![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Trance's Romp Through the Multiverse, Cont'd
Feeling Rhade-y this morning, which is good, since I have less than a week to finish the Andromerotica story. However, most of my energy seems to be focused on the Rhadeverse at the moment... There's a bit in "Music of a Distant Drum," where Beka tells Dylan that his entire crew has ulterior motives, with examples--Harper's in lust with the ship, Rev wants to convert people to Wayism, no one knows what's going on with the purple one, and Tyr's always plotting something. Well, I started wondering what she'd say about Rhade, in the AU, and--
Beka: ...and Rhade just wants to get into your pants as often as possible.
Rhade: Please. Let's not confuse "finding Dylan's pants extremely comfortable" with "Dylan's pants being my sole purpose for existence."
*snickering* I love my muses sometimes.
I feel vaguely like working on Trance's romp through the multiverse...
(on AO3)
Last time, on Trance's Romp Through the Multiverse...
She felt possibilities explode in her head, which was an indication she'd done something right. But it hurt, and she couldn't see--she couldn't think--and was that noise in her head, or was another alarm going off?
She dropped the ship out of slipstream. They hadn't been in long enough to go far, probably not even out of the system, but--
But, Trance realized when she saw the Andromeda's golden form in the star's orbit, they'd gone far enough.
A universe where the Andromeda hadn't been destroyed. Trance closed her eyes, breathed, and opened them again. It was still there. She scanned the rest of the system--she couldn't tell very much, because most of the sensors had been blown out by either Rosie or the Andromeda's destruction, but it looked like there was a lot of debris. And nobody was shooting at anybody, which had to be good.
"Incoming hail," the Maru's AI reported.
"Play it," Trance said.
"Maru, do you read? This is Dylan. What's your situation?"
"I--oh--" Trance banged the comm panel impatiently, and lights flickered. "Andromeda, can you hear me?"
There was a pause. Dylan, sounding more formal, replied, "This is Captain Dylan Hunt of the Systems Commonwealth starship Andromeda Ascendant. We read you. What's your status?"
"Our status is 'falling apart,'" Trance replied urgently. "Beka's wounded--I don't know how bad, but--bad. I'm okay, I think. But--oh, no--I think this meter says the AP tanks are leaking--"
"Can you pilot into our hangar?" Dylan asked.
"I'm not sure," Trance admitted. "Half the controls are fried."
After a moment's silence, Dylan answered, "We'll deploy bucky cables to pull you in. Just sit tight."
"Okay," Trance said. "Maru out."
She unstrapped herself from the pilot's chair and went back to look in on Beka. Beka's--blind side, Trance said to herself, may as well admit, she lost half her face when the console blew up. Beka's blind side was to her, and Trance reached out, reached past the burns carefully to stroke Beka's hair.
"Trance?" Beka asked.
"I'm here," Trance said. "I found us an Andromeda."
"What?" Beka asked weakly.
"I did what you said," Trance said gently. "I used my luck in slipstream, and when we came out, the Andromeda was here."
"Time travel?" Beka said, starting to turn, to look at her. "I didn't--"
"Shh, shh," Trance said, trying to keep Beka from hurting herself more. "It's--we're still in the right time. I think. I just--I pressed. I found a universe where the Andromeda wasn't blown up. That's good, right?"
"But what if--"
The Maru shuddered as the bucky cables latched on, and rocked Beka in her bunk. Beka groaned at the movement.
"It'll all be okay," Trance said. "I promise."
"Hold you to that..." Beka whispered in reply.
Trance held Beka's hand, pressed her cheek to Beka's knuckles. "It's all gonna be okay," she repeated. "I saw the Andromeda, and I just talked to Dylan, so I know he's not dead, and none of them are dead, you hear? Harper's not dead, and Rommie's not dead, and--and--" She had been about to say, Tyr's not dead either, but that wasn't--that was something she'd seen, in her death-vision, and she didn't know how real it was. "And you're not going to die either," she said to Beka. Her eyes felt hot and wet. She blinked hard, and pressed her face to Beka's hand again. "You're not going to die."
"Never," Beka answered.
The ship jolted again, this time, Trance hoped, from setting down inside the Andromeda's hangar. Beka's grip on her hand tightened--the motion must have hurt her. Trance stayed still until Beka relaxed, then said, "I think we're here now. I'm going to go talk to everybody, okay?"
"Okay," Beka replied.
Trance got up and walked down to the airlock. It opened just as she got there, and the Harper from her vision, the one with red hair, ducked in and ran past her at full tilt, muttering, "You didn't hit anything, did you? Leaky AP tanks... if it's not one thing on this bucket of bolts..."
Dylan came in next, with more dignity, followed by Rommie and an anti-grav stretcher. "Beka's in the back," Trance told Rommie. "She'll need the stretcher, I think." Rommie nodded, maneuvering the stretcher into the Maru.
"And Jim?" Dylan asked, looking around.
"Who's Jim?" Trance asked.
Dylan frowned at her. "Why don't we start with who you are."
"I'm Trance," Trance said, puzzled. "Don't you know me, Dylan? Trance Gemin... oh." She bit her lip. Nice boobs, Harper had said, as if he'd--she'd--never seen them on her before. And that was what had been different. "I think... I might be... Gem?"
Dylan's frown deepened. "You can't be Gem; you're a--"
"Girl?" Trance asked. "Harper is, too, right?"
"Yes," Dylan agreed, warily.
"He's not, where I come from," Trance replied.
"What are you talking about?" Dylan demanded.
"Oh, dear," Trance sighed. "This universe is a lot different than I expected."
