Justice/Revenge
Title: Justice/Revenge
Author: Ivy
Rating: PG-13
Summary: The killer is uncovered. Sequel to "Guardian Angel," "Risking The Heart" and "Quitting."
Disclaimer: Andromeda is proprety of Tribune.
It was now a week since King Scarp's murder. Dylan Hunt sighed. He felt restless, annoyed and bothered. The Andromeda Ascendant was on its was to the planet Yedrash to convince them to join the new commonwealth. But he felt like there was something he had to do something to fix.
"Dylan?" Beka Valentine asked him from the pilot's chair.
"Yeah", he said shaking his head.
"We're there." She said eyeing him. "Is… Everything ok?"
"Fine, everything's peachy." He paced the bridge.
"What's wrong?" She asked him gently. "Look- if you're worried about this negotiating-"
"No, it's not that", he shook his head. "It's the way the last one went."
"Oh." She said. "Well Dylan there was nothing you could do-"
"I know that!" He cried exasperated. "It's just… Loose ends I guess. Andromeda, do you know anything? Did they find anything?" He turned to Rommie.
"They sent you a file of the investigation at your request", she stated.
"And?" Dylan asked.
"And the only clue we have is that the bomb was Nietchian made."
"What?" Dylan asked surprised. "What else?"
"That's pretty much it", Rommie said. "Sorry. They had no real leads."
"Had?" Beka asked.
"Yes. The investigators have been working this case none stop. King Debrach finally ordered it stopped."
"Debrach…" Dylan muttered. Something was very wrong and Dylan intended to find out what that is.
"Dylan", Beka said. "The Yedrashes?"
"Right", Dylan admitted. He had to attend this negotiation himself. However that doesn't mean he cannot send someone else to investigate on K'Tara….
****************************
"You wish to speak with us?" The Elders asked.
Talary rolled her eyes and snorted. "Gee, what gave you that idea?" Perhaps if she had been able to sleep at all for the past week she would not have taken that tone with them.
"Perhaps the fact that you locked yourself in a room, aimed a gun to your head and shouted that if we not see you- you would commit suicide", they answered evenly. "And we are here, so what is it you request?"
"I think you already know", she spat. "You seem to know everything else."
"You wish to investigate in the death of your friend?"
"Murder." She corrected them. "And yes."
"It is not for you to investigate, it is not your duty. You have countless of lives to save." There was an edge to their voice, a warning.
"I know." She whispered. She knew the consequences of her actions. She even received a warning vision of the possible outcomes. But she felt as though she had no choice.
"You do realize we will not support your cause." The asked, though they already knew the answer.
"I do." This must be some sort of record. Twice in 2 weeks she stands before the Elders, asking for something never asked before.
"During this… Venture of yours, you shall not have our support. Nor shall you have your powers." Another second in the same time line.
"I understand", she said determined.
"Then once this quest is over, assuming you will survive, you shall resume your duty and your powers will be returned to you." Without warning they took her powers away. She has felt this before, so she knew what to expect. But its emptiness still hurt. She closed her eyes and when she opened them she was on K'Tara. She positioned her bag on her back and began her journey.
"Good luck", the Elders whispered.
***********************
"What do you mean he refuses to meet with me?" Talary yelled at the secretary.
"He is… A very busy man." The man said.
"And you are a poor liar", she grabbed him by his shirt and brought him closer. "Now listen. You tell Debrach to come here NOW, or you won't be able to talk. Ever. Am I clear?" She eyed him coldly.
"That won't be necessary."
Talary turned and faced King Debrach. "And for future reference, it's "King Debrach"."
"I must speak with you", she said urgently, pushing her red hair behind her ears. "NOW!"
He led her to his office and closed the door behind her.
"I take it you heard", he offered her a chair, and she refused.
"How could you call off the investigation?" She restrained herself from yelling.
"Our top investigator found nothing to go on-"
"What about that Nietchian bomb? That's something!" She came closer to him.
"It would be if it would lead somewhere" he tried to back up a bit. "But it does not. We checked it is like nothing we have ever seen before. We concluded that a Nietchian terror group assassinated our beloved king. End of story." He now stood his ground.
"No, no! What group? Prosecute the offenders and how the hell did a Nietchian made bomb get here?" She asked frustrated. "I'm going to find out!"
"You will do no such thing!" King Debrach said angrily. "This is MY planet, not yours. And besides, what could you possibly find that our top investigators could not?"
