[Away Mission:] Arrivals Post, Alemar III (Party Post!)

[ten_fwd_npcs]

"Welcome, everyone, to geothermal field two-nine-one," Dr. Johanna Sk'Amor says, once everyone has gathered in the entryway.

The shuttlebay the group has just left is behind them, while the large entrance to the facility is directly ahead. The building is quite spacious, and despite the high volume of visitors no one is cramped for space while standing here. It's like a museum lobby, with fixtures in the center of the room and wings on either side. While the design is not as bright and clean as the Enterprise, the high ceilings and white walls give a feeling of spaciousness. To the right is the main observation room, where the convex wall making up one full corner of the drilling facility is primarily floor-to-ceiling windows. The vistas beyond are stunning: tall, grey mountains and low valleys, all covered with snow. To the left is a winding staircase that leads to an upper level, and beyond that are several labs.

"This is one of five scientific outposts located on Alemar III," the doctor continues. "At one time we had seven, but two have been destroyed by earthquakes. Alemar III is highly geologically active, so our remaining facilities have been reinforced to withstand even the most devastating natural disasters. There's nothing to worry about, our engineers are some of the best in the quadrant, but if you feel some tremors while you look around just keep in mind that this is normal.

"Two of our outposts are at the polar north and south of the planet, while the other three, this one included, are evenly spread across the globe. Our staff is small, only about ten scientists and five archaeologists, and enough engineers to keep everything in working order. In all, the entire planet only has about ninety occupants at any given time. It's rare that we're able to entertain guests.

"If you'll follow me, I'll show you some of the work we accomplish here."


[ooc: This post is open to those who signed up for our game plot only! As it's being run party post style, all characters are encouraged to tag in and mingle; since teams have not been divided yet, any participating character can tag anyone else, you don't have to stick only to those on your teams. You may also tag in as many top level threads as you choose if you're doing the full tour, just be sure your character ends up in the room where their team will be positioned for the rest of the plot (for those who will be divided in the mines due to cave-ins, the main mine connects to many other rooms and alcoves, so simply tag in under the Main Mine subheading and have your characters move around the different passageways to explore. Wherever rocks fall, that's where the rooms will be divided). Threadhopping and backtagging are encouraged! This post will remain open for as long as it takes all characters to tag in.]

Comments

[dreams_dont_die]

He was never going to be able to avoid Rhade forever. Not once he knew he was on board the Enterprise. They're next door neighbors, it was never going to be possible.

That does not make it any easier to hear that voice again. It's a fight to control his face, not to show what hearing his name spoken in greeting, calm, matter-of-fact, by Gaheris Rhade's voice does to him. Telemachus Rhade is like a ghost from his past, not one he's been looking forward to seeing again.

Why did Rhade have to be here? His crew, and Rhade. He'd come to an uneasy sort of understanding with Rhade before he left Tarazed, and he knows that he can't hold him responsible for what Gaheris did.

But Telemachus has done enough on his own to make Dylan less than pleased to see him.

Understanding why he stabbed him in the back over the Commonwealth vote doesn't mean he has to like it. That was such a Nietzschean thing to do.

But in the few moments of time between hearing the voice and turning, Dylan has at least mastered his reactions enough to have an amiable expression on his face.

"Admiral."

[not_gaheris]

Telemachus made a face. Dylan should be thankful, it was probably not one he'd ever seen on Gaheris. His expression morphed into a look that just screamed 'what the fuck are you drunk?' Until that is, he realized that, naturally, this Dylan was from a different point in the time stream. Which was just great.

"Admiral? Fabulous. Not that I'm not thrilled to be called Admiral but that's only on Tarazed for the Home Guard. It's Lieutenant Commander now, in the New Systems Commonwealth. Yeah, I know. big demotion." He sounds so thrilled about it too. Wonder whose pants he pissed on.

"Sorry. This must be weird for you."

[dreams_dont_die]

Rhade looks different to when he'd seen him last.

