Meant To Be 3 & 4

[maderr]

Chapter Three

Planet 00000000 (Zero), The Palace of Eternity

Val sat huddled in his seat, arms wrapped around his legs so no one could see him trembling.

The High Chancellor…assassinated…he buried his face in his arms. Why would anyone want to kill the High Chancellor? Val had met the man briefly, a few times before…he’d always seemed nice, if…somehow distant.

He listened to the others talking, noting the tight expressions, the pallor of their faces…

The entire room was devastated.

Dead.

Pyotr Kavalerov was dead.

Opposite him, surrounded by half a dozen officials, looking three times his age, Arkadii Kavalerov wearily dealt with all the problems that had come crashing down upon him. Val let the words wash over him, not interested in comprehending them, too consumed by his own miserable thoughts.

He dared a peek at the far side of the room, where Dr. Bikendi was speaking tersely with Tresnor, Mendel, and Jundel. A sharp pang made his chest ache; Dr. Bikendi studiously ignored him whenever they were in the same room.

Tearing his eyes away, Val fumbled in his pants for his data pad and thumbed it on, in-lens flashing as it transmitted his access codes. He looked over his meticulous questions, hoping trying to puzzle out the answer for himself would distract him, but after a minute he gave up.

What would they do now? The High Chancellor was the one behind the entire defense of the Draconis. It was highly offending most of the IG that such a high official would show such partiality – and so blatantly.

Even Tresnor looked tense, hands moving, cigar smoke making abstract images in the air.

The entire room stopped as a data screen flickered to life over the sitting area where Val and the Grand Chancellor sat. On the screen was what Val immediately realized was a gremlin. Pale green skin, long ears, unkempt black hair, and Val thought he might be of a more slender build but underneath the…well-worn thing he was wearing, it was hard to tell.

And violet eyes. Bright violet, currently filled with what was unmistakably rage.

“Lord Uncle,” the gremlin said furiously. “What sort of stars-damned morons did you have working on the Shangri-la?! After all the improvements I made to Pyotr’s ship, what useless incompetent let it get staffed with brainless idiots?”

”Tau Ceti,” Arkadii said tiredly. “Did he contact you as well, then?”

“Of course he did! Somebody has to find him, and it's not like anyone there has enough brainpower to do it.”

A startled silence fell, then Arkadii slowly spoke. “Find? Pyotr is dead.”

Tau Ceti looked at him contemptuously. “No, he's not. I made the modifications to that ship myself. The information Pyotr transmitted and a simple recreation of the scenario makes it obvious that he was merely temporarily misplaced, not killed. Whoever got the bright idea to try to blow him up was incredibly stupid about it.”

“Petya is alive?”

Tau snorted, mouth twisted in disdain. “Yes, and now I need to go find him. I suppose you should be capable of finding out who's responsible. If not, I'll do it when I get back.” Just as abruptly as the data screen had flicked on, it shut off, leaving the room once more in a stunned silence.

“I see the stories of him are not exaggerated,” Dr. Bikendi said blandly. “Somehow I expected the infamous Tau Ceti to look a bit…”

“Cleaner?” Arkadii asked dryly. “Oddly enough, I think his manners have improved since last I spoke to him.” He abruptly stood. “If you will excuse me.” Not waiting for a reply, the Grand Chancellor strode from the room.

Val frowned after him, and looked up as Jundel came to stand next to his chair. “Is he okay?”

Jundel smiled at him. “He thought his nephew dead and now has learned from a…reliable if eccentric source…that the High Chancellor is very much alive. I’d imagine he is more than fine.”

Nodding, Val finally felt his own tension ease a bit. The High Chancellor wasn’t dead… “So what do we do now?”

“Wait,” Tresnor said, taking the seat vacated by the Grand Chancellor. “Though really we cannot do that either. The preliminary hearings start in just three more days, and putting them off will not look good for our side. So we will have to press on as best we can until that peculiar gremlin can find the High Chancellor.”

Val nodded, and continued to listen absently as the adults continued to talk and debate, wishing he could better help in some way. All he knew was science, however, not how to turn it into a legal or political argument – things at which Jundel and Tresnor clearly excelled.

Feeling more out of place than ever, Val uncurled from his seat and dug out his data pad, flipping through it for some of the new articles he’d downloaded but hadn’t gotten around to reading yet – and crashed hard into something that let out an all-too familiar snarl.

“S-s-sorry,” Val said, scrambling to his feet and bowing low to Dr. Bikendi. “I should have been watching where I was going.”

