Title: Possibilities
Author: Melissa, aka ILH
Censor: PG-13
Central Characters: Trance, Harper
Spoilers: None
Disclaimer: Andromeda characters and the like belong to Tribune
"Guess where I'm going, Beka!" Trance was perky and excited, as usual. She had just received her mail, even though most of it was junk.
"Where, Trance?" Beka asked, not showing nearly as much enthusiasm. She had learned that Trance got excited over the smallest insignificant things, unlike herself.
Trance smiled broadly. "I'm going to Infinity! I won a trip!"
"Are you sure it isn't a ploy from a travel agency?" Beka asked incredulously.
"I'm sure! It's a fully paid trip to Infinity for three days and two nights in a week and a half." She seemed to be on the verge of bouncing around the room in celebration.
Beka raised an eyebrow. "No strings attached? We don't need to buy a year's supply of tiny bolts for coffee makers that even Harper has no use for?"
"Nope! I get to go to Infinity! I get to go to Infinity!" Trance chanted happily.
"Let me see the message." Beka watched the message, reading the fine print. There was no obligation for Trance after she took the trip. Shocked was an understatement for Beka's reaction. "You're right, Trance. But you'd better ask Dylan first."
Trance hurried off without even saying goodbye, talking to herself about how much fun she was going to have.
Beka laughed. "It doesn't take much to make her happy."
*****
"I don't know, Trance. Are you sure that this is a real trip?" Dylan asked, his reaction similar to Beka's.
"Beka told me that it wasn't. She read everything," Trance assured him.
"If Beka says that there isn't a catch...have fun on Infinity, Trance. But be careful," Dylan eventually said.
"I'll tell everyone about the Commonwealth. I'm sure that we can get lots of-"
Dylan couldn't help but smile at her. "You don't have to do that. Does the trip allow for a guest to accompany you? I'm not sure about letting you go by yourself..."
"I spent a lot of time alone before I joined the Maru's crew. I'll be fine." She was very convincing.
"Infinity isn't the safest place in the quadrant. Actually, it can be extremely dangerous if you're in the wrong areas."
"I've been to Infinity before. It's only a couple of days anyway. What can happen in that long?" she asked.
*****
A transport ship docked in the Hangar Deck of Andromeda. Trance had her sky blue suitcase and a knapsack by her side. Accompanied by Beka and Harper, she walked over to the ship.
"Be careful, Trance. You know where I told you not to go," Beka said.
"Have fun!" Harper said. He lowered his voice to barely above a whisper. "But use this if you need it." He slipped a Gauss gun into her knapsack while pretending to pat her back.
"I saw that, Harper," Beka said, her voice in a warning tone. She pulled a forcelance from her belt. "And I brought this for you, Trance. It's keyed to you so no one else can use it."
"Thanks, but I'll be fine." She tried to hand back the weapons, but both refused.
"Better safe than sorry, babe," Harper said. "Anyways, people leave you alone if you have weapons, even if you don't know how to use them."
Trance boarded the transport ship, waving to them as the airlock closed behind her.
Harper and Beka said their final goodbyes, more to themselves than her, and watched from the clear window as the transport ship exited Andromeda and entered slipstream.
"She's going to have a lot of fun. And she'll bring us back silly little presents like she always does," Beka said.
"Yeah, she needs to get away from Hydroponics for a few days. I promised to water her plants just so she'd go."
"Are you going to actually do it?" Beka asked.
Harper laughed. "I'd probably kill 'em."
*****
Trance watched the other people on the packed rusting transport complaining and whining about everything. She wondered why most people always complained about things instead of trying to improve them. She could see several solutions to the problems herself.
"What kind of a fashion statment are you trying to make?" A short woman crinkled her nose. "That make-up looks very tacky. And you used way too much glitter."
Trance would have told the woman that it wasn't make-up if it weren't for the bad feeling she suddenly got. Something wasn't right.
The transport shuddered from the turbulence as it entered the atmosphere of a planet. Eventually, it landed with a thud and the airlock opened. The passengers filed out in an orderly fashion. A barren wasteland was revealed, reeking of stale air and death. Trance spun around, looking at her surroundings.
"This isn't Infinity," she whispered, wide-eyed.
As she started to head back to the transport, its airlock closed, leaving her and the other passengers outside. Several of the more panicked ones banged on the transport's hull, clinging to metal pieces. Only one still clung to the shuttle after it began its ascent. The vibrations caused his hands to slip, and he fell nearly a hundred feet, crashing down in front of the other passengers with a sickening bone-crunching crack.
They all just stared at the corpse in silence, Trance included, until someone screamed behind them...
Onward To Part 2!
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