Some arns later, Berret awoke to find himself looking up into Shenna's wrinkled face.
"Did you have a good time?" asked the old Delvian Shrike.
Berret found his words oddly echoing somewhere in his head. He tried to sit up and suddenly felt like he would have slid off the edge of the world had they been planet bound.
"What happened?" he croaked out.
Shenna made a show of looking around the room, "I would say you had a party... a very large party."
Berret tried to sit up again and then became aware of a weight impending his movement, looking downward he found the sleeping female Peacekeeper from Pikes' table with her arms wrapped around his torso. Berret was confused for a few microts why the woman would be hugging him until Shenna said,
"You won her in a bet."
The news made the Shrike pause for a microt; he looked as if he wanted to ask a question but then decided against it. "I don't even want to know," he muttered as he worked himself clear of the slumbering female trooper.
Shenna helped him to his feet and he looked around the lounge. Most of the furniture had been destroyed and there were bodies all over the place. Sergeant Pikes lay snoring on top of the bar wearing nothing but socks and his briefs. Suspiciously a pretty Acquarian serving girl was passed out on the floor under the bar wearing what looked like a large PK sergeant's uniform. Slowly the room stopped spinning for the Shrike as the Delvian helped him navigate around broken tables, chairs, and the occasional snoozing body.
"I never want to see another Raslek again," complained Berret as he rubbed one temple. Apparently sometime during the night he overindulged until he surpassed even the tolerance of his microbes to Raslek.
Shenna stopped and picked up a bag. "I have your amour here," he said shaking the bag and making the metal plates rattle painfully in Berret's head. The ex-assassin had a sneaking suspicion the old man was purposely trying to split his head. "I must say, you can be very entertaining when you relax and cut lose. You should drink more often."
Berret eyed the man in annoyance, "You are not funny in the slightest." The younger Shrike surveyed the damage to the lounge and then turned to the Grandmaster to ask, "Who won the fight?"
"Neither of you," replied Shenna. When Berret looked confused he went on to explain. "After you made the first two toasts, Sergeant Pikes realized that he should also make two toasts so that you were both even on that issue. After Pikes made his toasts to his unit and some long forgotten battle, you pointed out that no one had made a toast to the Peacekeepers in the lounge. After you did that, several people in the crowd felt they had to return the favor and toast the Sergeant and yourself... which lead to both of you making more toasts to individuals..."
"I get the point," Berret said cutting him off.
"I'm certainly glad you do, because after that point it gets rather confusing."
"What happen to Scorpius?" asked the ex-assassin.
"He left just before the dancing started."
"Dancing?" asked Berret.
"Yes, he was quite annoyed. I believe you ran up a rather large tab."
"Goddess," Berret moaned as he rubbed his aching head. "I hope Chiana never hears about this."
The guard from earlier in the day had been relieved sometime during the night, the new one waited patiently in the corridor for the old Delvian to led the Shrike out to him. As the pair passed by he silently fell into position behind the pair.
"Lord Scorpius has directed me to take you back to your ship so you may refresh yourself," said Shenna, playing the faithful servant role for the new guard's benefit. Berret just grunted a reply thinking it better not to have to engage the old man in a discussion anyway. Just before exiting the lounge the Grandmaster had told Berret that Andar and Malika had safely returned to the Wraith undetected and he was anxious to meet with them to get their report on their half of the operation. Shenna bowed and departed a few corridors away from the landing bay and the guard halted just outside the bay doors, obviously having orders not to approach the Shrike's armed craft. Berret waited until the hanger doors closed pretending to inspect the Wraith for tampering before opening its hatch. Once aboard with the hatch closed, Malika and Andar came out of their hiding places at the rear of the flight deck.
"What the hezmana happened to you?" asked the Sebacean man.
"The brawl turned into a drinking match after I met with you," replied Berret putting a hand to his aching forehead, "I believe I lost that also."
Malika frowned deeply. "I don't believe it!" she said. "We were risking our lives creeping around Scorpius' Command Carrier... and there you were... having a party?"
"It wasn't what I planned," said Berret tiredly, "besides, would you rather have been fighting that big Peacekeeper sergeant in my place?"
Malika both hands on her hips and sneered, "At least I would have won."
