Next
Unable to let go, she continued to hold the log steady while the others fastened it into place.
As soon as it was firmly in place, she released it and ran after him. "What's wrong, Velder? Did I do something wrong?"
He tried a weak smile. "No, Ley. It's not you. You didn't do anything wrong."
"What's wrong, then?"
"It's my glider."
"What about it?" She paused to think about it. What could he do with the glider? Her hand came up, but stopped before it could reach her nose. "You didn't try to fly it, did you? Not without telling us."
"No, of course not." He kicked a rock, sending it skittering along the ground. "And I'm not going to."
She stopped in her tracks. "Why not? You had your heart set on it."
He stopped and faced her. "Why not? Because those Kintzi-spawned Poreans destroyed it, that's why." He kicked another rock, this time quite a bit harder.
"What!"
"One of their scouting parties must have found it. They didn't know what it was, but because it was something we were building, they felt they had to destroy it. And they did."
"Then you're going to have to rebuild it."
"What's the point?" He turned and resumed walking.
She grabbed his arm and spun him back to her. "You have to rebuild it, Velder."
"I don't have to do anything." He tried to shake his arm out of her grasp.
She maintained her hold. "Yes, you do, Velder. Otherwise, you're admitting that they beat you." She relaxed her hold, without completely releasing him. "And you can't do that. You can't let them beat you. We can't. We can't let anything on this planet beat us."
"But..."
"No buts, Velder. We have to go on fighting. You and Tillek have been hammering that into me ever since we crashed here. You can't stop now." Her grip tightened a little. "I won't let you, and I'm sure Tillek won't, either." She then released his arm. "We'll both help you rebuild it."
Over the evening meal, Tillek came to the same conclusion. "The girl's right, old friend. You have to rebuild the glider."
"I don't know, Tillek. Maybe I'm trying to bite off more than I can chew. I really don't know if that thing was really going to fly."
"Then build something simpler. I know you can build something that will fly."
"I don't know," Velder repeated.
"You have to, Velder. We'll do everything we can to help you. Won't we, Tillek?"
"Of course we will, old friend. We Betas..." He glanced at Leysen, and then down at the table. He looked up again. "We Arions have to stick together."
Velder grinned sheepishly. "I suppose I might have been a little too ambitious. I really should try something simpler."
By the time that they were finished eating, Velder was in much better spirits. And it was not due to the kifra. Nor was it all due to Mai's attentions, though he did tell her to attend to him that night.
Velder was in a much better mood in the morning, though Mai might have deserved some of the credit for that.
That day, Velder began work in earnest on his second glider. He remained as secretive as before, however, not letting either Leysen or Tillek see his work in progress. And apparently he had simplified his design considerably, at least as far as Leysen could judge by the reduced numbers of metal parts that he had asked her to make for him.
He worked on it every day, whenever his other duties allowed him to. And every night, he spent with Mai, emerging in the morning looking very happy with himself and with life in general.
Mai didn't seem to be very unhappy with the way things were going, either.
He must have really simplified the design, for it didn't take Velder very long to finish the glider. He made the announcement over the morning meal. "It's done. I finished my glider yesterday."
"That's great, Velder."
"When are you going to try flying it, old friend?"
"I'm going to fly it this morning. Just as soon as we finish eating."
"Can we watch?"
"Of course, Ley. I want both of you there with me." He calmly took a piece of bread and broke it. "It'd scare the Talisi to see somebody flying, but I think you two can handle it."
The conversation died down, as all three of them concentrated on finishing their meals. None of them wanted to be the cause of the delay in the flight.
Leysen and Tillek followed as Velder led the way to his work area. "You really think it's going to fly?" she asked Tillek, keeping her voice down to keep Velder from overhearing her.
"Don't you have any faith in him, girl?" Tillek also kept his voice down.
"I'd have more faith if he'd done any computer simulations first."
"People have been building airplanes before computers."
"I know that. But still..."
"Have faith, girl."
"But... but what if he crashes? He could get hurt."
"He's an experienced pilot. The best I've ever known."
