[b]Ambush[/b]

      "Captain," the com said, it was Korfas' voice

      Jeremy growled. What did the Gods have against him? Couldn't he get one day to himself with Toom? After four months of dealing with all those humans making a mess of his ship, didn't he deserve one day of peace and quiet? He'd been sure Korfas could handle having the bridge for the day. He'd grown in the half year since he'd come on board, and he was more level headed when dealing with the humans, these days, than Jeremy was.

      With a sigh he turned over, and away from Toom, and grabbed his com. "Yes." It took a lot of effort to keep his annoyance out of his voice.

      "You need to come to the bridge, sir."

      "Are you sure you can't handle this yourself?"

      "Yes, sir, I'm sure."

      "Alright. Let me grab a shower, and I'll be right there."

      "I . . . I think we can handle the scent of your mate being over you."

      That made Jeremy sit up. It wasn't exactly proper etiquette to show up to work smelling of sex. For Korfas to say it would be okay meant he was worried.

      "I'll be right there." Jeremy got out of bed.

      "Where are you going?" asked a sleepy Toom.

      "The bridge."

      "Aww, let Korfas deal with it. Come back to bed."

      "I can't, he's worried about something."

      Tomm let out a jaw cracking yawn. "You want me to come?"

      "No, go back to sleep, one of us should get to fully enjoy his day off."

      He put on a clean pair of pants, grabbed his jacket and was out the door.

      * * * * *

      "Alright," Jeremy said as he entered the bridge, "what's happening."

      "We have . . . something on the scans, about half a light year away."

      "Something?" half a light year was at the edge of their range, but they should get more than just 'something'.

      Korfas nodded to the tech seated at the scan board, and the main screen was filled with the vastness of space, with something in the middle of it. Jeremy frowned, what was that? The only way he could tell there was something there, was the distortion it caused against the stars behind and near it.

      Korfas joined him, and quickly sniffed the air.

      "You said I shouldn't bother with a shower," Jeremy remarked, not taking his eyes off the screen.

      "Sorry. It's not emitting anything we can detect, the scan results are as fuzzy as the image the cameras are giving us."

      "Any idea how big it is?"

      "As best as we can determine, the distortion is close to a hundred meters across, but we have no way of knowing if that's the size of something within it, or even if there is anything inside."

      "As anyone been by here before? Any reports of strange phenomenons?"

      "No, we're inside the unclaimed territories, if anyone has been here before they haven't reported it."

      Jeremy went to the communication board. Tamirik sniffed once, before saying. "Hi, pa."

      "Hey Tamirik. I know, I smell." He looked through the directory.

      "It's okay, I'm used to it. I lived in the same quarters as you for years, but it's strange just smell Toom on you." Her voice was wistful.

      "I miss him too." He found the sensor lab and called it. "Huar."

      "I'm here," the male said, entering the bridge.

      Jeremy looked up, surprised.

      "I called him, right after I called you," Korfas said.

      "Good call," Jeremy commented.

      Huar took the tech's place at the board. "Before you ask. This isn't caused by the sensor. I did a check before coming here. What ever problems we've been having on the ship has not affected them. I'm preparing to cycle a pulse, if there's a generator in there, powering the field, it'll tell us."

      "When ever you're ready," Jeremy said.

      "I've set the result to over impose on the main screen. Pulse is go."

      Jeremy, and everyone else, watched the distortion, waiting to see what would happen, so they were caught by surprise when six points lit up around the distortion, instead of anything happening there.

      "Huar, run the harmonics against the database!" he quickly dialed the gunner Chief. "Girgan, I want all the guns maned."

      "Yes, sir."

      Next he dialed 'all ship' "this is the captain, we will probably come under attack. All civilians are to go to the core. All military personnel, go to your position. This is not an exercise, I repeat, this is not an exercise."

      "Get ready to field calls," he told his daughter. It had been a long time since they'd had to do this.

      With this done he went back to the center of the bridge, looked at the screen, where Huar had brought back the six lit points. Six generators, that meant six ships. Who could they be? They had to be humans, nothing else made sense.

      "Huar, who are they?"

      "I don't know, sir. The harmonics aren't matching up with anything, and there's something strange about them. Like they're distorted. I've never seen anything like that."

      "How can they not be in the database?" Korfas asked, moving next to Huar. "I thought we'd pulsed everyone one over the years."

