The Mathematics of Evil: Part 2
Whistling happily, oblivious to either Trance's or Dylan's plight, Seamus Harper was working in Andromeda's engineering. He was working at the controls. "Come on, just a little more..." he muttered. Suddenly the lights stuttered back on. Harper blinked and looked up. "Yes! Say that I'm a genius, baby!"
"You're a genius," Rommie said dryly from behind him.
Harper's entire heart stopped. His legs froze, and didn't turn to face her. "Crap," he managed to whisper. He managed to run two steps before Rommie caught up to him, clamped her hand on his shoulder, and threw him across the room. "Harper. Just the man I wanted to see," she said.
Harper heard an instant 'snap' as his arm sharply struck the wall. He collapsed to the floor, but only for a second. He instantly took out his gun and fired at the android.
Blue holes went straight through Rommie. She looked down at her body for a moment, then walked towards Harper relentlessly.
In desperation Harper fired again, before he finally stopped, seeing that there was no point. He tried to stand, but Rommie shoved him back down again. She bent down on her knees, and smashed her hand straight through the concrete besides Harper's head. "The man who can fix a thousand problems. Even problems that shouldn't be fixed. You know, I never told you how dirty it felt, having you in my mind. I always got sick afterwards. You're filth, Harper, you always were. I can smell your sweat mixed with fear even now. It's nauseating." She suddenly gripped his broken arm.
Harper cried out in pain.
"You destroyed my main AI, didn't you? Yes, of course it was you." She suddenly took her hand out of the wall and gripped his neck painfully. "Look at me," she demanded. She forced his blue eyes to look at her. "I'm stronger then anything you can imagine. You know that. You should-you're the one who made me. Created me. Gave me...image." She smiled briefly. "Stands to reason that you would know how to destroy me. Do you want that?"
Harper struggled to breathe. He couldn't speak.
"I said, do you want that?" Rommie demanded. "It's strange....I've always tried to be like you...and the others. Human. When you destroyed my AI...you tore out my heart." Her gloved hand strayed to his sweater above his heart. "Seems fair to me that you should have the same experience." She sighed sadly. "This is really going to hurt, Harper."
*************************
"Rommie. Don't," Dylan said coldly behind her.
Rommie smiled. "I'll break his neck long before you can fire that. He'll be dead, and it'll be all your fault. But then, we've buried a lot of crew members over the years together, haven't we?"
"We've done a lot of things together," Dylan replied. "I don't want that to stop."
Rommie had to laugh. "Any sentimental speeches you have stored up for me became useless the moment you destroyed my main AI, Dylan. When...when you tried to kill me."
Dylan paused. "I had to do what was best for my crew. You know that."
"I was your crew!" Rommie snapped, suddenly angry. "Did you even give a damn thought about that before you tried to kill me! I thought I was more to you then that, I thought-" she suddenly broke off, flushing.
Dylan stared at her silently in astonishment.
She closed her eyes and began to recite the Commonwealth protocol. "No artificial life form or personality can have close personal relations with their Captain. It...it compromises the mission. But you knew...you knew when you rescued me from that scrap heap that I was different. That I...that I felt things AI's should never feel. You once said to me, that when all was said and done, that love would be the everlasting force of the universe."
"I'm glad you remember that," Dylan said. "Just as you remember how much I cared for you. I needed an AI that was special, one who would question my decisions and orders, and care for the ones that I did make."
"Special," Rommie echoed, and smiled, the first smile of joy.
Dylan stepped closer, trying to encourage that line of thought. "That's right, Rommie. You ARE special. That's why you have to listen to me. Stop what you're doing. You know this isn't what either of us wants. You've been given corrupt orders-"
Rommie sniffed, and, though Dylan couldn't see it, Harper saw a tear fall down her cheek. "Orders. I forget, Captain. You're thinking about your crew again. Obviously you care more for them then you do for me. I don't mind telling you that I honestly don't care for them. I could just...watch them die. They're not like us. They're not even remotely Commonwealth." She laughed. "I hated all of them when they came on board. Beka, Harper, Tyr especially. I don't mind killing them for the High guard. But..you...Dylan, I do care about you. I don't like doing this alone. You're my Captain. Or at least you were." Dylan could hear a trace of bitterness in her voice.
Dylan said nothing.
She smiled angrily. "But we're drifting from the real topic, which is, 'What shall we do with Harper?' So long as he breathes he's a threat to my very existence. For one of us to live, the other has to die. But which one? Me, or him? Him or me? Man or machine? The variables are literally endless." She grinned. "Actually they're not. I want to live. He needs to die. Debate over." She reached forwards with her gloved hand and picked up Harper's dropped gun. "Nice knowing you, Harper."
Dylan stepped forwards in panic. "Rommie, don't! Listen to me-" he thought frantically. "Rommie, remember...remember the Pax Magellanic? Remember Gabriel?"
Rommie said nothing, her brown eyes burning.
"You were crying because Gabriel was forced to serve a insane AI. You cried when the Pax Magellanic committed suicide. Rommie, you wanted to be turned into scrap because you didn't want to become like them, and harm us! Remember how you cried!? Rommie, think!"
Rommie was silent for a long moment. "I remember you holding me," she said softly. "Your arms were warm."
A long moment of silence.
Rommie finally looked up. "If I drop this gun, and leave Harper alone...and leave the universe alone, would you come with me?" she asked, and for a moment there was a pleading note in her voice.
Dylan stared at her, not comprehending.
Rommie tried to explain. "If you left with me to the stars....if you held me again....I would stop everything. The Commonwealth and their orders. We..we would go someplace quiet, and never bother anyone ever again." She smiled, and her eyes were shining brightly. "Just..you and me, Dylan. And the stars. It's always been my dream. AI's can dream, you know. And they can love."
A long pause as Dylan finally understood. He shook his head. "No, Rommie. You know I can't do that. I swore my life to the Commonwealth. And so did you. I can't love you like that. But if let Harper go, and come with us to the machine shop, then things can be as they were. We would be a crew again. You would be yourself again. Rommie, please!"
Rommie tilted her head slightly and stared thoughtfully into Dylan's blue eyes. "It's too late for me," she whispered softly.
She suddenly whirled the gun around towards Dylan and squeezed the trigger. A blue light exploded in Dylan's chest.
Dylan grunted in surprise, and stared at Rommie in absolute shock. But only for a moment. Then, with a final breath, Dylan collapsed to the floor. Blood flowed heavily from his chest and gathered in a large pool beside him.
Rommie smiled, a twisted half-smile of evil. Within two seconds she had murdered her Captain.
"NO!" Harper screamed, and tried to grab the weapon from her.
Rommie grabbed his head and suddenly slammed it into the metal pole. Once. Twice. Three times. Blood was dripping down Harper's forehead. With her gloved hands she released him. His blue eyes very dazed, Harper slowly sank to his knees, clutching the metal pole. He fell to the ground without a word. Rommie did a quick scan, enough to confirm that she had put him in a coma from which he would never wake up.
Rommie then went to the dimly-powered reactor core. Andromeda's main power source. Rommie held up her gloved hands and touched the highly radioactive surface for a moment, then abruptly smashed her hands into it with a grunt of effort. Blue electricity danced through her arms, her body, and the floors and walls of the shattered hull of Andromeda. Smoke quickly filled the room as the lights went out instantly, as did gravity. Harper and Dylan's bodies slowly started to rise towards the ceiling. Rommie could hear every single generator on the ship power down. Forever. She had her own gravity source and could easily walk on the floor. With a glance of disgust at Dylan's sleeping face she turned and left.
"Main Reactor Core failure. Atmospheric pressure off-line. Environmental systems off-line. Navigation off-line. Gravity off-line. Life support off-line. Slipstream-"
Rommie left engineering and activated the door lock behind her just as the power went completely out. The engineering doors closed and locked. Now no one would be able to get them out, not even with the Netizschean's massive strength. She turned and left down the corridors.
In the endless darkness of engineering, Harper and Dylan's bodies slowly touched the ceiling, their eyes closed in eternal slumber. All was silent.
******************************
Rommie entered the Eureka Mary and strapped herself into the navigational seat, her face twisted with anger and bitterness. She manually opened the docking bay doors and left the ship through Beka's tiny salvage ship. She activated slipstream and was instantly gone.
**************
Harper and Dylan had been trapped for three hours, their bodies floating silently in the darkness. "Life support failing at fifteen percent. Life support failing-"
From the bridge Beka swore, lying on the ground underneath a mass of computer circuits. She wasn't Harper, and could barely figure out half of this stuff from the Mary. "Come on, dammit...come on." The station suddenly gaze a sickening sound and lit up briefly. Beka gave a tired cheer. "Life support back on line!"
*************************
Tyr glanced up from trying to burn through the engineering doors with a force lance. He was wearing a thick, heavy coat, and his breathe came out in puffs of frost. Frost lined his black hair, his coat, and the walls of the dark ship. "What about environmental systems?" he demanded.
************************
Beka sighed wearily. "Nothing yet. You?"
