Part One: Dancing in the Dark

It started simply enough; I was at the Legion Outpost, working on a long-term astrophysics project of mine and Brainy's, when Mon-El dumped Shadow Lass off to go on a mission. Tasmia, of course, was fuming. Losing vacation time was bad enough--but to have Mon-El treat her like a porcelain doll was too much. I've seen this woman fight--she's only fragile when compared to a Daxamite, or in a place that makes hell look comfy.

Since she needed an audience to rant, and since she was better looking than the numbers I had been studying, I didn't mind. I have to confess, I wasn't listening until she said, "I should lock him out of my quarters for the next year!"

That was my cue, I slipped on my ladykiller smile and gathered her hands in mine. "A whole year? A beautiful, talented woman could get awfully lonely in a year."

"Oh grow up, Morgna! I'd sooner sleep with Lady Memory than you!"

"Owwww!"

"It must be hard work, making such an idiot of yourself!"

"As I told Tinya when she made that observation, it's hard work, but someone has to do it."

"Why?"

Whoa. She was serious. I wasn't expecting a serious response. Tasmia just doesn't know how to trade antagonistic banter like her pal does. Tinya would never change programs like that in mid-stream. Before I could get my expression back into place, the proximity alarm rang. Since she was closer to the scanner controls, Tasmia checked the scanners.

"There's a world ship without engines. It's floating into the major space lanes."

"Have the engineers run a diagnostic?"

"Engineering's comps are down."

I sighed in exasperation and pulled one of Brainy's patented microcomps out of the lab cache. "I hope there's a functioning airlock. I'd hate to have to burn our way through."

If Shadow Lass were a Tinya clone, she would've said something snarky about my being lazy. But Tasmia understood: On most world ships, airlocks are one of the last systems to shut down before life support. She grabbed one of the big medical kits and nodded to indicate she was ready.

This was the woman Mon-El treated like a doll. With no fuss, she put on her transsuit and started the ignition sequences. Of course, she was also sitting in the pilot's seat.

"Unless I'm sleeping or injured, that's my seat." She blinked her black eyes at me. "I'm one of the best pilots on the team, lady. I fly the ship."

"Do you have any wants you don't fulfill?" She asked crossly, but left the seat anyway. I slipped in and finished the ignition sequence.

We were silent for the trip. We're both experts at rescue, so we didn't need to discuss protocols. Besides, Tasmia was still peeved at men in general and Mon in particular. I'm sure I was starting to make the specifically irritating men list by that point, too.

When we got to the worldship, the scans showed some weird lifesigns readings. "Maybe the electromagnetic waves and radiation are affecting the sensors," I suggested.

"I wonder..." was all she whispered into her helmet mike. We had to turn the airlock by hand, which it did easily. That made me happy because I didn't want to burn my way through and add to the shipboard radiation. But it made Shady more nervous.

"I think we should stay together."

"It'll make our job harder."

"Dirk, think like a hunter for a moment. What's the first rule of space law?"

I couldn't believe she was seriously asking this now. "'Act responsibly to protect all life.'"

"And what would you do to bait a trap for spacefaring races?"

Before I could answer, something turned us inside out. I must've blacked out, but not completely, because the next thing I remember is looking at the wristcuff that tethered me to Tasmia, as well as the realization that we were naked. "This is interesting," I muttered, surveying the situation and trying desperately not to look at Tasmia. I had a headache and some nausea, not surprising from a teleport trap, nervous because it was a trap that we'd tripped, and aware of the fact that Shadow Lass and I hadn't run a sim together in what?--close to a year. I suppose the fact that we were naked was also a bit upsetting. There's a time and place for this kind of display, and to my mind, being captured was not it. But there was something else. I was edgier than I should have been, tether or no tether. I wanted out of the tether, the ship, and my own skin, which was itchy and prickly and I dunno...hot.

Tasmia was also surveying the situation. Finally I really looked at the ship's concave roofing and realized just whose ship we were in.

"The resource raiders!" Tasmia snarled, as soon as she saw the captain. Darkness filled the hold and she pulled so hard on the tether that she almost pulled me to the floor.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"You selfish, slow, lazy Earther! Work with me!"