Maybe that's a relief. He's not sure. When he'd met Rhade on Tarazed, he'd looked just like Gaheris had walked out of the past and into the room. Clean-shaven, impeccable uniform, same little almost-smile like the whole world was beneath him but he was humoring it anyway. His best friend and betrayer back from the dead.

Now, though, Rhade has a beard and scruffy, long hair, two things Dylan had never seen on Gaheris. Nor had he ever seen anything quite like that look on his face.

The voice is the same though, still the voice he'd heard at his right hand for those three years. Still the voice that had taunted him about the failings of the Commonwealth the day his life fell apart.

Hell. Still the same voice that had so coolly explained the benefits to Tarazed of standing on the sidelines and denying him everything Sara had built for him on that planet. Her last gift to him, even as she moved on with her life with somebody else.

And that was all Telemachus Rhade, not his ancestor.

Understanding why he did it doesn't make the memory any less bitter.

"Lieutenant Commander in the New Systems Commonwealth."

He folds his arms across his chest.

"Change your mind about us, did you?"

But the sarcasm doesn't quite work. It's betrayed by the sudden lurch in his heart at hearing those words. If Rhade, leader of the isolationist movement on Tarazed, is a member of the new High Guard, he must be from Dylan's future.

A future where his charter's been ratified.

[not_gaheris]

"The entire planet changed their minds, not just me." He paused, looking him over, trying to decide the best way to bring this up. Dylan was not the man he knew, the man stuck on Seefra. He couldn't blame him for his future mistakes, or what Rhade believed to be his future mistakes.

"You're from before the charter got ratified." He finally stated. "What year?" Rhade popped another piece of fruit into his mouth before continuing, "You can still call me admiral you know." He winked. "I wont mind. I kind of like being your superior."

[dreams_dont_die]

"Good to hear they came to their senses."

He'd hoped. He'd told Tyr as much as they left Tarazed. In a year's time, they could vote on Commonwealth membership again, and the threat from the Magog would be more urgent. And somehow, knowing he was right doesn't make it much easier to not hold what Rhade did against him.

Any more than understanding it does.

It was a very Nietzschean thing to do. Stab him and Sara and everything Tarazed is and was meant to be in the back for a little longer in the security their isolated sliproute gives them. At the cost of depriving Dylan of the reinforcements, supplies, and institutions his nascent Commonwealth so desperately needs.

Damn, but that voice sets him on edge. The first time he'd met Rhade, he'd barely been able to maintain his composure long enough for introductions. Sometimes, it seems like forever since Hephaistos, but to his awareness, it wasn't. Less than two years since Gaheris Rhade was at his side, in his counsels, the man he trusted most in the world. That's not easy to forget, even if he knows he can't hold Telemachus responsible for Gaheris' betrayal.

That's another thing he can't forgive, even if on an intellectual level he understands it.

His laugh is less than entirely amused, as much a bluff to cover his unease as anything.

"Well, Admiral, I can call you that, but it doesn't make you my superior." He lifts his chin in challenge, but there is a little amusement in his eyes. Petty, maybe, but Rhade deserves it. "Not while Tarazed's not in the Commonwealth."

He really doesn't know what to make of this. Rhade's familiar with him in a way that Dylan isn't with him. There's some sort of history between them he doesn't know. That's in conflict with Dylan's own feelings of resentment about Tarazed.

But that fades in comparison to the history Rhade's telling him, that sometime, his charter will be ratified. No matter how far away that seems.

Dylan reaches up a hand and runs it through the back of his hair.

"10088. Not so long after I met you, in fact. We've still got a lot of worlds to sign up." He lets out a deep breath. "But I am getting the feeling you know me a lot better than I know you."

[not_gaheris]

"Don't let it go to your head. It's big enough as it is." Rhade remarked. It was nice to be able to insult Dylan again. He did miss the camaraderie. But Telemachus knew, from where Dylan was, he probably reminded him a bit more of Gaheris than he was comfortable with. Not that he would say anything. That was for the Captain to work out on his own. He knew he would. He needed time. Dylan had 2 years to work it out previously. But Rhade's not that patient this time around. He'd give him time. Just not 2 years worth.

