"We look forward to our meeting, Captain Hunt." The Dalaien ambassador bowed to the screen.
Dylan inclined his head in return. "I'll be there tomorrow."
The Dalaien's fur ruffled. "You are coming alone?"
"Should I not?" Dylan returned innocently.
"A female companion equal to your stature is needed," the ambassador informed him.
Dylan nearly winced. He would have to ask Beka to go. The Commonwealth needed the Dalaiens to sign the Charter, since their empire stretched over fifteen systems and was the most peaceful and stable one. Smiling for the benefit of the ambassador, Dylan bowed his head again, though smiling was the last thing he felt like doing. He wondered idly when Tyr had slipped silently into his office, just out of sight of the projector, and how much he had heard.
"In that case, we'll be there tomorrow."
The ambassador's fur smoothed, a sign of acceptance. "We will be expecting you and your companion for negotiations." The screen blacked out.
Dylan allowed himself a long sigh before facing Tyr, who had a small smirk tugging up the corners of his lips.
"How are you going to get her to go along with you?" he asked in his deceptively soft manner.
Dylan shrugged. "Ask really nicely to begin with, descending into groveling, and if that fails, knock her out and drag her along."
"She'll kill you if you do that."
"Probably," Dylan drawled.
Tyr let the silence stretch for a moment before getting down to business. "You said that you needed to see me?"
"Yeah, I was going to ask you to take Trace and the Maru on a supply run for the Andromeda, but since both Beka and I have to go, we'll just take the Maru, so you'll be in charge here." Dylan handed Tyr a supply list. "That's the immediate stuff Harper and our food stores need. Since our budget got a large boost from the last supply run the Maru did, feel free to let Trance get some plants, or something like that."
Tyr silently nodded. "When do you have to leave?"
Dylan smiled. "In about five hours. Just remember, you break the ship, you bought it." Tyr shook his head as he left, probably mentally wondering how Dylan would survive the coming confrontation.
"Andromeda?"
Rommie's image popped up on the screen. "Yes?"
"Do you know where Beka is?"
Rommie paused for a second, consulting her internal sensors. "She is on the Obs deck. Should I ask her to come down?"
Dylan shook his head. "Nah. I'll go up there."
"Good luck."
"Thanks, I'll need it."
Beka stared at the scenery around the Obs deck, willing a bit of its serenity to soak into her. Resting her chin on a knee, she deliberately avoided staring at the inky blackness of space, choosing instead to look around at Trance's plants.
"Hey."
She turned to face Dylan and mustered a small smile for his benefit. "Hey."
Dylan saw right through the smile. "Tough morning?"
Beka really didn't want to discuss it, but she knew that Dylan would drag it out of her sooner or later. "Yeah."
He sat down comfortably beside her. "Want to talk about it?"
"Even if I could find the words, I doubt that you'd be able to understand it."
"Try me," he countered quietly. "I might just understand better than you think." He nodded his head back towards the large window that they were both facing away from. "You can't stand to look out there, because it just reminds you too much of that empty spot inside you, the spot that the Flash filled up for a little while. Now that you're off Flash, that empty spot's back, just begging to be filled back up, but you know that you can't go back to Flash, no matter how good it felt."
Beka stared at him, incredulous. "How?" she stammered.
"Did I know? My older brother."
She had to blink in mild shock. Dylan was almost as secretive as Trance when it came to his past. "You had a brother?"
Dylan nodded. "Dane. He was about five years older than I was. You kind of remind me of him."
"He was a pilot?"
"No, he hated space. Said it reminded him too much of what he was trying to forget. He was an artist, and had this absolutely incredible gift that I couldn't match, no matter how hard I tried. But with his gift, there was that empty spot he could never fill, no matter how many beautiful things he created. So he turned to a drug similar to Flash, except users rubbed it on their skin. It got to where he couldn't paint if he wasn't on Nystic. I'm glad you stopped before you got there."
She smiled tentatively, feeling marginally better about confiding in him. "I'm glad you guys made me stop before I got there." Shaking off the melancholy, she peeked behind her. The blackness didn't seem so forbidding now. "Did you need to see me about something?"
Dylan nodded. "The Dalaiens have agreed to hear about the Commonwealth Charter."
"That's great. What's the catch?"
