Beka was furious. That sniveling little chancellor had lied to them. This time, Beka was going to some real answers out of him. She had decided to use an old-fashioned good cop/bad cop routine with Rev, while Tyr had a look around the station.
"Last time we were here, you said you never sold to Neitzchians," Beka said, nonchalantly.
"We wouldn't think of it," The chancellor answered.
"That's not what I heard," Beka replied, moving closer, "In fact, I heard that a Neitzchian freighter came here a couple of days ago and left with one of your cargo pods."
"We sometimes buy supplies from Neitzchian merchants in the area, but…"
"Don't play games with me, buddy," Beka broke in, "Or I'll throw your pompous, pig faced corpse to a hive of terran fire ants."
"Well, I never meant…"
"What did you mean?" Beka demanded.
"I'd be careful," Rev cautioned, "Our ship has had a little trouble with Neitzchians lately, and she can get very defensive when it comes to her ship."
"Its…just that we…err I wanted to sell some spare parts that we bought from this Nightsider that came by a few days ago, and…."
Beka grabbed him by the lapels, "Look. I know you're selling ore to the Neitzchians. I just want to know which ones, and what they plan to do with it."
"You'll have to excuse her," Rev said, "She just broke up with her fiancé, and she's a little crazy at the moment."
"Tell me about it," Kyman turned to Beka, "Why don't you take a vacation or get a massage?"
Beka tightened her grip on the man's clothes and growled at him.
"I wouldn't be making jokes right now," Rev shook his head.
"Look, we haven't had any Neitzchians in here in weeks."
Rev shook his head, "You know, we were supposed to come in here and play a game of good cop/bad cop. Right now though, I feel more like playing bad cop/hungry cop."
Rev sniffed at the chancellor, and ran one of his long fingernails across the man's cheek.
Kyman tensed up immediately, "You wouldn't let him..."
"If I were you," Beka leaned in, "I wouldn't be asking for any favors."
The chancellor could see the venom glands on Rev's chin begin to move slightly as the prepared to spew the dangerous chemical. Kyman had seen enough Magog in his life to know that Rev was serious.
"Fine, it was Raptor Pride. They've been buying our ore for the last nine months. We called for assistance when a rival pride stole one of our cargo pods. However, Kyn did not want you involved. He sees the new Commonwealth as a threat. He felt this would be a good opportunity to destroy you. So, I disabled Andromeda's internal sensors while she was docked at the station. His chief engineer hid on board your vessle with orders to weaken it so that another vessle could capture it."
"Where is Kyn now?" Beka demanded.
"He is on board the warship Veshta, on his way to avenge the loss of one of their destroyers near the Kelmar belt."
Beka looked at Rev for a long moment, "I think we have enough information."
Rev took a step back, then followed Beka out of the office. Once the door had closed behind them, Chancellor Kyman went over to his command console, "Security!"
***
Jack was the first one to step through the doorway. No Neitzchians were in sight.
"They're gone," Jack called back.
"We'll never make it to the bridge at this rate," Harper said, coming through the door, "We can't be running from our own shadows all day. They'll uninstall the AI and have their own operating system running before we're even half way there."
"What else can we do?" Sam asked, "There are tons of these guys running around. If we attack, they'll send reinforcements."
"But if we could cut off those reinforcements..." Harper paused, "There's a defense station not far from here. We could use it to knock the transport right off the docking port. It'll probably tear a hole in Rommie's side, but at least we'll be able to get the AI back online and stop more Neitzchians from coming on board."
"Is that dangerous?" Trance asked.
"Well, if we don't do this right, we could tear the ship in half. But, if we're careful, Andromeda will only need a few weeks of repairs."
"Let's go," Jack said.
***
"I didn't get much information," Tyr told them, "A few people mentioned seeing Neitzchians around, but most seemed afraid to talk."
"We got enough from the chancellor, thanks to Rev," Beka answered, "In fact, we should probably be getting out of here. He probably called security as soon as we left his office."
"I agree," Tyr said, already on his way to the Maru.
