Sacrifice
Chapter 4; The feeling of failure
Andromeda – Zero's lab
Zero leaned back in his chair as the ship came out of yet another slipstream passage. They'd been bouncing around for about a week now, Zero and Harper had spent yet again another exhausting week fixing up the ship's systems and Zero now had a lab of his own to work from. Two cores sat to one side of the room as well as two banks of computers. One was a standalone while the other was linked directly into Andromeda's mainframe.
He'd just spent three hours jacked into the standalone creating a new virus to input into Andromeda's bank of defensive viruses so that she could use it if the need arrived. It was designed to purge her temporary memory so it wasn't something to be used unless something had gained entry. He always worked on viruses on the standalone so that if he made one of his very rare mistakes it couldn't spread out of this single computer. He'd made up a large selection of viruses that were all stored on data-chips with corresponding flexis with their designs and make up stored on them. In fact he'd need a new storage cradle for them soon.
He spun his desk around and steeled himself for what he was about to do. He'd found a problem with the AI's automated shut down sequence. It was a system that allowed Andromeda to shut down her computer networks at the first sign of an overwhelming EMP burst without the Captain's permission but it was slightly faulty. He'd told Dylan that he would need to shut down the AI for an hour at most but that he'd still have power for other systems.
Zero would repair the system but he had a slightly underhanded task to do as well. Before he went to work he slid a data chip into the core he'd need but didn't let it download. Andromeda would sense that instantly and query the foreign file. The only way to get a virus into her core without her knowing was for her to be shut down. He wouldn't waste this opportunity.
He jacked in and almost instantly found himself in the vast cavern of Andromeda's mind. Her holographic form was standing in front of him. "We have arrived at a suitably safe destination." She told him demurely.
"Anxiety in an AI. Still very impressive, Andromeda." Zero complimented.
"Funny." Andromeda narrowed her eyes at him. "That was sarcasm in an AI."
"And humour." Zero grinned at her. "Would you tell Dylan I'm ready to begin? I'll reboot you as soon as I'm done."
She nodded at him. "Shutting down in five...four...three...two...one." She vanished and almost half the lights and programmes spanning the cavern went dark. Zero now had complete control of her computer core. He could do anything he wanted and Andromeda couldn't see it or stop him. He could open a program and vent the air in the ship, he could fire the ship's
missiles, navigate it through Slipstream and nobody could stop him. They were all trusting him and he felt horrible about what he was about to do to break that trust but what he was doing was far more important to him than whether they ever trusted him again. This wasn't about him, it was about Izus and Joseph and he knew without a doubt that he'd accept death as punishment for this as long as they were freed.
He uploaded his virus and it burst open in front of him and spread throughout Andromeda's system. Unopposed by any of Andromeda's systems it spread without resistance before vanishing from sight, hidden until he called for it. Not even Andromeda could find it now. It was designed specifically to hide from Andromeda.
After it had been set he started work on the legitimate reason for being here but even though he did it perfectly he couldn't stop imagining what Harper and Beka would think of him if he knew what he was planning. That was why he couldn't ask for their help.
He rebooted Andromeda and ran from her before she could detect his heart rate and brainwaves. He put his head down on his arms feigning exhaustion to hide his wet eyes from Andromeda's all seeing eyes. He didn't realised he'd fallen asleep until he was jerked awake by Andromeda's insistent calling of his name. Zero blinked the after image of that dream out of his mind hoping it wasn't like his other dreams. He'd been getting them almost constantly, every time he slept he got flashes of images he didn't recognise. Some of them involved space ships while others were about people. None of them were clear and he'd given up trying to describe them to Dylan, Beka, Trance, Harper or Rev since they were almost always really disjointed.
He sometimes woke with either manic laughter or terrified screaming in his ears and neither was pleasant for him. This time though he only got the impression of something lurking in the dark and as he blinked sleep out of his eyes he could swear he'd seen the pale face of Harper. He'd seen plenty of Slaves die through exhaustion or beatings and the pallor of a dying man was unmistakable.
Andromeda was waiting for him patiently and he blinked up at her. "Dreams again?" She asked.
"Ern." Zero grunted without answering. "Did you need something?"
"Harper wants your help on a relay to the number eight collector." She told him.
"Oh wonderful." Zero told her. "Thanks, tell him I'll be right there."
"Your heartbeat is racing." She told him bluntly.
"And?" Zero responded bluntly before pushing himself to his feet and heading for the door. He locked it behind him before turning towards the nearest access to the next deck down. "I've tried everything possible to sleep, Rommie. Ever since I stepped onto this ship I've been having those dreams and most of them I don't even remember. And I don't know whether they're visions of the past like the first one of the Nietzschean ambush or one of the
future like that Supernova. Hell, Rommie, some of it might be my own memories. I've given up trying to work it out."
"Trance has suggested to Dylan that we sedate you." She suggested even as her hologram appeared in front of him.
"Do you think that would work?" Zero asked without pausing. She'd follow him.
"They occur in REM sleep, removing that could aid you." She told him, again appearing in front of him though this time as her mainframe on a screen.
"Is that safe?" He asked pausing to look at her.
"Not for prolonged periods." She shook her head.
"Even one night of peace a week would be better than nothing." Zero shrugged. "I'll ask Beka if she doesn't mind."
"It is your choice." She told him with a frown. Zero came up short and scratched at the back of his neck.
"Sorry, sometimes I forget I'm not just a slave." Zero looked down at his feet. "I need to get to work."
"I will ask Beka for you. If she agrees we'll try tonight." She told him before disappearing. Zero sighed and turned to head for where Harper was working. He was inside an access tunnel that Zero quickly crawled through coming up behind the man. Harper jerked violently as soon as Zero made a noise.
"Don't do that!" Harper growled at him waving a soldering wand in front of him.
"Don't point that at me." Zero retorted. "Why do you need me?"
"I need a hand calibrating this." Harper told him.
"I'm touched." Zero told him and sat beside him with a tired sigh.
"Andromeda said you were asleep." Harper told him. "Another one?"
"That or just a really weird dream." Zero sighed. "That's half the problem, I can't tell the difference between the ones like the Supernova and just random dreams."
"Have you had any nice ones?" Harper asked looking at him carefully.
Zero flinched as he was reminded of Harper's dying face. "Not yet." Harper shrugged and handed him a databoard and explained what he needed done. Zero paid attention but as they worked he found himself thinking about his new friend. "Shay?"
"Huh?" Harper barely turned to look at him.
