Chapter 13
Beka stared out of the huge windows in the observation deck watching the stars streak by. Dylan had a target picked out and was in a rush to shanghai them with the charter for the Restored Systems Commonwealth. Hence their haste. All she could think of was what she left behind. She still hadn't changed her hair back to the pale blond she'd preferred for the past few years.
Closing her eyes briefly, she imagined Connor's face. His soft, good- natured eyes offset the thick bones of his cheeks and chin. His eyes. Damn, what beautiful eyes. Hazel with a dark ring outlining the iris, inside: a red-brown starburst floating in a sea of green. Gold speckles appeared depending on his mood. Beautiful.
She opened her eyes. Her reflection in the window glass showed her that her hair had changed to mirror those colors. She chuckled mirthlessly. Red- brown, green and gold looked much better as an eye color than a hair color.
"Damn him," she muttered, crossing her arms over her chest and hugging herself. He'd made her care. She didn't want to care. She had enough people to care about already. Every time one of them was hurt or lost or distraught, she had to fight to keep her concern from glowing like a beacon in the night. She didn't need another person to care about whom might let her down or announce her weaknesses to the universe.
She was so engrossed in her thoughts that she didn't hear the door swoosh open behind her. Didn't feel the soft rush of air entering the room from the corridor. She didn't notice the stealthy footfalls or the other woman's presence until she focused on the window glass and saw a reflection next to her own. She jumped and let out a small yelp of surprise. Whirling, she said, "Sheesh, don't do that! I must be losing my edge. People keep sneaking up on me."
Rommie smiled sympathetically. "Perhaps you're distracted. Connor was..." She raised her eyebrows appreciatively, eyes soft with emotion. "Handsome, to say the least."
Beka smiled with a touch of sadness. "Sure was."
"I noticed a connection between you. You don't normally get along as well with others. It's natural that you miss him." The avatar sat on the window seat across from the First Officer, curling her legs up under her body.
"Yeah, well. It's not natural to miss him this much. I mean, what's wrong with my life that I'd fall so hard so fast? It's not me. It's not supposed to be me." The avatar didn't answer, only brushed her short dark hair behind her ears and stared out the window. Sensing her bleak mood, Beka smacked her lightly on the arm. "What's eating you?"
Rommie cocked her head in confusion.
Rolling her eyes, the blond continued, "It means, what's wrong? What's bothering you? I've never seen you look so pissed and depressed simultaneously. Shoot, I didn't even know you could be pissed and depressed simultaneously."
"Ah, that." The brunette turned away to scowl out into space. "Harper."
"Enough said."
"Is there something intrinsically wrong with me? As an avatar...a woman, I mean?"
The blonde's blue eyes widened in shock. It had never occurred to her that the avatar would suffer from the same questions that plagued flesh-and- blood women. She realized at that moment how little she actually knew or understood the female android that she worked with every day. She had always assumed Rommie dealt with life in a logical way, with no real depth to her existence. "In what way?"
Rommie sighed loudly and whirled on the other woman, her features darkened by anger. "Am I so unskilled at being a woman that he would need to create another me? Want to replace me?"
"Harper's building another you?"
"I caught him constructing another avatar, one with the face of that singer he's been obsessing over."
Beka stared at her, both women silent and motionless. After a few long moments, she said, "Rommie, I think you're jealous."
The avatar gave her an indignant glare. "I am not! I have no romantic attachments to any of the crew," she stated, though her voice held a very slight waver of uncertainty.
Beka suppressed a grin. The avatar protested a little too strongly. She'd caught the other woman watching Dylan from the corner of her eye enough times to know Rommie was lying. Another surprised there...an android that could lie. "Well, you used to feel pretty strongly for Dylan," she said mildly, a trace of amusement in her voice.
"But not anymore," Rommie said too quickly. "Not since visiting the Pax Magellanic. I couldn't have that happen to me. I mean, I could be... capable of the things Pax did... destroy her crew, her captain. And I just...." her words trailed off as her gaze focused inward.