After that remark, I'd have gladly worked her over. What was with her? I wondered.

The raiders shot flares into the darkness and Tasmia's shadows melted away. "Legionnaires?" the captain asked. I glared into its bulbous eyes. "Primeworld will be interested in dissecting you. However, I think my crew would prefer sport. Keep them away from the rest of the stock. I don't want them to inspire rebellion amongst the humanoids."

The raiders, well, herded us to a cell. I don't appreciate being pushed with a rifle, but it was all I could do to hold back from frying the jerks. Getting beaten by its buddies would've been really stupid.

"Why didn't you work with me?" Tasmia snapped.

"You're supposed to communicate with me," I hissed back. "Y'know consider a plan of attack instead of just attack? Signal me at least?"

"I did! You didn't notice!"

"A big field of black? Of course I noticed!"

"You are so stupid--incompetent--"

"At least I don't charge off like a rabid bitch!"

The guards pushed us into a cell and suddenly Tasmia and I attacked each other.

We blinded each other, then pulled away as far as out tether would allow. The shadows faded and the light grew dim. We blinked, adjusting to vision. I had just attacked a woman. Not just any woman, one I trust with my life and whose lover could literally pulp me.

"What the hell was that?" I asked, drained and scared. The edginess was returning. Were we under psychic attack? A spell? I tested the former by shaking my head. The headache was there, but not the pressure in my ears, but resting just behind my teeth. Then I examined the tether. It was a flexible cable of some sort of conductive material. I didn't dare try to melt it; I could roast Shady before freeing her.

"The cable is designed to heighten our anxieties. It keeps us from focussing and communicating," Tasmia mused. "We need to counter it."

I stomped on the sarcastic snap-retort. "How?" I asked. "All my biofeedback techniques are doing is feeding the anxiety back to me."

"Why do men insist on trying to solve problems by themselves when a group effort would make them stronger? No. The problem is between us. The tether is playing with our natural fear of each other's powers. We have to counter the fear."

Oh, great. Are there no Legionnaires who don't know about my stupid weakness? Tasmia's already sure I'm an idiot, but now she's got proof of cowardice as well.

She was quiet for a few more minutes. I assume she was trying to wrestle with the problem. Meanwhile I puzzled over how the tether worked, hoping to find an answer that way. Finally I started musing out loud. I needed to stop the silence. "The tether is detecting the bioelectric changes in our bodies and feeding them back to us."

"Then we need to change our reactions to each other. Dirk, can your powers create a light that won't burn?"

"You know I can."

"I do...I just...wanted...to be sure..." I don't know what worried me more: The weird sinking feeling I was getting in my stomach, or the way her voice trailed off. Finally she looked at me again. "Dirk, manifest your power."

"Are you sure?"

"Do it!"

I did. She...glared at me for a moment and then began crawling towards me. I felt my own anxiety heighten. No. It was hers. "Shady. It's okay, It's just light and heat. Fire is one of the first tools any race masters on the way to civilization."

"And are you civilized?"

"Oh. Very." I answer with a practiced confidence. Somewhere in the back of my mind I'm amazed--and a bit relieved--that this situation has become a time where I can flirt with a beautiful woman. "I'm familiar with Kurasawa and Shakespeare, Da Vinci and Warhol. I've seen your world's beautiful churches and listened to Ha Saynu on occasion."

"I love playing Ha Saynu," she responded. "Can you sing 'What my Darkness Implies'?"

I chuckle. "Only if it's caribou meeting season." She's closer to me. I can hear her breathing. My light's playing off her shoulders, her breasts. I suddenly realize this is the first time I've seen her naked, and she's crawling towards me. She had to have seen my physical reaction--to have felt it through the tether.

For a second I wondered what she'd say to chastise me... Then her breath is against my belly, then my chest. Suddenly she's in my arms, her chest pressing against mine, her mouth probing mine. I responded instinctively for a moment, stroked her back and tongue-wrestled. But then I remember who she is and who her over-protective lover is. She fought my breaking contact. "Tas, wait. What about Mon-El?"

"He'll understand, if I tell him it was for a good cause." She smiled, her teeth dazzling white. "Or at the least, I wanted to."