"Be careful alright?" Zero told him.
Harper stopped and turned to look at him properly. "I'm always careful. What brought that on? Did you have one about me getting hurt?"
Zero winced. "I'm not sure."
"Oh, that's just great. Why'd you have to go tell me that?" Harper groaned.
"I'm just trying to be helpful." Zero sighed irritated at himself once again. He looked at the ceiling as he tipped back to lean on the bulkhead.
"You are useful. Us two have both been working flat out." Harper told him.
"It doesn't stop me feeling useless." Zero told him. "Most of what I do is just improvement. I'd be useless in anything but hand to hand fighting. If there's a proper emergency I'm just going to get in the way. I have no experience on ships, I have no real life experience."
"That's not true." Harper snapped.
"Oh right, if Dylan or Beka ever decide to infiltrate a slave camp I'll be perfect for the job!" Zero snapped. His temper was rather frayed at the moment. He'd failed to prevent everything that he'd seen so far and if Harper died even though he'd gotten a warning he'd never forgive himself.
"Is this about what you saw?" Harper frowned. "You've warned me that I might get hurt, that's all you can do unless you happened to see a time and date to it."
"Funny, Shay." Zero frowned. "You were dying slowly. Something about being really exhausted."
"Thanks." Harper grinned at him.
"You're not even taking this seriously are you?" Zero snapped.
"It's kind of hard to." Harper chuckled.
"Well that makes me feel much better." Zero snarled. "Now when you die and Beka sells me to the nearest slavers I'll know why."
"What?" Harper flinched. "You still think we're going to sell you back to them?"
Zero groaned and closed his eyes. "Are we done here?"
"Zero, please don't do this. I hate it when you act like this." Harper sighed.
"Shay, I've spent four years mistrusting everyone. None of you understand that and now I have these dreams plaguing my every night and you want me to suddenly get over four years of slavery?" Zero sighed. "I'm just in over my head and about two minutes away from complete exhaustion."
"How about we take some time off then?" Harper suddenly suggested. "None of them know what we're doing and we both need a rest. Let's just chill out for a while. At least until we're through the next slipstream."
Zero sighed out explosively and settled back, shaking his legs straight in front of him. He flashed a quick grateful grin at Harper before shuttering his eyes slightly. Harper sat opposite him and relaxed too. Zero knew Harper was only forcing himself to stop working for Zero's sake and that meant more to him than the actual suggestion.
It wasn't even a minute later when a small version of Andromeda in her holographic image appeared. "Sorry boys but Dylan wants to know when you're going to get around to fixing the doors to cargo bay eight."
Zero moaned unhappily and sagged further into the wall. Harper groaned as well. "You tell him we'll get to it when he hires a four thousand man crew with at least five hundred techs."
Zero snorted in amusement but shook his head. "That's mechanical, ask Harper."
"The parts are done, I just needed Zero to help me fit it." Harper told Andromeda calmly.
"I'd really like my cargo bay working again." Andromeda told them mercilessly.
"Oh, since you asked so nicely." Harper conceded. "Run a full diagnostic on the timings for the collectors." He ordered Andromeda before standing and offering a hand to Zero. "Coming?"
"I suppose so." Zero sighed and accepted Harper's hand and let him help pull him up. Zero rubbed at his head and led the way out of the tunnel and into the corridor proper. "Which way is cargo bay eight?"
"You'll hate this." Harper shook his head. "The one furthest from my workshop."
"Workshop it is then." Zero sighed.
Andromeda appeared on one of the screens. "If my Android bodies were online I could offer to carry all the parts for you."
"Are you adding another job to the list?" Zero asked knowing that the androids worked apart from their interface with the computer network. His problem.
She smiled at him and vanished from the screen. He followed Harper with dragging feet. "Hey, maybe this will wipe you out so much that you'll sleep soundly tonight."
"Trance is going to sedate me too." Zero told him as they walked. He winced at the idea.
"What you got against being sedated?" Harper asked.
"I won't wake up if somebody attacks me." Zero told him bluntly. He shrugged. "It's how you end up when you sleep in a pen surrounded by malicious Nietzschean guards."
"I know what that feels like. Sleeping and always fearing that the Magog are going to attack." Harper nodded at him to show he did understand. "How about I stay with you in the Infirmary tonight? Trance can't stay up all night."
"You'd do that?" Zero asked surprised.
"I can't promise I'll stay awake but I'll have Andromeda sound an alarm if somebody opens the door, that way you'll know somebody is awake whenever somebody comes into the room."
"Somebody I trust." Zero smiled at him. "Thanks Shay."
"As long as you get some sleep and stop being Mr Grouchy, I'm happy." Harper hopped away from Zero's strike. Zero growled at him almost too low for Harper to hear and the other man grinned at him in amusement.
As they arrived at Harper's workshop they were met by a patiently waiting Rommie. The ship made flesh. "Hey Rom!" Harper grinned.
"I thought you might like some heavy lifting." She told them.
"Oh, you got the hint then?" Zero smirked.
"I don't want you two straining yourselves." She told them with a small smirk of her own. "You have plenty more to do before I'm happy."
"Add vindictiveness to that list of AI emotions." Zero noted to her. Rommie and Zero followed Harper into the room and he began loading the two of them up with supplies. Rommie took the majority of the heavy equipment and loaded it onto a AG-board before loading up her arms with the rest of the parts. Zero took an armful of tools and sensors and Harper took the rest though he mostly carried a lot of coiled wiring around his shoulders.
It was a good twenty minute walk through the ship to the right cargo bay and another five minutes to work their way down the huge, empty, cargo bay which was larger than five of the Eureka Maru put side by side.
At the end of the cargo bay were the enormous doors. The doors and runners themselves were functioning but the gear box that ran the doors had been jolted by a missile hit three hundred years ago and the insides had been completely messed up. Their only way to access it was from the cat walks that laced the roof of the cavern like cargo bay which meant leaving the equipment down here and hauling it up piece by piece. Zero quickly set to work climbing the nearest ladder with a pulley system over his shoulder and then from the cat walk he attached the pulley to one of the supports designed specifically for this and lowered the end down to Harper.
"Where's Rommie?" Zero asked. He never shouted since it still hurt his throat but in the empty cargo bay his voice easily travelled down to Harper forty feet below him.
"Dylan needed her." Harper rolled his eyes. "Looks like it's just us two then."
"Joy." Zero shook his head and waited as Harper began loading supplies onto the pulley before Zero hauled it up. As they got the last parts up onto the catwalk Zero pulled off his shirt and collapsed down onto the metal walkway breathing deeply.
