"They're gone," Dylan finally announced, "They've been out of sensor range for over fifteen minutes."
"No! I can find them," Harper was adament.
"Harper, its over. We'll find a way to get them back, but I can't let you risk your health any longer. Exit the slipstream."
"Not this time."
"Andromeda, prepare to deactivate the slipstream drive on my mark."
"If you do that, we'll be explosively forced out of the slipstream," Harper reminded him, "We'll be stranded until I can fix the drive system."
Dylan wore a look of determination, "Deactivation in three…two…"
"Alright!" Harper was exhasperated, "Transiting to normal space."
"Rommie, make sure he gets some sleep and something to eat," Dylan ordered, "I'll take us back to the shipyard and organize a rescue."
Harper was too exhausted to respond. Without the motivation of finding his shipmates, his friends, he barely had the will to get to his quarters. He put one arm over Rommie's shoulders and let her escort him off the bridge. Dylan sat in the chair and began to pilot back through the stream. In truth, he didn't like turning back any more than Harper did. If he were in that chair during the chase, he would've pushed himself even further. He wished he could have taken Harper's place, but there was nothing he could have done.
***
Admiral Nishar looked through the window of the small vessel. The ensign that had accompanied him could tell that he was lost in thought. It was understandable, of course. Given the circumstances, he wouldn't be surprised by anything the Admiral might do. The silence seemed to last forever, but finally the sensors starting to beep, warning of a ship coming out of the slipstream.
"Admiral, the Andromeda is hailing us."
Admiral? What did that mean now? "Put them through."
"What happened here?" Dylan looked as though he were about to go into shock.
"Neitzchians," Admiral shook his head, "There were too many of them. We never had a chance. The Gemini took the Red Star and the Protégé out to protect Alor. It didn't take the Neitzchians long to drop in. Must have been thirty cap ships. We knew the station was lost. We tried to send the fleet to safety, but they put up one of those damned magnetic fields. They slaughtered us. The Cataphract was lost with all hands. We managed to get life pods out from the Cumberland and the Saratoga, but the Neitzchians just pulled them in. I'd be trapped too, but my shuttle was strong enough to hold out in the nebula until they left. When we came out, there was nothing left."
"The Neitzchians never destroy facilities that they can use…" Dylan pondered, "None of this is making sense. Why did they destroy the entire shipyard?"
"Everything was so brutal. They were making an example of us."
"Admiral, I'd like you to come aboard the Andromeda. We can regroup with the others at Alor," Dylan responded. He could only hope that the rest of the fleet had survived.
"Gladly," Nishar responded.
***
"Do you still think they'll be back?" Fredricks asked.
"Alor is still the most likely target," Gemini responded, "The captain of the Kapth would not want to appear weak by being chased away by the Andromeda. He'll have to return to prove that he isn't afraid of us."
"You're probably right," Pellings responded, "But they've been gone for too long."
"Even so," Gemini responded, "Our best course of action is to remain here and wait for orders."
"We can wait another hour, but no longer," Pellings answered.
---
"There's a ship coming out of slipstream," Chen said, "It's the Andromeda."
"They're hailing us," Gemini added.
"On main viewer," Sarah replied.
"Captain," Nishar greeted as he stood near the front of Andromeda's bridge.
"Admiral?" Pellings was surprised to see him away from the shipyard.
"I'm glad to see you alive," Nishar responded, "I was worried that they might have gotten you, too."
"Too?"
"I need to speak with you in private. I'll be bringing my personal shuttle over momentarily. Tell the Red Star and the Protégé to stand by."
---
"I'm detecting a ship coming through the slipstream," Andromeda informed them.
"Battle stations!" Dylan ordered.
"There's only the three of us, you know," Harper said.
"Wait," Andromeda looked confused, "It's the Maru."
"The Maru?" Dylan looked at the monitor, "Hail them."
"Hey there," Beka smiled, "Glad I found you."
"How did you get away from the Kapth?"
"We broke away when they went to transfer us over to one of the Magog ships," Beka explained, "When we got to the hangar bay, Rev managed to spray some of the guards. I grabbed a weapon and started shooting. They got Rev, but I made to the Maru."
"What about Trance?"
"They didn't send her with us," Beka explained, "I don't know what they're planning to do with her, but we have to stop them."
"As soon as you're rested, I want to hear everything you found out."
"I'm fine," Beka answered, "We have to get to work right now if we're going to help Trance."
"Do you know where they are now?" Dylan asked.
"No, but…"
"Being held on an enemy ship is a traumatic experience. You're going to take some time to recover."
"He's still got a member of my crew. I won't 'recover' until we have her back."
"Harper nearly killed himself trying to find you. I'm not letting it happen again. Next time, we'll get a plan together, and be ready."
"If you won't send the Andromeda after her, I'll take the Maru back out there and find her myself."
