AN: This is the next chapter in my effort to catch up. Trance fans (and Harper fans!), rest assured, Chapter Fourteen will supply you with your fix for the day! On another note, my computer will be offline for about the next week, as it will be in various boxes getting shipped to my school. As soon as I am set up there, I'll be back on to get things rolling again. This will likely be my last post during that time. Thanks for your patience!
Chapter Thirteen: The Game Continues"Dylan, before you start coming up with a plan," Rommie said as she followed Dylan into his quarters, "there's something else you should know."
Dylan turned to face her. "I don't like the sounds of that."
"I've been planning for a worst-case scenario, one where we might have to shoot at the Maru to stop Ree from doing something stupid."
The Captain nodded. "I would expect nothing less."
"That's where the problem comes in," the android replied, crossing her arms over her chest. "My AI is refusing to accept firing solutions on the Maru. It seems that now Ree is in control of the freighter, Andromeda regards it as a fellow High Guard vessel. She won't engage in friendly fire without a good enough reason."
"I'd say firing on a target that may no longer be hostile three years after a mission was supposed to take it out would be a pretty good reason," Dylan argued. "Not to mention disobeying orders."
"That's just it, Dylan," Rommie said. "As far as Andromeda is concerned, Ree hasn't disobeyed any orders. Code Alpha-Three-Strike-Strike-Omega is a valid Omega Directive, and it was never officially rescinded, despite the mission's failure. And according to High Guard martial law, any ship that is in a position to aid the completion of an active Omega Directive must do so."
"Well, that's just great!" Dylan exclaimed. "Some idiot bureaucrat on Terezed issued an Omega Directive, and then forgot to deactivate it when the mission failed?" He threw up his hands in exasperation. "Wonderful!"
"Either they forgot, or they didn't want to bring attention to the fact that it had been activated in the first place by deactivating it. Omega Directives usually aren't popular in the realm of politics, let alone public opinion, especially if the target is controversial. You and I both know how difficult it is to recall a Directive once it's been issued. It's possible that whoever gave the order in the first place didn't want anyone else knowing about it once they heard the mission had failed."
"So they hoped it would just go away," Dylan finished. He put his hands on his hips and sighed. "That's just great." He was silent for a moment, lost in his thoughts. "If the target was that controversial," he went on finally, "I'm not so sure that I want to be the one responsible for blowing it up, especially three years after the order was given. Who knows what the situation is now? For all we know, it might be an ally of Terezed."
"So what do you suggest we do?" Rommie asked.
"We've got to stop Ree," he responded. "Preferably without killing her. But in order to do that, we need to figure out how to get Andromeda back on our side."
An hour and a half later, Dylan realized that his plan wasn't going to get any better than it already was. Rommie had offered a few pointers, but even with her android brain, she couldn't come up with anything better. Outsmarting herself, she commented dryly, was just something she didn't have to practice at very often.
Overall, Dylan felt it wasn't that bad of a strategy. But it all hinged on one thing, and it was something he wasn't sure he could count on. It all depended on whether or not he could get Andromeda to back him on it.
As the minutes before their transition back to normal space slowly seeped away, Dylan checked in on the command deck to make sure everything was all right. Beka was focused on piloting the ship through the slipstream, and barely glanced over at him as he entered. He figured it was best not to disturb her.
"Tyr," he greeted the Nietzschean quietly, "are weapons primed and ready?"
"As they'll ever be," the other man returned levelly. "The Andromeda is ready for a war, not to mention a battle."
Dylan nodded. "Good."
"There's just one thing," Tyr added as Dylan started to turn away.
Dylan glanced back at him. "I am really getting tired of 'just one more thing' today," he said in exasperation.
Tyr shrugged. "Yes. Well, it's not exactly making me jump for joy either. When we drop out of slipstream, I won't have any control over the weapons. Andromeda has locked me out of the system. It seems she doesn't want us to try and keep her from her little crusade."
Dylan nodded. "I expected that. Don't take it personally, Tyr. From her viewpoint, she's just following orders."
Tyr snorted. "And here I was beginning to admire this ship for her sensibility."
Dylan didn't respond, but turned and left command.
Rommie was waiting for him as they started for one of the service corridors. "I wish Harper was here," she said as they walked. "I'm sure he could have come up with something that would make the success of your plan a bit more certain."
"I'm sure he could have," Dylan replied as they reached the door to one of the corridors. "But think about it; do you really want to hijack yourself?"
She arched an eyebrow. "I know myself, Dylan. And I know that simply taking control of my system would probably be the easiest way of doing things. And the safest."
Dylan hit the control panel next to the door and it slid open. "Well," he replied as he started to crawl inside, "I'd like to think that we can convince Andromeda to come around to our point of view the old fashioned way."
"And that way would be?" Rommie prompted as she followed him in.
"We're going to talk to her." He crawled until he reached one of the service ports, then moved aside so that Rommie could follow her in. "Andromeda?" he said.
The holographic avatar of the ship materialized in front of him. "If you're planning on hacking into my systems," she said, folding her arms over her chest, "don't. It'll get messy. I'm sorry, Captain, I really am, but an Omega Directive comes from a higher authority than you. I don't have a choice."
"I don't agree," Dylan said simply.
"Captain... Dylan, I'm not like Rommie. I'm just an AI program. When I'm given orders, I have to follow them. No matter how... misguided... they may be."
"You're not just an AI," Dylan protested. "You're more like Rommie than you know. Maybe you're not an android, and maybe you're more closely bound by so-called High Guard protocol than she is, but whether or not you're willing to admit it, you have gone far beyond your original programming."
"What are you saying?"
"What he's saying," Rommie interrupted, "is that you need to make a choice. You can't hide behind the excuse of following orders anymore. You can't afford to, not now."
"I'm not hiding behind anything," Andromeda argued. "I'm doing what I was created to do."
"That may be true," Dylan answered. "But Rommie's right. We don't know what we're going up against here. If we just go in and blindly blast away, who knows what sort of catastrophe we're going to create? You're going to have to make a choice. Either follow your programming blindly, or use the skills you've learned from me and the rest of the crew to make a real decision. Decide what you're going to do. Don't calculate it."
"And if I decide to go with my programming?"
Dylan was silent for a moment before sighing. "Well, then, we'll go from there." He stood slowly, but as he started to crawl down the corridor, he turned back to the hologram. "I trust that you'll do the right thing, Andromeda," he said. "Don't let me down."
Andromeda didn't answer, but instead vanished.
"Do you think she'll come around?" Rommie asked him as they arrived back at the main corridor.
Dylan shrugged. "I don't know. I guess we'll find out."
"And what if she decides to fulfill the Omega Directive and attacks a target that is no longer hostile?"
The Captain shook his head. "Let's hope it doesn't come to that."
