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Chapter 26

Captain Hunt woke up toHolo Rommie announcing an incoming message from Voyager. Hunt quickly put on a robe and sat in font of the monitor on his desk. "Okay Rommie put through the transmission."

Janeway had a serious expression that made Hunt take notice. "Captain Hunt I had a visit from Q and I felt you should know what he told me."

Hunt's eyes opened wide with interest. "I was beginning to wonder if Q would show his face again. What did he say?"

"Q said that a spirit of the abyss was behind our misadventure," Janeway informed.

Hunt raised an eyebrow at the mention of the evil entity. "I should have guessed as much."

"I'm sorry but Q didn't say much more than that. He didn't say why The Spirit of the Abyss wants us here," Janeway apologized.

"That's all right Captain Janeway," Hunt said as he tapped a few buttons on the computer on the desk in front of him. "I'm sending what little information on The Spirit of the Abyss we've compiled. You may find it helpful."

Janeway took a sip of coffee and nodded. "Thank you Captain Hunt. I'd like to know all I can about it."

"The most important thing to know is the Abyss is dangerous and my crew and I are attempting to stop it from destroying everything we hold dear," Hunt explained with passion.

Janeway now understood Andromeda's mission. "You've encountered this Abyss before; I'm assuming you have an idea what it is up to."

"I have a theory and it isn't pleasant. You need to get back to your universe as soon as possible," Hunt announced

Janeway didn't try to hide her puzzled looked. "I'm not about to cut and run just because this entity sends us through a wormhole. As long as Voyager is here it would make sense for us to join forces and fight The Spirit of the Abyss."

Hunt took a deep breath as he leaned forward towards the monitor. "Ordinarily I would agree with you Captain. However, The Abyss brought you here to get you out of your universe. Why? Because he has plans for your universe and Voyager would complicate things."

"That makes sense but if The Spirit of the Abyss wants to get rid of Voyager and Andromeda then why wouldn't he reverse the situation, sending Andromeda through the wormhole?" Janeway asked.

"I don't think The Spirit of the Abyss has as much power in your universe, and he wants to control the situation," Hunt reasoned.

Janeway seemed satisfied by the explanation. "I'll go over the information you've sent on it and meet with my senior staff. Then I'd like for both of our senior staffs to put our heads together and form a plan."

Hunt nodded his approval. "I'm planning on calling a meeting of my senior staff as well. I wish Mr. Harper were here. I'm sure he would be able to come up with a few new gadgets that would come in handy."

"Is there anyway you can contact Mr. Harper to make sure he and Q2 are alright? I don't believe that was against the Continuum rules," Janeway pointed out.

"We're not in range right now and I don't like going into slipstream and leaving you here alone," Hunt answered.

Janeway knew hunt meant well but felt patronized. "Don't worry about us Captain Hunt. We can handle ourselves."

Hunt reluctantly gave in. "Okay but don't hesitate to give us a call if you run into any trouble. This sector isn't the friendliest."

"Will do Captain," Janeway agreed.

Harper was carried back to the headquarters of Irish's group. The engineer was placed on a mattress on the floor and covered with a thin blanket.

"He's running a fever," Irish announced as she felt Harper's forehead. "Blake, go find some kind of cloth and get it wet."

Q2 borrowed a knife and ripped the sleeve from his jacket. "This should work. I think I still have some water left in my canteen too."

The teenager searched his backpack and found the canteen, unscrewed the cap, and poured a small amount of water onto the rag in his hand. He handed the damp rag to Irish who placed it on Harper's forehead.

Q2 grabbed his medical kit from his back pack began wrapping Harper's ribs and injecting the nanobots to repair the broken ribs.

Irish cast an appreciative on the first aid supplies. "Where did you get those supplies?"

"Harper brought them along. Hopefully we won't have to use all of the supplies and can leave the kit with you," Q2 said as he continued his work.

Irish offered the teenager a slight smile. "That first aid kit would really come in handy. We'd be grateful to the both of you."