"Look, we can discuss this once you're inside. We have to at least make sure the Maru hasn't been tampered with."
"Alright," Beka answered, "Ready to dock."
---
Beka sat down heavily on one of the soft chairs in her quarters. Dylan and Rommie had eventually calmed her down and convinced her to take a break. Still, she planned to get back to the bridge as soon as she'd had a quick bite and a few minutes of sleep. After a moment, the door chimed.
"Come in," Beka invited.
Rommie walked in carrying a tray of food, "Welcome back."
"Thanks," Beka said as she cleared some space on the table.
"I hope you… were treated well."
"They didn't do anything to us, except for taking blood samples. Don't worry about it," She sat down, "Rommie, would you download music file 426 from the Maru and play it?"
"Of course," Rommie cocked her head and looked up for a moment. Music began playing in the background as she looked back at Beka."
"Rommie, what's that?"
"What?"
"The music."
"Music file 426 from the Maru," Rommie answered.
"That can't be right…" Beka trailed off.
"Perhaps the Maru's computer was damaged by the extreme magnetic fields," Rommie responded, "I'll make sure Harper takes a look at it."
"Thanks," Beka answered absently as she tried to understand the lyrics.
"Goodnight," Rommie said as she backed out of the room.
---
"Everything looks fine in here," Harper stated, "But some of the computer files are messed up."
"What do you mean?" Dylan asked.
"Like the music files," Harper answered, "Rommie told me to take a look at them, and when I did, I noticed that they all had the same internal identification tags. Every music file in the Maru's database has been changed into some Neitzchian kid's bedtime chant."
"Do you know what this means?" Dylan asked.
"Yeah, I'm going to have to go back to earth and download some good albums."
"No," Dylan rubbed his temples for a moment, "It means someone is intentionally trying to expose us to that song. What's it called?"
"Battlefury," Harper answered, "I know it sounds catchy, but it doesn't have much of a beat."
"I'll have Andromeda check it for subliminal messages, unusual word patterns; anything that might tell us why someone would put it the Maru's database."
"Great," Harper responded, "I'll go through the code and make sure there aren't any viruses."
"Good idea. How long will that take?"
"It'll only be a couple of minutes for the music file itself, but I want to run a scan on the rest of the files on the Maru just to be safe. I'm going to need a couple of hours to finish everything."
"Don't worry, we aren't going anywhere until Beka's gotten some sleep anyway, and don't listen to that the song until Andromeda's finished her analysis."
"Sure thing, boss," Harper half-smiled as he got to work.
"No! I can find them," Harper was adament.
"Harper, its over. We'll find a way to get them back, but I can't let you risk your health any longer. Exit the slipstream."
"Not this time."
"Andromeda, prepare to deactivate the slipstream drive on my mark."
"If you do that, we'll be explosively forced out of the slipstream," Harper reminded him, "We'll be stranded until I can fix the drive system."
Dylan wore a look of determination, "Deactivation in three…two…"
"Alright!" Harper was exhasperated, "Transiting to normal space."
"Rommie, make sure he gets some sleep and something to eat," Dylan ordered, "I'll take us back to the shipyard and organize a rescue."
Harper was too exhausted to respond. Without the motivation of finding his shipmates, his friends, he barely had the will to get to his quarters. He put one arm over Rommie's shoulders and let her escort him off the bridge. Dylan sat in the chair and began to pilot back through the stream. In truth, he didn't like turning back any more than Harper did. If he were in that chair during the chase, he would've pushed himself even further. He wished he could have taken Harper's place, but there was nothing he could have done.
***
Admiral Nishar looked through the window of the small vessel. The ensign that had accompanied him could tell that he was lost in thought. It was understandable, of course. Given the circumstances, he wouldn't be surprised by anything the Admiral might do. The silence seemed to last forever, but finally the sensors starting to beep, warning of a ship coming out of the slipstream.
"Admiral, the Andromeda is hailing us."
Admiral? What did that mean now? "Put them through."
"What happened here?" Dylan looked as though he were about to go into shock.
"Neitzchians," Admiral shook his head, "There were too many of them. We never had a chance. The Gemini took the Red Star and the Protégé out to protect Alor. It didn't take the Neitzchians long to drop in. Must have been thirty cap ships. We knew the station was lost. We tried to send the fleet to safety, but they put up one of those damned magnetic fields. They slaughtered us. The Cataphract was lost with all hands. We managed to get life pods out from the Cumberland and the Saratoga, but the Neitzchians just pulled them in. I'd be trapped too, but my shuttle was strong enough to hold out in the nebula until they left. When we came out, there was nothing left."
"The Neitzchians never destroy facilities that they can use…" Dylan pondered, "None of this is making sense. Why did they destroy the entire shipyard?"
"Everything was so brutal. They were making an example of us."
"Admiral, I'd like you to come aboard the Andromeda. We can regroup with the others at Alor," Dylan responded. He could only hope that the rest of the fleet had survived.
