TITLE: Broken Links
AUTHOR: Natasha Bennett nbennett@islandnet.com
RATING: PG-13 for violence
ARCHIVE: Please ask first
DISCLAIMER: Andromeda et al belong to Tribune Entertainment Co.
SUMMARY: Someone from Beka's past puts strain on the entire crew
Treasure the friendships that you have,
For they are like little delicate links on a chain,
And at the briefest caress of a scorching fire,
They break and shatter, never to be the same.
--Last words of Tolriad Arachim,
Betrayed at the battle of Vin Warsla.
For once, it was a happy night on the Andromeda Ascendant.
Beka Valentine took a deep breath outside of the observation longue and entered. The entire room was filled with white lace tablecloths and colorful decorations. Layouts of exotic foods and cakes were on the five tables, more then enough to feed hundreds of people. All of the crew were wearing formal dress except, of course, for Tyr, who stood silently at the corner of the room, looking bored. As soon as she entered the crew cheered and clapped. She blushed. "Thank you," she said as Dylan Hunt approached her."But really, it's only a birthday."
"The crew insisted," Dylan said softly, handing her a glass of champagne.
"Besides, how long has it been since we've had anything to celebrate?"
Beka grudgingly admitted that he had a point.
"If it makes you feel any better, I hate these things too," Dylan confided in her.
Beka turned, surprised. "So what do you do?"
"Suffer," Dylan replied, still smiling. He lifted his glass and walked over to where Trance Gemini and Rev Berem were talking quietly. Trance saw Beka and waved.
Beka waved back, but something else caught her eye. From across the room Harper and Rommie were having a heated discussion. Smiling, Beka joined them. Harper was wearing a tuxedo and Rommie a stunning blue dress. They both wished her a happy birthday and immediately went back to their conversation.
"-absolutely not," Rommie was saying.
"Oh, come on, Rommie! It's the opportunity of a lifetime! We could use the funds to purchase thousands of upgrades for you! Just think-hundreds of new missiles with thousands of more nanorobots at your disposal. In fact, I've heard of this new polymorphic shield that can adapt to any kind of weapon. Is a little degrading merchandising not worth ensuring the success of your mission?" Harper implored, then corrected himself. "Our mission?"
"Merchandising?" Beka inquired.
Rommie turned to her in a fit of fury. "He wants us to give him personal pictures of ourselves so that he can sell them along interplanetary networks!"
Harper waved a dismissing hand. "Not only pictures, mind you. Voice interviews, log entries, maybe even model figurines!" He glanced at Beka. "Boss, like it or not, we're our allies' versions of saints. Don't you think that a little profit wouldn't hurt?" He turned. "Rommie, I know this guy that owns this magazine, and you would be perfect for an article! Just think-" He lifted his hand in the air to demonstrate. "The Playful AI- by day kicking alien-butt, by night...um...'" His voice faltered when he saw her face. "..off-line?" he finished weakly.
A sudden chime of spoon again glass made all three of them lift their eyes to Dylan Hunt, who was holding a glass of champagne. "Rarely on the Andromeda do we get to celebrate a good occasion, but now, we celebrate the birthday of our first officer. Beka Valentine, you have exceeded all of my expectations, and have saved all our lives and helped maintain the new Commonwealth. Beka," he raised his small glass, "to your birthday, and to more happy times like these."
The others joined in the toast and cheered. Beka smiled. She couldn't have made a better speech.
"Beka, can you hear me?" A voice suddenly whispered in her neural transceiver.
Beka's smile disappeared.
"Beka!"
Quickly Beka glanced around, but no one else heard the voice. Smiling, Dylan lifted his glass and slowly drank from it. Harper and Rommie were still bickering. No one heard the shadows of her past.
"Beka, my dear betraying love, did you really think you could have run away from me? I'm at the party now, watching you, as I've always watched you before. Watching you smile, watching you pretend to laugh. This new commonwealth is....sickening. Very sentimental. We both know that you'll never be a part of it. Not when they find out the truth about you," the voice whispered.
Beka said nothing, her breath caught in her throat. "Wha...what do you want, Jarvis?"
"You, my dear. Always you, for what you did to me," the voice purred.
Beka said nothing.
"Tonight, Beka. Tonight we end this."
The hand holding her glass trembled.
