"You did well," Kyn said, "I won't have to kill you after all. Of course, you probably knew that already."
"So what are you going to do now?" Trance asked.
"I am still allied with those Magog, I have a large fleet, and I justed picked up an escape pod carrying a Commonwealth captain and a very valuable cyborg. What do you think I should do?"
"Negotiate?" Trance asked hopefully.
"That isn't high on my list of priorities at the moment. Care to try again?"
"You have plenty of choices," Trance reminded him, "If you have good intentions, everything could still work out perfectly."
"My intentions are to do whatever is best for myself. I'll ask you again, what do you think I should do?"
"If you make peace with the New Commonwealth, you would have a large foothold in this area. If you're careful, your pride could be the biggest one in history. The Commonwealth already has lots of allies, and…"
"What do you suppose would happen if I conquered the commonwealth, and claimed the allied worlds for my pride?"
"Well, there's a chance you could capture everything, but I don't think it will work out."
"I'm really not concerned about them winning this conflict, unless they have some surprises you'd like to tell me about."
"What about that big cannon thing? The… Dreadnought?"
Kyn smirked, "For a girl who can see the future, you really don't know much about the present."
***
"You still haven't explained the disappearing Dreadnought," Captain Hunt insisted.
"Gem did tell the truth about one thing, even if she didn't know it," Gemini responded, "I was built to test new High Guard technology, but only one: The displaced FMS field. My old engineers called it 'the Gemini effect.' Basically, I can create a sensor image for a fake starship. It requires a lot of power, so they had to put it on a cruiser. The technology was so top secret that my original programmers hid the controls for the Gemini effect by encrypting it inside my neural sequences. Not even Gem knew about the effect. When Lusus rewired me so that Gem had direct control, that was the one thing I could still operate. Unfortunately, I didn't have any way to take advantage of it until now."
"So, when the Neitzchians took Gem into the slipstream, her connection was broken."
"Right, and my engineers are already repairing my systems so that she can't regain control."
"Good. Now, we have to intercept the combined Neitzchian and Magog fleet and get our officers back," Dylan's face was like a stone wall of determination.
"We'll get your crewmen back, along with Captain Pellings," Admiral Nishar stepped forward, "Even if we have to blast our way through Drago-Khatzoff to do it."
"We'll be there," Dylan answered.
---
"Wake her up," Dylan ordered.
Rommie placed a small device against Beka's temple. After a moment, the clone started to move.
"Good morning," Dylan's voice was stern.
The clone placed a hand on her side, "How… how did I get here?"
"You were shot when you tried to take over the ship."
"What? Dylan… Uh!" Beka felt pain shoot through her body when she tried to sit up, "I didn't try to take over the ship."
"Who are you, really?"
"Dylan, what are you talking about?"
"Beka?" Rommie asked.
"Yes?" Beka looked at the android, then back at Dylan, "Have you all lost your minds?"
"Beka," Dylan paused, "Blitzkrieg."
Suddenly, the clone's eyes narrowed, "You think you've accomplished something by stopping me? Once Lusus gets ahold of you, you're all dead."
"Post hypnotic suggestion," Dylan surmized.
"And some kind of induced multiple personality disorder," Rommie added, "Who are we talking to now?"
"It doesn't matter what you call me," The clone responded haughtily, "Lusus will be coming back for me soon enough."
"Lusus isn't coming back," Dylan said, "The Magog destroyed his ship."
"Hmph. Even if that is true, Lusus isn't going to die that easily. He's beaten you at every turn, and he'll be back, even if he has to get another ship."
Then, Dylan remembered the escape pods. Lusus could have been on one of them, but what about the second pod?
"Do you know anything about Beka and my other missing crewmen?" Dylan demanded.
"I can't be sure," The clone paused as she put a finger to her lips, "But I bet captain Valentine was delicious."
---
"What's our status?" Admiral Nishar asked.
"We've got 98% of our systems back online," Fredricks answered, "The Red Star, the Protégé, and the Alorian fleet are combat ready. The Andromeda is as ready as she'll ever be, but Captain Hunt wants to question an enemy clone they've detained."
"What about the enemy fleet? Can we track them down?"
"Gemini can detect them, but without a pilot connected directly to the ship, we can't navigate the slipstream with our sensor readings."
"What about the tactical situation?"
"Gemini can use the rail cannon to disable the enemy flagships. They'll probably be keeping our officers on one of them. The rest of our ships can keep their fleets from doing any serious damage."
"We can't take the risk, Commander" Nishar responded, "We'll have to disable them all. Once they're down, we can tap into their internal sensors and look for the captives that way."
"How are we going to survive long enough to do that?"
"I've already talked to the Alorians. With their help, we can build a couple more rail cannons, and fit them to our ships."
"We'll need the help," Fredricks observed.
"Maybe with their help, we can rebuild the shipyard, someday…"
---
"Commander," Tyr stepped into his officer.
