Chapter Eleven

"What the hell is going on!!" shouted Argus as he almost flew onto the flight deck by taking the steps at a leap. He immediately landed on two soldiers trying to deck Vila and separated them. He waded in with fists flying, separating the over half dozen fights which were being carried on; knocking heads when required. It was mass bedlam. Cally arrived a step behind and began helping; she tended to use less force and more the locking techniques she had learned in her training sessions from Reya.

Argus and Cally had been escorting the last two soldiers to the flight deck when they heard what sounded like war breaking out. Argus had raced ahead and witnessed all of the soldiers and Vila involved in what could only be described as an old fashioned brawl.

Argus stopped and looked at the chaos; obviously something else was needed. He bellowed, "STOP!! EVERYONE STAND TO ATTENTION!" And that includes you!" This last bit was addressed at Vila who was getting up slowly, and holding a hand over an eye that was developing a nice bruise. Faces were flushed and there were sounds of heavy breathing as everyone tried to calm down in the face of Argus's wrath. Cally stood to the side and stayed out of the way. She tried to gauge the emotional situation. Her impressions had been chaotic and explosive when they approached the flight deck earlier. Now things were starting to settle down as Argus walked up and down the flight deck, looking at all of them with a cold gaze.

There was an air of silent disappointment as he paced, but there was no other expression on his face. Unlike the brawlers, he was very controlled. They all flinched as he walked down the lines of men, taking in their dishevelled and battered conditions.

"Lieutenant Dain. Stand forward." Argus spoke calmly and deliberately. The young man gulped and stood forward bravely. He knew that he was in trouble.

"Vila, you too." Though Argus's voice was not as hard when addressing him, Vila looked nervously left and right, hoping irrationally that someone else would own up to the name. With a pained look on his face, which was not helped by the big bruise darkening his left eye, he stepped forward hesitantly. He actually looked better than some of the other soldiers. His quick-wittedness had prevented it from being worse for himself. The soldiers had all been focused on him at first, but a few well-chosen words had caused them to start fighting each other. Vila had generally been able to stay out of most of the fighting and thought he had handled himself quite otherwise. He had been in trouble a little towards the end when two of the soldiers decided to target him, but fortunately intervention had arrived.

Argus stopped in front of the young lieutenant and faced him as the young man continued staring forward. "Did I, or did I not specify that you were all to come to the flight deck and stand at attention until I arrived?"

"Yes, sir. You did," the young man replied without hesitation.

"Then explain why my orders were not carried out."

The young man swallowed nervously. He knew that there was no excuse. "It was my fault, sir."

"Are you saying that you instigated this fight, lieutenant?" asked Argus.

"No, sir. But I didn't stop it," the lieutenant answered.

Argus liked this young man and he knew that part of the problem was not their fault, but in order to maintain control of the situation, this kind of insubordination and breakdown in discipline could not be tolerated. Having a ship full of out-of-control elite soldiers was asking for trouble they could not afford. They still had the encoded information to be dealt with and they might need these soldiers.

Argus looked over the ranks of men and then he said, "Sergeants, stand forward." Two men stepped up. "You will take these men to cargo bay two. Since you all have an excess of energy, you will all do five hundred push ups. Each. When you are done, I will decide what to do next. Go." Argus said dismissively. ""Lieutenant, you stay here. I'm not done with you yet. You will be joining them soon enough." The two sergeants began marching the men to follow Argus's orders.

Argus put a hand on Vila's arm to stop him from following the soldiers out. Vila looked relieved and sat down heavily. He grimaced as he aggravated some of the bruises he had received. The young lieutenant had not moved from where he had been standing at attention.

"Did I say you could sit down?" Argus looked at Vila. Vila sprang up from his seat and grimaced again.

Argus walked between the two of them and then he looked at Cally. She was looking at him curiously. Argus had never used this kind of command tone on the Justice crew before. It was very effective. From an explosive situation, things had calmed down to a level where she was no longer being inundated with strong emotions.

Remember that Vila isn't one of the soldiers, she projected to him.

Argus started in surprise and stared at her. She had never spoken to him telepathically before but there was no question it had been her voice in his mind.

