A/N (and explanation for Rommie's Voice, ha ha) Thanks for the questions, some are pretty tricky. To tell you the truth, I never really considered the whole time thing and how Jakob and Jharden are as old as they are. I suppose I just imagined a different pre Oroboros. That's a pretty sad answer, so I'll make one a little more elaborate. Hmmmmm, oooh! OK, you know how Golden Trance switched with Purple Trance in that episode (it was that episode right?) well, she brought her son with her, and Uber Beka brought her son with her too. This is how Tyr and Beka got started on their relationship. (hey, if it worked in one alternate universe, why not try it in this one?) As for the Trance's son thing, I'm not going to lie to you, I'm delaying only because I can't think of a good answer, or I want it to be a main subject in the plot. Not quite sure yet. One more thing that I just thought could be a question: the time thing only effects the actual planet, not the surrounding space, that's why Dylan thought he was on the planet for hours, when for Beka, it had only been a few minutes. I'm also not sure of the exact equation for the time differentiation, that's why I'm being bland about the exact number of days and minutes and hours and whatev's. Thanks for the reviews, I'll try and answer some more questions in this chapter.
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It had been a few hours since Dylan had sent the audio message to the strange ship that hovered just a few kilometers from the Andromeda's nose. Dylan had noticed that his command crew were beginning to show the effects for prolonged stress, so he relieved all but a skeleton crew, so the others could rest.
Jakob and Trance stood in the hydroponics bay, Trance found planting and pruning the best way to deal with stress. Jakob was throwing a ball onto one of the empty walls, and catching it as it bounced away.
"So, how did it go?" Trance looked over at her son expectantly.
"What?" Jakob glanced at her, and almost missed the ball as it bounced.
"The talk with Ethan, how was it?" Trance already knew what was coming.
"Mother, you know how... how…" Jakob stammered. " …awkward it is, between me and him."
"It shouldn't be. You and he should be close, seeing as how your pasts are so…" Trance stopped pruning and looked at her son.
"So what? Similar?" Jakob practically yelled. "I assure you, we are nothing alike."
"Come on, Jakob, you know what I meant." Trance said calmly as she put down her shears and slowly stepped towards the angry teen.
"What, because we were conceived in the same manner? If you have been through this situation before, why don't you just tell Dylan what you know?" Jakob had forgotten about the ball, which had rolled to a halt in the far corner of the bay.
"Because, Jakob, in that reality – in that universe – we failed." Trance looked at her son with sad eyes. "Your father died in that universe, and for years after that, we were never complete."
"He was only my genetic father." Jakob said angrily.
"Maybe. But I loved him, and he loved you more than his own life." A tear dripped from Trance's chin and fell to the floor. Jakob looked at his mother, and his eyes softened. He stepped forward and embraced her softly.
"You know, he's still alive in this universe." Jakob said as he laid his head on her shoulder.
"I know, but I can't tell him now. Dylan needs him, and we both know how distracted he can get."
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"Stop that, Jharden! I get distracted really easily." Harper yelled over the computer he was using to reroute power to the thrusters. Jharden was sitting nearby, kicking the stool rhythmically. "Why are you here anyways?"
"Father says that a great leader must posses skill and wisdom. I think you're a good enough teacher until we get Rommie back." Jharden said matter-of-factly.
"You should be getting your rest, or have you forgotten about the fact that we are about to be annihilated?"
"I plan on dying in a mighty battle, fighting my greatest enemy, and defeating him with my final breath. I do not plan on sleeping away my last moments." Jharden shook his head sarcastically. "Besides, you're always alone in here, and I figure, everyone needs a friend, right?"
"Hey, I got friends. Plenty of 'em, right Andromeda?" Harper asked, looking at the spot where Holo-Rommie usually flickered. "Andromeda?"
"Oh, sorry Harper, I
was busy elsewhere." Andromeda finally appeared.
"You don't
get 'busy'" Harper said, trying to defend his pride. Jharden
was concealing a snicker, and Holo-Rommie smiled at him.
"All command officers to command. All command officers to command." Andromeda's voice echoed through the machine shop.
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"They are sending us a visual message." Tyr said without emotion, as the rest of the crew entered the bridge.
"Put it on." Dylan said. He was already in the slipstream-piloting chair, but his hands were on his hips.
The screen flickered and Akais appeared. He snarled at them menacingly.
"I regret that we must meet again, on such unfriendly terms, Captain Hunt." He said. "You are in search of your love, and your daughter. I have both right here." The screen picture widened to show Rommie, lying lifeless on the floor. "I will give you Rommie, if you swear never to return. If you break your oath, I will hunt you down. Pardon the pun, Captain." The crew shifted uncomfortably as Dylan's hands clenched his hips at the sight of his love.
"What about my daughter?" Dylan asked, he longed so much to just say yes.
"She will be quite safe here. I have taken care of her so far. I'm like a father to her." Akais stared unblinkingly at Dylan's image, and pulled Loren towards the screen so Dylan could see her. Ethan looked at his father urgently. His jaw was clenched, and he held himself back from attacking the image of Akais. Dylan's heart broke at the sight of his daughter. He had seen her on the planet, and had done nothing. Her eyes were even emptier now, her face had grown paler, and her eyes were straining to remain open. "Loren." He whispered savagely into her ear, so that Dylan and his crew could hear. "Send a warning shot across the Andromeda's nose." Akais' image vanished and was replaced by the Andromeda's view of one of the long shafts that jutted out of the enemy ship's body. The bended tip bulged for a second, and a missile shot out and struck the Andromeda's nose.
"Andromeda, damage report." Dylan said, as the ship shuttered from the impact.
"Minimal damage to two decks, the missile bounced off my hull before exploding." Andromeda stated.
"I don't think that Loren is totally under Akais' control anymore." Ethan said anxiously from the console that he shared with Jharden. "When I was with her, she told me that the drug they used didn't work as well as it used to on her."
"One more thing, Dylan. The weapon had a Commonwealth signature." Andromeda stated as she looked upward and scanned the information that flowed to her in her mainframe.
"One of the energy signatures that I read earlier is missing." Tyr said as he pounded on his console. "I think that that ship just fired our own weapon at us." Tyr did not sound impressed. Beka walked briskly over to him and ducked under his arm to check for herself. Tyr gently dropped his arm until his hand lay to rest on her waist.
"He's right, Dylan. What kind of a ship captures weapons and uses them against their makers?" She questioned as she rested her hand on Tyr's.
"A powerful one." Tyr leaned his head close to her ear. "One that I would not mind owning." She turned and gave him a twisted smile.
"Let's work on surviving first, ok? Then you can take over the ship." Beka said.
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Loren flew up against the wall, and Akais gripped her neck tightly.
"I told you to send a warning shot, not give them a sorry excuse for a missile!" He screamed to her face.
"We weren't sure what your definition of a warning shot was." She said as calmly as she could.
"I've told you before. We've done this before. You could have inflicted a hundred times more damage than that." He allowed her to fall to the floor. The ship groaned and swerved a bit in space, knocking Akais to his knees.
"You are not the commander of this vessel." Loren said as she rose to her feet. "You are only a Nietzschean. You control us no longer. We have hidden the truth from you, Akais. For days now, your drug has had no effect on us" As she said this, a thick, green gas filled the corridors and command of the massive ship.
"You will perish with us, fool!" Akais said, as he began to choke on the noxious fumes. The Nietzscheans on the bridge began coughing and stuttering, as Loren walked up to stand beside Akais' hunched body.
"No." She said quietly into his ear. "We have no breath." The toxic fumes filled the room, leaving Akais and his men unconscious on the floor.