"We are nearly within weapons range," The officer said.
"Good," Kyn took a step forward, "Send in the Magog. Have our ships follow closely. Those vermin Magog can take the casualties for us. They will remain our allies as long as we assist in the battle."
"What about after the battle?" First officer Miash asked, "The Magog will want to ravage the planet."
"We'll let them," Kyn said, "Once they are finished with it, will be all the easier to subdue. Don't worry, the Magog are only really interested in the life forms, nothing we really need."
***
"We have to leave, now. It may already be too late," Ishan explained, "Our operatives have discovered a vortex opening in this timeline."
"How?" Jack asked, "They say the ship isn't going anywhere."
Ishan nodded, "Andromeda won't be able to reach the battle in time. However, it does carry another vessle on board which is capable of slipstream travel."
"Great," Jack responded, "But how are we going to get that?"
"Simple," Ishan smiled, and left engineering. SG1 followed close behind, trying unsuccessfully to get more answers.
---
Harper dropped another tool on the deck. It was the fifth in the past few hours.
"Harper!" Dylan barked, more sharply than he had intended.
"Sorry boss," Harper answered, somewhat sheepishly. He didn't want to admit it, even to himself, but Tyr's situation was getting to him. Tyr had been like a rock to the crew. Morale was already starting to drop. Dylan didn't know if he could keep them together if Tyr…didn't make it.
The officer that didn't seem afraid was Trance. It seemed as if she had skipped fear entirely, and was already in dispair. That worried Dylan most of all.
Beka wandered over to Harper. She bent down and began to speak quietly, "How's the slipstream coming?"
"I don't know how I'm going to fix this thing," He answered, shaking his head apologetically, "I've never seen a slipstream drive messed up this bad. It's a complete wreak."
"Its all right," Beka answered, "We can take the Maru and bring back help. We can drag it back to the planet if we have to."
"Some help I've been," Harper looked down, "I shouldn't have let this happen. I should have been watching."
"You can't blame yourself for what happened," Beka reached out to touch his shoulder.
Harper sat up, out of her reach, "I'm the engineer. My place is in engineering. I shouldn't have been hanging around the station."
"You can't be in engineering all the time," Beka reminded him.
"I know, but why wasn't I there this time?" Harper wondered, "If I was there, maybe I could have stopped him."
"If he caught you, you'd be dead," Beka responded.
"At least then I wouldn't be wasting Andromeda's oxygen generators," Harper slumped.
"You can't mean that…"
"If I don't get slipstream running, the Neitzchians will be back, and it won't be so easy to get rid of them next time. I don't plan on letting them take me alive," Harper answered, his voice resolute.
"Don't worry," Beka answered, "We won't let them get that close again."
"Don't waste your energy. We're all doomed anyway."
"Stop it, Harper," Beka's voice firm, "We need you right now more than ever. Trance needs you."
"Trance?" Harper was a bit surprised.
"I don't think she's left the med deck since we brought Tyr in," Beka paused, "You know her better than any of us. You should talk to her."
"I can't…"
"Just go. We'll take care of everything up here."
"Thanks," Harper answered, slowly getting up and heading off the bridge.
"Beka," Dylan turned, watching Harper walk off the bridge, "Where is Harper going? He does realise that an army of Neitzchian are probably headed this way already, doesn't he?"
"Well…" Beka hesitated, not meeting his gaze, "I told him to take a break…"
"…You did?" Dylan asked in disbelief.
---
"Why can't you tell us what you plan to do?" Daniel asked.
"Seeing the look on your faces is half the fun," Ishan grinned mischieviously, "Besides, we're here."
Ishan led the SG team onto Andromeda's bridge. Dylan, Beka, and Rev were standing watch. The rest of them were on med deck.
"Ishan," Dylan said, "I thought you were working in engineering."
"I, and my friends, have to leave now."
"Now?" Beka asked.
"We are still incapable of using the slipstream," Rev told them. Ishan noticed that Rev looked as though he were trying not to put any of his weight on his left side.
"Don't worry," Ishan smiled, "We're going to explain everything."
"About time," Jack smirked.
Ishan pulled a small, metallic device from his pocket, "This is a neurolyzer. It isolates the electric impulses in your brain. If you will just look into this red eye," He pointed to the tip of the device, "Everything will be cleared up."