Berret was about to ask why the Delvian girl had to be so unreasonable when Andar interrupted in the squabble.
"We have better things to do right now then bicker among ourselves," he reminded them.
Berret nodded that the younger man had a point and then asked the couple, "Did you get the codes we need?"
"Well, there's been a slight delay," responded Andar.
"Why?" asked the Shrike.
Andar and Malika filled the ex-assassin in on their part of the mission including running into the firewall.
"I see," said Berret, "then you were correct in choosing to try and retrieve the codes before we reached the commerce planet. If we had waited until the last micron as I had suggested to avoid detection, you would have not had enough time to by-pass the security system." The Shrike found he was glad he listened to Andar's gut feeling about going for the codes as soon as they were able. The man seemed to have an uncanny instinct when it came to electronics and computer systems.
"We should have at least one more solar day to complete our mission. It will take that long to load the supplies and have the carrier return us to our point of departure. I hope your device can worm its way to the data by then," said Berret.
"It was functioning better then I thought it would when we left it concealed in the work station. By tonight we should have all the data we need," replied the Sebacean, giving the Delvian girl a playfully smug look.
Berret nodded as he changed into a fresh set of PK leathers, his ballistic suit was covered with all types of residue from the destruction of the lounge and he balled it up and stuffed it into the Wraith's small refresher unit to be cleaned.
"We met your friend, Shenna, last night on our stroll too," said Malika. "A very interesting fellow."
"Yes, he told me... though I wouldn't call him my friend as I've only met him once before this."
"Then why did he help us?" asked Malika suspiciously.
"I don't know. But I do know he wants something from us, or from me at least," replied Berret as he snapped on his gauntlets over his forearms.
"Can you at least make a guess as to what that is?" asked Andar. "It makes me nervous not knowing if he's friend or foe."
Berret sat down for a microt to relax in one of the flight deck's chairs before answering.
"I'm afraid I can't even do that. He's as much a mystery to me as he is to you. I'm sure we won't have long to wait before he lets us know what it is he wants."
"Where can they be?" asked Chiana as she slammed her small fists down in frustration on the center chamber's table. "Something's wrong, we have to go look for them," she continued.
"Where and with what, Chiana?" replied Aeryn. "We are on an unarmed Leviathan and we're suppose to go looking for a fully armed Command Carrier with only two Prowlers for protection to find your lost playmate?"
"I still say we forget about the whole frelled thing and starburst out of here," put in Rygel.
"We already know what you think, Sparky," said Crichton in annoyance. "We're not going anywhere until we find out if they were able to get those codes," he continued while taking a swat at the dodging Hynerian.
"John, we don't even know if they're still alive," D'argo said. "They could have been captured and tortured... by now Scorpius could be on his way here for the rest of us."
"D'argo's right. Those children wouldn't hold up long against Peacekeeper interrogation techniques," explained Aeryn.
"Berret is not a child!" exclaimed the Nebari girl.
"He might as well be," argued the Sebacean woman. "For all intensive purposes, he may as well have been born the microt you found him in that alley."
"Enough! All of you," interrupted Zhaan who had remained silent up till then. "They maybe young, but if they work together they might succeed. Berret might have problems with his memory, but he has the experiences of a professional assassin and Scorpius wants something from him. Malika and Andar are very resourceful and Malika has been aboard command carriers in the past. They should be able to blend in if the Shrike can smuggle them aboard. We will not leave until we are positive they have failed and won't be coming back." She looked from face to face of her crewmates. "Have I made myself clear?" she asked forcefully.
The group nodded their heads except for Rygel. Stubbornly the Hynerian added, "Alright, we wait a little while longer. But if it even looks like the Peacekeepers are heading toward this sector... we starburst with or without your two brats and Chiana's pet. Agreed?"
Zhaan settled back in her chair and folded her arms across her chest as she regarded the small being.
"Of course, Rygel. I would not endanger Moya and Pilot for anything, but we are not leaving until we've given them as much time as we can to make it home."
Rygel, Aeryn, and D'argo left the center chamber a few microns later, Rygel to return to his quarters and the other two to take out the Prowlers for another patrol.
"Thanks for agreeing, Zhaan," said Crichton when they were gone.
