I figured I should point something out since it wasn't mentioned (and might come in handy later). Tyr was not around when Beka freed the Andromeda from the blackhole in this reality. Things happened nearly the same way, true, but neither he, Harper, nor Rev were involved. That's obviously why he's not included in the story. As of yet.

Please excuse any of the mistakes. It's late, but I really wanted to get this out. Muchas gracias!

Chapter 5

~*~

"These are the times that try men's souls."

--Thomas Paine

~*~

Engineering felt different today. Cecily really couldn't think of any other way to describe it. She was so used to being alone that when someone came along who knew as much as her about the ship (or more) it was a bit of a change. More than a bit actually; it was rather significant. She'd worked with dozens of professors who'd taught her everything from slipstream drives to wormhole physics… but Harper was different. His approach was nothing like the people she'd worked with before. From what she'd seen so far, he'd managed to do a lot more repairs in a day than she had in the last week. She didn't have any doubt in her mind that Harper could have out-wired or out-fix circles around her old teachers.

Especially with that nifty cerebral port.

Ten minutes ago Harper had jacked into the ship's system and she'd heard nothing from him yet. All she could do stare at his unmoving frame and wonder what it felt like. She hadn't known anyone personally with a port, especially since they had been illegal in her time, but figured that in this current day and age, having one would have probably helped get any ship fixed in no time. Maybe for the Andromeda Harper could do what she could not.

Knowing he'd still be under a few more minutes, Cez reached for a diagnostic pad in the hopes of tracing what he was doing at the moment. There was a slight spike of power now going into this ship's main engines, better than what they'd been originally getting, but it was hardly enough to keep the ship running for long. Still, it was a small victory in itself.

When Seamus finally opened his eyes and removed the connection wire from the silver disk on his neck, he caught sight of her and smiled weakly.

"I tried, but it's not going to be much. We might be able to move her a small distance, but I'll need a lot more time to sort things out in there. She took a big hit some time ago that scrambled some of her main systems," he said, getting ready to go back in.

"Keep trying," Cez said with a nod and he was gone again. "Andromeda, open a com to Beka please." She checked the pad in her hands again for changes.

There was a brief pause before Beka's voice rang through engineering. "Yeah Cez, I'm here. If that's you giving us more power, you're doing a hell of a job."

Smiling and honestly wishing she could take the credit, the young lieutenant replied, "No, it's Harper's doing. He's jacked into systems that I can't get my hands on."

"Well, I really don't care who's doing it, just as long as we can get away from this sodding port. Is it safe to start her up?"

"I'm pretty sure," Cecily said, "but we don't want to push her. We'll be able to get away from Tynna at least. It's safer than being here for any longer. We probably won't be able to slipstream for a while though."

"Understood. We'll get her as far as we can now, but keep Harper doing whatever he's doing right because it's working."

"Sure thing, Captain. Mikita out."

The flooring beneath her began to shake slightly and Cez realized the ship was moving… hopefully away from the station they'd been stuck in for the past two weeks. Grabbing a railing near her with one hand, and Harper's arm with the other to keep him upright, Cecily waited out the momentary tremors of the worn ship.

"Andromeda, report," she called, checking the diagnostic pad once more as the shaking lessoned.

The holographic AI formed before her, a triumphant smile on her face. "We're moving slowly, but we are now out of the planet's atmosphere."

Grinning to herself, Lieutenant Mikita let go of Harper and grabbed onto the railing with her other hand in order to pull herself up. She'd only been on her feet a few seconds before she found herself being thrown backward, slamming into the bulkhead. She felt herself let loose a startled yelp as her head made hard contact with it. Everything went black for a moment.

When Cecily managed to open her eyes again she found herself looking at the roofing plates. She waited for the throbbing pain in her head to subside before trying to get up. A warning tone screeched throughout engineering and the AI hologram of Andromeda she'd just been talking to was flickering on and off erratically. Clutching the back of her head, Cez slowly scrambled forward to Harper who lie moaning on the ground.

"Andromeda, what the hell was that?!" she screamed, reaching to steady the young man before her trying to sit up. The AI's form seemed as if she were trying to speak, but no words came out of the wavering figured. The image flickered once more and disappeared.

"Ouy… what hit us?" Harper cringed, still feeling his hair standing on end from the electric shock he'd just received. One minute he'd been working on the engines and the next he was being unexpectedly thrown from the system.

"I'm not positive," Cez replied franticly, pulling him up and towards the exit, "but we have to find Beka… I think we just took enemy fire." As soon the words were out of her month, another onslaught rocked the ship.

~*~

Getting to Command had taken twice as long as usual. By the time they'd reached their destination five more explosions had rocked the giant warship, each one adding more and more bruises to Cez and Harper as they attempted to navigate the corridors. The ship's warning sirens seemed to essentially nonfunctional, screeching on and off periodically. The voice of Andromeda could faintly be heard, but her sentences were cut off leaving them with no real idea of what was happening.

