FSE

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Chapter 9

There was something that Meriah had never thought about when it came to space travel. Here she was, off the planet for the first time, and all she could think about was how close in everything was. There was no way around it, it was boring. There were only so many times that she could explore the cargo hold or the other corners of the ship, and as polite and familiar as Micah sounded over the speakers, she wanted to do something, anything, to get a response that wasn't so calm from him. She briefly contemplated poking buttons and seeing what they did, but even she knew that was a bad idea.

She knew that Jason could sense her uneasiness and her restlessness, but there was nothing that she could do to keep them from him. She tried as hard as she could to shove the link to the back of her mind, but for some reason, with him, it never wanted to stay there. It always kept coming back to the front, or at least to a very conspicuous place to the side. She chided herself every time it happened that he had a ship to fly and he didn't need her poking around at the back of his head because she was bored.

It wasn't like she could complain. She was safe, she had better food on the table than she'd had with the rations back on the estate, though she didn't have the supplements like she used to have with the game that she shot. Still, it wasn't bad, and Jason actually made a decent cook when they sat to eat in the small galley. She was learning a great deal every day about the workings of the ship and how to fly it. By the end of the third day, Jason had her spending time by herself on the bridge so that she could get used to doing things by herself. It helped that he was only a tug away on the link and she knew that if anything went wrong, he'd be next to her in less than a minute.

The thing she was the most thankful for, though she was still embarrassed to admit it, was the warm, soft bed with the familiar scents of home and Jason's warm presence laying with her when she went to sleep. She never thought that she'd be one of those who found comfort in the touch of another, as solitary as she'd always been, but it seemed that Jason was just meant to be there with her. One of those little puzzle pieces in her mind like the other links, but this one went so much deeper.

It was the beginning of the eighth day, a fact that she couldn't forget, since it meant that they were going to be dropping from the wave, and sometime today, they were going to be making landfall on Avalon. The minute couldn't come soon enough.

The artificial scents and lights surrounded her as she stood in her usual spot in an unused corner of the cargo bay. Crates and boxes were stowed around her in piles that almost reached the ceiling, or overhead as Jason called it. They were held in place by a complicated network of straps and netting, something that she was sure she'd be able to make sense of if she had the time to go through it all and figure out how it was done.

Fifty meters away, down a corridor of humongous shipping crates rested a set of targets. Each one was fashioned to look like one of the creatures under the dome. The S'cree model was hung from the overhead, and the elk and ground rat sat in small grooves, held in place by another batch of straps and nets. She held her bow in her hands, holding the arrow that she'd just nocked onto the string.

She'd been more pleased than she could express when, on the morning of the fourth day, Jason had come into her room after breakfast. She'd been watching the bridge the day before for most of the day, and she'd wondered what he was up to, but he never said anything. He'd told her to collect her hunting gear and come with him to the cargo bay. Inside, she found that he'd been busy moving the crates to create this range for her. She'd been ready to claw her way through the walls if she didn't find something more to do than play chess with Micah, but finally she had something more engrossing.

She lifted up her bow slowly, drawing back the string to her anchor point. The room faded away from her vision and all she saw was the tip of her arrow and the small model of a ground rat down the range from her. She took a breath, steadied herself and then loosed the arrow, smiling in satisfaction as she saw its path. Before it even hit, she knew she'd been perfect for the shot. Downrange, there was a satisfying thump when the arrow hit home, directly center on the rat's head.

"Remind me never to make you mad at me," Jason said from behind her.

Meriah started and turned around quickly, eyes wide. "I didn't feel you," she said, confused. And she hadn't, but now that he was here and talking to her, she could feel him perfectly.

"With the way you were concentrating on that rat, I'm surprised that you could sense much of anything else."

Meriah smiled. "Don't take this the wrong way, Jason, but you can't know how happy I am to find something that lets me block out the links."

"Mrr'ouwff," Jason said. "That's what it's called. It means 'Pleasant Seeing.'"

