Andromeda Rising: Chapter Six

[amberfocus]

Chapter Six:  Tension

Teganna Tyler sighed and turned over the book she’d been studying for the past three hours.  What she had learned was making her sick to her stomach. “The more I read about the Orion pack hunters, the worse I feel,” she told Mars.

“What did you learn?” he asked, putting a finger down to mark his spot in the book he’d been reading.

“The Orion hunting packs originated on the twin planets Herpestidae and Canidae. They were bi-pedal humanoids with a generally pleasant canine aspect and peaceful disposition that altered their DNA using both jackal and hyena genetic material when a Terran preservation arc crashed into the Canidae moon Lampuris, in an attempt to ward off attacks from spacefaring races that were constantly raiding them. While their outward aspect is similar to a human with faint jackal markings and they can maintain speeds of 16 klicks per hour for long distances like the jackal, their inward nature is more like that of a hyena. They are not life mated like jackals, and they pack hunt like hyenas.”

Mars sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. “This one says it is a dominant matriarchal society, the females larger than the males and extremely choosy in mating habits. And we all know what happens to the males in a culture like that once they are let loose on the universe. They turn around and try to dominate everything they can. And with these ones, sometimes after they ‘mate’ with their prey, they eat it.” He threw the book across the room.

“Mars!”

“I’m worried, about Dromee, Teeg! If those…those…creatures get a hold of her, what’s to stop them from…from…?” He couldn’t even continue his sentence. “The idea makes me sick.”

“She’s smart and she’s resourceful and she knows self-defense,” Tegan said patting his arm to soothe him.

“Against normally armed or unarmed species, yes. But these hunters have claws and teeth. You can’t just unarm them or prevent them from reaching for their weapons,” Mars pointed out.

She stood up and retrieved the book he’d hurled. “I think it’s time we took a break,” she said. “We keep thinking along these lines we’re going to go spare.”

“Yeah. You’re probably right.” Tegan did her best to cheer up her cousin but no matter what she did to distract him, his eyes remained haunted for the rest of the day.



As soon as the Orion Cutlass dropped out of hyperspace in the late part of the evening, Jack entered an override code into the Megaliner’s systems that gave control of the doors in his cargo compartment to him. He hurried back to his ship and called out, “Andromeda! Come get strapped in. It’s time.”

Andromeda hurried from the galley where she'd been washing up and slid into the co-pilot’s seat and strapped herself in to the five point harness. Jack reached over and gave it an experimental yank, making sure it held. He strapped himself into the pilot’s seat and used the keyboard to send a signal to the cargo bay doors. Through the viewscreen he could see them slowly begin to open.

A mauve light began flashing in the compartment and a voice came over the ship’s sound system. “Cease and desist. Penalty for in flight interference is three thousand credits. Please close cargo bay doors now.” Jack ignored the warning and continued to power up his ship. The sound of a claxon rang loudly over the speakers.

“You’re sure we can’t stay here?” Jack said turning to Andromeda as his fingers hovered over the button that would fire the engines and take them out into space.

“I’m sure,” she said with a shudder. “It’s gotten worse all day.”

Jack’s hand plunged down and he slapped the button. The ship roared as it shot forward out of the cargo compartment and clear of the Megaliner. “We’re free,” Jack said. “So where shall we go?”

“Not Danzibar,” said Andromeda. “The planet feels wrong. Just head towards Orion. I’m sure we’ll find interesting things along the way. We’ll just do it without the help of a cruise director.”

Jack smiled and programmed the flight computer. The situation was odd but he didn’t for one minute believe she was lying about her vision. There was something so earnest and real about the girl. Her openness and honesty were two of the things that continued to attract him to her. She seemed completely guileless.

“You’re staring again, Jack,” Andromeda said, interrupting his thoughts.

“You’re nice to look at,” he said with an appraising smile. He turned his mind back to the computer and then plotted a course to Orion that would take them past various systems he thought she might enjoy. When they were well clear of the Megaliner and on their way Jack said, “You can take the restraints off now.” He reached down and unbuckled his own.

“I’ve put her onto autopilot,” he told her.

“You’ve never told me. What’s the name of your ship?” Andromeda suddenly asked as she rose to follow him into the living quarters. She sat down on the sofa and he joined her, stretching out his long legs in front of him. She turned her body towards him so she could see his face, one hand coming to rest on his knee.

“The Conquered Goddess,” he told her.

“Why that?”

“Won her off an arrogant woman named Athena in a card game. It just fit.”

