Chapter Fifteen: Ray of light

It took Tyr a couple of seconds to figure out why it was so silent. No engine noise, that was the reason. They were just floating soundlessly through space. Something had gone wrong out there while they had been fighting. The AI was not responding. The engines were down. There was no communication with any of the other crewmembers. The only sound in the room was Pitch's wheezing breaths. He was sitting with his head leaned against the wall. His eyes were closed, his face totally drained of colour. Tyr had to admit that it did not look good. If he did not get some medical attention soon, he would not survive for much longer.

"Do not fall asleep!" Tyr said sternly.

Pitch cracked open his eyes halfway and looked at him.

"Why not? You're not trying to tell me that you'd be sad to see me go now, would ya?"

"Be quiet. Conserve your strength."

Pitch gave him that tiny smile and closed his eyes again. Then there was a sharp noise tearing through the silence. It was coming from the other side of the door. Tyr leapt up and ran over just in time to see the bright red flame of a laser cutter eat its way through the metal in a circle. A hole was formed and Harper clambered through.

"Tyr, don't ever say I'm not there when I'm needed and... oh my god, what happened to your face?"

Harper looked around the room and Tyr could see how puzzled he was when he did not see any signs of and accident or explosion. He looked at Pitch's blood-soaked figure and back to Tyr.

"What the hell happened here?"

"Nothing you need to concern yourself with. What is happening out there? Why is Andromeda not responding to my calls?"

"Um, yeah, I'm not sure about that.... Weird stuff is happening... Dylan, Beka and Rommie are gone! And the AI has shut down and I don't know why! I've tried everything, but it's like... I don't even know what it's like, it's just weird!"

Harper certainly looked distressed. He was rambling, but then again, he was always rambling.

"Calm down!" Tyr snapped, "When did you discover this?"

"Um... just a while ago... about half an hour? Everything seemed to be working fine and then... it wasn't. Beka and Dylan were on the bridge... that's the last place I saw them. Rommie... I don't know where she was. But I've scanned the whole ship manually and they're just gone!"

"What about Trance and Milon?"

"Yeah, they're still in medical. Door's locked. I was just heading down there... only I thought... I'd get you to come with me and... help."

Harper's eyes strayed off to Pitch again. He gave Tyr a worried look and whispered:

"Is he... y'know... dead?"

"No. But he will be soon if we do not get him to medical."

Tyr squatted down in front of Pitch and grabbed him by his unbroken arm.

"Come on. On your feet."

"Not a hope..." Pitch whispered.

"I am not carrying you. You get up now or I leave you here to die."

Pitch opened his eyes. They looked at each other for a few seconds, and then Tyr pulled Pitch's arm over his shoulders and pulled him to his feet. Harper tried to help by getting on Pitch's other side, but was only rewarded with a stream of swearing as the broken arm was touched.

"Okay, I'll just go ahead then..."

Harper disappeared out through the hole and after a while Tyr and Pitch somehow managed to climb through as well.

"Stand back, I'm cutting through!" Harper hollered and fired up the cutter.

Sparks were flying and before long a chunk of door fell onto the floor in the medical room. Trance looked at them with startled eyes.

"What's happened?"

"Have you not noticed our present lack of AI?" Harper asked, "Rommie's gone. And Beka and Dylan, they're gone too."

"I know, I meant what happened to them?"

She pointed one purple hand at Tyr and Pitch. Harper did not answer, just turned and looked at Tyr. Tyr did not answer, just helped Pitch over to one of the tables.

"You did this to each other?!" Trance demanded.

Tyr saw Milon lying on another table. He was not moving. It was hard to tell from here if he was dead or alive. Then Trance was blocking his view as she started treating Pitch.

"How's he doing?" Pitch asked with a small sideways nod.

Trance smiled.

"He is going to live. The virus was... I could fix it."

"Thanks..." Pitch whispered.

Tyr went over to the table and looked down on Milon. Six months ago, here in the medical room, Tyr had said some very harsh things to him. Things that were really not fair to say to somebody who had saved your life twice. Or was it more? Did it matter? The point was that he could not do this anymore. Not try to pretend that Milon did not mean anything to him. He was a friend and there was no getting away from it. He was like a younger brother, although he was so fundamentally different from Tyr. Whatever it was about Milon, he just brought him something that Tyr had missed from his life. Something to contrast the fighting and the backstabbing in his life. The power struggle on board. The secrets and the lies and all the things that forced him to stay hard and cold and... Nietzschean. He had thought that was a bad thing, weakening him. But it was not. Not at all.

Tyr lifted his hand and stroke Milon's hair gently, once. This would wake him up. Tyr could see his eyes moving behind his eyelids so he knew he was not unconscious but dreaming. Milon's eyes did open at the touch and he looked up at Tyr.

"Hey... wha'ppen to yer face?" he mumbled sleepily.

"It is not important. You are going to be fine."

"What about the Trial?"