Meriah laughed and she was sure that Jason could feel the cynicism behind it. "Apparently the Frr'a'narr'ahn before me had a much different experience."

"I don't know," Jason said, taking a step closer to look over her shoulder down the range. She was struck again by how far he towered over her. "I find it pretty pleasant, having you inside my head."

Meriah poked him with one of the limbs on her bow. "You would," she said with a grin. "Did you come down here for another lesson?"

"I'd love another one," Jason said. Meriah felt his cold amusement and heard it in his voice as well. "I got so good last time at finding the damn arrows in all the other cargo. Probably lucky that I didn't end up puncturing Marcus' mead storage."

"You didn't do that badly," Meriah said with a soothing wave. "I've seen many others be much worse."

"Yes, well as much as I'd like another lesson in digging sharp, pointy stick-like projectiles out from beneath cargo bins, I thought you'd like to be on the bridge when we drop sail. Micah managed to get us just over an hour from the jump out point."

Meriah smiled and nodded. "I'd like that."

She slung the bow over her shoulders and headed down the range to collect the arrow that she'd just used and then followed Jason out and up to the bridge. She'd gotten used to the swirling colors that made up the wave, since it was all that she could see through any window on the ship, but she still found herself in awe every time she saw them through the bridge windows.

Jason settled back into his chair with a practiced ease, something that Meriah was starting to emulate with every time she sat a watch. The right-hand chair was becoming more and more familiar to her, as were the controls surrounding her. She'd found a place to the side of the chair to stash her bow and quiver, feeling just a bit more secure with it there, even though she knew that it would serve no purpose whatsoever for any threat they would face on the ship. Even though she'd only been learning for a few days, her eyes flew over the readings on the screen almost by habit and her hands gently touched the controls on her side of the bridge. Everything was the way that she'd left it the last time she was here.

When she looked up, she saw Jason watching her, a grin lifting one corner of his lips. She felt his amusement, tinged with pride that she was doing exactly what he'd taught her with such ease already.

"What?" she asked, her good ear lifting in attention. She knew that she'd done everything right, but she felt like goading him a little. Though she could feel everything that crossed his mind, at least on the surface, she liked to hear him say what he was thinking.

"You're a quick learner," he said. "If it wouldn't kill you, I'd love to see you handle her for the jump."

"Give me another week, and we'll see," she said, scoffing.

Jason chuckled and turned back to his screen. Meriah felt the amusement still there and she sent a wave of her own down the link to him, making him smile all the wider.

"The wave's the easy part. We just drop sails and let it go on by. It's the jump I'm concerned about."

"We've been over it already, Jason," Meriah said, trying to conceal the mild annoyance that was there smoldering in the back of her mind. "We'll be fine."

"I always worry about my cargo," he said, turning to flash another grin at her.

"Oh, cargo am I?" She reached across and poked him with a giggle. "I'll remember that the next time I make you my tea cakes."

"Not the tea cakes!" Jason cried, caressing her mind with hers. "I can't live without your tea cakes."

"Just get us onto solid ground and I'll show you what I can really do."

"Now that's the incentive I needed," Jason said. "Micah, let's get this bucket to Avalon!"

"Patience, Master Jason," Micah intoned. Meriah still wondered if the AI could feel amusement, because by the sound of his voice, it certainly seemed that way.

"Alright, alright. You've got the helm, Micah. Drop sails at closest approach."

"Confirmed. Estimate wave release in three minutes seven seconds."

"I'd usually do it myself, just because I love flying the Pride, but if I let Micah do it, he'll shave another 15 minutes off our time. It's a benefit of being a computer."

"He seems perfectly capable," Meriah said, starting to get more comfortable with the banter that Jason threw about. She was finding it impossible to live with someone as closely as they had become without learning their quirks and their humor, and when it came down to it, Jason really shared her outlook and her view on the world.