      Six ships, humans. Why here, why now? 

      "We have," Huar answered. "If it was just that they wouldn't in the database, I'd say they are brand new ships, but this distortion, this is new. Even a new ship shouldn't show anything like that. I'm going to cycle another pulse, maybe I can get more precise readings, now that I know what to expect"

      Why? They were after them, that was obvious. Why draw them to this distortion? Humans were devious. They never attacked facing you if they could find a way to stab you in the back. They would prefer to hide and ambush you . . .

      "Don't!" Jeremy yelled. "Don't pulse." He went back to the communication board. "Girgan, do not power up the weapons. Have them manned, but powered down, until I give the order."

      Everyone on the bridge was looking at him.

      "Captain?" Huar asked, "I need another pulse, to get an idea of what's causing this."

      "They're shielding their generators." That got him strange looks. He indicated the empty space on the screen. "They found a way to make themselves invisible to our sensors, so they had to do the same for the generators."

      "It didn't really work then, we still saw something, even if it didn't make any sense."

      "Yes, but I don't think they know that."

      Huar's eyes lit up. "They haven't been able to test the shielding. They don't have pulse tech, since we haven't made it available to anyone else in the federation."

      "So," Korfas continued, "if we do a second pulse, we'll reveal we saw them, since that would be the only reason to do so. What do we do then?"

      "This is an ambush," Jeremy stated. "The only advantage we have, is the element of surprise, so we need to maximize that."

      The door opened, and Toom entered.

      "I though I told you to stay in bed," Jeremy said.

      "You know I hate sleeping alone," Toom answered, giving him a nuzzle, before heading for the pilot's chair. "I was done with my shower when the 'all ship' went through. We're in trouble, this is where I belong."

      "Alright, then take us toward the anomaly, at a very safe speed. That's why it's there, to attract us, kelsirian curiosity, and all that. So lets go see what it is, assuming it could be dangerous. That will give us time to figure out something. Huar, keep scanning it. Let them think we don't know about the ambush."

      Everyone focused on their boards. Tamirik was fielding calls, mostly from humans, based on her English. Korfas and Huar were talking. Jeremy looked at the screen again. Six ships, completely unknown, there was no way they could take them on, they needed to run. But without knowing what they were facing, he couldn't know what they could do.

      Someone said something that didn't quite register to Jeremy, but was enough to make him look around, and then at Huar and Korfas. "What did you just say?"

      Both of them looked at one another, and then at Jeremy.

      "You were talking, what did you say?"

      Huar hesitated a moment. "I said, that I wondered how they were fooling our sensors"

      "And I said," Korfas continued, "that I wonder if it's only elecronic sensors that are fooled."

      "Right!" Jeremy exclaimed. "Tamirik, get me Thuruk."

      "Thuruk here," his voice came over the com after a moment.

      "Thuruk, I need you to send someone in each of the recreation rooms that has a view of space."

      There was a long silence. "They're on their way. Why am I sending them there?"

      "There are six ships before us, that our sensors can't see. I'm hoping that organic sensors aren't affected."

      "As soon as they are in place I'll let you know what they see."

      Jeremy nodded to himself, as the communication ended.

      "Do you know who they are?" Korfas asked.

      "Humans. It has to be the humans."

      "Why would they ambush us?"

      "Ignoring the vendetta they've had against me for decades, we have over three hundred Leafers."

      "Which they wanted us to take off their hands."

      "Yes, but that doesn't mean they want them to live. Leafers are proof of how they've been subjugating some of their people. They would rather destroy all of them, then letting them settle peacefully. We're in the middle of nowhere. There aren't any trade routes near here. They destroy us, and it will be years before anyone figures out what happened. We'll just be another lost ship. If they're clever about it, they could even arrange it so there aren't any trace of the attack."

      "How could they do that? Weapons leave distinct impact marks."

      "They could weaponize debris, or even small meteorites, then it looks like just another accident."

      Korfas shivered. "Humans really are that devious?"

      Jeremy nodded

      "No wonder they get along so well with the Taournians."

      "Any idea on how we can get out of this?"

      "We can always wait for the Gods to intervene."

      Jeremy looked at Korfas to confirm he wasn't serious. "Lets consider that the backup plan."

      "Until we know more about the ships, we can't plan much."

