Well, here it is, the last chapter. Whew! Can't believe it's finally over! Kinda bittersweet, this was my first fic after all.
Anyhoo, I hope you like it. I also hope that it is in keeping with the rest of the story and is an ending that lives up to your expectations. Please, let me know what you think
Thanks again and giant *HUGS* to everyone who reviewed, you guys are the greatest!
*********************
Casondra staggered as if the blade had pierced her own breast. She threw herself at the bed, her hands clutching at the sheets. She stumbled to her knees, her breath catching in her throat as the covers crumpled in her lap. She blinked at what she saw. On the bed was not the corpse of her father but a clever fake, a dummy, just real enough to fool her. She sucked air into her lungs in great gulps, her mind finally registering what she saw. She leapt to her feet and whirled on Trance. She froze as the familiar whine of Tyr's weapon echoed throughout the room. Casondra turned her head slowly, her eyes narrowed to slits. "Traitor." She rasped.
Tyr smiled darkly, "Madame how can I be a traitor, I swore no allegiance to you." His finger tensed on the trigger as three more weapons charged. Dylan, Beka, and Rommie took positions next to Tyr, their forcelances trained on the gold woman.
"Ya kinda had me worried for a minute there Tyr." Beka said dryly.
Tyr allowed a slight smirk, "Did I now?"
"Uh, yeah! I thought you were gonna ruin everything." Beka blew a strand of hair out of her eyes and chanced a glance at Tyr. "Did anyone ever tell you you'd make a good actor?"
Dylan ignored the banter going on next to him and took a step toward Casondra. "I know who you are and I know what you came for. I also know what you have done, the people you have killed. I am officially placing you under arrest, you will be held in my custody until a proper tribunal can be convened."
Casondra, having regained her composure sneered at Dylan, her expression as black as midnight, "Go ahead and try, Hunt. My master will never allow it; he'll set me free. I will find the remaining piece of the engine and I will use it to destroy you and your precious ship."
"I highly doubt that." Dylan said. He motioned for Tyr to restrain Casondra. "We defeated your, what did you call him, your *master* before, we can do it again."
Casondra backed up as Tyr approached, her legs hitting the bed. Out of the corner of her eye she spied her Katanna blade still buried hilt-deep in the dummy. She slumped her shoulders and hung her head in mock defeat. She willingly held out her arms for the restraints Tyr had scooped off a nearby bed. As soon as Tyr was close enough Casondra snapped into action. She grabbed the Nietzschean's free hand, snapping it like a twig while at the same time kicking the gun from his grasp. In one fluid motion she flipped up over the bed. Snatching the knife in mid-flight she landed gracefully behind Trance. Before anyone could react, Casondra had her blade to Trance's throat. "Weapons down or she dies." she panted.
Enraged and cradling his wounded arm, Tyr charged at Casondra who promptly pressed the knife harder to Trance's neck, drawing a thin line of blood. "Tyr stop!" Dylan commanded. The Nietzschean slowed, trembling with barely contained fury. "Drop your weapons people." Three forcelances clattered to the deck.
"Dylan no," Trance squeaked. "Destroy her now while you have the chance!"
"Trance, you are still a member of this crew, I'll not risk your life." Dylan said with all the conviction he could muster. Tyr stopped his slow advance and withdrew but not before throwing his commanding officer a smoldering glare.
"Wonderful sentiment Captain, I always knew you were too weak minded to get the job done." Casondra readjusted her grip on the Katanna. "Now kick those lances over here." Beka and Rommie hesitated but grudgingly complied at Dylan's nod. Casondra kicked two of them under the bed. She slid her foot under the remaining forcelance and deftly bounced it up to her free hand. Trance winced as the blade was removed from her throat. Her respite was short lived as she felt the forcelance press painfully against her temple.
Casondra studied the blade thoughtfully, "I still need two of you alive, but which two. Hmmm...decisions, decisions." She lined the knife up with each crew member, "Eenie meenie miney...MOE!" She yelled as she let the blade fly. It hit Rommie square in the chest, instantly severing her power supply. Sparks flew as the Android fell, her expression frozen in that of surprise.
Trance screamed and lunged for Rommie but was brought up short by the gun at her head. Casondra grabbed the purple woman's throat with her bare hand and whispered in her ear, "Now watch while I take care of your darling Captain." She aimed the forcelance at Dylan, her finger inching toward the trigger.
