[MikeJaffa]

TITLE: For Just A Day
AUTHOR Michael J. Gallagher ( mikejoe7g@yahoo.com )
SYNOPSIS: Dylan finds himself back with his old crew; what price will he pay to keep them?
SPOILERS: Almost every episode featuring a “pre-Fall” character
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Andromeda and are making no money off this, so please don't sue me. Ditto for STAR TREK, owned by Paramount, and referred to in a dream sequence.



++++


"Report," Dylan said, coming down the ramp to the Command deck's main stations.

"Well, we are in orbit of Candera Four," Beka said. "Now, if someone could tell me why we are here, I'll be happy."

"I'm not detecting anything unusual on the sensors," Rommie said.

Tyr looked up from the weapons station. "This could all be a waste of time."

"Not necessarily," Harper's voice crackled over the com from engineering. "I hear they have great waves. Who's for a beach party?"

"Mmm." Dylan turned to the remaining member of his crew. "Trance?"

"Something's wrong," the gold-skinned woman with long red dreadlocks said. "We can't leave just yet."

"All right," Dylan said. "Andromeda, deploy sensor drones and disperse them in a -- "

"THERE!" Trance pointed at a monitor.

"I don't see anything," Beka said.

"No, there is something," Tyr said. He worked his controls. The image zoomed in on a land mass that otherwise showed no signs of habitation .....

.... and a brilliant point of light in the middle of it.

A point of light that grew and began to swallow everything around it.

"Rommie?" Dylan said.

"I'm not detecting *anything,*" the blue-haired android replied, "not from the anomaly and not from the surrounding area."

"I think a strategic withdrawal would be in order," Tyr said.

"I think Tyr's right," Beka added.

"I think he's right, too," Dylan said. "Beka -- "

"Oh, man, if they agree, we're in for it." Beka focused on the controls in front of her.

"--get us out of here!"

"Going!"

The *Andromeda* raced away from the planet. As they watched, the light grew, swallowed the planet, and then began to spread into space, reaching for the retreating warship.

"Beka!" Dylan barked. "Can you get us to slipstream?"

"Get us there?" Beka replied. "Dylan, I can't even find the portals. It's like they all -- "

The deck rocked under their feet as the air around them began to glow.

"Oh my -- " Beka started.

Dylan turned at something charging at him; Trance slammed into him just as everyone and everything around him melted into a glowing white fog and he sank into a warm numbness .....


****

"Starboard point defense station five manned and ready."

"Point defense station six manned and ready."

"Point defense station seven manned and ready."

"Point defense station eight manned and ready."

Lieutenant Refractions of Dawn, acting first officer of the High Guard cruiser *Andromeda Ascendant,* stood at a corridor intersection as footsteps faded away, leaving little but the echoes of claxons.

"All battle stations manned and ready," the ship's voice reported. "Elapsed time, three minutes thirty-five seconds."

The insectoid cursed in her own language. "Thank you, Ship -- "

She turned at a thud from just around the corner. Rounding it, she found her captain, Dylan Hunt, slumped against the bulkhead.

Dawn raced to his side. "Captain!?"

Dylan opened his eyes and focused on her.

"Dawn!?" He sounded surprised. "What ... I don't ..... What are you doing here?"

"Sir?"

Dylan slowly pushed himself up against the wall, getting to his feet. He seemed dizzy, disoriented.

"Are you all right?" Dawn asked, concerned.

"I'm fine, Lieutenant," Dylan said. "Report."

She saluted. "Battle station drill completed, sir. Elapsed time, three minutes thirty-five seconds."

"Not the best I've seen," Dylan said, returning the salute ... a little stiffly, as if he hadn't done it in a while. "Very well .... all hands, stand down."

Dawn lowered her arm, almost thankful her face didn't have the range of expressions humans had. Dylan seemed out of place almost; it almost looked as if he'd had to remind himself to return her salute. *Dylan?* Then the crew began to fill the corridor, returning to their normal duty stations, and that seemed to throw him again.

"Where's Commander Rhade?" Dylan asked.

"Rhade?" Dawn asked.

"We do have a Commander Rhade on this crew, don't we?"

"Yes. He's probably still at headquarters."

"Headquarters?" Dylan consulted his com Gauntlet. "Ten days before Hephaestos -- but he wasn't -- " Dylan cut himself off. "Yes, yes, of course, he's at headquarters. I'd thought he would be returning today."

"No, Captain, I don't think we've had any word of when he'll be back."

"Of course."

"Sir .... Dylan, are you ok? Is something wrong?"

"No. Thank you for your concern."

"Are you sure? Should we stop by Med -- ?"

"Dawn. *I'm fine.* I just had a little spill is all. Thanks."

"More than a little spill," Andromeda's hologram said as she materialized next to them. "Captain, my scans show some abrupt changes in your brain chemistry and brainwave patterns. Under the circumstances, a stop at medical would be advisable."

"Thank you, Andromeda," Dylan said, "but I feel fine. I feel better already. It's passed now."

"Are you -- ?" Dawn started.

"Ladies," Dylan said, "while this display of maternal instinct is all very heartwarming, *I'm fine,* and unless my current behavior deems me unfit for command, whether I go to medical or not is *my* decision." Dylan softened a bit. "Sorry ... I didn't mean to bite your heads off. I feel fine. Really." He put his hand on his heart. "But scout's honor, if I have another spill, I'll be a good boy and go to medical."

The hologram and the insectoid exchanged glances, but relented.

"As you will, Captain," Rommie said before vanishing.

"Dawn. With me," Dylan said.


*****


"..... but I still don't understand, what's the 'honor' in the Maid of Honor position?" Dawn was saying as she and Dylan got to Command. "I mean, if this has something to do with my part in the ceremony, I want to be prepared."

"Oh, I see what you're saying," Dylan said. "Don't -- "

"Captain on deck!" the Sergeant at Arms bellowed as Dylan stepped onto command. Dylan jumped in spite of himself. It really *had* been a long time since he'd had to practice military protocol.

Or had it? In any case, best to play along ....

"As you were," Dylan said. "Don't worry about it, Dawn. The Maid of Honor ... it's sort of like the best man, only you don't have to worry about the rings. I don't think you have to worry about anything, really. The cultural database should have more info."

"I'd already checked it, sir, but I wanted to be sure. Even so, it didn't have much to say on 'bachelorette parties.'"

"Ahhhhhhh ..... Look, why don't I arrange to have Sara to go over this with you?"

"Very well, sir."

Dylan smiled and clapped Dawn on the shoulder .... and then, as he went to his station and the Than strapped herself into the pilot's chair, Dylan wondered if he'd ever been that casual with Dawn. Or any of his old crew.

He wasn't even sure one way or the other if Dawn had been tapped to be Sara's maid of honor.

The next hour of his watch was uneventful. The Command deck was as it had once been in the old days, the same layout ... and the same *crowd.* He hadn't thought of the big room as cramped, but with more than a maximum of six or seven people in it, it began to feel crowded.

But that lead to another question. What had he experienced? A time distortion? Was some alien force playing with his mind *again*? Was he nuts now, imagining he was back with his old crew? Or had he been nuts, imagining the last 22 months of his life?

Dylan finally settled on a way to force the issue. "Visor, please, Rommie."

A gold Maria 'bot (Dylan could see what Rommie had meant that time about the thighs jiggling) brought Dylan a VR headset.

"Advise me of any change in status," Dylan said as he put the visor on. "Set up a private work space for me."

"Aye, Captain."

Dylan tabbed the visor on .... and found himself shooting out a tunnel of wires and floating above -- no, *between* two cityscapes of information, one above and one below. He hovered for a moment, then the one below raced at him. At what might have seemed to be the moment of impact, he stopped and found himself standing (yes, his virtual body was a representation of his real one) in a cul de sac in the data canyons.

Dylan looked up, around, taking in the sights of the virtual world, of Andromeda's mind. "Wow. No wonder Har -- " He cut himself off.

"Sir?" Andromeda's avatar materialized next to him. "Who were you referring to?"

"It's not relevant, Rommie. Now. Bring up your composite image software. We have some work to do .... "


****


Major Kylie Vance, commander of the *Andromeda's* lancer regiment, came on to command just as Dylan removed his visor.

"There," Dylan said. He tabbed a control panel and a series of images appeared on the main screens: A blonde woman; a young blonde human male with spiky hair and a metal thing in his neck; a dark-skinned Nietzschean; two images of a girl with the same face, but in one she had purple skin, blonde hair, and a tale, and the other, she had gold skin and red dreadlocks; and -- this got Kylie the most -- a Magog in some funny robes she had never seen before.

"Attention on deck," Dylan said. He seemed to be carefully watching the reactions of the command crew. "I want you all to memorize the names and faces of these individuals: Captain Beka Valentine, Seamus Harper, Tyr Anasazi, Trance .... Both of those are Trance Gemini, and Brother Behemial Far Traveler, also known as Rev Bem -- "

"Wait, a Magog *monk*?" Kylie started.

"He is a unique individual," Dylan said. He smiled. "They all are." He became all business again. "They are to be considered allies with information potentially vital to the safety of the Commonwealth. If we receive word of them, *anywhere,* we will go to their aid."

"It would help if I had photo records of them," Andromeda said.

"Yes, well ..... I don't have it here with me. But these descriptions are precise enough."

"I've never heard of these people," Dawn said. "How do you know them?"

"That is on a need to know basis ..... Look, I know this is sudden, but I ask you to trust me in this, as you have before."

"Of course, Captain," Rommie said, apparently speaking for the others. "Shall I inform the rest of the crew?"

Dylan frowned at her, then shook his head. "Um, yes, yes, of course, Andromeda, add it to the daily mission briefings." He thought. "But .... it would be best if we didn't send out any queries about them, just wait and see if we receive word."

"You think we will?" Kylie asked.

Dylan cracked a half smile. "Major, if they're anywhere in the Three Galaxies, we won't *not* hear about them."

"I see," Kylie said. "Sir .... are you all right?"

"Yes, Major, I am. Thank you for your concern. Carry on."

Kylie sensed that was the end of the discussion. She exchanged salutes with Dylan and went about her business.

****

At the end of his watch, Dylan had dinner with his officers in the mess hall, and kept to himself as much as possible. However, with Dawn engrossed in Kylie's explanations of Bachelorette Parties and the Maid of Honor's duties, this was no problem ....

But had Dawn been the Maid of Honor? Dylan couldn't remember. And what about Rhade?

After dinner, Dylan returned to his cabin. Unfortunately, he hadn't altered the layout, furnishings, or his effects much in .... in his timeline/reality/whatever, so there was no way to tell from that.

After having Andromeda engage privacy mode, he went over the ship's orders first. Pretty much what he remembered, except for Rhade being recalled to headquarters suddenly. Something to do with the rebellion? A parallel universe where the plot had been uncovered? Or wishful thinking while Dylan lay in a coma and the others were trying to wake him up?

"Well, if I'm dreaming, I could have improved the mystery meat," Dylan muttered to himself.

Then he went over his private messages he'd received before .... before it happened. It was still painful to view the ones from Sara, but he had no doubt as to their authenticity because he had rewatched them dozens of times, late at night, after he had been rescued from the black hole. And yes, Sara asked in one, "Oh, and did Dawn get my message?" Dylan had forgot that; yes, Dawn had been meant to be the Maid of Honor. Didn't tell him anymore whether this was real or not, but at least *that* question had been answered.

Dylan next fished two books from the shelf in his closet. One was his manual on military etiquette and protocol. He hadn't thought he'd made too many faux pass in the last few hours, but best to be sure. ‘Old habits die hard,’ it seemed, didn't account for not using them for *two years,* but he was relieved to figure out, after reading the relevant sections, he had not made any major blunders.

The other was a book on temporal mechanics Sara had given him on his last birthday with her. He had meant to read it, and had never got around to it. Ironic because in the first four months after his rescue, he had gone back in time *twice,* and then there was that business with Trance ....

"Yep, Rev, you were right, the Divine does have a twisted sense of humor," Dylan murmured as he settled down to read it. But the possibility that this was (another) mess-up in time had to be accounted for (which meant assuming the book was real and not a figment of his or someone/thing's imagination); he laid the book on his desk and got out a flexie for notes and calculations.

Two hours later, all Dylan had to show for it was a headache. He leaned back in his chair, rubbed his face and ruffled his hair. He'd got nowhere fast, still had no clue. He hated situations like this. Even with little intel he'd been able to formulate plans, but he had *none* now.

"Andromeda," he said. "Any word on the individuals I described?"

The hologram appeared. "No, Captain, but I am still monitoring."

"Very well." He sighed, then stood up. "I'm going for a walk."

Of course the ship's layout was unchanged, but it amazed him how *everything* had been reset to the way it had once been, even the paint job on the corridor walls. Andromeda had once said she loved redecorating. Yes, when she and Harper had rebuilt command --

"Harper," Dylan muttered. Of course. If there was a place to look for a clue, it would be in Harper's machine shop. The man was the uberest uber geek Dylan had never met; if anyone could get through .... whatever had happened, it would be Harper ..... wouldn't it?

Dylan picked up the pace as he made his way to the lower decks, occasionally trading salutes with members of the graveyard shift. Not one face he didn't recognize. Good sign or bad? He didn't know. But it still struck him how crowded the ship seemed. It had taken months for him to get used to the massive starship having only a handful of people aboard; now he found he was thrown by seeing it fully manned.

Dylan charged into Machine Shop 17 and was almost surprised by what he found: a neat, organized machine shop. No cot, no mess on the work tables, no shower stall in the corner, no poster on the wall ....

No *hint* that someone lived there.