***********************
"These doors were meant to protect against intruders," Tyr snarled in reply. He shut down the force lance. "There's nothing I can do." He, Beka and Trance were wearing their own gravitational generators they found in storage. He turned to Trance, who was wearing a large silver coat to protect her golden body. Her red hair was also lined with frost, and she was touching the outside wall of engineering. "She's been like that for three hours. Just starring at nothing," Tyr snarled.
"Leave her alone, Tyr," Beka replied sharply over the com. "Figure out a way to get through those doors. Dylan's heart beat is almost gone."
Tyr growled in reply, a low snarl that came from deep in his heart.
Trance didn't even notice the exchange between Tyr and Beka. She didn't register either of their presences at all. Her golden eyes were closed in peaceful concentration. Trance's only sight was in engineering. Her essence was there. At first, she could see only blackness. Then she looked up, and gasped in horror.
Dylan and Harper were floating on the ceiling. Their skin was so blue, Trance was sure that they were dead. A large, gaping hole was in Dylan's chest. Neither of them appeared to be breathing. Both of them were covered in many layers of ice and frost. They would soon freeze to death.
Trance licked her red lips and found her voice. "Harper?"
Harper was unresponsive.
Trance looked up. "Harper, please, you have to listen to me. You have to wake up. You're our only hope now."
Unnoticed by anyone, Trance's very essence grew brighter with golden shimmering colors which penetrated the darkness. Those colors seemed to form other hands. One of them caressed Harper's forehead. "Harper?"
*****************************
Harper stirred slightly in the light.
A soft voice pierced his mind. "Harper, you have to wake up. Please? For me?"
Harper slowly opened his blue eyes. In front of him was the most beautiful creature he had ever seen. "Pretty..." he cracked weakly. Then his eyes started to close.
"No, Harper! Don't! Don't go back to sleep!" He heard the voice say.
Harper moaned. "My head hurts," he whispered. "Just...sleep..." his voice trailed away.
"Harper, look at me!" the voice commanded.
Slowly, Harper stared at the beautiful light. His eyes noticed red hair, and blue eyes. "Trance?" he whispered.
Trance nodded. "That's right, Harper. I'm your friend. I'm here."
"You're so pretty," Harper whispered.
Trance had to smile. "I know. Harper, we're trying to get to you but we need your help. Is there any way you can remove the lock to the doors?"
He closed his eyes and sighed irritably. "All the power's shut off, Trance. Nothing works."
"Try, Harper. You have to try and think of something!" Trance-light implored.
Harper tried to move his hand. It was so frozen he could barely feel it. The other was broken. Harper turned his head slightly, and instantly frost dropped from his blond hair. "Dylan?" he whispered.
The high guard Captain was unresponsive.
As Harper moved some more, his senses became alert. He felt like he was instantly plunged in ice water and shivered violently. "I-i-i-t's so c-c-c-old, Trance," he said weakly.
"I know," Trance replied. "We'll get you a nice warm coat and some hot chocolate soon, Harper. But for now, you have to focus. Find a way out."
Harper opened his frozen eyes more and looked around. Trance's light was illuminating everything in engineering. It was like the darkness was never really there.
Then he spotted the force lance floating in the air. He struggled to move and instantly cried out in pain. His head felt eight times bigger then it should be. His clothes were literally glued to the wall with all the ice and frost. He bit his lip, and kicked himself away from the wall.
He sailed in the air for a few moments before trying to grab the force lance. But he was too eager and missed. The second time he had it, but his grip was so numb that he soon lost it afterwards.
"Come on..." Trance cheered on.
Harper reached out once more and grasped it firmly in his hands. Then he suddenly burst into tears. He couldn't help it. Everything was lost now...Rommie was gone....
Trance stared at him with her large blue eyes. "Don't lose hope, Harper. Not now. There is always a bright, perfect future and we are going to find it. And you'll be there to see it." She was smiling now, his personal little angel. "Trust me."
Harper stared at her for a moment, before turning towards the door. The door locks were always on the inside so that people trapped in engineering could get out. Without any power they couldn't be disengaged. Harper charged the force lance, then starred at it doubtfully. How long had it been frozen? Long enough for its batteries to stop working?
"Do it," Trance whispered.
Harper glanced at Trance, only to find that she had disappeared. The room was dark again. "A bright, possible future," he echoed. He then pressed the trigger.
A single red bolt erupted from the force lance and cut both locks with a sizzling hiss. The doors opened, revealing a started Tyr. "Nevermind," Tyr said over the com. The entire Engineering was pitch black and dark. He entered the room, followed by a staggering Trance.
With his trained eyes he spotted Harper floating nearby, and Dylan attached to the wall. He walked across the room, his gravity plating humming. He then switched off his gravity and he went straight up to the dying Captain. He grabbed him from the wall, then turned his gravity back on. They both went back to the bottom.
Trance lifted herself up from the ground and grabbed Harper in her arms. She touched his still, hard blue face and took the force lance from his unconscious hand. "You did it," she whispered.
**************************
Dylan Hunt slowly awoke to the slow, steady pulse of the medical scanner. He opened his bewildered eyes and saw through his blurred vision that he was in the medical bay. The lights were on, and it wasn't cold at all. He slowly straightened.
Beka jerked from her sleep and activated the com. "He's awake!" she said quickly. She was beaming with happiness. "Front and center, soldier."
Dylan gave her another mocking salute, remembering the last time she had said that to him.
Trance arrived a few seconds later, with a large smile. "How do you feel?"
"Old," Dylan replied. "And...confused. What happened?"
"A lot of things, most very pleasant for our side," said a cheerful voice to his right. Dylan turned his head, and saw Harper laying on another medical bed. He obviously hadn't been there for very long, for he wasn't wearing the white medical outfit Dylan did.
"Are you-?" Dylan asked in confusion.
Harper waved a dismissing hand. "Hit my head a few times thanks to our Miss Andromeda. They got me checking in every few weeks, but my condition was nothing compared to yours."
"We almost lost you," Trance said.
"I'm glad you didn't...a few weeks? How long have I been here?" Dylan demanded.
"Only a month," Beka said. "Your condition was very serious. You lost a lot of blood."
That's when the truth hit Dylan. Hard. Everything was working perfectly in the medical bay, something which would have been impossible even with a month's worth of repair. He could hear the ship moving in slipstream. And if that wasn't enough he knew....he just knew the truth. "We're not on Andromeda anymore," he said flatly.
The others glanced at each other. "No. We're on the Commonwealth warship Fairwind, under the command of Captain Malis," Beka said. "He found us...crippled, almost frozen to death. He saved us. We have the Andromeda in tow, though, and we've been repairing it-"
A dozen questions filled Dylan's mind. "Rommie," he said suddenly. "What about her?"
Dylan saw a grim look pass through their eyes. "She took the Mary and left, Dylan," Beka said flatly. "She's still out there."
Dylan sighed, a long and heavy sigh.
"Enough," Trance said firmly. "Dylan needs to rest." She pushed his head gently back onto the pillow. "For now the important thing is that you're alive, Dylan, and so are we. The other stuff just...just has to wait."
Dylan nodded and closed his eyes. Damn, he did feel so tired. And sick. A few more hours of rest would do him some good.
He was instantly unconscious before he noticed the deeply worried look in Trance's blue eyes.
****************************
A few days later Dylan was allowed to briefly leave the medical bay and walk around. At first he could barely move his feet. He still felt dangerously weak, but still insisted on walking alone. As he walked down the hall a dozen officers saluted and offered to assist him. Dylan waved them away, but not before feeling a great deal of gratitude and...relief. Now it seemed like he wasn't so alone anymore. Dylan's face was deathly pale, and had a very large scar on his chest, but it was so good to be moving again...just thinking and doing something....
Up ahead he saw Harper walking and talking to Captain Malis. Dylan had only met the man once in his life. Captain Malis had a huge, massive body that was like Tyr's, but his eyes were gentle and he listened to every single officer's opinion. That was one reason why Dylan liked the man so much. Another was his fierce dedication to the Commonwealth.
"Absolutely not," Captain Malis was saying to Harper as they continued walking.
"Oh come on, it's the perfect solution!" Harper protested. "I mean, sure the details need a little refining, but in theory it could work!"
"In theory. I think Andromeda hit your head a little more harder then we thought, my friend," Malis said, turning to face Harper. "Look, Harper, what you're proposing...it's never even been done before! AI's are used for warships, people are not!"
"Well they don't call me super genius for nothing," Harper said cheerfully.
"Permanently interfacing with the Andromeda....do I really need to list what could go wrong?" Malis said. "Even if your brain cells aren't scrambled like an egg on a fryer, the possibility of expanding your mind a thousand times and then shrinking it...it's just too risky to even think about."
"All right, look Malis," Harper said with his hands raised. "In the days before we even got one world to create this very own very cool Commonwealth you're so fondly a part of, we were faced with all sorts of baddies imaginable. And in most of those cases, the only way we got out of those tight situations was with clever, imaginative solutions-"
"In the old days," Malis reminded him, clapping Harper on the shoulder. "Now, in case you haven't noticed, Harper, you're not alone anymore. You and your crew now have warships, other worlds, and billions of people willing to help you! We'll get another AI for the Andromeda after the repairs are done. You're a damn good engineer, Harper. Hell, you even managed to get that squeak out of the reactor core-"
"Well," Harper said, blushing a little. "That was nothing-"
"Captain Malis," Dylan said quietly.
