Pulsing, swirling, it hurtled through the vast emptiness of space,
forever seeking. Eternally asking questions without form, seeking
answers to inquiries it had not yet formulated. A ball of purest
energy fed by self determined inclination. From the vast stores of
knowledge it had gleaned over countless ages it still knew so little.
It did not know where it had come from. It did not know if it was
alone. And it did not know how long it had sought.

Its form was transient, manifesting in a swirl of green and white
electricity curled around itself.

As it drifted it began to detect that it was no longer alone. Sharp
tingles of awareness rippled through its charged form. It was large,
this coming thing. Different in some way. Another life form. But size
was irrelevant.

An echo of familiar loneliness teased through its awareness. Not only
one being, but four... no five. The fifth... the fifth did not suffer
the ache of loneliness.

Spurred on by insatiable curiosity she moved to the being. One being
carrying the other four within itself. Odd. Delightful. She needed to
know...

***************************

"I'm sorry, Stan, but I just can't." Xev's tone was frustrated. Her
anger was directed at Stan's unrelenting pleading and her own
unwillingness to comply. She ducked her fiery head and closed her
eyes, drawing in a deep breath in an effort to calm herself. When she
looked up again it did not help matters to find Stan's gaze firmly
affixed to her chest.

"STAN!"

"What?" He blinked and jumped, astonishment on his plain features.
Apparently he had been unaware of his visual groping.

"She said no, again, half-wit. Please feel free to launch yourself
from an airlock in a fit of despondent anguish." 790's digital grin
did not help matters.

Xev shifted the robotic head from the crook of her arm to balance on
her hip.

"I think... I need to be alone right now." She tilted her head to the
side.

"You heard her. Scram." The voice rose from her hip.

"I meant completely alone." She shoved the metallic head at Stan, who
reflexively caught it up.

"NO! What are you doing, mistress of my desires? Don't leave me with
this waste of a body! I'll be quiet as a mouse. You won't even know
I'm around!"

"Because you won't be. Play nice, 790."

Xev started to move past Stan, deeper into the internal structure of
the Lexx when something moved through the wall. A pulsing ball of
green energy blindsided her. In a flash of brilliant light charged
with electricity it disappeared and Xev was thrown against the wall.
She slumped to the
floor, her eyes closed and body twitching.

"XEV!" Both Stanley and 790 called out in tandem.

Stan dropped the robot and rushed to the fallen woman's side. "Xev,
can you hear me?" He reached to check for a pulse but received an
electrical shock when he touched her and jerked his hand away.

"What do we do?" He looked helplessly at 790, desperate enough to
seek answers even there.

"We help her, idiot!" Digital eyes narrowed.

Stanley stood up once more and, in a disappearing flash of red
jumpsuit, took off down the hall.

"Come back here, Tweedle, you coward!" 790's eyes looked around,
seeing nothing but organic walls and the slumped form of his beloved,
still suffering muscle twitches. "Hands. Hands. The Lexx for some
hands!" He wailed from his useless position.

Moments later Stanley rushed back, followed by Kai at a less hurried
gait. The black garbed assassin went to one knee and looked over Xev
impassively.

"It moved right through the wall and hit her. I don't know where it
went, but it did something to her." Stan was talking rapidly, his
fear spurring his words.

"At last, someone with a brain!" 790's eyes looked up at the
assassin. "Don't just kneel there. Help her!"

"The muscle spasms are indicative of an electrical shock." Kai
announced in a smooth baritone. He leaned forward, cocking his head
over Xev's chest, apparently listening. His ever present lock of
dangling black hair brushed across her skin. "Her heart is still
beating, but the rhythm is irregular. It would be best if we set 790
up to run a diagnostic."

"Yes, yes, YES!" The head was shouting now.

Kai reached for Xev's arm, intending to lift her. He did not really
notice the warning shock, or, indeed, the charge that flowed up his
arm. But it was visible to Stan and 790. The crackling green energy
snaked up his arm and enveloped his body. He collapsed on top of Xev.

"Now what!?!" Stan shifted his weight from foot to foot. If whatever
happened here was enough to down Kai, he was not about to touch
either of them.

****************************************

Xev sat on a pile of rocks beside a placid lake. The air was full of
rich scents. Earthy loam mingled with the green aroma of growing
things. The sweet perfume of wild flowers drifting along with the
scent of mud and water. The little girl next to her looked out over
the water, her green eyes wide with wonder.

"Did you see someplace like this, or just dream of it?" The child's
blonde hair moved with the gentle breeze.

