Copani Story

“CAPTAIN!” announced the ship loudly and formally. “He is approaching. One moment our sensors detected a ripple and then....” P’Mela interrutped irritably “Who the hell is he, Te’Zsing? Be specific.” she ordered. She had only just emerged from her long soak and was patting dry with a thick warm towel. So many dreams, nightmares, visions over hundreds of years and now she was finally beginning to understand why and how. And she was in a murderous mood! Repeating her remarks even more forceably and rudely “SHIP! Who is approaching?” There was a moment of silence and the ship, humbled, said routinely “Captain WarMaster Aik Haw. He is approaching in a ship of unknown configuration, but with proper j‘Son‘jon clearance codes. He commands us....” P’Mela said softly, calmly “Permission to dock with us is denied the WarMaster Captain. Give him my regards and tell him to go to Hell. I no longer need or want his assistance.”

“But Boro’Ches, he is a WarMaster Captain, our Superior Commander!” replied Te’Zsing in an astonished voice. “He is our...” P’Mela calmly replied “I know who and what he is, Ship. Permission to dock is denied. Tell him that he is no longer needed, or welcomed, aboard any ship of mine.” She calmly walked to her bedroom, opened her closet and began to patiently search through her clothes. A smile played on her face as she found the one she knew she would wear when she finally agreed to Aik Haw’s presence! It was always this game they played. But the current Te’Zsing’s personality matrix had never seen them together, or playing this game. Only this time, she knew far more than she had ever known before. Something in her mind had released, and she knew who she was, where she was from, and how most of it had happened. She would serve revenge to this particular j’Son’jon WarMaster Captain and make up for all her people. All the people of her real homeworld slaughtered through the centuries by the Empire, his empire, not hers! It mattered not that he had been her Sonjon mentor, lover, friend or senior officer. He would be the first one she killed with her reacquired knowledge and memories. And as they say Vengence is a dish best served cold.

As she listened to the interplay between Te’Zsing and Aik Haw’s ship, then himself personally, she engaged in her rituals. Or rather the rituals she had thought was hers for over 700 years! First a leisurely manicure and pedicure; then a long massage of herbal moisturizer (the last of her supply!); and still she listened to the communication chatter. Occasionally she laughed out loud at the irritation in Aik Haw’s voice. He was so predictable! The orders, the reminders of rank and priviledge, then irritation and threats. Always the same. It would be the death of him, his predicatability. Slowly, she applied the tribal eye makeup. Of course, that too was a lie implanted in her memory so long ago. These really were not her homeworld rituals but over the course of 700 years, they had become relaxing and reassuring. So she continued.

Fingering the extremely sheer material of the chemise, she first donned the pale yellow thobs and slowly fastened the lavender and white braiding at each ankle and her waist. Then she pulled on the matching yellow chemise, leaving the hood hanging loosely behind her and fastened the braiding on each wrist. This outfit was the sheerest of all her clothes. It left nothing to the imagination. But beautiful and feminine, random clusters of delicate ribbon embroidery were strategically placed for the hint of modesty. But there was no modesty in this attire. She admired herself in the mirror and laughed. Brushing her hair vigorously and preparing it for covering with the hood, she realized that this really wasn’t necessary for a Sonjon. Inferior butchers and murderers. Defiantly she shook her hair loose.

Finally ready, she announced softly “Te’Zsing, send my personal apologies to the WarMaster Captain. I will greet his ship at the docking collar.” She laughed loudly when Te’Zsing replied testily “WHAT?” (the result of two hours of arguing with another sentient ship and captain, no doubt!). Then catching his mistake Te'Zsing replied respectfully “Yes, Captain.” But he didn’t cut communications right away. The ship let her hear his mumbling. She smiled at her ship and his personality so well defined. This was going to be fun. Just thinking about watching a Sonjon’s reaction to her change would be worth 700 years of deception!

As Lady P’Mela Piaue LeonDocTchi, Heir to the Raegel Kentaurus throne, checked her reflection one last time, she smiled. This was going to be fun! She would make WarMaster Captain Aik Haw pay for every j'Son'jon misdeed inflicted on her people! And she would enjoy every moment of it, every sensation of it, when she killed him. She had decisions to make before she reached the docking collar! She had never enjoyed planning a killing of an enemy with this much pleasure before. She was beginning to feel like she really was a Boro'Ches!
 
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The Stranger was a man born to bad luck. He was convinced of it. He had never been more convnced of it than now, standing in the doorway, looking across the room to see K'th-Na sitting at a table.

The last time he had seen that old devil, the Dragon Lord had amused himself by beating the lights out of a green dragon called Rath'na and then dropping him at Stranger's feet; a twenty foot tall, very battered- and very pissed off- dragon.

It was a curse laid on him by some vile witch or something. I mean, he had been minding his own business, comfortably ensconced in a hayloft with a lovely lass who was showing him some of the more practical uses for hay when her Papa showed up, in a vicious mood and pitchfork in hand.