Whistling an old Earth tune, Shamus Harper worked happily alone in the machine shop. It was a wonderful day. Firstly, he managed to catch the latest news on Earth, and he learned that his cousin, the resistance fighter, was still alive and kicking. Harper was filled with relief, but not really surprise. What else could you expect from the Harper gene? They were survivors. Plus of course, his boss' birthday. If he could only encourage his dear, sweet Rommie of his merchandising ideas, then his day would be complete.
The doors suddenly opened. Without looking up from his tool kit Harper knew who it was. "Hey, boss. What did you think of the party? I tell you, having a good day without any bad news for once really makes all our moral better and-what's wrong?" he asked when he saw her pale, still face.
"Jarvis is back," she said simply.
All of a sudden Harper's good mood went straight out of the nearest airlock. "Son of a-what are you going to do?"
"He wants me to meet him," she said. "Alone."
Harper considered for a moment. "We have to tell Dylan-"
"NO!" Beka said sharply, walking closer until they were eye-to-eye. She gripped his arm. Hard. "That is one thing we are not going to do, Shamus. He may command this ship, but I'm still your captain, and if you have any respect for that-any respect-you will not tell Dylan or anyone else on this ship. That is a direct order. Do you understand!?"
"All right!" Harper protested. "I promise!"
Beka stared at him sharply for a moment, then released him. "You know what happened three years ago. You know what happened that day, though there isn't a moment when I wish that you hadn't! You know what he's capable of."
"Yes. I know," Harper replied, rubbing his arm. "So what are you going to do?"
"I'm going out on the Maru, and I'm going to meet him," Beka said.
"Wha-No! You can't do that. Not by yourself. That's just what he's expecting!" Harper protested.
"I know, but I have no choice. Harper, he's going to find me, whether it's on the Maru or the Andromeda. Hell, he's already found me. This way...it causes less damage. To all of us. This is my problem, and I am going to fix it," Beka said firmly. "Alone."
"You know where he's meeting you?" Harper asked. Their blue eyes met, and Harper bowed his head, downcast. He felt sick. "Of course. Where else?"
"I have to go," Beka said.
"Beka, he'll kill you! Or worse!"
Beka's eyes softened, and she nodded. "I know." Her eyes softened. "Oh, Shamus...
Harper hugged her then, trying not to think that it was very possible that he might never see her again. "Be careful," he implored.
Nodding silently, Beka left.
Harper watched her go for a moment, then slammed his fist against his tool kit. "Why can't we ever have a good day!?" he snapped to himself, completely unaware of his small portable monitor that was active by his desk, and how it suddenly blinked off.
"Dylan, someone's trying to leave the ship without permission," Rommie suddenly said on the bridge, her brown eyes widening in alarm. "It's the Maru."
"Keep them locked in, Rommie," Dylan replied calmly. He activated the com.
"Occupants of scavenger-ship Maru, identify yourselves."
No reply.
Rommie shook her head, the blue beads braided into her short black hair twinkling. "They're using Beka's command codes."
"Override it!" Dylan snapped.
Rommie nodded. "Override in progress-"
Suddenly the bridge lights went out with a low, grinding whine. All the controls went dead.
Dylan activated the comm. "Harper, report!"
"Some kind of...power surge went through the engineering core. All critical systems are down! Trying to reestablish!" Harper replied.
"Dylan...the Maru," Rommie said softly. "It just left through a slip portal. It's gone."
Dylan turned to Rommie. "Who was in it?" He demanded.
"Internal sensors detect all the crew except for two people. Beka Valentine...and Tyr Annasazi."
Beka Valentine navigated easily through slipstream, and exited through a slip portal. With a sigh she released the navigation handles and took out her blaster. Glancing at it, she set it to the highest setting. The sudden sound of footsteps slapping against metal grating instantly made her turn, her blaster raised. Her eyes narrowed. "You."
"Me," Tyr agreed, leaning back against the wall. His chain mail shirt reflected briefly in the Maru's light.
She lowered her blaster. A little. "Do you always frequent the Maru when I'm not around!?"She demanded, standing.
In response, Tyr held up a black palmed device and activated it. It replayed a conversation she had with Harper just minutes ago.
"So you spy on us," Beka snapped angrily.
Tyr shrugged. "When it is appropriate I tap into things...here and there.
