tara@UNM.EDU (Tara)

Endgame
by Tara O'Shea

Prologue
Karen

      Looking down from the window of his office, seeing the four S5's
returning from their latest mission, Commander Joseph Walsh let his mind
wander a bit.  He fingered the holo-plate on his desk and after a moment
flicked the switch.  His brother Mike's girl was waving at him, dark eyes
laughing. The girl had been pushing for months to be allowed to petition for
application to BETA.  As her legal guardian, she needed his permission.  He
had been reluctant, promising to give his answer on her seventeenth
birthday, which, to his dismay, had been two weeks earlier.  He sighed,
feeling old.  Did he really want his only living relative joining BETA?
Moreover, did he want to be his niece's commanding officer?  Bad enough
he had a pseudo-son in Gooseman, family in the S5's and the two
ambassadors who had started it all....
      He had written the letter to Karen.  If that was the road she wished to
take, he would not be the one to stand in her way.  He addressed it to her
college in the San Francisco Bay area, and his secretary had sent it out.
The girl was arriving in an hour, and he called Shane to his office.  He had
a meeting with Senators Percy and Wyner, and couldn't meet the girl at the
port.  He didn't want her to be met by a complete stranger, and Gooseman
was practically family anyway....

* * *

      Goose looked up to see a crowd milling around the baggage monitors
of Phoenix spaceport, and winced as klaxons pierced the air, matched only
by the voices of the two arguing at the source of the disturbance.  Somehow
he had a sinking feeling that one of those voices belonged to his charge.
      "...I'm telling you according to League of Planets regulations, no
weapons are allowed to enter or leave the port unless proper documentation
is presented..."
      "And I'm telling you I'm not going anywhere with out them!  They let
them on the shuttle in Frisco, and I don't see what the problem is here.
They're not even covered in the articles anyway.  That only covers hand
blasters and other powered devices!"  A woman's voice growled, and Goose
arrived to see a petit, slender woman with short cropped dark hair and
murder in her eyes wrestling with a port official for a valise.  He glanced at
the monitor to see what the X-Ray had revealed the contents to be, and
grimaced as he saw displayed there a vast arraignment of knives, throwing
stars, what appeared to be a centuries old katana, sai, shuriken, etc.  The
port official looked ready to burst a blood vessel, his face a dangerous
shade of purple.
      "Karen Walsh?"  Goose asked, afraid of the answer.
      "Who's asking?"  She took in his black off duty digs with skepticism.
      "Ranger Shane Gooseman.  Your uncle sent me to collect you."  He
raised a brow as she colored, and he gestured to her bags.  "This
everything?"  She nodded, and he picked the up with one hand, gesturing
for her to take the valise on the table as well, even as the official sputtered
in anger, and they walked out of the terminal.

* * *

      "So you're Gooseman."  She took a closer look as the approached his
flitter.  "I've heard a lot about you."
      "And I've seen your baby pictures.  Throw your stuff in the back."
He climbed in and punched in the key code.  "Do you make as much noise
everywhere you go?"
      "Only when somebody makes me mad."  She answered, snapping her
belt in place, and they lifted off in the direction of BETA mountain.  Goose
chuckled, and kicked the flitter into high gear.  This was gonna be one hell
of a recruit....

* * *

      Somehow, in her first month at BETA, Karen Walsh managed to spend
more time with the series five Rangers than she seemed to be spending in
training.  Every second of her spare time (Zach once remarked to Doc that
he certainly didn't remember having so much free time when he was a cadet)
was spent in the crew lounge, playing table tennis with Zach Jr. when he
arrived to spend his school holiday with his dad, or playing video games
with Doc, whom she could never, ever beat (and it made her crazy), or
trying to show Buzzwang the latest dance steps.
      She was a veritable bundle of energy.  As the Commander was her only
family, that made the S5's, in her eyes, extended family.  As long as she kept
her grades up (near perfect, though no one could quite figure out when the
hell she took the time to study) she was allowed the run of the base.  Most
cadets stuck with their own class, hanging out, and so on.  Not Karen.  First
thing, she and Niko got to chatting, mostly about some long dead Japanese
dynasty or sixteenth century samurai swords, and found they had a great
deal in common despite the difference in their ages.
      It was obvious to any and all that it was Karen's great ambition in life
to be a Ranger.  And perhaps, if she kept at it, it wasn't so such a far off
dream at all.  Although she did have a nasty habit of showing up in areas
where she had no clearance, and Doc was beginning to suspect she had some
hacking skills to rival his as she seemed to squeeze all kinds of classified
information out of Q-Ball's computers effortlessly.  The Commander was
always pulling one or another of the S5's aside, and asking them politely to
look after his niece, as she seemed to be `an accident waiting to happen' half
the time, and they would smile at his paternal tone, and promise.

Part I
Pawns


      Niko tapped the table impatiently with her fingertips, trying to resist
the urge to check her wrist chrono again.  It would only tell her that she
had just checked it two minutes earlier.  Of course he was late.  He was
always late.  No, not always, she reluctantly admitted, brushing a few
strands of russet hair from her cheek and tucking them behind one ear.
Finishing her last mouthful of tea, she was about to rise and get another
from the food dispenser when she saw Goose striding across the commissary
towards her table.  She glared at him.
      "Sorry I'm late."  He apologized as he settled into the booth.  She
continued to frown at him.  "Again."  He added.
      Shane Gooseman.  One lock of blond hair threatened to slip over one
of his startlingly green eyes.  Niko felt her expression soften against her
will.  She could never stay angry at him for long, not that she didn't try.
But he was just too.... Shane.  There was no other way to explain it.  They
had been working together for over two years, and never even got past the
first name stage.
      That wasn't really the truth.  Shane had always been protective
toward her.  In fact, though neither of them were aware of it, their
particular closeness had become a running joke among the tech crews who
serviced Ranger I and Goose's interceptor.  It had been said that Shane
Gooseman had a harem, with such prestigious members as Annie O, a savvy
cowgirl, Maya, blond amazon Princess from the anti-techno world of Tarkon,
even Daisy O'Mega, Irish outlaw leader.  Most simply believed that it was
only a matter of time before Niko joined their ranks, especially since they
had been paired for missions more often of late.
      Siobhan Flynn, head of the maintenance crew for bay seven, headed
up a pool as to which member of the brass was playing cupid, and how soon
the arrows would strike.  Flynn personally thought it might be Commander
Walsh himself, as he was practically a father to Gooseman, and the team's
strongest supporter.  Siobhan hadn't been the only one who had seen the
change that had come over the two S5 Rangers since a series of incidents
involving someone the council had dubbed "The Scarecrow".  The first time,
Niko had come back with a blaster wound in the shoulder, half on the mend
and obviously shaken, and Gooseman hadn't left her side for days.
      And then the second... Apparently there had been some more than
friendly competition between Maya of Tarkon and the lovely S5.  And of
course, Gooseman, being a man, hadn't noticed a thing.  Or at least
professed not to have.  One could never tell with him.  No one could accuse
the brass of playing matchmaker when the General snatched Captain Foxx,
Doc, and the two ambassadors, leaving Rangers Niko and Gooseman to go to
the tower alone to the rescue.  That had just been divine providence, owing
much to the General's fascination with Gooseman and metamorphs in
general.
      She continued to glare at him over the rim of her teacup in a playful
sort of way, silently demanding explanation.
      "Commander Walsh wants us to charge up, then meet the him in his
office for a new assignment."
      "What sort?  Why just us?"  She was intrigued.
      "He wouldn't say over the comm."  He shrugged, and they slipped out
of the booth and headed for the lab.

* * *

      "Rangers Niko and Gooseman reporting as ordered."  Niko smiled at
the man behind the desk as they entered the familiar office.
      Walsh would never forget the first time he had seen Niko.  Sixteen
years old, with more than a hint the old-fashioned about her, her
application for BETA had council members shaking their heads for days.  No
surname, a planet of origin that wasn't even on their maps and a psi rating
off the scales. They hadn't known what to make of her.  He hadn't known
what to make of her.
      Later, he had received a visitation by a tiny, wizened figure (she must
have been sixty-five even then) with hair white as snow and pince-nez
glasses perched precariously on her nose, her blue eyes flashing
impossibly bright as she unfolded Niko's story for the dumbstruck Walsh.
      Apparently, Xanadu wasn't on their maps because it had no business
being on their intergalactic maps, and was hidden from prying eyes for a
very good reason.  A haven and training ground for people of power from
all races, the inhabitants `adopted' children showing promise and trained
them in the use of their gifts.  Niko had been five years old when her
parents lifeless cruiser drifted into their space, drawn by the gravity of
the cloaked planet.  The child had been given the only lifepod, and her
parents had perished when the lifesupport systems in the cabin had given
out.  Ariel herself had raised the girl, and Niko was her best student.  Again
and again she told Walsh that the only reason she had allowed Niko to
petition to join the newly formed BETA was to broaden her horizons and
answer some of the girl's persistent questions about the people and planet
of her origin.
      Walsh had the girl accepted immediately.  Her scores on the
applicant's test were perfect anyway, as were her blaster range tests.  He
was pleased to find she had a passion for archaeology, and had seen to it
that she was enrolled in some classes.  All of this was done without the girl's
knowledge, of course.  It wasn't proper for an incoming ensign to be known
as a favorite of the brass, after all.  He had suffered enough from acting as
Gooseman's mentor during the failed Supertrooper project.  Walsh still
blamed himself for the boy's change from a sensitive young man into bitter,
dedicated adult.  That whole project had been doomed from the start, the
council had told him, and wanted Shane to be put under observation
immediately least he show any "abnormal tendencies".
      Walsh had been forced to bury his anger, and turn the council's own
red tape and bureaucracy against them.  Shane was forever on the "waiting
list" of the medical staff, and in the meantime, Walsh had him admitted on a
trial basis to the Ranger program.  With the advent of the Andorian drive
and the opening of diplomatic relations with Andor, Kirwin and others,
thanks to his new friends Waldo and Zozo, he would need men like Gooseman
and women like Niko.  The council may have been blind as to the real state
of affairs in the universe, but Walsh certainly wasn't going to be caught
napping.  He also had his eye on a promising young tech in Q-Ball's
burgeoning computers lab, and career officer Zachary Foxx was up for a
promotion as well....
      Walsh permitted himself a small smile at the memories.  This team was
his baby, and everyone knew it.  Five years in the making, tested mission
after mission, the S5 Rangers were the very best.  And he was, despite
popular belief, perfectly aware of Flynn's pool in bay seven.  Personally,
he had the smart money on Ariel herself.  That old woman had been
meddling with official business for years.... He wouldn't put anything past
her.
      "Rishawn was only discovered and classified five years ago, and
though it has no indigenous sentient lifeforms, it is covered with very
sophisticated ruins and structures, and has therefore been of interest to
historians and archaeologists all over the universe.  Until recently, it was
closed off by the Council until it could be studied and so forth.  Two months
ago it was opened to archaeologists, who had been monitored carefully by
BETA since their work began."  Walsh paused for effect.  "Three weeks ago,
their check-ins stopped.  They entire team appears to have disappeared."
      "But that was a dig team of 37 people!" Niko exclaimed.
      "I am sending you and Ranger Gooseman in to find out the source, if
you can, of the disappearances.  A satellite in orbit has shown no craft
landed other than the workers, no intruder, no attempt at a distress call.
I have chosen you, Niko, for your knowledge of the planet and the dig.
Gooseman shall be escort and guard.  I would send all of you, but the
council thinks the risk too great."  So they send the girl with no past and
the Supertrooper.  Nice. Shane kept this ironic little thought to himself,
though he knew the same thing had crossed Commander Walsh's mind as
well.  What could they do?  You can't fight city hall.
      Niko, however, was oblivious of any of the Council of Leaders darker
motives, mind whirling with the opportunity to study Rishawn first hand.
She had been following its exploration for years in the journals.  It took a
hell of a lot to get clearance to dig there.  She knew.  She had tried to apply
two months ago when the news that they were opening up security filtered
through.  She had been denied, though she knew twelve of the men and
women who were chosen.

      They landed the two-seater interceptor without any problems, setting
her down next to the archaeologist's ships.  Kind of like a intergalactic
parking lot, Goose thought to himself as they hopped out of the cabin.  No
two ships were alike, and there were about fifteen of them in all.  Most were
small freighters or personal shuttles.  One or two bore the names of
influential colleges and museums.  Niko had stopped before one of the
freighters, a boxy little number with just about enough room for three or
four people, provided two or three sat in the hold with the cargo.  She was
running a hand along the inscription, lost in thought.
      "This is Professor Ford's ship.  I attended a lecture course of his
once.  He tried to get me included as part of his team on this dig."  She
sighed.  "I refuse to get depressed.  I have work to do, and am too excited."
      "You are excited?"  He raised a brow, taking in the apparently vast
wasteland before them.
      "Think of the place you would most like to be in the Universe.  Now
imagine you tried to get there, but were told you couldn't go.  Than,
miraculously, someone hands you a ticket and there you are.  That's me."
      "It's just a pile of rocks to me."
      "You are impossible."  She frowned at him.  "Don't you understand
what an amazing archaeological find this world is?"
      "I guess so."
      "You guess so."  She sighed.  "We'd best set up the signal beacon."
Walsh had given them specific instructions.  Once they arrived, set up the
beacon.  The satellite in orbit would monitor the signal.  Should one or
either of them disappear, or require assistance, the beacon, set to home in
on their wristcoms, would stop transmitting, and they would know to come
and investigate.  At least that was the plan.  It hadn't exactly been tested
before this.
      "You are annoyed."  Goose observed.
      "Of course not, don't be silly."
      "You are, you're annoyed with me."
      "You just never try and understand."
      "You're right, I don't understand why you would want to spend so
much time in holes in the ground, looking for things that people left behind
centuries before you were born."
      "Ever since I was a little girl, I wanted to know where I came from.
What Earth was like, and once I studied all I could about the present, I
wanted to know it's past.  I guess that spread to every world, not just
Earth."
      "I just don't understand why you spent so much time with dead times
and worlds and people, when there's so much else you're missing."
      "What, you mean instead of hanging out with other cadets and
drinking myself into a stupor and joyriding to the orbital stations every
weekend?"  Niko thought back to her academy days with a rueful grin.  "I
made some really good friends in those seminars and digs."
      "I bet you never dated."  Goose shot back, with a grin.
      "I did too!"  She protested.
      They worked quickly, as they only had an hour of daylight left.
Rishawn was in its "winter", and though it could reach temperatures of 40
Celsius during the day, at night it dropped below freezing.  They set up the
small camp, consisting of a tent, two thermal blankets/bedrolls and a
cookstove.  Niko had hoped to take a look around before dinner, but there
was virtually no dusk, more like night suddenly descended.  One minute
they were laying out the bedrolls, the next they were plunged into
darkness, alleviated a little by a powerpack lantern, and the temperatures
were plummeting.  The dig site would have to wait until dawn.
      "Did you date?"  Goose asked as they laid out their bedrolls.
      "Occasionally.  I'm sure not nearly as often as say... you."
      "Oh not, not the harem jokes again."
      "Flynn gets around.  She's quite in awe of you."  She laughed, and he
shook his head.
      "She's nosy."
      As they got under their blankets, Niko realised something important.
      "I'm freezing.  I don't think Q-ball realised just how cold Rishawn gets."
      "It'd be warmer if you had two."  He informed her.
      "But we don't....Oh."  She suddenly took his meaning.  "I'll be okay."
She rolled back over and tried to keep her teeth from chattering.  After
about five minutes of this, she heard him get up, kept her eyes tightly shut
as he draped his blanket over hers, and crawled in beside her.  She could
feel a blush rising in her cheeks as she felt the warmth of his arms and
chest against her back.
      "Better?"  He asked, and she started, for his mouth was right next to
her ear, his breath stirring her hair.
      "Mmmhmm."  She managed an affirmative sound, wondering *how the
hell am I going to sleep like this?* and she thought she heard him laugh.
She remained stiff for a moment, then relaxed a little bit as the warmth
began to spread, and she was no longer shivering.  Finally she heard his
regular breathing, and knew he must be asleep, and then she closed her
eyes and tried to join him.

