Chapter Text
Captain Kimetto served an unprecedented fifteen years in command of the ISS Custer. The few challenges to his authority were handled swiftly, but nobody could escape the inevitability of death, certainly not a Terran in a position of power. The threat did not come from within, but from his wife who poisoned him when she came aboard to visit. Rumor had it she had been seeing his brother for years. His replacement could not match his unyielding command, and over the years the Custer went through a constant revolving door of new captains. Most of T’Ralia’s work involved patching up botched assassination attempts.
Even Director Van Den Broeck met an end that was unsurprising but in an unexpected way. He survived opponents who tried to stab, poison, drown, and smother him but in the end fell victim to his own failing health. Terrans who lived long enough to die of old age were a rarity, and with his passing T’Ralia felt a sense of isolation that was in some way liberating. She had no one except her bondmate, the rebel. Miraculously, T’Ralia never sensed his death, though a quick execution would have been more merciful than whatever the Terran Empire had in store for a political prisoner like him.
With Van Den Broeck gone, T’Ralia found herself motivated to reclaim some of the things he had taken from her. She followed a vegetarian diet again like when she was very young, stopped using his surname except in official documents and began to style her hair in elaborate braids the way her mother used to. She wanted to learn more of the Vulcan language and her people’s history, but in the Terran Empire, resources for such a pursuit were hard to come by.
Every seven years she could feel Stellek burn, and each time she expected to be the last until the blood fever subsided to indicate that he had found relief with someone else. Her life carried on without him, and up among the stars her life was affected little by what went on down on the planets. Stellek had been right about something else: The Terran Empire was not sustainable. The uprisings were more frequent, better organized, and longer lasting. It wasn’t just the colony worlds, but even the Terrans began to demand fairness and egality. The rumor was that a Vulcan was in charge of the movement. Briefly, T’Ralia wondered if it might have been Stellek, but there were also rumors that this Vulcan was half-Terran.
Nothing she had yet seen in the Terran Empire prepared her for her next assignment about the ISS Portland. It was a newly commissioned ship whose crew skewed young and full of fiery rage. T’Ralia managed to keep to herself and stay out of their scheming. Another trait this crew shared was their foolhardy arrogance, the sort of arrogance that kept a person from admitting they were sick or hurt until they were knocking on death’s door.
The Portland’s captain, Elaine Kettering, was especially proud, and never stepped foot in sickbay until she was doubled over, shaking, and gripping her abdomen in a feeble attempt to hold back the red blood that flowed from several stab wounds, She collapsed to the ground, and T’Ralia rushed to her side, but Kettering shrank away.
“I don’t want you!” She snapped.
“I am the only doctor awake at this hour,” T’Ralia explained. “I can awaken someone else, but the more time is wasted, the lower your odds of survival will be.”
“Never mind.” Kettering forced herself to get back to her feet and stumbled to the door. “I’ll sleep it off, and don’t worry about the man who did this to me, I at least finished him off.”
T’Ralia watched her leave, but did not stop her, it would do no good. . How very Terran to risk death for the sake of a racist belief.
The next day was uneventful until Vivienne Albrecht paid a visit to sickbay. Albrecht was an elegant woman with a willowy form and round eyes. The last time T’Ralia saw her she was the first officer, but now she wore a captain’s uniform. She had a sly smile on her face and a confident swagger as she walked toward T’Ralia.
“I take it Kettering died from her wounds,” T’Ralia said, flatly.
Albrecht nodded and came close enough to T’Ralia to touch her arm. “Meyer came through for me, even though he got himself killed in the process.”
T’Ralia raised a perplexed eyebrow. “Then I suppose congratulations are in order, but I do not understand why you felt the need to inform me.”
“I inherited Kettering’s consort, but I don’t want him.” She squeezed T’Ralia’s arm, not a gentle sign of affection, but strong enough to dig in her fingernails. “I want you to be the captain’s woman.”
T’Ralia felt her heart jump. This was a great honor, but one that she did not desire and was in no place to refuse. “Thank you, Captain.” Her voice was calm and measured. “This is unexpected.”
Albrecht squeezed T’Ralia’s arm tighter and clenched her jaw. “That isn’t an answer.”
T’Ralia paused and closed her eyes for a moment as she took a deep breath. “I accept.”
“Good.” Albrecht released her grip and smiled playfully. “I knew you would make the sensible choice.”
T’Ralia was grateful for the upbringing she had, but her knowledge and understanding of logic and emotional control stopped short when she was twelve years of age. Standing outside the door to the captain’s quarters she found it difficult to hold back the creeping fear and tension that tried to grow inside her. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. No harm would come her way. To obey was logical.
