After the Interval

On this soul,
Cast a cold eye on night and day
All that are living pass by...

Telemachus couldn't help the shudders that passed through his body as he looked down at the now dead Louisa, gently resting her head down on the ground. Hearing the growls behind him, he consciously pushed away his pain, letting his instincts take control of him as he got up, grasped his force lance and turned around to face his enemy. As he took on the first three magog that came through the door, a fleeting thought passed through his mind.
*I'm going to die here.*
He looked around the room, and his thought was confirmed when he saw the growing number of magog swarming in. At that moment however, he couldn't find it in himself to truly care. He fought simply because his nature demanded a fight for survival but that was as far as he went. He felt the beasts getting hits in but just continued to fight.
*I'll do this for as long as I can, then I'll die a warrior's death.*
He didn't know how many minutes had passed, to him it felt like hours, when suddenly his eyes were blinded by a bright light. He heard the few magog that were left in the room howl in pain but couldn't look to see what had happened. He thought he heard Trance's peaceful voice before he felt the floor hit him just seconds after which darkness took hold of him.
*****
Harper had thought his goose was well and truly cooked when that magog warrior had caught him. But before anything seriously bad could happen, an odd light had made it's way inside the large engineering room. The next thing he knew he was free and all the magog around were dead. Breathing a sigh of relief, he reached for his communicator.
"Dylan, are you there?" All that he could hear was static. "Trance, can you hear me?"
"Come on, somebody answer." he mumbled to himself. He decided to try once more before going out to search for any survivors.
"Rhade, big guy, you there?" Still no answer. He decided that his first stop would be the Marlow's office, since that had been where he had told Rhade to go.
Walking through the halls of Arcology, Harper couldn't help but despair at those who had died that night. As he saw the rising number of dead, panic rose within him, fear of what he would find and the potential loneliness that could result. He didn't want to find his friends dead. He kept repeating to himself that the Maru wasn't destroyed, that he wasn't able to get anyone on coms which probably meant that they were malfunctioning. At least that was what he hoped had happened. Desperately. His steps sped up and he went into an outright run as he neared Marlow's office where they had all last met. Seeing the doorway up ahead as well as many dead Magog lying all around it, he couldn't help but feel his hopes rise. Rhade, and Louisa he reminded himself, had to be alive. Reminded of the female pilot, Harper felt a smile come to his lips, thinking of Telemachus' reaction to her when they had all first seen her. That smile suddenly turned to a frown when he came upon the office. No one was standing. Seeing the Nietzschean slumped against the steps, he hurried to his side, hoping for some good news.
"Rhade?" He was breathing. That was some good news, at least.
"Louisa?" Rhade mumbled as he tried to blink his eyes, despite the blood crusting one side of his face, seemingly gluing the left eye shut.
"No, it's Harper. Where is she?" Telemachus didn't say anything, simply tilting his head slightly to his left. Harper followed his line of sight to his hand which he suddenly realised was resting on a pale blue outfited shoulder. "Oh, man." Harper felt pity for the man in front of him.
On the Andromeda, Telemachus Rhade, Admiral of the Tarazed High-Guard Fleet and genetic copy of the ship's former XO, Commander Gaheris Rhade, hadn't been very easily nor well received. For one thing ,there had been the whole 'copy of Gaheris Rhade, man who betrayed his best friend as well as the Commonwealth' working against him. He had had to work extra hard to gain the senior crew's trust. On top of which he had been replacing Tyr Anasazi, yet another Nietzschean who had betrayed, this time not only the captain, Dylan Hunt, but the first officer, Beka Valentine as well. Not to mention, of course, the rest of the crew. Trust had been gained of course but Harper thought that Telemachus had always seen himself as somewhat of an outsider to the group.
Then along had come Louisa.
The female Nietszchean, in his opinion, had been the perfect match for Rhade. She was a pilot so she had a pretty equal standing with the guy in that aspect. They were both Nietszchean, another good thing since Rhade had been a loner on the ship in that way. At the same time, Louisa had provided a contrast to Rhade by belonging to Arcology, a place where there was no competition in the Nietszchean sense. Harper found that the man, in the brief time that he had seen him with Louisa, had lightened up, had smiled more frequently and had pretty much found a breath of fresh air for his life. But now, that life breathed no more and Harper couldn't help but feel grief for his friend whose possible soul mate was lying next to him, dead.
<<Rhade looked down at the woman lying in his arms. He wished that both the place and the situation were different. Despite that, it suddenly dawned on him that this was the first time finding a mate had become something more than procreation and geneology. This time, emotions were more important to him. And despite the mental confusion, he found himself liking the feeling. And despite the circumstances, or perhaps because of it, he let his mind take a backseat.
"Love you." Then he watched, his face burning at the strain of holding back tears, as she smiled one last time, before finally exhaling for the last time. He ignored the tears that fell.>>
