Part One
"Your... f-f-f-"
"Spit it out heathen. Fiancé." Brenner grinned smugly. Suzee narrowed her eyes and shot a venomous glare at her betrothed.
"It's not like that, Radu. The whole thing was arranged before I was even born. It had to do with our intelligence levels and the likelihood of that being passed onto our children."
"Doesn't look like a fair match to me." Bova butted in glibly. "Your genes would be doing all the work."
Suzee chuckled at the irate expression growing on Brenner's face.
"Hey! I created the dimensional portal device to get my ship to this backwater dimension!"
"From scratch, Brenner, or from that silly theory I made up when I was five?" Suzee taunted.
"That theory was flawed, and you know it. That's why you never tried to make it work. I had to rewrite the entire mathematical perspective."
"Goody for you." Suzee rolled her eyes and prepared an onslaught of sarcasm. "Radu could have fixed that perspective if he'd been around. How amazing you could do it now! Especially after you downloaded the new math schemas into your brain."
"This isn't the best way to begin a relationship, Suzee." Brenner accused, dodging the insult.
"There won't be one, Brenner."
"If you don't marry me, it will be illegal for you to have children." He hoffed. "Is that what you want?"
"Yes." Suzee spat stubbornly. Radu looked back and forth at the battling Yensidians.
"What are you starring at, plebian?" Brenner demanded. Radu creased his brow slightly.
"Some one who isn't accomplishing anything." He replied solemnly. "And should just go home."
Brenner stormed up to Radu, who immediately took a fighting stance.
"Brenner, no!" Suzee cried out as Brenner's eyes began to glow.
"I'll teach you a mind is a terrible thing to waste, Neanderthal." Brenner sneered. Suzee lodged herself between the two boys.
"Stop it!" She screamed. "Just stop it! Both of you! This isn't funny."
Brenner's eyes calmed. "Protecting your pet?"
"Go home, Brenner." Suzee pleaded.
"I won't be deterred so easily, Suzee. I've come too far."
"Well, we have to go find supplies." She turned her back to them all and continued on their path. Radu and Bova followed suit. "Do whatever you want."
After a moment, Brenner followed.
"No, these seedlings won't take to the hydroponics we have on the Christa." Rosie said to the pot of tubers held in front of her by Harlan.
"This is hard." Harlan grumbled. Wonder what kind of fun Radu is having with Suzee. "Are any of these okay?"
"Nah."
Harlan jumped. He looked up to see an Andromedan with very long black hair peering at them silently from over the plants.
"These should be used in a home collection. If you want, I'll show you to Mako's. He's high, but he's the only one with plants like you need."
"Oh! Thanks so much!" Rosie beamed. "How nice!"
Harlan shook his head.
"Careful, Rosie." He whispered. "Maybe you can't trust all Andromedans."
The Andromedan chucked. "True enough. But I'd be an idiot to mug you in broad daylight. 'Sides, Mako knows me well enough by now to have the security officers hunt me down." He extended a hand. "I'm Taleb."
"Rosie." She reciprocated by extending her own hand freely. "And this is Harlan."
"Nice to meet you. Well, you Sol creatures are certainly far from home, ne?" He placed a coin in the vendor's happy hand and took a fragrant pot with pink and purple flowers.
"What are those for?" Rosie asked as they left the vegetation stand.
"A patient. She's not healing as fast as I would like. I suspect it might be due to her attitude. These won't last long, but they might cheer her up."
"Oh, you're a doctor?" Rosie asked with interest. Taleb smiled, recognizing a fellow physician.
"Kind of. I'm a trained Andromedan Healer, but out here, I've picked up various non-Drommer medical techniques that have been, to be honest, pretty damned helpful." He shook his head and tossed his long mane back. His eyes narrowed with irritation. We've suffered quite a bit due to tradition."
"Andromedans?" Harlan inquired. Radu never talked about this kind of stuff.
"Yes. I suppose we all have, in general. I was referring to my crew though. Our psi Healing abilities only do so much. We're much more advanced than you in many ways, Earther, but we're medical... what's the Earther term?" He grinned. "Ah, yes. Dinosaurs."
Harlan laughed. Radu had mentioned something similar about that.
