SITN12

Disclaimer: Just Boadicca's crew belongs to me. Everything else is the sole property of someone making a helluva lot more money than I am.

Author's notes: Fearless, this one's for you! I can't login to review your fic, but I love it. So I am dedicating this chapter to you. As soon as I have MY computer back together, I promise to review like a normal reader… The loaner PC does not speak to the ff website. I email Cherubino my fics and she posts them for me. She is the Alpha reader of my pride.



"I can't believe you lost Dylan." Harper said as he threw his hands up in the air.

"Well, neither can I. He's got to be around here someplace. What was the name of that ship again?" Beka sighed in frustration.

"The Boadicca, but we haven't passed any ship with that name." Trance said, eyeing the hulk nearest her. It was named 'The Wild Rover'. It certainly looked like it had been roving a long time.

"We have been wandering along the berthing area forever; we're not going to find it this way. I didn't know there were so many little rattletrap ships in this sector of space! Of course, some of them are here because they can't take off again. That one looks like you'd have to get out and push to give it enough ouumph to break planetary gravity. We are going to miss all the fun, and it's all because Beka won't ask for directions!" Harper ranted.

"If we ask Rommie for directions, she'll tell Dylan we're looking for him. Do you want him to know we are following him?" Beka stopped and glared at Harper. She was feeling a little foolish over losing sight of Dylan, and was getting very frustrated with her inability to find him or the ship. A good pilot should never get lost, but here she was.

"Don't you mean, trying to follow him? We're lost remember? Why don't we just go back to the bar and forget all about this mad little scheme. There is booze, babes, and hot tunes back there. Out here we've got nada, zip, zilch, the big zero!" Harper was not intimidated by Beka's glare.

In fact, he was about to continue his tirade when Trance held up her hand and cocked her head. "Did you hear that?"

They stood silently for a moment, and then the sound of disruptor fire reached their ears. It was coming from the left.

"Well, I think I know where Dylan is." Beka's face broke out in a grin. For once she wasn't the first one in trouble on shore leave. What else could it be? Dylan and Tyr were both out here somewhere. If there was shooting in the dockyard, the odds were that they were involved in it somehow.

"You can't mean we're going to go see what the fighting is all about?" Harper looked at her in askance.

"Bet you double or nothing, Dylan is involved in that firefight." Beka said smugly.

"Oh no, I never bet against a sure thing. I just want to know what you think we're going to do when we get there. I, for one, am a lover, not a fighter." Harper retorted.

"Fortunately for you, Valentines are both." Beka grinned and pulled her force lance out and headed for the sounds.

"Hey, where'd you get that? I thought we couldn't take any weapons into the club!" Harper protested to her retreating back.

"Guys, I don't know if this is such a good idea." Trance interjected.

"Me either, your purpleness, but I don't think Beka's waiting around for us to come up with a better one." Harper said as he headed after Beka. Losing track of one captain a night was his limit.



The blaster fire kicked up sparks where it connected with the metal ramp. Tyr and Regina dove off the ramp to the right, Dylan to the left. They took cover behind the metal plate as Alyxandra returned fire from the opening.

"Captain, we have a situation down here. Backup would be welcome." Alyxandra said calmly into the ship's communications system. She continued to shoot at the quick flickers of light that were all she had to go by. Other than the brief illuminations from their muzzles as they fired, they were entirely in the shadow of the neighboring ship.

When they realized there was only one shooter keeping them pinned, they laid down a suppressing fire and began to close on the ship.

Dylan pulled a force lance out and began firing around the ramp as the assailants started to change angles, trying to flank them for a clear shot.

"Well Hell's Bells, the one time I leave the ship without a weapon." Regina growled in disgust.

"Fortunately, I always carry extra." Tyr said as he reached into his boot and pulled out a force lance. He keyed it and handed it to her, then pulled another one out of his other boot.

"I like a man who's prepared." Regina grinned as she sighted down the lance and fired. There was a cry and one of the men rushing them dropped. She had hit her mark.

"And I like a woman who knows how to handle a lance." Tyr said in appreciation.

"Oh, I can 'handle' your lance just fine." Regina replied outrageously as she fired again. She was riding high on adrenaline, and feeling bold.

Tyr leaned over her for a better angle and fired. "I am looking forward to it." He murmured against her ear before settling back out of the line of return fire.

Regina's shot was way off mark. She had just been ready to shoot when he lit every nerve ending on fire with those six little words. "Dammit Tyr!"

Tyr just chuckled and reached around her to fire again; taking out the man she had missed. He enjoyed the way she tensed, but after the first time her shots remained accurate. She gave him a look out of the corner of her eye that clearly said she'd have preferred to shoot him. He wondered why she was sending such conflicting messages. Her look was completely at odds with her breathing and heart rate, and her pheromone level was highly elevated. He decided to up the ante a little and moved in against her until he was pressed tight against her back. .

So he wanted to play like that, did he? Regina tried to repress the growl that vibrated her throat and failed. He was using the enclosed space and firing angle as an excuse to lean into her back. She could feel every inch of his chest, was enveloped in his scent, and yet somehow managed to sight down the weapon and fire. It was difficult at first, but she managed to transfer some of that heightened awareness to her targets.

Judging from the number of bursts, she was thinking there were about seven hostiles among the cargo pods and crates waiting to be loaded into the ship across from the Boadicca. It was an excellent ambush point, between the ship's shadow and the available cover of the crates; it was hard to get a clear shot. They were keeping them pinned while the rest of their group closed with the ramp. She hoped Alyxandra had a better angle, and some backup would be nice. She knew they were prohibited from using Boadicca's weapons while docked, but they would certainly be useful right about now.