"Yes, crewman?" Fredricks responded.
"I wish to return to the Andromeda," The Neitzchian stated.
"Already?" Fredricks looked amused.
"My chances for survival were better aboard the Andromeda. At least that ship won't have two enemy fleets dedicating themselves to its destruction."
"You think our odds are that bad?"
"You have the most advanced ship in the New Commonwealth, which the enemy lost in a gamble to take over your shipyard. They aren't going to forget that easily."
"You can go back to the Andromeda if you want," Fredricks answered, "But I've gotten complaints from the crew. I was going to give you some more time to adjust, but if you leave, you aren't coming back."
"I don't intend to."
***
"Hey, look who's back," Harper hopped down from a platform in engineering, "Couldn't stay away from all the excitement over here?"
"Have you learned anything from the clone?" Tyr ignored Harper's question.
"No," Harper answered, "Why are you asking me?"
"I came to make sure the ship hasn't been tampered with."
"Hey, Rommie and I have it covered."
"I know a bit more about sabotage than you do," Tyr surveyed the room, "If the clone had planted a micro-reaction initiator in the slipstream core, would you have detected it?"
"Of course. I've programmed some nanobots to look for them. Plus, Rommie's been looking over the sensor records to make sure Beka hadn't been doing anything weird. If she so much as dropped by engineering to pick up a a laser-torch, Rommie'd warn me."
"Hmph. Have you also checked the outer hull for time-release heavy corosive packets, networked alloy explosives, attack nanobots…"
"Yeah, and I've done a complete inventory of the machine shop, and I've checked the computer core for viruses, and I've re-sterilized the air filtration systems, and…"
"Alright," Tyr stopped him, "Where are your engineering logs?"
"You know, you've got some serious trust issues. Ever considered group therapy?"
"Trust is a waste. I would rather spend the rest of my life in a labor camp than go into battle on a ship that hasn't been secured properly."
"Maybe you should go live on one then. I'm sure the Raptors wouldn't mind an extra pair of hands in the ore mines. We did just fine without you."
"Really? So far, you've lost three members of the crew, you were manhandled by the enemy flagship, and the only reason you're alive today is because the Gemini managed to fool the enemy fleet with that fake Dreadnought."
"And what would you have done about it?"
"I wouldn't have allowed the Maru to go on a suicide mission, for one thing."
"Look, unless you plan to do something useful, let me get back to work."
"Fine, but I expect to see those logs when you're finished."
"Whatever," Harper turned back to one of the panels he had removed from an engineering console as Tyr left.
***
"Can you get rid of it?" Beka was standing now. Her side still ached, but she had too much willpower to allow that to get in her way.
"I'm not sure," Andromeda confessed, "I could try putting you into a temporary coma and inducing both of the personalities to surface. Whichever one was stronger would destroy the other one."
"So why don't you?"
"You're a strong person, but so is she. If we do this, you could become her, permanently."
"I'll win. I can't be walking around the ship with a psychopath in my head."
"You're right, you can't."
"So, are you going to do it?"
"I can't. I've been ordered not to risk it."
"Dylan ordered you not to? This is my brain we're talking about. Until the real Beka gets back, he's going to need me to fly the ship."
"We don't plan to do any difficult slip piloting," Andromeda responded, "Tyr can handle it."
"If things go bad, we'll need someone who can get us out of trouble fast. I'm your best chance."
"I can't."
"Just let me talk to Dylan, ok?"
"He plans to come back in a few hours to talk to you anyway. Maybe you can talk him into it."
"I'll figure something out," Andromeda noticed an impish glint in her eye.
---
"What have we come up with?" Dylan looked at the viewscreen.
"So far, we've been able to fit a Gauss Cannon on the Red Star, and two on the Protégé. The extra power generation from our artillary ship means it can fire more rapidly than a single cannon can handle. With your permission, we'd like to put one on the Andromeda as well. We'll use the rail guns to disable the enemy ships, then the Alorians will move their transports in and board them."
"Of course, Admiral. Do they have enough troops to take capture an entire fleet of Neitzchian and Magog ships? We'll have to outnumber them at least two to one."
"With all due respect, Captain," Jeffan cut in, "Alorian marines don't go down easily."
"Preconsul Jeffan," Dylan gave a nod of recognition, "I didn't see you there."
"If you can pull this off, I'll officially support signing the Commonwealth charter."
"Thank you. Your support would mean a lot to me."
"Yes it would."
"Captain Hunt," Admiral Nishar stepped to the front of the image, "There is one problem we haven't worked out. Now that Gem has left, we can't follow the enemy fleets. We need someone who can maintain a direct link with the Gemini while piloting through the slipstream. We would appreciate any suggestions you could offer."
"I'll discuss it with my crew."
"Good luck," Nishar prepared to close the comm channel, "We'll need it."
---
"We've been over this," Dylan shook his head, "I'm not turning my ship over to someone who could turn against us at any moment."