Radu frowned at the parts that the scraggily vendor was trying to sell him and shot a sideways glance at Brenner, who Suzee was obviously trying to ignore.
"No. We need a better quality than that." Radu said softly, distracted by a new fight that the two Yensidians had just started. Bova had draped himself over a bench, limbs akimbo, having given up trying to understand what they were actually fighting about. The vendor smiled at the young Andromedan, who he deemed to be an easy target.
"You won't find a better quality on Sandrines, son. These are the best couplings in the sector." The vendor insisted. Radu refocused his attention and gave the man an indignant look.
"That's a pity." The young Andromedan replied in the same nonchalant tone as before. "See ya later."
Radu turned and walked away.
"Wait! I see you're a discriminating customer." The vendor started to turn red. What a mistake! "I can throw in a whole mess of converters! Very useful with alien technology!"
"It won't do us any good." Radu informed him in a forceful monotone. "Those couplings will fall apart in a week."
"I give you my personal assurance that they won't, young man."
Radu started to respond, but a girl with cropped electric blue hair slid in front of him at breakneck speed and slammed to a stop right in front of the vendor's counter.
"I can't believe you're trying to con us Andromedans! How dumb do we look?" She demanded. Radu looked the strange girl over. She was Andromedan, but her tight, revealing outfit would suggest otherwise, and he blushed.
"Captain-" The vendor protested.
"Captain, nothin', you sleazy jerk! We'll all just take our business elsewhere, ne?" She turned slightly to Radu for support. He had to smile once he saw that spunky grin.
"Yeah. Like I said. See ya." Radu began to walk away again, and the girl followed him.
"Frickin' non-Drommers think they can get away with anything. An idiot could have figgered out how bad off those parts were!"
"Well, I managed to. That says something." Radu muttered, looking at her feet and trying not to laugh. "What... are those?"
"My boots? They're blades." She grinned mischievously at Radu's blank look. "Rollerblades. Inline skates. I wear them everywhere. They have remote control magnets for gravity loss on the ship, and the wheels tuck in and let the boosters take over when I need to run around some place without smooth ground."
"So... they let you fly?"
"I always fly, Neichan." She informed him and placed a friendly arm over his shoulder and received a glare from Suzee as they walked back over to Radu's crewmates.
"I couldn't get anything from him. He was just scamming." Radu explained as they approached. Bova nodded and heaved himself into a suitable position to speak.
"Same here. I think these guys just take trips to the junk yard when they need inventory."
"Yah. Thaz pretty much it." The girl concurred. "The quality control here sucks big-time. The best trading you'll do will be with other ships. 'Cause we all want to take off at some point, ne?"
She paused a moment to grin at her own joke, then continued. "Ya'll were needing some power couplings, I overheard?"
"Yeah, that was the big one." Suzee grumbled. "Who are you?"
"Well, damn, I'm rude. Sorry, you should have told me to shut up earlier!" She extended a hand to Suzee and Bova. "I'm Captain Kinta'Une of the Starship Mozen. You can call me Kinta. Or Kin. Or bitch... whatever. It doesn't matter."
"I"m Radu. This is Suzee and Bova... and... Brenner." Radu tried hard to keep his voice steady, but the look on Kinta's face told him that she'd heard the difference on the boy's name.
"Allo, allo. So... about those couplings. My trader got us some surplus in our last deal. We'll never use that many, and they look pretty good, too." Kinta smiled toothily and crossed her arms. "Wanna make a deal?"
"For what?" Suzee asked suspiciously. With Brenner here, she wasn't in a terribly forgiving mood.
"For an engineer loan. I don't have one, and we just had some major damages. We could really use some help."
"I'll have to ask the Commander, but that sounds fab." Suzee responded, then turned her attention back to her list of Items. Kinta grabbed it. She held up one of her wrist guards and attached the CompuPAD.
"Downloading." She explained. "I'll take this back to my shifty little trader and see what he can come up with. The little devil is resourceful." Kinta returned the PAD to a miffed Suzee and turned to Radu. "Hey, sweetie. How'd you end up with a bunch of Sol creatures anyway?
"I'm kind of an exchange student. How'd you end up out here? You look my age."
"I probably am." Kinta admitted. "I'm one of the eggs that was kidnapped during the War. But they couldn't get us all back, if you remember. Some of us ended up hatching into a Spung slavehold. I escaped from the Spung when I was a little Taedo."
