Title: Starlight, Starlight
Chapter 9: The Prices We Pay
Author: Steven Quinlan
Disclaimer: I own them all....Psych! However the plot is mine
Disclaimer 2: It get's a little graphic there at the end, but don't worry, it's just a few paragraphs
Archives: Let me know where, but otherwise feel free to archive
---
What sacrifices are you willing to make? What journeys will you take? It is not an easy life, but a rewarding one nonetheless. Come on the greatest adventure there is and see the three galaxies.
-From a High Guard recruitment poster
CY 7004
---
Seamus Harper's Point Of View
---
"Harper!" I ignore Rommie's hologram as I make my way from the machine shop to the command deck. I have to get to Dylan, I have to warn him.
Okay, so I could use the comms, but what happens if Dylan is entertaining our guests? If I let them know ahead of time that I know what they're up to, then I won't be able to stop them.
That brings me to a screeching halt. I can't just tell Dylan what's going on. Their are eight well armed Nietzscheans on board plus Alexander himself, if I just blurt out what's going on to Dylan then he's going to try and stop them in a Dylan way, and against nine well armed Nietzscheans, the odds of winning without anyone getting hurt aren't good.
"Rommie!" I say turning towards her
"Finally, I was beginning to think I'd have to-"
"Not now Rommie, quickly, where is everyone?"
She gives me a very strange look for a moment, as if she can't figure out why I'm asking, then she cocks her head sideways.
"Dylan and Rev Bem are in command, along with my avatar, Trance and Alexander. Beka is in her quarters, Tyr is in the gym, the other Nietzscheans are in various parts of the ship."
"Okay Rommie, here's what we're going to do..."
---
About three minutes later I saunter into command with my nano welder over my shoulder as if it's a normal day and I'm here to do a repair. Just to complete the illusion I slip under a console and open up its circuitboards while listening to Dylan go on about the Commonwealth.
God, I need a cola, Tyr and Dylan, and maybe Beka are the kind of people that go in for this spy hard undercover stuff, I'm just an engineer. Okay, so I'm a genius, they aren't, but still. I don't like this cloak and dagger stuff.
It's about half an hour or so untill something starts to happen. It starts simple enough, one of Alexander's men arrives on the bridge and whispers something in his ear. He smiles at that then turns to Dylan
"Captain Hunt. I have to thank you for your hospitality."
"That's okay, we were glad to help," Dylan is trying to wave it off. That's typical Dylan, for all his smarts he is really bad at accepting thanks.
"No really, you have given us transport, food and sleeping accomodations." He pauses for a brief moment, then whips round to aim a gun at Dylan while his buddy pulls guns on me and Trance.
He's also covering Rommie, but then I was expecting that. "Oh, and let's not forget, this wonderfull starship of yours."
Oh, I am so going to enjoy kicking his ass, err.. or watching someone bigger and stronger than me do it. I stand up from the panel I was working on and lean back, Dylan is still smiling.
"Rommie, please increase gravity for our guests." Dylan is acting all smarmy and confidant, you'd think that with all the times we've been boarded he'd be a little more cautious. If my guess is right though, then nothing at all is going to happen.
When I see Rommie's avatar drop to the deck a second later i'm sure of it. Took them long enough. It's so obvious in hindsight, install little camera's in the eyes, so that when I type in my override codes into the engineering systems, it gets recorded and transmitted to the Nietzscheans. Voila, now they can erase the main AI module.
"Rommie?" Dylan demands, starting to look worried.
"Oh you'll find your AI quite unreachable, you see my engineer has deleted her personality from the AI matrix."
Damn he looks so smug and self satisfied. Well, i'm going to let him do a bit more exposition. Even as he is talking to Dylan I ignore the guy with the gun and move over to Rommie with Trance, and lift her to her feet.
Trance looks at me with an expression of worry, I quirk my mouth up just ever so slightly. She looks at me for a long moment before nodding and turning back to where Dylan is standing fuming across from Alexander.
"How?"
"Why, through Mister Harper's access codes of course." Yup, the ones I typed in right before the last burst transmission. These Nietszcheans really are smart cookies aren't they, oh yes. I almost shake my head in amusement before realising that I'm still supposed to be scared of him.
I pull myself up to my full hight, which isn't very high, but anyway, and look straight Alexander "So, you really didn't care about my eyes at all, you slimy, stuck up son-of-a-"
He growls at me. Yeah, like that's going to work for long. "I'd be silent if I were you, mister Harper, you have been outwitted."
