Child of the Sun Chapter 10, an andromeda fanfic

Author's Note: Italics signify thought or emphasis.

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Alura was gone as soon as Dylan nodded, and Telemachus cleared his throat.

"Permission to go with her. She needs someone to watch her back with all those Magog out there. And the Nietzscheans will not let her just take off with one of their own."

Dylan nodded, "Be careful, the Magog will be only too happy to have more snacks."

"Or more hatcheries," Harper grumbled.

Telemachus was already halfway to the door when Dylan added, "Bring her back safe."

The Nietzschean gave his captain a tight nod and quickened his pace.

Trance watched Telemachus go after Alura, a small smile forming on her lips. There was more there than either Alura or Telemachus had yet admitted to themselves. Trance noticed Beka staring at her with a frown and outwardly turned her attention back to the battle in front of them. Did Beka have feelings for the Nietzschean as well?

As much as Trance loved Beka and wanted her dear friend to be happy, she was privately rooting for the daughter she still barely knew. Alura was in love with Telemachus Rhade, a feeling she had never had for anyone else, whereas Beka fell in and out of lust as easily and quickly as she changed hairstyles. Trance would have to count on all her fingers and toes to list Beka's past relationships, and those were just the ones she knew about.

Alura, on the other hand, was in love for the first, and perhaps only, time. Trance also knew that Alura, feeling the outsider, would not fight Beka for Telemachus if the older woman made a move first. In some ways, Alura was very much a Nietzschean, and this was not Alura's territory. In truth, she had none other than the Dance, and so she would most likely step down from anyone who challenged her. Trance was not sure Alura knew she was lovable, let alone worthy of a man who in reality could probably have his pick of Nietzschean alpha females if it weren't for the fact that he was loyal to Dylan and the Commonwealth.

Trance broke free of her musings to watch her daughter's skilled flying, definitely something Alura must have inherited from her father. Telemachus could barely keep up with Alura's twisting maneuvers through the swarm ships.

Alura's slipfighter executed a somehow familiar feint and reality fractured momentarily in Trance's mind. She heard the giggle of her younger, purple self - a giggle she recognized as one being brought on by drinking alcohol - followed by a deep voice moaning her name. A deep voice that had once been a mainstay on this bridge.

Trance reeled at the implication. She knew who Alura's father was now, understood why Alura had never given them his name, why she would never even give his Pride. He had once been a friend to them all, but for a short time, before his death, he had become one of their greatest enemies - and he had been the last male member of his Pride they had known about. Tyr Anasazi had fathered Alura.

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When Telemachus landed his slipfighter next to Alura's, she was waiting for him on the ground. She had touched down more than a hundred feet from the back of the structure, and there were no Magog nearby. Telemachus climbed down from the fighter and jogged to Alura's side, noting that she was wearing the same weapons she had on when they had been taken captive over two weeks ago.

"Dylan didn't have to send you."

"He didn't," Telemachus replied. "I asked to come. I didn't want you to have to do this alone."

"Thank you," she said softly. "There are a couple things you need to know before we go down there. My brother is the reason the other Nietzscheans are here, they guard him. In my reality Drago was killed by his keepers when this attack occurred so he wouldn't suffer the indignity of dying from Magog hatching from his stomach. I will kill anyone who gets in my way. My brother is my only concern. Even if it were possible to save the rest, they would try to take control of the Andromeda if we helped them."

"Is that all?" Telemachus asked, letting her know from his tone that everything she had said so far was okay with him.

"No, it isn't." Alura stood tall and looked him straight in the eye. "I am Alura Anasazi of the Kodiak Pride, out of Trance by Tyr."

Telemachus looked shocked for all of twenty seconds before he seemed to get over it. "You didn't have to tell me that for me to help you."

"I know, and thank you for that," Alura said. "I just... wanted you to know. I'd appreciate it if you kept it to yourself for now."

"Of course. I understand now why you were so secretive about him." Alura looked away, and Telemachus gently grasped her chin, forcing her meet his eyes. "I don't think any less of you. We are not our families. Just look at me."

Alura smiled softly at him. She leaned forward and pressed a light kiss to his cheek. A strange look passed over Telemachus' face and Alura wondered for a second if she had presumed too much.