      "Captain," Thuruk said. "We have visual on six ships, of a design I've never seen before."

      "What are they doing?"

      "They're moving away from each other. The logical move is for them to encircle us."

      Jeremy wasn't happy, but he wasn't surprised either. "Let me know if things change." He looked at the screen. "The one advantage we have, is that they want us alive for the moment."

      "Why?"

      "I don't know. Maybe they want to torture them, or 'cure' them. But you can be sure that whatever else they are planing on, destroying us is part of it."

      "Captain," Toom said. "I know Thuruk said he's never seen those ships before, but there's only a specific numbers of ways to can build a ship. Someone from Structure might be able to determine what they can do."

      "Good idea." He nodded to Tamirik, who nodded back after a moment. "Sayane."

      "Here, captain."

      "Contact Thuruk, get your people with his, I need you to figure out what we can do against the ships surrounding us."

      "Yes, sir. What kind of readings do we have?"

      "None. Our scanners aren't getting anything from them. It's going to have to be entirely visual."

      "Seriously?"

      "Seriously."

      "That isn't going to make the work easy."

      "What can I say, I thought you could use the challenge. Bring in Alix, he might be able to help pinpoint where their generators are."

      "Can't we use a pulse to find out where they are?"

      "Not without having the ships on sensors first," Huar said, before Jeremy could.

      "How far from the distortion are we?"

      "About a quarter of a light year," Toom answered. "We're going as slow as we can, without making them think we're afraid of it."

      "Anything on the distortion?"

      "Still too far to get anything precise, but I'm confident that what ever is in it, is smaller than the distortion."

      Jeremy nodded. "Is there any way we can use a pulse to blind them?"

      Huar thought it over. "I don't see how. The pulse itself is a fraction of a second. I guess that in theory, it would be possible to boost the duration, and the power of the pulse, but I couldn't even make an attempt at it in the time we have."

      Korfas sighed. "This is when I think a chair would be a nice thing to have on the bridge."

      "You can have one on your own ship," Jeremy replied. "I happen to believe we think better on our feet." He looked at Tamirik. "Get me Sayane."

      "Here captain."

      "Quick question. If we were to ram an object, about a hundred meters all around. What kind of damage to the ship should I expect."

      "Depends what kind of object, what is it made out of?"

      Jeremy looked at the distortion. "Let's say it's a shuttle."

      "At full speed? It might pierce the hull. You'd want to make sure all the personnel has been evacuated from the impact area, maybe two section deep, just to be safe."

      "Thanks."

      "What are you thinking?" Korfas asked.

      "That not matter what, we can't take them on in a direct fight. We need to run. I'm remembering that over all, humans like to play it safe. They have an expression: 'to err on the side of caution'. They see an obstacle, and they do their best to go around it. I'm thinking that they won't expect us to ram whatever is causing the distortion."

      "They can still chase us."

      "That's why we need to cripple them."

      "What if we can't find anything vital to shoot at?"

      "Their engines are still visible. In fact, so long as they are moving toward us, they have to remain visible, and parallel. Toom, how much time to you need to get us to full speed?"

      "Depends on how much power Alix can give me."

      "Alix?"

      "Here."

      "Forget the enemy ships. I need you to give us as much power as possible, both generators. Bring down anything outside the core to the bare minimum."

      "Yes, sir"

      "Tamirik, have the front of the ship vacated, four section deep."

      "The gunners?"

      Jeremy cursed. "No, they have to remain at their post." Hopefully hitting the distortion wouldn't kill any of them

      "Girgan."

      "Here."

      "Anyway to give your gunners a visual without powering the guns?"

      "No, sir. The guns point inside when powered down."

      "Alright. Instruct the gunners to aim at the engines. Our goal is to cripple them. We have no way to know how fast they are, so the more damage to their engines the better."

      "I'll instruct them and wait for your signal."

      "Thuruk."

      "Yes, sir."

      "Where are the ships?"

      "One is in front of us, about five degrees from our plane. The other five are coming along side."

      "Alix! Time is of the essence here."

      "I know! I'm working as fast as I can. If you're not happy with my performance, feel free to come do the work in my place."

      "I take it, by your tone, that you haven't out done my improvements to the generators, then."

      The expletives that came over the com made Korfas' jaw drop, and many ears on the bridge turned red. Jeremy just chuckled. Five minutes later the light on the bridge dimmed.

