spent all his time on Zero, as obsessive about his work as Sigma was about his own. As far as Sigma knew, Delta hadn't taken a vacation in six years. "So, no one who likes creme cookies and lemon tea is going to be worried that you've suddenly vanished from Zero."
Delta went absolutely rigid, his eyes wide. "Oh no..." he breathed. "Rana's going to..."
Sigma's brows shot up. "Rana? Lower Chancellor Rana Eridani? That Rana?"
His brother's gaze jerked back around to stare at him with alarmed grey-green eyes. "Rana gets... attached. Most people can't see it, but it's there if you know what to look for. He has... something of a support system. As long as all the pieces are in place, he's one of the best diplomats in the IG. But if one of those pieces breaks... or goes missing... he completely falls apart." Delta exhaled slowly. "I have to get back to Zero. We have got to get out of here."
"Believe me, I'd love to get out of here," Sigma said dryly, "But our options at the moment are limited. However, we know there are people out looking for both of us, and if the ones looking for you are even half as fanatical as the ones looking for me, it shouldn't take them long at all to find us."
Delta's worry-creased brow narrowed into a deeper frown. "They probably realized I was missing as soon as I failed to show up for work... but how would anyone know that a retired Authority had been kidnapped?" He regarded Sigma pointedly. "What are you not telling me?"
Debating several excuses in his head, Sigma sighed and shrugged. "My lover is a Gremlin."
Delta blinked. "I thought Gremlins were too technology-obsessed to remember to have sex."
Sigma laughed, then smirked. "Not this one. Tau Ceti is... unique."
"Tau Ceti?" Delta stared at him as though he'd suddenly turned green and grown a second head. "How did that happen?"
Laughing again, Sigma shifted until his back was against a wall. "It's a long story." He considered, then chuckled quietly. "But it's not like we have anything else to do, is it? All right then. It started with a group of rebels..."
Combat Class Star Ship 35471990 The Conquistador
All around him, the others were laughing, jeering, and boastfully seeing who could come up with the most outlandish thing to spend their reward points on. No one else noticed that Jei was the only one not speaking, the only one not celebrating. Once he had fulfilled his role in the job, he ceased to matter.
It was how it had always been, his entire life. He did what he was told to do, then faded into the background. None of the other mercenaries cared that without Jei and his special abilities the plan would have fallen apart. None of them ever acknowledged the fact that Jei had been able to control their prisoner when six of the others had failed. He wasn't a person, he was a tool.
No one else had bothered to ask what would happen to Sigma once he'd been delivered. It was none of their business. It didn't matter. They simply delivered their captive and got paid, and that was the end of it. The life of a mercenary.
Until now, he'd been fine with it. It was just the way life was. He hadn't realized until a week ago that things could be different. Until the Ice Princess. Until Ekaitz.
Jei wandered aimlessly through the narrow hallways of the Conquistador, unable to help the automatic comparison to the wide, beautiful versions on the Ice Princess. Like all combat ships, the Conquistador had been designed with the utmost efficiency. It had weapons, shielding, hallways, crew quarters, cargo holds, engines... all the standard ship parts. Some a little newer than others, some worth a few more points than was normal, but all in all it was just a sum of parts. Add them together, and they made a ship.
The Ice Princess was a lady. Her different areas were wildly different, yet still beautiful, and somehow there was a flow from one to the other so that you never felt the distinction. It was never jarring. Just an easy, smooth transition. There were all the standard areas, and several distinctly non-standard, but it was hard to think of her as merely a sum of her parts. That ship was almost a living entity, her various features working together like organs in a body, with the crew making up her soul.
In contrast, the Conquistador felt ugly, dull, and lifeless. Just a hunk of metal hurling through space. This ship would never soar on silver wings through a sea of stars, with a beautiful, dashing, delightfully unpredictable Elivin at her helm.
He groaned quietly and banged his head against the nearest wall. Ever since attempting to talk to Sigma he'd been doing his best to carefully not think about Ekaitz. He couldn't afford to think about Ekaitz. Couldn't mourn for what he'd never really had.
He'd known when he'd sought the man out in his office that it was a bad idea. Professional mercenaries could not afford to make attachments, especially not to enchanting captains of secret IG starships. But the memory of that one kiss wouldn't leave him alone, the lingering smell of the sea that had clung to the man, the feel of his body pressed up against Jei's. He'd thought if he could just experience the whole of Ekaitz, just once, then he'd be able to move on. Get it out of his system.