Of course he had done the only expeditious thing, which was to jump out of the loft. It is a long way down, my friend, a trip made no more pleasant by the sight of her three brothers waiting for you on the ground.

It must be said that Stranger is nothing if not versatile, and damned quick on his feet when he has to be. Somehow he managed to get free of the three and outran them to a grassy knoll, where he performed an amazing feat of magic.

Stranger is a magician, you see. Sort of. Sometimes he doesn't get it right, or forgets parts of a spell, but this time it went off like a charm and he disappeared before their astounded eyes, chuckling smugly to himself about what a wiley sorcerer he was.

Yeah.When he blinked back in, it was not in the glen where he had tethered his horse. The petrified Stranger found himself in the middle of a wide, paved road, being attacked by iron carriages with no horses, all travelling at what had to be the speed of light, going in all directions, with blaring war horns screaming at him, the screeching of their wheels filling the air.

Collisions ensued, vehicles smashed each other and Stranger jumped and swore volumes, trying to keep from getting killed.
He ran, people screamng for his blood, others merely staring at the naked man tearing down the street.

He saw the sign, a Pub. He knew what a pub was, by god, and hit the door without hesitation. And there sat K'th-Na. It was a curse, all right. Couldn't be anything else.

Just at that moment old Cad happened to turn his head to see a butt naked Stranger trying to make a discreet exit, stage right.
 
Cad followed Stranger out into the street... and down the alley running between the pub and the video store next door. Once out of prying eyes... he send a snap of magic flicking against Stangers butt.

"Ouch!... what the fu...." Strangers turns sharply, already beginning to form his defensive rune... "Oh GOD!! I thought I had managed to get past you."

Cad begins to laugh... "Oh my dear... you get caught again? " he cocks his head "Tell me... do you have to have every woman you meet? Mind you... you have answered a question that has been bugging me for ages" He walks towards Stranger, who can tell from the look in Cad's eyes that his day bad as it is... is just about to get worse.

"I always wondered why you appeared naked... I also know why you would not talk about it" Cad smiles..."it is because I asked you not to do"

"Cad... what the hell are you talking about?" Stranger asks... a sinking feeling in his gut "arrived where... would not tell you what?" He wonders if he could get a teleport spell off before Cad can do whatever it is he is going to do.

"I hope you understand I have to do this... otherwise it could cause all sorts of problems with temporal paradox..." he gave a sordaonic grin to Stranger... "the fact is.... you DID appear... and naked to boot!"

"Oh by The Goddess!" groans Stranger, once more thinking he should never have become involved with dragons and Enchantresses...

Cadfael reaches out and lightly taps Strangers head... as he begins to fade from this world he hears Cad again... "Remember... tell them nothing"...
 
DennizM and Morgana struggle through the undergrowth towards the rock formation far in the distance... Morgana was just about to suggest a rest.. when with a flash of white a naked man appears before them...

"Stranger!?..." DennizM smiles at his old mate and offers a hand... and then stops..."erm... why are you naked?"

"Phiffft" from Morgana "as IF you HAVE to ask!" :rolleyes:
 
Stranger could take most anything. But to appear in front of the Lady Morgana like...this...absolutely mortified him.

He covered, he turned, he blushed, all the while looking for something, ANYthng to cover himself with.

"Ah, my Lady", he stammered. He wasn't about to bow at this moment.

"A most unfortunate accident. A miscalculation of spells, and..."
He glared at Cad.
"By all the demons, man, find me something to wear"!
 
DennizM shakes his head.. and helps Morgana over a hidden root... "and you call yourself a Mage" he says to Stranger... "get dressed and come with us... God knows why you are here, but I reckon we are going to need all the help we can get"

"I am a goddarn Mage!" Stranger retorts, and then his eyes open wide... "hey... I'm a Mage... oops!" he then utters a brief incantation, and with a swirl of light he is fully clothed in his usual Celtic vestments... and follows Morgana and DennizM through the undergrowth.

"Where are we going Cad?" he ask..."I hope you are not gonna get me in trouble again? I remember that business on Julio Alpha.... it took weeks for my nerves to climb down"

Morgana waits for Stranger to catch up, DennizM plows ahead... climbing the steep hill... "Erm... technically" she says when he joins her..."That is not Cadfael... that is who Cadfael was before he... ahhh 'merged' with K'th-Na. Cad is the joined part of them that they project to the world... that man there" she points to DennizM standing still on the hilltop "is Dionyses Morgarent.. or DennizM as he like to be called" She allows Stranger to take her hand as he helps her up the climb..."As to where we are going... DennizM was here 3000 years ago... there is a strange rock formation that was not here then... his Carmine Magnificence" Stranger though her title for Cadragon sounded bitter... "has decided we need to check it out"

"He was here before?" Stanger pulls Morgana up the last section... "How did he get here?"

"On that..." DennizM answers, pointing to the rock formation a mile distant..."that is no rock formation"

It takes a while for Morgan to realise what she is actually looking at... it is almost buried beneath vines... and yes... it does look like a huge white rock... but.... "My god" she breaths "it is a ship... a starship!"

