1 "Tempus Fugit" [Part Five]
It is said that all good things must come to an end.
There are no good things.
Only bad things.
And they never end.
1.1.1 The Last Vedran Empress – Sucharitkul XII
C.Y. 9783
Slowly, as he winced in pain, Harper stepped down the familiar steps. The doors to Ashes of Lightning's chamber stood open. But what he saw wasn't good. He saw piles of rubble, and twisted metal. Fires blazed here and there. Sparks flew from the corners of some of the screens.
"I have enclosed a detailed account of everything that has happened," Harper heard Ashes of Lightning saying. "End of message."
Harper stepped around the corner, carefully picking his way though the wreckage, to see the Than picking a chip out of the computer console. The Emerald Than looked up at Harper, and an expression of extreme joy shot across his face.
"I thought that I would never see you again," he said breathlessly. "How did you escape?"
"That's something that I would rather not discuss," Harper said. All of the humour had left him. He was hoping that his reunion with Lightning would be a happy one, but it had not worked out that way.
He fought back endless streams of tears as he remembered all of the blood on his hands. Starlight Empathy had died for him. 2 billion Than had died because of him. "I have a ship," Harper told Lightning. "I want you to show me how to go back in time. We'll carry out the plan as we said."
"We will," Lightning agreed. "Here," he said as he put a small computer chip in his hand. "If this mission goes as a success, you will sooner or later arrive on Syn-Avan-Dar. When you do, I want you to give the Overdiamond this chip. Don't you look at it first. Please. Don't. It's for him."
Harper nodded in agreement. All he was thinking about was the mission. He just hoped that it went with a success. He couldn't bare to see his friends die again.
"This is how it will happen," Lightning began, "I'll help you set this up into your shuttle. Then you go to Slipstream and when you do hold onto this crystal." He passed him the Than gem. "The temporal energies should cause you to replace the Harper in that time line. In other words you will return to the point a few moments before the Than fleet arrive at Haephastos."
"Will I remember everything that's happened?" Harper questioned.
"Unfortunately yes," the Than told him. "But we need that. You need to destroy the Than and the time-line should be restore to normal."
"OK," Harper nodded in agreement. He knew that it was going to be dangerous but he had an addition to the plan. He knew that Dylan would have just secured the shipment of Nova bombs. If he told Dylan to fire them all into the Slipstream nexus all of the Than ships would be destroyed and there would be no Nova Bombs left. That would mean that there would be no bombs to attack Syn-Avan-Dar with. Everything would be fine. He hoped.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Inside the Slipstream engine room on the Than shuttle, there was a massive orb of light, much like the one on the Andromeda. Ashes of Lightning rested the Than emerald on a tall pointed pole, much like the one in his chamber.
Suddenly, light burst from the gem, and holographic Vedran writing filled the room. Harper watched as Lightning keyed in a few symbols. Then the light vanished back into the gem and a beam of immense light shot into the Slipstream core. The glowing orb shivered and began to fold in on its self. As it did, it became much darker.
"Let's go," Lightning said as he handed the gem to Harper.
Harper followed the Than back to the central chamber and let him close the doors to the engine room.
"This is where we part companies," Lightning said. "This is the end. But hopefully it's a beginning."
"Well if this doesn't go right then you'll know. But if in a few hours you don't exist any more, everything will be fine." Harper tried to grin at the Than, but he grimaced in pain instead. It was immense pain. "My pain belongs to the divine," he whispered to himself.
"Goodbye Mister Harper," Ashes of Lightning opened the doors and stepped out onto the street beyond. "I hope I never see you again," he said his last words to Harper, while smiling at him. That was the last they ever saw of each other. But for Harper it was not. For they would meet again on Syn- Avan-Dar.
Harper turned from the doorway and went to the chair. He set up the controls and flew the ship into the skies, saying goodbye to Lightning for the last time. He saw those familiar golden clouds. Only this time, they where speeding away.
Before long, he was in space. He saw a never-ending abyss of stars stretch out in front of him. He was nearly free.
Then, the darkest twist came. Than mooring cables grabbed at the shuttle. Harper felt no weapons but he felt the cables. There was nothing he could do. He couldn't see where he was going. The shuttle was being pulled in backwards. But he was ready.
