Verdanas

           “There’s an ion storm headed your way, Jonathan.”

            “You heard me, Pete.”

           “Aye, sir,” Captain Mitchell answered. Archer was relieved to hear his friend’s voice at the comm. A few tense moments passed with Archer and Harrad-Sar standing while Riaan, crouched near Hoshi, watched while the officer turned into blue and white energy and vanished.

            “Alright Harrad-Sar, just what do you really want? You’ve gone to a lot of trouble to interrupt my conference,” such as it is, Archer thought to himself.

            “And you went to a lot of trouble to get away.”

            “I’ve got no business with you. Get to the point.”

            “As has become the custom, Archer, you are in the way of my profit. What were you doing all that time on Akal? Is she yours? How did I get lucky enough to have both of you?”

            “Leave my doctor out of this.”

            “Archer, I understand,” Harrad-Sar chuckled. “I know humans are somewhat fragile. I don’t expect you could live too long with any Orion woman, so I won’t remind you-“

            “What do you want?” Archer said slowly, taking a deep breath.

            “You, my friend.” Harrad-Sar suddenly lifted his pistol and stunned Archer to the ground.

        The admiral awoke slowly. The room was dark, but a small fire burned in a cement hearth that cast just enough light to see by. Blinking hard he tried to rise but a gentle hand stopped him. Riaan sat next to him on a stack of dry yellow grass where he found himself prostrate. His head lay in her lap, one of her hands on his chest, the other on his forehead. She’d used her long lab coat as a picnic cloth underneath them.

            “Don’t get up. There’s no place to go anyway.” Jonathan struggled to rise again but he couldn’t stop the gyroscope in his brain. “There’s a huge storm outside, and we’re stuck here until it clears. No one can transport, the Orions’ shuttle can’t lift off.”

         “Where are we?” Jonathan asked, still trying to get up. He could hear wind outside, and flashes of light followed by sonic booms a second or two after.

         “Please lie still. You hit your head pretty hard after that phasor blast.” She pushed his head back into her lap. “We’re on the planet, still. The Orions put us in here until the storm passes. It’s a konji house of some sort. I think it’s the only place that isn’t in complete ruins they could find.”

            “You’d think after all these years and the success of the conference with the Tellarites this would be best forgotten. How long can someone hold a grudge?”
           “A very long time,” Riaan answered. “Like this storm. One of those Orions said it was going to be several hours.”

         “That gives us several hours to get out of here.” The admiral scrambled a little bit, but slipped in the grass.

         “Jon, if you get up one more time I’m going to tie you down. You’ve been out for a while, and I’ve already tried to find an out.”

         “There’s always a way out,” he said, rubbing his face with his hand hoping that might stop the pounding.

         “And then where do we go?”

         “Discovery is up there in orbit, they can transport us or send a shuttle-“

         “Jonathan, the Orions are surrounding us.”

         “I can knock them out and we can take their shuttle.” Riaan smiled and regarded Jon with a curious expression. He rarely found himself in a subordinate position, physically, emotionally, or mentally. “You’re going to tell me we have no weapons and they do, we have no ship and they do, we are locked in and they are not.” She nodded.

         “If we wait until the storm is over we’ll have a much better chance of escape.”

         “They’ll have better odds of keeping a hold on us,” he muttered.

         “And the odds will be even, then. Please try to relax, Jonathan. They brought us some food and water. I’ve been waiting for you to wake up.”

       “I don’t do ‘relax’ well, in case you haven’t noticed.” Riaan had laid out an extra blanket she’d brought with her for Hoshi, and slid it under Jonathan’s head while she slipped away to bring some of the rations back to him. Jonathan thought about getting up for the 5^th or 6^th time, then decided he was not too proud to take Riaan’s advice. The ceiling was beamed with 10 cm logs, the walls of crumbling masonry, from what the dim firelight would sanction. “Do we know what time it is?”

       “It’s about 23:00,” Riaan stated. She walked towards him with two bowls of something only describable as vegetable stew. Setting the bowls on a blanket-swept area of the floor, she helped Jonathan sit up and lean against the stone wall. “The Orion said it might be dawn before the storm will lighten up enough to leave the planet.”

“It would be better to disappear in the dark. It’s our obligation to escape.”

          “No weapons, no electronic devices to locate us. The Orions took our communicators and your phase pistol. We are stuck until the storm is over. ”

          “You’ve learned a lot in the last few weeks,” Archer commented to her. He took a spoon to the stew and cautiously tasted it. Surprised that it was edible, and more surprised that it tasted good, he suddenly realized he was hungry after nearly a whole day on the planet.

          “I do think of myself as particularly observant. No better way to learn, although putting your hands right on something also works well.”

          “Endeavour will be working on something if I know Captain Mitchell. We won’t be here too long.” Seeing Riaan’s bare feet he realized he might have better traction without boots, and kicked them off. “I guess we’re here for a little while. But don’t worry.”

          “I won’t.”

Something to Love

            “Good morning,” Valerie called to Bernard while she put two plates on the dining table. Coffee, water, and tableware were all in place for an early breakfast before the day started.

