Author's Note: Sorry I'm a little late with this chapter than usual. I have SATs Saturday and had to study plus testing all this week at school. But Chapter 10 is here, so please R & R.

Chapter 10

"I hate to be the bearer of such bad news," Kali told her cousin as the two arrived in her quarters. Though his were larger and more comfortable, Telemachus didn't want to disturb Tristan.

"It's fine, Kal," he said and sank down into a chair. "It's better that we know this now while we have time to build up a defense. However I have a feeling that you're not saying everything. What's going on at home?"

Kali also sat down with a deep sigh. The happy-go-lucky expression that was on her face when she first arrived on the ship had disappeared completely. The woman befor Telemachus seemed do much older than she was.

"It's not good, Tel," she looked down at the floor, her fingers entwined. "Tarazed is divided, just like the rest of the New Commonwealth. Our family is with you, of course, but there are more than a few skeptics. Of all people, you know best that the shadow of Gaheris Rhade is not so easy to escape."

"Except this time we're on the right side," Telemachus protested. "Kal, this is completely ludicrous! I didn't let Tyr Anasazi escape! I hate him for all the hell he's put everyone through."

"Don't you mean the hell he put captain Valentine through?" Kali raised an eyebrow.

Telemachus turned to her in confusion. "How do you know about that?"

"Come on, cousin," she replied. "I may not have been around then, but I'm very observant. By what she said back in that meeting and how you responded, I'd have to guess that Beka went to see Tyr to get some kind of information. Whatever happened down there must not have been pleasant. When I mentioned his name, she looked like someone just ripped her heart out."

"He may as well have," Telemachus gritted his teeth. "It might have been quicker and less painful."

"Less painful for whom?" she asked. "You or Beka?"

"Why does everyone insist on making this about me?" he demanded. "I am not found of Tyr. That is a well established fact, but what makes you think I have feelings for Beka?"

"Because it's written across your forehead in big bold letters," his cousin laughed. "Tel, you're many things, but a good liar is not one of them."

Telemachus took several minutes to pause and turn the thought over in his mind. He had never admitted it to himself, but there were so many little, yet ever so significant, innuendoes between them. Stolen glances, soft smiles thrown back and forth. Beka was a courageous independent woman, and he admired her for that. But despite the small incidents and their gradual bonding over Tristan's welfare, there was still too much distance between them.

"No," he finally decided. "I do care for her, but Beka has been hurt too much."

"Exactly why she needs you!" Kali insisted, frustrated at his lack of understanding something that was so obvious to her. "Okay, forget Beka for a moment. Let's talk about you. Why do you do this to yourself, Tel? Why do you choose to be alone?"

"Because I'm afraid," he replied honestly. "I'm afraid of betraying and hurting those I care for."

"Then maybe," a small smile tugged at the corner of her lips, "you and captain Valentine are not so different after all."

Telemachus didn't say anything, simply stared out into the cold blanket of space. Perhaps not, he thought.

* * * * * * * * * *

The over the next week, Dylan and Harper spent several hours a day locked in the machine shop, discussing possible new weapons that could be built as a defensive measure against the Magog. They already knew that nova booms were ineffective against the floating world ship, so Dylan suggested building some new and rather unconventional weapons by using their knowledge of the other universes. Harper argued that they didn't know nearly enough and even if they did, it would take years to develop the kind of weapons Dylan was requesting. Dylan then said that Harper had less than a month to do it, and the arguing continued.

Because he couldn't stay with Harper while the engineer and captain were discussing strategic weapons, Trsitan remained in Rhade's quarters. Andromeda kept an eye on him and also provided the child with games to keep him occupied. The action games didn't interest him a great deal, but Tristan discovered that he was fascinated with the puzzles that the AI provided. Unlike an ordinary child, whose attention spend wasn't nearly long enough to even begin to understand the goal of most puzzles, Tristan was completely engrossed in them, not putting one down until it was completed. The Andromeda also silently noted that he was quite good with them. It was clear to the AI that Tristan possessed an intellect and ability to learn concepts far beyond his age.

