Author: Invid Fan
Title: The Waifs
Part: 2
Summary: When war has reached every corner of the known worlds, what can you do? Teen soldiers steal a space ship to try and find out. Once you kill, can you still be a kid?
Keywords: MinimulSex, SciFi, mf, teen

****

THE WAIFS 
By Invid Fan
(c)2013

Chapter 7

"Man down! We're coming in! We need covering fire!"

Mel was screaming into her headset as the raiding party fled back through the forest. She was hysterical, a state Kine was willing to allow her. The weight of Ken's body over his shoulders, as he staggered as fast as he could, kept his mind focused on the task at hand. The teen was still moaning in pain, which Kine figured had to be a good sign. Much better than dead silence.

There was a sound behind them. Lessa wheeled around, dropped to one knee, bringing the pulse rifle up to her shoulder. She let go with a long burst into the trees, a faint cry coming back. She was on her feet again, catching up with the others a moment later.  

A break in the trees ahead showed the grey bulk of the shuttle, their pace increasing in unspoken unison. The top turret spun towards them, letting go with a ten second spray of fire over their heads in a ninety degree arc. It swept back in the other direction, the sound of wood exploding behind them more frightening than comforting. The shuttle's side hatch opened, Amanda standing in the doorway frantically waving them in. Her relief at seeing that it wasn't Kine that was hurt instantly turning into horror as her brother burst past her and all but dropped Ken to the floor. Mel and Lessa were right behind him, Lessa slamming the butt of her rifle into the hatch controls as she passed.

"Go! Go!" Not caring if she was heard, Lessa tossed her rifle on the floor and dropped down beside Ken. Med kit out, she grabbed the first painkillers she saw and slammed the needle into him. Mel dropped to her knees on the other side of her friend, hands touching his face while softly chanting his name. Ken was still grimacing in pain. As Lessa ripped open his shirt, Mel looked at the charred torso and wailed in despair. Lessa didn't even know where to start…

****

Kine tossed his exhausted body into the copilot's chair next to Ger, grabbing the radio. As the shuttle made a full power takeoff, causing those in the back to quickly grab something, Kine paused a second to gather his thoughts.

That, as his sister would say, never took long.

"Teddybear to Liberty! Man down! Have aborted! Request you level target!" Ger looked over at him with an uncomprehending gaze.

"What the hell happened?"

Two missiles passed over the ship, heading down. Flipping on the rear camera, Kine and Ger saw a square kilometer of forest go up in flame. A moment later, a series of secondary explosions erupted in a line due south. Kine let out a sigh, slumping down in his seat. Gods… 

"AAAAAAAAAHHHH!"

He was instantly out of his seat and in the cabin doorway.

Ken's face was contorted into a horrible scream of pain, eyes open, but it was obvious that for him the pain was over. Lessa sat back on her heels, another shot of pain killer in her hands, unneeded. Amanda leaned against the exterior hatch, head bowed, crying. But it was Mel that his eyes focused on. The half bald young woman was sitting with Ken's right hand clutched in both of hers. Even from a couple meters away, Kine could see the tears literally flowing off her face, puddling on the floor. She just kept chanting.

"Ken, my love, my Ken…" Finally, the black of space replacing the blue of sky around them, she gently released his hand and placed his limp arm down next to his body. Leaning down, Mel placed a gentle kiss on Ken's cheek, and sat up. Her left hand going to her side, she drew her weapon and placed it to her ear.

Lessa was at her instantly, one hand going for the gun, the other Mel's elbow. She barely made it, twisting the teen's wrist until the gun fell from her fingers. Mel was knocked to the ground, Lessa half on her, half on the dead boy, trying to pin the struggling girl's arms to the ground. Kine was quickly over, grabbing her wrists, while a shocked Amanda grabbed the gun. Mel screamed in rage, legs kicking out frantically.

"Let me die! Get the fuck off of me and let me die! My Ken!"

****

Eventually, Mel stopped struggling, collapsing into a crying, exhausted heap. She curled up, almost in a fetal position, next to her dead friend. Kine and Lessa slowly struggled to their feet. Kine sighed.

"We were going to lose someone sooner or later."

Lessa closed her eyes, almost falling back against the smooth cabin wall.

"I… I've never lost someone I've tried to save before. I've… seen so many I've known die, and killed so many, but…" She looked down at her hands, hands covered with streaks of blood and charred skin. "Why is this the first time my hands have felt dirty?"

****

The shuttle Teddybear was slowly drawn inside the Liberty. The outer doors had barely closed before the cruiser's main engines ignited, breaking it from its orbit around the moon Revell. Air was recycled into the small bay around the craft, the inner door rolling back to exposing the shuttle to the large hanger that filled the bottom of the cruiser. As hydraulics pushed it father into the hanger, allowing access to all sides, teens seemed to appear from nowhere to converge on the ship. It had barely stopped before the side hatch opened, revealing Kine carrying Ken. There was silence, apart from the winding down of various motors and the usual hum of the spacecraft, as the crowd parting for Kine and the others as they came to stand on the deck. Mel was held up by both Lessa and Amanda, oblivious to all.  

Two young fourteen year old twins, dressed in white medical staff outfits, cut through the crowd pushing a stretcher on wheels. Their grey eyes were wide, horrified, on seeing Ken. Lessa waved her new staff over, impatient at their delay. Kine carefully lay the body down on the stretcher as soon as it was close. He took his light jacket off, covering Ken's face.

"Take him to that small room with the bunk beds in the back that we never knew the purpose of," Lessa told Bell and Bella. "I think we can now guess what was to be stored there." She shifted a bit to lift Mel up, as the girl was starting to feel heavy. "And bring another stretcher for her."

"No… no… I'm… OK." Mel raised her head, removing her arms from around Lessa and Amanda (much to the relief of the twelve year old, who had been getting crushed but didn't feel right saying anything) as she stepped forward. "I'll walk with them."

Lessa nodded. Slowly, the three girls started to push Ken across the bay towards the elevators. As he passed, comrades reached out to touch him, others standing at attention in salute. Most had one thought foremost in their mind:

"It wasn't me this time."

Lessa looked up and saw Don entering the bay. He stopped and let the funeral party go by, face expressionless, before walking over to the still gathered crowd. Shelly was with him, distraught. Lessa wanted to tell her this wasn't her fault… well, not much her fault. That would have to wait. Don spoke.

"Everyone… spread out and find somewhere to sit. Kine, Lessa… Brat…" This broke the tension a bit, drew out some chuckles, as well as a "Fuck You!" from Amanda. Don went on with a nod, and slight smile, pulling over a box of parts to sit on. He sighed.

"You three have a seat and report. Are you OK? Need anything?" Kine waved away the drinks two boys had rushed over, and sat on the deck leaning back against the shuttle. It was still cold from space, and that seemed to wake his mind up a bit. He felt Amanda sit and press her body against his, leaning her head against his shoulder. He put an arm around her, and with Lessa leaning against the ship, drink in hand, he looked at Don and started.

**** 

The month since leaving Xanth had been rather successful, on all fronts. Between Don's cautious audacity, the tactical skills of Kine, the combat abilities of Lessa and others, and Sean's contacts and picking of targets (as well as his natural hatred of risk), they had managed to keep themselves going while restocking the ship, with gold to spare. Their numbers had even increased by ten over what they started with, although some of those were of questionable utility. After visiting a couple of the other moons of Xeres, they had struck out for the heavily contested world of Baal. In the extreme rear of the front, behind Rebel lines on that world, there was rumor of a sex slave camp. As well, on Baal's smallest moon Revell, Federation controlled for the most part, they also had word of an abandoned camp. The slavers had pulled out when the Rebels withdrew from the moon, or so the story had gone. Don had decided, before doing anything foolish, they should case it out so as to know what the active camp might be like.  

"Abandoned, my ass," Kine spat. "It was occupied alright."

"But we just!?!" interjected a boy, eyes widening.

"No, no," Kine reassured, "there were no slaves there that we saw. That's one reason we got in so much trouble: with no one to guard, there were no guards or patrols. We walked right in only to finally notice the parked vehicles and people coming out of the mess hall. Our fault, totally." He looked at Lessa apologetically. "We should have done a perimeter sweep first like you wanted, but I wanted to save time…" Kine shrugged. "Lessa left us for a bit to draw them away and buy us time, but we hit a group on the way out and lost Ken."

Don sighed.

"You did your best, probably much better than I would have." He looked down at his legs. "I still can't run worth shit." This drew some laughs, the non-athletic nature of their leader a running, if respectful, joke. "But," he continued, "did you at least get a good look at the place? Could we hit one like that fully guarded, with some chance of actually rescuing kids alive?"

Kine thought for a moment, but it was Lessa who looked Don in the eye and answered.

"Yes, if we hit them hard with everything we have."

**** 

Bell had never seen death before.

Loss, yes. Sorrow, starvation, misery, all had been there at various times. Pain, too. But... not death. Her parents had been gone for as long as she had memory. The war had never come to her city. Her mind... was numb.

She looked at her twin. Bell had not known Bella as a child. Had not bonded with her sister in the ways she had read was the norm. Thus, in some ways she was still a mystery. Not now, though. Bella's expression mirrored her own, eyes wide, lost.

Bell sighed. She now understood the others on the ship in ways she never wanted to, and hated the knowledge.

Her sister wrapped her arms around herself. Seeing the sense in such an action, Bell did the same. They stood next to the covered body of Ken, still resting on the stretcher in the main room of sickbay. Mel had stopped them here, eyes pleading. To refuse anything to her, now, or ever...

"Are you OK, Mel?"

Bell was surprised she had found her voice. It even sounded... calm. A shiver went through her, though, her mind feeling faint. She'd have to sit down soon.

Mel didn't answer. She stood on the other side of the stretcher, hand stroking the covered face of their friend. The two sisters traded a glance. Bella nodded.

"Can we get you something...?" Bella seemed to fade off, as if realizing the only thing their friend needed it was beyond their power to give. Mel, though, took a deep breath, and let it go.

"I was an idiot." The sisters stayed silent. Mel raised her eyes to then, reaching her right hand over. The two took it in theirs. Her hand was cold. "I never slept with him. Did he tell you that? He asked, but I..."

"He told us he loved you." Bell could feel her sister shoot a worried glance at her, but she wasn't evil enough to tell Mel Ken had refused their advances, saving himself for his friend. It would only hurt her. As it was, she saw Mel close her eyes, felt her hand squeeze theirs.

"And I loved him. I was just... it never was the right time." Mel sighed, pulling her hand back. "Time..."

"He'd want you to go on," Bella said. "Be happy."

"Yeah," Mel said, some of her dry humor returning. "Well, that's easy for him to say."

****

"We could still leave, you know."

Amanda stood in the doorway to their cabin, leaning against the door frame as Kine collapsed onto his bed, face first. He rolled onto his back, looking up at his little sister. She still had on her "war" outfit, as she called it- loose fitting brown pants and jacket with a tan t-shirt. Her gaze stayed on him as she unbuckled her gun belt. It fell to the floor with a thud. He closed his eyes.

