Child of the Sun Chapter 8, an andromeda fanfic

Author's Note: Italics signify thought or emphasis.

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Dylan glared at the captive Nietzschean. The man wasn't in any of their databases and refused to identify himself.

"I'll ask again," Dylan ground out. "Why did you attack my ship and take two of my crew members?"

The prisoner sneered from behind the energy field that kept him in his cell. "Ooh, the mighty Dylan Hunt is mad at me. I'm so petrified. You think being three hundred years from where you belong gives you the right to hold on to the one weapon that will bring down the Magog?"

"What are you talking about? If I had something like that, don't you think I'd use it? I'm the good guy here. I don't enslave people or kill my own kind just because they come from a different bloodline."

The Nietzschean shook his head dismissively and remained silent. He looked down and studied the floor.

Trance walked into the room, her look of perpetual worry firmly in place. That look hadn't left her face since the attack, and it was tearing at him.

"Any progress?" she asked softly.

"No," Dylan muttered.

He was angry that he was letting her down. But there didn't seem to be anything he could do about it.

Their invader-turned-captive looked up. His mouth fell open as he stared at Trance. He didn't remain silent for long.

"Those idiots took the wrong one. Trust that stupid kludge not to tell us there were two of you!"

A cracking sound was heard and the man slumped forward onto the floor of his cell. The holographic Andromeda appeared, frowning.

"He's dead. Cyanide. Probably hidden in a false tooth."

Dylan scrubbed a hand over his face and sighed.

"Orders, Captain?" Andromeda asked.

"Find out everything we can on the dead Nietzscheans we can identify. See if we can find somewhere they may have taken Alura and Rhade. Get one of the bots to take the body to storage. Inform me the second you have any information that may be relevant. That's it for now."

Trance put her hand on Dylan's arm. "There wasn't anything you could have done. For him or during the attack."

He looked down at her, his blue eyes clouded. "I wish..."

"I know," she said softly. "No one can do everything alone, not even you, Dylan. That's what I'm here for. Why Beka, Harper, Rommie, and even Telemachus and Alura are part of this crew. To help you."

"And we don't leave our own behind."

"That's right," a ghost of a smile graced Trance's lips. "And it isn't going to change anytime soon."

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Alura came to slowly on the floor. She barely stopped herself from groaning, only just remembering in time that she was a captive. As she woke up fully, she noted that her arms were restrained behind her back and she was lying on her stomach. Alura cautiously opened her eyes.

She was in a midsize Nietzschean fighter. The ship had only one room, but it was large. There were eleven Nietzscheans that she could see from her original position, and she wasn't looking forward to catching their attention. Alura suddenly remembered that Telemachus had also been taken. Was he also on this fighter? Was he injured?

Deciding that answering at least these questions was worth risking the Nietzscheans knowing she was awake, Alura slowly turned her head so she was facing the opposite way. Telemachus was five feet away, also on his stomach with his arms tied behind his back. His eyes were half open, but Alura wasn't sure that he was actually aware until he winked at her.

Alura let out a silent sigh of relief and winked back. They were both okay. For now.

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By the time they met up with a larger ship, Commonwealth in design, the crew of the fighter were well aware that both of their prisoners were awake. But they had been left alone, and Alura wasn't sure if she should be worried or relieved by their lack of interest in the two people they had gone to so much trouble to capture.

Alura balked at being forced to switch ships, but the man next to her whispered, "Don't fight it. You can't get away yet, and you'll need your strength for later."

Now she was thoroughly confused. Why would a Nietzschean try to help her? Especially one who was part of the force that had captured her. Quickly realizing that taking any help she was offered was best right now, Alura stopped struggling and went where she was led.

When they reached a split in the new ship's corridor, the alpha male of the group ordered, "Take Rhade to a holding cell. We'll keep him there until Pish pays us for the woman, then we can go and collect the price on his head."

Alura was led further down the corridor and into an office. On the desk was a fairly large bonzai tree and a book, open to a page with a picture that, as she was pushed closer, surprised her. It showed a woman, definitely her mother in her current form, holding a plant over her head with rays of power coming from it, Magog dead at her feet. Now she understood why she had been taken.

There was a man standing behind the desk facing away from her, reading a flexie. When one of the Nietzscheans cleared his throat, the man set the flexie down on a shelf and turned around.

"Well, I told you we would meet again and it would be all of your fears..."

As soon as he saw her, he stopped talking and scowled.

"You brought me the wrong person," he snarled.

