Star Trek: Theurgy

[ EPISODE 02: The Mysterious God Incident | Beginning - Ante Meridiem ]

[ Deck 01 | Captain's Ready Room | USS Theurgy ]

"Captain's Log, Stardate 57505.15," said the female form of Jien Ives quietly as she nursed a cup of coffee, sipping it by the view screen in her Ready Room. She was 'dressed' in her uniform and held one hand folded behind her back, "The mission to Nimbus III was a success, and all departments have drawn benefit from the new supplies that the away team managed to gather from the planet surface. Engineering reports progress in the repairs that were, until now, impossible to complete. Sickbay's storages of medical supplies have been restocked and - with luck - the damaged Valkyrie in the Fighter Assault Bay can be repaired."

Jien turned from the window and downed the last of her cup. She headed for her desk as she continued. "Weapon Systems are almost fully operational, and in a couple of days, we will attempt to test the docking hatches. Perchance we will be able to enter MVAM-mode once again. Something imperative for our survival... now that we are all alone. Tomorrow, a Senior Staff meeting will be held, and each Department will leave a full report on the progress made. Only then can we decide what immediate measures we dare take, and what our next destination might be... in order to spread the truth about Starfleet Command."

After setting the cup down on her desk, Jien left her Ready Room and headed out.

"Captain on the bridge!"

"At ease, report," she said as she headed for her chair - her big brown eyes void of emotion as she gazed out the main view screen.

"ETA for the Federation border is 48 hrs," said the human helmsman, "current heading, Gamma-5-9. We have just reached the edge of the asteroid field. Current velocity, Warp 1." The lack of speed was a precaution so that their heavily augmented sensor-array might pick up signs of ship activity in their immediate vicinity in space. They were, after all, still in hiding. Regrouping for what seemed such a staggering challenge that would humble the most hard-headed Klingon.

Jien seated herself in the Captain's chair. "Lay in a new course. Follow the edge of the asteroid field. We need another day before we decide where we might take our fight."

"Aye, aye, Captain."

[Dr. Nicander to Captain Ives,] came the call from the intercom.

"Yes, Doctor," said Jien and looked away from the view screen.

[I have examined the stowaway as ordered, ma'am, and regardless how I examine the scans, I cannot isolate any kind of anomaly in his physique that would suggest he is one of the enemy. Given how little we know of the replicants, I cannot make a positive guarantee, yet nor do I find cause to disbelieve Mr. Bellde'side. If anything, his anatomy is is a state that suggests that he is the athletic celebrity that he appears to be.]

"Thank you, would you please ask the security detail to bring him up to the Bridge next? I would like to have a word with him."

[Yes, Captain.]

The chirp from the intercom ended the brief exchange, and Captain Ives frowned, wondering what she might do with Mr. Scosche Bellde'side now that the suspicions of his sudden appearance on board had been lifted.

---

OOC: Post above has been updated.

I will post with my other characters too in due time. Either here, or is some new (or one of Taguiera's) threads.

[ Sickbay | The USS Theurgy ]

Lounging in his office chair, Dr. Nicander rested his head on top of its back - staring up into the titanium ceiling.

He had just sent off the stowaway to Captain Ives and before the next shift would begin, he had withdrawn to the CMO office for contemplation. His dark hair hung down the back of the chair and his open hands lay, palms up, on the arm-rests. One might think him dead upon seeing him like that - but his mouth was closed - chiselled features serene and eyes searching the blankness above. For once, he had time for reflection, in the minutes before he dug through the day's harvest of journals and reports. A glass of water stood upon the desk - forgotten.

He could easily have lied. He could have told the whole of the USS Theurgy that the celebrity that had hidden in the cargo area all that time had been one of his own kin. He would have made everyone believe, and he would have raised himself further above any kind of suspicion. Yet the problem was that he had no means to point towards any kind of medical fact or evidence in the scans that would merit such an accusation. No, not without forgery. And if he would resort to forgery, he would have had desired a lot more time of preparation. Sadly, he had been on the away mission, otherwise he might even have fooled the new XO's former host. He would have fooled the Ash'reem scientists too. Yet the risk of discovery by either party... No, it would not have been worth the risk. No, let the stowaway have his credibility, and do not cause a sequence of events that cannot be controlled properly.

There was no sound. No voices. Nothing but the quiet hum of the ship. No nurses nearby. Only him, and the reproaching silence. He felt like he was flying as he sat there underneath the titanium, sailing through a parallel world. A place... where there was no one else present to anchor his own existence to.

Am I real?

The thought echoed back in Lucan's mind - thrumming in his tainted heart. Too long had be been without Eve's touch. The balm of her loins and the tinkle of her laugh. Nothing to anchor him. If there was no one that could verify his existence - someone who saw him, or spoke to him, what did that make him? Could he verify his nature through his memories? Or could he trust the memories of other people; that they remembered him? Could he really trust anyone to give him credence - recognition? Even so, how would the galaxy remember him? As the hero? As the healer? As the replicant? Or the homicidal retributioner? The inamorato, who murdered and tortured in order to rectify a sin the world forgot?

Am I truly misplacing my beliefs... in a cause that does not merit my actions?

The beast inside twitched to life at that idea - began to slither around his soul.

Hate me then, he thought, addressing everyone and no one vehemently, I dare you.

The ambition for justice was not a quest to justify himself. It was not! I am lost without my love for Kisane. I merely need the love of others to remind myself what it is I am fighting for. I remind myself by looking into their eyes, seeing the reflection of myself as I were back then - the sweet feelings that were denied me. All those grave crimes of his would surely prove a sight, but without her - her - he was nothing.

Hate me then! The people around him, they were the cattle he was willing to sacrifice in order to find the bane of Kisane. I don't care! You are all about to die either way! When my kin smashes the Federation asunder and causes the rest to descend into war, nothing can be left to exist! I don't delude myself that my kin ever meant for their hosts to live on...

Yet before that, I have to find him, Sanael, before it is too late...

The thing crawling underneath his skin, it was slowly sated after he reassured himself in his convictions. The seizure abating, he tilted his head forward in his seat - black wings of hair falling forward to frame his clenched jaws. This solitude eats at me, he thought as his pale grey eyes scanned the reports on the desk. The rift in my soul screams, but I won't let it devour me from within.

No, there were other means to sate that hunger. His tattooed hands attacked the PADDs as if they were a lover's clothing. Revival in recognition. He needed to feel alive, else he couldn't prove his own worthiness - his right to do what needed to be done. The touch screens chirped like birds dying in his hands and he searched - cast about for a foothold. His pale eyes scanned the different reports, defined purpose and causes, filed them away for later scrutiny. Something!

His eyes stilled as they locked upon a message flashing on his computer console. Anything! Brutally, he snatched it up, jammed his thumb upon the lit key and bent over it - reading the two sentences under his breath - heart beating loudly in his ears. Anyone...

Letting out a breath, Lucan sank back in his chair again. Like kindling, a small smile entered his features while his heart calmed to a steady beat. Purpose. Meaning. Means. Another step to take, another step ahead. Another chance at feeling alive. Perchance partake in reality, and shape it to his ends. Again, the certainty that shed all doubt, and Lucan's mind was restored to its usual sharpness - sprung to life anew.

As he wondered whether or not there was any hidden agenda behind the request, he pushed back his chair and stood, leaving the mess on his desk as it was. Intrigued, calculating, and calm as the sea after a violent storm, Lucan pulled on his white lab coat and left his office.

---

OOC: Attn: Anyone. Make up the message sent to Lucan yourself and he will be right there...

[ Holodeck 01 | Deck 05 | The USS Theurgy ]

Bereft of recourse, ThanIda only had her artistry.

The program was one she had created on board the USS Kintaro, which the database could load aboard the Theurgy due to a Starfleet-authorised data exchange done as a personal favour when she received her new commissioning. The setting was a circular chamber in white marble, with smooth pillars soaring towards a majestic dome with a central opening - an oculus open to the sky. Outside the tall and arched doorways all around Ida, there was a placid ocean stretching towards every end of the horizon.

Beneath the oculus, right in front of her, stood her easel - with the canvas under siege.

While she poured herself and her dark emotions out upon the virgin whiteness in furious smears of brush and fingers, all her previous work surrounded her. Faces and beings, creatures and scenery all gathered from a life in passion and shame, strife and regret. Features of yore lives, as an Andorian Guardsman and as a civilian, as a Cadet and a later Starfleet Officer, from vagabond times and commissions present and before, they all stared at her as she cried.

The drawings were all copies, added to the program from real work that she had made - uploaded to be displayed in that halcyon holographic chamber. While her portfolios were in her quarters, they were all gathered there too, assembled in white frames that floated in the air beneath the dome. They were all there, the people she had drawn on board the Theurgy, as well as the objects and memories she held dear - within reach by eye or command. The place was, in short, her gallery. It had been restored to her the night before, when the supplies from Nimbus III had allowed for one holodeck to be opened.

Though Ida saw not the displayed beauty, neither in the setting nor her artistry, for her midnight eyes were nailed to the blackness that she fought to exorcise from her soul; to purge her heart of wanton regret. Her breathing ragged, she gave the demon beneath her blue skin a shape and form - ripped it out and smothered it against the canvas so that she may think clearly.

The drawing was so dark in how she turned the demon into herself and made it bleed. The blood was poor compensation for her tears, but it was adequate to symbolise how she felt. She had only herself to blame, to have erred the way she did - with both the reason that she was passed over for a promotion as well as the Niga Incident. And now, with the turn-out of the meeting and dinner with David Grayson, her aggression had boiled over. Since that evening, even though she had found a strange kind of friendship with T'Less - their Chief Tactical Officer - the furious argument she had gotten into with her Pinkskin superior repeated itself in her head over and over again. Afterwards, she had been too agitated to return to the Vulcan - sending her a sweeping explanation and a promise to return another night. She had not slept that night from the adrenaline rush that the heated debate had given her.

With her artistry, several days later, she could now express how she felt. So little time to do it, though, given her meagre hour of rationed time in the holodeck, but it was enough. She did not need perfection for this work, nor did she need any critique besides her own. Until the final minute she worked, with no armour to guard her against her creation. No clothes to distance her from the ugly fury that he spewed into the drawing. Until...

...she suddenly staggered back - looking the dark mirror image in the eye.

Chest heaving, she clenched her jaws and glared upon the affront that was herself - not exactly captured in her finest hour. She hated it, but that was her intent. Time was at and end.

"Computer," she spat hoarsely. "Delete untitled drawing."

Both canvas and easel faded away, brushes and pain non-existent.

Demon undone.

Seconds passed; victory savoured despite the after-taste. Yet with a final look around, Ida ordered the program to end, and she left the holodeck perhaps wiser, yet certainly all the more satisfied. Her uniform re-appeared as she passed through the sliding doors, and after she wiped her tears, she set her grim pace towards the security office and her duties. Hopefully, the ire she held towards David Grayson would have subsided after having vented her feelings about him.

---

OOC: Again, open for any development.

[Hydroponics Bay]

It had been several days and Lucan had been so busy as well as her own settling in that Eve hadn't had any time with Lucan.  She wondered if perhaps she'd read him wrong, that he hadn't wished to continue what they'd rekindled on Nimbus III.  It was silly of her, she knew, but they'd never spoken of being with each other exclusively and she wasn't even sure if a relationship between them would be allowed.  Still ...

Lucan, meet me in the hydroponics bay.  There are a few plants I think could be helpful, a more natural approach to some treatments that I'd like to show you.

She waited then, her heart fluttering slightly as she wondered if he'd come.  He was too intelligent and likely saw through her message as more a personal request for some alone time than any real medicinal benefits growing there.  Smoothing her hand over her uniform top, she spared a moment to think about wearing the uniform again.  It was good but it made her miss the man who raised her, to feel the sadness that things were not right anymore.

[ Hydroponics Bay ]

As he stepped into the greenhouse of the USS Theurgy, Lucan's pale grey eyes took a cursory glance across the laboratory.

In natural conditions, soil acted as a mineral nutrient reservoir for all kinds of terrestrial plants all over the Galaxy, but the soil itself was not essential to plant growth. Here, the Science Department were growing plants in mediums other than soil, such as a nutrient-rich liquid and the like. Plants with their roots in mineral nutrient solution medium lined the pathways, water in a vaporised form transfered nutrients and oxygen to suspended plant roots, even rotary sections of greenery grown within circular frames spun continuously down the area. No nutrition pollution because of the controlled system. Stable and high yields without pesticide damage.

For the suggested meeting, Lucan noticed, it served as an exotic environment. The damp and warm air. The artificially and carefully nurtured canopy above the pathways. The white gravel flowerbeds and the play of light across pearly water. The misty air that clung to hair and skin. The cleanliness in abstract backdrop to savage growth and nature's presence in the most unlikely of places. The rich green hues in contrast to the crystal clear glass spheres and cylinders and the brute titanium alloys. It was not a large greenhouse, given the purpose of the Theurgy-class ship, repaired recently after the infected had tried to cultivate the Niga-plants there, but it remained nonetheless state-of-the-art. More so, it is a very pleasing setting for a meeting. Very... intimate.

Especially, as it were, when only Eve Jenkins was present in the laboratory. Waiting for him.

"I got your message," he said with a small smile on his lips, walking towards her with his tattooed hands in the pockets of his lab coat - eyes intense as they looked into hers. It was often the intensity of his pale grey eyes that... pulled, suggested and seduced. It made women - and men - become prone to fall for his charisma. It was, as it were, one of his means to get what he wanted. Never desperate for it. Not in the means that made him appear the madman that he actually was. No, it projected the aura of an exotic and untamed man... cultivated in the ways of the Federation. Looking upon him served to portray to the eye of the beholder that he should be suffocating in that uniform he wore, and that he would rather walk without shoes - just like the way of his people.

What no one knew, however, was that it was the very people the impeccable doctor meant to destroy.

"I must say that I am very intrigued," he said in his deep voice as he bore down upon her - closing the distance with slow yet confident steps, "since natural treatments are such a rarity in this day and age. Now, when medical science has come so far, and we ever keep upgrading our instruments and chemical treatments, botany seems so... unrefined and untamed. Alas, we stand in the presence of the very roots to modern medical science... and we have yet to reach the depths to which the proverbial roots may go."

He came to a stop a mere arm's length from her, and he looked around - released her with his gaze for a couple of seconds. "Who knows what nature still has to teach us. We have come so far from our natural belonging in nature's image that we have become distanced to the mysteries we still try to solve. We are, in the end..." he said, and his eyes fixed upon Eve's again, "...so very primordial in our nature. So very... primal underneath the skin."

He lifted a hand and brushed a lock of her hair behind her ear. "So base... in our honest needs," he said to her quietly. "Such simple joy, so close at hand." The intellect of the modern species kept many things at bay. Yet between them, Lucan and Eve, lay the truth - the very foundation of progress.

"Now... I do think you wanted to speak of other things than botany, correct?"

The playful smile he gave her ended his monologue.

[ Hydroponics Bay ]

Eve was another who adored the freer clothing and shedding of shoes, letting her dainty feet feel the varying temperatures and textures ranging anywhere from pain to pleasure.  Yet she stood there in her standard issue uniform just as he when both of them would be more at ease completely bare.  Just as he had his charms, so did she and the closer he approached the more her body shifted to a more pleasing posture.

She was a sensual being, everything from her posture to her own expressive eyes luring him along.  There were no real games between them regarding the physical side, only enough to arouse them fully.  Her head tilted slightly as the back of his fingers brushed along her cheek and then tucked the hair behind her ear.  It was clear to him even without her being able to reach him psychically that the simple gesture was highly pleasing to her.

"It's true there are modern elements, technology that make things merely a matter of ordering the right settings," she agreed.  "Yet on Nimbus III we found ourselves back to more basic types of medical treatment simply because of the lack of technology or the inability to repair what there was.  People rely too much on those things and when they are taken from us for any reason, we find ourselves unable to cope with the realities."

Her hand reached out to rest over his heart, eyes dropping to that chest wishing the material was gone and she could press her lips to the flesh.  "Everyone is primal at the very base and there is nothing wrong with that, nothing wrong with taking care of our most basic needs.  When we are hungry, we find food.  When we thirst, we find water.  For the most part we indulge in those quite frequently but there are so many aboard who restrain themselves too much and then the infection released those inhibitions yet so many feel the need to repress themselves more now."

He could practically see her thoughts, her concern for so many of the crew who were negatively affected by what had happened.  "The infection was dangerous, yes, and it needed to be stopped but so much emotional damage could have been avoided if they'd not denied themselves the pleasure their bodies crave.  Just like finding the balance between nature and technology for medical issues, there needs to be a way for the crew to allow themselves a bit of freedom, to accept and embrace themselves and their desires.  Yes, there needs to be structure to maintain order but that doesn't mean people can't simply enjoy being alive."

She hadn't meant to go on as she did but she'd been denying herself since she came on board and was feeling a bit of strain.  While she could probably approach almost anyone and enjoy a casual dalliance, her mind and body craved him like no other.  This close she could smell his manliness over the other things around them, luring her to step even closer and lift her face to his.  "I've missed you," she said simply and touched her lips to his, brushing lightly and lingering in the gesture as a soft sigh escaped as if she'd finally found exactly what she needed.

Listening intently, Lucan's pale eyes came to wander her lips and her face, not to mention her eyes. They were so expressive when speaking of emotions, and more so when concerned about other people. She was an altogether kind and loving soul, this woman he had met in Starfleet Medical all those years ago. Had he realised this back then? Perhaps he did, before he become so much more than he was back then. The darkness tended to... stain things of the past. Superimposing a cynical interpretation of events, people and places that he had visited before that faithful night.

She spoke of her concern about the crew and its morale. What Niga had done to them all. He agreed with her in most part, and not only because he would never deny himself enjoyment if he was not forced to constrain himself for greater reasons. He could never act on his darker whims, of course, but nothing stopped Lucan or anyone else aboard to try and reclaim control of their own sexuality as best as they might - sufficed it was within regulations and not during duty.

Yet he had no time to make a reply to her, for as his thoughts touched upon what Amikris Neotin had given birth to in Sickbay after the Senior Staff meeting, she stepped close and lay her lips against his. A sigh into his mouth, the taste of her, she effectively made him raise his tattooed hands out of his lab coat's pockets and slide them around her lower back. Oh, she was Half-Deltan aright, with the effect of her intimate presence making him respond swiftly and without further thought. He should be thinking about ways to use her, to exercise his will through her and make her a useful asset aboard. Yet again, he found himself at her mercy. The only thing he could do was to try and compensate - to even the ground. She fancied the fact that she could not foresee his intentions, be it during lovemaking or otherwise, and it was how he could turn the tables on her.

The kiss lingered and evolved, with Lucan struggling for the initiative before he lost it. The guttural noise in his throat was his own admission to pleasure. The way he made her arch her back over the unrelenting embrace he had on her was his way of saying he demanded more. The hardness she caused him the evidence of his immediate and urgent need. Gasps for air had to be drawn, and his tattooed hands came to wander the pristine fabric of her new uniform. It was due to become quite rumpled soon unless he shed it for her, so the zipper at the front of her jacket was dealt with quickly. Balance was shifty thing, standing as they were. The risk of discovery immense, this being a frequented area by the Science Department. All the more arousing to Lucan, though he saw the drawbacks of being found in this way with the new Head Nurse aboard. Oh, Skye Carver - that ravishing pilot he had yet to enjoy - had most certainly spread the rumours about him and Eve already, but they were on duty, and this was not according to regulations.

"May the winds scythe down regulations..." he hissed in a heated and heavy voice against her face, "Computer, lock the doors."

Odd, how he rather enjoyed not being in complete control when it came to situations with Eve. He was always in control, always two steps ahead... but not now. There was no forethought when it came to Eve, only action.

Such blessed honesty... in a life riddled with lies.

[Fighter Bay]

Thomas had been in the fighter bay for a couple of hours now, or so that's how it felt to him. He was doing a regular maintenance check on his ship and had come across some anomalies since the last time he had checked the ship. There seemed to be something off with the thrusters and he would take this up to one of the engineers. He had the basics on how his engines and all worked, but he never was really fond of fiddling with them. He tried it once and that nearly overheated his thrusters during a patrol. He planned to do some research on it later, since it was known that stretching these birds to their limit usually gave best performance.

WHile ovethinking what he should be doing, his mind started to drift off. A few flashes came to his mind from what had happened during the Niga incident. He closed his eyes and tried to remember what he had done or what had happened during that time. He took in  deep breath and tried to focus. A few more short flashes came to mind, nothing useful... The only thing he remembered was naked bodies ad the sweet taste of...

He sighed as he regained his focus to go over the final bit of his list and for a moment he looked outside the ship to gaze upon the other ships in the hangar. He was alone when he had enterred the bay, but he wondered if there would be anyone else in the hangar bay by now.
"Computer." He started with a slight hesitation "Are there any crew members inside the hangar bay at this time?"
While waiting for the answer he continued to check out his list in silence.

Upon being addressed by the fighter pilot, Thea had the common choice to give him her answer over the intercom, but on a calculated whim - made in nanoseconds - she instead chose to answer him in person. Thus, she came to materialise next to him, appearing with her hands folded behind her back and dressed in her white Tac Conn body suit - chosen since she was on flight deck after all. Her hair was loosely tied up and her voice smooth as velvet, eyes kind as she looked towards the Junior Lieutenant.

"Yes, Lt. Ravon," she said, and she took a step forward - hands still folded behind her back. "The flight deck engineers are on a short break though, but they are just in the adjacent area on the port side of the hangar. You can find Wolf-03 and Wolf-04 from your squadron on the starboard side, preparing to run simulations in Holodeck 01 in thirty minutes. I will personally oversee their simulation, as per request from your new SCO."

Jaru Rel, the former Squadron Leader, was safely in stasis and Lt.Cmdr Miles Renard had been named his successor during the past week. Thea's analysis stated clearly that it had been a good choice, and the new organisational chart seemed to have been accepted by the rest of the pilots as well. Yet when it came to Razor, the Ship AI deemed that there was something bothering him. She was a poor judge of such things, organics not too easy to make sense of, but she tried. It was a part of her new ambitions that correlated with Lt. Kae's continuous assistance.

"Forgive me if I seem intrusive, 'Lieutenant, but may ask if something is bothering you?" She paused, wondering for 1,232 milliseconds if the query was socially acceptable. "I can assist you in booking an appointment with the Counselling Department, should you feel so inclined."

Thomas looked up when he heard Thea materialise before him and he placed his datapad aside him. He looked at Thea now and his eyes narrowed down on her, wondering why she chose to reply to him in person. Thomas was always the curious one, he believed everything happened with a reason, it wouldn't just be a coincidence that right after his transfer to the Theurgy that command got unmasked.

As he let the information sink in, he suddenly looked up at her as she mentioned the simulations on holodeck 01. 'Wolf 03 and 04 in a simulation...' he thought to himself and he querried "Thea, would it be possible for me to join the simulation as a spectator? I'd like to see how both of them perform in the simulation. Or would this pose a problem since the order came directly from Lt. Cmdr. Renard?" Thomas was curious how the pilots had developped their skills since the first time he met them. They were top pilots, but he always found that they lacked some finesse in flying their ships in combat. It was as if they only saw their flights as just flights and not the immense freedom it could give one.

