Apologies are more then needed where this fic is concerned. I almost
totally forgot about it until someone gave me a totally out of the blue
review. It didn't have me jumping back into this though it did have me
thinking about it more. It wasn't until last weekend after watching an eppy
of Andromeda that I finally decided to try this again. I don't expect any
reviews, especially since it's been so long since I've updated, just enjoy.
Trekken, if you read this I would really appreciate some constructive
criticism, if you have any of course.
~Gimpy~
****
"Harper!" Rommie's cool voice resounded in the tiny room, bouncing off the metallic walls and directly into Harper's sensitive ears. Shooting up with a start from his sprawled out position on the floor, he turned and glared at his AI. Smiling sheepishly for a moment Rommie hastily crossed her arms and stared at the young engineer, waiting patiently for him to remove his head from the opened panel before him.
Groaning, Harper pushed out of the panel, his stiffened muscle protesting even louder. Taking a precarious seat on the floor her glared up at the intruder, a question lying heavily in his eyes. "What?"
"Nothing," She said with an overly sweet smile on her face. "Just wondering if you'd found anything on that transmission."
His glare fell at her words. "Oh." Fidgeting nervously he muttered, "You see I, well."
Rommie's eyes widened in shock as realization dawned on her. "You're not even looking anymore are you!?"
Cringing at the fury in her voice Harper tried to explain, "Well Rommie I."
Cutting him off with a scowl Rommie snapped, "What? You don't believe me? Still! It was there Harper, it physically shoved me from my own matrix!" Her voice rose with each word almost throwing Harper off.
Growing angry himself Harper cried out, "Hey! Did you find anything when you looked?" Harper challenged, standing and placing his hands on his hips.
Fumbling slightly Rommie awkwardly shook her head, admitting that after hours of looking, her own search had turned up nothing.
Smiling softly he continued, "Then logically if the two most technologically inclined people on this ship can't even find a bread crumb." Trailing off he allowed Rommie to draw her own conclusion.
Unable to concede to Harper's willingness to give up Rommie quickly squared her shoulders. "Something broke into my system, Harper. I don't like not knowing what it was or what exactly it did."
The pathetic need shining in her eyes made Harper's resolve falter just enough for him to cave. "I'll look again."
Bursting into a wide grin, spanning from ear to ear, Rommie had to mentally stop herself from hugging her engineer. "Thank you."
"But only AFTER I do my repairs and get the supplies from Essential IV." He spoke sternly, waking his finger gently in her direction.
Shrugging Rommie just nodded her head and mumbled, "Seems reasonable. I'll get out of your hair."
"Good, but I make no promises!" Harper mumbled as she turned to leave. Staring down at the compartment before him, the compartment he'd spent the last few hours stuck in, a surge of rage gushed through him. "Stupid piece of crap!" he grumbled, bringing back his foot and slamming it unceremoniously into the metal exterior. The force of the blow vibrated through his leg and his face contorted in pain. Exasperating a breath he let out a muted, "Ow."
****
Fingering the sleeve of her shirt, Trance stared imperviously at her Captain as he busied himself at Tactical. Standing outside command she tried once again to gather what little courage she had left when it came to the man before her. With a meek sigh she strode purposefully towards him, stopping a mere two feet behind him. Unaware of her presence Dylan continued to tap at the screen before him.
Trance hesitated, glancing back at the door, her escape route. Shaking the idea from her head she took a tentative step forward. "Dylan?"
Pausing, his hand hovering above the console he glanced back at her. "Hey Trance, how are you?" He asked absentmindedly before returning to his task.
Swallowing heavily she forced a fake grin onto her face and replied, "A little concerned about this. 'leave' of yours."
Dylan's eyes immediately rolled at her response. Forgetting about the work at hand he turned to his with a look of complete frustration. "Not you too?" he groaned, thinking Trance of all people would be excited to visit a place with actual air. "Look Trance it's mandatory so you're not getting out of it." Taking in the look of indifference and knowledge on Trance's face, he left the sentence dangling in incompletion. "You already know this."
"Yes." She stated matter-of-factly.
"So you're concerned, why?" Gauging the look on her face, Dylan's frown deepened. "You know something I don't know?"
Remaining stoic in expression Trance folded her arms protectively around her waist. "I do."
A silence followed her admittance as Dylan waited for her to elaborate. When she proceeded to remain quiet Dylan broke the silence, "You gonna share with the class?"
Her gazed quickly dropped to the floor and seeds of regret started to bud within her. She started to second-guess her coming here. Was it really her place to tell Dylan about the feelings coursing through her or the blurry illustrated stories they elicited in her mind? Truthfully the blurred imaged where far to confusing for even herself to decipher but that reality didn't stop them from coming. If only she could focus her mind, wipe away the translucent film guarding the answers from her.