"Gladly," Nishar responded.
***
"Do you still think they'll be back?" Fredricks asked.
"Alor is still the most likely target," Gemini responded, "The captain of the Kapth would not want to appear weak by being chased away by the Andromeda. He'll have to return to prove that he isn't afraid of us."
"You're probably right," Pellings responded, "But they've been gone for too long."
"Even so," Gemini responded, "Our best course of action is to remain here and wait for orders."
"We can wait another hour, but no longer," Pellings answered.
---
"There's a ship coming out of slipstream," Chen said, "It's the Andromeda."
"They're hailing us," Gemini added.
"On main viewer," Sarah replied.
"Captain," Nishar greeted as he stood near the front of Andromeda's bridge.
"Admiral?" Pellings was surprised to see him away from the shipyard.
"I'm glad to see you alive," Nishar responded, "I was worried that they might have gotten you, too."
"Too?"
"I need to speak with you in private. I'll be bringing my personal shuttle over momentarily. Tell the Red Star and the Protégé to stand by."
---
"I'm detecting a ship coming through the slipstream," Andromeda informed them.
"Battle stations!" Dylan ordered.
"There's only the three of us, you know," Harper said.
"Wait," Andromeda looked confused, "It's the Maru."
"The Maru?" Dylan looked at the monitor, "Hail them."
"Hey there," Beka smiled, "Glad I found you."
"How did you get away from the Kapth?"
"We broke away when they went to transfer us over to one of the Magog ships," Beka explained, "When we got to the hangar bay, Rev managed to spray some of the guards. I grabbed a weapon and started shooting. They got Rev, but I made to the Maru."
"What about Trance?"
"They didn't send her with us," Beka explained, "I don't know what they're planning to do with her, but we have to stop them."
"As soon as you're rested, I want to hear everything you found out."
"I'm fine," Beka answered, "We have to get to work right now if we're going to help Trance."
"Do you know where they are now?" Dylan asked.
"No, but…"
"Being held on an enemy ship is a traumatic experience. You're going to take some time to recover."
"He's still got a member of my crew. I won't 'recover' until we have her back."
"Harper nearly killed himself trying to find you. I'm not letting it happen again. Next time, we'll get a plan together, and be ready."
"If you won't send the Andromeda after her, I'll take the Maru back out there and find her myself."
"Look, we can discuss this once you're inside. We have to at least make sure the Maru hasn't been tampered with."
"Alright," Beka answered, "Ready to dock."
---
Beka sat down heavily on one of the soft chairs in her quarters. Dylan and Rommie had eventually calmed her down and convinced her to take a break. Still, she planned to get back to the bridge as soon as she'd had a quick bite and a few minutes of sleep. After a moment, the door chimed.
"Come in," Beka invited.
Rommie walked in carrying a tray of food, "Welcome back."
"Thanks," Beka said as she cleared some space on the table.
"I hope you… were treated well."
"They didn't do anything to us, except for taking blood samples. Don't worry about it," She sat down, "Rommie, would you download music file 426 from the Maru and play it?"
"Of course," Rommie cocked her head and looked up for a moment. Music began playing in the background as she looked back at Beka."
"Rommie, what's that?"
"What?"
"The music."
"Music file 426 from the Maru," Rommie answered.
"That can't be right…" Beka trailed off.
"Perhaps the Maru's computer was damaged by the extreme magnetic fields," Rommie responded, "I'll make sure Harper takes a look at it."
"Thanks," Beka answered absently as she tried to understand the lyrics.
"Goodnight," Rommie said as she backed out of the room.
---
"Everything looks fine in here," Harper stated, "But some of the computer files are messed up."
"What do you mean?" Dylan asked.
"Like the music files," Harper answered, "Rommie told me to take a look at them, and when I did, I noticed that they all had the same internal identification tags. Every music file in the Maru's database has been changed into some Neitzchian kid's bedtime chant."
"Do you know what this means?" Dylan asked.
"Yeah, I'm going to have to go back to earth and download some good albums."
"No," Dylan rubbed his temples for a moment, "It means someone is intentionally trying to expose us to that song. What's it called?"
"Battlefury," Harper answered, "I know it sounds catchy, but it doesn't have much of a beat."
"I'll have Andromeda check it for subliminal messages, unusual word patterns; anything that might tell us why someone would put it the Maru's database."
"Great," Harper responded, "I'll go through the code and make sure there aren't any viruses."
"Good idea. How long will that take?"
"It'll only be a couple of minutes for the music file itself, but I want to run a scan on the rest of the files on the Maru just to be safe. I'm going to need a couple of hours to finish everything."
"Don't worry, we aren't going anywhere until Beka's gotten some sleep anyway, and don't listen to that the song until Andromeda's finished her analysis."
"Sure thing, boss," Harper half-smiled as he got to work.
