Summary: Beka and Rommie's relationship progresses.
Codes: Beka/Rommie
Disclaimer: Tribune owns all rights to Andromeda. I just borrowed them for use in my twisted little tale. I don't own "You Are," either; it's by Jimmy Wayne.
Rating: PG
Spoilers: Diverges after "Waking the Tyrant's Device." Anything before that may be used.
Feedback: Please! I love praise and constructive criticism, but flames will be used to sacrifice my homework to the gods of writing.
Archive: Ask first and I'll probably say yes.
Author's Note: Happy and rather long fluff piece... What I do when I should be doing work.
In Love
By B.L.A. the Mouse
"I'm intoxicated by your touch/ It's a sweet, sweet rush/ I'm in love with your kiss..."
-Ancient Earth lyric, circa 7137 CY
Rommie could feel the tensed muscles relaxing under her touch as she slowly kneaded Beka's shoulders. "You know, you shouldn't try to do that many slipjumps in a row."
"Hm?" Beka lifted her head. She obviously hadn't been listening.
"I said, you shouldn't do that many slipjumps in a row. You can seriously stress yourself."
"I know, but we had to get here."
"Harper could have made a few jumps," she argued. "Here?"
"Right there..." Beka dipped her head back, moaned slightly as Rommie pressed on the spot.
When Harper appeared on her sensors, Rommie greeted him without looking over, instead concentrating on rubbing at another, obviously sore spot. After a moment, she realized that he hadn't said anything and that his biosigns had risen slightly. "Harper!"
Beka caught it. "Seamus, you pervert, knock it off."
"Knock what off?" he asked. Now, as Rommie turned to face him and let her hands drop, he moved from the spot that he'd been standing at. "I was just admiring the view of... such inspiring companionship!"
"Ha. Ha. Ha." Beka nudged him as she walked past, just enough to throw him off-balance. "And I'll believe that one when the Nietzscheans learn diplomacy."
"Well, we signed up the Sabra-Jaguar, didn't we?"
"Yeah, and they've defected to Tyr's empire-in-progress," she pointed out. "Harper, it's your turn, I'm going down to the Maru."
"Check, boss."
Rommie followed Beka out into the passageway. "You're going to do repairs after that?"
"Yes, because it needs to be done and Harper's too busy fixing you to worry about it."
"I'm sorry to keep getting in battles." A half-smile lurked as she said that, and she was sure Beka noticed.
"Don't worry about it, you're prettier anyway." She grinned. "Want to help me?"
"All right, for a little while at least. But I want one other thing first." It was dangerous playing this game in the corridors, especially since her mainframe was so unhappy.
"Hm... This, maybe?" Beka leaned over and gave her a kiss, one that was almost chaste.
Rommie smiled. "That's it."
Beka laughed. "You're putty in my hands, you know that?"
"I'm beginning to realize that, yes." She paused as they began walking down the passageway. "It's odd. Human emotions."
"What do you mean?" Her hand slid down, twisted around Rommie's.
If Rommie didn't know better, she'd have thought that Beka was insecure. She tightened her grip, careful, mindful of the frailties of human flesh, before releasing it. "I'm still working out how I feel about this."
"That makes two of us. I'm still trying to figure out how it happened."
They entered the hangar bay; mindful of the possibility of other presences, among them Andromeda herself, Rommie changed the subject. "What needs repairs?"
"What doesn't? I'm tempted to start charging Dylan for repairs." She tapped in the code for the airlock door- with the number of crew about, it was kept locked. "I'm going to work on the engines, though, they're permanently damaged anymore."
"I don't know much about the Maru's engines. I'm afraid I won't be much help."
"That's all right, I can always use a go-fer." She gave her another kiss and led the way into the engine room, picking up a tool kit on the way.
Beka did most of the work. Rommie assisted, learning several new words that weren't in her translation matrix- probably because there wasn't much use for a warship's AI to know obscenities in languages other than Common.
She had been serious when she had said that she wasn't sure how she felt about "this." She'd had no intention of initiating a relationship with Beka. Her android and computer selves had argued several times already, with passing crewmembers giving them a very wide berth.
Eventually they finished the engines. Beka sat up, pushing her hair back. "You've been quiet."
"I was thinking."
"How you ended up helping repair engines for a kiss?"
"Among other things, yes." Rommie couldn't prevent smiling when Beka did.
"It happened. And I can always increase your wages."
"To what?"
"This." The kiss was not short and decidedly not chaste. After she pulled back, Rommie couldn't help the grin that stretched across her lips, and she ducked her head in order to hide the blush she felt creeping up her cheeks. "Hey, no doing that, I like seeing you after I've kissed you."
