"She's running herself ragged, Danni. You should see her," he said, taking another bite of his dinner. "I don't know how she keeps up the schedule she does."
Danni gently smiled at Len. "I've seen her," Danni replied softly. "She's pushing herself too hard. Especially when she doesn't need to."
"Well, she says she has to," Len replied, stabbing at the piece of meat on his plate and cutting off a bite.
Danni was quiet and thoughtful for a moment. "It is up to her to stop Kalimar and the Kosst Amojen, but I don't think there is anything physically she can do."
"Try telling her that," Len replied a bit sourly with a sigh. "I'm sorry. I know I've been talking of nothing but her tonight, but I'm worried. You haven't seen her when she's come into sickbay, Danni . . . Grant you, the Captain's put a stop to her shutting off the holosuite safeties for the time being, but sooner or later Captain Mallory will rescind that order. What will happen then?"
"Maybe Katianna's learned her lesson," Danni offered, taking a bit of her vegetables, her dark eyes gazing at Len.
He shook his head. "You don't know how hard-headed she is."
"I've heard . . ." Danni smiled.
For a moment Len allowed himself a soft smile. "Yeah . . . But that hard-headedness is what's going to get her killed!" he said.
Danni suddenly got up and went behind him and tenderly began massaging his shoulders. "You're so tense . . ." she said, as she sensed his eyes close as she felt him melt into her touch. "Len . . . I know how concerned you are for you. I care about her too . . . But there's one thing do know and that is, whatever is meant to happen will happen . . ."
"What would Kassia say about that?" Len asked, with a touch of a smile, knowing Kassia believed that the future was always changing.
"In this instance, I think she'd agree," Danni replied. "Right now, things are unfolding that we can't see. For what purpose, we won't know for certain. Katianna will have her role to play, but she'll probably only be certain of it when that time is upon her. Not before . . ."
"And you think she'd settle for that answer?" Len replied.
Danni laughed softly. "No . . . I expect you to!" With that, she leaned over and kissed his cheek.
Before she could get up, he grabbed her and pulled her onto his lap. "Ah! Much better!" he smiled. "Now I can do this!" With that, he kissed her. She immediately responded to his passionate tenderness. As the kiss ended, he looked at her. "I've been wanting to do that all night."
She giggled. "Oh really?" she said, her dark eyes sparkling as she ran a hand through his blond hair. "Is there anything else you've been wanting to do all night that you haven't done yet?"
He grinned. "A lot of things," he replied as he got up, holding her in his arms. "But I think they're best suited to another room."
With that, he started to carry her off.
"What about the dishes?" Danni asked.
"I think they can wait," he said as he kissed her again, carrying her all the way to their room.