Disclaimer #1: This is a futuristic Uber-Xena work of romantic fiction. The characters of Xena, Gabrielle, Ephiny, Iolaus, Solari and, oh yes, Argo, belong to MCA/Universal, and are used without intent for commercial profits. Author's copyright does not extend to said characters. The author retains all rights automatically attached to the creation of this work and to the independently created characters. In other words, they're all MINE!

Disclaimer #2: This story depicts a love/sexual relationship between two consenting adult women. If you are under 18 years of age or if this type of story is illegal in the state or country in which you live, please do not read it. There are references to the thoughts of a child molester necessary to plot development, however no graphic depictions are portrayed.

Disclaimer #3: Apologies and acknowledgment to Gene Roddenberry for the unauthorized loan of food replicators and holo suites. I found them to be rather useful home appliances. To get yours today, call Ronco at 1-888-555-1212.

Also many thanks to my beta reader, Benet, who tactfully smoothed out all the rough edges.

Special thanks to Barbara Maclay and Miguel Cura for their dramatic renderings of Commander Xandra Lawless and Dr. Brie O'Conner. Their artwork has been inserted into the text of the tale where appropriate. Be sure to visit Barbara's Home Page at http://geocities.com/Hollywood/Bungalow/2591/graphics/, and Miguel's Home Page, GabWhacked for other great Xena artwork.

I welcome all constructive feedback, all bigots will be sent to the great recycle bin in the sky.

Part 4

Xandra leaned back in her seat, eyes narrowed in thought as Stephanie waited silently for her reaction to the information. After a moment, Xandra began to smile. "Better they come sooner than later. If they'd waited a few months, we'd have gotten used to it here. We'd have lost our predatory edge, maybe even have turned authority over to a civilian government." Lifting her eyes to Stephanie she cautioned "We don't know who the infiltrator is, so we have to keep this on a need-to-know basis. I want five other fighter pilots on alert, you pick 'em."

"Commander?" Stephanie looked into the cold, hard wasteland of Xandra's eyes and asked "Why fighter pilots?"

Xandra responded with a feral smile. "Hunter, you don't need to know just yet."

For the next few days Brie keep Sam with her all the time. She had tried to give the sweet little dog to Stephanie, but her friend insisted that Brie could give him more attention. Besides, Brie had her own quarters, while Stephanie was bunking with three other flight officers. Brie agreed to give Sam a home if Stephanie promised to visit him once in a while.

Apparently, Stephanie was right about Sam needing attention. He followed her everywhere she went. She really didn't mind, he was a good companion and she had plenty of help caring for him. When she had to work in the infirmary, he came along and lay quietly in a corner of her office. Several times a day, a group of children would come and ask if Sam could play. A gentle animal, he quickly became a favorite among the colonists, many of whom had never seen a live animal before.

She continued to worry about Harris. The man was a psychopath - all the indications were there in his profile. Oh, nothing was apparent in any single test or interview. But examined in sequence, there was a definite pattern. Like all of the colonists, Harris had completed no less than ten psychological evaluations during the course of the selection process. Each time, test results indicated a well-rounded person - ten different well- rounded people. Two things were certain - Harris was clinically schizophrenic and he knew how to play the game well.

She had wanted to discuss this situation with Xandra, but the Commander had been constantly busy. When she did see her lover, she was half asleep as Xandra came home late or left early. This would have worried Brie if Xandra had not held her so lovingly as they slept. Even though she hardly saw the Commander, they were in essence, living together.

Stephanie had not been available either. Evidently whatever was keeping Xandra occupied required Stephanie's attention as well. Brie spent some time wondering about it, but her thoughts kept returning to the dangerous man in their midst. She had to tell someone else what she knew, in case something happened.

Her first choice, Art Hill, was as unavailable as her friend and her lover, so she paid a visit to the Quartermaster. A seemingly unlikely choice, Baker listened intently to Brie's story. The accountant's eyes, usually completely devoid of emotion, flashed with anger when Brie recounted Harris' cruelty to Sam. When Brie explained her evaluation of his psychological profile, Baker was impressed with her findings. Probably should have had her evaluating all those psych tests. Could have avoided a lot of problems.

Although greatly disturbed by Brie's discovery, Baker had no idea what to do about it except to keep an eye on the man. Based on the secretive activities of the Commander and certain senior officers, the Quartermaster knew something else was amiss in the settlement. The two women agreed that until the other situation was resolved, this would have to keep. Both hoped that Harris would do no serious damage in the interim.

"Captain, I've picked up a transmission from the planet. It's encrypted"

The Captain glanced at the communications officer. "Transfer the message to my console Lieutenant."

His fingers flew over the console as he enacted the subroutines that would de-code the encryption. Frowning, he stroked his immaculately trimmed beard as he waited for the results. When the message appeared on his monitor, the frown turned into a feral smile.

"Helm, set course 90.485, maximum speed." He stood, turning to his first officer before leaving. "Commander, you have the bridge."

In the adjacent ready room, Captain Aaron DuMonte propped his feet on the corner of his desk. DuMonte was an attractive man in his forty's, with the lean, muscular build of a career officer. His ebony hair fell in waves to his shoulders giving him the look of a dangerous man - the kind that men emulated and women tried to reform. His black, empty eyes confirmed that all their efforts would fail...but he always enjoyed their trying.

