Calysta slipped into the bunk trying not to curl her nose at the stink of body odor covering the mattress. Just because they were pirates didn't mean they couldnt bathe properly? A sudden jolt went through her when she thought it might be her instead. They had been working hard after all and given no chance to bathe. As Illya glanced down the corridor, she gave herself a quick sniff test and determined it was in fact the mattress. "Filthy for sure," she replied in Qouti as he settled in close. The truth was if he hadn't been there, these men would have already had some fun with her and there were too many to fight on her own. Shuddering at then idea, it made her even more thankful Illya was there. She curled up close and ignored the angry pirate whose bed they stole. He growled at them and then stalked off, leaving them alone for the first time in that very long day. Illya was looking at her like he might try whispering but wasn't sure it was safe. Slipping a hand to Illya's chest, she sighed. "It's Ariel. They'll know both my names more than likely. Pirates thrive on thr rumor mill as much as stolen goods. We have to get out of here, David."

A brief expression of surprise came to Illya's face. He hadn't thought that he would be hearing Kalizda sound so scared. "No reason to hurry. I think they'll be just fine to travel with. Maybe we'll get them raiding Federation and I'll pardon them if they do good work for the Alliance. Find a home for them and then I will be commander." In a way it struck Illya funny. There was always a way to use the questionable ruffians of society if you gave them a way out of their circumstances. Well, most of the time. "We disguised very well here and they have no reason to say that they have us here unless they want all the Federation hunting them." Holding her a little closer he nuzzled the back of her neck. "I love you." It was at least good that he could speak in Quoti without having too many ears or anyone that would know what he was actually saying. In a way it was difficult because he had to control the inflection of his voice so as not to give himself away.

Illya sounded so confident that he could turn an entire pirate crew to follow him. It wouldn't put them into the lime light if they managed it at least. Turnovers in the Novas were frequent and no one captain stayed that way for long unless they moved up in the brotherhood. Still his idea wasn't a bad one if it was done right. "It's possible. Getting the leadership is easy if we can stay alive and together," she whispered back, "But keeping it will be harder. There's always someone new to challenge you. Don't get close to the Udine...the leathery one or the one with the quills on his head...a Jak can put a man into a coma for days with them if he feels like it." Illya nuzzled her neck and she relaxed back into him some. They had to be careful with shows of affection here. If they suspected her to be more than a slave they would use her against him and vice versa. At least they could stay close and whisper in Qouti to one another. "I love you, too," she replied, before letting out the smallest of chuckles, "An outlaw, a general, a pirate captain...quite the employment history." Curling closer, she tucked herself away and closed her eyes until something grabbed wrenched Illya away. The pirate whose bed they took, a nearly feral Kleete was back for it and he wasn't alone. Rambling off in Kleese, the other men laughed while they snatched up Illya's legs and pulled him front the bunk into the floor. "He's a heavy'un!" Crowed one of the attackers.

All seemed to be fine until Illya felt himself being pulled off the bed. Quickly he let go of Kalizda so she wouldn't be drug down with him and he went slack. It was less likely to get hurt if he relaxed instead of tensing up. The pirates were all talking in a language he didn't know and he waited for the first one to throw a punch. Squirming to the side he managed to wrench an arm free and he pulled the attacker off balance and then bit his arm and punched him several times. Already he could feel the others losing grip with his weight and the first unsuccessful assailant on top of Illya. The Chip hit the floor and he pushed the body of the pirate off himself, spit the blood from his mouth and grabbed a sheet from one of the other beds. It wasn't going to be for what they thought. Running at the first one in range Illya wrapped the sheet around his neck and pulled it tight. "Yah get close and I use him like a little ball. Goes where his head does unless et pops off."


Calysta felt Illya being torn away as a group of pirates set in on him. Illya punched the larger one several times making the creature let out a grunting 'oofs' with every blow before he scrambled away. Calysta rolled and kicked the nearest pirate in the back of the knee, making him pitch into another. Both slammed into the bunk on the opposite side while the rest went for Illya. As Illya snatched up the other by his neck, the man gave a gurgle, clutching at his neck and shaking his head, begging them to stop. The group considered it for a moment, but there was more than one way to taunt a man. Especially one so keen on keeping his slave so close. "Grab dey wo-man!" One of them to a side long glance at Calysta then dove for her. "Dey slave man gets a slave. Captain is crazeh!" She kicked at his face, though she was backed into the wall of the bunk. One got close enough and Calsyta reared back, giving him a solid punch to his nose. Her knuckles ached, but his nose gave a solid snap too, sending blood everywhere. While she tussled, the rest of the group zeroed in on Illya

There wasn't much Illya could do about the men going after Kalizda and he knew that jumping for her right now would make it worse, but he could easily make an impression in other ways. "Yah have trouble." Whipping the choking man toward the others there was an audible gurgle and cry. Pulling the sheet tighter he jerked the man to his feet and pushed him into one of the other attackers. Illya brought his boot up to catch one man under the knee and hyper extended it. Looking to the others he snarled. "Yah dun put meh slave back and I dun let yah walk away. Ets meh bunk, meh slave, and meh space."

Calysta gave another one a vicious kick as the others circled on Illya. The man in Illya's grip was squirming desperately now as the other howled in pain from his knee. "Me knee! Auhg!" He wailed from the floor as he clutched at it. The rest were starting to doubt their resolve to mess with them though they werent exactly backing down. Suddenly, there was a sharp cracking sound a whip lashed out, catching one of the pirates in the back. He yelped as someone squealed "Dey captain!" The privateer had come upon the scene and began bellowing in Kleese, snapping the metallic whip, causing the men to scatter until he was face to face with Illya. The mans mismatched eyes gazed at the Chip with mild interest as his crew member turned purple bound up in the sheet. "Well, looks like you've seen the way of it aboard," the privateer said, "What do you plan on doing with him?"

Never lowering his gaze Illya stared the captain in the face. He wasn't about to show weakness because it could be a fatal error at this point. It seemed that the man was giving Illya a choice and the Chip shrugged. "I tink dis man should be meh slave." It was a good trade off and Illya was sure he would get some kind of credibility with that move. He would kill if he had to, but for now he was more interested in the idea of keeping the man alive and gaining an ally.

The privateer peered at Illya, one blue and golden eye sharply taking in the man before him. It was an interesting move on the slaves part and it sounded amusing to watch the Kleete squirm a little, but it was also a smart move. This slave was more intellegent than he appeared. His crewman shook his head, though it was more of a limp lolling now than anything else. "Hmm...a slave owning two slaves, eh? Well, he got caught and that's on him. A lesson in dealing with men smarter and stronger." The crewman soon went limp but the captain didn't seem particularly concerned as he nodded to the Chip. "Leave that idiot there. Come with me." Then he turned on his heels with the Udine ducking under the beams behind him.

While Illya was busy holding eye contact with the captain he could feel the sheet sway one way or another as the man still struggled to breathe. He didn't seem real fond of being a slave, but Illya didn't particularly care and he was completely intending on creating a small slaves quarters in the best part of the cabin. It would be preferable to be one of his men if he got that far before the captain was forced to make him a full crew member. As the body hit the floor Illya pulled at the sheets to loosen them so his new slave wouldn't be choked to death by them. It seemed the captain wanted to talk with him and in a way it made Illya a bit nervous. However, he couldn't show that. Motioning to Kalizda he said, "Yah come wit." Before stepping out the door behind the captain he peered around at the other men. "I come back for meh bunk and I kill any man dat takes et. Remember she's mine dah bunk es mine and now" pointing to the unconscious pirate he smirked. "He's mine."
Calysta slid off the bunk, shooting dagger eyes at the pirates and followed Illya. She had caught a good look at their captain now and noticed something interesting. His mismatched eyes distracted from a small jaunt to his walk as they followed him down the rows of bunks and into the main corridor. The eyes were could be coincidence, it happened naturally in some species but other times it was a mixmatch of genes. A mutation of half breeds. The captain lead them into a small reading room and then looked to Illya as he opened the door. "Your slave can wait outside with Ubrek," he said, nodding to the leathery Undine, "He doesnt care for humanoid companionship and wont be interested. What I want to talk about isn't a bedroom slave concern."

Quietly Illya followed after the captain and he stepped into the room with the man. Kalizda he had intended to keep by his side during this conversation. However, the captain had a different idea and Illya didn't like it so much. There wasn't much choice and he looked to the Udine with a hint of distrust. "Den ef she goes wit Ubrek I expect none touch meh slave. I dun share meh little slave woman." Nodding to Kalizda he gave her the go ahead. He wasn't going to compromise her well being for anything in the world. Illya just had to play it smart and keep her close. Once he and the captain were alone he looked to the man. "Yah talk now. We alone."

Calsyta hated being reduced to a simple bedroom slave, but it was smarter just the play the part, even if it grated on her nerves like sandpaper. Giving him a nod she leaned against the wall next to the Udine, who practically dwarfed her, and crossed her arms. The captain led the Chip inside and offered him a seat, then reached for a crystal decanter to pour himself a drink. "The documents we found on the ship say your name is David Shepherd," he said, taking a sip of his drink as he opened up another drawer on the table nearby. He pulled out an info pad and tossed it at the Chip. "That's a very Terran name for man who isnt Terran. So, my question is: What's your name, Dave? And where are you really from?" The captain already had a suspicion, but he wanted to see what his slave would say.

Illya remained standing and he caught the pad when the man passed it to him. He only looked at the pad for a few moments before he set it on the desk. It seemed that the captain wanted to know and Illya shrugged. "Meh name es David. Yah take meh ship, take meh tings, and den expect tah have more dan documents. For now I am David." There was nothing more for him to say about the situation and he didn't really care to divulge any more than he had to.

The captain smirked at Illya and swallowed the rest of his shot in one long swig. It was as he expected and he wasn't disappointed necessarily. "Hmm... you know you bear an interesting resemblance to an old race my great grandfather used to talk about. Vicious, warriors with strength and bright eyes. I've heard a few stories on the outskirts here and there. They disappeared ages ago, only to return as part of the Kaerelean alliance. Quite a feat. I couldn't believe it at first but on my way from the fringes I kept up with the news. The Chips have been a big ticket issue around here. You're one of them, aren't you." It wasn't a question so much as a statement of fact.

Somehow the pirate seemed to know more about the Chippequoti than many of the others that Illya had heard about and he stared blankly at the man. "Yah listen ta old tales." A smirk came to his face. "I hear about dese people yah talk of to. Hear many stories of dem growing up." Shifting his weight from one foot to another he let out a long breath. "Dis all yah tink so important dat I can't have meh slave wit?"

The man was dodging and both of them knew it, but that was beside the point. If the man really was Chippeqouti he could be useful on raids and ship boardings. This man was muscle and smart muscle at that. It made him an asset as well as dangerous. "She is my slave which I've allowed you to keep and nothing more. Talk of business isnt for her. You could be much more however. Pledge as a member of the Novas and be a part of my crew. You get a cut of whatever we take a free member." He had no intention of trading a man so valuable and rare when he could be useful. It would be even better if joined up willingly. If not, he could continue being a slave. It was a fine line to run, controlling this man, but he would walk it.

Illya glowered at the captain when he mentioned owning Kalizda. "I dun serve any man dat takes meh property. She es mine and dats et." There wasn't any other answer to offer for the time. At this point he expected that the captain would have to make up his mind and Illya was ready to fight if he had to. There wasn't anyway he was going to even pretend that someone else had control of her or that they would have rights to her.

While they talked, Calysta stood in the corridor with her grey eyes straight ahead, but not seeing the wall in front of her. She was listening for any sign of a struggle or fight. There was something else that seemed odd about the captain and she wasn't about to take a chance with Illya being in there alone. If heard anything at all, she would go in, whether she was welcome or not. Rather than Illya or the captain, her ears picked up on another sound. Two of the crew members in their black and yellow Nova vests were strutting down the hallway, one of them a tall man with blue skin and another who looked to be Terran or Kaerelean. The blue skinned one grinned at her and flicked his forked tongue out, tasting the air around her. "Thass new sslave woman. Ssshe with-th big one."

"The one the captain let the guy keep? She's not all that special looking," the Kaerelean replied in traders tongue.

"You sseen what we found in her ssstuff. Anythiiing lookss ssspecial in little red lace," the blue one grinned.


Calysta's face turned red as she thought about the pirates going through her personal items, even though that particular item wasn't hers. Still it was smarter to let them think what the liked and say nothing. The both of them laughed and the blue skinned one shot her a wink before they wandered on down the hall. The captain sighed and shook his head. He had played the game, hoping the man would want the better deal offered and instead he had taken the hard route. Perhaps he wasn't as smart as he seemed and this woman meant more to him than just a simple slave. With his offer to become a free member, the man could have bartered for his precious little slave woman to earn her back, but the offer was passed. "So, you remain a slave aboard my ship and we have nothing more to discuss. Back to your bunk with you then."

Without showing any kind of remorse Illya took himself out of the room and he beckoned to Kalizda. More than likely in the future he would have to fight, but he was not about to give his word to a man that he didn't intend on staying loyal to. They were pirates and they weren't Alliance or Chippequoti. All these things meant that he would break any promise he made to them and so his word would be no good if he did promise.

Calysta's face was pink as she followed behind Illya. He was walking fast, taking one step for every two of hers and it was near impossible to keep up. He was angry by the way he was stalking back toward the bunk room "What did he want?" She in Qouti as they rounded the corner into the row of bunks. The crewmember from earlier was still passed out, slumped over their bunk with his mouth open, a long string of drool puddling beneath him.

When they reached the room Illya moved the man beneath his own bunk and he motioned for Kalizda to get into their bunk first and then curled around her again. "I stay slave because I refuse to swear my loyalty as crew member." It shouldn't have been surprising. He couldn't do that and he knew it. More than likely there was going to be a ramification of sorts and he didn't even want to know what it was. "The captain claims he owns you. If anyone touches you I'll kill them and I expect you to tell me." Looking into her eyes he waited for only a brief second and then grunted as he shifted in the bed a little more. "We can't swear anything to them and we just keep working as we must."

Calysta settled against Illya trying to get warm and feeling angry, not just at the captain but at herself. If she had been just a little faster on the restart they wouldn't be here. Illya wouldnt have to be worrying about this. A man called out into the bunk room, "Lights out!" And the whole corridor went pitch black. "Nobody owns me but who I let have me," she whispered to him in the dark. Her hand crept to his and pulled his arm around her waist, lacing her tiny fingers over his. She didnt want him to worry about her. "The captain wants you and that's a good thing. It keeps you alive, though there will be a punishment for the refusal. It's all about the hierarchy here. We keep working and find a way out, even if its mutiny." Squeezing his warm hand, she leaned back and left a quiet kiss at the corner of his mouth in the dark.

**************

Calysta glowered at the Udine she tossed her scrub brush into the soapy bucket to rinse it out. They were on their 7th hour of work after a small breakfast of soppy, flavorless oats, and orders barked from what she had determined as the captain's first mate, Ubrek. He was silent, but also unyielding when it came to tasks with no offered breaks or tolerance for slacking. She stayed close to Illya for the most part, particularly when the actual crew members were around. They chuckled at her and occasionally made the odd remark about having a little fun, but never in trader's tongue. Most of it was mocking comments. She was a naughty little slave and they'd better watch out for her master. It was more than enough to make her blood boil with anger, but she kept silent and to her work. By the 5th hour her hands were sore from scrubbing as were her knees, from kneeling on the hard floor. It didn't seem like the list of chores was going to end anytime soon either. Once the ship was clean, there was laundry to do for the crew, clothes and bed sheets among other things and then Illya had been assigned to scrubbing the captain's quarters, which included polishing their captors boots. Sometimes the captain would walk by and smirk at the Chip, then keep going with his jaunty walk as if they didn't exist.

The slave that had fallen under Illya's charge was skinny, but tall Kleete, a race of creatures who sported cat-like eyes and sharp claws for fingernails. The man's claws had be stretched out and clipped off by the Udine however and he sat on his knees across from Calysta with wild looks. His yellow eyes would bounce from the first mate, to Illya and then to her with a mixture of uncertainty, fear and anger. "You think you're special," he grumbled at her, "But Captain always sells off the women. They cause too much trouble and you're a prime example."

Calysta had been quiet about his angry looks at her. It seemed he blamed her for his circumstances and she was about tired of the looks between the salacious ones and the angry ones, the feeling of being watched was getting old. Still, she had to try to talk to the slaves like her. If they were going to build any sort of reputation on the ship, it needed to be a good one. Some of them were just as trapped as she and Illya were. "Just hush and let me work," she replied, "I'm not any different than you are scrubbing floors right now."

The Kleete couldn't argue with that and that seemed to make him angrier. He slammed his scrub brush into the bucket, which caught the attention of Ubrek. The leathery creature barked an order in Kleese and the man rolled his eyes before dragging out his brush again. Sighing, Calysta caught the man's eyes, with a more honest look. "Look, I'm not here to cause trouble. My name is Ariel, yeah? What's yours?" The man's cat eyes focused in on her like two large lamps and stared hard. What was he thinking of? Had he been offended by her asking his name?

"Rexe," he replied after a long moment, "My name is Rexe."

The first mate caught them talking again and marched over with his large elephant feet stomping on the metal floor. He reared back and gave Rexe a kick in buttocks, which pitched his face forward into the bucket of muddy water. The bucket tipped over as the Kleete tried to escape, sending the suds everywhere. "Leave him be!" Calysta yelled. In the back ground she could hear the other crew members laughing. The Udine circled on to her instead and she growled ready for a fight, though it wouldn't do much good against something like him.

***********

After the scuffle with the Ubrek the captain came out of his ready room with his whip in hand and a scowl on his face as he stared at all three of his unruly slaves. Not only had they disrupted the flow of the ship, but they had injured his first mate and that sort of behavior could't be tolerated slave or not. He had no plan on whipping them however. That would just put the two slaves he intended to keep out of commission and the one slave he intended to sell as damaged goods. There were other ways of keeping authority and punishing those who would challenge it however. Snapping his fingers, the captain had one of his crew members bring over a box and toss it Calysta's feet. The woman looked confused when she pulled out the space suit from inside. "The outside camera's need cleaning and you're just the woman for the task," he said casually.

Calysta frowned and dropped the suit back into the box. He wanted her to suit up and go out onto the hull? It wasn't that she hadn't done it before or was afraid to do it, but it left Illya alone on the inside the rest of them and it felt like a bad idea. The captain could already see the protest growing in the Chip man's eyes and he held up his hand. "You can stand at the airlock for all I care," the captain told him ,"But I only have one size suit and that's extra small. If she's too afraid to do it, you should find yourself a better woman."

She grit her teeth at the comment and looked to Illya with a determined gaze. "I've done walks before. This one would no different. We work the same as the others."

The captain looked at her with a raised brow and lead them toward the air lock. Rexe had gone strangely quiet as Calysta hauled out the suit and stepped into it, locking in the gloves and boots to their seals and then picking up the helmet from the box as well. The suit was still a little big for her, and it was an older model, but the air scrubber on the inside looked in decent order and the suit itself had no holes or patches to speak of. The tool belt was equipped with tethered versions of all the tools she would require. Her grey eyes caught Illya's and she nodded to him. "Keep my lead going unless you feel me tug twice. There should be a comm link once I get out there but just in case they wont let you listen, you can feel the lead." She had the strong urge to kiss him before the stepped through the air lock door but that would be a show of affection she couldn't afford. Giving him a small, but confident smile, Calysta put the helmet on and made sure the seal was good before turning on the air circulator and scrubbers in the suit. With a final glance at Illya she stepped into the air lock and closed it behind her.

As soon as the air lock closed, a buzzer went off along with a timer until a long hiss released the door on the other side, leading her out into open space. There was something both terrifying and freeing about being in open space. There was nothing but a thin layer between her and death by vaccuum seal, and yet the view was spectacular. The stars seemed even closer and the bright greenish -blue nebula swirled in the distance with occasional flashes of electrical discharge. Normally, it wasn't a good idea to do walked so close to nebula's like that, but she hadn't known they were so close and it was her task to deal with now. The sooner she got it done, the better. She had to work to keep her breathing calm, despite the adrenaline rushing through her veins at such a sight as he free floated, bound only by the tether to the first of board camera. Clicking the control screen at her glove, Calysta heard the distinct whir of the magnets in her boots start up and her feet suddenly sucked down to the metal hull of the ship. It wasn't a strong magnet, but enough to keep her grounded on the ship in between steps. "I'm at the first camera," she said over the com-link. It seemed that Illya could hear her for now, and she cleared her throat, as she wiped down the first camera. "Moving to the second, stand by."

Releasing the magnet, she gave a good kick and then floated over to the next one. Going over to the fourth, she noticed the nebula growing brighter. They were adrift, but the cloud of gasses sometimes built up charges over time and then released them in powerful electrical arcs all at once. "Bring me inside! Now!" Calysta called over the comms. The captain could beat her to a pulp when she got inside, but it was all worth it if it meant she wasn't going to get fried. No answer came over the coms though and she tugged on the tether twice. "Reel me in!"
 
It wasn't long after they fell asleep until the Udine came in and gave Illya a harsh shove. The Chip turned over in the bed and wordlessly got up. As he rolled out of the bunk he turned to make sure Kalizda was awake too. They were set to hard labor almost immediately. Illya filled his bucket with the soap and hot water before he carried it to the main bunk room. Instead of washing the floors with the others he was set to work washing walls and bunks. They stripped the bunks and Illya had to wring everything by hand while the others washed and rinsed it.

They got breakfast part way through the work day and then Illya was taken to the captain's quarters. Standing straight and tall he stared at the man for a long moment before he was told what he was supposed to clean. It looked like the captain took pleasure in giving out what he thought should be distasteful orders. He had no idea what humility was if he thought that this was humbling. Obviously he didn't know his history very well either. Chippequoti were humiliated by their own actions rather than external factors. There was no reason to feel shame for his labor regardless of who he worked for. Illya occupied his mind instead with a few more ideas and thoughts. Being here and cleaning in the captain's cabin gave him all the chance he needed to observe where everything was.

Nearing the end of the cleaning in the cabin he already knew where the extra weapons were in the cabin, It was clear that the captain was right handed because all his weapons were oriented in that direction for access. He liked to have the first move and make it fast based on the placement of the weapons and their locations. All the cartridges he had were filled with regular bullets and that meant that there was little he could do to actually stop Illya. All of it was encouraging. Now it was just a matter of time until Illya had his chance to overthrow the man.

When the amusement of having a big man do all his cleaning seemed to be over with Illya was sent out of the room. He'd taken ring from the man's desk. Something small, but he could plant it on someone else later on. Wouldn't matter who. Maybe just hide it somewhere or drop it out a vent and let it never be found again. Never finding it again would be a little more complete and then no one would suffer for it. After all, the man watched him carefully and he would have stopped Illya if he saw him steal the ring.

Back to the room with the other two Illya could see with some relief that Kalizda was still alright. Filling another bucket Illya started to scrub the floor with Rexe and Kalizda. At least that was what the guy's name turned out to be. Then the Udine kicked the slave till his face dropped into the bucket and Kalizda yelled. Illya's green eyes snapped up and he saw the Udine's clenched fists. It was coming for Kalizda and Illya wasn't about to let to that happen. She wouldn't be able to withstand this creature's attack and she'd told him to be careful. More than likely they were quite dangerous. Grabbing his wet rag he pulled it out of the bucket and held it in one hand. With a swing of his arm he threw the contents of the bucket into the Udine's face. It got the creature's attention if nothing else.

Illya had balled up a corner of the rag and let the rest of it hang loose. He didn't get a brush, because apparently it would make his work too easy and he needed to work harder. The rag was about to come in handy. As the tall leathery creature approached Illya crouched then swung his hand up with the rag and slapped the Udine with it. The soggy, filthy rag brushed against the Udine's open eyeball on that side of his face and the chemicals burned. While it was yet holding the eye and preparing to react Illya charged it still holding the rag and threw his entire weight onto the first mate.

Both of them went tumbling to the ground and the Udine braced against Illya and threw him against one of the bunk beds. There was a loud crash and Illya laid still for a long moment. He waited for the Udine to come for him. The first mate would have to lean down and that was when Illya would get his chance. As soon as the Udine lowered his head to peer onto the lower bunk Illya pulled the Udine's head into a lock with his legs. It didn't matter if Illya was smaller there wasn't enough space and physics were against it. No matter how the Udine struggled Illya only clamped his legs tighter and then he proceeded to shove the rag up the Udine's nose. The rag pushed in only so far and then Illya had to apply a little more force. Blood began to run freely from the creature's nose and it passed out. If the rag didn't reach his brain it certainly contaminated the sinus cavities and possibly started infection there and around the eye sockets. There was a good chance it would go blind and at the very least it would need a surgery to repair the damage done to the nose and tissue in its face.

Illya pushed the Udine's limp body off his own and he kicked it in the head a few times before shrugging his shoulders and picking up his bucket. There was a little more cleaning to do and he'd let whoever wanted to tell the captain do so. In the meantime Illya was going to do his best to get the rest of the floor cleaned.

******************************************************

Illya's eyes darted from Kalizda and then back to the captain. He hated the man right now, but he knew that he would have to let Kalizda go. No doubt if he left the new slave the man would be mistreated because the Udine was obviously well thought of by at least the captain. "I take meh slave wit meh den. Yah Ubreck make trouble I end et." That was all Illya had to say for himself after all that. When he stepped into the airlock and he nodded when Kalizda gave the directions. What made him uncomfortable was the sense that he was being watched. The captain had stayed and it seemed there was a foreboding sense about him.

The captain watched, with some amusement as the woman stepped into open space. It was clear she had some experience with the task and he could see now that she wasn't just some bedroom bimbo who followed the orders of her master to the letter. There was a spark of intelligence behind those grey eyes, same as her masters. The fact that 'David' still insisted on calling both the skinny Kleete and the woman his own was laughable still, but he had attacked and beaten Ubrek over the assumption that they were his charges. "Ubrek only gets involved if there is something to get involved in," the captain said smartly, "Your pets were causing trouble and he put an end to it. You put my first mate in the infirmary which I can't allow to go unpunished either. " The Captain stroked at his bare chin and then looked to the Chip with a thoughtful gaze. Hard work and pain meant little in the way of punishment to this man obviously, so another approach needed to be taken. He needed to learn some humility. "First David, will ask my forgiveness for injuring a crew mate, a man above your station."

It seemed that the captain was going to insist on petty little details. "Yah first mate make trouble. Meh slaves onleh talk names and first mate kick meh man and woman yelled. Even slaves talk eh?" Regardless of the explanation the man still seemed to think that there was reason that Illya should apologize. It was meant to be shaming as had polishing the man's boots and Illya didn't actually care. "Fine, I ask forgiveness. I injure yah first mate." Shrugging a little he turned toward the doorway again and he placed a hand on the lead to be sure that he could feel it in case she tugged or needed help. Illya reached up and scratched at his head. The tips of his fingers ran across a few of the scars and he softened the rubbing on those spots a little. Hopefully that was all the captain wanted, but Illya doubted it. Injuring a first crew mate wasn't something that would be so easily passed.

The man seemed to think that was all there was to the issue, but they weren't done. The lame apology was more than enough to tell the captain he wouldn't be shamed into submission either. This was going to get ugly more than likely, which was a shame, but he had given more than enough opportunity for the man to choose the easy way. If the guy thought these were his slaves and felt some sort of responsibility for them, then perhaps that would stir a bit of respect in him. If not respect, then fear. Snapping his fingers, two of the crewmembers snatched up Rexe who began to struggle against them. The fight only earned the Kleete a heavy fist to the stomach which doubled him over long enough for them to lock down his hands, arms extended. One of the grabbed a finger and held it still while another started tugging at the nail. The slave yowled in pain, until the crew member stopped, waiting his orders from the captain. "Kleete fingers are sensitive when they're clipped, imagine what they do when their ripped?"

Illya's eyes burned with rage when the captain his crew members take hold of Rexe. Clenching his jaw the Chip watched for a moment and then he looked back at the captain. It was bringing on a new wave of memories from the past. Things that Illya didn't like thinking about. "Yah say yah problem wit meh. Leave meh slaves alone and I won't kill yah men. I memorize dere faces. Every man yah order tah hurt a slave of mine will suffer." Looking to the men holding onto Rexe he nodded. If they didn't know he was serious about the accusation then they would soon enough. "I give yah other option. Meh slaves and I go free at next port."

The captain gave the Chip an amused look. He really had no idea exactly what kind of position he was in at all. The play for the other two slaves was an interesting one, but this had gone on long enough. "You seem to forget who is in charge around here. All three of you belong to me. I let you keep them around you because it's amusing. A man stumbling over a slave woman and now a run down Kleete. If you really valued their lives you'd learn your place." Then crew members didn't look particularly shaken at Illya's threat, and held their ground. They had been working under their captain for a long time and were so easily determined a mere slave made threats. Of course, this slave had made a mess out of Ubrek and that was no simple thing either. The captain stared Illya down with an iron gaze of his own. He was going to get his pound of flesh and make his point. "You aren't going anywhere and neither are those other two. You will be punished or they will. It's 10 lashes a piece for the disturbance and injury of my crew. Either they can take it, or as you say, my problem is with you...you can take 30."

A tugging started on the lead and Illya started to pull Kalizda back in. He looked at the captain and back to Rexe. Kalizda wouldn't be one very large or able to take the lashes so well and his newly acquired slave wouldn't be faring well either. "Yah beat meh den. I take lashes for meh slaves." Pulling the lead Illya looked to the captain. "Let meh slave in. Now yah have what yah want eh?" If the man wanted to punish someone it was completely understandable and Illya hadn't thought much of 30 lashes. They would hurt, and he probably wouldn't be able to wear a shirt for a few days and depending on whether or not they gave him stitches would depend on the possibility of infection. He would have to be careful. As the hatch opened Illya tried to get a look at Kalizda's face through the little window of the suit. He couldn't tell if she was ok or not and if she wasn't the captain wasn't going to have that stupid smirk on his face for long.

The strange and beautiful thing about space was there was no sound. No thunder, or great boom as the electric discharge had crackled over the ships protective hull. Calysta had seen the great flash and while the suit was built to be insulated against the burning energy, the instruments could survive to a point before the shorted and failed. Her air supply was cut off, her scrubbers going dead in their places inside the helmet while she was totally disoriented from the sudden flash. It left spots in her vision as her magnets failed and she bounced along the hull, someone drawing her in. Her head popped hard against the ship as the tether was reeled toward the airlock, knocking her out as her oxygen levels ran low. "Reel her in," the captain ordered, "Once she's in she can watch, and so can the other slaves," the captain said, "The price of pride is pain aboard my ship." The captain watched as the little limp form was pulled in and the air lock pressurized again before the gravity took affect dropping her to the floor. The hatch opened and the captain nearly rolled his eyes as the big man knelt over the woman. This was exactly why he sold the women off. They were distractions and any urges the men had could be tended to in ports when they felt like it. "Get her up and bring her over."

A public whipping was standard procedure, but it wasn't so bad either. All the slaves could see the punishment. However, it might serve a purpose. If there was chance to take over the ship Illya would be preferred by many of the men if they knew he would take responsibility for them and protect them in any way he could. When a man came along side him the Chip punched the guard hard in the chest and he felt the ribs cave in. "I take meh own shirt off and I stand still for mehself." Looking over the captain's weapon he knew it was meant to break the skin. Three tails and metallic ends on it. Wouldn't take chunks out of his back, but it would still do the damage. Pulling his shirt off Illya threw it aside and placed his arms against the wall. Lowering his head he took a breath and waited for the first strike. Everyone could see the bright red scars on his back and the little bit of reflection from the light on the slightly raised tissue. The first lash cut across his back and Illya winced. Instinctively he tensed and cringed as the next hit. Every lash only made the stinging in his back worse. Sometimes he got welts and other times the metallic ends tore into the welts and sliced them wide open. It was only lash 23 and Illya shuddered slightly. He was breathing hard with the effort to not cry out. With the next two lashes he started to slump against the wall a little. Blood ran freely over his back and his pants were almost completely soaked along the top. Forcing himself to stand Illya grunted as another lash hit his back. Hearing the man count off the final lash Illya slumped to his knees and leaned heavily into the wall still breathing unevenly.

The captain was sweating a little by the time the last lash licked across the battered skin of the man. Usually they were wailing by now, but this one had a will to be admired, even if it had to be broken. The man had chosen the hard way and he would soon find acts of heroism did nothing around the Novas, if he didn't already. It was certain to be clear to the other slaves what would be tolerated and what wouldn't. Nobody wanted a bloody back. When the man finally sank to his knees the captain shook his head at the sight and then turned to the rest of the crew members and slaves alike. "You see what happens when you demand. I am your captain and what I give to you, I give fairly. Reward and punishment. This slave's pride brought him to his knees and now he kneels." Pointing to the two men who had Rexe bound, the Captain motioned them to the Chip. "Get him up and take him to the infirmary. Can't have the bastard dying of infection. Take the woman too. She'll need to be assessed for value." With that the captain turned on his heels and walked away from the bloody scene with a bounce in his step.

**********************************************************

Illya grit his teeth when the men pulled him off the floor. Half stumbling between them he felt a little spark of rage settle into his guts. The captain was assessing Kalizda and that only meant one thing, he intended to sell her. There was the immediate flare and he wanted so badly to turn around and fight, but he knew that it would give away his intentions and his limited position of power all too fast. Not only was it an issue of position, but there was also the issue of his back.

When he arrived in the infirmary Illya was directed to a bed too small. Laying on it he felt his legs fall off one end and his head was almost off the opposite side. Even though it usually hurt to lay on his stomach it was better than laying on the fresh wounds. A medical team member came over and they began to rub his back down with a numbing and antiseptic cream before they announced that they were going to try and stitch his back shut. Even with the numbing agent he felt miserable and his back still had some feeling though it was greatly diminished.

Part way through the process of getting the stitches tied off he remembered the ring in his pocket. The one that needed to be dropped through a vent. That would be easy enough to accomplish especially since a trip to the bathroom might be expected after all this. Illya waited till they told him he was done to get up. Groaning a little the Chip pushed up on his elbows and he made his way very slowly toward the bathroom. Inside he locked the door and dropped the ring into the vent. The little one way filter stretched and stretched then let the ring drop through and out into space before it closed again. Too bad the ring wasn't going to be anywhere detectable when the captain discovered it was gone. He could search as much as he wanted and he would never find it. Leaning over the toilet Illya started to wretch and he stayed in the bathroom until his stomach didn't have anything more to push out. Instead he returned to the usual recovery room dry heaving.

The nap only felt like it had been a couple of minutes and Illya was being woke up by a nurse or doctor. Kalizda was in the room and she was going to be sent to work with him. Illya nodded almost blindly and he wandered out of the room with Kalizda. They were on light duty and he was going to report to the kitchen. Stopping in the hallway he frowned and started to glance about the ship as if he didn't know it and then lost his balance. Hitting the floor he laid there and groaned for several seconds and then passed out. When he woke up Illya saw Kalizda leaning over him and he didn't know how she got here. He was a long ways away from home and she had come all this way? She said something about a seizure and while the idea was somewhat frightening he could't quite muster the energy to respond.
 
Calysta felt the surge of panic when the leathery first mate turned on her, but she stood her ground. If the guy hit her, then she would hit back even if it didn’t make a difference. She was not a slave or some simple whore like they thought and she wasn’t about to be treated as such. ducked under one of the bunks as Illya slung water into the first mate’s eyes. The best thing she could do was get out of the way for a fight between these two, so the Chip wouldn’t have to worry about where she was. Fighting an Udine could be deadly as they felt little to no pain when hit and struck out with the force of a hammer blow or greater. The creature sputtered and spat dirty water everywhere while the bucket rolled away. The two began to wrestle and Calysta saw the Kleete trying to dodge out of the way, but the Udine’s massive feet were stomping all around him, making it impossible to choose a direction. “Move!” she yelped at Rexe. The man was in a total panic, and if he kept squirrelling around, he would get hurt or worse. Calysta grit her teeth and snatched the man under the bunk by his pants leg. The cat-eyed man panted and covered his head next her as the brawl continued. Illya slammed against the bunk she had dodged under, making the frame bend with his weight until the Udine bent down to take another swing. Calysta watched with wide eyes as Illya bound him up in a head lock. She still remembered the horrible cracking sound of the Chip’s arm breaking the last time he fought one and if the creature landed on him wrong it would break Illya’s back at the least, but with the fight still going so close to the bunks, she was likely to get trampled trying to help.

The two of them watched from under the bed as the Udine howled in pain and rage, which was shortly stifled by the Chip shoving the dirty rag so far into the creatures nostril that blood began trickling from his nose. Ubrek’s eyes rolled back into his head and he fell to his knees with a thunderous boom, before slumping to the side totally unconscious. Illya stepped away from the crewman and shirked his shoulders before picking up the bucket and looking to the two of them.

Rexe crawled out first, and shuffled next to Illya. The new slave had taken out the first mate like it was nothing defending him. Why? He had just set the man up for a beat down the night before, and now he was pulling a stunt like this? Calysta slid out from the bunk and picked up the brushes, offering one to Illya with a silent look of understanding between them that the Kleete didn’t understand. They weren’t even worried when they should be. The entire slave crew had seen everything and so had much of the standard crew. There was no escaping this and he was caught right in the middle of it. “You’re insane,” he hissed at the two of them, “The captain is going to punish us all for this!”

Calysta rounded on the Kleete with sharp grey eyes and tossed a scrub brush at him with a fair amount of force. “You should be thankful that he stepped in or you would have drowned in that bucket,” the woman snapped back fiercely.

The Kleete scowled and shook his head as they walked through the suddenly silent corridor. The rest of the crew members were giving them a wide berth now, but that wasn’t going to do much when the captain came calling. “Why thank someone who saved me from a beating that will be ten times worse now?”

****************
Calysta groaned as she rolled over on the infirmary cot. Already the florescent lights glaring overhead were making her sensitive eyes and head pound with the stimulation. What happened? She had been outside the ship…when the nebula flared. She’d been caught in a nebula arc and passed out. Her shaking hands reached up to her temple where a bandage was taped, half stuck in her hair. She hit her head? When? Everything ached a little as she opened her eyes. Her vision had black floating spots in it and the rest of the world looked as though it had a milky film over it. They had put her through training which had included a simulation nebula arc. It always left her half blinded and dazed for around 12 hours until her eyes recovered from the assault.

Sitting up made her dizzy and she squinted around the room trying to figure out exactly where she was and how to get back to Illya. On a bed nearby, she saw a tan, blurry shape with a dark shock of hair. Even with her limited sight, she knew the form all too well. The chip sat up when he saw her, and slid off the bed. Why was he in the infirmary? Did he get hurt too? Calysta reached out her hand for him but a medic appeared, blocking her view. “You two are fit for light duty. You are to report to the kitchens immediately.” The same could not be said for the Udine taking up three cots across the room. He had yet to regain consciousness and his face had swollen so badly the man was nearly unrecognizable, his eyes completely shut by the puffiness. The rag had been painstakingly removed, but the first mate was going to have surgery at the next port. The cost of the woman wasn’t a drop in the bucket compared to what it would be to repair the Udine if he didn’t die of infection first.

When the medic left them, Illya’s fuzzy shape was standing up and she wobbled to her feet beside him. “What’s wrong?” she whispered in Qouti. She could see his shirt was off and he was moving stiffly. Her scorched eyes also saw red staining his pants. What had they done to him while she was outside? The Chip didn’t respond as the entered the hallway ahead of her. His back was bare, and she couldn’t see exactly what was wrong, but she could smell the alcohol and almost feel the heat from the lacerated flesh. Her mind flashed to the whip on the captain’s belt and her hand slipped to her mouth in horror. They had whipped him? This was punishment for the fight with Ubrek? “Ill-“ she had to catch his name from coming out of her mouth. It made her sick that she couldn’t even say his name aloud.

As they walked, she noticed crew members and slaves alike kept their distance, some whispering amongst themselves. Was it because they were in trouble? The Kleete was nowhere to be found but the captain sat watching them from his table in the dining hall. Burning rage filled Calysta’s veins and her hands curled into fists. Whatever Illya had done, this was cruel and barbaric. It’s why she hated the idea of slavery to begin with. The Chippeqouti may have strange ideas about debts, but this would never have happened under their care.

Suddenly, Illya began to wobble in front of her, and she reached out to his elbow to steady him. The dizziness must have caused by blood loss or the shear shock of pain. Rather than gathering himself, the Chip gave a quick jerk and then collapsed to the floor into a full out seizure. His eyes rolled back into his head as he let out a moaning sort of cry and the attack continued. “No, no, no!” Calysta back away and shoved a few others back as she went. His back was leaving red smears across the gleaming metal floor as he thrashed for over a minute. Please end…please end! They didn’t have his medicine or tea anymore and if he kept seizing he would probably die. Panic gripped her as the captain came over and nudged the prone Chip with his boot while ticked. “Don’t touch him!” she growled, “You took medicine off our ship. Where is it?”

The captain gave her curious look and bit at his lip. He wasn’t going to lift a finger to help Illya and it made her blood boil. Calysta marched over to him with a glare and her jaw squared. “If you want him to live, you’ll tell me where it is,” she demanded.

The captain tilted his head and a devilish grin came to his face. “Aye, I’ll tell you, but I’ll only trade. You kiss me and I’ll tell you where it is.”
He couldn’t be serious? His face told her that he was and even if he was lying, she couldn’t take a chance on not getting Illya’s medicine. Calysta’s nose curled in disgust, but the thumping of Illya’s head against the floor made her even more queasy. With a shuddering breath, she stood on her toes and kissed the man on the cheek fast before with drawing and wiping her mouth. “There. Now where is it.”

The captain rolled his eyes and gave her a knowing look. “You can do better. Kiss me, like you kiss him.”

Calysta’s felt like she was going to vomit. This guy was doing this to be cruel and controlling and she hated it. Closing her eyes, she forced herself to kiss him on this lips, expecting him to just take the gesture and be done with it. Instead, he grabbed her and kissed back, making her panic. She squealed angrily and squirmed away as the crew started laughing at her. Spitting on the newly cleaned floor, she wiped at her mouth roughly and stared down the Captain with burning eyes.

“It’s in the infirmary,” the man chuckled to her, “ Go on now.”

Calysta spat at his boots and then ran back to the infirmary, practically shoving the medic out of the way. She found the box stowed in the cabinet and ran back to Illya, sliding on her knees with a vial in hand. He tan face was nearly purple from the strain of the seizure and it had been at least two minutes. Wrenching open the vial, Calysta forced open his mouth and then poured in the liquid before holding his jaw shut again. Gradually, his ticks stopped, his body relaxing and she held his head with gentle hands in her lap. She didn’t care who saw for the moment. Bed room slave or not, its what a decent human being would do. When his eyes cracked open she wanted to kiss him, but all she could do was wipe the sweat from his brow. “You’re alright,” she whispered.

The captain stood by, watching in mild interest until Calysta was up and moving toward him again. He thought for a moment she was going to cry or beg but instead the woman reared back and delivered a hit squarely to his jaw with a little fist.

The crew and slaves went deadly silent as the little woman stood before him, breathing hard and hands raised for a fist fight. The captain rubbed his chin, but rather than being angry, he started to chuckle. The blow was nothing to him. He couldn’t have taken twenty of those hits and it would have been but a small annoyance. “Hmmm, so you have a little fight in you? Perhaps I’ll sell your scrawny bones to the fight pits as a warm up act instead of the whore house,” he mused, as a smirk crept to his face again, “A shame though, you are a decent kisser.” The comment brought the crew back to chortling again as the captain waived his hands at the two of them. “Take him to the bunk and send her to the kitchens. Cook and clean up crew.”

***************

Rexe sat on the bunk across from the Big Man. Nobody knew his name and as far as they were concerned it didn’t matter. Everyone knew he was the Big Man who took down the Udine and stood in front of the captain, back bared for a slave he didn’t even know. The man had passed out shortly after whatever fit he had was over and it had taken 3 slaves to haul him back to the bunks. When the guy groaned, and started to move, Rexe sat up and watched him with his lamp-like eyes until the guy got his whereabouts. “You really do have a death wish don’t you, Big Man” he commented. They looked a bit out of it, but his eyes were still roaming around. The Kleete could only guess what he was looking for. “Your woman is in the kitchens still. Pulling double shifts.”

