Disclaimer: Andromeda is not owned by me. I'm just playing with their toys. I'll put them back when I'm finished.
Rated PG-13 for a some minor naughty words.
Identity Crisis: Part 1
by Arianwen P.F. Everett
Seamus Zelazny Harper thought life aboard the Commonwealth ship, Andromeda, was like one big shore leave at a four star hotel, with the ship's sultry and saucy avatar, Rommie, as the French maid. She might not admit it, but he suspected she was grateful for the presence of the Eureka Maru's crew, even for his presence. His mind drifted to the Pax Magelanic and The Balance of Judgment, and what had happened to them without a crew to take care of. Yep, Rommie was lucky to have him...
"Give it up Harper! She's a machine, and she's madly in love with Dylan anyway! You'd have better luck with.. I don't know.. Trance!" Harper's cynical boss, Beka Valentine, exclaimed, rolling her eyes for effect. She had been trying to get his attention for five minutes now, and all she had gotten was that goofy, glazed over stare the entire crew was used to by now.
"You called me, Beka?" Trance asked, seemingly popping out of nowhere.
"No, Harpers was just having one of his Rommie-induced fantasies. I was using you as an example, that's all," Beka explained, weariness evident in her voice. They had spent the day shopping on the quaint little planet of Etholoa, while Dylan and Rommie spent their 'shore leave' trying to convince this nothing of a planet's senate to sign the Commonwealth's charter. Someone really needed to explain the concept of shore leave to those two.
Even Tyr had followed them to the marketplace, although where his sculptured Nietzshcian legs had taken him was anyone's guess. Beka couldn't help but secretly hope he was picking up provisions for one of his culinary delights, although she probably would never be the recipient of such lavish attention again. She'd humiliated him that night he'd cooked dinner for her, but her ego had demanded vengeance, and she had proved her point judging by the look on his face when she'd dropped her napkin and strolled off. Still he was a damn good cook!
"So how long are we going to wait for him, Boss? I mean, I got things to finish up back on the good ship Andromeda!" Harper whined. He was also tired from their day of shopping, but they had all agreed to meet back here at 16:00 hours and that was just what they were going to do.
"Well we could go right now and then you can be the one to explain to our resident Nietzschian mercenary why we ditched him in a mall," Beka replied, her patience warring thin.
"Ha ha. Point taken," Harper conceded, sitting himself down on a stone bench, his muscles protesting every movement.
Beka's mind just shut off at that point. She wasn't a thinker. Tyr was the thinker, and the muscle. She was.. a survivor.. that's what Tyr had called her. Okay, stop it right there, Valentine! Defining yourself by a man's standards was suicide! She'd seen too many chicks whind up in too many bad situations to allow that to ever happen to her! Screw it all! She was a survivor, on her own terms and by her own definition!
Beka pushed aside a strand of hair that had chosen just that moment to to fall into her field of vision, and closed her eyes. When she opened them again, she saw a ghost, and that was all she saw as darkness instantly claimed her.
Her body would have slammed against the faux marble floor had Tyr not arrived at just that moment. His superior Nietzschian reflexes took over and he caught her before Trance or Harper, who had been sitting mere inches away, could even stand.
"Beka!" Trance cried out in horror, running to her friend's side and attempting to disengage Beka's limp form from their Nietzschian crew mates vise-like hold. Realizing the futility in that, Trance settled for checking Beka's pulse. Finding it's steady rhythm, the purple woman sighed with relief.
"She's just passed out," Trance informed the panicked Harper.
Tyr was already a step ahead of his companions, cracking open an ammonia capsule and shoving it under Beka's nose.
Just as Beka's head began twisting from side to side, instinctively trying to avoid the stabbing sensation in her nostrils, a middle aged woman broke through the crowd and grabbed Beka's arm possessively.
"Get off my daughter, you big Oaf! She doesn't need your help! Beka! Come on back, Darling. Come on.. That's it," the older woman cooed to Andromeda's groggy XO.
"Don't listen to her Tyr! I don't know who this fruitcake is or what she's trying to scam, but she's definitely NOT Beka's mom! Beka's mom died when she was a baby! She told me so the day of her dad's funeral!" Harper interjected quickly, lest the Nietzschian believe this woman who's appearance supported her claim. She was a mirror image of Beka Valentine, if several years older. But Harper knew any good plastic surgeon could have made it seem that way easily enough. The woman might not even be the same species as Beka for all they knew.
Trusting his younger crew mate, Tyr grabbed the older woman and was about to throw her across the mall, when Beka finally regained full consciousness and jumped to her feet to stand between the angry Nietzschian and the middle aged woman.
"No Tyr, don't! She is my mother, or she was till she abandoned me and Rafe as babies! She stopped being my mother long ago!"
Beka now turned an accusing stare towards the woman who bore her. "I don't know what you thought to achieve by coming here, but I don't want any part in it! Go back under the rock you crawled out from and leave me the hell alone!"
"I'm sorry, my Darling, but that is not an option," Beka's mother stated, signaling behind her.
Several Nietzschians pushed a path through the gawking crowd and tried to take hold of Beka's arm. She quickly reacted, elbowing the first man in the face, but was quickly subdued by two others. Harper and Trance put in a valiant attempt to rescue their friend but they too were soon being held by two burly Nietzschians. The remaining men turned their guns on Tyr.
"Who the hell are your goons, MOM?" Beka spat in fury.
"You'll know everything you need to know soon enough. Right now we have an important appointment to keep," Beka's mother replied, brushing the mussed hair out of her daughter's face. Beka tried to bite her fingers off.
"Feisty..." a towering, brown haired Nietzscheian stated, giving Beka's mother a nod of approval. His eyes then shifted, taking in the Andromeda's captured crew before resting on Tyr, and their previously bemused glint turned to icy anticipation. He circled Tyr once before decking him. The force of the strike sent Tyr down cold, and he never saw his attacker's arm blades extend above his head.
"NO! Don't! Please! Don't kill him! I'll go with you voluntarily! Just don't kill him! Please!" Beka begged, struggling in the arms of her Nietzscheian captures. Nomatter how hard she struggled it wasn't enough, and now Tyr was going to be executed right in front of her!!!
"Damean, Stop!" Beka's mother ordered, causing the young Nietzscheian male to pause.
"Kludge, this is none of your concern! Be silent!" the young man known as Damean replied, again raising his arm for the kill.
"Your father placed me in charge of this assignment, and I say STOP!" Beka's mother shouted back, a familiar flare to her eyes.
"My father will place laurels on my head if I bring back the remains of this Kodiak scum! He has killed over 200 of our family!" Damean snarled.
"Your father ultimately seeks my daughter's good will. She has her father's stubborn pride and if you kill that Kodiak scum, as you call him, she will never consent to his offer! She will do EVERYTHING in her power to undo all our plans just for spite! To her, her motley crew is more important than her own life! What do you think your father will say when I tell him that you sacrificed all your prides' hopes on petty vengence?" Beka's mother rebutted, knowing she had the higher ground and hoping this boar was smart enough to see it. When he kicked the fallen Tyr aside and stood upright, she heaved a sigh of relief.
"Now, Beka, we will be late if we don't leave this minute," Beka's mother interjected before anything else got in their way.
"Beka! Wait! You don't know what they want!" Harper shouted, only to be punched in the gut with a gauss riffle.
"I can't live with Tyr's blood on my hands. Let's go, " Beka said softly following her mother as the older woman walked away, the Nietzscheians falling in close behind.