Child of the Sun Chapter 6, an andromeda fanfic

Author's Note: Italics signify thought or emphasis.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Dylan waited until Harper was seated before he began the meeting. Beka, Rhade, Rommie and Trance were all present. The subject of the meeting was Alura. She had now been on the Andromeda for a week, and Dylan wanted to know how everyone was getting along with her. He had already spoken to the Commonwealth members of the crew who were still onboard, and none of them had any complaints.

Few of them had really interacted with her, with the exception of one of the slipfighter pilots, an Ensign by the name of Alicia Kenyon. Kenyon had noticed an herb among Alura's plants and requested a few leaves for a dish she was planning to cook. Alura had obliged and Kenyon had shared the resulting meal with her. The two had evidently spoken at length about flying among other things, and Kenyon reported that she believed Alura could be an asset to the crew on a permanent level.

Dylan cleared his throat and asked, "Does anyone want to start?"

Harper leaned forward in his chair. "Alura's okay in my book."

"Of course, she is," Beka remarked. "As pretty as she is. Have you made a move yet?"

"That doesn't have anything to do with it," Harper responded immediately. "She knows a lot about engineering and she helps me whenever I ask her to. Besides, that would be too weird, she's Trance's daughter. It would be like dating my niece or something."

"Since you brought that up, do we really know that she is Trance's daughter?" Beka asked.

Trance said softly, "Alura has never lied to us. There are things she doesn't want to tell us, but she's never lied. She is my daughter."

Beka nodded. She knew as well as anyone that Trance could always tell when someone was telling the truth.

"So the fact that she's a Nietzschean doesn't bother you?" Rhade asked Harper.

Harper looked sheepish for a second. "It did at first, but I don't really see her as a Nietzschean anymore, she's just Alura now. No one who was a personal slave for two years could possibly be a Nietzschean in my eyes."

"She was a personal slave?" Rhade asked at the same time that Trance asked, "She was a slave?"

Dylan broke in, "Rhade, why don't you tell us what you know about this first."

"All she told me was that she had been sold to a Nietzschean after her father died and was freed by a new, human owner two years later, and that was the reason she was standoffish with me the first day she was on board. She didn't go into detail."

"Harper?" Dylan prodded.

"Alura was a personal slave, a household slave. They're treated worse than workers, Boss. Much worse. She has the scars to prove it."

Trance looked disturbed and no one said anything for a minute while this information was absorbed.

"Beka," Dylan finally broke the silence. "You were the one that voiced concern when she first came onboard. Is there anything you'd like to add?"

Beka shook her head reluctantly. "I haven't interacted with her at all."

"Okay," Dylan said. "Rommie, anything you feel is worth noting?"

"Alura has a routine. She has since her second day onboard. She runs laps in the hangar her ship is being stored in every morning, works out on obs deck, and she spends hours a day with either Harper or Trance, helping them with their work. She has meals when the majority of the crew does. She occasionally asks me to locate Harper or Trance, but since she asked for directions to Rhade's quarters the first day, she hasn't needed any help finding her way around the ship."

"Doesn't anyone else find that odd when she wasn't raised here?" Beka asked.

"To be fair, Beka, she only goes a few places on the ship, and Dylan showed her where they all were the first day," Rommie answered.

"Rhade, Trance, anything you'd like to add?"

Rhade and Trance both shook their heads. Trance had yet to lose the worried look she had adopted when slavery had been brought up.

"Based on what's been said here and what the rest of the crew feels, I think we can continue Alura's trial period as a temporary member of the crew until we know more. Dismissed."

The others stood up.

"Harper, could you stay for a minute?" Trance asked.

Harper sat back down and Trance waited until she, Dylan and Harper were the only ones in the room.

"Have you started work on her core yet?"

"No," Harper answered. "We're supposed to start tomorrow, though."

"How long do you think it will take?" Dylan asked.

"A few days at the least. She hasn't given me the schematics yet, so that's really just a guess."

"Can you do me a favor, Harper?"

"Sure, Trance."

"Put off helping her for a little while. I'd like to have more time to get to know her and I'm not sure she'll stay once the Dance is fixed."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Harper had left the room with a vague answer that he'd come up with something, and Trance and Dylan were alone.