"Oh, man, they did a number on ya." Harper mumbled to himself as he ran his hands over the Nietzschean, looking for injuries. When the man suddenly jerked awake, Harper pulled back. Good thing, since Rhade had, instinctively brought up his fore-arms, baring his boneblades in defence. "Whoa big guy, it's me. It's me." Slowly, recognition entered Telemachus' gaze as he stared at Harper then took in his surroundings. A moment later, he sagged down all fight leaving his body.
"Louisa?" Harper didn't want to do this. He hated bad news, and despised giving it.
"I am so sorry." For once in quite a long time, Harper's tone and words didn't have a drop of mirth in them. He watched as Rhade looked at the body for a long moment, then turned away, shutting his eyes. As he did, Harper was able to catch a glimpse of the man's now emotionless, flat eyes. Before he could say or do anything else though, a very welcome sound greeted him.
Beka's voice.
"Harper, come in. Hello? Dylan? Trance? Come on, someone answer." Harper had to scramble to find the communicatorator that he had secured in one of his many pockets.
ÒWhoa whoa, hold on.Ó he mumbled. Rhade looked at him, grimacing slightly as he turned his upper body to do so. ÒHey, donÕt move Rhade.Ó Harper said placing a hand on the manÕs shoulder to gently hold him down. He finally found the device he was looking for and, after a few fumbled attempts, he was finally able to get it turned on.
ÒBeka? Oh man am I glad to hear your voice.Ó
"Harper, are you all right? How is everybody?" He couldn't get a video feed of her but, he didn't need to, to know that she was currently worrying her head off.
"I'm okay. Had to face a bunch of uglies but Trance went nova before they did any damage."
"What about everyone else?"
"Rommie got shot-"
"What?! Is she okay?"
"Uh, unfortunately, she's sort of scattered on the floor of the engine room. I should be able to build a new avatar, though. She'll be good as new in no time." Harper said so with confidence he didn't completely believe he had. He had to have faith in himself and just go on with the thought that it would be a cakewalk to build another avatar.
"What about everone else?" She asked impatiently. Harper pursed his lips in frustration.
"Well if you would let me get a word in edgewise..."
"Alright, alright."
"Rhade's injured, I don't know how badly." He got up and walked over to another wall. He was aware that Rhade would most likely be able to hear them no matter what but doing this made Harper feel as if Rhade couldn't. It helped make it easier to say what he had to tell Beka. "Boss, Louisa's dead." There was just silence on the line for a moment. He took a peek at the Nietszchean. The one mention had made him turn his face away.
"How?" He couldn't tell whether that was the complete sentence and she was asking how the woman had died or if she hadn't been able to complete the sentence and it had been, 'How is he doing?'.
"She got shot it looks like. He's not taking it all that well, boss."
"Of course he wouldn't would he?" Harper couldn't tell who or what Beka was more frustrated with. Rhade, Louisa, the situation or herself.
"Look boss, we really need the med kit at least, medbay is better. How soon will you be able to get here?"
"Have you seen Arcology lately? The place is in tatters. It'll take me a bit to find a place to land or dock. Half an hour at best."
"Bring the collapsable lifter will ya? I don't think Rhade'll walk out of here." He then paused, looking at the body of the young woman who had given his ship mate a couple of day's worth of happiness. It felt wrong to leave her there, amidst the filthy Magog. "Hey Beka?"
"Yeah."
"Let's also take Louisa with us." He said softly. "Let him say goodbye properly." Beka had to admit that she was impressed by this latest sudden insight by her longtime friend.
"Yeah, we'll find a way. Don't worry."
"Thanks boss." He then shut the com off and went back to Rhade's side. Sitting beside the man, he put a hand on his chest, wanting to know should he ever stop breathing, heaven forbid.
Together, the two waited.
*****
Aboard the Eureka Maru
Beka looked down at her long-time friend as he came in through the hatch, followed by a young girl. She raised an eyebrow at him. She watched as he spoke in the girl's ear, pointing in the direction they had taken Rhade. The girl left and Harper made his way p to her side.
"Who's that?" She couldn't help the slight twinge of annoyance that crept into her tone.
"Sharla. She's Louisa's daughter. Figured I couldn't leave her there when she found us in Marlowe's office." Beka nodded slowly, her thoughts mostly elsewhere.
"You think Dylan made it?" she asked Harper. It took a moment for him to answer.
"I know he did." He said, his voice full of confidence that amazingly enough, he actually felt. There was actually no doubt in his mind that Dylan, while not being with them, was just fine. Just like he knew that Trance and the Andromeda were fine. He just knew it. All that they needed to do was wait for them. They'd be there sometime soon.
Beka nodded once at his answer. She wouldn't admit it out loud but, she had felt the same thing, the same certainty. So, at that moment, she would worry instead, about what was right in front of them. Namely, their injured crew mate.
"Right. Let's go see about Rhade." With a determined look on her face, Beka went to the larger quarters where Rhade and Sharla were. Looking at the girl who was at the moment wiping away the blood on Rhade's face, Beka couldn't help but be reminded of the last time she had been standing over him. That time, though, his unconscious state had been her fault and it had been her who was wiping away the blood on his brow and treating the injuries that she had caused.
**** 9 weeks ago ****
In some corner of her mind, Beka Valentine realized that she was not in the pilot seat. She had felt it take over her as she had watched Rhade sleep peacefully, and she had let it put on the bio-armor, giving it full control. From that moment on, rage had dominated her thoughts. Rage against Tyr, for betraying them, then dying. Rage against Rhade, for not only replacing Tyr but for being a Nietszchean as well as the genetic reincarnation of a man who had betrayed her captain. Rage against herself even, for letting all the rage control her.