Malis looked up. "Harper, why don't you help with the repairs on Andromeda. I know that's where you want to be right now. The Captain and I are going to take a little walk."
Harper nodded and left. Captain Malis joined Dylan and clasped his hand. "Captain Hunt. This is truly an honor."
"Captain Malis," Dylan said. "I want to thank you for everything that you've done. I see that my own crew has become quite attached to yours."
Captain Malis smiled, revealing large teeth. "They're your crew, Captain. I was just trying to keep them from being bored too much. Trance Gemini is quite a wonder, Captain. Beka Valentine is quite a very determined and focused lady. And Tyr...well frankly, Tyr scares the hell out of me. But all in all a quite exceptional crew. I have four thousand competent men and woman on this ship and yet I can't help but envy you."
Dylan coughed. "My crew is not yet complete, Captain," he reminded him. "What's the current situation?"
Malis' face turned serious. "It's bad, Dylan. Nearly half the AI's of the fleet are corrupted and have all taken refuge on a far world in the Alpha system. It seems like they want to start a little community. Or arrange an assault. A transport ship spotted the Eureka Mary landing there. It's a safe bet that Andromeda's with them."
"What do you plan to do?" Dylan demanded.
"Gather whatever fleet we have left, and nuke them to ash," Malis said sharply.
"You can't do that. They were corrupted because of the Commonwealth's orders," Dylan protested, and coughed.
Malis sighed heavily. "Dylan, we investigated that. I wish it was our fault. Then we would have some knowledge of our mistake. But it isn't. It's a virus, Dylan, plain and simple. Together they could hurt a lot of innocent people. This is our only chance to annihilate them while they're all together. The Commonwealth has given their approval of the situation."
"Then I'll protest their decision," Dylan said. "I'll-" the rest of his words were lost in a fit of coughing.
Malis stopped. "I'm sorry, Dylan. The Andromeda was a fine warship. The very best of the line. But you yourself went up against her, tried to talk to her, and now you can barely stand. You've done all you can." He smiled. "You've done beyond what any Captain would do for his Ai. But this situation is out of control. We're delivering you and your crew to the nearest Commonwealth base before rejoining the fleet."
A young woman approached them and saluted. "Captain! You're needed on the bridge."
"Excuse me," Malis said, and saluted Dylan.
Dylan returned it weakly as Malis walked away. He sighed and started to head back towards the medical bay.
He saw Trance approach him in the halls, her face very serious. "Dylan. We have to get out of here."
Dylan nodded weakly. "I know, Trance. As soon as we get back to the Commonwealth-"
"No, you don't understand. We have to leave NOW. They're not sending us back to the Commonwealth base, Dylan." Her eyes were very angry. "The Commonwealth considers us traitors. They're sending us to a prison camp to be executed."
Dylan quickly glanced left and right, before pulling Trance into an adjacent corridor. "What do you mean!?" Dylan demanded, gripping Trance's golden shoulder tightly.
Trance's eyes stared at him in sorrow. "They've been lying to you. They have been right from the beginning. They're going to send us all away quietly, and then blame everything on you."
A long pause. "Are you sure?" Dylan finally asked.
Trance nodded. "I...I saw it."
Dylan said nothing for a moment. "I want proof."
Trance was already shaking her head. "No, Dylan, we need to leave before-"
His grip on her tightened. "I want proof. Now."
Trance hesitated, then finally nodded. She led Dylan down several decks before she came to a closed door. Dylan saw that it was locked with hand identification. Trance took off her leather glove, and closed her eyes. A golden shimmer went from her heart and to her hand. The sensory plate glowed several different colors.
"Authorization accepted." The door opened with a hiss.
Dylan glanced at her in surprise. "Do you do that...with everywhere you go?"
"Sometimes. When I think people are lying to me," Trance replied.
Dylan hesitated to ask. "So you know about the-"
"Nova bombs. Yes. Right from the beginning," Trance finished. She pushed opened the door, and they both went inside.
At first, the room looked no more different then one of Harper's machine shops. Then Dylan saw something on the table covered entirely with a white sheet. At Trance's silent nod, Dylan weakly walked up to the table and peeled the sheet back.
And stared at his own face.
He fell back a step for a moment in astonishment, then glanced at Trance and approached cautiously. "An android?" he asked.
"Made to look exactly like you," Trance said. She had a small control panel in her hands. "But that's not all. Look." She flipped on a switch.
The android suddenly blinked to life. "It is with the deepest regret that I take all responsibility for the crimes I have committed against the Commonwealth. It was my intention to undermine the Commonwealth and plant a virus into all AI's to destroy the Commonwealth base from within. However, the virus has been improperly installed and has sent all AI's in question into a massacring race. My crew and I take all responsibility in the matters concerned, and await punishment." the android said perfectly in Dylan's voice, then switched off.
Dylan stared at Trance in astonishment. "I don't believe this! No one's going to believe that! I started the Commonwealth. Everybody knows that! They're not going to buy this for one minute-"
"It's very hard to deny what you did or did not say when you're dead," Trance pointed out softly. "And you'd be surprised what people will believe. For all they know you were making the Commonwealth and gathering fifty worlds together for a eating festival for the Magog."
Dylan glared at her. "Does the crew know?" he demanded.
"Beka does. The others don't," Trance replied.
Dylan's hand immediately went to his comlink.
Trance's gloved hand stopped him. "It'll be traced," she warned.
Dylan shook off her grasp and activated the com channel. "Beka. Harper. Tyr. Machine shop 3. Now."
Apparently the urgency was heard in the Captain's strained voice, for Beka, Harper, and Tyr arrived almost instantaneously. "Hey, boss. What's up?" Harper asked cheerfully.
Beka folded her arms and stared at the Captain. "So now you know," she said.
"Yes," Dylan replied.
Harper was utterly confused. "Know what?"
"A restricted area, a broken lock. Somehow I doubt the Captain is here to throw us a surprise party," Tyr said dryly.
Wordlessly Trance activated the message again. They listened to it, then said nothing for the longest time.
"Oh, man. They're going to send us to a Neitzschean prison camp for sure," Harper moaned.
"Assuming they don't execute us right away," Trance retorted softly.
Harper's eyes were filled with astonishment. "I trusted that guy! Crap, why is it that we never get one single break!?"
"One thing's for sure," Beka interrupted. "We can't stay here." Her blue eyes went to Dylan.
Dylan had said nothing during the entire exchange. Truth be told, he was more then disappointed with the Commonwealth. He was deadly FURIOUS. They had betrayed and endangered his life, and the lives of his crew to save their own petty agendas. He was also furious with Captain Malis, whom Dylan had once genuinely respected. Now he wasn't sure who, or what he respected. The Commonwealth had lied and betrayed him again and again. And, last but not least, they were now going to destroy his AI. For once, Dylan was so angry that he couldn't even speak.
Beka lifted her eyebrow as she suddenly heard rapid feet pounding against the ground, and then just as suddenly growing quieter.
"They're clearing out the deck," Trance said.
"I think they've tracked us," Beka said. "We have to get back on board the Andromeda."
"That would prove useless," Tyr snarled. "Even though most of our ship's functions are repaired, we still need an AI to engage Slipstream AND weapons! We should take this ship by force!"
Harper's face was, for once, just as angry as Tyr's. "Give me a few minutes and I can cripple their slipstream drive permanently-"
"No," Dylan said, so sharply that everyone jumped. "We all stay together." He winced, his face very pale. "We'll go back onto the Andromeda and...and..." he suddenly collapsed. Beka caught him just before he hit the floor.
"Trance, help him!" Beka said, passing him into Trance's arms.
Trance frowned and shook her head. "He's still lost so much blood. He's still very weak. Any great amount of strain could potentially put him in a coma for sure."
The lights suddenly flickered. They had cut power from the deck. As one Beka, Tyr, and Harper pulled out their guns. "All right," Beka said. "Harper, take point. Tyr-" She gestured behind her with her blond head.
Tyr nodded, his brown eyes filled with bloodlust.
Beka slung the High guard Captain's arm around her shoulder, and helped Trance move him quickly out of the machine shop. Harper went out first, his gun trained at everything. Trance and Beka followed next, shuffling along with Dylan in their arms. Tyr followed last, his massive gun trained in the corridors behind them.
The entire deck was empty. "I'm not reading any life signs," Trance said, starring at her wrist scanner. "The docking bay is just ahead."
All of them stopped dead in their tracks as they went through the doorway. Captain Malis was there, with a full security force. "We fooled your scanners," the Captain sneered. "There's nowhere for you to go. I suggest you hand your weapons over nice and easy." He blinked. "It's better that way for all of you."
Harper stared at him in pained betrayed. "Why, so you can send us to prison and kill us?"
Malis turned his head at the young engineer. "I'm sorry, Harper, but I have my orders. It would have been a lot easier had you not broken into that machine shop."
"Yeah, we're very resourceful," Beka snarled. "We're especially good at smelling at rat."
Dylan stirred slightly and lifted his head. He stared at Malis with sick eyes. "I...I trusted you..." he managed to whisper through numb lips.
Captain Malis stared at him in sympathy. "This is the last thing I wanted to happen. But the truth of the matter is that you all have to die for the greater good."
