Part Two
"We can't let him take Suzee!" Radu protested loudly the next morning.
"Of course not! We can take him!" Harlan joined in. Bova nodded angrily.
"Not so fast." Goddard interrupted, coming behind them. "We have to think about Catalina, too."
"I am." Radu sat on the ledge below his consol and put his head in his hands. "I... I just don't trust him to let Catalina go, safely, you know? And I- I don't want to think what he'd do to Suzee, i-i-if he had the chance."
"I've set up a meeting with Sandrines security." Goddard say, laying a strong hand on the boy's shoulder. "But I don't know if we have enough time to catch him on a kidnapping charge. There would have to be an investigation."
Radu looked up ominously at the opening Eye of the Christa. "We'll just have to make the time."
Before an explanation of Radu's vague comment could be extracted, Brenner walked in.
"Lovely morning, isn't it?"
Radu stood up suddenly and walked briskly over to Brenner, slamming the thin Yensidian up against the wall.
"You've got your lines crossed, kid." Radu growled. Goddard grimaced in grim remembrance of that wild look that Radu had about him. When Andromedans chose to attack.... they could be deadly.
"What the-?"
"If you think I'm going to let you take Suzee away from me, when I know she'll be unhappy with you, you've got another thing coming!" Fierce blue eyes bore into the arrogant boy's skull, who looked more than ready to wet his pants. "I'll break your head first!"
"Protecting your girlfriend, cur?"
"Damn straight." Radu spat heatedly.
"Catalina." Brenner winced at the tight grim around his shoulders. He could feel the tender flesh bruising.
"I didn't know Catalina, ku'reshtin."
She'd said it herself.
"I"m gonna reget this."
I hope not, Suzee. He thought. I certainly don't regret getting to know you better through that, even if it was just a little bit. I wonder how he'll take that word. I'm pretty sure it means 'ungenerous, pathetic lover.' I would only know if I'd been intimate with her, right?
"You... You!!" Brenner struggled angrily, inarticulate for the first time when he'd actually chosen to respond. Cool demeanor breached, he couldn't pretend that nothing really bothered him anymore. Harlan came up just behind Radu's shoulder.
"I'd stay still if I were you." Harlan advised. "Radu's pretty gentle, but Andromedans are protective of their mates. You know. Instinct."
Radu tried not to grin. He always picks up on my plans!
"I wouldn't mind Resha leaving if she told me she would be happy. Prove it to me." He released Brenner roughly. The unrelenting burning of hatred was apparent in Brenner's eyes. He'd obviously never been challenged by anyone but Suzee herself, and it hurt his pride for what he considered an inferior to have the ability to force him to do anything.
"I don't have to." He snarled poisonously. "Suzee can't protect you now. Down on the ground where you belong, animal!"
Brenner pointed his finger at Radu and the yellow spirit lunged forward.
"He's completely and utterly unredeemable." Suzee informed Rosie. "But this explains why I couldn't reach Catalina! I can't let him hurt her."
"What happens if you win Primogeniture?" Rosie was helping her pack, trying to control her heat, as she often had trouble when she let herself get sad.
"I get to choose the gender of our children, since they'll be all be genetically engineered anyway in test tubes, and I'm basically named ruler of our marriage. They only let that happen when the match is so incompatible, they don't want each other at all. I'm not going to let him bind me, Rosie. Don't worry about that."
"But you'll be unhappy." Rosie protested. Suzee grabbed her small duffle and gazed at her young friend. She hadn't had the time to get to know her as well as she wanted. If only they'd had more time together...
"Maybe... but I have to go home sometime. I'm supposed to take over for our Prime Engineer someday. I need to train before he dies."
A tear fell from Rosie's face, but evaporated before it hit the floor. "I'll miss you."
"I'll miss you, too." Suzee awarded Rosie with a hug. "I'm sure Catalina will relay messages for us. And there's always the spacenet."
"I know. I'll still miss you." Rosie fought valiantly to keep her face from pouting.
Suzee shoved the last of her things into the bag. "How is all of this junk mine? I came here with nothing but the uniform I was wearing."
She fingered the necklace Harlan had given her. She would treasure it. And the recording Radu had made her of Andromedan songs for her birthday, with him doing the vocals. Radu never let anyone hear him sing, but he'd still done it. For her.
