Dylan opens the Maru door only to find Trance standing, waiting for him somewhat
anxiously.
"Trance," he says, he wants to add, 'I'm glad your here,' but Trance interrupts him.
"Dylan I need you to get to medical. Something happened to Beka while she was getting
supplies."
"Trance, your the doctor," Dylan reminds her.
"I know, and I treated her most serious injuries, but I was hoping you can find something we over looked to figure out who did this to her."
Dylan becomes suddenly very worried.
"Did what to her Trance?" Dylan asks desperately.
Trance shifts her weight from one foot to the other. "You need to come to med. deck," she says.
"Uh, boss?" Harper's voice sounds from the Maru.
Dylan snaps back to the realization that they have a guest.
"Trance, I'm going to med. deck. I want you to go in the Maru and help Harper; we have another patient for you."
"Harper's friend?" Trance asks pretending to be oblivious.
"Yeah, something like that," Dylan says.
Dylan knows Trance is holding out, but he isn't going to start with her, not when Beka needs his help.
Dylan runs from the hangar to med.deck. He slows down as soon as he gets nearer. When Dylan enters the room Beka flinches with fright. When Dylan comes near her she goes into a cringe.
Seeing Beka in this state, Dylan can't believe his eyes. He stares at Beka and looks over her injuries. Normally she would be laughing and telling them it isn't as bad as it looks. However, now she is avoiding all eye contact and physical contact.
When Dylan goes to reach for Beka's face, Beka shuts her eyes. She closes them tighter every centimeter he nears her. Beads of sweat become visible on her brows. Tyr grabs Dylan's wrist before he can get any closer to touching her. Tyr motions with his head which way he wants Dylan to move. Both Dylan and Tyr stand by the medical bed right next to Beka's.
"She's been like this since she got back," Tyr informs Dylan.
"Like what?" Dylan asks, even though he fears the answer.
"She reacts with fear when any of us come near her or try to touch her. We were hoping it would be different with you.... but it isn't," Tyr masks the disappointment in his voice.
"Trance said she treated her most serious injuries," Dylan says.
"She did," Tyr responds, "but she didn't have an easy time doing it."
Tyr and Dylan watch Beka stare at the floor. Her shoulders pull back when the doors
open. Harper walks in the door carrying Emma. For the first time Beka looks up and stares
curiously at the red-haired girl in Harper's arms. Unfortunately so does Tyr.
"Who is she?" Tyr demands loudly, making Beka go back to staring at the floor.
"My friend?" Harper says unsure and shrugs.
"Your friend!" Tyr repeats and takes a threatening step forward, causing Harper to stop in his tracks. He probably would have remained that way until Tyr broke his stare, but Trance pushes his shoulder. Harper snaps out of it and places Emma down on the medical bed. Harper looks up from the table. He notices Beka and her injuries.
"Beka!" he cries.
Harper is about to make his way to her, but Dylan stops him. Harper looks up
questioningly at him. Dylan shakes his head lightly signifying he doesn't know either. Harper looks from Emma to Beka and back to Emma again.
"Trance, Harper you two help Emma," Dylan says smoothing Emma's hair. "Tyr, help me out with Beka."
Dylan has Andromeda measure all of Beka's injuries and project them on a computer
screen. Dylan and Tyr studies the computer for clues.
"How did she get these injuries?" Trance asks Harper, referring to Emma.
Harper's face blushes at the realization that he can't remember anything before being in the Maru escaping the Nietzscheans. Harper gives off a nervous laugh and turns to Dylan.
"Hey, Dylan? How did she get these injuries?" Harper asks.
"When the Nietzscheans attacked her Mr. Harper," Dylan says without turning around.
"She was attacked by Nietzscheans," Harper says with a nervous twitch.
"Don't lie!" Beka yells from her bed.
Dylan turns around from the computer and Harper looks up from Emma's bedside.
"Dylan, Harper can I talk to you guys outside of med. deck?" AI Rommie comes in and asks.
Harper and Dylan follow Rommie outside.
"Rommie, what was that all about?" Dylan asks.
"Something happened to Beka while she was getting cargo. She didn't have any of those injuries when she left. Tyr pressed her about what happened, but her only response was that we did it to her."
"That's impossible!" Harper claims.
"I know," Rommie says quietly, "but her heart rate and blood pressure increase when any of us near her. Which, in a way, supports her case."
"What are we supposed to do with her?" Dylan grunts.
There is a ten second pause before Rommie says, "let's deal with the woman you brought on board first. She is in critical condition right now. Then we can try figuring out what happened to Beka."
"Sounds like our best plan," Dylan sighs heavily.
All three of them walk in and circle around Emma. Trance has a worried look on her face.
"How is she doing?" Harper asks.
"Not well," Trance confesses, "imagine having fairly clean lungs and then being pushed into
earth's atmosphere."
"It'd be like being poisoned," Harper says.
"That explains her coughing fit," Dylan says.
"We need to treat her lungs," Trance informs them.
"All right," Dylan agrees.
Dylan gently lifts Emma up by the shoulders, so that Trance can access her back. Tyr
stands off to the side. If it were up to him he'd let her die. Rommie cuts the back of Emma's shirt. Harper hands Trance a stethoscope like object. Trance is about to put it to Emma's bare back, but she is suddenly tackled by Beka. The weight of Beka's body knocks her to the ground too hard.
"Don't hurt her," Beka screams from on top of an unconscious Trance.
Rommie and Tyr pry Beka off of Trance. Dylan places Emma back down gently.
"You can hurt me, but don't hurt her," Beka cries struggling to escape Rommie and Tyr's grasp.
"Beka, what are you talking about?" Dylan asks with his back turned from her, so she wont see him filling a syringe with a sedative.
"I don't care if you hurt me," Beka cries still struggling, "maybe I deserve it, maybe I don't. You can't kidnap a girl from earth just so you can abuse her as well."
Beka continues to try and undertake Tyr and Rommie. In her mind she thinks this will
lead to another severe beating. As long as they don't hurt the girl then it would be worth it. Dylan comes to her with a full syringe. 'This is it', she thinks to herself. 'This is the medicine they give me that makes me feel like I'm on fire'. Beka holds her breath as Dylan punctures her skin. Beka's eyes move to each individual, but she ceases to make eye contact with any of them. When her eyes fall upon Emma she keeps them there until she can't keep them open any longer.
After the ordeal Harper runs over to Trance and shakes her shoulder lightly.
"Are you alive?" he asks as her eyes begin to open.
"Now there's a dumb question," Tyr says, picking up Beka's limp form.
Tyr restrains Beka to a bed. Dylan walks over to Beka as Harper helps Trance the rest of the way up.
"Is everyone all right?" Dylan asks, looking from Beka to Trance and then to Emma.
Everyone who is conscious nods their heads. No one has anything to say. Trance and Harper return to Emma. Rommie and Tyr go to the bridge and Dylan goes back to the computer.

