PART 3 - "Tools of Dishonor by Sunraven, June, 2001 Chakur, who was now the Captain of the Ingata, was as physically ugly as Terra remembered. He stood well over six feet, with small piggy-like brown eyes and a huge gnarly-looking headbone that resembled a mace. Neroon got off the shuttle first, then Lenann, then Terra brought up the rear. When Chakur saw Terra, his pockmarked face flushed an angry red and he turned to Neroon, clenching his teeth to avoid shouting at him. "What is thatÖHuman doing here? You said one of our physicians would be accompanying you!" "Chakur," Neroon said sternly. "I will forgive your lack of respect this time because of your surprise at seeing Dr. McClare here. But a docking bay is not the proper place to discuss Gray Council business." Terra was proud of the aura of authority Neroon projected. He held his temper well. "Take us to your office, and I will give you your detailed Gray Council orders." He looked behind Chakur to where a female warrior was standing in second-in-command regalia. Terra had noticed her immediately, because, even though she hid it well, the Alyt gave off vibes that she was horribly in love with Neroon. Whoever she was, she was at least seven inches taller than Terra and outweighed her by at least 100 pounds. "Sorat, congratulations on your promotion to Alyt. It is well deserved." Neroon's voice showed his fondness for Sorat, which annoyed Terra to no end. "Since you had a big part in making it come true, Satai Neroon, I take that for a great compliment. Welcome back. The Ingata has missed you." "And I have missed her as well." Then he turned back to Chakur. "I hear you have done an excellent job with the Ingata. Putting her into your hands was the correct move when I took my place on the Gray Council." The flattery quieted down the enraged captain, as Neroon had meant it to. "Let us go to my office and you can explain all this to me." In the Captain's office, Chakur turned as soon as the door was closed and demanded, "Why was I not informed that the Gray Council wished me to transport an outworlder to Korun?" Before Neroon could say a word, an angry Lenann pushed the Satai aside and stepped forward, his hand on his denn-bok and his normally gentle voice deadly. The change in him shocked Terra to no end. "You will speak respectfully of my clanswoman, Chakur, or we will have Denn-sha over your words." The Captain stared down at the small (to him) Religious Caste who spoke such fierce words. "Who by Valen's Headbone are you, to claim this Earther as clan?" Great, Terra thought. A ship full of warriors who think with their denn-boks. Absolutely wonderful. She readied her empathy to step in if they proceeded any further, but Neroon stepped in first. "This is Fleet Captain Lenann, of the Diun clan, Chakur. I am sure you have heard of him." Apparently even the idiotic Chakur had heard of Lenann. Terra knew he had quite a reputation among the Warrior Caste Clans. He had managed to get himself accepted to the best Warrior Caste Academy on Minbar by successfully challenging and beating, one by one, all 120 Warrior Caste student claimants in Denn-bok matches. Then, after he had gotten their attention, he proceeded to beat most of the instructors as well. Neroon had been one of those claimants, and Shakiri one of the instructors. Sech Durhan himself had hoped that Lenann would follow him as Assistant Denn-bok Master when he graduated, but Lenann had always wanted to captain a Religious Caste war cruiser, and that is what he ended up doing. During the Earth/Minbari war, Lenann had killed almost as many Humans as Neroon had, and had made quite a name for himself in Warrior Caste circles. That he had never struck a nonmilitary target had been a source of pride for the Diun clan. He had, despite his training, always remained a priest as well as a warrior. Chakur, recognizing the name and realizing at the same time that the wrong words now would make him very embarrassingly dead, bowed respectfully to Lenann. "It is my shock that made me speak disrespectfully, Fleet Captain Lenann. I meant no disrespect to the Doctor. There is no need for Denn-sha. " He turned back to Neroon with what could only be described as a respectful glare. "But I do want to know why I wasn't informed in advance that I would be transporting Doctor McClare to Korun." Neroon smiled at the man who had been his lieutenant. "Would you have allowed it if you had had time to prepare for it? After all, you and the Doctor did not exactly part as friends." Chakur looked