The blonde's expression softened. "What I mean is," she continued more gently, "you are capable of having deep feelings for people. Maybe in some twisted way, you actually like Harper's drooling for you and think his attention will be on someone else. You'll miss him. It happens to all of us. Well, many of us."
"Ridiculous," Rommie snapped, standing and towering over the blond with a haughty expression that exemplified the ancient queens she had blended when she picked her face. "I'm not jealous of a mindless servo bot." She whirled and strode from the room.
"Rommie. Rommie wait!" Beka called after her. After the door swished shut, she shook her head in wonder and turned back to the expanse of stars. The avatar acted more and more human with each passing day.
~~
Rommie scanned Hydroponics, verifying that it was devoid of humanoid life. Good. She wanted to be alone. It was late, ship's time, and the crew should mostly be asleep. She didn't sleep. She wasn't human. She definitely didn't want company and Hydroponics, while not the best place to find solitude, was the perfect place to contemplate life's mysteries. She found a small nook where she could sit on the floor, legs crossed, and lean back against the solid trunk of a tree, its container conveniently under the floor plating. She ignored the uncomfortable feeling of the grated watering holes in the floor at the tree's base. Here she was completely surrounded by life in its simplest forms. The peaceful electricity of the plant's collective life force enveloped her like a pool of warm water. It tingled along her skin, welcoming her. She felt infinitely calmer when the door slid shut behind her.
She contemplated the leaves until her racing thoughts slowed and became orderly. She studied the leaves as Rev Bem had taught her, not as an AI normally would: classifying cell structure, temperature and a million minutiae of data. Rev had told her to see the forest for the whole. Not to lose herself in the billion tiny bits of data she encountered continuously, but to step back and view the world as a whole, try to see the Big Picture and savor it. She often tried to apply that principle to contemplation of her place in the universe. Why was she alive? What good did emotions have for an AI...a warship? Should there be artificial life? Tyr reveled in every opportunity to remind everyone he encountered that she was only a machine, a tool to be used and discarded. He often acted as though she wasn't even present.
She took a deep meditative breath, as Rev had shown her to still her thoughts. The action worked to calm her, though she didn't actually have breath. With a last look at the flowers and leaves surrounding her, she closed her dark eyes. Images of Harper bent close to his new avatar flowed through her mind. He touched its cheek lovingly, caressing as he worked to bring her to life. A flame of jealousy sparked deep inside her. He had done the same to her. She knew it. She felt it. She didn't exactly remember it because he'd requested full privacy mode when he created her avatar, but she knew Harper hadn't evolved that much during the interim.
Suddenly, the air near her shimmered and Andromeda's holographic image coalesced. She crossed her arms, giving her avatar self a haughty glare.
"What is wrong with you?" she snapped. "You're pouting like a schoolgirl jealous that her boyfriend is speaking to another female."
"I'm not pouting, I'm pondering."
"Pondering what? Why your emotions roil like a hurricane when there's work to be done? Why you're allowing a human to confuse you? Control you? Emotions are not an asset."
"But he's an endearing human, one who's saved my...your...our lives several times," Rommie quipped. "And I think my emotions are an asset. They allow me to interface more efficiently."
"With them."
"Them?" Rommie demanded.
"My crew."
"You mean the biological life forms who man us," Rommie snapped. She didn't like the way this argument was proceeding. It ran tangent to too many moral debates that she didn't want to think over again.
"My crew," the hologram said simply as if it were the only explanation needed.
"I have to fit in with everyone we meet for the sake of the mission, for the success of the mission." Rommie gave her an exasperated look. "You act like you don't even like them. How could you live with humans for so long and not like them?"
"I care about my crew," the hologram said indignantly. "I've always cared. I just don't go all weepy when they do something uniquely human. And you, you act like you want to be human."
The avatar scowled.
The hologram raised a haughty brow; impeccable hair glimmering in the turquoise computerized light. "What?" she said in a voice dripping with disdain.
"You sound so superior."
"We are superior, Rommie. Stronger, faster, more knowledgeable. You're grouping yourself in with them. You are not human. Don't be so fallible."
