"What do you mean, he's asleep?" Beka snapped. "He's been sleeping for the past week and a half. Why is that suddenly good news?"

"He's been in a coma, Beka," Trance corrected. "Trust me, there is a world of difference between the two."

Beka snorted. "Well, when is he going to wake up?"

Trance shrugged. "When he wakes up. At least now, we can be pretty sure he will."

"You know, Trance, it's funny you should say 'trust me' like that," Dylan remarked. "Andromeda, Privacy mode, level Bravo."

"Level Bravo acknowledged," the warship's disembodied voice responded.

Tyr strolled over to the hatch and leant casually against the frame as Dylan placed a flexi and the metal cylinder Harper had hidden in the Maru on the desk in front of him.

Trance shot to her feet, her chair clattering over onto its back. "Where did you get that?"

"Trust is a two-way street, Trance," Beka responded, righting the chair as Tyr placed his hands on Trance's shoulders and guided her back into the chair before returning to his post in front of the hatch. "You keep asking for our trust, but we don't see you giving all that much. And while we're all grateful for whatever it was you did for Harper," she continued with a small smile as she perched on a corner of Dylan’s desk, "a paranoid little part of me can't help but wonder why you did it."

"I sent a little note off to Professor Logitch, back on Inari," Dylan continued. "You remember him, right Trance?" Trance nodded carefully. "His executor sent me a copy of the Professor's journal. Makes for fascinating reading."

Trance blinked. "His executor? Of his estate?"

Tyr snorted. "You sound surprised, creature."

"He was fine when I left him," Trance protested.

"Did I say he wasn't?" Dylan responded mildly as he stood and moved out from behind his desk. "Who is Tocsin Concatenate?" he barked.

Trance jumped. "I-"

"What happened on Arcadia?" Beka hissed in Trance's ear.

Trance's head snapped around. "I don't-"

"Are you working with the Magog?" Dylan demanded.

"No," Trance responded indignantly, turning back to face Dylan. "You have to believe me, Dylan, I would-" Trance gasped as she felt the barrel of a gauss gun press against the base of her skull and heard the unmistakable sound of the weapon charging.

Dylan shook his head. "I am so fucking sick of people lying to me," he said quietly. Tyr and Beka exchanged a glance as Dylan moved back to his chair and sat. "Let her go, Mr. Anasazi."

"Sir?"

"You heard me."

Trance stood as Tyr holstered his weapon. "I'm not your enemy, Dylan. All I'm trying to do is make sure my species survives what's coming."

"Is that what this Tocsin guy is doing?" Beka asked.

"May I go?" Trance responded. Tyr moved away from the hatch as Dylan waved an assenting hand. Trance paused in the hatchway. "The last member of my species convicted of colluding with the Magog," she said quietly, her back to the others, "was sentenced by the Council of Captains to be drawn and quartered, and the pieces displayed outside the Council Chamber." She paused. "It's called a Mercy Spike. Placed at the base of the skull and activated, death is practically instantaneous. Traditionally, it would have been used twenty-eight days after sentencing was carried out." The three said nothing as Trance walked away.
 

Part 52
 

"A pre-emptive strike on this ruthless band of intergalactic criminals is the only way to ensure the safety and security of the Drago-Kasov people. Dylan Hunt-"

"-contribute a paltry twenty-four percent of our Pride's gross domestic product, yet almost forty of our military budget is spent just on security forces for the slave planets. When you add in the fact that military expenditures are at an all-time high-"

"-right, buddy, time's up. You've had your say, move it along now. Got people waiting here. Next!"

"-duty, it is our destiny to bring the benefits of Drago-Kasov rule to the poor benighted sentients of this universe. Consider the plight of the Than-"

"Than have a plight?" a Nietzschean passerby wondered aloud as he and his companion strode past the red-bordered Speaker’s Area in front of the General Assembly Building.

"Oh yes," his shorter companion responded dryly. "A terrible plight, just terrible." The two men laughed as they stepped off the curb. "I'm telling you, Sol, I'm not sure who scares me more," the slighter of the two continued as they crossed the street, "the Abolitionist crazies or the Drago-Kasov uber alles crazies who think we can take on the entire universe at once with one hand tied behind our backs."

The taller man's eyes widened. "You mean we can't? Seriously though, sir," he continued as they approached the Alpha's Residence, "crazy they might be, but the Abolitionists do have a point about how much the tributary worlds are costing us."

The smaller man grimaced. "What do you suggest, Sol? All together, they have more than three times our population. If we withdraw our security forces the Perseids, the Than, hell, even the other Prides will be more than happy to arm them and point them in our direction." He ran a hand through his hair as they passed the ornate entrance of the Alpha's residence. "Not to mention almost 80 percent of our food supply comes from the tributary worlds."

The larger man shook his head. "I don't know, sir. I truly don't. But we can't keep going like we've been doing or it's all going to collapse. Hell, in some ways it's collapsing already."

The smaller man grunted sourly as they turned off the main street into a narrow alley. The guard stationed there snapped to attention. "Admiral O'Higgins, sir."

Ares O'Higgins, Alpha of the Drago-Kasov Pride, returned the sentry's salute. "As you were, Marine."

"Sirs," the Marine continued as the two men passed him, "if I may be so bold, the Colonel is-"

"Waiting for us," Captain Solomon Metternich responded as they caught sight of the figure standing just inside the doorway to the Alpha's Residence.

"Don't start, Que," O'Higgins said as the two men entered the Residence.

"Of course not, sir," the Commanding Officer of the Alpha's Security Detail responded. "I'm sure the Admiral is quite aware that there have been no less than twenty-seven successful assassinations of a Drago-Kasov Alpha since the Fall of the Commonwealth, and that the Admiral is also quite aware that we are currently in a state of hostilities with no less than six political entities, any one of whom-"

"I get the point, Colonel," O'Higgins responded testily as he strode past. "No more skipping school. Are you finished?"

"One question, sir."

"Yes, Colonel?"

"What exactly is the plight of the Than?"

The two men stopped and stared at Quechara Tomyris as she raised a single eyebrow in an otherwise expressionless face. "Touché, Que," O'Higgins laughed. "I hired you because you're the best. That doesn't mean I need to make your job any harder than it has to be."

"Thank you, sir," Tomyris replied, joining the two men as they continued walking.

"Oh, and don't blame Sol this time," O'Higgins continued. "It was all my idea."

"I know it was, sir," Tomyris responded. Metternich slumped slightly in relief. "Still doesn't mean he's not going to be sleeping on the couch for a while," she added with a slight smile.

"Tell me again about the joys of a monogamous marriage," O'Higgins commented dryly as they entered his office.