Dylan closed his eyes as he braced himself for death. He heard the gun go off and waited for the impact, and waited. He cracked his eyes open in time to see the forcelance fall from Casondra's limp hand. Her eyes widened, she opened her mouth, but no words came as she fell to her knees. Her expression changed to puzzlement as she looked down at the blood flowing from her chest. She turned her head, realization dawning across her pale features. Behind her, gauss gun still smoking, stood Harper. Casondra uttered a weak "No." as she pitched forward into darkness.
Everyone stared slack-jawed at the young engineer. "So, does someone wanna tell me why I just shot Trance?" Harper said, grabbing his stomach and sliding down the doorframe to the floor. Suddenly the room snapped into a flurry of activity. Trance ran over to Harper. Tyr grabbed his gun and guarded Casondra while Beka put her in restraints. Casondra had no life signs but they knew not to put too much stock in that fact.
Dylan slowly approached Rommie. Andromeda's hologram appeared before him, he looked at her expectantly. "The damage is repairable. My avatar will survive." The AI said with a trace of relief. Dylan picked Rommie up and gently placed her on a nearby bed. He turned to see Trance helping Harper up onto his own bed.
"Good work Mr. Harper."
"Huh?" Harper said, wincing as he lay back. "Good work for what?" He watched as Beka and Tyr lifted Casondra up onto the next bed. "Oh," He said softly. "Is she gonna be ok? What the hell happened in here?"
Trance sighed and injected Harper with a painkiller. "You just rest, I'll tell you everything when you're better." Harper opened his mouth to protest but his eyelids started drooping. He was forced to just lay back and watch as purple Trance tended the wounded gold woman. He fell asleep wondering who she really was.
Beka Tyr and Dylan crowded around Trance as she checked over Casondra. Beka and Tyr each had a forcelance aimed at the gold woman, ready to fire if she so much as batted an eyelash. "Well?" Dylan said, studying test results over Trance's shoulder.
"She's not dead." Trance said dully.
"I can fix that." Tyr said, aiming his forcelance at Casondra's head.
Dylan placed his hand on the weapon and slowly shook his head. "You know we can't kill her in cold blood, it's not what we're about."
Tyr raised one eyebrow cynically. "Then what do you suggest?"
"I honestly don't know." Dylan sighed, running his hands down his face. "Trance, how long until she, ah...wakes up?"
Trance chewed her lip thoughtfully, "Could be anytime, since she's half human, I'm not sure what to expect."
Beka raised her hand, "Um, excuse me? Half human? Can I get the *whole* story now please?"
Dylan held up his finger for Beka to wait, to Trance he said, "Can you keep her sedated? I mean, *heavily* sedated? I don't want to chance a repeat of our latest fiasco."
"Yes, I can make sure that she won't wake up until we want her to." Trance lowered her head, utterly exhausted.
"Good." Beka opened her mouth to demand and explanation but again Dylan cut her off. "It's a *very* long story and I'm sure Trance would like to tell it only one more time so I suggest we wait a few hours until everyone is ready."
Beka looked over at Rommie and Harper lying on the hospital beds. She nodded her weary head and pulled up a chair.
Tyr nodded his understanding also. He remained standing until Trance had administered the sedatives to Casondra and he sat only long enough for Trance to tend his injured arm.
***********************
Eight hours later Harper was sitting on the edge of his bed painstakingly repairing the mess Casondra's knife had made of Rommie's chest. It was taking longer than it should have because he kept having to stop and rest. His incision burned and his stomach muscles ached but he refused let Rommie lay inoperative while he finished recuperating. He wiped beads of sweat from his brow as he soldered the last two wires together. Rommie's android body gave a shudder and her eyelids fluttered. "Come on darlin'." Harper whispered. Slowly the avatar's eyes opened, her gaze was slightly unfocused. She blinked several times as all her programs came on-line. Rommie sat bolt upright her head snapping left and right as she searched for danger. "Easy Rom-doll, it's over." Harper soothed.
"Harper, where's Dylan, is he ok?" Rommie moved to get off the bed, suddenly frantic.
Harper sighed heavily, "Dylan's fine Rommie, sit back down so I can finish the superficial repairs." Rommie studied him carefully then sat rigidly on the edge of Harper's bed.
She watched Harper work and marveled at how steady his hands were while the rest of his body trembled with exhaustion. "What happened?"