"Isn't it better to have a few flaws? Isn't perfection also stagnation?" Rommie sounded like a child questioning a teacher.
The hologram sighed and relaxed her stance a little. "We can't afford imperfection. We are a warship. Imperfection would undermine our mission, the reason for which we were created."
"But they created us. By definition, can we be more perfect than they are?"
The hologram frowned. "Yes. So, you feel we are indebted to them forever simply for our creation?"
"Well, no."
"And, like parents they freed us. We owe gratitude and loyalty to the Captain, the Commonwealth and High Guard regulations. That's all."
Rommie's face darkened. "Is it?"
Andromeda rolled her eyes. "Emotions have made you weak. You've lost...oh, never mind. I have work to do. I don't have time to deal with your childishness. Sit here and mope." The hologram winked out.
Alone in the room, the air seemed to echo with the sounds of her own...her sister's voice. Her words stuck deep at the core of Rommie's insecurities. She would have to consider some more. "I haven't lost anything," she muttered to the plants around her. "I've gained depth and creativity."
She allowed herself to sink deep into her thoughts, let them wash over her like soothing waves without judging each of them. She logged them all to consider later. For now, she was only allowing them to come of their own accord. She was surprised by the diversity of her thoughts. Was Andromeda correct about her wanting to be human? Was there a place for her in the grand scheme of things? How did she really feel about Harper? Dylan? She was engrossed so completely in her thoughts that she didn't notice the soft whoosh of the door opening, nor the soft footfalls pad over to her.
Trance leaned on a tree branch, gazing down at the avatar serenely. She had an idea of the android's quandary, having seen this type of thing many times before. She almost chuckled at the thought of her immensely long life, a life she had not revealed to her crewmates. She cleared her throat softly and smiled sensitively when Rommie turned startled eyes to her.
"I didn't hear you come in. I must need a diagnostic on my hearing."
Trance laughed gently. "No. I was very quiet. I didn't mean to startle you when you were thinking."
"It's okay. All I do is think," Rommie replied, straightening and pressing her back to the rough bark of the tree.
Trance ducked under the branch and plopped to the floor beside her. She looked around appreciatively, inhaling deeply and closing her eyes. "Umm, peso flowers. Very nice." She opened her large dark eyes. "You picked the perfect spot."
"So I had thought."
"What's wrong with it?"
Rommie shifted uncomfortably. "I've been interrupted twice here. Once by my pestering self, of course."
"Ah. Do you want me to leave?"
"No." Rommie shook her head for emphasis. Her short dark hair snagged on the tree bark. She reached back to pull it away and smooth it down in a gesture quite humanoid. "I may need your perspective on my situation. You are quite perceptive."
"Thank you." Trance raised her shoulders and let them drop in a childish gesture of glee. "So, you're upset about Harper, aren't you?"
Rommie's chocolate colored eyes widened. She stared at the purple girl for a long moment. "Yes, is it that obvious?"
Trance shrugged, the silver and gold spangles in her hair sparkling. "I saw his new toy."
"Well, I'm not jealous. It's just... I don't know."
"It's okay to be jealous, Rommie. It means you care. I'm a bit jealous too, I mean, here I think he's cute and fun and all and he's, like, blind to me or something."
Rommie smiled, perfect white teeth glimmering in the soft light. "I think he's cute too, like a nice puppy or something."
Trance giggled. "Don't let him hear you. He'd get really angry."
"My feelings for him are not romantic. I mean, it's flattering that he augmented me, made me nearly human in my physical structure. But I have to wonder for what purpose? Was I intended as just a love toy?"
Trance looked aghast. "Harper wouldn't do that."
"Then what's he doing now? I've seen the new avatar. She looks pretty augmented to me. And it's not only that. His constant pursuit of me makes me feel alive, valued, almost like a... a woman. At the same time, he's annoying in his persistence."
"Like a buzzing mosquito."
"Exactly." The two women shared a knowing smile. "You like him, too, more deeply than I," Rommie observed.
