(Disclaimer: I don't claim the prophets as my idea: I just borrowed them
from paramount because I figured that it would be fun to watch Harper, with
his sarcasm interact with them. Also, these prophets have lived on their
own in that nebula for so long, that they are a bit different from the
prophets that talked to Sisco)
" So you you want me to tell Dylan not to fight these Ulits?"
"Why?"
"Because it will end in defeat" the prophet looking like Dylan said.
"He's not gonna listen to me. Don't you guys get it?
"The Harper must do what is needed" and with that, Harper, found himself back in the shop.
"So, what did they want? Did you enjoy your first Orb experiance?" the Inari shopkeeper asked "I actually belong to the religion called Undita, which worships the prophets, or nebula aliens, as non believers called them.I was keeping the orb here, as part of an exhibit to spread have some of them be in different parts of the drift. The local priests are coming to get it soon. The prophets lead them to the idea of exhibiting them in this way."
"They want me to do something impossible" Harper commented.
"Oh?"
"yeah"
"The prophets never give you more than you can handle" the Inari shopkeeper commented.
Hours later, Harper went to Dylan's office to talk to him.
"Dylan, I need to talk to ya."
"What is it Harper?"
"Well, you know how a lot of folks here worship a bunch of nebula aliens?"
"Yes, I vaguely heard about it and about some 'orbs' they put everywhere."
"Well, these aliens talked to me"
Dylan gave him a confused look.
"Well, I opened one of the orb things, and I suddenly found myself in a white room. Two of these prophets guys talked to me, but one looked like you and the other looked like Beka. They seem to be non-linear aliens, and they told me to tell you that you should not fight the Ulits, because it will end in defeat. "
"Why?"
"They said that we weren't ready and that the battle should be saved for another day."
"But I gave my word to the Ikalites, and I can't break my promise based on some vague foreboodings by some mysterious aliens, who won't show themselves."
"But what if they can see the future?"
"or they could be working for the SOTA"
"Nah, I don't think so. I didn't get any evil vibes from them."
"I'm sorry, Harper, but I'll need something more concrete to convince me to change my mind"
"That's what I told them, but do they listen, NO!" Harper replied, annoyed
The next day, Harper was at command doing his shift, when he again found himself in that mysterious white room.
"You did not complete your task" a prophet looking like Trance said
"Gee, I wonder why. Could it be because you guys just expect people to just do what you tell them to do, without proof, but mysterious mumbo jumbo?"
"You must tell Hunt not to fight"
"Look, I gave your message, he didn't accept it. What can I do?"
"Do what is needed"
"What"
"We want you to prevent the battle"
"That'll be easy, and while I'm at it, I could um..change the laws of physics" he answered sarcastically.
Before he knew it, he was back on the command deck.
"Harper!" Beka caleld "Are you okay?"
"Fine. Those nebula aliens talked to me again"
"What did they want this time?" Beka had been surprised about his experiance with these aliens.
"Same thing. They want me to stop the battle with the Ulits, and I was like, yeah right"
"I want to talk with them directly" Dylan said. "Maybe they could be our allies against the magog"
" They didn't seem interested in joining the Commonwealth, and they only want to talk to me."
"I see" Dylan replied.
A week later, Harper yet again went to the 'white room', while he was fixing some conduits.
"Why aren't you working on your task?" a prophet looking like Tyr asked.
"Look, I tried my best and it didn't work out. I'm sorry."
"Do or don't there is no try" he/it responded.
"Whatever. Look, I did you guys a favor, now please stop bugging me, okay?"
"Your path cannot be altered" he/it said.
"Look, I choose my path!" Harper was started to get annoyed by their constantly bugging him.
"Everyone's destiny is prewritten"
"No it's not!"
"You must prevent the battle"
"There we go again! Geez! can't you guys give it a rest? Can't you guys use your powers or something"
"We don't have those kind of powers." the prophet, who looked like Dylan said, as he appeared suddenly.
"I see. Why don't you guys go pester someone else, as I get some work done, okay?" Harper was getting tired of them.
" There will be great sorrow if the battle is fought"
"Well, duh! people are gonna die"
"You must complete your mission" a prophet, who looked like Rommie said adamently.
"Gimme a break! Look, if you want to convince me, then why not show me the battle?"
However, before he knew it, he was back where he was and hearing Andromeda, the ship ask.
"Harper! are you okay? You blanked out for a minute"
"Yeah. Those nebula aliens visited me again. Man! are they annoying!"