Leaning forward he held out canteen of water and offered it to the Chip. “Here, you’ll probably need that. It’s just water.” As the Chip took the canteen, the door to the bunk room burst open and the captain marched in with his bouncing steps, bringing several other crew members in tow. The captain’s face was a deep red as he bellowed in every language that he knew. The crewmembers following him began slamming slaves to the bunks and patting them down.
“Turn over everyone and everything!” he barked, “I want that ring found!” His gold and blue eye swiveled around to Illya, and he grabbed the man up by his shirt collar. He was heavier than he looked, but then again the captain knew all too well how looks could be deceiving. Glaring at the man nearly nose to nose he spat. “You were in my quarters earlier and I want to know right now what you did with that ring?”
 
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The world seemed to be mostly fuzzy and Illya stared up at Kalizda. He felt sick and his back was burning. Illya was sure that he had ruptured, torn, and popped a few stitches. He could faintly make out what Kalizda said and he tried to respond, but it sounded more like an odd murmur. Even while he was fighting to stay awake his eyes started to roll into the back of his head, but he could hear something. If it wasn't for the fact that he could still feel the pain in his back he would have thought it was a dream. The captain said he was taking Kalizda to the pits and then a whore house.

A surge of anger washed through his veins and Illya fought to try and sit up. Instead he managed to barely turn onto his side and he started to black out again. When Illya woke up Kalizda was gone and he was laying under a light blanket. For the most part it stank and he was pretty sure he smelled almost as bad. Groaning with the effort to turn over in the bed he was met by a strange face. It wasn't quite the one he was wanting to see or even tempted to look at. Pushing up on one arm he looked around the room almost anxiously. Where was she? Kalizda she wasn't safe by herself on this ship. Inwardly he was cursing as he tried to figure out where she might have been taken. Immediately his mind had already gone to the worst case scenario. What if the crew had decided to use her for themselves or the captain had killed her? Illya couldn't afford not to fight for himself and Kalizda, but he knew that there was a fine line. Through all of this he still had to find a way to make his mission work. How he would get to Terra and complete the mission with her was going to be difficult considering the current circumstances.

While he was looking for Kalizda the little slave began to speak. Turning his gaze toward the man he raised one eyebrow. "I won't die here. Worse tings happen in meh time." Shifting his eyes away from the man he continued to look about the room. The answer to his question came and Illya sat up a little straighter in the bed. It was his full intent to go work with Kalizda in the kitchen. That was where they were headed earlier and he didn't need her to try and do his part of the work.

Illya was sitting up in the bed when the door swung open and the captain came in red faced. He had a feeling it was about the ring, but he could play dumb. A few of the slaves were being tossed about and the Chip frowned. Eyes darting around the room he looked at the crew members that seemed to follow the captain. These were the men that he wanted to keep track of in the future. As for the looking around like that it made the Chip look nervous and that was good. A tight hand pulled him forward and lifted Illya's butt slightly off the bed. He was a bit surprised that the man was so strong. Wasn't often somebody could do that and it served as a warning for the future. One that Illya was sure held a fight. Looking at the captain he set his jaw and then answered like any stubborn man would. "I dun have yah ring. Search meh and meh bunk ef yah want. Wouldn't need et and et would be dumb ta steal et."

"Needing it and doing something for the hell of it are two different things," the captain growled through clenched teeth, "If I find that ring on you, I'll lash your front with 40 lashes." He shoved the chip down on the bunk purposely hard so his back would smack into the wall, then whistled for two of his crew. They came like faithful dogs until they heard the order given by the captain. "Pat him down, make him strip if you have to, and toss his bed while you're at it," he snapped at the two. They looked at each other uncertainly, hesitating for the briefest of seconds. "Did I say stand there? Get to it! Now!" The two pirates almost jumped out of their skin s the captain lunged at them threateningly, then scuttled over to pat Illya down. One shoved Illya as off the mattress as he could and tore the blankets off while the other looked at the Chip an pointed to his boots. "Boots and socks off first and then take off your belt before turning out your pockets, Big Man."

"Ugh..." Illya winced a little when his back hit the wall. It was already sore and he'd barely stopped the bleeding from falling earlier. Gingerly sitting up again he glowered at the two men that were assigned to pat him down. At least it was good to know that the crew had gained a healthy respect for Illya, but they were still more afraid of the captain. In time that would change. It took a bit of self control not to throw a punch at the one that shoved him off the bed. With his back being so sore Illya was feeling a bit more irritable and his eyes lit with a fire at the one that had pat him down carefully. "Yah touch me and I tink yah teeth go rolling tru dis room like pebbles." It seemed he modified his plan and he was going to allow Illya to move at his own pace. Slowly sitting down in a squat Illya then started to untie his shoes and he took them off and then slowly took his socks off. Standing up again he unbuckled his belt and dropped it on the floor. If the crew member wanted to check them he would have to get them all off the floor.

The crew man gave Illya a baleful look as he saw all the items on the floor. Grumbling, he bent down and checked over Illya's socks with a grimace and turned each of his boots upside down giving them a good shake. The other destroyed the bunk, tossing blankets and the sole pillow to the floor too. The Kleet was getting the same treatment as were the other slaves but the captain stood by, his arms crossed and his chin held high in anger. "Turn out your pockets, slave," the crew man demanded as he threw Illya's boot into his chest without much care.

If this wasn't supposed to be serious Illya would have laughed. His socks were only a few days old now and they probably stank, had plenty of sweat in them and the man had to touch them. Somehow that was entirely pleasing to Illya. Mildly he looked at the crew member and then to the captain before he pulled his pockets out. Little bits of fuzz clung to the insides of them and he picked it out. Rolling the lint between his fingers he made a little ball of it and pinged the lint toward the crew member. "Dats et? Anyting yah wanna see?"

The two crew members looked to the captain whose fists were clenched in rage. He was sure the man had taken his ring. His grandfather's ring. A family heirloom passed from son to son down the family line to him. The captain fought to keep control of himself as he stared down the Chip with burning eyes. "Captain, there's nothing here," said the one as he sniffed his hands and winced. The man was rank and how that woman stood the odor he would never know. The captain's jaw clenched as he glared at Illya, locking his mismatched eyes onto the Chip. "So it would seem," he seethed, "Perhaps he left it with his slave. We still haven't checked the kitchen staff. If I find it on her she'll be punished and so will you." Turning on his heels he started toward the door. " Whoever has that ring is going to lose a hand! Clean up this mess!"

There were no specific orders for Illya to follow so he waited only a few moments till he went to the kitchen. Getting an odd look from one of the workers he shrugged. "Eh, I come for work now." He could see Kalizda was set to scrubbing in the corner of the room. Illya could see that her entire face had turned red and he wondered if they had made her strip too. Just the thought that they would treat her like that made him angry. The captain was going to sell her too and Illya wasn't going to let that happen. A sense of urgency was beginning to take over and yet Illya knew fighting the captain right now could be dangerous. With the recent whipping it would take at least a few weeks with all the assigned labor for it to heal. They were only here a few days and already it was beginning to get bad. Kneeling next to her Illya grabbed the scrub brush and he nodded to her. "I clean it and you wipe." Speaking to her in Quoti he could at least say things more clearly and he fully intended on giving her some encouragement. "When we land next I get you off this ship. We stay close and they can't have you."

A man in the kitchen looked toward them and Illya raised one eyebrow. "Yah stay quiet." He didn't need anyone running off to tell the captain that he was speaking with Kalizda. One bonus was that he was working with mostly slaves in the room and it was doubtful that they would be telling tales about this event. Glancing back to Kalizda he dipped his brush in the water and began scrubbing across the floors again. Every now and then a trickle of blood from one of the lash marks would make its way to the surface and dry. By the time Illya was finished with the floors his back ached and he was almost too stiff to move. Covering his back was a thick coating of dried blood. Chunks of it cracked and other spots compressed forming scabs and caused more bleeding.

It was impossible not to bleed everywhere when he had this many cuts on his back. No matter how he moved it would force the injuries to extend or contract with the muscles. When he finished dumping his bucket of water Illya turned to take Kalizda's and he dumped hers into the water recycling. A crew member beckoned for Illya to follow him and Illya would have asked Kalizda to follow, but she was given order not to. Part of that made the Chip nervous.

Somehow word had reached the captain that Illya was working with her and instead he was assigned to work elsewhere. Late in the night long after Illya's back had become almost unbearably painful he was sent to his bunk. He half expected that Kalizda would already be in it. The bunk was the safest place for her anyway. All the slaves and crew members knew better than to touch her. Groaning he placed his hands on either side of the bunk and gingerly climbed into it. In the dark he couldn't see much, but he could feel something was wrong. Patting the bed down he couldn't feel anything and his heart slammed into his chest. Illya scrambled back out of the bed and pulled the blanket off on his way down. Wrapping the blanket around his shoulders he began to wander the room. His eyes adjusted to the dark slowly and he couldn't see her sharing any of the other beds. No one had forced her, but it was quiet in the ship. Everyone must have gone to bed and she wasn't here!

Shuffling into the corridor Illya began opening every door that he passed to look for her. When he came to the captain's door Illya decided that would be the last place that he would check. Kalizda hopefully wouldn't be in there, but he had a sinking feeling that maybe she would be. Working his way through the ship Illya finally reached the cargo holding bay and he pushed the door open. Laying on the floor he could see a tiny black bundle. Gingerly picking through the cargo boxes Illya knelt next to Kalizd and touched her shoulder. "I'm here." Speaking in Quoti he rubbed her arm gently. She felt cool to the touch and she would probably need the blanket as badly as he did. It was cruel to have her sleeping on the floor here where there was no protection and little comfort. If this was where she was at he was going to sleep with her though. Laying down next to Kalizda he wrapped the blanket around her shoulders too. "Stay close. I keep you warm."

It must have been habit for Kalizda to try and rub his back when they were stressed. He felt cool little fingers come into contact with his back and he winced. "Agh...Careful." Immediately her little fingers moved away and he placed an arm over her waist. "Its ok. We will get out. I'll get you out and you'll get to go home with me. See the kids...." As he whispered in Quoti the Chip began to drift. A sharp pain running through his back woke the Chip and he groaned a little. Pulling Kalizda a little tighter to himself he tried to go back to sleep. Instead he felt the pressure on his back increase again and he sat up.

Illya caught the captain staring down at him and he rubbed his eyes a little. "Meh slave should have been in meh bed. I come find her, but too tired ta go back to meh bed." If he could get away with that excuse he would have, but he wasn't so sure if it was going to fly or not.
 
Two crewmen grabbed Calysta by the elbows and started dragging her away from the Captain. “Don’t touch me!” Wrenching her arm away from one, the other caught her again and shoved her into the two-way galley doors. She wanted to go back to Illya and take care of him. He would confused and horribly sore from such a long seizure on top of the horrendous shape of his back.

A bucket with a scrub brush inside was shoved into her hands, and she fumbled with it as they shoved her toward the corner. “Start from that end and clean the whole floor, you’re picking up slack for two,” the crewman barked. There were slaves going about the cooking while others cleaned up in their wake, some looked up at her but most just ducked their heads and kept at their work. Another hard push sent her into the corner where she was meant to be working while the two men laughed at her and left the galley.

Calysta couldn’t see much beyond fuzzy figures and a few blind spots, but squinting helped focused her tired eyes. She found the cleaning station and shuffled over to fill up the bucket before starting to work on the floor. The galley was enormous and with her alone, it was going to take awhile. Bending over the bucket, she felt the bump on her head start to pound, making her stomach churn, though breakfast was over 12 hours ago. There would be nothing to throw up.
She scrubbed the metal floor in methodical rows, starting from the corner and working her way down in a line to the next corner, only to move down and wipe in the opposite direction. One hand scrubbed while the other wiped, leaving the floor gleaming. While she worked, her mind drifted to other places. What was Rose doing right now? Probably making tea and giving Papa Thomas a run for his money. How was her sweet baby boy? Was he smiling and giving those cooing sounds? She wanted to be there for his first laugh, but more than likely Granny Henaiah and Papa Thomas would hear it first. Was Illya alright? He would be thirsty and hungry when she got back. She would make sure to steal him some food when the work ended.

“Augh!”

A cry of pain brought Calysta back to the galley and she glanced up to see one of the slaves clutching at his hand and bending over, though the image was blurry. Red was dripping from his hand onto the metal floor near a spot she had already cleaned. With aching knees, Calysta pulled herself up and came over to the man. It may be a move that got her hurt, but she doubted a man with a bleeding hand would try anything on her. “How deep is it?”

The man hesitated, giving her what she assumed was a confused look, but she insisted. “C’mon,” she urged, “We should stop the bleeding.” The man, held out his hand reluctantly, revealing a deep slice on his palm from a slipped butchers knife. It was strange to see another slave offering help and a woman at that. They never stayed aboard long and when they were, they cowered in the corners usually. This one had the gall to face down the captain and come over when it was probably best she stay silent like the other women.

“It’s pretty deep,” Calysta hissed with a wince as she grabbed a towel from the hanger nearby, “It will probably need stitches.” She wrapped the towel firmly around his palm, tying it almost painfully tight and then nodded to him. He stared at her, but all she did was shrug and give him a twitch of a smile. “You should go to the med bay.”

“Thank you.”

That was all he said. He was too surprised to say much else and the woman didn’t seem to expect anything either before she turned back to her work.
A few minutes later, the Captain came in bellowing. “Line up! Now!” The Captain looked furious as he slammed his fist against the counter top before turning to the first slave in line. What in the Wilds was going on? Calysta tried not to grunt as she stood up from the floor. Her knees were aching and stiff from being on scrubbing duty for hours on end and they would probably be tender to the touch later. She lined up with the rest of the slaves and stood ready for whatever the Captain was going to dish up. He was yelling about a ring that apparently been stolen. Some of the slaved looked around nervously as they were made to strip down so their clothes could be inspected. Who would be bored enough to steal a ring of all things around here? There was only so many places to hide it if you intended to keep it or tried to sell it.
They each were inspected one by one until the captain came to her in the line, glaring at her expectantly. “Strip, woman.”

Calysta stared back at him. “No.”

The room went silent as all eyes turned to her, but she ignored it all, focusing only on the mismatched eyes of the Captain as he fumed. He stepped closer and grabbed her shirt by the collar. “I said strip. If you don’t, I’ll do it for you and you wont like how I make it happen.” Then he pushed her away, making her stumble back.

He really expected her to do this? If her clothes were coming off, she was going to be the one to do it. She didn’t want his hands anywhere near her ever again. With her jaw clamped tight, she peeled off her sweat stained shirt to her bra, her face turning red as all the men stared at her. “Turn out your pockets.”

Calysta complied and pulled out her pockets only revealing a small slip of paper with Illya’s tea recipe scrolled on the back. The captain took it and tore it to shreds for spite. “If I find out you or that man stole what belongs to me, I’ll cut off one of your hands and one his too.”

“We don’t know anything about your ring,” Calysta retorted, her face crimson.

The captain gave her a sneer and then left the kitchens, yelling at his crew members to keep searching.

*******
Calysta had no idea how long it had been since she started on the floor but she was scrubbing in the last corner when Illya came in and half collapsed to his knees beside her. He was obviously in pain and had every right to be. “Illya…” she sighed, “It’s alright. I’m almost done, really. You should go rest.” The Chip ignored the comment and simply told her that he would wipe if she would scrub. The movement was already starting to make his raw back bleed, but to argue with him would just draw attention to them. Stubborn man.

"When we land next I get you off this ship. We stay close and they can't have you."

He was whispering in Qouti, trying to be encouraging but it sounded as though he might be trying to spring her without thought of himself. “I’m not going anywhere with out you,” Calysta whispered back in his language, “If we make a move, we go together.” She tried to look him in the eye, but her vision was too distorted to see much more than green orbs. Illya didn’t argue with her, but that probably had more to do with the lack of energy to debate. His back was dripping blood as they worked. She wished he would take the chance to rest, but he wouldn’t leave her alone until a crewmember called him over, making him leave the galley. Where were they taking him?

It wasn’t long before another crewman came and pulled her up by her arm, taking her into the cafeteria and through to what looked like a tile bathroom. “Where are you taking me?” she demanded, “I can walk myself.” The men ignored her and pulled her into the bathroom where her tired eyes caught sight of the captain waiting for her. A horrible feeling plunged into her stomach when she saw him waiting. What did he want with her?

“I’ve decided you would make a terrible bedroom slave,” the captain said flatly, “Those don’t say ‘no’ or give any sort of refusal and I can’t have my contacts thinking I sold them a dud. So, you’ll be going to the fight pits instead.”

Calysta’s hands curled into fists and she raised her chin defiantly. He could say whatever he wanted, but she knew that she wasn’t going anywhere. “I’d rather go there than have another man like you touch me.”

The captain’s eyes flashed with anger and he struck out, slapping her open handed across the face. His heavy hand, caught her under the jaw and close to the ear. Her vision spotted with stars, even in the blacked out portions and she fell to her knees. Two strong hands grabbed her arms and kept her held still while the captain gathered up her hair in his hand with a hard yank. Calysta cried out and struggled against the men holding her arms, but they held her tight enough to make her bones ache.

The captain drew a knife and her heart leapt to her throat at the sight of the gleaming blade. He brought it close to her head and she drew in a sharp breath of terror. “I would hold still if I were you, slave.”

With a jagged swipe, the blade ripped across her long black hair, shearing it short in ragged handfuls. Her glossy black locks fluttered to the floor around her feet until there was only a frayed few inches at her shoulders.

“Your attitude will serve you well in the fight pits,” he said, “But your long hair wouldn’t. It would have been just another weakness, so I’ll fixed it for you.”
Glancing at the two crewmen, the Captain nodded and they released her arms. “Show her to her new quarters and make sure she stays there.”

************

The cargo hold was near 50 degrees and Calysta’s teeth chattered as she curled up on the floor near the one air vent. It would be best to stay there so when the heat kicked in for the climate control, she would at least have that. Her finger tips ran over her roughly chopped hair and she sighed. It was only hair and it grew back, but it was a point of personal pride to her. It had been one of the few things she thought made her look more feminine and now she was back to looking like a scrawny boy. The lament was a vain one, given the more dire circumstances, but she couldn’t help it. Not to mention her cheek was still stinging from the backhanded slap. It had blossomed into a hand shaped bruise across her pale skin almost immediately. The slap and the loss only added to her anger. The captain was intent on selling her off and keeping Illya. There was one person the entire galaxy who had any rights to the Chip and that was her. Her Chip had already taken a beating too and she wasn’t about to let it happen again.

As tired as her body was, her mind kept reeling over possible escape plans. If she could slip into the engine room, she could have complete control. The ship would be at her finger tips. Would they even let her out of here tomorrow though? There was a fat guard at the door who made eyes at her when the crewmen hauled her down. Would they keep her down here to the next port? After awhile of scheming and shivering in the cold, her mind drifted to a shallow sleep.
The warm hand sliding up her arm felt like part of her half conscious dreams. She knew the touch, and the voice though. It was Illya. He had come and was laying down beside her. “Illya?” It almost felt like a cruel trick of her dreams that he was there, pulling her close to his arm chest. Her eyes cracked open to see his tan face in the dim lighting. She wrapped her arms around him out of instinct and he jumped a little. “Your back, I’m sorry!”

He hushed her started talking about taking her home with him and seeing the children. Calysta couldn’t help but smile a little. Even as miserable as he had to be, Illya was still talking of going home. “Aye, we’ll go home, and see our Rose. Have some tea with her,” she replied with a small chuckle, “We can take Cypher to the park and then talk on the roof until the sun comes up.” With Illya holding her there, his green eyes slowly sinking back into sleep, it almost felt like they were on Pyrta or even Nuen again. Home was wherever they were together. His body heat was starting the sinking to her chilled bones and warm her up finally and for the first time since their capture, she relaxed into him, drifting off into sleep.

*********************
The captain stood over the two slaves for a moment just watching them. It wasn't so uncommon for slaves to become attached to their masters at a certain point, but seeing them like this seemed to indicate more than affection created by ownership. This woman must have been more than a slave, especially since the man was so intent on her staying close. It made it all the more important to sell her though. She would be a distraction and hindrance aboard the ship and he would always be sneaking off or disobeying. The fact that he had wandered the entire ship looking for her was evidence enough. The captain reared back his toe a little and pressed it slowly into the back of the man right into those tender cuts until he stirred, ans explained why he was there. The woman woke as well and her fingers curled around the man protectively. "Aye," the captain growled, "Go back to your bunk. She is under quarantine."

Illya's heart slammed into his chest. Quarantine...It could only mean one thing. The captain wanted to separate them and then Illya would never when or where Kalizda was sold. That wasn't something that Illya could even begin to reconcile in his mind. This left him with only one choice. Carefully he pushed Kalizda's hands away from his chest and he leaned in to kiss her. As he withdrew he spoke to her quickly in Quoti. "I love you. Just keep some space from me." Taking a deep breath he got to his feet and the Chip stared at the captain for a long moment. Illya's jaw was set in a hard line and his eyes narrowed slightly. Opening his mouth like he was going to speak he let it act as the distraction for a moment and instead swiped a foot out to kick the captain right under the knee cap. At the same time Illya punched the captain in the throat.

Calysta hated the sound of the captain's voice. He was doing this to be cruel and to seperate them entirely. Kissing Illya, she wondered if that would be the last time for a terrifying moment. He was in no shape to fight anyone and the captain was stronger than he looked. She knew that now from experience, but it wouldn't keep her from fighting tooth and nail to stay on that ship with him. As he pulled away and stood, Calysta climbed to her feet, crossing her arms firmly. She could spend a cold night here if she had to and she would make it obvious that she wasn't afraid. Instead of leaving, Illya stared down the captain who glared back equally stubborn until suddenly the Chip struck out. The captains leg didn't budge nor did he cry out in any sort of pain. A hard thunk echoed through the cargo bay. The strike to his throat had more effect. He was nearly impervious to pain but a strike to his throat was a more tender spot. Gasping at the hard hit to his adams apple he stumbled back a little, his eyes watering. The man hit hard, but he expected no less from a legendary Chippeqouti. "Ahg!" Growling and shaking of the pain he launched forward and tackled him at the waist with his powerful legs forcing them into the floor. He pinned the chin and reared back punching him across the jaw.

The hit to the throat was obviously the more effective tactic and before Illya could follow through on his attack the captain lunged forward and the two of them dropped to the ground. Illya grunted as he hit the floor on his back. It left him stunned momentarily and he suffered a sharp blow to his jaw. In many ways it was still less painful than the back, but he could feel that his jaw wasn't going to be in the best shape after this. Twisted to his side he lifted up his hips and pushed forward. It gave enough room for him to kick and he went straight for the captain's balls. They were a spot any man found vulnerable. When the captain stumbled back Illya threw himself on top the captain and put one hand firmly around the captains throat. He could feel the pulse of blood at the tips of his fingers and he pressed in harder and harder. If he could break the skin and tear out the jugular the fight would be over.

The captain grimaced at the kick to his groin, hit had landed a little off center but it was close enough to make some pain. Hissing at the blow, he rolled back to prevent another strike to his balls and as he did, the Chip bore down on him, clamping a large hand around his throat. He could tell the Chip meant to squeeze until he ripped away his throat entirely but the likelihood of that happening was not great. Undine skin, even half bred was far too strong. At best he would lose conciousness and they would find some other way to end him. Rather than showing fear, the captain grinned and drew his knee up slamming it into the man's ribs. Having mechanical legs was an advantage more often than not as they tended to be far more powerful than any ordinary man.

Momentarily Illya's grip loosened on the captain's throat when the knee jammed into his ribs. A crack sounded and his ribs gave way. Even when he tried to take in a deep breath it felt impossible. Illya shuddered with the pain, but he re-doubled his effort and scrambled up the captain's torso a little further. If nothing else he wanted to try and get his ribs out of the way of that leg. Illya could barely move his jaw and it was still stinging from the hit. A string of drool began to run out the corner of his mouth, but he didn't notice that. Once he was far enough up the body Illya drove one of his knees into the captain's solar plex and lifted the knee long enough to slam it into the captains diaphragm again. If he could get the rest of the air out of the captain he would get weaker and the struggles less until Illya could dispatch of him properly.

The captain wheezed from the blows to his chest. The Chip was so heavy, his knees forced every breath he had from his lungs. His body was trying to curl in on itself but he was being straddled and locked down. In a desperate bid to gain control he took in a shuddering breath and slammed his forehead into the man's since he had dipped close to pull up his knee. That seemed to stun him long enough to release and the captain rolled, out of the way sputtering for air. "Damned...slave..." he wheezed, trying to get to his feet, he stumbled a little knocking over some of the stolen crates.

During what could have been the last of the fight a blinding light went through Illya's eyes. He momentarily lost his grip and control. At first he dropped to the floor in a limp mass. Only a few seconds later he regained consciousness and he pushed himself up on his feet, but both hands were still touching the ground. Pushing all the air out of his lungs he took as deep a breath he could. The captain was still trying to right himself from running into crates. Regardless of the pain Illya lunged forward and he took hold of a crate. Swinging it wide he caught the captain in the head with a corner of it. Without waiting for a reaction or pausing to catch his own breath Illya dove into the captain again and began to wildly throw punch after punch into the captain's throat.

The sleeping guard out front had finally woken and started coming through, rather than letting him come after Illya. Calysta had run to the door and thrown her weight against it. The move caught the guard by surprise as the door bounced back on him, but he could hear the sounds of something going on inside. "Open the door slave! No games!" Calysta kept the door shut as she looked around frantically for something to brace against it. Illya was slamming the captain over and over in his throat. This skin didnt break, but each new blow began to weaken his flesh from the inside, cracking his wind pipe. The door rattled as more voices could be heard on the otherside, yelling for the door to open. With a hard shove the door flew open, sending Calysta to the floor. Crew members tumbled inside, two snatching up Calysta from the floor and two going for the wild man in top of their captain. They tackled the Chip and shoved him off in a flurry of yelling and chaos.

Despite the banging on the door Illya kept hitting the captain as hard as he could. With each hit his left side was getting increasingly sore. The ribs were beginning to ache even more than before and breathing was getting yet more difficult. Still he wasn't going to stop until he knew that the captain was dead. Illya felt hand reach for his back and he yowled loudly as he was shoved away from his opponent. Turning on the men that had pushed him off the Chip threw himself at the first one and pulled him into an arm bar. Extending the arm he pulled harder until it snapped and then he charged after the next one. There was no stopping now that he knew they weren't going to let Kalizda be and he was going to run till the adrenaline stopped flowing.

The crew man screamed at his broken arm and rolled in the floor, while second met the Chip in a hard shoulder check. Others were yelling to get the slave woman as collateral and to pick up the captain, but the sight of the second crew member being mown through made them hesitate, forming a ring around the Chip. Calysta struggled against her captor, though they were mostly holding her feet above the floor. She craned her neck and bit down on a slimy finger hard as she could until he bellowed and dropped her to the floor. Slamming into the hard grated floor, Calsyta yelped and started to scramble away. She was going to get to Illya no matter what. Running toward him, she shoved them out of the way till she burst through the ring and nearly collided with the Chip. Her heart was pounding in her chest drowing out nearly every other sound in her ears. "Stop!" She yelled to them all. Her voice was hoarse but she didnt care. "Back up! Get away!"

Illya had barely taken the second crew member down and he was finding himself surrounded by a group. It didn't much to him one way or another. They were going to let Kalizda go and she was going to be with him or it was going to be a bloody fight. The shrill sound of Kalizda's voice cut through and all the men paused for the time. It was as if none of them knew what to do. Illya was still breathing hard, but he winced with the effort of breathing. It wasn't the best time for her to stop him. Already he was getting weak and he could feel the pain that had begun to seep into his blood and it spread throughout his body. "Ugh...." Bending over he groaned a little and tried to straighten his jaw. His whole face throbbed with pain. His jaw was likely broken and a his right hand reached across to guard his broken left ribs. "Get yah captain off dah floor. Take him to infirmary." Nodding to the men he let them move past himself and Kalizda. By now he'd lost most of his will to fight. Kalizda was safe and he didn't have the strength left to finish the fight.

The men picked their captain up off the floor, and the other two injured men. The man had gone totally unconscious and it took four men to haul his heavy body up and out of the room. The rest of them were all in too much shock to bother with the two slaves. A captain of 20 years lay dead most likely under the fist of a strange and violent slave. Giving Illya and his little woman a wide berth, the crewmen left the cargo hold. Calysta kept hard eyes on each of them daring them to come at her. If their captain died Illya would be the new commander, if not they would most likely be put to death. As soon as they were gone, she turned to her Chip and looked him over. He looked awful. Swollen jaw and most likely broken ribs. It made her chest ache to see him like that. "They won't bother us for now," she whispered, reaching out to him. She didn't know where to touch him that wouldn't hurt. "We need to get you some help too."

Watching until the door was closed behind them and Illya had the room to just him and Kalizda he looked to her. She was looking so serious. There was only so much he could do and there was no telling if this would result in a more dangerous situation or not. Mumbling incomprehensible words he limped toward one of the crates and leaned against it with his right shoulder. Slumping down to the ground he started to groan and gingerly laid himself on the floor. His back was broken open and he'd bled through his shirt, the ribs were almost fluttering with each breath and he couldn't even move his jaw enough to frown. With one hand he tried to force his jaw shut and it resulted in an odd strangled gurgling sound. Eventually he gave up trying to shut his mouth and instead laid on the floor and tried to be as quiet as possible though it was proving impossible not to groan or whimper when every little motion hurt.

Calysta watched as he just laid down rather than going anywhere and tears started to well up in her eyes. This was her fault. Kneeling beside him, she grabbed up the blanket he had brought when he first came in and covered his legs. She couldnt lift him on her own but she knew someone who could help. "No running off now. Stay right here," she said, as she tried a crack a weak joke, "I'll be right back." Kissing the top of his hair gently, Calysta looked him in the eye. "I love you." Then she ran out of the cargo bay, half slamming into the door jamb from a blind spot still floating in her vision.

****
Word had spread fast through the crew and into slave quarters and by the time Calysta bumped her way along the hall, everyone was up and murmuring about the rumors. She exploded into the door and as soon as they saw her she was bombarded by questions. “I don’t know if the captain is dead or alive but the man who beat him is.” Her eyes landed on Rexe, and the Kleete gazed back to her in silence. “He needs your help.”

The slave waited for what seemed like ages, thinking over what she said. If the Big Man really had taken down the Captain and he lived, then they guy would take command according to Nova code. A murmur had grown over the woman’s request, but the Kleete stood up and looked to all the slaves, saying aloud what he knew they were thinking. “He’s got to be better than the Captain, right?”

With that said, he walked over to the woman and shrugged. “Show us where he is.”

******************
Another knock sounded on the door and Calysta sighed. The captain’s quarters were comfortable to say the least. A king sized bed with silk sheets and full closet, along with a drawing room and a nearly complete armory if you looked around. There were pistols and knives stowed in places she was still discovering. As tired as she was, Calyta rolled to her feet from the arm chair and made her way to the door. Rexe and another one of the slaves, Toulouse, had been standing guard in shifts at their quarters to keep the crewmen loyal to the old captain away from the new one.

“It’s another crew member, ma’am,” said Rexe from the other side, “Come to give respects.”

Calysta clicked the safety off her pistol and held it the ready as she opened the door. Rexe was there alongside the blue skinned crew member. “The captain is sleeping,” she informed him, “If you have something, you can leave it with me.”

His forked tongue licked at the air through his grinning mouth and he held out the red corset from their ship. “Ssssomthing for the captain to enjoy later.” Calysta bit her lip as her face turned pink and she pulled the garment out his hand. “Your captain will appreciate it, I’m sure.”

With a quick nod, she closed the door on him and locked it again. Half the crew thought she was a slave and the other half thought she was first mate at this point, but it didn’t keep her from feeling any less odd with a strange man handing her undergarments that weren’t hers to begin with. Tossing the corset onto the desk, Calysta heard a soft moan from inside the bed room. He was awake.

Dashing into the room, she found Illya’s eyes open as he looked around in confusion. Coming to sit beside him on the bed, her hand slipped up to his lips. “Don’t try to move your jaw. It was broken and they wired it shut to heal.” She had ordered a full spectrum of antibotics for him once they got him out of surgery for his jaw and had bathed him with a rag once they were in the privacy of the captains quarters. He wouldn’t get an infection on her watch with so many broken bones if she could help it. With a careful watch on his temperature, and frequent Nova crew pledges knocking at the door she had been awake nearly 42 hours.

It was obvious by the look in his eye that he was still in pain and worried about where they were. “We’re in the captain’s quarters so you can rest in private. The old captain isn’t dead, but he may very well be soon. Until then, you need to stay here. I’m going to stay with you, alright?” Leaning down, she kissed his forehead with her short hair bristling over his cheek. Their position was a precarious one, but the slaves were decidedly loyal to Illya now as was half the crew. Another knock came to the door and she gave her Chip a somewhat delirious little smile. “Time to go play tough little bird again,” she said with a wink, “I’ll be back."
 
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Illya lay on the floor and barely managed a nod for Kalizda. She was going to get someone to help her. Even though he tried not to make her worry so much it was impossible not to groan. The floor was cold and it was painfully hard. Blood had begun to run along his back again and it only made him feel colder. When she arrived with some of the slaves he was almost delirious. Muttering and moaning intermittently he didn't seem to make sense to anyone. A set of hands reached under his one arm and another pair of hands reached under his other arm.

With those hands there was also some pressure on his back and then there was one man each at his legs. The Chip winced and cried out when they began trying to move him through the ship. When they finally laid him on a hospital bed he was almost passed out, only managing weak moans of pain. Illya couldn't understand most of what was being said. It all felt like he was in a blur and he stared wild eyed at the faces around him. He didn't know most of them and he tried to fight them. One was holding a mask of sorts and he was leaning forward with it. Illya didn't want the mask and he struggled weakly against the men that had laid themselves across his body. It one took one man for each limb and Illya was still fighting them. Kalizda was trying to stroke his hair with her hands and she was talking to him, but he didn't understand. She looked upset and that was all he was able to process right now. Even when she placed her hands on either side of his face he still struggled. The mask was getting closer and he didn't want it. "Mmmm.....No. No no no!" It was the only words he'd even gotten out halfway lucid in the last half hour and his screaming was muffled only after the doctor had the mask fixed to Illya's face and he breathed in enough of the anesthetic to put him to sleep.

The doctor looked toward the woman and she seemed almost as lost and if she wasn't it didn't seem that she was going to explain that episode. In part he was afraid that maybe this one was a bit insane. There were some captains in the past history of the Nova that had been unusually violent and they were never quite right in the head. They were men that crew had to kill or face being annihilated.

Wiring the jaw wasn't so difficult with the Chip out cold. The doctor ran wires between the teeth to anchor the brackets and then lined the jaw up so he could run the next set of wires through the brackets. When he finished with the jaw the doctor made sure the ribs were not severely broken or out of place. Only one rib had to be manipulated back into place and then it held even when the new captain breathed. When he cut the shirt off he saw that there were many other scars marking the man. These weren't his only fights. It looked like his back would need to be worked on again before they could send him off to the captain's room.

By the time the doctor was finished with the stitches he half expected that the captain would wake up. Instead he let the captain lay in a recovery room for a while and he checked periodically, but the man wasn't waking. Still the woman didn't seem to be surprised or upset. There were a lot of strange things about this one. He'd worked on dozens of different races, but he'd never dealt with one yet that it was more critical to deal with a broken bone than open wound. In this case the back would have been one of his greater concerns. Certainly he needed to set the bones and ensure that they wouldn't be causing complications, but she seemed to be more worried about that than anything else. Eventually the woman said something about a body's self induced healing comma and she insisted that the captain be moved. Reluctantly he agreed, but rumors started after the first day of complete silence in the room and by the second day the stream of men became more consistent.

Everyone wanted to know if the captain actually survived his fight, but there was no indication so far. Not even so much as a moan or groan from him. By now it should have been expected that he would wake at least one time. Perhaps this was her way and the slaves way of gaining leadership on board.

**************************************************

It was mostly dark in the room and Illya turned in the bed. Moaning and writhing in the bed he started to look around for Kalizda. She had to be here somewhere. He'd fought like crazy to keep her and he was sure he'd won the fight. The little woman came into view after only a few seconds and he stopped moving for the most part. Illya gave her his best awkward smile that showed off the wires holding his jaw shut. He wanted to just hold her and be quiet for a while. His face hurt like never before and every breath was practically agony. She was barely there and gave her a tiny kiss and then she left again. The Chip waited and waited. Whoever it was talking to her was taking forever and it had been clear when she leaned over to kiss him that she had rings under her eyes to rival that of a desert lemur. She needed rest and he wanted to hold her. Since whoever it was happened to be taking so long he scooted himself out to the edge of the bed and threw the covers back. Illya's eyes got wide. He was buck naked. For the first time since he woke up he noticed that he was clean too and the bed. That was a little awkward as a realization, but he didn't have time for it right now. Spotting his boxers hanging over the back of a chair he gingerly made his way over to it and got the clean boxers on before wandering over to stand behind Kalizda. He didn't care to even try speaking in trader's tongue right now so he gave orders in Quoti for her to translate. "Its late. My orders, everyone get some sleep I'll be eating with all the men in the mess hall tomorrow. Then you can talk to me." Nodding to Kalizda he figured she would translate. "No more visitors till I come out tomorrow. I want time with my first mate."

It had been yet another crew member wanting to show his new allegiance to Illya. Most didn't even know his name, but here were two crewmen in their black and yellow vests grinning awkwardly at the door and holding out gifts. If only they knew how much Chippeqouti disliked open gift giving. "For the Captain," one smiled as he offered her a small box she recogonized from their own ship. It was the box of oils she kept for Illya while they were on Pyrta . "Uhuh and I brought this," said the other proudly, as he handed over a nice looking pistol, "Captain always needs a nice weapon." With a deep breath, Calysta gathered her patience and nodded to them "The captain-" A shadow came from behind her and the two crewman's eyes grew wide. Illya's voice, muffled as it was, began speaking in Qouti to them through clenched teeth. She glanced back to her Chip and he nodded to her to translate, which she did without question. They were both so busy staring at him, that neither of them made any kind of acknowledgement of the order at first. "That's is your captain's order, gentlemen. Goodnight," Calysta added. Finally they snapped out of their thoughts and gave a few short bows. "Yessir...er ma'am...uh. Good night." When they were scuttling down the hall, Calysta gave a quiet thank you to Rexe and closed the door, being sure to lock it, before turning Illya. Her grey eyes scanned him over and she ran a soft hand over his knuckles and up his arm. "You shouldn't be up," she said with a tired smile, "Let's take you to bed, hm Captain?"

Illya had clenched one fist while he was standing behind Kalizda. He was hurting badly enough that he was tempted to just walk away after giving the orders, but he waited till they were gone. As soon as the door closed he slouched a little and covered his ribs instinctively with his right hand with his left hand still clenched in a fist. Delicate little fingers ran over his fist and up his arm. It was comforting to have her at this point even if there was still a bit of stress with now being a pirate captain of what he had gathered to be a notorious ship. Stepping behind Kalizda and trading sides with her, he wrapped his right arm around her waist. "I need a little help sleeping eh?" Still speaking in Quoti he got to the bed with her and winced a little when he leaned closer to her. She was making faces at him like she was worried and he was just trying to pucker his lips for a kiss. It was incredibly difficult with the hardware in his mouth. After several painful attempts at contorting his face he managed half a pucker and then found he could press his lips to hers, but he couldn't complete the kiss. He couldn't even suck on her lower lip or make it a dirty kiss of any kind. It was a very disappointing discovery.

She could tell he was in pain but she let him lead her into the bedroom with his arm around her waist. It would probably have been better for him to climb in first, but instead he seemed to be waiting for her. With a gentle smile, Calysta kicked off her boots and pulled off her belt so she could actually sleep comfortably and not move too much beside him. It was funny that even though he had no memory of her having slipped into his bed on Reylia after the mines, that he still wanted her close when h was hurt. Climbing into the bed, she waited for him to join, keeping a careful eye on his back. If it opened up, she wanted to be sure that it was properly cleaned and rewrapped. The stitches looked fine though as he eased in beside her and she chuckled. "Help sleeping? I think I can do that." He started to lean closer with a pained expression on his face, his jaw working against the wires and lips twitching. What was he trying to do? Coming close, his lips grazed hers and she realized what it was. It was an attempted and valiant effort at a kiss with his jaw wired shut. Calysta tilted her head, and kissed him anyways, even if he couldn't kiss back with his awkward, twitchy lips, but when she drew away he looked dissapointed, with a crease on his tan brow. "So, maybe kissing will be a bit hard for awhile," she admitted, "But it doesn't mean I can't kiss you." With a sleepy, playful little smile, she leaned up and kissed his lips again very gently so as not to hurt his jaw and then laid her head back, leaving small pecks down towards his ear. "See still a good kisser even when you can't move your jaw," she chuckled, as she swept aside the random bits of her hair, "They brought the oil back if you want to try using it on your hands and your back. It might soothe it some."

Even if he couldn't kiss it seemed that Kalizda got the idea. He just wanted a little tender loving care and he'd tried to be an active part of it, but kissing was apparently off the list. At least for public settings. Right now he figured it was so pathetic that he would be better off not to even attempt it anywhere besides the bedroom. Illya really wanted to kiss her again, but he was afraid to move. Right now his jaw was still bruised and swollen from the hit and from the surgery. Her tiny kisses were so enticing. When the woman finally finished with her kisses she offered to rub some of the oils on his back and hand. Sticking his lower lip out into a slight pout he nodded and gingerly moved himself into the bed. Putting one hand out he let her put a little oil in it and he rubbed it over the sore knuckles and then some into his jaw. The first gentle touch on his back was almost cringe worthy and he buried his face in the pillow.

Calysta hadn't meant for him to have to oil himself up, but maybe he just preferred it that way. He knew where he was most sore and she might hurt him otherwise. When it came time to rub the oil over his back, the first and most gentle touch she could muster made him curl into the bed a little and bury his face into the silken pillow. "I'm sorry," she winced, "I thought it might make you feel better later on." Using the lightest touch possible she only put oil on the areas around the stitches to keep the skin supple. Each little touch worried her that she might be hurting him worse and when it was done she let him catch his breath with his face buried in the pillow. "It's done," she whispered into his ear as she smoothed down his hair. She waited for him to take as long as he needed to sit up and then settled against the head board offering her arms as an alternative to the silk pillow. "Come here, yeah." Calysta let him get comfortable and then just ran cool, soothing hands through his, soft curls. "Maybe a story might be good?" I twas something that didn't involve pirates or slaves or anything else. Just something calming.

It took a few moments after she was done for Illya to feel like he could look at her. Even if she was babying him, he didn't mind. Moving a little closer Illya carefully wrapped his arms around her. "No story." Closing his eyes he let out a short breath and took in a shallow breath. "I just hold you." Whispering in Quoti he angled his head so that she could play with her fingers in his hair. It didn't take long with her playing through his curls for Illya to start breathing a little deeper and eventually fall asleep.

Calysta let him hold her as long as he wanted and just let him rest. "Alright. Just relax and close your eyes." His head was heavy in her arms but she didn't mind. Calysta could tell when he fell asleep by the sound of his breathing, but she kept stroking his hair until her head dropped back against the head board and her fingers came to a slow halt still tangled in his hair.

*************************************************

The fingers tangled in his hair brought a momentary panic to Illya. His jaw was burning with pain and he felt it pressed into something. The mask! They were gonna put the mask on again. Pulling away from Kalizda he blinked a few times and then gently moved back to lay with her. Someone was knocking on the door and Illya figured that was what must have woke him up. When the knocking persisted he decided to get himself up. With a grunt he moved away from Kalizda again and started to rummage through the room till he found a pair of pants.

In some ways he felt too sore to even attempt getting a shirt. Instead he leaned over the bed and stole a blanket from it. One that wasn't on Kalizda's side of the bed. Before unlocking the door Illya shoved his feet into his boots and he shuffled over to the doorway. Unlocking the door he opened it to see a crew member. The man looked a bit surprised and Rexe gave Illya a look of apology. "What yah need so early? I give yah orders." Illya grumbled a little from between his wired teeth. "I come out when ets time."

Still the crew member insisted and thrust a box to Illya. "I bring you my homage." He had heard that the captain was indeed alive and he looked well considering the injuries and it was better that he come right away and pay his respects rather than find himself on the wrong side. Some had held out such as himself while they thought that there was a chance both the men who would have led them would be dead. There was no doubt that the Udine wouldn't lead them and the other captain had been roundly beaten. "Its a gift." Nodding to the captain he waited anxiously for some kind of approval.

