Nightmares
Chapter 3
By
Armitage374
Denmark
Bridge
The "Larya"
Lily was getting worried. She had heard a scream from the bridge, but when she arrived there, there was no one to be seen. And no one was piloting the ship.
"Guardian, engage the autopilot, destination Earth."
"Autopilot engaged. Starting course corrections. Destination will be reached in t -8 hours." The cold, metallic voice of the ships AI boomed out from the wall, and Lily was now more than worried. Course corrections meant that the ship had been without a pilot for quite a while. Where was Anr'el? This was not like her.
"Guardian, locate Commander Anr'el"
"The Commander is currently approaching the shuttle deck via the maintenance tunnels on habitation deck 12."
Deck 12? That was Liam's deck, so that could be part of the explanation. But why the maintenance tunnels ? Picking up a jog, Lily started in the direction of the habitation deck, a feeling of dread slowly spreading in her body.
The Kazamatz
Copenhagen
Earth
Zeke carefully approached his former commander and friend after having watched him just stand there for a few minutes. He hadn't heard any more outbursts from him. How to best deal with this ? Boone was obviously fighting the CVI, but how much control did he have ? He really didn't want to harm Boone, but if Will attacked him, he would have no choice. The man was, after all, friend or no friend, armed with a skrill. But soon after the decision was taken out of his hands as his prey doubled over, falling to the floor in a series of violent convulsions.
Boone's Mind
5 minutes ago
Everything was dark, had been for quite a while. Had it always been as dark? He tried to remember if there had been another state of mind, but in vain. A fussy memory of being in a cave, fighting for something...Control ?..., briefly crossed his mind, soon to be forgotten. When his vision had finally cleared, he found himself in a strange place, surrounded by strange machinery. Even the dampened lights of this place hurt his eyes. He did the only thing he could and hid in the darkest spot he could find. His body didn't react the way it was supposed to. Something was very, very wrong... He needed to get away. Shuttle... The word invaded his mind. A shuttle, he needed one of those. Relying on instinct to keep him out of trouble, he started to crawl.
Liam's quarters
Now.
He looked into the mirror after splashing water on his face. What a sight! Sweat drenched hair, puffy red-rimmed eyes. And he was shaking. That last dream had been a killer. He needed Anr'el. She would make it right. She kept the demons at bay. But first he needed control. He couldn't let them know, he still wasn't getting better. They would only get worried. And he had caused enough bother as it was. But something told him, he didn't fool them one bit. Abandoning his towel on a chair, Liam went to search for Anr'el.
An'rel's mind
Now
Consciousness was slowly returning. Pain. Aching joints. And a weird doubleness in her mind. What was wrong with this picture? Control eluded her as she spun into darkness again.
The Kazamatz
Copenhagen
Ca'el was getting impressed with the versatile use of earthly languages that the Doctor was presenting him with. Granted, most of it was not what he would call polite, but still.. Quite impressing. Quickly moving a couple of steps backwards as the whirlwind also known as Jean stormed between the various medical equipment and the clone, which they had been forced to remove from the stasis capsule as the clone went into a series of violent convulsions. Being a soldier and a diplomat, Ca'el's experience into medicine didn't go beyond the mere necessities, but still it was enough to know that right now, all he could do was stay out of her way.
"Så sgu da også !" Jean started another string of very imaginative curses as the clones brainwaves started to go erratic once again. If she didn't know better, she would say, that two personalities were battling to get in control of the same body. But that was impossible, wasn't it?
"Ca'el, get over here !" She all but snarled "Do a share !"
"Pardon ?"
Jean resisted the urge to roll her eyes in frustration. Males. Instead, she repeated: "Do a share! There's something weird going on here, and I need to know, who's in there! Stat !" She poked Boone's clone on the forehead. Ca'el looked at her with apprehension in his eyes.
"Sharing is not something to be done without approval from the other party."
"Just do as I say! I have reason to believe, that there's more than one personality in there and THAT is causing all these problems !" There were a couple of seconds of silence. Then Ca'el slowly extended his hands towards the clone..
Liam's Deck
The Larya
8 hours away from
Earth.