"Did I ever mentioned what I used to do before I became a wayist?" Rev asked, running beside Tyr and Beka.
"I'd rather not think about it..." Beka answered.
"There!" A uniformed man shouted, "You, stop right there."
"We don't have time for this," Beka shook her head.
The officer followed them as they ran for the docking bay. Tyr fired a few warning shots from his weapon to shake him."
"How are we going to get away from the station in the Maru?" Rev asked, "They probably aren't going to just let us go."
"Don't worry, I came prepared," Beka answered.
Before long, the three of them reached the old freighter and locked the door behind them. It would take at least 20 minutes for station security to cut through the door.
"Whatever you have planned," Tyr looked at Beka, "Now would be a good time."
Beka nodded, and took out a small, linear device that was hanging from her belt. She pressed a button, and it immediately began to buzz. After a moment, the light on the end turned green.
"Docking clamps are releasing," Rev informed them.
"Useful device," Tyr noted as the Maru escaped into the slipstream.
"I had Harper build it before we left. We're just lucky that Andromeda had enough information about the station's defense systems."
***
"Manually routing power to the defense station," Harper said as he deftly moved his hands over the control panel.
"Defense station two ready," Sam said, sitting next to him. She had already studied Andromeda enough to operate the station.
"Fire control is fried," Harper informed them, "I'll have to launch the charges manually. Someone else is going to have to man the command station."
"I will learn the controls," Teal'c volunteered.
"Trance, show him how to work this thing while I try to fix the loading mechanism."
"Right," Trance answered as she leaned over Teal'c shoulder.
"OK..." Harper said, laying on the floor between the two stations, with the acess panel opened just above him, "We're ready."
Trance immediately went over to the computer console to man the sensors as soon as the AI came back online.
"We can't use our sensors right now," Harper explained, "So I'm feeding your stations a schematic of Andromeda. The red...thing is where the transport should be. Tell me when you've got a good shot at it."
Jack and Daniel continued to watch the hallway. Jack turned, "We're clear, for now."
"Missles loaded," Harper said.
"Defense station one ready."
"Defense station two ready."
"Three...two...one..." Harper took in a breath, "Missles away!"
The six of them held their breath, anticipating a reaction. Suddenly, the monitor Trance was watching sprang to life."
"They're disengaged!" Harper surmised as he began to rapidly manipulate the wires under the console.
The ship was soon shaken by an explosion.
"I've been hit," Andromeda said, her face appearing on the screen.
"Rommie!" Trance said, "Are you ok?"
"Fine, unless you count the giant, gaping maw in my hull, and that ringing noise."
"Its just a residual echo from the EMP device," Harper said, "It'll go away pretty soon."
"Sensors are back," The ship informed them, "But I still don't have slipstream or fire control. My internal sensors are damaged, too."
"Sending sensor data to the defense station," Harper said as he continued to work.
"The enemy transport is still nearby," Teal'c informed them.
"I've got them in my sights," Sam added.
"Fire when ready," Teal'c said.
"They've been hit," Andromeda said, "They seem to have lost their maneuvering thrusters."
"Sitting ducks," Harper responded.
"The vessle is gone," Teal'c observed, showing no sign of emotion.
"They retreated into the slipstream," Andromeda said, "But there are still at least 47 Neitzchians aboard, and I can't find Dylan."
***
"I'm picking up Andromeda ahead," Rev informed them.
"They're heavily damaged," Tyr said, "They have a large breech on the hull."
"Must have been some fight," Beka smiled, glad to see that Andromeda had survived, even if she was damaged.
"I'm not picking up many spent munitions, and only a few traces of debris," Rev said, "I don't think there was much of a battle at all."
"Perhaps the ship lost its defenses when the boarders arrived. She could be completely overrun by Neitzchians."
"See if you can conact them," Beka ordered.
"...I'm not getting any response," Rev said, "Communications could be down."
"Or perhaps Raptor Pride hopes we will investigate further and wander into a trap."
"If they have control of Andromeda, they wouldn't need to set a trap," Beka answered.