He pulled out his force lance and prepared to fire it. The doors glided open. Only a Ruby Than stepped through before Harper hurriedly shut them. It was Obsidian Rain.
"I don't have the time for this," Harper cried.
"On the contrary, you have all the time in the world."
Harper made sure the doors were locked shut before he charged at Obsidian Rain. He had not expected that. Obsidian's head hit the metal door and he was dazed. Harper grabbed his force lance and used it as a staff. He whacked Obsidian one last time. Then he grabbed Obsidian's head.
"It's the end," Harper said. "You've lost. I've won." With a swift motion he broke Obsidian's neck. He surprised himself with his own strength.
With no time to loose he got back into the pilots chair. With an unexpected amount of force, the Than shuttle shot away from its captors. Weapons pounded down as Harper fled into Slipstream.
He remembered the Than gem and he held it firmly in the palm of his hands. He saw the nexus of Slipstream surround him. Than weapons continued to pound his shuttle. Then, one fatal blow hit and the shuttle exploded. Harper was dead. In this time line.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"Within reason."
Beka looked up at Harper in amazement. A light folded in around him and then convulsed erratically. Then, there was just Harper. A blood soaked Harper.
At first Harper remembered nothing. He was confused. And then, all of a sudden, words and faces raced through his mind. He saw Ashes of Lightning. He saw Obsidian Rain. He saw Starlight Empathy. He saw the Andromeda burst into millions of pieces. He saw the terror on the Than faces at Syn-Avan- Dar. He felt his body ripped apart there. He saw the planet erupt into chaos. He saw pain. He felt pain.
"Beka," he cried. He had never been as happy in his life. He fell to the deck in utter amazement and happiness. He cried tears of happiness. "I'm back, I'm back," he cried. "At last," he cried. He was back. At last.
"Harper, what's going on?"
"It's a very long story –"
Harper was cut short. "CODE RED. CODE RED. THAN WARSHIPS ON MULTIPLE VECTORS."
"Oh god," Harper cried as he remembered Rommie's warning. He hit a button in front of him, "Dylan," he cried. "Dylan, fire ALL of the Nova Bombs at that Slipstream portal. Do it now. All of them. Before its too late." Harper felt the gem in his hand turn to dust.
"What? Harper?"
"Dylan if you trust me now is the time to show it," Harper screamed. "And if you don't, now is the time to start."
Beka and Harper watched in horror as nearly 20 blue bolts of light shot from the Andromeda into the Slipstream. The portal collapsed in on its self, destroying all of the Than. The twisted, ball of light and energy suddenly burst into flames. The remaining Than ships were destroyed.
Harper held tight onto the bar. It was all he could do to stop himself from collapsing. "I'm so sorry," he said to himself.
"Harper," Beka cried at him, "what the hell was that?"
"I'm so sorry," he repeated.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Some hours later, Seamus Harper lay his head back on the comfortable pillow in his quarters aboard the Andromeda Ascendant. His many wounds throbbed with pain but he ignored them.
Everybody had questioned him when had returned to the Andromeda. Both Dylan and Beka had wanted a solid explanation. Harper wouldn't give them one. Nobody else had said much to him. They were all worried about him.
Trance had attended to his wounds, before she allowed him to return to his quarters. Now, he tried to sleep. But it was an erratic sleep. Hardly a sleep at all. He continually woke in a cold sweat screaming. Different names in his mouth. Different images in his eyes. This time he woke, and Trance's cold, soft hands stroked his hair.
"Its OK," she told him, "its OK."
He wanted to cry but he couldn't. "It's not OK." He said.
"Harper, are you going to tell me or anyone what happened. Why, it happened?"
"I'll say this," he announced, "if was either them, or us."
Harper laid his head back down on the pillow. He closed his eyes. Trance continued to stroke his hair. Harper didn't dare to even guess at the thousands of Than whose deaths he was responsible for. He wanted to cry for them. But he couldn't. All of his tears were gone.
The nightmares came again. Familiar faces. Familiar scenes. Familiars feelings and sounds and pains. He saw many thousands of screaming Than. Screaming for help. Screaming for mercy. Screaming to live. He wanted to cry for them. But he couldn't. All of his tears were gone.