“Yes, you should have.”

Val flushed and ducked his head. “I’m sorry,” he repeated, staring hard at the carpet, painfully aware of the new silence which had fallen.

“Give the boy a break,” Jundel said sharply, and Val could hear the swish of her skirts as she crossed the room. “He’s done nothing wrong, unless you think he is wholly to blame for being born.”

Dr. Bikendi made a scoffing noise. “I don’t care what he does, so long as he stays away from me.”

“Yes,” Jundel said, and Val shivered to hear the frost that suddenly entered her tone. “Stay away from you. That’s such a fine idea, why ever did I not think that the best thing for him to do would be to stay away from the only person that could fully explain his new magics? Especially given that so far his magics have always been dormant. Yes, quite a brilliant idea, Doctor. When he gets angry and touches someone, what then? Will you still want him to stay away from you?”

Silence fell again, thick and oppressive. “This would not be a problem if that damnable Kavalerov had not played his manipulative games with me! I should never have left my moon.”

“Perhaps not,” Jundel said curtly. “I for one cannot see how we benefit from your presence. Do not, however, blame Val. I will not tolerate it. Now teach him about his magics before he accidentally hurts someone.”

Val’s head jerked up. “Hurt someone? I would never!”

“You know nothing about it, boy,” Dr. Bikendi said. He heaved a great sigh. “I guess you had best come with me. Stars, when I get my hands on Kavalerov…” He turned sharply on his heel and stalked toward the door – then stopped halfway, turning back around. “Are you coming or not, boy? I have not got all day.”

“Uh—yes, sir!” Val said, shaking himself, clutching his data pad tightly as he bolted after Dr. Bikendi. His heart felt near to beating out of his chest as he followed the doctor from the room.

Outside he trailed just behind Dr. Bikendi, clutching his data pad close and wondering if he should say or do something. In the end though, he could only follow and try to keep up with the doctor’s long strides. A million colorful distractions beckoned him beyond the two-way mirrors that formed the top half of the walls of the private hallways. Val was oblivious to them all, his eyes only for the man in front of him.

Bikendi was…Val guessed most people would say strange, but he preferred the term ‘exotic’. People loved to talk about how stunningly brilliant and accomplished Bikendi was for only being 29. He was a strange combination of shades – skin dark copper, short hair black touched with streaks of white, dark purple eyes, and dressed so simply in brown slacks and a black t-shirt.

An eternity later they finally stopped moving, though Val knew it couldn’t have been more than five minutes. They entered a lab that made him want to grin like the schoolboy he’d only just stopped being and dash around to look at everything. It was state of the art; even the labs he’d grown up around on Coni could not compare to this.

No doubt having the High Chancellor as a friend and leader of the defense team helped with that.

Val couldn’t help himself. He absently set his data pad down on a nearby lab table and then began to wander, poking at every machine and piece of equipment, muttering softly and occasionally exclaiming in delight.

“I did not give you leave to go tearing about my lab,” Dr. Bikendi cut in, voice like frost.

Halting in his tracks, fingers guilty frozen in the process of reaching out to touch the latest model of a GX3 Separator, Val dropped his hand and turned to face Dr. Bikendi, knowing his cheeks were flushed dark. He struggled for one of the fancy phrases the officials back home had tried to drill into him, but in the end all he could manage was a timid “I’m sorry.” He drew a breath and kept talking, half to hide his embarrassment and half because he hated the awful silences where Dr. Bikendi just glared and glared. “It’s just I’ve never seen a lab like this, all the equipment! I only ever read about the GX3 and the Rentol microscopes but isn’t that your—“

“That is quite enough,” Dr. Bikendi said.

Val fell silent and stared miserably at the bright white tiles of the floor.

“So you had no idea you would match with me?”

“None!” Val said, looking up anxiously. “I never had magics before – I still don’t, actually. No one could ever explain my coloring. For years they’ve tried to figure me out. It was finally decided I must be a strange, nonmagics mutant.” His shoulders tensed, thinking of those days. The looks. The whispers. “It was the High Chancellor who said otherwise, and insisted that I had a place in the defense team.”

Dr. Bikendi grunted and motioned for him to sit. “So I guess you know nothing about what I am.”

“No, sir,” Val said, dropping his gaze beneath the cold intensity of Bikendi’s gaze. “Nothing at all.”

“I am a combination of Telven and Kemperast.”