* * *

      Goose woke first, rather slowly, opening his eyes without moving
anything else so we would not wake her as well.  In sleep, she had turned
to face him, nestling her head in the crook of his arm, cheek against his
chest.  He had his arms around her, just for warmth, he kept reminding
himself, though he realized it was rather nice waking this way, just
watching her sleep, the steady rise and fall of her chest, her breath warm
against his neck.  He wondered what it would be like to wake this way every
day, and then as he realized where that thought was going, he clamped
down hard on it.  After all, this was Niko, the woman he'd worked with for
two years, fought alongside, joked with, ate with.  These sort of thoughts
could ruin a perfectly good friendship, he decided as Niko stirred against
him, her hair brushing his chin, leg against his as she sought a more
comfortable position.
      This... this is not good.
      His arm tightened around her reflexively as she stirred again, and he
wondered what Rishawn had to offer in the way of cold showers.  Maybe I
should get up and start breakfast.  She stirred again, eyes opening slowly,
and she made some small morning type sound.  Then she realised where she
was, who she was with, and exactly how close they were.  She blushed.
      "Good morning."  He offered, still not moving, smiling a bit at her
flaming cheeks.  She took a deep breath, and he felt the pulse beneath his
hand, could see it in the hollow of her throat.  Beautiful long white throat...
he wondered if her skin would be as soft as it looked beneath.... Stop it,
Gooseman.  You'll just get in trouble thinking things like that.  Suddenly
she was out of his arms, and getting the food packets out of her pack.  He
felt a quick stab of loss once her warm body was gone, and quelled it with
a thought, leaning down to pull his boots back on, fold the blankets.  Either
they found extras, or he was going to be driven crazy for the next three
days.

      The temperature rose quickly, once the sun was up, and as sweat
began to dampen the back of her uniform and run into her eyes so she had
to mop her forehead every few seconds, Niko wondered how she had ever
been cold enough the night before to do what she had.  Not that anything
had really happened.  Only something had, she was sure of it.  It was all
very confusing.  She wanted to shake the cobwebs out, get herself back on
track.  It didn't help that the object of her thoughts was right in front of
her, a constant reminder.
      They descended into the dig site, using a hastily constructed railing
consisting of a piece of rope strung through metal hoops driven into the
rock face the team had been digging into, and she smiled at the memories
such a site dredged up.  She hadn't been on a dig in a long time.  Maybe
next time she got leave, she would get together with the guys she had
studied with and plan something.
      At the bottom of the quarry-like site, remains of several old buildings
had been unearthed.  She waved the scanner around, looking for life signs
of any kind, hoping but not really surprised when nothing turned up.  The
crates for packing artifacts were still littered around, as were tools,
instruments, the remains of meals.  It was like something had just reached
down and scooped the team up.  Like they were on a break, and would be
back any minute.
      "Hey, I think I found something!"  Shane called her over to one corner
of the site.  There was a wide crack in the rock face, and she could just
make out the shape of columns cut into the stone, almost invisible unless
you were really looking for them. She waved the scanner in front of the
opening, looking for any sort of barrier, trap, anything.  The scanner
didn't even read it as there.  She frowned, and then decided to take a more
direct approach.  The gizmo went back into its case, and she touch the stone
with one hand, her badge the other.
      As the charge was activated, she felt the familiar world rushing away,
steeled herself for the vision that was to come.  She saw the site as it must
have been weeks before, men, women and 'droids rushing about, talking,
laughing, arguing.  She saw Professor Ford discover the opening, and then
suddenly it was like a curtain had been dropped over the entire scene,
grey blocking out everything as an undeniable presence of some kind
reached out to draw one cold finger along her spine.  She stiffened, unable
to move, speak, even breath as something probed her mind and body,
spreading a stone-like cold through her limbs... She wanted to scream, cry
out, something-
      Shane saw her features slacken, the pulse beating wildly at her
temple, her cheeks grown paler and paler as all the blood rushed away.  He
swore, and tried to wrench her hand away from the stone, but it was as if
she was carved of the very rock itself, immobile.  Suddenly she collapsed,
like a puppet whose strings were cut.  He caught her up, resting her head
against his arm, feeling her cold hand, looking for a pulse.  Her heart had
stopped for a moment, he was frantic.  She lay as if dead.  Suddenly her
color returned, and she sucked in air, taking a breath like someone who had
been drowning, and her limbs convulsed.  He called her name, held her until
the spasm passed, and she blinked, then looked at him.  She sat up, still
gulping in air, cheeks flushed now.
      "There was something there...Something."  She repeated, hand to her
head as if it would fall off.
      "Something that almost killed you."  He remarked, not letting go just
yet.  Not till he was sure she was okay.  It was a good thing too, because she
knew she wouldn't have been able to stand without support anyway.
Suddenly the scream of engines blocked out all other noise as a small craft,
like an interceptor, but sleeker, commercial as it had no weapons or
defenses, streaked overhead and turned to land next to the site.
      Was Shane really all that surprised when he saw Karen Walsh skipping
down the incline towards them?  Hell no.  He had almost been expecting it
from the start.
      "What are you doing here, young lady?"  Goose replaced his gun in his
holster, frowning.  He knew she must have gotten the coordinates from the
computer at BETA, but how she could have gotten clearance, past the
defenses and the satellite, he had no idea.  Karen was always full of
surprises.
      "I have good news and I have bad news."  She chirped, ignoring the
fact that Niko looked about ready to fall over, and was leaning against Goose
as if she would never leave his side.  "The good news is, Uncle Joe sent me."
      "And the bad?"  Niko had a feeling she knew what was coming.
      "The bad news is I lied about the good news, and by the way, someone
kicked the communications satellite out of orbit."
      "That's impossible!  It would have notified BETA, and this place would
be crawling with interceptors."
      "Not so, intrepid explorers.  The signal is still being transmitted and
picked up by sensors back on Earth.  However, the satellite that is
supposed to be transmitting that signal is not, because it is not in orbit any
longer.  The signal is coming from the planet."
      "There is something here, I felt it.  It could be transmitting."  Niko
tried to call back the memory of the presence, match it against something
familiar, classify it somehow.  "It was what must have gotten the team.  I saw
them, and then everything went grey."  She tried to put it into words, not
very successfully either.  She frowned.  "How did you get here?"
      "I flew.  That handy little pleasure ship over there was my graduation
present from Uncle Joe.  It has an Andorian Drive, and everything.  It was
shipped from Frisco last week.  My mechanic, Skeeter, couldn't get it
running until then.  Some problem with the fuel."
      "I mean how did you get off Base?  Moreover, why?  Why did you
follow?"
      "I just knew you guys would need help.  I've got a sixth sense for
trouble."
      "That's because it follows you wherever you go."  Goose quipped, and
Karen glared at him.
      "You shouldn't have come.  Commander Walsh will kill us."  Niko
sighed.
      "No he won't.  He doesn't even know I'm gone.  I told him I was taking
in a lecture course on New Jersey.  I signed up, paid for it out of my own
pocket.  He'll never know."
      "Great.  This is just great!"  Goose was a bit exasperated.  "Are you
crazy?  You don't `tag along' on a search and rescue mission.  You're not
even authorized to be on this planet!"  But Karen wasn't listening to him,
nor even looking at him.  She was staring, dark eyes wide, at something
above them, out of the crater and to the left.
      "I think I just saw a fifty foot tall Egyptian guy walk by."  She said
it so calmly the two S5's just stared at her as if she had gone mad.  "Yeah,
I definitely saw a fifty foot tall Egyptian guy walk by.  I think he's heading
for the camp."  She nodded, and as if in answer, they felt the ground jump
a bit beneath their feet, as if in time to the step of a fifty foot tall
 Egyptian
guy. They dashed up out of the site in time to see exactly what Karen had
described, a sandstone giant with the head of a pharaoh lumbering toward
the "parking lot".
      "No!"  All three cried out as it's foot coming crashing down on the nose
of the two-seater crushing it like a bug, destroying an entire line of
freighters and cruisers as it headed off into the west.  They just stood
there, shaking their heads in disbelief as if disappeared into the distance.
      "What the hell was that?"  Karen finally managed, putting words to the
dark look on Goose's face.
      "I think it was King-"  Niko began, but they never heard the name,
because she was suddenly gone, as if a hand from the sky had plucked her
out of their midst.  Shane swore again, just as the desert terrain of the dig
disappeared, and a forest sprang up around them.
      "Somebody's messing with the reality machine."  Karen whistled,
touching one of the trees to make sure it was solid.  She turned back to
Shane, and gasped when she realized he was wearing not the familiar blue
and white uniform, but a shirt of mail, trews and had a longsword belted at
his side.  "Who are you supposed to be?  Sir Lancelot?"
      "Take a good look at yourself."  Shane swung the sword, testing the
balance.
      "Cripes, I'm Robin Hood!"  She took in the green outfit, and stupid cap
perched on her short dark hair.  She took it off, inspecting the feather
tucked in the brim, and threw it over her shoulder in disgust.  Instead of
a sword, she was delighted to find a longbow and a quiver of arrows
strapped to her back.  "Thank heaven I can use these!"
      "I wonder what kind of game we are meant to play?"  Goose touched
the blade, seeing how sharp it was.

      Niko surveyed her surroundings carefully, feeling along the smooth
grey walls for any sort of crack or opening.  She was in a dimly lit room,
though she could not find the source of the light to save her life, and her
uniform and badge were nowhere to be found.  She was instead in a dark
green dress of some kind, perhaps thirteenth century France or England,
trimmed with gold ribbon and piping, looking nothing so much as like a
princess in a fairy tale.  And she was furious.
      "What have you done with my friends?"  She yelled to the ceiling.  No
response.  Just like the last four times she had yelled the question.  "Where
am I?"  She began to pace, shoving at the walls every now and again, hoping
they might give, let her out.  Suddenly she stiffened, aware of the same
presence that had probed her the last time.  "Who are you?"  She
whispered, sure that it heard her.  Suddenly the grey walls around her
vanished, replaced by the stones of a tower room.  She could look out the
window, and saw a dense forest bellow.  That had been rock and desert only
moments before, she had been sure of it.  And the ruins were gone.  Even
the contours of the land had changed.
      "Who I am is not relevant."  A disembodied voice answered, and she
almost jumped.
      "What is relevant?"  She asked, eyes narrowing.
      "The experiment."
      "What experiment?  Is this-"  She fingered the skirt of the dress "part
of the experiment?"
      "Affirmative."  The voice responded.
      "What is the purpose of this `experiment?'"
      "I am programmed, as you would say, to study and understand the
behavior of humans.  For this purpose, you and your companions are to be
held here.  I have reconstructed a mating ritual of your people, having
discerned from your actions that you and the male of the species have
displayed such tendencies as described in the chivalric code and all related
psychological texts-"
      "What nonsense are you talking about, mating rituals, chivalric code-"
      "I have scanned your memory banks and found-"
      "We are flesh and blood beings.  We do not have `memory banks'." 
Niko snapped.
      "This is not true.  You are not entirely flesh and blood beings.  Two
of you have computer implants in your brains.  Thus I must study you
further."  She realized it was talking about the S5 implants, and her jaw
dropped.
      "And the thirty seven other flesh and blood beings you studied? 
What of them?"
      "They could not pass the tests I had devised for them, nor withstand
the study.  They were terminated."
      "And so if we do not pass your tests, are we to be destroyed as well?"
      "I cannot say without further input."
      "What tendencies did you observe in us that you chose this `ritual' to
reconstruct?"
      "Upon arrival, the male and a female of the species first argued, then
ate together, then shared the same dwelling.  By monitoring the
physiological responses of the male and female, I discerned that the pulse
rate, body temperature and nerve ending responses were higher when
together in close proximity than when separated, thus I concluded that
there was definite `physical attraction' between the male and the female, as
it is referred to in all related psychological texts.  According to my
programming, I must study this phenomena further, and have chosen this
scenario as the most common among humans and most likely to produce the
desired results."
      "Are you telling me that while I'm up here in this tower playing Fairy
Princess, Shane is down there somewhere slaying dragons?"
      "Affirmative."
      "That's barbaric!"  She exploded.  "What did you take your research
from, B-movies?  Where is my badge?"
      "I have confiscated the alien pieces of circuitry for further study."
      "What about Karen?"
      "The human without the neural implant had been left as an assistant to
the male specimen in this scenario."  And then the presence was gone,
probably conjuring up knights for Shane to defeat so it could study his
reactions.  Niko fumed, pacing the smaller confines of the tower room, and
finally sat on the window ledge.  It must have been over five stories up.  If
she could activate her charge to shield her, the jump would have been no
problem.  As it was, she thought if she make a rope of some kind, to lower
herself part of the way, maybe then she could clear the distance without
broken bones.
      She tried to tear the skirt of the dress into strips, but the fabric
wouldn't give.  It wasn't organic, that much she could discern.  The
presence, which she was beginning to think of as a computer of some kind,
could reproduce objects by sight, but could not understand the actual
material of them.  For example, the stones of the wall were perfect down to
the last detail, except that they were not true stone, and the tower had no
scent of any kind.  No damp stones, as a real tower would smell.  The room
seemed to be made of plastic or metal of some kind.  Perhaps a hybrid of
both.  And it was completely clean, antiseptic in its rendering.  She
wondered if it really had gotten its research from Sword and Sorcery
movies.

* * *

      "What now, boss?"
      "I'm guessing that's our destination."  He gestured to the tower that
seemed to have sprung out of nothing while their backs were turned.  Karen
blushed, feeling stupid, then fell in step behind Gooseman.
      "What the hell is going on?  Is Niko there?"  She grimaced.  "Sorry,
stupid question.  Just shoot me.  It would be so much less painful." 
Suddenly she stopped in her tracks, straining to hear something...
      "What is it?"
      "Something... Like wings..."  The sun seemed to disappear for a
moment, and they looked up to see a long dark shape blocking its light. 
"Holy shi--"  It swooped down, and they dove to hug the ground as the air
above them sizzled.
      "A dragon!  I don't believe it!"  Karen cried as she watched it wing
away, but Shane knew it was coming by for another pass, and drew the
sword.  "Are you mad?  You don't even have a shield."
      "Shut up and do whatever it is you're supposed to do with that
damned bow and arrow."
      "I could always play cupid."  She smirked, but readied herself for
another pass.  When the `dragon' was in sight, red scales glistening in the
light, yellow eyes glowing, she aimed for one of the glowing orbs just as
Shane swung the blade for the underbelly.
      Karen loosed, dodging a blast of flame, and Goose heard black blood
sizzle like acid as it hit the forest floor. The beast let out an ear shattering
scream, and another burst of flame almost singed Karen's eyebrows.  She
let lose another shaft, and this one found it's mark.  The wyrm went down,
and Goose was on top of it in a trice, drawing the sword across its throat,
shooing Karen out of the path of deadly burning ichor.
      "So much for trial number one."  She kicked the corpse
contemptuously.
      "Not a bit like Fitzmorris."  He remarked.
      "Fitzwho?"
      "Never mind.  Let's just get going."  The castle looked to be perhaps
two clicks away, hopefully less.  Time for a short hike.

      "You are not human."  The presence had returned.  Niko was sitting
indian style in the centre of the tower room, and did not even bother to look
up.
      "Of course I am."  Stay calm.  You have to just stay calm.
      "The male specimen is not.  His genetic codes differ from yours and
the standard human norm."
      "He is a Supertrooper." She raised a brow.  Make sense of that, you
bloody-
      "If he is not the standard human norm, the parameters of the
experiment mush be changed."  Her blood suddenly ran cold.  Surely it did
not mean to terminate-
      "How changed?  You have his badge.  He is no more than human
without it."
      "The parameters of the experiment must change."  And then it was
gone again, leaving her to fume in silence.