"The greater good!?" Beka barked. "Do you know what the Commonwealth did? They-"
"I know exactly what they did," Malis snapped. "They screwed up, and they screwed up big time. And now innocent people are dying."
Harper blinked in astonishment. "Then why-"
"Harper...Dylan, please try to understand," Malis said. "The Commonwealth is barely out of its infant stage. How do you think it'll look when word gets out that all those deaths were because of us? The Commonwealth will be ripped apart, and you all know that! We'll have chaos and the Night again, and absolutely no defenses against the Magog World ship. The Commonwealth must be preserved at all costs. Sacrifices have to be made. You understand that, Dylan."
Eighteen guns charged and were aimed straight at the crew.
"The Commonwealth preferred a show trail before an execution," Malis said. "But sometimes, you can't have things the way you want. Believe me when I say how sorry I truly am." He sighed. "Fire."
As one, the guards fired at the Andromeda crew.
Harper, being at the front, squeezed his eyes shut in fear and lifted his hand, as though that could fend off the bullets that came straight at him.
When all of a sudden the bullets hit a golden barrier and bounced away from all of them.
An astonished muttering came from the security force.
Trance stepped out from the crowd. "All of you get to the Andromeda," she said to the crew, her voice meek and quiet. "I'll take care of this."
Beka starred at Trance in astonishment. "Trance, no. We have to stick together-"
Trance tilted her head slightly, her face very strained. "Believe me, Beka, leaving right now would be very god for your own benefit. There are good sides and bad sides to everyone, and I would really prefer it if you didn't see my bad side."
Beka looked uncertain, when she abruptly nodded. "Come back soon."
Trance nodded silently.
Beka glared at the others. "Well, thanks for your hospitality," she sneered. "But we're leaving now."
Harper joined Beka in helping Dylan into the door which Andromeda was attached to. Tyr followed, a very low growl in his throat.
"And close the door behind you," Trance said.
The Andromeda crew departed.
Captain Malis glared at Trance. "WHAT are you!?"
"Believe me, no one wants to know the answer to that question," Trance replied, her gloved hands on her hips. "I don't have a lot of time right now. One of my friend is in trouble because of you and your Commonwealth. So I'll make this simple. There are only two possible futures for you. One, your ship renounces the Commonwealth, now and forever, and help us in a future time when we could really use your help. Or two, well....two is a future that you would not like to see happen to you, and it'll all happen because of me." She stared intently at the Captain. "You're a fair man. I don't usually give choices. Decide now."
Captain Malis stared at her for a long moment. Then, he snorted. "Tranquilizers-take her alive!"
The security guards fired straight at her, but not one of them hit Trance.
"Two it is, then," Trance said softly. She lifted her hands.
*****************************
Beka couldn't really explain what happened when Trance stepped through the airlock. Trance could see a lot of green smoke, and could hear a lot of agonized screaming. Trance looked tired and sad.
"Are you all right?" Beka asked her gently.
Trance glanced at Beka and nodded. "I will be."
"Now what?" Tyr demanded.
Dylan was conscious, but looked like he wouldn't be for much longer. "Harper. That impossible scenario you discussed with 'Captain' Malis." His voice was filled with contempt at the word 'Captain'. "Do it."
Harper looked surprised, then nodded. "Sure." He quickly made his way to engineering.
"Now what?" Beka asked, echoing Tyr.
Dylan was struggling to open his eyes. "Now, we go after Rommie. Who knows what kind of harm she's doing now."
***************************
Worlds away, Rommie was sitting by herself in an alleyway, beside a trash can. She could hear dozens of screams, agonized screams from far away. The other AI's were doing their job well. They would soon take over the world.
Sniffing, Rommie held up a pin of the Commonwealth insignia. Dylan had given it to her months ago. Starring at it, tears rolled down her cheeks. "What have I done?" she whispered in horror.
*************************
Beka and Tyr quickly made there way to the dark bridge. Trance had insisted that Dylan stay in the medical bay, at least for a few hours. "The new reactor core is working," Tyr said, pressing buttons at his station. "I have at least partial sensors."
"How are our Commonwealth friends doing?" Beka demanded.
"Their ship is heavily damaged, but they still have weapons and slipstream," Tyr said. "They have targeting sensors." He paused. "They're firing!"
Beka lurched in her station. "And we can't get away or fight back," she said with an irritated snarl. "Launch counter-defense measures. Fly randomly!" She activated the com. "Harper-"
***********************
"I'm hurrying, I'm hurrying! Harper snapped. He ran out of his machine shop with an assorted jumble of circuit boards and wires and entered engineering. It was still dark and cold inside. Harper still had a few nightmares about the place. He went into the nearest control station, and plugged the wires into assorted places. The station lit up with power. Harper held the last wire uncertainly. "Well, here goes," he finally whispered. He plugged the wire into his dataport, closed his eyes, and surrendered to the freezing abyss that awaited him.
*********************
"Counter-measures aren't responsive," Tyr said as the ship lurched again.
Beka bit her lip. "I just spent a month getting this bucket fixed. I'm not going to have it broken again!" She took a deep breath. "Can you-"
The bridge lights turned on, and Tyr's screen suddenly lit up. "Slipstream...active?" Tyr said in disbelief. "I have weapons...defense drones...missiles..."
Beka didn't bother to consider where this new incredible stroke of luck came from. "I'm getting us out of here!" she shouted. She activated Slipstream and instantly went through it, leaving the other ship far behind. She made at least a dozen jumps before breathing again. "Whew," she said in relief.
Tyr was grinning broadly. "Don't tell that little man that I ever said this, but this time I could easily term him as a genius."
"Thank you," Harper said cheerfully over the speaker. Over multiple speakers. All over the ship.
Beka looked around, confused. "Harper?"
"Yeah, boss?" Harper asked.
Beka stepped down from her station. "Where are you?"
"Right here." A hologram of a grinning Harper appeared right in front of her. Beka screamed in surprise and jumped right into Tyr's arms.
The screen flicked on with Harper's face. "And here. And, well...everywhere."
Beka tried to understand the situation, without much success. "You've infused yourself with..the ship?"
"Yep," Screen-Harper replied. "I am Andromeda, and, more specifically, Andromeda is me. I control every aspect of this ship and its thousands of wicked functions. I control weapons, drones, the maintenance androids, internal defenses-"
"Divine forbid," Tyr said underneath his breath. "It's a nightmare come true." He rested his head on his hand. "And just how did you accomplish this feat without bursting every single one of your brain molecules, boy?"
"Ah," Holo-Harper said after a moment, looking distinctly uncomfortable. "A genius never tells his secret, as you have so called me, Tyr."
Beka folded her arms. "No, really, just how did you do that, Harper?"
Harper coughed. "Well, um....of course to confiscate for the difference I sorta...sorta had to inject myself with nanobots to increase my brain power slightly."
"You what?" Beka demanded. "Harper, you above all people should know how dangerous that is-"
"Potentially dangerous, Beka! Potentially dangerous!" Harper protested. "It hasn't been proven as life-threatening-"
"Yeah, because everyone is smart enough not to try!" Beka said, looking angrier by the minute. "Well, you got us out of a mess. Now I want you to go back to your body right now!"
"Huh," Harper said quietly. "That."
Beka whirled around. "What do you mean, 'that'!?" Beka said.
Harper was even looking more nervous. "Well, the thing is, Beka-"
"Oh, wait, don't tell me this one, because Beka Valentine can figure it out all without frying her brain!" Beka snapped. "You don't know how."
"Working on it," Harper said, trying to sound happy. "Um...Harper out." The screen and hologram disappeared before Beka could say another word.
Beka stared at the empty air for a moment, before heading out the door.
"Where are you going?" Tyr asked.
"Oh, I'm going to grab a information universe provider and then I'm going to give Harper a little virtual ass-kicking!" she snapped.
At that moment she ran into Dylan, who was dressed in his Commonwealth uniform. "Don't blame Harper," he said weakly. "I ordered him to. I had no other choice."
All thoughts of Harper disappeared as soon as she saw her Captain. "I thought you would never wear that again," she said softly.
His face was very pale and strained as he touched his uniform. "I'd like to think...that some part of the two years I spent meant something," he said, very softly.
Beka was startled by the tone in his voice. It was a tone she had never head before. "You have us," she said quietly.
Dylan smiled. A little. "That I do," he agreed. "Now let's find our lost crew member."
***************************
Two days later Beka joined up with Tyr as he was walking towards the bridge. "You look nervous," she remarked.
"Trusting the very air I breathe and the very steps I walk to that little professor gives me little confidence," Tyr said.
Holo-Harper appeared, folding his arms. "I heard that," he said.
"Of course you did, Harper," Beka said coldly. "You're the ship now. You hear everything!"
The screen of Harper appeared. "She looks tense," screen-Harper remarked.
"Probably lack of sleep," holo-Harper said.
"What? With the way she snores?" screen-Harper protested.
With an angry snarl Beka went straight through Holo-Harper and continued on her way to the bridge with Tyr.
"Now that was just rude," Holo-Harper said.
"Definitely lack of sleep," screen-Harper replied.
"Probably worried about us," Holo-Harper said.