***
"Trance, have you been crying?" Harper asked as he approached.
Trance looked down, "Its Tyr…I don't think he's going to get better."
Harper moved closer, "Don't worry. Rommie has the best medical equipment around."
Trance put a hand on Tyr's shoulder, "He was mean sometimes, but I think he did care about us…"
"Trance," Harper reached out, "It'll be ok."
"No…" Tears began to form in her eyes again, "No it won't."
Then, Harper realised what she meant. He had nothing to say. Almost instinctively, he put his arms around Trance as she began to cry. She let her head rest on her shoulder as she wondered how much longer she would mourn someone that she barely knew…
Harper held her, wishing he could protect her. He didn't want to let go. However, Ishan walked in on them at that moment. Harper let go as Trance took a step away from him. Everyone looked a bit embarassed.
"Err…Trance, Harper," Ishan began, "There's something I have to show you."
"What is it?" Harper asked softly.
Jack, Sam, Daniel, and Teal'c put on dark glasses as Ishan pulled the device from his pocket, "It's a neurolyzer. Just look right here."
The device flashed, leaving Trance and Harper in a daze. Ishan and SG1 filed out of the room. They didn't speak until they were outside.
Once the door closed, Trance opened her eyes and smiled. Precognition does come in handy now and then… Then, she looked over and noticed Tyr. Suddenly, she wished that she had let them wipe out her memory.
---
"So, you just flash that thing, and it erases their memory?" Jack asked.
Finally, Ishan stopped being illusive, "Yes, and it allows me to implant a new one, as you saw on the bridge."
"What about the ship's logs?" Sam asked, "And all the damage?"
"We have a sweeper team on the way to take care of that."
"Why didn't you use that on Tyr?" Daniel asked.
"He…" Ishan paused, "It won't be a problem."
***
Ishan stood on the bridge of the Maru, "The Andromeda crew will soon be recovering from the temporary mental paralysis caused by the neurolyzer. We'll have to activate the time dilation matrix. As soon as we leave the Andromeda."
"Why are we waiting?" Sam asked.
"Andromeda can't open the bay doors if she's frozen in time."
"Good point," Jack responded.
"There," Ishan tapped a few more buttons on the control panel, "We are outside the Andromeda. When I use the time dilation matrix, time will be frozen for everything in this reality, aside from shielded objects."
"Shielded?" Daniel asked.
"Our enemy has temporal shielding. I have also outfitted the Maru with such a shield."
"Who exactly is this enemy?" Daniel asked.
"They go by many names," Ishan pondered, "Humanoids can't possibly pronounce the name they call themselves. So, I suppose Species 8475 will suffice. That is the designation given to them by the Borg."
"The who?" Jack asked.
Ishan waved him off, "That isn't important right now. I'm ready to activate the temporal wave."
Ishan pressed one more button, and a massive wave errupted from the Maru. It engulfed the Andromeda, leaving it suspended in space and time. As the wave moved further, entire civilizations ground to a halt. Stars ceased their violent erruptions, and even sprays of radiation stood obediently in place.
"I have modified the Maru's active sensors to use chronoton-shielded tachyon beams," Ishan explained, "That will allow us to detect the bioship."
With that, Ishan took his position in the slipstream chair and piloted toward the Kelmar belt.
***
"We just lost contact with the Magog flagship!" Curn shouted.
"What!? How?" Kyn demanded.
"I don't know," Curn answered, "There weren't any defensive…wait, we just lost sensor contact with one of their battleships."
"Hail the Krisma and the Lamanii," Kyn ordered, "Confirm that it isn't a sensor glitch."
"I lost sight of the Derneye and a Magog transport vessle," Curn looked nervously at the commander, "I'm still not reading any hostiles in the area."
"I'm getting reports from all over the fleet," The communications officer added, "They're all wondering what has happened. The acting Magog commander wishes to speak with you."
"I'll deal with him later," Kyn gritted his teeth, "Order all Neitzchian ships to retreat from this system."
"I've lost the Danube," Curn called out, "Looks like a couple of Magog frigates went down with it."
"Get us to slipstream now!" Kyn ordered.
"I…can't, sir," The navigation officer responded.
"Can't!?" Kyn thundered.