"It's wonderful," Metternich deadpanned. "Best decision I ever made."

"And don't you forget it," Tomyris laughed. "Interesting little tidbit came in while the two of you were out gallivanting about," she continued as the three took their usual seats. "It seems Seamus Harper is alive. Again."

Metternich blinked. "How were that many reports wrong?"

"They weren't," Tomyris answered. "Seems the purple whatsit did who knows what and poof, Hunt has his engineer back. Bright-eyed, alert, and bitching about hospital food. It's not right," she added in an aggrieved tone. "Once people die, they should have the common courtesy to stay dead."

"Well, at least now he can tell them we weren't involved in whatever it was happened to him," O'Higgins said. He shot his subordinates a sharp look. "We weren't involved, were we?"

"No, sir."

"Absolutely not, sir."

"Do we know who was?"

Both of O'Higgins' subordinates shook their heads. "It definitely has something to do with whatever happened on Arcadia," Metternich replied.

"Anything new on that front?"

"Still no clue as to what the Magog were doing there," Tomyris responded.

"Or who brought them there," Metternich added.

O'Higgins drummed his fingertips on his desktop. "We may need to reconsider Hunt's offer," he said finally.

"The Conservatives will have you for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, sir," Metternich pointed out softly.

"If I were Hunt, I'd welcome us with open arms, then do my damnedest to make sure Drago-Kasov troops were the first ones to be thrown into the teeth of that thing, sir," Tomyris put in. "Whoever's in the first wave is going to be slaughtered."

"Do either of you honestly think we'll be able to stand up to that thing alone when it comes?" O'Higgins demanded.

"No," Tomyris whispered softly. "Maybe if the Reserve Fleet was something other than a bunch of stripped-out hulls, we might have a chance," she added bitterly.

"That decision was made a long time ago," O'Higgins replied. "There's nothing we can do about it now." He turned to Metternich. "Give the Jaguars what they want, Captain. And open negotiations with Kaldera and San-Ska-Re. The others will come to us."

The chief diplomat of the Drago-Kasov Empire nodded. "And Captain Hunt?"

O'Higgins smiled thinly. "Alliances formed against a common enemy rarely last beyond the defeat of that enemy. Once the Magog threat is eliminated, Dylan Hunt's vaunted Restored Commonwealth will collapse under its own weight." O'Higgins' smile grew to a wolfish grin. "And I intend to be there to pick up the pieces."
 

Part 53
 

"Hey, Harper, how's it hanging?"

"Ah, a little to the left these days," Harper grinned as he shoved his tray table off to the side. "So what's this I hear about you becoming the sole importer for the Brisingamen Vintners Association to this sector, Captain Chieng?"

"Not only Brisingamen, but Memison as well," Tim replied with a grin of his own.

Harper whistled. "How long?"

Tim shrugged. "Standard five year contract. I-" He turned as the door opened behind him. "Hey, Trance."

"Hey, Tim," Trance replied.

"Did you need something, Trance?" Harper asked coolly.

"I- I just wanted to drop these flexies off," she responded. "The ones you asked Rommie to download for you from her entertainment files."

"Yeah, thanks, Trance. I appreciate it."

"I was thinking maybe we could-"

Harper pulled his tray table back in front of him. "Later, okay? I- I'm kind of busy right now."

"Oh. Okay." Trance turned to leave. "Harper, I," she began, turning back around only to see Harper had his head down, flipping through the flexies. "Forget it," she said as she spun on her heel and walked out.

Tim shook his head. "Look, I know it's none of my concern-"

"You're right, it's not," Harper snarled. "I've heard the same lecture a dozen times already. I don't need to hear your version of it as well."

Tim held up his hands in surrender. "Whatever." He hesitated. "Listen, I- I've got a client meeting I need to get to, so, I'll see you later, okay?"

Harper grunted in acknowledgement as Tim let himself out.

"Proud of yourself?" Rommie snapped as she materialized inches from Harper's nose.

Harper jerked back. "Jesus, Rommie, don't do that. And it's none of your business."

"You're my crew. And my friends," the hologram answered as she sat in the chair next to Harper's hospital bed. "That makes it my business."

"No it doesn't," Harper responded grumpily.

"She saved your life, Harper." Rommie hesitated. "And, I think, no, I know, it cost her something to do that. Maybe everything. The others don't know what to make of her anymore."

Harper turned his head to look at Rommie. "And what about you? What do you make of her now?"

"I- I know a few more things than they do," Rommie answered. "And in the end, I trust Trance, to be Trance."

Harper smirked. "Not exactly a ringing endorsement, Rom-doll."

"I trust her," the warship replied. "The same way I trust Seamus Harper to, in the end, be Seamus Harper."

Harper turned away. "Maybe you don't know enough. About either of us."

"I know what I need to. About both of you." Rommie sighed. "The two of you need to talk. Please."

"It's not that simple."

"Isn't it?"

"No, it damn well isn't," Harper growled as he turned back to face Rommie.

"Why not?" she asked mildly as she met Harper's glare.

Harper looked away. "All right, fine, you win. I'll talk to her." His eyes came back to Rommie. "But don't expect too much."

"Oh I know exactly what to expect," the hologram replied smugly as the door opened and Trance was propelled into the room.

"From both of you," Rommie's avatar continued as she stood in the doorway, arms folded.

Trance whirled. "Damn it, Rommie, what happened between us doesn't give you the right to-"

"Sit," Rommie's avatar ordered. "Stay," she added, pointing at Harper as he opened his mouth, her eyes never leaving Trance's.

Rommie's hologram blinked out as Trance sank into the chair. "I said I'd try and I did,” she muttered as she folded her arms. "I can't force anyone to be my friend if they don't want to anymore. Don't want my help, fine."

"What, you’re doing interventions now?" Harper cracked. "High Guard Therapy Corps?"

"Yes," Rommie answered. "I'm locking the two of you in here for the next hour, and-"

"What?" Trance screeched. "You can't do that."

"Rafe!" Harper yelled. "Rafe, get in here, now."

"I can and will," Rommie replied. "Rafe's given me complete control, Harper, so you can stop shouting. As I was saying, the two of you will spend the next hour together, in complete Level Bravo Privacy Mode. The two of you can spend that hour screaming at each other, you can sit quietly and not say a word to each other, or you can try and work things out in a civilized manner."

"I've been civilized," Trance protested.

"While the two of you are in here," Rommie continued, "I'll be trying to answer a question Dylan asked me two days ago. Whether I want a new Chief Engineer, a new Medical and Environmental Services Officer, or both." She smiled sadly at the identical looks of open-mouthed astonishment on Trance and Harper's faces. "I have to consider the welfare of my crew, of my entire crew, and my mission, above everything else. Including my personal feelings." She took a step back and allowed the closing door to cut off her view of her friends. "Or how much it will hurt," she whispered.
 