One evening, Telemachus returned from duty an hour early. There was nothing left to be done for that day so he'd offered to spend the remainder of the evening with Tristan, who happily accepted. They settled on the floor, Telemachus holding the boy in his lap. In his outstretched hand, the Nietzschean held a flex with a downloaded copy of the Odyssey enriched by scanned images of old Earth paintings depicting scenes from the story. However after only a half hour of reading, it became clear that Rhade's attention was divided. Telemachus was reading, but his thoughts seemed far away from the great Odysseus and ancient Greece. Tristan looked up at his guardian in wonder.

"You can stop if you want," he said.

"I'm fine," Telemachus assured him, but Tristan didn't look very convinced. Telemachus sighed. "My cousin, Kali, said something a week ago. Something that's still bothering me."

"The new lady who came here?" Tristan asked. "She's nice. She helped me with one of my games once."

"I'm glad you like her," Telemachus smiled slightly, then chewed on his lower lip, wondering how he should phrase his question. "Tristan, how can you tell if someone is different from you?"

"What do you mean?" the boy frowned.

"People are different," Rhade explained patiently. "For example, what's the difference between Beka and myself?"

"She's a girl and you're a guy," Tristan replied without flinching. Telemachus laughed and hugged the child, silently thanking him for his innocence.

"How else are we different?" he asked again.

Tristan wrinkled his brow in thought. "Well you're both really nice to me. You guys care about everyone on the Androemeda," he paused. "Beka argues with captain Hunt sometimes, but you usually don't."

"Nothing else?" Rhade didn't even realize he was holding his breath.

"No," Tristan shook his head. "Why are you asking?"

"It's not important," Telemachus smiled, getting up. "I think it's past your bed time, Tristan."

The child went to the bathroom to change while Rhade put the flex away on the shelf. Just as Tristan was climbing into his bed, Telemachus bid him good night and walked to the door. Before shutting off the lights, Rhade took another look at the now slumbering child and whispered yet another word of thanks into the night.

As he walked down the corridor, Telemachus couldn't help but realize that Tristan had been right. In the end they were all the same, Nietzscheans and humans. Of course there were genetic differences, but at the core the two were the same species. Tristan, Kali, and his other cousins were proof of that.

Even more importantly, Tristan did not see a difference between the two. As a child, he was granted with the amazing gift of innocence, as if he could see beyond such things as prejudice and look into a person's soul. He did not distinguish individuals by what species or culture they came from, but rather by the way they presented themselves to him. Beka and Rhade were his guardians, his protectors, that was all Tristan cared about.

Stopping midway to command, Telemachus looked at his watch. Third shift didn't start for another half hour, and he remembered Beka saying that she wanted to make several repairs on the Maru. Finally making up his mind, Telemachus turned on his heal and headed for the hanger bay.

* * * * * * * * * *

Tristan was awakened from sleep two hours later by a dull thumping sound. At first, he thought that it had been another nightmare, but Tristan soon realized that he heard the sound even when he was awake. Tristan tried to place it then failed. He'd gotten used to most of the sounds on board the Andromeda and could usually sleep through them, everything from the hum of the engines to the voices and footsteps of the crew. However the thumping noise was something new, different, and more than a bit frightening.

There was no one else in the room, which in itself was not unusual, but Tristan was frightened. He got up and walked into the hallway. It was strange how everything seemed so deafeningly silent. At one point, the boy could hardly distinguish the odd thumping from the racing of his own heart. Another thing that Tristan found curiously strange was that the corridor lights were dim. Actually they flickered ever so slightly, as if the power was about to run out.

Suddenly the thumping stopped. Tristan waited for a few seconds before slowly turning his head to look around. Everything was silent now, save for the pounding of his heart. He made a full circle before fixing his dark dilated pupils on the furthest end of the hallway. Within a second, the child's world once again erupted into terror as an explosion rocked the ship. A fountain of sparks began to spew from the damaged side illuminating what seemed like countless numbers of Magog, charging at him. Tristan screamed.