Liam was going towards the bridge as he ran into Lily.
"Liam, have you seen Anr'el lately ?"
"No, what's wrong ?" Liam sensed that something was out of order. A feeling that he had been having ever since he woke up. At first, he thought it was just the aftermath of the nightmare, but seeing the hardly concealed worry on Lily's face, he couldn't help but wonder.
Lily sighed. That boy was way to perceptive. "An'rel's gone awol. She's somewhere in the maintenance tunnels, but I can't seem to locate her." Noticing the alarm on Liam's face she kicked herself mentally. "Don't worry, she's probably just checking up on something. Could you..ehm..could you check on her over the Commonality ?"
Closing his eyes briefly, Liam felt for the special signature, which was Anr'el in the multitude of voices in the Commonality. There...Or was it really her? The signature had changed somehow, gone darker and more turbulent. Something was very, very wrong and he seemed to be the only one to notice it. Then he felt it. The wrongness. And then he recognised it. His mental cry of alarm didn't go unnoticed. In the real world, all Lily could do was watch as Liam suddenly spun around and headed for the shuttle deck.
Strandhill
Ireland.
She had just arrived from Belfast international Airport and was looking forward to some real rest before seeking out the Becketts the next day. Remembering the nice and open people, she had encountered once before, the barely hidden hostility in the air caught her by surprise. Noticing a particular platinum blond head disappear through the door, Abby frowned. What the hell was Renee Palmer doing in Strandhill, when she had a business to run? Abby wasn't the only one sensing trouble. From across the room, another pair of eyes followed the blonds exit.
Despite his own part in this, Dick Sanchez had decided to stick around after finally getting his act together and finding out about the Becketts and their connection to Major Kincaid.. And he was glad he had. Palmer was playing a dangerous game. One that could end bloody. And he was trying to figure out how to stop it. If only he had someone to help him.
The Beckets
residence
Strandhill
Fiona was doing some heavy-duty baking to get the events of the day out of the head as it happened. A cobblestone crashed though the window, sending splinters all over the kitchen area. Hearing the crash, Ambrose quickly rose from his chair in the living room and went out there, only to find a shaken Fiona, bleeding from several scratches in her face, unfolding a small piece of paper, which had been tied to the cobblestone. Silently she handed it over to him.
All it said was: "Freaks are not welcome in Strandhill"
The Larya
Shuttle deck
Ignoring Lily's voice telling him to slow down, Liam ran, in an almost inhumanly speed, to the nearest maintenance access. Not bothering to open it, but simply tearing the door out of the hinges, never noticing the bloody cuts its edges carved in his hands, he proceeded to worm his way through the narrow opening, focusing entirely on the centre of his minds eyes focus. There! A soft glowing, silently whimpering form was lying limply at a crossing between two tunnels. Liam was suddenly scared. This was so unlike his friend. She was always the strong one. To find her like this, hiding like an animal waiting to die..
"Anr'el ? Are you alright ?" He softly touched her shoulder, afraid to add to the pain than she was obviously already in. The violent reaction to this simple gesture took him by surprise. Anr'el jerked back as if burned. But the visible transformation was even more surprising. Ripples extended through her entire body as it changed into that of a human male. A desperate one.
"Get back !" The loud voice echoed through the tunnels.
"Anr'el ? What's wrong ? It's me, Liam.." Liam's voice slowly faded as he realised that things WAS as bad as he suspected. Anr'el no longer knew who she was. Lily had finally caught up with Liam, navigating through the less than human size tunnels using the sound of voices as her compass. It was at times like this, which she felt lucky to be part Jaridian. If she had been human, the narrow tunnels and poor lighting would have had her bordering claustrophobia by now. She definitely had to talk to the Kimeran Engineers about resizing these tunnels. As she neared her goal, the sight of the two others made her stop dead in her tracks.
It wasn't Liam. It was the other person. Someone, which Anr'el wasn't even supposed to know.
"Boone ? Is that you ?"
