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Following Big Brother

Chapter Four: Temporary Insanity

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            Three days later, Manna had finally been stabilized.  Her fever and delirium were still the same, but she had stopped getting worse, which everyone took as good news.

            Dylan, as he had before, had spent a great deal of his time sitting next to her, talking to her, playing the file of her singing her favorite song over and over.

            "Oh, Baby Sister." He whispered lowering his head, thinking of all the lost time he was going to have to make up for.

            "Oh, Baby Sister." Dylan's voice called into the darkness of Manna's unconsciousness.

            "Dylan!" She cried, looking around the depths, "Dylan, I'm here!  I can hear you!"

            "Manna, I'm so sorry.  I shouldn't have left when we were still so angry.  I didn't think you would talk to me.  You were just…always so stubborn when it came to the twins.  Please forgive me, Manna.  Wake up and say you forgive me."

            Still searching the darkness for the source of her brother's voice, tears filled her eyes.  Her voice was but a whisper, as she spoke, "I was never mad.  I was never upset.  Forgiveness is not what I need to give you, Dylan."

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            Trance walked into Medbay as the chronometer flipped to 0700 on the dot.  Today marked the fourth day Manna had been onboard Andromeda – and that it was exactly two weeks since she had become ill.

            As she walked around, measuring out a dose of medication for the teenager at the same time, she was momentarily distracted by the scene in front of her.

            Dylan was dressed in pajamas she'd never seen – hell, she'd never seen Dylan's pajamas period, but she could tell that they were not High Guard issued.  He was slumped in his chair, his arms wrapped around his sister, his forehead pressed to hers.  She smirked momentarily as she noticed that Dylan's blond hair had mixed in with Manna's loose red hair.  Manna herself seemed to have cooled off.  Dylan had obviously noticed himself and had pulled a pair of shorts on the young Hunt, so she was clothed in a light blue tank-top and shorts to match.  She also appeared to have been washed down – the evidence of it (a large basin and washcloth) were on the ground beneath Dylan's chair.

            "Dylan." Trance whispered, gently shaking him, careful to not accidentally give him the medicine meant for Manna.

            He didn't reply; he just continued to sleep quietly, but visibly tightened his grip on his sister.  Manna returned the increase in pressure with a moan, which finally woke up her brother.  Dylan immediately sat up and looked at Trance, a bit confused, "Is she alright?"

            Trance nodded, "She's fine."  She replied, finally giving Manna the medication.

            "I must look incredibly odd." He smiled, "I guess I should go get dressed."

            "It's okay.  I'm leaving in a few minutes.  I just wanted to see how she was.  I think she's gotten better." She replied, beginning to check her vitals, "She's definitely gotten better.  Her temperature's down to 102.6, her white cell count is down, and I think she can hear us."

            "That's good news." He replied, stretching and yawning.

            "Maybe she'll wake up soon."

            "I hope so."

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            Dylan had finally forced himself out of Medbay and to his quarters around dinnertime, so he could shower and change out of the pajamas Manna had given him many years before.  Pulling on his black jacket and black pants, he sighed with thoughts of his family.  He wondered if they had been at the Manor when Tarn-Vedra was cut off from the slipstream or if they had been at the house on Earth where they spent summers and holidays – which lead to his curiosity if any of his cousins had survived.  Their mother's sister, Brianne, had had three children, two girls and a boy, and their father's brother and sister had five children between them, three boys and two girls.  It was possible that there were descendants from them.

            But his thoughts continued to wander until they came to the teenager in Medbay.  Dymanna Rhiain Hunt was onboard Andromeda.  She wasn't a mirage or a dream.  She was here with Kymberlie and Danka and the Kem-mari Rue-el.  Curiosity danced through Dylan's mind – how had Manna arrived three hundred years into the future?  She did promise to always follow her big brother.  She was going to join the High Guard in his footsteps, in fact.

            Still she had been at the battle, and at the right time was frozen in time because her own ships AG field interacted.  At least that was what the Kem-mari's database said.  But how…how did she get there in the first place?

            His mind wouldn't let him knock the thought away and he needed to know, so he quickly finished getting dressed and walked out of his cabin.  He walked up the corridor, toward the officer's mess.  He continued to think of all the possible ways Manna had gotten to the black hole.  'Maybe she was just following me…no, whenever she followed Andromeda, she at least let Dawn know so if there was trouble Dawn could tell me…Maybe she was told I needed her…no, she knows the High Guard would be who I contacted if I was in trouble…'

            "Hey, Cap!" Harper shouted as he saw Dylan, but it was a little late as the man walked right into Beka – who happened to be carrying a dish of spaghetti and enthralled in her own thoughts.

            As the bowl flipped on his uniform, he couldn't help but laugh, remembering several times he and Manna had done that very thing in their own house.

            "Uh, Dylan?" Beka looked at him oddly.  She was being to wonder about Dylan's sanity.

            "Sorry, Beka.  I was just thinking about Manna again." He began to pull off his jacket, making sure the wayward sauce and noodles didn't go anywhere else.

            "Oh." She walked away, muttering, "That explains why you've lost your mind."

            "I heard that." He called after her, before walking to the table where Harper, Trance, Rommie, Kym, and Danka were talking happily.

            Kym smiled at him as he sat down, "So what's up?" She asked.

            "What's up?  Let me guess – Manna taught you that."

            "Yep." She leaned forward, "And since you've detached yourself from her side, I'm guessing she's better then she was this morning and from the look on your face I'm guessing you have a question."

            "How'd you know?"

            "Oh, I've only known you for twelve years, and you happen to be the person that built me." She giggled.

            He nodded, "How'd did she get here?"

            "Danka hailed Andromeda."

            "Not on the ship.  Here.  CY 10088."

            Kym sat back, the smile on her lips turning quickly into a frown, "To tell you the truth, I don't think she even knows.  We were out playing with the Kem-mari and she suddenly thought that she had to be with you.  It was incredibly insane.  Just out of nowhere.  She sent a transmission to your parents, basically saying that something was wrong and she would be back as soon as possible, then took off for where she felt you'd be.  You know the rest of the story."

            "Why isn't that listed in the Kem-mari's database?"

            "She's Manna.  Do you really wanna know?" She smiled again.

            He nodded, and smirked momentarily, as the holograph of Andromeda appeared suddenly, "Captain, I recommend you and Trance go down to Medbay."

            "Why?  What's the matter?"

            "Nothing's the matter." She replied, "I just believe you'd like to know that Manna is coming around."

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Okay, this is like draft five of chapter four.  I'm really working to come up with something good, so tell me what needs to be changed so I can rewrite this.

Cassie Jamie

NoahXfiles@aol.com