Part 42
She had kept her distance but had taken the strain of the enemy ship's systems, allowing Harper to deal with only two of the lesser strains of the operating systems. Andromeda had successfully linked her core memory to that of Rico's ship, and had been guiding the ship towards her hanger bay for the past few minutes.
"Harper, can you hear me?" Rommie finally whispered, so as not to alarm her engineer.
She couldn't see him; she could only sense him all around her as she submerged herself into Rico's ship's system. "Try to focus, Harper, its imperative that you regain your focus," she encouraged gently, making no attempts to reach out and try and find where Harper's main consciousness was located within the matrix.
Satisfied that she had the control she wanted, and that she had relieved Harper of the worse of the strain, she returned to her own self and appeared in hologram form in the meeting room where Dylan was conducting an impromptu meeting.
For a moment Rommie glanced around the room, seeing Colin and his father, then Yussuf, Kane, and even Dani amongst proceedings, along with Rhade and Trance. Pangs of loss filled her now, she missed her android self, and she desperately missed the presence of both Beka and Harper, she felt incomplete as she observed proceedings.
"Rommie, how are things going?" Dylan then turned to her, on noticing her entrance to the meeting.
"I have gained control of Rico's ship, and I am guiding the craft into the hanger bay, arrival in five minutes," she announced precisely. "Harper appears unawares of my work and I am worried that I have been unable to get even some of his attention," Rommie admitted.
"The stress might contribute to that, he could be completely disorientated," Trance offered.
"His brain has undergone immense trauma of late, this latest attack on his mind comes close after that of the sleep deprivation device, when the Patriarch held him hostage," Rommie reminded them. "I fear this could have pushed him too far, and that I was too slow in giving him the help he needed."
"We'll deal with that when the time comes," Dylan decided and got to his feet. "Now I want all personnel trained for combat to be ready to surround Rico's ship when it docks," he ordered briskly.
"Harper is strong in mind," Trance suddenly announced, just as the gathered people were making to move. "But weaker in body, we need to act quickly when our opportunity arises."
Dylan stared at Trance with slight amusement. "Didn't we just cover that?"
"I felt it needed to be said, we can not afford to lose Harper now," Trance stated, as she got to her feet. "He might be more aware than we are giving him credit for."
"Losing Harper at any time is not an option, Trance, we realise the situation, and if Harper is more aware than we realise then the fact he has needed our help to this point makes the situation even more urgent, in that we get him out of that system, and off that ship," Dylan responded bluntly. "So now it's time for action, and less talking."
Trance simply nodded her head, as they all left the meeting room after her.
Beka continued to glare at the guard who now stood watching her and Harper, wishing she could do something to help Harper. She had seen him through some rough times but right now she felt so helpless, he was with her but at the same time so far away that she couldn't possibly get through to him.
"We are almost docked!" Rico exclaimed with youthful excitement. "So soon, my people, we shall rule this sector and claim the great Andromeda as our flagship of power!"
Beka simply smirked. "Yeah, life is always so simple that you can just waltz onto a galaxy class high guard warship and play your silly little fantasies out to your hearts content," she sneered.
"I have planned this so that my arrival would signal the final blow, the final nail in the coffin of Captain Hunt's ridiculous cause," Rico returned, with equal sneer. "My men have already overrun your precious ship, and now it is mine for the taking."
"You know something, jerk?" Beka offered. "I once tried to lay claim to this ship when it was nothing more than a floating heap of derelict junk retrieved from a black hole, I didn't get far, Dylan Hunt simply doesn't allow any chancer passing by to have his ride," she stated confidently.
"We'll see about that," Rico declared, and on cue the ship slightly rocked as it safely docked. "Your little kludge's job is now done."
"But you remember that if this little trick is going to kill him, this ship will blow and so it seems pretty dumb to me to leave it lying around on the hanger deck," Beka observed.
"It's why my men and myself will be departing now, the ship is already pre-programmed, with the help of the kludge, to leave in approximately three minutes," Rico returned smugly.