Rommie glanced up. "I think that works as payment, yes."
"Good." She smirked, taking Rommie's hand and pulling her up as she stood. She didn't let go after they were both standing. "Does this mean that I can get you to help me with navigation?"
Rommie blushed again. "I would, but I should go up to Command with Harper."
"All right. I'll see you later, then." She kissed her again, just to see her turn pink, Rommie thought.
When she left the Maru, she glanced down at the hand that Beka had held- it had oily smudges, obviously from fingerprints, smeared across the palm and the back. I'd better wash this off before I go to Command, she realized. Who knew what Harper would think?
Over half an hour later, Beka set down the tool she'd been using to recalibrate one of the thruster controls. Stretching, she decided to take a break- and get a drink, she added mentally, licking dry lips. She smiled as she tasted Rommie's lipstick.
She had no idea what happened. She'd been perfectly happy one minute, with no thoughts of doing anything with anyone, and then she'd found herself falling for the ship's AI. And falling she definitely was. It had been a while since she'd felt her stomach doing flip-flops at the sight of someone's smile, or her lips stretching into a grin just at the sound of someone's voice, but now she was getting it full force.
She hadn't when it came to Tyr; anything with him had been felt somewhere other than her stomach, at least at the beginning, and then it had transited to an easy companionship with sparks on an irregular basis. After he'd left, though, she'd found herself spending more and more time with Rommie.
It was wholly logical as to why. With Tyr gone, Rommie was the strongest of the crew that had been with Dylan for longer than a few months. Beka, being first officer, needed protection on missions. Naturally, they were paired more often. It carried over into off-duty life, too. Harper may have had more help with repairing the ship, but he used the extra time to work on his projects, so she tended to seek out Rommie more and more.
Beka wrenched her thoughts back to the repairs that she was planning to do, only one more for the day. Unfortunately, cleaning and fine-tuning valves was less interesting than what her mind apparently wanted to think about.
"I am so screwed," she groaned, thunking her palm against her forehead.
"Why did the Institute see fit to give us- you- emotions?" Andromeda asked, rolling light-beam-generated eyes toward the overhead.
"And why you- we- see fit to act on them, especially when fraternization with the crew is strictly prohibited?" her viewscreen image tacked on.
"The Maru crew was never given an official rank," Rommie argued. "And the AI fraternization protocols were never clearly set out before the Fall."
"Only because the programmers were going into a new area of tech when the first of us were built," her mainframe observed.
The hologram added, "They would have expected us to behave in accordance with previously set principles."
"That was the old Commonwealth."
"And the protocols were written for a reason that's still valid now. May I remind you of the Pax Magellanic?" The viewscreen again.
"I'd rather you didn't," she retorted smartly. That memory still stung, and it was unfair for... herself... to bring it up.
Just then, Harper walked into the machine shop. Rommie realized, cringing, that the door was open. "Do you know that I could hear you across this entire section?" he commented, almost conversationally, as he hefted one of the tools on a nearby workbench.
Her hologram snapped to attention. "I beg your pardon?"
"Don't worry, there were only one or two other people around." He set down the tool, frowning, and turned so he could see all her facets. "What's going on? The last time I heard you arguing like this, you'd had your back-up take over."
"My avatar has embarked on a course of action that we consider inadvisable," her viewscreen explained stiffly.
"Ah- one sec." He stepped over to the hatch, closing it. "Andromeda, is there any way that you could stay here and not let anyone else hear?"
"For some reason, Harper, some systems in this room aren't working. I'm having problems with my recording devices."
"Thanks." He faced all three of her again. "So what's going on?"
Her hologram spoke up. "My avatar has... entered into a relationship."
"When did this happen? Aren't I supposed to notice when someone does that to me?"
Rommie knew the flippant response was to hide the hurt. She couldn't have worked with him for three years without knowing that. "I'm sorry..."
"I know, Captain Terrific. Story of my life." He held up his hands. "So what happened? You fell on his lips?"
"No." Rommie shrugged. She didn't want to tell him. It would hurt him badly enough if it actually was Dylan; when he found out that it was his other captain, he'd be heartbroken, and she didn't want him to suffer. The longer he thought it was Dylan, the better- she hoped.
"Okay... so you're involved with Dylan. Is that it?"
"It's more complicated than that." It was her mainframe. "Of course."
"Um... I keep getting the feeling that I've got an entire 747 missing my head by a few inches. Are you going to explain?"
"We'd rather not," Rommie informed him, shooting a glare in the direction of the screen and then another at the hologram. "We are merely having a difference of opinion over it."
