*I just want her back so much that it hurts.*
"Dylan, we're receiving a transmission from the surface," Rommie said as she broke the silence. Since having returned to the Andromeda, things have been tense between every one, even Beka and I.
"Who is it from?" I asked cautiously.
"Unknown. Although I can confirm that it isn't from the Supreme Chancellor or the media."
"Put it through then," I said as I came to stand in front of the slip stream chair.
"Ah, Captain Hunt I presume?" was the first things out of his mouth. He looked like all the others on the planet except he was a little too suave for my likings.
"And you might be?" I asked.
"You can call me Odan. I was wondering if I might be able to come on board you ship and discuss a few things."
"We're not allowing any one on board right now," I said tensely.
"Right, that unfortunate affair with the child. . . Cassidie is it?"
"Yes. Is there a point to this?" I asked, trying to keep from becoming rude.
"Actually, there is. I have some information regarding her and I thought you might like to hear it," he said with a smile. That got my attention.
"What kind of information?" I asked.
"Some very good information. Are you interested?"
"What is it going to cost me?"
"Just a friendly visit and tour of your magnificent ship! Nothing more," he said.
"I need to discuss this with he others, can you tell me where I can get in contact with you again?"
"No. I'll contact you in one hour. Odan out," he said as he abruptly cut off the transmission.
"Rommie!" I called out.
"I don't trust him Dylan," she said as soon as her hologram appeared.
"Well, I mean that fact that he is so eager to get on board does kind of throw me off too, but . . ."
"We all want her back, but is one child worth endangering the crew?"
"Yes," Beka answered for me as she walked onto the bridge. She looked horrible, not that I would ever tell her that. It had been 3 days since the party, the signing had been put on hold and would be until Cass was found. It had also been three days since she had slept through the night and eaten a full meal.
"It's not your ship to risk," Rommie replied.
"No, but it's my crew that make up the bulk of people on this ship. I've had to keep Harper from going doing something stupid more than once already," she said as she sat in the chair. I moved to the side and glanced at her.
"So are you taking over command then?" I knew that something was going to go wrong, there was going to be a fight somewhere. Everyone was tense and it just kept getting worse. I knew what this little war of words was going to turn into and I was having problems deciding if I should defuse it again or just let it happen.
"God no. I don't think I could stand to be in command of a ship that was this opinionated. God knows I would have reprogrammed you by now if you were mine. I like my ships to do what I tell them, like the Maru," Beka shot back. They weren't yelling at each other yet, but they were fast approaching it.
"Right, the Maru, that would be the rust factory in my hanger bay wouldn't it?"
"Be careful what you say about my ship, cause if it goes, I go and I'm pretty sure Harper, Trance and Rev will go too. Then were would you be? You'd be left with Tyr and Dylan."
"Ok, that's enough. If you'd like to carry on this friendly discussion, leave me out of it and take it off my command deck," I said. The two of them stopped and looked at me. Rommie just disappeared and Beka leaned back to sulk in the slip chair. I looked down at her, "I know that things are tense right now, but you've got to do something to relax. This is getting ridiculous."
"I agree. And do you know what would solve all of this?" she asked rhetorically. "Getting Cassidie back. That's all it's going to take." She looked away from me and I knew her well enough to know that that was because she was losing the battle against her tears.
"Andromeda, privacy mode," I called.
"Privacy mode engaged," she replied.
"We're going to get her back," I said as I sat on the arm of the chair and placed my feet on the seat since she had thrown her legs over to opposite arm. I watched as she leaned back against me, but still didn't look at me.
"You know, I've been thinking about this over and over again and I try to place blame on you for this stupid quest to restart the Commonwealth and it just doesn't stick. So, I move onto Trance, but she's a complete innocent in all of this so I'm left with Harper and Tyr. When I get to the two of them, I don't know who to start with. I mean, Tyr says he saw Harper tell him that he knew she was coming to him and that he had gotten her, then again, I mean she wasn't either of their responsibilities, so I end up putting it on myself and I feel a little worse everyday and it just keeps building up and . . . . . I just want her back so much that it hurts."
*. . just reminders of the little girl I couldn't play with anymore*
"So, have you come to a decision?" Odan asked exactly one hour later.
"Yes, we have," Dylan replied. "But we'd like you to agree to some things."
"Such as?"
"No weapons, and if you insist on bringing one, you will be placed under guard the entire time you're here. You also may bring no more that one other person with you if you so desire."
"Agreed. I shall leave immediately. Odan out," he said as he cut the transmission.