“Come in!” Albrecht called from inside as the door slid open, and T’Ralia stepped in. Albrecht was still in uniform but had taken off her shoes. “I was almost afraid you changed your mind.”
“I had work to finish, and it took longer than expected.”
“I suppose I should get used to that, I imagine you’re very busy, but no matter.” Albrecht crossed to the desk where there was a bottle of champagne and two glasses, and T’Ralia followed close behind. “Now is the time to celebrate. I eliminated Kettering, and through no effort of my own.” Albrecht began to uncork the bottle, but found the cork more tightly jammed in than expected. She tried to keep graceful dignity as she worked to free it, but in an instant the pressure launched it out and sent it flying past her ear. Albreacht clutched her heart and shrieked before letting out a bright laugh. “Did you see that? Nearly put my eye out!”
T’Ralia was still flat and unaffected. “An advantage in choosing to keep a doctor by your side.”
Albrecht began to pour the champagne, which bubbled wildly inside the glasses. “I can think of many advantages in keeping you close by. This agreement, I’ve been a captain’s woman myself, I want you to understand it’s about more than just sex. It’s about companionship, someone I can trust.” She took a glass in each hand and offered one to T’Ralia.
“You trust me?” T’Ralia asked as she took her glass.
“I distrust you less than most. A doctor isn’t going to try to steal the captaincy from me.” Albrecht sat in the chair at her desk and took her first sip of champagne. “Sit. On the floor beside me.”
T’Ralia obeyed, and Albrecht began to work loose the braids in her hair with her free hand. “Have you ever been with a Terran before?”
“I have not.” T’Ralia kept looking straight ahead.
“Is that why you hesitated? Are you frightened?”
“I am not frightened.” Now T’Ralia leaned her head back to look up at Albrecht. “I find the idea of having sex with you repulsive.”
The insult seemed to have no effect on Albrecht. “I can change your mind.”
Stellek burned again. Over the years T’Ralia learned how to manage it. She knew nothing of what sort of life Stellek lived, but he had been in a situation where the issue had been able to be resolved quickly, but this time was different. He burned for longer than before, each passing hour bringing him closer to the point where he might die if he could not find relief. His smoldering desires drove T’Ralia mad, and when added to the worry she felt over her bondmate her emotional control was compromised.
T’Ralia kept herself together until she was alone in the captain's quarters waiting for Albrecht to arrive. She sat at the desk, rested her elbows on the desk, and leaned forward as she closed her eyes in meditation.
She didn’t have enough time alone to get any closer to regaining self control when the door slid open and Albrecht stepped inside.
“T’Ralia?” There was a confused look on Albrecht’s face. “What happened?”
T’Ralia forced herself to look up, but only moved her eyes. “Captain/” Her tone was harsh and forceful in a way that sounded foreign to her usual calm and measured nature. “I cannot control myself. For your own safety, you should leave me alone for at least an hour.”
“Oh?” Albrecht did not heed the warning and instead walked forward with a playful sway in her hips. She placed both hands on the desk opposite T’Ralia and leaned forward. “Can’t control yourself how?”
T’Ralia still found the captain unpalatable. She had the distinctive Terran stench about her, sweated more than most, and thought herself to be a skillful lover when in fact she was awkward and clumsy in bed. Yet, somehow, with no other options, this was who T’Ralia desired: the curve of her breasts, the way her long wavy hair hung over her shoulder…T’Ralia closed her eyes and took a deep breath before she answered with one word. “Sexually.” She hoped there would be no more questions. She did not have the patience to explain this, not to an outsider.
Albrecht lifted her body up so she was on her hands and knees on the desk. “That doesn’t sound like a problem at all.”
T’Ralia lost what little self control she had. She sprang forward to knock Albrecht backward off the desk and tackled her. “I am still lucid, but not for long. I cannot predict what I might do.”
The whole time, Albrecht never showed a sign of fear. Instead, she was excited. “Please…this is my preference. You can’t do anything to me I wouldn’t want.”
Albrecht fell into a deep sleep when they were done, but T’Ralia was still tense and alert as she lay beside her. Her own lusts were satisfied, but Stellek burned for another hour before finding relief of his own just in time to survive another Pon Farr. T’Ralia’s tension did not ease even after she sensed her bondmate’s return to safety. Captain Albrecht would have questions when she woke, questions that T’Ralia did not wish to discuss with a Terran.