The hologram crossed her arms and said, "If you wish to simplify it to astonishing levels."
"So it's about Dylan, the two of you are doing anything from holding hands to- um- Why not just throw in perpetual motion and make it easier?"
"Because that's impossible. This is just complicated."
He looked between the three identically pouting faces. "Okay. How 'bout I let you sort this out and you come find me if you need help?"
"That might be best. Thank you, though." Rommie smiled as warmly as she could manage, while her other two selves remained silent.
Harper gave her a salute with a tool before departing with it, leaving her with herselves. After a moment, the hologram continued, "I fail to see how you can ignore fraternization protocols. Our programming clearly states..."
Beka sprawled on the sofa in the senior officer's lounge; the news was scrolling by on the screen, but she was hardly paying attention to it. Harper had said something in passing about walking in on an argument between the AI components, and when she'd pressed him he'd just shrugged. She felt pretty sure that she knew what it was about, though.
She actually felt guilty over it. She'd kissed Rommie first, after all. On the other hand, though, Rommie had been the one who'd started flirting with her. Of course, she hadn't had to respond in kind... She groaned and gently thumped her head against the sofa cushion.
The hatch whirred open right as she tried concentrating. She ignored it for a moment, assuming that it was someone there for a drink or to play cards, before she heard Rommie say, "Mind if I join you?"
"Go ahead." She sat up to make room, and the android sat down, close enough that their legs brushed if either of them moved. On an impulse, she reached over to slide an arm around Rommie's shoulders.
To her surprise, she sighed, just the slightest sound of moving air, and leaned on her shoulder. She even slithered her own arm around the small of Beka's back- and Beka for some reason felt an idiotic grin stretch across her face. They sat like that in silence for some minutes before Rommie volunteered, "We argued again today. I did, I mean."
"Harper said. Still nothing?"
"No. We can't agree between us. It's... difficult."
Beka gave her a kiss on the forehead. "We'll figure something out. You'll- all three of you- er, Andromeda... Dammit, you do know all syntax breaks down around you?"
"Yes. Somebody points that out once a week on average. But I do know what you mean."
"It'll get sorted out. Eventually," she restated. She paused, tilting her head to look at Rommie. "In the meantime... Have you ever heard of the Human custom of making out?"
"The term is defined in my database, but I believe an illustration is in order." She smiled.
Beka grinned and moved to kiss her, on her lips this time. She responded eagerly, almost climbing into her lap.
Rommie caught on quickly, and was inching her hand up Beka's stomach, just under her shirt, when the hologram flickered in front of them. She had her arms crossed, and wore an expression that suggested that someone had just been sick in front of her. Clearing her throat delicately, she waited until they looked up. "Dylan is coming this way. I suggest you move apart."
Rommie frowned. "I thought we didn't approve."
"I look out for my crew's well-being. Dylan's reaction would not be conducive to Beka's well-being." She blinked out as soon as they were apart, casting a scowl at their hands.
It was perfect timing, too, as the captain walked in. "Anything new?" he asked, passing them on his way to the bar.
"The usual. Crime, corruption, and scheming, and that's just the Commonwealth."
"We're trying." He stopped, turned, frowned at them. Beka felt her heart jump, then halt entirely, until he said, "Rommie? Why are you watching news?"
"Crew bonding activity," she responded smoothly.
"Right."
As he resumed his search, Beka relaxed, glancing down at their linked pinkie fingers.
Dylan was sitting behind his desk when Beka and Rommie stepped in. Her hologram flickered in immediately behind Dylan, scowling at them. "What's this about?" Dylan looked them both over and changed it to, "What's wrong?"
Rommie hung back and let Beka do the talking. She had been the one to decide that they should tell him, but wasn't sure how to go about it. Beka was more comfortable confronting Dylan, so they'd decided that she should at least start the conversation. "Nothing's wrong, but we thought we should bring something to your attention."
"Which is?"
Beka reached her hand out to Rommie, who came up beside her and took it, before saying, "We're together." It was more tentative than Rommie could ever remember Beka being.
"Together on what?" Then it clicked, as Andromeda "hmph"ed behind him. "What?"
They exchanged a glance as he continued. "Do you have any idea how many protocols you're breaking? Please tell me you're kidding."
"No, Captain," Rommie said slowly, knowing the title use would make an impression. "And we're well aware of the rules regarding crew fraternization."
"Don't say anything with the names Jill Pierce or Captain Warrick," Beka warned him. As an afterthought, she tacked on, "Or Gabriel. I'm not using Rommie, and she's not changing herself for me."
"How can I be sure of that?"
