To say the Captain was surprised to discover his First Lieutenant was leaving with his betrothed was an understatement. He had got through the formal farewells and made his private goodbyes to Fiona and Ser Becker, when Danyel appeared behind them and slipped quietly aboard the shuttle. For a split second he suspected a conspiracy, but then realised he was just being paranoid.

One glance at Fiona reassured him she knew nothing about Danyel, in fact she seemed quite oblivious to him, turning to give Hayes a brief smile before she disappeared into the shuttle. He pulled Medical Officer Kumar to one side. “What’s happening? Where is King going? I thought he had a week’s medical leave.”

He got a very dry look from Kumar. “He came to see me and I thought it would be for the best if he took it down on the Space Station.”

Hayes stared at him. What had Danyel told him? Kumar hadn’t finished. “He’s applied for a transfer under Rule 158 so that might be the last we see of him, unfortunately. I thought he was an excellent officer. It’s a shame this had to happen, but it’s his choice of course.”

“What?” Hayes felt as if he had slipped into another universe, where everything was upside down.

The Medical Officer repeated his words. “He’s applied for a transfer, under Rule 158.”

“Danyel’s leaving?”

If Kumar had had any doubts about the Captain’s involvement, they were put to rest by that simple question.

“He can’t just go! I won’t let him, I won’t approve the transfer.”

“Actually, he can. If he applies under Rule 158, that overrules even you, sir.” Kumar was still looking at him steadily. He was wondering whether he should take the Captain somewhere private to have this conversation. So far no one else was paying attention, but they couldn’t rely on that for much longer.

“Why didn’t he come and talk to me about it?” Hayes was still grappling with the news. How could Danyel just leave him? It felt like a hole was opening in his chest, getting wider and wider. “When is he coming back?”

Kumar took hold of his arm and drew him briskly into a nearby storage unit, empty now since its contents had just been loaded onto the shuttle. “Adam, listen to me.” He let go of his arm but looked intently at him to make sure he had his attention. “He’s got a week’s leave and then he is getting a transfer to another ship. He isn’t coming back.” The Captain looked dazed. “I think he’s made the right decision,” Kumar continued. “There’s nothing here for him if he stayed but an almighty mess!”

Someone knocked on the door, “Captain?”

“Just give us a minute,” called Kumar.

“Sorry, sir, but the shuttle’s waiting for the Captain’s ‘all clear’ to depart.”

Hayes pulled himself together, packing his emotions away under tight control, and stepped out of the room. “It’s all right, I’m on my way.” He gave the all clear and the shuttle drew away on its journey to Capella. He continued to operate on automatic pilot for the rest of the day, waiting until he was off duty to consider what he had done and what, if anything, he could do about it.

He had driven Danyel away. It was as simple as that. He had been totally selfish, thinking only of his own problems and paying no attention to what the other man was feeling. Danyel had given himself to him, given him the most intense sexual experience of his life and he had brushed him off, sent him away without a single word of how incredible he had made him feel, not a word of praise about what a warm generous person he was. And then he had had the unmitigated gall to ask him to keep having sex with him. He found himself physically wincing as he remembered how crude and clumsy he had been. No wonder Danyel had walked out on him. He couldn’t have made a worse mess of their budding relationship if he had tried.

He still didn’t know what to do about his marriage. Perhaps he should simply go ahead with it. A loveless marriage of convenience was probably about what he deserved.