"I don't like the looks of this," I said as I followed Dylan into his office.
"Beka, it will be fine. Besides, you know Tyr is going to be the guard. Who would want to mess with a 6 foot 5 Tyr?" I smiled a little.
"Well, let's see, the Drago-Kasov, the Orca, many, many mercenaries . . . . Shall I keep going?"
"Okay, point taken. Maybe I should rephrase that, what Zillian is going to mess with Tyr?"
"I guess you're right," I said as I sat down behind his desk as he found his uniform jacket.
"Hmmmm . . ."
"What?"
"Well, do I still have that uniform in you closet?"
"I think so, why?" he held up the jacket with the dislodged clasp. I smiled slightly at the memory and stood up. "Let's go see." I kept a small distance between the two of us as we walked down to the quarters I kept on the Andromeda. I didn't really enjoy sleeping here, but since Cass came, well, there really wasn't room for her on the Maru so, we had ended up here. Besides, I grew up there and remembered how uncomfortable everything is when you try to play while sitting on the floor. As we walked, he kept up the small talk and kept trying to move in closer to me and I kept moving away.
"What is it?"
"What do you mean?" I asked, knowing full well what he was talking about.
"Do you not want me to get near you any more?" I could hear the hurt in his voice.
"I just don't feel very touchy feely right now," I answered as we entered the room. I went straight for the bedroom, ignoring Cassie's things that I still hadn't cleaned up yet. It seemed like every where we stopped, every body brought her back some thing and my quarters were the proof. She was always in awe of the things that were given too her and you could tell her favourites, but they were all just reminders of the little girl that I couldn't hold or play with any more. I got the uniform and was going to take it out to him when I stopped in the door way. Dylan was picking up her things, placing them on shelves and in the little box Harper had made for her to keep her things in. Every once and a while he'd stop and hold onto something, almost like he was afraid he'd break it or it would disapear if he let it out of his sight.
"Dylan, Odan's ship is docking," Rommie said
"We'll be right there, have Tyr meet us at the docking bay," he said. I watched as he placed the toy on a chair and took the jacket from me. "Duty calls," he said as he led me out of the room. I looked over at him as we walked down the hallway and slowly placed my hand in his. He looked over at me and smiled.
"Thank you." For not letting me pull away to far, for being there for me, for putting up with me.
"Dylan, we're receiving a transmission from the surface," Rommie said as she broke the silence. Since having returned to the Andromeda, things have been tense between every one, even Beka and I.
"Who is it from?" I asked cautiously.
"Unknown. Although I can confirm that it isn't from the Supreme Chancellor or the media."
"Put it through then," I said as I came to stand in front of the slip stream chair.
"Ah, Captain Hunt I presume?" was the first things out of his mouth. He looked like all the others on the planet except he was a little too suave for my likings.
"And you might be?" I asked.
"You can call me Odan. I was wondering if I might be able to come on board you ship and discuss a few things."
"We're not allowing any one on board right now," I said tensely.
"Right, that unfortunate affair with the child. . . Cassidie is it?"
"Yes. Is there a point to this?" I asked, trying to keep from becoming rude.
"Actually, there is. I have some information regarding her and I thought you might like to hear it," he said with a smile. That got my attention.
"What kind of information?" I asked.
"Some very good information. Are you interested?"
"What is it going to cost me?"
"Just a friendly visit and tour of your magnificent ship! Nothing more," he said.
"I need to discuss this with he others, can you tell me where I can get in contact with you again?"
"No. I'll contact you in one hour. Odan out," he said as he abruptly cut off the transmission.
"Rommie!" I called out.
"I don't trust him Dylan," she said as soon as her hologram appeared.
"Well, I mean that fact that he is so eager to get on board does kind of throw me off too, but . . ."
"We all want her back, but is one child worth endangering the crew?"
"Yes," Beka answered for me as she walked onto the bridge. She looked horrible, not that I would ever tell her that. It had been 3 days since the party, the signing had been put on hold and would be until Cass was found. It had also been three days since she had slept through the night and eaten a full meal.
"It's not your ship to risk," Rommie replied.
"No, but it's my crew that make up the bulk of people on this ship. I've had to keep Harper from going doing something stupid more than once already," she said as she sat in the chair. I moved to the side and glanced at her.
"So are you taking over command then?" I knew that something was going to go wrong, there was going to be a fight somewhere. Everyone was tense and it just kept getting worse. I knew what this little war of words was going to turn into and I was having problems deciding if I should defuse it again or just let it happen.