Leaning back in his chair he began to laugh, softly at first. His laugh grew louder, acquiring an almost hysterical tone, then stopped suddenly. His dark eyes hardened as he spoke. "I've got you now Xandra Lawless."

Harris disliked his new work assignment almost as much as the last one. Moving crates of supplies to their assigned locations in the storage shelter was hard work, but did have a few advantages. It didn't smell like dirty animals and it allowed him to pilfer coveted items for his personal use. He did miss the enjoyment he got from abusing the animals. It always gave him a thrill to hear the agonized cries they made when he hurt them.

It made him feel powerful.

He still wasn't sure just how much that bitch Hunter had seen, but she had to have seen something or he wouldn't have been transferred. Though she couldn't have seen much or he'd have been disciplined. These bleeding-heart colonists valued their stinking animals as much as they did their unsupervised brats. Well, since he no longer had their animals to kick around, he'd have some fun with their precious children. It would be so easy, just like a predator separating a tender morsel from the herd. Now he just had to make his selection and plan his attack.

Mmm...young, virginal, helpless... He was getting hard just thinking about it.

Life in the settlement continued, unaffected by the events unfolding in the shadows. The Genetics Committee had completed their first round of DNA pairings for planned pregnancies and scheduled the DNA extractions for the following week. Brie was pleased to find herself among the first group of women selected for motherhood. The thought of being a mother touched a place deep in her soul. She was deliriously happy to know that she would soon have a child, but was equally frightened, doubting her ability to be a good mother.

Each of the colonists chosen for the pregnancies were to meet with the committee individually. Brie wondered who her DNA donor would be and how well they would work together to raise their child. Since the parents of these genetically desirable children might not even know each other, it would be a challenge to work out child rearing details. These were some of the questions Brie asked when she met with the committee.

The committee explained that although they hoped both parents would cooperate in raising the child, the birth mother would have ultimate responsibility and authority. As for the genetic match chosen for the brilliant doctor, Brie could not have chosen better herself. She was to be matched with Commander Xandra Lawless. The implantation would be scheduled as soon as the donor's DNA had been collected and prepared.

Brie received that news with a broad smile as joy bloomed in her heart. No matter what happened with their relationship in the future, she would always have a part of Xandra if her life.

As the heavily armed Destroyer class starcruiser moved through the expanse of space toward its destination, Aaron DuMonte sat alone, deep in thought. He'd waited for years to repay the debt he owed Xandra and now the opportunity for revenge was at hand. For years he'd raided defenseless ships and colonies to acquire the resources to carry out his plan. Purchasing this powerful ship and cryo chambers for even his small crew had been very expensive. He knew that this colonial mission was the only thing that had kept Xandra alive after her brother died. If he could destroy this dream, he would destroy her.

DuMonte thought back to the first time he met the conniving bitch. He had been an instructor at West Point and she'd shown up one day in his Campaign Strategy and Tactics seminar. Brilliant from the first, he saw great potential in this beautiful, desirable woman. He found her combination of sensuality and ruthlessness irresistible. Unfortunately for him, she didn't share his interest, preferring other women as sexual partners. Part of him found this incredibly erotic and another part was repulsed by what he considered an unnatural act. Still, this wasn't the sole source of his hatred.

In the years that followed Xandra's education, she had been assigned to DuMonte's covert command unit. For months they were able to work together, putting the past behind them. DuMonte developed a trust for the dark woman and began to get careless. He was working for both sides then and was sure that he was too clever to get caught.

Apparently Xandra had suspected him and was slowly collecting intelligence to put him out of business. When everything came out, there was enough evidence to warrant a court-marshall, but not enough to put him away. Nonetheless, his military career was ruined.

His very ruthlessness saved him. Many private parties were willing to pay big money to obtain his services for their projects. He'd proven his abilities many times over with the government and his familiarity with the workings of military intelligence gave his employers an advantage. He had no problem doing whatever necessary to ensure success and his reputation gave him a certain degree of freedom to move in circles that would otherwise not be open to him. It was at one of these society soirees that he again encountered the woman who betrayed him.

A curiosity among her social peers, Xandra was often a topic of gossip at these gatherings. These high society women could shred anyone without ever raising a claw, and it seemed that she was first on their list. They simply couldn't fathom a woman wanting to found a colony. All this nonsense about Earth dying was just so much garbage. They truly believed that the environmental gloom and doom reports were propaganda for the masses and that their world would remain untouched.

It was at one of these social gatherings that DuMonte last confronted Xandra, and it hadn't been pleasant. DuMonte, recognizing the importance of this colonial expedition, decided that destroying her dream would be the appropriate revenge. For months he'd studied the progress of her project and even managed to plant a mole in their midst. Now the time for retribution was at hand - and this time he would destroy her.

Xandra waited for the senior officers to enter the war room and be seated. This morning she'd ordered all senior staff, with the exception of the doctor, to return to the Artemis. She told herself that Brie's participation in this action was unnecessary, but in reality, Xandra didn't want Brie anywhere close to the battle. If all went well, the fighting would never reach the planet's surface.

