Chapter Seven – Kincanzza Forever
Danny paced back and forth across the medical bay, eyes sliding to the man lying on the bed beside him and then back to his course over the almost worn floor, he had paced across it that much. Flack was dead, Danny knew that. He'd been dead a whole septcycle now and yet a life support machine Hawkes had set up was hooked into his organic side so that his body might live on, even if Flack himself did not. Danny had tried his very best to fix his circuits; the ones he had ripped from his body in desperation to fix the shuttlepod. Of course he had succeeded with the pod, it had just about made it back to the Kincanzza in time for Hawkes to save Lindsay's life. She was now recuperating in the next room and it seemed she would make a full recovery. Flack, on the other hand, had not once given any sign of life either from his organic parts or his android parts. Danny knew he had failed his friend, hadn't been able to bring him back from the death he had caused him. And so it had all been for nothing.
"Danny, are you still here?" Sid asked as he came in with a tray of food that he was presumably delivering to Lindsay.
"Yeah," Danny said, his eyes and face red from crying.
Sid sighed and placed his tray down on the side. The entomic alien had once more shrunk down to his usual size and seemed happy to stay that way and relieved that the crew still accepted him on their ship, despite what he truly was.
"You should rest. You and Adam have tried your best at fixing Flack," Sid said as he stared sadly down at the unmoving man.
"It's all my fault though," Danny said with a bitterness towards himself. "I killed him, I took out his parts to fix the pod. And he believed that I could bring him back, he trusted me and I've failed him!"
"Flack would never blame you," Sid stated wisely as he patted his friend on the shoulder. "He knew what he was doing when he told you to use his parts. He knew that there was a good chance he wouldn't be coming back from it. And who knows, maybe he's in a better place right now?" Sid hummed.
"Sid's right," Lindsay added as she wheeled herself into the room from the next one along.
"Lindsay, you shouldn't be out of bed," Danny murmured as he rushed to her side.
"I'll leave your dinner in your room," Sid told her. I need to get back to the mess."
"Thanks Sid," she smiled as she watched him leave. "Danny," she murmured as she gently touched his face.
"I can't do this, Linds," Danny cried. "I can't live without him. He's my life, I love him so much."
"I know you do," she replied as she held his head in her lap where he knelt on the floor beside her.
"I should never have done it," Danny cried.
"But you saved me, Danny," Lindsay murmured. "And Aiden, and yourself. We all would have died otherwise."
"But I couldn't bring him back," Danny sobbed.
"Flack chose to sacrifice himself, Danny. He was a very brave man," Lindsay said softly and raised Danny's head to look at him. Slowly she leant forward and gently kissed his cheek, her lips lingering there perhaps a moment too long.
"Lindsay..." Danny whispered in shock.
"I'm going back to my room to rest now," she replied. "But I'm here if you need to talk."
"Thanks," Danny murmured and then watched her leave before turning back to his friend.
Flack hadn't moved.
"Come on, Flack!" Danny said loudly. "You can't just lie there!"
"Any luck?" Adam squeaked as he came into the medical bay.
"Not yet. I can't think where we went wrong," Danny sighed, collapsing into a chair and wiping a hand over his face.
"That's because we didn't. We tried everything, Danny. All the connections and relays we could think of. Nothing worked. It was probably because of what Gerrard did to him more than anything we did," Adam replied.
"I'm not giving up on him," Danny stated.
"Then neither will I," Adam smiled back.
"You know you were great, Ad. Tracking him down like that. You really have an amazing talent," Danny murmured as he looked round at his friend.
"I'm glad it could finally come in useful," Adam smiled.
"You're always useful," Danny nodded and then turned back to Flack.
"What are you two engineers doing in my medical bay?" Hawkes asked as he came in.
"I was just leaving," Adam replied. "Dinner should be ready soon."
"I'll catch you down there in a moment then," Hawkes replied as Adam left the bay.
"I'm sorry I'm always here, Hawkes," Danny sighed as he looked up at the doctor.
"Don't be ridiculous. You're very welcome to stay as much as you want," Hawkes stated. "I'm only sorry I couldn't do more for him than put him on life support."
"You did everything," Danny murmured gratefully.
"Yes, but it was too little too late I'm afraid," Hawkes sighed. "I never even got the chance to tell him how sorry I was for blaming him for what happened to my planet."
"I'm sure he understood," Danny said quietly.