"I have to go there - with a female 'equal to my stature.'"
Beka held up her hands. "Oh no, you are not going to drag me into another diplomatic dinner. Remember last time?"
"Please Beka? They absolutely insist, and they won't hear the Charter if I'm there by myself. We really need them to sign. They have fifteen systems under their influence."
Beka sighed. Sometimes he was like an eager puppy when it came to signing worlds up with the Commonwealth. "Fine."
Dylan's face split into a smile.
"One question, though. Who are you leaving in charge here?"
"Tyr."
"You're leaving Tyr in charge?"
"Yeah. I'm sending the Andromeda on to get supplies that Harper needs to complete repairs. I'm sure that Rev will keep the children in line," he added with a twinkle in his eye.
"You are an optimist."
"You're acting like this is news? You'd better get packed. We leave in about five hours."
She shook her head as he left the Obs deck, feeling a surge of pity for the ship. "Rommie, I hope you survive the experience."
"Me too," she answered back, in all seriousness.
The Maru popped out of slipstream near the Dalaien home world and was immediately hailed. Dylan punched up the signal on the viewscreen while Beka unbuckled herself from the pilot's seat.
"Unidentified ship, this is Dalaien space control. State your intentions."
"This is Captain Dylan Hunt aboard the Eureka Maru, here on a diplomatic mission for the Systems Commonwealth."
"Acknowledged, Eureka Maru. Please stand by."
The screen projected the image of the symbol for the Dalaien Empire for a moment before the ambassador's furred face appeared.
"Welcome to Dalla, Captain Hunt."
"Thank you, ambassador. May I present Beka Valentine, first officer aboard the Andromeda Ascendant, and captain of the Eureka Maru."
The ambassador bowed to Beka's image. "Welcome, Captain Valentine."
"Thanks," she replied. As Dylan and the ambassador spoke, she directed her attention back to the controller beacon that had been turned on for them. The veiwscreen went back to its normal piloting/tactical display as soon as the ambassador cut the link.
"Ready?" she asked.
Dylan nodded.
Beka brought the Maru down through the atmosphere, and followed the beacon through the termination line - the line where night became day - and set the Maru down in the assigned landing berth.
"Nice," she commented when they got their first good look around.
"Very nice," he agreed.
An ambassadorial aide greeted them at the bottom of the ramp. "Captain Hunt, Captain Valentine, welcome to Dalla. I am Maraka, here to show you to your guest rooms."
"Thank you, Maraka," Dylan replied courteously.
Maraka bowed, and shouldering their bags, walked to a large building that rose out of the surrounding greenery. Once they got closer, Beka shook her head silently.
"Trance would love this place," she muttered quietly. Dylan turned his head towards her and smiled.
"I doubt that we would be able to get her to leave."
Maraka led them through a maze of hallways and floors, until they entered a floor where there were simply two doors along the hallway. She bowed lowly and set their bags down on the floor.
"You may decide which room you want," she informed them. "I will return later tonight to escort you to the reception."
They both murmured the appropriate thanks as Maraka took her leave. Picking up their bags, they looked from one door to the other.
"Which one do you want?" Beka asked.
Dylan shrugged, then randomly pointed his finger to the left. "That one, I guess."
Beka nodded, and opened the door on the right. She took one step inside and stopped, her mouth falling open. Shaking her head sharply, she moved deeper into the room, finding a bed almost larger than any she had ever seen before tucked into a darkened room. A filmy, silken material that moved with the light breeze that blew in covered the banks of windows on three of the four walls.
"It's times like this, Beka, that make you glad you joined up," she muttered to herself as she set her bag down.
"Damn, and all along I thought it was my charming personality," Dylan countered from behind her. Spinning quickly, she saw him leaning against the doorframe.
"You know, I've seen ships and space stations that are smaller than this room."
"I know."
They stood there in silence for the moment, comfortable with each other.
"So, what's to be expected of us during this reception?"
He shrugged. "I don't know yet. The ambassador's supposed to contact me with the details later."
"Too bad," she commented. "I was going to ask if you wanted to go exploring with me."
"Well, you know what they say about all work and no play..."
"It makes Dylan a very dull boy," she teased. "Be ready in fifteen minutes, or I'm leaving without you."