"You look tired." Harper pointed out helpfully after a few minutes. He'd climbed up the ladder to join Zero and was studying Zero rather strangely. Zero frowned at him and stood slowly and stretched. "You can work like that if you want."
"Don't worry, I'll be careful." Zero missed the intention behind Harper's words but vaulted up onto the edge of the walkway to began undoing one of the clasps that held the access panel tightly over the gear box. It took a moment for Harper to stop staring but eventually he moved to help though he wasn't as sure of himself perched on the edge of the cat walk. "Don't you like heights, Shay?" Zero asked as the cover came free and hinged around clear of the catwalk.
"I'm not part Panther." Harper stared at Zero in amusement.
Zero just grinned at him before ducking into the gear box. It was a room almost five metres across, where they'd removed the panel, and about fifteen metres deep full of overlapping gears, cooling systems, pipes and wires. Zero stood in the first clear space and turned to look at Harper who was working his way through the first set of systems. "You do realise that a single cargo bay gear box of Andromeda's is larger than the Eureka Maru's engine room, right?" Zero asked.
"I noticed." Harper laughed. "Just means it takes longer to fix her."
"And more effort." Zero stretched his arms and got ready for more hard work. The old gears that had been damaged had already been removed but more had to come away for them to access the burnt out wiring and piping. Then they have to put back the working gears and then haul in the replacement parts to finish the job. Then there was the testing part which would mean staying in here while the doors were tested.
Within an hour they had the last remaining gears off their supports and out on the cat walk and Harper had removed his own shirt because of how hot the two of them had become with all the hard work. Zero couldn't help but study the man. He didn't have the slim form that Zero had but a more healthily built type of muscle. And his muscles were more obviously formed from just hard work, lifting equipment and working around equipment whereas Zero's muscles held the same form they had when he'd first awakened in that cell. Zero was designed for speed and viciousness whereas Harper's form suggested comfort and safety.
Zero didn't miss the fact that he liked Harper's form but he didn't hang on the idea for more than a moment. He was in no condition to be thinking about his own happiness but his verdict about Harper's form only solidified the way Zero was beginning to think about Harper. Harper was comfortable, he was safe. Zero never had his guard up around him like he did around Dylan, Beka and especially Tyr.
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX
That night
Zero stood in an empty place surrounded by darkness. He thought that if he reached out he could grab a hold of somebody dear to him and save them yet whenever he tried to do just that his arms refused to move. The darkness was pure one moment and then filled with images that he could never focus on. He could do nothing but stand in the centre and hope uselessly that he could understand what was happening to him.
His knees buckled yet again and he landed without pain. He stared up at the darkness above him and almost thought he saw a looming face of fire but then it was gone. He looked back down and jerked in shock. Before him, lying on what had to be the ground, was a delirious Harper. He writhed as if in a nightmare. His pale skin covered in a fine sheen of sweat.
The darkness vanished before he could come to grips with Harper's form and he was floating in the centre of a lake of fire. Huge flares reached up into the starry space above him and he felt the heat burning at his skin. Before him he could see the hazy outline of Rommie stood watching him through the haze coming up around him.
"Zero?" She asked yet it wasn't her voice. It was Trance's, full of concern.
Before he could reach for Trance's voice a shiver went up his spine and he knew he was being hunted. He was a hunter and a hunter always knows when it's become the prey. Something was up in that darkness that wanted him dead. It didn't want to scare him or warn him. It wanted to be like him, like a Panther, it wanted to run up on his exposed back and bite through his neck.
Zero jerked awake and sat up with a small cry of shock. He jerked as he found himself face to face with a number of people. Trance was on his left while Harper was holding his right arm tightly as if he'd just been restraining him. Andromeda's hologram and Rommie were standing further behind Trance while Dylan, Rev, Beka and even Tyr were watching him. Tyr leered at him and Zero found himself growling out in anger and bunching up his muscles in order to attack.
Rev growled in response even though he quickly got himself under control. Zero, filled with the panic of being hunted, reacted without control. He grabbed at Harper's belt where his soldering wand was stored and had just managed to leap off the table towards the Nietzschean when Rommie was suddenly in front of him holding his right wrist, and the wand, away from herself. She held him in place with her other hand against his chest. He snarled at her but then managed to get control over himself. He eyed her carefully before letting the soldering wand fall from his hand. He narrowed his eyes passed her at the Nietzschean who just stared back impassively. His growl let everybody know just how much he didn't like the man being in the room.
Harper grabbed him by the arm and pushed him firmly back to the bed and Zero complied and sat down. He noted that Rommie didn't move from where she was standing between him and Tyr. "What was that?" Dylan asked.
Zero turned meek eyes on the bigger man and he winced. "Sorry."
"That didn't answer my question." Dylan pointed out.
"I was caught up in something I dreamt." Zero told him.
"Well that answers another question." Trance jumped in. "You slept soundly all night until I gave you the drug to counter the sedative. Then you began jerking around and we couldn't wake you."
"I can remember it well." Zero told her, "but I feel like I slept all night. Thanks."
"You're welcome." Trance told him.
"What did you dream?" Dylan asked. He looked wary but not so much as Beka and definitely not as much as Tyr who was outright sneering now. They clearly didn't completely believe in his dreams but Dylan had proof in the way of the Nova bomb. Trance just accepted it while Rev believed it was a Divine gift. Harper believed in it for Zero's sake, though whether he actually believed or not was another matter.
"I don't know what any of it means." Zero shrugged. "I was standing near the surface of a lake of fire, maybe a sun's surface, Rommie was standing there too. Then I felt like I was being hunted."
"Hence the reaction against Tyr." Beka nodded looking rather tight lipped.
"Yeah." Zero nodded. He got off of the bed and stretched.
"How come you can remember this one so well?" Harper asked. "All your others have been sketchy right?"
"I don't know. I think it's because somehow it's all related." Zero shrugged before turning to Rommie. "Do I have anything to do that can't wait for a couple of hours?"
"I'd like my Androids back but I suppose that can wait for half a day." She told him. "And there's a bank of consoles on Command that need looking at."
"That new?" Zero asked.
"Last night." Dylan told him. "But that can wait. What did you have in mind?"
"I want to jack in and look something up. A hunch." Zero told him. "And then I want to work out a bit. I'm used to having to fight every few days whether I want to or not and it's strange not to."