"I dreamed it, I think." Xev frowned. She couldn't recall. She didn't
remember how long she had been talking with the child. Days it seemed.

"Why is the sky so blue?" The little girl spun around in delight.

Xev shrugged. "Something to do with light and the atmosphere. Bri,
where are my friends?"

Every time she asked the question the child just stared at her, a
knowing look in her eyes. However, no answer was forthcoming, no
matter how often she asked. She wondered if this was the frustration
Stan felt with her. No. She always gave Stan an answer, just not the
one he wanted.

"What do you eat? What does it taste like?" The child, Bri, flopped
down cross legged on a rock.

"All sorts of things. But lately a green paste that provides all my
nutritional needs. What do you eat?" Xev thought the child was
adorable, if infuriating.

"The energy output of the stars." The child looked up at her
seriously. "Why do you feel alone? There are others of your kind all
around."

Xev blinked. How did this kid know how she felt? "I don't feel
alone." Her denial held a degree of petulance.

"I'm alone." The child looked out over the lake. "I think I'm the
only one of my kind. Tell me of your social structure."

Xev felt a tug of sympathy for Bri. The girl's eerie, pupil-less eyes
reflected a depth of sorrow such as she had never seen before.

"Do you mean family units or government? Because I'm not the one to
ask about either." Xev sighed.

"Why is the grass green?" The child ran a hand over a patch of the
substance in question. Her questions were endless and without any
discernable direction or logic.

"A process called photosynthesis," a deep voice said from behind her.
"Chloroplasts in plant cells contain the green pigment called
chlorophyll which traps the light energy."

Xev spun around in surprise to find Kai standing at the edge of the
forest.

His dark gaze moved over their surroundings. "This is not real."

Bri shrugged. "Real enough." She looked at him with equal calm. "I
can make it more so for you."

With those words Kai turned and closed his eyes. His pale face turned
up slightly. "I... I feel a breeze."

"Yes." Bri smiled. "It's simply a matter of firing neurons in the
proper sequence. You are a bit more difficult than Xev was. You're
different." Bri frowned. "What are you?"

"I am dead." Kai's green eyes snapped open and regarded Bri. "You are
a being of energy. What have you done to Xev?"

Xev stood. "What do you mean? What's going on here, Kai?"

"You are unconscious aboard Lexx. Your heart rate is irregular and
you display symptoms of electrical shock. It is her doing." He looked
back to Bri.

"I would not harm her. I am monitoring her system. Levels are within
acceptable ranges. As for you... I couldn't harm you if I wished to,
I think." Bri reached down and plucked a small blue flower. "What do
you call this form of flora?"

"You will release us immediately." Kai grabbed the child's shoulder.

Energy crackled and sizzled. Kai pulled back his hand and stared,
dumbfounded, at his palm. Wonder painted his delicate features as the
perception of pain infiltrated his mind. The skin of his hand, where
he had touched her, tingled with sensation.  It burned, stung, yet it
felt... alive.

"I said I couldn't harm you. I didn't say I couldn't hurt you. You
are able to feel the breeze, as well as other such tactile senses
because I have connected that portion of your neural net within the
constraints of this part of your subconscience. I don't like doing
that, so please don't threaten me again." Her smile was all sweet
innocence.

"Why are you doing this, Bri?" Xev was suddenly angry that this
seeming child would dare to make any form of attack on Kai. Not that
he couldn't handle himself, but because her cluster lizard side
perceived it as a challenge.

"I am curious. I want to learn. You were here, so I will learn from
you." The child shrugged. "Direct questions have been a pleasant way
to interact with you. I am very alone. But it is a slow process. I
think I'll go a more direct route. Until I am done, feel free to use
this place I have created from your own mind or minds." Bri smiled
sweetly and waggled her finger at them before
transforming into a glowing green butterfly. She flew off into the
wood.

"What do we do now?" Xev looked to Kai. "Can you really feel?"

"Yes. It is most... interesting." He reached out to touch the rough
bark of a tree. "It is... pleasant. Which also indicates the being
you know as Bri has done more than tamper with my neural network."

"What do you mean? She said this was part of my... or our...
subconscious. You said this isn't real." Xev frowned for a moment,
then looked slyly at Kai, her eyes running over his form. This had
definite possibilities.

"It is real inasmuch as we make it so." He crouched and plucked a
leaf from the forest floor, running his fingers over its cool
smoothness, savoring the sensation.