"I'm getting some strange gravitational readings…" Curn tried to explain, "Looks like someone is making artificial gravity distortions to keep us from getting away."
"We've been led into a trap," Kyn looked at the viewscreen in disgust, "When I find out how they did this…"
"Sir, what do we do now?" The first officer asked.
"The Keshnar is gone," Curn shook his head.
"Order all ships to keep an open comm link. I want to be notified the instant something happens."
"The Magog just lost a fleet carrier," Curn noted… "Now I'm not reading the Normike."
"Sir," The communications officer said, "I just got a report from the Normike. They detect a neutrino burst just before they were hit. Whatever it was ripped a hole through their hull like it wasn't even there. The second shot must have finished them off."
"The Normike was a dreadnought class…" First Officer Mesh trailed off.
"…The most heavily armored ship in the fleet," Kyn finished.
"We've lost the Cziran and the Goadran," Curn's voice was urgent, "Whatever it is seems to be cutting a swath right through our fleet, and they're heading right for us."
"They knew enough to destroy the Magog flagship…" Kyn's gaze became even more steely than usual, "All hands, abandon ship."
"Sir," Curn spoke urgently again, "I'm picking up some sort of exotic energy wave at maximum sensor range and closing."
"We can't worry about that now," Kyn ordered, "Abandon the vessle."
***
"What happened?" Sam asked in a hushed voice.
"Species 8475 happened," Ishan noted, "From the looks of things, they wiped out entire fleets of Neitzchians, Humans, and Magog. They were probably in the middle of the slaughter when the temporal wave hit."
"If they were in the middle of the battle," Daniel asked, looking at the sensor display, "Why aren't we reading any ships intact?"
"8475 is shielded. The time dilation matrix would only have made the ships easier targets," Ishan answered sadly.
"Where are they now?" Daniel asked.
"They're out here, waiting for us," Ishan answered, "They've probably already detected us. They'll know we have temporal shields, and they'll want to know what else we have before making a move."
"How are they going to find out?" Sam asked.
"They're scanning our ship as we speak," Ishan explained, "But they won't detect the weapon. They will see us as an annoyance, and move to eliminate us. Then, we fire and run."
"We've got something on long range sensors," Sam informed them.
"Prepare for impact," Ishan warned.
The Maru was rocked by an energy bolt. Lights dimmed for a moment, but the crew was unharmed.
"Energy shields are holding," Daniel stated, "We still have 80% reserve shield energy."
"It won't last long," Ishan stated as the ship was shaken even more fiercely by the second blast, "I've loaded the nanite weapon on a missle in tube 2. Don't fire it until I give the word."
"As you wish," Teal'c answered.
"Fire tube 1!" Ishan ordered.
"Missle away," Teal'c repsonded dispassionately.
"I thought the regular weapons wouldn't work," Jack said.
"They won't," Ishan answered, "But we have to get closer before we can risk firing the real weapon."
"How much closer?" Jack asked.
Ishan smiled, "We don't fire until we see the whites of their eyes."
"Great," Jack shook his head.
"Head toward the sensor contact, but not directly. If we look like we're heading for the planet, they'll go to intercept. That's our best shot."
"Right," Jack answered, "Bringing us around…"
The Maru took a wide, arcing course between the bioship and the now-frozen planet below. As expected, Species 8475 used its maximum speed to get between them and the relative safety of the small world. It fired another energy blast at them.
"Shields failing!" Daniel shouted, "We can't take another hit."
"Wait," Ishan coldly stared-down the hostile vessel, "…Fire."
Teal'c launched the biological weapon. It sailed in a smooth arc through the stark blackness of space. Species 8475 didn't even attempt to evade what it perceived as a worthless weapon from an inferior race. The nanobots drove into the skin of their target causing the color to drain from the living ship. Soon, Species 8475 lost control of the vessel.
"…I think we got it," Sam looked very relieved to have completed the mission.
"You've all done better than…" Ishan's gaze suddenly flew to the viewscreen, "No!"
"What is it?" Daniel asked.
"The bioship is falling. If we don't do something, the nanites will infect the planet's biosphere. In a matter of hours, every living thing on that planet will be dead."
"I'm taking us in," Jack stated as he manipulated the controls.
