Part 34

Dylan cleared his throat and got the assembled peoples attention, the cramped conditions of the Maru at least made it easier for Dylan to communicate to the small mass of people.

"Who here has a son that was held prisoner by Yussuf in the camps?" Dylan asked loudly. Nearly ten hands went up, and Dylan frowned. "Ok, who's the cook around here?" he then asked, and only one hand remained up. "You, come with me," Dylan ordered and the man, looking a little unsure at being singled out, hesitantly followed Dylan towards command.

"Hang on," the unmistakable voice of Yussuf spoke up after Dylan. "Why do you want to speak to him, if you have something to say, speak to me!"

"Yussuf, my ship, my rules," Dylan stressed. "You're no longer in charge around here."

"I demand my own quarters," Yussuf stood defiant.

"And so would I, if this ship had separate quarters, but like everyone else you'll just have to wait until we reach the Andromeda," Dylan partially mocked. "Then everyone can have their own quarters."

Yussuf stared at Dylan for a moment, before looking away and Dylan moved with the cook, and they continued towards command.

"Yussuf doesn't take to change very well," the man Dylan had requested spoke up, and then continued talking as they walked. "My name is Sadiki, I have been Yussuf's personal chef for nearly ten years, but you asked after my son, Kosi."

"Kosi?" Dylan checked and then frowned, as they reached the command section of the Maru. "He no longer goes by that name, if this is your son," Dylan stated, producing a flexi with Colin's image.

"He has grown," Sadiki remarked, trying to mask his emotions but Dylan could see sadness mixed with pride. "I had hoped he had escaped during the breakouts, I am grateful to you for your part in that."

"Yet you remained loyal to Yussuf, you didn't attempt to find your son," Dylan remarked.

"My son made it clear he had disowned me," Sadiki returned the flexi. "I respect his wishes, we each need to find our own path and I chose mine, I wanted to be a part of the Yussuf pride."

"At the cost of your son's freedom," Dylan responded.

Sadiki took a deep breath. "Sacrifices make a man."

Dylan looked at Sadiki for a moment, unsure of whether he was talking of himself or his son, or possibly the two of them. "Your son is on the Andromeda," he finally revealed.

"Kosi?" Sadika lost some colour from his cheeks for a moment. "But, does he know I'm with you?"

"He is aware of my plans," Dylan nodded his head.

"Your plans?" Sadiki asked.

"I want you to convince those men out there to join us, not fight or doubt us," Dylan stated.

"Me?" Sadikia immediately paled. "I'm not a leader, I'm a server, I can't make those demands of people, especially not Yussuf's people, and they won't listen to me, I'm not important enough."

"You are now," Dylan put his hand on the Nietzschean's shoulder. "They either listen to you, or make themselves comfortable in my brig awaiting trail for their past actions against this sector."

Sadiki seemed to grow in height as he warmed to Dylan's proposal. "I've heard rumours you almost think like a Nietzschean," he remarked.

"Now it's time for you to act more like a Nietzschean, seize the moment," Dylan encouraged. "Your son will find it easier to work for you if you show you can do this."

"You said my son, Kosi, goes by a different name now?" Sadiki stated before Dylan could leave.

"He calls himself Colin," Dylan answered, hiding the smirk.

"Colin," Sadiki seemed less than impressed. "It sounds like a kludge name."

"It's human, Earth origins I believe," Dylan smiled. "You son was exposed to a more non-Nietzschean lifestyle whilst in the camps."

This clearly affected Sadiki, as he considered the response. "I never gave it a lot of thought, I assumed my son would remember his origins."

"Maybe to him his origins were you, I get the impression he rebelled from you, and his people," Dylan reminded him.

"Thank you," Sadiki then spoke with a change of tone.

Dylan showed surprise to the gesture of thanks. "For what?"

"Preparing me for meeting my son," Sadiki simply said. "And for giving me this opportunity, although I admit that I'm not so sure about it just yet."

"This whole situation is something I'm not comfortable with either," Dylan admitted, still sensing Sadiki's hesitation. "I'm not use to leading rebellions or getting involved in disputes of this kind, I'm usually trying to sort them out not encourage them, I'm a soldier and I work for peace, not creating more mayhem in a sector that is already in chaos."

"Then we shall work together to resolve this, and return to things we know, peace and cooking," Sadiki smiled.

"Sounds good to me," Dylan agreed, and gestured to Sadiki to walk with him, back to the gathered people to announce the new order.


Harper noticeably froze as the door to the cell opened, and he glanced at Beka from his bunk across the room. She gave him a nod of encouragement, and they both turned their attentions to Darla as she sauntered into the cell, her eyes directly focused on Harper.

Without word she moved to Harper's side, and leaned close to him with obvious intentions.

"Unlock these," Harper simply said, shaking his restrained hands, before she could go any further with her plans.

Darla pulled back, and simply stared at his hands, and after some thought she removed the key from her belt and promptly unlocked the cuffs, watching as they fell on the bed. Harper immediately rubbed his red raw wrists, seeing the bruising had discoloured his entire lower arms and part of his hands.

"You don't give the orders, just a reminder, Harper," Darla then lightly warned, as she moved closer.

Harper seemed uncertain, as Darla lightly kissed his face before he brought his hands to her shoulders, and began returning her attentions with gentle strokes along her upper arms. "I want to give you some loving back, babe," Harper softly spoke between kisses. "Can't do that with those stupid chains distracting me."

Suddenly the cell door flew open, and Beka was in part grateful for the distraction from the two supposed love birds. Her gratitude was soon replaced by concern as two Nietzscheans hauled Harper away from Darla, and practically threw him across the room and she could only watch as Harper yelled in agony when the chain around his ankle sharply stopped his rapid momentum.

Before Beka could even ask Harper if he was ok, seeing him clutching for his ankle, one of the Nietzschean guards had hauled him to his feet and pressed him into the back wall.

"Whats," Harper gasped, catching his breath. "What's going on?" he finally managed.

"Rico's decided you're getting too familiar with his sister," the guard returned gruffly.

"Tell Rico he can go to hell," Darla stated loudly, and Beka noticed for the first time that the other guard was now securing Darla, not letting her leave his grasp as she struggled frantically.

"You will be punished," the guard continued speaking to Harper.

"Not if he wants my help getting the Andromeda," Harper sneered defiantly.

The guard pushed Harper back against the wall before bringing his fist down heavily across the human's face, sending him dazed to the floor. Holding him down, as Harper recovered, the guard unlocked the chain around Harper's ankle, before picking the prisoner up and putting him over his shoulder.

Beka moved from her cot, protesting at the treatment Harper was getting but she was simply pushed back onto her cot by the guard as he passed. Over his shoulder Harper lifted his head, and to Beka's surprise he was smiling. Confused, Beka tried to determine Harper's reasons, and then as the guard restraining Darla left the cell, followed by the guard carrying Harper, she realised why, as unknown to both guards Harper threw her the key he had niftily stolen from the Nietzschean, Beka guessed shortly after he had unlocked the chain from Harper's ankle.

Beka caught it easily, and couldn't help the grin she returned, as the cell door was closed, but as Harper was taken away, she soon lost her smile. With urgency she released her own ankle from the chains, and quickly got to her feet, moving to the door. Examining the panel, Beka had been in enough freighters and ships to know most of the systems they used, and this one was no different.

With a well placed elbow into the wall unit, Beka forced the panel to reveal its inner workings and she swiftly began to rearrange the wires, and in no time the door swished open.

TBC