"Beka?" Prudence peeked in the door. Beka looked up from the computer screen at her tentative approach. She leaned back in her chair and motioned for the woman to come in.

"I thought you would have gone home hours ago," Beka said as she swiveled in her chair.

"You're here, I'm here," Prudence smiled as she sat in the chair across Beka's deck. "It has been like that since the first day you walked into these offices."

"So it has," Beka nodded as she leaned her head back. "It seems like a lifetime ago."

"It has been a long time," Prudence replied as she leaned to place a courier package on Beka's desk. "And because the relationship we share is more than merely that of an executive and assistant, I feel … comfortable in pointing out … you need to go to him."

"Go to him?" Beka asked as she looked at the unopened package. She knew the message was from Tamerlane. He had sent her messages from time to time. Each message seemed to originate from different locations. None of them the Palsaide system where he was supposedly joining Volsung pride.

"I have known you for so many years," Prudence sat forward and began opening the package Beka left lying on the desk. "I have seen you engage in destructive relationships. I have seen you push away men who were eager to pursue a relationship with you because you have always believed they would leave you. I have seen the way you behaved after seeing him. I have seen how you are since he left you."

Prudence pulled the message from the container and slid it across the desk to Beka.

"He has contacted you … seven times in the last four months," Prudence leaned back in her chair. "I think it is time you … went to him."

"It's not that easy," Beka shook her head as she picked up the device.

"He has remained in contact," Prudence pointed out. "If he had … moved on, do you think he would continue to send messages?"

"I … can't …" Beka shook her head. She hadn't told Prudence that Tamerlane was actually living with a pride.

"If you are afraid of being hurt, being let down, you will never find out if he is the one," Prudence replied. "For a young man, he sounds quite impressive. He is determined and driven from what you say about him. The fact that he wants to improve himself, to push the boundaries of his Nietzschean upbringing, says a great deal about him. The fact that you haven't moved on, says a great deal about your … feelings for him."

"The situation is difficult," Beka opened her desk to pull out the decryption disc. She loaded both into the computer. She really had no idea how she was supposed to visit him on the Volsung pride's station. The only thing she knew was that the Volsung used to keep slaves. She had no idea what they were like.

"The situation may be difficult but you need to go, know it for yourself, try," Prudence stood to leave. "Or you will continue to sit here day after day, wondering if it could have worked."