Beka hurried out of the cavern entrance into the cold night. She paused as a stiff breeze blew against her, cutting through the once warm jacket she was wearing. The cold took her breath for a moment before she tugged the zipper the rest of the way up and tried to bury her nose and mouth beneath the collar while jamming her hands deep into the pockets. She paced a few steps from the opening and looked out into the dark night. There was barely a sliver of a moon overhead. The pitch black of the night only relieved by the slight flicking of a fire in a fire pit that guided those who were out, home, and deterred animals from entering the cavern. All too soon, when winter set in and the snow began to fall, they would pull closed the gates, fortify them with large rocks on the inside to keep them from collapsing and insulating them with thick batches of dried grasses to keep out the winter freeze. Then, they would be sequestered to the cavern until the first signs of spring.

"Roberts? Or Rapp?"

Beka looked around when she heard the two names floating on the night air. She knew it was Tyr's voice but she hadn't seen him when she came out of the cavern.

"Up here."

Beka looked above the cavern opening to a flat ledge there. A lantern turned on just long enough for Beka to see Tyr seated up on the ledge, leaning back against the rock wall overhead. Beka pulled out her flashlight and shined it around until she found an easy path up to Tyr's perch. Many of the people in camp used the ledge during the day so there was almost a staircase carved into the rocks.

"Roberts? Or Rapp?" Tyr asked once more when Beka got to the ledge and walked out tentatively toward him. She knew it was not a long fall should she fall but her fear of heights did not know this. She moved closer to the face of the rock so she couldn't flash her light over the edge and scare herself. When she got to Tyr, she turned off the flashlight and waited until her eyes adjusted to the dimness of the near moonless night.

"Does it matter?" Beka asked as she looked down at Tyr. He was seated on a fur with the edges pulled over his outstretched leg with a fur wrapped around his shoulders.

"To me? No," Tyr shook his head as he looked up at Beka with a something akin to amusement in his eyes. Beka's personal, possible romantic, avoidances had become the topic of whispered conversation throughout the settlement. No one ever really noticed Tyr nearby overhearing every word that was spoken. "To you … perhaps yes … perhaps no."

"I just don't need that kind of drama in my life right now," Beka shook her head as she moved closer to Tyr. He threw back the fur on his legs and opened up his arm to separate the fur around his shoulders.

"You are shivering already. If you want to talk, at least be warm," Tyr gestured for her to sit on the fur between his outstretched legs. Beka looked at him doubtfully until the breeze blew lightly against her coat, cutting through the material. Beka stepped over his legs as he widened the V between his thighs so she could sit comfortably. Once she had sat down and stretched out her legs between his, he tightened the V so his legs were pressed firmly against hers as she tossed the ends of the fur back over their legs. Once she was more settled, Tyr wrapped the fur and his arms tightly around her and pulled her back against his chest. "What kind of drama do you not need in your life right now?"

"We are about to be stuck in the cavern system for the next four or five months," Beka replied as she looked out into the darkness that surrounded them. It was weird but comfortable to sit with Tyr, wrapped in his warmth and talk. It was another of those more intimate connections that she shared with him without fear of too much being made of the interaction. "I don't need the …"

Beka's voice was silenced when Tyr's hand slipped up and covered her mouth.

"Shhh," his voice was barely a whisper against her ear as he shushed her. A moment later she knew why when she heard something thrashing through the underbrush to their left. Beka found herself holding her breath as she felt Tyr shift and lean them both forward slightly so he could pull the knife that he carried, at all the times, from the sheath on the side of his boot.

"Selene."

The male voice was loud in the quiet of the night. A second thrashing, louder than the first, could be heard following the first.

"Selene."

The voice said once again as the two sounds passed the ledge and continued down to the area right outside the cavern opening. Beka focused on the voices as she tried to figure out who the male was. She knew who Selene was. There was only one Selene in the camp.

"What Gawain?" A female voice floated up to them from below.

Beka found herself a little surprised to find that the male voice trailing along behind Selene was one of the other Nietzschean males on Andromeda's crew to survive. Selene was just your run of the mill heavy gravity Human.

