beka

Beka is the ever diligent and highly defiant captian of the salvage ship Eureka Maru. She and her crew were hired to pull the Andromeda Assendant from a black hole and sell it for salvage by Gyrentex. Once Dylan was rescued he helped convince Beka that her line of work was below her and she agreed to come with him to restore the commonwealth.

Beka and Dylan have had a rough begining. Everything had been fought about from who's crew it really is to which get-rich scheme she can pull off. Dylan has been less than agreeable about the conduct of the new crew and Beka has challenged every whim. Once in battle, she tried to defy his orders and he almost threw her in the brig.

Beka is a model woman of the 10000 century. I like her. She's pesky, violent, beautiful, and doesn't let men push her around. I really think she likes Dylan, she's just afraid to admit it. Maybe because of her dark past. Her father built the Maru and he was some kind of pirate. Her brother (Ties the Bind) is a skilled con man and her father's buisness partner "Uncle" Sid (Pearls that were His Eyes) helped invent "flash" and now holds a vedenta against Beka.

Another interesting aspect of Beka is her hair. Her father implanted Nanobots into her skull that can change her hair color at will. They also hold a recording of a terrible secret in her father's past.

It's a good twist.

Beka is a great character in Andromeda. Played by Lisa Ryder she has skill, attitude and plenty of past to work with. I hope one day "Uncle Sid" shows up (or maybe some other relative) and tries to take the Andromeda out. I can just see Dylan and Beka standing together rocking as the ship is being attacked and Dylan yelling, "Any more of your relatives plan on showing up?" That would be classic.

Beka also has a vulnerability. While trying to fly Dylan and the crew to the slipstream banished planet Tarn Vedra she used flash to help and became addicted. Now flash is not an easy drug to cope with. She overdosed and Andromeda was barely able to save her. She is still addicted and must now fact that every day of her life. (It Makes a Lovely Light) She now understnads what her father was.

Beka is on a secret mission. Something she has never mentioned. For one brief second she revealed it while trying to get to Tarn Vedra. Harper asked her if what she was looking for was there, but she never said what it was. What is she after? Was that what drove her to take flash and risk her life to get to the lost world of the Commonwealth?