"Trance found a way to cure it."

"Lovely."

Milon smiled again, the real smile, the one that always made Tyr have to smile too. But then Milon turned his head and saw Pitch on the table next to his. He stared at Tyr again, his eyes filled with suspicion.

"What did you do?"

There was no anger in his voice, only worry. It made Tyr feel something he had not felt in a very long time. Shame. He almost found it hard to look Milon in the eyes. And when he opened his mouth, what came out was nothing short of a child's excuse:

"He started it. I mean, he wanted to fight. I was simply... indulging him..."

"But what did you do? Is he okay?"

Milon was trying to sit up, and Tyr braced himself for the outburst that would no doubt come when he saw the serious condition his friend was in.

"One punctured lung… one broken arm and a fractured collarbone… some internal bleeding. Usually it wouldn't be a problem," Trance said, "but because the computers are down... the medical equipment isn't working properly... if at all."

Milon just stared at Tyr and then back at Pitch, who obviously still was conscious, because he said:

"Don't worry 'bout me Snowflake. I gave as good as I got."

"I knew you two didn't get along, but this is fucking ridiculous!" Milon said.

"It is over now though. No more fighting. Agreed?" Tyr asked in Pitch's direction.

"Ah yeah. We'll be the bestest buddies, promise promise," Pitch joked weakly, but Tyr could still tell that he meant peace.

"Um, not wanting to put any stress on anybody, but what are we going to do about the situation… the whole lack of captain and that?" Harper said.

"You are the engineer. You should be able to tell me why the ship's AI is not operational," Tyr said.

"I've already tried everything!" Harper complained.

"Well, try again!"

Harper made an angry face, but ran out the door. Milon sat up on the table and touched his shoulder where the exit wound had been. There was only a fresh scar there now, but he would have to be careful so it did not re-open. Although, maybe now the Trial virus was out of his system, he could heal himself. He climbed off the table carefully and got dressed. Then he walked over and stood beside Trance as she treated Pitch as best she could without the proper equipment.

"Trance... I know you're a great doctor and all... you fixed me. But maybe I should..."

Tyr saw a faint glow growing around Milon's hands as he put them on Pitch's chest.

"No, Milon, I think you should take it easy... you need to get more time to recuperate before..."

But Milon was not listening to her. Of course not. The light grew stronger around them. Trance was staring at the light as if hypnotised. The reflected glow was making her skin sparkle more than usual. Tyr knew how it felt, that light, knitting together torn muscles and flesh. Warm and tingling. He almost though he could feel some of the warmth on his face, but he guessed after what he had done to Pitch, his face would be left to heal for itself.

As the light faded, Pitch sat up and smiled at Milon. He still had some bruises on his chest and face, obviously Milon had to concentrate on healing the internal damages. Pitch reached out with the arm that had been broken only minutes ago and pulled Milon in for a rough hug.

"Ow! Go easy, will ya? Gunshot wound in shoulder here!" Milon said, but it was obvious that he did not really mind.

Trance smiled and looked like everything was fine. But everything was not fine. There were serious problems they had not even begun to tackle.

Suddenly Harper's voice came over the speakers:

"Hey guys! I've managed to get comms up and running... still no sign of Rommie. I went in and had a look, and all the information is still there, there's just nobody there to handle it... I mean, the computer is basically fine, it's the AI, the interface between the data and us, that's... um... gone."

"Any sign of our captains?" Tyr asked although he already knew the answer to that.

"No... hang on!"

The communication was broken. It sounded like Harper had thought of something and run off to check it. Tyr felt awkwardly powerless in the situation. This was all too technical. No muscle needed. Nothing he could do. Then the voice was back in the air:

"Ehum... yeah. I've checked it out and. well..."

Harper sounded like he was ashamed.

"Out with it!" Tyr shouted, loud enough to make Trance jump.

"Well... I'm in the machine shop... I think... the channeller might have... gone off again. The time matches... and the location. It opened a portal on command deck for some reason... I think they might have... gone to another dimension."

"Where?"

"Back where we came from."

Oh great. Just fantastic. Tyr was just about to let Harper know exactly what he thought about that machine of his when the communication was once again cut off, this time to a piercing scream.

"Harper?"

No answer. Tyr headed for the door. Both Trance and Milon took a few running steps after him.

"Trance, you stay here and. keep an eye on Pitch. Milon, come with me," Tyr decided.

If Harper was injured right now, with the medical systems down, Milon might be in a better position to help him than Trance. Besides, whatever it was that had made Harper scream like that, Tyr felt better facing it with Milon by his side than the girl.

They arrived at the machine shop, the door held open by a metal bar, only a narrow gap between the door and the wall. Milon squeezed through easily, but Tyr was too big. He would have pulled the door open, but his broken rib had been forgotten in all haste. He could only stick his head through the gap and look into the room. At first he could see no sign of Harper. Then he looked again, and spotted him perched on a high shelf. The machine was buzzing, electric sparks flying.

