Disclaimer:
See Chapter 1 for the my comments.
Chapter 2: Let the games begin
Beka went to her room to recover. Damn, she didn't think it would ever get to this point with Tyr. Sure, she liked him but he was safe. Safe as a non-suitor because his race of men did not mix with other nonNietzscheans. She could flirt as outrageously as she wanted to flirt without fear of uncontrollable consequences. Her aim had outreached her goals.
Now, she had to consider what her next move would be.
She could have sex with him and get it over with. It was an option. It would address the tension. It had been palpable and obvious to everyone. It would be good to be done with the dreaded sensations.
It is really difficult to pretend to be unconcerned when he sauntered pass her. Her nipples saluted her crewmates while she broke out in a light sweat. Tyr Anasazi could make the coldest woman hot.
On the other hand, there were always complications when she had had sex without having prior understandings. When she really sat down and contemplated it, having sex should have a prior written agreement. The do's and the don'ts would and should be spelled out. Would that really work?
Besides it wasn't like she had a great deal of time to run through this before she did her background check on Tyr. She looked at her clock. She had an hour and a half to put together a strategy, get her ensemble together, and make her place presentable for Tyr. The field of play had to give her the advantage.
If she was going to play with a Nietzschean she needed to make sure the rules of engagement were understood and considered. She didn't have much time at all.
As she looked through her wardrobe, she thought about her other two obvious options: let the tension remain the same or do a modified version of both. She could let the sexual tension remain or be heightened by their coupling. So sex wouldn't necessarily be a solution, it could just be another diversion.
Well, this isn't easy.
She had selected the outfit, but with little over an hour to spare...she hadn't had a chance to talk to Andromeda about Nietzschean mating practices yet.
"Andromeda, I would like to open a file of a personal nature. What do I have to do to ensure my privacy?"
The projection of Andromeda appeared. "Beka, you can do a number of different things. What are the parameters of your search and nature of the files? Dylan will have to be informed if you are opening a file that will affect the security of this ship."
"Can you send your avatar to my quarters within the next 15 minutes? I will explain the details to her. This is personal. It is a bit unnerving to talk to a disembodied voice about it. Take no offense."
"She will be there in 10 minutes." Andromeda's projection disappeared without any further comment on the matter.
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Tyr left the lounge puzzled.
Harper and Trance had given him more information than he had intended to gain about Beka. He was unsure now.
They had humanized her by giving him a context for her sexually forward behavior. Before talking to them, he thought he could just have sex with her, squelch the need, and return his attention to his mission aboard Andromeda.
Those options were no longer open to him.
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Beka asked Rommie whether their conversation could be kept between her physical form and Beka before she told her what she needed.
Rommie stared at Beka for a good while before she said, "Andromeda, I will separate now and give a summarized report if my conversation deals with our security."
"Okay, my entire system doesn't like to be excluded. Once Harper gave me this body, my capacity expanded greatly. It was supposed to benefit the whole. When I separate like this, my parts begin to war within me. It as if my consciousness can take what it needs from the physical body and leave at will or ultimately leave the body behind completely. This better be a grave matter, Beka. I've only separated for a mission not for a personal matter of the crew."
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Tyr continued to walk as he thought through his remaining options.
Now it seems that he had to be concerned with how this sexual liaison would fulfill Beka's desire to have a solid, masculine figure in her life. The others had informed him, in the strictest confidence, that Beka's missing connection with her father and her undeserving brother had made Beka run from her need to depend on a man.
The need was still present. She made sure that she addressed it in a sexual way. A wrong move on his part would worsen her problems with males. She had sex to alleviate stress with men, but never dealt with consequences. In other words, she must fulfill the need to be close with men by sharing their bodies while leaving her soulful needs unmet.
"Crap, Andromeda please send your avatar to my quarters. I will be there in 5 minutes."
He had less than 30 minutes to prepare for their encounter. His nails would shred her vulnerable places if he didn't tend to them. He really didn't have a chance to prepare an adequate strategy. He'd just play it by ear.
"Tyr, please refrain from using language I don't understand. Rommie is currently with Beka. I don't know how long she will be. Is there a time frame involved in this request?"
Tyr pondered this information. He absentmindedly spoke his unguarded thoughts, "What does she need with the avatar? It doesn't make sense."
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Beka looked overwhelmed by the intricate mating practices of the Nietzscheans. They ranged from complex to simple. The courtships could be over short or extended periods. The length of courtship corresponded to the purpose of the mating. There was no set time length nor did the purpose have to remain the same.
