Courting the Ice Princess 4
Jan. 12th, 2007 05:23 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tygati---
Planet 5525685 (Kalakmul), A Small Complex
Commotion outside their cell roused Sigma from the light doze he'd indulged in. He sat up slowly, nudging Delta a few times until he was certain he brother was awake, then got his arms positioned correctly behind his back. No sense in their captors knowing he was loose until he wanted them to know.
The door slid open and a number of men flooded inside, hauling both brothers to their feet and shoving them roughly out into the hallway. Their captors were obviously highly agitated about something, though Sigma was having some trouble following the thread of the conversation as it jumped around, but the general problem seemed to be that someone hadn't reported in or answered a call and thus Sigma and Delta were being moved.
It was logic he could respect, even if it made things more difficult for him. If you think your first plan might be compromised, switch to your backup plan. If there's a problem with the backup plan, there's always plans C, D, E, and F. For Sigma, anyway. From the rather frantic sounds of things, there hadn't really been a backup plan and they were now scrambling to put one together.
Sigma rolled his eyes. On any given mission he usually had at least six different plans constructed, just in case. Given how much trouble it must have been to find Sigma on the Ice Princess and smuggle Delta off of Zero, he would have expected more from their captors.
He waited patiently, biding his time, but then at the next intersection Delta was forced to the left while Sigma was taken to the right. So much for waiting.
Dropping down to the floor, Sigma swept the nearest two captors off their feet, rendering them unconscious before they even had time to sit up. From them he retrieved two stunners and set about blasting everything in sight - concentrating heavily on the men around Delta. The bright flashes of stunner fire filled the air, the heavy ozone taste hanging heavy in the back of his throat. He had most of them down when one of their captors got the idea to use Delta as a shield.
Cursing beneath his breath, Sigma watched as Delta and the man backed away down the hallway and waited for a clean shot. He had no idea what level the enemy stunners had been set to and he wasn't risking harming his brother. Obviously, these people were counting on that.
A sudden sound from behind alerted him that there was a new problem. He spun and rolled, only barely missing the stunner fire that had been aimed at him. Now he had targets on opposite sides of himself to worry about. He dodged another stunner blast and started zigzagging back and forth toward the new arrivals. One went down before he got there. The second and third met up with his fists and he'd just started to reach for their stunners when Delta's pained cry made him turn.
Delta's face was white, his captor's smug. Delta's eyes widened around the faint glimmer of tears, then pain exploded in his head and Sigma's world went dark.
Custom Class Star Ship TSPKAST-0000 (16251582) The Ice Princess
There was one good thing about this whole disaster, Ekaitz reflected sardonically. The stress and agony it was causing made his deposing and banishment seem almost pleasant by comparison. Then, it had marked the end of his youth. He'd gone on, survived, and eventually wound up being offered a second chance by the High Chancellor himself. It had felt like he'd been given his life back. If he failed now... he'd have nothing to go back to.
Shoving the painful thoughts away for the fifty-seventh time in a row, Ekaitz looked out over the bridge. Meiki, Zion, and Q'inn were absent, having gone down to the rec room to work out their fears and anxieties and get some practice in at the same time. After all, as Q'inn had pointed out, if Sigma thought they'd been slacking while he was away, they'd all get their asses kicked when he got back.
That thought made him smile. As cold as his Second officer could be, it was obvious - except, he thought, to Sigma himself - that everyone respected him, if not outright liked him. That again begged the question of why the man wasn't Captain himself, especially if one took into account that he had to have gotten a lot of practice during the spans between Tau Ceti kicking one off and the next arriving. He made a note to mention it to the High Chancellor later, provided he was still in a position to do so when this was over.
Xalin had sent a message up not long ago stating that he and Volin had all the emergency supplies packed and ready, and Irinar hadn't been seen since they'd first lost their engines. Most likely she was still down there, making sure everything ran smoothly to avoid another Gremlin Incident. Tau Ceti hadn't been heard from since he'd stormed off, which Ekaitz was counting as a Good Thing. Jayce and Fe'yiv appeared to be absorbed in their consoles, but every now and then he'd catch a glimpse of one or the other sneaking looks at Jei.
And then there was Jei himself. The Avarri was curled up against a wall, leaning against one of the spare consoles, with his arms around his knees and his wings wrapped tightly around his body. He looked utterly miserable and more than once Ekaitz had had to stop himself from calling out, though he couldn't do anything about the near-overpowering desire to reassure the man. He looked so lost. So alone. It made his heart want to tear in half.
A slight sound drew his attention away from Jei and he looked back to find Tau Ceti standing in the doorway to the bridge. Ekaitz tensed at the way he was staring at Jei, preparing himself to deal with the imminent confrontation, then the Gremlin's vivid gaze flicked away and he went up front to speak quietly with Fe'yiv.
That had been... unexpected. Though welcome. As he watched Tau Ceti shook his head slightly, murmured something else, then went to sit down on the floor - as far away from Jei as the bridge dimensions would allow him to. Interesting. Odd. Ekaitz would have expected Tau Ceti to leave again, though he acknowledged that the Gremlin was a hard man to figure out even under normal circumstances.
Though, neither Sigma nor the High Chancellor seemed to have too many problems. Interesting, those. He wondered how in the stars either one of them had managed to learn to deal with the irritable Gremlin as well as they did, then chuckled inaudibly at the answer his mind immediately supplied.
A whole lot of patience.
The High Chancellor obviously had a high amount of patience simply by virtue of his position and having worked his way up through the Infinitum Government. And Sigma... well. He had the feeling the ship could be breaking up all around them and nose-diving into an airless moon in an unexplored region of space and it wouldn't ruffle the efficient human.
"Captain." Jayce's voice held a hint of surprise, as well as anticipation. "We're coming up on Kalakmul."
Ekaitz shot Tau Ceti a brief glance and raised eyebrows. The Gremlin shrugged and bared his teeth in an unsettling smirk. Obviously the man hadn't just been repairing their damaged engines, if they were nearly an hour ahead of schedule.
"Sensors?"
Fe'yiv's hands flew. "Kalakmul is a small, rocky planet with a light atmosphere and severe winds. Not reading any signs of... wait..."
Jei and Tau Ceti were both on their feet. Ekaitz gripped the arms of his chair and groped blindly for Sigma's in-specs. Suddenly the main screen shifted from a view of the approaching planet to one of a medium-sized ship rising out of the atmosphere. It was moving quickly.
"Weapons!" Ekaitz snapped.
"Range in four, three, two, one..." Jayce slammed a fist down on his console and several streaks of red flashed out toward the ship. It rocked, but continued to run.
"Follow it. Fire again." Ekaitz spun to face Tau Ceti. "All the fancy things on this ship and you couldn't have given us upgraded weapons?"
The Gremlin glared. "I don't like death."
"They're getting away," Ekaitz ground out.
Tau Ceti hissed, looking up at the screen where they were closing on the other ship. It was firing back, though the Ice Princess's shields were strong enough that they could fire until their power packs went dry and still not break through. That still left them at an impasse.
"I'm open to suggestions," Ekaitz muttered beneath his breath.
"I don't kill people," Tau Ceti growled, stalking up to Fe'yiv's console, "I cripple them." He leaned over Fe'yiv's shoulder and input commands almost faster than Ekaitz's eyes could follow. There was a soft intake of breath from the silvery Rubican, then she twisted around to stare at the Gremlin standing over her.
"Is that..."
"Legal? No." Tau Ceti didn't even bother to look at her. "Efficient, yes."
Fe'yiv's lips quirked into a faint smile. "I was going to say 'safe'."
The Gremlin considered. "As long as they're not caught in a gravity well, yes."
Ekaitz sighed. "Would one of you mind filling me in?" he asked.
Tau Ceti looked up at him and smiled darkly. "Ever seen what a focused, high-powered EMP wave can do to a ship before?" His teeth flashed ferally. Ekaitz blanched. The Gremlin's tail came up to make the final keystroke.
On the overhead screen, the stars seemed to ripple for a moment. The ripple narrowed, focused on the fleeing ship, then it rippled briefly as well before abruptly going completely dark. Inertia continued to carry it forward, though a few swift commands from Jayce's console solved that problem.
"No power signs at all in the other ship," Jayce's voice informed them, a note of awe and something else in it. "Engines, weapons, life support systems... nothing."
"I estimate they have about two, maybe three hours of air remaining, though the cold of space will get them long before then," Tau Ceti said calmly. "Perhaps it would be prudent to relocate our helpless friends."
Ekaitz found his voice. "Q'inn, Zion, get to the transport room and get over to that ship. Bring back everyone you find and throw them in the security cells." He hesitated, looking at Jei. "How far are you helping us?"
Jei met his gaze with a shard of his former confidence burning in his eyes. "As far as you'll let me."
Ekaitz nodded. "Then get down there as well."
He was surprised when Jei actually saluted him before taking off for the transport room. He wasn't surprised to find Tau Ceti standing next to his chair the moment the doors closed.
"Was that wise?"
"It isn't like he can run away," Ekaitz pointed out. "We're out of range of the planet and that ship isn't going anywhere for a long time." He eyed Tau Ceti pointedly. "If ever."
The Gremlin shrugged. "It stopped, didn't it?"
Ekaitz shook his head. "Now I know why people kept warning me about you."
Tau Ceti's brows shot up. "It wasn't for my sparkling personality?"
"That too." Ekaitz shrugged. "It's a good thing for the IG that you're on our side. The thought of what you could do if you weren't quite honestly scares me to death."
Quiet laughter met his words. "There have been rogue Gremlins before, who chafed under the restrictions placed upon them by IG law and found other, more appreciative audiences to build for. They were all dealt with, eventually. As for myself..." He gestured up at the image of the darkened ship on the screen. "Rules are meant to be bent, broken, or circumnavigated in whatever way possible. Why should I go elsewhere for my games when his highness the Ice Princess not only allows me my fun, but encourages it?"
Fe'yiv's silvery laughter sounded softly in the background, and Tau Ceti smirked. "Nothing about this ship or its crew is legal, nor are any of the ships the Princess has drafted into his personal service. He knows, as do I, that sometimes if you want to act for the good of all people you need to thwart a few rules."
Jayce snorted quietly. "Thwart?"
"Quiet, Vrill, or I'll reprogram all your personal grooming equipment again," Tau Ceti said calmly. Jayce promptly turned back to his console.
Ekaitz ignored the threats and mulled over what the Gremlin had said. "What happens in the future, if we get a High Chancellor that's not so... open-minded?" he asked quietly.
"I don't work for the High Chancellor," Tau Ceti replied, just as quiet. "I never have. Chancellor is just a title. A word. Like engineer... or Captain." He regarded Ekaitz pointedly.
He understood all at once what Tau Ceti was trying to tell him. He also understood why the Ice Princess's former captains had been unable to get along with the man. Why he could so easily have failed. All too often people allowed themselves to become defined by their positions rather than by who they were. Like his cousin, they believed that respect should be accorded them due to their rank rather than having to earn it like an ordinary man.
Tau Ceti respected Pyotr Kavalerov because he was Pyotr Kavalerov. Just as it seemed he, perhaps, respected Ekaitz for who he was as well, and was allowing him to prove himself worthy of his title as Captain. All he wanted in return was to be treated, not as a Gremlin or as one of the most influential engineers in the entire Infinitum Government, but as Tau Ceti. Himself.
Ekaitz felt himself smiling and started to respond, only to have the faint swish of the bridge doors alert him to new arrivals. Tau Ceti looked up first, his entire body going stiff with shock. When Ekaitz followed his gaze, he understood why.
The man standing there next to Dralikkzion and fidgeting nervously bore a striking resemblance to Sigma. A little shorter, thinner, his blond hair quite a bit darker and considerably longer than their Second officer's, but the dusky skin and general set of facial features were the same.
Ekaitz stood and positioned himself to face this mysterious new arrival. "Who are you?" he asked.
"Delta," the man replied, openly gawking at everything in sight. "Delta Altair."
"Sigma's younger brother." Tau Ceti finally found his voice. "You're supposed to be on Zero."
Delta grimaced and rubbed at the back of his neck. "I was on Zero, then apparently I got kidnapped and tossed in a cell someplace, and then Sigma showed up and got tossed in with me." He didn't seem to notice the way Tau Ceti tensed at the mention of his brother. "They hauled us out to take us somewhere and Sigma fought them. He probably would have been able to take them all down if one of them hadn't gotten the bright idea to use me as a shield." He grimaced. "I'm going to get my ass chewed out for that the next time he sees me."
"Where is Sigma now?" Ekaitz asked quickly, his gaze flicking to Tau Ceti. It would not be good if the Gremlin flipped out again.
"They took him on one of their ships," Delta replied. "I was kind of trying to put up a fight and he was unconscious by that point so his ship took off first. I don't know where it went."
Tau Ceti had gone rather pale at the word 'unconscious' and spun around to snap at Jayce. "Find it! Track it!"
The Vrill's fingers flew over the familiar controls. Lights flashed, readouts were displayed, and Jayce cursed in several different languages. "The trail heads right into an ionized electromagnetic storm. Even our Lady can't track something that's been scrambled from here to Bangkok." He cursed again, shifting fluently through half the common languages in space. Sailors, it seemed, could be extremely multi-lingual when it came to profanity.