"Look at the size of that baby" Stranger whistles "It must be two miles long!"

Dennizm looks at Stranger... "You are only seeing two thirds of it... " he points to the southern end of the fallen behemoth, the smooth lines stopped abrubtly in a ruin of twisted metal "that was where the plasma reactor was... it was destroyed by K'th-Na during the battle above us" He looks more closley at the condition of the hull... "I reckon even with the plasma drive out... and the live support section with it, that the failsafe recovery units kept it in orbit"

"All Kaploci ships have them fitted... they are like tiny plasma drives along the hull. In the event all the crew are taken out, and the plasma drive.... it would keep the ship in a geostationary orbit, until a salvage crew could get here... obviously" he looks meaningfully at Morgana "that did not happen here... there was nobody to come and get it. She only looks like she has been down on the surface for about 500 years... that must have been when the recovery units failed"

"So now what?" asks Morgana "Do we go take a look at her? What is she called by the way?"

"She is the Kaploci Fleet Auxcilary 'Galahad'... essentially a research vessel... you know the old TV shows... 'to go boldly' and all that... look but do not touch" He smiles at Morgana and Stranger..."We broke the rules... we interfered..."

"As regards what to do... I am human, I know it will serve us nothing... but I would like to take a look at her" he raises an eyebrow in enquiry...

"Lead on!" they both reply in unison,,,,
 
Stranger's head was whirling. He was understanding about ten percent of what Morgana was saying, and her taking his hand filled him with all sorts of conflicting emotions.
On the one hand he- well anyone who knew Stranger would understand what part of his mind was thinking.

But on the other hand, this was his Queen. Not that she ruled any land or anything, but she represented everything he held dear, was the clearest embodiment of The Great Goddess he had ever seen, so in his mind, she was The Queen. One does not walk about holding the hand of the Queen.

Trying to act like he was getting all this he made a comment.

"Dionyses, huh? Well, you got the wine part of it down, old sod. Now all we have to do is teach you how to put on a proper orgy".

He was immediately sorry. Morgana had very long nails, and she drew blood. Wincing, he changed the subject.

"What in blue blazes is a TV show"?

Stranger looked the ship over, putting on his most "scientific" look. He walked about, humming and humphing.

"Not bad, not bad. good construction, I can see that. Yes, good craft she is. Fine ship I'll allow. But how the bloody hell are we going to sail her with no water"?
 
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Originally posted by Scarlett O'Hara
...Lady P’Mela Piaue LeonDocTchi, Heir to the Raegel Kentaurus throne...would make WarMaster Captain Aik Haw pay for every j'Son'jon misdeed inflicted on her people! And she would enjoy every moment of it, every sensation of it, when she killed him...
Click to expand...

As she made her way, almost casually, to the docking port of her ship, P'Mela kept a rapid dialogue going with Te'Zsing. She told him everything she wanted him to do and exactly how she wanted it done. Surprisingly, he didn’t argue with her, though every single instruction was contrary to his original j’Son’jon protocols. Apparently, he was beginning to understand the stakes, especially now that he had a few of ZakRianan’s technology upgrades! As she waited the last few moments for the docking manuever to complete, P’Mela gave him the two most important instructions: As long as the Sonjon captain was onboard, Te’Zsing was to communicate in ship standard, not his Te’Zsing personality; and finally she locked in the self-destruct codes. Once she gave the final command, self destruct would take one standard minute. There would be no way for the other Sonjon vessel to undock and get to a safe distance in one minute.

When she left her quarters to meet the incoming ship and WarMaster Captain Aik Haw, she had ever intention of killing him as he stepped onto her decking. But as she walked towards this destiny, she realized she needed to use him against the Empire. Then she would kill him. Slowly. Her stomach ached, and she realized she had her fists clenched and she was grinding her teeth. But at least Aik Haw would never expect treachery from her! They had graduated from the j'Son'jon Military Academy together, tied for top-honors. They had served together in over a dozen major campaigns. She had served as his Executive Officer for 6 years, they had been best friends and eventually lovers. Then just friends again. But now that she knew who and what she was, they could not go back to any of those relationships again. Luckily he didn't know what she now knew about herself. He would have fired on her instead of requesting docking clearance!

As Aik Haw stepped into her small ship, he looked her over from head to toe several times, smiling and shaking his head. "P'Mela, you appear to be out of uniform, again. You've always complained about the uncomfortable fit of our uniforms but it’s time for you to come home and put on your newest rank and accept a promotion." Surprise clearly showed on her face. He handed her the small old-fashioned scroll of orders. Only WarMaster ranks were honored with actual documents in the old format. She tried to keep a pleasant smile on her face as she read the orders. A year ago, she would have celebrated over this promotion! They were bumping her up five promotion grades AND assigning her to the j'Son'jon War Council, as the new Chief of Staff reporting to Aik Haw. Apparently, he was being promoted to Supreme Military Commander, otherwise called Shahidan.