"You're angry," Gawain's voice was very straight forward and factual.

"I am not angry," Selene replied in a terse tone. "I am disappointed."

"Why are you disappointed?" Gawain's voice had a slight undertone of amusement in it when he spoke. Beka could almost see the little smirky smile she was sure he was giving Selene at the moment. Gawain was just like every other Nietzschean male on the planet. He was hot as hell and had a superiority complex that size of a Cetus.

"You know exactly why I am disappointed," Selene replied with a little less terseness in her voice.

In her mind, Beka could almost see the woman's irritation with the Nietzschean male disappearing.

"You are the one who was complaining about the cold," Gawain reminded in a more soothing tone. "I merely suggested perhaps we should return to camp. If you would like …"

Beka found herself holding her breath waiting for the next words. Gawain's voice had taken on the low, seductive timbre that just added to the Nietzschean male's sex appeal.

"Ya know what," Selene replied after a long silence stretch between them. "Every fiber of my being wants to say yes."

"Then let's go." Beka heard the sound of Gawain's boots on the hard ground beneath them.

"But … I can't," Selene voice was hesitant when she spoke.

"Yes, you can," Gawain sighed deeply. From the sounds below Beka could imagine him turning back to look at Selene.

"I need to be more than just the chick who gets you off when you're sexually needy," Selene replied slowly. "I want to be more than just the girl you sneak off into the woods with at night to get a hand job."

"You are not just the girl who gives me a hand job," Gawain pointed out as the timbre of his voice lowered. Beka could imagine the Nietzschean male causing Selene's heart to hammer in her chest and her stomach flutter. There was just something about the masculine sexuality that oozed from every pore of many Nietzschean males that made them difficult to resist when they turned on the charm. Every word out of their mouth when they spoke in that soft, deep velvety tone could turn a woman to putty in their hands even if the words were on the verge of being insulting. "Come back with me."

"I'll make you forget all about the cold," Gawain's voice was barely audible to Beka on the ledge overhead. Beka could imagine that Gawain had moved a little closer to Selene, maintained eye contact with a look of sexual enticement that would make a woman's pants catch on fire, lowered his voice and leaned in, whispering in her ear while nuzzling her neck.

"Gawain," Selene's voice sounded uncertain when she spoke. Beka heard little conviction in her tone as she said the words. Selene was just on the edge of heading back up into the woods with the Nietzschean male to 'forget all about the cold'.

"I want to have a baby," Selene suddenly blurted out into the still night air.

"What?" Gawain voice held a shade of surprise when he spoke.

Beka held her breath as she strained her ears to make sure she didn't miss anything. She knew there was no way Gawain was agreeing to that. Until just a few minutes ago, Beka didn't even know Selene and Gawain had a thing. Beka had never seen them even speak to one another around camp. Beka was pretty sure there was a little chemistry going on between Selene and guy named Charlie.

"I want to have a baby," Selene replied with a little more certainty in her tone. "I want to start a family like Ariana."

"I am not the father of that boy," Gawain replied quickly. Beka had to give Gawain that point. Selene's best friend on the planet, Ariana had given birth to a boy this last spring. The child did not have even the slightest hint of boneblades on his forearms. It sounded like perhaps Selene knew Gawain and Ariana had been involved at some point.

"I know you are not the father of her son. Randal was willing to create life with her when you were not," Selene replied. "You would let a heavy gravver suck your dick all day long. You would screw a modified Human like your life depended on it until she found out she could get pregnant. But you would never knowingly, willingly lower yourself to father a child with a Human. Would you Gawain?"

"Charlie and I are going to give it a try. This time will be different. Not like before," Selene continued when Gawain failed to answer her. "When we were all sure we were going to die soon and just threw all caution to the wind and got a little crazy. We're gonna be a family."

"You and I have nothing to do with you and Charlie," Gawain said after a pause.

"You and I … whatever we have been doing … is over," Selene replied with a little more resolution in her tone. "I'm not going to keep sneaking off in the woods with you at night while trying to make a go of it with Charlie. Charlie has been there for me when I needed him. I owe him … a little … loyalty."

