Disclaimer: Lawyers=Magog food
Regina smiled with satisfaction as the last of the survivors were sent off to sickbay. It never hurt to have information from multiple sources. They had already found out that they were a mercenary band made up largely of Sabran beta males. Their company was called the Red Talons. According to the Mercenary Guild, they were members in good standing.
The Guild would come out and collect the bodies if the company's owner could not be located. Regina suspected that the owner, one Mahdras Nhinn, had never existed off the databanks of the true owner.
They were listed as being under contract to guard a string of trading vessels on their route. It was the modern equivalent of caravan guarding, and should in no way have led them to attack her or The Boadicca.
It would be very interesting to see what Diane was learning from their field commander, down in Medical. Normally she would have gone there immediately following the wrap-up out here.
Of course, normally she didn't have the sexiest man ever born waiting to hear from her either. Also, if she went down to Medical, she would have to answer any questions Callisto saw fit to put to her regarding Tyr. She had seen the look Caal had exchanged with Diane. They were eager to see her mated to a Nietzschean, any Nietzschean she suspected.
She didn't want them to know that she was going to be meeting Tyr, since she wasn't at all certain what he intended beyond sating this incredible sexual hunger they had for one another. She wasn't going to tell them she was mating him if she wasn't. They hadn't even discussed it, just the loan of his 'lance'. That made her pretty sure that he was only interested in a short-term arrangement. She told herself it didn't matter; just seeing the desire in his eyes would be enough.
With a grimace for her current sweaty state, she headed to her quarters. She was going to clean up and be gone before anyone knew she was going. Oh Hell, what was she going to wear? Her tendency toward practical jumpsuits and martial attire left her closet woefully bare of anything remotely suitable for seduction.
***
Dylan felt somewhat like the Pied Piper as he led his crew away from the Boadicca. He wondered briefly if he should grill them about following him from the bar, but he had a good idea why they had. He'd lecture the three, but had a feeling it would be nothing more than a waste of air.
Once they had gone well beyond even a Nietzschean's hearing distance, he turned sharply on his heel. Everyone except Tyr fell back slightly. "Why don't the three of you go back to minding your own business? Tyr and I have a discussion to finish, without your assistance."
"You're certainly no fun tonight." Beka said with a wry grin. She was thankful they had escaped another of Dylan's famous lectures, but she had been hoping to find out more of what was going on between him and Tyr.
Harper elbowed Beka in a silent plea to shut up. He was perfectly content to take the out offered and head back to the bar. "Sure thing Dylan. We are outta here."
Beka shot Harper a dirty look out of the corner of her eye. Damn, but he had sharp elbows. Besides, it wasn't as if Dylan was going to take them to task right now. He had as much as said so.
Trance caught their little byplay and decided to ignore it as she linked her arms through theirs. "Come on, we won't get lost this time, the bar is just back that way."
Dylan opened his mouth to comment and snapped it shut with a click. This fell under the list of things he neither wanted nor needed to know.
He waited until he was sure they were indeed heading back to the bar before continuing on to the Maru. He was acutely aware of the silent Nietzschean on his right. Tyr had said nothing after a softly growled, 'I trust this is important,' as he drew even with him to leave the Boadicca behind. The silence continued until they were inside the Maru.
After everything else that had happened, it seemed almost foolish to have yanked Tyr off a Nietzschean ship simply because he had suspected Tyr of making some kind of arrangement to double-cross him. He really didn't have so much as a shred of evidence to support such an idea.
If it had been any other member of the crew, he reluctantly admitted to himself, he would have shrugged and thought nothing of them going onboard another ship for companionship. Sometimes it was impossible to get off-ship berthing during leave, and you ended up back at either your or your partner's quarters.
Tyr was not just any member of his ship though, and it was so far out of character for him that it rang instant alarm bells. Maybe he hadn't overreacted, maybe he had. It was time to find out. "So Tyr, care to tell me what you were doing on that ship?"
"I was invited for a sparring match." Tyr growled. He knew perfectly well that Dylan wanted a more complete answer, but he didn't feel that one was warranted. He also didn't feel like holding Dylan's hand and reassuring him.
"Invited to a sparring match on a ship owned by a Nietzschean… Am I totally off base to suspect you of ulterior motives for accepting that invitation?" Dylan asked calmly. He knew that if he pushed too much, he would get nothing.