"I don't know how you can be sure. But I can assure you I'm not. And if I mess up with her, I need you to let me know- I don't want to make a mistake."
Rommie looked over at Beka, surprised by the vehemence that she said that with. Beka looked back and smiled. "What?"
"Nothing important." But she felt herself smile in response.
"I hate to interrupt this touching moment," the captain said, somewhat sarcastically, "but I believe there's also the fact that you're not allowed to be involved anyway?"
"Nothing explicitly forbids it," Rommie supplied, looking at him now. "As Beka and her crew were not given official High Guard rank, there is no problem with intra-crew relationships. Ship's AIs were never programmed against participating in relationships except among the crew."
"Despite the fact that there was no way our programmers could have foreseen our particular circumstances," the hologram commented.
Dylan jumped, obviously not realizing that she was there. He recovered quickly, though. "That's precisely my point. AIs were never programmed for this."
"And AIs can't grow beyond their programming? Do you maybe remember the one you gave captaincy to?" Beka argued.
"And he grew well. By the same token, the Balance of Judgement and the Pax Magellanic grew beyond their programming, and they went insane."
For once, Rommie and her mainframe were in complete agreement. "Excuse me!" they said together. The two humans were left looking between them.
"Gabriel was not representative of all AIs," Andromeda chided.
"Most of the AIs at Tarturus were and are perfectly sane and capable of running themselves," Rommie rebuked.
"While I may have emotional problems-"
"I am by no means going to become unstable." She looked at herself critically. "'Emotional problems'? We were programmed with emotions! And before this body was even built you were-"
Dylan cut her off. "You're much younger than the ships at Tartarus, in real time anyway. If your personality develops much further, there's no idea how it'll change. It wasn't that long ago you were begging me to erase you," he added, unnecessarily.
Rommie felt her eyes sting, and Andromeda looked to be on the verge of unleashing internal defenses at him. Beka stepped in. "Just because she's younger, she's not allowed to know her own mind? Besides," she fixed Dylan with a glare, "I already told you, I'm not going to do that to Rommie."
"Dylan," Rommie interrupted, "do you know why we decided to tell you this?" She didn't wait for an answer. "We thought that, as captain, you should know first. We knew what problems you'd raise, and we've already gone over the regs. There's nothing that specifically forbids it. We can also assure you that most of the ships that have had problems were deprived of crew, rather than involved with them."
"So I'm the first one to know this? You've been keeping that discrete?"
"Well..." Beka hesitated. "Trance might. We're not sure, but something she said made me think that she did. Otherwise... Rommie's the ship."
"Right." Dylan sat back down, put his head in his hands. "It's not going to make any difference whether I say yes or no, will it?"
"Not this time," Rommie said softly.
"Then I suppose I can't really argue." He lifted his head. "I don't think it's a good idea, though."
"Thanks." Beka turned, obviously considering the interview over, but Rommie tugged at her hand when Dylan cleared his throat. The android noticed, in passing, that her hologram looked impotently furious.
"Just be gentle when you tell Harper."
The next morning Beka was slated for Command duty. Rommie had joined her as she'd eaten breakfast; she didn't have duty, but decided to go up anyway, as she wanted to talk to Harper about some programming he was thinking of implementing. After they'd walked together for a moment, she reached over and took Beka's hand. At the startled look she received, she explained, "We already told Dylan..."
Beka nodded, wrapping their hands more securely. "You're sure?"
"Yes." She was incredibly nervous, but she didn't see any point to putting it off any more. Beka must have realized that, as she gave her hand a squeeze when they rounded the last curve of the passageway before Command.
Harper was just leaving when they reached the entrance. They didn't say much as they split up: Beka let go of Rommie's hand, said, "I'll see you later." She very gently put a hand on Harper's shoulder, consolatory, before dropping it and going to her station.
Rommie stopped in front of Harper, waiting for him to say something. His heartrate had jumped when he'd seen them, and again when Beka had touched him. She hated his expression- he looked sad, and lost, and... betrayed. That was what bothered her the most, she thought, that he looked like his best friend had sold him out, and in a way she had. She ignored the brief flicker of "I told you so," from her mainframe.
After a while, disturbingly long, he croaked, "It wasn't Dylan you were arguing about, was it?" She shook her head. "Beka?" A nod. "Since when?"
"I don't know if you remember- it was two and a half months ago- when I was rubbing her shoulders in Command? And you came in? It was... three weeks before that. When we kissed." Rommie looked him in the eye. "I'm sorry, Harper. I didn't know how to tell you."
He nodded, slowly, as he digested it. "I wish you had. Beka's like my sister, you know? And you..."
