Hey everyone, I'm incredibly, incredibly sorry that it took FOREVER for this next chapter. But life it seems got away from me and unfortunately I forgot to grab this story when the Train of Life came. Anyways, luckily the Train has tendencies to go back to former stations and I have at least managed to write the next chapter. I apologise again if something is out of place, I will find it and change it… eventually. Lots of Love.

--CateRBlack.

Chapter 10

The Andromeda lurched under fire from the enemy ships. Dylan jumped up from trying to repair Rommie.

"What is going on here?!" he asked exasperated. Tyr, the only other person on command completely ignored Dylan and went about his own business, sealing off the intruders within the ship and readying himself to go take care of them.

"Who's trying to kill us?" Dylan asked again directing the question at Tyr.

"Anyone who's met you no doubt," Tyr muttered.

Dylan glared at him.

"Besides, I don't think that they are even after us," Tyr said,

Dylan asked running to Tyr's station, "What? Why? After all they're on my ship."

"Not anymore," Tyr said pressing a button on his station control. "They seem to be attacking the station."

"Now, why would they do that?"

"Maybe they want something," Tyr said sarcastically.

"But what?"

Tyr rolled his eyes at his Captain's random bouts of stupidness.

"What was it that Harper found? Before he was shot?" Tyr asked.

"Wish we could ask him," Dylan said, "are internal communications working?"

"That wouldn't help as Harper's internal communications are not."

"Trance, can you hear me?" Dylan asked disregarding his Nietzschean weapons officer.

"Yes Captain, but we have a problem down here!" Trance's voice came wailing through the comm. Link.

"What's the matter?" Dylan asked noticing that now the ship was quiet, there was fighting beyond, around the station. Suddenly Rommie sprung back to life.

"It's Harper," Trance said, "We're losing him."

000

Harper walked in a full circle looking at Apparition in front of him. The girl just smiled at him waiting for him to make the first move.

"Who are you?" Harper managed to ask.

"You don't know?" Kaolin asked quietly, as though she already knew that he knew who she was.

"Well," Harper stuttered, "you're dead."

She laughed, "of course!"

Harper stared.

"How…?" Harper asked.

Kaolin's face fell and her gaze went to the window behind him.

"What's the matter?" Harper asked, "why are you here."

"Because you're here," Kaolin replied.

"Stop speaking in cryptic riddles, are you actually my sister or are you another one of this virus's (at this he jerked his thumb to where the virus had been standing) images?" Harper demanded, "Am I going insane?"

"No," Kaolin answered. "You are not going insane, and I'm actually your sister."

"But how does that work, your dead, you said so yourself," Harper said.

"Think of it Seamus," Kaolin said, "You're smart, if I'm dead for sure, and you are here with me…" she trailed off hoping that he would catch on.

He looked at her like she was crazy then something clicked.

"I'm dead?!"

000

"Trance how is that possible?" Dylan asked as he shot into medical barely three minutes after the call. Tyr and Rommie was right behind him, the distance sound of explosions outside the ship, for once were not penetrating Dylan's brain, and his only thoughts were for his engineer.

"I don't quite understand it," Trance said, "it's like he's lost the will too live."

"Have you removed the virus?" Dylan asked.

"Not yet," Trance replied sadly.

"Isn't that what is killing him?" Dylan asked.

"This is different, it has also grown dormant; something else has shut it down. Harper should have been able to hold out for a long time, its not a bad virus," Trance explained, "I've managed to analyse it, its just a regular communication bug, at least it started out that way, I think it grew a consciousness."

"A consciousness?" Rommie asked, "That isn't possible, is it?"

"What does it matter right now?!" Beka said exasperated.

Harper twitched and turned in his fever with each moment growing weaker.

000

"Not yet."

"Not yet?" Harper asked.

"No," Kaolin replied, "look behind you."

Harper turned to see the same window of people standing before, frozen in time.

"I don't get it," Harper said.

"That's where you are, right now," Kaolin said. "You are on Med Deck, dying of a heart attack caused by something they don't understand."

Harper watched, the picture wasn't as frozen as he thought it was, there were sparks, moving in slow motion, coming from all over and the emergency lights were on.

"There being attacked!" Harper said running to the window.

"Yes that's right, the Venques, they've been terrorizing this part of the system for fifty years, they are trying to expand there territory," Kaolin explained.

"Why are they attacking the Andromeda?!" Harper asked.

"You stole their bug."

Harper looked at her, "their bug."

She nodded.

"They put the bug into the gravitation system," Harper said putting two and two together.

"Actually, I believe they placed in the main frame, but the virus, as you've already met, is no ordinary virus, she wanted to get away and if I'm up to date correctly, she hid in the gravitation system until her chance to get away came."