"Give me a call once you're done researching." Dylan told him with a grin. "I could do with some exercise and after our little fight before I'm interested in what you can do with a force lance."
Zero nodded and headed out of the room in search of a shower and a change of clothes.
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX
AI core
Zero opened a search file as soon as he'd jacked in and no sooner had he done it Andromeda appeared before him. It was the personality that always kept to the screens but in here she ruled. The holograph could appear in here also and Rommie could access it at any time but unless stated it would normally always be the main personality.
"What did you need to know?"
"I lied about my dream." Zero told her bluntly. "Well, I didn't lie, I just missed something out in the retelling. You were there like I said which I reckon means you were there to represent the entire ship. Though I don't see why you'd be that close to a sun."
"What did you miss out?" Andromeda asked.
"I saw Harper dying." Zero told her and bit his lower lip. "It's the second time I've seen it but it was clearer this time. The first time was just after I did the work on your automated shutdown routine."
"Dying of what?" Andromeda asked.
"That's the thing. I thought it was just exhaustion or something the first time but that doesn't really fit." Zero sighed. "I saw him as part of the dream with the sun and that can't be a coincidence. Run a simulation on the effects of a human after long term exposure to solar radiation."
"Burning of the skin, retinal damage, mutation of surface cells." Andromeda told him after a moment. "More internal damage is done after the body shuts down."
"That doesn't fit." Zero sighed. "He was pale and sweaty but not burnt."
"Burning would be visible before any other symptom." She assured him.
"What if it was only minor radiation?" Zero asked. "Like if he was insidethe ship but you were too close to the sun."
"It is contrary to my program to remain too close to a sun for enough time to damage my crew." She told her rather offended with the idea.
"But you'd do it if Dylan ordered you to." Zero told her knowing she would. She could counter Dylan but only if he wasn't justified in his actions. She nodded at him. "How long would a human last if shielded by the ship five light seconds from the inner corona sphere?"
"Forty eight hours before symptoms began to show. Symptoms would be nausea, exhaustion, fever and deliriousness." Andromeda lectured. "Permanent cellular damage wouldn't begin for another twenty-four hours."
"Let's hope we don't need to spend more than three days in a sun then." Zero sighed.
"I see no reason we would need to." She told him.
"I saw no reason why we'd need to blow up a sun either but we still did." Zero told her. "I ignored the warning that time. I don't want to do it again and be the cause for Harper's death."
"Nobody would blame you." Andromeda told him sternly.
"I would." Zero retorted bluntly. "I want you to monitor all radiation exposure to Harper from this moment onwards. Alert somebody if the levels become even slightly more than normal and stop him from doing anything that may expose him to a radiation threat."
"Anything else?" She asked. Zero couldn't work out if she was being sarcastic or not.
"I'll talk to Dylan but I want you to run a ship wide scan for any radiation threats." Zero told her as he shut the programs he'd have run if Andromeda hadn't offered her help. He jacked out a moment after Andromeda began her scans. It would take her a few hours to do it thoroughly.
Zero called Dylan to say he was heading for the training room and he found the man there in shorts and T-shirt. Zero was used to fighting in trousers and his sleeveless shirt so he stayed as he was.
"You want to warm up?" Dylan asked. He already had by the looks of him.
Zero eyed him, taking in the lay of his body, the tension in his muscles brought on by his warm up, the way his muscles moved and their placement gave him a hint to the man's fighting style. Zero realised he was assessing Dylan like a cat would study its prey before attempting to outfight it. Zero decided to blame that on his Panther genes since he couldn't explain what else they were for. As Zero shook his head in answer to Dylan's question he cross the room and noticed something decidedly unwelcome. Tyr was leaning next to the door.
"I invited him." Dylan told him. "I'll be too busy fighting you to really pay attention."
"Then ask Beka." Zero told him bluntly.
"Beka's doesn't have nearly as much fighting experience as Tyr."
"Tyr is a Nietzschean." Zero narrowed his eyes before hooking a practice staff with his foot and flicking it up so he could catch it. All without taking his eyes off of Tyr.
"So?" Dylan asked.
"They're all the same." Zero told him.
"Just forget he's here." Dylan told him.
"That would be an idiots mistake." Zero told him. "And probably his last mistake."
"The kids smart." Tyr muttered. Zero glared at him.
"Stay against the wall or I'll crush your throat." Zero warned him with a growl. Tyr narrowed his eyes at the threat but didn't comment. Zero waited for Dylan to move across the room until he was between Zero and Tyr. Zero wasn't planning on putting his back to Tyr at any point in this fight. Zero spun the staff in languid circles getting a crash course in its weight. A few last flicks showed him how fast he could push it to move and with a final nod at Dylan the man attacked.
Zero had already learned that the High Guard Captain was stronger than normal from their last fight but this time Zero had a weapon to go along with his speed and agility and Dylan leant very early that Zero didn't really have to try that hard to block his strikes. Zero passed up a few opportunities to take the offensive and even passed by on an opening that could have defeated the other man. Dylan noted this without comment but Zero was too used to being forced to train with Nietzschean guards that don't like to be shown up. Zero had found it easier to push their limits so he proved himself but he'd only ever beaten one of the guards in an actual fight and that was when he'd killed one.
Zero spun on the spot and lashed out with his staff as Dylan stepped back to force Zero to take the offensive. Dylan blocked it but couldn't stop Zero from twisting back the other way and kicking him in the leg. Dylan ducked to the side but instead of taking the opening and twisting them both around, Zero backed away to his starting position, letting Dylan attack from his current position. Zero blocked but didn't show any sign of doing the move on purpose. Dylan tried to get Zero to swap positions a few more times but his attempts were more often than not thwarted as Zero simply stood back and let a blow pass him by even though it lost him an opportunity to strike.
Zero ended the fight by swinging his staff quickly over his shoulder and bring it down at Dylan's own shoulder. Dylan blocked it but couldn't stop Zero from inverting his staff and forcing Dylan's staff from his hands. Before Dylan could recover from his stumble he could the end of Zero's staff against his throat as if it was a weapon.
"You could have done that ten minutes ago if you didn't waste so many opportunities." Dylan told him.
"And put my back to Tyr." Zero told him bluntly. "I won't make that mistake."
"Not everybody is out to kill you." Dylan huffed as he drew in breath to warm down.
"Every Nietzschean I've met has." Zero told him. "You made the mistake of trusting a Nietzschean at your back and it got you trapped in a Black Hole for three hundred years. I'm not so oblivious to the universe's little humours."