"Yeah, Zhaan... thanks," echoed Chiana.
The Pa'u looked at the pair seated across from her. "I didn't do it for either of your concerns. They went out there because they felt they owed it to us for taking them in as part of this crew. I do not agree with the way they went about it, but I will not abandon them until it is absolutely necessary for Moya's safety. I would do the same for any of you."
"We know, Zhaan... but thanks anyway," replied John.
Berret stifled a yawn as Scorpius continued to brag about some of his discoveries while taking the Shrike on a tour of some of his recently set up labs aboard the Command Carrier he had taken over from Crais. Berret made it plainly evident that he wasn't in the slightest bit interested in Peacekeeper science, which made Scorpius more determined to force him to continue the tour. In reality, the Shrike was absorbing as much information as he was able to report back to Zhaan and the others. Scorpius had just shown him the upgraded Aurora Chair and was explaining its uses. Berret pretended to be less then impressed and started to amuse himself by openly leering at Scorpius' female PK nurse.
"That's all very nice, Scorpius. Can we go back to the lounge now?" he asked while making eyes at the nurse. When Berret first rejoined the half-Scarren later that morning, he made several barbed comments about the Shrike being under the weather from the pervious nights activities, making it painfully obvious that he hoped that Berret was in less then perfect shape. Berret put on that his head didn't pound quite as much as it did and repeatedly asked during the tour when they would be able to return to the lounge and pick up where they left off the night before. He knew that they had run up a very high tab on Scorpius' account and he could see that it greatly annoyed the half-Scarren but at the same time, it simultaneously gave him a sense of satisfaction that his belief that Berret was a self-centered buffoon was confirmed.
Still Scorpius was not ready to turn him lose to do further damage to his credit.
Instead he chose to distract the Shrike by making his attempt at flirting with his nurse a topic of discussion.
"I had thought that you where interested only in your Nebari tralk?" he asked in his oily smooth voice.
Berret gave him a glare. "She serves her purpose and she knows her place. As long as she does, I will keep her around... and that includes staying out of my other 'private' business." He finished by giving the nurse what he hoped was an open look of lust, which he did his best to copy from what he observed the off-duty troopers display last night in the lounge. It must have been correct because the woman began to lose her composure and look nervous with his attention. Smiling inwardly with the results, he considered trying the tactic sometime on Chiana, but an inner voice warned him that if he did he would be biting off more then he could currently handle.
Scorpius considered his comment, "Yes, that should have been obvious last night by the way you handled Sergeant Pikes female aid after winning her in your bet. Most impressive, you are indeed a man who does as he pleases." The half Scarren showed his pointed teeth in a sinister grin.
Berret moaned inwardly and began to think maybe he should ask Shenna what exactly had happened the night before. Again he swore never to touch another drop of Raslek, which should be an easy vow to keep since he hated the stuff. He motioned for Scorpius to led the way on their tour without answering further.
"I really, really hope Chiana doesn't hear about this," he thought to himself for the tenth time that morning.
"What do you mean... you ate the last desert cube?" asked Malika irately.
"I was hungry and you were asleep. I didn't know you were saving it," apologized Andar.
Malika almost started to berate the man further but then decide to hold her tongue. Realizing that the cube wasn't an important issue and that she was just reacting to the stressful situation they had been under for the last few arns. Instead she wiggled a forefinger a bare dench in front of Andar's nose.
"You owe me then," the Delvian told him.
Before Andar could reply a tapping at the rear troop deployment hatch in the Wraith's belly interrupted them.
"What the frell was that?" she asked in a lowered voice.
"I don't know," responded the Sebacean man as the both grabbed up weapons.
The tapping came again as they moved to cover the access way in the flight deck's floor. From outside the ship came a muffled, "Hello."
"There's somebody out there," stated Andar.
Malika rolled her eyes at the obvious comment. "No dren. But how did they get out there and this close to the ship. I thought the A.I. was suppose to blast the drez out of any Peacekeeper that got too close?"
Andar shrugged his shoulder to indicate he didn't have an answer. The voice outside began to call them by name next.
"Malika? Andar? Are you in there?" it asked.
"Frell! Frell! Frell! We got to shut whoever that is up before somebody hears them," exclaimed Andar excitedly as he pounded his fist against the hatch's activation control.
