A/N: The long wait is over! I mean, my long wait to get to post the next bit... Again, not a very long chapter, and maybe a bit mushy and... I'll just shut up now and let you get on with it, okay?
I just noticed, the formatting came out all over the shop! I don't know why, I just uploaded the word document like normal... anyway, sorry 'bout that. This should be a bit more readable now...
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Interlude:
Darkness. Light. Pain. All kinds of it. Metal all around, the inside of a spaceship. This was wrong. They weren't supposed to get him alive. And the hate. And the anger. His or theirs? He wasn't sure.
Landing later, being punched dragged, torn. Stench of blood, he'd been here before. Back to square one. Some large machine wired down from chains in the ceiling. A hard blow to the face. Darkness.
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Chapter Eleven: Are we there yet?
"We're here. Trance, where are you going?"
Beka turned her head to follow Trance running towards the door.
"The Maru! Come on, it's already been five days! We have to hurry!"
"Take it easy. We can't just storm in on them, that would be suicide. We have to have a plan. Now who is going and who is staying here?" Dylan said.
"Oh, I'm going!" Trance said, "Just try and stop me!"
"And me," Harper filled in, "If those people have a machine that can let you cross over into another dimension, I definitely want to have a look! Must remember to bring a camera and a notepad... You don't think it'd be small enough to bring back with us? I would just love the chance to take something like that apart! Oh, and I want to help save Milon as well, of course."
"Well, do either of you remember the way back to the warehouse?" Tyr asked, "Or have the slightest idea of what to do once you get there?"
"Erm... not really," Harper admitted.
Trance just gave him a blank stare. Seemed the girl had still not forgiven him for what had happened to her... friend, or whatever Milon was to her.
"I suppose I will have to come with you then," Tyr eventually said.
"Ok," Dylan nodded, "You can go down and take a look. But if the situation looks too dangerous, don't hesitate to call for backup. Beka and Rommie can go down in a shuttle and help you if you need it."
"Then it is decided. Meet me aboard the Maru in ten minutes."
After quickly collecting a choice assortment of weapons from his quarters, Tyr made his way to the hangar. The other two were already on the ship, making preparations for take-off. Tyr had hardly had time to shut the inner door of the airlock behind him before Harper hollered:
"Alright, seatbelts on, seats in the upright and locked position, extinguish all cigarettes, we're out of here!"
Tyr was thrown backwards as the ship shot out of the hangar like a bullet from a cannon.
"Harper! Will you slow down! They will think we are attacking them and open fire if you come in at this speed!"
"Relax, I know what I'm doing. There are lots of holes in the security perimeter, all you need to know is when to... drop!"
As he said that, the Maru was suddenly hurtling towards the Earth like a meteorite of iron and glass. Harper and Trance were well strapped in to their seats, but Tyr was being thrown around like a ragdoll. He was not appreciating it. No doubt this was their little revenge on him for what had happened on the other planet. Well, they would pay for it, all in good time. Harper pulled up sharpish and the ship levelled out, a bit too close to the surface for comfort. The landing, however, went smoothly and Tyr decided to let the engineer away with it this time. After all, they were in a hurry.
It was a grey day, but no rain as they stepped out of the ship and looked around. The place seemed almost deserted. The space-port was the same claustrophobic maze of old, rusty containers as the last time they had been here, but Tyr navigated confidently among the many little by-roads until he found the long, boarded up street where the warehouse was located. Harper and Trance followed closely behind, Harper with a gun and Trance just generally vigilant. The silence was unsettling. The only sound was that of their own footsteps, accompanied by the occasional rustling of litter in the soft breeze. There was the door, still slightly ajar. Tyr charged up his gauss gun and slowly pulled the door open. Not a sound was coming from within, but the stench of blood was worse than it had ever been, and this time there was a burnt quality to the smell. This did not look good; something terrible had definitely been going down in there. Tyr quietly wished that they were not too late, but he still could not shake the feeling that he was hoping against hope.
"What are you waiting for?" Trance whispered.