"But he does know how to fly something like this, doesn't he? I mean, all I know is he flew that lifeboat here." And crashed it here, though she wasn't about to voice that thought. It wasn't his fault anyway --- the lifeboat had been damaged in the explosion of the Empress Jiltan'th. A lesser pilot might not even have reached safety at all. Probably wouldn't have. They could all have died in space.
"Believe me, if it goes through air or space, Velder can fly it."
"I sure hope you're right."
"Trust me. He can do it."
"Here it is." With a flourish Velder removed the cloth sheltering his latest creation from the elements.
Leysen rubbed the bridge of her nose as looked at the assemblage of wood and fabric --- and a few metal parts. She had seen some of the various components before Velder had assembled them into a whole. Completed, it looked even less elegant. "That thing's really going to fly?"
"It's a little heavier than I'd like, but it should."
She reached down and grabbed a wingtip. The entire wing came up as she hefted it experimentally. "It's not very heavy."
"Careful!" He let out an audible sigh of relief when nothing broke off before she set it back down. "It may not be heavy for you, but I'm not going to have you to hold it up for me."
"You're really going to take it up, old friend?"
Velder made a big production out of wetting a finger and holding it up to gauge the wind direction. He then looked up at the sky before answering. "The weather looks good today." Getting under the nose of the glider, he was able to hoist it up onto his back, his Beta strength allowing him to carry a load that no Talisi could have handled.
"Here, let me help." Tillek moved in under the tail and took up half of the load.
"Why don't you let me do it." Leysen ducked her head and moved in between the two men. Getting her shoulders under the fuselage and straightening up, she lifted the glider up away from the two men.
"Careful, Ley. It's fragile." Velder moved out under the left wingtip and held it to steady it. Following his example, Tillek moved out to the right wingtip.
With the Prime bearing most of the weight and the two Betas steadying the load, they moved up to the top of the hill that Velder had selected as the launching point for the historic first manned flight on Talis.
She had seen the earlier test flights of scale models that she had helped him to build, but this would be the first flight of the real thing. And certainly the first flight with a live pilot.
She had once offered to be the test pilot, knowing that a crash wouldn't hurt her Prime body at all. And she was lighter than Velder was. He had rejected the offer, merely asking her how many times she had ever piloted an aircraft of any kind. Of course there had been no answer to that.
She thought about running up to him and giving him a kiss for luck, as she had seen in some holo-vid dramas. But no, that wouldn't be appropriate here, that only happened when there was some romantic relationship brewing between the two, and there certainly was nothing brewing between her and him.
She wasn't involved in any kind of romantic relationship here, and probably never would be. Well, there had been that flirtation with Chaddik. But he was a Talisi. And that had just been flirting, like she had done with that midshipman aboard the Empress Jiltan'th.
A kiss here just might give Velder the wrong idea. Besides, it was usually the man kissing the woman. And on top of that, he was just a Beta. So why did she have this funny feeling in the pit of her stomach? She forced herself to stay where she was and raised an arm to wave. "Good luck, Velder!"
Standing beside her, Tillek gave Velder a salute.
Velder saluted back before taking a running start down the slope and launching himself into the air. He glided along for about fifteen feet, before coming back down. He resumed running, and then launched himself into the air again.
This time he managed to stay aloft. She let out a long sigh of relief. Only then did she realize that she had been holding her breath.
It had been a long time since Velder had done any significant atmospheric flying. Other than for takeoffs and landings in spacecraft, and those were completely different.
It had been even longer since he'd done any unpowered flying. The combination of higher gravity and thinner atmosphere didn't make things any easier.
Leysen knew the principles of flight, of course --- every Arion schoolchild knew the theory. How the air flowing faster over the upper surface of the wing created negative pressure, creating lift, pulling the aircraft up. Still, knowing the theory and seeing it put into practice were two completely different things. She found it somewhat eerie, watching something fly without making a sound. Not even the slightest hum, her sensitive Prime hearing could pick up only the faint rustling sound of the wind rushing by the craft.
The craft nosed over the trees at the edge of the clearing. "C'mon, Tillek." Without waiting for a response, she began running after Velder.
She made her own trail through the trees, knocking aside branches with her arms. She emerged on the other side to see Velder climbing higher before banking to the left for a surprisingly graceful turn.