He nodded in acknowledgement. "I will."

Argus turned to the young lieutenant. "Well Lieutenant, do you have anything to say?"

"No, sir."

"Tell me what happened." Argus's voice was no longer hard, but neither was it the voice of a friend; it was that of a commander.

"We all came to the flight deck as you ordered, sir. Everything was fine. We were standing at attention. Then something happened." Dain stopped for a moment as he tried to understand what had happened. It seemed like such a trivial thing now; he found it difficult to explain how something so wrong could have happened over it. His face tensed in concentration. "We were standing. And he was talking." Dain indicated his head towards Vila. "We weren't really paying attention. At least I wasn't. But then he mentioned someone's name."

Argus's lips pursed as his suspicions were confirmed. "Galena."

Dain turned his head and stared at the Commander. "Yes, sir. You understand?"

"I'm starting to," said Argus with a tired exhalation of breath. "Go on."

Even though she could only sense him vaguely, at the mention of Galena's name, Cally was aware of the emotional landscape change in Dain; and also in Vila. Vila leaned towards them slightly as he listened.

"Well, there's not much else to explain, sir. Vila was talking about Galena and how he was going to try to see her. He kept going on about her. Something….happened. One instant we were standing at attention and then we were all very interested and we didn't want him to get to Galena first."

"You tried to stop him?" asked Argus. Now he realized how dangerous the situation had been. He glanced at Vila, other than for the large bruise over his left eye, Vila appeared none the worse for wear. Argus wondered if he should have Cally check him out immediately. He wanted to tell Vila to sit down now but didn't want to embarrass him.

The lieutenant looked down with shame, "Yes, sir. I know it was wrong. He's a civilian. We could have really hurt him. I have no excuses."

Argus thought for a moment. This had to be handled very carefully. "Alright, Lieutenant. I am aware of the problem. It wasn't all your fault or that of the men. But this kind of breakdown in discipline cannot be tolerated."

"Understood, sir." The young man straightened his shoulders.

"Go to cargo bay two and do your push ups. I will join the men there shortly."

"Yes, sir." Dain saluted and left.

Argus sighed after Dain left. He said to Vila in a friendlier tone, "Sit down, Vila."

Vila sat down nervously and slowly.

"How are you feeling?" he asked as Cally got the first aid kit and came over and began to examine Vila. "Let me take a look at that," she told him.

"Like I was mashed by something very big," replied Vila, touching the bruise over his eye and grimacing. "Do I have to do five hundred push ups too?" he asked worriedly.

"Not unless you want to," said Argus.

"It's not that I can't do it, you understand. But with my eye in this condition…" Vila tailed off.

"You might hurt yourself?" asked Argus with light amusement.

Cally opened up the first aid kit and began applying a patch over Vila's eye. She told him, "Keep this on for four hours. Don't touch it. It will bring the swelling down. You should be fine after that." She turned to Argus, "He's fine. Just a few bruises. Nothing serious."

"That's quite amazing considering," said Argus. "How did you manage it?"

"I'm very good at staying out of trouble," said Vila.

"Some kinds of trouble," said Argus. "Tell me what happened."

Vila's mind went back to the events as he started recounting what happened. He remembered feeling very uncomfortable as the lines of soldiers stared at him. They weren't even facing him, their eyes just followed his every movement. It was very eerie.

Vila began telling them what happened…

"Was it something I said?" said Vila. He was getting a very bad feeling; his instinct was telling him to get out of there, but he was on duty; he couldn't leave. Vila doubted if Argus would consider being stared at, a valid enough reason for bowing out of flight deck duty.

There was no answer to his question, just lines of "loudly" staring soldiers. He backed up but their eyes just followed. This felt disturbingly familiar. Vila remembered sneaking into a museum as a child and being scared out of his wits. The displays of dead animals and people all seemed to be glaring at him, following him accusingly, just like the soldiers.

This is silly, thought Vila. They're just staring. No harm in that. Is there?

As long as they didn't move.

Argus must have told them to come here and stand like statues. Can't imagine anyone else doing this.