One day, as Harper was working in the machine shop, Beka came to see him.
"I just wanted to see how you were" she said.
"I'm fine."
"Have you had any more visits from the Nebula aliens?"
"Not lately and I'm glad!."
"You, know, I'm surprised that you haven't been paranoid about them."
"Well, they might be annoying, but I have a feeling that they are not evil."
"I see."
"They expected me to influence Dylan's military decisions. How unrealistic is that? Why don't they go bug him?"
"Who knows?"
"and why can't any of them appear in the form of a hot babe?"
Days later, Harper went to Biyon Drift to get parts and have some fun, when, he ran into Corrina.
"Corrina?"
"It's me." she answered
"What's up?"
"Nothing, I had to go into exile."
"That sucks. Sorry to hear it."
"You?" she seemed to want a change of subject.
"Some nebula aliens talked to me and asked me to do something impossible."
"Oh?"
"Yeah, I can't get into details" Harper could not reveal that the Andromeda, as well as some Commonwealth signatories, would be fighting the Ulites in a few days.
"I see."
"Why don't we go hang out for a bit?"
"Sure, let's do lunch."
However, as they were eating, Harper found himself in the white room.
"Time is running out" the prophet looking like Dylan said.
Harper just rolled his eyes.
"There we go again. What part of no don't you guys understand?"
"Corrina is the key to your task" the beka look a like said.
"Wha.."
"Ask her about her 'special source' "she/it
"and you shall be helped." Prophet/Dylan said.
"and I should help you why?"
"Because it is needed"Prophet #2/Beka said.
"Okay, okay, I'll talk to this special source" Harper figured it couldn't hurt to do this one last thing for the prophets.
Suddenly, Harper found himself back at the place, where he and Corrina were sharing a meal.
"Harper! You blanked out on me."
"Sorry, it's the nebula aliens again."
"I see...."
"They wanted me to talk to your special source"
Corrina gave him a look of great surprise.
"How..."
"Look, I'm just the messenger, okay? I need to talk to this 'special source' of yours for some task they want me to do."
"What task?"
"I can't tell ya."
"You have proven to be trustworthy, so I will take you to my special source"
"Great!"
And so Corrina, after lunch, lead Harper to her special source, who was a guy of about 40 years.
"Toby, this is Harper, he has something to ask of you, but I have to go to the other room, as it is rather secret."
"See.." Harper began, not knowing what do say... "I work on the Andromeda, and recently this Nebula aliens have asked me to do this mission, and told me that you would help"
"Oh?"
"See, don't tell anyone this, but we are going to ambush these guys called the Ulites, as a favor to some ally because they have been trying to tak over stuff, including stuff that belongs to our ally. I need to to help me stop this battle"
Toby looked thoughtful.
"I don't know what to tell ya" Toby answered.
"I know, I know. I'm not even sure why I am doing this."
"To get them off your back, perhaps?"
"Yeah, that's it." Harper,
"So, you don't have a way to help me?"
"Well, I do have some contacts in the Ulite government, but not among the Big Wigs"
"Maybe your contacts have contacts among the big wigs."
"Maybe"
"I've got an idea! Maybe we could make it look like you have intelligence that will somehow stop the fighting."
"but why do we wanna do that? Isn't stopping the Ulites a good thing?"
"Yeah, but maybe it's better in the long run to fight them later?"
"Or better yet.. give Dylan fake intelligence!"
"How do we know that we can trust these nebula aliens?"
"Well, they may be annoying, but they're not evil."
"I see."
"I'm mostly doing this because we need more time anyway to prepare for the ambush."
"What's your plan?"
"With the help of one of your contacts, I'll make one of Dylan's contacts think that the Ulite governments knows about the ambush. This way, Dylan'll postpone it."
"and people won't get hurt"
"You betcha"
Days later, Dylan made an announcement.
"We're postponing the ambush"
Why?" Tyr asked, disapointed that they wouldn't get to fight.
"Because the Ulite government found out about it."
"Won't they know that we have access to their codes if we postpone or cancel it?"
"We send false intelligence regarding logistical or strategical problems resulting in us cancelling it." Dylan answered
"I see, or we could pretend that there is major conflict between us and our allies, another reason for cancellation" Tyr suggested.
"Good idea."
Harper, though giving an outward look of surprise, was glad that it had worked out, as he did not feel ready to fight the Ulites, and hoped that this meant the end to the annoying nebula aliens bugging him.
