Dreams of the Past - Part 1

Smoke. Biting, acrid fumes that hurt the lungs with every breath. His respiratory tract reacts with violent rejection. It makes him retch and cough. His eyes are filled with tears from the burning sensation of toxic vapors. The flare of plasma fire all around him. A cacophony of screams, shouted orders, the crackling of materials under the consuming rage of the conflagration and the wail of the evacuation alarm. Somewhere in this wall of noise, a voice begins to demand his attention. 'Lieutenant! Lieutenant?' He raises his head and tries to heave his bruised body from the ground. His tear-distorted vision tells him that someone is crouching there in front of him. A uniform, an outstretched hand. He grabs it, the other one begins to pull him up. 'Lieutenant we have to get out of …' Another explosion. A piece of bulkhead is hurled past, and then he is showered with blood. The young ensign's hand still grabs his with disembodied strength. The arm is still there, but the torso that it was once attached to is gone. Ripped away by the flung piece of metal plating. Panic grips him and he tries to shake free of the dead hand's grasp.

Cedrien woke up shaking and drenched in sweat. Only gradually the traumatizing impressions that had haunted his sleep faded away, dispelled by the chirping of his comm system. Groggily he crept out of his sleeping compartment and hit the accept when he reached his desk.

'Captain Roucellis, our away-mission team has returned.' came the announcement of the station operator on duty. Cedrien just groaned in response. 'Captain are you all right?'

'I'm fine Sitalaerd. Just a bad dream. I'll be there in a few minutes.' he replied. 'Good man.' Cedrien tought 'Always concerned about me.' While he stepped into the shower, he did his best to push away the memory of the ensign who got cut in half by the piece of bulkhead.

***

Cedrien was still preoccupied with gloomy memories when he met Sandrielle in his briefing room. His mind kept coming back to the dream while he looked over the transport manifest and listened to her elaborating on the events of the last days.

'My contacts in Jita have confirmed that he has met with a long-standing business associate of his. I am positive that he has done so to acquire the necessary funding for the transaction.' Sandrielle interrupted her calm report on their latest venture. 'Cedrien, are you listening?'

'What? Of course. So you think he has told him everything?' Cedrien refocused his concentration on the matters at hand. Straightening himself in his seat he continued 'Don't you think that poses a risk? After all, his partner could leak the information?'

Sandrielle dismissed his concerns with a gesture. 'Those men are easily manipulated by fear and greed. He also agreed to the transaction already. If he'd blow the whistle now he would be in more trouble than we are. The fact that Aluvetti was seen together with Sylera by the Amarr authorities is practically a death sentence for him if he would report to them. His partner is now in just as deep as he is'

Cedrien frowned 'A risky gamble. What if he is more afraid of them than of us?'

Sandrielle shook her head 'We are an unknown threat to him which he can not fully quantify. He knows how to avoid the Amarr. Aluvetti has already taken steps to relocate his office to a system in Metropolis region. It fits with his psychological profile to take that course of action. If we play this right, this man is completely ours, and we will have ourselves a very useful sales-point in Empire Space.' she concluded and took a long look at Cedrien. 'You are barely present. What is the matter with you?''

The unexpectedly compassionate tone of her voice caught him off-guard, but he immediately dismissed the question. 'It is nothing, I am just tired.'

Sandrielle smiled emphatically. 'You have never been a good liar, and I on the other hand am way too proficient at spotting a lie.' she stated directly. 'What is bothering you? It can't be the business arrangement.'

Cedrien grimaced slightly. He disliked admitting to personal troubles in front of his crew, but it was difficult hiding anything from Sandrielle. 'I keep having dreams about a disastrous engagement. We lost many people that day.' he finally gave in. 'I wonder what happened to those who survived, to my old crew …' he let the sentence trail off.

