"Happy the man who, like Ulysses, has made a fine voyage, or has won the Golden Fleece, and then returns, experienced and knowledgeable, to spend the rest of his life among his family! "
Joachim Du Bellay
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"Rom-doll, when are they due back?" Harper asked as he walked onto the command deck.
"They should be back soon. Their contact was only three slips away." Replied Rommie. Harper walked over to a nearby console and pulled of the cover.
"How's Trance doing?" The holo-Rommie appeared.
"She'll be back in a couple of hours. Something about a garden she had to visit."
"Which means I've got you all to my self. What about it?" Both versions tossed him evil looks and the hologram vanished.
"I've got six ships exiting slipstream." Commented the main AI. Harper headed to the flight station while Rommie scanned the inbound vessels.
"Is it Beka?" Rommie stopped and rechecked the data, "Rommie? What's wrong?"
"The ship is the Perpetual Wisdom. But she was destroyed over three hundred years ago." Harper looked at his interactive love-doll.
"Did you know her?"
"She was the last Glorious Heritage class cruiser to be built before the Nietzschean rebellion."
"I've got an incoming message." Remarked Andromeda.
"Andromeda, this is Dylan. We found our contact and they are willing to sign the charter. Meet us in the hanger when we arrive. There's someone here I think you'll want to meet Rommie. Dylan out." Confused by Dylans cryptic message, the pair walked down to the hanger deck as the Maru landed. After the bay had been re-pressurised, Dylan, Beka and Tyr walked out followed by Arthur and the blonde.
"Hey boss. How'd everything go?"
"We had a run-in with the Drago-Kazov, but our new, or should I say old, friends arranged a small get together." Harper laid eyes on the blonde and almost forgot to close his mouth. Rommie looked at the new woman.
"Wisdom, is that you?" The blonde smiled and walked forward to embrace Rommie.
"It's me Andromeda. Though I prefer Athena."
"Call me Rommie." Arthur smiled at the two other AIs.
"Don't I get a hug too?" Rommie looked at the man though she couldn't quite place him. "Try removing the beard and giving me a haircut." Rommie made the mental changes and gasped as the lights flickered.
"Arthur?" Arthur grinned.
"In the flesh, so to speak." Rommie ran forward and almost knocked Arthur over as she grabbed him in case he was a trick of the light. Arthur smiled as she tried to regain her composure. "Miss me." Rommie hit his arm.
"I thought you were dead. How?" Before Arthur could answer holo-Rommie appeared.
"It's been a long time Caliburn." Arthur smiled at the hologram.
"You were the only person who called me that except Guinevere." Arthur seemed to stare off into space. "Of all my children you were most like her." Both Rommies smiled while the crew were shocked.
"Ah Rommie. What does he mean by children?" The question was on everyones mind.
"I'll explain later Harper." Arthur put an arm around each female avatar and began to walk. The crew looked at holo-Rommie for answers. She merely shrugged and popped out. Harper turned to his friends.
"Who the hell was that and how does he know my Rommie?" Dylan began to walk and indicated for them to follow.
"OK. Here's a history lesson for all of you. Earth entered the Commonwealth in CY 7085 and to commemorate their first five hundred years, two huge vessels were built, The Lady of the Lake and the Excalibur. They became the Commonwealth flagships. Nothing their size was ever built in known space to this day." The group had now reached command and entered to find the three avatars talking near the main viewer.
"So you're saying that he's over two thousand years old."
"Actually I'll be two thousand, four hundred and ninety-nine in a month." Harper and Beka stared wide-eyed while Tyr tried not to look shocked.
"So what's so special about them?" Asked Beka. Dylan walked towards the main viewer.
"Andromeda." The ships AI appeared on one of the side monitors. On the main screen an image appeared.
"This is the Glorious Heritage class heavy cruiser."
"In other words you."
"Indeed." The ship shrunk so that another ship could be inserted into the frame. "This is the Excalibur."
"Impressive." Remarked Tyr.
"That thing's twice your size Rommie. That can't be right." All AIs smiled.
"My official dimensions are 2301 by 1276 by 625 metres and I had a crew compliment, at the time of the fall, of nearly ten thousand. I have two hundred and forty missile tubes and over three hundred slip-fighters."
"Holy freakin' cali melons!" Remarked Harper. "What the hell was the Commonwealth going for?" Arthur smiled,
"One ship battle-groups. I also had two thousand Lancers and a lot of counter measures."
"Anyway Dylan you were saying?" Prompted Beka. She was glad that this ship was going to be on their side.
"Well eventually the avatars met, fell in love and were married." Tyr laughed.
"Married! Two High Guard warships were married! What was the point, they couldn't reproduce."
"Actually." Commented Arthur before Tyr could continue, "Drago Museveni himself said, and I quote, 'The perfect union of firepower.'. So don't you dare say it's unnatural for AIs to marry." Tyr walked towards Arthur as everyone prepared for the fireworks.
"How dare you quote the progenitor on such a preposterous statement."
"Oh but I can prove it. Captain Hunt would it be possible to raise the Wisdom?"
"No problem." Arthur turned to face the main viewer as the bridge of the Wisdom appeared on-screen.
"Lieutenant, could you fetch the 'Diary of Drago' and have it send over here." The officer on-screen saluted and after the replying killed the link. Arthur just shook his head. "I wish they would stop saluting. It gets really annoying after a couple of hundred years." He turned back to face Tyr. "When that book arrives I'll expect an apology." Tyr just walked off the bridge.
"Excuse me Arthur, but the 'Diary of Drago'?" Asked Beka.
"Drago Museveni. What you don't think he kept a diary or logbook for future generations to read? Anyway I was kind of enjoying a story." He turned to face Dylan again prompting the Captain to continue.
"Well to cut a long story short, when it was decided to build Andromeda and her sisters Argosy Command decided to use a combination of the two ships core personalities as a template for the new AIs."
So that's why he called her his child?" Commented Harper. He looked at Arthur, "Whatever she says I did, I didn't do it."
"I've got an incoming message for the Red Wolf. Who is that?" Arthur faced the main screen as the crew took up their positions.
"That would be me." Harper stopped dead in his tracks and turned to face Arthur. Arthur for his part, just ignored him. "Captain Hunt?"
"Go ahead Rommie." On-screen appeared a human.
"Sir. It's begun." The screen went dark and Arthur and Athena began to walk off the bridge.
"What the hell." Dylan turned to the departing figures.
"Arthur, what was that about?" Arthur stopped and turned to face the bridge.
"I'm sorry but I can't explain just now. Send a copy of the defence pact to my ship and I'll put it before our government. I'm sorry to run out on you like this but.." Dylan just nodded beginning to understand what was going on. Rommie was worried.
"You just came back into my life and now you have to run off." Arthur gave her a sad smile.
"Duty calls. Hold the line Andromeda."
"Hold the line Excalibur." With that Arthur and Athena were gone and soon the pack had entered slipstream.
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Note: It refers to Sabra-Jaguar, Drago-Kazov war.
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