"Not this again. Close the door." She stepped forward and did so, kicking the belt further into the room. He opened his eyes and met her gaze. She looked so sad…. "No, we can't leave. Not yet, at least."

"WHEN? I almost… I could have lost you today!" Amanda shuffled over to the bed and dropped to her knees next to it, reaching over to take her brother's left hand in both of hers. He rolled over onto his side to face her.

"You could have lost me countless times in the past few…" He trailed off at her expression, realizing this was, in fact, the point.  

"I want to be safe. I want YOU to be safe, Kine! Let's just go somewhere where we can live and play all day!" She was trying not to cry, but it was hard. When her brother reached out with his free hand to stroke her soft cheek, tears did flow and wet his fingers. His fingers traced the path of the tears back up to their source, trying to stem the flow.

"Where, Amanda? You heard about the uprising on Xanth. I don't know if it reached Seneca, but it's no safer now than any other place. At least here we can protect ourselves."

"But you keep LEAVING!" She was rubbing her face against his hand. Giving out a groan, Kine sat up on the bed and swung his legs over the edge. He pulled Amanda up into his lap, and she buried her head into his chest as he wrapped her in his arms, slowly rocking her back and forth.  

"Shh, it's OK… it won't be forever. Just… for a little longer. I need to see this through. Then… we'll see." He didn't know if she believed him. Hell, Kine didn't know if he believed it. He stroked her blond hair, no longer in pigtails but in one long braid down the back like Lessa had started doing… "Is there anything I can do to make this easier for you?"

Amanda sniffed, trying not to get snot on her wonderful brother's shirt. Looking up with eyes that, for once, weren't trying to be childish and needy yet were that way anyway, she bit her lip.

"Could… could we have flowers in here? Real flowers? I'll water them and take care of them…"

"I think we can do that." He looked over at her painting of a green park on the wall next to her bed. "Yeah, we can do that. Maybe even turn an extra room or two into a garden. I can't promise when..."

"And," she added, fingers playing with a button on his shirt as she prepared to press her luck, "can I have a pet?"

"But we already have Wendi and Sirenia," Kine replied, faking confusion, "why do you need a third?"

The sibling on sibling violence that followed was too graphic and tickle filled to describe.

**** 

Lessa was staring at Don again.

This, he thought, was getting silly. OK, so the young woman, for some unknown reason, liked him. Big fucking do. That didn't mean she had to find reasons to hang around him, talk to him, LOOK at him… couldn't she have whatever stupid romantic feelings girls had someplace else? Here he was, trying to have a quiet dinner in the cafeteria, digesting not just the food but what the day's disaster meant, and Don could just feel her dark eyes on him. He did not WANT to be looked at. Glancing up, their gazes met and she smiled at him.

OK, that does it.

Don grabbed up his tray, and walked out. He'd eat in his cabin from now on.

**** 

Lessa let out a groan as Don left the cafeteria. What had she done now? She had no experience with this. Hell, she didn't even know exactly what THIS was! She grabbed the mug of fruity alcoholic drink in front of her and drained half of it. Little Wendi walked by the table with a pitcher. Seeing Lessa's mood, she placed the entire pitcher down with the handle turned towards Lessa and walked away. This, at least, brought a bitter laugh from the teen.

****

Shelly entered a short while later, looked around, saw her friend, and waved. Not waiting for a response she went and picked up a tray of today's meal (some sort of meat with brown gravy, and green and orange former plant things) and a mug and headed over to her friend. She passed a table with Rich and one of the twins (Bell?), and pretended not to see them. Shelly plopped down next to Lessa, taking a swig of her drink. Looking over at the half empty pitcher, she raised an eyebrow.

"Having a good day, are we?"

"Boys are fucking assholes."

Shelly laughed and raised her mug in toast to that, eyes noticing Rich was leaning very close to the dark skinned newcomer.

"Yes, and the almost men aren't much better."

Lessa looked over at the almost man in question, and shook her head.

"So, it's over?"

"It never really started, to be honest." Shelly let out a sigh. "Once I wasn't in the mood to fuck all the time he started looking elsewhere, and, really, I didn't mind."

"I have noticed you haven't been such a, um…"

"Slut?"

"How about physically outgoing woman?" They both laughed at that, Shelly raising her mug again as they both toasted and took another drink. Looking around the room she saw LOTS of drinking. Couldn't blame them- Ken had been liked. Shelly turned and regarded her friend.

"So… Don problems?"

Lessa slammed her empty mug on the table.

"Why does the first guy I ever get interested in have to be one that hasn't hit puberty yet?!?" Shelly had to chuckle at that.

"Maybe we should ask Sean to make sure he doesn't swing that way before you get all bent out of shape."

Lessa blew a raspberry at her, putting her elbows on the table and head in her hands.

"Why do I care, Shelly? I don't want to, but… I can't stop thinking about him. He's not even hunky! But every time I see him… you have to help me." She turned to her friend. "Please. You're the expert."

"Ha! Look, Lessa, I'm as clueless as you are when it comes to romance." Her eyes softened as she looked at her best friend's beautiful face. Lessa blushed and lowered her eyes, as Shelly gave a self deprecating chuckle and went on. "I mean, I can give you all the pointers you want about how to please a male in bed, can even pull a random boy into the room to help demonstrate certain things, but… I honestly can't help you with the steps before that point because I've never been there either."

They both lapsed into silence, Shelly deciding to start in on her cooling dinner. Lessa refilled her mug and took a swig.

"Why did you stop spending time with Rich?"

Shelly put down her fork, and gazed out unseeing into the room.

"After seeing that video… and after we decided to try and stop that… I finally decided I'll try… TRY, I have to stress, as I've already backslid a number of times… try to link the act of love to actual love."  

Lessa actually sat up in her seat when she heard that, looking at her friend in a new way. She was impressed, or as much as she could be in her increasingly drunken state. Seeing this, Shelly got a sly smirk on her face.

"So… if you and Don ever do get together, I assume I can join you for a threesome?"

The rest of the juice was out of the pitcher and over her head before the sentence was even finished.

Chapter 8

"This," Lessa said, "is my plan for the attack."

The four teens who had come to rule the ship over the past month and a half stood around the table in the conference room. Lessa stood at one end, dressed, as she usually was at these meetings, in combat fatigues. They were new ones of somewhat her own design, a cross between the usual Rebel and Federation gear, and others were starting to copy them. If there was an official "mission" uniform this dark brown, loose but form fitting outfit was it. Some wondered why the sixteen year old kept wearing the black and red rope braid on her shoulder, a sign of rather unthinkable actions in the name of the Federation, but for her it was a continual reminder of who she had been, and who she could be again if the situation demanded it. A threat, then, as it were.

Opposite her was Don, looking intensely at the holographic map between them. His outfit, to her amusement, never changed. He wore the same battered Rebel uniform he had when she first saw him, patched and repaired as if they were still outcasts in the forests of Faranth… with that stupid necklace. Ah, the necklace. Just once, she told herself in her more emotional moments, she wanted him to look at her and touch her the same way he did that hunk of metal. At other times she just wanted to rip the thing off his neck and toss it into the sun. He honestly didn't seem to give a fuck about anything else. Don looked up, waiting for her to go on. Lessa blushed slightly and looked back down at her notes.  

Sean and Kine, standing between them on opposite sides of the table, just looked at each other and shook their heads. Both now had partners to help relieve their sexual tensions, so found the various crushes, love triangles and quadrangles amusing. So long as they didn't get in the way of what had to be done.

"Your plan?" Kine prompted, giving Lessa a sly grin. She tossed him a glance that told him to fuck off, but such threats were never taken seriously now among this group. Not that he had ever done so anyways.  

"The plan," Lessa continued. She found the image she wanted and displayed a reconstruction of the slaver camp from their last, failed, mission. "The active camp is located in the forests of the continent Jahova on Baal, a good three hundred klicks from any settlements. We have no real way of reconning the place, as the Rebs do have some defenses in the area and we don't want to provoke them any more than needed, so we're going to just assume it's about the same as the first camp."

Sean raised an eyebrow at her.

"You're shitting me."

She shook her head.

"We can recon if you like, but getting someone in and out will be risky enough without having to do it twice. What good will it be to get a good look at the camp only to be unable to ever return?" Sean just shook his head at that and looked back down at the display. He hated unneeded risks. She went on.

"The raid will take two days." They all looked up, at bit shocked at that. "We will start by using all three shuttles to land three bands of troops at these three locations." She scaled the map back to show the larger area around the camp. "They will be a day's march from the camp, and with luck won't be noticed. We can come in low enough to not be seen on their scanners." Kine and Sean exchanged another glance. "The shuttles will stay on the ground while each group makes their way towards the camp. Two groups will have eight soldiers each, the third will contain me, Kine, Sean, and Irene."

"Irene?" Kine asked. "Why her?"

"She's the best we have at electronics. Gonna need her once we get to the camp if we come against certain locks, and maybe before if there are sensors in the forest but I don't think that'll be an issue."

"Really?" Sean asked. He was starting to get amused at this entire plan. Trust a woman to come up with something this silly. Lessa met his gaze.

"Yes, really. With all the animals, the amount of false alarms they'd be getting…"

"Animals?!?" Now Sean knew she wasn't serious about this, and his disbelief was clear on his face. Lessa just sighed, the sigh of one dealing with idiots you cannot, yet, have the pleasure of gutting and killing.

"Yes, animals. Are you that stupid? Baal was one of the planets with an ecosystem on it when it was colonized, and most of the life managed to survive the tweaks to the atmosphere. There are some rather large creatures in the uninhabited forests, and given that the slavers seem to be using distance as their primary defense I'm going to reasonably assume they haven't gone and put in the effort to wipe them out of the area just so they can put in some sensors that won't give off false alarms twenty times a night."

Sean did a quick search of his own on his pad, the surprise when it turned out she was right clear on his face. Never one to apologize, he just shrugged and nodded for her to continue. Lessa saw the slight smile on Don's face, and her cheeks flushed again.

"So! All three groups will make their way towards the target, stopping to rest about three klicks from the camp. My group will make the first move." She brought back the map of the camp. "About three hours after midnight, the four of us will enter the camp. If we can't… we abort." Don looked up at her and nodded.

"You're to abort at any setback that might risk everyone. We are NOT suiciding over this." Don's gaze went from person to person, and all three nodded. "Continue."

"We THINK we know where the slaves are kept, but we're not sure, naturally. Our job will be to find them, see how many we're dealing with and their condition, then set a beacon in that building and wait. That'll be the signal for phase two." She hit some keys and the view changed. "The other two bands will have taken position on either side of camp just at the tree line.  Once the beacon is on, the three shuttles will launch and come in for a low level bombing attack that hits every building and defensive structure EXCEPT the one we're in. We hope." She grinned at that, and both Kine and Sean joined her. They had all been on the receiving end of friendly fire before.