"I..." All heads turned toward Delta, who was eyeing Tau Ceti with a peculiar expression on his face. "You're Tau Ceti, aren't you?" At the Gremlin's tight nod, he smiled faintly. "Sigma said you'd come after him. Looks like he was right." The man took a few steps further onto the bridge, looking around in amazement and shook his head. "No wonder he wasn't worried..."
Some of the frantic agony faded from Tau Ceti's eyes to be replaced by a faint smile. "He has a way of getting himself into trouble that I have to then get him out of," the Gremlin replied fondly.
Delta frowned. "I don't think he got himself into this one. We figure that the only reason someone would go to so much trouble to kidnap both of us would be to get at our father. I haven't gotten anything from him that might suggest trouble, but he can be as stubborn as Sigma sometimes." Delta shrugged. "Maybe it's time to ask him what's going on."
Ekaitz considered. "Sounds like a good idea to me. Where is he?"
"Xochimi," Delta replied. "Planet in the fourth quadrant, number-"
"9624464," Tau Ceti interrupted, watching as Fe'yiv calculated the course.
Delta's brows shot up. "How do you know that?"
Tau Ceti turned to shoot him a pointed look. "I'm a Gremlin. We think numbers are toys. I could recite every access code used on the High Chancellor's office and personal quarters in the past five years if I wanted to. Planetary numbers are easy."
There was a quiet snicker, then Fe'yiv's voice spoke up. "I know I'm going to regret asking this, but why do you have the access codes to the High Chancellor's personal quarters memorized?" She muffled a giggle.
Snorting, Tau Ceti rolled his eyes. "Because he has a very comfortable bed and I figure someone should get use out of it, since he barely ever touches the thing." He shook his head and added under his breath, "And he says I work too much..."
"You do work too much," Ekaitz pointed out mildly. "Fe'yiv, get us moving. Q'inn, get Sigma's brother settled in one of the guest quarters. Mr. Altair, my apologies in advance for Tau Ceti's idea of how to decorate a room. You get used to it... eventually."
Tau Ceti rolled his eyes again as everyone else chuckled, waiting until Delta and Q'inn were gone before heading out himself. "I'll be in the engine room with Irinar if I'm needed."
Ekaitz arched a brow. "If you make this ship move any faster you're going to start defying the laws of physics."
Violet eyes flashed in amusement. "I told you, laws are made to be broken," the Gremlin called over his shoulder. The last thing Ekaitz saw was a black-tipped green tail before Tau Ceti was out of sight. He shook his head in bemusement and turned back toward his chair, then stopped as he discovered Jei standing and watching him with a peculiar expression.
"Jei..."
The Avarri drew in a slow breath, then carefully met his eyes. "I would like to speak with you, in private, if... if that's permissible..."
Ekaitz froze. He'd been hoping to put off this conversation until later, when he didn't have to be the captain. When he could safely fall to pieces afterward. He couldn't afford to break now. Not yet. "Jei..."
Pain-filled crimson eyes caught him in an unbreakable gaze. "Please," Jei whispered.
No. He couldn't do this. Not now. Ekaitz opened his mouth to deny Jei, and instead heard his own voice saying, "Jayce, keep an eye on things and let me know if anything unusual happens. I'll be back in a few minutes."
He watched in a stunned daze as his traitorous feet carried him off the bridge and down the hallway to his office, unlocking it via his in-lens just before they reached it and stepping aside to allow Jei to enter first. Once they were both inside he locked it behind them and drew in a slow breath. "Jei..."
A firm body pressed roughly up against his, fingers tangling in his hair and yanking his face forward so his lips could be claimed in a hot, bruising kiss. He gasped in surprise and Jei took the opportunity to deepen the kiss, their mouths meshing, tongues twining with almost desperate abandon. It was everything he wanted - and couldn't have.
It took every ounce of self-control Ekaitz possessed to grip Jei's shoulders and push the man away, though he couldn't quite convince his fingers to let go afterward. "What are you-"
"I'm sorry," Jei whispered breathlessly, his own hands still locked around Ekaitz's neck. "I had to... I couldn't... couldn't get you out of my mind. Couldn't think, couldn't breathe. Every time I closed my eyes, all I could see was you, watching me. Staring at me. I had to come back. Had to explain..." He stopped, shook his head. "No. Had to apologize. I never meant to hurt you, 'kaitz. Never. You were the one good thing... I got scared. Nobody's ever affected me the way you do. I thought if I could get away it would..." He shivered. "I couldn't think about anything else. I kept..." He swallowed. "Kept seeing your face, in the transport room. I couldn't bear to let you think..."
Jei's arms tightened around his neck. "You and me, that wasn't part of the job, Ekaitz. I couldn't see you without wanting you. Still can't. I've never..." His breath caught. "Never wanted anything so bad in my whole life. Not like this..."
Ekaitz's mind seemed to stop working. There was no other explanation. All his worries, his fears, his anxiety and dread all came to a standstill as he stared at the man clinging so tightly to him. He didn't understand what was happening. This couldn't be real. Jei couldn't be, couldn't want...
"I... Jei... I..." The words wouldn't come out.
"Jekandih," Jei said quietly. "My real name is Jekandih M'karr. Jei's just a nickname. It was saf..." He shook his head. "I don't use it much, these days. Haven't for a long time." His voice softened. "Wanted you to know, at least."
Ekaitz swallowed. "Jekandih, then..." Beneath his palms he could feel Jei shiver. "I... you know I have to..."
"You're the Captain. It's your job to deal with people like me, I know," Jei said softly. "I won't fight you. I'll go to Rehab, or wherever you want me to, I promise, but first..." Jei's hands slowly unlocked behind Ekaitz's neck, sliding across his shoulders and down his body, eliciting an involuntary shiver from the Elivin. "Let me touch you," Jei whispered, pleading. "One last time..."
It was wrong; everything was wrong between them. He an elite IA officer, Jei a known criminal, and yet, and yet... he still couldn't help the soft moan that escaped his lips as he leaned forward to capture Jei's mouth in a desperate kiss.
Planet 9624464 (Xochimi), Governor's Estate
It didn't really look like a Governor's estate. It had a little bit more land, and a shallow little creek running through, but for the most part it didn't look all that different from the other houses they'd passed on their way from the spaceport to Governor Altair's estate. Jei had spent most of that trip staring out at the lush countryside and wishing he could have flown instead. Xochimi was a beautiful planet, though even hotter than his own native Avarr due to the planet's close proximity to its dual suns.
Delta led the way up the walk and through the open door, confident despite the fact that Jei clearly remembered him saying he hadn't been here in years. Jei himself hung back a bit, letting everyone get a few paces ahead, partly out of the lingering feeling that he shouldn't be there - and he still wasn't sure why he'd been included - and partly because the greater the distance between himself and Tau Ceti, the better.
Every time the Gremlin looked in his direction he expected to get hit again, though so far it hadn't come. Jei couldn't understand why. If he'd been in Tau Ceti's position, if Ekaitz had been the one taken away, he knew he wouldn't be nearly so restrained. Considering the things the rest of the crew had told him about the tetchy Gremlin, he'd decided that the only explanation was that Tau Ceti was just taking his time to plan out a very detailed and painful revenge.
Jei let the distance between them increase just a little bit more. No sense in tempting fate.
They were met just inside by a tall, handsome man bearing an even more striking resemblance to Sigma than his brother had. His pale blond hair had silvered with age and he was at least two decades older, but the trim body and grey eyes that seemed to miss nothing were exactly the same. Hopefully Tria Altair wasn't as adept at reading people as his eldest son, or Jei was going to swiftly excuse himself back to the ship.
"Delta," Tria Altair greeted.
"Father." Delta smiled wryly. "You wouldn't, by any chance, be having... troubles, lately? Perhaps some people issuing threats?"
Tria's brows shot up, then he sighed in resignation. "You got pulled into it, didn't you?" he asked, sounding as though he already knew the answer.
"Just a little," Delta replied dryly, gesturing at Tau Ceti and Ekaitz who were standing nearest to him. "These nice people were out looking for Sigma when they happened to rescue me. Unfortunately, our captors still have Sigma and we have no idea where they've gone."
Governor Altair's expression went oddly blank. "Sigma's been kidnapped?"
Delta frowned. "You sound so surprised. He's not invincible, father, no matter what he's managed to convince you of. Throw enough people at him and eventually Sigma will go down. Now quit playing the Governor face and tell us what's going on so these people can get Sigma back."
With a resigned sigh Tria Altair led them into a sitting room and dropped into a chair. He seemed to be thinking carefully as the rest of them settled themselves, then began his tale once everyone was seated. "All right. I don't know how much you all know about this system, so I'm starting at the beginning. There are two inhabited planets in this star system, Xochimi and Huayna. Xochimi lies closer to the dual suns, Huayna farther out, with a large asteroid belt between them. From the very beginning the Xochimans and Huaynans were wildly different. Where the Xochimans put a lot of hard work and effort into tending the land and figuring out how to use the fluctuating sunlight from their binary stars to their advantage, the Huaynans instead relied more on geothermal heat from their planet, living almost underground at times. The Xochimans are a very peaceful, diligent people. Huayna's main strengths are industrialism and weapons manufacturing. They attempt to invade and enslave Xochimi at least once every twenty turns, sometimes more."
He paused as one of the locals brought in a tray with glasses of water for everyone, taking a long drink of his own before resuming. "As a result, Xochimi has barely been getting by. We export some extra foodstuffs and such, but no matter how many points are saved up, the savings gets wiped out again after every Huaynan attack. For a while we were trying to set up Xochimi as a vacation spot, you may have noticed that it's very beautiful and relaxing here, perfect for unwinding stressed individuals, but there are two problems. One is Huayna's insistence on attacking us, and the other is financial. Xochimi simply doesn't have the points necessary to set up all the facilities we'd need." Tria grimaced. "This is where the real trouble started. You see, the asteroid belt that separates Xochimi and Huayna is extremely rich in natural resources. It's probably one of the wealthiest asteroid belts in this quadrant. However, it's also one of the most dangerous asteroid belts in the quadrant. For centuries it's claimed thousands of lives of those who tried to plunder its riches. Xochimi had almost given up completely when about a turn ago I happened to mention the problem in a letter to my son, Sigma."
There was a quiet murmur from the crew of the Ice Princess. Apparently this was news to them. Most appeared faintly surprised, though Tau Ceti was frowning. Jei snorted inwardly at himself. When was Tau Ceti not frowning?
"Not long after that," Governor Altair continued, "A freighter dropped off a few odd pieces of machinery and a letter. Apparently someone Sigma knew had constructed a prototype long-distance mining drone that could be operated from Xochimi. It worked perfectly. We were able to mine the asteroid belt without any risk of injury, and against all expectations the drone didn't appear to take any damage at all during its trips. It was exactly what we'd needed." He sighed and sipped his water again. "Then Huayna found out. They demanded we give them the mining drone and began attacking Xochimi with a vengeance. We've been holding them off well enough, but lately they started making personal threats and..." He gestured helplessly at his audience. "Apparently those threats were not idle."
There was a long stretch of stunned silence, then Tau Ceti began swearing creatively and fluently enough to put even the worst sailors to shame. He'd gotten partway through a series of Bangkok curses, some of which even Jei didn't know, when Ekaitz interrupted him.
"Judging from your reaction, Tau Ceti, I'm going to take a wild guess and say that mining drone is one of your toys." Ekaitz drolled.
Tria Altair blinked and stared at the irate Gremlin. "Tau Ceti? He's real?"
"Real as you or me, and ten times as pissy," Ekaitz replied in exasperation, shooting a look at the Gremlin when Tau Ceti's rantings shifted from mere curses into threats of explosion and mass destruction. "Shut up and quit being a drama queen, Tau. Honestly. You couldn't have known your little toy would cause such a problem, and there's nothing we can do about that now. The question is, how do we get Sigma back?" His intent blue-green gaze shifted to Governor Altair. "Do you think they'd have taken him to Huayna?"
Tria hesitated. "It's possible, though I don't think that would have been their first choice..."
"It wasn't," Ekaitz said flatly. "We seem to have scared them away from where they were originally keeping Sigma and Delta."
"In that case," Tria said with a nod, "He probably is on Huayna. More secure, given how weapons-crazy the whole planet is." His face tightened. "It would take an army to get him out of there..."
Jei found himself disagreeing, though he didn't say anything out loud. An army was meant for large scale assaults and sieges. To rescue one man, all you really needed was a small, skilled team that knew what they were doing. A team like the crew of the Ice Princess.
Casting a glance at the arguing men, Jei smiled tightly and very gradually edged toward the door, a plan forming in his mind. He'd have to figure out how to convince the Ice Princess's crew, though he didn't think that would be all that hard. Getting Sigma back meant that Tau Ceti would calm down. Who didn't want that?
Nobody seemed to notice his departure. He slipped out of Governor Altair's estate and spread his wings, using his telekinesis to toss himself into the air where he could catch the breeze and ride it back to the spaceport. A little more judicious use of TK increased his speed and in no time at all he was back inside the bird-shaped ship.
"What're you doing back?"
Jei turned to find Q'inn glaring at him, ears flat and tail lashing. He didn't dare back down, not to a Hellcat, but he didn't want to push Q'inn too hard either. Not when he needed the man's help.