"Are you okay, Trance?" Dylan asked, concern evident in his voice and on his face.

"I just can't believe she didn't tell me about that part of her life. We don't talk about her past at all, but I thought if she shared it with anyone, it would be me."

Dylan reached across the table and took one of Trance's hands in his. "It sounds to me as if she had a reason for telling Rhade and Harper. She couldn't give Rhade an apology without an explanation, and knowing Harper, he may have said something that made her realize knowing she was a slave as well would put him more at ease with her. According to the Andromeda's records, she spends more time with you than with anyone else."

"You're right," Trance said softly. She smiled and squeezed the hand that was holding hers. "Thank you, Dylan."

Dylan smiled back. Something sparked between their hands when Trance slowly pulled away, and their eyes met and held. Feeling herself flush at the warmth in Dylan's beautiful blue eyes, Trance reluctantly broke the gaze first and quickly left the room. It was a little odd to think that her daughter by another man kept bringing her closer to Dylan.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Alura was already waiting at a table in the mess when Harper showed up for dinner. She smiled at him and he made his way over, sitting down across from her.

"Here's the emitter," she said, sliding the device, along with three flexies, across the table. "I thought you might need the information I have on it. The other two flexies are the advanced programming for Danny's holograph, if you want to update Andromeda's, and the schematics for the core."

Slipping the core schematic flexie into his pocket, Harper glanced at the info on the other two.

"Wow, there's a lot here." Reluctantly, he pushed both flexies and the emitter back across the table to her. "I can't accept these, I have more repairs to do on the Andromeda that I had forgotten about. I won't be able to start helping you with the core for at least a few days."

Alura looked disappointed, but she refused to take the items back. "You keep them. Whether we start tomorrow or a week from now, I was giving them to you beforehand anyhow."

"As long as you're sure," he hedged, wanting the info and the emitter so he could start playing with it.

"I'm sure."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Trance was examining Alura's plants in obs late that night when Alura walked in. Alura had moved the plants there the morning after she had come onboard, and Trance knew there were more in her daughter's room. Trance turned her head and smiled. Alura smiled back and moved over to her mother. Trance pointed to one of the plants.

"That's a Vedran night-flowering cactus, isn't it? They're very rare."

"Yes," Alura answered. "My crew gave it to me for my birthday three years ago."

Alura wandered over to the huge window that made up one wall of the room, staring out into the expanse of the universe. Trance joined her after a minute, focusing her attention on the stars.

"Do you miss them?"

"Sometimes," Alura admitted softly. "I had a few friends among the crew, but even if we had still been together when I decided to come here, they couldn't have come with me."

"When did you last see them?"

"About two years ago. We were attacked by a swarm and had to abandon ship, I don't know how many of them made it."

"How did you get the Dance back?"

"The ship in the hangar isn't the first Dance Among the Stars. By that point attacks were a very regular occurrence and we had to stay prepared for the worst, so I already had Danny on his emitter. I transferred him to the new Dance when I was safe. The original ship was destroyed."

"It sounds as if you were lucky to escape with your life."

"I was," Alura murmured.

Alura sighed heavily and Trance realized something was bothering her daughter other than the unpleasant memories.

"Is something wrong, Alura?"

"I haven't been dreaming since I came onboard the Andromeda."

Trance continued to watch the stars, but her tone was worried. Avatars dreamt every time they slept. There were a handful of other half-Avatars out there, and as far as she knew, they had the same trait. "Has it ever happened before?"

"No." Alura sighed. "I've felt... different since I came here. But I do have a theory. I've just been too nervous to check on it."

Trance finally looked at Alura. The younger woman simply appeared to be a Nietzschean with interesting coloring and pointy ears. How had she missed it before? There was no hint of the extra something that allowed Avatars to recognize each other when they were in humanoid form when she looked at Alura.

"Does the window have a screen?" Alura asked.

"Yes," Trance answered, knowing now what her daughter needed to look for. "Where should it be?"

"Halfway between the Ringonni and Delfic systems."

"Andromeda, please display that portion of space."

