"Hey!" Beka shouted as she caught sight of the rapidly departing form up ahead of her.
No response.
"HEY!" Beka said, simulantaneously turning her swift walk into a full-fledged run. Her increased pace quickly caught up with the aide's dignified stroll. Beka slowed down to a walk as she came up beside Elva's aide. "You weren't going to stop, were you?" Beka asked with a grin.
The Monarchean came to a halt and dark eyes regarded the human coolly. Apparently, the youth decided her anger was exclusively aimed in Dylan's direction. Neeki took a deep breath and blinked hard. "What do you want, Captain Valentine?"
Beka took the opening, however unpromising it sounded, and ran with it. "Look, Neeki. Dylan's been under a lot of pressure lately. As much he probably meant the things he said, he didn't mean to say them the way he did. If he meant to say them at all. And you've certainly gotta admit that if you were him and someone went somewhere claiming to be sent by you, you might get a little upset with you too." Whoa, thought Beka. Slow down. I'll have confused myself by the end of all this. Beka wet her lips and took a moment to catch her breath, then shot out a question. "Are you still with me there?"
Neeki frowned. "Did your captain send you to apologize?"
"You could say that." Beka frowned back. "So, you're outta the tour guide gig? How long have you had this job, Neeki?"
Neeki looked puzzled by the question. "Almost six months."
"I see. Your planet is only one jump route from a major trading center. In all that time, you've had to have come across people who are tons more annoying than Dylan Hunt."
Neeki shuddered with fresh anger--or was it the threat of tears? "Your captain implied that I was unfit for my job."
Beka crossed her arms, sensing she was getting to the core of what really had upset the aide. "Tell me about your job," she encouraged.
"The Administrator gave me this assignment in preparation for a role as an interplanetary liason. How can I do that if I don't know the difference between those that wish to help us and those that wish to harm us? The representative--the imposter made fools of my people and none of us would have been the wiser if Andromeda had not come so soon."
"Happens to the best of us. You know, even the great Cap'n Hunt's had the solar screen pulled over his eyes a few times."
"Really?" asked Neeki with some amazement.
"No kidding. I've been there. But being fooled doesn't necessarily make you into one. Especially when once you find out the truth, you do something about it."
Neeki raised her head and renewed energy flowed over her features. She stood a little taller and looked at Beka expectantly. "What do you suggest?"
Dylan watched the ice cubes dissolve in his glass and then glanced apologetically across the table at Administrator Lzar.
The new administrator had dark brown hair and thin brown eyebrows which, when frowning, took the form of a letter V. He was one of the gold-colored Monarcheans and was dressed in a burgundy robe uniform. His 'butterfly' wings, folded neatly behind him, were a bright turquoise with flecks of gold.
Administrator Lzar noticed the glance. "Was there something you wished to say, captain?" he questioned with formal politeness.
This was a private dinner, unlike the the ball that Elva had given during the Andromeda crew's last visit, and the empty seats at the dinner table were conspicuous. Untouched dishes of food were cooling on plates. Dylan stirred the food on his own plate with a fork and nodded. "Sorry about your lack of guests. I'm really not sure what happened to the rest of my crew. Something must have delayed them. Would you excuse me a moment? I'd like to contact my ship."
"By all means, Captain Hunt," responded Administrator Lzar. "You'll find a communication's console directly down the hall through that door over there." Dylan pushed his chair back from the table, stood up, and followed the direction Lzar had indicated.
One thing Dylan did remember about his former visit to Monarchea was the complexity of the communication's system. The buildings of officials were constructed with a power source which, primarily for security reasons, ran interference of most regular comm signals. Comm to comm contact was thus difficult unless both parties were standing outside the buildings or beside open windows.
Knowing his own comm signal wouldn't reach his orbiting ship from indoors, Dylan walked over and sat down at the communication's console. Happily, the Monarcheans had made up for this inconvenience by fitting most structures with a console designed to boost and transmit the signal outside of interference. Dylan pressed a button. "Andromeda?"
"Yes, Dylan?"
"Lock onto their tracking nanobots give me the locations of Harper, Beka, and Tyr."
There was a brief falter in the reply. "Now?" Andromeda asked. The image of her face on the screen raised her eyebrows a bit incredulously.
"Yes, now," Dylan replied.
The AI's face smiled at him and, for the second time today, Dylan realized she had bad news to report. "It might be a good idea to repeat your request a little later."
"And exactly why would that be necessary?"
"Because it was necessary to divert resources from my tracking systems to make up for my damaged internal sensor array until repairs are complete. It's taking a great deal of time just to replenish my sensory nanobots. Otherwise I would be, as Harper phrased it, 'blinder than a bat.' Which doesn't make much sense considering most bats aren't truly blind they only--" Andromeda stopped herself in mid-sentence. "Sorry, Dylan. Some of my information filters are off and its hard to distinguish between relevant and irrevelant material. Where was I? Oh, yes. If any of the crew are outside I could try and establish their location by tracing their comm signals."
"Okay," Dylan replied. Anything was better than nothing.
The onscreen AI shook her head. "No good. I can't detect any of them. They all must be indoors."
"Never mind then, Rommie." Dylan was stumped for what to do next.
"I can't locate my avatar either."
