Beka had been on the Volsung station for almost two nights she thought. She had forgotten what it was like to not have a schedule or a reference for the passage of time.

Her first day there had been composed of Tyr's tour, dinner, the exhibition and the gathering.

The second day consisted of hanging out in her room with absolutely nothing to do because she had absolutely no idea what to do in a Nietzschean pride and apparently her hosts had forgotten her. She had luckily brought her emergency bag with her so she had rations to eat the entire day. She really didn't want to venture out alone in the pride. She wasn't scared but she was not at ease – alone – in an unfamiliar place full of Nietzscheans. She had glimpsed Tyr and Tamerlane on the second evening when she had ventured into the common area. They were talking with a few other males at a table in the far corner of the area. Beka wasn't sure how to behave in a Nietzschean pride. She assumed hanging out with Tyr and Tamerlane would be inappropriate. So she stayed in her room, waiting.

She woke up this morning, eaten rations from her emergency bag again. She guessed she should be glad that years of Tyr had made her more aware of her own survival. She tended to pack heavy everywhere she went with at least ten days of food rations to keep her alive. She had taken a shower in the communal facilities on the familial level. Then went back to her little closet of a room until lunch when Kalia had appeared. She was concerned that Beka had not been seen since the gathering. She wondered if her first night had been uncomfortable. Beka had told her that pretty much no one had come to get her, she didn't know protocol and had in fact not wanted to intrude into the pride when she didn't feel welcome. Kalia had informed Beka that she would speak to Tyr about his poor performance as her host. Then she had taken Beka to lunch.

While at lunch, Kalia had told Beka a little about the station. The Volsung had not lived there but ten years or so. Before that, they had lived in an asteroid colony that had been attacked during the Genite cleansing spree twenty years ago when rumor of the birth of the Reincarnation of Drago Museveni brought the Genites out of hiding. Kalia had been fifteen at the time. She had lost most of her immediate family. The pride had been wanderers for years. After Jurgen had taken over the pride, he kept them on the fringes of known space so they could rebuild. When they found the station, it had been seen as a great accomplishment and cemented Jurgen as their Alpha.

Beka had been shocked by the living arrangements as Kalia described them. The women shared their single room with their children. Once the boys were old enough, they were sent to live in the barracks. There were numerous barracks with males ranging from ten to well Beka did know because all unbonded males stayed there. Kalia wasn't sure the age of their oldest unchosen male. Bonded males also had accomodations in the male barrack areas as well. If a male was not servicing a wife or caring for the family, he was banished from the familial floor as well. The female children remained with her mothers to help care for the home and siblings until they had chosen a male. Beka actually wondered how the pride grew in numbers if there was no privacy for baby making. It seemed the rule Tyr had shared was true – no females in the male area and only bonded males were supposed to come to the familial areas to visit their families. All the other males stopped at the bottom of the stairs.

Beka sighed as she picked up her pad again and looked through the schematics she had downloaded from her ship about this type of old Commonwealth drift. She paged through the layout, wondering why they hadn't taken over more space. She knew money would be an issue. However, she couldn't understand why no one had tried to fix the fixable areas and try to make a better life for themselves. The station would make a grand home. It had been a thriving drift in the days of the Commonwealth. Being on the edge of known space seemed to have left it forgotten. The perfect place for a small, destroyed pride to rebuild and become strong again or further waste away into oblivion.

Beka had marked several places on the layout that she wanted to explore. She didn't really know when the station had become abandoned. She expected about the time of the Magog War. The station had at one time had an armory, financial institution, a museum and a library. Beka was even interested in several of the finer upscale 'gentlemen's clubs' and bars that were in the main pod of the station. She wondered what kind of treasures might have been left behind.

Beka looked up when she heard a knock on her door. She opened it slowly, surprised to see Tamerlane standing there holding a stack of towels and linen. She looked up and down the corridor to make sure no one saw him. However, there were people milling about and no one seemed to care that he was standing at her door.

"I thought you weren't allowed up here," Beka moved to the side to let him into the tiny space. He looked around as he barely got into the room and laid the linen on the bed.