A moment later both entered Command in a heap, falling forward as the ship rocked again. Coughing painfully from the smoke billowing from within, Harper's eyes scanned the deck and the damage done to it. Things did not look good. A part of the ceiling had collapsed, the targeting station looked like it had been knocked from its pedestal, and most of the consuls smoked dangerously. He was only grateful to see no flames. Stray sparks flew at the pair as they stood, each little one burning Harper's skin on contact but he paid them no mind. His is only intention was to locate Beka and Rev.

Through the smoky haze he managed to catch a glimpse of a single pale hand clutching the railing encircling the slipstream piloting chair. Pointing towards where Rev's normal station was located, Seamus told Cez to go check on the Magog while he went after Beka. Dodging the various littered shrapnel, he was by her side in a matter of seconds. Taking her other arm, he managed to get her on her feet. After getting her equilibrium back Beka waved him off gently, willing herself to stand on her own.

"Rev's okay!" Cez called from across the deck. Now that Harper really listened, he could faintly hear the Wayist's pained groans.

Turning his attention back to Beka, Harper found her holding a hand to a bloody cut on her forehead. Besides the gash she seemed relatively unharmed except for later possible bruising.

"What happened?" he franticly asked her as the alarms of the ship once again went off signaling an emergency. Looking over to his left, he noticed Andromeda AI flickering wildly on and off again. While Harper could not hear her frenzied calls, her eyes revealed something more. The ship was afraid. In all his months aboard his Andromeda Ascendant, he had never seen her with such an emotion. The sadness in the AI's eyes as devastating. She was dying… and she knew it.

"A fleet of Restorian ships exited slipstream behind us," Beka replied angrily, pulling her hand down from the gash on her head and staring at the blood. "They fired at us before we could get any defensive measures ready. They don't want to destroy her, only disable. The Restors want the ship intact."

From behind them Cecily came to Beka's other side with Rev following close behind. Jumping over to one of the still functioning consuls, Harper began to inspect the damage as the ships on screen began to grow bigger, forming a broad circle around the crippled ship. Across from him, Cez went to the weapons station to find it still partially intact.

"Weapon's systems are offline," she called, running scans on everything from AP missiles to the last remaining Nova bomb Dylan had been saving. All were nonfunctional.

"Damnit," Harper cursed, running his own checks in the system, "engines are off line again. I don't think we can get them back up in time." He turned towards Cez. "How long to you think it'll talk them to penetrate hull and board?"

"I don't know…. ten minutes maybe. It depends on what they're using," she said, shoving her tangled hair out of her line of sight. "It doesn't matter on what we do though… we're sitting ducks."

"Harper," Beka called, coming to stand in front of the station he was located in, "can you get the ship's AI back?"

"I think I can…"

"Don't think, just do it," Beka said with a nod. "I know you can. I need Andromeda's AI back online."

"I'm on it," Harper nodded, feeling the familiar ache of despair creeping into his stomach. Of all the realities he could have went to, he had to end up right in the middle of a battle. Grabbing a connecting cable from his belt, Harper pulled out the bottom of the console in order to get to the wiring and slip into the system. To his left, Beka took hold of Rev's shoulders.

"Go find Trance and bring her here… quickly."

It took no more prodding for the Magog to exit the room in search of the girl and Beka turned to the viewscreen. Every second the ships grew closer. None of them even closely matched the size of the Andromeda herself, but they were like a horde of bees. One alone was weak, but a swarm of them were deadly.

Catching Cez's eyes, Beka looked away. There was no need to talk. Both knew this would happen, it had only been a matter of time. At least, the captain figured, if they were going to die, they were going to take some of the bastards with them. Letting her gaze fall to the other side of her, Beka locked her eyes onto the spot where the ship's AI had been flickering. Faintly an outline of the AI woman appeared, clearer this time, and lasting for more than a second. 'Come on Harper, come on…'

Suddenly the hologram was back, static lines still running through her form, but visible. Andromeda's persona was still talking, but the only sounds to be heard were faint.

"Damaged… enemy fire…. systems… critical… Beka…"

"Andromeda?" Beka asked, silently wishing Harper to move faster inside the ship's mainframe.

"Captain, I've taken extreme damage… systems are nonfunctional… enemy ships…"

"We know about the ships, Andromeda," Valentine said, "but Harper's working on you right now. I need your AI operational."

"He's almost done… systems are still down but my main AI core is… is coming back on… line…"

For a brief moment, the form disappeared and Beka cursed, taking a step forward and looking down at the limp form of Harper.

"Captain Valentine."

Spinning to face the other direction, Beka came face to face with a new holographic projection of the ship's AI.

"Harper has restored more of my functions, but most of my systems are still offline. We have no weapons or escape means," the ship said evenly. Beka could still see a streak of static moving up and down the see through form, but it was good enough. "I have internal and external sensors, life support is almost gone, but we have enough stored from hydroponics to last a while. I'm afraid both my connection with most of the androids have been damaged, including most internal defenses."