To his surprise Sandrille continued her line of consoling familiarity. 'Maybe you should try and catch up with some of them. Alira found a route leading to Gallente space yesterday. I am certain that it is still open.' she inclined her head and smiled at him. The usual cold intensity had left her features. All that Cedrien could see in her face was the sympathy of a friend. 'Is she sincere, or is that one of her mind-games?' he wondered as he looked at her. He noticed that her Luminairian accent had become obvious. 'She is not controlling her voice, she must really mean it.' he observed inwardly.

'Don't worry, we can keep things in order around here for a few days without you captain' Sandrielle emphasized the last word in a playfully mocking way. 'By the time we find you a route back, you should have had enough time to meet up with some old friends.' she added while she leaned forward and put one of her hands on his.

Her touch felt comforting and encouraging. 'You are sure about this?' Cedrien asked with a worried frown. The woman across from him just looked into his eyes and nodded slowly while squeezing his hand slightly to reassure him nonverbally.

He slid his hand from under hers and straightened his uniform while he got up. 'All right then. I'll take my Comet frigate out.' he powered down the holographic console on the desk. 'But don't let the others know … make something up.'

Sandrielle smiled at him conspiratorially 'They will never know.' she assured him 'Enjoy your shore leave captain.' she added.

'I have seen so many sides of that woman, and still she manages to surprise me.' Cedrien realized to himself as he left for his quarters to gather the few necessities he would take on his trip.

***

Only several hours later, Cedrien sat on a sculpted wooden bench overlooking the idyllic bay area outside Caulandris-city on Ainaille V. It was not his place of birth, but of all planets in his home region of Sinq Laison he had always enjoyed this world the most. He closed his eyes and savoured the warm rays of the golden sun, the soft caress of the light breeze fragrant with wildflowers and the freshness of the sea. He listened to the surf from down at the shore where the rocks had been molded into smooth shapes by the waves. In the rustling foliage behind him he could hear the agitated chirping and fluttering of the small, colourful flying reptiles as they were hunting for buzzing dragonflies. A long-forgotten smile tugged at the corners of his mouth when he heard footsteps approach on the gravel path leading to this vantage point.

'Cedrien Roucellis, it really is you! I could hardly believe it when I got your message.' The smooth, familiar contralto of his former academy companion sent a slight surge of warmth through him. Her voice had always done that to him, he remembered. Slowly he opened his eyes when the woman obscured the sun. The years had been kind to her. That mixed ancestry of Vherokior and Intaki had always lent her a youthful, exotic beauty. Now that she had matured, her well coiffed shining-black hair framed a face characterized by high cheekbones, eyes of a rich brown like dark wood and smooth skin of bronze colour.

'The beard fits you well.' she said, and her smile drew slight creases along the corners of her small mouth and the outline of her almond-shaped eyes, a sign of her age after all. 'At least you are finally old enough to grow one.' she added and laughed.

He joined in her laughter and got up, stretching his hand out in greeting. 'It is good to see you again Nevire.'

She took his hand and, to his surprise, pulled him close into an embrace. 'It is good to see you again too, Cedrien.'

Memories of their old love flooded his mind as her arms and that familiar fragrance or hers wrapped around him. Insecurely he returned the gesture, but soon his hug became firmer as he felt her body under his arms.

Dreams of the Past - Part 2

'So you actually became a Capsuleer, and that after your brother went catatonic in the attempt to make it, and you founded an outpost in Wormhole Space.' Nevire sounded impressed. She reached out from where she was sitting beside him on the sun-warmed bench. Tentatively she traced a finger along the outline of the top-most spinal plug that sat exposed above the small collar of his lightly-fitting civilian shirt. 'Somehow I always knew you would have it in you. You always came out best in all the tests.' she stated after a short pause.

Cedrien shrugged as he looked out over the sea. 'Operating and commanding spaceships was what I knew best. When they discharged me I felt like I had nowhere else to go, so I underwent the procedure.' he paused and pressed his lips together tightly when he made himself relive that past. 'My father was furious of course. I guess he was just afraid to lose me too. Mother did not even say a thing.' his expression hardened. 'I guess it did not matter to her anymore after she had already lost her favorite firstborn son.' Barely hidden resentment charged every word in that last sentence. 'I started a new life, far away from everything.' he closed with a relieved exhalation.