* * *

      "Is it just me, or does that thing get farther and farther away with
every step we take?"  Karen frowned.
      "Whoever's running this show isn't playing by the rules."
      "This game has rules?"
      "Quiet."  He scanned the undergrowth, which was getting denser by
the second.  Something just wasn't right.  Besides the fact that their ship
had been stepped on by a stone giant, he was dressed like Prince Valiant,
and they'd been attacked by fire breathing dragons.  And the tower seemed
no closer than when they'd started their hike.  Something else was wrong.
Something more immediate-
      "Hey!" Karen yelped as a vine disengaged itself from a tree and
wrapped itself around her forearm.  Shane chopped it off with his sword,
and found the entire forest had come to life around them.  He started
hacking away at the branches that reached out to grab them like something
out of a child's nightmare, while Karen dodged and backflipped away from
dancing vines.
      She was a bit too slow, and one snaked around her throat, trying to
throttle her.  She tore at it with frantic fingers, and Goose chopped at the
branch wrapped around his thigh.  He freed himself and severed the tendril
at the root.  The plant gave a squeal of protest and he grabbed Karen and
ran for the edge of the forest.
      They broke free of the line of trees, and found the tower directly in
front of them.  Behind it the landscape was Rishawn as they had first seen
it, and they could make out the edge of the "parking Lot" in the distance.
      "Think it's real?"
      "Hope so.  You head for the ships.  See if any of them are left in one
piece.  And keep an eye out for traps."
      "Is it wise to split up like this?"
      "Only one way to tell.  I'm going in.  Whatever happens, do not leave
the parking lot.  Promise me."
      "I swear, I swear.  Get in there and get out as quick as you can."
      "Aye-aye ma'am."  He saluted, and they headed off their separate
ways.
      Karen set off for the line of ships at a dead run, and halfway across
the field, her clothing changed back.  She stopped, looked back and saw the
Tower had disappeared as well.  She swore, and continued in towards the
remains of the cruisers.  Whatever was going to happen, the rangers were
going to have to deal with it on their own.  Something didn't want her
around any longer...

* * *

      Gooseman saw Karen disappear, and was about to go after her when
he ran straight into an invisible wall.
      "Okay.  You've got my attention."  He muttered beneath his breath,
and headed back toward the tower.  He craned his neck, trying to see in the
window half a kilometer up.  He stepped back, until he could just make out
the ledge.
      "Niko!"  He called through cupped hands.  No answer.  He looked
around for a way inside.  There was no door at its base.  He swore, then
shouted her name again.
      In the tower room, Niko continued to pace, furious.  She stopped for
a moment, listened, then resumed her pacing.  Then she heard her name,
clearly this time.  She ran to the window, leaned out.
      "Goose!"  She saw the tiny figure below, could just make out his
frown.  "Are you all right?"
      "I was just about to ask you the same thing."
      "There's some kind of computer running this show."  She called back
down.  "This is all part of an experiment."  As if on cue, a door appeared in
the wall of the tower.
      "Great.  I'm coming up."
      "Shane wait-"  But he had disappeared.  She swore.  *Where was
Karen?*

* * *

      Stairs.  Stairs and more stairs.  However, no more dragons.  At least
something was in his favor.  Goose cleared them three at a time, and still
they stretched into seeming infinity.
      "Why do you continue?"  The disembodied voice stopped him cold.
      "Who are you?  What do you want?"
      "Why do you continue?  To what purpose?"
      "You are holding my friend against her will."
      "She has not been harmed."
      "Yet."
      "Leave this planet.  I give you leave.  Your ship is outside, intact.
Leave now, and I will not kill you."
      "Not without my comrade."
      "You would die for her?"
      "Yes."  He answered without hesitating.
      "You are a strange species."  A door suddenly appeared in front of
him.  He tried the knob hesitantly.


      Niko saw the door appear.  Her jaw dropped when it opened, revealing
Gooseman.
      "Shane!"  He smiled at her, stepping into the room and she rushed to
meet him.  "What are you wearing?"  She took in the shirt of mail, and bright
tunic.
      "Appropriate to rescue the damsel in distress, don't you think?"  He
was still smiling, but did not move away from the door.
      "Hardly.  This isn't funny, so you just wipe that grin off your face.
Where's Karen?"
      "I'm not grinning at the situation.  I'm smiling at you.  Nice dress."
      "Stop it."  She playfully punched him on the shoulder, more relieved
than she could imagine at his reappearing whole, unhurt and in such good
spirits.  Suddenly he caught her hand, pulling her close.
      "What the hell-"  And then he was *kissing* her.

* * *

      Goose slammed into the door and was rewarded by a groan as the wood
split and he stumbled into the tower room.  Niko sprang up, smiling, and he
was glad to see she was no worse for wear, though he couldn't help but
notice how the deep green gown was cut remarkably low, and clung to her
hips in a most un-regulation fashion.  She blushed, looking down at the
dress, and folded her arms over her chest, tossing her hair.
      "Took you long enough."
      "That's what I get for playing hero."  He reached over to grasp her
hand, and headed for gaping hole that used to be the door, when she
suddenly stopped short.  He turned back puzzled.
      "For being my hero."  She suddenly got up on her tiptoes and planted
her lips firmly on his.

* * *

      At first she was so shocked she could hardly believe it, and then when
his arms tightened around her, she felt herself responding to the pressure
of his lips, the sudden hunger that was building up inside her.  But
something about the way his hand strayed lower and lower, his lips' hard
demand, it wasn't right... Why were they doing this when the entire place
could fall in on them any minute and where was Karen?  She tried to break
out of his embrace and found she was held fast.
      "Let me go!  You're not Shane."  She struggled, and the not-Gooseman
did not answer, only squeeze tighter.

* * *

      To have a warm, willing, and surprisingly passionate Niko suddenly
thrown into his arms was a bit too much for Goose.  For a moment the world
rushed away from him as she locked her arms around his neck, and he
found his own were around her waist.  She strained against him, and he
wondered what exactly was going on as she turned her head to kiss him
more deeply, hands playing with the hair on his neck.
      He shook himself out of the reverie.  No matter how pleasant it may be,
there was a time and a place for this sort of thing, and a make-believe tower
run by a mad computer that might un-form beneath their very feet was
definitely not the right place.  He tried to uncoil her arms from about his
neck, but she clung to him like ivy on a wall.
      "We have to get out of here.  Karen is outside trying to free up one of
the ships in the parking lot."
      "We don't have to stop."  She whispered against his mouth.  "We can
stay here forever, and be perfectly safe.  Don't you want me?"  He stared
at her in disbelief, and saw a strange fire in her eyes, dilated till there was
barely a rim of blue-green halo-ing the enormous black pupils.  Her breath
was coming fast and was sweet as honey on his cheek.  He frowned.
Something was just too ripe about this whole thing.  He shook her off, and
she was still panting, looking for all the world like she wanted him to tumble
her right there on the stone floor.
      This was not the Niko he knew.
      This was not Niko at all.
      The world went grey.

* * *

      It was as if the walls began to melt.  Niko could sense the presence,
furious as a computer could apparently become, even as she felt the
construct tighten its hold on her, cutting off her air supply.  She swore she
could see someone through the swirling curtain of grey, and tried every
move she knew to break free of the hold before she passed out from lack of
oxygen.
      The world was spinning, and she wasn't sure if it was her or the
computer dissolving the illusion.  She caught a glimpse of the figures again,
and realised as the veil parted around them that it appeared to be Shane
and her locked in a passionate embrace.  She struggled again, feeling for
all the world as if her lungs would burst, and saw Goose toss aside the copy
of herself suddenly.  She opened her mouth to cry out, and could not make
a sound.
      Is this how you mean to terminate us?  She cried out with her mind.
Is this how you mean to end the experiment?  She felt the answering shock
of anger ripple through her manifested as a squeeze from the construct,
and she swore she heard ribs snapping.
      Goose saw the construct of Niko hit the floor, or what should have
been the floor had the floor not dissolved a few seconds before.  That was
when he saw his double with what appeared to be the real Niko, and it
looked as if she wasn't going to last much longer.  He leapt across the odd
grey distance between them, trying to land a blow on some likely part of the
construct doppelganger so that it might release her before she snapped in
two.
      Suddenly the Niko-construct leapt on his back, arms around his neck,
trying to crush his wind pipe.  He flipped it over his head, pleased to see
it landed on the copy of him.  The small group went down in a sprawl, and
he could hear Niko's short cry as she was finally able to drawn in her first
tortured breath.  She dragged herself away from the two constructs, now
struggling to get up, found the real Goose at her elbow.
      They looked at each other, not having the time to be embarrassed, but
feeling it anyway, as well as an eerie sort of disgust as the two copies of
them got to their feet.  They braced themselves for a fight when the grey
landscape was suddenly replaced by the dig site.
      They blinked in the sudden bright sunlight, saw their uniforms,
minus their badges, were back.  They looked at each other, just for a
second to see if it really was their fellow ranger next to them, and not
another construct.  When neither of them made a move to strangle and/or
kiss the other, they sighed in relief.
      That was when the planet began to shake.  It lurched beneath their
feet, and they struggled for balance as the ground broke, stones pushing
themselves out of crevices, rock raining from the sides of the site.  They
dashed for the stairs, ducking falling debris.
      "It's getting angry."  Niko remarked as they reached level ground,
seeing the effect magnified in the parking lot.  Dozens of ships, including
Karen's little interceptor, lay on their sides in crevices, crushed or just
flipped over by all the sudden seismic activity.  They scanned the yard for
any sign of Karen, stumbling again as the ground leapt beneath their feet.
Niko grasped Shane's forearm in an effort to stay upright, and their eyes
met, if only for a moment.  Damn, but they were going to have a lot to talk
about later...
      Scream of engines made them look up to see one boxy freighter,
Professor Ford's no less, struggling to lift off.  They made for it, found the
hatch open, Karen in the pilot seat.
      "Where the hell have you two been?"  She yelled, jerking her head
towards the hatch to the cargo bay.  "Get in."
      "I'm driving."  Shane frowned.
      "The hell you are.  My dad used to have one of these old T-40s.  It's
been a while, but at least I know how not to blow us up."  The planet shook
again, and Niko could feel the presence looking for them, angry and
confused.  *It must be overloading*, she decided, wishing Doc were there
to confirm or deny her diagnosis.  It had drawn all of its power back into
itself, all the constructs, in an effort to find them and destroy them.  So
much for the passive observer.  This experiment was over.  They climbed
into the back, hearing the door hiss behind them over the death throes of
Rishawn's guardian.  Shane was almost amused.  *It figures, that thing
shorting out trying to make sense of our relationship*.

      Back in the hold, Niko and Goose didn't look at each other.  Niko, for
one, was too confused and embarrassed by the events of the past day, and
needed a few hours just to figure out what exactly had happened, and how
much of it was real, or manipulated by Rishawn's presence.  Goose was also
hard at thought and had opened his mouth to say something when he was
cut off by Karen.
      "You guys belted in back there?"  Karen's voice floated back from the
tiny bridge of the freighter.
      "What?"  Niko began, but suddenly Karen gunned the engine, and the
little ship leap forward, throwing her off balance and against Shane, who
held tight to her until they levelled off.
      She kept her eyes screwed shut, fully aware that her cheek was
pressed against his chest, the badge affixed to his uniform beneath her jaw.
She could hear his heart.  Feel it beating so fast next to her ear.  She moved
to straighten up, sure he could see the pulse beating wildly in her throat,
but his arms remained locked around her.  She looked up to find him
staring at her in complete wonder, green eyes dancing.  She felt a flush rise
in her cheeks, wanted to break away but couldn't move.
      They stood there in the dark corner of the cabin, suddenly awkward.
This was real, not a part of some experiment.  He was going to kiss her.
They both knew it even before he bent his head to hers, brushing her lips
with his own.
      "Hope I didn't scare you guys."  Karen's voice shocked them out of
the moment.  She had found the intercom, and the speaker was right next
to their ears.  "I'm gonna engage the drive in a minute.  We should be home
in less than an hour.  You two rest easy, okay?  Rishawn is just shaking
itself to pieces down there, and it looks like we're home free."  There was
laughter in the girl's voice as she cut off the channel.  Niko rested her
forehead against Shane's chest, sighing at the cadet's timing, and Goose
rested his chin on the top of her head, chuckling.  They parted, finally.
      She didn't look at him, not right away.  She had no idea what to say,
first of all.  She sat on the padded metal bench, feeling along the seat for
the safety belt, cheeks still burning as she held it, not buckling it around
her, just feeling the weight of the clasp in her hand.  She knew he was still
standing there, watching her.  She could feel his eyes, knew the halfsmile
that was sure to be playing with the corner of his mouth.  *Well, girlfriend?*
She could almost hear Karen's voice.  *Where's all your confidence now?*
Finally she raised her eyes.
      Goose had been waiting for this.  He had never realised it before, but
he had been waiting for something like this for over a year.  It was more
than just the whole mess with the constructs.  That was certainly part of it,
but all it had done was point something out to him that he had always
known, but never really acknowledged.  His blood burned with the memory
of her in his arms that morning, the intensity surprising him a bit, though
not much.  The feel of her hair, like silk beneath his fingers, the warmth of
her breath against his cheek, he couldn't escape it.  And here she was,
staring at him with those eyes that were neither green nor blue, but
somewhere in-between.  Waiting.
      Always she was there, at his shoulder, to warn him, help, cover his
back.  Ever since the very beginning.  He had called it comradeship,
friendship, a million other names though he had known the truth.  From the
moment they had met there had always been the promise of more than just
friendship, but both of them had been afraid to cross the line.  He had
worked side by side with her for two years, teasing, laughing, sometimes
just watching her.  He had never been able to figure out how someone so
young could be so poised, and elegant at the same time, somehow timeless.
Yet now, she seemed painfully young, and he realised how honest she had
always tried to be with him, and with herself.   So many hundreds of little
things, all spelling it out, and he not able to read a word of it.
      So there they were.  The inevitable had happened, and he had no idea
what to say, what words would fit the thoughts running through his head.
So he decided to trust his instincts.
      "Shane?"
      He pushed himself away from the wall, and closed the distance
between them in an instant.  She just followed him with her eyes, gaze
never wavering as he took her by the hand, pulled her up, took her face in
his hands and gave her the kiss he had meant to before they were
interrupted.
      Her eyes went wide, and then she relaxed against him, felt his hands
moving on her shoulders, reaching up to trace the line of her jaw with one
callused thumb.  She felt the muscles of his arm move beneath her hand as
he sought to hold her even closer, and she was breathless with it.
Consumed by it, the sheer humanness of it, the emotions coursing through
her, the warmth that flooded her cheeks, every inch of her as she arched
against him, feeling the heat of his arms through the material of her
uniform, his hand at the small of her back.  His lips moving against hers. He
held her as if he never meant to let her go, and she didn't think she ever
wanted him to.  They never even felt the ship jump into hyperspace.
      She made some small sound against his mouth, and he pulled back to
look at her, to see the high color in her cheeks, the brightness in her eyes.
She was against the wall of the hold, looking as if it and Shane were the
only things holding her up, and he knew she would have fallen had he not
held her so tight.
      Feeling a bit wobbly himself, he was beginning to think he would like
to make to love to her on the floor of the cabin, would have most certainly
had they been alone.  The only sound he could hear was her soft breathing,
the only other person in the universe the girl in his arms.  And he wanted
to tell her, wanted to shout it to the stars, while at the same time he wanted
to hold it a secret next to his heart, share her with no one.
      "Shane..."  She whispered softly, so softly that he almost wouldn't
have believed she had made the sound at all had he not seen her lips move
as she formed the name.  He brushed loose strands of hair from her cheek,
left his hand there to caress her, feel the lips move beneath his hand.  She
sighed at his lips on her neck, her eyes, her temple.  "I have wanted to do
that for the longest time." She laughed softly, touching his forehead,
running a finger along his jaw.
      "I know, babe."  He was whispering in her ear, and she touched his
fair hair, pulled him back to her mouth.
      "You two are awfully quiet back there."  Karen's voice over the
intercom a few minutes later.  "Everything okay?"
      "Everything is fine."  Niko held her finger to the button, trying not
to giggle as Goose began to nuzzle her neck, and bit her ear, nibble the
tender flesh there.  "You just fly the ship.  Trust me, we're fine."
      "Whatever you say, boss.  ETA is twenty-five minutes and counting."
      "Good."  Shane clicked off the `com, and drew the laughing woman
down on the bench beside him, growling menacingly.

* * *

      Flynn and her crew didn't even bat an eyelash when the boxy little T-
40 freighter slid into Bay Seven.  They merely did their jobs, keeping a
close eye on the three passengers that emerged from the cabin.  Siobhan
and her techs shared bemused glances at the looks the two Rangers were
sharing when they thought no one else was looking and they were being
discreet.  She waited until they had entered the lift at the end of the bay,
and then casually approached Joanse, the tech who worked the comnet.
      "Pay up."  She tapped her palm, smiling like the cheshire cat, and the
big Alpha Centauri male dropped the credit disks into her palm, sighing as
a week's pay went into Flynn's pocket.
      "How long till the rumor mill starts grinding?"  He asked her, and she
winked, flipping her light brown braid over her shoulder.
      "Soon, I'd say.  Looks like those two can't keep their hands off each
other."
      "Women's intuition?"
      "Nope.  Just common sense."

