CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO ~ Concedere Vita

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"Do not fear death. Death is just another step."

Oasdi creed CY32

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The second trigger was clamped onto Andromeda's systems like a parasite. Well Harper would be damned if Andromeda was destroyed because of some parasite. He started back to work. More strands of the program came free, and others grew, but he was making progress.

"I can't believe you're trying to save them," Lane said, disgusted. Harper did his best to try and ignore her.

"You're nothing to them, they would let you die a second."

Harper stopped working and looked at her. "No they wouldn't," he replied, with a newfound clarity. "You're lying. You've done nothing but lie since you got into my head."

Lane looked slightly worried, and tried to regain control of the conversation. "If you stay you'll be killing everyone onboard. Can you live with even more deaths on your conscious? The prince on Carna, hundreds of colonists, and now your own friends. You're a mass murderer," she derided.

"That is it!" Harper shouted. He'd had enough. "I killed one person, and I have been sorry for that all my life, but those people on Autriva died in an accident," he scathed. "Which, now that I think about it, was triggered by YOU getting your revenge. So don't you give me that crap about being a mass murderer, you evil bitch. If you don't shut the hell up I will kick your skanky, NON-CORPOREAL ASS! Now GET OUT OF MY HEAD!"

Lane screamed in horror as her virtual body was torn apart in an explosion of light. Harper knew it would be the last time he would ever see her. He had banished her for good. If time hadn't been so scarce, he might have celebrated a little more, but seeing as he had a ship to save, he went back to dislodging the program.

More strands came loose, but the program was overwhelming. Then it came to him. It wasn't working, he couldn't do it. But Andromeda could.

On the outside, Trance was still by Harper's side. She didn't need her medical scans to tell her he was dying. She just wanted time to stop so she could finish the treatment, and tell him how much he really meant, to make everything better again.

"Trance, how's Harper doing?" Dylan's voice came over the com. They had finally pried the Command doors open and he and Tyr were going after Adonai. Nalan had given himself up willing after seeing what his leader was truly like, and Beka was on her way to secure Eldrik and then join Trance and Harper in the core.

"Ask me tomorrow," Trance replied, hoping sincerely that there would be one.

Harper had made the mistake of looking at the clock to see how much time he had. He wished he hadn't. Pressure had never been his friend. A few more power reroutes and Andromeda would have enough to come back online and stop the destruct sequence herself.

It wasn't easy. He could feel his body dying, but he knew he had to do this before he could rest. After what seemed like an eternity, Andromeda showed signs of life. Lights were coming back on, the familiar whirs of thought processes were returning one by one. Harper had never been so happy to here Rommie's voice.

"Power rerouted...essential systems back online. Removing foreign programs..."

Harper watched the parasitic program disappear in a matter of seconds.

"Deactivating self-destruct sequence."

Harper smiled. He had done it. He had saved his friends and Andromeda and finally found his redemption. Now it was time to sleep. He closed his eyes, knowing that it would be for the last time, and instead of darkness, all he could see was light.

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All through the ship darkness fled and light returned. Systems buzzed back to life and doors were unlocked. Dylan and Tyr knew Harper had saved them as they ran to apprehend Adonai, who was headed for the hangar deck. When they finally reached him, he was being held up by Rommie's internal defence systems.

"Tyr, would you be so kind as to escort our intruder to the brig?" Dylan asked, putting his weapon away.

Tyr snarled. "With pleasure."

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Beka ran as fast as the laws of physics would allow. She too guessed Harper had reactivated Andromeda and stopped the ship from being destroyed, but she had a sickening feeling that something was still wrong. Her feelings were confirmed when she finally reached the core to be greeted by the sound of Trance's sobs.

"You're not supposed to die yet," Beka hear her weep. "You're not finished in this world. You might think that you don't matter but you're wrong. You are so important, and I don't just mean for the perfect future, I mean important to me. I need you if I'm going to carry on. How could I create a perfect future if you're not there to be in it with me?"

After standing frozen to the spot, Beka ran over to them. "There's still a chance," she said, unwilling to believe that this was the end of it. She hauled his arm over her shoulder, and Trance got the other side. Still crying, she and Beka dragged Harper's lifeless form to med-deck.

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Tyr and Dylan were watching the scene in dazed shock, knowing all they could do was watch while Trance and Beka tried to resuscitate Harper. Andromeda was relaying all of what she was witnessing to Rommie, who was still paralysed in Command.

"Two more milligrams....anything?" Trance asked urgently.

"Nothing," Beka replied. It had been over ten minutes now, with no signs of life. He looked so peaceful.

"Alright, try shocking him again," Trance suggested. She had no intention of letting him go.

Harper's body jolted from the shock, but there was still nothing.

Beka hit him again.

"No response," she relayed.

"Then do it again!"

Beka charged the paddles again and placed them on Harper's heart, but before she could issue the charge once more, the long tone from the monitors was replaced with a steady beep. Beka looked over and smiled tearfully.

"Heartbeat!"

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End of chapter twenty-two