Illya stared at the box for a long moment and then narrowed his eyes. He didn't want to take the 'gift.' Taking a gift would be like asking for trouble. He'd already had enough trouble for an entire year or more.With some urging he opened it to discover a necklace. It wasn't Kalizda's. Nodding a little Illya set the necklace aside. "Yah go." The man skittered off pleased that the captain had accepted the gift.

Now that he knew pirates had been bringing him gifts Illya started to look around the captain's room. It was like being in a room full of curses. Clearing his throat he decided to go get something to eat. He was hungry and he could bring something back for Kalizda too. Illya took a bowl of the porridge sitting on the table and looked at the group of men gathered. "I come back wit meh first mate later." Taking a spoonful of the porridge he tried to open his mouth and forgot about the wires. "Mmmm." It hurt for the simple fact that he tried and Illya stared at the spoon for several seconds until the doctor took the bowl away and ground it into a smoothie sort of texture and put a straw in it. Illya stuffed the straw into the side of his cheek and he nearly gagged as the little floaties began to slither they way between his teeth and mingle with his saliva like a sort of grit. One of the men noticed the look on the captains face and smirked.

Illya took spoonful of sugar and nearly a cup of milk to add to the porridge so that it would be tolerable. The sugar made it taste decent so he added more and then more again until it tasted like a candy. When he returned to the room he had a bowl for Kalizda and he winked at her. "I bring you breakfast." Even speaking in Quoti he would slur some words, but it wasn't quite as bad as his trader's tongue. Frowning a little he laid on the bed and held his stomach it hurt so bad. Maybe the porridge was bad. Sitting up he almost yelled. "Dun eat et!" Kalizda appeared to jump a little and he started to explain. "I feel sick and I eat porridge."

Momentarily she gave him a skeptical look. "Doctor made it all like drink and I suck it through straw. Terrible so I add milk and 3 giant spoons of sugar." When he finished he saw a look of amusement on her face and she continued eating. "Why you do that when I just finished telling you its bad." Apparently it wasn't the porridge, she seemed to think it was the volume of sugar that he'd put into the food.
 
Calysta didn't remember falling asleep tangled up with Illya. She had been so worried about him after the whipping and even more so after the surgery from the fight that she hadn't slept in nearly two days. He had slipped into one of his Chip comas for his body to repair itself. At least in such a state he wouldn't have any seizures and he would rest like he was supposed to. It had been her intent to try to sleep herself, but with crew members plaguing her constantly about the state of their new captain, it had been impossible. She had taken to watching over Illya and playing gate keeper with every crew man coming to call. When her head finally slumped against the headboard and slid down nearly resting on top of her Chips, the sleep was so deep that no dreams came at all.

The feeling of silk sheets over her bare arms was the first thing she was aware of. They were so smooth she couldn't help but slide her hands over the mattress just to enjoy the sensation before rolling over. Her hand brushed over the other side of the bed, expecting to find her toasty Chip snoozing. Her toes were cold and she wanted thaw them on his side of the bed where it was always warm, but her finger tips found nothing by empty blankets. The lack of Chippeqouti man in her bed made her eyes crack open to see the indented spot the sheets where he had been. Where had he gotten off to?

Mumbling, Calysta sat up and rubbed her eyes to clear away the sleep. Most of the blind spots had faded with the last day or so, clearing her vision almost back to normal for which she was relieved. Several bruises had been collected when she bumped into things hidden in the blacked out portions of her vision and not being able to see had been irritating, especially while trying to help Illya. Leaning back, she peered into the drawing room to find it was empty too. He had left the captain's quarters to go somewhere. She noticed his freshly washed pants were gone from the chair. At least he found his pants. There was no telling how long he had been gone and it would probably be a good idea to go look for him after a trip to the bathroom.

With red lines from the sheets still marking her face, Calysta threw her legs over the side of the bed and shuffled into the bathroom. She hadn't bathed properly in 4 days and it showed in the reflection of the long mirror. Her ragged cut hair was sticking up all over from a combination of its natural thickness and left over static electricity from the nebula storm and while dark circled were ringed around her grey eyes. Bruises left by the former captain's hand were still bright blue on the side of her pale cheek which mingled with smudges of dirt from cleaning and top it off, a dried bit of spit was stuck to the corner of her mouth from having fallen asleep with her mouth open. Had she been greeting crew members looking like a Ayrn-esque tom-boy? Glancing at the private shower in the corner and then at herself in the mirror and back again, she sighed. A shower sounded heavenly and so did clean clothes. There were no sounds of catastrophe coming from outside the door and Rexe would have come to get her if there had been any issues. She would just grab a quick shower and then go find Illya.

Turning the water all the way to 'hot' she stripped out of her stinking Terran clothes and stepped into the show, letting out a small hum of satisfaction. The water was near scalding, just the way she liked it, and there were multiple jets hitting her skin from different angles. It was good to be the captain. Well, first mate anyways. Calysta let the water burn away the sweat and grime along with the tenseness in her muscles. The soap smelled like mens cologne rather than her usual cinnamon or mint scents, but at that moment any soap and shampoo would do. Once she was all clean, she realized that there was another problem. Her Terran clothes were disgusting and needed to be washed before she could put them on again.

She wrapped a towel around herself and walked into the bedroom to the closet to find something to put on so she could wash her clothes in the mean time. The inside of the closet was packed with clothing, everything from boots to pants, shirts, and a rainbow of coats. What was this guy? A runway model in his spare time? He owned more clothes than she did. Thumbing through, the hangers it became obvious that some of them were not his. There were women's clothing tucked in a section to the back and were pressed together tightly enough she could only guess they had been there for a long time and forgotten about. Maybe the man had a wife at one point? A lover? At this point it didn't matter. The clothes smelled clean and were available. Picking out something in black, a Kaerelean officers color, she held up the clothing it was meant to be a woman's waist coat but on her it would practically be a dress. Size aside, it was still clean and that was all that mattered to her.

She toweled off and donned the waist coat with a pair of stockings she found in the closet and then put on her boots. Her hair was beginning to dry in all sorts of directions, and it would be harder to cut if it completely aired out. In an effort to make the rough cut look better, she grabbed a pair of sharp metal scissors from the drawing room desk and used the bathroom mirror to cut as many as the stray locks as she could. The cut grew shorter and shorter until the ends brushed the nape of her neck and a set of wild, side swept bangs were falling into eyes. If it wasn't for the slightly feminine waist coat she'd look even more like a teenage boy. It was only hair and it grew back, but if she was honest, it was something that she had enjoyed letting Illya play with. Now it was all gone again. With a sigh, she brushed off the stray hairs into sink and wash them down the drain.

About the time Calysta was coming out of the bathroom, feeling at least slightly more human she heard the door open. She tensed for a moment, until Illya stepped into the bed room with a bowl in hand and a cheeky wink. It wasn't until her eyes set on the bowl, that she realized how hungry she was. "Thank you, Illya," she said, kissing his less sore cheek. It was good to be able to say his name openly again. Sure they were still basically captives aboard the Nova, the new accommodations were nice. Sitting down on the bed she picked up the spoon and started eating without even really paying attention to what it as at first. The first bite told her everything she needed to know. Grits. About that time, Illya nearly exploded off of the bed next to her, trying to warn her about the bowl. When he explained how he had eaten his share, Calysta winced just a little before bringing another spoonful to her mouth. Her poor Chip would soon be making trips to the bathroom and if he found out the doctor had given him corn, he probably would fuss about having to go back, wishing the Ehaui were there instead. "It tastes fine to me," she said truthfully, trying to hide some of her slight amusement at the brewing storm in his stomach, "Maybe its just all of that sugar you put into it? You usually don't eat that much sweet."

It wasn't two minutes before Illya's stomach gave angry growl, like a tyrei ready to pounce, and he was dashing off to the bathroom while trying to unbuckle his pants as he went. The door slammed and locked firmly behind him as the first miserable wretch echoed over the tiled walls inside. She felt bad for him, especially for his mouth being wired shut, which had to be double miserable. There was little she could do though, and had he woken her up instead of sneaking off like he wasn't supposed to, she could have kept him from eating it. Shaking her head, she took another bite of her grits. It would be best to stay close to make sure he didn't choke over the next few hours, until his body got all of the corn out.

Calysta poked around the room some more while Illya was still holed up in the bathroom with the door locked. She could still hear the sounds of him getting the corn out of his system with a pitiful heave every now and the odd flush of water. With the strange little coat on, Calysta picked up Illya's info pad hoping to find something to read and flopped backward on the bed. She had yet to recover her own pad and it had a few of the stories she enjoyed reading stowed on it, but at least someone had brought Illya's forward, though there was now a crack in the corner of the screen. Bending her knees and propped up the pad and used her thumb print to open it up to his library. She saw some of the titles she had introduced him to but they hadn't been opened in awhile. If they had it was only the audio version. Humming a little, she flicked her finger over the screen until she came to an unlabeled file. What was this? It wasn't like him to have something blank unless it was a secret. Her curiosity flared and she debated whether or not to open it, her eyes glancing at the bathroom door and then the info pad again. It wouldn't hurt if it was just a story more than likely and if it was more than that, she would just close it quickly. Pressing her finger to the audio file it began to play with an even, male voice reading. "Elijah said, “I am the only prophet of the Lord here, but there are four hundred fifty prophets of Baal. 23 Bring two bulls. Let the prophets of Baal choose one bull and kill it and cut it into pieces..." The story being read was loud, and some what familiar. Tapping her finger to her lips, she listened intently and then it came to her in a sudden flash of memory. Her father used to read this story to her when she was a child. "It's the Bible!"

There was nothing worse than having to puke and just having little chunks seep between his teeth. Illya about passed out the first time. His ribs were forced to expand to accomodate the thrust his body required to expel the food. If it couldn't have got worse his jaw was straining against the wires and puke ran out his nose. Only a few little chunks managed to make their way between his teeth. Fluid came out in streams and the rest of the chunks remained in his mouth. Illya gagged down what the had to and tried to rinse his mouth, but that was only minimally helpful. When there was a moment of semi-peacefullness he decided to just sit on the toilet and try to relax. There was no relaxing when he heard a familiar file playing on his tablet. Kalizda knew and he was going to have to try and explain this one to her. With a groan he dropped his head into his hands though he was careful not to touch his sore jaw.

Calysta listened to the story play as she eased of the bed and walked over to the bathroom door where she sat down cross legged and leaned against the paneled wall with questions popping into her mind. Why would Illya have a bible on his pad? He had panicked about even keeping one in their home, hiding the book like it was a dirty secret to lock in the closet never to be spoken of. Illya had been meeting her father frequently in the evenings and she had wondered why, but chalked it up to some sort of male bonding. Could her dad have been trying to teach Illya about Christianity all over again? Her thought back to how they acted together on Pyrta. Surely that wasnt the case? They been acting so civil to one another. Turning down the volume, she cleared her throat unable to contain her curiosity any longer. "I didn't know you were reading this again," she said lightly, "When did you start?"

She was getting closer to the bathroom door and Illya could hear the audio version of the bible getting louder. This was it. Kalizda would turn him over and someone else would step in to help raise the children. Even though he felt awful Illya wasn't about to be a coward and hide in the bathroom when he told her the news. Pulling his boxer and pants up he walked over to the door and opened it. Slouching next to Kalizda he sighed, "I start jes around yah father's holiday."

Calysta heard the bathroom door unlock and she shifted to the side to let him pass, expecting him to go to the bed, but he didn't. He slumped beside her almost sounding embarrassed about having been reading the Bible. Her grey eyes flicked up to his face and her head tilted to the side. She really was surprised that he had even gone near the book again after Nuen." I didn't know that. Is that why you've been visiting, Dad so much?" She questioned curiously, "Why didn't you mention it?"

Carefully Illya nodded when she asked if that was why he had been visiting her father. Illya expected her to be mad, to start yelling or telling him to get rid of the book and never speak of it again. They were all reasonable things to say, but he wasn't sure he wanted to stop yet. Oddly enough she was very curious instead of threatening. Almost skeptically he eyed her before he said anything more. "Its your duty to report me to the elders. Then they will break my back for rejecting the gods."

So, he had been going to her dad regularly to study the Bible. For weeks. And here she had been thinking that they were going over for drinks and cigar smoking like her father was prone to do when he had relaxing time. When he mentioned what her supposed duty would be, she raised a brow at him. Did he really think she would report him for reading a book, whether he believed in its words or not? Especially if that was the penalty. She had known he took his gods seriously, and their religion was interesting but not one she was interested in following. The whole thing seemed so harsh and unforgiving. "Well, as it happens I'm not so great at duty some times," she replied with a little smile, "Illya, I wouldn't report you for this." Pausing, she gave his shoulder a gentle nudge. "I am curious as to what you think about it though."

A slight smirk came to Illya's face. Not so great at duty was at times an understatement. She just broke the rules she didn't like or couldn't see the use of. In some ways it wasn't so different from himself. Out of the two of them he was finding more and more that he was the strict one on some things. Still half in disbelief that she was so open to the idea he gazed at her. "I like it. Some things are difficult, but there are good stories." There was a lot more to it than that, but he wasn't sure if he should even say it. Instead he quietly offered, "You like to read with me in secret? We wait till Cypher and Rose are older to teach them eh?"

Again, her Chip managed to surprise her. This was so different from the last time they spoke of religion. Calysta wondered if he really believed in the readings or if he just enjoyed the stories. She tended to think it might be more of the latter, but did that really matter? Simply because she wasn't religious didn't mean that he couldn't be and she'd had her own questions as of late. Perhaps it would be a good thing. At the very least it would be time with him and something to share with the children. "I think

"I think it might be good. I may be bad at bad at duty sometimes but I am good at secrets," she chuckled, slipping a little hand over his, "I think Rose and Cypher should learn too, but on one condition. We let them choose to practice or not. I don't want them worried about what will happen if they think differently. If they choose to, it should be able to because they want to."

"Secrets." Chuckling a little Illya brought a hand up to hold his chin gently. His jaw hurt with that small expression. "Kalizda I think because they are not full blooded Chippequoti they can choose their gods. I let them choose anyway. It is better if they are devoted to their god." Why a god would want an unfaithful follower Illya wouldn't know. The urge to puke was beginning to build again and he could feel the beginning of the acid crawl up the back of his throat. Scrambling off the floor he slammed the door behind himself and grabbed the toilet again.

Illya kept throwing up and eventually, Calysta decided to look around the room more. She went into the drawing room and sat at the captain's desk, pulling open some of the drawers to see what was inside. Most of it was what she expected. A set of pistols, a knife, along with a set of pens. A info pad with a dead battery and no charger to be found. A snuff box full of mints and a small tool kit. A stray foil, rubber packet. The most interesting thing she found was a folder which had many random bits of paper inside, all of which had scratchy notes scrolled over every inch or star charts of systems she didn't recognize, mapped out. There were a few things she did recognize. A small note describing a man as tall, strong boned, and lethal. It was a familiar way to describe Chippeqouti, and her heart skipped a beat. Had the captain been so intent on keeping Illya because he knew? There were only a few notes, some talking of Chips and some written in a language she didn't know. It was almost like this guy had made a hobby out of tracking down these legends. A name was written on the inside of the folder. Elian Halvard. This was the captains name? It hadn't appeared anywhere else that she could think of, not even on any of the weapons she had found in the cabin. She took the folder and walked into the bedroom where Illya's info pad waited. If she could find out what language the file was written in, translating it would be easy. Before Calsyat could make it there, another knock on the door which she answered. It was more crew members asking about their new captain and offering more gifts. "Your captain will be meeting you in the mess hall when he is ready." With that answer, she shut the door on them.

As Calysta started to search through the known language database for the language on Elian's file, Illya came out of the bathroom still looking sweaty and miserable. She offered him a cup of water with a small, pink bendy straw stuck in the top. The water was tepid, but it had to be better than tasting his own vomit. "Here, drink if you can." He took the cup and sucked down several long gulps trying to wash out the taste. She was about to warn him about drinking to fast, when the Chip looked up at her with as much of playful grin as his wired mouth could make, and chuckled as the pink straw suctioned on to his lip. The straw dangled awkwardly from his bottom lip and it looked so ridiculous, Calysta couldn't help but laugh. In a swift motion, she reached up and plucked it off, making a small plonk sound as it popped free.

*********

They entered the mess hall and immediately all eyes swiveled to them, as the murmuring grew louder. It hadn't taken Rexe long to round all the crewmen up, all the ones loyal to Illya at least, and now they sat waiting expectantly for their new captain to begin his work. All of the slaves were there and a little over half the crew sat in front of them with their bright vests. Calysta stood beside Illya as he came to a stop in front of the filled tables and decided to give him a bit of information before he began talking to them. "The crewmen he will be expecting you to give your first orders, which will include the judgment and execution of any men loyal to the old captain. That is the Nova code," she told him, "However, I don't think that is advisable. Technically the old captain is not dead yet and by rights those loyal to him still can live." Personally, she didn't think that they should die at all, but they just needed to stay in charge long enough to get off the ship. Becoming a pirate was not something Calysta had in mind. Illya nodded to her in understanding, and she knew to trust his judgment on the situation as well as give advice on how to proceed. She waited until he was ready, and then called the men to attention. "Silence!" she ordered over the sounds of their talking. They didn't stop immediately, so she tucked her pinky fingers to her lips and gave a long, piercing whistle which made everyone in the room wince as the shrill sound cut through their ears. It may have been annoying and even painful, but the whistle did its job and the room fell silent. "Your captain will speak now," she said evenly, before looking to Illya. She would begin translating when he was ready.
 
There was a few hours of relative misery. Not that Illya had actually thought all that much about it besides the sugar. He would have to watch how much sugar he ate in his food next time. It sure tasted good and he was craving a little more sugar. Illya settled into the bed still shirtless and sore after he had the last bout of intestinal distress. By now he was feeling sore, but better. Much better if he only considered his guts, but the ribs were incredibly sore.

It felt like Illya had barely fallen asleep for a small nap and Kalizda was already trying to wake him up again. Groaning a little he turned in the bed just enough to feel it pressing into his back. "Augh!" Gingerly pushing up on one elbow he looked at her with sleepy eyes. "What?" Normally she wouldn't wake him up for stuff unless it was serious or he had work to do. Illya thought for a moment before he remembered that he was in fact supposed to be meeting with the men in the little mess hall thing. They were all waiting for instruction of some kind and Illya had yet to get there. Personally the Chip was almost wishing that he hadn't the added responsibility of now running a pirate ship, or at least monitoring the action of one.

Providing it all went well he would have a captain for the ship and officers when they landed at port and then he could send them off and be on his way to wherever it was they needed to be on Terra. For the most part it sounded like a strange planet when Kalizda had done the readings for him. They just needed to get on their way. Illya struggled into a shirt and he winced a little when it came to rest on top of his shoulders. Even if the previous captain had intended to whip only his back there were a few spots where the whip had caught his shoulder and left a nasty welt or cut there too. With his arms still stuck out and up from his body he wiggled a little to see if the shirt would simply move itself. Illya didn't wan to force the shirt down, it would hurt to make it scrape across all the stitches and the spots with scabs. "Eh Kalizda I need help." Shuffling over to the bed Illya sat on the edge of it and waited for Kalizda to come help him pull the shirt down over his shoulders without it getting caught on the wounds. "Ow..." Grumbling a little he tried to turn his head to see Kalizda, but he couldn't because his shirt was still in the way. He could feel gentle plucking and a grin came to his face as her little fingers picked and pulled. "Little bird try ta peck meh ta deat?"

With a few more minutes of focus on getting themselves presentable Illya was finally ready to go out and meet the men. Personally he would have rather been getting something more to eat, but that would have to come after they had this talk. "We get food after, yes?" Illya was almost worried that she would tell him to wait till later or even tomorrow to eat again. Isla would do that from time to time and he hated that. When he was hungry he wanted to eat and it didn't matter if he was sick or not.

The two of them made their way to the door and Illya opened it for Kalizda. He nodded to Rexe and the other guarding them. It was as good a time as any. Slowly the group of four wandered through the halls till they reached the room. It was strangely silent as he entered and momentarily Illya felt out of place. He didn't really like standing here and giving orders. This was part of his job and duty as a general and he was going to do what he had ot.

Illya nodded to Kalizda as soon as he was ready to start. With his jaw clenched he couldn't really yell over the sound of the men. The best he could get was a growl and it made the men near enough to hear it pull back. Looking up at him with startled expressions and wide eyes they scooted back a little further in their seats and gave him some space. Kalizda began to advise him on the Nova Code and he nodded again. "I'm ready." Quietly he waited for her to get the men silenced and then he started slowly in Quoti so that there was no mistaking his meaning. "Any man here not of his own free will is released. I will give him a parting gift when we land at port. Enough to pay for his fair back home to his family. All other men will receive an option. You can stay aboard the Nova or return to land to fight the war, working for me. Its closing in on all sides of this galaxy. Federation and Alliance both fight for the system. On the Nova or as pirates you'll be hunted by both sides. I can offer you amnesty, but only if you fight for the Alliance. Take the ground as spies on the streets and report only to me, or raid the Federation and take what plunder you will. Periodically I will meet with the Nova and assess the damages, pay favors to the crew and take weapons for analysis back to Alliance developers."

Calysta kept her hands folded in front of her and her eyes on the crowd in front of them. It was always good to keep eye contact but she also wanted to keep a watch on any movement from possible dissenters. As she translated Illya's words she did so with firm confidence, though the shock of hearing such a break in code was unheard of in Nova history. The disregard for tradition certainly made an impact on the room and everyone began to chatter over one another in hot debate. "You mean disband the Novas?.. We are free men!.... Not soldiers!...Maybe we should listen...the war has already taken its toll...I can go home?" The room was buzzing with all of the men talking. "Give them a moment," she said to Illya in Qouti, "It's an odd break from tradition for them." The slaves seemed more than happy to take the offer with cheers but the crew were mixed. Finally, the blue skinned man stood and gazed at Illya, his tongue flicking between his sharp teeth. "You releasssse our hard earned sssslavesss and just compenssssation sssshould be given for that, Captain," he said, "You ssaay amnesssty for alliance work. The Novasss are free men. No alliegance but to themsselvess, sir. You would have ussss change?"

While the words sunk in the men in the room went from a buzz of activity to a general roar. Some were yelling, others questioning, some were stamping their feet and hooting for joy. It was a mix and not anything that Illya hadn't seen before. Tiredly he watched them, knowing that there would be men displeased with the action. Men were never 100% happy with what a leader did and so Illya was determined to make the most that he could out of this. The Alliance needed more men and he knew from experience that these were all dead men no matter who won the war. They wouldn't last the war without some kind of alliance of their own. As a hush came over the group Illya faced one that he had marked as trouble some days ago. A blue man that reminded him of a snake stepped forward with complaint of sorts. This time he answered in trader's tongue as it was only fair to show respect while he was at this point breaking all conduct of the ship otherwise. "Aye, yah all free men. Free ta die. Dah war will leave yah wit no ports. Federation and Alliance scramble for all territory. Yah work for Federation and dey onleh try ta destroy yah in dah end." Meeting the man's gaze Illya thought he spied a bit of skepticism. "I fight dah last war wit Federation and I know dey turn on outsiders. Yah work for meh. Fight for dah Alliance. Challenge Federation and take what yah will of booty from dem. I onleh check periodically for weapons ta take to meh analysts to be sure we hold ground and know what ta expect from Federation. Any men on ground ef yah choose ta fight I will ask yah ta simply gather intelligence where yah are and send et to meh. Tink ef yah free men and yah free ta wander streets of Alliance ports. Yah have more ports den jes where yah go now and yah trade freely." Of course there still had to be more compensation that would feel immediate and so Illya continued. "Come ta captain's quarters today and yah pick one item as compensation ef yah owned a slave." He knew the captain likely owned them all, but he would willingly give resources to men that believed they had legitimate claim.

Another wave of noise went through the men, this time a little more fervent. Some still felt it was better to turn and run back to the fringe, though there were nothing but poor settlements and colonies out there. Those would be under supplied and possibly forgotten if the war dragged on, leaving the Nova's with nothing. If they stayed they would be in the middle of the war and no better off. Some had heard of the Federation and some were confused on exactly why they should be so afraid of them The first to move were the slaves. Each rose and walked over to Illya's side of the mess hall in silent agreement before Rexe stepped forward and gave Illya a nod. "Some of us would like to help and some of us would like to go home. All of us recognize us as our captain." The crew continued to debate until finally another question arose, presented by the blue skinned one again. "Who ssshall you leave in charge of the sssship, Captain? You belong with your prize!" At his words the crew men exploded into debate again. "It should be me!..NO ME! I've been here the longest...Well, I have higher rank!" They started shoving each other and the gathering began to grow out of control until Calysta stepped up a set jaw and whistled loud and long to get their attention. "Sit down and listen!" Most of their butts hit the seats immediately, though some gave her dirty looks and sank into their seats slowly.

It seemed to have finally struck and the men understood that there was no such thing as a safe home anymore. Rexe presented a side that Illya understood, but it wasn't as much help. However, it seemed that there were still a considerable number of men that wished to stay on the ship. When the roar started again Illya allowed for them to go on with their fighting. He had his own mind made up, though he wasn't so sure that he liked his own idea. Kalizda silenced them all and Illya started in Quoti again because it was easier and his jaw was starting to hurt despite the fact that he hadn't moved it. "Men dat want ta go home, go protect yah families. I still give yah way ta contact meh and I do meh best ta see to et dat all civilians willing to flee to Alliance make et if Federation cause trouble." Looking to the others who had begun to fight over who was captain he sighed. "Ef yah captain lives I offer him ta work for alliance ef nut den I choose most able man here in dis room."

Calysta translated the words, trying to hide her disguise her surprise at Illya's offer to let Elias keep the ship. She had no doubt that if he did regain control the Nova's would go right back to the same thing they were doing before, raiding ports and capturing ships for their collections. Still, the offer was Illya's to make and she understood in part why he was doing it. The new offer sparked a new debate among the men and she couldn't help but sigh a little. "But you are the captain!...No he's not, our captain isn't dead yet! Then why did I see you pledge to him?....if he's leavng then it should be one of us....no! the old captain isn't dead yet! He's as good as dead....he aint wakin up." She let the debate go on for a few minutes more before calling them to attention once more. "If your old captain is incapacitated, then he is unfit for his command and should be relieved of it unless you see reason or wish to continue under his leadership?" she was quoting standard protocol, trying to direct the debate some. They chattered among themselves until the blue man piped up over the crowd. "New captain! Chooosse from among usss!" It was totally unorthodox method of succession, but the crew liked the idea that one of their own could wear the laurels of the Nova captainhood. It was only the strongest that the made it to captain and to let the process be done differently was appealing.

Since it seemed the original idea was rejected Illya took a breath. He could barely make out what the men were saying and he wanted badly to just go lay down again. He was ultimately going to be the one that the captain would report to and perhaps they had caught onto something better. Choosing a man from their own also meant he could depose of him as needed. Illya would take his time vetting the pirates to find one that would deal as he was supposed to. "Good." Nodding a little he responded in trader's tongue again. "I will have all men who desire to be captain to submit to meh a report. Yah tell meh what yah know of war, how ta conduct a campaign on land, in air, or in hostage situation. I asses yah reports choose which man will lead dis ship."

A murmur rose up again but the deal seemed agreeable. Most of the pirates were not as well educated and had joined the Novas out of necessity when they were young, barely able to read and write. Others were more educated and had military back grounds or had simply been around to see much of the galaxy and how wars were waged. Calysta felt relieved when they all seemed to get excited about a report being the only requirement to be considered for the captain, some even stood up and went for the door, trying to get a head start. These men were unruly and undisciplined but not all bad from what she could tell. Surely one of them would make a good captain. Glancing up to Illya, she waited for him to give the order to dismiss and then translated it when he nodded. They scattered like bugs to go write reports to vie for the captains chair and it soon become clear she and Illya would have a lot of work to do before deciding, as it seemed every man intended on applying. Nodding to Illya, she gave him a little smile. "I'll read and you pick, yeah?"

The men were anxious to get out of the room and Illya in part couldn't blame them. He mumbled a dismissal and Kalizda translated. Illya's jaw was starting to throb and feel like it was going to fall off, his stomach burned with hunger and he wanted to sleep all at the same time. As soon as the men were out the door Kalizda made an offer. A little smirk came to Illya's face and he nodded, "Mhmm." Stiffly he started to move himself toward the galley. After even the short amount of time that he'd been up Illya was sore. Inside the galley he placed one hand on the counter and stood to the side of the fridge. Pulling the door open he looked over what the cook had in it. There were beans and he didn't want those. Some fish and Illya wasn't really sure he wanted to try that. Then his eyes fell on the best thing that there was to offer. A little snake was stuffed into the side of the fridge. It was skinned and maybe a few days old, but it would be better than the other options. There was also enough for Kalizda to have some too. Pulling the snake out Illya flopped the limp body into a pan and turned the stove on.

No matter how sore or tired he got Illya still tried to take care of himself. Kalizda stepped in and told him to go sit down and he did what he was told. Partly he was too tired to argue with her and then it would hurt to say anything so he shuffled over to the stool in the corner and sat there. It was impossible to just sit there and not think. Even if he was tired out there were still plenty of ideas coming to mind. Illya could see the back of Kalizda's legs. She was fully clothed, but he still didn't mind staring at her legs.

Kalizda was swaying gently from one side to another as she grabbed seasonings. The snake smelled like it was going to make a glorious meal. He was still a little more focused on her legs and then an idea came to mind. Leaning back Illya started to feel around the counter behind himself. He found a small rubber washer and decided to see if she would notice when he threw it at her. Bending the rubber washer Illya balanced his elbow on his knee and he aimed the washer for the center of her back. Releasing the washer he watched it fly through the air. Instead of the washer landing where he'd hoped it was falling in an arch a bit faster than he'd anticipated and it hit her in the butt. Illya sat up a little straighter and he tried to pretend that he hadn't done a thing. When it looked like she wasn't going to be paying attention he grabbed another rubber washer and decided to aim a little higher. This one was a little stiffer and it flew straight and hit her in the back of the head. It was hard to tell if she'd even notice with all her hair cut off and sticking almost straight out. Since she wasn't immediately turning around Illya reached for another one. This time she caught him and Illya gave her his best grin.

Once the two of them had their food served up Illya and Kalizda seemed to realize at the same time the would have to make his into a hot slushy sort of meal. It was impossible not to be a little disappointed. Illya loved the gravy and the meat in bites. The texture was a little less spectacular this way. Grabbing the mug with a straw Illya let Kalzida pour the food into it. The color was a sickly grayish brown and Illya tried not to show his surprise at how gross it looked. Now that they were both served up they went back to the room together. Inside the room Illya sat on the bed and took a sip of his meal. It didn't taste right to have it all mixed together and the texture was far from pleasing. Some of the meat had only been blended into little shreds and they were more like flecks that got caught in the back of his throat.

Leaning back in the bed the stitches barely brushed against the bed and Illya winced. Instead he turned to his side and continued to suck down the meal despite the disappointing texture and semi strange taste. When he finished Illya set the mug aside and moved to cuddle with Kalizda. Instead she got up and he tried to look over his shoulder, but he couldn't quite see what it was that she was getting. Feeling too lazy to actually look he sighed and waited for her to come back to bed. When she did she was holding a needle and he began to protest in Quoti. "I don't want it." Even when she insisted that it was good for him Illya shook his head. "Kalizda, I don't want it." No matter how much he told her that he didn't want a shot and he didn't like them she still seemed to think that it was necessary. Finally giving in he pulled up the sleeve to his shirt and let her poke the needle under the skin. "Just have to torture me." Grumbling a little he watched her draw it out of the arm again and then take it to the disposal. Sticking his lower lip out he gave her his best pout and then started to chuckle a little. "Yah gotta make it up. Maybe we snuggle some when you come back?"
 
Calysta was relieved when the meeting was over and all the eyes weren't on them any more. The pirates went off to go write these reports and now she and Illya were free from their expectations, at least for a little while. In some ways their blind devotion to the Nova Code surprised her. The men hadn't thought to ask anything about them because by their standards, Illya had proved the strongest, besting their old captain. A man who wanted to keep his commission aboard the ship would bend to the new captain and that was how it worked for them. In some ways, it was almost a bit like the Elders. Followed and obeyed because they were defacto leaders. Of course, with the Chippeqouti Elders there was a major difference. Those men and women had been carefully raised and selected for their position, with a lot of training. These pirates had no idea if Illya was equipped to lead them or not, other than the fact that he had won the Nova, and technically, its old captain still lived. They would still have to be careful.

Illya stole a glance at her with his green eyes and she knew what he wanted almost immediately. How he could possibly be hungry after hours of throwing up with his mouth wired shut she couldn't know. If it had been her, food would have been the last thing on her mind. "Let's find something to eat, yeah?" she offered. He nodded and let out a quiet mhmmm and Calysta started to take his hand to lead him toward the kitchen, but thought the better of it in front of the pirates. Her hand wobbled awkwardly in the air and she turned into a sort of flopped wave. "We'll find you a little something in the galley."

Once they were in the kitchen, her Chip made a beeline for the fridge and opened it up to inspect whatever he might like to have. Of course, there was a small snake in there and he pulled it out. It was already skinned, but looked as though it had been in there a few days. After cooking so many snakes, she had become fairly adept at guessing how fresh the meat was and if it had been frozen or not. This skinny little offering hadn't been frozen, but it had a more grey color setting into the tip of its tail rather than the white or pinkish colors a newly skinned snake would carry. Other than the tail being a little tinged, it didn't seem to be rotten though and it was what Illya thought he could eat. With the snake in hand he walked over to the stove and unhooked a pan from the hanging grid above the counter as he went. Just that movement alone, made him stiff and she could see his shoulders slumping some. He was curling into the pain from his ribs and still trying to cook for them.

Stepping over, she nudged him a little with her hip and then nodded to a stool nearby. "Go on and sit down. I'll fix it up, yeah?" For once he didn't argue with her and lumbered over to the stool to sit down. Calysta turned her attention to the snake and stuck the skillet over the electric stove before returning to the refrigerator to retrieve the butter. Wherever else the pirates had raided must have been a rich port or ship. There was a block of sweet cream butter hidden in the drawer she had seen the chef using and it would be perfect to keep the older snake tender. As she walked over, the stockings that she wore began to ride up. They were far too big for her and she had the tops pulled up nearly to her ribs to keep them from rolling down. Now, they were crawling too far northward. She had half a mind to pull them off, but that would leave her with too much of a breeze than she cared for or wanted anyone else to see, and she couldn't exactly adjust them with Illya watching.

Shimmying back over to the stove, Calysta rocked from side to side, collecting spices from the cabinet and trying to unwedge the stockings at the same time without much luck. Cutting a hunk of the butter, she tossed it into the pan with the snake and it began to sizzle, popping as the butter melted into the snake meat. The smell of sauteing meat wafted through the air, making her own stomach grumble a little. As she took in a deep breath to enjoy the herbs something felt odd against her butt. Like a little pop of some sort. Maybe it was the stockings rolling some, or finding the chance to tear from being twisted. She reached back and smoothed down the tapered back of the waist coat before going back to give the frying pan a quick turn. Illya had shown her how to flip things in the frying pan rather than using a fork or spatula while they lived on Nuen. Sometimes it ended in disaster with food going everywhere, but sometimes it didn't. The snake gave a little hop in the pan and landed pale side down without so much as a splash this time. As she sprinkled more basil into the pan, another odd pop struck her in the back of the head. What in the Wilds?
Glancing up, she made sure there was nothing above her, and then she looked down, her eyes caught on a small washer rolling near her feet. Illya.

Turning on the Chip she found he was already reaching for another washer and gave her an odd grin, as much of one as he could give, with his lips peeled back showing off his teeth. Seeing him goof off made her own lips curl into a devious sort of smile. "Oh, proud of your aim I see," she chuckled, "Just remember, I return fire." Laughing, she picked up one of the washers, making the stockings ride even higher and sat it on the counter top before going back to cooking. Once the snake was done, she cut it up and poured in the cream along with a little flour to thicken the stew. While they were waiting for the meal to come to a bubble, Calysta stepped to the side and picked up the washer, and threw it at him in one smooth motion. The rubber bit popped him in the leg as he sat on the stool and she grinned at him with victory for having lulled him into thinking she wouldn't get him back.

**************

Making the meal and eating it were two different things. When Calysta poured up the bowls, the problem of how Illya was going to eat the meal presented itself. "I'll blend yours up, I suppose." She dumped his into the blender and gave it a few pulses before pouring it back into the cup with another straw. It took everything she had, not to let a disgusted look creep to her face. The greyish, slightly lumpy snake stew looked awful and how Illya was going to stomach it, especially after throwing up all morning, she couldn't imagine. Still, he started sipping on it and she picked up her own bowl to go back to the captain's cabin. On her way out, a few of the men had poked their head into the galley with curiosity. "It smells good in here," one said excitedly. "The woman cooked? It's been forever since I had something cooked by a woman," another commented, licking his lips.

"You can have whatever is left over," Calysta told them, as she and Illya passed. There wasn't much left and she didn't imagine Illya would be wanting seconds, given the slight face of disappointment he was giving his blended cup. The curious pirates scrabbled over each other into the kitchen to fight over the remains of the snake stew while they retreated into the captains cabin. The first thing she did was leave her bowl on the bed and scurry into the bathroom to fix the stockings. They had twisted and turned all over and it took a minute of picking and shifting to get them set right again. How did women wear these things and work?

By the time she was done, her Chip had settled onto the bed and leaned back with a wince as she nibbled on her own bowl from the end of the bed. The snake, though it was older, had turned out somewhat decent and she was proud of the little meal. Taking another bite, she noticed a little dot of red on the back of Illya's shirt. All the movement between her pulling on his shirt and the meeting had made his back bleed again. It didn't look like much and it would probably scab over again in a few minutes, but it did remind her that it was time for another round of antibiotics.

Setting down her bowl, Calysta walked on her knees across the bed, and pulled gently at his shirt collar, until the fabric lifted away from the open scab. It would hurt worse if the scab dried to his shirt. "Stay right here." Reaching to the side of the bed, she found the basket of supplies from the doctor. The first thing she did was put a gauze pad on the open scab near his shoulder to keep it protected and then she grabbed the vial of medicine, jabbing the top and loading up a fresh needle with the clear liquid. As soon as the Chip saw the needle he started protesting. "I know you don't want it, but it will keep you from getting sick," she said gently, "You really don't want to get a fever and have more seizures do you?" He kept pushing and finally she gave him a more firm look with her grey eyes, meeting his. "I could have let the doctor do this instead, and he wouldn't be nearly as gentle about it as your wife, I can promise."

Finally that seemed to get his attention and he rolled up his sleeve just far enough for her to swab his muscled arm, then poke him with the needle. Pushing in the medicine took all of 2 seconds before the needle was removed and still the Chip was grumpy. "Just have to torture me." Calysta rolled her eyes as she put the needle into the disposal. "Yah gotta make it up. Maybe we snuggle some when you come back?" When turned back, Illya was sitting there with his bottom lip poked out, and his brow pinched together, but a playful gleam in his bright eyes. It was a sight that was ridiculous in a funny sort of way. Her brave, tough Chip looking at her with such a gaze, especially with the mention of snuggling. If only the crew knew Big Man was Big Softie in so many ways. Then again, when she first met him, had someone told her he was like this, she would have thought they were lying altogether. Part of her knew he was milking things and the other half wanted to give in and just curl up with him all day. It was something she hadn't realized she would miss when he lost his memory and now that he had started wanting it again, resisting him was all the more challenging.

With a coy little smile, she stepped over, taking purposeful long steps until she was standing over him. "Oh, I do. Hmm?" Cupping his uninjured cheek she gave him a quick, but gentle peck on his lips. "What about that? It seems like more than enough compensation for a little shot, yeah?" she said this entirely serious, but couldn't keep the act up for long. Grinning, she kissed him again and ran a hand through his hair. He couldn't really kiss her back, but he didn't seem to mind her being more assertive either. "More to make it up, than that? You drive a hard bargain, Captain." Laying him back, she chuckled and laid down beside him. Her head tucked under his chin as he wrapped his arms around her, and pulled her close to himself. She ran a little hand over his arm and massaged lightly, just at his bicep. It was hard to reach around to his back, to hold him close but he seemed content to have her close like this too. "I think this is a good deal,"Calysta mused as she kissed at his neck. It wasn't long before both of them were relaxing with each other. His hand drifted toward her hair and though there wasn't much to play with, he petted at it anyways until her eyes closed into a contented sleep.

*********
Another knock sounded at the door and Calysta sighed. She and Illya had been just laying with each other for a long time, drifting in and out of sleep tangled together. It felt good to actually rest with him for a little while. Occasionally she would think of Cypher and Rose, and their names would mumble from her lips. When she did, Illya's arms would tighten or shift around her, pulling her all the closer. As the afternoon wore on, the knocked became more frequent with the men dropping off their sample reports. Soon Rexe had collected a mound of them and was trying to pass them off through the door. Giving Illya a gentle kiss, Calysta rose and stretched before opening the door to retrieve all of the papers.

With an armful, Calysta sat down in the swivel chair and dropped the papers over the desk as Illya took a seat in the arm chair in the corner. "It looks like we have our work cut out for us."She poured herself a cup of water and folded her legs Indian style in the chair before picking up the first report. The grammar was a bit off and some facts were unclear, but she managed to get through it. It was more or less readable traders tongue. The next one wasn't so easy, and the one after that was written in some dialect she'd never even seen. Most had written about the events of the last week, which was helpful so they could compare accuracy, but even that varied from report to report. One was so full of expletives Illya looked up at her with surprise as she read the first paragraph and her cheeks turned pink. "It was written that way," she said quickly. She skipped over any mention of Elian forcing her to kiss him, just to avoid getting Illya all fired up. Report after report filed in, with occasional knocks on the door with Rexe offering more. She read each one carefully, stumbling in some places either due to bad handwriting or mal-formed sentences all together, until the pile grew thin.

Calysta put down the last report submitted by the crewmen applying for the new position and rubbed her temples. They had gotten progressively worse the later the evening had become and it was all she could do to make some of them even sound like any language at all. With a small sigh, she picked up her water glass and took a sip to relieve her dry throat, before glancing up to check and see if Illya was even awake after reading them allowed for at least 2 hours. "That's the last of them," she said, her voice cracking some, "Rexe and two others were the most readable I think, but I'm not entirely sure what kind of captain he would make. I'm surprised he even wanted the position to be honest." The slave had seemed to hate life aboard the Nova and had been one of the men most interested in going home at first.

Readability was certainly a problem. Illya had remained sitting upright and he even leaned forward many times to try and make sure he was hearing everything correctly. There was nothing quite so frustrating as hearing her stumble over the words and thinking that maybe if he could read it. At the same time Illya knew that he really wouldn't be any better and perhaps worse if he tried to read at all. Illya sighed and stared at the heap of papers. He should have specified that they wanted electronic copies, but not all the men had that capability and it wouldn't have been fair. If he was going to rein in this group Illya was going to have to make this as fair as possible. "Aye...Maybe I ask dem ta come tell meh what dey write." Illya rubbed his eyes a little and started to lay back only to remember that his back was far too sore for that. "Tink yah set aside ones dat we can't read eh?"

Calysta had been sorting as she picked up each paper. Pointing to a small stack to the right of the desk, she nodded to it and gave Illya a concerned look. "Aye, I did. Those are the ones that are even half way readable." Some of the pirates she knew it wasn't their fault if they couldn't read or write. A fair few of them had never seen a school much less been in one long enough to learn proper grammar. They were smart but Illya needed someone who could at least get a message across though, if they were to enlist these men to help with the Alliance. She couldn't help but wonder if some of them might be interested in learning. Rexe had been teaching her random words in Kleese as a time passer when Illya was in his coma and she had been exchanging with words in Kaerelean. "There were only a few. Rexe, Toulouse, and a man named Kirby. He's a Terran. or at least that's what he wrote in so I could always read that." Biting at her lip, she took another sip of water and looked to Illya. "I wonder if we could find a teacher on board that some of them might learn at least traders tongue?" I felt weird to wonder about the education of men that had been quite intent on killing her or selling her a few days ago, but no one should be left without an education. As she sat down her water glass there was a firm knock at the door.