They sat in companionable silence while the timer ticked down on the screens in front of them. When it reached zero, the colors in the windows began to swirl faster and faster, though they gave no sign of actual movement until the end of the wave reached them and passed by. Only then could Meriah see the rippling tube of color making its way almost lazily off in front of them.

"Systems confirm all sails retracted," Micah said, sounding pleased.

"Engines to full, least time course to the exit node, please," Jason said, tapping commands into the computer.

"Course plotted, engines to full. Coming to three five eight by one two four. Estimate arrival in three five minutes."

Memories of the jump to hyper came unbidden to Meriah's memory and she could still feel what it was like to be able to see through that many eyes. She stared out the windows ahead of the ship, though this time there was nothing to anchor her eyes like the gate on the other side. Now that the wave was gone, the windows were back to the featureless black space that it was in the beginning with only small streaks of color that marked distant waves lazily drifting through the void.

Then something intruded on her thoughts. It was a feeling from Jason beside her, and she didn't know that he was even aware she could feel it. She could feel his focus on her through the link, something she'd felt many times over the past few days, only this time it was deeper, and little sparks of something like admiration tinged the feeling. It was only a moment, and then she felt his hand sliding onto the top of hers.

The feeling solidified with the touch and it brought her eyes across the console to meet his. The feeling was a warmth that flowed through her mind and even bled over to fill her skin as well. She didn't want to call it love, but she could feel the affection that he had for her. Perhaps in time it could blossom into something more, but for now it was enough.

"You're nervous," he said with a comforting smile.

Meriah nodded. She was never one to dance around the truth or try to avoid it. The lump in her throat, however, had to be swallowed before she could try to respond.

"Don't worry. We'll be joined and everything will be just fine."

"I thought you said no one knew what happened to the other Mothers," Meriah said.

"No one does, except you and me now. But Frr'a'narr'oun have kept the Frr'a'narr'ahn safe for generations now. It's no different than what we've always done."

Meriah nodded again, trying to quiet what she felt as screams of nervousness that were probably buffeting poor Jason. She'd had enough practice with hiding what she was feeling, though, and it was easy enough, at least on the surface.

"Trust me," Jason said, looking into her eyes.

Jason's mind prodded at the edges of Meriah's consciousness and Meriah let her control fade just a little. When she did, she started to sense the walls fading once again. Little tendrils of Jason's consciousness flowed into her perception. She didn't resist this time at all. She'd been this close to him more than once as they laid together in the dark at night.

"I do," she answered, turning her hand upwards to wrap her fingers around his.

The thirty minutes passed much quicker than she anticipated, and all of it was spent in the half-joined state that she'd come to look forward to. As Jason worked at the console, Meriah watched with both her physical eyes and her mental eyes, sensing the most rudimentary understanding of what he was doing bleeding across the fuzzy borders between their minds. When she focused, she found that she could remember a great deal of at least the basics.

Finally, though, he turned to her, and though he wore the same lazy smile, she could sense his underlying excitement and anticipation, both tempered by a feeling of apprehension.

"Are you ready?" he asked.

"Yes," she said, feeling much more sure of herself than she actually felt. One of the things that both James and Lyria taught her in her life under the dome was that sometimes putting on the right face was what was needed to convince the rest of her body and mind to go along with the show.

"Okay," Jason said. He reached across and took her hand once again and then he lay back on the seat and let his eyes drift closed.

Meriah did the same, leaning her head back against the head rest. She opened her mind the rest of the way to Jason's and watched with her internal sight as he did the same. Unlike the last time, it wasn't her probing and pushing into his mind, and he wasn't exploring her, either. This time it felt much more natural, as if this was a state in which her mind wanted to be.

From their half-joined state it was merely a matter of relaxing and allowing the joining to continue. Jason's mind washed into hers, and her thoughts merged seamlessly with his. She was expecting what she had come to think of as the singular duality of the joining, so when she opened her eyes, the double vision didn't bother her as much as it had the first time. It still took some getting used to, though, and they both took a moment to acclimate themselves to the new sensations of having two bodies sharing the same mind.