Instead, it was making him miserable. He'd never wanted anything so badly before in his life. All the old memories, the old pains, they all faded away to drown beneath the visions of glittering azure eyes and flowing blue hair. He could no longer remember what it had been like to work in a pleasure house. When he tried to picture those times, what came instead was the tingling feel of delicately webbed hands tracing every line of his body, a wet tongue mapping out every inch of his skin. The sensation of slick, satiny skin of the palest blue beneath his hands, softer than anything he'd ever touched before.
Touching Ekaitz, giving in to his desires, had been a terrible mistake. Now he could think of nothing else, and his entire body trembled in pain to think that he'd never be able to touch the man again. It wasn't fair. He'd had dozens, tens of dozens of lovers in his life. You met, you fucked, you went on your way. That was how it was supposed to work. A bit of fun to liven up the tedium of life.
Jei felt sick just thinking about it. How could he be with someone else when he knew without even having to think about it that all he'd be able to see was Ekaitz? Beautiful, magnificent, unconquerable Ekaitz.
Ekaitz, who most likely wanted to string him up and feed him to a space-larva before throwing him in Rehab for the rest of his life.
Jei bit his lip and tried not to whimper. He could still see the hurt, the pain, the utter betrayal on Ekaitz's face when the man had burst in on them in the transport room. It had shaken something fundamental in him, to see that expression on the man he l- ... on Ekaitz. He'd been planning on being well away by the time Ekaitz awoke. He hadn't expected the Elivin to wake, to find him. Anyone else he could have handled. Anyone but Ekaitz.
There must have been something strong between you.
A pained sound escaped his throat and Jei found himself wedged into the corner between a wall and a bulkhead, Sigma's words echoing in his head.
He's the most important thing in the universe to me.
There was no way Ekaitz would forgive him for what he'd done. Not a chance. But at least if Ekaitz rejected him there was the chance that Jei would be able to move on with his life without feeling like he was being torn in half. Maybe, maybe... if he tried to set things right... there might even be a chance...
Pushing away from the bulkhead, Jei turned and started moving swiftly through the ship. He had things he needed to be doing, preferably before his ommon sense reasserted itself.
Custom Class Star Ship TSPKAST-0000 (16251582) The Ice Princess
Finally, finally they were moving. The logical part of his mind recognized that a normal ship with a normal engineer would have been out of commission for weeks after a blast like that. The emotional part, however, was still despairing the delay. After so much time had passed it should have been nearly impossible to track the kidnappers' escape ship.
Ekaitz really needed to remember that 'impossible' was not a word that he should be applying to the Ice Princess or her deranged engineer. His eyes slid over to where the Gremlin was sitting on the floor, one of the control consoles partially disassembled beside him. When asked, Tau Ceti had informed him that he was 'upgrading' it. Personally, Ekaitz was of the opinion that the Gremlin just couldn't sit still without something in his hands.
On the main screen the stars outside were overlaid with a faint grid dotted with several glowing points of pink light. Every now and then one would fade away and a new point would take its place. Space breadcrumbs, it seemed, leading them on a wild chase through space.
"This seems to be going a lot easier than it should be," Ekaitz commented to no one in particular. "Shouldn't we have lost the trail a long time ago?"
From his position on the floor, Tau Ceti snorted. "One stupid merc ship? It's not like we're trying to find the Darkside." His lips curved up into a dreamy smile. "Now that would be a worthy challenge..."
Ekaitz arched a brow as he looked at the Gremlin. "The Darkside? Isn't that another of the High Chancellor's ships?"
There was a collective titter from his bridge crew, both those that were supposed to be there and those that weren't. It was predictably Meiki that filled him in, the Draconis's orange-gold eyes gleaming with admiration.
"The Darkside is the Ghost Ship," he explained. "Tau Ceti's been trying to figure out how to track it off and on for as long as we've known him. He'd probably have it figured out by now if he wasn't so obsessed with the Sweet Dream..."
Tau Ceti shot the Draconis a dirty look. "I am not obsessed with the Sweet Dream."
"What's the Sweet Dream have?" Ekaitz asked, bemused. There were several snickers.
"His brother," Jayce explained helpfully, holding his hands up in warding at Tau Ceti's sharp glower.
Ekaitz blinked and looked at the irate Gremlin. "I didn't know you had a brother."