"There is only one way to be sure," Rev suggested.
"Transmitting authorization code now," Beka said, "Manual entry engaged."
***
"Like I said, my internal sensors are damaged," Andromeda explained, "I can't be sure..."
"What is it?" Trance asked.
"The Maru is back. They've initiated manual docking procedures."
"Great," Harper said, "We'll need all the help we can get. I say we head down to the docking bay and meet up with the others."
"What about Dylan?" Trance asked, "He could be in trouble."
"We don't even know if he's still on the ship."
"But we have to try," Trance pleaded.
"We will, as soon as we get some backup," Harper paused, "How are the internal defense systems working, Rommie?"
"I've taken seven of the boarders prisoner, nine are wounded, and thirteen went down attempting to fight back. The rest have found blind spots and are hiding out. I know basically where they are, but I can't pinpoint them."
"What about the bridge?" Harper asked.
"The bridge has been filled with some sort of gas. There are Neitzchians inside, but I'm not sure how many."
"Are they alive?" Trance wondered.
"I...think so," Andromeda wished her sensors were back to normal.
"I think we should split up," Jack suggested, "One team can try to gain control of the bridge, while the rest of us contact the new arrivals."
"I agree," Andromeda nodded.
"Alright," Harper replied, "Who is going with who?"
"Harper," Jack said, "You should go to the bridge, since you're the most capable of actually getting it to work, but Trance should come with us, because she knows the ship and who we're dealing with. Sam should know enough about the ship to help you. You'll probably have heavier resistance, so Teal'c should probably go to the bridge too. Daniel, I want you to come with me and Trance."
"My avatar should stay in engineering," Andromeda said, "Ishan could use my help repairing the slipstream drive."
***
"Well, no one came to meet us," Beka observed. Seconds later, weapons fire rang throughout the docking bay.
"You spoke too soon," Tyr answered, firing his weapon. Glancing around, he decided that the best cover would be behind the ramp leading into the Maru.
Beka dove back into the ship. Soon, the Maru's weapons cleared the bay of intruders.
Rev and Beka cautiously emerged from the door a second time. Once they were certain that the room was secure, Tyr led the way forward. Their plan was to get to engineering and try to gain control from there.
Travel through the hallways was largely uneventful. Andromeda appeared in holographic form and explained the current situation. It didn't take them long to reach engineering. Once there, they were amazed to see Ishan and Andromeda working peacefully at the slipstream drive. After surveying the room for a moment, they were even more surprised by the site of a large pile of Neitzchians in a corner of the room.
"You?" Beka asked, looking at Ishan, "Did you do this?"
"Andromeda, I thought you said that you had a sensor blind spot in this area," Rev commented.
"I do," She answered, "Aside from the eyes on this avatar, I can't see engineering at all."
"How could you have used your internal defenses when you can't use the room sensors?" Tyr asked.
"I didn't do anything. Ishan held the room against Neitzchians while I tried to repair the slipstream."
"How could one man stop that many Neitzchians?" Tyr looked back at the pile.
"Superior technology," Ishan responded, "Personal force field, stun beam with a direct neural interface, voice activated secondary defense systems; that sort of thing."
"Stun beam?" Beka asked. It sounded like something out of some ancient science fiction movie.
"Well yes," Ishan responded, "We only use lethal ordinance when it is absolutely neccessary."
"Trance's team is on her way here," Andromeda infromed them, "They'll be here in about six minutes. I don't think there are any Neitzchians between them and us."
"Then where are they?" Tyr wondered.
***
"I hear footsteps," Teal'c warned them.
"Where?" Sam asked.
"In the room to our left," Teal'c said, "There are at least four of them."
"Why doesn't Andromeda lock them in?" Sam turned to Harper.
"Her fail safes are down," Harper shook his head, "She can the lock the doors, but it'll take the Neitzchians three minutes flat to override it, two if they have an engineer in the group."
"Perhaps we could find another way to seal the door," Teal'c suggested.
