Beka sighed softly as she finished making notes on the flexi before her. She smiled faintly before adding another notation at the bottom. She uploaded the data to her computer, verified, signed and validated it for courier retrieval.
Flexis were shuffled as Beka gathered the information on her latest acquisition. She tucked the files together and stood from her chair to file them all away.
She closed the file drawer with a resounding click, locked it with her own personal key and identification code. She picked up the next file and opened it. It seemed like all she did these days was work. For a brief moment, she longed for the good old days – fighting Magog, Nietzscheans, Kalderan. Hell, even the Abyss and dimension shifting aliens were easier on her that contract negotiations and corporate mergers.
The file landed with a resounding thud on the desk. She walked over to the window and looked out at the clouds below. The lights from the tower of Transgalactic's corporate headquarters cast an eerie but beautiful purplish hue into their fluffy whiteness.
It had been more than 15 years since Beka had left her old job saving the universe with Dylan. Sid Barry had died a natural death. Beka had been surprised to learn of his demise, thinking Sid was untouchable, even by death. A massive heart attack, brought on by years of gluttony, a sedentary lifestyle and indulging his bad habits, had ended his existence. Beka had mourned briefly, realizing how much she cared about him despite their tumultuous history.
Beka gently rolled her shoulders, trying to ease the stiffness and tension that often resided there. She thought back to that day, the day the board members of Transgalactic and their lawyers had hailed the Andromeda. They had tried to coerce Beka into signing over her shares of Transgalactic.
She had literally fainted into Tyr's arms when Rommie informed her that Sid had left the controlling shares to Beka and Rafe. Beka had received 75% of his shares, Rafe the other 25%. Sid had noted that Beka was the responsible one and he had no desire to have Rafe run his company into the ground. Sid wanted his empire to thrive and he entrusted Beka with the responsibility.
Rafe had taken an immediate interest in his inheritance. As the years had passed, age had taken away the wandering spirit that fueled Rafe's restlessness. He now resided on planet with a wife and two kids.
Beka's mind wandered to her old friends. Tyr had disappeared from the Known Worlds about ten years ago. No one knew exactly where he went. All Beka knew was after the liberation of Midden, Tyr had never seemed quite the same. He would disappear for long periods of time, coming back to Andromeda without comment as to his activities. Beka hadn't been around all the time and even if she had been, she seriously did not believe that Tyr would have truly confided in her. For all that their relationship was, there were things that Beka Valentine knew she would never know about Tyr Anasazi.
Occasionally, Beka would hear about Tyr's movements within some of the smaller prides. Occasionally, some diplomat or official or businessman would mysteriously turn up dead. Occasionally, she would hear news of some mysterious, unexplainable heist that had occurred somewhere in the Known World with no clue of who was responsible. She knew in her heart that Tyr Anasazi was probably involved in some of them. He was … exceptional … at it all – murder, mystery and theft.
Every year, she would receive an encrypted transmission from Tyr, inquiring about her, letting her know he was fine. Beka never responded to him directly. He never attached a return address. Nor had she been able to track the origins of the packages on the few rare attempts she made in the beginning. She knew that any … relationship … between she and Tyr Anasazi would be on his terms. He would dictate their interactions because he was who he was. Always in control, always trying to be one step ahead, always leaving her slightly outside the loop, keeping a little … or a lot to himself. It was his Nietzschean way.
For the last ten years, when she received a message, if all was well, the large Transgalactic sign on top of the tower was extinguished for three minutes at an appointed time. Beka often wondered what would happen if the sign remained lit. Would Tyr Anasazi appear out of the shadows? Would he come to her rescue in her time of need? Would they pick up where they left off – as friends and colleagues – or after all of these years, could there ever be more.
Beka felt a small lump in her throat thinking back to those days - the days when every day was a struggle for life, when it seemed the universe wanted them all dead,. In those days of such uncertainty, one constant in her life had been Tyr Anasazi. She knew she had loved him secretly but deeply. In all the years that had passed, she knew in her heart that he had been one of the greatest loves of her life and he had never really been her love at all. She also knew that if a Nietzschean could ever truly love another, he had loved her.
If only she were Nietzschean. Those words from her past reverberated in her mind. The sting of the words still cut her deep, even to this day.
Beka thought about trying it over the years, not extinguishing the light. But never did. Perhaps the fantasy of what could be was better than the cruel reality of what was. So long as he was alive and well, she saw no reason to disrupt their lives.
Harper was alive and kicking. He was living the high life after several inventions took off. His work on Andromeda's systems, AI tech and weaponry had revolutionized the High Guard. When the Commonwealth was in a position to pay, Harper sent them a bill, detailing every throne they owed him. Now, he owned his own tech firm on Earth, had a huge house outside of Boston and spent his spare time surfing. All was right in Harper's world. He had even got a girl.
Trance had disappeared when the Commonwealth, the Nietzscheans and everyone else stopped fighting. Beka knew in some corner of this universe or another, Trance was hard at work.
The last time Beka had seen Dylan, he was saying goodbye before heading out to war. The Pyrians were threatening Commonwealth worlds and Dylan was bound and determined to stop them. Beka had attended the memorial service for Andromeda, Rommie and Dylan. After ordering crew to abandon ship, Dylan had rushed headlong into battle with the Pyrians trying to save his fellow ships. A fleet of Pyrian torch ships had incinerated the Andromeda. They had died in battle, just as Beka always knew they would.
Beka was pulled from her memories when she heard a soft knock on her door.