He was rather suprised though when she asked him if something was bothering him. "Why do you think something is bothering me Thea?" he asked on a lower tone now. That alone could give away that something was on his mind, but he hoped the computer would not have noticed it. He carried on however "The Counselling Department... I don't think so Thea, those psych test might cost me my wings if they actually figue out how insane a fighter pilot can be." He joked and diverted his eyes from Thea to his ship again.

When asked whether or not he may join her and observe his fellow squadron pilots, Thea wondered if she could give him a more sociable answer than what was expected of her by her programming. Both because she had the ability and wished to explore the freedom that Lin Kae had given, but also because she wished to be more friendly than what the negative reply might seem.

"If it was up to me, I would love if you could join me as I try and challenge your fellow wolves..." she said with a smile to Thomas Ravon and took another step forward. She lay her hand upon his shoulder. It was nothing required of her, but it surprised her how rewarding the gesture was for herself. Her sensory programming, her "sense" of tactile touch, felt the fabric of his uniform through her fingertips and her palm. Moreover, she felt the heat of his body through the fabric, and the strength of that shoulder shifting under her touch. The notion of such things had meant next to nothing before the Niga Incident, but it had proven a catalyst for things she had yet to explore. Curious, how such horror that the infected had put her projection through had been the way she learned about the... things that she wished to explore.

Was it shame, this... feeling that made her wish something more benign and good had given her the epiphany? Did it even matter? Did she dare explore more than she already had in the privacy of her own physical quarters?

The self-searching she had undergone had made her pause for a second before she continued."...you might even assist me in learning their weaknesses, but I am afraid that you will have to make the request to your commanding officer. It is up to him if you may forego your scheduled duties and join me at the holode-"

And then... she simply vanished.

If addressed, only the disembodied voice over the intercom would answer the crew as according to Subroutine C-47 - the section of programming in a Starship's main computer that pertained to non-critical systems such as replicator selections, recreational programming and replies to common questions from the crew. Yet the holographic projection, along with the self-aware Ship AI sentience, had utterly vanished.

This, before she could even answer Thomas second question, regarding her concern for him after what he had been through since he came aboard.

---

OOC: This would serve as a good brain-teaser and investigation for Thomas until the pairing ahead, which shant be too long. *grins*..

In what seemed like something being dropped strait out of shadow into the world of reality a creature hit the ground in the hangar bay.  The creature was comparable to the Teran species of maned wolf and had seemingly appeared directly under the Fighter designated Wolf 01.   If one could read canine body languge it seemed to look around with a mote of confusion.  The fighter bay was all but empty aside from what appeared to be one of the pilots whom for some reason the mind behind the canid eyes seemed to feel it recognized somehow.The other was a female in a strange body suit that seemed to just appear as suddenly as he had.  For some reason the creature seemed a bit at ease at the female's sight. Still it was startled and shy it kept its profile low as it hid as best as it could in the shadows of the fighter to stay out of sight of the two people talking.  Then suddenly he was shocked when the female seemingly disappeared without warning.

Thomas smiled as she mentioned that she would love to see both of them challenge his co-pilots. He was rather surprised though when she placed her hand on his shoulder. He hadn't ntoiced any other ship AI do this before and it seemed like to her it was a rather big deal.
He noticed the pause but eventually got to hear that he had to take it up to his CO. Just as he formed his lips to request her to patch himr through, he heard a light thud in the distance. It was as if someone had dropped a bag of meat on the ground and a second later  Thea just simply vanished in plain sight.

Thomas flinched for a second once Thea just suddenly vanished and he looked around a bit to see if there was a glitch in her programming or anything. "Thea?" he querried now to hear from the computer again but apparently nothing had happened. He stepped around his ship now and wondered what the sound was that he had heard. According to Thea he was alone in the fighter bay, so either something slid off a ship or there could be an intruder of some kind.

Thomas first started with the inspection around his own ship. Not noticing anything weird or unnatural about it he looked around in the hangar bay. He couldn't directly spot anything and he peered into the shadows of the other fighters in the fighter bay. "Mmmh, odd... Must be imagining things I guess." he mumbled to himself and he returned to pick up his datapad. He completed the final check ups on his bird and decided to take some of his questions up to one of the engineers. However he couldn't yet shake the feeling something was off with Thea just vanishing. A bit sunken in thoughts, Thomas took a small detour to the port side, hereby walking past nearly every fighter in the bay, including Renard his ship. He stopped as he noticed something at the landing gear of the ship.

Just as he wanted to investigate further when uddenly a white light surrounded him. He s baffled by it and he suddenly vaporized into thin air, his datapad falling to the floor thus rendering the hangar bay empty of his presence.

[ Hydroponics Bay ]

Eve had truly only meant to take a moment of his time, to express her concerns yes but to also just find a little comfort in his presence with the hope he would take a little comfort in hers.  She'd noticed how he seemed to keep to himself, that perhaps he wasn't happy with his life and if she could just bring a little joy then she was not just doing her job as a nurse but by being a good friend.

As he suddenly crushed her to him, she reveled in the power and her body responded without hesitation.  She was his friend, yes, an intimate one but she dared to hope for more.  There was something about him back then that had only deepened over the years, like he was lost and searching for something.  If only she could help him find it and his healing could begin!

Regulations be damned like he said though as their most primal needs surged and he commanded the doors be locked.  Swiftly his own uniform was unzipped and that hunger boiled in her eyes as they both began stripping each other.  The humidity felt glorious as her skin was exposed but it was his touch and his lips that had her breathless is moments.

"I need you," she whispered huskily as she pressed her bare breasts against his chest and devoured his lips again.  "Not much time but enough to hold us over until later," she added as she pulled him down to the floor on top of her.  It was also letting him know he didn't have to stay away from her, that she would always welcome him anytime he desired her.

the canid reacted in the startled way he would be expected to seeing the person disappeared jumping back a bit before darting over where the pilot was at previously.  It sniffed the ground for a moment trailing it to where the two had been standing but the trail was gone.  There was nothign at all to indicat where they had went other than a open door leading to the ship's corridors.   The canid began to look both ways before wandering out of the hangar bay and into the corridor as it began looking for anything that could offer a semblance of a place to hide if it needed to run.

((Location of "Rusty" 10-20 minutes of wandering deck 15 corridors aimlessly seeming to map out the area in his head.  then begins a patrol like walking pattern through the corridors between  the landing struts and the locations of the ground hover pods locations having established those locations as "dens"  It is being cautious to avoid being sighted by crew as it does patrols.

also sorry for the shortness of the post kinda hard to do a longer post when posting from the viewpoint of an external observer of the character))

[ Hydroponics Bay ]

The shedding of their garments was a hasty affair, if practised - the effectiveness impaired by their common needs alone. Something which was quite acute at the moment, though. The greenery around them, the mist and warmth. The slickness of their skin as their hands groped and wandered. Lucan went down willingly when she pulled him down, and he licked her throat, nipped at her ear, burrowed his lips into the nape of her neck... made eye-contact with her.

The image of her skinned face looked back at him.

He paused.

He paused in the haste they shared, but a playful grin touched his lips. His smooth bronze expanse of streamlined muscle and sinew had came to hover above her, breath joined with hers. His hard chest was suspended over her, tapering down to his taut, flat abdomen, and a rigid arousal so quickened it seemed unnatural in the combination with his serene face. "No," he said, having made a decision before he thought it through, "not yet..."

Having withdrawn with his words, Lucan stood tall on his knees between her spread legs - eyes resting upon hers. He said nothing to begin with, leaving Eve wondering, until he retreated a little. Suddenly, his warm arms were beneath her thighs, his inked hands spread over her abdomen - stroking her like his deceptive tongue teased her labia. He might be keeping her in place firmly with his lover's embrace, controlling and dominating her every sensation, yet he also allowed her to arch her back and to press more firmly against his mouth.

He paused only to speak in a hushed voice. "I want to savour you," he said and blew air against her, "I will take the time for it." He slid his hands higher and palmed her achingly swollen breasts - teased the twain crowns with his thumbs. And in realisation that he was taking his time to please her, Lucan came to think about the rolling graze of the sea lapping against the shore. His mouth parted and quested with the inflow, and thought about the winds caressing Envon's walls - slowly wearing down the resistance of stone and baring the titanium skeletons.

He had done this to Kisane. The past had returned to haunt him.

The swirling motions of his tongue inside her wet grotto. The flutter against her pearl. Absorbing her drugging nectar, Lucan was not persistent. He was thorough, and inflamed by the noises she made. The lithe and powerful animal that he had rediscovered in Eve was intriguing and distracting - serving to make him doubt as well. Still, he pressed his mouth to her sweetness as if he had all the time in the world - a dream of the past ever-lasting.

Or at least, as long as she would last under the pleasurable torture.

[Security Offices | Deck 07]

Things were looking up.

David sat at his desk in his office, a cup of black coffee steaming off to the side as he browsed through the reports from the previous night's security patrols. Things had finally calmed down a bit on the Theurgy--at least, as much as they could calm down on this insane ship. There had been no serious incidents during the night, and David was pleased to discover that the brig's detention cells were now entirely empty. There had been one occupant when he'd come off duty yesterday, serving a brief two day sentence for starting a fight in the mess hall, but their time had been served by the time David had reported for duty in the morning.

So it had been a quiet night, and there were no indications that the current day would be any different. Work on the ship was still ongoing, as always, but people were returning to their normal duty shifts, and at long last some semblance of order seemed to finally be returning to the ship. Couple those developments with the new sparring partner David had encountered a few nights ago, during a session which still had the Chief of Security in an uncharacteristically pleasant mood, and yes, from where David was sitting, things were definitely looking up.

"Commander Grayson," said one of his patrolmen, who'd poked his head through David's open doorway. "Lieutenant zh'Wann just arrived."

David sighed. Okay, things were mostly looking up.

There was still the matter of his unfortunate meeting with ThanIda the other night. Just thinking about it caused David to briefly relive the nightmare. When she'd arrived Ida seemed even more agitated than usual, though she refused to explain why. She also didn't seem particularly impressed by the meal David had prepared, even though it was an authentic Andorian dish. Sure, maybe he'd needed to use a couple of different ingredients owing to the Theurgy's lack of supplies and strict energy rationing, which prevented him from replicating everything, but still...

Things had only gotten worse from there. David could no longer recall what exactly had started the argument--it was all just one giant, unpleasant blur to him now--but he knew that it had ended with Ida storming out. Despite David's best intentions, his misguided attempt to mend fences seemed to have only made matters worse between him and his second-in-command.

Steeling himself, David thanked the patrolman with a nod. He knew Ida would appear at his office momentarily. Part of her duties at the beginning of her shift included a short briefing with David to go over the previous day's reports and discuss the current day's patrol rosters. With that knowledge, David set aside his PADD and took a long drink of his coffee, then awaited the fiery Andorian's arrival.

The sliding doors opened to accommodate the frosty countenance of the Deputy Chief of Security, and Ida strode right up to the desk with her PADD underneath her arm - on time and with a mind open.

Given that she had managed to book the holodeck that morning, she had managed to stave off her bitterness and anger towards David Grayson. So while her dislike still lingered, she did not come in to start up the argument where they left off. No, they were on duty now, and Ida would rather be caught dead than fail in her position. After what happened before Niga, the incident that resulted in David sitting in the chair before her instead of herself, as well as during the Niga Incident, where she had been one of the first generation infected and led the crusade cross the ship, Ida had a mind to be an impeccable officer, and try to keep the crew aboard from tearing itself apart. Lor'Vela knew the crew had been through a lot, after all.

"Lt. zh'Wann reporting for duty, sir," she said, and her midnight eyes were unblinking as they looked upon David where he sat with his coffee. "I have the report from yesterday's shifts here."

She stepped up to the desk and putt the PADD down before the human, then she stood straight again, folding her arms underneath her breasts while she explained what he was due to peruse. "Alpha, Beta and Gamma shifts reported a total of three arguments between NCO-ranking crew members that were dealt with, with no arrests made since they were caught early. What is not included in that report is the incident this morning, where a Cadet in Engineering, a certain Ester Hamburg, initiated a fight for the same reason as most fights have blossomed up lately."

Again, the Niga Incident, where the victims confronted their rapists openly. "Junior Lieutenant Kingston has just now taken Cadet Hamburg to her superior officer, Chief Engineer Howard. Adam will be giving us his report on how Nicole handled the matter during the day. In my own opinion, I hope 'Cmdr. Howard manages to deal with the Cadet before she get more ideas. While she might be disciplined in her own Department this time, she might have to spend time in a holding cell the next. Time will tell."

Taking a deep breath, Ida moved on. "Furthermore, there was a report from one of the Brig Officers that there was a malfunction in the controls when he left his shift this morning. It appeared like the force field for Holding Cell C couldn't be raised, so it has been left open this morning. Given the number of incidents that seem to increase, I would think it is imperative that we manage to get the holding cell operational again. If we are lucky, it is not the energy crisis that has robbed us of a working holding cell, but Ops having to redistributed the power elsewhere during the ship-wide repairs. While I am no engineer, by any means, I do know my way around the circuits, so if you'd permit, sir, I will begin trying to repair it immediately. If I need help, I will request Engineering to come by."

It was, also, a perfect way to stay away from David, for just being in the same room with him made her wish to visit the phaser range. this despite the way she had managed to vent her anger upon the canvas that morning.

[Security Offices | Deck 07]

One difference with Ida that David had noticed over the past few days was how closed off she had become. He knew she'd been through a lot recently--more than most people on this ship, which was saying something--and while he wasn't sure if Ida was just doing it as some kind of defense mechanism, he hoped that was all it was. He wondered if she'd been down to see the counselor yet to discuss her trials, but considering how many other people needed to do the same, and how limited the counselor's time was, David doubted it.

He knew that he was not exactly Ida's favorite person in the galaxy at the moment, but he appreciated that she seemed to be making an effort to behave like a professional around him. When she appeared in his office and began making her report, David focused himself entirely on Ida, nodding as she informed him of the incident with Cadet Hamburg. Despite their differences, Ida was a member of his staff, and his deputy chief, and she deserved his undivided attention.

"Well, let's hope that Ms. Howard is able to deal with the issue satisfactorily," David agreed with a nod. "It's been a long time since the brig went without hosting at least one guest on this ship. It would be nice if we could keep a clean sheet for one day."

David continued to listen as Ida moved on to the subject of the damaged holding cell. While technically they should have called an engineer down to take a look at it, David knew that Nicole Howard's staff was already stretched thin as it was, and he also knew that Ida wasn't lying when she insisted that she was familiar with how to repair the cell. "That's fine, Lieutenant," he said. "I'm sure Commander Howard would appreciate it if we could fix such a small problem on our own without having to involve any of her engineers."

He took a quick look at the duty roster for the day to make sure that there weren't any more pressing matters that needed to be handled first. "It looks like we don't have anything else to worry about at the moment, so you're free to take a look at the holding cell." As for himself, well, he still had a mountain of paperwork left over from the Niga Incident to go through. It seemed like every time he made a dent in it, something new would come in.

He glanced briefly back at Ida and nodded to her. "Unless there's anything else, Lieutenant, you're dismissed. Let me know how the repairs go."

David watched as Ida left, then sighed and tried to concentrate on his paperwork again. His coffee had grown cold over the course of his meeting with Ida, a metaphor if he'd ever seen one. He wished he could figure out how to break through that shell his deputy has built up around herself. Honestly, he didn't understand why the two of them didn't get along better. He was certain that they had more in common than either of them really knew. Could all of this animosity really only have come from his being promoted over her?

Several minutes passed, and finally David shook his head and stood up from his desk, reaching up to pinch the bridge of his nose. There was no way he could focus on his work right now. He glanced out of his office and saw that the rest of the security offices were empty. Everyone else was either on patrol or stationed at the armory or at various checkpoints across the ship. And with the brig being free of detainees today, there wouldn't be anyone else there at the moment, either.

David frowned and drummed his fingers on the doorjamb as he thought things over. With the rest of the department gone, this might be his best opportunity to speak with Ida privately and avoid any arguments happening in front of the others. He certainly didn't want to try speaking with her off duty again, not after what happened the other day. No, if he was going to do this, he wasn't going to get a better chance than right now.

His decision made, David nodded and stepped out of his office, making sure to lock it with his security code before making his way down to the brig. It was time to deal with this problem between him and Ida once and for all.

Several minutes had passed and ThanIda was running a Level 3 diagnostic on the affected holding cell's systems - having a subtle urge to get her hands dirty instead of just delegating duties. Well, besides the need to stay away from David Grayson.

The diagnostic she was running involved verification of key mechanics and systems readings - intended to be performed in ten minutes or less. She was no engineer, so she would need more time. She was currently at the second phase, where she was running tests on the routes connecting the holding cell forcefield with the power supply with an auto-sequencer. Thus, she was on her back and sweating just inside a shallow control panel with her arms and tools reaching deep into the circuitry. The heat of and cramped space had her undershirt already stained with perspiration - having tossed her uniform jacket upon the cell's floor way too late.

"Computer, activate forcefield for Holding Cell C."

[Unable to comply. Forcefield generator unresponsive.]

"Damnable Pinkskin machine..." cursed Ida quietly and pressed the heels of her hands against her eyes. If she'd ever come to doubt she had done the right thing in declining deeper studies with the Engineering or Ops departments, this was a moment she ought to remember. Cramped spaces, blind troubleshooting and way to much time fixing things that should not have to be fixed all the time. If she...

What was that? Frowning, she propped herself up on her elbows and saw someone come to stand beyond her shoes in the holding cell. "Yes?" she asked from where she lay, her lower body on the floor of the cell and the rest of her within the opened panel. She shimmied back out into the light and met the eye of the very person she meant to avoid in being there - antennae lowering at the sight. Still, despite her current state, she lay the hand holding the heavy auto-sequencer between her breasts and delivered a casual, "Is anything amiss, Chief?"

Besides everything about you, as far as I am concerned.

It wasn't hard for David to find Ida. He could hear her cursing and muttering long before he'd ever reached Holding Cell C. The sounds of Ida's frustration brought a bit of a smile to David's face; he knew how impatient Ida could be, and clearly the damaged cell was not cooperating with her. Still, as soon as he reached the cell he wiped the smile from his face. He was trying to repair his relationship with the zhen, the last thing he needed was for her to think he was mocking her.

He stepped into the cell and found Ida's legs and lower body poking out of the alcove as she tinkered with the circuitry inside. Her uniform jacket lay tossed aside on the floor nearby, and only then did David realize how warm it was in there.

Ida pulled herself out of the alcove and David greeted her with a nod, his keen eyes instantly assessing her, as they did with everyone he saw. He noticed the way Ida's undershirt clung to her perspiring body, offering David yet another reminder of his recent encounter with Ensign Carver in the ship's gymnasium. He cleared his throat in an attempt to regain his focus and shook his head in response to Ida's question.

"Nothing's amiss, Lieutenant. I just thought maybe you might need a hand down here." David knew the lie sounded weak the moment it passed through his lips, and judging by the look on Ida's face, she knew it as well.

He sighed. "Alright, the real reason I came down here is...well, we haven't really had much of a chance to talk ever since...the other night." David could already feel himself beginning to sweat, and couldn't tell if it was because of nerves or because of the heat in the cramped holding cell. "There's nobody else around at the moment, so I figured you and I probably won't have a better opportunity than right now. I know you're not very fond of me, Ida, but I'd like to try and fix whatever it is that's wrong between us. For the sake of the rest of the department, if nothing else."

Listening to David speaking his business, Ida lay on her back with her knees bent just outside of the alcove. After the first, false, claim of his, when he instead mentioned the topics he wished to discuss, Ida had lay her head down against the titanium plated floor and looked towards the electric fittings in the ceiling - her mind dissecting what was said.

On one side, she was the cynical, sceptical and snide Andorian Guardsman whom had been wronged by her commanding officers, while the other side - who thought it was unbecoming to fight for a lost cause and knew there was no chance for redemption - was the hoarse voice or reason. The voice whom told her the same thing that it had told her in the Gymnasium before she agreed to have dinner with the Pinkskin. It's for the greater good, and the best of the Department, and all that yellow ice. She had listened, she had went, and look how well that turned out!

Still, her commanding officer was present. It was not like she could vanish from the spot. Like her father had told her long ago, tact was the means of making a point without making an enemy. Alas, she might be too late now - all the tact in the world not going to help her make her point.

"We spoke in Below Decks on the eve of your promotion," she said quietly, still looking up towards the light coming from the ceiling - the still auto-sequencer resting on her chest. "The same words I spoke to you then come to mind."

She paused as she lay her tool aside and sat up, clasping her hands together and resting her elbows on her knees. She looked up at him with both antennae and midnight eyes, and she spoke very clearly - unblinking. "You are not making this very easy for me, 'Commander," she said, repeating her words from that night before they had reached Niga and all hell would break loose, "Ceaselessly, you try to approach me. To talk to me. To pity me. To try and make up for any hard feelings by generating new ones. You feel bad about my fate aboard this ship. You feel responsible. Even more so now when I am a social pariah, given what the virus made me do at Niga. When you talked to me in Below Decks, I was with close friends from Alpha shift. They have abandoned me now, as if I turned into a leper. I am a feared Deputy now; no one quite certain what to make of me any more. So you again blame yourself for my fate, and under the pretence of trying to smooth things over with me for the sake of the Department, you want to talk. You want me to tell you that 'it is okay, Pinkskin, I will turn the other cheek. I can handle this on my own. No, no, by all means, I can just roll over right here so that fate can fuck me in the arse a third time whenever it deigns to.' No, 'Commander, I will not make friends for you just because of your guilty conscience."

Her words very precise, she delivered them whilst being seated as she were. Only now did she stand up - looking him square in the eye. "If you continue to pity me, I will not respect your authority. I do not want friendship. I want a leader to look up to, so that I can tell myself that someone better than me got the position. I want a warrior sitting behind your desk: someone whom the Imperial Guard on Andoria would recognise. If you inspire me instead of cajoling me, you will have the most loyal and ambitious Deputy in the Fleet. Ready to take us to the Federation and spread the truth."

She took a step closer to him, her antennae raising. "You want to talk. I want to fight. I want to see what kind of warrior you are, David Grayson. Do you mean me to do your bidding out of Starfleet rank... or out of expertise, strength and resourcefulness? We have fought with words, but we have not fought in earnest. Neither of us look like politicians, do we, Pinkskin?"

The fight was in the air, about to start...

...when there was a plasma explosion in the opened alcove. First, the force-field was raised to lock them in, and secondly, the alcove was a furnace of hot air from overheated machinery. There seemed no overhanging risk for further explosions, but the hot air became even warmer. It all happened so fast Ida just stood there, realising that they were locked in. She thought she saw someone through the haze of smoke in the holding cell just outside, but if there was someone there, she was gone whens he stepped up to the humming force field.

She turned to David, speechless. Trapped with him in the sweltering heat.

[ Hydroponics Bay ]

Sex was such a wonderful thing but whenever Eve was with Lucan there was something so much more, bringing her arousal and ultimate climaxes to even high levels.  Feeling him lay atop her, touching and kissing in near desperation, she moaned in pure contentment.  Then he paused and she felt her body pulsing with need yet she remained still, even when he said "no."

Her expression remained attentive and she was about to tell him it was okay, that they could meet up later.  He knew she would restrain herself, would wait for him until he was ready but then he proved he was more than ready.  Her eyes had been locked with his but she couldn't help dropping that gaze as he knelt there before her, drinking in his chest and how his navel drew her line of sight.