"I think we're about to find out." Harper closed the access panel in Rommie's chest and began mending her torn 'flesh'. "You should be able to connect with the main AI now, I'm sure she'll be able to fill you in rather quickly."
Rommie closed her eyes and reached out for the familiar feeling of her sisters. She immediately located her captain and confirmed that he was indeed all right. "Dylan..." She whispered unconsciously.
Harper set his tools down on the tray by his bed, a little harder than he had intended. He felt like crap, he just finished expending all his energy and then some getting her up and running, from his hospital bed no less, and all she could think about was Captain Terrific. A deep sadness filled Harper's eyes as he watched a smile spread across Rommie's perfect lips. He knew he would never be able to make her smile like that and it tore at his heart. He was startled when Rommie suddenly opened her eyes and looked at him curiously. He quickly pasted on what he hoped was his most winning smile. "Well, you can tell Dylan that we're all finished so he can assemble the troops. I for one can't wait to hear what the hell has been going on." Harper lay back, pushing all thoughts of Rommie from his mind, a task he had yet to entirely master. He yawned sleepily and found himself hoping he would be able to keep his eyes open through Trance's story.
********************
As it turned out, Harper had no trouble at all staying awake. In fact, he had to remind himself to blink as he listened to Trance's fantastic tale. He stopped her several times with a myriad of questions and when she was finally finished the room was silent, everyone lost in his or her own thoughts.
Harper found himself staring at the inert form of his daughter. Well, his future self's daughter, he didn't know for sure what she was to him. It was all a little too much to take. He shook his head in awe of the set of circumstances that had led them to this point. "Kylie." He whispered. It was a Gaelic name, it meant lovely. Well, she certainly wasn't lovely when she was trying to kill his shipmates one by one. Harper's eyes hardened at the thought. No, that isn't Kylie, that thing is Casondra.
"Harper? You ok over there?" Beka said. She was concerned for her friend, he had been through a lot in the past couple of days, and she wasn't sure how well he was handling it.
Harper waved a dismissing hand, "Yeah, boss, I'm good, I was just thinking. The name Casondra means 'not to be believed' in ancient Greek. Huh, fitting." Harper picked at a loose thread on his blanket. "That's who she is now, isn't it?"
Trance nodded her head sadly. She didn't trust her voice to speak. She'd managed not to cry during her recitation of the events of the future but now, looking into Harper's troubled countenance, she was afraid the floodgates would open again. She glanced around the room gauging the others' reactions. She studied Tyr closely. She had purposely kept secret the fact that he had a son. She wasn't sure yet how knowledge of Tamerlane's existence would affect him. She certainly didn't want to blurt out such sensitive information in front of the entire crew. Dylan knew and so did Andromeda but Trance's instincts told her that they would let her handle it. She would know when the time was right and this time she would trust herself to make the right decision.
"What do we do now?" Tyr asked, ready to get down to the practical side of this meeting.
"I've been thinking about that a lot," Dylan said, leaning back in his chair and tenting his fingers thoughtfully. "I'm not sure she is mentally able to stand trial."
"What?" Beka demanded, "What the hell are we going to do with her? We can't keep her here!"
"I know, I'm open to suggestions." Dylan was, for once, without a plan.
"Uh, we could put her in stasis, ya know, till we find a cure?" Harper suggested.
Tyr scoffed, "She doesn't have a disease, her belly isn't filled with Magog eggs, she can't be cured. I say we execute her."
Trance started to object but Dylan beat her too it. "Tyr, for the last time, we are *not* going to kill her. We can't cure her and we sure as hell can't keep her sedated forever. Rommie, have you come up with anything?"
"No, all simulations so far have met with 100% rate of failure."
"There may be a way." Trance said so softly that had Tyr not been in the room it might have gone unnoticed.
"What way is that?" Tyr said, annoyed at the girl, but also frustrated with the situation.
"Trance, you have an idea?" Rommie prompted.
"Yes, but I need to get Casondra to Sinti for extensive preparation. She then must be taken to my home world where she will have to go many months of, ah...'reprogramming'."
Harper stared at Trance dumfounded, "You mean she *can* be cured?"
"I...it's possible. There are many obstacles to overcome and she may not survive. The probabilities of success are very low." Trance lowered her head, unable to bear the spark of hope she ignited in Harper's eyes.
"Well," Dylan said, "Any chance is better than none at all. We can stop at Sinti on the way to Shintaido."
"Shintaido? You're kidding right? I mean, isn't that where Tyr...ah, ya know?"
