Chapter 6
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"All stories, if continued far enough, end in death, and he is no true storyteller who would keep that from you."
--Ernest
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Besides the hollow reverberation of running feet, the only thing to be heard was the voice of Andromeda leading the small group of five towards the Maru.
"There are currently twenty aboard as well as a few more on the way," she called to them, speaking through hidden intercoms deep within the gray walls of the ship. "They're gaining on your position and only a few decks below. It's imperative that you hurry."
Trying to ignore the pain in his side, Harper caught up with the others and realized this was the second time in one day he'd been running like crazy. The first had been to get to the ship, and now he was running from it… a very strange backwards déjà vu to say the least.
They'd almost reached the hanger bay where the Eureka Maru was docked when Cecily slid to a halt unexpectedly.
Turning Harper called over his shoulder, "Hey Cez, I don't even need to know why your stopping because just forget it and come on!"
"The controller," the redhead breathed heavily. "We might need it again to activate the device."
"There's no time," Harper blurted. "We can't risk going back."
"I can," Cez replied, turning to go the other way but Harper caught her arm.
"You're just one charter short of a Commonwealth, aren't you?" he blurted, refusing to release her when she tried to pull away.
"I have to, and the sooner I go, the sooner we can leave… just get to the ship and I'll be quick," she said, trying to pry his hand off of her sleeve.
"Cez, Harper's right about this," Rev replied, coming to stand across from the two. "We don't have time for this. Even if you go to the weapon's locker without being caught, you might not get back in time."
"Hey," Cez said, "I'm this ship's engineer… and engineers know their ships like the back of their hand. I can find a way."
"Then I'll go with you," Harper tried, though realized he had no weapon whatsoever. At least Cecily had her forcelance.
Smiling, Cez shook her head. "You can't risk something happening to you, remember? You have to find a way back to help your friends, Seamus."
"Then I will," Rev said quietly.
Shaking her head harder, Cecily finally removed Harper's fingers from her sleeve. "No Rev, you need to stay and protect Trance and Harper. And before you even say it you can take care of yourself Blondie, I think you would stand a better chance with a Magog on your team."
Stepping back from the two, Cez smiled. "I'll meet you back at the ship. If I'm not there in five minutes, go without me." Turning, she choose an empty corridor that would lead her to the locker.
"Be careful!" Harper yelled after her, hoping she'd catch his last words.
Turning her head as she ran, Cecily smiled and shouted before she disappeared, "Don't worry about me, Genius, I'll see you soon!"
~*~
Quickly punching in her security code for one for one of the ship's main weapon's lockers, Cez entered searching for Harper's remote. After she found the small device she also grabbed his gun, figuring he might be able to use it.
As she turned to leave Andromeda's form materialized before her, calling out franticly, "Lieutenant, they're here and you have to get out now!" A now familiar surge of static went through the figure and it crackled out of existence.
"Andromeda!" Cecily called, realizing that the intruders must have found a way to shut down the ship's AI… or were at least attempting it.
Deciding she didn't have time to grab any other weapons, she ran from the locker… only to get out the doorway and hit something very large, and very hard. It was like running into a titanium wall Cez thought as she hit and went stumbling backwards, landing on her back hard enough to knock the wind out of her. Harper's gun smacked into the bulkhead behind her but she the managed to keep her grip on the remote.
"Well well well boys, look at what we got here."
Staring up into the oversized face of one of the Restors' cronies, Cez had to hold in the curse word sitting on the tip of her tongue.
"If it isn't one of the little crew," the large man spoke again and Cecily swore she could smell his rancid breath from her position on the floor. "I'm so glad we've finally been able to meet," he sneered.
Getting to her knees Cecily counted eight men and aliens of different sizes surrounded her, with at least three more waited outside. Once standing, she slowly began to inch towards the wall behind her, gripping the remote tightly.
"Hey fellas, wish I could say it was nice to see you again, but oh wait, never mind I don't."
In a rage, one of the men she'd silently nick named Eyebrows came forward, raising his weapon. "I say we kill her now," he grumbled.
"Whoa there guys… just a minute, I surrender," Cez said, raising her hands. "I have information I know Veila would want. What do you say?" When they didn't answer, she stepped forward holding up the device. "This is a remote control to an interdimensional portal. I can tell Veila where to find it."
One of the men reached for the device quickly, plucking it from her hands. The rest of the group all came forward as if trying to determine if she was telling the truth. Not that they knew what an interdimensional portal was. The Restors hadn't thought to hire intelligent beings. Only cheap ones.
In the split second that they looked away from her, Cecily made her move towards the forcelance attached to her thigh. Pulling the ancient High Guard weapon from its sheath, she silently prayed for the safety of her friends as she entered a quick sequence of codes into the small but deadly device.
