As Dylan walked fiercely through the corridors toward command, thoughts raced through his head. Am I stupid for going this way? What if Tyr's dead? "Dylan," Beka's voice interrupted his thoughts. He turned to her and they silently agreed that she was going with him. She charged a gun as she walked beside Dylan. They walked through the doors of command together and were both surprised at whom they saw inside.
"Charlemagne?" they said in unison.
"Oh, hello, Captain Hunt," Charlemagne Bolivar said as he turned and smiled at the two. "It's good to see you again."
"Wish we could say the same," Beka said. "What are you doing on the Andromeda?"
"Having a nice conversation with Mr. Anasazi." He looked over at Tyr, who gave him a dirty look. "Well, as nice as we can be."
"Can we help you with anything, Mr. Bolivar?" Dylan asked impatiently.
"Actually, I came here to help you. You see, I know what has been going on with your ship. We've been monitoring you since it started."
"How...?"
"It's simple, Captain Valentine," he stopped her. "We placed secret beacons on this marvelous ship after the conference last year that are undetectable by the AI. When these… strange events began, I had some techs and scientists keep an eye on you and the crew. Along the way, they figured out what was wrong and how to fix it."
"Wait a minute," Beka said after some thought. "If you're here to help us, why did you fire at our ship?"
"We didn't, Captain Valentine," Charlemagne said with a smile. "They did." Beka looked to the view screen and saw ten ships that had apparently been through some battles hovering near the Andromeda. "I do believe they want very much to destroy you and your ship, Captain Hunt."
"What makes you say that?" Dylan asked vacantly. He was thrown back by another explosion and Charlemagne landed near him.
"That," Charlemagne said with a moan.
"This is all starting to get very confusing," Tyr said as he got back on his feet. "Weapons ready, Captain."
"Fire at will, Mr. Anasazi." Tyr followed Dylan's orders and fired shot after shot at the enemy ships. The enemy ship that was hit first was barely affected by the explosion. A few seconds later, it fired back at Andromeda. The Andromeda was rocked by another explosion, and a few of the consoles on command exploded, sending out sparks.
"Andromeda, aren't your shields working?" Dylan said as he struggled to stand again.
"Not any more, Captain." Andromeda's hologram was flickering.
"Harper," Dylan said into his comm. link, "fix the shields!"
"I'm way ahead of you, boss," Harper replied.
* * *
"We're doomed," Harper said to himself. "Rommie, tell me where it hurts, baby."
"My shields are down, my defense systems are failing, and my AI is starting to fade."
"Oh, crap!" Harper jumped into a conduit and opened one of the panels. He fiddled with some of the wires, and then jumped out of the conduit and raced to a console. "Come on…" He pushed a sequence of codes, hoping that the shields would return to full capacity. Nothing happened at first, but then Andromeda's hologram appeared in front of him, still flickering.
"Shields are back on line, but they're only at 90%."
"That'll have to do for now." Harper started running back to the conduit, but was knocked off of his feet by another violent explosion. Andromeda's hologram blinked off. "Andromeda?" Harper asked. The lights went out and the dim emergency lights came on. He looked around the room for a second, expecting another attack from a former enemy. "Dylan?" he said into his comm. link.
"Harper, I need you to get everything working right now. Andromeda's weapons are offline, and we're facing ten enemy ships."
"Sure thing, boss," Harper replied weakly. He crawled back into the conduit and started working on the wiring, checking the entrance to the conduit every couple of minutes.
* * *
"Alright, Charlemagne," Dylan said angrily, "who are those people and what is going on?"
"Well, to answer your first question, I have no idea who those people are. Second, there is a chemical unbalance on your ship that is making you and your crew relive past memories."
"So how is it that I got my tail kicked by Satrina Leander?" Beka asked.
"Satrina Leander didn't kick your 'tail,' Captain Valentine, you did. You only imagined that it was Leander. You see, your crew is suffering from the symptoms of schizophrenia." Charlemagne chuckled under his breath.
"So you're saying that this chemical unbalance is making us all insane?" Tyr asked.