Zero turned and walked from the room keeping an eye on Tyr the entire time. He took a shower and changed before heading for Command where Rev and Harper were on duty. He had work to do on the consoles that went dead the night before.
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX
Command
Zero was typing rapidly on one of the back consoles trying to get the bank to link in with the mainframe properly but it was a slow process. As he worked he noted Dylan's arrival. He glanced up and noticed the man was wearing the same exercise outfit he had worn earlier.
"Hey, new uniform?" Harper laughed from the pilot's seat. Zero glanced up and took in the suddenly busy room. From what he's heard so far Rev at comms. had picked up a faint High Guard signal from about the time of the fall and naturally they'd jumped into action. Zero left them too it, ghost signals were rather common and while working on his computers linked to communication systems he'd picked up hundreds. Though something like a High Guard signal would have been encrypted to the point of not even being able to be identified.
He found himself thankful that evidently Tyr hadn't followed him. "I'll put something more impressive on later." Dylan told Harper calmly as he moved to the Captain's console on the right of the bridge. Rev stood in one opposite him while Harper was in the pilot's seat. Zero was working at the back on the slightly raised section on a console that he'd completely opened out and plugged his data board into. "Right now I want the data from that recorder. If the ship was destroyed late in the war, it might tell us where to find resupply stations or fuel caches."
Zero would normally help Andromeda with the decoding but he wanted to continue working since this didn't strike him as important. It didn't remind him about his dreams at least, which was reassuring. Andromeda appeared as a hologram in front of Harper who was watching carefully as a field of debris approached. "The signal is coming from the centre of the debris field." She warned them.
"Take us in nice and slow." Dylan ordered Harper. "We don't want to bump into any leftover ordnance."
"Nice and slow." Harper whistled. "That I can do."
"From the dispersal of the remains, it looks like someone hit her anti-proton storage and sent her reactors critical." Rev deducted. Zero winced. He'd never seen a reactor go critical in person but he'd seen the flash of light over the planet when his old Master had fired at a cargo ship and her reactor had gone. It had been like a second sun.
"You ok, Rommie?" Dylan suddenly asked the hologram.
"I just got a positive ID from the mission recorder." Andromeda told him sadly. Zero looked up from where he sat to watch her calmly. "It was the Eightfold Path."
"A friend of yours?" Dylan prompted.
"We worked together during the famine relief of Sculpta one-nineteen." She told him. "She was a good ship."
"We may have company." Rev suddenly warned them. Zero paid closer attention now since something might actually happen.
"Another vessel?" Dylan asked.
"I can't tell." Rev frowned. "I'm getting a faint sensor contact at extreme range."
"Andromeda, keep an eye on it." Dylan ordered matter-of-factly.
"Yes sir." The image of Andromeda nodded from the main screen.
"This would be a lot easier if my android bodies were back on-line." Her hologram added.
"One thing at a time." Zero grumbled from his place on the floor against the open console.
"What kind of ship was the Eightfold Path?" Harper asked as he continued to slowly edge them through the debris.
"A Mercy call medical support ship." The computer image told him.
"Well that's weird." Harper bit his lip for a moment before continuing. "Because some of this junk looks like it came from a warship."
"Rev?" Dylan prompted.
"Harper is correct." Rev nodded at him. "There's even unfired missiles in her launch tubes."
Zero frowned but stayed out of it. He wasn't used to speaking up into a conversation. It would get you a few lashes or a beating as a slave and even without that concern he just wasn't to having to raise his voice over other people. "The sensor contact's moving closer. It's definitely another ship." Andromeda's hologram announced.
Zero stood but didn't move away from his open console. He had a bad feeling but by the look on Dylan's face he felt the same way. "Astern one quarter." He ordered Harper.
"Reading targets all around us. The missiles have been activated and they're coming right towards us!" Rev sudden shouted just as the lights darkened and an alarm blared in warning.
"Harper! Get us out of here!" Dylan snapped. Zero braced himself even as the screen filled with darts of light seconds before the net tightened and the ship was rocked. Zero knew that Andromeda could stop some attacks but so many sudden attacks at such a short range couldn't all be repelled and surely enough some slammed home. "Andromeda, report!"
The hologram gave a slightly satisfied shrug. "We have minimal structural damage. The point defence lasers repelled most of the missiles, and the ones that got through didn't hurt much. Just some radioactive residue on my hull."
"The other ship's on the move." Rev warned. "I'm losing sensor contact."
"Andromeda, keep your eyes on the bogey." Dylan ordered. "Deploy sensor drones, standard coverage pattern."
"Is this the part where we bravely run?" Harper asked subtly.
"Not a chance." Dylan told him. "Open a comm. channel and head straight towards the bogey."
"Towards?" Harper gasped. "They're trying to kill us."
"Attention unknown vessel." Dylan began. "This is Captain Dylan Hunt, commander of the Commonwealth Starship Andromeda Ascendant. Stand down your attack. Respond. Over."
Zero stared at the man's blatant optimism with a strange feeling of dread just as Beka and Tyr rushed into the room. "What did we miss? Anything good?" Beka asked brightly.
"No." Harper sighed. "We're just running straight towards the missile attack so that Dylan can make friends with the people that are shooting at us."
"Great." Beka said rather sarcastically. "I just love making new friends."
"Unknown vessel." Dylan continued without any sign that he'd heard them talking about him. "I say again. Stand down your attack."
"Well this is pointless." Tyr put in. "I say we kill them and move on."
For once Zero agree with him. He had a nagging feeling that this stealthy predator was the one from his dream. "Widen the search pattern on the drones." Dylan ordered instead.
"I'm not reading anything." The hologram reported. "The bogey's sensors have gone dark."
"Just like a Panther goes silent before it strikes." Zero found himself saying without thinking. Dylan gave him a startled look as did Rev, Beka and Tyr. Only Harper didn't look at him since he was piloting.
"Incoming!" Rev suddenly yelled snapping them all back into action.
"Oh great." Harper managed out just in time for the missiles to strike them. More got through this time and Zero felt pain run up his back for an instant before he was thrown forwards into the consoles before him. His eyes went black and a dim part of his mind realised two things. Firstly that his open console had attacked him and secondly that he was caught before he hit the floor by strong arms. Arms with bone blades running along them.
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX
Later
Zero woke with a start and jerked up in the bed. His neck was numb and his hand instantly came up to feel it. Radiating out from his implant was a deep burn. His skin was cut in several places across his shoulder blades and his shirt was gone. The console must have sent shrapnel to cut up his back and the electrical shock wouldn't have been good for his implant, hence the burns. It was a good thing the neural implants had built in safety measures to prevent electric shock from passing straight into the spinal cord or he'd be dead right now.