"The truth." She said and left his office. Debrach shook his head. He activated his communicator and said in it: "Get me Rip." This Talary girl was getting herself over her head.
************************
Talary stood in the small conference room. The room Scarp was murdered in. The security guards gave her some trouble. She smiled and massaged her knuckles. Well not too much- a blow to the face and a blunt object to the head and they were out cold. She went over to his chair. The room was now off limits until it was fixed up. No one has entered the place, other than the investigators since the murder. She examined the chair closely- what remains of it anyway. She heard light footsteps behind her and she tensed. She knew the person was approaching her, sneaking up on her. She pretended not to notice. She pulled out her knife from her pocket and waited. The intruder placed a hand on her shoulder, which she grabbed and bent, spinning around with the knife at the neck.
"Anasazi!" She cried, lowering her knife and letting go of his hand. "What are you doing here?"
Tyr Anasazi retrieved his hand and answered. "We are here to investigate King Scarp's murder, what are YOU doing here?"
"The same", she said, pocketing her knife. "Trance you can come out now."
Trance Gemini came from behind the door nervously. "How did you know?"
"Well the "we" was a great help, but I heard double footsteps up until the door. The second ones were lighter. When I saw Tyr I figured it was either you or Harper. I guessed." She smiled warmly.
"Or you simply had a vision", Tyr said.
"Nope and I'm not going to get any for a while. I'm flying solo on this one." Talary eyed them carefully.
"You mean you came here without your powers?" Tyr asked laughing. "Then how do you expect to get anything done? You're going to get yourself killed."
"Hey! Watch it!" Talary cried, folding her arms. "I did pretty well disarming you back there."
"Yes you managed to surprise me, but you did not "disarm" me- I was not aiming a weapon." He said confused.
"Oh- then what's this?" She asked, retrieving a blaster. Tyr took it annoyed and placed it back in its holster.
"How did you get my gun?" He asked her.
"I know a few tricks", she smiled, and Trance giggled.
Tyr eyed Trance wearily. "I suppose you both were in the same thieves 'guild'. " He muttered.
"Nope", Trance said. "I worked solo."
"And I didn't make it a living", Talary added. She then serioused. "What did you find?"
"Not a lot. The bomb is Nietchian made- it is the Betrak pride's specialty." Tyr said.
"You examined it? They won't let me get within ten feet of this building!" She exclaimed.
"We have authorization as members of the new commonwealth. How did you get in then?" Trance asked.
"I… Made my own pass." She mumbled.
"You mean you knocked out the guards", Tyr corrected.
"Pretty much, yeah." She admitted.
"I must say I am impressed." Tyr said. "You might even be able to survive without your powers."
"Thanks, I think." Talary said. "Does anyone sell these bombs here?"
"No- but they are purchased at a docking space just outside this system." He answered.
"Then what are we waiting for?" She asked, getting her things. "Let's go!" She took out a small device and took photos of the scene. Trance put a comforting hand on her shoulder and the three left the building.
Rip watched them from the top of a close building. He pressed a button on his communicator. "Boss they're m."
***********************
Tyr, Trance and Talary were on the docking space. They spread out, trying to gather as much information as possible. Tyr walked up to a known weapons dealer. After a short "convincing" the man caved in.
"Look, I'm just a small time dealer, alright? I don't do bombs! That ain't my thing, you know?"
"Then have you seen anyone dealing with this bomb, with this specific bomb?" Tyr showed the man a hologram of the bomb. It was small in size.
"I might have seen someone… But I can't remember", the man said. Tyr took some money Talary gave them and placed it on the counter. "Is it coming back to you?"
"Yes, as a matter of fact it is… It was a bit more than a week ago… I can't remember anything else."
Tyr rolled his eyes and placed some more coins on the table.
"Now I remember!" The man said happily. "I was minding my own business, slow week- you know, when I notice this Nietchian fellow. He was looking mighty suspicious, holding a briefcase, so I watched him. He talked to this other guy- a K'Taran I think. They exchanged briefcases, that's all I know."
"Could you identify them?" Tyr asked him.
"Better yet, I can show you them." The dealer took out a disk. "I take photos of all the dealers here in case the authority wants some information." Tyr grabbed at the disk, but the dealer held it out of reach. "What's it worth to you?"
Tyr dug at his pockets. Nothing. "Hold on a second, I'll be right back." He walked a bit away from the booth and called the other two in his communicator. They were a few steps away when it happened. There was a shot fired and Tyr docked. He turned around to see the dealer dead. He crawled over to him and removed the disc. He ran to Trance and Talary. "Move- NOW!" He barked. The three started to run in the direction of the Maru. They found that they were not alone. They were trapped. There were five guns aimed at them.