"Correct, Mr. Anasazi. Right now, you all belong in a mental institution."
"Then what about Rommie?" Dylan asked after some thought.
"Ah, yes… The ship's android. Well, it's interesting, you know. Your engineer is suffering the most from this chemical unbalance. When this all started, he reprogrammed the android and the ship's artificial intelligence to believe whatever the crew says. He basically made her a puppet."
"I don't believe any of this," Beka said angrily. "It doesn't match up. Why would Harper do that? And why is it that Andromeda didn't detect this unbalance earlier?"
"I did," Rommie said as she walked onto command. "And I thought I'd fixed it. But by then, Harper had already been effected, and I couldn't do anything to stop him from reprogramming me."
"Then how can you remember this now?"
"One of his men fixed the problem," Rommie said as she pointed at Charlemagne.
"Glad we could help," Charlemagne said slyly with a bow.
Rommie sighed and said, "I've fixed the unbalance, but that won't solve the problem. One of his scientists tells me they've got a serum that will put the chemicals in your body back into balance. They've already given it to Trance, who by the way was never turning purple. She's as gold as ever." A Nietzschean appeared behind her holding two syringes fully of clear fluid.
"Captain Hunt, Captain Valentine," he said with a slight bow. "Who's first?"
Dylan looked around at everybody for a moment, deciding whether he should believe everything or not. Finally he shrugged and rolled up his sleeve. "If I die, kill all these people and get as far away from here as possible. You'll take over as captain," he said to Beka. The Nietzschean smiled as he stuck the needle in Dylan's arm and injected the serum. Dylan gave Charlemagne an unsure look. Then a feeling of sickness came over him as the Nietzschean pulled the needle out of his arm. He struggled to stay standing, leaning against Beka for support.
"What's wrong with him?" Beka asked, worried.
"He's fine. It's just the serum taking effect," Rommie said as she helped Beka support him. They led him to the wall behind them and leaned him against it. "Beka, go on." Rommie pointed at the Nietzschean, who was waiting for Beka to return. Beka walked to him, pulling her sleeve up hesitantly. After she got the shot, she sat on the floor as she lost her balance. "Wow," she said, deadpan. "This stuff is great. Almost as good as flash."
"Charlemagne?" they said in unison.
"Oh, hello, Captain Hunt," Charlemagne Bolivar said as he turned and smiled at the two. "It's good to see you again."
"Wish we could say the same," Beka said. "What are you doing on the Andromeda?"
"Having a nice conversation with Mr. Anasazi." He looked over at Tyr, who gave him a dirty look. "Well, as nice as we can be."
"Can we help you with anything, Mr. Bolivar?" Dylan asked impatiently.
"Actually, I came here to help you. You see, I know what has been going on with your ship. We've been monitoring you since it started."
"How...?"
"It's simple, Captain Valentine," he stopped her. "We placed secret beacons on this marvelous ship after the conference last year that are undetectable by the AI. When these… strange events began, I had some techs and scientists keep an eye on you and the crew. Along the way, they figured out what was wrong and how to fix it."
"Wait a minute," Beka said after some thought. "If you're here to help us, why did you fire at our ship?"
"We didn't, Captain Valentine," Charlemagne said with a smile. "They did." Beka looked to the view screen and saw ten ships that had apparently been through some battles hovering near the Andromeda. "I do believe they want very much to destroy you and your ship, Captain Hunt."
"What makes you say that?" Dylan asked vacantly. He was thrown back by another explosion and Charlemagne landed near him.
"That," Charlemagne said with a moan.
"This is all starting to get very confusing," Tyr said as he got back on his feet. "Weapons ready, Captain."
"Fire at will, Mr. Anasazi." Tyr followed Dylan's orders and fired shot after shot at the enemy ships. The enemy ship that was hit first was barely affected by the explosion. A few seconds later, it fired back at Andromeda. The Andromeda was rocked by another explosion, and a few of the consoles on command exploded, sending out sparks.
"Andromeda, aren't your shields working?" Dylan said as he struggled to stand again.