"Rommie, do you realize I have had this entire Nietzschean thing wrong? Why didn't Tyr correct me?"
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Tyr stopped in Hydroponics. He had asked Trance to prepare the scents before he left the lounge. She told him what he needed to do before she was able to start on a formula.
Andromeda told him, "She has asked about privacy protocols on board. I don't know the specific aspects of the conversation because Beka asked Rommie to temporarily disconnect from my monitoring systems while she had this conversation. However, I doubt that it concerns any High Guard business. I am oblivious at the moment."
He thought it was odd comment. Instead, he remarked, "Andromeda, what are the privacy protocols for us?"
Andromeda responded by listing the scenarios that her former crew desired and needed to engage privacy mode. The ones which interested Tyr fit into 3 categories: selective screening of private conversations of crew and visitors, sexual contacts which she was strictly forbidden to monitor unless it had diplomatic implications, and coded messages to people who were not abroad Andromeda.
"Andromeda, what about courtship which has sexual implications? Do you monitor those and do you keep a log of who is involved with whom?"
Andromeda's projection joined him as he reached his room. She said, "Tyr, we do monitor courtship. We do keep a log of who has been involved with whom. We hold these things in the strictest of confidence. I refer you to the Commonwealth's procedural book on warships and romance."
Andromeda was more than a simple assembly of mechanical parts. She realized her consciousness in Rommie, but she had known longer than the Commonwealth about her possibilities. Harper allowed Andromeda the ability to manifest her deepest self. Rommie asking the rest of personas to separate hurt the chances Harper had given her.
She looked at Tyr with new eyes as she studied his manner. She had noted a difference before, but this new turn in his behavior might require a more urgent priority.
Tyr looked at the projection as he stepped into the shower, "Who has a right to request the logs and review the visual records?"
As she stood outside of the water, she continued to answer his question. The projection noticed that Tyr didn't have Dylan's hang ups about undressing in front of her or talking while he was in the midst of a personal grooming chore like showering. Or just maybe it was Andromeda who became uncomfortable watching Dylan and being able to have him.
Her core matrix smirked as her projection created a new notation on the avatar's to do list: stop in to check on Tyr when he was getting ready for a shift, for bed, or coming from the gym. Her central system reflected satisfaction as she thought of her new task. She might learn quite a bit.
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As Andromeda thought of studying human males, Rommie was in Beka's room helping her get ready.
If what Beka said about her meeting was correct, Rommie had less than 15 minutes to don her outfit and get her makeup together. They had spoke about so many personal topics concerning Nietzscheans: how they best liked to give and receive pleasure, how their heightened senses plied their partners with pleasure, and how to mate a Nietzscheans for life or for fun.
In some ways, Andromeda thought it was better that she had a smaller crew because they came to her with more details of their existence as humans. As a warship, her former crew just asked her mechanical questions about her operations and technical details of her informational capacity. The larger crew did not believe she could think or perceive outside her original design.
Rommie arched her eye studying Beka. "Do you really think all this information about mating practices among Nietzscheans in history will help you gain Tyr's favor? Do you even know what you are looking to Tyr to do today?"
Beka uneasily stated as if she was being cross-examined, "Tyr asked me to talk about the sexual tension between us. I upped the ante a little by telling him to meet me before our duty shift. My research relates to that specifically. I can't imagine diving into sex right away. But if I do I will be prepared for it."
"You know best, Beka." Rommie murmured disbelievingly.
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As Rommie's thoughts strayed to all she had learned about the sexual practices of Nietzscheans, Andromeda was still gazing upon his bare back.
She had stayed away from Tyr because of Gaheris Rahde's, Dylan's former commanding officer's, betrayal before the fall of the Commonwealth. Now she gazed at him intently.
She would make it her business to drop in on Tyr as much as, if not more than, Harper. Harper helped to configure her avatar, but Tyr might show her much more emotive behaviors than Harper or Dylan could. She would have to figure out how she could approach the Nietzschean.
"Tyr, do you still need the avatar or am I sufficient to meet your needs?"
"That is a tempting offer, Andromeda. You do know the double import which can be taken from that. Harper did tell me your avatar is fully functional and anatomically correct. Was he accurate?"
Readers:
As always, I'd be more than happy if someone volunteered to be a beta reader or would give me any helpful comments about the grammar, misspellings, or storyline. Stargenna@yahoo.com
Title PART 1: Tyr pursues, unites his Pride, Beka caves
Author Genna Star
Rating NC-17
Pairings Tyr/Beka OFC