Mostly, I looked for secrets Dylan and his ship might be trying to hide from me. I never expected to have the need to spy on you." He stared quietly at her, his face completely serious. "By the way, happy birthday. Did you like my present?"
Beka shook her head. "Oh, yes, the jagged knife you sent me was wonderful." She sat down. "I'm turning us around."
"And go where? Back to the Andromeda?" Tyr laughed. "Oh yes, I'm sure we'll both have a nice little talk with Dylan about breaking protocol....and this man Jarvis."
Beka said nothing for a moment, then slammed her fist angrily against the metal wall.
Tyr folded his brown arms, completely unaffected by her unusual display of temper. "Now, why don't you tell me who this man is, and why you fear him so much."
Rommie stood outside machine shop 18, hesitated, then entered. Inside Harper laid under a control counsel, his face masked as he welded on a spare part. He glanced in her direction, turned off his welder and gave her a nod of greeting. "Hey, Rommie. Something I can do for you? A faulty circuit, perhaps?"
Rommie paused, unsure of what to say. "No. I'm fine, thank you." She hesitated. "Harper, about the ship's power surge-"
"Yeah. System-wide failure. Really bad luck, isn't it? I'm already right on it," Harper said, standing and throwing off his mask. He started to work at the computer station.
"Well, that shouldn't be too difficult, considering that you caused it in the first place," Rommie remarked quietly.
Harper stopped working and turned to face her. Slowly. "What do you mean?" he asked indifferently.
"The Maru mysteriously leaving and a ship-wide failure is quite a coincidence in itself. So I ran a complete diagnostic of all the ship's systems, even the insignificant ones. I found a hidden virus stored in the backwater logs. Seems like someone went to great lengths to sabotage the ship. So I traced those logs back to its source, and guess who I found operating there at the time?"
Slowly, unhappily, Harper put up his hand.
"So Harper, would you mind telling me where Beka and Tyr is going?" Rommie asked.
Harper paled. "Tyr?" he whispered. One hand gripped the side of a sealed crate.
"Tyr's missing as well. I assumed you knew," Rommie said coldly. Harper shook his head. "Oh, talk about from going bad to worse-" "Mind if you could enlighten me?" Rommie persisted. "Actually, yes," Harper replied.
Rommie's eyebrow rose sharply.
Harper thought for a moment, then shook his blond head. "I can't tell you what I don't know. I have no idea why she left," Harper said coldly.
Rommie narrowed her eyes and ran a quick scan. "You're lying, Harper. Or have you forgotten that I'm a virtual lie-detector?"
Harper shrugged, his face unusually serious. "Guess I can't fool what I create." He turned back to his work. "But I still can't tell you anything."
Rommie had worked with Harper for several months. She had seen him when he was happy, cheerful, and down-right furious. However, she had never heard him talk to her in that tone. It was a tone that was stating a fact, like saying space was black and Rommie was a robot. A fact that was never to change, no matter what happened.
However, she was also ordered to change that fact, nevertheless.
"Harper, Dylan's our captain, and our friend. He is also Beka's friend, and it sounds like she's heading into trouble. Don't you think Dylan deserves an answer, after all he's done for you?" Rommie asked gently. "For all of us?"
Harper was silent for a moment. Then he turned to Rommie, his expression one of inner agony. "I'm sorry, Rommie. Dylan's my captain, but so is Beka. If I tell you half of what I knew...it would hurt her, more so than you can imagine. I could never do that to her. She's gotten me out of too many bumps and scrapes for me to just...betray her. If I had to choose her over Dylan, over this matter at lest, then it would always be 100% Beka. My first priority is always to her," he concluded, his voice firm. "And nothing you can say will change that." He worked on one of his small gadgets, pretending that the discussion was over.
Rommie was silent for a moment. "Well, Harper, I can certainly understand and respect that." She walked over to him. "Just as I'm sure that you will respect the fact that my first priority will always be to Dylan. If he asks me to find Beka Valentine, then I will find her. Even if it means hurting the ones that I care for."
She suddenly grabbed his wrist and twisted sharply. Harper cried out in pain and went down on one knee, his face deathly pale.
"I'm about two degrees from breaking your wrist in half," Rommie explained patiently. "If I wanted to, I could break every other bone in your body within thirty-eight point nine seconds. Were you someone else, I would already do so. However, I know that during dire circumstances, you always want to do the right thing." She gave his wrist a short jerk to emphasize her point. "So, for both our general interests I suggest you cooperate." She suddenly let go of him and pushed him to the ground.