"Pretty sure I know where we can find Sigma, but getting him out sounds like it's gonna be interesting." Jei let the slightest smirk cross his face. "You up for a little danger, kitty cat?"
Q'inn snorted. "If you can do it, little bird, I most certainly can."
"Danger?" First Jayce's, then Dralikkzion's heads popped out from behind a corner. "What kind of danger?"
Jei stifled the urge to snicker. "Why don't you get everybody together and I'll explain what I have in mind."
The two pilots disappeared, and Jei turned to smile at Q'inn. "You coming, furball?" he tossed out, turning and sauntering toward the bridge. As he expected, Q'inn was right on his heels with a retort. They continued the banter all the way back up and onto the bridge, only stopping when Jei realized that it looked as though the entire crew was already gathered. There was that medic he'd only met once, the snakey engineer lady, the neon yellow cook, and-
With a pained cry Jei crumpled to the floor, his head feeling like it was about to turn inside-out. Distantly he was aware of a commotion around him, people talking rapidly, almost angrily, but he couldn't seem to think much beyond the pain in his head and the very brief glimpse he'd gotten of startled, orange-gold eyes. He wasn't sure how long it took before he was able to struggle into a sitting position and look around, but he was aware that every single person was staring at him in disbelief. Those that weren't being openly hostile, anyway.
"How dare you," Q'inn growled, his arms tight around a lightly-scaled body that reminded Jei of a sunset he'd seen once on Mars. On the man's other side was that medic, Xalin, three of his arms holding onto the sunset-creature while the fourth petted him reassuringly.
"What..." Jei's throat seemed to be too tight. "What just happened?"
Several glances were exchanged. Finally the female pilot, Fe'yiv if Jei remembered right, gestured helplessly. "How much do you know about Draconis?"
"Draconis?" Jei blinked, thinking. "Um, genetically-engineered species that half the IG's all worked up about for some reason. Why?"
Fe'yiv spread her hands, then gestured at the pretty red-orange-gold creature between Q'inn and Xalin. "Meiki's a Draconis. They, um..." She glanced imploringly at the medic.
"Draconis 'match' with other magics-compatible species, enhancing their magics considerably, but at the cost of their independence," Xalin explained briskly. "From the moment the match is made, both the Draconis and the one they've matched with are forever dependant upon one another. If they are separated, their magics cease to function."
Jei yelped, scrambling to his feet and backing up. "What? That's... I..." He shook his head rapidly. "He's not... I can't..." He stared down at the Draconis who was looking up at him with wide eyes. "But I can't be your match-thing!" he exclaimed, his wings half spread in distress. "After I help you get Sigma back I have to go to Rehab or whatever. I can't... That's not fair to you!"
There was a rather stunned silence after his vehement speech, then several glances were traded. Finally it was the Draconis himself that spoke. "Maybe... Maybe the Princess will make an exception... Maybe he'll let you stay with us..."
The surge of hope that went through him was almost painful. "But I... I..."
Q'inn scowled at him. "Lets go get Sigma first, then we'll worry about what we're going to do with the stupid bird."
Meiki blinked. "Without Captain Ekaitz or Tau Ceti?"
Dralikkzion rolled his eyes. "Do you want to be anywhere near Tau Ceti right now?" he asked.
The Draconis considered, then smiled sheepishly. "Oh. Right." He freed himself from Q'inn and Xalin's arms and bounced over to the left-side control console. "We'd better get going then," he announced cheerfully. "The faster we get there and back again, the less chance that Tau Ceti will figure out that we borrowed his ship and left him behind."
The brief lull lasted exactly two seconds - Jei was counting - before everyone scrambled madly to take up their places. Even in absentia, it seemed, Tau Ceti could inspire fear in the bravest of hearts.
With the first glimmer of hope he'd had in, well, as long as he could remember, Jei walked up to stand just behind Meiki's chair to explain where they were going. In what seemed like no time at all they were away, soaring through the stars to rescue their shipmate, and all of them hoping devoutly that they'd be back before anyone realized they had even gone.
Planet 9482962 (Huayna), Capitol City
Anyone who had ever met him would tell you that Sigma Altair had more patience than any ten men. He stayed calm and rational under pressure, impossible to ruffle, with a fuse that burned so slowly that glaciers appeared swift by comparison. However, when he finally did reach the limit to that seemingly-endless patience, things... were not pretty.
Ever since he'd awoken with a splitting headache to find himself quite literally chained to a wall, Sigma's temper had slowly begun to rise. It wasn't bad enough that he'd been taken from his ship leaving behind a no doubt frantic lover. It wasn't bad enough that he had no idea what had happened to his brother after being hit in the back of the head. No, now his captors seemed to find it immensely entertaining to walk by every five minutes or so and taunt him.
He'd always considered himself to be immune to words. His realm was the unspoken, the mysteries that lay beneath the surface that one could only comprehend by watching the tiny, insignificant signals of a living body. He'd never had a problem with barbed words before as the ones speaking them never failed to communicate in some tiny way how their own insecurities drove them to say the things they did. He saw, he understood, and he ignored.
But these people were different. Overconfident. Arrogant, even. They took sheer delight in the pain of others, even if that pain was only in their perceptions. They truly believed in their own racial superiority. With every foul word that fell from their mouths it only made him all the more sick with disgust.
And anger.
There were very few people who had ever actually seen Sigma Altair lose his temper. The guard that stopped to spit at him at 20:47 Zero time was one of those few. Unfortunately for him, he only got to appreciate the privilege for the three-point-five seconds it took for Sigma to lash out with his feet, trap the guard's head between them, and then crack his head against the wall.
Exactly sixteen seconds later he was free, having relieved the unconscious guard of his keys, and began prowling his way through the sprawling estate he'd been left in. Two left turns later a second native went down without a sound. Another left and a right and three more had been added to that total.
Interestingly enough, there were no windows. Yet the walls and floor were stone. A man less accustomed to life aboard a starship might have found himself confused by the featureless hallways. Sigma formed a map in his mind, detailing out several areas and nearby exits courtesy of Hapless Guard #12 who babbled out everything he needed to know, and quite a bit that he didn't, after he'd taken the liberty of lifting the man off his feet and slamming him up against one of those nicely sturdy stone walls.
Fifteen minute and eleven guards later he stepped out the front gates of the Veronta Estate on Huayna and gazed out at the harsh landscape. Mostly reddish-brown stone and dust greeted him, with more red in the sky overhead. Dwellings were cut into the ground, for the most part, though a few low buildings off in the direction of the setting suns swiftly gave way to the more significant spires of a decently sized city. A hard, unforgiving planet.
No, a stupid, overbearing, arrogant planet. Now that he had the planet's name he was beginning to match up facts, some relayed via messages from his father, others looked up himself after it became obvious from reading between the lines that there was much the too-proud Tria Altair was leaving out.
Calmly setting out for the city in the distance, Sigma was distantly amused to note that after the third or fourth group had tried and failed to overpower him most of the rest started giving him a wide berth. At least until he got into a new group that hadn't seen what he did to the last ones.
He was approximately halfway to his goal when there was a rather spectacular explosion two streets over. Sigma was already moving toward it before he was quite aware of what he was doing, fully aware that explosions usually resulted in injuries which meant that people needed help. Even people that half a minute before he'd been doing his best to cause injuries.
Emerging from around a stone wall, he discovered a man taking aim with a stunner. Sigma relieved the man of his weapon and his consciousness, then looked up to see what he'd been about to fire at.
Several pairs of rather astonished eyes stared back at him.
"Sigma!" came a chorus of cries, then he was abruptly surrounded by the majority of the crew of the Ice Princess, including a very bewildered-looking Jei. Sigma watched calmly for several moments as his shipmates babbled nonsensically around him, then carefully caught Jei's eyes.
"If I might ask, what are you all doing here?" he inquired, allowing no hint of emotion to creep into his voice.
Several looks were exchanged, then Jei smiled somewhat sheepishly and spread his hands. "Uh, rescuing you?"
Not so much as a trace of a smile made its way to his lips, despite the satisfaction that ran through him at the boy's words. Instead he simply arched a brow in his usual fashion. "Good. Report."
The looks flew back and forth again, then finally everyone just looked at Jei. The Avarri fidgeted beneath Sigma's steady gaze, then drew in a slow breath. "Um, well, after I, ah, passed you over to the people who were paying for you I started thinking about... stuff you said... and I incapacitated the rest of the crew and went back to the Ice Princess so I could show them where you were. When we got there Tau Ceti did this creepy thing that wiped out all the power on the ship that was trying to escape and we retrieved everybody from there but you weren't on it. Your brother was, though."
Sigma's brows shot up. "You rescued Delta?"
Jei nodded. "He figured that this all had something to do with your father so then we went to Xochimi and he explained that these guys here, the Huya-something, hate his planet's people something fierce and then lately you and I guess Tau Ceti sent over a mining drill thing to make it easier for your dad's people and the people here got all uppity and decided they wanted the mining thing so they started attacking and blackmailing your father. We kinda figured they'd be keeping you here so I asked the crew to come with me so we could rescue you." He paused, then smiled wryly. "Apparently you didn't need rescuing."
"Having the Ice Princess available when it's time to leave will make things easier," Sigma said absently, something else Jei had said floating back and forth through his mind. "You said the Huayna started this attack because of the mining drone I sent father?" When Jei nodded, he grimaced. "Which means this entire mess is completely my fault."
Jei snorted. "Hardly. From the sound of things these lunatics were just looking for an excuse to get into a fight. I've met their type all over the quadrant. Most of 'em end up in Rehab eventually. Idiots."
There were a number of snickers, then Q'inn pointed out, "Coming from you, that's rather amusing." A moment later he yelped as Jei telekinetically knocked his feet out from under him. "Uppity bird..." the Hellcat muttered as he got to his feet.
"You really need to quit calling me a bird," Jei observed idly, eyes glinting with muffled amusement. "I don't have feathers and I don't lay eggs."
Everyone laughed again and Sigma shook his head slightly. Looked like Jei was bouncing back just fine. Hopefully that meant Ekaitz was on solid ground again as well. He cast his gaze out over the lot of them, then nodded to himself. "All right. Jei, you're coming with me. Q'inn, get everyone back to the ship and send a message to let the Captain and Tau Ceti know we're all fine." He gave them a sharp look. "As I assume given that neither are with you they don't know where you've run off to..."
Several blushes and sheepish looks met his statement, then Jei cleared his throat nervously. "Um, Sigma, err..." He waved a hand nervously at the grinning Meiki. "He kinda needs to come too."
Sigma looked from Jei to Meiki and back again, his brows shooting up in surprise. "That will make things interesting," he commented blandly, noting the matching winces on both the Draconis and the Avarri. "All right then, Meiki comes. The rest of you, go. We'll meet you back at the ship when things have been dealt with sufficiently."
He watched them until they were out of sight, then turned to regard first Jei, then Meiki. "Matched?"
Meiki nodded and gave one of his all-too-familiar 'Oops, I didn't mean to, really!' grins. "It's actually kind of fun. I'm a lot stronger than I used to be, and you should see what Jei can do now!"
"I can only imagine," Sigma murmured, turning his head to look at Jei. "I'm sure you've already gotten this from the rest of the crew, so I'll only say it once. Being matched to a Draconis is an honor and a responsibility. You're going to have to work together and support each other, as well as keep one another safe. Do you think you can do that?"
Jei gaped at him as though expecting something entirely different, then his gaze flickered briefly to Meiki and he nodded firmly. "Yeah, I can. I really... I really like you people. All of you. And him?" The Avarri flashed a grin at Meiki. "He's just fun."
Sigma sighed quietly and spared Meiki a Look. "You are not convincing him to join Tau and you in the vid-film escapades."
Meiki blinked at him, wide-eyed and innocent. "I'm not convincing him of anything!"
"Yeah," Jei added cheerfully, slinging an arm and a wing around Meiki's shoulders, "I don't need convincing."
Looking from one to the other, Sigma sighed again. "Remind me to keep Jayce very far away from both of you," he muttered beneath his breath, then turned and began walking toward the tallest of the city spires. "Come on, the sooner we get this over with, the sooner we can go home."
Jei and Meiki exchanged a swift grin, then scrambled after him.
It would really be a lot easier if the Huayna would just learn that "Get out of the way" was not a suggestion. Granted, having Jei and Meiki along made things go a little faster, but it was still annoying to have to slow down every twenty feet to deal with the welcoming committee.
The guard he'd terrified after first getting free had explained that the plan had been the idea of the Huaynan Overlord, Maxin Veronta. While the guard hadn't known all the details of exactly how the kidnapping had been engineered, he had been able to give Sigma precise instructions on where to find Veronta. Getting into the Citadel had been a rather simple matter of Jei calmly yanking the doors off their hinges, much to Sigma's subtle disquiet and Meiki's energetic glee. After that, it had simply become a matter of politely inquiring the whereabouts of Maxin Veronta.
Twenty minutes and a hundred and twelve guards later (more or less, he'd lost count somewhere around the time Meiki had realized he now had access to Jei's telekinesis and started happily flinging things right and left) they found themselves outside a pair of heavy steel doors. Deciding to go the way of diplomacy, at least for the moment, Sigma had Jei manipulate the bolt and simply swing the doors open rather than their more forceful approach.
Inside, close to thirty armed men were waiting for them.