"Trance," Dylan's probing voice broke through her thoughts. He watched as she lifted her head and slowly regained eye contact. The vision he saw before him almost forced the air from his lungs. For the second time in his life Dylan saw irrefutable tears brimming in this tiny woman's brown pools. Confusion bolted through him and he took a step towards her, ready to pull her into a comforting hug if necessary.
Ignoring the look of pure concern on his face Trance took a deep and shaky breath. "With every minute that passes we grow closer to this planet and the closer we get. The larger this feeling I have becomes. Dylan, something is going to happen there and I don't know what it is. I can't see the possibilities. I don't know what will happen on Essenti'al IV, I just know that. The moment you instigated this outing you set into motion events that will change everything, for better or for worse," Shaking her head softly Trance bowed her head in shame, shame for not knowing the results, for not being able to see it all, to warn her friend, her mentor all he needed to know.
Frowning, Trance adverted her eyes, knowing what she was about to say would no more aid the fears shining in his eyes nor answer his questions dancing on the tip of his tongue. "I'm not sure about the end results. It's so unclear to me and I fear it will be until this path comes to an end, I'm sorry." Grimacing apologetically Trance swiftly turned on her heels and tried to disappear back into the halls before Dylan could have a chance to respond.
"Trance, wait!" Chasing after her he grabbed a hold of her arm and turned her around. "Are you saying we shouldn't go to Essenti'al IV?"
"No! I." Letting out a frustrated breath, she ran a trembling hand across her forehead, kneading the slowly escalating headache from her morning hangover. "I never meant to discourage you from wanting to go. There's a purpose for you there, a chance to forge new alliances, powerful ones. I only meant to warn you, not of darkness or light, but of the possibility for either."
Taking in her disheveled appearance, a drastic change from before, Dylan couldn't help but believe her. The conviction written in the lines creasing her face was more then enough to convince him. Nodding with the slightest on uncertainty, he released her arm, allowing her the freedom to leave.
Forcing another apology, Trance turned to leave once again. Pausing before turning a corner she peered deeply into Dylan's eyes, trying desperately to see what the possibilities were denying her. The empty hollow feeling that followed her failure pricked at her skin, denting her soul. If she couldn't see then she knew without a doubt that she was worthless, nothing without it and in this moment she was without. Breaking contact with Dylan's troubled gaze she dashed down the hall, racing blindly to the sanctum of her room and the dark solitude it'd bring her.
~Gimpy~
~Gimpy~
****
"Harper!" Rommie's cool voice resounded in the tiny room, bouncing off the metallic walls and directly into Harper's sensitive ears. Shooting up with a start from his sprawled out position on the floor, he turned and glared at his AI. Smiling sheepishly for a moment Rommie hastily crossed her arms and stared at the young engineer, waiting patiently for him to remove his head from the opened panel before him.
Groaning, Harper pushed out of the panel, his stiffened muscle protesting even louder. Taking a precarious seat on the floor her glared up at the intruder, a question lying heavily in his eyes. "What?"
"Nothing," She said with an overly sweet smile on her face. "Just wondering if you'd found anything on that transmission."
His glare fell at her words. "Oh." Fidgeting nervously he muttered, "You see I, well."
Rommie's eyes widened in shock as realization dawned on her. "You're not even looking anymore are you!?"
Cringing at the fury in her voice Harper tried to explain, "Well Rommie I."
Cutting him off with a scowl Rommie snapped, "What? You don't believe me? Still! It was there Harper, it physically shoved me from my own matrix!" Her voice rose with each word almost throwing Harper off.
Growing angry himself Harper cried out, "Hey! Did you find anything when you looked?" Harper challenged, standing and placing his hands on his hips.
Fumbling slightly Rommie awkwardly shook her head, admitting that after hours of looking, her own search had turned up nothing.
Smiling softly he continued, "Then logically if the two most technologically inclined people on this ship can't even find a bread crumb." Trailing off he allowed Rommie to draw her own conclusion.
Unable to concede to Harper's willingness to give up Rommie quickly squared her shoulders. "Something broke into my system, Harper. I don't like not knowing what it was or what exactly it did."
The pathetic need shining in her eyes made Harper's resolve falter just enough for him to cave. "I'll look again."
Bursting into a wide grin, spanning from ear to ear, Rommie had to mentally stop herself from hugging her engineer. "Thank you."
"But only AFTER I do my repairs and get the supplies from Essential IV." He spoke sternly, waking his finger gently in her direction.
Shrugging Rommie just nodded her head and mumbled, "Seems reasonable. I'll get out of your hair."