*********

From the far back of her mind Beka watches all the events unfold. Every thing from being afraid of her own team to hurting Trance. Beka can't do anything. She is in a pool with black goop all around her feet. The black goop is keeping Beka feet from moving. Beka had struggled for hours trying to get her self free from it, but all her efforts were in vain. When her efforts proved futile and she couldn't get herself un-trapped from her own mind, Beka began to scream. She was screaming at Dylan that it wasn't her. She kept crying for him to help her. Dylan only backed away from her, afraid of scaring her any further.
Beka can see another woman from where she is standing. She is Beka, but she's not. She looks exactly like Beka except for the fact that she has black hair and is wearing a long, flowing black dress. The woman is asleep right now since she has been sedated. Beka is beginning to feel tired herself. The sedatives haven't made their way to her yet for some reason. Beka is aware that she can't fall asleep sitting or lying down. The black goop keeps rising every hour and if she sits down it'll cover her waist in no time. Beka shifts her body around trying to find a position where she won't fall over in her sleep. She settles for arching her back against one of four walls that are trapping her. 'Please Dylan figure this out soon,' she pleads to herself silently before going to sleep.

*********

It had been a couple of hours since the whole incident with Beka. Harper and Trance
stabilized Emma, then went and found different activities. Tyr left the bridge shortly after Dylan arrived and went to his quarters.
"Dylan, I can't figure her out," Andromeda says appearing on the screen.
"Beka?" Dylan asks.
"No. Emma," Andromeda claims.
"What about Emma?" Dylan inquires.
"Well, we know she's human."
"That's always good to know," Dylan says crossing his arms.
"But her DNA has been altered in ways that I've never seen."
"And check this out," AI Rommie says, coming up to him.
Rommie places two items in front of him. One is a black leather wallet and the other is a silver cell phone.
"I've never seen anything like this," Dylan says touching both the object gently.
"I found them in her pockets when I was changing her," AI Rommie declares.
Dylan picks up the wallet and a second latter figures out how to open it. He looks inside and takes out a one dollar bill.
"Ancient earth currency," Andromeda says, once again appearing on screen, "American I
believe."
"The newest one is marked 2003. Which makes her what a thousand?" Dylan asks confused.
"Dylan, the currency is 2003 AD"
Dylan stares at the currency in stunned silence. When he remembers how to form words again he says, "t..th..that's nearly three millennia."
"It explains why she's in better physical condition than Harper and also why she had such a bad time breathing in earth's atmosphere."
"Rommie how are we ever going to get her to understand this?" he says, gesturing his hand around the ship.
"I don't know Dylan," Andromeda says.


