WIP Amnesty #2 - Andromeda ficlet

[niko]

Fandom: Andromeda

Notes: This is actually sort of complete, in terms of hitting the beats I wanted to hit, but it's so clunky and awkward.  I open it and poke at it every once in a while, but can't seem to get interested enough to rework it the way it needs.  I give up.  This is officially as good as it's ever going to get. :)

This was going to be a fic_on_demand  response to an older, previously fulfilled request that caught my eye.  The prompt was:  "Dylan contemplates Gaheris's direct descendant who nows serves under his command, and realizes that it does bother him a tad."

 

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"I believe that is checkmate, Captain Hunt."

And it was.  Dylan had seen it coming five moves ago - should have caught it even sooner.  Schooling his expresion to a mask of gracious resignation, Dylan sat back from the chess board, leaving the "field" to the victor.

"Yes it is.  Well played.  And 'Dylan' will do in private."  A rueful grin.  "We don't stand much on ceremony around here."

"So I've noticed."  Telemachus Rhade offered a politic half-smile - carefully neutral on the topic of Andromeda's policies, but clearly pleased with both the game and the invitation to more familiarity.  It was a smile that could have been a smirk on a man who wasn't so courteous, so respectful, so... sincere.  It set Dylan's teeth on edge.

Rhade pushed his own chair back from the board and stood.  "Well, if you'll excuse me, Dylan, I'm due to relieve Beka on the bridge.  Thank you for the game."

"Of course."  Dylan rose and walked the other man to the door.  "But I want a rematch sometime.  It's been a while since I had someone to keep me on my toes." 

Rhade inclined his head in agreement. "I look forward to it."

As the door slid closed behind him, Dylan's face lost its polite smile, his eyebrows drawing together into a frown.  He paced back to the chess board and sat, considering the pieces thoughtfully.

It had been a good game.  Dylan had expected that much.  They'd played several times during the Andromeda's original visit to Terazed, and he'd been impressed at the time by Rhade's command of the game.  Still... he hadn't expected to /lose/.

He'd obviously missed something.

"Andromeda, play it back please?"

Dylan swiped the real-life pieces from the board, making room for the holographic projection, pieces materializing along with a holographic Rhade in the seat opposite.  The scene was frozen, awaiting his command to proceed, and Dylan hesitated, caught again by that carefully modulated, oh-so-sincere smile.  With a faintly electric *zzzt* to announce her arrival, Andromeda's holographic avatar popped into existence at Dylan's elbow.

"He didn't cheat, if that's what you're thinking," she commented, and Dylan inclined his head in acknowledgement of her point.

"I hadn't yet, but I suppose I was getting there, yes."

"You don't trust him..."

Dylan considered that, weighing his response carefully.  Telemachus hadn't given them any reason to doubt him, after all.  In their first encounter on Terazed, then-Admiral-Rhade had proven himself to be a principled man of unimpeachable honor, earning Dylan's respect despite their positions on opposite sides of the Terazed-Commonwealth vote.  Dylan would be a fool not to want such a man in his crew.  He would be an asset under any circumstance, and there was a definite appeal to having another soldier - someone who understood the importance of order and discipline - on his senior staff as they maneuvered the tricky waters of this new Commonwealth they'd helped create.

Dylan sighed.  A soldier, yes.

But why /this/ soldier?  Why /this/ man?

Why... Rhade?

Dylan shook his head, his eyes on the board.  

"He's given me no reason not to trust him, Rommie."

Andromeda waited just long enough for him to feel her skepticism.  "And yet, you still don't."

Giving vent to a sigh of frustration, Dylan gave in.  "No, I don't.  My every instinct tells me he's a good man and a valuable ally.  His record is impeccable.  But no, I don't trust him.  So you tell me, what am I missing?"

His hands gestured to the chess board, though they both knew they were talking about a game with much higher stakes... and the answer was obvious to anyone with eyes in their head.  Andromeda gave him the words anyway.

"He's betrayed us before."

Dylan snorted.

"Different Rhade, and you know it."

"The Nietzcheans have an expression:  Blood will tell.  Genetically, Telemachus and Gaheris Rhade *are* the same person.  It's not entirely inappropriate to have doubts."

Dylan had nothing to say to that.  Doubts he most certainly had.  He rested his chin on one fist, contemplating the holographic Telemachus and remembering Gaheris in his place.  They had been so close, but Dylan hadn't seen the end coming.  How many times had they sat here like this, trading gibes over a game?  How many times had Gaheris spoken in favor of the Nietzchean cause - the warning signs clear for anyone who knew how to look?  And yet Dylan had missed them all, blinded by a trust so absolute that the possibility of betrayal never entered his mind.  Even Andromeda, with all her sensors and monitoring devices had been blinded by Rhade's charade.  They had missed the signs then, and an entire civilization had fallen.  How could he open himself to that again?  How could they trust that this time would be different?

From her position a step behind him, Andromeda said quietly: "It's not too late to send him away."

"No!" 

The denial was swift and instinctive.  Dylan straightened, surprised at the vehemence of his own reaction, and something crystalized in his thoughts.  He gave Andromeda a wry grin, realizing belatedly that she'd been playing devil's advocate to help him work through his concerns.

"There's another old expression I like better, Rommie.  'Innocent until proven guilty.'  We can't move forward if we let ourselves get bogged down by suspicion and paranoia.  Rhade deserves a..."  He stopped himself before he could voice the '...second chance...' that was on his lips.  "... He deserves a CHANCE to make a difference.  If he thinks he can do that here, he'll have my support.  I owe him that."

Andromeda nodded.  "Of course, Captain."

Dylan sat quietly for a moment, then made a "roll it" gesture towards the holographic chess game that was still waiting for him. 

"Play it, Rommie.  Half-speed.  And... thank you."

"Of course, Captain."  Andromeda said again, then fritzed out, leaving him alone with the game.  But as the holographic pieces began their dance across the board, Dylan's mind drifted to other games, with another Rhade.  And for the first time in a long time, he found himself contemplating those memories with fondness, dwelling on the remembered camaraderie and thrill of the challenge, rather than on what he'd missed.  He leaned forward slightly, meeting the recorded Rhade's eyes with a wistful smile.

"To new beginnings, my friend."

-Fin-