'Did it hurt?' she asked and half-turned on the bench to rest her face in her hand, the elbow on the backrest. She looked at his profile, awaiting the answer.

'You get over it. They have good medication and rehab programs.' he replied directly.

'No, I meant losing your ship, your rank … everything you had worked for in all those years, and breaking with your family.' Nevire clarified her question.

Cedrien turned to look at her and nodded. 'It was like losing everything I valued in life.' his voice carried the hint of something unspoken, but he stopped himself there and looked back out at the glittering surface of the bay. 'Many of my old crew joined me when I went to look for a new beginning. A few of them are still with me.' he took a deep breath and looked back into her lush brown eyes, unable to speak.

Those alluring irises of hers held his gaze, and after a long moment she finally broke the silence 'Why did you not ask me to come with you?' she wondered. 'I never heard anything from you again after the court-martial.' grievance crept into her voice.

'I did not want to drag you down with me.' He replied with a pained expression 'You still had your career ahead of you, and you served under Commander Yun by then. How could I …'

'I would have left all of this behind to be with you.' Nevire interrupted him firmly and stood up. She folded her arms in front of her and looked out to where the silhouette of a large sailing barge cast a long, sharp shadow over the waves. 'I left the navy soon after you vanished. It was not the same for me anymore.' her shoulders heaved with a deep sigh. 'What is it like out there? In wormhole space I mean?' she asked while traveling her gaze along the luxurious outskirts of the city on the other side of the bay.

'Beautiful, fascinating, dangerous.' Cedrien began and then looked down at his feet 'Lonely.' he finally said quietly.

Nevire turned and sat down beside him again, clasping his hand. 'Let me come back with you.' she requested 'It does not have to be for long. I just want to see what kind of life you lead out there, be with you for some time after all those years we have not seen each other.'

Cedrien's dark blue eyes met with hers and he searched there for help with his answer. He nodded when he found it. 'I will show it to you then.' he finally conceded.

Her face lit up with a smile. He returned it, triggered by the blissful feeling that welled up inside of him. 'Let's walk back to town. You can stay with me while I arrange for some leave from my work.' she offered eagerly.

***

When their commander arrived back from the undisclosed errand he had been running out in Empire-Space, many of the crew speculated about the woman he had brought back with him.
Was she a Capsuleer recruit? But, if so, why did she not have her own ship then?
A diplomat from an Alliance? Without guards or assistants? Not likely.
A trade representative? But talk had made the rounds, that they had recently opened a good connection for that. So that could not be the answer.

Only a bare handful of crew members, those who had known Cedrien for many years, recognized her during the time he spent to lead her around the station and it's hangars: Nevire Chatal – former Navy Academy colleague, and later lover, of their captain. Even those few, however, could not say what it meant that she appeared here now. All they noticed was that their commanding officer seemed to be in a better mood than he ever was since the establishment of their small colony.

***

Alira had just returned from a flight to Hek, where she had the subsystems of the Sei'r reconfigured. Her whole technical crew was busy fitting and refitting different ship components under her direction, when Cedrien appeared in the vast maintenance dock with his guest.

'This is where we build ships and refit them. We make almost everything we need out here ourselves.' he explained with a sweeping gesture across the staggering expanse of walkways, robotic cranes, observation stations and assorted machinery. 'And this here is one of my Capsuleer crew.' he pointed at the Sebiestor woman surrounded by technicians. She operated a large holographic ship-fitting simulator in the middle of a sanity-defying arrangement of cables, half-assembled parts and machinery.

Alira had not noticed their approach, but she turned around with a smile on her face and a sparkle in her eyes when she heard Cedrien's voice. She eagerly walked a few steps in his direction. 'I managed to get even more capacity out of her this time. We are just running the last simulation with a new array of guns and …' she stopped her enthusiastic outburst when she registered the other woman. 'Who is she?' her smile died, and her desire to impress was replaced by a subconsciously nagging suspicion.