Gasping, Harper stood and rubbed his wrist. His eyes were blazing with a quiet rage that she had rarely seen, and never directed at her. "Well. It's good to know where our priorities are," he snapped.
Rommie nodded silently.
Angrily Harper threw his gadget aside. "A man contacted her recently. His name is Jarvis. Jarvis Valentine. He's her youngest brother, you see. And he is quite easily the most dangerous, wanted man alive."
"From the beginning Beka knew that Jarvis wasn't quite...right. While she was playing futuristic Barbie, this man was carving up the bodies of live squirrels. This guy was a complete psycho. But he was also smart. He knew how to manipulate people, how to trick others. We should know. He tricked us."
"You see, not long after I had joined the Maru, Jarvis sent a distress call to our ship. For years Beka hadn't seen him, didn't even know that he was alive. Jarvis claimed he was a better person, a person who had a wife and children. Beka...Beka was on the rebound by her lover's departure, I guess, and bought into it right away. I didn't know him."
"Beka was determined to find him, even if it meant going through a whole army of ships. Actually, it did mean going through a whole army of ships. By the end the Maru looked like hell. It seemed like the entire universe was after this guy. As well they should-ever hear of the massacre of Alpha Five?"
Rommie paled slightly. "He was behind it?" she whispered.
Harper nodded. "Oh yes. Thousands of Nietzscheans, butchered by his hand.
Not that he admitted it, of course. He claimed that the whole accident was blamed on him by the Nietzschean government. He claimed that he was their golden fall guy. He just wanted a quiet life, one which he could do some good. What can we say? We believed him. We were criminals ourselves, remember."
"And indeed, it seemed like he was sincere. For nine months he helped out repairing the ship, and he gave me the training in mechanics which Earth could never supply. We became firm friends, and Beka....it was like her life was complete again. One big happy family, that's what we were."
"But Jarvis, he delighted in torment, and not just the physical. He was subtle at first, whispering things into our minds. I...I can't really explain it. It was like he had some spell on us. We trusted him completely. He made Beka doubt herself, made her think that she was worthless and that the universe wouldn't hesitate to screw her unless she struck first. The master manipulator at work." Harper started to say something, then sighed. "Rommie, what you have to understand is that our lives weren't born from the best class of people. I had a terrible past, but I can only imagine how awful Beka's was. Her father was a drug-addict and her other brother a con artist. He shattered our confidence in ourselves and made us hate the universe too."
"That's hard to imagine," Rommie remarked, genuinely astonished.
"It happened, over time," Harper replied. "Oh yes, I was little or nothing to him, but Beka.....he took personal delight in hurting her. Not just because he was her big sister, I think, but because she was the only person in the universe that could stop the son of a bitch."
"Anyway, we became more irritable, more angry. Jarvis, always planning at least eight steps ahead, focused our rage on his one true enemy-the Nietzscheans. You can imagine that it was easy for us to agree. After all, wasn't it they that had enslaved earth and destroyed the Commonwealth? We organized an assault on Nietzschean Prime."
"The Nietzschean home world?" Rommie echoed, shocked.
"Yes. Beka thought that it was a perfect plan. The Nietzscheans would finally know the rage of the Valentines! We stole nova bombs, planning to shoot them at their home world. Jarvis knew that only the piloting skills of Beka Valentine and would be good enough for him to survive the assault. The man had it all planned from the very beginning." Harper slammed his fist against the wall. "But his plans didn't stop from there. I read his journal he left behind. He wanted to hurt Beka even more. He wanted to destroy her, from the depths of her soul to finally, her life. And the universe damn her for finding that journal before I could destroy it!"
Rommie didn't know what to say for a moment. "What happened?" she finally asked.
"I'm not completely sure. Something snapped inside Beka. Some...hidden honor I suppose. She realized the truth, and when she did I did too. We saw how terrible we had become, and more importantly, how evil Jarvis was. But by then...it was too late. Jarvis overrode our commands and jettisoned two of the nova bombs before we could stop him. The Nietzschean home world...it burned, Rommie. It burned for days."
Rommie was startled by the look of profound sorrow on Harper's face. "You like statistics, Rommie? Imagine two nova bombs launched in the heart of the Nietzschean cities. We figured it came to about eight or nine million deaths on our hands. If Tyr ever knew, we would probably be dead."