"Kalia asked me to bring these to you on my way downstairs. Sons are allowed to assist their mother when needed," Tamerlane shrugged. "Tyr needed held moving some of Kalia's and Kirshtin's things. His oldest son from them is still too small. I am his family so I am allowed to help. For a short period of time, I am allowed up here so long as it is seeing to family. Oddly, you are a part of Tyr's family while here so I can assist you if needed."

"You left the gathering early," Tamerlane looked over his shoulder toward the open door. Beka seemed to have been enjoying herself.

"You made it clear you would be of no further … service … to me," Beka smiled faintly. "Once the group dancing ended, I really had no need to remain. The … singles thing … just didn't really interest me. The group dance presents a male to me and I got to choose to dance or not. I just had no desire to go one on one with a stranger in this place. I might have ended up tenth wife to a loser."

"Just so you know, losers never get to their tenth wife. Losers are lucky if they ever have a first," Tamerlane looked her over slowly. "I am wondering about you choice in men, however."

"What do you mean?" Beka picked up the towels he had brought and placed them in a stack on a small storage unit in the wall.

"I … indicated … that you should not dance with several males. You proceeded to dance with them anyway," Tamerlane looked back over his shoulder toward the door. "Why" He looked back at her.

"Zalaria told me to offer if I wanted to dance with a male – but only if he seemed interested. They seemed interested," Beka shrugged. "I don't see how it could hurt anything."

"I picked males I knew would not reject you. Males I knew would find you … physically appealing … but males that would not … pursue you," Tamerlane seemed a little uncomfortable as he kept looking toward the door.

"You trying to say none of them could ever actually be interested in me?" Beka found herself immediately offended. Tamerlane sighed.

"No, I am well aware of the fact that many of them may find themselves interested in you the longer you remain here," Tamerlane crossed his arms over his chest. "I am well aware that all too soon, I will have to stand by and watch Nietzschean male pursue you. I am uncomfortably aware that you may actually find one or many of them interesting as well. However, they were all males that would allow you to make your interest known to them when you allowed it. The males I wanted you to not dance with are not necessarily those kinds of males."

"What do you mean?" Beka tilted her head.

"Nietzschean males rarely openly show their interest in a female first. Males allow a female to view him from a distance, make up her mind about him and make her interest known. Males who openly show their interest in a female who has never viewed them are … desperate … for a female. Desperate males are … inferior … unpredictable."

"Am I gonna have pathetic Nietzschean stalkers?" Beka groaned as hit her forehead with the palm of her hand. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I believe I shook my head 'no'," Tamerlane raised his shoulders. "What else should I have done?"

"I don't know?" Beka's shoulders sagged in defeat. Tamerlane laughed.

"If they make you uncomfortable, talk to Amaja. She will speak with Jurgen and Jurgen will speak with them," Tamerlane reached out to tilt her face upward. "Listen to me. I will not lead you astray."

"Maybe I should just go," Beka shrugged. "I don't want to make your time here uncomfortable or difficult. I have already screwed up and I have barely been on this station. I know your father brought me here to cause problems or cause a permanent rift between us."

"I want you here," Tamerlane sighed as he tilted his head, thinking. He seemed to suddenly think of something."How is it that you are allowed here?"

"My DNA of record shows I am Nieztschean," Beka looked up at him and smiled. "Your father did something to the blood sample he took from me when I arrived. Apparently Amaja thinks my genes are acceptable. I sincerely doubt your father will … reveal the truth … since it is his deception … his standing on the line. I don't know exactly what your father is up to but for now he can't reveal the truth about me without getting caught in the fallout."

Tamerlane reached out and caressed her face. "I have missed you."

"Don't think I don't know what happened the other night," Beka put up a finger. "I may have … removed myself from consideration … at the gathering … but I stayed. I watched."

"You watched?" Tamerlane frowned as he looked at her. When she had left the circle a few dances after they had danced, he assumed she had retired for the evening.

"You were in the midst of being … practically molested … by a very beautiful female," Beka shrugged like it was no big deal.