Tyr turned a frowning face towards her, putting his finger across his lips in a motion for her to be quiet. Then he opened the door the rest of the way, listening intently for any sound, almost feeling for any sign of presence. There was none. But there was something, underneath the stench of blood and fire, there was another, even more unpleasant smell. The smell of death. Tyr took a step inside.
Already in the anteroom, or whatever it was, Tyr could tell that there were no enemies here. At least no living ones. A body was sticking out from behind the corner, its back burnt to a crisp, probably as he had been trying to reach the exit. Tyr recognised the clothes; it was one of the Vertexans. Behind him Trance made a short whimpering sound. Tyr ignored her and stepped resolutely around the corner and into the main hall.
The smell hit him full force, as did the sight of what had happened. The room was a slaughterhouse. There were bodies lying everywhere, charred to varying degrees of blackness. Many of them had pieces of metal of different sizes piercing their bodies. Like something metallic had exploded and sent shards flying everywhere. And at a closer look, that was exactly what must have happened. There were bits of chains hanging from the ceiling, some with chunks of iron still attached to them. Cables and circuitry were sticking out everywhere amongst the junk. Clearly, this was all that was left of the amazing dimension-crossing machine.
At the far wall, the debris seemed to form a rough, circular shape. And in the shape lay the only body untouched by the fire. Tyr walked over to the white figure, stepping over several corpses on his way. The last one he stepped over, he recognised. It was a woman's body, with black, gold-entwined hair. It was Lillian. He stepped into the circle, reholstered his gun and squatted down. Milon was lying face down on the floor, fresh bruises still clearly visible on the pale, bared skin on his back. Tyr reached out and put his hand to the side of the boy's neck. There it was, his heartbeat. Faint, but regular. An involuntary sigh of relief escaped Tyr.
"Is he..."
Trance could apparently not manage to say it.
"He is alive."
Tyr checked quickly for any broken bones in his neck or back, but they all seemed to be intact. He still might have internal injuries, but there was no way of finding out without moving him first. Carefully, Tyr turned him over onto his back and pulled him halfway into his lap so that he could hold him with one arm and check for broken ribs with his free hand. Milon's face was slightly grazed on one side and Tyr could still see the mark where Lillian had split his lip. He wondered briefly why the boy had not healed his injuries like the time in the training room, but he supposed that he might have been rendered unconscious aboard the enemy ship. Suddenly Milon stirred and his lips moved.
"...Pitch? That you?"
It was just a whisper, barely enough for Tyr to hear, and it did not make much sense. He lifted Milon's head with his free hand and looked at his pale face.
"It is me, Tyr. Open your eyes."
Milon's light green eyes flicked halfway open. He seemed to have trouble focusing. Tyr thought it was best to get him back to the Andromeda's medical facility as soon as possible, so he stood up, lifting Milon off the ground with ease. He was even lighter than he looked.
"You?" Milon whispered.
"Yes. Me."
"You... you sold me out! You betrayed me..."
His voice sounded as worn out as he looked. Like he had been screaming himself hoarse and could hardly speak any longer. He knotted one hand into a fist and hit Tyr on the chest with about as much force as a sparrow landing. The poor boy was completely drained. They must have tried to use his light power to run the machine but maybe it had overloaded or maybe Milon had made it overload. Clearly it had taken every bit of energy his body could generate. No demons in sight though.
"Let me go..." Milon whispered.
Tyr's first instinct was to say no, you are coming with me like it or not, but then he thought better of it. He let go of Milon's legs so he could stand up. Milon tried to, but immediately fell to the floor the second Tyr let him go, like a puppet that had its strings cut. Tyr bent down and picked him up again.
"See, there is no way you can walk. If you do not wish to stay here, I suggest you let me carry you."
Trance came up to them. She stood next to Tyr, looking down on Milon, her hand stroking his hair.
"Hi. We came to save you. I'm so happy you're alive!"
"Am I?"
"Yes of course you are! And we're taking you back to the Andromeda, you'll be as good as new!"