The first to notice the noise was Eyebrows. Looking up, he wrinkled his bushy brows together and listened intently, trying to figure out where the high pitched whining was coming from. The rest of the group all seemed to look up together, realizing it was getting louder by the second.
"Oh yeah," Cez said calmly dropping the weapon at their feet, "I wish to blow us all to hell."
When nothing happened they smiled and raised their guns to kill… but never got the opportunity. The forcelance exploded.
~*~
The group of three reached the airlock a few minutes after they had split with Cecily. As Rev keyed the entry code and the airlock slid open, Harper got his first glimpse of the Eureka Maru. For a moment he was briefly disappointed. He'd hoped that maybe in one universe his friend could have afforded a better vessel but the ship before him could have been an identical twin to the one in his reality. He was about to say something when an explosion rocked the inside of the Andromeda and Harper had to grab a hold of Trance and the wall to stay on his feet.
"Andromeda," Rev called, his rough voice filled with concern, "are we under attack again?"
A faint form appeared to their right, and while they knew it was Andromeda, the image was almost too distorted to recognizable.
"No… came from… … weapons locker … can't help her… you must get out…" Once again, the image faded into nothingness.
"Wha—what did she mean?" Harper asked, not trusting himself to truly believe what he feared the most.
When he received no direct answer from Rev he knew. Harper stood silently as the Magog turned back towards the other side of the airlock, a growl forming deep in his throat. Pulling himself together and telling himself he'd mourn later, Seamus took a hold of Trance's arm in order to lead her towards the ship. If they didn't get going, they'd all suffered the same fate.
"Come on Rev, we've gotta get out of here, they'll be coming any second!" he called, pushing an almost catatonic Trance up the ramp and into the small vessel.
Coming to a stand at the bottom of the ramp, Harper could see the Wayist had no intentions of going with them.
"I can almost smell them," Rev growled, anger in his voice. "They'll be here within moments and we'll never get away." Turning towards Harper, he dropped his voice. "Take her and the ship out of here Seamus Harper. I will buy you as much time as I can."
A protest died in the young man throat as he slowly nodded, knowing that no amount of prodding would or ever could get Rev Bem aboard. As he ascended the ramp to seal it up, Harper saw the Magog run from the room, seal the doors from the outside and disappear into the corridors somewhere.
~*~
As the three Restor assailants approached him in the corridor, Rev did not budge from his position. When they raised their weapons he did not move, for the only thing he saw were the faces of friends lost by these evil men. As they raised their weapons, the pacifist within him silently wondered how or why beings could become so corrupted. He would never understand why other species could give into their bloodlust so easily, while he had fought so long against his.
Rev Bem looked up at the men approaching him. Even with their guns ready, it was already too late for them. Dodging blasts, Rev attacked. While there were furry in his spirit, he fought for the safety of Trance and Harper and nothing else. There was one more foe in his path, trying to find a way around him but he soon joined his fellows on the floor. Rev was not proud of the pain or blood he had just caused. He was not like the others of his kind and for the first time, he realized just how exactly different.
Had he looked behind him at the moment, Rev would have seen the lone Restor approaching and done something. He could smell the man before he moved. Knowing that this was his last stand, Rev found silent comfort in his beliefs as he turned to meet his fate. There was a bright flash, little pain, and then darkness as he became one with the Devine he had so loved.
~*~
As Beka watched the Maru fly away from the Andromeda on the monitors, a pain formed deep within her chest. The ship had informed her that the Restors were trying to purge the AI's system, and though they had not succeeded yet, it was only a matter of time. Not only that, but the Maru (now regrettably with only two life forms aboard) had been picked up on by enemy scanners and was now under heavy fire.
There was a large explosion outside Command and Beka held her breath. Andromeda's hologram appeared next to her. "They're almost through."
The ship's fading image went out as the first noise hit the thick doors. Turning the chair, Beka sat watching it was it forced open from the outside. A tiny explosion of some kind was set off and finally the entrance gave, sliding open to reveal a group of people, weapons ready and aimed at her.
"Why Captain Valentine," a shrill voice snickered, "I do love what you've done with the place. The damaged look really does wonders for the ship."
"Still as sharp as ever, Gerentex," Beka growled back as the Nightsider before her entered and positioned his men around the room.
"Don't worry yourself Valentine, it will all be repaired in good time. Now, why don't you lower your weapon and we can talk about this," he replied smiling.
"There's nothing to talk about ratface," Beka said, matching his grin. "And, if you hadn't noticed, my weapon is down." She patted the metal device in her lap.
"Oh I noticed Valentine, but you've always got something up your dirty, spacers sleeve and I really don't feel like dealing with you at the moment."
