From s.phillips25@genie.comTue Jan  9 20:09:27 1996
Date: Fri, 5 Jan 96 17:35:00 UTC 0000
From: s.phillips25@genie.com
Reply to: b5-creative@blob.best.net
To: b5-creative-digest@blob.best.net
Subject: NC17 -ADULT- NC17

Well, the consensus seems to be to post it so.... I hereby apologize if I
offend anyone but...


                        "The Night Before"

        "What's wrong?"
        In answer, Jeffrey Sinclair handed her a data crystal.  The look in
his eyes made her take it, and put it into the reader.  General Hadley's
face appeared.  The voice, so familiar from hours of seeing news reports on
ISN, gave Jeff, and thousands of other pilots, their orders.
        They were to report tomorrow morning for dispatch on one last ditch
effort to stop the Minbari.  It ended with a pep talk of a sort; the general
knew that the men under his command were strong and brave and that they
would all do their best.  But Cara saw in the eyes of the image on her
screen that he didn't truly think it would do any good.  Any good at all.
        She turned back to her visitor.
        She looked at him, tall and straight in his EA uniform.  He was a
commander now, recently promoted.  There was a tenseness in his posture, a
taut, wire-tight poise.  Cara Wilson had known Jeff Sinclair for a long
time; their families had lived close to one another when they were young.
They'd lost touch over the years but the war had brought them together again.
        Cara looked into  his eyes and knew why he was there now, tonight.
        She took a step towards him.
        But he didn't move.  He was still wired, still upset, but holding it
in.  She almost smiled.  The little boy Jeff had been did that too; then his
parents sent him off to the Jesuits and she'd lost touch.  She'd always
thought that religious training was supposed to relax you, make you better
able to handle anything life could throw your way.  Maybe she was wrong.
        And maybe not.  The Earth/Minbari war had started some time before.
The Earth Forces still weren't entirely sure why.  All that was certain was
that the enemy had technology and strength of numbers that Earth had not.
They were slowly being pushed back.  Now, a fleet of Minbari ships was on
its way to Earth.  Although Io and Mars had been fortified in expectation of
an assault there, the enemy had passed by them and was almost in range.
        But Earth didn't have much left; the media was already beginning to
call this the Battle of the Line, expecting that the line the pilots held
here would keep Minbar from achieving their goals...whatever those goals
were.  Cara held her peace with her own thoughts on that subject more than
once; she still thought that they must have something more than revenge on
their minds.
        But no on...but Jeff...had ever asked her.
        Now, she took another step.  He hadn't moved, hadn't spoken.
Tentatively, she said "Jeff?"
        It was almost as if she'd given a command.  The tension seemed to
leave him all at once.  He reached for her hand, found it placed in his
without her conscious thought, and pulled her close to  him.
        Oh my.  Cara had read about this; the need to be close, to have sex
with someone during times of peril.  Particularly times when death seemed
imminent.  Apparently, Jeffrey Sinclair shared the feelings of his
commanding officer.
        He didn't think he was coming back.
        Which meant he didn't care what happened.
        Should she?
        Cara had realized, during the last few weeks of getting to know Jeff
again, that she did.  That she liked him a lot, wanted him in that way,
even.  But a part of her wondered what would happen if he should survive?
If she gave in to him, would he forgive her?  A better question might be,
would he forgive himself?
        Thought was faster than action.  It had to be, for in the time it
had taken her to think these things, he had kissed her once, twice lightly,
and was staring into her eyes.  One arm was still around her waist while the
other hand was brought up, brushing a dark hair out of her face, away from
her eyes.  His gaze held her, like a doe in the glare of a bright light, and
his voice came.  "I need to do this, Cara.  It's not sane, not right...and I
won't, with you, if you don't feel the same but..."
        But he would with someone else.  And there was no dearth of
candidates for this position.  Jeff Sinclair was attractive in a reserved,
aloof sort of way.  Except for the rekindled friendship with her, he had
stayed apart from almost everyone, even the other pilots.  He felt a fierce
loyalty to EA, and to those in his squadron, but close friendships were
difficult for him.
        No.  She would -not- let this happen with someone else.  He was
correct; this was not right, yet if it had to be, she would be the one it
was with.
        And, as she rationalized it consciously, her subconscious was
laughing at her.
        In answer to his unspoken plea, she closed her eyes and kissed him.
        With that kiss, the floodgates opened.
        They held each other as close as two people can be.  their mouths
were still joined but there was no sense that they should break the embrace.
Cara knew that when she let him go tonight, she would never see him
again...no matter the outcome of the battle tomorrow.  Where that knowledge
came from, she didn't know; but it meant that she would be for him whatever
he wanted her to be...for this one night.
        They broke for breath at the same time.  His eyes were half-closed
and darker than usual.  She smiled slightly and reached up a bit to nip his
nose.  she wanted to feel his skin against hers so she pulled back and began
to unfasten her shirt.
        He smiled back seductively, shook his head.  His hands reached
toward hers, grasped the fabric on both sides of the fasteners and pulled.
With a rattling noise, it came open.  She laughed; it would never have
occurred to her that this was a part of his personality.
        Cara shrugged off the shirt, let the air feel her skin.  "You?"


To be continued...