An Old Friend 4
"Do you expect me to believe that?" Tyr asked, his arms crossed over his chest. "And why would that be? I think it's very suspicious how you just appeared out of nowhere to save us. What do you want?"
"What is it with you people? Why does everyone always think I want stuff?" Ares asked as he stared up at the ceiling. He focused his dark eyes on Tyr and waved a finger at him. "Look, if anyone owes me a favor it's your captain."
"So you do want something. I knew it." Tyr smiled. "You can't trick me. We Nietszcheans understand how people think. Now if you could do something about these wounds..."
"Not my department. Besides, I need to conserve my powers for what might lie ahead." Ares replied as they reached the bridge. The doors opened and he stepped out into the large room.
"What? You are not all powerful? I thought you were a God! Surely you can heal a few wounds." Tyr said as he followed Ares towards the front of the bridge.
Harper dashed past them to where Trance was lying on the floor in front of the room's only chair. He knelt down and cradled her in his arms. Tears dripped down his face as he gazed down at her beautiful purple face. "Oh, please be alive!"
Trance's eyelids fluttered and the tip of her long tail moved. She slowly opened her eyes and stared up at Harper. She sat up and held her head in her hands. "Ow! I don't ever want to drive this ship again! It gives me such a headache!"
"Don't worry. You won't have to." Harper assured her, a smile on his face.
"Oh, just look at you!" Trance cried in horror. "You're all chewed up! We'll have to get those wounds cleaned and bandaged before infection sets in. Is anyone else injured?"
"Actually, we're just lucky we made it up here." Harper told her in a hushed voice. "This ship is still crawling with Maggog. He saved Tyr and me before we were dragged off the ship. He's a God! He blasted those Maggog with fireballs! Well, that's what Tyr told me. Unfortunately I missed all that."
Trance turned to look at Ares. He was standing just a few feet away, staring down at Dylan's unmoving body. She had to admit he did look like a God with that perfect body. But did Gods *have* bodies? He was there so she guessed they did. Trance looked on the other side of her and saw Rev Bem helping Becka to her feet. They had all been knocked unconscious when the torpedoes from the attacking Maggog ships had hit the Andromeda. She knew the ship had been hit several serious blows. She wasn't sure what they were going to do next. Trance climbed to her feet and walked over to where Captain Dylan lay on the floor.
"Well, are you a God or not?" Tyr asked Ares again. "If you are, surely you can heal our wounds." "I heal all of your wounds on one condition." Ares said as he walked around Dylan to stand next to Tyr. "You'll owe me a favor. That is, unless it bothers you owing a favor to the God of War?"
"And what would this favor be?" Tyr asked.
"Whatever I say it is." Ares answered as he stared down at Dylan. He reached out with his boot and poked Dylan a few times. "If you don't like it, heal your own wounds. Hope you like infections, because if I'm correct, your medical center was destroyed in the attack."
"Is that true, Rommie?" Trance asked the android, her eyes open wide.
"I'm afraid so." Rommie replied. "The Andromeda took several serious hits that went right straight through the center of the ship. Many sections are gone, vaporized in the blast. Luckily the bulk heads came down, so we still have air."
"Oh my God! I didn't realize it was that bad!" Trance cried. "What will we do? There's entire *worlds* of Maggog out there, right outside our ship!"
"All right. I will owe you a favor." Tyr agreed. "It seems as if I have little choice."
Ares placed on hand on Tyr and one hand on Harper. A soft white glow appeared under his hands and their wounds vanished. The skin and flesh had grown itself back together as if they were never injured at all. Even the pain had disappeared. It had taken less than a minute.
Tyr stared at Ares, shock written all over his face. "You really *are* a God!"
"Of course." Next Ares healed Becka and Trance. This went even faster since their wounds were much more minor. Rev Bem didn't need any healing as he was not injured. And as for Rommie, well, he couldn't heal her as she was a machine. Harper would have to do that, as he was the one who had built her in the first place. That only left Dylan.
Ares knelt on one knee next to Dylan and gazed down at him. Reaching out, he placed one hand on Dylan's forehead and one on his chest. The white glow appeared again and the wounds started to vanish. It took longer to heal Dylan's wounds as they were more serious than the others. Ares let him have as much power as he wanted. He watched as Dylan's eyelids fluttered open to reveal those familiar blue eyes. Dylan stared up at him in shock.
"You!"
