Author's Note: Well, Hello everyone! It's been a long while, hasn't it? Unfortunately, I have left most of my Andromeda stories behind and have moved on to other things, but, with the start of my new webpage, check my profile, I have decided to go back through all my stories and edit them. However, I am not re-writing this story. I am merely making it more readable by correcting spelling, grammar and combining short chapters. If you wish to re-read my little tale or if you're coming across this for the first time, feel free to read and review as you would other stories, but other than that, do as you please. Ladies and Gents, welcome to Don't Deny the Truth.

Disclaimer: I do not own the television show Andromeda, any of its characters, plot lines, and settings, anything else is of my own mind. I am writing this for fun, not profit.

Don't Deny the Truth

Chapter One

It was in slow motion. Tyr was getting closer and closer. He was leaning towards me. His lips were kinda puckered so I must have puckered mine. I could feel his breathe on my cheeks. I slowly closed my eyes and then opened them again. I expected to see Tyr but it wasn't him. It was Rhade. He didn't stop moving forward and I didn't stop him I didn't want him to stop. His lips gently pressed against mine. They were soft, much, much softer that I had ever imagined. Then, I heard someone calling me.

"Beka... Beka... Beka!"

I woke up.

It was the Andromeda that was calling me. I could see her on the view screen opposite my bed.

"Beka, Dylan wants you on Command in thirty minutes."

I nodded and expected her to go away but she lingered and was looking at me kinda funny. "What?" I asked her somewhat rudely.

"Were you having a dream?"

"Why?"

Andromeda looked slightly amused. "Well…" she said, "your eyes were moving under your eyelids, you were slightly tossing, and for the oddest reason, your lips were puckered." She smiled while my face changed to a nice pink color.

"Um... no... well... I might have been dreaming but I don't remember anything."

Andromeda didn't seem to buy it for a second but she nodded and disappeared from the view screen.

I let out a big sigh. The truth was I remember every single detail about the dream. Tyr, Rhade, that kiss that had seemed too real, so pure, but I know now was nothing but a figment of my imagination. What did this mean? I've never believed in all that crap about "dream interpreting" but it sure seemed to come into play now. Maybe I should talk to Trance about it. No, I shouldn't, she'd probably get the wrong idea. I know I didn't have feeling for Rhade. I mean, I think I don't have feelings for Rhade... maybe I do...

No!

No get a grip on yourself Valentine. Rhade's a Neitszchean. Nothing but a selfish, lowlife Neitszchean that is bound to betray you, Dylan and the rest of the crew. You do not have feelings for him, period end of discussion.

I finally got up to get dressed.

When I got there I realized that I was the last one there and everyone was waiting for me in their usual places. I looked up at Rhade. He was looking very good in the tight T-shirt he was wearing. As I passed him I noticed that he smelled like soap. It was very comforting and I started to wonder what he would smell like after a good workout. Probably strong and muscular, if you could smell those things. Wait a minute. You are so not thinking about how he smells. Get a grip on yourself Valentine. You do not, I repeat do not, have feelings for him, understand? I snapped out of my thought, took my place at the pilot console and mutter a "Sorry I'm late". Dylan nodded and started.

"We have received a distress cal from Terra Omega..."

"Where?" Harper asked in his usual boisterous way.

"Terra Omega," Dylan continued, "We've never heard of it because it was cloaked for hundreds of years. It turns out that its ancestors, to protect its people from the outside world, put the device into use. Its inhabitants were very aware that there was other life in the universe but as for us outsiders, we were never even clued into it. Though, it's existence accounts for the odd gravity around this area of space. Well, anyway, it seems that the device has broken down and they sent out this distress signal to any ships in the vicinity, complete with this basic history. We're finding it difficult to return their message so I want to just go there, since the signal also contains exact coordinates. And I want to make sure that the Triumvirs don't find out about this, for obvious reasons." I interrupted.

"Wait, if this planet was cloaked wouldn't someone have run into it or something. I mean, a planet is pretty big and if you can't see it, well, let's just say you get caught in a gravity field when you're least expecting it. It's not pretty." Dylan nodded.

"I know, I've been wondering the same question but at the moment we don't know. Hopefully we'll learn more once we get there." I had another question.