“You won your ship in a card game?”

“Yeah.”

“You must be very good.”

“Oh, I’m very good at a lot of things, Andromeda. Very good,” Jack said. His near arm came out and snaked around her shoulders, pulling her closer to him. She trembled against him, her heart racing, but when he made no further move she began to relax, her body fitting nicely against his.

“So,” he announced. “Sleeping quarters.”

“You can’t keep sleeping on the couch, Jack. The bed is yours. You’ve got longer legs and need the room. Let me stay on the couch,” she insisted.

“Andromeda…”

“I mean it, Jack. Chivalry is all well and good, but the sofa is comfortable and it fits my body much better than it fits yours. You’re nearly a foot taller than me,” she told him.

“Fine,” he gave in with bad grace, remembering how stiff his muscles had been that morning. “I’ll take the bed.”

Andromeda yawned. “No time like the present. It’s been a long day.” Jack stood up and went to a compartment, pulling out a clean set of linens and handing them to her before he dropped a kiss on her forehead and disappeared into the sleeping chamber.

Andromeda changed into her nightgown and spread the fresh linens on the couch and then she decided to ask him for another blanket and headed for his room. The door slid open as her presence triggered the infrared detector. “Jack I--.” Her breath hitched in her chest at the sight before her. Jack was shirtless, his hands removing the belt from his trousers.

He must have heard the sound she made for he turned around and caught her staring at him. He didn’t say anything as her eyes roamed over the smooth muscles of his chest, the distinctive pectoral muscles, the beautiful washboard stomach, the circle of his navel just above his trousers. The view was doing all kinds of strange things to her pulses, giving her butterflies in her stomach, and altering the rhythm of her breathing.

Finally she raised her eyes to his, meeting his amused sapphire twinkle. “Like what you see?” he drawled.

She nodded. “Very much,” she said softly.

“Did you need something?”

“I was wondering if you had an extra blanket. I may have inherited my grandfather’s lower body temperature, but I still manage to get quite cold at night,” she explained.

He pulled the quilt off his bed and handed it to her. “But what about you?” she asked.

“I’m hot,” Jack said.

“I had rather noticed that, thanks,” she grinned at him flirtatiously. His hand came up and stroked her cheek with the back of two fingers and she leaned into the caress.

“I think you best be leaving my bedroom right around now, Andromeda,” he said seriously as his eyes wandered down her slight frame.

She took a step back from him. “Yeah, all right. Thanks. For the blanket.” She hurried back out to the sofa, tucked the quilt on top and slid into her makeshift bed. She trembled as she thought how badly she had wanted to reach out and feel the muscles of his naked chest. The sight of him like that had invoked a fiercely strong want within her. She concentrated on slowing her breathing but every time she tried to clear her mind the vision of him bare nearly to the hips intruded on her mind.

And the way he had looked at her, all smolder and burn, had made her feel extremely powerful and frightened all at the same time. She was beginning to understand what it was for a woman to hold power over a man. She was also beginning to understand how tenuous the balance of that power was, how easily it could shift between two people.

She longed to speak with her grandmother about this. Her mother would be absolutely no use in this situation. But Gran would understand. She’d run off with a much older man when she’d been a teenager, too. Maybe not as young as Andromeda was now, but her granddad had been much, much older than Jack was to her. She was sure the power fluctuations between her grandparents had been quite similar.

And with them, it had all worked out in the long run. They’d overcome a nine hundred year age gap. Surely she could overcome the seventeen years between herself and Jack. Although as far as Jack was concerned it was only a fifteen year age gap and she needed to keep that firmly in her mind so she didn’t slip up and make him aware of how very young she really was. She was of age for her grandfather’s people and even on Earth she was at the age of consent for most cultures.

Why was being considered an adult and feeling like one so different? She bet Jack wasn’t in his room trembling under the sheets like a child. And thinking about Jack under the sheets was doing nothing for her current tumult of mind. “Stop it,” she whispered out loud, “Just, stop it.” By sheer force of will she cleared her mind and triggered the brain chemicals that would induce sleep.



Jack was in his bed under the sheets and trembling like a child. Holding back with Andromeda was starting to get very difficult. When she had looked at him tonight with such unconscious open need he’d wanted nothing more than to invite her into his bed. Why was this so hard? Well, he knew the answer to that. Actually, the several answers to that.