No one but the crew of the Christa had ever gone out of their way to make her feel special. She was just another worker back home. The best engineer, but it was what she'd been bred for. Nothing special. Her mate had been chosen for her before she was even born. Brenner had never once bothered to make her feel pretty or loved. He thought she belonged to him. Funny. She'd been okay until she'd been forced to meet her betrothed. Okay with herself, her station. And now... she was nothing. And when Radu and Harlan teased each other over her.,, when Rosie took time out of her schedule just to girltalk with her...
Suzee gave an unfulfilled sigh and zipped up her pack. She was resigned. No matter how worthless Brenner tried to make her feel, the friends she had in this world thought she was worthwhile. And Radu...
From now on, I'm going to have to try harder to get to know people better. And let them know how I feel. It's too late now. I don't want him missing me.
"I'd better get up to the Command Post and say goodbye to everyone else."
The girls hopped into the jumptubes for Suzee's last ride. They slid into the Command Post just as the collision hit.
A blast of yellow light filled the room and blinded the girls as the entered.
"What's going on?" Suzee called trying to see through the alien lighting. Suddenly she made out a figure on the ground. "Radu!!"
Both girls rushed to his side immediately.
"Are you okay Radu?"
"What did Brenner do to you?!"
"I- I'm fine." Radu stuttered, obviously shaken and a bit confused about what had just happened.
"He... he pitched into you. And you're okay." Suzee was near tears with joy. She couldn't count the number of people Brenner had mentally destroyed, leaving only the husk. She grabbed Radu and hugged him tightly as she could.
"I"m fine thanks." Brenner snapped. He obviously wasn't. His hair stood straight up, and he couldn't even stand. The backlash had thrown him across the room as easily as Radu could have done himself.
"Don't start." Suzee snapped. "I can't believe you tried to pitch into him. An alien being? You know what could have happened!"
"I hardly care what happens to that mongrel."
"Well, he kicked your ass at your own game. Without trying!" Suzee suddenly realized that she was being started at. She was still protectively hanging on to Radu. He looked up at her and started to laugh.
"You have no idea how well you're working into our plan. Just play along." He whispered very softly into her ear, and watched her face to see if she'd heard. She smirked all of a sudden.
"I have better taste than you ever thought, Brenner. Stronger than you in every way." She pulled a face at him and finally let go of Radu, who helped her off the floor. Brenner himself was still sprawled against the wall.
"Fine, you ridiculous creature. I'll take a day to try to make your bedmate comfortable coming home with me. Happy, you brute?"
"Very." Radu replied softly as he received a questioning glance from Rosie and Suzee. He looked into Suzee's eyes, hoping to get the bigger message across. "I'm going to give Brenner a chance to prove that he can make you happy. He doesn't have long, but I can't let you go with him unless I know you'll be alright."
Suzee nodded, for once in her life, submissively. "Whatever you say, Radu."
Brenner growled as he scraped himself off the ground. "Let's go. I can't stand being this these plebeians any longer."
Grabbed her hand and tried to pull her out the door. Suzee didn't move. He sighed and gestured the way. "After you, my lady."
Suzee chuckled wickedly and threw a glance back to Radu.
Please save my Catalina. She thought hard, hoping he would hear, or at least understand. Radu nodded almost imperceptibly back at her as she left.
"What happened?" Harlan asked. Radu sat down hard.
"She said he was stronger than her, but...."
"Are you okay?" Rosie leaned over and looked into his eyes.
"Barely. That was the strongest metaphysical attack I've ever felt. I wasn't prepared for that." Radu grimaced. "If he'd thrown it any stronger then you could concider me mindwiped by now."
"How in the world did you manage to deflect it?" Goddard kneeled down to take a good look at his navigator. Where his eyes always that strained? What kind of pain was he feeling that he just wouldn't say?
"I- I don't think I did intentionally. Yensidians don't ever seem to think that they'll be challenged. I don't think he's ever had to face any type of mental shielding before." Radu explained. "A little bit of shielding is natural for my people. He didn't know how to force his spirit through, instead of having it thrown back at him."
"Hmm." Goddard mused. "Then he won't suspect if we try to get Catalina away from him while he's out. Good plan guys."
"Kind of fell into it." Radu muttered. "We need to act fast, Commander. If he suspects anything, he could kill both of them."
"I know." Goddard faced them seriously. "Bova, Harlan. I want you two to infiltrate his ship. Find Catalina before he gets back. Davenport and I will start getting Security involved."