"I know." She twisted her fingers together. "And I'm not surprised if you're mad."
"I'm not mad." His voice was more distant, now, than before. "I'm disappointed as hell, but I'm not mad. Who knows?"
"Dylan. We're not sure whether Trance does. And anyone that saw us on the way up here."
He snorted. "So I'm not the last person you told. Though this does explain the snit your mainframe went into..."
"It was not a 'snit.'" Andromeda's disembodied voice echoed slightly. "They were protected files that you had no right to access."
Rommie accessed her mainframe. "You recorded us?"
"We record everyone."
"Yes, but a discussion with our captain does not require a triple-security lock!"
"At the time, it was sensitive information."
Harper stepped in. "I think it can be unlocked, it's not sensitive anymore." He faced Rommie. "I wish this hadn't happened, you know that. But if it had to... I'm glad it was with Beka. You both deserve it."
Rommie lifted an eyebrow at that, but decided on analyzing inflections that it was meant well. "Thank you." She could feel her mainframe's disapproval echoing down the link, but ignored it.
They should have expected it. It wouldn't take long for the whole ordeal to reach the ears of the admiralty, what little remained. Between the battle of the different fleets, the resulting fragmentation, and the swift, pointed elimination of those opposing Nietzschean unification, there were few left. All the same, it was a shock to Beka when Admiral Pyne arrived.
Dylan escorted her to his office. The closed meeting between the admiral and the captain lasted three quarters of an hour, and Beka was on tenterhooks throughout it. She waited it out in the officer's lounge, Rommie with her. The android was nervous as well; her mainframe had locked her out, as she was a party in this. The third time Beka got up to pace, though, Rommie smiled. "What?"
"Harper's working on allowing me access. He says he should be done in a moment, and it's only taken him this long because he has to avoid my mainframe." She added, prompting, "That means you can relax."
"I can't. Rommie, if this goes badly, we're screwed, and not in the fun sense."
"I know." She turned to get into Beka's path and stopped her by cupping her jaw in her hands.
"I don't believe this- I'm scared."
Rommie's smile turned wry. "I am, as well. I'm an AI, remember? You can be dismissed, but I can be erased."
She shook her head. "We won't let them. They'll have to get though me, Harper, Dylan, and Trance, and that's not even going outside of the Command crew. And I doubt you would let them do it without a fight, either."
"Beka, Rommie, come to my office." Dylan's voice was broadcast over the comm.
Beka sighed. "Here goes nothing." She leaned forward and kissed her, playing their mouths together for long minutes.
"Why?"
"Because we might not be together again, and I don't want to miss this chance." She searched the android's face before giving her one last, short kiss and leading the way out.
Admiral Pyne was an upright woman of perhaps fifty. She remained sitting behind Dylan's desk as the two of them entered. Dylan stood, and it looked like he had been pacing, next to the desk. The hologram stood at the other end of the desk; she looked as pale as a hologram patterned on humans could. Beka and Rommie took a place in front of the desk, as the only other chair was by Dylan.
"Are both of you aware of what you are accused of and the implications thereof?" At their nod, the admiral continued, "While there are no explicit restrictions against this relationship, I am forced to decide against it. The regulations are there for a reason, as you are no doubt aware. The Andromeda was the ship to encounter the Pax Magellanic, after all." The hologram and Rommie turned slightly red, probably incensed at the comparison to their sister ship.
"Your captain and computer argued for you, as well as Mister Harper. While some of their points were valid, they provided insufficient reason for me to condone this. Captain Valentine," she paused focusing on Beka, who felt her skin prickle. "If you continue in this relationship, your rank will be dropped, from captain to commander. You will still retain first officer status, however. Andromeda," and now when she turned her head, she fixed both facets in her gaze, "if you continue to have personal relations with Captain Valentine, the consequences will be severe. You may be forced to sever your link with your android body, or even be erased entirely."
Beka took a quick glance at Rommie, who now looked pale and shocked. She had a feeling that if she were human, she'd be shaking.
Admiral Pyne looked toward Dylan. "Captain, if I may return to my shuttle..."
"Of course." He let in a pair of guards to escort her back. As soon as the hatch closed behind her, three things happened: he collapsed into his chair, the hologram blinked out, and Beka slipped her arms around Rommie as she let out a choked sob. Only a moment later, Trance and Harper rushed in and started asking questions.
The first decisive action by any of them was Beka pulling her gun and charging it. The whine cut through the noise and confusion like nothing else. She looked over at Dylan. "I could do it, you know, and no one would have to know." She wanted to do something about the seething mass at the base of her stomach. Rommie's eyes were red, though no tears had yet fallen, and that pushed her past her limit.
