Chapter 9 By Kari and Khadaj

The last two days had Sive on edge, wondering where this attraction she felt for Jason was heading. Should she just let it happen? Or should they sit down and really find out what each was thinking and wanted. If they did get involved, how would that impact their working relationship? These and many more thoughts kept on swirling around in her head.

There was one real concern, were the nanites affecting her... making her react to Jason? It was a legitimate question since she had never had one moment of attraction to anyone in 5 years. And if so, what did it mean? Were their genes compatible? She knew she liked him as a person, but it could very well be much more complicated than mere attraction.

When they had to talk about business, the double meanings, seem to just pop up in the most innocent of conversations. Sive reflected as she remembered seeing both Donny and Zlanta with their knowing smiles. Did everyone on board know what was going on? She shook her head as she went about her duties.

Once they landed on Lacuna, Sive had to cool her heels in the ship while everyone else were able to plant their feet on soil. She knew that Donny was going to attach the altered tracking devise onto some unsuspecting ship. Pacing back and forth, she hoped it went off without a hitch. When she heard the sounds of someone coming on board, Sive assumed it would be Jason heading for the bridge. As she walked in she couldn't keep her emotions in check as she excitedly asked.

“Well? How did it go?”

Jason couldn't help but smile as she swirled onto the bridge, already asking how things went. He took a second to compose himself. She was stuck aboard and that couldn't be easy, especially for someone so young. Once he was pretty sure the smile wouldn't show he swung the comm station's seat around.

"We sold the cargo easy enough. Portmaster says there are two passengers looking for Out-bound ships. Zlanta's bargaining for more cargo, which should tell us where we're going next. Donny and the others are off-ship getting supplies and parts. And hopefully dropping off that tracer."

He looked at her, enjoying the way light played off the lines of her face, the curves of her body. He wondered if that leather top would allow her nipples to show if he caressed them...

He dragged his thoughts away from that idea, but not before his pants grew tighter. He sighed, and refocused on her face.

"I ah...I'm.."

He faltered, blushing.

"I hate to say this...but you might want to find another berth. Ah..."

He reddened again.

"Dammit, this was easy enough when I thought it through earlier."

He took a deep breath and tried again.

"You're a talented young lady, Sive. You have a lot to offer a ship's crew, and if we can get you clear of the hounds you might want to think about finding another ship to serve on. We're a small-time outfit compared to many. Not much chance of getting rich with us. And.. ah, I'm not sure you want to be aboard a ship where the captain's drooling over you every time he sees you."

Jason blushed again.

"Don't get me wrong, Sive. I'm not some maniac out to take anything from you. But...I have been attracted to you for almost as long as you've been aboard. I'm nearly twice your age. I'm comfortable where I'm at and grouchy enough for a couple of guys. I know you've got a lot better prospects out there once you're free to look."

As Sive listened to Jason's little speech, she got angrier and angrier, putting her hands on her hips, she waited for him to finish. By that time her eyes were flashing daggers at him,

“How dare you say this to me, after dangling the proverbial carrot at me? I don't care about getting rich, damn you, I just don't want to be alone anymore. To think I have finally found a place where I could truly belong, and now your saying I shouldn't stay? Damn you! I like everyone on this ship, it's like one big happy or not so happy family...whatever! But this is something I've never had in my entire life.”

By this time she was shouting at him, her face was crimson and her body was shaking. ( He had probably never come across the temper of a true redhead before, which is what she was underneath.) She stopped her tirade for a few seconds, her eyes getting huge.

“Wait, did you say you ....like me? I mean, really like me? I knew it...I just knew it!”

Sighing she calmed down a little bit, slowly walking up to him.

“Jason, I don't care about age differences, it's the chemistry that is important don't you understand?”

She sat down beside him, looking into his eyes before continuing.

“There are things you couldn't possibly know about me, actually no one knows about me.”

Sighing, she looked away from him, taking a big breath Sive looked back into his eyes.

“I have to tell you something which will probably just lead to more questions and you may even run in the opposite direction, once you know everything. But if we are to have any kind of chance you have to know everything... well as much as I know. So here goes... to start with, I have been celibate for the last five years.”

Jason waited out the furious outbreak. He'd half expected it, knowing she'd see this as a rejection no matter how he'd phrased it. Given the flaming hair, he'd actually been prepared for sharp objects being launched at him. His last serious relationship had ended that way. Still, he just had this thing for redheads. Smart ones were even better.