"I have an emergency bulkhead above that room," The hologram informed them, "It was damaged, and a minor explosion could cause debris to jam the door."
"Yeah, too bad I'm out of Cherry bombs," Harper smirked.
"My staff weapon might be able to dislodge the material," Teal'c noted.
"Isn't that a little risky?" Sam asked.
"We have to get past this room somehow without the Neitzchians jumping us. If we try to just walk past, they'll see us."
"I'll close the door just before you fire. If this doesn't work, we should try to draw them out into the corridor so that I can detect them with my internal sensors."
Harper nodded, and Teal'c moved into position. The tip of the staff weapon opened, emitting its characterstic warning beep. The footsteps in the room suddenly ceased. Teal'c shouted, and the door flew shut. Teal'c fired three bursts from the end of the staff, bringing a pile of burned metal down in front of the door frame. Muffled threats and obsenities began to eminate from the blocked room as the Neitzchians within began to pound at the door, trying to force it open.
"We should get moving," Sam urged.
Harper immediately led the way forward. The bridge was nearby, and in mere minutes they would have almost total control of the ship. With Andromeda's humanoid form and Ishan working in engineering, and Harper working from the bridge, it would only be a matter of time before the internal sensors were fixed and Andromeda could capture the rest of the invaders.
"Wait," Andromedea paused, "At least twelve Neitzchians are hiding around the corner ahead."
"Any suggestions?" Harper asked.
"Beka's team has already reached Trance's team. They're on their way here. I suggest we wait for reinforcements before trying to move forward."
"Then what?" Sam asked, "A straight fight would be too dangerous. We''ll still be outnumbered."
"Got any damaged bulkheads around?" Harper joked.
Andromeda looked at him incredulously, "No, and this junction is the only acess point for the bridge."
"What about the repair crawl ways?" Harper asked.
"That may work," Andromeda responded, slowly, "But my counter-invasion program locked down all repair crawlways. I can open them, but the Neitzchians could hear us."
"Unless we create some noise to mask it," Sam suggested.
***
"They aren't far from here," Andromeda said, "Unfortunately, my hull breach extends into this deck. We will have to go around."
"Last time we were here, you said you never sold to Neitzchians," Beka said, nonchalantly.
"We wouldn't think of it," The chancellor answered.
"That's not what I heard," Beka replied, moving closer, "In fact, I heard that a Neitzchian freighter came here a couple of days ago and left with one of your cargo pods."
"We sometimes buy supplies from Neitzchian merchants in the area, but…"
"Don't play games with me, buddy," Beka broke in, "Or I'll throw your pompous, pig faced corpse to a hive of terran fire ants."
"Well, I never meant…"
"What did you mean?" Beka demanded.
"I'd be careful," Rev cautioned, "Our ship has had a little trouble with Neitzchians lately, and she can get very defensive when it comes to her ship."
"Its…just that we…err I wanted to sell some spare parts that we bought from this Nightsider that came by a few days ago, and…."
Beka grabbed him by the lapels, "Look. I know you're selling ore to the Neitzchians. I just want to know which ones, and what they plan to do with it."
"You'll have to excuse her," Rev said, "She just broke up with her fiancé, and she's a little crazy at the moment."
"Tell me about it," Kyman turned to Beka, "Why don't you take a vacation or get a massage?"
Beka tightened her grip on the man's clothes and growled at him.
"I wouldn't be making jokes right now," Rev shook his head.
"Look, we haven't had any Neitzchians in here in weeks."
Rev shook his head, "You know, we were supposed to come in here and play a game of good cop/bad cop. Right now though, I feel more like playing bad cop/hungry cop."
Rev sniffed at the chancellor, and ran one of his long fingernails across the man's cheek.
Kyman tensed up immediately, "You wouldn't let him..."
"If I were you," Beka leaned in, "I wouldn't be asking for any favors."
The chancellor could see the venom glands on Rev's chin begin to move slightly as the prepared to spew the dangerous chemical. Kyman had seen enough Magog in his life to know that Rev was serious.
