Set in Season 5, somewhere after 'Pride Before The Fall' but before Trance's sun starts to come through, so spoilers for that episode amongst other.

Thanks as always to Chya for her encouragement. Self beta'd, so any and all mistakes are mine.

Disclaimer: Sadly, none of Andromeda's crew belongs to me. I've just borrowed them briefly from their owners and promise to put them back exactly (well, almost... particularly in Rhade's case!) as I found them.

No profit is being made from these stories and I don't have anything worth suing for...

THE DELILAH COMPLEX

By JillyW

Part 1

"Sundown at the ass-end of the universe – my favourite time of day." With a wry smile, Telemachus Rhade raised his glass in sardonic toast, draining its contents before replacing it with exaggerated care on the chipped surface in front of him. And, as if acknowledging his words, the last rays of Seefra's suns straggling through the grimy, flyblown windows gave up the battle and made way for the gathering night.

Perched on the stool next to him at the bar in the only saloon in town, Beka Valentine snorted in response. "Only because it means you got through another day without getting your fool head blown off!" She paused in consideration, then went on, "Actually, we all did, which I guess is worth celebrating some." Polishing off her own drink, she gestured to the short blond leaning on the other side of the bar. "Set 'em up, Harper."

"Another day, another dollar," contributed Seamus Harper, meeting their blank looks with, "You know – dollars? Bucks? Moolah? Credits? Money, for Pete's sake!" Seeing the way Beka was narrowing her eyes at him, he shrugged and mumbled, "Old Earth saying…" before re-filling their glasses.

"And unfortunately for us, a rather inaccurate one," Rhade commented darkly, staring broodingly down into the drink now wrapped possessively in one big hand.

"Speak for yourself," Harper smirked. "Some of us had a very profitable day, thank you very much." At the Nietzschean's scowl, he waved an arm that took in the well-populated room and said airily, "Told you not to give up your day job. That's the main problem with working for Dylan – you never know when your next payday is going to roll around. You gotta keep a few little projects on the back burner to tide you through."

"That's what you told him, huh?" Beka laughed, eyebrows raised.

"Yeah, well, maybe not exactly in so many words," he admitted blithely, "but something like that is so obvious not even a big lug like Rhade could be stupid enough not to get it." His tone was bold, but he was prudent enough to take a small step back out of range.

But whatever Rhade's reaction might have been, Harper needn't have worried – salvation was at hand. From outside, somewhere in the far distance, came a series of muffled thuds that sent gentle tremors through the ground beneath them. And in the midst of them they heard a sharp crackling sound, like a vast burst of static.

Half the saloon's patrons leapt to their feet, moving to windows or door to peer out at the sky, while the remainder simply glanced up then returned to their drinks with the air of those who had seen it all before.

"Oh great, here we go again," Harper muttered, but his frown turned to a fond, though somewhat proprietary smile as he spotted a statuesque blonde woman pushing through the crowd at the entrance and heading their way.

"Looks like another one just came through," the woman said brightly as she reached them.

"Gee, Doyle, ya think?" Beka turned to meet the newcomer with a look of mock surprise.

But it was Rhade who voiced what they were all really thinking. "And you just know it's going to mean trouble."

-o-

Somewhere out in the unforgiving desert that covered most of the planet, a passing lizard clung motionless to a rock, watching silently as the sleek silver spacecraft emerged from the cloud of sand it had created by its less than elegant landfall. After a few minutes it registered a tall dark form slipping clandestinely from the ship's shadowed entry port, pausing to glance up at the night sky.

With a satisfied-seeming nod, the figure shouldered a heavy looking bag and set off purposefully towards the glow of light on the horizon that indicated habitation. A moment later, the vessel shimmered from sight again, leaving nothing but rocks and sand for the local wildlife to watch.

-o-

Captain Dylan Hunt stood on the command deck of the Andromeda Ascendant, a contented smile spreading across his face as the hologram he'd just been talking to blinked out. Getting his great warship up to sufficient power for the visual version of her core AI to function again had been a huge challenge, and it still pleased him enormously to have her back. So much so that he sometimes couldn't resist calling on her for almost no reason at all, just to see her appear – something he was strangely sure she was quite aware of.

Mind you, this time she actually had more to tell him than just responding to his lame query about progress on auto-repairs to the ship's back-up relays. A sensor glitch she couldn't explain had prevented her pinpointing the landing site of the latest entrant to the Seefra system, though analysis of its initial trajectory would seem to put it somewhere on Seefra-1.

With no evidence of anything on the surface, the logical assumption was that it hadn't actually made it that far, that it had been ultimately unable to withstand the extreme stresses exerted on it by the Route of Ages. But, he was amused to see, Andromeda had exhibited something close to what - had she been human - he would have called frustration at being unable to confirm that as fact.

"It feels good to see her, doesn't it," came a gentle voice from behind him, and he turned to see the gold-skinned Trance Gemini standing in the doorway. "Almost like old times – except that these times are anything but old. Not that they're really new either. They're just… what they are, though what that is I'm sure will become clear in due course."

"Good to see you too, Trance," Dylan responded with a bemused shake of his head. "Even if I still don't understand half of what you say most of the time."

"Well, it would be fair to say that I don't always truly understand it all myself," she said with a frown as she crossed the room towards him, "though I feel I really should."

"It'll come to you," Dylan assured her. "And when it does, you can explain it all to me. Deal?"

She smiled beatifically up at him. "Deal. So…" she continued, glancing round the bridge. "Where is everyone today?"

"Oh, Beka and Doyle are on a supply-run to Seefra-2, and I think Harper has managed to con Rhade into helping him with one of his projects again – though the heavens only know how. It always ends in tears."

A distantness seemed to dim the bright clarity of Trance's gaze momentarily, and she turned away from him to look at the globe of the planet hanging in the viewscreen ahead. Dylan's stomach lurched just a little as she said softly, "As I very much fear it will do again this time. For all of us…"

-o-o-o-