Peace Talks - Part 3

By Sunraven

They had been on Aldenon now for little over a month.  The peace talks were proceeding, albeit rather slowly.  Major General Bolter seemed determined to irritate Shai-Alyt Branmer in no uncertain terms.  Holding those two war-horses to calm reasonableness was like trying to stem the tides of the oceans of Earth.  And the other members of the negotiating team seemed to enjoy watching the fireworks like spectators at a tennis match.

Another irritating thing was that the Major-General's aide, Colonel Richard Lanscombe, had let Terra know in no uncertain terms that he wanted to become her next lover.  It wasn't that he was ugly or anything.  In fact, he was handsome and tall with wavy dark hair and vivid blue eyes.  It was just that he was, well, so determined to have her that it bordered on intrusiveness.  And he wasn't taking no for an answer.

To top even that, Alyt Neroon had taken an immediate and extremely strong dislike to the Colonel, and baited him every chance he got.  There were times when she wanted to knock both of them out just to get some peace and emotional quiet.


"Come on, Doctor McClare, a little stroll in the moonlight won't hurt you.  I mean, you trust me to be an officer and a gentleman, don't you?"  Dick Lanscombe wheedled, really pouring on the charm.  "Come on, Terra.  You can spend a little of your time with Humans, with me, it won't hurt you.  After all, I'm your kind, not the boneheads.  You're always hanging around with them."

She strengthened her shields against his overpowering emotions and gritted her teeth so as not to yell at him.  "At least the Minbari don't push in where they're not wanted!  They know what the word "no" means.  Dick, I said no, I don't feel like taking a walk with you right now.  So good night!"

She turned away from the canteen door and stalked out into the moonlight.  She didn't know where she was going, she only knew that she needed to get out and away for a while before she retired.  Damn that man, anyway!  Couldn't he see she wasn't interested in him?

Now Terr, he's handsome, charming, sweet to you, what else do you want in a lover?  What she wanted was someone who listened when she talked to them, instead of always worrying about what he was going to say next, and a man who gave her the support she needed to keep her spirit intact.  And Colonel Lanscombe whined, which she absolutely detested in a man.  Yes, she needed a man who could be a friend, as well as a lover.  Like Neroon, for instance.  He listened so hard to her it was like a giant hunting animal focused on her to the exclusion of all else.  It was very flattering, to say the least.

"Dr. McClare?"

As though her thoughts had drawn him, he stood a ways away from her, a darker space among the moonlight.  She felt the heat rush to her face.  Once again she'd been so wrapped up in her inner thoughts that she hadn't noticed someone coming.   And once more it was while she had been thinking about him.

"Here, Alyt Neroon, by the tree."

Suddenly he was there beside her, a strong and somehow comforting presence.  "I know.  I can see you quite well."

She looked up at him in the darkness.  The only part of him that was visible in the night was the metal studs on his armor and the moonlight glinting off of his headbone.  Empathically, however, he was a loud beacon of light to her.

"Your people can see that well in the darkness?"

"Warriors can.  We're trained early to fight just as well in the darkness as in the light.  In the ancient times my caste was all there was against the darkness."  She could hear the sneer in his voice then.  "The other two castes only followed while we led and died for them."

"Your caste is a brave and fearsome one, that's for sure.  My people found that out during the war, and we almost were destroyed as a result."  She answered wryly.

He moved then, in that quiet graceful way of his, until he was standing very close to her.  She could smell his odd citrusy scent and feel the heat coming off his strong Minbari body, he was that close.  "Are you afraid of the Warrior Caste," more quietly he added, "Or of me?"

She put her hand out and took his in the darkness.  She squeezed the hard and callused muscles and bones in it, feeling his surprise as she did it.  "Afraid of you?  The Great Maker help me, Neroon, but for some reason I'm not.  Even though I know you could reach out with this hand and break my neck without even straining if you chose to.  But I am afraid of your caste, and what they would do without the tempering effect of the other two castes.  I saw the result of that first hand.  War without Wisdom and the ability to reBuild will lead only to evil and destruction.  Surely even the most hard core of your caste can see that?"

She felt even more surprise coming from him as he thought over her words.  Then it was her turn to be startled as she felt his other hand gently touch her hair, which was hanging loose and down to her waist.  He had always been fascinated with it, but had never gotten the courage to ask if he could touch it.  

