Dylan signaled to cut audio with the Kapth, "Can we contact the Gemini?"
"They're using some kind of jamming technology," Rev responded, "I don't think we can send any messages beyond a few kilometers."
"The Kapth just released something in the direction of Alor," Rev stated, "They're hailing us."
"That was just a low-yield nuclear warhead," Lusus explained, "Enough to destroy only one city. However, I have plenty more where that came from. The Alorians will be begging for mercy in a matter of minutes."
"Can't we discuss this?"
"No, and your hesitation could cost the lives of millions. Retreat or fight, but make up your mind so that I can accept the Alorians' surrender."
"Why are you doing this?" Dylan was getting desparate.
"Its all very simple, Captain. The days of your species have come to an end. Humans, Nightsiders, Alorians, and all the rest are about to become footnotes on the pages of history. It is time for a new people, my people, to claim ownership of this galaxy."
Lusus cut communications and began to move his ship to another location. Dylan knew he had to act quickly.
"Beka, Trance," He turned, "I want you to take the Maru down to the surface and talk to the Alorians. Find out everything you can about the situation, and tell them that we'll do everything in our power to help them. Rev, I want you to go with them. As soon as Beka and Trance get to the planet, I want you to take the Maru back to New Alameda and call in the fleet. We'll need as many ships as we can get. Once you're clear of this jamming, send out messages to as many allies as you can reach."
The three of them immediately headed for the Maru while Harper, Rommie, and Dylan prepared for battle. They all knew their chances for survival were slim, but they were out of options.
The Andromeda dipped into the planet's atmosphere and released the Eureka Maru. The small cargo ship raced toward the surface as the Kapth moved to intercept. Suddenly, the Maru shuddered and began to climb back up towards space.
"The Kapth is generating a magnetic field," Rommie stated, "It isn't strong enough to pull us in."
"The Maru!" Dylan quickly tried to come up with a plan, "Get them back inside!"
"The Kapth is already closer than we are," Andromeda answered, "I don't think we can get to them."
"Fire all missles," Dylan ordered, "Turn off the close-range targeting systems. See if the magnet will draw them in"
"Missles away…" Rommie answered, "The magnetic field weakened, but came back up. He can probably route quite a bit more power to it, if he has too."
"Not if we destroy his field coils," Dylan answered, "Keep firing. He must be using an external generator for a field this strong…"
"Uhhh…Why aren't they shooting back at us?" Harper asked.
"They're probably worried that they'll destroy us instead of capturing us. They can pull us in and board the ship whenever they want."
"So why wait for us to send the Maru?"
"I'm not sure," Dylan responded, "He may be trying to divide and conquer."
"The Kapth has taken the Maru inside," Andromeda told them, "We're too late."
"Andromeda," Dylan briefly looked into the eyes of the android avatar, "Prepare to ram the Kapth. This may be a no win situation, but I'm not going to let them get away with this."
"The Kapth is hailing us," Andromeda paused, "Engines are ready for a maximum acceleration burst, and I've plotted the most logical assault vector… I'm ready for the final attack run."
"Stand by," Dylan ordered, "Put the Kapth on main viewer."
"Captain Hunt," Lusus' voice was maddeningly smooth, "It seems half of your crew has wandered onto my vessel."
"What do you want with them?" Dylan demanded.
"I'm only holding them for questioning. I have to find out why they were trespassing on my ship."
"You've just murdered the population of an entire city, and you're using metaphor now?"
"A bit ironic isn't it? Nevertheless, if I am to remain a true linguistic artist, I must practice."
"How can I get my people back?"
"To be perfectly honest, you can't. Within a few days, they will be either enslaved by Neitzchians, or sleeping in a Magog refrigerator. In fact, I intend to capture the rest of you, and place you all in similar peril."
"You wouldn't be contacting me if you didn't plan to negotiate," Dylan replied, "You haven't tried to capture or destroy us yet, so you must have something in mind."
"I may be striving for perfection, Captain," Lusus responded, "But I will admit to a sadistic streak. I want you to feel pain for your lost crewmen. Don't worry, I'll be back to put you out of your misery soon enough. For now though, I have a few experiments to run on my guests."
Andromeda spoke again as Lusus cut the transmission, "The Kapth has gone to slipstream."
"Follow them!" Dylan ordered immediately.
"I'm on it," Harper said as he piloted the ship into the slipstream.
"How far ahead are they?" Dylan asked once they had entered the stream.
