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Chapter Eight

A few minutes after leaving Dan, Victus found his mate swapping stories with the black battle varius in one of the ship's pubs. The two men were swapping military stories with fervor, and Victus didn't have the heart to break them apart after he saw the excited look in Lucas' eyes.

"You have duties," Victus had said, with reproachful solemnity.

Lucas's annoyance was immediate but well controlled, and nobody except his sensei was likely to have detected it. Time spent under Victus' tutelage had taught the soldier the wisdom of doing what he was asked, even if it was not what he wanted. "Yes, sir," he'd said, respectfully. Slowly but surely, Victus could see that Lucas was growing into a worthy warrior.

"The negin will be indisposed for the next few hours," Victus had continued, still sounding stern. "You have been removed from your military service for some time now, and I think it would be tactically beneficial for you to interact with someone who has also had military service. Your duty," he said with the barest hint of a smile, "is to interact with this individual and refresh your knowledge of the armed forces."

Lucas looked stunned for a moment, then broke into a wide grin. "You got it, boss!"

Victus retired to their room, feeling somewhat lonely without his companion. Lucas had become such a fixture in his life that time spent without him seemed lackluster. But regardless of his personal feelings, there was work to be done. There was always work to be done as a protector, especially during those rare times when one was both awake and alone.

Victus spent a half-hour catching up on his reports, then discreetly checked in on Rudex Mal. His employer was fast asleep on the spa's padded table less than thirty minutes into his massage, and the young girl who attended him was sitting quietly in the corner, as far away from him as the room permitted. She looked strangely shellshocked, giving Victus the uncomfortable feeling that on this voyage, the ship's employees might need protecting more than his employer did.

Lucas returned to their room an hour and a half later as happy as a child who'd just been to a birthday party. Victus had made good use of his time alone, cleaning his armament while catching up on current events. He had divided the cabin's wall screen into quadrants, a different news perspective playing on each one. He muted the split screens after Lucas virtually fell through the door to the suite. Carefully, Victus placed his sword on the protective cloth draping the coffee table before turning his attention to his mate. "So did you learn anything tactically beneficial?"

"That guy's a blast!" Lucas said, by way of reply. "Once you get past the crunchy coating, what's inside isn't half bad!"

"Hrmph," Victus muttered, folding his polishing cloths with precise care and storing them in their protective pouches. "Do I have anything to worry about?"

Lucas laughed off his mate's concern. "Definitely not." he said, emphatically. "Fucking him would be like kissing your sister."

"As far as I know, I do not have a sister," Victus replied, blandly. He had not been referring to a possible romantic liaison between his mate and Bo, but this avenue of investigation was more interesting than learning about the tactical importance the battle varius might carry so he followed this new path instead. His sword made a slight humming vibration in his hand as he tamped the blade with its protective rosin powder. "But you do like him."

"Sure," Lucas said, still smiling. "He's really active. He's willing to try anything, as long as someone's there to enjoy it with him. Dan seems like a nice guy, but he's not gung-ho about doing new stuff like Bo is."

Victus said nothing on the matter, for there was nothing left to say. If they'd had this exchange six months ago Victus would have been concerned at how Lucas had apparently squandered the opportunity to increase his tactical advantage in favor of "having fun." But in the time they'd known each other, Victus had realized that Lucas had the uncanny knack for harvesting vast amounts of valuable intelligence while appearing to be doing nothing of the sort. Lucas sometimes did not even consciously remember all that he'd learned, but with a bit of training borrowed from the Kenzine manual, his recall was improving.

His swords back in their scabbards, Victus stood up. "It is nearly time to-" The buzzing of his comm unit cut him off. Pulling it out, he read the message with mixed feelings. "The negin has yet again changed his plans," he announced, struggling to keep annoyance out of his voice. He really didn't care what his employer did while on vacation, he just wished that he'd occasionally give them some small amount of advance notice.

"Great," Lucas groaned. "What's the douche-nozzle want us to do now?"

"Respect," Victus warned, favoring Lucas with a glare that made the other man thankful that he was out of arm's reach. He consulted his comm and read the message again. "'Having fun where I'm at, don't bother me,'" he read aloud. "'Play with your chew toy for an hour.' Hmmm," he hummed, noticing an icon in the corner of the screen, "he sent a picture." He pushed a button to download the image and looked at the result. "Oh!" He quickly flipped the comm's protective lid shut with an audible snap. "That's just nasty."