The Commander had planned well for this eventuality. No one really knew just how much fire power the Artemis was capable of. An hour ago, a Destroyer class starcruiser had been detected entering the system. She had not anticipated confrontation with such a powerful ship. Usually these pirates piloted rundown, out-of-date star ships that could be purchased cheaply or stolen with ease. Her senior officers were showing signs of concern faced with such a formidable opponent, but Xandra was about to reveal her secret weapon.

"I had hoped that when we left Earth and made landfall on our new world, that our duties as soldiers would come to an end. I had planned to retire, raise horses and children, and let someone else run the show. It seems, however, that we have a situation on our hands that we must deal with before we can enjoy that retirement.

Several days ago, the Artemis detected a deep space transmission indicating to someone that we had landed. We don't know who sent the message, and so have kept knowledge of this situation to a limited number of people. We have a few surprises of our own and didn't want to give our mole a chance to brief the enemy on the state of our readiness. Just one hour ago, we detected a Destroyer class starcruiser entering our system.

Until now it was unnecessary for you to know just how prepared we are. The Artemis appears to be a Colonial class vessel. But she is, in fact, a fully equipped warship and houses a full wing of fighters in the lower docking bay." She paused, raising an eyebrow as she studied the reaction of her senior staff. "A wolf in sheep's clothing, if you will." Her brief smile allayed some of the tension in the room, but Xandra knew she had to do more to reassure them. "I am surrounded by some of the finest military personnel I've had the pleasure of serving with. We will be successful in insuring the safety of our colony...our home." She paused, absorbing the looks of unshakable faith from her crew.

"Hunter will be in charge of the fighter wing. All pilots will report to the lower docking bay at the conclusion of this briefing for further instructions. The rest of you will report to Hill who will command the weaponry aboard the Artemis. I will direct the efforts of both teams from the bridge."

"Our unknown enemy should be within range in about ten minutes. Report to your assigned stations immediately." With that, Xandra left the room to collect her thoughts before the confrontation began.

Before leaving the planet for the Artemis earlier that morning, the Commander had called the adult colonists together to brief them on the situation. She assured them that the military personnel would do everything in their power to see that the raiders did not reach the surface, but there was still a remote possibility that they would have to do battle to protect themselves.

Brie was upset that she had not been included with the rest of the senior officers stationed on the Artemis, but she understood Xandra's logic. Anyone hit in space had little to no chance of surviving to benefit from her healing skills. If the fight for their new world made it to the planet itself, her skills would be indispensable.

Her growing involvement with the Commander had made Brie blind to other developing relationships around her. This morning she had witnessed several tearful departures, indicating she and Xandra had not been the only couple to develop strong feelings in the short time they had settled on Gaia. What surprised her most was passionate kiss she seen Art Hill give Karyn Rose. She smiled should have seen that one coming.

Their own good-byes had left Brie feeling lost. Xandra had awakened her gently, loving her almost desperately. When the glow of their love making had faded, she told Brie that she was leaving and why. Once again Brie faced the possibility of a loved one dying far away, without her there to ease the way.

Determined to put that out of her mind, she began to organize the medical personnel in their preparations to receive casualties. With all the rioting and border skirmishes on Earth in the last fifty years, most of her staff had the experience to deal with whatever came their way today. They set up a triage area under a canopy in front of the infirmary and prepared the medical bays to receive wounded. Brie was glad that she had insisted that the stasis equipment be transferred to the surface. She would be grateful if the stasis field was not needed today, but it would be there if needed.

Several of the colonists had been assigned to organize and oversee the evacuation of the children. They would be taken to a series of caves that had been discovered in the nearby hills. There were many tearful good-byes as children were separated from their parents. The colonists in charge of the children had tried to convince their charges that they were going on a camping trip, but seeing the frantic activities of the adults had the kids wondering.

In all the confusion, Brie and Penny had forgotten to keep an eye on Harris. Not well-liked in the community, Harris had not been selected to work with any of the various groups preparing for invasion. For the first time since Hunter had caught him kicking that mutt, he wasn't being watched. Deciding that this was his chance, he surveyed the disorganized group of children and the few who had been spared to see to their welfare.

Harris studied the group for a long time before his empty eyes settled on a blonde, blue- eyed girl about five years old, clutching some sort of stuffed toy in her tiny arms. Tears were flowing down her face, but she stood quietly, waiting for what would happen next.

So beautiful, so small...and she cries so prettily.

DuMonte stood on the bridge of his starcruiser, so aptly named Avenger, and stared at the view screen. Approaching the planet, he'd seen nothing to indicate that they'd been detected. Still, he knew just how clever Xandra could be and had the strange feeling that he was about to confront a wild animal protecting her brood. Wanting to get a better feel for the situation he ordered the helmsman to reduce speed. Long range scans revealed no life signs on the Artemis and no unusual activity on the planet.

"Open a channel to the planet, let's see if our mole is at his post."

Xandra's young protégé, Jason, went looking for his step-father intending to convince the old man to allow him to stay in the settlement with the adults. After all, he was fifteen now and even if he was small for his age, he could still be a help to the colonists in setting up defenses. Having looked everywhere, he decided to check in the family quarters.