She kissed me again, and the next few minutes I stroked and grappled with her. One of the things I love about being with a new woman is discovering what makes her moan or scream. Needless to say, I discovered a few things about the Shady Lady that day.

Finally we were side by side. She brushed her blue fingers through my chest hair and watched the way my flames followed the outline of her hand.

"I trust you enjoyed yourself," I whispered, then kissed her delicately tapered ear.

"Was it the tether, or are your always so responsive to your lovers?"

I laughed. "I don't know about always, but I do try."

"One more question: When we were together, why didn't you release?"

"It seemed important to you to know that I can control myself. But I promise you, it wasn't easy to restrain myself."

"You wouldn't be lying to me, would you?"

"Lady Mallor, I may embellish or omit parts of the truth, but I never lie! You can trust me."

It was her turn to laugh. "I believe you. Now it's your turn. Turn off you flame."

The moment of truth. I dreaded talking to her about this, but everything depended on how well we could communicate. "Tasmia, your fear of fire is a natural caution. My--fear of the dark--is a bit different."

"Is it not a natural caution for a diurnal species?"

"Yes, but in my case, it's compounded by events in my childhood. I'm not sure how it happened." She stayed quiet, a protective arm over my chest, as I collected my thoughts. "I was kidnapped as a toddler, and locked in a dark room. Or when my mother would leave to go to work, I could hear the shrieks of the babysitter as she and my father participated in some ovular Olympics. I must've thought he was killing her."

"Why don't you ask your father what truly happened?"

"Are you kidding? Who do you think told me these stories to start with?"

"Oh."

The silence was not quite companionable.

"Well, I can't just cure you. However I can show you what you showed me."

I guffawed at the intended double entendre.

"Douse your flame." I did and she patiently waited until my eyes adjusted to the half-light. "You need to know that the darkness is my tool and I am the mistress of it." Her hands began to travel over my body. "The darkness can hold many surprises," she explained as the room began to grow dim. "The trick to darkness is to have a competent guide, one you can trust. Me."

She was not kidding competent! Apparently space is not the only frontier she and Mon explore together. She talked to me about what she was doing, how she would not lead me into great danger, how the darkness was a shield. About the time I noticed I couldn't see a thing, Shady gave me good reason not to care.

Afterward we practiced signals and discussed plans. Then we rested. And waited. Then they came to get us.

"Good. You did not kill each other. We've had that happen." The guard clacked.

Tasmia stood up and stared into his stalked eyes. "That's one more thing you'll answer for," she told it.

It laughed, and I had to remind myself that Tasmia did not need me to defend her honor. We were led to an arena. "You will fight. Whoever wins, will eat."

"And doesn't that just make for the perfect start of the day?" I muttered.

The next few minutes were dedicated to stagecraft. We exchanged feints, waiting for the raiders to get caught up in the show. Then I launched a light flare at Tasmia. She shielded herself in darkest shadow while I flared with both light and heat--bright enough and hot enough to blind out hosts and their scanners. Then Tasmia took the lead and quietly guided me to the teleporter's controls. She must've known how tense I was--I mean, the tether--but she was calm.

Suddenly she pulled the tether taut and there was a loud crack and a thump.

"What was that?" I shouted...well, "screeched" would probably be more accurate.

"Company, Dirk. Behind you! Heat only!"

I obeyed, and suddenly something was howling. "Night goggles?"

"Uh-huh."

"Sweet." It felt good to be useful in the situation we were in.

"Do you see heat?"

"See? No. Feel? Yes."

"Ah." She didn't explain, instead she hustled me through a door. "This is the teleporter control room. Can you work the controls?"

I lit my hands enough so I could see the control pads. "I should be able to. The language is different, but the laws of physics are the same."

Tasmia was quiet while she watched the door. I concentrated on learning the controls. Finally I understood them. "The teleporter leaves a trace signature in its victims."

"We can rescue the kidnapped people?"

"I can get them back to the world-ship, but the equipment's got to go as soon as I'm done."

"Do it!"

"Shady, there are a lot of risks! We have no idea how many UP citizens were captured! I can't guarantee we'll get everyone!"

"Those we don't get will be for Dawnstar or Sensor Girl to find! Hurry!"

