"So it took you two a week to convince her to come back?" Dylan asked.
"If I knew they were going to be like this towards me I wouldn't have
returned. I would have let you and Trance look for me for another week or
two." Angel said.
"Dylan please, she's already stressed enough and I will be in pain for a
couple of days." Harper said lifting his sleeve.
"What happened to you down there?" Beka asked going for his arm. Angel hit
Beka's hand away before it reached Harper's arm.
"Don't touch it, you will see it like everyone else in two days. Come on
Harper lets go work on the matrix some." Angel said.
"Man. She is one woman not to mess with." Beka said. Dylan nodded in
agreement.
"So what is on your agenda now, captain, now that we have our entire modern
crew back?" Rommie asked. Dylan laughed inwardly at the comment just made
by his ships' aviator.
"Play dead." He said as he, Rommie, Beka, and Tyr walked out of docking bay
and headed towards the mess deck.
"Excuse me?" Rommie asked.
"Play dead, you know turn off the main components of the Andromeda so we
will be undetected by sensors. I think the entire crew here needs a break
and Harper and Angel need some more time I think to work out their
problems." Dylan said as they entered mess deck.
"He's right, I think we all need to spend some time with our families." Tyr
said.
"I must be hearing things." Beka said, "Did Tyr just agree with Dylan on
something that isn't directly linked to his survival?" Tyr growled at Beka
softly and playfully. She just giggled as they all sat down with their
meals. One of the twins came running in with Trance right behind her.
"You can't catch me!" She mused running around their table.
Trance finally got a hold of her and picked her up.
"Sorry coming through have a nice lunch you four." Trance said walking out
in a hurry.
"Which one was that?" Beka asked pointing after Trance.
"Victoria." Rommie said.
"Thought so." Beka said going back to eating her lunch. Tyr and Dylan were
confused how Beka wasn't mad or upset with what Victoria had just done.
They shrugged it off, the way they saw it they would never be able to
understand their wives, let alone the female species.
Four days later Angel called a meeting in the command deck. She had Harper
standing next to her. All the children, except Shay, were still asleep in
their beds.
"As you know something happened to Harper on my planet, but only me, Trance
and Harper know what it is. Today we all get to see it." Angel said.
"What exactly happened to him?" Beka asked.
"I got a tattoo." Harper said.
"And when were you planning on telling us of your decision?" Dylan asked.
"He had no choice in the matter." Angel said.
"Why not?" Beka asked.
"It's an honorary tattoo for being the father of her twins." Trance said.
"Ok stop. The three of you answering those two's questions is getting
annoying and confusing and.." Tyr said.
"Confusing" Rommie finished his sentence for him.
"They're right, I will explain it all." Angel said. "Since he is the father
of our twins and they lived along as I did, Harper is thought highly of.
The government wanted a way to honor him and figured that they only way to
was to honor him in our customary way of the tattoo. The only people who
know what the tattoo looks like is the government and the guy and put the
tattoo on his arm."
"Uhh.. Can I take this off now?" Harper asked eagerly.
"I will." Angel said. She unwrapped the bandage and everyone's jaw dropped.
Dylan and Rommie nearly fainted. Trance and Angel smiled while Beka tried
to figure out what to make of the tattoo. Tyr just stared blankly at
Harper. Rev prayed.
"Um angel dear what is it?" Harper asked. His arm was still a little sore
so he couldn't see the full tattoo.
"It's the Commonwealth symbol." Dylan said after a moment of silence.
"Excuse me? You mean to tell me I'm marked as a high guard personal?"
Harper asked.
"No you're not. It's not commonwealth either." Angel said.
"It looks commonwealth to us." Rommie said.
"She is right." Trance said. "Looks can be deceiving at times."
"This is just the top layer, a protective layer of mock skin." Angel said.
"it is the commonwealth symbol but it will be gone by tomorrow or the next
day."
"So what is the design of the real tattoo?" Harper asked.
"Don't know." Angel said shrugging. This was getting tiring explaining
everything to the crew. Trance went back to her mysterious not telling
about her past mood again. Angel only told certain things about her people
now, the important vital information needed for the commonwealth. The
planets only let the Andromeda board or even enter their orbits. If any of
the commonwealth officials wanted to pay a visit it had to go through Dylan
and Angel first. Angel found it very amusing every time that happened. The
extra layer fell off of Harper's arm and his tattoo was white tiger cub
with crystal blue eyes. It was sitting on top of a waterfall at sunrise or
sunset. Angel said she believed it to be both. When asked why she said "it
is the setting of an old era and he is the rising of a new era." She and
the rest of the crew left it at that. It was amazing how fast children grew
on a starship.
