@Hope for Love: don't be too sad about this story ending. After a short brake (I have an SG1 story to finish, or the poster will kill me), I'm going to get back to work on Chrysalis.
@Gordon AI: You just can't please some people, but hopefully this chapter will.
@Troll99: Glad you liked it. I couldn't help but feel it was a bit muddled, but that's just me.
Echoes of future past, part 47
"So you can have Andromeda repaired and ready to go in two hours?" Beka asked Uxulta as Dylan, Rommie and Rev Bem walked into the briefing room. Dylan wasn't surprised to see Charlemagne sitting next to Tyr, seemingly in awe of the Vedran officer, and no doubt thinking of how to use this to his advantage. Uxulta nodded, "That is correct Captain Anasazi: the Right of Passage has all the parts needed to repair your slipstream drive." The last line was directed at Andromeda's holographic form, but the AI still looked angry, "Helping out at last?"
"That's enough Andromeda!" Dylan found himself barking at the hologram, "I know you're angry with the Vedrans, and it may be justified, but you are still talking to a superior, and you will act like the High Guard officer you are!" Andromeda looked at Dylan, then lowered her head, "I apologise for my outburst: it will not happen again." He voice dripped with venom, but Dylan decided to ignore it, "What's the plan?"
Uxulta smiled, "Arch-Duke Bolivar here has informed me that most of the new Commonwealth's leadership is on the world of Mobius. I suggest that we proceed there as soon as possible, and I will present Tarn Vedra's partition to join the Commonwealth." Charlemagne blinked, "You're going to ask to be allowed to join the Commonwealth? Your people founded the bloody thing, can't you just say you're a member and be done with it?" The Vedran laughed, "As I explained to Captain Hunt earlier, my people can no-longer expect the blind obedience of the Commonwealth: we lost that right when we abandoned them during the fall." Andromeda snorted, "Dame straight." Dylan fixed her with an icy look, stopping her from making any further comment. Uxulta stood, "If that is all, I will return to the Right of Passage." She nodded at Dylan, "Captain."
The meeting broke up, and everyone started heading for the door. Trance grabbed Harper's arm, "We need to talk."
*********************************************************************
Trance glanced around the observation bay, and finding it was empty, she dragged Harper in and closed the door behind them, locking it, "Andromeda, engage privacy mode please." The AI's voice came from a speaker grill above the door, "Privacy mode engaged." Harper looked nerves, "Ok, what do we need to talk about?" Trance smiled, taking his hands in her own, "Seamus Zelazny Harper, relax, nothing bad is going to happen: I just need to tell you a few things before we take our relationship any further then we already have."
Harper blinked, "This has something to do with what you told me before you left for the World Ship, doesn't it?" Trance nodded, slightly downcast, "Yes, yes it does. I told you that there where things I wanted to tell you, but if I did, it would put your life in danger. Well, that's no longer the case. Harper, I'm a lot older that you realise, in fact, I'll be 20,000 next year." Harper whistled, "Wow!" Trance smiled, "Trust me, as my people age, I'll be about the equivalent of your age. But that's no the point any more: I'm human now, same as you. I may look the same, but that's just on the outside. I gave up what I was to be with you, but before you make any decisions, I want you to know something: Harper, I've done some terrible things in my life, things I can never make up for, and I did them not because it was right, but because it was my duty."
Trance sat on the bench, pulling Harper down next to her, "I was a solider, a General in fact, and I ordered my troops to do unthinkable acts because I was told to by my superiors." Trance choked on her words, "I can't even begin to tell you the sort of things I was made to do as War Leader." She pulled the rank insignia from her shoulder, "I never wanted to be in the military, but my farther made me: he's head of the council that leads my people, and he wanted his eldest to follow in his footstep's."
Harper put his arms around Trance as she stared to cry. He gently patted her on the back, "Hey, it's ok." He pulled back slightly so he could look her in the eye, "There are thing's I've never told you, though you probably know them, things I had to do on Earth, just to survive, things I'm not proud off. I put them behind me, moved on. It's not easy, but I'll be there for you." He lifted her chin with his finger, "I love you Trance, I have done for a long time, and I don't ever want to lose you."
Trance smiled as she leaned in to kiss him.
*********************************************************************
Dylan sat beside Rommie in medical as the doctors ran a few tests so they could enter her details into the medical files. They had judged her age to be somewhere around 28-30, and she had agreed to accept 29 as her 'official' age. The doctors had tried to give Dylan a sedative to calm him down, but he had refused it on the grounds that he needs to keep his head clear for the trip to Mobius.
Rommie's behaviour was starting to worry Dylan: although she seemed outwardly calm, she tended to get panicky when he wasn't around. Rev Bem had told him that she had been more than a little shocked by her transformation, and had found every day actions like eating, drinking and sleeping to be confusing and scary. He had refused to comment on the first time she had needed to visit the bathroom.
Beka walked through the hatch, "Say what you want about the Vedrans, they keep to a schedule: we're ready to go." Dylan stood, Rommie gripping his arm tightly, "Ok, let's get going. Have you any idea how the rest of the universe is going to take this?"
To Be Continued
