Chrysalis, part 4
Dylan had been talking to Rommie when her eyes suddenly rolled back in her head and she fell. He leapt forwards and was able to grab her before she hit the deck. He tried to wake her, but there was no response. Blind panic took over, "Andromeda!" Silence. "Andromeda, respond!" Still the AI failed to respond he looked up at the ceiling, "Andromeda, can you hear me?" His words echoed off the walls.
Gently lifting Rommie in his arms, Dylan carried her to the door. He pressed the opener, but the door refused to move. He pressed it again, harder, but still it refused to budge. He kicked out at it, the hollow reverberations echoing, but till the door refused to move. Desperation setting in, he careful drew his forcelance and pointed it at the door, but when he tried to fire, the weapon remained inert.
Dylan's eyes darted around the room: Tyr's Gauss Rifle stood against one wall, but the power display was blank. Gently, he walked across the room and through into the nursery. Paul lay asleep in his crib, a Dylan tried the old door that led out into the corridor beyond: the door opened when commanded, and Dylan staggered out into the corridor. He gently placed Rommie on the deck, then went back in and took Paul from the crib. He looked around: there was no one in sight.
"Andromeda!" He yelled at the top of his voice. The AI's holographic form appeared before him, "There's no need to shout." She looked down at Rommie and her eyes went wide, "What happened?" Dylan shook his head, "I don't know: we where just talking and suddenly she collapsed. I tried to call you from inside but you didn't respond. The door didn't work, and nether did my forcelance."
Andromeda's eyes narrowed, "There was an electro-magnetic pulse originating just outside your quarters 72-seconds ago." Dylan looked up, "Some sort of accident?" Andromeda shook her head, "No: all of my fault-detection systems show no abnormal reading at the time of the pulse." Dylan carefully lifted Rommie over one shoulder and used his other arm to carry his son, "Have Trance and Harper report to medical, stat!" Andromeda nodded and blinked out as Dylan started off along the corridor.
Harper paced medical, waiting for Dylan to arrive. Trance looked at him, "Calm down will you!" Harper looked at her, "How can I calm down? You don't think Andromeda noticed what we where doing when she burst in on us like that? I really need to adjust the privacy mode settings." Trance smiled, "If I didn't know better, I'd say you where ashamed of our relationship." Harper stopped pacing, and, putting his hands on Trance's shoulders, smiled, "It's not that, it's just, I wanted to keep it just between the two of us for a little bit longer. You know what the others are like."
Trance was about to reply when Dylan came through the door and handed her Paul. He gently la Rommie on one of the examination tables, and Harper scanned her, "Ok, Andromeda said she took a EM-pulse, but that shouldn't have do to much damage: I built some heavy-duty surge protectors into her." He looked at the scanner, "She has some mild burning around the connections between her organic and synthetic parts." Trance looked at the scanner, "I'll have to re-activate her nano-bots to fix that, but it shouldn't take to long." Harper nodded, "She's locked into a self diagnostic loop, but as soon as the damage is repair, she should be fine."
"Good, keep an eye on her please." Dylan nodded, "Andromeda, have Tyr oversee a full security investigation, and check your internal sensor logs: I want to account fore everyone on this ship at the time of the EMP serge. I want to know where they where and what they where doing." Harper blushed slightly and got back to work.
TBC
(In case any of you are interested, I've posted my first R-rated Andromeda story, but you'll have to look it up under my profile as they don't show up on the main directory.)
Dylan had been talking to Rommie when her eyes suddenly rolled back in her head and she fell. He leapt forwards and was able to grab her before she hit the deck. He tried to wake her, but there was no response. Blind panic took over, "Andromeda!" Silence. "Andromeda, respond!" Still the AI failed to respond he looked up at the ceiling, "Andromeda, can you hear me?" His words echoed off the walls.
Gently lifting Rommie in his arms, Dylan carried her to the door. He pressed the opener, but the door refused to move. He pressed it again, harder, but still it refused to budge. He kicked out at it, the hollow reverberations echoing, but till the door refused to move. Desperation setting in, he careful drew his forcelance and pointed it at the door, but when he tried to fire, the weapon remained inert.
Dylan's eyes darted around the room: Tyr's Gauss Rifle stood against one wall, but the power display was blank. Gently, he walked across the room and through into the nursery. Paul lay asleep in his crib, a Dylan tried the old door that led out into the corridor beyond: the door opened when commanded, and Dylan staggered out into the corridor. He gently placed Rommie on the deck, then went back in and took Paul from the crib. He looked around: there was no one in sight.
"Andromeda!" He yelled at the top of his voice. The AI's holographic form appeared before him, "There's no need to shout." She looked down at Rommie and her eyes went wide, "What happened?" Dylan shook his head, "I don't know: we where just talking and suddenly she collapsed. I tried to call you from inside but you didn't respond. The door didn't work, and nether did my forcelance."
Andromeda's eyes narrowed, "There was an electro-magnetic pulse originating just outside your quarters 72-seconds ago." Dylan looked up, "Some sort of accident?" Andromeda shook her head, "No: all of my fault-detection systems show no abnormal reading at the time of the pulse." Dylan carefully lifted Rommie over one shoulder and used his other arm to carry his son, "Have Trance and Harper report to medical, stat!" Andromeda nodded and blinked out as Dylan started off along the corridor.
Harper paced medical, waiting for Dylan to arrive. Trance looked at him, "Calm down will you!" Harper looked at her, "How can I calm down? You don't think Andromeda noticed what we where doing when she burst in on us like that? I really need to adjust the privacy mode settings." Trance smiled, "If I didn't know better, I'd say you where ashamed of our relationship." Harper stopped pacing, and, putting his hands on Trance's shoulders, smiled, "It's not that, it's just, I wanted to keep it just between the two of us for a little bit longer. You know what the others are like."
Trance was about to reply when Dylan came through the door and handed her Paul. He gently la Rommie on one of the examination tables, and Harper scanned her, "Ok, Andromeda said she took a EM-pulse, but that shouldn't have do to much damage: I built some heavy-duty surge protectors into her." He looked at the scanner, "She has some mild burning around the connections between her organic and synthetic parts." Trance looked at the scanner, "I'll have to re-activate her nano-bots to fix that, but it shouldn't take to long." Harper nodded, "She's locked into a self diagnostic loop, but as soon as the damage is repair, she should be fine."
"Good, keep an eye on her please." Dylan nodded, "Andromeda, have Tyr oversee a full security investigation, and check your internal sensor logs: I want to account fore everyone on this ship at the time of the EMP serge. I want to know where they where and what they where doing." Harper blushed slightly and got back to work.
TBC
(In case any of you are interested, I've posted my first R-rated Andromeda story, but you'll have to look it up under my profile as they don't show up on the main directory.)