His movement brought her eyes back to his and she realized his intent, something he had never done with her before and it was something she considered extremely intimate.  "Lucan," she breathed as indeed her back arched and she reached to touch his face as his tongue swept along her nether region.  How she had always longed for him to do this, and his words added fuel to the fire.

Slowly he tormented her, his tongue expertly drawing her along to the point she was writing beneath him and rocking her hips to press herself more to his mouth.  "So perfect ... so good ... yesssssss ... wanted this for so long," she groaned.  Higher and higher the pitch of her voice rose until she was at the point of no return, crying out as her hips bucked and his tongue was coated with her sweet juices.

Her knees dropped out limply to the side as she lay there still cooing with release.  "Come here," she said finding the strength to sit up and take him by the face and drag him up for a deep kiss.  Her tongue licked every bit of herself from him and teased along those sensitive places she knew so well in his mouth then pulled back enough to speak.  "Somehow I have to repay you for that," she crooned with a teasing lilt.  "Your wish ... is my command."

[Brig | Deck 07]

David felt his patience with Ida wearing thinner with every word that passed through her lips. He'd come to her in good faith, offering her an olive branch of peace, and once again she threw it back in his face. Was part of his desire to make amends due to a guilty conscience on his part? Perhaps, but only a little. It certainly wasn't because he pitied her.

Ida may have been ahead of David in the chain of command when their superior died, but it was her own incompetence that had led her to this fate, not anything he'd done. He didn't pity her for that. Her bad judgment and her poor performance in the face of adversity had taken her down this road. David didn't want to heal the rift between them out of some sense of pity, but because he knew that Ida's constant rebelliousness was undermining his authority as Chief of Security. If even his own Deputy wouldn't treat him with the proper respect, why should any of the other officers under his command do so?

Had this altercation occurred several days ago, perhaps David would have responded differently. He might have taken Ida's words in stride and simply forget the whole thing had happened. But things had changed. No longer did David feel like it was for the best that he kept himself contained, that he should hold back his true self out of some misguided notion that he was not his own man, but someone else's creation. It was long past time that he stop pretending to be someone he knew he wasn't.

When Ida stepped towards David, he did not back down. He stepped forward as well, his eyes burning with icy fury. If this disrespectful Andorian wanted a fight, he was more than happy to give her one.

"Be careful, Lieutenant," he warned, his normally steady tone laced with an underlying hint of danger. "You have no idea what I'm capable of." He'd gone to great lengths to keep the truth of his genetic engineering hidden, and it was doubtful that Ida knew about it. Andorians were strong and hardy, but David was physically on par with the genetically engineered supermen of Earth's Eugenics Wars. In this cramped holding space, with so little room to maneuver, he did not like Ida's chances.

Then suddenly there was a plasma explosion in the maintenance alcove, and David took a step back from Ida as he was suddenly jolted back into reality. He immediately turned toward the open doorway, only to stop as the forcefield flickered to life, sealing both him and Ida inside. He could have sworn seeing movement on the other side of the forcefield, but the haze of smoke from the explosion clouded his vision.

He coughed lightly and waved some of the smoke out of his face as he turned to look at Ida, equally shocked. "Well, this isn't good," he muttered. He frowned at Ida and tapped his combadge. It would be a simple matter to have one of the officers come down to the brig, deactivate the forcefield, and get them out of there. "Grayson to Security."

David stood there for a moment, awaiting a response, and his frown deepened when none came. He repeated the motion. "Grayson to Security! Respond!" Still nothing.

He scowled and tried a different tack. "Grayson to Engineering. Grayson to the bridge. Grayson to anyone!"

None answered. The Security Chief released a frustrated snarl. He was trapped in this holding cell with the most aggravating woman on the ship, no one was responding to his hails, and the wrecked machinery in the alcove flooded the cell with an intense heat that was quickly verging on unbearable. David had already begun to sweat even before the near-fight with Ida had begun, but now he was forced to remove his uniform jacket and loosen the collar on his undershirt, desperately seeking some relief. One of the downsides to his enhanced physicality was his metabolism, which burned far hotter than the average human's and meant that his body could overheat very quickly.

He tossed his jacket off to the side, atop Ida's, and frowned as he turned his attention back to her. "It looks like we're stuck here. Unless you've got any ideas?"

[ Hydroponics Bay ]

Despite the thoroughness of his treatment and what it had brought Eve, Lucan was merely beginning, for he was desperate to cling to his fleeting memory before it vanished.

"I bid you lay back then," he said to her thickly with the lines of a smile in the corners of mouth. Then, as he made her surrender yet again, he quietly leaned down to lay his mouth against her neck, lips and then teeth brushing against her skin. Slowly, he made the warmth of the hydroponics bay become inferior to their bond. Knees were nudged to part. An insistent palm splayed against her inner thigh. One arm slid behind her neck so that she might rest her head against it. Fingers dug into her shoulder. The flick of a warm tongue against her earlobe. The returning presence of his breath against her lips, a following kiss - assertively tasting the torrid sweetness hidden behind her teeth.

Strangely therapeutic; to sear the years away by the heat of shared passion - not just to shed melancholy and induce strength to face the impediments and difficulties on his chosen path. Eventually, Lucan made a low noise in his throat... finally claiming her.

Oh, she would welcome him with her soft sounds, syllables older than language, solace lovelier than words. He knew she'd respond to the pressure of his girth with those cries that men longed to hear. They were the sweet deep moaning sounds that echoed the sigh of oceans, the ebb and flow of fields, the sough of the winds. He expected her legs to soon crushed his ribs anew, her crossed heels digging in hard, drawing him in.

To him, everything fell away. No stain upon his soul. No genocide in mind. No betrayal of the crew. There was nothing else left, nothing in the world but her and the delirious incoherent frenzy of pure sensation that her sheath and her body's response sent spiralling through him. The external impressions enforced those within. The grind of warm and wet skin and the play of the artificial light upon her. The taste of salt and sweetness of flesh and mouth. Her breath filling his nostrils. The churning surge against her making his dark hair fall forth, encompassing their faces - shading the intimate squint of their eyes.

Only when he had her close to her second climax did he tumble them sideways on the path... and came to lay back against the undergrowth. There was some kind of soft plantation next to the flooring they'd just occupied - now ruined by their weight. He did not care the least.

He kept his arms around her as she lay against him. Hard fingers running down her back, his tattooed hand descended to her hips in order to control her pelvic movements. Just like his lips may catch the shallow groove behind her collarbone and the nape of her neck, he would but try to match her dance. He would not lead any more, but make her apply herself to the here and now - to make him completely forget. There was no escape save for the release - no recourse but oblivion. 


[Brig | Deck 07]

Just before the plasma explosion in the alcove, when Ida had posed her challenge, she had glimpsed something about her new superior that she had not detected before.

He had become carved out of ice, his gaze burning and meeting her claims with the cold steel of his tone - as if drawing an ushaan-tor in preparation for the duel she had offered. It had been... surprising, for she had thought the Pinkskin carved out of softer materials. Then again, why would she have given him the benefit of the doubt? Especially when her people were known for their emotional, passionate and violent tendencies, as opposed to charity. Or sympathy, for that matter.

Now there had been the attitude of a leader she could respect - a superior to look up to and adhere to. In that brief moment when the Pinkskin had shown some spine and not backed out from the challenge, she had felt a sliver of hope that there was some kind of justice in the galaxy. That, perhaps, she would not have to grieve for the sake of the crew that they lacked an Chief of Security that could keep them safe during their mission back into Federation space.

Had the plasma explosion not happened, she would have told the Pinkskin so, and even smiled to him.

Yet when the small disaster happened, and they were effectively sealed in, Ida's mind turned to the present. When Grayson's combadge did not respond, Ida had gone to pick up hers from her uniform jacket, jammed her thumb upon it and tried to contact Engineering. She got the same result as David, as if the explosion had some kind of electrical surge that had blown out the circuitry within them. Odd, since they had not been that close to the alcove when it happened. In the end, she tossed the jacked and the combadge to the floor again... only to see David'd uniform land on top of it.

Lifting her midnight blue eyes and antennae in the smoke, she got a glimpse of a second thing that - while she had seen him in the gymnasium before - had been unnoticed since she'd thought him a spineless Pinkskin who'd won the favour from the Senior Staff just so they'd have an alternative to herself. Now, when she had caught on to a hint that there might be something more to him, the sight of his moderate undress got her cursory notice. It was not like she stared, but it was a vivid image of sweat, muscle and smoke that she might have to try and capture on canvas.

First, they had to get out though. She was getting heavy-headed and drenched in sweat because of the Andorian physiology, the metabolism and her compartmentalised insides keeping the heat from venting. Her own high metabolism didn't help either. Ideas.. ideas... she thought and looked around, following Grayson's example by unzipping her undershirt as far as she could. Blue skin pearled with sweat caught the artificial light from above.

"We need to keep ourselves from cooking inside here first," she ventured with her eyebrows drawn down in thought, "so we need to close the alcove with the hatch that I removed, but being that this is a holding cell, we need to fasten it with some of the tools I brought. Those are, however, there - outside the forcefield. We can place the hatch over it, but I think we need to seal it tight with our uniform jackets. If we stick those around its edges, it aught to not fall off from the pressure of this warm air."

And thus, Ida began to try and move the heavy hatch into position again, picking up her own uniform jacket on the way - fully expecting the Pinkskin to assist her in their common plight.

"I'm all for not being cooked alive," David agreed. He quickly moved to help Ida, removing his jacket from atop hers and slinging it over his shoulder. He saw Ida grab the hatch and try to move it back into position, and he quickly stepped over and waved her off.

"Here, let me," he offered, dropping to a crouch and placing a hand on either side of the heavy hatch. If this hadn't been a potentially deadly situation he might have pretended to strain against the weight of the hatch, but David was in no mood to play games. Both his and Ida's lives could very well depend on getting that alcove sealed. He gripped the hatch tightly and easily lifted it from the ground, not even breathing hard as he carried it towards the alcove.

As he did so, he nodded to Ida. "Okay, take my jacket and yours and get ready to stuff them around the edges." David lowered himself back to a crouch once he reached the entryway to the alcove, and working in tandem with Ida, who carefully worked their jackets into the open gaps to keep the hatched wedged in tightly, he pushed the hatch back into place.

The task complete, David nodded to Ida and stepped back. He sighed and reached an arm up to wipe away the sweat that continued to pour down his forehead. "Well, that ought to slow it down some, at least." While that was true enough, it was still uncomfortably hot in there, and David was forced to unfasten his gold undershirt completely, letting it hang open to reveal a dark tank top underneath, which was already stained with perspiration and stuck to David's chiseled form. He didn't particularly like the idea of stripping down in front of his Deputy, but it was better than roasting to death.

David looked back over at Ida and saw that she'd unzipped her own undershirt as far as she dared. He couldn't help but stare at her glistening azure skin for a moment, and offered Ida a sympathetic nod as he looked up at her. "This isn't exactly Andoria on a cool winter's day, huh?" he asked, trying to bring a little levity to the situation.

[ Hydroponics Bay ]

Uncurling the fingers from her hair, Eve tilted her face to where she could see the man who'd just brought her one of the most incredible feelings she'd ever had.  The blue of his eyes seemed more intense, framed by his dark lashes.  "I've never looked at another face and felt the way I do now," she murmured lovingly and lay back as he asked.

A gentle but insistent hand parted her thighs more and they opened, welcoming him without hesitation.  Their times today had always been sensual and satisfying but there was something different this time she noted as his arm slipped under to cradle her head.  Warmth and need emanated from her body, a stronger hint of her pheromones like an invisible cloud ensnaring his senses.

A sensuality she'd never shared before with anyone poured from her as she wrapped her arms around him, fingers entwining in his thick dark hair as their lips' embrace drew out for what seemed like eternity.  With a sound deep in his throat that reached inside of her and drew her torso upward, he claimed her in the sweetest possible way.

They were one and if she could have touched his mind they might both go insane though she couldn't help thinking this was the perfect journey for such.  As they writhed together and she was nearing that point, she felt his muscles gather and turned easily with him until she lay atop his strong body.  He needed her, needed to be loved and she poured her heart into all her actions.

Kisses and touches complimented the motion of her hips, drawing herself along his throbbing member.  There was no ship or any worlds, only the softness below and above him as Eve made true love to him.  Raising her upper body, her fingers trailed down his chest and settled around his navel as her body undulated like a serpent.  Her hips moved elliptically as she rose and fell, stimulating him from base to tip and all around.

[ Hydroponics Bay ]

Desires awakened from decades past, reminiscence animated in animal grind and noises, Lucan's fingertips dug into her hips as she sat up and applied herself to rising him. She brought herself down unto him, and he brought his tattooed hands up to cup her breasts in his hands - to feel her hardened peaks brush against his skin. To feel her under his hands anchored him to what his mind's eye saw.

During the intensity of what they were doing, he was writhing beneath her - pounding into her in a fierce paroxysm. In the pagan rhythm, he trembled on the very edge of infinity. The misty and warm air made the sight of her on top of him a mirage - seeming too good to be real. He gave her the leverage she needed by flexing his abdomen under her hands, and he thrust his hips up to make sure she took the whole of him inside her. Yet her words from just before called to him.

"I've never looked at another face and felt the way I do now."

In his mind, though, he imagined Kisane say it - that her lips and her brow was the same as Eve's. He had not answered, but her lips called to him now. He wrapped his arms around her moving frame and made her weightless in their union. Whilst he crushed her to his chest in act of desperate desire, as he pressed her down unto himself, he never looked away. A noise escaped his throat, unwillingly, since her confines smote the years to dust, and he felt like he was truly a man once again. Eve made him feel like no time had passed at all. And for that, he kissed her.

The lack of air in their winded state did not permit more than a few seconds of hunger. He instead savaged her neck, throat and breasts in turn with his lips, and he gasped when he was about to spend himself inside her. There was no helping it, as intense as things had become between them. "Eve... I..."

When the convulsions racked his body, he cried out against her skin - for the loss of this precious memory relived.


[ Brig | Deck 07 ]

Bewildered when waved off, Ida frowned when the Pinkskin lifted the hatch all by himself - not even bracing himself before straightening his legs. When ordered to pick up his jacket, she blinked away sweat from her eyes - yet not hesitating because of the order. Rather, because the change in her own mind when she got the instruction; the impulse to obey rather than striking him down where he stood.

It had to be the dire situation. Surely her reaction did not stem from his physical prowess? Certainly not. It was an oddity about him; a contrast between his human frame and his effortless strength. Nothing more. Even though it had been her original idea, she was very aware that she executed on his order with methodical efficiency. It felt surreal, to do as he said and not secretly wanting to break his teeth. The situation, yes, it has to be the reason.

After the hatch was wedged back into place with the use of their jackets, Ida stood back with her hands upon her hips - breathing heavily just get rid of the air that the blast furnace had given her. "Indeed," she said simply to his comment about having bought them some time, her mind too leaden from the heat to try and calculate how warm it might become at some point. Or simply put, how much time they had to survive before passing out from heat exhaustion. Hours? Even half a day? A depressing calculus she did not care for.

She glanced up to see that he had also opened his undershirt, and she tossed some white hair out of her eyes. She had no tank underneath it, so she felt exposed after she had pulled down her zipper to the top of her abdomen - her globated breasts framed by a simple white bra. It was soaked through already. She almost decided to zip up again, but decided that it would cause for more embarrassment than if she wouldn't. Was he looking? He was! Lor'Vela help me...

"This isn't exactly Andoria on a cool winter's day, huh?"

Oh, she thought before she answered, he only noted how sweaty I am. Yes, certainly nothing else than that. The Pinkskin wouldn't dare... Then again, he had just shown that he - at least - possessed a considerable strength that she had not counted on. Perhaps he would dare to challenge me after all? Perhaps he believes he has the right to look at me just because he might have qualities that would befit his position? Would he be so bold, or... No, he merely noted that Andorians don't do too well in these conditions.

"Not quite," she admitted after a few moments, shaking her head as she began to look for possible ways to escape. It was a holding cell, so she did not have too many expectations of that. "My people enjoy the cold, but unlike common belief, we will not drop dead just because of some heat. Our minds become... sluggish, leaden. Much like humans. While we thrive in the cold, even though we need Andoria's geysers and hot springs, but our compartmentalised insides helps stave off the heat from our vital organs. Evens it out. Resilience is one of our physical virtues. Our temper, or pride, not so much our psychosocial ones..."

It was the closest to an apology Grayson would get right then. Yet she did say one more thing - just to defuse the tension that had been before the plasma explosion.

"In the Imperial Guard, the leader proves himself for his position and claims it if it is available. He does not get appointed by the public or the politicians, but by his or her fellow guardsmen." As the image of the Pinkskin's icy glare resurfaced in her mind, Ida swallowed with her dried up throat and began to pace the small cell - fanning herself idly with her hand as she inspected the walls for kinks or damage that could be exploited. Droplets of sweat trickled down her neck and into her exposed cleavage. "I am not saying that Stafleet's way if wrong. Nor do I say that you need to prove yourself because of Andorian traditions. Just... Keep it in mind, Pinkskin."

In the end, she came to a stop facing the forcefield. No escape. Idly, with her back to the human, Ida removed her undershirt completely and tossed the damp thing aside. Modesty had no place in survival, regardless of the circumstances. Her mind, it churned, trying to find some means to get out...

"You are very strong for being human," she noted absently - unaware of the gravity of her observation.

David nodded as he listened to Ida speak. He took a cursory look around the holding cell, his enhanced eyesight showing him that there were no clear cracks in the walls or any other such things they could use to possibly escape. Deciding that there was little use in expending any more effort, David sat down on the small bunk that was provided to the inmates that typically populated these cells.

He watched Ida was she moved back and forth across the small cell, nodding along as she explained some of her people's more unique characteristics. David had served with an Andorian thaan aboard the Bellerophon and, thanks to many hours spent sparring together or debating the philosophies of Lor'Vela and several of Earth's own great warriors, he had developed a healthy respect for the blue-skinned warrior race. When he first met Ida he'd hoped to establish such a friendship with her, but it had never worked out for one reason or another, and certainly not after he was promoted over her.

As he watched Ida, David felt his body continue to struggle against the heat. Soon his own undershirt was soaked through, and he shook his head as he removed the garment, now leaving him in his tank top and his pants. He idly wondered how long the two of them would be trapped here, and how long he could last before he had to strip down entirely. A small smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth at that thought; Ida had actually seemed a little impressed with him after his refusal to back down and then his display of strength, so how would she react once his entire body was on display?

It seemed odd to think of such things when he was trapped in a sweltering holding cell with no discernible way out, but after recent events David found himself thinking more and more like the man he used to be. He was certain that if Ida had met him before he'd learned of his genetic engineering, she would never have treated him with the disdain and the disrespect with which she had thus far. Andorians, much like Klingons, favored strength over most other attributes, both physically and mentally. He was too caught up in his own emotional angst to have remembered that fact, but now that Ida was finally starting to show him a little deference, David was starting to like it.

He did stiffen slightly when she mentioned his strength, however, and he mentally chided himself for displaying it so openly. Regardless of the Theurgy's current fugitive state, nearly every person on the ship was raised in the Federation, where genetic engineering was illegal. David had used his strength to bottle up that heat as quickly and efficiently as possible, but what was he going to do if Ida put the pieces together and went to Captain Ives? Would Ives still trust him as the Chief of Security?

David found himself standing back up, eyeing Ida cautiously as she stood with her back to him. He watched as she removed her own undershirt, standing there now with only a plain white bra adorning her upper body.

"Yeah...it must have been the adrenaline," he suggested. He knew it was weak, but perhaps Ida would buy it. He decided to change the subject back to her previous observation, hoping that by not giving her time to think about it, she'd drop it.

"I know a little about the Imperial Guard, though not as much as I'd like to. I'll remember that." David carefully looked Ida over, the icy look back in his eyes again, though not as dangerous this time. "But you wouldn't have mentioned it if at least a part of you didn't think I needed to prove myself, Ida. Are you suggesting that I've not earned the role of a leader in your eyes?"

[ Hydroponics Bay ]

Sweat and mist covered her body, a large droplet winding it's way down between her breasts and onward to disappear into her navel as she poured everything of her into the moment.  Blending of minds, very lighty and carefully, had given her some of the greatest sex before but this time all that was surpassed and without touching his mind.

They moved perfectly together, knew instinctively what the other needed and when, and the feeling of completeness was so intense as he crushed her to him and devoured her neck and breasts, occasionally her lips, that she began to weep.  This was perfection for her and she wished it never had to end but she felt it in both of them, clutched him to her breast as her hips fluttered along him.

Everyting inside her felt like someone reached in through her navel and was trying to pull it out through that tiny hole.  It was almost painful and certainly overwhelming as she felt her juices flowing while the pressure built up to a point she couldn't see or hear, only feel him, and then it burst and her breath rushed out in a cry of his name before she seemed suspended in air with him inside of her, his seed spilling like a geyser.

Gradually her body began to relax and she melted against him, her lips softly lingering on his.  Her hands roamed his body, soft caresses meant to soothe and comfort showing just how much she truly cared.  It was her way of not letting go of the moment just yet, of not wanting to let go of him.  "I love you," she whispered against his lips, unable to keep her feelings hidden.

[ Hydroponics Bay ]

The convulsions racked Lucan's body where he sat with Eve in his lap, spending his seed in loads that roped her insides - a molten warmth that warmed her cervix and brimmed their joining. The languorous movements that followed made his seed trickle down into the undergrowth, with his mind too obliterated to notice.

Her kisses brought him back to the present - the image of Kisane trembling passionate aftermath slipping from his hooded eyes. Eve's caresses made him aware of where he was, and his undertaking. His double nature and his role aboard the this ship - the USS Theurgy. This great instrument of his revenge, for what they had done to Kisane... To relive a part of that night with her through Eve caused him to mourn his long lost lover anew; to actually steel him in his ambition. No matter how soft her touches and the balm she was for his hurt, Eve's touches did not quite reach through to him this time. The image of Kisane had been too vivid.

Another memory came to him: The image of Kisane sitting in the cold blood of her parents - brutally murdered in their little girls room by Sanael. Her own clothes were torn by him, and blood stained her night gown where he had raped her. She was sitting there in the blood, nursing her mother's hand in her lap. The worst thing had been her rictus smile, the distended eyes, and the drool that spilled when she tried to talk. The way she dry heaved on laughter. It was almost a relief to Lucan when she slipped into a catatonic state the day after.

Lucan was crying silently too, but for different reasons than Eve.

Her voice broke through the dark reverie. "I love you," she whispered to him, and it was a bliss to hear. For he sought forgiveness in the arms of all these willing lovers he had met over the years... to silence the mad laughter of the one he had failed to protect. An admission like that sparked a meagre light in the darkness of his soul - a lantern casting weak effulgence on the way down into the abyss.

It made him aware of the writhing beast down there, whom was otherwise invisible. It was so easy to forget one's own nature unless someone cast it into light. It was unpleasant to know how far he had come; how long gone the boy from Câroon was now. It did not inspire hope, that he could become better, but despair for how lost a man he was. Such warm light did not serve his cause; only made it more difficult. Seeing all the ugliness inside only made him feel despair. And sorrow, surprisingly, for Eve. Another woman who'd come to admit feelings for him.

