A.N.: Well, this turned out to be a longer episode than I'd thought. I ended up having to split the chapter into three parts, partly because I had to add some of what I thought was missing in the actual show. Still, who'd have thought there'd be so much in one little hour long episode?
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EPISODE TWO: PART TWO
She didn't know what she'd expected her actions to accomplish, when she'd first walked into Tyr's tent. She'd known this would change everything, of course, but she hadn't been able to predict whether or not the change would be in her favor. Would this make Tyr finally give her the complete trust she needed to betray him? Or would he doubt her even more, thinking that she was being a little too willing? She was practically selling herself here, and even thought this was what she'd wanted for the past three years, she still couldn't decide if the goal was worth the sacrifice.
She waited for him, standing in all her nude splendor by his bed, still questioning the wisdom of her own actions, but at least he didn't make her wait long. He followed after only a moment, though his face was still a little too blank for her comfort, as though he continued to doubt her sincerity, even now. She stared back at him, face hesitant but determined, willing him to accept what she offered without any more questions. And he did, at least for a little while. He moved forward, coming to stand just in front of her but not actually touching her yet. His eyes became a little more intense as they traveled down the length of her body, and she felt herself tensing even more. She felt…awkward, vulnerable, and she hated that.
Then she looked almost hesitantly up into his handsome face, all her doubts disappearing as she saw the real desire in his eyes. He reached out, running surprisingly gentle fingers over her cheek and jaw line, and she finally succumbed to the need within herself. She closed the distance between them, pressing herself to him and going up on the tips of her toes to kiss him. Her lips moved gently against his, and as he returned her kiss, she forgot everything else. Nothing mattered to her but the man holding her--not the mission, not the future, not Dylan or the damned star map. She lost herself in Tyr's embrace, and for a little while, she was actually happy.
It hadn't lasted, though she'd never really expected it to. All too soon, Tyr was pulling himself away from her, sliding out of her embrace and off the bed they'd just shared. He began pulling on his clothes, and she sighed and sat up, pulling the bed cover loosely over her body. She watched him as he pulled on his clothing, watched his face to see if he regretted leaving her like that. His eyes, though, were just as blank as ever, and she had absolutely no idea what he was thinking.
She picked idly at the leather band she'd been wearing around her neck earlier that day, not really looking at him. "So," she said, "now might be a good time for one of those blunt but truthful Nietzshean comments."
He wasn't wasting any more time. "Where is the Andromeda?" he demanded, voice as clipped and professional as if they hadn't just spent the last few hours in bed together.
"Why is that portal so important?" she immediately countered, a little put off by his dismissal of what they'd just done but not willing to show it. Maybe, she thought, she could at least get a little more information out of him before she started the real deception.
He looked down at her, his expression assessing and then suddenly softening, and she wondered if he actually did trust her more, now. He reached down, taking the band from her and almost tenderly slipping it back around her neck where it belonged. She swallowed, regrets piling on top of regrets in her heart as he pulled away. "Because without it," he answered gently, "all of this would die. Everything. The Magog ship is close, only months away."
"What?" A chill ran down her spine at this unexpected and unwanted bit of information, and she suddenly found herself remembering exactly why she was doing this, why she was planning to betray a man she honestly loved. How had the Magog ship gotten this close without her knowing, without Dylan knowing? It was a death sentence, if they didn't find a way to stop it, and it changed everything. "The last time we saw it, it was more than a year away."
He gave a soft murmur of agreement. "The swarm will arrive before the Commonwealth can muster a resistance," he explained. "The war will be quick, decisive. I can survive with my power intact, contain the abyss…after it destroys the Commonwealth."
So that was it. Tyr planned to let the Commonwealth destroy itself fighting the abyss for him, and then, when their enemy was weakened enough, he'd move in and finish them both off. The Commonwealth would be gone, and the universe would be his for the taking. She should have known he'd come up with something as ruthless and cold as that. "But you need the map," she said, finally understanding why he'd gone to so much trouble to get it. "Who else knows how close they are?"
"Besides those who told me, the Collectors…no one."
She looked away, a little stunned by both his information and the fact that he was telling her this at all. "Two months," she muttered, gasping a little with the implications of it.
His voice cut into her thoughts. "That's nothing," he said, "nothing at all. So….if you can help me get the map, we can keep our world from being destroyed."
Our world? Did he still want her to be a part of it, after he had what he wanted from her? She sighed inside, knowing that he'd finally accepted her, knowing that his trust would make it even harder to turn on him. "But the portal, what does it do?"