While Jason focused on movement and control, she took the opportunity to explore the new emotions and thoughts that were available to her. She could still sense the slight barrier that separated her thoughts from his, but it was barely a perceptible thing.

She felt her hand moving in response to Jason's thoughts and experiments, reaching the throttle just barely before his. His strong hand rested over hers on the controls and she hardly noticed. She was too focused on the feelings that she found within Jason's mind.

It was easy enough for her to pretend that everything was just Jason being friendly and attentive to her as she was getting used to the ship, but after a few days she knew that there was something deeper. She didn't admit it to herself, though. She didn't want to deal with the questions that it would arouse. But what she found there in Jason's thoughts put all doubts out of her mind. The love that he felt for her wasn't something that either of them could question. Meriah expected it and the fact that it was there was not terribly surprising to her.

The surprising thing was the feeling that she found in her own mind. It was an answering affection and love for the strong, calm Mrr'tanou. There was only one other in her head that evoked the same sense of affection, and that was Marcus, her father.

She would never be able to tell anyone how long she felt basking in both of those feelings, but eventually she gave a mental nod of acceptance and refocused on the outer world. Jason's hands were flying over the screen in front of him, and even without Meriah's conscious thought, her own were matching his motions on the screen in front of her. She could see both screens through both her eyes and his, and she boggled when she realized that the commands she was entering were completely different than his.

She didn't want to break his concentration, though, so she pushed the question out of her mind.

"I'm going to suppress the links now, Meriah. We'll stay joined, but you won't feel anything outside. Ready?"

Meriah nodded, and instead of saying anything, she sent a mental caress against his mind. An wave of warm affection answered her and then the silence began.

Even though there wasn't another Mrr'tani for her to link with in hyper, it still felt as if someone was stuffing silicone in her ears and her nose while draping a bag of feathers over her head. All of her physical senses remained, but there was nothing else.

How did I not notice this before? She thought to herself.

Because you hadn't opened yourself to what you were, Jason's voice answered in her head.

What do you mean? she asked.

Imagine you were born in a cage, never exposed to the light of the sun. One day, you are finally released and you have the entire forest to explore. After a while, you're caught and forced back into the cage. Before, you didn't notice the lack of the forest. Now it's a part of you.

It's so quiet. I don't want to be like this, Meriah thought, surprised at the depth of her own distress.

I'm sorry, kit. It will be over soon.

"Engaging gate hook in five seconds," Micah said.

Hold on, Jason thought at her.

They both gripped the armrests of the chairs and five seconds later a bright light flared through the windows. The stars returned, and before them lay a bright green and blue sphere, hanging almost directly centered.

Meriah let herself relax and when she looked down, she realized that her claws had made small holes in the covering over the armrest. She heard Jason chuckle behind her and the muffled feeling started to lift. One by one links flared to life, starting with Marcus, the one she most desperately wanted to feel. It was weak, but still there, and she sensed a distant perking of interest when her presence was discovered. She sent a wave of greeting and pleasure to his mind.

Others were coming to life, little pricks of light in the darkness that had been her mind over the last few days, and she felt a new sense of wonder that wasn't hers. She'd forgotten that she was still joined with Jason and that he was sensing these links as if they were his own. There was a surge of delight when James' link came to life. Jason felt it, too, and the two of them answered simultaneously.

The thrill that returned was something that took Meriah's breath away, but she didn't have long to focus on it. The other links that she'd made when she killed Jacques were starting to fill their spots, and slowly a part of her world that had been dark was starting to fill with light and color.

Jason's mind began to pull back from hers and his attention drifted. Meriah's mind clutched at his, trying to hold tight to the new, expanded world of sensation that she'd only just discovered. She didn't want the joining to end yet. He didn't pull completely away, though. This time, he only retreated to the periphery, leaving the edges of his thoughts brushing against hers and she breathed a sigh of relief.

Don't worry, love, he whispered in her thoughts. I'm not leaving. Just giving you your space.