Could he bring himself to kill her too, like the others?

The voice spoke of an accident in Sickbay, yet Lucan silenced it.

"I love you too," he said and chuckled in breathless humour, making a joke out of the sudden seriousness that they had touched upon, "At least, as far as I know now when my blood has left my brain. You do have a tendency to make my mind slip the past couple of days, but I do believe that I enjoy it when you do."

To not come off like he was dismissing her, he added a more serious comment - wiping his small tears for effect. "You make me feel young again, Eve," he said slowly in his deep voice, he hugged her close where they sat in the greenery. "Reminding me of blissful years. Making me think we are not upon this ship that has signed its own death warrant by going against the collective force of the Fleet. I cry also for you... for convincing you to join this doomed cause of ours. Whereas you could have lived on down on Nimbus III, I feel that I have now sentenced you to death."

Truth... wielded in untruth. His pale eyes glinted above her shoulder.

And the beast stirred in laughter since it thought it would get to desecrate Eve.

Lucan was, to his own surprise, not so certain about that...


[ Brig | Deck 07 ]

Having folded her arms underneath her breasts where she stood, Ida heard Grayson's reply coming from a point a bit closer behind her than the bunk where he had come to seat himself after their little incident.

"Yeah...it must have been the adrenaline," he told her, and she rolled her eyes. Not because she thought he lied to her, not necessarily - even if his capacity had seemed a bit too effortless - but because of his damnable modesty about it. Again, Pinkskin humbleness and belittling every little achievement as soon as it comes in light.

When confronted about her opinion of him as a leader, she had her answer already. She turned to face him, arms still folded, and her eyebrows lowered - her eyes uncompromising. He had asked, and thus she would answer - even if the heat made her thoughts sluggish and she hoped to focus on getting out instead of debating with her superior again. She did not consider in which state her undergarments became when sodden - only feeling sweat trickle down her chest and abdomen.

"You have been appointed your position," she said, struggling to keep her tone a bit civil just this once and by adding "...sir. By every right you are - and should be - acting the head of our Department. Yet whether or not you have 'proven' yourself a leader is much too early to say in my opinion. As to whether you have 'earned' the role of a leader or not, is also something I cannot say. I did not consider you a leader when you worked your shifts, because I didn't need to. Our common Chief was Lt.Cmdr Wenn Cinn, and when he..."

She trailed off for a moment, the image of the middle-aged Bajoran coming to her - having thought him a stocky bloody cat with nine lives. His scarred neck and arms as wide as his thighs. An immortal boulder of a Ridgenose... until he had been sucked out of the Theurgy when the hull was torn open on Deck 03. She had been calling his name, clinging desperately to a support beam. Climbing by her teeth and nails to get past the reinforced bulkhead doors before they closed. It was after that when she failed the crew, and Grayson instead...

"...when he died, I had never considered you leader material. Always so humble, and despite having any reason for it, sometimes holding back and being anxious about something. As if you were afraid on stepping on people's toes or something. Quite frankly, I saw a Security Officer afraid of getting his hands dirty. I suppose you might think me small-minded and envious of your position, that you were promoted instead of the Deputy, aye? Well think again, Pinkskin."

She supposed he had to hear it now, since they were alone and perhaps about to die. She took a step closer, her hands still folded, meeting his stare evenly. Not without anger, but a very cold revelation about what she actually believed - the thing she kept hidden to the rest of the Department for the sake of the chain of command and the needed discipline aboard.

"I feared for the crew when you got the position, feeling that I had to make up for the slack since Wenn died." She took a deep breath, her chest rising and falling before she could spell it out. She did not want to hurt the Pinkskin, but he had asked. "Not just because I thought you would never lead by example... but because you just learned that your father was revealed to be one of the enemies back on Terra. Therefore, I feared for you, since you just learned that your father might be dead, or a host to something inside him, and there was - and still is - no way to tell if all hope for him is lost. Can you, knowing that you have either lost him, or will have to kill him once you confront him... keep this ship safe on its journey until the bitter end? I think, until proven otherwise, you are too personally attached to our main mission to handle the job."

There, now she had said it. Something she had never spread amongst the Security personnel just so that he would not have to handle the doubts. She had to keep the department focused and determined, and to preserve the chain of command. It was the only thing keeping Security on their posts, and making sure there was no mutiny - no deserters that could relay their position to the enemy. The Security Department on their ship was a monumental factor in regards to preserving the truth, and to eventually spread it. To rally the galaxy against Starfleet Command.

There was a hesitancy, reluctance even that Eve could read in his eyes and the way his muscles stiffened against her.  He said he loved her but it wasn't with the feeling of real love and she knew he was trying to not hurt her.  "I'm glad I can bring you some comfort and you have not sentenced me to death.  Eventually others would have come to Nimbus III and I wouldn't have been so lucky that it was you," she replied.

She took some time to brush her fingers along his cheeks to remove the tears and softly kissed him over and over to linger as long as possible in their moment together.  Maybe she shouldn't have let her feelings slip and place him in that position but she didn't regret her action and had to accept that he didn't feel the same for her.  He had to have known though by the way she looked at him, the way she needed him.

"Lucan," she said quietly and searched his eyes for a moment.  "I didn't tell you that to place any pressure on you.  I do love you, have since the time we were at the Academy together but I won't cling to you and try to take up every moment.  If it makes you more comfortable, I won't make any advances toward you and just accept the times you need me.  No ball and chain as they say," she added lightly with a little lift of the corners of her mouth.  "My door is always open for you."

[Brig - Deck 07]

David just stood there and let Ida speak. He wanted her to be honest with him, and she was definitely being honest. He nodded in agreement with her when she brought up Commander Wenn, his late predecessor. Grayson could still recall the easy, quiet strength the Bajoran man had displayed, which David envied because he could not do the same without implicating himself. Still, Wenn Cinn had welcomed David to the Theurgy with open arms, even if his new officer had come across as rather reserved and standoffish.

Ida then began to speak of David's father, Admiral Paul Grayson of Starfleet Command. He did his best to hold Ida's gaze as she spoke, but the reminder that his father had been abducted--or worse--and replaced by some alien cut deeply. His eyes broke away from Ida's and he looked away, his jaw tightening as he fought to keep his emotions in check. Over the past few years he had become very good at never allowing his feelings to come to the surface, but now, in this mindnumbing heat, David's focus was wavering.

"I understand your concerns," he replied, his voice hoarse. "My father...he and I used to be very close, when I was younger. But a few years ago..." David sighed. "Some of his transgressions were brought to light, and exposed his true character, and we haven't talked since." He stepped back away from Ida again, clearing his throat as he sat back down on the bed. David's tank top was now soaked through as well, the fabric stained as beads of sweat continued to drip down his chest.

"But when I found out what had happened to him, it hit me harder than I thought it would have. Regardless of how I feel about him now, the man is still my father. I'm not proud of what he did, but...he did it to save my life." David shook his head. "Of course, I know he didn't do it out of love for me. He was only concerned about the family. I know this doesn't mean much to you, Ida, but on Earth the Graysons are like royalty. Image is more important to them than anything. When you're born into a family like mine, you become accustomed to living life in a certain manner. If anything that might threaten that life comes along..." He scowled. "You either bury it, or do whatever you have to do to change it."

David realized that he was rambling, and he took a moment to gather his thoughts and get back to the point. "Listen, I know that because of my personal connection to this crisis you have your doubts about me. But know that I will do everything in my power to protect the people aboard this ship." He stood back up, finally able to look at Ida again. "And to take down whoever it is that betrayed us. Believe me, I want these bastards to pay just as much as you do. Even moreso, maybe."

It was then that he realized that the two of them were having this conversation while standing around half-naked, and he let out a quiet, disbelieving laugh. "You know, I never imagined I'd find myself talking about these things with you while you're standing there in your bra." He couldn't help but look down at the soaked-through garment and smirked. "What's left of it, anyway."

[ Hydroponics Bay ]

To hear Eve being so generous, even to the point of offering to not come to him unless he desired her, it was a standpoint so... alien to what he might consider himself doing - had he been in her position. Again, there was that contrast to which she put his mind-set next to her own; the way she illuminated his ugliness for him. It hurt him. It irritated him. Yet nonetheless, it make him think. Though it also did something dangerous for her.

For it made the breast under his skin mad.

Though she had been good to him, slaked his carnal thirst, soothed him, so he lingered with her - trading kisses and caresses whilst she sat in his lap. He fought of the dark urges and the inclinations of his: to strangle her and rape the corpse. How would that look, the security surveillance systems and all? His answer was given, and it was the obvious - the socially perfect reply.

"I like it when you cling to me, but if you were to do so every moment, we would achieve little in terms of our duties," he said with a rueful grin, a playful gleam in his eye, "Understand, please, that I like when you make advances. I would like to know when you need me, and when your door is open. I would hate to have an unbalanced relationship with you, since it might just be we both learn that we want each other mutually, perhaps even exclusively. You might be my Head Nurse, but off duty, I want you on equal terms."

He kissed her, and in his kiss was honesty - as much as he could offer her. As much as he give when he was so corrupted inside.

There was something about Eve and her effect upon him that Lucan failed to understand. Something which was giving him an upper hand against the darkness, and that was something highly desirable. Anything to give him more control was welcome, no matter how strange that help might seem.

He realised that the depth and heat of that kiss made him quicken again, throb whilst still inside her, and he groaned in lethargic frustration. "We should return to our duties... as much as I want to continue... we do have Sickbay to run together..."


[ Brig | Deck 07 ]

Standing as she was, her arms folded underneath her breasts, Ida heard Grayson's short and vague story about his father.

To her, what stood out most, was that he did not object to her stand-point. He even said that he understood his concerns. Furthermore, he imparted knowledge upon her about his family, and how - like her father - his had high ambitions. In fact, it seemed something that they had in common; these father figures that were too powerful for their own good. Or at least, they were too powerful for the good of their families. Always the demands; the way the family came before the individual. Her own passions had been ignored for the sake of the Imperial Guard, and it had only been when she came to Starfleet that she could combine her duties and her artistry in co-existence. It was a freedom that her father had denied her... until she left Andoria. Never to return.

In the end, he claimed that while he understood her doubts about him, he promised her that he would do his utmost to protect the crew aboard, and to make the enemy pay. Yet he also made the argument that his personal attachment to the crisis would serve to assist their cause rather than being a detriment. At this, Ida frowned, not entirely convinced, but given the situation they were currently in, and how sluggish her thoughts were becoming in the heat, she offered no argument. Since their dinner, Ida had become a bit apathetic about arguing with this particular Pinkskin.

Yet Grayson had the bloody nerve to try and make her embarrassed, Ida's gaze having dropped briefly to see what he meant about her bra. Only then did her eye-brows drew down dangerously along with her antennae. The heat made her irritable too, it being harder to keep herself level-headed.

"A bold statement, Pinkskin," she hissed between her teeth, arms still folded. Her darker blue nipples could be faintly discerned - pointing accusingly at him like her antennae when he smirked. "Who do you think you are that can talk like that to a woman? Is that your best answer to my concerns about you? Your way to make a glib remark and get some kind of upper hand in an awkward position? We might be dead in a while, and you take the opportunity to harass me?"

By then, Ida had unfolded her arms and widened her stance a bit - lowered her point of gravity. A combat stance, her clenched fists merely having to lift from her sides to make a guard. She ambled inwards in the holding cell - circling him slowly with her whole bodily frame coiled to explode in brutal movement. Her eyes were equal part shadows and ice with the light from above, and though her lips were pursed to get oxygen into her over-heated body, there was no mistaking she was not going to back down from this challenge with some scathing comment.

Yet that did not mean she would not deal him one. He might have been nice looking for a human, especially at that moment... but he would not get away so easily.

"Is that why you wanted to poison me with your idea of my Andorian cuisine the other day? You wanted to have sex with me, didn't you? To see what my species look without any clothes on? Well here," she said and reached back, tearing the chafing undergarment off herself and throwing it at him. "You thought your pink little warrior would set things straight and that I would fawn over you like some first-year Cadet after you'd charmed me? By Lor'Vela, I will set your head straight before we die!"

The heat had disabled her better reasoning. All the pent up ire from that dinner came pouring out in action instead of words. She launched into attack in a moments notice, hurling her fists at him as if he was a sand-bag. A brutal combination of kicks and punches meant to take him down where he stood.

[ Hydroponics Bay ]

Again Eve felt his tension beneath her hands and at one point it was like a dark cloud drifted over his eyes, but he smiled then and spoke of equality outside of their duties and her fingertips brushed through his hair.  "I promise I will not wear you out then," she chuckled richly and her eyes were definitely playful.

Then she was serious again as she held his gaze.  "If there was ever anyone I would limit myself to, to be exclusive, it is you Lucan," she said with utter softness and yet absolute conviction.  "I will not hold you back or drag you down as I would much rather walk beside you in support of all things, work and pleasure."

A soft sigh escaped then and her smile was as gentle as her touch.  "That is something that only you know when the time is right and no matter if you come to that point, I am always here for you."  She kissed him then, lingering in his scent as long as possible until he pulled back.  "Yes, we have duties but perhaps you will allow me to cook for you soon?"

[Brig]

Where had that come from?

As soon as he'd said it, David realized it had probably been a mistake. Under normal circumstances it's unlikely he would have said something so brazen and unprofessional. But this infernal heat was really starting to get to him, confusing his thoughts and making him say things he never would have otherwise. Like the story about his father, for instance. Why had David shared that with Ida? Nobody else but the captain knew about his family's power and influence, and he'd gone to great lengths to ensure that no one else did. He didn't want that to color people's perception of him.

Had this conversation taken place in a more controlled environment, and perhaps several days earlier when David was feeling less...liberated, it's unlikely he would have tried to make such a joke. It was something he would have said in the old days, when he wasn't so good at filtering his thoughts before they reached his lips. And even if he had, he would have immediately apologized to Ida. But even if David wanted to apologize now, his Deputy had made it impossible for him to get a word in.

He wanted to protest when she accused him of only inviting her to his quarters because he wanted to have sex with her. That absolutely was not the motive behind it. David would be lying if he said he wasn't attracted to Ida, but she was his Deputy Chief of Security. Even if he'd wanted to do anything about it, he couldn't.

His arm reached up and easily swept aside Ida's bra when she threw it at him, and the baser part of his nature couldn't help but notice the enticing sway of her sapphire blue breasts as she continued to berate him. Before David could ask himself what the hell was wrong with him, however, his enhanced eyesight picked up the slightest tensing of muscles in Ida's arms and legs, and he realized what was about to happen.

David took an instinctive step back and brought his arms up just in time to block Ida's first strike, one of his legs kicking out to knock hers off target as well. Whatever bit of shame that had remained in David was now gone, replaced by shock and more than a little anger. Sure, what he'd said was wrong, but that did not give Ida the right to physically assault him. His eyes regained their cold, furious focus from earlier, and his hand lashed down to slap at Ida's knee as it launched toward his midsection, knocking her foot back to the floor.

"Are you insane?!" he demanded as he twisted away from another strike and landed a light kick into the small of Ida's back, pushing her away from him. For now he was remaining on the defensive, but if Ida didn't calm herself down, he knew he was going to have to do something about it. "Stand down, Lieutenant!"

[ Hydroponics Bay ]

When that lingering kiss came to him, Lucan revelled in it as much as he could allow himself to - not wanting to surrender control completely lest the beast inside would take control of his actions. No, he protected Eve from that, and it was such a common thing for him; this restraint that prevented him from blowing his cover.  It was one of the functions of having the host's mind more or less intact: the means for which the duality of his nature co-existed in a very, very effective way. How else could he and his kin pretend to be the people they were before, if the darkness claimed everything? No, therein would disaster lay ahead for them.

"I would love that, m'dear," whispered Lucan to Eve once their kiss ended and she expressed her will to dine with him, "perhaps even tonight, should our duties allow it. Sadly, and speaking of which, we should get dressed and let Science regain access to this lab. Also, that Lone Wolf, Khorin Douglas, awaits in Sickbay for his daily check-up, so we shan't keep him waiting. Klingons are hardly known for their patience, half-blood or not."

Helping Eve get off him and onto her feet, it was - true to his word - evident that the CMO was bodily ready to continue their frivolities. Alas, their duties called, so he helped brushing whatever leaves and twigs off her that had come to nestle in her hair or decorate her flawless skin. Being a gentleman, he helped her collect her clothes before beginning to dress himself. It proved to be a slightly humoristic situation getting his uniform trousers on, given the state of things, but Lucan was not the kind of man to be awkward about such things - laughing good-naturedly at that turn.

Before they parted, however, he pulled on his lab coat and reached up with a tattooed hand to stroke her cheek with the backside of his fingers. "Good bye for now, but I will see you back in Sickbay... Not to mention tonight, the winds willing." Then, he left, going separate ways after he unlocked the doors to not arouse suspicion.

[ Brig ]

Far was it from her mind that she fought with her upper body bared to the eye of her superior officer - Ida instead agitated and pent up in ire for the situation she was in at the moment of her possible demise.

As she was hit by the kick against her lower back, she stumbled forward and came to support herself on the edge of the bunk. The Pinkskin was fast, strong, and on the defensive, but Ida cared not one whit about that. She fought because she was too proud to admit her mistake in striking out against David Grayson. She fought in anger because she had failed Captain Ives and her crew on the day Wenn had died. She fought because of shame in defeat; in her shortcomings as a Deputy on that faithful day, and what it had caused. She fought because she doubted Grayson in his new position as the Chief of Security; that he would deliver them safely to Terra with the truth. She fought because she had embarrassed herself in attacking the Trill turncoat; this Edena Rez that she had perceived to be such a liability that she could not let the matter be after Captain Ives let her out of the Brig before the Niga Incident. She fought because the same Trill had become their nw XO, and proven herself a valuable asset to the crew. Ida had even come to approve of the woman. She fought because her lack of judgement had put her stern Andorian sense of right and wrong in question. She fought in disgust for the person that she had been when she was infected and almost made the outbreak of the virus spread all over the galaxy. She fought because she was furious from the heat and the hopelessness of her situation.

Yet most of all, she fought because she did not get to do it after the 'dinner' that Grayson had made her - the verbal argument blowing up again because she felt he had slighted her. She fought because he had ruined what chance of redemption Ida had thought she might find in the arms of the CTO, the dinner ruining that rarity of a soothing touch. Grayson might have been a strong Pinkskin, able to make a stand, but that did not matter, for he had managed to make her pent up frustrations and fury pour out in the haze of their shared heat. She heard the order to stand down, but it meant nothing to her, not now. Not after all that she had been through.

"Shut up and fight, Pinkskin! This might be your last chance to spit upon my honour once more!"

She pushed away from the bed, keeping her left hand low and ready to react to sudden movement after the hit she had taken. At the beginning of her attack, Ida let her front left leg slide forward along the deck plates. Even though it hampered her mobility, it lowered her point of gravity and thus allowed her to use the force of the adamant floor in her movements. At that point, it was an advantage that applied for the coming attack - extending her right fist straight into the David's midriff.

As always in combat, you never struck the surface of the area you aimed at. You struck a point behind the impact area. This punch was aimed at the air behind David's spine - the straight line between her right fist and the heel of her right foot impaling the Pinkskin on the way there. If she got that far, she would deal him a savage uppercut and a right hook, followed by another kick that would floor him instantly.

Oh, but even though her leaden upper conciousness did not acknowledge it, she revelled in the sweat and the toil and in the heated emotions - the artistic side of her persona reading things differently. It made her nipples harden despite the temperature; the physical excitement undeniable in the torrent of emotions.

[Deck 07 | Gymnasium | USS Theurgy]

The gym was empty, oddly enough, at the hour the COO chose to make use of it. She had just stepped out from the locker room, clad in regulation attire: the shorts were tight, but not too revealing, despite the generous curves the young woman had; her tank top, also gray and black, was equally form fitting, without being too revealing. The sports  bra under it helped to contain her chest, and keep her bosom from being in the way once she seriously started her work out. And the young woman needed the work out, much to her shame.

It had been a little while since her first meeting with Captain Ives, after the...incident. He had visited her, in her quarters, in both forms, male and female. He had come to apologize for actions he could not remember; and nor could she. Natalie had been scared, to her shame, but the Captain had managed to talk her thru some of that fear, and shown her a way that she might overcome the rest of it. A promise of tempering the young woman, honing her, developing skills to cope with confrontation, with her own inner self doubt. A training regiment, to get her fit, and disciplined, mentally, as well as simply physically.

And so the brunette senior staff member had taken to the gym as instructed. Her captain was willing to take the time, to help the young, introverted woman deal with her internal demons. She needed to be in a certain amount of general physical shape, before the actual lessons could begin. And Natalie was determined to not let the CO down. S/he is making as much an effort as I am, to deal with demons, Natalie as she began to stretch in the empty gym, I must show the captain I am worth it.

Starting slow, Natalie began to work her way around the track, her feet, clad in regulation sneaker (she kept the gym uniform strictly to regs, trying to build some of that discipline in herself) padded softly on floor. The decking here was coated with a polymer designed to provide a slight bounce and cushion impact to the legs, while still allowing the runner to burn calories and increase heart rate. The gravity was even turned up slightly, the pull of it adding resistance to each step, helping to increase the results of the run for anyone on the track at any given time.

It was a well regulated system; simple to set up, effective to use. The code had been custom written into the system by Natalie's predecessor; Hendricks' had loved to tinker, to find ways to get more out of existing systems. And while her former superior officer hadn't been one to use the gym as much as he should (a habit that Natalie had also fallen into), he saw it as an exercise for the mind, to tweak the decking gravity controls to compensate and provide extra pull based on n species. As log as the code ran properly, the ship adjusted the plating under Natalie's feet to something well with in her bodies stress tolerances.

But when something goes wrong, some innocuous hiccup in the internal sensors, that's when the innocent bit of modification can turn drastically harmful. For one moment, as the young Lieutenant Commander turned the corner of the track, her left foot raised up, the sensor system...glitched. In that instance, she registered as a Brikarian (http://memory-beta.wikia.com/wiki/Brikarian), one of the sturdiest, heaviest member species of the Federation. Rock solid, and easily able to withstand gravimetric pressure beyond that of a human. So the computer automatically updated the settings on the gravity plate below Natalie's foot.

The pull on her left leg increased sharply, and her foot seemed to stick to the deck plating. One moment she was running hard, her heart pounding in her chest, just a hint of sweat beading on her brow. The next minute her foot was frozen, a tight, crushing sensation squeezing the bones. But an object in motion will stay in motion, till acted upon by an outside force. Said force was focused solely on the square foot that the young woman's foot and ankle resided in. The rest of her body lurched forward. The stress on the leg, the gravity jerking down, and the momentum from the run all worked as one.

The snap was painfully loud, matched only by the sudden scream it tore from Natalie's throat. Her body fell forward, as the bones in her lower leg cracked apart, tearing into muscle and tendon as well, poking through, finally, with a spurt of blood. The gravity sensors kicked back in, realigning, the glitch in the code sorted out, as she tumbled head over heels into the far wall. She landed in a heap, sobbing at the sudden onslaught of pain, a trickle of blood pooling down into her sock. She couldn't see her leg, it hurt too much to move, but she could see her shoe clad foot pointing up in a hard right angle to the rest of her leg and she whimpered. Mind foggy, clouded by pain, and realizing she was alone in the gym, she did the only thing she could.