      "There, you have everything I can spare. Just don't breath too heavily, you might over load the atmospherics."

      "Thuruk, tell me when most of the enemy's engines are visible to our gunners."

      "Well, except for the ship in front of us, now would be a good time."

      "Girgan! Fire at will!"

      A moment later the main screen indicated the battery of missiles being launched.

      "Captain?" Toom asked.

      "Not yet," Jeremy replied. "Thuruk, I need to know when we've done significant damage to their engines." The ship shook.

      "In case you haven't noticed," Thuruk said. "We're taking fire."

      On the screen, one of the enemy ship became visible.

      "Huar, give me a scan of it!"

      "On it."

      The ship shook again, and something, in the distance, exploded.

      "We've lost two section on the port side," someone said, "nothing vital, no casualty."

      Gods, Jeremy hoped that had been enough time. "Toom, maximum speed. Ram the distortion and get us out of here."

      Jeremy didn't feel anything as the ship sped up. That was good, meant the gravitics were intact. Based on the scan Huar had done, the enemy ships were about the same size as his. While he didn't know how fast they could go, he had the advantage for the moment, they had to turn around, even without damage, that would give him the lead. The question was, could he maintain it.

      "How far are we from our territory?"

      "Twelve light year," came the reply. Then the ship shook.

      "That was the distortion," Toom said.

      "I got a scan of it," Huar added. "It was a bouyee, ten meters across."

      "At the speed we're going, the damage is still going to be significant," Toom added.

      "Any pursuit?"

      "They're out of sensor range."

      "I'm running a pulse sequence. On main." Every second a pulse went out, and updated the positions of the enemy ships. "Two are still shielded, the other four aren't, I'm registering the harmonics." On the next pulse there were only five ships. "Looks like one blew up."

      "I think the Gods meddled," Korfas deadpanned.

      "You can thank them for me."

      Two of the ships were in pursuits.

      "Toom, how's our speed?"

      "We're maxed out, I think."

      "How long until we're in kelsirian territory?"

      "Four hours."

      "Send a distress call ahead." Jeremy said to Tamirik, and then looked at Korfas, "while you're thanking them, see if you can get them to put a patrol ship close by. Because I really don't think they are going to respect the border markers."

      "I'll see what I can do, captain."

[b]Arrival[/b]

      The Viper's Bane limped in at Paradise two month late. Jeremy couldn't wait to get his passengers off the ship, and at this point, they probably couldn't wait to be off. He wiped his brow, the temperature on the bridge was just this side of suffocating. Except for the living decks, atmospherics through out the ship were just barely working. Half the engines had been damaged beyond repairs, which didn't matter much, since their main generator had been pushed past its limit. They were on the backup, and it hadn't be designed to power the entire ship by itself.

      Everyone on the ship was cranky, the brig couldn't hold anyone, it was just to hot down there, so trouble makers had been locked in their quarters. It was so bad that even a few of his crew were also under arrest. The screen showed the planet, a ball of blues, greens, browns, whites, and something black, nasty, in one area. It also showed that there were eleven other ships parked in orbit, in a loose group.

      "Viper's Bane," came a voice over the com, "Hargral Glory here. Whose army did you take on?"

      "Very funny, Glory. The Human government decided they didn't want to let my passengers go after all. How is the disembarking going?"

      "It . . . isn't." There was a silence. "Seems the humans can't decide who should be first to set foot on their new planet."

      "Gods, tell me you are joking."

      "I wish I could. We've been here three weeks. The Ridoshi ship twice that long, although they don't seem to mind."

      Jeremy looked at Korfas, whose fur was matted to his skin like everyone one else. "Right now, that chair of yours sound like a great idea." He looked to Tamirik. "Get me in contact with all the captains."

      "Yes, sir." It took her a few minutes, during which Jeremy had to wipe sweat off his face constantly. "They're all listening."

      "This is Jeremy, of the Viper's Bane. Please give me all ship, I need to talk with your passengers."

      Over the next minutes he got eleven confirmations.

      He took a breath, he didn't want to make this decision for everyone else, but he wasn't staying in space any longer than he absolutely had too. "My name is Jeremy. This won't mean anything to most of you, but two of you know me. We met at a bar in the San Francisco space port, a long time ago. Please find a com, I need to talk to you both."