He’d never denied himself before. He was used to having sex often and well. And though he was well able to take matters into his own hands when necessary, it was seldom needed, because he could always talk someone relatively attractive into a shag. Now here he was with someone more than relatively attractive. Andromeda was the prettiest girl he’d ever met and he’d met plenty in his travels, first with the Time Agency and later with his father’s guard, then again with the agency. She attracted him on so many levels. And he didn’t feel like he could do anything about it.

He wanted to. He most assuredly wanted to. But he didn’t want to push her, no matter what he was feeling. How much of it was chemical he didn’t know, but he’d been attracted to her far before he came to her rescue that night in the club.

He’d been watching her and her cousin dance for days before he approached her. He’d originally been drawn by the cousin, but as he watched, he’d found himself pulled towards Andromeda more and more. The way she had smiled and laughed at her cousin’s jokes and the way she had treated the staff at the club with respect, from the bouncer and the bartender to the busboys.

You could tell a lot from a person by how they treated the menial workers around them. And she had treated them all well. In fact the only person she had reacted to in a negative fashion had been that prince who’d tried to force his will on her. That boy had been nothing but trouble and Andromeda was not the first girl he’d intervened on the behalf of. She was the first one he didn’t end up in bed with later on, though. And he’d never wanted to be in bed with one more than he did her.

He sighed, punched his pillow and got up. He needed a shower. He needed to relieve some tension. And then he needed sleep. Happy with his plan he put it into action. And eventually he slept.



“They’re not on the ship,” Procyon said.

“What do you mean they’re not on the ship?” growled Acheron pacing the insides of his quarters.

“That so-called asteroid strike shortly after we came out of hyperspace wasn’t an asteroid strike at all. I did a little digging. Turns out the compartment that the ‘asteroid’ hit contained a ship. A ship registered to one Captain Jack Harkness. And inside that compartment are blast marks, like a ship fired up.”

“In containment?” snarled the prince.

“Yes. And only a very desperate person would do that. They must be on to us, must know they’re being tracked,” Procyon said.

Acheron whirled and placed a kick against an underling’s ribcage. The boy whimpered at the impact but did nothing else. He knew his place in the pack hierarchy. “That girl is mine.”

“We’ll find her. When we get to Danzibar we can hire out a light shuttle and back trace the ship’s emissions. I got a fair reading on them in the cargo bay. We should be able to pick up their trail and follow them to their destination.”

“Well, that’s something,” snapped Acheron. He aimed another kick at the boy he’d kicked before, a satisfied smirk coming across his face as he heard the slight cracking sound of a rib. “Meanwhile, Procyon, Lycoctonus, Arctophonus, Dromis, and Cisseta, you’re with me. We’ll find prey and then we’ll hunt her.”



Cassi’s TARDIS Philia landed in a disused corridor of the Orion Cutlass and the four of them made their way up to one of the main decks. They separated, Cassi and Dare to make their way into the computer systems and Tegan and Mars to find the younger set and ask around with Andromeda’s photograph.

Tegan was showing the photo round in one of the dance halls when somebody snatched it from her hand. “Let me see that,” he said.

He looked at the photo and then back at her. “She your family?” he asked.

“Yes.”

“You look an awful lot alike. You just might do,” he said his mouth turning into an almost feral grin.

“Do for what?” she asked. The young man smiled and ran his hand up and down her arm.

He leaned forward and whispered into her ear. “Prey.”

Tegan grabbed the photo back from the older boy and began to back away from him, noting the way his hair rose forward, as if he was raising his hackles. Her eyes swept frantically around the room. She spied Marsden talking to a couple of girls and she yelled, “Mars!”

Her nephew’s head snapped around and seconds later he was by her side. “Is this guy bothering you?” he asked putting a protective hand around her shoulders.

“Not yet,” he said. He wrinkled his nose and showed his teeth. “But I will be.” He slunk back into the crowd, disappearing from view.

“You okay, Teeg?” Mars asked her pulling her into a hug.

“It was one of them, Mars. That guy, he was…one of those hyena/jackal people. I’m sure of it. And he called me prey!” She was shaking.

“I’m taking you back to Philia. It’s not safe for you here.”

“But--.”

“No buts Teganna Josephine!” Marsden’s expression was stormy, his brown eyes unyielding.

“I want to help,” she said softly.

“You’ve been targeted, Teeg. It isn’t safe for you to help anymore. Now come on. Let’s get you back onboard,” Mars insisted.

With a sigh of irritation and dismay, Tegan allowed herself to be put away for safe keeping. She didn’t envy her niece Andromeda if she’d had to deal with a whole pack of those. The manner of just one had been enough that she was sure she’d have nightmares for days.