"Lower you weapon!" One of the men there yelled to Tyr. He raised both his hands and slowly placed it on the ground. Three of the men, with raised weapons came over to the three. Talary was the closest and the man was about to shoot. Talary kicked him in his stomach and spun him around, her knife pressed at his throat. Tyr took the opportunity and grabbed at his gun shooting the guard closest to him and at another one. Trance's tail removed the gun from her guard. Tyr knocked the guy out and Talary's guard. The last guy shot at them. Tyr pushed Trance out of the way and Talary docked and shot back at him. He was down. Tyr approached him and checked his pulse. He was dead. He looked at Talary. "One shot directly to the heart. Nice aiming- where did you learn to shoot like that?"
"At a one-week Wayist seminar." She said smiling bitterly.
"I see. It must have been one hell of a seminar." Tyr answered smiling lightly. "We should go, there might be more of them out there."
The three entered the Maru. Talary went over to check on the engines.
"They cut some wires, but I can get it fixed." She disappeared for a few moments.
"OK!" Talary cried.
Tyr checked the engines. They were functioning. "So, on top of you knowing how to fight and being a thief- you also know how to be an engineer. How is that possible?"
"I don't know", Talary said smiling. "Planning for rainy days?"
"And what rainy days might those be?" Tyr asked, as he piloted them back to the planet.
"When my bosses fire my ass and I'm looking for work." She shrugged. She placed the disc into the computer. "Let's see what you had that was worth dying for."
Trance came closer to look at the photos. Tyr landed and went over to see as well.
"Damnit!" Tyr said annoyed. "There are at least a few hundred people here!"
"I guess we'll just have to run them all." Trance said sweetly. The computer ran them all at a fast pace. After an hour or so Trance stopped it. "Wait! Go back!"
The computer went back to two people. One was a Nietchian, the other a K'Taran.
"How did you know to stop it now? I didn't notice it." Tyr asked her suspiciously.
"Lucky guess" Trance said.
"You do seem to have a lot of those" he answered. Talary was staring at the Nietchian.
"I've seen him before", she muttered.
"Where?" Tyr asked her.
"I'm trying to remember!" She snapped. She closed her eyes and wished she had her visions. She thought of the man's face, concentrating. It came to her. She opened her eyes.
"Oh my God! That's the Nietchian captain who tried to kill off the entire planet!" She said shocked.
"With the gas bomb?" Trance asked her. Talary nodded.
"Why would a K'Taran do business with a Nietchian who tried to kill his planet! It doesn't make any sense!"
"And this makes even less sense", Trance said pointing to the K'Taran. "Apparently, this is King Debrach's head of security."
"We found the killers." Talary said surprised. "But why?"
"Perhaps this-" Tyr looked at the name-"Rip person had a grudge against the former king?"
"Sure- but why go into business with the guy who tried to kill him!" Talary said throwing her hands up in the air. "It's insane!"
"Perhaps he was not on the planet when the Nietchians were going to gas the planet and he sold it for money." Tyr commented.
"Sold what?" Talary asked.
"His planet. You said that the K'Tarans just 'sat there', that they didn't defend themselves."
Talary shook her head. "I've been watching the planet and only one ship left the planet-" She suddenly understood.
Tyr and Trance eyed her, waiting for her answer.
"I have to go." Talary took her bag and left the ship. Tyr and Trance heard a shot and they went to the entrance and saw that it was sealed shut.
"Damn her!" Tyr yelled, hitting the door.
"Ok, don't get mad", Trance said. "She knows something. I'm afraid she might do something she will regret later. Let's find out what she knows and find HER."
Tyr nodded. Trance went over to communications, while Tyr worked on the door.
************************
Talary entered the most secure building on the planet. She tried her best not to kill any of the guards. She hoped none of them were dead. Besides, she had codes King Scarp gave her and luckily for her no one changed the lock. She entered his office. She removed her blaster and aimed it at his head.
"Turn around!" She ordered.
Debrach turned around and raised his hands.
"Talary- have you lost your mind?" He asked her angrily.
"No, everything's making perfect sense now. God! I can't believe I didn't see it sooner!" Talary's hands shook with rage, as she tried to steady them. "You killed Scarp you bastard!"
"Debrach looked shocked. "How could you accuse me of such things! What are you talking about?"
