SITN4

Disclaimers: Crew of the Andromeda are not mine, crew of Boadicca are.

Author's note: Julz, I appreciate the comment. You're right; Tyr has made his opinion on mating outside his species clear. But to quote a friend of mine, "Just because he's on a restricted diet, doesn't mean he won't look at the whole menu." Tyr has no intention of mating a human, and Regina has no intention of doing the horizontal mambo with a Nietzchean. Drat that Harper, his vocabulary is rubbing off on me! ( Anyway, rest assured that Tyr is not going to throw what he believes out the airlock, just because he finds a human female desirable. I wouldn't do that to him, or to my fellow fans. And I hope you wouldn't let me. Thank you again for reviewing, I hope you will continue to tell me what you think.

BTW, Flaming Safety Pin Nazi and Flame, redheads do rule, especially ones who review! Did you see the bit in Tyr's journal "Ancestor's Breath" that he lusted after a woman with dark eyes and long red hair?

"Thanks for the save, and the lift. I won't tell if you won't." Regina said with a puckish smile as she stepped back. She swayed a little as she left his support. Part of it was doubtless left over from the concussion, but part of her dizziness came from the feel of his hard body against hers when he let her down. That had done evil things to her libido. Regina could still feel him as if he were imprinted on her flesh. Hopefully the walk to sickbay would allow her to recover her composure.

Callisto and Tyr watched in concern as she wobbled. Callisto reached out to her, "Regina, if you are not recovered, then please let us help you to sickbay. As hard as you were hit, not even Elsbett would be expected to walk yet."

"Yeah well, I have better nanobots than that Sabran hussy. Have a little faith in your clan's engineers." She reached out to the cool metal of the ship for support, and leaned her forehead against it. Regina took a deep breath and let the chill soothe her overheated flesh. She centered herself and focused, just like Callisto had taught her to do for meditating, then pushed away from the hull and walked up the gangplank under her own power.

"That's it, hit me in my Pride. And please refrain from calling our new Archduchess a hussy. It is a bad habit to get into. If you say it back home, you could find yourself giving those superior nanobots more to repair than just a concussion." Callisto watched in relief as Regina climbed into the ship. The lecture was more of an afterthought. She had grown accustomed to lecturing Regina on the topic after spending several months transporting the new Archduchess to several locations. At least it had paid well. Charlemagne was very generous when it came to keeping track of his new wife, and Elsbett thought she was paying for Callisto to edit her reports. She hadn't, but her brother did not let on. He was saving it for a time when Elsbett needed to be reined in. Besides, if she didn't know that he was on to her, she wouldn't be up to something he didn't know about.

Regina chuckled at the long standing pun but seemed to ignore Callisto's warning. She didn't feel that it deserved a response. That woman was a calculating bitch, and she would sleep with anything in pants to get her way. Regina had no respect for a woman like that, and was really disappointed the marriage had gone through. Dynastic alliance or no, there was no way Regina would marry someone like that.

Callisto followed her up the ramp. "I mean it. Do not antagonize her. She is in a position to make your life very difficult, and mine as well."

. "I will refrain from name calling if she will. But if she calls me a jumped up kludge one more time, I will not be responsible for what happens." Regina looked back over her shoulder at Caal. It was a cold, neutral, look

Caal stopped. Whatever was going on between her first officer and the new Archduchess had to be more than name calling to merit that look. She cast a glance behind her and caught Tyr's look of fascination. Callisto contented herself with saying, "Look, we shouldn't have to transport her anywhere ever again. Elsbett is pregnant now. Soon she will have a child to care for, and another pregnancy when she has recovered from childbirth. I doubt very much that she will want to be ferried around the galaxy on an independent trade ship. Nothing less than a full escort for her from now on, I would imagine." It was as close as she could get to saying that surely Elsbett had settled into her position by now, and would not be plotting behind Charlemagne's back. She had her offspring to consider, and that would certainly assist Elsbett in taking the long view.

"Perhaps," was all Regina said, and continued toward sickbay. She really didn't want to talk about Elsbett. It was enough to turn her stomach, which was none to pleased with her anyway. Alcohol and concussion did not really go well together, nanobots notwithstanding.

Tyr walked behind the two, content to be momentarily forgotten as the women contended. Regina's attitude toward Elsbett seemed to coincide with that of the female crewmembers of Andromeda. He suspected that Regina and Beka would find much common ground to discuss. He did wonder about the insult though. Jumped up kludge? Whatever would Elsbett have meant by that? She had never called Beka that, just kludge. Could she have been referring to Regina's position as first officer on board a Nietzchean trade ship or the fact that Regina had Jaguar nanobots? That was another piece of interesting information. The Prides did not inject their bioengineered nanobots into humans, unless it was for tracking or control. How was Regina allowed to have healing nanobots from Jaguar Pride?