Ooh, I love a challenge. I keep my anger in place though, I can't afford to play my hand too soon just in case I'm wrong about any of this.
"Yeah, I suppose so. You never wanted my DNA did you?" Send out the bait....
"Actually, it was a nice fringe benefit, but the real prize was the Andromeda." And hook the fish. Thanks for confirming that.
"This is why I hate Nietzscheans. Lying scum!"
He looks almost offended at that, well, cry me a river. "Not true, I did lose my eyesight, and I was a member of Falcon pride, and I soon will be again." He taps on his comlink and turns to it, leaving his grunt to keep weapons trained on us.
"Have you secured the ship?"
"We can't get into the Gym or Captain Valentine's quarters." And this is where Harpers ingenious plan begins to unfold. Neither Tyr nor Beka is going to appreciate being locked in, but I'm hoping they'll understand. If they don't, then I'm hoping I can hide behind Dylan.
"Why not?"
"An override on the door lock." His eyes seem to bulge for a second, then his head snaps up to Dylan and then to me.
"Oh, and one other thing you fat balding slob," I give him my very nastiest smile.
"Rommie, seal the bridge. Vent all biomass on all decks save here, the gym, Beka's quarters and hydroponics into space." There is the sound of metal grating, then a series of large whoomps as the Andromeda explosively vents it's oxygen out into space.
Now a Nietszchean can hold his breath for twelve minutes or so in ideal circumstances. Less than that if they don't have time to take a deep breath, or if they have to work hard, like holding on for dear life against vacuum.
Rommie, now standing by herself, turns to me and smiles. "All Biomass vented, I'm, moving the ship at 10 psl for sixty seconds to garantuee they can't get back on board."
That's my Rommie, I love this AI.
"No, What have you done?" He is practically shouting as he glances about in worry. Didn't think a little kludge could get one over on you, did you?
I lean back against the console, and glance at the ES panel behind me. "I'm guessing you Niets can't breathe to well in space, can you?"
He turns a set of furious eyes to me, and I swallow. Okay, I had meant to needle him a bit, but he is looking rather psychotic at the moment. "How did you know?"
"The eyes were transmitting when I was jacked in, what's the point of that? The only reason it would transmit without me seeing the images is if they were being transmitted to someone else." I push off from the panel I'm leaning against, I might as well make this a show.
"Then I figured, if I tell people, or change my codes, then you'll know that I know. You could go on a killing spree, and I am so not into pain. so I sealed Beka and Tyr into the rooms they were in, and had everything else vented."
Dylan turns to me, "What about Rommie Harper? I thought he said she had been deleted." Oh yeah, that!
"Oh yeah, i'm sure she was, too bad that I put in a seperate block for her personality profiles, and saved them seperately, then gave Rommie the codes. She should be bringing everything back online in a few minutes." I turn to our Nietzschean friend
"And as for you, I'd give up, or I'll have Rommie squash you onto the deck like Kenedrian fruit flies."
"You wouldn't." Don't seem to be very confident do you?
"Oh really, let me tell you something, I was raised on earth pal, I was tortured by Nietzscheans, and I honestly would like to see you die."
And ain't that the truth. There is nothing that would please me more than that, and frankly, I don't care if it does offend Dylan. I'm about to give the order that will have Rommie flatten them when Alexander pulls out a device.
Even before he says anything in know what it is. Not 'know' as in 'I know exactly what it is,' but I am sure I know what it's supposed to do. "Well, if I do, your eyes come with me"!
I yank at my eyes as they begin to heat up and my vision is cut off suddenly.
"No, I won't let you hurt Harper again." That's Rommie, and boy does she sound pissed. I hear the static whine of her anti-intruder defenses coming online, two screams, and a couple of gauss shots.
Frankly, I'm not concentrating on that right now. I'm concentrating on pain. The pain in my heart and soul for the loss of my sight, again. The part of me that screams out in anguish at losing my vision and the stars for a second time in three months.
I also cry out in pain for the physical hurt in my left hand, as the eyes melt from the inside out, they first heat my skin, then blacken it, then I can feel my hand burn. I barely notice the physical pain as the torment in my soul screams out.
I finally drop to my knees and drop the eyes. Melted and burned bits of flesh and metal splattering to the deck, but it doesn't matter. Trance can fix the damage easy enough, or at least the damage to my hands.
But how to fix the damage to me, I don't know. I feel Trance's arms and tail snake around me in a hug, as I find myself whispering softly,
"It's too late Rommie," the tears begin to flow out of my eyes again, and this time, I don't know how to stop them. "Too damn late."