It was hard to know why Kalizda kept giving him worried looks. For the most part Illya was less concerned about himself and more concerned with the current circumstance. There was a lot to get done in a short time and the stack was a bit daunting. How many men was he going to have to actually talk with? "Eh...." Pausing he stared at the stack and then glanced to Kalizda. "Aye, we need someone dat can teach dem da trader's tongue." Most of them understood it from what he'd gathered, but writing was an entirely different issue. The knock on the door shouldn't have surprised Illya, but he still didn't like it. His crew here he couldn't trust as well as he trusted his own Chippequoti warriors. "I get et." Standing up he made his way over to the door.

Who could they possibly get that was crazy enough to come aboard a infamous pirate ship as a teacher in traders tongue? At least a few of them could get a message across in some language, but that didn't necessarily make them good leaders either. Calysta couldn't think of anyone immediately and her thoughts were broken when a knock came to the door. She started to get up from the swivel chair at the desk, but Illya beat her to it by getting up and lumbering over to the door a bit stiffly. When he opened the door, the skinny Kleete was waiting for them, yellow cat eyes wide with some sort of news. "Captain, the uh...old captain. He's awake." The Kleete wasn't so much worried about the old captain going anywhere or causing trouble. The man was bed bound and attached to several machines to help him breath after surgery, but the fact that he was awake did give new rise to those who had still be loyal to him. "The crew still loyal to him have taken the lower deck with the infirmary and claim that you are not the rightful captain."

Standing inside the door the Kleete stared at Illya with wide eyes and the general sighed. "Huh." They were pirates and these were the men that Illya imagined would be the most trouble in the long run. "Den tell da doctor I need report on da captain. Doctor comes to meh and den I make decision what we do." Illya already had his mind made up. It wasn't that difficult to take control and at this point he didn't entirely care what others thought. It was in a sense a war on board the ship and he would do whatever it took to eliminate the threat.

The Kleete raised a brow at the large captain and shook his head. Not only did he not seem concerned, but he didn't seem to understand the entire situation. "The doctor is down there with the lot of them and I don't think they'll just be letting him stroll off into safety. They've blocked the rest of us entirely from that deck," he replied. His cat eyes flicked from Illya and then to Calysta who had come to stand behind him. "They might let him come to the door though, or you could try using the comm system. Either way, they'll probably end up hearing what you say."

It was worth a shot anyway and Illya rolled his eyes. "Alright den I go down and ask ta speak wit doctor outside room." That was probably the best way to do this. Gingerly he slipped a jacket on over his shirt and hid a weapon on the inside pocket of the jacket. "Yah take meh down dere and I need a few meh own men wit." Eventaully there was a group of men on either side and Illya knocked on the door. Leading to the lower decks. "I want ta see doctor. He give meh proof dat yah captain es going ta be fit ta lead. I send him back after we talk."

Calysta slipped a belt around her own hips which included the gun and holster she had been using, then followed the men out of the door to the lower decks. A few of them gave her odd looks, but she ignored them. If they were going to be negotiating it was best if she come along and at the very least keep them from fighting if she could. Illya may be feeling better, but another fight wouldn't be good for him either way. They were surrounded by mostly slaves but it was still a good group as any to be escorted to the lower deck fire door. The metal lined emergency door had been shut and locked from the other side, but rustling and murmurs could be heard. At Illya's proposal the soundds increased until a gruff answer came. "Why should we? Ya'll take the ship before the man is dead and break code! Now Ya'll jus' wanna take the doctor s'ya'll can have'em to ya'llself."

Nodding to one of the other men Illya had the lower emergency doors locked on his side too. "Fine den I keep code. I re-route Carbon Dioxide chamber outlet ta fill bottom of ship den no more argument. Den I have crew dat works wit meh and yah die wit yah captain like yah want." Sliding a large bar across he nodded to one of the other men. "Get et started." If the other men chose to remain with their captain he would let them and he would kill them all. At this point it was necessary. "I onleh give yah one more chance. Yah die wit da captain and keep code or yah come to meh side and let dose remaining die."

The slaves didn't hesitate to start blocking off the air vents and using radio to contact the bridge to have the Co2 vents opened up in a reversal. From the other side of the door men could be heard yelling at one another, some in disbelief and others in total panic. Calysta looked to Illya, feeling a bit guilty. Sure, some of these men truly were vicious, as evidenced by the way they treated their slaves and the bruises up and down her arms, but that didn't mean all of them were like that. Some were just following their code because its the only thing they knew. "Wait, don't turn it on yet," Calysta said, quickly in Qouti to Illya. Stepping up to the door, she called out to the men. "You heard what your new captain is going to do," she called out in traders tongue, "He came to see if the old captain really was fit to carry out his duty. If he isn't, then your code is as good as fulfilled and you are in mutiny, for which the punishment is death. Do you really want to die for a captain who can no longer lead?" The men were scrambling and in hot debate over what to do, but finally their was a hard click from the other side of the door and the fire doors on their side were unlocked. "We send ya'll the doctor to tell ya'll that our captain is awake!" There was a yelp as he prodded the doctor to the door. "Yeah, yeah! I'm here!"

Illya had the men wait and then heard Kalizda try and give her convincing bit of information. It sounded like it might work, but Illya was still skeptical. "We open up and bring doctor to dis side ta talk and den ef yah try ta push through I kill yah mehself. Pulling up a small door block from the floor he had it positioned to hold the door only wide enough for one man. Unlocking his side he pulled the doctor through and shut the door again. "Lock et up. I let dem fight et out for a while." Illya hadn't promised the men anything and he wasn't about to because they weren't loyal.

The doctor was practically shoved through the tiny gap, and it was probably a good thing he was skinny as rail, other wise he would have been squished through with more than a a few bumps along the way. Straightening his coat he gave all of them a disgruntled look. He had been pushed and shoved and threatened all day long, his patience wearing thin without the pirates. He had been captured years ago and had simply come to work on board because he had nowhere else to go. "Bloody pirates," he grumbled, shooting a look at the door before glancing at Illya, "And you really want to be captain of that mess?" The door slammed shut behind the physician making him jump a little to ensure he wasn;t going to get caught in the door frame. "Look, the old captain is awake, alright. Critical condition and he can't even talk much less lead a crew. His wind pipe and vocal chords were severely damaged. Those idiots seem to think I'm some sort of miracle worker, because I fixed you up. Mostly. The old captain is no threat to you. Leave him somewhere and be done with it unless you insist on killing him." Calysta glanced around to the faces of the slaves who were waiting to see what Illya would do. The Big Man had shown mercy where there could be some, and firmness where it was needed in their opinion. Still his little woman looked like she might disagree.

It seemed that the report was grim for the men and their old captain. Illya shrugged. "I dun lead da ship or men. One of dese loyal to meh will lead et and officers ensure dey stay loyal or I come back ta ship again and do whats necessary." Catching the doctor's eye he nodded. "Yah go home ef yah wan after dis, serve better men here, or come back wit meh. I find men ta run dis ship." It didn't matter so much to Illya where he managed to get all the next crew. They would obey because he was going to make sure they were aware of his part. Ensuring that the door was firmly locked on his side Illya cupped his hands against the door. "Doctor says yah captain nut good ta lead. I know yah loyalties and I dun trust yah. Now I see proof before yah ever get out. Cut yah captains head off and bring et to meh. Den I know yah ready ta serve under meh rule."

Calysta's eyes grew wide, though she knew it was their code and it would make sense to them. The man had insulted and played games with her, tortured Illya, and yet it still seemed a bit wrong for the man to be beheaded in his bed where he couldn't even defend himself. Perhaps that made her weak? They were trapped between what the pirates expected versus what she felt was wrong, and it made her stomach churn a little. There was a mad scramble going on from inside, along with a few pops of gun fire. A terrible scream and a hard thud against the fire door. "We want to surrender! A few in here want to leave with the captain alive and that's all. On his orders."

The general narrowed his eyes slightly. It seemed to be such a short time for them to argue and he didn't trust them. "I dun trust yah. Yah ask ta live by code and I give yah code. He es nut captain and yah still call him such. Dere es chance yah betray meh and I'm captain now. I give yah meh terms. Take meh terms or I make meh final choice when we land on fringe."

There was another debate on the other side of the wall as the pirates continued to argue on the other side. It looked as though the new captain wanted the old captains head which had split the group once again. Some just wanted to leave with their old captain now rather than face death by suffocation. All of a sudden the code didn't seem so appealing, and they had been really just been using it to undermine the new man's claim. Calysta stood there listening for a moment before getting irritated herself. "Look, the doctor is on this side of the door now. The old captain is going to die anyways if you don't open the door and surrender. He still needs medical help. If you really want him to live so much just give up and leave with those who will be getting off at the next port." Looking to Illya, she nodded. "They can stay in the brig out of the way until we get them out if they surrender."

Another long moment passed filled with a few more pops of gun fire along a few screams and just as Illya began to walk away, the door unlocked from the other side. The sounds of metal hitting the grated floor echoed. "We fight with our selves and come to a compromise to end it. We won't behead our old captain but drop our weapons and submit to the new captain," came a tired voice from the other side, "Come in and spare the men inside if you see fit."

The Chip ignored them, determined to let them fight it out for themselves.

************

Calysta was stretched out on their bed, propped up on her elbows and her legs crossed at the ankles above her back. The men in the lower decks were probably still fighting and would probably be getting hungry by now, but at least they hadn't been gassed to death which was their new captains original order. It was a fine line to walk and she didn't like the idea of the men being sealed off but it kept the rest of the crew safe and calm. Three days would be hard without food, but they had water to drink. They wouldn't die of thirst, only by their own hand.

Illya had been setting up meetings with the other crew members as they took the Nova top speed out to the fringe and then gone to freshen up. In the mean time, Calysta had taken to looking over more of the files that Elian had created by hand. None of the language was one she had ever seen and even the several data bases she had used to cross compare were unable to find the root language to the dialect being used. Had he made his own language entirely? Giving up on the words, Calysta created a digital copy of the star charts and tried to run those through the database. There had been no luck using that method either. There was only one person who knew what these meant and he was laying alone in the hospital bed in the infirmary. Illya wouldn't be happy to know this file contained what she thought might be mention of the Chippeqouti, nor would be like the idea of her going down there to see the man, but it was almost necessary now. There was also little time now, as Illya had ordered them to the fringe, which would take 3 days ,either to kill them or to exile them. She would lose her chance to ask either way. Then again he couldn't read all that well right now either.

"I'm stopping by the kitchens to get a snack," Calsyta said as she slid off the bed, " I'll take Rexe and Toulouse with me though."

Before he could reply, she was out the door.With the two men behind her, Calysta stopped by the kitchens and grabbed an omne along with a few bananas and some exotic prickly looking fruit, only to remember that Illya couldn't chew. She stuck a few pieces into the blender with a little milk and made him a nice smoothie. It had to taste better than the liquid snake dinner he had slurped down earlier. Some of the crew gave her curious looks as she passed by with the smooth and fruit in hand, a few even cat-calling or asking if they had made a decision on the captain's choice. "Not yet," was all she could say.

On her way back the cabin, Calysta also stopped by the slave quarters where many of the men had been sleeping still and asked a few questions. Most of them seemed to know Elian was a half breed, a mix of Udine and to her surprise Zkree, but not much else was known about him. He had been captain a long time, grown up with the Novas and unaware of his heritage until meeting another Udine. Other than that, they said he read frequently and collected odd things.

One of the pirates she passed by gave her a wink and blew a kiss. "You cook good, look good too. You wanna trinket?" He held up a ruby pendant in gold filigree and Calsyta nearly snatched it away. Her necklace! "All it costs is a nice little kiss like you gave the old captain. More for free if you want."

Calysta passed off her fruit and cup to Rexe then walked over and the pirate grinned, thinking he was about to get his way. "I'll give you something, I gave the captain alright," she chuckled. She cupped his cheek with one hand and gave him a sweet little smile before rearing back with her left hand and punching him square between the eyes in a quick jab, a little something she learned from Ehvan and a good used for her part Chip bones. The pirate launched back from the blow and hit his head on the bunk, before passing out. She took up her necklace out of his grimy hand and and looked around to the stunned crew. "Any one have any issues? It was mine to start." The silence let her know that nobody wanted to cross her, or at least not the Big Man.

When she made it back to the cabin, she put the file in the desk out of site before walking into the bedroom where Illya was laying on the bed. She hadn't been gone terribly long and hopefully he hadn't gotten the idea to go look for her. He sat up as soon as he saw her, but she motioned for him to stay still, easing on to the bed beside him and offering him the cool smoothie drink.
"Brought you something," she smiled, before kissing his cheek, "Liquid fruit."

He took a tentative sip and then another. It was hard to tell if he liked it or not, but he didn't set it to the side so maybe it was good enough to keep tasting at least.

"I think we've narrowed it down and we can talk to the men over the the next few days, yeah?" That was the only thing they really could do if they wanted these pirates to their advantage. Calysta leaned against his shoulder a little and took a bite of her own omne before giving Illya a little smirk. "Being a captain suits you. Even if your first tenure is over a motley crew of pirates. You might hear a complaint soon from one though." She pulled her necklace from her pocket and showed it to him with a grin.


************
The next few days passed in relative peace. Calysta would get up and kiss Illya gently before making sure his back was well tended. After that she would get them breakfast and they would before conduct interviews with those they thought would be the best choice. Several of them were a bit rough around the edges and others were more refined. Rexe did well in his surprisingly, but when asked why he wanted the position his answer had stunned her. "My family was taken captive and sold as slaves. I think maybe if I go to enough ports as captain I could find them...while doing whatever it is the Big Man wants," he had replied rather bluntly, "I don't like raiding, but I would if it meant I could mess with the slave trade." A few other answers included, 'Because I want to be captain, who wouldn't.....its what the captain of the captain wants....and I just want to make some money and the Nova's are the only way to do it.'

There was still no clear choice by the time they reached the first settlement available on the Fringe. A planet with a small trading outpost and not much else surrounded by thick jungle. The port wasn't even large enough for their ship to dock and a tender shuttle had to be arranged for anyone going ashore. Before they left the cabin to deal with what would become of Elian, she took up her Chips hand and kissed his wrist. "If he's still alive and if it can be helped, don't kill him, Illya," she said, "He's nothing but a miserable sort now and I'm not sure there is anything to be gained by it. If anything he should be left to live out his days like he is." The man was a half breed, she was sure and with that came a harder life in many ways. She wasn't the captain right now, and she couldn't make that decision, but it wouldn't keep her from speaking her mind. "I would to speak with him, if I can."

They went to the lower level door with a large group and heard no sounds from the otherside. When Illya ordered the door opened, it was the smell that hit everyone first as several bodies had been sealed away inside the hallways for days. Calsyta gagged some at the putrid stench and closed her eyes at the sight of the bloated bodies. If anyone was alive they had been stuck down her with this? Her stomach tried to heave but she swallowed down the bile and covered her mouth against the smell as they stepped around the corpses into the infirmary. Two men sat by the captain on his bed. All looked gaunt and sickly without much fight in them. Even the admittedly handsome captain's face and neck neck were still swollen from surgery, his eyes beady behind purple cheeks. The two remaining pirates dropped their weapons and backed away from the man at sight of Illya, bumping into the bed containing the now dead first mate. "We surrender," one of them croaked.
 
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Illya was sitting quietly in the room when he heard the door open. Pushing himself up he leaned to the side slightly so he could see who it was that just stepped inside. More than likely it was only Kalizda because she'd told him to wait. It wasn't that hard to wait because he'd fallen asleep in the middle of waiting for her. Taking the juice from Kalizda he stuck the straw in his mouth and started to sip. So far it was better than most of the other things he'd eaten and it was sweet too. Somehow if he was drinking sludge it tasted better with sugar. For whatever reason Kalizda sounded like she was pretty excited about something.

Slowly the Chip lifted his eyes when a chain and necklace appeared before his eyes. It was the necklace he'd given her and he grew quiet. Nodding slowly he looked back to his drink and thought for a long moment. It was hard to know if she knew anything about Isla or Lahna and Illya had felt a short moment of grief. The war was making some of it more difficult, but he couldn't expect Kalizda to take part of the memory. This was long before her. Breathing in deeply he sucked on the drink a little more and held out a hand for her to come sit with him. Once she sat down next to him Illya would glance at the necklace and then he would continue just sitting there. Mostly he didn't feel that silence was strange, but he was getting a feeling that she might consider it strange. Letting out a long breath he gently took the necklace from her hands and put it around her neck again. "Ets fine ef dey complain. Won't change dat et belongs to yah now." Leaning in closer he pressed his lips to her face. It was the closest he could get to kissing her right now.

Mentally he was still arguing with himself. Should he even tell her that the necklace was from his first agreed? There was an almost expectant look on Kalizda's face like she knew he was still holding back. "I need ta tell yah someting eh?" Shifting on the bed Illya turned to face her and then he took one of her hands. "I keep some tings wit meh from Isla. She was meh first agreed. Sometime I tink dat I keep et secret and jes for mehself, but..." A half sad smile came to his face. "Et doesn't look so good on meh. So I tink maybe ets better ef I give et to meh Kalizda. Dese are tings Chippequoti dun nut make anymore. Et was from Quoti and necklace I have make jes for Isla." The Chip swallowed and he rubbed her hand gently. "Glad dat yah wear et. Necklace es best I could offer yah. When yah wear et yah see meh promise to yah."

In many ways the more difficult part about this was the fact that Illya felt himself about ready to choke up. It wasn't necessarily the fact that all of it was bad, there was just a lot of emotion whenever he was confronted with his first family. "Et means..." sighing again he tried to continue, "Jes dat I be dere for meh agreed and when she wears et she trusts meh ta be dere."

****************************************

Several days had passed and Illya was feeling better though he couldn't say that his back felt fantastic just yet. He had started to lay on his stomach some and while it hurt the ribs it was still passable. Kalizda announced that they were near the fringe and preparing to land with the shuttle. With that message he went to the main navigation room to help run the numbers while she dialed the knobs to adjust the thrust and point for breaking the magnetic barrier of the planet they were about to enter atmosphere on. The ship pointed at a sharp angle and Illya braced his feet against the floor and pushed his back into the seat. It made the stitches ache, but they were past bleeding now for the most part. Gradually the tilt of the ship became less and less until they were hovering over their port and docking bay 7.

Now that they were hovering it was time to see what remained of his prisoners. Illya marched down the halls and then through the doors and down the stairs. Kalizda was right on his heels and she seemed anxious to have a conversation with the captain if he was alive. Cautiously Illya ordered one of the men of his crew to open their side of the doors. The second set of doors were still unlocked and more than likely it had remained that way since they had tried to surrender the first time. The smell of death was almost overwhelming and Illya frowned a little at the scent. He knew it was going to be a nasty process removing the bodies and he looked at the sickly men. They all had to be sick after spending the time so close to rotting bodies. Both of the remaining pirates dropped their weapons and started to back away from Illya. Still the Chip pursued them and walked closer. "Yah dun do what I ask. I ask for yah captain's head and yah expect mercy? First yah try mutiny, den yah disobey meh orders and now yah tink surrender is option?" Gazing into their eyes he waited for some kind of response.

The pirates looked too sick and tired to argue very much. One of them swayed on his feet while the other gave Illya a somewhat delirious look. "You leave us for...I don't know how long...days? Ask us to bring you the head of the man who gave us a home and a good commission for 20 years...and expect it in 2 minutes?" the man slurred at Illya, "The captain lies there ready to be killed like a sheep for slaughter...go on...we surrender..." The heart monitor still attached to Elian began to beat faster and his fingers twitched, though he was incapable of making a sound. Calysta was nearly green with the smell of bodies, both dead and undead all around, and the Udine didn't smell good at all to begin with. It made her eyes water, but she watched carefully to see what Illya would do.

One of the men answered and Illya gave them a blank expression. "Den yah free ta go. Dis es war and soon yah faced wit et no matter where yah go. Fight for Alliance and I'll consider yah free men. Ef yah fight for Federation and I see yah dere will be no mercy left." Stepping aside he let the two men go and then he walked over to the captain's bed. He could hear the monitor bleep faster and faster until he leaned over the man. Peering into his eyes Illya reached down and grabbed a hand. "Yah tink ef I dislocate all t-three knuckles on each finger et would be fair trade for meh back?"

The man squirmed and tried to wrench his hand away, but was took weak to do much. He had gone days without proper food and the injury to his neck had left him without the ability to speak at all. The heart monitor was blaring now, mostly because his body was already under stress and he couldn't defend himself against the Chip in the slightest. Calysta's eyes grew wide at the suggestion. If anyone deserved a little revenge here it was Illya and she had no desire to make friends or even want to look at Elian, but neither did she want retribution like that. It would be like her shaving his head for shearing her hair, which was altogether tempting but also felt wrong. Swallowing hard, Calysta stepped up a little and the old captain's eyes followed her, his chest heaving. "Maybe, it's fair enough that he can't talk and is currently sitting in his own...mess?" she suggested.

Illya glanced at Kalizda when she broke in and he gave her a disapproving look. "I tink ets best ef yah leave meh here. Get da two men off ship. Dey had good enough excuse, but I tink I stay here an talk to da captain for a few. He needs ta understand a few tings."

Calysta shot him a look and swapped to Qouti. She didn't like being dismissed like she really was a slave, and she trusted Illya, but she didn't want him to feel like he had to torture someone either. She couldn't undermine his authority in front of the men either. "Don't like him either, but I don't think it would be good to dislocate his hand or anything else for that matter," she said firmly, "I do still want to talk with him myself and as soon as I get these two on a shuttle, I'll be back. Motioning to the two pirates, Calysta lead them out of the infirmary at the fastest pace they were capable of. Rexe and Toulouse stayed behind to see what the Big Man would do now that he had a nearly panicked Elian under his thumb almost literally.

"Good yah come back when they're gone. He'll still be alive when yah come back." Illya clenched his jaw slightly and watched Kalizda leave before he turned toward the captain. Now that they were mostly alone and none of the men had understood any of the Quoti language Illya was determined to see what he could get out of the old captain. "I want yah ta tap yah fingers twice for yes and once for no." Waiting for a moment he leaned in closer. "Yah fight after dis maybe?"

The man still had a hold of his hand and Elian wasn't exactly feeling talkative. In fact he was feeling angry enough to launch out of the bed and strangle the Chip man while his little slave girl watched and then take her for spite. However, he was far too weak to do anything about his circumstance at the moment and it was obvious he had lost. Gritting his teeth in both pain and un-expressible rage, he tapped his free fingers once for 'no.' He would not be fighting after this.

Illya nodded slowly. "Ets good. I would have ripped a leg off." Part of him was still angry enough that he wanted to snap the man's hand or at least do something to remind him that he lost, but it was also unnecessary. "Yah jes remember dat yah should have taken meh first deal. She's nut meh slave and I would kill any man dat tried to take her from meh."

Elian glared at the Chip and his fingers twitched with his fury at having lost but also for not having seperated them sooner. His pride and playfulness had had gotten him into this mess and it wasn't a mistake he would make again. He wasn't surprised to hear the woman wasn't his slave, not after he'd seen the man sleeping with her like that. She was his lover or wife from what he had gathered. It had made him all the more glad he had sheared her hair off. The man could at least enjoy that for a bit. Elian tried to reply some sort of retort but it gurgled and caught in his throat. If the man had anything else to ask him now was the time before his precious little woman returned to rein him in again.

Eventually Kalizda returned to talk with the ex-captain and Illya just left Rexe to to watch over her. In the mean time the Chip had a few men get ready to disembark the captain. Hopefully he would be able to breath because the doctor was going to start unhooking him from things. When they were ready Illya went to little infirmary again and he loaded the captain into a sort of cot and had a few other men help him drag the man into the shuttle. "We take him and den leave him at port. He can beg or whatever he feels fit for." There was a fire in the ex-captain's eyes and Illya ignored it for the time. He landed the ship a bit roughly, but Kalizda was a good coach. When they returned to the small cab where the ex-captain lay Illya saw he was sitting up. Opening the doors to the shuttle he pulled the half breed man off the mat and half drug him outside and then dropped him by the edge of the landing pad. "Dere, I show mercy because I respect yah crew dat survive. Dey did what honorable men would do, but I can't have dem on meh ship cause dey would nut have same loyalty for meh."

On the way into the solar system again Illya and a few men drug the dead bodies to a hold and then locked a door into the main body of the ship. "Alright Kalizda yah open da hatch on section C now." As the door swung open he heard a few thunks and he knew that was the sound of bodies bumping into the wall on the way out the cargo hold. Cringing a little he knew that he would be cleaning up a nasty mess. Some of the bodies had bloated and depending how they hit would depend on how big the mess would be.

******************************************************

When the time came to stay on Terra Illya's jaw was still wired shut. It was still another 2 weeks before he could get his jaw un-wired. The pain was still there, but it wasn't nearly as bad and his back was almost completely healed up. That was one thing that Illya did find good. He healed faster than most other races and it was a good thing considering how hard he was on his body. Illya had the crew members come into the room to choose what they would from the captain's quarters as their pay. "Onleh one ting." Illya looked at the men as they prepared to make their raid on the room. "Yah bring everyting dat yah take from meh and meh first mate." He had already packed away what he could that had been returned to them.

The men brought loads only a few other things and Illya packed into his bag some of the clothing and then his equipment for navigation. Skeptically he eyed one of the men and held his hand out."I want dah stylus too yah dirty pirate." Illya busted out laughing just looking at the expression the man's face. If he could have seen how his eyebrows raised he would have laughed too. Double checking everything Illya nodded to Kalizda. "Alright yah ready?"

Both of them stepped out onto the docks and Illya stared at the surrounding area. They needed to stay somewhere that they wouldn't be unexpected. A place where they would be considered more normal. At least where Illya could practice some getting used to the culture anyway. Kalizda had warned him it was quite different and so far he hadn't noticed it too much. She did take him to a large house that rented rooms to guests. In many ways it was an odd concept and he frowned slightly. "Dey make us pay for room?" Still it was what she seemed to expect and he'd have to take her word for it. While Kalizda made all the business arrangements and talked with the worker Illya wandered around the lobby with both their bags. Wandering closer to the picture hanging on the wall he studied it carefully and then shrugged. It wasn't anything that he recognized. A very odd sort of painting with strange shapes and none of it made sense. In fact the more he looked around the placethe more uncomfortable he felt. Everything was dwarfed and he was sure those tiny chairs would hug his hips and never let go if he sat in them.

Kalizda beckoned for him to follow and Illya got into a lift with her. The two of them stood in the box until it indicated that they were on the fifth floor. For the most part he wasn't particularly fond of tall buildings, but they weren't dreadful either. It wasn't till they reached the room that Illya noticed everything was small even the bed. "Oh I tink we cozy eh?" Then he spotted the bucket and that was marvelous. Finally there was someone that understood the needs of one to be clean! "Aaaah I like dese Terra. Dey know about clean eh? Look at dah bucket!" Chuckling a little he lifted it. "Tiny, but dey remember." Apparently that wasn't the use and Illya frowned. "So dey bathe wit ice?" That wasn't quite it either and he frowned a little when she finally described the proper use. "Oh." Putting the bucket down again with some disgust he wandered over to the bed and opened his bag to pull out a few things.

Both of their bags were mostly empty and it really didn't take much to see what was in it. By that time Illya noticed that Kalizda didn't have her red shirt thingy. That one that he was sure was only for the bedroom. One of the crew must have stolen it. Probably thought they would stuff some woman in it and have fun. It was so frustrating because Illya actually thought that he might ask her to try it on one of these nights. He could always fix that, but first they needed food. There wasn't a kitchen either and that meant that they were supposed to go to one of those odd places where you paid for someone to serve you food and wash the dishes. Perhaps it was much more foreign than he had thought.

After the meal Illya walked with Kalizda back to the hotel. "I leave yah here for a bit eh? Need ta get some supplies." Even though she offered to go with he insisted on going alone. "Nah yah jes stay here. I be back soon." Holding up a small beacon he winked at her. "Yah can track meh on da pad." Since he was going out she asked for chocolate and he nodded. "Eh, yeah I bring some for yah."

The best part was that Kalizda hadn't asked him exactly where he was going and so Illya bought the chocolate first and then before he left the counter he glanced to the little woman behind the counter. Surely she would know about a woman's clothing better than he would. "Eh..." Kalizda had called herself a wife a few times and Illya was hoping that was the right term. "Meh wife. She uh lost her clothing. I tink one dat was tight and et kinda pushes under here?" Motioning with his hands to just under his pecks he did his best to describe the corset. "Et has little hard pieces in et and I need ta get her anoter one eh?" Illya wasn't quite sure why the woman had narrowed her eyes or why she seemed to be disgusted with him, but she pointed toward a direction. "Yeah a corset," the woman replied. "Go down the street over there and take a left. Place called Adam and Eve. Got a lot of that sort of stuff."

Illya nodded and walked out the door quite happily. It was a strange name for a store, but he'd heard that Terran's were very different. Inside he noticed the store was full of odd things and he quietly approached the desk. "I need a corset for meh woman." The lady smiled and nodded. Both of them walked over to a rack full of costumes and other wear with plenty of pictures on them to give an approximate of what it should look like when it was on. Some of them were quite indecent. When they finally found a corset Illya held it up and looked it over carefully. "I tink ets her size."

It was a bit longer than Illya had thought to finish the shopping, but he got chocolate sauce, chocolate drinks, chocolate breads, and candies. He didn't know there was so many different ways to eat it and she hadn't really specified. In fact he even got chocolate powder just to be sure that she had all she needed for chocolate. Kalizda was giving him an odd look as he started to set out all the chocolate on the small table in the room. "And..." Illya paused as he dug into the final bag hanging from his arm, "I get yah dis. Noticed dat one of dah pirates steal yours and dey dun bring et back." https://images-eu.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51KcsedBirL._AC_UL260_SR200,260_.jpg
 
When she showed Illya her necklace, she wore a grin of victory. It had been taken from her on the ship and it hadn't been lost or sold. Retrieving it had been accomplished without issue, but rather than smiling or appearing relieved, the Chip just stared at it for a long moment before sighing a little. Then he took the necklace from her fingers in total silence and moved to put on her. She started to sweep her hair to the side, but remembered it was so short, that it wasn't necessary. He had such a serious looking expression etched on his brow. Why? Shouldn't he be happy she brought the necklace back? "I need ta tell yah someting eh?"

Now he was making her worry. What was he going to say? Was he sick? Had he heard news from Pyrta and something was wrong with Cypher or Rose? As her heart started racing a mile a minute right along side her imagination, Calysta sat beside him gingerly and curled her around his wrist then he picked up her hand. He was massaging it gently which only served to make the worry rise.

Illya began talking of Isla some and how the necklace originally belonged to her. He spoke nervously, like wasn't sure how to even go about explaining what it was or was upset to tell her about Isla again, since it didn't appear he remembered telling her about them. She let him finish speaking and gazed into his green eyes for a long moment trying to decide what to say. Her grey eyes searched his and then she squeezed his hand.

"You loved Isla very much and Lahna too," Calysta said, keeping her voice gentle and even, "You had a family and that never changes, but it doesn't mean you don't love me for me."

These were words he said to her once, more or less, he just didn't need to know she'd heard them before. It would be a reminder of things he'd forgotten. Instead, she would just make sure he knew that she understood. There would have been a time where his past bothered her in some ways, because despite what he said, she felt that she couldn't live up to what he wanted, thinking he'd wanted his Isla instead. That wasn't the case anymore.


Kissing his cheek, she gave him a little smile. "I'm glad to wear it, because I do trust you, Illya."

***********
Calysta returned to the infirmary having been through the disgusting hallway twice now and feeling a bit gross. There was no escaping the stench that even seemed to make its way onto her tongue. Illya stood out in the hall and seemed so inclined as to let her talk to the man on her own, leaving Rexe and Toulouse to guard here "Are you sure this is a good idea?' Rexe asked. Calysta shrugged and shook her head.

"Not really, you two can wait out in the hall though. I want this to be a private conversation." The two men exchanged glances before retreating into the hallway.

Clearing her throat, she turned to the man and gave him a once over. "Elian?"

His eyes cracked open at the sound of his name and swiveled around till the landed on her. The heart monitor began to beep at a faster pace and his fingers twitched, curling into fists. "I'm not here to kill you or start trouble unless you give me a reason to," she said firmly, " I have a few questions. I know you can't talk, so just tap your fingers to reply. Once for yes and twice for no."

"You're a half breed, part Udine and part Zkree, arent you?"

One tap.

"I thought so," she said. Confirming that did give her some insight one what his life to this point might have been like. It explained a few things about his attitude and his cruelty in some ways. Though it didn't excuse it. "I found a file in your desk." The comment earned her a heated glare, but she ignored it. "It describes a race called the Chippeqouti doesn't it?"

He was silent and Calysta sighed. "You're not getting the file back or your ship. You might even die out here. All this work for nothing, the expected legacy of a half breed."

His mismatched eyes widened and a little gurgle came from his throat. She could see the inner debate in his head.

One tap.


She tried to hide her surprise and moved in to keep asking. "Is that why you wanted to keep the new captain? You think he is one of the Chips?"

One tap.

"Does it talk about anything else? Other races?"

One tap.

She wanted to ask why he was so interested in them, but he couldn't answer those types of questions, still if she could read it, it didn't matter. "Is the rest of this written in a language from this galaxy?"

Two taps.

Calysta frowned. That meant it wouldn't be in the database and she would have a much harder time figuring it out. "Can you tell me which language? Maybe tap out the letters in a sequential order using traders tongue?"

Elian's eyes rolled, filled with obvious disdain before he gave one tap with his fingers. Then he started giving multiple taps like a code. Calysta counted each one and then corresponded them with a letter in traders tongue. "B...I...T..C..." The word became obvious and she stopped writing, feeling disappointment. He wasn't going to tell her anything else, having strung her far enough along to waste some of her time. "Maybe I am, but I'm not the one dumb enough to test a Chippeqouti man and ended up strapped to a hospital bed. You'll never live that down even long after we've forgotten you. Everything anyone expects from a half breed. I would know."

With that she picked up the file and turned on her heels, leaving the man to his misery. The meeting wasn't an entire loss though. At least she had gotten some of the information she had wanted.

Getting Elian and the two others down to the settlement wasn’t the easiest task. Illya had wanted to oversee their departure and the open air here wasn’t forgiving with odd jet streams from hot air colliding with the cooler air in some places. Still, he needed experience as a pilot, so Calysta stood by his side at the captain’s chair and guided him through the process. He did well as to be expected with such rough air currents and listened when she advised him on how to navigate. The landing was the hardest part by far. A rough few bumps left Elian howling as much as his broken voice box could muster. Illya dragged the man out by his mat and dropped him on the edge of the dock without much ado, before returning to the cab of the shuttle. They had a mess to clean up aboard the ship when they got back and the easiest way to deal with the bodies was to drag them to the cargo hold and eject them into space. It wasn’t the most graceful end, but it was all the more they could do. There would be no funeral for the men and they would be subject to being flash frozen in the far reaches of space for forever.

*******

They took a civilan shuttle to Terra leaving the Novas to the safety of the Keiper Belt with Rexe in charge. The slaves respected him and so did some of the crew now that they had seen him buddied up with the Big Man. The Kleete promised to raid only Federation territories and slave trade, sending whatever important information he could their way, in exchange for Alliance amnesty. He’d left them with his word that he would keep the men in line. “My claws are beginning to grow back, it won’t be hard after that,” he admitted to them, wiggling his fingers, “I guess I owe you two a thanks.” Rexe wasn’t overly eager to thank them but did so because it seemed like it was expected and because they had at least given him a chance to find his family in the long run.

Illya made them return everything that the pirates took and Calysta was glad to see that her info-pad had been given up unharmed and still coded. The hologram coin loaded with her pictures of the kids had been surrdendered along with all of her clothing too. Illya’s medicine and his tea with the oils reappeared as did his leather jacket and tyrei bone knife. She dressed in her jeans and t-shirt again, having made sure they were properly cleaned. As much as Calysta didn’t want to admit it, she was glad to be back in Terran pants. Still the waist coat was nice and as she packed everything carefully into their bags, she folded that along with everything else and included the pearl handled pistol she had been using. It wasn’t like anyone else was going to wear either or miss them. The red corset stayed in its spot inside the desk though. With any luck, the naughty little garment that wasn’t even hers would stay and find a nice home with someone else. Her next task was to deal with Elian’s file. While Illya was out dealing with the crew, Calysta scanned the documents, making a digital copy andd then shredded the hand written bits. It was safer for the information to be downloaded into her info-pad than to be hanging around loose for just anyone to pick up.

********

When they debarked onto the a civilian transport bound for Alpha Centauri and then on to Terra, it became obvious they would need a place to stay. Somewhere civilians and Terran travelers would stay, considering they had no ship to hideaway on now.

Calysta lead them into the busy New York streets, looking for a decent hotel to stay in. She had only stayed in a few of them on Terran outposts and never actually on Terra itself. It couldn’t be all that different right? She found one that looked decent, with a clean smelling lobby and a friendly looking receptionist. “Welcome to Galactic Holidays,” she said brightly in Terran, “How may I help you?”

“We need a room, please.”

“One bed?” the receptionist asked before her eyes traveled over to Illya. They bounced from the top of his head to the tip of his toes inspecting him, while he stared intently at a random painting. “King sized bed? I’ll need to see some ID.”

“Aye,” Calysta replied as she showed the hotel worker their documents on her info pad. As soon as the woman saw that their names didn’t match, her brow raised a little. The last names didn’t match between the two of them. Maybe they were sneaking away from their spouses. It wouldn’t be the first affair to go on between the walls of the hotel, but it was more likely he was a sailor on the trade routes given how close the docks were, and she was a lonely house wife. Either way they were paying and might use the hotel again if they needed a place next time he came through.

“I have a nice suite on the 5th floor with a king size bed,” she said just as pleasantly as before, “Shall I send up a bottle of wine or champagne for you?”

Calysta was in the middle of transferring the credits from her false account to the hotel when the offer was given by the receptionist. No hotel she had ever been to before had offered her wine, or really bothered to notice her. Maybe this place was just more upscale? The more she thought about it, the better a glass of wine sounded. “Oh, uh. That would be nice if it’s on the house and also non-synthetic.”

“Of course, the real deal is always much better for you anyways,” the receptionist replied as she handed over their passkey, “I’ll have the wine brought up to you shortly.”

Giving her a quick thanks, Calysta collected Illya and took him up to the room where they were met by the crisp smell of cleaner and heat from the airvents. It was till winter time here in New York and it made her grateful that they had recovered their winter wear from the pirates too. Slipping off her bag and her coat, she set them into the arm chair at the corner.

She tugged off her gloved as Illya started to explore the room. His eyes landed on the ice bucket and he got excited about seeing it, thinking it was used for actual bathing like the Chippeqouti did. “No, it’s used for ice,” she chuckled. He seemed surprised, asking if they bathed with ice. “No, Terran’s use showers just like Kaereleans.” The Chip seemed a little less enthused after learning that he was the only one who insisted on using a bucket when he could.
Illya helped her unload the bags and as he looked over what they brought, his mouth twitched in disappointment. He insisted that he go out for supplies while she stayed in the room. She wasn’t entirely sure why he wanted her to stay in the room. He didn’t know any of the Terran language or customs, plus the last time he went off along in New York he broke loose half it is criminals in one go and it wasn’t exactly safe for him. Still, he insisted and showed her the tracer he would wear. “Alright, but if you’re going out for food be careful and…would you mind picking up some chocolate?”

He agreed to bring her some back and with a wink and as much of a grin as he could make, the Chip was gone. Calysta sat back on the bed and watched his tracker on her pad. It circled around to the lobby and then headed down the street toward what looked like a market. Around the time he stepped into the store, a knock sounded on their hotel room door and she got up to find a concierge had come up with the chilled bottle of wine and a cork screw. “Thanks,” she said with a smile. The man stood there expectantly, and for a moment Calysta couldn’t figure out why until it dawned on her that he wanted a tip. “Sorry, I’m supposed to tip right? I don’t have actual cash, I’ll add your tip to the final bill.” He grumbled and slunk away from the door, having been denied a tip.

With her bottle of wine in hand, she wandered into the room and set it down on the counter. She had no idea if Illya even drank wine, but it was free so they would find out. Given that he drank something comparable to ship fuel as regular liquor, it would probably taste like grape juice to him. It took a few tries with the cork screw to get the bottle open, but Calysta took a few mighty turns with the old tool with the bottle firmly grasped in the crook of her arm. When the cork popped free, some of spilled onto the carpet but not enough that a towel wouldn’t solve the problem. After cleaning up the small splash, she poured up a little glass and then took a delicate sip. It wasn’t synthetic and was actually very sweet. It had been years since she’d had real wine since only Terrans made it, the drink was somewhat of a treat.

By the time Illya returned, Calysta had sipped herself down to a half a glass and was sitting on the bed feeling a bit more relaxed. The Chip came in with bags of stuff on his arms

“What’s all of this?” she asked. The Chip started pulling out all sorts of chocolate products. Chocolate baking chips, chocolate milk, chocolate nut bread, chocolate bars and a large box of coco powder meant for baking. The more he took from the bags, the wider Calysta’s eyes became until he came to the last one and instead of food, he pulled out something green and lacy. He had gone out and brought every chocolate item he could find, hoping it was the right one and then…brought her back a corset. Calysta’s mouth open and shut for a minute, trying to address the hot mess that Illya had come back with while her cheeks turned a flaming red. That corset hadn’t even been hers and she had thought herself successful in losing track of it on the pirate ship. Now, the man had gone out…Wilds only knew where…and gotten her one? The effort was a valiant one, but he wanted her to actually own one of these things. A little panic set in on what to say, until she finally swallowed and took the garment from him with blush so hot it tinged her ears. “Oh, wow. So, that’s where you were all this time,” she managed a chuckle. Standing up on her toes, she gave him a little kiss with the corset in her hands. “You didn’t have to go all that way but it’s really pretty. I’ll try it on after dinner, hm?” The offer made the heat flash in her face, but she was trying to reward the thoughtfulness.

It was then he realized, that he had brought back all chocolate and no actual dinner to speak of. Calysta started to giggle a little and patted the bed for him to sit down with her. “I think we can order out and have it brought up to the room.” Sure enough, a quick search with her info-pad revealed several locations to order out from, the most interesting of which was a Thai place across the street. She’d never had it but they had tons of soups to choose from which was perfect for Illya. There were a few little check marks next to each item on the menu and she figure that was for the size container that they wanted to order. With a few flicks of her fingers, an extra large container of coconut curry soup was ordered for Illya and a large container of some sort of chicken dish for herself. It took all of a few minutes for the food to arrive with a container of rice and little plastic fork and spoons. She had also asked them to bring a straw, which they delivered as well. The food smelled absolutely wonderful, with strong spices and herbs filling the air when she opened up each container. The containers did seem awfully small for having ordered a large portion though. “I thought I ordered larger portions, but these seem a little smaller than I anticipated,” she commented, as she stuck a straw in Illya’s soup, “It smells good though, yeah?”

Calysta set up Illya with his soup and then sat next to him on the bed with her own container. The sauce was bright red and smelled so good as she gave it a good stir and scooped up a bite of chicken before popping into mouth. It was warm, and flavorful and the more she chewed, the better it became until something else started behind the creamy taste. A burning sensation started and it grew hotter and hotter until her eyes began to water. “Oh no,” she coughed, “Its hot!”

Glancing around the room, she looked for anything that would stifle the burn and dove for the first thing she saw. The cap to the chocolate milk rolled across the floor as she chugged down several long gulps, trying to wash down the heat. A few good gulps quieted the immediate burn, but a tingling still remained on her lips as she stopped to breath and a tiny little burp escaped. A few with breaths, and she realized Illya’s may have been just as spicy. Did he even eat hot foods? Through watery eyes, she handed the milk bottle to Illya, hoping his mouth wasn’t on fire like hers.

After the burning ended and she ate a dinner of chocolate bread instead, Calysta sat back next to Illya with a bit of a sheepish smile. “I’ve never had Thai food before, I didn’t think it would be quite like that.” Resting her head on the back of the bedframe, she picked up her glass of wine and took a tentative sip. Chocolate bread and wine wasn’t such a bad dinner, really. The more wine she drank, the more pink her cheeks became until she was relaxed and leaning against Illya’s shoulder. A hologram movie was playing in the corner, but she had stopped paying attention to it ages ago and mostly had been making small comments to Illya. Taking a sip of the wine, she could see Illya eyeing the cup. “Want to try some? It’s wine made from Terran fruit.” Sliding off the bed, she shimmied over to the counter top and poured glass for him from the slightly warm bottle. Offering him the cup, she smiled. “I like it every now and then. Oh! You need a straw.” She pulled out another straw and plopped it into the glass. For some reason, it was just funny to see a large Chip man drinking wine from a delicate glass through a lime green straw and she giggled a little at the sight. As he took his first tentative sip, Calysta’s eyes settled on the pretty corset in the corner. It didn’t look so bad. In fact it was rather pretty.

