The usual disclaimers apply.
Apologies to those who are reading this story at Fanfiction.net they messed up the formatting on my last chapter when I have time I will go back and try to revise it. I don't write without paragraphs(
In this chapter where I refer to 'Tyr' and 'Beka' I mean the impostors.
At Trance's words Harper became extremely agitated, he tried to sit up, only succeeding in making himself cough uncontrollably. Fresh blood stained his lips and he struggled to talk.
"Dylan if they aren't Beka and Tyr what are they and where are our friends?" He gasped for breath. "We have to find them, we have to, please Dylan."
Trance prepared a sedative hypo; she nodded to Dylan to ask him to distract the young engineer. Dylan patted Harper's hand. "It's going to be all right but you have to get well first before you can do anything." He was desperately worried about Harper the boy's colour wasn't good and each breath was a struggle.
Trance came up beside the bed and pressed the hypo to Harper's neck before he could protest. The strong sedative was quick acting and the engineer slumped back onto his pillows, his eyes closed.
Dylan closed his own eyes momentarily, then opened them again and looked at Trance. He smiled weakly at her, slightly ashamed that she had seen his moment of weakness.
"First things first," he said. "I take it that Harper will be out for a while. What are we going to do about 'Tyr'?" He glanced over to the figure on the other bed. "Do you think you can remove the implant?"
Trance thought hard. "I'll be honest Dylan, I'm not sure. What I can do is practise on 'Beka' she can't feel anything now and if I make a mistake it won't matter." She saw Dylan's grimace of disgust. "I'm sorry if it seems callous but I think she wanted to help us, her mind seemed to be clearer than the male's." She put her hand on the Captain's shoulder and said very softly, "It isn't our Beka you know, our Beka is still out there somewhere and the sooner I can do something to help us locate her and Tyr the better."
She became very businesslike. "Go and check out Rommie see if there's anything that can be done for her without Harper having to do the work. I'll do what's necessary here.
Dylan was reluctant to leave Harper but he could see the sense in Trance's words. There was nothing he could do to help either 'Tyr' or the boy but he could be of use where Rommie was concerned.
"Call me if anything happens Trance," he glanced towards Harper. "If there's any change I want to know."
The gold alien made the young engineer as comfortable as she could. His colour was bad, his face grey with two spots of high colour on his cheekbones. His hair was wet with sweat. Harper's eyes were moving in REM sleep and he was obviously dreaming. His dreams were not pleasant judging by the low moans that he was emitting. She gave him the maximum dose possible of antibiotic and sedative and was pleased to see him settle into a deep dreamless sleep.
Once she was satisfied that he was stable and in no pain she turned to carry out the operative procedures on the two impostors.
Several hours later she had finished with 'Beka' and was ready to operate on 'Tyr'. She deepened the Nietzschean's sedation and turned him onto his front. She shaved the hair at the base of his skull leaving a clear area to work on. Removing the implant was extremely difficult and several times she had to stop. She worked at dissecting out the tendrils before removing the main mass. Finally she was able to lift if free, what she wasn't able to do was tell if the man would recover. Even if he did it was very possible that he would have no memory of his time as Tyr Anasazi.
She put the two implants into a dish so that she could analyse them. Before she had a chance to do so they shrivelled and dehydrated into a white powder. All she was able to tell was that they were organic and possibly that they had been living organisms albeit on a very low level of sentience.
Dylan meanwhile had found the Rommie avatar slumped in one of the corridors leading to the medical deck. The ship's hologram was standing guard over her. Holo Rommie was not happy; she stood with her arms crossed tapping a virtual foot in annoyance.
Despite the horrors of the past few hours Dylan was amused by her attitude. He laughed genuinely for what seemed like the first time in days.
He gently assessed the avatar, she didn't appear to be damaged physically for which he was grateful but her circuitry was fried in several places. It was beyond his ability to fix her; he would have to wait for Harper to be well enough to do it.
He picked her up and carried her to the medical deck. Trance hadn't called him but surely she was finished by now.
He walked in and deposited Rommie on the bed next to Harper. Trance was sitting at the desk with her head in her hands. Dylan went over to her and gently touched the top of her head. She looked up her eyes red with fatigue.
"Get some rest Trance, I'll keep an eye on the patients."
She nodded gratefully. "I won't leave the medical deck just in case." She settled down on the bed that had held 'Beka' and she was soon asleep.
Dylan checked that the restraints on 'Tyr' were still fast and then went back to sit by Harper. The boy looked dreadful but his vital signs were strong. Harper was a fighter; he had to be to survive as long as he had.
While Dylan was looking at him Harper's eyes opened. They were dull and heavy from the strong pain medication that Trance had given him.
"Hi Boss," he said weakly. "I'm sorry about that little outburst earlier. I just miss Beka so much and Tyr too."
He caught sight of Rommie lying on the bed next to his. "Guess she needs the Harper magic touch. I'm just so tired I can't really think straight." His eyes were closing again as he spoke. Dylan smoothed the hair off Harper's forehead; he looked even younger without his trademark spiky hair do.
"Sleep well kiddo," he said, using one of Beka's favourite terms for her engineer. "I promise you Harper I will do everything I can to get them back. You have to hang in there and get well again."
Dylan sat back in his chair and closed his eyes, his breathing deepened and he too was soon asleep.
'Tyr' woke up suddenly, his dark eyes opened and he stared up at the ceiling. He knew a moment of panic. Who was he and where was he? He tried to move and found that his arms and legs were restrained. He struggled for a few futile minutes but could not break his bonds.
Seconds later his unearthly scream shattered the silence of the medical facility.