"Well this just keeps getting better and better," Beka snapped, pacing the floor of the deck. "What about the hanger bay? Can the Maru still get out?"

The hologram stood silent for a moment, but then answered, "Yes. The Eureka Maru was undamaged in the explosions."

Noticing Cez had left her side, Beka glanced back to find the redhead leaning over the now conscious engineer.

"Welcome back to the real world," Cecily said softly, helping him up.

"I'm jumping for joy," Harper groaned.

"Beka!"

A call from the door turned the captain towards the entrance to find Rev Bem entering with a dirty, but seemingly unharmed Trance. The purple girl ran towards her and wrapped her arms around the older woman. Returning the gentle embrace, Beka broke it when another impact hit the ship. Less violent than before, it almost felt as if someone had gently tapped the outside of the ship's hull.

"Report," Beka called and the AI's eyes grew wide.

"We have ships attached, Captain. They're making their way in. At this rate, I estimate they will be inside in about three point five minutes."

"What about the Maru, Beka?" Rev called, coming to stand behind Trance. "We could try an escape. We might be able to slip past them and get out."

"I thought of that… but even if you escaped from the Andromeda, I don't think the Maru could get past all of the ships out there," she answered sadly, looking at the faces of her crew. Cez's eyes were not ready for battle. They were wide with a fear that even Beka herself could not help from feeling. This only reminded the blond captain that the girl before her was not a glorified Highguard warrior, just a young woman fated to lose everything she'd ever known. She alone had kept a ship running that had once been manned by thousands, something Beka knew she wouldn't have ever been able to do. She looked hard at the faces of Rev and Trance, who trusted their lives to her. She had only known them a few years, but they were a family in every sense of the word.

And then there was the familiar (yet new) face of Seamus Harper. There was fear in those blue eyes, yet something else—stubbornness… concern… disbelief that this could and was happening.

An idea stuck Beka. "Harper," she asked, "do you think that mirror of yours could take others back through it to your reality?"

"I have no clue," Harper replied, furrowing his brow. "I mean, it would be pretty stupid to make a device meant only for a one-way trip. I guess we could go to another reality if we can't be back to mine. But… if it really is a gateway between our dimensions I might be able to send some kind of help."

The captain nodded, though she knew no manner of help would ever reach them in time. Escaping through the mirror was the only plan they had. Running past the Restors would never work, but with a large enough distraction, the Maru might be able to slip down to Tynna Prime.

"Okay, all of you will go to the Maru and launch from there. I'll keep the intruders on board busy while you escape," Beka said, waiting for the remarks to come. It didn't take long.

"You can't be serious!" Cecily yelled, still unbelieving what she's just heard. "You can't stay here… they'll kill you."

"Beka," Rev said calmly, "please just think this over. They will have no mercy, you know this."

"I know Rev, I know," Beka said with rising strength in her voice. "But if Dylan were still alive, he would have stayed till the very end. He passed that right to me the day he died… and I will use it. This is my ship now, and I have to stay. I want to stay. I need you to understand and let me do this." She held up a hand. "And before any of you say it, none of you are staying with me. You'll all get your asses off his ship because it's an order."

"One minute until the first hull breech," the ship announced.

Besides the momentary noise, the rest of Command was silent save for the crackling of a damaged console. Beka looked into the faces of her friends expecting more protest, but it never came.


Harper stepped forward bravely to stand in front of her. He was silent, but tried to smile. "No matter the universe, you're still too stubborn for your own good, Boss." Unexpectedly he quickly embraced her and let go, backing away. For the next few moments, there was nothing but silent goodbyes. Trance backed away from Beka, the last of them to touch her.

"May the Divine watch out for you my friend," Rev said quietly, not wanting to leave her but knowing she'd settle for nothing else. "We will meet again in a better place."

With that, four soundless figures moved from the deck, leaving only Captain Valentine and the wavering holographic form of the ship's AI.

As Beka took her spot in the slipstream chair she opened the weapon sheath attached to her thigh, pulling out one of Dylan Hunt's personal forcelances. After he'd died it had been reprogrammed to her and kept always at her side. Now laying the metal cylinder on her lap, Beka stared soundlessly at the scene displayed on the viewscreen.

"The intruders have gained entrance on the lower decks," Andromeda's hushed form said next to her though Beka didn't respond.

The AI figure turned to look at her commander, and held her head high. "Captain, I know what you are contemplating, and I ask you to go through with it. I don't want to be taken by the Restors." When the she received no response, Andromeda finally let herself put true passion into her next words. "You once promised me that I would never have to be crewless again. Please, Beka…"

Looking up to face her, the captain let her eyes fall upon the raven-haired form flickering before her and nodded.

"Andromeda, prepare for Retaliation Plan Omega, authorization code, Captain Beka Valentine, SG Reprisal—mark—twenty—zero—zero—eleven."