"Don't worry," Dylan sat in the slipstream chair, "I have a plan."

"I don't mean to sound skeptical," The screen responded, "But what do you intend to do?"

"Rev thinks this is all being caused by post traumatic stress," Dylan answered, "But I've been having nightmares, Beka refuses to report to command, and we are both well aware of what's happened to Harper, Tyr, and your avatar. I just don't believe that all this could be caused by the Magog attack. Harper's fought them before, and I don't remember hearing anything about hallucinations."

"I agree," Andromeda maintained her appearance of objectivity, "How do you plan to investigate?"

"Simple. We have to retrace our steps, and hope to pick up on a lead. Since the attack, we've visited Castalia, Lidak, and Missouri Drift. What do you think?"

"Missouri Drift is known to turn a blind eye to criminal activity, and it is largely populated by transients," The ship observed, "It would be an excellent place for someone to hide."

"And as I recall," Dylan added, "There was a small, hostile pride of Neitzchians there when we dropped by."

"If this is some form of weapon, they are the most likely suspects."

"Well, it looks like we're heading for Missouri," Dylan activated the shipwide address system, "All hands, brace for slipstream."

***

Beka attempted to take another sip of coffee, but the cup nearly flew from her hand as Andromeda made the transition from normal space to slipstream. The black liquid, now room temperature, spilled onto her clothing, but she didn't notice. Almost robotically, she poured another cup and continued to drink.

***

"Transiting to normal space," Dylan stated as he took the ship through an exit portal near the drift colony, "What are you picking up?"

"Sensors show minimal traffic in the vicinity of the drift," Andromeda stated, "Only two civilian transports, and a courier ship."

"Well, I we can start by..." Dylan stopped suddenly as he watched one of the visual range displays. A strange blue light shimmered near the station, "Rommie, what is that?"

"I'm not sure," The screen image answered, "Whatever it is, I have no information on it in my database."

"Let's go in for a closer look. Rommie, set course to..." Dylan covered his eyes as a bright flash, almost like a slipstream portal, appeared inside the blue glow. Suddenly, a ship appeared.

"Dylan, it's the Starry Wisdom," Rommie stated as she scanned the vessel, "They're hailing us."

"Put them through," Dylan ordered.

"Dylan, we've found you," Sarah's face appeared on the comm screen, "We're ready to bring you home."

"Sarah," Dylan paused, only half-believing what he saw, "How?"

"That isn't important right now," Sarah responded, "The only thing that matters is that I've got you back. Once you're here, we can go back to before the war started. One nova bomb, and we can prevent the fall of the Commonwealth."

Without warning, there was another flash from the anamoly, and another vessel appeared. Rommie immediately began to scan the incoming ship.

"Oh no," Sarah looked up, "They followed us."

"Who?" Dylan watched her closely, still recovering from the shock of her arrival.

"It's Rhade," Sarah responded, "You have to stop him."

Rhade's ship is hailing us," Andromeda stated.

"This should be interesting," Dylan responded, "Open a channel."

"It's good to see you again," Rhade responded, "I'm sorry that I don't have time for board games this afternoon, but I have an empire to build."

"Mind explaining how you plan to do that?"

"Once I've destroyed the Starry Wisdom, I can scavanage the temporal navigation systems and use them to go back to the early days of the Vedran Empire, and use my superior technology to rule it. Since I don't plan to change the government of the empire, except for replacing the empress, I probably won't cause any dramatic changes in history. In fact, I imagine the Commonwealth will eventually come into existance, and you'll still have the chance to restore it."

"There's only one flaw in that plan," Dylan responded, "You won't be able to destroy the Starry Wisdom without going through us, and your ship is no match for the Andromeda."

"Well, it's time to see if fortune favors the bold," Rhade looked coldly at his former captain, "You see, my ship is the only thing sustaining this temporal rift, which makes time travel possible. If you destroy me, you won't be able to go back in time and save the Commonwealth, and you'll never see Tarn Vedra again."

Sarah spoke to Dylan over the other comm line, "Don't destroy his ship. Keep the rift open and save the Commonwealth. I'm not worth it."

"I gave you up for the Commonwealth once," Dylan responded, "I'm not making that mistake again. I've got you back now, and that's all that matters. Andromeda, arm all missle batteries."

"Missles armed."

Captain Hunt personally manned the fire control station, and pressed a key on the console, "Missles away."

***

"Transiting to normal space," Dylan stated as he took the ship through an exit portal near the drift colony, "What are you picking up?"

"Sensors show minimal traffic in the vicinity of the drift," Andromeda stated, "Only two civilian transports, and a courier ship."

