Arkology Revisited Chapter 3, an andromeda fanfic

Author's Note: Italics signify thought or emphasis.

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Alura awoke in the morning feeling even less rested then when she had first lay down. For the first time since coming to this reality, she had dreamt. Twice more she had been forced to watch as her husband fell in love with another woman and changed who he was due to her influence.

A full-blooded Nietzschean woman. Beautiful, intelligent and compassionate. One who Isis, Matriarch of Majorem Pride, would be more than happy to accept as her daughter-in-law.

Even the fact that Louisa believed completely in the way of peace would not be an obstacle to Isis' approval, for Nietzschean women were expected to stay home and raise the children. Isis would never think that a woman wouldn't defend, by force, her own progeny from a threat. The Divine forbid Isis was ever forced to realize her mistake at the cost of an innocent life.

Alura sighed heavily and sat up, letting the Light inside her expand to give her enough strength to get through the day. There were things to do and though there were probably at least a couple months until the Andromeda would be on the way to Arkology, the sooner she and Drago left the Andromeda the sooner Telemachus would be back on the path to his destiny.

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"Where's Momma?" Drago asked when he sat down and Telemachus set a breakfast plate in front of him.

"She stayed the night on the Dance last night. She had something to take care of, maybe she'll tell you about it today."

Drago nodded, unconcerned, and tucked into his breakfast.

Telemachus wasn't sure how much Alura would tell Drago about having her star back. He wasn't entirely clear on what it meant himself. Trance hadn't exactly told him a lot about what it meant, only that Alura needed time alone to readjust to being half-Avatar with the powers of one.

He'd wanted to be there to support his wife, but Trance had made it clear that his presence wouldn't help in any way, only force Alura to confront the limits of her abilities before she was ready.

So he had done what he knew to Alura was just as important as supporting her. He had taken care of Drago.

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Telemachus frowned as he and Drago walked to hangar one. Something didn't feel right. He had contacted Danny through the Andromeda's systems, and the AI had told him that Alura was still resting and unable to speak to him before he started his duty shift. But when Telemachus had offered to ask Dylan for the day off so he could continue to watch Drago for Alura, Danny had insisted that Alura would be fine later and that he, Danny, would take care of Drago until she could. It was only because Drago had been excited at the prospect that Telemachus had agreed.

But now he wondered if he had done the right thing. Telemachus trusted Danny implicitly, mostly because Alura did, but why not take the time off? They weren't in a situation that made it necessary for him to be on duty.

Drago started walking faster when they came into the hangar and saw that Danny was waiting at the bottom of the ramp leading into the Dance. The hardlight hologram smiled at the boy and waved him inside the ship. Telemachus approached soon after.

"She's doing better," Danny told him, standing so that Telemachus would have to push past him to get into the ship.

Telemachus sighed, "Can I see her?"

Danny held up a vid player, an image of a sleeping Alura on the screen.

"In person," Telemachus clarified darkly.

"After your shift."

Telemachus' scowl deepened.

Danny frowned back and his voice actually raised slightly, something Telemachus had never heard, even in the middle of battle, "You think this isn't hard on her, too? She hasn't had to deal with her abilities in a very long time, even before we came here. It only makes it more difficult for her knowing that you're angry about it."

Telemachus blinked. He hadn't thought about it that way. When Alura had first come on board and he had asked about Tai Chi, she had told him that it helped balance her two halves. He knew she had downplayed other things that had happened to her in her reality. Was the struggle to stay balanced more involved than he could have realized? What would happen to her if she couldn't stay in control?

"I'm sorry," Telemachus said quietly. "I hadn't really thought of what it meant for her star to exist. Let her know for me that I'll support her anyway I can, even if it means giving her a bit of space."

Danny nodded, his face and voice much calmer, "I'll let her know."

Telemachus turned and walked out of the hangar. He was on duty in a matter of minutes. He could only hope that when his shift was over, Alura would indeed be feeling good enough to be back in their quarters. It had only been one night, less than twelve hours, that they had been apart, but he still missed her terribly.

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Danny walked back inside and to the bridge where he had sent Drago. Alura had walked into the room just ahead of Danny, and she was kneeling on the floor hugging her son. The image Danny had shown Telemachus had been recorded the previous night. Alura had been up for hours, doing what she could to prepare the Dance for when they would leave, including preparing the room next to hers for Drago to use. When Drago pulled away from his mother, his usually happy expression was slightly worried.

"You feel warmer than usual, Momma."

Alura smiled sadly and led the boy to the chairs along the back wall, each of them settling into one. Danny kept a lock on Alura's vitals, knowing from experience that intense stress could cause her internal balance to be thrown off. He stayed close enough to get to her quickly if he needed to, but far enough away not to crowd mother and son as they talked.