*********

Emma wakes up to the feeling of oxygen going down her throat and the feel of some
wires on her body. 'I must be in the lab' she thinks to herself. Emma can't find the energy to open her eyes, so instead she opens herself up to feel other peoples emotions. She wants to be sure she's not alone. After that nightmare she had about being thrown into an alternate universe she didn't think she'd want to be alone for a long time.
When Emma lets her guard down she feels somebody's emotions. Somebody is feeling sheer terror. Emma's eyes burst open when the feeling hits her like a boulder. In one movement she takes the wires and oxygen mask off of her. Emma looks around her at the unfamiliar setting. She is in some sort of medical room, but the writings on the computer are like nothing she's ever seen. Emma watches the girl who is on the bed next to her. She is a tall blonde girl; very pretty, but frail looking at the moment. Emma can't help, but wonder why she is restrained to the bed.
Emma becomes instantly curious about her and worried about her at the same time.
Emma walks over to the girl's bed and strokes back her sweaty blonde hair. Emma puts her free hand on the girl's shoulder and enters into her mind.

When Emma is in pictures are rushing through her head. She detaches herself from the girl's memories and looks for the girl herself. Emma finds her only she has black hair and a black dress. The girl is backed up in a corner rocking herself. Her fists are balled up and pressed against her lips.
"Hi," Emma says gently.
The black haired woman looks up suddenly, "It's you," she says. "I saw them bring you in... Did they hurt you?"
"Who?" Emma inquires.
"All of them," she says, "especially the one with short brown hair. He can come up with some nasty ideas."
"Nobody hurt me," Emma says. "What is your name?" she asks.
"My name is Rebeka."
"Do they hurt you Rebeka?"
"All the time," she whimpers.
"THAT'S A LIE," somebody screams.
Emma jumps up and looks around her.
"DON'T BELIEVE HER," another scream comes.
Emma runs to the back of Rebeka's mind to find the owner of the voice. She sees a
blonde woman. The same woman she saw on the medical bed. The woman is trapped in some sort of prison with a black slimy substance that reaches her ankles. Emma continues to run for her but she is stopped. Someone grabs her by the neck. Emma stares at the creature, but can't make heads or tails of what it is.

Emma feels herself being easily lifted off the ground.
"Oh no you don't," the creature says to her and throws hers.

Emma is thrown back into the real world. Emma closes her eyes and gasps. Before she
can even exhale her shoulders are roughly grabbed and she is thrown across the room.
"What were you doing to her," a tall black man with long dreadlocks demands.
"This," Emma says, throwing a psionic blast at him.
Emma runs for the door and is surprised when it opens automatically.
"Dylan, our guest is awake and she is running down the hall." A woman's voice sounds in the air.
Emma is more scared than she was before. She continues to run. When she sees a figure appearing from the corner she goes into the room closest to her. Emma gets into the room and presses her back against the wall. She shuts her eyes tightly and sharply breathes in and out. It has been a few seconds and she hasn't heard anyone come in. Emma opens her eyes and looks at her surroundings. She is in a huge circular room with a large window. Outside the window Emma can see stars and planets. Emma becomes quickly aware that the alternate universe she was thrown in was no dream. Fear quickly overtakes her and she becomes light headed. Emma turns around when she hears the door open. She is standing twenty feet away from two men
"Nice to see your awake," says a big man with short brown hair.
"Are you all right?" The short one with dirty blonde hair asks.
Emma stares at them and begins to relax. She remembers them. She remembers how they saved her. Emma almost begins to speak, but the door opens again. This time two women come in. One has black hair with red streaks the other is gold. Emma isn't sure what to make out of her. Emma begins to tremble badly.
"This can't be real," she says quietly.
"What can't be real?" the dirty blonde asks.

"Um Dylan?"
A holograph appears in front of everyone, but Emma doesn't notice. Emma can't even stay

conscious

A/N: I hope your enjoying the story so far. Thank you for all the wonderful reviews.