Climbing to his feet was harder than Dylan wanted to admit, even to himself. Once he accomplished that task, he stood a moment, trying to manage the pain before he began up the trail. The going was worse than it had been a few minutes prior and Dylan sent up a curse to the Randamals and their medical inadequacies.
"Out of all the known worlds, I've got to be injured on one that doesn't practice medicine on humans," he grumbled as he made small but steady progress. "And then the world gets invaded, our slipfighter blows up and the Andromdea's gone. Just perfect."
From his vantage point Tyr watched Dylan's torturous trek up the mountain. Ruthlessly squashing his emotions, he sighted on the city that now had widespread destruction. He watched as another troop transport landed amid the chaos.
He knew that once the city was in their control, the invaders would venture here, in the mountains. That move could occur in hours or days or weeks. Tyr's objective was to not be here when they came.
'Yes, that logic is flawless,' Tyr silently allowed. 'It is too bad that I have no slipfighter, no Andromeda and a seriously injured Hunt.' His Nietzschean mind had already calculated his odds for survival as well as the steps he could undertake to increase those odds. Again his eyes rested on Dylan, his look contemplative and assessing.
Stumbling, Dylan impacted harshly with the ground and lay still, panting. To him, it seemed as if he had been climbing the trail for eternity, in truth it was but an hour. He looked ahead to the caves that Tyr had indicated and it seemed an impossible distance.
There were no more buffers for his agony, the painkillers' effects were truly a thing of the past. And his strength? That was waning with each minute. Even if he reached the cave, how long would he last in the condition he was in? Long enough for Andromeda to return and miraculously locate them?! It didn't seem probable.
He didn't blame Tyr for abandoning him to his fate. The way he had treated the man, it was nothing less thAn he deserved. Besides, the Nietzschean could do little to aid him and any effort in that direction would only endanger Tyr further. No, Tyr's best bet was to push onward, to find some faraway crevice to hide in until the Andromeda could pick up his communication. Dragging a dying man along was no way to make progress, or survive.
Having come to grips with his fate, Dylan struggled to conceive of a idea to make himself useful in his last reserves of life. He was a soldier, just as Tyr was, and he had a soldier's devotion to duty. He would die performing his duty to the best of his waning abilities.
Struggling to a sitting position, he leaned back against a rock cropping, lowly crying out in pain the contact with his back invoked. Having managed the pain, he looked to the city below. There was nothing he could do to aid the inhabitants. Sighting on another transport ship descending into the city, he contemplated trying to use his forcelance to bring one of the ships down. He quickly abandoned the idea. In reality, he wasn't sure what this war was about or who's side he should be fighting on. No, neutrality seemed the best call he could make. However, neutrality didn't come without a cost.
Having been in negotiations with Randamal for entry in the Commonwealth, Dylan knew he would be considered an enemy to the invaders. And then there was the Randamals. They were hardly aboveboard with him and it left a nagging feeling in Dylan's gut. No, the Randamals could not be considered allies to he and Tyr now. They were on their own. All they had were each other.
Suddenly Dylan's course of action was clear. He'd stay here, would provide an impasse for the troops and a distraction so Tyr could make his escape. It seemed that he wasn't going to restore the Commonwealth after all but he could protect a friend with his last breath.
'Where is that damn stubborn fool?' Tyr scanned the mountainside for the tenth time and again without catching sight of Hunt. Tyr had hiked ahead further and found the perfect cave to spend the night ...if he chose to lag behind with his injured captain. His mind was truly not made up on that matter. Maybe Hunt alone would wait in the cave while he went and found a more secure hiding place for himself further up the mountain.
Tyr had returned from his hike and hadn't been able to spot Hunt making his pathetic progress up the trail. He refused to call the feeling now cursing through him worry. No, it had to be frustration and impatience that now had him running down the trail. Only his Nietzschean reflexes prevented him from tripping over Hunt.
Dylan lowered his forcelance, "Damn it Tyr, I almost shot you!"
Tyr glared down at the seated man, "And what the hell are you doing? Stopping for a picnic?!"
"Yeah, it's such a beautiful spot," Dylan sallied back.
"Get on your feet!" Tyr gruffly ordered as he held a hand out to Dylan.
Meeting Tyr's eyes, Dylan shook his head, his plan of action firm in his mind. "No, I'll stay here. You keep going. Find someplace you can hole up until Andromeda returns."
"I'm not leaving you here?!" Tyr exclaimed, his words a surprise to Dylan as much as to himself.