"I must say that I admire you, Captain Hunt. You have chosen a difficult life for yourself."
Dylan shrugged. "Nothing worth doing is ever easy, Ambassador. Restoring the Commonwealth isn't easy, but it's worth doing."
Ambassador Greyan bowed his furred head. "It appears that our glorious Empire is in agreement with you. Our member worlds have read and are agreement with the Charter. The Emperor and Empress will sign it officially tomorrow morning."
Dylan had to smile. He felt a pair of eyes on him and looked past the ambassador's shoulder to see Beka staring at him with a questioning look on her face. Giving her a brief nod and catching her returning smile, he turned his attention back to Greyan.
"That's wonderful news, ambassador."
Greyan nodded his head. "I must confess I was one of the main supporters of the Charter. I remember stories handed down through my family about the Commonwealth, and I have great interest in seeing its return."
"As do I."
"And what of Tarn-Vedra?"
Dylan looked sadly into his glass of wine. "Hopefully, one day we will find a way back to my home world and reestablish the Commonwealth capital there."
Greyan looked surprised. "I am sorry, Captain," he began, but Dylan waved him off with a slight smile.
"It's all right. Besides, there are always rumors and legends on how to get there, and there's usually a grain of truth in them, so we'll keep searching a way to get back to Tarn-Vedra through slipstream."
"An endeavor I wish you the most luck on, Captain. Will you and Captain Valentine join me for a toast?"
"Absolutely," Dylan answered. Casting his gaze over the room, he motioned Beka to come join him. Watching her walk towards him, he couldn't help but notice how beautiful she looked, and wishing vainly that she saw him as something other than a friend.
Beka noticed Dylan's gaze on her, but she was sure he was wondering where she had put her force lance, instead of what she wished he would look for - that she wanted him to see her as more than a friend and a first officer.
Greyan offered them both glasses of an amber colored drink. Beka sniffed appreciatively at the glass and smiled.
"Sedalian whiskey?" she asked Greyan, who nodded.
"May I offer a toast to the rebirth of the Commonwealth, and to the people who are making a dream their reality."
"I'll drink to that," Beka agreed.
"Here, here." The three glasses clinked together before the contents were slowly sipped, all of them enjoying and savoring the rare drink. Greyan finished his drink and bowed to the two.
"I am afraid that other duties require my presence tonight, but I will see you both tomorrow morning." Greyan bowed and left the two alone. Beka finished her glass of the fine whiskey and felt the trail of fire the whiskey left settle down to a warm glow in her stomach. "I'm about ready to leave," she whispered. "What about you?"
Dylan nodded. "I'm with you."
With that, they both circled the room, making their goodbyes to their hosts and the newest members of the Commonwealth before exiting out of the lavish hall.
Yawning, they both made their way up the stairs to their rooms. And then, their memories got fuzzy from there...
Dylan woke up early, despite all of his best efforts to succumb back into the world of dreams. Letting one eye open, he looked at the clock, and satisfied that he still had plenty of time to get ready and get something to eat, he indulged himself in a long stretch of his slightly sore body, only to stop mid-stretch when he realized he wasn't wearing anything. Taking a quick peek under the covers confirmed that he was naked as the day he was born.
"Dylan, that is the last time you're drinking that much again," he muttered to himself as he made his way to the shower. At least his head didn't hurt too badly, unlike some other hangovers he could remember.
Twenty minutes later, freshly showered and dressed, he knocked on Beka's door. Smiling at the muttered curses, he waited patiently for the door to open. Once it did, he fought the ingrained urge to stare at Beka, and the simple tank top that molded to every curve, as well as the obviously old boxer shorts that made her long legs seem even longer.
Beka was slightly disappointed that he wasn't staring at her, but she merely raised an eyebrow at him.
"I was wondering if you wanted to go to breakfast before we have to attend the signing ceremony," he explained with a slightly sheepish look.
Looking at the time, Beka cursed. "I'll be ready in ten minutes."
Dylan nodded and punched up the galactic news on a viewscreen, trying like hell to keep his mind from wandering to the shower that Beka was currently occupying, and almost envying the water that was probably running down her body at this very minute.