Given their present circumstances, she chose to ignore her own action and softly said, "Thank you. And Gaheris wasn't all that bad. Remind me to tell you the story of another reality sometime."

Alura began running to the hidden tunnel that led down to the level Drago was kept on. She could hear Telemachus behind her. When she reached the hidden panel that covered the tunnel, she had a moment of panic when she realized she had no way of knowing what the access code was currently set as. Telemachus took care of it by blasting the keypad with his force lance.

Together, they pried the panel open. What she had always called the tunnel in her mind was actually a shaft that went straight down about one hundred and fifty feet to the sub-levels of the structure. On one wall of the shaft was a ladder; on the one facing it was a metal pole.

"We don't have time to take the ladder," she told him. "I didn't think to bring gloves for you," she added, pulling on her own. "You can stay here and guard the entrance against any Magog that decide to look for us."

"I'm coming with you," he replied, pulling a pair of leather gloves out of a pocket in his jacket.

She nodded and climbed a few rungs down the ladder so she could reach across and get a good hold of the pole. "I'll wait for you at the bottom, the structure is very maze-like."

He watched as she slid down the pole and disappeared into the darkness, her gloved hands and booted feet keeping her speed manageable.

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"Keep her safe until I get down there," Telemachus softly asked the Divine.

Sixty seconds after she had begun her descent, Telemachus lowered himself into the shaft and took hold of the pole. His heavier weight made him slide down much faster, and he tightened his hold so he wouldn't slide into Alura and injure her. When his feet hit the floor with a soft thud, Alura was just taking off her gloves.

"If you had done that much faster, we would have been in a heap on the floor." She whispered.

Would that be so bad? Telemachus almost asked, but he knew now was definitely not the time for such teasing. Instead he replied, "We don't want to take too long or the Magog will be everywhere. I was just trying to go a little faster so we could get out of here sooner."

Alura nodded and motioned for him to follow her. She led the way along twisting tunnels and empty rooms, through doors he couldn't see until she opened them. He knew they were getting close when she tensed and slowed. There was a metal cabinet with a keypad lock in this room, and Alura made her way over to it. Quickly punching in a few numbers, she opened the cabinet. Inside were laser weapons, the kind that cut straight through flesh and bone.

She took two of them out, one at a time, checking to be sure that they were fully charged. Alura handed one to Telemachus and whispered for him to stay close. They went through the door and came out in to a wide hallway. There were ten Nietzschean men in the passageway, all lying on the floor, dead. Telemachus made a sound of disgust. It was easy to see that they had all killed themselves rather than face the Magog.

"Oh, no," Alura whimpered. "Please don't let me be too late."

Telemachus frowned when he remembered what she had said about her brother being killed to protect him. Did the death of the others mean that Drago was also dead? If there was even a chance of his still being alive, what was Alura waiting for?

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"Matriarch, no, please don't hurt Drago."

The woman's title was still a little difficult for the four and a half year old to pronounce, but the one time Alura had called her Olma as Drago was allowed to, Alura had been backhanded so hard that she had flown across the room and slammed into a wall. It had only taken once for her to learn that lesson.

But when the Matriarch continued moving toward Drago's still form with a knife in her hand, Alura panicked. She had already tried waking her brother as soon as she had realized what Olma and the others were doing, but the boy wouldn't open his eyes.

"Olma, no!" she screamed, tears streaming down her small face.

The little girl with two crooked blue pigtails she had done herself tried to pull on the old woman's arm. Her still growing bone blades caught on Olma's sleeve, ripping the rich material.

Olma pushed the child to the floor and hissed, "Stupid little half-breed useless bitch. I was going to kill you next, but I think I'll leave you for the Magog. You don't deserve the same dignity as Drago."

With those words, she turned and sliced the drugged boy's neck. Alura screamed at the top of her lungs but her brother didn't make a sound as his life's blood poured out. Olma used a laser weapon on herself and her body slumped to the floor. Alura's screams died down to whimpers. She was alone now, at least until the Magog broke through the outer defenses. The only sounds left were hers.

She moved over Olma's body to Drago's and pulled with all her strength. Her brother was only half a year older than she, but he seemed much heavier now. But Alura would not leave him out here for the Magog to eat. She pushed, pulled and dragged Drago into their secret hiding place in the wall and closed the grate behind her. Utterly exhausted, she lay down beside her sibling, one of the two people she loved in the universe.