"She can't take over unless I hear that word," The clone's frustration was apparent, "I'll wear earmuffs if it makes you feel better."
"How can I be sure that you aren't still trying to take over the ship? What if Lusus had some kind of failsafe in case we discovered the truth? I can't take the risk."
"Look, you can have Tyr standing behind me with a force lance pointed at my head."
"Even if I wanted to do that…"
"Boss! Boss!" Harper ran into the medical bay, "We don't need Gem to follow the other ships through slipstream."
"Harper?" Dylan turned.
"I can use an SP-RCD to link myself to the Gemini, then she can feed the sensor information right into my brain."
"The what?"
"When you came back from Alor, Beka gave me an SP-RCD. It'll let me hook into Gemini's sensors by remote, but we have to hurry. If we wait too long, the sensor trail from the enemy fleet'll be too weak to follow."
"We still haven't refit the Andromeda with a Gauss Cannon. We aren't ready for the rescue operation yet."
"That doesn't matter," Harper insisted, "We've got to do this now if we're going to save Beka and the others."
"Alright," Dylan looked critically at his engineer, "Take a shuttle pod over to the Gemini and set up the link."
"Thanks, boss!" Harper ran out of the room, and immediately headed for the nearest shuttle.
"You'll need a good pilot to follow him," Beka's clone said as he left the room.
"I'm not letting you pilot the Andromeda."
"Dylan, you're being unreasonable."
"I'm trying to protect my ship."
"Yeah, and I'm trying to protect my crew."
"Your crew?" Dylan gave her a hard look, "What do you think will happen after we rescue the real Beka?"
"I am the real Beka."
"No, you're not."
"Fine, but until she gets back, you'll need a pilot, like it or not."
"There are plenty of qualified pilots around."
"Sure they're qualified, but you know I'm the best choice."
Dylan sighed, and turned away for a moment to think, "You can pilot the ship, but I want you to wear a brain signal monitor so Andromeda can tell if anything unusual happens. At the first sign of trouble, Tyr will take over."
"Don't worry about it," Beka assured him, "Everything'll be fine."
"I hope so," Dylan responded.
***
"Status?" Commander Fredricks asked.
"Everything is ready," Gemini's hologram stated, "Harper's link is functioning normally, all systems are online and combat ready. The other ships have all reported in. They're just waiting for us to give the signal."
Admiral Nishar gripped his station as he prepared to give the order, "Open a comm channel to all ships, audio only."
"Comm channel open," Gemini responded.
"All vessels, prepare to follow us into slipstream. We'll be going in three…two…one…transit!"
Harper pushed the slipstream controls sending the Gemini into the slipstream portal, followed closely by the other ships. He could feel the information going into his mind. It was almost like being a part of the Gemini. Even as he focused his attention on the job at hand, he couldn't help but wonder if this was how Rommie felt.
"Report," Fredricks ordered as they came out of slipstream.
"They're close," Harper said, "Two, maybe three jumps away."
"All of our ships have successfully followed us through the jump," Gemini added.
"Mr. Harper," The Commander nodded, "Take us out whenever you're ready."
"Right," Seamus answered, "Transiting slipstream."
The Gemini made two more jumps, and emerged from the stream with her weapons blazing. Magog ships were arrayed nearby, with the Neitzchian fleet holding position a short distance away. The Andromeda and Protégé immediately fell into step behind the Gemini, then the Red Star, and finally the Alorian fleet. They had taken the Magog by surprise. Before they could react, four of their ships were disabled, two were heavily damaged, and several others were hit.
The Neitzchians immediately charged into the fray, while the Magog struggled to regain order. Their flagship was spinning helplessly, and the lesser captains were vying for command. Alorian transports immediately descended on their ships while the new High Guard fleet attempted to hold the enemy at bay. Alorian frigates valiantly threw themselves between the rail cannon-equipped vessels and the furious Neitzchian ships.
"Tell the Andromeda to cover our flank. Have the Protégé change course to 312 mark 26, maximum acceleration," Admiral Nishar barked out his orders, "Head us straight for that Neitzchian flagship."
"We can't track it with the rail cannon at this range," The weapons officer responded quickly, "She's moving too fast."
"Bring in the Red Star and a couple of the frigates to lay down suppression fire while we move in. We've got to stop that ship."
"The Alorians have lost three of their ships, and they're meeting heavy resistance on the Magog cap ships," Commander Fredricks told him.
"Tighten up the formation, and tell the Andromeda to move hard starboard and relieve some stress from Protégé's task force."
"Rail cannon will be ready to fire again in ten seconds," Gemini stated.
"Target at your discretion," Nishar ordered.
"We've got a lock on a Magog battleship," The weapon's officer said.
"Three seconds to arc… two… one!"
"The Magog ship is disabled. The Alorian transport fleet is moving to intercept."
"How long until we can hit the Neitzchian flagship?" Nishar asked.