"Well, I we can start by..." Dylan stopped suddenly as he watched one of the visual range displays. A strange blue light shimmered near the station, "Rommie, what is that?"

"I'm not detecting anything out of the ordinary," The screen image answered.

"Let's go in for a closer look. Rommie, set course to..." Dylan covered his eyes for a moment.

"What course do you want me to set?" The hologram's face took on an expression of grave concern for her captain.

"Put them through," Dylan ordered.

"Dylan, there's no one out there," The hologram stated, "Please, listen to me."

***

"Trance," Rommie's face appeared on a screen nearby.

"What is it, Rommie?" Trance asked as she continued to monitor Harper.

"Dylan is showing the same symptoms as Harper. As acting medical officer, you have to relieve him of duty. While he's in command, I can't override his orders, and there is no telling what he may do."

***

"Sarah," Dylan paused, only half-believing what he saw, "How?"

"Dylan," Andromeda sounded her loudest sirens on the bridge, "Sarah isn't out there. Please stop."

"Who?" Dylan looked intently at the blank comm screen. After a few moments, he continued, "This should be interesting. Open a channel."

"I can't unless you tell me who to open a channel to," Andromeda took some comfort in the fact that he wasn't actually interacting with anyone else in his present condition.

"Mind explaining how you plan to do that?" Dylan asked the invisible captain.

***

"Wait," Tyr stated as he inspected a console on a nearby bulkhead.

"I have to get to command," Trance answered.

"This is vitally important," Tyr stated, his back still turned to the young woman.

"What is it?" Trance asked quickly, glancing in the direction of the bridge while she waited for him to continue.

"How many people have you killed?" Tyr asked steadily.

Trance's eyes widened slightly at the implication, "I haven't killed anybody."

"What about the thousands of Neitzchians at Witchhead? You took the Andromeda back in time. You could have stopped Harper entirely, but instead you showed his device to Dylan. You may be able to fool the others with your innocent purple girl act, but I can see right through it. I know exactly what your plans are."

"But my intentions..." Trance began shakily.

"Members of my pride, my relatives, were at that battle," Tyr stated.

"I'm sorry," Trance looked up at him apologetically.

"You did this to us," Tyr turned, revealing that his face and arms were covered with burns, "Now, it's time for you to pay for what you've done."

***

Rev walked slowly down to med deck. The nightmares had deprived him of a good night's sleep for the past four days, and he was exhausted.

As he walked, he noticed Trance in the corridor just ahead. She looked extremely nervous, and her tail flicked anxiously behind her.

"Trance, are feeling well?"

Trance didn't respond. When Rev approached, he put his hand on her shoulder, "Perhaps you should return to..."

She jerked away from his touch. Trance took a few steps away from him, then crouched down on the deck. Her tail stood up and curved forward, waving slowly in the air above her.

"Trance, can you hear me? I mean you no harm."

Rev watched her cautiously as she eyed him. She looked like a wild animal that had been backed into a corner. Despite Rev's superior strength, he felt very threatened by her at that moment.

A low, steady sound began to eminate from Trance's throat. Rev realised that it would be best to leave her alone in her current condition, but he was too late. As he turned to leave, Trance sprung, wrapping her tail around his neck as she bit and kicked his body. Rev struggled to get her off without hurting her, but she clung to him like a creature fighting for its life.

***

"There's only one flaw in that plan," Dylan said earnestly, "You won't be able to destroy the Starry Wisdom without going through us, and your ship is no match for the Andromeda."

"Dylan think," Andromeda pleaded, hoping that he could hear her, "What if the images you're seeing aren't real?"

"I gave you up for the Commonwealth once," Dylan responded, "I'm not making that mistake again. I've got you back now, and that's all that matters. Andromeda, arm all missle batteries."

"Missles armed," Andromeda stated, her voice trembling.

"Just don't specify a target," The hologram whispered, afraid of what her Captain was about to do.

Captain Hunt personally manned the fire control station.

"No," Andromeda's voice trembled as she watched, unable to interfere, "He's targeting manually."

Dylan pressed a key on the console, "Missles away."

"No!" The hologram shouted as the missles raced in the direction of one of the civilian transports.

A few seconds latter, an image of the explosion appeared on the main viewscreen.

"How many people were on that ship?" The hologram asked, partially in shock as she was struck by the realisation of what had happened.

"Over one hundred innocent people," The screen stated as grief began to consume her thoughts. For the moment, nothing else mattered. Viewscreens and holograms blinked out all over the ship.