"Alura!"

Telemachus was saying her name and shaking her. Alura blinked and realized she had fallen to her knees when the flashback had hit. She gently shook his hands free and stood in one graceful motion.

"Come," she ordered, moving quickly over the bodies of the dead Nietzscheans.

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Telemachus raised his eyebrows at the commanding tone of Alura's voice, but he obeyed. Following her, he stayed alert for any sign that the Magog were closing in. But so far their luck seemed to be holding. All was quiet.

They reached a door but this time Alura did not pause, opening the door and moving inside quickly. An older, white-haired Nietzschean woman appeared to be the only occupant of the room. She had a mug in one hand and a knife in the other.

"Who are you?" she demanded as she turned toward them, her voice showing surprise.

"I'm here for Drago." Alura stated, adding, "I'm glad to see you haven't poisoned him yet."

"Who sent you? Tyr is dead. Are you the strange alien from the Andromeda he told us about?"

"No, I'm her daughter. How I'm here doesn't matter. I'm taking Drago away from here, away from you."

"You can't take him anywhere without my say so," the woman said coldly. "I am Olma, Matriarch of Orca Pride. I am his only living relative."

Alura smiled coldly and Telemachus shivered. She was a completely different person in that moment than the one he had gotten to know over the past few weeks.

"You lost any right to call yourself Matriarch when you turned your back on Freya."

Olma paled. "Who are you?"

"Retribution," Alura answered, raising her weapon and killing the other woman.

When Olma's body hit the floor, Alura sagged for a moment, the cold person that had taken her place disappearing. The laser weapon fell from her lax fingers.

"I'm sorry you had to see me do that," Alura said to Telemachus, standing tall once more. "The lives she ruined for the sake of power..."

Telemachus nodded his understanding when she trailed off.

"Where is Drago?" Telemachus asked softly after a minute.

"This way," Alura answered, once more taking the lead.

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Alura somehow knew that even though she hadn't been a part of Drago's life in this reality, he had still found and used the air duct as a hiding place. She went into the bedroom that had been and was his, kneeling in a spot she knew he'd be able to see her from.

"Drago," she called strongly. "Time to come out now if you want to leave."

There was a scuffling sound and the grate cover popped open. Alura smiled happily as the little boy inside climbed out. He dusted himself off and approached the two adults cautiously. Alura waited until he stopped two feet in front of her.

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Telemachus watched as the little boy tilted his head to the side a little, studying Alura. Drago appeared to be about five from his size, and he had dark curls and deep brown eyes. His skin was a bit lighter than Tyr's had been, but he was definitely his father's son in looks.

"Who are you?" Drago asked.

Alura held her arms in front of her folded one on top of the other with her bone blades sticking out toward Drago. He reached out a small hand and traced the black line on one of her bone blades, drawing Telemachus' attention to the fact that Drago shared the same marking on his much smaller spines.

"You're Kodiak!" Drago exclaimed. "Before Daddy died he said we were the only ones."

"He didn't know about me, but he was my Daddy, too," Alura explained gently. "My name is Alura Anasazi."

"You're my sister?" the boy asked for clarification.

"Yes," Alura answered, smiling gently.

Drago appeared to ponder this new information for a few minutes, finally asking, "Can I come live with you?"

Alura made a happy sound and Telemachus noticed that there were unshed tears in her eyes.

"Would you like me to adopt you?" Alura asked. "We would live on the Andromeda for a little while before we found a planet to call home."

Drago nodded enthusiastically, but his eyes suddenly clouded over. "Olma won't let me."

Alura hesitated, and Telemachus decided to join the conversation, sinking to his knees to be on a level with the other two.

"Drago, I am Telemachus Rhade of Majorum Pride. I'm a friend of your sister's. Do you understand what was going on before we got here?"

The little boy nodded. "Olma and the other adults were going to die now so the Magog couldn't kill them."

"That's right," Telemachus said gently. "We weren't able to save them, only you."

Drago's bottom lip trembled for a second but he nodded again. "Okay."

"Does that mean you want me to adopt you?" Alura asked, holding her breath.

"You'll be my mother instead of my sister?"

"Yes."

"You can 'dopt me," Drago answered immediately.