"At least twenty seconds. We should be ready to fire again by that time."
"How are we doing out there?"
"Eleven of their capital ships are disabled. Fifteen of their smaller ships have taken heavy damage, and are either floating dead in space or retreating," Fredricks responded, "Six of our frigates have been destroyed, and most of our ships have at least minor damage."
"We can't let any of them get away. Have the transports focus on the retreating ships."
"We've got a lock on the enemy flagship," The weapons officer tapped his control panel, "Firing…"
"They're generating a magnetic field," Gemini looked at the admiral.
"It deflected the shot. Compensating…"
"The Neitzchians are moving in," Fredricks continued to examine the incoming battle reports, "They're targeting us. We can't hold them all off."
"Incoming missles, multiple vectors," Gemini looked almost calm in the midst of the raging battle.
"Evasive maneuvers!" Nishar ordered, "All hands, brace for impact."
The Gemini was rocked by direct hits from several of Raptor Pride's heavy warships. Huge sections of armor were ripped away, exposing the secondary hull. Six point defense stations were annihilated, and three missle turrets were silenced.
"The Andromeda and the Protégé are approaching from behind," Fredricks tapped the controls on his station, "Half of our attackers are disabled."
"Order the Protégé to focus on the flagship."
"They say we won't be able to take many more hits like that," Fredricks responded.
"Tell them the Andromeda can look out for us," Nishar ordered, "We have to take down that flagship at all costs."
"The Alorians are reporting," Fredricks spoke urgently, "They've found Captain Pellings and Andromeda's missing officers on one of the Magog cruisers. Wait, they say someone is missing. Someone called 'Trance' isn't with the rest of them."
"Keep trying to disable as many ships as possible, but tell the fleet they can fire at will. Trance may already be dead, but we aren't going to give up."
"The Protégé is reporting in," Fredricks added, "They've disabled the Neitzchian flagship Corak, and the transports are moving to board. The Corak is releasing escape pods, and the remaining hostiles are in retreat. We've done it."
"Contact the rest of the fleet, and congratulate them on a job well done. Begin organizing emergency repair efforts. I want our fleet, including the captured ships, back to Alor in under an hour. I'll be in my office."
"Aye, sir," Fredricks saluted as the Admiral walked away.
***
"How are you doing?" Dylan looked at his officers.
"We're all a little shaken, but they didn't do any permanent damage," Rev responded.
"What about you, Trance? They tell me you were separated from the others."
"Kyn wanted me to help him, so they sent me over to his ship," Trance explained, "Do you think it was wrong for me to give him bad advice?"
Dylan chuckled, "Under the circumstances, I think we'll forgive you."
"What about them?" Tyr asked, looking at Beka and her clone, "Even I couldn't tell them apart if they weren't wearing different clothes."
"Hey, I understand," Beka's clone turned to face Dylan, "You can't have two of me. Since I'm the clone, I'll just take the Maru and…"
"Wait a minute," Beka interrupted, "You can't take my ship."
"It's as much my ship as it is yours."
"Forget it!"
"Just relax," Dylan spoke up, "I'm sure we'll work something out. Beka?"
"Yes?" Both of them looked over at the captain.
"Is anyone else confused by the name thing?" Harper asked.
"Fine, call me Rebecca if you have to," The clone said, "You don't think I'm the same person anyway."
"The only thing I don't understand," Rev walked over to Beka, "Is why Lusus would copy all of Beka's memories and her personality into the clone."
"She had to fool all of us, and they didn't know for how long her mission would be," Rommie deduced, "The clone would have to be nearly perfect."
"What about the Gemini?" Harper asked, "Right now, they're using a rookie pilot. I bet they'd like to have someone more experienced."
"Sounds interesting," Rebecca cocked her head a bit.
"Could you really settle for being just another member of the crew?" Tyr studied her.
"Hey, I'll only have to do it until I've saved up enough for my own ship, and unlike security personnel," Rebecca smiled slightly at Tyr, "Pilots have a minimum rank of Lieutenant. I'll still be able to order around practically everyone, if they let me transfer."
"Don't worry," Dylan responded, "I'll make sure it works out."
***
Captain Sarah Pellings finally returned quarters. Her brother was writing when she came in, just as she had expected.
"Welcome home," Jarod smiled as he stood up to give her a warm hug.
"Thanks," Sarah smiled back, "How's The Endless Night coming?"
"I've decided to change the title," Jarod responded, "After what the New Commonwealth accomplished over the last few days, I have to rethink my thesis. Perhaps civilization has a chance of surviving after all."
"Really? I'm glad to hear you've changed your mind. So, what are you going to call it?"
"How does 'The Second Coming' sound to you?"
"Sounds good," Sarah nodded, "Now, I hope you saved me some dinner."
---------------------
"Even the might of a black hole could not stop the the force of will from a determined people. And hope, scarred and bleeding, breathed again."