Radu smiled proudly and shook his head. "That's amazing."
"Not really. I had some help. My twin sister for one. And the previous captain of the Mozen."
"Twin Andromedans?" Bova asked. Kinta was very unlike Radu. He was trying to decide if they were even the same species. Maybe just a different ethnic group. He skin pigmentation was darker than the pale cream that was Radu's, and she would have been shorter without those skates. The short hair and the clothes disturbed him most of all, since Radu had once mentioned a religious reason for his wardrobe. He could tell it disturbed Radu, too. He kept averting his eyes.
"Yah. She kewl. She stayed with the Spung and helps other slaves escape. Her name is Mina."
"Oh." Radu said suddenly. "Elmira's closest handmaiden?"
"Yeppers. Though she does a lot more than brush the woman's hair." Kinta cocked her head ironically. "You know Ellie?"
"Yeah... she... gets around."
Kinta slapped him on the back. "She sure does. Hey, can I show your navigator where my ship is?"
Suzee scowled and stepped up protectively. "The Commander told us to stay together."
"Well, what's going to happen to two Andromedan's, huh?"
"You could get enslaved." Bova offered. Kinta snorted quite ungracefully.
"Doubtful. They'd have to capture us first. And that just ain't happenin', right Radu?" She looked and him and winked comically. Radu chuckled. Despite her appearance, Kinta was a lot like the other hatchlings had been.
"Yeah... th-they won't take us alive." He responded playfully. Kinta laughed robustly.
"Let's go. I'll show you what you guys are up against."
Rosie's eyes gleamed in youthful excitement as she looked over Taleb's infirmary. He'd taken them back to his ship after they'd found their needed medical supplies, despite some serious qualms on Harlan's part. However, he'd relented early on after Taleb mentioned his new interest in physical therapy.
"This place is so big!" Rosie smiled up at Taleb. He raised a brow.
"That's because this ship is designed for battle. We need the room for more patients."
"Oh, I'm sorry."
Taleb smiled reassuringly. "Don't be. It's pretty nice when we don't have a lot of casualties in here. More time for practicing bedside manner."
He walked over to the supply rack that Rosie had been examining with interest.
"There's a time and place for everything, though." He sighed. "When I have fifty injured crew in here, all needing my expertise, it's no time to be all smiles and how's the family?"
Rosie nodded seriously. "My mother told me that once. I'm not sure how she does it."
"Practiced detachment. You'll get used to it."
"I'm not sure I want to." Rosie said softly. Harlan glanced over in their direction. "I don't think I'd want to be the kind of doctor that couldn't care deeply for each patient."
Taleb placed a light hand on her shoulder. "You can care. Just not at the time. It's too much to process while trying to save lives, too much of a distraction. It you just... put it aside until you have the time to cry, or complain... or scream about it, you can save many more people. Trust me, I know."
Rosie blinked solemnly and looked into Taleb's sad, dark eyes. This had been a fairly recent lesson for him. She parted her lips slowly and said: "Where's the friend that needs cheering up?"
Taleb pointed to one of the side rooms, and Rosie walked inside. A tall, thin woman was lying on one of the white beds in the room, and a small end table held a vase with the flowers Taleb had recently bought. The brought a warm and bright contrast to the grimly lit room.
The woman was awake; her half-lidded eyes starred blankly at a definite nothing somewhere between the doorway where Rosie stood and the gray wall. Her cheeks were sunken in, and the darkness under her eyes and along her cheekbones where not mere shadows. She looked like a corpse awaiting the pyre.
"Hi." Rosie said gently, but brightly. "I'm Rosie Ionni. How are you feeling?"
The woman did not cease her starring, but moved her lips slowly. "Trashed."
"Do you like the flowers Taleb got you?" The Mercurian continued undaunted. "I think they're very pretty. It's something new and fresh to look at. Beautiful living flowers! Much better than the same four walls."
"I can't see them." The woman replied flatly. Rosie took a step back, hoping she hadn't aggravated the poor woman. "Come closer, sweetie, I can't hear you well."
Rosie padded closer to the bed glancing back at Taleb for a moment and sat on one of the gray stools.