"What's *that* supposed to mean?" Xev felt her patience draining
away.

"This reality can effect us only as much as we believe in it. If you
were cut here, and believed in the injury, it would manifest on your
true form. Mind over matter." He stood and strode with wolflike grace
to the lake. Crouching again, he ran his fingers through the water.

"If we are trapped in our own minds... how come we're talking?" Xev
had to smile, watching him test and try his newfound ability to feel.

"I can only assume the entity has linked us somehow." He looked up,
enjoying the warmth of the sunlight on his face even as he felt the
cold wetness around his fingers.

Xev nodded then crouched beside him. "So we're trapped until she lets
us go?"

"Unless Stanley and 790 can figure out a way to drive her out." Kai
stood and looked up and down the edge of the lake.

"Right," Xev paused, "so we're trapped."

"Yes." He looked down and watched as Xev stood slowly, as graceful as
any dancer.

She took a step toward him so that they stood toe to toe. He looked
at her curiously as she raised her hand and let her fingertips glide
over his satiny lips.

She bit down on her own bottom lip and stifled a moan as her
hyperactive libido immediately jumped into overdrive.

"I do not think that is wise." He looked down, away from her. He
appeared almost shy, though his voice held no hesitation.

"Why not? You said it yourself. This isn't real. But here you can
feel." Xev took his hand and pulled it to her cheek as his gaze
finally moved back to her face. Rubbing against his cool palm she
looked into his eyes, her own already dark with desire. "How do I
feel?"

"Soft. Warm." He cocked his head to the side. "I am still dead, Xev.
The moment the entity has learned what it wants from us we will
return to the conscious world and I will be as I was. I suspect you
believe in this too much."

"I believe in you too much!" she cried. "Can't you let me have this?
A shared dream. Won't you at least give me that much?"

"You will be hurt." He reclaimed his hand. "Even if it were possible
here, you would suffer for it."

"Isn't that my choice to make?" Her vision swam as a haze of unshed
tears shone in her eyes.

He looked out over the lake, noticing for the first time that the sun
did not move in the sky. Time, itself, seemed suspended here. "In the
past your decisions have been... questionable."

Xev's eyes narrowed. "You can be a real jerk, sometimes."

She tried to shove him but he did not budge. However, the move did
appear to return his attention to her. Scowling she decided to try
the other direction. If she couldn't push him...

She grabbed firm hold of his woven top and tugged. She was not sure
if he moved forward or she simply pulled herself into him but she
didn't much care as she pressed her full lips to his cool ones.
Another jolt of desire shot through her, making her tremble slightly.

He neither pulled back nor sought more. He was utterly still as she
leaned further into him, letting him feel her soft body pressed
against him. As she pulled back a bit she felt their lips cling, as
if their skin wanted this as much as she did.

"How did that feel?" She licked her lips and her eyes took in where
she had just kissed. His lips were always so completely kissable.

"Pleasant." He had closed his eyes, acknowledging nothing.

"You said the tree bark was pleasant. I was hoping to rate a little
better than a tree." She traced the line of his jaw with her
fingertips and smiled. "You're trying too hard not to react. I think
you're feeling more than you will admit."

"This is... unwise." His voice deepened at the last word, becoming a
husky rumble.

Were her ears decieving her or had his voice actually dropped a
notch? Her
heart danced with glee.

"Maybe, but if this is my subconscous I plan on living a little." She
pressed a series of soft kisses up his jaw, finding his earlobe she
teased it gently with her teeth.

"I cannot..." He started to protest yet again.

Whatever he was going to say Xev effectively silenced with her mouth.
She used the opportunity of his protest to give him the kiss she had
longed to. His mouth was cool and tasted of dark promises and
untapped passions.

Her ferocity did not exactly surprise him. The feelings that came
with it, however, did. Pleasure, pure and sweet, raced through him
from the point where their mouths met. In his memories it was never
this sharp before, or perhaps the memories had faded. She tasted
sweet, like... what was it? He tried to recall even as the feelings
emenating from the kiss began to dissolve his concentration. Apples,
that was it. Apples and cinnimon. He remembered that flavor now.

She slid her tongue over his, stroking it into wakefulness.
Hesitantly she felt him answer her. A tentative stroke, an
experimental tease. She moaned in delight. Yes, her mind screamed,
just feel.

Almost instantly she found the tables completely turned on her.
Strong arms suddenly  wrapped around her. His mouth began to plunder
hers, and her body thrummed with the heat of erotic excitement. His
mouth, she was drowning in his mouth. Cool yet hungry against hers.
His tongue dueling with hers, the feel of the sweet invasion. She
felt drunk and giddy.