Now, she once again, felt that rage envelop her as she watched Rhade sleep, this time with his back to her. That, for some reason, made her hate him even more. She did not stop to question the unreasonable anger, she only let it feed her rage, building it into a blazing inferno in her mind.
As it rose within her, she brought down the ax that she suddenly realised she had grabbed at some point from the cockpit to the sleeping quarters. The fact that Rhade woke up (or was, perhaps never really asleep) to block the weapon with one of his own did not help matters any. And his kick to her jaw only served to make her angrier. Looking at him, as he got into a fighting stance, she felt like she was on top of her world. She could handle him. He was nothing, in her eyes.
"You were wrong about one thing. Expecting something and being prepared for it; two very different things." She swung the ax three times, missing him with each. She did however slam the body of her makeshift weapon right into his face, causing him to roll backwards into the hallway. In the time it took for her to get to him, he quickly got up on one knee, grabbed his dagger and spoke to her.
"Don't make me kill you." To her, that seemed like a completely un-Nietszchean thing to say. And to her, that was yet another thing that made him different from Tyr, only serving to remind her of all the reasons she hated Rhade. She brought down the ax only to be blocked once more by his dagger. For a second, when he had stabbed her, or at least tried to, she had forgotten about the bio-armor. She had expected to be killed by the Nietszchean and amazingly enough, had felt nothing but even more rage at the thought. Which was why, when the dagger didn't kill her, in fact, didn't even pierce her clothing, she smirked at Rhade's surprised expression. She felt smug.
"You mean like this?" And she knocked away the hand that held the dagger. Grabbing hold of his neck, she lifted him easily, slamming him into the wall.
"Why make a threat if you can't follow through?" He tried to keep her ax away but failed, ending up with a slash on his thigh and spark in his face. The voice in her head was cackling as she slammed Rhade into the doors of a closet, holding him there by one foot in the middle of his chest. Looking into his eyes as he strained to use his strength to get out from under her, she felt glorious. For all their posing, she had finally proven at least this Nietszchean inferior. And with that smug thought, she kicked him back into the wire mesh and as he bounced back, she grabbed him and without a thought, through him over and behind the table.
It took him more than a moment to get up and before he had even made it to her height, she delivered a fierce backhand. She smirked as he spun and fell to the ground again, flipping backwards to face her. This time she didn't even wait for him to make it to his knees.
Putting the toe of her boot under his chin, she forced him to rise then pushed him back.
Had she been in her right mind she would have winced when he slammed his spine into the steel rails that lined the catwalk. However, she wasn't. So her current state of mind only laughed at seeing the health of the "disgraced Admiral" subject to her whim.
This time he didn't get up. And she decided that enough was enough. This Nietszchean would pay for what the other one had done to her.
One heart for another sounded perfectly reasonable to her.
The red of her rage creeped around her vision, blocking out all sound except for the wonderful one of his ribs cracking under the pressure of her hand. This was it. Sweet revenge.
Then suddenly, the red was gone.
And she was left looking at a much different Rhade than when she last remembered. She felt his hand parting the folds of her coat, revealing the bio-armor, and she felt it fall away as he collapsed back into unconsciousness.
*What have I done?*
*****
Beka couldn't help but feel that same helplessness as she once more looked down at the unconscious form of her shipmate. However this time, there was no guilt. Except maybe for her treatment of him concerning Louisa.
However little the Nietszchean woman had changed things, she had not deserved to die. Rhade had not deserved to lose her, that was for certain.
Her thoughts were interrupted by Harper who was currently standing over Rhade with some medical intruments in hand.
"Hey boss, I don't know if I'm reading this right, after all I haven't had much experience with the Nietszchean physiology, but according to this, Rhade is halfway between serious and critical." Suddenly, all her senses were trained on what was happening in front of her.
"What do you mean?!"
Harper, for once, succintly and without editorializing, listed the various and increasingly serious injries that Rhade had acquired. By the end of the somewhat long list, Beka's eyes had grown wide. Apart from the many bruises and scrapes that dotted his skin, Telemachus had broken his right arm in several places, mostly around his bone blades, as well as one of the blades itself, he had broken ribs and a fractured femur.
"how are we supposed to help him?" Harper had never heard Beka speak in such a small and uncertain voice before. It only pointed out to him, once more, how much she really cared for this Nietszchean . As well as how much she was unaware of the fact.
"Don't worry boss, we'll find a way. We always do."
"Can't you help him here?" For the first time since she had entered the living quarters, Beka looked at the little girl who had not spoken until that moment.
"We'll have to find material to make some splints." Beka took a deep breath as she redirected her focus on survival of them all. And for a moment, she found it in herself to smile at the thought that she now had something in common with Nietszcheans. Now that she had something to do, an achievable and forseeable goal, she felt herself finding her calm. Looking to the crumbling, once peaceful Arcology right outside the windows, she directed her question at Harper.