down hesitantly. "Perhaps not, Satai Neroon. But then, after what I have heard is happening on Korun, I do not know what I would have done. You are here now, and I must make the best of it. We have planned to put you into the Shai Alyt's old quarters, which are still vacant out of respect for him. Will that be satisfactory? We can have rooms near there assigned to Dr. McClare and Fleet Captain Lenann." "I'm afraid that those arrangements are not satisfactory, Chakur. Dr. McClare is here under my personal protection, and as such, she will have to share quarters with me." He ignored Chakur's shocked look and glanced at Lenann. "Fleet Captain Lenann is here as the Doctor's escort by Religious Caste tradition, and also must share quarters with us. I would not offend your honoring of the Shai Alyt by taking his quarters over for the three of us. Do you have something else that fits my requirements?" Chakur flashed a rather scandalized look at Neroon. "This is rather untraditional, Satai Neroon, but we do have the VIP guest quarters that should fit your needs. We will have to have an extra bed moved in, but otherwise, it has two separate rooms that share a living space in common. Will that be sufficient?" "That will be just fine, Chakur, thank you." Then he added with a twinkle in his eye, "Did you enjoy my skin dancing?" The big warrior's face lit up as zeal for a good fighting performance temporarily overcame his dislike for Terra. "It was magnificent, Satai Neroon! You had that hog of a shuttle dancing like a fighter! We couldn't have gotten a target on you if Valen himself had commanded us to do so. While you are with us, we would be greatly honored if you felt like running some drills. My crew could use the practice." Then he turned to Lenann. "Fleet Captain, your reputation with the denn-bok precedes you. We would be honored if you would do some training sessions while you are here. It is said you even beat Durhan himself in a few matches!" Neroon piped up with enthusiasm. "He certainly did, and one of those matches lasted thirteen hours, Chakur! It was Durhan's advanced age that finally forced the Academy Physician to stop the match and declare Lenann the victor. If Durhan had had his way, they would still be fighting!" All three sets of eyes lit up at the lovely thought of such a monumental battle. Men! Terra thought, disgusted. She'd better cut this short or they'd be swapping lies all night. "Satai Neroon? Excuse me for interrupting such fascinating memories, but do you think we could be taken to our quarters soon? I am only Human, after all, and am fatigued after our long journey." She ignored the amused twinkle in Neroon's eyes and turned to Chakur with a bow. "Thank you for your hospitality, Captain Chakur. I know my presence was a shock to you, and you have been very gracious about it (He had been a real swine, actually). The Ingata is a beautiful ship." Swallowing her dislike for this warrior caste idiot, she radiated politeness, awe (it was hard, but she did it), a little fear, and respect. Chakur, who was no genius by any means, was no match for Terra in full projective charm mode. He quickly had them taken to their new quarters, and had their belongings brought there as well. Terra stood looking at the angled Minbari bed and groaned. Standing way too close behind her, Neroon smiled and teased, "After all this time with us, you still haven't gotten used to our beds?" His memory of the last time the two of them had discussed Minbari beds momentarily softened his face. She had to smile, as she remembered a much younger, more impetuous warrior standing there with her bra hanging off of his shoulder pad, red-faced, as they both faced the laughing-eyed Shai Alyt Branmer. "No. I still don't like them, and I still fall off them when I'm sleeping. I guess I just toss and turn too much." A mischievous glint came to his eyes as he said quietly, "I know. You did that a lot last night." She blushed red and glared at him for a second. "I will manage with the bed. Thank Valen it's a wide one!" "It is obviously for a married couple. Now that I remember, some of my crew used to sneak in here and use it for their discoveries of pleasure. It is certainly more comfortable than the normal military beds." "Enough about the bed. I need to shower and change. And I'm starved! Can someone order us up something to eat, Neroon?" "I expect that can be arranged." He turned and left the room, the smile of memory still on his face. Lenann, who had been looking over the rest of the suite, said