She pretended to read the orders again, keeping the smile on her face but her mind was screaming for something to say. There was only one thing to say. To keep him unaware of her loyalty change, she straightened to attention and said respectfully "Shahidan! It will be an honor to serve once again at your side." P’Mela felt the bile rise to her throat. The word formed on her tongue and she almost issued the self destruct command. But something stopped her. The smile remained fixed on her expression. Aik Haw smiled in return, hugged her and said "Let me show you our new class of ships. This is the first of five experimentals produced at the reclaimed spacedock at Raegel Kentaurus. The Empire has finally found something those bastards can do. Weld." He laughed at his own joke. She felt bile rise again in her throat, and once again she almost said the self destruct command. And again something stopped her.

It took him just over two hours to show her the new ship and technology, handing over the data crystals with complete specs. Afterall, she was being promoted to Chief of Staff and had everyone’s complete trust. She had earned it. He stroked her face, reminding her of their days as lovers, and said teasingly “Report to your new command position in thirty standard days. And for all our sakes, P’Mela, be in proper uniform!” She smiled politely as he laughed again at his own humor. Then he was gone.
 
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Zak had sat brooding in his chair, an indulgence he allowed himself, but only as his normal self. He had been plugged into the command console, making his final selections for Boro’Sug of the Demon fleet when he was jolted from his work by an intense mental presence. He could not identify it, or from where it came, but it was a mixture of anger and dread. He waited for another and nothing came. He tried to return to work but couldn’t so he reverted to his true self and sat here, his skin turning a dull shade of brass. Copani’s emotions are more than worn on their sleeve; they are worn in their appearance by the color of their top skin layer.

As he had sat there, probing outward further and further he found it. It had emanated from P'Mela’s ship and, as he had sent out his minds eye, he found a large ship docked with hers, he moved inside the ship and found her conversing with a j'Son'jon officer, and they were smiling on the surface, but he probed her mind and found fear, revulsion, anger beyond any he had felt in ages, and a command at the tip of her tongue to destruct.
He sent an override to that, wiping that thought from her mind. He raced for his Demon, reverting to Zack, sending out mental and physical commands to hide his approach to her ship. He arrived and found her again, inside the j'Son'jon ship touring it as if she were about to be given the ship. He docked at the auxillary dock and entered her ship, moving to the rear of the corridore, near the hatch to the interior. He again rode her mind with her as she completed the tour of the new ship. When they returned to her ship, he handed her data crystals and talked to her for a few minutes, then departed. He went out to space and watched the ship wink out of existence. P'Mela was walking towards him now and he released all the mental controls from her and her ship.

P'Mela looked up and saw Zack seemingly materialize in front of her. He looked at her, her revealing clothing hiding nothing. He could not help but smile, his former and current love for her brought all of his feelings rushing back to him. P'Mela, on the other hand, at first smiled at him, so happy to see him, yet watching his eyes travel up and down her body, and she looked down at herself, seeing how she was attired and dropped to her knees, bent and spread her hands wide and touched her forehead to the floor. She began to chant something to him but he could not believe she was saying those things.
 
P'Mela remained in the humbled and submissive position of a Copani lawbreaker. She had chanted the proper phrase and waited for his decision. But after the required time Zack still had not administered a forgiveness chant. This meant that her offense was far deeper than she realized or she had not issued the proper amount of respect or perhaps she had simply pronounced the wording incorrectly. It had been over 700 years since she had spoken the common language of the Copani and Raegellan.

She remained absolutely still. To have moved or shifted from nervousness would have offered even more offense to the superior Copani - especially since she was from the inferior Raegellan offshoot species! But she did repeat the chant again. Concentrating, and keeping her voice soft, she chanted the exact number of times and waited. Then she felt his mind nudge hers, seeking some reason for her repentance. He simply did not understand why she invoked the lawbreaker chant. But when his mind touched hers, it was as if an electric spark had been sent through her. She snapped up defensively and stared at him from a simple kneeling position and saw the expression on his face.

Reverting to a language she was more comfortable with, she said as softly as possible to show respect "Masaroh Rianan, I have offended Thee and apologize sincerely. If Thou will forgive this one offense, I will take my leave and make myself presentable in the proper attire of a Copani.....I mean.....the proper attire of a Raegellan.....of a Copani Lady." She bit her lower lip trying to figure out exactly how she should address her identity. The Raegellan and Copani standard for a Lady's attire was extremely modest, and she was dressed in the manner of a j'Son'jon bohemian!

Zack heard her thoughts about the modesty and bohemian style of dressing. He understood now. Since releasing her racial identity block, she was even more confused over appropriate behavior - she was trying to live as a person who was straddling several different societal norms.