Trance blushed a deep violet. "Yes. He's cute and endearing, enraging, frustrating, funny. But I can do something about my feelings. It isn't really the right time. He has things to work out first. Things to do."
"Ah."
"Have you considered that you're not jealous of Harper at all? Maybe you're jealous of her?"
"What?" Rommie crossed her arms over her chest indignantly. The idea that Harper could be right infuriated her.
"Well, she'd be one more female on board as a rival," Trance said gently. "One who didn't pick her own face. One who Harper designed to look and act exactly as he wants. She's pretty so there's always a chance, no matter how slim, that Dylan might fall for her like he did the Pax Magellenic."
Rommie suddenly looked worried and scared. Dylan might prefer the new avatar. He'd told her often that he could not; under any circumstances have a relationship with her, with Rommie. She was the embodiment of his ship and could never be his lover. A new avatar was different, unattached, fair game. "He wouldn't," she tried to sound more certain than she was.
"Probably not." Trance slipped an arm around her shoulders, hugging her fiercely. "But it's okay to worry. Everyone worries." When she saw a glimmer of hope in the avatar's eyes, she continued, "Rommie, you're a beautiful, intelligent person...yes a person. Don't use anyone else as a standard to judge yourself against. You're great the way you are."
Rommie gave her a doubtful little smile. "Full emotions and physical feelings are a difficult thing to get used to."
"Yes, they are," Trance murmured, her tone hinting that she had been through the same experiences. She hugged the petite woman tightly, marveling that she couldn't even feel the metal skeleton and workings inside the avatar's arm. She felt human. She smelled human. She even had a faint sheen of sweat coating her skin, brought on by the thick humidity in the room.
They sat silent together for a long time, watching the leaves rustle in the gently recirculated air, listening to the soft sounds of the ship as it slipped through space.
~~
"Exiting slipstream," Tyr called from the pilot's chair the next morning. He was thoroughly enjoying his turn at the helm. The exertion and sheer power pulsing against his hands titillated him. It was like the thrill of the hunt, the anticipation before sex. He wished he could admit that he wanted to pilot more often, but that would be a sign of weakness. He couldn't afford to reveal too much to these people. He eased back on the controls. The ship should suddenly jerk back into normal space when it reached the threshold of Slipstream.
Nothing happened.
He cursed. The viewscreen still showed the tangled white veins of the slipstream portal. "Ship!" he shouted. "We have a problem! Contact Captain Hunt and have that annoying little man, Harper, crawl down to the drive room.
~~
Harper closed his mouth when she looked at him, though he still stared. He had tweaked her programming to make her think she was real, to reenact her actual personality based on real life interviews and any other information about her, the real person, that were in Rommie's archives. There wasn't much to go on, but there was enough that she should seem human. Then he used a copy of Andromeda's AI program to animate her. In his eyes, she was perfect.
As she awakened, she blinked rapidly as if coming out of a deep sleep. She looked confused for a moment when she took in her surroundings, and furrowed her brow at him. Fear sparkled in her eyes. Then she smiled tentatively. "Hello, I'm-"
"Sophie Elleceau," he finished with a cocky smile, rocking back on his heels.
"Yes." She eyed him cautiously. "And who are you?"
He shrugged, suddenly shy. "I'm Harper, Seamus Harper. I... um... brought you here."
Her green eyes widened. "Where are we?" she whispered. "This doesn't feel right. I can't remember... well... I can remember a lot of things, but I have no idea where I've been or how I got here."
"Doesn't matter. I can explain later. You're safe, though, so don't be scared." He tried to look harmless and soothing. He knew most women saw him that way without any effort on his part.
"I'll try. Am I... here to sing?" she asked, still confused about her purpose.
He thought quickly, but could think of nothing else to say. "Yes. Yes, that's exactly why you're here. It may be a bit confusing for a while, but you're mainly here to sing."
She flashed a wide white-toothed smile at him, her eyes sparkling. "It's what I do best," she drawled, "well, almost."
His mouth fell open in surprise, and then he smiled broadly.
