TITLE: The False Prophet
AUTHOR: Hannahthewriter
ARCHIVE: Oui, s'il vous plait, but tell me where it's going!
RATING: R 15
SUMMARY: After stopping on a strange planet for repairs, things go wrong for the Andromeda crew.
WARNINGS: Violence, language and shameless cliffies.
DISCLAIMER: Don't own it, Tribune do. I make no profit from this (unfortunately) I just like to write, hence the name.
Chapter 1
"Wouldn't it be nice to be Dorian Gray,
Just for a day?"
From Narcissists by The Libertines
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Clouds of thick, red dust billowed up into the hot air as the Maru landed on the strange planet. Small, rust-coloured reptiles scurried for cover as the thick powder settled once again and the crew disembarked, squinting and donning dark glasses to protect their eyes from the glare of the sun. Captain Beka Valentine was the first out. She had straight blonde hair pulled carelessly back into a ponytail and was wearing fine, white clothing to protect her from the sun and keep her cool.
'Wow, it's packed!' she said sarcastically, looking pointedly round at the deserted wasteland. She inspected a boulder for anything with teeth or claws that moved, found none, and sat down heavily.
Following close behind her was Seamus Harper, the engineer. His hair was a darker blonde and in contrast to Beka's plain white clothes he was wearing an unbuttoned bright Hawaiian shirt over a light blue T-shirt and orange slacks. He grinned at her and lay down in the crimson sand, stretched out and looking completely relaxed. 'Well, since we're here, might as well get a bit of sunbathing done! You know, mysteriously pale only works for so long.' He ran a hand through the dust, and then yelped as the hot grains of sand burnt his palm. He leapt to his feet again, scowling. 'Ah, it's murder on my butt, though. Hey, there's such a thing as overkill, y'know!' he yelled up at the sun.
Next there came Captain Dylan Hunt, trying to look cool but surreptitiously wiping a layer of sweat from his forehead. He was the only crewmember wearing a Commonwealth uniform, and it wasn't ideal for this kind of weather. He didn't say anything, but took a long drink from a canteen of cold water. Right behind him was Trance Gemini and Tyr Anasazi, the medical technician and the weapons officer. These two could not have been more different. One was a pretty girl with golden skin and clothes, the other a huge, muscular Nietzschean who had a permanent glower on his face.
'Please tell me why we are sitting around on this giant dustball,' he said with barely disguised annoyance.
'We need to make repairs, remember? You see, when people fire big exploding things at our ship it tends to get a little damaged, and we need to make a pit stop to fix it. It's why we have an engineer,' Beka replied, shooting a pointed look at Harper. He caught it and held up his hands.
'OK, jeez! The Divine forbid I should ever get two minutes rest,' he said defensively. 'So, you point me to the nearest Perseid machine shop and I'll pick up some spare parts.'
'Sorry, Shorty, I've got a gut feeling that Perseid machine shops are few and far between round here. I guess you'll just have to make do with what we've got,' Beka said with a smile.
'Huh, and that makes a change?' he retorted sulkily, but he headed off in the direction of the Maru anyway. He was about to board so that he could get some spare parts when a red-gloved hand smothered his mouth, stifling a panicked scream. The engineer was dragged away without any of the crew noticing.
'How long are we going to be here?' Beka asked, while behind her a cloaked figure dragged Harper away into a crack in the wall of a nearby rock formation.
'It all depends on how quickly the boy gets those repairs done,' Tyr said before Dylan could reply. 'And judging by how long it's taking him to fetch a few bits of scrap metal, that could be a while. Where is the child, anyway? He should be back by now.'
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Harper bit down viciously on the hand that was covering his mouth and managed to get out a strangled cry before his captor caught him and smashed his skull onto a rock. Stars danced in front of Harper's eyes and he felt a nauseating sensation run through his head just before he slumped to the floor.
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'Did you hear that?' Beka gasped, standing up and looking round like a deer caught in the headlights.
'Yes, what was it?' Dylan replied, also standing up.
'It sounded like Harper!' Beka said breathlessly. 'He sounded like he was hurt. Come on, we have to go find him.'
'Ha, not likely!' Tyr snorted, folding his arms. 'If he is indeed in danger then shouldn't we take that as a sign that following him is not wise?'
'Harper is a member of my crew, just like you, Mr Anasazi! The Commonwealth looks after its own and I am not leaving him behind. Anyway, it could just be that he dropped something on his foot, you know what he's like,' Dylan responded with a little weariness in his voice. The crew stood up and started to follow Harper's path to the Andromeda. Dylan, Beka and Tyr were arguing about what to do, but Trance was looking ahead of her, frowning in fear and anxiety. She knew more than the others and knew that this was a bad idea.