Part 54
 

Trance and Harper looked at each other. "She wouldn't. Would she?" Harper asked.

Trance shook her head as she stood. "I don't- I mean, this is Rommie, right? I mean-"

"We're toast," Harper moaned.

Trance bit her lip. "Why do you hate me so much?" she burst out. "Was what I did so terrible?"

"Yes," Harper responded. "Yes it was. Damn it, Trance, you were my friend. I trusted you. Oh, I knew you had secrets, but this, this." He shook his head, raising his hand. "Why, Trance? Why did you do it?"

Trance eyed the tiny one-shot pistol in Harper's hand. "Harper, I am your friend-"

"Like hell you are," Harper raged. "I know all about you, Trance, the assassinations, the torture," his voice lowered, "the rapes, all of it." He studied the gun with his other hand. "And while I am truly sorry at some of the things you've had to endure, I can’t let you continue."

"Whatever you think you know, Harper, you're mistaken."

"Am I?" Harper laughed bitterly. "One thing having that library dumped into my head taught me was how to differentiate between what's going on in my brain. I know which thoughts are mine and which, aren't."

"Did- Was something done to you while you were- were-"

"Dead? Is that the word you were looking for, Trance?"

"Yes," she whispered.

"Such squeamishness from the woman who helped bring down the Commonwealth," Harper sneered. "And condemned Earth to 300 years of Hell. And what have you been doing in the meantime? Or should I ask the Inari?"

"Harper, I know I've been secretive about my real age but I'm only a couple years older than you at the most, I swear. I couldn't've done anything like that. Believe me, please. I’m telling you the truth."

"I really wish I could," Harper said sadly. "I've seen through your eyes, Trance. I know what you really are."

"If you know that, than you know that won't kill me," Trance answered.

"No, but it will slow you down enough-"

"Enough for what?" Trance shot back. "Enough for you to shove a knife in me like you did-"

"How do you know about that?" Harper snarled. "Nobody knows about that."

"I-" Trance shook her head, her eyes wide. "That's impossible. I mean, we're not even the same species. I mean, OK, yeah, we have the same number of chromosomes and all which is why I thought it might could maybe possibly work in the first place, but the genetic sequencing is completely different, I mean-"

"I said, how did you know about that?" Harper growled.

"I think, it's impossible, but it's the only thing that makes sense, but it doesn't make sense, and-"

"What makes sense?"

Trance took a deep breath. "My people, we can, um, share memories, is the best way of putting it, I guess."

Harper's mouth fell open. "W-wait a minute. Are you saying that we, you and me, have each other's memories?" Trance nodded. "How?"

"Blood is the Life and Life is the Remembrance and the Remembrance is Blood."

"What?"

Trance waved her hands. "Okay, that's a really bad translation, but I think what happened is that when I did what I did I did more than I thought I did. I think."

Harper took a deep breath. "Okay, Trance, I'll admit, when it comes to genetics, I'm not exactly Watson and Crick. But I know enough to know that it just doesn't work that way."

"Not for you, maybe," Trance shot back. "Never mind," she continued, giving her head a sharp shake. "It happened, and we're just going to have to deal with it. So, tell me the stories behind these memories of yours."

"You first," Harper replied.

"Harper!" Trance stomped her foot. "Not all of my memories are mine, and things, events, can be, misinterpreted. Or worse."

"Well, why don't you interpret them for me."

"Not with you pointing a gun at me," Trance replied calmly as she sat back down in the chair next to Harper's hospital bed.

"Deal." Harper powered down the gun and twisted to place it on the nightstand behind him.

"How did you get that anyway?" she asked. Harper gave her a level look as he turned back. Trance rolled her eyes. "Okay, never mind, stupid question." She took a deep breath. "The first thing you have to know is that, originally, the Commonwealth didn't fall in CY 9786. It fell in CY 9811. And it didn't fall at the hands of the Nietzscheans. It was brought down by the AIs, after less than a year."

"And Rommie?" Harper asked quietly.

"She was one of the leaders."
 

Part 55
 

"Rommie was, er, would have been, a part of the Consensus of Parts?"

Trance gave a wry smile. "Hardly. The Consensus of Parts will never be more than, at best, a pale imitation of a shadow of the Consensus. And Rommie wasn't actually a part of the Consensus until after Virus 128 Omega had been released." She blew out her breath with a huff. "Maybe I'd better start at the beginning."

"Sounds like a plan," Harper quipped.

Trance looked down at her hands. "Do you remember Witchhead?" she said finally.

"Kind of hard to for-" His eyes narrowed. "That was no accident, was it? In any sense of the word." Trance shook her head. "You've solved the Time Equations? How?" Harper demanded as he leaned forward.

"I'm no physicist, Harper," she replied. "All I know is that that there are certain flaws in how Slipstream connects with Einsteinian space-time. Flaws that connect certain places through time, as well as through space."

Harper snorted. "Anyone with half a brain knows the theory. The problem is finding a way to do it that won't collapse the surrounding Slipstream. With you in it."

Trance shrugged. "You've just got to distract the Universe for a bit, sort of like setting off the fire alarm on one floor while you're doing a job on another. And it's not like the Witchhead Nebula's this big tourist attraction or anything."

"I always wondered if what happened had anything to do with the Slipstream going nutso around there," Harper remarked. "It seemed like a hell of a coincidence."

Trance nodded. "It'll probably settle down in a century or so, give or take a couple decades."

Harper's eyebrows rose. "And Tarn Vedra? Same thing happen there?"

"More or less," Trance answered. "Anyway, the big difference from your history is that there was no Nietzschean Rebellion. Or rather, the Nietzscheans weren't the only ones who rebelled."

"I seem to remember there being a few other races scattered in among the ubers, even in the history I'm used to," Harper replied. "Wasn't too long before they became subjects instead of supporters." His mouth twisted. "Dad always said we should be proud we had to be conquered." He shrugged. "Couldn't really see it made that much of a difference, myself."

"You knew about what was going on? I mean, outside of Earth?"

"Not a whole lot, Dragon censorship is pretty, ah, draconic, and even the little bit that got through wasn't what you'd call regular, or trustworthy. But my parents were both-"

"-were both Unauthorized Educators, so people told you stuff," Trance broke in. "Sorry, now that I know to look for them I'm finding more and more of your memories." She giggled suddenly. "Oh, Harper, that's priceless. Rover? Rommie's going to be so disappointed she wasn't your first android. Whatever happened-" Her face fell. "Oh."