"Now, just stay where you are. You're good boys…I mean men…uh soldiers. I'm sure Commander Argus will be here very soon," emphasized Vila.

He looked at them awhile but other than staring, the lines of soldiers didn't any do anything else. Vila let out a held breath and laughed nervously. Nothing to worry about. I'm just scaring myself. Now where was I? Oh yes, Galena. Vila began pacing and thinking again, but this time well away from the lines of soldiers. He was still feeling a bit uneasy and they were still staring at him, but he had more important things to do. He really wanted to see Galena.

"Maybe I shouldn't ask you to help. You're all busy…staring. Maybe I can get Sester. If he can tear himself away from doing inventory that is. Or maybe Avon. Or maybe not. He'd probably make some snide comment. He's changed these days but I don't think he's decided how much yet. Better not risk it. Argus? Now there's a man who understands about loving a woman; although he does make a lot of mistakes. But he would understand how I feel about Galena."

All eighteen soldiers took a step forward. At the ominous sound, Vila turned around slowly. He almost fell backwards with alarm when he saw that they were now all a step closer and still staring at him. Vila backed up. "Now let's not be hasty. "

The soldiers took another step towards him. Vila stopped moving. "Was it something I said?" he asked in a nervous but light voice.

One of the soldier said, "Take it back."

Vila was confused. "I haven't taken anything. Honest. Not since…well, let's say not from any of you fine soldiers. If you're missing something, I can help you look for it. I'm friendly that way. Yes. That's me, everyone's friend." He was trying to sound cheerful and non-threatening.

"You want Galena," another one of them said.

"Oh." Vila said, finally understanding. He looked at the soldiers slyly. These were rivals for his Galena. There was no chance of him fighting all of them, or even one of them. What could someone like him do when facing a wall of big burly soldiers who likely could rip him apart with their bare hands? Even Argus seemed on the average side when standing next to them.

Vila said, "It sounds like I'm not the only rival for Galena's affections. Even if I weren't in the picture, you can't share her between the…all of you. Can you?"

The soldiers all looked at each other.

Vila's account came to an end.

Argus asked incredulously, "You're the one who started the fight?"

"Well, I wouldn't call it starting a fight exactly," said Vila defensively. "More like creative self-defence. "

"Do you know how dangerous that was?" said Argus.

"I thought it might be more dangerous if I didn't," replied Vila. He didn't feel in the least bit sorry that he did. It was them, or him and he had a strong objection to being beaten up.

"And how does your eye feel?" asked Argus sarcastically.

"I didn't do too badly."

Argus studied him for a moment and then he said, "No. You didn't. Alright. Go and get some rest. I'll cover the rest of your shift."

After Vila left, Argus said to Cally, "What do you think?"

"It could have been worse," she told him.

"I know. He's lucky," said Argus.

"Vila is very good at staying alive. And he's clever."

"Not unlike Avon," said Argus.

Cally smiled, "They do share some common characteristics. That may be why Avon always wanted Vila with him. They are similar in many respects."

"Unfortunately this talent for survival doesn't seem to have made him immune to what is happening with the soldiers," said Argus.

"Or with all of the men on this ship," clarified Cally.

"I'm not affected," said Argus.

"Aren't you? Tell me. What were you and Reya doing for the last few hours?"

Argus coughed and looked embarrassed. "Well, we…uh…"

"Yes, I thought so," said Cally, trying not to sound amused.

"What about Avon?" said Argus, trying to move off this topic.

"Yes, Avon too." Cally didn't want to talk about their activities of the past few hours either. For Avon it had been both a passionate and frustrating time. He had wanted to break the final barrier but had not been able to, no matter now much he tried. This had resulted in Avon becoming angry with himself and then closing himself off. It had taken Cally a long while to convince him that she didn't mind and that she wasn't in a hurry. In the end, he had let her in again and they shared a gentle kiss. The stress and struggle had tired him out so she had given him a sedative right before hearing the commotion outside.

"I think we need to talk to Galena," said Argus. "This can't be natural. Do we even know if she's human?"

Cally had been wondering this. "There's one way to find out."

