Khalid grimaced menacingly as the channel to Tarazed's Home Guard closed, leaving him staring at a black display. With a flicker, the display changed, showing a tactical map of the system with four small groups of ships racing towards them.
"Analysis of this situation indicates we are at minimal risk from the organic's ships moving towards us." The female machine looked at Khalid expectantly. "Should we destroy them?"
Khalid chewed his lower lip thoughtfully, reigning in his temper at Admiral Rhade's arrogant threats, before finally shaking his head. "No. It will only complicate matters... unless you could disable them without killing their pilots..."
"Scanning... targets identified. Calculating... analysis indicates an eighty-nine percent probability of success in your proposal."
"Do it."
"Targeting... targets acquired. Configuring simultaneous firing pattern... firing pattern ascertained. Firing... subjects neutralised. Assessing battle resolution... all target organics are exhibiting life signs."
Khalid smiled and took a deep, calming breath. "Open a channel to Tarazed."
The instant Telemachus Rhade's furious face appeared on the display, Khalid stilled his smile and allowed some of his anger to show in his eyes.
"If you have quite finished playing games, Admiral, we can discuss where I may land my shuttle so I can meet with my family. As I was trying to say, before you started making threats, I wish to see how my descendants have faired while I've been away."
"You just destroyed four squadrons of slipfighters..."
"After you ordered them to attack. Fortunately, the Consensus of Parts kindly listened to my advice and only disabled them. I suggest you arrange for the retrieval of your pilots before their life support fails." Khalid glanced thoughtfully at the female machine beside him before adding, "Of course, if you are unable, we could do it for you. They can come with me on my shuttle."
"That won't be necessary," Telemachus bit out before gesturing to someone out of sight. "What will your ship be doing while you're here on Tarazed?"
"Quietly and peacefully remaining in a Tarazed orbit of your choice. A representative of the Consensus of Parts will be coming with me; they wish to open negotiations with Tarazed on an alliance against a common foe. I expect you and a representative of Tarazed's civilian government can meet with us when my shuttle arrives?"
"Of course." Telemachus smiled tightly. "I'll be sure to bring an honour guard worthy of such a momentous occasion."
Khaild openly smiled. "I look forward to meeting you in person."
"I'll transmit the co-ordinates momentarily. I have a few minor details to deal with here before I can arrange a suitable reception."
Khalid nodded, and after the display went black, he laughed. He was back, back on Tarazed. Three hundred years later than he had planned, but he had returned at last.
***
"So we just keep him in the brig?" Beka asked. "For how long? We need to decide what we're going to do about this before something else happens."
Tyr tapped the flex lying on the table in front of him. "Are you certain he will obey the b... Harper's orders?"
"Yes." Dylan nodded. "I think so." He scratched his chin. "Fairly certain. He's never actually disobeyed Harper."
"Great. Okay, so are we keeping him in the brig or not?" Beka asked again.
"It would be prudent," Tyr said.
"No," Dylan said. "Rommie can maintain surveillance on him outside the brig just as easily."
"Ethan has evaded my surveillance before, Dylan," Rommie reminded him. "I still haven't gained a full accounting of all of his abilities."
"Why don't we just test him, then?" Beka looked up at everyone staring at her and frowned. "What?"
"It could be dangerous; Ethan is a trained assassin with unknown capabilities."
"Good point, Rommie. I'll have Harper order him to use non-lethal force at all times, make it seem like a game to him."
"Does the same go for me?" Tyr asked, rolling his shoulders in anticipation.
***
Khalid looked around the tiny compartment he and his, by now familiar, female machine companion shared inside the shuttle as they descended to an open field just outside of Tarazed's capital city.
"The Consensus has detected several thousand life signs and heavy weapon power signatures in the immediate vicinity of our landing co-ordinates. We are concerned as to the intentions of the organics; will they attack us after we land?"
"Show me."
Khalid took one look at the display, showing what looked like five divisions of lancers backed up by twelve planetary warfare bots arrayed around the landing site, and smiled.
"That would be our, 'suitable reception' come honour guard." Khalid shook his head as his smile grew wider. "Admiral Rhade is trying to impress us with a show of strength. Nothing to be worried about."
"We will accept your recommendation, but the Consensus will upgrade our surveillance priority and disassemble the shuttle upon disembarkation as a security measure."
Khalid frowned. "No, don't. I have no problems with the surveillance. Hell, I'm expecting our hosts to watch to see what colour my shit is. But don't disassemble the shuttle." When the female machine blinked, Khalid rushed on before she could say anything. "Look, we went through a lot of preparation to make this shuttle look good. It's impressive, practically a ship in its own right, and it will continue to impress the Tarazed politicians and military hardheads as long as it's here."
The female machine tilted her head thoughtfully. "This would be our... show of strength?"
"Not quite." Khalid chewed his bottom lip as he thought about how to explain human paranoia to a machine. "Our show of strength is sitting in a geo-stationary orbit on the other side of the planet. The shuttle is more of a... distraction. Something for them to keep an eye on and make them feel like they're in control of the situation."
"We are beginning landing procedures; please secure yourself in the appropriate position." the female machine said before she seemed to meld into the side of the shuttle. "The Consensus will again accept your recommendation. Provisionally, you will explain that we will not permit any unauthorised organic to enter or approach the shuttle."
Strapping himself into the only seat on the shuttle, Khalid breathed a sigh of relief. "Of course, that shouldn't be a problem."
"Landing procedures completed. A group of sixteen organics are moving towards the shuttle carrying weapons."
"That'll be our honour guard. If you would be so kind as to open the shuttle, we have some politicians to schmooze and some hardheads to knock together."