"So. Once the bombing starts our troops will also fire from the woods, sowing as much confusion as possible. Let them think this is a huge attack. After two bombing runs, one of us will toss another beacon in a clear space next to the building we're in and one of the empty shuttles will land and we'll get as many of the slaves on board as possible. If they won't all fit… either I'll call in another shuttle, if we think the defenses are down enough, or we'll make our way into the woods with them and get picked up later. Either way we'll signal a withdrawal and everyone pulls back to the original landing zones for a pickup."

She stopped, and looked over at Don. He was going over it in his mind, and she bit her lower lip hoping he approved. She had worked hard on this, trying to find something that had a chance with their limited information and resources. She wasn't a planner, though. At least, she did her best work when bullets were whizzing by her head and death was grinning from his perch on a nearby rock.

"What if we don't need the attack?"

Lessa looked startled.

"What?"

"What if," Don said, "you four manage to literally walk into the camp and think you can walk out with everyone without a shot being fired. I mean," he gestured at the map, "you're assuming you can just waltz in anyway. If there's only a couple guards and you've taken them out silently enough…"

Kine nodded.

"We should be ready for that possibility. It could be that easy… afterwards we'll still hit and level the camp, naturally."

"Naturally," said Don. "And given we don't know the numbers we're dealing with, maybe have an option for two shuttles to land in the first place for the rescued prisoners?" He looked over at Lessa. "This is a good start. Now we just have to refine it a bit."

As they tore her plan apart over the next hour, "refine" was not the word her increasingly battered ego wanted to use.

**** 

Ger was in the shuttle bay.

He was always in the shuttle bay. There were times he was tempted to just drag a cot down there, but it wasn't like he couldn't get to his cabin in just a couple minutes so he figured in the end it would just be considered him making a statement. Him showing off his dedication to his job. And… they'd be right.

Wiping his hands on his shirt, Ger looked at the disassembled thruster pod on front of him. The fact that it didn't look much different than any of the machines and engines he had worked on back home continued to amaze him. He was working on a space ship, for goodness sake! There should be some difference between it and a truck, apart from the size and complexity of the parts! But his hands were just as greasy, his muscles just as strained. And his anxiety just as high.

Lives depended on him.

They had three shuttles, none of them new. For the past month they had been in constant use, often going in and out of atmospheres. Yes, they had been built for this, but they had also been built to have a large support crew working on them between missions. That it was just Ger and three others, with help from those assigned to engineering when there was time and need… he shook his head. There he went again, feeling pity for himself. As if others weren't working themselves to death as well to get things ready.

And, really, it wasn't that bad. They kept one shuttle out of service at a time, rotating them in and out to keep the work load reasonable. Only having to get all three in top shape in three days was keeping him up nights. And days. Maybe he should bring that cot down… 

"Ger?"

He swung his head to see the source of the female voice.

It was Mel.

Ger started to scramble to his feet, but the tall teen motioned him to stay seated, giving him a sad smile. She pulled up a box, sitting with a slow grace. She was wearing a thin dark red dress, and Ger once again realized how pretty the small breasted woman could be when she put her mind to it. Her long limbs were tanned and strong, her face a bit more angular than he liked, but still pretty when she wasn't shouting insults at him. Only the stupid way she kept her hair… it was then it struck him.

She was bald.

Noticing his reaction, Mel, nodded in acknowledgment.  

"It's… well, it's hard to say it's a tradition when I'm the only one to do it and it's only the second time." She gave another sad smile. "I didn't have a real family when I grew up in the streets of NuHavon. I did, however, have two friends who were closer to me than brothers: Ken… and Cris. When Cris died in the siege… I cut off half my hair as I had lost half of my world. Now that Ken is gone…" She reached up and ran her right hand over her shaved head. "Everyone probably just thought I was crazy."

"Who here isn't?" Ger replied. He cocked his head at her, debating how to proceed, then just added, "You're pretty."

"Thank you."

Mel lowered her head, as if having her own inner debate. She looked up at the grease covered boy.

"I'm… I have to apologize to you, Ger." He looked at her, startled. "Ken and I never treated you well. I know that what sides we were on in past lives never mattered, but we still…"

Ger reached out and touched her bare knee, feeling that unique combination of the smooth skin of a young woman and the healed scars of a warrior.

"It's OK. There's no reason we ALL have to get along. And, well… your occasional disdain probably helped me be more realistic about things."

Mel looked down at his hand. She then looked up at him, and some of her old anger and disdain crept back into her face. Ger yanked his hand back, as if her skin had suddenly become white hot and covered in razors. She gave a chuckle and stood, giving the shuttle beside them a long look.

"You're flying one of the shuttles again, I take it?" He nodded. "Good. I… I trust you." With that she turned and walked away.

Jenny walked around from the other side of the shuttle, her bare chest streaked with sweat, oil and grime as she slipped a wrench back into her belt. She looked after the former redhead, hands on her hips.

"What the hell was that all about?"

Chuckling, Ger pushed himself to his feet.

"Damned if I know."

****

Music played, but none of the three girls were dancing.

The Trio lay in various places around the cabin, bored. Amanda, stuffed bear held above her, lay on half her bed, legs hanging off. Sirenia had her head at the foot of the bed, legs crossing over Amanda's tummy, eyes closed. Wendi occupied Kine's bed.

The bed was unmade, of course. Sheets and blankets were just tossed to the side, the impression of the teen's body in the wrinkled bedding still there. Wendi, with her eyes closed, could almost imagine he was there with her. Someday, she told herself. Someday, she'd come in here alone, get in the bed, and wait for him. Then...

"I assume Kine is with Miss Bitch?"

...then nothing, as Amanda's brother was banging a woman whose body put all theirs to shame.

Wendi looked over at the other bed, curious to see if Amanda was going to rise to Sirenia's bait. The bear took a trip into the air, falling back into Amanda's arms. She hugged him close.

"I have no idea WHERE he is."

"I don't see what he sees in her. Irene is NOT that pretty."

She was, actually. Any fool could see that. Not as beautiful, to Wendi's eyes, as Lessa, who moved with such power and grace, but still you'd have to be blind not to admit Irene and Kine made a good couple. Just... not as good as she and Kine would be.

"He's spending WAY too much time with her." Amanda threw the bear up again. Wendi kept quiet. Sirenia didn't.

"You have to tell him. Tell him to dump that bitch, and..."

Amanda sat up, bear forgotten, grabbing the bare legs in her lap.

"And what, that you want him?"

"No!"

With an evil laugh, Amanda pushed Sirenia's legs off her, their weight almost taking the rest of Sirenia with them. She struggled to sit up as Amanda taunted her.

"Sirenia loves Kine!"

"No! Not Kine! Yuck!" Wendi kept quiet, just happy to see that competition was no longer there.

"Who then? Rich? Villa? Ger?"

There was silence. Wendi sat up, eyes wide at her red haired friend. She put her hands to her mouth, in mock shock at the guilty look in Sirenia's eyes.

"You love GER? EWW!!!"

"Gods, Sirenia! He's always covered in grease!" Amanda threw the bear at her. "You'd get all greasy! I don't want a greasy friend!" Sirenia threw the bear back. Reaching around behind her, Wendi grabbed Kine's pillow and launched it at the two on the other bed.

Boredom was forgotten.

**** 

Kine lay back on Irene's bed, content, gazing up at the ceiling he had become very familiar with. He had contemplated once putting a video screen or something up there to make the after sex cuddles more entertaining, but figured that might piss Irene off. Not that it took much to do that anyway. He felt her fingers lightly tracing patterns over his skin. He let his head flop over to see her propped up on her side next to him. Her face was somewhat pensive, and seeing she had his attention she gave a slight smile, leaning down for a kiss. It was brief, and sweet, nothing like their energetic activities of the past half hour. She raised her head again, the look still there.

"Why can't you just move in here with me?"

Kine let out a groan, eyes returning to the ceiling as he brought his hands up to his face to rub his eyes.

"Not this again. Look, Irene, I have to stay with my sister, OK? That's not open to debate. Unless you want to sleep with me with Amanda two meters away, which I don't think is either of our kinks, we'll just keep meeting here when the mood strikes. It's not like we live on different sides of a city or something." He looked at her again, hoping this would settle matters, but it was clear she had decided this was a time for conversation. Sighing, he sat up and slid back so he was leaning against the headboard. Irene sat up cross legged next to him, her limbs folding with a natural grace that he still thought was sexy as hell. She seemed to be composing herself, for some reason, finally reaching out a hand to touch his heart. She looked into his eyes.

"I love you, Kine."

His eyes widened. This… wasn't sex talk. She…  

That hesitation was all the answer the teen needed. Irene's shoulders slumped, and she gave a sad, wistful smile as her fingers ran through the few light blond hairs on his chest. Kine brought his hands up to capture hers, bringing it up to his lips for a kiss. Her eyes lit up.

"I don't want to be without you, Irene. I don't know if it's love, and I'm not one to just use that term willy nilly."

"Willy nilly?" she asked, raising an eyebrow and cocking her head. "Once again proof you spend too much time with that twelve year old."

Irene suddenly felt the pressure on her hand increase, almost to the point of pain, and Kine's eyes hardened. All traces of affection, let alone 'love', were gone.

"Never," he said, looking straight into her soul, "ask me to choose between Amanda and you. Never. The answer is not one that you want to hear, and it will never change." Letting go of her hand he swung his legs over onto the floor and stood up, glancing around for his clothes. She just sat there silently, admiring once more his lean, muscled form. When he was dressed, Kine stood in the middle of the room looking at her. Irene seemed so small, sitting nude on that bed, shoulders slumped. His heart just ached to see it. Reaching out his hand he beckoned to her, and with a graceful leap she was up in his embrace.  

"I still never want to be without you, Irene. Always know that. Maybe… after this mission, you, Amanda, and I can have a long talk together." Irene pulled back and looked into his eyes with happy adoration, bringing her hands up to cup his face for a long, lingering kiss. Gently taking her hands in his and stepping back a bit, Kine chuckled. "I have a feeling, knowing my sister, that meeting will be more dangerous for you than this attack."

Irene gave a wicked chuckle, and flexed her fingers like claws.

"Oh, I'm ready."

With one more grinning look at his nude lover, Kine raised a hand to her and left the cabin. The room suddenly felt much colder to Irene, and she wrapped her arms around herself as she stared at the closed door.

"I'm ready... to have your children, my love…"

**** 

Don sat in the captain's chair on the bridge. It was the midnight shift, but time meant little when sleep wouldn't come. He had told Villa to take the night off, let him command the watch. He needed time to think. Well… that wasn't really true. He needed time to think about the future, not the past as his mind usually insisted on. His brain was so uncooperative most of the time, seeming to want to drive him into suicidal depression. There were times he just wanted to be able to hit it, to make it stop. Or shoot it, but that he had quickly realized with a chuckle was probably what the suicidal thing wanted, so wouldn't, in fact, solve the problem. Or, rather, it would solve it but not in a self preservation kind of way.

