Intolerance, Part 5: Willing to die

Harper looked at the blank screen, "Why does this crap have to happen to me?" He turned to face Tyr, "What the hell am I supposed to do?" Trance jumped into the conversation, "We can't hand Rommie over to them: their kill her." Tyr nodded, "For once, the three of us are in agreement: we cave into them on this, there is no reason to believe they will not just make another demand." Harper looked at him, "That's a very Nietzschean way of looking at it Tyr, but I'm glad that you're with us on this."

Andromeda's holographic form appeared before them, "I can't take on a planetary defence grid, but I shear Tyr's assessment of the situation: we can't give in." Harper turned to the hologram, "Does Rommie know?" Andromeda nodded, "She's my Avatar: she knows everything I know." Harper sighed, "And let me guess: she's on her way to a hanger deck, intent on giving herself up to save Dylan." Andromeda nodded, "She loves him, and will do anything to protect him." Harper suddenly smiled, "I got a plan: Trance, you have to get to Rommie before she reaches the hanger. I'll explain more then. I just hope we're in time."

Down on New Salem, Dylan found himself strapped to an interrogation chair. Stark stood before him, "Tell me Captain Hunt, do you believe in God?" Dylan nodded, making Stark smile, "And so you believe you have an immortal soul?" Dylan looked at her, unsure where this was going, "I suppose so." Stark grabbed him by the collar and brought her face within inches of his, "Then who do you risk it by your relationship with that abomination you call Rommie?" Dylan pulled his head back as far as he could, "Because I love her, and she loves me." Stark slapped him hard across the face, "You really expect me to believe that an AI can truly love someone? Let's see what your shipmates have to say on the matter."

Stark activated the com-unit built into the wall in front of Dylan: Harper's face appeared after a moment, "Rommie's on her way down in a drop-pod now." Stark smiled, "Excellent. Your captain will be released as soon as it has been dealt with." She cut the link and turned back to Dylan, "Look's like your crew has more brains then you do: they are unwilling to risk their lives for an AI."

Dylan blinked, confused by what had just happened: Harper had sent Rommie to her death to save his own skin. Back on Castalia, he had been willing to confess to the murder of President Lee in order to save Andromeda. What could have made Harper change so much? Was it his relationship with Rommie? Had that upset the normally jovial engineer so much that he would do this? No: Harper still had feelings for Rommie, but did his best to hide them out of respect for Rommie's feelings. Trance would never do something like that, which left only one person: Tyr. The Nietzschean had never warmed to Rommie, and had continued to call her Ship until she had become involved with Dylan. It was possible that Tyr had forced Harper and Trance to keep out of the way. Rommie had proved before that that she was willing to die to save her captain, the man she loved.

Stark undid the bound that tied Dylan to the chair, but kept him handcuffed, "Come, see God's will in action."

TBC