* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Harper decided to check on Felix a couple of hours later. She hadn't asked for any help, and she hadn't set foot outside of the ship. He could hear her singing to herself as she worked. It was something familiar, maybe something he'd heard on Earth before.
Singing, "Girl, before I met you, I was… F.I.N.E. fine… But your love made me a prisoner, yeah my heart's been doin' time…"
Now he remembered. It was Aero--- something or other. He knew the last part would come to him sooner or later. As he walked onto the ship, he could hear the music. It was faint, but loud enough to hear. Her off-key singing was louder than the music.
"Don't give up your day job, sweet heart!" he said as he walked into the room she was in. She had almost all the circuits fixed. She looked out from under the console and smiled. "You weren't supposed to hear that," she said. "It's opening night and nobody's ever heard me before."
She hooked a jack up to her data port and sat silently for a moment. A minute later, the lights came back on and she smiled with satisfaction. "I love my ship. It always listens to me". She put the panel back in place and sat up. "Now for the engine," she said in a satisfied voice. She stood up and started walking back to the engine room.
"Well, do you want some help?" Harper said like a kid brother always wanting to tag along.
"I guess…" Felix replied vacantly.
She was there in a minute. Her ship was much smaller than the Maru, but was mostly cargo space. The engine room was small. There were two catwalks that ran parallel to each other above the engine. She had a chain hanging from a pipe that ran above and in between the catwalks. She grabbed the chain and swung over the engine to the other catwalk. When she landed, she pushed the chain back over to Harper, who had followed her into the engine room. He caught the chain and looked at her for a moment.
"What's the matter, Harper? Scared?" Felix laughed. Harper gave her a look and stood on the railing that ran along the side of the catwalk. He closed his eyes.
"Here it goes," he whispered. He jumped and swung across. He reached with his feet to try and grab the railing on the other catwalk, but failed. Just as he was about to swing back, Felix grabbed his foot and pulled him toward the catwalk. When his feet were safely planted on solid metal, he took a deep breath and thanked Felix. She just laughed and walked away.
He looked to his side and saw a bridge that connected the two catwalks. He raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Why don't you just use the bridge?"
"The chain's faster." Felix said with an attitude. Harper stared at her in question as she walked away from him. "So why didn't you tell me about it before I almost broke my neck?" He reluctantly followed her.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Within a couple of days, Felix and Harper had the engine almost working. They spent the entire time exchanging stories about their past and telling jokes. On the second day, when Harper realized they had been working on the engine for so long, he stood up and stretched.
"Aren't you hungry? You haven't eaten anything since yesterday…" he said.
"Now that you mention it, I am pretty hungry. Tell me; is Andromeda good at making hamburgers? And not the new space crap, the real old fashion Earth hamburger." She finished tightening a bolt and looked at Harper with questioning eyes.
"Well," he started, "she's not horrible, I can say that much." He thought for a minute. "Hey, Rommie, do you think you could fix up something good to eat? Maybe some good old fashion hamburgers?"
"Just as long as you don't bad mouth me about my cooking again, Harper," Rommie replied.
"Thanks, Rommie…"
* *
These hamburgers are delicious," Felix said behind a mouth full of food. "Nobody in space can make hamburgers this good. These are the best I've had since I left Earth."
Beka was there with them and looked at Felix with confusion. "You don't think space burgers are any good?"
Felix shook her head. "Nothing compares to Earth burgers."
"Well, then you must have had some really bad hamburgers," Harper said as he plopped his hamburger back on the plate. "Hey, Rommie, I appreciate the effort, but it's just not working."
"Would you like to try and cook these things with the resources we have onboard?" Holo-Rommie blinked in front of him. She had a nasty look on her face.
"Sorry, Rommie. They're good though…"
"They're delicious, Rommie. Thank you!" Felix was content with the hamburger. Harper imagined that she hadn't eaten many on Earth.
"So, Captain Clark," Beka said, "your ship seems small for a cargo carrier. You must only do small shipments."
"Most of the time, but there are times when I've even got stuff in my cockpit because it won't all fit in the cargo area."
