His Neve Problem

June 10, 2009 on 10:39 pm | In SS-Elise, Serial Story | No Comments

Xu Scholen stepped out of the lift into the corridor. Taking a deep breath, he walked toward the systems bay. His ears twitched at the droning hum of the engines overlaid with the quiet hiss of the backup systems. A quick check of his complink told him Commander Steesk was in TWR. Why she was there, he didn’t know, since they didn’t have any target world reps on board.

His ears also twitched at the thought of his upcoming meeting. Not only was Neve Steesk Chief Engineer, she was also his Chief Fantasy. With her oddly tinted hair bound in myriad tiny braids and secured at her nape, he wanted nothing more than to spend hours unraveling it: combing it through his fingers, winding it around his arms, draping it over his skin. She definitely aroused more than a professional interest. Given the Fleet Command attitude toward sex, he wouldn’t normally bother to dampen that interest, but this was a delicate situation.

His fascination with Neve ran deep. He wanted her under his control, sexually. Too bad she wasn’t ready for that sort of relationship.

Xu licked his lips, imagining the pleasure of training her, drawing her out to her limits. She wouldn’t roll over, it wasn’t in her nature. No, she’d fight him, and the challenge would be in bending her to his will without breaking her. There was nothing sexier than a smart, strong woman who submitted willingly.

But, he was her immediate superior. He wanted her too much to trust that his pursuit wouldn’t bleed into professional areas, and that was unacceptable. Not only because it could undermine her authority, but also because such a violation of trust disrespected both Neve and the chain of command. Xu had nothing but his honor left. He wasn’t giving it up. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t try to figure out how to have his Neve and eat her, too.

Problem solving was a special talent of his, and he could think of fewer tasks more rewarding than solving his Neve dilemma.

For now, though, the main entry to systems loomed before him. He placed his palm on the identilock and waited as the door opened. The hiss of displaced air tweaked his sensitive hearing. His hearing had proven one of the main drawbacks to shipboard life.

The man at the nearest control board nodded to him. “Sir.”

Xu returned the nod. “Petty Officer Jukes.”

The man’s eyes widened, evidently startled that Xu remembered his name. Xu knew nearly all the crew’s names. Those he didn’t know, he hadn’t met, and he was working on those using the personnel files.

The ceraglass floors in every area of engineering glowed eerily white. Designed to show the slightest leak or debris, the vast expanse of brightness always left Xu with a vague headache and a strong desire for enclosed, intimate spaces. Preferably with someone to help rid him of the headache.

Aft Systems peeled off from main engineering behind the emergency plasma converters. The twisting streamers of color cast eerie shadows over everything in the area, including the people working under them. Given his current errand, the hive of activity around the converters reassured him. Though he didn’t stop, Xu acknowledged the formal greetings of those he passed. Another thing different from Court at home. The Royal Court functioned on a strict hierarchy, and while those on the lower echelons might lick and scrape to gain the attention of the higher ranks, the higher ranks at Court could and would smash them back with a smile for no reason other than pure malice. Here the chain of command might reign supreme, but that didn’t mean it ruled alone. Galactic Services encouraged strong personal connections among service members. His own desire for the more expansive socialization and strong sense of honor had been two of the main factors in his decision to join Galactic Services.

Xu liked control, but he tempered it with honor. Graei was descending into madness because the ruling class – his family and their ilk – didn’t temper their excess with anything. Not honor, not wisdom, not even control. It would take civil war to balance the scales, and Xu wanted no part of that. So he’d joined the Galactic Service.

Shaking his head at his own musings, Xu turned down the corridor toward TWR. The identilock scanned his palm again, and Xu stepped through. Once the door closed behind him, the drone of the plasma converters muted and the ever present hum of the engines emerged again. No wonder he so rarely came to engineering.

Lt. Commander Enchev nearly plowed into him. Checking himself at the last second, Enchev stepped backward, nearly losing his balance as he popped to attention.

“Sir!”

“As you were, Commander,” Xu said smoothly, studying the young man. He was angry, the heightened color at the collar of his uniform seeping up toward his locked jaw. His hazel eyes fairly shot sparks. Xu could easily guess who had angered him. Enchev hesitated, clearly debating discussing whatever bothered him. Xu didn’t have much patience with circumventing the chain of command for the simple reason of arrogance, and that’s what he read in Enchev.

To forestall any possible comment from Enchev, Xu stepped around him without another word, continuing down the corridor. He was halfway to the TWR when he finally heard the corridor doors open. Stubborn little shit.

He barely waited for the doors to open before stepping into the meeting room. The media screens were muted, tuned into the news feeds. Neve stood stiffly at the end of the conference table.

“Commander Scholen.”

