A/N: A Beka story that has been brewing in my head for a long while. I like how it's flowing so far and the next part will be posted once I've polished it.
RATING: PG13
CATEGORY: Angst, Drama, Angst, consider yourself warned.
TIMELINE: Second Season Andromeda, Alternate Universe
FEEDBACK: I love it!:)
It was a haunting cry.
The lingering wail echoed through the Andromeda Ascendent, reverberating against its very walls, eerie not only in the evocative nature of the cry, but in the fact that it streamed from every intercom, poured over every comlink, broadcast on all bandwidths into space itself.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
The High Guard ship pitched and rolled, hurtling through space, caught by the riptide of the AI's fury in her grief.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
The endlessly repeated howl became like a wind, surrounding everything.
In the midst of this cry a singular human voice struggled to be heard.
"Andromeda!"
The wailing and rolling of the ship did not cease, only varying in length and intensity.
The voice was louder this time, shouting above the roar. "Andromeda, respond!"
A particularly harsh pitch threw Andromeda's first officer against the wall. She rose to her knees, leaning her back against the wall for support. Beka Valentine cupped her hand over her comlink, drawing it as close to her mouth as possible so her voice might be heard over and through the wail, and switched to a new tack. In a voice that was both hysterical and hopeful, she asked, "Harper?"
It seemed an eternity before Harper's disbelieving voice now accompanied the wail on her comlink. "Boss! Thank goodness you're alright."
With a rush of the same sentiment, Beka allowed herself a sigh of relief and then went straight to the problem at hand. "Harper! I can't get helm control. Auto pilot's engaged and the AI's not responding."
Lights were flickering and sparks were flying from the consoles on the Command Deck. Not trusting the erratic movements of the ship, Beka dragged herself back to the pilot's station, climbed into the pilot's chair, and strapped herself into it.
After a moment, Harper's voice chirped. "Can't give you manual override from here. Rommie's gotta give you control."
"She's not answering." Beka pressed back a stray blonde lock from her eyes. For him to know this much, Harper must have gained partial access to Andromeda's systems. This thought prompted her next question. "Her location?"
Harper didn't fail her. "Looks like the main part of Med Deck."
The screens all about the Command Deck blinked on and off. Images of a space battle captured just hours earlier, played erratically.
"I knew this wasn't a good idea," a deep voice bellowed. Tyr appeared in the doorway, steadying himself it seemed by sheer will as he released his hold on the entrance and walked into Command. "The ship has gone mad!"
"Tyr?" It was hard to believe anyone was alright, even the stoic Tyr, when so recently many things had gone so wrong. Beka allowed her seat to pull back from the station and turned towards the sound of the Nietzschean's voice.
She stared. There he was, large as life. "Tyr," she repeated, releasing her seat buckle and nearly getting flung to the floor in the process. "Take over here. I have to find Rommie."
"Internal defenses are active," Tyr warned, brandishing his gauss rifle. "Where is she? I'll go."
Beka shook her head. "Andromeda's my responsibility now. So is Rommie. And if all of this--" Beka gestured to the state of things. "Indicates her state of mind, I'd rather be the one to go. Stay here, once we switch over to manual, I'm counting on you to slip us to safer territory. There's no telling what kind of attention we've attracted."
Beka moved towards the door, but Tyr blocked her way. She raised her chin and looked up into his eyes, wondering if he was going to argue with her.
He stared back at her a moment. "Take this." He placed the rifle in her hands and stepped aside. He strode purposefully over to a console. "I'll do my best to monitor your progress from here."
Beka gave a short nod, amazed that anything should actually go her way today, and left Command Deck.
She sprinted through the corridors and climbed ladders, thanking the adrenaline that coursed through her veins for the speed of her traverse. Only one corridor gave her problems, but Tyr's voice over the comlink warned her in time.
When internal defenses fired on her, she somersaulted to safety, shot the gauss rifle and ended the offending barrage. Harper would chide her later about the damage, but she'd worry over such trivialities later.
She felt the change in the atmosphere as soon as she entered it. The AG fields were slightly stronger in Medical than in the corridor outside, so the contents of the room had shifted less than elsewhere. Whether this was by accident or by design, she didn't know.
The lights were dimmed and the prevalent wail rose to the point where it was nearly unbearable to hear.
Frowning, Beka scanned the room, caught a glimpse of a familiar figure in a red uniform, and approached the android.
Rommie lay huddled in a corner, her hands over her ears, and her eyes closed. She periodically shook her head as if fighting some sort of unseen battle. As Beka drew closer, she heard Rommie repeating several words in a mechanical way. "A match. A match. DNA test results. A match. A match."
It was disturbing, to say the least. "Rommie, it's Beka. Can you hear me?"
Rommie's eyes shot open. She lowered her hands. "Beka?"
"Yes. What's happening to you?"
The voice that answered sounded too low and too dull, as if at any moment it would break into a scream. "It matched, Beka. The tests. The DNA." Rommie covered her ears once again as another cry shuddered throughout the ship.
Beka felt the floor shiver and braced herself for the lurch that was sure to follow.
Then, Beka grabbed Rommie's arm, forcing the android to uncover one ear. "Listen! Some systems are overloading. We're flying out of control. Whatever's going on, I need you to stop it. Restore helm control."
"He's gone." Rommie blinked. "I don't want to feel it, Beka. I shut it out. I don't think I--"
"Shut what out? You're responsible for this?"
The ship tilted violently.
Beka dropped to her knees. "We don't have time to discuss this. Our lives are on the line. Do you hear me? This ship is out of control. I need you take us off auto pilot. Do whatever you have to do, but stop this now! That's an order."
Rommie bowed her head and closed her eyes. "Compartmentalizing. Terminating link with mainframe. Process complete."
Instant silence fell.
Beka regained her equilibrium as the crazy dives, bucks, and rolls of the ship ceased.
"Good work, Captain Valentine." Tyr's voice broke the stillness over the comlink. "Helm control has been reestablished."
Beka breathed deeply, surprised she had been holding her breath. "Get us out of here."
The welcome feel of entering a slipstream porthole followed. As Andromeda headed towards temporary safety, exhaustion took over Beka's limbs. She rocked back on her heels and tried to catch her breath. Up until this point, she had been reacting out of necessity, but now she allowed herself the luxury of a clear-cut thought.
She might have kept the reflection at bay for a moment longer, but looking over at the mournful android, sitting on the floor before her, the thought struck with shattering and startling force.
Rommie raised her head and confirmed the thought even before it could travel to Beka's lips. "He's dead, Beka. Dylan's dead."