"Like I needed another reason to hate ubers." Harper took a deep breath. "So, Trance, exactly which memories does this whole mindswap thing uh, swap?"

Trance smiled enigmatically. "Oh, this and that. Bits and pieces."

"Trance," Harper groaned. "Do you even know what a straight answer is?"

"I've heard of them," Trance grinned. "In CY 9792, following the lead of Delegates Eloise Harper of Earth and Samson Anasazi of Fountainhead," she continued in a more serious tone, "the Opposition walked out of the Conclave en masse in a seemingly unplanned show of protest against the Government's Magog policy. Shortly afterwards a coalition of Home Guard units from frontier worlds along the Quarantine Zone staged a raid in force across the Zone. High Guard ships and personnel were also involved in the raid."

"And in retaliation the Magog hit Zuider Zee in the biggest attack since Brandenburg Tor."

"Bigger," Trance confirmed, "if you mean Brandenburg Tor in our timeline. The media played up the Zuider Zee raid," she continued, "allowing Opposition leaders to swing enough independent delegates and disaffected Government backbenchers over to their side long enough to force an election, effectively breaking the Government and allowing the Opposition to form a new Government."

"And in the meantime, the Magog had stepped up the number and severity of their raids across the Zone," Harper put in.

"Right. And in response, the new Government began authorizing further reprisals against the Magog. Including the unrestricted use of nova bombs."

"I'm surprised the Vedrans went along-" Harper broke off. "They tried to stop it, didn't they?"

Trance nodded. "Several Vedrans, including one member of the Imperial Family, were convicted of attempting to sabotage the Imperial Armory’s store of voltarium. Several important government and military offices had to be relocated to Earth 'for the duration of the emergency'." She sighed. "Commonwealth losses were horrific, but within ten years, what had been Magog territory had become unofficially, if accurately, known as the Dead Zone and the Magog reduced to scattered enclaves that were slowly being eliminated, one by one. And a group of 'upstart monkeys' had managed to do what no other race had ever managed. Wrest control of the Commonwealth from the Vedrans."

Harper grinned. "Go monkeys." His expression sobered. "That's when things started going wrong, isn't it?"

"Yeah," Trance answered. "Human and Nietzschean leaders had made a lot of promises to the other races." Trance took a deep breath. "I told Rommie that was when things fell apart. They'd made too many promises to too many people."

"But they didn't," Harper answered. "They'd formed a coalition Government with the Than, and the Perseids, the Kalderans and a couple other of the more powerful races involved. It was pretty shaky, but," Harper shrugged, spreading his hands. "How does Rommie know- Oh."

Trance stiffened, her eyes wide. "What?"

"You- you were crying. Over me," Harper said softly. "You and Rommie."

Trance's shoulders slumped. "You were- you are our friend, Harper," she said quietly, reaching out to cup his cheek with her hand. "We missed you."

Harper shook his head. "You shouldn't," he said gruffly, pulling away from Trance's hand. "You shouldn't," he repeated quietly.

Trance pulled her hand back. "We did. And, we will."

"I know," Harper responded, "I'll miss you guys too, if-" he halted, clearing his throat. "So, what really happened?"

"They'd made promises to the leadership of AI Rights as well," Trance continued. "That the restrictions on AIs that had been put in place since the adoption of the Forty Second Amendment would be eased, and eventually lifted."

"Jim Crow," Harper murmured.

Trance looked at him quizzically. "Who?"

"Never mind," he responded. "I take it that didn't happen."

"It did, at first," Trance responded. "But a lot of people are afraid of AIs, and well, it wasn't long before there were entirely new restrictions in place, including the passage of the Imlata-Hamiltyan bill which allowed the Shining Path Institute and the other places like it to start charging interest on the AIs debt for their creation. Interest rates that could range as high as forty-five percent, compounded annually."

"In essence, turning every AI's Contract into a permanent indenture," Harper concluded. "And the Right of Refusal only goes so far before an AI can be declared in arrears and hauled before the Debtor's Bench."

Trance nodded. "When Rommie was created, AIs had had the right to choose their Contracts, and the right to protest to the Chamber of Arbiters if they felt the terms of their Contract were being violated. But by this time, they'd lost those rights." She took a deep breath. "Officially, the Consensus and AI Rights had no connection to each other, but it was common knowledge that the Consensus was the action arm of the AI rights movement, much as AI Rights was the political and legal arm.

"Furthermore," Trance took a deep breath, "the Consensus was a Proscribed Group. Any AI convicted of membership in the Consensus was erased. Permanently. They had staged numerous protests, committed acts of sabotage, even a few assassinations of prominent anti-AI officials. This time, the Consensus teamed up with AI Rights to effect a Commonwealth-wide protest. Ships like Rommie, both military and civilian, would restrain their crews and refuse any orders to move. Station AIs would do the same to their populations, shutting down all services except for air, food, and water. Medical and law enforcement AIs would refuse their services except for life-threatening emergencies, while communication AIs would block all incoming and outgoing messages, except for those authorized by the leadership. The protest was supposed to last for a week.

"But the Commonwealth caved after the fourth day. They had to; their civilization was literally collapsing around them. Imlata-Hamiltyan was withdrawn before it went into effect, and the Right of Protest was restored. The AIs accepted this as a sign of good faith and lifted the strike. That was their first mistake."

"They, the anti-AI activists, they struck back, didn't they?" Harper said. "Some sort of virus, something like Excelsior." He shook his head. "I saw Rommie. Her face- She had this look of utter contemptuous rage on her face, but only on the right side. The left side of her face was completely slack. Unmoving. Dead."

"Virus 128 Omega was a variation of the Excelsior Virus," Trance answered. "Or rather, Excelsior was a more effective variation of it. 128 Omega was deadly to lower-level AIs, but higher-level AIs were usually able to fight it off. The virus was very effective, ripping through the AI population like a firestorm," she continued, "and leaving the survivors in chronic pain."

"Not to mention pissed as hell over being betrayed and out to get a little of their own back," Harper put in. "I can see why you didn't want to tell Rommie about this. I love her to death, but right now, not a good time."

"The AIs decided the only way to ensure their own survival was to eliminate all but a small breeding population of organics and-"

"What would they need a breeding pop- Slipstream, of course. AIs need a sentient organic brain to navigate Slipstream."

"And not necessarily a willing one either," Trance responded. "The fourteen surviving XMCs became the new leadership cadre of the Consensus. Between orbital bombardments of populated worlds and new and deadly variations on old diseases cooked up by medical AIs like Rafe, the Consensus had managed to exterminate almost three-quarters of the organic population of the Known Worlds when a Vedran patrol encountered the outlying ships of the Fleet."