"The bioship just hit the planet's atmosphere," Sam stated hurriedly.
"Engines are on full," Jack said, "I've got an intercept course."
"We're in the atmosphere," Daniel stated as the ship rocked violently under the turbulance, "Heat shields are holding."
"We've got to get under it," Ishan said, "If we do, I can use a repulsor beam to push it back into space."
"They'll hit the planet in six minutes," Jack stated, "We'll be at the point of no return in four."
"We are approaching critical velocity," Teal'c observed.
"Stress levels are too high," Daniel shouted, "Heat shields weakening. The Maru wasn't built to go this fast in an atmosphere."
"Three minutes to intercept," Jack's knuckle gripped the control so hard it turned white.
"We'll never be able to boost it back up from this distance," Ishan noted.
"We'll make it," Jack said.
"I was raised by Essarians," Ishan said, as if that explained everything, "I know what I'm talking about. Head out of the atmosphere."
"I'm not going to let a biological weapon hit that planet," Jack answered firmly.
"Yes, you will," Ishan sighed, "Maru, command overried Valentine, Captain. Clearance code 9374 mark 32. Activate auto-pilot and return to non-planetary space."
"Clearance accepted. Autopilot initiated," The Maru's computer chirped.
Jack stood up and stormed over to Ishan. Their faces were barely an inch apart, even though Jack was at least two inches taller.
"How could you do that?" His voice icey.
"We couldn't have stopped that ship from landing."
"Then should have died trying. I don't give up when there are lives at stake."
"You don't understand…"
"How many people were on that planet!?"
"Those people were probably dead long before we got here! I didn't want to give up hope, but 8475 probably killed every living thing in this sector before I even found out that it was here."
"Probably isn't good enough," Jack's voice was like stone.
"There was no chance. The probability of success was exactly zero. All we could have done was die along with everything else, and we need you to go home and save your galaxy from these creatures."
"If we aren't willing to sacrifice ourselves, we're useless."
"And if you think throwing your lives away is the best way of protecting your world, then it seems I've misjudged you."
***
The return to Andromeda was long and silent. When they finally returned, Ishan deactivated the time dilation matrix, and flew the Eureka Maru back inside. The sweeper team had already altered the ship's logs, and they took Ishan and SG1 back to the stargate in a vessel they had rented from Krisar Prime.
Meanwhile, the crew of the Andromeda set about repairing the vessel unaware that they had ever encounter Ishan or Raptor Pride.
"Ugh," Dylan put his hand on his forehead, "What happened?"
"The last thing I remember was docking at Krisar," Harper answered, trying to shake the odd feeling from his head.
"We were on our way to the Kelmar belt," Andromeda informed them, "When we struck a random anomaly in the slipstream. It caused some minor damage to my slipstream drive, and the loss of your short-term memory. However, we should be able to get back underway in less than an hour."
"Harper, we need slipstream running again immediately. We might already be too late."
"She'll be running like new in no time," Harper assured him as he headed for engineering.
"I still say this entire excersise is foolish," Tyr shook his head, "Raptor pride will probably have enough overkill to keep us from turning the tide of this battle."
Trance looked at the Neitzchian officer. She couldn't help wondering why she hadn't expected those men to show up and fix everything, but she couldn't ask them. If they knew she were aware, they'd wipe her memory too, and someone had to know what really happened.
"Relax. I have a couple of surprises ready for them," Dylan answered, "Have I ever let you down?"
Tyr raised his eyebrows at Dylan.
"Don't answer that."
---
After a few minutes, Harper returned to the bridge. He made a few adjustments to the back of the slipstream chair and announced that it was ready. Dylan immediately gave the order to head for the Kelmar belt.
"Hey," Harper said, "I feel like I haven't slept in days. Can I take a break. We won't be at the belt for another couple of hours."
"I feel the same way," Dylan answered, "Go ahead."
As he walked off the bridge, he noticed Trance standing idly at her station, "Hey, I think I'm going to go watch a movie. Want to come?"
"Can I?" She asked.
Dylan smiled, "Go ahead."
Harper walked off the bridge, with Trance close behind, her tail gently waving.
'Seamus Harper, Systems Commonwealth Special Forces,' She thought as she remembered his masterful leadership during the crisis, 'I hope I get to tell him about it sometime.'
