WOW! Thanks for the awesome comments here is the next part.hope you enjoy
it
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The boy hit the oversized Nietzschean like a rock skimming water. He was on the ground and under the Neits foot before Beka could focus her gun.
The Nietzschean looked up and smiled. "Pathetic Kludges. What do you expect?"
Beka's hands shook slightly. She felt the perspiration dripping from her brow but her eyes never wavered. "Let them go!"
Seamus struggled for breath as the Nietzschean stepped down on his throat.
"You are just as bad as they are." He snarled, and then opened his arm to let the little girl hit the ground with a sickening thud. "You can have her she's useless now. But, the boy I'll keep. He is still a commodity."
Beka winced uncontrollably.
Unnoticed, Trance's tail hooked around the broken coffee maker on the shelf behind them.
The Nietzschean continued. "Do you think your better then me?" He pushed down his foot applying more pressure to Seamus' throat. "What are you going to do Spacer? Why would you risk your survival for a couple of mudfoot kids? Why are you really here?"
"Because," Trance swung the coffee pot with her tail hitting the Nietzschean in the face "everyone deserves a chance!" she yelled. The pot fell to the floor with a crash and slivers of glass sprayed everywhere.
Beka used the distraction and fired. In seconds it was over both Nietzscheans were dead.
Trance ran to Seamus' side and quickly left it for the little girl.
Beka stood frozen in a daze. What had just happened?
"Beka?"
She lowered her gun. She hadn't realized she had still been holding it out. The authorities would be looking for them. They had to go.
"Beka!" Trance called breaking her thoughts. "I need your help. Raven's not breathing. Check on Fergus. Seamus is okay only unconscious."
Beka gave a nod and pulled the dead Nietzschean from the pod door. She gave a quick thought to when her role as Captain had gotten reversed with Trance but dismissed it quickly.
Her feet grazed lightly over the dry grass as she ran towards the lonely looking house. She didn't have to look long. He lay on the front steps. Fergus, the boy who asked to many questions... the boy, who was so full of life, lay dead and cold at her feet. There was a hole in his chest so large that she could see the rotten wood he lay on.
Her stomach surged to her throat unexpectantly and she rid herself of the lunch they had shared earlier. She spat and spat to ride herself of the taste in her mouth. It was in that moment she decided. They were going to fix the Maru as fast as possible and they were taking the kids back to the Andromeda.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Beka lay amongst various parts of the slipstream drive. She could feel the grease oozing into her pores. Her mouth wrinkled with disgust. Beka was never afraid of getting her hands dirty. But, there was something extra slimey about the lubricant used to make the slipstream core work.
"Beka?" Trance called for her. "Beka?"
Captain Valentine pulled herself free from the tiny space that house the core.
"Trance, I'm here. How are the kids?"
The purple girl seemed worried and even more fidgeting them normal. She didn't answer the question right away."
"Trance?" She let her voice hold a warning she would never act upon. But, she needed to know what they had gotten them selves in to.
Trance tails swished rapidly across the floor. A telltale sign that she was worried or upset. "Seamus is going to be alright. He is still unconscious but I think it's only because of the trauma and malnutrition that he still hasn't woken up yet. He should wake up soon with nothing more then a sore throat."
"And the little girl?"
"I don't know Beka." Trance's eyes looked teary. "She's small and she had internal bleeding."
"She's going to be okay thought right?"
Trance met her gaze. "I'm, not sure. She's comfortable for now but it doesn't look good. She was so frail before.and well now. She simply has nothing left to give,"
Beka couldn't stand the thought of another dead child. Beka's skin turned cold. It was all so unfair. Beka had known about Earth. It wasn't her first time here. She had come her once back when she was still with Bobby. They had picked up some weapons. They had even helped some kid named Brendan to get off earth. They had dumped him pretty quickly on the next drift they had come across. But, he seemed more than capable of taking care of himself and didn't seem to mind being left to his own devices. That kid had been so much older then the ones on board right now. Like Trance said earlier, they were only just babies. "Is, there anything we can do?"
"If we can get her back to the Andromeda as fast as possible there is a small chance."
Beka swore and kicked one of the parts that lay scattered at her feet. "Dammit! It's going to take at least two hours to get the slipstream back on line. And, that's if we don't get any more visitors. Trance, call Dylan and tell him we need some back up. Because even if we get it fixed. There is no guarantee we'll be able to get through the Nietzscheans defense shield. This place always was a lot easier to get in to then out of."
