by SA Payne
with it."
"I'm sorry I woke you." He was calmer now. When he'd fully woken up, tucked in the darkened tunnel, he'd felt like he'd been vibrating like a poorly made bell.
"Don't worry about it. We should have known seeing Conti would trigger something, it's okay.
We'll leave some sedatives with you, if you're feeling unsteady take one before bed. It might not
stop the nightmares totally, but it'll knock them down. Trust me, I still keep a supply on hand for personal use." He nudged Rye's bare foot with his own shoe covered one. "Feeling like heading back? I'm sure Ichi's worried about you."
Rye followed, silent and a step or two behind Will for the walk back to Ichi's apartment. The knife discarded in the access tunnels was tucked lightly along Will's body, half out of sight from Rye
but the red head knew it was there. He also knew seven ways to take the knife back and myriad
uses for it once back in his possession. He shook his head and followed, trying to push those
unwanted thoughts from his mind, hating how easily such things came to mind now.
There was an easier thought to distract himself with. Ichi would rightfully be pissed. Not only had one of Rye's nightmares woken him, again, but he'd called and frightened Will and Amanda
pretty badly too. It would almost be easier if Ichi did beat him, that was something he could
understand and once the flurry of blows was over, Rye knew his guilt would be washed away with
it. It was something he understood even if he didn't like that understanding.
The apartment door opened and Will lead him inside, Amanda and Ichi sat at the table, tea
cooled forgotten in front of them. Rye glanced up and saw the tense, unhappy way Ichi sat, his
spine perfectly straight, his hands clasped in his lap, eyes directed ahead but unfocused and it
hurt him to see it. Even when Amanda glanced over at the door opening, Ichi remained
unmoved.
"Found him!" Will called out, grinning a little as he moved slightly to hide the sight of the knife from the pair at the table.
It wouldn't have mattered, as soon as Ichi blinked and glanced Rye's way, his eyes wandered no
where else. He stood up quickly and hurried across the small room, stubborn focus set on his
face. Will hurriedly side stepped to get out of the way, uncertain what Ichi was up to, actually
frightened by the intensity in his normally shy brother. Will flinched a little as he stepped aside, ready to stop Ichi if the man actually did unleash violence.
Rye flinched too, hunkering his shoulders a little, ready to take whatever Ichi was silently moving to deliver. He dropped his eyes as Ichi's hands swung out and startled so strongly when those
same hands grasped the sides of his face with pressing force. Before he could glance up or
protest, Ichi was pressed tight to his body, his lips covered his own. The normally reserved man
met him in a blistering kiss, mouth parted and demanding and Rye surrendered to the kiss as
fully as he was prepared to surrender to a beating.
Will shook his head and slipped into the kitchen to return the blade back to Ichi's collection.
Amanda noticed, since she was trying not to watch in slack jawed awe at the burning passion
across the room. She raised and eyebrow at seeing the blade but at Will's gentle shake of the
head she held her tongue.
"Who knew Ichi had it in him?" Will teased as he came and put an arm around his wife. "Enough you two, geesh, get a room already!" He was laughing now as much at the sight of the unusual
display of lust as from the emotions rolling around the pair. Ichi had been near broken with worry
and now floated on relief and love. Rye had been dripping shame on the way back and now
stood in startled lust and acceptance.
Ichi broke the kiss but whispered something to Rye and waited for the nodded answer before he
pulled the red head into a tight hug. Slowly, Rye's arms rose to enfold Ichi as well. There was
another whisper, another nod before Ichi ran a hand across Rye's hair and released him.
Will pulled Amanda toward the door. "We're going back to bed. You two, try to get some sleep or something." He hurried them out the door without giving either man the chance to say anything
but he stopped on the other side and quickly kissed his wife.
"What was that for?" She asked, with a soft smile.
He just shrugged. "Just reminded how much I love you."
She slid an arm around his waist and hid the larger smile. "Silly romantic."
Chapter Twenty Four:
"Rye, you've pestered the poor crew enough, come back to the passenger cabin." Ichi tried to sound stern but the look on Rye's face made it difficult.
When Will and Amanda had been personally requested to perform the annual physicals on
Station 843. It had been nearly a year and still they'd been unwilling to accept another full time
medical officer. Jake Ellia had delayed the paperwork as long as he could but in the end he'd
given in and called in to two doctors he knew he could trust.
Which worked out well. Ichi had been toying with asking Dr. Ellia and his group of programmers to review his kill switch program and make any modifications they felt were helpful. He really did
plan to make his new lab better, safer and more efficient before the first of his re-stock arrived.
By the time he could replace his swarm, his lab would be an ideal setting, incorporating all that
he'd learned about them over the years and all he had already known.
But hiring Dr. Ellia could be done by vid screen, and when stripped away it was just a cover. Will
had been confident that Jake could slip in a new identity for Rye right into the Concord
mainframes and more then that, when Jake learned of the situation, he'd do it gleefully. But Rye
would have to be there in person, the scanners taking retinal images had to be key coded
Concord issued scanners, or skillfully made clones. Will didn't know which it was that Jake had,
clone or original, he just knew the man had the highly illegal to own equipment.