Breathless from running, Jason burst into the shelter and found his step-father huddled over a communications unit, frantically trying to key in a message. Richard Maxwell jumped when Jason entered the room, certain his signal had been traced and he'd been discovered. Realizing it was just one of his wife's brats, his surprise quickly turned to anger.

"Get out of here you useless bastard. Haven't you learned not to interrupt me?" Maxwell rose from his seat and approached Jason threateningly.

"Sorry," Jason muttered, having been victim to his step-father's anger before, hastily retreating from the man's raised fist.

Maxwell took a few deep breaths and returned to the console. Well, can't do much harm now even if the stupid brat did figure it out. Soon, DuMonte will be in charge and I can do what ever I want.

Jason ran from the shelter, hot tears escaped the corners of his eyes and slid back towards his ears. He'd never liked the old man. Sometimes, after a particularly brutal beating, he'd even hated him. But finding out that he'd betrayed the entire colony was just too much. In a way, Jason felt responsible, since the old man was part of his family. As his anger turned to shame, Jason slowed his pace. When his anger had been at it's height, he'd sounded like a herd of elephants. Now moving considerably slower, he was able to pass almost unheard through the forest.

As he moved through the dense undergrowth that was characteristic to the forests surrounding their settlement, he heard whimpering followed by a man's gruff voice.

"Shut up you stupid little bitch or else I'll give you something to cry about."

Crouching to avoid detection, he watched as a man and a child passed not six feet in front of him. He recognized the child - Amber Rose. He'd watched her once or twice when her mother had taken extra time on her duty shift. Although he didn't know the man by name, he knew he worked in the warehouse. The man had Amber by the arm and was dragging her further into the forest. The child was putting up a valiant fight, but was succeeding only in slowing their progress.

Jason knew he had to do something. He first thought to confront the man himself, but knew he was outclassed. If he got hurt or killed, who'd tell the others about Amber? Waiting for a few moments after they'd vanished from his sight, he ran back towards the settlement. Despite the undergrowth of the forest, nothing slowed him. He hurdled obstacles with ease, as if they weren't even there, slowing his pace only as he reached the outskirts of the settlement.

He scanned the faces of the colonists in the clearing, finally settling on the one he wanted. Making a dash for Brie he tried to speak, his breath coming hard. "He took her."

Brie immediately stopped and turned toward the boy. "Slow down and breath...now who took who, and where?"

Gulping a few deep breaths to get control of himself, Jason answered. "Amber...the man took Amber. The man from the warehouse. She didn't want to go with him and he was threatening her. They were headed north from the settlement through the trees."

Brie closed her eyes for a moment, fear and anger making her blood run cold. "Jason, go find Baker and tell her I need to see her immediately." Turning to Sara she said "Find Karyn Rose. Tell her what's happened, but don't let her out of your sight. If she tries any heroics, it could ruin our chances of getting Amber back unharmed."

Xandra and the officers aboard the Artemis were prepared. Hunter's fighter wing was hiding just on the other side of one of Gaia's three moons. With the special shielding the Commander had installed in the starcruiser, anyone scanning the ship would be led to believe her deserted. Xandra had equipped her command vessel and the fighters with enough fire power to destroy ten of these ships. Her trap laid and baited, they only had to wait for the hunter to realize that he'd become the hunted.

"Commander, I'm picking up a transmission to the planet's surface. It's audio Ma'am."

"Put it on speaker Lieutenant"

As the crew of the Artemis listened intently to the message meant for the settlement, Xandra paled, immediately recognizing the voice. "Colonists, there's been a slight change of plans. In a few hours, we will have destroyed your starcruiser and landed on your inviting little planet. Of course, we'll be needing your services to continue developing the settlement, but now you'll follow my guidelines. Just cooperate and no one will get hurt. Oh...and one more thing, I want Commander Lawless turned over to me immediately."

Damn...that bastard would follow me to the gates of hell. Frowning she asked "Tactical, are they within firing range?"

"Almost ma'am, right about...now."

"Open a channel to the destroyer Lieutenant."

"You're clear ma'am."

Xandra carefully composed her first words. "Why Aaron...what a surprise." Sarcasm dripped from Xandra's voice. "And here I thought we'd never see each other again. You know, after that last tumultuous farewell."

There was a pause before Xandra received her response, and it was all she had hoped for. At this close range the advanced shielding lost it's effectiveness and she was sure the destroyer could now detect life signs on the Artemis.

"Xandra, where are you, you bitch? There's not supposed to be anyone aboard that space limousine you call a starcruiser." Rage was evident in Aaron's reply, rage that told Xandra he was losing control. Without that control, she was sure that they would defeat him.

"Oh, don't you like hide and seek Aaron? And here I went to so much trouble to get the game set up before you arrived." With that Xandra signaled Hunter that the fighter wing should make themselves known. Allowing a moment for the destroyer to detect the fighters, Xandra goaded. "Don't tell me you came all this way only to give up at the first signs of resistance. That's not like you Aaron."

The tone in his voice when he answered Xandra confirmed her theory that the man was completely mad. "I'm after you bitch, and nothing you can say or do will stop me when I'm this close."