"It wasn't your fault, Harper," Rommie said.
Harper raised his eyebrow. "Wasn't it? But that's beside the point.
Anyway, Beka defeated Jarvis in a showdown, but even so she couldn't kill him. No, she still loved her little brother after all that he did. We put him in a pod and left him to rot in space."
"And afterwards?" Rommie asked.
Harper shrugged. "Things got back to normal. It was like waking from a bad dream. Beka changed her red hair blond, I got a data port in my neck and we met up with the rest of the crew. We naturally pretended it didn't happen. So now you know." The last sentence he spoke was in anger.
"Yes," Rommie said. She bowed her head. "I can understand why you would want this to keep this between the two of you, but I had to know. I'm...I'm sorry."
"You know what the most terrible thing about this is?" Harper asked bitterly. "It's that Jarvis and Beka are a part of each other. They share the same genes. They could even become the same person. Jarvis knows this, and I think Beka knows it too."
Rommie sighed. "This is all very tragic, believe me it is, but it still doesn't change the facts," she said. "Beka is going against a complete maniac with no reinforcements. We need to go after her."
"NO!" Harper shouted, surprising her. "Don't you see? That's exactly what Jarvis wants and what Beka doesn't want! Jarvis isn't stupid. He'll set a trap for us, and then use us against Beka. Believe me, I've seen his methods. We'll only be interfering."
"How can you say this, when you care so much for Beka?" Rommie asked him in wonderment.
Harper glared at her. "I care for her, perhaps more then you'll ever know.
Which is exactly why I'm staying out of it when everything else tells me that we should go in with missiles blasting!"
"All right, look, if Jarvis is as smart as you say then he must be expecting Beka to meet him on her own without the Andromeda," Rommie said. "Therefore, approaching with the Andromeda would be the last thing he'll be expecting."
Harper considered this for a moment. "All right, maybe. But even so, this is a personal matter. Can't you understand that? Beka has to face this on her own, by herself, or she'll never be complete again. We'll be cheating her of the opportunity to face her main demon for the past few years. I certainly can't do that. Can you?"
"I'm not saying that we do so," Rommie replied. "I suggest that we stay on the edge of their sensor range and just.....keep an eye on them. If things go badly, then we'll go in with missiles blasting. If not, then we'll quietly return to where we were and act like nothing has happened. Okay?"
Harper said nothing, but he looked inclined to agree.
"Where are they, Harper? Where did they agree to meet?"
Rommie nodded. "Harper, I know this must have been hard-"
"Go to hell," he replied angrily, his voice filled with bitterness and pain. He brushed past her without looking back.
"So this man....killed millions, perhaps billions of Nietzscheans, with your help," Tyr said slowly.
"That's right," Beka said calmly. One hand was resting casually on her blaster.
Tyr was silent for a moment, thoughtful. Then, his usually stern face relaxed and he laughed a long, gleeful laugh.
Beka was so stunned she couldn't say anything. "You're not bothered with this?"
"Bothered!?" Tyr sputtered between laughter. "I love this man! If he was here I would shake his hand. At the time, Nietzschean Prime was populated entirely by the Nietzscheans that killed Kodiac Pride!"
"How fortunate for me," Beka said dryly.
Tyr's laughter cut short and he stared calmly at her. "Yes. How fortunate that it was not populated by my friends and family at the time," he said off-handedly.
Beka paled, but said nothing.
Tyr leaned back. "Ah...pity this Jarvis isn't a Nietzschean. And now you seek to destroy him."
"Yes," Beka replied.
"Well, good luck," Tyr said, shrugging. "I'll take the Maru's escape pod back to the Andromeda, if you don't mind."
"You're not going to stay and watch?" Beka asked.
Tyr waved a dismissing hand. "Clearly, this is a personal mission. I was merely...curious," He glanced at her. "However, in the interest of one Valentine coming out alive I will tell you a way to land undetected." He smiled. "I imagine most Nietzscheans wouldn't want to see any kludges on their world at the moment."
Dylan was working alone on the bridge when Rommie and Harper entered. He no idea what was happening with Beka, but judging from the burning fury in Harper's eyes and Rommie's pale, downcast face, he wasn't quite sure that he wanted to know. "We're approaching Nietzschean Prime now," he said to them. "So far we've managed to avoid them. It looks like most of their fleet is centered in another sector."