Zero swung his feet onto the floor and dropped to the floor. He wavered dangerously and blinked dots out of his eyes. His neural system was a bit friend it seemed. "Andromeda?" Zero asked.
One of the screens on his left changed and Zero forced himself to focus on it, though that was difficult. "We are in battle." She told him.
"Still?" Zero asked blearily.
"It has been over three hours." She told him. "We were forced to hide in a gas giant to make repairs."
"The enemy?" Zero asked.
"We do not yet know who it is." She told him.
"The Panther still prowls." Zero muttered before having to reach out to grab the bed to hold himself up.
"Perhaps." Andromeda told him. "Please lie on the bed and rest."
Her words only partly reached his mind as the room tilted violently. Zero was just about to steady himself when the entire ship lurched and Zero found the floor rushing up at him. He blacked out again.
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX
Later
Zero woke slowly this time. His neck felt stretched and he knew that was because of the burned skin there. He could also feel pain there so the pain killers Trance had obviously given him the first time had obviously worn off and not been renewed. His chest was still bare which and he made a small motion to assess him ability to move. His shoulders hurt so he still had the wounds he remembered though they wouldn't stop him in a fight. The slight pull at the skin on his chest proved that he hadn't suddenly lost the large scar from the ship crash.
He cracked open his eyes and saw three shapes watching him. Knowing he was caught he opened his eyes fully and found himself looking at Dylan, Rommie and Trance. Trance was holding a hypoderm gun in her hand. She looked ready to leap to his aid.
"How are you feeling?" Dylan asked.
"Like I just woke up." Zero told him without emotion. "How long was I asleep total?"
"Just over a day and a half." Dylan told him.
"We wanted to keep you under until the damage to your neural system was fully healed." Trance told him. "I've got some pain meds here so you just tell me if you want them."
"I don't feel much pain." Zero told her honestly.
"You've taken quite a high jolt to your implant." Rommie told him. "Pain has been hitting you in sudden waves."
"Oh." Zero bit his lip slightly. "Oh well, that should be fun. How long will it last?"
"It's hard to say." Trance told him. "A week, maybe two."
"You said you wanted to keep me under?" Zero prompted Dylan.
"We've had to take certain measures to hide and we need the systems back up as soon as possible." Dylan told him with a sigh. "Harper's doing everything he can but he can only go so fast and we're running out of time."
"If we're hidden why is there a time limit?" Zero asked but looked to the side to cut off any answer. "We close to the sun, aren't we?"
"How did you know that?" Dylan asked.
"I dreamt it remember?" Zero raised his eyebrows at him. "Andromeda was standing in the fires above that sun I dreamt about. The stalker is that ship that attacked us. That just leaves..."
Andromeda looked at him steadily "Radiation levels have increased but they will not cause a problem for another twenty hours."
"I saw Harper dying of radiation poisoning." Zero countered.
"You think you saw radiation poisoning." Rommie countered. "There could be other causes."
"So you believe in coincidences then?" Zero asked quietly before forcing his feet off the side of the bed before he hopped off and swayed violently. Dylan caught his elbow. "What needs doing?"
"We have no fire control for a start." Dylan told him. "Andromeda has no command over AP battery one and the relays to the AP cannons are dead in battery four. Lastly missile tubes nine to eighteen are dark."
"Lead on, Captain." Zero told him sarcastically. "I might need Harper's help for some of it though."
"He's working on something to get us out of here but if you really need him then just call him." Dylan told him before passing him over to Rommie. "She'll take you to Tyr. I'm sorry, Zero, but Tyr is the only one I can spare at the moment to do the manual labour for you."
"He caught me." Zero frowned at Dylan.
Dylan looked at him in confusion for a moment before a dawning came over him. "When you were thrown across Command he stopped you from hitting the wall." Dylan sighed. "I don't think he's as bad as you think."
"It's best to assume that all Nietzscheans are as bad as you think." Zero countered. "But if him helping me is the only way of getting away from this sun then stop talking and let me get to work."
Dylan chuckled and let Rommie half carry Zero from the room. They found Tyr near to the doors to the control room for the sixth AP battery. There were six batteries in total controlling two cannons each and they tended to go faulty as a pair. Zero took his full weight onto his own feet and accepted the tools that Tyr was holding. He checked it over for anything he might need but since there was everything he figured Harper had given the tools to Tyr.
Tyr turned and led the way into the battery control room without comment and Rommie smiled at Zero who slowly followed feeling every bit like he was walking to his own execution. "Let's get this straight." Tyr said as soon as the door closed behind Zero. "We need you to get out of this radiation bath we're currently wallowing around in and that means you have to stop this jittery crap you get around me and get to work. Understood?"
Zero eyed the bigger man with cold eyes and slowly set his tools down on the side. "Let me put that another way." Zero told him coldly. "I hate Nietzscheans. Without exception but I want to save Beka, Rev, Harper and Trance which means I have to work with you but whereas you need me to get out of this, I don't need you. If you make one threatening move that I don't like I will kill you."
"You don't think me scared of a human child do you?" Tyr snorted and crossed his arms showing off his bulging muscles and bone blades threateningly.
"It doesn't matter whether I am scared of you. I will kill you none-the-less." Zero warned him. "I've killed Nietzscheans before hand to hand and that was as a slave. You're supposed to be the best race at survival but let me tell you this; Slaves are better."
Tyr grunted in amusement but didn't push the debate any further. "Get to work."
"Stay out of my way unless I tell you to do something." Zero retorted without missing a beat. He turned to take in the room and sighed. He couldn't hope to repair the onsite control consoles in the time which was why Andromeda wasn't able to command them herself but he could easily divert control to ignore them completely giving Andromeda and the control room the use of the two AP cannons back.
He moved across the room and noted with gratitude that Tyr was serious about not distracting him since he moved away from where Zero wanted to work but stayed in his line of vision. Zero winced violently as he yanked the panel off the wall and almost yelped as the sudden weight tugged at his burned neck. He dropped the panel without grace beside him and rubbed at his neck with a hiss.
The panel was dead but with a few adjustments across this room he could probably bring the cannons back. He started work firstly ensuring that the cannons actually worked and then he began on the harder task of filling the room with open panels and crossed wires as he by passed the controls in the room. Tyr went running for cables and other tools he needed without complaint and after an hour and a half Zero stood back. "Andromeda?"