"I'd say I'm from CY 10091, but...I'm actually not entirely sure it's been an entire year and not just a few days." Rhade gave Dylan another look. He knew that sounded crazy, but Seefra was a crazy place. Time was crazy, the solar system was crazy, everyone on that hellhole of a planet was crazy. And you know what was even crazier? Harper arriving years before he did, Trance being there an entire decade and Beka only being there a couple of months. And people wondered why he drank all the time. Alcohol made things make sense. Or at least, he didn't have to think about it when he was drunk off his ass.

"I've been on your crew for the last 2 years. So yeah, I'd say I know you pretty well."

[dreams_dont_die]

Dylan's eyebrows lift, questioning.

It's almost like Rhade's trying to highlight the differences between now and last time they met. Admiral Telemachus Rhade of the Tarazed Home Guard wouldn't have made sarcastic comments about him being big-headed. Admiral Telemachus Rhade was part of the hero's welcome Tarazed gave him before he stabbed him in the back. But there's that familiarity again. Some people he meets assume that level of familiarity with him, but Rhade wasn't one.

Others earn it.

The explanation, though, isn't long coming. He's from CY 10091.

"Well. That explains a lot."

Three years in Dylan's future. Or not, and Rhade gives him a look that seems significant, but a significance that's lost on him.

Though if anyone can understand not being entirely sure just how long has passed, it's Dylan Hunt, last survivor of the High Guard.

He lets out a long breath, and his arms drop to his sides.

"You're not only from the New Commonwealth, but you're on my crew. Wow." He shakes his head, staring into the distance for a moment before forcing himself to look back at Rhade, at the face so familiar and yet so different. "You've got a hell of a lot on me, Rhade."

[not_gaheris]

"Before you ask, yes the Andromeda's okay, yes you still have your hair, and no, you haven't gotten fat."

Rhade just kept on snarking. Dylan had once told him that things were a little more informal on board the Andromeda than he was used to. It had been difficult to adapt, but 10 months alone on Seefra made him adapt. The harsh landscape brushed away his polished exterior, and the death of Louisa poisoned the hope Dylan had given him. Well, some of the hope. The thing about hope was that it wasn't difficult for it to come back. And Dylan knew just how to stoke it.

"For once. I do. And you wont mind if I enjoy it."

[dreams_dont_die]

Actually, he will mind.

He minds a lot. And not just because no commander worth anything dislikes being at a disadvantage.

It grates on him, a niggle on his nerves from the temporal displacement that's turned the textbook officer who'd reminded him so much of his dead best friend and betrayer into a man who apparently deals in sarcasm and quips. Like Gaheris' sharp, dry wit twisted and amplified.

A man with knowledge and understanding of him a man he'd met weeks ago can't have. History with him that Dylan won't know until he's lived it.

Dylan runs a hand along the side of his neck.

"You're gonna hold it over my head, is that it?"

There's a lot of temptation there, right in front of him. Temptation he knows he has to resist. He knows that what happens now, what he learns, could change the future.

"I don't want to know."

And anything he learns from Rhade could cancel out that future. The one where there is a Commonwealth.

[not_gaheris]

"Absolutely. It's not often that I get the better of Captain Dylan Hunt. I'm going to have fun with it. And you do want to know. You just know better. Besides, what's to say that our futures are now completely diverged? That our little side trip to this wonderful universe isn't something that can be fixed and put back together with a little spit and glue. "

What was it Dylan said to him? Pessimism wasn't a survival trait? Reminded of this, Rhade looked at his Captain and continued.

"Or maybe it is. Maybe hope alone will light our way and we can skip merrily into the moonlight."

[dreams_dont_die]

"Well, you've told me that your time has a Commonwealth and my ship's okay. That's enough for me."