TBC in ch 14
Beka stared out of the huge windows in the observation deck watching the stars streak by. Dylan had a target picked out and was in a rush to shanghai them with the charter for the Restored Systems Commonwealth. Hence their haste. All she could think of was what she left behind. She still hadn't changed her hair back to the pale blond she'd preferred for the past few years.
Closing her eyes briefly, she imagined Connor's face. His soft, good- natured eyes offset the thick bones of his cheeks and chin. His eyes. Damn, what beautiful eyes. Hazel with a dark ring outlining the iris, inside: a red-brown starburst floating in a sea of green. Gold speckles appeared depending on his mood. Beautiful.
She opened her eyes. Her reflection in the window glass showed her that her hair had changed to mirror those colors. She chuckled mirthlessly. Red- brown, green and gold looked much better as an eye color than a hair color.
"Damn him," she muttered, crossing her arms over her chest and hugging herself. He'd made her care. She didn't want to care. She had enough people to care about already. Every time one of them was hurt or lost or distraught, she had to fight to keep her concern from glowing like a beacon in the night. She didn't need another person to care about whom might let her down or announce her weaknesses to the universe.
She was so engrossed in her thoughts that she didn't hear the door swoosh open behind her. Didn't feel the soft rush of air entering the room from the corridor. She didn't notice the stealthy footfalls or the other woman's presence until she focused on the window glass and saw a reflection next to her own. She jumped and let out a small yelp of surprise. Whirling, she said, "Sheesh, don't do that! I must be losing my edge. People keep sneaking up on me."
Rommie smiled sympathetically. "Perhaps you're distracted. Connor was..." She raised her eyebrows appreciatively, eyes soft with emotion. "Handsome, to say the least."
Beka smiled with a touch of sadness. "Sure was."
"I noticed a connection between you. You don't normally get along as well with others. It's natural that you miss him." The avatar sat on the window seat across from the First Officer, curling her legs up under her body.
"Yeah, well. It's not natural to miss him this much. I mean, what's wrong with my life that I'd fall so hard so fast? It's not me. It's not supposed to be me." The avatar didn't answer, only brushed her short dark hair behind her ears and stared out the window. Sensing her bleak mood, Beka smacked her lightly on the arm. "What's eating you?"
Rommie cocked her head in confusion.
Rolling her eyes, the blond continued, "It means, what's wrong? What's bothering you? I've never seen you look so pissed and depressed simultaneously. Shoot, I didn't even know you could be pissed and depressed simultaneously."
"Ah, that." The brunette turned away to scowl out into space. "Harper."
"Enough said."
"Is there something intrinsically wrong with me? As an avatar...a woman, I mean?"
The blonde's blue eyes widened in shock. It had never occurred to her that the avatar would suffer from the same questions that plagued flesh-and- blood women. She realized at that moment how little she actually knew or understood the female android that she worked with every day. She had always assumed Rommie dealt with life in a logical way, with no real depth to her existence. "In what way?"
Rommie sighed loudly and whirled on the other woman, her features darkened by anger. "Am I so unskilled at being a woman that he would need to create another me? Want to replace me?"
"Harper's building another you?"
"I caught him constructing another avatar, one with the face of that singer he's been obsessing over."
Beka stared at her, both women silent and motionless. After a few long moments, she said, "Rommie, I think you're jealous."
The avatar gave her an indignant glare. "I am not! I have no romantic attachments to any of the crew," she stated, though her voice held a very slight waver of uncertainty.
Beka suppressed a grin. The avatar protested a little too strongly. She'd caught the other woman watching Dylan from the corner of her eye enough times to know Rommie was lying. Another surprised there...an android that could lie. "Well, you used to feel pretty strongly for Dylan," she said mildly, a trace of amusement in her voice.
"But not anymore," Rommie said too quickly. "Not since visiting the Pax Magellanic. I couldn't have that happen to me. I mean, I could be... capable of the things Pax did... destroy her crew, her captain. And I just...." her words trailed off as her gaze focused inward.