Chapter 9: The Prices We Pay
Author: Steven Quinlan
Disclaimer: I own them all....Psych! However the plot is mine
Disclaimer 2: It get's a little graphic there at the end, but don't worry, it's just a few paragraphs
Archives: Let me know where, but otherwise feel free to archive
---
What sacrifices are you willing to make? What journeys will you take? It is not an easy life, but a rewarding one nonetheless. Come on the greatest adventure there is and see the three galaxies.
-From a High Guard recruitment poster
CY 7004
---
Seamus Harper's Point Of View
---
"Harper!" I ignore Rommie's hologram as I make my way from the machine shop to the command deck. I have to get to Dylan, I have to warn him.
Okay, so I could use the comms, but what happens if Dylan is entertaining our guests? If I let them know ahead of time that I know what they're up to, then I won't be able to stop them.
That brings me to a screeching halt. I can't just tell Dylan what's going on. Their are eight well armed Nietzscheans on board plus Alexander himself, if I just blurt out what's going on to Dylan then he's going to try and stop them in a Dylan way, and against nine well armed Nietzscheans, the odds of winning without anyone getting hurt aren't good.
"Rommie!" I say turning towards her
"Finally, I was beginning to think I'd have to-"
"Not now Rommie, quickly, where is everyone?"
She gives me a very strange look for a moment, as if she can't figure out why I'm asking, then she cocks her head sideways.
"Dylan and Rev Bem are in command, along with my avatar, Trance and Alexander. Beka is in her quarters, Tyr is in the gym, the other Nietzscheans are in various parts of the ship."
"Okay Rommie, here's what we're going to do..."
---
About three minutes later I saunter into command with my nano welder over my shoulder as if it's a normal day and I'm here to do a repair. Just to complete the illusion I slip under a console and open up its circuitboards while listening to Dylan go on about the Commonwealth.
God, I need a cola, Tyr and Dylan, and maybe Beka are the kind of people that go in for this spy hard undercover stuff, I'm just an engineer. Okay, so I'm a genius, they aren't, but still. I don't like this cloak and dagger stuff.
It's about half an hour or so untill something starts to happen. It starts simple enough, one of Alexander's men arrives on the bridge and whispers something in his ear. He smiles at that then turns to Dylan
"Captain Hunt. I have to thank you for your hospitality."
"That's okay, we were glad to help," Dylan is trying to wave it off. That's typical Dylan, for all his smarts he is really bad at accepting thanks.
"No really, you have given us transport, food and sleeping accomodations." He pauses for a brief moment, then whips round to aim a gun at Dylan while his buddy pulls guns on me and Trance.
He's also covering Rommie, but then I was expecting that. "Oh, and let's not forget, this wonderfull starship of yours."
Oh, I am so going to enjoy kicking his ass, err.. or watching someone bigger and stronger than me do it. I stand up from the panel I was working on and lean back, Dylan is still smiling.
"Rommie, please increase gravity for our guests." Dylan is acting all smarmy and confidant, you'd think that with all the times we've been boarded he'd be a little more cautious. If my guess is right though, then nothing at all is going to happen.
When I see Rommie's avatar drop to the deck a second later i'm sure of it. Took them long enough. It's so obvious in hindsight, install little camera's in the eyes, so that when I type in my override codes into the engineering systems, it gets recorded and transmitted to the Nietzscheans. Voila, now they can erase the main AI module.
"Rommie?" Dylan demands, starting to look worried.
"Oh you'll find your AI quite unreachable, you see my engineer has deleted her personality from the AI matrix."
Damn he looks so smug and self satisfied. Well, i'm going to let him do a bit more exposition. Even as he is talking to Dylan I ignore the guy with the gun and move over to Rommie with Trance, and lift her to her feet.
Trance looks at me with an expression of worry, I quirk my mouth up just ever so slightly. She looks at me for a long moment before nodding and turning back to where Dylan is standing fuming across from Alexander.
"How?"
"Why, through Mister Harper's access codes of course." Yup, the ones I typed in right before the last burst transmission. These Nietszcheans really are smart cookies aren't they, oh yes. I almost shake my head in amusement before realising that I'm still supposed to be scared of him.
I pull myself up to my full hight, which isn't very high, but anyway, and look straight Alexander "So, you really didn't care about my eyes at all, you slimy, stuck up son-of-a-"
He growls at me. Yeah, like that's going to work for long. "I'd be silent if I were you, mister Harper, you have been outwitted."
