Chapter 13: The Love Boat

Intimate relationships cannot substitute for a life plan. But to have any meaning or viability at all, a life plan must include intimate relationships.

Harriet Lerner

---

"What was she thinking?" Beka threw her bag on the large double bed and looked around the luxury cabin. "Mr. and Mrs. Larkin!"

"Maybe she thought she was coming," Rhade remarked, checking the wardrobes.

Beka frowned. "Oh. You and Trance got that close after one night on the pleasure Drift?"

"I'm taking the couch," Rhade did not bother to answer that particular question.

"Fine!" Beka sat on the bed. Quite comfy, actually. She sighed, falling back on the soft linen. The ceiling was mostly white, ornated with golden swirls. She missed the cramped, ugly Maru.

The tourist space ship 'Andrea Gloria' was approximately the size of the Andromeda. It had enormous lounge, twelve observation decks and a ball room the size of one deck. Everything was dripping with lavishness and extravagance. Beka felt like a little girl, lost in a twisted dream. Her mother's world came down on her and knocked her out cold.

Rhade, on the other hand, got used to such views on Tarazed and was by no means intimidated. He hid his bone blades under clothing and was passing for a regular entrepreneur, who just happened to travel with his lovely wife. Not a very successive entrepreneur, as they had a cabin in the cheapest part of the ship, but still.

"Funny," Beka smiled, following the swirls on the ceiling with the movement of her stretched out hand. "The Magog Worldship is approaching. The Abyss is about to annihilate the known universe. The Commonwealth is falling apart… And we are sitting on a luxury boat sailing a dreamy nebula… With hundreds of snobs."

"I wouldn't call that funny," Rhade was unpacking his bag. Beka glanced at him and noticed that every item of clothing was neatly folded. Pedantic.

"Why not?" she rolled over on the bed and now was dangling her legs in the air. "The universe is falling apart and we are about to get prepared for the Captain's Ball. Pathetic."

She didn't manage to fish Fohn the Perseid from the crowd. There was quite a number of Perseids aboard, which kind of surprised her. Captain's Ball was a great opportunity to find what they were looking for: every passenger was invited and it was not bon tone to reject the invitation.

"Rommie said she packed me a little something she just synthesized," Beka thought the silence awkward. "In case there was a formal reception."

"She's extremely predictive," observed Rhade. He sat on the edge of his coach and rested chin on folded hands. Maybe he was waiting for her to say something more. She just wasn't in the mood for any kind of confessions.

"I'll see what she managed to synthesize," she stood up and started unpacking. Whatever there was the moment before, vanished.

---

The little something proved to be a black dress with a corset, which tightly clung to Beka's body, stressing it's curves. She felt strangely out of character, wrapped in a silk skirt. She put on a necklace made of black space rocks that glimmered in shade like diamonds. A matching set of earrings glistened through her hair.

She even attempted to put on a little makeup. Something to tint the lips and stress the greenness of the eyes.

She pouted the lips to her reflection and turned around, letting the dress flow around her legs. Then she pushed the hair away from the eyes.

"Try putting it up," she heard Rhade from behind. She saw him in the mirror, buttoning up the elegant dark jacket with a stand-up collar. He looked… Stunning. That was the word she was searching for.

"Up?" she reached for the hair and gathered it in hand, then tried to do something with it. He moved closer, just a step away from her.

"Like this…" he paused. "May I?"

She just nodded. Flabbergasted Valentine. Good going girl. Simply great. Why don't you just take off your clothes already?

His hands were surprisingly warm. She felt his touch on the neck and shivered softly. He must have noticed that. Beka closed her eyes. This was not an innocent touch. The touch in the Med was not guiltless as well. Her mind raced from one event to another and she was discovering new things. New meanings to words once uttered.

You have told yourself: never again. No more Nietzscheans in your life, Valentine. They are all the same. Calculating bastards.

"Like this," he repeated and she opened her eyes.

He was holding her hair up, uncovering the neck. The tips of the hair formed a feather-like fountain above her head. In this hairstyle, the neck looked even longer. The earrings shimmered, reflecting light.

"Nice," she muttered, then cleared her throat. "Thanks. I think the girls packed me some hair pins… Thanks."

Yeah, really nice work, Valentine. What are you, twelve and dumbstruck?

At least all of this made her forget a bit about the past events. And the hollowness inside was filling. Slowly. With something else. But it was not a bad thing.

Not the worst thing possible.

Could have been worse, right?

---

"I still don't see him," Beka took a glass of intoxicating liquor from the passing waitress and sipped a little. "I guess we need to mingle some more, how I hate that…"

Rhade smiled on her complaints. "Why Mrs. Larkin… Let's pretend you are having a great time… And we are passing the ball room for the fifth time to admire the views."

"Let's, Mr. Larkin."

The crowd of well dressed snobs made Beka feel homicidal. Too many of them in too small space. True, the ball room was enormous, but not enough big for Beka. A huge observation window overlooked the almost mystical colors of the Poe Nebula. Twelve set of stairs led to an upper level, a balcony better suited for intimate conversations. Music was soft, non invasive. Something one would like to listen to while shopping.

Beka took a long look at the nebula and lifted the glass to her lips.

And there he was. Just opposite her, a few meters away. The Perseid.

Her fingers lost grip on the glass.

("The effect is wearing off.")

His worn out voice resonated through her head. The glass was falling, straight down, to crash on the floor.