That interesting fantasy was cut off when he heard the shower turn off, to be replaced with a certain sense of guilt. He mentally recited the words of the Commonwealth Charter to quelch the overwhelming desire that was present everywhere in his body.
"Ready to go?" she asked, startling him.
"Huh?"
"Breakfast, you know, food, coffee, the reason you woke me up..." she trailed off pointedly.
Smiling, he got up out of the chair, and followed her down to have breakfast.
Later at the signing ceremony, Beka found it difficult to sit still. Not only was Dylan glancing her way more frequently than not, she was also quite sore. Once both the Emperor and the Empress had signed the Charter, everyone rose to applaud. Beka rose as well, even though her muscles protested even that much movement.
As soon as I get on the Maru, I'm gonna take something for this, she promised herself.
She could tell Dylan was ecstatic, judging by his smile. His eyes met hers, and for a moment, there was something heated in them that lent a certain edge to his smile, then the moment was gone, and they were both being swept up by congratulations and well-wishing from the crowd.
Beka checked the coordinates three times before sliding back the pilot's seat and unbuckling herself.
"Well, we're in the right spot," she informed Dylan.
"Just no Andromeda?"
She checked the time. "We're early. We aren't supposed to meet up with the others for another few hours."
He nodded. "Since we have a few hours, is there anything that needs to be done?"
"Nope. Harper took care of everything that was needed."
"So what do we do for the next few hours? Play checkers?"
"If it's okay with you, I'd like to hear more about your brother."
She looked so vulnerable, he couldn't say no to her. "All right. Do mind if we can move this discussion to some place where we can sit down?"
She nodded her head towards the mess hall slash recreation room in the back. Instead of taking a chair, Dylan sat against the bar, and she elected to forgo a chair as well. She slid down beside him and waited for him to begin talking.
"What do you want to know about him?"
Beka shrugged. "What he looked like, what he was like as a person, anything."
Dylan nodded and sent his mind back three hundred years, although to him it barely felt like fifteen. He could vividly recall his brother's face, and even now, it still brought a smile to him.
"Well, Dane and I looked nothing alike. Our parents used to joke that if it wasn't for our names, people could never tell that we were related. Whenever they said that, Dane would just laugh. He could laugh at everything, but if you looked in his eyes, you could tell it was just surface laughter. His heart really wasn't in it. When we were kids, and even sometimes when we weren't, I'd spend the day with Dane, just staying in his studio, watching him paint." Dylan laughed. "He loved having me there with him, although he would usually do a painting of me by the end of the day, instead of working on his other projects."
"I don't suppose that you have any pictures of him?"
He shook his head sadly. "Dane didn't like posing for pictures. He always said that he would much rather be the creator of one, rather than the subject." His eyes lit up as a thought occurred to him. "But if you really want to see him, if you can find me something to draw on and a stylus..."
"Don't move," she said, quickly diving behind the bar and returning quickly with a thick blank flexi and a stylus. Handing them to him, she sat back down beside him. He set the flexi on the deck, and set about the task of drawing his brother's face.
"So tell me something about Beka Valentine that I don't know already," he said. Off her confused look, he shrugged. "I usually draw faster if I'm talking too."
Beka thought for a moment. "Well, since Trance already knows about this, I might as well tell you." She paused momentarily for effect. "I was born with red hair," she said, then smiled when he stopped drawing and turned to look at her.
"Red hair?"
"Yep."
"How-?" he pointed at her now blonde hair.
"Nanobots. My father designed them for my hair when I was thirteen. He said that I would get tired of having the same hair color all of the time. He may have been a Flash addict, but the man knew his nanotech."
"Amazing," he muttered before starting to draw again. After a few moments of silence, he drew the final few strokes and sat back to admire his work. A mixture of sadness and happiness swept through him when he saw the face of his brother staring up at him for the first time in several years. He picked up the flexi before Beka could look at it and turned towards her.
"Before I show you, I do have a favor to ask."
"Red hair?" she asked, and smiled when he nodded sheepishly. "All right."
Dylan watched in amazement as Beka's blonde hair turned a heart stopping red. "Wow."
Shaking her head, the nanobots returned her hair to its previous blonde color. "If you think that's good, wait until you've seen plaid."
"I can only hope," he muttered as he flipped the flexi over.