"Dylan, what if this is dangerous? I mean, you seem pretty intent on just jumping into this thing without knowing anything about this planet or its people."

"I understand the risk but these people need our help and there has been no evidence that they are dangerous. Now, we can reach their planet by slipstream. Let's go." I sighed.

I followed the basic procedure and we went into slipstream. We got there with relatively no problem. The planet would have been beautiful, if I didn't hate all planets. It was the richest shade of red mixed perfectly with orange and green here and there.

"Hey Dylan," Harper said, "someone's trying to contact us, they want to talk to you."

"On screen."

The person that came on screen was this really pretty red head. Her hair was curly and down to a little past her shoulder blades. It was clipped behind her ears. She had a little bump that started in the middle of her eyes that extended over her left eye and stopped at her temple. I assumed that this was an alien feature. She was slim but curvy and had really nice violet eyes. I knew that Harper was already thinking of a cheesy pickup line.

"Hello, I'm Ibiza Mallas. I am the head of Terra Omega. I assume that you are here to answer our distress call."

"Yes" Dylan replied, cheerfully, "My name is Dylan Hunt, captain of the Andromeda Ascendant. We received your distress call, but we do have a few questions. I was wondering..."

"If you could come down, yes. There is a lot to explain. Please come. I have never met an alien before."

"Okay we'll arrive there on a ship, near your location. Hunt out." She disappeared from the screen. "Okay," Dylan said, clapping his hands together, "Harper, Rhade, Beka, you're with me. Trance and Rommie, stay here for the moment. Now where is she on the planet?"

"Here." Rommie said and she pointed to a area on a map of the planet. It seemed really close to the water. I hate the ocean.

"OK, lets bring the Eureka Maru down here." He pointed on the map. I nodded and we left command deck. Harper was practically drooling over this Ibiza person. Rhade didn't really show any emotion, as usual. I wondered what he was thinking. We never talked anymore. Well, we never talked to begin with, but Rhade had made an effort, then I tried to rip out his heart. I know why I did it now, but there is still tension between us. Maybe that's why I dreamed about him, because I felt guilty for not trusting him? I forced myself to believe that, but even then I knew it wasn't true.

Dylan, Harper, Rhade and I headed for the Maru. Harper was yakking about women the whole flight there. Rhade kept teasing him and they started to throw insults at one another.

It was kinda cute, like they were brothers and there is a really cute dimple in Rhade's right cheek when he sarcastically smiles. Wait, did I just think that Rhade is cute. I must be sleep deprived.

We landed where Dylan had instructed earlier and when we got out of the plane we were met by Ibiza Mallas and two others. Ibiza was wearing a very tight shirt and leather pants to match. Her red hair contrasted nicely against the black. The two people behind her were wearing what must have been uniforms consisting of gray cargo pants and a gray shirts that had purple lining. Ibiza stepped forward and extended her right hand at Dylan.

"Hello, welcome to Terra Omega. I know you have many questions so let us begin."

Dylan took her hand and shook it gently. He nodded and said.

"This is my first officer Beka Valentine," he motioned to me, "my engineer Mr. Harper and my weapons officer, Telemachus Rhade." He motioned to both of them. I noticed that Ibiza's eyes seem to hesitate at Rhade. My eyes grew narrower, I don't know why. She smiled and nodded.

"It's a pleasure to meet you all. I am the first of my species in at least 700 years to encounter outsiders but let's discuss that inside." Ibiza nodded at a building behind her. She turned on heel and motioned at us to follow her. We followed her into the building and she led us into a room with a circular table. We everyone sat down. I was to the right of Dylan and to the left of Harper. Dylan sat to the right of Ibiza and Rhade sat at her left. I was pretty much across the table from her. She started to talk.

"I'll start with a history of my planet. 700 years ago, my ancestors were very technologically advance. They had slipstream, virtual reality and so on. We were very good terms with the other planets in our system."

I was confused. When we looked there were no other planets in this system that supported life. She soon explained that.