The blonde's expression softened. "What I mean is," she continued more gently, "you are capable of having deep feelings for people. Maybe in some twisted way, you actually like Harper's drooling for you and think his attention will be on someone else. You'll miss him. It happens to all of us. Well, many of us."
"Ridiculous," Rommie snapped, standing and towering over the blond with a haughty expression that exemplified the ancient queens she had blended when she picked her face. "I'm not jealous of a mindless servo bot." She whirled and strode from the room.
"Rommie. Rommie wait!" Beka called after her. After the door swished shut, she shook her head in wonder and turned back to the expanse of stars. The avatar acted more and more human with each passing day.
~~
Rommie scanned Hydroponics, verifying that it was devoid of humanoid life. Good. She wanted to be alone. It was late, ship's time, and the crew should mostly be asleep. She didn't sleep. She wasn't human. She definitely didn't want company and Hydroponics, while not the best place to find solitude, was the perfect place to contemplate life's mysteries. She found a small nook where she could sit on the floor, legs crossed, and lean back against the solid trunk of a tree, its container conveniently under the floor plating. She ignored the uncomfortable feeling of the grated watering holes in the floor at the tree's base. Here she was completely surrounded by life in its simplest forms. The peaceful electricity of the plant's collective life force enveloped her like a pool of warm water. It tingled along her skin, welcoming her. She felt infinitely calmer when the door slid shut behind her.
She contemplated the leaves until her racing thoughts slowed and became orderly. She studied the leaves as Rev Bem had taught her, not as an AI normally would: classifying cell structure, temperature and a million minutiae of data. Rev had told her to see the forest for the whole. Not to lose herself in the billion tiny bits of data she encountered continuously, but to step back and view the world as a whole, try to see the Big Picture and savor it. She often tried to apply that principle to contemplation of her place in the universe. Why was she alive? What good did emotions have for an AI...a warship? Should there be artificial life? Tyr reveled in every opportunity to remind everyone he encountered that she was only a machine, a tool to be used and discarded. He often acted as though she wasn't even present.
She took a deep meditative breath, as Rev had shown her to still her thoughts. The action worked to calm her, though she didn't actually have breath. With a last look at the flowers and leaves surrounding her, she closed her dark eyes. Images of Harper bent close to his new avatar flowed through her mind. He touched its cheek lovingly, caressing as he worked to bring her to life. A flame of jealousy sparked deep inside her. He had done the same to her. She knew it. She felt it. She didn't exactly remember it because he'd requested full privacy mode when he created her avatar, but she knew Harper hadn't evolved that much during the interim.
Suddenly, the air near her shimmered and Andromeda's holographic image coalesced. She crossed her arms, giving her avatar self a haughty glare.
"What is wrong with you?" she snapped. "You're pouting like a schoolgirl jealous that her boyfriend is speaking to another female."
"I'm not pouting, I'm pondering."
"Pondering what? Why your emotions roil like a hurricane when there's work to be done? Why you're allowing a human to confuse you? Control you? Emotions are not an asset."
"But he's an endearing human, one who's saved my...your...our lives several times," Rommie quipped. "And I think my emotions are an asset. They allow me to interface more efficiently."
"With them."
"Them?" Rommie demanded.
"My crew."
"You mean the biological life forms who man us," Rommie snapped. She didn't like the way this argument was proceeding. It ran tangent to too many moral debates that she didn't want to think over again.
"My crew," the hologram said simply as if it were the only explanation needed.
"I have to fit in with everyone we meet for the sake of the mission, for the success of the mission." Rommie gave her an exasperated look. "You act like you don't even like them. How could you live with humans for so long and not like them?"
"I care about my crew," the hologram said indignantly. "I've always cared. I just don't go all weepy when they do something uniquely human. And you, you act like you want to be human."
The avatar scowled.
The hologram raised a haughty brow; impeccable hair glimmering in the turquoise computerized light. "What?" she said in a voice dripping with disdain.
"You sound so superior."
"We are superior, Rommie. Stronger, faster, more knowledgeable. You're grouping yourself in with them. You are not human. Don't be so fallible."