"Then get off my ship," she replied evenly.
"Unfortunately for you, I believe this is my ship now, Captain Valentine," Gerentex said smugly. "Actually, I'd like you to meet someone. When he heard we had you cornered, he wanted to come along."
A dark man stepped forward and Beka said his name like a curse. "Veila…."
"I see you know Ambassador Veila then," Gerentex went on. "I believe he tortured Hunt before he was hanged… am I right?"
Finding her hand gripping the forcelance in her lap, Beka watched the sordid Nightsider reach for a communications device.
"Anasazi, where are you?" he snapped.
There was a faint hiss of static, but a composed voice replied, "I am right where you told me to stay, Nightsider. Aboard your ship."
Beka silently wondered why the voice sounded annoyed with the creature before her but dare not open her mouth.
Grinning at her through crooked teeth, Gerentex sneered. "Mercenaries these days. They can get quite testy." He picked the device back up. "Well in that case, I want you to go after that ship that just lunched from here. Get it and bring me back alive whoever's on it."
There was no reply, but Beka could clearly see one small ship break away from the rest and towards the damaged Maru as it fled and she gritted her teeth. The holographic form of the Andromeda appeared next to her, causing Gerentex to startle a bit.
"Beka," the ship said quietly, "they're trying to shut me down. I've been working on bypassing what they're doing, but I'm afraid it won't last long." Looking up, Beka knew it was now or never.
"Well, at least now I get to take out two of the bastards at the same time. Not bad," she said slowly, looking from the AI to the Nightsider who was very suspicious of those last few words.
"What was that Captain Valentine?" he asked, using her title as if it were a curse word.
"What I said," Beka mimicked back, "was none of your business. What I'm saying now is this… Andromeda, execute Retaliation Plan."
"Aye Captain," the ship said solemnly before disappearing.
Gerentex raised his weapon towards her as his cronies did the same. "What was that?" he demanded harshly, taking closer aim. She'd never seen the rat so furious.
"That," Beka said calmly, "is the means in which the universe will get its revenge."
Alarms on the ship started to flash. "Warning, ten seconds to shipwide engine overload…."
Gerentex's mouth dropped suddenly, realizing how he had played right into her hands. Even Veila stared at her through wide eyes.
"Seven seconds…"
"You're crazy," Gyndan's leader hissed, his dark eyes full of unmasked fury.
"Six seconds…"
"Maybe," Beka smiled back, "but you're dead."
"Five seconds…"
Realizing that the human woman before him was serious, Gerentex's eyes went wide. "No!" he screeched. "Cancel it now!"
"Four seconds…"
She didn't respond, but besides the shuffling of some of the men trying out the doors, there was no other sound to be heard.
'Idiots,' Beka thought suddenly. 'How do they think they're going to get off?'
"Three seconds…"
Silently ignoring the screaming of both Veila and Gerentex for her to stop the detonation, Beka let herself eye Command one last time, realizing just how beautiful it really was. Silently she thanked the man who had given it to her.
"Two seconds…"
"And you too Andromeda," Beka said with a smile, "It's been one hell of a ride."
As the last second counted down, Captain Beka Valentine felt no fear for herself, only for the two lives still out there escaping. She truly prayed for something in the first time in her life and it felt good. It felt… right. And as the voice announcing the last second faded, Beka closed her eyes and waited for oblivion.
~*~*~*~
TBC…
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*cough* That wasn't exactly a cliffhanger. Though honestly, if you read the quote you should have figured out things weren't going to exactly turn on the pleasant side. If you've seen the Stargate episode you know what I'm talking about.
Just wondering if there's anyone still reading who hasn't reviewed before. Once upon a time Fanfiction.net had a counter that actually told you how many but there's nothing like that now. So, just curious here. Like I've said before, it only takes around 30 seconds to review. What else are you going to be doing for the next half of a minute? And Snazz can attest to that. She/He seemed to enjoy losing those extra seconds.
Thanks to everyone else who has been reviewing. You guys are so awesome. I know I took a while getting this out but… okay so I don't have an excuse. Basically I'm just lazy. But it's not like I'm making this up as I go. The story is finished. There's just a matter of getting it out.
Gordon, you made a good point when you mentioned "For Whom the Bells Toll." I find it very plausible that someone other than Dylan (and Rade) could have been left behind. A crew of what… 5 thousand? 4 maybe?… just cleared out, leaving just those two guys and a few dead bodies behind? Suuure.
Oh and Harper's Pixie… any chance you're a whumper? lol No, no, it's not obvious or anything. :D As my good friend DarkQueenOfTheWhump says, a whump is a terrible thing to waste.