"Pretty far," Harper answered, "I've never seen piloting like this before. I can't catch them, but I'm not giving up. As soon as they drop back to normal space, we'll be right on top of 'em."
"I know you can do it," Dylan nodded, "If they get away, we may never be able to find Beka and the others."
***
"Trance Gemini, stand up."
Beka shot to her feet, "If you touch one hair on her head, I'll…"
"You'll die like the rest of your species," Lusus cut her speech short, "Trance, don't defy me. Stand up and walk to the front of the cell before I take my frustration out on your crewmates."
Trance stood up slowly. She was obviously nervous, and the presense of five armed, Neitzchian guards did nothing to alleviate her fears.
Lusus and his men ushered her into a small room with a metallic table and various instruments. It was clearly a biological laboratory of some kind. This fact alone greatly increased her dread about the current situation. Immediately, the guards picked her up and forced her onto the table, where she was strapped down. Lusus dismissed the guards, and began to look over his captive.
After a long silence, Trance attempted to start a conversation, "So… you've got an interesting name."
Lusus smiled for a moment before responding, "It's from an ancient earth language. Lusus Naturae is Latin for sport of nature. In other words, it means that I am a freak."
"Uhh, I see…"
"It is descriptive, though a bit misleading."
"What do you mean?"
"For one thing, I am not a product of nature. At least, not entirely. I was born Neitzchian. I had some sort of genetic mutation that my parents couldn't identify. Luckily for me, and unluckily for them, they decided not to terminate my existance. Once I was born, they found that I grew very quickly, and that my cells rapidly replaced themselves, which helped me heal quickly. That was quite positive, even with the drawback of a greatly increased nuitritional requirement. Before long, females were practically lining up to be my mates. Unfortunately, I began to feel a desire to be more than just another Neitzchian. I bore a few children, and bought my own warship. However, I soon left my pride behind and began on my current quest."
"What kind of quest?"
"I intend to become genetically perfect, and use my perfection to become the most powerful ruler in the galaxy. A bit simplistic, perhaps even cliché-esque, but it is certainly a worthwhile persuit."
"How are you going to do that?" Trance's voice sounded weak, especially next to the silky, controlled tones of the man standing over her.
"I'm getting to that," He smiled, "You see my dear, as I travelled, looking for a purpose, I met a certain scientist who was investigating new techniques genetic manipulation. As it turned out, my enhanced cellular production rate made me the ideal test subject. He added a few simple lines to my DNA, and within a few days, I could already notice the difference. I was quite pleased with his work, and I hired him to be my personal geneticist, a position he still holds to this day."
"What kind of genetic manipulation did he do?"
"Simple things at first," Lusus paused, "First, he gave me the genes to produce photosynthetic structures. My cells don't produce much food or oxygen, but it helps. After this, he added gill slits so that I could breathe underwater. Then, he used the DNA from a snake to alter my bone spurs so that they could inject venom. I had to have the original ones removed so that the improved spurs could take their place."
"Why did you have to use snake DNA?" Trance asked.
"To be honest, not even I understand his methods," Lusus answered, "For some reason, the introns from natural DNA strands stabalize the genetic manipulations. That is where you come in."
"Me?" She asked, meekly.
"A prehensile tail, regenerative cellular healing, advanced catatonic healing states…and precognition should all come in handy," Lusus smiled again for a moment, "Yes, I am familiar with the unusual capabilities of your species. I've done a great deal of study in exotic biology, and as far as natural organisms go, your people are quite advanced."
Trance wasn't sure how to respond to that, "Umm…thank you…"
"Now that I have you, all I have to do is extract a blood sample. Then, the good doctor can analyze your DNA and add the relevant portions to my genetic code."
"Are you sure that's safe?"
"As you can probably tell, I've already done this with a Magog, a Nightsider, a Vedran, a Kedlas, and several other species, with varying degrees of invasive genetic changes. So far, I haven't had any problems. His techniques are very well refined."
"Am I the reason you came after the Andromeda?"
"No. You were a nice fringe benefit, but the New Commonwealth is a threat to my plans, and I intend to destroy it. Now, as much as I enjoy discussing this, I have things to attend to."
Lusus plunged a needle into Trance's arm and extracted a blood sample. He then carefully placed the vile into a metal box and tucked that into his jacket pocket.
"What are you going to do with us now?" Trance asked.
"You are to become a slave for Kyn, a Neitzchian. Your friends will be given over to the Magog. I hope you enjoy it."
Lusus then left the room before Trance could respond. The guards then returned and took Trance back to her cell with the others.