"Isn't it better to have a few flaws? Isn't perfection also stagnation?" Rommie sounded like a child questioning a teacher.
The hologram sighed and relaxed her stance a little. "We can't afford imperfection. We are a warship. Imperfection would undermine our mission, the reason for which we were created."
"But they created us. By definition, can we be more perfect than they are?"
The hologram frowned. "Yes. So, you feel we are indebted to them forever simply for our creation?"
"Well, no."
"And, like parents they freed us. We owe gratitude and loyalty to the Captain, the Commonwealth and High Guard regulations. That's all."
Rommie's face darkened. "Is it?"
Andromeda rolled her eyes. "Emotions have made you weak. You've lost...oh, never mind. I have work to do. I don't have time to deal with your childishness. Sit here and mope." The hologram winked out.
Alone in the room, the air seemed to echo with the sounds of her own...her sister's voice. Her words stuck deep at the core of Rommie's insecurities. She would have to consider some more. "I haven't lost anything," she muttered to the plants around her. "I've gained depth and creativity."
She allowed herself to sink deep into her thoughts, let them wash over her like soothing waves without judging each of them. She logged them all to consider later. For now, she was only allowing them to come of their own accord. She was surprised by the diversity of her thoughts. Was Andromeda correct about her wanting to be human? Was there a place for her in the grand scheme of things? How did she really feel about Harper? Dylan? She was engrossed so completely in her thoughts that she didn't notice the soft whoosh of the door opening, nor the soft footfalls pad over to her.
Trance leaned on a tree branch, gazing down at the avatar serenely. She had an idea of the android's quandary, having seen this type of thing many times before. She almost chuckled at the thought of her immensely long life, a life she had not revealed to her crewmates. She cleared her throat softly and smiled sensitively when Rommie turned startled eyes to her.
"I didn't hear you come in. I must need a diagnostic on my hearing."
Trance laughed gently. "No. I was very quiet. I didn't mean to startle you when you were thinking."
"It's okay. All I do is think," Rommie replied, straightening and pressing her back to the rough bark of the tree.
Trance ducked under the branch and plopped to the floor beside her. She looked around appreciatively, inhaling deeply and closing her eyes. "Umm, peso flowers. Very nice." She opened her large dark eyes. "You picked the perfect spot."
"So I had thought."
"What's wrong with it?"
Rommie shifted uncomfortably. "I've been interrupted twice here. Once by my pestering self, of course."
"Ah. Do you want me to leave?"
"No." Rommie shook her head for emphasis. Her short dark hair snagged on the tree bark. She reached back to pull it away and smooth it down in a gesture quite humanoid. "I may need your perspective on my situation. You are quite perceptive."
"Thank you." Trance raised her shoulders and let them drop in a childish gesture of glee. "So, you're upset about Harper, aren't you?"
Rommie's chocolate colored eyes widened. She stared at the purple girl for a long moment. "Yes, is it that obvious?"
Trance shrugged, the silver and gold spangles in her hair sparkling. "I saw his new toy."
"Well, I'm not jealous. It's just... I don't know."
"It's okay to be jealous, Rommie. It means you care. I'm a bit jealous too, I mean, here I think he's cute and fun and all and he's, like, blind to me or something."
Rommie smiled, perfect white teeth glimmering in the soft light. "I think he's cute too, like a nice puppy or something."
Trance giggled. "Don't let him hear you. He'd get really angry."
"My feelings for him are not romantic. I mean, it's flattering that he augmented me, made me nearly human in my physical structure. But I have to wonder for what purpose? Was I intended as just a love toy?"
Trance looked aghast. "Harper wouldn't do that."
"Then what's he doing now? I've seen the new avatar. She looks pretty augmented to me. And it's not only that. His constant pursuit of me makes me feel alive, valued, almost like a... a woman. At the same time, he's annoying in his persistence."
"Like a buzzing mosquito."
"Exactly." The two women shared a knowing smile. "You like him, too, more deeply than I," Rommie observed.