He looked around the bridge. It always seemed so empty. The three others down below, entertaining themselves as the sensors swept space around them, were almost lost in the rows of consoles and control stations. Don could almost pretend he was alone here, gazing into the large holographic sphere of space that dominated the bridge. Just him, the ship… and Cynthia.  

Why wouldn't her spirit just leave him alone? 

Don saw movement down below, and Lessa's form moved onto the bridge. He gave an exasperated sigh. Lessa. Oh, he liked her well enough. She was smart, witty, and pretty he supposed. He actually enjoyed it when they walked through a city together doing some task or another, and had to admit it was one of the highlights of his recent life.

Why, then, did she have to try and make it something more? 

Lessa was walking up the steps towards him, a slight blush on her cheeks, which was almost always there nowadays whenever Don saw her. He had no idea what the problem was, but figured she was the medic so if it was serious she could treat it herself. Her expression, as she came to stand before him , was serious, and he was glad of that.

"Everything's ready for tomorrow," she said, standing with her hands behind her back and legs slightly apart. Don had to give an amused smile at that, and realizing what she was doing Lessa gave a wry grin in return.  

"How did you know I would be up?" he asked. She cocked her head at him.

"I just knew." She paused, as if mentally trying to go over anything she needed to relay to her commander. "We've taken an inventory of clothing on board, so our guests should be able to be clothed without much problem once they're here. The fashion sense of some of these kids, though…" Lessa shuddered, causing Don to smile as he shook his head in sympathy.  

"You should get some sleep, Lessa."

She nodded.

"I should, but I usually don't. I'll have time to rest afterwards." With that she sat down on top of the stairway, looking out over the bridge. Don was startled, but she didn't try to talk to him. She just sat there, silently. After awhile, Don went back to his own thoughts.  

They were both alone, together.

Chapter 9 

Lessa slowly crept up to the break in the trees.

It was dark. No lights in the buildings, nothing lighting up the exteriors, or the landing pad, the fence… nothing. Lessa motioned for the others to come up next to her, frowning. Was it even still active? Was THIS the abandoned camp, and the one they blew up…? She stopped that thought. No… hands going to her neck, Lessa brought the night vision goggles up to her eyes. She hated actually wearing the fuckers, but they had their uses. Ah, NOW she could see the lights. Still not many, and mostly placed to make them hard to see from the air, but there were some. Satisfied, she looked over at Kine.

Kine had his own goggles on, marking the sentries. There were four short towers on the corners of the perimeter, with one guard in each. None seemed to be paying much attention, and he couldn't say he blamed them. Only a fool would travel through the forest, and any attack from the air would either be detected by radar or… well, not detected. The point was the poor guards wouldn't be any good in that situation anyway. He looked at the others.

"Well?"

"I don't see any ground trip alarms," Irene commented. "This could be easy."

"I say we take out the guard nearest us," Sean said, attaching a scope to his rifle. "The one in the opposite corner already seems to be napping, so one more doing so might not be noticed. If we try all four, there's more chance one will cry out or thud to the ground." Lessa nodded, and checked her watch.

"The others should be in position soon. We don't want to leave them just sitting there any longer then we have to." She looked at Sean. "Do it."

Sean crept forward a bit, finding a comfortable spot. Raising the rifle, he started taking long breaths. In, out… in, out… on the exhale the sight steadied on the adult's head. He fired. The slight muffled sound next to his ear was followed a moment later by the figure on the tower crumpling out of sight. He quickly swung the scope at the other towers, finger on the trigger. Nothing. Sean unwrapped his arm from the sling, removed the scope, and stowed the rifle on his back.

Eyes on the other towers, Lessa waited until she was sure their attention was elsewhere and motioned them forward.

The four broke from the tree line and ran across the open field. The night was as dark as any on this world got, with only two of the moons visible and each at less than a quarter illumination. They still cast shadows as they ran, but within moments were hidden in the shadow of the closest building and out of sight of the still manned towers.

The camp was composed of a series of long, one story buildings. It had been designed to not exactly be hidden from aerial detection, but to not call attention to itself. The largest structure, probably holding whatever command functions they needed, ran along the northern edge of the camp. The other buildings ran east-west in three rows, the southern boundary marked by a small, empty, landing pad. Kine glanced around from their new position on the southwest corner of the camp, goggles still on, and gave a slight curse.

"There's a road into the forest by the northwest tower." Lessa swung her view over, and biting her lip nodded.

"So, the pad isn't their only line of communication… doesn't matter." She noticed a series of trucks parked at that end, marking the number in her head, then turned to Sean. "Which building do we try first?"

Sean led them around the structure, hugging the wall, until they were in sight of the inner line of buildings. Kine kept an eye on the southeast tower, but could literally see the guard sleeping. Sean motioned, and dropping to their knees they peered around the corner.

In the very center of the camp was a long building with no windows. No… it had windows, Lessa saw. They were long, thin horizontal slits running near the top of the walls. Just the thing for prisoners. Lessa motioned with her hands and the four made the dash across the wide road. They quickly made their way around to the eastern side of the building and found the door. Lessa stepped back, waving Irene in.

Irene pulled out a small box with wires hanging from it. Lessa noticed that the wires, rather than being different colors, had shapes molded into the plastic casings so they could be identified in the dark. Irene examined the door handle and lock, giving the keypad a dismissive glance, then moved two wire leads towards the handle. A thin bolt of electricity shot out from them, all four teens feeling the static charge in the air. There was a puff of smoke, and a click from the door latch. Irene quickly put the box back on her belt and drew her sidearm. With Kine and Sean keeping their eyes on the rest of the camp, Lessa threw the door open and jumped in with Irene.

The first room was dark and empty. It was obviously the guard area, with a desk, a few chairs, a locked gun cabinet, and a terminal. Behind it was a marked door leading to bathrooms. To the right ran a long hallway, with a half dozen doors per side. It looked like the right place.

"In", Lessa whispered. Sean and Kine quickly entered, closing the outer door. She moved over to the restroom door, glanced inside, and signaled all clear. Kine and Sean eased over in front of the first hallway door. It had a window, and in the dim moonlight they could see three small naked forms sleeping on a thin mattress. Crossing to the other side they saw two older nude teen boys sleeping, arms around each other. Kine turned to Sean and nodded. Irene came up to them, having found the keys hanging from a hook. Getting the final nod from Lessa, she unlocked the door.

The two boys were awake instantly. The sound of locks had probably ruled their lives for the past year, instilling fear them. Lessa entered the cell, holding a faint light illuminating her face. She knelt a meter from the two cowering teens.  

"Shhh… it's OK. We're here to save you." They looked at her uncomprehending, and taking in the sight of them Lessa's anger grew. They were maybe fifteen, but their bodies were thin and obviously undernourished. There were various bruises on their bodies, and the look in their eyes was… she had seen that look, many, many times. Lessa opened her canteen and offered it. The largest, black haired, slowly leaned forward, hand tentatively taking it., He took a long sip, eyes never leaving hers. His companion clung to him, shaking, and with one hand rubbing his back in comfort the older boy whispered encouragement. Holding the canteen up to his friend's lips, he convinced him to drank the cool water as well. He then handed the flask back to Lessa.

"Thank… thank you."

Lessa nodded.

"We're here to rescue everyone we can, but we need your help. How many are in this building?"

The boy disengaged his arm from his companion, sitting up straight, legs folded on the mat. She noticed his genitals, though soft, were rather large. His mind coming awake, he licked his lips and thought.

"There's… maybe twenty eight of us?" His voice was unsure. Sean let out a soft "fuck!", quickly exiting the cell. Lessa could sense him moving over to the main door and opening it a crack, making sure all was well.

"How many adults are there here? How many guards?" Lessa didn't want to rush the boy, but time was going by fast. He looked at the ground and thought.

"Well… it will depend on if the soldiers stayed or left last night."

"Soldiers?!" Kine was suddenly in the cell, on one knee next to Lessa. The boy looked up, becoming, if anything, less frightened.

"Yes. They… brought in the new batch of kids now that we're used up. They… I think the next time the cameras roll on us will be the last…"

Lessa closed her eyes. They had acquired quite a collection of the violent videos as they had gathered information. The things done to these kids, by both men and women, the violating of helpless boys and girls… what had shocked her the most was the "Life Of" series. Literally, a record of everything done to a particular kid, from when they were first brought in, healthy and frightened, to… when, beaten and lifeless, they were killed… human beings BOUGHT these monstrosities!

Kine, however, focused on the important words he'd spoken.

"There's another slave barracks?"

The boy pointed towards the northwest. Irene raced into the guard room bathroom and climbed up on the toilet to get a look out the high window slit. She was back in a moment.

"Long building by the guard tower, the one with trucks parked by it. There's a loading dock on this end."

Kine looked like he was getting a very bad feeling about this. Lessa knew she was. He looked up at Irene, her expression mirroring his.

"How many kids there? How many guards?"

"Probably… 20-30 new kids? It's one big cell in there, not like here." The boy was now awake and excited. He was ready to help in any way possible. "There are... maybe 25 adults here normally? I think ten or so soldiers came in the trucks with the kids."

Lessa stood, followed by Kine. The two naked boys also got to their feet, the smaller one still clinging to the other. Lessa thought. Time was running out… 

"OK. Here's the plan." Sean came over. "Sean, you stay here. Let all the kids out, explain the best you can. In ten minutes, or earlier if you have reason, turn on your beacon. Once the attack starts call in a shuttle to land and get all you can onto it. Keep the most healthy with you and try to get back to the forest with them." He nodded. "The rest of us will go to the other barracks. Got it?" They all nodded, and she held out her hand. His larger brown hand shook her firm tan one, and they looked in each other's eyes. Then he was out in the hallway with the keys, Lessa quickly leading the other two out of the building.

****

Holand watched as the dark skinned teen went down the row of cells, unlocking them. Free... he was going to be free. He wasn't even sure what the word meant. Paul was practically clinging to his side, shaking. He put an arm around the kid. For days, weeks, he had been telling him everything was going to be OK, that there was a light at the end of this. He no longer felt like a liar.

"Is your plan going to work?"

The stranger didn't ignore Holand's pointless question, as he expected. Neither did he turn to reassure him. Instead, the man just opened another door.

"Does it really matter to you at this point?"

No. No it didn't. Nodding, Holand entered the nearest cell and woke the sleeping slaves. They would be free, one way or another.

**** 

The first thing they noticed was the stench.

The first cell block had been full of clean, if not healthy, prisoners who had to be kept ready for the cameras. This building was full of frightened, mostly naked, freshly captured creatures kept alive by their captors and not much more. They hadn't yet had a hose turned on them for cleaning, and water was scarce enough for drinking the kids never even considered wasting any on such a luxury themselves. Many had been forced to piss and shit on the cell floor.