---------
I think she figures it out too fast. *sigh*
Beka: ...and Rhade just wants to get into your pants as often as possible.
Rhade: Please. Let's not confuse "finding Dylan's pants extremely comfortable" with "Dylan's pants being my sole purpose for existence."
*snickering* I love my muses sometimes.
I feel vaguely like working on Trance's romp through the multiverse...
(on AO3)
Last time, on Trance's Romp Through the Multiverse...
When the Andromeda blew up, the shockwave nearly ripped the Maru apart...And now, all new adventures in the Multiverse...
Trance tried to dodge the bulkhead, but only ended up striking her temple on its edge.
Harper commented, in a voice that had his tone and accent but still sounded wrong, "Nice boobs."
"Oh, good, you're alive," Beka croaked, as if she'd screamed her lungs out.
Trance engaged the drive, dove in, and at the first fork in the stream, yanked left hard when anyone else would have instinctively picked right.
She felt possibilities explode in her head, which was an indication she'd done something right. But it hurt, and she couldn't see--she couldn't think--and was that noise in her head, or was another alarm going off?
She dropped the ship out of slipstream. They hadn't been in long enough to go far, probably not even out of the system, but--
But, Trance realized when she saw the Andromeda's golden form in the star's orbit, they'd gone far enough.
A universe where the Andromeda hadn't been destroyed. Trance closed her eyes, breathed, and opened them again. It was still there. She scanned the rest of the system--she couldn't tell very much, because most of the sensors had been blown out by either Rosie or the Andromeda's destruction, but it looked like there was a lot of debris. And nobody was shooting at anybody, which had to be good.
"Incoming hail," the Maru's AI reported.
"Play it," Trance said.
"Maru, do you read? This is Dylan. What's your situation?"
"I--oh--" Trance banged the comm panel impatiently, and lights flickered. "Andromeda, can you hear me?"
There was a pause. Dylan, sounding more formal, replied, "This is Captain Dylan Hunt of the Systems Commonwealth starship Andromeda Ascendant. We read you. What's your status?"
"Our status is 'falling apart,'" Trance replied urgently. "Beka's wounded--I don't know how bad, but--bad. I'm okay, I think. But--oh, no--I think this meter says the AP tanks are leaking--"
"Can you pilot into our hangar?" Dylan asked.
"I'm not sure," Trance admitted. "Half the controls are fried."
After a moment's silence, Dylan answered, "We'll deploy bucky cables to pull you in. Just sit tight."
"Okay," Trance said. "Maru out."
She unstrapped herself from the pilot's chair and went back to look in on Beka. Beka's--blind side, Trance said to herself, may as well admit, she lost half her face when the console blew up. Beka's blind side was to her, and Trance reached out, reached past the burns carefully to stroke Beka's hair.
"Trance?" Beka asked.
"I'm here," Trance said. "I found us an Andromeda."
"What?" Beka asked weakly.
"I did what you said," Trance said gently. "I used my luck in slipstream, and when we came out, the Andromeda was here."
"Time travel?" Beka said, starting to turn, to look at her. "I didn't--"
"Shh, shh," Trance said, trying to keep Beka from hurting herself more. "It's--we're still in the right time. I think. I just--I pressed. I found a universe where the Andromeda wasn't blown up. That's good, right?"
"But what if--"
The Maru shuddered as the bucky cables latched on, and rocked Beka in her bunk. Beka groaned at the movement.
"It'll all be okay," Trance said. "I promise."
"Hold you to that..." Beka whispered in reply.
Trance held Beka's hand, pressed her cheek to Beka's knuckles. "It's all gonna be okay," she repeated. "I saw the Andromeda, and I just talked to Dylan, so I know he's not dead, and none of them are dead, you hear? Harper's not dead, and Rommie's not dead, and--and--" She had been about to say, Tyr's not dead either, but that wasn't--that was something she'd seen, in her death-vision, and she didn't know how real it was. "And you're not going to die either," she said to Beka. Her eyes felt hot and wet. She blinked hard, and pressed her face to Beka's hand again. "You're not going to die."
"Never," Beka answered.
The ship jolted again, this time, Trance hoped, from setting down inside the Andromeda's hangar. Beka's grip on her hand tightened--the motion must have hurt her. Trance stayed still until Beka relaxed, then said, "I think we're here now. I'm going to go talk to everybody, okay?"
"Okay," Beka replied.
Trance got up and walked down to the airlock. It opened just as she got there, and the Harper from her vision, the one with red hair, ducked in and ran past her at full tilt, muttering, "You didn't hit anything, did you? Leaky AP tanks... if it's not one thing on this bucket of bolts..."
Dylan came in next, with more dignity, followed by Rommie and an anti-grav stretcher. "Beka's in the back," Trance told Rommie. "She'll need the stretcher, I think." Rommie nodded, maneuvering the stretcher into the Maru.
"And Jim?" Dylan asked, looking around.
"Who's Jim?" Trance asked.
Dylan frowned at her. "Why don't we start with who you are."
"I'm Trance," Trance said, puzzled. "Don't you know me, Dylan? Trance Gemin... oh." She bit her lip. Nice boobs, Harper had said, as if he'd--she'd--never seen them on her before. And that was what had been different. "I think... I might be... Gem?"
Dylan's frown deepened. "You can't be Gem; you're a--"
"Girl?" Trance asked. "Harper is, too, right?"
"Yes," Dylan agreed, warily.
"He's not, where I come from," Trance replied.
"What are you talking about?" Dylan demanded.
"Oh, dear," Trance sighed. "This universe is a lot different than I expected."
---------
I think she figures it out too fast. *sigh*