A crewman on duty almost injured himself snapping to attention on seeing Dylan. "Sir!"

"As you were," Dylan said.

"Sir, yes sir." The man lowered his arm. "Can I help -- ?"

"Thank you, no, just .... looking. Carry on."

"Aye, Captain. Let me know if you need anything."

Dylan nodded and tried to look as casual as a captain who'd dropped in unannounced on a part of the ship he'd rarely visited except on inspections could as he poked around the room. But his first impression was confirmed: Neat, organized, right to High Guard specs. No hint. No sign.

Dylan cursed quietly. What next to check? The conduits? No one knew them better than Harper .... but that meant Dylan had no clue as to where to look. The slipstream cores were manned continuously, so someone would have reported anything odd, never mind an annoying little man with a metal thing in his neck, so that was a no-go. Another look in the VR matrix? But for *what?*

And that assumed Harper had made it. What if he hadn't made it? Dylan had to consider that possibility, much as he didn't want to. In fact, what if none of them had? What if .... ?

It hit Dylan in the stomach, a cold wave that swept through him. "No," he muttered.

But the thought could not be denied: What if the others no longer existed? What if they *never had?* If Time had already been changed, the next 300 years could have been swept away ..... Beka, Tyr, Harper, Trance(?), Rev .... they would never exist ... never be ....

"Pull yourself together man," Dylan growled, but his voice was already breaking. He felt tears in his eyes and his legs felt weak. "Not again, it hasn't .... not like that, not .... keep it to -- "

"Sir?" The crewman came over, worried, Andromeda's hologram appearing behind him.

"I'm fine," Dylan said, "I'm -- " But a spasm of tears wracked his body. He fell back against the cabinets, squeezing his eyes against tears that wouldn't stop flowing, and slid to the floor, unable to speak.


****

"Captain," Dr. Cynthia Tanner, the *Andromeda's* psychologist, said, saluting, as she approached Dylan's bed in medical. "You wanted to see me?"

"Yes," Dylan said, returning the black woman's salute. "I -- "

"Dawn to Captain," Dawn's voice came over the com system.

"Go ahead," Dylan said.

"Sir, we've just been recalled to headquarters immediately."

"Understood. Lay in a course, best speed. And Lieutenant? I'm leaving you in command until further notice."

A pause. "Aye, Captain." The Than didn't keep her concern out of her voice.

"Dylan?" Dr. Tanner said.

"I don't know, Cyndi," Dylan, laying back down on his bed. "I just don't know what's real and what's not anymore. I'm almost hoping I'm insane. But I have one heluva story to tell you .... "


****


Later that morning, when the *Andromeda* approached the giant space station that served as the High Guard's headquarters in this part of the Commonwealth, Dawn thought she could understand why humans talked about "eyes bugging out of their heads." Although her piloting never faltered, she could not hide her surprise. She had never seen so many High Guard warships in one place.

"Am I dreaming, or are there *two* Siege Perilous class destroyers there?" Dawn said.

"You're not dreaming," Kylie said from the XO's station. "The *Balance of Judgment* and the *Scales of Justice.* The *Pax Magellanic* just came into range, and I think I see two or three of Rommie's other sisters. And I count one, two, three, four ..... jeez, a whole squadron of Lancer Troop Carriers. Looks like the *Clarion's Call* and all his brothers."

"What is going on!?" Dawn said.

"I've no word on such deployments," Andromeda's hologram said.

"And we have just received orders to cancel leave and maintain Level One communications silence," Screen Andromeda added.

"Think the balloon's gone up?" Kylie asked.

"I don't know," Dawn said. "It could all be an exercise for some Vedran crown princess' coming out party. But if I had hairs on my neck like you apes, they'd be standing up."

"This ape's hairs are doing enough of that for both of us."


****


"Captain on deck!" the girl, Trance, chirped as Captain Dylan Hunt ascended onto the aft deck of the H. M. S. *Andromeda,* the last of the Commonwealth's three-masted warships.

Beka barely glanced over from the wheel. "Quick, get the town crier."

Dylan, resplendent in the dark blue uniform of a Royal Navy captain, smiled as he gently lowered Trance's saluting arm. "As you were," he said quietly, then turned to his helmsman. "You wanted to see me, Beka?"

"Yes, about THAT." Beka's eyes flicked towards the prow. Dylan followed her gaze; though it was a bright, sunny day, dark clouds were looming on the horizon.

"You're concerned about bad weather?" Dylan asked.

"'Concerned' in the sense that Tyr may know how to fight," Beka said. "The seas have turned very strange since the Commonwealth fell; harmless clouds one minute could be a hurricane the next. And those clouds don't look harmless to begin with."

"What do you suggest?"

"Turn south; go around it."

Dylan inhaled. "Beka, we are supposed to be at the Thanic Islands before next moonrise; deviating from the most direct course, this one, will take too long, and arriving late is a major faux pas among the Thans."

"Yeah? Well, at least we'll be alive for them to be annoyed with us."

"We're going through it, Beka. Hold your course."

"Dylan -- "

"HOLD YOUR COURSE." He lowered his voice. "If you and your crew want to leave at the next port of call, you can. You know that."

"Except you're part of my crew, and I don't leave crewmen behind, ever." She sighed. "We're going through. Rev?"

"Pray," the monk at her side said.

"You got it," Beka said.

"Where's Harper -- never mind, I see him. Carry on, Beka."

"Aye, aye," she said, just barely hiding her sarcasm.

Dylan made his way to the bow of his ship, where Seamus Harper, a dirty but lively lad of maybe Trance's age, was busying himself with "Rommie," the ship's figurehead. Harper was a genius; it never ceased to amaze Dylan how he single-handedly kept the ship in good order. But he was as simple as he was brilliant; he had fallen in love with the sculpture of a beautiful, exotic, olive-skinned woman that graced the ship's prow. He often spoke to her as if she were a living woman; he was whispering in her ear as Dylan approached.

Dylan coughed. "Master Harper."

The boy whirled as if shot. "Uh -- hi, Boss -- "

"At ease, son; you were just polishing the woodwork, yes?"

"Uh, yeah, right." Harper turned and rubbed the figurehead's shoulder. "Makin' sure Rommie's clean enough to eat off of."

"Of course."

"So, what can I do you for?"

"Beka is concerned about the clouds ahead."

Harper glanced at them. "Yep, she would be. No chance of going around it?"

"No."

"Didn't think so."

"Don't worry; I'm confident *Andromeda* can make it through, but if you would be good enough to go below and rig the ship for a storm -- "

"No problem, cap'n!" Harper sprang from his perch. "Rommie and me will be ready, won't we darlin'?" He smiled at the statue; it continued to gaze out at the ocean. "We'll be ready," Harper said. He raced away.

Dylan found Tyr Anaszi standing behind him.

"Something I can do for you?" Dylan asked.

"You do nothing to discourage that?" said the dark-skinned warrior from the land of Nietzsche.

"Discourage what?"

"Harper is enamored with a thing of wood! Have you heard him at night? He sings to it, or reads the basest -- and most poorly composed -- love poems ever heard anywhere on the eleven seas. At worst, he's delusional; at best, perverted. Either way, he will never take a wife at the rate he's going."

Dylan sighed. "Or maybe the lad just feels the affection many seamen have for their ships -- but doesn't know when to stop expressing it. And it motivates him to keep her in good order. I'm not going to argue with what works."

"Hmmph."

"You have no soul, Tyr."

"Of course not; there is no such thing."



****



As the moon comes from behind the clouds, the figurehead changes; wood becomes flesh, and she draws breath as she separates from the prow of the ship, and walks the wooden decks, her long white gown flowing behind her ....

And then she is in Dylan's cabin, standing over his bed. She smiles at her captain, leans over, and kisses him ....

Dylan woke and sat up on his bed; he'd retreated to his cabin after his talk with Anasazi and taken a short nap. Such dreams were the main reason he tolerated Harper ..... but made him wonder whether he would soon start talking to wood, too.

He crossed to his desk, covered with charts, scrolls, and a copy of his Commonwealth charter .... and heard the first thunderclap, the pounding of rain, and felt the deck rock under his feet.

Beka was barely hanging onto the wheel when he got onto the bridge.

"I won't say 'I told you so'!" she said.

"Uh, thanks!" Dylan managed. He grabbed the wheel by her side.

"It just blew up," Beka said. "I'm hoping that if we hold this course, we'll be through it in .....” Beka trailed off, her and Dylan's eyes widening.

A huge wave, almost as tall as the *Andromeda's* masts, was bearing down on them.

"Then again .... " Beka said.

The wave struck; the water hit Dylan like a wall, tearing his hands from the wheel and carrying him into the icy depths. His chest burst; he hadn't had time to grab a lungful of air.

Then he saw light above him, kicked upwards and broke through the surface.

"Bek -- " Water surged into his mouth and he coughed it out. "Beka! Tyr! Harper! ANYBODY!"

There was no answer save for the howling wind and driving rain. He treaded water, slowly turning around ....

..... and saw something in the middle distance. Lightning illuminated it -- it was the ship's prow, slowly sinking in the water; he could see no other part of the ship. Another flash, and he could make out Harper, clinging to the figurehead from behind, saying something in its ear, and .... Dylan had to be mad -- did the wooden figure raise a hand to his cheek and weep as she answered him .... ?

.... or was it a trick of the light?

But there was no mistaking that Harper and "Rommie" were sinking into the turbulent sea. Though he hated the ocean, Harper was a good swimmer, but he would surely drown if he did not let go of her.

He did not let go of her; they vanished beneath the waves.

"No!" Dylan cried. "NO! Gods, not them, not all of them! Take me, not them -- "

Another wave crashed down onto him; Dylan didn't fight as it drove him down into the icy darkness ....


****


Dylan came to his senses on a beach. He was bruised all over and soaking wet, but the storm clouds were passing.

Coughing out water and picking seaweed from his coat, he got to his feet and looked around. The place looked mildly tropical, but apart from the grass and the palm trees, there was no sign of life.

He had done it again, survived in the face of incalculable odds, but his ship and crew were gone.

.... his ship and crew were gone ....

Dylan fell to his knees, tears welling in his eyes .....

..... and woke, cheeks wet, in the medical bay of the starship *Andromeda Ascendant.* "No." He put his hand over his eyes. "No, not again."

"Captain?" Andromeda's hologram appeared next to his bed, worry in her eyes.

"Just ....." He looked at her and tried to muster some confidence, "just a bad dream. Status please."

Rommie told him the date and the time, a relief of sorts -- he was still in the time period he'd found himself in .... or that this appeared to be .....

" ..... we've arrived at headquarters per instructions," the hologram went on. "Leave has been canceled and we are under a level one blackout."

"Why?"

"I don't have that information ..... Admiral Stark has communicated with Dawn. She will come aboard presently."

"Thank you, Andromeda."

The hologram nodded and vanished in a flash of scan lines.


****


Dawn met Admiral Stark at the main docking airlock; the admiral arrived with her niece, Dylan's fiancee, Dr. Sara Riley; and Commander Gaheris Rhade, first officer of the *Andromeda.*

"Turning command of the *Andromeda* to you," Dawn said, almost relieved, exchanging salutes with Rhade.

"I accept," the Nietzschean replied.

"What is Captain Hunt's status?" Stark asked as the group began to head down the corridor.

"Yes, I heard he had some sort of episode?" Sara asked, worried.

"We have no idea," Dawn said. "But Dr. Tanner is planning on seeing him this morning."

****


"'Morning," Tanner said; Dylan was sitting up in his hospital bed, just finishing breakfast. She pulled up a chair next to his bed and sat down, her nose in a flexie.

Dylan sipped some coffee. "Well, Doc? Am I crazy? Slipping without a pilot? Off the cliff?"

Tanner looked up and smiled. "Y'know, Dylan, I just love it when you lay people start slinging psych lingo without a clue was to what you're talking about. Let's make a deal: I won't tell you how to fire missiles and bombs, and you don't tell me how to shrink heads. Deal?"

"Deal."

She looked back down on the flexie. "How you been sleepin'? I mean, before you 'woke up' back from the future."

"Well .... I *remember* being under a lot of stress. Why?"

"Andromeda says you've been getting enough sleep lately; psychometric test says you're not. If this thing's wrong, some academic heads will roll. It also says your loyalty to your ship and crew has gone up, and your respect for authority has gone down a few ticks. Would that be because of your run-in with 'Uxulta'?"

"I guess. But that doesn't give you any answers."

Tannner lowered the flexie. "What color's my coat?" She was wearing a white lab coat.

"White," Dylan said.

"What's color's that 'bot over there?"

"Gold."

"You didn't look."

Dylan looked. "It's still gold."

"Heard from Harper lately?"

"No, of ..... wait, *he's here!?*"

"I asked if you've *heard* him."

"You mean if I'm hearing voices?"

"Yes."

"No."

"Are you making all this stuff up so you can sell it to a holodrama studio?"

"Wha -- ? NO!"

"Almost wish you were." She took a deep breath. "You asked me to determine whether you were delusional. Well, if you are, you've had one heck of a delusion without any other symptoms of psychosis or paranoid schizophrenia ..... "


****


" .... I mean, he gave me *two years* worth of battles, encounters, anecdotes -- love the birthday party in the reactor room -- as well as detailed descriptions of five people he not only cares for but worries about; he's even grieving for them a little," Tanner said to Stark, Sara, Dawn, Rhade, and Andromeda's hologram, later in her office. "But he's having neither visual nor auditory hallucinations at this time, he knows where and when he is, and who he is and who we all are, and has not had thoughts of suicide. The only real problem the 'metrics say he might need counseling for is survivor's guilt."