Inching off the bed again, she picked up the corset and then wandered to the bathroom with it. “Stay there,” she chuckled to Illya, “I’ll be right back.”
Locking herself into the bathroom, she held up the lacey top and titled her head to the side. Maybe it would be nice looking on her skinny little frame. Shirking of her terran thermal shirt, Calysta wiggled into the fancy top and tightened up the laces. It certainly made a difference when she looked in the mirror and the sight of herself made her gasp some before letting out a happy giggle. It gave her curves where she had none before. Calysta inspected herself from all angles, feeling a bit giddy and then wandered out into the bedroom smiling a little. When she looked up to her Chip he was staring at her. It was hard to tell what he was thinking, and for a moment, she wondered if it didn’t look good. Her cheeks turned pink again and it wasn't from the wine this time. “What do you think?” she asked with a tentative chuckle, “About the wine I mean.”

*************


It took most of the afternoon to receive a coded message from Henaiah with the corrected coordinates to their contact. Apparently, their unexpected three week excursion with the Novas had been significant time wise. The Terrans had moved up their election process to deal with tragedy of losing so many leaders at once and now Yarbrough was in a city clear across one of the continents. “The town is called Las Vegas,” Calysta said to Illya as they looked over a map, “ There will be a big event and Yarbrough will be there. Unfortunately, they’ve shut down all air travel in the idea of keeping their candidates safe. Only ground vehicles will be allowed into the city upon inspection.” She was less than happy about the news because what would be a 5 hour flight at the most would now be a 3 day drive from the city of New York to Las Vegas. The city itself was huge and had even stranger looking buildings than New York. There was one plus side, she had never had the chance to experience a real road trip before. Her father had always talked about the ones he took as a kid with her grandparents and it made her wonder what it would be like. Looking up to Illya, she gave him a little grin. “I hope you don’t mind a road trip.”
 
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The meal that Kalizda had bought for them was so far interesting. Illya's was more of a nasty soup and sludge consistency. When one side of his mouth got too hot he would switch to the other side. Besides he had to admit that one side started to hurt if he always sucked his food through just one side. Suddenly Kalizda was dashing around the room and sipping like crazy at the chocolate milk. Watching her for a moment he squinted his eyes and then kept right on sipping his own food through the straw. It was disappointing sometimes to think that he still had two more weeks to go. Suddenly Kalizda thrust the bottle that she'd been drinking out of right under his nose. Taking the bottle he tipped his head back and had a small sip. Shrugging he handed it back to her and finished his meal.

It wasn't till they were watching some hologram that Illya noticed she was drinking something different. When Kalizda offered a little Illya nodded and took a glass. It was small and the straw looked stupid in the glass. However, there wasn't a whole lot that Illya could do about it either. He'd barely had a sip and it seemed very smooth with a tinge of bitter flavor at the end. Grimacing at the straw he stuck it in his mouth and sucked another round of it down. When he turned toward Kalizda he was going to say something and then she skittered off to the bathroom with the corset.

There was a happy drunk little gurgling laugh from the bathroom and Illya raised an eyebrow. Was she drunk so easily? A few seconds later he heard the bathroom door open and he watched Kalizda step out in her little nightwear. Naturally a grin came to his face. Even the wires couldn't stop the grin from getting broad enough to show his obvious liking for what she wore. "Yah look like a queen." Sitting up a little bit he patted on the bed next to himself. "Come sit wit meh? I get closer look eh."

Calysta smiled at being called a queen. Nobody but Illya would have called her that and even with his mouth wired shut it still sounded wonderful to hear. "A queen. hm?" she laughed, her cheeks still pink. With a few long and slow steps she sidled over to the bedside and hopped down beside him and leaned against his shoulder some, her grey eyes cutting up with a more playful look. "Closer look, indeed. I always like sitting beside you, even if I didn't at first." Mention the past was out of her mouth before she could catch the words or really think about them and she slipped a hand to her mouth, giving him an apologetic look.

The slow swaying steps made her look like a staggering bear and then she made a less than graceful leap into the bed. Wrapping an arm around her Illya figured it was probably better to hold her on the bed so she wouldn't flop off and mash her face into the floor. There was a cryptic little remark from her even when she was being so serious. "Eh...So when was dis dat yah didn't like sitting wit meh?" He had never heard this part that he could recall. Did she not like him at first? Well if she didn't then it wouldn't have been the first time a woman didn't like him to start with.

Illya didn't seem mad that she mentioned the past, and she brightened right back up, cuddling her shoulders down into his arms. He was holding her snugly, which felt nice because she did feel a little like floating. "When we first met," she giggled, "All I wanted was to get away, but we stuck together...it's funny...I thought you hated me for a long time." The more she thought about it, the funnier it became and started to laugh some more until her head drifted back to his shoulder. "I still don't know why you picked me...the first or the second time...I'm glad you did though."

Talking with a drunk Kalizda was a bit odd. As exciting as her little nightwear was he doubted it was going to come off. While it could be a little disappointing in one way it was good in others. She was snuggling in close and talking about stuff he wasn't sure about. This was a good time to learn a little more. Pulling Kalizda a little tighter Illya rested his chin on top of her head. "I tink I choose yah because dere was no woman dat could do what yah do. Pilot, help meh people, and yah brave woman. Take meh to Ehaui." He remembered a few things, but there wasn't much for specific memories. "Very hard for Chippequoti man ta find woman like meh Kalizda."

Calysta thought it sounded funny to hear Illya list out why he chose her. It was probably because he had no memory of ever having done so. Normally, it would have felt dissapointing in some way and she would ignore that feeling, as infrequent as it was becoming, but she felt to giddy to let much affect her. "I did do those thing..mhm...I did it because it was right...and because I love you...I wasn't supposed to say that to you then though 'cause I was thinking you didn't like me. I'd never been in love before. Not like you." She paused and her hand searched the bed side table for her glass of wine, but she couldn't find it and it was cold out side of Illya's arms so she tucked her fingers back to his chest.

Smirking a little he shook his head when he saw her start to reach for her wine glass. "Oh well. I guess yah know I love yah den and now." Pulling her a little tighter to himself he started to relax just a little bit when her tiny fingers gripped his arm even tighter. At first he wasn't sure if she was just doing it because she could or if there was something wrong. Carefully moving his chin off her head he studied her face for a long moment and she almost had a rather orange tint to her skin. "Are yah okay?" Rubbing one hand along her back he waited for some kind of answer if any at all from her.

"Yes I do," she giggled as she relaxed into his arms and took a deep breath. When her eyes closed though, the world still felt like it was moving. Or maybe that was just Illya's chest rising when he breathed? She couldn't tell, but the corset suddenly felt very tight and she gripped Illya a little tighter, trying not to feel the strange little nausea rising up. He must have noticed something because he sat up and rubbed her back for a moment, looking at her intently. She managed a little, wobbly nod and a reply. "Um, will you loosen this corset just a little?" The request seemed good enough to keep her feeling alright, until he moved and started working on loosening the garment. The sudden shift caused everything to rise up and Calysta found herself leaning over the bed, head buried into the waste basket heaving. Dinner had not settled well with chocolate milk, cake and wine on top of that.

It seemed that there really was something wrong and Kalizda gave him that drunk and glazed look. Nodding a little he moved to sit up a little more yet and then reached around her back to loosen some of the clips on the corset. He wasn't even half way through and suddenly she was pulling away and lurching right into the bucket. Illya waited till she was finished and then he got up to get a few soothing oils for her and the large puffy pajamas that she had with. They were her favorite when she was cold and he figured that if she wasn't cold she would be at least wanting something more comfortable looking. While she was pathetically plucking at the corset he laid a few things out on his side of the bed and then knelt next to her on the bed and started to help her get changed. "Yah drink too much." Peeling the corset off was a bit of work and she was looking sick before he'd barely even gotten it off her. "Jes hold one a minute more and I get yah in dah big fuzzy pants eh?"

The first few heaves managed to get a fair portion of dinner and desert up, but she still felt awful. Sitting back up had been even worse than the initial dive into the bucket, where her instinct was to clamp her long hair back with her hands to avoid messes. Her hair was far too short for the need, and instead turned to a wild fluff at each ear where she clutched at it. The vomiting subsided and she knew she had to get the pretty corset off, but her fingers didn't like working over the eyelets as she swayed in her spot. "Thai food...never again.." she mumbled, with her mouth half closed. Illya had gone about the room pulling things out her bag and then knelt in front of her to help her out of the corset. He was talking about her pajamas as he worked the corset off. It was both relieving and sickening at the same time, as another lurch came up and she snatched up the bucket again, her shoulders shuddering until it was all up. Illya brought over her fuzzy pants and helped her into them and she shivered some while he found her the top. When he poked her head through the collar her hair went in all directions and her face turned pink again with embarrassment. She was a light weight, but she rarely ever threw up. It must have been the combination of food on top of everything else. Her chin twitched a little as she sighed and leaned forward, pressing her forehead on her Chips shoulder. "I'm sorry, I wanted to wear the corset for you, yeah?"

Illya let her lurch as often as she needed and he held onto the pants and shirt until she was ready to be put into them. While she was busy puking he folded the corset and set it in the top of her bag. She did look good in it, but that would have to wait for another time. In a way it was disappointing, but on the other hand it wouldn't have been right to try something new with her if she was drunk. Even if she was his agreed he needed to have some respect for the little woman. Kalizda was lazy about getting her legs into the pants and the then she puked some more. When she finished that round he pulled the shirt over her head. The woman's tiny little chin quivered and Illya blinked a few times in panic. What was he supposed to do with that? Then she started to talk and he couldn't help laughing. "Yah did wear et. I tink maybe we try another time eh? Put et on and waltz into dah room and den I take et off." Just to see if he could get a reaction out of her he grinned broadly. "When I get meh wires off I take et off wit meh teeth." Busting out laughing again his jaw strained against the wires and he laid down with Kalizda held close to his chest. "I can rub some oils on yah back and stomach ef yah want. Might help yah feel better."

Calysta felt him when he started laughing underneath her forehead and she glanced up at him from shoulder to see him grinning. It wasn't until he mentioned taking off the corset with his teeth that her eyes grew wide for a moment. With his teeth?! Then he started laughing even harder and her drunken mind realized he was kidding...mostly. Her Chip was still wild enough, part of her wondered if he might just try it for fun. The idea of it tickled her and she started to chuckle again half-buried in his broad shoulder which was keeping the world steady. Illya gathered her up then laid her back down mercifully slow before asking if she wanted some oils . With tiny nod, she agreed. Throwing up made her feel awful for a long time afterward and she hated doing it enough to avoid it at all costs, unless it simply couldn't be kept down. Anything to help with that was welcome.

At first Illya wasn't sure that Kalizda was going to let him help her put the oils on and then she nodded very slowly. Cautiously making his way off the bed Illya then went over to where he had left the box of oils. Mixing up a small amount in the bowl from the box he lifted it to sniff and make sure it all smelled right. After he assured himself that it was just the way it was supposed to be he scooped a little of the plain of cream out of the tub and plopped it carefully into the tiny mixing bowl. Working the cream and oil together with one finger he made his way back to the bed. With a moderate sized glop on the tip of his finger he lifted her shirt a little and smeared it onto her back before getting another glop and wiping that off on her back. Once she had a little on her back he got a small dollop to rub into his hands so they wouldn't soak up all the oil from her back. Even if he didn't have dry skin he knew his skin would still want to soak in all the oils.

Illya gently rubbed her back and he started to feel like his hands were way too warm, but he rubbed till the oils soaked in and then he gingerly put his hand over her stomach and held it there. Only when it felt like the oils were running would he gently rub. Instead he laid behind her and just let his hand rest on her stomach like a hot pack with oils. It was usually soothing since the oils would relax the muscles and then the heat would help her body digest or at least calm down.

By morning it appeared that she felt much better and Illya slowly got out of the bed. His right side was getting sore from laying on old injuries for weeks now. The hip and leg on that side were starting to spasm a little, but Illya hoped that if he exercised a little more it would help work out the aches. While they were in the hotel Illya sent an updated report to Henaiah. "Just arrived last night. Nova is now fighting for us. Awaiting further instruction." It was important that transmissions didn't contain any identifying information. It took hours and hours for the council woman to respond. Perhaps there was an encryption that delayed the transmission. Illya didn't know as much about this side of equipment as some of his men or Kalizda. She was more relaxed about it than he was and when they finally got word he stared at her for a long moment. "Road trip?"

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While Kalizda was working on getting some sort of ship for a road trip Illya decided to get a few things. If they were inspecting the machines he would be needing to disguise himself and maybe update the photo on his ID. They were already in a shady area and it wasn't that hard to find someone that would change the photograph. The first thing Illya/David did was go get a set of brown contacts. He couldn't have his eyes showing as they were. It was too much of a giveaway. Updating an alliance identification wasn't too difficult, but Illya still wasn't sure it was enough. So he decided to get his hair cut a little bit. Just enough to take the tips of his wild curls off. His hair was starting to fall over his ears and that was a bit long anyway.

Inside the barber shop Illya sat down in a chair and waited for his turn. With the brown contacts in he felt a bit strange, but it seemed that everyone thought he looked normal aside from his size. A young woman came over and she smiled at him. "David?"

At first Illya didn't recognize the name and he stared blankly at the floor for a moment and then he raised his eyes. "Oh yeah. I jes lost in meh toughts for a moment." He had learned to pass off what could be more serious errors as being just forgetfulness. Rising to his full height he noticed the woman look at him a few times and then she started back toward the chair. When she gently tapped the back of the chair she smiled at him. Illya nodded and took a seat without returning the smile. "I jes need meh hair cut a little shorter. Et gets long eh?"

The way he carried himself the woman couldn't help thinking that maybe he wasn't military and his height. It reminded her of some of those crazy Chippequoti like the one that had been in a neighboring area only a few years ago. However, he didn't have the eyes of one and he seemed affable enough. "Military cut?" Carefully she took a lock of his hair and stretched it out. With scissors poised above his head she waited for a response.

"No. I jes need meh hair cut above ears. Machinist." Illya answered her quickly. Machinist was sort of his other job and he figured it would explain the need for short hair well enough.

A machinist wasn't usually so big unless they were working on large equipment, but she wasn't one to argue with the man. They were in a port and his accent seemed to indicate that he wasn't from the area anyway. "You want color or anything different with your hair today?" Illya glanced at her an shrugged. "Eh, I guess yah choose someting different I dun care." After a second thought he pulled away from her scissors and hands. "I try someting popular maybe. Like ta fit in when I look for work." With that the woman started to clip away and then she got out a little bit of a strange paste and some foil. The Chip had never seen anyone smear creams into a person's hair and then leave it in a foil. She only grabbed sections of it and Illya waited patiently for her to check the foil every so often. Finally she started to pull the foil off and Illya caught sight of his hair. There were orange chunks! What had she done? "Eh...Um..." Looking at the woman he blinked a few times.

Staring back into David's surprised brown eyes the woman quickly started, "I need a second round of bleach. Your hair is dark and it doesn't take color well. Let me finish before you freak out."

"Eh, what color yah put in?" Illya was suddenly very concerned with what was fashionable. He didn't really want anything more exciting than orange. It seemed the woman thought that a little bit of blonde streaking through his hair would be the popular thing to do. "No, I tink orange es better. Nut so wild." The woman was a little surprised, but Illya preferred a bright orange in his hair rather than a yellow. As he was getting out of the chair she desperately held up a few little cards with more hair colors and he shook his head. "I pay yah and den I go." Glancing in the mirror Illya almost thought it looked like he had bits of dust from Quoti stuck in his hair. Setting the credits on the counter Illya figured he had enough of a disguise to keep him from being recognized as a Chip and then went and had his ID updated.

A man stood in his little dark shop and looked over the ID. It was a standard issue and it seemed the man wanted to appear that he was from someplace that wasn't quite as far away. "I can do it for a price." It would only require a small scan and then he could change the way the way information would pull up if someone checked the ID. As long as he got the money the man wasn't as concerned about the activities of the people that paid him. In fact it was better if he didn't know. Judging by the guy's appearance he could pull off a nice guy persona, but the scar under his chin seemed to indicate at least one knife fight. Could have been one of the thugs flown in to do some of the guarding around the mines. If the Federation brought him in as a guard then it wasn't a guy he wanted to mess with.

*****************************************

By the time Illya got back Kalizda was making a check on the machine that they were going to be flying. It was a strange looking little capsule. "What es dis?" Smirking a little he made his way over to the ship and peered under the edge of it. When Kalizda met his gaze he grinned at her. Speaking in Quoti he decided it was a good idea to tell her what was going on. "Don't need to get picked up as a Chip so I got a few little changes." When she looked to his hair he shrugged. "Eh woman cut meh hair and decided ta color et." Switching back to trader's tongue was probably safe for now.

The ship was faster than walking, but it was incredibly slow. Illya spent a few hours on his pad trying to read. He was still determined to at least make himself read 10 pages every day or more. Sometimes it was tiring, but he couldn't really fall asleep. Thankfully all the stitches in his back were dissolved, but the constant rubbing of his back on the seat made it sore. After a while he leaned forward and just watched Kalizda run the controls. "I tink I drive tomorrow eh?" Splitting up the driving time would be nice and he figured it would keep him away from nearly dying of boredom. "Tell meh how yah drive et and I know t-then." Since he was on a new planet Illya didn't want to be obvious in his accent either. Maybe if he worked hard enough on it he would be able to sound a little more like the native speakers.

Staring out the window off to the side Illya watched the land pass by. He'd never seen it go so slowly unless it was by foot. Momentarily he blanked out and only a few seconds later he blinked a few times and he frowned. Leaning back in the seat he tried to sleep. Sleeping would maybe make the journey go faster, but it didn't really cause he woke up every couple of minutes.

It was another night in the strange rooms that were rented out to travelling folk such as himself. Inside the room Illya stripped down to his boxers like usual and he got into the bed. At first he laid back and then promptly turned to his side. The left side was too sore to lay on because of his ribs and so he reluctantly turned to his sore right side and found that wasn't comfortable either. Shifting to his stomach was ok only for a few hours and then his back started to hurt. It wasn't the muscles it was the bones. "Ugh..." Turning in the bed again he winced and got up after the usual four hours. "Kalizda we get on road now eh? I drive yah sleep."

There were multiple benefits of being the driver. Illya made a few more stops mainly so he could get out and walk to try and relieve the tension growing in his back and leg. By their second night he gingerly laid down in the bed and curled into a ball on his left side. If he angled his shoulder he could relieve the pressure on his ribs, but the position didn't last long. Turning in the bed he worked his way to the edge to go get some of the lozenges and maybe some of the cream to mix with oils and rub into his leg. It was hurting and then he was going to have Kalizda put some into his back too. A searing pain shot through his back with the first step and Illya growled and lowered himself to his knees and made an awkward crawl dragging his right leg as he made his way to his bag. Leaning against the wall with his left shoulder he reached forward and pulled his bag toward himself and began to mix a few oils together and then tucked two lozenges under his tongue. He wasn't supposed to take more than one at a time unless it was bad and he hadn't had it like this in a long time.

Illya grit his teeth as he pulled himself back to the bed and into it again. Once he'd worked the oils into his leg he reluctantly pushed on Kalizda's shoulder. "Put dis on meh back please. Ets hurting." Shifting on the bed he grunted and winced when he felt her hands start to gently rub the oils in. "Agh...Jes keep rubbing it in. I need et. Ow." Every few seconds he would fuss about one movement or another and then he sat up for a few more minutes until he could feel the pain fading enough to go back to sleep. The dreaded dreams seemed to follow the pain in his back and he found himself in the sands covered in blood. Weakly he struggled to get up. He had to get to the communications and call in the second unit. If they didn't make this strike it was the last chance they had at defending Quoti.

Grabbing the man's body he pulled it toward himself and he picked at the broken pieces of the transmitter. "Hear meh?" Mumbling into the headpiece he could only hear a faint voice. "No, send back up plan!" Yelling back to the one at the other end he repeated himself a few times until he felt another surge of pain and dropped the transmitter. Looking at the man he saw it was his father and that wasn't what happened, but he knew Markus was dead and he stared at the body for a long moment in horror. Frozen in place he started to breathe shakily and he could hear Kalizda talking more clearly now. Taking a deep breath he tried to calm himself. "I killed him. Ah..." Rubbing at his head Illya buried his face in the pillow and writhed uncomfortably on the bed for several seconds. After he thought he was calm enough Illya wrapped an arm around Kalizda and tried to go back to sleep.
 
Henaiah sat across the Yurian council member feeling a bit tired. The Federation had pulled out all trade and any sort of protection they may have offered only a few weeks ago and already the economy of the Moonworshippers was started to decline. Neither of them had realized how deeply embedded the area was with the trade conglomerate until the evacuation and blitz attack from a Cirellant fly by had revealed the need for protection. The sudden and seemingly impossible lashout from the insect race had urged the Yurian councilmen to reach out to the Alliance leader. Henaiah would have sent Calysta and her team to Yuria as a delegation but neither her or the General had been heard from nearly three weeks. It had been worrying Thomas day and night, while she had been terribly concerned too. What had happened to them? Surely, the Federation would flaunt the victory if they had been captured?

Still, there was a war going on and when the Yurian councilmen reached out to the Alliance, it was up to her to make the move forward. Leaving Thomas hadn’t been easy, but he was more the capable of taking care of baby Cypher and Rose on his own. The girl was self-sufficient and tenacious and the boy a gentle tempered sweet heart. They had met on Yuria in a small town just past the city that had suffered the air strike from the Cirellants. Part of the Kaerelean fleet had been ordered to stay in orbit around the planet to ensure the neutrally declared former-Alliance stronghold was secure and Henaiah had taken Kirit along as a guard. The young First Warrior stood tall and at the ready with his war scythe at her side.

“Sure you know this is not a coincidence, Yeolyn,” she said to the Yurian councilmen, “The Federation evacuates at the same time the Cirellant fleet retreats from G’koe and makes such a bold move in Kaerelean space?”

“Aye, but our neutrality is to serve the people. There is nothing wrong with doing business and trying to keep to ourselves,” he replied, smoothing his pink tunic.
“Yuria has been an Alliance member for well over 300 years, we have served you well and kept your interests of neutrality, but the Federation has essentially declared to you that you must choose, or suffer the consequences and they are using the Cirellants for their dirty work. They disrupt your peace, not us.”

The two talked for several hours about the situation and agreed to break for lunch, giving Henaiah just a moment to read her pad. Relief flood through her when she saw the coded message. They were alive, but…The Novas? A bunch of pirates?! There had to be a story behind that, but if the General said it was true then so be it. It might not be so bad to have someone with less need for decorum working for them. She sent a message to the Chief Airmen, warning him not to attack any Nova presence and then responded to the General with the update location of their contact. With any luck they could add Yuria to their list of allies soon and take down Yarbrough equally fast.

**************

Calysta woke feeling much better than the night before. Most of what she had drank was out of her system as she threw up and there was no hangover to really speak of. In fact, she had slept better than she she had in a long time with Illya holding her so gentle. They had woken up and checked out of their room with a few errands to run namely, renting a skimmer and plotting their route to Las Vegas while Illya went to go get a haircut. It had dawned on him that Chippeqouti don’t look exactly like Terrans or Kaereleans and he was intent on blending in as much as possible, something Calysta could hardly argue with. Leaving him to his mission, she went to the skimmer and flyer rental office to see what was available but there wasn’t much left since air travel was becoming more and more restricted. She wondered if that was due to the growing fear that the Kaereleans would attack someone who was formally their ally.

Luckily they did have a nice, four seater skimmer that would work. Illya could lean the seat back and have plenty of room to snooze at least. As she was inspecting the skimmer to disengage any governor or tracking devices implanted in the undercarriage, her Chips face appeared under the edge. The first thing she noticed was his hair with random chunks of…orange? Her eyes grew wide as she popped up from under the vehicle. His beautiful glossy curls were patterned with a bright orange, making him look a bit like a grinning tabby cat. “Illya….w-what…your hair..”

He shrugged and merely said the lady at the barbershop had done it because it was fashionable. She wasn’t a fashionista but his hair looked awful. Stifling a laugh, she bit her lip and sank into the drivers seat. “C’mon it’s all loaded it up and time to go.”

Illya read his pad while they made their way through the heavy city traffic and further into the continent. As he read, Calysta kept stealing glances at him over and over, trying to wrap her brain around the Halloween stripes stuck all through her Chips beautiful curls. What had possessed him to let the lady leave them like that? He caught her staring and she blinked at him a few times before putting her eyes back on the road. What was even more unsettling than the hair, was his eyes though. No longer were they his beautiful bright green, but an odd shade of brown which was tinged a bit green, making them look more hazel and dull. Every time she looked him in the eye, it was like seeing someone else and she didn’t like it.

After riding down the road a ways, Illya asked if she would show him how to drive the skimmer. It would be a good thing for him to know, for when she got tired or just in case they had to make a quick get away. “Sure,” she grinned, as she started showing him all the levers and pedals. She started with the gear shift, then the throttle pedal and brakes. Then she showed him the cruise control and auto pilot sequence, only to be used in networked areas. “It’s simple really. It you just have to watch your speed.”
When they stopped for the first night, Illya seemed all too happy to stretch his legs out and rest in the motel room. The bed was a bit short for the tall Chip and his feet hung off the end but he stripped down and curled up with her. She was exhausted from battling bumper to bumper traffic and watching the roads carefully for at least 8 hours straight with occasional rest stops for food and bathroom breaks. Her eyes were tired and she barely touched her dinner before resting her head on her Chips shoulder and drifting off. It was four hours later, Illya was whispering to her to wake up. Groaning, she looked at the time. He wanted to start moving again, but she had barely slept. Was he starting to go back to his regular hours? With a sigh, she tossed back the covers and started getting dressed again.

They hit the road with Illya in the drivers seat, and while he had every intent for her to rest that was difficult to do. The Chip wasn’t a bad driver once he got the hang of it, he just had the tendency to space out and she had to remind him of his speed on an occasion. “The Terrans will pull us over if they catch us past 105km on this road,” she would mumble, half asleep in the dark, “Slow us a bit yeah?” Mostly Calysta wondered if he was just getting drivers tunnel vision or if he was working up to a big seizure. On one of his many stops, she made sure his medicine was in arms reach while he stretched his legs.

On their second night, she was doubly tired from having watched Illya drive for most of the day and little sleep the night before. The drive seemed to be making him even more stiff and sore than he had been in a long time. He curled up on his side and tried to sleep with her cuddled up to his back. It didn’t take long for her to drift off but the mattress suddenly shifting and his voice asking her to rub his back woke her. “Mhm.” She sat up, hair a flyaway mess and rubbed the oils on her hand before starting to rub his back. He hissed and jolted even at her light touch, and she could feel the terrible marks left by the whip all over his skin. “I’m sorry,” she whispered as she kept rubbing. He simply told her to keep rubbing and so she did as gently as she could. The welts had gone down, but the vicious whipping would leave scars behind. Scars she should have bore too. Kissing his back between his shoulder blades, Calysta laid him back down and his eyes started to drift closed again. She relaxed back with him, stroking his hand in hers until sleep started to edge at her vision.

Suddenly his grip tightened to the point of pain and his other scrambled over her forearm "Hear meh? No, send back up plan!" He started shaking her some, binding her hand up in his with an impossible. It was one of his dreams. Pushing down the panic, Calysta winced and brought her free hand up to his cheek, hold him steady. “It’s me Kalizda…,” she said in traders tongue, “It’s alright…you’re in the past…it’s just a dream, Illya…only …. Ahg…Illya…let go.”

He twisted on her wrist with his teeth grit and his face contorted in a look of horror. "I killed him. Ah...”

Finally, he seemed to be snapping out of it and his body relaxed as he flopped face first into his pillow. Calysta pulled her hand away from his loosening fingers and stroked his hair while he writhed in pain on the bed. Her arm was throbbing some from the grip, but it had been an accident. He couldn’t help it. She kept talking in soft Qouti now, whispers of stories she had told him before and eventually he wrapped an arm around her, pulling her close. Her free hand stayed in his orange patched hair, as she told him only half audible stories so he could focus on the sound of her voice until sleep took her back to a brief unconsciousness.

*************
Calysta cruised along the flat, dusty terrain of the contiental desert alongside a few other skimmers in the afternoon light. The sky was blue in one direction, but ahead of them lay the dark clouds of an incoming rain storm. She didn't mind the rain so much but driving a skimmer could be difficult in one if the winds were high. It wasn't like a a personal flyer where she could easily fly above to squall or around it. The path was set for a skimmer and this one was not equipped for offroading. As the first few sprinkles hit the glassy windshield Calysta stole a glance at Illya. He looked like he might be in some pain, but his eyes were a bit distant ans she wondered if it was just his body or something greater. Last night had been a long one with his episode. The bruises she didn't care about, it happened when he grabbed her in his sleep, but it was the mumbling and the comment about killing someone she worried about. That was a new part of the dream she hadn't heard before. He'd lost many friends at that moment in time and that has surely come with survivors guilt but that was the first time she had heard him say anything like that at all. With a little puff of breath, she cleared her throat and threw on a tentative smile. "Hmm into the storm and the rain always makes me sleepy," she said, "Talk to me and help me stay awake, yeah? What's on your mind?"

Getting into the vehicle was difficult in some ways. Illya knew it hurt to sit for that long and he hadn't sat that long in a vehicle like that in years. Even the bones in his back felt like they were getting tender from it. Still they had a little more driving to do. It was even harder when there wasn't anything to do and all he could think about was the dream. It kept coming back and it wasn't letting him think of anything else for the moment. Kalizda didn't need to know all of these things about war. If he could he wanted to protect her from having these kinds of memories. Above all he didn't want Rose or Cypher to know this or even know that he had been part of the wars. Everything went peaceably blank for just a millisecond and then he was back to the usual brooding and he wanted out. Suddenly Kalizda's voice cut in and he glanced at her. Though he had the brown contacts in they didn't disguise much of the feeling or expression of his eyes. "I tink about Rose and Cypher." In part it was true. "Ef yah tired I can drive eh?" For Illya that sounded like the better option. He could focus on something else and she could rest if she wanted to.
The rain was starting to hit the windshield with a little more gusto and the wind was pushing against the skimmer with strong gusts. Illya didnt have as much experience with the skimmer in general and staying with his arms at the wheel might make him even more stiff. Not to mention, the brief glances she stole at his strange, brown eyes let her know that he might have very well been thinking about their children, but that wasnt all. Adjusting her grip on the wheel, Calysta shook her head. "No, the weather is a little rough and I'm alright, just a little company would be good. Thinking of Rose and Cypher usually doesn't give you that sort of look though. You're thinking of last night, arent you?"

Momentarily Illya's face paled when she asked about the dreams. He didn't want to talk about them. So far he had done everything he could to ignore them and try to get them out of his mind. Every time he thought of the dreams he thought of the war and it was a whole pile of memories he wished he lost instead of the ones he was still recovering. "No." Shaking his head he lied blatantly to her and decided to try and talk about something else. "I just...I worry t-that dey uh....I don't want t-them to know about da war. Maybe if we're careful t-they don't have ta know I was general during war and maybe dey jes always t-think of us as explorers."
Calysta's eyes flicked between the road and to Illya quickly. It so harder to read his face to begin with but she really didn't need that to know he was dodging some thing. "There's no reason they shouldn't know who their father is. You were a General then and you are now. I'm not sure why you wouldn't want them to know that, but I know you a little better than that. You said something... different...last night.... In the dreams. It sounded like you were ashamed?"

The Chip grew increasingly quiet as she spoke. He didn't want his children to know he was a general and that was it. They didn't need to know what he'd done in the past or what this war would require of him. To make it all the worse Kalizda seemed hell bent on hearing some sort of talk about the past. "Yah tink dere isn't enough ta be ashamed about anyway?" Illya's brow creased and he clenched his jaw a little tighter. "Yes, I kill a lot of men. Maybe dey didn't all need killing, maybe dey did. Tink I want meh children ta know dat dah man dey call fater did t-these tings? Tink dey want ta know dat I kill meh own fater because I keep books belonging ta oter gods?"

The windshield was being battered by heavy rain now and thunder rolled over the hum of the skimmer and the pattering sounds over water all around them. Calsyta kept adjusting the skimmer to account for the hard winds pushing against the craft. She could tell he was growing angry with her as he spoke. It was expected because he hated talking about the past, but what he actually said, left her in a moment of shock. He'd killed men that hadnt deserved it, which was something she knew but he hadn't shown any shame up to that point about it, but now he seemed scared that Cypher and Rose might know what he had done as a General. Not only that but he was talking about his father. He thought he killed his father? What book? It took her a moment to think, before she realized he was referring to the Bible. It only stood to reason that his interest in God was brought against his other faith which had such harsh realities and dire consequences. He thought he killed his own father and he had been thinking that way for months. A sadness washed over Calsyta and she gripped the wheel a little tighter as she brought them to a slow stop on the side of the road. The rain was so heavy she could barely see and it was as good an excuse as any to wait for amount. Turning to Illya, she saw he was still looking ahead into the down pour. "Look at me, Illya Blackwolf," she said firmly as she could. When he met her gaze finally she shook her head. "You did not kill your father. A man did that, and that man was not you."

Kalizda didn't sound happy. She was angry and her voice was stern. He expected as much and Illya turned to look at her. Everything inside of him started to scream and protest. She didn't know, she couldn't understand, how could she?" After what felt like forever of just staring at her, he turned away from her again and took the strap that ran across his shoulder and waist off. Wordlessly he pushed the door open on his side of the skimmer and stepped out into the rain. Illya clenched his hands into fists. Even when he walked a few paces one direction and then another he could feel the muscles tightening from his neck all the way into his back and his arms. Extending his fingers and then clenching them into fists again his hands shook and he looked around almost anxiously. There had to be someplace to go. Somewhere to disappear to, to hide for a time. Anywhere that would give him something besides this.
He didn't answer and instead started getting out of the car. The rain alone was deafening when he opened the door and stood there almost like a wild tyrei pacing in a cage, the water pounding his back. Throwing the skimmer into am anchored position, she opened her door and got out to stand beside him. She let him fume for a minute until the lightning crackled overhead followed by a hard thunderboom "It's not your fault," Calsyta called over the rain, "You couldn't stop it anymore than you were the cause of it. Please, Illya." She reached out for him as another flash of lightening struck. They were soaked but she didnt care. Her hand curled around his fist, tight as it was. "Nobody blames you, no one is angry. I promise. Your father wouldn't blame you either."

Tiny, cold little fingers curled over a portion of his fist. Illya stared at her for a long moment and his gaze softened slightly. There wasn't anything he could do about it now and he needed to move on. There was still a part of him that felt like guilt trickled in little bits at a time. It broke occasionally and then flooded his mind. This was just another flood and he was afraid there wasn't such a thing as a patch or a fix for this. It would pass and then it would happen again later. It was always the same. "I can know dat, but et doesn't change meh mind. Dere es too much guilt. I tink et es always dis way."

Calysta squeezed his hand and let out a long breath as the rain soaked them down. Water dripped from the ends of her hair, her eye lashes and even the tip of her little nose which she wipe away with the back of her jacket sleeve. "I think if it it were my father, I might feel that way too sometimes. Like there was something that could have been done even if there wasn't," she told him honestly, looking into his eyes, "He was your father and I know you miss him, along with that feeling." Stepping closer she wrapped her other arm around his waist and looked up at him. It wasnt her best hug, but it was an honest one. "I don't think it will always be this way. You'll always remember but when the war is done and there is peace. We'll sit with our children and you'll get to tell them about their grandfather. That's allowed in the Bible. To learn about your forefathers, you know? They'll be glad to know and your father would be happy that they know about him too." It wasn't a perfect solution, but she wanted him to know that things would get better, no matter what.

There were times when Illya thought that he wanted scream and then there were times like these. She was an optimistic little possum. "I can hope et gets better." Opening his hands he wrapped them around her back. "We go back inside eh?" Nothing she said really helped for the time, but he did need to settle down and he could do his best to let it all fall into a simmer. Maybe he would talk to her about it, but did he really need to talk to her about this?

He said he hoped it would get better but his eyes were still cloudy with doubt and a hint of anger. She didn't think it was at her, but more likely at himself. Her shoulders sank a little but she nodded slowly in return anyways. How did she help him work through this? What could she do to help more than just telling him it would be okay? It seemed so inadequate compared to the loss of his father and that was the problem. Maybe if she was just there for him? "Illya, I love you and I am not ashamed of anything you've done no matter what, alright?" She lightly rubbed his sides and then started leading him toward the car, feeling no better or accomplished than when she left it, "I think you should tell me these types of things though. That's part of the promise you made when we agreed. To talk to each other and that includes things like this too, hm?"

Illya stared at her for a long moment and reluctantly got into the skimmer after her. Though he was soaked he didn't particularly care and neither did he feel all that great. "Talk to yah for what? I tell yah I have bad day in meh head." Letting out a long breath he nodded a little. "I tell yah den, but dun go around asking meh stuff. Ef yah let meh tell yah den we jes agree dat I tell yah and whatever I can say for time eh?"

She had been patient to a point, but he was mad at her now and he really had no right to be. She was doing everything she could to make things easier for him, but she didn't know what else to do. Sliding into the drivers rest she slammed the door a little harder than she meant to and started up the heater. "I only asked because I was worried and could tell something was wrong. I'm not blind and when you don't tell me things I can't help. You asked me to tell you what I don't like? I don't like it when I'm not allowed to ask when you're okay." She spoke the words quietly but with a bit of resolve as water dripped everywhere. "If you don't want me asking, then tell me when you can and be honest about it."

It was about to turn into a fight and Illya could feel it. He had a chance to stop it before it started, but he was mad and he didn't care if they had a fight right now. In fact he sort of wanted one. "Damn et Kalizda." Grumbling a few incomprehensible words under his breath he pulled the strap for the seat back over his waist and buckled it. "Den yah jes ask like ya do anyway and I answer best I can. Eh? Ef dats nut enough den I need ta walk da rest of da way."

Her temper was flaring and she trying to keep it in check. It wasn't easy for him and she knew that, but it wasn't fair to her either. The reluctant agreement was fine, but the ultimatum was unnecessary and she scowled as she put the skimmer into forward again. "Good," she said firmly, "Because its another 600 kilometers to Vegas and that would be a very long walk, even for you, hm?"

There was nothing quite so irritating as having her first agree with him and then decide to inform him that it was a long walk. Illya's eyes widened slightly and he looked at her for a long moment and then unbuckled himself again. "Dats et...I'm walking. Yah go ahead 3 knots and wait. I jes walk." Illya was already impatiently pushing on the doors. It didn't matter if she was still driving or not. As soon as the door opened Illya dropped out and hit the ground with a grunt. After he rolled through the sands, over a few little rocks and now looked like a mud monster of sorts he started to curse and yell as loudly as he wanted while flinging mud from his shirt and arms. Most of it was a slur of Quoti and he would have been louder, but he couldn't even open his mouth to project the sound. Instead it was more like strained screams that barely filtered through his teeth.

Calysta started to protest but he was already gone, jumping out of the skimmer at 45 miles an hour. What she was asking wasn't unreasonable. He was acting like it was the end of the world simply to talk to her! She was tired of being brushed off and she had endured months of odd silences and walking on egg shells around a husband who couldn't remember her. She'd had a baby and hadn't been able to share any fears or worries and taken on everything she could and his solution was to jump out of a moving vehicle when he didn't like what she had to say? In the background she could see him pitching a fit in the mud, flinging it everywhere in anger that wasnt aimed at anyone but himself really. Gritting her teeth she slammed the throttle and quickly made the three click distance and then some. She had to cut a near donut to turn back and wait for him in the storm with jaw set and arms crossed. Maybe he would feel better, maybe he wouldn't when he came back, but it didn't do his back or ribs any good. Stubborn, stubborn Chip!

Mud ran freely from Illya's hair, and face until it was just streaks. He felt somewhat better after having his moment to scream, yell, curse and stomp along. Mostly his legs were muddy and remained that way from all the slopping and sloshing. There was an occasional twinge that ran through his spine and he knew he was going to regret this tonight, but right now it felt crappy and great all at the same time. Crappy because he was pretty sure she was made enough to make him walk further than 3 knots. By the time he'd slipped in the mud at the 2 knots mark he didn't look any better than he had when he rolled out the first time. Illya's leg was tired and he was already getting sore and then he saw the ship. Surprisingly she didn't go any further than 3 knots and he made a note to himself not to do this again. It was kind of a bad idea. Flicking off a few more chunks of mud Illya stood outside and stripped his shirt off and let the rain wash out this hair and the rest of his body while he wrung the shirt out. After the shirt looked decent he took his pants off and ignored the honking from a passing skimmer. There were apparently a few that went this way. Now that he was mostly just wet again he got into the skimmer and gave Kalizda a sheepish smile. "I uh....Tanks for waiting."

Calysta sat facing forward as Illya emerged from the haze of rain covered in mud. She was glad he didnt think he was going to just get uncovered in mud and took the time to wash off his hair and shirt at least. When he got into the skimmer and gave her that sheepish smile a part of her melted a little, and her expression softened some, but she was still a bit angry. Rather than say anything at all about his tantrum, she gave a small shrug. "Aye." She put the skimmer in forward and put them back on the road, speeding back up to 100 kilometers an hour in a matter a minute. As somewhat of a peace offering, she leaned over and turned the heater back on him. He would be getting cold and it wouldnt be good for his bones.

************************

They drove in silence for a long time, passing through the storm and over the muddy desert. When she saw a sign written in Terran, Calysta pulled them over and followed an old, dirt track away from the main highway. It lead to a tiny building on the edge of a cliff to a valley that seemed to stretch as far as the eye could see in either direction. A sparkling river snaked far below in the valley floor between the golden and red layered sides. She let Illya get out and walk around while she went over to the little shop and bought them both a milk shake and took an information pamphlet on the site. Coming along side her Chip, she offered him the vanilla shake and took a sip of her own chocolate flavored one before looking out over the scenery. “Thought you might like to see it,” she said, “It’s called the Grand Canyon. That river has been carving the Grand Canyon for 6 million years or so from what they say. It’s a natural wonder here on Terra.”

Her eyes roamed over the valley with its exotic rock formations and bright colors. “Reminds me a bit of Qouti and Nuen, yeah?” She let him look for as long as he wanted, hoping it would give him time to stretch out his legs.


**********************

Driving through Vegas wasn’t an easy feat. All entrances into the city had been road blocked and funneled for each car to be inspected. The officers who looked over their car only gave their ID’s a passing glance and made sure the pistols they carried were theirs. “A weekend get away, yeah? And those weapons are for personal protection on the road, you never know with so much happening,” Calysta had commented to the inspector. He agreed with a nod and found them to be mostly innocuous. She drove them slowly down the strip looking for somewhere nice for them to stay. They had plenty of money from their time on the Nova and she wasn’t about to put them up in a cheap spot just to save a little. From what she could tell the city itself was extravagant, especially at night. There were bright lights dancing everywhere, music playing, and an odd assortment of people. She’d had the windows rolled down to talk to the officers but it seemed that it was the thing to do in Las Vegas a group of men and women walked by carrying long cups of booze and sporting goofy grins. One of the men called out to her in Terran at the encouragement of the other. “Aowow! Hey sexy! Call me for a good time in Vaaaaaygass!” When she rolled her eyes, they all laughed and stumbled on their way.

Inching forward in the traffic, she came to stop out outside one hotel with a beautiful fountain out front. Kaereleans didn’t have large fountains because they recycled much of their water. There were no underground systems like the one that supported such a structure. Multicolored lights sparkled through the geysers and behind that an ivory building that was apparently a hotel. “Oh, this one looks nice,” she commented to Illya. The Chip watched the fountain and shook his head slowly, making her deflate a little. “Or maybe something else then.”
When she went to pull back into traffic, a man walked by and stuck a lewd picture of a woman under the wiper blade of their windshield. “Oh my…”With a flick of her wrist and a blush on her cheeks, Calysta turned on the wiper and pushed the dirty advertisement off into the gutter. They passed by a few more hotels before Illya pointed to a tall building with a mostly glass front. It looked simply and elegant, but best of all it looked like less of a party scene.