            “Wow, what’s all this?” he asked. “I was just going to grab a protein bar and run.”

            “You have time. Sit, I want to talk about our wedding. I need the list of guests from your family so I can finish the formal invitations.”

            “You’re the only girl in San Francisco who still sends paper correspondence.”

            “This is special. It’s an old tradition. What of our future if we don’t honor our past?”

            “It’s an Archer thing, I understand.” Bernard picked up his coffee and took a sip. “Did you get permission to put the little Federation insignia on them?”

            “Of course.”

            “And marriage, an old tradition as well?” Valerie grinned and threw a grape across the table at Bernard.

            “I’m not worried, Jon. I always feel safe with you. The whole ship could be falling apart and yet I know you’ll keep me, and Branni, secure. I know it like I know the sun will come up in the morning.” Riaan put her hand to Jon’s face; a day’s growth of beard was not something normal for the admiral, but she found it sensual and masculine, and also human. She wanted to see what might be in his eyes, and so nudged his cheek towards her. 

            Still leaning back against the wall, Jon put his arm around Riaan, pulling her snug to his side. Reaching up she brushed a tress of russet hair out of his eyes, but a soft, straight wisp still conceded to gravity. Then she laid her head on his chest.

            “You know, I’ve never felt the way I do around you with anyone else, Riaan. I…I want to tell you something.”

          Jonathan tipped her chin up towards him, and stared at her soft countenance. Her lips were gently curved with a deep bow that formed a subtle smile. He’d felt the affection in her hand when she brushed his temple. Her finger tips were incredibly quiet. He wanted to kiss her, to feel the soft skin of her mouth caress his own. Did he dare to steal just a small bit of her soul, of her heart? Was she inviting him in? A tinge of exhaustion crept in; he leaned his head to one side to rest on hers, breathing the fragrance of her hair – woody smoke from the fires, the aroma of rosemary left behind by shampoo, a unique combination that he couldn’t identify that made Riaan taste and smell the way she did.

          “I have,” Jonathan began, and stopped. “You, um,” he stopped again. “When I was younger, much younger, actually…I...” Jonathan couldn’t seem to bring himself to tell Riaan what she meant to him. The words just wouldn’t come out. He’d fallen for her, hard. She was all he thought about all day every day. He wanted to make love to her, with her, but was afraid it was too soon, that maybe he would hurt her, or disappoint her. After years of maintaining his composure in the face of disaster, he wasn’t sure he knew how to set himself free. She stared at him with soft, velvety eyes.

          “How about I tell you something?” Riaan reached again to touch his chin, keeping his gaze from wandering. “I’ve never known anyone with eyes like yours,” she said quietly. “I like … how they’re blue, like the sea, but full of little golden streaks, like sunlight reflecting on the waves, and that makes them look green. Akallis don’t have green eyes. There’s a rare gem on Akal we call a verdana. Your eyes remind me of verdanas.”

            The flashing and booms continued outside the stable. Jonathan reached for her face, touching one finger to those lips he wanted. He drowned in her eyes; in the faint light he saw a flash, a spark, and had to look away from the intense the intimacy. He felt her lips touch his cheek, warm and moist. A bonfire burned in his chest, as if his heart had burst into flames. That primitive ache, the hunger returned, rising just a little to meet her questioning approach.

            “Your English is really improving.” He took a deep breath. “I know how much you loved Kellam.” Jonathan faltered a few moments. “I’ve always put Starfleet ahead of any, and all, relationships in the past.” He waited for her to interrupt him, or jump in and say something, but Riaan just slowly blinked, attentive. “I didn’t want to do that again. I don’t want to do that with you. And, yet, here we are sitting on a freezing planet locked up by Orions, and” - Riaan covered Jonathan’s mouth with her hand, quieting his chatter.

          Without any effort, Jonathan cradled her, pulling her from his side to face him, setting her in his lap. Riaan reached her arms around his shoulders and neck and slid a little closer to his body. Leaning in he was just close enough to feel her energy bubbling on the surface. She moved toward him, he moved toward her and gently, softly their lips touched, and then again. With her reception, Jonathan kissed her harder, reaching intensely as if she might otherwise slip away. Riaan returned his passion with her own.

          Wrapping her close he clasped his hands behind her back to keep her heart against his chest. Her breast pressed against him, conceding under his eager embrace; he could feel her fire against his body and the chill in the air was gone. He was past the point of no return. He wanted that unique intimacy with Riaan, to devour her, to all but consume her body, and to hear her spirit set free.  He loved her broad smile, her dynamic energy, her tenacity, her curiosity; he loved every bit of her, without exception. 

          Jonathan had been in love before. Indeed, serious enough to want to marry, once, three decades ago. His feelings for Riaan were different, like no other woman before. With Riaan he felt lifted, high, appreciated, and accepted. Meeting up with her so many years after their first meeting he didn’t know how obsessive he would become of her, as if she belonged to him. He could barely think of anything else but Riaan day in and day out. And the most eloquent way he could tell her he loved her was not with words.