Dylan spoke without self pity, "You know I'm not going to make it, Tyr. The best thing you can do now is to leave me behind and save yourself. As decided, Beka will have command of Andromeda."
Tyr bent down beside Dylan, "And that's it, you're quitting?" his voice curious and without emotion.
Dylan smiled, "I know my limitations, Tyr." A twinkle came into Dylan's eyes, "Well, I know them when I'm not doped up on painkillers."
"Your limitations?" Tyr spurted with anger. "You are the man that survived a black hole, that befriended and hired his enemies, and the man who has set out to unite the known galaxies." Tyr gave a laugh, "You don't know what limitations are, Dylan. Now, stop being so melodramatic and let's get to the cave I found."
Without warning, Tyr pulled Dylan from the ground and swung him over his shoulder. Tyr clenched his teeth against Dylan's cry of agony. There had been no help for it.
"Tyr, I'll just slow you down," Dylan wheezed. But Tyr gave no reply and began to make his way up the trail. "Taking me lessens your chance for survival." Still there was no reaction from Tyr. "Putting someone else's life before your own, it's not very Nietzschean of you."
Tyr finally responded but did not slow his pace, "There is one aspect of every Nietzschean that you keep forgetting about."
"And what is that?"
But Tyr did not answer the question, well, not aloud to Dylan he didn't. 'Every Nietzschean is loyal to his Pride.'
Tyr gently eased Dylan to the floor of the cave beside the fire he had started when he initially located the cave. Even by the dim firelight, Tyr could tell how translucent Dylan's skin was becoming.
Desperately clinging to consciousness, Dylan murmured, "So this is home, sweet home."
"It'll do for tonight," Tyr replied and felt Dylan's forehead. It was hot to the touch even as shivers coursed through Dylan. Stripping off his High Guard jacket, Tyr tucked it around Dylan.
Sinking to the ground at Dylan's side, Tyr watched his friend's condition worse by the minute. Without medical treatment, Dylan was right, he would die.
Dylan looked to the man at his side, "You should keep going, Tyr," his voice weak and pained. "In fact, I order you to go."
Try smirked, the man still thought he was in charge, "Order me, do you, Captain?"
Seeing that that tactic was lost on Tyr, Dylan opted for the truth. "I want you to live, Tyr. You can't do that if you stay here with me," his eyes rested on Tyr's. "I think we both know that."
Looking away, Tyr fought down his emotions. "Dylan, I can not abandon you. Not even to save my own life." And Tyr surged to his feet and paced to the entrance of a dark tunnel.
"This isn't about honor or valor, Tyr. This is about survival." Dylan's voice echoed through the cave.
But Tyr kept his back to Dylan. "When my Pride was destroyed, I told myself that I would survive if only to restore the Kodiak's honor and to have my revenge on our enemies." Tyr sighed. "But honor and revenge do not provide enough meat for the soul to survive upon."
Dylan's solemn reply of "I know" struck a chord in Tyr and he swung around to meet the injured man's eyes.
"Yes, I do believe you do." Tyr came again to Dylan's side and after hesitating a moment, reclaimed his seat. "You and your ludicrous mission gave me something to live for." Tyr chuckled, "Hell, I even like playing your stupid basketball game."
"I knew it," Dylan countered.
But Tyr sobered at the weakness of his Captain's voice. Unflinchingly Tyr met Dylan's fevered eyes, "I call very few people friend, but you are one of them, Dylan. Maybe you can't always trust me but you must know that I value you."
Dylan swallowed hard, uncertain of how to respond. "Tyr...I..I owe you an apology. I've judged you harshly because of Rhade's betrayal. Friends?" and Dylan raised his hand.
Without hesitation, Tyr clamped onto Dylan's hand and declared, "Friends."
Dylan chuckled as Tyr laid his hand back to the ground, "Damn, I must be dying or we wouldn't be treating each other so nicely."
But Tyr countered, "Actually I'm hoping our uncovered friendship will lend advantages to my position once we have returned to the Andromeda. Starting with a percentage of the sale of some of Andromeda's spare artillery."
Dylan was ready to give a denial but instead he and Tyr broke into laughter. Short lived laughter at that as Dylan's laugh turned into an agonizing cough.
Without any liquid to offer Dylan, Tyr could only helplessly watch and place a comforting hand on Dylan's shoulder. When the coughing had passed, Dylan lay spent, his eyes shut, his breathing gasping and his lips specked with blood.