Xu controlled a betraying twitch at the nearly imperceptible huskiness in her voice. He’d been hardened in the harshest of crucibles to read people, and he’d made a point of learning Neve. Her fatigue and distress showed in the strain around her eyes. “Commander Steesk.”

He walked the length of the table toward her.  He might tell himself it was to reduce the formality of the coming exchange, but he knew it was just as much for the simple pleasure of being near her, of basking in the scent of her skin.

His deep breath was so subtly done she would not notice. Perhaps another Graei would see the slight stiffening of his nostrils, but no human would catch it.

Her adulterated scent washed over him and a hot wave of jealousy followed. Only decades of training saved him from emotional outburst. Rage and despair twisted inside him, battering at the shields instilled through years of agony. Silently, imperceptibly, he stroked the roof of his mouth with his tongue. It was a focus mechanism he’d perfected at Court, enabling him to master himself. He forced back his desire to drag her straight to the nearest lightbath and scrub the stench of the other man from her skin.

It wasn’t that she’d lain with another – he was not so monogamous as that. No, it was that another man had put his scent on her. Not the scent of sex or temporary passion, but the more territorial smell of personal grooming. The Graei marked those under their aegis with the scent of their house. Developing a personal scent was one of the first things a young Graei did to separate themselves from their elders. When fighting for dominance in Court, the victor would subjugate the defeated, taking them in body and stripping them of their scent to replace it with their own. To smell another man’s scent on Neve triggered an atavistic response that nearly overcame his control.

Hanging on by the barest of margins, Xu stepped back. Though confusion crossed her face, he concentrated on controlling his roiling emotions. He forced his attention to duty. He had a job to do. He needed to focus on the task at hand. Another deep breath, this time clear of all but his own scent, helped leash his response.

Finally confident of his ability to speak without betraying himself, he lifted his eyes to hers. “Commander,” he began.  He needed to proceed carefully, and his precarious grip on his emotions was not helping.  Any misstep here could seriously damage any possible chance to pursue his desires with Neve just as easily as it could damage his career.  He walked a fine line between his duty and his inclination to be easier with Neve. “The Captain would like an update on the status of the propulsion upgrade.”

Neve met his eyes steadily before nodding. She knew very well that Tania could have simply contacted her on the complink if that’s all she wanted. Xu’s presence was a prod to action. “We will be powering down all systems and migrating to the reserve power grid within twelve hours.”

“The Captain would prefer a more expedited time table.”

The twitch at the corner of her eye was nearly imperceptible. Nearly. “I need twelve hours to ensure all systems migrate properly.”

Stone-faced, Xu studied her.  Under normal circumstances, a migration should take no longer than six standard hours.  In an emergency it could be accomplished in half that. Twelve hours was beyond excessive.

“That is significantly longer than expected, Commander. Especially given the time elapsed since the new propulsion system came aboard.”

Neve closed her eyes briefly. “It is longer than usual, but I would prefer to be sure there are no problems with the migration.”

He had a good idea what the problem was, but unless she brought it up, he was tied by the chain of command. Enchev was hers to deal with.  “There is a difficulty?”

Neve ran her tongue over her teeth.

Xu’s libido spiked at the sight of her pink tongue sliding over the smooth white surface. Already edgy from the emotional storm he’d barely averted so recently, he failed to properly control his reaction. Heat flared through him and the thin membrane that formed his second eyelid flashed across the dark pools of his eyes, turning them nearly white.

Neve noticed, her breath catching in her throat. He didn’t know if she understood the significance of his slip, but she clearly reacted to his arousal. He wasn’t in any condition to explore her response, though.  Grabbing the ragged edge of his control, he jerked himself into line, forcing his arousal down. A long moment later, his eyes returned to their normal state.

He needed to leave before he lost control completely. He had little protection from her effect on him in the best of circumstances, and these circumstances were rapidly deteriorating.

“Maybe,” she finally answered him. “But it’s nothing I can’t handle, and I would prefer to deal with it myself.”

Xu’s amusement at her rather pugnacious response helped push back the heat and solidify his control. Her doggedness appealed to him. He was certain now that Enchev was stalling the installation, and that Neve had already begun dealing with the issue. Otherwise, why would Enchev have been so angry? His inclination was to allow her leeway, but his first responsibility was to the mission, his second to the command. Personal preferences barely registered on the priority list.

“I will relay your preferences to the Captain,” Xu allowed. That put the decision with Tania rather than himself, and hat was the best he could do.

Understanding, Neve inclined her head. “Thank you, Commander Scholen.”

His control slipped a bit at the bared line of her throat. He needed to leave. The scent had begun to cross the space between them. He gave her a curt nod. “As you were, then, Commander,” he said, turning on his heel to leave.

It was as close to fleeing as he’d been in over a century.