She waved at him, knowing that he couldn't answer, even if he saw her at all.
Velder completed his turn and leveled his wings, heading to pass almost directly over her. Suddenly, the glider shuddered and the right wing dropped. Velder lowered the nose and dove in an effort to gain airspeed.
The maneuver seemed to work as he regained control of the craft. Instinctively, she dove for the ground as he passed by more than thirty feet above her, still in a shallow dive.
Feeling a little sheepish, she picked herself up off the ground and looked up. Velder was headed straight for a lone tree in the middle of the clearing. "Look out, Velder!" she yelled out, not caring whether he could hear her.
He swerved to the right at the last possible moment, his left wingtip missing the tree by no more than four feet. But the maneuver cost him precious altitude, he had the wings level but was now headed for the trees lining the clearing, and he was losing still more altitude.
"Pull up! Pull up, Velder!" She raised her arms, as if she could somehow use her own Prime strength to help the glider climb.
Despite Leysen's encouragement the glider continued its steady descent.
"Pull up!" she screamed again as the glider continued to head toward the trees. This time the glider's nose rose a little. It was almost as if not even the glider dared to disobey the command of an Arion Prime.
For a brief moment, it appeared as if Velder would clear the trees. But then the nose wavered and dipped. It steadied momentarily and then began to rise again. Then the nose dropped again, further than before. The glider plummeted and plunged into the trees.
"Velder!" Unmindful of the rocks and bushes, she ran across the clearing--- each stride carrying her more than twenty feet --- until she reached the trees. She darted through the trees, unmindful of the branches that clawed at her face.
"Velder!" She dug through the wreckage, picking up a broken wing and tossing it aside to uncover the pilot, picking him up in her arms. "Velder! Are you hurt?"
"No, Ley," he opened his eyes and smiled at her. "But if you keep holding me like that, I may be."
Realizing that she was holding his fragile Beta body too tightly, she immediately relaxed her hold. But she didn't let him go completely. She lowered him down until his feet were back on the ground. She kept her left arm around his waist, pressing his chest against her left breast.
Just feeling his body next to hers made her realize how much she had come to care for him, how much she would miss him if anything was to happen to him. "Velder," she whispered, lightly running the fingers of her right hand across his cheek. "I'm so glad you're not hurt." She then pulled his head down to hers, seeking out his lips with hers. She felt his arms wrap around her body as he began responding. She closed her eyes. His hands moved forward, stroking the sides of her breasts.
As she held him closer, he suddenly broke off the kiss and tried to push himself away from her.
She immediately opened both her eyes and her arms. He slumped down in her arms, gasping for breath.
She realized that she still had been holding him too tightly, using too much of her Prime strength for his fragile Beta body. Fortunately she had released him in time --- he seemed unhurt, just having had the air forced out of his lungs.
She had been kissing a Beta. He had been kissing her back. Not only that, but he had been fondling her breasts.
That was how she had gotten into this mess in the first place. Waiting for that Beta midshipman in the lifeboat aboard the Empress Jiltan'th. And that was what she had been doing to Velder when they had first met.
Embarrassed, she pushed him away from her. Turning, she ran back up the slope. She didn't even see Tillek making his way through the trees.
Tillek saw Leysen run past him, leaving the trees where Velder's glider had crashed. Quickening his pace, he reached Velder standing in the middle of the wreckage.
"Velder! Are you hurt?"
Velder didn't seem to hear him, looking back the way that Leysen had gone.
"Velder! Are you hurt?" he repeated.
Velder shook his head and looked at him as if he'd never seen Tillek before. Then he began walking, following the path that Leysen had taken.
Velder walked --- alone --- back to his room after the evening meal. Mai had made it clear that she wanted to be called to his bed that night. Not in so many words --- no Talisi female would ever do that --- but with her expressions and gestures as she helped to serve the meal.
The last thing that he needed tonight was a woman. At least, any woman other than her. And her, he knew that he could never have.
His mind was still spinning from the afternoon's events. He could still remember how her body had felt against his, how incredibly firm her breasts had felt in his hands.
How hard --- and painfully --- those firm breasts had pushed against his chest, driving the air out of his lungs.
