Dylan entered the main council room to see seven Nietzscheans arranged around an oval table. In the center sat Onnika, flanked to each side by three people. To the left stood a transmission device that was broadcasting the signal throughout the station and on to every planet controlled by the Gryphon Pride.

"Welcome to our Council, Ancestor. I apologize for the length of time before we could convene but several of the members were off the station, attending to their duties." Onnika stood gracefully and bowed deeply. She was dressed in a shimmering silver robe, bound with a gold mesh belt. The buckle of the belt was a gryphon arcing up, holding forth a hand in triumph. "To my left, we have Famira, my closest cousin and Strategic Advisor. Dr. Radli, my Resources Advisor. And Graha, my Military Advisor. To my right, my mother, Talia. Dami, Communications Advisor. And Shade, my Financial Advisor."

Dylan smiled and nodded. "Not a problem. Though I am happy to finally meet all of you. As you know, I’m Dylan Hunt of the Commonwealth Starship Andromeda." Gracefully waving a hand at Beka, he continued, "This is my first officer, Beka Valentine. Also the Captain of the Eureka Maru. Today, I have come here and found a community that I knew nothing about, but who knows a great deal about me. When Raa, my most recent crewman told me about Gryphon Pride, I smiled. I smiled to know that Gaheris was remembered. Not as traitor, not as a hero, but as a father. A title, I know, that he would have been most proud to wear. To know that I have been bestowed this honor, with or without my permission shocks me. If I had known then what I know now, I would have gladly lived my life, being Gaheris’ mate, lover, and husband. Thank you, all of Gryphon Pride for remembering him.

"Doubtless many of you have questions, to ask of me and my crew. Right now, the crew is aboard the Andromeda. I have asked them to take their stations, Rommie, the ship; will relay transmissions to and from here to the various crewmembers. So you can ask questions of all my crew at the same time. Before we start, I would like to tell you a little about my crew, while they are setting up.

"The most remarkable in appearance among others is Trance Gemini..."

* * *

Dylan watched in fascination as the questions flew about. This is a good start. The people may be the deciding factor, if this becomes a shooting war. Staring at the ../images/Images of people from the entire Gryphon domain, Dylan prayed it wouldn’t be a shooting war. A young man entered from a concealed door and spoke to one of the counselor’s. Recalling that he had been introduced as Dr. Radli. The man frowned.

"Captain Hunt?"

"Yes, Dr. Radli?"

"I need to talk to you concerning one of your crew. A Valu." He replied. A silence was in the air.

"Is something wrong?" Dylan stood up and headed over to the Council table.

"It seems he collapsed and was taken to the medical bay." He explained.

"I see, was anyone with him?" Dylan asked.

"Caeilla, she alerted the medical staff and your crewman, Rev Bem attended to him." Radli frowned.

"Oh wonderful. I can think of no one better than Rev to deal with this." Dylan smiled and sat back down.

"Ancestor, I know you missed out on 300 years but do you believe that it is wise to leave a Magog, in charge of your crewman?"

"Rev is Wayist... besides, Ma’ctor doesn’t need medical attention, he needs someone to listen to him, to help work it through."

"Work what through, Ancestor?" Radli inquired.

"Ma’ctor is a Thinker. A special Valu. He takes many tiny bits of information... most that we never concern ourselves with. He doesn’t concern himself with it either, but his subconscious does and it pulls the information together and gives us an insight into things we may need to know. It is always preceded by shakes and stuttering. As long as he is kept still and allowed to talk, he will be fine. Who better to counsel him than a Wayist?" Dylan asked carefully.

"This is new, if he will permit it, I would like to study this phenomenon."

"I’m sure Mac’tor won’t mind, but I need to talk to Caeilla? I need to know what he told her."

"Of course, she’s waiting outside the room. Would you mind if we listened in?" Radli waved a young man to escort the child into the council chamber. Caeilla walked in and stood carefully in front of Dylan.

Dylan smiled and turned to Radli. "No, of course not, we have no secrets from our family."

"I’m not going to hurt you Caeilla. I just need to know what Ma’ctor said to you. It’s very important."

"Yes, Ancestor." Caeilla took a feet apart stance and looked up at Dylan. "Today, I went to the media center to find some book files necessary for a report. Ma’ctor came in and started a search on slave law in the database. As I started to leave, he called me over and asked me if I knew about slave law. I told him that I had studied it and I would do my best to answer his questions.

"He then asked me if a slave who:

1) had been experimented on with high tech and had managed to escape;
2) managed to live on their own for ten to twenty years;
3) later joined up with another Nietzschean who had a small pride;
4) then mated to that Nietzschean;
5) who later turned out to be allied to a very large pride;
6) then was discovered by his original owners.

If such a slave fit all these parameters, who would the slave belong to? Could the slave be free? I thought about the question and when I was about to answer, he fell to the floor. I first checked to see if he had passed out and then his pulse. He grabbed my hand and started to talk in a whisper, so soft even my ears had a hard time. He stumbled over his words, like he was thinking too fast to speak."

"He was, you need to stop him and then ask him concise questions. Sorry, continue." Dylan interrupted.

"Yes Ancestor, what I could make out he said ‘Listen to Dylan. He’ something ‘fourth universe. If you are not careful’ something else ‘nothing can be done. She has greater forces than she can command. They betray her. Prepare. The Killers come.’ That was all I could get, Ancestor."

"That is enough, Caeilla, thank you. While you are here, Raa wondered if you would like to come on board the Andromeda. I think he has a surprise for you."

"I would love to, Ancestor. Is today at 1600 appropriate?"

"I will tell him to expect you then." If the ‘killers’ are the ones behind the Magog, we may have less time than we thought.

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