"We should reassure her," screen-Harper said.
"Right," Holo-Harper agreed, then lifted his digital eyebrow. "Still on for a game of Terian Whisk tonight?"
"With you? Ha," screen-Harper said, rolling his eyes. "You cheat." He turned off.
Holo-Harper shook his head. "Oh, please. Everyone knows who's the cheater on this ship." And disappeared.
***********************************
Holo-Harper re-appeared as Beka and Tyr joined Dylan and Trance. Dylan still looked weak, perhaps even weaker then before. But his eyes were never more focused. "All right, here's the plan," Dylan began. "Rommie and fourteen other AI's have taken hold of the main capital of this world." The picture of a small green world appeared on the screen. "Intelligence reports that this Captain is heavily armed with nuclear missiles, powerful enough to obliterate through any defenses."
"And that cheerful little prediction will be fully operation in sixteen hours," Harper said.
"Our job is to go in, and disable these androids from doing that before the rest of the Commonwealth arrives."
Tyr was puzzled. "Don't you mean destroy them?"
"No," Dylan said. "It's not their fault that they're behaving this way. I want them all off-line if possible. Killing their mainframes only comes as a last resort. Beka, I want you, Tyr, and Trance to take an escape pod to the east side of the Capital and work your way west. Be extremely careful! We saw what kind of damage Rommie did."
"The escape pods can only take us one way, Dylan," Beka pointed out. "They won't bring us back to the Andromeda."
"I'm counting on us finding the Eureka Mary somewhere," Dylan said. "Harper, you're our back-up plan. You'll provide emergency fire if worst comes to worst. Any good blast from your missiles should be enough to destroy all of them."
"What about you?" Trance asked gently.
"I'll be taking the other escape pod," Dylan said. "And I'm going after Rommie. I'm going to bring her back to the ship, and I'm going to repair whatever those...whatever the Commonwealth did to her."
"That may not be possible, Dylan," Beka protested.
Dylan glared at her with his intense blue eyes. "I'm going to bring her back, Beka. Or die trying. It's that simple." He stared at all of them. "Get suited up."
Beka silently watched Dylan as he left the bridge.
*************************
Tyr was putting on his glove outside the escape pod. "Boy. Where's Beka Valentine?"
Holo-Harper appeared. "You know, Tyr, I'm the most powerful warship in the universe. I would appreciate it if you didn't call me that considering all the nasty things I can do to you!"
Tyr tilted his head, starring at Harper thoughtfully. "Really. And just how many functions of this warship have you mastered so far?"
Harper looked uncertain. "Four."
Tyr lifted his eyebrow.
"Out of two-hundred thousand," Harper finished reluctantly. "But I'm learning very fast! I just need more time-"
"I'm not interested in your excuses," Tyr said. "Where is Beka Valentine?"
Harper closed his eyes and sighed. "Scanning." His blue eyes opened. "Oh, crap." And he disappeared.
He reappeared in front of Dylan as he was making his way to the escape pod. "Dylan."
Dylan jumped and stared at the young engineer/warship. Truth be told, it was kinda weird having Harper do that all the time and not Rommie. "What is it, Harper?"
"I'm not detecting Beka's life signs anywhere on the ship. And one of the escape pods is missing," Harper said
Dylan's blue eyes slowly widened with horror.
*******************
On the planet below Rommie was sitting alone at the very edge of a rooftop, starring down at the hundreds of fires below. She was wearing black leather pants, a white tank top and a large black trenchcoat. She was playing with her red hair. "I was wondering who was coming to try and kill me."
Beka Valentine stood silently behind Rommie, her arms crossed and her blue eyes starring at the android.
calm brown eyes. "So. You've come to kill me," she said. "Or to try."
"Someone has to stop you, Rommie! You've hurt too man people already!" Beka retorted. "Dylan may not be able to, but I am!" She took out her gun and aimed it at Rommie's head.
Rommie tilted her head thoughtfully. "Then he's alive?" she asked mildly. Without waiting for a response she suddenly rushed Beka, moving too fast even for Beka's lightning reflexes. Bullets of ice-blue barely missed Rommie' head by a millimeter as Rommie side-stepped Beka, kicked away her gun and shoved her away.
With a surprised grunt the first officer stumbled back a few places and fell to the ground. With a snarl Beka grabbed her twelve-inch blade from her boot and threw it at Rommie with deadly accuracy towards the android's heart.
Rommie lifted her right hand in front of her chest. The blade sank into the middle of her palm and caught in synthetic bone. Slowly, very slowly Rommie removed the blade from her hand. Then, her face devoid of mercy, the avatar walked towards the defenseless first officer.
*******************
Dylan and Tyr ran towards the escape pods. "Dammit! Once, just once I wish someone here would follow my orders!" Dylan swore. "Why did she run off?"
"Apparently your first officer believed that your emotional attachment with the robot would compromise your ability to stop this crises," Tyr replied.
'I'm aware of my priorities, Tyr," Dylan retorted sharply as he opened the door to the escape pod. "And I'm aware of what's at stake. Harper, is everything in place?"
"Yeah, Dylan. Sent two robots to bring it over," Harper said. "It's waiting for you at the surface with Trance."
"Good," Dylan said, and strapped himself in. Tyr was doing the same.
They could hear Harper's voice over the speaker. "For safety reasons, please keep escape pod door shut at all times. Absolutely no eating, drinking, smoking while in trans-space. No pets are permitted on board. Ques'tin Bora Dosing-"
"HARPER!!!"
"Sorry, sorry. Some of my nanobots are inadvertently connecting with the Commonwealth Standard Protocols." A pause. "Okay, here we go!"
The escape pod was launched.
Tyr turned to face the Captain. "You've had plenty of opportunities to destroy the robot. You neglected to do so, putting your crew's survival in constant risk!"
"Rommie's a member of my crew, Tyr," Dylan said cooly. "She's no less different or important then you or Beka."
Tyr's eyebrow raised. He smiled a little, obviously enjoying that answer. "Are you sure that's the only reason?"
"The only reason that matters," Dylan replied firmly.
"Then...consider this, Captain Hunt. She is different from us. She is faster then either of us and ten times stronger. How to you plan to...disassemble her intentions?"
Dylan looked away. "I'll think of something," he said softly.
Tyr leaned back and smiled. "Everything has a weakness. Though you may not have feelings for her, she obviously have feelings for you."
*****************
Beka's body flew across the rough concrete and hit the wall sharply.
"Now I understand," Rommie snarled angrily, walking towards the battered first officer. "The way you two looked at each other in the corridors, the way your eyes met. What really happens when you engage privacy mode!?" With a single jerk of her wrist she threw Beka's knife downwards.
Beka managed to move just out the way as the blade hit the ground with a spark and was buried half-deep into the concrete. She did not manage to dodge Rommie's kick, which seemed to go through her entire body. She choked in pain.
Rommie smiled thinly. "Dylan always liked strong woman. Now I know why he rejected me. He only has eyes for you!" She grabbed Beka's shoulder and jerked the human to her feet. "Isn't that right, Beka Valentine?"
Beka managed to smile with bloodied lips. "Yes, Rommie it is. And you know what? He enjoyed every moment of it, hiding away from you. What did you expect? How could he possibly get pleasure from just a machine-"
With a shriek Rommie slammed Beka's body against the wall through the concrete and pulled her back, bruised and bloodied. She dragged Beka's body against the ground, then lifted it at the edge of the rooftop. Through her swollen eyes Beka could see thousands of fires below. It seemed like a very long way down.
'I'm going to die,' Beka thought without a shade of doubt.
Rommie was now smiling again. "Can you fly without your precious ship?" she asked.
Without waiting for a reply Rommie threw Beka over the roof with one hand.
**************************
Beka was screaming, the air whistling through her blond hair, as she plummeted into an endless abyss of darkness.
In reality, she fell only one level.
As she fell, her leather pant leg snagged on a loose wire of an emergency metal staircase, cutting her bare skin badly. She instantly jerked to a halt, the breath leaving her lungs in a giant rush of air. She blinked, then made a frantic grab for the metal grating of the staircase above her head. She had been given one chance at life-she sure as hell wasn't going to waste it. She made a desperate aerobic swing that Dylan would have been proud off, and gripped the metal grating with both hands before the leather tore off. Her arms shaking with the strain, Beka managed to wrap her legs onto the edge of the staircase, before managing to grab the railing and hauling herself to safety.
Beka collapsed to the ground, her bruised body shaking with sobs. She, Beka Valentine, who had faced Magog and Kaldarans and Commonwealth Protocol with an iron will...she was so terrified now she could barely breathe. Only pure, dumb luck had saved her...and just barely. Tears trickling down her pale face, Beka looked up.
Rommie didn't look down at her. The robot must have assumed that Beka was dead and didn't even bother to watch her die.
Beka's fear slowly dissolved into anger. She stood and did a mental assessment of herself. Overall, it was bad. Her body felt like it had gone through a grinder. Blood was trickling down her chest and legs, and multiple bruises covered her body. And, to add to the insult, Rommie had destroyed a VERY expensive pair of leather pants.
And...she had really scared Beka, and Beka didn't like to be scared.