And how she had pushed him away with just a flick of her graceful wrist. A wrist that had far more strength in it than he had in his entire body.
And how she had run off after that, her long shapely legs propelling her at a pace that he could never hope to match.
He had already slipped out of his warrior's harness before he realized that he was not alone. There was a naked woman standing in the corner, her back to him. "What are you doing here?" he asked, striding forward, reaching towards her to throw her out of his room.
She turned around to face him.
He stopped in his tracks and dropped his hands to his sides as he recognized her face. He also saw that she was not completely naked, there was the gleam of gold at her throat. "Ley? What are you doing here?"
She reached a hand towards him. "Don't turn me out tonight, Velder. Please."
He didn't know what to say. The pleading look on her face, a Prime saying 'please' to a Beta. Just what did she have in mind?
His heart skipped a beat as a thought occurred to him. A forbidden thought, it couldn't possibly be that. But her presence here in his room, her nakedness, the gold around her throat. What else could it be?
He stepped forward and took her hand. Her grip was gentle and tender, even with the gold, he knew that she wasn't exerting her full strength, as she slowly pulled him towards her.
"Ley! I... I don't..."
He felt her arms wrapping around his body, bringing their heads close together. "Please, Velder," she whispered into his ear. "Please don't turn me out tonight."
As faces almost touched, he caught the sweet scent of her pheromones --- a scent that he had thought never to smell again. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her body close. He felt her body stiffen momentarily, before she relaxed and leaned into the embrace.
Even as he felt his desire rising, the pheromones reminded him that the girl was a Prime. A very desirable girl --- the most desirable girl in the village --- but a Prime nonetheless.
And he was just a Beta. Betas just did not seduce Primes. Especially a male Beta and a female Prime.
He pulled his face away from hers and looked her in the eyes. "Are you sure you want this, Ley?"
He felt her breasts pressing against his chest as she pulled him back to her and tightened her embrace. "Please," she whispered into his ear again. "Make me into a woman. Please."
She wrapped her arms around his neck as he picked her up in his arms. She continued to hold on to him as he laid her down upon his bed, pulling him down on top of her, her lips seeking out his.
His nostrils filled with the scent of honey and wildflowers, as he eagerly returned her kisses. He tightened his arms around her, knowing that even with the gold, there was no way that he could hurt her with his purely Beta strength.
Her embrace tightened about him, making it difficult to breathe. But she must have sensed it, for she quickly loosened it a little. Pushing himself off of her a little, he began working his way down, kissing and licking her face, around the point of her chin and then down her throat, skipping over the two gold chains encircling it and bringing her strength down to 'only' several times his.
He continued working his way down her body. He worked his way down the deep valley between her breasts, before veering to his left. He flicked his tongue rapidly across her right nipple, eliciting a soft gasp from her. Taking her nipple --- the largest and hardest that he had ever encountered --- into his mouth, he gently held it between her teeth as he continued to flick his tongue across it.
He brought his right hand to her left breast, gently caressing and kneading it. Knowing that the gold didn't affect her invulnerability, he squeezed her left breast with all of this strength, while at the same time biting down on her right nipple as hard as he could. She gasped again, her whole body shuddering under his.
Even though Leysen had felt Velder's mouth at her breast many times before --- twice daily when she fed him and Tillek during the trek through the mountains --- this was nothing like that. Chaddik's mouth had felt something like this, but his caresses had been quite a bit softer. She wrapped her arms around him, remembering that she was still stronger than he was even with her gold.
She tried to keep her pheromones in check. She wanted him to love her of his own free will, not forced to do it as he had nearly been on their first meeting in the lifeboat.
She felt his hand leave her breast as his fingers went around her nipple in a widening spiral. Working its way down her body, a finger poked into her belly button, before continuing. His fingers stroked the outside of her thigh, down to her knee. Circling the knee, his began stroking up the inside of her thigh.
She gasped when the hand reached the top of her thigh and lightly touched her sex. Instinctively she clenched her thighs and brought her legs together.
His hand drew back from her sex. She opened her eyes to see him draw his mouth back from her breast, starting to stand up. "I'm sorry," he started to apologize.
"I... I've never had a man touch me there." She reached up and grabbed his wrist, bringing his hand back to her body. "Don't stop. I like it."