Tyr sat stunned. He knew what the blood indicated, internal bleeding. Maybe he and Dylan could elude the invaders from here until the Andromeda returned but Dylan was fighting against a more merciless time schedule. Fighting and losing.
TBC
"Out of all the known worlds, I've got to be injured on one that doesn't practice medicine on humans," he grumbled as he made small but steady progress. "And then the world gets invaded, our slipfighter blows up and the Andromdea's gone. Just perfect."
From his vantage point Tyr watched Dylan's torturous trek up the mountain. Ruthlessly squashing his emotions, he sighted on the city that now had widespread destruction. He watched as another troop transport landed amid the chaos.
He knew that once the city was in their control, the invaders would venture here, in the mountains. That move could occur in hours or days or weeks. Tyr's objective was to not be here when they came.
'Yes, that logic is flawless,' Tyr silently allowed. 'It is too bad that I have no slipfighter, no Andromeda and a seriously injured Hunt.' His Nietzschean mind had already calculated his odds for survival as well as the steps he could undertake to increase those odds. Again his eyes rested on Dylan, his look contemplative and assessing.
Stumbling, Dylan impacted harshly with the ground and lay still, panting. To him, it seemed as if he had been climbing the trail for eternity, in truth it was but an hour. He looked ahead to the caves that Tyr had indicated and it seemed an impossible distance.
There were no more buffers for his agony, the painkillers' effects were truly a thing of the past. And his strength? That was waning with each minute. Even if he reached the cave, how long would he last in the condition he was in? Long enough for Andromeda to return and miraculously locate them?! It didn't seem probable.
He didn't blame Tyr for abandoning him to his fate. The way he had treated the man, it was nothing less thAn he deserved. Besides, the Nietzschean could do little to aid him and any effort in that direction would only endanger Tyr further. No, Tyr's best bet was to push onward, to find some faraway crevice to hide in until the Andromeda could pick up his communication. Dragging a dying man along was no way to make progress, or survive.
Having come to grips with his fate, Dylan struggled to conceive of a idea to make himself useful in his last reserves of life. He was a soldier, just as Tyr was, and he had a soldier's devotion to duty. He would die performing his duty to the best of his waning abilities.
Struggling to a sitting position, he leaned back against a rock cropping, lowly crying out in pain the contact with his back invoked. Having managed the pain, he looked to the city below. There was nothing he could do to aid the inhabitants. Sighting on another transport ship descending into the city, he contemplated trying to use his forcelance to bring one of the ships down. He quickly abandoned the idea. In reality, he wasn't sure what this war was about or who's side he should be fighting on. No, neutrality seemed the best call he could make. However, neutrality didn't come without a cost.
Having been in negotiations with Randamal for entry in the Commonwealth, Dylan knew he would be considered an enemy to the invaders. And then there was the Randamals. They were hardly aboveboard with him and it left a nagging feeling in Dylan's gut. No, the Randamals could not be considered allies to he and Tyr now. They were on their own. All they had were each other.
Suddenly Dylan's course of action was clear. He'd stay here, would provide an impasse for the troops and a distraction so Tyr could make his escape. It seemed that he wasn't going to restore the Commonwealth after all but he could protect a friend with his last breath.
'Where is that damn stubborn fool?' Tyr scanned the mountainside for the tenth time and again without catching sight of Hunt. Tyr had hiked ahead further and found the perfect cave to spend the night ...if he chose to lag behind with his injured captain. His mind was truly not made up on that matter. Maybe Hunt alone would wait in the cave while he went and found a more secure hiding place for himself further up the mountain.
Tyr had returned from his hike and hadn't been able to spot Hunt making his pathetic progress up the trail. He refused to call the feeling now cursing through him worry. No, it had to be frustration and impatience that now had him running down the trail. Only his Nietzschean reflexes prevented him from tripping over Hunt.
Dylan lowered his forcelance, "Damn it Tyr, I almost shot you!"
Tyr glared down at the seated man, "And what the hell are you doing? Stopping for a picnic?!"
"Yeah, it's such a beautiful spot," Dylan sallied back.
"Get on your feet!" Tyr gruffly ordered as he held a hand out to Dylan.
Meeting Tyr's eyes, Dylan shook his head, his plan of action firm in his mind. "No, I'll stay here. You keep going. Find someplace you can hole up until Andromeda returns."
"I'm not leaving you here?!" Tyr exclaimed, his words a surprise to Dylan as much as to himself.
Dylan spoke without self pity, "You know I'm not going to make it, Tyr. The best thing you can do now is to leave me behind and save yourself. As decided, Beka will have command of Andromeda."