The hatch slid open and both crewmates pointed their pulse pistols at their un-welcomed visitor.
"Master Shenna?" said Malika in disbelieve at the old Delvian man crouched under the hatchway.
"There you youngsters are," said the Grandmaster, seemingly unconcerned about the weapons pointed at him.
"What are you doing here? How did you get in here?" asked Andar and then remembering that someone might still see them, gestured for the man to climb aboard after he lowered the hatchway's small ladder.
"Don't worry, children. There are no Peacekeepers nearby," said the aged man as he climbed the ladder with far more agility then either of the younger pair thought he would have possessed. "I've come to talk with you. As to how I arrived in the bay, I used the hole you so conveniently cut into the maintenance tunnel. Don't fear... I replaced the cover just as you had left it."
"Okay, but how did you get near the Wraith without getting blown to bits? The A.I. has order to fire on any Peacekeeper that..." Andar's voice trailed off as he realized he's hit upon the answer. "Peacekeeper," he repeated to Malika. "Peacekeeper generally means Sebacean, not Delvian. That's why the Wraith didn't consider Shenna a threat and let him approach."
"Was I in danger?" asked the old man in surprise.
"You could have been if Berret had been more specific in the orders he gave the Wraith," answered Malika. She turned to Andar, "We'll have to correct that oversight, otherwise we might get more visitors."
"Well, I'm glad you hadn't discovered that error until after my visit. I hadn't considered that the ship would have a programmable defensive system," said Shenna and then added as an after thought, "But please don't tell Berret I made that slight miscalculation. The boy does look up to me and holds me in awe after all." Shenna grinned at his jest at the younger Shrike expense while Malika started to mutter,
"The only thing he holds in awe is Chiana's..."
Andar elbowed the woman in the ribs to keep her from completing the comment.
The Delvian girl glared at the man, Andar for his part ignored her and continued to question the Grandmaster.
"Okay so why are you here?" he asked him.
"I'm here to help you get what you came for... the codes to the neural implant in your crewmate's head. I'm also here to ask your help in something I need as well."
Andar nodded in acquiesce, "Berret said you probably wanted something from us."
"The only problem is," put in Malika, "What is it?"
The old Delvian smiled at the slight tone of mistrust in the young girl's voice. He also noted the way the couple sat next to each other facing him as a united front, their thighs almost touching. His smile deepened as he realized what was blossoming between them, though unlike Berret and Chiana their relationship was still in its infancy. The pair worked well together but he hoped the Sebacean man had enough patients. The long-lived Delvians were notorious for at times taking ages to decide to commit where matters of the heart where concerned. He thought about being mischievous for a microt but decided against it. Unlike Berret who needed to be pushed in certain directions for his own good, these two would find their right path in their own good time without outside help.
Shenna came back to the business at hand, "Like you I want to help a friend, an old friend. But I'll need your help talking Berret into going along with the plan."
"He want us to help him do what?" exclaimed Berret in disbelieve an arn and a half later.
"Help him free Val'Cirrus," repeated Andar once again.
"Had the old bastard been drinking?" the Shrike asked sarcastically. "He can't be serious."
"He just wants to do the same thing we're doing, help a friend," said the Sebacean.
"She tried to kill me... and Chiana,"
"Too bad she wasn't just a little quicker," Malika threw in with a sneer.
Berret turned to the Delvian girl and was about to make a scalding reply when Andar stepped in.
"People! Let's be grown up now. The Peacekeepers have almost finished loading the supplies for us to take back to Moya. We'll be underway back to our departure point soon and we still have to get back into that lab to retrieve my device with the codes."
He paused to make sure both of his team mates where listening. Malika quickly stuck her tongue out in Berret's direction, much to the Shrike's annoyance. Andar was surprised that she would continue to bait the ex-assassin; seeing that not too long ago she went out of her way to avoid the man as much as possible. He considered maybe the girl was not only learning to accept the tall man as a shipmate but despite her claims to the contrary, she was actually thriving on the excitement of the adventure.
He had always thought that beneath that serious Pa'u acolyte exterior beat the heart of a rogue.
"The new question that needs to be answered is," he said pausing for effect, "Do we help Shenna free Val'Cirrus in exchange for his help getting what we need?"