Clanking and whirling sounds reverberated through the shuttle as a long, narrow, circular passageway opened through the shuttle into the sunlit field outside. Walking confidently, his companion just a footstep behind, Khalid strode out of the shuttle to greet the sixteen Home Guard lancers forming a double line outside.
"The Consensus has detected a large assembly of heavily armed ships twelve light minutes away from our position in geo-stationary orbit. Are you certain the organics are not preparing to attack us?"
Leading the way through the double line of lancers Khalid kept smiling. "No, it's just another show of strength. Don't let it worry you."
The female machine nodded as they walked towards the pavilion before asking curiously, "Is this an example of organic diplomacy?"
"In a manner of speaking. Think of it as a method of courting us. Our hosts are puffing out their chests and displaying all the finery in their arsenal to try and get us to dance with them."
When his companion remained silent, Khalid chanced a quick glance behind him to spot her distant-eyed expression, which meant she was busy talking with the rest of the hive-like machine intelligence that made up the Consensus of Parts. Khalid took a deep breath when he looked back towards the pavilion and saw someone wave away two other figures before walking over.
'Let the games begin,' Khalid thought to himself.
A familiar, tall, muscled figure dressed in a military uniform strode confidently towards them as they approached and nodded to Khalid as he came to a halt in front of them.
"Admiral." Khalid greeted him with a nod of his own. "An impressive reception. I do hope we haven't strained your resources unnecessarily."
"You've created quite a stir, so I felt it prudent to arrange appropriate security." Admiral Telemachus Rhade glanced at Khalid's companion before smiling tightly. "For your protection, of course."
"Of course."
"If you'll both follow me, First Triumvere Bayliss is waiting to greet you."
Following the Home Guard Admiral, Khalid grinned when he noticed the position of the four Planetary Warfare bots surrounding the pavilion. Three were aimed back at their shuttle, but the other one was tracking him and his companion as they approached the pavilion.
As soon as they entered the pavilion, a tall, thin man dressed in gold-embroidered white robes flashed them a toothy grin. "Greetings, Captain. It is an honour to meet the legendary Ishmael Khalid, returned to us after so many years."
"First Triumvere Bayliss." Telemachus gestured with an open hand before half turning to look back at Khalid. "Captain Ishmael Khalid, formerly of the High Guard, and the representative of the Consensus of Parts."
"Formerly?" Bayliss frowned. "So the rumours of your conviction on charges of inciting mutiny and high treason against the Commonwealth were true."
"Admiral Starke and I disagreed on the importance of establishing a colony here on Tarazed," Khalid bit out coldly. "After I refused her order to join the fleet heading for the Witch Head Nebula, she had me charged. I only found out about the trial being held in my absence after I left Tarazed on my final expedition for the last of the crew of the Andromeda Ascendant." Khalid glanced at Telemachus. "The one where I found Gaheris Rhade's family, amongst others."
"And we are all eternally grateful for the sacrifice you and the crew of the Starry Wisdom made for the good of Tarazed," Bayliss said smoothly, gesturing for them to walk further inside the pavilion. "There's someone who I know is even more eager than most of us to meet you."
In the centre of the pavilion, a group of seven men and women dressed in finery were talking amongst themselves while being attended to by several people in military uniforms. As they walked into the curtained-off area, everyone turned to look at them expectantly.
"Captain Ishmael Khalid and the representative of the Consensus of Parts, I'd like to introduce you to the senior ministers of Tarazed's government." Bayliss walked them to a large, elderly woman. "Chion Mark, minister of Agriculture and Production."
Shaking the woman's flabby arm with a plastic smile, Khalid soon lost track of all the people he was introduced to. The ministers of Justice, the Interior, the Treasury, Defence, and State all came and went without their names imprinting on his memory.
"...And Ivan Khalid, minister of Science and Technology."
Khalid blinked as the name burned through his mind. A tall, muscular young man stood in front of him with a small, expectant smile. Ignoring the offered hand, Khalid grabbed the younger man on both shoulders and pulled him into a fierce hug.
***
"Hold still, Harper. This cut needs sutures."
Harper hissed as Trance pressed the sides of the cut on his palm together long enough for her to cauterise it closed with a laser.
"There, all done."
"Thanks," Harper grunted, holding his injured hand against his chest.
Turning away, Trance walked over to a bench to put away the medical equipment and heard Harper start to slip off the bed he'd been sitting on.
"Harper, I need... What happened to your hand?" Dylan asked as he slid to a halt just inside the med bay doors.
"I slipped and cut myself with a welding laser." Harper shot Trance a warning look before smiling ruefully at Dylan. "Nothing serious, don't worry."
"You... slipped..." Dylan repeated slowly. Walking up to the bed Harper was still sitting on, he patiently crossed his arms and waited for Harper to look at him.
"I slipped," Harper repeated, looking at Dylan challengingly. "Something you wanted, Boss?"
"Harper..." Dylan stuttered to a stop. Despite the need to maintain a clear chain of command and something resembling High Guard discipline on board, the challenging and defensive look in Harper's eye hurt on a level he didn't think it could. "Harper, can I stop being Captain for a moment?"
Harper shrugged.
"Umm, Dylan?" Trance asked with a soft voice, side-stepping around the two men towards the doors. "I need to go check on Tyr, so..."
"I thought you told Beka that Tyr was fine, Trance?"
"Oh he is, I just... wanted to make sure, Dylan. Harper, your hand should be fine in a couple of hours. It was only a minor wound." With that Trance ducked out the doors and took off.
"Does everyone know?" Dylan asked, hanging his head in embarrassment.
"Know what?" Harper slipped off the bed. "That the Captain wanted to talk to his engineer privately?"
Dylan's head snapped up, and he reached out to touch Harper's face. Harper dodged the hand and shook his head wordlessly as he backed up against the bench on the far side of the room, away from Dylan.