Her hand trembled as she reached up, and managed to press a sweat stained finger to her combadge. Face pale with the sudden shock, her voice trembling, Natalie called out "M-m-medic-al em-mergency...de-deck 7, in the gym"

---

occ: Tag Lucan, you're it. Sorry for the long opening salvo ;)

[ Deck 07 | Corridors to Gymnasium | USS Theurgy ]

Even though Dr. Nicander had left Eve Jenkins behind - she heading for Sickbay next - her words lingered in his mind as he walked the corridors.

That she would offer him such things, such words and such promises, it perplexed Lucan on such a deep level that he could not shake it off as the ordinary whims of someone he'd wooed. How could it be that such needs voiced by both men and women through the years fell on deaf ears, while Eve's needs did not? Perhaps it was because they were not Eve's needs... but his own? Both because she had unselfishly told him that she was there for him... and because there might be more to the new Head Nurse than Lucan initially thought.

[M-m-medic-al em-mergency...de-deck 7, in the gym.]

Frowning a little, the perfected façade of Doctor Lucan cin Nicander came to a stop and considered his options. His dark mind was still churning in the background of his charade; the all-consuming act of what he was supposed to be doing as the CMO. He had just come to a stop by an emergency hatch, and thus made his call. He yanked it open and withdrew the standard issue med kit.

That voice... so familiar. He reached underneath his open lab coat to tap the combadge, answering before any of his medical officers did. Strange... such hesitancy from them to answer. Did the emergency call come through properly?

"This is Dr. Nicander, I am on my way," he said in his deep voice and began to run the short distance to the Gymnasium. Whilst doing so, he tapped the communication badge again. "Nicander to Sickbay, standby for emergency medical transport. Prepare a biobed and assign personnel to assist if so required."

As the sliding doors opened for him and he entered the large gymnasium area, he had yet to receive a reply from the commanding Medical Officer of the shift. Seeing the prone patient on the other side of the area, he continued his run - decelerating when he only had a couple of yards left. Instead of demanding a reply from Sickbay, he focused on the plight of the woman instead. No wonder he had recognised the voice, since it was the new Chief of Operations - 'Commander Natalie Stark. Images of her at various Senior Staff meetings - as well as the final moments of the Niga Incident - flashed before his eyes as he crouched down next to her.

"Commander Stark, can you hear me? Please listen to my voice and answer my questions," he said, snapping the med kit open and producing a medical tricorder - proceeding to scan her immediately, "Here, lay on your side and cradle your head upon your hands. There we go. Now, what happened? And please tell me exactly what you were doing before you took your fall - even though it might seem obvious." His scans detailed a perfectly healthy young human with an elevated heart-rate. That was, besides the injuries - bruises and open fractures in her leg. Bleeding not profuse, but substantial, no major arteries torn open. High activity on the central nervous system, pain receptors working fine, a mild state of shock... just the expected, overall. No hidden surprises as far as he could tell.

The injury notwithstanding, the Chief of Operations was easy on Lucan's eye, and despite having been sated completely by Eve just before showing up at the Gymnasium, he could not help the thoughts from coming - the images of her bare body with the Vulcan on top of her. The vine-like tentacles brushing over her skin. It was rather vague after that point... Only bits and pieces. Just like her leg, in fact.

"You needn't worry, Sickbay stand prepared but you might have to accept some time of rehabilita-"

Natalie Stark's leg was suddenly whole again, switching from bleeding to showing flawless skin within a heartbeat.

Furthermore, they were no longer in the Gymnasium... but somewhere they recognised quite well...

---

OOC: No worries, and I think I managed to take the scene further than I thought in one go myself. I think we can proceed like we discussed from this point on, though, unless you wish to elaborate on the initial reaction a bit. :)

[Brig]

When Ida launched her sudden attack on David's midsection he was taken by surprise, his reflexes having been temporarily dulled by the hope that his Deputy would have seen reason and ceased her assault. A grunt had signaled the expulsion of air from his lungs, and while he was able to duck his head back to avoid the uppercut, he didn't get his arm up in time to block the right hook, which meant that he didn't see the kick that toppled him to the floor.

Before Ida could press her advantage, however, David lashed out with a high kick to the jaw that would hopefully send Ida sprawling away. He then drew his legs back to his chest and quickly thrust them forward while pushing himself off of the floor with his hands, the momentum lifting his body into the air and back onto his feet. He whirled around to face Ida and brought his hands up again. He knew now that Ida would not stop on her own accord. She was an impulsive woman who allowed her passions to rule her judgment. If David was going to put a stop to this, he'd have to do it by force.

"Just remember that I warned you," he said before launching himself at Ida. A flurry of strikes followed, each one designed to bring down her defenses and finish her quickly. But even despite his advantageous strength and speed, he knew Ida could give just as good as she got, and she certainly wasn't going to make this easy on him. At some point his soaked tank top had been ripped open, forcing David to tear the garment off lest it entangle his arms.

Eventually the nature of the close-quarters fighting brought them closer together, his naked flesh pressing against Ida's. David had caught Ida's arms in his hands and he could feel her breasts against his broad chest as the two of them grappled, both struggling for supremacy. David remained quiet throughout the fight, but his cold eyes betrayed his rage as he stared into hers. Finally he kicked one of Ida's feet out from under her, putting her off balance, and then spun her around and pushed her into the wall. He was quickly behind her, grasping a wrist and yanking Ida's arm around behind her back. He pressed into Ida from behind, pinning her against the wall and not letting go of her arm.

"Stand...down...Lieutenant," he repeated his earlier order, this time murmuring it coldly into her ear.

Locked in battle, Ida fought with a heat-induced fervour she did not knew she possessed. All her skill stemmed from a clean focus and an effectiveness in combat. Now, that effectiveness was set to light and burned hard and strong in the outlet of her anger - pouring her passions into actions normally so cold. It assisted her in the fight more than it was her downfall, to her fleeting surprise, and given how bloody strong and fast the Pinkskin proved to be, it served her well.

Blows were traded, grapples and throws and attempts to lock her down were thwarted. The hem of her uniform trousers was torn at some point, leaving them hanging askew on her hips. Dark blue blood trickled from the corner of her mouth, and cerulean bruises appeared over her arms and one of her cheek. Bruises held little consequence to her Andorian physique, since her internal organs were well protected by walls of cartilage. Her left eyebrow almost split, and one of her legs felt stiff. Still, she raged on, not to admit defeat by the Pinkskin Commander. Utterly relentless, she bared blue-stained teeth and threw her self back at him.

Flushed and fierce, she still found the artistic qualities of the proceedings tantalising - the image of Grayson's bare chest staying on her eyelids, not to mention the feeling of his chest brushing up against hers. It was a strange undercurrent to the brutality; these notions that inflamed her rage even further - denying her thoughts any credence whatsoever.

Then he managed to pin her to a condense-covered and warm titanium wall, and the momentum of their skirmish was brought to a halt - his breath and vowels pouring into her ear. Stand down? She would do anything but that. Anything. She was right in her claims; was right to pour her frustrations out upon him - this Pinkskin who had a habit of never ceasing to surprise her lately. Negatively, for the most, but also in that curious, positive way. Implacable in her position as a slighted warrior. she yanked to get free, but Grayson was too strong - his grip too secure. Stand down? Never.

Ida would do anything to not have do exactly that.

"So that you can try to have sex with me again?" she hissed, baring her teeth as she reached behind herself with her free hand. She raked her fingers across his hip - sought the area where his thighs met. The garment was sodden, and she could easily find him - her palm stroking inwards as it found a firm grip around both sack and the base of his male organ. It was an impressive handful, even though she could not gather much by it. She would have to see it to know how... Why did she care? "So you can sheath your puny dagger in me from behind? Stab me in the back, will you? You are not man enough to make me stand down. I will not yield to you or your pink little warrior."

She tried to twist the sack and the cock, alas, she had no reach - the socket of her other arm straining too much. She cried out and tried again, to rip and tear at him, but her fingers merely found his thick shaft - the girth filling her hand through the fabric of his uniform. It was better than nothing, so she kept trying to do harm instead of the feeble strokes she actually managed during the commotion of their struggle. Unsuccessful in anything other than stimuli, even catching herself lingering in the activity, she soon tried to bash the back of her head against his nose - missing.

"Curse you, Pinkskin, but I will rather fuck you on my own than stand down!" she said in heat-induced honesty, "I will not give you the satisfaction of conquering me! You might be strong but you do not know how to please and Andorian, so just forget about it you bloody cur!"

Her hand clamped down hard on the base of his cock - as far as she could reach because of the clothes being in the way, and she would not let go. Not unless he might reach his sack and force herself free.

He had her pinned and unable to escape, and yet she still refused to admit defeat. It was maddening! In any other situation David would have found Ida's unyielding stubbornness endearing, but now, with his mind racked by both the heat and the intensity of their confrontation, he had no patience for it.

David held onto Ida as she struggled futilely against him, using the brief respite to try to regain at least a part of his wits. He suddenly hissed in pain and only then became aware of just how much damage Ida had managed to inflict upon his body. He could feel the soreness of the bruises littering his skin, and the left side of his jaw ached something fierce, no doubt the legacy of Ida's surprisingly powerful right hook. His tongue slipped out to the corner of his mouth to taste the blood that slowly trickled from a cut there, and his chest burned with a searing hot pain. He spared a glance down to see four red lines stretching diagonally down his right pectoral, where Ida's nails had dug in deep.

And yet, despite the pain, and despite the anger fueled by Ida's accusations (and there was also some shame, for while he would not admit it, on a subconscious level his dinner invitation had at least in part been inspired by sexual desire), David found his fury contending with no small amount of approval. He was not an easy man to injure, at least not to the extent that Ida had done so. Granted, they were in a tightly confined space, which favored the Andorian's smaller and more compact build, and perhaps if this fight had occurred in a more open environment David might have come away in better shape. But there was no doubting Ida's skill and strength, not anymore.

He should have been angry with her--he was angry with her--but on an instinctual level David found himself more drawn to Ida than ever before. He knew that the Augments had been attracted to superiority, both mental and physical, as all apex organisms are, and as his own enhancements were based on the Chrysalis Project that spawned his predecessors, it was safe to assume he was drawn to the same qualities. So when he had Ida pinned to that wall, he suddenly became very conscious of her body's flowing curvature, the sharply defined muscles straining under sapphire skin, and the rounded swell of her backside pressing back against his stomach as she strained underneath him.

All of this served to inflame David's arousal, and when Ida reached back to grasp his vulnerable manhood it had already begun to swell, the process only quickened by Ida's rough ministrations. David's jaw clenched and he uttered a low growl as she tried to injure him, but served only to stoke his body's lust for her instead. And as she spat her defiance at him, he came to realize that regardless of her words, if he truly wanted to take this woman, to do with her body as he pleased, he could do it. Ida was strong, of that there was no doubt, but not strong enough.

He hissed again as her hand clamped down on his sensitive flesh, and he let go of her arm to grab her by the hair, coiling the ivory tresses between his powerful fingers as he pushed her face into the wall, her cheek mashed against the warm titanium. "You assume that you have any say in whether or not I can conquer you," he snarled, tightening his grip in her hair. "If that was what I wished, Lieutenant, it would have already been done!"

David used his body to keep Ida's pinned, pressing himself close enough so that she could not gain enough leverage to inflict any serious harm with her hands. The movement trapped her hand between them, and he could feel her fingers still squeezing at his engorged shaft. His enhanced hearing picked up the sound of her elevated breathing, her heart pumping wildly in her chest. "Is that what it will take you teach you your place, Ida? Do Andorians only learn respect when it is forced upon them by their betters?"

His free hand slid between her stomach and the wall to seek out the junction between her thighs. The tattered state of her ruined pants made the quest easy, and he could feel a heat there, one not entirely caused by the malfunction in the cell. David smirked.

"Perhaps I'm not the only one who's been having inappropriate thoughts," he mused gruffly, taunting Ida as his thick digits began to penetrate her slick, molten core.

When Grayson released her arm, Ida thought she might be able to twist free, yet before she managed to complete that thought, she was pulled straight against the wall by a tearing grip on her thick hair. White tresses hung before her face as she hissed in pained reaction, smothered along the wall as she remained - hand trapped between their bodies.

"...If that was what I wished, Lieutenant, it would have already been done!"

"Already?" she growled and tried to pry at his fingers with her freed hand - digits numb from the grip that had just been released, "Seems to me you have resorted to womanly means, pulling hair and... Nnghh!"

She just tried to reach for his vulnerable sack, unsuccessfully, for the Pinkskin was too strong - not letting her slide down an inch more because of the adamant press of his bare chest against her back. Not to mention by the elevated grip on her hair. She merely managed to grip even harder around the base of his length - something that was evidently reacting to this heated madness in the holding cell. Damn the Pinksin, damn him to die in ice, but he throbbed against her - pulsed with firm vitality. So unlike how she had pictured his character, much less his cock. Grayson seemed a deep well of surprises, and she disliked how he kept proving her biased opinion wrong. She hated being wrong.

"Is that what it will take you teach you your place, Ida? Do Andorians only learn respect when it is forced upon them by their betters?"

Eyes flashing in ire, she looked towards him over her shoulder, snarling as she struggled to free the iron-like fingers holding her hair. "You could not force respect into a dog, much less a woman." Both their hands were damp with sweat, and she could not pry a hold despite how much she tried - trashing with shallow breaths to get free. "Much less one from proud Andoria!"

Yet when Grayson thrust his hand down behind the hem of her panties, her eyes went wide in minute shock - her breath catching hard when she felt the fingers invade her intimacy. Despite herself and her claims, her knees buckled helplessly when she tried to clamp her thighs shut - far too late. Not only did it cause to keep the fingers in place, but her footing gone left her at the Pinkskin's mercy - his body and his hands holding her up against the slick wall.

"Perhaps I'm not the only one who's been having inappropriate thoughts."

"Nngghh! It's sweat, imbecile..." she hissed and glared at him over her shoulder, having to straighten her legs again and thus having to give him more access. Her breathing already ragged, she masked her reaction well, and in her mind, she still hated him. Even though her body didn't. She writhed like a trapped lioness to get free, even though she moved against his hand too in the process. She tried to dig a new hold on his sack, but could only shift her fingers around his arousal - which was digging into the small of her back. She had to do something. She could not surrender. A chance... A way...

"You could never... nngh... please a woman like me, Pinkskin!" she bit off, breath hot on the wall, and since Grayson was reaching down with one hand, she screamed and feinted - struggling in the opposite direction to imbalance him. Consecutively, she twisted back with by launching a high sweep with her elbow - aiming for his temple on his unguarded side.

Regardless how hard she managed to hit him, they became unbalanced and toppled sideways - Ida going down from the grip on her hair, landing on top of Grayson with the scream she had let out. She struggled for a choke-hold, one forearm underneath his neck and the other placed upon his larynx with all of her bodily weight. She arched her back as she straddled him, twisting like a wolverine to fend off any glancing blows - rolling with his movements as long as she could choke him out.

She learned immediately that he was too strong. Her face was just above his. It would only have worked if she had caught him face-down. She wriggled and pressed with her body to keep him underneath herself and not let him get up on his feet again, and his rigid erection ground into her dewy outer labia - only their garments preventing them immediate involuntary penetration. She gasped by the effort and the sensations, her nipples scraping against his chest in their horizontal struggle. This was not going to last. She had to do something...

So Ida kissed him, full and hard - teeth clicking together. The choke-hold lessened as she wrapped her open hands around his head and forced it down into the deck plating. His taste was incredibly male, she noted absent-mindedly as she dug a hold into his hair. She gave him a moan, or he made her give him a moan. It hardly mattered, it distracted him enough before she pulled back and tried to slam his head against the deck with her grip. Once, twice...

Then she sat back on his hardness... began swinging at him with her bruised fists - meaning to strike him out somehow despite her weariness. For he had already won, and they both knew it. She had t continue though, before he did anything more. Before he made good on his promises. Before... she conquered him instead? Aye, there was a strange yet interesting thought. It came to her as a revelation: the last resort. The hidden door she had failed to see in the darkness of her anger. Or rather, the frustrations she held in relation to her own short-comings.

Now, she would conquer. She had to admit that her Commander aroused her, and it had only been her sense of pride that stopped herself from admitting that. Just as little as she would admit that he would have won over her in a mere couple of seconds. The Pinkskin had more than proven himself a worthy lover. Even more, her superior.

So she ceased trying to try and strike him - sluggish and weak as the swings had become in her sore lethargy. She paused where she sat, reeling, white hair plastered to her blue skin. Beads of sweat covered her hole body. She was looking deep into his eyes, chest heaving and the sweat catching the light from above. She swallowed. "You cannot conquer me in any field of battle... sir," she said hoarsely... a last statement of defiance... But also deference...before she slapped herself down upon him as if in prayer.

Ida wrapped her arms around his neck so that she may kiss him anew. Her light blue tongue slipping into his human mouth. There was no thought. No consequences to her actions. Only carnal victory over physical defeat. She moaned hard into his mouth, from both pleasure and resolution, as she ground her whole body down upon his.

As if she would fuck his body in its totality.

David had managed to slip his fingers into Ida's dripping folds, allowing him to feel just how aroused by all of this she really was. He smirked at his Deputy's attempt to hide it, at how she tried to squeeze her thighs shut around his hand and prevent him from discovering the truth. But before he could press any deeper into her, she suddenly screamed and David felt her elbow coming at his temple. His reaction time was slower than normal, owing to the sluggishness brought on by the heat and the distraction provided by Ida's body pressed against his own, but even still he was able to at least jerk his head aside enough so that the attack merely glanced off of him.

Still, it was enough to disrupt his footing, and David cried out in surprise as he toppled over. His fingers maintained their grip in Ida's hair, pulling the furious blue woman atop him as he hit the floor with a grunt. Before David had a chance to recover, Ida had spun around and gotten her hands around his throat. David's eyes bulged in surprise and he tried to pull her off of him, but Ida was able to avoid his feeble attempts. His powerful neck muscles flexed underneath her grasp, attempting to weaken her hold, but then suddenly she was kissing him.

David was genuinely caught by surprise. The contact lasted for only a moment, but long enough for him to taste her, the sweat from her lips mingling with his own. Too late did he realize she was merely attempting to distract him, and he let out a dazed groan as her hands took hold of his head and tried to slam it down onto the deck. He was able to recover his wits just enough to fight her, and the back of his skull only hit the deck lightly, though it was still enough to send stars shooting through his vision.

He blinked the stars away and shook his head as he watched her sit up on him, her legs still straddling his hips. His arms got up in time to block Ida's tired punches, and he caught her forearms in his hands and held them there. His eyes met hers as she paused, and he saw the change in her eyes even before she spoke. He let go of her arms as she dropped herself upon him, her breasts crushed against his chest as her lips sought out his once more. The kiss was different this time, and David also acquiesced to the moment, his arms sliding across Ida's slick azure skin to fold themselves around her waist, hugging her body close to his as his tongue moved with hers, kissing her with a hunger that surprised even him.

She continued to grind herself down upon his engorged member, and he knew then that he needed to join with this woman, to feel her flesh surrounding his. He could also feel Ida pressing down on him, trying to hold him down, even now still trying to be the one in control, which David was not ready to allow. He held on to her tightly and rolled them both over, now pinning Ida's back to the floor as one of his hands slid down between their bodies to open his pants. The sodden material was difficult to grip, but finally he was able to rip the ruined fabric open enough to lower his shorts and free his hard, pulsing length, which throbbed urgently against Ida's heated skin, still covered by the tattered remnants of her own pants.

The damnable Pinkskin would not desist in trying to best her, even in this field of battle.

Ida growled deep down in her sore throat when she was pressed down underneath his weight, and in the literal heat of the moment, the movements of their hands and their lips, their fingers and their tongues were a haze of need that could not be separated into detailed sequences of events. Aye, Ida had lost track of who was in control for a moment, but it was when she felt him reaching down and fiddle with his uniform trousers that she snapped back into the struggle.

She hooked one arm behind Grayson's neck to force his mouth to be on her own, and she boldly reached down between their bodies as best as she might. He took his attention by slipping her tongue inside his mouth, twirling it insistently against his. She arches her back - thrusting her breasts into his chest - but also giving herself better reach. For once he had managed to free his arousal into the hot air between their bodies, Ida wrapped her bruised fingers around the thick and pulsating member. It was warmer than the rest of him, already slick with perspiration. She made a fist around the organ and began to milk it, controlling the situation once more - both by her hand's rough ministrations and the breathless kiss that she gave him.

"I lied," she rasped against his lips, biting his lower one minutely, soothed it by sucking in it, before continuing, "your size is adequate... even if it's the wrong colour."

It was an observation, not a compliment. No compliment at all. She would not admit complimenting his size. Ida let go of it after a couple of seconds though, and lay her hands upon his head - twisting it around with one set of her fingers in his mouth. It was a rough yet intimate movement, her forearms joining in to press upon his shoulders - trying to force him to lay on his back again. She would not surrender so easily. She would not just lay back and let him have his way with her. Damn him, but she would make him come harder than he'd ever had in his Pinkskin life.

For if she managed to twist him over on his back, and if she could hold him there with a hand on his throat, she would make him come with her hand alone - stroking his seed out of him before he knew what happened. If she didn't manage, there were other ways to reclaim the initiative in their new kind of struggle. For despite how she ached to have him inside her immediately, she denied herself such satisfaction. Not until she took care of him first.

David allowed Ida to pull his lips back to hers, and as their tongues intertwined once more one of his hands slid back up her torso to find her breasts, cupping one of the large, firm mounds between his fingers and squeezing, fondling her hot flesh as she arched her back into him. He grunted against Ida's lips as her hand once again found his turgid length.

"Your size is adequate... even if it's the wrong colour."

That drew a smirk from David, even as his lower lip throbbed slightly from the pain of Ida's bite, though dulled by her soothing suckle. He could hear it in her voice that she was not complimenting him--heaven forbid that should happen--but at this point he was past caring. He was not interested in hearing empty platitudes from this woman. If anything, her staid refusal to stroke his ego (at least metaphorically) meant more to him.

And just like that her fingers were gone, leaving David's member throbbing with need. Her hands were then back on his head, and after a moment's resistance he finally acquiesced, allowing Ida to push him to his back once more. He could tell that she needed to feel like she was in control, and he knew that he could hold her in place and take her if really wanted to, so why not play along for now?

He felt one hand go back to his throat, and for a moment he thought Ida intended to attack him once more, but then her other hand was once again around his veiny flesh and he moaned, his hips instinctively pressing upwards to guide his length through the tunnel formed by Ida's gripping fingers. His own hand sought out her breasts again, taking hold of one of them and brushing his fingertips over her erect nipple, pinching it lightly, and hissing as his Deputy's strokes became faster, more insistent.

David tried to form words, trying to get her to stop before he came, but all he could manage were a series of moans as her fingers manipulated his organ, which began to thicken even more between her fingers, signalling his approaching orgasm.

Ida enjoyed Grayon's hands upon her, as much she could not hide as she thrust her chest forward into his touch, moaning gutturally. Meanwhile, her blue fingers worked his rigid manhood from base to crown, and the hand upon his throat raked up and down his chiselled chest - enjoying the human's physique. When he pinched the hard peak of her breast, her breathing caught, and she pinched one of his in turn.