Trance gave a quick nod and ran for the cockpit.
Beka sighed and got back to work.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Seamus sat up with a gasp. It might have been a scream but his throat felt so raw he could barley breath. He looked around frantically. He was alone. Where was Raven and Fergus? Where was he? He must be on still on that ship. He shivered as he staggered upright. It was so cold.
"Raven?" He croaked when he saw his little cousins asleep on a near by bunk. She was nearly invisible swathed in blankets. He was at her side in an instance. "Raven?" He shook her tiny arm cautiously. He dark hair flowed around her face like a halo. She was so pale. She had always been pale. Poor food and an atmosphere so polluted they rarely saw the sun had left them all pale. Yet the wind that rippled over the ocean had always left her cheeks rosy. When she laughed she turned the colour of the July pink roses. His mom had shown him a picture once in an old book she had found. He wished she were here now. She would know what to do. She always knew.
He wiped an errant tear with the back of his torn shirt...He would take her home. Then he would find Fergus.
He started to gather her up blankets and all when the purple girl appeared at his elbow.
"What are you doing?"
She startled him and he nearly dropped Raven. He sniffed once and did his best to sound grown up. "We're going home." He sniffed again. "Do you know where Fergus is?"
Trance gently took the girl from his arms and placed her back on the bed. "She is much to sick to go back to that drafty old house. Do you remember what happened to Fergus?"
Seamus let his thoughts drift back. "There were two Nietzscheans."
"That's right," confirmed Trance. She sat on the edge of Raven's bunk and indicated he should sit with her.
He felt sick something was terribly wrong. "Where's Fergus?"
Trance took his hand and held it tightly. Her hands were warm and his wouldn't quit shaking.
"I'm sorry Seamus he was killed."
He pushed himself up and backed away from her. "You're lying! He can't be dead. You're lying!"
Trance stood to as purple drops of water dripped from her eyes. "I wish I were."
"NO!" He screamed and he turned and ran from the room. There were no other thoughts in his mind except he needed to go home, he needed to find Fergus. He banged into the sides of the corridors as he ran, nearly mindless in his panic.
Finally, he saw the hatch and ran forward in a furor.
Just as he was about to reach for the handle there were arms around his waist stopping him.
"Whoa, Whoa, there big fella. Where're you going?"
It was the Captain. Seamus, unable to control his grief any longer, turned and sobbed in to her shoulder. "I can't find Fergus, I think he's dead."
The Captain pulled him tightly against her and rubbed small circles on his back. "I'm sorry, Kiddo." She whispered over and over again as he sobbed uncontrollably.
It seemed like hours before a blessed numbness took over and he was able to stop crying. The kind Captain and the purple girl directed him towards the galley and they tried to get him to eat but his stomach revolted at even the idea of it.
Finally Trance led him back to the bunkroom and he curled up in the bunk opposite from Raven. The blankets seemed unable to keep him warm and he shivered uncontrollably. The purple girl sat beside him, taking his hands and whispering things to him. She told a story about a big shiny ship that lived in the stars and of a beautiful android with her daring Captain.
He fell asleep listening to her. His mom used to tell them fairy tales to.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
He couldn't have been asleep very long when he felt the floor give a small shudder.
There was a whine, a whir and a shudder and the ship started to move. Seamus cast his blankets aside and dashed for a near by window. The ground on either side of the ship started to crack and crumbled. As the ground fell away they rose steadily up. Their home and the oceans waves grew distant.the moons glow grew closer.
Seamus' eyes nearly grew as big as saucers. They were leaving earth!
"Shay?" called a weak voice behind him.
He turned the view forgotten. Raven was calling for him.
He knelt quietly beside her bed.
"The waves are loud this morning. Do you think that Ma will come home today?" she asked as she yawned loudly.
It was always the question Fergus had asked but over the last few weeks she had started parroting him. Seamus felt so very tired and drained. He lay his head on her stomach and looked up at her.
She rested her tiny hand on his head and wiggled her fingers in his hair.
Not knowing what else to say he answered her. "I think they will be home soon Raven. They'll be home before it snows."
The girl gave a soft smile. "Then they should be home because I feel cold already."
Seamus yawned.
"Where is Fergus?" she asked.
"Outside playing, now go to sleep."
"Shay, look outside I can see the stars! Look they are soooo pretty!! Like...like "
"Diamonds in the sky."
Seamus crawled in to the bed with his younger cousin wrapping her in his arms. "Do you remember the rest?"
