Chapter One: Omnia iam fient fieri quae posse negabam
(Everything which I said could not happen will happen today)
Dylan searched every inch of the Maru but Beka and Tyr were nowhere to be found. His eyes closed with sad realization. They were gone. His colleagues, his friends, were gone. He walked out of the small salvage ship in a daze. No, it wasn't possible. He couldn't accept it and he wasn't going to give up that easily.
"Harper," he said and waited for Andromeda to open a comm line for him.
"Yah boss?" was the cheerful reply. Harper didn't know yet.
"You said the enemy ships were destroyed. Were they destroyed or pulled back to where they came from?"
"Hold on a sec."
Dylan had never been very religious but he said a prayer just then, hoping beyond hope for a miracle.
"Dylan," Harper's voice made him jump, "there isn't any wreckage so they probably popped back to whatever dimension, universe, or galaxy they were from."
"Is the tunnel still open?"
Time itself seemed to slow as Dylan waited for an answer. He could hear his own heart beating and feel a bead of sweat drip down his neck.
"Yes, but-"
"Oh thank God!" he said as he let himself sink against the wall.
"Uh, Dylan, didn't we want to, I don't know, destroy the tunnel?"
"Beka and Tyr never came back. They were on one of those alien ships when the bomb went off. They got pulled back along with the rest of the fleet."
"D-Dylan the tunnel is there b-but. The tunnel isn't a tunnel anymore. It's unstable, a r-rip in space-time."
"What are you saying?"
"I don't know if we can navigate it," Harper whispered, his voice lost with the shock. "Even if we could, it'll collapse in under six hours."
Dylan slowly stood up and walked out of the hangar bay. He quickened his pace to a jog, then to a run, then to an all out sprint.
"Andromeda!" the captain yelled as he got closer to command.
"Yes Dylan?"
"Inform Zuchov of our victory then take us into the tunnel. We're going after them."
"Aye aye," she answered.
Dylan and Harper arrived at command at the same time. Neither said a word to the other as they entered but they both understood each other. They were going to get Beka and Tyr back, no matter what the costs. As the Andromeda got closer to where the tunnel had been the tension got heavier.
"You said this was a rip in space-time," Dylan questioned his engineer while he continued to stare straight ahead.
"Uh-huh," Harper replied, as dazed as Dylan.
"What would you say the odds are of successfully navigating this rip.twice?" "A million to one."
"Hang on. I have a feeling this is going to be a rough ride." Dylan sighed as he gripped the controls and launched them straight into the dark blue chasm. The rip was a lot like slipstream only rougher and less intact. The Andromeda bucked and twirled with the taxing maneuvers. Rommie gritted her teeth against the pain her processors told her she was feeling, Trance held onto the console in front of her so tightly her knuckles turned white, and Harper was just trying not to break anything as he was thrown over the controls he had been standing at. Although it seemed like forever it was only a little over a minute before they were spit out onto the other side in one piece. Dylan was breathing hard when he finally let go of the hand controls.
"I've.never.had to.do anything.that.hard before," he gasped out.
"Pretty," Trance said softly as a huge ship appeared on the view screen. It was darker than night and dots of light of different sizes covered it. The only reason they could discern it from regular space was because there wasn't a real star in sight. The space they were in was pitch black. "At least there's only one. That should narrow the search."
Harper pulled himself up from the floor when he saw the alien ship. He felt something warm and sticky dripping down the left side of his face but ignored it.
"That's impossible," the engineer mumbled to himself and closed his left eye as the unidentified substance ran into it, stinging.
"The rip will dissipate in five hours and forty-four minutes," Rommie stated, indirectly ordering them to get moving. "If we haven't cleared it by that time we'll be stuck here.forever."
"I'm going to take a slipfighter to that.ship, and try to find Beka and Tyr," Dylan said as he walked to the door. "If I'm not back in five and a half-hours get out of here. That's an order."
"Dylan!" Harper ran after the captain. "Wait up! I'm coming with you!"