"I am Warrior Caste by birth and by choice.  It is hard for us not to feel superior to the other castes, and to your people.  But I do see the need to temper the metal of the denn'bok with the hammer of the worker and the chimes of the priests.  Alone, my caste is strong.  But in combination with the other two, we are unbeatable. In time, others of my caste will see that as well."  After a moment he continued, "And also I see the beauty and wisdom that would have been lost if your people had been destroyed by us.  I thank the Great Maker that we were shown the truth of it by the Religious Caste before that happened, even though I still do not appreciate the way they treated us.  It was as though we were unthinking animals, instead of the caste that did the brunt of the dying during the war."  He ran a strand of her hair between his fingers, then put it up to his hypersensitive Minbari nose.  "This is so soft, and it has your scent.  Does it hurt you to have me touch it like !
this?"

"No, Neroon.  A human's hair is dead protein like fingernails or toenails, or like the material of your headbone.  It has no sensation."

"But how could something of such a magnificent color be dead?  It looks like the strands of the fireflower that grows on my ancestral lands.  And it smells as sweet."

She leaned towards him and gave him a brief hug.  "Thank you, my friend, for that compliment, and the gift of your other words.  Now I know that no matter how difficult these talks are, we will in the end triumph over hatred and bigotry."

She backed away when she felt his strong reaction to her hug.  It was a combination of triumph, discomfort, lust, fear, anger at the fear, and ...joy.  A real mishmash for sure.  Her own feelings were also something she needed to think about.  She felt drawn to this alien male like she had never felt to anyone before.  And considering the delicacy of these talks, those feelings were dangerous in the extreme.

"Terra?"  Dick Lanscombe called from fairly close in the darkness.  That dratted soldier had followed her!  Terra's heart started racing as she scrambled to make it so Lanscombe didn't see Neroon.  The two of them were hostile enough as it was, and running into each other like this would just add fuel to the fire.

She reached up and pulled Neroon by the headbone down to her level, ignoring his start of surprise.  She whispered desperately in his ear, "He can't see you here!  Please, hide!"

It was the wrong thing to say to the young Minbari, of course.  No self-respecting Star Rider would hide from anything, let alone an ex-enemy.  Neroon pulled her even closer and whispered back fiercly, "I will not hide as though I'm afraid of that chak'leh!  If you wish to avoid him, you hide.  If you are frightened of him, I will protect you, Terra, by beating in his skull with my denn'bok."

Oh Great Maker!  Did he always think like this?  Everything ends with his denn'bok.

"Terrrrrraaaa?  I know you're there, you little sexy thing, you.  Up for a game of hide and seek, are we?"

Neroon, who still had hold of her, pulled her with him behind the large tree.  Then he silently picked her up and slung her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes!

Trying to catch her breath, she wiggled because of the discomfort of the studs on his armor digging into her belly and breasts.  Or at least she tried to wiggle.  With only one hand on her backside holding her down, Neroon had her totally immobilized.  Like a ghost the Minbari moved through the garden, not making a sound.  Soon they had left Lanscombe's voice behind.

"Let me down, you black-suited gorilla!"  She growled, then knocked him on the headbone.  The only thing that got her were sore knuckles. 

He lowered her to the ground gently, and she could feel the grin on his face.

"That should leave Colonel Lanscombe looking for you for quite a while, eh, Doctor McClare?"

"Why you..." Then she burst out with a giggle that surprised her.  Neroon moved closer and put his finger lightly on her lips.  This time he was so close that his rock-like body was brushing up against hers.  It felt like the heat of him was burning through his armor and into her body.

"Quiet, little Human.  You don't want to undo my rescue, do you?"  Now she could see the reflection of the moonlight on his white teeth as he grinned again, and she couldn't stand it any longer.  She started laughing quietly until she was forced to stop because she got the hiccups.

Neroon, finally getting concerned over the hiccups, helpfully slapped her on the back.  That stopped the hiccups, all right.  It also threw her face down on the ground as well.

He rather abashedly apologized and helped her up, and she said after she'd caught her breath, "I'm fine, Neroon.  Let me be.  I'm going back to my quarters now.  Good night."  Then she turned quickly and left him standing there before he could argue.  And before she grabbed him and kissed the hell out of him.  On the way back to her quarters she had to fight breaking down in laughter again as she thought of poor Dick Lanscombe wandering around thinking he was playing hide and seek with her, all alone in the night.

