Opinions – differing

Dylan sighed, seeing that Beka chose to remain seated although Thalia of Oudekerk had closed the meeting and was already heading for the doors. He took three tentative steps towards the senator, approaching the threshold of the briefing room, but that was as far as he got – as expected. To his surprise though, it wasn't his XO accosting him first.

"Captain, could I have a word with you, please?" Rommie. Not a walk in the park, but still better than Beka, he thought relieved.

"Certainly, Rommie," he turned to her, suppressing only at the very last moment a sigh of relief. Which was just as well, since Beka's crystalline voice chose that very instant to stop his relaxation.

"Just a second, Rommie. Could you give us a minute alone first? I promise I won't keep him for too long..." she said in a painstakingly polite tone. Not a good sign, Dylan mused, noticing Harper throwing him a sympathetic look before disappearing into the corridor that began to appear more and more attractive by the second. Yep, not a good sign at all.

"Becky, I would like your company on the way back to my quarters. This ship is so huge," Thalia inserted in this very moment, turning back at the entrance towards the room she was just about to leave. A brief instant long Dylan thought he might be let off the hook, but the vague hope was only short-lived.

"After the stunt you just pulled, I find the gentle, older lady needing someone to walk her home a bit difficult to swallow..."

"You mean, I'm not that old?" the senator threw in with an almost flirtatious smile towards Dylan and Rhade, before looking back at her daughter.

"I mean you're not that gentle," Beka retorted sharply. "If you insist, however: you may wait for me outside. Like I said: it won't take long."

Her mother looked surprised.

"Beka, if you'd rather go now," Dylan grabbed the chance, "I can meet with you later in Command, in about one hour or so. And we can talk then..."

"We need to talk right now," his first officer insisted sternly.

On his way out of there, Rhade gave his captain a casual, slight, friendly and commiserative slap on the shoulder.

"Now or in one hour... What does it really matter?" he heard the Nietzschean whisper to him while passing him by.

True, Dylan thought resigning. Still. If he had to choose between now and later... He shook his head, incredulously. Almost one year onboard the Andromeda Ascendant and Telemachus Rhade was in some respects still a rookie. When it came to being chewed out by Beka Valentine 'later' sounded great – as both Dylan and Harper could have easily and plausibly explained. From the corner of his eye, he saw Thalia drawing a breath. The faint hope stirred again. Maybe he got lucky...

"Becky..."

"I'm sorry, Senator," Beka though cut both her mother and Dylan's prospect of escape short, "pressing ship business. It really can't wait," she concluded briskly, remaining seated with determination – as if she was rooted to the spot.

Nope, no luck, not this time...

Andromeda's captain waited for the senator and the last of the staff to leave, then turned around and regained his seat, with a last, longing look towards the closing doors. For the fraction of a second Beka felt an urge to laugh out loud, seeing the look on his face: chin and jaws firmly squared in Dylan's typical 'a man's got to do what a man's got to do'-mode battling and losing against the beginning of an insecure smile and a pair of saucer-eyed, blinking baby-blues.

"Sorry," she told him though in a voice devoid of all sympathy. "Am I keeping you from something terribly important?" she added ironically.

"Umm, no... Just... well, you heard... Rommie..." he stammered.

"Yeah," Beka commented dryly, "well, look at the bright side: while I am probably a lot less deferential and likely to get louder if I get really, really angry over the next minutes, at least I'm also a lot less likely to break your nose in the process..."

"Right," Dylan grinned, then grimaced, one corner of his mouth twitching to the side. "Will you get really angry?"

"I might. Why did you agree?"

"Look, Beka..."

"No, you look. The Prolon-system is the largest dump ground for hazardous waste in three galaxies, where most ships – including ours – can't navigate, can't run and can't fight..."

"Beka, I know..."

"That's what we have the regulations for, Dylan: no ship can be 'ordered' into the Prolon-system, one has to volunteer..."

"I know, Beka..."

"Well, if you know so much, then why the hell didn't you speak up when she... 'volunteered' us for the job?"

"Beka, last time when we ended up there, we did quite all right..."