'I am sorry.' Cedrien began 'Alira, this is my old friend Nevire. We served in the Navy together.' his female companion – dressed in tasteful Gallente designer fashion – smiled at the Matari woman with an open expression on her face.

Alira was not the most socially savvy person, but the obvious way Cedrien looked at that vibrantly exotic lady was not lost on her. She nodded at the other woman curtly with a stony expression, and then looked back at him. 'Just make sure she doesn't trip over anything. We work a bit differently here than what she might be used to from the Gallente navy.' and with that she turned to walk back to the holographic simulator, leaving the present company behind with a feeling of surprised unease. 'Let's get this procedure running, we haven't got all day.' she snapped at one of the engineers who stood there dumbfounded by her sudden change of mood.

'What is her problem?' Nevire asked once she and Cedrien had gained some distance from the awkward scene.

'She flew with the Thukker tribe before she became part of my crew. Those people take their ships very seriously.' Cedrien shrugged. 'I guess she was uncomfortable with a stranger around.' He laughed in an attempt to diffuse the situation 'You should have seen her on the day some guys commandeered that Loki cruiser of hers.' and with that he began to tell the story while Nevire slid her hand into his and he matched her affectionate gesture.

Dreams of the Past - Part 3

During the rest of that day, they finished their tour with a visit to the Gallente-designed research station, located at one of the outer planets of the small system.

Shisei, who oversaw the operations there, was his usual inscrutable but courteous self and patiently explained the complex reverse engineering processes of Sleeper technology. They had met Keram and Sylera earlier in another hangar bay back at the Caldari tower. The two unequal Amarrians were engaged in a heated argument about personal values when Cedrien and his visitor intruded upon them.

Sylera excused herself, thankful for the interruption, but Keram tagged along for some time and entertained Nevire with his rough witticisms and outrageous yarns. Only Sandrielle was nowhere to be found. According to her staff officer – a stocky woman of Mannar descent – she was outside in Empire Space, meeting with contacts of her network.

'That woman, Sandrielle.' Nevire broached the subject when the two former companions were sharing a bottle of spiced wine while winding down in Cedrien's rarely-used private quarters at the Gallente tower's very top. 'You keep coming back to mentioning her. Are you two …'

'No!' Cedrien interrupted her and quickly put the glass down from his lips. 'No.' he repeated more quietly. 'It is just … she is a very … fascinating person.' he sipped from his glass in contemplation, and then he continued. 'I have never met anyone who is at the same time so ruthless and so caring.' He set down his glass and looked out the wide viewport towards the roiling mass of the red giant outside. 'When she came to us, she did so with a personal appeal to me. She told me very personal things about herself, more than anyone else here knows. Still I always have the feeling I know hardly anything about her.'

Nevire regarded him softly when he looked back at her 'So she has not stolen your heart yet?' she asked with a sweet smile on her face that warmly reminded him of the young cadet he met so long ago.

'Only one woman has managed to do that in the last fifteen years.' he confessed and allowed himself to fall into the depths of her sensuous eyes.

She touched his cheek and caressed his well-trimmed beard. With her other hand she touched his wrist and slowly made him set his glass down. Nevire slid her hand from his cheek to the back of his head and pulled him closer. She leaned over the small table until their lips met.

***

Although night and day have little meaning in the depths of space, it was now the part of the shift-cycle where most personnel was off duty. Apart from some skeleton crews interspersed through the large Gallente-designed construction, everyone had retired to their quarters, and only the most essential emergency lighting was active.

Nevire noiselessly walked down the concourse to the shuttle bay. Despite the many detours, turns and elevator rides they had taken on their progress through the station, she had remembered every detail about it's layout. As she had expected, she found the smooth, winged hulls of three Gallente shuttlecraft there, gleaming under the minimal lighting.