- The Second Coming, vol II. CY 10126
"So what are you going to do now?" Trance asked.
"I am still allied with those Magog, I have a large fleet, and I justed picked up an escape pod carrying a Commonwealth captain and a very valuable cyborg. What do you think I should do?"
"Negotiate?" Trance asked hopefully.
"That isn't high on my list of priorities at the moment. Care to try again?"
"You have plenty of choices," Trance reminded him, "If you have good intentions, everything could still work out perfectly."
"My intentions are to do whatever is best for myself. I'll ask you again, what do you think I should do?"
"If you make peace with the New Commonwealth, you would have a large foothold in this area. If you're careful, your pride could be the biggest one in history. The Commonwealth already has lots of allies, and…"
"What do you suppose would happen if I conquered the commonwealth, and claimed the allied worlds for my pride?"
"Well, there's a chance you could capture everything, but I don't think it will work out."
"I'm really not concerned about them winning this conflict, unless they have some surprises you'd like to tell me about."
"What about that big cannon thing? The… Dreadnought?"
Kyn smirked, "For a girl who can see the future, you really don't know much about the present."
***
"You still haven't explained the disappearing Dreadnought," Captain Hunt insisted.
"Gem did tell the truth about one thing, even if she didn't know it," Gemini responded, "I was built to test new High Guard technology, but only one: The displaced FMS field. My old engineers called it 'the Gemini effect.' Basically, I can create a sensor image for a fake starship. It requires a lot of power, so they had to put it on a cruiser. The technology was so top secret that my original programmers hid the controls for the Gemini effect by encrypting it inside my neural sequences. Not even Gem knew about the effect. When Lusus rewired me so that Gem had direct control, that was the one thing I could still operate. Unfortunately, I didn't have any way to take advantage of it until now."
"So, when the Neitzchians took Gem into the slipstream, her connection was broken."
"Right, and my engineers are already repairing my systems so that she can't regain control."
"Good. Now, we have to intercept the combined Neitzchian and Magog fleet and get our officers back," Dylan's face was like a stone wall of determination.
"We'll get your crewmen back, along with Captain Pellings," Admiral Nishar stepped forward, "Even if we have to blast our way through Drago-Khatzoff to do it."
"We'll be there," Dylan answered.
---
"Wake her up," Dylan ordered.
Rommie placed a small device against Beka's temple. After a moment, the clone started to move.
"Good morning," Dylan's voice was stern.
The clone placed a hand on her side, "How… how did I get here?"
"You were shot when you tried to take over the ship."
"What? Dylan… Uh!" Beka felt pain shoot through her body when she tried to sit up, "I didn't try to take over the ship."
"Who are you, really?"
"Dylan, what are you talking about?"
"Beka?" Rommie asked.
"Yes?" Beka looked at the android, then back at Dylan, "Have you all lost your minds?"
"Beka," Dylan paused, "Blitzkrieg."
Suddenly, the clone's eyes narrowed, "You think you've accomplished something by stopping me? Once Lusus gets ahold of you, you're all dead."
"Post hypnotic suggestion," Dylan surmized.
"And some kind of induced multiple personality disorder," Rommie added, "Who are we talking to now?"
"It doesn't matter what you call me," The clone responded haughtily, "Lusus will be coming back for me soon enough."
"Lusus isn't coming back," Dylan said, "The Magog destroyed his ship."
"Hmph. Even if that is true, Lusus isn't going to die that easily. He's beaten you at every turn, and he'll be back, even if he has to get another ship."
Then, Dylan remembered the escape pods. Lusus could have been on one of them, but what about the second pod?
"Do you know anything about Beka and my other missing crewmen?" Dylan demanded.
"I can't be sure," The clone paused as she put a finger to her lips, "But I bet captain Valentine was delicious."
---
"What's our status?" Admiral Nishar asked.
"We've got 98% of our systems back online," Fredricks answered, "The Red Star, the Protégé, and the Alorian fleet are combat ready. The Andromeda is as ready as she'll ever be, but Captain Hunt wants to question an enemy clone they've detained."
"What about the enemy fleet? Can we track them down?"
"Gemini can detect them, but without a pilot connected directly to the ship, we can't navigate the slipstream with our sensor readings."
"What about the tactical situation?"
"Gemini can use the rail cannon to disable the enemy flagships. They'll probably be keeping our officers on one of them. The rest of our ships can keep their fleets from doing any serious damage."
"We can't take the risk, Commander" Nishar responded, "We'll have to disable them all. Once they're down, we can tap into their internal sensors and look for the captives that way."
"How are we going to survive long enough to do that?"
"I've already talked to the Alorians. With their help, we can build a couple more rail cannons, and fit them to our ships."
"We'll need the help," Fredricks observed.
"Maybe with their help, we can rebuild the shipyard, someday…"
---
"Commander," Tyr stepped into his officer.
"Yes, crewman?" Fredricks responded.