He holographic matrix appeared in the room and eyed the wires crossing the room without obvious order. "You've made quite the mess."
"You didn't say it had to be neat." Zero told her. "Power up and aim AP battery one."
"Power up confirmed. Targeting systems and telemetry normal. AP battery one fully operational." Andromeda grinned at him. "Good work."
"Thanks. Power it down. I don't want you overloading the rerouting." Zero told her. He turned to look at Tyr who shocked him by looking impressed. "Onwards?"
"Where?" Tyr asked.
Zero looked at Andromeda for directions. "The relays on AP battery four are out and the AP cannons are dead."
"And that just happens to be almost a mile of corridors from here." Zero sighed and picked up his tool belt letting Tyr heft the rest of the tools and supplies they might need. Zero managed to walk on his own for all of ten minutes before a wave of pain swept up the back of his neck and he saw stars. He was used to pain from a whip or belt when he was punished but this was in the back of his skull and it made him lose focus and drop to his knees before he knew what he was doing.
An arm steadied him before he fell flat on the corridor floor but almost as soon as it hit it faded again. "What was that?" Tyr asked from his place far too close for Zero's liking. Zero shrugged him away violently.
"My implant fried my nerves." Zero told him bluntly and laboriously hauled himself to his feet and set off again down the corridors. "It's gonna do that for a while according to Trance."
Tyr was walking beside him in moment but he was standing closer this time and every time Zero stumbled his arm twitched as if ready to catch him. Zero refused the unspoken offer for help and took each step on his own, pushing himself beyond his tiredness until they reached the control room for AP battery four. Zero leaned his hands on the wall beside the door and took steady breathing to calm his shaking muscles.
"I'm impressed." Tyr remarked without all that much emotion to his voice.
"I'm so pleased." Zero gritted out before pushing away from the way. He swayed dizzily for a moment before opening the door and entering. "Don't bother putting anything down just yet. I only want to find out where to start."
Tyr didn't comment so Zero began running diagnostics on the consoles to find where the relay had blown. The console was in contact with Command with problems but neither control console was able to receive telemetry from the AP cannons. That wasn't likely to be the telemetry from the AP cannons to the control room since they were in different directions from each other. It was most likely going to be interruption somewhere between the power relays to the AP cannons, somewhere that could affect both at once. Zero brought up the schematics for the power relays to the AP cannons and followed them up through the ship from the AP reactors to where they branched apart two corridors from their own position before going to each of the AP cannons.
"Andromeda? Show me the missile impact areas for the recent battles." Zero ordered. Without a comment from the AI the screen shifted to show the entire Andromeda Ascendant with red dots to show the impact zones. Zero could see the highlighted power relay within the ship and it only came close to one of those impact zones in one place just at the junction where the relays separated. The blast was close enough to both relays. "Thank you." He said needlessly but courteously before turning to Tyr.
Tyr nodded and left the room with Zero following him, he obviously watched what Zero had spent the last ten minutes doing since he headed straight for the area Zero had noticed without comment. Zero stopped him though at the right access tunnel and led the way through the tunnel. Tyr surprised him yet again by allowing a ten foot space to separate them. Zero decided he didn't have time to consider the Nietzschean's odd behaviour at the moment and half decided that their current dilemma was exactly what had caused the shift in the man's attitude.
Zero groaned loudly as they entered the large room designed to open access up to both relays as they branched away from each other. The relays themselves were not more than three inch thick cables designed to transport anti-protons and power to the AP cannons. They were however sealed in larger tubes with the needed shielding to protect the corridors and so on.
It was rather easy to see what had happened in here though. The support beams in the ceiling had come away and a large fragment had fallen down from the ceiling, landing on the junction of the relays. It hadn't gone completely through but it had probably damaged the wiring. Zero turned to Tyr who was studying the damage with a rather reluctant air.
"Do you think you can shift that?" He asked the Nietzschean. Tyr eyed it for a moment but before he could try it Zero stopped him with a curt gesture. "Andromeda? Cut power to the power relay to AP cannons seven and eight." They'd risk getting rather bad exposure to Anti-protons if they weren't careful.
"Confirmed." She told them without appearing.
Zero nodded to Tyr and moved forwards to help. Tyr shook his head. "Save your energy until you actually need it." Tyr told him bluntly.
Zero nodded and moved back so the Nietzschean didn't have to worry about hitting him. A small part of his mind pointed out that if Tyr wanted to hurt him then it wouldn't have been logical to tell him to conserve his strength. Zero watched as Tyr tested how firmly placed the support was being giving it a test pull once at either end. Then after placing himself at one corner he gave a few strong tugs before giving a huge yank with a loud grunt. The edge of the support came free and he dropped the end to the side before doing the same with the other end. He leaned against the wall and Zero realised just how much effort that had taken.
Zero moved over and studied where the support had cut through the piping and winced at the burnt smell from inside. "We'll have the bypass the whole section until we can do some proper work. It'll take a week of work to completely repair this with just me and Harper."
"What now then?" Tyr asked, he'd already got back his breath.
"Start stripping the plates off the piping here..." Zero pointed to a point a foot up the relay before pointing to a point next to Tyr, four feet from last place and across the damage, "...to there. Both sides." He finished.
Tyr nodded and moved to the tool kit to pull out the tools needed to undo the nuts holding down the plates that coated and protected the relays. Zero thought for a moment about what they'd need before raising his voice to Andromeda. "Open communication with Harper." He waited a moment before speaking again. "Harper?"
"Zero! Glad to know you've joined us." Harper responded. He sounded a bit strange.
"I'm glad to be awake too." Zero told him. "I need to know if we have the necessary parts to bypass two four foot lengths of AP cables."
"No chance to repair them?" Harper asked.
"Not without a couple of weeks." Zero told him. "A support fell onto them both and cut down into the AP channels. Completely fried the insides."
"We've got the parts for the channels but it'll take me a few hours to knock up the shielding plates." Harper told him.
"I'll sort out the bypass but we'll just have to avoid this area while their powered." Zero told him. "Are you ok, Harper? You sound tired."
"I'm just knackered." Harper told him.
"You call if you need to rest. Alright?" Zero asked in concern.
"You got it." Harper replied with some of his old cheer in his tone. "The AP channels are stored in cargo bay nine. I think I saw them about half way back against the right wall. Five inch thick red cables. You'll need a AP gun though."