"I'll make sure he doesn't hurt Suzee." Radu put in. Rosie cast a glance over at Harlan.
"No!" Harlan interrupted. He flushed. "I mean, I know he won't hear you sneaking around. But what if you trip or something? What if they stop by the Mozen and you aren't there? He'll know. Everything should be just as we said last night, huh?"
"Yeah." Rosie agreed. "We go to the Mozen like planned."
Radu frowned, but the look on Goddard's face told him that he wasn't going to convince him of a solo mission to ensure Suzee's safety. Time to cut his losses. "How about I ask Kinta to follow them?"
"Better. Tell her to be careful though."
I hope Suzee is careful, too. Radu sighed as the went on their way. I'm not sure she realizes that she's not invincible either. And this is an awfully dangerous gambit. Who knows what Brenner'll do if he finds out?
"Lay perfectly still. I have to realign you legs before I do anything."
"How did I let you guys talk me into this?" Radu didn't get angry often, but when he realized that they had set him up to be taken care of by this Healer, while Suzee was out there in need of protection... he just wanted to slam is head into something.
"Take it easy, big guy." Taleb said nonchalantly. "Kinta will take care of Suzee. She's a girl after all. Kin hates to see girls taken advantage of."
Taleb passed some kind of laser over his legs, as Rosie watched intently. He stored the data in his computer and studied it.
"You should know that you wouldn't have lasted another week. I don't understand you fighters. You think that everything else is more important than you own needs." Taleb groaned. He rolled up his sleeves and nodded to Rosie, who began to light the candles surrounding his patient. As ancient and useless as some of the Andromedan Healing rituals seemed, Taleb always kept them. They calmed him and reminded him of where exactly his power to Heal came from . He must never forget.
"This is going to hurt like Hell. Then, when I'm done, I'm going to have to show you the right way to use your muscles, directly. From mind to mind. From everything I've heard about you, we should be able to link up just enough for it to work." Taleb spread his palms over the boy. "Ready."
"Sure."
A faint glow began to resonate from Taleb's hands. Radu remembered this part all too well. First the beauty. It glowed, and swelled and stretched and enveloped his legs in a tight mist as Taleb controlled the motions of the energy. He could see the very life force burning within Taleb and Rosie, brought out slightly by the small use of psi power that Healers always used. Flowing in unison like Healers tended to do. Funny... since Rosie hadn't known Taleb for very long, that she should be in synch with him already. Then came the next part. Taleb's will forced his body to reshape.
He felt like he was being ripped apart. Bone rebreaking, being shaped, flesh forced around it. Shredding, tearing breaking. He tried not to cry, but had never been able to stop it before. In a few moments, the intense pain held him so that he could not move, and he slipped in and out of consciousness.
All he could think of... was his crewmates in danger.
"Ch-ch-ch!" Bova tried very hard not to cuss, as the console he'd been trying to hack into slammed shut, nearly taking his hand.
"I take it you haven't gotten in yet, huh?" Harlan grumbled. Bova shot him an exasperated look.
"This would be easier if we had Radu to rip the hatch open. We'll never find Catalina. We can't even get into the ship!"
"It must be controlled by that device Brenner has with him."
Bova rolled his eyes and began to form a charge. "So that helps us how?"
"What are you doing?"
"I'm trying to zap it with a charge opposite of the ship's natural current polarity. I might be able to knock it loose. Or short it out."
"Is that dangerous?"
"Yeah. You'd better get back, unless you want to look like Uranus Fried Earther when we finally release Cat." He told Harlan flatly.
Harlan backpedaled a few dozen steps. Bova continued to form the charge, and smirked.
The sparkling lights of the disco nearly blinded Suzee as she went in. This seemed like a rather wild party; she couldn't even hear Brenner speaking to her. But he probably told her where he was going, because he turned and left her alone.
Finally. Suzee groaned to herself. He wasn't much better when he was pretending to be a gentleman. Everything he'd done today reminded her why she'd rather die childless than marry him. Mostly because he was just pretending. He didn't about her enough care enough to humble himself and try acting differently. But then, of course, it never occurred to most Yensidians that they could be wrong about anything. She was the exception, and had learned the hard way.
"Want to dance, lovely?" A tall, dark-eyed alien man approached her with ease. His wolf-like ears perked for her answer. He smiled warmly, but Suzee shook her head.