"I wasn't being molested," Tamerlane shook his head.

"Toward the end, when the circle dancing stopped and it was a free for all, you could barely have slid a flexi between your groin and her ass," Beka pursed her lips. "It was sheer provocation."

Beka looked at him.

"Is that all that happened?" Beka held his gaze.

"That particular female has been interested in me since I first came here with Tyr. Her family lines run back into the Kodiak. To them, I am Kodiak. What better Husband and Father could she pick," Tamerlane shrugged with a smile. "She has yet to propose. She is very focused on me when we spend time together. It would make you uncomfortable."

"I noticed Zalaria is interested in you. I would have to be blind and dumb to not pick up on it. I'm a big girl Tamerlane," Beka caressed his jaw. Her thumb ran over his bottom lip. "Besides, that dance you shared was tame compared to some of the dancing I have done in my day. I believe for a brief moment, you experienced it at the club."

"True," Tamerlane nodded his head slightly.

"If it had been me, you couldn't have slipped a flexi between our bodies," Beka glanced down his body.

"Then I guess it best you were on your best behavior," Tamerlane looked her over slowly. "I would have been reprimanded for not being respectful and you would have been reprimanded for being overly enticing."

"Did you get reprimanded?" Beka asked lightly.

"No, Amaja complimented me on my will power and self control," Tamerlane tone was a bit boastful. "Zalaria was reprimanded for being overly tantalizing."

"How is that?" Beka asked suddenly curious.

"When we dance at the gathering, we are not actually allowed to touch," Tamerlane bit his lips, thinking before going on."I was frustrating Zalaria because no matter how closely or provocatively she danced, I did not retreat like other males who become … aroused … by her attentions. It is a game to her. To see how far she can push a male before he retreats. Perhaps it tells her something about the male. I don't know. She stepped over the line when she actually allowed her body to press rather firmly into mine – several times. It's not allowed."

"Did she find what she was seeking?" Beka raised an eyebrow. Tamerlane looked at the floor appearing uncomfortable at the subject.

"I have a very strong will," Tamerlane looked up at Beka. "Years of disciplined goya focus is needed to keep those … instinctual responses from emerging. She did not find what she was seeking. I think it … embarrassed her."

"I'd be embarrassed too if I dry humped a guy and didn't get a rise," Beka replied without thinking. Her eyes flew to Tamerlane's. His eyes were a little widened with surprise.

"That was inappropriate," Beka bit her lip as she looked at him.

"Just unexpected," Tamerlane smiled lightly at her discomfort. "I like your openness and honesty. It makes me know you better."

"You haven't been out of your room much since you got here," Tamerlane gave her a questioningly look.

"I've been doing stuff," Beka looked over her shoulder at the pad on her cot. She had been feeling a little irritable that both he and Tyr had basically abandoned her on a station full of Nieztscheans. "I'm not Nietzschean."

"I know you are not Nietzschean," Tamerlane whispered like it was a secret. "I was hoping you would have at least made an effort since Tyr dragged you all the way across the galaxy."

"I spent some time with Kalia," Beka retorted. "She and I had lunch today." Beka was glad when the female showed up at her door and invited her to lunch. Beka had enjoyed their talk.

"She said the two of you talked," Tamerlane felt a smile tug at his lips. "When I left Kalia's, she was discussing Tyr's shortcomings as your host."

"I may have mentioned feeling abandoned," Beka looked at the floor. "It's just … weird for me to be here. It's weird to talk with Tyr's wife. I don't know what they think. I am … concerned that someone will find out I'm not who Tyr said I was. I know I have the most difficult time keeping my mouth shut about the whole breeding female thing. It's just … hard."

"This pride is very small," Tamerlane replied. "They are rebuilding. Jurgen, the alpha, is a wise man. He has learned a great deal from the errors of his ancestors. He and I are of like mind on many topics. They are … open … Beka or you would not have been allowed here – even for Tyr. I plan on being here for a long time. You need to make an effort to know them."

"They may be open to a Nietzschean female raised by kludges," Beka tilted her head to look at Tamerlane when she said the word. "But I hardly think they would be welcoming of me if they knew I was only a kludge."