"Did you have a good time?" asked the old Delvian Shrike.
Berret found his words oddly echoing somewhere in his head. He tried to sit up and suddenly felt like he would have slid off the edge of the world had they been planet bound.
"What happened?" he croaked out.
Shenna made a show of looking around the room, "I would say you had a party... a very large party."
Berret tried to sit up again and then became aware of a weight impending his movement, looking downward he found the sleeping female Peacekeeper from Pikes' table with her arms wrapped around his torso. Berret was confused for a few microts why the woman would be hugging him until Shenna said,
"You won her in a bet."
The news made the Shrike pause for a microt; he looked as if he wanted to ask a question but then decided against it. "I don't even want to know," he muttered as he worked himself clear of the slumbering female trooper.
Shenna helped him to his feet and he looked around the lounge. Most of the furniture had been destroyed and there were bodies all over the place. Sergeant Pikes lay snoring on top of the bar wearing nothing but socks and his briefs. Suspiciously a pretty Acquarian serving girl was passed out on the floor under the bar wearing what looked like a large PK sergeant's uniform. Slowly the room stopped spinning for the Shrike as the Delvian helped him navigate around broken tables, chairs, and the occasional snoozing body.
"I never want to see another Raslek again," complained Berret as he rubbed one temple. Apparently sometime during the night he overindulged until he surpassed even the tolerance of his microbes to Raslek.
Shenna stopped and picked up a bag. "I have your amour here," he said shaking the bag and making the metal plates rattle painfully in Berret's head. The ex-assassin had a sneaking suspicion the old man was purposely trying to split his head. "I must say, you can be very entertaining when you relax and cut lose. You should drink more often."
Berret eyed the man in annoyance, "You are not funny in the slightest." The younger Shrike surveyed the damage to the lounge and then turned to the Grandmaster to ask, "Who won the fight?"
"Neither of you," replied Shenna. When Berret looked confused he went on to explain. "After you made the first two toasts, Sergeant Pikes realized that he should also make two toasts so that you were both even on that issue. After Pikes made his toasts to his unit and some long forgotten battle, you pointed out that no one had made a toast to the Peacekeepers in the lounge. After you did that, several people in the crowd felt they had to return the favor and toast the Sergeant and yourself... which lead to both of you making more toasts to individuals..."
"I get the point," Berret said cutting him off.
"I'm certainly glad you do, because after that point it gets rather confusing."
"What happen to Scorpius?" asked the ex-assassin.
"He left just before the dancing started."
"Dancing?" asked Berret.
"Yes, he was quite annoyed. I believe you ran up a rather large tab."
"Goddess," Berret moaned as he rubbed his aching head. "I hope Chiana never hears about this."
The guard from earlier in the day had been relieved sometime during the night, the new one waited patiently in the corridor for the old Delvian to led the Shrike out to him. As the pair passed by he silently fell into position behind the pair.
"Lord Scorpius has directed me to take you back to your ship so you may refresh yourself," said Shenna, playing the faithful servant role for the new guard's benefit. Berret just grunted a reply thinking it better not to have to engage the old man in a discussion anyway. Just before exiting the lounge the Grandmaster had told Berret that Andar and Malika had safely returned to the Wraith undetected and he was anxious to meet with them to get their report on their half of the operation. Shenna bowed and departed a few corridors away from the landing bay and the guard halted just outside the bay doors, obviously having orders not to approach the Shrike's armed craft. Berret waited until the hanger doors closed pretending to inspect the Wraith for tampering before opening its hatch. Once aboard with the hatch closed, Malika and Andar came out of their hiding places at the rear of the flight deck.
"What the hezmana happened to you?" asked the Sebacean man.
"The brawl turned into a drinking match after I met with you," replied Berret putting a hand to his aching forehead, "I believe I lost that also."
Malika frowned deeply. "I don't believe it!" she said. "We were risking our lives creeping around Scorpius' Command Carrier... and there you were... having a party?"
"It wasn't what I planned," said Berret tiredly, "besides, would you rather have been fighting that big Peacekeeper sergeant in my place?"
Malika both hands on her hips and sneered, "At least I would have won."
