TITLE: The Unintended

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing from the Andromeda series, I'm just borrowing.

NOTES: Sorry this one's a bit late, RL bit me on the ass. sigh but thank-you again for the feedback :D

CHAPTER FIVE Angry/Sinister
"Evil desires only to create chaos. Accept chaos and you are on your way to confronting that evil."
Reverend Llanly III
CY 221

Even Tyr looked stunned as what had just occurred sunk in. Harper shifted uncomfortably in the silence.

"Trance...you never said anything about the virus doing...that," Dylan finally said.

Trance shook her head. "I had no idea," she said, still in shock.

"No wonder Taylor wants this covered up. This is huge!" Beka declared.

"They actually found a way to create telekinesis? In viral form?" Tyr asked, still in a state of disbelief.

"The ramifications of a discovery like this are staggering," Rommie added.

Harper was listening to the now rampant discussion. "Would you guys just stop?" he said quietly.

"If the High Guard are involved, it was probably designed for military use," Tyr commented.

"It would be useful in combat situations," Rommie agreed.

"STOP!" Harper shouted, and as he did, the flexi in his hand sparked and cracked in two.

Once again there was silence. Harper wished a hole would open and swallow him up. Trance took the liberty of rescuing him. "Come with me to med-deck," she said calmly. "I can take some more scans and we'll figure this out."

Harper didn't say another word, and allowed Trance to lead him away from the staring eyes.

Dylan, Beka and Tyr were in Command, discussing the situation. Beka shook her head. She didn't blame Harper for snapping like that. The past day had been ridiculously stressful. She wondered what Harper ever did to piss the universe off.

"Telekinesis..." Rommie stated in disbelief. "It's hard to believe."

"You saw it with your own...sensors," Dylan said. "But I know what you mean," he admitted. "I didn't even think it was possible."

"Many religious groups believe in the higher powers of the mind," Andromeda offered. "The Kol-Tep spend their entire lives trying to achieve them."

"Everyone seems to be forgetting the main issue," Tyr interjected. "The crew of The Outset went insane and killed each other. Despite whatever 'incredible' abilities Harper has gained, it will end badly. He should be quarantined until a cure is found."

"He won't leave med-deck," Dylan agreed. "It's up to Trance what other precautions she imposes."

In med-deck, Trance was checking scans of Harper's brain and shaking her head. "I don't understand it. Someone engineered this virus to alter the brain and give the infected telekinetic abilities," she said, mainly to herself. "But from what I'm seeing, the telekinesis is just a side-effect..."

"Some side-effect," Harper commented. He was thinking about his newfound ability. Twice now he had caused things to happen without intending to do it. It had been out of his control. What if he hurt someone? To think, this morning his main problem was where to buy the next case of Sparky and removing that grease stain from his lucky shirt.

"This could only be the beginning..." Trance muttered under her breath.

"Huh?" Harper said, her words failing to reach his ears.

"Nothing," Trance replied quickly. "Nothing."

Harper became irritated - something that was happening a lot more recently. Trance seemed to pick up on it. "So, explain it to me," she said simply.

Harper looked at her. "Explain what?"

"How does it happen, the whole moving things. Do you just...will them?" Trance elaborated. She knew that Harper's telekinetic ability was the result of a virus, but it was such an intriguing talent.

"I don't know. It just sorta...happens," Harper said vaguely. He really didn't have the answers.

Trance picked up a flexi. "Can you make this go over to you?"

"No! I don't want to, Trance. I don't want this," he said defensively.

Trance was taken aback. "I'm sorry," she said. "I thought...I mean, you can move things just by thinking about it. It's pretty incredible."

"Yeah, I'll think it's pretty incredible when I'm insane and you're all dead!" Harper said angrily. He started pacing again, holding his hands to his head. "You know, it's just...today I woke up and everything was fine, and now..." he trailed off and sighed, deciding he really didn't want to be with anyone right now. He headed for the door.

"Harper, now where are you going?" Trance called to him. "Dylan said you're supposed to stay here," she tried, upset that she had somehow managed to lose his trust in such a short space of time.

"I need a Sparky, okay?"

"Well let me get you one," Trance insisted, and left Harper alone.

Back in Command the discussion was still on Harper.

"No wonder Taylor wants him so much," Beka deduced. "Dylan, you can't let them have him. God knows what they'll do."

"I know," Dylan agreed. "But we are defying direct orders here. The only thing stopping Taylor's men storming the ship is a 24 hour quarantine rule, that stops Harper from being moved until he's declared 'safe for transport'."

"And after that?" Tyr asked.

Dylan was quiet for a moment. "I don't know."

Harper found himself looking at Trance's scans of him. As he wandered around he noticed a tray of tools on the far side of the room. A rogue thought innocently entered his mind.

'You can move things by thinking about. It's pretty incredible.'

Sure, when you stripped away the impending and inevitable insanity, murder spree and suicide, it was a pretty incredible thing. So why not enjoy it while it lasts? You liked it when it happened before, didn't you?

These feelings were new to Harper, and he wasn't sure if he liked them or not. Had he enjoyed the feeling? Was it simply the shock that made him fear his new ability? Only one way to find out...that little voice called temptation said again. Harper looked at the tools over on the tray. That little voice had gotten him in trouble before. But what if...what if he could control it, control the virus. It made sense.

"Okay Harper," he said, justifying his actions to himself. "This is just a trial. You're just testing the waters. Conducting research."

He outstretched his arm and opened his hand. It happened so quickly. A scalpel flew up from the table and shot right through his hand. He yelped in pain as the blade sliced through his palm. He immediately cradled his arm and recoiled at the gruesome wound. He grabbed the handle and pulled it out quickly while the adrenaline would still allow him to. When it finally came free he dropped it on the deck and thrust it away, like someone who suddenly realised they had a spider crawling on their arm.

"Harper, are you alright?" Andromeda, who had been keeping watch, asked. "What happened?"

"Huh? I'm fine," Harper dismissed quickly, though a blind man could have seen that something was wrong. "I'm fine, it's just a scratch," he lied. That was the last time he ever listened to that little voice. He pulled a bandage from one of the drawers and wrapped it around his hand. As he tied it another sharp pain kicked through him. Anger gripped him and he pulled the whole drawer out and thrust it across the room, the other equipment clattering as it hit the deck.

"Harper, calm down, everything's going to be alright," Andromeda told him sincerely.

Harper appreciated her efforts, but he was the only one who knew how wrong she was. He could feel what was going on inside him. He couldn't take control of the virus. The virus was taking control of him.

Onboard The Barbell stress-levels were rising. Admiral Taylor sat in Command, seething. The crew daren't approach him, but it was Lieutenant Rayne's job to prompt the superior officer.

"Sir, permission to speak freely," Rayne asked. He was a tall, quite skinny man but what he lacked in build he made up for with a 'flexible' set of morals. He respected authority but it depended who that authority belonged to. In this case he had served under Admiral Taylor for many years and certainly knew his place.

"Say what you want," Taylor replied sharply.

"Sir...why aren't we storming the ship?" Rayne asked, being mindful not to push any boundaries. "Hunt is just riding on protocol, which doesn't really ap-"

Taylor interrupted him before he could go any further. He chose his words carefully and spoke them slowly, so Rayne would understand his meaning. "As far as Captain Hunt goes, protocol is the one thing he can rely on. He feels secure because he knows as a respected Admiral of the High Guard fleet, it is the one thing I am powerless against."

Rayne nodded in understanding and couldn't help a slight smile creep across his bony face.

End of Chapter Five