"Beka, you can't kill a High Guard admiral," Dylan said, but his tone wasn't it.
"Why not? She'd be willing to kill me. And since I'm apparently doomed anyway, I can do it." Beka looked at Rommie, noticing the rigid inflections to her voice.
"What do you mean, she'd be willing to kill you?" Harper was frantic, his voice nearly squeaking.
Dylan sounded almost sepulchral now. "Rommie stands a very good chance of being erased."
Harper's jaw dropped, and Trance looked almost as angry as Rommie and Beka.
"Official Commonwealth documentation states that a decision regarding crew fraternization may be appealed in a military court," Andromeda said, hologram flickering in behind Beka. She twisted to see her- her face was set in anger. "The process should take two months for a hearing petition to be approved."
"And until then?" Dylan prompted.
"Either Beka and my avatar cease their activities, pending the results- or they continue and risk a sentence, also pending the results." She looked... like she couldn't decide between unloading the missile ports at the departing admiral or firing internal defenses at her own avatar, Beka decided, from the way she was looking at Rommie.
Harper had apparently decided to attack the Commonwealth. "So they didn't mind that their avatar fell for the captain three hundred years ago, but now when-"
"They were fighting a war, Mister Harper," Dylan said wearily, cutting him off.
"And of course we're just having grand galas with everyone in the universe."
"Harper..." He rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I assume you want to start the legal proceedings?"
"Two words: Hell. Yeah." Beka slid her gun back into the holster.
Next to her, Rommie added, "I would prefer that."
"Andromeda?"
"I already began the proceedings."
Beka glanced back, surprised. The hologram looked utterly emotionless now, her hands clasped behind her. Still, she gave her a small smile.
"All right, everyone can go. I'll let you know what happens." He gave Trance a significant look as he said, "That means that if you're on duty, be on Command deck five minutes ago." She zipped out, Harper trailing her. Beka and Rommie followed, more slowly.
The walk- aimless, in no direction- was silent. At last, when there weren't any other crew around, Beka stopped them. She couldn't stand the silence anymore. "What do you want?"
"What?"
"What do you want?" she repeated. "I mean, yeah, you want to go against the admiral's decision, but what else?"
"I'm not sure what you mean..."
"Do you want to continue with this? You have much more to lose, and I don't want to have forced you into making the wrong choice." She reached up, slid fingers caressingly over her jaw. "It's up to you."
"I..." Her mouth opened; she didn't seem to know what to say. "I don't know..."
"When will I learn?" A viewscreen lit up nearby, and on it Andromeda crossed her arms and looked irritated. "She's not insane. She has genuine respect for us. Her heartrate and respiration go up with my proximity. She's willing to risk her career for us. And we stand a very good chance of winning against the Commonwealth's decision."
"And... Rom..." Beka wasn't sure what to say.
"Just kiss me already!" she snapped.
Rommie took the initiative and kissed her. When she pulled back, though, she looked confused. "I didn't-"
"I know. But I wanted to, and it's logical." The viewscreen went back to its normal display.
"I think... that we need to talk." Beka bit her lip. "Your mainframe seems to have made your- her- uh..."
"This time, our decision." Rommie stepped up and lifted her chin to kiss Beka, sweetly and slowly. When it ended, she stayed near. "Beka?"
"Yeah?" She was already slightly dazed, but the next sentence sent her reeling.
"Do you want to come to my quarters?"
Rommie stepped inside the bedroom and surveyed the mess. Clothes were scattered on the bed, and flexies and holonovels were stacked precariously on one of the nightstands. Beka's, of course; hers had only one or two essentials neatly arranged. "Beka?"
"Rom-" Thud. "Ow!" A holonovel case shifted, jarred, and slid off the stack, making a dull thump and then a clatter as it met the floor. "Dammit!"
Beka got up from where she had been, on her hands and knees, on the opposite side of the bed. She was shaking one hand and rubbing a spot on her head with the other. "A little warning, next time?"
"I thought you heard me come in," she said mildly. "What were you doing?" She could have just checked with her mainframe, but had found that it seemed somehow rude to observe Beka in any other capacity than crew without her knowledge.
"Trying to clean this up." She gestured. "I knocked something off, and I was reaching under the bed to get it when you startled me."
"I'm sorry." Rommie went around the bed, checked Beka over. "You may have a bruise or two, that's all."
"Thanks." She gave the android a smile before picking up one of the shirts, shaking it out and refolding it.
Rommie retrieved the holonovel and a flexi from under the bed. She was puzzled at the clothes on the bed. "Didn't those come from the ship's laundry this morning?"