Alas, for Harper, that was not to be. Months later, a while after Andrea had dumped Dylan, he got yet another vision.
" So you you want me to tell Dylan not to fight these Ulits?"
"Why?"
"Because it will end in defeat" the prophet looking like Dylan said.
"He's not gonna listen to me. Don't you guys get it?
"The Harper must do what is needed" and with that, Harper, found himself back in the shop.
"So, what did they want? Did you enjoy your first Orb experiance?" the Inari shopkeeper asked "I actually belong to the religion called Undita, which worships the prophets, or nebula aliens, as non believers called them.I was keeping the orb here, as part of an exhibit to spread have some of them be in different parts of the drift. The local priests are coming to get it soon. The prophets lead them to the idea of exhibiting them in this way."
"They want me to do something impossible" Harper commented.
"Oh?"
"yeah"
"The prophets never give you more than you can handle" the Inari shopkeeper commented.
Hours later, Harper went to Dylan's office to talk to him.
"Dylan, I need to talk to ya."
"What is it Harper?"
"Well, you know how a lot of folks here worship a bunch of nebula aliens?"
"Yes, I vaguely heard about it and about some 'orbs' they put everywhere."
"Well, these aliens talked to me"
Dylan gave him a confused look.
"Well, I opened one of the orb things, and I suddenly found myself in a white room. Two of these prophets guys talked to me, but one looked like you and the other looked like Beka. They seem to be non-linear aliens, and they told me to tell you that you should not fight the Ulits, because it will end in defeat. "
"Why?"
"They said that we weren't ready and that the battle should be saved for another day."
"But I gave my word to the Ikalites, and I can't break my promise based on some vague foreboodings by some mysterious aliens, who won't show themselves."
"But what if they can see the future?"
"or they could be working for the SOTA"
"Nah, I don't think so. I didn't get any evil vibes from them."
"I'm sorry, Harper, but I'll need something more concrete to convince me to change my mind"
"That's what I told them, but do they listen, NO!" Harper replied, annoyed
The next day, Harper was at command doing his shift, when he again found himself in that mysterious white room.
"You did not complete your task" a prophet looking like Trance said
"Gee, I wonder why. Could it be because you guys just expect people to just do what you tell them to do, without proof, but mysterious mumbo jumbo?"
"You must tell Hunt not to fight"
"Look, I gave your message, he didn't accept it. What can I do?"
"Do what is needed"
"What"
"We want you to prevent the battle"
"That'll be easy, and while I'm at it, I could um..change the laws of physics" he answered sarcastically.
Before he knew it, he was back on the command deck.
"Harper!" Beka caleld "Are you okay?"
"Fine. Those nebula aliens talked to me again"
"What did they want this time?" Beka had been surprised about his experiance with these aliens.
"Same thing. They want me to stop the battle with the Ulits, and I was like, yeah right"
"I want to talk with them directly" Dylan said. "Maybe they could be our allies against the magog"
" They didn't seem interested in joining the Commonwealth, and they only want to talk to me."
"I see" Dylan replied.
A week later, Harper yet again went to the 'white room', while he was fixing some conduits.
"Why aren't you working on your task?" a prophet looking like Tyr asked.
"Look, I tried my best and it didn't work out. I'm sorry."
"Do or don't there is no try" he/it responded.
"Whatever. Look, I did you guys a favor, now please stop bugging me, okay?"
"Your path cannot be altered" he/it said.
"Look, I choose my path!" Harper was started to get annoyed by their constantly bugging him.
"Everyone's destiny is prewritten"
"No it's not!"
"You must prevent the battle"
"There we go again! Geez! can't you guys give it a rest? Can't you guys use your powers or something"
"We don't have those kind of powers." the prophet, who looked like Dylan said, as he appeared suddenly.
"I see. Why don't you guys go pester someone else, as I get some work done, okay?" Harper was getting tired of them.
" There will be great sorrow if the battle is fought"
"Well, duh! people are gonna die"
"You must complete your mission" a prophet, who looked like Rommie said adamently.
"Gimme a break! Look, if you want to convince me, then why not show me the battle?"
However, before he knew it, he was back where he was and hearing Andromeda, the ship ask.
"Harper! are you okay? You blanked out for a minute"
"Yeah. Those nebula aliens visited me again. Man! are they annoying!"
One day, as Harper was working in the machine shop, Beka came to see him.
"I just wanted to see how you were" she said.
