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Chapter 1
By Tracylyn
The endless void was an incredible mixture of colors.
The darkness of space stretched out for as far as the eye could and beyond.
The sparkle of millions of stars, distant galaxies and nebulas added a
breath taking beauty to the void, making living within it bearable. Or
dying within it, thought Rori. She was lucky if there was a days worth
of breathable air left within her small fighter ship. She didn't know where
she was, or even when.
Having spent more years then she cared
to count within a cryonics chamber, Rori found herself abruptly awaken
due to ship malfunctions. According to the computers that were still online,
The fleet had come under attack, When it seemed that they were losing,
the Imperial Guards and taken her within her chamber and fled the scene
of the fight, but not before receiving heavy damage to their ship. Nearly
a year had passed since the ship had fled the battle. Life support and
been nearly destroyed, with the rest of the ship. All life on the escape
cruiser had slowly died. Except her.
Rori shook her head, trying to clear it of
the memories of guards she never knew, standing even in death, over her.
Protecting her. Awakening after all this time to a ship of corpses was
not a pleasant way to start the proverbial day. Realizing quickly that
she could not fly the damaged ship, and could not survive on it either,
she gather all necessities and disembarked on her so far uneventful journey
in a small fighter ship. Nearly a month had passed and her supplies were
low and her oxygen even lower.
Rori looked out at the surrounding darkness,
it was really quite pretty she thought. Not a bad place to die, but the
warrior blood within her screamed. It would have been better to have died
in battle, a worthy death. It seemed like such a waste, all those years,
all those guards protecting her, for what? The years had passed and the
guards fallen, all in the name of the great Common Wealth, a government
which had been defeated, centuries ago.
Life aboard the Andromeda bustled with normal activity.
Trance was in the hydroponics, tenderly caring for the plant life. Beka
was puttering around the Maru, settled within the huge docking bay of the
Star fleet Command ship. Harper as usual was creating mechanical madness,
in his own lab. Rev Bem was reading his gospel and Rommy was taking some
down time. Tyr had control of the command deck and Captain Dylan Hunt was
practicing his lay-up on the basketball court. Everything normal, but why
then did Dylan feel like something wasn't quite right. Tyr had been irritable
the last few days, but then Tyr always seems irritable. Trance was distracted,
Dylan thought Trance was odd but in an adorable way, and she was keeping
secrets. Trance had this uncanny ability predict things. Liking picking
the right specific planet out of hundreds of others. She said it was just
a lucky guess but Dylan suspected it was more than that. Let her keep her
secrets for now, Dylan was a patient man. He had to be, attempting to restore
the Common Wealth would be a long and tedious venture.
"Andromeda, do a complete scan." He ordered breathless,
sweating his frustrations out with a basketball.
"Am I looking for any thing in particular?" The
holographic computer image asked.
"I'm not sure, just look okay, and let me know what
you find out. Something isn't quite right, I just can't put my finger on
it." He set the ball down and headed to his cabin for a hot shower.
On the command deck, Tyr paced restlessly.
"Come on damn it. Send out the signal again." He
cursed as he clenched his fist. His tall, toned body was tense with frustration.
Two days ago while on duty, he had picked up a faint signal. Andromeda
had missed it because she didn't know that what had seemed like just static
was really a ancient coded Nietzschean s.o.s. But it was gone before he
could trace it's origins. Tyr hadn't left the deck since. Just a few hours
ago, it had briefly appeared again. This time a little stronger, but not
enough that he could pinpoint it. At lease they were in the same general
direction as the Nietzschean ship. Tyr wasn't concerned about a Nietzschean
war fleet, if he was he would have told Dylan and the others about the
signal. This was a special signal, one that his great grandfather had once
taught him about. Only those in the service of the Royal Imperial Guard
knew of it. His ancestor had told him tales of a scared treasure. So very
heavily guarded that most didn't even know what they were guarding. to
a Nietzschean, nothing was more important than their genetic genes. But
according to Tyr's great grandfather this treasure was even more important
than that. It was rumored the the treasure contained the key to the Nietzchean's
future.
Static hummed across the open channel. Tyr rushed
to the communications station. Within the static was a faint repeated beat.
"This is Tyr Anasazi aboard the Starship Andromeda,
I read you. What is your location?" Tyr commanded into the communication
console.
"Tyr! What have you done this time?" Dylan roared
as he entered the command deck with Rommy right behind him.
The Nietzchean spun around pulling his weapon and
aiming it at his commanding officer.
"Stay out of this Captain. You are not in any danger
from them," Tyr growled, "but from me is a different story if you interfere."
At that moment through the static came a faint voice.
"This is Aurora Lee..." The voice faded out. "single
fighter ship...." the voice came again. "almost out of oxygen..." and then
the voice was gone, over come by static.
"She needs our help." Tyr informed them, although
the point was obvious. With his gun still targeting the ship's Captain,
Tyr's look both asked and commanded them for help.
"Rommy see if you can get a fix on her position.
Tyr contact Beka and Harper, tell them to prepare docking bay 3 for an
incoming ship. Have Trance and Rev Bem standing by to give medical attention.
And Tyr, make sure to inform Beka to approach with caution, we don't know
how many, or if they're armed and dangerous." Dylan ordered as he moved
about the command deck of his ship. The large Nietzchean nodded and holstered
his weapon.
Dylan, Tyr, Beka, Harper, Trance and Rev Bem stood
overlooking bay 3 as the small fighter ship piloted her way in. It came
to a shuddering halt and then all was silent. The crew of the Andromeda
approached cautiously. Suddenly the doorway to the fighter opened, hitting
the dock floor with an echoing bang. The crew stood apprehensively, waiting.
Their wait was short. First feet in white leather boots appeared, then
shapely legs clad in a soft white material, the rest of the body was extremely
feminine. The face was shadowed, and a shimmering cloud of long reddish
blond hair flowed about her shoulder and around her waist. The men of the
Andromeda were silent in awe. Even the women were surprised at the beauty
that descended before them. As their visitor stepped off the ship's ramp,
her face came into view. Thoughts of old Earth legend's about angels, fluttered
through Dylan's mind. Their visitor was an angel with huge blue eyes. Rev
Bem also thought celestial beings. Tyr thought ran in a similar path. He
was thinking that here was a prime female genetic specimen. Tucker thoughts
were of lust. Trouble, that's what she was going to be, Beka thought. Nothing
but trouble. Trance had a funny smile about her purple face. She was nearly
bouncing from excitement. Here was someone with Trance could relate to,
someone with secrets. They were going to be great friends, Trance just
knew it.
"Welcome to the Commonwealth Starship Andromeda."
Dylan said. "I am Captain Dylan Hunt."
"Thank you for your timely rescue Captain. I am
Aurora Lee." The young beauty stepped forward, then abruptly collapsed.
Dylan responded quickly, scooping her up in his strong arms.