"Of course I had other motives than the opportunity to pit myself against their ship's champion, and so display my prowess to a ship full of Nietzschean females." Tyr leaned back against the wall.
"Would one of those ulterior motives happen to be the ship's champion herself?" Dylan asked, taking in Tyr's more relaxed body language.
"I would be a fool not to have appreciated the opportunity to get closer to such an intriguing female." Tyr said, a little grin tugging at the side of his mouth.
"Closer? Is that what they call it in this century? Tyr, I was standing right there at the end of the sparring match. I thought I had walked in on some bizarre Nietzschean mating ritual." Dylan said in disbelief at the understatement.
Tyr could feel the blood heating his cheeks, and was glad he was not pale complected. In the Maru's lighting, the flush would not be visible as he was instantly presented with the mental picture of mating Regina. He shifted uncomfortably as blood rushed to other places as well. "Nietzscheans do not have bizarre mating rituals."
"But you were asking for her surrender on more than one front." Dylan pressed.
"And if I was? You are hardly in a position to object to how I spend my shore leave." Tyr evaded.
"I am when it involves a potential diplomatic incident, or did you miss the conversation in the lift? She's adopted Jaguar Pride. The Matriarch thinks highly of her genes. If you were planning on just having a good time, her family may take it as an affront. If you were going to marry her, you would become part of one of the most powerful Nietzschean Prides." Dylan pointed out.
"Both are possibilities." Tyr refused answer either point, or to bring to his attention the options Dylan had failed to mention. Of course, Dylan couldn't possibly know that Regina wasn't just Jaguar Pride, but the adopted daughter of Charlemagne's sister. Mating her would give him the backing of Jaguar Pride, without his offspring carrying that fop's genetic makeup.
Bringing Kodiak Pride back from the ashes would be much easier if he had a true partner, a strong willed survivor, in a wife. If she were not offering to mate with him tonight, he would just have to display for her until she changed her mind.
Dylan watched Tyr, at first waiting for him to say something more. 'Both are possibilities,' was not much of an answer to such a serious topic. After several minutes passed, it became apparent that he had no intention of making any further comments.
His temper slipped a notch, and he pressed the issue. "You've never done casual sex Tyr, not once in the entire time I've known you. That alone would be enough to make me question. You refused Charlemagne's offer to marry one of his sisters, which would have given you the support of their clan. I don't see what has changed on that front. Regina is adopted Jaguar. Add to it the fact that you are going to great lengths to avoid answering those questions, and surely you can see why I don't buy it."
"You do not know what I do with every minute that I spend away from the ship. For all you know, I have engaged in 'casual sex' with every willing woman between here and Antares." Tyr curled a lip.
"I know more than you think. Besides, I have heard you go on about having sex without intending to procreate. A waste of genetic materials, I believe you called it. Do you want to know what I think is really going on here? I think you are making a deal with Callisto. You mate Regina and the crew kills us off. You get the Andromeda, which becomes the flagship for the Sabra-Jaguar fleet, and wipes out your old enemies. The Drago-Katsov will fall, your family will be avenged, and you will start breeding little Tyrs to help you shape the future in your image." Dylan had moved into Tyr's space as he voiced his suspicions.
Tyr growled as Dylan invaded his space, and insulted him. It was the last straw. With his voice pitched low and venomous, he spat out, "I have had enough of your distrust. I have contributed a great deal to your dream of a New Commonwealth. My skills have been invaluable to you. I have saved your life and the lives of the entire crew on multiple occasions. Had I wanted you dead, I would not need to hide behind a woman to do it. In fact, there have been a great many times when your death was assured, had I not intervened. And this is how you would repay me? With doubt, scorn, and contempt? You persist in these paranoid delusions regarding my intentions, despite all evidence to the contrary. When do you intend to cease punishing me something that happened over two hundred and seventy years before I was even born? I am not Gaheris Rhade, and I am tired of being punished in his place."
A muscle flexed in Dylan's jaw. "You are Nietzschean. The only reason I am still alive, if your statements are true, is because you need something from me. And don't you ever bring up Rhade to me, understand!?!"
"What's the matter Dylan, too close to the truth for you? The self-styled man of justice is being unfair to his own crew, and we both know it." Tyr replied in a tone that could have frozen helium.
Dylan's face shut down. "Don't think for one second that I don't know the truth about your nature. You will stab me in the back the moment it is expedient for you to do so."
He stepped back and tauntingly, deliberately, walked backwards out of the Maru, keeping his eyes on Tyr the whole way.