Beka was quite surprised at the quality of the drawing. "I never knew that you could draw like this."
Dylan shrugged self-consciously. "It's one of the few artistic things I can do."
"It's good." Studying the man portrayed closer, Beka realized that Dylan hadn't been far off when he said that he and his brother looked little alike. Handing the flexi back to Dylan, she smiled. "He was very handsome."
"Yeah, he was." Dylan trailed a finger over Dane's face. "I remember the day of his funeral. There were so many people there, so many people he touched with his work." He suddenly stood and started pacing the small room. The old feeling of guilt was creeping its way back.
Beka stared at him from the floor. "He died before you were frozen?"
Dylan nodded, keeping his face adverted from her. There was no reason for her to know that even now, he was still having to fight the tears that welled up in his eyes. "He was twenty-seven when he accidentally overdosed on Nystic. Apparently he had been using it for years before that."
Sighing he shook his head, and leaned against a bulkhead, keeping his eyes shut. The soft touch of her hand on his face made them fly open, meeting her own tear-filled eyes. "You blame yourself, don't you?"
"I should have seen it, Beka," he whispered. "I shouldn't have accepted that last tour of duty before he died. I would have been there to make him stop."
A few tears rolled down her cheeks. "Don't do this to yourself, Dylan. You didn't know, so how could you have stopped him from overdosing?"
"I was his brother and I let him down."
She shook her head. "No, he let you down. Just like I was letting you down when I was taking Flash."
He shook his head wordlessly and wiped away her tears with his thumb. "I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't stopped, Beka," he confessed before giving into the tears.
Wrapping her arms around him, she let her own tears flow: not only crying for Dylan, but for Dane, Ignatius, and herself. Once her tears had subsided into hiccupping sobs, she pressed her lips to his cheek. His wet eyes lifted to meet hers just before her lips met his in a gentle kiss. It seemed so natural for her to part her lips for his questing tongue while one of his hands came up to cup her head.
She tasted so sweet, yet there was a certain spice to her as well, fanning the embers of desire into a raging inferno that roared through him. Sensation nearly sent him over the edge when she caressed his tongue with hers. Pulling her tighter against his body, he relished the tiny moan that came from her as she rubbed herself against him. Even as their tongues dueled, Dylan became increasingly aware of a chiming sound. Beka heard it too and jerked away from him as if scalded.
"The communications line," she whispered before dashing onto the bridge, leaving Dylan behind, confused and a little hurt. Burying his emotions, he took a deep breath and walked onto the bridge.
Just as he got there, Harper's image winked out of the viewscreen, even as the Andromeda drew nearer. Dylan didn't dare interrupt Beka's concentration when it came to something as tricky as landing inside Andromeda's landing bay, but he knew they would talk about this soon.
Of course, once the ramp had been extended, both Rommie and Tyr claimed that his immediate attention was needed, pushing back his talk with Beka. He merely flashed her a humorous long-suffering look as he went down the ramp and back to business as usual. Beka took her time looking around the Maru to make sure that she didn't forget anything when she noticed the flexi on the floor. Picking it up, she felt her chaotic emotions swell up again as she looked at Dane Hunt. Licking her lips, she found another taste of Dylan still lingering on them.
He kissed me, she thought. Yeah, he kissed me, and I kissed him back.
The room was dark, highlighting the two people locked in an embrace in the doorway. They backed into the room, mouths locked, even as their bodies parted for short intervals to remove various articles of clothing. The door automatically shut behind them, cutting off any artificial light. The absence of that kind of light didn't bother them, though. There was more than enough moonlight to avoid tripping over furniture.
He abruptly pulled his mouth from hers, breathing erratically. "We'd better slow down, otherwise we'll never make it to the bedroom."
She merely arched an eyebrow. "And that's a bad thing?"
"I suppose not," he answered before crushing her mouth with his.
His hands roamed up and down her bare sides, pausing briefly to rub a thumb over hardened nipples, while hers caressed the broad planes of his bare back. Breaking off their kiss, his mouth came down to feast on her smooth neck, occasionally biting her, then soothing the stinging skin with his tongue. Her body pressed against his urgently, trapping his arousal between them, dragging a moan out of them both. Their frantic pace never slowed as they dragged clothing off, trying desperately to free overheated flesh. He pressed her against the wall beside the door as she wrapped her arms around his neck, whispering a demand to hurry.
