Chapter 4

Several weeks after Rhade had begun his new duties on the Andromeda, he and Trance had developed a close friendship. Trance felt comfortable in telling Rhade her fears, and Rhade knew that he could be himself with the gentle young woman.

One day, while spending time with Rhade, Trance decided that she wanted to play a game. "What game would you like to play?" asked Rhade, confident that that he would know any game that she suggested.

"Hmm," she said, putting her finger to her lip while she thought. "I want to play tag."

"Tag...What is that?" asked Rhade curiously.

"It's a game where one person has to catch the other. You are safe if you get back to base."

"What will base be?"

"We can play it in storage room 1A, and base can be the door. Oh... and you... the one doing the chasing... have to wear a blindfold."

"Why me?"

"Don't you want to chase me... and catch me?" asked Trance, with a mischievous twinkle in her eye.

Rhade smiled wickedly, and said, "Well, maybe that does sound like fun. Let's go."

"You have to catch me first," giggled Trance, running for the storage area with Rhade hot on her heels. When they got there, Trance convinced Rhade to let her blindfold him, and they started their game. Trance was caught rather quickly by Rhade, who was able to use his heightened Nietzchean senses to find her. He grabbed Trance tightly around the waist, enjoying her squeak of surprise at being caught so quickly.

It was now Trance's turn to find Rhade. She moved quickly, had very sharp hearing, and was able to catch Rhade nearly as quickly as he had caught her. Wrapping her arms around Rhade's neck and her tail around his waist, she kissed the cheek of the surprised Nietzchean, quickly tied the blindfold around his eyes and bounced away laughing.

Rhade had difficulty finding Trance this time around. She seemed to be trying to keep especially quiet. He then heard a sound nearby. He reached out his hands and grabbed at the air in front of him, hoping to catch hold of Trance. 'There,' he thought, 'I caught her.' But when he heard a familiar voice, he knew that it wasn't his little Trance's uniform in his grip. He abruptly let go, and yanked off the blindfold.

Dylan's blue eyes looked at Rhade with amusement as he said, "Hi Rhade. I needed something from storage. What are you and Trance up to?" he asked, as Trance moved to stand beside Rhade.

Clearing his throat uncomfortably, Rhade spoke. "We're practicing... hunting techniques. It's very important to keep in shape."

"I see," said Dylan,trying to hold back a smile. "Carry on, then." To Trance, he whispered, "Have fun with Rhade."

"I will," giggled Trance, earning a glare from Rhade. When Dylan left the room, Rhade grabbed Trance and growled, "You did that on purpose, didn't you?"

"I like having fun with you," replied Trance. "Didn't you have fun?" she asked, looking anxiously up at the very handsome, but slightly irritated Nietzchean male.

Suddenly, Rhade grinned. "Yes, I had fun with you... but don't you dare tell anyone."

"I won't have to," grinned Trance smugly. "We didn't put on Privacy Mode."

"Arrgh!" said Rhade, and proceeded to chase Trance all the way to her quarters, both of them laughing. He kissed her gently, and then said, "Good-night, my little imp."

"Good-night," said Trance.

-TBC-