Chapter 3 

Captain Stefan Rice brushed an infinitesimal speck off one shoulder and took a last coolly assessing look in the mirror. Short dark, almost black hair, like a neat cap over his head, blue eyes, mouth set firmly in a stern line. He breathed deeply, shoulders squared, spine rigidly straight. 

This was it then. In a few minutes he would dock at Aykut to take up a position in the star system his father had left over twenty years ago. He was well aware there were still stories being told about him, mostly exaggerated, but he would deal with that. This job was a test, not only of his ability to command a station but of his ability to deal with the past, to carve a name for himself, independent from his rather overwhelming father. 

He went back to his seat in the shuttle and waited impassively for it to dock. 

XXX 

Lieutenant Connell thought he had succeeded in putting his prejudices aside and was prepared to take the Captain as he found him. After all, the man wasn't the same person as his father. He wondered what, if anything, the Colonel had told his son about him. Would the Captain even know who he was? Their respective fathers might still hate each other, the feud dating back over twenty years when the Colonel had been responsible for the death of his father's best friend, but it needn't affect the next generation surely? 

They had to work together for six months, he would act professionally and hopefully they could manage a satisfactory working relationship, even if they could never become friends.  

He had fully intended to be at the docking bay on his best behaviour, to welcome the new Captain and escort him to his post but circumstances intervened. A small child, a little girl only two years old went missing in the market and her frantic mother called the patrol. Connell and Kim were dispatched to assist the volunteer search party, uncertain as to whether it was a case of kidnapping or simply a lost child. Luckily she had been found safe and well, sound asleep under a table in a nearby shop but the exercise had kept him busy for a couple of hours and he and Kim both missed the new Captain's arrival.  

Now the first time he would see Captain Rice would be at the formal reception being held in his honour that night by Ser Mitcham, the space station manager. Still it couldn't be helped, Connell thought, as he dressed in his formal dark blue uniform for the evening. He checked his appearance in the mirror on his way out. Hair, brown, eyes blue, chin smooth, teeth clean. He had long ago given up any hope of growing any bigger but he was stronger than he looked, he knew there were muscles on that slender frame. He straightened his uniform one last time and left his apartment.  

The street lights were already glowing as he made his way to the hotel. Lighting inside space stations was always artificial of course, under the huge dome which covered the small city, but the current fashion was to have a twelve hour 'day' and an eight hour 'night'. Connell found it difficult to get used to, it was always 'day' inside a space ship, unless you were inside your cabin sleeping.  

A man came out of a side street and turned into the road ahead of him, walking carefully in the dim light, evidently another new comer to Aykut. As if to make things even more hazardous for the unwary stranger, someone had washed the street down in front of their shop, using real water and leaving damp patches on the surface. Suddenly, despite his caution, he saw the man's feet slide out from underneath him, his arms flailing wildly. Before he could do anything to help he was sitting on the ground, his legs in front and his hands on the ground behind him only partially arresting his fall. Connell rushed up, "Are you all right?" 

To his astonishment the stranger laughed, "Well, that was embarrassing," he said. "Are you the only witness?"  

Connell grinned as he leant down to haul the stranger to his feet. "I think so."  

Then he saw the man's face for the first time in the dim light. Gods he was gorgeous. His heart leapt even before the thought reached his mind. High cheek bones, sparkling eyes and that smile, that smile was enough to launch a thousand ships. He couldn't stop staring, oblivious of the fact that he was still holding the other man's hand. And the stranger was staring back. 

That was all it took. Connell swallowed and stepped closer, drawn irresistibly towards him, eyes locked on that beautiful mouth. As if the small movement released him from a trance, the other man jerked away, dropping his eyes and pulling his hand back as if it was burning. He cleared his throat gruffly. "Thank you. I'm fine, I'd better be on my way." 

"Of course," said Connell awkwardly, taking a few steps back. He blinked in disbelief. What had just happened here? Had he really been about to kiss a complete stranger? "I'm late for an appointment myself," he murmured meaninglessly. 

He watched in silence as the other man strode briskly back the way he had come, presumably to clean up. Why hadn't he asked his name, introduced himself? Although the stranger had pulled away fast enough at the end, he could swear that there had been a certain look in his eyes before, just for a moment ... Maybe tomorrow he would come back and try to find him and if, when, he found him again he would not be so ham handed in his approach.  

Connell shook his head and hurried on towards the hotel. He tried hard to banish all thoughts of the encounter from his mind, he had to concentrate on the meeting ahead of him. 

XXX 

The reception was being held in the function room of one of the two best hotels on Aykut, the Golden Crown, and Connell had made sure he would arrive in plenty of time. He didn't want two blots on his record the first day. He entered the room, already half full of guests and looked around for the new Captain. Ser Mitcham was in the centre of the room, deep in discussion with a group of local businessmen, leaving his wife to move gracefully amongst the guests making introductions. 

He could see Captain Okiro on the far side, talking to a distinguished looking middle aged man with dark hair just going grey at the temples. He was a little older than he had expected, given Okiro's description of him as a 'young' man, but he could see the Captain's emblem on his shoulder. He took a deep breath and started towards them across the floor.  

Before he got very far, Serra Mitcham spotted him and approached with a look of relief on her face. "Ah, Lieutenant, just the man I need. Ser Beaumont, the Assistant Governor of Bast you know, has decided to attend at the last minute and he needs an escort. I would have made arrangements if I'd known earlier, but," she gave a charming shrug. "Could you possibly meet him at his hotel, the Iron Prince and escort him here?" 

"Of course Serra," Connell replied politely. "If you wouldn't mind just letting Captain Okiro know where I've gone?" 

It was a further twenty minutes before Connell returned to the reception with Ser Beaumont in tow. He handed him over to his hostess and then went in search of Captain Okiro, hoping Serra Mitcham had passed on his message. The room was now full of guests and it took him awhile to find him. He gave a small sigh of relief, there he was, still talking to Captain Rice and another man who had his back to him. 

"Ah there you are Lieutenant Connell," Okiro looked up and beckoned him over. "Let me introduce you. Captain Waverly of the P112 Sirius," the man with the greying temples nodded politely, as Captain Okiro turned to the man standing next to him. "And this is Captain Rice, the man who's taking over from me." 

Connell plastered a polite smile on his face and ... found himself looking into the wary eyes of the man he had almost kissed earlier that evening.