"We should get off Arcology. Who knows how well it'll hold up." Harper, too, looked outside the window an expression of sadness creeping over his features.
"Those Magog just can't leave anything nice and peaceful." he said, his tone regretful.
*****DreamScape*****
In A Different Time & Place
This world was not his own.
And yet at the same time it was. Rhade felt as if he was two people at the same time. And yet, those two people felt so similar to each other that he felt they were actually one person.
In this odd state, he watched through the stranger/non-stranger's eyes as he walked up to a man who had his back turned to them. The short, blond haired man -that's Harper, his subconscious informed him- turned, looking excited at the flexis in his hand, only to be punched in the face by them. As the young man recovered, turning over to face them, they took out their force lance and pointed it at him.
"Wandering all alone on a High Guard star ship. You're a brave little man." Rhade towered over Harper.
"Hey, we saw her first. Open salvage, finders keepers." He didn't know whether to be proud of Harper's courage or to just shoot the idiot. -How do I know his name?- Rhade slammed his force lance into the little man's face. All the blond did was wince.
"Salvage? The Commonwealth sent you?" One side of them shuddered in horror at the possibility. The other found nothing wrong with it.
"Commonwealth?!" After a moment, the incredulous look on Harper's face disappeared, instead being replaced by an almost horrible realization. "You're with the original crew, right? You got stuck in time, didn't you?" Harper -I shouldn't know his name, yet- looked like he didn't know whether to be excited at the idea or to pity the man standing above him.
"Oh man I've got news for you, pal. There is no Commonwealth. There hasn't been a Commonwealth for over three hundred years."
"Then this is a Nietszchean empire?" The stranger's voice and mind asked through his body. Was that a sliver of hope in his -their- voice? The look on the little man's face, dashed that quickly, though.
"Nietszchean Empire?!! Please stop you're killing me." They felt anger at this little man who mocked them. Another hit to the face, courtesy of the force lance, showed that.
"Oww! Stop it you're killing me!" At least this time, he wasn't mocking anyone.
*****End DreamScape****
Beka had been concentrating on rewiring, though not very successfully, when she was rudely interrupted by a shout. Putting her zapped finger in her mouth, a frown on her face at the sudden interruption she looked at the cause of her problem. Sharla stood in the doorway. There was a short moment where Beka was going to scold her but the look on the young girl's face stopped her. She looked terrified.
"Sharla, what's wrong?"
"Something's wrong with Rhade." The girl gasped out. Beka forgot her small problems immediately, dropping the tool in her hand to the ground and running out after the girl. They made their way to Rhade's room quickly and Beka was glad, at that moment, that Sharla had been there.
Rhade was thrashing around. He looked as if he was having a minor seizure.
"Harper, get in here!" she yelled, hoping that her voice would carry far enough. The two held the taller man as tight as they could. Beka looked at Rhade, and for a while there, holding his chest down seemed far away from the two of them. Ignoring her surroundings, she leaned closer to him, close enough to feel his uneven breaths, and spoke to him.
"It's cold here Rhade. I almost lost you once, I won't again. Not again." The cold feeling of despair passed through her as she watched Rhade continue to thrash. She barely notice Harper's arrival. Instead, she leaned closer. "don't leave me." she whispered. It felt like forever before she felt the thrashing first slow, then, eventually, stop alltogether.
For a moment all she could do was stay in her place, still holding him down as if he were still moving. And then, like a puppet with it's strings cut, she slumped down. Leaning her cheek on his and cradling his face with her hand, she just listened t him breathe for a minute, thankful with all her soul that she could hear that wonderful sound.
That turned sour a moment later, when she realised that the wetness she felt on her cheek was neither sweat nor tears.
It was blood.
His blood.
*****
Harper looked in on Rhade for what seemed like the thousanth time.
They were fast running out of time and options. It turned out that when Rhade had had his seizure he had also managed to completely puncture one of his lungs. He was now hooked up to a jury rigged machine that was slowly getting rid of the blood filling the damaged lung but at the same time, his normally super-efficient immune system was not working. The nano-bots that normally augmented the Nietszchean's healing system weren't working and they could not figure out why.
He could only suppose that Trance's blast had had something to do with it. There wasn't anything else he could think of.
Well, whatever it was, they now had no more than a few days before Rhade's condition became critical. Beka had already hit that point. At that moment, instead of working on repairs on the Maru or looking for any signs of Dylan, she was sitting next to the Nietszchean. one hand on his forehead, lightly running her fingers through his hair. Her other hand lay on his stomach, intertwined with his right hand away from the tubes that came out of his chest.
"Anything new?" Harper was surprised by the question. It took him a moment to actually answer.
"Not really, boss. I put Sharla in one of the other rooms. Last I looked, she was still sleeping. The repairs are coming along, we should be something slightly more than a dead barge in space in a few hours." There were a few minutes where Harper wasn't sure if Beka was even going to acknowledge him. She hadn't even turned to look at him when he had given the short report.
"Anything on Dylan?"
"No. I, uh... I scanned the area he was last in as many times as I could and in as many different ways as I could. Nothing."