Chapter Twelve

"He's so romantic," sighed Galena, her eyes were bright and dreamy. She was talking to Reya. Reya was not feeling romantic at all; she was getting slightly frustrated. She had been trying to question the woman about her effects on the men on the ship. But ever since Galena had communicated with Kameron, trying to get her to talk about anything else, was an exercise in futility. Sometimes Reya felt as if she was trying to coax a little child to deal with something more serious.

"What were you asking?" Galena asked absently, her eyes finally focussing on who was in front of her.

Reya tried to be patient. "The men on this ship are having an extreme reaction to your presence. Do you have anything to do with this?"

Galena replied with a sad sigh, "Of course. It's one of the burdens I bear. I try not to encourage them but the poor dears can't seem to help themselves."

"Do they normally start fights over you?" asked Reya.

"Some of them have. They're very sweet but I wish they wouldn't do it. I don't like seeing them hurt each other."

"Unfortunately, you might be seeing a lot more of it. Fights have been breaking out here," said Reya.

"Here? You mean on this ship?" said Galena.

"That's what I've been trying to explain to you. The men on this ship seem to be obsessed with you to the point where they've been fighting each other over you," said Reya.

"I don't understand. I don't even know them."

"Well, that doesn't seem to be stopping them. They all want to know you," said Reya.

"That's strange." Galena had a way of turning her head slightly to the side when she was puzzled which Reya imagined that most men would find endearing.

"Didn't you just say that men do fight over you?" Reya asked.

Galena was about to answer but the door chimed. Reya went to the door and asked, "Who is it?"

"It's Argus and Cally. Let us in."

Reya pressed the control panel to unlock the door and open it.

"How is everything?" she asked them as Argus and Cally entered. She was puzzled when she saw that he was wearing a teleport bracelet.

Argus told her, "Under control, for now. The soldiers are all in cargo bay two doing some exercise. Hopefully that will keep them out of trouble until we can sort things out. I've instructed Zen to monitor things on the flight deck and let me know if anything changes using the comm."

Reya realized that was why he was wearing the bracelet.

As he spoke to Reya, Argus's eyes were drawn to Galena. She seemed even more beautiful than he had remembered; even though he had only seen her several hours ago. How is that possible? He found himself staring at her. It was hard to concentrate on what he was there to do. I have to do something…I'm here to do something…what is it? Whatever it was, was slipping from his mind. He couldnt remember; the only thing he could do was to bask in Galenas presence, to be lost in her lovely eyes, to….

Reya frowned and took a step to block his view. There was definitely a problem and she wasn't sure that any of the males on the ship could be trusted to deal with it. "You were going to sort things out?" she reminded him.

Cally watched while Reya dealt with the situation; ready to help if it was needed. She opened up her senses fully, straining to stretch her own abilities; trying to catch anything, which might indicate what, was causing the situation on the ship. So far, she still did not sense anything from Galena.

Argus was disoriented as Galena's lovely face was replaced by Reya's worried one. He shook his head slightly as he refocused his eyes on Reya. She was beautiful too; the concern on her face and the love he saw in her eyes took his breath away. Oh, Reya. A slow smile spread across Arguss features. He moved towards her and reached out with a hand to touch her. "Reya." His voice was soft and reflected his love and desire for her.

"Argus!" Reya said sharply. The alarm in her voice made him stop. He shook his head again struggling against the strong feelings. He remembered vaguely that there was something he needed to do.

Cally was watching Argus and Reya anxiously, ready to intervene. Her Auron sense registered a brief flash of amusement, quickly suppressed. Cally immediately glanced at Galena but there was no indication of anything other than puzzled concern on the woman's face. She still couldn't sense her and there was no other recurrence of the amusement. Was I mistaken? Did I imagine it? Who did it come from? What does it mean?

"I was about to do something," said Argus uncertainly.

"Yes, you were going to but now may not be the right time," said Reya.

"It isn't?" he asked. There was great confusion on his face as his feelings tried to sort themselves between two competing objects and a sense that he had a responsibility he needed to take care of; but which he was having trouble remembering.

Reya caught Cally's eyes. Cally understood what she wanted to do and nodded imperceptibly.