"Oh," Beka said. "Did Harper tell you that we used to do cargo runs?"
"Yeah. I saw the Maru, too, it's great. I saw a ship like that for sale once. I wanted to buy it, but I didn't have any money at the time."
Trance walked onto the mess deck and got herself something to drink. She sat down next to Harper and gazed at Felix.
"I'm Trance Gemini," she said. "I'm the ship's acting medical officer and I also work in hydroponics. It's nice to meet you."
Felix smiled and offered her hand. "Nice to meet you, too," she said. "Felix Clark." She took in Trance's features and couldn't figure out what she was. "Can I ask you a question?"
"You just did," Trance joked. "Yes, you can."
"What species are you? I've never seen anybody like you before. You seem very fascinating."
"My species is a secret even to my fellow crew members," Trance said. "Let's just say…"
Suddenly the ship shook violently.
"We're being fired at," Rommie announced.
"Harper, bring captain Carter to the command deck now!" Dylan sounded angry.
Felix got a worried look on her face. She thought that maybe the Than had found her and were demanding that Dylan hand her over to them. When they reached the command deck, Dylan gave Felix a dirty look and turned back to the view screen. "Is this who you're looking for?" he asked an Emerald Than on the view screen.
"Yes," the Than replied. "We demand that you put her in our custody immediately. She has committed a crime and must stand for punishment."
"And what crime might that be?"
"She has stolen weapons from us."
"May I have a moment to speak with Captain Clark, sir?" Dylan asked angrily.
"You may. Make it quick, Captain Hunt, for our patience is limited."
The Emerald Than's image blinked off of the view screen and Dylan turned to Felix. "Captain Clark," he said in a powerful voice, "I believe you have some explaining to do. Just why are these Than after you?"
"Remember that story I told you about the asteroid field? Well, forget it. It was all a lie. The truth is one of my runs got screwed up big time. I was supposed to deliver some minor weapons to the Than, and the guy who was shipping the weapons gave me the wrong orders. Instead of giving me the weapons, he gave me food that was supposed to go to some poor miner colony on some moon. So now the Than are blaming me for the mistake. I managed to get away before they could kill me, but in trying to escape, they nearly blew my ship to pieces. I managed to slip stream before they had a chance, but the engine blew as soon as I came out of the portal. So you see, Captain Hunt, Dylan, sir… this whole thing is not my fault. They should be out to get their weapons dealer." Felix took a deep breath and let down her guard.
Dylan's eyes wandered as he took in everything she had just said to him. "And what you're saying to me is the honest truth?" Felix shook her head "yes." Dylan sighed and turned back to the view screen. "Put the Than back on screen, Rommie."
"Are you going to place Captain Clark in our custody now, Captain Hunt?" the Than asked as soon as he saw Dylan's face.
"I'm afraid not, sir," Dylan replied bravely. "The mistake was not hers, but your weapons dealer's." He paused for a moment. "I would suggest taking this up with him."
The Than became outraged. "Very well, Captain Hunt. You leave me no choice but to take her by force." The Than blinked off again. Soon the ship was shaking violently again.
"They're boarding, Captain," Rommie informed them.
"Is your ship working yet?" Dylan asked Felix.
"No, there're still some things to be done. There's no time for even both Harper and I to finish it now. It'd take us half an hour at the least."
Dylan thought for a moment. "Alright. Harper, take her to the weapons closet, give her a weapon. Everybody else, prepare to defend yourselves."
The ship rattled as Harper led Felix to the weapons closet. As soon as she had a gun in her hand, Felix started running back to command. She knew that this was all her fault and she'd risk her life to help Dylan and the rest of the crew. On her way there, she ran into Beka.
"Whoa," Beka said. "Dylan wants you and Harper to stay with me. Harper!" Harper showed up around a corner and started running toward Beka. "Harper," she said, "you and Felix are sticking with me. Come on, I'm taking you to your ship."