"I wish to return to the Andromeda," The Neitzchian stated.
"Already?" Fredricks looked amused.
"My chances for survival were better aboard the Andromeda. At least that ship won't have two enemy fleets dedicating themselves to its destruction."
"You think our odds are that bad?"
"You have the most advanced ship in the New Commonwealth, which the enemy lost in a gamble to take over your shipyard. They aren't going to forget that easily."
"You can go back to the Andromeda if you want," Fredricks answered, "But I've gotten complaints from the crew. I was going to give you some more time to adjust, but if you leave, you aren't coming back."
"I don't intend to."
***
"Hey, look who's back," Harper hopped down from a platform in engineering, "Couldn't stay away from all the excitement over here?"
"Have you learned anything from the clone?" Tyr ignored Harper's question.
"No," Harper answered, "Why are you asking me?"
"I came to make sure the ship hasn't been tampered with."
"Hey, Rommie and I have it covered."
"I know a bit more about sabotage than you do," Tyr surveyed the room, "If the clone had planted a micro-reaction initiator in the slipstream core, would you have detected it?"
"Of course. I've programmed some nanobots to look for them. Plus, Rommie's been looking over the sensor records to make sure Beka hadn't been doing anything weird. If she so much as dropped by engineering to pick up a a laser-torch, Rommie'd warn me."
"Hmph. Have you also checked the outer hull for time-release heavy corosive packets, networked alloy explosives, attack nanobots…"
"Yeah, and I've done a complete inventory of the machine shop, and I've checked the computer core for viruses, and I've re-sterilized the air filtration systems, and…"
"Alright," Tyr stopped him, "Where are your engineering logs?"
"You know, you've got some serious trust issues. Ever considered group therapy?"
"Trust is a waste. I would rather spend the rest of my life in a labor camp than go into battle on a ship that hasn't been secured properly."
"Maybe you should go live on one then. I'm sure the Raptors wouldn't mind an extra pair of hands in the ore mines. We did just fine without you."
"Really? So far, you've lost three members of the crew, you were manhandled by the enemy flagship, and the only reason you're alive today is because the Gemini managed to fool the enemy fleet with that fake Dreadnought."
"And what would you have done about it?"
"I wouldn't have allowed the Maru to go on a suicide mission, for one thing."
"Look, unless you plan to do something useful, let me get back to work."
"Fine, but I expect to see those logs when you're finished."
"Whatever," Harper turned back to one of the panels he had removed from an engineering console as Tyr left.
***
"Can you get rid of it?" Beka was standing now. Her side still ached, but she had too much willpower to allow that to get in her way.
"I'm not sure," Andromeda confessed, "I could try putting you into a temporary coma and inducing both of the personalities to surface. Whichever one was stronger would destroy the other one."
"So why don't you?"
"You're a strong person, but so is she. If we do this, you could become her, permanently."
"I'll win. I can't be walking around the ship with a psychopath in my head."
"You're right, you can't."
"So, are you going to do it?"
"I can't. I've been ordered not to risk it."
"Dylan ordered you not to? This is my brain we're talking about. Until the real Beka gets back, he's going to need me to fly the ship."
"We don't plan to do any difficult slip piloting," Andromeda responded, "Tyr can handle it."
"If things go bad, we'll need someone who can get us out of trouble fast. I'm your best chance."
"I can't."
"Just let me talk to Dylan, ok?"
"He plans to come back in a few hours to talk to you anyway. Maybe you can talk him into it."
"I'll figure something out," Andromeda noticed an impish glint in her eye.
---
"What have we come up with?" Dylan looked at the viewscreen.
"So far, we've been able to fit a Gauss Cannon on the Red Star, and two on the Protégé. The extra power generation from our artillary ship means it can fire more rapidly than a single cannon can handle. With your permission, we'd like to put one on the Andromeda as well. We'll use the rail guns to disable the enemy ships, then the Alorians will move their transports in and board them."
"Of course, Admiral. Do they have enough troops to take capture an entire fleet of Neitzchian and Magog ships? We'll have to outnumber them at least two to one."
"With all due respect, Captain," Jeffan cut in, "Alorian marines don't go down easily."
"Preconsul Jeffan," Dylan gave a nod of recognition, "I didn't see you there."
"If you can pull this off, I'll officially support signing the Commonwealth charter."
"Thank you. Your support would mean a lot to me."
"Yes it would."
"Captain Hunt," Admiral Nishar stepped to the front of the image, "There is one problem we haven't worked out. Now that Gem has left, we can't follow the enemy fleets. We need someone who can maintain a direct link with the Gemini while piloting through the slipstream. We would appreciate any suggestions you could offer."
"I'll discuss it with my crew."
"Good luck," Nishar prepared to close the comm channel, "We'll need it."
---
"We've been over this," Dylan shook his head, "I'm not turning my ship over to someone who could turn against us at any moment."