Regina smiled with satisfaction as the last of the survivors were sent off to sickbay. It never hurt to have information from multiple sources. They had already found out that they were a mercenary band made up largely of Sabran beta males. Their company was called the Red Talons. According to the Mercenary Guild, they were members in good standing.
The Guild would come out and collect the bodies if the company's owner could not be located. Regina suspected that the owner, one Mahdras Nhinn, had never existed off the databanks of the true owner.
They were listed as being under contract to guard a string of trading vessels on their route. It was the modern equivalent of caravan guarding, and should in no way have led them to attack her or The Boadicca.
It would be very interesting to see what Diane was learning from their field commander, down in Medical. Normally she would have gone there immediately following the wrap-up out here.
Of course, normally she didn't have the sexiest man ever born waiting to hear from her either. Also, if she went down to Medical, she would have to answer any questions Callisto saw fit to put to her regarding Tyr. She had seen the look Caal had exchanged with Diane. They were eager to see her mated to a Nietzschean, any Nietzschean she suspected.
She didn't want them to know that she was going to be meeting Tyr, since she wasn't at all certain what he intended beyond sating this incredible sexual hunger they had for one another. She wasn't going to tell them she was mating him if she wasn't. They hadn't even discussed it, just the loan of his 'lance'. That made her pretty sure that he was only interested in a short-term arrangement. She told herself it didn't matter; just seeing the desire in his eyes would be enough.
With a grimace for her current sweaty state, she headed to her quarters. She was going to clean up and be gone before anyone knew she was going. Oh Hell, what was she going to wear? Her tendency toward practical jumpsuits and martial attire left her closet woefully bare of anything remotely suitable for seduction.
***
Dylan felt somewhat like the Pied Piper as he led his crew away from the Boadicca. He wondered briefly if he should grill them about following him from the bar, but he had a good idea why they had. He'd lecture the three, but had a feeling it would be nothing more than a waste of air.
Once they had gone well beyond even a Nietzschean's hearing distance, he turned sharply on his heel. Everyone except Tyr fell back slightly. "Why don't the three of you go back to minding your own business? Tyr and I have a discussion to finish, without your assistance."
"You're certainly no fun tonight." Beka said with a wry grin. She was thankful they had escaped another of Dylan's famous lectures, but she had been hoping to find out more of what was going on between him and Tyr.
Harper elbowed Beka in a silent plea to shut up. He was perfectly content to take the out offered and head back to the bar. "Sure thing Dylan. We are outta here."
Beka shot Harper a dirty look out of the corner of her eye. Damn, but he had sharp elbows. Besides, it wasn't as if Dylan was going to take them to task right now. He had as much as said so.
Trance caught their little byplay and decided to ignore it as she linked her arms through theirs. "Come on, we won't get lost this time, the bar is just back that way."
Dylan opened his mouth to comment and snapped it shut with a click. This fell under the list of things he neither wanted nor needed to know.
He waited until he was sure they were indeed heading back to the bar before continuing on to the Maru. He was acutely aware of the silent Nietzschean on his right. Tyr had said nothing after a softly growled, 'I trust this is important,' as he drew even with him to leave the Boadicca behind. The silence continued until they were inside the Maru.
After everything else that had happened, it seemed almost foolish to have yanked Tyr off a Nietzschean ship simply because he had suspected Tyr of making some kind of arrangement to double-cross him. He really didn't have so much as a shred of evidence to support such an idea.
If it had been any other member of the crew, he reluctantly admitted to himself, he would have shrugged and thought nothing of them going onboard another ship for companionship. Sometimes it was impossible to get off-ship berthing during leave, and you ended up back at either your or your partner's quarters.
Tyr was not just any member of his ship though, and it was so far out of character for him that it rang instant alarm bells. Maybe he hadn't overreacted, maybe he had. It was time to find out. "So Tyr, care to tell me what you were doing on that ship?"
"I was invited for a sparring match." Tyr growled. He knew perfectly well that Dylan wanted a more complete answer, but he didn't feel that one was warranted. He also didn't feel like holding Dylan's hand and reassuring him.
"Invited to a sparring match on a ship owned by a Nietzschean… Am I totally off base to suspect you of ulterior motives for accepting that invitation?" Dylan asked calmly. He knew that if he pushed too much, he would get nothing.
"Of course I had other motives than the opportunity to pit myself against their ship's champion, and so display my prowess to a ship full of Nietzschean females." Tyr leaned back against the wall.