"I won't, as soon as I figure out how to conveniently disable the Sweet Dream in an uninhabited region of space on the far end of IG territory," Tau Ceti muttered darkly.
There was a chorus of laughter from all around and Ekaitz shook his head slowly. "I'm glad I'm not a member of your family. It sounds like you're worse to them than you are to people you're trying to assert your superiority over."
"I do not assert superiority over people!" Tau Ceti exclaimed, completely giving up on the disassembled console to jump to his feet.
"No?" Ekaitz asked, amused. "Then why are you trying to track the Ghost Ship?"
Tau Ceti appeared honestly bewildered by the question. "Because no one else ever has."
Ekaitz laughed. "That would be my point. You have this strange need to show up everyone else, prove you're better than them."
Tau Ceti blinked. "I am better than everyone else."
"Thus your superiority issues."
"I do not have superiority issues!"
"Then name just one person who's better than you at something. Anything." Ekaitz paused as Tau Ceti immediately opened his mouth. "And Sigma doesn't count."
The Gremlin's mouth snapped shut. He stood still for several long moments, the tip of his tail twitching back and forth as he thought, then he sullenly muttered something that Ekaitz didn't quite catch.
"What?"
Tau Ceti shoved his hands in his pockets before turning and walking firmly toward the door. "Never mind. I'm going back down to the engine room to make this bloody ship go faster." A few moments later he was gone, and the entire bridge burst out laughing.
When they finally caught their breath, Fe'yiv turned to regard Ekaitz with a mirthful smile. "I think he likes you," she pronounced solemnly, silver eyes gleaming.
Ekaitz arched a brow. "Really?" he said dryly. "How can you tell?"
"He likes you," Meiki confirmed with a confident nod. "He's been a lot nicer to you than to any of our other captains."
There were a number of snickers, then Dralikkzion offered, "Our very first Captain got into constant shouting matches with him over everything. Eventually, Tau Ceti zapped him with electricity and threw him, literally, out the Princess's primary cargo hatch."
Ekaitz blinked. "You're kidding. Is he alive?"
"I think so," Dralikkzion replied with a shrug, "Though I've been told he gets odd twitches every now and then as an after-effect..."
"Okay, so compared to that..." Ekaitz shook his head.
"The second one stormed off after telling the Princess that he couldn't take any more prima-donna Gremlin antics. Turns out Tau Ceti'd figured out the man was trying to kiss up to him and had him running pointless errands all over the ship." Jayce snickered quietly. "That was fun. And they call us Vrill stuck up..."
"The third one was arrogant," Q'inn explained, taking up the story. "He seemed to think that the Captain should have access to every part of the ship, including Tau Ceti's workshop. One day he actually tried to break into it." All of them winced. "That was the last time we saw him, though from a few things the Princess has said we're pretty sure he wound up trapped in a Sardoran zoo for a while..."
"The fourth one was really stupid," Meiki said, grimacing. "He figured he could get on Tau Ceti's good side by offering to sleep with him and he wouldn't accept it when Tau Ceti told him no. That's the one Sigma put in traction."
There were several murmurs and nods and one voice commented, "I think he's still there..."
Ekaitz swallowed, suddenly seeing what they meant when they said that Tau Ceti liked him. He would not have wanted that particular Gremlin angry with him. "And the fifth?" he asked, not sure if he wanted to know the answer.
Fe'yiv laughed. "Oh, that one was funny. Tau Ceti had it rigged so that the captain's security codes randomly changed, including the one to his suite! I think he spent three or four nights sleeping in one of the rec rooms before he finally gave up and left."
"And the sixth one got left on a mining station in the middle of nowhere," Ekaitz finished up. "Remind me never to get on that man's bad side."
Everyone laughed again, then Meiki patted his arm reassuringly. "See? So he does like you. We all like you. Maybe you'll actually be the one that stays."
Ekaitz smiled faintly. "Thank you, Meiki. I'd like to stay, but... after this..." His smile faded.
"It wasn't your fault," Jayce protested. "Nobody could have expected Jei would turn out to be a spy. I still can barely believe it. This is like the most secretive ship in space! There should be no way that could happen!"
Despite the murmurs and reassuring words, Ekaitz still felt miserable. The Ice Princess and her crew were his responsibility. He'd failed them. This was the ship where the impossible was not only possible, but likely. They should have planned for that to work against them as well as for them. He should have planned for it. There was no excuse. All he could do was try his hardest to set things right.
