TITLE: The Unintended

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

CHAPTER THIRTEEN Visionary

"Too much, too little and never enough. Time bows before no man."

Hecata Sree-Tak 98:23 Prophecies

CY 897

Since losing Luthor's ship, Beka had been relentlessly trying to pick up any trace of them or The Barbell. She couldn't understand how they simply disappeared, but until she did she was blaming herself.

"Another possibility, another bust," Beka declared as she exited slipstream for what seemed liked the hundredth time. Her limbs were aching but her mind would not let her give up.

"We've got to keep trying," Dylan said, mirroring her thoughts. "We're on our own on this one."

"Trance, any thoughts?" Beka asked, opening a com channel to the golden alien. She was down in med-deck carrying on her research.

"Just don't lose hope," the ever-cryptic one replied. "And feel secure in the knowledge that you have choices to make and you'll make them no matter what. And perhaps you might feel safer knowing that the slip point closest to the Dura system is just as valid a choice as the next."

Beka smiled. That girl never failed to amaze her. "Thank-you Trance. Brace for slipstream." She turned the ship and entered the next slip point closest to Dura.

"Just a hunch," Trance replied.

The blue tendrils reached out and drew the Andromeda into their clutches. Beka did what she did best and used her instincts to navigate the slip route. Finally she pulled the ship out and they came to a stop.

"I'm not detecting Luthor's vessel or The Barbell," Andromeda reported, but continued before anyone got the chance to swear. "However, I am reading several escape pods from The Barbell."

"Escape pods? Does that mean..." Dylan began.

Andromeda quickly put his fears to rest. "There is no sign of debris. The Barbell was not destroyed."

"Alright. Round them up. Let's see what we've got."

Rylisa was getting settled into her new ship. She had Taylor, Rayne and Harper in her clutches, the rest of Taylor's crew slaughtered. True, they could have been bought for the right price, but every last person on that ship was an enemy of the Dovien-Genghis pride. And the only enemies that lived would wish they hadn't. Rayne was proof of that. She smiled, remembering the torture session. She had obtained a few answers, but knew he was holding back. She had expected nothing less.

Right now she was leading one of her new drugged prisoner to get checked over by the doctor. The medical bay was rarely used, since illness and injury were rare within the pride.

Harper was pushed into the room and shoved onto some kind of machine that proceeded to take all kinds of scans of his head. He wasn't given any eye protection and the lights hurt the back of his eyes, and with the sedatives they had given him, the lights danced before his eyes in his woozy state. When he was taken out, a petite woman, clearly not a Nietzschean, took a blood sample. It didn't take long for Harper to realise she was an AI.

Rylisa noted his reaction. "It's quite primitive but we hardly have use for it usually. It's really only activated for emergencies," she told him.

Harper hated it when people called an AI 'it' but didn't consider it the most pressing issue at the time. He was also so out of it, he doubted he could string together a sentence..

The AI finished what she was doing. "Initial assessment achieved. Sedatives in bloodstream. Weakened immune system. Blood contains abnormal qualities. Recent through-penetration wound in right palm. Unusual cerebral device infiltrating brain."

Rylisa rolled her eyes. She was hoping that the AI could tell her something about the virus, instead it couldn't even distinguish a dataport. "Like I said, it's primitive," she said, exasperated. "Rayne told me you're infected with the latest version of the virus, but it hasn't showed any signs of the higher brain functions it was meant to create. That's unfortunate," Rylisa sighed, then smiled. "He was reluctant to tell me anything at first but, as you can imagine, my methods of persuasion are unsurpassed."

Harper's mind was lagging and his eyes wouldn't allow him to focus on one thing for too long. He still had sedatives from before in his system, and they didn't seem to want to let up any time soon. He wondered why Rayne had lied about the virus. He probably didn't want Rylisa getting what she wanted. Maybe if he didn't have the damn inhibitor embedded in his skull, he could use it to his advantage.

"It doesn't matter. I know you're Andromeda's engineer. And I know you can help Luthor take over The Barbell. If you co-operate, I might consider letting you go."

Harper wanted to tell her where to go, but settled for silence.

"Have it your way," Rylisa said, and left. As she left she gave instructions to one of the guards on the door. "When the AI is done, take him to his cell."

Harper watched her go. Still drowsy from the sedatives, he suddenly felt strange. It wasn't like he was falling asleep, but slipping away. And then he found himself in an odd dream, like the ones before but this time it was so much clearer. He had no physical form, it was still as if he was simply an echo of himself, looking on reality like a movie. He saw some kind of kitchen or galley maybe. Someone else was there, and it didn't take long for Harper to realise he was looking at himself. Before he could get the chance to work out what was going on, the scene changed and he was in a corridor. It was the one outside med-deck, because the guard was outside - on the floor. The AI doctor was standing over him. Harper watched as the Nietzschean got up, and realised whatever this dream was, it appeared to be going backwards. The AI attacked the guard, spoke to him then went back into the room. Harper's ethereal form went with her. Back in the medical bay Harper saw himself once more, sitting on the bed, and tampering with the AI's systems

Then as quickly as he had entered the dream state, he was thrust back inside his own form, and sitting in med-bay.

"Final assessment, patient operating at 68.45 taking into account mild sedatives.," the AI announced to no-one in particular. Harper was still adjusting to what he had just been through when the doctor turned around revealing the deactivation switch on her neck.

Without thinking, he lunged forward, summoning all his strength to do so, and reached for it. The AI collapsed and he caught her, then checked to make sure no-one had heard.

End of Chapter Thirteen