"I'm supposed to be here with someone." She explained. The stranger frowned slightly.
"Well, he isn't here now. He shouldn't leave you alone in a place like this." The stranger bowed. "I'm Kalikiman. If you wouldn't mind, I'd like to watch over you while your friend is away. It would be a shame for someone to grab a pretty thing like you while he dallies elsewhere."
"I can take care of myself." Suzee said firmly. It was just then that she caught sight of the colored tails decorating his armor. Yensidian hair. He was a bounty hunter. She had to warn that bastard fiancé of hers!
"Is that so?" He grabbed her hand firmly. "That's good. I like a challenge, youngling."
"Hey!" She screamed loudly, but no one heard. Or they didn't care. Kalikiman pulled her roughly, letting her drag on the ground at one point and threw her into a lighted room. He locked the door.
"I take pleasure in my work." He motioned his head toward the couch. Suzee was quickly getting an idea of what kind of room this was for.
"Well, what are you waiting for?" She said haughtily. Her only hope was to pitch into him and make him stay while she ran. He's already captured at least six of us if those tails are any indication! I hope he isn't as resilient as Radu when it comes to that, but I don't really have a choice.
Suzee pitched her purple essence forward as strongly as she could. She could feel the hard pull of her psi lifeline and fought against it. It hurt, but she didn't want to die at the hands of a creature like this.
It held. Kalikiman struggled against her mind within him as she worked through, trying to find a way to defeat him once he'd rid himself of her spirit. She'd already grabbed the controls to the door when he jumped her from behind and slammed her head to the floor.
"Let me go!" She demanded. He laughed.
"Weak little mind powers like yours could never hold me for long." He kissed her roughly. "Hold still."
He banged her head against the floor again to sedate her. Suzee went limp, and let him kiss her. As soon as he put his tongue in her mouth, she bit off the tip.
"You little!"
Suzee tried to crawl backward, away from her attacker, but he let his hand loose before she could get far. She reeled back from the blow.
It's no use. He's too strong. She sighed in resignation as he picked her up and threw her back on the couch. He ripped her shirt and bit her. Hopefully, he'll get Brenner, too. I did hint that I wasn't alone. Maybe he'll get him before he moves on to bigger prey.
She lay there in despair, as she heard the door break down. A swift flurry of motion and Kalikiman was lying bleeding on the floor of a broken skull.
"He's probably still alive, ya know." The young Andromedan captain glared mercilessly at the bounty hunter. "We should go."
Kinta offered her a hand, and Suzee took it, holding the pieces of her shirt together pitifully.
"We should warn Brenner..." Suzee said absently as Kinta pulled her through the unobservant crowd.
"Let him fend for himself." Kinta replied coldly. She knocked a kissing couple out of her way and kept going, looking back from time to time to see that Suzee was still attached to her own hand.
Bova and Harlan sat shocked in front of Brenner ship. Literally. Bova wasn't technically hurt, but he was twitching from the excess electricity he'd had to absorb to make sure Harlan didn't turn into a crispy critter.
"I don't think this is going to work." Bova muttered. "We need something else."
"Like the key." Harlan sighed as he attempted for the third time to get to his feet. He decided against it and sat back down. "You think the Commander has had any luck with Security."
"Probably not. Brenner has probably killed Suzee by now." Bova raised a brow at the questioning look he received from Harlan. "Death by boredom. It happens. Especially around guys like that."
Harlan stared forlornly at the shuttle for another couple of minutes, waiting for an epiphany.
"Any luck, guys?" Radu called from behind them. Harlan turned to see Radu, walking a bit stiffly towards them.
"No. You?"
"I'm walking." Radu glared at the two doctors following him. Rosie giggled.
"He's fine, Harlan. Has Suzee gotten back yet?"
"Not yet. And we can't get the shuttle open."
"Maybe I could melt it open?"
"I wouldn't risk it, Rosie." Bova warned. "We aren't covered in soot for nothing. I tried to zap it, and it returned in kind."
"Nice defense system." Taleb remarked.
"Don't complement the enemy." Bova snapped. Radu walked slowly up to the ship.
"I wish I could tell where she was." He placed an ear up to the shuttle. He turned around briskly at the sound of feet to see Brenner coming up behind them.
"Get away from my ship, dog. Where is Suzee?"
"I don't know. Be quiet a minute." Radu perked is ears, hoping to hear her heartbeat.
