| Plots
in a Maze |
Disclaimer: I own nothing in the Andromeda Universe, except Chance, and make no money either
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“So guys, we’ve got someone coming from the Triumvirs. Supposedly it’s Indra Chiko.” Dylan stated matter of factly.
“Nu-Uh! Are you kidding?” Beka asked wide-eyed.
“What!? Isn’t she like a super secret spy person?” Harper exclaimed at the same time.
“How do you know its Indra Chiko? Supposedly no-one knows what she looks like.” Rhade considered.
“Supposedly so.” Dylan answered. “And now we need a plan before she gets here.”
“What do you hope to achieve?” Rhade asked.
“I want to know who in the Commonwealth is betraying us, and I want to know if we can use this supposed ‘Indra Chiko’ to that end.”
“Dylan I sense that your plan has danger.” Trance said quietly.
“Does he ever have one that’s not?” Rhade commented.
“Ha ha Rhade. Just for that, you get to be the diversion part of the plan. Harper you get to make sure that it looks good.”
“How? I’m a genius, not a miracle worker. I can’t make the Nietzchean look good.”
“I need you to rig Rhade’s slipfighter so that it looks like it’s taken a beating, and might not make it back to us. I plan on putting on a show for our visitor.”
“Oh, no problem. I’ll get right on it.”
“Remember safety Mr. Harper.”
On his way to tinker with Rhade’s fighter, Andromeda had a slight engineering crisis that he needed to repair before events were set in motion. On the way, he spies one of his ‘helpers’ as he likes to call them. “Hey Chance, just the person I wanted to see. I need you to do something for me.”
“Oh come on Seamus. I just got off a 12-hour shift. Can it wait until I’m back on?”
“Come on Chance. This is really important, and I need someone I can trust on it.”
“Don’t beg Harper. It’s unappealing.”
He simply blinked puppy dog eyes at her silently.
“Okay fine, I’ll do it. But you owe me. What do you need done?” She sighed.
“Great, I knew I could count on you. I need you to fix Rhade’s slipfighter so that he has an accident.” And that was all Harper said before he ran off to repair Andromeda’s exotic matter lenses.
She looked after him for a moment wide-eyed and speechless. Then said, “Uhm, okay.” to the air.
Later, on leaving the hanger bay after ‘fixing’ Rhade’s fighter, she hurried through the corridors biting her fingernails nervously. Rounding a corner, she bumped into Rhade hurrying to his fighter in preparation for his role in the plan.
“Oh excuse me miss.” He said not really noticing her.
Her eyes widened when she realized who she had bumped into. Paling, she quickly ducked her head, mumbled something and almost ran from the scene.
Rhade stared after her puzzled by her behavior for a moment before shrugging and continuing to his destination.
Upon completion of his part of the plan, which apparently did not fool Indra Chiko one bit, Rhade went off in search of the spiky haired midget to scream at him for a good half hour at least, about how the stabilizers were only supposed to seem to fail instead of actually failing. He felt somewhat better after, but only somewhat.
At the end of what felt like the most torturous half hour of his young life, Harper went running for Chance to return the favor and scream at her.
“What the fuck were you thinking?”
“Hey, you didn’t tell me that it was only supposed to look like an accident. You said ‘fix’ it so that he would have one. I thought that you wanted him to die!”
“What?! Why would you think that?”
“You! You’re both always sniping and threatening each other. I thought that you’d finally had it with him.”
“But that’s just words. We wouldn’t actually do anything to each other. At least not bodily harm, and intentional. … Maybe.”
She ground out through clenched teeth, “He’s Nietzchean, you’re human. More than that, you’re a human from Earth. You know what they’re capable of. You know that they can’t be trusted.”
Harper looked at her with dawning comprehension. “Hey wait a minute, you’re from Earth also aren’t you?”
She was quiet for a moment before saying, “Maybe.”
“Which Part?”
Sighing, she answered when it became obvious that he wasn’t going to just leave it alone. “The New Orleans-Baton Rouge District.”
“Wasn’t that a swamp coastal are? We heard some things about that area up in Bean town.”
She gave a monosyllabic “Yeah” in answer.
Harper waited a moment, and when it became clear she wasn’t going to elaborate, continued. “Uhm, okay, well…In my experience here on the Andromeda, I’ve discovered that not all Nietzcheans are like the Drago-Kazovs. Some are even half way decent.”
“Oh, really?” She asked arms crossed and a disbelieving look in her eyes. “Are you positive about that?”
“Yes, I am. And if you can’t become convinced also, you can’t stay on board.”
Raising an eyebrow, she replied, “I’m not sure that I’m convinced, but I’ll try and give the benefit of doubt” was all she conceded before stalking off.
Harper watched her go with a troubled look, before turning and leaving in another direction.
Later in Rommie’s report of the incident to Dylan she commented, “Harper actually delivered an ultimatum with out looking from her eyes. I’m quite proud of him.”
“And what about Ms Delacroix? What has she been doing?” Dylan asked.
“She’s been avoiding both Rhade and Harper consistently. She doesn’t seem to have many friends on board. They seem to think that she’s a little reserved.”
“Watch the situation for now. I’ll make a decision at our next port of call.” He sighed rubbing the back of his neck. “You know sometimes, I really miss having Rev Bem on board.
A few days later, after she felt like she’d calmed down somewhat, Chance went off in search of Rhade. It was time to attempt an apology. “Andromeda, where is Commander Rhade right now?”
Andromeda watched her start her search, and quietly let Harper know where she was going.
She found commander Rhade on the observation deck, staring
moodily out at the stars. In his usual thinking pose. Back straight, feet
slightly apart, hands clasped behind his back.
“Commander.” She called out stopping a few feet away from him.
He turned and gazed at her with narrowed eyes, nostrils flaring. “You! What did I ever do to you?” he snapped at her.
“You personally, nothing. But you are Nietzchean.” She didn’t hesitate to say. After another moment, she continued, “But Harper says that you aren’t all that bad for a Nietzchean. So I guess that I’m trying to apologize for your stabilizers.” She stood head held high, copying his stance.
“Well, you aren’t doing a very good job of it” He replied caustically.
Stiffening, she said evenly, “I apologize for actually sabotaging your stabilizers instead of only make it seem as if they were damaged. Sir!”
Looking at her with an unreadable expression, he said just as evenly. “So, you’ll trust me with your life from now on?”
“Dude, I don’t know you from Jack to trust you with that. No matter what Harper says.” She said frostily and turned to leave. Stopping for a moment with her back to him, she called over her shoulder, “I will try and lose some of my prejudices though.” She wasn’t good at making concessions.
As he stared after angrily, Harper came up and said, “ Rhade she’s got her reasons. Don’t push it. She came this far.”
“Do you really think this is the end little man?” Rhade countered tiredly.
END