"Guilt?" Rhade asked.

"Yes." Tanner tabbed a control; the composite sketches of the crew Dylan remembered appeared on a large wall monitor. "From his perspective, this could be the second time he's survived after losing a crew. He's taking the possibility pretty hard. But that would be just like him."

"So, Doctor, you are saying Captain Hunt is fit for command?" Stark asked.

"Well, he isn't meeting the criteria for being unfit, I can tell you that," Tanner said. "He's stressed, confused, and upset, but those reactions don't cross any red lines. I'm inclined to release him; if anything, I think getting back to work would be the best therapy right now."

"There's no way to be certain?" Rhade demanded. "The problem could be your tests."

"Well .... " Tanner thoughtfully looked at Rommie's hologram. "There is something we could try .... "


****


Dylan pulled on his other boot and stood up. "So, I'm all clear?"

"I didn't say that," Tanner said. "I'm having Andromeda keep an eye on you, and I want you to schedule a regular counseling session."

"But you said -- "

"Humor me. It's the psychological equivalent of 'take two aspirin and call me in the morning.' And it's an order."

"Aye, aye." Dylan flipped a jaunty salute.

"Just get your cute buns out of here, will you? We need the beds for really sick people." She swatted his rear with her flexie has he left.

Outside the medical ward, Dylan saw Admiral Stark and ....

Sara.

"Sara!?" Dylan said.

"Yes, Dylan," she said coming over to him. He pulled her into a hug before she could say anything; she felt the tears on her shoulder.

"Sara ... oh, my God ... " He kissed her, then pulled away. "I'm sorry, it's just ... "

"Andromeda told me, Dylan." Sara found herself crying, too. "Whether it happened or not, it sounds like hell."

"Captain," a familiar voice said.

Dylan spun to face the small figure, a woman with olive skin, brown eyes, short black hair, pouty red lips, once described as a "walking heart attack" ....

.... and very much in the flesh ....

"ROMMIE!?" Dylan yelped; he seemed more confused than ever. "What .... I don't .... "

"You can lay the blame at my door," Admiral Stark said. "Your ... account said the *Andromeda* had a humanoid avatar. I thought it might help for you to have another one, so I had engineering whip her up."

"Yes .... Of course. Thank you, Admiral. Welcome aboard, Rommie."

"Captain."

They traded salutes.

"The doctor says you are fit for duty," Stark said. "There is a classified briefing on the station in two hours. I expect you and your ship's avatar to be present."

"Of course, Ma'am."

"Carry on, Captain."

Dylan exchanged salutes with his superior officer. "Rommie. With me."

After Dylan and Rommie had left the medical section, Tanner came over to Stark and Sara.

"You were monitoring, Doctor," Stark said. "Your opinion of his reaction?"

"Recognition," Tanner said.

"Of course he recognized her -- "

"No, I mean, it was as if he'd worked with an avatar -- *that* avatar -- before, and was glad to do so again."

"But this ship has never had an avatar, has she?" Sara said.

"No," Stark said. "And Dylan never worked with one extensively before on his other assignments. Curious."

"Admiral?" Andromeda's hologram appeared with the group. "Should I continue monitoring for reports of this 'crew' he described?"

Stark pondered for a moment. "Yes, why not. If he has experienced an alternate universe or timeline, I, for one, would love to meet the bastards who could get here from there."


****


"I don't know exactly how you and Harper did it, Rommie," Dylan hissed to his ship's avatar as they shuffled with a crowd of officers and avatars through the corridors of the space station. "I'm the captain; I order you to make things go 'boom.' Harper's the 'freakin' genius' you perform miracles with."

This Rommie wasn't any better a poker face than the one Dylan remembered -- she didn't hide her feelings at all.

"Was a genius," Dylan corrected. "Would have been. You know what I mean."

"Yes, but if I had sustained damage to my command deck such as you described, I don't see how *one* person, even with my assistance, could have made the repairs while the ship was operational. Surely some dry-dock time would have been required."

Dylan sighed. "Well, we did pull into one or two ports of call. I don't know! All I know is you and Harper told me to stay out of Command for a couple of days; I thought it was still a mess. But then the doors opened and ..... it was beautiful. Couldn't believe it. Still can't."

"You see my problem."

Dylan just grumbled.

"Did .... 'I' give you any clue?" Rommie asked.

"You said you and Harper had incorporated design changes the fleet was thinking about before
the .... well, thinking about now," Dylan said. "And you said you loved redecorating."

Rommie frowned. "But I do love redecorating, although I don't recall ever telling you. How did -- ?" Rommie didn't watch where she was going and bumped into somebody.

"Excuse me -- " Rommie started, and then found herself unable to speak. The person who appeared to be a tall, dark-haired, muscular human seemed equally captivated by her.

Dylan recognized him at once. "Gabriel."

"Sir?" the man said.

"That is you, isn't it?" Dylan asked, nervous this might prove he was nuts. "Gabriel? The *Balance of Judgment*?"

"Yes," Gabriel said, saluting. "Pleased to meet you, Captain Hunt."

"Likewise," Dylan said, returning the salute (although an edge crept into his voice).

Gabriel frowned. "Have we met, sir?"

"No," Dylan said, "although you have an impressive reputation."

"Dylan!" A Than pushed through the group from behind Gabriel. "Well, I see you've met Gabriel."

"Sun?" Dylan said, recognizing his old friend. "You're the captain of the *Balance*?"

"Yes," said Sun Behind Clouds. "And believe me, the ship is unbelievable. Impressive. I'd stack him up against -- wait, is this Andromeda?"

"Yes," Rommie said.

"Yes," Sun went on, a touch embarrassed, "I was about to say I'd put Gabe here up against you or one of your sisters any day. Maybe we could arrange a war game?"

"Yes," Dylan said, "although I wouldn't be too confident of the result."

"Ha!" Sun said. "I know that look -- already got something up your sleeve. So, Dylan, any clue as to what the Old Lady has brewing *this* time?"

"Not sure," Dylan said, "but I imagine it must be important."

"I know. Secret orders, ship deployments .... " She chattered in her own language before returning to Common. "Hope it doesn't get too ugly. Well, catch you on the night side. And we will have that war game, and *I* have some tricks too! Come along, Gabriel."

Gabriel and his captain were lost in the throng; Rommie found she couldn't take her eyes off the handsome android.

"At least we don't have to worry about breathing," cooed a voice in Rommie's ear.

Rommie spun to face the tall blonde woman behind her. "Who -- !?"

"You're Jill Pearce," Dylan said, "the *Pax Magellanic.*"

"Pax!?" Rommie said. "When did you go from 'Maggie' to 'Jill'?"

"There goes my surprise," John Warrick, the *Pax'* captain, said as he came up to them. He shook Dylan's hand. "How are you, Dylan?"

"Fine, John."

"You sure? Scuttlebut's going around, you had some kind of seizure -- "

"Stress. I feel better now."

"Sure?"

"Yes."

"Ok ... have to talk later, I guess. Jill?"

"Captain." Jill leaned over to Rommie. "Love the new body, sis." She followed Warrick into the crowd; the mass of officers and androids was funneling into the auditorium-like briefing room, taking seats.

Rommie looked like she was going to have a migraine.

"Problem?" Dylan asked.

"No, it's ..... "

"What? If I'm not prying."

"It's just that Pax has been after me to build a humanoid avatar ever since there was a hint they were back in favor, going on and on about their 'advantages' and having a 'human perspective.'"

"I guess that would be annoying."

"Now that I have this body, I'll never hear the end of -- Pax just sent my ship self an invitation to a party for you and this body. Oh, joy. It's already started."

"Sorry," Dylan said as they took their seats.

"No need." Rommie settled into her chair and a cloud passed over her face. "Dylan .... did you encounter the *Pax* in your .... experience? What happened to her in -- ?"

"Funny, I see other lancer ships' avatars but not the *Clarion's Call's.*"

"Dylan. Please. I want to know what you remember about my sister."

Dylan paused, trying to think of what to say that wasn't entirely a lie. "She survived the war, but came to a bad end later. It wasn't pretty .... I'm sorry."

"Well .... at least those events won't -- "

"ADMIRAL ON DECK!" A voice bellowed from the loudspeakers. All the captains and ship's avatars in the room stood up, snapping to attention, as the doors were locked.

At the front of the room, Admiral Stark took the stage followed by Rhade, Ryan, and, Dylan guessed, another Nietzschean who had to be Major Iskandr Kassad, Ryan's CO.

Stark took the podium. "Ship's avatars," she said into the mike, "apart from basic telemetry and power reception, you will discontinue all higher level communications with your mainframes, and you will not dump your memories of this briefing into your cores until you are aboard your ships and in the presence of, and the with the authorization of, your commanding officers. Authorization Admiral Constanza Q. Stark, code Delta Break Niner Niner One Five."

"Acknowledged," every avatar in the room said at exactly the same time. (Dylan noted Stark's code was correct, so if this was a mind game, *they* had got that right.)

"Be seated," Stark said.

Everyone found their seats.

Stark gathered herself before speaking again. "My friends. We stand here today at a turning point in the history of the Commonwealth. We face an unprecedented threat to its very survival, but from within, not from without. For the basics on this situation, I give the floor to Commander Gaheris Rhade of the *Andromeda Ascendant* .... "


****


"Hey," Sara said when she was allowed into Dylan's cabin. "Is this a bad time?"

"Dismissed," Dylan said to Rommie, who nodded to Sara as she left. Dylan tabbed a control on his desk, and the images of Beka, Harper, Tyr, both versions of Trance, and Rev appeared on a wall monitor.

Sara came up behind Dylan's chair and draped her arms around him; Dylan clasped one of her hands.

"Y'know, Sara," he said, "if you're an alien force messing with my mind or I'm insane -- one way or the other -- now would be a good time to tell me."

"And this would be good news because .... ?"

"Because the one option that's left is that somehow, history has been changed; the Commonwealth, apparently, won't fall the way I remember it did." He smiled weakly. "I have my old crew back, I have you, I have the world I knew, and the Known Worlds won't suffer the fall of civilization, and all I have to sacrifice in exchange for it .... " He broke off, unable to go on. "There's no way they could have survived, is there?"

"They mean a lot to you," Sara said.

"They were everything," Dylan said. "They were more than just my crew. They were all Andromeda and I had for almost two years. And they were miracles, all of them. They did so much .... They deserve better, Sara. They deserve better than just to be wiped out of existence, for the universe to forget them like a bad dream."

"They haven't been forgotten." Sara came around Dylan's chair and sat on the edge of his desk. "You remember them."

"How .... Sara, if someone has messed with time, how can I remember events that will never happen? I mean, that can't be possible, can it?"

"Well -- "

"Captain?"

"Yes, Andromeda?"

The hologram appeared. "Sorry to intrude, but I've just received word on one of these individuals." All but the image of Purple Trance vanished from the screen, as her face grew to fill it. "This one, Trance Gemini -- a ..... being with her name and description is being held in the station's brig. Apparently, she somehow stowed away on the *Clarion's Call* at its last port of call before it -- "

Dylan's footsteps echoed down the corridor as he ran out of his cabin.

" ..... came here," Andromeda finished.

"Um, Andromeda .... ?" Sara started.

"Yes, Dr. Riley, I am already in touch with Admiral Stark."


****


Dylan paced back and forth in the brig's visiting area, nervous and excited all at once. Could it be Trance? Would she know him?

The door to the cell block opened, and a lancer lead a sullen-faced girl dressed in orange prison coveralls, her eyes on the floor in front of her, through the door. The skin tone was the right shade of purple, but the hair was a mix of red and green, not blonde. The face looked familiar, and a long, prehensile tail lazily traced paths in the air behind her, but she looked younger -- sixteen or seventeen, max. (Like he knew what her life span was.)

"Trance?" Dylan called.

She raised her eyes for the first time since entering the room, and her face lit up like a supernova.

"*DYLAN!!*" Trance covered the meters between them in one leap, her tail wrapping around both of them on impact even as she wrapped her arms and legs around him; Dylan was surprised he kept his balance. "DYLAN! By the Maker, it's you! You're real!"

Dylan couldn't remember when he'd felt so overjoyed. "Trance -- you know me? You know the others?"

"YES!! I know Beka and Harper and Tyr and Rev and Rom --- um, um, uh .... "

Dylan turned around and saw Sara, Admiral Stark, and Rommie looking at them.

He then realized he had an almost under-age-looking girl clinging to him in a very tight embrace, and what that would look like.

"Uhm .... " he said. Dylan and Trance's eyes met, then Trance disentangled herself and dropped to the floor. She was also a bit shorter than Dylan remembered.

"Admiral," Dylan said. "Sara. Andromeda. May I present Trance Gemini."

"Pleasure," Stark said dryly.

"Hi," Trance said with a little wave. "Nice to see you again, Sara. Sorry we couldn't teleport you back to the future, although that won't happen that way so it doesn't matter, does it? Rommie? Is that you? How can you be here if Harper will never exist to build you? I'm hungry. Can I get outta here?"

"Not so fast, young lady," Stark said, accepting a flexie from a lancer. "These are serious charges against you. Trespassing on government property, stowing away, unauthorized access to classified -- "

"But I had good intentions!" Trance whined. "I knew I had to get to Dylan and I knew that ship would go to him -- "

"How," Stark asked.

"I just knew," Trance said.

Dylan knelt next to Trance. "Trance. Do you know what's happened to us? Where are we, *when* are we? Is ...." he cast a glance back at the others. "Is this real?"

"No, it's really happening, Dylan. But .... it's all fuzzy, all jumbled in my head. I feel funny. I'm hungry."