Berret was about to ask why the Delvian girl had to be so unreasonable when Andar interrupted in the squabble.
"We have better things to do right now then bicker among ourselves," he reminded them.
Berret nodded that the younger man had a point and then asked the couple, "Did you get the codes we need?"
"Well, there's been a slight delay," responded Andar.
"Why?" asked the Shrike.
Andar and Malika filled the ex-assassin in on their part of the mission including running into the firewall.
"I see," said Berret, "then you were correct in choosing to try and retrieve the codes before we reached the commerce planet. If we had waited until the last micron as I had suggested to avoid detection, you would have not had enough time to by-pass the security system." The Shrike found he was glad he listened to Andar's gut feeling about going for the codes as soon as they were able. The man seemed to have an uncanny instinct when it came to electronics and computer systems.
"We should have at least one more solar day to complete our mission. It will take that long to load the supplies and have the carrier return us to our point of departure. I hope your device can worm its way to the data by then," said Berret.
"It was functioning better then I thought it would when we left it concealed in the work station. By tonight we should have all the data we need," replied the Sebacean, giving the Delvian girl a playfully smug look.
Berret nodded as he changed into a fresh set of PK leathers, his ballistic suit was covered with all types of residue from the destruction of the lounge and he balled it up and stuffed it into the Wraith's small refresher unit to be cleaned.
"We met your friend, Shenna, last night on our stroll too," said Malika. "A very interesting fellow."
"Yes, he told me... though I wouldn't call him my friend as I've only met him once before this."
"Then why did he help us?" asked Malika suspiciously.
"I don't know. But I do know he wants something from us, or from me at least," replied Berret as he snapped on his gauntlets over his forearms.
"Can you at least make a guess as to what that is?" asked Andar. "It makes me nervous not knowing if he's friend or foe."
Berret sat down for a microt to relax in one of the flight deck's chairs before answering.
"I'm afraid I can't even do that. He's as much a mystery to me as he is to you. I'm sure we won't have long to wait before he lets us know what it is he wants."
"Where can they be?" asked Chiana as she slammed her small fists down in frustration on the center chamber's table. "Something's wrong, we have to go look for them," she continued.
"Where and with what, Chiana?" replied Aeryn. "We are on an unarmed Leviathan and we're suppose to go looking for a fully armed Command Carrier with only two Prowlers for protection to find your lost playmate?"
"I still say we forget about the whole frelled thing and starburst out of here," put in Rygel.
"We already know what you think, Sparky," said Crichton in annoyance. "We're not going anywhere until we find out if they were able to get those codes," he continued while taking a swat at the dodging Hynerian.
"John, we don't even know if they're still alive," D'argo said. "They could have been captured and tortured... by now Scorpius could be on his way here for the rest of us."
"D'argo's right. Those children wouldn't hold up long against Peacekeeper interrogation techniques," explained Aeryn.
"Berret is not a child!" exclaimed the Nebari girl.
"He might as well be," argued the Sebacean woman. "For all intensive purposes, he may as well have been born the microt you found him in that alley."
"Enough! All of you," interrupted Zhaan who had remained silent up till then. "They maybe young, but if they work together they might succeed. Berret might have problems with his memory, but he has the experiences of a professional assassin and Scorpius wants something from him. Malika and Andar are very resourceful and Malika has been aboard command carriers in the past. They should be able to blend in if the Shrike can smuggle them aboard. We will not leave until we are positive they have failed and won't be coming back." She looked from face to face of her crewmates. "Have I made myself clear?" she asked forcefully.
The group nodded their heads except for Rygel. Stubbornly the Hynerian added, "Alright, we wait a little while longer. But if it even looks like the Peacekeepers are heading toward this sector... we starburst with or without your two brats and Chiana's pet. Agreed?"
Zhaan settled back in her chair and folded her arms across her chest as she regarded the small being.
"Of course, Rygel. I would not endanger Moya and Pilot for anything, but we are not leaving until we've given them as much time as we can to make it home."
Rygel, Aeryn, and D'argo left the center chamber a few microns later, Rygel to return to his quarters and the other two to take out the Prowlers for another patrol.
"Thanks for agreeing, Zhaan," said Crichton when they were gone.
"Yeah, Zhaan... thanks," echoed Chiana.