Raven wrinkled her face in concentration. "Twinkle, twinkle little star.how I wonder who you are? Up above the house so high like a .like a"
Seamus laughed softly at her mixed up lyrics. "Diamond in the sky."
"I know!" and she exclaimed sticking her tongue out at him in contempt.
Seamus' smile faded as his thoughts traveled to Fergus. At least Raven had gotten to see the stars up close. What would have Fergus have thought to have gotten to fly in a real live space ship?
"Shay, don't look sad. It makes your face wrinkle."
"Sorry." he mumbled. How was he going to tell her the truth about Fergus?
Raven yawned and shivered. "I'm sleepy and it's cold."
"Then go to sleep silly." He admonished and cuddled her closer.
She blinked tiredly for a moment. "Oh!" Raven started.
"What? What's wrong?"
"Do you see the pretty lady she's with Fergus?"
His heart gave a sharp twist in his chest. A lump grew in his throat making it hard to swallow. "No.No, I can't see them."
"They want me to come play with them. Can I huh?"
She was growing limp in his arms her eyes were glassy. "I would rather you stayed here with me," He replied hoarsely.
"But, she's so pretty and they are calling me. I promise not to go far away. It's okay I'll be with Fergus."
"As long as you don't go far."
She placed her hand on his chest. "I'll be right here."
++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Maru flew rapidly through slip points. The engine's seemed to be running okay but she would need to give the drive a full over haul once they got back to the Andromeda.
Rommie had sent them so codes enabling them to disarm some of the Nietzscheans defense systems and they had cleared the Earth's atmosphere with little trouble. After a long talk to Dylan about what had transpired over the last day he had agreed the kids could come back to the Andromeda until they could find them some other accommodations. She signed off with Dylan and did a quick swing by Trance's quarters. The purple girl was napping surrounded by her plants. Not wanting to bother her Beka walked towards the general crew quarters to check on her youngest crewmembers.
She hummed quietly to her self. Excited to tell them that they would all soon be on the Andromeda.
She stopped short when she entered the doorway.
Seamus sat in Raven's bunk. The lifeless little girl griped tightly in his arms. He raised his eyes to meet hers. "I'm all alone now." He whispered. "Can you take me home?"
TBC
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The boy hit the oversized Nietzschean like a rock skimming water. He was on the ground and under the Neits foot before Beka could focus her gun.
The Nietzschean looked up and smiled. "Pathetic Kludges. What do you expect?"
Beka's hands shook slightly. She felt the perspiration dripping from her brow but her eyes never wavered. "Let them go!"
Seamus struggled for breath as the Nietzschean stepped down on his throat.
"You are just as bad as they are." He snarled, and then opened his arm to let the little girl hit the ground with a sickening thud. "You can have her she's useless now. But, the boy I'll keep. He is still a commodity."
Beka winced uncontrollably.
Unnoticed, Trance's tail hooked around the broken coffee maker on the shelf behind them.
The Nietzschean continued. "Do you think your better then me?" He pushed down his foot applying more pressure to Seamus' throat. "What are you going to do Spacer? Why would you risk your survival for a couple of mudfoot kids? Why are you really here?"
"Because," Trance swung the coffee pot with her tail hitting the Nietzschean in the face "everyone deserves a chance!" she yelled. The pot fell to the floor with a crash and slivers of glass sprayed everywhere.
Beka used the distraction and fired. In seconds it was over both Nietzscheans were dead.
Trance ran to Seamus' side and quickly left it for the little girl.
Beka stood frozen in a daze. What had just happened?
"Beka?"
She lowered her gun. She hadn't realized she had still been holding it out. The authorities would be looking for them. They had to go.
"Beka!" Trance called breaking her thoughts. "I need your help. Raven's not breathing. Check on Fergus. Seamus is okay only unconscious."
Beka gave a nod and pulled the dead Nietzschean from the pod door. She gave a quick thought to when her role as Captain had gotten reversed with Trance but dismissed it quickly.
Her feet grazed lightly over the dry grass as she ran towards the lonely looking house. She didn't have to look long. He lay on the front steps. Fergus, the boy who asked to many questions... the boy, who was so full of life, lay dead and cold at her feet. There was a hole in his chest so large that she could see the rotten wood he lay on.