"She can't take over unless I hear that word," The clone's frustration was apparent, "I'll wear earmuffs if it makes you feel better."
"How can I be sure that you aren't still trying to take over the ship? What if Lusus had some kind of failsafe in case we discovered the truth? I can't take the risk."
"Look, you can have Tyr standing behind me with a force lance pointed at my head."
"Even if I wanted to do that…"
"Boss! Boss!" Harper ran into the medical bay, "We don't need Gem to follow the other ships through slipstream."
"Harper?" Dylan turned.
"I can use an SP-RCD to link myself to the Gemini, then she can feed the sensor information right into my brain."
"The what?"
"When you came back from Alor, Beka gave me an SP-RCD. It'll let me hook into Gemini's sensors by remote, but we have to hurry. If we wait too long, the sensor trail from the enemy fleet'll be too weak to follow."
"We still haven't refit the Andromeda with a Gauss Cannon. We aren't ready for the rescue operation yet."
"That doesn't matter," Harper insisted, "We've got to do this now if we're going to save Beka and the others."
"Alright," Dylan looked critically at his engineer, "Take a shuttle pod over to the Gemini and set up the link."
"Thanks, boss!" Harper ran out of the room, and immediately headed for the nearest shuttle.
"You'll need a good pilot to follow him," Beka's clone said as he left the room.
"I'm not letting you pilot the Andromeda."
"Dylan, you're being unreasonable."
"I'm trying to protect my ship."
"Yeah, and I'm trying to protect my crew."
"Your crew?" Dylan gave her a hard look, "What do you think will happen after we rescue the real Beka?"
"I am the real Beka."
"No, you're not."
"Fine, but until she gets back, you'll need a pilot, like it or not."
"There are plenty of qualified pilots around."
"Sure they're qualified, but you know I'm the best choice."
Dylan sighed, and turned away for a moment to think, "You can pilot the ship, but I want you to wear a brain signal monitor so Andromeda can tell if anything unusual happens. At the first sign of trouble, Tyr will take over."
"Don't worry about it," Beka assured him, "Everything'll be fine."
"I hope so," Dylan responded.
***
"Status?" Commander Fredricks asked.
"Everything is ready," Gemini's hologram stated, "Harper's link is functioning normally, all systems are online and combat ready. The other ships have all reported in. They're just waiting for us to give the signal."
Admiral Nishar gripped his station as he prepared to give the order, "Open a comm channel to all ships, audio only."
"Comm channel open," Gemini responded.
"All vessels, prepare to follow us into slipstream. We'll be going in three…two…one…transit!"
Harper pushed the slipstream controls sending the Gemini into the slipstream portal, followed closely by the other ships. He could feel the information going into his mind. It was almost like being a part of the Gemini. Even as he focused his attention on the job at hand, he couldn't help but wonder if this was how Rommie felt.
"Report," Fredricks ordered as they came out of slipstream.
"They're close," Harper said, "Two, maybe three jumps away."
"All of our ships have successfully followed us through the jump," Gemini added.
"Mr. Harper," The Commander nodded, "Take us out whenever you're ready."
"Right," Seamus answered, "Transiting slipstream."
The Gemini made two more jumps, and emerged from the stream with her weapons blazing. Magog ships were arrayed nearby, with the Neitzchian fleet holding position a short distance away. The Andromeda and Protégé immediately fell into step behind the Gemini, then the Red Star, and finally the Alorian fleet. They had taken the Magog by surprise. Before they could react, four of their ships were disabled, two were heavily damaged, and several others were hit.
The Neitzchians immediately charged into the fray, while the Magog struggled to regain order. Their flagship was spinning helplessly, and the lesser captains were vying for command. Alorian transports immediately descended on their ships while the new High Guard fleet attempted to hold the enemy at bay. Alorian frigates valiantly threw themselves between the rail cannon-equipped vessels and the furious Neitzchian ships.
"Tell the Andromeda to cover our flank. Have the Protégé change course to 312 mark 26, maximum acceleration," Admiral Nishar barked out his orders, "Head us straight for that Neitzchian flagship."
"We can't track it with the rail cannon at this range," The weapons officer responded quickly, "She's moving too fast."
"Bring in the Red Star and a couple of the frigates to lay down suppression fire while we move in. We've got to stop that ship."
"The Alorians have lost three of their ships, and they're meeting heavy resistance on the Magog cap ships," Commander Fredricks told him.
"Tighten up the formation, and tell the Andromeda to move hard starboard and relieve some stress from Protégé's task force."
"Rail cannon will be ready to fire again in ten seconds," Gemini stated.
"Target at your discretion," Nishar ordered.
"We've got a lock on a Magog battleship," The weapon's officer said.
"Three seconds to arc… two… one!"
"The Magog ship is disabled. The Alorian transport fleet is moving to intercept."
"How long until we can hit the Neitzchian flagship?" Nishar asked.