as Neroon entered the living area, "Last night?" Neroon glared at him, flushed, then growled, "Let her tell you if she wishes, brother, but do not let your imagination go wild. Nothing too scandalous happened." Lenann smiled, even more intrigued. "Be sure I will ask her, brother, why a Warrior Caste Satai referred to a last night with my clanswoman in such intimate terms!" During the meal, which had been brought to their quarters, Neroon fidgeted to the point where Terra was ready to scream. "Neroon!" "Yes, Terra?" "For Valen's sake, please get out of here and go visit your crew. You've been wanting to all night, and your fidgeting is driving me crazy!" "ButÖ" "Lenann is here to protect me, I'll be fine. Now go!" Needless to say, he obeyed her without further argument, which was probably a record occurrence. They finished the meal in peaceful silence, and afterwards they put the trays outside the door, as they had been told to do. Terra settled down on the sofa in the living area, and said to Lenann, "I have to admit it is much quieter from an empathic perspective when Neroon is elsewhere." Lenann sat on the couch near her. "Yes. He has always had a personality that could fill up the entire room at times." "Lenann, do you have a lounging robe you might want to change into? I won't take offense, you know. Though I have to admit, your uniform looks a lot more comfortable than Neroon's" "It is, and I'm fine. There is an old saying that the warrior caste tailors designed their uniforms so that they wouldn't get too comfortable. That way they would stay bad tempered and fight all the harder." "I know what you mean. Neroon's armor is so heavy I can't even lift it!" Now his curiosity was really jumping. "Have you had much opportunity to try lifting it?" She looked at him, sensing his curiosity. Then she sighed. "All right, Lenann. What do you want to ask me? You've been giving off curiosity vibes all during dinner." "I admit that I was wondering what happened between you and Neroon last night. I heard that comment he made to you." "I will tell you, but only if you give me your word that it won't go any further. Neroon's career would be at risk if what I tell you gets out to anyone!" "You have my word. I would never hurt Neroon." "I know that, otherwise I wouldn't be telling you. You have noticed by now that my private relationship with Neroon is rather unusual." He nodded. "It is a very long story that has its beginning during the peace talksÖ." So Terra told Lenann about the history between her and Neroon. When she finished, he only said, "And Branmer knew, and did nothing?" "What could he do? It had already happened. There is a life bond between Neroon and myself. Certainly it has dulled over the years, but it will be there always." "Do you still love him? Did you when you were with Ledann?" "I suppose that's a legitimate question. The answer is yes in that I will always love him, I expect for the rest of my life. But I thought that I would never see him again when I met Ledann. It isn't easy to survive for someone with my empathic gifts, Lenann. I have found that I can't control them very well on my own. Call me weak, I guess. Ledann loved me greatly, and when I confessed to him that my heart already belonged to Neroon, he accepted what I could give him. I did care for him dearly, and if he had lived, I would have remained with him the rest of my life with few regrets. He was a constant balm for my spirit that was constantly bruised by my gift." She looked at him. "Please believe that I did everything I could to make him happy." She felt a stirring in her companion, was it caring? For her? Or for Ledann? "I never doubted that you did do that, Terra. Remember, I saw the two of you together. No one would have ever suspected that you had no heart to give him. He considered himself lucky, and I agreed with him on that." He shrugged. "I still do, even with what you have told me." "Thank you, my dear friend." "You are quite welcome. Terra, what will happen now that Ledann is no longer here?" Her face grew sad. "Lenann, the barriers between Neroon and myself were there long before Ledann blessed my life with his love. I told you what he almost called me last night. He blames it on Shakiri's influence, but there is a part of his mind that will always hold my humanity against me, I suspect. And further, I could never ask him to sacrifice his status, his caste, and his clan just to be with me. Ledann I could ask, because other than you and Sherissa, who would never reject him, he really