The first time the two of them met, it would be possible to argue that Rhade did get the better of him. It was certainly close enough to getting the better of him that it makes little difference. They'd worked together to find who'd set up the faked Magog attack on Tarazed, and they'd done it well. That doesn't change the fact that Telemachus Rhade pitted himself and his Nietzschean pragmatism against Dylan and his ideals, stood and campaigned against him in the vote on Commonwealth membership. Betrayed him, and won.

That particular memory, still recent for him, whatever changes have happened by CY 10991, makes it a little hard to take Rhade's sarcasm about hope.

"I see you still have issues with hope."

Runs in the family.

[not_gaheris]

Rhade scowled. He knew exactly where Dylan was coming from; him and his hope. Always looking on the bright side. Every cloud had a silver lining. Bullshit.

"Pessimism is a survival strategy. It's a wonder you've survived all these years as an optimist." Telemachus joked. Then he grew serious.

"You're a good Captain. I hope you'll give me the chance to prove to you that I can be a help to you, even outside the Andromeda. Although, I can understand your wariness to trust me." From Dylan's perspective, Telemachus had just stabbed him in the back, at least metaphorically speaking.

[dreams_dont_die]

Nietzscheans don't believe in optimism. It inhibits survival.

The day his life was torn to pieces, he'd had this conversation with Gaheris. Different words, different clothes, the tone different, the face fresher, not framed by the beard and the long hair, but with the same dry roll of words dismissing the value of optimism.

For a long moment, just like the first time they'd met, it's hard to look at the man in front of him and not see in his face the clear image of his dead ancestor.

"No it's not," he eventually says, trying not to remember just how similar the words are to one of the ones he'd shouted to Gaheris as they struggled for control of the Andromeda, just moments before he'd fired the shot that killed his best friend. "Pessimists can't see the way out."

He takes a deep breath, trying to quell the rush of emotion the reminder stirs, the emotions he tries to keep hidden so deep he can ignore them.

The same emotions that had nearly overwhelmed him when he'd first met Telemachus on Tarazed.

Dylan's hand rubs, hard, against the skin on the back of his neck, under the collar of his coat.

Tyr had warned him not to trust Telemachus or any Nietzschean (except himself). But they'd worked well together, on Tarazed, trying to bring Rakel Ben-Tzion to justice. So well, it was almost like going into a fight with his best friend at his side again.

Trouble is, that feeling came with betrayal and all.

"You didn't give me a lot of reason to the first time I met you," he says, quietly. But he lifts up a hand and waves it. "But this isn't Tarazed, and if you're on my crew, I guess I found a reason to trust you somewhere along the line."

Theoretically, that should mean the same thing can happen here. Not that it makes Dylan particularly pleased with the situation, but he'd be a hypocrite if he didn't give Rhade that chance.

It's not like he doesn't understand why a pessimistic Nietzschean would do what he did.

He is such a suck up

[not_gaheris]

" Would you like to know why you trusted me, Captain?" Telemachus took a deep breath, drawing on that part of himself that wasn't broken and dripping with alcohol. That part of him that was still a Commonwealth officer, who believed utterly in what it stood for.

"You once tried to shield me from the truth. From what my ancestor Gaheris Rhade did to you. I do know what happened that day. You tried to shield me from the truth. I hope that his actions do not weigh on my own." It wasn't as if anyone could hide it. Telemachus looked exactly like Gaheris, down to his DNA. So,it was down to nature versus nurture. Was Telemachus destined to be a traitor, just as Gaheris?

What had happened to Gaheris really wasn't hard to figure out, with the stories both sides told. And then there was the body.

"My life on Tarazed, and with you on the Andromeda, I had a purpose. It was my goal, my wish, to learn from you. You, Captain Dylan Hunt, are the only one to defeat our supposedly superior race, time and time again. You've shown honor, integrity, and ability in both times of war and times of peace. I understand you have no reason to trust me right now. You're experience with Nietzscheans has not been....stellar. Consider me as the new Nietzschean. I am not Tyr Anasazi. Nor am I Gaheris Rhade. Neither understood the opportunity given to them. To serve with Captain Dylan Hunt, and learn from him."