One of the Nietzscheans growled and hit her in the side of the knee with the butt of his gun. Alura fell to her knees and leaned forward and to the side, taking the pressure off her knee. It throbbed with pain, but she didn't think anything had broken.

"We want the money you promised us, Pish."

Pish laughed, a hollow sound. "I'm not paying you for your mistakes. My god, can't you ubers do anything right? I told you the woman you were after was an unidentifiable species, or don't you know a Nietzschean when you see one?"

"She isn't Nietzschean, she's a half-breed," one of the men spat.

This sentence was punctuated with a swift kick in her side. Alura barely stopped herself from crying out but couldn't help falling to the side. She had always been able to supress most of her pain when in her reality. She now realized it had been a gift of her Avatar side. She would have to learn again to deal with pain. Perhaps Telemachus could teach her a Nietzschean technique. If they ever made it out of here.

"Take her away," Pish ordered. "You won't get anything from me for her."

Alura was dragged to her feet, not unkindly. She somehow knew that the man now holding her arms gently was the same one who had told her to conserve her strength. Behind her, he spoke.

"Maybe Hunt would trade Rhade and this one for the one you really want."

Pish had scowled at the mention of Dyaln, but he seemed to now be considering the suggestion.

"I'll consider it. Until I decide, you are not to leave my ship with Rhade. If you try, my guards will not hesitate to kill you."

The man who had hit her in the knee, and probably also kicked her, said, "If you're going to keep them both, we want triple to make up for the bounty we won't get."

"I said I'll think about it," Pish bit off. "We will discuss payment then."

Alura was taken out of the office, trying not to limp. The group stopped ten feet down the hallway.

The evident leader of the group spoke. "Renier will stay on Pish's ship with me, the rest of you go back to the fighter and wait for further orders."

Apparently the man holding her, the nice Nietzschean, was Renier, for he stayed as the others left.

"C'mon," the leader muttered, walking the opposite direction from his departing crew.

They entered a mess hall, and Renier pushed her gently down into a chair.

"You think it was wise to send the other men back to the ship, Dequenne?" Renier asked. "You know Pish can't be trusted. He would have no qualms about killing both of us."

Dequenne narrowed his eyes, considering. "You stay here and let me know as soon as Pish makes up his mind. I'll be with the men."

"Yes, sir."

Dequenne stood up and glared at Alura. He released the bonds behind her back, removing her leather gauntlets. It was good leather, and he could probably sell it for a fairly good price. He smirked upon seeing the telling scars on her wrists.

"Do anything to make me regret that, and I will break your bone blades and give you a beating you'll never forget."

Alura paled and nodded her understanding. She didn't move another muscle until Dequenne had left the room. Gingerly, Alura lifted the edge of her shirt so she could examine the spot where Dequenne had kicked her. The skin wasn't broken, but it was already bruising. Sighing, she pulled the material back down and looked up, catching Renier watching her.

She didn't sense any malicious intent from him, so Alura picked up a cloth napkin someone had left on the table and spit on one corner. Sighing, she began cleaning the dried blood from her bone blades.

"Achilles Renier of Valhalla Pride, out of Cassandra by Odin," he introduced himself when she was done.

"Alura, out of Trance Gemini."

Achilles gave her a questioning look and Alura glanced away, muttering, "Father issues."

Achilles nodded, sitting down in the next seat. "And this Trance Gemini?"

"She's the one Pish really wants, but I'm not quite sure where he got that book with her picture."

"Well, he is a Commonwealth Collector," Achilles sighed.

"Not a True Collector," Alura muttered. "And if he's Commonwealth, I'm Drago Museveni."

Achilles smiled at that. He was a handsome man, blonde, blue-eyed and very nicely built. There was also a kindness in his eyes that made her relax slightly. Alura was about to ask him why he was being so nice to her when a man in Commonwealth uniform entered the room.

"Pish wants to see you," he said.

Achilles stood but waited for the other man to leave.

"I'm going to have to leave you locked in here." Alura nodded and he added, "You can trust me."

He's telling the truth, a voice in her head assured

"Thank you," Alura said softly.

Achilles smiled and was gone.

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Telemachus sat on the cot in his cell, waiting. What he was waiting for he wasn't quite sure. He didn't think he'd get a 'pleasant surprise' from Dylan this time. There was no way his Captain could know where he was.

He refused to let his mind imagine what their captors were doing to Alura. Considering that it was Pish they were taking their orders from, it could be an elaborate plan to entrap Dylan. But why grab Alura? How could anyone else know who she was?

