Hello again. I'm back with another chapter. Thanks to all who reviewed.
Chapter 14
Trance sat casually on her bunk waiting for somebody, most likely Marco, to knock at her door. If it too long the purple alien was going to make enough ruckus that somebody would have to come to check on her.
Marco arrived to check in on Trance eventually. The purple pixie had no sure knowledge of how long she had really been in her room alone. The blond Nietzschean strutted into the small, cold room. "Siegfried sent me to return his flower to him."
Trance let a small gasp. "Horatio can't go back to Siegfried. That man will hurt Horatio again."
"You'll have to worry about than that flower if you try to keep it here," Marco warned sternly.
The purple pixie stood up and moved between Marco and Horatio the flower. "I won't let Horatio get hurt again; he may not survive another uprooting."
Marco sighed with annoyance before advancing on the purple girl. "Now what makes you think Siegfried will hurt the delicate little flower?"
"Siegfried's already uprooted Horatio so I can't be certain he wouldn't do it again," Trance argued.
The purple girl remained unafraid by the tall, burly Nietzschean, even when he flashed his bone blades. Trance merely looked on Marco with curiosity, or what she hoped the Nietzschean would think was curiosity.
Marco reached out an arm to push the annoying purple alien out of the way but suddenly felt a palm land solidly on his chest. The force of the palm thrust caused the Nietzschean to take a step back.
"You're quite deceptive young lady. Don't be fooled into thinking you can stop me," Marco warned with a snarl on his lips.
"And don't be fooled into thinking I am a pushover," Trance answered back with uncharacteristic harshness in her voice.
Before Marco could make move towards her Trance met his gaze and began using her hypnotic powers. Marco was in the middle raising his arm to strike the purple alien when he suddenly stopped. Trance kept her the pupils in her eyes spinning to keep the Nietzschean hypnotized.
"You look sleepy Marco. You must be tired. Why don't lie down here on this nice cot and take a rest," Trance suggested as she led Marco to the cot.
Marco looked at Trance with a confused expression, as if fighting the pixie's hypnotic gaze. "Not time to rest. I'm on duty."
Trance put a comforting hand on the Nietzschean's left forearm. "I'm sure it would be alright if you just took a short nap. You've been working very hard lately."
Marco now felt too tired to argue with the nice purple girl. He meekly laid down on the cot and immediately fell asleep. Trance covered up the Nietzschean with the lone blanket she had been given before quietly tip toeing out of the cold, dark room.
Trance was paused long enough to look around and try to get her bearings. She had timed her escape well since it was dark in the hallway, telling her that the planet's sun hadn't yet come up. Her pixie luck was going good so far.
As she approached the far end of the hallway, Trance heard a soft whimpering coming from one of the rooms. Trance was anxious to leave, but couldn't leave somebody or something in possible trouble.
Trance quietly walked turned the corner of the hall and heard the whimpering get louder. The purple girl could now tell that the whimpers weren't coming from a human. Trance located the source of the noise behind the second door to her left.
The purple pixie tried to open the door but it was locked. Trance used some of the tricks Harper had taught her and hacked into the door's control panel. A minute later and she had the door opened.
Trance let out a gasp as she saw a small furry animal sitting all alone in a metal crate. The animal was about 20 inches high and looked like it weighed 15 pounds. The animal had long pale pink fur and large red eyes. The small creature also had a long nose and pointed ears with along with an antenna on top of its head.
The purple alien girl knelt down in front of the cage and tried to free the animal. Before she could unlock the cage door Trance felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. In a lightning fast move, Trance turned and kicked behind her, while still kneeling.
As fast as the purple alien was, Siegfried was quicker and sidestepped her kick. Before Trance could counter with another attack she smelled a strong odor hit her nostrils. A moment later, Trance was feeling dizzy. Trance tried to stay conscious but it was a losing battle soon she slumped to the floor next to the cage.