Tyr bent down beside Dylan, "And that's it, you're quitting?" his voice curious and without emotion.
Dylan smiled, "I know my limitations, Tyr." A twinkle came into Dylan's eyes, "Well, I know them when I'm not doped up on painkillers."
"Your limitations?" Tyr spurted with anger. "You are the man that survived a black hole, that befriended and hired his enemies, and the man who has set out to unite the known galaxies." Tyr gave a laugh, "You don't know what limitations are, Dylan. Now, stop being so melodramatic and let's get to the cave I found."
Without warning, Tyr pulled Dylan from the ground and swung him over his shoulder. Tyr clenched his teeth against Dylan's cry of agony. There had been no help for it.
"Tyr, I'll just slow you down," Dylan wheezed. But Tyr gave no reply and began to make his way up the trail. "Taking me lessens your chance for survival." Still there was no reaction from Tyr. "Putting someone else's life before your own, it's not very Nietzschean of you."
Tyr finally responded but did not slow his pace, "There is one aspect of every Nietzschean that you keep forgetting about."
"And what is that?"
But Tyr did not answer the question, well, not aloud to Dylan he didn't. 'Every Nietzschean is loyal to his Pride.'
Tyr gently eased Dylan to the floor of the cave beside the fire he had started when he initially located the cave. Even by the dim firelight, Tyr could tell how translucent Dylan's skin was becoming.
Desperately clinging to consciousness, Dylan murmured, "So this is home, sweet home."
"It'll do for tonight," Tyr replied and felt Dylan's forehead. It was hot to the touch even as shivers coursed through Dylan. Stripping off his High Guard jacket, Tyr tucked it around Dylan.
Sinking to the ground at Dylan's side, Tyr watched his friend's condition worse by the minute. Without medical treatment, Dylan was right, he would die.
Dylan looked to the man at his side, "You should keep going, Tyr," his voice weak and pained. "In fact, I order you to go."
Try smirked, the man still thought he was in charge, "Order me, do you, Captain?"
Seeing that that tactic was lost on Tyr, Dylan opted for the truth. "I want you to live, Tyr. You can't do that if you stay here with me," his eyes rested on Tyr's. "I think we both know that."
Looking away, Tyr fought down his emotions. "Dylan, I can not abandon you. Not even to save my own life." And Tyr surged to his feet and paced to the entrance of a dark tunnel.
"This isn't about honor or valor, Tyr. This is about survival." Dylan's voice echoed through the cave.
But Tyr kept his back to Dylan. "When my Pride was destroyed, I told myself that I would survive if only to restore the Kodiak's honor and to have my revenge on our enemies." Tyr sighed. "But honor and revenge do not provide enough meat for the soul to survive upon."
Dylan's solemn reply of "I know" struck a chord in Tyr and he swung around to meet the injured man's eyes.
"Yes, I do believe you do." Tyr came again to Dylan's side and after hesitating a moment, reclaimed his seat. "You and your ludicrous mission gave me something to live for." Tyr chuckled, "Hell, I even like playing your stupid basketball game."
"I knew it," Dylan countered.
But Tyr sobered at the weakness of his Captain's voice. Unflinchingly Tyr met Dylan's fevered eyes, "I call very few people friend, but you are one of them, Dylan. Maybe you can't always trust me but you must know that I value you."
Dylan swallowed hard, uncertain of how to respond. "Tyr...I..I owe you an apology. I've judged you harshly because of Rhade's betrayal. Friends?" and Dylan raised his hand.
Without hesitation, Tyr clamped onto Dylan's hand and declared, "Friends."
Dylan chuckled as Tyr laid his hand back to the ground, "Damn, I must be dying or we wouldn't be treating each other so nicely."
But Tyr countered, "Actually I'm hoping our uncovered friendship will lend advantages to my position once we have returned to the Andromeda. Starting with a percentage of the sale of some of Andromeda's spare artillery."
Dylan was ready to give a denial but instead he and Tyr broke into laughter. Short lived laughter at that as Dylan's laugh turned into an agonizing cough.
Without any liquid to offer Dylan, Tyr could only helplessly watch and place a comforting hand on Dylan's shoulder. When the coughing had passed, Dylan lay spent, his eyes shut, his breathing gasping and his lips specked with blood.
Tyr sat stunned. He knew what the blood indicated, internal bleeding. Maybe he and Dylan could elude the invaders from here until the Andromeda returned but Dylan was fighting against a more merciless time schedule. Fighting and losing.
TBC