It didn’t take them long to get checked in and into what she could only describe was a luxurious room. The bed was expertly made and the space itself was massive. Even the bathroom was the size of a small bedroom with a deep garden tub that looked wonderful to soak in. Calysta put down their bags and nodded to Illya. “Why don’t you go get cleaned up?” she suggested to him. He didn’t protest and slunk of to the showers while she loaded their things into the bedstands. While he showered, Calysta went about ordering coffee to be delivered along with soup for Illya and a salad for herself to eat for dinner. When Illya was done, she took up the bathroom next and had no qualms about filling it up and tossing in some lavender oil to soak in. The water felt deliciously hot and relaxed her tense muscles from driving, and even the tender spot where Illya had grabbed her in his sleep. He had really been thinking he killed his father with his reading of a book. It wasn't that she found it odd, it just made her a bit sad, reminding her why she doubted religions in the first place. What sort of gods did that? There were the Greek and Roman gods who were just as fickle, but did that make them worth worshiping. Was fear better than adoration? Her mind swirled in and out of thoughts about the situation for a long time before the water grew tepid.

By the time she was done and wrapped in one of the fluffy robes, the room service had already come and her Chip taken care of bringing it inside. He was sitting up on the bed, sipping at his soup, looking a little better than earlier. She picked up her salad and plucked at the little leaves, before setting it to the side and working on Illya’s coffee since he was done with dinner. Not many words had passed between them other than what was necessary, and her brief conversation at the canyon, but for now maybe that was best. He needed time to cool down and so did she.

Pouring up the coffee out of the fancy French press, Calysta added a little sugar, mint, and lots of cream before handing the cup to Illya, not forgetting to put in a bendy straw. He was going to sleep tonight if she had to give him two cups of the stuff to manage it. “It will help you sleep,” she told him with a nod. He started to sip and she started to warm up some of the clove oil in her hands. With a soft touch she ran her tiny hands over his back, loosening what she could of the muscles and scars, using the tingling clove oil. She worked the oil down his arms and into the palm of his free hand, into his scalp, massaging at the places he would carry tension, and then let him finish the drink on his own without a single word.

Laying back, Calysta’s eyes started to close when she felt Illya shift and wrap her close. Her eyes opened slowly, to see him gazing at her with his green eyes, and she looked back into them for a long moment. At first it felt like me might be trying to make a move on her for a little fun while she was wearing nothing but the robe, which normally she would be more than happy to participate in, but she was tired and so was he. His eyes searched her face and Calysta determined it wasn’t necessarily sex he was wanting, but cuddle even after being more or less a jerk for the day. She knew he was sore and tired, but that was not altogether an excuse for it. Still he was giving her a bit of a look and it couldn’t be helped.

Calysta knew better than to expect an apology from him, and she sighed before leaning up and kissing him. “Eye green like the Wilds and just wily,” she whispered, pulling him close. Calysta kissed at his ear and neck, running her hand down his arms. She didn’t want to fight with him. Time was too precious for that, but he had to understand something even if they were harder to get through and she wasn’t going to apologize for how she felt. He did need to know she loved him though. “The Little Bird loves her Wolf, even when they chase each other with chirps and howls.”


************

The next morning a message was waiting for them from Henaiah giving them coordinates in the city in which to meet their contact. It didn’t take long for Illya to work out where they would be going and as it happened, the spot lead to a little diner on the out skirts of the city. Not far enough for them have to go back through the check point, but far enough that they would be over looked as a few random tourists who strayed from the beaten path. The receptionist and other staff already gave them a few curious looks when they arrived, but she suspected it had more to do with the fact they were wearing older clothes and staying in such a nice place. Calysta didn’t own any Terran fashions besides jeans and neither did Illya, so that simply couldn’t be helped for now.

On their way out, Calysta poked her head into the gaming halls and found them to be interesting. There were gambling machines and card tables in endless rows and the smell of a breakfast buffet wafted through the air. She was tempted to go in further, but the walk through the city would take some time and they didn’t want to be late. Taking up Illya’s hand, she looked up to the Chip and gave him a smile. “Stick together yeah?”
 
During the drive Illya and Kalizda pulled off to a strange part of the road and bumped along till they came to a large desert area with massive rocks. The red reminded Illya of home and in many ways he missed it. There was nothing like the stifling, hot desert wind to bring comfort. Even the grit and grime of the sand sticking to his skin was relaxing. Kalizda didn't say anything besides how familiar it seemed and a few other things about Quoti and Nuen. Silently he nodded and started to work his way near the edge. A little bit of the ground began to give way and Illya jumped back and then got down on his stomach so he could look over the edge.

It looked like there was a safe way to start crawling down into the crevices and rocks. A little lizard skittered across the rocks and Illya decided that it was his mission to capture the creature. Sliding on his stomach to the edge he worked his legs over and Illya stretched till he could feel his feet on a ledge and began to work his way down. They were stopped for a little bit and this was the best way to work out a little stress. Just getting in the sun and hot air was good feeling. Getting down was tricky enough and Illya slipped once. He didn't fall, but he had scrapes running up the front of his shins. Looking up he could see Kalizda giving him a severe expression. Was she still upset? Sometimes he wondered how women could remain upset for so long. What was it that they seemed to think needed to be talked about for so long. So far as he was concerned the argument was over and taken care of. He was going to talk to her more often about these things and even if he didn't think that it would help he would do it cause she wanted him to.

Near the bottom he caught up with the lizard. "Agh...Dere yah are." The little reptile opened its mouth wide and stuck its tongue out at him. Chuckling a little Illya held it and turned it over to make sure it wasn't pregnant. Last thing he needed was to have it laying eggs or something in his pocket. If they were staying in another little guest house type place he wanted a lizard to keep the bugs away. Sometimes the Chippequoti would keep some in their homes that were safe, just to eat the spiders and insects that would otherwise be troublesome.

By the time Illya reached the top again he saw that same look on her face. In many ways it made him nervous. What exactly did he say to her that she didn't like? Eventually she would say something and then it would be a good idea to be quiet for a bit afterword. Silently he nodded and headed toward the vehicle when she gestured to head that way. Carefully he patted the little lizard in his pocket. It was squirming about. The lizard would enjoy plenty of bugs tonight and lots of warmth. Overall it wasn't a bad trade. Illya didn't realize the flaw in his plan until he saw where Kalizda was taking them into the city at. He looked up from the pad where he'd been reading up on several things. Mostly he was using the app on the pad to read whatever he pointed at. Even when it read to him he would try to read along and force himself to re-learn the words or try to unscramble them.

There were plenty of hours to learn and he took advantage of that. Illya read everything he could on the Las Vegas area and looked at pictures of how the people dressed. He was going to be needing something new to wear and he read up on the more prominent figures of the business world. They were going to be his first kind of contacts that he would want to meet. By the time they reached the first hotel Illya shook his head. That wasn't the place he wanted to be at all. Too much noise and he couldn't sleep through blasts like that. They were too much like war and he'd be up all night. Even if she didn't understand why he didn't like some things he figured it was easier to be a stick in the mud rather than actually tell her why. Illya was thankful that she didn't push it and instead Calysta drove on. She seemed to be waiting for him to point a place out. If there was a good looking place it was the one with the golden lion outside. For whatever reason it looked far more relaxing. A bit more calm too.

Illya had forgotten all about the lizard in his pant pocket until after he'd taken a shower. It was rather strange to stand it what was supposed to be a private box only to see that it was completely see through. Not that he hadn't bathed in the nude when Kalizda was on the other side before, but he still found it odd. Stepping out of the shower he wrapped a towel over himself and then walked out into the main part of the room. "Yah turn."

While he waited for Kalizda Illya let the lizard out into the room and opened a few windows. The lizard immediately crawled under the bed and that was alright. It would come out after it ate everything below and then it would scramble over top of them while they slept. That wasn't so bad. Before bed Illya had a cup of the coffee that she used to help him sleep. Nodding a little he took the cup from her and sucked it down promptly while she worked the clove oil into his back, scalp, arms, and his one hand. As tempting as it was to kiss her and say thank you, she still looked like she'd rather he didn't speak. "Hmmm... I sleep good now, tanks." Slipping underneath the covers he laid down and then looked to Kalizda. She almost looked like she wasn't going to come to bed, but he kept his eyes on her just out of hope. When she settled in with him Illya wrapped an arm around her waist and held her close to himself.

Part way through the night the little lizard came out and worked its way up the blanket that hung over Illya's side of the bed. The little creature hadn't found too many bugs underneath the bed, but it did want the warmth and the Chip offered that. Burrowing into the covers it searched out the warmest spot and curled up. Illya was still mostly asleep the next morning and he turned to his side to hold Kalizda again. He could feel something moving through his pants and he grunted a little. "Kalizda...get yah hands out of meh pants." During the shift the lizard had begun to move a little further away from Illya's leg and closer to the fly of his boxers.

Calysta let out a long breath of contentment as she was vaguely aware of Illya turning back over in the bed and wrapping his arms around her. He had been much more calm after the coffee and she was actually managing some decent sleep too which was made all the better by curling up to her Chip. She wiggled in close as she could with her back to his front and let her cheek drift to his arm by her head. He was always wonderfully warm. Just as she was settling back into her sleep, Illya whispered something. What had he said? Hands in his pants? Even if she wanted fun, she wouldn't just go grabbing. Calysta took stock of where her hands were, and both were tucked under her chin. What in the Wilds was he talking about? Wishful thinking or had the coffee made him dream? "My hands are up here," she mumbled back, "You're dreaming."

"Mhmmmm." Illya protested and started to shift a little. "I can tell when dere's someting in meh pants." Letting out a sigh he lazily peeled his eyes open and shut them again until he felt her do the spider thing with her hands. "Stop it!" Hissing at her pushed away a little bit. "Jes wait till I'm more awake." After a few seconds it occurred to Illya that she had her back to him and her hands were indeed tucked under her chin. Laying very still he tried to think of what it was. When he rolled to his back he noticed the sheet stand up and fall a few times in that area and then he started to laugh. "Oh..." Clearing his throat he lifted the sheet a little so she hopefully wouldn't see that and pushed his boxers down so he could throw the lizard out.

His retort made her grumble and close her eyes again. "Well, it's not me. You're just dreaming." She settled back into her spot and tried to go back to sleep only be pushed away by the large Chips hands into the cold side the bed. What the hell was the matter with him? Why would he think she'd be tempting him now? "I'm not doing anything!" She hissed back, before inching further away. If he was going to continue being stubborn and rude to he could do it without being cuddled up to her. Tugging part of the blanket, she pulled it over her shoulder and flopped her face into the cool feather pillow. A moment later she felt him shifting around and heard a little laugh, followed by a soft and curious 'oh'. Immediately her face turned hot with blush and her eyes opened again...did he just...no, surely not....Calysta rolled over and up on her elbow to find Illya looking down into the sheets as he fished around below. Her mouth fell open a bit as she caught him in the act. "Are you..what are you doing?" She sputtered incredulously.

She was irritated enough that Illya thought maybe she wouldn't bother and that was just as well. Instead it looked so much worse. He was pushing the little lizard away and trying to pull his boxers back up when he heard her voice. "Ets nut what yah tink. I got a lizard in meh pants." Pulling his head out from underneath the sheet he gave her a sincere look and then dove back under again. "I'll get et out and den yah dun have to worry about im creeping up yah legs. Musta run outta bugs."

A million different questions ran through her mind. Did he really think 'lizard in the pants' was a sufficient metaphor for this? He could have gone for something a bit more impressive if that were the case. No, knowing him there really was a lizard in his boxers, which begged the question how? She'd been with him this entire trip, so when had he managed to sneak that into the skimmer? The thought of it crawling over her made her flip back the covers and escape the bed quickly. "You had a lizard in the bed? Get it out," she shuddered from the idea of it and the cold, " Where did you even find one?"

The sheer panic in her voice was all Illya needed to know. Maybe she didn't know that lizards made sleeping better if you were in the desert. They kept bugs off you and away from you while sleeping. They even ate spiders. He slept with one as a baby all the time since the lizard was a far better choice than getting bit by something that could be poisonous. "Dun worry. Chippequoti sleep wit lizards ta keep bugs away. I like windows open for good air, but I bring lizard from canyon in meh pant pocket and let him out ta eat bugs under bed first and den he crawl on top and eat and den under blankets ta eat bugs and den he stay wit us ta stay warm. Nut bad trade." All the while Illya was searching out the little lizard and he eventually caught it. Holding the lizard up he showed it to her. "Dun hurt anyting. Jes little lizard. I get et water and den we let et go outside. He eat bugs in garden eh?"

Calysta watched as he searched and searched for the supposed lizard, listening to him talk about how it ate the bugs in the end. She got the idea of it, but it here in a 4 star hotel. The only thing in their bed that shouldnt be there was the lizard itself. Finally, he found it and held it up for her to see. It's mouth was open defensively as its tsil flicked and wiggled between Illya's fingers. It could have been poisonous for all they knew and he had just let it roam in their bed. With a deep breath, she swallowed down her panic and reached out to pet the creature let on its tiny head.. "Aye a little lizard," she sighed, "But it could have been poisonous and roaming around in our bed...I don't like the idea of it being there...please just take it out side after you water it."

Somehow she didn't seem to appreciate the little bit of knowledge and the thoughtfulness that this required. It wasn't like he'd hiked all the way down that section of the canyon and back again just to get away from her. Instead all she worried about was the fact that the lizard could have been poisonous, which it wasn't and she didn't like them. They were perfectly useful. If he had a good lizard at home he would have kept it and if the lizard wasn't very good he would have eaten it for breakfast. "Alright I get et water and den I set et outside when we leave."

**********************************************

When they got to the casino Illya already knew which tables he would like to sit at to buy in games. He had gone out to get himself some clothing that would look like the men in the area. It was important that he look the part. That was half of it and now he had to play the part. There was Mike Ascuodo at one of the tables and he was the most likely candidate to get him close to Yarbrough.

Dressed in a suit and tie like the rest of the wealthier men Illya took a seat at the table. One man tried to shoo him off and Illya just slapped his hand. "I got money and I play here." One of the men finally shrugged and let him buy into the next hand. For the first two Illya decided it would be polite to win and then lose on the third round. While he was busy winning and then losing in little patterns Illya listened to the men quietly talk with each other about business and then one of them turned toward him.

Mike figured it was about time they knew something about the stranger. He obviously knew how to play a good hand and like the rest of them he had some bad luck too, though he was starting to wonder if it was bad luck or if he was losing to be polite. "Where you from? I know most of the good players in this area."

Slowly Illya lifted his head and he stared at the man for a long moment. Scratching at his head he frowned and then put his cards face down on the table. "Not sure." It took a little more effort to keep his trader's tongue clear, but he knew he could do it if he took his time. "Come back here to find some people. I t-think maybe some relatives." Pulling from some older articles of nearly 20 years ago he was to make a stretch. "Area looks like it did when I was younger. Been slave on pirate ship since I leave home." There had been rumor some of the American Indian boys had been stolen and sold to the Nova. Illya looked about the right age of a few and he could pretend he didn't remember quite well enough. "Go by David Shepherd now."

The story all seemed to check out except for the part about the Nova. Everyone knew you didn't just get to leave the crew. Once you were there it was your life and you lived or died in it. "Nova pirates?"

This was the chance Illya had been waiting for. That moment where he would prove himself to be a great reliable source and perhaps trustworthy, or at least a curiosity. "Aye, recently had change in captain and I leave during that time. Take wealt with meh. At least what was reasonable." Chuckling a little he showed off the wires in his teeth. "I fight with some crew and this how I get out."

New leadership in the Nova? Mike hadn't heard of this yet, but if that was the case it was an opportunity to sway the leadership with a few things. he could offer them benefits if they wanted raid certain Alliance trade lines. It wouldn't be the first time that a business man asked the Nova to do something and get all the loot while having protection of the law. Often the wealthy would do it and the Nova were loyal to whoever paid the price. Didn't do the court any good to ask for more than the basics, because the wealthy could always outbid what taxpayers thought were reasonable prices to shut down crime. "Interesting. So if you win big today you looking to invest?"

Illya shrugged in response. "I look for yah to make investment for meh. What yah say we make a bet on round now?"

Since there wasn't any hurting so far just to find out more the man smiled. "You win this round and I'll bet you won't stand the one against my prize bull. If you can wrestle that one to the ground with only yourself I'll believe your pirate story and I'll see what I can do to get you started with some investments. I know a friend that could use a few good men like yourself. Little determination and hard work goes a long ways."

"I fight yah bull den." Illya had no idea what kind of bull, but he was sure that it would be a big one.
 
It didn't take long in town to find some new clothing for them both. Calysta suggested a smart looking black suit and green tie for Illya and then went in search of something suitable for herself to wear. That task was a little harder because many of the dresses were very, very short. Calysta wanted to show some leg, but not that much leg. Eventually, she found a wine-red, off the shoulder dress that was tasteful and a pair golden heels. High heels had never been her forte because they just weren't practical to do anything besides hang off the arm of a man but every female...and even some of the men around here seemed to wear them, so she got them to blend in.

With the shopping complete, they returned to the hotel to get ready for the day. Illya was going to get dressed and go down into the casino to see what he could find. She’d heard whispers in Terran that some big corporate man was staying there as well and it sounded like a good enough lead to wait meeting their contact a the diner.

When Illya was finishing up putting on his suit, Calysta walked over and helped him put on the silky green tie. She learned to tie them for her father when he went to work as a professor and it was something you didn’t really forget. Looping the tie around his neck, Calysta worked the garment into prim full Windsor knot and tightened it some before tucking it under the color of his shirt. She could smell the oils he used to freshen up while she worked, and when she was done, her hand lingered on his chest for a moment. The fight yesterday was still lingering in the back of her mind. Was she really asking so much? It wasn’t like there was a guide to being a good wife or like Illya came with an instruction manual like a ship would. You couldn’t memorize the parts to know what they needed and how to keep them happy. Not that she believed it would be easy, but when she thought back, it had been Illya helping her understand what love was. Now, she was trying to show him in return in every way she could. Some days after the memory loss and the death of his father she just didn’t seem like quite enough. Was she asking too much? Being too open? Or maybe not honest enough? She didn’t know and that was probably the most frustrating part of it.

Snapping out of her thoughts, Calysta looked him over. He was a striking sight in the suit. It made his chest look as strong as it really was and his tightly trimmed shirt at the waist gave him a near perfect figure. Not to mention the button up shirt was just snug enough at his arms to reveal his biceps. Admiring him for a moment, Calysta gave him a smile before leaning up on her toes to plant a kiss on his cheek. No matter what he wore, he was handsome but seeing him in a suit was something else entirely. “It looks good on you,” she said sincerely, “I’ll meet you down stairs.”

Illya left to go scope out the casino and Calysta started to put on her dress. Everything fit fine until she realized that the thing zipped in the back and there was no one there to help her out. Determined to get it done, she wiggled this way and that, trying to reach the last few inches but couldn’t make it go any further. It wouldn’t do her any good to go down stairs undone and let Illya do it either. Tapping her toes in the plat-formed heels, she thought of who could zip her up. There was a salon and spa on the top floor which probably had a few women that could help out.
Gathering up her wallet, Calysta set out to the elevator and up to the top floor where she was greeted by a fancy water fall indoor and a made over receptionist. “Welcome the Grand Salon and Spa, how may I help you?”

Calysta gave the woman a bit of an embarrassed look as she held the back of her dress together. “Well…I..uh…need some help zipping the back of this dress up actually.”

The receptionist chuckled and walked over quickly. It was obvious this poor woman needed a little more help than the dress, but it was a start. “Of course! Here, let me get it.” With quick swipe, the zipper went up and Calysta sighed in relief a little. “Are you sure that’s all you need? If you’re going out, we could always make your hair up and do a little make up. It all comes in a nice package.”

Calysta thought about her choppy hair and the bags under her eyes from the last few nights of wrestling with war dreams and wayward lizards. Maybe it would be a good idea to spruce up a little bit. “I suppose it couldn’t hurt.”

The receptionist smiled and lead her over to the salon chair where she was replaced by a stylist. “What would you like done today, honey,” the man said as he played his fingers through her thick hair, “I can give you a nicer-ice cut and style you up.” The woman’s hair looked like someone had taken a machete to it in the back and there wasn’t much to work with at all.

She wasn’t sure there was anything to be done about her hair, so she shrugged. “Maybe just even it out and style it? “

“Sure thing, babe.”

While the stylist went to work snipping and curling her hair, another woman came around and started putting on some make up for her. A base to cover up the raccoon mask around her eyes, and then some beige smoky eyes to go with it. “Your lashes are so long and dark, you really don’t need mascara,” she chimed, “Lucky.”

By the time the two were done, Calysta looked almost like a new person, which was the purpose. All in all she did feel better though. She looked nicer and more like a girl again, even if she stumbled in the heels on her way out of the door.

*************************************


Calysta stepped out of the elevator and gave herself one last look in the glossy metallic door way. The stylist had curled her uneven hair into ringlets and then pulled them into gentle, glossy waves and the makeup looked pretty. Better than anything she could have attempted to do on her own for sure. She even wore a darker red lip stick that the woman said would match the dress she more. Overall she looked pretty and very much unlike herself. She wasn't Calysta Monroe, but Ariel Lareux. She stepped off the elevator and started into the sparkling casino, with the intent on finding Illya, but she didn't have to look far. He was standing sitting at a table in his handsome suit looking relaxed as he talked with a few other Terran men, though he sat a head or more above them. Titling her chin up just a little, Calysta walked over, her tiny heels clacking on the floor. Taking a seat at the table, next to the Chip she didn't interrupt them but looked to the deal with a coy smile. "Deal a lady in, yeah?" The deal smiled back and started shuffling the cards for a new hand.

It would work just as well to make it appear coincidence, but Illya figured someone would have noticed her looking around when she came in. "You come looking for me?" Adding it with a coy smile he gave her opening to go either way. Kalizda could make it happenstance and he could be flirty, or she could be his secretary. However, she played the game. Besides it would be more believable to be a flirt anyway. The men at the table looked from the big man to the little woman. All of them began to wonder how it was that she happened to just come in and think that she could sit down, but she appeared to be attached to the man. Perhaps she was, or maybe she thought that the game was just open.

Calysta picked up her cards with her newly painted fingernails and nodded a thank you to the dealer, before flicking her grey eyes up the Chip. A quiet sort of playful smile crept to her face. "Hmm, I came looking for a good game and as luck would have it I find myself in a game," she paused and stole a glance at the other men very briefly and then locked eyes with Illya again, "With good looking company. Ariel Lareux."

One of the men started to straighten slightly. It was a private game and one intruder was enough. He didn't care to have another one here. Before he could say anything Illya met his eyes and managed a few words though they were still inhibited by the wires that held his mouth shut. "I pick her up. T-think I make her meh secretary." Chuckling a little he looked Kalizda over. There was nothing quite like seeing her dressed in red. "Maybe not secretary. I uh...yah would say here...." While he was stumbling over words one of the other men caught on and nodded his head. "You mean personal attendant." It was all mentioned with a hint of disgust and the man shook his head. "You let her play cards too?" Illya shrugged. "Why not? Makes her better company as long as I win." Giving a little growling laugh he winked at Kalizda. "Aurail maybe not most talented wit cards, but she got oter skills I like." No matter how much he'd practiced her name he still couldn't get it right and it made him obvious as an outsider. So it was only reasonable to continue playing off the fact he was from the Nova. Men acquired odd accents on board that ship.

It would be annoying to make herself lose to these men so they could feel a bit better about themselves but that wasn't Calsyta. It was Ms. Lareux rather. She gave a chuckle to Illya and tapped the table for another card to be sent her direction. " I have a few other strengths," she chuckled in traders tongue. The dealer called for final bets and Calysta tossed in another chip before the cards were revealed. The winner was Illya of course, and the pile of chips was pushed in his directions while everyone tossed in their losing hand. "Mr. Shepherd has a few talents himself it seems," she laughed lightly, "If luck can be counted."

Illya had become too focused on the game to actually say much if anything to Kalizda. He was wanting to win this next round because he had lost a good sum in the last two rounds. It was just to make them feel better and he couldn't afford for Kalizda to win or lose. If he won, she won. As the round came to the end he started to relax a little more. He had a good hand and so far from what he'd counted in his head there wasn't a likely chance that anyone out there would have the hand to beat his. "Huh... Luck my ass." Illya retorted when she gave her sly little comment. "Its all in the brains." Some of the men around the table chuckled though the loss was enough to be sore about. Mike was considering how satisfying it would be to see the man go try to wrestle a bull to the ground. "Well Mr. Shepherd it seems you'll get your chance to prove if it really is brains or luck after all." The Chip grinned. "Eh, she'll jes see anoter talent. I wrestle t-the bull wit meh bare hands."


Calsyta nearly laughed when when he used the odd little vernacular. He never cursed unless there was a reason to or he was joking and hearing him pop off with his quip made her smile grow even broader because it sounded funny coming out of his mouth. Another hand was dealt and Calysta picked up her cards as the Terran man gave a smirk to them, speaking of luck. Illya seemed to find it amusing because he grinned and went off about ....wrestling a bull. Calysta blinked at him and sat down her cards. The Terrans seemed entertained by the idea and she wondered If they were just joking with him. "A bull?" She said, looking them all over, trying to sound cool "You're kidding. No one can wrestle a bull with their bare hands."

There was a slight hesitation and Illya blinked a few times before he made a matter of fact sort of statement. "I can wrestle a bull wit meh bare hands." A round of laughter went up from the group of men and he couldn't help wondering if this was a mistake, but the bet was already made. Mike shook his head. "Yarbrough will love to see this. So will I after you got all that money."

Calysta's mouth went dry as they all started to laugh. Apparently this was not a joke and they werent having a simple prod a the new guy. They really did expect him to wrestle a bull?! How had he gotten into this so fast? She had only been 30 minutes behind him coming down stairs and he'd managed to make some sort of challenge! Did he even know what a bull was? She met his brown eyes, and swallowed hard. She didn't want him to do this, but backing out now wasn't an option. Turning to the other men she gave them a smile, with a firm look behind it. "Well, gentlemen. You heard him. If he says he can do it, then he will," That was as truthful a statement a she could make.

***************************

It had taken a 30 minute skimmer ride for them to arrive at the Terran businessman’s ranch. Even his stretch skimmer was stopped for inspection, leaving the city. The men that road with them waved off the officers without much care. The entire time, Calysta listened to them talk back and forth sometimes in Terran and other times in traders tongue to Illya, all while she kept a coquettish look plastered on her face. She heard a few mentions of Yarbrough, but it while he had been invited, it was questionable as to whether he would come given he was there for a presidential debate. Calysta wondered briefly if they would see Ayrn milling around anywhere. He would have the good sense not to say anything about recognizing them if he wasn’t actually working for his father now, but it was still a risk she didn’t want to take. There were a few mentions of stocks and trades, along with a quick mention of the former Presidents inadequacy. The comment made her stiffen next to Illya just a little. It was very possible they were sitting next to the same men who helped orchestrated the assassination of the entire Terran leadership. She was growing increasingly anxious for Illya too. They had been given no chance to talk alone and she was sure he had no idea what a bull was. Talking in Qouti to him was out of the question in front of the others too.

When they arrived at the man’s ranch, Calysta was surprised at how much land he actually owned, and how green it was in the middle of the desert. The lawn was filled with crisp green grass all around a flat white house with an open veranda. Beyond that was a red painted stable backed by fields of cattle.
“So, you are into live stock and real estate,” Calysta asked the Terran curiously, more out of keeping up her appearance. He just snorted at her like it was obvious and nodded before leading them out to the stables. At one point, Calysta’s heel hit a divot in the grass and wobbled, throwing her arms out wide and grabbing Illya’s arm out of instinct. She gave him an apologetic look and the Terran suggested she wait in the house along with his wife. They would be riding horses out to the bull ring and it wasn’t a place meant for women in heels. Calysta squared her jaw and shook her head, determined to go regardless of how she looked, or the news that she would be climbing aboard another horse. Something she had vowed not to do again. “No, I’m coming.”

Inside the stables the Terran pointed to a large palomino stallion for Illya. The creature stood over 24 hands high and sported a thickly muscled back. It would carry the broad man easily. For Calysta, a smaller white horse with black spots was selected. “I hope you can ride,” the Terran said, to them both, “No better way around a ranch.” Calysta looked to the beast she was about to attempt to ride. “I’ve ridden before.” It may not have been fantastic riding, but they didn’t need to know that. The rest of the businessmen laughed and decided to select an animal for themselves.

Calysta remembered how the red-headed Terran woman had put the saddle on the creature, but the bridle device was intimidating. She didn’t want to force the bar into the animals mouth, but it seemed to expect the odd contraption and opened its mouth to bare its large teeth. Stuffing the bridle into its mouth quickly, Calysta took the reins and lead the horse out into the paddock. The animal was taller than the one she had ridden on Alpha Centauri but seemed much more docile, lumbering after her at an easy pace. “ Don’t go getting any funny ideas,” she said to it in Terran. When Illya joined her with his massive stallion following behind him, Calysta figured it was time to saddle up. That task was complicated by the fact that she was wearing a skirt however.

The men looked on in amusement as she thought about how to climb aboard the creature without flashing them all. Finally, she got the idea to grab the back of her skirt through her legs and pull in through to the front, tying it in place. It created a strange sort of shorts right at her pale thighs, but she wouldn’t be flashing anybody. With a victorious grin, Calysta stepped to the animal and stuck her foot in the stirrup before hauling herself up. She lost a shoe when her legs swung over the horse’s back though and it went sailing into the paddock with a loud pop that made all of the animals jump in surprise. The spotted creature underneath her danced nervously, but it didn’t take off or panic like the other one had. Glancing down to the lost shoe, she laughed lightly then looked back to the businessmen and Illya. “Anyone mind handing me that back?”
 
The ride out to the ranch was a little more comfortable than the skimmer Illya and Kalizda had been traveling in. At least once he was sat down. Even feeling the pressure of the seat against his back was almost enough to make Illya cringe, but he didn't dare show the pain now. They were in a ship with someone that had potential to make the right connections or someone that could decide to kill them at any point.

Calmly sitting in the back of the vehicle with Kalizda he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. When they were stopped Illya leaned forward slightly and he stared at the guard while the man peered into the back at him and then waived them on. It seemed that being rich and well known would do quite a bit. Even get whomever in the vehicle ignored for the most part. Not that Illya was concerned about getting caught, but he knew that his size got attention. Right now he needed blend, and then when they got to this ranch he would have to stick out in one way or another, but preferably in the fashion that he set out to do what he intended.

Once they had stepped outside of the skimmer the man, Mike started across the finally manicured lawn. Illya felt Kalizda slip her little hand around his arm and he slowed up just a bit. It was natural to have her walk beside him though he hadn't been used to her grabbing his arm like that. In a way it was a little reminder of how small she was and to keep a slower pace for her. She seemed a bit unsteady on her feet and he continued walking slowly. In a way he liked her all dressed up with the makeup and her pretty lips all painted red. He'd almost never seen her do something like that. Not to mention he felt happy as a peacock with her hanging onto his arm like that.

Not really sure what to expect Illya found himself pleasantly surprised. The man lived in a large open area with a big house, giant second house and then endless fields. As it turned out the second house was where he kept his animals. For the Chip it was a strange idea to make a separate house just for animals. Couldn't they just stay outside? Mostly he didn't like them inside unless there was a purpose. Keysha just got used to it and thought she belonged inside and considering how many of the people on Kalizda's home planet reacted to animals it seemed to be a good idea. Cin still stayed outside most of the time though. The bear was far too large to just have bumbling around the house like he wanted to do most days. Since they were inside Illya felt Kalizda let go of his arm while she got set up with a horse and he kept right on wandering around half bewildered. While Illya was busy staring at all the animals he almost tripped on an open stall door and put a hand out to catch himself. His hand brushed against a large animal and the horse looked down at him and nickered softly. Apparently this was the horse he was going to ride.

Putting the saddle on seemed to be common sense, but the bridle wasn't. Illya held it one way and the horse practically dove to shove its head into the thing. It was tangled all over the place and the Chip had to pull it off. While he was still checking to make sure he had it right he looked at the other men who already had their animals bridled. Kalizda was just getting hers done and he mimicked it, but again the horse was eager and pushed its head into the bridle. Illya could feel the horse's lips work against the bit and his hand.

Just as he was mounting a shoe flew past his head and Illya's horse side stepped. The sidestep left Illya awkwardly extended and he hoped on one leg to get close enough that he could pull his foot out of the stirrup and go get the shoe for Kalizda. When he returned with the shoe he slid it onto her tiny foot and took a second to feel her leg. "Yah be careful eh?" That was the only thing he could say right now without sounding too affectionate. In some ways it was difficult to act like she was just a woman that he paid to keep him company, but he knew that was how he was going to have to play this one out. Returning to his horse Illya mounted up a little more smoothly this time. It all went well especially exiting the barn since he remembered to duck instead of hitting his head on the doorjamb.

Riding was another matter. The horse swayed slightly and there was a bit of jarring with every step. It hurt and Illya naturally wanted to stiffen up, but that made it worse. One of the men glanced at him and shook his head. "You just slide in the saddle." Sliding in the saddle was another problem all together. Illya planted himself in the leather saddle and then tried to just slide with it. If he slid too far forward it really hurt. Even if the ride wasn't very long his back still hurt and his right hip was trying to cramp. He'd never ridden anything like this before and while he liked animals it wasn't so enjoyable to ride this one. The man glanced over at Illya again and smiled. "Better. You'd be good at this if you wanted to be." To Illya it didn't seem that he was going to get a chance to even get used to the walking since the rest of the men sped their horses up to a cantor. Keeping himself sliding in the saddle was a little more difficult at this pace, but Illya managed it.

Finally the group of riders arrived outside a moderate to large pen. Illya dismounted along with the others and he instantly noticed the large bull. That big black thing had to be what they were talking about. How he was going to wrestle it to the ground Illya had no idea. Walking over to the edge of the fence Illya looked at Mike and then to Kalizda. Since this was what he'd come here for there wasn't going to be any point backing out now. Taking off his jacket he draped it over the fence and his tie too. The rest of it was staying on. Last thing he needed was for the men to see his back. Stepping onto the fence rail Illya paused momentarily before going any further.

Illya swung one leg over the fence and he stared at the massive black bull. It was a little bigger than he expected a domestic animal to be. Horses were big and he hadn't expected that either. Overall he was finding himself a little surprised. Casting a glance at Mike he pointed to the large black bull. "Yah prize bull?" Mike nodded and he chuckled a little. It was certainly going to be entertaining to watch the big man especially since he acted like he'd never seen one before. Illya carefully started to walk toward the bull and it gave a loud bellow when he was only about half way across the pen from it. Suddenly the creature started to paw the ground and it bellowed again before it gave charge. Illya dodged the pull with a yelp and a roll only to find himself almost nose to nose with the bull. The giant black creature rolled its eyes into the back of its head and moo'd loudly. Apparently it was a mean prized animal and Illya didn't care to be in the way, it didn't seem that he could help it though. Grabbing the bull by the horns Illya swung himself up on the bull's back. No sooner had he made contact that the bull started to leap and twist wildly. On the sideline Mike watched with raised eyebrows, but he still chuckled with amusement from time to time. "You'd think he'd never seen one before by the way he looked at it. Seems to be doing just fine though."

Calysta's eyes widened as she gripped the pipe metal fence tightly with her little hands. Illya seemed to have no hesitation about jumping into the dirt ring with the massive bull with a sleek black coat and glosses black horns. A sinking feeling in her gut told her that what sounded like a terrible idea was about to turn into a horrible one, but he was already in there and she had to stay confident that out of all the things he had done, this might be one of the easier ones. It already seemed angry as zeroed in on the Chip immediately and she gasped when he had to tuck out of the way. The beast was so close, letting out a long, warning moo at him. "Move!" Calysta wobbled on heels as she urged her husband to move out of the animals way, but instead he grabbed it by the horns and flipped on top of its back. The thing went insane, bucking and kicking wildly as it flung Illya in every direction but off. The hard whiplash was going to make his back incredibly tender, but she would be happy if he made it through without getting gored to death, which was likely to happen if he let go. "Don't let go!" She yelled from the side lines.

All the yelling from the sideline didn't seem to do that much good. If anything it got the animal more upset. Illya hit the bull's back and was almost instantly tossed into the air again. He'd nearly had the breath knocked out of him and he couldn't afford for that. If he lost his breath he would lose his strength even momentarily. Another whip from the bull and this time Illya flew off to the side and landed with his legs on the ground. Before he could get himself back on top of the bull it started to throw him from side to side by whipping its head around. Maybe fighting a bull was somewhat like fighting a person? Illya waited till he was whipped around to the front of the bull again and then he swung one leg over the bull's neck and hooked the other leg over his foot. Still the Chip held onto the horns with his hands and squeezed as hard as he could with his legs. It would have worked in theory, but the animal began to stagger after a few moments and it slammed Illya into the fence. Briefly the Chip lost his grip with his hands, but he kept his legs locked and he grabbed for anything to keep his torso from dragging. Another jump from the bull and Illya slammed his head into the ground. When it came back up Illya grabbed the animal's nostril with one hand and took hold of a horn with the other. Mike laughed a little harder as he watched the spectacle. "I never seen a man wrestle a bull like that. Ah..." Looking at Kalizda he shook his head. "You look a little worried. I wouldn't be."

Calysta watched on, her knuckles turning white as she gripped the railing even tighter while Illya was tossed around the pen. It slammed him into ground, and she held her breath as he managed to put the wild creature into a choke hold. Even while it began to stagger the beast had the energy to smash Illya into the fence making her wince. That was going to hurt later on for sure. The Terran must have caught on to one of her expressions and made a comment about her looking worried. She wiped her face of most of her thoughts and instead raised a brow at the man. "I maybe not, but he is my source of income. Even you would be concerned over losing that." The fact was a cold one, but fit with her status. She couldnt very well tell him that the man in the ring was more than that what he appeared. "I'm sure he'll do fine though."

Shaking his head the man watched the glorious spectacle. "Well I don't think you'll have to worry about losing money tonight. I'm inclined to believe his story about leaving the Nova after they changed leadership." It was actually going to be a productive moment. "Tell me what you know about your employer. I'm thinking about making a lucrative business deal with him and it may depend on what you say." Meanwhile Illya was still struggling to keep hold of the bull as it lowered its head and began to grind him into the dirt.

It was hard to think this man wanted to talk business while all of this was happening. It felt like the fight pits and she hated it, but it appeared the man was interested in a business deal, possibly including Yarbrough. If they could get close, they get enough info to expose them all. But what would she say to the Terran? Shifting on her feet, she glanced to the slightly pudgy business man and caught his eyes. "Discretion is why I hold the client I do right now. However I can tell you, Mr. Shepherd is intellegent, business savvy, and quite adept at making quiet trades for a profit. He doesn't let much stop him and wants to find a good niche for his talents."

A short huff sounded from the man when she answered. It wasn't hard to believe that he wanted a tight lipped lady and at the same time he couldn't help finding himself a little curious. "Then I commend your discretion." The man stared at her long and hard before he returned his attention to the match between the man and the bull. The beast and scrapped Illya across the ground. Dust and dirt covered Illya's clothes, his hair and shoes. He could have sworn he had dirt shoved down his boxers too with how forceful the bull was. Gradually the bull huffed and then flopped onto the ground. With one leg trapped under the bull he mumbled to himself and started to get up. Illya was barely off the ground and he heard a snort. The bull was already up again and Illya ran for the gate this time. Flipping over the edge he found himself flopped on the ground only a few feet from the man, Mike. "I wrestle yah bull down eh. We talk business." Slowly Mike nodded. "We talk business alright, tomorrow."

Nodding a little Illya got up off the ground. It was a good thing that they had packed their bags to come all this way. For now he was going to be needing some of the oils and a lozenge to make sure none of the aches got out of control and then he would change. "Aye, I'll need to change." Illya held out dusty tail of his shirt that had come untucked during the scramble with the bull. One of the men stared at the Chip for a long moment and then nodded.

In some ways what felt the most uncomfortable for Illya was the fact that he was going to be here overnight and this was a bit of a risk. Still he had to find some way to get into contact with whoever his man was. Already the general was starting to think that he knew who it was. His memories were starting to come together to form a jigsaw puzzle of sorts and he had a few missing pieces, but enough to know where he was at, why he was here, and what he needed to do. There were even a few other little things that he had begun to remember. Such as the need to protect Kalizda. She was small and her body wasn't quite as capable as his. It wasn't just that she was a woman, but her immune system was different to.

When they reached the barn Illya dismounted and he walked over to the horse where Kalizda was and lifted her off of it. "You coming wit me." Despite his best attempts the accent still came through at times. Making a little space for her to hook arms with him, he started out of the barn after Mike and followed him into the large house. Some of the men behind him were talking about the bull wrestling and Mike seemed to be extraordinarily quiet, even for a man that lost a bet. That silence was the one thing that put Illya on alert. He was going to especially be watchful of what was going on.

Mike had noticed that his visitor didn't understand Terran and that was a good thing. The man only seemed to speak Trader's Tongue and something else, though he hadn't quite figured what that other language was. This David Shepherd had an accent that he didn't know, but it was also carefully restricted. He'd noticed several times that the man tried to speak without accent. While his guest was in his room Mike started to look up a few updates on the Nova. The Nova had undergone new leadership and it seemed it was all due to a revolt of sorts. Ironically the Nova seemed to be still pirates, but they were exclusively raiding anyone, but Alliance. That would indicate one of two things. This could be the man was really interested in the Federation or there was something else. Mike wasn't dumb and he prided himself on his own business smarts and he knew Yarbrough would want to see this.

Sending a message to the man he connected the video as well. "Yarbrough, I think you'll want to see this. I've got a man here and he's spending the night. Wrestled my prize bull and he's just come from the Nova. Thinking he might be of interest to you." No one had ever wrestled his prize bull and beat it. No one had ever had the gaul to do such a thing in the past. Everyone knew the Nova had an interesting array of folk and some from unknown systems. Perhaps this was someone that Yarbrough would want to meet or know about. The Federation kept all sorts of records on races from other systems and some systems that the common public didn't know about. With the planet on lock down, in case of intruders he was also a bit curious himself. The man was certainly going to be flagged if nothing else by the campaign as a possible outsider. It wasn't normal or possible for an average Terran to accomplish something like this.

Illya was a little sore already. He worked his way into a new pair of pants and shirt while he was in the bathroom. Bits of dust had fallen out of his boxers as he expected. In fact he was going to need a quick rinse in the shower. The rinse turned into a full wash down and then he changed into the fresh clothes that Kalizda had ready for him. Illya stepped out of the bathroom in a fresh suit with a black shirt this time and another green tie. "Ready?" Leaning over he gave her a kiss and stepped out into the main room.

Quietly he talked with his wife in the kitchen while he waited for his guest to re-emerge. "I sent a message to Yarbrough. He might be coming to visit. Depends on whether he has time or not. Our guest wanted to get a few investors and he won the deal." Slowly the woman raised an eyebrow. Someone had carried through and won the deal? He was a very ambitious young business man or he was something else entirely. Both Mike and his wife turned around when Illya and Kalizda exited the room. "How about a good strong cup of coffee?"
 
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William Yarbrough was sitting in the executive suite office while his wife was fussing over his tie. "Dora, that's enough," he grumbled. The large woman wiggled her nose and shook her head. "No, love, it's not quite right." For all of her fiddling, the tie was not right and William was done letting her try when he could do it perfectly fine himself. Pushing her pudgy fingers away, he waved her off and started to work on the knot himself. "Go on somewhere else, the meeting is going to start soon." Dora bit her bottom lip and shrunk away from William before making her way out of the room. "Y-yes of course, you'll do wonderfully."