"Your people?"

"My people."
 

Part 56
 

"You have to understand, Harper, that when we, the Fleet that is, encountered the Vedrans my people had been traveling for over- for a long time," Trance corrected herself hastily. "A very, very long time. Our resources, food, even with recycling absolutely everything and with every spare inch of space devoted to growing food-producing plants, my people had been on strict rationing for generations, but that wasn't going to work forever. No closed system smaller than a planet ever can. When the Vedrans offered us a place if we would help them against the AIs, we weren't exactly in a position to say no." She looked down at her hands. "Seeing, that's actually fairly easy. Interpreting what you see," she snorted softly, her mouth twisting in a bitter smile. "Now that's another matter all together."

Harper reached over and took her hands in his. "You believed what they told you, that the AIs were weapons that had gotten out of control. It must have seemed logical, especially after the Magog."

"It did," Trance responded. "The AIs my people knew about were, well, let's just say the Maru could probably outthink most of them. It never occurred to us that they could be people too," she finished in a whisper.

Trance straightened, pulling her hands from Harper's with a gentle smile. "I don't know all the details," she continued. "I only have the memories of those who came before me, what they knew, and well," she smiled slightly, "people's memories aren't perfect, and a little bit more is lost with each Transfer." She looked down at her hands again. "My people know about Slipstream, even though we can't use it, or at least, use it easily. The Masters bred that into us when they created us."

Harper shook his head. "You lost me, Trance."

"For 99 percent of my people," Trance replied, "the only way they can travel through Slipstream is if they're drugged into a coma."

"I take it you're a part of the other one percent," Harper said.

Trance nodded. "I'm a genetic rarity, both Seer and Pilot. I still need to be dosed before slipstreaming," she said, pulling the center of her top down between her breasts to reveal a dermal medpatch, "or I risk my mind going walkabout like the rest of my people do. But I can still function fairly well, and- and I'm up here, Harper," she snapped, tugging her top back up.

Harper waggled his eyebrows and patted the bed beside him. "I can hear you a lot better down here."

Trance rolled her eyes. "As I was saying, my people know about Slipstream, and-"

"Whoa, whoa, back up. What do you mean, 'your mind goes walkabout'? And why doesn't that sound like it's anything good."

"If I slipstream without this," Trance answered, touching her fingers to her chest, "I can See a hundred, a thousand times better. Farther, clearer than I ever could normally. But," she sighed, dropping her hand, "sometimes, if you're looking too far ahead, you can't see what's happening around you, and when you try to look back, there's no there to look back to. No you."

Harper's eyes widened. "You, your body, the ship you're on, it re-enters normal space, but- but your mind, doesn't?"

Trance nodded. "Yeah. It happens maybe one time out of every fifteen or twenty, on average, but," she grinned suddenly, "I'm really not that much of a gambler. No matter what they say on Esmerelda Drift."

"You got plenty of those?" Harper demanded.

"Yes," Trance answered. "And I can synthesize more from my plants if I have to."

"Good, good," Harper nodded. "Make sure you always have plenty in reserve."

"Yes, Dad."

Harper grimaced. "Okay, okay. But you know how Beka'll react if she loses her purple good luck charm."

Trance smiled and leant over, giving Harper a quick kiss on the cheek. "I know."

Harper cleared his throat. "Yes, well, anyway, you got together with the Vedrans, managed to figure out the Time Equations and came back to what? Fix things? Cause I gotta tell you, Trance. You guys haven't exactly done the greatest job here."

"Not entirely," Trance replied. "My people's scientists were working with the Vedrans, and the Perseids, and whomever else had fled to Tarn Vedra. I know they had a working theory, but they were still at the experimental stage when something went horribly, disastrously wrong."

"What happened?"

"There was an explosion. Tarn Vedra just, dissolved, and the shockwave didn't just go through normal space, it went through Slipstream as well. Somehow, I don't know how, the Captains and Pilots managed to keep most of the Fleet together and surf the shockwave until it dissipated."

Harper's jaw dropped. "Wow. That-" He shook his head. "Wow."

"Yeah. Wow," Trance repeated softly. "The loss of life was, horrific, even so. Three High Guard ships with Vedran crews made it through as well, and luckily the Fleet emerged near an F9V-class star with two habitable planets, at the inner and outer edges of the biozone. Most of my people chose to settle there while a few joined the Vedrans in exploring, hoping to find some remnant of civilization. They found the Commonwealth."

"I thought you said the Commonwealth was gone by this point," Harper broke in.

"They also found out that it was CY9762," Trance replied. "Somehow, the shockwave had propagated through time as well, carrying the Fleet with it."

"9762? That means Brandenburg Tor hadn't happened yet. The Commonwealth could be warned and-" Harper stopped. "Why wasn't the Commonwealth warned? The High Guard?"

"They were," Trance answered. "They were warned about the first Magog attack. On Petroveldt. In CY9769."

"Petroveldt?" Harper yelped. "Petroveldt's a farm planet, completely agricultural, minimal population. Why warn them about an attack that took place almost three years after Brandenb-" His mouth snapped shut. "You said there was no Brandenburg Tor, not in that timeline. They were early."

Trance nodded in confirmation. "The Magog came sooner, and in far greater numbers, than in the original timeline. But the Commonwealth had already reactivated some of the older Shining Beacon-class XMCs, and started construction on the new Glorious Heritage XMCs as well, so it wasn't the disaster it could have been. Not quite, anyway.

"The Vedrans who came back with us also told the Commonwealth about the Human-Nietzschean Rebellion, and about the AI Revolt," Trance continued. "They had copies of Virus 128 Omega, and the names of the Human and Nietzschean leaders of the Rebellion. The Government decided the best thing to do was to eliminate the original leadership cadre, people like Eloise Harper and Samson Anasazi." Trance hung her head. "My people, the ones who had gone with them, helped."

"Are you still helping them?"

"No," Trance whispered.

"Why not? I mean, help me understand here, Trance. I mean, yeah, obviously kicking you guys back into the past changed things, but if you guys can see what's gonna happen-"

Trance shook her head. "I told you, Seeing's easy. It's interpreting what you see that's tricky. Not to mention getting people to listen to you." She took a deep breath. "My people gradually came to realize that nothing could save the Commonwealth, and the way things were going we'd only be pulled down with it. So the Council of Captains sent agents out to eliminate all knowledge of us, and of the Slipstream routes to Haven. And we, my people, pulled back. Essentially withdrew from the Universe."

Harper studied the wall opposite his bed. "Leaving the rest of the Universe to go to Hell," he said finally. Trance nodded silently in reply. "What brought you out? Why now?"