"I want to see!" Lucas jumped for the comm, but Victus put it in his pocket.

"We maintain our own dignity by maintaining the dignity of others," Victus quoted, sagely.

"Is that from the ancient Kenzine scrolls?" Lucas drawled, as he pulled out his own comm and began tapping out commands.

"No," the Protector replied, "it's from a children's book of fables." Noticing Lucas's expression, he added, "A good idea is a good idea, no matter where it comes from."

"Hmm..." Lucas hummed disinterestedly as he used his thumbs to peck away at the screen of his own comm. His eyes went wide at what appeared there a moment later. "Holy cow! I had no idea the negin's comm could focus that close."

Victus stared at his mate in shock. "He didn't copy you on that message! How did you do that?"

Lucas rolled his eyes. "Oh, please. Pulling other people's messages out of the bit stream is kid stuff." Fascinated by the image, Lucas expanded the image to its maximum size. He immediately wished he hadn't. "Eew," he said, pulling his head back and wrinkling his nose. "Sapiens shouldn't have that much hair."

He deleted the message and flipped his comm shut. "Everything you need to fool the computer into sending other people's messages to your comm is out there in the stream if you know where to look," he said, looking pleased with himself. "And this ship's internal comm system isn't all that secure to begin with."

Victus stared at him, wondering if he should be annoyed. While it was true that Lucas had just hacked into a message he'd not been intended to see, Victus had the feeling that any annoyance he might feel should more accurately be aimed at himself for not being aware of the potential security issue than at his mate for exposing the flaw. "Later you must teach me how to do what you just did, as well as how to guard against it."

"Sure," Lucas readily agreed. "But it won't help. Every few weeks someone publishes a new way to break through security, and none of the old rules apply any more."

Victus looked nonplussed. "How do I guard against that?"

Lucas shrugged. "I hate to say it, buddy, but you're probably not going to be able to. Not by yourself, anyway." Nobody else would likely have seen the clouds of ire building behind the stony Kenzine facade, but Lucas had been in Victus' company long enough to tell when he was becoming upset. There were times when Lucas annoyed his mate for the sole purpose of rattling his cage, but today wasn't a good day for that; so he settled for explaining himself. "There are things in life you won't be any good at unless you have a passion for them. You can be the smartest person in the world, but if this sort of stuff doesn't get your cock hard-" he successfully ducked Victus' stabbing finger, but the position he was forced to assume caused a cramp in his side that was even worse. Clutching his side, he didn't miss a beat. "-it's going to be so much work to stay on top of it that you'll miss out on the things you really should be studying."

Victus pondered for a moment. "Despite your vulgarity, I believe I understand what you're saying." He thought of something that he enjoyed and was undeniably good at. "Is it like mastering the sword?"

"Naw, it's..." Lucas caught himself. Maybe Victus had a point. "Well, maybe. I don't have any interest in bladed weapons so I suck at them. You're a hell of a lot better with them because you have an affinity."

"You'd be better if you practiced." Victus observed.

"Never as good as you, because you're not doing it just to get good, you're doing it because you love it." Lucas pointed out. "And why should I bother with something as arcane as swords, anyway?" he scoffed. "They're a waste of time. I'd rather shoot someone with a blaster any day."

"Crude," Victus drawled.

"But effective, you gotta admit!" Lucas grinned. "Leave the cyber-shit to me. Ninety-nine point nine percent of the stuff we're talking about won't ever filter down to our level anyway. The guys who dream up the really good hacks aren't trying to get into Negin Mal's porno files anyway. They want to break into his transport shuttle and lock the thrusters to one side and send him spinning into the sun."

"Where is the benefit for them in that?"

Lucas shrugged. "They're usually not doing it for money, they're doing it for kicks. Same reason I'm doing it."

"For fun?" VIctus reiterated, doubtfully.

"Yeah, for fun!" Lucas shook his head, marveling that anyone he loved could be so damned stodgy at times. "Just because something's tactically beneficial doesn't mean you can't have fun doing it." He tossed his comm onto the couch, looking meaningfully at his mate. "I know some other fun things, too."

"We don't have time for fun," Victus said, half-heartedly. "We have work to do."