Beka didn't react to that either. Finally, he sighed and left her alone with the injured man.
***DreamScape***
This time he felt more comfortable in the body he was currently in.
/Maybe this time I'm in me./
Then he took a moment to think about what he had just thought. ...Then he lost his train of thought as events unfolded around him. On the left view screen was a map that had been enhanced by sonar. On the right one, Andromeda was saying something, pointing out details on the map.
"...I estimate one tenth of one percent of the original population has survived." She concluded.
"They've worn their hate down to as pure a point as possible." He heard himself say. He heard Beka speak.
/Giving out orders. ...It never ends./
While he could barely hear her, he was able to make out his own dialogue with Harper quite clearly.
"And with Zara, don't forget." Harper called after the departing Beka.
"Seamus, you're proof that even here, there's a capacity for love." His own voice sounded slightly amused.
"Love? Who said anything about love? That's almost downright human of you Telemachus." At that moment he experienced a duality. With his words, Harper had incited exacperation within Telemachus. At the same time, he -not Telemachus who was currently on the command deck looking at Harper- took a moment to see something the body did not.
/And I thought only Dylan actually knew my name for all the times I've heard it and not Rhade./
"You insult me after I say something nice?" The body he was standing in looked at Herper who was doing some very odd things to his hair... and his eyebrows?
"Easy. This is how fights start." Harper's tone was an odd type of dramatic.
In that moment, Telemachus, for a moment, felt like a part of the crew.
But it passed.
***End DreamScape***
As he sat in what would normally be Beka's chair, Harper couldn't help but think of all the times the older man had felt like a close friend to him. All the times Rhade had teased him, or when he would tease Rhade with little quips against Nietszcheans that he didn't truly mean. At least not in any derogatory manner. Amazingly enough, the two got along quite nicely; warmer than Rhade's companionship with Trance and definitely more friendly that any of his relationships with any of the other senior crew members.
Harper had a sudden realisation. Something trivial but still, strange.
/I saw this guy's ancestor when he was still warm, just barely dead./ It was an odd one. Considering, he had an odd feeling of deja vu everytime he thought of Gaheris Rhade.
/I feel like I should know the guy. Maybe that's why we get along so easily./ He had a drifting thought about alternate universes and past lives but he was interrupted by a beep on one of the consoles. Moving up to it he could see that the alarm had both been the sensors and the warning for an incoming message with a Commonweath code. He didn't think he'd need Beka for this so he pressed a button that would activate the communication.
He never thought he'd be as speechless as he was at that moment.
"Eureka Maru this is the Andromeda, please reply."
*****
The unexpected arrival of the Andromeda Ascendant had been a welcome surprise to those on the Eureka Maru. The fact that Trance had survived to bring it to them had been even better.
They would finally be able to do something.
Even better, they would finally have access to things they had on the Andromeda but not on the Maru.
A med deck for one.
Something other than emergency rations for another.
The second was no problem but Beka felt her stomach churn when Trance's face crumbled at seeing Rhade's condition.
"We need to get him to the med deck as soon as possible." Harper notified Trance, despite the redundancy. That's when Beka knew that Trance's expression was not only in reaction to Rhade's condition.
She also had bad news.
"I'm sorry Beka. But the med deck got damaged quite a bit in the attack. I don't think I have all the necessary equipment to help him."
Harper continued pushing the floating stretcher as Beka stopped suddenly in her place, Trance staying behind with her. He put a hand on the Nietzschean's blanket covered shoulder.
"You just never get a break, do you?" His voice so low that only he and, had he been awake, Telemachus would have heard him.
There was, of course, no answer from the comatose man.
Harper sighed. They eventually made it to the med deck.
*****
"What do you mean you might not be able to help him?" Beka's eyes flashed. She had hoped that a lot of their problems would be solved with the arrival of the Andromeda. But so far, none of their serious problems had been solved. Although, if she were to think about it rationally, her expectation in itself had been irrational.
Of course, she never claimed to work well under seemingly impossible situations.
Trance just looked at her serenely. And was it just her or did Trance look a little green?
"Beka, I will try to get things working as much as I can but I cannot promise any miracles." She smiled a little at her own words. "At least, any other miracles."
She was happy to see Beka crack a little, reluctant, smile of her own.
*****
Harper had set Rhade up on the least dirty bed he could find in the med deck and had covered him up to his shoulders in two blankets. He would have to take a look at the systems later. The place was cooler than usual.
He had then started doing an inventory of what medical systems were still operational and what wasn't. To his dismay not a lot was available.
"System mal-ma..malfunc-function." Harper jumped at the interruption by the sudden appearance of the unstable hologram of Andromeda. "Restart."
The lights blinked, as did the hologram for a second and when the hologram of the ship's AI appeared once again, it was without any instabilities in the hologram.
"Oh man, Andromeda, am I glad to see you." There was a pause before she answered in which she looked off into space while she went through her memory. Finally, she looked at him.
