********** Victoria's eyes fluttered open all of a sudden. As she looked around the room, she felt that some how Tara was hurt. Victoria crawled out of bed quietly but fast and poked her head out of her quarters. She didn't know what or who was out there with Tara but she had to do something! But there was a problem, would she go check it out herself or disturb Topaz? Debating between the choices, she slipped out of her quarters to wake up Topaz. ********** Topaz awoke at the first knock although a couple of tentative raps sounded after the first. Topaz's weapon came naturally into his hand. He walked to the door, looked at the view plate and opened the door. He look at the young woman standing in the hall. He lowered his weapon to his side. "I'm sorry," she said, "I didn't want to wake you but Tara's gone..." Topaz's faced hardened into a mixture of stern readiness and annoyance. "I can feel her... she's in pain," Victoria continued. "Wait here," Topaz said, and the door closed. In his room Topaz muttered to him self as he pulled his combat gear on. "I will never know what possess me to take these jobs..." All of Topaz's gear was laid out in easy reach and in under 2 minutes he was dressed in his working rig. He was pulling his black duster on over his weapons as he opened the door. "Follow me," Topaz said, and walked off down the hall. As he walked he keyed his internal comm set and accessed the special routines he had set up on the ships central systems. He sent a couple of commands to his system:. He got a response from the system, "Primary location, Gym room 5647. Orders to ship's personal relayed, primary to be stopped and held." Topaz had increased the volume on his comm so Victoria could hear the response form the system. "She's in the gym, come on..." Topaz walked off down the hall. ********** Victoria looked at her master as they entered the gym. She wondered if Tara was really hurt, or if it was a figment of her imagination. What got her was that, she didn't see any blood or anything that resembled an injury. After a couple of moments she felt dumb for disturbing Topaz. After all, Tara looked alright to Victoria. "Tara are you alright?" She questioned the older woman. ********** Tara sat, leaning against the wall. Her wound, now bandaged. Victoria's soft, unsure voice floated into her conscioussness. Inwardly, Tara groaned. She had no desire to be put under Topaz's scrutiny or to answer questions. She knew, that this was not a possiblity. They were there and she must deal with it. She stood and smiled at the young girl. "I am fine Victoria." ********** Topaz sweapt the room with his weapon quickly. Seeing no one else in room he holstered his gun and walked over to Tara. "What happened?" he asked. He began to run his hands over her checking for other wounds. "Nothing," Tara replied. Topaz looked Tara in the eye, she sighed, "I was training, it got away from me." Topaz continued to look at her, but she refused to say more, despite his glare. "Fine," he said. He reached under his coat and pulled a small field med kit from an inside pocket. He quickly opened it, and removed a pair of shears. He cut the dressing away from Tara's mid-section and examined the wound. It was deep but not too serious, some form of energy weapon, probably from several of the training drones. Topaz pulled a small bottle from the kit, popped the top cap off and squirted a blue jel onto the wound. Tara tensed as the antiseptic stung the wound. It was her turn to glare back at Topaz but he paid no attention to her look. Topaz quickly re-dressed the wound. Once he was done, he rolled the kit back up and returned it to it's pocket. He stood and looked at Tara. "What are your plans for the rest of the night?" She shot him a sideways glance. Fighting the sarcastic response forming in her mind. It wasn't him she was upset with. Tara forced herself to smile, "Well," she laughed, "It seems I have a bit of a mess to clean up in here." Tara glanced around the room. Then realized she had not called for either Topaz or Victoria, "How did....What are you doing here?" She looked between them, trying to determine exactly *how* they knew she had been hurt. Topaz turned his head to look at Victoria, he waited for her to answer the question. Victoria glanced down quickly, then back up. Pushing back a locket of her auburn hair behind her ear, she spoke, " It was...me," Looking at Tara she quickly added, "Well, I just felt something...like you were hurt and well...I went to get Topaz because I didn't know what was out here," Victoria paused once more. " And well...the rest you know." The girl stared down at the ship's floor. She wondered if she was in trouble or if Tara was just asking a simple question. Tara nodded considering Victoria's words."Victoria," She said gently, "you and I are closely connected now. At tiems we will share each he paused watching Victoria's reactions. The young girl was still confused and uncertain. Tara smiled slightly, "ou did the right thing under the circumstances Victoria." Tara glanced up at Topaz expecting him to reinforce her words. "Yes, you did," Topaz said. "You are always better off saying something if you feel there is something wrong, than not." It was close to being the most words Victoria had heard Topaz say since she had first met him. Topaz returned his gaze to Tara, he knew full well that she would not have called him, and probably would have kept this from him. He held her gaze... She met his gaze eaily and steadily. She continued to meet it while she spoke, "It was my fault Victoria. I should have made certain you would not receive any potential feedback from our link. Why don't you go back to sleep, you have had a long day." Victoria hesitated but merely nodded and left. She went to lay down in the pitch black quarters, to snuggle under the covers. She thought about the way she felt Tara in pain. Talk about an eye opener. The young girl tried hard to calm her mind, but it was exciting that she knew when Tara was hurt. She yawned tiredly and turned onto her right side. Panicky thoughts raced through her head. Since Tara knew that she could feel the woman's pain in the gym, would she do something to Victoria. 'No, she won't, calm down Victoria she isn't your father nor Octavia...remeber she doesn't talk to thin air' She reassured herself, and fell to sleep quietly. To Be continued...
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