Part II
Interlude

      Niko threw on an embroidered Japanese robe when the `com buzzed,
tossing her wet hair over her shoulder as she dashed for the terminal.
      "Hi. Briefing is over.  Want to catch some dinner before I'm confined
to quarters for the rest of my life?"  Karen's smiling face filled the tiny
screen.
      "I think I'll have to pass."  She fought to keep her face calm and
betray nothing.  "Lunch tomorrow though?"
      "Sounds fine."
      "Is Goose still in with the Commander?"  She tried to sound
uninterested and nonchalant, and if Karen noticed any spark in her eye,
she certainly didn't comment on it.
      "He was when I left, but he might be out by now."  Just then the door
chimed, and she had to bid Karen goodnight, perhaps a bit too hastily, but
then, it had been a long day....
      She fastened the robe a bit more securely around her, and then keyed
the door.  Shane was in his black civies, hat and all, looking the proper
cowboy.  She was feeling terribly self-conscious in the robe, and knew she
was blushing again.  He presented her a single half open rose, and she
worried at her bottom lip, eyes shining as she took it carefully from his
hands.
      "If you wait a minute, I'll just change.  I'm afraid I just got out of the
bath-"  He ignored her protests, advancing until she was backed against
the wall.  "Shane please-"  She was blushing furiously, but he kissed her
anyway.  She stiffened as his arms went around her, catching a sigh before
it could pass her lips.  "It will just take me a minute, really...Shane..."  She
murmured against his mouth, knowing if she didn't get dressed right away,
pretty soon she wasn't going to care... If it is always this way...  The robe
began to slip a bit, and she managed to untangle herself from his embrace,
ducking under his arm, color high, clutching at the garment and laughing.
"You stay here."  She warned.
      "Aye-aye ma'am."  He saluted, still eyeing her hungrily, and she
laughed as she disappeared into the next room.  Shane flopped down on her
coach, smiling to himself.  Her hair had smelled of roses.
      As she went through her closet, alternately considering and rejecting
objects from her scant off-duty wardrobe, Niko thought back to the last
twenty minutes of the journey back to BETA, the two of them sitting cross-
legged in the tiny cabin of the freighter, her head on his shoulder and they
talked softly about it all, from waking up together to how each had
responded to the computer's tests, and all the memories the past two years
had given them.
      "I though Supertroopers only got angry, and got mad."  She emerged
in leggings and an oversized green sweater. "Since when do they give
flowers?"
      "When they are visiting the most beautiful woman alive."  He
pronounced, leaning back on her couch to survey the final effect as she
towelled dry her long reddish-brown hair.
      "Aren't you the silver-tongued devil all of a sudden.  I bet you say
that to all the girls."
      "You've been listening to Flynn's harem jokes?"
      "The entire mountain has heard Flynn's harem jokes."
      "I was framed, see-"  She cut him off with her mouth, *a very effective
way of shutting Shane Gooseman up*, she mused as he ran his fingers
through her damp hair.  *I could get used to this...*  His hand slipped
beneath her sweater, to caress her back, trace her ribs with one finger.  *All
too quickly, I'm afraid.*
      "Shane."  She pulled back of her own accord, reluctantly.  "As much
as I want to, hell, two years I've wanted to...  But we can't do this."
      "Why?"  He continued to kiss her neck, nibble her ear.
      "Can't we just take this slowly?"  She gasped as he found the tender
spot where her neck joined her shoulder.
      "It took us almost two years to get this far."  He rested his forehead
against hers, smiling crookedly, lips mere inches from hers.
      "Gooseman, please.  Humor me in this one small thing.  It's been less
than twenty-four hours."  Her arms were still around his neck, and she
toyed absently with the fine hair at the base of his skull while he thought
it through.
      "Your wish is my desire, fair lady."  He laughed, catching her hand
and pressing a kiss into her palm.  "You hungry?"

* * *

      The entire mountain was aware, before long, that something had
happened on Rishawn that was not in the official report.  And of course
there was the cheshire cat smile that seemed to constantly be playing about
Siobhan Flynn's face as she went about her duties (it apparently had
something to do with a rumor of someone finding a certain two someones in
a supply closet near the launch bay.  Flynn was guarding her sources well.
No one knew exactly how much had gone on, and "they weren't gonna find
out, neither").
      Walsh knew, though no one knew he knew, even Karen.  Karen, who
was still on probation after following the S5's to Rishawn, had been
questioned by every curious tech, staff member, trainee and officer on the
whole base.  She maintained she hadn't seen a thing, and was secretly
thrilled beyond words that she had been there when the other bloody shoe
had finally, after almost two years, dropped.  She wished she had seen
something, and asked after it, but Niko was incredibly closemouthed about
the whole thing.  Even the official mission report was vague and sketchy as
to what the Rishawn "Computer" had been about.
      If Doc and Zach suspected their friends had become more than
friends, they weren't telling.  However, it had become the usual topic of
conversation at the Foxx household dinner table.  Li'l Zach, who, at the
worldly age of sixteen, was protesting the diminutive quite loudly recently,
had been hanging around the Commissary, and overheard Flynn, and was
dying to know everything.  Jessy was afire with questions, all of which
usually included the word "romantic" sandwiched in there someplace.
                                      * * *
      "I just don't know."  Zachary Foxx shook his head, and Doc eyed him
curiously.  Goose and Niko were sitting at a table by the holoscreen,
completely absorbed in whatever they were talking about, oblivious to the
close scrutiny of their commanding officer.
      "What's not to know, Zach?"  Doc was downright amused by the entire
situation.  "Our Gooseman appears to have been bitten by the bug."  Doc
shrugged.
      "It's not that I'm not happy for them, but at the same time I have to
worry.  We all work so closely together, and BETA usually doesn't
encourage two..."  He fumbled, looking for a word other than lovers, then
gave up "*whatever* they are at the moment, being in the same unit."
      "They're professionals, Zach."  Doc pointed out.  "They may be acting
like horny teenagers at the moment," Zach chuckled at his friend's
bluntness, "but when it comes down to it, they're professionals through
and through.  And you can't tell me you didn't see this one coming from a
mile off."
      "Doc, you're incorrigible."
      "I do my best."
      "You win anything in Flynn's pool?"
      "Nah.  Commander Walsh beat me out by two weeks.  You?"
      "I didn't bet."  He shook his head.  "I just didn't think it would be
right."
      "Really?"
      "Well, yes.  Of course, now I wish I had, because I was only two days
off."  They laughed, and the objects of their remarks remained completely
oblivious.
      "Do you think they know that we know?"  Doc took a sip of coffee,
turning the holo up a little, to drown their conversation.
      "Probably."  Zach shrugged, trying to remember if he and Eliza were
as blissfully unaware of life around them as Goose and Niko seemed to be.
      "Do you think that they know that we know that they know?"
      "I don't know."
      "Make a guess."
      "I'm not sure I understood the question."  Zach laughed.

Part III
Shattered

      Goose and Niko weren't given a mission together for three weeks, and
hadn't spent much time together until they got assigned to deliver an
ambassador to Boru in sector 23.  It was a quiet trip out, with Ambassador
Ramos, a two meter tall Southern Bell with a brilliant sense of humor, telling
anecdotes most of the way, and sleeping the rest.  Still, Shane didn't dare
even touch Niko, because he knew if he did, the Ambassador wouldn't be
asleep long, and he'd probably crash into something like a planet when he
wasn't looking.  The little shuttle was pretty different from the interceptors
he usually flew, being a new design just recently put into effect by BETA.
      They would have taken Ranger I, except it was due to be serviced and
Flynn had pretty much told Walsh he had better give her enough time to do
it properly, or the old ship would probably blow his precious Rangers to
hell someday just `cause they worked her so hard.  In the face of that kind
of determination, what could the Commander do but find an alternative?
Flynn had hurumphed, flipped her braid over her shoulder, and stomped
out of the office, feeling very pleased with herself, and went back to her
bay to play around with poor Geebee some more.
      Once the Ambassador was safely settled in at the BETA embassy in
Boru's largest city, Pekin, she offered her escort a room for the night, and
a dinner that would surpass anything they'd ever seen before as Ramos had
shipped her favorite chef over from New Orleans a month earlier.
      They accepted, gladly after the ten hour trip, but protested that they
certainly didn't have their dress uniforms with them.
      "Don't be silly.  Pekin has one of the biggest malls in the universe,
and I wouldn't be a lady if I didn't extend y'all credit.  You just pick out
whatever your heart desires."  She winked at Niko.  "I personally shall
accompany you, my dear.  I know exactly the right store to pick out
something to match those eyes."
      Niko blushed, feeling silly.  But Ambassador Ramos was not to be
discouraged.  She was a lady through and through, and loved the chance
to dress somebody up.  "I do the same thing for my grandchildren whenever
I'm in New Dallas."  She confided as she swept her out the door, followed not
so discreetly by several guards, and headed for the biggest old-style
limousine Niko had ever seen.  Shane watched, chuckling as the girl sent
him a pleading look.  Somehow he knew visions of Gone With The Wind were
running through her mind.  He waved, and went back inside to contact the
Commander and tell him they'd be running a bit late.

* * *

      "So how long have you and the big cowboy back there been sweet on
each other?"  The ambassador led the way through a huge glass and steel
shopping arcade reminiscent of the late twentieth century to a small shop
on the seventeenth floor.
      "Ma'am, I really don't know what-"
      "Oh, don't bother and lie to me, sweetie.  They way you two were
lookin' at each other, I had it pretty much figured out before we ever left
the Solar System.  Has he figured it out yet?"
      "Just last month."  She laughed.
      "And just how long did it take?"
      "Two years."
      "Well, that's men for you.  Took my husband a mite less time, 'course
I was encouraging him along the way.  A well placed hint will do wonders for
a blossoming relationship.  I put y'all in separate bedrooms though.  I'm
just an old fashioned gal at heart.  Hope you don't mind."
      "Ambassador!"
      "You blush real easy, don't you now?"  She laughed, and patted Niko's
hand affectionately.  "How do you look in green?"

* * *

      Goose whistled appreciatively when he met Niko at the door of her
room.  She twirled around for his benefit, laughing.  The ambassador had
chosen a forest green taffeta gown with a full skirt that rustled when she
moved.  The sleeves were puffed, and off the shoulder, revealing a great
deal of creamy white skin.  Around her neck was a green silk ribbon, and
her hair was braided and tied with a matching silk cord.  Goose whistled in
approval.
      "I look like Scarlet O'Hara."  She frowned.  "I couldn't stop her, she
was out of control.  It would have created an interstellar incident--"
      "Green is definitely your color."
      "You're just saying that because I hardly ever wear any other!"  She
liked the way he filled out the dark suit, and for once, no cowboy hat.
      "We're going to be late for dinner."
      "It doesn't start for another quarter of an hour."  She was puzzled.
      "I know."  He smiled, and took her in his arms.
      "Oh," she murmured against his mouth.  "That sounds good to me."
      "Excuse me."  A small furred humanoid cleared his throat, and tapped
Goose on the shoulder.  Niko blushed furiously, hiding her face in his
shoulder, and Goose sighed.
      "Ranger Gooseman, Ranger Niko, you have a communication in the
Ambassador's office.  A Commander Walsh."  Then the furry embassy staff-
member scurried away, leaving the two of them muttering under their
breath as they headed for the Ambassador's office.

* * *

      If Walsh was curious about his rangers state of dress, he wasn't going
to waste time talking about it.  He had more important things to be worried
about.
      "Rangers, Ryker Killbane was sighted in sector 27, heading in your
direction.  He stole a class 47 miner's tug from Starbase 12, that's how we
are able to track him.  Class 47's don't have Andorian drives, but they do
have cutting lasers and tractors.  I want you to try to intercept and
capture."
      "On our way sir."  Goose cut communications while Niko scrawled a
note to the ambassador.
      "Killbane owes us dinner."  She sighed as they raced back up to their
rooms to change.
* * *

      In orbit around Green's World in sector 27, the two rangers kept a
sharp eye out for their adversary.  They didn't have to wait long.
      "I have him on our scanners."  Niko locked the on-board computer on
to the stolen ship's ion trail.  "Broadcasting on all frequencies."
      "As if he'll stop just because we asked him to."  Goose muttered,
arming the blasters.
      "There's your answer."  She snapped, bringing up the defenses as
the miner ship fired lasers at their underbelly.  "Shields up at maximum.
Didn't even graze us."
      The comscreen flickered, and after a moment of chattering to itself,
Killbane's scarred face appeared.
      "Think you can catch me, Runt?"  He snarled.
      "It's for you, dear."  Niko jerked her head towards the screen.
      "You're under arrest, Killbane."  He fired a warning shot across the
47's bow.
      "Come and get me, Gooseman."  Lasers fired again, and this time the
shuttle shook with the impact.
      "Shields at 60% and dropping."  Niko frowned at the tactical screen.
"Something tells me these weren't built for combat."
      "So we put him out of commission before he gets another shot at us."
Goose brought the shuttle around for another pass, finger paused on the
trigger.  "Killbane, this is your last warning!"
      The comscreen stayed blank, and he fired.  The shots grazed the side
of the ship, causing enough damage to slow him down.  The miner's tug
shuddered, but righted itself and fired at the shuttle again.
      "Damage to airlock two and guidance systems."  Suddenly the little
shuttle lurched.  "Goose, he's locked his tractor on us!"
      "Firing main engines."  He frowned as the shuttle shook, but did not
break free.  "Tractors on that thing are strong..."
      "Firing again, damage to hyperdrive and engine two."  She targeted
weapons again and fired on Killbane's stolen ship.  "His life support is
going.  We're supposed to arrest him, not kill him."
      "What are the conditions on the planet down there?  Can we try to
force him down?"
      "Mostly marsh with a few mining settlements, half of them empty."
She gritted her teeth as the shuttle lurched again.  "His tractor is tearing
us apart at such close range."
      "I'm aiming for the tractor controls."  He fired, and Killbane's leering
face came back up on their screens.
      "If I'm going down, you are going with me, Runt."  He laughed, and
fired lasers at their underbelly.  Smoke filled the cabin as circuits fused.
      "Main engines off line.  We're caught in the planet's gravity.  Orbit
decaying." Niko grabbed an extinguisher from behind her seat to use on the
flaming control panel.
      "Killbane is going down.  I'm tracking him."  He buckled the safety
straps of the seat.
      "Shane, we're going to crash!"
      "Don't worry.  I do it all the time."  He smiled.  "Buckle your seatbelt.
This might get a little bumpy."
      "You're crazy."
      "That's why you love me."  He called up a map of the area they were
headed for, and caught a quick glimpse before the computer's memory
turned to gobbledygook and the screen went blank.  "As soon as we hit the
atmosphere, activate your implant to shield yourself."
      "What about you?"
      "I'll be fine.  Do it!"  He wrestled with the controls, keeping Killbane's
tug, now flaming in the planets atmosphere, in his sights.  They cut
through the heavy cloud cover, and barely avoided crashing into the side
of a mountain.  Niko sucked in air between her teeth, but the faint glimmer
around her outline assured him she was shielded.  He kept his own fingers
hovering over his badge, just in case.  They managed to come down in the
middle of a thunderstorm, and he couldn't see a thing.  Including land.
Hence, they set down in a lake.
      "Damn."  He unbuckled his harness as they settled on the bottom of
the lake.  The on-board systems began shorting out as the water got in
through holes made by Killbane's lasers, and hull breeches from where
entering the planet's atmosphere had widened the rips and tears.  The
lights flickered and went out, and he heard Niko swear in the darkness.
      "Temper, darlin'."  He found her hand in the darkness.  "Activate
your implant.  We've got some swimming ahead."  She became outlined in
yellow fire, and he touched his own badge as he blew the airlock.  Water
rushed into the cabin as he hooked an arm around her waist and kicked
towards the surface with newfound fins.
      They broke the surface, Niko gasping for breath but otherwise all
right, although she began to wonder why she bothered with her badge at
all, when she was immediately soaked through to the skin in seconds by the
rain.
      "We need to find shelter.  Fast."  He shouted above the wind.  It wasn't
a thunderstorm, it was a bloody hurricane...
      "Don't need to tell me twice."  She shouted back.  "Any idea where we
are?"
      "There should be some abandoned miners' cabins about half a
kilometer north of here."
      "Lay on, MacDuff."  She pushed wet hair back from her eyes, saw him
illuminated in a flash of lightening, and grasped his hand as they started
off in what she assumed was a northerly direction.