"Good," Kyn took a step forward, "Send in the Magog. Have our ships follow closely. Those vermin Magog can take the casualties for us. They will remain our allies as long as we assist in the battle."
"What about after the battle?" First officer Miash asked, "The Magog will want to ravage the planet."
"We'll let them," Kyn said, "Once they are finished with it, will be all the easier to subdue. Don't worry, the Magog are only really interested in the life forms, nothing we really need."
***
"We have to leave, now. It may already be too late," Ishan explained, "Our operatives have discovered a vortex opening in this timeline."
"How?" Jack asked, "They say the ship isn't going anywhere."
Ishan nodded, "Andromeda won't be able to reach the battle in time. However, it does carry another vessle on board which is capable of slipstream travel."
"Great," Jack responded, "But how are we going to get that?"
"Simple," Ishan smiled, and left engineering. SG1 followed close behind, trying unsuccessfully to get more answers.
---
Harper dropped another tool on the deck. It was the fifth in the past few hours.
"Harper!" Dylan barked, more sharply than he had intended.
"Sorry boss," Harper answered, somewhat sheepishly. He didn't want to admit it, even to himself, but Tyr's situation was getting to him. Tyr had been like a rock to the crew. Morale was already starting to drop. Dylan didn't know if he could keep them together if Tyr…didn't make it.
The officer that didn't seem afraid was Trance. It seemed as if she had skipped fear entirely, and was already in dispair. That worried Dylan most of all.
Beka wandered over to Harper. She bent down and began to speak quietly, "How's the slipstream coming?"
"I don't know how I'm going to fix this thing," He answered, shaking his head apologetically, "I've never seen a slipstream drive messed up this bad. It's a complete wreak."
"Its all right," Beka answered, "We can take the Maru and bring back help. We can drag it back to the planet if we have to."
"Some help I've been," Harper looked down, "I shouldn't have let this happen. I should have been watching."
"You can't blame yourself for what happened," Beka reached out to touch his shoulder.
Harper sat up, out of her reach, "I'm the engineer. My place is in engineering. I shouldn't have been hanging around the station."
"You can't be in engineering all the time," Beka reminded him.
"I know, but why wasn't I there this time?" Harper wondered, "If I was there, maybe I could have stopped him."
"If he caught you, you'd be dead," Beka responded.
"At least then I wouldn't be wasting Andromeda's oxygen generators," Harper slumped.
"You can't mean that…"
"If I don't get slipstream running, the Neitzchians will be back, and it won't be so easy to get rid of them next time. I don't plan on letting them take me alive," Harper answered, his voice resolute.
"Don't worry," Beka answered, "We won't let them get that close again."
"Don't waste your energy. We're all doomed anyway."
"Stop it, Harper," Beka's voice firm, "We need you right now more than ever. Trance needs you."
"Trance?" Harper was a bit surprised.
"I don't think she's left the med deck since we brought Tyr in," Beka paused, "You know her better than any of us. You should talk to her."
"I can't…"
"Just go. We'll take care of everything up here."
"Thanks," Harper answered, slowly getting up and heading off the bridge.
"Beka," Dylan turned, watching Harper walk off the bridge, "Where is Harper going? He does realise that an army of Neitzchian are probably headed this way already, doesn't he?"
"Well…" Beka hesitated, not meeting his gaze, "I told him to take a break…"
"…You did?" Dylan asked in disbelief.
---
"Why can't you tell us what you plan to do?" Daniel asked.
"Seeing the look on your faces is half the fun," Ishan grinned mischieviously, "Besides, we're here."
Ishan led the SG team onto Andromeda's bridge. Dylan, Beka, and Rev were standing watch. The rest of them were on med deck.
"Ishan," Dylan said, "I thought you were working in engineering."
"I, and my friends, have to leave now."
"Now?" Beka asked.
"We are still incapable of using the slipstream," Rev told them. Ishan noticed that Rev looked as though he were trying not to put any of his weight on his left side.
"Don't worry," Ishan smiled, "We're going to explain everything."
"About time," Jack smirked.
Ishan pulled a small, metallic device from his pocket, "This is a neurolyzer. It isolates the electric impulses in your brain. If you will just look into this red eye," He pointed to the tip of the device, "Everything will be cleared up."