Severing the communications with the other ship Xandra commanded "Tactical, report."

"Ma'am all weapons targeted and ready."

"Fighters, prepare to engage." Xandra paused only seconds, "Fire on my mark." Knowing that DuMonte had lost control, she expected the first shot immediately and was not disappointed. DuMonte never could resist a challenge, even when the odds were stacked against him.

"Fire at will."

As the battle raged above them, most colonists were occupied with preparations. A select few were made aware of the situation with Amber Rose and Harris and were making plans to rescue the child. The child's mother had surprised Brie. Instead of becoming hysterical, her eyes took on a hardened look and she asked what she could do to help.

Brie made a command decision that she would be the one to go after the child. Although she was unlikely to be viewed as a threat by Harris, she was stronger than she looked and always did well in hand-to-hand confrontations. To further convince her prey of her harmlessness, she selected one of the older children to accompany her. Since Jason felt responsible, she chose him as her partner in this mission.

They would pretend to be looking for Amber, not knowing what had become of her. Armed only with a stun gun and her newly acquired walking staff, the two set out north, eventually able to follow the tracks made by the child dragging her feet.

The battle for possession of the planet below raged on. The destroyer was clearly out classed by the weaponry aboard the Artemis and the maneuverability of the fighter wing. Xandra concentrated her fire power on the Avenger's engines and weapons systems.

They had taken a few hits themselves and one of their fighters was out of commission, but nothing serious. Xandra was wondering just how far the destroyer's crew would follow their demented captain. Her answer came in the form of a transmission from the Avenger.

"Ma'am, I'm picking up a signal from the enemy ship."

"Put it on speaker Lieutenant."

"Commander Lawless, this is Commander Bennett of the starcruiser Avenger. Our engines are destroyed, our weapons systems are down and that last hit damaged life support. The captain is in sick bay being treated for a head injury so I'm in command. What are your terms for surrender, ma'am?"

Xandra paused for a moment before answering "Unconditional Commander."

"We have injured, Commander, will they be treated?"

"Yes, we'll take them into custody immediately. If your life support cannot be repaired we'll evacuate all personnel. Prepare to be boarded. Artemis out."

Brie and Jason paused at the cave entrance, unsure how to proceed. Finally, after a particularly heart wrenching cry from Amber, Brie threw caution to the wind. Turning to Jason she said "You stay out here. If this goes badly, run to the settlement for help. Go straight to the Quartermaster, she'll know what to do."

With that, Brie checked her weapon and tucked it into the back of her trousers. Grasping her staff firmly, she entered the cave. "Hello...anyone in here?"

The sight that greeted her eyes was unsettling, but reassuring at the same time. Although Amber was restrained, she did not appear to be harmed. Maybe for once, I got here in time.

Harris was no where in sight as Brie moved deeper into the cave. She was sure that he was waiting in the shadows, thinking to ambush her. The healer in her couldn't resist checking the child, who was now crying louder as she recognized her "Auntie Brie."

As she laid a hand on Amber and surface scanned the little girl, Harris stepped out of the shadows, weapon trained on the doctor. "Well, so nice you could join us O'Conner. Now I'll have something to look forward to when the kid can't take anymore. Besides, with you here, I'll have an audience...and I always love an audience."

In a desperate attempt to save the child any more trauma, Brie suggested "Why don't you let the girl go Harris. She's only a kid and won't be much fun. Now me...I promise to show you a good time. I'm stronger and can take a lot more than the kid."

"Nice try Doc, but it won't work. Why should I let her go when I can have both of you." Harris walked toward Amber, waving the doctor away from the child. Leaning down, he placed a finger under the child's chin to roughly tilting her face to his. "Isn't that right little girl?"

Amber began crying immediately, fear evident in her tiny face. Harris, so aroused by that look of fear, didn't hear Brie approaching him until it was almost too late. Alerted by the sounds of her movement, he turned to face Brie and fired, hitting her right thigh. Brie, surprised by the searing pain in her leg, collapsed to the floor of the cave.

"Try anything like that again Doctor and I'll kill the kid."

Gasping in pain Brie responded breathlessly, "Okay Harris, what ever you want."

Approaching the helpless doctor, Harris roughly grabbed one of her tender breasts and squeezed hard, intending to cause her pain. When she didn't react, he increased the pressure until she closed her eyes in an attempt to shut out the pain. "That's what I want to see Doctor. Show me how much it hurts." He savagely pinched her nipple and pulled hard.

Tears of pain were beginning to form in her emerald eyes, but at least she'd momentarily distracted him from hurting Amber.

Xandra and some of the senior staff returned to the surface leaving the rest to see to the evacuation of the Avenger. Wanting to alert the medical team to expect casualties, she immediately headed for the infirmary. Baker intercepted her intending to brief her on their other situation. Xandra tried to put the Quartermaster off, but Baker was insistent.

Putting her hand on Xandra's arm to restrain her, she said "We need to talk - now." Now Xandra was worried. In all the years she'd known Baker, both in the service and later, she'd never seen the accountant touch another human being. This must be very important.

"Okay, what's going on Baker?"

