Disclaimer: I own nothing and I am getting no
money. ( Are you noticing a trend in
this area?)
A/N: Another part in the "The Bar Was Loud" Series
The bar was loud. The band in the corner played their
instruments while their singer screamed as she bobbed her head wildly and
gyrated her hips. It was so loud Beka could barely hear her own thoughts. This whole city was loud. It was a lousy, dirty, crowded, and loud
city. Beka pushed through the dense
wall of patrons and made her way to the bar.
It took a few minutes to get the bartender's attention, but when she had
it she ordered a vodka tonic. While she waited for her drink she looked out
into the crowd.
They were
just a bunch of losers trying to escape their lives for a little while. Of course that's why she was here too. She had been drinking heavily these last few
weeks. Drinking didn't solve her problems, but it did make things more fun to
look at.
"You're
thinking about them again aren't you?"
Sarah was lying next to him in the dim light. She knew he was thinking about the past, or the future, it was a
little confusing. He was thinking about
the Andromeda, 300 years in the future.
"Yeah" he
admitted. She knew him all to
well. What had happened when he
left? Had the Maru just salvaged an
empty vessel? If that was the case what
had happened to Rommie? Had Harper died from his measles? Was Tyr still killing for a living? Beka rich? Had Rev built his hospital? Or maybe life had just gone on the way it
had been, just without him. If it had,
were they still rebuilding the Commonwealth?
He got out of bed and started pulling on his uniform. It wasn't that he wasn't happy here; he loved
Sarah and being here with her. But, he
was worried about the future. He knew
what was coming, Earth would be falling any day now. It was the end of the Commonwealth and the start of the Long
Night. But, would the Commonwealth be
restored one day? If things had
continued without him after he came back here, maybe. If it was like he never existed, it would be a lot more than 300
years, if it even happened at all. He
had shown his motley crew that life had, and could be better. They were used to living day-to-day, hand to
mouth. Being on Andromeda had hopefully
inspired them a little because for probably the first time in their lives,
surviving was not the main thought on their mind.
"Going to
Command?" Sarah asked
"You know
me too well"
The normal
night crew was working. Suddenly Perry
was nearly on top of him. Perry was a
human, a tall, kind of awkward, guy.
Today he was really excited about something. "That blonde really is genius!
Space and time…" Perry tended to get excited easily, and when he got
excited he tended to leave important gaps in what he was saying. For example, this time he had neglected to
mention who, and what he was talking about.
Now, he was halfway through a complex scientific explanation of
something, though Dylan had no idea what.
"Let's
start from the beginning Perry, what are you talking about?"
"I figured
out how to send you back," he explained
"Let's try
again, back where"
"Back to
the future!"
"What?"
"Sir, we
all know you want to get back there.
I've been reviewing your report on how you got back, and all I heard
while we were rescuing you, and I came up with how they sent you here. So now I can send you back!" Dylan wasn't sure how to react. Did he want to go back?
"Go Dylan"
it was Sarah
"What?" he
asked whirling to face his fiancée.
"You've
been here a year, I've loved our time together, but a big part of you is still
there. You have to go back."
Duplicating
the Persiad /Harper technology had presented a challenge. Perry was pretty proud of himself though as
Dylan said his good byes to the love of his life. Refusing to eavesdrop on this private moment he focused on the
dials in front of him. They kept it brief,
a few sweet words and a tender embrace.
They kissed and whispered their last goodbyes.
Dylan stepped into position and
waited. They were sending him back to
the very moment he left, hopefully. He
would remember his year here with Sarah, but his crew wouldn't even notice he
had been gone. Well that's what the
plan was.
Beka stumbled back to the
Andromeda. She'd wound up having about
6 vodka tonics at the bar. Now she was
barely able to make her way back to the ship.
She was humming to herself as she opened the door and lurched through
the opening and flat onto her face. She
looked up and saw a ghost of the past.
"Dylan!" she gasped, not sure if he
was really there or if it was the vodka playing with her mind.
This was not, exactly where he
left. Holo-Rommie appeared next to him,
and with a salute greeted him, "Welcome back Captain"
Beka was plastered and had just
fallen at his feet. "Yes Beka" he
answered
"It's really you?"
"Yes Beka, what happened?" What was
going on here? This wasn't how Beka
acted.
"You F***ing bastard!" she yelled,
still on the ground. Despite what she
had said, she allowed him to help her up.
"Excuse me?"
"You left a year ago!"
"He left 11 months ago" pointed out
Rommie
"Bite me computer b***h" Beka sure
did curse a lot more.
"I'm sure you've handled everything
all right. Where is everyone?"
"Puh" Beka spat "Where is everyone? Well, Tyr lasted about a week; he took
almost all the food and medical supplies with him. Left us with almost nothing."
"And the others?"