The Kazamatz
Below Copenhagen
Ca'el never got as far as to share with the Clone. Instead, it suddenly sat up, the suddenness of the action making everyone spin around and point his or her gun at it. Not to mention Ca'el loosing his human guise. The recent fireworks from the other, now comatose clone had recalled old, almost forgotten reflexes in most of the fighters. When this newest Boone didn't seem to be a threat, they all stepped down a bit, but not completely. Scanning the room quickly with its eyes, it locked its attention on Ca'el.
"Ca'el ? Have we arrived at Earth already ? Where's Liam ?" There was a truly confused expression in Boone's eyes.
"Pardon ?" Ca'el asked just as confused. Boone's face took on a slightly annoyed expression that Ca'el recalled from Anr'el when someone did something incredibly stupid.
"The Larya ! Have we arrived on Earth already ?" Anr'el clarified, not to pleased when Ca'el seemed to have lost his ability to recognise even the simplest of questions. Ca'el cocked an eyebrow. How could this human know about the "Larya".
To Jean, however, it opened a completely different set of possibilities.
"Commander Anr'el, I suppose ?"
Shuttle bay 10
The Larya
Lily was scared and not afraid to admit it. What Liam wanted to do was dangerous. At first, the idea of something like this happening sounded completely ludicrous, but one had to remember that this was an area, where she was no expert. She preferred flying. But Liam had seemed so sure, knowing without a doubt that this was the only thing that would make things ok again. Probably some of those ancestral memories the Kid carried around in his head. She could only watch as Liam and the now green glowing "Boone" was locked in a deep share, trying to sort everything out.
The Kazamatz
Below Copenhagen
Ca'el was still trying to wrap his brain around the latest developments. But the questions he and the others had asked in the last hour, the mannerisms, even the memories all pointed to the same conclusion: Somehow Boone and the Commander had been swapped.
*No*
Liam's voice reached him though the Commonality. Ca'el went in.
*What do you mean, no ? The person in front of me has all her mannerisms and memories.*
*Manners and memories, yes, but not the soul. When the second clone was activated and the transfer started, something that even the Taelons couldn't have foreseen happened. Due to the Kimeran DNA, Boone has his own extremely weak Commonality link and he grabbed onto the only living relative he had in there and the Commanders memories and his own were all tangled up in the process.*
*But the Commander doesn't have any relatives, who could have delivered the DNA. And it would have to have been fresh for this to work.*
*It wasn't the Commander, who was his relative.* Liam seemed to hesitate. *It was me. Boone's 3'rd DNA string came from Hag'el.*
The Data core
"Larya"
Augur was trying hard to find something to say to the silent figure, which handed him the various equipment as he asked for it, but was hell on the conversation. Ok, maybe his little rant to Sandoval was not put in the most polite of terms, but he needed the air cleaned between them if they were to form any kind, however, remote it might be, of friendship. But did the guy have to be this god damned silent all the time? Sandoval on his part felt an equal need for speaking but didn't know where to start. What do you say to a guy, whom you've spent the better part of 10 years harassing, chasing, torturing and generally being a nuisance to?. He couldn't think of anything. Maybe he should just start from the only common point they had. Liam.
"So...Liam...What was he like when he was a ki..younger?" Augur sent him a quick glance. Sandoval seemed genuine enough. And the silence where really grating on his nerves.
"Really gullible." He grinned as he thought of some of the more fun parts of Liam's life. "There was this time, when.." But before Augur could tell Sandoval about the infamous Giant Doughnut Battle for Peace in the Flat Planet, Lily's voice boomed from the intercom.
"EVERYONE, GET DOWN TO SHUTTLE BAY 10! STAT!" The urgency and fear in her voice had them hitting the nearby portal running. What on Earth had happened now?
Strandhill
Ireland
Earth
Abby Franklin was struck by the inspirational lightning as she watched how Palmer made her little lies go around. Getting angry and starting yelling wouldn't help, but maybe she could beat her at her own game. After all, Abby had a major, worldwide news network to use, while Palmer only had herself. But she needed to find an attack point and for that she needed help. Smiling a little devilishly, the otherwise nice and calm Abby grabbed her mobile and started dialling. Palmer was about to get her plastic surgery tuned a** kicked.
TBC...