So when the intra-system shuttle arrived with the replacement crew for Harvick's waiting ship,
Will, Amanda, Ichi and Rye casually got on and hunkered down for the nine hour trip. The
shuttles were crewed by nine people, that lived and worked on one floor of the small, sleek craft.
In theory, crew sections were off limits to passengers but Rye had shown such open delight at
their vessel the Captain, a handsome blonde woman with wide hips and small breasts, had made
an exception. Rye had spent four hours touring the ship, being shown everything from crew
space to cargo holds and apparently ended up in the flight cabin talking the current shift's ears
off.
The second in command shrugged at Ichi's arrival and protest. "No bother, sir, we've just been going on about Zurlish Points."
Rye shook his head again. "Too unstable for the benefits they offer. Horrible addition."
The man shook his head. "They were too unstable, but with a little tweaking the new models are acceptable. Fish tail a bit when grabbing air but nothing that a good pilot can't handle."
Ichi didn't know what a Zurlish Point was and didn't want to seem ignorant and ask. "Still, it's late, Will is tossing some food together." Passengers were given a deck to themselves, lined with two dozen seats paired together and able to recline for sleep, a small bathroom with even smaller
vibe shower cabinet, a tiny kitchen with simple pre-packaged foods. They were expected to
board there and stay there until the shuttle docked. Most passengers never even saw the flight
crew but the high security clearance to even approach 843 was still in plac
e and the Captain saw
Rye's delight in the ship she was proud of. The rest had just happened.
Rye nodded. "He's right, thank you and your friends for the time you've given me."
The man shrugged. "Anytime, always good to shoot the shit with another flyboy nethead."
More terms Ichi didn't know but Rye shook his head. "I'm not..." he sighed. "Not really. Not anymore."
"Well, if you ever want to be again, figure you're Will Sullivan's relation, right? Sort of makes you Avalon I guess, our fleet needs all the skilled hands it can get."
They'd been vague as to just who Rye was but not that he was partnered with Ichi in more than a
professional way. Rye smiled warmly at the praise but part of his mind scoffed. He had a hint
that before all that had happened, the idea of pushing a intra-system shuttle around Avalon
space would have been a demotion. "Thanks."
It wasn't until they reached the narrow stairwell that Ichi asked. "Flyboy nethead?"
"Flyboy, pilot."
"I gathered." He led the way down to the passenger deck.
"Nethead, someone that takes apart ships or Network drives for fun."
"But, aren't they unstable? Can't a Network drive explode if you tinker with it?"
Rye shrugged. "Only if you're unlucky or stupid."
Oddly, the causal way Rye spoke of a quick and fiery death made Ichi smile a little more. "Hn, I'm in love with a mad man." He muttered, not thinking and trying to chase the fantasy of Rye
picking a ship apart just to see how it worked, all sweaty and intent, out of his thoughts.
The words almost made Rye lose his footing the short steps but he caught the hand rail with one
quick grab and Ichi's shoulder with the other. The touch stopped the dark haired man and Rye
quickly turned him around. "Say it again." Rye demanded, his breath short in his chest.
The intensity in Rye's eyes startled Ichi into forgetting just what he'd mumbled that had gotten
him such a glare. "What?"
"Say it, while I can see your eyes, please." It wasn't a request and Rye's tone held no begging
inflection.
Ichi dropped his eyes and fumbled his thoughts for what he'd muttered but when he stumbled
across the words he blushed. He'd been distracted by the travel and seeing Rye so excited at
being able to talk about ships, by thinking of him as the person he was becoming and leaving
behind the broken thing he'd been, and the words had slipped out. Everything in Ichi wanted to
shout the words again but the only course of action his stiff pride and stricter upbringing left him was avoidance.
"Only a mad man or a fool would play with something that could blow up on them if they
sneezed." His face was burning but his expression was steady.
"No, the first part."
"Rye..."
The intense need dissolved and Rye dropped his hand from Ichi's shoulder. "It's okay."
The hands at Ichi's sides balled up in frustrated fists. Rye started down the steps, brushing past
where he stood, frozen in spot and now it was Ichi's turn to stop him. He deliberately raised his
eyes and locked them with the resolute grey pair now a step below him. "I do, you know. I'm just,
it's not something I can say while I'm thinking about it, but I do."
Rye didn't tell him it was okay or that he understood. He studied the emotion in the hazel eyes
that Ichi couldn't seem to force out in anything but mocking jest and it made him smile a little in a darkly bitter way. Without another word, he continued down the steps to join the other couple and
the simple food they'd tossed together.
"Damn, it, Ichi! What's wrong with you?" Ichi cursed himself as he stood locked in his own inhibitions on the narrow steps. He wasn't blind to the sharp spike of hurt that he'd seen in Rye's eyes but that wasn't the worst. The worst was seeing that Rye felt he deserved that hurt. Ichi
steadied his expression and clenched his jaw before following in Rye's wake.