      It took a few minutes, then someone said "Jeremy? It's good to hear your voice."

      "What's your name?"

      There was a moment of hesitation. "I'm Louis."

      Jeremy had remembered his name, but he wanted to make sure he had the right person, ultimately who had the honor didn't matter, but he felt wrong to have someone he hadn't met usurp it.

      "Please tell me your mate traveled with you. You two were apart long enough that you shouldn't have to come here on different ships."

      "I'm here," said someone else.

      "I'm glad to hear that, Patrick. Which ship are you on?"

      He heard them asking about for the name.

      "They are aboard my ship," cut in a voice, in very proper kelsirian, with clicks between the words, a ridoshi. "It is called." What followed was unintelligible.

      "Thank you in helping with the exodus," Jeremy said. "Louis, Patrick, you have the honor of being the first humans to set foot on Paradise, find a shuttle and get moving."

      "What? Why us?"

      "Because you guys have had weeks to work this out, and haven't. The atmospherics on my ship are barely working, so I want fresh air."

      "You should be the first one, you're the one who set things in motion."

      "I didn't do anything more than follow my Heart. And I'm not human. The honor belong to humans, not me. Now get going, because if I have to board your ship to get you down there myself, I am going to do it."

      * * * * *

      Jeremy relaxed the moment the shuttle doors open, the fresh air entered like it had been blasted in. He'd piloted it, he wasn't going to stay on the ship a moment longer, he also wasn't going to steal a spot from one of the humans. Once they were all out he left the cockpit, patting the other pilot on the shoulder. 

      "go up for the next group. I'll relieve you when you get back."

      "Yes sir."

      Jeremy stepped out, and raised his head to the sun. He closed his eyes, and soaked in the heat. A lot of other people were doing the same. It had to have been because of the atmospherics on the ship. He never had this kind of reaction to going groundside before.

      After enjoying the heat for a time he opened his eyes and looked around. They were in a plain, with ankle high grass that was a little more yellow than it was on Earth or Kelser. There we a few trees, here and there, one of which seem to have a fruit of some type. Parents already had to keep children form climbing them. In the distance were mountains. He couldn't tell how high they were, but seemed to touch the sky.

      "Jeremy!" someone yelled.

      He turned to see two males coming toward him. He didn't recognize them, but there's only two people they could be.

      "Patrick, Louis," he said, ignoring the offered hands, and hugging them, much to their consternations. "Which is which?"

      "I'm Louis," the shorter, bald one, said.

      "And I'm Patrick," his hair was black, heavily peppered with gray. "This place really is paradise."

      "Except for that black zone, what was that?"

      "As best as the explorer who found this planet could tell, it's a zone with a permanent storm. The government was led to believe that most of the planet is like that. And spun it to the federation as this place being rough, but livable. Since the federation was insisting they had to stop persecuting the homos, the government said they would relocate us here."

      "Well, no matter if this planet is rough, or not. You'll be winning from not being under their thumb anymore. You're free to be who you are, and be with who you want."

      "That's going to take some getting use to, as you can probably tell." 

      Jeremy nodded. Looking around, almost no one was holding hand, or even standing too close to one another. "Yeah, I can tell it might be an adjustment. I was lucky I guess. When I found Gral, I found myself in an environment where everyone touched, so I didn't have to be afraid. Some habit did take a while to lose."

      "Like what?"

      "Well, having sex with someone other than my mate."

      Louis and Patrick looked at him, horrified. "They forced you to do that?"

      Jeremy laughed. "No, it wasn't forced. It's the way we are. For us sex as nothing to do with love. It just took me a while to realize it. Now, I can't imagine another way of being."

      Jeremy laughed again at the look they gave him. "Hey, this is your planet. We're not going to tell you how to live. You find what works for you guys."

      Patrick put a hand on his shoulder. "This is your planet too, you're one of us."

      Jeremy shook his head. "No, it isn't. I already have a home, on Kelser. Like I said earlier, I'm a kelsirian."

      "Are you sure? It can't be easy, being different from everyone else."

      "I'm not different."

      "How can you say that? You're . . ."

      "Furless?"

      "Yeah."

      "They don't see that. I mean, sure when someone meets me for the first time, they are surprised, but that doesn't last. Even people I've never met back on Kelser know who I am. Look, don't worry about me. I'm happy. I'm not making due, I'm actually happy. I have cubs, a mate, friends and family. I really wouldn't change any of it. You guys focus on your lives. Build a society that you will be happy with. If you see some things from other people you think will work, look into it, but don't force it on yourself just because it seems to work for them."

