Starchildren Options

[Kane]

Lounging by the pool at her new home. Only to be interrupted by a visiting fellow Constellationer. And one who is bearing double drinks and latkes - the way into Andromeda’s heart.

Once again, being an empath is both helpful and confusing for Dro. Andreja was conflicted by the kiss but not actually pissed. She tries to appear all business but did travel some distance to visit and took the trouble to divine what Dro likes to eat. . . . Dro, on the other hand is clearly smitten (again).

Well, 1.5m does sort of put Dro into the realm of dwarves and wood elves. If it’s any consolation, she’s still 3 inches taller than Buffy. Andreja’s closer to Altmeresque though!

Another adventure brewing it seems.

While the mutual attraction is definitely there, Andromeda is a bit more hesitant following her previous failures in that regard. Andreja, on the other hand, is experiencing some very strong emotions for the first time and needs to sort that out.

* * * * * * * *

Thirteen – Insects, Spaceships, and the Unknown

Secret Outpost, Denebola I-b, Denebola System

“Hold still while I bandage it!”

“I’M TRYING BUT IT REALLY [censored] HURTS!”

Needless to say, they’re adventure on the trail of a spacer treasure hunt was off to a tremendously poor start. Andromeda sat slumped against a wall just inside the airlock door of an empty base hidden in the woods of an uninhabitable moon. A sickeningly deep gash on her right arm bled profusely from where a bastard with a sword had gotten the jump on her, but things could have been much worse if she hadn’t turned away at the last second – the blade would have buried itself in Andromeda’s head, rather than her arm.

Luckily for the not-so-intrepid Ms. Renault, Andreja happened to be a deft field medic, and after cleaning out any foreign particulates with copious amounts of peroxide spray, she stapled the wound shut and bound it with regrowth gel laced bandages. But her patient’s breathing still sounded labored and shallow, so she jammed a trauma pack booster in her leg to numb the pain and boost her o2 levels.

“Better?”

“Yeah. Sure.” Andromeda shrugged lazily. She probed gingerly at the wrapping on her upper arm and sighed at the lack of pain. “No, seriously, you did great. Do you have any water?”

“I do. Drink up.” Andreja handed her a package of ration water and then headed down the hall to make sure no one had heard Andromeda’s cries of pain. “I believe we are alone for the time being,” she reassured her. “Rest for a few moments and then we will get underway again.”

“Think that’s the best idea?”

“We can handle these fools. The problem is that you lack focus, Annie. You are easily distracted at poor times and it is usually to your detriment. You must always be aware of your surroundings in a hostile place or this type of thing will continue to happen. We were doing well up to this point, yes? Evaluate what changed and make adjustments as needed and this will happen less frequently.”

Andromeda closed her eyes and tried not to blush shamefully. She knew exactly what happened, though she would never share it with Andreja, or this entire endeavor would end prematurely. A flickering light catching her eye would be understandable; just as an odd noise from the shadows might garner one’s attention at an ill-advised moment. But having a razor-sharp naval cutlass pierce her arm down to the bone because she was staring at Andreja’s ass is not something she wanted to come clean about. Her friend had the right of it – Andromeda needed to focus. Especially when maniacs like these were trying to kill them.

“I’m sorry, Andreja. I’ll do better.”

“I am glad to hear that. I would prefer that we both return to The Lodge alive when this is all over.”

They rested for a few more minutes until Andromeda felt ready to get back on her feet and continue on into the outpost. She gave her arm a few cursory flexes, picked up her rifle, and winked at Andreja indicating she was ready to move out again.

It only took a few turns downs long refuse filled hallways and through an occasional door until the noisy clamor of additional spacers reached their ears. They crouched low and crept forward slowly, Andromeda at the rear with her newly suppressed Beowulf at the ready, while Andreja’s finger rested aside the trigger of her oddly-shaped rifle. According to Andreja it was just a variation of the standard particle beam weapons manufactured by Arboron or Combatech, but she would not discuss the details any further, leaving her rookie companion to further wonder about the mysterious woman and her unspoken past.

Those thoughts, however, soon flew out of her head when the enemies that could be dispatched silently were done so, and the remnants opened fire on the Constellation duo. All hell seemed to have finally broken loose and they wound up blasting the rest of the way through with a tactically slow but steady success against the unorganized rabble facing them down through twisting corridors and rundown control rooms.

Eventually, they came to a wide open room with only a single remaining man cowering by an electromagnetically sealed door. A man who offered his services in further penetrating the booby-trapped Lair of the Mantis, which is what Andromeda and Andreja had come to learn they were now in. Who – or what – the Mantis was continued to be somewhat of a mystery, as they had thus far only found scraps of information on the odd slate or two while exploring the eponymous outpost.

“Wait wait wait!” pleaded the man. “Don’t kill me, I can help you like I helped those idiots! I got them this far already!”

“And why should we trust you?” asked Andreja, coldly. “If you were helping these spacer scumbags then you are no better than they were.”

“I’m not one of them, they were just paying me to help unseal this place! The entire outpost was filled with traps that kept killing them, but I figured most of them out already!”

