KATIOUSHA

"Mother!" Captain Laylia Iriza looked up from her paperwork as her eldest daughter stormed into the room.

"What can I do for you, Katia?" The young woman slammed her hand down on her mother's desk, leaving a note there.

"Whose idea was this?" Iriza glanced at the paper, recognizing the childish scrawl at once.

"Ah. It was his, actually. He volunteered without my prompting. He said that you would be able to find him easily and that he could take care of himself." Katia stood there a moment, speechless.

"But… but he could have warned me. He shouldn't go running into danger all alone like that!" Iriza smiled.

"Kitten, how do you think I feel when you children go out on missions? Or when your father did? I never kept him from his work. Gellan probably didn't tell you in person because he can't say no to you. You are the best team we have to finding these slavers without bloodshed. You can find him anywhere and he can survive anything." The mercenary nodded, trying to hide her misery. The captain reached out to squeeze her daughter's hand. "He'll be fine. He's a strong little kid. Now, the slavers are going to be passing through Jupiter Station. Your job is to go catch them with as little bloodshed as possible. None is preferable. You get your share of the price of whatever cargo or spare parts there are, excluding slaves. Company gets the ship, so there won't be a cut into the loot. However the pay you'll be getting from Jupiter Station will be taxed the regular 10 for family, 5 for staff. You're the person directly responsible to Jupiter Security since they already know you. You have your pick of berserkers and regulars. Keep it under ten people. Any questions?" Somewhere along the line, the young mercenary had reverted to a parade rest position in front of her mother's desk.

"Yes, ma'am. What's the pay from Jupiter?"

"10 creds each per live slaver, plus a 200 cred bonus to share if they can track and destroy the organization due to information we retrieve."

"And for Gellan?"

"Danger fee applies for his part of the job, don't worry. I think that's what attracted him. Your birthday's coming up, after all." Katia mulled this over. She hated it when he did little things like that. She wouldn't be able to sleep until he was back safe in her arms.

"Is that all, ma'am?"

"Yes, that's all. Your team leaves tonight. Dismissed."

"Aw, cheer up, Krazy Kat." Katia was staring at nothing, curled up in her bunk on the transport to Jupiter. Across the hall from her, her best friend was lying on her own tiny bunk, curled in her berserker's arms. "We'll find him soon enough."

"Easy for you to say. You have Orson next to you where you can keep an eye on him. He's not a slave waiting for rescue on some dingy ship."

"True enough " Ginger patted the arm wrapped around her waist. "But at least you're sure he'll be glad to see you. My boyo here's less emotional than a rock." Katia laughed at that. The conflict between sharp, temperamental Ginger and her emotionless berserker was a well known one.

"True." She wrapped her arms around herself, still thinking about poor Gellan, all alone and probably afraid. Ginger grinned back, making a little squeak as the muscular arm tightened. Orson muttered something into his touchstone's ear, making her giggle. Katia watched them and sighed. Her arms tightened around herself.

Two days later, she was leaning against the hard metal wall of Jupiter Station's crowded starport. Ginger, Orson and the rest of her people were scattered in the crowd. Twenty-odd ships had docked since they had arrived, but not one was the right one. All they had brought were more and more people to jostle the bored mercs and annoy Katia. A slight brush against her mind, a touch of foreign, yet familiar emotions, alerted her. Her eyes narrowed as she pushed away from the wall, stalking to the dock. In the crowd, the others saw her and followed like a hungry wolf pack. They took up positions far enough to look casual, but close enough to lend a helping hand if needed. She set herself up behind the customs officer, dismissing the regular guard there. She waited for the captain of the offending vessel to exit. She fiddled with her favourite dagger, whistling a simple little tune. The merchant shot her a covert glance as he approached, then tried to look untroubled. She smiled at him, but her berserker nature shone through her eyes. "It gets annoying, doesn't it?" He gave her a startled look, not expecting her to speak. "It gets stuck in your head and won't let go. And he sings it over and over and over…"

"What are you talking about?" He was the picture of a harassed merchant. He handed the officer his ID bar. "We're headed for Sedna."

"Cargo?"

"Katiousha." Katia's interruption didn't even make the officer blink. "He's obsessed with that song."

"Foodstuffs. What are you going on about?" Katia grinned, reaching over to clasp the man's shoulder. The knife had stilled in her other hand.

"Did you hit him for singing? I you did, I might have to hurt you. Hi. I'm Katiousha."

"Officer, what in God's name is this woman doing? Harassing honest people like this is against the law!"

"If you're so honest, then you won't mind too much if we search your ship, will you?" She grinned, inching closer. "I've missed him and want him back." Her people dispersed, going to search the ship.

"No, you may not! Not until I see a warrant!" Katia's grin grew wider and she turned him around, her arm around his shoulders.

"Don't need one, we ain't cops. You can take it up with Captain Iriza if you don't like it." She shoved the man into his ship. There was a dull ringing sound as he hit it, followed by a groan. She grabbed him again, pushing him along. "I wouldn't try anything stupid, boyo. Berserkers can get very nasty without their touchstones." He made a little sound in his throat, but stopped struggling. It could have been because of the threat, but the very big and broad shouldered Orson toting a rather large gun probably played the biggest part in this.