Hurry! When one miscalculation could kill us and all the people we were trying to save? I ignored her advice, and worked expediently. As it turned out, I got everyone out before I destroyed the equipment. Guess who Mon took special pains to visit after he heard about this?

The next few days were spent finishing the rescue of some 300 people. Clothes, food, medical care, and coordinating rescue ships took a lot of time. My spare time--such as it was--was spent seeing if the world ship could be used as a city, instead of a trap. A few engineers, anxious to work off their problems, worked with me. It's got potential, but the UP or some tax-deduction hunting company will oversee the real refitting.

I found a little corner to have peace and quiet, though. There was a solarium where I could watch the stars and daydream or doze.

I was dozing when Tasmia found me. She lay beside me. "So what happened to you today?" she asked.

"I turned down a proposal for marriage, and another to sire a child. You?"

"A little girl gave me a stuffed toy, and a hug. I'm really proud of you--working so hard without complaint." She leaned over and kissed me, while moving her hand under my shirt.

I pushed her away. "Tasmia, what about Mon? I don't want either of you hurt."

"He may question my choice of partner..." I stuck my tongue out at her, and she tried to bite it. "But we're dedicated to each other, not exclusive. He'll understand if I tell him it's for a good cause." She gave me a series of small kisses, from my lips down my jaw line. "Or at the very least, that I wanted to."

  Part Two: Playing with Fire

This mission started out not as a mission at all, but as an end to a wonderful phase of my relationship with Mon-El. There was a Khundish invasion--I never did find out where--and Mon just dropped me off at the Legion outpost with a quick kiss goodbye.

I was furious. I stomped into the lit living area, and with each step I took, I got angrier and angrier. "I can't believe he did this to me!" I announced to my colleague, who was startled into realizing he was now my audience. "I can't believe he just left me here! I'm the one who saved the Science Asteroid when the Khunds flattened him with that giant robot! I've been battling evil since before he was released from the Phantom Zone! I can't believe he thinks I'm incapable of helping during an invasion. He really deserves to answer for this... I should ...lock him out of my quarters for the next year!"

Dirk shifted and gracefully got out of his seat. He smiled broadly, charmingly, and replied with a low, sexy, voice, "A whole year? A beautiful, talented woman could get awfully lonely in a year."

"Oh grow up, Morgna! I'd sooner sleep with Lady Memory than you!"

"Owwww!"

"It must be hard work, making such an idiot of yourself!"

"As I told Tinya when she made that observation, it's hard work, but someone has to do it."

Why would a man who is so attractive, intelligent, and courageous need to humiliate himself? What is it in his culture that would demand this? Or is it only in the man? "Why?" I asked aloud.

That took him aback. I couldn't understand him, and still don't. Why does a man with so much capability hide himself behind a fool's mask? I was about to ask him when the proximity alarm started. It was a world ship without power and computers, drifting into the space lanes. No matter what I think of his confused confidence, anyone who says that Dirk Morgna is incompetent hasn't watched the man in action. I did as we silently gathered up the equipment we needed for a rescue. His childishness surfaced again, though, as I was readying the ship.

"Unless I'm sleeping or injured, that's my seat." I stared at him. I couldn't believe he'd be territorial about flying a ship!

"Do you have any wants you don't fulfill?" I snapped. No matter what the species, I decided, sentient males hardly deserved the adjective. I was still so angry with Mon that I wasn't paying close attention to what I was doing until it was too late. Things were going smoothly during a rescue--too smoothly--and I didn't start thinking about the ease of the operation until the airlock opened at Sun Boy's prodding. The expression, "When being a hunter, prey on the prey's desires" rang through my head.

Once we entered and checked the air quality, I suggested we stay together.

"It'll make our job harder," he objected.

"Dirk, think like a hunter for a moment. What's the first rule of space law?"

He looked at me as though I was insane, but dutifully quoted: "'Act responsibly to protect all life.'"

"And what would you do to bait a trap for spacefaring races?" I asked, revealing my concerns. I realize now that I've become too used to working with Legionnaires who think like me, and that I must change that or face the same danger again.

