Chapter 4 - Rating and Disclaimer as per Chapter 1
There was a growl from the doorway and the sound of a gauss gun charging. Tyr Anasazi stood at the entrance to the room. His gun was pointing at Beka. "Do not touch her, creature," he snarled at Trance. "If you do I will kill her."
Harper backed away from Beka. She followed him continuing to point the gun at his head. "You certainly have a death wish kid," she snarled at him. He put his hands up defensively. "Beka it's me Harper, what's wrong Beka I want to help you and Tyr but I don't know how." The short distance between them might have been light years. Beka had never before been so unapproachable. "Please Beka, tell me what happened, share it with me. It was obviously a dreadful experience but I'm your friend I want to be here for you." He looked into her eyes, thank the Divine they were clear, red rimmed and tired but clear of the tell tale sign of Flash addiction. She laughed contemptuously. "Dreadful doesn't even start to describe what happened to us. Look at me Harper, can't you see the changes in me. How long have Tyr and I been away?" He looked surprised. "A few weeks, maybe a month tops." "No Harper," she smiled, a weak copy of her usual broad grin. "It may have been a few weeks to you but to us it's been five years." He looked at her more closely; her face was etched with lines of pain. Her skin was dull and her usually shiny hair was unkempt. She looked much older than the Beka he remembered. "We've only come back to get the Maru." She didn't mention that they had also come back for another very different reason. He would know soon enough. She lowered her weapon. "It would be better if you just kept out of our way. Especially Tyr his temper is on a very short fuse and he is very unstable. I don't want you to get hurt kid. Flash is having even more of an effect on him than it had on me. He has his moments of clarity but they are increasingly few and far between." She sighed and spoke softly almost as if she were speaking to herself. "Who would have thought that the genetically perfect Nietzscheans would be so susceptible?" She looked into Harper's eyes. "I know that you were watching us last night and that you already knew about Tyr taking Flash, keep the information to yourself." She shrugged and turned away. "Beka," Harper tried again to talk to her, desperation apparent in his voice. "Forget us kid, it would be easier for you if you just think of us as being dead. Once we've done what we came back to do we're out of here on the Maru." She gave him a tentative smile, a glimpse of the old Beka Valentine. His boss the woman he had loved from the first time he set eyes on her. She continued to the galley, Harper tagging along behind her like a whipped puppy. Her inner voice was asking her how she could do what had to be done. The answer was easy she had no choice. She and Tyr had been programmed to carry out a certain action at a certain time and there was no going back. Every joint in her body ached and she wanted Flash more than she had ever wanted anything in her life before. She had been as addicted to it as Tyr before they had left the awful place where they had been held captive for so long. During the tedious flight in the small shuttle she had been able to wean herself off the drug and she knew that her blood was now clear of it. Tyr had not been so successful. She hoped that once her reliance on the drug was over she would be able to overcome the commands that had been planted in her brain. Unfortunately there was no sign of that being true. She couldn't tell any of the Andromeda's crew because to do so would cause her excruciating pain and destroy enough brain cells to send her into a vegetative state. She rubbed the back of her neck where the implant was situated. Its messages were becoming more urgent. She tried so hard to ignore them. "No," she screamed. "No." Her weakened body finally gave up and she collapsed, hitting her head as she fell. Harper rushed over to her and cradled her bloody head in his lap. He activated a comm link and shouted for Trance and Dylan. The next few minutes were a blur of activity. Dylan carried Beka to the medical deck and Trance began to run scans of her bodily functions. "Dylan," the golden girl's face was grave, her voice serious. "Beka isn't badly injured, she just has a slight concussion from the bump on her head and a small laceration. Her physical condition is very poor, she is malnourished and she has a badly healed fracture of her left arm. I can deal with these problems. However, I am not sure how to deal with this." She indicated a diagrammatic scan of Beka's brain. At the very base of the brain stem was an opaque mass with tendrils reaching out from it deep into the brain itself. The mass was pulsating as if it had a life of its own. Harper gasped, "Trance, what the Hell is that?" "I don't know Harper, but it isn't good." Dylan stared at the scan. "Trance there must be something you can do." He looked at the medic his face shocked at the abomination inside his former first officer's head. "I can try Dylan, but I must warn you even if I manage to remove it, things don't look good for Beka." There was a growl from the doorway and the sound of a gauss gun charging. Tyr Anasazi stood at the entrance to the room. His gun was pointing at Beka. "Do not touch her, creature," he snarled at Trance. "If you do I will kill her."