"How convenient," Stark said.

"I have no reason to disbelieve her," Dylan said. "Admiral .... I request having Trance released into my custody and brought aboard the *Andromeda* as my guest. I'll vouch for her."

Admiral Stark thought about it, then took a deep breath. "Very well -- but I'm going to set Sara to watch over her and provide a proper scientific evaluation of this situation."

"What!?" Dylan and Sara yelped (only Rommie noticed Trance looked pleased).

"Admiral ... " Sara said. "Aunt Connie -- This -- I've never seen anything like her! I mean, this situation is a little bit beyond my area of expertise."

"This entire situation is beyond all our areas of expertise," Stark said. "But you have been involved with this from the beginning; I simply don't have the time to look for someone else. So either we ship her off to Tarn Vedra for the eggheads there to find out what makes her tick, or I make the best use of the resources available to me which means *you.*"

"Well .... I'm not military; the Institute -- "

"Will understand. I will see to that. Don't argue, Sara. See it as an opportunity and make the most of it."

"Yay," Trance said quietly .... not quietly enough.

Stark crossed to her and loomed over the pixie. "Understand something, Miss Gemini. This ..... situation has been thrust upon me in the midst of a critical classified operation, so I don't have a lot of patience for it. And while you may have Dylan's trust, you don't have mine. You will have to earn it; conversely, it would be very bad for you if you don't."

A look of anger flashed over Trance's face, a hint of the Gold Trance Dylan remembered. Then she winced and rubbed her temples. "I always have good intentions, Admiral. Dylan knows."

Stark frowned, but relented. "Well, I suppose we're done here. Guard ..... ?"

[MikeJaffa]

"Are you trying to wear down the floor?" Sara asked, she and Rommie watching as Dylan paced back and forth in the brig's outer office, waiting for Trance to finish changing her clothes and join them.

"Sorry .... " Dylan said. "It's just the last thing that happened was she charged at me. Then I was back here, so maybe she might know what happened."

"She might," Sara said, "but she said she feels 'funny'? That goes back to what I started telling you earlier. There's a theory about timelines that they're like energy -- they can't be destroyed, only change their state, and information from them could, under the right circumstances, make it to another reality."

"Information?" Dylan said.

"Right. Think about it: What's easier for you to carry on your own person -- Andromeda's mainframe or a series of data disks with a copy of her personality?"

"The disks."

"Right. Information is a lot easier to move around than matter. So, somehow, the memories of that other Dylan could have been sent into your head, overwriting all your memories. But it was still a shock to your system, which is why you collapsed."

"And if Trance had lived through the next three hundred years ..... " Dylan said.

"She has three centuries worth of memories she didn't have yesterday that she has to sort out," Sara said. "It may take a while."

"I never thought I would live to see the day when I was an example in a physics lesson," Rommie said.

"Let's move to the question and answer period," Dylan said. "Sara, if the other timeline hasn't been totally destroyed, could there still be away to rescue my .... the other crew?"

"Dunno," Sara said.

"Sara -- "

"Dylan! ..... Look, temporal mechanics is, at best, a hobby for interested academics. At worst, it's something that could cost you your tenure and your position if you get too serious about it. No one takes the subject seriously, and there are as many theories as there are unknowns and no way to tell what's right..... I'm sorry, I know how you feel ... "

"It's all right -- "

"All ready!" Trance said from behind them. Dylan turned and saw someone dressed for a rave party: At best, her clothes could be described as low rent -- a gray headband, black top, jean jacket and matching shorts, with cheap jewelry on her ears and clanging on her wrists; and a belt Dylan might have expected on a cowboy.

"Maybe I should warn security to allow us more time at the metal detector?" Rommie said.


****


Once they got aboard the *Andromeda,* it was hard to dismiss the idea that Trance had lived there for two years in another reality: She made a B-line for the officers' mess without being guided, where she proceeded to eat like a horse.

"Is that her third course?" Sara asked, coming to sit next to Trance with her own cup of coffee.

"Fourth," Rommie said. "You missed one."

"Where is she putting it all?" Dawn said, amazed; she, Rhade, Kylie and other officers had come to the mess as soon as they'd heard someone from Dylan's alternate timeline had been found.

"Maybe that's what the tail's for," Kylie quipped.

"My metabolism's not like yours," Trance said between mouthfuls. "I don't handle food the way you do."

"Yes, well ... " Dylan said, sitting across from her, suppressing the memories of the times Trance had got drunk. "Well, what about the hair?"

"What about it?"

"Trance, you were a blonde!"

Trance smiled. "No, I wasn't. I'm not blonde."

"What ... "

Sara grinned. "Don't be dense, Dylan. She dyes it, right?"

"Well, I don't know if it was dye," Trance said. "I remember I had this little bottle of pero .... perii ... perrr .... "

"'Peroxide'?" Sara said with a grin.

"Yeah!" Trance said happily. "Per-ox-ide! And it made my hair very pretty. Didn't you think it was pretty, Dylan? Dylan?"

Dylan just sat there, rubbing his temples.

"Don't mind him, Trance," Kylie said. "He's a ladies' man, which means he knows absolutely *nothing* about women."

"*Was* a ladies' man," Sara corrected. "He's *mine* now."

Trance managed to join in the women’s laughter while shoveling down some more food, then suddenly sat back, looking uncomfortable. "I don't feel so good." She got up from her chair and raced out of the mess before anyone could stop her.

Dylan lead the charge after her; he and his command crew found her in the corridor just outside the mess on all fours, throwing up.

"ES officer, was she?" Rommie asked.

"And medic," Dylan said.

"Interesting choice for the job," Rommie went on. "She binges, she purges, she .... "

Trance suddenly fell onto her side, completely still.

" .... dies?" Rommie finished.

"Oh, yeah, she's like that." Dylan knelt next to Trance. "C'mon, Trance, up and at 'em. Front and center."

"Dylan .... " Rommie said. "I'm not detecting any life signs."

"Yeah, but she'll get better. C'mon, Trance. Trance?" Dylan finally grabbed the tail. "Trance?"

"YIPE!" Trance sat up with a start.

"Feel better?" Dylan asked.

"No. Rommie? I guess I don't have my old quarters anymore, so where are the new ones?"

"Deck 19, section A23, room 5, Miss -- Trance."

"Ok. I'm going to lie down now." Trance got up and headed down the corridor, almost all of the *Andromeda's* command staff looking on in amazement.

"I'm sure we all have duties to attend to," Rhade said. Kylie and Dawn took the hint and left. "Captain. A moment of your time?"


****


"All right, Gaheris," Dylan said on leading Rhade, Sara, and Rommie into his quarters.

"Sir," Rhade said, "I would like for you to consider the possibility that what you remember did not, in fact, happen."

"That's kind of hard to believe," Dylan said, "given that one of the crew I remember is walking around on this ship right now. And she does know her way around."

"Is it? Or could it be that these 'memories' were somehow implanted as part of some covert offensive against the Commonwealth?"

"That's preposterous! She wasn't anywhere near us when .... when I collapsed."

"But we are dealing with an unknown. I have never seen anything like her. Has anyone else?" Sara and Rommie shook their heads.

"And her people may have capabilities we know nothing of," Rhade went on. "And she did know the *Clarion's Call* was on his way to headquarters -- to *you.*"

"To what end?" Dylan said. "Let's assume you're right -- what has she accomplished beyond soiling the deck?"

"I don't know," Rhade said. "But having influence over the captain of the *Andromeda* at such a critical time would seem to be a strategic advantage in any plan against the Commonwealth. And you yourself were uncertain if the events you remember really happened until you met Miss Gemini."

"They happened. Sara will back me up; I have the memories of that timeline -- "

"That's just one theory," Sara said. "But there are other theories that say it's impossible. I'm sorry."

"At the very least, it's something we shouldn't rule out," Rommie said. "Not until we know more, one way or the other."

Dylan finally nodded, grudgingly. "All right. Your concerns are duly noted, Commander. Thank you. Now, I'd like to be alone for a while."

The others filed out, and Dylan sat at his desk, calling up the images of the other ... his crew on the wall monitor; Trance's images had been removed from the composites.

"Whatever happens," Dylan said, "I won't forget you."


****


Captain Dylan Hunt, about whom it was said the gold in his shirt confirmed his status as the Federation's golden boy, had to stop running along the beach towards the USS *Andromeda's* saucer section, waves licking its rear third while black smoke rose from gashes in the hull, when the heat and the fumes became too intense.

He found his communicator, removed it from his belt, and flipped it open.

"Hunt to *Andromeda,*" he said. "Hunt to anybody! Beka, Harper, Tyr, Rommie, Rev! Do you cop -- "

An explosion rocked the saucer section, sending a huge fireball up from where the Constitution class cruiser's bridge had been, the ground shaking under his feet. Dylan stumbled back, trying and failing to hold back his tears ....


****


Sara woke up to find Dylan no longer in bed; he was sitting at his desk, fingering his uniform jacket.

"Honey?" As she sat up, she put her hand on his pillow -- it was wet. "You ok?"

Dylan didn't look up at first.

"What's wrong?" she prodded gently.

Dylan finally raised his gaze; she could see he'd been crying. "I .... I keep seeing them. And losing them. Over and over again and there's nothing I can do. What kind of a Captain am I, Sara? They trusted me with their lives, and I can't save them?"

"You've lost people before," Sara said.

"It never hurt so much before .... What do you think, Sara? Honestly. What do you think of all of this?"

"I'm a scientist, Dylan, not a psychic. All I can do is examine the evidence before me. Trance could be who you and she say she is, or she could be who Rhade says she is. Both theories are valid."

"Y'know, my tour on this ship is up in six months. I had been thinking of putting in for reassignment, but maybe .... I've been in the military almost my whole life, you know that? Military school, then straight into the High Guard. I've never been a civilian, never stopped to smell the roses. Maybe it's .... " He couldn't go on.

"Maybe," Sara said. "But let me ask you something: Would *they* want you to do that?"

"So ... you believe in them?"

"I believe in you. And maybe you coulda got such a rough-and-tumble bunch to follow you." She tried to lighten the mood. "But what was that Trance said about teleporting ... ?"

"Oh, that's a long story. You see -- "

"Captain," Andromeda's hologram said, appearing next to the desk. "Forgive the intrusion, but we have received the word from Admiral Stark -- the fleet is to deploy."

"All hands!" Dylan said. "Prepare to leave spacedock. Battle stations!" The lights came up; Dylan and Sara headed for the bathroom. "Sara, after you get dressed, I want you to bring Trance to Command." He thought. "Oh, and in answer to your question, I think the others would want me to keep kicking butt." He kissed her.


****


When Sara and Trance got to Command, the purple pixie hesitated on the threshold, taking a half step back.

"What’s the matter?" Sara asked. "You've been here before, right?"

"Yeah," Trance said, "but it was never so *crowded.*"

Rommie came over to her. "Well, this is what I'm like fully manned. You are authorized to be here, as long as you don't get in anyone's way." She smiled a little. "Please."

At Rommie's gesture, Trance smiled, nodded, and crept down the ramp. Her eyes immediately went to the three-dimensional graphic floating above the holo-projection pit, showing the station and the High Guard task force around it, preparing to move out. She stopped near Rhade's station, awestruck. "Wow."

"Never seen anything like it?" Rhade asked, equal parts friendly and skeptical.

"Well .... " Trance said. "I've seen a lot, but nothing quite like -- "

"Admiral on deck!" Rommie announced.

"As you were," Stark said, entering Command. "Andromeda Ascendant, note that on this date, I am transferring my flag to your command deck."

"Acknowledged," Rommie said. Dylan and Rhade left their stations. Stark ascended the command podium, Dylan took Rhade's station, and Rhade prowled the deck (always keeping an eye on Trance).

"Um .... " Trance said. "Can I do something? I feel kinda funny just standing here while you're all doing something."

Stark glared at Dylan.

"She was my ES officer," Dylan said.

Stark nodded.

"Andromeda," Dylan said, "allow Trance Gemini access to secondary ES controls."

"Acknowledged."

Smiling, her tail happily flicking the air, Trance took her station.

Sara cleared her throat -- loudly.

"And allow Dr. Sara Riley access to secondary sensor station."

"Acknowledged."

"You've got him well trained," Kylie muttered as Sara took her station.

Sara smiled. "Getting there. He'll be housebroken yet."

"Civilians on a command deck in combat," Stark grumbled. "But I suppose this is old hat to you, Dylan?"

"One gets used to it, Admiral."

"Forgive me if I don't wish to, no offense to our guests. Andromeda, open a channel. Stark to task force. Clear all moorings and undock from the station. Deploy, deploy, deploy."

Dylan barked orders, and activity on the command deck swung into high gear. And as the giant starship rumbled to life and prepared to move out, Trance's small voice was lost in the tumult:

"This is it. We're going to war."


****


Once the task force was clear of the station, the *Andromeda,* the *Pax,* and the two other cruisers launched their fighters, and the ships settled into formation, the fighters forming a wedge just ahead of and around the two Siege Perilous class destroyers; the cruisers, supply ships, and lancer troop carriers bringing up the rear. Although busy with her station, Trance was amazed when the task force jumped through the slipstream in formation. Two more jumps took them to the Styx system, where the Nietzscheans had been preparing the fleet of 10,000 ships that, in another reality, would have surprised Dylan at Hephaestos and lead to him and the *Andromeda* being frozen in time for 300 years. But this time, it was the Nietzscheans who were surprised, their ships still in space dock and not yet ready for flight.

"Andromeda -- " Stark said, "open a channel."

"Channel open," Rommie said.