Then, she felt how his release was imminent, and that she was close to victory. One of her thighs were carelessly thrown across his legs as she stimulated him, and it was easy for her to slide down his body before he shot his load. For before he got the satisfaction, she was lying on top of his legs, both hands coming to wrap hard around his base. She grinned at him, big eyes looking upon his facial expression while she clamped the ejaculatory duct completely shut with her fingers. As he came, when he was reduced to an animal in climax, she prevented him from being able to spray his semen into her face. She wore a playful grin, mock-orgasming together with him, and then chuckling mischievously at her ploy. Her fingers remaining around him like a vice, she did not move them since that might make some of his human seed escape. While his orgasm lasted, she merely watched him, drinking in the artistic beauty of his facial expressions, before the convulsions slowly subsided - his cock still hard.

"Sweet victory," she murmured and bit her lower lip, slowly letting go of him with her hands - pleased to see that only a small bead of semen formed at his crown. Looking up at him, she placed her hands upon his hips and her smiling lips around the head of his magnificent organ - pulling up as she sucked on it. Without any hands assisting her, she tasted the human cum in her mouth - twirling her lithe tongue around the bulbous head and cleaning it. She let go with an audible 'pop' as she pulled back from it, sitting back with her hands on his hips - breasts framed by her straightened arms and antennae angled towards him. Oh, how hard he seemed to be, denied his first release and all.

"Now, I dare you able to make me a satisfied woman before I make you blow that load, sir," she said and showed teeth, climbing up to lay her lips to his again - her breasts sliding up his incredibly male form before getting there. She moaned into his mouth, a hand seeking his cock once more, before adding, "I don't think you can, since we'll pass out before long in this damn furnace..."

She kissed him again, hand rubbing his sensitive head, and she murmured faintly against his lips... "It was nice finally getting to know you properly, sir..."

[ Deck 07 | Gymnasium | USS Theurgy ]
Pain. Pain was defining her world right then, her eyes squeezed tightly shut. It hurt, it throbbed and she wanted it to end, oh she wanted to just pass out. But she didn't, she couldn't. Through the muddled head space the pain caused, she could hear a familiar voice, a presence settling in next to her. Questions, bouncing off her ears, rolling around inside of her mind. "Running," she managed to answer, her face slick with perspiration, as she moved to her side, cradling her head as told. Dr. Nicander she thought, finally recognizing the electric presence next to her.

"I was running around the," she winced in pain, something shifting inside of her leg as she settled down, "the track, making a second lap when my, ohhh" she whimpered a bit, biting her lip, focusing on the hum of the tricorder, "my foot just..stuck, it stopped. Felt like it was being crushed," her head nestled in against her bare arm, panting a bit as she tried to calm down, "then there was the snap, and the pressure was gone and I was laying here" She started to say more, but only gasped out; the pain was gone! It was healed it was...different. Everything was different....

[The Garden of Eden]
The air was sticky, hot and close, the kind of humid that made most humanoids sweat instantly. The ground suddenly had give to it, spongy almost, like you could sink your feet into the soil under you, and bounce with each step. Soil, there was soil, and not the Astroturf decking of a gym. And then there was that sickeningly sweet smell in the air, the one that invaded Natalie's nightmares. Leaves, vines, dim lighting, the rustling of a faint wind, all cloaked around that stench that threatened to make the operations officers head swim.

She tried to push up off the deck - ground - as her finger curled around vines and the rich, damp soil. Her clothing seemed to stick to her chest, tight around her breasts, sports bra non withstanding. Everything seemed to blur for a moment, till she settled in on both feet. She shouldn't have been able to stand, her leg should have still been a broken bloody mess. But it was healed, it was perfectly fine, not a mark at all. She could see it clear as day...and she could see the CMO still crouched on the ground next to her. The ground filled with vines, and flowers.

Her heart rate ratcheted up swift and fast, pounding away in her chest, throbbing even, till the only sound she could hear was the blood flowing behind her ears. She spun in place, reaching to her hip for a phaser; nothing was there, of course. She was unarmed, in, in, that place. the place that haunted her every night. Jumping back from one vine, nearly tripping over another, the brunette Lt. Commander trembled just a bit, trying to remember the words her captain had told her less then a week ago. "Doctor," she said, voice trembling, "Please, please tell me you administered some kind of drug, and this is all a horrible, horrible hallucination?"

[Brig]

The world exploded before David's eyes, and he let loose a long, guttural groan as his body reached its ecstasy. His hips leapt upward, kept under control by Ida's leg, and David's bright blue eyes flew open as he suddenly felt both of her hands squeezing tightly around his trembling length. He stared up at her in shock and grit his teeth in sudden pain as her fingers closed off his ability to ejaculate.

"Wh-what...what are you...fffuuuucckkk!" David hissed as he felt his orgasm rip through him, his body desperate to expel its pent-up load, but the force of Ida's grip leaving him unable to. He flattened his hands to the floor as he rode out the strange, intense combination of both pleasure and pain, his lips peeling back to bare his stark white teeth in a wordless growl, his eyes never leaving Ida's the whole time.

Then it was over, and David sighed as his body relaxed and lowered itself back to the floor again. His powerful chest heaved as he gulped down lungfuls of air, and he let out a softer moan as Ida leaned down to suck out the small amount of cum that managed to seep from him, his body flinching as her nimble tongue teased around the flared, sensitive tip. He sighed again as Ida climbed back up his body, his hands resting on her hips as their lips met once again. David was harder than ever, the denial of his ejaculation only adding to the intensity of this encounter. His heavy shaft slapped up against Ida's heated sex, still hidden behind her panties, as the Andorian lay atop him. Her hand slid back to grip him once more, drawing another grunt from David, and he smiled as she murmured against his lips. He felt exactly as she did. Though it had been painful reaching this point, both physically and emotionally, it had been more than worth it.

David grinned up at Ida as his fingers slipped underneath the waistband of her panties to yank the soaked material down over the smooth skin of her ass. He then used his own hips to roll them over, once again putting him back on top of Ida, his hands quickly pulling the panties completely down and off of Ida's legs, leaving her sultry sapphire form completely nude below him. The bulbous head of his thick length pressed insistently against her dripping wet slit as he leaned down to kiss Ida again.

"I've never heard a challenge I couldn't meet," David remarked with a confident chuckle, answering her earlier dare as he pressed his hips forward. His hands moved upward to grab Ida's arms, pinning them back down onto the floor as he leaned above her writhing body, moaning deep in his chest as her silky folds parted before him, allowing his veiny manhood to sink deep into Ida's tight, wet sheath. His eyes briefly closed as he felt her heat enveloping him, and then he opened them again, meeting Ida's gaze once more as he grinned down at her, his hips pistoning forward, driving his shaft deep into her body.

[ The Garden of Eden ]

Dr. Nicander was as surprised as Commander Stark was when reality around them shifted, as if time regressed to those days of crisis and they were snatched from the relative safety of the Klingon-Federation neutrual zone and back to orbiting the planet Niga of the Mahéwa System.

Like Natalie, Lucan stood up - rising from the soil and the undergrowth with the dim light of the modified Cargo Bay catching his pale eyes. Sweat slowly came to bead his brow as he cast his scowl about, hands spread at his sides. What kind of trickery was this? There was no way they could actually be there, so it had to be some kind of force, faction or individual behind the design. That it was them, him and the young human, whom was re-inserted into this scenario seemed too cruel to be chance. There was some kind of gain to this; a profit drawn from making them relive the past. Only now, they were not strapped to the floor, but able to move about.

To defend themselves.

"Stay close to me, I will try to..." His words died out, a frown touching his predatory features as he clenched his tattooed fists by his sides. His native Câroon powers did not respond. He could not feel the electrical currents around them, unable to commander the heat and naked flames. Nor could he seize the air and make lashing currents of wind. He had as much use for his inborn powers that he had for the forgotten med kit by his feet. "My abilities are gone, as if they never existed. How...?"

There was no time for analysis, for soon they came - the sweet smell being the harbinger of their presence. The moving vines, rising from below and descending from the canopy above. When Natalie Stark moved away from one, three more rose like scorpion tails - angled aggressively towards her.

Only the smell that cloyed and marred their judgement did not make them out to be as dangerous as they knew them to be. Lucan had fallen for the ideas that came to his mind before, but now, there was no Edena Rez to stun him, and the beasts inside him rose to attention like hearing a siren's call.

"We must run," he said, his jaw hard in focus as he picked up an exoscalpel from the med kit. It was a slimmer pencil-like design and one he preferred over the earlier versions of the medical incision-instrument. It could, in need, serve as a weapon even if it had basically no range at all to its narrow laser beam. Having seen Natalie's leg being just fine now despite what his medical tricorder had stated when they had been on the floor of the Gym, Lucan took her gently by the arm to nudge her into movement. "Come! Before all of them scents our presence!"

Alas, no further than twenty feet did they come before a vine trapped Natalie's ankle, and Lucan whirled about when she vanished from his hand. His lab coat billowed out as he turned, and inside, he was momentarily torn between going back to cut her free or to continue running. He surprised himself by even considering to go back, since for all he knew, she was just some mirage - her miraculously healed leg making that quite likely. And if he was surprised by his momentary empathy, he was astounded by the fact that he did turn back - diving to her side and gripping the thick and slimy vine before slicing it open. Sap gushed over his neck and cheek.

It caused the whole area to shudder in movement, with leaves and fragrant flowers rustling, as the plant reacted. The sad thing was that Lucan had known it was a bad idea, but had still acted upon it. For what? Why? The human held no significance to him, just as little as the rest of the ignorant crew. Eve... It was Eve that had made him begin to think about others. It had to be. It was all her fault.

"Run!" he called as he struggled back to his feet - his damnable lab coat not meant for these kind of ordeals. It got tangled and torn instantly. His erection was already a hard fact, just as the haze that slowed his thoughts. The sap was very potent, and it seeped into the pores in his skin.

In snatched images, he saw two new vines try and seize the fleeing human's wrists - darting down from above...


[ The Brig ]

It seemed Grayson was more than eager to try and best the challenge, stripping Ida in a very male and uncompromising manner - something she enjoyed seeing in the human that she had once thought completely inept as both a lover and a superior officer. For once he had yanked off the last shred of clothing that covered her, he even pushed her wrists down against the hot floor - rendering her completely helpless to thwart him.

She struggled, of course, not due to make it easy for him, but his grip was like twain vices - holding her down almost effortlessly. Oh, she must have riled him up - the adrenaline in his veins stopping her from nudging him a single inch. She invoked Lor'Vela's name in the intimacy, cursing in carnal play. Baring her teeth in defiance, even though the smile remained in her eye. She felt him, and it was too late.

She had never felt more feminine than that moment, when the Pinskin claimed her with such insistence - entering her without ceremony and making her throw her head back in aching sense of completion. She groaned deep down in her throat, tossing her head left and right at the invading feeling of Grayson's organ filling her up. Her white hair covered her eyes, and she could not see anything, and she never realised that she had wrapped her strong legs around his waist. Nevertheless, she moaned again when the second thrust came, and she tossed her hair out of her eyes to see him grin at her.

"This is nothing... You cannot m-make me... Ahh!"

The third surge of his hips made her midnight blue eyes roll in their sockets, her thighs quivering around his chiselled waist. Her sheath expanded around his hard meat, and he was so enlarged and engorged that it almost hurt a little. But the pain was a small droplet in a river of pleasure - a surge that washed her mind blank each time. They were slick with sweat, the both of them, so it was easy for Ida to begin rolling her hips where she lay to meet his movements - forcing his hardness to slide home completely by the fourth thrust and onwards.

Her mind was foggy from the heat, and the lovemaking was not helping either. She found her conscience lapsing already, yet still she built towards her own orgasm - something that would surely cease all matter of thought. If this was the way she died, she supposed there were worse ways to go.

"It was an h-honour..." she said, unafraid, as she gave him a final kiss - searing and hard and partial since they moved together. It was her last words to him before they were reduced to the animals they were; seconds away from total abandon. She would be pliant, let him do what he wanted, for she was going to come anyway - her body having already made the decision for her.

Outside the force field, almost hidden by the heated fog in the holding cell, the blonde woman in Starfleet uniform watched with her hip cocked and a smile on her full lips - eyes aglow with white light.

Her legs slipped almost too eagerly around his waist, blue skin pressed against pink, and David sighed happily as Ida's tight channel opened itself completely for him on his fourth thrust, allowing him to enter her completely. He then began a steady rhythm of pulling his hips back slowly and driving them forward hard, hilting himself fully into her each time, drawing a deep moan from both partners. His hands stayed on Ida's arms, leaving them pinned beside her head as he plunged forward, his hips rocking into hers as his Deputy half-heartedly struggled beneath him.

Thanks to Ida's earlier ministrations, David was better able to control himself as he drove his meaty shaft, harder than ever before after her little trick, into her wet, gripping pussy. But he could feel his body burning up, thanks to his earlier fight with Ida and now their lovemaking, all taking place in this sweltering heat. His own mind had grown foggy, but he kept thrusting his hips into Ida's, determined to hear her reach her own pleasure before he could allow himself to spend himself inside her.

"The...the honor was mine," he managed to respond before her lips met his one final time. The heat from her lips was the last sensation he could clearly recall before the heat and the lust fully took control of him. His eyes blazed like blue ice under the Andorian sun as his hips began to slam forward, his muscles flexing powerfully above Ida's writhing form as they both drew ever closer to that peak they so desperately sought.

Everything became a blur, then, their bodies molding together in ecstasy, forgetting completely about the world around them, and only when he felt Ida's body spasming beneath his, her warm sheath clamping tightly around him as she screamed into his ear, did David bury himself completely within her and let out a roar of his own as his long pent-up load was finally let loose, the torrent of hot seed rushing forth to flood Ida's welcoming warmth. It all became too much for David, and his grip on Ida's arms loosened as his vision darkened, his body collapsing atop hers, and then he knew nothing more.

Outside of the holding cell, the woman in Starfleet uniform remained, watching until the two humanoids upon the floor ceased moving.

Despite the smoke inside there, she had been able to see everything, and she was pleased not having to manipulate things further than she had. The sweetest reward came from matings happening without her direct touch, and she revelled in it - as well as all other matings taking place across the ship. She had personally come to attend this one, even though she was present everywhere. She might have tinkered a wee bit with this meeting between the blue humanoid and her leader, but not overly much...

She smiled, remembering having watched the mating between the male in the white robe and his female officer in the healing facilities on this pitiful space vessel. Oh, there had been reward there. She had stood in the greenery and seen it, pleased in how she had not done a single thing to make that coupling happen.

Still, it was poor compensation for the troubles she had gone through in order to occupy this space and time - this quaint little craft that had so recently caught her attention. Where was this paradise she had sensed from beyond the dimensional layers; this unparalleled focus of energy that had called out to her? Why was she here, when the humanoids were all so dull and dutiful in their own little escapades?

The woman had known she should have sought the time and space where the energy blossomed the most, but alas, she had failed because of him, the damnable tyrant that would not let her go as she pleased. She had also hoped, in vain, that she would be able to enjoy a whole galaxy full of premium energy - with so many life forms mating at the same time that her powers would be reckoned with once more.

Yet the time-line had been altered twice, and she had been fooled - hurling her presence to the wrong place and time altogether. Yet still, so right, for the residual energy was still there... taunting her in its fading image.

She turned, about to leave the prison of the space craft, about to continue searching for ways to make the vessel interesting again. Briefly, she paused, and wondered if she would let the two humanoids die. She frowned, the decision trivial, but since the vessel was found so lacking, perhaps she aught to preserve the lives of these two in the hope of a second mating. In the end... she made the artificially made energy wall vanish - the smoke and heat pouring out against her. It would surely alert the others outside.

Her attention already elsewhere, she walked out through the door, meeting the eyes of a young man on her way out of the area with yellow-collared warriors. He was the only one in the immediate area. The only one that saw her leave. She smiled to him, this renown and sculptured young humanoid that was revered across this particular part of the galaxy. More renowned than most others aboard the craft in this time and space. She smiled to him... and she spoke to him in his mind.

I am not important... she said and stroked his cheek in passing, yet do you scent that sulphurous odour? Perhaps there is a fire... Perhaps you should see what it is...

Then she vanished through the sliding doors.

As he approached the brig, Scosche barely glanced up as he heard the doors open, his feet scuffling along.  He'd had long days before, and more exhausting ones, but it had been a while and he wasn't accustomed to such treatment as Marija had dealt out.  Still, he managed to catch sight of an attractive blonde, felt fingers on his cheek, before nearly forgetting her as he lifted his head in confusion, the smell of smoke or exhaust, something not right, catching his attention.  Dismissing her, the blonde not being important, he rushed inside and stopped in his tracks, caught off guard at the sight of the man and woman on the floor of Cell C, naked and, from the looks, having just finished a bout of sexual intercourse.  Scosche blushed, then shook his head, trying to take in more details than just the immense attractiveness of the white-haired, blue-skinned Andorian, or the masculine, chiseled, and well-endowed human.  He tried to remember their names as he walked forward, sweat starting to form on his skin again as he got closer.  He noted the scorched panel and, while not knowing what had happened, still surmised it was most likely where the heat was coming from.

Carefully and with an attempt at modesty by not looking directly at her, Ida-something he partially remembered, he knelt and grasped her shoulders, pulling her gently out of the cell and as far away as he could.  He kept her in the antechamber of the brig, not wanting to place her in quite so public a place as out in the hallway, then went back for... Grayson?  Was that his name?  Scosche thought so, as he dragged the man out, as well, placing him beside Ida.  Once last time he went back into the cell, grabbing their jackets.  Walking back to them, he covered each as modestly as he could.

For a moment, he stood over them, realizing he'd done all of that without thinking.  It had not even occurred to him to do anything else but to help them, to make them safe.  He was hardly trained for Starfleet work, but he'd still managed to, quite possibly, save their lives.  Then, he recalled just how exhausted he was and collapsed back against the wall, his breathing suddenly hard and deep.  Maybe he'd close his eyes for just a moment, catch his breath, let his heart beat calm...

Light cut through the darkness, and awareness of the world around him returned to David as his eyes slowly cracked open once more. His vision, usually so keen, was blurred, and he groaned softly as he blinked his eyes, trying to cut through the fog that had descended upon his mind.

His sight cleared, and David realized he was looking up at the ceiling of the antechamber. What...? He started to push himself up and discovered his uniform jacket lying across his body. His leg then brushed against the still form lying beside him, and David leaned over to check on Ida, ensuring that she was unharmed. Her chest rose and fell softly as she slept, and he felt a smile on his face as he watched her for a moment. Though Ida's face and body were littered with bruises, as were his, there was a sense of peace about her, something David had never before seen in his Deputy. Perhaps now things would be different between them, for the better.

David then paused when he picked up the sound of a third heartbeat in the room. Frowning, he turned away from Ida and looked toward the wall across from them. There he saw a man seated on the floor, his back to the wall and his eyes closed. David did not immediately recognize the man until he saw the Klingon ridges on his forehead. Lieutenant Douglas of the Lone Wolves was his first thought, but then he remembered that Douglas' hair was longer and his frame broader, not as lean. The athlete, then, David realized with a nod.

Wincing as the soreness from various injuries set in, David shifted his hips to sit up fully and cleared his throat loudly, trying to rouse the other man's attention. If he awakened, then David would ask him bluntly, but not unkindly, "What are you doing here?"

A voice...

ThanIda zh'Wann came to in the realisation that someone was talking inside her quarters, only when she opened her eyes, her blanket was not her regular one, her bed was gone, and she was most certainly not in her quarters. No, she was lying on the hard deck plating of the Brig. The voice in question was familiar, and speaker was sitting next to her with his uniform jacket in his lap. David Grayson, and his eyes were directed towards someone else.

Sitting up, Ida's head was hurting something fiercely because of dehydration and heat. She hugged the blanket to her chest by reflex - not even knowing she was compeltely naked just yet. The other hand rose to pinch the bridge of her nose, and she cursed under her breath, the memories gradually piercing through the thirst that deprived her of her wits. Sluggish recollections of how she and Grayson had been trapped in the holding cell, and that they...

Eyes narrowing, Ida now looked sharply upon the new presence in the Brig - this young man with evident Klingon blood. When she realised who it was, her eyes became less austere, even though she was not in any approval of the fact that he had seen her in her bare skin. Moreover, that he might have drawn conclusions about both her and David that was not privy to become ship-wide knowledge. Be it either that it had been consensual or that the CSec had raped her in the holding cell. Such vile rumours would not stand, since they might undermine Security's authority aboard.

"Scosche Bellde'side," she said, remembering the message on her computer console before she started this unfaithful shift, "our newest recruit. You were to be in Ensign Ferrik's care this morning, starting your training after being commissioned as a Cadet in our department. Evidently, you must have found us, deactivated the force field and pulled us out. Not bad for your first day in our midst."

Ida still believed Grayson and her had been victims of a terrible accident, even though she had no idea how the force field could be activated from inside the cell like that. She was no engineer, so she could not determine how it had come to pass, but she was relieved to be alive.

"Could you please answer our Commander, though? What were you doing here?"

She refused to glance in Grayson's direction when she happened to speak with deference to his rank. She would not give him the satisfaction. She had given him plenty of satisfaction as it was. By LorVela... what have we done?

It seemed the hardest thing he could do right now was not to laugh at the absurdity of the situation.  It was only by the barest of luck that he managed to keep from smiling at the way they both spoke, even as they both sat equally naked, only their uniform jackets covering their forms, as though he'd done something wrong by saving their lives... or at least, making sure they weren't in any immediate danger.  If there was one thing his training Marija had reminded him today, it was that he'd stood up to tougher challenges than Starfleet.  One did not become a galactic Olympian by being soft or run over by competitors.  Still, like having a coach, there was a certain rank and file he would follow and as he looked between them, he couldn't decide which to answer first... or which he thought was more attractive at the moment. 

He stood, grunting at the effort, his body objecting, letting him know of each and every bruise.  As his eyes met each of theirs, he answered, "I was on my way back to my nice cozy cell, actually.  I got used to being here; I forgot I was assigned quarters.  Not that I would have been able to find those, given how little I know of this ship.  When I arrived, the force field was deactivated and you were both unconscious on the floor.  I pulled you out here to cool off."

He looked between then again and chose a lie, rather than the blatantly obvious truth, trying to save them the humiliation.  His eyes fell to the floor, as he continued, "I'm assuming your clothing was removed because you were trying to keep from overheating."

David glanced in Ida's direction when he heard her speak up, but his eyes narrowed slightly when he noticed that she seemed to be making an effort not to look at him. Maybe he'd been wrong about her after all, or perhaps she was just embarrassed to have been caught in such an uncomprising position. David was a little embarrassed, as well, but that was overshadowed by the relief of just being alive, and of not being discovered by one of the crew or, God forbid, Captain Ives.

He nodded as he listened to Scosche's explanation. "Well, it's a good thing you happened by when you did, then. Thank you, Mister Bellde'side. Who knows what might have happened if you hadn't rescued us." He then stood as well, his body stiff, sore, and uncharacteristically tired. He couldn't help noting Scosche's gaze on him as he did so, and David wrapped his jacket around his waist in an attempt to preserve what little modesty he had remaining, if any.