***
"Tilt your head back."
"Huh?" Harper asked.
"I brought you a Sparky Cola," Rommie explained.
"Thanks," He answered, as the anroid placed the can against his lips. He briefly looked away from the screen to gulp down some of the thick, sweet drink.
"How much longer do you think this will go on?" Andromeda asked.
"I don't know," Harper said, "But I don't think their pilot is even tired, judging by his reflexes."
"You won't be able to continue much longer."
"I don't care how far they run, I'm not giving up until Trance, Beka, and Rev are back here, or I'm dead."
"You are already suffering from fatigue. You haven't eaten, and you've barely had anything to drink for the past seven hours. If you keep this up, your body will suffer permanent damage in less than a day."
"I don't care. We have to get them back."
"We'll find some other way to find them. The Gemini can track ships through the slipstream…"
"She has limits," Harper answered, "There's no way she can pick up the trail after this much time."
"Let Dylan take over for awhile. You need sleep."
"Dylan can't pilot as well as I can. Besides, we'd have to drop out of slipstream for a few seconds to make the switch. They'll lose us."
"Your vision and motor skills are starting to suffer. If we continue in this manner, they will escape in under two hours, and you will have endangered your health for no reason."
"There's no choice," Harper shook his head, "I've gotta try. …Alright, I'll switch with Dylan as soon as he finishes eating, if they don't stop before then."
"Agreed. He should complete his meal in the next few minutes."
"Man, why don't these guys just turn around and fight," Harper growled.
"I'm not certain."
***
"I'm getting a distress signal from Alor," Gem stated, "They are being sieged by the Kapth, and are requesting any help we could offer."
"Captain Hunt was going there to negotiate with the Alorians…" Pellings looked at the screen, "Contact the Admiral. Request that all available ships be sent to the Alorian home world. We can get moving as soon as the message is sent."
"It may already be too late for the Andromeda," Tyr said, "We shouldn't move until the fleet is ready."
"One of our starships may be in trouble," Fredricks answered, "We aren't going to sit on the sidelines while they get destroyed or captured. Seconds matter."
"If we aren't organised, they will pick us off one by one."
"Message sent," Gemini informed them.
"This conversation is over," Pellings responded firmly, "Gemini, activate slipstream."
"They're using some kind of jamming technology," Rev responded, "I don't think we can send any messages beyond a few kilometers."
"The Kapth just released something in the direction of Alor," Rev stated, "They're hailing us."
"That was just a low-yield nuclear warhead," Lusus explained, "Enough to destroy only one city. However, I have plenty more where that came from. The Alorians will be begging for mercy in a matter of minutes."
"Can't we discuss this?"
"No, and your hesitation could cost the lives of millions. Retreat or fight, but make up your mind so that I can accept the Alorians' surrender."
"Why are you doing this?" Dylan was getting desparate.
"Its all very simple, Captain. The days of your species have come to an end. Humans, Nightsiders, Alorians, and all the rest are about to become footnotes on the pages of history. It is time for a new people, my people, to claim ownership of this galaxy."
Lusus cut communications and began to move his ship to another location. Dylan knew he had to act quickly.
"Beka, Trance," He turned, "I want you to take the Maru down to the surface and talk to the Alorians. Find out everything you can about the situation, and tell them that we'll do everything in our power to help them. Rev, I want you to go with them. As soon as Beka and Trance get to the planet, I want you to take the Maru back to New Alameda and call in the fleet. We'll need as many ships as we can get. Once you're clear of this jamming, send out messages to as many allies as you can reach."
The three of them immediately headed for the Maru while Harper, Rommie, and Dylan prepared for battle. They all knew their chances for survival were slim, but they were out of options.
The Andromeda dipped into the planet's atmosphere and released the Eureka Maru. The small cargo ship raced toward the surface as the Kapth moved to intercept. Suddenly, the Maru shuddered and began to climb back up towards space.
"The Kapth is generating a magnetic field," Rommie stated, "It isn't strong enough to pull us in."
"The Maru!" Dylan quickly tried to come up with a plan, "Get them back inside!"
"The Kapth is already closer than we are," Andromeda answered, "I don't think we can get to them."
"Fire all missles," Dylan ordered, "Turn off the close-range targeting systems. See if the magnet will draw them in"
"Missles away…" Rommie answered, "The magnetic field weakened, but came back up. He can probably route quite a bit more power to it, if he has too."