"Don't play stupid Debrach! You made a deal with those Nietchians- you almost got your entire planet killed! But being the coward that you are you made sure you had other stuff to do in the space dock. When you realized that I'm getting involved, you tried to convince me not to do a thing. When that didn't work- you rushed to the planet before anyone could suspect anything. Then, I guess those friends of yours got angry that you didn't keep up your end of the bargain, so you offered them something- that you could only get as the king. Which of course leads to you hiring Rip Brunt to assassinate King Scarp. How am I doing so far?" She asked with venom.
Debrach tilted his head back and laughed. "Oh, I must say- you are smarter than I gave you credit for."
"So you admit that you tried to kill an entire planet and hired an assassin to kill the king?" She asked malevolently.
"Oh yes! And I'd do it again if I had the chance! The look on that brat's face when he heard the 'tick'- it was worth it!" He took a step towards her. Talary raised her weapon and charged it.
"You're going to pay for what you did", she hissed behind clenched teeth.
"How?" He asked confused. "Do you have any evidence? All you have is a picture of Rip Brunt buying the bomb, you cannot associate him with me."
"How did you know about the disc?" She asked.
He laughed again. "You silly child! I ordered Rip to follow you and he reports everything to me. Everything. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to call security to escort you out of the building." He turned towards his desk. Talary shot at hhand and he turned around wincing in pain.
"You think you can get away with murder? Then you must be as dumb as I thought. I know I have no proof- that is why I'm not turning to the proper authorities. I'm going to make sure justice is done." Talary aimed at his heart.
"Justice or revenge?" Debrach asked her smiling. "I know you- you wouldn't be able to live with yourself if you would kill me. Besides, you would serve time in our jails for murder. You're not a murderer." He started to turn.
"Talary- put the gun down!" She heard Trance's voice, but she didn't flinch.
Talary's finger pulled the trigger and Debrach's body flew back. He lay on the ground and in one of his hands was a gun.
"He was going to kill you, you had no choice", Trance whispered to her. Talary nodded, but she knew that wasn't true. She didn't remember seeing the gun or his hand- all she could see were those mocking eyes… Did she somehow know that he was going to pull out a gun? She wished she knew. All she knew is that she WANTED to shoot him and she did. She felt a numbness all through her body and dropped the gun. It clattered loudly on the floor. Someone was talking to her, but the only things she heard, were the shot piercing his body and his voice echoing in her head: 'You're not a murderer.'
*************************
"How did you know it was Debrach?" Talary asked them later. They were standing near Tyr and Trance's ship.
"When we finally got out of the Maru, we had the investigators arrest Rip for assassination. Once he understood that he could not escape and once he realized Debrach tried to kill everyone on the planet he gave him up. We came with the authorities and found you two." Tyr concluded crossing his arms.
"Nice", Talary said smiling. "This was fun- this detective work."
"Will you be all right?" Trance asked her concerned.
"I'll be ok. It's not like he's my first kill", Talary shook it off, as though it were no big deal.
"You never cease to amaze me", Tyr said amused. It was obvious he has grown to respect her.
"Thanks, like wise", Talary said. "You're a great ally Tyr Anasazi, goodbye."
Trance and Talary hugged briefly before Trance and Tyr left on the Maru.
Talary sighed and went to the one place she was hoping to avoid.
*******************
Talary stood next to Scarp's grave.
"Well, that was that", she said to the air. "I found your killer Scamp, and I made him pay- so why don't I feel any better?"
"Because you miss him." Gem said, appearing next to her. "And nothing you can do will change that."
"Yeah, it seems as though I screw up anything I touch." Talary said still staring at the grave.
"You saved the Andromeda, the people of K'Tara and many more people. Yet you are only human, we make mistakes." Gem put a gentle arm around her shoulder.
"Yeah, well that K'Taran made a huge mistake", she muttered bitterly.
"It's not your fault that he died, or that Scarp died", Gem assured her.
"I wish I were that sure." She said quietly, feeling the weight of the world caving in on her.
"I am- because I know you better than you know yourself. You are NOT a killer Tal."
Gem approached the grave and placed flowers. "Goodbye Scamp buddy." He disappeared.
Talary shook her head and turned away from the grave. "Goodbye friend."
She felt her powers returning to her with a new vision. She disappeared into a spec of light as Debrach's words thundered in her mind.
"Justice or revenge?"
*************
As Tyr and Trance returned to the Andromeda Beka greeted them.
"What the hell did you do to my ship?!!"
The End
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