Val jerked his head up and stared wide-eyed. “How would…” Stars. Telven…they were part of the IG, but only because the IG was too scared not to let them join. Even meeting the inhabitants of the planet had been pure accident – misfortune. That race…every horror story come to life. Monsters, most called them. Blood sucking monsters…

Kemperast…any geneticist worth being called thus knew that race. A species that could transform ‘normal’ energy into ‘magics’ energy. It was from their gene structure that the infamous and now extinct Temperast had been constructed.

“I can see by your expression that you recognize both species,” Dr. Bikendi said, and Val eased just the slightest bit to hear the begrudging approval in his voice. “I am essentially what they wanted in the Temperast, but could never quite figure out.” A faint grimace on his face, Dr. Bikendi walked over to a table on which were stacked various cages, filled with creatures approved for scientific experiments. He reached out and touched a dark red lizard.

Val’s eyes widened as the creature shuddered and died right before his eyes. “What…”

“The strange cross of Telven and Kemperast has resulted in a unique ability to absorb energy from any magics-capable being and convert it to whatever I need – ‘normal’ energy or ‘magics’ energy. Do you understand?”

“I understand,” Val said softly. It made Dr. Bikendi…stars, to be able to absorb and convert energy to whatever was necessary. There was no need for healing magics or offensive magics – Dr. Bikendi could make the raw energy absorbed do whatever he wanted…probably within limits, of course, but still. Val looked at the dead lizard again. “Does it always…”

“Kill?” Dr. Bikendi asked flatly. “Yes. The shock of the absorption almost instantly kills the victim – just as the Tevlan always leave their prey dead.”

Val felt cold, thinking what an entire race of Dr. Bikendi’s could do. To benefit by killing someone…by killing them with only a touch… “What if the victim has more energy than you can absorb?”

Dr. Bikendi glared at him. “They die anyway. As I said, it is the shock that kills. Perhaps a stronger being might survive, but it is not a line of experimentation I have ever followed.”

“Yes, of course,” Val said, ducking his head again. “I did not mean to imply…” He kept his eyes on the table. “So I can do that now, too?”

“I don’t see why not,” Dr. Bikendi replied. “Though it is truly a puzzle that your magics have been dormant this entire time, never mind the sheer impossibility of matching with me…how could that bastard have known…”

Val cringed as he heard the sharp rap of boots on tile as Dr. Bikendi strode over to his table, then warm, smooth fingers landed on his chin and forced his head up. “The eyes, I suppose. Very few species have violet eye coloring. Less than a dozen, and of those…I guess for him it must have been quite simple indeed. The bastard, wait until I get hold of him.” Dr. Bikendi let go and stalked around his lab muttering.

Restless, not sure what to do, Val sat and waited for Dr. Bikendi to give him some indication. Would it be alright to ask more questions? “So how do I control it?”

“Don’t touch living things with magics,” Dr. Bikendi said sharply. “That’s the easiest way. Otherwise, never touch in anger or unhappiness. Never when you’re tired or hungry. Always keep your energy up by normal means. I should have addressed this sooner, I will concede that point.” He made a face. “I guess there is no one to teach you but me.”

Val couldn’t help the excitement that fluttered in his chest. “I promise I shall not get in your way. Did you want—“

“Get used to not touching much of anything magics capable,” Dr. Bikendi cut in. “Though it must be your hands, that is where the absorption occurs. Thankfully it’s not skin contact only.”

Val swallowed, sick to think he could have killed someone and no one had told him. Why? His hands balled into fists on the table. “Why didn’t anyone tell me?”

“Shock, I suppose,” Dr. Bikendi said. “Perhaps Kavalerov knows something I do not, if he was willing to risk our meeting. Though how that bastard would know more about me and my magics than me I should very much like to know.”

He fell silent and Val waited for him to start speaking again.

Dr. Bikendi sighed. “I do not have time to teach someone these things, not with the trial pending, but I suppose there is little choice.”

An idea flashed through Val’s mind, and he wondered – Dr. Bikendi would say no, likely, but he already hated Val so what did it hurt to ask, really? “I could help you,” he said, speaking in a rush. “In repayment for the lessons, and in apology. I know all your studies, I’ve kept abreast of everything, even the stuff I could learn of the Draconis case. I know the importance of keeping it quiet and—“

“Enough,” Dr. Bikendi said. He stared hard at Val, then gave another long sigh. “Fine,” he said begrudgingly. “I suppose I have little choice in the matter, as I am already pressed for time and having a match forced upon me helps nothing. But you will do exactly as I say, when I say, without argument or question. Do you understand me?”