"Yes, Harper but it is also where we will find the last piece of the Engine of Creation. Since Casondra failed, the Spirit of the Abyss is certain to send others in search of it. We must find it first and keep it safe on the Andromeda."
"Ah, hello? Wouldn't that be like painting a neon target on our ass?" Beka said as she rose to her feet and paced behind her chair deep in thought. She stopped suddenly and whirled on Dylan. "What about the Worldship? What about the Commonwealth? I mean, we're just gonna drop everything, find this piece of the Engine and then what, Dylan? Wait for ol' tall dark and glowing to come knocking on our door?"
Dylan sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "I'm not sayin' we abandon our mission, we just need to prioritize, take things one step at a time."
"We're the future's only hope." Trance whispered.
************************
Hours later the plans were set and a course laid for Sinti. Harper and Trance were alone in med bay and were talking softly as if worried they would wake the girl sleeping in the next bed.
"I can't believe it." Harper whispered.
"I know, what a disaster." Trance whispered back.
"No, I can't believe the future me finally got up the courage to ask you out." Harper grinned mischievously.
"Harper." Trance smiled and tapped him lightly on the shoulder. They shared a moment of comfortable silence.
"Do you think it'll work?" Harper asked suddenly.
"You mean do I think Casondra can ever be Kylie again? I'm not sure but I'm going to give it my best shot. She didn't deserve what happened to her and although she has done horrible things they weren't entirely her fault."
"If I ever get my hands on that...that..." Harper snarled as he punched the bed.
"I know, me too." Trance said taking his fist and uncurling it tenderly. "For now lets just concentrate on getting Casondra better."
Harper nodded his head, staring at the purple hand that held his. He cocked his head, noticing something different. His eyes traveled to Trance's face. It was there too. "Trance, you look...purpler."
"Harper, I don't think that's even a word." Trance scolded.
"No, I mean it, there's something different in your eyes and I swear your skin is, I don't know, glowing."
Trance smiled impishly, "You're just seeing things."
"Aw, Trance, come on, don't start that secret crap again, we've come way past that, tell me, please?" A familiar whine entered his voice.
Trance kissed his forehead softly and whispered, "Hope is a powerful thing, I finally found mine and I promise I'll never loose it again."
**********************
THE END
Anyhoo, I hope you like it. I also hope that it is in keeping with the rest of the story and is an ending that lives up to your expectations. Please, let me know what you think
Thanks again and giant *HUGS* to everyone who reviewed, you guys are the greatest!
*********************
Casondra staggered as if the blade had pierced her own breast. She threw herself at the bed, her hands clutching at the sheets. She stumbled to her knees, her breath catching in her throat as the covers crumpled in her lap. She blinked at what she saw. On the bed was not the corpse of her father but a clever fake, a dummy, just real enough to fool her. She sucked air into her lungs in great gulps, her mind finally registering what she saw. She leapt to her feet and whirled on Trance. She froze as the familiar whine of Tyr's weapon echoed throughout the room. Casondra turned her head slowly, her eyes narrowed to slits. "Traitor." She rasped.
Tyr smiled darkly, "Madame how can I be a traitor, I swore no allegiance to you." His finger tensed on the trigger as three more weapons charged. Dylan, Beka, and Rommie took positions next to Tyr, their forcelances trained on the gold woman.
"Ya kinda had me worried for a minute there Tyr." Beka said dryly.
Tyr allowed a slight smirk, "Did I now?"
"Uh, yeah! I thought you were gonna ruin everything." Beka blew a strand of hair out of her eyes and chanced a glance at Tyr. "Did anyone ever tell you you'd make a good actor?"
Dylan ignored the banter going on next to him and took a step toward Casondra. "I know who you are and I know what you came for. I also know what you have done, the people you have killed. I am officially placing you under arrest, you will be held in my custody until a proper tribunal can be convened."
Casondra, having regained her composure sneered at Dylan, her expression as black as midnight, "Go ahead and try, Hunt. My master will never allow it; he'll set me free. I will find the remaining piece of the engine and I will use it to destroy you and your precious ship."
"I highly doubt that." Dylan said. He motioned for Tyr to restrain Casondra. "We defeated your, what did you call him, your *master* before, we can do it again."