Harper, who until now had been looking around the room with a disgusted look on his face, said:
"You've any idea how lucky you are to be alive? Everyone else... ain't! And this machine is totalled... shame. I would have liked to get even an idea of what it once looked like. Ah well, the main thing is you're alright."
Milon did not answer him, just leaned his head against Tyr's chest. It was obviously not a sign of affection, but purely of the fact that he was too exhausted to hold his head up. Tyr carried him out of the bloodstinking building and down the street with Trance skipping along next to him and Harper following closely behind.
When they reached the Maru, Milon was asleep in Tyr's arms. Obviously he must not be all that worried that Tyr was going to take him anywhere he did not want to go. Or maybe he could sense that Tyr's feelings were not malicious. Tyr set him down gently on one of the bunks in the Maru's sleeping quarters. Trance was constantly hovering around them, looking at Milon's sleeping form with a half worried, half happy expression.
"Are you ready for take off?" came Harper's voice over the internal communications system.
"Yes. Fly more gently this time."
"Sure thing."
The ship lifted off the ground as gently as leaf on the breeze and set a steady course for the Andromeda. Harper was not that bad a pilot when he made an effort. Trance sat down on the bed next to Milon and looked down on him. Tyr could tell from the way she acted that there really was something more there than just concern for a friend. How stupid of the girl to let her feelings run away with her like this when there was still no guarantee that Milon would want to stay on the ship. Still, Tyr was not going to say anything.
"Tyr," Trance said.
"Yes?"
"Did you really make a deal with the Vertexans to hand over Milon?"
Her voice was quiet but Tyr could sense some real emotion in it.
"Yes. But I was going to warn him. We were going to set them up, get their leader and find out all about this dimension machine. Only this stupid boy took off on his own even after I had told him to wait..."
The last sentence he had not even been speaking to Trance, but for some strange reason he was talking to Milon's sleeping body. It was odd, what he was feeling. Almost as if Milon had been... family. A younger brother perhaps, or even a son. Tyr took a deep breath and went up to the bridge to see how much longer until they arrived at the Andromeda.
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I just noticed, the formatting came out all over the shop! I don't know why, I just uploaded the word document like normal... anyway, sorry 'bout that. This should be a bit more readable now...
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Interlude:
Darkness. Light. Pain. All kinds of it. Metal all around, the inside of a spaceship. This was wrong. They weren't supposed to get him alive. And the hate. And the anger. His or theirs? He wasn't sure.
Landing later, being punched dragged, torn. Stench of blood, he'd been here before. Back to square one. Some large machine wired down from chains in the ceiling. A hard blow to the face. Darkness.
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Chapter Eleven: Are we there yet?
"We're here. Trance, where are you going?"
Beka turned her head to follow Trance running towards the door.
"The Maru! Come on, it's already been five days! We have to hurry!"
"Take it easy. We can't just storm in on them, that would be suicide. We have to have a plan. Now who is going and who is staying here?" Dylan said.
"Oh, I'm going!" Trance said, "Just try and stop me!"
"And me," Harper filled in, "If those people have a machine that can let you cross over into another dimension, I definitely want to have a look! Must remember to bring a camera and a notepad... You don't think it'd be small enough to bring back with us? I would just love the chance to take something like that apart! Oh, and I want to help save Milon as well, of course."
"Well, do either of you remember the way back to the warehouse?" Tyr asked, "Or have the slightest idea of what to do once you get there?"
"Erm... not really," Harper admitted.
Trance just gave him a blank stare. Seemed the girl had still not forgiven him for what had happened to her... friend, or whatever Milon was to her.
"I suppose I will have to come with you then," Tyr eventually said.
"Ok," Dylan nodded, "You can go down and take a look. But if the situation looks too dangerous, don't hesitate to call for backup. Beka and Rommie can go down in a shuttle and help you if you need it."
"Then it is decided. Meet me aboard the Maru in ten minutes."