The Pa'u looked at the pair seated across from her. "I didn't do it for either of your concerns. They went out there because they felt they owed it to us for taking them in as part of this crew. I do not agree with the way they went about it, but I will not abandon them until it is absolutely necessary for Moya's safety. I would do the same for any of you."
"We know, Zhaan... but thanks anyway," replied John.
Berret stifled a yawn as Scorpius continued to brag about some of his discoveries while taking the Shrike on a tour of some of his recently set up labs aboard the Command Carrier he had taken over from Crais. Berret made it plainly evident that he wasn't in the slightest bit interested in Peacekeeper science, which made Scorpius more determined to force him to continue the tour. In reality, the Shrike was absorbing as much information as he was able to report back to Zhaan and the others. Scorpius had just shown him the upgraded Aurora Chair and was explaining its uses. Berret pretended to be less then impressed and started to amuse himself by openly leering at Scorpius' female PK nurse.
"That's all very nice, Scorpius. Can we go back to the lounge now?" he asked while making eyes at the nurse. When Berret first rejoined the half-Scarren later that morning, he made several barbed comments about the Shrike being under the weather from the pervious nights activities, making it painfully obvious that he hoped that Berret was in less then perfect shape. Berret put on that his head didn't pound quite as much as it did and repeatedly asked during the tour when they would be able to return to the lounge and pick up where they left off the night before. He knew that they had run up a very high tab on Scorpius' account and he could see that it greatly annoyed the half-Scarren but at the same time, it simultaneously gave him a sense of satisfaction that his belief that Berret was a self-centered buffoon was confirmed.
Still Scorpius was not ready to turn him lose to do further damage to his credit.
Instead he chose to distract the Shrike by making his attempt at flirting with his nurse a topic of discussion.
"I had thought that you where interested only in your Nebari tralk?" he asked in his oily smooth voice.
Berret gave him a glare. "She serves her purpose and she knows her place. As long as she does, I will keep her around... and that includes staying out of my other 'private' business." He finished by giving the nurse what he hoped was an open look of lust, which he did his best to copy from what he observed the off-duty troopers display last night in the lounge. It must have been correct because the woman began to lose her composure and look nervous with his attention. Smiling inwardly with the results, he considered trying the tactic sometime on Chiana, but an inner voice warned him that if he did he would be biting off more then he could currently handle.
Scorpius considered his comment, "Yes, that should have been obvious last night by the way you handled Sergeant Pikes female aid after winning her in your bet. Most impressive, you are indeed a man who does as he pleases." The half Scarren showed his pointed teeth in a sinister grin.
Berret moaned inwardly and began to think maybe he should ask Shenna what exactly had happened the night before. Again he swore never to touch another drop of Raslek, which should be an easy vow to keep since he hated the stuff. He motioned for Scorpius to led the way on their tour without answering further.
"I really, really hope Chiana doesn't hear about this," he thought to himself for the tenth time that morning.
"What do you mean... you ate the last desert cube?" asked Malika irately.
"I was hungry and you were asleep. I didn't know you were saving it," apologized Andar.
Malika almost started to berate the man further but then decide to hold her tongue. Realizing that the cube wasn't an important issue and that she was just reacting to the stressful situation they had been under for the last few arns. Instead she wiggled a forefinger a bare dench in front of Andar's nose.
"You owe me then," the Delvian told him.
Before Andar could reply a tapping at the rear troop deployment hatch in the Wraith's belly interrupted them.
"What the frell was that?" she asked in a lowered voice.
"I don't know," responded the Sebacean man as the both grabbed up weapons.
The tapping came again as they moved to cover the access way in the flight deck's floor. From outside the ship came a muffled, "Hello."
"There's somebody out there," stated Andar.
Malika rolled her eyes at the obvious comment. "No dren. But how did they get out there and this close to the ship. I thought the A.I. was suppose to blast the drez out of any Peacekeeper that got too close?"
Andar shrugged his shoulder to indicate he didn't have an answer. The voice outside began to call them by name next.
"Malika? Andar? Are you in there?" it asked.
"Frell! Frell! Frell! We got to shut whoever that is up before somebody hears them," exclaimed Andar excitedly as he pounded his fist against the hatch's activation control.