Andromeda had been content up until this point to let Andreja handle the impromptu interrogation, but now she stepped out from behind the tall woman and focused on the man’s intention. His emotions were running cool for someone who by all appearances seemed to be panicking under pressure, and she felt that he only played for time.

“He’s full of [censored],” Andromeda whispered to Andreja. “Probably got a pistol tucked away behind his back. He’s not scared, he’s stalling.”

“Understood.” And, without further hesitation, she fired a particle beam directly into his chest.

The point-blank fury of the energetic discharge launched him backwards into the wall and when the lifeless man fell to the ground a short-barreled Rattler shook free from his belt and hit the floor next to him with a metallic clank.

Andreja kicked it away and then looked back at Andromeda. “How did you know?”

“Being an empath has its uses, even if it’s less than desirable.”

“Ah, I should have guessed.” Andreja knelt beside the man and checked his pockets but only turned up another slate about what yet laid ahead of them. She read through it quickly and then handed it off. “There is some sort of puzzle through this door. The spacers must have sealed it when we brought the fight upon them.”

“The security is a joke,” said Andromeda as the door unlocked and slid open. “If this guy had the brains its no wonder half of these idiots were already dead when we got here.” Her index fingered scrolled through the information on the slate looking for anything new. “Oh yeah, these guys were absolute morons. Everything they needed is on the slates we already found, but apparently none of them have ever read a book. Or maybe even learned to read.”

“So, we can move further in?”

“Yep. Just let me hack that terminal up there and I’ll shut down the turrets and alarms.”

The security on said terminal ended up being a fair bit more complex that it had been on the previous door, yet still not enough to keep Andromeda out. Then she used it to bypass even deeper firewalls until reaching the core operating system for the outposts defenses, at which point she also shuttered a dozen combat robots and at least six more automated ceiling lasers.

With all remaining resistance eliminated, she strolled into the heart of the Lair with Andreja at her side. It opened up into a massive underground hanger that made Andromeda question what the hell this Mantis did for a living to afford such an impressive operation. They found vacant living quarters in a small wing off to the side complete with a uniquely ugly customized spacesuit that neither Andromeda nor Andreja deigned to be wearable without enduring snickers from the rest of their friends back at The Lodge.

But the real prize lowered itself into the hangar after Andromeda pressed a big, enticing red button mounted on a pedestal near the pit. With a roar of machinery and a blast of freezing air from the surface above, they were presented only seconds later with a ship that far outpaced the Frontier in every possible aspect. They climbed through the landing bay and cycled through the airlock into the first hab where a dedication plaque adorned the wall.

“The Razorback,” read Andromeda. “This has to be what they were after.”

“Understandably so,” replied Andreja. “It is an impressive ship. Fast engines, a variety of weapons – I also believe that the shield generator is one of the newest models. This is an excellent find, Annie. Congratulations on acquiring a ship of your own!”

Andromeda rolled her eyes and shook her head while trying unsuccessfully to hide a beaming smile. “Andreja, this is our ship. I would have been killed if I tried to come here on my own. We found this together, and it’s as much yours as it is mine.” She hugged her for a brief second. “Thank you for entertaining this at all. You could’ve just as easily said it was a waste of our time.”

“I am glad it turned out this way,” said Andreja. “But I am not sold on the name. Perhaps we should register it under a different name when we return to New Atlantis.”

“Done. And you get to choose it.”

“Are you sure?” frowned Andreja. “That is a big honor, Andromeda. I am not sure I deserve it.”

“Of course you do. Now, if you don’t mind, I need to find the bathroom before my eyes turn yellow.”

She climbed a ladder to the main hab and left Andreja shaking her head in bemusement. After securing the bay door, Andreja followed her up the ladder to see what else the ship had to offer. It was far bigger than the Frontier in all respects, and included a much more spacious living area complete with a second bed. Atop another ladder, she found a small armory with plenty of storage options for spacesuits, boost packs, weapons, and ammunition.

A rattling sound on the deck below caught Andreja’s attention, and she descended the ladder to find Andromeda already bustling about the galley.

“Hungry?”

“A little peckish, yes,” admitted Andreja. “Though I had hoped we could get underway first.”

Andromeda waved her off. “The Lodge can wait. I’m starving.”

“Yes, but we have another stop first.” She stepped over to the navigation table and linked her slate to the computer core. The galactic map zoomed in to a rocky planet it in the Tau Ceti system. “Vladimir’s scans picked up a strong signal on this world. We need to investigate it.”

“Ugh, not more [censored] Artifacts.”

“Andromeda…”

“Yeah yeah yeah, I know. It’s what we do and I’ve already put it off for over a week. We’ll head there after we eat, yeah?” She plopped two formed beef patties into a frying pan, and then she started slicing up a yellow onion. “Do you like patty melts?”

“I am not familiar with them,” said Andreja.

“You’re gonna love it.”