***
"Trance, have you been crying?" Harper asked as he approached.
Trance looked down, "Its Tyr…I don't think he's going to get better."
Harper moved closer, "Don't worry. Rommie has the best medical equipment around."
Trance put a hand on Tyr's shoulder, "He was mean sometimes, but I think he did care about us…"
"Trance," Harper reached out, "It'll be ok."
"No…" Tears began to form in her eyes again, "No it won't."
Then, Harper realised what she meant. He had nothing to say. Almost instinctively, he put his arms around Trance as she began to cry. She let her head rest on her shoulder as she wondered how much longer she would mourn someone that she barely knew…
Harper held her, wishing he could protect her. He didn't want to let go. However, Ishan walked in on them at that moment. Harper let go as Trance took a step away from him. Everyone looked a bit embarassed.
"Err…Trance, Harper," Ishan began, "There's something I have to show you."
"What is it?" Harper asked softly.
Jack, Sam, Daniel, and Teal'c put on dark glasses as Ishan pulled the device from his pocket, "It's a neurolyzer. Just look right here."
The device flashed, leaving Trance and Harper in a daze. Ishan and SG1 filed out of the room. They didn't speak until they were outside.
Once the door closed, Trance opened her eyes and smiled. Precognition does come in handy now and then… Then, she looked over and noticed Tyr. Suddenly, she wished that she had let them wipe out her memory.
---
"So, you just flash that thing, and it erases their memory?" Jack asked.
Finally, Ishan stopped being illusive, "Yes, and it allows me to implant a new one, as you saw on the bridge."
"What about the ship's logs?" Sam asked, "And all the damage?"
"We have a sweeper team on the way to take care of that."
"Why didn't you use that on Tyr?" Daniel asked.
"He…" Ishan paused, "It won't be a problem."
***
Ishan stood on the bridge of the Maru, "The Andromeda crew will soon be recovering from the temporary mental paralysis caused by the neurolyzer. We'll have to activate the time dilation matrix. As soon as we leave the Andromeda."
"Why are we waiting?" Sam asked.
"Andromeda can't open the bay doors if she's frozen in time."
"Good point," Jack responded.
"There," Ishan tapped a few more buttons on the control panel, "We are outside the Andromeda. When I use the time dilation matrix, time will be frozen for everything in this reality, aside from shielded objects."
"Shielded?" Daniel asked.
"Our enemy has temporal shielding. I have also outfitted the Maru with such a shield."
"Who exactly is this enemy?" Daniel asked.
"They go by many names," Ishan pondered, "Humanoids can't possibly pronounce the name they call themselves. So, I suppose Species 8475 will suffice. That is the designation given to them by the Borg."
"The who?" Jack asked.
Ishan waved him off, "That isn't important right now. I'm ready to activate the temporal wave."
Ishan pressed one more button, and a massive wave errupted from the Maru. It engulfed the Andromeda, leaving it suspended in space and time. As the wave moved further, entire civilizations ground to a halt. Stars ceased their violent erruptions, and even sprays of radiation stood obediently in place.
"I have modified the Maru's active sensors to use chronoton-shielded tachyon beams," Ishan explained, "That will allow us to detect the bioship."
With that, Ishan took his position in the slipstream chair and piloted toward the Kelmar belt.
***
"We just lost contact with the Magog flagship!" Curn shouted.
"What!? How?" Kyn demanded.
"I don't know," Curn answered, "There weren't any defensive…wait, we just lost sensor contact with one of their battleships."
"Hail the Krisma and the Lamanii," Kyn ordered, "Confirm that it isn't a sensor glitch."
"I lost sight of the Derneye and a Magog transport vessle," Curn looked nervously at the commander, "I'm still not reading any hostiles in the area."
"I'm getting reports from all over the fleet," The communications officer added, "They're all wondering what has happened. The acting Magog commander wishes to speak with you."
"I'll deal with him later," Kyn gritted his teeth, "Order all Neitzchian ships to retreat from this system."
"I've lost the Danube," Curn called out, "Looks like a couple of Magog frigates went down with it."
"Get us to slipstream now!" Kyn ordered.
"I…can't, sir," The navigation officer responded.
"Can't!?" Kyn thundered.
