Preflight Briefing

by: Mr. David R. Dorrycott

Kiko Nao Rhys shoved the last item of clothing she was taking into her flight bag, mindlessly crushing a delicate lace teddy until everything fit. Closing the bags aged seal, then pulling its twin straps tight she lifted its weight and looked around her small quarters one last time. Probably the last time she knew. Quietly she noted that everything was secured or otherwise locked down. Mentally nodding to herself she turned down the thermostat to near freezing, then dimmed the lights, thus saving a little more energy for the ship. 'Besides' she told herself, 'it's not like I'm coming back.' Just as quietly she opened a drawer, making one final check that the goodbye letter that she had written Dia was still there. Satisfied everything was as she wanted it to be, she slid the drawer closed again, then throwing her bag over one shoulder she tripped the door release. Stepping outside into the corridor she almost ran over her most-times friend Millin Fantus, who was standing silently on the other side.

"c'Kchi" she yelped as she jumped back against the closing door. "Are you trying to give me a heart failure or something?" Reaching back she quickly palmed her door lock, sealing her room to all but Security and the Captain. And The Librarian of course. She certainly didn't want the overly curious ferret poking around in there, possibly ruining her plans. "What are you doing around here anyway. Aren't you supposed to be on patrol?" she asked.

Millin grinned, turning to walk with her towards the cargo shuttle bay. "It would settle one problem" he agreed. "But to be sadly honest, I was really just reaching for the buzzer when you walked out. What wonderful luck for me." He stretched, twisting his body around in strange, eye damaging ways for a moment. "Anyway. I just got back from CAP. Those old Tigers may be a mansion for you, but they are a cramped little box for Michael and I. Oh. When you and Mikey get back from this little jaunt, would you please check my starboard stabilizers? Damon does a good job, but you always seem to make things work just a little better." He batted his eyes slightly "A ladies touch can bring out the best in most anything."

Kiko giggled a moment, moving her bag over to the shoulder away from her friend. "We could always crunch you down a half meter or so" she answered. "It would give you twice the space." Sighing as she

closed her eyes against imaginary pain she lifted her free hand slightly in acknowledgment. "Sure. I'll look at them first chance I get. Write 'em up on my worksheet will you?"

The ferret favored her with a mock glare "There are less violent ways to get hold of my body Kiko darling" he replied "Thanks. But I already did". He grinned, somehow gaining a little fun from pre-guessing her response. Abruptly his face went serious. "Your workload is three times Damon’s. Don't you think you should take it easier? Deft's worried about the emotional stress and so am I. You look exhausted. It’s no fun chasing an exhausted lesbian. It makes getting into her pants too easy."

Kiko favored the man with a sideways glance "Why? Am I pregnant again or something?" She waved her free hand limply towards the larger male. "Work has to be done. We don't have the luxury of three people to turn one bolt like Company ships do. Anyway Millin. I really don't mind." She yawned suddenly, looking sheepish. "Still. You never blinked an eye back there when I came out. I think I lost a year's growth." She shook her head again, looking up at the ferret, idly wondering about this strange male and his ability to survive troubles that would have overwhelmed most of her crew mates. Including herself in a few cases. "And just what is this problem that would so readily be answered with my death?"

Fantus shrugged. "You, Michael and Dia" he answered bluntly. "You and Michael are both in love with her and your both good friends. Of mine and each other. She’s in love with both of you. You mainly, but both of you." He nodded down at the tiny mouse as he slowed his pace, noting she had been matching him without complaint. "And you're both hot heads as well as two of the best knife fighters on the ship. But your better than anyone I’ve ever known. Michael wouldn’t have a chance, and he knows it." 

Kiko stopped, staring at Fantus as if he’d just crawled out of some disposal tube. "Knife fighter?" she sputtered, disbelief in her face "What in the name of Merithel gives you the idea I'm a knife fighter?"

Fantus reached out, lightly touching the ancient wooden scabbard belted tightly over her major heart. "For when the last blade is shattered the rule of Merithel shall end. With her passing her children shall cease to take breath on this world" he intoned.

He ignored the mouse's expression of shock, continuing his litany.

"In the year twenty nine and seventy-two, nine hundred and six blades are shattered, seventy-three are lost, three hundred and thirty three remain, of which the Temples hold thirty-two." He looked into the shocked mouses eyes, a sly grin on his face. "I served several years with one of your lay priests" came his answer to the unspoken question in her eyes "He loved to recite his words at night, whither I was listening or not."

Kiko shook her head in disbelief "The stories aren't for you to know Fantus" she almost whispered, her shock at his knowledge was obvious in her expression. As he watched her ears pulled slightly back "It is unsettling to hear the words from an outworlder's mouth. I wouldn't go spouting them off to just anyone Fantus. It could get you seriously killed."

Millin Fantus just grinned and raised his hands palms up. "But you're not 'Just Anyone' you know. You're my friend."

Shaking her head again, her hair somehow slipping loose of its bonds and fanning out, Kiko shifted slightly as she continued down the corridor "Still that doesn't answer my question you know."

