TITLE: The Unintended

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

NOTES: Lots more angst and action on the way :)

CHAPTER SIX - Laws of Possession

"A citizen can only claim ownership to that of their

body. Only the controlling powers (governing body of the state)

can claim ownership of a citizen."

Laws of Possession on Astarte

since CY 345

Harper looked sheepishly at Trance when she came back into med-deck. She saw the equipment lying over the floor, then Harper's hand.

"Harper! What have you done?" Trance exclaimed as soon as she saw him cradling his hand.

"Just a little accident with a scalpel," he admitted as Trance got down a sterile dressing.

"An accident?" she questioned suspiciously as she treated the wound. "You were trying it out, weren't you?" she ventured correctly.

Harper looked guilty. "I guess it's not as easy doing it on purpose as it is doing it subconsciously."

"I wouldn't worry. You've only had this ability for a short time," Trance told him. "And...what I told you before - I didn't mean that you should think or it as anything than what it is. It's a virus, and it is not good for you, no matter what the side effects are," the golden alien explained. She had been trying to take Harper's mind off his grief and anger by talking about his new talent, but she hadn't meant in any way that he should try and master it. That could have dire consequences.

Harper nodded slightly in agreement. He looked deep in thought for a moment. "Do you think Shyla had it?"

"The telekinesis? It's possible," Trance replied. "Although, the virus seems to be slightly different in each of the samples I tested. It appears to adapt to the individual's brain patterns. I still don't know how to tell what exactly the effects were in any of The Outset's crew." She shook her head. "It's so complex, I'm having trouble breaking it down."

Harper looked into her sparkling eyes, which were, at this point, filled with an apologetic fear. "But...you can break it down, right? You can fix me?"

"I wish I could tell you. But I can't see anything clearly right now," Trance told him sorrowfully. "But I'm doing my best."

Harper smiled at her weakly. "That's all I wanted to hear."

"Dylan, we're getting a communication from the Admiral," Andromeda said in Command.

"Put it onscreen," Dylan ordered.

The grim face of Admiral Taylor appeared on the monitor once again. "Captain, I am not amused by the little quarantine stunt you've pulled."

Dylan feigned innocence. "I'm simply following procedure, Admiral."

"You're smart, but you can't keep up your little stand for much longer. It's only a matter of time before you have to give your man over. Why don't you just save yourself the trouble?"

Beka had been silent up to this point, but she wasn't going to take that kind of crap from anyone, even if he was an Admiral. "You so much as lay a hand on Harper I will break it off," she hissed.

Dylan was watching when the Admiral wavered his attention on something else in the room he was sitting. He knew that look. He was silently giving orders to someone... Dylan was suspicious now. There wasn't really a point to this call, which usually meant it was a stalling tactic.

Sure enough, Holo-Rommie appeared next to the screen. "Dylan, we're being boarded, they've overridden my security commands."

Dylan turned angrily back to the screen where Taylor was now looking smug. "We just needed the name of the infected crewman so I could send his image from the database to my team," he explained cooly. "And I see from my sensor hack that he's...on the medical deck."

Dylan was livid. "You just made a big mistake," he spat, and terminated the comm-line. "Rommie, give me shipwide," he ordered as he made his way to med-deck. "This is the Captain, we're being boarded by uninvited guests. Do not harm them, but under no circumstances let them leave with anyone other than who they came here with."

Beka, Tyr, Rommie and Dylan strode through the corridors, as Andromeda continued to keep them apprised of the situation. "The Barbell has downloaded the files from The Outset. The intruders are only one deck below med-deck. They will be there shortly but my security doors should..." she paused, then spoke with more urgency. "They have access to my external command override codes. I'm shutting down...Dylan I'm sorr-" With that, she was gone.

"Son of a bitch!" Beka exclaimed.

Dylan was growing more enraged by the second. Not only did Admiral Taylor have no regard for High Guard protocol, now he was abusing emergency codes to shut down his ship and kidnap a member of his crew. Which reminded him... "Harper, Trance..." he called, before remembering. "Damnit, coms are shut down with the override codes."

"How do you propose we stop them without hurting them?" Tyr asked, before he had to figure it out for himself.

Dylan glanced at him. "I guess we'll figure that out when we get there."

Trance had just finished cleaning up Harper's blood from the floor and was looking at a sample of it. Shouting from outside drew her from her thoughts.

"You hear that?" Harper asked, and got down from the bed.

Everything after that happened in a blur. The door opened slightly and something rolled across the floor. Harper realised what it was a little too late. The flashbang grenade went off and the blinding light burned their eyes.

Harper could hear what was going on but he was helpless to do anything about it. Why didn't someone warn them? There were lots of them, he could hear their footsteps and their shouts. Somebody grabbed him and he lashed out, but without being able to see, he was quickly subdued.

"Harper!" Trance called, but he couldn't reply. A hand was over his mouth. When he gasped for air something burned his throat and nostrils. He was unconscious in seconds.

End of Chapter Six