"I lost my sight a year ago during the mutiny. The core damn exploded when we tried to get rid of those traitors trying to steal the ship. I've been stuck in here ever since."
Rosie eyes widened in shock. Harlan drew nearer and looked harshly at Taleb, who shrugged.
"Well, they smell pretty, too. You can keep the petals in a jar after the flowers die and remember the sweet scent."
The woman laughed loudly. "You must be a Mercurian. Only one of your kind could resist my attempts to alienate them."
"Others have tried harder to alienate me." Rosie beamed. "Your attitude is better than I thought!"
"I'm Ke'chara. I was the ship's engineer before the mutiny. They killed off most of us adults and the kids took revenge on the bastards. Shot them all into space." She chuckled bitterly. "How's that for bad karma?"
"That's awful!"
"I know, but the kids were pretty angry. It was a troop of Angorians and Earther pirates. They locked all of the children in the cargo bay and planned to sell them to the Spung. The Andromedan kids wouldn't have that. Neither would the Spung trader's apprentice Praxt." She smiled. "They all worked together and overthrew the mutineers. Me and a few survivors helped, but they mostly had to do it on their own."
"You must be very proud of them." Rosie encouraged picking up the vibe.
"Yes. They've done a very good job." She sighed. "I wish I could have helped them more."
"I'm sure you did all you could. And now that you can't physically help, you're providing that adult approval that some of the might still need, I bet."
"Never thought of it that way." A little color touched her cheeks. "I hope it's true."
"It is Ke'chara." Taleb put in seriously. "Kin would have never taken leadership if you hadn't told her she could do it. And we'd fall apart without her."
Ke'chara's smile widened. "Kids. Always trying to cheer me up. You need to go find a new engineer!" She chided with amusement. "Even if I get these damned dead stems working again, I won't be able to scuttle around the ships insides like a frickin beetle anymore!"
Taleb smiled softly. "You should rest."
"And I can do... what else?"
"Flap your lips." Taleb chuckled. "Seriously, Ke'ch, we'll be back later. Maybe Kin will have found an engineer."
"Hope so." Ke'chara muttered. Rosie clasped her hand and smiled. Ke'chara smiled back, but as Rosie left the room, she heard a sad sigh.
"Harlan," Rosie asked softly once they were out of the infirmary. "What's going on?"
"Nothing. Look, Taleb."
Taleb shot a curious sideways glance at Harlan in response. "Hmm?"
"About what age are the Andromedan kids here?"
"Earth standard? Mostly twelve-year-olds. A few eighteen to nineteen like me."
"Who trained them?"
"What?" Taleb's head shot up. "What do you mean by that?"
" I mean, who trained them to use their strength? They didn't just figure it out on their own, did they?"
Rosie's ears peaked with interest. Taleb stifled a laughed.
"That would be virtually impossible. Unless the kid were completely feral, and despite some crude comments to the contrary, we have Purebloods here. They would have to be taught."
Harlan spread his hands and gave an encouraging go on look.
"It was us older kids mostly who taught them, but a lot of them were trained before the mutiny. By adults."
"What happens to them if they aren't trained?" Rosie put in, ignoring the alarmed look from Harlan.
"They'll be crippled. And eventually die. Most Andromedans are too dense to be immobile."
A look of doom crossed Harlan's face.
"What is it, Harlan?" Rosie demanded. Her temperature was rising a little, but she couldn't stand it. She'd been suspecting something was wrong for a long time...
Harlan sighed in resignation. "He's gonna kill me."
"Whoa. Don't you wish you had a rack like hers, Suzee? I certainly do."
Twin daggers shot at Brenner from across the landing pad. Suzee's face flushed in ire, and the others didn't even dare to look.
"Sure do." Suzee replied glibly. "And I wish you were built like Harlan and as sweet as Radu, but we can't all have what we want, can we?"
Harlan shoved his hands into his face to keep the snorts of laughter unheard by the couple. He could see Goddard restraining himself as well.
"Where is your loyal puppy anyway?" Brenner sneered, again ignoring Suzee's poisoned darts. "I thought you were all supposed to meet here at the same time? Or can't the puppy count?"