"Beka," Harper said, "always a leader." They followed Beka through the corridors to the docking bay. They were greeted by some fire from the Than soldiers. They all shot back and took down all of them. They knew there were more elsewhere on the ship. The sounds of force lance blasts came from another corridor. Dylan must have found some of the uninvited guests. Felix and Harper quickly climbed onto the Hydra and made their way back to the engine room. They worked as fast as they could, but it was hopeless. They could here Beka struggling to keep the Than soldiers off the Hydra.
"Harper," Felix said, "we have to help Beka. There's no way for us to fix this in enough time for me to get away before the Than take over the ship."
"But if you quit, they'll kill you," Harper protested.
"And if I don't quit they'll kill you and the rest of the crew. Then I'll be dead anyway. Come on," Felix said as she raced out of the engine room. Harper hesitated, but finally followed.
Beka was having a bit of trouble keeping the soldiers away from the ship. Felix shot one down just as it was taking aim at Beka. "There's no time," she explained. "I'm going to help get rid of these guys, then I'll fix my ship and get out of here. If we kill all the Than on the ship right now, it'll be a few days before any more come. That should be plenty of time to finish the repairs and get as far way from here as possible."
"But…" Beka began, but stopped herself. She knew there was a lot of logic behind Felix's thinking. Harper stepped out of the ship and blasted a soldier who was aiming for Beka. Beka thanked him silently and they all set off to find Dylan.
Dylan was closer than they expected. They ran into him when they turned the corner. He was having some trouble himself. Felix blasted a couple of soldiers and ducked a punch from another. Dylan shot him down before he had a chance to charge his gun.
"Dylan, there's no time. Once we get rid of these soldiers, there'll be enough time for me to fix my ship and get out of here." Felix shot down another Than and looked at Dylan. Dylan seemed to protest in his mind, but eventually gave up. He nodded his head and called Rommie over the comm. link.
"Engage your internal defense system, we need to take care of these guys."
"Internal defenses engaged," Rommie announced. "Dylan, you might want to get to command. The Than are attempting to override my systems." She paused for a moment then cursed silently. "They've shut down my internal defenses."
Harper decided to check on Felix a couple of hours later. She hadn't asked for any help, and she hadn't set foot outside of the ship. He could hear her singing to herself as she worked. It was something familiar, maybe something he'd heard on Earth before.
Singing, "Girl, before I met you, I was… F.I.N.E. fine… But your love made me a prisoner, yeah my heart's been doin' time…"
Now he remembered. It was Aero--- something or other. He knew the last part would come to him sooner or later. As he walked onto the ship, he could hear the music. It was faint, but loud enough to hear. Her off-key singing was louder than the music.
"Don't give up your day job, sweet heart!" he said as he walked into the room she was in. She had almost all the circuits fixed. She looked out from under the console and smiled. "You weren't supposed to hear that," she said. "It's opening night and nobody's ever heard me before."
She hooked a jack up to her data port and sat silently for a moment. A minute later, the lights came back on and she smiled with satisfaction. "I love my ship. It always listens to me". She put the panel back in place and sat up. "Now for the engine," she said in a satisfied voice. She stood up and started walking back to the engine room.
"Well, do you want some help?" Harper said like a kid brother always wanting to tag along.
"I guess…" Felix replied vacantly.
She was there in a minute. Her ship was much smaller than the Maru, but was mostly cargo space. The engine room was small. There were two catwalks that ran parallel to each other above the engine. She had a chain hanging from a pipe that ran above and in between the catwalks. She grabbed the chain and swung over the engine to the other catwalk. When she landed, she pushed the chain back over to Harper, who had followed her into the engine room. He caught the chain and looked at her for a moment.
"What's the matter, Harper? Scared?" Felix laughed. Harper gave her a look and stood on the railing that ran along the side of the catwalk. He closed his eyes.
"Here it goes," he whispered. He jumped and swung across. He reached with his feet to try and grab the railing on the other catwalk, but failed. Just as he was about to swing back, Felix grabbed his foot and pulled him toward the catwalk. When his feet were safely planted on solid metal, he took a deep breath and thanked Felix. She just laughed and walked away.