When Mars left her safely on the ship, she headed for the library. She might not be able to do legwork but she was going to do as much as she could to still play a part in saving her niece. If that meant reading ancient history texts on Orion until her eyes bled and her brain fell out in boredom, then so be it.



Cassi watched impatiently as Dare hacked into the shipboard mainframe of the Orion Cutlass. The only thing that gave away her nervousness was that she was biting on the inside edge of her thumb, the same way her mum always did under stress. Such a bad habit, that. She pulled it away from her mouth and watched her brother type. Dare was a genius, probably the brightest of all her siblings and herself, though the jury was still out on little Xan, and it took him very little time to break the ship’s security system.

“She’s registered as staying in room 31245 on deck three.” Dare spun about in his chair and said, “Come on.” He led the way through the maze of corridors and up a lift until they were on the correct floor. It didn’t take them long to find the correct room and Dare zapped it with his sonic multi-tool. The door slid open.

Cassi strode to the closet while Dare looked in the bathroom. “None of her stuff is here,” said Cassi. “It looks deserted.”

“Nothing in here, either except this,” Dare emerged with a bottle of blackberry scented shampoo. “It’s empty, though.”

Cassi took the bottle and turned it to see the label. “This is what Andromeda uses. It’s definitely her room. Where could she be?”

“It is possible she moved into the room of the man she was with,” Dare said.

Cassi glared at him. “You’re not helping. Look, can’t you scan the ship for her biosignature with that thing?”

“With a few modifications.”

“Well, get to it,” said Cassi. “The ship’s been docked for awhile. I want to know if she’s still on here or if she’s made planetfall.”

Dare frowned at his sister. “You’re being rude again,” he muttered but he was already fiddling with the device so he could do the requested scan. “There we are.” He turned in a slow circle. “All I’m picking up is you and me and Marsden.”

“What about Tegan?” Cassi said her eyes going wide in alarm.

“Nothing. We better go find Mars!” And with that brother and sister raced into the corridor on their way to locate Dare’s eldest child, with the hope he could tell them where their little sister was.

Ch. 7:  http://amberfocus.livejournal.com/145165.html 

Comments

[ehmi.livejournal.com]

Yay! You didn't mention that you were gonna update this one...at least I don't remember it. Anyway, yay! This is great! Everyone is going to end up freaking out here pretty soon, and Andromeda is safe and sound with Jack. I love it. XD

[ehmi.livejournal.com]

Yay, first comment! *does first comment jig*

[amberfocus.livejournal.com]

*laughs*

[amberfocus.livejournal.com]

Well, I'm not actually writing this story, I'm doing a minor rewrite of it. I'm just bringing it over a chapter at a time as I do so. So I'm not including it in the updates. I'm rewriting it to take into account season 2 Torchwood canon regarding Jack's childhood and brother.

[10-rose.livejournal.com]

Dun dun dun....

[amberfocus.livejournal.com]

Yep.

[stormarrow.livejournal.com]

Oh! Jackel/hyena eh? Very cool. Er- not cool, since they eat people. Not good for Andromeda. I can't wait to see how Jack and Andromeda's relationship develops! =)

[amberfocus.livejournal.com]

Yeah, they are my creepiest villains ever, I think. They give me the shivers sometimes.

[stormarrow.livejournal.com]

Lol They are massively creepy.

[hezmanagirl.livejournal.com]

AAARRRRGH! Why haven't I seen this fic before?! Okay, probably good since I'm reading all your others. I had to read all six chapters today just to make sure I'm caught up. Minx.

[amberfocus.livejournal.com]

Probably because I haven't posted it to any of the comms. It's not Torchwood. It's not really Doctor/Rose even though they and their family are in it. It's sort of nebulous, so I'm just posting it to my journal. It's the only one I'm doing that with, though.

[hezmanagirl.livejournal.com]

Whew! I thought I was being clueless for a mo there!

From my comm experience they'd tag AR a crossover fic since it's a smidge of both TW history/AU and DW AU. You're right though, it is hard to peg since the DW bit is AU and then we don't know Jack's history most of what people write is AU with a smattering of what he's said happened. That was confusing to write...

Either way, I'm enjoying it. I like the science-y bits about pheromones and attraction. The hunters flip me out, but they're also very cool.

[amberfocus.livejournal.com]

Nope, no cluelessness. Just not sure of where I'd put it, really. Unless there's a comm out there devoted to Jack Harkness in and of himself. Glad you like the story.