"Loyalty?" Gawain scoffed lightly. "Charlie is with Sarima as we speak and you speak of loyalty?"

"He and I have talked. I just hadn't made up my mind. Until tonight," Selene replied heatedly. "I'm choosing Charlie … over you."

"You say that as if it is supposed to mean something to me," Gawain's replied in a perplexed tone.

"Doesn't it?" Selene's voice turned taunting. "Don't your people have this thing about males compete and the females choose the best male. I'm choosing Charlie."

"You think you're special?" Gawain replied in a belittling tone. "You're not. Do you really think you are the only woman on this planet to give me pleasure in the last three years? Go to Charlie. It matters not to me."

Beka thought she could hear the sounds of his booted feet on the ground

"At least we are making babies. Making a future," Selene snapped back in a louder voice which made Beka think Gawain was walking away from her. "You'll die on this rock … alone … childless … forgotten … all because you're still too damn full of yourself …"

"Nietzschean arrogance."

Beka heard Selene muttering to herself before she heard the sounds of the woman hurrying back toward the cavern as well.

"Well," Beka said after a long moment to break the silence between she and Tyr. "Who knew Gawain was getting his from Selene? And apparently countless other women in the camp."

"Is this how you know so much about what is going on around camp?" Tyr asked softly in response.

"It's not like I was spying on them or anything," Beka shrugged slightly. "I just happened to be sitting here, enjoying the night air, when they stopped to have a conversation without determining if they were alone."

Beka considered it for a moment.

"I didn't hear you speaking up or making any noise to alert them to our presence," Beka continued in a lightly accusing tone when she pointed out his actions. She leaned back against Tyr once again when she realized she had actually sat forward to make sure she could hear the conversation below them.

"My mother used to tell me that watching and listening would get me far more than speaking," Tyr replied as his arms tightened around Beka ever so slightly when she relaxed back against his chest.

"In all of the years I have known you … I think that may have been the first time I ever heard you speak of your mother," Beka turned slightly to look back at Tyr.

"There has never been a reason to speak of her," Tyr replied as he looked out passed her into the darkness.

"Did she impart any other words of wisdom?" Beka asked as she turned to look out into the night. It appeared their earlier conversation had been derailed. Beka was thankful for Selene and Gawain's interruption so she did not have to delve into her personal affairs with Tyr.

"I am certain she did but none that I can think of at the moment," Tyr replied as he leaned forward a little and stretched out his back. The hard rock behind him was beginning to become uncomfortable even with the padding from the fur. He was also beginning to feel the cold of the evening air making its way through the warm fur and chilling his back and bottom from sitting on the rocks.

"Do you think Selene's rejection of Gawain will cause any issues?" Beka asked once Tyr had settled back against the rock.

The crew were about to be sealed up in the caverns for the next few months. Beka needed to know if she should expect any confrontations in that time. After weeks of being locked up together, even the most mild mannered would begin to get snippy after a long winter. People with personal issues and grudges tended to go off much quicker. In the past, they had actually quarantined people to keep them away from one another. Basically, they were put in separated caverns and banned from venturing out of them. So far, the threat of alienating the entire society by breaking the rules had kept everyone toeing the line. Fortunately, Beka had never had any problems with the four Nietzschean males, including Tyr, living within the community.

"If Gawain has other outlets to satiate his desires, I do not believe there will be problems between he and Charlie," Tyr replied thoughtfully. Unfortunately for the four Nietzschean males that survived the battle and the Magog attacks to make it to the planet, there were no Nietzschean females in the community. There were never any fertile Nietzschean females on the Andromeda. The sterile females were most likely in the fighter squadrons that were lost early on in the battle or in the reaction forces which were devastated by the invading Magog. "I would be more concerned about Selene. It sounded as if she was more invested in the relationship than Gawain. She actually tried to make him jealous by pointing out she was choosing Charlie over him."

"Selene had a point," Beka broached the topic carefully. She found herself in an odd position as she lay back against Tyr's broad chest with his arms wrapped tightly around her, keeping them protected against the dipping temperatures.