"She's not aboard?" Dylan questioned, trying not to sound alarmed.
"Harper did contact us earlier. He needed some help in bringing repair supplies back and Rommie went to assist him. Without use of the Maru, the task required more than one trip. Of course, being planetside, my avatar's chances of getting a fix on the tracking nanobots are greater than my own at the moment."
"So, Rommie knows where Harper is, but you don't because you don't know where you--your avatar is now."
"That's right, Dylan. You're starting to get the idea. But there are alternative options. I could send you a manual tracer and you could attempt to locate the crew yourself. Or as soon as I can contact mysel--my avatar, I or Trance could--"
"No." Dylan shook his head and grimaced. "No. Forget it. By that time, dinner will be over. Um, thanks for trying."
Andromeda smiled ruefully, obviously wishing she could have been of more help. "Anything to be useful," she said and her image faded from the console's screen.
After Dylan had returned to his seat at the dinner table, there was an awkward moment of silence. Dylan rubbed his palms together and said, "I can't thank you enough for your kind invitation, but it appears the rest of my group has been unavoidably detained. I can say with certainty they'll all be very sorry for having missed this."
Lzar shook his head. "Do not concern yourself. Your crew are not the only absentees. Your assigned aide, Neeki, has also failed to appear. A very strange occurrence for which I apologize, it is unlike an aide to shirk her duty."
Dylan guiltily remembered how he had acted toward Neeki earlier. Having 'bit her head off' so to speak, he wasn't surprised by her absence. He wished he hadn't lost his temper. Beka was right. He was edgy. "Oh don't worry, Administrator. I'm not offended. I'm sure that she just had other things that required her attention. Maybe she's performing her duties and helping out some of my crew right now."
"In all likelihood, this could be true," said Administrator Lzar, pleased at the suggestion.
Dylan decided to advance the subject. "Speaking of our assigned aide, she mentioned you all had been visited by a certain representative and--"
The door gong sounded and one of Lzar's aides went to answer it. A moment later the aide returned and whispered something in the Administrator's ear. The administrator nodded to the aide and replied, "Yes, by all means, send her in." He looked at Captain Hunt. "Perhaps we spoke hastily, captain. There is a late arrival."
Dylan looked up as familiar light foot falls entered the room. "Trance?" His blue eyes widened at the sight of the Purple Girl.
Trance waved. "Hi, Dylan. Hi, Mister Administrator."
Dylan stood up and frowned with puzzlement. "Trance, what are you doing here?"
"Um," said Trance, waving her tail back and forth rapidly. "You probably know by now but, guess who's not coming to dinner?" Trance brightened, pleased to have turned this message she'd come to deliver into a little game.
Dylan put on a smile and raised his pointer finger. "Could you excuse us for one minute, Administrator?"
As soon as they had entered another room, Dylan turned to Trance. "Okay, Trance. What happened?"
"Ah. Nothing yet," said Trance with a signature shrug. "But I just didn't want you to be worried, Dylan, when nobody showed up. And to let you know everything's A-okay."
"So, where's Beka?"
"I can't tell you."
"Everything's okay, but you can't tell me where Beka is?"
"She said something about a plan. But she doesn't know for sure, so it's a secret."
Dylan knew better than to try to get Trance to reveal a secret. "What about Tyr?"
"I don't know."
"And Harper?"
"Oh! Oh!" Trance raised her hand, excitedly. "I know the answer to that one. He's working with Rommie to get repair supplies for the Andromeda."
"Tell me something I don't know."
Trance tilted her head and blinked innocently. "Did you know that the climate on this planet is perfect for tundra flowers and--"
"Never mind," said Dylan, shaking his head. "At least one member of my crew is here. Let's make the most of it."
"Actually, Dylan, I--"
"Come on, Trance."
"But--"
"No buts," said Dylan, pressing on her shoulders to gently guide Trance back out into the dining room.
"Is everything alright?" asked Administrator Lzar when they rejoined him at the table.
"I think it will all be straightened out soon," said Dylan, hopefully. He pulled out a chair for the new dinner guest before sitting once more in his own. "Meet my environmental systems officer."
"Hello again," said Trance with that beguiling way that belonged to her alone. "I'm Trance Gemini and it's a pleasure to meet you. You'll be at the opening ceremonies of the festival tomorrow, won't you? Oh, wonderful!" Trance smiled and then hopped to her feet. "As much as I'd really love to stay and chat, I'll be going now. But your house is pretty and the food was wonderful."
"Trance!" said Dylan, reprovingly. He couldn't believe she was going to walk out now. "You haven't tasted any of it."
"Oh! Well, the culinary presentation and the aroma was so excellent that I'm sure it would have been wonderful if I had. Besides you don't need me, do you, Administrator? Dylan had something important he wanted to talk with you about and I'd only be in the way. Enjoy the beautiful evening."
"You too, my dear," replied Administrator Lzar. He looked at Dylan with an approving nod as the Purple Girl tripped lightly away. "Lovely child."
"Oh, yes." Dylan replied, absently. His curiousity along with his suspicions were rising. Dylan was on the point of excusing himself for a third time to follow Trance, but the words of Administrator Lzar glued him back to his seat.
"What was it you needed to talk with me so urgently about, Captain Hunt?"