She walked up alongside one of the craft and engaged the status console. The security level was light. The simple access token she had 'borrowed' from Cedrien was enough to unlock one of the small ships and make it ready for undocking. She knew enough. The path was clear. Now all she needed was her cargo. She turned to leave, preparing to return to the quarters where she had left Cedrien in blissful slumber, when she unexpectedly found herself facing another woman on the bay's walkway.

'Can I help you with something Ma'm?' the other one asked.

Even without the accent, Nevire could have told that the other woman was Gallente. Tall, with dark hair severely combed back from her face and gathered into a long ponytail. An oval face of slight olive tan and large, almost-black eyes. She wore undefined combat fatigues, and her whole demeanor reflected the single-track mind of a professional fighter. Nevire also noticed the plasma pistol strapped to her thigh.

'I just couldn't sleep and walked around a bit.' she displayed an embarrassed smile. 'I think I got lost.' she replied in native Gallente to the stern-faced guard.

'What were you doing at the docking console there?' the other woman demanded to know in the same language and took a few steps in her direction, the right hand resting on the catch of her weapon's holster.

Nevire noticed the strong border-zone accent. Probably this woman was a veteran of several skirmishes with Caldari ground-forces. In all likelihood she was well trained and quick, even though she was not the youngest anymore. Nevire guessed she would have to be about as old as she herself was, judging from the pronounced lines on the other woman's face. 'I better not risk anything here.' She calmed herself and carefully inflected her voice, following a well-acted yawn.

'Oh, I was just idly looking at it. If you would be so kind to guide me back to captain Roucellis' quarters …' she strategically chose the right way to supply the correct triggers for the probably quite simple mind of that soldier.

To Nevire's surprise, the other woman took a few steps back, and in the dimness of the sparse illumination, it seemed for a moment as if her features would rearrange themselves subtly. Despite herself the Ainaillian opened and closed her mouth when she realized who she was facing.

'You are very good. That sort of control of the facial features is hard to achieve.' Nevire admitted. At this point there was no need for the charade anymore.

'You are not bad yourself.' Sandrielle replied. 'If you hadn't given yourself away by misreading me, and applying the wrong psycholinguistics and tone, you would have had me fooled.'

'So now that we have acknowledged our respective skill, what will happen next?' Nevire asked with a smug grin.

Sandrielle looked over the other woman carefully for any sign of threat. She only wore briefs, one of Cedrien's dress shirts and flat, soft-soled shoes. No sign of a concealed weapon. If she had similar training to her own, though, she didn't need a weapon to be lethal. At this distance, however, Sandrielle had the advantage of a firearm. Slowly she drew the plasma pistol and leveled it at the other woman.

'I suggest we start with you telling me what your plans with the captain are.' she said once the weapon indicated it's readiness.

Nevire laughed with what seemed to be true amusement. 'With Cedrien?' she made a dismissive sideways flick with her wrist. 'Nothing but talking about old times and getting between the sheets with him. He's a bit out of practice, I have to say. You women here don't take good enough care of him.' and she gestured toward Sandrielle.

The gesture caught the Gallente woman's attention a second too late. It just came so natural with the situation, and the implant weapon was too well concealed. Sandrielle heard the slight cough of expelled air at the moment she felt the prick in her right shoulder. It was too late to pull the trigger by then. Already the poison had numbed all the nerve-strands which would make that possible. She tried to wrest the gun from her numb fingers with the other hand, when a second needle embedded itself in her left arm. She felt her senses faltering.

'You are the one I really have plans for.' were the last words Sandrielle heard before she hit the ground and lost consciousness.

Dreams of the Past - Part 4

Alira stared angrily through the polarized window spanning the width of her ship's bridge. Her gaze was fixed on the sleek form of the engineering tower floating in space kilometers off the vessel's bow . She knew he was in there with her.

A strong feeling boiled up from inside her and surfaced as jealous rage. Her knuckles whitened as her grip fastened on the sonic screwdriver she had been toying with fretfully. With an enraged scream she flung the tool against a bulkhead and jumped up from the command station chair she had been sitting in. With the brisk pace of maddened determination she traversed her ship. The pod chamber was her destination.