"Ginger and the others are dealing with the crew." His voice was strangely soft for such a big man. It was also too calm, hiding the roiling rage of a berserker with little control.

"Ah ty pesnya pesenka devichia." She smiled. He had such a lovely tenor. Too bad he wasted it on such an annoying song. She slammed the slaver's hand into the print scanner to open the compartment. The door slid open, allowing her to hear the song more clearly. "I Boitsou na dalniem pagranichie. At Katouchi peredai priviet. »

"Priviet, Gel-love." He was sitting in a corner, his arms hugging his knees to his chest and singing. He stopped when he heard her voice. Around him were children, all younger and more frightened than him.They were all wearing the clothes that they had probably been stolen in, all in various states of cleanliness and disrepair. Gellan smiled up at her, getting to his feet. He had a purple bruise the size of a man's fist on his left cheekbone that melded in with his black eye. He limped as fast as he could over to Katia. She tossed the slaver over to Orson, catching Gellan. She held him, a tender smile on her face as she stroked his jaw gently. His own smile was skewed by a split lip.

"Told 'em you'd come." Love pride and warmth radiated in her mind. Ah, the joys of an empath lover. She closed her eyes, letting him play in her mind a bit. He cuddled close, then turned to the children. "T's ok. My Katia." He looked up at her with adoration. There was hope in their eyes. What had he been saying about her? She had a feeling that she didn't want to know. One of the braver children went up to Orson, looking up at the impassive man as he held the slaver smashed against a wall. Katia tapped a link on her comm.. bracelet.

"Jupiter Security? This is Katia Dannon. We've found the… cargo. They're very young, be gentle with them. You can come on in."

"Confirmed. Moving in." Katia cut the link then turned her attention back to the young man in her arms. "You gave me quite a fright, kiddo." She stroked his dirty hair. "You shouldn't have run off like that." He shrugged and leaned into her.

"You wouldn'a liked it. An' I wan'ed t'go." She raised an eyebrow.

"The danger pay?" He cringed a bit at the disapproving note in her voice, pressing closer.

"'M sorry. Pay's good. An' wasn' too dang'rous. You'd come. An' I'd be 'k. Dun be mad?" She sighed.

"I'm not mad, sweetling. Just a little upset. I don't like it when you disappear. I worry." She grimaced. "Besides, it took me an hour to read that godforsaken note. Your spelling is awful and your handwriting worse. Next time, leave a message with someone. That way, I can also kill the messenger." Gellan snickered. She got a mental image of her throttling Brian. She laughed. "you wouldn't. You little sneak."

"Safe," he sighed with content, He radiated the feeling at her. She cuddled him a bit before disengaging herself. She wrapped his arm around her shoulders, placing hers around his waist.

"And we're going where it's safer. We have to take care of these hurts of yours. And the kids'." He nodded, leaning on her to limp to the door.

"Prima, don't move him," an annoyed voice ordered from the doorway. Marion Dannon had been one of the ones chosen to come with her cousin, for the simple reason that she was a very good Healer. She was now going around, taking care of the former slaves. "Sit over there and wait." Katia helped Gellan over to the cargo container as a few more green-clad Healers from the station's staff joined them. Her comm. Bracelet chirped at her. She opened the channel.

"Yeah?"

"Krazy Kat? We've secured the bridge. We have the crew holed up in the captain's lounge. Do we let Jupiter Security deal with them or can we borrow Orson to keep them quiet?" Ginger sounded cheerful. Katia looked over at the calm berserker.

"Minute. Orson, wanna go?" He nodded. "He's on his way, Gin. Just remember, play it soft. We don't want any dead. Just cooperative." One of the Healers was looking over Gellan's injuries. He relaxed as the pain receded and sent a mental wave of gratitude at the Healer. "Oh and Gin, any casualties?"

"Nope! We cut through them nice and easy. Of course, we had Kara around to tell us where they were."

"Ok. See ya later." She cut the link, ringing up Jupiter Security.

"Hello, dudes and dudettes. Just to tell you that the quarry has been run to ground. I'm letting one of my tame berserkers scare them into submission, but you can pick them up in the captain's lounge."

"Acknowledged. Any casualties?"

"That's a negative. Although there might be just one here. He hurt my touchstone, you see, and I'm not the forgiving type."

"Don'!" Gellan shook his head. The bruises were already gone, thanks to the Healer. "Information."

"Oops, my bad. He has information. I'll deliver him. Gift wrapped with string. I can't guarantee what shape he'll be in, but he'll be singing like a song bird. His alternative is eternity with me. I have contacts with a necromancer who can prolong my fun." She grinned at the terrified slaver.

"Good work." The man on the other end seemed a bit freaked out at her tone. "You'll be getting your pay as soon as we have the people. Jupiter out." She leaned back, watching the slaver.

"Gel-love, want to work him over?" The young man nodded, a positively evil glint lighting up his eyes. "Ok, let's get him away from young eyes and ears." They left, dragging the poor man behind them screaming and protesting. Katia smiled, one arm around Gellan. His feelings of contentment radiated into her mind. This is what happiness felt like.