Meriah flushed when she heard his voice.

Not a kit anymore? she asked, the humor evident in the emotion behind the voice.

There's no hiding things when we're joined, love. You and I both know what this is.

Meriah felt warm all over, and a quick focus of her attention told her that only a small part of the feeling was Jason. She smiled at him and reached across the console, wanting to feel the warmth of his touch now that his mind was more distant from hers.

"Incoming transmission," Micah announced.

"Put it through, Micah. My face only," Jason said.

The screen in front of Jason lit up and a scowling human face appeared. The man looked to Meriah as if he spent far too much time in front of a screen. His bald crown was ringed in brown and gray hair and suspicious eyes peered at Micah through half-closed eyelids. His face was round and fleshy and the lines beneath his mouth divided his skin into at least two chins. When he spoke, they multiplied with the movement of his jaw.

"Cargo vessel 5116MIR, state your cargo and destination." Despite his angry and suspicious look, his voice was surprisingly neutral and Meriah noted that he sounded more bored than anything else. Perhaps he always looked that way.

"Mrr'tani Pride, carrying trade goods and aid supplies to Rawsss'a'Mrr'sarr. I'm also carrying mail and packages for Elysium and Governor Jackson."

Meriah was surprised that there wasn't the telltale narrowing of his eyes or pursing of his lips. If anything, his demeanor improved at the sound of the ship's name.

"Continue your course, Mrr'tani Pride. Docking bay six is yours and I'll make sure your shuttle is prepped."

"Thanks, Steve," Jason said, grinning widely. "Let's get drinks tonight before I go down. Got a new first mate I want to introduce you to."

"Hopefully he doesn't go the way of the last one," Steve scoffed.

Jason laughed. "You're never going to let me live that one down, are you? And I'm pretty certain she won't."

Steve's eyebrows waggled, and Meriah found herself stifling giggles. The motion reminded her of a type of grub in the estate forest that was long, brown and hairy and turned into the largest, ugliest moth she'd ever seen.

"Ahhh," Steve said, grinning even wider. "Found a girl in your last port did you? Sly tom, you are."

Meriah's eyes widened and she looked across at Micah. No Mrr'tani she knew would ever accept an insult such as that, but Micah just laughed.

"What kind of furball you think I am, Steve? And besides, don't get me started on that one girl...what was her name? Stacy? Stephanie?"

"It was Starlight, and don't remind me!" Steve cried. "If you're buying, I'm drinking. I want to meet the girl that talked you out of your right-side seat."

"Do me a favor and call up Stargazer and bring him with you. We'll be docked in about an hour, so figure three so we can get everything locked down and the cargo started into the shuttle. What the hell time is it, anyway?"

"It's fifth cycle mid, local time. You forget to set your chrono?"

"Hey, beautiful girl, lots of cargo, bound to forget something. Glad it was just that and I didn't leave my bay door open. Let's say quarter sixth for drinks."

"You got it. I'm looking forward to it. Don't scratch my station when you land."

The screen winked out and Jason laughed, turning to her.

"Wasn't what you were expecting, was it?" he asked.

Meriah shook her head, giggling at the mischievous glint in James' eyes.

"Steve and I've been good friends for a long time. I saved him and his crew a few years ago."

"Really?" Meriah asked. "What happened?"

"His tug lost the ship he was towing and it ran right up his stern. It was my second run to Avalon and I was sleeping on the Pride when I heard the alert. Elysium was almost underwater with rain and most of the station personnel and craft were down assisting, so I was kind of it."

He patted the armrest, and his love of the ship was plain through the link.

"It wasn't that big of a job, but their environmental plant was gone. They were all on suit air, so that made it a little more urgent. I pulled him, his son and the rest of his crew off the ship and towed the hulk to the station. Easy as Rose's mince pie."

The grin on his face disappeared and he bowed his head when he felt the sharp stab of grief from Meriah.

"Sorry, love. It's still hard to believe that she's gone."