* * *

Frozen Plains, Tau Ceti III, Tau Ceti System

The Razorback handled like a dream compared to the clunky old Discovery class ship that Andromeda had grown used to flying. Powerful port and aft thrusters offered a dexterous maneuverability that she put through the paces by weaving in and out of a small field of asteroids in orbit around Tau Ceti III until her co-pilot began to complain of nauseous feelings. Then she lit up the weapon systems and used the particle cannons and missile launchers to vaporize a few of the rocks before finally touching down on the surface

“Are you finished fooling around?” asked Andreja. “Can we please find what we came here to find?”

“I guess so.” Andromeda fired up the scanning array to have a look around while Andreja started prepping their suits. Once the scan completed, she whistled at the readout. “Goddamn. Are you sure you want to go out there? I’m reading temperatures of minus thirty-seven degrees celsius. You’re liable to see my nipples poking right through my suit.”

“How charming.”

“Admit it; I’m much more fun to pal around with than Vasco or Sarah.”

“I certainly never know what you will say next. Come get suited up.”

Icy snow crunched underfoot after stepping out of the landing bay and onto the lifeless planet. Only the occasional craggy outcrop interrupted their sight-lines as far as the eye could see. Andromeda was pleasantly surprised by how warm she remained in her spacesuit, and even allowed herself a few cursory leaps in the 0.61gs of the small world to enjoy the feeling of near weightlessness.

“What are we looking for this time?”

“I do not know, but Vladimir said the signal from here is much stronger than what he has seen before. He told us to use our handscanners to look for distortions in the display.”

“Scanners it is, then,” said Andromeda. She unhooked from her belt the custom model given to her by Noel and powered it on. It chirruped to life and she held it up, rotating on her feet about two-hundred degrees until an odd static cropped up, warping the user interface. “That way, I think. Something to the southwest is interfering with the readings.”

“I cannot see much over that rise.”

A small hill rose up about two kilometers away, preventing them from see what might lie beyond. It was their only lead, so Andreja took point and headed that direction while Andromeda kept an eye on the scanner readouts. Despite only walking a short way, the interference already began to intensify. When they crested the rise, she put it away entirely after seeing the what waited for them.

Something highly improbable, border lining on impossible.

Standing tall above the freezing rocky plains of Tau Ceti III was the oddest structure either of them had ever seen. Numerous spires soared skywards in a varying array of dizzying heights. There appeared to be a flat shelf of some sort at what Andromeda guessed to be half way up, and freestanding walls encircled the entire thing in a general sort of mishmash. But the strangest part of it all was the familiarity she sensed - and the gravity-defying anomalies floating in the air around it.

“I would say we found our destination,” observed Andreja.

“Yeah, no [censored]. Sorry, didn’t mean that to sound so rude.”

“It is fine. Shall we?”

Andromeda stared at her. “Just like that? We find the weirdest [censored] thing in the Settled Systems and you want to stroll right on up to it?”

“We can stand here and scan it for a few hours if you would like. That is assuredly what Noel or Sarah would do first. But I do not see any signs of danger, and whatever it is bares a resemblance to the Artifacts, which have not proved to be dangerous in any way.”

“That’s because you haven’t picked one up yet,” grumbled Andromeda. “But I get your point. Might as well check it out up close.”

It took longer than they expected to reach due to the treacherous patches of ice exposed by the occasional gust of wind, and once they did neither of them understood what to do next. With nothing else for it, they began walking around the outer edges while Andromeda scanned the metallic walls with little result. The same alloys were indeed present in the Artifacts back at The Lodge, but nothing else about the structure made any sense.

About two-thirds of the way around the perimeter, everything changed. Two walls formed a sort of passageway towards the very center, rising steadily until they met the flat roof-like part far above their heads.

“I guess we go down there?” said Andromeda.

“It would seem so.”

They moved at a deliberate pace should something unexpected happen. Which something did, although it was not what they actually expected. As they neared the center wall, it began to silently shift. Large slabs of the unknown metal retracted up and down to reveal an odd sort of door adorned with flickering lights that resembled the stars in the night sky.

“Uh, soooo that’s weird. I don’t know about you, but I’m not sure if we should open the freaky door.”

“Are you not intrigued? I have never seen anything remotely like this in my entire life, Annie. Have you?”

“Hell no.”

“Then we must indeed discover what secrets are held within.”

Andromeda looked at her. And then she looked back at the starry door. To say she felt a measure of trepidation would be a gross understatement, but she also knew that Andreja was right. Like it or not, they were explorers now, and she knew that Sarah would have already barged through this door in wide-eyed wonder.

Funnily enough; that notion gave Andromeda the boost of confidence she needed.

I hope I don’t regret this.

And then she opened the door and stepped inside with Andreja following close behind.

This post has been edited by Kane: Sep 20 2025, 02:43 PM

[Acadian]

Andromeda once again proves that combat is not her forte. Better get used to having a gorgeous partner, Annie. Andreja is way too competent to trade in on an uglier model.

Andromeda’s skills do, however, shine in other areas. First, her empathic talent divines the cowering spacer is not to be trusted - so Andreja can gently decline his offer. Secondly, she computer hacks a way through the remaining station’s defenses.

A new and improved ship! Nice upgrade. No time for more than a couple patty melts though before it’s off to another adventure. This frozen planet reveals some sort of a . . . facility? structure? that just oozes mystery.