Chapter 2
The two men sat in Dylan's office. Dylan was scowling across the table at the Nietzchean, who was sporting a rapidly darkening bruise on the side of his jaw. "I know why I'm still here 300 years later," snarled Dylan. "But why are you here, and how did you meet Trance?" Touching his jaw gingerly, Rhade replied, "I met Trance by accident. I was fighting a few too many aliens, and she helped me out."
"Trance likes to help people," said a frustrated Dylan, "whether they deserve it or not. Whyare you on my ship?"
"She invited me to come back to the Andromeda. When I heard you were alive... I wanted to see you... to talk to you."
"You betrayed me."
"Captain... Dylan... I need to explain."
"Fine... Explain," said Dylan, folding his arms and resting them on the table in front of him.
"First... I'm still alive because I was caught in the event horizon, the same as you were, but I was closer to the outer edge and my escape pod drifted out a year before the Andromeda was rescued. And, second... I never wanted to betray you. You were my best friend... I was looking forward to being your best man... I would never have betrayed you of my own free will."
"But you did.... didn't you?"
"No, Dylan... I didn't. Do you remember that I was on shore leave just a month before my so-called betrayal?"
"You went to Vega Prime for advanced weapons training."
"That's what I thought, but someone there did something to me. The nanobots in my Nietzchean blood fought against it, so I could feel something was wrong. After I tried to kill you, my nanobots finally neutralized whatever had been to me. If you scan me with the equipment in Medical, you should find some residual evidence of tampering in my brain."
Dylan sighed heavily, running his fingers through his light brown hair. "Okay... The Rhade I knew would never have betrayed me, Nietzchean or not. Let's go to Medical."
Rommie and Trance proceeded to scan Rhade's brain with all the equipment at the Andromeda's disposal. Trance put her hand lightly on Rhade's shoulder and said quietly, "Everything will be alright, Rhade."
"Thank you for trusting me, Trance. It means a lot to me. I've been alone for a long time."
Trance smiled at Rhade, and winked. "No problem, Mr. Big Bad Nietzchean."
Rhade grinned at her comment, as he closed his eyes in preparation for the next test.
Dylan came into Medical when all the tests on Rhade had been analyzed. Rommie gave him a report of their results. "First of all, the man who has presented himself as Gaheris Rhade, is who he says he is. He is not a clone, or an advanced type of AI. And, the scans of his brain reveal a foreign object was implanted about 300 years ago. It also shows that the nanobots in his blood did indeed fight the process, and ultimately neutralized the implant. Trance and I have safely removed it for further study."
"Thank you, Rommie and Trance. Do you feel like walking, Rhade?"
"Of course."
For a time, Rhade and Dylan walked the corridors of the Andromeda in silence. One was trying to figure out how to apologize, while the other was familiarizing himself once again with the ship's layout. Dylan broke the uncomfortable silence. "How can I apologize to you, Rhade? I tried to kill you 300 years ago. How do we start over?"
"I tried to kill you, Dylan. Even if I didn't want to do what I did, we're starting over in the same place."
"I guess that makes sense," said Dylan, as they stopped in front of Rhade's old quarters. Rhade raised one eyebrow as he looked inside. "Everything's the same... I couldn't seem to get rid of your stuff..." Rhade smiled at his old friend, and reached out his hand to Dylan. Dylan grasped Rhade's hand, and shook it firmly. "I'm glad you're back."
"So am I," said Rhade quietly.
"I have to go to Command, now... Do you still remember how to play basketball?"
"I remember how you cheated," said Rhade with a smirk.
"I think that was you," said Dylan, with a twinkle in his eye.
"Perhaps," said Rhade cheerfully. "It does make it more fun."
"Do you want to play after I'm off duty...A couple hours from now?"
"Sounds fine."
After Dylan left, Rhade decided to change into some casual clothes that were stored in his old quarters. He then went off to search for Trance, whom he found quite fascinating for a non-Nietzchean.
-TBC-