Lessa took all this in, as well as the fact that once again there were no guards. Lucky… although by now she really wanted an excuse to gut and kill someone- in that order. Many of the kids were not asleep, the horror of the place keeping them from that peace. The entrance of the three teens startled them, most rising to their feet as the trio burst in. Kine closed the door behind them, keeping it open a crack as he keep an eye on the main building. Lessa quickly went up to the bars dividing the building in half while Irene searched for the keys. A little filthy blond girl ran up to the iron door, eyes alight.

"Did my Daddy send you?!? Is Daddy with you!?!" A teen girl grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her back, watching Lessa with wary, tired eyes. She shushed the excited girl, then spoke.

"Who are you?"

"Rescuers who are really pressed for time. Questions later." Irene came back with the key, the kids stepping away from the bars in subconscious fear as she opened the cage door. The nude teen was going to speak again when suddenly they heard the sound of gunfire outside.

"Fuck!" Lessa ran over to Kine at the door, and as the sound of a general alarm started to sound she began cursing as well. The northeastern guard tower was firing into the woods, round about where half of their friends should be located. Lessa's hand darted into her pouch. Pulling out a metal puck, she flipped a switch on it, then tossed it into the middle of the room.

"OK, change of plans! Everyone, gather around me! Kine, watch the door!" She quickly moved to the middle of the room. The prisoners stayed on the other side of the bars. She mentally cursed, turning to them "In a few minutes, gods willing, you'll hear lots of explosions outside. Don't panic! That's our friends giving us covering fire!"

"Tower guard has been taken out!" Kine hissed from the doorway.

"After giving them a couple minutes to blow lots of evil slavers up," Lessa continued, "we're going to blow a hole in…." She looked around, and pointed. "… that wall. We'll lead you out, and you're to run to the woods as fast as you can! We'll have some friends there to meet you. Don't stop until you get to the woods! Understand?"

"I want mommy!"

The cry was pitiful, and a couple others started to cry. Lessa did not have TIME for this… she looked at the one teen girl from before. She seemed older.

"You're leader. Get them organized!" She moved away from the crowd, only half noticing the girl quickly getting other older kids to help. Irene slid over to Lessa, having examined the wall in question.

"It won't take much. In fact, the problem will be not blowing up the entire building." Lessa pulled out a pack of explosives and handed it to Irene. With a nod, she got to work.  

The sound of explosions startled everybody. They seemed to come from all around, rattling the poorly constructed prison. Kine quickly shut the door, as rocks and dirt pelted the building at high speed. They could hear screams, and shouted orders. Kine spoke, eyes still out the door.

"Men just started pouring out of the main building. Be ready in case some seek shelter in here." His gun was drawn.

They waited, as a second round of explosions sounded outside. Then a third, weaker, followed by the sound of machine guns and lasers. Lessa gave the order.

"Blow it!"

Three meters of wall vanished in bang. Lessa leapt through while the sound still rang in their ears.

"Go!"

She bolted for the tree line, her eyes immediately marking the nearest guard tower. It was gone, just a pile of burnt wood. She looked back and saw naked kids pouring out of the building, running in terror. Looking beyond them, she saw the top of one of their shuttles sticking out above the roofline of the first barracks. The top turret was letting go with a steady stream of fire towards the front of the camp. Lessa glanced forward again, making sure of her path, before turning again to look back just as the shuttle began to lift. Her heart lifted as well. They were gonna… 

The shuttle had started to bank towards the west as it rose, just clearing the building tops, when a streak shot out from the ground, seeming to pass... through the shuttle.

Fire shot out the cockpit windows a half breath later.

It continued to bank, burning, no longer controlled…  

Heading right for them.

"RUN!!!!!!!"

Lessa turned and sprinted. She could hear it. The whistling of something big coming down. Even if it was just her imagination, what was coming was still all too real.

Her mind went blank. It always did, at times like this. No thought. No emotion. The Other took over. The Other that had survived so many battles, had taken so many lives. It forced her feet faster. She could do this. Would do this. Lessa would survive. She'd always survive, no matter the cost... 

The shuttle crashed onto the southern half of the slave pen, flaming hulk rolling towards the forest.

The screams were sudden and short.

Lessa heard three loud crashes, then an explosion, her shadow cast long before her. She reached the tree line, grabbed a trunk, and spun herself around, dropping to a knee before looking back.  

Three slaves were in front of her, the teen girl and two younger ones she was pulling by the arms. Five meters behind her was Kine, holding a toddler while dragging a young boy with him.

And…. that was it.

Behind them was fire. Burning wreckage. And... the smell… oh, god, the smell. Never had she wanted to smell that again...

The mental Other slapped her. As well it should. 

Kine reached her, put the kid on the ground, then spun. His eyes widened in horror.

"Irene!"

He started to move back towards the fireball, but Lessa reached up and grabbed his arm.

"You know…" He looked down at her firm grip, then into her eyes. He saw. Saw the Other, looking back. Saw the truth reflected in those eyes. The truth that would never bide being ignored. Breaking his gaze away, Kine collapsed onto both knees.  

There was movement in the trees,. In the flickering light, Lessa saw their eight companions hurrying over. Blond haired Darren was in the lead, and he practically skidded to a stop in from of Lessa, face one of shock, horror. Lessa forced herself to her feet.

"If you guys saw a shuttle sized clearing anywhere nearby, let's get there and evac. Fuck the plan."

**** 

Lessa stepped off the shuttle into a scene of utter despair.

The other shuttle had reached the Liberty first. It's hull was blackened with soot, small arms damage pitting its nose. Four thin naked boys were seated on the deck near it, being looked at by Bell. Bella was tending to Sean's arm, and Lessa's spirits lifted a little at that. Next to him, however, were two bodies covered with sheets, and two other of their number were getting patched up. The four unwounded from that squad, including Mel she saw, just sat on the ground, still stunned. She saw Ger walking around the shuttle, going over the damage.

Behind her, the eight members of the second squad helped the five freed slaves off her shuttle. They had yet to have accepted the idea of slavery, and now suddenly were in space far from home. She had no idea what could be going through their minds. Kine was the last one out, pausing in the doorway to look around before stepping down.  

As Kine's feet hit the deck Amanda came flying across the room, plowing into him. He held her tight, his tears matching hers, as the two made their way to a quiet place out of the way. Their path took them past Shelly.

Lessa's best friend was sitting on a overturned cart in the middle of the bay. Her eyes were wide, darting from one returning band of  "rescuers" to another. Her lips were trembling, hands clenching and unclenching. As tears streamed from her face, she seemed to be mumbling to herself. Lessa's heart broke. She took two hesitant steps towards the grieving girl, but on seeing Don coming up to her she stopped.

Don's face was emotionless. Lessa came to a tired attention automatically.

"What happened." It came out of Don flat, not even a question. Lessa just shook her head back and forth.

"What didn't?"

Don closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and nodded. Opening them again, he saw Shelly, quickly walking over. Leaning down, he spoke into her ear. Shelly sat there shocked, as Don walked away towards the elevator, then let out a wail and began to cry into her hands.  

No… he didn't! Lessa's eyes followed Don out of the room. That fucking bastard wouldn't have! Yes... he would. He so would. Oh, she was going to kill him. Fucking kill him.

Lessa moved to Shelly, one murderous eye still on the door Don had used. She put both hands on Shelly's shoulders, leaning down to speak softly into the crying teen's ears.

"What did he tell you, Shelly?"

"… it's not my fault, it's not my fault, it's not my fault… IT'S NOT MY FAULT!"

Lessa straightened.

"That's it. He's dead."

She moved quickly towards the elevator, automatically checking her sidearm, unused so far that day. She made her way first to the second level, then the bridge. As soon as she appeared, Villa, in the command chair, called down.

"He's in his cabin."

"No fucking shit."

She walked past the distressed teen into the conference room, closing the door behind her. She looked to the right. There was the door to Don's cabin.

What, exactly, was she going to do? 

Kill him, naturally. She could feel her dark side coming to the fore.

No, seriously, what was she planning on marching in there and doing? 

Beat the shit out of him at the very least. She steeled herself. Reaching out, she touched the handle. The door was unlocked. She opened it.

The room was dark, apart from one dim light in a corner. Don was sitting on a stool in the middle of the floor, arms on his knees, just looking at the wall. He had taken his shirt off, just wearing his old uniform pants and his necklace. Lessa entered and closed the door behind her.

He gave no sign he noticed.

"What the fuck did you say to her?"

Lessa's voice was low, menacing. Her fingers flexed next to her holsters.  

He said nothing.

Lessa took two steps towards Don.

"Answer me, you fucking bitch. What did you say to Shelly?"

Don looked down at his chest, hands moving to open his locket. Lessa was livid.

"Oh no you fucking don't." She drew her weapon, stepping forward until it was pressed into the back of Don's head. "What did you fucking say to her to set her off like that?"

Don showed no signs he even knew she was there, but just gave a sad, quiet sigh.

"I said it wasn't her fault."

Lessa almost dropped the gun.

"W-what?"

"It wasn't her fault." Don's finger wiped over the young girl's picture in the locket, almost as if the image was changing in his mind as he did it. "She's going to think it was, naturally. Forever. We all do. It's always our fault, in the night behind our eyes."

Lessa looked down at him, comprehension dawning. Carefully, her fingers slick with sweat, she gently holstered her weapon, then knelt down next to him, placing a hand on his knee.

"Who was she?"

Don kept looking at the picture. His face seemed beyond tears.

"My little sister. My Cynthia. My only love. The only one I'll ever care for." Lessa moved her hand up to his bare shoulder, gently stroking his arm.

"Why, Don? Why can't you care…" She almost said "for me", but held back. Don just bowed his head.

"I couldn't protect her. Can never protect.... I can't lose anyone again... if, if I let someone in… I can't!"

Lessa stood. Don's head shot up, in shock, as she moved to straddle him and sit on his lap. Her hands sought out his, fingers forcibly intertwining. Shifting her body forward a bit, settling more comfortably, she looked into his eyes.

"Let me in… and I'll protect you."

Lessa leaned down. Gently, her lips pressed to his.  

His lips were soft, dry, and Lessa could feel the heat coming off his bare chest. Her own clothing suddenly felt stifling. As she shifted her weight, she could feel him pressing between her legs. It almost overloaded her senses. She pulled back her head, Don looking at her in wonder.

"Why?" he whispered.

"Because I love you." She lowered her head again, and felt him hesitantly move his lips against hers. She let go of his hands, sending one behind his head, stroking his short brown hair, lightly caressing his ear with her thumb. The other hand went to his chest, gently moving over and under his necklace. Hands that had only killed, suddenly found new purpose. She could feel the Other inside her laughing, scoffing at the very idea of affection and love. The new Lessa ignored her, reveling in her feelings. Lessa licked his lips. His mouth opened, whether in protest or surprise who could say. She slowly sent her tongue in on a search mission, finding his, and soon both teens were moaning. Don's own hands were caressing her hair, running down her long braid.