THE END
1.2
It is said that all good things must come to an end.
There are no good things.
Only bad things.
And they never end.
1.1.1 The Last Vedran Empress – Sucharitkul XII
C.Y. 9783
Slowly, as he winced in pain, Harper stepped down the familiar steps. The doors to Ashes of Lightning's chamber stood open. But what he saw wasn't good. He saw piles of rubble, and twisted metal. Fires blazed here and there. Sparks flew from the corners of some of the screens.
"I have enclosed a detailed account of everything that has happened," Harper heard Ashes of Lightning saying. "End of message."
Harper stepped around the corner, carefully picking his way though the wreckage, to see the Than picking a chip out of the computer console. The Emerald Than looked up at Harper, and an expression of extreme joy shot across his face.
"I thought that I would never see you again," he said breathlessly. "How did you escape?"
"That's something that I would rather not discuss," Harper said. All of the humour had left him. He was hoping that his reunion with Lightning would be a happy one, but it had not worked out that way.
He fought back endless streams of tears as he remembered all of the blood on his hands. Starlight Empathy had died for him. 2 billion Than had died because of him. "I have a ship," Harper told Lightning. "I want you to show me how to go back in time. We'll carry out the plan as we said."
"We will," Lightning agreed. "Here," he said as he put a small computer chip in his hand. "If this mission goes as a success, you will sooner or later arrive on Syn-Avan-Dar. When you do, I want you to give the Overdiamond this chip. Don't you look at it first. Please. Don't. It's for him."
Harper nodded in agreement. All he was thinking about was the mission. He just hoped that it went with a success. He couldn't bare to see his friends die again.
"This is how it will happen," Lightning began, "I'll help you set this up into your shuttle. Then you go to Slipstream and when you do hold onto this crystal." He passed him the Than gem. "The temporal energies should cause you to replace the Harper in that time line. In other words you will return to the point a few moments before the Than fleet arrive at Haephastos."
"Will I remember everything that's happened?" Harper questioned.
"Unfortunately yes," the Than told him. "But we need that. You need to destroy the Than and the time-line should be restore to normal."
"OK," Harper nodded in agreement. He knew that it was going to be dangerous but he had an addition to the plan. He knew that Dylan would have just secured the shipment of Nova bombs. If he told Dylan to fire them all into the Slipstream nexus all of the Than ships would be destroyed and there would be no Nova Bombs left. That would mean that there would be no bombs to attack Syn-Avan-Dar with. Everything would be fine. He hoped.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Inside the Slipstream engine room on the Than shuttle, there was a massive orb of light, much like the one on the Andromeda. Ashes of Lightning rested the Than emerald on a tall pointed pole, much like the one in his chamber.
Suddenly, light burst from the gem, and holographic Vedran writing filled the room. Harper watched as Lightning keyed in a few symbols. Then the light vanished back into the gem and a beam of immense light shot into the Slipstream core. The glowing orb shivered and began to fold in on its self. As it did, it became much darker.
"Let's go," Lightning said as he handed the gem to Harper.
Harper followed the Than back to the central chamber and let him close the doors to the engine room.
"This is where we part companies," Lightning said. "This is the end. But hopefully it's a beginning."
"Well if this doesn't go right then you'll know. But if in a few hours you don't exist any more, everything will be fine." Harper tried to grin at the Than, but he grimaced in pain instead. It was immense pain. "My pain belongs to the divine," he whispered to himself.
"Goodbye Mister Harper," Ashes of Lightning opened the doors and stepped out onto the street beyond. "I hope I never see you again," he said his last words to Harper, while smiling at him. That was the last they ever saw of each other. But for Harper it was not. For they would meet again on Syn- Avan-Dar.
Harper turned from the doorway and went to the chair. He set up the controls and flew the ship into the skies, saying goodbye to Lightning for the last time. He saw those familiar golden clouds. Only this time, they where speeding away.
Before long, he was in space. He saw a never-ending abyss of stars stretch out in front of him. He was nearly free.
Then, the darkest twist came. Than mooring cables grabbed at the shuttle. Harper felt no weapons but he felt the cables. There was nothing he could do. He couldn't see where he was going. The shuttle was being pulled in backwards. But he was ready.