Twining her arms about his neck she deftly unbound his braid, winding
her fingers through the smooth, black silk.

She wanted, no, she needed to be free of her confining clothes. She
needed to touch and be touched without any barriers between them.

She tugged at the collar of his uniform in frustration, wishing she
could
just will their damnable garments away.

Without warning Xev suddenly found herself pressed flesh to flesh
against Kai. She blinked in surprise as the cold metal imbedded it
his chest dug sharply into her breasts. A sudden smile touched her
lips. They were inside her subconscious, therefore her will could
produce results.

Her heart was pounding, her body thrumming. She felt unbelievably
hot, despite her nakedness. Where she pressed against his chill flesh
she felt as if she were burning. The heated kiss was finally broken,
and as she reclaimed her breath she could feel his mouth and tongue
sliding along her throat. She groaned, her knees buckling. He was
tasting her skin.

He wanted more. How long had it been since he had wanted anything? As
he allowed her the luxury of breath Kai felt the need to experience,
to savor more of the exciting sensations Xev was rousing in him. He
had to know what her skin tasted like. A tinge of salt flavored her
own, distinctive, taste. He could feel the tingle of the fine,
invisible hairs that covered her flesh against his lips.  The cool
brush of her fragrant hair against his cheek. It was overwhelming.

The cool fingers of one hand explored the sleek contors of her back
while the other settled firmly along her waist, as if he were trying
to hold her in place.

She almost laughed, did he think she was going anywhere?

Her small, capable hands slid from around his neck, over his
collarbones and down his chest. Manicured nails circled and tormented
his nipples and a soul deep shudder trembled through his body. He
moved back to gaze down at her, his eyes half lidded.

He had always known Xev was beautiful. For the most part he
acknowledged it as he would acknowledge the beauty of a piece of art.
It was a distant thing, known but not truly appriciated. Looking down
at her now, her eyes dark with desire, her face flushed with passion,
her hair in crimson disarray, he could feel her beauty. If he had a
heart he was certain this vision would be etched upon it.

Xev brought her face close to Kai's, her eyes looking into his until
she saw herself reflected back. She could see each strand of color.
His eyes were not merely green, but a hundred little shades of green
blending in a spoked wheel to create the changes of shade based on
mood and emotion, if he ever deigned to feel such. Now his pupils
were open wide and there was wonder there.

"How do I feel now?" She let her breath caress his beautiful face.

"Beyond words." His frank answer sent another wave of heat through
her body. She was going to burn up until nothing but ash remained.

It was nothing less than the truth. Her softness pressed against him
was all encompassing. It stirred his protoblood and demanded of him a
passion he had not felt in so long it was frightening. He felt the
overwhelming need to possess, to consume, to... ravish. He clamped
down on these raging demands with an iron will, promising himself he
would not harm Xev.

She kissed him again. How easily she felt lost in the delicious,
moistness of his mouth. Relishing the slide of his taste buds along
hers.

His elegant hands encircled her neck, then slid between her breasts
and down her stomach. She arched against his questing hand as his
palm brushed over the crisp, damp curls at her apex. As their mouths
devoured each other, his fingers parted her. She cried out and felt
her bones liquify into molten heat.

Gently, he lowered her to the grass. She looked up to take in the
sight of him. Beautiful, there was no other word to fit. He was pale
and as finely sculpted as any work of art. Even the evidence of his
defilement, his eternal curse, held a certain beauty. It was a
contrast of dark and light, yielding flesh and cold machine,  a
symbol of odds overcome.

His long fingers stroked her again and her thighs moved apart to
allow his sweet invasion. She kept from shaking by a force of will
she hadn't known she possessed.

Kai felt her arch up into his palm as his fingers read the braille
that was Xev. This fold spelled 'desire', this one 'need', and this
one... this one 'paradise'. He bent to kiss her once more and
swallowed the little sounds of pleasure purring in her throat,
consuming them. The sounds seemed to feed him, feed his own desire.
He found himself answering her back in the most primitave language of
seduction as she swallowed his own growls.

He slipped a finger into her easily, she was so slick with wanting,
then a second. His thumb found that tiny bundle of nerves that held
the key to her passion. His exquisite fingers pressed and teased,
slid in, then slowly out, only to return as his thumb circled her
once again, urging her to heights of passion she never imagined could
exist.

