Chapter 20

You've never lived until you've almost died, for those who fought for it, life has a flavor the protected will never know.

- Anon.

0000

Command was eerily quiet as Tyr stood before the view screen, a bored expression spread across his face. It was the equivalent of night on the mighty warship, and the ship was running on minimal crew as most caught up on some much needed rest. Of course, even minimal crew now was more people than the Andromeda had been staffed with just a few short weeks ago.

Not that the silence bothered the Nietzschean. Rather, he welcomed it. Silence left room for uninterrupted introspection and, as the Andromeda continued to speed after Commander Gaius Felix and the Charybdis, Tyr felt a heightened need for reflection, much to his annoyance.

Several hours earlier a small mutiny of sorts had occurred as Rommie and Trance pulled out all the stops to force Beka to get some sleep. Tyr doubted she was actually complying, but at least she had finally agreed to go to her quarters and stop pacing the Command Deck.

Tyr found her human need to, as she put it, "be there" sentimental and childish. Remaining on Command was not going to help get their missing crew back any sooner.

And yet, at the same time, Tyr couldn't stop his own thoughts from drifting to the missing captain and engineer.

Captain Hunt was an enigma in the universe. He belonged to a time and place so far removed from the current he should have been in a museum, but he refused to accept that. He was stubbornly optimistic, almost to the point of being blind to reality at times, and yet his determined struggle for an all but impossible dream left Tyr with a strange respect and understanding for the man. Their goals might be totally different, but Tyr could relate to his tenacity and desire to reshape the universe, even if he didn't agree with the proposed plan. They had an odd friendship, willing to put their life on the line to help the other, but at the same time acknowledging that arrangement could and probably would change someday. They were comrades of the moment, with the possibility of finding themselves on opposite sides of the fight always hanging over their heads. But that was the future and this was the now. For now, Tyr would help Beka and the others move heaven and earth to try and get the good captain back because it still fit his agenda, and because a small part of him that he didn't often acknowledge felt it was worth it out of loyalty and friendship.

And then there was the boy.

Harper was an annoying child, often purposefully baiting Tyr, and yet Tyr found the boy had somehow wormed his way to a place in the Nietzschean's small circle of comrades to the point Tyr found himself putting the young human's survival over his own with alarming frequency.

And when he was being completely honest with himself, Tyr had to admit he respected, even admired the boy, maybe even more than he did the Captain. Dylan struck out after his goal with the assurance of someone who had seen and lived the best and desired to see it return. Harper, however, supported Dylan in his foolish quest with a smile and a laugh in a universe that had done its best to see that he never had anything to smile about. Dylan might take that smile and help for granted, but the Nietzschean knew differently. Tyr was not three-hundred years out of date, nor was he a blind idealist who refused to accept the ugliness of the universe around him. He knew of that ugliness firsthand, and he knew Harper did as well. It bothered him that the person he was most like in background was a scrawny, sickly Kludge, but it was true. They shared a deep-seated hatred of the Drago-Kazov, for similar reasons. They also shared an intensely personal and first-hand knowledge of oppression, deprivation, and cruelty, in ways the others in their little family could never hope to comprehend.

And we both know of slavery as well, Tyr reminded himself. Beka's revelation of the true reason Captain Hunt and the Little Professor's capture by Felix was so grave had startled Tyr, although he knew it shouldn't have. Not that life on Earth as a Kludge under Dragan tyranny wasn't a form of slavery, but Tyr realized a deep part of his heart that he rarely let show truly hoped the boy had managed to escape the actual chains of Dragan slavers. It saddened him to learn even that small concession had been denied the child, even as he acknowledged to himself that he had probably known all along. The child was deeply wounded and, though he managed to hide it from Dylan and Trance and even Beka behind a carefree mask, he couldn't hide it from Tyr. Harper was scarred, more than just physically, and Tyr recognized it because far down in some place he hated to admit to he bore the same scars. And that was how the boy, despite his annoying, childish attitude, had won Tyr's respect. He was a survivor and, in a universe that consistently tried to snuff the life out of people like him, that took grit.