" Let's see", she continued
venomously, "Well, Rev left after
Tyr. He felt the Divine wanted him to
teach the Way to a prison colony we encountered. Oh yeah, did I mention Harper is dying? Yeah, the kid has been suffering horribly. He moans for hours on end, and it's driven
me to drink. As you can see."
"Dying?"
"Yep, see, Rommie here had another,
super fun personality. We didn't have
your special High Guard codes and she dumped us chest high in Maggog territory
before we shut her down. We were boarded
and attacked. One of Harper's little
toys did them in, but not before they laid into him pretty good." Dylan couldn't believe what he had just
heard.
"When?"
"16 days ago, sir" supplied
Rommie. She could tell what he was
thinking, "Harper and, when not inebriated, Beka have been keeping me running
and maintained." Rommie was even more formal than usual; it surprised Dylan.
"Wanna see what you abandoning us
did? He's in the machine shop!" Beka was incredibly drunk and screaming now.
Trance sat in the machine shop with
her friend. He was taking a break from
fixing the weapons and was resting in her lap.
The door slid open and on the other side was the last person she
expected, Dylan Hunt! For his part,
Dylan Hunt hadn't expected to see Harper so close to death. When he looked at
his engineer all he could see was how young Harper was and the pain he was
in. Leaning so close to Beka he could
smell the vodka he asked, "Shouldn't he be on Med Deck?"
He was pale as death, his only
color was the purple of his eyelids and his flushed cheeks. His breathing was labored and his eyes were
closed. Trance was stroking his hot face with her gentle purple hand and then
resting it on his chest. She could
actually feel his heart racing through his soft cotton shirt. "There's nothing we can do. The Maggog went straight through his chest. He lost too much blood, and he's got a
serious infection. He'd rather work
till he drops than dwell in bed alone."
"Still, look.."
"Hey! Where were you? You don't seem to be in charge, I am! And I say let Harper die where he wants to,
it's the very least we can do for him" then she lost her balance and fell on
her rear.
Trance had been taking care of her
friend constantly since the attack. She
sat with him while he worked, made sure he ate, slept in his quarters at night,
and talked to him when he was awake to distract him from his pain. He never asked her to, he rarely asked for
anything. But, she knew he didn't have
much time left and desperately wanted ease his suffering.
"Dylan, You're back!" Trance could see the possibilities unfolding
before her when she saw him in the doorway.
"Get up Harper" He opened his eyes slowly but didn't get up.
"Boss?" he croaked at the sight of
Dylan
"Yeah Harper?"
"You really here?"
"Yes Harper?"
"Too bad"
"Dylan, we need to send you back to
when you left"
"I tried and wound up here"
"Well, you didn't have Harper last
time." Harper was on his feet again
"True babe" he groaned a bit "So
very true"
He would much rather work than wait
to die. It hurt less when he was
working. He depended on Trance more
than he would have liked. But, his
friend's cheerful attitude never wavered.
It had been a little while since he'd done this time travel thing,
luckily he was a genius. He thought
back to the last time he'd performed this miracle. If all went well he'd get a second chance, a do over on the last
crummy year. Maybe he would see his
next birthday.
"Can I get
a melon and a marker?"
"Sure
Harper" she scurried off to get the
fruit
Harper was
not alone long. Dylan plopped down next
to him. "Are you all right?"
"Not at all
boss, but I'm hoping you can change that."
"Has this
year really been that bad?"
"Well, I am
dying. But, Beka's pretty drunk right
now. I think she's exaggerating. It could be worse. Of course, keep in mind I am heavily medicated so my judgment may
be impaired." A melon appeared on the
machine. Trance returned with a big
green melon. Harper gladly accepted it
and placed it on the machine. A moment
latter, it disappeared. "Ready to go"
announced the genius
Dylan got
in position yet again, 4th time's the charm he told himself. Before him stood his remaining crew, a drunk angry Beka, a Rommie guilty
about what her program had done, Harper had been forced to lay down on the deck
and Trance held his hand. "Bye" the boy said weakly
"Fix this"
ordered Beka
"Please"
added Rommie. Then he felt himself
being pulled away as the world grew dim.
Dylan looked around again. He was standing in front of the screen
bearing the disappointed image of a healthy Harper explaining only he could come
back. Sarah was behind him, hoping for
the decision he had made last time. But
he knew better now, he had to go back; restore the Commonwealth. He turned and said goodbye to his love yet
again. This was getting to be too much;
he kept it brief so the memories of their year together wouldn't keep him here
again.
Then, he was back on Andromeda
again. Completely emotionally
drained. His crew thought he was
devastated over losing Sarah again. It
was true, saying goodbye to her was one of the hardest things he had ever
done. But it was also hard to see the
barely alive Harper, still working to keep Andromeda running. Just waiting for him to drop and die. He couldn't tell them what had
happened. But, he wouldn't forget.
There really wasn't anything he could do.
But, he'd do the only thing he could think of, he'd keep working on
gaining Tyr's acceptance. Changing the
past gave him such a headache.