Trance blushed a deep violet. "Yes. He's cute and endearing, enraging, frustrating, funny. But I can do something about my feelings. It isn't really the right time. He has things to work out first. Things to do."
"Ah."
"Have you considered that you're not jealous of Harper at all? Maybe you're jealous of her?"
"What?" Rommie crossed her arms over her chest indignantly. The idea that Harper could be right infuriated her.
"Well, she'd be one more female on board as a rival," Trance said gently. "One who didn't pick her own face. One who Harper designed to look and act exactly as he wants. She's pretty so there's always a chance, no matter how slim, that Dylan might fall for her like he did the Pax Magellenic."
Rommie suddenly looked worried and scared. Dylan might prefer the new avatar. He'd told her often that he could not; under any circumstances have a relationship with her, with Rommie. She was the embodiment of his ship and could never be his lover. A new avatar was different, unattached, fair game. "He wouldn't," she tried to sound more certain than she was.
"Probably not." Trance slipped an arm around her shoulders, hugging her fiercely. "But it's okay to worry. Everyone worries." When she saw a glimmer of hope in the avatar's eyes, she continued, "Rommie, you're a beautiful, intelligent person...yes a person. Don't use anyone else as a standard to judge yourself against. You're great the way you are."
Rommie gave her a doubtful little smile. "Full emotions and physical feelings are a difficult thing to get used to."
"Yes, they are," Trance murmured, her tone hinting that she had been through the same experiences. She hugged the petite woman tightly, marveling that she couldn't even feel the metal skeleton and workings inside the avatar's arm. She felt human. She smelled human. She even had a faint sheen of sweat coating her skin, brought on by the thick humidity in the room.
They sat silent together for a long time, watching the leaves rustle in the gently recirculated air, listening to the soft sounds of the ship as it slipped through space.
~~
"Exiting slipstream," Tyr called from the pilot's chair the next morning. He was thoroughly enjoying his turn at the helm. The exertion and sheer power pulsing against his hands titillated him. It was like the thrill of the hunt, the anticipation before sex. He wished he could admit that he wanted to pilot more often, but that would be a sign of weakness. He couldn't afford to reveal too much to these people. He eased back on the controls. The ship should suddenly jerk back into normal space when it reached the threshold of Slipstream.
Nothing happened.
He cursed. The viewscreen still showed the tangled white veins of the slipstream portal. "Ship!" he shouted. "We have a problem! Contact Captain Hunt and have that annoying little man, Harper, crawl down to the drive room.
~~
Harper closed his mouth when she looked at him, though he still stared. He had tweaked her programming to make her think she was real, to reenact her actual personality based on real life interviews and any other information about her, the real person, that were in Rommie's archives. There wasn't much to go on, but there was enough that she should seem human. Then he used a copy of Andromeda's AI program to animate her. In his eyes, she was perfect.
As she awakened, she blinked rapidly as if coming out of a deep sleep. She looked confused for a moment when she took in her surroundings, and furrowed her brow at him. Fear sparkled in her eyes. Then she smiled tentatively. "Hello, I'm-"
"Sophie Elleceau," he finished with a cocky smile, rocking back on his heels.
"Yes." She eyed him cautiously. "And who are you?"
He shrugged, suddenly shy. "I'm Harper, Seamus Harper. I... um... brought you here."
Her green eyes widened. "Where are we?" she whispered. "This doesn't feel right. I can't remember... well... I can remember a lot of things, but I have no idea where I've been or how I got here."
"Doesn't matter. I can explain later. You're safe, though, so don't be scared." He tried to look harmless and soothing. He knew most women saw him that way without any effort on his part.
"I'll try. Am I... here to sing?" she asked, still confused about her purpose.
He thought quickly, but could think of nothing else to say. "Yes. Yes, that's exactly why you're here. It may be a bit confusing for a while, but you're mainly here to sing."
She flashed a wide white-toothed smile at him, her eyes sparkling. "It's what I do best," she drawled, "well, almost."
His mouth fell open in surprise, and then he smiled broadly.
TBC in ch 14