It was also why, even as he admitted the probably futility of their current "wild goose chase," he was willing to go along. He knew that Dylan and Harper were suffering greatly, if they were even still alive. All friendship and concern for the captain and the boy aside, Harper had risked everything to escape Dragan slavery once before; he didn't deserve to be left behind in it again. If they were alive, he would help Beka find them; if they were dead, then he would avenge their deaths and hopefully rid the universe of a few more Drago-Kazov in the process.

And then he would decide if it was time to exert his will and take control of Andromeda, or to strike out on his own, or to accept Beka's command and keep the status quo for a time.

"Tyr?"

Mentally, Tyr blinked at the intrusion as Andromeda appeared on the consol before him, but outwardly he showed no sign of being startled.

"Yes, Ship?" he asked.

"We are roughly five light-minutes out from the Charybdis and closing rapidly."

"Inform Captain Valentine and the girl and have them report to Command."

"They're on their way, as is my avatar."

Tyr nodded, shifting to a more alert position.

"Oh, and Tyr?"

Tyr turned to look at the image on the screen again.

"She appears to be waiting for us," Andromeda cautioned.

Tyr nodded again as the Command door slid open and a haggard-looking Beka all but dashed through, followed closely by Trance and Rommie. She marched to the Command Consol and Tyr gave it up unquestioningly, something that might have surprised her had she taken the time to notice. Trance and Rommie took positions on either side of them, both with grimly determined expressions.

"Rommie, why don't we –"

"I'm receiving a message from the Charybdis," Rommie interrupted before Beka could finish. "It's from Commander Felix himself."

"Oh, really," Beka growled, her eyes positively flashing with anger. "Put the creep through, then."

"Beka," Trance warned quietly, placing a hand on her friend's arm, "be careful."

Beka acknowledged the golden alien with a nod, but kept her eyes glued to the view screen. Seconds later the smug image of Gaius Felix appeared there, scarlet robes matching his flaming hair.

"Ah, Captain Valentine, I assume? What a pleasure to finally meet you!"

"I want my crew back," Beka said in a voice made of ice.

Something that could almost have been amusement flickered through Felix's eyes, "Not one to, as they say, "beat around the bush" are you? I can see why Captain Hunt handled the negotiations, and why the brat never learned to curb his tongue."

Beka's blood boiled at the insults, but she'd had too much practice to let it show. "You just admitted to having them; now we want them back."

Felix leaned forward in his chair. "Ah, but you see, that's rather complicated and I do so hate discussing complicated matters with so much impersonal space between us. I invite you to come on board my ship where we can talk through these issues civilly and comfortably, perhaps over a nice glass of wine?"

"You expect me to agree to come alone to your ship?' Beka scoffed loudly, "What do you take me for, a naïve little girl?"

"You want information on your precious Captain and the Kludge, you'll come. I'll expect you in fifteen minutes." And with that, he abruptly cut the transmission.

Beka sighed and ran a hand through her hair, before steeling her expression and moving for the door.

"Beka!" Trance called sharply, "You can't possibly be going to do as he says?" Rommie looked equally appalled.

"What choice do I have?" Beka snapped, harsher than she meant in her frustration. "Look, I know you could blast him out of the sky without so much as working up a sweat, Rommie, but we can't do that, not with Harper and Dylan most likely on that ship. And we can't take the ship by force without risking their lives either. This is the only way to get to Felix and probably the only way to get the guys out alive. So I'm going."

Tyr, Rommie, and Trance all looked as though they would like to say something more, but no one spoke up. It was Beka who stopped in the doorway of Command to speak again.

"If I'm not back in one hour, don't hold back on the ammo, Tyr."

00000

Anxiously, Trance waited outside the hanger door where the Eureka Maru was usually docked, quite literally counting the minutes. Beka's allotted hour was almost up and, if she wasn't back when it ran out, Trance wasn't entirely sure what she would do. Normally, she should have had a sense of where events like this were going, but things were too messed up right now. Either that or she was too personally involved, something her mother had always warned her she should avoid.

With a shake of her firry dreadlocks, Trance pushed thoughts of her mother back to the locked corner of her brain where such things should stay even as Rommie's voice announced that the Maru was leaving the Charybdis to dock with her ship self. Trance let out the breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding.