"Just you wait to meet him." Will began when Ichi joined the small group, grinning a little as he handed out the quick made food. "Jake Ellia is a force unto himself. Not a computer system alive he or his group can't sneak into, tough sort that you can count on too."
"And able to bend steel with his bare hands." Amanda added with a smirk. "Will's still a little awestruck by the man. Jake was the only commanding officer able to keep his unruly
stubbornness in line. The only one Will didn't pick a fight with!"
"Oh, I picked it, Jake just ended it. Cracked me upside the head a good one too, I learned right quick to shut up and mind my manners around him." The confession only seemed to make Will
happier. "Jake was always good folk, dignified and pulled together, not street rat filth like me.
You'll like him Ich." He forced the smile a little brighter but Will wasn't blind to the underline of tension between Ichi and Rye.
"I can't wait to meet this Olesckian." Amanda added around a mouth of food. "Do you have any idea how rare it is to be able to examine an Olesckian? They're so phobic about technology, no
idea how one ended up as a computer programmer."
"You just behave around him, no turning him into a lab rat, woman." Will warned. "Jake says he's still fragile and he should know. Fool crazy man going bonding to him and all that. Gods, it'll be
good to see him again."
Will and Amanda kept up a running conversation with only a few small words added from Ichi or
Rye. By the time the food was finished and cleaned up, Amanda was yawning. It was both real
and a touch forced, something had happened between the other pair and she knew enough to
get Will out of the way. Both men were private enough to not want too much interference and
both were smart enough to figure their complex relationship out without too much outside help.
"Come on you." She tugged at Will's arm. "Help me go over the last of the med charts before I crash and take a nap."
"But..." He started to question, glancing to the tight lipped and silent men before nodding. "Yeah, yeah, all work and no play and that rot."
Being left alone did little to improve Ichi's skills at communication. Rye seemed to have forgiven
him which only made Ichi more anger at himself. They ended up sitting in a pair of seats several
rows behind the pair Will and Amanda had claimed as theirs, and sat silently. Ichi turned on his
notepad, intending to read something or get some work done and Rye stared mindlessly ahead,
obviously lost in thought.
He needed a way to reach across the gulf of silence to Rye and when Ichi found the idea he
figured he had nothing to lose. He nudged Rye with an elbow to get his attention and when the grey eyes slid his way Ichi turned his notebook so they both could see it.
"This is my home, Kakurega." The pictures were from a tourism site he'd called up and showed the region quite nicely. Tall, craggy mountains sprouted up. Small trees grew in
twisted shapes and looked lonely and windswept. "It's in the mountains of Heidkio but see? There are seven peaks taller than the others. We call them the Seven Ancestors and there are seven
inhabited valleys nestled around them are the Seven Descendents. Each one has a name, a
personality. On each of the mountains is a temple."
Rye found himself fascinated by the lush green shades grass and trees and the dark smoky
grays of stones. The tourist description under the images he scrolled through spoke of the
community of priests and scientists, a secluded place of learning and austere beauty. That made
Rye smile a little because it reminded him of Ichi, his own personal austere beauty.
The images highlighted carved wood shrines and temples and the sleek modern city
that
sprawled around the natural valleys. There was high praise for the efficient public transportation
system and incorporation of natural landscape. He read carefully, picking up that most of the
residents were of mixed Asian decent which explained the dark hair, golden skin and dark
almond shaped eyes of most and the strong Asian influence in the structure and architecture of
the city.
Rye slowed the text down, trying to read it and not move his lips at the same time. Learning, or
re-learning, how to read was a slow process but he was stubborn about it. "Tourists are granted some leeway in behavior and the natural beauty of the stark mountains, lush landscapes and
breath taking waterfalls attract some tourism. Most visitors to Kakurega, however, are business
travelers, scholars or those seeking spiritual retreat and are expected to understand and follow
local custom. Many a business deal has fallen apart due to basic misunderstandings; to the
casual observer, the residents of Kakurega are a solemn, serious group. Emotion is held as a
private affair not to be expressed in public if to be expressed at all. Those free with their
emotions are looked upon with suspicion, a visitor that smiles too easily will be thought of as
empty headed and frivolous. This emotional restraint has led to the continued practice of
arranged marriages and near shunning of those few unable or unwilling to enforce such tight
personal control. To be respected, academically, socially or professionally, in Kakurega, control
is the most important issue and given that it is the seat of scientific research, religious
contemplation as well as being the home to some of the sectors top universities, it is a lesson
best followed."
It made Rye wonder what the tourist site said about Avalon and as the words scrolled by he
didn't need to wonder what Ichi was trying to tell him. He glanced up. "It looks very pretty."
Ichi nodded. "It is, clean, safe, well laid out..." He glanced at the photos and shrugged a shoulder. "Even in the heart of the city, you can smell the rain in the mountains or the trees when they're in bloom. I went to local universities for the first couple of my degrees but I was offered a chance to be the assistant to a professor of entomology off world. She was a casual friend of my
