Friday´s Shipment

Written for the B7 Friday "Women save the day" challenge

Sentence had not been passed yet, but she knew what the verdict would be. As soon as the judges adjourned, she descended into the court's cell block. The success of her latest assignment had given her even more status and a new identity card to prove it. None of the guards dared oppose this Central Security official that was so eager to see one of the prisoners.

She herself did not understand what drove her to the door of the holding cell. She watched him through the one way mirror. He looked thin and pale, his features weary. Nothing like the confident man who had left her that morning when her assignment had finally come to an end. A tense little smile on his face when he'd kissed her goodbye, a smile that brightened when she pulled him back in bed. She'd seduced him into making love one more time. And once again she was surprised at the ease with which she was able to hide her true feelings.

In a way, she admired him. He had devised an ingenious plan that would make him rich beyond imagination. No one would ever know how he pulled it off. He was willing to risk it all; his status, his roots and his life as an Alpha grade citizen because he thought he was infallible. But he made a mistake. He fell in love and in that state of mind, even Kerr Avon was no match for her.

She managed to survive in the treacherous world of the Terran Federation. She'd learned that you should not allow personal feelings to get in the way and that you should never, ever trust anyone. By now she had established her position as a true player in the field. Avon's arrest had brought her a little step closer to realizing her dreams. In many ways they were alike. She too was willing to sacrifice everything and everyone in order to achieve her aims.

"I want to see the list of prisoners." she told the trooper on duty.

The guard selected the file on his computer and stepped aside. She went through a long list of convicts, their crimes neatly written behind their names.

"These prisoners will all be shipped off to Cygnus Alpha?"

"Yes, ma'am."

Not very promising company for a cultivated man like Avon. Most of them were murderers and thieves. But one name looked familiar. Roj Blake; assault on minors.

She knew about his case. Every Intelligence Officer did. He was a political prisoner. Roj Blake was a compassionate man, an idealist and natural leader. A dangerous mix and in Blake's case it demonstrated how idealism without realism could result in naivety, one of the most dangerous traits for a leader to have. She assumed that his mind had been thoroughly wiped, but that the core of his personality was still intact. Stripped from his revolutionary ambitions, Blake would probably be a decent, reliable human being.

"When is this Blake up for transport?"

"He is scheduled for the next shipment on friday. "

She selected Avon's name in the long list on the computer.

"See to it that this man is also on it and put them in the same prisoner's section of the ship."

"Yes ma'am."

Two Alphas on the same deck were bound to connect. Avon might stand a chance among the thieves and cutthroats, with this Blake by his side. It was the least she could do to soothe that minuscule shred of conscience nagging away at the back of her mind.