Impatiently, she waited for her friend to park the freighter and emerge. Even if Dylan and Harper were being held on that ship, she didn't expect Beka to bring them back. That would simply be too easy. She did hope, however, Beka would return with information that could help them negotiate their release, or at least plan their escape.

She was unprepared for the angry, completely terrifying woman that stalked from the old ship and ran for Command, sweeping past Trance without a glance.

"Beka?" Trance called, shocked and very worried as she ran after her friend.

Beka didn't even slow down. She burst into Command and turned straight to the startled Nietzschean leaning languidly against the weapon's consol.

"Blast them to bits," she ordered, her voice cold and murderous.

If Tyr was shocked, he showed it only in the quirk of one eyebrow as he turned silently to obey her command.

"She's entering slipstream," Rommie called from another consol. "We did only minimal damage," she added reluctantly, turning to face the angry captain, but she was already gone.

Verging on panic, Trance left the stunned Nietzschean and Android to race after her friend once more. Beka was headed straight for Dylan's office, no doubt intending to barricade herself inside but this time Trance wasn't going to be ignored. Quicker than a cat, she slipped through the door behind the blonde captain, almost getting a haircut in the process.

Even though Trance knew Beka was aware of her, the pilot walked straight to the dark window, her back ridged as she pointedly ignored the other woman, instead gazing out at the stars.

"Beka," Trance coaxed after a minute of total silence, alarms that had nothing to do with cosmic events and everything to do with long established friendships going off in her head.

"Trance, just go away, okay," Beka finally said, all command gone from her voice. "Just leave me alone, please!" It was almost a sob.

"Beka, what is it? What did you find out?" Trance cried in open concern. She crossed the space between them and laid a hand on her friend's shoulder, unexpectedly wishing for her long lost tail to add to the embrace.

"You don't want to know," Beka said darkly, the bitterness back in her voice.

"I have to know," Trance insisted.

"Commander Felix was the most honorable of gentlemen. He led me to a private room complete with virtual fire place and chintz armchairs. He invited me to sit and asked me how I took my tea. I told him to drop the act and tell me where Dylan and Harper were. And he told me they were gone."

"Gone?" Trance echoed in a small voice. "What does that mean?"

With a sigh, Beka shifted slightly toward the young woman. "According to Felix, Dylan is a political prisoner, shipped off to some high-security facility lost in the depths of the Dragan Empire. At least that's what he said; I'm not sure I believe him."

"And Harper," Trance pushed gently but with renewed dread. Not much could make the steady captain fly off the handle, but harm to her "little brother" topped the list.

"I asked where Harper was, Felix said he was dead, that he'd killed him personally and enjoyed every minute of it. I didn't believe him, said he had nothing to prove that to me. He gave me this." Beka's words choked off as she handed over a small bundle that Trance hadn't noticed before. Deeply apprehensive, the young alien unbound it.

Her hand went to her mouth in horror as she realized what she was holding: Harper's bloody clothes. Tears sprang to her eyes at the sight even as the medic in her took in the pattern of the bloodstains and tears. He'd been whipped, she realized, and probably beaten – more than once.

"This doesn't prove he's dead, Beka," she said, as much because she needed to hear it as to comfort her friend.

"That's what I said," Beka replied quietly, "but Felix wasn't done. He's sitting there drinking tea and he pulls out this to give me, like we're old chums and he's showing me a picture of his grandkids." Beka's voice was cold once more and that scared Trance more than anything. With more dread than she'd ever felt, Trance took the flexi Beka held out and turned it over.

If she had needed air to sustain herself, Trance would have fainted from lack of it as all breath left her lungs. The flexi contained one image and one image only. Trance felt tears she couldn't stop rolling down her cheeks.

At the sight of Trance's tears, Beka couldn't hold back her own any longer. With a cry, she fell to her knees, hands covering her face and shoulders shaking as great sobs racked her body.

"He's dead, Trance," she breathed. "Harper's really dead! I promised him I'd always look after him, protect him, and I couldn't even do that. I couldn't even kill the monster who did it! All I could do was walk away as he laughed!"

And Trance found she had nothing to say to that.