He knelt in front of her, their knees almost touching. Gently he reached out and ran his fingertips down the sides of her face, smiling at the surprised look on her face. "P'Mela, you have not given me any offense! I rather like the way you are dressed. And it is not improper for a Copani Lady to dress this way in front of her mate." He smiled at the wide-eyed response as her lips opened slightly. Zack leaned forward and kissed her slowly, as his hands pulled her to him. He could feel the rush of sensation to his skin, Copani skin, and knew if he reverted to his Copani look, his skin would reflect the color of deep arousal.
 
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Stranger began taking a closer look at the ship. Whatever was going on here it was serious business. He sighed. Stranger did not like being serious.

One thing he did understand, however. War. They were going to war against somebody, so he began changing his mindset.

"Well the first thing we're going to have to do" he said to Morgana, "is change the name of this bloody ship. I'm not traipsing about the universe in anything with some bloody Saxon name. Bad luck all around, and I've enough of that as it is".

He looked her over for a while. Then he looked at Morgana.
"I've got it". Turning to the ship he said,

"I hereby christen thee The Morrigan. Goddess of Battle and Death".

Walking off he muttered, "Ain't flying in nothing named after some dumb, virgin choirboy".
 
Originally posted by Stranger
"Not bad, not bad. good construction, I can see that. Yes, good craft she is. Fine ship I'll allow. But how the bloody hell are we going to sail her with no water"?
Click to expand...
Originally posted by Stranger
Walking off he muttered, "Ain't flying in nothing named after some dumb, virgin choirboy".
Click to expand...
No doubt the tension and internal conflict played a large role in Morgana's reaction, but Stranger's comments doubled her over in peals of laughter. Oh she was so glad he'd joined them - even if the poor man was probably beside himself because of her 'familiarity'. The truth was though, she needed the physical contact right now, Cadragon and DennnizM were being rather 'distant' and cold, (sure, DennizM was doing a masterful job at pretending all was fine....but she could see the clouds of doubt and suspicion hovering behind those eyes). Her confusion, pain, and anger found some relief in her 'Devoted Knight's' nearness, and the simple touch of hands was enough to stop her from screaming or sobbing at this point. Here was someone whose devotion and trust she could count on implicitly. Mind you... she'd THOUGHT that was the case with Cadragon as well. Apparently she was mistaken in this assumption.

In truth, she corrected herself, this wasn't the Cadragon she'd known through 3000 years, this was K'th-na-magywan. She had known nothing of his existence till recently. It made her wonder just how well she knew Cad at all. And DennizM - he was obviously privy to all this as well. What were they hiding? Why had they kept it from her? Did they really not trust her? The pain of this suspicion was like a knife ripping her apart inside. How could he think her capable of hiding something which obviously means so much to him? Then there was the revelation that she couldn't remember anything about her time on Drago Prime. All was a blur until she met K'th-na, and they left the planet together. How long had she been there? What had she been doing? How did she know K'th-na and why did she leave so abruptly with him?
So many questions....

"He thinks I'm hiding something. If that's the case, then I must be hiding it from myself as well.....of COURSE!!! The block!!" As soon as she said it, she leapt excitedly to the potential solution.....then sagged in dejection again. To try to unblock such a powerful barrier would involve complete trust on both sides. How could she trust him when he'd kept this whole "precious" part of himself from her through all these years? She still didn't even know what this "something precious" was!!

As her mind came back to her present surroundings, she became aware of Stranger beside her, looking worriedly into her eyes.

"Let me help you, 'O Great One'. You must find out his side of this too. I can't believe he would ever knowingly do anything to hurt you. Let me talk to him. He knows I only ever speak the truth, and I can see there is no deception in your eyes, My Queen. Not that I would ever have eentertained such a thought for a moment. For a supposedly intelligent being, old lizard breath can be damned stupid at times."

This elicits a small smile from the Encchantress and she looks over to where DennizM is inspecting the 'ship'.

"Perhaps we should wait for awhile. They seem rather preoccupied at the moment." she says.

Morgana is torn between love, hurt, and resentment as she watches DennizM conversing 'with himself'. He and Cadragon are of course reliving the Great Battle that took place 3000 years ago in the skies above Runnymeade. The battle which stranded Dionyses on this planet inadvertently, and which led to him finding Maerys - the love of life. She hoped the memories were mostly fond ones..... even if they didn't deem her trustworthy enough to be included, she thought with just a trace of bitterness.
 
Damn dragons, anyway. He liked them better when they were mythical beasts one rescued maidens from; the kind the Bards sang about when he was a boy. The reals ones were a pain in the...well never mind that.

Stranger fumed silently over Morgana's turmoil. Whatever K'th-Na or Denniz ( sounded like a hairdresser's name) or whoever the hell he was, was up to, he had her all upset. More upset than Stranger had ever seen her.

It made him so mad he did something he rarely did. He ignored what she had told him to do.

He marched right up to K'th-Na and confronted him. You can always tell when Stranger is mad. His voice gets real quiet and controlled. There is a soft tone to it that reminds one of a serpent moving through the grass. And there is a twitch in his jaw muscle. That twitch is a sure sign the Stranger is very much wanting to hurt somebody at the moment.