Dylan grimaced as one of the shots sparked off the metal over his head. They were getting closer, and it was getting damn hard to stick his head out long enough to aim without having it blown off. He couldn't believe Tyr and Regina were flirting in the middle of a firefight. Maybe it was some Nietzschean thing, like dinner and dancing was a good first date to humans?

A sudden increase in return fire from overhead let Tyr know that the backup Alyxandra summoned had arrived. In the respite he noticed that Regina had actually leaned back into him for support as she tracked and fired. On some level she had decided to trust him, or torment him. Every time she shifted, she was rubbing against the length of him. His scent covered her skin but did not in any way mask the pheromones coming from her. If anything, it was telling his senses that this was his woman, and she was ready to mate. It may have been his idea to start this, but it was rapidly blowing up in his face. Trying hard to distance himself from the demands of his body, he scanned the area for another target. A sudden flash of blonde hair from the far left of the neighboring ship caught his eye. For a moment he thought it might be some reinforcements, but the three silhouettes seemed very familiar.

Dylan realized he was hearing fire from only one weapon on his right and spared a glance to see if someone had gotten hit. After seeing the damage on both of them from the sparring, he wouldn't be surprised to find out neither of them would make a sound if shot. Instead, he saw Regina braced against Tyr. She was tracking and firing while he paused, watching for something. Dylan strained his eyes trying to see whatever his Nietzschean vision had caught.

The reinforcements from above had taken a great many of the assailants by surprise. Several lay dead or dying on the tarmac. The rest had taken whatever cover had been available, and had begun a strategic retreat. It was very well organized, and Tyr watched the hand signals that passed between them with interest. It would seem a mercenary unit was attacking them. They were Nietzschean, or at least the ones he had seen were Nietzschean. Every time one of them was careless, he picked the unfortunate bastard off, or Regina did. She was an excellent shot. He found himself taking personal pride in her ability, as if her skills reflected on his clan.

"Perhaps we should take prisoners. I would be very interested to learn who is attacking us and why." Regina said as she shot one of the retreating assailants in the leg.

"I concur. However, the probability of the troops knowing anything of value is slim. We need to capture an officer." Tyr suggested.

"I haven't seen anything resembling rank on these guys." Dylan replied from his side of the ramp.

"No, their commander is probably under cover in the rear. This is just the fodder." Regina said as she used the respite of the retreat to scan the darkened cargo crates the enemy was using for cover.

"You are most likely correct in your assumption. I suspect we shall have to make do with the incomplete information the 'fodder' possesses." Tyr incapacitated, instead of killing, another mercenary.

"Not necessarily. They are hurt, and falling back. I think it is time to take the battle to them." Regina grinned wolfishly. It also had the added benefit of getting her out from under Tyr. He was making her crazy. It was all she could do not to rub against him like a cat. She had to be far away from him when the danger was over or she'd make a fool of herself propositioning him.

"How do you propose we do that? They still have us pinned. If your crewmates come down that ramp, they'll be picked off." Dylan pointed out.

Regina just rolled her eyes. Did he think being a free trader was all milk runs? "Look, this is hardly the first time the Boadicca has been attacked. If it isn't pirates, it's a double cross by the trade barons. A time or two we've been caught up in a planetary squabble or military coup. Believe me, if there weren't so many of the crew on leave, and if the station didn't have that injunction against firing ship's weapons while grounded, we'd have taken care of this in the first few minutes."

"Then you have a plan?" Tyr asked in a normal tone, and added a whisper in her ear, "Or do you just need an outlet for all this… aggression?"

"Of course I have a plan." Regina huffed, as her 'aggression' levels soared to new heights. He had to know what he was doing to her, every time he did that it made her heart accelerate and sent shivers of pleasure down her spine. The man was diabolical. She gritted back at him just as quietly, "And if you don't stop that, I will be forced to retaliate."

"And exactly how would you retaliate?" Tyr deliberately breathed against her ear again.

Regina shivered and decided that enough was enough. She turned her head slightly and bit his shoulder, hard. It was part reprimand, part frustration.

Tyr growled as she set her teeth to his skin. It just about made him forget where he was, and what he was doing. He could feel the barely contained sexual hunger coursing through her frame, and he longed to sate it.

"Would you care to share your plan with the rest of the class?" Dylan said sarcastically. He could not see what Regina was doing, but he could tell they had been whispering. He hated to be left out of the loop, especially when it concerned Tyr.

Regina raised her head, eyes blind with desire. It had been a mistake to set her teeth to his flesh. It had been meant to punish, or so she thought. When she bit him, his heart rate had accelerated, and his body had tightened under hers. In that moment she realized it had excited him. She shook her head slightly to clear it. Focus girl! You are in a firefight, remember?

She turned her head toward Dylan and said, "I don't know if I should call it my plan. It's standard operating procedure. First we use a Flasher. It will illuminate the area, and temporarily blind our enemies. In the darkness immediately following the flash, we move. There is cover enough to be elsewhere before their sight returns. While we're moving, so will be part of the crew. The others will continue to snipe from on high, which will keep them from getting any ideas about rushing the gangplank."

"So why haven't they done it already?" Dylan asked.

"We were not in a favorable position to do so until now. When you hear the word 'eclipse', shield your eyes. The flash will still blind you through your eyelids.

"Alyxandra, initiate 'Paying the Piper'!" Regina yelled.

"Paying the Piper, aye!' Alyxandra called back. After a few seconds she yelled, "Eclipse!"

Regina covered her eyes with her forearm. Even with the extra protection, she could tell when it went off. She dropped her arm and rushed for the section of cover she had scouted out earlier.