Her stomach surged to her throat unexpectantly and she rid herself of the lunch they had shared earlier. She spat and spat to ride herself of the taste in her mouth. It was in that moment she decided. They were going to fix the Maru as fast as possible and they were taking the kids back to the Andromeda.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Beka lay amongst various parts of the slipstream drive. She could feel the grease oozing into her pores. Her mouth wrinkled with disgust. Beka was never afraid of getting her hands dirty. But, there was something extra slimey about the lubricant used to make the slipstream core work.
"Beka?" Trance called for her. "Beka?"
Captain Valentine pulled herself free from the tiny space that house the core.
"Trance, I'm here. How are the kids?"
The purple girl seemed worried and even more fidgeting them normal. She didn't answer the question right away."
"Trance?" She let her voice hold a warning she would never act upon. But, she needed to know what they had gotten them selves in to.
Trance tails swished rapidly across the floor. A telltale sign that she was worried or upset. "Seamus is going to be alright. He is still unconscious but I think it's only because of the trauma and malnutrition that he still hasn't woken up yet. He should wake up soon with nothing more then a sore throat."
"And the little girl?"
"I don't know Beka." Trance's eyes looked teary. "She's small and she had internal bleeding."
"She's going to be okay thought right?"
Trance met her gaze. "I'm, not sure. She's comfortable for now but it doesn't look good. She was so frail before.and well now. She simply has nothing left to give,"
Beka couldn't stand the thought of another dead child. Beka's skin turned cold. It was all so unfair. Beka had known about Earth. It wasn't her first time here. She had come her once back when she was still with Bobby. They had picked up some weapons. They had even helped some kid named Brendan to get off earth. They had dumped him pretty quickly on the next drift they had come across. But, he seemed more than capable of taking care of himself and didn't seem to mind being left to his own devices. That kid had been so much older then the ones on board right now. Like Trance said earlier, they were only just babies. "Is, there anything we can do?"
"If we can get her back to the Andromeda as fast as possible there is a small chance."
Beka swore and kicked one of the parts that lay scattered at her feet. "Dammit! It's going to take at least two hours to get the slipstream back on line. And, that's if we don't get any more visitors. Trance, call Dylan and tell him we need some back up. Because even if we get it fixed. There is no guarantee we'll be able to get through the Nietzscheans defense shield. This place always was a lot easier to get in to then out of."
Trance gave a quick nod and ran for the cockpit.
Beka sighed and got back to work.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Seamus sat up with a gasp. It might have been a scream but his throat felt so raw he could barley breath. He looked around frantically. He was alone. Where was Raven and Fergus? Where was he? He must be on still on that ship. He shivered as he staggered upright. It was so cold.
"Raven?" He croaked when he saw his little cousins asleep on a near by bunk. She was nearly invisible swathed in blankets. He was at her side in an instance. "Raven?" He shook her tiny arm cautiously. He dark hair flowed around her face like a halo. She was so pale. She had always been pale. Poor food and an atmosphere so polluted they rarely saw the sun had left them all pale. Yet the wind that rippled over the ocean had always left her cheeks rosy. When she laughed she turned the colour of the July pink roses. His mom had shown him a picture once in an old book she had found. He wished she were here now. She would know what to do. She always knew.
He wiped an errant tear with the back of his torn shirt...He would take her home. Then he would find Fergus.
He started to gather her up blankets and all when the purple girl appeared at his elbow.
"What are you doing?"
She startled him and he nearly dropped Raven. He sniffed once and did his best to sound grown up. "We're going home." He sniffed again. "Do you know where Fergus is?"
Trance gently took the girl from his arms and placed her back on the bed. "She is much to sick to go back to that drafty old house. Do you remember what happened to Fergus?"
Seamus let his thoughts drift back. "There were two Nietzscheans."
"That's right," confirmed Trance. She sat on the edge of Raven's bunk and indicated he should sit with her.
He felt sick something was terribly wrong. "Where's Fergus?"
Trance took his hand and held it tightly. Her hands were warm and his wouldn't quit shaking.
"I'm sorry Seamus he was killed."
He pushed himself up and backed away from her. "You're lying! He can't be dead. You're lying!"
Trance stood to as purple drops of water dripped from her eyes. "I wish I were."
"NO!" He screamed and he turned and ran from the room. There were no other thoughts in his mind except he needed to go home, he needed to find Fergus. He banged into the sides of the corridors as he ran, nearly mindless in his panic.
Finally, he saw the hatch and ran forward in a furor.
Just as he was about to reach for the handle there were arms around his waist stopping him.