"Milon, watch out! That thing might go off any second!" Harper called down.

As if the machine had heard him, a beam of light suddenly shot across the room. Milon dodged to the side, his lightening fast reflexes saving him from getting hit.

"How do you turn it off?" he shouted.

"I don't know! It's not supposed to have any power! But it's like it's become completely self-sufficient for some reason!"

"Oh, that's just..."

Milon did not make it any further. A second beam of light shot out, this time leaving him no window for reacting. It hit him right in the stomach, throwing him back towards the door with such force that Tyr could hear the metal of the door sing from the impact.

"Milon?"

Tyr could not see where the boy had landed because the door was in the way. Not for long. Ignoring his protesting ribcage, Tyr forced the door open and Milon's body fell out into the corridor. There was a large, burnt hole in the front of his T-shirt.

"What are you doing? Stay out!" Harper shouted.

The machine was still shooting sparks, ready to fire again at any second. Tyr scooped Milon up and carried him around the corner, out of the way of the rampant device.

"Hey, what about me?" Harper called.

"Jump down. Make a run for it."

Tyr heard him mumble something unappreciative and then a thud as Harper's feet hit the floor. Seconds later he came darting around the corner, throwing himself out of the doorway as if under enemy fire. Tyr turned his attention back to Milon, who to his surprise opened his eyes and looked up.

"Oh... I feel... really weird..." Milon said.

"Are you alright? You got hit by that beam! Right in the chest, I saw it!" Harper said.

Milon looked down at his destroyed clothes and pulled the T-shirt up. There was a glowing circle on his chest, fading as they stared at it, but the skin underneath was undamaged.

"I'm fine... might be because my cells are built to handle light... I don't think either of you should risk it though."

"I'm not," Harper said.

Tyr sank down on the floor, rubbing his aching side. He hated being injured. Not because of the pain, but because it hindered him. Slowed him down.

"Yeah, sorry, forgot about that," Milon said and put his hand to Tyr's side.

But he had not said anything! Surely, the boy could not read his mind? Tyr just closed his eyes as the warm, wonderful buzz travelled through his chest, chasing away the pain.

"That better?" Milon asked, jumping to his feet.

"Yes."

Trance had told Milon that he should take it easy, but he had healed some major injuries on Pitch and now Tyr's rib, all in the space of half an hour. That was more than he had been capable of six months ago. Tyr had seen how much the healing power took out of him, but right now he was standing there not even breaking a sweat.

"So no idea how to turn it off?" Milon asked Harper.

"Well... the power is looping through it. It could open another portal at any time... I'd have to drain the power somehow... but I can't even get in the room with it! And all the computers are down."

"It sounds like it has slowed down some," Tyr observed.

When he glanced into the room, the machine did not seem to be throwing quite as many sparks as before. Still, he did not really feel like going in there and risking it.

"Yeah, it does!" Milon said, looking like he was thinking hard about something.

Harper turned to look at him, also looking like he had something in mind.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Harper asked.

Milon nodded.

"Probably. I was thinking that maybe the beam that got me did some good after all... I feel all charged up! Never felt better as a matter of fact..."

"Yes!" Harper was getting really enthusiastic now, "I was just thinking that some of the excess energy from the machine was transferred into you... the pressure was relieved a little and..."

"... and if I managed to do it again, maybe that would eventually shut it down!" Milon finished.

The two humans nodded in excited agreement. Reckless little people...

"No!" Tyr blurted out.

Milon and Harper turned and looked at him with identical, questioning looks on their faces.

"It's too dangerous! I mean... it is not worth risking your life for... you are more use to me alive."

"Ah Tyr! I wouldn't do it if I didn't think it'd work!" Milon smiled at him.

Tyr suddenly realised that for once he was completely helpless to stop this. Milon was not part of the crew; Tyr had no real authority over him. He could go on about security risks and such, but the fact of the matter was that Milon would not endanger anything but himself. Still it was worth the try:

"No. I have already made my decision, it is too dangerous. We will have to find another way..."

"Tyr, come over here for a second..."

Milon grabbed his arm and pulled him down the hall, away from Harper. He looked up at Tyr, so determined-looking, and almost whispered at him:

"Tyr, I hate to say this to you, but I already know you feel it. Empath, remember? No, you can't stop me, and you know it. I know you care, and I'm glad you do, but you're not my boss. Sorry."

Of all the stupid, conceited things to say! Tyr felt the anger light up inside him. Not just frustration, not anymore, this was the last straw! He was not even trying to sound calm when he said:

"Well then, throw your life away if that is what you are so set on doing! I could not care less! You are not part of this crew and I hold no responsibility for your safety! And you presume to know what my feelings are, you do not know anything!"

He turned around and started walking down the corridor, leaving Milon's surprised face behind.

"Hey, Tyr, where are you going?" Harper called after him.

Tyr did not answer. He turned the corner and headed back to sick bay.