"One moment, the Andromeda, the next, here," he said, in agreement to Gaheris' question.

It was the longest he'd been away from Andromeda since he took command of her nearly five years ago. It came at the worst time, when his mission was not just to rebuild the Commonwealth, but to defend against the Magog. The very threat Gaheris had hated the Commonwealth for being weak against. There was, perhaps, an irony in that, that Gaheris' betrayal had led, in however oblique a manner, to Dylan leading the fight against the Magog.

Gaheris was businesslike in circling Dylan -- though he still kept distance between them in a deliberate way that would have been unthinkable once -- to head for the door and look out into the corridor.

That was like countless missions the two of them had gone on together, Gaheris checking the exits, looking for threats, except that usually, Dylan would have had his back.

"I've never encountered a threat on this ship."

Not that he expected Gaheris to take his word for it. In fact, he'd probably have been disappointed in him if he had.

Gaheris was always the paranoid one.