The Quartermaster proceeded to summarize the events of the last few days, from Harris' abuse of Sam to Brie's rescue attempt. As she spoke, the color slowly drained from Xandra's face. During the battle high above the planet's surface, she'd experienced only exhilaration. Only now, faced with the thought of Brie in danger, did she experience real fear. "How long ago did they leave?"

Baker studied her feet as she answered "About three hours Commander."

Xandra's heart nearly stopped as she imagined what the deranged man could do to the woman and children in three hours. Not stopping to speak with anyone, she went straight to their shelter and began to arm herself for the coming confrontation. Rifling through her belongings, she retrieved two small, razor-sharp daggers, placing one in the top of her boot and the other in the valley between her breasts. Next came the long rawhide whip that she secured to her waist on the left and her side arm on the right. Finally she reached for her matter disrupter and positioned it in a holster across her back. A picture of the evolution of weaponry, she was ready to face Harris.

Jason was waiting for her outside the shelter. Having reported to the Quartermaster, he'd been sent directly to Xandra with his information. In a hurry, Xandra told the boy "Tell me what you know on the way, we're running out of time."

The boy lead the warrior woman deep into the forest. By the time they reached the cave, Xandra knew all Jason could tell her. Crouching in the brush some distance from the mouth of the cave, Xandra turned to the boy. "Good work Jason. Now get back to the settlement, I'll take it from here."

Xandra approached the opening in the hillside so quietly no one could have heard her. Years of training and experience had made this woman a deadly weapon in her own right. Even without the small arsenal in her possession, she'd have been a formidable opponent. Harris might be insane, but he was no match for the woman stalking him. In this state of mind she was much like a wild animal, and Harris had her mate and her cub.

Pausing at the entrance to the cave, Xandra listened to the voices coming from inside. Brie was desperately trying to convince the madman to release the child, promising her own cooperation in return. Xandra was relieved. She wasn't too late - at least he hadn't really hurt them yet.

Silently, Xandra entered the cave. Moving slowly, she managed to catch Brie's eye and motion her to keep quiet. The Commander hoped that the child would not turn and see her, giving her away before she had a chance to act.

As she approached Harris, she pulled the dagger from her boot and jumped him from behind. At first startled, he quickly became enraged at the distraction from his pleasure. He recognized the bitch of a commander almost immediately. He'd have to take care of her before continuing his perverted games with the kid and the doctor.

As they fought, Harris lost his grip on his disrupter and the weapon skittered across the floor in Brie's direction. The doctor grabbed the weapon and trained it on the pair entangled on the floor of the cave. In this light, Brie could only see the dark outlines of the struggling bodies. was lucky to see shapes. She was unwilling to fire and risk hurting Xandra.

In a lucky move, Harris turned the Commander's blade back on her and stabbed savagely over and over until she lay still beneath him. Laughing hysterically, he rose and face Brie. "Now it's your turn Doctor, but this time I want to make it last."

As the deranged man approached Brie, she turned his own weapon on him.

"Put down the weapon little girl," Harris arrogance outweighing any caution.

She fired, hitting him square in the chest. For a moment Harris gazed at her with a stunned look and then collapsed to the floor of the cave.

Brie didn't know what to do first. Somehow she reasoned that she needed to make sure Harris was no longer a threat. Scrambling forward, she checked for heartbeat and breathing. Finding none, she quickly moved on to Xandra. Her lover's eyes were closed and her skin was pale, but her breathing was steady, if shallow. Removing her jacket, she ripped her shirt into smaller strips and pressed them against Xandra's wounds to slow the bleeding.

Turning to Amber she said "The bad man is dead. He can't hurt us anymore, but my friend is hurt bad. Amber, I need for you to be brave and grown up. Can you do that?"

Raising her tiny chin and sniffing back her tears, the little girl nodded. Brie smiled gently and said "Come here Amber. You'll need to press on these rags to keep her alive." Taking her hand she showed the child just what she wanted. "Can you do that for me? You'll have to do it for a long time." Again the child nodded. "You can't stop even if you get tired. You have to keep pressing until I come back, okay? If you let go, she'll die."

The child raised solemn eyes to the doctor and answered "I won't let go...no matter what. I promise."

Pausing to gaze once more at her lovers strangely serene face, Brie raced from the cave toward the settlement.

Within the hour Xandra was placed on a table in one of the medical bays. Amber, true to her word had not let go. The rescue team had found the child lying across Xandra's chest, holding the rags in place. Amber had shrugged and said "My arms got tired, so I used my body instead."

Treatment of the wounds was simple. Brie and her medical team had stabilized their patient and repaired both internal and external damage in under two hours. Now twelve hours later, Brie couldn't understand why Xandra hadn't regained consciousness. In the interim, concerned that they had missed some critical injury, the doctor had checked for head injuries and anything else she could think of that would keep Xandra from waking.

Finally, she decided to use her empathic abilities to accomplish what science could not. She had been reluctant to use this method with Xandra because of their close relationship. Empathic healing required detachment from one's patient...and she was anything but detached with Xandra.