The ferret quickly caught up with her. "I asked him once why he didn't carry the blade, seeing as he knew so much about it" he continued. "Besides I was interested. You never know when information might be useful. He even had a book with pictures of the major blades, which is why I could recognize yours. Even though it's not one of them."

Fantus fairly tripped over the mechanic as she stopped in front of him, her ears now flat. Almost like a Dia’s when she went after that businessman. He took in her body language as it changed sharply, slipping quickly into defensive mode as he realized his position.

"And he told you what," she asked, her voice harsh and dry, like a desert breeze. Almost a whisper of sound.

Fantus recovered, carefully waving one hand towards her as he quietly backed away. "He was feeling lonely, we were close friends and he owed me his life" he admitted. "I gave my word never to mention it, except to a close friend that carried a blade". He tried to force his heart to slow. He was sure he could take the mouse from this range. But he wouldn't like spending the next few months in sickbay being put back together like a jigsaw puzzle.

Kiko forced herself to slowly relax as well. Fantus was a trusted friend and it wouldn't serve any purpose following the Heltak Laws, what with both their lives dependent upon the other. Regaining her control she forced herself back into a normal stance and smiled. "Damage is done. Killing a friend won't change things" she mumbled, her voice just loud enough for the sensitive ferret's ears to catch. He was sure he wasn't meant to hear them though. She motioned down the corridor. "I'm going to be late. We better hurry."

Fantus nodded in agreement, her sudden mood swings easily understood by the adventurer, and verifying what he had come to suspect over the past few months. The loose hair was an old woman's ploy, and effective as it drew the eyes. Still he wished he knew the trick of releasing it like that. He knew her hands had never touched her hair. "You still haven't answered my question," he reminded her.

Kiko laughed, tossing her hair around like a teenager. "Fighting Deck wouldn't answer anything. I’ve made my decision. Dia is his." She paused in her walk, her voice turning wistful as she looked up into the other's eyes, pain welling from deep within for an instant before she forced it down. Eventually her eyes sharply brightened in false merryment. "I'll take what I can have of her." She continued toward the shuttle bay door, now in sight. "Besides, she's just someone to pass the time with."

For the first time in months Fantus made a near fatal mistake, speaking before he thought and with no backup to pull him out of danger. "Is that why you treat her like a c'Ketih?" he asked. "You've willed

everything to her. And she's just a one night stand?"

Kiko's hand stopped just millimeters from the massive hatch control. "What else do you know?" she growled.

The ferret stepped further back quickly, one hand unconsciously dropping to his hidden weapon. "Obviously more than I should," he sputtered, searching for a way out. "Michael is my closest friend. I'll

protect him from anything. Especially from a Jalod feud over a woman. Even if she is in love with both of you."

Kiko turned, the bag dropping with a soft thump behind her. "Obviously," she growled as fire rekindled in her eyes, her ears almost no longer visible. "Obviously one lay priest spoke more than he should." Then like flowing water she moved.

Fantus reached for his hideaway as the mouse spun. He had a glimpse of her reaching into her hair with one hand as the other stretched out to counterbalance her turn. Something bright flashed between them as his fingers touched the butt of his weapon. There was a blow that pushed his fingers away for an instant, followed by a high pitched ring as whatever it was caromed off the metal bulkhead behind him, to

clatter noisily down the corridor. He had to grab his holster as it slipped away from his grasp, staggering back against the wall behind him.

Kiko completed her turn, ending up in a heap on the floor with her back to the ferret as he brought his own weapon to bear. "Go ahead" she said, her voice again a desert dry breeze. "Law demands I kill you for your knowledge. But I cannot. End it now. It is your right. My life I surrender, what was left of it."

Fantus hesitated. He thought he knew the mouse. He knew he had overstepped somehow, and he knew she was extremely dangerous right now. 'Damn,' he cursed himself. 'Michael is right. A little knowledge can be a dangerous flame, and I've set off her fuse with a beautiful firebomb.' He studied the tiny female in front of him, her hands splayed out away from her body. Head bowed, her long hair spilling forward to blind her view. ‘Sweet Mother’ he thought, ‘I never realized just how long her hair really is.’ Shaking himself, he slowly holstered his weapon in his ruined belt. "Would you be kind enough to tell me just what in the nine hells brought all that on?" he yelled, releasing some of his tension with the outburst.

Kiko sighed, her whole body becoming even smaller, seeming to fold into itself a moment. Throwing her head back, hair splaying out fanlike to cover her back and much of the floor she released a long, slow breath. "Fantus," she began, her voice sounding old and tired. "You know things I am sworn to protect." She paused, taking a breath, her body shaking slightly. "Your lay priest and you were more than good friends for him to have told you as much. He was in love with you. In love with you as much as I am in love with Dia." She shook again, raising her hands from the deck. “As much as I have been forced to give her up to save a friends life.”

Fantus settled back. This he knew was obviously going to take time. He inspected his weapon, finding a slight nick on the butt. What shocked him was the clean cut through the metal meshed holsters strap, explaining why he had had trouble drawing the weapon. 'Obviously she could have as easily hit me in the heart' he realized, laying weapon and holster in his lap. But keeping an eye on the still volatile woman before him.

