Alan Stewart knew something was wrong when Banner left the door wide open behind him.

He had asked if he could come and see him and Stewart had invited him up to his quarters, more than half hoping he would have a chance to carry on where he had left off on Capella. It had been so much fun teasing Banner, but he should have known it hadn't really resolved anything about their personal situation.

"What did Captain Almeida have to say?" He thought Banner looked depressed but not devastated. Surely he hadn't been dismissed already?

Banner looked straight at him. "Basically, I can keep my job on the Qatar as a medic as long as I stay away from you."

"Almeida said that?" Stewart asked in surprise. The Captain had never struck him as a prude.

"Not exactly, but that's what he meant. He said if he was presented with tangible evidence, he'd have no choice but to dismiss me."

"Fuck!"

"Probably not recommended under the circumstances," Banner attempted a joke.

Stewart tried to smile in return. He started pacing, unable to stand still. "What do you want to do about it? You're the one who'd pay the price if we took this relationship any further."

Banner sat down and watched Stewart pacing. What did he mean? Did he want them to try and have a secret affair? Or to stay away from each other?

He frowned. "I don't think there's anything we can do. I can't imagine it would be possible to keep a relationship secret for long on the Qatar."

Stewart ran a hand through his hair. "No, you're right, of course." He smiled unhappily at Banner and sat down opposite him. He leant forward, his arms on his knees until their faces were close. "The thing is, though, I don't think I could go back to just being friends, not when I want so much more." He leant even further forward.

Was Alan going to kiss him? Banner was motionless, holding his breath. He shut his eyes in anticipation. He felt Alan's warm breath on his face, but then he drew back without touching him. He heard Alan sigh and opened his eyes quickly, feeling embarrassed.

"It's all right, it's not your fault. I can apply for a transfer under Rule 158. I think Captain Almeida wouldn't take much persuasion to grant it under the circumstances," Stewart added wryly. It was the last thing he wanted to do, but it wasn't fair on either of them to be constantly battling temptation.

Banner stared at him, shocked. "No! You can't!" The words leapt from his mouth of their own accord.

Stewart stared back at him hopefully. "You don't want me to transfer out?"

"No." Grey eyes looked into brown. "Alan, shut the door."

Stewart swore his heart stopped for a second. "Are you sure?" His voice sounded husky, even to himself.

Oh my god, Alan thought he wanted to have sex with him. He did, of course he did, eventually, but not yet, not right now. They hadn't even kissed properly.

Banner's tongue licked nervously over his lips. "Sorry, Alan ... I didn't mean ... I don't want to ... I just wanted to say something to you, privately." Suddenly he felt mortified. He was twenty-four years old, for god's sake, and he was acting like a scared virgin. He stood up to leave. "I didn't mean to lead you on, but I don't think I'm ready for sex yet."

Stewart threw a mental bucket of cold water over his premature excitement. For a split second there, he had thought ... well, he hadn't actually thought! The blood had just dropped instantly from his head to his lap.

He reached over and touched him lightly on the hand. "Please sit down. I'm sorry, Michael, that was my fault. I didn't mean to put pressure on you. If you want a relationship, we can take things slowly. We don't have to rush just because of circumstances."

Banner was still flushed with embarrassment. He looked adorable. Stewart rose and walked in front of him, making sure they were keeping eye contact. He spoke softly.

"I'll tell you what I'd like, and you can think about whether that's what you want, too. Don't give me an answer now. I want you, but it's not just about sex. I want to be in a position where I can court you, take you out to places, talk and make love slowly." The vague plans that had been floating around in his head since the trial suddenly crystallized into certainty. "And I think that means that maybe both of us should be looking for a new job ‒ a job somewhere on a planet or Capella or somewhere we can be together."

Banner's eyes widened in surprise. "Really? That's really what you want?" He had reached the reluctant conclusion that he would have to leave the Qatar, but he had never dreamt in a million years that Alan would come with him.

"More than anything," Stewart held his breath, waiting for the other man's reaction. Was it too soon? Had he frightened him off? "I'm not asking you to move in with me or anything," he laughed deprecatingly, "not right away, but at least we'd be able to see how we get on together."

Banner closed his eyes for a moment then stepped forward. He put his hands on either side of Alan's face and kissed him, licking his closed lips with his tongue until he hesitantly opened them, scarcely believing this was really happening. He stayed motionless, just accepting what Banner was willing to give him. His lips were warm, and for the first time, Banner put his tongue in his mouth, shyly exploring and it set off little fires all through Alan's body. It was all he could do to keep his trembling hands at his sides. Much too soon, the younger man pulled away.

"I don't have to think about it," he told him, smiling. "I'll go and see Captain Almeida right now. To tell him I'm leaving. I think Dr. Patel on Capella might give me a job." Banner felt as if a huge weight had dropped from his shoulders. He knew he was doing the right thing.

~~~

Robin Lang was just leaving the hospital when Captain Martinez arrived, on his way in to visit Max. The two men acknowledged each other, then Lang turned back, touching the Captain's arm to get his attention. "Can I ask whether you've made any progress, Captain? With the new, uh, line of enquiry?"

"We have a few leads," Martinez replied, politely enough. "I'm hoping to have more to work with after I speak to Private Lang."

"Of course." Lang waited, hoping for more.

"One lead is the height of one of the assailants. Apparently, two metres wasn't all that uncommon on old Earth, but not many men that size made it into space for some reason. Perhaps they found the early spaceships too cramped for comfort, but in any case there aren't many men in the Aurigan system that tall. We are interviewing all of them, at least those on Capella." Martinez offered.

"How many are there?" asked Lang, curious.

Surely it couldn't hurt to tell him that? "Four. And that's counting Lieutenant Stewart ‒ are you all right, Captain?" For a minute there, Lang had gone almost white.

"I'm fine, just surprised. Only four?"

"Yes, on Capella." Martinez continued to watch Lang closely. If he was any judge, Lang hadn't just been surprised, he'd been appalled.

"Thank you, Captain, I'll be in touch," Lang nodded and strode off, oblivious of Martinez' gaze following him.

Not counting Alan, only three men. And he knew one of them.

It couldn't be, could it? He'd never even considered it could be him, until now. He'd said he wasn't going to be at the Sahara that night, that he had another commitment. In fact, they'd arranged to meet there the following night, an appointment which Lang had never kept because of the attack on Max. It couldn't be him, surely! His mind spun with frantic denial. But ... how likely was it that a third man out of the four frequented the Sahara? His thoughts continued to race round and round in his head, giving him no respite.

Eventually he realised he had to find out the truth for himself. There was no way he could give any of this information to Martinez. He shuddered at the mere thought. He would have to do some investigation on his own and track the man down, personally.

He didn't know what the man's name was in real life or where he lived, he only knew what he called him in the Sahara. Master.