"Yes. You know that." She glanced at the bed before muttering, "I fell asleep on them."
"Why?"
"I was tired! I didn't sleep well last night, and then you woke me up early."
Rommie blinked. "You didn't mind, did you? Your response was-"
"About what anyone's would be if they were woken up by their girlfriend for that. I don't think you could find anyone who would complain. If you slept, I doubt you'd mind." She stacked the shirts in two neat piles, before disentangling underwear from a pair of pants.
"Actually, I was thinking of maybe asking Harper to create a sleep program for me."
Beka stopped, setting the garment down. "Why?"
"Because... I want to sleep. I want to sleep with you. And Harper always said that I should have the full human experience. Besides," she smirked, "I can shut it off, if the circumstances wouldn't allow me to sleep."
"Lucky. If you're sure. You're perfect anyway, but-" She was cut off by Rommie's lips on hers.
Rommie enjoyed it for a moment, then gently pushed her away. This wasn't what she came for. "Dylan received a transmission this morning. We have two weeks before we're due on Tarazed."
"Oh." Beka sat down. "So that's it. We're in trouble if this doesn't go the right way."
"I know. But if it goes the right way, everything will be fine." She smiled. There was one way to distract Beka. She straddled her legs, pushed her back onto the bed.
Beka's eyes widened, but let it go as her heartrate and body temperature increased.
Rommie couldn't help feeling that the atmosphere of the room more closely resembled a criminal trial than a civil decision. The looks they gave she and Beka suggested it, even flanked as they were by Dylan and Harper in their official capacities as captain and engineer. She kept thinking that she should be standing at attention, but she had to stand and sit with Beka.
It was fairly simple, with the original decision read out, and then various people asked questions by a military tribunal. Admiral Pyne had been interviewed, as well as Beka, Harper, Dylan, and Rommie. They'd even had in an AI specialist. The tribunal had been fairly decent, with any remotely personal questions dispassionately asked. It just felt intrusive and pointed.
Eventually the tribunal rejoined to discuss their decision. It only took a moment, and Rommie's heart sank- or would, if she had a heart- when she noticed their solemn miens. She had already become discouraged when she noticed that one member had a speech pattern peculiar to Machen Alpha; now she decided that she was destined for a scrap heap.
It helped, a little, that that Beka reached over just enough to link their pinkie fingers.
"We have decided that, given the particulars of this case, Admiral Pyne's ruling will be reversed. Captain Valentine and the Maru crew do not have official ranks and as such are exempt from regulations. However," and the admiral frowned at the grins that Rommie saw appearing on the crew's faces. She felt her own smile evaporate at the last word. "However, given the risk to the Andromeda Ascendant, if the relationship is continued, the avatar's link with the ship must be severed."
Being an android, Rommie managed to remain steady. Beka gripped her hand fully, and on the other side Harper put a hand on her arm. Dylan stayed standing, but she felt the massive exhalation that accompanied the last sentence.
"Captain Hunt is given 72 hours to begin this process, and is allowed access to any Commonwealth AI institution for this and only this purpose."
Harper turned pitying eyes on her as the tribunal filed out, and Beka gave her hand a squeeze. As soon as they had, though, almost before they realized it, she said, "It's fine. I'm almost entirely autonomous as is, so there won't be that great of a difference."
Beka scowled. "But they only punished you for this. Why? They think that you're entirely at fault?"
Before anyone else responded, Beka's wrist computer beeped. The image that filled the screen was her mainframe. "Trance and I have been monitoring transmissions. We know the verdict. Come back up before they break my link." She blinked out.
Harper whistled. "That was fast."
"You'll do it?" Rommie asked, turning to him. "On the Andromeda?"
"Of course. You think I'd let anyone else?"
Dylan turned to her; he looked exhausted. "Do you want to keep arguing it?"
"No, don't. This is probably the best thing that could happen." She turned to face Beka, this time squeezing her hand. "You'd better be worth it." She forced a grin.
The other woman hugged her tightly.
Rommie and Andromeda shared a virtual plane for the last time. Rommie stood in her big sister's hand and Andromeda loomed above her. "I'm... gratified that they decided only to separate us."
"Deleting us would have been less than advantageous. Beka is, I think, only mad that we got punished and she didn't."
Andromeda shrugged in response to that, rippling down her arm and swaying Rommie on her palm. "It's how the Commonwealth believes we should be treated."
Rommie let that one pass, looking at her hands. "I'm glad that Beka won't suffer any consequences, however. She's... very valuable."
"Her piloting skills are useful."