There was a growl from the doorway and the sound of a gauss gun charging. Tyr Anasazi stood at the entrance to the room. His gun was pointing at Beka. "Do not touch her, creature," he snarled at Trance. "If you do I will kill her."
Harper backed away from Beka. She followed him continuing to point the gun at his head. "You certainly have a death wish kid," she snarled at him. He put his hands up defensively. "Beka it's me Harper, what's wrong Beka I want to help you and Tyr but I don't know how." The short distance between them might have been light years. Beka had never before been so unapproachable. "Please Beka, tell me what happened, share it with me. It was obviously a dreadful experience but I'm your friend I want to be here for you." He looked into her eyes, thank the Divine they were clear, red rimmed and tired but clear of the tell tale sign of Flash addiction. She laughed contemptuously. "Dreadful doesn't even start to describe what happened to us. Look at me Harper, can't you see the changes in me. How long have Tyr and I been away?" He looked surprised. "A few weeks, maybe a month tops." "No Harper," she smiled, a weak copy of her usual broad grin. "It may have been a few weeks to you but to us it's been five years." He looked at her more closely; her face was etched with lines of pain. Her skin was dull and her usually shiny hair was unkempt. She looked much older than the Beka he remembered. "We've only come back to get the Maru." She didn't mention that they had also come back for another very different reason. He would know soon enough. She lowered her weapon. "It would be better if you just kept out of our way. Especially Tyr his temper is on a very short fuse and he is very unstable. I don't want you to get hurt kid. Flash is having even more of an effect on him than it had on me. He has his moments of clarity but they are increasingly few and far between." She sighed and spoke softly almost as if she were speaking to herself. "Who would have thought that the genetically perfect Nietzscheans would be so susceptible?" She looked into Harper's eyes. "I know that you were watching us last night and that you already knew about Tyr taking Flash, keep the information to yourself." She shrugged and turned away. "Beka," Harper tried again to talk to her, desperation apparent in his voice. "Forget us kid, it would be easier for you if you just think of us as being dead. Once we've done what we came back to do we're out of here on the Maru." She gave him a tentative smile, a glimpse of the old Beka Valentine. His boss the woman he had loved from the first time he set eyes on her. She continued to the galley, Harper tagging along behind her like a whipped puppy. Her inner voice was asking her how she could do what had to be done. The answer was easy she had no choice. She and Tyr had been programmed to carry out a certain action at a certain time and there was no going back. Every joint in her body ached and she wanted Flash more than she had ever wanted anything in her life before. She had been as addicted to it as Tyr before they had left the awful place where they had been held captive for so long. During the tedious flight in the small shuttle she had been able to wean herself off the drug and she knew that her blood was now clear of it. Tyr had not been so successful. She hoped that once her reliance on the drug was over she would be able to overcome the commands that had been planted in her brain. Unfortunately there was no sign of that being true. She couldn't tell any of the Andromeda's crew because to do so would cause her excruciating pain and destroy enough brain cells to send her into a vegetative state. She rubbed the back of her neck where the implant was situated. Its messages were becoming more urgent. She tried so hard to ignore them. "No," she screamed. "No." Her weakened body finally gave up and she collapsed, hitting her head as she fell. Harper rushed over to her and cradled her bloody head in his lap. He activated a comm link and shouted for Trance and Dylan. The next few minutes were a blur of activity. Dylan carried Beka to the medical deck and Trance began to run scans of her bodily functions. "Dylan," the golden girl's face was grave, her voice serious. "Beka isn't badly injured, she just has a slight concussion from the bump on her head and a small laceration. Her physical condition is very poor, she is malnourished and she has a badly healed fracture of her left arm. I can deal with these problems. However, I am not sure how to deal with this." She indicated a diagrammatic scan of Beka's brain. At the very base of the brain stem was an opaque mass with tendrils reaching out from it deep into the brain itself. The mass was pulsating as if it had a life of its own. Harper gasped, "Trance, what the Hell is that?" "I don't know Harper, but it isn't good." Dylan stared at the scan. "Trance there must be something you can do." He looked at the medic his face shocked at the abomination inside his former first officer's head. "I can try Dylan, but I must warn you even if I manage to remove it, things don't look good for Beka." There was a growl from the doorway and the sound of a gauss gun charging. Tyr Anasazi stood at the entrance to the room. His gun was pointing at Beka. "Do not touch her, creature," he snarled at Trance. "If you do I will kill her."