When Scosche suggested his theory on what had happened, David blinked and glanced back down at Ida again for a moment before returning his attention to the Olympian. "Yes...that's right. There was a malfunction in the cell, and the heat became too much for either of us to bear." He winced and put a hand to his forehead, trying to remember what exactly had happened between him and Ida. Of course he knew what they'd done, but he could only recall flashes here and there, his memories of the encounter more sensory than visual. Though now that he did think of it, David recalled seeing...something on the other side of that forcefield when he and Ida had first been locked in the cell. A person?

"I think someone else was down here when we were trapped," he said to Ida as he turned to face her. "Did you see anyone?"

When Grayson rose to his feet, Ida followed suit - however more cumbersome the manoeuvre because she had more to hide than he did. The explanation offered circled the blatantly obvious facts about the situation, but she was all the more happy to play the charade instead of addressing the truth. "We got in an... argument over how to get out, and I am sorry you had to see your superior officers in this state, Cadet. I... erred in challenging Commander Grayson, so I will submit to any disciplinary actions that he sees fit."

No lies, only some omissions. Major omissions. Better than making the Cadet think she had been raped in that cell. She cleared her throat and decided to not address the matter further lest she would tread through the rotten ice.

Once on her feet, she held the garment to her chest and it just barely preserved her modesty. While she thought Grayson would go and get her clothes, like a gentleman certainly would... he just stood there and prattled on? Did he intend to shame her even further before the recruit? It was not like she was going to walk past them both and claim the remains of her uniform by herself, giving the young halfblood and Grayson the opportunity to gawk at her posterior as she bent forward to pick them up from the floor. No, she remained where she stood, back to the wall, irritably folding her arms across her breasts to keep the piece of clothing in place.

As the query was posed to her, Ida raised and eyebrow in thought. "I am fairly certain that if anyone from the crew - who was not a saboteur - had been here, he, she or they would have tried to help us or at least made themselves known. Thing is, I cannot understand how the circuitry I was tending to might cause a detonation like that. Not to mention the burning plasma leakage. Secondly, how come the force field was raised... and later lowered? Either result might be plausible because of the explosion, yet I hardly think the engineers at Antares Fleet Yards would make these detainment protocols so... fickle, in the lack of a better word."

Speaking of serious matters caused an outer-body experience for Ida, in how she maintained such a cold and pragmatic attitude... all the while she felt her womanhood sore from lovemaking and leaking Grayson's semen. She idly set her feet closer together to keep it in, meanwhile keeping her face serene and not reflecting the maelstrom of different emotions inside her. An acute shame mixed with contentment that she doubted she might be able to catch on her canvas, despite how much she might try.

The wordless conclusion drawn in the antechamber between the three Security Officers was plain, and there was little time for dallying.

"Cadet," she said and gave him a faint smile, "would you please help us replicate bottled water and some clothes outside in the Security Office and bring them in here for us? We sealed the duct with some garments and the rest is rather worse for wear. You merely have to ask the replicator to make uniforms for us specifically, and you might as well make one for yourself, Cadet. It seems your training isn't done for today." She turned her eyes to Commander Grayson next, "Meanwhile, if we can, I suggest we contact Command and report this. If we have an intruder aboard, or a mutiny has begun, we must act immediately. If communications' still down, I suggest we get to the Bridge."

---

OOC: If Grayson checks a control panel, he will surely notice the state of a silent Level 4 Security Alert, issued by Edena Rez from the Main Bridge in lack of response from either of them. This is the very reason why the Security Office is empty, since the XO has rallied their department. Soon enough, when we are done with this scene (no greater rush), I suggest we take these three to another thread on the board: the one being played out on the Bridge. Oh, and the intercom is dead.

"Of course, ma'am," Scosche answered, his eyes lingering longer than he probably should have at the long expanses of skin her short jacket didn't cover.  He'd met very few Andorians, most of them male, in his travels from planet to planet, and she took the cake for being the most attractive of any of them.  Even the man beside her had a masculine quality he found appealing, especially with his chiseled frame and square jaw.  Still, he could hardly say so, given they were his commanding officers, even if he couldn't really remember their names.  It wasn't like he'd been introduced; he'd been assigned to Marija and sent to her directly.

He started towards the outer office and tried to remember who, if anyone, he'd seen on his way here and said, "Well, there was this one woman... a blonde, I think.  But she wasn't important."

Having no experience and little in the way of tactical knowledge, he did not arrive at the conclusion the other, more seasoned officers did, and stopped to look at them, hoping one of them would enlighten him.  When Ida mentioned mutiny, his eyes widened and he wondered if it was too late to ask to be jettisoned in a life pod on an unknown, but warp capable planet.  From everything he'd been told, it was starting to seem like just being on this ship was reason enough for him to end up dead, even without the fleeing from Starfleet bit.  Raping plants, explosions, death, mayhem, destruction... and now mutiny.

David frowned and shook his head. "You're right, Lieutenant, of course. It was probably nothing. There was too much smoke to see anything clearly, and with the heat affecting me I was likely just seeing things."

He shifted his jacket around his waist again and glanced at Scosche. When he saw the other man's gaze lingering on Ida, David's own gaze hardened. Whether it was out of a sense of professional decorum, or because of some deep-rooted animal instinct urging him to ward off any competitors, David wasn't entirely sure. "You heard her, Cadet," he added, a hint of iron in his voice. "Uniforms and water. If Lieutenant zh'Wann is right, we need to move quickly." He had been about to go back into the cell to retrieve the remains of his and Ida's uniforms, but then he realized that both garments were far too ruined to be reworn. Better that they put on fresh ones instead.

He waited for Scosche to leave the room, then nodded in agreement with Ida's suggestion to try and contact Command. "I was just thinking the same thing." He found his combadge still attached to his jacket and tapped it again, hoping it would work this time. "Grayson to Captain Ives, please respond." Grayson waited a few moments, then sighed as no response came. "Looks like whatever was interfering with our badges earlier is still in effect."

David shook his head and wandered over to a nearby control panel. He stopped at the panel, but before looking down at it he looked back over at Ida, concern in his eyes. "Are you okay?" he asked her, genuinely concerned. He'd been too overcome by anger, lust and fatigue at the time to realize he could very easily have hurt Ida far worse than he had, and that was the last thing he wanted. But there was also something else that had been gnawing at him from the moment he'd woken up. "Are we okay?"

While Ida took a moment to answer his questions, David looked down at the control panel so that he could attempt to open a comm channel to the captain. Before he could do so, however, he noticed the quiet chirping noise that the panel was making. Curious, he opened up the message and blinked when he saw the Level 4 security alert.

"Ida, we've got a problem. Commander Rez has issued a security alert." He looked back up at her. "We need to get the bridge, right away."

The attempt to use the intercom proved fruitless after the Cadet left - the Captain not answering them when Grayson tried to reach him/her. It had been... interesting to see how the Commander behaved like a protective chan when the - obviously - handsome young man gandered upon her skin. This was not the time, however, to consider what she felt about either aspect of the short exchange.

"Looks like whatever was interfering with our badges earlier is still in effect."

Ida nodded, and now that they were alone, she walked past Grayson - him heading to the control panel. Exposing her back to him whilst returning into the holding cell they'd shared, she was very aware of this, yet Andorians held meagre nudity taboos in their native belongings. Non-Andorian visitors to a Lodge or family home would see much blue skin, but Ida was Starfleet first nowadays. Lodges were temporary-but-stable communities of Andorians living amongst non-Andorian majorities, wherein the Federation, some stations, ships or outposts with a heavy Andorian complement would form such Lodges in order to give Andorians a place to live together. It was usual, but not always so, yet it was very rare for any single adult Andorian to live Outside-The-Lodge - a formal term with deep significance to them. As it was to Ida. Since she went into exile, she had not slept and dined communally with either her keth - her family clan - or any Lodges she had come across.

While Grayson spoke to her, asked those private questions in the wake of what had transpired, Ida came to a stop in the residual smoke that swirled inside the holding cell. She used the cloth of her garment to wipe herself clean between her legs - the Commander's human semen still leaking out of her aching sex. He had been rough with her, apparently, but she was more hurt from their fighting than their copulation. In fact, she was more than "okay", as he put it, but also unable to express as much. Warrior's honour and all. At least verbally. She turned to let him him watch as she wiped herself from his seed, making eye-contact with him. And even though she said nothing, her antennae expressed far more than her facial muscles. They were the prime indicators of Andorian body language, and Ida's expressed no rage - them having curved and drawn back along her parietal bone in such a case - but rather a slow writhing of languorous contentment. When the second question came, they curved towards Garyson in attention.

It seemed she might have to speak of this after all, beginning with how she had fared personally.

"As you know, the ghelnoid exoskeleton under my skin that protects my internal organs is a blend of bone and cartilage, a chitin-like substance that is both hard and flexible. It would require twice as much blunt force to break a limb of mine than it would take to break a human's. If you would have broken anything, I would be in great pain, for when we do suffer fractures, we suffer badly - our bones never breaking cleanly. As you can see, I am in no pain - besides the minor abrasions you have given me."

She would not mention how dark blue her labia had become from the forceful way he had used his human organ. The Pinkskin would have to have some kind of imagination, wouldn't he? The details were blurred, but it was still strange for her to have sex with human men. An Andorian's organ was normally entirely retracted behind the exoskeleton. Humans wore their endowment freely, as if bragging about it. Discarding such thoughts, she picked up her white panties - stretched but intact - and pulled them up her legs as she continued.

"Your blood is not cobalt-based, obviously, so we will have no other repercussions," she said, and she paused with her bra in her hand, "In fact, my name is zh'Wann, which denominates that I am of the zhen gender. In your language, that means 'infertile female'. Not even if I was a shen would it matter. I cannot bear children unless together with a quad, or, unless after months and years of communing with a single chan or thaan in order to make our bodies adapt to each other and both becoming fertile. What happen between us... bears no biological consequence."

And what about them, the two superior officers of Security - meaning to safeguard a truth of such portentous magnitude from dying at the hands of the misled fleet? There was an emotional side to this which she refused to address, but again took the pragmatic standpoint.

"We have a ship that depends on us," she said as she put her bra back on herself, hooking it behind her back, "we cannot afford this to be anything else than 'okay' as you put it. We cannot make it a problem, for if it becomes a problem, we will have to deal with it harshly and swiftly. I would not have this compromise the needs of the crew in any way. I am your Deputy, if you will keep me as such, but we cannot work together if we let this incident overshadow our duties. Either I will seek another position, or you will, should that become the case. As much... I find we owe to the Captain and those we seek to protect."

At this point, it was too new, too much to consider or to say anything more, and her sudden silence said as much. She walked out of the holding cell with no further words given on the topic - hands on her hips. She was just about to try and say something about what she felt about this, that she had no regrets and that he had restored his standing in her eyes, but Grayson had noticed the message left for them... Whatever was due to be said was forgotten.

"Ida, we've got a problem. Commander Rez has issued a security alert. We need to get the bridge, right away."

"Indeed so," she said, glancing towards the door from which the Cadet was bound to emerge sooner or later. Hopefully sooner, since they were in a hurry. Ida could not shake the feeling that their incident had something to do with the raised alert-status aboard the USS Thergy.

---

OOC: A correction in my former post. A small but paramount typo: "....you might as well make one for yourself, Cadet. It seems your training isn't done for today."

[The Garden of Eden]
Doing her best to follow the doctors suggestion, with her heart pounding away in her chest to boot, Natalie stepped in closer. She had no phaser, no nothing, clad only in her gym clothes. Revealing clothes. Clothes that she knew would offer no protection, at all, not against the probing, dangerous creatures from her nightmares. Those twisted evil plants that had held her down, that kept her up at night, weeks later. The ones that were now rising above her, their bulbuls heads pointed down, menacing her. She could feel her mouth turn dry, her throat go sticky, even as the sweet, seductive scent filled her nose.

"right...run." she managed turning and letting herself be pulled along by the good Doctor. She gripped is hand tightly, almost in a panic already, despite how she kept trying to still her breathing, trying to slow it down. They crashed through the jungle, and Natalie wiped her head out of the way of a low hanging vine. It was dark, hard to focus, and before she knew it, there was that slimy rough presence wrapped tightly around her leg. The dirt beneath her rushed up to meet her chin, and her head bounced as her body landed flat, her shirt now sticky with sweat, her pants clinging to her.

"LUCAN!" She shouted out the doctors given name, voice full of desperation as the vine yanked her back along the ground, leaves smacking her face, the sweet scent overpowering here.Natalie didn't seem him lunge down, but she sure felt the vine release her, and started to scramble to her feet. The whole area seemed to shake, a palpable rage filling the forest, as Natalie took back off, looking behind her at Dr. Nicander. "Come on!" she shouted, panting, running full tilt, just like she was told.

She made it maybe 15 more feet this time, before the vines from above wrapped around her wrists and yanked her skyward. Screaming like a banshee, she twisted about, feet kicking in mid air, the grip on her wrists tight, intense. Her eyes were wide with panic and her whole body seemed to shake.

From her vantage point, if she had been able to focus, she would have noticed that the ground around Dr.Nicander was rustling about. She would have seen the vines erupting from below, to try and snag around his legs, while others did battle with his tattered lab coat, grabbing at it, determined to rip it apart. Some tried to strike at him like a whip, narrow, but flared at the tip. Natalie was focused, bloody terrified, by the two vines gripping her, suspending her in the air, knowing what was to come, to see that some of the vines around Lucan had a different, maw shaped head. They seemed to swirl around, in a circle, like a cobra stalking its prey. One seemed to open up, three pronged, as a stream of sticky pink liquid shot out at the doctor.

Caught, yet refusing to acknowledge the fact, such was the devolving state of their situation. Lucan saw Commander Stark get hoisted up into the air while he struggled to tear himself free from the ground - his lab coat hampering his every move and vines getting in his way. He had no means in which he might come to Natalie's aid, and when he sliced at the tentacular limbs with the small exoscalpel, he seemed to agitate the alien flora rather than make any progress. If he only had been able to use his inborn powers, he might have had a minor chance, yet now, it all reeked as much of futility... as aromatic bliss.

Teeth bared, fighting for his sanity, he sliced wildly around himself - cutting against the vines that tried to tighten grips around his calves and thighs, only to be whipped across his back and tugged off balance by other vines that found sure grip upon his coat. Curling and coiling, the vines thought the garment their prey, so they split the seams and ripped it open, more coming to slip inside the new openings. He almost fell on his side as his entire left sleeve was snatch towards the ceiling - baring the uniform underneath. Pale eyes like narrow daggers, he cast about for a means to get away, only to see the a few vines hanging back - opening up at their heads...

...gushing slime upon him. The shock was enough to make his eyes widen and draw a deep breath. The first couple of seconds, he could not understand the purpose of the substance, yet as he continued to try and tear his legs free one step at the time, he felt humid air upon his skin. Looking down, he saw that his clothes were dissolving - melting off his body.

How can a plant produce this.. phenol with trichloromethane? Whatever it was, it was some kind of solvent, and of such potent kind that the fabric of his uniform poured down his legs in warm rivulets. He had not seen this during the Niga Incident, yet the Theurgy had only beamed down on one continent, whereas thousands of millennia would have given other plants of the same nature some differing evolutionary benefits. Was it for hunting close to humanoid civilisation, or some kind of coarse fur upon the wildlife? Impossible to tell, and Lucan was a bit too... preoccupied for the analysis at the moment.

If it all was an illusion, it seemed too real for his liking. His ragged breathing was only partially from exertion now, since his aroused thoughts proved harder to control - his mind already divided as it was. The slime fell off his body to the floor in sheets - taking patches of cloth with it. He lunged forward again, only to have his wrist caught by a vine that continued to tug him forward. He snarled and tried to retract this hand and his scalpel, but two thick extremities of the plant had ceased a thigh, so he was unbalanced - unable to straighten up. He tried to swat some of them off with his free hand, but as for escaping, he got no where for the time being. As he tried to shift his scalpel over to his free hand, he growled ferociously in defiance to what he really wanted. "Get off me!"

In flashes, he saw how a couple of swaying vines with bulbous heads rose from the undergrowth to seek Commander Stark high above. They reached her kicking legs, and began to snare and snake their way up like some morbid grapevine. Meanwhile, four others came from above - pronged heads opening up slowly around her, and while Lucan had experienced their intent, Stark would be oblivious until the slime splashed  against her training attire - soon to reduce it to melted strings upon her skin.

The slick vines from below began to writhe against her skin to shed the dissolved cloth and to stimulate her, stroking across her voluptuous chest and slide in long strokes against the apex of her legs.

[Brig]

David saw a flash of blue brush by and looked up from the console just in time to see Ida's naked back as she reentered the holding cell. He closed down the security alert, no longer needing it, and looked at her again to see Ida begin to clean the semen dripping between her legs. Their eyes met, and David found it nearly impossible to look away from her. Her face was expressionless, but he was familiar with the way Andorian antennae functioned. Though he knew she would not vocalize it, judging by the way Ida's antennae stood tall on her forehead, writhing contentedly, David knew that what had just transpired between the two of them had not further damaged their working relationship.

He felt his body begin to stir again as he watched Ida, and he found himself trying to think about anything but the beautiful, naked Andorian zhen standing before him, displaying herself so openly as she--almost sensually--wiped his own seed from her loins. He knew he had been rather rough with Ida, which had been the reason for his worry, considering his enhanced strength. The competitive being within, the innate compulsion to prove his superiority, briefly wondered if her sex was just as bruised and battered as the rest of her body was, but quickly shook it off. Even if it was, Ida would have never admitted as much to him.

David then saw Ida retrieve her panties and nodded as he listened to her explain the biological impossibility of his impregnating her. To be honest he hadn't really been concerned about that, and though the rational side of him understood that it was for the best, a small part of him wished that it were possible. All living things possessed an innate desire to pass on their genetic legacy, and that desire was even more prevalent in David as it had been in his Augment forebears, yet another side effect of the imperfect Chrysalis Project. And he had no doubt that a child produced by him and Than'Ida zh'Wann would have been strong indeed.

Grayson shook such thoughts out of his head and refocused his attention on Ida, who had continued speaking as she put on her bra. "I agree with you one hundred percent," he said, nodding sharply. "I don't want this to interfere with our responsibilities to the ship and the crew." He did not regret what they'd done, though his body was beginning to regret some of their preceding activities, but even though she wouldn't say it out loud he agree with her that it was too soon to say anything more than that.

She stepped back out into the anteroom, and as he looked at Ida standing there in her bra and panties, David realized how much of a fool he must have looked standing there with his jacket wrapped around his waist. Shutting down the security alert on the console in front of him, he entered the holding cell to retrieve his own undergarments. Unconsciously, he mirrored Ida's movements from earlier, using his jacket to clean his penis as best as possible, wiping the remnants of his semen and Ida's own secretions from him. He then dropped his jacket and leaned down to pick up his discarded shorts, slowly pulling them up his bruised legs and over his waist to cover his manhood, which had returned to a half-hardened state after observing Ida.

His tank top had been completely ruined in the fighting, and so he stood there in just his shorts. He showed no embarrassment as he exited the holding cell to rejoin Ida outside, however. "As for your role, Ida," he began, no longer feeling it necessary to refer to her by her rank, "you are indeed my Deputy. And I would like you to remain so, if you're willing. If something were to happen to me, I can't think of anyone on this ship better qualified to protect its crew than you."

(OOC: Other than having Scosche return and hand out uniforms, I have not come up with anything more to write for Scosche, at the moment.  I would recommend moving on.  I'm taking a pass on this one.)

The vines almost seemed enraged at Lucan, for how he cut at them, as if a collective mind were controlling the lot of them. Time and again, he had slashed away at them, and time and again, the green and brown tendrils tried to sweep forward, and deprive him of his tools. They swirled about, having snagged the hand with the scalpel, but were unable to swat it away when the doctor made a pass to his free hand. Instead, they ended up whipping against his now empty fingers, striking with painful precision, just seconds too late.

Around his legs, their grip tensed, pulling him wider apart. The bits of clothing slid off the vines as easily as they had dropped from the captives skin. Whatever dissolvent the plants produced, purely organic substances and objects seemed unaffected. but all the bare skin seemed to be calling to the plants, and their own devious instincts had taken over. While in front of Lucan, they tried to still his resistance, behind, a large, bulbuls headed tendril had snaked up from below. It swayed from side to side, then brushed along, between the doctors legs, pushing to the base of his ball sack, feeling the warmth there.

For her part, Natalie couldn't see any of Lucan's plight, as she twisted and bucked in the air. Panic was setting in, and her breath came in rapid gasps; which only served to send more of the pollen into her system, heightening the smell, the taste of the air around her and that sudden deep dampness between her legs. A cry that was far more a moan then she would like ripped past her lips, as her eyes went wide at the side of the open maw plants. Terror gripped her, as they gushed forth the sweet smelling liquid.

It splashed across her body and she screamed, truly screamed, even as her arms were tugged higher above her head, tightly gripped. Her body jerked, and her legs kicked, but only briefly, as the bulbs from below gripped her, and yanked the limbs part, leaving her spread for all to see, as the clothing slowly slid away. "no no no no no no" she started to chant, over and over as her breasts bobbed, free of their confines. Her nipples were already tight pink buds, and her folds were glistening bright, the small curls damp.

Up and up her spread legs the vines wove, and more and more Natalie tried to struggle. She couldn't see Lucan for the mass of plants around him, tho she heard him shout out, only driving her panic forward. She couldn't form a coherent thought past the fear that gripped her heart, or the tension that snagged her loins. Which was right were she was suddenly being rubbed. A low ragged moan slid out of her mouth, turning swiftly into a sharp pitched scream of terror She could see it all flashing before her brown eyes, as her curvy body was pulled taut. She remembered the Garden, the feeling of the plants inside of her, and knew what was about to happen.

[ The Garden of Eden ]

Despite how Dr. Nicander had managed to switch the scalpel over to his free hand, crying out as he was struck, it did little in means of helping the two Starfleet Officers in their common plight. For as he tried to saw upon the vine that trapped his wrist with the brightness emanating from the tip, two more tendrils had come to snare the other arm - pulling him down on all fours in the undergrowth. The grip upon his spread thighs dug sharper into his muscles as he came down upon his knees, and he cried out, trying with all his might to retract both his arms and straighten up.

That was when he felt it; the slick tentacular crown brushing against his inner thigh, scenting something. He knew. Oh, he knew. Yet nothing prepared him for the feeling of the plant brushing against his swollen sack, pushing against where his seed was stored. The grunts and the tugging motions in which he tried to retrieve his wrists became more infrequent with the loss of breath and strength, and replaced with dizzy ideas that turned traitors towards his sane intentions. He cast his gaze up, seeing that Commander Stark was in the same dire straits, only above ground. He tried to ignore the feeling of the slick bulbous crest that brushed against him, stroking along the side of his aching manhood... smearing out a bead of premature fluids at the tip of his length. He snarled in waning defiance as he tried to ignore the sensations upon his throbbing organ... how the plant retraced its path... searching... retreating behind his testicles again...

"No..." he growled, Yes... he thought. Distraction. He tried to look upon Commander Stark instead, tried to tell her some kind of nonsense.

"Try to cross your legs," he called out hoarsely, speaking as much for his own benefit as for hers rather than actually giving advice that might help in their situation, "don't let it inside you... If it makes you... It will complete the incubation period for the virus... The chemical reaction in your brain will..." He trailed off, pale eyes having come to feast upon what transpired above. How Natalie's - like his own - attire were melted threads criss-crossing her voluptuous body. How the slithering vines with phallus-like heads rubbed her thighs, stroked along her outer labia and up her abdomen. She was making noised, and the sound vibrations called it as it passed between her breasts - lingering to brush firmly across the heavy mounds and hard nipples with its glistening, slick and powerful stalk. Then, it rose further, to brush across her lips and cheek.