"Would one of those ulterior motives happen to be the ship's champion herself?" Dylan asked, taking in Tyr's more relaxed body language.
"I would be a fool not to have appreciated the opportunity to get closer to such an intriguing female." Tyr said, a little grin tugging at the side of his mouth.
"Closer? Is that what they call it in this century? Tyr, I was standing right there at the end of the sparring match. I thought I had walked in on some bizarre Nietzschean mating ritual." Dylan said in disbelief at the understatement.
Tyr could feel the blood heating his cheeks, and was glad he was not pale complected. In the Maru's lighting, the flush would not be visible as he was instantly presented with the mental picture of mating Regina. He shifted uncomfortably as blood rushed to other places as well. "Nietzscheans do not have bizarre mating rituals."
"But you were asking for her surrender on more than one front." Dylan pressed.
"And if I was? You are hardly in a position to object to how I spend my shore leave." Tyr evaded.
"I am when it involves a potential diplomatic incident, or did you miss the conversation in the lift? She's adopted Jaguar Pride. The Matriarch thinks highly of her genes. If you were planning on just having a good time, her family may take it as an affront. If you were going to marry her, you would become part of one of the most powerful Nietzschean Prides." Dylan pointed out.
"Both are possibilities." Tyr refused answer either point, or to bring to his attention the options Dylan had failed to mention. Of course, Dylan couldn't possibly know that Regina wasn't just Jaguar Pride, but the adopted daughter of Charlemagne's sister. Mating her would give him the backing of Jaguar Pride, without his offspring carrying that fop's genetic makeup.
Bringing Kodiak Pride back from the ashes would be much easier if he had a true partner, a strong willed survivor, in a wife. If she were not offering to mate with him tonight, he would just have to display for her until she changed her mind.
Dylan watched Tyr, at first waiting for him to say something more. 'Both are possibilities,' was not much of an answer to such a serious topic. After several minutes passed, it became apparent that he had no intention of making any further comments.
His temper slipped a notch, and he pressed the issue. "You've never done casual sex Tyr, not once in the entire time I've known you. That alone would be enough to make me question. You refused Charlemagne's offer to marry one of his sisters, which would have given you the support of their clan. I don't see what has changed on that front. Regina is adopted Jaguar. Add to it the fact that you are going to great lengths to avoid answering those questions, and surely you can see why I don't buy it."
"You do not know what I do with every minute that I spend away from the ship. For all you know, I have engaged in 'casual sex' with every willing woman between here and Antares." Tyr curled a lip.
"I know more than you think. Besides, I have heard you go on about having sex without intending to procreate. A waste of genetic materials, I believe you called it. Do you want to know what I think is really going on here? I think you are making a deal with Callisto. You mate Regina and the crew kills us off. You get the Andromeda, which becomes the flagship for the Sabra-Jaguar fleet, and wipes out your old enemies. The Drago-Katsov will fall, your family will be avenged, and you will start breeding little Tyrs to help you shape the future in your image." Dylan had moved into Tyr's space as he voiced his suspicions.
Tyr growled as Dylan invaded his space, and insulted him. It was the last straw. With his voice pitched low and venomous, he spat out, "I have had enough of your distrust. I have contributed a great deal to your dream of a New Commonwealth. My skills have been invaluable to you. I have saved your life and the lives of the entire crew on multiple occasions. Had I wanted you dead, I would not need to hide behind a woman to do it. In fact, there have been a great many times when your death was assured, had I not intervened. And this is how you would repay me? With doubt, scorn, and contempt? You persist in these paranoid delusions regarding my intentions, despite all evidence to the contrary. When do you intend to cease punishing me something that happened over two hundred and seventy years before I was even born? I am not Gaheris Rhade, and I am tired of being punished in his place."
A muscle flexed in Dylan's jaw. "You are Nietzschean. The only reason I am still alive, if your statements are true, is because you need something from me. And don't you ever bring up Rhade to me, understand!?!"
"What's the matter Dylan, too close to the truth for you? The self-styled man of justice is being unfair to his own crew, and we both know it." Tyr replied in a tone that could have frozen helium.
Dylan's face shut down. "Don't think for one second that I don't know the truth about your nature. You will stab me in the back the moment it is expedient for you to do so."
He stepped back and tauntingly, deliberately, walked backwards out of the Maru, keeping his eyes on Tyr the whole way.