"Thanks, Harper." Zero signed off before looking at Tyr. "There's no way I can carry an AP gun let alone eight feet of AP cable as well."
"I'll take care of it." Tyr told him with a brunt nod of the head. Zero took the spanner from him to continue removing the shielding and then watched in silence as Tyr turned his back and headed out through the tunnels. He didn't really like having to reassess his impressions of the Nietzschean race but perhaps he could hold a slightly different view of this particular one. He'd have to prove himself first though and who knew how long that would take when it was Zero he'd have to prove himself to.
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX
Three hours later
Zero was heading to the missile tubes when Andromeda called him. Tyr had left him to talk to Beka so far as Zero knew but Zero was more than happy with the chance to relax and move through the corridors without having to cover his own weaknesses. Holo-Andromeda appeared in front of him, making him almost fall over. "I think you should go to the Med-Bay." She told him.
"I'm feeling fine." Zero countered.
"I know you have too much work to do to rest but that you should." Andromeda told him. "But I don't mean you."
"What?" Zero frowned.
"Harper collapsed on Command." She told him quietly. "Radiation poisoning."
"But you were monitoring him!" Zero gasped. "You told me you would keep an eye on him."
"So far I don't know what caused him to be affected more than normal." Andromeda told him.
"If he dies..." Zero muttered to himself.
Andromeda waited for him to continue but he didn't. In the end she disappeared. Zero closed his eyes and rubbed at the bridge of his nose tiredly. When he reopened them he found that he was kneeling on the floor. He felt like someone had trusted him with something and he was failing. Rev always said that the Divine had gifted him with the power to help people but if that was the case then he really didn't deserve the power.
He stood slowly and headed up to the Med-Bay. It took him a while and when he arrived he found a strained looking Trance hovering over Harper. Zero stood silently at the bottom of the bed and watched his friend with regret written on his features. Trance smiled up at him gently. "It's not your fault." She told him.
Zero made a vague gesture trying to express his confusion about what had happened to Harper. He didn't even think of speaking aloud. He still felt more comfortable when he was
silent and Trance never had trouble understanding him even if he didn't really know what he wanted to express. "Beka and Tyr came here a few minutes ago. Harper's immune system was damaged on Earth. It just can't do as much to fight the radiation as us."
Zero pointed to himself and hung his head. He ignored Trance when she went to counter his self imposed blame. He moved up along the bed and found himself reaching out to push Harper's sweat-damp hair out of his eyes. "I'm sorry, Harper. I should have told you that Andromeda and I knew it was radiation. You or Beka could have told us about your immune system. We could have..."
"Done what?" Harper hissed between his teeth. His voice weak and strained. "What would we have done?"
"We would have..." Zero groaned. "I don't know." He hung his head again. "I'm so sorry, Shay. I'm such a screw up!"
"No." Harper sighed and rolled his eyes to look directly at Zero.
Zero sat on a chair Trance suddenly pushed him into. He crossed his arms on the edge of Harper's bed and rested his chin on his forearms. "Shay." Zero sighed tiredly. "A month ago I screwed up. I lost it at a guard and killed him and my Master killed another slave. The only person I know that I could call a mother."
"That's not your fault." Harper told him.
"It is my fault!" Zero pushed. "I could have just dealt with it instead of losing my temper but I didn't."
"Harper's right, Zero." Trance told him from behind him. "Nobody can say why we make the decisions we do but they have to be made. You must have had good reason to lose your temper."
"They raped my little sister." Zero told them quietly, admitting to at least one of his two horrors. "She's ten."
Harper gritted his teeth and shut his eyes but Zero couldn't tell if it was through pain or at what Zero had said. Trance gripped Zero's shoulders and he felt her lips kissing the top of his head. "If you hadn't lost your temper at that, Zero, you wouldn't be such a kind soul." She told him completely seriously.
Zero put his face into his forearms and pulled in a shuddering breath. "I don't know what to do anymore." Zero sighed.
"None of us know what we're supposed to, we can only try to meet our own expectations." Trance told him.
"I've met my expectations." Zero told her. "I'm a complete failure."
Zero felt a soft touch on the back of his head. Stronger fingers than Trance's ran across his hair and down onto his neck. "You are not a failure." Harper told him.
"Dylan?" Trance spoke up suddenly from across the room. Zero raised his head though not enough that Harper had to move his hand from the back of his neck. She was speaking to a picture of Dylan on what looked like the Eureka Maru. "Do you still need Zero?"
"There's only the missile tubes to do." His image said. Zero suddenly found it hard to focus on his face but he just saw Dylan look across at him with a look of sudden concern. "I supposed we can do without them with the AP cannons up and running."
"Good." Trance nodded. "Because he's about two minutes of work away from losing his mind."
"That bad?" Dylan asked with a raised eyebrow.
"You didn't hear what he just told us." Trance just said before glancing back at Zero's watching eyes. Zero jerked his head and she smiled at him. "Andromeda should have heard the story and Zero says she can tell you. He's injured, mentally and physically exhausted and he's carrying so much on his shoulders that it makes your task look simple."
Zero put his head back onto his arms and looked at Harper even as he lost track of Trance and Dylan's conversation. Harper's eyes were closed and his breathing, though weak, was slow and even. He was asleep yet his hand didn't move from the back of Zero's neck. Zero let his own eyes close.
Beka was running out from behind the vast flames that surrounded Zero. The looming shadow swept up from the ground and reached for her but even as Zero tried to shout out a warning Rommie struck forwards like a coiled snake and grabbed at the shadow with unyielding hands. The shadow jerked and tried to fight back. But Rommie was bigger and stronger. Even as Zero watched from the flames the shadow snarled out and twisted what seemed to be its own neck. Killing itself.
Harper was writhing on a floor of cold hard iron. Sweat ran down his skin and his breathing rasped as he tried to get enough air into his lungs to survive. His eyes flickered back and forward under his eyelids as he struggled within a feverish dream. Zero crouched at his side and grabbed one of his hands between both of his own, wishing with every part of his soul that he could save this one friend. He knew he had failed others even if he couldn't remember most of them.
The hard floor changed as waves of grass spread from them and Zero felt so many things in a single moment that he could never describe them even to himself. A high pitched laugh shook his bones, the sound so hauntingly familiar but Zero couldn't place it. Light burst from between Zero and Harper and Zero felt his hands burn even as he cried for his failure.
The voice that came to him as the dream went black was one he couldn't ever remember having heard before. It was part of his dream and yet not at the same time.
"You will always be mine!"
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX
End Chapter