Who would have thought you cared?

Prologue

Why, Captain Valentine, who would have thought you cared?"

It stopped her dead in her tracks. She stared after him in disbelief as he speeded up his determined stride to Hangardeck 2. They had been arguing all the way down from Command Deck, starting right after he had told Rommie to wait for him onboard the Eureka Maru and prep the old freighter ship for launch. Immediately after he had issued his orders, she had begun to try and convince him that she was the far better suited person to go down to the planet this time around. Alas, nothing had seemed to get through to him. With smiling stubbornness – a trait of Dylan Hunt almost as legendary as the man himself – he had dismissed each and every one of her arguments: no, there weren't too many templars to take down, after all he will have Rommie with him, and yes, she was the far better pilot, but then again, he wasn't too bad himself, and although she was fresh and fit, well so was he, right?

„Wrong!" Seeing that all their arguing got her nowhere, she finally decided to give him the plain, bare truth. „You've been badly roughed up, beaten, malnourished and dehydrated and you had to go without rest for quite some time because of that stupid sleep deprivation device, before being finally subjected to the high radiation level in the ‚scrubber'. You were barely alive when we found you, and the simple truth is that you are still a long way from full recovery, tough guy. Radiation aftereffects are tricky, says Trance." Beka Valentine paused for breath, but quickly went on as she saw him open his mouth in a new round of protest. „I'm with you all the way that it is paramount to prevent the Patriarch's planes from happening. And I most certainly am as eager as everybody else to get Rhade and Harper out of there asap..."

„I know, Beka, I know. They are part of your crew, and you never leave anyone behind," he cited in a monotone, annoyed voice indicating that he had heard this sermon once too often and lacked the time to listen to it yet again.

„No, Dylan, you obviously don't know! They are part of my crew, but then again, so are you. And just because you, Sir," she stressed with a smirk of disdain, „are too stubborn to admit that there are other, better ways to achieve our goals, doesn't mean I should be willing to risk you – again, if I may say so – and the others, whom your carelessness puts in danger. You're not fit for duty."

„Says who?"

„Says Trance."

„What does she know?"

„Well, she is our medical officer. When it comes to anything living, I'll take her word above yours."

„She's overprotective."

„And Andromeda?"

„Oh, come on, Beka. Talking about overprotectiveness... Andromeda starts worrying if anyone of us skips breakfast."

„Dylan, stop making excuses. You might not be up to the task, and then what? You're not indestructible, you know."

Why, Captain Valentine, who would have thought you cared?"