She is an over-ripe peach in his hand, and the fruit burst. Her body
convulsed suddenly, almost painfully. She seemed to be falling in on
herself, her whole being contracting to that one point of unbearable
pleasure until she imploded. Wave after wave of ecstasy washed over
her, washing her away.

Xev tried to bring her body back into solid form. She felt as if she
had melted, liquified and flowed over Kai's hands. He had done this
to her. His lips, his hands had done this, and she felt weak as the
proverbial kitten in the afterglow.  Somehow, despite the incredible
orgasm she'd just been gifted with she was still hot, still hungry,
still horny for more.

She opened her eyes, trying to regain her sight after the blinding
pleasure, only to look upon Kai, drawing his fingers into his mouth,
his eyes closing, savoring the taste of her. It was one of the most
erotic things she had ever seen.

Kai saw her watching him and did not care. He closed his eyes and
licked his thumb, tasting the salty muskiness, the smoky tang that
sang of Xev's sensuality. Needing more, wanting to savor this zest,
he drew the fingers that had been inside her into his mouth, sucking
clean the juices, letting the flavor explode with all it's richness
in his mouth. His eyes slid lazily open to see Xev squirm at the
sight of him taking so much pleasure in her essence.

Xev reached out and wrapped her fingers delicately around his wrist.
She pulled his fingers from his mouth and draw his hand to her own
lips. Her hot, pink tongue darted out to taste his flesh. She wrapped
her lips around those fingers and twisted her tongue around them. The
smoothness of fingernail, the slight roughness of skin, each texture
was noted against her tongue. She continued to suckle those fingers,
lost in the feeling of having at least something of him inside of
her. She watched his features carefully, trying to gauge his reaction.

He swallowed hard and licked his lips. His eyes were riveted on her
mouth, fascinated by this simple display. He pulled his hand away
with reluctance, knowing if she continued this would be over all too
quickly, that he would loose his precarious control.

She didn't know what he had planned but she was not done playing yet.
She wanted to taste more.

She leaned up on one elbow and nibbled at his throat. His soft gasp
made her stomach flutter. Her teeth closed gently over tendon. He
tasted so good, mysteries and sex and maleness. She loved his flavor.
She craved more. She pressed open-mouthed promises against flesh and
muscle as she moved from his throat to his chest. Where flesh met
metal he tasted clean and sweet, the flavor changing to dispassionate
iron, yet she neglected no part.

His skin tingled, throbbed, came alive with pleasure under her
questing mouth. He found himself loosing his ability to think, to
reason. Everything was being swept away in a world of sensation and
emotion he was too long out of practice to control. He was lost in
the thrill of the moment.

She moved swiftly. Pushing him back and rolling through the grass
until she lay atop him. She made a sound that was half gasp, half
moan at the incredable feel of pressing against him full length. How
could skin so soft be so hard all at the same time? She deliberately
slid her body up his a bit, enjoying the sparks the friction ignited.

Kai rolled back suddenly, gaining the advantage by pressing himself
hard against her entire body. His hands began to roam freely, as if
he couldn't stop himself from touching her, mapping her every dip and
curve. She pulled the pins from his glorious hair and felt the mass
tumble down to caress her face and shoulders.

Her palm trailed down his side, past his hip until she found him with
nimble fingers. She grinned up at him. Something had definately
worked in this strange realm of their minds. It appeared his two
thousand year dry spell had
finally ended. His erection was an impressive sight.

I guess this counts as appriciating it in your mind." Her eyes
glittered
fiercely as she ran her fingers over him. He groaned, low and deep,
and thrust his hips forward. She moaned in response, needing him
inside of  her. Now.

"Do you have any idea what you are doing to me?" His voice was a
rough rumble, shaking with some unidentifiable force. He was amazed
he could form words at all.

"I have an idea. But I know what I'd rather be doing to you." She
gave him a gentle squeeze.

His fingers locked around her wrist and pulled her hand away, then he
released her to run his palm down her thigh, sending little shivers
up her leg. He smiled at her shiver. Tears sprang to her eyes. His
smile was glorious.

He rotated his hips and her hand slipped back to him once more,
guiding him. Then he slid into her, just the slightest bit..  Xev's
arms and legs wrapped around him and pulled him close. Their mutual
embrace slid him home. He was thick and rich and so deep inside her
she could taste him in her soul. It was perfect. It was bliss. She
could have stayed just like this forever. But no, he had other ideas.

