Melissa Good - Xena Sci-Fi 1 Partners By Melissa Good

“That's not the point. Take the respect.” Elaine retorted. “Don't be an ass.”

Jess didn't particularly think she was being an ass. There had just been so many people who pitched in, she didn't feel her own role had been that important. But she waited in silence as an officer brought a box up to Alters, and put it on the podium in front of him.

“Oh ho, bet I know what that is.” Jason joked weakly. “Definitely for you Jessie.”

“Crap.” Jess sighed, as she realized what he was talking about. “Shoot me now.”

“In the long tradition of Interforce.” Alters said. “We only have a few.. a really very few physical citations. We mostly like to give you all comforts and bonuses, as you all well know.”

Now everyone was looking back at Jess, as she covered her eyes with one hand, a faint hum of chuckles rising in the room.

'Two of our physical citations are posthumous.” Now Alters was looking across the platforms with the start of a smile. “The third is the oldest, and can only be given to an active member, and it's purpose is to acknowledge not number of enemies destroyed, or successful missions but instead to celebrate the ideals of gallantry, of nobility and the old fashioned notion of heroism.”

“Please tell me this isn't happening.” Jess muttered under her breath. “Someone call an alert.”

“Is.. “ Dev looked profoundly confused. “Something wrong?”

“Oh Jessie. You poor thing.” Jason was leaning against the wall, holding his arm to his side, but grinning at her.

Alters cleared his throat again. “This citation is remembered best for it's first recipient, and though it hasn't been given in at least four generations as it happens today we'll award it to that recipient's direct blood descendant. Jesslyn Drake, please c'mon up here and get this thing.”

Jess wasn't really sure how to react. She could hear the thunderous applause, and feel the hands patting her back and pushing her forward. She got control of her body and shook off the hands, but kept her own grip on Dev. “C'mon. You're coming up there with me if I have to go get it.”

Dev had absolutely no idea what was going on, but she obediently stayed at Jess's side as they climbed up to the top platform amidst the cheering crowd until they were at Alter's side, and he was opening up the box and taking something out of it.

“I know you probably want to kill me.” Alters muttered.

“No one wants to have to live up to this.” Jess muttered back. “It's a millstone.”

“Maybe.” Alters carefully sorted out the bright metal chain and stepped forward. “But I didn't argue with them when they said to give it to ya.”

With a silent sigh, Jess ducked her head and felt the links settle over her neck, as Alters gently laid the medal on her chest. She could see the delicate lattice of the backgound, and the stolid five pointed star, and the ring of letters around the edges of it.

She felt Dev shift and looked over at her, finding her inspecting her new decoration.

“It's pretty.” The bio alt said after a moment. “Why do you think it's incorrect?”

“Tell ya later.” Jess muttered.

“Try to bear up under the horror of it all, Drake.” Alters whispered. “Say thanks, and go and get drunk.” He patted her on the shoulder, then faced the crowd. “People – I give you our history's sixth recipient, and the fourth of the same name, of the Star of Valor.”

With a long exhale, Jess turned and faced the room, accepting the applause and the whistles, and trying not to think about how red her face had to be. She clasped her hands behind her back and waited for the noise to die down, then cleared her throat self-consciously.

All those eyes looking back at her. “So I guess the first rounds on me, huh?” Jess said, before she could really think of what she wanted to say. She let the resulting laughter relax her though, and then felt a touch on her arm that was Dev and that made her relax even more. “I don't think I did anything for this that everyone else here didn't do.” She said. “I just was the unlucky one whose name was on the reports. So thanks.” She considered. “Let's go party.”

Another roar of applause, and then she was free to leave and she did, tugging Dev along with her as she escaped back to the platform and a big mug being held out to her, hands slapping her back, and a big crowd gathering to admire her star.

She would spend the night in self deprecation and hopefully get drunk enough to forget about it. Jess accepted the clink of mugs against hers. Maybe later, though, there'd be a moment for her to look at herself in the mirror with the damn thing on and not feel like such a dork about it.

Maybe.

**

The shuttle docked to station with the usual graceful twisting drift, locking on and grappling with a jostling clang as the ship came into rotation and returned gravity to the people inside the vessel.

“Docking secure. Releasing restraints.” The cold voice echoed softly on comm.

Dan Kurok shouldered his bag, pausing with a grimace to swing the bag to his other shoulder and shake his head as he went to the hatch and waited for the green access light to go on. “Contagious insanity. Must have been. I wasn't consciously that idiotic, was I?”

Why yes, yes he had been.

The light went on, and a chime sounded, and he depressurized the hatch and opened it, getting a puff of clean and engineered air into his lungs as he walked down the passage and into station, into a world of light, and sand colors and space that had once been totally familiar to him but now seemed a little strange.

A little off, his eyes missing the tint of granite, and the smell of salt on the back of his tongue.

“Daniel!” Randall Doss hurried forward, from the small group that was waiting for him just inside the lock. “Thank goodness you're back! I can't begin to tell you all the things awry here! Projects out of scope! Delays!”

“Yes, I'm sure there are.” Doctor Dan felt the variable gravity make his steps a trifle unsteady. “Couldn't be helped though. There were some complications.”

“Oh, I hope not.” Doss looked concerned. “We were so concerned when you told us of the attack there.. and you almost injured! Why, what would we do, Daniel? What would we do without you? I can't begin to imagine the magnitude...wait.. where are you going?”

“Randall.” Kurok faced him. “Please shut up.”

“Aid.. “ He stopped. “Daniel! There's no cause to be rude.”

“There's more cause to be rude than you could possibly imagine.” Doctor Dan said. “Feel free to call any amount of meetings tomorrow to catch things up, but right now I'm just go to go to bed. It's been a long, long, day.”

“Oh.” Doss backed off. “I see.. okay, well, of course. You've just finished a long trip. Absolutely we can catch up tomorrow. But..” He eyed the pale haired man in trepidation. “Was it a success, Daniel? I see you didn't bring the unit back with you.”

Pausing in the act of walking away, Dan Kurok turned again and studied him, then smiled briefly. “Yes.”

Doss sighed in relief. “Oh, that's good to hear.” He said, then paused. “That's an interesting jacket, Daniel. Quite attractive.”

Kurok looked down at the Drake's Bay colors decorating his chest and smiled again. “Small reminder of an old friendship.” He turned and started towards the lift tubes, then stopped again and turned. “We'll need to rearrange the budgets,”

“We will?”

“And the production schedules. I'll need to pull programming teams.” Kurok turned a final time and this time kept walking, leaving Doss's sputtering behind him. “Good night, Randall.” He lifted his hand in a wave. “Night all.”

He walked on alone, crossing the rounded corridors, the soft pops and clicks of the station sounding a bit strange. At the end of the passage way he paused, going to the clear wall of a dome and peering out, seeing the sun start to emerge from the far edge of the cloud covered planet beneath him and wishing for a sudden, intense moment, he was under the atmosphere rather than over it.