Preparing for her ordeal, she managed to eat a respectable amount of food to fuel her energies. She should probably have rested too, but couldn't close her eyes as long as Xandra remained unconscious. Making herself comfortable, she lay next to her lover on the med table. Placing one hand on Xandra's head and the other on her heart, she allowed her mind to touch the woman she loved. Unprepared for the intensity of feeling, she fought to resist the urge to break the connection.

Her mind spun out of control. This was the woman she loved and now Brie knew for sure that Xandra loved her too. Instead of following the biological paths of her lover's body as she had been taught, she found herself in a strange kind of limbo. Surrounded by clouds and fog, she imagined that she had physical form here. A woman stepped out of the clouds and smiled at her. She was identical to the woman in her holo field test. Now she understood, this woman was Xandra and more.

The woman spoke softly "Well, Gabrielle, here we are again. Me dying and you trying to save me. You'd think we'd have settled down after all these years, but it seems our descendants are every bit as adventurous as we ever were." Cocking her head and raising that single eyebrow she asked "Do you know who you are yet?"

Brie was about to answer in the negative when she realized that she did know who she was. She was Gabrielle and Janice and Brie and a countless host of other incarnations. In that instant she understood that she was bound to this woman across all space and time. A flood of memories engulfed her. Quiet talks by an open campfire, dusty tents in archeological digs around the world, all shared with the same woman. The woman she knew in this life as Xandra Lawless.

"Yes, I think I understand, as much as I'm going to anyway. We've been in this place before haven't we?."

"A long time ago I almost died and you came after me then too. Only then you came through your dreams. You fought insurmountable odds to bring me back. I don't think I ever really thanked you properly." She opened her arms and enclosed Brie in their warmth and safety. "Thanks for this time too. Now I have a reason to wake up. You love me."

Brie closed her eyes. When she opened them again, several hours had passed and Xandra was watching her wake. Emerald eyes met blue as she smiled sleepily and said "I love you Xandra Lawless." She was asleep again before she could hear Xandra's response.

"I love you too Brie O'Connor."

The council of nine met had for the first time on a cool, crisp autumn morning. Their selection had been a simple process. There had been no campaigning and no speeches. No one "ran" for office. The citizens of Gaia had rejected the old ways of electing their leaders, deciding instead to simply vote for who they thought could best lead them. The nine seated around the table this morning had received the most votes in their first election. It would be up to them to set policy for elections and councils to come.

Before they could begin that process, they had to decide what would become of the raiders from the Avenger and the traitor Maxwell. There had been many suggestions from the colonists, who were now calling themselves citizens, and the council had discussed them all. They had rejected execution as a means of punishment as they all were too respectful of the gift of life. Incarceration was out of the question as they did not have the means to support such a cumbersome system. Finally, someone had suggested putting the criminals into cryosleep. After all, there were almost three hundred cryo chambers aboard the Artemis capable of functioning for many years to come. The council recognized that this would only be a temporary solution. The sleepers would eventually have to be dealt with. But for the time being it seemed a good answer to a difficult question.

The Captain of the Avenger, her thirty-four surviving crew members and the traitor Maxwell were sentenced to cryo sleep for an indefinite period. At some later time, another council would be charged with determining their final fate, but this solution would buy them some time to get established and develop their philosophy. Brie only hoped that when that time came, she would have retired from the council to live in quiet obscurity.

Not surprisingly, both Brie and Xandra had been elected to serve on the first council. They were joined this morning by other council members including Stephanie Hunter, Sara Laurence, Art Hill and Penny Baker. The remaining three council persons were leaders in their own right, the chair of the Genetics committee Robert Wells, agriculturist Myra Goodman and botanist Karyn Rose. Karyn had surprised her peers with her level- headedness during the crisis with Amber. Most citizens had to admit, at least to themselves, that if their child had been in Amber's place, they'd have been completely irrational.

The fate of their criminal element decided, the council was now discussing other issues that were arising in their community. Relationships had formed over the last weeks and people were ready to make commitment. Having no marital laws was beginning to put a strain on the citizenry. Their original concept of allowing any two or more people to bond was a grand idea, but the details had to be worked out. Would they require lifetime contracts or would there be shorter term bondings allowed? And what about property and children? How would these issues be handled if bondings were severed?

The council was anxious to come up with a simple solution that would not encourage the pursuit of law as a career. All of them had some experience with the attorneys and legal systems of Earth and had no desire to repeat those mistakes on Gaia. In an effort to avoid this, the council decided that all children would be the responsibility of the settlement. Until the age of maturity, which still had not been decided, the community would feed, clothe and if necessary, house their young citizens. Of course, young children would reside with one or both parents whenever possible - the council acknowledged the importance of nurturing and love in their upbringing. But at the onset of adolescence, young citizens would be moved into a dormitory setting, visiting their parents regularly.

On this particular day, Brie found the council session to be overly long and boring. She had to admit to being somewhat distracted, absorbed with the details of her upcoming bonding celebration. No one was surprised that the Commander and the Doctor were making a commitment. Everyone just assumed that they belonged together, although there was some speculation regarding the terms of their contract.

"Councilperson O'Conner, would you care to join us?" Xandra's amused voice sliced through Brie's daydreaming.