She closed her eyes again as his hands resumed their ministrations. She moaned again as his hands were quickly joined by his mouth.
Feeling the pressure against the inside of her thigh, she opened her legs. With the gold cutting off so much of her strength, his body felt heavier than she had expected. Still, it was not uncomfortable.
She gasped as she felt a moment of panic when she felt him sliding into her. But this was what was supposed to go in there. This was what she had long dreamed of.
She knew that she was a clumsy partner. She tried to stay alert to his guiding touches, trying to match her movements to his, trying to remember what she had seen some of the other females doing.
She cursed her own inexperience which kept her from matching his release, but the incandescent glory which awaited her the second time was vividly seared in her mind. She knew that she would never forget that for the rest of her life.
When they both had gotten their breaths back and recovered somewhat, she rose up and straddled him with her knees on either side of his body. With his hands on her hips guiding her, she lowered herself down upon him.
His hands continued to guide her as she slowly and carefully began pumping with her powerful legs. It didn't take her very long to get into the proper rhythm. His hands then left her hips, slowly travelling up her stomach, his long fingers almost tickling her as they walked up her sides.
Getting impatient with his slow progress, she grabbed his wrists and brought his hands up to her breasts. She let out a gasp when he squeezed her with all of his strength, almost causing her to lose her rhythm.
She soon felt her climax approaching, and was pretty certain that she could also feel his coming. Sure enough, he exploded inside her, just seconds before she also exploded.
Waking up, Velder thought that he'd just had the best dream of his life. He'd dreamed about the most physical --- and the best --- sex he'd ever had in his life. He'd been able to get all of his Arion length into her, something that he'd been unable to do with any female here on Talis.
But it hadn't been a dream, it really had happened. He realized that as soon as he saw the girl sitting on the edge of his bed.
No, not a girl. Not any more. She was a woman.
Sitting up beside her and brushing aside her silky hair, he fingered the gold chains at her throat. The gold chains that had allowed him to wake up at all this morning.
She turned to face him. Even in the dim light he could see that she had been crying. "Why are you crying, Ley?" he asked, brushing a tear away from her cheek with his finger.
She drew back from his touch. "This... this wasn't the way I'd imagined my first time."
He started to reach for her then quickly pulled his hand back. They might have been lovers the previous night, but she was still a Prime and --- gold or no gold --- she was still considerably stronger than he was.
Another tear came to her eye as she lowered her face. "I... I never thought it would be out here in the middle of nowhere."
"And with somebody like me, you mean. A Beta," he said softly.
She looked up at him. "Oh, Velder!" She reached out and took his hand. "It's not that. You were wonderful. A Prime probably wouldn't even have tried to pleasure me. He would have been interested only in his own pleasure."
"It was the most pleasurable night of my life, Ley."
She dropped his hand. "You're just saying that to make me feel better."
He reached for her hand. "No, Ley. I mean it. I've been dreaming of this since we first met. But my dreams didn't live up to the reality."
She met his hand and pulled him to her, resting her cheek on his shoulder. "Hold me," she whispered, wrapping an arm around his body.
He wrapped his arms around her body, holding her tightly to him.
After a while she lifted her face to look up at him, the corners of her mouth turning up slightly. "Was I really that good? I mean, I've never done this before..."
"You're a fast learner."
"Thank you." Her smile widened. "Teach me some more."
He felt himself being pushed down to the bed, as she covered his chest with her kisses.
All that day as Leysen worked in the smithy, she kept thinking about the previous night.
It had been the most enjoyable night of her life. But had it been as enjoyable for Velder? Had she been able to return to him any of the pleasures that he had given her?
She remembered the clumsiness caused by her inexperience. How could have a man possibly have taken any pleasure in that? Sure, Velder had told her that he'd enjoyed it. And he had seemed willing and eager enough. But what was a Beta to say to a Prime, gold chains or no gold chains? He certainly wasn't going to say anything to offend her, was he?
He had been smiling when they parted in the morning. But was it the same smile that he'd always had after spending a night with Mai? Or had it simply been for her benefit?
Chaddik came by after the noon meal. She wasn't sure how to tell him that she had spent the previous night with another man, so she didn't tell him.