Lessa raised her head again and sat up. She took off her jacket, letting it fall to the floor. Her gun belt followed, falling next to the chair with a thud. Looking Don in the eye, she reached down and pulled her shirt up over her head.

Her breasts were firm half moons, standing without support, and when Don moved his hands to them they fit perfectly. Lessa gasped, kissing him again, forcefully, moaning into his mouth as he gently explored. Finally she stood, drawing him up with her. They joined together again.

Don pulled back. His eyes were wild, seemingly upset at this lack of control.

"I…"

"Shh…" Lessa leaned in for another kiss, but he raised a hand up to her chest and pushed back slightly. She looked at him, confused.

"Lessa, I…" He closed his eyes. "If it's not, not for forever, I can't do this."

Lessa traced the thin chain around his neck, and briefly held his locket in her hand. It felt heavy. The weight of a lifetime was contained inside. When his eyes opened and met hers, her soul gazed back.

"Forever."

**** 

Lessa moved them to the bed, and, as one, they both made love for the first time. As Don entered her, it was as if he was experiencing joy for the first time. As he climaxed into her, Lessa felt as if love itself was filling her body. They both collapsed onto the sheets, sweaty, exhausted, lost in their own thoughts.

**** 

Lessa's eyes were closed, her bare chest gently rising and falling, when Don sat up in the bed. He looked down at her, head shaking in wonder. She was so… beautiful. Why hadn't he seen it before? Well, he chuckled, part of it might have been she always had too many clothes on. He shook his head again, sanity somewhat returning. He ran a hand lightly over her, starting at those soft, firm breasts, moving down the tight muscles of her abdomen, to the soft, curly hair and the moist treasure beyond.  

What, he thought, happens now.

Sighing, he stood, looking around the room. It was still pretty much as he had found it. He had not decorated, as others had, not tried to make this a personal space.  

Well, Lessa had entered his personal space in more ways than one.

Don closed his eyes. There was only one thing he could do. Only one way to make this work, mentally, emotionally. He went to a dresser and opened up the top drawer. The scraping sound awoke Lessa. She sat up, eyes seeming to take a moment to admire his nude form.

"What is it?"

Don turned, holding something in his hand, and returned to the bed. He got up on the mattress, kneeling, motioning Lessa to do the same. She did so, facing him. His look was serious, and he swallowed hard. She waited for him to speak. Instead he opened his hand and she saw… another locket and necklace. Lessa gasped, and looked up at him. He swallowed again.

"It… it was Cynthia's." He opened it. She saw the photo of a younger Don, not much different, apart from the bright look, the hope, in his eyes. Tears came to her own eyes, as she realized what this meant, what Don was offering. She looked at him in awe.

"We… we'll have to find one we can put your picture in, Lessa, but, until then…"

He closed the locket and held the chain with both hands. Lessa, trembling, bowed her head. Don reached around her, and fastened it. Lessa straightened, locket falling between her breasts. Don put a hand on each locket, pressing them against each of their chests, and Lessa, after a moment, put her hands on his. He looked in her eyes.

"Together forever. Friend to the end."

"Together forever," she repeated, words barely adequate for what she felt. "Friend to the end."

****

The memory came to Don, of that long ago day, of a field by a stream by a mountain, when he heard Cynthia say those words as well.

**** 

And, for once, the tears that came at her memory were tears of joy.

Chapter 10 

There is a limit to how long some can withdraw into themselves, wallow in self pity, and ignore the world around them. For Shelly she lasted around a quarter of an hour, sitting on the overturned cart in the middle of the shuttle bay, seeing everything and nothing. She had been the one to want to rescue people. She had wanted to risk everyone's lives in her desire to do good. She had gotten friends killed… 

It was the crying of the little girl that broke her out of it. Someone was asking for their mommy, and Shelly raised her red eyes to look over at Lessa's shuttle. Where was Lessa? She didn't know. What she did know was a child was crying for help, and staggering to her feet Shelly moved in that direction.

The five survivors Lessa and Kine had returned with were sitting on crates beside the vehicle that had saved them. The oldest, almost an adult, sat with a three year old boy asleep in her lap. She wore an old orange robe, her shoulder length blond hair tangled and filthy. When she looked up at Shelly, she could just see the utter exhaustion in the woman's eyes. Sitting on either side of her were two boys, probably around six and eight Shelly guessed, wearing oversized t-shirts. One of the twins… Bella? was looking them over as they drank something hot, the older boy flinching as she put salve on his burned arm. Standing off to the side was the girl crying for her mommy. She had curly black hair, the shirt she wore reaching her knees. Her eyes were clenched shut, and Shelly's heart just broke. She went and knelt beside the girl.

"Shh… hush. What's your name?"

The girl sniffed and opened her eyes. Shelly lifted the bottom of the girl's shirt up and wiped her face, giving her most friendly smile as the girl tried to answer.

"Ma… Mari. With an 'i'." She sniffed again.

"Hello, Mari. I'm Shelly, with two eyes, and nose, and a mouth."

"No!" the girl said, emotions switching over to indignant frustration. "My name has an 'i' in it!"

"Oh, so it's one of those seeing names!"

"Noo! It has the LETTER I in it!"

"I see," Shelly said, not smiling. "So, Mari, how old are you?"

"I'm eight. Where's my mommy?"

Shelly looked over at the older teen, and saw the woman's eyes meet hers as she slowly shook her head. She looked back at the girl.

"She's not here. None of us have our mommies or daddies with us."

Mari's eyes widened.

"NONE of you?!?" The very idea shocked the poor girl. To not have mommies or daddies! It took only a moment, though, for the bright girl to suddenly make a connection. Her small hands shot to her mouth, as if she was afraid speaking the words aloud would make her fears come true.

"Then… if I'm here… then… mommy… daddy…" Shelly reached out and pulled the girl to her as the crying began again. She held her tight, stroking her head and back, cooing. Getting uncomfortable, Shelly stood and sat on a box, pulling Mari up onto one of her knees. Mari lay her head on Shelly's breast, still sobbing, and Shelly began to rock. Feeling weight on her other leg, Shelly looked up and saw the smaller boy climbing up into her lap as well. The blond haired boy looked up at her as Shelly's free arm went around him.

"I'm Andy. I'm five."

"Hello, Andy!" The boy put his own head on her other breast, and Shelly had to give a laugh at that. He was a fast one, he was! Even Rich had waited a full day before pulling that one! She squeezed both of the children, rocking and cooing gently. The remaining boy came over and stood in front of Shelly, leaning forward, hands on her knees.

"I'm Andy's brother. Randy. I'm seven."

Shelly smiled at him, wishing she had more arms. It felt so… good to have these kids in her lap. Mari had stopped crying, and was drying her eyes on Shelly's breast. Catching some motion in the corner of her eye, Shelly looked up and saw Sirenia coming over with a cart full of food and drink. The eleven year old redhead stopped in front of them and gave a weak, weary smile.

"Are they hungry?"

Randy turned, his jaw almost falling to the floor as he looked at the older girl in front of him. She had pale, almost white, skin, covered by a black half shirt with thin straps and a black skirt. Her dark red hair fell down her back in a long braid, her large green eyes gazing at him questioningly.

"You're pretty!" Randy blurted out. Shelly chuckled as red quickly rose to Sirenia's startled face, Randy's face turning a similar shade. Well, that romantic pairing was settled on! Still laughing, Shelly told Sirenia to start stuffing food into the kids.

**** 

Amanda just sat against the wall in her brother's arms. They hadn't said anything since he had left the shuttle, her joy at having him back and his need for comfort not requiring words. She nestled against him, Kine gently rubbing her bare arm in reply.

She was glad she had gotten to Kine before Irene had. It was only right that he find his comfort with her, his sister, and not some skanky "girlfriend". Then again, maybe Irene was letting her have this time with him. She did seem to have been trying to be nice to the girl as of late. Maybe Amanda was too hard on her. She could TRY and give Irene a chance… 

… but, wasn't Irene suppose to have been on Kine's ship? 

Not moving her head, Amanda scanned the rest of the bay. There was Sean, over there. Lessa she had already seen although she was now gone. So, where was… 

Oh, god.

Slowly, Amanda turned her head and looked up at Kine. His eyes were red, although the tears had mostly stopped. His gaze seemed to have no focus, but sensing her he looked down and gave a weak smile. His arm tightened around her.

Amanda's breathing quickened. Oh, gods… Irene was… and Amanda had wished it! She closed her eyes. She had wished the girl dead so she could have her brother to herself! And! No… no, she hadn't caused this. That was stupid. Just like she had been stupid. Stupid to be jealous just because her brother also wanted a friend his own age. It wasn't like SHE was going to sleep with him! He needed playmates too, just like she had Sirenia and Wendi. And, now… 

Amanda reached a hand up and stroked her brother's cheek.

"Oh, Kine… did… did you love her?"

Knowing nothing of his little sister's inner turmoil, or that it had taken her this long to discover his loss, he sighed.

"I… don't know. In some ways, yes, but… well. She did love me, though. She told me, just before we left." He looked off into the distance again. "Nobody had ever said that before. Not and meant it the way she did, that is."

"I love you." Amanda said it softly, and Kine looked down at her and smiled, leaning down to kiss her forehead.

"And I love you."

A slight shadow covered them, both looking up to see Mel standing a meter away. Her brown fatigues had dark read splotches on them, although she looked unharmed, and her shaved head almost sparkled from the lights reflecting off the sweat. She was giving Kine a nervous, uncertain look.

"Are you doing OK, Kine?"  

"Yeah…" He sighed, and banged his head back against the bulkhead. Deciding that hadn't worked, he did it again. "I've been better, obviously, but I'll be OK." Kine looked up and cocked his head at her. "What's up?"

"Nothing," she said, quickly, shaking her head. She brought both her hands up, revealing three squeeze bottles. "I was just wondering if you two needed something to drink."

Kine smiled, a warm smile, and reaching up took two of them, handing one to Amanda. He motioned to the empty space next to him on the floor.

"Care to join us, Mel?"

Her cheeks flushing slightly, Mel nodded and slid down next to him. Shoulders touching, their hands found themselves near each other. After a moment, their fingers touched.

Amanda was too lost in her own thoughts to notice.

**** 

Shelly lay in the darkness of her cabin. She was tired. The newcomers were all set in their quarters for the night, well fed, bathed, and clothed. For now the woman, Hanna she thought her name was, was with the four kids in one room, although she hadn't been too happy about that. They were obviously together through accident of fate and not any emotional ties. The four boys Sean had saved were also bunking together, and Shelly thought at least two of them were a couple. Understandable. You found comfort where you could in a place like that.

Speaking of comfort, she hadn't seen Lessa. Shelly had thought maybe she'd be here in the cabin, recovering, but that wasn't so. Didn't matter. She had to be somewhere. Shelly shifted on the bed, naked on top of her sheets. She thought of pleasuring herself, finding comfort there, but was too emotionally drained even for that. Too much going on for petty things like… 

The cabin door opened, revealing Lessa. She flipped the lights on as she stepped inside. Shelly sat up, shielding her eyes from the glare, Lessa immediately apologizing and dimmed them as she closed the door. Shelly squinted at her friend, eyes adjusting. There was something odd about her. She was carrying her jacket and gun belt for one thing. That was weird. As Lessa walked over to a chair and tossed the two items into it, Shelly saw a dim flash of gold from around her neck. Hmm, that almost looked like… 

Shelly's heart went cold.

