The Neutral Zone of the Mind
Title: The Neutral Zone of the Mind
Author: D. Lerious
Rating: PG
Summary: As as result of mysterious events, Dylan finds himself in the neutral zone between sanity and insanity and it will be up to the crew to help him.
Disclaimer: Andromeda is property of Tribune
It was damp, in the underground dungeon, where sunlight dare not enter. Dylan was about to fall asleep, when a little device zapped him awake.
“This device is REALLY starting to annoy me,” he yelled to no one in particular.
This device had been in place for about 3 and a half days as a punishment for trying to escape. They would take it off him in about 8 hours, an eternity to a very tired man who has nothing to do but sit and pine for sleep. Suddenly, a mysterious being comes in, stretches out his hand and pain, both mental and physical ripped through him.
Dylan woke up with a scream. The Andromeda’s hologram appeared
“Captain, are you okay?” her voice and manner concerned.
“I’m fine.” Dylan looked as white as a ghost, and holo-Rommie noticed an increased heart rate, higher blood pressure as well as adrenaline levels.
“Are you sure? You have woken up screaming most nights since your return from."
“Look, I’m fine,” Dylan’s voice had an edge to it.
“I see.”
Dylan decided to get up and take a shower, then go to command to do some battle simulations.
Hours later, Harper went to the bridge for his morning shift.
“You’re up early”
Dylan, whirled around, grabbed for his force lance, and was ready to fight, when he saw it was Harper.
“Harper! You startled me!” Dylan said embarrassed.
“Really? Sorry about that.”
“It’s okay.”
“You look like you could use some rest, Dylan.”
“I’m fine.”
“Really? Your eyes have circles around their circles.”
Then, Beka came into the bridge.
“Good morning you two.” Beka was startled to see Dylan with huge bags and circles around his eyes.
“Are you okay Dylan? You look like hell.”
“I’m fine.”
“Are you sure? Maybe you should get some rest?”
“ I do not need rest!” Dylan was getting annoyed by everyone’s concerns.
“Well, aren’t we in a bad mood,” Harper asked sarcastically.
“Sorry, I just have some insomnia.”
“I see,” Beka replied. She was worried. “Why don’t you take some sedatives? I’m sure Trance could give you some from the medlab.”
“I’ll do that,” Dylan promised.
Hours later, Dylan was trying to do some paperwork, but he was having trouble concentrating. His mind kept wandering in other directions.
Meanwhile, on the Maru, Beka and Harper were doing some upgrades.
“So, you managed to get great deals on these new parts?” Beka asked.
“Better than you might think,” Harper said winking.
“They were practically free, huh?" Beka winked back, catching his drift. Suddenly, they heard footsteps coming toward the enclosed space they were in.
“There you are,” Dylan remarked, feeling a bit uncomfortable in the small, cramped working are.
“You wanted to talk to us about something?”
“Actually, I wa-wa-wanted to speak to Harper.” Somehow, being in this space reminded Dylan of something, though he couldn’t figure out what and it was affecting him.
“What is it?” Harper replied, surprised by Dylan’s stammering.
“Why haven’t you fixed the th-that array I asked you to fix?”
“I’m working on it...you came all the way here to tell me that?”
“I just thought the exercise would do me good.” Actually, Dylan just couldn’t sit still and focus on one task.
“I see.”
Suddenly, Dylan found himself in a dark, small closet like structure, with some creature with dark glowing purple eyes, and a smile that glowed in anticipation of what was to come.
“Dylan! Are you okay? You phased out and looked as if you had seen a ghost,” Beka said, worried, now more than before.
He was snapped back to the present reality thanks to Beka, but he was starting to look a bit pale.
“I’m fi-fi-fine,” he answered, stammering. “I just need some rest.” Being on the enclosed area of the Maru was getting to be more and more difficult.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes!”
Feeling on edge, he decided to go to Medlab to get some sedatives, and back on his room he took a shot.
The next day, the crew had a battle simulation to see if weapon upgrades done by Rommie and Harper were any good.
It was going quite well when Dylan made the whole crew do extra simulations that he had programmed, with Rommie’s help, the night before, as a result of insomia.
“Come on Dylan, we need a freakin break,” Harper said, irritated. “The simulations are going well.”
“Not good enough,” Dylan replied. “We need to be in top fighting shape. Let’s do a few more.”
“What good is it to do these simulations if we are tired?” Beka asked.
“Battle comes whether you are tired or not,” Dylan said impatiently. The reality was that he was having this fear, of being helpless and unprepared, two feelings, which he often experienced during his nightmares.
“Dylan,” the holographic representation of Andromeda said, “You have a message from Mobius intelligence.”
“I’ll take it in my quarters,” Dylan answered
“Saved by the bell!” Harper exclaimed.
Onward To Chapter 2!
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