 
"Colonel Lanscombe.  You appear to be unwell.  Is everything all right?"  Delenn's concern caused Bolter's aide to blush.  

"I am fine, Satai Delenn.  I just had a late night last night practicing night rescue ops with my wing."  The tired blue eyes turned and glared at Terra.

The mediator fought blushing, and almost managed.  Until, that is, Neroon winked at her from the other side of the negotiating room.  Then her face flared like an emergency beacon.  Damn him, trying to embarrass me!  Well, it wasn't exactly a wink.  But it was meant to remind me, damn him!  Obnoxious Warrior Caste bonehead!  But then the thought of the trick they'd played on the obnoxious Colonel caused her to almost burst out laughing again.  She smothered it into a cough just in time.

Neroon approached her and said with a perfectly straight face, "Doctor McClare, I hope you are not becoming ill.  That cough sounded odd."

Her eyes, now vivid green and promising dire punishment to him later, returned a quite different response as she said, "No, Alyt, I'm fine.  I just had a dry throat is all.  Thank you for your concern."

After that the usual stresses of the negotiating chamber seemed calm.


During the noon break, Terra was walking in the garden to clear out her overburdened shields.  She sensed someone angry and male approaching, and sighed tiredly.  Colonel Lanscombe wasn't the only one who had lost sleep last night.  She had tossed and turned, unsuccessfully trying to rid herself of the feel of a hard body pressing against hers in the darkness.  A body smelling of citrus.  And one belonging to a being who had been responsible for killing over fifty thousand of her people.

"Terra!"  Dick said loudly behind her.

She turned to look at him.  

"Where did you go last night?  You left me there looking for you for half the night!"

"Excuse me?  I left you, Dick?  I was in my quarters the entire evening after I left you."  She said with all the dignity of a person lying out of their teeth.  "I walked around in the gardens near the Minbari quarters a bit, then went right in.  Why?  Did someone make you think I was out there?"

"You were out there!  I saw you walk out into the garden when you left me."

"You did see me walk around the perimeter of the gardens, Dick, but I wasn't in the gardens last night.  It wasn't me who led you astray.  I think one of your buddies in the barracks has played a trick on you.  Now, you know that I'm supposed to be left alone during the break to strengthen my shields.  That is a quite necessary requirement that was agreed to by both parties.  So please leave!"

He did, but she could see he still thought it was her who led him astray.  Oh well.  Colonel Richard Lanscombe was a conceited ass! And it would do him good to be humbled a bit.

But Colonel Lanscombe wasn't the kind of man to be humbled easily.  He caught her alone again after the talks had finished for the day.

"Terra, I have proof that you were out there last night!"

"Dick, this conversation is aging rapidly."

"I don't care.  I found a shred of material from your pants there where I was looking for you!"

"Dick, I am in the garden, all over it in fact, mostly every day.  But not that night.  Now please drop it!"

He moved close to her.  "I won't drop it!  What kind of game are you trying to play?  First you lead me on, then..." His anger was radiating through her shields.

"Lead you on?  Why you conceited ..."

"Excuse me.  Doctor McClare, may I have a word with you?"  It was Neroon, interrupting Dick's harangue.

Dick's handsome face reddened.  He turned to the Minbari and said through clenched teeth, "I am having a private conversation with the Doctor, Minbari.  A Human discussion.  It is none of your business!"

Neroon bristled, snarling back at the EarthForce officer, "A private conversation that is apparently distasteful to the Doctor, Earther.  I will not allow anyone to insult or bother the one who is esteemed by my people..."

Angry now, Terra snapped, "That's enough, Colonel!  I will not have you addressing one of the Minbari diplomatic staff in that disrespectful fashion!  I said the topic was closed, and I meant it.  Now leave before I report your lapse to the Major General!"

He turned and stalked angrily away from them.  Terra turned to Neroon and asked, "Why in the universe did you come over just then, Neroon?  You could have started the war over again by doing that."

"He appeared to be bothering you, Terra.  I will not allow him to abuse you for my behavior last night."

"Neroon, Colonel Lanscombe is my business, and I will handle him in my own way.  Please don't try to help any more as you will just make the situation worse."  She turned and walked away from him then, really concerned now.  If she didn't watch out, these two men might ruin these talks!