"Nietzshcean fleet -- this is Admiral Constanza Q. Stark of the High Guard. We know why you are here, what your plans are, and it is not going to happen. You have this one chance to surrender and come quietly. I await your answer." She made a sharp cutting motion across her throat to close the channel.

She didn't have to wait long for her response.

"Nietzscheans are launching fighters," Dylan reported, checking his readouts. "Their point defenses are coming online."

"We have our answer." Stark tabbed a control. "Stark to task force. Our opponents have elected to do this the hard way. Let's not disappoint them. By the numbers: Strike, strike, strike."

The High Guard fighters went in first, some squadrons dog fighting with their Nietzschean counterparts while others did bombing runs on the spacedocks, taking out point defenses and missile batteries. This cleared the way for the *Balance of Judgment* and his brother ship, the *Scales of Justice,* to do what they were designed to do -- kill other starships. The two huge starships crisscrossed the Nietzschean shipyard, Nietzschean capital ships, helpless in their slips, burning in their wakes.

Meanwhile, the cruisers created a perimeter and covered the fighters. The Nietzshceans got a few shots in at the *Andromeda,* but Trance quickly rerouted the life support systems before Rommie had even diagnosed the damage, and Sara recalibrated the sensors so enemy missiles could not approach unseen. (This earned an acknowledgment of grudging admiration from Admiral Stark; Dylan was smart enough to hide his expression and not say 'I told you so.')

When the fighters and destroyers had gained the upper hand, Stark ordered the second phase to begin, and the *Clarion's Call* and his brother ships swung out from behind the protective cover of the cruisers and, in formation with the fighters, tied on to the spacedocks' command and control areas; their lancer regiments poured in. Although the Nietzscheans fought back and both sides took casualties, Stark had timed her attack for when neither the docks nor the enemy fleet were fully manned, and the Commonwealth had surprise on its side. The lancers had control of the spacedocks within a matter of hours.

By the end of the day, as the *Andromeda Ascendant* presided over a Nietzschean shipyard now firmly under High Guard control, awaiting the arrival of prison transport barges, word arrived through Systems Courier ships that High Guard security forces had swept down on Nietzschean cells elsewhere in the Commonwealth; the government on Fountainhead had been arrested, and a military governor appointed pending new local elections.

The Nietzschean revolt had been crushed before it had even started.


****


The *Andromeda* and the bulk of the task force were on station in the shipyard for three more weeks. During that time, Dylan made his counseling sessions with Dr. Tanner. His nightmares gradually became less frequent, but anyone could see he was still haunted by the loss of his "other crew," and no one suggested they hadn't been real in his presence ... or out of it for that matter.

Trance spent most of her time in hydroponics. At first she was thrown by how many crew members used it in their spare time (and the size of the basketball games Dylan could scare up), but she quickly got to work among the planters she'd loved so much in another reality ... and loved again. The officer in charge of the deck noted how the plants grew like crazy around her, which didn't surprise Dylan, and no one was surprised he wasn't surprised.

Sara was having less luck with the purple pixie.

"Where is she from? Don't know," Sara said in a meeting with Admiral Stark and Dylan. "What is her species? No idea. How can she come back to life? Got me. Dylan, was she this good at being evasive with you?"

"Yes," Dylan said, "although we did confirm she may not be really alive, not as we know it anyway."

"How?" Stark asked.

"Well we had a run in with these sentient parasites called the Bokur," Dylan said. "They'd infect you, kill you, and then reanimate your body, so you were basically a zombie. Most people took, I dunno, hours to die, but Trance was infected right away, so maybe she wasn't alive to begin with. Fortunately, Harper had tumbled to the fact that 10,000 volts would kill the Bokur, so once I gave Trance a shock with my force lance, she was ok, and found a cure in time to save me and Beka because we'd both been infected."

Stark and Sara just looked at him.

"What?" Dylan said.

Eventually, another group of cruisers arrived to relieve the destroyers and cruisers in the task force. It was while the *Andromeda* was on its way back to headquarters that Sara proposed taking Trance back to Tarn Vedra.

"I can't do much more here," Sara told Dylan. "Andromeda is the first to admit she's not a science vessel, so all I can do is find ways to say 'I don't know' but with bigger words. But back in the Institute .... you remember Bob Crookshank? He's both an accredited xenobiologist specializing in first contacts and a temporal mechanics 'hobbyist,' so one way or the other, we should figure something out."

Sara and Dylan talked about this with Trance on the Observation deck after the *Andromeda* had docked at headquarters.

"So ... what's going to happen?" Trance said, nervously pacing back and forth. "Are they going to cut open my head and scoop out my brains and make soup with it and do all sorts of terrible things to it?"

"No, Trance," Sara said. "Don't be so nervous."

"Huh? I'm not nervous." But she kept pacing, almost distracted.

"Bob Crookshank is an old friend of ours," Sara said. "He's a good man; you can trust -- "

Trance suddenly stopped in her tracks, her eyes wide. Then she let out a blood-curdling shriek and collapsed to the deck.

"Trance!" Dylan said, falling to the deck beside her and cradling her in his arms. Sara knelt next to her, too, while other crew members who'd heard the shriek came running over.

Shaking like a leaf, Trance looked up at Dylan with fear-filled eyes. "The Magog," she stammered.

"What about them?" Dylan prompted.

Trance's answer would send chills down his spine:

"They win."

[MikeJaffa]

All the medics who checked Trance out in Medical could say was that she wasn't dead, and she wasn't throwing up. But she seemed to be ok, if shaken.

Dylan went over to the bed she was sitting on. "Well, Trance?"

"Well, uh .... " Trance's eyes flicked to the other personnel in the room.

"Clear the deck," Dylan ordered. The High Guard medics filed out of the room. "You, too Sara."

"Like hell. I've been in on this since the beginning and I'm not being shut out now. What happened, Trance? Dylan said you can see the future?"

"Well .... " Trance said. "I can get a good sense of what might happen. Y'know, what's likely. Just guessing really."

"So, what do you guess?" Dylan asked, his tone leaving little room for monkey business. "Trance -- you said the Magog win -- "

"Yes -- " Trance said. "I can't be certain. Nothing's certain. But it seems to me that when the High Guard put down the Nietzschean rebellion, that wasn't the end of it because they're still mad at the Commonwealth and still want to break away. So they'll just have more time to plan things out, and maybe in a hundred years, have a nasty politics-type fight in the Conclave, and finally formally secede. But when they do, they'll take some of the Nova Bomb thingies with them ..... "

****


" ..... and then when hostilities break out between the Commonwealth and the Nietzschean worlds, both sides deploy their strategic assets relatively early in the conflict," Dylan said in his quarters later, Admiral Stark's image filling the wall screen while Sara sat on the edge of his desk. "Assured destruction, Admiral. The central systems on both sides are destroyed. What's left is even less able to repel Magog attacks than the worlds in the timeline I remember, and even with the Magog World Ship so far out of position, they're able to wipe out the last pockets of civilization with only a few raids. By CY 10,034, by Trance's reckoning, the Known Worlds are in the same state as M86."

"I see," Stark said, nodding. "What do you make of all this, Sara?"

"Beats me," she said. "I was going to wait until I talked to Bob Crookshank. But if she and Dylan know about this world ship from their timeline, even though it's uber classified and Dylan was never told about it, maybe we should listen to her."

"I see. Your recommendation, Captain?"

"Well, if we can't figure out how to fix the timeline somehow, the best we can do is make use of this advance intelligence. We have one hundred years to address Nietzschean grievances, hopefully prevent them from seceding altogether. That's the best hope of insuring the Commonwealth is intact three hundred years from now."

"I see. Thank you both for bringing this to my attention. Stark out." Her image left the screen.

"So what now?" Sara said.

"Thinking good thoughts would be a start," Dylan said.


****


Stark leaned back into her leather office chair, her fingers steepled under her lips, thinking. Then she tabbed a control on her desk. "Stark to security .... "

****


"Am I intruding?" Rhade asked, standing a pace behind Trance as she worked on a planter in hydroponics.

"No," Trance said. "I'm just changing Walter's nutrient balance."

"'Walter'?"

"Uh-huh. This is Walter, and that's Herman, and those are Genie and Gigi, and that's Harper and Rommie -- but I never told them -- "

"You've named the plants?"

"Well .... I lived here. I worked here. I named them all. I'm just getting to know my old friends again."

"I see." Rhade sat on the edge of one planter.

"You don't believe Dylan and I lived in another future," Trance said.

"Frankly, no," Rhade said.

"You think I'm some kind of spy?"

"I find that more likely than an alternate timeline."

"All right." Trance turned to face Rhade, surprisingly level-headed. "Let's say you're right. Let's say I'm a spy and I've hypnotized Dylan or something. What have I done so far? Did I stop you from stopping the Nietzschean rebellion? No. Have I warned you that this timeline could go very, very badly? Yes. And where have I spent the most time apart from hydroponics? I haven't even been to Command since the battle! Right?"

Rhade consulted his com gauntlet. "That's true. I believe you don't like it being so 'crowded.'"

"Well I got used to there being only a few of us .... but anyway, if I'm a spy, I'm a lousy one."

"There is such a thing as a sleeper cell, put in place for years in advance, and then activated at the appropriate time."

"Then I'm a lousy sleeper. I mean, don't you think that if my people were doing something bad against the Commonwealth and were putting in these 'sleepers' in position, wouldn't they make them harder to find?" Her tail curled through the air behind her shoulders. "Make them look more like regular people so you wouldn't find them until it was too late?"

"That would be a better tactic," Rhade conceded. "I had been wondering why an adversary would make such an obvious mistake, unless it was for misdirection."

"But then the plan gets more and more complicated," Trance said. "Does it sound like it could really work?"

"Plans of such complexity have been known to work. And they have been known to blow up in their orchestrators' faces."

"Right. But let's say I'm right and Dylan's right and we lived in a timeline where the Commonwealth fell, uh, yesterday actually, and he was frozen in time and I was on a ship that rescued him and -- "

"I'm aware of the particulars, Miss Gemini. So let us say all that is true .... "

"Well, Rhade, in the future we lived in, your people, the Nietzschean people, had survived. They weren't doing well and they were fighting each other but they survived. *Your descendants* survived. But in this timeline, your people could be gone in about 250 years. No more Nietzscheans. No more Rhades. None. And I've warned you about that.

"I won't tell you what to believe, but there's nothing for me in being a spy. But there's everything for you and your people for me .... uhm ... " She trailed off.

Rhade followed Trance's gaze and saw Admiral Stark approaching with a squad of MPs from the station. He stood and snapped to attention. "Admiral on deck!"

"As you were," Stark said. "Commander -- good. I won't have to look for you later." She pointed at Trance. "Arrest her."

"WHAT!?" Trance yelped; the MPs descended on the pixie. Try as she might, she couldn't squirm away, and they slapped the cuffs on.

"The charge is espionage," Stark said. "Take her away. Commander Rhade, come with me."


****


"I'm more convinced than ever that they're real, Sara," Dylan said, sitting with her on the couch in his office.

"So am I," Sara said. "Or maybe you have a communicable form of insanity. But I guess I believe in them, too."

"Really?"

"Really. But what do we do about it? You said it yourself, they had to be sacrificed for you to be here; you can't get them back without sacrificing *this* timeline."

"I don't believe that, Sara. There must be a -- "

Andromeda's hologram appeared. "Captain, forgive the intrusion, but Admiral Stark --- "

The hatch opened, and Stark and Rhade entered.

"Forgive me, Andromeda," Stark said, "but I had no time to waste. Captain Dylan Hunt. I am hereby removing you from command of the *Andromeda Ascendant.* Commander Rhade, I grant you a field promotion to captain, with all the privileges accorded that rank, and assign you command of this vessel. Captain Hunt, you are on medical leave as of right now. Sara, pack your things; you're going home."

"WHAT!?" Sara yelped. "Aunt Connie -- !"

"Admiral, I protest!" Dylan shouted. "This is highly irregular. I demand to know the reasons for this!"

"You. Demand?" Stark growled.

Dylan calmed down, with considerable effort. "My apologies, Admiral. With respect, I request to know the grounds for this."

"Very well. I believe you have been under the influence of an agent of an unknown and potentially hostile power."

"TRANCE!?" Dylan yelped.

"Connie," Sara said, "there are a lot of things I could say about Trance, but -- "

"With respect," Rhade said, "although I am the first admit to being skeptical, I believe it is premature -- "

"THIS IS NOT A DEBATE!" Stark thundered. "I admit, there is some romance in this notion of an alternate timeline, but I have a duty to the Commonwealth, and I cannot take chances. Miss Gemini has been arrested, and you, Dylan, will get your head back on straight. We will address the question of a timeline if the espionage investigation turns up nothing, but not one minute before. The matter is final." Stark turned and left the room.

"She can't get away with this, can she?" Sara said.

"I'm afraid she can," Rhade said. "Ironically enough, I was starting to believe Trance. But we have our orders."

"Orders my foot," Dylan growled, grabbing his jacket from the back of his chair. "Stay here, Sara -- "

"Like hell," Sara said, following Dylan out of the cabin. "Get used to it -- we're getting married, remember?"

"Don't argue, Dylan," Rhade said.

Dylan sighed and nodded.

"Now," Sara said. "Where are *we* going?"

"To see my crew member," Dylan said.


****

Rhade went back to his cabin, and spent a quarter of an hour thinking. Then he sat at his desk. "Ship. Secure this room."

Andromeda's hologram appeared. "Aye .... Captain. Secure communication mode engaged."