Guiltily Brie raised her eyes to Xandra, today's council moderator, and asked "Just what are we voting on?"

"Adjournment" came the flat reply, shortly followed by the good-natured laughter and teasing of her fellow council members. They knew that the two were to be joined the next morning at sunrise and could afford to be charitable. In fact the council had arranged to complete their business and declare a break in council meetings for the next week to allow the pair a honeymoon of sorts. They all respected Xandra, but they loved Brie and wanted to do all they could to add to her happiness.

Grinning, Brie answered "Well, I'm in favor of that."

Brie awoke very early the next day, having slept fitfully. Not wanting to be late to her own wedding, she'd asked Sara to stay with her and make sure she was on time. It had been odd to sleep alone last night, but Xandra had insisted that they spend this one night apart. Brie had decided that it wasn't such a bad idea after all since she had spent the evening with Sara, Karyn and surprisingly, Penny Baker. The three had eaten, laughed and shared cherished memories of their families back on Earth. It had been food for the soul.

Sara was arranging her hair when Karyn and Penny arrived, bearing gifts. "Something old" turned out to be a pair of exquisite gold earrings which Karyn fastened to Brie's ears. "Something new" had been the silken, ivory sheath Sara had made Brie's for a wedding dress. Fastened with a knot over the left shoulder, the gown left the right shoulder bare. Settling the gown over Brie's head, careful not to disturb her hair, Sara produced "something borrowed" - a pair of ivory sandals which she slid over Brie's feet. The picture almost complete, Penny Baker stepped forward and shyly offered a bunch of exotic looking blue flowers, tied together with a scrap of blue ribbon.

"Something blue...picked 'em myself."

Brie looked at her friends, overwhelmed with gratitude and love. She knew that at this moment her friends Art and Stephanie were helping Xandra to prepare for this occasion. Xandra had become closer with these two since landing on Gaia. This pleased Brie to no end, since she guessed that Xandra had never had a real friend in her life.

Brie smiled and thanked each of them, then left to meet her love in the forest grove they had chosen for their exchange of vows. They had asked only Stephanie and Sara to witness their joining, but suspected that others would attend anyway.

When Brie entered the clearing, she was stunned by the sight of her lover. For the first time, she was seeing Xandra dressed in something other than a uniform. Her gown was identical to Brie's, its ivory color enhanced by the warm olive tone of her lover's skin. The smooth lines of the gown accentuated the soft curves of Xandra's body, her midnight hair moving slightly in the gentle morning breeze.

As she approached her lover, emerald eyes met lapis, and for them there was no one else in the world. Handing her bouquet to Sara, Brie took Xandra's hands and spoke gently.

"I have loved you throughout time and space. We are two halves of the same whole. You are my tree in the forest. You are my champion. I will love you all our lives and beyond. We are not making new vows, but renewing old ones. As love is eternal, so are we."

Tears slipped from Xandra's eyes and slid down her cheeks as she responded. "You have saved me time and again. Rescued me and taught me to love. When all is lost, then you are there. You catch me when I fall and love me in spite of my failings. We are not making new vows, but renewing old ones. As love is eternal, so are we."

Brie leaned back on her elbows as she watched the games below. Xandra's head lay in her lap and she suspected that her partner was sleeping. Gazing down at her lover, she realized that the years had been kind to both of them. Apart from a few attractive silver streaks, Xandra's hair was still as dark and silky as a raven's wing, her skin still smooth. A few laugh lines were beginning to appear at the corners of her eyes, but that only attested to the happiness they'd shared over the last twenty years.

Not to say it had all been fun, but Brie could trace most problems they'd had on the four young people competing in the games below. Three of the children were a mix of Brie and Xandra's genetic codes. The fourth combined Xandra's genes with Stephanie Hunter's. Of all their children, Brie felt closest to Stephanie's son. He seemed to need her more than the other three. Bret was a middle child and constantly saying the wrong thing. She'd spent many hours trying to teach the boy some sense of propriety, but wasn't having much success. She wasn't worried about it as much since he was growing into an incredibly handsome young man. The girls were too busy looking to notice if he said something awkward.

Their oldest, Sandra, was indeed her Xandra's namesake. Watching Sandra at age 19, competing in the games below, she could well imagine her partner at the same age. Sandy had already fulfilled her genetic obligations, giving birth last year to a fine son. Looking at her body today, you'd never know that she'd been pregnant this time last year.

The twins, Janice and Melinda, were a hand full when they were born and had only gotten more challenging over the last fifteen years. They had long ago discovered the advantages to being identical and fully exploited them at every opportunity.

The first settlement had consisted of 275 colonists. Now they had three 'villages' with a total population approaching 1,000. Brie and Xandra had retired from the council last year. Neither of them could believe that they'd stayed so long. Now they spent their days with their family and the dozen or so horses Xandra was raising.

Soon all the children would be grown and gone. Brie and Xandra had discussed doing a little exploring of the vast continent that had barely been touched. They hadn't forgotten the excitement of the many adventures they'd shared over the years. They were still thrilled by going places and seeing things untouched by mankind.

Lately Brie had found herself dreaming about nights alone with Xandra by a campfire. She just wasn't sure if it was the past or the future calling to her.