"It's alright," Meriah said. "The pain will fade, but she touched so many that she'll never be forgotten."

"You wouldn't let her, anyway," Jason said with a warm smile. "Come on, let's get the Pride docked so that we can get something real to drink."

***

Docking wasn't nearly the harrowing experience that Meriah thought it would be. After all the noise and production of taking off a week ago, she thought that the end of this leg of their journey would at least be as exciting.

"Sorry, love," Jason said when the engines were finally shut off. "Avalon doesn't like spacers in their atmo. They learned their lesson from old Earth."

"But you landed on Silverwell."

"Yeah, but the atmo's already screwed up. That's why Airgidbaile is under a dome. A little extra exhaust isn't going to do anything at all."

Jason and Meriah both looked up at the same time as something new intruded on Meriah's mind. Jason narrowed his eyes and the links dimmed. Meriah, startled enough by the new, unwelcome presence withdrew and let it roam without poking back at it.

It was different than the other Mrr'tani she'd felt. This one was cautious and suspicious, guarded.

"Three individuals at the main hatch," Micah announced. "Two human, one Mrr'tani."

"Put it on the screen," Jason replied.

The screen lit again showing a view of the door Meriah had come through. The two humans were dressed in plasteel armor and helmets and carried pulsed energy rifles. The Mrr'tani looked scrawny and skittish.

"What can I do for you gentlemen?" Jason asked into the intercom.

"Customs inspection, open the hatch," one human demanded.

"Very well, stand by."

Meriah felt her heart beating hard against her chest and her eyes frantically sought Jason's.

Don't worry love, his voice said in her head. Just keep your mind to yourself and we'll get through this.

Together they stood and made their way off the bridge and to the main hatch. She stood beside Micah as the hatch slid open. The tension between Meriah's shoulder blades only increased when she saw the humans with their rifles at the ready.

"If it isn't my favorite lap cat," Jason sneered.

The Mrr'tani narrowed his eyes at Jason and drew his lips back in a derisive snarl.

"James," he hissed. "Or perhaps you prefer Night Star."

"James is just fine, Lucian," James said. The hatred from James was palpable to Meriah and it was matched by the same animosity from this new Mrr'tanou.

"Who's your lady?" Lucian said, looking Meriah over from ears to tail tip. A dark, sadistic desire flowed from him and Meriah shivered, wishing she could get to a shower and stay there for the foreseeable future.

"This is Meriah," Jason said, not breaking the pace of his speech.

"Didn't realize you were into little kits, James. Isn't she a little short for you?"

Jason reached out and put his hand on her shoulder, stilling her immediate instinct to gut the scrawny Mrr'tanou.

Be mindful of your hand, love, he said in her mind. Meriah realized then that her hand was on its way to her knife.

"She's more Mrr'tani than you can even dream to be, lap cat."

Lucian hissed again and gave a nod of his head to the humans with him. Meriah watched them retreat towards the cargo bay.

"What happened to your ear, Meriah?" Lucian said the name with a condescending sneer.

"Got in a fight," Meriah said simply. She held his eyes with hers, stubbornly refusing to look away. She kept her mind securely held away from his probing and the feeling of Jason buffering for her increased slightly.

"Someone try to get in your fur?" Lucian asked. "Going to tell me that he looks worse?"

"That's none of your concern," Meriah said, her voice dripping with the same condescension she could feel from Jason.

"Ah! A feisty one," Lucian crowed. "Wherever did you find her, Jason?"

"She's a space fairy," Jason said, his voice sounding perfectly serious. "She showed up in my cargo by somewhere between Bells Hallow and Silverwell."

"You know what happens when you transport runaways, Jason," Lucian said.

"She's a free Mrr'tani. Check it yourself." Jason held out a bundle of paperwork to Lucian. Meriah recognized it as her certification paperwork from her father.

Lucian snatched the papers from Micah's hands and looked through them, scrutinizing every last page. When he got to the final page, he pulled a small magnifying eyepiece from his pocket and held it up to Marcus' signature on the page.