"Fine, it was Raptor Pride. They've been buying our ore for the last nine months. We called for assistance when a rival pride stole one of our cargo pods. However, Kyn did not want you involved. He sees the new Commonwealth as a threat. He felt this would be a good opportunity to destroy you. So, I disabled Andromeda's internal sensors while she was docked at the station. His chief engineer hid on board your vessle with orders to weaken it so that another vessle could capture it."
"Where is Kyn now?" Beka demanded.
"He is on board the warship Veshta, on his way to avenge the loss of one of their destroyers near the Kelmar belt."
Beka looked at Rev for a long moment, "I think we have enough information."
Rev took a step back, then followed Beka out of the office. Once the door had closed behind them, Chancellor Kyman went over to his command console, "Security!"
***
Jack was the first one to step through the doorway. No Neitzchians were in sight.
"They're gone," Jack called back.
"We'll never make it to the bridge at this rate," Harper said, coming through the door, "We can't be running from our own shadows all day. They'll uninstall the AI and have their own operating system running before we're even half way there."
"What else can we do?" Sam asked, "There are tons of these guys running around. If we attack, they'll send reinforcements."
"But if we could cut off those reinforcements..." Harper paused, "There's a defense station not far from here. We could use it to knock the transport right off the docking port. It'll probably tear a hole in Rommie's side, but at least we'll be able to get the AI back online and stop more Neitzchians from coming on board."
"Is that dangerous?" Trance asked.
"Well, if we don't do this right, we could tear the ship in half. But, if we're careful, Andromeda will only need a few weeks of repairs."
"Let's go," Jack said.
***
"I didn't get much information," Tyr told them, "A few people mentioned seeing Neitzchians around, but most seemed afraid to talk."
"We got enough from the chancellor, thanks to Rev," Beka answered, "In fact, we should probably be getting out of here. He probably called security as soon as we left his office."
"I agree," Tyr said, already on his way to the Maru.
"Did I ever mentioned what I used to do before I became a wayist?" Rev asked, running beside Tyr and Beka.
"I'd rather not think about it..." Beka answered.
"There!" A uniformed man shouted, "You, stop right there."
"We don't have time for this," Beka shook her head.
The officer followed them as they ran for the docking bay. Tyr fired a few warning shots from his weapon to shake him."
"How are we going to get away from the station in the Maru?" Rev asked, "They probably aren't going to just let us go."
"Don't worry, I came prepared," Beka answered.
Before long, the three of them reached the old freighter and locked the door behind them. It would take at least 20 minutes for station security to cut through the door.
"Whatever you have planned," Tyr looked at Beka, "Now would be a good time."
Beka nodded, and took out a small, linear device that was hanging from her belt. She pressed a button, and it immediately began to buzz. After a moment, the light on the end turned green.
"Docking clamps are releasing," Rev informed them.
"Useful device," Tyr noted as the Maru escaped into the slipstream.
"I had Harper build it before we left. We're just lucky that Andromeda had enough information about the station's defense systems."
***
"Manually routing power to the defense station," Harper said as he deftly moved his hands over the control panel.
"Defense station two ready," Sam said, sitting next to him. She had already studied Andromeda enough to operate the station.
"Fire control is fried," Harper informed them, "I'll have to launch the charges manually. Someone else is going to have to man the command station."
"I will learn the controls," Teal'c volunteered.
"Trance, show him how to work this thing while I try to fix the loading mechanism."
"Right," Trance answered as she leaned over Teal'c shoulder.
"OK..." Harper said, laying on the floor between the two stations, with the acess panel opened just above him, "We're ready."
Trance immediately went over to the computer console to man the sensors as soon as the AI came back online.
"We can't use our sensors right now," Harper explained, "So I'm feeding your stations a schematic of Andromeda. The red...thing is where the transport should be. Tell me when you've got a good shot at it."
Jack and Daniel continued to watch the hallway. Jack turned, "We're clear, for now."
"Missles loaded," Harper said.
"Defense station one ready."
"Defense station two ready."