Casondra backed up as Tyr approached, her legs hitting the bed. Out of the corner of her eye she spied her Katanna blade still buried hilt-deep in the dummy. She slumped her shoulders and hung her head in mock defeat. She willingly held out her arms for the restraints Tyr had scooped off a nearby bed. As soon as Tyr was close enough Casondra snapped into action. She grabbed the Nietzschean's free hand, snapping it like a twig while at the same time kicking the gun from his grasp. In one fluid motion she flipped up over the bed. Snatching the knife in mid-flight she landed gracefully behind Trance. Before anyone could react, Casondra had her blade to Trance's throat. "Weapons down or she dies." she panted.
Enraged and cradling his wounded arm, Tyr charged at Casondra who promptly pressed the knife harder to Trance's neck, drawing a thin line of blood. "Tyr stop!" Dylan commanded. The Nietzschean slowed, trembling with barely contained fury. "Drop your weapons people." Three forcelances clattered to the deck.
"Dylan no," Trance squeaked. "Destroy her now while you have the chance!"
"Trance, you are still a member of this crew, I'll not risk your life." Dylan said with all the conviction he could muster. Tyr stopped his slow advance and withdrew but not before throwing his commanding officer a smoldering glare.
"Wonderful sentiment Captain, I always knew you were too weak minded to get the job done." Casondra readjusted her grip on the Katanna. "Now kick those lances over here." Beka and Rommie hesitated but grudgingly complied at Dylan's nod. Casondra kicked two of them under the bed. She slid her foot under the remaining forcelance and deftly bounced it up to her free hand. Trance winced as the blade was removed from her throat. Her respite was short lived as she felt the forcelance press painfully against her temple.
Casondra studied the blade thoughtfully, "I still need two of you alive, but which two. Hmmm...decisions, decisions." She lined the knife up with each crew member, "Eenie meenie miney...MOE!" She yelled as she let the blade fly. It hit Rommie square in the chest, instantly severing her power supply. Sparks flew as the Android fell, her expression frozen in that of surprise.
Trance screamed and lunged for Rommie but was brought up short by the gun at her head. Casondra grabbed the purple woman's throat with her bare hand and whispered in her ear, "Now watch while I take care of your darling Captain." She aimed the forcelance at Dylan, her finger inching toward the trigger.
Dylan closed his eyes as he braced himself for death. He heard the gun go off and waited for the impact, and waited. He cracked his eyes open in time to see the forcelance fall from Casondra's limp hand. Her eyes widened, she opened her mouth, but no words came as she fell to her knees. Her expression changed to puzzlement as she looked down at the blood flowing from her chest. She turned her head, realization dawning across her pale features. Behind her, gauss gun still smoking, stood Harper. Casondra uttered a weak "No." as she pitched forward into darkness.
Everyone stared slack-jawed at the young engineer. "So, does someone wanna tell me why I just shot Trance?" Harper said, grabbing his stomach and sliding down the doorframe to the floor. Suddenly the room snapped into a flurry of activity. Trance ran over to Harper. Tyr grabbed his gun and guarded Casondra while Beka put her in restraints. Casondra had no life signs but they knew not to put too much stock in that fact.
Dylan slowly approached Rommie. Andromeda's hologram appeared before him, he looked at her expectantly. "The damage is repairable. My avatar will survive." The AI said with a trace of relief. Dylan picked Rommie up and gently placed her on a nearby bed. He turned to see Trance helping Harper up onto his own bed.
"Good work Mr. Harper."
"Huh?" Harper said, wincing as he lay back. "Good work for what?" He watched as Beka and Tyr lifted Casondra up onto the next bed. "Oh," He said softly. "Is she gonna be ok? What the hell happened in here?"
Trance sighed and injected Harper with a painkiller. "You just rest, I'll tell you everything when you're better." Harper opened his mouth to protest but his eyelids started drooping. He was forced to just lay back and watch as purple Trance tended the wounded gold woman. He fell asleep wondering who she really was.
Beka Tyr and Dylan crowded around Trance as she checked over Casondra. Beka and Tyr each had a forcelance aimed at the gold woman, ready to fire if she so much as batted an eyelash. "Well?" Dylan said, studying test results over Trance's shoulder.
"She's not dead." Trance said dully.
"I can fix that." Tyr said, aiming his forcelance at Casondra's head.
Dylan placed his hand on the weapon and slowly shook his head. "You know we can't kill her in cold blood, it's not what we're about."
Tyr raised one eyebrow cynically. "Then what do you suggest?"