"I thought you were okay with us, Harper? With our relationship."
"I was." Harper looked away from Dylan and sighed. "Things are different now."
"Different how?"
Harper snapped his gaze back to Dylan. "I'm a father now. I have to..." Harper looked down at his hands so he wouldn't have to see the hurt look in Dylan's eyes. "I have to look out for him, you know... and what we have... this casual sex, open relationship, fuck buddies thing. It's not enough anymore, Dylan."
"Harper..."
"I know, okay." Harper forced himself to turn his back to Dylan. "I know, you're the Captain. You have responsibilities and fucking your engineer isn't allowed in your universe."
"It's not like that, Harper. You mean more to me than just someone I occasionally have sex with."
"Don't, Dylan. Just... I know I'm the one breaking the rules by asking for more than you can give, okay?"
Dylan found himself standing just behind Harper before he knew it and reached out to touch him, grabbing him forcefully when Harper flinched, he turned Harper around to face him. "No, Harper. I'm the one breaking the rules."
Switching his grip, Dylan pulled Harper up to sit on the bench and moved forward between Harper's legs to capture his mouth in a passionate kiss. Still lip-locked, Dylan brought one of his hands up to caress the back of Harper's neck.
It was only when they both needed to pull away to draw breath endless moments later and with his forehead pressed against Dylan's that Harper asked, "Does that mean what I hope it means?"
"Only if you mean that we're going to rewrite the rules."
Dylan smiled and pulled Harper against him. "Together."
***
Stepping out of the ground transport, Khalid looked up at the enormous, simple stone building in front of him. The structure seemed to be made out of a pale sandstone and was two stories high along the front, but Khalid could see part of a roof that hinted at taller sections further inside.
The female machine stepped up out of the transport next to Khalid and followed his line of sight. "The Consensus wishes to inform you that we have completed our decryption of Tarazed general access archives. As per your request, we have focused on data relating to your descendants' activities."
"What are the highlights? Details I can get later if I need to."
"The Khalid family emulates a pride hierarchical structure with a matriarch at its head; this is currently one Admiral Catherine Khalid. The Khalids have been a powerful force within Tarazed politics since the colony's establishment, with seven members having held the position of First Triumvere. Twenty-three members have been Commander of Tarazed's Home Guard, the most recent being Admiral Catherine Khalid. At her retirement, the Home Guard's current Commander, Admiral Telemachus Rhade, replaced her. The Khalid family's primary source of income has, until recently, been from the agriculture produced on the land owned by the family since the colony's establishment. More recently, the Khalids have expanded into research and development, and the current focus is on understanding and eventually mastering the technology discovered in salvaged Magog swarm ships."
By the time the female machine had finished, Khalid had a thoughtful look on his face as he led them up a small stone staircase to the main doors, where Ivan and a young woman stood waiting for them.
"Ishmael Khalid and the representative of the Consensus, this is my wife, Justina."
"It's a great honour to meet you, Ishmael Khalid," Justina said timidly while bowing her head.
"I can say the same, Justina," Khalid said with a friendly smile.
Ivan opened the doors and waved them inside, saying, "The matriarch is waiting for you in her study. I'll show you the way and wait for you in the sitting room across the hallway with the honoured representative until you're finished."
"That's kind of you to offer, but my companion will be with me when I meet Admiral Catherine Khalid," Khalid said as he followed Ivan through a large, open, lobby-like room and towards a huge wooden staircase.
Ivan stopped halfway up the staircase and turned around to give Khalid a nervous look. "The matriarch specifically reminded me that this was to be a private meeting between the two of you."
"I'll make sure to specifically remind her that my companion goes where I go, without exception."
"But..."
Khalid slapped Ivan on the shoulder and flashed him a toothy grin. "Don't worry about it, it's my decision. Nothing you can do about it."
Ivan smiled weakly back and nodded before he resumed leading them up the staircase to the second level. With sure steps, Ivan walked down a long, polished wood hallway, whose walls were festooned with family portraits, until he reached a large door near the end. Ivan knocked quietly before opening the door and only entered far enough to let Khalid and the female machine to walk past him as he introduced them.
"Ishmael Khalid and the representative of the Consensus of Parts, matriarch of the Khalid family, Catherine Khalid."
A tall, thin woman dressed in an immaculate, plain black suit and with her steely grey hair sharply pulled back in a bun stood up from behind her enormous polished black stone desk. With a small nod to Ivan, she waved her guests inside.
"Thank you, Ivan. On your way downstairs, please tell Tabitha to cancel the refreshments for the sitting room."
Khalid walked over to the large plate glass window that showed a spectacular view of the front gardens leading up to the nearby woods, and stood in front of it as he heard the door close.
"Won't you have a seat, Ishmael? I'm certain you have a great many questions you'd like to ask me."
Khalid kept looking out the window as he replied, "I'm perfectly comfortable standing, Catherine, but please, don't let that stop you from doing so yourself."
Catherine looked briefly at the female machine standing stoically near the door before she sat down and said with a smile, "Please, call me Matriarch."
Khalid turned to look at Catherine with a matching smile. "No need to stand on ceremony, Catherine--we're family."
With a nod of her head, Catherine gave a smile that didn't match the stony glare she gave Khalid. "So we are, Ishmael. A family that has long been a strong influence in Tarazed society, one that has given it the stability and strength it needed to become as great as it now is."
"An opinion I'm certain you've reminded Tarazed's populace of at every opportunity."
Catherine's eyes glittered, and she lost the fake smile, leaning forward over her desk. "How about we drop the double talk, Ishmael. What do you want from us?"
"The future, Catherine. I want Tarazed to become part of making the future as it was meant to when Sara Riley and I founded it three hundred years ago."