Suddenly we were blinded and wrenched through realities. In my travels to the Ancestral Lands, I felt something similar. On that trip I felt cleansed with a new purpose and reinvigorated by the powers I would use. This time, I felt filthy and ill. When my eyes adjusted, I noticed that we had been stripped of our uniforms, our rank markers. Our new rank was pronounced by a tether binding the two of us together.

In my life as Legionnaire and Champion, I learned to show no fear, to wait for the moment and strike in my own defense. I glared at my captors and realized I knew their species and their ilk. The Resource Raiders had turned to slavery. Of all the crimes sentients do to each other, I find slavery to be the worst. There's no hope as a slave, no comfort. The fact that I had to see my own people stripped of their pride and dignity was enough to make my blood scream in anger at the prospect that someone tried to imprison me in such a way. I wanted to take the Raiders' eye stalks and ram them down their throats. But I had to be careful not to reveal my thoughts.

That was harder than I thought. My anger was building, no matter how much I told myself to stay calm. Plus I felt the cold fingers of fear sliding down my shoulders. Once I saw the captain my discipline vanished. I summoned the shadows and pulled on the tether to get Dirk into action. But all he did was trip over me.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"You selfish, slow, lazy Earther! Work with me!"

I saw his eyes literally blaze and realized how lucky I was that Dirk didn't have heat vision. He would've killed me in that moment, and I knew it.

The Raiders fired flares into my shadows and I watched fuming and helpless as they disappeared.

"Legionnaires?" the captain asked. I glared into its bulbous eyes. "Primeworld will be interested in dissecting you. However, I think my crew would prefer sport. Keep them away from the rest of the stock. I don't want them to inspire rebellion amongst the humanoids."

Like the cattle we seemed to them, the Raiders herded us where they wanted. I was anxious. I was wondering where Dirk got his warrior's training. A carnival was my best guess. I had never seen such incompetence. Yet not more than an hour ago, I was impressed with his efficiency. The irony stunned me and further angered me. "Why didn't you work with me?" I snapped.

"You're supposed to communicate with me," he snarled in return. "Y'know, consider a plan of attack instead of just attack? Signal me at least?"

"I did! You didn't notice!"

"A big field of black? Or course I noticed!"

"You are so stupid--incompetent--

"At least I don't charge off like a rabid bitch!"

The guards pushed us into a cell and suddenly we attacked each other. I blocked his flares with my shadows and his fire ate away at the darkness that would've consumed him. We were both blind and instinctively pulling away from the only resources we had to escape. Whatever I thought about him, whatever he had done, he was still the only other Legionnaire here and we needed each other.

"What the hell was that?" he asked with a shaky voice.

What the hell, indeed. I was both moved to tears by my compassion for a shocked warrior, but so irritated by his fear that I wanted to thrash him. There was way too much emotion. Then I became aware of the fear I never felt--fear of loss of control of my own powers. Fear of the darkness I have always loved.

"The cable is designed to heighten our anxieties, and feed us each other's emotions as well. It keeps us from focussing and communicating," I said as I began to understand that I was feeling Dirk's emotions as well. "We need to counter it."

"How? All my bio feedback techniques are doing is feeding the anxiety back to me."

"Why do men insist on trying to solve problems by themselves when a group effort would make them stronger? No. The problem is between us. The tether is playing with our natural fear of each other's powers. We have to counter the fear."

The silence fell, as comforting as the darkness. I breathed it in, slowly, finding the center of the universe inside of me. Silence is a kin to darkness and I assume that is part of what makes Dirk so insistent on breaking the peace. He came up with a possible explanation for our emotional extremes. Essentially the tether bound us together by our anxieties and fears. Could it bind together positive reactions; if we could create positive reactions? I realized that thinking and not doing could only hurt any plan we came up with at this moment. First clear heads, then clear plans is what my mother always told me during training. "We need to change our reactions to each other. Dirk, can your powers create a light that won't burn?"

"You know I can."

I realized what my plan was: Face the burning light that made our world a desert, and I began to feel ill. I was thinking about what I was doing again and that had to stop. I began to chuckle to myself about the irony of having to tell myself what I continually tell Mon-El. I had to force myself to look my fellow Legionnaire straight in the eye. "Dirk, manifest your power."

"Are you sure?"

