Harper gasped as he heard a gunshot, thinking that the rat had actually gone through with it. He hadn't, luckily. The sound had been Tyr shooting the Daiven guy. The Nietzcheans ran past Gerentex and to the corner where the corridor turned, hoping it would shield them. The three members of the Andromeda crew did the same, scrambling to take cover behind the opposite corridor corner. Seeing Beka, Tyr, and Dylan running with their backs almost completely turned was too enticing for Gerentex to let go. He took aim at Dylan and was just going to pull the trigger when Harper elbowed him right in the chin. Gerentex fell backwards and Harper took the opportunity to try to run to the safety of his friends. He had just made it past the bend when a shot whizzed by his head.

"That was too close," Harper said when he say the shocked expression on Beka's face.

"I'd say," Was all she had time to say before the barrage of fire began.

At first, things were looking up for the crew. They had taken out two of their six opponents so it was now a level playing field and the stream of opposing fire had seemed to die down quite a bit.

"They're up to something," Harper said, thinking it had slowed so much it had become suspicious.

Dylan frowned, "Maybe we hit more than two."

"Nuh-uh, they'd be gone then. Self preservation, remember? The 'If you can't win a fight don't try' attitude."

It was then that the firing stopped.

There was just enough time for Beka to lower her gun an inch or so and say, "What the?" before bombardment began, only this time it was on both sides.

"They split up," Tyr grunted as he slammed himself against the wall, hoping for some sort of protection.

Beka looked to her left and then to her right, seeing that they were surrounded with no place to go she started to talk fast, "It's been a pleasure working as your first officer Dylan. I've had a great time and like I said before, I wouldn't have missed it for the world."

Receiving only a nod and a whispered thanks in return, she continued, "Well Mr. Tough Guy, it's been nice knowing ya and I actually mean it for once. If you somehow make it out of here and I don't, I hope you get that wife you've thought about and have all those kids I know you're dreaming of."

Tyr was nowhere near as submissive as his captain, "I think you should shut- up and start fighting so we can *all* get out of here."

Taking the hint, Beka fired off a couple more volleys before returning to her good-byes. "You know you've always been like a son to me right?"

"Ya boss," Harper said, his voice breaking.

Beka turned and put her free hand to his cheek, wiping away a stray tear with her thumb. "You've had a hard life kiddo, but by some miracle you always seem to get by. If we can't make it this time, I want you to remember that I love you."

"I love you too," He whispered, his blue eyes rimmed with tears and a weak smile on his lips. He could still remember the day he signed on with Beka. It had been one of the happiest days of his life and he'd always felt safe afterwards. Even though everything looked hopeless and he would more than likely die, he felt safe because he was with Beka. Looking into her eyes, he realized it'd always been that way and now wasn't any different. He wasn't scared anymore because he knew they were going to be okay, somehow he just knew. "We're gonna make it Beka. I promise."

"If you two would quit with the waterworks, we just might be able to get out of here!" Tyr yelled over the noise.

Beka smiled softly at her engineer before she had to take her hand away and start shooting again. It still looked completely hopeless. The Nietzcheans and Gerentex were closing in on all sides and the only thing they could do was try to flatten their bodies against the wall. The shower of gunfire had become almost incessant and the smoke rising up around them made it impossible to see a target.

"The lord is my shepherd I shall not want, he makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside still waters, he restores my soul for his name sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I fear no evil for thou art with me, thy rod and thy staff they comfort me…" Harper had his eyes squeezed shut and was uttering a barely audible prayer when he heard a beautiful sound.

**********

A spray of overhead fire dropped 2 Nietzcheans dead and held the others at gunpoint. Tyr, Beka, Dylan, and Harper all breathed a sigh of relief when they saw that the internal defenses had come back online. They all looked expectantly at Harper but he just shook his head, having had no part in the sudden change.

"Do you want me to finish them off Dylan?" Andromeda's hologram asked when she fizzled into existence, shocking everyone.

"Andromeda are you fully functional?" Dylan asked, surprise evident on his face.

She nodded and restated, "Do you want me to commence firing?"

"No," Dylan said, his voice getting louder as he regained his confidence. "Everyone drop their weapons and walk to the nearest escape pod. If you try anything, you'll be shot."

The clatter of guns could be heard as the Nietzcheans dropped their weapons and slowly began to walk away, guns trained on them at all times.

"Oh Rom doll, I could kiss you! Hey, maybe I will! Where's your avatar?" Harper said as he ran up to the hologram, clearly only running on adrenaline.

"Harper!" She yelled.

"I'm just kidding babe."

"No Harper, look out!"

Acting purely on instinct, Harper dove to the right. In his experiences, someone who wanted to kill someone else would aim either at the head or the heart. If you could move to the right fast enough the bullet (in Earth guns) would just graze the skull or completely miss if it had been aimed at your head. If it had been aimed at your heart, like Gerentex had done, it would come into contact with the left shoulder, which it did. It was with a burned shoulder that Harper hit the deck, jarring his body and re- igniting the pain of every injury he had sustained. The throbbing in his shoulder was hurting so badly that he didn't even hear it when the internal defenses shot and killed the Nightsider.

Even with his friends yelling his name, his head swimming, and his body aching, he felt safe and content knowing that Beka was with him. "I told you we'd make it," He mumbled to her as he surrendered to the thick darkness that was all too inviting.