"I'm getting some strange gravitational readings…" Curn tried to explain, "Looks like someone is making artificial gravity distortions to keep us from getting away."
"We've been led into a trap," Kyn looked at the viewscreen in disgust, "When I find out how they did this…"
"Sir, what do we do now?" The first officer asked.
"The Keshnar is gone," Curn shook his head.
"Order all ships to keep an open comm link. I want to be notified the instant something happens."
"The Magog just lost a fleet carrier," Curn noted… "Now I'm not reading the Normike."
"Sir," The communications officer said, "I just got a report from the Normike. They detect a neutrino burst just before they were hit. Whatever it was ripped a hole through their hull like it wasn't even there. The second shot must have finished them off."
"The Normike was a dreadnought class…" First Officer Mesh trailed off.
"…The most heavily armored ship in the fleet," Kyn finished.
"We've lost the Cziran and the Goadran," Curn's voice was urgent, "Whatever it is seems to be cutting a swath right through our fleet, and they're heading right for us."
"They knew enough to destroy the Magog flagship…" Kyn's gaze became even more steely than usual, "All hands, abandon ship."
"Sir," Curn spoke urgently again, "I'm picking up some sort of exotic energy wave at maximum sensor range and closing."
"We can't worry about that now," Kyn ordered, "Abandon the vessle."
***
"What happened?" Sam asked in a hushed voice.
"Species 8475 happened," Ishan noted, "From the looks of things, they wiped out entire fleets of Neitzchians, Humans, and Magog. They were probably in the middle of the slaughter when the temporal wave hit."
"If they were in the middle of the battle," Daniel asked, looking at the sensor display, "Why aren't we reading any ships intact?"
"8475 is shielded. The time dilation matrix would only have made the ships easier targets," Ishan answered sadly.
"Where are they now?" Daniel asked.
"They're out here, waiting for us," Ishan answered, "They've probably already detected us. They'll know we have temporal shields, and they'll want to know what else we have before making a move."
"How are they going to find out?" Sam asked.
"They're scanning our ship as we speak," Ishan explained, "But they won't detect the weapon. They will see us as an annoyance, and move to eliminate us. Then, we fire and run."
"We've got something on long range sensors," Sam informed them.
"Prepare for impact," Ishan warned.
The Maru was rocked by an energy bolt. Lights dimmed for a moment, but the crew was unharmed.
"Energy shields are holding," Daniel stated, "We still have 80% reserve shield energy."
"It won't last long," Ishan stated as the ship was shaken even more fiercely by the second blast, "I've loaded the nanite weapon on a missle in tube 2. Don't fire it until I give the word."
"As you wish," Teal'c answered.
"Fire tube 1!" Ishan ordered.
"Missle away," Teal'c repsonded dispassionately.
"I thought the regular weapons wouldn't work," Jack said.
"They won't," Ishan answered, "But we have to get closer before we can risk firing the real weapon."
"How much closer?" Jack asked.
Ishan smiled, "We don't fire until we see the whites of their eyes."
"Great," Jack shook his head.
"Head toward the sensor contact, but not directly. If we look like we're heading for the planet, they'll go to intercept. That's our best shot."
"Right," Jack answered, "Bringing us around…"
The Maru took a wide, arcing course between the bioship and the now-frozen planet below. As expected, Species 8475 used its maximum speed to get between them and the relative safety of the small world. It fired another energy blast at them.
"Shields failing!" Daniel shouted, "We can't take another hit."
"Wait," Ishan coldly stared-down the hostile vessel, "…Fire."
Teal'c launched the biological weapon. It sailed in a smooth arc through the stark blackness of space. Species 8475 didn't even attempt to evade what it perceived as a worthless weapon from an inferior race. The nanobots drove into the skin of their target causing the color to drain from the living ship. Soon, Species 8475 lost control of the vessel.
"…I think we got it," Sam looked very relieved to have completed the mission.
"You've all done better than…" Ishan's gaze suddenly flew to the viewscreen, "No!"
"What is it?" Daniel asked.
"The bioship is falling. If we don't do something, the nanites will infect the planet's biosphere. In a matter of hours, every living thing on that planet will be dead."
"I'm taking us in," Jack stated as he manipulated the controls.