**********
TBC
Story Title Translation: Fortune Favors the Brave
(Everything which I said could not happen will happen today)
Dylan searched every inch of the Maru but Beka and Tyr were nowhere to be found. His eyes closed with sad realization. They were gone. His colleagues, his friends, were gone. He walked out of the small salvage ship in a daze. No, it wasn't possible. He couldn't accept it and he wasn't going to give up that easily.
"Harper," he said and waited for Andromeda to open a comm line for him.
"Yah boss?" was the cheerful reply. Harper didn't know yet.
"You said the enemy ships were destroyed. Were they destroyed or pulled back to where they came from?"
"Hold on a sec."
Dylan had never been very religious but he said a prayer just then, hoping beyond hope for a miracle.
"Dylan," Harper's voice made him jump, "there isn't any wreckage so they probably popped back to whatever dimension, universe, or galaxy they were from."
"Is the tunnel still open?"
Time itself seemed to slow as Dylan waited for an answer. He could hear his own heart beating and feel a bead of sweat drip down his neck.
"Yes, but-"
"Oh thank God!" he said as he let himself sink against the wall.
"Uh, Dylan, didn't we want to, I don't know, destroy the tunnel?"
"Beka and Tyr never came back. They were on one of those alien ships when the bomb went off. They got pulled back along with the rest of the fleet."
"D-Dylan the tunnel is there b-but. The tunnel isn't a tunnel anymore. It's unstable, a r-rip in space-time."
"What are you saying?"
"I don't know if we can navigate it," Harper whispered, his voice lost with the shock. "Even if we could, it'll collapse in under six hours."
Dylan slowly stood up and walked out of the hangar bay. He quickened his pace to a jog, then to a run, then to an all out sprint.
"Andromeda!" the captain yelled as he got closer to command.
"Yes Dylan?"
"Inform Zuchov of our victory then take us into the tunnel. We're going after them."
"Aye aye," she answered.
Dylan and Harper arrived at command at the same time. Neither said a word to the other as they entered but they both understood each other. They were going to get Beka and Tyr back, no matter what the costs. As the Andromeda got closer to where the tunnel had been the tension got heavier.
"You said this was a rip in space-time," Dylan questioned his engineer while he continued to stare straight ahead.
"Uh-huh," Harper replied, as dazed as Dylan.
"What would you say the odds are of successfully navigating this rip.twice?" "A million to one."
"Hang on. I have a feeling this is going to be a rough ride." Dylan sighed as he gripped the controls and launched them straight into the dark blue chasm. The rip was a lot like slipstream only rougher and less intact. The Andromeda bucked and twirled with the taxing maneuvers. Rommie gritted her teeth against the pain her processors told her she was feeling, Trance held onto the console in front of her so tightly her knuckles turned white, and Harper was just trying not to break anything as he was thrown over the controls he had been standing at. Although it seemed like forever it was only a little over a minute before they were spit out onto the other side in one piece. Dylan was breathing hard when he finally let go of the hand controls.
"I've.never.had to.do anything.that.hard before," he gasped out.
"Pretty," Trance said softly as a huge ship appeared on the view screen. It was darker than night and dots of light of different sizes covered it. The only reason they could discern it from regular space was because there wasn't a real star in sight. The space they were in was pitch black. "At least there's only one. That should narrow the search."
Harper pulled himself up from the floor when he saw the alien ship. He felt something warm and sticky dripping down the left side of his face but ignored it.
"That's impossible," the engineer mumbled to himself and closed his left eye as the unidentified substance ran into it, stinging.
"The rip will dissipate in five hours and forty-four minutes," Rommie stated, indirectly ordering them to get moving. "If we haven't cleared it by that time we'll be stuck here.forever."
"I'm going to take a slipfighter to that.ship, and try to find Beka and Tyr," Dylan said as he walked to the door. "If I'm not back in five and a half-hours get out of here. That's an order."
"Dylan!" Harper ran after the captain. "Wait up! I'm coming with you!"
**********
TBC
Story Title Translation: Fortune Favors the Brave