He was still going over all the different possible ways that the High Chancellor was going to fire him when Jayce's startled voice interrupted his thoughts.
"Captain! The merc ship, the one we're looking for! It's coming right at us!"
They all scrambled for information. Dralikkzion confirmed the identity of the ship, adding that it wasn't quite flying right. Ekaitz tried to get a call through to the engine room, but the buzzing static he got let him know that Tau Ceti had disabled the communication lines again.
"Meiki, get down to the engine room and let Tau Ceti know. Q'inn, Zion, transport room. The minute we get an opportunity I want you over there. Jayce, status!"
They all scrambled to comply, Fe'yiv's voice breathing disbelievingly, "It's not slowing down..."
"Get ready to turn around and pursue! Jayce?"
The Vrill blinked at his console, then blinked again. Finally he turned to gape at Ekaitz. "Incoming transmission... from that ship."
For a span of three seconds there was dead silence, then Ekaitz snapped. "Let's hear it."
Jei's nervous face filled the screen and Ekaitz felt a sharp pain in his chest. What he'd done already wasn't enough? He had to come back to finish the job?
"Jei."
The Avarri flinched. "Um, I know I'm the last person you want to see right now but believe me I have a reason and this ship is really a bitch to fly solo and would one of you please tell me how to make this thing slow down?"
The span of silence was shorter this time, then Jayce murmured quietly, "Combat Class..." A moment later he was rattling off instructions which they could all see Jei scrambling to obey. Two minutes later the ship had stopped half a kilometer away and they were back to the tense standoff.
"What do you want?" Ekaitz asked, forcing himself to keep his voice steady.
Jei flinched again. "I..." He drew in a deep breath. "I did something really stupid, and unforgivable, but I have to at least try to make it right. For..." He hesitated, his gaze seeking out and catching Ekaitz's. "I know you'll never be able to forgive me, but I can't just..." He exhaled sharply in frustration. "Please let me make it up to you." The last was barely a whisper.
"You realize we're going to turn you over to the Authorities at the first chance we get," Ekaitz pointed out coldly, wishing it didn't hurt so much when Jei lowered his head dejectedly.
"Yeah, I know. I guess I deserve that much. But first I want to help you get Sigma back. I know where he's being kept, and I know how to get into the complex." Jei's crimson eyes were pleading.
"How are we supposed to trust you, after what you did?" Fe'yiv asked softly, prompting another cringe.
"I don't know..." Jei sighed in despair. "I wouldn't trust me, so there's no reason you should, except that I really do want to help, and I owe it to... to Ekaitz and Sigma at least..."
Ekaitz considered. "Lower your shielding."
Jei blinked blankly. "Err... how?"
Again, Jayce walked him through it. A few moments later Q'inn and Dralikkzion emerged from the bridge doors and approached Jei with caution. The Avarri stood up and turned to look at them, nodding slightly. "I won't fight you. I really truly just want to help."
"Q'inn?" Ekaitz questioned.
"The whole crew seems to be unconscious, and most of 'em have grav-cuffs slapped on them." The Hellcat shrugged. "Looks like they'll be out for hours."
"Return to the ship." Ekaitz hesitated. "All three of you."
Two minutes later Jei was on the bridge of the Ice Princess and Ekaitz had absolutely no idea what to say. Seeing him on the screen had been painful. Having him standing right in front of him, being close enough that he could reach out and touch, that was agonizing. Before he quite figured out what to do, however, the bridge doors opened once again and Tau Ceti stepped through.
Jei went white. Tau Ceti hissed and snarled, "You..."
Between one blink and the next the Gremlin had crossed the bridge and punched the Avarri hard, sending Jei flying backwards into one of the front consoles. He stalked forward, standing over Jei threateningly, electricity crackling along his entire body. "Where is he?"
"Kalakmul," Jei managed to gasp out, blood streaming down his face from both nose and lip. "He's on Kalakmul."
For one long moment it seemed as though Tau Ceti would do more, then he turned and stiffly stalked to the other main console. Before he got there Jayce had already input all the commands and computed the course, leaping aside before the Gremlin was quite within reach.
"Tau Ceti," Ekaitz said quietly. For a moment there was no reaction, then slowly the Gremlin turned to face him. "Can you disable the mercenary ship so that they can't flee while we're away?"