William sighed and gave her a half hearted smile. The small gestured kept his once beautiful wife out of his hair when he needed it and her full attention when he wanted it, which was rare these days with so much work to be done. As he adjusted the tie, his info-pad lit up with a message from Mike. He was considering rigging up his friend to be nominated for Vice President. Politically they appeared opposite, but looks were all the Terran public really considered most of the time and it would put someone underneath him who would further their goals. As it was, the man was always sending him new prospects, and this one was quite an interesting one. Clicking on the message, a fuzzy and jolting video began to play of a man wrestling the prize bull, 'Zilla, on his associates ranch. After several hits and being tossed around, he was still going and William could see that his was no simple Terran man. 2,000lbs of beef would have killed him or severely injured him if he was. No, this man was something else entirely, and there were very few races who had the strength. Braxions and their stone bodies, and an Udine could have, but this man was neither of those. It was possible the a Chip was capable of such a feat. He had researched what he could of the Chippeqouti after their sudden appearance and attachment to the alliance. Even his son had said they are incredibly resilient with bones that were nearly impossible to break. Mike was smart though and would have alerted him immediately if he thought the Alliance guard dogs were making an illegal visit to Earth.

The message included an invitation to dinner on the following night, which he would have to decline. There was far too much to do 2 days before the debate. Keep an eye on this one. I would like to meet him myself but I will be at another meeting over dinner. Aaron will attend and make any necessary reports. He sent off the message and then another instructing his son to go to dinner and investigate. If food was involved, his son would be there without a doubt.

With that out of the way, William finished straightening his tie and turned to the hologram in front of him as it flickered to life. A older man with greying hair and one of those ridiculous pink tunics came into view.

The Yurians had just experienced their first Cirellants strike a few weeks ago amid a down turn in their economy due to the Federation pull back. One of his bigger ports and shipping company's had halted trips completely and the Councilman had sought him out. It was amazing what the right pressure in the right moments could produce. Even if the pull back had hurt him politically, bringing Yuria back to trade and to the Federation. It made him look good and increased his leverage.

"Councilman Yeolyn," he said with a nod, "It's been a few days since we last spoke. Have you reconsidered my offer?"

"What you ask is a high price," replied the councilman with a sigh.

"Yuria can't have it both ways and you've seen the way true alliance Separatists are. They won't hold up for long and you want to make sure Yuria is on the surviving side of this civil war," he said pointedly, " I can offer you far more resources and protection should you take the offer on the table. You've seen the numbers. Do as I have instructed, show me your decision in action, and the resources of Terra and her associates are yours."


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The bull fighting was done and overall, the Terran businessman seemed impressed at least. It didn't put Calysta any more at ease though as they mounted their horses and made their way back to the ranch house. Illya was riding even more stiffly than before and she could feel the hard stare from Mike still crawling across her skin. These were the men who had really been running Terra for a long time and now they had become bold.

When they made it back to the barn, Illya dismounted and immediately came over to her. Before there was even a chance for her to protest, the Chip was scooping her up from the animal's back and setting her down on ground gently as if it was nothing after wrestling the bull. Giving a little giggle, she flashed him a smile and hooked her arm with his. It was hard to act a flippant about the whole thing when she wanted to ask if he was alright. Once they were in the room, he went off into the shower and Calysta dusted her dress off. There was horse hair on it and she didn't want to track it all over the fresh clothes. She thought he was going to rinse off, but it sounded like he was going to stretch the cleanup into a full shower, which gave her time to sit for a moment after laying out a fresh set of clothes. Her confidence in him had been true enough, but she also kept seeing the same smiling, reassuring face right before he left on his last special unit mission flashing her mind. The promise that he would be back as he turned out the door. She hadn't been in any shape to go with him then, but she was here now and it was her job to protect him in a world he didn't know the customs of. He sure wasn't making it any easy job either, jumping head long into a bull pen surrounded by sneaking rats and lions.

Illya emerged from the bathroom and dressed, leaving her to help him with the strange Terran tie again. Once she was done with that, he leaned down and kissed her, making a lipstick stain appear over bottom lip. Smiling a little, Calysta wiped gingerly at his lip with her thumb then nodded when he asked if she was ready. "As I'll ever be."

They walked arm in arm into the dinette area where Mike and his wife seemed to be having a small chat in Terran. Calysta had caught a small snippet of it in Terran and squeezed Illya's arm at the mention of Yarbrough coming to visit. If he came it would either make or break their mission and the idea of seeing him before they had even met their contact set her teeth on edge. At the offer of coffee, she shook her head. It would put Illya right to sleep if he drank some, but it would look odd if both of them refused. "Mr. Shepherd isn't much of a coffee drinker, though I've tried to convert him," she laughed, "I'll take some though with plenty of cream if you have it."

The day wore on and Mike felt the need to tour them around the house, which seemed devoid of any real personal affects, and most of the grounds where workers were milling about taking care of the chores. His lands were extensive and he owned thousands of acres, most of which he had cattle put on. "And this is just the homestead," his wife smiled, "We have many other properties both here on Terra and abroad. The trade business given our little family quite the life." Calysta didn't mind touring the ranch because it revealed the exit points and layout in case they had to escape but her feet were screaming in the heels by the time they were only half way through. At some points, she had to hold on to Illya's arm more than she intended to keep from wobbling. Whoever invented high heels loved women's long legs and hated their feet.

After a dinner surrounded by businessmen and enduring false smiles being flashed from the Mike's wife every ten or so minutes, Calysta was grateful to finally reach their assigned room again. It was a nice with with a king-sized bed, private bathroom and massive closet that their small bags wouldn't hope to fill. As she fumbled with her dress zipper, Illya started stripping off his clothes and she could see he was in pain with his stiff movements. How could he not be? He had not only ridden but wrestled a massive bull and won. The victory had come at a price on his body though, something that she was both irritated to see and also hated to see a the same time. Why did he have to run off making bets like that? These men were dangerous and had actually enjoyed watching a man get pummeled by an animal with no concern whatsoever. She gave up on the zipper and took to snatching up Illya's slacks and tie from the floor to hang up for tomorrow. "I'll have the other set washed tomorrow," she remarked to him, "Though I think they might not be fixable." She hung up his clothes in the closet, and then went back to fumbling with the zipper again. Her little fingers managed to get it halfway down her back before it reached the place where it got stuck the last time. Resolving to get out of the dress, she started shimmying it over her head with no luck that way either.

Getting to the room was a relief. Illya was sore and he just wanted to get to bed. Sitting on a chair he began to unbutton his shirt and then remembered the tie. Nothing was coming off in order and it didn't matter much. Kalizda was still wandering around in her dress and bare footed. Why she wasn't in any hurry to change he didn't know. After the day he thought for sure she would have been tired. Instead she went over and started to pick his stuff up off the floor. "I would get et." Falling back to his slight slur he met her gaze momentarily and it appeared that deep inside she was annoyed with him. The Chip meekly shuffled out of the chair and started for the bed. He had barely got into the covers and he heard little grunts from Kalizda. Turning over in the bed he saw her with her arms almost straight up in the air and the dress barely covering her rear end. It was impossible not to smile. Chuckling a little he got out of the bed and pulled the dress back down before pulling at the zipper. "Get stuck?"

Calysta heard Illya get up from the bed and with a gentle tug her dress slid down, sending her curled hair into a shocked array of locks. He reached around and pulled at the zipper while he chuckled. Part of her wanted to kiss him, and the other part of her wanted to tell him that little bet had nearly given her a heart attack. "Aye, just a little," she replied, as the dress fell from her hips and pooled into the floor. She could see all the new bumps and bruises from the bull fight welled up over his skin and she sighed, trying to fight down the urge to smack him in the back of the head. "I should check your back and the scars, rub some oil in maybe if you're not too tender?"

There was nothing worse than having Kalizda always so serious. Illya knew better than to say something, but he really wanted to. For the moment he let it pass and just nodded in agreement. Wandering back over to the bed he let out a grunt as he slowly laid himself out on his stomach. Even the ribs were sore after all the crashing and bumping around. "Why you so serious lately? I miss da smiles."

Calysta picked up the tiny bottle of clove oil as Illya laid down and rubbed some over her palms to warm it up a little. When it was tolerable, she sat beside him before running her hands gently over his shoulders to start. Her fingers could feel every scar and mark Elian had made, plus the ones that were there before the Nova pirate had gotten ahold of the Chip, the muscles underneath all of the scars were twisted and tense though. His comment about being so serious made her pause. She wasn't serious all of the time. In fact it was usually Illya who made her smile more often than not, but she had been feeling off since their car ride. Nothing had settled right and she didn't feel like herself. "I just have a lot to think about sometimes. Like how I wished you hadn't gone making bets to wrestle prize bulls." She said the words in an even tone, but she doubted that all traces of irritation were gone.

They were still in an enemies house and Illya knew he couldn't say too much. Kalizda still sounded upset about the little wrestling match and he almost said something and then she rubbed her hands up his back to where most of the newer scars were. "Ah..." Stiffening a little he let out his breath and then tried to relax so it wouldn't hurt quite so badly when her hands rubbed over his skin again. It wasn't good if she rubbed clove on his back all the time since it would make the skin raw, but there wasn't a lot of choice either. Illya waited till it was becoming more of a numbed throb in his back before he tried speaking again. "I need t-the investments so I do what I must eh." Kalizda wasn't stupid. She would know that it wasn't the investments so much as it was the fact he needed contacts.

His long pause made wonder what he was going to say and when he finally answered, she shook her head. "I know we need contacts, but you agreed to wrestle a bull. You could have been hurt badly so soon after dealing with Elian," she replied, as she started to work out the tender spots along his neck, "There's no Ehaui here to help us and a regular hospital would be too dangerous."

The fact that she said Ehaui aloud was a bit alarming. Momentarily Illya's eyes got wide, but he had to pretend it was all fine. To say anything now would only make the error more obvious if there was anyone monitoring or listening to them. "I know t-the hospitals always on look out for pirates and criminals. Maybe I take my medicine and its better in morning." In the middle of the massage she hit another sore spot and he grunted. "Its sore, but yah ok to rub a little more."

Illya didn't get it and why should he? He came out of the ring in one piece, for the most part, with nothing but a sore back and some bruises. Why did it even matter? Her fingers shook a little as n she tried not to show how bothered she was by it. "They are also terrified of Chippeqouti here. If they found out what you were, you could go into a hospital and never come out," she said, her voice waivering. Listening to her own voice made her cringe and her hands came to a slow stop before falling away.

Why she kept saying those things Illya didn't know and he turned slightly. Looking at her with a new kind of fire in his eyes he shook his head. Leaning in close he whispered to her. "We're not safe to say those kinds of things here. Best to remember dat I'm only David Shepherd and I don't know anyting about Chippequoti."

Hearing what she had to say, and letting her worry peak through was met only by a reprimand. Calysta he wasn't stupid. She knew first hand what the risks were and wasn't going to give her those scolding glares with whispered warnings. "I know we're not safe," she hissed, in return, "That's my point, David. I can hear what they say, even in Terran and they are dangerous men who were content on letting you die in that bull pen just for a good show." Her heart was pounding fast and faster as she eased away from him, but her voice stayed a low hurried whisper. "I'm not dumb. I know exactly what men like them do because one of them shot you in the head with no hesitation. I asked you to stay, told you it didn't feel right, and you still went off because you had to. I know you did. But then you almost didn't come back from there. You couldn't remember anything, not me or the children or anything and never gave up. I was pregnant and alone, and I didn't quit because I love you even if you never remembered me at all. So, you don't have to tell me what's dangerous. If anyone knows that fact plainly, its me." The words tumbled out whether she wanted them to or not, shaking and stumbling in some moments as a few rogue tears worked their way to her determined grey eyes.

Wincing a little Illya tried to think of what could possibly have been the reason that her story sounded familiar. Everything besides the fact that he didn't remember it, but it must have happened. Isla had asked him not to go and momentarily it reminded him of something that Isla had said during a night when she was trying to take care of him. It was after a seizure or something and the memory was vague at best. Coming back to the present he frowned at Kalizda though it was mostly out of confusion. He was not remembering what she said, but he could remember the man. "He didn't shoot meh. I already kill him." Illya shifted a bit uncomfortably. There were a few other things he was remembering and he didn't like them much. "Who tell yah dat he shoot meh?"

Calysta swiped at the tears rolling down her cheeks, but her grey eyes searched his. She hadn't mean to let all of that come spilling out and here it was hurting fresh as ever, only this time in front of him while he frowned at her in disapproval? Or was it confusion? It made her immediately regret saying anything at all until he mentioned something about Kent already being dead. What was he talking about? "Nobody knows what happened really. Ehvan found you shot in the head and Kent dead at his desk when he came in the room," she mumbled back thickly, "No one else was in the room as far as anyone knew."

Even though the memory was nagging for his attention he tried to pull himself out of it for a few seconds. Wrapping an arm around Kalizda's waist he pulled her a little closer. "Dun matter now ef he shot meh or I shot him." He was trying to think of a smooth way to say this, but it was going to just come out in his usual manner. "Kalizda, ets why I come back to yah. No woman would wait and watch like dat unless she belong to man and da man belong to her. I know yah wait long time. Meh memory es still nut good, but I give yah everyting I have." Gently kissing her cheek he ignored the bit of tears. It wasn't like he could do a very good kiss anyway. "Meh mind remembers many tings about yah since I come home. Dese memories I play in meh mind over and over until I know dem. When I talk wit yah about past or say memory I want et to be perfect because I remember et." Carefully running a hand up her back he smirked. "Like da day we agree and I broke rule and look at yah while yah bathe." Chuckling a little he peered into her grey eyes. "One of meh favorite memories for a few reasons."

Calysta let him wrap a hand around her waist and pull her close as he spoke. She could see him battling whatever thought he had bubbling up, whether it was a statement or just a memory, and when he whispered that the detail he remembered didn't matter, couldn't help but think it was important. Maybe he was just confused? Ehvan wasn't sloppy in his work and would have made note of anyone else in the room with them, but even in his haze of memory, Illya had sounded almost positive Kent hadn't shot him. The thoughts were pushed to the back of her mind though as Illya kept talking and kissed her cheek with one of his strange little bottom lip kisses. She knew he was trying to remember as much as he could. It hadn't been the any lack of effort that had bothered her, but the build up of so much kept secret. Hidden and well away from the man who was her best friend. She had been under the impression he didn't remember much about her and had resigned herself to the fact that he would never know much about their past. It was okay, and they were moving forward, even if it was hard some days. A few more tears came tumbling down, more from relief than sadness as her hands rested on his shoulders. His hand ran up her back and she couldn't help but curl into him some as he rubbed a little. "I will always wait, no matter how hard it is, and you will always come back to me. I know you will, it's just that some times I remember what it feels like in that moment they told me what happened and sometimes I worry next time I might lose you entirely. I do trust you more than anything, though. It doesn't have to be perfect," At the mention of the bath house, she let out a watery laugh and smiled before pulling him close. He remembered the day they agreed and a lot more apparently and it sound just like something he would do too. "Illya," she couldn't helped but whisper his name as a half chuckle in his ear, 'I won't tell if you don't." Leaning back to search into his eyes, she just took a long moment to look at him, memorizing that moment before kissing him. She just wanted to be close to him and to be held there while they talked.

Sometimes it was hard to tell exactly what was going on and with more tears streaming down her face Illya wasn't so sure it was a good idea until she started to laugh a little bit. She knew he was the only guy that would do that and actually tell her he had. Any other man in his right mind would have looked too. Somehow that little kiss from Kalizda was a little more meaningful than some others that they'd had in a while. Slowly he leaned back on the bed and pulled Kalizda on top of him. "I tink I'm very lucky man." Looking into her eyes he grinned a little bit. "Only one man could have yah. I remember tinking I should hurry and ask before someone else take yah. I was afraid maybe yah would never say anyting to meh and den I would be alone. Now I always want ta keep meh little treasure. Sometimes..." With one hand he stroked her hair. "You always beautiful, jes remember dat. Meh little woman never hang her head out of shame. I want her always proud and she knows she is most beautiful woman."

Calysta was careful not to lay to heavily on his sore ribs, but did relax on top of his chest. Her hands crept up to support her chin as it a little lower to rest over him. Listening to what he remembered made her smile broaden as she gazed up at him intently. Behind those green eyes was her Chip and she had known regardless of what he remembered or didn't remember that he was hers. These were not just things he was making up either. Snippets of conversations they'd had were intertwined with thoughts she never knew he had and they were, without a doubt, genuine. "I didn't know that's why you asked me so suddenly," she chuckled from his chest. The memory of him fiddling with the glass and the sweat beaded up on his lip came to her mind making her laugh a little more. He had been so nervous and now she knew why. As his fingers stroked her hair as he called her beautiful which always made her cheeks turn pink, then and now. "You'll always have me," she replied with a smile. His broken thought did make her curious though as her little thumb made light strokes over his chest. "Sometimes, what?" Looking into his eyes with an easy going curiosity, she wondered if he would remember what he was thinking of or if it was just a fleeting moment

Almost as if he could suddenly remember Illya cocked his head slightly. "Sometimes I tink yah nut da same. I miss yah when all I see es worry." In many ways he knew that there was something deeper, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. "I tell yah sorry." Rolling to his side he still held tightly to Kalizda. "I am sorry for all dat I should be." Illya paused for a long moment while he tried to think. "Sometimes when I remember I tink dat I should have found way to make et anoter time. Sorry dat I go and den I come back to yah different. I feel lost in meh head sometimes."

Hearing him say she wasn't the same made her chest ache. She wasn't trying to be worried all of the time. That wasn't who she was. But between his accident wiping away his memory , and Cypher's difficult birth, Markus' death and moving back to Pyrta only to have to deal with Fayn, she had retreated back to relying on herself only. Taking it all on and not really trusting Illya with terribly much until even right before they left for Terra. She'd been avoiding the hurt by keeping him at a distance and he had noticed. What made th moment all the more difficult was the fact that he blamed himself. Laying bound up in his arms, Calsyta's hand crept up to his cheek, and she gazed at him for a long moment before deciding on how to answer. He needed to know some things. "I don't blame you," she whispered, "What happened wasn't your fault. Just like when you woke up and had to learn, I had to learn too. I had to learn to trust again and I'm sorry if it hurt you. I was used to being alone before I met you and then when your memory was gone I was just doing the best I could." Letting a long moment pass, she just her eyes scan his face. "We may both be a little different now but look where we are. Still side by side no matter what happened, yeah? I think I will worry less now though."

Illya nodded and she smiled, kissing him again. They talked off and on about a few things and at one point, she slipped an ankle over his and gave him a bit of a mischievous look. "For the record, that's not a lizard this time."

******************************

The next morning, Illya woke stiff as she expected and her feet were tender from the heels. Despite how sore they were physically, Calysta felt better than she had in a long time. Like something she'd been carrying had been lifted from her shoulders and dissipated. She dressed in the other outfit she bought, a deep green dress, and donned her golden heels again after a shower. Her hair wasn't as nice as the stylist had done it, but she managed to tame it into her soft waves at the short ends and put on more of the make up samples the lady had given her. Illya dressed in his suit and they joined the others for breakfast. The other businessmen had invited Illya out for a game of golf. She was vaguely aware of the what the game entailed, remembering it had some to do with balls and odd little clubs. Mike didn't seem to like the fact that she came along, but Illya insisted.

The game was a boring one, she discovered and after several failed attempts at getting the annoying white ball into the hole marked by a flag, Calysta found herself wishing that Terrans had more interesting games like Kaereleans did. There was nothing like a fast paced game of dyn'at to keep things interesting. She almost balked at hearing there were 17 more rounds of the terrible game to endure, but the further they went into the odd match, the more she realized this game was more of an opportunity to talk business than anything else. The Terran men were a bit gabby in their native language since it was obvious Illya didn't speak it. They spoke of a few business deals among themselves, mostly involving a few mines and ports they were interested in opening up in should the area suddenly become available. Most of them were Kaerelean ports which was interesting. They almost talked as if they already owned them. Mike peppered Illya with questions, occasionally asking what the Nova's were like and once asking about the new leadership in charge. There was still major talk of the deal promised to Illya and she wondered if it had more to do with the fact that she was there or if the Terran was still scoping him out.

After the long game was done, most of the day was gone and Calysta's cheeks were pink from being out in the sun so long. They returned to the ranch and had another odd dinner where no real talk of business was done. Mike turned to Illya after a dessert of apple pie was served and devoured. "We're off to the patio for some smokes and a few drinks." It wasn't an invitation so much as an expectation, while the other men started to rise, Calysta started to go with them, but Mikes smiley little wife waved at her to come over. "Let them talk among themselves. It's all business anyways." Obviously the invitation wasn't open to her and her first instinct was to tell the woman she was just as capable at business talks as them. She was a diplomat who worked negotiations after all. That wasn't an option though, so she gave her vacant little grin and nodded. "Of course, I think I might go to the room then. That game of golf really wore me out and I should rest up. Mr. Shepherd has a fair bit of energy left." The woman seemed surprised at what Calysta suggested, and didn't ask anything further which is exactly what she intended the comment to do. With a little grin, Calysta made like she was trotting off to the bed room, and instead went off into the house to poke around. She could always make the silly excuse that she liked the random paintings scattered through the home they were the only real personal items out for show anyways.

Calysta wandered into the study and found all the desk drawers locked save for one which had a 9mm pistol inside. Picking it up, she ejected the clip and checked the rounds. Armor piercing. They were ready for Chippeqouti, which was to be expected. Putting the gun back exactly as she found it, Calysta shut the drawer and poked around the shelves, thumbing through an old copy of Common Sense.

The rest of the rooms were just as bare, but each had a hidden weapon tucked away. If she kept looking maybe something would turn up that they could use against Yarbrough but the house was too clean. Mike Acuodo was too smart.

*******

Mike sat in the arm chair beside a few of his other colleagues and across from Illya. His wife scuttled around pouring drinks for all of them. She gave the surprisingly brave businessman a cup filled with brandy and flashed him a sweet smile. "For you, Mr. Shepherd. A good brandy after such a day, hm?" If her husband seemed interested in making a deal with the man then a little smile and kind word could always make a good impression. When all the men were served, she offered her husband a glass and then dissapeared to leave the men to their business chatter. Small talk was made for a bit and Mike offered them all cigars, passing around a cutter and lighter for those who hadn't brought their own. "So, Mr. Shepherd," Mike said, puffing on his cigar, "Tell me what sort of experience in trade you have and what endeavors interest you most? Coming from the Novas after so long I imagine you have a few ideas."

The brandy smelled good and strong. Illya could tell it was a stronger alcohol than the usual from where he was sitting. Glancing up at the woman he gave a brief nod. The tenderness from the knock to the head and his back were all settled in and he was a little bit stiff. The cigars were getting passed around and Illya apprehensively took one. He hated how they burned, but it seemed that he probably wouldn't be able to politely refuse it. Clipping the end of the cigar and then lighting it up he put the tip of it between his lips. It was mildly difficult with his jaw wired shut and he realized drinking the brandy could be challenging without a straw. It was too bad the woman was already gone. "Hmmm." Illya took a deep breath and leaned back in the chair gingerly. "Eh I t-think I will be considering deh uh...skin trade. Good business." It would be helpful in many different ways and he had a reason. If he could use the market under the guise of illegal trade he could smuggle out those loyal to the Alliance and get them to safety.

Mike exchanged looks with a few others in the room and then took a sip of his own brandy. He had asked the man his interests to see what he said more than actual care. It seemed though that he wasn't interested in any simple business but more into the underbelly of the trade. All the more he would have expected from a man who had spent time with the Novas. He wasn't about to let his own deals be exposed by offering him something just yet. He'd wrestled a bull, not proven how well he could keep his mouth shut despite what his little hired woman stated. "Hmm...that's a trade that is illegal here in Terra. What makes you think I'd invest in something like that?" The men all paused to see how the newbie would answer.

Complications could have been expected, but Illya always forgot that so many of these people were on the outside quite serious about their morality. They were often two faced and so he went about the subject as any good pirate would. "Maybe yah just label my business as parcel delivery. I take parcel from one place to anoter eh?" Bringing the cigar to his lips he sucked on it weakly and felt the burn start in the back of his throat. "We all know dat skin trade happen anyway. I could be easy way to move people you don't want here anymore. You have benefit of better society and I have benefit of more money."

Mike chuckled and chewed on the end of his own cigar. He liked the man who could call a spade, a spade, and then call it something else when the time came. They needed a good running man. There were more than a few people they could send a good man with tight lips and this guy's mouth was wired shut. Just as Mike was about to reply a another man appeared in the door way. He was medium height, wearing a grey suit and blue tie, but his blonde hair was unkempt and his beard was a mismatched of blonde and ruddy red. An eye patch sat over his left eye. Mike glanced up and straightened just a bit before immediately relaxing at the sight of the new man. "I thought you were your father, for a second," he said, "Come in. I take it your old man couldn't make it." Ayrn shuffled in and eased into a seat, his only eye trained on Illya as he took a cigar for himself. He'd been looking all over for the general and some how the man ended up here? "Nah, he sends his regards. Who's the new guy?"

It seemed that the man liked the way he talked and Illya chanced a smirk. This was going to complicate things. On one end he was a general, then the overseeing captain of the Nova, a husband, father, and about to become a slave trader/smuggler. Some of these positions required he be present and others not so much. As if to serve as a reminder he saw Ayrn walk in. The man had been his contact and there was no telling if he was still up to his work or not. When he sat down and asked who Illya was the general shifted slightly. "I'm David Shepherd." He didn't need any mistaking of who he was around these men and based on Ayrn's response it seemed that he was still for the Alliance.

"Huhm," Ayrn said with a nod, "Aaron Yarbrough. Good to see someone new around here. Bottom of the totem poll was starting to stink a bit like bullshit." The men laughed and Aryn shot Mike a smirk. Everyone knew Ayrn was less than great at business and new guy in always got the crap jobs unless he could come up with something different. "Mr. Shepherd here is talking about getting into the skinning trade." The young man took a long draw of his cigar as his brown eye circled the room, then inspected Illya. "Looks like he'd be good for it, I guess." Mike nodded as he gave a scratch to his chin. "Yeah, but if that's what he's into he'll have to expand a bit don't you think? Maybe take care of some of the hunting?" Ayrn took a tip of his neighbors brandy while he wasn't looking and leaned back. "That depends on how deep he wants to get, I would say." Mike looked to Illya and raised a brow to see what the man would say.

There was some kind of joking going about and Illya raised one eyebrow. He didn't like being at the bottom of the totum poll and they were about to discover that there was going to be an inversion of power, but he would leave that for the time. "We all start somewhere." It seemed they were going to up him right away into the hunting and he would be hunting. As to what that would entail he didn't know, but he was certainly curious. "I t-think I could hunt eh. Yah tell me what to hunt and I tell you when I can find it."

Mike was surprised to hear this. The man's eagerness was a bit much, he'd already jumped into wrestling his prize bull for an investment and now jumping into another trade altogether. His quickness was almost suspect, but Aryn seemed unconcerned. That was his usual m.o. though. Mike drew a long taste of the cigar clenched between his teeth as a smirk worked its way to his mouth. "You think you'd like to get into skinning, and that's a high risk investment and one that can't be in the forefront. I send you the material you need and occasion you find it yourself or send items and information. Think you can handle that?"

Since it seemed that was all the further they would go Illya nodded. "Sounds fair. I work hard and I know risk." Another smirk spread across his face. They could imagine risk in anyway that they liked. History of piracy and trying to get himself started would be about as risky as you could get, especially leaving the Nova. "I t-think you start me small. T-these things take time to make bigger." Sucking in on the cigar again he wrinkled his brow slightly. He hated the way it burned and he still had to appear that he enjoyed it, or maybe he didn't. Holding the cigar in one hand he grasped his glass with the other and lifted it to his lips. He could drink without a straw, but it was just a slower process.

Mike grinned and nodded. It was always smart to the change the faces of the men who did the dirtier work from time to time and it appeared this man was more than capable of hunting down a few people and taking out the trash when it was necessary. A little test of competency would be given and better tasks would follow if he could manage those. Mike looked to Aaron with an even broader grin. "Doesn't sound like Mr. Shepherd will be at the bottom of the totem pole for long." Aaron scoffed and took another sip of his stolen brandy glass as if he didn't even care about the second insult. "We'll see. Anyways, I've gotta go. I only came by or the old man and the cigars. I'll be sure to tell him everything he needs to know about this new investment and whatnot. He said to tell you that he expects you'll be at the debate, Mike. " With that, he rolled out of his seat and slid out of the room.

While the others kept at their smoking, Ayrn made like he was headed to the front door, but instead he took a turn at the last minute and wandered into the foyer where nobody ever sat. It had been a pretty room used for collecting dust as far as he could remember. Slipping past the adjacent room, he stepped into the hallway where the bedrooms room. At least this hallway had carpet rather than hardwood through the entire house. The carpet muffled the sounds of his footsteps as he went though checking rooms casually. If Illyuck was here, then it was more likely Calysta was too and she tended to be the more reasonable of the two. As he was sliding out of the spare bedroom his eye caught on a pair of gold heels, then traveled up a pair of pale, but shapely legs, to a green skirt encircling a slight waistline, then up to a minuscule chest till they stopped on a pair of grey eyes. His mouth fell open a little and he blinked at Calysta who was staring at him expectantly.

"You good look...I mean good to see you," he finally managed to say. He hadn't seen Calysta in awhile and she was looking nice. Really nice.

Calysta scowled and puffed out a long breath before replying. "I recognize you. Mr. Yarbrough right? Ariel Lareux."

About that time there was a shuffling come from the the other end of the hall and both of them looked up to see Mike wife standing there with brows raised. It wasn't unlike Mr. Yarbrough son to go chasing tail wherever he could, and hired company could never be counted on to be loyal. It could have been just happenstance or the woman could be playing her way up the employment ladder. Ayrn didn't skip a beat at being caught by the woman though. Nobody would second guess him having a little fun, especially not friends of the family. "Let's take this some where private," he said, as he slid a hand around her waist. Calysta didn't play along though. She had already told Mike she was loyal to her employer and that image had to be maintained. With a whipping sound, she left a ringing slap across Ayrn's face. His eye was wide with the sheer surprise at being smacked by the tiny woman. "Don't touch," she hissed to him. Mrs. Acuodo saw all she needed to see and retreated back from the hallway while Ayrn rubbed at the stinging, red palm print across his face.

As soon as the woman was gone, Calysta looked him over. He seemed a little hurt that she'd given him a good hit, but she figured he was probably used to it and Mike's wife would report to him what she saw. "You didn't have to hit so hard," he grumbled. Calysta rolled her eyes and started for the bedroom. "Well, you shouldn't go grabbing women. Leave before you get us both into trouble. My employer won't like you hanging around."

Ayrn sighed. He was very much aware of how her 'employer' could be about his little woman. Pulling out his wallet, he shuffled through the credits and cards till he found a slip of paper he carried with him for making contacts. "Well, if you decide to look for new employment, shoot me a message on this line. Big things are happening at Yarbrough Industries and it we need all the pretty help we can get. "

***********

Mike sat across from David and scooped up a fork full of eggs mixed with a healthy portion of cheese. The previous nights talks had gone well past midnight, and it would have been his preference to sleep in, but it was Monday morning and work called. He glanced at the big man poking at his eggs. One would have thought the guy had never taste cheese eggs before. There was something that was still strange about the man, but his time to prove himself would come. A hologram played the local news. "We're here in downtown Vegas, where protesters have taken to the strip in anticipation of tonight's debate taking place in the Red Rock Amphitheater. Most of the protesters are calling for a Yarbrough to step down from his nomination. Stating his sudden pull of trade from the outer territories has left many homeless and jobless."

The image shifted to a woman with dark hair cut short and a fierce look set on her face as she held up a sign and lead a group into the busy streets. Skimmers stopped and blared their horns at her, both in support and in anger but she didn't pay them a bit of attention. "Michelle Rainer, activist and Veyna4 survivor is the event's organizer. She has has been spearheading the campaign against Yarbrough, claiming his policy of 'Terrans first' was a lie due to his retreat from the outer territories and his determination to see Terra separate from the alliance. Rainer was once an avid supporter of William Yarbrough but after an arrest in New York...."

Mike shook his head and put down his fork to look at David with a smirk. "You want to prove yourself a hunter. I think that would be an excellent sheep to start with."
 
If there was such a thing as feeling worse this certainly made it. By the next morning he was almost feeling like staying in bed. Illya's head hurt, his back hurt, and his ribs were throbbing with every attempted breath. How he figured he was going to be the amazing guy and just jump out of bed and still look like he was ready to go was a little bit beyond himself. However, he had to get himself up and he couldn't let on that he was feeling that badly.

Illya had showered only the night before except that he could smell the smoke on himself and he hated it. Sniffing his shirt he wrinkled his nose and grumbled to himself before going to the shower to rinse and then get something fresh to wear. When he finally emerged he felt a little better, but not that much. It was just enough that he felt like he might make it through a short day. Already he could hear the man, Mike and his wife start to mill about the house and the smell of breakfast or at least food was wafting through the area. Gingerly he pulled Kalizda into a little kiss and then winked at her before they headed out the door. He didn't like the contacts, but he got the extended wear contacts. He only had to take them out and re-coat them once a month. Still they were uncomfortable at times and it made one of his eyes water a little bit if he was anywhere that was even a little bit dusty.

When they stepped out into the main room Illya followed Mike toward the table and sat down. They were barely seated and his wife came out bearing a large dish of something. None of it was foods that he recognized right away and the woman served up everyone's plate before she sat down.

There was hardly a way to eat the eggs as they were prepared and the gunky cream over them was certainly different. Illya had never seen this kind of breakfast before and he picked at it for a few seconds trying to decide if he put it in his mouth if he could suck it up or if he was going to have to get it pureed. When he was pretty sure no one was looking he leaned forward slightly and took a deep breath through his nose. This was definitely something he had never tried and he didn't like the way it smelled. After what felt like forever of picking at his plate he decided to have the juice instead. In a way this was torture. A very unusual sort of torture to have his mouth wired shut and no ability to even eat the food like a normal person and then have food that he couldn't begin to shove into his mouth on top of it.

Thankfully there was a small break as the news came on. Shifting in his seat the Chip turned to see what was playing on the hologram. Before the short broadcast was done the man was giving Illya a hunting project. "Hm..." Nodding a little he glanced at Mike and then back to the screen. "Disloyal one. I t-think hunting business should be quiet. She just disappear. Maybe she get scared and run away, use drugs, or hide in streets. Let people t-think what dey like and I do what needs to be done. Helpful if you know what to tell police so reports and men look for her in right places. Who cares if she uses drugs or lives on streets. Police find t-this and no one question why she gone. Too much stress leading such big campaign."

Mike sip a good sip at his coffee and then held out the cup for his wife expectantly, while he listened to David's proposal on what to do with the upstart Rainer. She had been a nuisance for nearly 2 years now and there was no shutting the woman up through bribery or otherwise, being an idealistic and mouthy sort. "I think that her previous arrests will reflect that she is a very troubled woman. An unfortunate and volatile survivor of Veyna4 would turn to drugs and poor company. They might a few bottles of illegal pills in a bag she left carelessly around, I'm thinking, or maybe even something more stout from the streets." His wife took his cup and filled it full of more colombian roast, then handed it back to him without so much as a word. Mike took another good sip and smirked at David, it was a shame the man didn't like coffee because the brew was exceptional this morning. "Ah. The police can look at her doctors and her dealers, but once someone like that is in the wind, I'm sure they'll be impossible to find."

In some ways it was too easy. This Mike was very ready to swallow almost any story and he was going to let him. Illya nodded slowly. "Et sounds like yah already figure it out. I just make sure she disappears and no one knows better." Picking at the food on his plate he still wondered how in the world he was supposed to get it past his teeth. What actually smelled very good was the toast with butter on it and jelly. After a long moment and still being reluctant to admit his position Illya sighed. "Maybe we grind all dis up and put et in a cup." It sounded gross that way and Illya wasn't looking forward to it, but he had to eat sometime.

Mike's wife got up immediately and whisked away with plate with an apologetic smile. "I can grind this up for you, and make you a fruit smoothie to go along with. I'm not sure the eggs will be pleasant in liquid form." As she scurried off to her work, the business man chuckled at how thoughtful and well played his wife could be, then looked to David again. "It doesn't take much thought," he shrugged, "People see what they want and no one is the wiser. I will know though and I don't care what sort of way it's done so long as its quiet and tidy. When you've finished up, be sure to bring me a souvenir to show for it."

It was a relief that the woman wasn't going to make a fuss about it and she was going to bring fruit. At the same time Illya desperately wanted something to fill his stomach cause it felt so empty. A mostly liquid diet was starting to irritate him and he had about 10 more days to go. While Mike's wife was gone he started into the next part of his demand and Illya thought for a second. "I bring yah souvenir." He was trying to think of what he would bring, but as long as the man didn't specify Illya could get away with bringing random items. "So what I get for doing first job here?" There was no point beating around the bush and Illya was more than curious as to what the man would consider investment. As a pirate Illya knew what he would expect, but he also had half a thought that this man was going to tell him he had to complete the first job without pay and Illya didn't like that idea.

Mike raised a brow at the man, as his accent shone through a bit more in his haste for payment. He still couldn't place the accent or what language could have created the kind of lilt he carried. His eagerness for payment was both a good thing and a cautionary moment though. A man quick to want money or power always wanted more in the end, and this man had yet to prove himself worthy of real payment just yet. Mike picked up a piece of bacon from his plate and snapped the crisp strip in half as he considered his reply. "You show me you can do the quickly and quietly, without a shred of issue and bring me back something that proves its complete, and then we'll talk about expanding and bring in some more for that skinning idea. If you can do that, you'll have my backing and a presentation to a friend of mine who will have plenty of work for you."

There was no way to back out now, but Illya knew he wouldn't like the idea of a presentation. "Eh..." Making a slightly annoyed expression he glanced toward the man. "Of course. No pay till I show I can do it." A smirk came to his face and he started to chuckle. "I t-think you would have made fine pirate. Maybe a captain if you could fight well enough." About time he finished saying his piece Mike's wife came back in holding a cup of juice and Illya took it from her. "Looks good." In many ways it wasn't so bad pretending to be a pirate since it allowed for him to skip some of the finer manners that would have otherwise been expected. "Men like me don't presentation. I make it how? Do my work or something like business men do? I don't know business men presentations. Can't speak your language and I think your partners confused if I try to make presentation."

The Terran saw the concern over the man's face and he couldn't help but laugh at both the pirate comment and what followed. Yarbrough wouldn't have time to meet with the guy, nor would he make time until he thought it was worth it and in his best interest to do so. That would only happen if this guy was incredibly good at his work. He had the strength but with the way his mannerisms were, he doubted the guy had the subtlety to pull off some harder targets, even if he did like the way he thought. If he did, then the guy would be a good asset and the credit for recruiting him would go far. "You do your work and l decide when to introduce you to people who will have bigger and better work. That's all there is to it. And I can promise you, if you do well, that the opportunities will only grow from here."

There was no mistaking that Mike was going to put him through a vetting process and Illya wouldn't have expected less. Still he had to play along and in part he was naturally curious as well. "I get more opportunity and if I fail? What you do? Maybe send me away and leave me wit no money?" Grabbing the cup of smoothie fruit he began to suck it down. Made him feel like a little bat of sorts. Hanging around in a fine house and eating fruit. Wasn't much else to do right now. "You send me back to city and I study woman. Go find her and bring you little present."

Mike chomped on his bacon, making little crunching sounds with every passing chew, then swallowed it down with another swig of fine coffee. The man had an excellent question, and one as a pirate and fellow blackmarketeer, he should very well know the answer to. Still, he would remind him what it was to fail. "Fail this task and you haven't proven yourself, so that puts me in a difficult position. All traces of our meeting and the deal will, of course, disappear permanently."

Setting the cup down Illya shook his head. "Ets not how you say it." Shaking his head slightly he started to laugh. "Sending a man away with no money is same tttthing. Maybe you learn more if you speak with slaves. Learn to make t-them feel comfortable and when time comes you send t-them away. No need for money where you send t-them and so slaves get none." Quietly he picked up his glass and began sipping again. "Don't worry. I am used to games like t-this. Business men have one problem. In teory, in you mind it works, but it is different if you do it. Its why you need men like me."

It appeared he was right about the man knowing exactly what he meant underneath that gloss of newness. It didn't make what he said any more comfortable though, in fact it made the entire situation seem a little stranger. This was a man he would have to pay even more careful attention to before introducing him to Yarbrough if he succeeded. The man assumed he was all business and no backbone though, and it would be a useful mistake later down the road. "Good, then you'll fit right in," he replied, leaning back in his chair gazing at the man, "Business will always require this sort of thing and It's why we have men like you to get their hands wet. Do a good job and you have nothing to worry about. My driver will be happy to drop you off back at your hotel and where you go from there is up to you as well as how you return. Your companion is more than welcome to stay here. Francis enjoys her company." The last part of the statement was less of an offer and more of a statement.

The man was very much like the captain and Illya bristled slightly. "I never work for man that tinks he can keep meh property while I work. She's mine and I keep her with me. I know business like t-t-this and I make some terms my own. Men like me don't hire cheap and I know t-this. So my deal stands. I take her with me or I stay here." If there was one thing that needed to be made clear it was the fact that it was a working relationship and he had his terms as well. Illya wasn't about to let the man keep Kalizda. He knew the Federation too well and if he had to he could kill the man here and now. It wasn't preferable, but he knew who his contact was now and it was confirmed to be Ayrn. There was enough evidence even if it was slim to do what he had to.

Mike thought about the sudden want to bring his hired tart along. Then man called her property and anyone with a contract was considered as such, but the possessiveness was annoying and he could tell it was a deal breaker. Normally, he would let the man walk but he didn't want to deal with the mess of killing him just yet and he was genuinely a little curious to see how well the man worked. It wasn't like the woman would put up much of a fight if her employer did fail. "Fine, as long as you get the job done."

*********************************************

By later that afternoon they were packed and ready to go. Illya still felt a little angry that the man even suggested leaving Kalizda behind. It made enough of an impression that he wasn't about to bring her with him next time he came on business around Mike. The man would have to deal with Illya and forget about targeting Kalizda. Grabbing the bag he shrugged at her. She always looked so worried when he tried to do things lately. Wasn't like holding this one bag would rip his entire shoulder out of joint or throw his back out. Marching with her out to the ship he glanced at the man giving them the ride. Part of Illya wondered if there was going to be trouble or if they were actually going to head out and get this first job done.

Whoever the woman was Illya was more than curious to meet her. She was openly protesting and she had followers. It meant that they had enough people to work with. All he had to do was get her to the Alliance and take a little prize from her. Something to give to his new employer. If he could do that then he would be well on the way to building their army and each new target would bring about their specialty to help dismantle the Federation. Loading into the skimmer he leaned in close to Kalizda and kissed her gently on the cheek. There were so many days left and there was only some pain if he strained or ground his teeth. All those things were especially difficult lately since he had his mouth all wired shut. Illya watched a little more intently this time as they passed by several signs and indicators of where they were. He may need to find this place for himself one day.

At last they arrived in the city and Illya waited for Kalizda to get out first. She was in heels and he could see her wobble a little bit, but he didn't want to take the chance that Mike would try anything strange. Something where the man would be wanting his driver to snatch her away and bring her back to him until Illya finished his job. Once Kalizda was safely outside Illya scooted himself out the back and stood next to her on the side of the roadway. "We move eh?" In part he wanted to go somewhere different so that it would take a little more work for Mike to track him down if he decided to take a look. They couldn't stay in the same place again. It would be too dangerous for a man like Mike to actually know where to find them.

Illya took Kalizda with him into an alley where the two of them changed back into something a little more grubby. He didn't want to stick out and wandering the streets was the best way to find this woman Michelle. It was a little after her protest and he imagined she would still be slinking along through the streets. It made a perfect chance for him to find her and take her quietly.

******************************************************************

As soon as David left with his little woman draped over his arm the man started to do a little more research. He had plenty of problems finding much to do with the name David Shepherd. In fact so far as he could tell it was an invented identity. nothing had indicated such a man was ever born. At least not in the records that he had access to. It left only a few possibilities. Either this David Shepherd was actually a pirate and who knew where he was from or he was indeed a Chippequoti. Pulling up his access code to Federation high degree files he began to search their records with his passcode. There were still some files on them and their general appearance as well as the troublesome ones from the past. It seemed that they lived extraordinarily long.