      They stumbled into the cabin almost two hours later, slamming the
door against the wind and rain.  Niko felt around until she found a lantern,
and lit it from the lighter in her supply pouch.  In its glow, she surveyed
the cabin.
      One room, a table and chair in one corner, stripped bed in another.
She set the lantern on a shelf and rummaged around for some blankets while
Goose broke up the table to use for firewood.  She clenched her teeth to
keep them from chattering, and found a rifle and the remains of a blanket
under the bed.
      "Home sweet home."  Goose muttered as the furniture finally caught
and she crouched down next to him in front of the fire.  She held up the
laser rifle for his inspection.
      "Found a powerpack too.  Never hurts to be armed."  She smiled
brightly, running her fingers through her dripping mass of hair.  They
wrapped themselves up in the moth-eaten blanket.
      "How romantic."  Niko muttered, pulling what looked like seaweed from
her hair and tossing it on the fire.
      "I'm going to have to go out after him."  Gooseman frowned.
      "Maybe he died in the crash."  She looked hopeful.
      "I'd never get that lucky.  Even if he did, I have to make sure."  He
and Killbane had never been friends, and both knew one would have to kill
the other some day.  It was a foregone conclusion, no matter what BETA and
the Council of Leaders had to say about it.  It could end no other way.
Goose wasn't exactly looking forward to their final fight. However, he did
just want it all to be over someday.  Well and truly over.
      "My scanner isn't too waterlogged.  It should be able to find the
remnants of his ship in this mess."  She pulled the little device out of her
belt pouch, wiping the swamp scum from the controls with a grimace.
      "I want you to stay here."  His mouth was a firm line.
      "Shouldn't both of us-"
      "If something should happen, one of us should concentrate on getting
back to earth in one peace."
      "That's stupid."  She bristled, eyes flashing and he had to admit she
looked gorgeous...
      "Killbane is my fight."
      "Of all the egoistic, machismo, bloody stupid-"  She sputtered angrily.
He put a hand over her mouth.
      "You are staying here if I have to tie you up.  And that is the last I'll
here of it."
      "Is it because I'm a woman?"  She was really getting angry.  "Don't
you think I can hold my own in a fight?"
      "Don't be silly.  I know you can.  It's because you're my woman."  He
smiled at her outraged expression, and cut off any protest she could have
made with a long, passionate kiss.  She was still angry when they parted,
but the fire in her eyes was no longer all fury.  It made him smile.  When
they got back to earth, Killbane or no Killbane, he was going to put in for
some vacation time.  God only knew, they'd been racking it up over the past
two years.  Someplace warm, romantic, out of the way where they had never
even heard of Andorian drives, Crown troopers or even telephones...
      "Just promise you'll check in every fifteen minutes, and call as soon
as you find the ship.  The comms seem to be working fine..."  She was still
frowning.
      "Yes, mother."  He laughed, and opened the door.  She went to hand
him the rifle, but he shook his head.  "Keep it here, next to you.  It never
hurts to be armed."  He kissed her on the forehead, and then on the mouth.
She held him tightly, suddenly afraid, and kissed him back thoroughly
before he disappeared into the damp darkness.
      "I'm gonna kill him."  She muttered as she shut the door against the
chill.

* * *

      Shane found the wreckage of Killbane's ship, half sunk in the mud of
the swamp.  No body, so he must be still lurking about somewhere.  He tried
to remember the details of the map that had flashed before they crashed,
and failed.  He had no idea in what direction the nearest town was.  He had
never even been to Green's World before.  It was a common enough joke that
Green's was the most backwater of the backwater planets, too far from the
shipping lanes to really live there comfortably, and all the mining had
petered out about a decade earlier.  In another twenty years, it would
probably be abandoned.
      No wonder no one wants to stay, with weather like this.  He raised the
collar of his uniform as another light drizzle began.  He was about to raise
Niko on the com when he suddenly caught a flurry of motion out of the
corner of his eye.
      He turned too late, and the rusted shovel caught him on the forehead.
He saw Killbane in the planet's dim dusk, waving the shovel, and he jumped
back, hearing it whistle through the air where he had been standing.  Blood
from the gash in his eyes, he could barely see the next strike.  He reached
for his badge, but the other man slammed into him, knocking them both to
the ground, knowing if he activated his bio-defenses, who would be the
victor.  And Killbane was taking no chances.
      The badge was ripped away first thing, though Goose got in one good
punch right after, seeing with satisfaction Killbane's head snap back from
the impact.  He leapt up, ready for a fight, and ended up with the shovel
jammed hard into his stomach.  Killbane had snatched it from the mud, and
now laughing gleefully, kicked Shane hard in the ribs with his booted foot.
The wind knocked out of him, he still rolled out of the way so his opponent
couldn't strike again.
      Gooseman got to his feet, wiping blood from his eyes, but Killbane was
armed, albeit with a shovel, and that tool had a longer reach.  It whistled
through the air again, grazing his shoulder as he jumped back.  Killbane
laughed as Goose went down, tripping over a tree root half buried in the
muck, and took advantage, slamming the handle of the shovel into the side
of his head, knocking him out.
      Killbane wanted to kill him, but he was too intrigued by the game that
was forming in his mind.  Besides, killing an unarmed man was no fun, and
he wanted to face Gooseman on equal terms, to prove he was the Runt's
better.  He needed time through.  This attack had given him time.  And he
was also curious.  He had seen the Runt leaving one of the abandoned
cabin's along the river.  He had also seen the woman in the cabin, knew her
to be another of the S5's, and wanted to have a little surprise waiting for
the traitor when he got "home".  He snickered again, and headed back the
way he had come.

* * *

      Niko began to get nervous as complete darkness descended on Green's
World.  She turned up the light of the small lantern, resisting the urge to
pace.  Besides, it was getting cold.  She picked up the remains of the chair,
and threw it on the fire, knowing it would go out soon, and not caring.  A
noise outside drew her to the door.
      "Shane?"  She called out into the darkness, reluctant to leave the
warmth and light of the tiny cabin.  Another snapped twig, this time closer.
"Goose, is that you?"  She backed away, reaching for her rifle when
someone crashed through the window.  She leapt for the gun as the
intruder straightened, revealing Ryker Killbane's leering face as he shook
back his mane of black hair.  He laughed, stepping between her and the
weapon, and she stepped back, eyes narrowing as she touched her badge.
      Killbane was lifted off his feet, surrounded by her mind, and she
heaved him against the far wall.  He slid down, shaking his head, and she
went for the gun again.  She got it, and raised it to fire, but it was a small
room, and he was too close.  She couldn't squeeze off a shot in time.  He
leapt forward and grabbed at long muzzle of the rifle, her shot going wild.
He yanked it out of her hands even as she went for her badge again.
      Before she could activate her charge, he blew a cloud of vile green
gas in her face, and she was forced to her knees, coughing and gasping for
breath.  He pinned her arms behind her with one hand and removed the
badge from her belt with the other.
      "Won't be needing this, now will we?"  He dragged her to her feet, and
tossed the gold badge through the air.  Niko heard it strike the wall, then
the wooden planks of the floor.  She struggled, trying to free her arms, but
he held them so tight, they would be torn from the sockets if she continued.
She kicked out, cursing, and he dragged her back, slamming her up against
the wall.  To her horror, he had her handcuffs in his hand, having torn
them from her beltpouch, and, one hand on her throat, grasped her hands
and secured them behind her.
      He let her go, giving her a push towards the wall, laughing as she
struggled to maintain her balance.  She growled, and then tried another
roundhouse kick at his head, but he ducked with ease, and, getting under
the arc of her kick, backhanded her, sending her reeling to fall against the
wall.  Then he kicked the legs out from under her, and she slid down to sit
half against the wall, half crouched on the floor.  He had the rifle now,
muzzle under her chin, raised her face to look at him.
      "Series Five Ranger.  You're not so hot."  He sneered down at her,
prodding her throat with the gun.  "You think the runt is coming after you?
Think he'll come for you?  Think again." He laughed, kneeling down,
pinning her legs at the knees beneath his hand, held them still so she
couldn't kick him by putting his full weight on her kneecaps.  She flinched,
and then spit in his good eye.
      He wiped the spittle from his cheek, then got a handful of her hair,
pulling her off the floor, level with his eye.  She did not cry out, but glared
at him.
      "So you're the runt's woman."  He leered, and her expression faltered.
"Maybe I'll just take you along for the ride then, even the score."  He
ignored her renewed struggles, and forced her mouth to his.  She turned
her head, feeling sick as he painfully grabbed her jaw, nails scoring her
cheek, turning her face back to him.  He only laughed, and sudden grabbed
the neck of her uniform in both hands, ripping it down to her belt.  She
heard the cloth give, felt the cold draft against her skin, but couldn't
believe it was happening.  She squeezed her eyes shut, swallowing
painfully as he pulled her closer.
      "It's no fun if you're not looking."  He slapped her, making her face
him.  She only glared.  He suddenly snarled, and slammed her against the
wall.  This time she slid down unconscious, his laughter echoing in her ears.

      Goose felt the world rushing back painfully, every heartbeat accented
by his throbbing head.  He did not move at first, but felt the cold mud and
muck beneath his hands, water seeping through his uniform, chilling him
to the very bone.  It was raining again.  He sat up, head swimming.  All the
wetness on his face was not rain, but blood as well.  There was an ugly gash
at his hairline, where Killbane's shovel had struck its mark.  He could taste
it, metallic and salty on his lips and tongue.  He spat once, then rose.  His
badge was nowhere in sight.  Probably taken as a souvenir, if he knew
Killbane....
      He stumbled back to the abandoned cabin, knowing from the pain of
each breath that his ribs were likely bruised, maybe broken.
      As soon as he saw the open door, he knew something was not right.
Dread clutched at his chest as he near fell inside, and saw the objects
scattered about the room, the table overturned, the fire out and shards of
window glass catching the light from lamp still burning on its shelf, casting
odd shadows around the empty room.  Empty.
      He began swearing inbetween labored breaths, kicking the fallen cups
and bowls across the floor, needing to vent his anger somehow, and
regretting it immediately as he was answered by a stab of pain in his side.
He eye was caught by something gleaming on the far wall.
      Her badge, a hunting knife shoved through the delicate circuitry,
pinning it to the scorched wood of the wall.  Blood on the blade.  A challenge
then.  Damn him.  Shane's fist slammed into the wall and he tore the knife
from the wood, a dangerous gleam in his eye.

* * *

      Niko came awake slowly, dreading it.  She was in another abandoned
miner's cabin, not too unlike the first one.  Rope had been knotted around
her ankle, and then strung through a iron hoop embedded deep in the wall,
probably meant to hold a hammock once.  It cut into her skin when she tried
to move, but she managed to tuck her legs under her, to regain some
balance, though she could not get far.  Her arms were still shackled, the
cuffs threaded through the other hoop on the other wall that made up the
corner where he had tied her, so that they were suspended above her.  She
was sore all over, and the right side of her face was stiff, her lip swelling.
Her hair, streaming again from the rain, was plastered to her head.
      She shivered, and realized for the first time that her uniform was in
rags, little of it left at all.  It only served to remind her why she was still
alive.  She looked up.
      He was in the opposite corner, watching her from his chair.  A lantern
hung on a hook next to him, turned low, and his face was in shadow.
Suddenly he leaned forward, and in the half light she caught the wolfish
smile and gleam in his remaining seeing eye.  He got out of the chair, and
she shivered again, but not from the cold, as he approached, her laser rifle
still in his hands.
      "He's not dead, you know."  He smiled down at her.  "It wouldn't be
any fun unless there is some risk.  I left him bleeding, but he still might
make it in time for the party.  After all I didn't hit him that hard."  She
noticed for the first time Goose's badge pinned to his shirt, put there, no
doubt, to prove to her that he had beaten Shane.  To prove it was not just
an idle threat.
      She thought of using the shackles to lift herself up, strike out with
her free leg.  But he was expecting it, and prodded her ribs with the gun.
She knew it was loaded.  She had loaded it herself that afternoon.  She did
not strike, uncoiled her legs.  He smiled again, and she turned away, feeling
angry tears forming behind her eyes.  And she would not let him see her
cry.
      She screamed when he forced her legs apart.  Screamed Shane's name,
one last attempt.  The cry was cut off by his fist, and she lay there,
stunned, as he began laughing, tearing at the remains of her uniform, and
his own clothes.  She opened her mouth to cry out again, but was stopped
by the knife he suddenly pressed to her throat.  Helpless tears of rage
coursed down her cheeks, and she wondered if she shouldn't let him kill
her.  Anything was better than this.....
      He laughed when he took her.  Laughed as she cried.  She was
Gooseman's woman, and he had stolen her.  He thought it a grand joke,
laughing as she curled into a ball, shaking with her silent weeping.  He
even laughed when the door was broken into splinters, and a bloody
Gooseman stumbled inside, rage burning in his eyes.
      "Told you he'd make it in time for the party."  Killbane was still
laughing, the rifle pointed at her head, the muzzle at her temple.  Shane
stopped in mid-lunge, green eyes burning with hatred and fury.  Killbane
started to laugh again, that insane mad sound rising over Niko's quiet sobs.
The loudest sound in the cabin, louder even than the rain outside, hitting
the tin roof.  Suddenly it stopped, and the gun fell away from her temple
      She did not look up.  She couldn't look up.  Had she, she would have
seen Shane throw the knife, seen it bury itself deep in Killbane's chest.
Wide-eyed, he stumbled past Goose and out the door, where he collapsed in
the mud and was still.  She knew only that hands were touching her again,
and she screamed.  But there was no answering blow.  Only someone holding
her as she screamed and screamed, someone whispering to her until the
cries died in her throat.  She opened her eyes, knowing that the arms that
held her now were familiar, caring, gentle.  She buried her face in Shane's
shoulder as he rocked her back and forth, still murmuring *It's okay.  He
can't hurt you any more.  It's okay...*  Soon her sobs quieted, and she clung
to him for warmth.  He had cut the rope, tore the handcuffs from the wall.
Destroyed them with his own hands.  He took a moth-eaten blanket from the
tiny bed in the corner, wrapped it around her.  Held her still.
      He looked outside the open door as the rain started again.  Killbane
was gone.  The bloody knife lay in the muck where he had fallen.  The door
banged against the wall, caught in the wind, but Shane didn't move to close
it yet.  He just sat in the corner, holding Niko till her tears dried.

* * *

      There was an old transmitter in the cabin.  It worked, after a few
adjustments and jury rigging, and he called for help from the nearest town.
Men in flitters arrived quickly, the doctor informing Gooseman that ships
from Earth were on the way, having been searching for the past seven
hours for the missing Rangers.  He insisted on checking Shane out, seeing
how badly beat up the two of them were.  Niko was quiet, still shaking, and
the doctor couldn't give her a sedative for fear she would go from shock to
a coma.  He wished he could erase the next five hours.  Let her not wake
until they were safe in a hospital somewhere far from the cabin.  *The blood
on the floor?  Not ours.  The man who did this.  He should be dead.  Chest
wound.  Tell me when you find the body*.  And then Shane turned his back
on the doctor and his questions, and moved to Niko's side in the back of the
ambulance.