With a frustrated sigh, he handed the pages back to Jason. "Give me your hand, girl," he demanded.

"My name is Meriah," she said, keeping her hand at her side, "not girl."

Some part of her couldn't believe the boldness that was welling up within her. She didn't like Lucian and she wasn't going to stand there and let him insult both her and James. She felt a little of James' inner core giving her strength to bolster her own.

"Your name is whatever I decide it is until you show me your hand. If you like, I can throw you in a holding cell for a few days."

Be stubborn, but not too stubborn, Jason thought to her.

Meriah glared at him for a moment longer and then held out her hand. Lucian pulled a small scanner from his pocket and swiped it over the back of her hand. The microchip beneath her skin flashed blue and then winked out again.

"It says here you're from Silverwell. Not too many leave there. Heard old master Marcus was a softie. Did he let you breed you way to freedom?"

Meriah couldn't help herself. Before she even knew what was happening, she'd reached out and slapped him across the face. He rocked back and caught himself on the edge of the door.

Meriah stepped towards him again, hand on her knife, and only Jason's hand on her neck and his soothing calm in her mind stopped her from drawing it and plunging it into his belly.

"How dare you!" she hissed.

A raucous laughter from behind her brought her temper into control and when she turned her head, she saw the two humans leaning against the corridor bulkheads chuckling.

"That'll teach you to insult the short ones, Lucian," the bulkier one said. "They're clean, let's go."

Lucian drew himself up and puffed out his chest in a show of indignation.

"I will not stand by while someone assaults me," he growled.

"Stop sniveling and get off my ship," Jason said, stepping between Lucian and Meriah.

"Can't blame her when you provoke her, furball," the shorter human said. It was clear from his tone that he thought as much of the scrawny Mrr'tanou as Meriah and Jason did. "Unless you've got something else for us, they're fine."

Lucian snarled again and his tail lashed behind his back. The testing probe against her mind increased and she just let it flow over her. She took solace in James' inner peace and let that surround her. It let her pretend that she felt nothing at all from the prodding her mind was taking.

"No," Lucian said finally. "She's just a runt. Let's go."

The two humans filed out and Lucian turned around to address Meriah once again.

"Don't for a minute think you're safe, you little runt. You're on my planet now."

Meriah heard a quiet click from behind her and when she looked, Jason was holding a small flechette pistol.

"You have two seconds to get off my ship," Jason said, his voice hard and sharp. "You said yourself that there's nothing here. Leave, or I'm going to shoot myself a pirate."

Lucian glared at him, almost daring him to pull the trigger. Then he thought better of it and turned to the door.

Jason pulled the trigger as he made it through the hatch, aiming at his retreating tail. The hard plastic darts melted harmlessly on the metal ramp, but at the electrical whine of the pistol, Lucian jumped and scurried down the rest of the ramp and through the docking bay door.

"Goddamn turncoat," Jason growled.

Meriah shared the sentiment, and she could hear the growl in her own voice as she tried to calm her breathing and tamp down the snarling rage that threatened to claw its way through her skin. She had never met someone she wanted claw to death with her own hands before Jacques, and now she'd met the second one. Jacques was dead and Lucian still stood.

And that's the way it needs to stay, love, Jason said in her mind, At least for now.

She drew a bit more calm from Jason and slowed her breathing to normal.

"I'm okay," she said. "What do we do next?"

"We get the station hands to start unloading to the shuttle and we go buy Steve and Stargazer a drink."

"I think I like the idea," Meriah said, starting to smile again. "When can we go down to the planet?"

"Later tonight. The winds shift in a better direction in seventh cycle, so the shuttle pilots are a little happier."

"Let's get started then," Meriah said as she turned towards the cargo bay.

Jason laughed and followed. By the time they arrived, the mood was as light as it had ever been, both of them buoyed by the prospect of once again getting out into the fresh air.