Chapter 4
Telemachus Rhade walked down one of the many corridors of Andromeda for no better reason than to stretch his legs. He was bored and thought that maybe he'd go down to Hydroponics to talk to Trance. Harper annoyed him too much to be around most of the time, and Rommie was probably with him. Telemachus also felt that Dylan was still a little uncomfortable with him, since he was the exact genetic copy of Dylan's best friend who had betrayed him. With Beka gone, the only one to talk to was the mysterious Trance.
As he rounded a corner on his way to Hydroponics, he heard running footsteps behind him. He turned, curious, and walked back a few steps; just in time to catch a flying Beka in his arms, knocking him to the ground.
"Telemachus!" Beka straddled him, and her blue eyes looked at him seriously. "I missed you."
"I, uh... missed you too, Beka," Rhade said, looking up at her in surprise.
Beka kissed him gently on the nose. "I'll see you later; gotta check in with Dylan, ya know?" She smiled and slowly got off of him, walking down the corridors on the way to command.
Telemachus stayed on the floor for a few more seconds; then stood up. "Andromeda?" he asked the empty corridor.
"Yes, Rhade?" Andromeda's hologram flickered in front of him.
"Did Beka just come up to me, knock me on the ground, and tell me how much she missed me?" he asked. "Or was I hallucinating."
"No, she did," Rommie said, raising an eyebrow. "Why?"
Telemachus growled deep in his throat and walked away as Rommie's hologram disappeared after watching him thoughtfully.
Once the hologram disappeared, Rhade stopped and leaned against the wall, thinking. Ok, what was that? he asked himself. First off, she had called him by his first name, which he hadn't even thought she knew. Second, only a few days ago, Beka had tried to rip his heart out. Since then, he had given up on any hope of a relationship with Beka. It was not good for a Nietzschean's heath to form a relationship with people who tried to kill you, even if they were possessed by evil bio-armor. He hadn't thought that Beka felt that strongly about him.
Harper walked by. "Hey, Rhade," he said cheerfully.
"What, Harper?" Rhade growled.
"Don't think too hard, you might strain yourself!"
Telemachus grimaced. "I thought you weren't going to make anymore Nietzschean jokes."
Harper grinned that annoying 'I'm-better-than-you' grin- until Rhade growled low in his throat and lunged at Harper, who sprang away and ran down the corridor, leaving Rhade alone with his thoughts about Beka.
Back on board the Maru, Beka would have smiled in triumph if she could. Terla/Beka had just made a big mistake.