"Not any more, Captain." Andromeda's hologram was flickering.
"Harper," Dylan said into his comm. link, "fix the shields!"
"I'm way ahead of you, boss," Harper replied.
* * *
"We're doomed," Harper said to himself. "Rommie, tell me where it hurts, baby."
"My shields are down, my defense systems are failing, and my AI is starting to fade."
"Oh, crap!" Harper jumped into a conduit and opened one of the panels. He fiddled with some of the wires, and then jumped out of the conduit and raced to a console. "Come on…" He pushed a sequence of codes, hoping that the shields would return to full capacity. Nothing happened at first, but then Andromeda's hologram appeared in front of him, still flickering.
"Shields are back on line, but they're only at 90%."
"That'll have to do for now." Harper started running back to the conduit, but was knocked off of his feet by another violent explosion. Andromeda's hologram blinked off. "Andromeda?" Harper asked. The lights went out and the dim emergency lights came on. He looked around the room for a second, expecting another attack from a former enemy. "Dylan?" he said into his comm. link.
"Harper, I need you to get everything working right now. Andromeda's weapons are offline, and we're facing ten enemy ships."
"Sure thing, boss," Harper replied weakly. He crawled back into the conduit and started working on the wiring, checking the entrance to the conduit every couple of minutes.
* * *
"Alright, Charlemagne," Dylan said angrily, "who are those people and what is going on?"
"Well, to answer your first question, I have no idea who those people are. Second, there is a chemical unbalance on your ship that is making you and your crew relive past memories."
"So how is it that I got my tail kicked by Satrina Leander?" Beka asked.
"Satrina Leander didn't kick your 'tail,' Captain Valentine, you did. You only imagined that it was Leander. You see, your crew is suffering from the symptoms of schizophrenia." Charlemagne chuckled under his breath.
"So you're saying that this chemical unbalance is making us all insane?" Tyr asked.
"Correct, Mr. Anasazi. Right now, you all belong in a mental institution."
"Then what about Rommie?" Dylan asked after some thought.
"Ah, yes… The ship's android. Well, it's interesting, you know. Your engineer is suffering the most from this chemical unbalance. When this all started, he reprogrammed the android and the ship's artificial intelligence to believe whatever the crew says. He basically made her a puppet."
"I don't believe any of this," Beka said angrily. "It doesn't match up. Why would Harper do that? And why is it that Andromeda didn't detect this unbalance earlier?"
"I did," Rommie said as she walked onto command. "And I thought I'd fixed it. But by then, Harper had already been effected, and I couldn't do anything to stop him from reprogramming me."
"Then how can you remember this now?"
"One of his men fixed the problem," Rommie said as she pointed at Charlemagne.
"Glad we could help," Charlemagne said slyly with a bow.
Rommie sighed and said, "I've fixed the unbalance, but that won't solve the problem. One of his scientists tells me they've got a serum that will put the chemicals in your body back into balance. They've already given it to Trance, who by the way was never turning purple. She's as gold as ever." A Nietzschean appeared behind her holding two syringes fully of clear fluid.
"Captain Hunt, Captain Valentine," he said with a slight bow. "Who's first?"
Dylan looked around at everybody for a moment, deciding whether he should believe everything or not. Finally he shrugged and rolled up his sleeve. "If I die, kill all these people and get as far away from here as possible. You'll take over as captain," he said to Beka. The Nietzschean smiled as he stuck the needle in Dylan's arm and injected the serum. Dylan gave Charlemagne an unsure look. Then a feeling of sickness came over him as the Nietzschean pulled the needle out of his arm. He struggled to stay standing, leaning against Beka for support.
"What's wrong with him?" Beka asked, worried.
"He's fine. It's just the serum taking effect," Rommie said as she helped Beka support him. They led him to the wall behind them and leaned him against it. "Beka, go on." Rommie pointed at the Nietzschean, who was waiting for Beka to return. Beka walked to him, pulling her sleeve up hesitantly. After she got the shot, she sat on the floor as she lost her balance. "Wow," she said, deadpan. "This stuff is great. Almost as good as flash."