Rommie nodded as she joined his side. Dylan stared at her. 'Everything all right?' He beckoned with his head over to where Harper was, working as though he was the only one on the bridge.
Rommie followed his gaze and her eyes softened. She shook her head.
"We're being hailed," Harper said roughly.
"On screen," Dylan ordered.
The face of a pale Nietzschean leered at him. "This is Cyridor, commander of the Nietzschean defense fleet. You have already been identified as the Andromeda Ascendant. At first I was going to destroy you, but now I'm more then a little curious as to what you're doing here."
Dylan leaned forward on his station. "This is Captain Dylan Hunt. We are here to rescue one of our operatives. We have a current alliance with the Jaguar Pride. They would be most unhappy over any...unpleasantness, I'm sure," he replied..
Cyridor folded his hands. "The Jaguar Pride is one but thousands of Prides, and they must be weak indeed to have an alliance with Kludges. I won't shed any tears over their annihilation." He leaned forward to switch off his channel.
Rommie stepped down from her station, playing a hope against all hopes.
"Perhaps the name of Jarvis would change your mind."
The man's glove paused. "What do you know about that?" He hissed.
Rommie glanced at Harper. "Enough to know that he is a threat to you," she replied evenly.
"What do you know!?" Cyridor repeated sharply.
"We know that our operative is currently engaging Jarvis," Dylan replied neutrally, clearing having no idea what was happening but more then willing to play along. "And that she has a secret weapon for defeating him."
"Secret weapon? What weapon!?" He snarled.
"If I told you it wouldn't really be a secret, would it?" Dylan asked.
"But it's enough to get through your defenses undetected, obviously,"
Rommie replied.
"Give us twelve hours. By then if we haven't brought Jarvis into your custody, then you have our own permission to destroy us," Dylan said.
Cyridor's eyes narrowed. "You are Kludges," he spat, then paused. "You have three hours."
Then he switched off.
Dylan breathed a sigh of relief. "Rommie, get a fix on Beka's position."
"I'm on it," Rommie said, then glanced at Harper. He glared back at her angrily, but she could detect the barest hint of approval in his blue eyes.
Perhaps something of their relationship could be mended, after all.
Beka climbed from the Maru and onto the small cliff, shivering. A bitter, dry wind struck through her that her black vest couldn't shield against. A wind that could have only come from nuclear devastation. From the cliff she could see the vast cities of Nietzschean Prime. Some buildings were charred and broken. Some large chunks of cities were complete ash All because of Beka Valentine.
After a moment, a shadow was behind her. "You came alone," whispered a voice in approval.
Beka's voice was tight. "Why shouldn't I have?" She turned around and faced Jarvis. Two blasters were stashed away in her vest, and the knife that Tyr had given her was hidden in her boot. Her blond hair blew softly in the wind as she stared silently at her younger brother.
He had the same blue eyes, and the same blond hair cut short. But that was where the similarities ended. Battle scars lined his face and his arms, and one of his arms was twisted and deformed. Even so, she still feared him. His eyes were cold and hard. Empty of life or light.
He stared back at her in approval. "Still as beautiful, I see."
"Still as wanted, I see," Beka retorted.
Jarvis looked down at himself and laughed. "Yes, the years have been hard, I admit. But they were worth every moment for making those Nietzscheans pay."
"Why did you call me here, Jarvis?" Beka demanded, stepping closer.
Jarvis smiled thinly through bloodied lips. "Do I really need a reason to see my big sister?"
"Yes," Beka snapped.
"How's Harper?" Jarvis asked suddenly.
Beka frowned at the unexpected question. "Alive."
"Unexpected," Jarvis replied. "I must say that I'm surprised with the two of you. Not only are you both working with a Nietzschean, but you're also both working with the most sentimental, predictable fossil I've ever heard of." His eyes narrowed. "You're just full of surprises, Beka. But then, so am I."
He suddenly spun around, one hand on his blaster. She dodged and dived to a nearby rock. Unfortunately, it was the only rock as well. His fire burned the grass next to her. "It doesn't have to be like this, Jarvis!" Beka shouted, one hand on her blaster.