No, what caught him by surprise was the sudden sea-change when his last statements sank in. From furious hellcat to...confession? That had him concerned. Curious as a cat, though. What in the world had kept her celibate all that time? He hadn't been burning up the sheets by any means but he'd had his pipes cleaned once or twice the last couple of years. So...he looked at her thoughtfully.

"Alright, you've piqued my curiousity now that you're done scorching my ears off. I'm glad to know I wasn't losing my touch. I thought I'd picked up some signals from you, but at my age...cute young things don't much bat their eyes at a man like me. Now you're confessing to me. That's concerning, if curious. You've been celibate for a long time, that's what you start with? What could be so bad that you wouldn't even- Never mind. Tell me what you will as you will."

He went over and closed the hatch to the bridge, then turned off the intercom. Now the only interruption would be someone comming the ship from outside. He turned back to her, leaning against the hatch. "Feel free when you're ready."

Oh gods, where to start, Sive looked up at Jason leaning against the hatch. Running her hand through her hair, she got up and started to pace. Finally after long minutes, she replied.

“I may as well start at the beginning, it goes back to my research, with 'The Changeling Effect' I told you about earlier. It involved molecular nanotechnology and gene manipulation.”

Looking at Jason, Sive sighed.

“What I was going for was the ability to change the outward physical appearance of an animal. At first I used lab mice and got very good results, they would change in appearance, mostly in their mating periods.”She continued to pace as she talked.
“My experiments were going along great, but now I needed to go to the next level, to see if this ability could be consciously initiated and controlled.”

Sive stopped, looked at Jason again, wondering if he would now find the rest of her story, too wild to believe.

“So I took a small amount of the gene sample and injected it into myself.”

Not looking at him, she quickly went on.

“At first, I didn't feel any different, then as the weeks went by, I did feel a change internally, but I couldn't describe it to you, let's just say I felt it and leave it at that. From then on I started to try to see if I could change some part of my appearance. I started small by concentrating one on area, my hand, bit by bit I found I could change the color of the skin on my hand. From there I progressed to my entire arm, then legs and body, even my hair color. After that I changed my facial features. It was simply amazing, what I could do with my body. In the beginning, it took time up to an hour, but as my body changed it became easier and much faster.”

Sive was now afraid to look at Jason, thinking she would see horror or fear or the worst...disgust on his face.

Continuing to pace she went on.

“Now, I can change my whole appearance in a fraction of a second. I don't know for sure, but I think I am in the final stage of becoming a true Changeling, if I was in a lab I could assess my condition. As it is I can only evaluate myself by observations.”

Running her hand through her hair again, Sive glanced quickly at Jason, who hadn't moved throughout the entire speech. Swallowing, she looked away again.

“Now for the celibacy part, I don't know if having ...you know sex and exchanging body fluids will transfer some of the genes to my partner. Actually I would be surprised if it didn't.”

She hesitated before looking him straight in the eyes.

“And if it did, he might very well end up eventually a 'Chanegling' like myself.”

Jason listened. The subject itself was interesting, Sive's reaction said something about it was really dangerous. The idea of sleeping with a different woman on occasion without cheating...that had some attraction. The last part was a concern...and oddly enough an attraction as well.

A wry smile flickered across his face. What was it about forbidden fruit? Offer something with no entanglements, free and clear and many people walked on without a thought. Show something, but put a sign up "Don't Touch" and people stopped. Lingered. Touched.

Heavens knew he wanted to touch Sive. Do things to her he'd blush to talk about anywhere else. Comfort her when she was upset, cheer her when she was sad, share her joys and triumphs. Add in the idea of danger and she became nigh irresistible. Now he studied her. Watched her glance at him and away as if afraid to really look at his face. She probably was afraid. She'd just said the Angel was becoming home and he had the power to take that from her.

What she didn't know about him yet is that he wouldn't do that. Oh, he would in a heartbeat if she stole from one of the crew. Or murdered someone in cold blood. Something like that. But this? No, he'd shelter her. Provide room and board in exchange for fair work. And give her room to fly if she wanted, a place to snuggle in if she didn't.

"Hmmm, that's a bit to think about. Is there long-term risk, say like cancer, from this? What equipment do you need to to properly track what effect the genes are having inside you?"

"How can I help?"