"Perhaps. But I was so wrong to blame Earth humans for my tough childhood. I've been so bitter for the last few years I'd forgotten what it was like to actually be happy and enjoy life. Sid's taught me that. I've finally come to see that you can't blame a race as a whole, but that every individual has a choice and that the only ones to blame are those who make evil decisions," Hawkes said wisely.
"I'm glad you and Sid are getting on so well," Danny smiled.
"Sid's my best friend," Hawkes grinned. "Just like Adam is Lindsay's and yours is..." Hawkes quickly stopped as his eyes turned to the man lying on the bed.
"And mine is Flack," Danny finished as he too looked at his friend. "And he always will be."
"He'd been grateful for how hard you tried, Danny," Hawkes said as he moved towards the door. "Try not to beat yourself up about it too much."
"How can I not?" Danny murmured to himself as Hawkes went from the room.
Danny sighed as he went forward and sat in the chair next to Flack's bed. Slowly he reached out and took up his left hand.
"Where are you, Flack?" he whispered to his friend and then gently lay his head on his chest.
"How is he?" a voice murmured and Danny quickly turned to see Aiden.
"Aiden," Danny nodded. "He's err...not doing so good really."
"I'm so sorry," she said as she stared down at the unmoving man. "It's so sad."
"I know," Danny nodded. "He's had such an unhappy life and now to end it this way..."
"At least he died being a hero, saving his friends," she commented.
"He would have liked that," Danny supposed as he stroked a hand up and down Flack's arm.
"It's always sad when someone so young dies. And handsome too," she murmured.
"He would have liked you," Danny smirked. "You look very much like the woman he loved many years ago."
Aiden blushed slightly and then smiled at Danny. "You're sweet. But I'm kinda hard to love," she replied mysteriously and then left the medical bay.
"Oh Flack, see what you're missing buddy?" Danny murmured.
He once more took hold of Flack's left hand and held onto tightly, as though his own life might somehow flow into his friend.
"God I miss you," he said quietly. "And it's only been a septcycle."
He sniffed as a tear fell from his eye and splashed onto the bedsheet below.
"You really are my best friend," Danny murmured. "But I seem to curse the people I love. First Louie... now you. Maybe you would have been better off staying away from me, I kill people I love."
Tears dripped down his face with more force now.
"You promised you would come back to me, Flack. You promised you wouldn't leave me alone here. How am I supposed to go on without you now? I feel like I've lost a huge part of myself. I don't think I can cope without you, I just know it. I know the others care, they always have, but it's not the same. It was always me and you. And now it's just me, and I hate it."
Danny sobbed into his free hand as he looked at his dead friend.
"Please..." he whispered as he fell forward and once again rested his head on Flack's chest as his hand squeezed Flack's three times. He cried deep hard cries into the sheet and his body vibrated with the effort.
"Danno?"
Danny gasped as he heard the quiet murmur of his name and suddenly pulled back, looking into his friends face and deep into his open blue eyes.
"Oh my God, Flack!" Danny spluttered as he stood back and gawped.
"You weight a ton," Flack complained as he put a hand to his temple and rubbed it. "And my head hurts."
"Flack, is it really you?" Danny gawped, still disbelieving.
"Course it's me," Flack murmured as he sat up and groaned. "I hurt everywhere."
"My God, Flack!" Danny squealed and jumped forward, wrapping his arms around his friend's body and squeezing him. "I can't believe you've come back to me."
Flack grinned and wrapped his own arms around his friend, glad to see him too. He closed his eyes and the brief flash of a green pasture came to his eyes before it was gone just as quickly.
"Of course I came back," Flack murmured. "I promised I would."
"I was so scared," Danny sobbed into Flack's shoulder.
"I would never have left you behind," Flack muttered and then he hugged his friend closer. "I had a guiding light that led me back here."
"Huh?" Danny sniffed and then looked up at his friend.
"It was Louie, Danny. I met Louie and he wants you to know he never blamed you. It was never your fault what happened to him. He chose to go back in and get you out of there," Flack said sincerely.
"Flack...I...what..." Danny choked.
"He loves you Danny, and he wants you to forgive yourself," Flack murmured.
"God," Danny cried and then hugged Flack again as he was overcome with emotion.
Flack returned the hug tightly; glad to finally be back where he belonged. And he knew it felt right.
So what shall we do with it?" Jo asked Mac seriously as they both sat in his office, mulling over the events from Station SQ-B8U.
"I'm not sure," Mac sighed as he stood and looked out of his window at the passing stars.
"Gerrard is dead, Flack killed him," Jo commented. "And both Lugarons are too."
Mac nodded and turned back to her. "You were great there by the way," he smiled.