Cursing, Sigma dove to the side and took out the nearest Huayna, his heart leaping into his throat as he heard the familiar sound of weapons fire. A few moments later when he got the chance to take a step back and check on his companions, he was startled to notice them both completely unharmed with the air around them shimmering strangely. The Huayna had ceased firing and were gaping instead, and Sigma decided to use the distraction to his advantage.
In short order, there was only one Huayna left. Sigma had deliberately avoided him, as he was dressed differently than any of the others he'd seen thus far. That was a very good indication that this was the man they were looking for. Sigma smiled dangerously. "Maxin Veronta, I assume?"
Veronta eyed them all warily, his gaze shooting most often to Jei and Meiki, the latter of which seemed to be practicing using Jei's magics by floating a collection of stunners around his head.
"Who are you people?"
Sigma's smile darkened. "Oh, you know exactly who I am. After all, you ordered my brother and me kidnapped so that you could blackmail our father." Veronta's face paled, but Sigma went on before he could voice a denial. "What I really want to know, though, is how you did it. To get Delta off Zero, to even find me, you had to have access to classified files, Veronta. I want to know the name of your contacts on Zero."
The Huaynan started, then stiffened. "No," he said simply.
"No?" Sigma repeated, arching a brow. "That's unfortunate..." He gestured behind himself. "Jei, would you mind?"
A moment later Veronta was floating in the air, his arms and legs held out at an odd angle. His eyes had gone wide in real fear, darting back and forth between Sigma and Jei.
"Now then," Sigma continued calmly as though nothing had changed, "You're going to give me the name or names that I want, or else my friend here is going to block the air from getting to your lungs and you can gradually suffocate to death. I'm told it's a highly unpleasant way to die."
Veronta's eyes bulged. "You.. you're bluffing. You're IG. The Infinitum Government doesn't work that way."
Sigma shrugged idly. "Technically I'm retired, and Jei there is a mercenary. Besides, I don't appreciate being dragged all over the quadrant, threatened and insulted, while my friends are no doubt frantic with worry for me." His eyes narrowed dangerously. "For that alone, I should hate you."
Once again Veronta's gaze flicked to Jei and Meiki, though this time lingering a bit longer on Meiki as the Draconis had gotten two of the stunners in hand and was holding them up to test their aim with Veronta's head as his primary target. "I..." He swallowed, then looked away from them all. "Torrik. Zev Torrik."
One of Sigma's brows arched. "High Councilor Torrik? You have some interesting friends, Veronta."
Veronta glared at him. "He owed me a favor; I cashed it in and threw in some things to make the deal a little sweeter, that's all. We're not friends. A Huayna would never be friends with a weak human."
"No?" Sigma crossed his arms and adopted his favorite Authority stance. "That's too bad for you, Veronta, because you're about to become very good friends with a human. Governor Tria Altair of Xochimi, to be specific."
The man started. "Never," he spat.
Sigma sighed and signaled to Jei. Veronta choked and gasped helplessly for several moments, then Sigma signaled again and the Huaynan could once more breathe. He sucked in several deep breaths before panting and glaring sullenly at Sigma. "What do you want me to do?"
Smiling coldly, Sigma explained. "I am well aware that Xochimi has extended several invitations to work together with your people, and you have rejected them every time in favor of trying to enslave them. The next time the offer comes, which should be in a day or two, you're going to accept it."
Veronta's lips thinned. "Work together with those flighty weaklings?"
"It's that or you die, and we cripple Huayna's tech on the way out." Sigma shrugged. "Your choice. Just keep in mind that the three of us just took on half the fighters in your capitol city without much effort. It wouldn't be all that much of an inconvenience to call in a few waiting friends of ours to finish the job."
Swallowing, Veronta looked at each of them before slowly lowering his head. "Fine. We'll... work with the Xochimans."
Sigma smiled and gestured to Jei to let the man down. "Good. I'll be keeping an eye on you to make certain you uphold your end of the bargain. If not..." He shrugged idly. "You'll be seeing us again."
Ignoring Veronta for the most part, except for staying alert in case the man tried anything, Sigma turned to the waiting Jei and Meiki. "I think it's time to go home now, don't you?"
Two matching grins were his response.
Custom Class Star Ship TSPKAST-0000 (16251582) The Ice Princess
They could all see it coming, especially Jei who paled and took a step back, though he didn't otherwise do anything to defend himself. There was a very audible crack as Tau Ceti's fist connected with the Avarri's face, followed by a more muffled thump as Jei collided with the floor.
"If you ever run off with my ship without permission again," Tau Ceti snarled, electricity crackling along his arms, "You will die." He spun to cast a deadly glare over the rest of them. "That goes for the rest of you as well."
A long silence stretched out, during which Jei gingerly picked himself up off the deck yet again, then Tau Ceti made a noise that sounded oddly like a whimper and flung himself into Sigma's ready arms. "I don't care if you have duties or whatever," the Gremlin said, his voice muffled by the fabric of Sigma's shirt, "I'm handcuffing you to the bed so you can't leave again."
"Handcuffs can be picked," Sigma pointed out with a smile as he held his lover close.
"I'll build better ones," Tau Ceti promised, drawing back only far enough to tip his head up for a kiss that Sigma wholeheartedly gave.
"I really didn't need to know that about them," Q'inn muttered good-naturedly, prompting somewhat nervous laughter from the watching crew.
As the kiss continued on without so much as a pause for air, Sigma's hands drifting down to cup his lover and pull the Gremlin flush against him while Tau Ceti managed to wrap arms, legs, and tail around Sigma's body, Ekaitz found himself blushing and trying very hard not to look at Jei and wish he could do the same. It was taking every iota of self-control he possessed not to drag the Avarri into his arms and kiss him senseless.
He'd been utterly terrified when they'd first realized Jei had slipped away, thinking that he'd managed to make the same mistake twice and Jei had played him so skillfully. Then they'd discovered the Ice Princess missing and he'd had no further time for thought with all his effort going into restraining the most brilliant Gremlin in the Infinitum Government from doing something... drastic.
When the call had come in from the Ice Princess, Q'inn and Fe'yiv taking turns explaining where and why they'd gone, his knees had nearly buckled in relief. Probably would have, if he'd not had to physically restrain Tau Ceti. That was not something he wanted to have to do ever again, especially after the angry Gremlin had zapped him in retaliation. If he'd possessed body hair it would probably still be standing up.
Now, with Sigma and Tau Ceti apparently oblivious to the staring around them, Ekaitz was quite pointedly reminded that as soon as the High Chancellor gave the order Jei would most likely be on his way to Rehab and Ekaitz fully expected to find himself relocated to a barge somewhere.
One last time, they'd promised. One last memory. No matter how desperately they might wish otherwise.
"Not that I want to break up this very dramatic reunion," Delta commented dryly, "But I really would like to get back to Zero sometime soon."
Reluctantly Tau Ceti broke the kiss, twisting to glare at the younger Altair sibling. "Sigma," he asked calmly, "Would you mind terribly if I electrocuted your brother?"
Sigma chuckled quietly. "He does have a point you know, and now that everything's over we should probably report in to Kavalerov." His gaze shifted to catch and hold Ekaitz's eyes. "Don't you think, Captain?"
No, he didn't want to report in to the High Chancellor, but he didn't really have much of a choice. Ekaitz nodded slightly and shooed his bridge crew toward their stations. "One of you decide who's got communications and put the call through."
He watched in mild amazement and no small amount of disbelief as the four of them held a brief game of rock-paper-scissors to determine who got to make the call to Zero. Fe'yiv flashed a brilliant smile when she won and dropped into one of the control seats, efficiently working the console. A minute or so later her clear voice called out, "I have the High Chancellor."
Taking a deep breath to steady himself, Ekaitz clasped his hands behind his back and stood facing the main screen. "Put him up, Fe'yiv."
The ever-impressive visage of the High Chancellor filled the screen, looking composed and dignified in his black and silver uniform. "Captain Kai." His brows rose slightly. "Sigma."
Sigma nodded. "Chancellor Kavalerov." He didn't even try to salute. Not with Tau Ceti wrapped so tightly around him.
"Events occurred so swiftly that we didn't get a chance to update you, and for that I apologize," Ekaitz said as calmly as the butterflies in his stomach would allow. "As you can see, we have safely retrieved Sigma and apparently his brother Delta from their captors. We had... assistance in the form of one of the mercenaries that was hired to kidnap Sigma coming back to show us where he was located, and later leading an..." Ekaitz winced. "Unauthorized rescue mission."
"Convenient for me," Sigma interjected idly.
"And if he does it again I'll kill him," Tau Ceti muttered sullenly, though without any real heat. Anyone could see that the relief he felt at having Sigma back was temporarily overriding all other emotions.
Kavalerov's brows rose further, and his lips quirked. "I see."
Ekaitz drew in a slow breath. "I take full responsibility for everything that's happened and will understand if you choose to reassign me after this, as I-" He didn't get a chance to finish as Tau Ceti disentangled himself from Sigma to smack his captain upside the head.
"You didn't hear a word of that," the Gremlin rather pointedly said to the screen as Ekaitz rubbed the back of his head.
"Yes," Sigma agreed, gently drawing Tau Ceti away from Ekaitz, "If this is anyone's fault, it's mine. I had Tau Ceti design something for my father and in doing so accidentally escalated a war that's been going on for centuries."
"The Xochimi-Huayna confrontation." Kavalerov nodded slightly. "What is the status of the hostilities now?"
Sigma's lips twisted into a very strange expression. "There shouldn't be any further hostilities, sir. The Huayna have agreed to form a partnership with the Xochimans."
Kavalerov regarded Sigma carefully for a moment, then shook his head. "Send me the full report later."
"Yes, sir."
There was a brief lull, then Ekaitz steeled himself and ventured, "High Chancellor, about the mercenary..."
"Captain." Sigma held up a hand to forestall him, then looked up at the screen. "While IG law dictates that Jei be sent to Rehab, recent events have created some complications. As I'm sure you're aware, the Ice Princess had an unmatched Draconis aboard."
Kavalerov's brows shot up again. "Had?"
Ekaitz's head snapped around to stare at Jei, then Meiki. When had that happened?
"Yes, sir," Sigma continued calmly, gesturing for Jei and Meiki to come stand nearby. "Our Draconis, and our mercenary."
Tau Ceti was staring at the two as well, then he crossed his arms and glared rather pointedly at Meiki. "Is there anything on my ship that you haven't made a mess out of?" he asked.
Meiki considered carefully, then grinned. "I don't think so."
"I think you see the problem," Sigma finished, stepping aside to wrap his arms loosely around Tau Ceti once again.
"Like he'll see it as a problem," Tau Ceti grumbled. "He likes hiring mercenaries and convicts to do his evil bidding." The Gremlin gestured rudely at the screen. "If you're going to start laughing at me, Princess, please keep in mind that we're on our way to Zero to drop off Sigma's brother and I know all your access codes."
Kavalerov smiled patiently. "I wouldn't dream of it, Tau." His gaze shifted to Ekaitz. "Captain Kai, I'll expect a full report by the time you get to Zero. I'd also wish you good luck but..." He gestured at the various grinning beings standing around them. "I think that's a given by now."
"Oh, and Kavalerov..."
"Sigma?" The High Chancellor appeared mildly curious.
Sigma's grey eyes narrowed as he smiled tightly. "You might want to go have a word or two with High Councilor Torrik regarding how my brother managed to get from Zero to an uninhabited planet in the fourth quadrant."
Nothing in the High Chancellor's expression changed, but Ekaitz was suddenly seized with the impulse to back up a pace. From the slight shifting of bodies around him, it seemed he wasn't the only one.
"I will do that," Kavalerov replied coolly. "I'll see you all when you get to Zero." The call ended.
All around them was a rather stunned silence as everyone except Jei and Meiki stared at Sigma. For his part, Sigma had on his usual neutral expression.
"Lord Torrik..." Delta breathed slowly. "That's one I never would have suspected..."
Tau Ceti added something that wasn't quite audible but definitely wasn't fit for polite company. A moment later Jei cleared his throat nervously.
"So, um... Does that mean I can stay?" he asked hesitantly.
"Unfortunately," Q'inn muttered. "Whoever decided birds should be allowed on starships needs to be grilled and barbequed."
Meiki grinned. "See? Told you he'd let you stay with us."
Slowly, unsurely, Jei's crimson gaze sought out Ekaitz's. No one later could ever seem to agree on who moved first, and neither of them could remember much beyond a very hot, hard, demanding kiss that left them both a tangle of arms and wings and dizzy breath that hitched alarmingly as deft hands sought out sensitive skin and it wasn't until the entire crew began laughing, jeering, and whistling that they finally separated.
There was a swift whispered conference between Meiki, Xalin, and Q'inn, then the medic and the Hellcat stepped up on either side of Jei and Ekaitz and pushed them quite firmly off the bridge.
"Have fun!" Meiki called cheerfully as the doors closed. "See you in a couple of hours!"
Ekaitz considered, looked thoughtfully at Jei, then shrugged and slung the Avarri over his shoulder before making his way through the ship to his quarters.
~ The End ~
Planet 5525685 (Kalakmul), A Small Complex
Commotion outside their cell roused Sigma from the light doze he'd indulged in. He sat up slowly, nudging Delta a few times until he was certain he brother was awake, then got his arms positioned correctly behind his back. No sense in their captors knowing he was loose until he wanted them to know.