"What would that be Beka?" Tyr asked even though he knew what she was referring to at the moment. It was not the first time they had discussed it.

"The chance of rescue drops every year," Beka replied hesitantly. "There are four Nietzschean males on this planet and zero Nietzschean females."

"As long as there is life, there is hope," Tyr offered slowly as he considered her words. The longer they were they, the more often he found himself pondering the issue.

"Three long years," Beka sighed softly as she thought about it. Three long years without male companionship or sex. Relationships had never really been Beka's thing. They were complicated and hard and often went SPLAT. Being stuck on a rock in the middle of nowhere, living in close quarters with the rest of the survivors, depending on one another for survival, did not bode well for anything casual. And Beka, in a way, feared something more permanent. "One good thing is the crew was mostly young and strong. Our little community is growing in numbers. As long as we are careful, taking into consideration the growth when planning for the winter, having children … creating a future for our little community … is a good idea."

"Your genes are sound. You should breed," Tyr informed her. Everything about Beka Valentine was impressive. Her leadership once on this planet had pleasantly surprised Tyr. Her drive to survive and thrive on the planet were promising. If not for the simple fact that she was Human, Tyr would have encouraged more than a closer friendship between them. In the quiet solitude of the long nights, he had pondered his future. As time wore on, the chance of rescue dwindled. He knew this. Of the females on the planet, there was only one who interested him as a potential partner just as she did with a dozen other males in their little community. It would be her choice and he knew from years of observing Beka Valentine that the males making advances toward her now had little chance of success.

Beka felt herself tense when he spoke those words. She knew what was coming next. The topic she had hoped had been derailed by Selene and Gawain's appearance.

"Roberts and Rapp are both viable candidates," Tyr continued in a nonchalant tone. He did not see her choosing to be with either male at the moment.

"Stop," Beka said quickly as she shook her head. "We are not going to discuss … me … breeding. We are not … evaluating … possible candidates."

"I overheard Trance and Walters, the medic, talking the other day," Tyr replied when Beka stopped speaking. "Both seem to agree that under these conditions females over 55 should not breed. It would be dangerous to the female and the offspring. Without advanced medical capabilities, the chance of defects is far too high."

"I am thirty," Beka's replied indignantly.

"You are not getting any younger," Tyr offered. A smile crossed his lips when Beka's elbowed him lightly.

"What about you?" Beka asked as nonchalantly as she could. Sitting there in the night, wrapped in his warm embrace, the possibilities were not lost on her. However, 'never in a million years' always made its way into her thoughts whenever she considered the possibilities.

"I am Nietzschean. My bioengineered system is functioning at full capacity from what Trance can tell," Tyr's arms loosened as they unwrapped from around her. "I can make babies until the day I die so long as my bioengineered system functions to eliminate potential mutations in my DNA. I have time."

"Time for?" Beka asked softly. She knew what his answer would be. She could tell by the loosening of his arms around her that the conversation was just about over. Their time together had come to an end. Anytime this topic revolved around to him, discussion seemed to end. She wanted to ask about the bombshell he had dropped on her about his son being alive. She knew that would be completely shut down and possible drive a wedge between them and she definitely did not want that.

"Rescue," Tyr offered as he released his hold on her. "We should go into the cavern. Even with the furs and my warmth, you are becoming chilled."

"It definitely got chilly real quick there," Beka replied as Tyr opened the fur and Beka tossed the fur back from her legs. She got to her feet and moved a few steps from Tyr. Her comment was more about the interaction between them than the actual temperature outside. She looked back at him as he remained seated on the ground. "You coming?"

"You should go inside and get warm," Tyr shook his head slightly. "I will be in shortly."

"Don't stay out too long," Beka replied as she headed for the path to the entrance below. She stopped after a few steps and turned back toward Tyr. The furs were back over his legs and wrapped around his body as his head rested back against the rock wall behind him and his eyes were closed. Beka watched him for a few moments before quietly making her way the rest of the way down the slope.