***
Ethan was grinning from ear to ear; not only had Father said he could come out of that horrible little room, but he was now walking next to Dylan Hunt, just the two of them.
"Now remember what Harper said, Ethan: no matter what Tyr does, you can not use lethal force against him."
"Why can't I spar with you?"
Dylan looked over at where Ethan was staring at him and smiled. "Because Harper made me promise not to." Reaching over to ruffle Ethan's hair affectionately, Dylan added, "Could you say no to him?"
Ethan sighed dramatically and shook his head.
"That's what I thought." He gave Ethan's shoulder a quick squeeze. "Come on, Tyr hates to be kept waiting, and I can't wait to see you kick his ass."
Ethan was so happy that he almost skipped after Dylan down towards the Andromeda's gym. Dylan smiled at me. Me. He was so going to kick Tyr's ass, all across the gym. Anything to make Dylan touch him again. Anything to make Dylan smile again.
Opening the doors to the gym, Dylan waved Ethan in ahead of him. Inside, Tyr stood near the far wall doing stretches while Beka squatted near him, talking in a low voice. Rommie was positioning Marias armed with extended force lances around the walls and gave Dylan a small smile when she saw him enter the gym.
"Will you be okay? I just need to talk to Rommie for a minute."
Ethan smiled and nodded back at Dylan. With a heartfelt sigh, Ethan watched Dylan walk over to Rommie before he forced himself to focus on the upcoming fight and began making adjustments to his nanobots. This was his chance to show Dylan just what he could do, and Ethan had no intention of disappointing him.
"Do we really need eight armed Marias in here, Rommie?"
Rommie almost looked insulted as she turned to face Dylan. "I don't know the limits of Ethan's combat capabilities yet, Dylan. After our previous experiences, I would prefer to have my internal defences trained on him, as well, but Harper said I was being paranoid."
"Harper was right." Dylan spotted the hurt look Rommie quickly covered up and put a hand on her shoulder. "But so are you. We don't know Ethan's limits; we don't know if Ethan knows his own strength. Just because he's trying not to use lethal force doesn't mean someone couldn't get hurt."
"Trance is on Med deck, and I have three Marias with two AG beds on standby."
Dylan gave Rommie a smile before nodding. "Where's Harper?"
"Machine shop seventeen. He said he wanted to flesh out an idea he had for preventing Ethan's nanobots overriding my internal firewalls."
"You mean he couldn't bring himself to watch so he's keeping himself busy."
Dylan looked around Rommie to see Beka standing with her hands on her hips, shaking her head.
"Beka," Dylan warned.
"It's an observation, Dylan," Beka said before turning to look at Tyr finishing his stretches. "Seamus has always hidden from dealing with the stuff that really worries him by drowning himself in work." She looked back at Dylan and Rommie with a half smile. "I wouldn't put it past him to actually come up with something that works, you know."
"I don't put anything past Harper anymore, Beka." Dylan raised an eyebrow at her. "Shouldn't you be on the Command deck?"
"Yeah, yeah. I'm headed up there now," Beka said, looking back at Tyr briefly before she faced Dylan and Rommie. "Try not to let anyone get killed this time, won't you?"
Dylan rolled his eyes. "Go, Beka. You can monitor the gym from Command just as easily as watching it here."
Beka nodded, distracted, while walking towards the doors, and as they opened to let her out, she gave one last look over at Tyr before she sighed and left.
"I believe we are both ready to begin now, Dylan," Tyr called out, walking to the centre of the gym with an extended force lance lightly held under one arm.
"Ethan, where is your force lance?" Rommie asked when Ethan stepped up in front of Tyr, empty-handed.
Ethan smirked at Tyr and rolled his head to the left as the shimmering black material that almost completely covered him rippled across his body. Dylan could see the black material soundlessly part until it left Ethan's back completely exposed and two long, sword-like spikes of the same material grew over Ethan's hands and extended down towards the floor.
"Don't need it." Ethan winked playfully at Tyr, taking a step back before easily lifting up the metre long black spikes that had grown out of his arms.
As Tyr and Ethan began to circle each other cautiously, Dylan and Rommie backed up near the doors where Dylan asked softly, "Are you getting data from Ethan's use of his nanobots?"
"Yes." Rommie's eyes were unfocused. "The ease with which he can manipulate his nanobot macro formations was unexpected."
Dylan nodded, his attention drawn to the centre of the gym.
Tyr began the test with a simple rolling swing attack, holding one end of his force lance as he swung attack after attack at Ethan. Ethan blocked easily with his arm spikes, and as Tyr's superior strength drove him backwards towards the far wall, he narrowed his eyes in concentration. Another portion of the black material covering him disappeared from a section of his left thigh as a short half ring grew out of Ethan's right foot. With a quick half spin, Ethan switched from defence to attack and hooked Tyr's leg so that when the larger man tried to adjust his balance to counter Ethan's attacks, he fell backwards instead.
"Good move, but Tyr won't fall for it twice," Dylan commented while watching Tyr launch a savage counter attack leg sweep before rolling to his feet.
"Ethan is only utilising a fraction of his capabilities. His nanobot macro formations are capable of much more than what we've seen so far."
Rommie's eyes were still unfocused as she dispassionately watched Ethan slice through the air in a spectacular whirling onslaught that drove a now stumbling Tyr into a desperate defence.
"I get your point, but I thought you said Ethan didn't have any cybernetic enhancements to his speed."
"He doesn't," Rommie noted. "What Ethan is displaying is the high level of interaction between his neural pathways and his nanobots. Ethan's external layer of nanobots are interconnected to each other by an extremely sophisticated network of pico-metre accurate magnetic linkages with individually variable field intensities. Using a method I am still attempting to determine, Ethan is directly conveying instructions from his cerebellum to the nanobot network covering him. His external nanobots are then functioning as an instantaneous interactive exoskeleton capable of multiple simultaneous functions and formations."