The door slid open and a number of men flooded inside, hauling both brothers to their feet and shoving them roughly out into the hallway. Their captors were obviously highly agitated about something, though Sigma was having some trouble following the thread of the conversation as it jumped around, but the general problem seemed to be that someone hadn't reported in or answered a call and thus Sigma and Delta were being moved.
It was logic he could respect, even if it made things more difficult for him. If you think your first plan might be compromised, switch to your backup plan. If there's a problem with the backup plan, there's always plans C, D, E, and F. For Sigma, anyway. From the rather frantic sounds of things, there hadn't really been a backup plan and they were now scrambling to put one together.
Sigma rolled his eyes. On any given mission he usually had at least six different plans constructed, just in case. Given how much trouble it must have been to find Sigma on the Ice Princess and smuggle Delta off of Zero, he would have expected more from their captors.
He waited patiently, biding his time, but then at the next intersection Delta was forced to the left while Sigma was taken to the right. So much for waiting.
Dropping down to the floor, Sigma swept the nearest two captors off their feet, rendering them unconscious before they even had time to sit up. From them he retrieved two stunners and set about blasting everything in sight - concentrating heavily on the men around Delta. The bright flashes of stunner fire filled the air, the heavy ozone taste hanging heavy in the back of his throat. He had most of them down when one of their captors got the idea to use Delta as a shield.
Cursing beneath his breath, Sigma watched as Delta and the man backed away down the hallway and waited for a clean shot. He had no idea what level the enemy stunners had been set to and he wasn't risking harming his brother. Obviously, these people were counting on that.
A sudden sound from behind alerted him that there was a new problem. He spun and rolled, only barely missing the stunner fire that had been aimed at him. Now he had targets on opposite sides of himself to worry about. He dodged another stunner blast and started zigzagging back and forth toward the new arrivals. One went down before he got there. The second and third met up with his fists and he'd just started to reach for their stunners when Delta's pained cry made him turn.
Delta's face was white, his captor's smug. Delta's eyes widened around the faint glimmer of tears, then pain exploded in his head and Sigma's world went dark.
Custom Class Star Ship TSPKAST-0000 (16251582) The Ice Princess
There was one good thing about this whole disaster, Ekaitz reflected sardonically. The stress and agony it was causing made his deposing and banishment seem almost pleasant by comparison. Then, it had marked the end of his youth. He'd gone on, survived, and eventually wound up being offered a second chance by the High Chancellor himself. It had felt like he'd been given his life back. If he failed now... he'd have nothing to go back to.
Shoving the painful thoughts away for the fifty-seventh time in a row, Ekaitz looked out over the bridge. Meiki, Zion, and Q'inn were absent, having gone down to the rec room to work out their fears and anxieties and get some practice in at the same time. After all, as Q'inn had pointed out, if Sigma thought they'd been slacking while he was away, they'd all get their asses kicked when he got back.
That thought made him smile. As cold as his Second officer could be, it was obvious - except, he thought, to Sigma himself - that everyone respected him, if not outright liked him. That again begged the question of why the man wasn't Captain himself, especially if one took into account that he had to have gotten a lot of practice during the spans between Tau Ceti kicking one off and the next arriving. He made a note to mention it to the High Chancellor later, provided he was still in a position to do so when this was over.
Xalin had sent a message up not long ago stating that he and Volin had all the emergency supplies packed and ready, and Irinar hadn't been seen since they'd first lost their engines. Most likely she was still down there, making sure everything ran smoothly to avoid another Gremlin Incident. Tau Ceti hadn't been heard from since he'd stormed off, which Ekaitz was counting as a Good Thing. Jayce and Fe'yiv appeared to be absorbed in their consoles, but every now and then he'd catch a glimpse of one or the other sneaking looks at Jei.
And then there was Jei himself. The Avarri was curled up against a wall, leaning against one of the spare consoles, with his arms around his knees and his wings wrapped tightly around his body. He looked utterly miserable and more than once Ekaitz had had to stop himself from calling out, though he couldn't do anything about the near-overpowering desire to reassure the man. He looked so lost. So alone. It made his heart want to tear in half.
A slight sound drew his attention away from Jei and he looked back to find Tau Ceti standing in the doorway to the bridge. Ekaitz tensed at the way he was staring at Jei, preparing himself to deal with the imminent confrontation, then the Gremlin's vivid gaze flicked away and he went up front to speak quietly with Fe'yiv.
That had been... unexpected. Though welcome. As he watched Tau Ceti shook his head slightly, murmured something else, then went to sit down on the floor - as far away from Jei as the bridge dimensions would allow him to. Interesting. Odd. Ekaitz would have expected Tau Ceti to leave again, though he acknowledged that the Gremlin was a hard man to figure out even under normal circumstances.
Though, neither Sigma nor the High Chancellor seemed to have too many problems. Interesting, those. He wondered how in the stars either one of them had managed to learn to deal with the irritable Gremlin as well as they did, then chuckled inaudibly at the answer his mind immediately supplied.
A whole lot of patience.
The High Chancellor obviously had a high amount of patience simply by virtue of his position and having worked his way up through the Infinitum Government. And Sigma... well. He had the feeling the ship could be breaking up all around them and nose-diving into an airless moon in an unexplored region of space and it wouldn't ruffle the efficient human.
"Captain." Jayce's voice held a hint of surprise, as well as anticipation. "We're coming up on Kalakmul."
Ekaitz shot Tau Ceti a brief glance and raised eyebrows. The Gremlin shrugged and bared his teeth in an unsettling smirk. Obviously the man hadn't just been repairing their damaged engines, if they were nearly an hour ahead of schedule.
"Sensors?"
Fe'yiv's hands flew. "Kalakmul is a small, rocky planet with a light atmosphere and severe winds. Not reading any signs of... wait..."
Jei and Tau Ceti were both on their feet. Ekaitz gripped the arms of his chair and groped blindly for Sigma's in-specs. Suddenly the main screen shifted from a view of the approaching planet to one of a medium-sized ship rising out of the atmosphere. It was moving quickly.
"Weapons!" Ekaitz snapped.
"Range in four, three, two, one..." Jayce slammed a fist down on his console and several streaks of red flashed out toward the ship. It rocked, but continued to run.
"Follow it. Fire again." Ekaitz spun to face Tau Ceti. "All the fancy things on this ship and you couldn't have given us upgraded weapons?"
The Gremlin glared. "I don't like death."
"They're getting away," Ekaitz ground out.
Tau Ceti hissed, looking up at the screen where they were closing on the other ship. It was firing back, though the Ice Princess's shields were strong enough that they could fire until their power packs went dry and still not break through. That still left them at an impasse.
"I'm open to suggestions," Ekaitz muttered beneath his breath.
"I don't kill people," Tau Ceti growled, stalking up to Fe'yiv's console, "I cripple them." He leaned over Fe'yiv's shoulder and input commands almost faster than Ekaitz's eyes could follow. There was a soft intake of breath from the silvery Rubican, then she twisted around to stare at the Gremlin standing over her.
"Is that..."
"Legal? No." Tau Ceti didn't even bother to look at her. "Efficient, yes."
Fe'yiv's lips quirked into a faint smile. "I was going to say 'safe'."
The Gremlin considered. "As long as they're not caught in a gravity well, yes."
Ekaitz sighed. "Would one of you mind filling me in?" he asked.
Tau Ceti looked up at him and smiled darkly. "Ever seen what a focused, high-powered EMP wave can do to a ship before?" His teeth flashed ferally. Ekaitz blanched. The Gremlin's tail came up to make the final keystroke.
On the overhead screen, the stars seemed to ripple for a moment. The ripple narrowed, focused on the fleeing ship, then it rippled briefly as well before abruptly going completely dark. Inertia continued to carry it forward, though a few swift commands from Jayce's console solved that problem.
"No power signs at all in the other ship," Jayce's voice informed them, a note of awe and something else in it. "Engines, weapons, life support systems... nothing."
"I estimate they have about two, maybe three hours of air remaining, though the cold of space will get them long before then," Tau Ceti said calmly. "Perhaps it would be prudent to relocate our helpless friends."
Ekaitz found his voice. "Q'inn, Zion, get to the transport room and get over to that ship. Bring back everyone you find and throw them in the security cells." He hesitated, looking at Jei. "How far are you helping us?"
Jei met his gaze with a shard of his former confidence burning in his eyes. "As far as you'll let me."
Ekaitz nodded. "Then get down there as well."
He was surprised when Jei actually saluted him before taking off for the transport room. He wasn't surprised to find Tau Ceti standing next to his chair the moment the doors closed.
"Was that wise?"
"It isn't like he can run away," Ekaitz pointed out. "We're out of range of the planet and that ship isn't going anywhere for a long time." He eyed Tau Ceti pointedly. "If ever."
The Gremlin shrugged. "It stopped, didn't it?"
Ekaitz shook his head. "Now I know why people kept warning me about you."
Tau Ceti's brows shot up. "It wasn't for my sparkling personality?"
"That too." Ekaitz shrugged. "It's a good thing for the IG that you're on our side. The thought of what you could do if you weren't quite honestly scares me to death."
Quiet laughter met his words. "There have been rogue Gremlins before, who chafed under the restrictions placed upon them by IG law and found other, more appreciative audiences to build for. They were all dealt with, eventually. As for myself..." He gestured up at the image of the darkened ship on the screen. "Rules are meant to be bent, broken, or circumnavigated in whatever way possible. Why should I go elsewhere for my games when his highness the Ice Princess not only allows me my fun, but encourages it?"
Fe'yiv's silvery laughter sounded softly in the background, and Tau Ceti smirked. "Nothing about this ship or its crew is legal, nor are any of the ships the Princess has drafted into his personal service. He knows, as do I, that sometimes if you want to act for the good of all people you need to thwart a few rules."
Jayce snorted quietly. "Thwart?"
"Quiet, Vrill, or I'll reprogram all your personal grooming equipment again," Tau Ceti said calmly. Jayce promptly turned back to his console.
Ekaitz ignored the threats and mulled over what the Gremlin had said. "What happens in the future, if we get a High Chancellor that's not so... open-minded?" he asked quietly.
"I don't work for the High Chancellor," Tau Ceti replied, just as quiet. "I never have. Chancellor is just a title. A word. Like engineer... or Captain." He regarded Ekaitz pointedly.
He understood all at once what Tau Ceti was trying to tell him. He also understood why the Ice Princess's former captains had been unable to get along with the man. Why he could so easily have failed. All too often people allowed themselves to become defined by their positions rather than by who they were. Like his cousin, they believed that respect should be accorded them due to their rank rather than having to earn it like an ordinary man.
Tau Ceti respected Pyotr Kavalerov because he was Pyotr Kavalerov. Just as it seemed he, perhaps, respected Ekaitz for who he was as well, and was allowing him to prove himself worthy of his title as Captain. All he wanted in return was to be treated, not as a Gremlin or as one of the most influential engineers in the entire Infinitum Government, but as Tau Ceti. Himself.
Ekaitz felt himself smiling and started to respond, only to have the faint swish of the bridge doors alert him to new arrivals. Tau Ceti looked up first, his entire body going stiff with shock. When Ekaitz followed his gaze, he understood why.
The man standing there next to Dralikkzion and fidgeting nervously bore a striking resemblance to Sigma. A little shorter, thinner, his blond hair quite a bit darker and considerably longer than their Second officer's, but the dusky skin and general set of facial features were the same.
Ekaitz stood and positioned himself to face this mysterious new arrival. "Who are you?" he asked.
"Delta," the man replied, openly gawking at everything in sight. "Delta Altair."
"Sigma's younger brother." Tau Ceti finally found his voice. "You're supposed to be on Zero."
Delta grimaced and rubbed at the back of his neck. "I was on Zero, then apparently I got kidnapped and tossed in a cell someplace, and then Sigma showed up and got tossed in with me." He didn't seem to notice the way Tau Ceti tensed at the mention of his brother. "They hauled us out to take us somewhere and Sigma fought them. He probably would have been able to take them all down if one of them hadn't gotten the bright idea to use me as a shield." He grimaced. "I'm going to get my ass chewed out for that the next time he sees me."
"Where is Sigma now?" Ekaitz asked quickly, his gaze flicking to Tau Ceti. It would not be good if the Gremlin flipped out again.
"They took him on one of their ships," Delta replied. "I was kind of trying to put up a fight and he was unconscious by that point so his ship took off first. I don't know where it went."
Tau Ceti had gone rather pale at the word 'unconscious' and spun around to snap at Jayce. "Find it! Track it!"
The Vrill's fingers flew over the familiar controls. Lights flashed, readouts were displayed, and Jayce cursed in several different languages. "The trail heads right into an ionized electromagnetic storm. Even our Lady can't track something that's been scrambled from here to Bangkok." He cursed again, shifting fluently through half the common languages in space. Sailors, it seemed, could be extremely multi-lingual when it came to profanity.
"I..." All heads turned toward Delta, who was eyeing Tau Ceti with a peculiar expression on his face. "You're Tau Ceti, aren't you?" At the Gremlin's tight nod, he smiled faintly. "Sigma said you'd come after him. Looks like he was right." The man took a few steps further onto the bridge, looking around in amazement and shook his head. "No wonder he wasn't worried..."
