TITLE: The Unintended

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

NOTES: Glad y'all are enjoying it! Lots more fluff and bunny wabbits to come. And when I say fluff and bunny wabbits I mean blood, angst and no bunny wabbits at all. Oh and there's a bit that might make you cringe if you're squeamish. Don't say I didn't warn ya ;)

CHAPTER FOURTEEN Sincere with Persuasion

"Why try? Why dream? Why breathe in and out?"

Armin Rectos, philosopher

CY 985-98

It wasn't easy reprogramming the AI without his tools, but Harper managed it. He used a some of the medical tools lying around to snip wires and reconnecting them elsewhere. He was still drowsy from the sedatives and his concentration only lapsed a couple of times. Finally he had placed a set of basic commands into her system - to go outside, talk to the Nietzschean and then knock him out. Sometimes he even amazed himself.

As the reprogrammed doctor left to complete her objective, Harper slid off the bed, almost losing his footing in the process as the lag on his mind seemed to transfer to his body. He waited for the conversation and the thud from outside and when he heard it, cautiously left the med-bay. The AI was standing over the unconscious Nietzschean, just as Harper had seen in his...he hesitated to call it a dream. It was clearly more than that. It was more like a vision. Jesus, he was having visions now? He didn't have much time to consider it as footsteps echoed down the corridor. He ushered the doctor back into the med-bay. Right now he had to get out of there.

"Why did you take an escape pod?"

Tyr and Dylan were interrogating the prisoners they had taken from The Barbell escape pods that were rounded up. So far they weren't being particularly helpful.

The man was Sternan Cole, a mercenary for hire who had seemed to make getting caught a part of his hobby. Andromeda had found his record to be quite interesting reading; it looked like he'd spent more time in prison than he had committing crimes.

"Apparently our friend here would prefer to go to prison again than give us what we need," Tyr said to Dylan, for the benefit of Cole.

"You know, I'm not really in the mood for this game," Dylan replied. "Do you mind if we play something else?"

Tyr shrugged. "Only if I can join in."

"Be my guest."

Tyr opened the cell door and went inside. Cole tensed, not expecting the sudden invasion. "Hey, you're Commonwealth, you can't hurt me," he said, failing to hide his worry.

"Oh darn it. He's right, Tyr," Dylan said melodramatically, and turned to leave. At the door he stopped and pretended to have an idea. "Except the Commonwealth have decided to sit this one out. So there's not really much point in obeying their rules."

"Sounds good to me." Tyr wished Dylan wasn't bluffing and he really could kick the crap out of this pathetic excuse for a living being. But he supposed watching the man quiver in fear was the next best thing.

"Alright, alright! I'll answer your damn questions!"

"Tell us what happened to The Barbell," Tyr demanded. "Did the Nietzscheans find you?"

"Yeah. They came onboard and just started shooting. I headed straight for the escape pods. I wasn't hired to get shot at."

"Why were you hired?"

"Taylor wanted some muscle," Cole told him. It wasn't like he really liked Taylor that much anyway.

"To take back The Barbell," Dylan filled in.

"And to act as his crew until he got whatever it was he was after."

"You don't know what that was?"

"No," Cole replied. "Something to do with the research he was doing before he got bumped from the Commonwealth."

"Okay, now we're getting somewhere," Dylan said. "So why were the Nietzscheans looking for Taylor?"

"Why? Because Nietzscheans don't like looking like idiots, that's why," Cole answered, then remembered the particular Nietzschean towering over him and got back to the point. "Taylor must have ripped them off. One minute we were docked with their ship, the next we're ordered to attack and get the hell out of the system."

"So if Luthor wanted to get revenge, why not just destroy the ship?"

"I don't know, last I saw the Nietzscheans were killing the crew left right and centre," Cole told them. "I was lucky to get the hell out of there when I did. God help anyone left behind."

When heavy footsteps running towards him came from the ahead, Harper ducked into the nearest room. It was a galley. An expected feeling of deja vu washed over Harper. How could he have seen this when he had never been in there? It was too much to comprehend when he was running for his life.

Thankfully the place was deserted, probably because cooking wasn't considered an essential function when engaging in battle. Nevertheless, Harper was still stuck there. He had no idea where to go or what he was doing and was beginning to think his daring escape plan had needed a little more thought. As he turned around like a lost puppy in the rain, he could heard a shout.

"In here," a hefty Nietzschean male said as he calmly approached from one of the doorways.

Things got worse before they got better, and three more of the Rylisa's crew entered, followed by the lady herself. "Silly little kludge. If you were hungry all you had to do was say so," she mocked.

Harper felt a brief rise of anger that he felt whenever a Nietzschean talked down to him or used that word, until he remembered the inhibitor jammed in the side of his head, and bit his tongue. He thanked the divine for small mercies. Rylisa didn't know about the inhibitor yet, but it was only a matter of time.

"Don't you have anything to say?" she asked, but received no answer. "I assume it's dawned upon you that escaping is really a pointless activity."

"It crossed my mind," Harper admitted.

Harper didn't have to worry about holding onto his fear. It was back with a vengeance. Two of the onlookers acted on Rylisa's command and approached him. The first grabbed his left arm and twisted it behind his back harshly. Harper swore he heard some unnatural cracking sounds, then was pushed to his knees in front of a table. The second lackey took his other arm and yanked it onto the tabletop, holding it in place.

Now that Harper was suitably vulnerable, Rylisa walked towards him. "Pointless as it is, I'm afraid I can't allow it to go unpunished." A smile poisoned her features. "And I find that the threat of pain proves as an effective deterrent."

"Then consider me threatened! I am well and truly deterred, trust me, I'm not gonna try this again, you can count on that," Harper rambled.

"I'm afraid you misunderstood," Rylisa said as she carefully began to unwrap the bandages on Harper's hand. "The threat part was implied when we took you prisoner." She dropped the bandages on the table and ran her fingers across his palm.

Harper was in trouble. Even the minor contact sent stabbing sensations up his arm.

Rylisa took his hand in her own and began to dig her thumb into the healing wound. "This part...would be the execution of the threat."

Harper cried out in pain, but she didn't stop even as blood began to cover her own hand. "Stop!" he pleaded. To his surprise, she did, and for a brief moment Harper thought that would be the worst of it. His Nietzschean captor walked away to a shelf and picked up a silver cylinder.

"It's the simple methods of triggering the pain receptors that I find the most interesting," Rylisa mused out loud and gripped Harper's hand again. Then with a sick look of captivation, she poured the salt from the cylinder out onto his palm. Harper wasn't quite prepared for how it would feel. The salt burned and seared its way into the open wound and he couldn't help whimpering as the tears came to the brim of his eyes.

Rylisa loved pain. She was fascinated and sadistically thrilled at the reactions it caused, especially in lower species. She nodded to the pair holding Harper in place and they released him. Harper fell back and cradled his hand. It hurt more than when the scalpel had gone through.

"Take him back," Rylisa ordered with a wave of her hand. As he was dragged past, she stopped them and lifted Harper head roughly. "What is that?" she asked, seeing the inhibitor.

Harper didn't really feel like telling her.

Rylisa let it drop, but made a note to find out later. "I suggest you reconsider my offer before I return. I will only ask one more time."

End of Chapter Fourteen