Chapter 22

"Dylan, I'm detecting a Slipstream event," Andromeda's hologram announced, appearing next to Dylan's desk.

Dylan, glad from the respite from the paperwork pushed it aside. "Friendly or hostile?" he asked.

"Friendly," Andromeda said, breaking into a smile. "It's the Dusky Rose."

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Terla walked down the Rose's ramp to cheers from the members of the crew who had dropped by the hanger, almost fifty people. She had done some tricky maneuvering and guided the Slip drive into place, ao all the engineers had to do was hook it up, and Andromeda would be Slipstream-capable again. Terla was in her form as Liara, except she now appeared twenty compared to her earlier form as eight years old.

She was greeted by the senior officers as the others dispersed to their duties. "Harper is already working on the Slipstream Core?" Terla asked, noting Harper's absence. "Where is Trance?"

"Not here," Dylan answered. "I can't thank you enough for delivering the Slipstream drive."

"It wasn't exactly easy," Terla said. "But it's one small step toward repaying my debt." She hesitated. "May I ask a favor?"

"Shoot," Beka said.

"Can I join the crew?"

Silence.

"I have a lot of skills," Terla added quickly. "Obviously the ability to shapeshift, along with the magic I wield. I wouldn't eat much, and I can sleep on the Rose-"

"Let me discuss this with the rest of the senior officers," Dylan said finally.

"Having a shapeshifter on board could be a very good thing," Telemachus noted in a low tone. "An I believe what she told Beka and me; she won't betray us again."

"Plus, she has abilities I can't explain," Rommie added. "When she teleported into the Slipstream Core, I could not detect tesseracts or anything."

"And she sure as hell used magic on me," Beka said. "Ropes that turned into snakes, paralysis-"

"Would she use that against us?" Dylan asked.

Beka and Telemachus looked at each other. "I don't think so," Beka said finally.

"I agree," Telemachus added.

"Alright, what do you think, Rommie?"

"She would be a powerful ally," the android noted. "And the addition of another low-profile cargo ship besides the Maru would be good."

"Okay." Dylan turned to face Terla. "All right you can join. But-" he held up a hand to keep her from talking. "You're going to have to take orders from me, and if you betray us again..."

Terla nodded solemnly. Her voluminous purple robes morphed into a Commonwealth uniform similar to Rhade's. "Private Terla reporting for duty, Cap'n Hunt."

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"Hey, Dylan," Harper appeared on the viewscreen in Command. "Just thought you might want to know that me and my team of highly talented engineers have connected the new Slipstream drive. Rhade, we're going to find your sister." Harper paused. "Is she hot?"

Dylan cut the transmission and looked behind him to see Telemachus grinning uncontrollably, and Beka break into a huge smile. She pulled down the Slipstream controls. "Rommie, you got the slipfighters' course for me, right?"

"Affirmative," Rommie replied, and a complex grid of Slip points appeared on the viewscreen.

Dylan's face fell. "Beka, can you handle all that?"

Beka gripped the controls with fresh determination. "Let's bring it," she ordered, and Andromeda jumped into Slipstream.

Telemachus kept his eyes trained on the Slipstream route. Time elapsed, five minutes, then half an hour, then forty-five minutes, and with each passing minute Telemachus's hope lessened. Slipfighters were not built for long times in the 'Stream. Stay in past the roughly two-hour time limit and one of two things will happen; the fighter's outer hull will collapse from the pressure, or the Slipstream drive will melt down from the strain.

Finally Andromeda jumped out of Slipstream. Rommie announced that her sensor scans detected only the wreckage of one slipfighter and nothing else.

"Where are they?" Telemachus whispered.

A/N: Where did they go, George, where did they go? :P Sorry, I just had a Loony Tunes moment. Depressingly short, but I thought that was a good time to leave off. We're approaching the end of 'Echoes of the Past', only a few more chapters to go!