"No, it isn't," said Reya firmly as she took Argus by the arm and turned him around. She began guiding the bewildered and unresisting Argus towards the door."You're wonderful." He put his hand over hers; her skin felt soft and warm.

The door slid open as they got near and Reya pushed Argus outside with her as she responded, "Yes. I know you like saying that but now is not the time." Once outside, she continued leading him away from Galena's cabin, but Argus had other ideas. He turned to face her, twisting around as his hand traveled from her hand and up along her arm in a caress. Reya slapped him hard across the face. She was about to tell him urgently to snap out of it when he grabbed her hand, pushed her against the wall and kissed her roughly and passionately. For a moment, she struggled but his desire was overpowering. She found it hard not to be caught up in the sensation of his mouth on hers and his body urgently pressed against hers, but she made one last desperate attempt to control the situation. "Argus, you have to stop!" she said as she turned her face in order to break the kiss and tried to push him away.

"Why?" he asked as his lips trailed down her neck instead.

"This is wrong."

"It's never been wrong before," he told her as he turned her face towards him and was about to kiss her again.

"Look at where we are. Think, Argus. Something is wrong." The worry in her eyes stopped him again. He hated making her worry.

"Something is wrong," he repeated her words. There was a thought… "I was trying to do something…"

"Yes. The soldiers were fighting on the ship. It's a dangerous situation. You needed to find out what was causing it." Her tone was calm, trying to get through to him; appealing to his sense of responsibility and duty.

"Yes. I need to." Argus shook his head. He looked at her, as if seeing her for the first time. "What just happened? Why are we here?" He looked around at the corridor and then at Reya. He slowly and reluctantly let go of her, taking a step back.

"We were in Galena's cabin. You lost control. You must have been affected like the soldiers were."

"I remember going there…how did we end up here?" His hand went to his face where she had slapped him, it was sore and turning red. Argus was confused; he didn't remember being struck by any of the soldiers.

"Yes, I slapped you," said Reya.

"Did I do something wrong when I was affected?" he asked nervously.

"Almost." She was filled with relief; Argus seemed to be coherent and himself again. "I'm not sure if this is significant but something else happened."

Argus was almost afraid to ask; he hoped he hadn't done anything too bad. He wondered if that was why she had hit him. "What happened?"

"You seemed to be very interested in Galena at first. You couldn't take your eyes off her. I stepped between the two of you and then you seemed to focus on me. I got you out of there as fast as I could…" Reya was afraid to think what would have happened if she hadn't. She preferred their amorous displays to be just for the two of them; not in front of an audience. "Well, when we got out here, you became a little more insistent with your…attentions, that's why I slapped you. To snap you out of it."

Argus rubbed his sore face and said wryly, "It worked. But I'm glad that I was only a little more insistent."

Reya put her hand on his cheek where she had slapped him. "I'm sorry. Does it hurt? I had to try to bring you out of it."

"No. It just stings a little." Argus was not about to tell her that it felt as if he had been punched and not slapped. "But that doesn't matter. We have a serious situation."

Reya said, "Yes. I think all of the men on this ship are affected. I don't think that you should go near Galena again. Any of you. Leave this investigation to Cally and me. We'll get to the bottom of this."

"Alright. Here, take this." He took off his teleport bracelet and handed it to her. "You and Cally better keep an eye on things in case Avon or I are affected. I think I'll have a talk with Avon." Reya snapped the bracelet to her wrist as Argus started heading towards Avon and Cally's cabin. After a few steps, he stopped and turned to look at Reya. "There's someone missing."

"Who?" asked Reya.

Argus hit the button on his teleport bracelet. "Zen, locate the tracer assigned to Sester."

Zen reported over the comm's speaker, "The tracer signal is currently transmitting from the medical unit."

"The medical unit?" Argus repeated in surprise. Then he said, "Thank you, Zen. Any movements from the planet? Or within scanner range? Any unusual communications traffic?" he asked.

"No movements are indicated. There has been no deviance in normal communications."

"Continue monitoring," instructed Argus.

"Confirmed."