Some of the frantic agony faded from Tau Ceti's eyes to be replaced by a faint smile. "He has a way of getting himself into trouble that I have to then get him out of," the Gremlin replied fondly.
Delta frowned. "I don't think he got himself into this one. We figure that the only reason someone would go to so much trouble to kidnap both of us would be to get at our father. I haven't gotten anything from him that might suggest trouble, but he can be as stubborn as Sigma sometimes." Delta shrugged. "Maybe it's time to ask him what's going on."
Ekaitz considered. "Sounds like a good idea to me. Where is he?"
"Xochimi," Delta replied. "Planet in the fourth quadrant, number-"
"9624464," Tau Ceti interrupted, watching as Fe'yiv calculated the course.
Delta's brows shot up. "How do you know that?"
Tau Ceti turned to shoot him a pointed look. "I'm a Gremlin. We think numbers are toys. I could recite every access code used on the High Chancellor's office and personal quarters in the past five years if I wanted to. Planetary numbers are easy."
There was a quiet snicker, then Fe'yiv's voice spoke up. "I know I'm going to regret asking this, but why do you have the access codes to the High Chancellor's personal quarters memorized?" She muffled a giggle.
Snorting, Tau Ceti rolled his eyes. "Because he has a very comfortable bed and I figure someone should get use out of it, since he barely ever touches the thing." He shook his head and added under his breath, "And he says I work too much..."
"You do work too much," Ekaitz pointed out mildly. "Fe'yiv, get us moving. Q'inn, get Sigma's brother settled in one of the guest quarters. Mr. Altair, my apologies in advance for Tau Ceti's idea of how to decorate a room. You get used to it... eventually."
Tau Ceti rolled his eyes again as everyone else chuckled, waiting until Delta and Q'inn were gone before heading out himself. "I'll be in the engine room with Irinar if I'm needed."
Ekaitz arched a brow. "If you make this ship move any faster you're going to start defying the laws of physics."
Violet eyes flashed in amusement. "I told you, laws are made to be broken," the Gremlin called over his shoulder. The last thing Ekaitz saw was a black-tipped green tail before Tau Ceti was out of sight. He shook his head in bemusement and turned back toward his chair, then stopped as he discovered Jei standing and watching him with a peculiar expression.
"Jei..."
The Avarri drew in a slow breath, then carefully met his eyes. "I would like to speak with you, in private, if... if that's permissible..."
Ekaitz froze. He'd been hoping to put off this conversation until later, when he didn't have to be the captain. When he could safely fall to pieces afterward. He couldn't afford to break now. Not yet. "Jei..."
Pain-filled crimson eyes caught him in an unbreakable gaze. "Please," Jei whispered.
No. He couldn't do this. Not now. Ekaitz opened his mouth to deny Jei, and instead heard his own voice saying, "Jayce, keep an eye on things and let me know if anything unusual happens. I'll be back in a few minutes."
He watched in a stunned daze as his traitorous feet carried him off the bridge and down the hallway to his office, unlocking it via his in-lens just before they reached it and stepping aside to allow Jei to enter first. Once they were both inside he locked it behind them and drew in a slow breath. "Jei..."
A firm body pressed roughly up against his, fingers tangling in his hair and yanking his face forward so his lips could be claimed in a hot, bruising kiss. He gasped in surprise and Jei took the opportunity to deepen the kiss, their mouths meshing, tongues twining with almost desperate abandon. It was everything he wanted - and couldn't have.
It took every ounce of self-control Ekaitz possessed to grip Jei's shoulders and push the man away, though he couldn't quite convince his fingers to let go afterward. "What are you-"
"I'm sorry," Jei whispered breathlessly, his own hands still locked around Ekaitz's neck. "I had to... I couldn't... couldn't get you out of my mind. Couldn't think, couldn't breathe. Every time I closed my eyes, all I could see was you, watching me. Staring at me. I had to come back. Had to explain..." He stopped, shook his head. "No. Had to apologize. I never meant to hurt you, 'kaitz. Never. You were the one good thing... I got scared. Nobody's ever affected me the way you do. I thought if I could get away it would..." He shivered. "I couldn't think about anything else. I kept..." He swallowed. "Kept seeing your face, in the transport room. I couldn't bear to let you think..."
Jei's arms tightened around his neck. "You and me, that wasn't part of the job, Ekaitz. I couldn't see you without wanting you. Still can't. I've never..." His breath caught. "Never wanted anything so bad in my whole life. Not like this..."
Ekaitz's mind seemed to stop working. There was no other explanation. All his worries, his fears, his anxiety and dread all came to a standstill as he stared at the man clinging so tightly to him. He didn't understand what was happening. This couldn't be real. Jei couldn't be, couldn't want...
"I... Jei... I..." The words wouldn't come out.
"Jekandih," Jei said quietly. "My real name is Jekandih M'karr. Jei's just a nickname. It was saf..." He shook his head. "I don't use it much, these days. Haven't for a long time." His voice softened. "Wanted you to know, at least."
Ekaitz swallowed. "Jekandih, then..." Beneath his palms he could feel Jei shiver. "I... you know I have to..."
"You're the Captain. It's your job to deal with people like me, I know," Jei said softly. "I won't fight you. I'll go to Rehab, or wherever you want me to, I promise, but first..." Jei's hands slowly unlocked behind Ekaitz's neck, sliding across his shoulders and down his body, eliciting an involuntary shiver from the Elivin. "Let me touch you," Jei whispered, pleading. "One last time..."
It was wrong; everything was wrong between them. He an elite IA officer, Jei a known criminal, and yet, and yet... he still couldn't help the soft moan that escaped his lips as he leaned forward to capture Jei's mouth in a desperate kiss.
Planet 9624464 (Xochimi), Governor's Estate
It didn't really look like a Governor's estate. It had a little bit more land, and a shallow little creek running through, but for the most part it didn't look all that different from the other houses they'd passed on their way from the spaceport to Governor Altair's estate. Jei had spent most of that trip staring out at the lush countryside and wishing he could have flown instead. Xochimi was a beautiful planet, though even hotter than his own native Avarr due to the planet's close proximity to its dual suns.
Delta led the way up the walk and through the open door, confident despite the fact that Jei clearly remembered him saying he hadn't been here in years. Jei himself hung back a bit, letting everyone get a few paces ahead, partly out of the lingering feeling that he shouldn't be there - and he still wasn't sure why he'd been included - and partly because the greater the distance between himself and Tau Ceti, the better.
Every time the Gremlin looked in his direction he expected to get hit again, though so far it hadn't come. Jei couldn't understand why. If he'd been in Tau Ceti's position, if Ekaitz had been the one taken away, he knew he wouldn't be nearly so restrained. Considering the things the rest of the crew had told him about the tetchy Gremlin, he'd decided that the only explanation was that Tau Ceti was just taking his time to plan out a very detailed and painful revenge.
Jei let the distance between them increase just a little bit more. No sense in tempting fate.
They were met just inside by a tall, handsome man bearing an even more striking resemblance to Sigma than his brother had. His pale blond hair had silvered with age and he was at least two decades older, but the trim body and grey eyes that seemed to miss nothing were exactly the same. Hopefully Tria Altair wasn't as adept at reading people as his eldest son, or Jei was going to swiftly excuse himself back to the ship.
"Delta," Tria Altair greeted.
"Father." Delta smiled wryly. "You wouldn't, by any chance, be having... troubles, lately? Perhaps some people issuing threats?"
Tria's brows shot up, then he sighed in resignation. "You got pulled into it, didn't you?" he asked, sounding as though he already knew the answer.
"Just a little," Delta replied dryly, gesturing at Tau Ceti and Ekaitz who were standing nearest to him. "These nice people were out looking for Sigma when they happened to rescue me. Unfortunately, our captors still have Sigma and we have no idea where they've gone."
Governor Altair's expression went oddly blank. "Sigma's been kidnapped?"
Delta frowned. "You sound so surprised. He's not invincible, father, no matter what he's managed to convince you of. Throw enough people at him and eventually Sigma will go down. Now quit playing the Governor face and tell us what's going on so these people can get Sigma back."
With a resigned sigh Tria Altair led them into a sitting room and dropped into a chair. He seemed to be thinking carefully as the rest of them settled themselves, then began his tale once everyone was seated. "All right. I don't know how much you all know about this system, so I'm starting at the beginning. There are two inhabited planets in this star system, Xochimi and Huayna. Xochimi lies closer to the dual suns, Huayna farther out, with a large asteroid belt between them. From the very beginning the Xochimans and Huaynans were wildly different. Where the Xochimans put a lot of hard work and effort into tending the land and figuring out how to use the fluctuating sunlight from their binary stars to their advantage, the Huaynans instead relied more on geothermal heat from their planet, living almost underground at times. The Xochimans are a very peaceful, diligent people. Huayna's main strengths are industrialism and weapons manufacturing. They attempt to invade and enslave Xochimi at least once every twenty turns, sometimes more."
He paused as one of the locals brought in a tray with glasses of water for everyone, taking a long drink of his own before resuming. "As a result, Xochimi has barely been getting by. We export some extra foodstuffs and such, but no matter how many points are saved up, the savings gets wiped out again after every Huaynan attack. For a while we were trying to set up Xochimi as a vacation spot, you may have noticed that it's very beautiful and relaxing here, perfect for unwinding stressed individuals, but there are two problems. One is Huayna's insistence on attacking us, and the other is financial. Xochimi simply doesn't have the points necessary to set up all the facilities we'd need." Tria grimaced. "This is where the real trouble started. You see, the asteroid belt that separates Xochimi and Huayna is extremely rich in natural resources. It's probably one of the wealthiest asteroid belts in this quadrant. However, it's also one of the most dangerous asteroid belts in the quadrant. For centuries it's claimed thousands of lives of those who tried to plunder its riches. Xochimi had almost given up completely when about a turn ago I happened to mention the problem in a letter to my son, Sigma."
There was a quiet murmur from the crew of the Ice Princess. Apparently this was news to them. Most appeared faintly surprised, though Tau Ceti was frowning. Jei snorted inwardly at himself. When was Tau Ceti not frowning?
"Not long after that," Governor Altair continued, "A freighter dropped off a few odd pieces of machinery and a letter. Apparently someone Sigma knew had constructed a prototype long-distance mining drone that could be operated from Xochimi. It worked perfectly. We were able to mine the asteroid belt without any risk of injury, and against all expectations the drone didn't appear to take any damage at all during its trips. It was exactly what we'd needed." He sighed and sipped his water again. "Then Huayna found out. They demanded we give them the mining drone and began attacking Xochimi with a vengeance. We've been holding them off well enough, but lately they started making personal threats and..." He gestured helplessly at his audience. "Apparently those threats were not idle."
There was a long stretch of stunned silence, then Tau Ceti began swearing creatively and fluently enough to put even the worst sailors to shame. He'd gotten partway through a series of Bangkok curses, some of which even Jei didn't know, when Ekaitz interrupted him.
"Judging from your reaction, Tau Ceti, I'm going to take a wild guess and say that mining drone is one of your toys." Ekaitz drolled.
Tria Altair blinked and stared at the irate Gremlin. "Tau Ceti? He's real?"
"Real as you or me, and ten times as pissy," Ekaitz replied in exasperation, shooting a look at the Gremlin when Tau Ceti's rantings shifted from mere curses into threats of explosion and mass destruction. "Shut up and quit being a drama queen, Tau. Honestly. You couldn't have known your little toy would cause such a problem, and there's nothing we can do about that now. The question is, how do we get Sigma back?" His intent blue-green gaze shifted to Governor Altair. "Do you think they'd have taken him to Huayna?"
Tria hesitated. "It's possible, though I don't think that would have been their first choice..."
"It wasn't," Ekaitz said flatly. "We seem to have scared them away from where they were originally keeping Sigma and Delta."
"In that case," Tria said with a nod, "He probably is on Huayna. More secure, given how weapons-crazy the whole planet is." His face tightened. "It would take an army to get him out of there..."
Jei found himself disagreeing, though he didn't say anything out loud. An army was meant for large scale assaults and sieges. To rescue one man, all you really needed was a small, skilled team that knew what they were doing. A team like the crew of the Ice Princess.
Casting a glance at the arguing men, Jei smiled tightly and very gradually edged toward the door, a plan forming in his mind. He'd have to figure out how to convince the Ice Princess's crew, though he didn't think that would be all that hard. Getting Sigma back meant that Tau Ceti would calm down. Who didn't want that?
Nobody seemed to notice his departure. He slipped out of Governor Altair's estate and spread his wings, using his telekinesis to toss himself into the air where he could catch the breeze and ride it back to the spaceport. A little more judicious use of TK increased his speed and in no time at all he was back inside the bird-shaped ship.
"What're you doing back?"
Jei turned to find Q'inn glaring at him, ears flat and tail lashing. He didn't dare back down, not to a Hellcat, but he didn't want to push Q'inn too hard either. Not when he needed the man's help.
"Pretty sure I know where we can find Sigma, but getting him out sounds like it's gonna be interesting." Jei let the slightest smirk cross his face. "You up for a little danger, kitty cat?"
Q'inn snorted. "If you can do it, little bird, I most certainly can."
"Danger?" First Jayce's, then Dralikkzion's heads popped out from behind a corner. "What kind of danger?"