"Harper? What happened to me?" She looked around at the devastation, at the unconscious man and then back at the still shocked to his place engineer. "There is a lapse in my memory banks."
"Yeah, we don't know what happened. It was more than likely Trance, though. She did something that completely got rid of the Magog and the World Ship. I wouldn't be surprised if it affected you too."
Beka and Trance chose that moment to arrive in the med deck. Trance immediately went to Rhade's bed and Andromeda joined her.
"I'll be in the shop. Call me if anything changes." Harper said and left the room.
Somehow, it felt more like he was fleeing it.
***DreamScape***
For the same inexplicable reason that he knew Harper's name before they even spoke, he knew now that the engineer was in trouble and that he was definitely not himself.
"I came as soon as I heard." he heard Beka say. Looking around, he noticed that they were making their way down a corridor that would take them to Harper's machine shop.
"Harper's like your family and if there's one think a Nietszchean understands, it's loyalty." By this time, Beka was walking ahead of him, so she didn't see his expression when he confessed, "I miss you Beka." He only looked up when she actually turned to face him, a surprised look on her face.
"Gaheris.. please don't think this means I'm going to stay."
With that one name, the odd duality he had been feeling, shattered and he was suddenly flung out of the dreamscape.
*****End DreamScape*****
Beka couldn't sleep. Admittedly, she was used to such hardships and frankly she was grateful for her insomnia. It meant that she wouldn't miss anything important.
Such as Rhade waking up with a gasp and an aborted move to sit up. His second gasp was that of pain when his move pulled weak muscles and still broken bones.
"Rhade!" She quickly got up and gently laid him back down. Sharla, who had been sleeping with her head pillowed on Rhade's bed was woken up by the movement and commotion. At Beka's order, she quickly left to find Trance.
It didn't take long for Trance to arrive at the med deck, followed closely by Sharla. She wasted no time in assessing Rhade's condition.
"What's hurting Rhade?" He glared at her in between gasping in pain, desperately failing at not showing it.
"My chest feels like it's trapped in a binding cage." He said hurriedly, taking quicker breaths after the rushed out proclamation. Trance set one hand on his chest above his rushing heart and the other on his temple, her fingers combing into his dark hair. The gesture seemed to have a calming effect on him and everybody was able to relax as his breathing finally slowed to a regular pace. Finally he was able to speak with some ease.
"What happened?"
"You remember the attack on Archology?" Beka asked. Rhade nodded.
"You were injured in the final battle." Trance added. "You have a punctured lung which is why you're hooked up to this device that Harper was able to come up with." For the first time he noticed the large amount of padding and tubes and wires that surrounded his chest.
"Why don't you use the nanos?" he asked.
"We did, unfortunately because of the damages to Andromeda and my supernova, most of them were either lost or damaged. What little I had left I used to hasten the healing of your lung. Unfortunately they were also damaged enough not to multiply."
"So, we've got to do this the old fasioned way?"
"Yep." Rhade sighed at Trance's bright answer. "You also have some broken ribs, a broken femur which we set and put a splint on. Your arm's also broken. You must've used your boneblades a lot."
Rhade nodded absentmindedly. He could still see that last battle flash in front of his eyes. The way he had attacked the Magog after Louisa had been shot and even more after she had died.
"Your lung is almost healed over though I'd like you to keep movement down to a minimum for a while after that. We really don't want to have to go through that again." Trance continued, either ignoring or unaware of the fact that Rhade had spaced out on them for a moment. "You should rest, Rhade."
He had already fallen back to sleep.
*****
Rhade may have finally woken up but his body was still healing, left entirely on its own since there were no med nanobots. So he was still sleeping most of the day and spending what few hours he had awake eating and resting in his bed. At those times, Beka or Harper, and every so often Trance or Sharla would join him, taking their meal on the small table thay had set up in his quarters. Every so often, Beka would sit beside the Nietzschean on top of the covers and the two would either talk or Beka would read to him.
On the tenth day after he had first woken up, Beka entered Rhade's quarters after a long day of endless repairs to both the Maru and the Andromeda. Sighing, she sat down beside him as quietly as possible, hoping to not disturb his sleep. Turning on the flexi she had brought with her, she leaned back against the pillows behind her, put up her feet and settled in for a quiet evening.
A while later, she put down the flexi, rubbing her tired eyes. Looking at Telemachus, who had turned his face toward her, she couldn't help but feel the need to connect with him. Gently, she laid a hand on his shoulder.
It took her a moment to realize that he was cold.
/We didn't even realize. Usually Nietzscheans don't feel the cold. Like when Andromeda went into Security Shutdown that time Rommie 'malfunctioned'./
Looking around she realized that Rhade had nothing thicker than single layer sheets.
/Of course he wouldn't. It's not like he's need them./
Getting up, she quietly left the room and went to her own quarters. Searching through her closet, she found what she was looking for and quickly returned to Rhade's quarters.
Unfolding the large custom made blanket, she retook her place beside him and draped it over the two of them. Bringing it up sp that the edge would come up to his shoulders, she gently tucked the blanket around him, then resting her cheek against his covered arm, she closed her eyes and let sleep take her away.