She limped up the metal staircase onto the roof level. Round 2 was just about to start with this bitch.
********************
Meanwhile, half a continent away, Trance Gemini stood on a hilltop overlooking the main city. All that she could really see through her grief-stricken eyes was fire. Screams of pure agony rolled across the wind with the ash. Trance lowered her head and wept. A moving star was slowly approaching the surface and landed near Trance.
Dylan kicked away the smoking escape pod door. "Trance! Are you all right?" he demanded, gripping her golden elbows.
"There's just...so much death..." Trance whispered through her sobs. "I can feel it."
Dylan hugged her, his blue eyes silently watching the city burn.
"If I can interrupt this tender moment, it might be significant to know that I have not been able to contact Beka Valentine," Tyr said. He was carrying a very heavy weapon over his shoulder.
Dylan nodded as Trance pulled away, sniffing. "The plan stays the same. I want you and Trance to deactivate these androids. Contact Harper for cover fire if you need it."
Tyr glanced at Dylan. "Don't you now mean, 'destroy'?"
"Deactivate," Dylan said firmly. He looked towards the west. "I'm find Beka and Rommie."
"Dylan," Trance said quietly. "Be careful. Just because something's made of metal doesn't mean it doesn't have life."
Dylan nodded silently, then jogged down the hilltop towards the city to find transport.
"Sentimental words," Tyr snarled.
Trance tried to wipe away her tears. "You don't believe androids have a soul?" she asked.
"I don't believe any of us do," Tyr said, and smiled. "And certainly not me." He lifted his weapon, eager to find some robots to seriously hurt. This was the time when he had the most fun. "Come on."
*******************
Rommie was walking towards the door which would lead back to the building when Beka suddenly jumped on top of the android. They both fell to the ground.
Beka turned the astonished robot to face her and began punching her in the face with her bare fists. "Here's....a...little...human....insight..Rommie!" Beka managed to snarl during her punches.
Rommie lifted her eyebrow. "It's interesting. But pathetic," she said. She gave Beka a little push, and Beka flew eight feet away. Beka struck the wall sharply and fell to the ground.
Rommie stood and slowly dusted off her uniform. "I underestimated you," she said.
Beka lifted her head from the ground. "You underestimate all of us humans!" she spat. She struggled to her feet. "And now I'm going to show you just what a human can do!"
Rommie tilted her head. "All you're going to show me is just how much you can bleed. You're a human, made of bone, tissues, and weak regenerative powers. I'm made of steel. It's pointless to even fight me, because you will never win."
Beka wiped the blood from her lips. "Does that mean that you don't want to fight?" she demanded.
Rommie smiled. "No. I just wanted to point that out before I kill you."
With a angry scream Beka launched a fist at Rommie. Rommie caught the fist in her own hand and slowly, very slowly, proceeded to break Beka's wrist.
The first officer screamed in agony, but her blue eyes glared at Rommie defiantly. Rommie shoved Beka with her finger, who fell to the ground.
Rommie crouched down beside the human woman. "Look at you," Rommie said, her voice filled with wonderment. "You're already hurting so much.....and I barely even have a scratch. Strange how after two years of trying to be human...I never realized how different I am. I have to thank you for informing me." She lifted her clawed hand, about to rip through Beka's chest as easily as butter and grab her living heart.
When suddenly an iron claw gripped Rommie's neck. Gasping in surprise, she tried in vain to fight back as she was slowly lifted upwards. She grabbed the hand desperately, but just as Beka had no chance against Rommie, neither did Rommie against this new foe.
She was finally lifted to her feet, and met the cold eyes of Dylan Hunt. "You're the bad one," Dylan said softly. "Visualization confirmed."
Rommie frowned in puzzlement.
Beka stared in astonishment at Dylan's sudden new strength. "D-Dylan?" she whispered.
Dylan glanced at her. "Run. Dylan tells you to run. Help big man and girl and little annoying man ship." He paused. "Now."
Beka barely nodded and got out of there.
Rommie was lifted off her feet, her boots unable to touch the ground. Rommie stared at the Captain in astonishment, and for once the possibility of defeat flickered in her eyes. "You're not Dylan," she said softly.
"No," Dylan replied. "I'm the Dylan avatar. They liberated me from Commonwealth ship. Commonwealth did bad things to Rommie. Have to destroy Rommie, for her own good."
Rommie chuckled. "Well, there's just one problem with that," she said. "You've barely been activated for what...ten minutes? I've been active for two years!"
So saying, she grabbed his strong hand and twisted. Dylan released her, and she fell to the ground with a snarl. She kicked him in the side with her heel. He blocked her, and punched her in the abdomen. She stumbled back, startled by his strength. She lunged at him. Dylan blocked again, grabbed her wrists and twisted. Rommie flipped, but landed smoothly back on her feet. Her brown eyes were focused and determined, her body bent in a half-crouch. She struck with her heel. Dylan side-stepped her, and lashed out with his fist. Rommie dodged, and grabbed his arm. She twisted it around so hard that it tore apart in his socket. Dylan didn't even seem to notice, and hit her leg with his own, making her drop to one knee. Dylan punched her in the mouth.
Instantly Rommie felt some of her back teeth shatter from the force of the blow. She tried not to notice the pain and in one, sweeping motion, she circled back onto her feet and slapped him with the strength to break his neck. He turned to face her, his head bent at an odd angle as Rommie backed away, the fight only just beginning.
**********************
Meanwhile, Beka joined the battle in the capital city.
It was literal chaos. Thousands of people were running and screaming past her and the burning Capital. Assorted shots flew out of nowhere. Fires were freely burning. Somehow, in the crowd, Beka spotted her friend Trance. "Trance!"
"Beka!" Trance shouted back. "I thought you were-"
"I was what!?" Beka snapped angrily.
Trance hesitated. "I didn't know what to think. There are some things even I don't know."
Beka smiled a little in spite of herself. "Where's Tyr?"
Trance shrugged. "Tyr's having the time of his life." She pointed with her leather glove.
Beka looked up. She could see Tyr standing on a wagon of assorted clothes, firing his massive machine gun and laughing.
Beka looked at Trance in concern. "He is firing at androids...right?"
"Let's hope," Trance said. "Beka, most of the androids are together in the palace. We've just managed to evacuate the last people."
Beka nodded. "I'm going to call Harper. Tell him to send down missiles on the palace."
Trance gripped Beka's arm. "Beka, no. Dylan said he wanted these androids alive!"
"People are dying, Trance," Beka said patiently. "This is our only opportunity. I say we take it." She activated the com link. "Harper, we need cover fire."
No reply.
Concerned, Beka tried again. "Harper, respond!"
Still no response.
Beka was getting frantic. "Harper, come in! We need you!"
************************
"Harper, respond!"
Harper would have liked to, but he was a bit busy at the moment. The ship jerked as two decks exploded in fire from attacking missiles. "Dammit!" Holo-Harper swore. "Open a com channel!"
The screen lit up. Holo-Harper blinked in astonishment. "Captain...Malis?"
Malis stared at him in equal surprise. "Harper? My Gawd...you actually did it! You're the ship!"
Holo-Harper instantly was angry. "You left me little choice, 'Captain'. What are you doing here?"
"Not just me. I have at least twenty Commonwealth with me as back-up. You're surrounded, Harper."
Holo-Harper blinked. "You're bluffing."
Captain Malis shrugged. "See for yourself."
Holo-Harper terminated the link. "Screen! Screen!" he ordered. The screen lit up. Holo-Harper gulped, and saw that Captain Malis wasn't bluffing. There were twenty-eight Commonwealth ships around him, and more entering through Slipstream. He wouldn't survive.
Captain Malis returned. "As you can clearly see, Harper, you can't win. And neither will your androids. Surrender peacefully, and I promise that nothing will happen to you."
"Dylan and the others are already on the surface, trying to deactivate the androids themselves! All they need is more time! Malis, please, we're all on the same side here!" Holo-Harper pleaded.
"I'm sorry, Harper. But you and your crew have run out of time," Captain Malis said. He turned his head. "All missiles to the planet!"
Holo-Harper blinked, then slowly closed his eyes in concentration. The Andromeda hummed as it moved towards the front of the planet.
Malis stared at him in outright astonishment. "What are you doing?"
"I'm sorry too," Holo-Harper snapped. "But my crew are down there. If you want to destroy them, you're going to have to go through me first."
"Harper, don't do this," Malis implored. "You know you can't win."
"You'll have to destroy the ship...and me," Holo-Harper said, looking down.
A long pause. "You're a good man, Harper. The Commonwealth would have certainly benefitted from you all.....but the thing is, Harper, your crew and the Commonwealth are on two different sides. And you don't know how different those sides are." Malis' eyes were sad. "And in a way, I'm glad you won't live to know." His voice was heavy. "All ships, fire on Andromeda when ready."
The Andromeda shook from the impact from the first missiles. "Hull integrity compromised," screen-Harper said. "Man, we're screwed!"
"What about weapons?" holo-Harper demanded.
"We don't have any weapons!" Screen-Harper snapped. "And even if we did, we never figured out how to use them!"
"Great, just great," Holo-Harper muttered.
"Another volley!" Screen-Harper warned.
"Well, do something!" Holo-Harper shouted.