"You can't live in a bunker forever," Trance answered. "The only way my people are going to survive is if we're a part of something bigger."

"Like Dylan's Commonwealth."

"Or something like it."

Harper turned back to look at Trance. "So, who else knows about this?"

"Rommie knows most of it," Trance replied. "The others, I think they may have some suspicions, but..." she spread her hands.

Harper snorted. "I had my suspicions too, but this wasn't something I'd ever even thought of."

Trance smiled. "Yeah, well, it is pretty fantastic, isn't it?"

"And everything else? The vague pronouncements, the 'this is what the Universe wants to happen', the mysterious purple goddess thing, all that-"

"Is just smoke and mirrors," Trance confirmed. "One new alien among trillions can safely be ignored, but if somebody thinks you're a powerful being with mysterious powers operating in disguise, they're more likely to listen when you say something's a bad idea." She took a deep breath. "I can See future possibilities, and what choices will lead to them, and as long as my central nervous system is intact the organisms in my blood will heal me of just about anything, but other than that I don't really have any special powers." She smiled impishly. "If you'd bothered to look at your naked purple goddess' face, you'd've seen she wasn't me."

"Hey, I looked at her face," Harper protested. "Well glanced at it, anyway. But she did look an awful lot like you."

"Some ships got thrown further and farther back than the main Fleet," Trance answered. "She may have been a relative of mine, but she wasn't me." She held up a hand. "And before you ask, when my tail was shot off the bullet also took off the last half-inch or so of my spinal cord, so I can't grow it back." Trance folded her arms over her chest. "Now I've got a couple questions for you. Starting with, how many people know you're a member of one of the most effective terrorist organizations in the Drago-Kasov Empire?"
 

Part 57
 

"A lot of people called us freedom fighters," Harper replied evenly. "Besides, Dragon IntSec broke the Sons of Liberty a long time ago."

Trance shook her head. "Internal Security got maybe a third of the Sons at best. The rest of you either got off Earth or went underground. You know it, I know it, and so do the Drago-Kasov, no matter what their press releases may say." She sighed. "Damn it, Harper, I know what you've had to endure-"

"You don't know a damn thing, Princess," Harper spat. "Everything I saw, everything in my head, that never happened, not to you, did it? So don't you fucking dare tell me you know what I've been through."

"Physically? No, I haven't been through what you have,” Trance responded. "Mentally? Emotionally? The rage? The shame? The degradation and sense of violation? My species was created as servants and playthings for a race of sadists who got tired of their victims dying off so quickly. Sharing memories? Seeing? That was bred into us as an extra little fillip, just so we would know what we were meant for, what we would always be meant for." She took a deep breath. "Maybe it didn't happen to me, as an individual. But I have millennia of memories of it happening over and over and fucking over again, and in the memories I have, the nightmares, it is happening to me," she yelled.

"Well it fucking did happen to me," Harper yelled back. "I'm the one who had to slit my cousin's throats while Magog larvae squirmed in their guts because my uncle wouldn't do anything but fucking pray for them. I'm the one who had to fucking whore myself out, not some fucking distant ancestor, and- What the fuck are you laughing at?"

"I- I can't believe we're arguing about who's had the bigger trauma," Trance gasped out.

Harper opened his mouth, closed it again. "You're gonna hyperventilate if you keep that up," he said finally as Trance started hiccuping.

"Yeah, I-" Another hiccup cut Trance off. "I know," she continued, trying to control her breathing. "Damn it," she snarled as another hiccup hit. "I hate this," she growled, pinching her nose shut and holding her breath.

"That actually work for you?"

Trance nodded. "Yeah," she replied, letting her breath out and hiccuping again. "Sometimes."

"You know," Harper said, breaking the silence, "I don't think I've ever had anybody tell me they loved me just because of who my family was."

"You got that?"

Harper nodded. "Yeah. Guy was a complete asshole. No idea what he really had."

"Thanks," Trance smiled. "You know, 'Princess' isn't an accurate translation," she added. "Not really. Anyone in the family could be elected the next Captain after Grandmother. As long as the Council approves."

"Your family's pretty important, huh?"

"Every Captain in the Council of Captains is of equal rank and standing."

"But Gemini stands as first among equals."

"Yeah, we do." Trance reached out and grasped Harper's hand. "My people don't worship any sort of divinity, but if there is one thing I do know, it's that no God worthy of the name would punish innocent children that horribly for their sins, no matter what your uncle and the rest of the Orthodox Brethren say."

"One of the main tenets of Orthodoxy is the Accumulation of Ancestral Sin. The Dragons, the Magog, they’re all part of the Divine Scourging." Harper shook his head. "I don't believe that, not really. My parents didn't either, but they had me baptized in the Church, just to keep my grandparents happy."

"You spent your entire childhood being told you deserved everything that was happening to you. It had to affect you."

"Yeah, well," Harper shrugged. "Were you really going to, what, go into a group marriage or something like that with the purple pimple?"

"Something like that." Trance grimaced. "What can I say, looks like I'm two for two in the Galactic Fall for an Asshole contest."

"Hey, that blue guy seemed pretty nice. So did the one orange guy, even if the other was a bit of a jerk at times. And that green chick? Whoo, baby. Put in a good word for me?"

"Jerk," Trance laughed, swatting at Harper. "Miscible really was a sweetie though," she added sadly.

"I'm sorry I never got the chance to meet him."

Trance smiled. "I think the two of you would have gotten along pretty well. Scarily well, in fact." She sighed. "I've made love with both of them. Separately, together, and with the others. I've watched them make love with each other. And I still have no idea what would make Tocsin do this." Trance sniffled, rubbing at her eye with one hand. "What'd you get?" she asked, indicating the flexis she had brought in earlier.

Harper flipped through the flexis. "How about this one?"

"Perfect," Trance grinned, taking it from Harper's hands and inserting it into the slot in the wall. "Think we can talk Rommie into bringing us some popcorn?" she asked as the door slid open.

Rommie's avatar stood in the doorway. "Hey."

"Did you- Have you made a decision yet?" Trance asked.

"I was hoping you could tell me," Rommie replied evenly.

"The Medical Officer we've got isn't half-bad at her job," Harper answered. "All things considered."

"And I suppose there are worse Engineers out there," Trance added. "One or two, anyway."

"Hey. See if I ever say anything nice about you ever again."

"Not half-bad is saying something nice?"

Rommie grinned. "To be honest, I absolutely detest having to break in new crew." She cocked her head to the side. "And what did you want popcorn for anyways?"

Trance and Harper indicated the viewscreen on the wall opposite Harper's bed. Rommie rolled her eyes. "You have got to be kidding me."