"Better than you, Ku'reshtin. Definitely better than you." Suzee gazed worriedly over her shoulder. "Radu's usually on time. Either he's in trouble or too far to get back before curfew. In that case, STARDOG protocol dictates that you find shelter for the night and come back in the morning. For cadets anyway."
Goddard was pleased. The engineer knew the protocol codes better than most of the actual students, except maybe for Catalina. Perhaps that was where she'd picked it up.
"The former. Radu wouldn't keep us waiting without calling by now. You say he's with another Andromedan?"
"Yeah." Bova said. "And it's more like the trouble is in trouble. She's a heathen."
"Bova!" Rosie admonished with glee. He was so blunt.
"She is. I bet between the two of them, any thieves would just give up and give them their stuff. Which is just as well, since Radu probably asked if they could talk about it instead of fighting."
"He sounds like a Hikari." Taleb mused. "The Purebloods are gentle, but they won't avoid a fight if it comes to them."
"Nah," Harlan helped Suzee carry in some of the supplies. "He won't fight unless he's protecting someone."
"He must have had a Hikari Elder at some point. That certainly sounds like their philosophy."
I wasn't aware that Andromedans had separate ethnic groups." The Commander walked over to help the kids. Taleb nodded.
"Three actually. The Purebloods that stayed with the planet the longest, called Elsin by other Andromedans. Then there are the space groups, who broke away long ago: The Midori, our isolationists. And the Hikari, our... technological and sociological opposites. We're dark, they're pale. We fight, they negotiate. They have no government or required cohesion, yet they stay together and work as a group. They're a sociologist's dream."
"What about the Midori?" Rosie asked.
"Never seen one to tell you the truth. I hear that they have Harlan's pigmentation, but Elsin hair. They're rumored to be the strongest of us, but we haven't contacted them in about a century or two. The Hikari and the Elsin were in contact, though, up until the Le'sheyna Do were taken."
"Lesh..."
"Sorry. That's Andromedan. It means..." Taleb thought for a moment. "Cursed Brood. It's what we call Radu's generation. They've had terrible luck."
"I'd imagine." Goddard muttered. "Speaking of which, I was just about to call the authorities."
Over the horizon appeared Radu, and a girl skating backwards and talking to him. Goddard crossed his arms and put on a mask of sternness, stifling laughter as he saw the anxious look on his approaching navigator's face.
"Where have you been?" He demanded.
"W-we got jumped." As the boy stepped into the light, he saw a fresh bruise on Radu's face.
"No worries!" Kinta chirped, raising a triumphant fist. "We trounced those muggers!"
"Trounced?" Harlan laughed. He had a hard time imagining Radu trouncing anyone.
"It wasn't like we had any valuables anyway." Radu muttered, ears flushing. Kinta grinned at him then cast a hard look over in Rosie's direction.
"What are you doing here?" She asked authoritatively.
"Me?" Rosie pointed to herself.
"No, she means me." Taleb chuckled. "I could say the same of you, Captain."
Kinta stuck out her tongue. "I'm here to bargain for an engineer. You?"
"Same. Bargaining."
"With Sol creatures?"
"They seemed nice enough at the time." Taleb shrugged. He wasn't about to mention that she herself was bargaining with Sol creatures. Kinta came over and pinched his ear hard.
"You should ask permission first, Healer."
"Aaaack!" He pulled away sharply. "I'm sorry."
"You should be. So what are we bargaining for?"
"Use of their Healing Chamber for a few days."
"For?"
"I teach Rosie some mulitspecies medicine."
Kinta rolled her eyes and skated towards the Commander. "Whatever. Just don't get into trouble."
"I'm Captain Kinta'Une. I suppose your engineer told you about our deal?"
"Yes. It seems fair." He jerked his head in Radu's direction. "You've seen the ship and the parts. Do you think this is do-able?"
"D-definitely, Comander." Radu grinned nervously, casting a nervous glance at Taleb. "The parts they're offering are leagues better than the junk in the marketplace."
"I'll let you and Suzee work that out then."
Taleb stood suddenly. Rosie frowned at him and wondered what he was thinking. He'd been studying Radu ever since he'd shown up.
"Since they'll be over there, would you mind me using Radu as a guinea pig? To show Rosie how to do a proper Andromedan check-up."
Goddard creased a brow. "I don't see why not. Radu?"