"It isn't her piloting that I like." She smirked at the eye roll, grateful that her mainframe decided not to pursue the emotions she'd let slip.
"You're thinking like an organic. Do you want to become one?"
"No. Organics are frail. They are weak, slow, prone to illness and damage, and age quickly."
"And you're going to give up your link for one."
"I would have given up the link if I'd gone with Gabriel," she pointed out.
"True." Andromeda frowned. "We have to separate now. Permission to use internal defenses against Beka?"
"Only if she really makes a mistake. I don't want to hurt her."
"Because you love her." The comment was mocking, but gentle.
"Something like that." Rommie felt the electronic tug. "I'll see you around." The fingers of the surrounding hand curved in to cup her as she dissolved.
Beka bit her lip, anxious. She was standing in the machine shop with Dylan and Harper, the latter working on a prone Rommie. Dylan was just worrying along with her, and they weren't the only ones; Andromeda looked on from a nearby monitor.
"I'm almost... Done!" Harper slapped his hands together. "Now add some lightning and we have our own personal Bride of Frankenstein." He flipped a concealed switch.
Beka was relieved to note that she wasn't the only one glaring at him.
She was quickly distracted by Rommie pushing herself up, though, and made sure that she was close enough to provide support if need be. "How are you feeling?"
She frowned. "Slow. Not as badly as when I powered the Maru, more like when I was trying to extract Kim."
"That's just because you're adjusting to your own power supply. You'll need to recharge more often, at least for a while." Harper ran a scanner over her, saying, "Try contacting your mainframe."
"Nothing." She sagged. Beka reached out a hand and linked their fingers together, noticing the return tight grip.
"Okay, no spikes... Run a self-diagnostic."
The orders continued. Apparently relieved that Rommie was alright, Dylan departed; Beka stayed, though, and noticed that Andromeda kept at least one screen active or the hologram in the machine shop at all times. About the time that Harper asked her to rub her stomach and pat her head, though, Rommie checked herself out.
As soon as they were safely ensconced in their quarters, Beka asked, "Are you alright?" She was still concerned about the lagging way she was moving, for Rommie anyway. For a human it was a perfectly normal speed.
"I'm fine. I'm still adjusting. It's like being on a planet, almost, with no way to contact my- Andromeda. The greater power drain is odd."
"If it's any comfort, it feels odd to me as well. I was becoming used to having a method of being tactile." The voice intruded into the room, but no image. "However, as you are now a crewmember, I can no longer do this." Andromeda's voice was faintly self-deprecating.
"That's right, you're a crewmember! What rank will you be?"
"Probably crewman or ensign. I am a newcomer, essentially, and I wouldn't be surprised if I was required to pass the academy boards."
"And you'd do it with flying colors." Beka grinned. "You've already got plenty of experience, too. I like the sound of 'Lieutenant Rommie Ascendant.' Maybe they'd even give you Commander."
"Really."
"Yeah. I never told you how much I like women in uniform, did I?"
Rommie smiled. "Did I mention my particular attraction for women in black leather?" She kissed Beka quickly.
"Do you want to... I mean, if you're not..." Beka felt awkward. She really didn't want to take advantage, especially if Rommie wasn't fully adjusted.
"Later. Definitely later. I think I'm going to go talk to Dylan about my new rank." Her eyes sparkled, and Beka grinned at her enthusiasm.
"Beka?"
"Hm?" Beka looked up at the remarkably alert face of Rommie. Harper's sleep program seemed to have turned her into more of a night owl than Harper himself in the months since it had been installed.
"You've seen more places, planets and drifts and the like, than I have. In the current climate, anyway. "
"And?" She propped herself up on her elbows; she didn't want to miss whatever was coming next.
"And I was wondering if any of them have laws allowing human-android... legal arrangements. Of a personal nature."
It took a few minutes for Beka's mind to catch up. She was exhausted from the daylong diplomatic hoops, and had been about to give herself completely over for sleep. "Waitaminute. Rommie, are you proposing to me?"
"I'm trying. I'm not very good at it." She blushed, nervous.
Beka had to smile. "No... You're very good, trust me. Better than some I've gotten."
"And?"
Another smile, this time at the unconscious mimicry. "And I'm flattered. And..." She reached up to gently caress Rommie's jaw. "If there isn't a place that does, then we can always argue the Commonwealth into it, right, Lieutenant?"
Rommie gave her that grin, the one that looked like she'd been handed a pass to the biggest arms depot in three galaxies. "Is that a yes?"
"That's a yes!" Beka felt her own lips stretching into a ridiculous grin. The kiss was sloppy, but she didn't mind, and she doubted Rommie did either.
The End