His turn to look away, though his expression remained somewhat lighter than hers. Then he turned back to her, a little humor in his eyes. "You do not need to know that," he told her, voice retaining the old arrogance. "Yet."
She smiled a little at his tone, not bothering to protest. "So, we're in this together?"
"Yes, we are in this together." He, too, was smiling faintly. "If you tell me the coordinates to the Andromeda's initial jump point."
"I'll do better," she said, leaning over to kiss him. She pulled away after only a moment, hating herself. "I'll take you there."
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He stood beside her on the Maru, one hand against the pilot's chair as she took them out into space. He was watching her movements closely, and she could almost feel the tenseness of his body. She wished he'd just sit down and not make her so nervous, though she was grateful that he trusted her enough not to bring any of his men along. Perhaps he'd just remembered how cramped her tiny ship could get, but she thought it might also be a sign of his renewed trust in her.
They could see the Andromeda through the view port in front of them, and Beka waited, knowing Dylan would try to lose her. He wouldn't be able to, of course, and he probably knew that, as well, but he would still try.
Tyr's voice was urgent as the blue lightening streaks of a slip stream portal appeared and Dylan's ship started to twist towards it. "She's focusing GFG's," he warned.
She nodded, having seen for herself. "Got it," she muttered anyway, knowing Tyr wouldn't look away from the screen long enough to see. She pressed a few buttons on a nearby panel, setting her own ship in motion. "Here we go."
The Andromeda bent and shifted, looking suddenly less real as the portal drew it in, and Beka quickly maneuvered so she could follow. The entire ship jolted for a moment as it entered, and then Beka grinned. "They let the Nietzshean pilot," she laughed. "Lead in his pants, of course." She glanced at Tyr, the smile quickly dying. "No offense," she said.
Tyr didn't answer.
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The path through the slip stream was getting harder to follow, and even Beka was struggling to keep her ship in one piece. She couldn't even take her eyes away long enough to glare at Tyr when he said, voice thick with superiority, "Don't lose him. The Andromeda is our only path to the Route of Ages."
She would have hit him, if she'd just had a free hand. "This is getting difficult, Tyr," she snapped. "I could use a little support." He put his hand on her shoulder, his sarcasm fairly permeating the air around them. "Thanks loads," she muttered, wishing she could at least roll her eyes.
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The slip stream didn't want to let them go, but Beka heaved a deep sigh of relief when she could finally pull away from the piloting gear and let the ship stop. The relief didn't last long, though, and she stared out the view port, eyes widening a little as she took in the light show dancing in front of her ship. There was a…cube in front of her eyes, made of what looked like little blue lasers. It danced and shifted in her vision, like some of the cheap entertainments she'd seen during her travels. It would have been creepy even if she hadn't known what it was actually for.
Tyr quickly moved to check the data readouts from the nearest panel, then stepped down beside her once more. "That, dear Beka," he said, not noticing how her expression froze at the greeting, "is how we will win the coming battle. The portal offers a method of entering and exiting the Abyss, weakening it without getting caught. Many millennia ago, it was used in just that way. As we came here," he continued, "I deployed drones alerting my forces. Soon, they will be here, and I will take the star map—the key to the Route of Ages."
She felt cold inside. "And then you and I go fifty-fifty, right?"
"You and I together, yes." Something in his voice didn't sound quite right, and a thousand little alarm bells started going off in her head.
"And Dylan?" she asked, hesitant.
"He dies."
She'd been afraid of that.
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Tyr didn't give her long to contemplate her choices. He took a quick moment to check out the ship, make sure nothing had been affected by their little trip. Then, once he knew everything was as it should be, he ordered her to open a channel to the Andromeda. She did as he asked, though a knot of fear was already forming in her stomach. Still, she sent the signal through without saying a word, watching mutely as Tyr angled the screen so Dylan wouldn't be able to see anything but the Nietzshean's face. Beka craned her neck a little, the knot increasing as Dylan's cold eyes flashed on the other side.
Tyr's voice was colder than Beka had ever heard it, but she forced herself to see the hatred in his eyes, knowing it would help her, in the end, to do what she had to. "The map is all I want," Tyr all but snarled at Dylan, making Beka cringe.
Dylan didn't seem affected at all, though his eyes were just as frozen as Tyr's. "I want to talk with Beka," he said, scorn coloring his words.
"She is with me now," Tyr immediately retorted, the challenge in his voice almost enough to make Beka angry. What was she, some sort of prize?