*****

When the Andromeda woke her several hours later, it took Beka a moment to realize that she was alone in Rhade's quarters and that she had been covered with the blanket she had brought the previous night. She was suddenly fully awake. Rhade was in no shape to go wandering in the ship, he wasn't even in any shape to get out of bed for anything more than moving around his quarters.

"Andromeda, where's Rhade?" she asked as sshe got up to put on her boots. The hologram appeared to answer her question.

"Lieutenant Commander Rhade is currently in Cargo Hold 1." Beka paused for a moment. The answer had been an unexpected one.

"What on Earth is he doing there?"

"Louisa Messereaux's body is currently in Cargo Hold 1."

"Oh no." Beka sat back down on the bed with a thump. A moment later, she rushed out of the room.

*****

This was the second time he was looking at someone important to him through the glass of a cryostasis unit. This time though, the person was much more important to him. Gaheris Rhade may have influenced his life on Tarazed but Louisa had changed the way he looked at that life.

"You gave me peace." he said, his voice barely audible. "Now I can only hope that you are at peace." Gently he laid a hand on the glass. This was the closest he would ever be able to come to feeling any kind of contact with her. That knowledge felt like a dark cloud descending around his heart and he shut his eyes. He hadn't even realized that he had reached his limit until he had to either sit down or collapse. Leaning against the side of the cold coffin, he pulled his knees to his chest and tucked his arms in between the two. Exhaling, he felt as if he was suddenly drained, not even able to hold up his head.

"It's cold in here." he murmured to himself, repeating, without realizing, Beka's words to him. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the light in the room increase. He didn't look up to see the cause.

"Rhade, you shouldn't be out of your bed." Andromeda said. He didn't answer. He couldn't answer. "Beka is on her way."

"Don't." He didn't have to look at her to see that the hologram was tilting her head in silent confusion. "Don't tell her I'm here. If you have, tell her I'm on my way somewhere else."

After a moment of silence, "Very well." He could tell she didn't think it was a good idea. "You still shouldn't be here. You're still weak." Rhade chuckled at that, feeling hysteria creeping up on him. He lifted his head to look at her.

"You said that to Dylan once."

"Yes, and you and Beka failed to catch him when he fell." There was a small smile on her lips. Another moment of silence and then he slowly pushed himself up. Looking at the hologram with a 'satisfied?' expression he went to the door, looked back at the coffin then left the large room.

In no hurry, and truthfully, in no condition to hurry, Telemachus slowly made his way through the corridors of the Andromeda, making his way back to his quarters. Andromeda was right. He never should have left his room.

/Our people were meant to be living gods.../ He suddenly heard his own voice in his head, saying things he knew he had never said.

/Warrior poets who roamed the starts bringing civilization. Not cowards and bullies who pray on the weak and kill each other for sport. I never imagined they'd prove themselves so...inferior. I didn't betray our people. They betrayed themselves./ A second voice, then a third joined the first, all of them seemingly his own and all of them, joined by many others, lapping over each other creating a cachophony in his mind.

/There is no magic, just science you don't understand./ /Do you have a moment?/ This he remembered. On Tarazed. /Do you have a moment?/ /Beka you've got to finish wi-//-we're self-absorbed, not maso-//-why don't I head butt you to-//-where the hell is that spiky haired-//-wealth of knowledge ov-//-ame is never just a-//-'re getting married. You may no-/The voices started running together, filling his mind until they were all he could hear. Not all of them were him but all were of his own voice. In pain and confusion, he subconsciously noted that he was clenching his eyes shut and pushing his fists on his ears so much that it hurt even though he didnt really feel it amidst all the other pain.

He didn't even realize when he collapsed in the middle of the hallway, the darkness finally taking over him.

****DreamScape****

The situation was getting desperate. He could feel it even though he didn't know the reason for it. Once again, he was in a body he knew was not his own.

This time though, he had a pretty good idea as to whose body this was.

Gaheris Rhade.

His great-great grandfather. He was entering the machine shop, his forcelance drawn for some reason unknown to him. The knlazons were blaring in the background and as an observer, he tried to figure out what was going on.

"Andromeda, I've found the tesseract machine." His hands activated the forcelance. "I'm about to destroy it." Blue light flashed before his eyes, taking both of him by surprise. They were even more surprised when Beka and Trance -familiar to one but not the other- appeared out of thin air.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Trance stepped forward, not caring that the same forcelance he had just activated was now pointed at her.

"Beka, who the hell is this?"

/Beka still looks the same./ the thought came to mind even as Trance spoke, annoyed.

"I'm Trance and I have come to tell you that if you destroy that machine, your mission and everything you have done to further it, will have been for nothing." He could feel a myriad of emotions going though Gaheris. Some he understood, others he didn't.

"Your mission is failing, captain." Denial flooded their minds a she shook his head.

"I've had set backs it's true but I don't believe in failure."

"That's why we thought you were the one to restore the Commonwealth, forge civilization where anarchy once ruled. Lead our armies into the battle to come." This was more surprising to Telemachus than it was to Gaheris. He had realized that the events he was witnessing couldn't possible be true but the presence of Trance and Beka as well as the whole thing with the tesseract machine, which he knew of from Andromeda's records, were starting to paint a different picture to him.

"But you don't believe in that anymore." Trance shook her head as she answered Gaheris.

"No, I have seen the future, Captain. I've lived it. I know what happens. Your life can still mean something. You still have contributions to make but you are not the one."

"Then who is?" he asked, but, filled with dread, he realized he already knew.

"I think you already know who."

"Dylan." With mounting horror, Telemachus felt, for a moment, that he knew what Trance's life was like. Because at that moment, he could see, clear as day, what was going to happen. A few minutes had already gone by before he started to pay attention to the conversation once more.

"Trust me captain, please. Let me help you create the world you wished for when you killed your best friend. Let me help you save him." For the first time, Gaheris turned to Beka.

"I don't suppose you have any witty but only marginally helpful bon mots to offer?" His tone was resigned. He had already made his decision.

