Reviews:
prin69: you'd share w/ me, right? :P yeah, I no, that IS what I would do! :P
Oenone: I saw S 5!!!! Rhade was evil but now he's kinda neutral and I can't wait until Friday!!!!! I just loved that 1 scene: Rhade: "I can't hold a grudge against you. It's too much effort" Dylan: "So you're saying you're too lazy to hate me?" Rhade: "If you wanna put it that way, yes." :P I loved that!
Parisindy: what are you, NUTS??? (Jk, jk) but don't expect a Harper angst coming from ME anytime soon!
Iara: my wish is STILL your command!
A/N: great BIG hugs to one of my best friends, Samantha (aka, DaNcInG PrInCeSs) because I left my notebook at her house over the weekend and she typed this whole chappie out and e-mailed it to me!! I LOVE YOU SAMANTHA!! (In a very non-lesbian way!) anyhow, if you could say in your reviews how nice and sweet and kind Samantha is, that would make her sooooo happy!
Chapter 12
Telemachus woke with a splitting headache. He was getting rather tired of being knocked out cold. He squinted, trying to bring the lights into focus. For the first time in many days he felt no burning along his body, just a dull ache on the back of his head. A small groan escaped his lips.
"Ah, Rhade, you're awake," a feminine voice chirped, and a golden head moved into his vision, blocking out the fuzzy lighting.
Telemachus squinted trying to bring everything into focus. When he could see clearly he stiffened, recognizing Trance. He whispered something.
"What was that?" Trance asked leaning closer.
"Traitor," he whispered straining against the bonds holding him down on the medical table.
"No, Rhade, we are your friends," Trance said softly. "Pish Tryan is the traitor."
"Lies," Telemachus said hoarsely. "You are traitors to the Commonwealth. Pish Tryan is a great leader..." his voice trailed off. Pish sending his guards to attack him, watching the bio-weapon eat away at his skin, holding the antidote just out of his reach. Then the indoctrination took hold again. "Traitors!" he announced loudly.
"No," Trance said gently. "We are
your friends. Pish is the enemy."
Trance laughing with
him, never asking questions, but always ready to listen, tending her
plants Telemachus drifted into the welcoming blackness of
unconsciousness.
--------
A widely grinning spiky-haired person was sitting next to him.
"Traitor," Rhade growled.
"No, Harper," the human replied still grinning. "Welcome back to the land of the living."
"What do you care, traitor?" Telemachus asked angrily.
The human's confidence seemed to waver. "Because you're my friend and have saved my ass too many times to count." Harper said sounding puzzled.
Playfully teasing him, and Nietzscheans in
general, working to fix whatever had decided to break
Telemachus drifted off again.
-------
"What's taking so long for him to recover?" Telemachus heard a voice ask. "Liara didn't keep fading out like that."
"We don't know how long Liara was exposed," Trance replied. "It could be that Rhade was exposed longer, so it is taking longer for the antidote to work. And remember," Trance said softly. "He's been through hell with those Collectors. Readings show he was beaten severely at least twice. Combine that with the need for complete regrowth of skin, muscle, tissue-"
Telemachus groaned and opened his eyes.
"Commander," the voice greeted him as he turned to the side. Telemachus squinted. "Capt. Hunt sir I-" He blinked and shuddered. "Traitor." He said through gritted teeth.
Trance sadly let out the breath she had been holding. She had hoped Rhade had recovered from the indoctrination, but that was obviously not the case.
"What do
you mean?" Dylan asked calmly. "Who did I betray?"
"The
Commonwealth." Telemachus responded.
"How?" Trance asked. If she could turn his words back on himself... "How did we betray the commonwealth?"
Telemachus opened his mouth, than hesitated, brow furrowing. The reason Dylan had 'betrayed' the commonwealth was because Telemachus had been accused of letting Tyr Anazasi escape. Telemachus slumped back against the pillow, suddenly since his memories of his past and the indoctrination were telling him two very different things.
Trance put a hand lightly on his arm. "I'm going to give you an injection of nanobots," she told him. "It will help you sleep so your body can recover from the disease."
Telemachus reflexively tensed up as Trance walked over with the injector. "It will help." She said calmly. "Trust me, please."
Telemachus
hesitated than nodded briefly. Trance pressed the injector into his
neck, and soon after he fell away into the bliss of sleep.
-------
Beka was sitting next to him. "Hey," she said, noticing he was awake. "Ya thirsty?"
He nodded, suddenly well aware of the fact he hadn't had anything to drink for days. Beka walked over to the auto-chef, returning shortly with a collapsible cup of water. She held it to his lips so he could drink it, since from what Harper, Dylan, and Trance had told her, she didn't think it was a good idea to unbind his hands.
"Thank you," Telemachus said gruffly.
"Hey, no problem," Beka replied, smiling wryly. "Never thought I'd be serving a Nietzschean."
"Wadda ya mean?" Telemachus asked, fighting the little voice in his head that said to break free of his bonds and kill the 'traitors.'
"Oh, just that all you Nietzschean males think you can handle everything on your own," Beka responded, putting the cup on the nearby table.
Telemachus tried to shrug, but couldn't since his shoulders were strapped down. "I was not aware of trying to handle everything on my own," he said, raising an eyebrow.
"This," Beka said, waving a hand and sitting in a chair. "This brain washing. You think you can do it on your own, but we're all here. We can help you, Telemachus," she said softly.
Telemachus smiled suddenly in private amusement.
"What?" Beka asked.
"You used my first name," he replied. "I didn't think you even knew what it was."
Beka shrugged somewhat sheepishly. "Your last name is much easier to pronounce," she muttered.
Telemachus smiled for the first time in days. "It could be worse," he said. "But we are getting off topic. I know all of you are willing to help me, Rebecca," he said seriously. "But truly this is something I must do on my own."
Beka frowned, but nodded. "I won't force you," she said. But if you ever want to talk..."
Telemachus smiled again, "Remember when I said you owed me a favor?"
"Of course," Beka replied.
"I'm calling it in now," he said. "Please, Beka, I must do this on my own."
Beka bit her lip and nodded. "I understand. I'll just go... somewhere." She walked out of the med deck.
Telemachus closed his eyes envisioning that little voice in his head. He repeated the line of poetry he tried to live his life by. "I an the master of my fate. I am the captain of my soul. I am the master..."
But, no matter
how hard he tried, the voice seemed to rise up and engulf his mind,
like some dark beast coming out of the sea.
Telemachus opened his
eyes and his breathing slowed. He knew what he must do.
He must fulfill his mission...
A/N: wow, I think that's my longest chappie yet!