Dylan frowned as he watched Tyr dive to one side of the whirling Ethan and rolled to his feet, swinging a vicious strike into where Ethan had been.
"You mean Ethan can instantly translate thought into action? Ethan pictures what he wants his body to do and the nanobots make it a reality, even if they have to drag his slower and physically weaker body along with them."
Dancing out of the range of Tyr's attack, Ethan landed with his back to Dylan and Rommie. Dylan noticed that where, before, Ethan had been showing a wide patch of pale skin on his back, it was now covered in a fine mesh of shining black threads.
Rommie tilted her head thoughtfully. "Yes."
Tyr twirled his force lance to a guard position before growling lowly at Ethan. Extending one hand, Tyr pointed at Ethan and dared him to attack.
"Any weaknesses? Ethan's beginning to sound damn near invincible."
Ethan grinned back at Tyr, smacked his two arm spikes against each other, and charged, holding them crossed over each other close to his body. Closing in, Ethan swung an arm spike out as he jumped towards Tyr aiming for his head. With a smirk, Tyr blocked the spike, turned his body to dodge the kick Ethan threw at him, and used his force lance to turn Ethan's leap into a head-first plunge into floor.
"There could be," Rommie said slowly before she focused her eyes in an unspoken question at Dylan.
Ethan tucked his head down, and his shimmering black outfit suddenly flowed, leaving only a fine mesh behind as it surged down to the floor ahead of the rest of Ethan. Four black tendrils shot out of the mass, wrapping themselves tightly around Tyr's body even as Ethan disappeared into the blob on the floor. Ethan stood up from inside the rapidly shrinking black blob, almost fully covered in the black material, with a victorious smirk.
"Permission granted, Rommie."
The gym was suddenly flooded with a bright, strobing white light that caused Dylan to squint painfully and shade his eyes as he watched what was going on in the centre of the gym. Ethan blinked rapidly before he grabbed his head in agony and fell to his knees; the black material of his outfit seemed to quiver before the tendrils it had wrapped around Tyr exploded into a fine black mist that slowly floated to the floor. Shading his eyes himself, Tyr calmly walked over to Ethan as he collapsed, drew a fist back, and punched Ethan out cold with a savage hit to his right temple.
Rommie smiled. "I believe I may have found at least one fatal flaw in Ethan's nanobots."
***
Khalid collapsed into a large armchair in Ivan and Justina's private quarters with a heavy sigh.
"Well, that went just beautifully."
The female machine tilted her head thoughtfully where she stood just beside Khalid. Ivan and Justina sat down together on a long couch across from Khalid with worried frowns.
Leaning back into the armchair, Khalid looked over at the confused and distant look on his companion's face and smiled. "I was being sarcastic."
When the female machine nodded, looking relieved, Khalid shook his head and turned to face Ivan and Justina.
"How long have my own family been apart of this isolationist movement?"
Ivan exchanged a look with his wife before picking up the decanter sitting on the low table between them and Khalid. Pouring out drinks for everyone but the female machine, Ivan passed one to Khalid saying, "Since the admiral became matriarch, about ten years ago."
"Not everyone is committed to the isolationists, though. Some of the family remain loyal to the old pro-Commonwealth cause." Justina sipped delicately from her glass. "Do you want to meet some of the others?"
That grabbed Khalid's attention. "Others?"
Ivan reached over and lifted Justina's hand to his lips and kissed it. "It was the matriarch's decision to support Admiral Rhade's isolationists, and the family has been split ever since."
Justina smiled as she squeezed Ivan's hand back before saying to Khalid, "We're not organised, and no one will challenge the wishes of the matriarch. But that doesn't mean we have no minds of our own."
"I'd like to meet them, anyway. I need to have a better understanding since, as Catherine pointed out, I've been away from my family for a long time."
Justina smiled as she nodded and stood up. Walking over to a nearby wall panel, she started typing something into it.
Ivan watched her for a moment before he looked back at a curious Khalid. "Justina is just being careful; we don't want to make the matriarch suspicious."
Khalid narrowed his eyes. "Why would she be?"
"Paranoia. The matriarch knows that a lot of the family are questioning her leadership now that Dylan has re-established the Commonwealth without us." Ivan emptied his glass, and putting it down, he added, "She also knows that since your return, the whole isolationist movement is beginning to crumble. First Dylan does the impossible and rebuilds the Commonwealth, then you reappear after three hundred years in a massive dreadnought calling on us to uphold our ancient promise. The isolationists are running scared."
"Ever since Rakel Ben-Tzion's impeachment, Tarazed has been in political turmoil. It's why John Bayliss became First Triumvere. Bayliss is a political neutral, neither an isolationist nor pro-Commonwealth." Justina sat back down next to Ivan with a sigh. "The isolationists are afraid you'll motivate the pro-Commonwealth forces to unify behind you. Not even Ben-Tzion could do that when she was First Triumvere, with Dylan Hunt himself on her arm."
Khalid looked over at his companion and, when she nodded slightly to confirm the story, put down his glass on the table in front of him. "How many guests are we expecting tonight?"
"Only one."
Khalid smiled to himself. "So the isolationists aren't the only ones running scared, then."
"They don't know you." Ivan said refilling his and Justina's glasses. "Admiral Rhade is the leader of the isolationists, and the matriarch is Admiral Rhade's strongest supporter. They're waiting to see what she's going to do now that you've returned from the dead."
Pushing his glass closer to Ivan so he could top it off, Khalid looked at Justina clenching her hands tightly in her lap. "Who's coming?"
"David, Ivan's younger brother."
"He's supposed to be at the Academy," Ivan said, snapping around to face his wife.