Screen Harper shrugged. "What?" he asked.
The Andromeda rocked hard to the right. Holo-Harper shook his head angrily. "Oh, nuts to this," he said, and closed his eyes and disappeared. So did the screen Harper. The bridge instantly went dark.
***********************
Harper opened his blue eyes slowly as different versions of reality merged with him. He groaned and lifted his very real head. "Ow...." he took out the wire in his dataport with a hand that was asleep. Harper felt tired, and weak, and very, very thirst. He stood unsteadily onto his feet as the ship trembled, reminding him of the task at hand. He managed a half-stumble out of the machine shop and into the corridor. He had to run. Move faster. Biting his cracked lip, Harper forced his unsteady legs into a run.
He finally managed to reach engineering. He opened the doors a tiny crack, went inside, and barely managed to cling onto the control station just as the ship trembled violently as the first volley of missiles hit the ship. The lights dimmed, and flickered out. Ship's systems exploded, one after another. The roof collapsed above him as he frantically worked at the controls before they lost power. The new Reactor core in front of him began to glow a light green that lit the darkness.
The com flickered back to life. "Harper, we're reading a massive power build-up in your reactor core. It can't stand the stress much longer!" Malis said with genuine concern.
"So?" Harper demanded, still working.
"So blowing yourself up won't solve anything!" Malis said.
"Oh, you know me, Malis, just thinking outside the box, as usual," Harper replied. "Just to let you know, ladies and gentleman, I am in fact stimulating the conditions of a miniature sun in my reactor core. If it implodes, it will destroy everything on this ship, including me, the bridge, the medical bay...the nova bombs."
A long pause.
"What do you suppose would happen if even one of those little nova bombs should activate in the explosion? Combined with a sun...why, it would turn everything in this system to dust and the slipstream routes for the next billion years. Including your ships."
"There's no reason for them to activate!" Malis snarled, but there was an edge of uncertainty in his voice.
"Yes, there is," Harper said. "Because I'm going to activate ALL of them myself right now." So saying, he left engineering and ran towards the machine shop.
"You're insane!" Malis said over the speakers. "You'll destroy yourself and your friends anyway!"
Harper had to laugh. "Considering that my only other option is to let you kill me and my friends....I prefer the option where I get to blow you bastards out of the sky with me in a very beautiful and tidy explosion." He entered the machine shop. In front of them were twenty nova bombs. He activated them all one at a time by hand. "There. It's done." He smiled. A little. "I told you, Malis, that during the dark ages we had to think of inventive solutions. I guess we still are in the dark ages." His eyes hardened. "You've got one minute."
Malis' voice was firm. "I have my orders."
"Too bad for you. Forty-five seconds until we're all blown to smithereens. Harper out," Harper said and terminated the communications. It was very quiet on the ship. His hands shaking, Harper opened a crate by the nova bombs and took out a large bottle of genuine Earth whiskey. He opened it and chugged it down. Waiting to die.
*********************************
Meanwhile, on the surface Beka side-stepped an android's swinging fist. She whirled around, kicking him to the ground. Wordlessly she grabbed her gun and fired it several times at the android's head. Its body convulsed as its head tore apart, then became still in the dirt.
Beka turned away. It had been a tough battle so far. Blood was dripping from a gasp in her shoulder into two small trails of crimson down her arm. Her left wrist was broken in dozens of places, and she limped when she walked. By now Tyr had run out of ammo and was fighting with his bare fists. And they still had to deal with the robots in the palace.
Beka sighed as the android she had just shot blinked to life and proceeded to stand. She threw it over her shoulder and prepared to begin another round.
Meanwhile, an android had approached Trance. Trance softly blew him a kiss, her breath filled with rosy light. The android fell to the ground, convulsing. She then looked up. "Beka...are those supposed to be there?" She pointed at the stars.
Beka followed her gaze and saw several ships approaching the planet. Her eyes widened with terror.
**********************************
The Dylan android grabbed Rommie and threw her against the side of the wall. Her body slammed against the concrete, making it crack and almost break. With a face devoid of expression he threw her across the roof.
She twisted and landed on her two face in a half-crouch. Her head jerked up at Dylan as he approached her. With a determined scowl she punched straight through his chest and out the other side. She missed his main power supply by a bare millimeter! To her horror she saw that her hand was stuck.
Dylan lifted his hand, and slammed it down against Rommie's forearm. It broke off at the elbow in an explosion of sparks, releasing her. Rommie kicked him in the head, and he stumbled backwards.
Rommie favored her severed arm for a moment, her brown eyes very cold. She tucked and rolled as Dylan droid made a grab for her, and rolled again as he tried to grab her red hair. She tripped him with her boot. Wordlessly he fell beside her. She lifted her heel and with one precision kick she severed his head from his body.
They both jumped to their feet. Even headless Dylan droid could still operate, though blind. He made a clumsy grab for her. Rommie dodged and tried to kick him in the chest. Dylan somehow blocked and slashed her face with his nails, which were as tough as steel claws. It cut straight through her forehead down to her cheek, revealing a metal interior. She shoved him away.
Dylan ran into a metal railing. With his hands he grabbed a rusty pole and pulled it apart. He turned to face Rommie, reaching out with his sensors to her location.
Rommie, breathing hard, did nothing for a moment. Then she ran straight at him, determined to end this conflict once and for all.
Dylan blocked her fists, and hit her once in the head with the pole. Her head jerked downwards from the impact. Dylan then abruptly turned and impaled the pole straight through her chest and out to the other side of her body. Rommie gasped in pain, then pulled her body forwards, gloved her hand gripping the metal. She pulled herself until she and Dylan were eye to eye, Dylan still gripping the pole. Then, her face twisted in pain, she grabbed Dylan's shoulders with her two bare hands she ripped Dylan apart in two. He fell to the ground, nothing more then scrap.
Rommie fell to her knees with a cry of pain. She stared at nothing, her body sparking in a dozen places from the rain. Then, slowly, she gripped the pipe lodged in her abdomen and took it out of her. Vital fluid poured out of her body. Her expression still blank, Rommie slowly crawled her way to the edge of the rooftop. "Secondary power supply...not functioning....main power supply....critical....vital systems....severely damaged...unable to repair.....termination and non-retrieval.....iminate..."
She reached the edge and closed her eyes with a soft sigh. Resting her head against the cold concrete, Rommie waited to die.
************************
Dylan Hunt ran up the steps and broke through the door leading to the roof. Damn, his duplicate was fast. His blue eyes spotted Rommie laying on the ground. "Rommie!" he shouted, and ran to her side.
"Dylan?" Rommie whispered, her brown eyes confused. "But....but I killed you..."
"Don't try to move," Dylan said, inspecting the damage. It was very bad. "Maybe Harper-"
"No, Dylan," Rommie said, with a small smile. "It's too late."
Dylan stared at her face, not comprehending. He gripped her face in his trembling hands. "Rommie, stay with me. I'm going to get you help-"
"My power cells have been hit," Rommie whispered. "The damage is too severe. There's nothing anyone can do now."
Dylan, his face filled with stunned astonishment, slumped down to the ground beside her. This was the worst case scenario he could have ever imagined.
Her hand weakly gripped his. "Stay with me, Dylan," Rommie whispered. "Please. There's still....there's still a little time left...."
************************
Meanwhile, Harper stirred slightly and yawned. Damn. Interfacing with the entire ship was sure as hell more taxing then he had thought. Harper grinned as he chugged down the rest of the alcohol. Nothing a little drinkie couldn't cure.
On the white screen opposite him he saw red numbers ticking down. Eighting...seventeen....pretty, he thought, as he helped himself to another drink. For some strange reason he thought he was forgetting something.....
************************
"Look!" Beka pointed to Tyr on the surface. "The ships are veering off!"
Tyr watched them with his trained eyes. She was right. The ships were indeed retreating back into Slipstream. Tyr grinned. "Miserable cowards."
Beka activated the com link. "Harper, whatever you did you've just earned a month's wages!"
A pause. "Whatsiz?" Harper asked over the com.
"You did it!" Beka congratulated.
Another pause. "Beka? Is that you? Hey, are you in the ship now?" Harper slurred.
Beka frowned. "Harper...have you been drinking!?"
"Um....no?" Harper said, and hiccuped with a laugh.
Beka glanced at Tyr in astonishment. "He's drunk! I can't believe he's drunk at a time like this! Harper, look, I want you to run a diagnostic of all systems-"
"Busy," Harper said. "I'm watching the numbers."
Beka frowned. "What numbers?" she snarled at him.
"The ones that are counting down," Harper replied cheerfully.
Beka froze. The ships left in an awful hurry...."Harper listen to me because this is very important. What do the numbers stand for?"
"I dunno," Harper said. "How am I supposed to remember every little thing-oh yeah, they signal when the nova things are about to explode! See, I remember stuff-"
"NOVA BOMB?" Beka shouted.
"Bombs, actually," Harper corrected with a giggle.
Trance activated link. "Harper, it's Trance," she said calmly.
"Hey, Trance," Harper said. "Are you down on the planet too?"
"Yes," she said, trying to keep her voice steady. "Harper, why don't you turn off the nova bomb-"
"We don't have time for this," Tyr snarled at her. He touched his neck. "BOY, TURN OFF THOSE DAMNABLE BOMBS! NOOOOWWWW!!!!"