"I honestly don't know." Dylan sighed, running his hands down his face. "Trance, how long until she, ah...wakes up?"
Trance chewed her lip thoughtfully, "Could be anytime, since she's half human, I'm not sure what to expect."
Beka raised her hand, "Um, excuse me? Half human? Can I get the *whole* story now please?"
Dylan held up his finger for Beka to wait, to Trance he said, "Can you keep her sedated? I mean, *heavily* sedated? I don't want to chance a repeat of our latest fiasco."
"Yes, I can make sure that she won't wake up until we want her to." Trance lowered her head, utterly exhausted.
"Good." Beka opened her mouth to demand and explanation but again Dylan cut her off. "It's a *very* long story and I'm sure Trance would like to tell it only one more time so I suggest we wait a few hours until everyone is ready."
Beka looked over at Rommie and Harper lying on the hospital beds. She nodded her weary head and pulled up a chair.
Tyr nodded his understanding also. He remained standing until Trance had administered the sedatives to Casondra and he sat only long enough for Trance to tend his injured arm.
***********************
Eight hours later Harper was sitting on the edge of his bed painstakingly repairing the mess Casondra's knife had made of Rommie's chest. It was taking longer than it should have because he kept having to stop and rest. His incision burned and his stomach muscles ached but he refused let Rommie lay inoperative while he finished recuperating. He wiped beads of sweat from his brow as he soldered the last two wires together. Rommie's android body gave a shudder and her eyelids fluttered. "Come on darlin'." Harper whispered. Slowly the avatar's eyes opened, her gaze was slightly unfocused. She blinked several times as all her programs came on-line. Rommie sat bolt upright her head snapping left and right as she searched for danger. "Easy Rom-doll, it's over." Harper soothed.
"Harper, where's Dylan, is he ok?" Rommie moved to get off the bed, suddenly frantic.
Harper sighed heavily, "Dylan's fine Rommie, sit back down so I can finish the superficial repairs." Rommie studied him carefully then sat rigidly on the edge of Harper's bed.
She watched Harper work and marveled at how steady his hands were while the rest of his body trembled with exhaustion. "What happened?"
"I think we're about to find out." Harper closed the access panel in Rommie's chest and began mending her torn 'flesh'. "You should be able to connect with the main AI now, I'm sure she'll be able to fill you in rather quickly."
Rommie closed her eyes and reached out for the familiar feeling of her sisters. She immediately located her captain and confirmed that he was indeed all right. "Dylan..." She whispered unconsciously.
Harper set his tools down on the tray by his bed, a little harder than he had intended. He felt like crap, he just finished expending all his energy and then some getting her up and running, from his hospital bed no less, and all she could think about was Captain Terrific. A deep sadness filled Harper's eyes as he watched a smile spread across Rommie's perfect lips. He knew he would never be able to make her smile like that and it tore at his heart. He was startled when Rommie suddenly opened her eyes and looked at him curiously. He quickly pasted on what he hoped was his most winning smile. "Well, you can tell Dylan that we're all finished so he can assemble the troops. I for one can't wait to hear what the hell has been going on." Harper lay back, pushing all thoughts of Rommie from his mind, a task he had yet to entirely master. He yawned sleepily and found himself hoping he would be able to keep his eyes open through Trance's story.
********************
As it turned out, Harper had no trouble at all staying awake. In fact, he had to remind himself to blink as he listened to Trance's fantastic tale. He stopped her several times with a myriad of questions and when she was finally finished the room was silent, everyone lost in his or her own thoughts.
Harper found himself staring at the inert form of his daughter. Well, his future self's daughter, he didn't know for sure what she was to him. It was all a little too much to take. He shook his head in awe of the set of circumstances that had led them to this point. "Kylie." He whispered. It was a Gaelic name, it meant lovely. Well, she certainly wasn't lovely when she was trying to kill his shipmates one by one. Harper's eyes hardened at the thought. No, that isn't Kylie, that thing is Casondra.
"Harper? You ok over there?" Beka said. She was concerned for her friend, he had been through a lot in the past couple of days, and she wasn't sure how well he was handling it.
Harper waved a dismissing hand, "Yeah, boss, I'm good, I was just thinking. The name Casondra means 'not to be believed' in ancient Greek. Huh, fitting." Harper picked at a loose thread on his blanket. "That's who she is now, isn't it?"