The look in Lucas's eyes was sultry as he sauntered over to where Victus was standing. "Not for another hour, we don't," he nearly purred. "It's your job to do what the negin says, and he just told you to play with your chew toy." He was almost on top of Victus now, standing chest-to-chest with the taller man. "Get to chewin'."

When Lucas leaned forward slightly and nibbled on the line of Victus' jaw, the battle was over.

Not that VIctus was fighting that hard to begin with.

Victus drew his mate into a kiss, enveloping him in his warm, strong arms that, although they were a hundred million miles away from his abbey, still smelled faintly of temple incense. Rocking back and forth, he walked them to their bed without ever breaking contact with his lover's mouth.

Their lovemaking, while not the frantic coupling of youth, was still mindful of the limited time available to them. Lucas wanted more, though, and as he pushed himself deep within the warm confines of his mentor he asked, "Tie?"

"No," Victus responded. The desires of the negin were Mercurial, and as quickly as he had decided that he wanted to be alone, he might decide that he needed them by his side. It was the logical path. The sensible path. The path of reason.

"Yes," he corrected himself, "do it. Now."

Lucas needed no further urging. He pushed himself knot-deep into his lover, paused for the barest time to allow Victus to adjust to his girth and relax, then gave another strong but steady push that pressed the bulb of his knot inside his mate.

Both men grunted in pleasure at the sensation of Victus' ring convulsing around the base of Lucas's shaft, trapping him inside and tying them together as one flesh. Reaching around his lover, Lucas applied pressure with both of his hands in the spots they had both become intimately familiar with.

When the time was right, Lucas tightened his fingers around the base of Victus' shaft in a false tie that left both men shaking with pleasure. Waves of pleasure built up inside them, culminating in a delicious mutual orgasm that left both men panting and spent.

Careful not to pull against his lover's body in a way that would cause him pain, Lucas arranged their bodies on the bed so that he lay behind Victus, his nose buried in the soft, gray fur at the nape of his lover's neck. Over the next quarter hour, his breath caught occasionally as another wave of orgasm sent pleasure racing through them both.

Victus had not really expected that they would bond this afternoon, but a small part of him had hoped that out here in space, far away from the pressures of home, they might achieve what they'd never been able to do in their own bed. They'd tried every place else, so why not here? And it had ended the same way it had every other time they'd tried. In spite of the strong arms wrapping around him from behind, he was still alone. When he spoke, his words were so quiet that the man holding him barely heard them.

"I'm sorry."

***

Mal sighed. Everyone said that it was almost impossible to find good help, and it seemed as if he wasn't fortunate enough to be the exception to that rule. So soon after his massage, and a bloody good one at that, he was loathe to dive back into house matters. And yet, due to the failings of this hired minion, he must. "You've failed me, Kenzine."

Victus did not spare any of his attention looking at his charge. His eyes continued to scan back and forth as he and Lucas escorted the Negin back to the Presidential Suite. "In what way?"

"While you and your chew toy were off galavanting around, there was a major breach in security."

Victus continued his scan, picking out dozens of potential threats and dismissing them one by one. He heard what his employer was saying, but he attached little importance to it. If The negin were overreacting, it would hardly be for the first time. With his usual economy of words, Victus asked, "What happened?"

"Percy's dead."

"That caught your attention," Mal smirked when Victus finally stopped his scanning and paid him his full, or at least greater, attention.

Lucas acted as surprised as Victus did not. "How?"

"Don't bother acting surprised, Lucas," Mal's voice went cold. "You're the only person on board who has a grudge against him, and you're the only one who was missing when he was killed. Where were you two hours ago?"

Lucas was unconcerned. "I wasn't missing, I was playing darts with another passenger. In fact," he remembered, "from where I was standing, I was probably closer to you than Victus was. And I had at least two security cameras pointed at me the whole time." He shrugged. "Check them if you want."

"I plan on it. As far as I know I have a killer in my midst, with only one man standing between myself and certain death." The theatrical sneer on the negin's lips was strictly for show. They all knew that Lucas would not have killed the negin's trained attack dog without having mapped out an escape plan far in advance.

Victus put a handpaw on Lucas's shoulder to calm his outburst "What happened? To Percy, not to you." he said, clarifying his question.