Jei stifled the urge to snicker. "Why don't you get everybody together and I'll explain what I have in mind."
The two pilots disappeared, and Jei turned to smile at Q'inn. "You coming, furball?" he tossed out, turning and sauntering toward the bridge. As he expected, Q'inn was right on his heels with a retort. They continued the banter all the way back up and onto the bridge, only stopping when Jei realized that it looked as though the entire crew was already gathered. There was that medic he'd only met once, the snakey engineer lady, the neon yellow cook, and-
With a pained cry Jei crumpled to the floor, his head feeling like it was about to turn inside-out. Distantly he was aware of a commotion around him, people talking rapidly, almost angrily, but he couldn't seem to think much beyond the pain in his head and the very brief glimpse he'd gotten of startled, orange-gold eyes. He wasn't sure how long it took before he was able to struggle into a sitting position and look around, but he was aware that every single person was staring at him in disbelief. Those that weren't being openly hostile, anyway.
"How dare you," Q'inn growled, his arms tight around a lightly-scaled body that reminded Jei of a sunset he'd seen once on Mars. On the man's other side was that medic, Xalin, three of his arms holding onto the sunset-creature while the fourth petted him reassuringly.
"What..." Jei's throat seemed to be too tight. "What just happened?"
Several glances were exchanged. Finally the female pilot, Fe'yiv if Jei remembered right, gestured helplessly. "How much do you know about Draconis?"
"Draconis?" Jei blinked, thinking. "Um, genetically-engineered species that half the IG's all worked up about for some reason. Why?"
Fe'yiv spread her hands, then gestured at the pretty red-orange-gold creature between Q'inn and Xalin. "Meiki's a Draconis. They, um..." She glanced imploringly at the medic.
"Draconis 'match' with other magics-compatible species, enhancing their magics considerably, but at the cost of their independence," Xalin explained briskly. "From the moment the match is made, both the Draconis and the one they've matched with are forever dependant upon one another. If they are separated, their magics cease to function."
Jei yelped, scrambling to his feet and backing up. "What? That's... I..." He shook his head rapidly. "He's not... I can't..." He stared down at the Draconis who was looking up at him with wide eyes. "But I can't be your match-thing!" he exclaimed, his wings half spread in distress. "After I help you get Sigma back I have to go to Rehab or whatever. I can't... That's not fair to you!"
There was a rather stunned silence after his vehement speech, then several glances were traded. Finally it was the Draconis himself that spoke. "Maybe... Maybe the Princess will make an exception... Maybe he'll let you stay with us..."
The surge of hope that went through him was almost painful. "But I... I..."
Q'inn scowled at him. "Lets go get Sigma first, then we'll worry about what we're going to do with the stupid bird."
Meiki blinked. "Without Captain Ekaitz or Tau Ceti?"
Dralikkzion rolled his eyes. "Do you want to be anywhere near Tau Ceti right now?" he asked.
The Draconis considered, then smiled sheepishly. "Oh. Right." He freed himself from Q'inn and Xalin's arms and bounced over to the left-side control console. "We'd better get going then," he announced cheerfully. "The faster we get there and back again, the less chance that Tau Ceti will figure out that we borrowed his ship and left him behind."
The brief lull lasted exactly two seconds - Jei was counting - before everyone scrambled madly to take up their places. Even in absentia, it seemed, Tau Ceti could inspire fear in the bravest of hearts.
With the first glimmer of hope he'd had in, well, as long as he could remember, Jei walked up to stand just behind Meiki's chair to explain where they were going. In what seemed like no time at all they were away, soaring through the stars to rescue their shipmate, and all of them hoping devoutly that they'd be back before anyone realized they had even gone.
Planet 9482962 (Huayna), Capitol City
Anyone who had ever met him would tell you that Sigma Altair had more patience than any ten men. He stayed calm and rational under pressure, impossible to ruffle, with a fuse that burned so slowly that glaciers appeared swift by comparison. However, when he finally did reach the limit to that seemingly-endless patience, things... were not pretty.
Ever since he'd awoken with a splitting headache to find himself quite literally chained to a wall, Sigma's temper had slowly begun to rise. It wasn't bad enough that he'd been taken from his ship leaving behind a no doubt frantic lover. It wasn't bad enough that he had no idea what had happened to his brother after being hit in the back of the head. No, now his captors seemed to find it immensely entertaining to walk by every five minutes or so and taunt him.
He'd always considered himself to be immune to words. His realm was the unspoken, the mysteries that lay beneath the surface that one could only comprehend by watching the tiny, insignificant signals of a living body. He'd never had a problem with barbed words before as the ones speaking them never failed to communicate in some tiny way how their own insecurities drove them to say the things they did. He saw, he understood, and he ignored.
But these people were different. Overconfident. Arrogant, even. They took sheer delight in the pain of others, even if that pain was only in their perceptions. They truly believed in their own racial superiority. With every foul word that fell from their mouths it only made him all the more sick with disgust.
And anger.
There were very few people who had ever actually seen Sigma Altair lose his temper. The guard that stopped to spit at him at 20:47 Zero time was one of those few. Unfortunately for him, he only got to appreciate the privilege for the three-point-five seconds it took for Sigma to lash out with his feet, trap the guard's head between them, and then crack his head against the wall.
Exactly sixteen seconds later he was free, having relieved the unconscious guard of his keys, and began prowling his way through the sprawling estate he'd been left in. Two left turns later a second native went down without a sound. Another left and a right and three more had been added to that total.
Interestingly enough, there were no windows. Yet the walls and floor were stone. A man less accustomed to life aboard a starship might have found himself confused by the featureless hallways. Sigma formed a map in his mind, detailing out several areas and nearby exits courtesy of Hapless Guard #12 who babbled out everything he needed to know, and quite a bit that he didn't, after he'd taken the liberty of lifting the man off his feet and slamming him up against one of those nicely sturdy stone walls.
Fifteen minute and eleven guards later he stepped out the front gates of the Veronta Estate on Huayna and gazed out at the harsh landscape. Mostly reddish-brown stone and dust greeted him, with more red in the sky overhead. Dwellings were cut into the ground, for the most part, though a few low buildings off in the direction of the setting suns swiftly gave way to the more significant spires of a decently sized city. A hard, unforgiving planet.
No, a stupid, overbearing, arrogant planet. Now that he had the planet's name he was beginning to match up facts, some relayed via messages from his father, others looked up himself after it became obvious from reading between the lines that there was much the too-proud Tria Altair was leaving out.
Calmly setting out for the city in the distance, Sigma was distantly amused to note that after the third or fourth group had tried and failed to overpower him most of the rest started giving him a wide berth. At least until he got into a new group that hadn't seen what he did to the last ones.
He was approximately halfway to his goal when there was a rather spectacular explosion two streets over. Sigma was already moving toward it before he was quite aware of what he was doing, fully aware that explosions usually resulted in injuries which meant that people needed help. Even people that half a minute before he'd been doing his best to cause injuries.
Emerging from around a stone wall, he discovered a man taking aim with a stunner. Sigma relieved the man of his weapon and his consciousness, then looked up to see what he'd been about to fire at.
Several pairs of rather astonished eyes stared back at him.
"Sigma!" came a chorus of cries, then he was abruptly surrounded by the majority of the crew of the Ice Princess, including a very bewildered-looking Jei. Sigma watched calmly for several moments as his shipmates babbled nonsensically around him, then carefully caught Jei's eyes.
"If I might ask, what are you all doing here?" he inquired, allowing no hint of emotion to creep into his voice.
Several looks were exchanged, then Jei smiled somewhat sheepishly and spread his hands. "Uh, rescuing you?"
Not so much as a trace of a smile made its way to his lips, despite the satisfaction that ran through him at the boy's words. Instead he simply arched a brow in his usual fashion. "Good. Report."
The looks flew back and forth again, then finally everyone just looked at Jei. The Avarri fidgeted beneath Sigma's steady gaze, then drew in a slow breath. "Um, well, after I, ah, passed you over to the people who were paying for you I started thinking about... stuff you said... and I incapacitated the rest of the crew and went back to the Ice Princess so I could show them where you were. When we got there Tau Ceti did this creepy thing that wiped out all the power on the ship that was trying to escape and we retrieved everybody from there but you weren't on it. Your brother was, though."
Sigma's brows shot up. "You rescued Delta?"
Jei nodded. "He figured that this all had something to do with your father so then we went to Xochimi and he explained that these guys here, the Huya-something, hate his planet's people something fierce and then lately you and I guess Tau Ceti sent over a mining drill thing to make it easier for your dad's people and the people here got all uppity and decided they wanted the mining thing so they started attacking and blackmailing your father. We kinda figured they'd be keeping you here so I asked the crew to come with me so we could rescue you." He paused, then smiled wryly. "Apparently you didn't need rescuing."
"Having the Ice Princess available when it's time to leave will make things easier," Sigma said absently, something else Jei had said floating back and forth through his mind. "You said the Huayna started this attack because of the mining drone I sent father?" When Jei nodded, he grimaced. "Which means this entire mess is completely my fault."
Jei snorted. "Hardly. From the sound of things these lunatics were just looking for an excuse to get into a fight. I've met their type all over the quadrant. Most of 'em end up in Rehab eventually. Idiots."
There were a number of snickers, then Q'inn pointed out, "Coming from you, that's rather amusing." A moment later he yelped as Jei telekinetically knocked his feet out from under him. "Uppity bird..." the Hellcat muttered as he got to his feet.
"You really need to quit calling me a bird," Jei observed idly, eyes glinting with muffled amusement. "I don't have feathers and I don't lay eggs."
Everyone laughed again and Sigma shook his head slightly. Looked like Jei was bouncing back just fine. Hopefully that meant Ekaitz was on solid ground again as well. He cast his gaze out over the lot of them, then nodded to himself. "All right. Jei, you're coming with me. Q'inn, get everyone back to the ship and send a message to let the Captain and Tau Ceti know we're all fine." He gave them a sharp look. "As I assume given that neither are with you they don't know where you've run off to..."
Several blushes and sheepish looks met his statement, then Jei cleared his throat nervously. "Um, Sigma, err..." He waved a hand nervously at the grinning Meiki. "He kinda needs to come too."
Sigma looked from Jei to Meiki and back again, his brows shooting up in surprise. "That will make things interesting," he commented blandly, noting the matching winces on both the Draconis and the Avarri. "All right then, Meiki comes. The rest of you, go. We'll meet you back at the ship when things have been dealt with sufficiently."
He watched them until they were out of sight, then turned to regard first Jei, then Meiki. "Matched?"
Meiki nodded and gave one of his all-too-familiar 'Oops, I didn't mean to, really!' grins. "It's actually kind of fun. I'm a lot stronger than I used to be, and you should see what Jei can do now!"
"I can only imagine," Sigma murmured, turning his head to look at Jei. "I'm sure you've already gotten this from the rest of the crew, so I'll only say it once. Being matched to a Draconis is an honor and a responsibility. You're going to have to work together and support each other, as well as keep one another safe. Do you think you can do that?"
Jei gaped at him as though expecting something entirely different, then his gaze flickered briefly to Meiki and he nodded firmly. "Yeah, I can. I really... I really like you people. All of you. And him?" The Avarri flashed a grin at Meiki. "He's just fun."
Sigma sighed quietly and spared Meiki a Look. "You are not convincing him to join Tau and you in the vid-film escapades."
Meiki blinked at him, wide-eyed and innocent. "I'm not convincing him of anything!"
"Yeah," Jei added cheerfully, slinging an arm and a wing around Meiki's shoulders, "I don't need convincing."
Looking from one to the other, Sigma sighed again. "Remind me to keep Jayce very far away from both of you," he muttered beneath his breath, then turned and began walking toward the tallest of the city spires. "Come on, the sooner we get this over with, the sooner we can go home."
Jei and Meiki exchanged a swift grin, then scrambled after him.
It would really be a lot easier if the Huayna would just learn that "Get out of the way" was not a suggestion. Granted, having Jei and Meiki along made things go a little faster, but it was still annoying to have to slow down every twenty feet to deal with the welcoming committee.
The guard he'd terrified after first getting free had explained that the plan had been the idea of the Huaynan Overlord, Maxin Veronta. While the guard hadn't known all the details of exactly how the kidnapping had been engineered, he had been able to give Sigma precise instructions on where to find Veronta. Getting into the Citadel had been a rather simple matter of Jei calmly yanking the doors off their hinges, much to Sigma's subtle disquiet and Meiki's energetic glee. After that, it had simply become a matter of politely inquiring the whereabouts of Maxin Veronta.
Twenty minutes and a hundred and twelve guards later (more or less, he'd lost count somewhere around the time Meiki had realized he now had access to Jei's telekinesis and started happily flinging things right and left) they found themselves outside a pair of heavy steel doors. Deciding to go the way of diplomacy, at least for the moment, Sigma had Jei manipulate the bolt and simply swing the doors open rather than their more forceful approach.
Inside, close to thirty armed men were waiting for them.
Cursing, Sigma dove to the side and took out the nearest Huayna, his heart leaping into his throat as he heard the familiar sound of weapons fire. A few moments later when he got the chance to take a step back and check on his companions, he was startled to notice them both completely unharmed with the air around them shimmering strangely. The Huayna had ceased firing and were gaping instead, and Sigma decided to use the distraction to his advantage.
