Chapter 53

Beka sat on the Mess Deck, sipping at her coffee while her food got progressively colder. Her mind kept wandering back to the night before. Dylan had been so playful and happy, she really enjoyed discovering this whole other side of him that, as far as she knew, only she had seen, in this century anyway. And he had been so attentive and caring toward her, had really let down his guard with her. She could get used to that kind of treatment and enjoyed the closeness they were developing. She felt tired, but happily so, they had been awake for the better part of the night.

Just then Trance wandered in with the twins, one on each hand. They were so cute toddling along next to their mom. Lil' Seamus' wild blond hair just like his dad's, jutting out in unruly spikes in every direction, and little Cassia looking like a little pink doll, her tail wound around her mom's wrist with her hand. You could tell she was very attached to her mom, literally.

Beka smiled, "Hi, Trance. Taking the group out for breakfast?"

Trance nodded, "Lil' Seamus informed me his tummy was angry, so I asked if it was upset. He said no, it wanted food, so here we are."

Beka's eyes got wide, "They're already starting to talk?" Trance nodded.

Cassia giggled, "Fruit!"

Trance smiled down at her, "I take it that's your order for breakfast?"

Cassia tilted her head shyly and whispered, "Please," just as she'd seen her dad do to get his way.

Trance sighed, "Yeah, and they are already picking up their dad's habits too." Beka and Trance giggled, then Trance walked over and got a large stack of pancakes, two bowls of fruit and some herbal tea for the three of them, while Lil' Seamus and Cassia smiled at Beka from across the table.

"Well, Hi there," Beka smiled back at them and Lil' Seamus popped his tail in his mouth and began to suck on it. The kids looked about 2 ½ to 3 years old now, Beka couldn't believe how fast they were growing.

Cassia waved a hand at Beka and said, "Hi," nudging her brother at the same time.

Lil' Seamus mumbled around his tail something that sounded like it might be an hello.

Trance sat down with them and the four of them had breakfast together, Beka was amazed at how much they could eat. But, Trance didn't seem fazed by it at all, as the kids ate, she sipped her herbal tea while talking with Beka.

Finally Trance couldn't keep from steering the subject to the night before. "So, should I have Rommie pick out a selection of Dylan's clothing to keep aboard the Maru?"

Beka's jaw hung open for a moment, "Um, we're just trying to keep a lid on this until we see if it's going anywhere, hmm?" Cassia looked at her mom and blushed slightly, Trance patted her gently on the head.

Trance turned back to Beka and nodded, "Ok, but let us know if you need anything, and Seamus…"

Lil' Seamus' head popped up at the sound of his name, Trance looked over, "Ah, sorry sport. Harper, will be working on the Maru AI, so you may want to make sure that all is clear when you go aboard with company," Trance winked at her and Beka smiled and nodded, while Lil' Seamus returned to devouring his pancakes. Cassia had almost finished the two bowls of fruit, popping a dewberry in her mouth and licking her fingers one by one.

Beka smiled, "She really likes that fruit."

Trance nodded, "She would eat fruit all day if I let her."

Trance pulled out a napkin and wiped Cassia's face as a trail of juice dribbled down her chin just as Lil' Seamus hiccuped after finishing his last pancake and hollered, "Done!"

Trance shook her head, "Well that should hold them for about three hours." She turned to the kids, "Then Daddy can feed you next." Trance cleared the table and gathered up the kids, "Well I'll see you later on in Command, my shift starts a few hours before yours ends."

"Ok," she waved at the kids, "See you two later hmm?"

Cassia nodded and Lil' Seamus hollered while jumping up and down, "Oh - Kay!" What a ham, just like his dad.

Meanwhile after Dylan had arrived on command, apologizing for his tardiness and letting Rhade know he owed him one, Rhade left to head for his quarters to sleep. Dylan stood at his post while Rommie was at hers. "Dylan, are you OK?"

Dylan yawned and blushed slightly for a moment, "Um, not really… I, ah, didn't get much sleep last night so I'm kind of sleepy."

Without missing a beat Rommie offered, "Would you like some coffee?"

Dylan nodded, "Yeah, I think I could use some, thanks."

And Rommie produced a thermos from behind her console, "I thought you might." She handed him the thermos and went back to her console.

Dylan opened and inhaled the rich aroma smiling. "Thank you Rommie, this is just what I needed this morning," he poured and drank the first cupful, "Oh, if I, um, sleep aboard the Maru again…"

Rommie nodded, "I'll signal you, if I don't see you by an hour before your shift."

Dylan smiled, "Thanks again Rommie."

Rommie grinned at him, "What are friends and warships for?" They laughed together.

Meanwhile Harper had started work aboard the Maru again, "Maru?"

A voice answered back, "Yes, Engineer Harper, can I help you?"

Harper smiled, "Yeah, first it's just Harper and second we're a pretty informal bunch around here so try to relax, hmm?"

The voice replied, "I'll try… Harper, did you need anything?"

Harper slapped and rubbed his hands together, "Today we're going to bring your holo-matrix on-line, so… do you have any preferences as to how you would like to look? And remember, you holographic appearance is what I'll be duplicating when I build your android avatar, so think in terms of how you would like to appear in that form too, Ok?"

"Sounds interesting, do you have some examples available for me to download?"

Harper pulled out a disk, "Yeah, Rommie helped me compile them onto this disk," he popped it into a data port, "There you go, now while you consider your options, I'll be putting in one last transmitter then we'll get to programming in the details. This is going to be fun!"

"Yes sir," Harper quirked and eyebrow, "Yes… Harper."

Harper nodded, "That's better, and since Andromeda goes by Rommie, how would you like your avatar to go by Mark?"

"Yes, that would be fine and would help clarify between my main AI and avatar. Quite good."

Harper sighed, "Mark, we've gotta get you to loosen up, you sound more uptight than a sentient surrounded by Magog." With that Harper wandered off to complete the last transmitter connection.

Mark mumbled, "Indeed…"