After quickly collecting a choice assortment of weapons from his quarters, Tyr made his way to the hangar. The other two were already on the ship, making preparations for take-off. Tyr had hardly had time to shut the inner door of the airlock behind him before Harper hollered:
"Alright, seatbelts on, seats in the upright and locked position, extinguish all cigarettes, we're out of here!"
Tyr was thrown backwards as the ship shot out of the hangar like a bullet from a cannon.
"Harper! Will you slow down! They will think we are attacking them and open fire if you come in at this speed!"
"Relax, I know what I'm doing. There are lots of holes in the security perimeter, all you need to know is when to... drop!"
As he said that, the Maru was suddenly hurtling towards the Earth like a meteorite of iron and glass. Harper and Trance were well strapped in to their seats, but Tyr was being thrown around like a ragdoll. He was not appreciating it. No doubt this was their little revenge on him for what had happened on the other planet. Well, they would pay for it, all in good time. Harper pulled up sharpish and the ship levelled out, a bit too close to the surface for comfort. The landing, however, went smoothly and Tyr decided to let the engineer away with it this time. After all, they were in a hurry.
It was a grey day, but no rain as they stepped out of the ship and looked around. The place seemed almost deserted. The space-port was the same claustrophobic maze of old, rusty containers as the last time they had been here, but Tyr navigated confidently among the many little by-roads until he found the long, boarded up street where the warehouse was located. Harper and Trance followed closely behind, Harper with a gun and Trance just generally vigilant. The silence was unsettling. The only sound was that of their own footsteps, accompanied by the occasional rustling of litter in the soft breeze. There was the door, still slightly ajar. Tyr charged up his gauss gun and slowly pulled the door open. Not a sound was coming from within, but the stench of blood was worse than it had ever been, and this time there was a burnt quality to the smell. This did not look good; something terrible had definitely been going down in there. Tyr quietly wished that they were not too late, but he still could not shake the feeling that he was hoping against hope.
"What are you waiting for?" Trance whispered.
Tyr turned a frowning face towards her, putting his finger across his lips in a motion for her to be quiet. Then he opened the door the rest of the way, listening intently for any sound, almost feeling for any sign of presence. There was none. But there was something, underneath the stench of blood and fire, there was another, even more unpleasant smell. The smell of death. Tyr took a step inside.
Already in the anteroom, or whatever it was, Tyr could tell that there were no enemies here. At least no living ones. A body was sticking out from behind the corner, its back burnt to a crisp, probably as he had been trying to reach the exit. Tyr recognised the clothes; it was one of the Vertexans. Behind him Trance made a short whimpering sound. Tyr ignored her and stepped resolutely around the corner and into the main hall.
The smell hit him full force, as did the sight of what had happened. The room was a slaughterhouse. There were bodies lying everywhere, charred to varying degrees of blackness. Many of them had pieces of metal of different sizes piercing their bodies. Like something metallic had exploded and sent shards flying everywhere. And at a closer look, that was exactly what must have happened. There were bits of chains hanging from the ceiling, some with chunks of iron still attached to them. Cables and circuitry were sticking out everywhere amongst the junk. Clearly, this was all that was left of the amazing dimension-crossing machine.
At the far wall, the debris seemed to form a rough, circular shape. And in the shape lay the only body untouched by the fire. Tyr walked over to the white figure, stepping over several corpses on his way. The last one he stepped over, he recognised. It was a woman's body, with black, gold-entwined hair. It was Lillian. He stepped into the circle, reholstered his gun and squatted down. Milon was lying face down on the floor, fresh bruises still clearly visible on the pale, bared skin on his back. Tyr reached out and put his hand to the side of the boy's neck. There it was, his heartbeat. Faint, but regular. An involuntary sigh of relief escaped Tyr.
"Is he..."
Trance could apparently not manage to say it.
"He is alive."