"Very well. Access my private workspace and open the following file .... "


****


"WHAT DO YOU MEAN I CAN'T SEE HER!?" Dylan shouted at the desk sergeant in the station's brig.

"Orders from Admiral Stark," the man said, unflappable. "You have no access to prisoner Gemini."

"I will take full responsibility."

"Code?"

"Captain Dylan Hunt, Lexic Dark 52278."

The man looked at his desk screen. "Sorry, sir, but that code has been deactivated."

"WHAT!? Listen, Ser -- "

"SIR. With all due respect, I am going to have to ask you to leave. That, or I will have to put you under arrest."

Dylan looked like he was about to say something else, but Sara intervened. "That's all right, Sergeant; we were just going. Weren't we, Dylan?"


****


"Sorry if I embarrassed you," Sara said a few minutes later, in the corridor.

"No, you were all right."

"Is there any way around this?"

"There would be, but unfortunately, the two best hackers I've ever known won't .... I wish I knew what the hell the admiral is up to? Arresting Trance, locking me out -- "

Dylan's com gauntlet beeped. They both looked at the small screen, surprised at whom they saw there.

"Rhade?" Dylan said.

"We have to talk," Rhade answered.


****

Rhade secured his quarters as soon as Dylan and Sara arrived.

"All right .... Captain," Dylan said. "What's going on?"

"Perhaps you can tell me," Rhade answered, handing Dylan a flexie. Dylan started to read it; his jaw dropped and he turned pale.

"What is it?" Sara asked. Dylan didn't answer, so she turned to Rhade. "Gaheris, what is it?"

"It's the simulations Admiral Stark showed me when I was at headquarters," Rhade said. "The likely outcome of the Nietzschean Tactical Offensive. It's what convinced me to switch -- "

"This is no simulation," Dylan breathed. "This .... I saw this. Sara. I read this in the *Maru's* historical -- wait a minute." He handed the flexie to Sara and turned away from her. "The Battle of Witchhead. The last 100 High Guard ships were ambushed by a force of five hundred Nietzschean capital ships and fighters. But the Nietzscheans were poorly positioned; the two forces destroyed each other. War ends in a draw."

Sara read the flexie and nodded. "Yes, that's what it says, but what does it mean?"

"It means .... " Dylan said. "My God. Sara, that's not your Aunt Connie, or not the Constanza Q. Stark we know. My God. She's the one who did it, Sara. Admiral Stark came back in time and changed history."

Dylan stood there for a minute, an unreadable expression on his face .... which soon hardened. "Will you all excuse me?"

Dylan surged out into the corridor; he was surprised to find Rhade right behind him.

"What are your intentions?" Rhade asked.

"You don't want to know, Gaheris."

"I think I know all too well. But will vengeance bring your other crew back?"

Dylan stopped in his tracks, and whirled to face his former first officer. "What do you -- !?" He realized he was attracting the attention of some passing crew members and reduced his voice to a whisper. "She killed them, Rhade! They don't exist because of her."

"And how will your going out with guns blazing change this? At best, you end up in the brig on a mutiny charge. *Think about this, Dylan.*"

Dylan calmed down a bit; of course, Rhade was right. He saw Sara coming up to them over Rhade's shoulder and calmed down some more.

"Yes .... of course," Dylan said. "Thank you, Gaheris .... Usually, I'm the one telling a Nietzschean to calm down."

Rhade smiled slightly. "We live in interesting times."


****


"But .... wouldn't there be two Starks running around?" Dawn asked. She, Kylie, Rhade, Sara, and Rommie were having a secret meeting in Dylan's cabin. "I mean ..... even if she can change history and prevent the events that made her go back in time ... uhm ... "

"Short answer -- yes," Sara said. "Long answer -- lots and lots of math requiring lots and lots of aspirin. But Dylan isn't as far out in left field as you might think."

"But if we undo what Stark did," Kylie said, "then the Commonwealth falls anyway."

"Yes," Dylan said, "but the Magog don't wipe out what's left of civilization, and in three hundred years, there's a chance to build a new one."

"Assuming you can restore the lost timeline, and that's another can of worms," Sara said.

"I didn't say this was easy," Dylan said. "We are faced with a no-win scenario. If we take action and succeed, we erase this timeline, and all of you .... and you are all at risk. If we fail and are captured, we face mutiny charges which carry a mandatory death penalty. Not a pleasant set of choices.

"I can not order any of you to assist me and Sara in this; your involvement must be fully voluntary, based on your evaluation of the facts." He paused and looked at Rommie. "That goes for you, too, Andromeda. I'll hotwire a slip fighter if I have to."

"Can you give us a minute?" Rhade said.

Dylan nodded; he and Sara went to a far corner of the room while the other officers huddled.

"What are you not telling them?" Sara asked quietly. "Dylan -- "

"They don't need to know the details about how they died," Dylan said.

"Well ..... what happened to me?"

Dylan half smiled. "You tried to rescue me from the black hole; that was where the teleportation came in. Long -- "

"'--story,' I know. Then what?"

"You found the survivors and the families of the ship's survivors and founded a Commonwealth colony called Terazed. Even Gaheris' descendants were there. You ... had a good life."

Sara smiled, putting her arms around Dylan's waste. "Well, I'm pretty sure what I would have been doing right now wouldn't be half as exciting this. And we had some time together we wouldn't have had. Not a bad trade if you ask me." They kissed. Then they noticed Gaheris and Rommie standing next to them.

"Yes .... Captain?" Dylan said.

"It was unanimous, sir," Rhade said. "We've devoted our lives to the Commonwealth -- not just its institutions but its ideals. Admiral Stark has violated those ideals and put all life in the Known Worlds -- knowingly or unknowingly -- at risk. There is no other option, really. But first things first." Rhade saluted Dylan. "Sir. I resign my position as captain of the *Andromeda Ascendant.* Returning command to you, Captain Hunt. It will be an honor to serve under you."

Dylan returned the salute. "I accept, Commander."

"Two changes of command in one day," Rommie said. "That must be a record."

"Well, that will be our secret for now," Dylan said, as the rest of his officers came over to them. "Kylie. I want you to pick a squad of your best men. Tell them everything; give them the option. Then I want you and Rommie to figure out a way to get Trance out of the brig. Dawn, Rhade. Most of our crew is on liberty; find a way to rotate the rest off the ship without attracting attention. I won't have more than just us at risk over this. Sara. You've just been appointed the *Andromeda's* acting chief engineer. Rig the ship for operation with a skeleton crew."

"ME!?" Sara yelped.

"You've said you don't want to be shut out," Dylan said, "and you're the only 'freakin' genius' I have available to me. Let's bring it, people."

Sara hung back while her fiancee and his fellow High Guard officers left the room. She blew out a stream of air. "All right, Sara. Let's see if being the only girl in shop class for three years running has paid off."


****


"Prisoner transfer," Kylie said as she and Rommie came up to the desk sergeant in the station's brig; Kylie flicked a small flexie onto the desk. "Prisoner 2184-J/L7."

The man picked the flexie up. "Trance Gemini. You're Major Vance off the *Andromeda,* right? And I'm supposed to just hand The Grape over to you?"

"That's the general idea," Kylie shot back.

"I'm going to have to verify this with Admiral Stark."

"Suuurrrrrreeeee. Go right ahead. Bother the Old Lady about this; see if I care if you make my day worse than it already is."

"What? She got you jumping through hoops or somethin'?"

"No ..... well, it's nothing really."

"What?"

"We're trying to find Rommie a date."

"Aren't there other AIs -- ?"

"A *human* date. You know, experience life among humans. Just go to Tarn Vedra on a three day pass, hit some clubs, no big deal. I got four passes, but no one I've asked wants to go."

"Yeah?" The sergeant looked Rommie over.

Rommie rested her elbows on the desk and leaned forward, giving the man a good view down the front of her top. "Have I ever mentioned how much I admire the Lancer Corps?" she said, smiling warmly.

"Yeah?" The sergeant's eyes flicked between Kylie and Rommie. Then he looked at the flexie again. "Ah, the Old Lady's probably got enough to worry about. Hey Frank! Get The Grape out here."

Once Trance had been transferred to Kylie and Rommie's custody, they traded as few pleasantries with the sergeant as they could get away with and left.

"I'm beginning to hope this mission succeeds," Rommie hissed as they hurried through the station.

"Really?" Kylie said.

"Yes! I mean, me on a date with that barely evolved hominid? This 'Seamus Harper' may not sound like a savory character, but at least he has a neck!"


****


"As you were," Admiral Stark said to the desk sergeant. "I wish to speak with the prisoner, Gemini."

"But ... Admiral .... " The man snapped to attention -- he knew he was in it deep now. "Ma'am! Major Kylie Vance and the *Andromeda* avatar just took custody of her. They had orders from your office."

"WHAT!? And you didn't verify them for WHAT REASON!?"

"Uhhhhhhhhh .... "

"We will deal with it another time." Stark tabbed a control on the hapless man's desk. "Stark to operations. Security alert. Lock down the *Andromeda Ascendant.* I say again, lock down the *Andromeda Ascendant.*"


****


Kylie, Rommie, and Trance had just got to the *Andromeda's* docking airlock when Stark sounded the alarm. They left the station MPs guarding the airlock unconscious on the station side, then rushed into the ship and slammed the door behind them.

"We're in," Rommie called into the com as Kylie undid Trance's cuffs, "but there's a security alert. I've been locked down."


****


"We see it," Dylan said, crossing to Sara's engineering station. "Just get up here. Sara?"

"My codes aren't working," Sara said, "not even the legit ones. I can't unlock the hold-down clamps."

"Sir, station security forces have been deployed," Rhade called from his station. "Estimate lancers will be ready to board us in three minutes."

Dylan cursed. "I'd hoped this wouldn't get messy. Andromeda! Send out the lads. Take care of the hold-down clamps."


****


"Stam!" Thompson called, running to stand beside his mate at a huge observation window with a view of the *Andromeda's* slip. "What's going on? Tell me it's another drill."

At that moment, a brilliant explosion arced on the ship's surface; the station rocked as debris floated away into space, the remains of one of the two hold-down clamps.

The umber hulk turned to Thompson. "It is no drill," he growled.


****

As Thompson had seen, Andromeda's two giant land warfare robots made short work of the portside clamp, but when they went to work on the starboard one, the station had already launched combat drones. Their first run destroyed one robot and left the other damaged, unable to fire its weapons. So it flung itself onto the clamp, overloading its own power supply as the drones came back; the explosion took out both the clamp and the drones.

Rommie winced just as she, Kylie, and Trance got to Command.

"Rommie!" Dylan said. "What is it?"

"Dylan .... " she said. "I've lost both Tweedle bots and sustained some damage to my outer hull. But the clamps have been destroyed!"

"Dawn! Get us out of here!"

"Going!"

'I wonder if you know who you sound like,' Dylan thought with a half smile as Dawn pulled the *Andromeda* out of its slip, then put the pedal to the metal; the giant cruiser accelerated away from the station.

"How are you doing, Rhade?" Dylan asked, ascending to his station.

"I have the security net in knots," Rhade replied. "They shouldn't be able to get anything larger than a cutter after us, by which time we should be long gone."

"So where are we going?" Trance chirped.

"I was hoping you could tell me," Dylan said.

"Dylan .... I .... "

"Trance -- THINK! When this all started, you'd made us go to Candera Four because you thought something was wrong -- "

"YES! That's where we have to go."

"Dawn, lay in a course."


****


"Slipstream in two minutes -- " Dawn started.

"CRAP!" Kylie called from the weapons' station. "We have company."

"It's a High Guard ship," Rommie said. "They must have got the word out before Rhade confused their codes."

"And he's between us and the slip portals," Dawn said.

"'He' is right," Kylie said. "It's the *Balance of Judgment.*"

"Incoming message," Rommie said.

Sun Behind Clouds, the *Balance's* Than captain, appeared on one of the monitors. "Dylan, this is Sun. I've been ordered to take you in, by force if necessary. Whatever's going on, we can work it out. Do what's best for your ship and crew. Stand down and prepare to be boarded." She left the screen.

"So much for the *Andromeda* mutiny," Rhade said.

"It's not over until I say it is," Dylan said. "Dawn, stand down." Dawn vacated the pilot's chair; she took Dylan's station as he strapped himself into the pilot's chair.

"Not that I want to sound overly pessimistic," Kylie said, "but Commander Rhade's right. We're -- "

"We're undermanned, outgunned, in a bad position, and cut off from the nearest slip portal," Dylan said. "Does anyone but me find that familiar?"

Trance didn't look away from the ES station, but her tail stood straight up.

"Nice to know someone is on familiar ground," Rhade said.

"We're going through," Dylan said, beginning to program the flight controls. "All right, Beka," he muttered, "let's see how well I was paying attention .... "


****


"Any reply?" Captain Sun Behind Clouds asked her ship's android avatar.

"No," Gabriel said. "It's possible -- "

"Captain," said the holographic version of Gabriel. "The *Andromeda* is accelerating at us. She's arming offensive and defensive missile batteries."

"Combat alert," Sun ordered; the klaxon sounded. Gabriel's voice could be heard ordering the crew to battle stations.

"Dylan," Sun muttered, "don't do this -- "

"She's firing!" Holo Gabriel said as a swarm of read dots appeared on the tactical display.

"Fire PDLs," Sun said. "Return fire, all tubes."

The *Andromeda's* missiles quickly vanished from the graphic as the *Balance* fired its own swarm of red dots which reached the *Andromeda.* ....

.... and it vanished.

"That's *it*?" said Alexander Bolivar, the *Balance's* handsome, blonde Nietzschean pilot.

"Judgment," Sun said, "confirm kill: Did we or did we not hit the *Andromeda*?"