"Despite what you and your parents think, he's nearly twenty. David is old enough to choose his own life, Ivan."
Ivan looked closely into his wife's eyes before he sighed. "Let me guess--he lied, he never went back to the Academy after summer break."
"It's called a sabbatical. David wanted to accept the job offer at Lexington Nano-technologies; six months, and then he'll go back to the Academy." Justina grabbed Ivan's hand and squeezed it until he looked up at her again. "It's only six months, Ivan. General Fraser approved the leave personally, and you know what a hard case she is. Don't argue over this, please."
Ivan looked down at his hand holding Justina's before looking up into her pleading eyes and sighed. Nodding, Ivan picked up his glass and drained it. The four of them spent the next half-hour sitting quietly, sipping the sweet liquor and relaxing until finally the door beeped, announcing an arrival.
Justina grabbed her husband's hand and gave it a quick squeeze before going over to open the door. A tall, dark-haired young man dressed in what Khalid immediately identified as a cadet's uniform hugged Justina before following her into the room.
"Ivan."
"David. Got a special dispensation to leave the Academy after lights out, did you?"
Seeing the blush colouring David's face as he stood nervously in the entryway, Justina pulled him fully into the room before sitting down next to Ivan. She shot a warning glare at her husband before she patted the spare seat on the couch. "Take a seat, I'll introduce you."
"David, this is your great great great great grandfather, Captain Ishmael Khalid, returned to us by his friend, the Representative of the Consensus of Parts. Captain Khalid and honoured Representative, this is David Khalid, my brother-in-law."
Justina smiled when David nervously wiped his hands on his pants before reaching over to shake hands with Khalid. Turning to do the same with the female machine, he half stood for a moment, starting to blush as she looked curiously at the offered hand without moving to take it.
"It's an organic greeting. He just wants to shake your hand to show he means you no harm," Khalid said to his companion with a smile of his own.
"This is a common greeting amongst organics?" The female machine asked, tilting her head as she studied the now wavering hand being stretched out towards her.
"It is on Tarazed."
With a nod the female machine moved with lightning speed to grab David's offered hand and gave it a hard shake. "We are pleased to meet you, Cadet David Khalid."
David grimaced as the female machine released his hand and rubbed his shoulder saying, "Yeah, nice to meet you, too."
Khalid shook his head, still smiling, before he looked over at David. "She doesn't get out much."
***
"Dylan," Holographic Rommie said, flickering into appearance next to him in the med bay where Trance and Avatar Rommie were checking the still unconscious Ethan. "Harper requests you meet him in your quarters."
"Did he say what about?"
Holographic Rommie looked over at Ethan lying on the bed. "Yes. He's concerned about something to do with Ethan."
Dylan nodded. "Tell Harper I'll be there soon; I'm just waiting for Trance to finish her scans."
"I think it would be better for your collection of rare scotch if you went now, Dylan," Holographic Rommie said seriously before flickering out.
"Trance, remind me to have a little talk with Beka sometime about keeping secrets."
Trance looked away from the monitors showing her scans of Ethan and opened her mouth to say something, but all she saw was a flash of Dylan's back as the doors to med bay slid closed.
Walking swiftly towards his quarters, Dylan called out to the ceiling, "Rommie, how long has Harper been in my quarters?"
"Twelve minutes, twenty three seconds and counting."
"Too long," Dylan muttered to himself, thinking how much of his best scotch Harper could drink in that time.
Then he started running.
By the time Dylan burst through the door into his quarters, he was cursing himself for growing soft; he shouldn't have gotten so out of breath that damn easily. Harper was perched on his bed drinking straight from a bottle, and Dylan winced when he almost dropped the precious liquid onto the floor as he tried to stand up.
"Harper..."
"Dylan."
Taking a couple of deep breaths, Dylan walked over to where Harper was standing and quietly took the bottle from his hand.
"Rommie, engage privacy mode."
Dylan closed his eyes briefly after recognising the label on his best bottle of scotch, the one he'd received from Admiral Starke on the day of his engagement to Sara.
"That wasn't, like, a family heirloom or nothing, was it? I just grabbed the first bottle I saw."
Dylan looked over when Harper sat back down on the end of his bed heavily and sighed. "It doesn't matter."
"I just screwed up again didn't I?" Harper moaned, flopping onto his back.
"It's only a bottle of scotch, Harper," Dylan said as much to himself as to Harper before sitting down on the bed next to him.
Harper rolled on to his side so he was facing Dylan. "Is Ethan okay?"
"He'll be fine. Trance says it's just a mild concussion, but we'll know more once he wakes up." Dylan reached over and rubbed a hand along Harper's side. "Rommie's going to contact us then. Do you want some more scotch?"
Flashing a brilliant smile, Harper sat up on the bed. "Sure. You want me to get some of those tumblers you like?"
"If you wouldn't mind."
Harper jumped off the bed and started to walk over to the small kitchenette, but he turned and quickly gave Dylan a kiss on his cheek. Dylan smiled watching as Harper walked over to the cupboard where he kept his tumblers and reached up with a hand to touch the spot where Harper had kissed him.
"Should I fill the ice bucket?" Harper asked before bending over to grab it.
Dylan felt the blood racing southwards as he stared at the inviting vision of Harper's backside. Quickly adjusting his now uncomfortable uniform pants, he was almost caught off guard when Harper looked back at him curiously. "What?"
Harper frowned for a moment and waved the ice bucket a couple of times before breaking out in a massive grin. "See something you want to get your hands on, Dylan?"
With a firm shake, Dylan got a hold of himself; it was only twenty-seven hours until they reached Sinti. He was a three hundred and forty year old High Guard Captain, and he could control himself for one damn day.
"Yes. And don't forget to grab the massage oil on your way over here."