"Do it!" I almost shouted, afraid that my courage would fail me at the very second I needed it to face the fires. The flames began dancing around him. I set my mind on the goal and began to crawl to him. For a moment I wanted to scamper back to my corner, but I continued my forced focus.

"Shady. It's okay, It's just light and heat. Fire is one of the first tools any race masters on the way to civilization."

"And are you civilized?" I jested, hoping banter would distract my fear and give him an arena where he was secure.

"Oh. Very," he answered in the silken tones of a courtier. "I'm familiar with Kurasawa and Shakespeare, Da Vinci and Warhol. I've seen the beautiful churches of Talok VIII, and listened to Ha Saynu on occasion."

Ha Saynu? I learned to play my picktu using Ha Saynu! Dirk actually knows something of my world, and cares enough to bring it to me now! "I love playing Ha Saynu. Can you sing 'What my Darkness Implies'?"

His laugh was relaxed, easy to my ears and encouraging, seductive. "Only if it's caribou meeting season." The fires played against his hair, filling it with gold, and highlighting the curve of his chest; the shadows caressed the hollow and then gave into the flares licking his hips. He was beautiful and brave and sweet at that second and I wanted him; I would have despite the tether. Because of the tether, I let the desire carry me closer. I saw that it carried him as well. He wanted me. I leaped against him and crushed his mouth to mine.

To my surprise he pushed me away What he did next almost made me love him. "Tas, wait. What about Mon-El?"

I smiled. He was worried about Mon and me! "He'll understand, if I tell him it was for a good cause. Or at the least, I wanted to."

Then he kissed me, soundly. His lips and hands traveled slowly over my body. Where I reacted, he lingered, bringing my desire to a fever heat I sought again and again. I wanted so much for this not to be a necessity, but a pleasure. He tried his best to make the event a pleasure, even though we both understood the need. If there ever is one person who can quench the fires of his needs, they will be blessed forever. As it was, he somehow was able to resist joining me in the dark. While we were lying together, I played with the fire he was still radiating. The flames were strangely innocent; only light and slight heat, no destruction. He did control his fires--and his body--well. I asked him why he didn't seek release when I had.

"It seemed important to you to know that I can control myself. But I promise you, it wasn't easy."

"You wouldn't be lying to me, would you?" I chose to banter, to keep the playful mood. We would be deadly serious soon.

"Lady Mallor, I may embellish or omit parts of the truth, but I never lie! You can trust me."

I laughed. To trust a fire demon was funny, but I truly did. "I believe you. Now it's your turn. Turn off your flame."

He turned away from me, slightly. He seemed to be dealing with a demon of his own. "Tasmia, your fear of fire is a natural caution. My...fear of the dark...is a bit different."

"Is it not a natural caution for a diurnal species?"

"Yes, but in my case, it's compounded by events in my childhood. I'm not sure how it happened." I saw how this demon haunted him and I pulled him closer to me so he'd know he was protected. "I was kidnapped as a toddler, and locked in a dark room. Or when my mother would leave to go to work, I could hear the shrieks of the babysitter as she and my father participated in some ovular olympics. I must've thought he was killing her."

"Why don't you ask your father what truly happened?"

"Are you kidding? Who do you think told me these stories to start with?"

"Oh." It was odd, and embarrassing. I learned so much from my ancestors, and my mother most of all. To have never been able to trust my family...that was a fear I couldn't cure in a night...if ever. I had to acknowledge that I couldn't save him, only protect and aid him. I admitted my flaw aloud, but to save the mood, I said, "However, I can show you what you showed me. Douse your flame." I waited until I thought he might be able to see in the vague light. "You need to know that the darkness is my tool and I am the mistress of it," I said as I began to caress where the flames showed me. "The darkness can hold many surprises," I chanted as I began to darken the room. "The trick to darkness is to have a competent guide, one you can trust. Me."

I nibbled on his neck and slipped my hands to his hips. He moaned in response. I continued to move him, to chant until the room was perfectly black. By that point, Dirk was secure in the knowledge that I would do everything in my power to keep him safe. All we had to do was use the tether of communication to rule the emotions the other tether sent us.

I lost track of time until they came to get us. The raiders opened the door, and said: "Good. You did not kill each other. We've had that happen." I stood and glared into its eyes, taking the power they thought stripped. "That's one more thing you'll answer for."

