Chapter 5

Unfortunately for Rhade, the Andromeda's position was quite far from Tarazed. He spent most of the night shift in command piloting the ship. When he finally emerged, his back and shoulder muscles were stiff from the strain of piloting for nearly six hours straight. He grimaced and rubbed the sore muscles, but a smile came to his lips when he spotted Beka and their son heading his way down the corridor.

"Morning, Dad!," Tristan called out before reaching Rhade's side. The adult Nietzschean ruffled his hair affectionately, before his eyes turned to Beka. She looked exhausted, fatigue lining her face.

"Did you sleep well?" his concerned question was directed at Beka, but Tristan, thinking his father was talking to him, answered.

"Fine, thanks," he said cheerfully. "You?"

"Um..." Telemachus exchanged an amused look with Beka. "Actually I've been piloting to Tarazed this night, so I didn't get much sleep."

"We're going to Tarazed?" his face lit up. "When?"

"Whenever the transport arrives to take us planet side," Telemachus replied. "We're in orbit over the planet right now."

"That's great!" Tristan loved their trips to Tarazed, even more so after he met his numerous aunts, uncles, and cousins. Telemachus' family had welcomed Tristan with open arms, especially after they learned about how he came to be in Rhade's care. On Tarazed, Tristan finally got the opportunity to play with children his own age, so every time Andromeda visited the New Commonwealth's central planet, the boy was very excited.

"Alright," Telemachus' attention returned to Beka. "I know why I didn't sleep, but why didn't you?"

"Just wired, I guess," she quickly replied, not wanting to cause either Telemachus or her son to worry too much. She didn't want to tell them that she was still not feeling well. The dizzy episode from the previous day didn't reoccur, but the nausea returned with a vengeance. Like a flu that just won't quit, she thought miserably.

The sound of swishing robes on the floor caught Telemachus' attention well before the person made her way into his line of sight. He narrowed his eyes he looked over Beka's shoulder, jaw set. Beka caught that look and turned her head to follow it to the approaching figure. Her expression instantly hardened, but Beka firmly kept her place. Tristan, instantly sensing that something was wrong, took a step back behind Rhade. His eyes darted from one parent to the other, and he could tell that their sudden change of demeanor had something to do with the sophisticated-looking elder woman heading there way.

"Telemachus, go," Beka's eye never left the figure of her approaching mother.

Talia had reached ear-shot distance by then. A few steps and she stopped six steps away from her daughter. The senator cleared her throat pointedly, but was only rewarded with an inquisitive glance from Tristan while his parents ignored her.

"Are you certain?" he didn't like the idea of leaving Beka alone with this woman.

"Yes," she said. "I'd have to do this sooner or later. Better to get it over with now."

"Very well," he agreed reluctantly, and took Tristan's hand. "The transport will be here soon," he told his son, "so if you want to show your cousins the jet that you and Harper are working on, we'd better go get it now."

"Okay," the boy agreed, all the while wondering what was going on. "See you later, Mom."

Once they rounded a corner and were out of sight, Beka turned to her mother. Talia may have changed over the years, but her demeanor remained the same.

"No 'hello's, Rebecca?" the senator asked calmly.

"Funny," Beka folded her arms under her chest. "I don't remember you bothering to say good-bye. But I guess actions speak louder than words. You haven't changed a bit."

"You have," Talia responded. "I expected great things from you, and you have not disappointed me. The first officer of the New Commonwealth flag ship. Something any mother can be proud of."

"Thank," Beka replied dryly, "and if I ever had a real mother, I'm sure she would be. Now if you don't mind, I'd like to get back to my real family."

She was just about to head down the corridor after Telemachus and Tristan when Talia's cold voice reached her ears. "The Nietzscheans?" Beka stopped. "I heard what the boy said. Is it true?"

"Is Tristan my son?" the first officer turned on her heal and raised an eyebrow at the senator. "Yes, he is."

"Rebecca, how could you?" Talia sounded so disappointed that if the statement had come from anyone else, Beka might have actually felt guilty.

"How could I? Excuse me, but I think you lost the right to judge me some thirty years ago," she turned to leave once again, but then called over her shoulder. "And for the record, those two Nietzscheans that you so openly despise for no reason have been a better family to me than you ever were, Mother."

"You may not realize it yet," Talia called after her daughter, "but when we arrive on Tarazed, you'll understand that my being here is really for your own good. Someday soon, you'll thank me for this, Rebecca."

Beka heard Talia, but ignored what the older woman said and hurried to catch up with Telemachus and their son. When she found them, the two were already in the hanger bay, waiting to board the transport that arrived minutes earlier.

"Hey," she jogged towards them. "Where's your plane, Tristan?"

"The paint was still wet," the boy explained, "so we decided not to take it."

"Ah," Beka nodded. "Well maybe next time." She was quiet for a moment, then turned her attention to Telemachus. "Do you think we'll have time to see Persephone on this trip?"

"I think so," he nodded. "Why? Is something wrong?"

"Not really," she shrugged. "At least nothing worse than can be expected. I spoke to Talia."

"And?" his face wore a frown of concern.

"And you were right: she's definitely a politician."

If the Nietzscheans of Tarazed had any social structure that remotely resembled a pride, Persephone Rhade would have been that pride's matriarch. In many ways, she resembled Talia. Just as the senator, she was a very independent and dignified woman. Though not involved in politics, people listened to her advice when she spoke. She dressed plainly but tastefully. However, unlike the senator of Oedekirk, Persephone was also a very kind woman in her mid seventies, who knew more than her fair share of the ups and downs of life having given birth to and raised seven children. Her wisdom was well known throughout Tarazed, and Persephone was glad that she'd passed on much of that wisdom to her youngest child, Telemachus.

She had been forty when she and her husband discovered that they were expecting another child. A miracle baby, and his mother firmly believed that his his arrival was meant to be. Persephone was a Nietzschean, and therefore not superstitious in any way, but there were some things which she held to be true. Persephone had always believed her youngest son, her miracle baby, was special. It wasn't until after Telemachus was born, and his DNA scanned and recorded for historical files, that everyone discovered just how special he was.

All of Rhade's older brothers and sisters attended the military academy, and so did he in his own time. He graduated at the top of his class with highest honors, and rose to the rank of Admiral faster than anyone before him in the entire three hundred years of history on that planet. But Persephone had never been more proud of him than the day a year ago when he arrived at her doorstep with a small boy shyly hiding behind him.

"Mother, I'd like to introduce you to Tristan," he had smiled down at the child. "This is my son."