She hardly spoke to him at all, outside of what was required for the forging that she was doing.
Velder laid his hand on Leysen's arm as she reached across the table for more roast hurja. "Will you come to me again tonight?" he asked softly.
Lieutenant Tarrin Krilti looked at the six men before her, two of them seated at their stations and the other four standing beside them. All six of them looked back at her, wondering at this unexpected change in their routine, why she had called them all together. Each one wondered whether he had done something wrong, something bad enough to cause her to chew him out publicly in front of the other men. Thus far, she had always managed to deal with the few minor infractions with a private reprimand, never publicly.
She began without any preamble, leaning against the wall by the door. "There's been a change in our orders."
She could see their surprise at the news. None of the men spoke however, instead looking at her expectantly.
"The good news is that we're going back to Tiburon," she continued. "Our relief will be here in five days."
She could see the pleasure in their faces. This was an isolated station, with nothing for entertainment during off-duty periods. Nothing other than themselves, that is. Six men and one woman. Not that any of the men had ever complained about the one lone woman with whom they'd had to make do for their entire time on this station.
She held up a hand. "The bad news is that we're all going to be reassigned."
The pleasure in their faces disappeared, replaced by surprise and shock.
"They're... they're splitting us up?" This was Rentik.
"We'll be going our separate ways after this. We'll receive our orders when we get back to Tiburon, where we'll have some R and R first."
She held up her hand to quiet the excited talk. "I want you men to know that you have been the best crew I've ever had. In all ways."
None of the men said anything, but their pride was evident on their faces. And they all knew what she had meant with her last three words.
She palmed open the door and turned to leave. She turned her head, looking back over her shoulder. "Kelnik, Rentik, you two come with me. I have another duty for you."
"Yes, Lieutenant." They both bowed formally to her before following at her heels, having made a fairly well educated guess as to exactly what that other duty was.
Palming open the door to her private quarters, she entered. The two men followed without hesitation.
Quickly whirling around, she grabbed the two men by the front of their uniforms and flung them onto her bunk. Before they could get up she was on top of them, holding them down with a hand in the middle of each back. "There's something else you two should know about. I know a little bit about your next assignments."
Releasing her hold, she rolled them over so that they were facing up at her. Their hands came up to her, even though they knew that they couldn't possibly get her uniform off of her. "Both of you are being assigned to officer training."
The look on their faces told her everything that she needed to know. They stopped their futile efforts to get her uniform off.
"That's right," she continued, "you're both good enough to head your own comm teams."
"But officer training?" Kelnik asked. Betas seldom made officer rank, but usually only in flight positions and not in communications.
"Why not? Either of you can do everything I've been doing." She smiled down at them as she ran her fingers lightly across their chests. "Almost everything."
Rentik made the logical connection first. "Having a Beta lead a comm team frees up another Prime for combat duty, doesn't it?"
"Somebody at headquarters apparently thinks so. Though not too many Primes want this kind of duty, it just might be a response to a shortage of qualified Primes."
"What about you, Lieutenant?" Kelnik asked with more formality than was usual among the team. "Do you want to get assigned to a combat team?"
She shook her head. "No, I'm happy being a communications officer." Some people might take that as a sign of cowardice in a Prime, but her people knew that she truly did like her work. More importantly, they knew that she was good at it.
"I'm happy with what I do," she continued. "And happy with what you men do." She released them, sliding her hands under their backs and lifting their faces to her breasts. "I will miss you."
"Officer training..." Rentik breathed when she released them to get some air, laying them on their backs. He turned his head to look at Kelnik. "What do you think, Lieutenant Kelnik?"
"I can handle that. What about you, Lieutenant Rentik?"
"At ease, you two." She put her hands back on their chests and pressed down a little harder than before. "You're not officers yet. I may even become one of your instructors. But until then, do I need to remind you that I still outrank you? And furthermore, that you still serve me?"
"Yes, Ma'am." They both tried to bow, which was a little difficult with her hands still pressing down on their chests.
"Behave yourselves." She pressed down a little harder. "In a proper manner."
They behaved very well. They really did not need to be reminded. And they really did serve her.
Indeed, they served her very well.