Radu's anxiety had increased when he'd realized that Taleb was a Healer. He had a feeling that everyone else knew it.
"I- I guess. But why me? You have other Andromedans on the ship." Please let me out of this. He thought.
"Well," Taleb tilted his head backward and dropped his smile. "Mostly because you've been out her without a Healer for about two years, and Omra would kill me if I missed this chance. Omra was the dominant Healer for your group, ne?"
"Yeah," Radu relaxed a little at the mention of the Elder's name. "How'd you guess?"
"Omra has a distinctive energy style. She trained me. I'd know it anywhere." He picked up his medical bag. "So... will you be our experiment?"
Radu laughed softly. "Sure. Anything for Rosie."
"Yeah!" Rosie cheered and ignored the peculiar look that Radu was giving her. He wondered what made her so happy about the whole deal. Kinta eyed the crew.
"We'd better book it, buds. Dusk is upon us and nightfall chases our heels."
"Waxing poetic." Taleb muttered ironically as he passed her.
"Oh, shush." Kinta waved as she left, not pausing to turn. "See ya tomorrow, team!"
"Looks like we'll be able to close up our business here in a timely manner." Davenport smiled blithely. "Commander, did you find an alternative power source?"
Goddard shook his head. "Nope. I did find out where we can get one though. Thankfully we aren't hurting for it yet."
"Oh my. Well, it isn't too far is it?"
"Not really. We'll be using a hyperspace jump before we get there, but it should only be a few weeks away."
"I'll just have to put off those experiments with the engine a little further." Suzeee said sensibly. Goddard nodded.
"You won't be doing any experiments on their engines." Brenner glowered at her. "You're coming home with me."
Suzee stared at him. The others watched anxiously as they waited for the inevitable scathing reply. As the seconds ticked away, the silence began to envelop them, and the heated showdown continued.
Rosie took in a breath, wincing at the sound it made. Radu heard their heartbeats pounding loudly in a nervous quickened pace. Quiet was definitely something an Andromeda wasn't used to outside the Brood. He focused in on Suzee's heart. Fluttering. Frightened. Furious.
"No."
Brenner recoiled at the abrupt and anticlimactic response.
"How come?" He demanded petulantly. Suzee narrowed her eyes fiercely.
"Because I hate you. Because I don't want to marry you!" She raised her hands angrily and started to pace. "Because I'm not going to leave the crew without an engineer. Because I need to make sure Cat gets home! We both know they won't let me work on that once I finally get back!"
Brenner gritted his teeth, momentarily at a loss for words.
"I didn't think it would come to this, but I'm glad I kept this card in reserve." Brenner smiled wickedly. "Catalina you don't have to worry about."
"What are you talking about?"
"I have Catalina in the soundproof music room on my ship." Brenner glared smugly. Suzee froze. "You want Ringhead back with her friends? You have to come with me. If not..."
Brenner pulled a remote out of her pack. "You probably couldn't find her in time to stop the poison gas from destroying her nervous system.
Suzee's mouth dropped open as she stiffly shook her head in disbelief. "Cat..."
Brenner nodded his head slowly as she closed her mouth. Silence reigned again as she stared at her toes.
"Radu?"
"I'm sorry, Suzee. There are a soundproof rooms on his ship." He said quietly. Suzee hugged her arms and looked up at Brenner resolutely.
"Fine. You finally played the right card." Ice coated her tongue and chilled the air surrounding the unhappy couple. "You let Catalina go, and I'll go back with you. I'll be you... wife."
Brenner grabbed his pack and headed for his ship.
"Not so fast, lay-lay boy. You can bet we're both taking the Primogeniture Test. My intelligence level is at least 20 points higher than yours."
"Doubtful, Suzee. I can Project much better than you."
"That isn't measured, you fool. I wouldn't rely on that to make sure you have sons to inherit. I'll be the one in charge, and I hope you die from housework."
"That's not a nice thing to say." Brenner taunted.
"You're about to find out how un-nice I can be. I meant it when I said I hated you. Under normal circumstances, I wouldn't spit on you if you were on fire."
"You will be mine. I still win."
Suzee chucked a large piece of equipment at his head, which he narrowly dodged.
"I"ll just go pack. I'll see you in the morning." Suzee snapped, stalking off.