"However, the other planets were warriors, fighters. They would have quarrels with one another often. My planet managed to avoid them but it became very difficult. Soon they were at war. My ancestors wanted nothing to do with this, so they built this cloaking device. It took ten years. They cloaked our planet so no one else would bother us. They other planets soon destroyed each other. I believe that all that survived fled and went to other planets to start new colonies. Our ancestors taught us about outsiders and what to do if we were to meet them. Also, they stopped technologically advancing because it was no longer necessary to do so. But now the cloaking device has malfunctioned and we don't know how to fix it. We'd like you to help to recloak us."

Dylan nodded, trying to look calm but you if you knew him well enough you knew that he was still trying to process everything.

"Um, well we would be glad to help you repair this device, my engineer is one of the best," Harper grinned, "but I do wonder, what would be the point?"

"Excuse me?" Ibiza asked

"Well," Dylan continued what would be the point of recloaking, "We already know you're here."

Ibiza clearly looked like she was about to ask another favor, which she did.

"We were hoping that you wouldn't tell anyone about us."

"Okay," Dylan said after a few long seconds, "we won't tell anyone about you're planet..." Rhade interrupted.

"Excuse me, Captain but, Ms. Mallas, even if we don't tell anyone about this planet, the cloaking device might take a while to fix, what if a ship happens to come by?" Ibiza looked at him for a moment and said, "I hadn't really thought of that. I guess we can address the issue if and when a ship locates us. Hopefully it can be resolved non-violently."

Rhade spoke again, "But we can't discount the possibility that someone might find this planet and not be as secretive as us."

Ibiza looked strait at him and he looked strait at her. I swear I could see little sparks of electricity go between them. Ibiza spoke, "Well we are not equipped with any weapons. I suppose we will have to just handle that situation if it presents itself." Rhade did not look happy, then again he rarely did anyway.

Dylan finally said something, "My officer is just concerned that in order to stop this planet from being discovered by someone else, you will ask us to be 'offensive', something we will not do."

"I assure you captain, we won't ask you to do anything that you cannot do. And I understand your officer's concern." Ibiza glanced at Rhade and then looked back at Dylan. She smiled, "We appreciate everything that you can do for us. Now let me show you to the device." She stood and turned towards a door at the far side of the room. We all followed her into a much larger room. In the middle of it was an octagonal object that was at least twenty feet high. It was twenty feet wide too, and it was black and green. She pointed at it and said,

"This is the cloaking device. Hopefully you can make sense of it all."

Harper stepped forward to get a good look at it. He took a good twenty minutes and during those twenty Rhade and Ibiza had a conversation. I couldn't really make out most of it but I think that they were talking about the planet and how Ibiza became the leader. It turns out that every now and then the current leader is challenged to a intellectual "duel." Whoever won the duel became leader. She challenged the former leader only six months ago. Rhade seemed to listen very intently. You'd think that he wouldn't really like her after what happened at the meeting, but he seemed to like her, a lot actually... Wait, I don't care who Rhade likes. He could get married to Dylan for all I care. Harper had finished his inspection and decided that he could start on it tomorrow, it was getting late anyway. Ibiza offered places for us to stay, but Dylan told her that we could sleep on the Andromeda. Rhade looked ever so slightly disappointed.

But then Dylan asked Ibiza, "Ms. Mallas, would you like to have a tour of the ship?" Ibiza's eyes widened and she nodded, "Yes, I'd like that very much, no one has been off this planet in years."

Dylan smiled and we started walking to the Maru. Rhade and Ibiza were talking again. Harper commented every now and then and he looked slightly annoyed that Ibiza seemed to enjoy talking to Rhade more than to him. I had hardly talked the whole time we were down there. I guess I was too entranced in my thoughts, or one thought I should say.

Well anyway we got back to the Andromeda and Dylan started to show Ibiza around. Rhade and Harper followed them. I happen to be going the same way they were so I followed a little behind. Rhade always glanced at Ibiza and I always noticed this. It started to annoy me, but then I arrived at my quarters. I got ready for sleep and got into my bed. I must have laid there for hours just looking at the ceiling.

I finally drifted off to sleep but it was uneasy, I tossed and turned so many times that when I woke up, my head was at the foot of the bed and my feet were at the head. This was great. I got up and took a shower. I headed to Command deck. On my way there I passed by Obs deck and when I was there I passed by Rhade.

Only it wasn't just Rhade.

Ibiza was there.

And they were kissing.