“Yes, sir,” Val said, trying to keep his excitement contained, to act calm and professional.

Dr. Bikendi grunted. “I guess we need to test your knowledge, as you are of no use to me unless you know how to use everything in this lab and can learn to take notes as I do. You said you were familiar with my work? How is that?”

“I studied genetics and related fields in school,” Val said, cheeks burning as he thought of all that his data pad contained, how utterly stupid it would probably look to Dr. Bikendi to see just how avidly Val had always followed his work.

Still…if he behaved and worked hard enough and didn’t do something wrong…maybe he could start to ask some of his questions.

He was going to work with Dr. Bikendi!

Trying to go slowly despite nervousness making him rush, Val related his schooling and experience.

Dr. Bikendi nodded when he’d finished. “Your name is Valendel?”

“Yes, but everyone calls me Val.”

“Bikendi. ‘Itzal’ I’m not terribly fond of, and there is no need for constant formality. I have better things to do with my time than make certain everyone is tacking ‘doctor’ to the front of my name. Now – you claim to know your way around a lab, and seemed to earlier. Tell me everything you know about each piece of equipment in this room. Then we will see what else you know. If you mess up once, I will kick you out and administer your lessons elsewhere. Is that understood?”

“Yes, sir,” Val said quickly, then obediently launched into proving that he knew what he was doing, struggling not to do something stupid like cheer for sheer joy or hug Bikendi in gratitude.



Chapter Four

Unknown Planet, Unknown Location


Raoul woke with a groan and wished he hadn’t.

Stars, when he found the bastard who’d let him drink that much…

Even as he thought it, he knew that wasn’t right. He hadn’t been drinking. Hadn’t drunk anything in terms, not since he’d started working for Pyotr – even when the bastard made the idea of getting drunk awfully tempting. Pyotr was more a friend and brother than employer and High Chancellor…

And his head must still be concussed if his thoughts were wandering, which meant he’d regained consciousness entirely too soon for his liking.

Giving up any hope of going back to sleep, Raoul opened his eyes and tried to sit up. Two things immediately came to his attention.

One, he was tied up.

Two, his bracelet was gone.

Both were rather problematic. The bracelet was the only way anyone would have been able to locate him. Granted, after the explosion and landing its chances of working were slim – but at least he’d had it.

Being tied up was annoying in general and given he’d been unconscious and therefore incapable of causing trouble – uncalled for.

Unless they had reason to fear him…

Raoul groaned and wondered what precisely he might have crash landed in the middle of. Hopefully just paranoid farmers worried about their crops. Yes, that was a happy thought. He was good at talking to nice if somewhat paranoid people. Came with the job description.

He really hoped the nice, paranoid people had some meds for his head.

With some effort and no small bit of nausea, Raoul managed to wriggle and twist his way into a sitting position, getting his back against the side of an old wooden shed that smelled like it hadn’t been used for ages and that something might possibly have died in it shortly before usage stopped – which probably would explain why it wasn’t used.

Maybe this was where all crash landings went. Hmm. Unhappy thought.

Raoul forced himself to focus. He needed to contact Zero. Pyotr…stars he hoped Pyotr had survived. Chances were good, of course. Stars, the bastard might even be on the same plant…but light gates were unpredictable. Especially when you blew up in the middle of one.

He hoped the nice, paranoid people had food, too – his stomach was protesting such thoughts, but he knew it would help.

Weak sunlight filtered through the cracks of the shed, meaning he was in a spot that got sunlight but that it was partially blocked – probably trees or something.

The door would be easy enough to break open, unless there was some unseen complication. In which case he could break down the walls. They were old, weak, and his head had already proven itself to be hard enough for the task.

Sighing, Raoul wondered if he had any chance of falling back asleep. He was seriously getting sick of himself.

Shuffling.

Raoul looked up at the sound of voices, then feet moving closer, the faint chimes as a lock – so the door was more secure than it looked from this side – was deactivated, and then the door swung open.

He almost whistled in appreciation.

A Vrill. A real, true, full-blooded, high-class Vrill. Sunlight poured in behind him, lighting up the dingy shed, showing to full splendor the man before him.

All Vrill were by nature slender; the only ones not were the half-breeds. Not as boney as his own half-fornarian build, but definitely slender and delicate. Beautiful. Palest green skin, hair the exact opposite – dark and rich, like leaves as night was falling, falling just to his shoulders, small braids here and there woven with pale yellow ribbons. He wore simple but quality clothing that showed precisely how fine that slender frame was. A small amber stud was in each ear, a bracelet of the same around one wrist. Long, slender fingers, an elegant, lovely face, the green eyes just slightly lighter than the hair. Androgynous save for the notably masculine chest and what the tight pants revealed.