He pulled out his force lance and prepared to fire it. The doors glided open. Only a Ruby Than stepped through before Harper hurriedly shut them. It was Obsidian Rain.
"I don't have the time for this," Harper cried.
"On the contrary, you have all the time in the world."
Harper made sure the doors were locked shut before he charged at Obsidian Rain. He had not expected that. Obsidian's head hit the metal door and he was dazed. Harper grabbed his force lance and used it as a staff. He whacked Obsidian one last time. Then he grabbed Obsidian's head.
"It's the end," Harper said. "You've lost. I've won." With a swift motion he broke Obsidian's neck. He surprised himself with his own strength.
With no time to loose he got back into the pilots chair. With an unexpected amount of force, the Than shuttle shot away from its captors. Weapons pounded down as Harper fled into Slipstream.
He remembered the Than gem and he held it firmly in the palm of his hands. He saw the nexus of Slipstream surround him. Than weapons continued to pound his shuttle. Then, one fatal blow hit and the shuttle exploded. Harper was dead. In this time line.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"Within reason."
Beka looked up at Harper in amazement. A light folded in around him and then convulsed erratically. Then, there was just Harper. A blood soaked Harper.
At first Harper remembered nothing. He was confused. And then, all of a sudden, words and faces raced through his mind. He saw Ashes of Lightning. He saw Obsidian Rain. He saw Starlight Empathy. He saw the Andromeda burst into millions of pieces. He saw the terror on the Than faces at Syn-Avan- Dar. He felt his body ripped apart there. He saw the planet erupt into chaos. He saw pain. He felt pain.
"Beka," he cried. He had never been as happy in his life. He fell to the deck in utter amazement and happiness. He cried tears of happiness. "I'm back, I'm back," he cried. "At last," he cried. He was back. At last.
"Harper, what's going on?"
"It's a very long story –"
Harper was cut short. "CODE RED. CODE RED. THAN WARSHIPS ON MULTIPLE VECTORS."
"Oh god," Harper cried as he remembered Rommie's warning. He hit a button in front of him, "Dylan," he cried. "Dylan, fire ALL of the Nova Bombs at that Slipstream portal. Do it now. All of them. Before its too late." Harper felt the gem in his hand turn to dust.
"What? Harper?"
"Dylan if you trust me now is the time to show it," Harper screamed. "And if you don't, now is the time to start."
Beka and Harper watched in horror as nearly 20 blue bolts of light shot from the Andromeda into the Slipstream. The portal collapsed in on its self, destroying all of the Than. The twisted, ball of light and energy suddenly burst into flames. The remaining Than ships were destroyed.
Harper held tight onto the bar. It was all he could do to stop himself from collapsing. "I'm so sorry," he said to himself.
"Harper," Beka cried at him, "what the hell was that?"
"I'm so sorry," he repeated.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Some hours later, Seamus Harper lay his head back on the comfortable pillow in his quarters aboard the Andromeda Ascendant. His many wounds throbbed with pain but he ignored them.
Everybody had questioned him when had returned to the Andromeda. Both Dylan and Beka had wanted a solid explanation. Harper wouldn't give them one. Nobody else had said much to him. They were all worried about him.
Trance had attended to his wounds, before she allowed him to return to his quarters. Now, he tried to sleep. But it was an erratic sleep. Hardly a sleep at all. He continually woke in a cold sweat screaming. Different names in his mouth. Different images in his eyes. This time he woke, and Trance's cold, soft hands stroked his hair.
"Its OK," she told him, "its OK."
He wanted to cry but he couldn't. "It's not OK." He said.
"Harper, are you going to tell me or anyone what happened. Why, it happened?"
"I'll say this," he announced, "if was either them, or us."
Harper laid his head back down on the pillow. He closed his eyes. Trance continued to stroke his hair. Harper didn't dare to even guess at the thousands of Than whose deaths he was responsible for. He wanted to cry for them. But he couldn't. All of his tears were gone.
The nightmares came again. Familiar faces. Familiar scenes. Familiars feelings and sounds and pains. He saw many thousands of screaming Than. Screaming for help. Screaming for mercy. Screaming to live. He wanted to cry for them. But he couldn't. All of his tears were gone.
THE END
1.2