He could see the struggle in the Gremlin's violet eyes, the desire to go tearing off after Sigma warring with the need to punish those responsible. Finally he nodded curtly and stalked back off the bridge again. Via Sigma's in-specs Ekaitz watched the transporter flare to life as Tau Ceti went over to the mercenary ship, then return a minute or two later. They all jumped as the Gremlin's voice came over the speakers.
"It's not going anywhere. Now get this bloody ship moving before I lose my patience and decide to test out the experimental drive and smear your atoms all across the cosmos. I'll be in my workshop if you need me, but I highly suggest you don't."
Jayce had the ship moving before Tau Ceti had even finished speaking.
To Part Four
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-11 03:14 am (UTC)I feel so sorry for Jei but the vengeful part of me is thinking 'punish him'. Rana sounds like such a fun character. And Delta's name makes me giggle a little. Delta and Sigma, that's so cute.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-13 02:21 am (UTC)Couldn't resist the name scheme. ;) And you'll see more of Rana when Maderr manages to pry that drabble out of me... >.>;
(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-11 03:24 am (UTC)There had better be a DAMNED happy ending, young lady. The angst, it is driving me crazy. The boys are all love though. You rock supreme, and are pwning my verse I think <<<3333
(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-13 02:21 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-11 03:41 am (UTC)It was worth the wait.
Love Sigma Jr! And Chancellor Rana is so sweet. The bad ass seme who's lost without his uke... I sense ANOTHER potential story. You never stop, do you?
Don't know what else to say. I love everything about it! Now I'll just go back to waiting for the next installment. Honestly, how long does it take to write these monsters? They're so long! (For which I am very glad)
(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-13 02:23 am (UTC)Rana will be seen again in a drabble, no fears. ^^;
Uh... 9.9 Hours? ^^; Would take less if I'd quit getting distracted... *grin*
(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-11 04:27 am (UTC)More worrying is the mole on Zero. No, wait. SAVE Sigma, save Sigma now.
Just know you're going to waste time with Pyotr. Well alright it'll be better that way but still.. SAVE the Sigma.
By the way, since I can't have Tau, he's..um taken, can I have Pyotr instead?
Favorite lines:"Then name just one person who's better than you at something. Anything. And Sigma doesn't count."
(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-13 02:26 am (UTC)*lol* Pyotr is also taken, though Maderr hasn't finished his story yet. :) She will, though. I pester. ;)
(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-11 06:31 pm (UTC)Okay, time to quit reading about how much we love you and this and get back to work!
Oh, but first: 24,936 words! It is like you are doing JaNo. ^_^
(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-13 02:28 am (UTC)*sweatdrop* Ah, but the story ended well before 50k. Oh well. ;)
(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-11 11:10 pm (UTC)This is... closer to all better than I would ever have guessed it could be after last chapter, and Jei is once again the snugglebunny I thought him to be, and yet... everything is still screwed up. Gah. Love the twists and turns, love Delta and the quirky traits of that family, love Ek-baby teasing Tau and love love love the fact that it's long and pretty and not done yet. ^_^
(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-13 02:29 am (UTC)Whee twisty turny! *beam* Hopefully the end is as enjoyable as the getting there... ^^;
*____________________________________________*!!
Date: 2007-01-12 02:12 am (UTC)GYAH! GYYYYYAAAAAAHHHHHH! *________________________*
Sorry, anything I say after this point is just going to be incoherent squealing and squeeing. Seriously. SERIOUSLY! *______________*
Dude, please tell me there's a happy ending on the horizon? ;_;
*twirls you about* You rock the universe. *hearts*
Re: *____________________________________________*!!
Date: 2007-01-13 02:30 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-12 08:00 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-13 02:43 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-13 02:54 am (UTC)Ah, but there is so much more to tell! On to the next story! Ho!
...um, that is supposed to be like 'land, ho!' Not a slang reference to your sexual habits or manner of generating an income. Just so we are clear. *loves*
(no subject)
Date: 2007-02-12 04:22 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-02-12 05:22 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-12 06:58 am (UTC)Other than that, this was awesome, as always and I'm rereading this for the third or fourth time. I just can't get enough!
Wish I could offer you a gift of some kind, but my drawing skills are zero and I suck at writing...-.-
Thank you for reading this Miss Tygati!!(If you do anyway...)
(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-13 01:57 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-01-02 08:28 am (UTC)Isn't this exactly what everyone thinks about Sigma?
(no subject)
Date: 2008-01-04 03:39 pm (UTC)