The Vrill drew close and knelt in the dirt. “You’re finally awake, I see. How are you feeling?”

Even the voice was perfectly lovely. Even finer than the snap of a well-made stunner hitting its target. “Like I crash landed on an unknown planet head first,” Raoul replied.

“I see,” the Vrill replied with a chuckle. “What’s a half-fornarian doing in IG dress and wearing a tracking bracelet of a caliber most of the IG doesn’t know exists?”

Raoul grinned. “I was going to a costume party.”

The Vrill rolled his eyes, but before he could speak someone else approached, deactivating the lock quickly and stepping inside.

This one was entirely human, likely first quad with that fair skin, the gold-blonde color of his hair. He was as wide and tall and muscled as Raoul and the Vrill were skinny. “Yevi, what do we know?”

Yevi rolled his eyes. “He’s conscious and a smartass. I can’t learn much in thirty seconds. Give me some time, how about?”

The man snorted. “Hurry it up, pretty boy. We don’t have all day.”

“Then send someone else to figure out what he’s doing here,” Yevi snapped. “I certainly don’t feel like babysitting IG trash. Or better yet, Corin, do it yourself! This isn’t in my job description.”

Corin motioned impatiently. “Your job description is whatever I feel like. Anyway, Tezi is too busy and the others couldn’t get answers out of a drunk and horny Fornarian.”

“I resent that,” Raoul said, just because he felt he should probably defend his mother’s race even if it was probably true there was nothing easier to get anything from than a drunk and horny Fornarian. Both those factors had contributed to his own conception, after all.

“Shut up,” Corin said. “Yevi, get what you can and then report to field nine. Do it quickly.”

“I know I need to do it quickly,” Yevi snapped. “Try to tell me how to do my job again and I’ll gut you, Corin.”

In reply, Corin only laughed.

Raoul barely noticed, mind racing.

They were keeping him locked up. Obviously working in the fields. Secretive and tetchy.

Fuck fuck fuck.

Somehow he just knew he’d landed in the middle of a soul farm. Damn it.

With a hot but snippy Vrill.

After he got out of this mess and found Pyotr, he was going to kill the man. Slowly.

“You’re IA aren’t you?” the Vrill asked quietly, the tone of his voice solemn but with an urgent edge.

Raoul went still. Shit. He’d be lucky if they didn’t just kill him, if they’d figured that out. Why wasn’t he dead?

“My name is Yevi Lirio,” Yevi said, voice still barely audible. “I’m with Top Ops, Division Black.”

Fuck. Raoul jerked his head up to stare in shock, knowing his jaw was hanging open but not much caring. Top Ops, Auth slang for their highest ranking members, those who did special field work rather than donning a uniform and soldiering the stars – this was an Auth as elite as any IA agent. Also slightly illegal as technically magics capable couldn’t work for the IG in such positions as the Authorities. Division Black was Auth slang for those who did deep undercover work. “A Vrill?”

“Shut up,” Yevi snapped.

Raoul nodded. “Soul?” he asked.

“Yes,” Yevi replied. “I’ve been here two terms, trying to figure out who runs it. Suspect this might be an IA problem but I don’t know for certain. You’re IA. Who and what?”

Ordinarily Raoul would be highly suspicious that he’d just happened to land in a soul operation that boasted an undercover Auth – but even the best criminal wouldn’t know the lingo as easily as Yevi did and a turned agent would have no reason to act like he was a legit Auth. If that were the case, it would make more sense just to kill Raoul.

“Raoul, and I’m a private bodyguard to the High Chancellor. His ship was blown up mid light jump. Don’t know how the stars I ended up here.”

Yevi frowned. “It would depend on a high number of variables, more than I have time to relate. We need a reason to keep you alive and I’m not thinking of any.”

“There is none,” Raoul said flatly. “My bracelet is gone and it was the only means anyone would have had of finding me. I doubt the chems in my blood are still any good.”

“I can fix your bracelet, I think. I took it before they saw it.” He shook his head “The last thing I need is IG coming to your rescue though – I’m damn close to finding the ringleader, I think.” Yevi bit his lip, and if Raoul were less close to being seriously stressed out, he’d offer to do the biting himself. “I can’t let you die, though.”