Alura pulled Drago into a hug. The boy didn't even hesitate before he hugged her back, the fingers of one of his small hands winding into her ponytail. Alura stood after a minute, her brother clinging to her. Telemachus stood as well.

"Do you want me to carry him?"

"Not yet," Alura responded. "But I'll probably need you to piggyback him up the shaft. He's too heavy for me to do it the whole way."

"Alright."

Alura glanced around the room, asking Drago, "We don't have time to pack all your things, but is there anything you want to bring with you?"

Telemachus noted with a frown that there were no toys in the room. Only books, flexies and a few weapons. Drago pointed at one of the weapons, an ornate dagger, and Alura picked it up and attached it to her weapon holster.

"Daddy gave you that, didn't he?"

Drago nodded and whispered, "I miss him."

"Me, too," Alura said gently.

Telemachus wondered if she really meant it. She sounded as if she did, but the few times she had referred to her father in his presence it hadn't been in a positive light. Drago was probably too young to realize that if their father didn't even know about Alura it would be a little hard for her to miss him. Besides, it would be a little difficult to explain alternate realities and time-travel to a five-year-old. Especially with the time restraint they faced.

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Alura remembered the bodies back the way they had come. The bodies they had to pass to get out. She didn't want Drago to have nightmares that included the dead bodies of his guardians.

"Drago, I need you to do something for me."

Her brother looked at her with complete trust, and Alura thought her heart would burst. Even in her wildest dreams she couldn't have imagined being able to save him from his fate, and now on top of that she would get to raise him as her own.

"I'm going to carry you because we need to hurry and I need you to keep your eyes closed until I tell you to open them, okay?"

Drago frowned slightly but said, "Okay."

He closed his brown eyes, so like their father's, and lay his little head on her shoulder.

"We have to go," Telemachus said.

Alura nodded and followed him back out of the room. She knew he was taking point to protect them, and if he started going the wrong way she'd be able to correct him. But as they moved through the structure, Drago's eyes open once they had left the bodies several rooms behind, Telemachus unerringly went straight back to the entrance to the shaft to the surface.

"Thank you," Alura said whole-heartedly to Telemachus when he faced her.

He smiled and briefly cupped the side of her face in a comforting gesture before turning away from her so she could transfer Drago to his back.

Alura kissed the little boy's forehead and lifted him so his arms were around Telemachus' neck and his legs were gripping the older man's hips. Alura bit her lip. Would he be able to hold on all the way to the top? She put a restraining hand on Telemachus' arm and took off her long-sleeved shirt. She had a tank top underneath, and she was glad their exercise session had been interrupted so she had kept on the extra layer. She threaded the shirt through Drago's belt and moved around to Telemachus' front to tie the shirt snugly around his waist, double knotting the material.

"Not too tight?" she asked.

"It's fine," Telemachus answered. Quieter, he said, "He'll be fine."

Alura bit her lip but nodded. She watched as Telemachus began ascending the ladder.

There goes my future, she thought, then wondered if it could possibly be true about both males.

She felt her face flush at the thought and shook her head to clear it of useless dreams. The truth about who she was would make the others on the Andromeda look at her differently. Once the truth was out, she and Drago probably wouldn't be onboard the Andromeda long enough for anything to develop further between herself and Telemachus. As soon as she could get the Dance fixed, with or without Harper's help, they would leave and she would begin her new life as someone's mother.

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Telemachus reached the top of the ladder and pulled himself and his burden out into the night air. He untied Alura's shirt from around his waist and eased Drago onto the ground. The little boy held his sister's shirt against his body, glancing around, his eyes bright with curiosity.

Didn't they ever let the kid outside? Telemachus wondered before he realized that something felt wrong.

As Alura climbed into view and picked Drago back up when he reached for her, Telemachus looked around himself. After a minute, he spotted the problem. One of the slipfighters' silhouettes was wrong. It appeared that one of the fighters was now just a pile of rubble.

"Alura."

Alura looked where he pointed and paled. Together, they moved toward their landing site. As they got closer, they could see that debris from a Magog swarm ship had fallen on the fighter. Drago was the first of them to look up into the sky. His gasp caused the two adults to look as well.

The battle raging in space was much bigger than the one they had flown through to get down to the planet. It didn't appear there would be any extra slipfighters for the Andromeda to spare to pick them up anytime soon.