"Not if we destroy his field coils," Dylan answered, "Keep firing. He must be using an external generator for a field this strong…"
"Uhhh…Why aren't they shooting back at us?" Harper asked.
"They're probably worried that they'll destroy us instead of capturing us. They can pull us in and board the ship whenever they want."
"So why wait for us to send the Maru?"
"I'm not sure," Dylan responded, "He may be trying to divide and conquer."
"The Kapth has taken the Maru inside," Andromeda told them, "We're too late."
"Andromeda," Dylan briefly looked into the eyes of the android avatar, "Prepare to ram the Kapth. This may be a no win situation, but I'm not going to let them get away with this."
"The Kapth is hailing us," Andromeda paused, "Engines are ready for a maximum acceleration burst, and I've plotted the most logical assault vector… I'm ready for the final attack run."
"Stand by," Dylan ordered, "Put the Kapth on main viewer."
"Captain Hunt," Lusus' voice was maddeningly smooth, "It seems half of your crew has wandered onto my vessel."
"What do you want with them?" Dylan demanded.
"I'm only holding them for questioning. I have to find out why they were trespassing on my ship."
"You've just murdered the population of an entire city, and you're using metaphor now?"
"A bit ironic isn't it? Nevertheless, if I am to remain a true linguistic artist, I must practice."
"How can I get my people back?"
"To be perfectly honest, you can't. Within a few days, they will be either enslaved by Neitzchians, or sleeping in a Magog refrigerator. In fact, I intend to capture the rest of you, and place you all in similar peril."
"You wouldn't be contacting me if you didn't plan to negotiate," Dylan replied, "You haven't tried to capture or destroy us yet, so you must have something in mind."
"I may be striving for perfection, Captain," Lusus responded, "But I will admit to a sadistic streak. I want you to feel pain for your lost crewmen. Don't worry, I'll be back to put you out of your misery soon enough. For now though, I have a few experiments to run on my guests."
Andromeda spoke again as Lusus cut the transmission, "The Kapth has gone to slipstream."
"Follow them!" Dylan ordered immediately.
"I'm on it," Harper said as he piloted the ship into the slipstream.
"How far ahead are they?" Dylan asked once they had entered the stream.
"Pretty far," Harper answered, "I've never seen piloting like this before. I can't catch them, but I'm not giving up. As soon as they drop back to normal space, we'll be right on top of 'em."
"I know you can do it," Dylan nodded, "If they get away, we may never be able to find Beka and the others."
***
"Trance Gemini, stand up."
Beka shot to her feet, "If you touch one hair on her head, I'll…"
"You'll die like the rest of your species," Lusus cut her speech short, "Trance, don't defy me. Stand up and walk to the front of the cell before I take my frustration out on your crewmates."
Trance stood up slowly. She was obviously nervous, and the presense of five armed, Neitzchian guards did nothing to alleviate her fears.
Lusus and his men ushered her into a small room with a metallic table and various instruments. It was clearly a biological laboratory of some kind. This fact alone greatly increased her dread about the current situation. Immediately, the guards picked her up and forced her onto the table, where she was strapped down. Lusus dismissed the guards, and began to look over his captive.
After a long silence, Trance attempted to start a conversation, "So… you've got an interesting name."
Lusus smiled for a moment before responding, "It's from an ancient earth language. Lusus Naturae is Latin for sport of nature. In other words, it means that I am a freak."
"Uhh, I see…"
"It is descriptive, though a bit misleading."
"What do you mean?"
"For one thing, I am not a product of nature. At least, not entirely. I was born Neitzchian. I had some sort of genetic mutation that my parents couldn't identify. Luckily for me, and unluckily for them, they decided not to terminate my existance. Once I was born, they found that I grew very quickly, and that my cells rapidly replaced themselves, which helped me heal quickly. That was quite positive, even with the drawback of a greatly increased nuitritional requirement. Before long, females were practically lining up to be my mates. Unfortunately, I began to feel a desire to be more than just another Neitzchian. I bore a few children, and bought my own warship. However, I soon left my pride behind and began on my current quest."
"What kind of quest?"
"I intend to become genetically perfect, and use my perfection to become the most powerful ruler in the galaxy. A bit simplistic, perhaps even cliché-esque, but it is certainly a worthwhile persuit."
"How are you going to do that?" Trance's voice sounded weak, especially next to the silky, controlled tones of the man standing over her.