Part IV
Rain

      The examination had been sheer hell.  Goose paced outside , straining
to hear the muffled voices through the heavy wooden door, then had to give
up when one of the nurses dragged him off to tend to his concussion.   By
the time he returned, Niko sleeping fitfully.  He was at her side when she
finally did wake.  It was a comfortable room in a country hospital, not too
different from the one he had taken her to after being shot by the
Scarecrow.  Comscreen in the corner, large beds with a nurses call button
affixed to each.  He had asked they be in the same room, insisted on it,
knowing he did not want her to be alone when the sedative finally wore off.
The look on his face convinced them it would be the right thing to do.  They
didn't dare not, not the way his eyes were blazing when they brought the
wounded rangers in.
      His ribs had been bandaged, and the new skin where the gash had
been itched, and he had to restrain himself from scratching every few
minutes.  He wore borrowed clothes, and had not spoken much since they
were brought there.  He had asked not to be disturbed, not even by Doc or
Zach, who he knew would be on their way.  They were outside, he had heard
their muted voices through the door.  No doubt the country doctor had
given them his report, explained where they had been found, and in what
condition.  Everything but the one thing that hurt the most, because Niko
had yet to awaken and give her consent.  Shane and the Doctor who
examined her were the only ones who knew.
      And there was still the matter of Killbane.  No body had been found.
A great deal of blood, easy to track at first, but the rain washed away the
blood and the tracks too quickly.  They had lost him, in the end.
      She stirred under the heavy quilt that looked like it had been made
by somebody's grandmother.  Shane loved modern medicine.  All her bruises
and scrapes had disappeared overnight.  Now what about the scars that the
doctors couldn't see?  Her eyelids twitched, and then opened slowly,
revealing sparkling blue-green depths.  She was confused at first, a side
effect of the drug they had given her, unsure where she was.  Shane held
her hand in his own, and her fingers tightened around his as she took the
first painful breath after memory...
      The eyes widened in fear, other hand clutching at the quilt.  Then she
relaxed, and saw Shane for the first time.
      "I thought... I thought it might have just been a nightmare..."  She
swallowed, tears in her eyes.  In a flannel nightgown one of the nurses had
brought for her, little pearl buttons up to her neck, hair clean and combed,
she looked nothing so much like a little girl tucked in for the night.  The
tears began to fall, and he seated himself on the edge of the bed, took her
in his arms.
     "It's okay, it's okay... He's dead."  He lied.  It killed him, but he lied.
      She drew in a shuddering breath, and he held again until the quiet
tears stopped, and she drew in deep hiccuping breaths while he stroked
her hair.
      "Better?"  He asked, giving her a glass of water to sip, and she
nodded.  "The others are outside.  I haven't spoken to them yet.  Doc, and
Zach.  I think Waldo and Zozo are on their way too.  Walsh himself would
have hopped on a freighter, or maybe just brought the whole fleet with him.
Green's World has never seen so much activity."
      "Do they know?"  Her voice was very soft.
      "No."  He whispered.
      "Then they never will.  Never."  She shook her head violently, almost
spilling the water.  He took the glass from her shaking fingers.  "I'm not
sure I want to go back."
      "Then we won't.  We'll go anywhere you want to go, do anything."
      "They won't let you.  The Council wants you to track down the rest of
the Supertroopers.  The only reason they haven't locked you up is because
you're the only one who can find them."
      "I don't care.  I'll run, if you do."
      "I won't run away.  I would like to, but I won't.  I can't.  It won't ever
solve anything, not really."  She wiped at her eyes, still feeling groggy
from the sedative.  "Besides, BETA is home.  Unless I choose Xanadu, which
I won't, then where else can I go?  I won't run.  I'll stand and fight."
      "That's my girl."  He kissed her forehead, and she rested her head on
his shoulder.  *So you're the runt's woman*... the ugly words came flooding
back, but she pushed them away.

* * *

      "Heard you stopped the business end of a digging instrument with
your forehead.  Knock any sense into you, my Gooseman?"  Doc joked when
Goose finally emerged from the room.
      "We Supertrooper's have thick skulls."  He tapped his temple, going
along with the jest.
      "Tell me about it."  He leaned casually against the wall of the hallway,
but both he and Zachary had circles under their eyes from worrying.
      "I thought for sure Karen Walsh would have found a way to catch a
ride with you guys."
      "If there was a medal for trying, she would have aced it.  Almost
stowed away.  Flynn stopped her from sneaking on board.  Commander
would have nailed her hide to the wall if she'd gotten away with it."  Zach
smiled at the memory.  "She was worried sick  all the same.  The kid is really
fond of you two."
      "And with a mug like yours, I can't imagine why."  Doc winked.
      "Can we see her now?"  Zach finally voicing the question on all their
minds.
      "She's awake.  I think we can use the company.  Rough night."  He
opened the door slowly, saw her sitting up in the bed, trying to look rested.
He took the same seat at her side, felt her fingers searching for his, and
took them, knowing at this point no one really was unaware any longer.
      "You look lovely as always."  Doc bowed, making an elaborate arc with
his hat.
      "Flatterer.  I feel like hell."  She squeezed Goose's fingers.
      "I thought with you helping him fly that thing, he might be less prone
to crash into such nasty obstacles as planets.  That's the fifth time in one
year."  Zach wagged a finger at her.
      "If it's got wings, I can crash it."  Goose announced with pride.  She
chuckled, and he was so relieved that she could laugh again...
      "That wasn't so bad, now was it?" he asked her once the visitors had
been shooed out by the head nurse, a woman of eastern european descent
who was not to be trifled with.
      "It was okay."  She nodded, leaning against him.  The hospital beds
were not meant to fit two, for obvious reasons, but Shane had managed to
prop himself up at her side, so she wouldn't have to fall asleep alone.  "The
doctor said we can head home in a few days, once all the tests are finished.
And then you are to take it easy, on account of those ribs."  She poked him
in the side with a finger.  "He thinks it's too soon, though."
      "I told him two days."
      "He said it might take days..."
      "You'll be fine in two days.  You're too feisty."  he wanted to get her
the hell off green as soon as possible.
      "Where do you come up with a word like feisty?"  She snuggled
against his shoulder.
      "I look at you and think `Now there is a terribly feisty young woman.
Look at how she shoots and knows tae kwon do, and plays pool altogether
too well for someone brought up on a planet that is supposed to have
absolutely no pool halls.  And she sings too.  Now that is feisty-'"  but she
had dropped off to sleep somewhere in the middle of the sentence, head still
on his shoulder and he chuckled.  Completely worn out.  Must be the drugs.
Certainly couldn't be the fresh air.

* * *

      She woke in the middle of the night, a scream dying in her throat as
she realized where she was, whose arms where around her.  In the dim light
form the window, she could make out Shane's features, his peaceful smile.
*He must be having a good dream.  I'm jealous*.  She sighed, overcome with
a fit of shivering, having broken out in a cold sweat, the blankets suddenly
oppressive.  She forced herself to be still, lest she wake him.  He deserved
his rest too.  It probably tired him out, watching her all the time.  She would
have to be careful, as he was balanced on the bed somewhat precariously.
She did not move, but relished the feel of his arms around her, body next
to hers under the quilt.  She couldn't stop the shivering, but she could try
to bury it for a while by just feeling, and not thinking.  She was thinking
too much.  It brought back bad memories.
      He always looked so fierce awake.  In sleep, he was very boyish really,
looking much younger than she knew him to be.  There was perhaps eight
years between them.  Not much, in the long run, though it had seemed so
important at first.  She still remembered how he called her `girl' all the time,
and in a way that she didn't always mind.  At least she knew now he meant
it not in a diminishing way at all.  She would probably be `his girl' until she
was eighty years old.  She almost laughed, except she was suddenly cold,
and wished he was awake so he could chase all the nightmares away with a
kiss or a touch or a whispered assurance.  That was all she needed really.

      They left the next afternoon, against doctor's orders.  It was a quiet
trip, all of them in Ranger I, Zach and Doc sensing if not really knowing that
something had happened.  None of the usual light banter.  Buzz, Q-ball, and
the ambassadors met them in Walsh's office.  Goose would give the report
later, alone.  The two of them had agreed the Commander should know, but
no one else.
      The first week was the hardest.  Niko spent most of it sequestered
with Dr. Leahy, at the commander's behest.  Karen Walsh left countless
messages with Niko's home AI unit, all left unanswered.  When she finally
did see her friend, she seemed tired, jumpy, and brittle.  There were large
circles beneath her eyes, and she only seemed to half listen to what Karen
had to say.
      Dr. Leahy called Goose in to her office the next day.  She was a
smallish woman, her blond hair pulled back into a french twist, and her
English accent gave a formality to her that was belied the bright gleam in
her eyes.  She was very concerned about her patient, and it showed in her
line of questioning.  The moment Shane was settled into one of the
comfortable chairs, she began.
      "Were you and Niko lovers before the rape?"  This took him aback, and
he stiffened self-consciously.  "Please answer honestly.  I'd like to have a
session with both of you sometime soon, but to help her, I need to know."
      "No,"  Gooseman looked uncomfortable.  "Not yet.  She wanted us to
wait."
      "She is going through a very difficult time.  She needs reassurances
constantly.  Don't be afraid to touch her, to show you still-"
      "Doctor, I think you're underestimating her."
      "Ranger Gooseman, I think you'd best listen to me, and listen well.  If
you love her, you'd best stay by her.  I know she may seem tough to you,
and indestructible, but appearances can be deceiving.  Give her time."
      "She jumps every time I come near her."  Shane frowned darkly,
feeling helpless.
      "She's not reacting to you, just your presence.  The scars of the
attack are just too raw.  But she's trying."
      "I know.  I know how hard she's trying.  It's wearing her out, the
trying!  Doctor,"  Goose clenched and unclenched his fists.  "I feel....
responsible."  She blinked as the large man got up and began to pace.
      "Exactly how do you mean that, Ranger Gooseman?"
      "Don't turn shrink on me.  I just mean, it was Killbane's hatred for me
that moved him to do what he did.  He wasn't striking out at her, he was
striking out at me, through her.  Because I... because I love her, he knew
how much it would hurt."
      "I had heard Killbane is dead."
      "The body hasn't been recovered."
      "Then you think he might still be alive?"
      "If he is, then he'll want revenge.  His whole life is built around it.  I
don't want Niko to ever be hurt because of me again."
      "I can't predict the future."
      "I guess I'm not asking you to."  He sighed, and fell back into the
chair.  "I just need to talk to someone."
      "`Shrinks' as you put it, can be like bartenders.  Everyone needs a
sympathetic ear once in a while.  We just generally charge more." Dr. Leahy
smiled.
      "She doesn't know."
      "Pardon?"
      "She doesn't know that Killbane might still be alive.  I don't know if
we should tell her."
      "It would be best not to keep anything from her, but I can see your
concern."
      "I just don't want her to hear it from anyone else, to read it in an
active file or hear it as scuttlebutt."
      "Then I would suggest telling her as soon as possible, and staying to
talk it through with her.  Don't let her pull away from you, into herself, or
you might lose her."  She watched the tall cowboy get up to go, still looking
troubled.  "Cheer up, Ranger Gooseman.  You may get lucky, he may really
be dead."
      "I hope you're right, Doctor."

* * *

      Goose met with Commander Walsh as soon as the session was over, who
granted them three weeks leave, effective immediately.  It was late, but
Goose went to tell Niko the news anyway.  He found her in her quarters.
      She was in her robe, hair still damp, all the lights out, in front of the
large window that dominated one wall, staring at the patterns the rain made
on the glass.  Her arms were crossed in front of her chest, hands holding
fast to the sides of her forearms, and she didn't seem to hear him approach.
When he put his hands on his shoulders, she flinched, and he saw the
tracks of silent tears on her cheeks, silver in the pale light from the
window.
      He knew what she was thinking, what memories were playing
themselves over and over in her mind, and he felt her fingers brush his
hand, curl tight around his as she began to shiver uncontrollably.  He had
never seen her so pale, so frightened, so helpless, not since the rape.
      "I don't want to be like this.  I don't want to have to have these
memories every time I hear his name."  She whispered, turning to him, her
face in shadow.  "I don't want to see his face every time I close my eyes,
hear the laughter when I am alone."
      "You're not alone."  He held her tight, kissing away the tears.  She
stiffened, but didn't move away.
      "I am tired of waking screaming, not knowing where I am.  I'm tired
of being afraid to sleep, for the dreams.  Every night it's a battle, and I try
to think of you to drive away to darkness, but you're so far away.  And I'm
so afraid."  His heart felt as if it would break as he held the sobbing woman
in his arms.
      "I need new memories."  She whispered, mouth next to his ear.  "I want
to think of this, the two of us, here, when it rains.  I want this memory.  I
want you."   She pulled back to meet his eyes, and then, slowly, carefully,
she lifted his hand from her waist, and placed inside the robe on her breast.
      "You're certain?"  He asked, searching her eyes, and she nodded, still
shaking.  Then he slipped the satin robe over her shoulders, kissing her
neck, hands in the damp mass of her hair, lifting her off her feet as they
kissed, her warm flesh pressed against him.  She stroked his hair, touched
the nape of his neck, felt the cheekbone beneath her fingers, the hard
shoulders as she slid down the length of him.  Then he scooped her up, and
carried her into the next room, his lips never leaving hers as he lovingly
placed her on the bed.
      *I love you*, he whispered in her ear.  Over and over until they crawled
under the sheets, pulled the blanket close around them, snuggling together
for warmth, and fell into an exhausted sleep.
                                      * * *
      Goose awoke to screams.  The rain had stopped, but room was pitch
dark and he fumbled for the crying woman amoung the blankets.  Half
awake she pushed away his arms, and he held her tight, whispering into
her hair.
      "Shhh, it's okay."
      "You were dead, I dreamt you were dead and he was there--"  She
couldn't stop shaking.
      "It's okay, it's okay.  I'm here."  He stroked her hair, brushing away
her tears with his thumb.
      "It was so real...so real...."
      "Go back to sleep."

Part V
Dreams

      "Where do you want to go?"  He asked her as he placed the breakfast
try the computer had provided between them on the bed.  It was actually
long past breakfast time, but it was the first full night's sleep she'd had in
days, and Goose wanted to let her enjoy as much of it as she could.  He
hated seeing her so pale, and the long sleep, among other things, had put
more color back into her cheeks.
      "What do you mean?"
      "We have three weeks.  Where would you like to spend them?"
      "You mean, anywhere in the universe?"  Her eyes were bright, cheeks
flushed as she took a bite from a croissant.  It had been wonderful, waking
beside him.  She wanted every single morning to be just as wonderful.  And
every night...
      "I'm sorry, what were you saying?"  She blushed, realizing a long
silence had stretched out between them as she sat there thinking.  He was
smiling that same cheshire cat smile that had not left his face since he had
opened his eyes and saw her staring at him in the faint sunlight that
streamsed through the door of the living room.
      "Perhaps the best vacation in the universe would be to never have to
leave this room."  He raised a brow suggestively, and she laughed.  She had
pulled a pajama top on, dark blue satin, and he unbuttoned the top button
now, and ran a finger along her collarbone.  He suddenly got up, moved the
tray to the floor, out of harm's way, and then settled back down beside her.
      "I suppose we could go to Xanadu..."  She thought aloud, as he traced
the curve of her ear with the tip of his tongue.  "I know Ariel would like to
meet you..."  He was unbuttoning to rest of the shirt, hands straying lower.
"The coffee's going to get cold."  She murmured, eyes dancing.
      "So we'll order more."  He growled happily, pulling the covers back.

* * *

      "This is hideous."  Niko craned her neck to see what Karen was
reacting so strongly to.  "Unisex dress uniforms!  That's sick.  The least
they could have done was give you a skirt or something."
      "It's not so bad."  She giggled at the affronted look on the girl's face.
"If you keep inspecting every piece of clothing in that closet, we are never
going to get me packed."
      "You asked for help, you are going to get help.  Of the most important
kind.  I am lending you half my wardrobe.  This,"  She gestured to the tiny
pile she had approved thus far "will simply not be adequate."
      "I'll probably spend most of my time out by the pool anyway, in a
suit."
      "Or nothing at all."  Karen grinned lecherously.
      "Get your mind out of the gutter, young lady."
      "I have never, in all my years, seen anyone so prone to blushing."
      "I swear I never used to blush so often."
      "You had nothing to bring one to your cheeks before, I'll warrant.
Ah, but I envy you.  A romantic, secluded hideaway, a tall, handsome
cowboy."
      "And no nosy teenagers."  She sighed, and Karen punched her in the
arm with a look of mock hurt.
      "Still, three weeks on Rees!  It's supposed to be gorgeous there, not
to mention expensive."
      "Well, we a little help in that department," Niko admitted.  "Ariel has
more money than she knows what to do with, so she wastes it on me."
      "She's like your mom, isn't she."
      "I don't remember my parents.  I was too young."
      "Your file said you were five."  Karen didn't mean to pry, but she was
curious.
      "The first thing I remember was Ariel and the circle on Xanadu, in the
council chambers.  They found me... raised me."
      "Do you think you blocked the memories?"
      "I must have.  When they psychtested me when I joined BETA they
offered to regress me, but I declined.  I decided that the memories would
come back if they were going to, and wait them out.  They haven't yet."  She
shrugged, and zipped up her valise.
      "My mom and died three years ago."  Karen tried to sound like it was
no big deal.  "I was in school on the mainland when it happened.  The power
went down on the offshore kelp harvesting plant mom and dad worked at,
and there was a faulty backup system.  It overloaded and the whole pylon
blew sky high."
      "Karen, I'm sorry, I didn't know-"
      "Hey, it's okay.  But see, at least I got to know them for fifteen years.
And sometimes I wonder if it wouldn't have hurt as much if I hadn't known
them.  I guess that's why I asked."
      "I wish I had an answer, kid."  She smiled, squeezing Karen's
shoulder, and set about finishing packing.
      She removed her badge from her uniform, and placed it in a case
which she then tucked in the pocket of her bag.
      "Think you'll be needing that?"
      "You never know."  The door chimed, and Niko jumped up to let Shane
in.  He greeted her with a long, wet kiss.
      "Whoa, I saw tongue!"  Karen raised a brow.
      "Naughty girl, don't you have class?"  Niko laughed.
      "I'm going, I'm going."  Karen put up her hands in defeat, and slipped
out the door, blowing kisses.
      Shane held up a garment bag, a gleam in his eyes.  "This arrived this
morning, for you."  Niko looked puzzled, and unzipped it, a hand going to
her mouth.  It was the dress Ambassador Ramos had bought her on Boru.
She ran her hand over the taffeta, a slow smile spreading across her face.
      "I think this vacation is going to be just perfect."  She sighed.