Alura handed Drago to Telemachus and pled, "Take him, please. I'll stay hidden until another ship can be sent."

"No," Telemachus vehemently denied her plea. "I won't leave you down here."

Alura opened her mouth to argue, but Telemachus handed Drago back to her and growled, "Your son will need you. Who would take care of him if something happened to you?"

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Drago's hold on her tightened at Telemachus' words. Telemachus had just made it impossible for her to choose both of their lives over hers, but somehow she couldn't be mad at him about it. Tears came to her eyes as she looked at him, but she couldn't find the words to tell him what he had come to mean to her. He took the choice away from by gently pushing her toward the remaining slipfighter.

"Don't forget to come back for me," he teased to lighten the tense situation.

Alura half-laughed and turned her head back to him to tease him back, but he surprised her by pulling her violently back toward him. Drago was caught between their two bodies, sheltered by both of them. Telemachus had one arm wrapped around her back and one cradling her head so that it ducked forward toward his shoulder. He had spun them so his back was toward the fighter.

A crash filled the night air with sound and slightly shook the ground under their feet, making her jump and clutch Drago tighter with one arm and wrap the other around the man protecting her. Telemachus released her head after a few seconds and she raised her gaze to his. His eyes were as wide as hers felt.

She nodded when he softly asked, "Alright?"

They were both breathing hard from the shock.

"What was that?" Drago whispered from between them.

Both adults turned their heads toward the impact site. The second fighter had been demolished, a disabled Magog swarm ship smashing the nose into the ground. Alura swore when a few Magog climbed out of the craft. She pulled away and set Drago down next to Telemachus, the man moving himself between the Magog and the child.

Alura pulled one of her force lances out of its holster and pressed a couple buttons. The sections slid out until it was full length, one end of it coming to a sharp point. Gauging the distance carefully, she pulled her arm back and let the weapon fly. It landed less than a foot from the Magog ship, sticking up out of the ground at an angle.

She turned to the two with her and picked up Drago, telling Telemachus, "Run."

He immediately did as she asked. Ten seconds after they started running, an explosion roared behind them, the heat of it sending a rush of warm air their way. Alura and Telemachus stopped running to inspect the damage, Alura once more setting her brother down.

Although the swarm ship was a charred hull, a handful of Magog was still moving, and the two of them picked off a couple before the rest took cover. Alura took out her second gun and handed it to Drago.

"You know how to use that, right?"

The little boy nodded and held the gun properly.

"If the Magog get passed us, use it."

Tears filled Drago's eyes and he whimpered. "But I wanna live with you."

Alura's breath caught in her throat and she quickly knelt down, hugging the boy. She kissed his cheek gently and said softly, "You will, I promise. But I need to know you're safe while I go fight the Magog, okay?"

"Okay," Drago whispered his tone reluctant.

"Take care of the one on the right, I'll try to keep the other two occupied."

Alura followed Telemachus' directive, moving quickly to where she had last seen the single Magog on the right. He popped up closer than she had expected, but she was still able to shoot him before he could attack her. She frowned at the lack of hair on the Magog's face and the fact that he was wearing clothes. He was the strangest Magog she had ever seen, and she had seen more than she could count in her reality.

Looking around for Telemachus, Alura spotted him struggling in close combat with two of the dressed and sparsely haired Magog. They were tussling too closely together for her to get a clear shot without risking injury to Telemachus.

She ran to his aid, slashing her bone blades into the neck of the Magog trying to claw at his back. Freed of the second assailant, Telemachus snarled and flipped the other one onto the ground, slamming his forearm down into its chest, bone blades piercing fabric and flesh.

Alura was suddenly jumped from behind, falling to the ground. But just as quickly the body on top of hers stopped moving. A few seconds later, Telemachus lifted the weight off of her.

"Thanks," she breathed out.

He smiled and shook his head, pointing behind her. Drago was standing there, scowling at the dead creature. He looked up at the two adults.

"I don't like Magog," he stated matter-of-factly.

For some reason, Alura found this very funny and she pulled Drago toward her, laughing. Assured that there were no more immediate threats, Telemachus sat down beside them and laughed, too. A minute later, when they had all sobered again, Telemachus pulled out his communicator.

"I think it's time to call in the cavalry."

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Preview: The first rescue plan goes awry, and who should come up with the plan B but... Harper?!?