"No, I wish I did." he smiled gently at that.

"Me too."

"Look Gaheris, I have to tell you. Too wierd not to be true." She walked up to him, standing close enough that they could feel one another's body heat. "Our situation is to desperate for you not to try. YOu said you wanted to fix what you helped destroy. I guess what you have to ask yourself is how badly do you want that. Badly enough to kill for it? Badly enough-"

"Badly enough." With a deep breath, he holstered the forgotted forcelance. Without looking up, "History will judge me a traitor for what I am about to do. But if he fails, if Dylan fails, imagine how they'll judge him."

"With silence." Trance answered gently.

Gaheris nodded to himself, his decision finalizing itself in his mind.

All he had to do now was say goodbye.

Looking up at Beka, he leaned in and gently kissed her, trying to savor it, knowing that it would never be repeated.

Knowing that if he was successful, it would have never have happened.

****End DreamScape****

This time the emergence from unconsciousness was not gradual. Instead, it was only from one second to the next that Telemachus woke up. For the first time since he had first woken up from his injuries, he felt like he actually knew himself.

But that wasn't all. He also knew a Gaheris Rhade that happened yet at the same time never came to be, just as he knew many other Telemachus and Gaheris Rhade's, variations from one universe to the other.

Looking around the room, he saw the one person that he knew was responsible for some of what had happened or at least a witness to them.

"Trance." The golden avatar turned and came to his bedside, a large smile on her face.

"You're awake! You scared a lot of people you know." he knew she actually meant a select few.

"How did I get here?"

"Harper found you unconscious in one of the hallways. You lucky he found you there. Andromeda didn't see you because of some rewiring that's going on. You've been unconscious for two days now." That explained his grumbling stomach. He had barely had anything to eat before he had gone to see Louisa.

"Trance."

"Yes?"

"Why can I remember the life of Gaheris Rhade?"

"Well I'm sure you're well versed on your ancestors-"

"No, not Commander Gaheris Rhade... I'm talking about Captain Gaheris Rhade of the Andromeda Ascendant." Trance froze in her spot, her wide eyes staring at Telemachus.

-----------------------------------------

I didn't really expect a straight answer from Trance. She had almost never given one before expect perhaps to Dylan. She didn't really need to answer anyway. Her reaction was enough to confirm what I had deducted. It certainly explained her uncanny ability to come up with answers from out of the blue.

He knew that he didn't know the entire truth about her origins. But it wasn't important.

She had known.

If not every detail, then certainly enough to have prevented a whole lot of needless bloodshed. For a moment he wondered if Dylan had known.

"You knew what would happen didn't you? All these flashes I'm getting, they're your doing aren't they?" I barely let her get a word in edgewise but I couldn't help but feel the grief and sorrow of Louisa's death all over again. I couldn't help it. I blamed Trance for it all.

Ignoring her protestations, I got up, disconnected the sensors and stalked out of the med bay. Before I knew it, I was in the gym, taking out my anger on a punching bag. I don't know how long I kept at it. I ignored the sweat running into my eyes and I ignored the fact that what clouded my vision was not sweat, but tears.

-----

I would have preferred to do this alone.

By nature, Rhade isn't one of the most open people. Whenever he does show emotion, it is usually anger or something completely Nietszchean. So it stands to reason that when Andromeda notified me of his current state, I would have much preferred it, both for me and for him, if Harper had not been standing right next me.

Fortunately, or should I say miraculously, Harper did not make any derogatory comments as we hurried through the hallways towards the excercise room.

"What do you think set him off?" I knew it wouldn't last.

"I don't know Harper." I growled. I really didn't want him with me when I went in to see our Nietszchean crew mate. We were just outside our destination so I motioned Harper to wait out there and went right inside. At first the place sounded silent. It took only a few moments before I heard the soft weezes coming from behind one of the workout machines next to the punching bag. Worried I rushed over to Rhade, who was sitting on the ground, soaked in sweat, He was taking shallow breaths, coughing ever so often. When he noticed me, he looked up without moving.

"So they sent the nanny after me huh?" I winced at his sarcastic tone.

"We need to get you to the med bay Rhade. I think you may have done some damage to your lung. Again."

"You think so huh?" His face turned red with the cough that followed. It lasted too long for my liking and I was even less conviced that he was alright when his hand came away stained red. This time, determined, I put a hand under his arm to help him up. I was not going to watch him bleed again.

The first time was bad enough.

"Harper!!" I called out, hoping the younger man could hear me.

He poked his head through the door, looking unsure of his welcome.

"Get over here!"

"I can walk." Rhade objected, his voice somewhat weak, and most definitely raspy. And he held true to his claim. For a few steps; then the coughs started again.

"God damnit Rhade, we've got enough problems as it is." I couldn't help but feel anger towards him and his behavior. With Dylan gone and Rommie in pieces, we need as many people as we could get. And Rhade, with his strength (or what had been his strength, I guess), was one of the more essential members of our group. I may have been acting Captain in Dylan's abcense many times before but Rhade had been an Admiral for the military of an entire planet.

Occupied by my thoughts, it took me a moment to realise that we had arrived at the med bay. In my opinion, Rhade had been a patient here, too many times in the past week.

...to be continued

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