He began to move. Slow, lazy, circling movements with his hips. He
ground his pelvis against her. She wept with the perfect pleasure of
it. Feeling his tongue lap up a tear from her cheek she looked up
into the depth of his eyes.

If this was a dream she did not want to awaken.

Xev felt Kai's hand cup her breast and she arched her back, giving
him access. His mouth worked wonders, miracles. He teased her breasts
as he stroked into and out of her, as they stroked together. Both of
them striving for that goal. He nipped and licked and suckled until
the thread of desire was pulled so tight within her Xev feared it
would snap.

And still he filled her. Heavy and hard inside of her. Taking away
that emptiness she had felt ever since she had been programmed for
love. She could feel the veins that ran along him, the coolness of
him as it absorbed her heat, taking her in even as she took in him..
So deep, so deep, clear into
the next dimension of her.

The slow minuet sped up. The cadence become more frenzied. Their
mutual need feeding their efforts. Every deft stroke in rubbed
against Xev's center, pushing her closer and closer. Stars exploded
behind her eyes and a chorus sang. She heard a scream from someplace
far away as her whole body tightened and convulsed. Kai caught her.
His arms moved around her, holding her to him, pressing them so close
together their cells threatened to merge. Then Xev heard a second cry
as a Kai pulsed within her.

Nestling her head in the crook of his neck Xev felt breath reflect
back to her against his skin. Her breathing came in harsh gasps.
Desperate grabs for air as she sought to stay alive in the aftermath
of the heated explosion that had just occurred. She felt Kai's arms
around her as he rolled to the side, taking his weight from her.
Still together.

"I love you." Her voice was muffled against his chest.

"I know, and I am sorry for it." There was a depth of pain to his
words. An aknowledgment to the brevity of this situation.

"I'm not. I won't ever be sorry." The words were a vow.

"Yes, you will." The certainty in his words made her long to weep.

Xev gasped as Bri stepped out of the forest. The smile on the child's
innocent face was radient.

"I have learned much from you both." Bri's voice echoed across the
water. "I hope this was sufficient thanks as well as a learning
experience in itself."

Xev sat up, enraged at the thought that she and Kai had been so used.
She felt her body enveloped, once more, with her clothing as she
willed away her nakedness. Looking at Kai she saw he, too, was
dressed.

"How dare you?" she spat at the alien child.

"I meant no harm." Bri's face fell, her countenance the very aspect
of sorrow. "I will leave you now. I hope you will come to forgive me
in time."

The child seemed to melt in on herself, becoming a ball of green
energy.

"Farewell." Her voice echoed through their shared mindscape.

******************************************

Xev's eyes flew open and she felt a heavy weight across her chest.
Looking about in confusion she realized it was Kai laying across her.

Stanley's voice filled the momentary silence. "Oh, thank goodness. We
were afraid you were dead."

"I am." Kai pushed himself up, sitting back on his heels as he helped
Xev to sit in a more comfortable position.

"Yeah, we know, we know. I meant her." Stan rolled his eyes. "Do you
know what happened?"

"We were hosting an alien entity. The being learned from us what it
wished and departed." Kai did not meet Xev's eyes.

"An alien? Oh, my magnificient love, please let me make sure you're
free of any alien influences." 790 was, as usual, distressed.

"A medical scan would be a good idea." Kai stood.

"Alright. Stop mothering me, already." Xev stood and brushed herself
off, her eyes constantly darting to Kai, trying to acertain if he
remembered anything, if it had been her dream alone.

"It isn't your mother I want to be." 790 purred.

"Do you think there are anymore of those things out there?" Stan
looked about, nerveously.

Xev shivered, a feeling of profound sympathy washing over her. "I
hope so."

Stan shook his head and moved away, apparently fed up with the whole
situation.

"Kai..." Xev touched his arm, refusing to allow him to ignore her.

"It was a dream, Xev. No more." His words reassured her that they had
experienced the same thing, even as his eyes made her run cold. They
were empty. As dispassionate as ever.

He seemed to note her reaction. "And you are hurt. I cannot be more
than I am, Xev." He turned away from her and strode back down the
corridore, heading for the cryobay.

"Am I missing something?" 790 asked as Xev picked him up.

"No. Nothing. Nothing at all." Xev's voice cracked with the burning
emotions lodged in her throat.

She wouldn't be sorry, she swore to herself. Dream or not what had
happened would be cherished. A memory to be pulled out in the darkest
of times and held close to her heart. It would also serve to
concentrait her efforts when she felt like giving up. One day, she
promised herself, one day Kai would live again.

-End