The other vine... it nudged, pushed and probed upon the nectar-covered lips between her legs. Needless to say, it did not take long for it to find its way. It slither inside an inch... traversing another by the second push. Working mindlessly with firm yet patient insistence as it expanded her for its girth. The sight had mesmerised Lucan, and his lips had pursed where he was was - forced to bend forward and resistance forgotten. His fingers gone numb...

...the exoscalpel fell to the soil.

---

OOC: Since its 1.35 am here, I will be addressing the Brig scene tomorrow (and the Main Bridge scene too, regardless if Kuro or Kitty posts in-between now and then. Would be awesome if that'd be the case, of course). Stay tuned regardless.

[ The Brig ]

Her midnight blue eyes following Grayson as he took his turn in retrieving his undergarments, Ida watched him idly like he had watched her - again being granted the opportunity to let her artistic mind drink in the sight of his human physique.

Abrasions and flecks of blood from where she had managed to split skin with knuckles and shoes, superimposed against hard musculature and low amount of body fat. Abdominal muscles tapering down towards his reproductive organ - still swollen or reawakened since it had been inside her. A drawing of him in such a state came to mind, the old idea of him being hale and whole and unbruised not as interesting as his battered state of appearance. She saw him tuck his phallus behind his boxers, and raised her eyes to meet his once he spoke those words that touched something deep within her.

...I can't think of anyone on this ship better qualified to protect its crew than you.

That he would have her as his Deputy despite all that had transpired caught her unprepared; that he would cast aside her transgressions so lightly. Normally, she might have thought him a weakling that could not enforce the regulations that he had to uphold, but after the display of fortitude that Grayson had shown her - this great strength and prowess as a warrior and Starfleet Officer - she did not nurse such thoughts. Rather, she felt both honoured and relieved that he had recognised her merits as well. That he had come to understand that the grudge towards him had not been because of prestige or rank, but of doubt towards his capacity.

Doubt now cleared... at least for the time being. His personal attachment to the affair with Starfleet Command and its impersonators had yet to be gauged, not to mention how that might affect his command of Security.

"My thanks for your kind words, Grayson," she said quietly with her hands on her hips, looking at him as he returned from the smoke in the holding cell. She called him Grayson since her species were not prone to use the first name, a part of a culture where their surnames marked their genders. Yet she was not the kind of Andorian that would take affront to being addressed by her first name in an environment like Starfleet. She had been too long gone from the ice of Andoira to care for such petty things. "I will strive to not disappoint you."

She extended a hand in the Terran fashion, clasping forearms in camaraderie. She looked into his eye without blinking, the moment being of sincerity and understanding between them. Despite the happenstance intimacy shared, they stood in equal regard to what was important for them and the crew. Little did she know he harboured a dark secret, and that there might be much more to address between them in due time beyond her own shortcomings in having too little faith in him as her superior up until that point. She gave him a lopsided smile and tilted her head back a little. "Had I known you as the warrior you are, I think the pitiful attempt to make me dinner would have ended up more amiably. This Andorian has now learned to not judge too quickly when it comes to pinkskins."

By that point, the Cadet returned to them with their new uniforms, and the three of them dressed before heading towards Deck 01 and the Main Bridge.

[ End Scene ]

[Garden of Eden]
The Vines seemed to have no desire to let up on either Starfleet officer. In fact, as they tightened around the good doctor, they seemed almost...eager in nature. Twisting, tugging, pinning and pulling, the rough plants did their best to keep him in their grasp. Once the scalpel hit the ground, the vines seemed to sense...victory. They rolled around his body, as one, rippling along his arms, his legs, over the mans chest. Most of it focused between his legs however, as a steady presence bounced against the dangling bits of flesh, rubbing up between them, and along the firm erection.

The plants knew how to deal with humanoids. Penetration was the key. What they had in their trap on the jungle floor wasn't quite the usual victim. and so there was constant probing, by the bulbuls heads, trying to find the right point, the perfect place. What pheromones they could pick up, the scents of arousal, were not the normal scent they associated with a female victim, but still, the prize was aroused. Finally, one found a tight, puckered rim. The head began to twist, and spin, tapping against the tight nub of flesh, trying to push in.

As for Natalie, she couldn't even hear Lucan's protests; his words of advice, as pointless as they might have been, fell on if not deaf, then overwhelmed ears. Her breasts were rubbed and squeezed, swelling between the vines that encircled the orbs, and her waist. Those suspending her high above the jungle floor seemed determined to keep her from closing up in any way, be it her arms, or her legs, and wound themselves tighter still, till her limbs ached, and part of her, deep in the panic of her mind, worried that she would be pulled apart.

But that was not on the agenda, as the plants began to assault her mouth and sex. She tried to cry out, only to be muffled by a bulbuls vine, forcing its way past her lips. She tried biting down, to no avail, but, by then it was too late anyway's. Once the earthy tasting vine succeeded in breeching her lips, it began to pulse, and spew a sweet nectar across her toughness and down her throat. There was so much, that Natalie had no choice but to swallow; and that sealed her fate. The taste of it was the sweetest she'd ever had, she wanted more, needed more, and opened her mouth wide, sucking with a sudden ferocity that was only broken by the pressure between her legs. She felt stretched, as the plant stole past her sex, inch by aching inch, pushing her wide. Her sex seemed to be flooded with juices now, making her core slick, easy to invade. And invade the plat did, twisting and squirming further and further, till it was pressing against the back of her canal, bumping insistently, Natalie's cries muffled by the vine probing her throat as deep as the one probing her folds.

Lucan's eyes had been locked upon Natalie as she was being invaded by the plant - watching how she was slowly raped up there in the air before him - yet when his own assailant found his sphincter, his eyes fluttered close in anticipation. It had been so long since he had enjoyed penetration in this way, and even though he should not care for the slick and lubricated force that pushed and probed, it was hard to deny his awakened desires. Oh, he knew it was a false sensation and that the desire was not his own, yet his mind was slipping - loosing the means to discern any difference.

And like that... the head of the vine popped inside him, and he made a sharp intake of breath - eyes widening in maelstrom of sensations that coursed up his spine. When it retracted a bit and then pushed deeper, he moaned fully at feeling of the alien invader rubbing against his prostate gland. His own cock twitched in answer, and he lost all trail of thought. By the third push he rocking his hips backwards as much as the restraints around his arms allowed him to. The beast inside him was pushing him on, and he groaned deep down in his chest with need for more. And as if the plant knew him, for it knew humanoid prey, it increased the pace - coiling and pushing to slither in and out of his anal cavity. Insistently, it pushed across the edges of his prostate gland, and it made Lucan grunt like an animal.

He opened his mouth wide as the rectal invasion of his anus almost pushed him over the edge early on, and his pale and lust-dimmed gaze settled upon Natalie where she hang suspended in the air above - the vision of her making it all even more enticing. He saw her being filled up between her legs by one of the thick vines - the plant churning into her vagina's frothy opening. Her relative silence through it all was explained by the second vine - one which she eagerly sucked at with wanton abandon. A third sought her ass... slipping down the crack of her behind.

Lucan imagined her mouth around his own cock instead. His imagination fed his own rising ecstasy, and added with the rhythmic slither against his prostate, and how the plant suddenly gushed warmth inside him, it made him come without warning - the eclipse making him cry out in competing surprise. He knew, somewhere deep down and forgotten, that he was lost as the climax crashed through his loins - a direct answer to the ejaculation of the plant. Without his hardness being touched, he came - gushing his seed into the undergrowth below him. "AAhhh!"

The vine that twisted and churned into his ass continued remorselessly throughout the duration that the breakers were crashing through his body, and only when the last gush of his seed spilled across the grass did Lucan's vision fail... oblivion taking him before he fell limp and the vines released him. In the last moments of conciousness, he thought he heard another cry from above, but it was too late to pay it any heed.

[ Later on... ]

On unsteady feet, the man once known as Dr. Nicander - whom had always been in control and knew himself as master of his own emotions - came to stand up at the spot where he had fallen victim to the Niga virus.

He had prided himself with his body before, yet now, as he looked down upon his roped forearms and his chiselled chest, he knew he was lacking - that his devices and his moderate amount of training would never amount to the results he now felt. He felt so virile and unstoppable, like a force of nature, and he smiled in gratefulness for the gifts bestowed upon him. The melted threads and patches that remained of his uniform were stretched tight around his limbs and torso, and when he reached down, his tattooed hand came to wrap the massive girth of his enlarged manhood - this beast of a member that already hungered. While he had been well endowed before, the monstrosity he gripped in his hand now was something entirely else.

The touch quickened a thought. Now where may the Chief of Operations have gone?

"Natalie?" he asked in his deep voice as he stepped forth through the undergrowth, seeing some vines sway lazily in the air just ahead. "Where are you, m'dear? I know you are here somewhere..."

When he spotted her, he smiled - pale eyes glinting with equal invitation and hunger in the dim light.

[Garden of Eden]

Her head was pushed back, by the thick vine, pushing deep into her throat, wrapped around her neck. Her eyes couldn't much look down at Lucan now, given the angle she had been forced into: it allowed the vine to get deep into her throat tho, the bulge of it visible from without, and Natalie's lips sucked down on it like it was dispensing sweet candy. Her fingers were splayed out, twitching, her arms bound tightly, unable to touch anything ,which frustrated her: not that she wanted to resist anymore, but that she wanted to grip, and stroke the plant invading her body.

The warmth, the need burned between her legs, but then another burn filled her; a burning pain at the sudden intrusion between her ass cheeks. A sharp stretching pop, filling her. She screamed out around that vine in her throat, so it amounted to a muffled yelp, at the very best. Her Ass clenched, and she felt full, so full. The pain subsided quickly, however, with a pulse of the nectar, deep into her ass. She shivered now, her senses on fire, as her body bucked in the air, twisting back and forth. Those vines probed deeper, and deeper, the one in her sex bumping against the back of her sex. What had once terrified her nightmares now filled her with an intense desire, and as she tired to press down, the bulbous head pushed up, past the cervix.

So full, was all she could think, as the rough plants rubbed her deep within, stretching and pumping. It started to build swift, that heat, pulsing in her wet core. She started to tremble, to shake, one small part of her mind still rebelling, still crying out in shame, but there was no resistance. There was no hope, no chance of anything but the building explosion. Her body bucked, once, twice, clamping down as she milked the vines between her legs, the walls of her sex rippling across the plant as it, in turn flooded her womb. The climax washed over her, thru her, whipping the last thoughts from her mind

[Later on]

Slowly, she came to, on the jungle floor. Her body ached, yes, oh it ached, gloriously. Natalie tossed her hair back; it was tangled, true, but longer then it had been, fuller, like her lips, which she used to suck on her finger tip, settling in on her knees. Her fingers trailed over her more pronounced curves, cupping larger, fuller breasts, a tone, smooth stomach, and down between the small curls, her wet folds. She wondered idly, if the constant damp state would be par for course now, and found she didn't mind at all.

"Natalie?" she heard the word called into the air. Yes, she had been called that once, she recognized it as her name, and so her head turned. She was still on her knees, when she saw the man coming towards her. Lucan...the doctor...the oh so very well endowed doctor. The heat kicked up a notch or three, as she watched him stalk closer."mmmm, yes Doctor?" she purred, leaning forward, her hands planted on the soft ground, hips swaying from one side, to the other. She felt that need already building: before, she would have never considered the doctor, but right now, she wanted him, bad.

Seeing the female creature there in the undergrowth, Lucan was pleased with what he saw. He would have been before he became enlightened, but all the more now - knowing that she would be pliant and willing to share her marvellous new body with him. Oh, but her body had been ravishing before they were touched, so his pale grey eyes feasted upon the results that sat before him.

"There you are. Oh, it's a great difference in knowing what this state we are in does to you and experiencing it, don't you agree? I have never felt so good in my entire life..." he said as he stepped up behind her shoulder - meeting her lust-filled gaze with his own in equal measure. He saw her inviting movements - the way she exposed herself to him, and he did not waste time to close the distance. Yet even if he walked straight up to her, he did not grab her hips and insert himself straight away. No, he lay a hand upon her shoulder as he crouched down directly behind her. "I hope you won't mind if I do a physical evaluation, Commander Stark. If we are to make sure as many people as possible feel as blessed as we do, I think I have to make sure you are up for the task. You are not a virgin any more, though there might be some things to learn as well."

He ran his tattooed hands up her front and made her sit back on her knees - leaning against the hard planes of his chest with her back. He cupped her breasts in his long fingers and smelled her hair and neck - enjoying the feeling of how she filled his surgeon's hands. She had already made him hard, and his length lay like a warm limb against her lower back. Oh, it took but a nudge with one hand, and he had pushed his manhood down to slide along her crevice - not visiting her but brushing across her opening from behind.

Laying his warm mouth against Natalie's neck, hands sliding enticingly up and down her front and his arousal almost lifting her off the ground, he whispered. "Do you approve of me making the examination, Natalie? I think I can make it worth your while too..."

Conversely, everything that Natalie wanted to do, was about to do, was begging to have done...all of that which she now craved would have, if not terrified her before her transformation, certainly would not have been impulses the young Operations Chief would have acted upon. But that annoying little thought barely had time to surface, before it was banished into nothing. That girl didn't exist any more, not really, not when compared with the wonton woman now on the jungle floor.

His touch was electric, and she cooed, her mouth forming a small little 'o'. she almost missed his words, but they were true, so true. "Yes," she whimpered the one word, made it into a moan as those hips rocked gently from side to side, the silent offering made. Natalie wanted this prime specimen of a man, wanted him badly. But, he wanted to take his time, oh the evil doctor. Still, the promise of learning caught her attention. The still (barely) rational part of her mind, the one that wanted to the best to spread the glorious awakening (what she would have called the horrific infection, prior) recognized the need for such a ...thorough examination.

"mmmmm, of course doctor," she replied, tossing a look back, over her shoulder at the dark, ravishing man. She was willing, pliant, as she settled back on her knees, her legs spread open. His chest pressed to her back, and her body seemed to arch and mold against his hands. The warmth of his palms, squeezing her now larger breasts sent shivers down her spine. It was as if every inch of her skin had a link to her core, and each brush, of his lips, of his chest, excited her.

A low, throaty moan slipped past her lips as her mouth hung open and her head fell back. She could feel him, his length brush along those warm, wet folds. The heat seemed to roll off her for a moment, as she rose up, guided by his hands, her lips bucking in a slow, sinuous roll. Oh that thick rod of warm, hard flesh. Oh how she wanted it, craved it. Her lip bitten, it was all Natalie could do, as she pressed her ass back against the doctors pelvis, to nod her assent. Word were failing her, as one hand reached up, and behind her. She traced the muscles of Lucan's neck, unable, for the moment, to resist at least a little examination of her own.

Her hips kept moving, slowly back and forth, unable to keep still, even if she wanted to, she doubted she could stop. The need was instinctual, that drive, that desire, to please, and get pleasure in turn. To propagate the blessing she had been given. Her fingers curled around the back of his neck, the dirt filled nails digging in. "mmmm yes Doctor," she managed to finally purr into his ear as her head tilted back, her teeth nipping at him.

Oh, how could he ever have bothered with machinations and social games more complicated than this? Why bother, when all he truly ever wanted and needed was in the simple exchange between two or more people? So beautiful, the act of simple bodily enjoyment. What was the point of his kin's need to conquer and subdue, when they could use their host bodies to feel what they could never feel themselves? Why avenge a single woman of his own past when he could enjoy the company of any woman or man in the entire galaxy? Why destroy his home planet when he could make them all appreciate life for what it was really meant for?

Procreation. Spreading one's seed into as many people as possible. Why aim for more?

The Chief of Operations pressed her back against him and made it plain she was ready. She wanted him inside her, stroking herself along his length as she was, and the man once known as Dr. Lucan cin Nicander had no reason to leave her wanting. She grazed her teeth against the side of his face and his neck, and so he turned his head and offered her his mouth. Tongues made contact right away, and Lucan took her needy breaths into his lungs, savoured the warmth of her underneath his lips and made the passion of their initial kiss linger.

And as it lingered, his hands did too, only one of them slid down her abdomen and boldly split the lips of her labia - his middle finger coursing across her swollen pink pearl. He could feel his own male heat slide across the area - now slick with her juices. He smiled against her lips, and wrapped his fingers around the tip of his arousal instead - pressing it up against her clitoris in the rhythm of their dance. He could feel her nub graze across the top side of his head with each thrust he made between her legs.

"The next part of the examination is an internal procedure, yet you shan't be worried for I am a professional. Just relax..." he said in a low voice, and with his fingers, he pressed the tip of his cock against her womanly gate - his next thrust immediately making his member squirm its way inside her. Oh, the tightness and the heat that enveloped him made him groan against her mouth - his hands coming up to fold across her globated mounds once more. "Ah, this feels very good, m'dear. Very pleasant indeed..."

With them both upright, Lucan rolled his hips into surging thrusts - her hungry vagina trying to swallow as much as it could of him every time he moved. He pinched her nipples at one point, before he assisted his penetration with a hand - rubbing at her clitoris as he fucked her. If her mouth escaped his own, he licked her ear, neck and cheek. Passion unbridled, inhibitions lost to the virus. Her inner walls stroking his enhanced girth. Her body was just as fantastic to his touch as it had been to his eyes, and yet he wanted to see her as he claimed her.

Therefore, he pulled out on that whim - his beast of a manhood glistening when exposed to the humid air once more. He turned her around, still kissing her and lay her down upon the soil of their rebirth. He spread her legs and sat between them - looking down into her eyes and upon her body as he inserted himself again. His dark hair framed his face as he gazed upon the human, lips pursed in awe to the feeling of the deeper penetration. His hands fondled her body - roamed across her before seizing her hips.

The frenzy heightened at that point - savouring giving ground to single-minded need for more.

Oh the sweet, sweet taste of a mans lips on hers. It sent a shiver down her spine, got her pulse beating rapidly in her chest, and made her moan, not that much of the moan could be heard, frankly. His lips took hers, his tongue, brushed hers, teased hers, drew the muscle out, till she was flicking along the inside of his mouth in turn. Once upon a time, her biggest goal was to be promoted to the number one assistant position in her department, happy to help, not to lead. And then she was in charge, young for the accomplishment. What had once been Natalie Stark, chief of operations, was proud then, but now, all she cared about was the man behind her, and that perfect, divine need to feel him pumping into her.

Natalie, because whatever was left of her needed a name, ached for the good doctors touch, for his seed. Her body knew, instinctually, that she needed to milk him for all he was worth. That was her new purpose, her new drive in life. There was that oh so delicious spark, radiating across her moist folds at the brush of his tattoo 'd hands and there! She cried out into the jungle night, another electric jolt rocking her body. It seemed the new changes to her physique had left certain bits far more sensitive then she remembered them being. It was good that she was so sure she would want nothing more in life then to be touched and fucked, since the sensation was so addicting.

Almost as much as feeling him enter her, after the tip of his glorious manhood (for truly, it was glorious to her warped and addled mind, and may very well have been even before her change) teased her clit, before sinking in. "relax," she repeated the word, finding her own again, as that hand of hers sunk into the dark locks of his hair, tugging as her body worked in time, a sweat breaking out already, from the heat of the jungle air, and the feeling of his body pressed so close to hers. "Hard to relax when you get me so heated, doctor. Quite the...mmmm~examination indeed. Are you ahh, this thorough with all your patients?"

Those hands were on her breasts now, squeezing her plump mounds, teasing those nipples, earning delighted yelps and mewls. They sunk back down, as her body worked with his, her hips rolling back against him, her ass melded to his waist, and all the while, that wet, damp core of hers was clenching along his shaft, the hot friction driving her wild. Had the jungle plants, the agents of her transformation, her awakening felt as good to her as his cock did now, driving up into her from below and behind, stretching her canal around him? She couldn't remember, truly, all she knew was the bliss of the moment.


So when he pulled out, oh the torturous moan that slipped past Natalie's lips. She was hungry for that feeling of fullness, of the perfection of the union of bodies, that divine goal that her new calling, her rebirth (her infection she would have once thought). And he was stripping it away from her, before she could feel him pulse inside! The former Ops officer started to twist, trying to grab into his hair again, but then she was pushed down onto her back, and the look in Doctor Nicander's eyes as he took in her body, laying before him, that settled her. She knew he wasn't going to leave her wanting, not with that possessive air of hunger about him. How could she have ever felt anything other then intense desire for such a fine man?

The heat came back with a stabbing fury, sinking deep into her folds once again. Natalie's thoughts, such as they were, were short circuited as she cried out his name into the jungle night. Hands, slick with need, reached up, brushing his shoulders, nails, dragging down his arms. "Yes," she cooed, "So good, so good," a mantra, whispered with each pump of his hips. Acting on instinct, as the girl she had been had no experience worth repeating, she brought her legs up, the slick limbs closing around Lucan's hips, one foot perched on his ass, the other crossed over the first, ankle to ankle. Her angle changed, opening her further as she rolled on the ground under him, begging for more.

His body on top of hers, Lucan surged against her - grinding his viral meat into her forcefully whilst holding her in his chiselled arms. Each surge smothered her breasts against his chest - feeling her hardened nipples upon his skin as they moved. She had lifted her legs and given him deeper means for penetration, which he slowly came to exploit in full. Their bodies sweaty in the humid air, the heat between them making their skin damp with perspiration, it was as if their infected - nay, blessed - selves were one individual. One of equal intent, and equal need for more. For neither of them would be satisfied with them alone. No, this was merely the beginning - savoured in full.

For the time, though, they had each other in their common needs - enjoying each other to the fullest extent without inhibitions or complicated emotions to it. What they resorted to in the grass and dirt was pure, unbridled and free. Yes, sexual freedom to spread as far as they could, because the rest lived in ignorance.

With fiery kisses and tattooed hands roaming the skin of her body as best as he might, the last few inches of his thrusts allowed him to sheath himself fully - pressing against her sensitive clit each time. His swollen sack slapped against her too at the end of the movements. Never had the man formerly known as the Chief Medical Officer hoped to bury himself in this particular sheath, and yet here he was - riding the breakers of their common passion all the way to the hilt. She even cried his name, moaning for more.

"Come on then, m'dear," he said and smiled against her nipping teeth before he sat back - pulling her into an upright position in his lap without letting his cock escape her tight confines. He was breathing heavily, mouth dry, yet he still wrapped his arms around her waist and assisted her in riding up and down his meat - now straddling his lap. With his arms around her, he let her bodily weight  assist in bringing her down unto himself. He had freedom to kiss, lick and nip at her breasts when she was in his lap, so that he did greedily - feeling that her nigh virgin vaginal passage was going to make him cum from the friction.

His increased amount of infected semen would soon brim her insides - filling her to the point of overflowing. Arms wrapped around her, he ground her down upon their joining mercilessly - their glistening and dirt-stained bodies moving as one. His pale grey eyes sought hers at long last, and it was time - his eruption seconds away.

And then it came with the force of his cry - the molten feeling of his seed spilling inside and out of her as they continued to dance in their pagan rhythm - abject of restraints.