"God no. I don't think I could stand to be in command of a ship that was this opinionated. God knows I would have reprogrammed you by now if you were mine. I like my ships to do what I tell them, like the Maru," Beka shot back. They weren't yelling at each other yet, but they were fast approaching it.
"Right, the Maru, that would be the rust factory in my hanger bay wouldn't it?"
"Be careful what you say about my ship, cause if it goes, I go and I'm pretty sure Harper, Trance and Rev will go too. Then were would you be? You'd be left with Tyr and Dylan."
"Ok, that's enough. If you'd like to carry on this friendly discussion, leave me out of it and take it off my command deck," I said. The two of them stopped and looked at me. Rommie just disappeared and Beka leaned back to sulk in the slip chair. I looked down at her, "I know that things are tense right now, but you've got to do something to relax. This is getting ridiculous."
"I agree. And do you know what would solve all of this?" she asked rhetorically. "Getting Cassidie back. That's all it's going to take." She looked away from me and I knew her well enough to know that that was because she was losing the battle against her tears.
"Andromeda, privacy mode," I called.
"Privacy mode engaged," she replied.
"We're going to get her back," I said as I sat on the arm of the chair and placed my feet on the seat since she had thrown her legs over to opposite arm. I watched as she leaned back against me, but still didn't look at me.
"You know, I've been thinking about this over and over again and I try to place blame on you for this stupid quest to restart the Commonwealth and it just doesn't stick. So, I move onto Trance, but she's a complete innocent in all of this so I'm left with Harper and Tyr. When I get to the two of them, I don't know who to start with. I mean, Tyr says he saw Harper tell him that he knew she was coming to him and that he had gotten her, then again, I mean she wasn't either of their responsibilities, so I end up putting it on myself and I feel a little worse everyday and it just keeps building up and . . . . . I just want her back so much that it hurts."
*. . just reminders of the little girl I couldn't play with anymore*
"So, have you come to a decision?" Odan asked exactly one hour later.
"Yes, we have," Dylan replied. "But we'd like you to agree to some things."
"Such as?"
"No weapons, and if you insist on bringing one, you will be placed under guard the entire time you're here. You also may bring no more that one other person with you if you so desire."
"Agreed. I shall leave immediately. Odan out," he said as he cut the transmission.
"I don't like the looks of this," I said as I followed Dylan into his office.
"Beka, it will be fine. Besides, you know Tyr is going to be the guard. Who would want to mess with a 6 foot 5 Tyr?" I smiled a little.
"Well, let's see, the Drago-Kasov, the Orca, many, many mercenaries . . . . Shall I keep going?"
"Okay, point taken. Maybe I should rephrase that, what Zillian is going to mess with Tyr?"
"I guess you're right," I said as I sat down behind his desk as he found his uniform jacket.
"Hmmmm . . ."
"What?"
"Well, do I still have that uniform in you closet?"
"I think so, why?" he held up the jacket with the dislodged clasp. I smiled slightly at the memory and stood up. "Let's go see." I kept a small distance between the two of us as we walked down to the quarters I kept on the Andromeda. I didn't really enjoy sleeping here, but since Cass came, well, there really wasn't room for her on the Maru so, we had ended up here. Besides, I grew up there and remembered how uncomfortable everything is when you try to play while sitting on the floor. As we walked, he kept up the small talk and kept trying to move in closer to me and I kept moving away.
"What is it?"
"What do you mean?" I asked, knowing full well what he was talking about.
"Do you not want me to get near you any more?" I could hear the hurt in his voice.
"I just don't feel very touchy feely right now," I answered as we entered the room. I went straight for the bedroom, ignoring Cassie's things that I still hadn't cleaned up yet. It seemed like every where we stopped, every body brought her back some thing and my quarters were the proof. She was always in awe of the things that were given too her and you could tell her favourites, but they were all just reminders of the little girl that I couldn't hold or play with any more. I got the uniform and was going to take it out to him when I stopped in the door way. Dylan was picking up her things, placing them on shelves and in the little box Harper had made for her to keep her things in. Every once and a while he'd stop and hold onto something, almost like he was afraid he'd break it or it would disapear if he let it out of his sight.
"Dylan, Odan's ship is docking," Rommie said
"We'll be right there, have Tyr meet us at the docking bay," he said. I watched as he placed the toy on a chair and took the jacket from me. "Duty calls," he said as he led me out of the room. I looked over at him as we walked down the hallway and slowly placed my hand in his. He looked over at me and smiled.
"Thank you." For not letting me pull away to far, for being there for me, for putting up with me.
