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Description
What if North Star had been a little more Dodge City, and the crew had gone in a different guise. For Mistress Euclid, who loves Archer/T'Pol/Tucker.

North Star On A Saturday Night

MacReady ambled into the saloon. Things were quiet on the streets so if there was going to be trouble tonight, it would probably be here. As sheriff, he liked to keep a tight rein on his town and whenever possible, stop trouble before it started. There were some people he wanted to keep an eye on tonight. Something about them just didn’t add up.

MacReady sat at a table in the corner watching the three newcomers. The pretty-boy gambler, who called himself Tucker, had arrived first. He seemed harmless enough, winning quite often but not appearing to cheat.

The gunfighter, called Archer, showed up the next day. He was a tall man with a hard and weary look about him. He spent most of his time at the bar or walking the streets looking around. MacReady just wasn’t sure what he was looking for.

Then the new saloon girl was hired. She was Skagaran like all the saloon women, but this one was a pretty thing who never smiled. She didn’t have the funny bumps on her like the others, but he could tell she was a Skag by the misshapen ears. Over the years, MacReady had seen Skags with all kinds of mutations, but never one as pretty as this one. She called herself Tepalla and claimed to be from a settlement in the north.

There was something odd about these three. They didn’t interact with each other, except for the girl bringing drinks to the gambler at his table, but MacReady got the sense that the men always had an eye on her. He wondered briefly is she had crossed them in some fashion and they were waiting to catch her alone and do her some harm. As he thought about this, he realized that at least one of the two men always seemed to be in the saloon when she was working.

His ruminations were interrupted by a disturbance. Bennings, MacReady’s deputy, was bothering the pretty Skag. He was trying to get her to dance with him. She politely told him to leave her alone, but Bennings was never one to do the smart thing.

What happened next was so quick that MacReady didn’t have time to react. Bennings grabbed the girl and pulled her to his chest. The second he laid a hand on her, the gambler was up from his table scattering poker chips all over the floor in his wake. He gave the deputy a hard shove and had a protective arm around the girl in seconds. Bennings shouted something about killing them both. However, he only had his gun half-drawn when Archer appeared behind the girl with his pistol aimed at the deputy’s chest.

Bennings, being the bullying coward he was, immediately backed down. Archer’s gun didn’t waver, he was breathing hard and his anger was apparent. Tepalla turned her head and whispered something to Archer as she placed her hand on the barrel of his gun and lowered it. The effect was immediate. Archer’s rage eased and he glanced at the gambler and smiled.

MacReady was stunned, this couldn’t be. It was almost as if the woman had control of these men…as if they loved her! That settled, it these three were outta here.

Description
What if North Star had been a little more Dodge City, and the crew had gone in a different guise. For Mistress Euclid, who loves Archer/T'Pol/Tucker.

North Star On A Saturday Night

MacReady ambled into the saloon. Things were quiet on the streets so if there was going to be trouble tonight, it would probably be here. As sheriff, he liked to keep a tight rein on his town and whenever possible, stop trouble before it started. There were some people he wanted to keep an eye on tonight. Something about them just didn’t add up.

MacReady sat at a table in the corner watching the three newcomers. The pretty-boy gambler, who called himself Tucker, had arrived first. He seemed harmless enough, winning quite often but not appearing to cheat.

The gunfighter, called Archer, showed up the next day. He was a tall man with a hard and weary look about him. He spent most of his time at the bar or walking the streets looking around. MacReady just wasn’t sure what he was looking for.

Then the new saloon girl was hired. She was Skagaran like all the saloon women, but this one was a pretty thing who never smiled. She didn’t have the funny bumps on her like the others, but he could tell she was a Skag by the misshapen ears. Over the years, MacReady had seen Skags with all kinds of mutations, but never one as pretty as this one. She called herself Tepalla and claimed to be from a settlement in the north.

There was something odd about these three. They didn’t interact with each other, except for the girl bringing drinks to the gambler at his table, but MacReady got the sense that the men always had an eye on her. He wondered briefly is she had crossed them in some fashion and they were waiting to catch her alone and do her some harm. As he thought about this, he realized that at least one of the two men always seemed to be in the saloon when she was working.

His ruminations were interrupted by a disturbance. Bennings, MacReady’s deputy, was bothering the pretty Skag. He was trying to get her to dance with him. She politely told him to leave her alone, but Bennings was never one to do the smart thing.

What happened next was so quick that MacReady didn’t have time to react. Bennings grabbed the girl and pulled her to his chest. The second he laid a hand on her, the gambler was up from his table scattering poker chips all over the floor in his wake. He gave the deputy a hard shove and had a protective arm around the girl in seconds. Bennings shouted something about killing them both. However, he only had his gun half-drawn when Archer appeared behind the girl with his pistol aimed at the deputy’s chest.

Bennings, being the bullying coward he was, immediately backed down. Archer’s gun didn’t waver, he was breathing hard and his anger was apparent. Tepalla turned her head and whispered something to Archer as she placed her hand on the barrel of his gun and lowered it. The effect was immediate. Archer’s rage eased and he glanced at the gambler and smiled.

MacReady was stunned, this couldn’t be. It was almost as if the woman had control of these men…as if they loved her! That settled, it these three were outta here.