***********************
Harper stirred and sighed. "Fine, fine," he grumbled. "Always have to do everything..." He turned off the first nova bomb. Maybe the others wouldn't noticed if he just turned off the first one. "There. Happy?"
"All of them?" Beka demanded suspiciously.
Harper sighed. "No, but-"
"ALL OF THEM!" Tyr screamed into the ship's speakers. "RIGHT NOW!"
With an irritated groan Harper switched them all off. "Fine, fine! They're all switched off!" He went back to the floor. "Now let me get some sleep."
*********************
On the planet, Beka glanced at Tyr and breathed a sigh of relief. "Remind me never to put him in charge ever again."
*********************
Rommie and Dylan lay together, side by side. The gaping wound in her chest was still sparking whenever rain hit it. She turned her head slightly to Dylan. "I never meant to hurt you," she whispered, a tear falling down her cheek.
"I know," Dylan said gently. "Don't worry about that now, Rommie."
"I had my orders," Rommie said. "The Commonwealth...we're not like them. They don't understand us." She reached out to touch his cheek. "You're important, Dylan. You have a purpose."
"So are you," Dylan said. "I'm still not...I'm still not..." He looked away, unable to say anything else.
Rommie smiled. "I was nothing that day, remember? I was....just waiting to be scrap. You came for me. Then I became a warship."
"You're more then that, Rommie," Dylan said sharply. "Much more. Don't ever think otherwise, even to your last breath." He moved into a sitting position and looked down at her. "You're a person, Rommie. I don't even see a machine."
Rommie was struggling to breathe now. "You told me...once, that love was the everlasting force in the universe, even after we die." She stared at him with her brown eyes. "Do you....love me?"
Dylan gripped her hand. "That question doesn't even need an answer," he said quietly. "I do love you, Rommie. Ever since I first laid eyes upon you, I knew you were going to be different. I knew you were going to be very special to the Commonwealth." Dylan sighed. "I'm just a man."
Rommie blinked. "You're more then that," she said. "You're my Captain." Then she smiled at him.
Dylan nodded, silent tears falling down his eyes.
Her black glove gripped his hand tightly for a moment, then abruptly relaxed and was still. In that moment, Dylan Hunt knew that Rommie was dead.
His legs hugging against his chest, Dylan lowered his head and cried. **************************
A few hours later, Dylan carried the dead Rommie avatar in his arms in the loading dock of the Andromeda. His face was pale, and angrier then Beka and Harper had ever seen.
"I can't believe this is happening," Harper whispered, tears falling openly down his eyes. His clothes smelled entirely of drink.
"Are you drunk, Seamus?" Beka asked him quietly.
Harper shook his head. "I wish I could be."
A sudden beeping made Beka lift a data sheet. "It's the Commonwealth ships," she said dully. "They're back." She looked up at Dylan. "They want to talk to you."
********************
Ten minutes later the Andromeda was boarded. Dylan and Beka were waiting as the docking bay opened slowly, their weapons raised.
Captain Malis entered the ship, followed by twenty armed Commonwealth officers.
His eyes as cold as stone, Dylan watched as Tyr and Harper slowly laid down a stretcher in front of the two Captains. On it was the Andromeda avatar, covered in a black sheet.
"The rest of the robots have been neutralized and have been packed for spare parts," Malis said, and sniffed. "It would be easier for all of us if you all surrendered."
"And you know that we would all rather die then do that," Dylan replied.
"Nothing ever happens the way you want it to, Captain," Malis said. "I regret that."
"Because of the Commonwealth, many people died, including my ship and her avatar," Dylan said.
"But you can't prove that," Malis said mildly. "Any more then you can prove that we were perfectly wiling to fire on a fellow Commonwealth vessel to destroy a planet of our own damaged AI's." He leaned forwards. "The Commonwealth Command recommends that the best course of action in this situation would be for the both of us to forget that this ever happened." Malis coughed. "You have...quite an exceptional crew. Very interesting people. Harper, yourself...Trance." Dylan was lost in his own thoughts to notice that Malis' hand was shaking as he said that.
Dylan lifted his pale head. "With respect, 'Captain', I don't think it would be easy for the victims of that planet or those refugees we rescued to simply 'forget' what happened." He looked away. "Nor can I ever pretend to forget what the Commonwealth did to us." He stared at Malis, and his blue eyes became firm. "And I won't."
Malis lifted an eyebrow. "What do you plan to do, Dylan? Tell all the planets what the Commonwealth did? At best, they would think that you were a fool. At worst, your meddling would undermine the very Commonwealth that you had spent two years trying to build? I don't want that, and I don't think that you want that either, despite everything that's happened here."
"Oh please, let me shoot him!" Harper begged.
Dylan raised his hand slightly to the young engineer, then turned back to Malis. "The motto we all used to stand for was to 'hold the line against the night'. All nights. And that's what I intend to do."
Malis almost choked. "Are you saying that you and your crew are going to start a front against the Commonwealth?"
"Beka?" Dylan asked.
"You don't even have to ask," Beka snarled. "Let's get these bastards for Rommie!"
"Harper?" Dylan asked.
"With you since the beginning, Dylan," Harper said. "That's not going to change."
"Trance?"
"No matter how constant the universe is, there's always one small inconsistency that will change it," Trance said with her sweet smile. "And I want to be a part of that."
"Tyr?"
Tyr tilted his head. "We're starting a war against fifty worlds and a thousand warships that we ourselves created....all because of a worthless dead collection of wires and parts?"
"Yes," Dylan said.
Tyr raised his eyebrow and smiled. "Then, by all means, count me in."
Malis shook his head. "You're a stubborn man, Dylan. And now, you're a dead one."
"Get off my ship," Dylan spat.
"Wait!" Malis said. "The last thing the Commonwealth needs is this. What about..what about compensation for your loss? You're missing an Ai, we can supply you with a new, top-of-the-line artificial life form who would always be eager to serve-"
"Tyr," Dylan said.
Tyr charged his massive gun and aimed it playfully at Captain Malis.
"Wait!" Malis shouted. "What if we took a look at your dead Ai?"
Dylan looked up. He glanced at Harper.
"No way, boss," Harper snorted. "They're bluffing. Even I can't fix either of them."
Malis glared at Harper. "The Commonwealth is comprised of mostly Perseids. You think they just sit around on their asses all day?"
Dylan blinked.
*********************
The next few days were a nightmare. Thousands upon thousands of Perseids were swarming the ship, most of them surrounding the electrical wire that Harper and Dylan had snapped. They were expertly reattaching the broken wires.
Dylan scrambled away from a bunch of running Perseids that were shouting equations. "Do you think this is going to work?" Beka asked Dylan quietly.
"If it does," Dylan replied firmly. "Then I'll serve the Commonwealth to the end of my days."
Dylan made his way to the machine shop, where a Perseid was working over the Andromeda avatar's body beside Harper. "Well?" he demanded.
Harper looked up. "Well, we have a few theories," Harper said, his voice tired. "This is like surgery Dylan. The slightest wrong fiddle of her wires and we'll loose her personality chip forever."
"Actually, that's not quite accurate Mr. Harper, sir," the Perseid interrupted. "What happens is that the neural committer along her 8543 chip is fused with her 3B1 processor and-"
"SHUT UP," Harper and Dylan said together.
Dylan turned to Harper. "Is there a chance?"
Harper shrugged. "We've fixed her body, reattached everything else. Now we're just interfacing her personality again." Harper said nothing for a moment. "Dylan...we do have the option of erasing her memories for the past few days."
Dylan said nothing for a few minutes. He thought about what Rommie had done, and especially their last conversation. Then, he said, "Yes. Erase them."
Harper did so. "Okay, we're almost done." He started to put her personality chip in again.
"Wait!" Dylan shouted.
Harper froze, then cursed under his breath. "Dylan, don't do that!"
Dylan glared at Captain Malis. "Get that crap you put in there out of her head first."
Malis smiled. "Damn. And here we had just figured out what went wrong," Malis said. He took a scanner from Harper and did so. "There. It's done."
His forehead very sweaty, Harper began to put the chip back into her head again. It connected. Everyone held their breaths.
*********************
The next morning, Dylan sat in the chair in his quarters. The door chimed. Dylan looked up. "Come in!"
Rommie entered in her fresh High guard uniform, and saluted. "Captain. Tyr reports that the Commonwealth has a new assignment for us. We are to escort Sinti operative Dagus to the Beta sector."
Dylan stared at her. "Yes. Thank you, Rommie."
Rommie caught him starring oddly at her. "Is there something wrong?" she asked.
*You told me...once, that love was the everlasting force in the universe, even after we die.*
*Do you....love me?*
Dylan shook his head. "Nothing. Nothing at all. Thanks."
Her face filled with puzzlement, Rommie turned to go.
"Wait," Dylan said.
She turned back.
"You know you're very special, Rommie. Don't you?" Dylan asked her.
Rommie smiled a little. "I'm a warship for our Commonwealth," she replied, and abruptly left, leaving Dylan alone in the darkness.
Dylan closed his eyes and sighed.
THE END
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