"All right? We did all right?" Andromeda's first officer exploded, jumping to her feet and starting to pace around, walking in circles around the table. "With a con-artist aka fake princess aka fake goddess onboard who had managed to steal just about all cash available in that stupid system, their entire police force, their royal guards, an aristocratic court, a tribunal and a bunch of worshipping monks chasing us around while everyone took turns shooting us with debris that was eating through Andromeda's hull and threatening to cause a chain reaction blowing up the entire corner of the galaxy had we returned fire, I'd hardly say that we did all right!"

"Yes, of course, you're right, but..."

"But what? Which part of this whole amusing... smorgasbord of events do you particularly care to experience again? The acid dripping through our decks, that giant trying to dismember you or the firing squad stopped short about three seconds before they were about to shoot you?"

"Is there a point in my trying to answer you or would you rather rant on for an indefinite amount of time? I mean, you look magnificent when you're angry and I always enjoy the sight, but Rommie is also waiting to rip my head off, your mother wants another chat with you and..."

"Dylan!" she admonished him severely. "I'm serious..."

"So am I, Beka..."

"Dammit!" she went off again. Leaning back on his chair, Dylan spaced out, staring down on his fingers intertwined in his lap, an expression of utter resignation on his face. Nope, no point at all in trying to answer the lady. Whatever he had to say, she wasn't interested... It was only when Beka finally came to a halt right in front of him that he decided it would be best to restart paying attention to her.

"Really, of all the ship-crews out there, it had to be us to test the prototypes, the day before you were due to leave, right after a pride well-known for illegal traffic with... just about everything, especially weapons, joins the Commonwealth. We get ambushed on Terrazed – of all places – and everything points to the Prolon-system being involved. And you agree to go there! Does none of this smell like a set-up to you? By the Divine: what are you thinking, Dylan? If you may forgive me the overstatement!"

"I am thinking that it very probably is a set-up, that we need to get to the bottom of this, that we need to find out who is behind it all – and that we need to get those weapons back and away from one of the most primitive conglomeration of lunatics in the Known Worlds."

She bit her lips, considering.

"What if it's another trap of the Collectors for you?"

"What if it's not? Beka, we could rebuild, but we can't run the Commonwealth all by ourselves. We have to start trusting others, just as they have to start trusting us."

"Yes," she replied sarcastically, starting to pace around once more, "we tried that already and boy, didn't it work out just great?"

"So we have to keep trying," he insisted stubbornly.

She stopped right behind him, staring at his back. He tried to turn around to catch a glimpse of her, but he only managed to get his face to the side, when she closed up on him, throwing an arm around his neck and letting her chin gently rest on his head.

"There are things that you just won't ever let me teach you, hmm?" she murmured into his hair.

He smiled, one of his hands reaching up to gently stroke her forearm right under his chin.

"If it's any consolation to you: there are things that I feel you won't let me ever teach you either..." he told her, attempting to look up to her. She chuckled and released him, stepping around and letting herself drop into the seat next to him.

"What am I gonna do with you?" she asked with a half-smile.

His eyebrows went up. Seeing it, she laughed, slightly slapping his biceps.

"Down, boy! We don't want to upset... Lucy, right? Or Rox. Or Molly. Or, since we're all set for a visit to the Prolon-system, Miss... Loreena Blodget..."

"Oh God, her," he groaned. "All right, all right," he said, pretending to fence her off.

Still smiling, Beka got back to her feet and turned around to leave.

"Okay, I'll then go to my precious mother."

"Oh yes. Listen, Beka, she doesn't seem all that bad."

The blonde shook her head, throwing him a last, ironic glance:

"You mean: for a bitch? I don't know, it might well be you think so just 'cause you're a bit familiar with bitching Valentine-style and somewhat receptive to it, you know... Me, I know the pattern, I know how the charm works and..." She sighed lightly. "I don't know, Dylan. I guess, I'm still waiting for the other shoe to drop."

Dylan's eyes widened. I thought it dropped already with the Prolon-system, he mused consternated. Sighing, he watched Beka leave and stood up himself, ready to join Rommie for the next round of getting his head bitten off. Well, not really ready, but then again: he knew this to be about the last thing both Beka and Rommie actually cared about. The wonderful life and times of a star ship captain... he thought, half-amused, half-resigned on his way out.