Tyr looked out the window on the Obs. Deck . He was thinking about Janet and her constant refusal to answer his questions. He remembered the look in her eyes when he had asked her about her parents. There was something there that he couldn't put his finger on. Her eyes had gazed straight into his and a look of sorrow had come over her face. She had then said jokingly "Why are you so interested in my line?" and a playful smile had broken out lighting up her face making her eyes shine like stars. She was very beautiful. She came from a good line. Tyr could tell by just looking at her. Her hair was brown but when the light caught it just right a tinge of red shone making it more auburn than brown. But it was her eyes that really caught his attention. They were sky-blue surrounded by long curling eyelashes and perfectly shaped. They seemed to pierce right through him and it was as if with one look she had known everything about him. At first she had been withdrawn but gradually that had melted away to reveal an intelligent woman with a mind of her own who was quite good at avoiding questions that she didn't want to answer. Tyr was interested and wanted to find out more about her.
Just then a ventilation shaft opened and a Nietzschean jumped out landing right in front of him jolting him out of his thoughts. 'Big mistake', thought Tyr. He punched the Nietzschean in the face surprising him. He punched him again and again until the Nietzschean fell onto the floor unconscious. 'Too easy', he thought. He then remembered Janet, they would be coming after her and she might be outnumbered. He set off to find her.
********************
Trance hummed to herself as she watered her plants in Hydroponics. She heard a noise behind her and turned. There was a Nietzschean coming towards her. She spun around and ran down the aisle between the shelves of plants closely followed by the Nietzschean. Trance pushed over a table of empty pots and other tools which made him slow down temporarily. It was enough time for Trance to run out the door. She ran up the corridor and climbed down two decks using one of the ladders. There she bumped into Tyr. "Janet's four decks down, turn right, then left, first door on the left. HURRY.", she said to him. She then ran down the hall not even waiting for an answer, hoping she had guessed right.
********************
Janet looked around the quarters Trance had shown her to. She had told her she wasn't going to stay here but Trance had insisted and wouldn't take no for an answer so after a few minutes Janet had given in. She was tired out by avoiding Tyr's questions and was quite content to just follow Trance. She had put Andromeda on privacy while she unpacked her things. They were her things no one else's. She took out a photograph of her father and herself taken when she was four years old. It was her favorite. The bone spurs on her arms were tiny in comparison to the size they were now and they had become tangled in his hair making it look like he had spikes coming out of the side of his head. She sighed, those days were gone and they wouldn't be coming back. She put the photograph down on the table and reached into her bag. Her hand hit something cold and hard. What was it? She took it out. It was the gun she had used to kill Odius. The feeling of guilt that she had been suppressing shot through her. She had always sworn to herself that she would never kill anyone and she had broken that promise. Why? Why couldn't she have just knocked him out? What had possessed her to pick up the gun and shoot Odius? These questions often came into her mind at times but she had always pushed them back out again. She couldn't answer or maybe she wouldn't answer. Maybe she didn't want to know why. In a fit of rage and confusion she threw the gun across the room not caring if it went off. Luckily it didn't. The safety catch was on.
She heard a slight noise behind her but before she could turn around she felt a jolt of pain in the back of her head and then everything went black.
********************
Tyr ran down the corridor towards the room Trance had told him he would find Janet. The door hissed open in front of him and he entered but there was no one there. He looked around examining the room but saw nothing. He then looked above him. The vent shaft was open. Janet was gone.
********************
"Hey! Hey!", Trance yelled down the ladder. She was trying to distract the Nietzschean long enough for Dylan to push him away so Andromeda could shoot at the Nietzschean. Finally she climbed down the ladder upside down holding herself by the tail. "Hello.", she said to the Nietzschean. He looked up in surprise. Dylan shoved him and Andromeda shot out a bolt of electricity knocking the Nietzschean unconscious. "Thanks Trance." Dylan said.
But before she could reply a Nietzschean dropped out of the vent landing face down on the floor closely followed by another. It was Janet and Thor. It was obvious that Janet was unconscious. Thor grabbed her and held a gun to her head.
"I wouldn't move if I were you." he said to them menacingly.
"Thor. We have another one.", said one of his crewmen while dragging a protesting Harper.
"Good. Now Captain Hunt if you want your crewmember back alive I'd advise you to let my men and I leave without any trouble."
"You and your crew can leave but Janet stays here."
"I'm sorry I'm afraid I can't allow that. She is a traitor and a murderer. She must be punished. Now let us leave."
Janet groaned. She was starting to come around. Thor hit her and she fell again. Dylan was stuck between a rock and a hard place. In one hand he held Harper's life and in the other Janet's. He looked to Trance pleading her to help. She looked around and then whispered "There are one million two thousand three hundred and sixty ways this could turn out. Of that one thousand three hundred and sixty.. no.. forty-three that could turn out well for Janet and Harper."
That didn't sound good to Dylan."Which one do I choose?"
"Remember ninety percent of the time guessing is fifty-fifty and my guesses haven't been turning out the way I expected lately."
Dylan sighed. "Trance just tell me."
Now it was Trances turn to sigh but she had warned him. "We have a better chance of everything turning out OK if we let them go with Janet."
Dylan didn't like that thought. "Is there any other way?"
"Stop stalling for time Hunt." Thor said impatiently. He had just radioed the rest of his crew back to Hangar 4.
Dylan thought for a minute. "Go." he said reluctantly.
Thor signaled his crewmen into Hangar 4. He then entered it himself. "Thank you Captain Hunt." he said heading towards the shuttle.
"Hand him over."
"Who?"
"My engineer Harper."
"Oh he's your engineer? Well then I believe he will be useful to me.", said Thor and entered the shuttle. The engines started up.
"Andromeda. Don't open the doors."
"Dylan. If you don't let them go they might kill Harper and then throw him out of the shuttle or worse." Trance said.
Then the shuttle left the Andromeda.
"What? Andromeda?" Dylan exclaimed.
"They hacked into the Hangar controls and opened the doors. I couldn't stop them." Andromeda answered. Dylan watched on the computer panels screen as the ship entered slipstream and disappeared.