He looked to his side and saw a bridge that connected the two catwalks. He raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Why don't you just use the bridge?"
"The chain's faster." Felix said with an attitude. Harper stared at her in question as she walked away from him. "So why didn't you tell me about it before I almost broke my neck?" He reluctantly followed her.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Within a couple of days, Felix and Harper had the engine almost working. They spent the entire time exchanging stories about their past and telling jokes. On the second day, when Harper realized they had been working on the engine for so long, he stood up and stretched.
"Aren't you hungry? You haven't eaten anything since yesterday…" he said.
"Now that you mention it, I am pretty hungry. Tell me; is Andromeda good at making hamburgers? And not the new space crap, the real old fashion Earth hamburger." She finished tightening a bolt and looked at Harper with questioning eyes.
"Well," he started, "she's not horrible, I can say that much." He thought for a minute. "Hey, Rommie, do you think you could fix up something good to eat? Maybe some good old fashion hamburgers?"
"Just as long as you don't bad mouth me about my cooking again, Harper," Rommie replied.
"Thanks, Rommie…"
* *
These hamburgers are delicious," Felix said behind a mouth full of food. "Nobody in space can make hamburgers this good. These are the best I've had since I left Earth."
Beka was there with them and looked at Felix with confusion. "You don't think space burgers are any good?"
Felix shook her head. "Nothing compares to Earth burgers."
"Well, then you must have had some really bad hamburgers," Harper said as he plopped his hamburger back on the plate. "Hey, Rommie, I appreciate the effort, but it's just not working."
"Would you like to try and cook these things with the resources we have onboard?" Holo-Rommie blinked in front of him. She had a nasty look on her face.
"Sorry, Rommie. They're good though…"
"They're delicious, Rommie. Thank you!" Felix was content with the hamburger. Harper imagined that she hadn't eaten many on Earth.
"So, Captain Clark," Beka said, "your ship seems small for a cargo carrier. You must only do small shipments."
"Most of the time, but there are times when I've even got stuff in my cockpit because it won't all fit in the cargo area."
"Oh," Beka said. "Did Harper tell you that we used to do cargo runs?"
"Yeah. I saw the Maru, too, it's great. I saw a ship like that for sale once. I wanted to buy it, but I didn't have any money at the time."
Trance walked onto the mess deck and got herself something to drink. She sat down next to Harper and gazed at Felix.
"I'm Trance Gemini," she said. "I'm the ship's acting medical officer and I also work in hydroponics. It's nice to meet you."
Felix smiled and offered her hand. "Nice to meet you, too," she said. "Felix Clark." She took in Trance's features and couldn't figure out what she was. "Can I ask you a question?"
"You just did," Trance joked. "Yes, you can."
"What species are you? I've never seen anybody like you before. You seem very fascinating."
"My species is a secret even to my fellow crew members," Trance said. "Let's just say…"
Suddenly the ship shook violently.
"We're being fired at," Rommie announced.
"Harper, bring captain Carter to the command deck now!" Dylan sounded angry.
Felix got a worried look on her face. She thought that maybe the Than had found her and were demanding that Dylan hand her over to them. When they reached the command deck, Dylan gave Felix a dirty look and turned back to the view screen. "Is this who you're looking for?" he asked an Emerald Than on the view screen.
"Yes," the Than replied. "We demand that you put her in our custody immediately. She has committed a crime and must stand for punishment."
"And what crime might that be?"
"She has stolen weapons from us."
"May I have a moment to speak with Captain Clark, sir?" Dylan asked angrily.
"You may. Make it quick, Captain Hunt, for our patience is limited."
The Emerald Than's image blinked off of the view screen and Dylan turned to Felix. "Captain Clark," he said in a powerful voice, "I believe you have some explaining to do. Just why are these Than after you?"
