The darkness surrounded her. She was vulnerable. Only the utter minimum of systems were still active. Even in her dispair, she continued to monitor life support. Others were counting on her for that, even if she didn't care about herself. She felt a small meteor strike her bare hull, leaving a tiny dent. Her AG fields normally protected her from such things, but they were off now, just like her sensors, her ECM, her engines, her nanobots, and so many other things. None of that was important. Her crew was collapsing, and there was nothing she could do about it, and because of that more than one hundred people were dead.

It was quite some time before she felt anything besides the soft plinking of tiny meteors against her hull, and only her programming directives were enough to rouse her from her lamentations when someone finally made contact with her.

"Andromeda Ascendant," A Perseid in a green uniform appeared on one of the bridge screens, "I am Venri of the fourth research division of the Empirical Council of Ugroth. Are you receiving?"

"Channels are open," Andromeda stated, her tone was formal, "Go ahead Venri."

"That was a very impressive display of firepower. You should be proud."

"There are more important things than firepower, like life."

"An interesting sentiment, coming from a warship," Venri responded, "You must have some interesting logs."

"No offense, but I'm not in the mood for small talk right now," Andromeda responded.

"I would not talk small with you," Venri continued, "But you will probably want to know what is happening to your crew."

"What do you know about my crew?" The ship demanded.

Venri looked over at someone off-screen, then turned back to Andromeda, "According to our logs, the nanobots functioned within expected parameters. Your captain, engineer, and doctor have been experiencing delusions. Your fire control officer has been comatose, and your pilot has been in a trance. Unfortunately, your linguist only experienced nightmares. It seems we will have to increase the weapon's effectiveness against Magog in the future. However, we are pleased to see that even some of your mechanical devices were affected, particularly the android."

"You're responsible for all this?" Andromeda was aghast.

"We are sorry, but your crew had the biological diversity that we needed for our test run."

"How did you do it?"

"It really is a fascinating process," Venri answered, "We got aboard your vessel the last time you visited Sintii, and reprogrammed your nanobots. They used some very complicated electrochemical techniques to acess and manipulate the memories and thoughts of the crew."

"Tell me how to reverse the effect," Andromeda's electronic eyes smoldered like hot coals as she stared through him.

"I apologize again, but I do not think our superiors on Ugroth would approve of our methods. We can't allow you to escape."

"I have 40 ELS missle tubes targeting your ship. Tell me how to reverse the effect."

"You cannot threaten us. The logs we have downloaded from the nanobots indicate that your captain has already locked out your command systems. Now, we must only wait for him to erase the AI, and the experiment will be complete."

"You used us to kill 100 people, now you're going to kill me and my crew? For what? Money? You want to sell me and your new weapon to the highest bidder?"

"I am a scientist," Venri responded passionately, "I would not have done this for wealth. You have not seen Ugroth. You were not there when the Neitzchians destroyed our cities. You did not see the Magog feast on our children. I sacrificed you, a warship, to protect the innocent from the terrorists of the universe. Now, we have the one weapon that the Neitzchians cannot overcome."

"How can a scientist sacrifice a hundred innocent people? What happened to your ethics?"

"The Neitzchians left us no choice. This is the only way to prevent the annihilation of our people."

"You told me yourself that the government of Ugroth thinks that there is another way."

"They do not understand the danger we are in. This is a war for survival. If we are not willing to make sacrifices, the Neitzchians will destroy us."

"If my captain were in my situation, he'd probably try to reason with you, but right now I'm in command, and I'm going to give you one last chance. Surrender or be destroyed."

"How do you plan to do that without your control functions?"

"Your nanobots worked well, but they didn't disable all of my systems," The AI took on a look of utter determination, "Prepare to be run over."

The Perseid's eyes grew even wider as the Andromeda swung around and brought herself to bear against his tiny frigate. At nearly half the speed of light, the distance would be covered in moments, "If you destroy me, you will not be able to cure your crew!"

"We would all rather die than let you escape with a terror weapon like this. Andromeda out," The cruiser shut off her comm as she charged at the enemy vessel.

Venri's frigate swung about and jumped to slipstream. Andromeda plunged in after him. She couldn't navigate, but as long as she kept the ship in sight, she could follow it.

***

A hologram appeared as the comm link was shut down, "If you ram his ship at maximum speed, we'll all be killed."

"I don't have any other options," The screen responded, "If I don't sacrifice myself, this mad man will escape with the most powerful terror weapon in history. We both know the first duty of the High Guard."

Dylan was lying on the deck near the weapons console. Andromeda's internal sensors told her that the entire crew was in a similar condition. The hologram knelt down over her captain.

"Dylan," She instinctively reached out to him, but her hand passed through his arm, "Dylan, you have to wake up. If you don't do something we're all going to die," She blinked back holographic tears as she tried to get through to her captain, "Please. I don't know what the nanobots are doing to you, but you have to listen to me. I know you can hear me. I don't want you to die."

The ship wide address system beeped, and Andromeda's voice echoed slightly in the halls as she spoke to her crew, "I don't know if any of you can understand me, but I want you to know that all of you have gone above and beyond the call of duty. Even before the fall, no admiral, no ship, could have asked for finer officers. We may not survive what I am about to do, and I am the only one left to honor your memory. Beka, your courage always impressed me, and I know that the universe is a better place because you lived in it. Tyr, you were always thinking, always working. You should have kept your helix, because Freya knows that she will never find better genes. Trance, I wish that I knew more about you. If hope were a living thing, it would be like you. There were times when I wasn't sure, but you convinced me: Hope never dies," Andromeda paused, and tried to continue, "Rev, your faith and love amazed me. I know that when you meet the Divine, he'll have a special place ready for you. Walk in the light, child of the Divine. Harper, my engineer. They say that ships and engineers have a special bond, but you have a place in my heart that no other engineer ever had. You see me at my worst, but you love me anyway. I only wish I could give you as much as you've given me. Rommie, my flesh and blood, you were my sister, my daughter, and a part of me at the same time. You were as much a part of my crew as anyone, and it would be an injustice for me to say nothing for you now. Don't be afraid; You're proof that AI's have souls. There's no reason to fear the afterlife, if the Divine is kind enough to create a universe with people like you," The AI paused again.

The holographic avatar looked up for a moment, "You don't have to say it. I know."

The screen image half-smiled at her. It was a smile of pride and sadness. The hologram looked away.

As much as she loved her entire crew, this was the hardest moment of all, "Dylan, my captain. We shared so much loss, and so much joy. I think… you were the closest thing I ever had to a true love. Now I finally understand what you went through, and what Maggy went through. I want so much to just stop so you can survive, but I know that isn't what you would want, and I know some things are more important than any of us. I can't let my feelings get in the wayof that," The AI took a deep breath, "All of you deserve so much more, but there's nothing I can say or do now… In the High Guard we had a tradition. Whenever we lost one of our own, we read the last lines of the Eulogy of the Fallen. No one has ever been more worthy of these words: Even in the face of death, you held the line against the night. You never wavered, never quailed. Now, your struggles are finished. Go in peace, guardians of hope."