"I'm going to tell you something, old hoss", Stranger said in that serpent's voice. "I've known you practically all my life. I owe my life to you a hundred times or more, and you're the only man alive I trust, or ever have trusted".

K'th-Na watched him carefully. Stranger in this mood was definately NOT to be trusted. And the problem with him was that every now and then he got it right. Like with Rath'na.

Stranger was no great shakes as a Mage, but he'd been doing it a long time, and when he did get it right, he could hurt you. So K'th-Na watched him silently, his eyes narrowed and ready.

"Now I don't know what all this business is, but you've got Morgana upset. She says you don't trust her, some BS about mental blocks".

Whatever. I don't care what it is, because I'm gonna tell you what you're going to do right damned now. You're going to get with her, remove all that crap, and lay it all out. Right damned now".

"Or else you and I are going head to head right fu----g now, hoss".

Stranger rarely swore like that. K'th-Na could see the man was on the verge of going psycho on him. He should have known. You simply didn't mess with Morgana.

Someone had once joked that the quickest way for a man to commit suicide was to irritate Morgana when Stranger was around. But K'th-Na knew that was no joke.
 
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I sat very still in the crowded confines of my stateroom. The gentle rushing of air from the life support vents and the deep throbbing of the twin jump engines running at full dilation would have been a soothing harmony under other circumstances. I lowered the gaze of my quicksilver eyes, a rare eye color among the Sonjon, and stared thoughtfully down over my templed fingers at the orders before me.

The first paragraph seemed simple enough.

It is the will of his Imperial majesty that you, D’nel Ghar, Armsman of the Emperor’s Divine Guard, assume the rank, privileges, and responsibilities of Fleet WarMaster Admiral effective immediately.

The second paragraph struck me as curious.

*** Eyes Only: Fleet WarMaster Admiral D’nel Ghar *** The 23rd Alae will bring current operation to a close and report immediately to the Chief of Staff at the attached coordinates for further instructions.

That the Chief of Staff was not actually named in the order told me there was a new Chief of Staff who had not yet been notified of the promotion. It seemed a star in the Imperial constellation had gone nova and other stars were being moved to fill the sudden vacancies. It was unheard of for an entire Alae to be moved across the Empire before such shifting had been settled. Only the Emperor, honor be upon him, would order such a thing. The new mission would have to be of extreme importance to the Empire then and would require certain special…talents to complete.

Further information would have to wait until I met this new Chief of Staff. I closed the orders and focused my attention on reviewing our last battle. There had been far too many surprises for my taste…
 
The warble of the comm unit broke my concentration.

“Pardon the interruption, WarMaster Admiral,” my first officer’s voice sounded tinny over the comm but that he enjoyed using my new title was clear. “We have arrived at our destination.”

“Excellent. I’ll be right out.”

As I exited my stateroom there was a slight blur in the air on either side of the door. The Appies insisted on providing me with bodyguards. It was quaint, charming, provincial, and given that I had not seen a single assassin since they started remarkably effective. While the personal cloaking shields Appie infantry wore played a part in their effectiveness, for the most part they were simply much better at killing than any Imperial assassin my admirers at court sent to me.

The Tactical Holographic Display a the center of the bridge showed few changes in the line of battle. The Appies in their massive Copani-class cruisers had forced the pirate fleet back toward the dismal little rock that was their world. The pirates were showing an annoying new talent for coordinating their efforts. It was too sudden a change from their normal mode of operations. I glanced over to the flashing red triangle that marked the lost known location of the intermittent contact our sensors had been detecting at their extreme range. I had my suspicions.

“Status report.” I said as I took my seat on the bridge. An Appie orderly appeared, quite literally since he had deactivated his cloaking shield, at my side and handed me a steaming mug of m’kaa. The spicy-sweet Appie drink went quite well with battle in my opinion.

“NPL batteries primed and standing by.”

“Energy weapons charged and standing by.”

“Torpedoes armed and ready.”

The bridge crew ran through the traditional pre-battle litany. On the IFS Sonjon Glory we broke with the time honored tradition on one important point.

“The warriors of Dark Nebula stand ready as always, Warlord.” Tor-bar, my Appie general, bowed slightly in his chair. A complex array of display screens spread filled the panels around him. His words were accented by rasps and clicks from his multiple jaws. “We envelop your enemies and smother them in our darkness!”

No other ship in the Sonjon fleet had an Appie as part of the bridge crew. On the other hand, no other officer in the Sonjon fleet had been granted the noble title of Warlord by the Appie clan leaders. A trifling detail I had not bother to share with anyone above me. There had been a few individuals who thought the court might be interested in such trivia. They learned quickly though that the Appies were not only much closer to the frontier than the Imperial court, they were far more useful as friends.

"When we complete the jump detune the cloaking shield and find something suitable near our position and blow it up." I settled back in my chair and prepared for our hunt to begin. With the cloaking shields detuned the Sonjon Glory would appear by sensor reading to be one of the many large merchant ships that often passed through this part of space. Occasionally when civilian ships ended a time dilation jump they collided with something already occupying the same portion of space. It did not really matter what the missile operator destroyed as long as there was debris. "Send out a distress call the general frequency and keep the thru-space drive on standby - it will make it look as if our powerplant is damaged."
 