"I'm fine."
"Have you had any more visits from the Nebula aliens?"
"Not lately and I'm glad!."
"You, know, I'm surprised that you haven't been paranoid about them."
"Well, they might be annoying, but I have a feeling that they are not evil."
"I see."
"They expected me to influence Dylan's military decisions. How unrealistic is that? Why don't they go bug him?"
"Who knows?"
"and why can't any of them appear in the form of a hot babe?"
Days later, Harper went to Biyon Drift to get parts and have some fun, when, he ran into Corrina.
"Corrina?"
"It's me." she answered
"What's up?"
"Nothing, I had to go into exile."
"That sucks. Sorry to hear it."
"You?" she seemed to want a change of subject.
"Some nebula aliens talked to me and asked me to do something impossible."
"Oh?"
"Yeah, I can't get into details" Harper could not reveal that the Andromeda, as well as some Commonwealth signatories, would be fighting the Ulites in a few days.
"I see."
"Why don't we go hang out for a bit?"
"Sure, let's do lunch."
However, as they were eating, Harper found himself in the white room.
"Time is running out" the prophet looking like Dylan said.
Harper just rolled his eyes.
"There we go again. What part of no don't you guys understand?"
"Corrina is the key to your task" the beka look a like said.
"Wha.."
"Ask her about her 'special source' "she/it
"and you shall be helped." Prophet/Dylan said.
"and I should help you why?"
"Because it is needed"Prophet #2/Beka said.
"Okay, okay, I'll talk to this special source" Harper figured it couldn't hurt to do this one last thing for the prophets.
Suddenly, Harper found himself back at the place, where he and Corrina were sharing a meal.
"Harper! You blanked out on me."
"Sorry, it's the nebula aliens again."
"I see...."
"They wanted me to talk to your special source"
Corrina gave him a look of great surprise.
"How..."
"Look, I'm just the messenger, okay? I need to talk to this 'special source' of yours for some task they want me to do."
"What task?"
"I can't tell ya."
"You have proven to be trustworthy, so I will take you to my special source"
"Great!"
And so Corrina, after lunch, lead Harper to her special source, who was a guy of about 40 years.
"Toby, this is Harper, he has something to ask of you, but I have to go to the other room, as it is rather secret."
"See.." Harper began, not knowing what do say... "I work on the Andromeda, and recently this Nebula aliens have asked me to do this mission, and told me that you would help"
"Oh?"
"See, don't tell anyone this, but we are going to ambush these guys called the Ulites, as a favor to some ally because they have been trying to tak over stuff, including stuff that belongs to our ally. I need to to help me stop this battle"
Toby looked thoughtful.
"I don't know what to tell ya" Toby answered.
"I know, I know. I'm not even sure why I am doing this."
"To get them off your back, perhaps?"
"Yeah, that's it." Harper,
"So, you don't have a way to help me?"
"Well, I do have some contacts in the Ulite government, but not among the Big Wigs"
"Maybe your contacts have contacts among the big wigs."
"Maybe"
"I've got an idea! Maybe we could make it look like you have intelligence that will somehow stop the fighting."
"but why do we wanna do that? Isn't stopping the Ulites a good thing?"
"Yeah, but maybe it's better in the long run to fight them later?"
"Or better yet.. give Dylan fake intelligence!"
"How do we know that we can trust these nebula aliens?"
"Well, they may be annoying, but they're not evil."
"I see."
"I'm mostly doing this because we need more time anyway to prepare for the ambush."
"What's your plan?"
"With the help of one of your contacts, I'll make one of Dylan's contacts think that the Ulite governments knows about the ambush. This way, Dylan'll postpone it."
"and people won't get hurt"
"You betcha"
Days later, Dylan made an announcement.
"We're postponing the ambush"
Why?" Tyr asked, disapointed that they wouldn't get to fight.
"Because the Ulite government found out about it."
"Won't they know that we have access to their codes if we postpone or cancel it?"
"We send false intelligence regarding logistical or strategical problems resulting in us cancelling it." Dylan answered
"I see, or we could pretend that there is major conflict between us and our allies, another reason for cancellation" Tyr suggested.
"Good idea."
Harper, though giving an outward look of surprise, was glad that it had worked out, as he did not feel ready to fight the Ulites, and hoped that this meant the end to the annoying nebula aliens bugging him.
Alas, for Harper, that was not to be. Months later, a while after Andrea had dumped Dylan, he got yet another vision.