"Remember that story I told you about the asteroid field? Well, forget it. It was all a lie. The truth is one of my runs got screwed up big time. I was supposed to deliver some minor weapons to the Than, and the guy who was shipping the weapons gave me the wrong orders. Instead of giving me the weapons, he gave me food that was supposed to go to some poor miner colony on some moon. So now the Than are blaming me for the mistake. I managed to get away before they could kill me, but in trying to escape, they nearly blew my ship to pieces. I managed to slip stream before they had a chance, but the engine blew as soon as I came out of the portal. So you see, Captain Hunt, Dylan, sir… this whole thing is not my fault. They should be out to get their weapons dealer." Felix took a deep breath and let down her guard.
Dylan's eyes wandered as he took in everything she had just said to him. "And what you're saying to me is the honest truth?" Felix shook her head "yes." Dylan sighed and turned back to the view screen. "Put the Than back on screen, Rommie."
"Are you going to place Captain Clark in our custody now, Captain Hunt?" the Than asked as soon as he saw Dylan's face.
"I'm afraid not, sir," Dylan replied bravely. "The mistake was not hers, but your weapons dealer's." He paused for a moment. "I would suggest taking this up with him."
The Than became outraged. "Very well, Captain Hunt. You leave me no choice but to take her by force." The Than blinked off again. Soon the ship was shaking violently again.
"They're boarding, Captain," Rommie informed them.
"Is your ship working yet?" Dylan asked Felix.
"No, there're still some things to be done. There's no time for even both Harper and I to finish it now. It'd take us half an hour at the least."
Dylan thought for a moment. "Alright. Harper, take her to the weapons closet, give her a weapon. Everybody else, prepare to defend yourselves."
The ship rattled as Harper led Felix to the weapons closet. As soon as she had a gun in her hand, Felix started running back to command. She knew that this was all her fault and she'd risk her life to help Dylan and the rest of the crew. On her way there, she ran into Beka.
"Whoa," Beka said. "Dylan wants you and Harper to stay with me. Harper!" Harper showed up around a corner and started running toward Beka. "Harper," she said, "you and Felix are sticking with me. Come on, I'm taking you to your ship."
"Beka," Harper said, "always a leader." They followed Beka through the corridors to the docking bay. They were greeted by some fire from the Than soldiers. They all shot back and took down all of them. They knew there were more elsewhere on the ship. The sounds of force lance blasts came from another corridor. Dylan must have found some of the uninvited guests. Felix and Harper quickly climbed onto the Hydra and made their way back to the engine room. They worked as fast as they could, but it was hopeless. They could here Beka struggling to keep the Than soldiers off the Hydra.
"Harper," Felix said, "we have to help Beka. There's no way for us to fix this in enough time for me to get away before the Than take over the ship."
"But if you quit, they'll kill you," Harper protested.
"And if I don't quit they'll kill you and the rest of the crew. Then I'll be dead anyway. Come on," Felix said as she raced out of the engine room. Harper hesitated, but finally followed.
Beka was having a bit of trouble keeping the soldiers away from the ship. Felix shot one down just as it was taking aim at Beka. "There's no time," she explained. "I'm going to help get rid of these guys, then I'll fix my ship and get out of here. If we kill all the Than on the ship right now, it'll be a few days before any more come. That should be plenty of time to finish the repairs and get as far way from here as possible."
"But…" Beka began, but stopped herself. She knew there was a lot of logic behind Felix's thinking. Harper stepped out of the ship and blasted a soldier who was aiming for Beka. Beka thanked him silently and they all set off to find Dylan.
Dylan was closer than they expected. They ran into him when they turned the corner. He was having some trouble himself. Felix blasted a couple of soldiers and ducked a punch from another. Dylan shot him down before he had a chance to charge his gun.
"Dylan, there's no time. Once we get rid of these soldiers, there'll be enough time for me to fix my ship and get out of here." Felix shot down another Than and looked at Dylan. Dylan seemed to protest in his mind, but eventually gave up. He nodded his head and called Rommie over the comm. link.
"Engage your internal defense system, we need to take care of these guys."
"Internal defenses engaged," Rommie announced. "Dylan, you might want to get to command. The Than are attempting to override my systems." She paused for a moment then cursed silently. "They've shut down my internal defenses."