Unless the Nietzscheans had mistaken her for someone else. Trance, perhaps? It made the most sense. The red and gold alien was important to Dylan. And other than color and Alura's bone blades, the two women were physically very similar.

Telemachus glanced up when someone entered the brig. The guard moved to stop the Nietzschean, but he delivered a killing blow to the throat, not letting the human make a sound. Telemachus stood, wondering what was going on.

The other Nietzschean de-activated the force shield holding him in, and Telemachus stepped forward cautiously.

"Achilles Renier, operative from Terazed for Tri Lorn."

"Telemachus..."

"I know who you are, Rhade, why do you think I'm blowing my cover to get you out of here? We don't have a lot of time, Captain Dequenne is in a meeting with Pish, negotiating the price for you and Alura."

"Is she okay?"

"She's fine. She got knocked around a little, but she appears to be handling it well."

They stopped briefly at a locker in the wall. Achilles pulled out Rhade's weapons and handed them to him, carrying Alura's holster and weapons himself.

"I don't think many of Pish's men know who you are, so we should be okay if you just act normally."

Telemachus nodded and the two of them began walking down the corridor. They passed a handful of human men on the way, but no one paid them any mind. Achilles stopped at a door and unlocked it, moving into the room. Telemachus cautiously followed, not sure yet that he should trust this man.

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When the door slid open, Alura was waiting in an attack position. Seeing that it was Achilles, she dropped her arms. Telemachus walked in behind Achilles and Alura smiled at them both when Achilles handed her the holster and weapons she had been wearing when captured.

"Why were you so nice to me?" she asked Achilles as the two men watched her strap the belt back on. "You know what I am."

"My younger sister, Ariadne, is half-Nietzschean, as well as two of my brothers. Her father is my mother's third husband. He's a Trillian."

Trillians were humanoid, slightly shorter than the average human. They possessed lovely singing voices and skin that was spotted in patterns. As a species they were happy and peace-loving people. A very unusual choice for the mate of a Nietzschean.

Alura smiled again. "She must be very beautiful."

Achilles grinned proudly. "She is. She also happens to be my favorite sibling. Quite the spitfire, which of course she gets from Mom."

Alura laughed, completely understanding that aspect of the other mixed species girl.

"You're Cassandra Bluteau's youngest son by her second husband," Telemachus suddenly said.

Their unexpected helper nodded. Finished buckling her holster back on, Alura regretted for a moment the loss of her gauntlets. They were her second favorite pair.

"We'll commandeer one of the slipstream enabled shuttles in the nearest hangar. We're going to have to make a run for at as soon as someone spots us," Achilles instructed.

"You're coming, too?" Alura asked for clarification.

Achilles nodded. "I don't have access to the ship's recordings, Pish and Dequenne will know I was the one who helped you." Telemachus opened his mouth, but Achilles saw it and knew what he'd say. "Tri Lorn won't have a problem with it, I was being pulled out in a week anyway. C'mon, we don't have time to talk about it."

Alura and Telemachus followed Achilles out of the room and down the hall. They had just rounded a corner when a group of four men suddenly stood in their way. A door opened behind them and a Nietzschean stepped into view.

"Damn," Achilles swore, pulling his energy weapon.

Alura gently pushed both he and Telemachus against the wall. Pressing a button on one of her force lances, she held it to the side, pointing either end in front of and behind them. Smiling wickedly, Alura fired the weapon. Both of her comrades were surprised when an energy burst discharged from either end, catching one of the men in front of them and the Nietzschean behind them directly in the chest. Both men fell to the ground, dead.

Reholstering the force lance, Alura focused her attention on the group of men in front of her. To the two Nietzschean males beside her she said, "Let's go."

Achilles and Telemachus shared a smile and followed her toward the three remaining men. The first was taken down by a high kick from Alura. Well placed jabs from Telemachus and Achilles took the other two down, but not before Achilles was hit in the head by the weapon in the hand of one of the men. There was a cut above his eye, but he was okay.

Running now, they entered the hangar that had been but ten feet behind the men they had fought. Achilles picked the shuttle closest to the airlock and they got onboard. Telemachus started up the engine while Achilles punched in the code to open the airlock.

The three of them smiled at each other.

"Laying in a slipstream course for the last known location of the Andromeda," Telemachus said, his fingers moving over the controls.

"Thank you," Alura said to Achilles.

"You're very welcome," he answered, smiling at her once more.

Telemachus glanced between the two and frowned.

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Preview: Telemachus and Alura return to life on the Andromeda. Alura learns that she came back even earlier than she had believed, and now she has the chance to change more than she had ever dreamt possible.