Irish watched as the teenager finished up by disinfecting the engineer's wounds. Irish assisted, having had experience bandaging more than her fair share of injuries to herself and her gang.

"I think Harper should be okay. He just needs to rest now," Q2 said as he put away the first aid supplies.

"Why don't you get some rest? I'll look after Harper," Irish offered.

Q2 yawned but remained by Harper's side. "Thanks but I'll stay here. You and your gang could use the sleep more than I can."

Irish decided not to press the issue. "Suit yourself kid. I think I'll take a nap so let me know if you need anything."

Q2 looked up at Irish and leaned his back against a wall. "All right, but I should be fine. Harper just needs some rest."

"Kid, you did okay," Irish reluctantly admitted.

Q2 looked up at the redheaded woman and grinned. "Thank you Irish I couldn't have done it without the help of you and your gang."

"What would you have done if we hadn't agreed to help you?" Irish asked.

Q2 didn't hesitate to answer, "I would have tried to find somebody else to help me and if they didn't' help then I would have tried to get Harper out by myself."

"He must be a good friend of yours. He's lucky to have such a friend as you Simon," Irish said appreciatively.

"I don't have many friends so I don't intend to lose the ones I do have," Q2 replied with a melancholy in his voice that surprised the mudfoot.

Irish understand the teenager more than she would let on. Kludges raised on Earth had few friends as well. "I don't blame you kid. Seamus Harper is a legend here on Earth and he's a valuable friend to have."

Q2 studied the mudfoot woman with a curious expression. "Are people here on Earth envious of Harper? Do they think he abandoned them?"

Irish was clearly uncomfortable with the question and looked around the room. "Yeah, and anybody who says different is lying. Now don't get me wrong, I would have thought Harper was insane if he had a chance to get off of this rock and didn't take it."

"But you would rather it have been you, right?" Q2 said, finishing her thought

The Andromeda Ascendant had just exited slip stream near earth when Main Frame Rommie appeared on the Command Deck screen. "Captain a virus has entered my system. I am losing control of my weapons and shields,"

Hunts eyes widened and he glanced at his crew. "How did the virus enter Rommie?"

Main Frame Rommie blinked several times as she ran a diagnostic on her systems. "I have tracked the virus and it appears to have begun when you received the transmission from Voyager."

"I must admit that it would be beneficial to have the Little Professor around. And if any of you mention this to him I will be forced to deny the existence of this conversation." Anasazi remarked casually from his post.

Valentine flashed the Nietzschean a smile. "If you say so tough guy. I'll go see what I can do about ridding the virus from Rommie's systems."

Hunt nodded at the executive officer, dismissing her before returning his attention to the view screen. "Andromeda put me through to Voyager."

Minutes later Captain Janeway appeared on the view screen. "Captain Hunt I'm assuming you have some new information to share."

"I do indeed Captain Janeway. It appears somebody onboard your ship arrange for a virus to infect Andromeda," Hunt informed.

Janeway looked genuinely surprised. "I'm sorry that your ship has been infected with a virus but what makes you think one of my crew is responsible?"

Rommie was able to track the source to the transmission you made yesterday. I believe whoever sabotaged your ship also wrote a program that encoded a virus in your transmission," Hunt reasoned.

A frown creased Janeway's forehead. "All of our outgoing and incoming transmissions are scanned for viruses. Any virus attached to it should have been detected."

"We also do the same with all of our transmissions," Hunt replied. "Somebody has come up with a virus program that is worthy of Mr. Harper."

"Please accept my apologies Captain Hunt. I'll have a team look into this situation," Janeway assured.

Hunt was mentally kicking himself for Andromeda being attacked by a virus. "No need to apologize Captain. I should have had our antivirus programs updated and all incoming transmissions scanned and quarantined until then. I shouldn't have let myself become so distracted. I'm sure you do everything to find the person responsible Captain Janeway. Good luck. Hunt out."