AN: Thanks again to everyone for their comments and reviews. Well, I have now come to the point of realizing that I have gotten my Trance/Harper plot somewhat ahead of my Dylan/Beka/Ree plot, so I'm going to do some catch up. The next two chapters will be on board the Andromeda dealing with that plotline. For those of you who are reading only for the Trance stuff, sorry, you're gonna have to wait a couple more days. : )
Chapter Twelve: Let the Game Begin"Check," Beka crowed happily for the third time in half an hour.
Dylan shook his head slowly as he studied the three-dimensional chess game board that rested on the glass coffee table between him and his first officer. "You are really starting to annoy me," he said good-naturedly. "Are you sure you're not cheating?"
"Hey, just because you're the Captain doesn't mean you can always win," she replied.
"I'm just wondering how you got to be so good. It's not like I see you playing it all that often."
She shrugged. "My dad taught it to me when I was still just a kid. Naturally, I hated to see my little horses get captured by my opponent, so I tended to be extremely patient in making a move, just to make sure they wouldn't get killed. Back then, it just meant that it took a really long time to beat me, but now that I'm older, I can add strategy to that patience, and as you're finding out the hard way, it pays off."
"Well, patience is definitely good," Dylan replied as he moved another piece to shield his king. "And it pays off in more ways than just this game."
"True," Beka replied as she considered her next move. "But sometimes," she picked up one of her knights and moved it forward, "I prefer the straightforward charge."
Dylan looked at her incredulously. "You do know what you just did, right?"
Beka suddenly looked ill. "What? What did I just do?"
The Captain smirked and moved a pawn to capture her knight. "That."
"Oh, that." She grinned in triumph. She brought a rook forward to face his king. "It's called a gambit, Captain. Checkmate."
Dylan groaned. "I think I'm going to have to get a new first officer," he muttered. "You're too devious for my likes."
"Come on, don't pout," she chuckled. "Losing every now and then just makes winning that much sweeter. Wanna go again?"
He leaned forward to start replacing his pieces, when the comfortable white lighting in his quarters suddenly changed to flashing blue.
"Battle stations," came Andromeda's voice over the comm. "Battle stations. All crew, report to battle stations. Captain to command. Battle stations."
"Looks like game time is over," Dylan commented wryly to Beka as they dashed out into the corridor.
"Andromeda, report," Dylan prompted as he arrived on the command deck.
"Captain, we're receiving coordinates for a hostile target located in an unidentified system approximately ten light years from our current location," Andromeda's holographic avatar said as she materialized next to him.
"Who's sending it to us?" he asked.
"I can't locate the source," she replied, "but the authorization is from High Guard Command. Code Alpha-Three-Strike-Strike-Omega."
"Oh, boy," he breathed.
"What? Does that mean something to you?" Beka asked.
Dylan barely spared her a glance as he stepped up to his command station. "It's an Omega directive," he explained as he started punching sequences into his console. "It means that an extremely dangerous and hostile target has been identified, and that it is to be completely destroyed at all costs." He looked up at her. "It usually means that we're going up against something big and ugly."
"You don't think it's the Magog worldship, do you?" she asked worriedly.
"No, it can't be," he replied. "It's too soon. It's got to be something else. Tyr, Rommie, report to command. Andromeda, any idea of what our target is?"
"Negative. The transmission indicates that target specs will be downloaded just before we drop back into real space."
"All right," Dylan said, more to himself than anyone. "We'll be going in blind. We'll just have to be ready for anything." He looked up as Tyr and Rommie arrived and moved to their respective stations. "Beka, you have the coordinates?'
"Got 'em."
"Take us to slipstream."
Beka punched in some commands, and the pilot's headrest slid up behind her as the slipstream console descended to just above her head. "All right, everyone, hold on to your pants. We're going in fast and hot."
"Captain," Rommie interrupted, "the Eureka Maru has just launched from the main hangar bay. Ree is on board."
"What the –" Beka began as she paused the slipstream countdown. "She stole my ship?"
"She is your ship," Dylan muttered. "Andromeda, open a channel."
"Channel open."
"Ree, this is Captain Hunt. What are you doing?"
"Relax, Captain," Ree said as her face appeared on the main viewscreen. "I'm just getting ready for the battle." Her black eyes sparkled with an eerie glow in the flashing red warning lights in the Maru's cockpit. "I'm sorry I didn't give you any warning."
"You had no authorization to launch," Dylan replied. "We're getting ready to jump to slipstream."
"Two ships are better than one," the red-haired android replied. "Besides, once we come out of slipstream on the other end, I wouldn't have any time to launch before the shooting starts."
"You know what we're going up against?" Beka put in.
"This is the mission I was telling you about, Captain," Ree replied, ignoring the other woman. "It's time to begin."
"Captain," Rommie interrupted, "I've managed to trace the signal of the Omega directive. It's coming from the Maru."
"Captain, we must leave now," Ree said.
"I don't think so," Dylan said angrily. "You're going to have to tell me more about what we're supposed to do before I'll just charge after you into who knows what."
"I'm afraid that's not possible," she answered. "We're out of time. Your ship has her orders, and you have yours." Her image fizzled out, and was replaced by a tactical readout of the space surrounding the Andromeda.
"She's preparing to go to slipstream," Rommie reported.
"Shall I blow her out of the sky?" Tyr asked hopefully.
"Don't even think about it!" Beka retorted angrily. "That's my ship!"
"Too late anyway," Rommie added. "She's gone."
"Beka, follow her," Dylan commanded. "I don't know what this mission of hers is, but we can't just let her take off. And I don't take orders from an android who's in command of a freighter."
"I'm on it," the first officer replied. "Going to slipstream!"
The viewscreens flared white and the deck started to vibrate as the cruiser accelerated. Moments later, the familiar view of the slipstream was before them.
"She's taking us by a circuitous route," Rommie said into the moment of silence that followed. "It's going to take us about three times as long to reach the target system than if we had just used a normal slip route."
"Probably because that was the route she was originally going to use three years ago," Dylan agreed. "Looks like it was designed to throw off any pursuit. How long will it take us to reach the system?"
"I estimate approximately two hours."
"Circuitous, huh?" Beka chimed in. "That's positively serpentine. I've done jumps that are longer, but not many. Tyr, if I start falling asleep, you'll have to throw something at me to keep me awake."
The Nietzschean shrugged. "If you say so."
Dylan ignored the banter between the other two as he examined the readouts on his console display. "Two hours," he muttered. "That's not much time, but it'll have to do."
"You have a plan, Dylan?" Rommie asked.
"Not yet, but I will," he replied. "And you're going to help me come up with it."