Scrolling through the pictures that he could find the man stared at one for a long time. It was labeled as Markus and the man was supposedly dead and then there was his son and another general. Two of the three were listed as dead and their eye colors were different, but for the most part the men looked the same. He could barely tell them apart. Did they all look the same? He compared it with the picture of the man David Shepherd. There was certainly resemblance. Files said that he would have bright eyes, but that could be changed with contacts too. Chances were from what he could tell that even if it was a Chip the man wasn't the general. A general wouldn't risk himself on the front lines, but this man was perhaps not Chippequoti. It was almost impossible to tell exactly what was going on. The next step to the research was to discover exactly what happened with the Nova. Unfortunately the ship had a change of power that meant that Elian would be dead, but he may be able to find out if there was any chance that the crew had news of what happened on board. It would be good to know exactly what occurred because it could shed a little light on the situation. At least some understanding before he moved forward with any plans.

************************************************************

Michelle wandered the streets back toward her home. She finished shopping at her usual market for some beans and a little rice. She couldn't afford much. No one could these days. War almost always made it worse on the common or poor folk. Yarbrough certainly wasn't suffering. He was corrupt and it made her angry. Yarbrough had enough to actually make a difference, instead he was using it to become the next president.

Out of the corner of her eye she spotted a large guy and he seemed almost familiar, but she shook it off and kept walking. It wasn't till she saw him again and it was only a glimse, but she saw a woman with black hair trailing after him and then she remembered. He had to be that Chip that everyone was looking for. Obviously he found his woman and that was all that mattered to him. Wasn't a particularly personable sort beyond that. Turning the corner to her little apartment building she glanced around. There had been a few threats, but nothing serious yet. At least nothing that worried her.

The stairs creaked and she heard the usual rustle of her neighbors down stairs. They were busy folk with kids. At the top of the stairs she pushed one bag of groceries against the wall with her foot to keep it from falling and then unlocked her door. Pushing it open with her shoulder she leaned to the side and pulled her bag into her arms. Wagging her head in time with a tune running through her mind she quietly turned and shut the door then locked it again. Wandering into the dining room she squeaked a little when she saw the big man sitting very calmly at her table. Something about this felt off. What was he here for. Cautiously she reached behind her back and started to draw out a gun that she had started carrying. "What are you doing here?"

Illya stared at her for a long moment. "Taking yah away from here. Come quiet and dere is no trouble."

She knew it wouldn't do her much good to fight if he got his hands on her, but she still wasn't going without a fight. "Go where?"

"Federation wants yah dead and Alliance wants yah alive. I take yah ta Alliance territory and yah be safe dere and continue yah work. Getting Federation attention mean yah do someting right and Alliance wants ta keep dat work going." From what he could tell she almost looked like she believed him, but he was prepared to make a lunge if he had to. He wasn't about to let her do something stupid and botch this entire operation.
 
Illya, was the first to wake though he hadn’t been to bed very long. He had come back smelling staunchly of cigar smoke and looking tired enough that only a few words were passed between them before he settled into bed with her. The smell of the smoke was off putting, but Calysta curled up close anyways and rubbed very lightly at his back. The muscles underneath were tense, even to a light touch, but he didn’t jump or wince too much, then she tucked her head under his chin. She managed to tell him about seeing Ayrn in between yawns, though she wondered if he was still awake because he didn’t reply. He would probably need reminding in the morning.

The next morning it was all the more obvious, Illya’s ride on the bull had made him terribly sore. Watching him roll out of bed even made her wince for him. Still, they showered and donned their nice clothes to go sit in on breakfast for the second day in a row. Mike may have been a good contact and a lead in to getting close to Yarbrough, but she found him altogether a creepy man. He put on a good, congenial face with a hidden viciousness behind it. Calysta would be glad when they could get the information they needed and to go on their way.

Breakfast was a nice spread of cheesy eggs, bacon and toast with butter and jelly. There were several different flavors of jelly and it seemed like a good chance to try something new. Her hand hovered over a bright orange flavor and slid to another jar of dark purple. “Blackberry is my favorite too,” Mike’s wife said pleasantly, “We used to make it from scratch in my grandmother’s yard in the Carolina’s. This store bought is nothing like the freshly made. ”Calysta had no idea where the Carolina’s were or what a blackberry even looked like, but she nodded vacantly as she picked up the jar and slathered up her toast. Illya and Mike were talking back and forth a little and she was trying to listen in, but his wife kept on going about the strange Carolina place. She caught a snippet about a job and something about the woman on the hologram as she scraped the butter knife over her bread. What would they be doing about her?

“So where is it you’re from, Ms. Lareux?”

Calysta didn’t register the fact that she was being spoken to until Mrs. Acuodo said her false name again. “Hm? Oh, I’m from New Yerk.”
The woman gave her a strange look and Calysta inwardly cringed at the mispronunciation. “My family was until they moved to the frontier for a bit. When I got old enough I came back to Terra for better jobs that didn’t involve working in the mines.” It seemed like a plausible enough cover for her slight Kaerelean accent, and also her ability to speak Terran at the same time.

“Oh I see, well good for you dear. We all have to make our way in the world any way we can, using whatever…assets we are born with, however small,” the woman replied as Illya interrupted them about getting his food blended. She had forgotten to ask for Illya’s food to be blended and felt a little bad about it Mrs. Acuodo left the table to grind up his meal into a liquid breakfast. She couldn’t wait for Illya to get those wires taken out. He had to be tired of being unable to chew and actually kissing him in return again would be nice.

With the Terran woman distracting her, Calysta had missed an entire half of the conversation and jumped back in into what was going on. Illya mentioned something about whatever deal they had come to agreement with last night and then talked about a souvenir. Apparently this woman was someone they were supposed to find to make the deal solid. She had expected some sort of vetting process beyond riding the bull. That had been purely for their entertainment. They wanted this woman gone and judging by the fuss she was making, it was obvious why. Mike wanted Illya to do this though and it would put them in a bit of a tight spot. It wasn’t like they were going to kill the woman. If anything she could be a very useful ally. The wife returned with Illya’s cup and a big straw, then continued to trying to talk with her, but Calysta was only half aware, especially when Mike mentioned about her staying there. She wasn’t going to stay on this ranch by herself with these people. It would be a recipe of disaster and Illya didn’t skip a beat before making sure the Terran businessman knew that she wouldn’t stay. He had a hard edge of anger to his voice that Calysta recognized. Illya had spoken to Elian like that just before hitting him in the throat. Her heart started to beat a little faster in anticipation of what might happen, but Mike shot her a bit of a look and then reluctantly agreed. Calysta relaxed a little once the Terran agreed for her to go with Illya. At least there would be no fight this time and they would be free to do this task.

After breakfast, Calysta helped pack their bags and intended on carrying them herself, but Illya picked up his own with a stiff jerk. He was incredibly sore and as his hired ‘secretary’ it would have looked fine if she carried both of their bags, but the man was determined to do it himself. She must have made a face, and Illya caught her eyes as if he wasn’t certain why she looked worried. Then he came over and kissed her gently on the cheek. They had to be careful with shows of affection and Illya knew that, but she wondered if the disagreement with Mike had him still on edge. When they made it into the back of the skimmer, Calysta sat close to Illya and inched her hand over between their knees until her finger tips nudged his. Without making any sort of expression or sound, she let her finger tips rest over his.

The skimmer came to a halt and she wobbled out of the door in her heels with Illya on her tail. He suggested that they needed to find somewhere else to stay and Calysta agreed. They didn’t need Mike knowing where they were if something went wrong. They changed in an alley way a few blocked down and Calysta used Illya’s broad shoulders to hide from the street to strip off her dress and back into her far more comfortable Terran jeans with boots.

With their bags over their shoulders, they hit the streets looking for the woman Illya needed to find. Rather than roaming the strip randomly, Calysta stopped them by a crowded café and opened up her pad to see if they could find anything useful. “Lets see if there is anything useful in some of these hologram feeds.” They sat at a table and when a waitress came around, Illya ordered them something just to blend in a bit more while she waded through video stream after video stream of the protests until she caught an image of the woman coming out of a residential building of some sort. The news reporters were trying to get a statement from her but she denied them, stating that her words at the rally said it all. In the back ground sat a road sign naming the complex she was leaving. “There, Desert Day Rentals.” In two quick swipes, Calysta had the address up and they were off.

******************

It was simple matter of waiting for the woman to come home and while they waited, Calysta reviewed of the debate from the night before. Yarbrough seemed so confident despite coming under fire from the recent pull backs in his trade. “Any move I make is for Terra’s benefit. The holdings I have abroad are being reorganized and we are looking into several new ventures that will bring even more jobs to colonist throughout the galaxy.” She also sent a message to Ayrn using the contact number he had given her. "I am interested in the position you offered, Mr. Yarbrough, and would like to sit down with you for an interview. Please let me know when you are available."

A message came back about 45 minutes later. "Come to the Cornet Club after 10:00pm and we can discuss your future with Yarbrough Industries. Wear that green dress for a good first impression. ;)" The reply made Calysta roll here eyes and she let Illya know where and when their contact would meet them, without mentioned the other half of them message.


The morning rolled into the afternoon, and Calysta treated them to a smoothie made with some sort of strange bright orange fruit again. It didn’t taste the same as any of the others again, but it was palatable mixed with a banana, a fruit she was familiar with. Finally, the woman appeared walking down the side walk carrying a bag of groceries. Tailing her was easy enough and when they saw which apartment she was going into, Illya climbed up to the second floor with her on his back. How he was able to do it and open a window into the kitchen, Calysta couldn’t begin to guess. Illya’s strength truly was only outmatched by his stubborn will.

The woman came in and was understandably startled about seeing two complete strangers in her kitchen. Her free hand slid behind her, and Calysta did the same thing as Illya spoke. She wouldn't fire or hurt anyone unless things went wrong and they were attacked first.

Michelle's eyes flicked from the tiny woman to the Chippeqouti man sitting in her kitchen. This was the same man who had advised her to look deeper and she had, though it had been difficult to swallow what she had found. Now, he was advising her to go with him because of a threat from the Federation? Terra was a hotbed of that underground organization and she believed William Yarbrough to be part of it since his actions had all been moves to power rather than actually helping the people like he promised. They were dangerous men but going with them wouldn't be possible. If she ran, there would be no one else here to stand up. " This wouldn't be the first threat I received and it won't be the last. I work for the benefit of Terran's, not the Alliance. My place is here. I'm grateful for the warning, and again for your help at the rally that day, but I'm not just leaving."

She was already being obstinate! Why did people he was sent to help have to be this way? She wasn't the first sort of mission he'd had like this and he hated how stupid some of these folks could be. "Well den I put dis anoter way. Federation send meh ta kill yah and I decide ta save yah. If yah dun come wit meh den dey send someone else dat can do job jes as easy as I could today and I never see yah before in meh life. So yah jes remember dat.

She released the grip on the pistol behind her back. It didn't sound like he was going to make her forcibly leave, but she would still remain cautious. She's seen the guy in action and it had taken near half the police force with batons to bring the guy down. What puzzled her more was the fact that he said that he had never seen her before. Was that part of whatever undercover scheme he seemed to be pulling or was he just being an ass? " Yes we have met," she scoffed a little, "If the Federation is coming after me, for what I've been doing that only confirms Yarbrough is already a part of it. It gives me all the more reason to stay and keep him from gaining more power. The Alliance my not have declared war like Terra wanted it, but they aren't starting wars either, and I work for those on this planet. Where is it you expect to send me that will be safe from all that and where I can work exactly? "

For the time he couldn't afford to sit here and argue with her about whether they had met or not. Illya hadn't seen her and he wouldn't really know if he had or hadn't is she was a forgotten part of his memory. However, for all intensive purposes she was no one to him right now except an objective. "Oh good den I can plan on reading about yah brains blown out in some back alley. I like et when yah tink for yahself." After the days of stress he was still mildly angry and she was just prodding. More than likely she dind't know it. With his teeth clenched together the next part sounded more like a growl. "I take yah ta Kaerelean territory and yah advise military and Alliance on how ta help people. Yah could die here and do dem no good or help military actually save yah people. Henaiah wants ta help and right now she's under protection of Alliance military."

The man was just as blunt and rude the last time she ran into him, and that didn't surprise Michelle. His proposal to take her to Kaerelean territory at the behest of the council woman made her temper flare. The bag of groceries crinkled in her hands as her grip tightened and a scowl came to her face. "Councilwoman Henaiah wants to help, huh? Where was all this help when my husband died on Veyna4 and was eaten by bugs while he Alliance did nothing. That woman preached peace and talks without so much as thinking of the men and women her suffered from the council's inability to act. Now, she wants to help, hiding behind her ivory tower." Just the idea of it made her angry. The Alliance had failed them and so had Yarbrough, the only difference was the Alliance hadn't been looking for power at the peoples expense at least.


Illya rolled his eyes. "Yah well I dun give a rats ass what yah tink about Henaiah. I care about dah war and dats et." Meeting the woman's gaze he slowly got to his feet. "Dun matter so much what yah tink of Alliance leaders. Dey are tempered with military men and war. Yah haven't even seen beginning of war. Et gets worse and hard headed stupid people die. Ones dat really help people learn ta use dere brains." Taking a step toward her he held out a hand. "Come wit meh and I train yah to become a greater pain for Federation. I know dis. I fight dem over 100 years ago and I know dem better den dey tink."

When Kalizda decided to speak up it seemed that the woman finally understood. Why Illya couldn't have made it that clear to the woman he didn't know. Turning slightly toward Kalizda he answered. "Yes I know that. We take her and if she causes trouble I just put her with Kika." Whatever that woman's name was he didn't know and it was difficult to remember. She was one of the few that he remembered from all the reports and he had a particular distaste for the woman. Still speaking in Quoti to Kalizda he continued. "We just take her with us tonight and get room with two beds. Then we leave in morning and she'll borrow one of your dresses eh?" Nodding a little to her response he turned back to the woman. "Den yah get what yah need and we leave in 2 minutes." There wasn't a lot of time to be wasted and the sooner he could get her out of here the better. "I need one ting dat only yah would have as proof. I take yah necklace and yah never see et again, but ets price. I give et ta Federation as proof dat yah dead." There were multiple reasons that he wanted the necklace rather than some other form of proof and it made his answers should he be questioned about it a little more believable as well.

Watched the two talk back and forth like the offer was some big deal and then finally the big man's hand dropped away. Two minutes was all the more time she needed to get ready, since she didn't keep much of anything anyways besides a few clothes. Plopping the wrinkled bag of groceries on the countertop, she started toward her room before stopping at the mention of her silver necklace. It had a little crescent moon charm and she wore it every day because it had been a gift from her husband on the day they left Terra. Her fingers played over the charm for a moment, thinking of him. It was the only thing she had left since most of their home was obliterated on Terra, but if it was the price to make things better for all the Terrans who were there she would gladly pay it. Slipping the necklace over her head, the chain caught in her hair and it pulled some of it out as she took it off and handed it to the Chip. "Just do what you have to, to get me off of Terra and to the Council woman." There were tons of other details she had to deal with, but that could be done while she was on the road for now.

******************

Calysta drove their newly rented skimmer down the strip with Michelle ducked down in the back seat as they searched for a new place to stay for the night. They inched past a several tall, glass faced buildings, an odd obsidian pyramid, and a castle type structure. It made her wonder why Terran's would build such odd buildings, but she had read somewhere that Vegas was more or less and adult play ground with outlandish hotels to stay in. There was one she thought might look nice. It was busier and that would be good for blending in with the crowds, plus, if she were honest, the hotel itself was just pretty to look at. She puttered past the next building and a large plaza came into view where the beautiful fountain sat with it's leaping waters. Beyond that was the same, white walled hotel with the colorful banners which reminded her of the flight festivals at home. She wasn't exactly sure why Illya had said no in the first place, but it might have just been his mood when they arrived after their spat in the car. With a little smile curling at the corner of her lips, Calysta stole a glance at Illya. "What about here?"

Getting back into the center of Las Vegas was about the same as last time. Illya found himself feeling a bit overwhelmed with the number of lights and the constant buzz of activity. It was nothing like the quiet little village life that he had grown used to over the years. It might have been fun to see something like this, but he didn't really like it as a place to stay for long. Now that they were on a serious mission he liked it even less. Going down the strip was slow business and he saw Kalizda looking out the windows at everything. She would be a good person to pick this time since he picked last time based on possibility of making an in road with the Federation and now he had it. The place she picked made him grimace. "Dat one?" Of course it was the same one as last time. "Dun yah tink et would be easier ta sleep in oter type of hotel?" The look she gave him said it all and he sighed. "Ok we go dere for a night."

Calysta grinned and made the turn into the parking deck. A valet wanted to check their skimmer in but she declined. Some Terran services were odd. All that land and they didn't like to walk more than they had to sometimes. Then she remembered what many of the women wore for footwear on a daily basis and the idea of valet parking didn't seem such a bad one.

They checked into a nice room with two queen sized beds and a graciously large bathroom. Calysta was interested in going to explore a bit but given their current situation it would be a bad idea and Illya would be leaving again to meet with Ayrn while would stay in the room and guard Michelle instead. Once Illya delivered the necklace they couldn't have the woman seen or recognized. Illya freshened up and headed for the door, but before he left, Calysta caught his hand tightly in hers. It was still hard to watch him walk out the door without her sometimes, but this time it was necessary. Her grey eyes searched his face and then she gave him a smile. He didn't like to see her worry and she would show him confidence. "When you come back I'll have some of that soup you liked waiting for you," she said, before cupping his cheek and giving him a kiss.

After leaving her with another kiss and a playful wink, Calysta turned to Michelle who was sitting on the end of the bed looking at a hologram coin. A handome man with dusty hair and a broad grin was picking her up piggy back style while she laughed on the image. A moment passed before Michelle caught her watching and frowned. The woman didn't care for Kaereleans and obviously thought she was one, judging by the looks cast her way every now and then. Calysta did feel for the woman and admired her in some ways. "Are you ready?" She asked in Terran.

Michelle nodded, tucking away the hologram before pulling out a box of bright red hair dye. "I suppose."

Calysta nodded and took up the box to read the instructions. She had never dyed anyone's hair before, but she wasn't about to tell Michelle that. Instead, she asked some of the questions that had come up in her head while she read over information. "So, you said you've met my husband before. How?"

*****************

William Yarbrough paced the room, coming to stop at one end, only to turn on his heels and march to the other. He was waiting for a message from the Yurian Councilman along with the latest poll to roll in. Time waiting was already time he felt like could be used in some way, but right now there truly was nothing to be done until his other pawns had done their work. As he turned another lap, Aaron wandered into the living room, heading for the door. "Bye Dad. I'm out for awhile."

William paused his walking and looked up from his pad. "Where are you going?" He had to be careful with Aaron sometimes. The man was still a boy in many ways and he had become better about his responsibilites in the last few months since coming home, even taking an interest in the business, but not by much. Aaron rolled his eyes a bit, and tucked his hands into his blazer pockets. "The Cornet club. I have a date."

That was the first time his son had used the word 'date' in a sentence and William blinked in surprise at his son before waving at the door. "Well, go on then and don't be late. " If the man had a date, he could only hope it was with a real girl and not one of the free pieces he tended to pick up. It would do wonders for the Yarbrough image for Aaron to settle down.

After his son left, a message came through, but it wasn't polls or the councilman. It was a message from Mike regarding David Shepherd with more details. It appeared that the name was an invention, which wasn't surprising given the back ground with the Novas, but the photographs of the old Chip General were uncannily similiar to the image of Mr. Shepherd. Aaron had informed him that while the man was large and tan, maybe even a half breed of some kind, he was not Chippeqouti because the eyes and accent weren't right. Those things could be altered though. A little flare of nerves trickled into his stomach and he sent the information off to one of his men. He wanted to have this David Shepherd exposed and dealt with if he was Chip. There were too many things in motion to have what might be a major Chippeqouti General wandering around the streets of Vegas.

*****************
As Henaiah stepped aboard their transport ship heading back to Kaereal and to Pyrta. It had been several long and slightly frustrating weeks of negotation, but finally they had come to an accord regarding Yuria. They would come back to the fold of the Alliance given trade was resumed and preferences given to their several of their products so long as they were at industry standard. It would give them protection and boost their economy. "Councilwoman! Wait!"

Henaiah turned at the top of the ramp to see Yeolyn's secretary running up behind her. Kirit stiffened at the sudden move, ready to fight, but the woman was carrying a piece of paper with her and stumbled into them breathing hard. The councilwoman caught her and set her to right before looking at the paper. "I forgot to send you with a copy of the resource list in your file. I'm sorry."

"It's alright," Henaiah replied, taking the document. She didn't want to point out the fact that had Yurian's not rejected so much technology on religious grounds that the paper wouldn't have been necessary in the first place. They used technology for only certain things and offical documents always had a hard copy. The secretary gave her a relieved smile and a bow before scampering away.

Once they were in the air and well on their way into the 2 day trip back to Pyrta, Henaiah went back to reading her info pad for more news on Illya and Calysta, or anything else noteworthy. Her arm was hurting a little though and it kept distracting from her reading. It wouldn't be odd for a Kaerelean to have a touch of arthritis mid-life but it was still a bit annoying to feel the signs of aging. "Are you alright?" Kirit asked as he sat in the seat across from her.

"Just fine," Henaiah replied, "I might go get something to drink though." Sliding her info-pad to the side, the councilwoman stood and smoothed her flowing pants before walking to the galley for some tea. The further she walked though, the harder her heart seemed to pound. She paused in the doorway, drawing a ragged breath. Why couldn't she breathe? Her legs felt heavy as iron bars while her entire body started to tingle. Something was terribly wrong. Slumping to the ground with a heavy thump, Henaiah pushed back her sleeve and saw a strange blackmark tracking over her forearm. She had seen the mark before on corpses. Panic set in and she used what little air she had stowed in her lungs to call out for anyone. The heavy thump of boots on the metal floor rang in her ears as she sank further into the ground, unable to breathe.

"Councilwoman? Ma'am!"

The young warrior's face appeared but she couldn't feel him picking her up off the ground and running through the halls. Only the florescent lights above and his face seemed steady until she let out a shuddering breath and her eyes rolled back with no energy left make her lungs pull another one back in.
 
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Choosing their place for the night was difficult for Illya only because he was not fond of giant parties. They were barely in the room and he had the bag set aside when Kalizda gave him a message or reminded him. Apparently he was going to be meeting with the contact. Somehow the information seemed familiar, but he must have forgot about it after the long day and thinking about how he was going to get both women out of here alive. Running night business wasn't his favorite, but it had to be done. Already it was black outside and fireworks were starting to go off. Illya accepted the little kiss from Kalizda and he shook his head. "I be back in while eh?" Soup was about the only thing that tasted right and he was starving after spending the entire last day and a half only eating pureed fruit. Not like he was a monkey that lived off that stuff.

Shooting a warning glance toward Michelle he started for the doorway. The woman shouldn't give Kalizda too many problems and he knew that Kalizda was a tough little woman herself. This hotel that she'd chosen was busy enough that they could probably come and go as they willed without anyone noticing. Illya was barely half way to the meeting place and he could feel the pants starting to slide down his waist a little bit. Pulling them back up he tightened the belt. His belt hadn't needed to be that tight for years. Last time he had to tighten his belt was when he'd come back to Isla after the bombing. He was thin and weak with all the mini coma's and healing that the Ehaui had tried to put him through before he got sent home on evacuation. Thankfully he wasn't that thin, but he still felt like he was getting weak and he wanted to eat something that wasn't liquid. There was a fresh baked bread smell and Illya's stomach grumbled as he passed the back door of a restaurant. As tempting as it was to stop in and get some food he knew that he needed to meet his contact first.

After what felt like a forever long walk in the lighted streets Illya stopped just outside the door of the place. Was it a party place of sorts? Part of him was irritated. Why did his contact have to meet someplace flashy and...Stepping inside he saw the dancers on the stage in hardly more than underwear. Somehow it matched what he remembered about Aryn, filthy. The contact was a filthy little scuzz and this was the perfect place for him. It only took Illya few moments to spot the man sitting at a table. He was scanning the dance floor and taking in full the image of the women dancing. Sliding into a seat across from Ayrn the Chip slammed one fist on the table. "What yah need to say?"

Aryn was watching one of his favorite dancers, Corrine, show off on the stage. He used to come here alot before he left Terra and now he came to maintain his playboy image. Mostly. He hadn't forgotten the pretty Tabit, but it was hard not to admire what he saw. It was an artform all its own and he could appreciate it the show. Corrine wiggled and twirled, looking absolutely tempting onstage with coy smiles until he felt someone slide into the booth beside him. Before he could even look a heavy fist slammed on the table. Ayrn jumped three feet in the air and nearly two feet away from the grumpy looking man beside him. "Jeez!" he yelped ,"Take it easy! You're supposed to be blending in." Ayrn took a minute to straighten his tie and sighed as Corinne swirled away from them. "I have some of the information you want, it's not good, but I cant to give it to you yet."

Even when the man warned him about blending in Illya glanced about the general area. "Everyone still watching dancer. Nobody care I sit here." That was his logical answer and he was still slightly disgusted with the place that Ayrn had chosen to come sit at for their meeting. "Yah have meh come here for information, but yah can't give et to meh and ets bad news?" Repeating this he leaned in a little closer. "I need ta know what yah do and now."

Illya was just as charming as ever and Aryn was a bit annoyed with guy's attitude. He got the man didn't remember who the hell he was but it didnt mean he was going to let the guy run all over him. This was serious for once. Keeping his eyes on the display on the stage, the Terran nodded. " That's right. Because if I give you this information right now and you let it out to the public its going to big...and it will put someone important in danger. Before I tell you...you have to swear to get this person out of Terra."

"I already on meh way out. Whoever et is I get dem." Illya needed whatever the information was before he left. Based on the threat to keep Kalizda he didn't want to come back here again unless he had to. From here on out he was going to be taking assignments from Mike through a sort of message system. "I dun know how long I work here, but yah tell meh and I get dem out tonight."

Ayrn played with the olive in his empty martini glass and turned to look at Illya. "Her name is Dora and I'll have her waiting for you outside the Lucky Loo Salon at 1am." With that settled, Ayrn loosened his tie a little, wishing it had been Kalizda who had come to meet him, or had a least come with the man. She was easier to deal with and much easier on the eyes than the grumpy Chip. " Yarborugh industries just successfully negotiated a deal with the Yurian councilman. They have declared for the..well...you know. Yarbrough industries has also been investing in something big. Pouring tons of money into it but I havent figured out what just yet they havent trusted me enough with it. Too much of a wild card still. Whatever the media or even the uppers in the Federation believes, he hasnt pulled out of a few places aboard like the rest. If Yarbrough wins the election it will give him all the more funds, with goverment backing." He paused to let that sink into the mans rather hard head and then ran a hand through his slick hair before continuing. "The good news is...I can put an end to his political career with what I know but not with Dora still here."

"She yah woman?" Illya glared at Ayrn for a long moment, but he figured that it wasn't such a bad request. At least the man was thinking of someone besides himself. When he said who the woman was Illya cocked his head slightly. "Yah tell meh what she looks like and I get her out." This was changing a lot. He wasn't even sure that he was going to be able to return to Mike. In fact he might not be doing anything, but getting out of the area after Dora disappeared. Whatever he was doing here was finished as soon as Yarbrough's wife disappeared. "How yah get out after dis?" Someone was bound to figure out that Ayrn was the informant as well and he didn't know how well that could go. It was a matter of time before they were both found out though Illya suspected his own time was shorter. Ayrn had less time to react if he was caught though.

"That depends on what Henaiah wants," Ayrn said, "I can expose Yarbrough, sure enough right now but some of those men you met are junior board members. Combined with the senior board members they will shift to a shell corporation and whatever else they have been funneling money into will be covered up. If Henaiah says blow it open, I will. If not I guess I stay to figure it out until I cant." He was very much aware of how idiotic the idea was. It went against every self preservation instinct he had and even now he had the strong urge to turn tail and disappear. It wouldn't be the first time he'd done it. "She's a short...um...heavyset woman with curly blonde hair. You might want to take Calysta with you when you pick her up. She'll be scared. Good news is, taking her wont necessarily cause too much of a stir. There's been rumors of divorce around for awhile and I'll just confirm it. Just get my mom off the planet and somewhere safe. Maybe the moonshadow or on Pyrta where you guys are."

By the way he said that Dora would be scared it made him wonder if Ayrn was arranging for a kidnapping to take place. Someone to kidnap his own mother and set the fat woman out on the streets for some stranger to pick up. It was a bit questionable, but sometimes that was what had to be done. "Bringing Kalizda might be troubl. I already have someone dat I get off planet. Yah tell meh what to do nut ta scare her and I do et." There was almost no comfort in doing this sort of work. Illya was a little frustrated with hauling 2 women now that needed to get off the planet. He could easily say he was starting skin trade somewhere if he wanted as long as he had Kalizda to or he could say that he was making a delivery to someone. They would need to go shopping to get something for the women to wear that would make them all look like common folk that had been nabbed off the streets. Nothing new and as long as he went through a Federation port with permission from Mike he could do it. All of this was about speed right now and he was maybe out of time depending on how fast the Federation moved on identifying his papers as fake and whether or not they questioned his Nova story.

Ayrn had avoided telling Illya why she would be scared to begin with. The man was all touchy when it came to being Chippeqouti and it wasnt going to do him any favors to tell him that's why she would be horrified. "No, offense, but you're big and not exactly the most charming at first. Any woman would be scared to meet you in the middle of the night. She'll probably be scared anyways but try to be just a little...I don't know..less you? Maybe work that charm with the ladies you have." He had no idea who else the man could be getting off the planet, but he figured it must be something Henaiah ordered or, someone Mike wanted him to 'relocate'. Ayrn checked the time on his classic Rolex and then adjusted the band. "I have to go get her ready to meet you now before Will makes it home. Be at the salon and try to relax a little you look way too tense." Sliding out of the booth he made his way alongside the stage and motioned for Corrine, give my friend a dance on my tab, huh?" With a joking laugh he scurried out of the door before the Chip could catch him.

This had to be one of the faster exchanges that Illya had taken part in. Especially when he found out his contact had nothing to tell him, but they wanted to ask a favor. The Terran started to rush off and Illya saw him say something to a lady who promptly walked over in front of him. Illya leaned further into the booth and he crossed his arms in front of himself. He wasn't going to dance with her. Ayrn was crazy if he thought he could get this woman to get him out on the dance floor. She was mostly naked and he didn't want to dance with her.

A smile came to the woman's face. This one was well behaved anyway and it wasn't like he was going to try groping her. Sauntering in a little closer she saw him sink further into the booth and she reached out and grabbed his shirt by the collar. "You're a good looking one." Sticking a finger in her mouth she sucked on it and started to grind her hips as she lowered herself onto his lap.

If he could have opened his mouth he would have. Instead a mangled growl escaped and he started to scoot away while trying not to move his arms cause her breasts were very close. They weren't something that he could have ignored since they were rhythmically being thrust into his face. The woman still held onto his shirt collar as she made her dirty dance and he couldn't stand up because of the table in front of himself. Instead Illya began to scoot along the bench. When he finally had enough space that he could put his hands on her waist he did and then he moved her off of himself.

Corinne grinned a little when she felt his big warm hands wrap around her waist. When he pushed her off himself she smirked and licked her lips then began to crawl across the bench toward him. The man's eyes seemed to get wider and wider as he distanced himself from her. Slowly she lowered a strap on her top and she shook her shoulders until the top began to sink. Grinning at him seductively she beckoned for the man to come closer and he shook his head with wide eyes and then started to scramble away like she had a disease or something. Sprawling herself out on the table she beckoned again only to see him dart out. Her pride was a little hurt, but at the same time it was easy money. Maybe Ayrn's friend wasn't interested in women.

Outside the club Illya tried to collect his thoughts. That was the craziest woman he'd ever met. She was purposefully trying to get him riled up and he hated to admit that it was close to working. Still at the same time he was repulsed. It was absolutely disgusting. Glancing behind himself at the club door again he shook his head and decided that he should find a bar and try to relax. Aryn really didn't help with that whole process. He hired a woman to try and seduce him. How low could he get. Ayrn wanted Kalizda still and was this his way of making her take a second look at him? It was hard to say, but then Illya remembered he had a reputation among those that didn't know him as well. Back on Pytra they thought he was a womanizer. Did Ayrn think he was too? Was that why he had a woman paid to 'give him a good time?' Shuddering a little at the thought Illya continued his walk till he saw the salon and then he saw the bar next door. That was going to be the best place to wind down.

***********************************************************

Illya sat in a quiet bar near the salon. He could see it well enough from his spot and he had dressed in something that looked average for the area. It required that he wear a suit and tie. Just for the benefit of the woman he even had 2 drinks. Enough to get himself a little more loose and less tense, but still enough that he should have full capacity of his mind. He saw the bit larger looking figure waddling along the sidewalk with a frightened expression. In a way he felt bad for her. Finishing the last of his drink he slung the suit jacket over his shoulder and stepped outside. It didn't take more than a few steps to get close enough to the woman that he could see she was walking a bit faster as if she thought he was after her. A slight frown came to his face when he saw her glance back at him. "Yah alright?"

Dora wobbled down the side walk clutching her bag tightly and sweat beading on her brow despite the cool night air. Her boy had, not but an hour before her midnight stroll, had a serious talk with her about his father. Even with one eye her son could see it when his father was in a mean mood, and had probably heard a slap or two. Still, William was a powerful man and It had taken a lot for her to even step out of the door without his permission, but when her son begged for something, especially seeming so serious and scared, she knew she had to be brave. Aaron had told her a man would be waiting to take her somewhere that would be safe from the media and from her husband, but hadn't told her much else because William had come into the room interrupting them. Now, she was swaying down the side walk at 1 am in the morning with a wad of credits given to her by her son and no idea who she was looking for until they saw her. As she walked, a large shadow over took hers on the pavement and she walked a little faster. Whoever was behind her was enormous and it could easily be one of William's body guards come to collect her. Picking her her pace the shadow stayed right with her and in quick glance she looked back to see if the pursuer was a familiar one. The man was huge! Surely he had to work for her husband. A surge of fear hit Dora and she didn't answer the man. Instead went into a sideways half run, huffing and puffing with her bag bumping at her belly.

Even if he tried to be nice apparently he was terrifying looking. Illya really didn't think he sounded that bad. "Wait...I just." Picking up his speed he moved around so he could get in front of her and he walked backwards while he tried to talk to her. "Yah Dora?" He had to make sure he had the right woman and his heel caught on a fire hydrant. Arms swinging out he tried to catch his balance, but he fell over with a grunt. "Augh...Would yah jes stop running. I'm here ta meet wit yah."

Dora stopped at the sound of her name and watched the man's arms windmill as he tripped over the fire hydrant with a heavy thud. This was the man Aaron had chartered? He didn't look like a pilot or guide at all, but rather one of the guards, still she felt bad for him for falling down. It sounded like it hurt from what she heard. "Oh dear," she said, waddling over and offering, a soft pudgy hand, "I-I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you fall. Here let me help you up. I'm Dora. My Aaron sent you?"

A surge of pain had gone through Illya's back and he was ready to scramble up and tackle the woman if he had to. Instead her rotund figure stopped short and began to jiggle back over toward him. She had a kind face and he could see a bruise on her arm where her sleeve pulled up. Staring at her hand for a moment he shook his head. "I get up in meh own time." Wincing a little pushed himself to onto his side and slowly started to get up. "Yeah he send meh. Lets get yah off street now and I have meh woman get yah someting ta eat too when we get back eh?" Kalizda wouldn't be expecting any extra company, but they couldn't help this. Not to mention this woman obviously had no idea what to do if a random stranger approached her. He was going to need to put her some place very safe. At least she would be with him and Kailzda for the next few days.

Dora retracted her hand looking a little down that he hadn't wanted the help, but he seemed nice and apparently was the man her son had sent. Her hands settled over the bag again as the man got up slowly wincing and making her feel doubly guilty for making him fall. Rather than getting ill about it, he offered to get her something to eat before they left and that sounded wonderful. Traveling on an empty stomach was stressful enough. "That would be very nice...thank you ..Oh I didn't catch your name?"

This woman's sense of self preservation was only rivaled by that of a worm. She probably thought she could hide from anything if she dug deeper. The fact that she seemed to know this was a risky thing to do and then that she was asking his name almost made it seem funny. Glancing at her he smirked. "Yah call meh Shepherd for now." He didn't mind the last name so much and he turned slightly to see that she wasn't following quite as closely. "Eh dis way." Illya kept his pace slow so that the woman could waddle along at a more comfortable pace. After a few minutes he held a hand out. "Jes let meh carry da bag for yah. Looks heavy and we have ways to walk still."

She puttered along a few steps behind the long-legged man trying to keep up with his large strides. The fact that his name was Shepherd tickled her a little and she let out a airy chuckle. "I suppose as a pilot and a charterman you do spending alot of time herding people," she puffed along. The pace was fast for her but she would just keeping going so long as she could without complaint. Eventually Shepherd glanced back to her and she gave him a tired but pleasant smile, something she was used to keeping up. Rather than scold her or leave her behind, the man slowed his steps and offered to carry her bag. Dora hesitated at first and then handed the bag over with her brows raised in surprise for a moment. He was a very nice man, even though he was being paid to be nice, she figured he seemed extra kind. It was a little hard hearing they had much further to walk, but she just took a deep breath though her calves and feet were aching already, and decided to make some conversation. "Your accent is unique, it's not Kaerelean or one I've heard. Where is it you're from, Mr. Shepherd? I hope its no place caught up in this terrible war."

Even if he had made every attempt not to talk about himself the woman didn't seem to catch the clue and she twittered on as they walked. Blinking a few times he glanced at her. "I tell yah more about meh later. Right now ets nut good time." She seemed so easy to frighten and his eyes widened. "I'm nut mad. Jes we wait ta talk about dis. Before we leave yah get new name and yah never tell anyone about yah family. All yah say es dat I find yah on street and dats et." They walked for nearly another half hour with little questions dispersed throughout and then he spotted the hotel. Dora almost seemed delighted with the bright lights outside and the glamour of the place. Illya grinned a little. "We get to room soon." Inside the building he took the woman past the desk and to the elevator. When they arrived at the door he swiped his card and pushed it open. "Yah go en first." Kalizda looked worried because he had taken so long, but he shrugged. "We get more food. Dora es hungry and den we leave in morning after we get someting new for all ladies ta wear."

Dora shuffled inside and gratefully took a seat in the first arm chair she saw. There was a pretty red head with a frown stuck on her lips in the room and another tiny little woman standing by looking a bit relieved. She must have been what he called his 'woman' and the red-head seemed to be another someone they had chartered to take too. It wouldn't be hard to take a new name for a bit, so long as it was similar enough to her old one that she could remember it. Not talking about her family would be harder, especially not mentioning her wonderful Aaron, but that's what Shepherd had requested. Calysta looked to Illya and nodded as a little smile came to her face. He had started to worry her and then come back with another woman some how and she recognized the lady as Dora Yarbrough from the many pictures posted on the network. " You always did have a knack for having women fall into your lap," she chuckled finally to Illya as she walked over to ask Dora what she would like for dinner.

***********************************

Soup was one thing that actually tasted good even through a straw. Illya sucked down the entire bowl and he flashed Kalizda a quick grin. He would have happily drank an entire bucket if she had one. "Tank yah. Good food." This was the best meal he'd had in over a week and Illya couldn't help wishing there was more. Still they needed to get to bed if they were going to be getting out of here in a good amount of time. With Ayrn's mother there was no possible way that he was going to be heading back to Mike. In fact he would have to make that a later time and just play it off as a business trip and an elimination trip in one. Aryn would need to get out of there as soon as possible too.

If they ever found out that Illya was Chippequoti Aryn could be at risk. "So uh..." Illya looked at the women in the room. He had three women and only two beds. They couldn't really call for a roll away bed either because it would draw too much attention to Dora. She was a problem in many ways and one that Illya hadn't quite anticipated having with on this trip. "We have two bed and I tink dat Dora and Michelle share bed. I share wit Aureel." He couldn't say her fake name right to save his life and he'd tried over and over even before they got here. Still he didn't think he did too badly. "I go change in bat room and yah ladies can change out here." Winking at Kalizda he figured she could change with him if she wanted. Even if his suggestion had been reasonable enough one of the women complained that she didn't want to change in front of the other women and Illya sighed. "Alright, den we all take turns changing eh?"

Apparently it was going to take a lot longer to get changed than he thought. First Michelle took her time changing and showering before bed. Then Dora toddled into the bathroom and emerged a few minutes later wearing a very long nightgown. Since the other two women had already gone Illya gestured to the bathroom. "Yah go next Aureel. Ladies first." He had learned a few little sayings from the Pytran's and he thought that this one was funny. It just made him want to laugh sometimes. While she was in the bathroom he saw the other two were giving each other very uncomfortable glances. "Dun worry we get ship big enough dat yah each have yah own bunk tomorrow." Probably meant that he and Kalizda would be in the bunk room to. Small ships with a crew cab didn't really get captain's quarters and that was disappointing at times. Illya liked sharing a bed with Kalizda and having nearly a week of a bunk room with women was going to be long.

Illya grabbed a lozenge out of his bag and laid it under his tongue to dissolve. Leaning back into the bed he closed his eyes and waited till he felt a tiny hand rest on his elbow. Slowly opening his eyes he looked at her and then nodded. Wandering into the bathroom he brushed his teeth and rinsed his mouth then stripped down and shut off all the lights before he wandered back into the room. He had debated wearing a shirt or not, but he didn't want anything extra rubbing on the scars. Some of them were particularly tender and he hated the idea of the shirt rubbing all night long or catching on some of the awkward scabs. There were a few that stuck out of his back like they were little spikes. Kalizda had pulled on one the other day thinking that it was loose and instead he felt like she'd about ripped a part of his back off and some bleeding started all over again. If they weren't loose enough to fall off when she rubbed the oil in then they weren't loose enough to come out at all. A scratch sounded when the sheet rubbed over his uneven back and he grunted a little. Still he was too tired to do much about it.

Part way into the night Illya woke up and his back hurt. Every part of it was stinging and whenever he moved it felt like torch was lit and it was melting the skin off his back. Moaning in his sleep he turned and shifted then turned multiple times till he found a semi comfortable position. He could feel the blankets being pulled up over his back again and he shuddered slightly, but kept on sleeping. Early in the morning he woke and it took a few minutes to get all the feeling in his legs back. As they were right now both his legs felt like needles and a deep throbbing pain from bad circulation or a kinked nerve.

Having a nerve issue was more than concerning. Illya had almost never ended up with nerve problems. He needed to see the Ehaui as soon as they got home. By the time he could move his legs and he was sure that he could stand up without falling over he threw the covers back and started toward the bathroom to get changed again.

**********************************

They couldn't very well leave the city without the women getting something to wear besides what they had. Illya handed out a wade of credits to Kalizda and a good wad to Michelle too. He had noticed that Dora wasn't short on money. "We go to shopping place ta get yah all whatever yah wanna wear. I jes go along ta make sure we safe." Glancing to Dora he nodded. "Ef yah come up a little short I have some extra money for yah, but I still need enough ta get es off planet."

What ensued with shopping and women he would never have guessed in a hundred years. They chortled like little birds and scittered about the stores hoping from one rack of clothing to the next, plucking a shirt, skirt, pant, or dress and then flying off to the dressing room. With each store he held another bag in his arm and shuffled along with them till Dora and Kalizda proudly announced that they had everything they needed. Illya gave them a lost nod and simply agreed for the moment. "Dats good." Now he had the part of finding them a ship to fly and Michelle wanted to pick what they ate. "We eat on way out of here eh?"

Piling the women into the ship with the food Michelle had decided sounded good Illya had them load into cargo boxes so he could hide them from the initial inspection that would take place. For himself he had a shake made out of whatever it was he ordered. He didn't even know what a cheeseburger was, but it looked disgusting in shake form. At the port he waited for one of the agents to stop the ship and he flew it roughly into the bay for a scan. The scan didn't show anything besides himself and the cargo boxes. He had them lined so they couldn't show body heat through imaging. A small checklist and survey popped up on the screen and Illya filled it out and included a fake name that he decided to make up for the time. Jamie RunningFox was the pilots name for this particular vessel and Illya deided it was a good name to use for the future.

A little green light showed up and Illya flew the ship out of the port and into the second layer of atmosphere. Within half hour he broke the magnetic barrier and they were well on their way to Pytra. The Federation must not have put out a warning to check all leaving ships yet. They were still looking for invasion and less concerned about what might get out. It only made Illya a little more glad that he had gotten out as fast as possible. Setting the ship to auto pilot he took himself to the cargo room and opened the different boxes and helped each woman out. "Now we're on way ta safety. Should only be a few days."
 
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