Arkology Revisited Chapter 1, an andromeda fanfic

Dedication: for all those lovely, fantastic people who read "Child of the Sun" and left me reviews. You made it even more fun to write and I hope you enjoy this story as much as its prequel!

Disclaimer: I don't own Andromeda or the crew you see her on TV with. Suing will do you no good unless you like to make poor people who give you ratings cry.

Alura Anasazi, Alicia "Lecy" Kenyon, all the members of the Valhalla Pride, Admiral Volkova and anyone else you don't recognize from the show are mine.

Pairings: Rhade:Alura, Dylan:Trance, Rhade:Louisa, other (mwahahaha)

A/N: The idea for this story came about when I was writing Child of the Sun because the fourth season finale and the episode preceding it involving the Arkology storyline made the character of Telemachus Rhade a bit out of character (it would take more than a single day for a Nietzschean to be willing to give up being a warrior). So this is the Arkology storyline (and leading up to it) as it might have happened following my story Child of the Sun. If you haven't read that story, this one might be a little confusing. No material from Season 5 is planned to be in this story. The 'clip' found at the end of COTS will not appear in the first chapter.

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Arkology Revisited: Chapter 1

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"War must be for the sake of peace" - Aristotle

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"Bye, Momma."

Alura watched as Drago walked down the hall to where Ensign Kenyon was waiting for him. He wouldn't run. Nietzscheans did not run if they didn't have to, no matter who was waiting for them. Especially when the Nietzschean in question knew he was destined to lead his Pride, no matter how small that Pride happened to be.

Alicia Kenyon was teaching Drago how to cook Vedran cuisine, something not many people knew how to do. But Lecy's ancestors had lived on Tarn Vedra in the days of the old Systems Commonwealth, and cooking and other cultural knowledge had been passed down through the generations to Lecy and her siblings. According to his tutor, Drago was a natural at Vedran cooking. The young boy loved creating the dishes almost as much as he loved eating them.

Drago did well in most of his studies, the possible exception being engineering. He did alright working with his hands and such, but he just didn't have a predisposition to the technological. He still worked hard at it though, knowing that when he had a certain level of understanding his mother would teach him to fly. Seeing his efforts, Alura had decided to wait only another two weeks before starting his lessons on the Dance. Alura wasn't so sure Dylan would want the boy practicing on one of the Andromeda's slipfighters.

When Drago turned to wave before disappearing around a corner, Alura blew him a kiss. As soon as her son was out of sight, she turned around and headed back into their suite. She picked up the few toys Drago had left scattered around the living room and gently tossed them into the trunk in his room that was used for that purpose. It was a duplicate of the trunk she kept pieces of her old life in, the life that so far had not come back to haunt her.

She had been onboard the Andromeda for almost seven months, and other than the fact that she and Telemachus had yet to conceive a child there weren't many ways that life could get better. It was a sore point for her, but Trance had not been able to find any medical reason why she had not yet conceived. Her mother had told her, a look of knowledge in her eyes, that she just needed to be patient. Alura was finding it a little difficult. Alura crept back into her bedroom silently. She looked down at her husband and smiled. She needn't have been quiet; he was already awake and waiting for her return.

Every eight days they both had nothing to do but spend time together for a whole day as they did today. It was Dylan's wedding present to them, a fixed schedule that they could plan their newlywed lives around. Alura was not considered a Commonwealth member of the crew, but Dylan had hired her as a medical/engineering assistant. Both of she and Telemachus were on emergency call on their days off of course, but they wouldn't have had it any other way. Their lives were intertwined with the others that made up their odd little family: Drago, Dylan, Trance, Harper, Rommie, and even Beka.

Two weeks after her marriage to Telemachus, Alura had grudgingly told Beka the rest of what she knew of the other woman's life in her reality. They had both agreed to be civil now that Alura was a permanent member of the crew. Alura never sought Beka out for anything, and neither did the Maru's Captain ever look for her, but Alura no longer felt threatened when Telemachus resumed his friendship with the woman. Alura knew they would never be friends, but at least there was no longer a chance of one of them attacking the other.

Her own friendship with Achilles Renier had progressed, the Nietzschean Captain making time on each of his official visits with the Andromeda's crew, which happened once every few weeks, to spend with her. Achilles no longer touched her in ways that anyone would think even slightly outside of friendship, showing respect for her still-new marriage to Telemachus. But there were still times when she would catch Achilles looking at her in a way that made a thrill run down her spine. He still wanted her.

Drago, too, spent time with Achilles when he was with her, though Telemachus kept his distance. Alura knew that Telemachus didn't really like her spending time with the other male, but outside of Drago and Telemachus, Achilles was the only Nietzschean friend she had ever had. And when the time came for Drago to take his place in the Nietzschean world, he would need connections to as many Nietzschean Prides as possible. And though Isis had not yet followed through on her threat to disown Telemachus, Alura knew it was futile to hope for the support of the Majorem Pride.