"Prove it." Mockery in Dylan's eyes, now, and Beka felt herself getting a little irritated with him, too. If she had been anywhere else, doing anything else, she'd be shaking her head at the testosterone levels in this conversation. As it was, she was all but quaking inside, knowing that the moment of betrayal was finally here.
Beka sighed, stepping down so she could be seen on the vid. "It's true, Dylan," she said, voice emotionless. "I'm with Tyr." She could see the disappointment in Dylan's gaze, and she couldn't help but wonder if he was actually disgusted with her, or if this was just a part of the act. "For one reason only," she continued suddenly, pulling her weapon out and activating it. She pointed the thing at the back of Tyr's head, knowing she would probably never forgive herself for what she was doing. "Only one." Tyr froze, hearing the sound of her gun powering up, hearing the chill in her voice. She looked over him at Dylan, keeping her weapon steady in spite of the shaking in her soul. She could sense Tyr's disappointment in her, could sense his genuine sorrow, and she found herself thinking that his anger would have been easier.
Dylan, of course, remained as expressionless as ever.
Beka's voice was still hard, containing just a little triumph over the fact that she, lowly smuggler-turned-Commonwealth-officer, had been the one to outsmart the greatest Nietzshean ever to live. "Dylan," she quickly said, all business, "the portal is a way to control the abyss, and you've got to get out of here. The entire Nietzshean army is headed this way to destroy you."
"Beka," Dylan began, concern finally in his voice and heavy in his eyes, "make sure—"
She didn't give him a chance to say anything, knowing she didn't have time. Tyr was probably going to try and kill her soon, and she had to get this out before he came after her. "Listen," she cut him off, "the Magog are close, only months away. We don't have as much time as we thought."
"We'll get you out of there," Dylan promised, though they both knew how impossible that promise would be to keep. Tyr wasn't going to let her go anywhere, not after she'd betrayed him. Maybe Dylan was just trying to ease his conscience, but it wasn't helping her any. She'd made this decision for herself, of her own free will, and Dylan's empty promise couldn't change that.
"You'd better hurry," was all she said, deciding to put a good face on what was probably a death sentence to her. She'd known what she was getting into when she'd started this, and she honestly wasn't going to wait around for Dylan to come rescue her. They both knew she was the only one who could get herself out of this. "I have one angry Nietzshean at the end of my barrel." Angry being the greatest understatement of the century, of course. Maybe 'sociopathic' might be more accurate?
"Not angry," Tyr ground out, then, cutting off the communication with one swift movement and turning to face her. There was something in his voice that had turned even Beka's insides to jelly, though she kept her gun hand steady. To weaken now, she knew, would be her death. "Disappointed." He took a step towards her, and panic flashed over her face. He's going to kill me, she thought suddenly, genuinely terrified. She'd never seen Tyr look like this…
She was pointing her weapon smack dab between his eyes, surprising herself with her readiness to shoot him. The insanity in his eyes had convinced her, more than ever, that what she was doing was necessary, and she knew how important stopping Tyr was. Still, she was still more scared than she had ever been in her entire life. "I'll do it, Tyr," she warned as he took another step towards her. Then, knowing she'd be stupid to wait, she pulled the trigger.
Nothing happened. She gasped, staring at her weapon in blank, uncomprehending astonishment. She pulled the trigger again, part of her hoping that the first time had been a fluke. Again, nothing.
"I rendered that inoperable," Tyr told her calmly, that something still in his voice but now muted with what seemed like honest regret.
Beka felt an echo of his unnatural calm moving through her as she looked into the face of the man she'd once loved but who would very likely be her killer. She dropped her arm, waiting for the inevitable.
Tyr didn't disappoint. He lunged at her, moving with more swiftness than any man had the right to possess. She tried to move out of his reach, but she wasn't fast enough to do anything but throw herself out of the way of the main force. He caught the edge of her body, tossing her against one of the ship's consoles. She hit hard, feeling the air rush out of her lungs from the impact. Still, she didn't waste time trying to regain her equilibrium. She looked down at the console, knowing Tyr would need a second or two to regain his balance before he could come after her again. She stared down at the panel, her mind frighteningly clear as she stared pushing buttons. The ship instantly went into a tail spin, systems overheating all over the place. Sparks started flying from the walls, and she wrapped one hand around the edge of the console to keep from flying.
Tyr was still behind her, hanging on to one of the ladders leading to the next level of the ship. "You will not stop me!" he shouted at her, laughing with a sort of mad glee. He seemed almost to be enjoying himself, and there was no sanity at all in his voice anymore. Beka just kept pushing buttons, doing everything she could to keep Tyr off balance, knowing perfectly well that she was going to die.