"Do you remember what I told you about Avatars and me not having my star?" Alura began.

Drago nodded. He tilted his head to the side slightly and studied Alura for a second before asking, "Your star is back, isn't it?"

"Yes," Alura smiled. Danny knew it was because she was proud of how bright her son was. "And I've had a Vision that has let me know that it's time for me to leave the Andromeda."

Drago smiled, obviously excited at the thought of exploring more of the universe. But he calmed quickly, in tune with his mother enough to know that something was bothering her.

"Why didn't Telemachus tell me?"

"He doesn't know yet. He can't come with us, sweetheart, his destiny is here on the Andromeda."

"We're going to leave him here?" Drago asked, his bottom lip trembling slightly.

"He has to stay," Alura confirmed, a tear sliding down her cheek. Her next breath caught in her throat and she added, "If you'd rather stay here with him, I can try to make that work."

Danny's heart would have stopped if he had one that beat in the first place. Alura loved her son, had rescued him from the jaws of death as she hadn't been able to do in their reality. Danny knew she would willingly give her life for Drago. It was a testament to how unselfish she was that she would give the boy the option of staying with the man she was leaving. Danny had no idea how she would work it out, but he knew she would if that was what Drago chose.

"No, Momma," Drago answered. He said softly, "I love you most."

"Oh, sweetheart, I love you, too." Alura leaned forward to quickly hug Drago. "Now, to make this as easy as possible on everyone, I'm going to need your help."

Drago nodded, his small hand reaching out to hold Alura's.

"I need you to pack all your stuff in your trunk as quickly as you can so we'll be ready to leave as soon as we say goodbye to everyone. Do you think you can do that?"

"Yes, Momma."

Alura glanced over at Danny. They had discussed earlier what she needed him to have ready for later. He inclined his head to let her know the first step was taken care of and the next soon would be.

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Lecy was in Alura, Drago and Telemachus' suite minutes after Alura contacted her. Alura flinched slightly at the concern radiating from her friend, but it was easy to get used to after the sadness rolling off of Drago. Alura knew he would miss Telemachus deeply, they both would, but she couldn't help being happy that he had chosen to come with her.

"You could have just brought him to me if you need someone to watch him for you," Lecy said.

"He needs to be here, he has to pack."

"Pack? You're leaving? Captain Hunt didn't say anything about Commander Rhade leaving."

"He isn't," Alura said softly. "Just Drago and I. I need to deliver something to Harper and talk to my mother and Dylan, but I'll explain when I get back if you want to stay and help me."

Lecy frowned thoughtfully but nodded slowly, "Of course."

Alura left the suite and headed for Harper's workshop. She found Harper in a good mood, singing an old Earth song she was sure he had originally heard on one of the old CDs Beka collected.

"Hey, blue girl!"

"Hey, pale boy," she bantered back, determined to keep his mood light so she had to deal with as few people's negative emotions as possible. "Have something for you."

"Oh, yeah?" he asked.

Harper set down what he had been working on and held out his hands. Alura handed him a stack of flexis Danny had prepared at her request. Harper's eyes bugged out slightly and Alura could imagine him drooling over all the new information to play with.

"What's all this?" he asked, excitement flooding his being.

Alura smiled at the continuing good feelings from the blonde engineer. "Just a few things I thought you might like to work with. Schematics for different upgrades and theoretical weapons."

"Thanks."

"Sure, Harper."

Somehow she couldn't bring herself to say goodbye yet to the young man who had accepted her almost as quickly as her mother and who had become on eo fher good friends. She left Harper looking through his new "toys" and headed to her next self-scheduled appointment.

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Trance was checking supplies in med bay when Alura came in. Trance could immediately tell that something had changed. Beyond her daughter once again being an active half-Avatar.

At Trance's urging, Alura moved with her to the office part of med deck, both of them sitting down.

"What is it?" Trance asked.

"It's time for me to leave," Alura answered. "I want it to hurt Telemachus as little as possible, so I'm going to need to call in your promise to do whatever was in your power to help me."

Trance nodded reluctantly, "Tell me everything."

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"You can't really want to do this," Dylan said, his anger almost covering the concern in his tone. "Do you know how much it will hurt Telemachus?"

Alura glanced at her mother before answering. Trance was concerned but understood. Somehow it didn't make trying to explain the situation to Dylan any easier. Being in his presence when her mother was in the room was slightly odd. The Light in Trance that marked her as an Avatar was brilliant, much as Alura's own Light. But Dylan, who was half-heavyworlder and half-human, also had a Light inside him that burned brightly.