                                      * * *

      Shane didn't think he had ever seen anyplace that screamed money
quite so loudly.  The crystal dome of the hotel lobby stretched as far as the
eye could see, and echoed with the roar of waterfalls and the cries of
tropical birds.  It was as far removed from BETA as anything he could think
of, he decided as he plucked two blue and orange drinks off a passing tray
and winked at the green skinned waitress.  Niko poked him in the ribs and
he handed her one of the fruit concoctions.
      "Hey, no more harem jokes, remember?"  Niko grinned, and sipped the
drink as they followed their bellboy through the maze of plants, people and
vendors to the lifts.  The hotel boasted an entirely organic staff, in the
style of an old fashioned holiday resort.  This far above the canopy of the
Rees rainforests, the sun shone clear and bright through the dome, but as
they entered the clear aluminum elevator they began to descend into the
lush green tree cover.
      The habitat ring circled a glade of the forest, and in the centre for as
far down as she could see everything was color.  Birds fluttered through
the trees, and further below guests all decked out like peacocks sat around
the springs and pools, talking, taking sun, or sipping drinks.  It looked like
no one had a care in the world, and that was exactly the way she wanted to
feel.
      "You like?" Goose prompted, giving her shoulders a squeeze.
      "Oh, I like."  She grinned and kissed him.  The bellboy looked at the
two of them out of the corner of his eye, and smiled.  Kort liked his job for
a multitude of reasons, the chief ones being the high pay, tips, and
opportunity to speak twelve intergalactic dialects.  But one of the lesser
perks was watching people make out in the elevator.  They may fight later
on, but when they first got here, it was always the same.
      They stopped on the forty-third floor to pick up another passenger,
but the two of them just kept at it, hardly noticing.  However the fellow
they had picked up leaned closer, peering at the two of them, squinting and
chuckling.  He was a grizzled looking old guy in the loudest hawaiian shirt
Kort had ever seen and khaki Bermuda shorts.  He continued to stare until
the couple, suddenly noticing they had an audience, broke apart, the lady
with high color in her cheeks and the big blond guy grinning.  The old
guys eyes went real wide as they passed the thirty-second floor, and the
lady blushed a deeper shade of pink.
      "Why Miss Niko!"  The old fellow's face was split with a wide grin, and
the big blond guy laughed out loud.
      "Cody Wildfire Carson, you old space dog!"  Goose exclaimed, and Kort
shook his head as the three of them shook hands like old friends, which, he
supposed, they were.
      "What are you doing here, Wildfire?  I thought you were ranching on
Ozark."  Niko was recovering her color, and slipped her arm around Goose's
waist, leaning her head on his shoulder.
      "Well, there's no law says a man can't take a bit of a holiday, now is
there?"  Cody winked at her, and she laughed.
      "What are you wearing."  Goose eyed the shirt with distaste, and Niko
collapsed against his chest with a fit of giggles at Cody's affronted
expression as they slowed to a stop at the eleventh floor.
      "This is your stop ma'am, sir."  Kort began to push the luggage trolley
out into the carpeted hallway, and the three of them followed.
      "Just getting dressed for the part," Cody replied.  "My buckskins
would stand out a bit, dontcha think?  And I see you two are out of uniform.
Here on business or pleasure, though may I say it is always a pleasure to
see you, Miss Niko, even if you are being all business like."
      "We're here on vacation too.  Strictly pleasure."  Niko was used to the
blustery cowboy's flirtatious manner, and found it refreshing after the way
her co-workers had been treading on eggshells around her ever since
Green's World.  She smiled genuinely at Cody, and the old man's eyes
sparkled.
      "Well now, Miss Niko, I expect it's time you had a holiday and let all us
old outlaws have one too.  You work too hard.  And if you ever tire of this
big fellah, well, there's always a place for you on the Buchanan."
      "I appreciate the offer, Wildfire, but I think you know my answer."
      "I know, this side of the law and all that.  You'd make a wonderful
outlaw though."
      "Goodbye, Cody."  Shane smiled broadly, dragging Niko into the suite,
and Wildfire made a lavish bow before heading back towards the lift.

      Kort wheeled the baggage cart into the centre of the room and opened
the closet to set the suitcases outside the sliding doors.  "There's a wet bar
here in the room, all compliments of the hotel.  The dining room starts
serving at 6, but room service is available until 1 am should you wish to
dine in.  If there's anything else you need, fresh towels, etcetera just dial
'h' on the comm and they'll put you through to housekeeping."  He set the
keycards down on a glass table near the door and then stood there, waiting
for something.  Shane stared at him.  Niko sighed, and fished a credit chit
out of her pocket and placed it in the young man's palm with a smile.  Kort
headed back towards the lifts, grinning.  He didn't think he'd see those two
till morning, if not afternoon.
      "I thought you weren't supposed to tip in a fancy joint like this."
Shane circled arms around her waist, kissing the top of her head.
      "Apparently not."  She leaned back against him, smiling, and then
began unpacking.  She stopped in the midst of hanging up Ambassador
Ramos's gift to study the suite.
      The front room was huge, with a wall of windows facing the forest,
sliding doors opening up out onto a small balcony set with chairs and a
table.  There was a sitting area with a vidscreen about the same size as the
one in the lounge at BETA, except this one was equipped to show holos and
vids, and a peek inside the cabinet beneath it revealed disks with just
about every film ever made all the way back to the early 20th century.
      Goose had wandered into the bedroom, and she could hear his low
whistle of appreciation from there.  She gasped at the sight the greeted her
as she passed through the double doors.
      There were fresh flowers everywhere, overflowing from vases and
baskets on every surface.  All of them were orchids.  She grinned,
recognizing Ariel's touch in this.  The bed was covered in brightly
patterned pillows and a real honest to gods down comforter over clean white
sheets.  She bounced on the bed, laughing like a little girl.
      "Damn, sure beats the quarters at home."  Goose plopped down next
to her, and she rolled over on her stomach to look him in the eye.
      "Oh I don't know, I have very fond memories of my quarters.  Lots of
good memories"
      "Oh really?"  She nodded, and was glad the windows in this room were
covered by sheer white drapes, because she definitely didn't want any
witnesses to what she was fairly sure was going to happen next.
      Because anyone who watched would have been treated to quite a show.

                                      * * *

      "Do you ever wonder what it would have been like to grow up with
parents?"  Niko rolled over, resting her head on his chest.  The suns had
set hours before, and in the dim light the orchids were bled of color, all
painted in whites and blues from the moonlight streaming through the
windows.
      "I don't know.  I had Max, and then I was shipped off to Wolf Den.  I
didn't know anything else."  She sighed, and he stroked her hair.
      "Me too."
      "Did you ever think about it?"
      "Sometimes, when I was growing up.  I always wondered, who do I look
like?  Do I have my mother's eyes?  Do I have my father's hair?  Was one of
them psi?  Where both?  Or neither?  I don't know, I guess I could find out
easily enough.  I'm sure BETA has it all in the files."
      "What makes you think so?'
      "They did a DNA work-up on me when I first came to Earth.  I chose
not  to pursue it."
      "But now?"
      "Karen started it.  Then it was seeing all the orchids.  I spent my life
surrounded by them until I was 16.  I had no idea they were so rare on
Earth."
      "She really loves you, Ariel does."
      "I know she keeps an eye on me, even though she swears she isn't
spying.  Kind of like having a fairy godmother, except mine made me eat
carrots, and study, and go to bed early."
      "None of the perks, eh?"
      "Oh, I think I got to the ball.  I found my Prince Charming, didn't I?"
      "In slightly tarnish armor."
      "My off white knight."  She giggled.
      "Max hated carrots.  But he made me eat them anyway."
      "What about Commander Walsh?"
      "He didn't care if we ate our vegetables, just so long as we didn't kill
each other."
      "Sometimes I wish you had."  She said it without even thinking, and
his arms tightened around her reflexively.  "I'm sorry... I can't believe I
just said that..."
      "You have nothing to be sorry about, ever."  He sounded so fierce,
and sure.  "And you'll never have anything to worry about ever again."
      "Killbane's dead."  She sighed, pulling the blankets up closer, and
snuggling down next to him, yawning.
      He could tell from her breathing that she was sleeping, but he
couldn't join her.  He couldn't.  He was remembering the hour in the cabin
while he tinkered with that damned comm, cannibalizing parts from the
scanner.  She had been curled up on the cot, wrapped in a motheaten
blanket, with cracked and broken ribs, the bruises darkening from yellow
to angry red and purple before his very eyes.
      And her eyes had been empty.  He had tried talking, but she hadn't
heard a word.  He knew it.  The tears had all dried and there had been
nothing left except pain.
      He never wanted to see her eyes that way again.
      Even if it meant searching every inch of the Universe for Killbane and
ripping his heart out himself.

                                      * * *

            Goose came up behind Niko as she was towel drying her hair and
dropped a kiss on her neck.  She jumped about a mile high, and his grin
vanished.
      "I'm sorry, babe."
      "No, it's my fault.  I didn't hear you coming, I guess it's this carpet."
She smiled, trying to still her heart, which was beating like a
hummingbird's.  "You just surprised me."  She resumed toweling her hair,
trying hard not to admit that even though she had known it was Goose,
could be no one else except Goose, she had still felt that moment of panic.
      "How about a swim?"
      "That sounds perfect."  She flashed him a genuine smile, and he
returned it.

                                      * * *

      Walsh cut the visual on the comm, and rubbed the bridge of his nose
with two fingers, knowing that it would do little to prevent the oncoming
headache.  Normally, he would be glad for any tip Geezie sent BETA, but
just this once he wished he had never heard what the nosy pedulont had
to report.
      However, that didn't change the facts.
      He keyed up the comm, wondering what he was going to tell the man
who was like a son to him.

                                      * * *

      Goose ducked as she kicked spray in his general direction.
      "Hey!"
      "You're already wet."  She laughed, lazily swimming a few strokes to
his left.
      "You're going to be wetter, shortly."  He growled, and she shrieked
as he lunged for her.  He picked her up and threw her into the deep end of
the pool.  She came up sputtering, and his face was split by a wide grin.
      "You're going to get it, Shane!"  Her eyes narrowed.
      "Oh, am I really?"  He arched a brow, treading water.
      "Maybe."  She cut cleanly through the water, auburn hair streaming
out behind her.
      "Is that they way this game is to be played?"
      "You don't know where, and you don't know when..."  she giggled as
his hand brushed her waist.
      "You're going to get sunburned."  He whispered in her ear.
      "You feel like lunch?"  She put her arms around his neck, kicking
lazily.
      "Let me do some laps, work off breakfast first."
      "I'll go up and order room service."

                                      * * *

      She finished towel-drying her hair, a smile tugging at the corner of
her mouth.  The message light was blinking.  She figured Goose must have
rung up while she was in the shower.
      Niko picked up one of the vases of orchids to put on the table, and on
the way pressed the flashing message button on the comm.  She froze at
Commander Walsh's voice.
      "Goose, I'm sorry to disturb you and Niko on your vacation, but I'm
afraid it's important.  Killbane has been sighted on Tortuna."
      The vase of orchids slipped through her hands to shatter on the hard
wood floor of the breakfast area.
      "I'm sorry, Shane.  He's not dead.  Zach and Doc have been
dispatched, and I assure you we will--" She didn't hear the rest, her heart
was roaring in her ears, and she stumbled into the bedroom, rummaging
through her bag until she found what she was looking for.
      She closed her fingers around the gleaming gold badge, trying to will
her hands to stop shaking.
      Killbane was alive.
      Not for long.

                                      * * *

      Cody damn near had a stroke when he brought the lights up in his
room and saw her sitting on the edge of his bed.
      "Miss Niko..."
      "I need your help."
      The way she was looking at him, he couldn't say no.

Part VI
Endgame

      "Niko?"  Goose trailed through the empty suite, his brow furrowing.
When he had arrived upstairs, the waiter had been at the door, about to use
his master to enter the room.  He trod on something and jumped.  "Ow!
Wh...?"  He picked a sliver of glass out of his foot, and stared at the
shattered crystal sparkling in the afternoon sunlight and the bruised
flowers.
      She was gone.
      "I need to put a communication through to BETA," he scowled, and the
young waiter nodded, a little frightened.  This was a guy he didn't want to
ever see angry.

                                      * * *

      "Dammit!"  Goose paced in front of the comm, Commander Walsh's
concerned face filling the small screen.  "I was going to tell her."
      "How do you think she got off planet?'
      "Cody, it has to be.  He even skipped out on his bill!"
      "I'll tell all BETA ships en route to Tortuna to keep their eye out for
her, and have anyone who sees the Buchanan to notify us immediately."
      "That's not enough, Commander!  I should have been the one to tell
her, she shouldn't have had to find out by accident.  I have to go.  Killbane
is mine, my problem to solve."
      "Shane--"
      "Commander, I'm going.  With or without the blessing of BETA and the
League."
      "There will be an interceptor at the spaceport within the hour.  I
don't know about BETA, but you have my blessing.  Find her, bring her
home."

                                      * * *

      Niko gathered her hair in one hand, the vibroblade humming in the
other.  She breathed deeply, remembering how Shane had run his fingers
through her hair hours before as they had made love.  But the memory of
Killbane wrapping her hair around his fist, forcing her mouth to his...
      The blade cut cleanly through the heavy auburn braid.
      "Miss Niko, would you mind telling me just why we high-tailed it out
of there so quick--" Cody turned as she crawled into the tiny bridge, and
gasped at the sight that greeted him.  Her hair now brushed the collar of
the old spacenavy jacket she had fished out of his storage bin, and her
eyes were colder than he'd ever seen them.  "Miss Niko!"
      "Cody, I need to get to Tortuna."
      "Why, darlin'?"
      "I... It's Killbane."
      "What do you want with that evil bastard?"  Cody
      "I want to kill him."  She said quietly, and RB and Cody both stared
at her in shock.
      "What?"  Cody sputtered, confused.
      "Cody,"  RB piped up.  "We're being hailed from Earth, Cody."
      "Who is it?"
      "Commander Walsh."
      "Put him through--"
      "No!"  Niko put her hand on Cody's, but it was too late.  RB had
already made the connection.
      "Niko."  Walsh's face filled the tiny screen.  "Niko, I've sent Doc and
Zach, you don't need to go--"
      "They don't know!"  Niko cried, eyes narrowing.  "Killbane might get
away again because they just think they're hunting a fugitive, not the
man... not the man who... No, I'm going commander.  And damn you and
Shane both for telling me he was dead."
      "Niko, Shane didn't know he was alive, none of us did until he
appeared on Tortuna!"
      "Don't lie to me.  You let me believe you found that bastard on Green's
World.  Well, I'm going to end it now."
      "Shane is an hour behind you.  I've put him in charge of cleanup, why
don't you go back to Rees."
      "Like hell I will.  I'll never feel safe again until I know Killbane
is put away."
      "Niko, go back.  For your own peace of mind, let Zach and Doc handle
it."
      "Commander, Killbane is mine."
      "Ranger Niko, I'm placing you on suspension, effective immediately.
Should you enter space protected by the League of Planets, all crafts will
be ordered to escort you back to Earth.  Back home."
      "I won't go back.  Ranger or no ranger, I'm going after him."  She
terminated the comm channel, and sat back in the co-pilot's chair, furious.
  "What did he do?"  Cody saw how she was shaking, and it made his blood
boil.  "If he hurt you I'll tear the no good varmint limb from limb--"
      "It's okay, Cody.  I can take care of him.  Just get me to Tortuna as
quickly as you can."
      "You're not going to tell me, are you."
      "You're a good friend, but this is something very personal."
      "Revenge is never satisfying, Miss Niko."
      "I think this time it just might be."