Alira was beyond the capacity for a calm approach to the situation. All that dominated her mind was the thought of that stranger from the past coming between her and the man she had admired since he first came into her life. As soon as she was immersed in capsule fluid and her ship began to move, she felt powerful and in control of her destiny again. She would finally make Cedrien understand what she felt for him. Her fear of rejection and all other reservations were gone, burned from her heart and her mind by obsessive fury. When she approached the docking ring of the station, she noticed the lights of the shuttlebay activating. Despite her single-minded rage she did register that small detail.

'Comm station, do you copy.' she transmitted on a short-range band. 'Is anybody in the shuttle hangar?' her synthesized voice sounded impatient across the channel.

'This is comm station. Everyone is asleep here miss Tjalgard, Ma'm. I have no idea who would be in the shuttlebay.' came the somewhat intimidated reply from the Gallente crewman on duty.

Presented with an actual outlet for her current agitation, she snapped back at the man. 'Override the undocking procedure and send a security detail there immediately!'

'But Ma'm, it's captain Roucellis' code on the undocking request.' he answered meekly.

Alira cursed the young officer inwardly 'Damn Gallente always have to have the last word.' the voice synthesizer translated her intense mental transmission into an angry snarl. 'Is captain Roucellis in the docking bay?' she demanded to know.

'No, his transmitter indicates that he is still in his quarters.' now there was alarm in the man's voice.

'Then we have a security breach. Send a team there now!' Alira shouted.

***

Cedrien started from his sleep, woken by the security alarm. The heady aroma of recently shared passion still lingered in his bed and clung to his skin. The second thing he noticed was, that Nevire was gone. He looked for his personal transmitter and answered the alarm call.

'What is happening Gericault?' he asked the young security officer he knew to be on duty.

'We have a situation captain. You need to come to the shuttle-bay immediately.' the other man answered with urgency.

'I'll be there as fast as I can.' Cedrien replied while he gathered his discarded clothes and noticed that his shirt was gone. He also noticed that Nevire's clothes were still there. 'Has something happened to her?' he wondered with a feeling of sickening uncertainty that kept haunting him all the way to the small hangar where the shuttlecraft were docked. Once he had arrived he quickly learned that the situation was quite different from what he had feared, but no less shocking.

Several security officers were crouching under the cover of bulkheads on both sides of the wide portal to the hangar, weapons drawn and ready. Gareef, a strongly built Brutor trooper, lay dead in the entrance. A large cauterized cavity gaped in his chest. Not expecting any serious threat, the security team had only worn light ballistic protection. Tragically ineffective against what looked like a hit with an energized projectile.

'Captain!' Sitalaerd saluted briskly and then stopped his commander from walking through the open hangar doors with a firm hold on the young man's arm.'She shot him right when the doors opened.' the veteran crewman explained when he saw his captain's pained expression. 'It's Madame Chatal,captain. She has Madame Jaunes as hostage.' Sitaleard continued with an earnest look on his aged face.

Cedrien looked at him with alarm. 'What are you saying? Why?! What does she want?!'

The older man shook his head in disbelief 'She wants safe passage.' he said dryly. He had known his younger commander from the time he was an ensign, and Nevire as Cedrien's companion throughout years of service. He was as stricken by this turn of events as the captain himself.

Cedrien drew his eyebrows together in sad resolve. He moved closer to the edge of the protective bulkhead. 'Nevire, I want to talk to you! I will come in unarmed!' he shouted into the expanse of the small hangar beyond. No answer came back. He took a deep breath, shook himself free of Sitalaerd's restraining grip, and stepped out with his arms raised.

He could see a shadow cast by Nevire now that the hangar was fully lit. She was apparently hiding behind the operations console up on the walkway running along the second docking gantry. The prone body of Sandrielle lay there motionless. There was no telling whether she was alive or dead from where Cedrien stood.

'Let me leave with her Cedrien, and nobody else needs to get hurt.' Nevire called out from her covered position.