They reached the Andromeda and stopped, unsure of what to do next. Then Beka gave a soft cry and dropped to her knees. The others looked where she was pointing. Just two metres away, the red sand had been scuffed and kicked up as if there had been a struggle. Leading away from it was a trail where the sand had been disturbed, almost as if an engineer had been dragged away against his will.
Suddenly the remaining crewmembers were surrounded by red-robed figures, their faces hidden in shadow. They had been hiding under the sand, breathing through tiny hollow tubes, and now they revealed themselves, outnumbering the two humans, the golden girl and the Nietzschean by at least 10 to 1. Resistance was futile, and the strangers grabbed the crew of the Andromeda, blindfolding them and tying them up. They dragged them away to the hidden lair in the rock formation.
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Harper groaned and opened his eyes. He remembered what had just happened and his eyes widened. He saw the red-robed figure that had kidnapped him sitting by a roaring fire. He tried to move but his hands and feet had been bound so tightly that his wrists and ankles were swollen. He settled for abuse instead.
'Hey, ugly, nice hideout. Don't you think the evil super-villain lair thing is a bit last millennium, though?'
The hood moved a little as if in a breeze, and the creature spoke. 'Watch yourself, Mr Harper, you may not have noticed but I am in the perfect position to pull your scummy mudfoot tongue out through your ears.' Harper's mouth dropped. He recognised that gravely, snarling voice. He stared as the hood was lowered to reveal the smug Nightsider underneath.
'Gerentex…' he whispered, disbelieving.
'Once again, Mr Harper, I feel that you were expecting someone else. And once again you are completely at my mercy. I hope that offers you some comfort.'
'Screw you, Ratface, 'cause Dylan and the others are gonna find me and when they do you'll be dead before you can say, "I'm a waste of space."'
The detestable rat-faced creature laughed mockingly. 'Oh, Mr Harper, did you really think I was going to let that happen?' He clapped his gloved hands and three-score similarly dressed figures dragged the rest of the crew in front of the fire. Harper groaned inwardly, but didn't reveal his disappointment.
'OK, OK, just tell us your dastardly plan like I know you're just bursting to do,' he muttered, rolling his eyes.
'With pleasure,' Gerentex sneered. He saw Trance staring at him, her mouth open. 'Come now, my dear, you didn't seriously think that a few Tundra flowers were going to keep a genius like me quiet for too long? Oh no, my heart is in the business of crime… uh… I mean, faith,' he added quickly as a couple of the red-robed shuffled around and muttered between themselves. 'Do you remember I told you that I started my own religion, that it was a failure? Well, apparently it was not as much of a failure as I had first thought. The people holding you now are what remain of my faithful followers, the Gerentexians…'
'Woah, slow down there, oh Prince Of Originality,' Harper muttered. Gerentex looked at him and snarled, but didn't reply.
'As I was saying, I am now a prophet to my people. But I never lost sight of my main goal, the one thing that I have yet to gain; complete control of the Andromeda and all its wealth…'
'Ah, and there was me thinking that you just wanted to sit around and sing "Kumbaya",' Harper broke in again, unable to resist. This time Gerentex lost control and hit Harper across the face, his claws scoring deep, bloody lines in the engineer's skin.
'It was you!' he hissed malevolently. 'Everywhere I turned you were there, screwing things up for me! When I first tried to take control of the Andromeda, I leave things to you and you decide to join the old relic and its crazy Captain on an insane quest to restore the Commonwealth! I come within grasp of Histuri's diary and the path to Tarn Vedra, and you steal it from me, you take it for yourself! Well, not this time, Harper, now the Andromeda's mine and I'm going to make sure that you never come between me and by profit, ever again!' He motioned to a couple of his cronies, and Harper was sure he could see a pair of ratty noses under those hoods.
The two 'Gerentexians' seized Harper under his arms and dragged him away to a rock with a few strange stains on them; barely noticeable for they were the same rust-red as the rock itself. Harper gulped. He knew that colour.
One of the creatures grabbed a hunk of his hair, pulling on it until the muscles and tendons in Harper's neck creaked, and forced his head down onto the rock. The engineer gave a panicked scream as the other creature pulled a wickedly sharp double-edged axe from the folds of its cloak. It raised the axe over it's head, held it there for a few agonising seconds, then brought it crashing down, leaving a glittering arc in the air.
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Hey, you were warned about the cliffies! For all your ranting needs, click on submit review.