“Many an Auth and IA would consider the sacrifice worth it,” Raoul pointed out. “I wouldn’t hold a grudge.” Though he would be sort of pissed.

Still, he was right and knew it. Many an IG official of any sort would consider the loss of one smart ass bodyguard well worth the chance to break up a major soul ring – and it must be major indeed, for the Auths to send a Top Op into two plus terms of Division Black work.

Soul was the bane of the IG. The plant from which it derived could be adapted to grow in nearly any environment, converting the sap was time consuming but easy, and its resemblance to glass and other such substances made it all too easy to transport.

It was sold by the ‘pane’ to dealers, who in turn shattered the panes and sold the shattered soul by weight. A few crushed it into powder, though not many – soul was most potent in its ‘glass’ form. The drug made enough of a profit the IG despaired of ever stamping it out completely. The drug was simply too damn profitable and pleasurable.

Also dangerously addictive. Discovered terms and terms ago by a group of zealots who refined the stuff from a plant native to Vrill but adapted to other places, where it further mutated into the Falling Star flower more commonly known and now banned throughout the IG. Once the religious zealots had gotten hold of it – that was it.

It had spread far beyond one happy little group determined to prove the existence of one being who controlled all the stars, but they were the reason for its existence – the drug opened the mind and let one see all the way down to his very soul.

Raoul really wished someone would give him something for his headache. Something not soul.

“I’m not letting them kill you,” Yevi snapped. “You’re a comrade, it wouldn’t be right.”

A Vrill with both a talent for deception and ethics. Well, the race was as contrary as it was pretty. “I don’t see how you can keep me alive,” Raoul replied, fighting amusement at the entire situation.

Blown up by enemies no doubt within the IG, probably over the Draconis issue, crash-landed into the middle of a soul operation where the processor was an undercover Auth of the highest caliber – and damned pretty to top it all off.

“I’m not letting them kill you,” Yevi repeated stubbornly.

“Beautiful, there is no good reason to keep me alive.” Raoul shook his head. “Not that I want to be dead, but they’ve no reason to keep me alive and you’ve every reason to let them kill me if it means not blowing up your entire operation.”

Yevi started to reply, but an angry snarl came from the far side of the door and a moment later Corin stomped into the shed, face red with anger. He kicked Raoul hard in the chest.

Fighting the urge to puke up his empty stomach, really wanting it to stay right where it was, Raoul looked up. “Fuck, man, I didn’t do it. I’ve been here the whole time, I swear it.”

Corin snarled and started to kick him again, but was blocked by Yevi who moved to stand between them. “You, shut up,” he snapped at Raoul before turning to Corin. “What’s wrong?”

“His fucking stunner,” Corin said, the words exploding from him. “It just killed two of our men.”

Raoul snorted. “Next time they should deactivate both safeties before playing with my toys.” Actually the stunner in question, likely his VT9.10 from the sounds of it, had three safeties and one of those required his touch – but they didn’t need to know that. “I custom make those things, man. Nobody fucking touches them but me.”

Corin narrowed his eyes. “A hardware man, huh?”

“It gets me in trouble from time to time, but yeah. Better that the pathetic regulation types.” He grinned. “I have lots of fun off duty.” That he hadn’t been off duty for about two and a half terms was entirely beside the point. That his idea of fun had nothing to do with killing things was also not relevant.

Corin’s face said he was thinking exactly what Raoul wanted him to think. “What else can you work with?”

“Pretty much anything,” Raoul said. “I’m no gremlin, but even they have admired my stunner work upon occasion. If it’s machinery, I haven’t yet embarrassed myself.” That and he also knew what sort of things were involved with soul harvesting and processing. He’d done a few raids himself before being shoved into IA work – he was too good for Top Ops.

That or too troublesome. He’d never really figured out which. Probably troublesome.

He really wanted something for his head.

“Get him out in the field,” Corin said. “If his little toys killed my workers, then he can make up for it. I hope you’ve got more muscle than it looks, Fornarian. You’ve got a long, hard life in front of you now.”

“Half Fornarian, thanks,” Raoul said, but Corin was already gone.

Yevi rolled his eyes. “I guess that solves that problem.” He looked at Raoul. “You can also watch the nicknames. My name is Yevi, that’s it.”

Raoul grinned. “Sure, pretty boy. Whatever you want.”

“Did you crash land or did they just get fed up with you?”

“Oh, I can’t even begin to compete with the High Chancellor in the troublemaking arena. They were trying to blow him up, not me. I think I should be dead. Somehow I keep managing to stay alive.”