He lifted her effortlessly, allowing her to wrap her legs around his waist before he let go of her, letting gravity drag her down, slowly impaling her body on his. The small whimper that came from her broke what was left of his control. Bracing his arms on either side of her body, he plunged in and out of her willing body, bringing them both to the brink of release.
Dylan sat up in bed, his body hard and aching, echoing the need of his vivid and all too real dream. Rolling out of bed, he raced to his shower and turned it on, willing the cold water to work its magic on his overheated body. Letting the water run over his body, he leaned forward on his arms, desperately trying to forget the erotic images of his dream. Calling up Sara's face wasn't helping either. In his mind, Sara's face kept shifting and changing until it was Beka's face staring back at him, until her face changed too, darkening until it was the visage of the mystery lover from his dream. The simple thought - or was it wish? - of Beka being that lover was too much for his still overcharged body. If he hadn't been supporting himself on his arms, the climax that rocketed through him would have brought him to his knees. Reaching out a shaking hand to equalize the water temperature, he mentally chastised himself.
Just because of one 'incident' aboard the Maru, that doesn't mean that she feels the same.
He nearly groaned at the memory of the heated kiss he and Beka had shared aboard the Maru. It was going to be a long day.
Beka didn't normally like to run, but today she was grateful for Trance's offer to go running with her. The two women ran through the hallways and then down to deck eight before the silence got to Beka.
"So, did anything interesting happen while I was gone?"
Trance shrugged. "Harper flirted with bar waitresses, Tyr stood around and looked mean, and Rev kept Rommie company on board."
"Sounds about normal. What about you?"
"While we were shopping, Tyr let me get some new plants," she informed Beka with a smile.
"New plants are good," agreed Beka.
"How was your trip to the Dalaien Empire?"
The question threw Beka for a moment as various images flashed through her mind - her huge room on Dalla, the ambassadorial reception, the lush greenery she and Dylan had explored, the ecstatic look on Dylan's face when the Dalaien empire officially joined the Commonwealth, then that look morphing into something different - something heated - when their eyes met, the kiss aboard the Maru, interrupted by the Andromeda's arrival, and the shadowy figure of the mysterious lover her mind created - then she shrugged.
"It was ... interesting. You would have loved Dalla, Trance. They had these huge gardens you could visit anytime, and..." Beka suddenly realized she was talking to thin air. "Trance?"
She turned her head back as she started to round the corner, to see if she could spot Trance down the hallway. How hard can it be finding a purple girl with a tail? she asked herself. She didn't see the two other beings running towards her until she ran straight into one of them. She bounced off Dylan's body and promptly lost her balance.
Dylan grabbed her arms in an attempt to stabilize her, but she was off balance too much and merely pulled him down with her. Rolling his body so that he would take most of the impact, he hit the floor first. The only thing wrong with his plan was that he rolled Beka too, so that she landed completely on top of him. They only narrowly avoided knocking their heads together by Beka planting her hands on the deck to either side of his head. Their eyes locked, and what had been a somewhat comical and embarrassing situation, turned swiftly into something more. Both of their thoughts were plainly visible on their faces, silently answering some questions while creating new ones.
The moment was broken by Tyr's voice. "Anything broken?"
"Just my dignity," Beka answered wryly, awkwardly scrambling off Dylan. Dylan likewise also scrambled to his feet, hoping like hell Tyr didn't notice those few seconds where his definitely non-platonic thoughts were on his face.
Beka looked back over her shoulder and shook her head. "I've, ah, got to get going..." she stammered.
"Yeah," Dylan answered as she ran off. Turning back to face Tyr, who had a contemplative look on his face, Dylan smiled with a humor he didn't feel. "Up for a few more laps?"
Tyr shrugged. "If you think you can handle it."
"I do like a challenge." Dylan set off, leaving Tyr momentarily behind. He frowned as he ran to catch up, wondering what exactly was going on between the two humans. Everyone on board had seen the longing looks they shared on occasion, but that scene in the hallway went beyond unrequited wanting. Choosing to keep silent on the matter for the moment, at least around Dylan and Beka, he once again marveled at the tricks DNA played to replicate itself.