"Where have you been."

Lessa's head jerked around at the coldness of Shelly's voice. There was surprise and… worry in her face. That told the dark haired teen all she needed to know. Shelly stood quickly, her breasts bouncing slightly in the lower gravity they kept the ship at.  

"What did YOU DO!?" Shelly all but shouted. Lessa's eyes showed confusion, hurt, but then they hardened as she stood up straight. She almost thrust out her chest to show off the locket between her breasts.

"I was with Don."

She said it proudly.  

Shelly's face was livid. She took a couple steps towards her friend, not even understanding this rage but let letting it flow over and through her.

"How DARE you go do this hours after our friends die!"

Lessa scoffed.

"Um, I was THERE. You weren't. What the hell are you talking about?"

 "You FUCKED him! How could you do this to ME?!" Shelly didn't notice her choice of words, but Lessa's eyes suddenly softened. Shelly saw this change, despising it. "Get the fuck out of my room!"

"No."

"You FUCKING whore! Get out of my sight!"

Shelly marched up in front of Lessa, eyes blazing, stopping just a nipple's length away. Lessa stood there, calmly. She wasn't going to let it end like this. She wasn't going to be driven away from her friend in a moment of rage. She stared into those wide, hateful eyes.

"No."

Shelly slapped her.

The sound reverberated through the room, but it was Shelly who staggered back. Lessa… had let herself be hit. She… had let Shelly slap her, without even an attempt at blocking, or dodging, or… 

"What am I doing," Shelly whispered. A few moments ago she would have said she was cried out for the day, but she felt tears again starting to flow as she just looked at her love. "Why… why did you?"

Suddenly, Lessa was there beside her, helping her to back peddle until Shelly felt the bed against the back of her legs and sat down. Lessa sat down beside her, drawing Shelly's head down into her chest like she was a little girl. Which, perhaps, she was.  

It was only a few minutes before Shelly regained some of her composure. She raised her head, grabbed a corner of her sheets to use as a tissue, then sat up next to Lessa. She sniffled one more time, sighing.

"Why?"

Lessa gave a sad smile, moving her right hand to touch Shelly's cheek.  

"There's lots of why's in that question."

"Why him now?"

"Because," Lessa said, her hand now cupping her friend's cheek, "I thought he had said something to hurt you, and had gone to kill him."

"WHAT?!?" Shelly was… shocked. Horrified. Aroused. That she'd do that for her… 

Lessa chuckled.

"I was having a bad day and hadn't found someone to take my anger out on yet. Needless to say… once I was there I saw another side of him, one I'd been waiting to see…" She shrugged. "I think it's safe to say we're a couple now."

Shelly looked down at the locket, and Lessa reached down and opened it, displaying the contents for her friend.

"It was his younger sister's. His has a picture of her in it. He wants to find one he can put my picture in, to wear on his chain as well…" Shelly's face once again was full of anguish. Lessa sighed. "I'm sorry."

"But I love you…"

"But because that love will never be more than what it has been, I'm not allowed to feel someone's touch, ever?" Lessa shook her head. "That's not fair, my friend."

Shelly hung her head, and whispered.

"I've… tried. I've tried to want you like that, to flip that switch in my mind. Why," she cried, looking up at Lessa, "did I have to be heterosexual?!?"

"Well, cocks ARE fun," Lessa chuckled, and Shelly burst out laughing, in almost a cathartic release. Shaking her head, Lessa said, "I don't think you can change yourself, my friend, and to be honest I like you as you are."

"So… what now. Will you… will you be with him?"

Lessa sighed.

"I think, tomorrow, the three of us should talk. I don't want to lose you, and I yes want to be with him."

Shelly stared down at the floor in thought. This was too sudden. She had never expected Lessa's crush to… actually come to anything. And so fast! Well, fast for inhuman Lessa. Shelly wondered if she should make sure Lessa was being responsible about this, but figured of course they both were. Don and Lessa were smarter than she was, so if she knew to take precautions… Shelly gave a self mocking laugh and looked back at her friend.

"Despite my comment the other day that earned me hair full of fruity beer, if just you and I won't work then a threesome is out as well."

"True," Lessa smiled, looking down at Shelly's ample bosom and soft curves, "and to be honest I don't want the competition!"

**** 

Hanna couldn't sleep.

She had never been able to sleep in the same room as others. Hearing them breathing, snoring, moving… The past week, with its series of communal cells and body filled trucks, had been a horror. To have to endure the same now, when "free"… and, was she free? 

One way to find out.

The woman climbed out of the cot, finding the shirt and jeans that had been provide for her. And the male boxers- no donated panties apparently would fit her, and the jeans looked suspiciously male. Were there no adults on this ship? Sighing, Hanna dressed as well as she could in the dim light- night lights had been left on for the four children- then softly walked to the door. She tried the switch… and it slid open. Carefully, she stepped out into the corridor.

That Hanna was alive was due to quick thinking, bad eyesight, and maybe a quota. She and her boyfriend had stumbled on a large band of refugees who had just stopped for the night. Glad of another male for protection, they had welcomed them in for dinner. The war front had reached a string of nearby villages, and whatever parents could be spared were trying to get the children to safety. The food had been warm and filling, the conversation interesting, and the sleeping bag provided to Hanna had been much softer than the ground she was used to. She had fallen asleep to the sound of Derek still chatting away with their hosts.

The slavers hit not long after nightfall, after the kids were in bed but before the adults had either turned in or started a serious watch. The attackers had reached the middle of the camp before even being noticed, their basic strategy being anyone awake, dies. Kids were then rounded up, sorted, and taken away to their fate.  

The rough woman who dragged Hanna out of her bag demanded her age, and the twenty three year old replied with what was an apparently convincing "fifteen". Her small breasts probably sold it, despite her height and wide hips, so she was tossed in with the lucky ones. "Lucky". In the days that followed she came to wish she had just accepted her fate. Maybe she'd now be with Derek, or even her mother… 

But, now, she was apparently surrounded by children. Again.

Hanna wandered down the corridor, noting the various crew cabins. A number had hand written, or drawn and colored, signs. One even had… glitter.

Oh, these were professionals who had rescued her.

She found a deck plan on the wall not too far from her cabin, and noting the location made her way to what was labeled "rec room". She could use some "rec".  

The door opened into a room full of couches, video screens, two pool tables and some video games. The lighting was low, and gazing around Hanna saw the place was almost empty. There were two girls sitting watching a movie in a corner with the sound turned low, and on the other side of the room… was a gorgeous guy. He was tall and lean, but muscular just the way she liked them. The light from the video screen he was half watching seemed to give his dark brown skin a mysterious sheen, and his face was one of calm reflection.

Yum.

Hanna looked around again. He was alone, just watching some show about gladiators. Surely he'd like some company on a lonely night like this. A drink dispenser caught her attention, and she ambled over to it, noting the gravity was a bit less than she was used to. Either that, or the drinks were affecting her much earlier than usual. Glancing at the choices, she found something alcoholic to sooth her nerves. She downed a full glass, then poured a refill and wandered over to the couch the guy was on. It was big enough for four, and she sat down at the far end. The guy looked over at her, and Hanna gave him a sultry smile.  

"Hi."

He raised an eyebrow at her and almost… sighed his reply as he turned back to the screen.

"Evening."

Hanna looked down at herself. Did she look THAT bad? She took another swig of the drink. Time to try another tack.

"Look, I hope I'm not disturbing you too much, but… where the hell am I?"

His eyebrow raised twice as far this time, and she shook her head laughing.

"No, no, no, no… I know I'm on a ship, and you guys rescued us. And… thank you. But, I mean, who ARE you guys? You're the only other adult I've seen, apart from maybe that Kine guy."

Now the dark man was giving her a much closer look, one that was starting to make her a bit worried. He wasn't so much checking her out as… examining her. He leaned forward, and was about to speak when a door opposite where she had come in opened. A teen male with a long blond ponytail wearing a grease stained jumpsuit entered, immediately looking over and calling to the man.

"Sean! There you are!"

Sean was on his feet in an instant, and with a sexy smile on his face vaulted over the couch with a grace that made Hanna wet. He walked up to the newcomer… and, putting his hands on his waist, gave him a tender kiss.

That, Hanna thought… was unexpected. She didn't catch the words they softly said to each other as they ambled out of the room, her mind still processing the incoming data, but when the door shut she suddenly turned and gave a hard look at the only two others in the room. They were two teen girls, yes… and they were sitting together like lovers do.  

Hanna spun her head back and collapsed against the back of the couch. What was this place. Then she started silently laughing. If tomorrow she found herself suddenly looking at female body parts the wrong way, she was stealing a shuttle and getting the fuck off this ship.

Chapter 11 

This was not a conversation Don had ever expected to have.

Lessa had brought a large breakfast tray up into his quarters, and both she and Shelly were now seated at a small table quietly breaking said fast with him. Don wondered what looks Lessa had gotten, acting the part of a waitress as she walked through the bridge to get up here. That was another problem to add to the pile he'd have to deal with that morning.

He looked over at Shelly, and saw that she, too, was in a thoughtful mood. He caught her occasionally giving him long glances as she chewed on a bite of sausage. When caught she didn't look away, but instead challenged him to back off himself. He did the same, and, finally, the whole situation caused Don to laugh and put down his fork. He looked over at Lessa, who had spent the meal gazing at both of them, thinking unknown thoughts.

"I feel like I'm having breakfast with your mother."

Lessa let out a laugh, smiling in a way that made his heart jump, but Shelly just made a snort of disgust.

"Don't blame me for how she turned out."

"Oh, don't worry, she's nothing like you."

Shelly's eyes narrowed, and Don held up his hand and shook his head.

"No, no, let's not start down that road. We have some serious things to talk about. We can fight over Lessa later." Shelly blushed a bit at that, but she nodded and took a long swig of juice. Don looked over at Lessa, who's own cheeks were slightly red. He wondered if his were doing the same, and with a smile sat back in his chair.  

"What the hell are we going to do."

"You're supposed to be smart and stuff," Shelly said, eyes twinkling, "can't you think of anything?"

"Oh, I've thought of lots of stuff. Much of it involves putting my fingers in my ears and going 'lalalalala' so I don't have to deal with anything." He looked between them, face going serious. "I am NOT good at emotional, relationship stuff."

"Who is."

"True, but we're going to have to be unless we want things to get seriously fucked up." He resisted the obvious joke about instead wanting to be nicely fucked. This wasn't the time nor the place. Besides, someone like him who'd only been with a girl once, and that was only hours ago, shouldn't talk like that too much. It was… unseemly.