"I won't be quiet. You said that you were going to let me take a crack at placating that spoiled witch and here I find you trying to get into my ship! I thought you said you didn't know Catalina!"
Radu glared at him. "I'm trying to find out where Suzee is."
"With Kinta, I hear them talking together." Taleb put in. Suddenly he grabbed Brenner roughly and took his pack. "You little brat."
"You'll never guess how to get my ship open." Brenner hissed under the headlock in which Taleb had trapped him.
"Doesn't matter." He squeezed harder. "Maybe I should just kill you."
"Taleb!" Rosie looked at him in disbelief. Taleb handed her the pack.
"Seems you have a reprieve. But I'm not too fond of guys like you." Taleb glanced over his shoulder to greet his captain with a nod.
Suzee was bruised heavily along the face, and had a pin holding her clothing together as she walked slowly and determinedly toward her fiancé.
"Suzee?" Radu started to run to her, but Harlan held up a hand, and he stopped. Maybe she was ready to deal with him now.
"You... you... I don't even know a word for you." Suzee's eyes were wild with rage. Her voice increased in intensity with every word. "You left me in a horrible place, Brenner. You keep saying you want me. I'm not a possession. And in any case, you simply don't deserve me."
"Look-"
"NO! I'm tired of listening to you!" She yelled. "All you do is try to build yourself up on my broken self-esteem and that isn't going to continue anymore!"
Suzee pitched again. So did Brenner. The yellow spirit circled the purple, giving off bright sparks now and again. Their faces were both fierce, and for once, Brenner was sweating.
In a moment, the confrontation ended, and Suzee went flying back into her body, beaten. Kinta caught her as she tipped backward. But Suzee didn't look beaten. She looked triumphant.
"You don't have Catalina in there. You never did." She said softly. Brenner tensed obstinately. "Go home, Brenner. I'm not going to marry you. Ever. I'll come home in my own time. And if that means I lose my position. If that means I can never have children or a family. So be it. You can't control me. No one can."
Rosie handed him his pack and frowned at him. He took it and started toward his ship, cautiously avoiding Radu and Taleb.
"I don't know what they've done to you, Suzee. But you're not the same person that I knew a year ago." He spat back at her. She smiled.
"Good. I didn't like that person you knew a year ago much."
He opened his shuttle and climbed inside, looking back hard.
"Go on. I'm sure with your intelligence level, they'll make an exception and get you some kind of wife."
Brenner continued to stare for a moment, then shut his hatch. Moments later, he took off.
"Are you okay, Suzee?" Radu asked immediately. She looked at Kinta and the girls grinned.
"I'm fine. Just a little knocked around." Suzee felt dampness clinging to her eyes. Don't freak. Remember what you promised yourself.
Rosie gave her a big hug when the tears finally began to fall.
"So basically, every outpost in this sector has their eyes out for Kalikiman and Brenner as kidnappers and attackers." Goddard had explained. "They weren't too happy that he got away, but at least all of you are safe."
Suzee sat quietly in front of the mirror and thought hard about the events that had occurred over the past few weeks. Apparently Radu had been holding out on all of them. When he'd completed his training with Taleb, he finally explained to them what had been wrong, and how badly that could have gone if Harlan hadn't forced him to get help.
He's as bad as me.
He still hadn't told Miss Davenport and the Commander. They'd been able to cover his training time with the time it took to fix up the Mozen and heal Ke'chara in the Healing Chamber. Suzee didn't think she'd ever seen someone so happy, when Ke'chara realized that she could see again.
I have to be more open. I was afraid to make friends. That I'd have to go home and leave them all. But I might have to leave anytime. They could leave me at anytime. You never know when someone is going to die.
"Radu's a special guy, Suzee." Kinta had told her point-blankly. One of the many things that she had told her on the walk back to the ship. She pondered the yellowish remain of the bruise that had marred her face and the words of experience that had been given to her.
Suzee followed the line of her face in the mirror. It's not so bad. I still look the same.
She stopped and moved closer, almost pressing her lips to the glass. I didn't like the girl I knew a year ago. I've improved a lot, I think. But do I like me now?
She gazed intently into her own eyes. I think I should try to like the girl I am now. And I think I should try to be a girl I would like as a friend. These friends I have on the Christa are awfully good to me. I want to be good to them back.
I want to feel pretty inside and out.