Trance nodded her head sadly. She didn't trust her voice to speak. She'd managed not to cry during her recitation of the events of the future but now, looking into Harper's troubled countenance, she was afraid the floodgates would open again. She glanced around the room gauging the others' reactions. She studied Tyr closely. She had purposely kept secret the fact that he had a son. She wasn't sure yet how knowledge of Tamerlane's existence would affect him. She certainly didn't want to blurt out such sensitive information in front of the entire crew. Dylan knew and so did Andromeda but Trance's instincts told her that they would let her handle it. She would know when the time was right and this time she would trust herself to make the right decision.
"What do we do now?" Tyr asked, ready to get down to the practical side of this meeting.
"I've been thinking about that a lot," Dylan said, leaning back in his chair and tenting his fingers thoughtfully. "I'm not sure she is mentally able to stand trial."
"What?" Beka demanded, "What the hell are we going to do with her? We can't keep her here!"
"I know, I'm open to suggestions." Dylan was, for once, without a plan.
"Uh, we could put her in stasis, ya know, till we find a cure?" Harper suggested.
Tyr scoffed, "She doesn't have a disease, her belly isn't filled with Magog eggs, she can't be cured. I say we execute her."
Trance started to object but Dylan beat her too it. "Tyr, for the last time, we are *not* going to kill her. We can't cure her and we sure as hell can't keep her sedated forever. Rommie, have you come up with anything?"
"No, all simulations so far have met with 100% rate of failure."
"There may be a way." Trance said so softly that had Tyr not been in the room it might have gone unnoticed.
"What way is that?" Tyr said, annoyed at the girl, but also frustrated with the situation.
"Trance, you have an idea?" Rommie prompted.
"Yes, but I need to get Casondra to Sinti for extensive preparation. She then must be taken to my home world where she will have to go many months of, ah...'reprogramming'."
Harper stared at Trance dumfounded, "You mean she *can* be cured?"
"I...it's possible. There are many obstacles to overcome and she may not survive. The probabilities of success are very low." Trance lowered her head, unable to bear the spark of hope she ignited in Harper's eyes.
"Well," Dylan said, "Any chance is better than none at all. We can stop at Sinti on the way to Shintaido."
"Shintaido? You're kidding right? I mean, isn't that where Tyr...ah, ya know?"
"Yes, Harper but it is also where we will find the last piece of the Engine of Creation. Since Casondra failed, the Spirit of the Abyss is certain to send others in search of it. We must find it first and keep it safe on the Andromeda."
"Ah, hello? Wouldn't that be like painting a neon target on our ass?" Beka said as she rose to her feet and paced behind her chair deep in thought. She stopped suddenly and whirled on Dylan. "What about the Worldship? What about the Commonwealth? I mean, we're just gonna drop everything, find this piece of the Engine and then what, Dylan? Wait for ol' tall dark and glowing to come knocking on our door?"
Dylan sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "I'm not sayin' we abandon our mission, we just need to prioritize, take things one step at a time."
"We're the future's only hope." Trance whispered.
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Hours later the plans were set and a course laid for Sinti. Harper and Trance were alone in med bay and were talking softly as if worried they would wake the girl sleeping in the next bed.
"I can't believe it." Harper whispered.
"I know, what a disaster." Trance whispered back.
"No, I can't believe the future me finally got up the courage to ask you out." Harper grinned mischievously.
"Harper." Trance smiled and tapped him lightly on the shoulder. They shared a moment of comfortable silence.
"Do you think it'll work?" Harper asked suddenly.
"You mean do I think Casondra can ever be Kylie again? I'm not sure but I'm going to give it my best shot. She didn't deserve what happened to her and although she has done horrible things they weren't entirely her fault."
"If I ever get my hands on that...that..." Harper snarled as he punched the bed.
"I know, me too." Trance said taking his fist and uncurling it tenderly. "For now lets just concentrate on getting Casondra better."
Harper nodded his head, staring at the purple hand that held his. He cocked his head, noticing something different. His eyes traveled to Trance's face. It was there too. "Trance, you look...purpler."
"Harper, I don't think that's even a word." Trance scolded.
"No, I mean it, there's something different in your eyes and I swear your skin is, I don't know, glowing."
Trance smiled impishly, "You're just seeing things."
"Aw, Trance, come on, don't start that secret crap again, we've come way past that, tell me, please?" A familiar whine entered his voice.
Trance kissed his forehead softly and whispered, "Hope is a powerful thing, I finally found mine and I promise I'll never loose it again."
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THE END