"What's Sester doing in the medical bay? And why isn't he affected like the rest of us?" Argus wondered out loud.

Reya didn't want to tell Argus what she suspected but she had no choice. Not telling him would create an anomaly. "I sent him there with Vila to help Cally do inventory with the medical stores."

"You sent him there? And he's still there?" Argus scowled, he did not like the implications of this.

"It appears that way."

"I see," he said in a not very pleased voice.

"Don't get that way," said Reya.

"He's obsessed with you," said Argus.

"But he's just doing inventory."

"Don't you see, Reya? He's doing it for you! All of the soldiers and Vila are obsessed with Galena, to the point they're fighting each other. Avon and I are also affected. But because I have you and he has Cally, we're able to transfer these feelings to you. And so has Sester."

"It can't be," said Reya, not wanting to believe it; but she was starting to be afraid that he was right. She remembered the encounters in the corridor.

"I'm going to go take care of him. You take care of Galena," said Argus, heading to the medical bay.

She followed. "What are you going to do to him? Remember he can't help himself. He's affected by whatever is happening too."

Argus stopped and turned to face her. He studied her worried face and wondered why she was being so blind to Sester's intentions. "The feelings he has for you started long before Galena came onboard. That's why he has been able to transfer them to you. Galena was not responsible for that."

"But he hasn't done anything, Argus. Even now, with all of this going on," said Reya, trying to help Argus put things into perspective.

"He's doing inventory. Which you asked him to." He was frustrated that she didn't seem to see the danger.

"Yes, but he's not doing anything else. He's not presenting a threat. He hasn't attacked anyone and he hasn't come near me. I think he's able to fight it to some extent, like you and Avon."

"Don't compare us," Argus said coldly.

Reya reached out to touch his arm, "I'm sorry. I just don't want you to make a mistake you'll regret."

"You mean that you'll regret."

That hurt. Her eyes searched his. "You still hold me responsible for what happened between us, don't you?" she asked in a quiet voice.

Argus wanted to kick himself when he saw the pain and guilt in her eyes. He took her in his arms and hugged her. He said gently, "No, Reya. I don't. I never did. But I think that you're blind when it comes to Sester. Even though you're tough and don't take any nonsense from anyone, you also have a natural capacity to care about others. Sester knows it and he's taking advantage of it. I know you don't see it but I want you to be careful around him. And leave him to me. I promise, I won't hurt him unless he poses an active threat. Alright?"

Reya hugged him back and nodded.

After Reya rushed Argus out of the cabin, Cally watched Galena carefully.

"Is he alright?" asked Galena, her voice had risen with concern.

"You don't have to worry. Reya can handle it," said Cally.

Galena said, "She and Argus make a wonderful couple. It must get complicated."

"What do you mean?" asked Cally.

Galena seemed to think about this for a moment then she smiled, "I mean that theirs doesn't seem like an easy relationship. But it's obvious that they love each other very much."

"They do."

Galena's head tilted slightly to the side and she regarded Cally with a puzzled and concerned expression. "You don't like me, do you?"

Cally was startled; she didn't expect this question to come out of Galena's mouth. "I didn't say that."

Galena said, "You've been watching me since you came in. But you've been trying to make it seem as if you're not." Cally found it interesting that this woman could sound at times sweet and vacuous and at other times very intelligent. Both guises came across as sincere and were very effective, on most people.

"I think you have something to do with what is happening on the ship," said Cally. She was becoming increasingly suspicious of this woman. Cally wondered if Reya had been correct in thinking it odd that nothing emanated from Galena that she could sense. She couldn't explain it to anyone or understand it clearly herself yet. Her own psi abilities were not something she had studied before even though Avon had been trying to encourage her to explore them and understand them better.

Some people were naturally closed; most people had varying degrees of it. This seemed different; it almost felt as if there was a physical barrier preventing her from sensing anything from Galena.

A suspicion began to form in Cally's mind but she was careful to keep it an impression and not allow it to be a surface thought. Nothing could be given away if she wanted to test her idea. She clearly thought a message with her mind, but did not project it .

Are you human?

Galena reacted to the unexpected question. "Well, of course I am. What a question to ask."