Ooh, I love a challenge. I keep my anger in place though, I can't afford to play my hand too soon just in case I'm wrong about any of this.
"Yeah, I suppose so. You never wanted my DNA did you?" Send out the bait....
"Actually, it was a nice fringe benefit, but the real prize was the Andromeda." And hook the fish. Thanks for confirming that.
"This is why I hate Nietzscheans. Lying scum!"
He looks almost offended at that, well, cry me a river. "Not true, I did lose my eyesight, and I was a member of Falcon pride, and I soon will be again." He taps on his comlink and turns to it, leaving his grunt to keep weapons trained on us.
"Have you secured the ship?"
"We can't get into the Gym or Captain Valentine's quarters." And this is where Harpers ingenious plan begins to unfold. Neither Tyr nor Beka is going to appreciate being locked in, but I'm hoping they'll understand. If they don't, then I'm hoping I can hide behind Dylan.
"Why not?"
"An override on the door lock." His eyes seem to bulge for a second, then his head snaps up to Dylan and then to me.
"Oh, and one other thing you fat balding slob," I give him my very nastiest smile.
"Rommie, seal the bridge. Vent all biomass on all decks save here, the gym, Beka's quarters and hydroponics into space." There is the sound of metal grating, then a series of large whoomps as the Andromeda explosively vents it's oxygen out into space.
Now a Nietszchean can hold his breath for twelve minutes or so in ideal circumstances. Less than that if they don't have time to take a deep breath, or if they have to work hard, like holding on for dear life against vacuum.
Rommie, now standing by herself, turns to me and smiles. "All Biomass vented, I'm, moving the ship at 10 psl for sixty seconds to garantuee they can't get back on board."
That's my Rommie, I love this AI.
"No, What have you done?" He is practically shouting as he glances about in worry. Didn't think a little kludge could get one over on you, did you?
I lean back against the console, and glance at the ES panel behind me. "I'm guessing you Niets can't breathe to well in space, can you?"
He turns a set of furious eyes to me, and I swallow. Okay, I had meant to needle him a bit, but he is looking rather psychotic at the moment. "How did you know?"
"The eyes were transmitting when I was jacked in, what's the point of that? The only reason it would transmit without me seeing the images is if they were being transmitted to someone else." I push off from the panel I'm leaning against, I might as well make this a show.
"Then I figured, if I tell people, or change my codes, then you'll know that I know. You could go on a killing spree, and I am so not into pain. so I sealed Beka and Tyr into the rooms they were in, and had everything else vented."
Dylan turns to me, "What about Rommie Harper? I thought he said she had been deleted." Oh yeah, that!
"Oh yeah, i'm sure she was, too bad that I put in a seperate block for her personality profiles, and saved them seperately, then gave Rommie the codes. She should be bringing everything back online in a few minutes." I turn to our Nietzschean friend
"And as for you, I'd give up, or I'll have Rommie squash you onto the deck like Kenedrian fruit flies."
"You wouldn't." Don't seem to be very confident do you?
"Oh really, let me tell you something, I was raised on earth pal, I was tortured by Nietzscheans, and I honestly would like to see you die."
And ain't that the truth. There is nothing that would please me more than that, and frankly, I don't care if it does offend Dylan. I'm about to give the order that will have Rommie flatten them when Alexander pulls out a device.
Even before he says anything in know what it is. Not 'know' as in 'I know exactly what it is,' but I am sure I know what it's supposed to do. "Well, if I do, your eyes come with me"!
I yank at my eyes as they begin to heat up and my vision is cut off suddenly.
"No, I won't let you hurt Harper again." That's Rommie, and boy does she sound pissed. I hear the static whine of her anti-intruder defenses coming online, two screams, and a couple of gauss shots.
Frankly, I'm not concentrating on that right now. I'm concentrating on pain. The pain in my heart and soul for the loss of my sight, again. The part of me that screams out in anguish at losing my vision and the stars for a second time in three months.
I also cry out in pain for the physical hurt in my left hand, as the eyes melt from the inside out, they first heat my skin, then blacken it, then I can feel my hand burn. I barely notice the physical pain as the torment in my soul screams out.
I finally drop to my knees and drop the eyes. Melted and burned bits of flesh and metal splattering to the deck, but it doesn't matter. Trance can fix the damage easy enough, or at least the damage to my hands.
But how to fix the damage to me, I don't know. I feel Trance's arms and tail snake around me in a hug, as I find myself whispering softly,
"It's too late Rommie," the tears begin to flow out of my eyes again, and this time, I don't know how to stop them. "Too damn late."