"Yes, it does," Jarvis snarled. "Let me tell you a little story, sis. It was when, for once, the universe was absolutely right. We had a hundred nova bombs at our disposal! Had we used all of them, we would have crushed the Nietzschean fleet and hunted down the rest like dogs. But no. My sister had to have a sense of nobility, she had to crush that dream," He spat. "Even when you're trying to be a good person you're a miserable screw-up. Does it gall you to know that they tortured your little brother for twelve nights? That they picked up your pod and deformed my arm and tried to kill me?"
Beka lifted her eyes from the rock and glanced around frantically. Where was he? "It was still wrong, Jarvis. I'm no butcher."
"Oh, please!" Jarvis shouted in contempt. "You can lie to Harper, you can lie to Dylan, and perhaps to yourself, but you can't lie to me! I know that you're not the noble self-sacrificing hero that others claim. I know that you're capable of all the acts of atrocities I'm doing! Mine is just more...developed."
"You're wrong!" She shouted. "I'm not like you!"
"Yes, you are. And now, I'm going to prove it to you." He suddenly shot at her from the other side of the small cliff. She rolled away from the smoldering rock.
Jarvis darted in front of her. "The only way you can leave is by killing me."
Still flat on her belly, Beka shook her head. The burning light of the setting sun danced on her face "I'm not going to kill you."
"Well, I can guarantee that only one of us is leaving alive," Jarvis said with a little giggle. "I'm tired, sister. I'm tired of running away, of fighting impossible odds. My only chance was with those nova bombs, and you...you just took that away from me." He held up his hands. "You've already killed me, Beka. But, before I die, I have to know that at least one of us will continue the fight."
Beka stood, slowly, and threw her blasters down the cliff. "No," she said, quietly but firmly. "I'm not you. I'm not sure what DNA trick made us related, but we are truly nothing alike. Oh yes, I made a mistake a long time ago. But the difference between us is that I can live with what I did. I can look past it and wake up still liking myself. Either way, this will end, brother!" She turned to leave.
"NO!" Jarvis shouted, firing his blaster at her. One shot caught her in the vest. Beka left in a run to the Eureka Maru. He followed her, as quick as the breeze which chilled her even now.
Beka held up a small hand-held device. "Maru, open hanger door and prepare to launch program Beka-one."
"Program ready," the computer replied.
"BEKA!" Jarvis shouted.
"Launch!" Beka ordered.
Immediately a blue circular shield enclosed around the ship and Beka.
Jarvis's blaster fire bounced harmlessly away. Jarvis stopped just short of the blue force field. "Beka-"
Suddenly blaster fire struck at the shield from another direction. The shield crackled. It wouldn't hold for long. "There he is!" shouted a group of Nietzscheans, pointing.
"Beka, let me in!" Jarvis ordered.
Beka did nothing, blue ripples dancing around her from the shield.
"They're going to kill me! Don't you understand!? Please, Beka, I'm your brother!" Jarvis whimpered, begging. "I just want to go home!"
Beka shook her head, her eyes filled with contempt. "Maru, prepare to disembark." She ran to the hanger doors.
Just before she entered the ship she could hear Jarvis laughing. A short, triumphant laughter.
Then she heard him screaming.
Beka stood silently on the observation deck, starring silently out into space. After a moment, the doors opened and Dylan stepped through. "Beka?"
Beka said nothing, did nothing. She fingered the light-blue plant Trance had given to her as a present. Sharp thorns cut into her skin. Blood flowed.
Dylan stood by her. "Do you want to talk about what happened?" he asked gently.
"No," Beka replied after a long minute. "Except...that he was right about me."
"Who?" Dylan asked.
Beka shook her head.
Dylan sighed. "I was going to talk to you about protocol....but now, I
think is the wrong time." He left, very puzzled, and very frustrated. Some things even a Captain couldn't fix.
A tear rolled silently down Beka's pale cheek.
Rommie found Harper sitting on the engineering deck, working silently on a computer sheet.
"Harper-" Rommie began.
"I'm ordering a restriction of all data of the past events I've told you, authorization one-five-eight-two-alpha-zero," he ordered coldly without glancing up.
Rommie nodded. "Restricted."
Harper nodded in satisfaction and stood, about to leave.
Desperately Rommie tried to think of something to say. "Harper, I'm not just a machine!" She finally blurted out.
He stopped and turned around, sadness in his eyes. "I know," he said, then hesitated for a moment. "I wonder where I made the mistake."