Every living being with a soul had a Light inside them if someone with Sight looked deep enough, but Dylan's was much brighter than any of the other humans on board. She didn't have to concentrate at all to see it. Alura brushed it aside as being because Dylan was a Champion for the Light; perhaps he was specially blessed by the Divine or some other higher power.

Alura had told the Andromeda's Captain what she had told her mother, without embellishing the story with as much emotion. She thought maybe if he thought she was a little cold-hearted about it, it would go down easier. Apparently she had thought wrong.

"If Rhade really is going to fall in love with this woman, would it be so bad for her to be his second wife? If it truly is his destiny, you being here won't stop it." Dylan paused before adding, "Everything you know in this reality is here on the Andromeda; don't leave."

"I have to," Alura said calmly. "Knowing how he is going to feel about her by itself may not be have been enough to make it necessary, but knowing he's going to change who he is for her... that I will not stand by and watch."

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Dylan's frown deepened, and he turned to Trance, "She's your daughter, and I know you love her. Are you just going to hang back and let her go through with this?"

"No," Trance said simply. "I intend to help her."

Dylan scrubbed a hand over his face and sighed. "I just don't understand."

"My power wouldn't have come back the way it did if it wasn't important," Alura explained calmly. "The Vision is the only one I've had so far, and it has come too frequently to be only a possibility. I have accepted the path of a warrior; I could not stay married to someone who didn't follow that path, no matter how much we loved each other."

"But all Nietzscheans are warriors," Dylan rebutted.

"Not Louisa. Her Pride, Ana Purna, has chosen to follow the way of peace at all costs, even their own lives and the lives of their children. I can never follow that path, life is too precious to me."

Trance smiled softly at that remark. Life was precious. She suddenly remembered her Vision from Alura and Telemachus' wedding reception. The one in which Alura had five children other than Drago, two of them Telemachus', and the rest not. But how could even the first two be possible if Alura was leaving the ship? Did it mean the possible future she had seen, one that - for all that it was brief - had seemed happy, was no longer a possibility?

Trance was fairly certain Alura wasn't pregnant. Or if she was, Alura didn't know yet. Because first of all, Alura would immediately have told Trance if she was finally pregnant, and secondly, her feelings about leaving the father of her child would be more intense than just leaving her husband. But Trance acknowledged that Alura was making the choice she had to make given the circumstances, so Trance wouldn't bring up the possibility of a baby. She wouldn't make her daughter feel worse about doing what she had to.

"Dylan," Trance said softly, "Alura is doing what she believes she must. We cannot fault her for that."

Dylan sighed heavily and leaned back in his chair. Trance knew he read her 'we'll talk more about this later' look, but he wasn't happy about it. For a moment, she wondered why he was reacting as strongly as he was.

Dylan did care about Alura, but still not deeply enough after several months to consider Alura a part of the inner circle of the crew. Why was he so adamantly trying to get her to stay? Was he simply trying to protect the feelings of Telemachus, who was a member of the inner circle? Or was there more to it?

"I need to go pack while Telemachus is on duty," Alura said softly. "Mother, will you join me in the suite right before his shift ends?"

Trance nodded and waited until Alura had left the room before confronting Dylan.

"Alura has to do this," she began. "She doesn't want to change good things that are supposed to happen by being selfish."

"Are you going to go with them?" Dylan asked quietly.

Oh, so that's it, he thinks he'll lose me because of this, Trance thought.

Trance walked to where Dylan was sitting and curled up on his lap. His arms tightened around her immediately.

"No, I'm not going anywhere," she answered. "I love you, Dylan; I'm not going to leave you."

Dylan lifted one hand to lightly caress her face, trailing his broad fingers up to the delicate tip of her ear. A delighted shiver swept through her at the tender gesture, and she smiled softly at him. But something was still bothering him, and Trance waited for him to tell her what it was.

"Not even if you thought it was my destiny to be with someone else?" he asked quietly.

Trance had a moment of panic at the thought, but just as quickly she pushed it aside.

"Never," she promised. "Alura is only doing it because she isn't from here. This isn't her place. It is mine. Here with you is where I'm supposed to be, where I choose to be."

"Thank the Divine," he swore softly.

Dylan pulled her in tight for a deep, searching kiss. It was with great reluctance that Trance pulled away minutes later. She had to be there when Telemachus got off duty. She had promised once to do whatever was in her power to help Alura, and today she would fulfill that promise in a way she had never expected to.

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Preview: Telemachus finds out. Plus, Alura and Drago leave the Andromeda on the Dance Among the Stars, but not before Alura loses Dylan's trust in her.