Chapter 34
Dylan stood in Command, reading some messages. All was normal until he received one that ordered him to come immediately to the Commonwealth base to report in. The base was at least ten slipstream jumps from them, much to his dismay, and they would have to leave immediately. That meant putting off turning in Gerentex. He was annoyed, but as he could do nothing about it, turned to tell everyone the news. Last he went to Gerentex.
"I've got good news, Gerentex," said Dylan, walking into the brig area, "for you, anyway. Our stop at Darragan has been delayed, so you won't be checked in there until at least next week,"
with that, he left Gerentex to his thoughts.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Several days pass:
It was evening and Hannah and Harper were just finishing up on the Goldensun. It had taken them only five days to repair the damage that had been done, as well as some upgrades. Standing back, they both beheld her beauty. She was truly magnificent. Her hull shone like the gold she was named after, and she had not a scratch. If they had not been so used to the Andromeda by now, they would have called it breathtaking.
"Well, that's that," Harper said, and he went to gather up his tools so he could take them back to the machine shop and finally finish up the cleaning he had to do in the room with the explosion.
"Yup," said Hannah. She had never felt so satisfied in her life.
They both left the hold together and then went their separate ways, Hannah heading over to her quarters for a good nights' sleep.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Night. All was still on the Andromeda Ascendant. Hannah was in bed, though she was not asleep. Keeping an ear open and listening for any sounds of the crew, she slowly got out of bed and headed first to the machine shop, then to Dylan's quarters.
Creeping through the hallways after successfully achieving the first stage of her plan, Hannah felt excited. It was a rush to be sneaking around at night with no one else around, and doing things that weren't exactly allowed at the same time. She smiled as she slipped into the room that was her last stop before her final destination.
Gerentex was on the bed in his cell, asleep. Hannah tapped quietly on the bullet proof glass, trying to wake him up. Luckily, he was a light sleeper, and woke up after a few taps. He looked up in surprise at the sight of Hannah peering into his cell, but obeyed her when she put a finger to her lips, asking for silence. She whispered to Gerentex.
"I need you to promise me something. I can get you out of here, but only if you are serious about when you said before that you regret your previous actions in life. If you truly want to turn over a new leaf, you can come with me, and we can both start again together, on my ship,"
Gerentex looked blissful. He nodded, suddenly all of the weight of guilt he had been feeling, and dread of what was in store for him at Darragan was lifted.
Hannah quietly slipped the key she had stolen from Dylan's room into the lock, and uttered the code word she had heard him use when he had unlocked the cell door for her before. At first she was afraid it wasn't going to work, but then the glass slid aside.
Gerentex and she slipped out of the brig and stole away to the cargo hold.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dylan stood in Command, reading some messages. All was normal until he received one that ordered him to come immediately to the Commonwealth base to report in. The base was at least ten slipstream jumps from them, much to his dismay, and they would have to leave immediately. That meant putting off turning in Gerentex. He was annoyed, but as he could do nothing about it, turned to tell everyone the news. Last he went to Gerentex.
"I've got good news, Gerentex," said Dylan, walking into the brig area, "for you, anyway. Our stop at Darragan has been delayed, so you won't be checked in there until at least next week,"
with that, he left Gerentex to his thoughts.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Several days pass:
It was evening and Hannah and Harper were just finishing up on the Goldensun. It had taken them only five days to repair the damage that had been done, as well as some upgrades. Standing back, they both beheld her beauty. She was truly magnificent. Her hull shone like the gold she was named after, and she had not a scratch. If they had not been so used to the Andromeda by now, they would have called it breathtaking.
"Well, that's that," Harper said, and he went to gather up his tools so he could take them back to the machine shop and finally finish up the cleaning he had to do in the room with the explosion.
"Yup," said Hannah. She had never felt so satisfied in her life.
They both left the hold together and then went their separate ways, Hannah heading over to her quarters for a good nights' sleep.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Night. All was still on the Andromeda Ascendant. Hannah was in bed, though she was not asleep. Keeping an ear open and listening for any sounds of the crew, she slowly got out of bed and headed first to the machine shop, then to Dylan's quarters.
Creeping through the hallways after successfully achieving the first stage of her plan, Hannah felt excited. It was a rush to be sneaking around at night with no one else around, and doing things that weren't exactly allowed at the same time. She smiled as she slipped into the room that was her last stop before her final destination.
Gerentex was on the bed in his cell, asleep. Hannah tapped quietly on the bullet proof glass, trying to wake him up. Luckily, he was a light sleeper, and woke up after a few taps. He looked up in surprise at the sight of Hannah peering into his cell, but obeyed her when she put a finger to her lips, asking for silence. She whispered to Gerentex.
"I need you to promise me something. I can get you out of here, but only if you are serious about when you said before that you regret your previous actions in life. If you truly want to turn over a new leaf, you can come with me, and we can both start again together, on my ship,"
Gerentex looked blissful. He nodded, suddenly all of the weight of guilt he had been feeling, and dread of what was in store for him at Darragan was lifted.
Hannah quietly slipped the key she had stolen from Dylan's room into the lock, and uttered the code word she had heard him use when he had unlocked the cell door for her before. At first she was afraid it wasn't going to work, but then the glass slid aside.
Gerentex and she slipped out of the brig and stole away to the cargo hold.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