"Three...two...one..." Harper took in a breath, "Missles away!"
The six of them held their breath, anticipating a reaction. Suddenly, the monitor Trance was watching sprang to life."
"They're disengaged!" Harper surmised as he began to rapidly manipulate the wires under the console.
The ship was soon shaken by an explosion.
"I've been hit," Andromeda said, her face appearing on the screen.
"Rommie!" Trance said, "Are you ok?"
"Fine, unless you count the giant, gaping maw in my hull, and that ringing noise."
"Its just a residual echo from the EMP device," Harper said, "It'll go away pretty soon."
"Sensors are back," The ship informed them, "But I still don't have slipstream or fire control. My internal sensors are damaged, too."
"Sending sensor data to the defense station," Harper said as he continued to work.
"The enemy transport is still nearby," Teal'c informed them.
"I've got them in my sights," Sam added.
"Fire when ready," Teal'c said.
"They've been hit," Andromeda said, "They seem to have lost their maneuvering thrusters."
"Sitting ducks," Harper responded.
"The vessle is gone," Teal'c observed, showing no sign of emotion.
"They retreated into the slipstream," Andromeda said, "But there are still at least 47 Neitzchians aboard, and I can't find Dylan."
***
"I'm picking up Andromeda ahead," Rev informed them.
"They're heavily damaged," Tyr said, "They have a large breech on the hull."
"Must have been some fight," Beka smiled, glad to see that Andromeda had survived, even if she was damaged.
"I'm not picking up many spent munitions, and only a few traces of debris," Rev said, "I don't think there was much of a battle at all."
"Perhaps the ship lost its defenses when the boarders arrived. She could be completely overrun by Neitzchians."
"See if you can conact them," Beka ordered.
"...I'm not getting any response," Rev said, "Communications could be down."
"Or perhaps Raptor Pride hopes we will investigate further and wander into a trap."
"If they have control of Andromeda, they wouldn't need to set a trap," Beka answered.
"There is only one way to be sure," Rev suggested.
"Transmitting authorization code now," Beka said, "Manual entry engaged."
***
"Like I said, my internal sensors are damaged," Andromeda explained, "I can't be sure..."
"What is it?" Trance asked.
"The Maru is back. They've initiated manual docking procedures."
"Great," Harper said, "We'll need all the help we can get. I say we head down to the docking bay and meet up with the others."
"What about Dylan?" Trance asked, "He could be in trouble."
"We don't even know if he's still on the ship."
"But we have to try," Trance pleaded.
"We will, as soon as we get some backup," Harper paused, "How are the internal defense systems working, Rommie?"
"I've taken seven of the boarders prisoner, nine are wounded, and thirteen went down attempting to fight back. The rest have found blind spots and are hiding out. I know basically where they are, but I can't pinpoint them."
"What about the bridge?" Harper asked.
"The bridge has been filled with some sort of gas. There are Neitzchians inside, but I'm not sure how many."
"Are they alive?" Trance wondered.
"I...think so," Andromeda wished her sensors were back to normal.
"I think we should split up," Jack suggested, "One team can try to gain control of the bridge, while the rest of us contact the new arrivals."
"I agree," Andromeda nodded.
"Alright," Harper replied, "Who is going with who?"
"Harper," Jack said, "You should go to the bridge, since you're the most capable of actually getting it to work, but Trance should come with us, because she knows the ship and who we're dealing with. Sam should know enough about the ship to help you. You'll probably have heavier resistance, so Teal'c should probably go to the bridge too. Daniel, I want you to come with me and Trance."
"My avatar should stay in engineering," Andromeda said, "Ishan could use my help repairing the slipstream drive."
***
"Well, no one came to meet us," Beka observed. Seconds later, weapons fire rang throughout the docking bay.
"You spoke too soon," Tyr answered, firing his weapon. Glancing around, he decided that the best cover would be behind the ramp leading into the Maru.
Beka dove back into the ship. Soon, the Maru's weapons cleared the bay of intruders.
