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By Den
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Marcus was dead. Dead and gone, and Susan would never see him again. There was no other way to put it. The only other person in her life who had ever truly loved her was gone. First Talia, and now him, both were lost to her. Thinking of Talia brought back memories, memories so strong she often cried herself to sleep. And now Marcus, possibly the best friend she had ever had, was gone. Life seemed so determined to take away from her all that she loved and all that loved her, leaving her barren and dead as the deserts of Earth. Seven years, seven horrible, devastating years, had passed. The pain was still so fresh; it was as though the accident had happened only yesterday. She had her own ship now, the Warlock-class vessel Elektra. She worked as hard as she could, trying to douse the pain in stacks of paperwork and crew reports.
At this time, they were headed for a remote sector that required them passing through Coriana space. There was no way around it. On the bridge, the entire crew sat silently as Coriana VI came into view. Captain Susan Ivanova sat impassively, fighting the turmoil of emotions raging inside her. They were en route to meet the Excalibur, bringing special supplies and a report from the Rangers.
"Captain, there it is!"
Susan looked up, her expression never changing. "Take us in, Lieutenant."
"Captain, it’s good to see you."
Susan shook Gideon’s hand. "Nice place you have here." Gideon smiled, and gestured in the direction of the conference room. "Shall we, Captain?"
Without answering, she followed.
The conference room wasn’t like those aboard other Earthforce vessels, but Susan found she rather liked it. As they sat down to begin the briefing, Susan drifted, her thoughts and mind a thousand miles away. Galen watched her silently, already figuring out what was happening. Beside him sat Dureena, a somber look on her face. Under the table, her hand was grasped, ad squeezed twice. She bit her lip to keep from smiling. Galen was up to something.
" . . . That’s about it, then."
Gideon stood up. "All right, Captain, we’ll – "
He was cut off as the door slid open and a man and a woman entered. They were the most precious commodities on the ship; Dureena Nafeel, of the Thieves’ Guild, and Galen, formerly of the Order of techno-mages. Susan stood up.
"Hello, Captain." Dureena said, almost politely. "It’s good to see you."
Susan smiled faintly. "And you, Ms. Nafeel."
"Dureena." She corrected. Then, without warning, she whirled around and disappeared, as did Gideon and the others, leaving her alone with Galen, who moved closer until they stood face to face, neither backing down.
"What do you want, Galen?" Susan asked firmly.
He continued to stare at her, and she felt her resolve crumbling. Unable to stop it now, she felt the tears coming. With no control in stopping them, she buried her face in her hands and sobbed like a child. Saying nothing, Galen moved closer to her and put his arms around her, holding her close as she cried. She pressed her face into his cloak and cried hard, releasing seven years of built-up anguish in one violent burst. Galen’s cloak grew wet with her tears, but he didn’t move. Only when she finally pulled away did he let go.
She looked up at him with wet eyes, and then her mouth drew into a tight line.
"I don’t want your pity, Galen. It was my fault he died, and nothing’s going to change that. Not even you." She stalked out of the room.
Galen smiled.
"Not even me? I think, my dear Captain, that you are very wrong." He began his equations.
Susan headed for her quarters aboard the Elektra, tired, and angry with Galen for playing such a mean trick on her, using some devious little techno-mage trick on her to cause her to break down like that. He was probably having a real good laugh right about now. Flopping down on her couch, she sighed loudly.
"DAMN!" she shouted angrily, throwing a pillow at the far wall. It bounced harmlessly to the floor. She swore lucidly at it.
"Stupid piece of Goddamn techno-mage – "
Pouring a hefty glass of vodka, she downed it quickly. The wolf would be joining her that night, and she had a great deal of cubs. Letting another curse loose, she poured another glass and brought it to her lips.
"Susan."
She turned around and gaped, her eyes growing wide as she took in who stood before her.
"Hello Susan," the cool, composed blonde said in a smoky voice. "I’ve been waiting a long time."
Galen slept, a smile on his otherwise somber face. Curled up beside him, having given up the battle to stay awake, Dureena Nafeel lay sleeping, her brow slightly furrowed as if in thought.
"Talia?" Susan was dumbstruck. "TALIA! Oh . . . my GOD!"
It was indeed Talia Winters, in the flesh. The sultry blonde smiled softly at her and stepped a few feet closer to the dumbfounded Captain.
"I’m here, Susan, and I think you know why. You do, don’t you?"
Susan nodded dumbly. "I think so."
Talia moved closer, so that her breasts pressed softy against Susan. "I have only this time now, Susan. There’s no time for games. There’s no…"
She was cut off as Susan’s lips came crashing down on hers. The hard, embittered IA Captain kissed the telepath, kissed her as she’d kissed no one in nine years, with all the passion of the relationship that had been lost in the latter half of 2259. Talia responded in kind, wrapping her arms around the other woman and pressing against her.
"Oh . . . Talia." Susan whispered. Tilting the blonde’s head back, Susan kissed her neck.
Talia pushed her away.
"No," she said. "I’m going to be gone sooner than you think, I want this night to be for you. Only you."
Taking Susan by the hand, Talia led her to the bed, laying her gently upon it while she lowered the lights and closed the Privacy doors. Then she turned around, and smiled at Susan.
END OF PART 1