      Louis looked at him. "Are you sure I can't convince you to take charge of this place? You have the perfect outlook for it."

      "Gods no. I have enough with my ship, but feel free to steal those mindset, if you think they'll work."

      The shuttles returned with more people. Jeremy bid them goodbye and went to replace his pilot. Over the rest of the day the humans, and most of the crews, as well as equipment made it to the planet. Three ships were still unaccounted for, and Jeremy worried they had fallen into traps.

      As night fell, enough buildings had been erected so everyone could sleep indoors, not that anyone did. The evening temperature barely cooled, and once the sun set, the sky lit up with stars. Toom found him, and they had sex under them.

      * * * * *

      The next day a new ship arrived, but it wasn't one of the missing ones. No one had any idea what it was doing here, so everyone was tense. Jeremy had a few of his hunters stand close to where the shuttle landed, ready for trouble.

      The door opened, and a lone human male walked out. He was in his mid forties, dressed in a black suit, hair slicked back. He looked around and waved. Jeremy could smell the political stink coming off him.

      Obviously he wasn't the only one, because others started jeering at him. When a rock almost hit the male, Jeremy had his hunters interpose themselves. There was more anger here than he had expected.

      "What the fuck are you doing here?" someone yelled.

      "You have no rights to be here!" someone else.

      "Haven't you hurt us enough already?" yet someone else.

      "Enough!" Jeremy yelled. He had no idea what this was about, but he wasn't going to have a war on the second day here.

      "You must be Jeremy," the male said, extending his hand to him.

      Jeremy whirled in his direct. "Don't think this means I like you. I don't like any politicians. So don't move until we've sorted this out."

      "Jack!" someone yelled. Jeremy looked over his shoulder to see a male running toward them. He shoved Jeremy aside and jumped in the other male's arms.

      "Brian, baby. I've missed you so much," Jack said, kissing him, tears falling down his face. The display seemed to baffle the humans watching. 

      Jeremy didn't understand their reaction. 

      Patrick made his way toward them. "Mister Kirby," he said, extending his hand. "I'm Patrick Monroe."

      Jack stopped kissing Brian, and, keeping an arms around him, he shook Patrick's hand. "I'm sorry," he said, studying him. "Are we suppose to have met before?"

      "No, but I'm one of the few people who knows what you did for us." Patrick turned to the crowd. "Senator Jack Kirby is one of us," he stated. Which got him booed and cursed. "Listen to me! If not for this man, none of you would be here right now."

      "You got that right!" someone yelled. "He's the guy who pushed for mandatory testing."

      "Do you know why he did that?" Patrick yelled. "Do you have any idea why this man stayed away from the man he loved for twenty years? Why he made sure we all hated him? It was so that when the time came for the government to decide what to do with us, they would have a reason to listen to his suggestion. If not for him, we would have been rounded up and killed."

      That quieted the crowd.

      Jack put a hand on Patrick's shoulder. "I don't expect you to like me," he said. "I knew what i was getting into when I set myself on this course of action. All I ask is that you let me and Brian live in peace. We'll stay away, as much as we can, if that's what you want, all we want, is our chance to be happy.

[b]Heart[/b]

      The door buzzed. "Come in," Jeremy said, finishing reading the report before looking up. Repairs were coming along. The ship wouldn't be back to how it was before the ambush, but at least it would run better.

      At least the atmospherics were back online.

      "Erik," Jeremy said, surprise to see the human. He worked in engineering, Alix was teaching him. "What can I do for you?"

      Erik looked from Jeremy to Korfas, "Can, can we speak in private?"

      Before Jeremy could say anything Korfas shutdown his screens and grabbed his pad. "I need to go talk with procurement." He stood. "They're suppose to have done checks on the vegetation on the planet, to see if we can eat any of it." He left the room.

      "Have a seat," Jeremy offered.

      Erik sat down, looked at the floor for a moment. "I think It's going to be best if I leave the crew, and settle on the planet."

      "That's entirely your right, you know they'll be happy to take you in, and I already said anyone who wants to stay, can. You didn't need to come see me for that."

      Erik stood and started pacing. "It's Alix, I don't know what to do about him."