"Good, but I make no promises!" Harper mumbled as she turned to leave. Staring down at the compartment before him, the compartment he'd spent the last few hours stuck in, a surge of rage gushed through him. "Stupid piece of crap!" he grumbled, bringing back his foot and slamming it unceremoniously into the metal exterior. The force of the blow vibrated through his leg and his face contorted in pain. Exasperating a breath he let out a muted, "Ow."
****
Fingering the sleeve of her shirt, Trance stared imperviously at her Captain as he busied himself at Tactical. Standing outside command she tried once again to gather what little courage she had left when it came to the man before her. With a meek sigh she strode purposefully towards him, stopping a mere two feet behind him. Unaware of her presence Dylan continued to tap at the screen before him.
Trance hesitated, glancing back at the door, her escape route. Shaking the idea from her head she took a tentative step forward. "Dylan?"
Pausing, his hand hovering above the console he glanced back at her. "Hey Trance, how are you?" He asked absentmindedly before returning to his task.
Swallowing heavily she forced a fake grin onto her face and replied, "A little concerned about this. 'leave' of yours."
Dylan's eyes immediately rolled at her response. Forgetting about the work at hand he turned to his with a look of complete frustration. "Not you too?" he groaned, thinking Trance of all people would be excited to visit a place with actual air. "Look Trance it's mandatory so you're not getting out of it." Taking in the look of indifference and knowledge on Trance's face, he left the sentence dangling in incompletion. "You already know this."
"Yes." She stated matter-of-factly.
"So you're concerned, why?" Gauging the look on her face, Dylan's frown deepened. "You know something I don't know?"
Remaining stoic in expression Trance folded her arms protectively around her waist. "I do."
A silence followed her admittance as Dylan waited for her to elaborate. When she proceeded to remain quiet Dylan broke the silence, "You gonna share with the class?"
Her gazed quickly dropped to the floor and seeds of regret started to bud within her. She started to second-guess her coming here. Was it really her place to tell Dylan about the feelings coursing through her or the blurry illustrated stories they elicited in her mind? Truthfully the blurred imaged where far to confusing for even herself to decipher but that reality didn't stop them from coming. If only she could focus her mind, wipe away the translucent film guarding the answers from her.
"Trance," Dylan's probing voice broke through her thoughts. He watched as she lifted her head and slowly regained eye contact. The vision he saw before him almost forced the air from his lungs. For the second time in his life Dylan saw irrefutable tears brimming in this tiny woman's brown pools. Confusion bolted through him and he took a step towards her, ready to pull her into a comforting hug if necessary.
Ignoring the look of pure concern on his face Trance took a deep and shaky breath. "With every minute that passes we grow closer to this planet and the closer we get. The larger this feeling I have becomes. Dylan, something is going to happen there and I don't know what it is. I can't see the possibilities. I don't know what will happen on Essenti'al IV, I just know that. The moment you instigated this outing you set into motion events that will change everything, for better or for worse," Shaking her head softly Trance bowed her head in shame, shame for not knowing the results, for not being able to see it all, to warn her friend, her mentor all he needed to know.
Frowning, Trance adverted her eyes, knowing what she was about to say would no more aid the fears shining in his eyes nor answer his questions dancing on the tip of his tongue. "I'm not sure about the end results. It's so unclear to me and I fear it will be until this path comes to an end, I'm sorry." Grimacing apologetically Trance swiftly turned on her heels and tried to disappear back into the halls before Dylan could have a chance to respond.
"Trance, wait!" Chasing after her he grabbed a hold of her arm and turned her around. "Are you saying we shouldn't go to Essenti'al IV?"
"No! I." Letting out a frustrated breath, she ran a trembling hand across her forehead, kneading the slowly escalating headache from her morning hangover. "I never meant to discourage you from wanting to go. There's a purpose for you there, a chance to forge new alliances, powerful ones. I only meant to warn you, not of darkness or light, but of the possibility for either."
Taking in her disheveled appearance, a drastic change from before, Dylan couldn't help but believe her. The conviction written in the lines creasing her face was more then enough to convince him. Nodding with the slightest on uncertainty, he released her arm, allowing her the freedom to leave.
Forcing another apology, Trance turned to leave once again. Pausing before turning a corner she peered deeply into Dylan's eyes, trying desperately to see what the possibilities were denying her. The empty hollow feeling that followed her failure pricked at her skin, denting her soul. If she couldn't see then she knew without a doubt that she was worthless, nothing without it and in this moment she was without. Breaking contact with Dylan's troubled gaze she dashed down the hall, racing blindly to the sanctum of her room and the dark solitude it'd bring her.
~Gimpy~