Yevi grimaced. “How very fortunate.”

“Isn’t it, though?” Raoul said, still grinning. “So where do I, uh, go from here, gorgeous?”

“The name is Yevi, and if you don’t start using it I will give you much worse than that concussion to deal with – I also won’t give you painkillers.”

Raoul winced. Damn. A resounding defeat. “All right, Yevi. Painkillers, please? Pretty please?”

Yevi dug into an inner pocket of the lightweight, dark blue jacket he wore then held out a small white tab. He was silent as Raoul took the tab and swallowed it, but smirked as they both stood up. “You’re rather pretty yourself when you beg, Fornarian.”

“Half Fornarian. I am not a rock climbing xenophobe with problems committing, thanks.” He reached out as Yevi turned away and took a quick grope of the man’s very appealing ass. “And I’ll beg anytime you like, pretty boy, just say the word.”

He barely ducked the punch Yevi abruptly threw at him, bolting from the shed even though the world tilted dangerously.

So he was stuck on a soul farm until they could bust the ringleader and he was going to be doing hard labor and mechanics works for that indeterminate period of time.

Damn it, if the only compensation he was getting was to flirt with a hot, feisty Vrill – he was going to do it.

Comments

[kiyoshi-chan.livejournal.com]

I am sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo stalking you for more. *nods sagely* *starts to scribble down stalker plan*

[unusualmusic.livejournal.com]

Yes, indeed! My thursdays have gotten a whole lot more interesting. Vrill seems quite able to beat Raul at his own game. Good. And now we await the seduction of Pytor. (evil grin) Oh, and Tau Ceti is on the case. Hell yes, life is certainly great. More please!

[jladi.livejournal.com]

Bikendi is so... irritatingly bad-tempered. But with perfect reason, i suppose. Raoul + Yevi = funfunfun! Hehe... and Tau Ceti sounds familiar, but i don't think you've actually written him before.... hmm... methinks i'll prowl around for his story.

[dameange.livejournal.com]

RAOL! oh man, he's hot and fun and totally kickass. he groped yevi! too funny! and tau! he's totally going to kick someone's ass. oh man is he ever! can't wait for more!

<333333

[aetheraestus.livejournal.com]

After a really terrible week, I woke up and read this and suddenly, it was a great week XD I love this to pieces, ahahahahahaha.

Tau Ceti never fails to make me laugh.I think my favorite line of his, I think, was:

"Of course he did! Somebody has to find him, and it's not like anyone there has enough brainpower to do it."

That and the fact that Pyotr was "temporarily misplaced." Hehehehehe.

Raoul is my hero, methinks. Hahaha, I demand more of this!

EIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[skylark97.livejournal.com]

*bounces around happily* You wrote more!!! *glomps*

Poor Val. ;_; *huggles him close* I love the dynamic that you have between him and Bikendi. And as grumbly and bad tempered as Bikendi's exterior is, I still like him. It'll be interesting to see him finally cave and start to like Val. (Seriously, how could you not like Val? It's like not liking puppies or kittens...;_;) Reading what's happening from Val's POV makes my heart ache, and since I'm a gutton for punishment, I love that. XD *hearts* He's adorably uncertain. I want to hug him. ^_^;;

Raoul on the other hand, is funny as hell. *snickers* I like his trouble making tendencies, and I like that he argues with Yevi on why he should be killed. XD I'm also curious as to what his other half is. (I might have to go back and reread and see if you mentioned it earlier.) And I LOVE the tension between Yevi and Raoul. XD And I like how you brought the soul and the soul farming back into the whole thing. *hearts* You rock the world, you know. ^_________________________^ *twirls you about*

[avalon13.livejournal.com]

opening the page, the first thing I saw was 'Pyotr Kavalerov was dead.' there was a moment of silence before I started screaming. Then i read the rest and became happy again <33

[nikerymis.livejournal.com]

Oh, I am so pleased with my decision to bribe. ^__~ (Speaking of which, would you like it in chunks or as a whole, once it's finished?)