The screen changed and Alura paled.

Pointing to a spot on the screen, she said, "It should be right there."

Trance frowned in worry. Her daughter's star didn't exist. Alura would not be able to tap into her Avatar side even if her need was dire. Trance was now more determined than ever that her daughter stay on the Andromeda. When a full Avatar's star died, the Avatar died as well. But no Avatar had ever gone where their star simply didn't exist.

There was no precedent that could tell them what might happen to Alura now. There was a chance that she would lose even the physical attributes of an Avatar that she still had and become fully Nietzschean. From what she had learned from Harper and Telemachus earlier that day, Trance didn't think Alura would be pleased if that were the case.

"That would explain it," Alura sighed.

A single tear ran down Alura's cheek and Trance felt her heart breaking. The worst-case scenario would mean that even now Alura was slowly dying, fading from existence. Trance took two steps closer and wrapped her arms around her daughter. Alura stiffened for a moment before melting into her embrace. Silent crying wracked Alura's body, and Trance made soothing noises while she stroked her daughter's hair.

"If you ever need me to, I will do whatever is in my power to help you."

Alura pulled away and wiped her face. She smiled sadly at Trance. "Thank you."

Trance nodded and watched as Alura left the room. Turning back to the screen, she ordered, "Andromeda, mark these coordinates for me. I may need them again."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Alura lay the last mat down on the floor of the obs deck. Stretching quickly, she did a few handsprings across the area she had set up. So far, she seemed to be physically okay. She was embarrassed by her break down the night before in this same room, but she couldn't be sorry about it. She knew it had brought she and Trance closer together.

If somehow fate had been kind to her and she would survive not having an active Avatar half, Alura would now have to rely fully on her physical skills and intelligence. Combat training with Telemachus would be more important than she had previously credited it with being. Tai Chi, on the other hand, she would probably stop doing. She had always used it before to balance her two halves, but there was no need for that now.

Alura sighed when she remembered that she had promised to teach Telemachus how to do Tai Chi in return for his sparring with her. Perhaps it would help to ease her fears if she gave it a chance. It had been so long since it was effective that she just wasn't sure. But whatever personal benefit it provided or lacked, she would not go back on her word.

Keeping busy until Telemachus showed up, Alura watered her plants and trimmed a few dead leaves. She had just put away her gardening tools when Telemachus sauntered in.

"You're early," he remarked upon seeing her already in the room and set up when there were still five minutes until the time they had agreed to meet.

Alura shrugged, "Couldn't sleep."

Telemachus nodded and took off his sweater, laying it aside. Walking onto the mat after kicking his shoes off, Telemachus stretched for a few minutes. Alura watched him, enjoying the play of muscles in his arms and chest shown to advantage by another tank top. She noted that like her he was dressed in dark clothes that allowed full movement without risk to seams. He, however, had left his socks on. Alura loved being barefoot. She had often amused her crew unintentionally by not wearing socks and shoes when she wasn't on duty.

Telemachus finished stretching and turned to her, "Do you want to start with Tai Chi or sparring?"

"Sparring," she answered immediately.

Telemachus took a fighter's stance and Alura cautiously moved toward him. When he immediately threw a right-handed jab at her head, she dodged it. A second punch was also dodged, but this time he surprised her by sweeping her feet out from under her with his left leg. A second later he was straddling her stomach, her arms pinned above her head by his hands.

"Maybe I should go a little easy on you," Telemachus smirked down at her.

Alura narrowed her eyes and twisted her body, successfully dislodging him from on top of her. Both standing once again, they traded a series of kicks and punches before Alura learned his rhythm.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Despite his comment, Telemachus had not eased up on her any. He thought he had landed a punch to her midsection when he suddenly found himself on the ground. Somehow she had trapped his left arm under his own body, and her left hand was pinning his right arm to the mat. The bone blades of her right arm were pressing into his neck.

"Still think you need to go easy on me?" she asked, her blue eyes sparkling with exhilaration and a touch of anger.

Telemachus grinned. He hadn't had this much fun in awhile.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Preview: Harper struggles with his conscience, and the Andromeda and her crew run into trouble.