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Originally posted by Scarlett O'Hara
..."P'Mela, you have not given me any offense! I rather like the way you are dressed. And it is not improper for a Copani Lady to dress this way in front of her mate." He smiled at the wide-eyed response as her lips opened slightly. Zack leaned forward and kissed her slowly, as his hands pulled her to him...
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Her response was not what he expected. She stayed still, almost hardened against him. Realizing that she was still confused and ill at ease, he softly chanted to her in Copani, using the right words and phrases of mating. Calling her the special endearments "taalibba" and "khoenumiia" and sometimes "etienne". Since she stayed in her human form, he stayed in his human form, touching all the sensitive places that Copani and human women share.

And still she didn't respond, she didn't push him away but she didn't warm to his touches or words. Mentally he slapped himself when he remembered the landing bay did not offer the romance required. Finally, he stood and pulled her up by the hand. All the way to her quarters, he continued to chant to her, stroking her hand, repeating the specific endearments. She actually pulled back once he tried to enter her room and he stopped. There would be nothing in this universe that made him force her. But he looked at her with such longing and such hurt, she took a step and then another and finally stepped through ahead of him. Turning she slowly opened her arms to him and smiled.

He could have rushed to her at that point, but afraid of scaring her again, he took his time. Lowering the lights slightly and then kissing her softly. "Give yourself to me in your Copani likeness, please." Zack breathed to her as his fingertips began to convert from human to Copani and stroke her neck and shoulders. His conversion continued slowly and she watched fascinated. He asked again but she shook her head no. "Why not taalibba?" he questioned in a voice nearly inaudible. "I'm......afraid, actually, yes I'm afraid. I haven't been in that form in over 700 years. I....don't think I remember how to convert." she answered slowly.

His fingertips touched all the Copani pressure points and lips were warm against her skin. Using the chanting and the endearments, his fingertips slowly returned up her arms to her shoulders and neck and to her face. She had started to respond openly at this point. When his fingertips were against her forehead, he ever so gently sent his mind's knowledge to her and felt her stiffen momentarily. But then he watched as her own conversion happened rather quickly.

He managed to get the chemise and thobs off her while her conversion to her Copani/Raegellan form. She was a very pale yellow compared to his golden form and she was about 7 feet to his 8 1/2 feet. And her two glories as a human woman (her blue eyes and thick long chestnut hair) were gone. Replaced by dark copper colored eyes that tilted sharply up at the edges and completely bald which showed her long tapered pointed ears perfectly. She was beautiful....even more beautiful than he remembered! There was no way for a human woman to achieve such an incredible transformation. And he was thoroughly aroused. His skin was darkening as her's lightened. His fingertips seemed ablazed by the electricity between them. And as her eyes blinked rapidly, he realized that unlike Copani males, their females had long thick lashes, something he had forgotten in all this time. Incredibly long thick lashes that tickled the male as they kissed - one of the most understated arousal factors for a male but one of the most elusive sensual touches she could make.
 
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"Oh dear...I believe the pirates have us surrounded Warlord!" Tor-bar pulled his multiple jaws together in a frown and sniffed the air loudly. "It would seem some of the bridge crew, in their terror, may now need to don fresh uniforms."

There was a ripple of laughter on the bridge except among the Appies who hissed and clicked their jaws instead.

As I had expected the pirates pulled a dozen of their ships away from the fighting around their planet and sent them to intercept what they thought was a crippled merchant vessel. They appeared to have more than enough ships defending the planet to prevent the attackers from getting close enough to send down landing craft. Their ships, however, should not have been able to detect the emergency signal the Sonjon Glory was transmitting.

"Repeat the distress call. This time use variation 2." I savored a taste from my mug of m'kaa. I suspected the orderly tasted it himself before serving it to me, but I tried very hard not to think about it. I had finished half the mug.

"New contacts Admiral! I count...two dozen on multiple bearings. Updating THD now." The tactical officer called out from her console as she fed the new data to the tactical holographic display. Two dozen more red triangles glowed steadily in the space around the Sonjon Glory creating what would have been a terrifying net for a cargo ship.

I took another sip from my mug. The pirate ships were little more than a nuisance to a Glory-class battleship and I was after larger prey.

"Their lead ship is demanding our surrender Admiral." The comm officer glanced up from the display screen in front of him. "They also question the purity of our bloodlines sir."

"How rude of them." I took another sip of m'kaa and glanced at the flashing triangle. We no further contacts yet. We would soon though. "Tell them I said no, request they space themselves, pass along my regards for their families."

"Aye sir." The comm officer spoke softly toward his display and raised an eyebrow in surprise at whatever reaction he saw on it. Several of the pirate vessels opened fire on us, but their weapons were pitifully ineffective against our combat shields. "They did not seem appreciate me telling them about how well you tipped their daughters for the service they provided the crew at our last port sir."