Poor Val. I love his enthusiasm for the work and for Bikendi's work specifically. Bikendi's a brat, but I suppose it's understandable, because of his powers. ^_____^ I'm totally geeked out over that he's what a Temperast is supposed to be like because that's just cool. Though poor Val, having to deal with new powers on top of being mostly rebuffed by an irritable Bikendi. I adore Val though, with his eagerness to please and I bet he's going to slowly wear Bikendi down with his enthusiasm and knowledge and that shall be much fun. ^____^

Though Raoul? ::dies:: That last line had me giggling like a fiend. Poor Yevi, not only having to deal with being an undercover IG officer, but having to deal with a lusty half-Fornarian on top of that. ::snickers:: I am curious on how this will work in with the other bits of the story - Pyotr's disappearance and the Draconi trial sort of go together, but Raoul on a Soul farm? ^____^ No clue how that works in but I am greatly looking forward to how that goes. ^_____^

[tygati.livejournal.com]

Raoul is Love. So is Yevi. And Val is the cutest lizard ever. ^_____^ BIKENDI CANNOT RESIST THE CUTENESS FOREVER!!! Mwahahahaha... ^_____^ *bouncebounce*

[tygati.livejournal.com]

Tau Ceti is mine. ^^; All his stories can be found here. So can all of M's Kidnapped-verse. ^.~ *geeky little list-maker*

[twilight-angel.livejournal.com]

Ah-ha-ha-ha!!! I <3 Raoul.

Oh, this was such a wonderful surprise. So, I take it MTB is going to be our Thursday fix now, I hope? ^___^

[achika-chan.livejournal.com]

:squees like a squeeing thing: You have no idea how happy I was when I saw this. I felt a little bad though. I love al lthe characters in these chapters, but all I could think was "No! I have to see how Pyotr reacts to Jaaaaaade!"

And I have So Much Love for Yevi and Raoul.

[aqua-eyes.livejournal.com]

Thursdays are a happy day again. XD!

Yevi sounds brilliant and probably didn't deserve Raoul crash landing in the middle of his operations. bwahaha. Can't wait to read more jade/pytor interaction. ^^

[melayneseahawk.livejournal.com]

Ooh. Me like.

[animeartistjo.livejournal.com]

Words cannot express my joy at getting another installment (3 chapters! 3 chapters!) of this. I love, love, love you! Super, flying-tackle glomp!
I'll just go reread this and settle down to wait until the next little gem!

[sporkess.livejournal.com]

I love this story! I have decided that my favourite character is undoubtely Raoul, although my love for the others is unabated. My only problem with this story is going to be figuring out who I adore most, I think, and whose story I'm most intrigued by. You've got so many strong characters that it's going to be hard to choose.

Unfortunately I'm in a hurry today, so my adulation must be breif. Much love!

[maderr.livejournal.com]

Heh, if anyone could hold their own against Raul it would an Auth Vrill ^___^

Seduction of Pyotr? Hee hee ^^;;

[maderr.livejournal.com]

Yes, I guess I'm glad Raoul decided to stay alive ^__^ Though I plan on punishing him for the defiance, kekeke.

[maderr.livejournal.com]

*laugh* Sorry? <3

[maderr.livejournal.com]

(whole works, you'll drive insane else, though I hope it's not too long you just said recently that you're swamped and I'd feel bad ^^;;)

Val is love. It's so weird writing a char not inclined toward snark ^^;

Hee hee. Given that Raoul was supposed to die when the ship blew, I have not yet been told what the greater picture is >_>:; though I'm beginning to suspect it.

[marasmine.livejournal.com]

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! That was so good - after I got past the panic at the beginning. Pyotr can't be dead - I've missed an installment - but Pyotr can't be dead no matter how many installments I missed... fortunately Tau Ceti put my mind to rest. Will Tredad survive a Tau Ceti rescue with Sigma to help? And will the soul farm survive Raoul? Will Raoul survive Yevi? I can't wait to find out!

[nikerymis.livejournal.com]

::laugh:: I can do whole. ^___^ It won't be three LJ posts worth of text, but it won't be insubstantial either. I'm aiming for about 10k or so. And, um, don't worry about it, I have an unexpected lull in coursework which is slightly boggling my mind but giving me time to write some. ^__^ I'll say you should have it in a day or so unless something hangs me up.

(also, I'm glad Raoul didn't die. He's too fun. ^____^)

[stardance.livejournal.com]

Yes yes yes yes yes Jade.

(That's all I have to say about this story. Is this what we get on Thursdays now?)

[mechante-fille.livejournal.com]

Oh good, Bikendi is talking to him. *pets Val* That's an unfortunate power, I think. Bikendi cna touch Val, though! Without death. Nice. Will come in handy, I think. ^_^

And, oooh, new character. Pretty and snarky, the best kind. Can't wait to see how that plays out. ^_^

[jladi.livejournal.com]

Thanks~! i'll be sure to check them out :P