Valhalla Pride wasn't as high in the Nietzschean hierarchy as Majorem, but they were still a large, strong Pride. And from the stories Achilles had told both her and Drago, they were also a very loving family. She had discussed the future possibility of Drago staying with Valhalla Pride - in order to have more experience among his own kind - a few times with Achilles, but had not yet brought it up with her husband or son. She knew neither one of them really ever thought beyond living on the Andromeda.

Telemachus had only asked Alura once whether or not she was going to tell Dylan that she had been a part of the Commonwealth in her reality. When she had firmly said no, he had dropped it. Alura was sure part of his silence on the subject was not knowing everything about her military background, or her background in general. He respected that she had reasons for her secrecy, but he didn't want whatever it was to be shared with someone other than him, even if that someone was Dylan.

Whenever the Andromeda went into battle, which was quite often, Alura would board the Dance and take part. Danny was happier than he had been, and Alura thought a lot of it had to do with Dylan allowing him to wander the Andromeda and spend time with Rommie in his hard light form. But the rest was at least getting back part of being a warship.

It was the only thing she and Telemachus had ever actually fought about. Female Nietzscheans were not supposed to be warriors. They stayed in top physical condition to protect themselves and the children of their Pride, but they did not go into battle. Alura had coldly reminded Telemachus that she was not only Nietzschean. They hadn't spoken for several hours. He had found her on the Dance and softly asked that she at least consider a less active role in battles once she got pregnant. Though she already knew that she would never stop being a warrior for the Light, she had placated him and said she'd consider it. They hadn't spoken of it again, but she had seen his disapproval each time she boarded the Dance to fight whoever their enemy happened to be in the current battle.

"Come here," Telemachus coaxed, snapping Alura out of her thoughts.

He crooked one finger, and she grinned down at him before joining him on the bed.

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Lecy carefully held the oven door open and watched Drago reach in with a toothpick to test the cupcakes they were baking. The toothpick had batter on it when he pulled it out, so Lecy closed the door once Drago's arm was clear.

Cupcakes weren't exactly Vedran, but every once in awhile she and Drago felt like doing something different, so they did. Last time it had been cookies, but she was out of chocolate chips, so they had chosen cupcakes today instead.

"Do you think Momma and Telemachus will like them?" Drago asked.

The two of them sat back down on the floor. They were working on a puzzle while the cupcakes cooked.

"I'm sure they'll love them, Drago," Lecy answered. She frowned and asked him what she had been wondering for some time, "Drago, why don't you call Telemachus Daddy or something? Didn't he adopt you when he and your mother got married?"

Drago nodded and put a puzzle piece where it belonged before looking up at her. "I had a Daddy already. I never knew my real Momma, so I don't feel bad calling Momma that. When I tried to call Telemachus Daddy it made me think of my real Daddy. And that makes me sad."

Lecy nodded her understanding and purposely tried to put the wrong puzzle piece down, making Drago laugh. She didn't like making the boy sad, he'd already had enough of that in his life. She couldn't help but wonder if Telemachus felt left out not having a parental name. Everyone knew how strongly Nietzscheans valued their families.

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"Do you think he's on the Dance?" Trance asked Dylan.

The look of excitement on his love's face was so cute that Dylan had to lean down and kiss her quickly. They were in the hall, after all. No need to put on a show.

"One way to find out," he answered. Slightly louder, Dylan said, "Andromeda, is Danny with Rommie?"

"Yes," came the AI's reply. "They are in engineering with Harper."

Dylan and Trance made their way to engineering. Rommie and Danny were standing near a workbench, watching Harper. The blonde engineer had his eyes closed, the neural port in his neck connected to the Andromeda's systems.

"Okay, how about now?" he suddenly asked, his eyes still closed.

The holographic Andromeda appeared near Rommie, looking more translucent than usual. The holograph's hand reached out and touched Rommie's arm. It made contact.

"It worked," the holographic Andromeda said, a note of awe in her voice.

Harper disconnected himself from the Andromeda and opened his eyes, jumping when he saw Dylan and Trance.

"Aw, boss," he half-whined. "I wanted it to be a surprise."

Rommie, Danny and the holographic Andromeda had turned to look at the new arrivals.

"I thought you didn't want to be upgraded since you already had Rommie?" Dylan asked the holographic version of Andromeda.

"Harper and Danny pointed out that Rommie cannot be everywhere at once," the holograph answered. "This way, if I am needed in a corporeal state in any part of the ship, I can be there immediately."

Dylan nodded his acceptance and smiled at the still nervous-looking Harper, "Good job, Harper. But why isn't she solid-looking?"

Harper shrugged, "I thought it would be less confusing and easier for everyone to still be able to tell the difference between Andromeda and Rommie."

Dylan nodded again and Trance stepped forward.

"We're actually here to ask you a question, Danny."

The Dance Among the Star's AI looked surprised but moved toward Trance when she held up a vid player, the one Alura had given her months ago. When he was close enough, Trance played one of the vid files for Danny.

When it was done, she asked, "It's not dated, but the anniversary would be tomorrow, wouldn't it?"

Danny smiled, a sparkle in his blue eyes, "Yes. Shall we do something about it?"

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Preview: A surprise is planned for Alura. Something happens that forces Alura to make a decision.