"Admiral! New contact approaching." The tactical officer tapped a few commands on the control panels and looked over to me with shock apparent in his features. "There must be something wrong with our sensors sir...the pirates don't have any ships this large."
 
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"They have one." I took a few more sips from the mug and watched the contact come closer. Soon now. "Transmit distress call version three. Fire a full spread from forward torpedo launchers One and Two."

"Aye sir." "Torpedoes away sir."

The torpedoes, in direct violation of a dozen treaties, left their tubes fully cloaked and arced off to either side of the Sonjon Glory. The launch officer controlled their flight until the seeker heads were activated, but in this case he would never activate the seeker heads.

The blurry image of a starship appeared suddenly in the void before us and the torpedos began to track back in toward it. After a moment the ship dropped all its shields and snapped into focus on the main screen.

"We have just solved the mystery of the disappearence of the Imperial Fleet Ship Emperor's Glory." I said to the now silent bridge crew. I handed my empty mug back to the orderly and he vanished from sight.

"Sonjon trade vessel, this is the Free Ship Dark Nebula. you will surrender to my forces immediately!" The round face of the Emperor's second officer demanded from a corner of the main screen. He must have led the mutiny.

The Appies hissed loudly at what they percieved to be the misuse of their unit name. The thing that really troubled me was there was no difference in the way an appie sounded when one was angry and when the same one was happy.

"Drop cloak. Open a channel." I said from my chair. A mere second officer was not even worth my standing up. "This is the IFS Sonjon Glory. I only wanted to remind you that it is bad luck to change the name of your ship once it has been blessed. Prepare to die. Close channel."

"Raise shields! Raise shields!" The self proclaimed captian screamed in horror. He must have read my book on tactics. His crew activated their shields in precisely the length of time I expected them to activate them. All they succeeded in doing was trapping the shock waves inside their shields. A pity we violated another set of treaties and used nuclear tipped torpedoes. The energy of eight suns did little to the armor shell surrouding the starship, but the shockwaves traveling through the ship would smash her crew into jelly.

The orderly appeared at my side with another mug of m'kaa. I knew he was tasting it for poison while he was cloaked. I knew he was. I forced myself not to think about it.
 
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Originally posted by Scarlett O'Hara

Incredibly long thick lashes that tickled the male as they kissed - one of the most understated arousal factors for a male but one of the most elusive sensual touches she could make.
Click to expand...

Each brush of her lashes against the skin of his face was like an electric shock through his body. As the kiss ended and her eyes stopped blinking he was able stare into her incredible eyes, and find himself falling into them, the dark copper swallowing him. His hands reached up and, as one, his fingers traced her ears, causing her to emit a throaty soft cry. Her body reacted to the touch, her “Menoch” sac opened to expose the sensitive sheath beneath. Her hands reached out, tracing the shape of his ears, the reaction unexpected. Zak growled from deep within his chest, "khoenumiia", he said, barely audible.

Zak continued chanting the mating ritual, long ago abandoned by the Copani but repeated for one such as P’Mela. P'Mela took up the female portion of the chant, remembering more of her past with Zak. As she joined him in chanting the ritual, “Etienne” was repeated 5 times after each verse. Used in this manner, Etienne pledged undying love and devotion. They laid down, facing one another, their eyes locked on the others. Not knowing how, they moved together, their Menoch sacs touching, and opening to it’s fullest. The most sensitive part of Zak slowly melded into her, making each of them experience a sensation like heat, radiating out from the Menoch. Zak’s arms went around her and he adjusted himself to her, his arms tightening to hold her. The 700 years of separation melted as they loved, as they had before, and as they will again. Her memories flooded back to her as they became one and Zak’s mind was filled with thoughts only of her. As they neared their epoch, their minds began to weave together, exchanging each other’s feelings, and finally experiencing each other’s “Zihat”.

As they relaxed afterwards, they realized they knew much more about each other than when they started. They each knew the other carried 2 blocks but not what they were for. She lay in his arms, tucked neatly into his body, relaxed and content for the first time in many years.

As they lay cooling in each other’s arms, P’Mela softly mentioned her need to leave in the morning. Zak, so close to sleep woke immediately, saying as firmly as he could, “NO! It has been over 700 years that we were separated. I cannot, nor will I allow, you to leave me again.” There was silence then, not a word passing between them. Finally P’Mela said, "taalibba, it has been 700 years, this can wait another few hours. I wish to mate all night, to say the ritual all night, and to start all over again. I wish to savor these feelings and have them to remember until I return to you. I wish to spend the remainder of my life at your side.” She turned over then, on her side and after a few heartbeats, he turned towards her.

This time he kissed her deeply, and slowly molded his body to hers until they were as one again and could again make love. The wonderful thing about the Copani was that there was never a need for long rest periods. The only reason Zak and P'Mela stopped the following morning was exhaustion.
 
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