Then again...
***
Satrina phase shifted up through the floor into an empty cargo bay on the Andromeda, quickly checking the room. She then closed her eyes for a moment. Almost instantly, another sixteen figures phase shifted up through the floor around her.
"Omega class assassins designate Alex, proceed immediately to your predetermined initial locations and await the commencement signal. Acknowledge."
Ten dull voices called out as one, "Acknowledged." Before they phase shifted away in ones and twos.
"Omega class assassins designate Ethan, you stay with me until the kill target's location is verified. Acknowledge."
Two male figures dressed in a skin-tight, shimmering black material moved to flank Satrina, one dark haired the other blond. "Acknowledged."
Satrina smiled before she looked at her white-coloured aide. "Take red with you, find the prototype, and determine his combat status." When the white aide bowed her cowled head, Satrina added, "Don't engage him or any other target. I don't want them to know we're here until I'm ready for them to know."
This time they both bowed before phase shifting back down through the floor.
Turning to face her green reptilian aide, Satrina said,
"Locate Seamus Harper and neutralise him. I don't want him interfering
with the
Omegas."
Satrina waited until her green aide had nodded and phase shifted away before turning to look at her blue-coloured aide.
"Find the Andromeda's computer core, disable the AI, and then strip it of all data relating to both the Creche and the prototype."
The blue aide's grin showcased a mouth filled with rotting teeth as he nodded, and Satrina smiled back before saying, "I want you finished before I order the Omegas to terminate the kill target, understand?"
The blue aide nodded again before phase shifting down
through the
floor.
***
Khalid was woken up from his snooze by a hard, cold hand shaking his shoulder, and with a groan, he opened his eyes to see a worried look on his machine companion's face.
"Admiral Catherine Khalid wishes to speak with you via the intercom. Do you wish to speak with her?"
"Yeah, I'll talk to her." Khalid stiffly got out of the couch he'd been lying on and stretched his arms up over his head until he heard his back crack.
The female machine looked concerned where she stood next to the couch. "We can inform Admiral Catherine Khalid to reinitate contact in two hours if you require more time to complete your internal repair and maintenance schedule."
Khalid gave his companion a grin and shook his head before walking over to the intercom. "I'll be fine. I wasn't really sleeping anyway."
Pressing a button on the panel brought up an image of the Khalid family matriarch, immaculately dressed in a black suit and with her hair pulled back into a tight bun.
"Ishmael. I hope you're feeling better; I understand you had a late night visiting with Ivan's family."
"Catherine, always a pleasure. Was there something you wanted?"
Catherine Khalid glared through the intercom screen. "Yes, actually, I was wondering if you might have time in your busy schedule of meetings to have lunch with me."
Khalid sighed and looked thoughtful for a moment before breaking out in a smile. "Certainly, Catherine, we would love to have lunch with you. Shall we say in an hour?"
Narrowing her eyes in annoyance, Catherine bit out, "I'm certain the honoured representative has more important things to do than have lunch with us."
"Don't be silly, Catherine. She wouldn't miss it for the world."
"How... delightful. Do you remember the way to my office, Ishmael?"
"Of course. We'll be there in under an hour. See you then, Catherine."
Khalid was grinning from ear to ear when Catherine closed the channel with a constipated look still smeared across her face. Looking over at where his companion was standing expectantly over by the couch, Khalid clapped his hands together loudly.
"Well, I'd better get moving. I've got less than an hour to make myself look half as good as you do."
The female machine tilted her head, confused, before looking down at the weird array of grey metal shapes and glowing multicoloured tubes that covered her body.
Khalid was half way to the bathroom when he called out over his shoulder, "Sarcasm."
***
"Hey, you're awake. You feeling better?" Trance asked.
Ethan rubbed his eyes as he sat up and squinted at Trance, who was standing next to his bed.
"My head hurts."
A cold prick bit into Ethan's neck moments before the migraine started fading away, and he turned his head in surprise to see Rommie moving away from him, holding an injector out so he could see it.
"It's an analgesic; you should be feeling its effects already."
Ethan smiled at Rommie before he started looking around the med bay, trying to see Dylan.
"Are you feeling dizzy?" Trance asked worriedly.
"I heard Dylan talking to you, before, when I was still out of it..."
"You were aware of your surroundings even while unconscious?" Rommie turned back to face Ethan, surprised, after putting away the injector.
Ethan blinked, confused. "Why wouldn't I?"
Rommie shared a look with Trance.
"Harper called Dylan away. He wanted to talk to him before you woke up," Trance said.
"Oh." Ethan looked down at his hands nervously. "Is... is Father really angry with me?"
Trance walked around the bed and knelt down until she could look up into Ethan's face. "Harper was worried about you. He just wanted to make sure you hadn't been hurt, Ethan."
"Then why didn't he come see me himself? Why make Dylan go see him unless it was because he's angry with me?"
"Why do you think Harper would be angry with you?" Rommie asked curiously.
Trance watched, amazed, as Ethan took a shuddering breath, fighting to prevent himself from breaking into tears as he said in a quiet, subdued voice, "Cause I failed." Ethan looked over at Rommie with his bottom lip trembling. "Am I...am I going to have to self-terminate now?"
***
Tyr confidently strode onto the command deck and, without a glance in Beka's direction, went straight to his station.
Beka raised an eyebrow at the silent treatment, but she figured two could play at this game and kept her focus on her station as she prepared to take them into slipstream.
"I thought Dylan was in a hurry to get to Sinti?" Tyr queried without looking up from his station.
"He is." Beka looked over at him. "Harper's got bookings at a seaside resort that demanded payment in advance."
Tyr snorted before looking back at her. "They should both be seeking mates who have the capacity to bear children. Your encouragement of their... relationship is surprising."