"The bioship just hit the planet's atmosphere," Sam stated hurriedly.
"Engines are on full," Jack said, "I've got an intercept course."
"We're in the atmosphere," Daniel stated as the ship rocked violently under the turbulance, "Heat shields are holding."
"We've got to get under it," Ishan said, "If we do, I can use a repulsor beam to push it back into space."
"They'll hit the planet in six minutes," Jack stated, "We'll be at the point of no return in four."
"We are approaching critical velocity," Teal'c observed.
"Stress levels are too high," Daniel shouted, "Heat shields weakening. The Maru wasn't built to go this fast in an atmosphere."
"Three minutes to intercept," Jack's knuckle gripped the control so hard it turned white.
"We'll never be able to boost it back up from this distance," Ishan noted.
"We'll make it," Jack said.
"I was raised by Essarians," Ishan said, as if that explained everything, "I know what I'm talking about. Head out of the atmosphere."
"I'm not going to let a biological weapon hit that planet," Jack answered firmly.
"Yes, you will," Ishan sighed, "Maru, command overried Valentine, Captain. Clearance code 9374 mark 32. Activate auto-pilot and return to non-planetary space."
"Clearance accepted. Autopilot initiated," The Maru's computer chirped.
Jack stood up and stormed over to Ishan. Their faces were barely an inch apart, even though Jack was at least two inches taller.
"How could you do that?" His voice icey.
"We couldn't have stopped that ship from landing."
"Then should have died trying. I don't give up when there are lives at stake."
"You don't understand…"
"How many people were on that planet!?"
"Those people were probably dead long before we got here! I didn't want to give up hope, but 8475 probably killed every living thing in this sector before I even found out that it was here."
"Probably isn't good enough," Jack's voice was like stone.
"There was no chance. The probability of success was exactly zero. All we could have done was die along with everything else, and we need you to go home and save your galaxy from these creatures."
"If we aren't willing to sacrifice ourselves, we're useless."
"And if you think throwing your lives away is the best way of protecting your world, then it seems I've misjudged you."
***
The return to Andromeda was long and silent. When they finally returned, Ishan deactivated the time dilation matrix, and flew the Eureka Maru back inside. The sweeper team had already altered the ship's logs, and they took Ishan and SG1 back to the stargate in a vessel they had rented from Krisar Prime.
Meanwhile, the crew of the Andromeda set about repairing the vessel unaware that they had ever encounter Ishan or Raptor Pride.
"Ugh," Dylan put his hand on his forehead, "What happened?"
"The last thing I remember was docking at Krisar," Harper answered, trying to shake the odd feeling from his head.
"We were on our way to the Kelmar belt," Andromeda informed them, "When we struck a random anomaly in the slipstream. It caused some minor damage to my slipstream drive, and the loss of your short-term memory. However, we should be able to get back underway in less than an hour."
"Harper, we need slipstream running again immediately. We might already be too late."
"She'll be running like new in no time," Harper assured him as he headed for engineering.
"I still say this entire excersise is foolish," Tyr shook his head, "Raptor pride will probably have enough overkill to keep us from turning the tide of this battle."
Trance looked at the Neitzchian officer. She couldn't help wondering why she hadn't expected those men to show up and fix everything, but she couldn't ask them. If they knew she were aware, they'd wipe her memory too, and someone had to know what really happened.
"Relax. I have a couple of surprises ready for them," Dylan answered, "Have I ever let you down?"
Tyr raised his eyebrows at Dylan.
"Don't answer that."
---
After a few minutes, Harper returned to the bridge. He made a few adjustments to the back of the slipstream chair and announced that it was ready. Dylan immediately gave the order to head for the Kelmar belt.
"Hey," Harper said, "I feel like I haven't slept in days. Can I take a break. We won't be at the belt for another couple of hours."
"I feel the same way," Dylan answered, "Go ahead."
As he walked off the bridge, he noticed Trance standing idly at her station, "Hey, I think I'm going to go watch a movie. Want to come?"
"Can I?" She asked.
Dylan smiled, "Go ahead."
Harper walked off the bridge, with Trance close behind, her tail gently waving.
'Seamus Harper, Systems Commonwealth Special Forces,' She thought as she remembered his masterful leadership during the crisis, 'I hope I get to tell him about it sometime.'