didn't care all that much either way for the rest of the clan. He loved me, and he loved his work. Those were his strongest realities. Neroon is different. His caste and his clan are very important to him. To lose them would do irreparable damage to his spirit. The wounds from the war are healed, but the other barriers remain, and always will, I think. I will always love him, and will be his lover if he should want that of me. But I can see no way that we could ever be married." "You have read his soul accurately, Terra. But Neroon is not the kind of man who will settle for having only part of you. He is too honorable for that. He will want to marry you now that you are free. Despite what he would suffer if he did." "Then it will be my heart that must stay strong, and not let him ruin his life because of his love of me. I still have so many of my own doubts, that I think I can do that, for his sake." After this, they sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes. "Terra?" "Yes?" "Did the Shai Alyt really see Neroon with your what did you call it? Your bra hanging from his shoulderpad?" Lenann blushed. She laughed again at the memory. "Yes. I think that Branmer must have teased Neroon about that one for the rest of his life." "Why does Chakur dislike you so?" "That goes back to the peace talks as well. Neroon left the talks when we found that we cared for each other. He was afraid that if he stayed, my impartiality would be in question." She smiled. "He was right about that. We weren't, and still aren't, very good at hiding our feelings. Anyway, Chakur replaced him as Branmer's aide, and the first day he stood behind the Shai Alyt in the talks, he lost his temper and pulled his denn-bok on the Earther military negotiator. I sensed what was happening and stopped him, but I wasn't very gentle about it. He was badly embarrassed and had to leave the room at Branmer's request." "I don't think he would have taken that very well." "No, he didn't. Well, he hated me after that, and kept trying to annoy me. One day he refused to let me see Branmer, who was by then a close friend of mine, and I lost my temper. He picked me up and started shaking me, and I used my gift to knock him out. I had done the same to Neroon when the Minbari were testing me for the mediator role before the talks, but Neroon just pretended it never happened, and remembered not to touch me in anger again. Chakur started hating me even more, and continued to feel that way until the end of the peace talks. Frankly, he was lucky that in my honor for the Shai Alyt I didn't want Branmer to have to find a third aide, or I would have had him taken off the talks completely. He has all of the worst qualities of the Warrior Caste!" "Yes, I saw that tonight. He came quite close to dying because of his disrespect." Lenann's normally gentle voice had become rather deadly. "Thank you for protecting my honor, Lenann. Now, I want to hear how you and Neroon swore the Ranh'Derhorh together." "It was during our Ratha Hactchala, which the best students at the academy go through before they graduate. We had gotten to be friends since the time Neroon had stood up to some upper classmen and told them that if they persisted in harassing me, they would not only answer to my denn-bok, but to his own as well. We lost three people during our trial, and for a time we weren't sure that any of us would make it out alive. So Neroon and I swore the kin-by-oath in case one of us made it and the other didn't. That way both our families would be honored if only one of us lived. We haven't been as close as most Kin-By-Oaths are, what with our careers taking us in different directions, but the bond remains strong still." "Yes, I can sense that between you." Right at that moment the door opened, and Neroon came in, his arm casually thrown around Alyt Sorat's shoulder. He withdrew it and turned to her and said, "I will play another game of Tac-lech with you tomorrow, Sorat, to recoup my losses. Thank you for the pleasure of the game, and for your presence." Then he bowed deeply to her, which caused the Alyt to blush with pleasure. "It was quite enjoyable to me also, Satai Neroon. Good Night." She bowed a brief good night to Terra and Lanann, and left. It was obvious to Terra that she was as high as a kite. Lenann must have noticed Terra's strong negative reaction and her annoyance with the Satai, because he got up quickly from the couch and said, "I believe I will go for a walk around the ship." Part 4: Trials and tribulations on the Ingata