Tyr checked quickly for any broken bones in his neck or back, but they all seemed to be intact. He still might have internal injuries, but there was no way of finding out without moving him first. Carefully, Tyr turned him over onto his back and pulled him halfway into his lap so that he could hold him with one arm and check for broken ribs with his free hand. Milon's face was slightly grazed on one side and Tyr could still see the mark where Lillian had split his lip. He wondered briefly why the boy had not healed his injuries like the time in the training room, but he supposed that he might have been rendered unconscious aboard the enemy ship. Suddenly Milon stirred and his lips moved.
"...Pitch? That you?"
It was just a whisper, barely enough for Tyr to hear, and it did not make much sense. He lifted Milon's head with his free hand and looked at his pale face.
"It is me, Tyr. Open your eyes."
Milon's light green eyes flicked halfway open. He seemed to have trouble focusing. Tyr thought it was best to get him back to the Andromeda's medical facility as soon as possible, so he stood up, lifting Milon off the ground with ease. He was even lighter than he looked.
"You?" Milon whispered.
"Yes. Me."
"You... you sold me out! You betrayed me..."
His voice sounded as worn out as he looked. Like he had been screaming himself hoarse and could hardly speak any longer. He knotted one hand into a fist and hit Tyr on the chest with about as much force as a sparrow landing. The poor boy was completely drained. They must have tried to use his light power to run the machine but maybe it had overloaded or maybe Milon had made it overload. Clearly it had taken every bit of energy his body could generate. No demons in sight though.
"Let me go..." Milon whispered.
Tyr's first instinct was to say no, you are coming with me like it or not, but then he thought better of it. He let go of Milon's legs so he could stand up. Milon tried to, but immediately fell to the floor the second Tyr let him go, like a puppet that had its strings cut. Tyr bent down and picked him up again.
"See, there is no way you can walk. If you do not wish to stay here, I suggest you let me carry you."
Trance came up to them. She stood next to Tyr, looking down on Milon, her hand stroking his hair.
"Hi. We came to save you. I'm so happy you're alive!"
"Am I?"
"Yes of course you are! And we're taking you back to the Andromeda, you'll be as good as new!"
Harper, who until now had been looking around the room with a disgusted look on his face, said:
"You've any idea how lucky you are to be alive? Everyone else... ain't! And this machine is totalled... shame. I would have liked to get even an idea of what it once looked like. Ah well, the main thing is you're alright."
Milon did not answer him, just leaned his head against Tyr's chest. It was obviously not a sign of affection, but purely of the fact that he was too exhausted to hold his head up. Tyr carried him out of the bloodstinking building and down the street with Trance skipping along next to him and Harper following closely behind.
When they reached the Maru, Milon was asleep in Tyr's arms. Obviously he must not be all that worried that Tyr was going to take him anywhere he did not want to go. Or maybe he could sense that Tyr's feelings were not malicious. Tyr set him down gently on one of the bunks in the Maru's sleeping quarters. Trance was constantly hovering around them, looking at Milon's sleeping form with a half worried, half happy expression.
"Are you ready for take off?" came Harper's voice over the internal communications system.
"Yes. Fly more gently this time."
"Sure thing."
The ship lifted off the ground as gently as leaf on the breeze and set a steady course for the Andromeda. Harper was not that bad a pilot when he made an effort. Trance sat down on the bed next to Milon and looked down on him. Tyr could tell from the way she acted that there really was something more there than just concern for a friend. How stupid of the girl to let her feelings run away with her like this when there was still no guarantee that Milon would want to stay on the ship. Still, Tyr was not going to say anything.
"Tyr," Trance said.
"Yes?"
"Did you really make a deal with the Vertexans to hand over Milon?"
Her voice was quiet but Tyr could sense some real emotion in it.
"Yes. But I was going to warn him. We were going to set them up, get their leader and find out all about this dimension machine. Only this stupid boy took off on his own even after I had told him to wait..."
The last sentence he had not even been speaking to Trance, but for some strange reason he was talking to Milon's sleeping body. It was odd, what he was feeling. Almost as if Milon had been... family. A younger brother perhaps, or even a son. Tyr took a deep breath and went up to the bridge to see how much longer until they arrived at the Andromeda.
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