                                      * * *

      "Zach,"  Goose hailed Ranger I from his interceptor, already in
hyperspace headed towards Tortuna.  "Doc, Zach, come in!"  Again, just as
with the last eight tries there was no answer.  They must have already
docked and left the ship.  Any transmission he made to Geezie's would be
traced by the crown, and the last thing he needed was a Crown reception
when he landed, so Shane fumed in silence, and started configuring the com
to send a scrambled signal to the surface.
      If anything happened.... anything at all, there wouldn't be enough left
of Killbane to fit on the head of a pin.

                                      * * *

      "How the hell are we gonna find this mother?"  Doc whispered to Zach,
scanning the smoke filled saloon.  The bartender was a Dreen, which looked
to any human like a walking, talking hippo.  They were famous for hosting
in bars across the known galaxy, having pioneered the trading of exotic
ales and spirits in the early days of interstellar travel, even before the
Crown empire has spread.  No planet was complete without a Dreen saloon,
and for some reason most of them seemed to be named Last Chance Bar and
Grill.  If it had any cultural significance, Zach could never figure it.
      "Geezie said he was laying low."
      "There's no place lower than Tortuna City, Tortuna.  Where'd our
favorite snitch spot him, anyway?"
      "Here.  That was a day ago.  He could be miles from here by now.
Lightyears away."

      "Miss Niko, you sure you want to be doing this?  This ain't no
place for a lady."
      "Cody..."  She wished that he would have stayed with RB, but
once Wildfire got something into his head, wild horses couldn't
drag him away from it.
      Niko took a deep breath, and sought her badge beneath the
heavy layers of clothing.  Cody had a veritable costume shop in the
back of The Buchanan, quite a change from the last time she had to
disguise herself from his meagre belongings.  She never did ask him
why he had a dancehall girl's outfit in his storage cupboard.  It
probably had something to do with the real Louise and Cody's
relationship.
      She emptied her mind and began to feel along the edges of her
consciousness, searching for Killbane.
      She hated doing it, but it was all she could do.  If she
talked to Geezie, he might tell the others.
      *You should let them know...they're your freinds, they just
want to help you...* a little voice reminded her, and she squelched
it.
      She brushed past something.... her mind skittered away from
it, a reaction no different than snatching a burned finger away
from a hot stove.  She forced herself to probe a little deeper, and
clenched her teeth.  It was him, and he was nearby.

                                      * * *

      Zach started as his writscom beeped.  Doc glanced around the
taproom for a corner table where they wouldn't be observed.
      "Captain."  Goose's face filled the tiny screen.
      "Gooseman?"  Zach whispered feircely, surprised.  "I thought
you were on Rees."
      "I'm in orbit.  This is a secure channel.  Niko's on Tortuna
with Wildfire Carson."
      "What?"
      "If you see her, you have to stop her--"
      "Explain yourself, mister."
      "She's looking for Killbane.  I'm coming down there.  Have you
got a line on him?"
      "Still looking.  Get down here, we'll meet you at Geezie's."

                                      * * *

      "Crazy hummings!"  Geezie was so frazzled, Goose thought he
might burst a blood vessel.  "Was only supposed to be two of you!"
      "This wasn't planned, Geezie."  Zach said for the third time.
"Ranger Niko is here against orders."
      "The Queen is suspicious!  Rangers on the Queen's world... I'm
doomed."
      "Shut up, Geezie."  Goose lifted the mewling pedulont two feet
off the ground.  "And listen to me.  You're going to help me find
her.  And if you don't, this place will be teaming with crown
troopers, and you'll be looking at life from the wrong side of the
Queen's psychocryopt.  Got it?"
      "Got it."  Geezie squeeked, and Goose dropped him.  "Crazy
hummings...."

                                      * * *

      "Cody, I wish you had stayed with RB."  Niko sighed as they
tried to look inconspicuous, wandering through the streets of Sorry
End.
      "And leave you on your own?"  Wildfire winked.  "I wouldn't be
no gentleman if I did that."
      "If any man calls you a gentleman, I'll spit in his eye."
Niko shook her head.  "You're a good friend, Carson."  She looked
up at the darkened windows of a Corellian boarding house.  "He's
here."

                                      * * *

      Geezie fretted, the rangers trailing behind him.  "You
hummings, you think you can just come here and run everything.  The
Queen will have my trunk if she finds out you're here."
      "She will, if you don't shut up about it."  Zach snapped.  "If
you don't want us here, why do you keep tipping Beta off?"
      "Retirement fund."

                                      * * *

      Niko and Cody slipped inside the boarding house, glancing at
each other at the sharp smell of smoke, unwashed bodies, and all
together too much liquor.  The Corellian woman at the concierge's
desk didn't even look up as they started up the stairs.
      "It's here."  Niko stopped before the last door.  "He's here."
      Cody checked the charge on his blaster and cocked it.  Niko
took a deep breath, and turned the knob.
      The room was dark.  She reached to touch her badge when a hand
shot out of the darkness.  She bit back a cry, and Cody squeezed
off a shot before a corellian, probably the concierge's son, locked
all three arms around him.
      Killbane's smile was feral in the darkness.
      Dragging her into the center of the room, he turned up the
lantern.
      "Well well, what have we here?  The little ranger-girl."
      She tore her arm out of his grasp, shaking.
      "Ryker Killbane, you are under arrest for attempted murder,
crimes against the League, and rape."
      He laughed.  It was a rasping sound, choked and above all,
mad.
      "What's with you, girl?  You back for more?"  He circled her,
brushing her cheek with a callused fingertip.   "Isn't the Runt
able to... satisfy you the way I did, is that it?"  His breath
stank of cheap scotch, one eye raking her body with lust.
      "You can't hold a candle to him."  She clenched her fists,
fighting back the desire to bolt.  His being so close... his hate
spilling over, battering at her defenses.  She had a hard time
catching her breath.
      "Get away from her!"  Cody exploded, straining against the
restraining arms of the Corellian.
      "And you old man, what are you?  Her father?  You goin' to
stop me?"  Killbane sneered in the outlaw's general direction.
      "Stay out of this, Cody."  Niko snapped before the blustering
old outlaw could let lose a string of curses that would have
blistered the ears of even the most experienced pirate in the
Galaxy.  She held her head up, refusing to give into the terror
that threatened to overwhelm her.  "You took something from me, and
I don't mean just the violation of my body.  You made me afraid of
everything, of my own shadow.  Of the touch of the man I love.  I'm
not going to take you in so you can be frozen in storage like so
much garbage until they decide to have a trial, if they decide.
That's too good for you, Supertrooper or no."
      "Niko."  Cody started at her, eyes wide.
      "You raped me." She cried, her voice cracking.  "And I'm going
to kill you."
      "I'd like to see you try, little girl."  He ran his thumb
along her jaw and let it slip down her neck to the hollow of her
throat where the beating of her heart betrayed her.
      "What's wrong, Killbane?  Are you afraid to fight a woman,"
she growled, slapping his hand away. "On equal terms?"
      "Wasn't once enough?"  He laughed.  "I ain't afraid of no slip
of a girl."
      "No, of course you're not.  You're very good at fighting
women, aren't you?  Maybe because you know they are the only ones
you can bully.  You know you couldn't beat Goose in a fair fight,
so you took the cowards way, and he still almost killed you.  You
hate him because you fear him."
      "Lying bitch."  Killbane spat out, raising his hand to strike
her, but she kneed him in the groin, kicking him in the head as he
was doubled over, howling.
      "Come on,"  she forced her way through her fear with a lance
of white hot anger, spurred on my Cody's laughter at the bleeding
and groggy Killbane.  Even with his biodefences, he was still
vulnerable.  "Come on, I dare you.  You want to fight me?"
      "Get him, girl!"  Cody whistled as Killbane tried another
swing, growling in fury.
      But this time she had enough room to maneuver, and easily
ducked and spun away, getting in a kidney punch.
      She stayed at least three steps away from him, wary and
focussed.  This time, he wasn't going to hurt her.  She was going
to make him pay.  In pain and blood, and fear.
      "What's the matter, supertrooper?  Having a little trouble?"
His blind fury was transmitted across the tenuous mental bridge she
had established and not yet closed.  It telegraphed his every move
before he made it, and she allowed the anger to just wash over her
as she circled him.
      When he tried the gas, she was waiting for him.  She jumped
back, and produced the small hand blaster Cody had given her,
firing off three shots in quick succession.  He dropped like a
stone, his twitching body glowing weakly red as his biodefences
tried to ward off nervous system shock.
      She held the blaster aimed at his head, breathing hard.  Her
finger spasmed on the trigger.
      "Niko, there's a line.  You told me once you'd never join me
on this side of it."  Cody's voice, loud yet gentle, came from
across the room.  The Corellian, aware that he had picked the
losing side, was glancing nervously from the gun in her hand to the
door.  She pointed it in his general direction, and he bolted.  She
set the power level up one, and aimed squarely for Killbane's head.
      "I was wrong, Wildfire.  I was wrong.  He deserves to die."
      "Maybe."  Cody placed his hand over hers.  "But you're not the
one to do it, little lady.  You're too good for that.  Bring him in
instead."
      She swallowed tears, and let Cody take the blaster from her.
"Call Zach and the others.  Tell them they have a prisoner to take
in."  She removed a pair of handcuffs from the pocket of the jacket
and set about locking them around Killbane's wrists.
      Cody kept the gun levelled at the unconscious supertrooper as
he activated his wrist com.  "Zach, this is Wildfire.  We're at
Mama's, in Sorry End."
      Niko got the cuffs around one wrist and was about to secure
the other when the seemingly lifeless hand snapped up to lock
around her throat.

      "We copy Cody, we're five minutes away."  Zach reined in Brute
and turned back towards Sorry End.
      "Dammit!"  Cody's voice suddenly squealed from the line.
      "Cody?"  Goose barked, straining to see what was happening on
the tiny wrist com screen.  "What's happening?"  But there was the
sound of blaster fire and the line went dead.

                                      * * *

      "Dammit!"  Cody yelled, firing again and again at the enraged
Killbane, who didn't even seem to notice.
      "Stupid bitch, it takes a lot more to kill me."  Killbane
growled, putting both hands around her throat and squeezing.  Niko
clawed at his arms, tears welling up as she fought for breath.
"You never learn, you just never learn."
      Cody broke a chair over his back when the blaster was empty,
and Killbane just shrugged it off, throwing the old cowboy with one
hand across the room to careen into a table where he lay, silent.
      "No."  Niko rasped as Killbane's fingers dug into her throat,
and the fear threatened to engulf her.  He pinned her arm to the
floor, and the edges of her sight began to grow dark as she
shrugged to reach her badge under the jacket with her free hand.
      Everything went white.

                                      * * *

      From the street, the rangers saw a brilliant flash of light
from the upstairs window of the boarding house.  Goose took the
rickety wooden steps three at a time, not caring if the entire
Crown armada noticed them.  He broke down the flimsy wooden door,
Zach and Doc, weapons raised, following him into the room.
      In the center of the floor lay Killbane, eye wide and blank,
drool creeping from the corner of his mouth to trail down his neck.
Niko was in one corner, coughing and drawing in great gulps of air
as she tried to see how badly Wildfire was hurt.
      "Niko!"  Goose put his hands on her shoulders, and she buried
her face in his chest, still coughing with tears streaming down her
face.  "Are you okay?  Did he hurt you?"
      She shook her head, still straining for breath.  Doc waved his
medical scanner over Killbane, frowning at the results.
      "I'm reading barest minimum of brain activity," he said to
Zach, sotto voce.  "This guy won't be doing anything for a long
time.  Massive shock to the nervous system, and brain damage.  His
mind is gone."
      Cody moaned, and sat up, rubbing the back of his head where it
had struck the wall.  "I'm gonna have a lump the size of a goose
egg."  he muttered, too happy to note that Niko was whole, and
breathing.
      "He was trying to kill me..." Niko choked out, trying to
explain.  "I was so afraid he was going to kill me..."
      "It's okay."  Goose glared at Zach over her head, as if
challenging him to say different, and the captain nodded.

Epilogue
Sweet Reconciliations

      "Ranger Niko, you are on suspension pending an inquiry into
the events on Tortuna." Commander Walsh tried to look stern, but
couldn't manage it.  "However, due to testimony from Gooseman and
Cody, as well as your commanding officer and Dr. Leahy, I'm sure
you'll be back in uniform in less than a month.  Officially, all
you did was disobey a direct order to stay off Tortuna."
      "And unofficially?  Do they know?"  Niko sat in the chair, her
back ramrod straight, and Goose took her hand.
      "I have released a copy of the sealed records from Green's
World to Zach, yes."  The Commander's brown eyes softened.  "He's
the only one, and it'll stay that way, the Board of Leaders be
dammed.  It was self-defence, and everyone knows it."
      "It wouldn't have had to have been if I hadn't gone off half-
cocked."  She looked away.  "It was stupid."
      "Now you listen to me,"  Goose stroked the inside of her palm.
"I should have told you everything, instead of trying to protect
you from something you needed to know."
      "Damn right you should have," she reminded him.  "If you ever
lie to me again..." she waggled a finger at him, cracking a smile.
      "I won't." He caught her hand, and held both of hers trapped
between his.  "I promise."
      "The hearing isn't for another week, and you two still have
those rooms booked on Rees, so get back there.  That's an order."
Walsh leaned back in his chair, fingers steepled.  "I even covered
Cody's tab, so the hotel should have no problems with you returning
whatsoever."
      "You paid Wildfire's cheque?"  Niko's eyes grew large.
      "I take it out of both your salaries.  Now get."

                                      * * *

      "Uncle Joe?"  Karen stuck her head into Commander Walsh's
quarters, dark hair damp from showering after working out.
      "Hey, kid."  He motioned her inside.  "What's on your mind?"
      "I saw Niko and Goose leaving, heading back to Rees to finish
their vacation."  She settled down next to him on the dark leather
couch, shielding her eyes from the late afternoon sun pouring in
through the wall of windows.
      "Yes, it took some finagling with the Board of Leaders, but I
authorized the leave.  I can tell you're dying to ask."
      "What happened?  The records are sealed, and no one is
talking.  I know Killbane has been put in cold storage in the
cryocrypt with bananas for brain cells."
      "Karen, you know I can't tell you."  He sighed, ruffling her
hair.
      "Oh come on, that's what I heard from everyone!"
      "It's over, that's all you need to know."
      "She's my friend."  Karen scowled.  "Okay, so maybe I haven't
known these people as long as everyone else, but--"
      "I know, munchkin.  But that's all I can tell you.  If Niko
wants to tell you someday, that's her business."
      "I know."  She hugged her knees to her chest.  "I just hate
being left out."

                                      * * *

      Kort eyed them suspiciously, but didn't say a word as he
unlocked the suite, the baggage cart trailing behind him.  When he
stood there, looking expectant, Goose growled at him, and he took
off so fast Niko swore he may never accept a tip again.
      "You didn't need to scare him," she shook her head, smiling.
He put his arms around her, and she sighed.  It took her a moment
before she could fully relax against him.
      "Are you going to be okay?" he murmured against her hair.
      "It may take some time," she looked up into his clear green
eyes, being as honest as she could, "but yeah.  As long as I've got
you, I'll be fine."
      He smiled, and she kissed him.  It was long a sweet, and full
of all kinds of promises.  He was still smiling when they parted,
and he stroked her hair, looking thoughtful.
      "I think I can get used to this."
      "What, us?"
      "Us," he kissed the tip of her nose, eyes bright, "and the
short hair."
      She laughed, then squealed as he swept her up in his arms and
carried her into the bedroom.
      They sure as hell lived happily ever after.

Well, that's it so far.  What do you all think?

LJC