The hatch slid open and both crewmates pointed their pulse pistols at their un-welcomed visitor.
"Master Shenna?" said Malika in disbelieve at the old Delvian man crouched under the hatchway.
"There you youngsters are," said the Grandmaster, seemingly unconcerned about the weapons pointed at him.
"What are you doing here? How did you get in here?" asked Andar and then remembering that someone might still see them, gestured for the man to climb aboard after he lowered the hatchway's small ladder.
"Don't worry, children. There are no Peacekeepers nearby," said the aged man as he climbed the ladder with far more agility then either of the younger pair thought he would have possessed. "I've come to talk with you. As to how I arrived in the bay, I used the hole you so conveniently cut into the maintenance tunnel. Don't fear... I replaced the cover just as you had left it."
"Okay, but how did you get near the Wraith without getting blown to bits? The A.I. has order to fire on any Peacekeeper that..." Andar's voice trailed off as he realized he's hit upon the answer. "Peacekeeper," he repeated to Malika. "Peacekeeper generally means Sebacean, not Delvian. That's why the Wraith didn't consider Shenna a threat and let him approach."
"Was I in danger?" asked the old man in surprise.
"You could have been if Berret had been more specific in the orders he gave the Wraith," answered Malika. She turned to Andar, "We'll have to correct that oversight, otherwise we might get more visitors."
"Well, I'm glad you hadn't discovered that error until after my visit. I hadn't considered that the ship would have a programmable defensive system," said Shenna and then added as an after thought, "But please don't tell Berret I made that slight miscalculation. The boy does look up to me and holds me in awe after all." Shenna grinned at his jest at the younger Shrike expense while Malika started to mutter,
"The only thing he holds in awe is Chiana's..."
Andar elbowed the woman in the ribs to keep her from completing the comment.
The Delvian girl glared at the man, Andar for his part ignored her and continued to question the Grandmaster.
"Okay so why are you here?" he asked him.
"I'm here to help you get what you came for... the codes to the neural implant in your crewmate's head. I'm also here to ask your help in something I need as well."
Andar nodded in acquiesce, "Berret said you probably wanted something from us."
"The only problem is," put in Malika, "What is it?"
The old Delvian smiled at the slight tone of mistrust in the young girl's voice. He also noted the way the couple sat next to each other facing him as a united front, their thighs almost touching. His smile deepened as he realized what was blossoming between them, though unlike Berret and Chiana their relationship was still in its infancy. The pair worked well together but he hoped the Sebacean man had enough patients. The long-lived Delvians were notorious for at times taking ages to decide to commit where matters of the heart where concerned. He thought about being mischievous for a microt but decided against it. Unlike Berret who needed to be pushed in certain directions for his own good, these two would find their right path in their own good time without outside help.
Shenna came back to the business at hand, "Like you I want to help a friend, an old friend. But I'll need your help talking Berret into going along with the plan."
"He want us to help him do what?" exclaimed Berret in disbelieve an arn and a half later.
"Help him free Val'Cirrus," repeated Andar once again.
"Had the old bastard been drinking?" the Shrike asked sarcastically. "He can't be serious."
"He just wants to do the same thing we're doing, help a friend," said the Sebacean.
"She tried to kill me... and Chiana,"
"Too bad she wasn't just a little quicker," Malika threw in with a sneer.
Berret turned to the Delvian girl and was about to make a scalding reply when Andar stepped in.
"People! Let's be grown up now. The Peacekeepers have almost finished loading the supplies for us to take back to Moya. We'll be underway back to our departure point soon and we still have to get back into that lab to retrieve my device with the codes."
He paused to make sure both of his team mates where listening. Malika quickly stuck her tongue out in Berret's direction, much to the Shrike's annoyance. Andar was surprised that she would continue to bait the ex-assassin; seeing that not too long ago she went out of her way to avoid the man as much as possible. He considered maybe the girl was not only learning to accept the tall man as a shipmate but despite her claims to the contrary, she was actually thriving on the excitement of the adventure.
He had always thought that beneath that serious Pa'u acolyte exterior beat the heart of a rogue.
"The new question that needs to be answered is," he said pausing for effect, "Do we help Shenna free Val'Cirrus in exchange for his help getting what we need?"