Apologies to those who are reading this story at Fanfiction.net they messed up the formatting on my last chapter when I have time I will go back and try to revise it. I don't write without paragraphs(
In this chapter where I refer to 'Tyr' and 'Beka' I mean the impostors.
At Trance's words Harper became extremely agitated, he tried to sit up, only succeeding in making himself cough uncontrollably. Fresh blood stained his lips and he struggled to talk.
"Dylan if they aren't Beka and Tyr what are they and where are our friends?" He gasped for breath. "We have to find them, we have to, please Dylan."
Trance prepared a sedative hypo; she nodded to Dylan to ask him to distract the young engineer. Dylan patted Harper's hand. "It's going to be all right but you have to get well first before you can do anything." He was desperately worried about Harper the boy's colour wasn't good and each breath was a struggle.
Trance came up beside the bed and pressed the hypo to Harper's neck before he could protest. The strong sedative was quick acting and the engineer slumped back onto his pillows, his eyes closed.
Dylan closed his own eyes momentarily, then opened them again and looked at Trance. He smiled weakly at her, slightly ashamed that she had seen his moment of weakness.
"First things first," he said. "I take it that Harper will be out for a while. What are we going to do about 'Tyr'?" He glanced over to the figure on the other bed. "Do you think you can remove the implant?"
Trance thought hard. "I'll be honest Dylan, I'm not sure. What I can do is practise on 'Beka' she can't feel anything now and if I make a mistake it won't matter." She saw Dylan's grimace of disgust. "I'm sorry if it seems callous but I think she wanted to help us, her mind seemed to be clearer than the male's." She put her hand on the Captain's shoulder and said very softly, "It isn't our Beka you know, our Beka is still out there somewhere and the sooner I can do something to help us locate her and Tyr the better."
She became very businesslike. "Go and check out Rommie see if there's anything that can be done for her without Harper having to do the work. I'll do what's necessary here.
Dylan was reluctant to leave Harper but he could see the sense in Trance's words. There was nothing he could do to help either 'Tyr' or the boy but he could be of use where Rommie was concerned.
"Call me if anything happens Trance," he glanced towards Harper. "If there's any change I want to know."
The gold alien made the young engineer as comfortable as she could. His colour was bad, his face grey with two spots of high colour on his cheekbones. His hair was wet with sweat. Harper's eyes were moving in REM sleep and he was obviously dreaming. His dreams were not pleasant judging by the low moans that he was emitting. She gave him the maximum dose possible of antibiotic and sedative and was pleased to see him settle into a deep dreamless sleep.
Once she was satisfied that he was stable and in no pain she turned to carry out the operative procedures on the two impostors.
Several hours later she had finished with 'Beka' and was ready to operate on 'Tyr'. She deepened the Nietzschean's sedation and turned him onto his front. She shaved the hair at the base of his skull leaving a clear area to work on. Removing the implant was extremely difficult and several times she had to stop. She worked at dissecting out the tendrils before removing the main mass. Finally she was able to lift if free, what she wasn't able to do was tell if the man would recover. Even if he did it was very possible that he would have no memory of his time as Tyr Anasazi.
She put the two implants into a dish so that she could analyse them. Before she had a chance to do so they shrivelled and dehydrated into a white powder. All she was able to tell was that they were organic and possibly that they had been living organisms albeit on a very low level of sentience.
Dylan meanwhile had found the Rommie avatar slumped in one of the corridors leading to the medical deck. The ship's hologram was standing guard over her. Holo Rommie was not happy; she stood with her arms crossed tapping a virtual foot in annoyance.
Despite the horrors of the past few hours Dylan was amused by her attitude. He laughed genuinely for what seemed like the first time in days.
He gently assessed the avatar, she didn't appear to be damaged physically for which he was grateful but her circuitry was fried in several places. It was beyond his ability to fix her; he would have to wait for Harper to be well enough to do it.
He picked her up and carried her to the medical deck. Trance hadn't called him but surely she was finished by now.
He walked in and deposited Rommie on the bed next to Harper. Trance was sitting at the desk with her head in her hands. Dylan went over to her and gently touched the top of her head. She looked up her eyes red with fatigue.
"Get some rest Trance, I'll keep an eye on the patients."
She nodded gratefully. "I won't leave the medical deck just in case." She settled down on the bed that had held 'Beka' and she was soon asleep.
Dylan checked that the restraints on 'Tyr' were still fast and then went back to sit by Harper. The boy looked dreadful but his vital signs were strong. Harper was a fighter; he had to be to survive as long as he had.
While Dylan was looking at him Harper's eyes opened. They were dull and heavy from the strong pain medication that Trance had given him.
"Hi Boss," he said weakly. "I'm sorry about that little outburst earlier. I just miss Beka so much and Tyr too."
He caught sight of Rommie lying on the bed next to his. "Guess she needs the Harper magic touch. I'm just so tired I can't really think straight." His eyes were closing again as he spoke. Dylan smoothed the hair off Harper's forehead; he looked even younger without his trademark spiky hair do.
"Sleep well kiddo," he said, using one of Beka's favourite terms for her engineer. "I promise you Harper I will do everything I can to get them back. You have to hang in there and get well again."
Dylan sat back in his chair and closed his eyes, his breathing deepened and he too was soon asleep.
'Tyr' woke up suddenly, his dark eyes opened and he stared up at the ceiling. He knew a moment of panic. Who was he and where was he? He tried to move and found that his arms and legs were restrained. He struggled for a few futile minutes but could not break his bonds.
Seconds later his unearthly scream shattered the silence of the medical facility.