      "Is he being unreasonable in what he expects you to do?"

      "No, no. It's just . . . He keeps looking at me. Sometime he gets this, I don't know, hungry look on him." He sat down.

      "He makes you uncomfortable."

      Erik nodded.

      "Have you told him to stop?"

      Erik looked at him, eyes wide. "No! I don't want him to stop! That's the problem." He put his head in his hands. "God, I think I'm falling in love with him."

      "That's good."

      "Good? How can that be good? He has a wife and a kid. I don't want to be a home wrecker." He took a deep breath. "That's why I need to leave."

      Jeremy had to work very hard at keeping his face still. He couldn't believe that some humans were still stuck in such a narrow mindset after being on his ship for a few years. Granted, these last month, over crowed with humans from earth probably had something to do with his humans regressing.

      Once he knew he could open his mouth without laughing, he punched the com. "Alix. My office. Now!" With the order given, he stood and opened the cabinet in the corner of the room. He poured a finger of the drink in the black bottle, and handed Erik the glass.

      "What is it?" he asked.

      "A ridoshi drink. The closest thing to scotch I've been able to find. You look like you need to calm your nerves"

      Erik down it, and then gasped. "My god, that stuff's horrible."

      "It's an acquired taste," Jeremy confirmed, sitting. Alix might be a while, he and the other repair crews were the only ones on the ship. Everyone else was enjoying their time groundside. Jeremy would get back there himself, once he was done with his work.

      The door opened and Alix stood in the doorway, panting. "Reporting, captain. What's the problem?" He looked at the human. "Erik, what are you doing here?" He looked at Jeremy, "Captain, if he's done anything wrong, I can take care of it. He's a good engineer, he's just still learning." His ears folded back, then forward, sideways. Jeremy had never seen Alix be that nervous.

      Jeremy canted his head to the side. "Tell me, Alix, when did you become so timid?"

      Alix stared at him. "What?"

      "Erik's been telling me how you look at him, sometime hungrily." Alix's ears turned red. "How come you haven't made any advances on him?"

      Erik stared at Jeremy.

      "He's human, I. I didn't want to make him uncomfortable."

      "You screwed up. You've been making him uncomfortable enough that he wants to leave the crew."

      "What?" Alix went to Erik. "You can't do that. Please, you've got to stay. I've been looking for you for too long, you can't leave now."

      Erik leaned back away form Alix, and looked at Jeremy. "What does he mean, he's been looking for me?"

      Jeremy just nodded toward Alix, who was now on his knees. "I'm sorry I've made you uncomfortable, it really wasn't my intention." He took Erik's hand in his. "I've been hun . . . looking for my Heart since I've been a cub. I went to space still looking. You're him, Erik. You are my Heart. Please don't leave. I love you."

      Erik stared at him. "You can't love me! You have a wife!"

      Alix looked at Jeremy, confusion on his face.

      "Your mate."

      Alix nodded and looked back to Erik. "I can still love you."

      "No you can't! You're committed to her! I'm not going to have you leave her for me!" Erik tried to stand, but Alix forced him back down.

      "No. Erik, I am not letting you go that easily. I'm not human. I don't follow your rules. I am not limited to loving just one person. Please look at me." He said, and slowly Erik looked at him. "This is why I didn't do anything. I was trying to find a way to make sure you understood that we did things differently. I remember how Jeremy was those first few years. It took him time to come to terms with our customs. I'm not going to ask you to move in with us, all I ask is that you stay. Please stay, give me time to show you we can make this work."

      Erik looked at Jeremy. "What should I do?"

      "What do you want to do? Not what you think you should, what do you want?"

      Erik looked at Alix again. "I want to stay," he whispered.

      Alix hugged him tightly, which made Erik tense. He pulled away. "I'm sorry, too fast, I know. I'll keep my distances. I'll see you back at work."

      Now, Jeremy couldn't hide the smile, as Alix rushed out.

      "What's funny," Erik said, still stunned.

      "Sorry, I've never seen Alix act like a cub in love for the first time before."

      Erik was silent for a moment. "Am I making a mistake?"

      "If you're referring to breaking them up. It won't happen. As I've explained before, we don't limit ourselves to loving just one person. Don't force yourself into something you aren't comfortable with, Alix won't force you to either. Just follow your Heart, it will lead you true.