"I'm getting to that," He smiled, "You see my dear, as I travelled, looking for a purpose, I met a certain scientist who was investigating new techniques genetic manipulation. As it turned out, my enhanced cellular production rate made me the ideal test subject. He added a few simple lines to my DNA, and within a few days, I could already notice the difference. I was quite pleased with his work, and I hired him to be my personal geneticist, a position he still holds to this day."
"What kind of genetic manipulation did he do?"
"Simple things at first," Lusus paused, "First, he gave me the genes to produce photosynthetic structures. My cells don't produce much food or oxygen, but it helps. After this, he added gill slits so that I could breathe underwater. Then, he used the DNA from a snake to alter my bone spurs so that they could inject venom. I had to have the original ones removed so that the improved spurs could take their place."
"Why did you have to use snake DNA?" Trance asked.
"To be honest, not even I understand his methods," Lusus answered, "For some reason, the introns from natural DNA strands stabalize the genetic manipulations. That is where you come in."
"Me?" She asked, meekly.
"A prehensile tail, regenerative cellular healing, advanced catatonic healing states…and precognition should all come in handy," Lusus smiled again for a moment, "Yes, I am familiar with the unusual capabilities of your species. I've done a great deal of study in exotic biology, and as far as natural organisms go, your people are quite advanced."
Trance wasn't sure how to respond to that, "Umm…thank you…"
"Now that I have you, all I have to do is extract a blood sample. Then, the good doctor can analyze your DNA and add the relevant portions to my genetic code."
"Are you sure that's safe?"
"As you can probably tell, I've already done this with a Magog, a Nightsider, a Vedran, a Kedlas, and several other species, with varying degrees of invasive genetic changes. So far, I haven't had any problems. His techniques are very well refined."
"Am I the reason you came after the Andromeda?"
"No. You were a nice fringe benefit, but the New Commonwealth is a threat to my plans, and I intend to destroy it. Now, as much as I enjoy discussing this, I have things to attend to."
Lusus plunged a needle into Trance's arm and extracted a blood sample. He then carefully placed the vile into a metal box and tucked that into his jacket pocket.
"What are you going to do with us now?" Trance asked.
"You are to become a slave for Kyn, a Neitzchian. Your friends will be given over to the Magog. I hope you enjoy it."
Lusus then left the room before Trance could respond. The guards then returned and took Trance back to her cell with the others.
***
"Tilt your head back."
"Huh?" Harper asked.
"I brought you a Sparky Cola," Rommie explained.
"Thanks," He answered, as the anroid placed the can against his lips. He briefly looked away from the screen to gulp down some of the thick, sweet drink.
"How much longer do you think this will go on?" Andromeda asked.
"I don't know," Harper said, "But I don't think their pilot is even tired, judging by his reflexes."
"You won't be able to continue much longer."
"I don't care how far they run, I'm not giving up until Trance, Beka, and Rev are back here, or I'm dead."
"You are already suffering from fatigue. You haven't eaten, and you've barely had anything to drink for the past seven hours. If you keep this up, your body will suffer permanent damage in less than a day."
"I don't care. We have to get them back."
"We'll find some other way to find them. The Gemini can track ships through the slipstream…"
"She has limits," Harper answered, "There's no way she can pick up the trail after this much time."
"Let Dylan take over for awhile. You need sleep."
"Dylan can't pilot as well as I can. Besides, we'd have to drop out of slipstream for a few seconds to make the switch. They'll lose us."
"Your vision and motor skills are starting to suffer. If we continue in this manner, they will escape in under two hours, and you will have endangered your health for no reason."
"There's no choice," Harper shook his head, "I've gotta try. …Alright, I'll switch with Dylan as soon as he finishes eating, if they don't stop before then."
"Agreed. He should complete his meal in the next few minutes."
"Man, why don't these guys just turn around and fight," Harper growled.
"I'm not certain."
***
"I'm getting a distress signal from Alor," Gem stated, "They are being sieged by the Kapth, and are requesting any help we could offer."
"Captain Hunt was going there to negotiate with the Alorians…" Pellings looked at the screen, "Contact the Admiral. Request that all available ships be sent to the Alorian home world. We can get moving as soon as the message is sent."
"It may already be too late for the Andromeda," Tyr said, "We shouldn't move until the fleet is ready."
"One of our starships may be in trouble," Fredricks answered, "We aren't going to sit on the sidelines while they get destroyed or captured. Seconds matter."
"If we aren't organised, they will pick us off one by one."
"Message sent," Gemini informed them.
"This conversation is over," Pellings responded firmly, "Gemini, activate slipstream."