Rev and Beka cautiously emerged from the door a second time. Once they were certain that the room was secure, Tyr led the way forward. Their plan was to get to engineering and try to gain control from there.
Travel through the hallways was largely uneventful. Andromeda appeared in holographic form and explained the current situation. It didn't take them long to reach engineering. Once there, they were amazed to see Ishan and Andromeda working peacefully at the slipstream drive. After surveying the room for a moment, they were even more surprised by the site of a large pile of Neitzchians in a corner of the room.
"You?" Beka asked, looking at Ishan, "Did you do this?"
"Andromeda, I thought you said that you had a sensor blind spot in this area," Rev commented.
"I do," She answered, "Aside from the eyes on this avatar, I can't see engineering at all."
"How could you have used your internal defenses when you can't use the room sensors?" Tyr asked.
"I didn't do anything. Ishan held the room against Neitzchians while I tried to repair the slipstream."
"How could one man stop that many Neitzchians?" Tyr looked back at the pile.
"Superior technology," Ishan responded, "Personal force field, stun beam with a direct neural interface, voice activated secondary defense systems; that sort of thing."
"Stun beam?" Beka asked. It sounded like something out of some ancient science fiction movie.
"Well yes," Ishan responded, "We only use lethal ordinance when it is absolutely neccessary."
"Trance's team is on her way here," Andromeda infromed them, "They'll be here in about six minutes. I don't think there are any Neitzchians between them and us."
"Then where are they?" Tyr wondered.
***
"I hear footsteps," Teal'c warned them.
"Where?" Sam asked.
"In the room to our left," Teal'c said, "There are at least four of them."
"Why doesn't Andromeda lock them in?" Sam turned to Harper.
"Her fail safes are down," Harper shook his head, "She can the lock the doors, but it'll take the Neitzchians three minutes flat to override it, two if they have an engineer in the group."
"Perhaps we could find another way to seal the door," Teal'c suggested.
"I have an emergency bulkhead above that room," The hologram informed them, "It was damaged, and a minor explosion could cause debris to jam the door."
"Yeah, too bad I'm out of Cherry bombs," Harper smirked.
"My staff weapon might be able to dislodge the material," Teal'c noted.
"Isn't that a little risky?" Sam asked.
"We have to get past this room somehow without the Neitzchians jumping us. If we try to just walk past, they'll see us."
"I'll close the door just before you fire. If this doesn't work, we should try to draw them out into the corridor so that I can detect them with my internal sensors."
Harper nodded, and Teal'c moved into position. The tip of the staff weapon opened, emitting its characterstic warning beep. The footsteps in the room suddenly ceased. Teal'c shouted, and the door flew shut. Teal'c fired three bursts from the end of the staff, bringing a pile of burned metal down in front of the door frame. Muffled threats and obsenities began to eminate from the blocked room as the Neitzchians within began to pound at the door, trying to force it open.
"We should get moving," Sam urged.
Harper immediately led the way forward. The bridge was nearby, and in mere minutes they would have almost total control of the ship. With Andromeda's humanoid form and Ishan working in engineering, and Harper working from the bridge, it would only be a matter of time before the internal sensors were fixed and Andromeda could capture the rest of the invaders.
"Wait," Andromedea paused, "At least twelve Neitzchians are hiding around the corner ahead."
"Any suggestions?" Harper asked.
"Beka's team has already reached Trance's team. They're on their way here. I suggest we wait for reinforcements before trying to move forward."
"Then what?" Sam asked, "A straight fight would be too dangerous. We''ll still be outnumbered."
"Got any damaged bulkheads around?" Harper joked.
Andromeda looked at him incredulously, "No, and this junction is the only acess point for the bridge."
"What about the repair crawl ways?" Harper asked.
"That may work," Andromeda responded, slowly, "But my counter-invasion program locked down all repair crawlways. I can open them, but the Neitzchians could hear us."
"Unless we create some noise to mask it," Sam suggested.
***
"They aren't far from here," Andromeda said, "Unfortunately, my hull breach extends into this deck. We will have to go around."