"Look, Don…" Shelly put her elbows on the table and leaned forward. "I love Lessa. I NEED her. She's found you, OK, I… I can deal with that. Maybe. It's not like I haven't been fucking around ever since we met. But… it's just for that reason that I don't want her to be on the other side of the ship when I need a friend in the middle of the night." Now Lessa really was blushing, but Shelly's eyes held Don's. "You need to share."

Don looked down at the table, composing his thoughts. It was amazing how well rehearsed words vanished when the moment finally came. He picked up his glass, just to have something for his hands to do.

"It's not like I haven't been alone for years. I doubt one evening with Lessa, even as wonderful as I now know she is, means I can't survive unless she's always near me. Besides," he said, looking over at Lessa, "loving you scares me."

Lessa reached over and took his hand. He looked down as her fingers entwined with his, long, calloused fingers, warm... comforting... frightening. He turned his gaze to Shelly.

"See? I… I honestly don't know how to react to that. It's going to take… awhile before I can act all sane about these things. As much as the horny boy in me wants her naked in my cabin every night, the realistic somewhat sane boy in me wants to keep her as far away as possible." He looked back over at Lessa. "And… I know I'm going to have to keep sending you into danger, but the part of me that keeps mourning over Cynthia will want to keep you safe even if it kills us all."

Lessa squeezed his hand.

"I won't let you be weak because of me. Or let you keep me out of danger."

"Easy to say, but…" Don sighed. He freed his hand, and sat up in his chair. "Well, let's deal with what we can to start with."

"And what would that be?" Shelly asked. The jealousy was still there, but she was doing a reasonable job of suppressing it.  

"Well first, Lessa, while we won't bother trying to hide that we're a couple, there's no need for you to have to go through the bridge and let everyone know when we're getting together."

"Um, yeah… I was going to say something…"

"So, you gonna move out of this cushy office?" Shelly asked, looking around. She had never been in here before, and was impressed. Captains knew how to live.

"Nope. But, so long as you're looking around, tell me what the one design flaw in this cabin is. Lessa, you too."

The two girls turned in their chairs and looked around. Nothing seemed amiss. Lessa suddenly seemed to stiffen, Don smiling as her combat experience coming to the fore. She swung around and looked back at Don with an excited expression.

"There's only one exit!"

"Exactly!" Don said, impressed. It had taken him a week to notice that. "If the bridge decompresses or some such, the Captain would be stuck in here with no way to get to the rest of the ship. Not a good design at all, and one no Captain would stand for." He stood up, and walked over to a large book case over two meters tall built into the cabin wall. He turned back to the table. "Come over here you two."

Looking at each other, Lessa and Shelly stood and walked to where he was. Don pointed to a middle shelf.

"Lessa, I want you to pull out on that shelf. Hard."

Gripping with both hands, Lessa yanked… and the entire bookcase came forward. Surprised, she kept pulling. As the back of the book case came out beyond the front of the wall, there was suddenly resistance on the right hand side. Lessa found herself swinging the case open like a door. She stopped when the end of the bookcase came flush with the wall, stepping around to look at the revealed opening.

There was now a large indentation in the wall, a bit over a third of a meter deep. The back and right sides were solid, but the left side revealed a hidden shaft with a ladder leading downward. It had lit up as the bookcase had swung away. Shelly looked at Don.

"Now THAT is cool. Where does it go?"

"To a cabin nobody has bothered to use yet, probably because nobody wants to sleep right next to the bridge. It's nice, though, more than big enough for you two, and it wouldn't surprise me if Captains usually stashed their snuggle bunnies in it." He looked at Lessa, smiling. "There's no reason I can't do the same."

"Call me that, and I slit your throat."

"Snuggle Bunny!" came a deep voice from the direction of Shelly.

**** 

A couple hours later, the entire crew gathered in the main mess hall. Or dining room. They really hadn't come up with a standard name for the place yet. The big room where eating is done. Tables once again were pushed against one wall to make a stage, Don standing in front of the silent assembled kids. He had a smaller table next to him with a mug of fruity beer on it. No way was he doing stuff like this totally sober anymore.

"Well," he said, somberly, "yesterday didn't go quite as planned." There was a disgusted bark of laughter from Sean, seated against the right-hand wall, and Don nodded in agreement as a general rumble went through the crowd. "We got our butts kicked. Now… it's nobody's fault. Or it's all our faults. Take your pick. We all wanted to do it, we all agreed with the plan, and we all did our best. Sometimes," he said, self mockingly, "you just can't do what's right. Nobody," he looked first at Shelly, sitting next to Lessa near the front, then over at Sean who had in fact had issues with the plan, "is to be singled out or punished for this fiasco. We will mourn our losses… and go on living. Like we've all been doing since we've been born, it seems like."

He saw most of the crowd nodding, a few in tears. Mel was sitting next to Kine, his arm around her as she tried to keep her composure. Kine had his other arm around Amanda, drawing comfort himself from her. Don took a drink.

"Now, for all we did wrong, for all the gods shit on us, we did not lose Ken, Cally, Irene, Marc and Luc for nothing. We managed to rescue nine from slavery and certain death. No exchange is ever fair, no life saved is worth more than the life taken, but I'm glad we tried and they're here with us."

Don saw one of the newcomers, a skinny guy sitting with three others in the back, stand.

"We… the four of us, want to thank you for our lives." The teen licked his lips as he felt everyone's gaze turn towards him. "We were dead, in hell, and now we are alive and free. We have talked it over, last night, and… we would like to join you. We can't replace your friends and loved ones, and we know that some of you will hate us, just because. We've been in your place before. But… if you would have us, we would be your brothers." The other three joined him in standing.

Lessa suddenly stood, facing them.

"We welcome you."

In two's and three's the rest of the teens rose, and someone started clapping. Soon the sound filled the room, serious, respectful. Embarrassed, the four newest members of the crew nodded acknowledgment, then sat back down. The rest of the crowd followed, and Don's gaze went to the other teen rescued.

****

Hanna was sitting with the four children, not exactly sure what to make of all of this. She had asked around during breakfast, gotten a couple versions of this group's story. It clarified everything except what she was going to do. This place was not for her. She didn't know what place would be, but she was no soldier, that's for sure. Neither were these four kids, now rested and restless, but they weren't her problem. She stood.

"Um, my name's Hanna. You saved me, well us, me and these kids, and I'm grateful. But…" she looked around. "I honestly don't think I want to be here. I'm… I'm not one of you, and I can't be. I mean…" She sighed. Hanna had to just let it out. That Sean guy from last night already probably knew, so no reason to keep it secret. "I'm an adult. I'm 23. You guys probably think all adults are evil, right?" She looked around.

"Only the evil ones," Don said from the stage, and there was general laughter at that. "You're welcome to go at the first place we stop, naturally. We won't stop you, and we'll even give you what we can spare to help you start over." Hanna's eyes widened at that. "However, don't judge us and flee that quickly. If you have a skill, you'd be more than welcome to stay with us. What do you do?"

Hanna gave Don a speculative look.

"I've worked in a tailor's shop for a few years, so…"

"You can SEW!?!" A teen girl jumped up in the middle of the room, eyes alight. "Please stay! We'll pay you!!!"

"Stay! Stay!" There was a general chorus, mostly female, with a few guys sprinkled in. The blond boy sitting next to Sean whispered something in his ear, Sean just rolling his eyes. Don held up his hands and waited for them to quiet down. Hanna was still standing, partially in shock.

"Like I said… Hanna? We don't think you're evil. Hell, if you can give some of these fashion fiends three outfits for the cost of one from a planet side store they'll think you're a goddess." Hanna considered, then smiled.

"I do like being worshiped…"

There was general laughter at that, and she sat down. Don looked at the small kids sitting around her.

"We do have to decide, though, what we…"

"Bridge to Don!"

****

Everyone looked to the ceiling, where the message came from. An instinctual reaction that Don couldn't help find amusing. Naturally, the bridge itself wasn't in that direction. Jumping off the table, he quickly moved to an intercom on the wall.  

"What's up?" He spoke loudly, so the rest of the room could hear. There was a pause.

"Captain… the channels are being flooded with news. So many rumors, unconfirmed reports, stories…"  

"About WHAT, Villa?"

"They've used nukes on Faranth."

Silence.

Then almost as one, the room was on its feet shouting.  

Their home world.

It was one thing to leave the place you were born, to hate it with a passion, to never want to see or hear of it again. It is another to find it has been harmed, that it may not be there anymore. To discover that, truly, you can not go home again.

Kine walked to stand next to Don, Lessa following suit, and yelled for quiet. When the din lessoned somewhat, Don spoke into the intercom again.

"What happened?"

"It's… it's all rumor and such now, you have to understand, and nobody is waiting for anything to be confirmed before adding to it. But… what I THINK happened is there was a large Rebel breakthrough around Ruatha, and… the Feds used nukes on the gap in their lines."

"Ruatha!" It was a small quiet cry, the girl's crying amplified by the sudden silence in the room.

"Then," Villa went on, "it looks like the Rebels responded. No idea beyond that."

Don closed his eyes.  

"Thank you. Keep on it, and keep us on course for Kamui Station but keep us away from any other ships." He flipped it off.

This was bad.

Nukes had been used before, in the past, but not for… decades. In anyone's lifetime, even. For this to happen now…

****

"Ruatha!"

Wendi's cry of despair broke Sirenia's heart more than the loss of their home. Sirenia had cast aside her birthplace long ago. It had not saved her family. All she held allegiance to was those around her. Her friends. They were her family. This was her home. She put an arm around Wendi, hugging her tight, whispering in her ear.

"This is our home, Wendi. Here. Your friends are here. We're your family. You're safe here." Safe... Sirenia's eyes widened. Yes. Safe. That's what they needed. To be safe. Safe from... "Wendi, stand up!" She got the crying girl to her feet, pulling her along towards their leaders.

****

"Don."

He turned, and saw Sirenia had walked up before him. Wendi was with her, clinging to the girl's side. Amanda came up to join them, uncertain, eyes on her friends questioningly. The eleven year old bit her lip, then spoke in a loud voice.

"Don… I say we never leave this ship."

He looked at Sirenia in surprise.

"Um, what?"

"No planet is safe. I say we all just stay and live here."

Don gave an understanding smile.

"We can't just stay in space. We need supplies, to make our way…"

"Yes," Amanda spoke up. She was looking hard at her friends, at Sirenia's calm face, Wendi's pleading eye. She took a deep breath. "But… maybe we can give up the idea that any planet or moon can be our home." Kine looked at her in shock. She smiled sadly at him, hand reaching out to touch her friends. "I just want to be safe, Kine. It doesn't matter where. I just want us to be safe… and to have flowers. Give me a garden, a pretty garden…"

Kine took his sister in his arms, as she buried her face in his chest. Don looked around the room.

"Sound like a good idea to everyone, for now at least?"

It did.

****

To be continued...

Edited by SciFi Nut

Comments more than welcome.

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