"At least twenty seconds. We should be ready to fire again by that time."
"How are we doing out there?"
"Eleven of their capital ships are disabled. Fifteen of their smaller ships have taken heavy damage, and are either floating dead in space or retreating," Fredricks responded, "Six of our frigates have been destroyed, and most of our ships have at least minor damage."
"We can't let any of them get away. Have the transports focus on the retreating ships."
"We've got a lock on the enemy flagship," The weapons officer tapped his control panel, "Firing…"
"They're generating a magnetic field," Gemini looked at the admiral.
"It deflected the shot. Compensating…"
"The Neitzchians are moving in," Fredricks continued to examine the incoming battle reports, "They're targeting us. We can't hold them all off."
"Incoming missles, multiple vectors," Gemini looked almost calm in the midst of the raging battle.
"Evasive maneuvers!" Nishar ordered, "All hands, brace for impact."
The Gemini was rocked by direct hits from several of Raptor Pride's heavy warships. Huge sections of armor were ripped away, exposing the secondary hull. Six point defense stations were annihilated, and three missle turrets were silenced.
"The Andromeda and the Protégé are approaching from behind," Fredricks tapped the controls on his station, "Half of our attackers are disabled."
"Order the Protégé to focus on the flagship."
"They say we won't be able to take many more hits like that," Fredricks responded.
"Tell them the Andromeda can look out for us," Nishar ordered, "We have to take down that flagship at all costs."
"The Alorians are reporting," Fredricks spoke urgently, "They've found Captain Pellings and Andromeda's missing officers on one of the Magog cruisers. Wait, they say someone is missing. Someone called 'Trance' isn't with the rest of them."
"Keep trying to disable as many ships as possible, but tell the fleet they can fire at will. Trance may already be dead, but we aren't going to give up."
"The Protégé is reporting in," Fredricks added, "They've disabled the Neitzchian flagship Corak, and the transports are moving to board. The Corak is releasing escape pods, and the remaining hostiles are in retreat. We've done it."
"Contact the rest of the fleet, and congratulate them on a job well done. Begin organizing emergency repair efforts. I want our fleet, including the captured ships, back to Alor in under an hour. I'll be in my office."
"Aye, sir," Fredricks saluted as the Admiral walked away.
***
"How are you doing?" Dylan looked at his officers.
"We're all a little shaken, but they didn't do any permanent damage," Rev responded.
"What about you, Trance? They tell me you were separated from the others."
"Kyn wanted me to help him, so they sent me over to his ship," Trance explained, "Do you think it was wrong for me to give him bad advice?"
Dylan chuckled, "Under the circumstances, I think we'll forgive you."
"What about them?" Tyr asked, looking at Beka and her clone, "Even I couldn't tell them apart if they weren't wearing different clothes."
"Hey, I understand," Beka's clone turned to face Dylan, "You can't have two of me. Since I'm the clone, I'll just take the Maru and…"
"Wait a minute," Beka interrupted, "You can't take my ship."
"It's as much my ship as it is yours."
"Forget it!"
"Just relax," Dylan spoke up, "I'm sure we'll work something out. Beka?"
"Yes?" Both of them looked over at the captain.
"Is anyone else confused by the name thing?" Harper asked.
"Fine, call me Rebecca if you have to," The clone said, "You don't think I'm the same person anyway."
"The only thing I don't understand," Rev walked over to Beka, "Is why Lusus would copy all of Beka's memories and her personality into the clone."
"She had to fool all of us, and they didn't know for how long her mission would be," Rommie deduced, "The clone would have to be nearly perfect."
"What about the Gemini?" Harper asked, "Right now, they're using a rookie pilot. I bet they'd like to have someone more experienced."
"Sounds interesting," Rebecca cocked her head a bit.
"Could you really settle for being just another member of the crew?" Tyr studied her.
"Hey, I'll only have to do it until I've saved up enough for my own ship, and unlike security personnel," Rebecca smiled slightly at Tyr, "Pilots have a minimum rank of Lieutenant. I'll still be able to order around practically everyone, if they let me transfer."
"Don't worry," Dylan responded, "I'll make sure it works out."
***
Captain Sarah Pellings finally returned quarters. Her brother was writing when she came in, just as she had expected.
"Welcome home," Jarod smiled as he stood up to give her a warm hug.
"Thanks," Sarah smiled back, "How's The Endless Night coming?"
"I've decided to change the title," Jarod responded, "After what the New Commonwealth accomplished over the last few days, I have to rethink my thesis. Perhaps civilization has a chance of surviving after all."
"Really? I'm glad to hear you've changed your mind. So, what are you going to call it?"
"How does 'The Second Coming' sound to you?"
"Sounds good," Sarah nodded, "Now, I hope you saved me some dinner."
---------------------
"Even the might of a black hole could not stop the the force of will from a determined people. And hope, scarred and bleeding, breathed again."
- The Second Coming, vol II. CY 10126