"Poison. About a half-hour ago. Max is checking the tapes for anything odd." He arched his eyebrow at Victus. "You don't seem particularly worried."

"I'm not," Victus said, honestly. "I have been assigned to keep you alive and alive you are. The security of house Mal is Max's concern, not mine. I'm not nearly as concerned that there was a breach as I am that this is the first I'm hearing about it.

Mal pursed his cherubic lips in annoyance. "Explain."

Victus was back to scanning. "The fact that you're alive right now means that you weren't the target in the first place, so you're safe. Not that it matters," he added, "but Percy's under lock and key, so this had to be an inside job."

"I don't care where the threat came came from, I want it DEAD," the negin said. "As you persist in reminding me, I am still alive. And quite frankly, I didn't like Percy all that much to begin with."

Victus began slowly pacing back and forth as he spoke, the only sign he ever gave of being agitated. He all but ignored the negin's remarks. "That Max didn't include me in the discussion tells me that either he's stopped taking me seriously or he was actively involved in the breach. Either one is cause for concern.

"What should be a bigger cause for concern for you is the fact that I'm now short one fighter," the negin said, trying to capture Victus' interest.

"Why should that..." Victus saw the negin playing with the remote control to Lucas's slave collar and shut his mouth with an audible snap.

"No way," Lucas growled, realization dawning over him as he divined Mal's meaning. "No fucking way." He shook his head as if he had any choice in the decision. "Don't I have any say in this?"

Victus narrowed his eyes by the barest fraction and wished that Lucas wouldn't react this way. It only set up a contest which the negin would end up winning.

"Certainly you have a choice, slave Lucas. You always have a choice. You can oppose me and die right now, or you can fight for the glory and honor of your house in the ring, and most likely win. Besides," he added smugly, "it's in your contract."

"You and your fucking contracts," Lucas spat. "Unless I'm winning my freedom, I don't really give a shit. And am I winning my freedom, here?" He already knew what the answer would be.

"Heavens no," the negin chuckled, with the first honest mirth Victus could remember hearing from him the entire trip. "but you can win your life," he smirked. "What little that's worth."

Lucas made a fast scan of the suite and, seeing that nothing had changed and there were no detectable threats, stomped into the room he shared with his mate. Victus waited until the echoes of his exit had faded before he spoke. "You could make him into a powerful ally, if you would make the choice to build him up instead of tearing him down. Making him feel like a helpless pawn isn't advantageous."

"I should manipulate him, you mean?" Mal observed. "The way you do?"

Victus was caught off guard by this. Although he very much wanted to protest, he thought back to the few writings that Negin Mal had quoted in the past. All of them had been rooted in a transactional style and he kicked himself for not realizing how all these pieces were fitting together. The man's choice of economic philosophies, his obsession with contracts, his almost paranoid fear that someone would get the better of him... all were elements now laid out on a table before him. This last little nugget was the key to unlocking the mystery.

The negin, Victus realized, sincerely thought of love not as the giving of one's self in an act of homage, but as just another in a long series of transactions. I do this for you in expectation that you will do this for me. Suddenly, Victus felt pity for this repulsive man who had managed to make the puzzle pieces of his life fit, but only by hammering them into place instead of gently placing them. Of course his resulting picture of the world was distorted; the pieces weren't where they belonged.

When viewed from that twisted perspective, Victus had to admit that he was indeed manipulating Lucas to get something he wanted. The only difference was that in Victus' case, Lucas was getting something that he wanted as well. Knowing that Negin Rudex Mal could reduce something as powerful as love down to the same importance as just another business deal was downright unsettling.

"So what will this change of plans cost me, Kenzine? Where you and I are concerned."

Victus shrugged. "It makes no difference." Walking over to where the negen was sitting, he picked up the carafe of wine and gave it a careful sniff. "Per the terms of my contract I will see to it that you stay alive. What you do with your life is your own concern." He put the jug down in the precise spot from which he'd picked it up. "This would be better for you without the alcohol in it," he advised, "and would probably taste better as well."

"Yet another of your most helpful suggestions, which i shall feel free to ignore," the negin said, blithely. He waved a beefy hand at the door to their suite. "Send Maria in on your way out, Kenzine."

Victus gave a bow that was far too shallow for propriety, and wrote himself a mental note to discard that habit once he was finally free of this onerous contract.