"You know I hate that word," Tamerlane growled softly.

"Your idol Jurgen is the one who used it," Beka frowned. "Maybe he's not the greatest influence in the universe. After all he was actually a breeding age male when the Volsung were still terrorizing and enslaving the Castalians .Who knows, he probably had himself a little slave kludge lovefest going on for all you know. I don't think I like the Volsung very much."

"They are no longer terrorizing and enslaving anyone Beka," Tamerlane gestured around him. "They are a nearly decimated pride living on the fringe of the known worlds, hiding from everyone else, trying their best to survive."

"And when they number in the tens of thousands? What then?" Beka challenged Tamerlane.

"You and I will have shown them there is another way to be Nietzschean," Tamerlane tugged her to him. He nuzzled her cheek lightly before brushing his lips over hers then nuzzled her again. He growled softly. "I have missed you." He pushed her away slightly with the hand that rested on her hip. "Promise me you will try."

"I'll try," Beka sighed irritably. She'd finally gotten the faintest of kisses and she found it annoying. "I'll try making nice with Kalia and Kirshtin. I might even play with Tyr's kids. That is what I am supposed to do, right. Help out with raising the kids, cooking and cleaning while the men defend the women and children."

"You must find your place amongst the Volsung. You are a different kind of female. You don't have to fall into the role of caregiver right now," Tamerlane smiled widely.

"What?" Beka challenged when she saw the smile.

"Please don't try to impress them with you culinary talents," Tamerlane laughed softly.

"Shut up," Beka balled up a shirt lying on the bunk and threw it at him. She laughed as well.

"How has your day been?" Beka asked as he returned the shirt and moved away from her. He had spent a little too long in her room and was hoping Kalia didn't drop by. He would be in trouble.

"I have had a great day," Tamerlane moved to lean against the doorway. He could keep better track of the movement there. "I spent the morning talking pride politics with Tyr and Mikel. I spent the afternoon with some males my age in the workout area. I spent the early evening with Tyr's families. Now I am with you."

"You forgot about the hours you spent being drooled over by females with overactive hormones," Beka added tetchily. She had noticed that when she had lunch with Kalia. The males were sparring and the females were watching. Tamerlane had been sitting on a table talking with Zalaria. Zalaria had been affectionately admiring the musculature.

"There is only one female who interests me and her hormones seem a bit … underactive," Tamerlane teased.

"What do you mean by that?" Beka snapped as she turned to look at him.

"I just mean …," Tamerlane looked at the wall behind her with sudden interest.

"I worked my ass off getting my desk cleared and my files together so I could come here to be with you," Beka's tone was one of exasperation. "I am living in this cubbyhole on a station full of Nietzscheans who would probably kill me for being Human - for you. I left my company in the hands of my brother for an unknown length of time to come here to be - with you. AND now you are complaining because I haven't been receptive to you?"

"When you put it that way, it sounds like I'm being petty," Tamerlane looked at her uncertainly.

"It's just …" Beka waved toward the door. "I haven't seen you to be receptive to you. I haven't spent a moment alone with you to be receptive to you. You abandoned me. This pride is not conducive to you and me spending time together – alone. Everytime I see you, you have another woman hanging on you. Hell, you shouldn't even be in my closet right now." Beka turned her back on him but couldn't move away but a step due to the tight space.

"I am glad you came, despite the inconvenience to your life and my less than warm welcome," Tamerlane said as he gripped her shoulders firmly. Beka sighed as he began massaging her neck and shoulders firmly. "Zalaria is … that is the way she is … You have nothing to be concerned about.

"That feels so good," Beka leaned back into his embrace. Her head rolled forward as he continued to soothe away her tension.

"I know just what you need," Tamerlane whispered against her ear. He kissed her ear lightly before letting her go.

"What are you doing?" Beka asked as he rummaged through her suitcase and pulled out a pair of leather leggings and a top.

"I'll wait in the common area near the corridor to the storage rooms," Tamerlane tossed them to her. "Get changed."