A screen version of Gabriel appeared on the huge monitor next to the one with the tactical graphic. "Scanning, Captain .... There are insufficient quantities of debris or radiation to account for a Glorious Heritage class cruiser. Hypothesis: The *Andromeda* fired a drone equipped with a -- "

"Captain!" Android Gabe broke in. "Slipstream event behind us. Glorious Heritage signature."

"I'd say your hypothesis was correct, Ship," Sun said. "Alex, lay in a pursuit course; engage when ready."


****


"Admiral on -- " Captain Warrick started.

"As you were," Admiral Stark said, coming through the *Pax Magellanic's* docking airlock. "Captain, I am assuming command of this ship. Prepare for immediate departure."


****


"Slipstream event behind us," Sara said from the sensor station. "Looks like the *Judgment* is coming after us."

"Can't say he's still not persistent," Dylan growled. (This got a frown from Rommie.)

Dylan piloted his ship on a white-knuckle ride through the slipstream and dropped out at a very familiar binary star system.

"Hello, Capella," Dylan said, configuring for another jump. "Goodbye, Capella."

Dylan took the ship through four more such jumps. But on the fifth one, he veered off at the last minute before entering the slip portal, and sent the *Andromeda* into a course around the local sun.

"We have clear sailing," Rommie said. "No obstacles in our path."

"Power down all engines," Dylan said. "Rig for silent running."

The Command Deck got noticeably quieter in seconds.

"The *Balance* has entered this system," Sara said ..... sounding slightly nervous.


****


"Rigging for next jump -- " Alexander started.

"Belay that," Sun said. "Ship, deploy drones; begin search pattern."

"Deploying drones," Screen Gabriel said.

"You believe Captain Hunt is here?" Android Gabriel asked.

"I know he's here," Sun said. "Call it human intuition obtained by osmosis. But Dylan's here."


****


"The *Balance* has deployed drones," Kylie said. "They're beginning a standard search pattern."

"I'm starting to tumble," Rommie said. "Should I correct?"

"No, Rommie, no thruster activity of any kind." Dylan focused on the graphic showing the *Balance.* "C'mon, Sun, there's no one here but us asteroids, give it up .... "


*****


"I've identified 572 objects bright enough to be the *Andromeda,*" holo Gabriel said, "but I must point out, Captain, that in the time it takes me to check them all, the *Andromeda* could have gone another 15 slips. We would have lost her."

"Thank you, Ship. Continue your search."


****


"Crap!" Sara said. "We've got trouble."

A graphic appeared on one of the monitors, showing a rather large asteroid and tracing its orbit ....

.... and highlighting a point where its orbit and the *Andromeda's* intersected.

"Why didn't you see this before, Ship?" Rhade said.

"The asteroid is unusually dark," Rommie said. "It absorbs so much light -- "

"We'll worry about that later," Dylan said. "Time to impact?"

"Three minutes," Holo Rommie said, "but given my inertia, we will have to change course in two minutes and twenty-seven seconds if we want to avoid an impact."

"As soon as we fire up our engines, the *Balance* will see us," Dawn said.


****


"With respect," Android Gabriel said, "even for Captain Hunt, this tactic is highly unorthodox. This is what one might expect from a pirate or a smuggler, not a High Guard captain."

"Which may just show you don't know Dylan all that well," Sun said. But she sighed. "You've made your point, Ship, but I'm not ready to give up yet. We'll give it four more minutes."


****

"It's now or never," Sara said.

"Andromeda, power up all engines," Dylan said. "Plotting escape vector -- "

"That course takes us close to the *Judgment,*" Holo Rommie said.

"Exactly," Dylan said. "Kylie -- ready a spread of mines, moderate yield, just enough to knock him around a bit."


****


"I have a contact!" Android Gabriel said. "He's making a break for it."

"Intercept course NOW!" Sun ordered.


****


"The *Balance* is closing," Kylie said.

"Stand by the mines," Dylan said. "And .... bring it!"


****


"Stand by to -- " Sun started.

"Captain!" Holo Gabriel said. "Mines -- right in front of us!"

"What?" Sun said. "Evasive -- "

The command deck rocked under the first explosion.


****


"We got him," Screen Rommie said. "The *Balance's* propulsion and weapons are down."

"How'd you know that would work *again*?" Trance said. (The question didn't really surprise anybody.)

"I didn't," Dylan said, "but I had been wondering if the *Balance's* sensors were a bit farsight -- "

"Captain -- " Kylie started, but a huge explosion arced on the *Balance.*

"I thought you set those mines to moderate yield!" Dylan said.

"I did!"

"One of them must have hit near the AP Solenoid -- " Sara started.

Then the rear half of the *Balance* split open, giving birth to a new small star. Everyone but Rommie covered their eyes. When they could look again, the star had aged to a glowing nebula.

"Rommie," Dylan said.

"No life signs," Rommie said. "The *Balance of Judgment* has been lost with all hands."

Dylan tried to think of something to say, but he couldn't. A group of mutineers had become murderers, but he couldn't say anything.

"We have passed the point of no return," Rhade said quietly.

Dylan focused on the flight controls. "Setting course for the Candera system. Brace for Slipstream .... "


****


When the *Andromeda* arrived at the Candera system without further incident, Dylan vacated the pilot's chair, allowing Dawn to resume control of the ship.

"We are ten minutes from orbit," Rommie said. "Receiving data from my sensor drones."

A translucent 3-d image of Candera Four appeared above the holo-projection pit. (Dylan hadn't realized how much he'd missed that convenience, but he supposed Harper had been right to get rid of it.) The size and mass of Earth, the planet was mostly wild forests and jungles, although there were signs it had once had sentient life.

"Ok, Trance," Dylan said. "Where do we go now?"

Trance stood at the railing, eyes riveted to the rotating graphic. Then she pointed: "THERE!"

The graphic stopped spinning and a red dot appeared on the spot she'd pointed to; a magnified image of that area appeared on one of the big screens.

Dylan recognized it at once. "Is that ... ?"

"Yes, Dylan," Trance said, "that's where the .... the bright nothingness came from, and that's where we have to go."

"'Bright nothingness'?" Kylie said.

"Make sense," Sara said.

"Let me guess -- more math, right, Doc?"

"You got it, Major."

"Any sign of pursuit?" Dylan asked.

"No," Holo Rommie said.

"I don't like it, but we don't have too many options," Dylan said. "Kylie, get your squad and .... " One look at Sara and he decided not to start another argument. ".... Trance and Dr. Riley rigged for a flying drop. Rommie, you're with us, too. Dawn, Rhade. Keep an eye on things up here. And let's hope we don't have to fight anymore of our comrades in arms."

"Amen to that," Dawn said.


****


As Kylie helped Trance and Sara suit up in AG harnesses and lancer armor, Sara contained part of her nervousness by trying to observe the proceedings scientifically, as if she was going to present a paper on it, and partly by letting herself be amused by the fact that Trance (a) seemed to be enjoying herself, and (b) Kylie didn't have to show her where anything was.

Three people could squeeze into each drop pod; Sara found herself riding with Trance and Kylie, while Dylan rode with Rommie and another of Kylie's lancers in another pod.

Sara's forced scientific fascination didn't have to be forced much when the pods launched along with a squadron of the *Andromeda's* combat drones, which accompanied the pods down through the atmosphere. She was actually starting to enjoy herself when --

"LZ coordinates in sight," Andromeda's voice said over her earpiece.

"Brace for drop on my mark," Dylan's voice picked up.

"'Drop'?" Sara said. "But I thought -- "

"MARK!"

The pod split open, and Sara found herself floating above the treetops, her AG harness the only thing keeping her from falling full speed. But she was still falling, and even at a nice, (relatively) gentle pace, she didn't get through the canopy without scraping herself on some branches. (All the more infuriating, apart from how Kylie and her squad of lancers descended gracefully even with their lances deployed, was how Trance snagged a branch with her tail and then raced down the tree like a huge purple squirrel.) The ground came up quicker than she expected and she landed on her side with a solid thump.

Kylie came over to her (while Trance looked on, upside-down on the side of a tree). "You ok?"

"Only my dignity .... I think."

"You're all right," Trance said, springing to the ground.

"Yeah," Sara said, getting up, as Dylan, Rommie and the other lancers came over to join them. Sara didn't waste time getting in her fiancee's face. "You could have warned me!" she yelled.

"What, and spoil the surprise?" Dylan said; the other lancers also looked amused.

"Look on the bright side," Kylie said: "You're one of *us* now."

"Thanks," Sara said, a bit calmer, "though I think I'll pass on the secret handshake and the decoder ring for now."

"All right, people, we have work to do," Dylan said, reluctantly putting a stop to the levity.

Rommie pointed. "Trance's coordinates are roughly half a klick in that direction."

"Kylie -- move your squad out."

"You heard the captain!" Kylie shouted, giving specific orders to her lancers.


****


It wasn't long (although not soon enough for Sara, who lamented leaving her bug spray on the ship) before they came to a cluster of low, three or four story concrete buildings that the forest had long since encroached on. They all looked very modern. And not one of them had a visible door.

"I'm not detecting any sign of these from orbit," Rommie said.

"We .... well, I didn't see them the first time, either," Dylan said.

"Some kind of stealth -- ?" Kylie started. "ROMMIE!?"

Everyone noticed that Rommie had fallen to her knees, apparently in pain. For a brief moment, her comrades were distracted.

That was their last mistake.

The forest rustled as dozens of lancers burst out from camouflaged positions in the surrounding brush; in mere moments, Dylan and his team were disarmed and restrained, except for Rommie, who seemed disoriented and in pain.

"Dylan," she said, "Dylan, I'm under fire from -- "

"From me," Jill Pearce, the *Pax Magellanic's* avatar, said sadly as she, Captain Warrick, and Admiral Stark came over to them. "I'm sorry, Sis."

"It's ok, Pax, I -- "

"Enough pleasantries," Stark said. "Pax Magellanic -- "

"NO!!" Dylan screamed. "Admiral -- for God's sake, DON'T DO THIS -- !!"

" -- execute your sister ship."

Pax nodded. Seconds passed, then Andromeda's body shook, as in the space above them, the *Andromeda* took some carefully targeted missile hits from the *Pax Magellanic.* Andromeda swooned and fell to the ground.

"NO!" Dylan shouted, struggling against his captors. "Rommie -- !!" A gesture from Stark, and Dylan was freed. He ran to the fallen android and cradled her in his arms. "Rommie .... "

She opened her eyes and looked up at him. "Systems crashing .... irrevocable systems' shutdown in fifteen seconds. Is this death?"

Dylan fought back his tears. "It's ..... it's ok, Rommie. Ha-Harper's waiting for you. He'll fix you up, good as new, he ... heee ... "

"Captain?" Rommie said. "I lll -- " Rommie's body convulsed, and then she settled into Dylan's arms, an inert hunk of machinery, no longer alive.

Dylan lowered her to the ground. He thought of Beka, Harper, Rev, even Tyr ....

... and stopped thinking. He let out a roar and charged at Stark, but her lancers piled onto him before he'd got two paces. Their lances rose and fell, thumping onto the *Andromeda's* captain.

"Enough," Stark said.

The beating stopped; two lancers helped Dylan, beaten and bloody, to his feet.

"Order your remaining officers to stand down," Stark said. A third lancer shoved his com gauntlet in front of Dylan's face; it showed Rhade and Dawn, lances drawn, on the now darkened Command Deck of the *Andromeda.*

"Dawn, Rhade -- " Dylan said.

"DYLAN!" Rhade called. "We've lost main power and we're being -- "

"Yes, I know," Dylan said glumly. "Stand down. You will offer no resistance of any kind and .... and surrender."

A pause. "Understood," Rhade said. He and Dawn lowered their weapons. A moment later, Stark's troops charged into command and arrested them. The man in front of Dylan stole away his gauntlet.

"I'm sorry it had to end this way, old friend," Stark said.

"Yes, you won, fine," Trance said. "But can I ask you one question, Admiral?"

Stark didn't look at her. "What."

"The people who brought you here the first time," Trance said cheerfully, "could they walk through walls?"

Stark turned to Trance. "What?"

"Oh, my ... " Dylan said. He had the last piece of the puzzle -- everything made sense now. He should have seen it coming. "Admiral .... those people, they were the human allies of the Magog!"

"Nonsense -- " Stark started.

"And I'm in with them?" Dylan said. "Or in with someone who *wants* to see the Commonwealth fall?"

"Admiral, the people who helped you don't want what's best for the Commonwealth," Trance said. "They sent you back to create a timeline where their master would win easier than he otherwise would -- "

Stark spun and clubbed Trance with her lance. "ENOUGH OF THIS!"

"Time to stop lying, Admiral," Dylan said. "I know what you did."

"Oh?" Stark said. "Do you know what the *Nietzscheans* would have done to the Commonwealth? I *saw* it."

"Admiral?" Captain Warrick asked, confused.

"So did I," Dylan said. "I saw everything in ruins but I tried to build it up again."

"And how would you know that if only one of us had actually traveled in time?"

"I helped him," Trance said, getting up. "I made sure he and I remembered."

"How convenient for you, Miss Gemini. But as far as I'm concerned, you've just proven -- "

"ADMIRAL!" Jill said. "Multiple slipstream events .... Magog swarm ships on attack vector."

"He knows," Dylan breathed.

Stark ignored him. "How many?"

"Fifteen thousand."

Shock rippled through the assemblage.

"The Magog never sent a force that big -- " Kylie started.