"Whoa, Whoa, there big fella. Where're you going?"
It was the Captain. Seamus, unable to control his grief any longer, turned and sobbed in to her shoulder. "I can't find Fergus, I think he's dead."
The Captain pulled him tightly against her and rubbed small circles on his back. "I'm sorry, Kiddo." She whispered over and over again as he sobbed uncontrollably.
It seemed like hours before a blessed numbness took over and he was able to stop crying. The kind Captain and the purple girl directed him towards the galley and they tried to get him to eat but his stomach revolted at even the idea of it.
Finally Trance led him back to the bunkroom and he curled up in the bunk opposite from Raven. The blankets seemed unable to keep him warm and he shivered uncontrollably. The purple girl sat beside him, taking his hands and whispering things to him. She told a story about a big shiny ship that lived in the stars and of a beautiful android with her daring Captain.
He fell asleep listening to her. His mom used to tell them fairy tales to.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
He couldn't have been asleep very long when he felt the floor give a small shudder.
There was a whine, a whir and a shudder and the ship started to move. Seamus cast his blankets aside and dashed for a near by window. The ground on either side of the ship started to crack and crumbled. As the ground fell away they rose steadily up. Their home and the oceans waves grew distant.the moons glow grew closer.
Seamus' eyes nearly grew as big as saucers. They were leaving earth!
"Shay?" called a weak voice behind him.
He turned the view forgotten. Raven was calling for him.
He knelt quietly beside her bed.
"The waves are loud this morning. Do you think that Ma will come home today?" she asked as she yawned loudly.
It was always the question Fergus had asked but over the last few weeks she had started parroting him. Seamus felt so very tired and drained. He lay his head on her stomach and looked up at her.
She rested her tiny hand on his head and wiggled her fingers in his hair.
Not knowing what else to say he answered her. "I think they will be home soon Raven. They'll be home before it snows."
The girl gave a soft smile. "Then they should be home because I feel cold already."
Seamus yawned.
"Where is Fergus?" she asked.
"Outside playing, now go to sleep."
"Shay, look outside I can see the stars! Look they are soooo pretty!! Like...like "
"Diamonds in the sky."
Seamus crawled in to the bed with his younger cousin wrapping her in his arms. "Do you remember the rest?"
Raven wrinkled her face in concentration. "Twinkle, twinkle little star.how I wonder who you are? Up above the house so high like a .like a"
Seamus laughed softly at her mixed up lyrics. "Diamond in the sky."
"I know!" and she exclaimed sticking her tongue out at him in contempt.
Seamus' smile faded as his thoughts traveled to Fergus. At least Raven had gotten to see the stars up close. What would have Fergus have thought to have gotten to fly in a real live space ship?
"Shay, don't look sad. It makes your face wrinkle."
"Sorry." he mumbled. How was he going to tell her the truth about Fergus?
Raven yawned and shivered. "I'm sleepy and it's cold."
"Then go to sleep silly." He admonished and cuddled her closer.
She blinked tiredly for a moment. "Oh!" Raven started.
"What? What's wrong?"
"Do you see the pretty lady she's with Fergus?"
His heart gave a sharp twist in his chest. A lump grew in his throat making it hard to swallow. "No.No, I can't see them."
"They want me to come play with them. Can I huh?"
She was growing limp in his arms her eyes were glassy. "I would rather you stayed here with me," He replied hoarsely.
"But, she's so pretty and they are calling me. I promise not to go far away. It's okay I'll be with Fergus."
"As long as you don't go far."
She placed her hand on his chest. "I'll be right here."
++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Maru flew rapidly through slip points. The engine's seemed to be running okay but she would need to give the drive a full over haul once they got back to the Andromeda.
Rommie had sent them so codes enabling them to disarm some of the Nietzscheans defense systems and they had cleared the Earth's atmosphere with little trouble. After a long talk to Dylan about what had transpired over the last day he had agreed the kids could come back to the Andromeda until they could find them some other accommodations. She signed off with Dylan and did a quick swing by Trance's quarters. The purple girl was napping surrounded by her plants. Not wanting to bother her Beka walked towards the general crew quarters to check on her youngest crewmembers.
She hummed quietly to her self. Excited to tell them that they would all soon be on the Andromeda.
She stopped short when she entered the doorway.
Seamus sat in Raven's bunk. The lifeless little girl griped tightly in his arms. He raised his eyes to meet hers. "I'm all alone now." He whispered. "Can you take me home?"
TBC