It laughed, and then led us to an arena. "You will fight. Whoever wins, will eat."

"And doesn't that just make for the perfect start of the day?" Dirk muttered. Through the tether, I could tell he was voicing his complaint for the benefit of our foes. It was as much subterfuge as the fight we had in the arena. When I gave the signal, Dirk flared enough to blind scanners and eyes, while my shadows protected me. Then I expanded the blackness to cover the entire ship. I led Dirk back to the control room. I could feel how nervous he was, and knew it could have been far more. I saw a guard coming down the hall with night lenses. I pushed Dirk back and roundhoused the creature.

"What was that?" he screamed.

The damn soldier sent an alarm! "Company, Dirk. Behind you! Heat only!"

He fired, and the soldier went down, screaming, holding his eyes.

"Night goggles?" he asked. I confirmed. "Sweet." He whispered, and I could tell, even without the tether, how satisfied he was. We were close to the control room, and if we could keep the darkness...

"Do you see heat?" I asked.

"See? No. Feel? Yes."

My plan wouldn't work. Before anymore company arrived, I shoved him into the control room. "This is the teleporter control room. Can you work the controls?"

As low as he could, he ignited his hands and read the computer. "I should be able to. The language is different, but the laws of physics are the same." I guarded the door while he studied the alien technology. Finally he gave me the first piece of good news I heard since Mon and I started our vacation. "The teleporter leaves a trace signature in its victims."

"We can rescue the kidnapped people?" I asked; hope soared in my soul.

"I can get them back to the world-ship, but the equipment's got to go as soon as I'm done."

"Do it!" I urged.

"Shady, there are a lot of risks! We have no idea how many UP citizens were captured! I can't guarantee we'll get everyone!" I couldn't believe his hesitancy. Some rescued were better than none.

"Those we don't get will be for Dawnstar or Sensor Girl to find! Hurry!"

I don't think Dirk realized it, but I saw the expression on his face. Even though I'm sure he went as quickly as he felt he could, it seemed to take forever. He hissed a prayer, or a victory sigh--I'm not sure which--and literally hit the enter pad.

Even though Dirk is not well versed in refugee work, he stayed on the world ship and helped with the provisions, care and dispositions for over 300 people. He also became interested in seeing in whether the world ship could actually be a useful vehicle with some redesign. Before I knew it, he had an unofficial core of engineers working with him. We didn't see much of each other until I decided I would find him. I used the scanners to find him in a solarium. I saw him up there, dozing, listening to an Earth musician--Rach-something. I'll have to ask Mon if he knew him...just to get him back for this adventure.

Dirk looked so natural resting amongst the stars, that I could see where his kinship with the stars could truly be. I remembered a line from one of Rokk's hoary old history tapes: "We are made of starstuff. We are the universe trying to make sense of itself" Gold against the white light that could travel, against the serenity of the night. It was a perfect place to find him and myself in conversation.

In space, one cannot talk about the weather, so basic conversation is opened with, "So what happened to you today?"

He smiled that glorious smile of his--the one that makes almost everyone who sees it melt. "I turned down a proposal for marriage, and another to sire a child. You?"

I laughed. "A little girl gave me a stuffed toy, and a hug. I'm really proud of you--working so hard without complaint." I leaned over him, smelling the tingle of his cologne. I kissed him and slipped my hand under his shirt.

Again, he pushed me away. "Tasmia, what about Mon? I don't want either of you hurt."

I smiled my own glittering smile. "He may question my choice of partner..." He stuck his tongue out, and I tried to bite it. "...but we're dedicated to each other, not exclusive. He'll understand if I tell him it's for a good cause."

I snuggled against his warm body, and kissed his lips and slid my tongue down his jaw. "Or at the very least, that I wanted to."

This pair of stories stemmed from my interest in a pair of stories Kerwythin Jade wrote telling the same event from the different perspectives. This exercise in unreliable narrators fascinated me, so I decided to try it, using two of the most different Legionnaires that I could think of. If you want to read her stories, try them at the Legion Archive webpage. Thanks to Mark and 'rith for revising and editing comments. Thanks to Babylon 5 for serving as Rokk's "hoary old history tapes." BDR