"Whatever's going on between Seamus and Dylan is none of our business, Tyr," Beka warned, her eyes flashing dangerously. "Stay out of it."
"They're wasting their genetic potential. It's pathetic."
"And you're really beginning to piss me off!" she snapped, glaring at Tyr. "If Seamus and Dylan can find happiness together, then I say good for them." Beka looked back at her station and began to angrily stab at the controls, muttering, "At least someone's getting some around here."
Tyr watched Beka curiously for a moment, but before he could say anything Rommie appeared on the main display.
"Beka, something's wron-"
Her image froze.
Moments later, she disappeared as all the displays on the Command deck suddenly started showing only static.
"What the hell?"
"The ship's AI has been shutdown. Switching to manual."
Beka shot a worried look at Tyr before she nodded and pressed a button. "Dylan, what the hell did you just do to Rommie?"
***
"No, Ethan. Harper would never want you to do that," Trance said as she stood up, grabbing Ethan's shoulders.
Ethan looked up at Trance with tear-streaked cheeks and a trembling smile, then he pulled her forward and buried his face against her.
Trance started making soothing sounds and rubbing Ethan's shoulders as she let him hug her, looking over at Rommie with worried eyes.
Rommie walked around and sat down on the bed next to Ethan, asking softly, "Is that what would have happened to you in the Creche? If you fail, you have to kill yourself?"
Ethan nodded and turned his head where he had it pressed against Trance so he could see Rommie.
"Martin always said that Father would be angry with us if we let anyone who failed live, especially Omegas."
"Ethan," Rommie reached over slowly and carefully pried one of Ethan's hands away from Trance to hold it in her own. "I've known Harper for two years, yes?"
Ethan nodded still sniffing.
"And Trance has known Harper for even longer." When Ethan nodded again, Rommie smiled at him. "Then trust us when we say that Harper would never want you hurt. No matter what Martin said, he cares about you too much to ever want you to kill yourself."
Ethan pulled away from Trance to wipe his face and looked up at her with questioning eyes.
Trance smiled back. "Rommie's right, Ethan. Harper would never want you to hurt yourself."
"Not ever?" Ethan asked, his voice still trembling with disbelief.
"Never, ever," Trance said with a firm shake of her head.
When Ethan started smiling shyly, Rommie patted his hand comfortingly before letting it go as she stood up.
Trance helped Ethan to stand up while Rommie tried to send a silent call to Dylan so that he could bring Harper down, and she frowned when she found herself locked out of her AI interface.
"Trance..."
"Trance. Is Rommie still with you?" Beka's anxious voice boomed out over the ship's intercom.
"I'm here, Beka. There's something wrong with my AI interface. I've been locked out of myself."
"You're not the only one. Tyr says that your AI has been shut down, and I can't raise Dylan on the comm."
Rommie looked over at Trance and Ethan for a moment before drawing her force lance. "Dylan engaged privacy mode, and I can't override it without access to my main AI. Stay where you are, Beka; I'm sending Trance and Ethan to you while I go to Dylan's quarters. Have you established manual control of the ship yet?"
"Just basic manoeuvring and weapons so far, but we're still working on it."
"Let me know how you do. I'll contact you again once I find Dylan and Harper. Med bay out."
"Take this and be careful," Rommie said, handing her force lance over to Trance. "We may have saboteurs on board."
"What about you?" Ethan asked.
"I'll be fine, Ethan. I want you to listen to Trance and do what she says until I can find Dylan and Harper, okay?"
"Okay."
Rommie looked at Trance one last time before she led the way out of the med bay and the three went their separate ways.
***
Harper sighed as Dylan slid oiled hands down the centre of his spine from neck to tail bone. Pushing his hips up impatiently, he moaned his disapproval when Dylan slid his hands back up his sides before flipping him over.
"Impatient," Dylan murmured, leaning over to kiss Harper's forehead.
Harper looked down at his throbbing, leaking cock meaningfully. Dylan followed Harper's eyes and grinned, letting one hand slide down over Harper's oiled chest until he could wrap it around his erect cock.
"Better?"
"Mmmhmm," Harper moaned back, reaching up to pull Dylan's face down to kiss him.
Dylan kissed back with passion, his tongue exploring and rediscovering the inside of Harper's mouth. They looked into each other's eyes as they broke the kiss to take a deep breath, now lying close against each other.
"Dylan..."
Harper thrust into the circle of Dylan's hand still surrounding his leaking erection, and taking his cue, Dylan tightened his grip and started a slow twisting motion with his hand. He felt a deep ache in his own cock as he thrust against the outside of Harper's hip and leaned over to recapture Harper's lips in another passionate kiss.
Lost in the taste and feel of Harper panting and moaning into his mouth, Dylan wasn't prepared when Harper suddenly stiffened and groaned loudly, and thick, warm fluid splashed over his hand. Dylan maintained the lip-lock as he slid his now sticky hand down past Harper's balls to caress his perineum.
Harper broke the kiss and reached up to push against Dylan's shoulders, forcing them to roll over and allowing him to straddle Dylan's hips. Pinching Dylan's nipples, Harper moaned as Dylan started to tease his asshole with his fingers.
"Need... some... lube..." Harper gasped, pushing back against the teasing fingers.
"Under the pillow." Dylan moaned, arching up when Harper bent over to start nipping at his collarbone.
Dylan was so caught up in trying to hold off his rapidly approaching climax that he was unprepared when Harper was suddenly pulled off him. Eyes snapping open, Dylan saw Harper's shocked face as a green reptilian figure dragged him along and went straight through a solid wall.
Dumbfounded, Dylan blinked at the solid wall Harper just disappeared through and, with no idea what was going through his brain, blurted, "But... I just found the lube!"