"Admiral!" Dylan said. "Think about it. The Magog's allies sent you back in time promising you you could save the Commonwealth before it fell, but instead you've created a future where their leader -- yes, the bastard in the world ship! -- wins before he's even in a good attack position. And now that I'm here to do something about it, there just *happens* to be a Magog attack bigger than -- ?"

Jill fell to her knees, holding her stomach in pain.

"Ship?" Stark said.

"I'm being overrun ... " Jill said. Distracted. "My crew .... John, our crew -- " She broke off. "Estimate they will land and overrun this position in approximately twenty minutes. Main power .... " She smiled at Dylan. "I guess this 'Harper' will have to deal with two of us now." She favored her captain with another smile and sank to the ground, as inert as the avatar of her sister ship. Warrick barely hid his feelings.

"Admiral," Dylan said, "you've known me through most of my career. I would *never* betray the Commonwealth, or fail to do my duty. And it's my duty to tell you .... with respect, Admiral, but you've been duped. And your course of action now is wrong."

"Connie," Sara said, "listen to him. Please."

A wave of emotions played over Stark's face. She finally turned to Warrick. "Captain Warrick."

"Ma'am."

"Release them; have a medic check Dylan's injuries."


****


"We will have time for recriminations later, if we get out of this," Stark said, once Dylan and his group had been released and a medic had injected nanobots to help him recover from the beating. "So, Dylan, what's the plan now?"

"Uhm .... " Dylan started.

"Dylan?" Trance said. "Why are we still here?"

"What do you mean, Trance?" Dylan asked.

"Well, the swarm ships have those point singularity thingies on them, right? They could blow up this planet with one shot, but they haven't. Maybe -- "

"Admiral, that's it!" Dylan said. "Maybe the time portal or whatever it was doesn't just send you back through time but maintains the timeline it creates. So if we destroy the portal .... "

"We might undo this," Stark said. "But Miss Gemini alluded to the one problem we have." She pointed to the tallest building in the compound. "It doesn't have a door."

"Of course it has a door," Trance said, heading for the building. "You just have to find it."

They followed Trance to the building where she ran her hand along a blank wall and pressed on one spot. Part of the seemingly solid wall slid aside.

"How -- ?" Stark started.

"Don't bother," Dylan said.

Inside it was one large space, like a cathedral to science, and in the middle room, four stone-like pillars at the corners of a 16 square meter space, supporting a crystal pyramid with what looked like a galaxy inside.

"All right!" Stark barked. "We've got ten minutes before the party starts. Captains, organize your men and begin laying charges."


****


Even with the nanobots helping him, Dylan still felt useless as his squad and some of Stark's lancers rigged explosive charges on the ..... "portal" he supposed was best word for it .... and the surrounding machinery. The rest of Stark's forces set up defensive positions outside. With all this going on, Dylan lost track of the admiral. Not that it mattered. All he could do was dwell on the fact that if this didn't work, there was no plan "B;" his only hope was the Magog would allow them time to finish.

It was to be a false hope.

The familiar roaring of the Magog told him they'd landed sooner than expected even before one of Stark's men yelled that they were braking through the lancer lines, over the sound of gunfire.

"I'll get the last connection," Sara said, darting across the room, too close the entrance. A clutch of Magog charged in and fell on her; her screams were quickly cut off by a sound Dylan would take to his grave.

"NO!" Dylan screamed; he attacked without any plan, wildly firing his force lance. But there were too many of them, and he was wounded; they fell onto him in the end ....

..... and then he felt the fangs of one of them break through his armor and find his flesh.

Dylan screamed again.

He's just been infected.

The Magog dumped him by the wall, as Dylan listened to the sounds of fighting and dying, mainly by the lancers. He realized he'd not heard Kylie's voice since just before Sara had ....

He didn't want to go there.

Another Magog dumped Trance next to Dylan. She looked like she had her share of gouges.

"Sorry," Trance said.

"We tried," Dylan said. "All that matters in life is that we tried."

A huge shadow passed over them; they looked to see a Magog dressed in armor and hefting a huge rifle.

"So," it said, "you are the one our god wishes us to destroy."

Dylan grinned wolfishly. "Nice to know I'm in demand. Though if he really cared, he should come and finish me off himself."

"No, that honor shall not be yours, Dylan Hunt of the Commonwealth. But know that I, Death Storm, shall be rewarded for the glory of your kill."

"And I, Admiral Stark, say not bloody likely!" A small explosion erupted on Death Storm's armor. He fell as Dylan saw Stark charge at them through the Magog.

Too little, too late, against too much. For every Magog she killed, another five took their place. Before long, Stark was dumped next to Dylan and Trance.

Death Storm drew himself up; he'd been wounded, but did not seem phased by it.

"Is this the best this 'Commonwealth' has to offer?" he taunted; the other Magog laughed. "Then being meat for our tables may be your best destiny after all."

"Oh, give a girl a *chance,*" Stark said, her last word meant for someone or something other than the Magog leader. A response came from the pyramid -- energy began to arc around it, and the ground shook.

"What -- ?" Dylan started.

"AG harnesses," Stark said. "I seem to recall my benefactors did not want them near the device; I always wondered why."

"But how -- when -- "

"Dylan. Please. You honestly didn't think I taught you everything *I* know, did you?"

Death Storm growled orders and the Magog began to scale the supporting pillars to the pyramid and -- Dylan had never seen anything like it: With a loud thunderclap, what looked like a mass of darkness grew in the heart of the pyramid, then spread out beyond it. Dylan felt Trance's tail wrap around his hand just as he fell into an all-consuming void that swallowed all thought, all light, all life ....


****

"Report," Dylan said, coming down the ramp to the Command deck's main stations.

"Well, we are in orbit of Candera Four," Beka said. "Now, if someone could tell me why we are here, I'll be happy."

"I'm not detecting anything unusual on the sensors," Rommie said.

Tyr looked up from the weapons station. "This could all be a waste of time."

"Not necessarily," Harper's voice crackled over the com from engineering. "I hear they have great waves. Who's for a beach party?"

"Mmm." Dylan turned to the remaining member of his crew. "Trance?"

"Something's wrong," the gold-skinned woman with long red dreadlocks said. "We can't leave just yet."

"All right," Dylan said. "Andromeda, deploy sensor drones and disperse them in a -- "

"THERE!" Trance pointed at a monitor.

"I don't see anything," Beka said.

"No, there is something," Tyr said. He worked his controls. The image zoomed in on a barren area in an otherwise forested land mass, and a circle of blue in the middle of it.

"A lake?" Beka said. "That's what we came here for?"

"Lakes are not bad," Harper called in. "I just gotta rig me a wind surfer."

"This is no ordinary lake," Rommie said. "The basin appears to be the blast crater formed by a nuclear explosion of about 17 megatons. Judging from residual radiation and erosion patterns, I would say it occurred twenty-five thousand years a -- "

"I have something else," Tyr said; one of the other big screens lit to show a tiny silver object against the blackness of space. "Looks like some kind of marker buoy at the LaGrange point with the planet's moon."

"Running IFF .... " Rommie said. "It's from a High Guard destroyer, the *Scales of Justice.*"

"Didn't I read somewhere that the *Scales* was the High Guard flagship after Witchhead?" Beka said.

"Trance?" Dylan asked. "Is this what we came here for?"

"I don't -- I -- " Suddenly Trance and Dylan seemed unsteady on their feet; they both slumped to the deck.

"DYLAN!?" Rommie raced to her captain's side while Beka looked at Trance.

"Rommie, what's wrong with them?"

"Well, I can't say about Trance, Beka, but Dylan's just suffered radical shifts in his brain chemistry and -- "

Dylan opened his eyes. "Rommie?" Then his eyes went wide. "ROMMIE!" he shouted, hugging the stunned android. "*You're alive!*"

"Yes, Dylan, I -- mmmph!" Dylan cut her off with a long kiss; she flailed a little but didn't put up too much of a fight.

Trance came to. "Dylan?"

"Trance!?" Dylan released Rommie (who flopped to a sitting position on the deck, not knowing quite where she was) and crossed to golden goddess. "You made it!?" he said, helping her up.

"Yes, Dylan ... Oh, Dylan, I'm so sorry -- "

"Worry about that later. Status!"

Holo Rommie appeared (her android self was having a little trouble remembering how to stand). "Unchanged."

"What about the energy wave or whatever it was?"

"Energy .... ?" Beka said.

"There's no energy, Dylan," the hologram went on, puzzled. "Just some unusual geography and a marker buoy from the -- "

“I don't feel so good," Trance said, and fled Command. Dylan, Tyr, and Beka went after her and found her down the corridor and on all fours, throwing up. Then she keeled over onto her side, completely still.

"No life signs," the ship's voice said.

"Here we go again." Dylan knelt next to Trance. She had no tail this time but .... he grabbed one of her long dreadlocks and yanked. "Trance?"

"YIPE!" The gold skinned woman sat up with a start. "The *hair.*"

"Sorry," Dylan said. "Since when was this a problem of yours?"

"Um .... " Beka said. "I'm sensing strangeness, and I was wondering if someone could please explain."

"That would be appreciated," Tyr said.

Dylan sat on the deck next to Trance and smiled. "Well, guys, have we got one heluva story to tell you .... "


****


Dylan let Beka handle the particulars of recovering the *Scales of Justice's* buoy and retreated to his cabin and went over the ship's logs and accumulated messages; he watched Andromeda's records of his fight with Rhade at Hephaestos, his contact with Sara through time, her message from Terrazed ..... nothing over the past two years seemed any different. Nor was their any sign his old friends remembered the events he and Trance did.

He did not know whether that was a good thing or a bad thing ....

The buoy had one message on it addressed to "Captain Dylan Hunt and the crew of the *Andromeda Ascendant.*" Dylan invited everyone to the observation deck to view it.

The hologram of Admiral Stark flickered and shook with static, but it was still recognizable.

"I am making this recording in the hope that the events I recall really happened," she said. "At least someone will know I'm not crazy, if posthumously.

"First, let me say that all my life, I have dedicated myself to serving and protecting the Commonwealth. If I have one flaw, it may be that sometimes, I get a little overzealous in that calling, and I believe .... no, I *know* that is what happened in the .... I suppose 'alternate timeline' is as good a term as any. I should have believed in you and Miss Gemini from the start. I do not know if that is enough of an apology, but it is the only explanation I can offer.

"I do not envy you the task you have set for yourself, Dylan, but if your Miss Gemini is anything to go by, then you have quite a team of extraordinary individuals following you. You and they are more a credit to the High Guard than any commissioned officer I have ever served with; I wish you the best of luck.” She saluted. “Hold the Line.” The holo vanished.

“Hold the line, Admiral,” Dylan muttered.

“My best guess is that the imbalance Stark created in the portal went back in time to the moment it was first activated,” Rommie explained. “Its power source overloaded just as it was being powered up for the first time.”

“So it was never there for the Magog to use,” Tyr said, “not in this reality, anyway.”

“I‘m gettin‘ a headache,” Harper groused.

“Rommie...” Beka said. “Do we know what happened to her?”

“There are dozens of conflicting reports of the admiral’s final fate,” the android said, “but most accounts agree she lead a guerilla war from the *Scales of Justice* for some time after the Battle of Witchhead.”

Dylan half turned to his crew. “Thank you all for coming.” They started to file out. “Rommie -- stay a moment.”

She stayed. “Yes, Dylan?”

“I’m curious .... what would you have done? How would you have chosen?”

“You mean, between the family I had then and the one I have now? Well, you said it yourself, the Magog--”

“What if they weren’t a factor? What if there weren’t any external factors at all?”

Rommie’s face clouded over; it was a few moments before she could speak, and her voice shook a little. “I don’t know. Either choice would be heart-wrenching. But I suppose it would be hard to resist the chance to see them all again, if only for just a day.”

THE END

[TravelerOfTheWays]

I haven't seen you before in this lovely little forum, but after reading this, I'll definitely look up what else you have. This was wonderful reading, MikeJaffa, very original, enjoyable, and in character! The suspense never let up--I'm so glad you posted it all at once.

[ElJay]

{{{{{{{{{{MikeJaffa}}}}}}}}}}}}}} Welcome to ExIsle, MJ and thanks for bringing the story along with you! Now I'm gonna go back and actually *read* it--I just had to give you a welcome hug once I saw who the author was!

[Norville]

Quote

I haven't seen you before in this lovely little forum, but after reading this, I'll definitely look up what else you have.

You don't know MikeJoe's work? What a shame. Read whatever you can find. :wideeyed: He's always been a favorite writer of mine for "getting" the rather complex and odd relationship between Rommie and Harper. He does quite a bit better than the series has...

[MikeJaffa]

ElJay, on May 24 2004, 03:17 PM, said:

{{{{{{{{{{MikeJaffa}}}}}}}}}}}}}} Welcome to ExIsle, MJ and thanks for bringing the story along with you!  Now I'm gonna go back and actually *read* it--I just had to give you a welcome hug once I saw who the author was!

Thanks!

[MikeJaffa]

Norville, on May 24 2004, 03:37 PM, said:

Quote

I haven't seen you before in this lovely little forum, but after reading this, I'll definitely look up what else you have.

You don't know MikeJoe's work? What a shame. Read whatever you can find. :wideeyed: He's always been a favorite writer of mine for "getting" the rather complex and odd relationship between Rommie and Harper. He does quite a bit better than the series has...

Thanks ... I think .... although at least as far as Rommie's protective attitude toward Harper goes, I like some of the things they've done.

[Anastashia]

Nice one Mike Joe

[Erisinia]

I saved this in a word doc after you posted it on SS: I've got most of it practically memorized, but it's lovely to see it here.

[MikeJaffa]

Bump