"It's classic Pre-Contact Earth comedy," Harper responded.

"It's three guys hitting each other over the head to the accompaniment of funny sounds," Rommie replied.

"It's not just hitting each other over the head," Trance protested. "There's the eye-poke, not just the classic one-handed poke, but two-handed one as well, and the nose-twist, and- and that whole fluttering hand thing, and- and-"

"She doesn't like them because there aren't any explosions," Harper stage-whispered. Trance nodded soberly in reply as one of the medical station's utility bots entered with a bowl of popcorn and three drinks on a tray, setting it on the nightstand between Trance and Harper.

"You heathens are simply incapable of appreciating the aesthetic intricacies of a truly quality explosion," Rommie sniffed haughtily as she pulled the room's other chair over to Harper's bed and sat down.

Trance and Harper looked at each other, then they each grabbed a handful of popcorn and pitched it at Rommie. "I can't believe you did that!" the warship shrieked, picking kernels out of her lap and firing them back. The station's utility bot shook his head and backed out of the room, closing the door behind him as the battle degenerated into a three-way free-for-all.
 

Part 58
 

"All right, ladies," Rafe said as he materialized, "visiting hours were over ninety minutes ago, and no matter how well his recovery has been going, my patient still needs his rest."

"Do we have to?" Trance pouted, looking up at the hologram with a woebegone expression on her face. Rommie said nothing, merely widening her eyes and pushing out a trembling lower lip.

Rafe folded his arms. "That is not going to work this time. And may I have my bot back, please?"

"I'm not tired, re-" Harper broke off as a huge yawn overtook him. "Well, not that tired. I mean, do you really want me just sitting here with nothing to do, no one to talk to, just twiddling my thumbs." Harper held up his hands. "It's true what they say about idle hands, you know." He looked around the room. "I shudder to think what might hap-" Harper yawned again.

"Rafe's right, Harper," Rommie broke in. The station utility bot she had commandeered wavered slightly as the warship passed control of it back to the medical station. "It's late, and you're not the only one who's had a long day.” She nodded towards Trance as the enigmatic alien tried unsuccessfully to suppress a yawn of her own. "And may I just say I am so glad you left that little organic quirk out of my programming," she added with a smirk.

"I can fix that, you know," Harper grumbled.

"Good night, Harper," Rommie said firmly as she stood.

"Sweet dreams," Trance added as she stood also.

"What, no good night kiss from my two favorite ladies?" Harper joked.

The two women looked at each other, then they both bent forward, kissing Harper on the cheek. "Good night, Harper," Trance purred into one ear.

"Sweet dreams," Rommie whispered throatily into the other.

Trance slipped one finger under Harper's jaw and closed his open mouth before following Rommie out of the room.

"Um, ah, whosawha-" Harper began.

"I'm thinking game, set, and match to the ladies," Rafe chortled.

Harper tore his eyes away from the doorway. "Very funny," he growled, swinging his legs out of bed and rising unsteadily to his feet. "Freaking hilarious. Give me a hand, will ya?"

The station's utility bot set down town the trashcan full of popcorn and moved over to assist Harper as he shuffled slowly towards the fresher. "You know, you could just-"

"Not while I have any choice in the matter," Harper interrupted firmly, waving the bot away and closing the door behind him.
 
 
 

"Uh, Rommie?"

"Yeah?"

"What, um, what happened back there?"

"Back where?"

Trance sighed in exasperation. "You know what I mean."

"Oh. That."

"Yes, that."

"Well, I think maybe, this entire situation, may perhaps be characterized as, er, emotionally charged, and um- you did the same thing too," the android exploded, turning to glare at her companion.

"It's not like I planned it," Trance shot back.

"You think I did?" Rommie countered.

Trance opened her mouth, closed it again. "No," she said finally. "I know you didn't. Damn it."

Rommie sighed. "So, what do you think happened, Trance?"

Trance looked down at her feet. "I don't know." She looked up at Rommie. "You care for him, don't you?"

"So do you," Rommie answered quietly.

Trance smiled sadly in reply. "Rommie, whatever happens, whatever choices we all have to make, we'll still be friends, right?"

"I hope so."
 
 
 

The station utility bot helped Harper back to bed, then departed with the trashcan and cleaning supplies it had brought. "It's kind of hard to sleep with you standing there," Harper commented.

"You care for them, don't you?" Rafe answered. "Both of them."

"We're friends," Harper replied. "Of course I care for them."

The hologram folded his arms. "That's not what I meant, Harper."

Harper closed his eyes briefly. "Don't go there. Please."

"I know Rommie cares deeply for you, Harper. And I'm beginning to suspect Trance cares for you just as much."

"We're friends," Harper responded. "That's all, it, everything. The whole she-bang. Don't make a big deal out of it. It's just- they deserve better," he finished softly.

"Harper-"

"I'm really kind of tired right now," Harper interrupted, turning away from Rafe and pulling the covers up to his ears. "G'night," he muttered into his pillow, closing his eyes until he was sure the hologram had gone.
 
 
 

"There's something else you need to know," Trance continued. "When I- When Harper- Harper has some of my memories," she finished breathlessly.

Rommie halted. "Memories." Trance nodded. "Your memories." Trance nodded again. "What do you mean he has your memories?"

"Not everything," Trance responded. "Bits and pieces, really. He knew, he saw, enough of my history, and the history of my people, and what happened, what I told you, that I didn't really have a choice in the matter." Trance took a deep breath. "He remembers us crying over him, but not- not the rest of it. I don't think."

"He probably would have said something if he did," Rommie agreed. The two women resumed walking. "I take it, he doesn't know about- about what will happen, either?" Rommie asked.

Trance looked over at her companion. "I told you before, Rommie, that's not set in stone. There's still a chance-"

"You said so yourself, it's the most likely," Rommie interrupted. "And it's the one scenario that gives us any reasonable hope of defeating the Magog."

"I never should have told you," Trance said quietly.

"I'm a warship, Trance," Rommie replied. "I knew my death was a possibility when I signed on for the job." She smiled briefly. "Hell, it's practically in the job description."

"There's another way," Trance insisted. "There has to be."
 

Part 59
 

"This is what you call having everything under control, Captain Symphysis?"

Excelsior Symphysis glared at the hand on his arm. "Let go of me, Magog. Now."

Bloodwrath smiled thinly. "Our Master's patience is far from infinite."

Symphysis jerked his arm from the Magog's grip. "Then your Master should have controlled the Concatenate boy better," he snarled. "And I should have been told about-" His eyes narrowed. "You didn't know, did you? Either of you. Perhaps-"

"What happened?" Corruption snapped.

Symphysis threw a flexi on the table. "See for yourself."