Kiko turned slowly, almost as if she was deathly exhausted and the effort was more than she could manage. "Fantus. When I drew that blade I was going to kill you." Her voice had a little more energy now but it still sounded far away. "There are trained responses you can't stop, and you triggered one. Its over now. It took everything I had to change targets Fantus. When I did I broke the conditioning, but it could have as easily cost you your life." She leaned back against the wall across from him, her huge dark eyes closing slowly.

"Dia is my c'Ketih yes. My soul, my life. I will do anything for her. Absolutely anything. But I will never do anything to hurt her and since she loves Michael, harming him in any way is impossible." She giggled, a little life returning to her voice. "She will forget me. I will find another. I will always love her Millin, but I have surrendered. She deserves Michael. He can give the the children her heart needs. I can’t. Millin. Ever since I realized I loved her and she loved Michael I've been fighting this. I was Queel near to exploding already." She stopped, lifting her hands and staring at her palms as if they were something she’d never seen before. "I had decided on suicide Fantus. During this mission I was going to arrange a little accident. Probably while I was in the abandoned station, much too far away for Michael to save me again." She looked up into the ferret's eyes, her own huge eyes filled with pain. "One I would have no chance of surviving."

On impulse the ferret slid over to the pain-wracked mouse, enfolding her with his arms. "What changed your mind?" he whispered.

"Heltak law conditioned me to kill any outworlder with your knowledge," she answered, sobbing slightly. "I broke Heltak conditioning. If I can do that, I can live with what little love Dia has to grant me." Her tiny frame shuddered violently, shaking like a leaf in a winter breeze. "I can find another, but nothing like her. But... But is it true? Is it true Fantus, or did you make up those words when you said Dia loves me?"

The ferret nodded yes, unable to trust his own voice. At the moment the woman who had almost killed him was shivering like a child. He hadn't felt this protective of anyone in a long, long time. "It's true," he finally replied. "She told me while we were headed for that corporation scum. I think she needed someone to know. Just in case she didn't make it."

Kiko suddenly broke completely, sobbing heavily into the ferret's chest, her tiny hands grabbing huge tufts of his fur. "Oh goddess Fantus. I almost killed one of my only friends." She began crying again. Deep soul wrenching sobs with burning tears to match her pain.

Fantus held her as she sobbed, waiting as she slowly regained control of her emotions. When she was quiet again he nuzzled her head lightly and suddenly laughed, snapping the mouse out of her depression.

“What in the worlds is so funny?" she asked in bewilderment.

Fantus stood carefully, pulling the little mouse up with him. "Think about it. We just had a duel, spent almost an hour sitting in the middle of a ship's corridor, and no one saw anything." He laughed again as he released the mouse from his arms. "If we were on a normal ship, ten or twenty people would have come by. As it is, we're probably the first people to use this path in days."

Wiping her eyes with the back of one hand Kiko smiled, then quietly stood. She walked down the corridor past her friend for some distance, Kneeling down she picked something up. Something bright. Something that sounded a lot like crystal as it slid across the dirty deck. Bringing it to her lips she kissed it lightly then pricked her palm with the point, rubbing a thin film of blood over the edge. Standing again she turned back to the waiting ferret. Kiko took a deep breath before looking Fantus in the eyes. Walking back to him she held out a green-gold object. As he watched she frowned a moment, then seemed to come to some decision. "You might as well have this Fantus" she said, handing him the delicate looking throwing blade. "It was meant for you after all."

Accepting the hilt of the blade Fantus brought it up to eye level, amazed at the delicate scrollwork engraved in the blade. Looking it over he couldn't find a nick or bend anywhere where it had struck tough metals, and the thin film of blood had already disappeared. "Alloy?" he asked, one eyebrow lifting slightly.

Kiko shook her head no, her hair sliding over both shoulders, making her suddenly look years younger. "Crystal, and you'll never find its like outside my world" she answered. "Another secret you shouldn't know. You see. It's grown from the blood of Merithel."

Slipping the deadly blade into his holster the ferret picked up Kiko's bag, surprised by its weight. He held it out to her, not for the first time noting the heavy muscles her work demanded. "I still need to know what you're going to do with Michael" he asked.

Kiko flipped the bag over her shoulder, closing her eyes. "I don't know. Talk at least. We have to clear this up between us. Maybe I'll even find out what Dia sees in him that she doesn't see in me. Other than the obvious physical differences that is. Anyway, when we get back it will be settled. Even if I have to give her up what’s left of my life. Having lost her, there really isn’t much keeping me in the land of life now Millin. Not more than friendship. Not really."

She jumped suddenly, bag and all throwing herself into Fantus's surprised grasp. Leaning over quickly she kissed his nose, then wiggled and was by the door before he could react. "When I'm back, if I return. I'll answer your real questions. Maybe even fill in some of those knowledge gaps your priest left you." Palming open the hatch she slipped through, leaving the rumpled, slightly bemused ferret holding his holster and standing in an empty corridor.