Diell Breaker (LGBT- Sci-Fi - Romance)

Chapter 5

Chapter 5 

By the time the Diell accompanied the Voyager on its return journey to Fayruz a fortnight later, Petrov felt as if he was finally fitting into his new ship.  

The Captain had stopped monitoring him so closely, although he still caught him staring from time to time when he thought no-one was watching. For some reason he couldn't fathom, Farrell had decided he was his favourite new sparring partner and he found himself called over for a match at least once a week. He couldn't decide whether it was meant to encourage him or to keep him in his place. Maybe the Captain just liked hitting oms. He had to admit his fighting skills were improving though with the constant workouts so he did his best to comply with a smile.  

It was funny that Shehu seemed more bothered by the Captain's picking on him than he did. Almost as if he was jealous of his attention, haha! Yeah, right. His chess was improving too for that matter, as they played a game or two most nights now. 

He and Nguyen were looking forward to doing some hiking this time while they were on Fayruz. 

"Captain says we should have a couple of extra days this time," Nguyen told him happily. "Apparently the Voyager will be taking on some animals for the return trip to Cappella, and it will take a while to adapt the storage units for them. You and I have both got leave for the first free day. Aslanian and Weiss want to come with us if that's all right with you, they're both experienced so they shouldn't slow us down." 

"That's fine, I'm really looking forward to it." A new world, where new species were being discovered every day, where it was quite possible they'd be the only humans who had ever been where they were hiking. It was beyond exciting. 

Both ships arrived in orbit around Fayruz without trouble. No pirates, no technical problems. Petrov was on the first shuttle down this time, helping to greet the new arrivals and escort them to the hall where they would be met by family or friends already on the planet. His next job was to help one of the locals to escort any unmet families to their new home. At this early stage in settlement there was no need for Immigration or Customs as all those details had been addressed before the colonists even boarded the Voyager. 

He was greeting the last group of arrivals for the day when he heard a familiar voice calling his name from the rear of the small crowd. 

"Alexei! Over here!" 

No. It couldn't be! He looked up in dismay to find Rhys beaming at him, pushing his way through the other passengers. He was still frozen in a state of disbelief when Rhys threw his arms around him and kissed him hard on the mouth. "Did you miss me?" 

"What the ...!" Petrov pulled back. "What are you doing here Rhys?" Surely Rhys wasn't one of the colonists, roughing it in the wilderness was hardly his style. 

"I've got a job on the Voyager, as a steward. It's just a month long contract at this stage, I thought it was time to have a break from the All Stars. And when I heard your ship was accompanying us, well, it was the perfect opportunity to see you again." Rhys reached for him, wanting to kiss him a second time, but Petrov held him off. 

"Lieutenant! What are you doing? Who's this?"  

Great. The Captain had seen what was happening and come over to reprimand him. 

Petrov drew in a breath to try and explain but Rhys jumped in ahead of him. 

"I'm Rhys, and you are?" He turned and saw the Captain more clearly. "Wow!" 

Petrov flushed with embarrassment. "This is Captain Farrell, Rhys, the Diell's Captain." Just in case Rhys hadn't realised who he was trying to hit on. 

He turned back to the Captain, ready to intervene to stop Rhys being pummelled into the ground. But the Captain was laughing. 

Petrov stared in sheer amazement. He had never heard the Captain laugh before, not once. He should do it more often, he looked like a different man. 

Rhys took the opportunity to put his arm around Alexei's shoulders, "Can you believe he dumped me?" he asked the Captain, smiling. He looked amazing, his blond hair was shiny, long enough now to cover his ears, and he looked as if he had been working out. His vivid blue eyes were fixed on the Captain as if he was hanging on his every word. If Petrov had still been his lover his hackles would have stood straight up. As it was, he felt a sharp pang of jealousy, but not over Rhys. Over the Captain. And how messed up was that? Farrell was the last person in the world he was ever going to have any sort of a relationship with, other than his punching bag of course, and yet he hated that Rhys was making him laugh, getting his attention.  

The Captain smiled again at Rhys, nodded coolly at Petrov and walked away. Rhys followed him with his eyes until he was out of sight. 

"He's straight, idiot!" said Petrov crossly. For someone who was supposedly seeking a reconciliation Rhys was failing miserably on all counts. 

"Is he? Nobody's really straight," Rhys said with an annoying smile. 

XXX 

Back on the Diell that evening, Petrov was still feeling unsettled by his encounter with Rhys. Rhys had wanted them to go to the new, and for that matter only, bar for a drink or two that night but he hadn't been able to get the additional time off. He was pretty sure Rhys was after more than a drink and he couldn't decide whether he was disappointed or relieved that he couldn't go. He kept telling himself he'd be an idiot to get involved with him again. He knew that whatever Rhys said, nothing would be different.  

He was scheduled to go hiking with Nguyen and the others tomorrow and he didn't want to pull out of that. Perhaps he and Rhys could meet up afterwards, in the evening, but ... 

"Something bothering you?" Shehu broke into his thoughts. "That's checkmate, again." 

"Sorry, it's just that I ran into someone I, uh, knew, down on Fayruz," Petrov explained apologetically, looking up.  

He and Shehu were on standby for the night, just in case anything happened on board that needed an officer's attention. In a while, they would take turns to catch some sleep. They were not expecting to be needed, after all the ship was basically parked in the sky, most of the crew having a break on the planet.  

"A friend?" 

"Not exactly." 

Shehu continued to look enquiringly at him. 

"An ex-lover actually," Petrov confessed, watching to see if that made the other man draw back. Since Shehu had found out he was an om, and run screaming in the opposite direction for a couple of days, they had gradually resumed their friendship, but they had never talked about his sexuality.  

"Ah." Shehu looked down. But then he looked up again, meeting Petrov's gaze. "So are you, uh, going to get back together then?" 

"No, I don't think so," Alexei found the words coming out of his mouth before he realised he had actually made a decision. "Last time around, hurt too much." 

"That's good then!" Shehu announced firmly. "That you're not getting back together again I mean," he hastened to add as he realised he might have been misunderstood. They were still looking at each other, concerned sepia-brown eyes meeting warm bronze eyes, suddenly questioning. Shehu dropped his gaze immediately and stared down at his hands, briskly rearranging the chess pieces. "So, one more game then?"