[dreams_dont_die]

He would like to know, to an extent. Not necessarily because he thinks it will be replicated, but because this disparity in their relationship sets him on edge. Telemachus knows him. The members of his crew know him better than anyone. And he's always prided himself on knowing his crew, even before his crew became five instead of four thousand.

Now, his crew are as close as there is to a family in his life. They're the people he fights for, protects, who have his back when he needs them. His closest friends.

And here is Telemachus Rhade, the man he'd considered framing for the sake of the Commonwealth, the man whose influence had taken Tarazed from him after all Sara had done there, telling him he's on his crew.

Of course he wants to know why.

"You're not Gaheris." However much he looks like him, under the beard. However familiar his voice and the quips he's so fast with might be. However much he recognizes even the slight deference in the way he says that he hopes Gaheris' actions don't weigh on his own.

(That's too like Gaheris to overlook, too like him to ignore the memories.)

Dylan had tried to protect Telemachus from the truth, but in the end, like Gaheris had done to him, he'd left clues there was something not right. He's not surprised Telemachus has worked out the whole truth. The truth that makes it hard even to look at Telemachus, sometimes.

The truth that he cannot hold against Telemachus and still call himself a fair man. If he was going to hold it against him, he should have just betrayed him on Tarazed.

"You're your own man. I judge you by your own actions, not your ancestor's."

He may share Gaheris' genetics, but he's from a different time, a different place. A society built on the ideals of the Commonwealth and, more than that, on Sara's ideals.

His gaze has dropped, gone distant, when Telemachus keeps talking. Dylan looks back up, his eyes finding Telemachus' face, and he forces himself to look into those too-familiar eyes.

He's not used to this. He'd been greeted like a returning hero on Tarazed, his speech listened to with a focus he's rarely seen before, even though more than half the people on the planet had voted against him. He's not a statesman or whatever it is that Telemachus is calling him.

He shakes his head, giving a laugh that's a little too sharp to be entirely humorous.

"That sounds a lot like a suck up. I don't know what you think I am, but I'm just a soldier."

[not_gaheris]

"You know, you keep saying that--that you're not a diplomat, you're a soldier. And I think you might honestly believe it. But, in truth, you are both an accomplished diplomat and a soldier. If you were just a soldier Dylan, you would be hard pressed to have done all you have."

Telemachus' eyes sparkled with amusement. "It's not a suck up if it's the truth. Just a statement of fact. "You have succeeded where so many have failed. It's a privilege to learn from you." He gave Dylan a succinct nod.

[dreams_dont_die]

He shakes his head, but Telemachus probably recognizes his expression, if he really is on his crew: eyes slightly narrowed, calculating, assessing.

Huh. If he needed any more proof that Telemachus Rhade really is on his crew in the future, there it is. He does keep saying he's a soldier, not a diplomat -- sometimes, not a politician, depending on the circumstances -- and yes, he does believe it. Yet people keep trying to turn him into one or the other. Whatever diplomacy he's involved in is through circumstance, not training. Through necessity, not desire.

"If I am, it's only by necessity. I've only ever been a soldier."

Telemachus, though, says it like he means it, and accusations of sucking up aside, he strikes Dylan as no more the sort of man to offer shallow flattery than Gaheris was. Dylan's just not used to people thinking of him this way. Being a hero to someone he's rescued, sure. This level of admiration from a man he's been at odds with, a man he'd outright told he'd considered framing for treason?

That's something entirely different, that sits a little uneasily on his shoulders. Not that it's not gratifying, but ... he's still not sure he deserves the accolade any more than he deserved the rapt attention Tarazed gave his speech.

"Well, uh, thanks. I --"

His words are interrupted, though, by the woman who'd led them in here, Doctor Sk'Amor, calling out that it was time for the tour to get started.

Dylan gives Telemachus an apologetic look, but he's not entirely sorry to make his exit from the conversation.

He has to try to get Gaheris out of his head.