"And that was me," Harper said, he looked at his finger, though there was no sign of a cut, he could still remember the feeling. "It went into my bloodstream and them found its way to my brain, that's why I've been seeing, well, you all over the place, is that right?"

Kaolin nodded, "yes that's true. But unfortunately for her she came across you on the time that you've let yourself go."

She sounded annoyed and disappointed at this.

"It's called grieving," Harper put in saucily.

"Not when you're talking to the person your supposed to be grieving about," Kaolin said.

He glanced at her.

"What I said that I don't believe that you're my sister," he challenged.

"It doesn't make a difference," Kaolin said, "whether you believe it not, its still true."

"Oh really?"

"Yes really," Kaolin said getting edgy now.

"And what are you here for?" Harper asked.

"To make sure that you get over it."

Harper paused.

"Get over what?"

"You have to accept that it was not your fault that I died," Kaolin said.

Harper was quiet for a long time, nothing piercing the silence between them.

"What if I don't?" Harper asked finally.

"Then your life will end here," Kaolin answered.

"Really?" Harper asked shocked. "I'm going to die if I don't accept?"

"No, not like that, you life will be consumed by this grief and you'll be ruined, you must accept that there was nothing you could do."

Tears were being to well up in Harper's eyes, "But it was my fault, if I hadn't been so drunk…"

"No," Kaolin said her voice softening, walking to him and taking his shoulders, "you would have not been able to stop them had you been sober."

"But-"

"They were too powerful, only those who had passed out were left alive, and the couple slaves," Kaolin explained, "You life depended on you drinking that much and passing out, making them think you were dead."

"But I put you through five years of misery," Harper said.

"No you didn't the Nietzscheans did that and you managed to free me," Kaolin said.

"But not in time," Harper said miserably.

"No, just in time," Kaolin smiled, her eyes shining along with his, "I am whole now, more than I ever was, you did that Seamus."

Harper looked at threw tears stained eyes and a very long moment passed before he smiled and nodded.

Kaolin smiled and glanced over her shoulder.

"I have to go," She said, "But I'll see you again, someday, when your time has come."

"It isn't now?" he asked.

Kaolin faltered.

"If you walk through that door behind you, you will return to your life, if you really want it, but there are some things you have to do immediately if you do go through," Kaolin said.

000

Beka stood quickly as Rev rushed onto to Med. Deck and held out his hands to Beka to comfort her.

"How is it going?" Rev asked.

"Not so great."

"Not out there either," Rev said and turned to Dylan, "It's the Venques, there are attacking the station."

"Who's winning?" Dylan asked.

"They are," Rev said, "Kalen has killed the proper commander of the station, but there are few ships to attack, they seem to think that no matter what they will win. Kalen must have transported to them."

"She would tell them to destroy us though," Dylan said frowning, "Wouldn't she?"

"Maybe she doesn't want us destroyed," Trance said quietly.

They all looked at her.

"Why wouldn't they, we are a threat to them," Dylan said.

"True, but they also want their bug back don't they?" Trance said and glanced at Harper.

000

"You have to want to go back," a voice said through the dark room. Only the one wall was visible with the window and door that lead in, while a bright light was growing steadily behind him.

Harper stared at the door.

He was losing his will, it would be so much easier just to give up and turn around and leave the whole universe behind. To be with Mother and Father, and Kao, and all those others he'd lost.

000

"How can we fight them?" Dylan asked.

"Fight?!" Beka asked exasperated glancing back at Harper who was still lying fitfully on the table.

"Yes fight-" Dylan began but was cut off by the incessant beeping that came from the machines monitoring Harper's life signs. Trance ran quickly to them.

"What the matter?" Rev asked.

But Trance was to into what she was doing to answer.

Suddenly the beeping heart monitor let out one monotonous flat tone. Beka held her breath as did the rest of the crew, except Trance who moved like wildfire to try and restart his heart.

Seconds dragged by feeling like hours and Trance tried desperately to revive him.

The flat line tone dragged on.

Beka buried her face in Rev's shoulder.

Rommie looked slightly confused.

Tyr looked guilty.

Almost a minute past and Dylan took the hard difficult step to grab Trances arm and contain. She fought wildly, a purple flash in the air until she consented to sob into Dylan's shoulder.

The silence lasted and was so quiet that Dylan could almost hear the battle waging outside.

Dylan closed his eyes to the figure on the med bed, readying himself for the grief that he could feel swelling up in him.

000

He looked at that screen again, the window to his life.

And something flared in him, all of his friends had come here to try and keep him alive, even in the midst of a battle.

He couldn't give up.

Not yet.

He took it at a run and rammed his shoulder into the push door.

It didn't budge.

"You have to want it."

000

Sudden fear overwhelmed Dylan, and he jolted with energy as the machines went crazy, and Harper's hand grabbed at him arm.