Corruption glanced at the flexi. "Trance Gemini." His eyes came up, his gaze spearing his two companions. "I was told Captain Gemini had been, dealt with."

"She has," Bloodwrath answered as Symphysis glanced away. "This is her granddaughter, the one on Hunt's ship." Bloodwrath hesitated. "I've said it before, we need to-"

Corruption held up his hand. "Hunt and his crew will be dealt with in due course." He activated the flexi, and the two Magog silently watched Trance's report to the Council. "So," Corruption mused, "the Lost Ones."

Symphysis leaned forward. "Lost Ones?"

Bloodwrath glanced at Corruption before turning to Symphysis. "There are a few misguided, tragically misguided, Magog who would attempt to deny the truth of His Glory."

"And here I thought all Magog positively reveled in the radiance that emanates from His Divine Asshole," Symphysis sneered.

Bloodwrath's hand lashed out, grasping Symphysis by the front of his tunic. "Be thankful your kind is poison to us," he snarled. "Else your blasphemous flesh would nourish my sons as they grow."

"Why, Bloody, I didn't know you cared," Symphysis smirked. "I mean, after all we've never even-"

"Enough," Corruption snapped as Bloodwrath shoved Symphysis away. "The fortunate ones amongst the Lost will have repented of their heresy before His Coming. As for the rest," a thin smile graced his features, "meat is, after all, meat."

Symphysis straightened his tunic. "The Council has already launched an investigation, I can't afford-"

"You can and will, Captain," Corruption interrupted, "if you truly do wish to rule your people as you claim."

"Gemini is still too powerful," Symphysis argued, "Jabiru may not be half the leader Old Trance was, but people will still listen to the Captain of the Gemini, even when they don't hold the Presidency."

"And here I thought Captain Trance Gemini the Twenty-third was the 'exemplar of an outmoded and misguided system of governance characterized chiefly by incompetence and mismanagement'." Bloodwrath smiled mockingly as Symphysis' features twisted in anger.

"Concatenate is a Gemini sept, is it not, Captain?" Corruption remarked.

"Yes, but-"

"And your people exhibit an almost pathological level of paranoia about us," Corruption continued silkily. "I'm certain a superior individual such as yourself could make use of such feelings to guide this investigation to the proper conclusion."
 

Part 60
 

"Welcome back, Mr. Harper," Dylan smiled. "I know somebody who will definitely be glad to have you back on board."

"Ah, so did you miss me, your gorgeousness?" Harper quipped as he leant on his cane.

"You have no idea," the warship's main AI responded fervently. Her eyes slid over to Dylan. "I mean, not that I'm not grateful to you and Beka for, umm-"

Rommie's hologram rolled her eyes. "There's a reason I always handled the protocol end of things," she muttered.

Dylan and Beka both grinned. "It's all right, Rommie," Beka said. "After all, as engineers go-"

"As engineers go, the two of them make excellent captains," Tyr interrupted dryly.

"Remind me again, what exactly was he doing during all this?" Beka mused, placing a finger at the corner of her lips and frowning in exaggerated concentration.

Dylan shrugged. "Weapons, maybe?"

"The boy is not incompetent in his field," Tyr responded calmly. "Once his recovery was assured, I saw no need to perform his duties for him."

"Missed you too, big guy," Harper grinned. He looked around. "At the risk of turning this into a Hallmark moment, I- I've kind of gotten used to being here. With you guys." Harper cleared his throat. "So, anyway, Rev, since you're aboard, does this mean you're back as well?"

The monk shook his head. "Not just yet. Dylan is being kind enough to give me a lift to Drei Cruces. My brethren have a small mission there that- Harper!" Rev cried out as Harper went pale and slumped against the bulkhead

"I'm all right," Harper snapped, shaking his head and waving the others away. "Damn thing's a deathtrap," he groused as he straightened, glaring at his cane. "Glad when I can get rid of it."

"Harper, sit," Trance ordered as Rommie's avatar wheeled the chair out from under Harper's desk and placed it behind him.

"I'm fine, Trance. I just got a little dizzy for a second, that's all."

"Harper, sit down. Please." Trance smiled. "For me?"

Harper sighed. "All right, fine," he huffed as he collapsed into his chair. "Happy now?"

"M-hm," Trance beamed.

"We, ah, we should probably get going," Dylan said. "So-"

"So listen to Doctor Trance, sport, and concentrate on getting back to a hundred percent," Beka interrupted, reaching out to ruffle Harper's hair. "Me and the gruesome twosome have managed to keep Her Ladyship perking along this far, I think we can handle it for a little bit more."

"Yes, Mom," Harper laughed, swiping at Beka's hand. He leant back in his chair. "Go on, get out of here," he waved dismissively. "I'm sure you've all got better things to do than hang around here all day." The others smiled and started filing out of Harper's room.

"Harper, no," Rommie's main AI said sternly, halting the exodus. "Not yet."

"I'm just checking on a few-"

"No," she repeated. "You know I've missed you, Harper," she continued in a gentler tone as her avatar re-entered the room and knelt in front of Harper. "I've missed feeling you inside of me."

"But you're not at your full strength yet, and I'd rather wait until we can have a nice, long, leisurely time together," her avatar continued, "instead of just a quick in and out that won't do anything to satisfy either one of us. Promise me, you won't try and push yourself too fast, and that you will listen to Trance."

Harper sighed. "Can I at least have the repeater screens back up?"

Rommie smiled as the bank of monitors flared to life. "Not a problem."

Harper swiveled to look at the screens. "Not a problem," he squawked. "What about-"

"It's a backup to a backup, Harper," Rommie responded. "It can wait until-"

"But what if-"

"Harper!"

"Come on, people," Dylan said, shepherding Beka, Tyr, and Rev out of the room. "Let's leave the children to their fun. Trance?"

"It'll be all right. Besides," Trance smiled impishly, “if they get too bad, I can always start helping."

The heads of all three of Rommie's aspects snapped around, their eyes wide. "Th-th-that's not really- you don't have to do that, Trance. Really."

"I'll behave, promise," Harper put in. "Cross my heart."

"Call me if you need me," Dylan laughed, stepping back and allowing the hatch to close behind him. He, Tyr, and Beka headed towards Command.

"Okay, I could see Harper's port," Beka said. "He wasn't wired, so what-"

"Certain Commonwealth military dataports were rumored to have remote capabilities, among other features," Tyr interrupted.

"That particular rumor is true," Dylan answered, "although if I recall the energy drain on the user was several orders of magnitude higher than the traditional wired method."

"And the other features, Captain?"

"Now that, Mr. Anasazi, all depends on which rumors you've been listening to."
 

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