Rhade reached out before she understood what has happened. He caught the glass, cat-like grace, not spilling a drop.

A woman who stood close clapped in admiration.

"There," Beka pointed. "It's him."

Rhade returned the glass to her. "No need to hurry," he stressed, whispering to her ear. "He doesn't know we are here. He won't run."

She nodded. Took a deep breath and then drank up the drink.

They walked slowly in the direction of the Perseid. "Do we have a plan what to do once we get to him?" Beka's eyes did not leave the target for a moment.

"I trust you'd be reasonable," Rhade replied. "He won't help us dead."

She hissed something under her breath. In the meantime, Fohn was approaching the stairs with a clear desire to reach the balcony. "Damn," Beka grunted. "Can't he stand in one place?"

They almost reached the stairs when she gasped in shock. Rhade was just about to ask her what happened, but she pushed him in the shade under the stairs. "Crap," she murmured. "They're coming this way."

"Th-" he didn't finish. Beka grabbed his neck and pulled him down, her lips meeting his.

Surprising.

And surprising for Beka as well, as he returned the kiss.

Her body responded with force she didn't expect. As if something –something that was gathering all that time – exploded deep down inside her, spilling waves of delight down her tights. Knees felt weak and she sank down; his arms held her tight and close. Drifting. She was drifting. Going under.

The kiss broke and left her gasping. For air and for more.

"Who…" Rhade asked, his lips still close to hers. Painfully close. "Who were you hiding from?"

Beka took a deep breath. "A guy I once… knew," she looked over Rhade's shoulder. "I think they're coming back." And she pulled him again for a kiss.

Though his Nietzschean senses did not warn him of anyone approaching.

---

Beka fixed her hair and straightened the corset. She shot Rhade a suspicious glance, but his face was unreadable.

Good. I don't need him all puppy-eyed. But you have to admit, Valentine… On scale 1 to 10 what would you give this guy?

Beka coughed. "The Perseid went up," she reminded.

"I'd go," Rhade offered. "If you still feel the need… To hide."

Oh, sardonic bastard. On scale 1 to 10…?

"I'll just… Wait a moment. Or two."

He nodded with that ironic look of his, then left her under the stairs.

20. On scale 1 to 10 a clear and honest 20.

---

Rhade walked up the stairs, trying to focus on the current prerogative. It was not as easy at it seemed, especially when he could feel Beka's taste. Sweet and spicy at the same time, just like her.

He did caught a glimpse of the 'guy she used to know' as she called him. A lean human with very short hair andirises so bright they seemed white. Climbing the stairs, Rhade looked back and spotted the 'guy' in the crowd. He apparently was a waiter on this ship.

Beka said 'they'. She meant the other waiters, or…?

The Perseid Fohn went to the bathroom and closed the door behind. Rhade sighed, following him.

---

Beka looked around before leaving her hideout. Not in her wildest dreams did she expect to see Danny King in this place. Danny King, working? Legally? The end is near, no doubt about that.

Hopefully he didn't notice her. After their last meeting… He would probably want some payback.

She stepped on the stairs, Rhade was nowhere to be seen. Beka looked up. A woman descending the stairs froze and opened her mouth in pure horror. Beka felt her heart stop.

Series of gunshots resonated through the ball room.

Beka turned to see Danny King –legal job my ass – pointing a gauss gun at the ceiling and at least a dozen of other men pulling out their weapons.

Crap crap crap crap crap…

Screams of panic filled the air. People started running chaotically, a bunch of scared animals. Beka thought of going up the stairs – and then one of the armed men appeared at the top. He aimed at a fat, balding guy who had the same idea as Beka. And shot him in the head.

Woman's shriek rose high. Beka tried to mix in with the crowd, to escape the sight of Danny… She couldn't believe her bad luck. Everything was falling apart, whatever she touched turned into pure dust.

Rhade, wherever you are now, stay there!

Stay there. Don't do anything stupid…

"Holy shit!" she heard a familiar voice and cursed. "Last time you were red!"

Danny King's gun was pointed at her chest and he was smiling from ear to ear like a dumb idiot. "Long time no see, honey!"

Crap was an understatement.

- - -

Beka never had luck with men... The Andromeda creators somehow found it suitable to give Dylan a lip-locking scene and a nice, good lady in almost every episode, but for Beka there was only... bad choosing. I understand a woman can be dumb in love. But that? At least they should have given her a nice guy in the end. NOT DYLAN. No way.

Anyway, I had to devise my own 'Beka's past guy'. A scum, like the rest of them -- let's keep in with the tradition. I think she's becoming aware of the fact that Rhade is there for her... Though she's going through the denial stage.

OK, as I promised, a substantial moment. Ah, the 'hair scene' was not in the original version, I came up with it on the spot. Just though it'd look good and kind of tense. The kiss, on the other hand... Well, You did see it coming, don't You? For Beka the hot-head, that was the only thing she could think of at the moment... And if it didn't work the way she planned it...

The next chapter is still being written and it's getting longer than I expected. Valentine's bad luck proves itself again, and the ex-boyfriend and his merry band of space pirates are not the only people rampaging the Andrea Gloria... That's for the teaser.

I didn't change the title. How. Absolutely. Pathetic.

Thanks for the reviews! Fueled by them I'll do my best to finish the next chapter and get going with the story... There is still so much to tell.