'I can not let you do that.' he replied with a strained voice while he slowly approached the steps leading to the walkway. 'She is one of my crew. You of all people should understand what that means to me.' the jeopardy of this situation wrenched at his guts with a force that drove the burning feeling of emerging tears into his sinuses. 'Please stop this.' he begged as he took the first step up the stairs.

'Your crew?!' Nevire called back. She sounded as brittle as he felt. 'This woman is a criminal! Do you know how many lives she has to answer for?'

'And what about us, Nevire?' he asked while slowly escalating further. 'How many have we killed in the course of our duties?'

'That was different. That was war!' she shot back. 'Those were soldiers, they knew the risk.'

'Soldiers? Like the Caldari colonists on that convoy in Kassigainen that we were supposed to annihilate?' he vainly tried to forget that he had this argument with the one woman he had loved more deeply than any other he ever met. 'If I would not have gotten that intelligence report into my hands, I would have given the order.' he now had reached the landing of the walkway. 'How many such acts of terror have we perpetrated in the name of what we thought was right? We are as guilty as she is.' he finished with a deep exhalation as if he could breathe out the pain that held him in it's stranglehold.

With one swift movement she was on her feet and out of cover, facing him across the walkway. With her left, she pointed the gun at the prone form of Sandrielle. Her right hand was stretched out towards him. 'Stop there!' she ordered. 'I have an implanted needle-thrower pointed at you with enough charges to completely immobilize you, and I will kill her if you force me to.'

'At least Sandrielle is still alive.' Cedrien noted with hollow relief. 'Nevire, put the gun down. Give her back and you can leave, free to return to your life.' as he spoke the words he realized how much he had wished she would stay, that he had hoped so from the moment they had met at that bench on Ainaille V.

'The Hive Alliance is offering a bounty of four billion ISK for her delivery, Cedrien.' Nevire said slowly and the look on her face made him squint with the searing in the corners of his eyes. 'Come with me and leave all of this here behind. With that much, we would not have to worry about anything.' she pleaded with him. 'We could be together and live on our own island off the coast.' Cedrien wanted to just curl up and scream with the agonizing feeling her words and her expression kindled inside of him.

Right then, shouting and bustling at the hangar doors momentarily burst the bubble of mutual harrowing the two former lovers shared.

Nevire – still quick to react, despite the surprising turn of events - twisted at the waist and fired her plasma pistol. Down below, Alira had stormed past the guards, carrying an automatic projectile rifle. She dove into a roll from that reckless dash which the security team could not prevent in time.

The shot missed the Sebiestor woman by a fraction, and left a glowing hole in the bulkhead behind her. She came up with her rifle firing. As if a spell had been lifted, a barrage began. The guards at the door saw their opening and assumed firing positions themselves. The intense snapping of hypersonic bullets and the hissing thumps of plasma discharges reverberated in the shuttlebay.

Nevire dodged and fired. One more of the crew went down under her accurate shots, but her position was too exposed now. She managed to avoid direct fire, but the ricocheting flechettes of scattershot projectiles cut her down in a hail of glowing metal. Lightly clothed as she still was, nothing offered protection.

'Cease fire!' Cedrien screamed and ran toward her fallen body.

He crouched beside her and lifted her torso from the ground. She was cruelly lacerated by the shrapnel. Cedrien looked into her eyes. He saw death there. The faraway look of someone who had already accepted her fate.

'Why did you betray me like this Nevire? Why you?' he asked her quietly and the first teardrops fell on her face. They formed rivulets of dilated blood when they mingled with the spatters there.

Nevire touched his face lightly and focused on his dark blue irises one last time. She answered him with the breathless rattle of someone whose lungs are filling with blood. 'I had hoped … you would give up this life ... for me ... like I would have done for you.' and with that her eyes glazed over.

Then, at last, all the agony burst out of him. He buried his face in the nape of her neck and hugged her bloodied frame. He held on to her until long after he still could feel her faint pulse, wracked by uncontrollable sobs.