Dylan was taking his usual early morning job along Andromeda's corridors when Holo Rommie appeared ahead of him. The high guard captain slowed down and stopped in front of the hologram, leaning over to stretch his hamstring muscles.
"Captain my sensors are unable to detect Harper on board me," the hologram informed with a hint of irritation.
Dylan straightened up and raised an eyebrow at the news. "Does that mean Harper is not onboard or you just can't detect him?" The High Guard captain called out to the engineer over the com link. After a few moments of silence Dylan gave up trying to contact Harper.
Holo Rommie tilted her head to the side as she put her hands behind her back. "I haven't detected any tampering with my onboard sensors; however, Harper is capable of tampering with my systems without leaving a trace."
"Agreed. Andromeda I want you to run a full diagnostic scan and search for any signs of tampering with any of your systems. I also need you to continue scanning for any signs of Harper," Dylan ordered in an irritated tone.
Holo Rommie crisply moved her arms to her side. "Aye Captain. I will have my avatar search for Harper in case he is incapacitated."
Dylan didn't expect Harper to be found onboard Andromeda but had to cover all options just in case. "Very good Andromeda. Send a message to the nearest planet or drift and have a courier deliver the news to Beka. I'll go and inform Tyr and Rev. I don't expect that Tyr will be happy."
"Indeed I am not pleased to be covering for the wayward little engineer," Tyr confirmed from behind Dylan. The Nietzschean had quietly appeared after hearing the conversation from another area of the same deck.
Dylan managed to keep from jumping at the sudden appearance of the Nietzschean. He turned around to address Tyr. "It looks like you saved me the trouble of giving you the bad news. We're both going to have to work together while most of your crew is gone so let's try to push aside any anger we have towards Harper for now."
Try shrugged his broad shoulders. "That is one suggestion I will go along with."
"Well, I'm going to go tell Rev about Harper," Dylan announced before leaving the Nietzschean and the hologram.
Dylan found the Magog in Hydroponics, tending to Trance's plants in her absence. Rev was quietly talking to a rather large leafy fern when the High Guard captain entered. Rev merely glanced over at the Dylan with a curious expression.
"To what do I owe the honor of this visit Captain Hunt?" the Magog asked softly as he sprayed the fern with water.
"I wanted to let you know that Harper appears to have left Andromeda. He most likely left to look for Trance," Dylan informed as he admired the delicate fern.
Rev's expression turned solemn at the thought of the engineer on a possible vengeance mission. "I will add Master Harper to my prayers for a safe return for your crew Captain. I will also pray that Master Harper does not let his emotions get the best of him."
"So you think Harper is liable to get into trouble in his desire to find Trance," Dylan surmised.
The Magog shook his furry head in disagreement. "I meant that I hope that Master Harper does not let his anger consume him to the point where he will do something he will regret."
Dylan gave the Magog a surprised look. "So you think Harper left more to get revenge then to find Trance?"
"No, that's not it exactly," Rev replied. "Allow me to elaborate Captain. Master Harper is very protective of Trance and others he cares for. I fear that if Trance or Beka is injured by Siegfried or his men then Master Harper will give in to his dark side."
"Harper may be annoying and unorthodox but I don't see him as the kind of person who would go off the deep end," Dylan calmly argued.
Rev thoughtfully rubbed his medallion in a clawed hand. "Every person, human, Nietzschean or Magog, can go off the deep end as you say. May I remind you that Harper did use a nova bomb to kill all of those Nietzscheans not that long ago."
Dylan sighed, realizing that the wayist Magog had a valid concern. "You may have a point Rev, but I'm hoping everything turns out okay."
"I will continue to pray for the safe return of Trance, Beka, and Harper," Rev promised with sincerity.
"Thank you Rev. I can use all of the positive influence right now," Dylan admitted with appreciation in his voice. Dylan patted Rev on the back before leaving the Magog to finish tending Trance's plants.