In short order, there was only one Huayna left. Sigma had deliberately avoided him, as he was dressed differently than any of the others he'd seen thus far. That was a very good indication that this was the man they were looking for. Sigma smiled dangerously. "Maxin Veronta, I assume?"
Veronta eyed them all warily, his gaze shooting most often to Jei and Meiki, the latter of which seemed to be practicing using Jei's magics by floating a collection of stunners around his head.
"Who are you people?"
Sigma's smile darkened. "Oh, you know exactly who I am. After all, you ordered my brother and me kidnapped so that you could blackmail our father." Veronta's face paled, but Sigma went on before he could voice a denial. "What I really want to know, though, is how you did it. To get Delta off Zero, to even find me, you had to have access to classified files, Veronta. I want to know the name of your contacts on Zero."
The Huaynan started, then stiffened. "No," he said simply.
"No?" Sigma repeated, arching a brow. "That's unfortunate..." He gestured behind himself. "Jei, would you mind?"
A moment later Veronta was floating in the air, his arms and legs held out at an odd angle. His eyes had gone wide in real fear, darting back and forth between Sigma and Jei.
"Now then," Sigma continued calmly as though nothing had changed, "You're going to give me the name or names that I want, or else my friend here is going to block the air from getting to your lungs and you can gradually suffocate to death. I'm told it's a highly unpleasant way to die."
Veronta's eyes bulged. "You.. you're bluffing. You're IG. The Infinitum Government doesn't work that way."
Sigma shrugged idly. "Technically I'm retired, and Jei there is a mercenary. Besides, I don't appreciate being dragged all over the quadrant, threatened and insulted, while my friends are no doubt frantic with worry for me." His eyes narrowed dangerously. "For that alone, I should hate you."
Once again Veronta's gaze flicked to Jei and Meiki, though this time lingering a bit longer on Meiki as the Draconis had gotten two of the stunners in hand and was holding them up to test their aim with Veronta's head as his primary target. "I..." He swallowed, then looked away from them all. "Torrik. Zev Torrik."
One of Sigma's brows arched. "High Councilor Torrik? You have some interesting friends, Veronta."
Veronta glared at him. "He owed me a favor; I cashed it in and threw in some things to make the deal a little sweeter, that's all. We're not friends. A Huayna would never be friends with a weak human."
"No?" Sigma crossed his arms and adopted his favorite Authority stance. "That's too bad for you, Veronta, because you're about to become very good friends with a human. Governor Tria Altair of Xochimi, to be specific."
The man started. "Never," he spat.
Sigma sighed and signaled to Jei. Veronta choked and gasped helplessly for several moments, then Sigma signaled again and the Huaynan could once more breathe. He sucked in several deep breaths before panting and glaring sullenly at Sigma. "What do you want me to do?"
Smiling coldly, Sigma explained. "I am well aware that Xochimi has extended several invitations to work together with your people, and you have rejected them every time in favor of trying to enslave them. The next time the offer comes, which should be in a day or two, you're going to accept it."
Veronta's lips thinned. "Work together with those flighty weaklings?"
"It's that or you die, and we cripple Huayna's tech on the way out." Sigma shrugged. "Your choice. Just keep in mind that the three of us just took on half the fighters in your capitol city without much effort. It wouldn't be all that much of an inconvenience to call in a few waiting friends of ours to finish the job."
Swallowing, Veronta looked at each of them before slowly lowering his head. "Fine. We'll... work with the Xochimans."
Sigma smiled and gestured to Jei to let the man down. "Good. I'll be keeping an eye on you to make certain you uphold your end of the bargain. If not..." He shrugged idly. "You'll be seeing us again."
Ignoring Veronta for the most part, except for staying alert in case the man tried anything, Sigma turned to the waiting Jei and Meiki. "I think it's time to go home now, don't you?"
Two matching grins were his response.
Custom Class Star Ship TSPKAST-0000 (16251582) The Ice Princess
They could all see it coming, especially Jei who paled and took a step back, though he didn't otherwise do anything to defend himself. There was a very audible crack as Tau Ceti's fist connected with the Avarri's face, followed by a more muffled thump as Jei collided with the floor.
"If you ever run off with my ship without permission again," Tau Ceti snarled, electricity crackling along his arms, "You will die." He spun to cast a deadly glare over the rest of them. "That goes for the rest of you as well."
A long silence stretched out, during which Jei gingerly picked himself up off the deck yet again, then Tau Ceti made a noise that sounded oddly like a whimper and flung himself into Sigma's ready arms. "I don't care if you have duties or whatever," the Gremlin said, his voice muffled by the fabric of Sigma's shirt, "I'm handcuffing you to the bed so you can't leave again."
"Handcuffs can be picked," Sigma pointed out with a smile as he held his lover close.
"I'll build better ones," Tau Ceti promised, drawing back only far enough to tip his head up for a kiss that Sigma wholeheartedly gave.
"I really didn't need to know that about them," Q'inn muttered good-naturedly, prompting somewhat nervous laughter from the watching crew.
As the kiss continued on without so much as a pause for air, Sigma's hands drifting down to cup his lover and pull the Gremlin flush against him while Tau Ceti managed to wrap arms, legs, and tail around Sigma's body, Ekaitz found himself blushing and trying very hard not to look at Jei and wish he could do the same. It was taking every iota of self-control he possessed not to drag the Avarri into his arms and kiss him senseless.
He'd been utterly terrified when they'd first realized Jei had slipped away, thinking that he'd managed to make the same mistake twice and Jei had played him so skillfully. Then they'd discovered the Ice Princess missing and he'd had no further time for thought with all his effort going into restraining the most brilliant Gremlin in the Infinitum Government from doing something... drastic.
When the call had come in from the Ice Princess, Q'inn and Fe'yiv taking turns explaining where and why they'd gone, his knees had nearly buckled in relief. Probably would have, if he'd not had to physically restrain Tau Ceti. That was not something he wanted to have to do ever again, especially after the angry Gremlin had zapped him in retaliation. If he'd possessed body hair it would probably still be standing up.
Now, with Sigma and Tau Ceti apparently oblivious to the staring around them, Ekaitz was quite pointedly reminded that as soon as the High Chancellor gave the order Jei would most likely be on his way to Rehab and Ekaitz fully expected to find himself relocated to a barge somewhere.
One last time, they'd promised. One last memory. No matter how desperately they might wish otherwise.
"Not that I want to break up this very dramatic reunion," Delta commented dryly, "But I really would like to get back to Zero sometime soon."
Reluctantly Tau Ceti broke the kiss, twisting to glare at the younger Altair sibling. "Sigma," he asked calmly, "Would you mind terribly if I electrocuted your brother?"
Sigma chuckled quietly. "He does have a point you know, and now that everything's over we should probably report in to Kavalerov." His gaze shifted to catch and hold Ekaitz's eyes. "Don't you think, Captain?"
No, he didn't want to report in to the High Chancellor, but he didn't really have much of a choice. Ekaitz nodded slightly and shooed his bridge crew toward their stations. "One of you decide who's got communications and put the call through."
He watched in mild amazement and no small amount of disbelief as the four of them held a brief game of rock-paper-scissors to determine who got to make the call to Zero. Fe'yiv flashed a brilliant smile when she won and dropped into one of the control seats, efficiently working the console. A minute or so later her clear voice called out, "I have the High Chancellor."
Taking a deep breath to steady himself, Ekaitz clasped his hands behind his back and stood facing the main screen. "Put him up, Fe'yiv."
The ever-impressive visage of the High Chancellor filled the screen, looking composed and dignified in his black and silver uniform. "Captain Kai." His brows rose slightly. "Sigma."
Sigma nodded. "Chancellor Kavalerov." He didn't even try to salute. Not with Tau Ceti wrapped so tightly around him.
"Events occurred so swiftly that we didn't get a chance to update you, and for that I apologize," Ekaitz said as calmly as the butterflies in his stomach would allow. "As you can see, we have safely retrieved Sigma and apparently his brother Delta from their captors. We had... assistance in the form of one of the mercenaries that was hired to kidnap Sigma coming back to show us where he was located, and later leading an..." Ekaitz winced. "Unauthorized rescue mission."
"Convenient for me," Sigma interjected idly.
"And if he does it again I'll kill him," Tau Ceti muttered sullenly, though without any real heat. Anyone could see that the relief he felt at having Sigma back was temporarily overriding all other emotions.
Kavalerov's brows rose further, and his lips quirked. "I see."
Ekaitz drew in a slow breath. "I take full responsibility for everything that's happened and will understand if you choose to reassign me after this, as I-" He didn't get a chance to finish as Tau Ceti disentangled himself from Sigma to smack his captain upside the head.
"You didn't hear a word of that," the Gremlin rather pointedly said to the screen as Ekaitz rubbed the back of his head.
"Yes," Sigma agreed, gently drawing Tau Ceti away from Ekaitz, "If this is anyone's fault, it's mine. I had Tau Ceti design something for my father and in doing so accidentally escalated a war that's been going on for centuries."
"The Xochimi-Huayna confrontation." Kavalerov nodded slightly. "What is the status of the hostilities now?"
Sigma's lips twisted into a very strange expression. "There shouldn't be any further hostilities, sir. The Huayna have agreed to form a partnership with the Xochimans."
Kavalerov regarded Sigma carefully for a moment, then shook his head. "Send me the full report later."
"Yes, sir."
There was a brief lull, then Ekaitz steeled himself and ventured, "High Chancellor, about the mercenary..."
"Captain." Sigma held up a hand to forestall him, then looked up at the screen. "While IG law dictates that Jei be sent to Rehab, recent events have created some complications. As I'm sure you're aware, the Ice Princess had an unmatched Draconis aboard."
Kavalerov's brows shot up again. "Had?"
Ekaitz's head snapped around to stare at Jei, then Meiki. When had that happened?
"Yes, sir," Sigma continued calmly, gesturing for Jei and Meiki to come stand nearby. "Our Draconis, and our mercenary."
Tau Ceti was staring at the two as well, then he crossed his arms and glared rather pointedly at Meiki. "Is there anything on my ship that you haven't made a mess out of?" he asked.
Meiki considered carefully, then grinned. "I don't think so."
"I think you see the problem," Sigma finished, stepping aside to wrap his arms loosely around Tau Ceti once again.
"Like he'll see it as a problem," Tau Ceti grumbled. "He likes hiring mercenaries and convicts to do his evil bidding." The Gremlin gestured rudely at the screen. "If you're going to start laughing at me, Princess, please keep in mind that we're on our way to Zero to drop off Sigma's brother and I know all your access codes."
Kavalerov smiled patiently. "I wouldn't dream of it, Tau." His gaze shifted to Ekaitz. "Captain Kai, I'll expect a full report by the time you get to Zero. I'd also wish you good luck but..." He gestured at the various grinning beings standing around them. "I think that's a given by now."
"Oh, and Kavalerov..."
"Sigma?" The High Chancellor appeared mildly curious.
Sigma's grey eyes narrowed as he smiled tightly. "You might want to go have a word or two with High Councilor Torrik regarding how my brother managed to get from Zero to an uninhabited planet in the fourth quadrant."
Nothing in the High Chancellor's expression changed, but Ekaitz was suddenly seized with the impulse to back up a pace. From the slight shifting of bodies around him, it seemed he wasn't the only one.
"I will do that," Kavalerov replied coolly. "I'll see you all when you get to Zero." The call ended.
All around them was a rather stunned silence as everyone except Jei and Meiki stared at Sigma. For his part, Sigma had on his usual neutral expression.
"Lord Torrik..." Delta breathed slowly. "That's one I never would have suspected..."
Tau Ceti added something that wasn't quite audible but definitely wasn't fit for polite company. A moment later Jei cleared his throat nervously.
"So, um... Does that mean I can stay?" he asked hesitantly.
"Unfortunately," Q'inn muttered. "Whoever decided birds should be allowed on starships needs to be grilled and barbequed."
Meiki grinned. "See? Told you he'd let you stay with us."
Slowly, unsurely, Jei's crimson gaze sought out Ekaitz's. No one later could ever seem to agree on who moved first, and neither of them could remember much beyond a very hot, hard, demanding kiss that left them both a tangle of arms and wings and dizzy breath that hitched alarmingly as deft hands sought out sensitive skin and it wasn't until the entire crew began laughing, jeering, and whistling that they finally separated.
There was a swift whispered conference between Meiki, Xalin, and Q'inn, then the medic and the Hellcat stepped up on either side of Jei and Ekaitz and pushed them quite firmly off the bridge.
"Have fun!" Meiki called cheerfully as the doors closed. "See you in a couple of hours!"
Ekaitz considered, looked thoughtfully at Jei, then shrugged and slung the Avarri over his shoulder before making his way through the ship to his quarters.
~ The End ~
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
Re: GYYYAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!
Date: 2007-01-13 10:46 pm (UTC)2) *snicker* Jei seems to have no fear, that's for sure.
3) I had WAY too much fun with Meiki. He took over parts of my story. ^^;
4) ^____^ v
5) I'm glad you liked that. It kinda felt... preachy... because it's something I feel very strongly about. *shrug* Guess Tau picked up one of my eccentricities. ^^;
*purrs and snuggles* Glad you enjoyed, cherie.