"Thank you," she replied coyly. "I'm glad they're dead. It's what they deserve for what they did to my father."
"At least now you're free to live your life without revenge being your motivation," Mac mused.
"As are you," Jo nodded towards him. "Now you know the man who ordered the event which killed your wife is dead."
"I guess so," Mac murmured.
"It's oddly freeing, isn't it?" Jo thought aloud.
"It is indeed," Mac smiled. "But as to this recording..."
"Commodore Sinclair wasn't involved, Mac. And all those who were involved are dead. I see no reason why we should show this to him," she replied.
"But it would clear our names for their murders," Mac suggested.
"Mac Taylor, since when has being a vigilante and outlaw ever bothered you before?" Jo laughed. "We can keep it and use it if we need to. But if we show it at this vulnerable time when Commodore Sinclair has just got the colonies unified, we could do more damage than good. It could destroy the Empire."
"I think you're right," Mac finally agreed as he placed the recording in his safe and locked it. "For emergencies only."
Suddenly the door burst open and Adam ran in excitedly. "Flack's woken up," he gasped.
"Oh my gosh," Jo cried.
"Really?" Mac asked.
"Yes, come on," Adam yelled as he turned and ran back to the medical bay.
"After you," Mac smiled as he and Jo went from the room.
The corridors were silent at night, the lights dimmed and the air thinner to breathe; less of it being circulated round the ship. It was at night when the hollowness of the ship and the emptiness of Space around them seemed to seep into these corridors making the ineffectualness of life so ever present. Just one small dot on the grand scheme that was time, space; an eternal continuum. Most of the crew slept through these long nights bar Flack who never did. Sleep no longer being necessary to his existence. Flack wandered down these corridors, ever alert to the ship's needs, ever alert for danger and all the while growing more and more human each day thanks to love and friendship of his comrades.
"Flack!" a voice suddenly called out and Flack turned to see Danny Messer sitting up in a chair on the small balcony at the very top of the ship.
"What you doing up there?" Flack asked as he tilted his head to see his friend.
"Just contemplating," Danny smirked.
Flack grinned back at him happily.
"Come on up," Danny urged.
Flack nodded and then disappeared into the stairwell and climbed up the ladder before exiting out onto the small platform.
"Took your time," Danny joked as he handed Flack a drink.
"Danno, I don't need to drink," Flack commented as he eyed the drink suspiciously.
"Yeah, but this is alcohol," Danny whispered cheerfully.
Flack grinned and then took a sip and settled back into the seat next to Danny. They both stared up into the blackness of space, lit by billions of stars and Flack felt happy.
"Why are you awake, Danno?" Flack asked after a while and turned his head to look at his friend.
"Because I wanted to hang with my friend," Danny grinned. "As well as it might have been my idea to organise a rota so that at least one of us stays up with you to keep you company during the nights."
"Danno, you didn't have to do that," Flack said gratefully.
"I know I didn't. Just like I didn't have to suggest that Aiden took over as the security detail on our excursions out to trade, but I did and it makes you happy," Danny replied casually.
"Thank you, Danno," Flack sighed as he turned back to look at Space.
"So how's it going with Aiden, by the way?" Danny pried. "You seem to spend a lot of time with her."
"Danno!" Flack said sharply. "Aiden is just my friend."
"Oh yeah, oh yeah course," Danny nodded, a cheeky grin still on his face. "Just like Lindsay is only my friend."
"Exactly," Flack agreed.
"A friend whom I kissed last night," Danny added.
Flack turned and gawped at Danny who chuckled in delight. "She turned bright pink!"
"I knew it," Flack laughed and then sipped more of his drink. It felt good to relax with his friend.
"Danno?" Flack asked after some time.
"Yep?"
"Why do you call me Flack?" Flack asked.
"Oh, did I never tell you?" Danny asked with raised eyebrows.
"No, no you didn't," Flack replied.
"Well, when I was a kid, my bear was called Flack. He was my best friend, my only friend really when Louie went off to college and he protected me from everything I was scared of. He was kinda my hero," Danny hummed.
"And I reminded you of him?" Flack asked in surprise.
"Well you're my best friend, aren't you?" Danny asked Flack.
"Yeah, yeah I am," Flack grinned.
Danny nodded and drank some more of his beverage, enjoying the time he could spend in the solitude of Flack's company. He looked out toward the Space in front of them, wondering what adventures might come to them in the future.
"I love you, Flack," he murmured happily.
"I love you too, Danno," came the reply.