"So we'll just drift off to explode when one of us finally dies?" Beka observed tiredly.
"Neat and tidy, just how I like to do business," Rico responded.
A flurry of footsteps were heard, but too late for anyone to react as the engineering section was suddenly surrounded by makeshift soldiers, all armed and in position to take Rico down at any moment. Rico simply turned around and put his hand on the knife he carried in his belt, attempting to understand what was happening around him.
"What is this? A revolt?" Rico demanded angrily, spinning around as things became clear, and with sudden confusion he quickly realised something wasn't right.
"These are not your men, your men are safely locked up on my ship," Dylan announced. "So I prefer this being called a trick, and you're the one we played it on, you see your men were defeated over three hours ago," Dylan continued, as he moved forward so Rico could see him. "My ship has been controlling your ship for the past hour, my weapons officer has been pretending to be your man on the inside for the same amount of time, Rico, you're an amateur," Dylan confirmed, with his force lance aimed.
"I will kill them both," Rico warned gesturing to Beka and Harper who he stood closest to, and his voice was tense, as he attempted to still sound in control edging closer to Harper.
"Oh please, give it up already, Rico," Beka stressed, adjusting her position slightly so she could protect the still prone Harper. "You're surrounded and can I remind you that you're a little outnumbered?"
"This kludge has programmed his life signs to this ship, if his heart stops beating, the ship blows," Rico informed everyone loudly, regaining his confidence. "They are so weak, humans, which is an advantage in this case," Rico declared, and he pulled on his knife, as he slowly withdrew it from his belt. "Now, you will all back the hell off, or we all die."
"Don't do it, Rico," Kane's voice now spoke up, as he moved forward. "You can still walk away from all of this with your reputation in tact, if you just move away from them both," Kane added, seeing his younger brother remaining by Harper and Beka's side.
"Do what, brother?" Rico protested innocently before he suddenly lunged forward with rage, and Beka could only attempt to stop the out of control Nietzschean, as he brought the knife down on Harper a couple of times despite Beka's intervention, and finally got a lucky strike across Harper's throat. "That?" Rico was able to speak finally satisfied, as he stepped back showing the bloody knife to the sounds of weapon fire, as Dylan and Rhade reacted to his actions, finally having a clean shot as Rico fell heavily to the deck, already dead before he landed.
"Harper!" Beka stressed with concern, only having managed to divert some of the knife attack away, but still she saw a thin red line now emerging across one side of Harper's neck below his still active data port, and precious blood began to flow freely escaping his body. Not far away, Rico's body was being dragged away.
"Captain," Rommie's voice suddenly sounded. "Yussuf and some of his men have left the ship, and they are attempting to access my systems on the Andromeda."
"Are they having any success?" Dylan wearily asked.
"I still have your security procedures in place, I am only answering to you," Rommie confirmed.
"Good," Dylan sighed heavily, satisfied that Yussuf wouldn't get very far with any attempts to take the ship for the moment.
"Dylan, may I deal with this situation, and allow you to deal with things here?" Kane offered.
Dylan considered the request, glancing at Harper as both Trance and Rhade went to his side to assist Beka, as she rapidly worked to untie his arms from the console. He could see that Kane was determined to deal with Yussuf, and after some though he simply nodded his head, watching Kane gesture to some of the remaining soldiers, including Colin and his father, as they hurried away.
"Dylan?" Beka questioned confused. "You're letting them deal with Yussuf? When he's trying to take your ship?" she added.
"Its time someone from this system dealt with Yussuf, and Andromeda will let me know if things change and he gets lucky," Dylan decided. "I need to ensure my own crew are ok, how is he?" he added, looking at the still prone figure of Harper.
"Growing weaker, we have to remove him from the system," Trance stated, glancing at her scanner. She moved forward, with the med pack she had brought with her and retrieved a bandage, giving it to Beka to press against the neck wound. "The knife has cut one of his main arteries in his neck, Beka, you have press this firmly into his neck."
"I know, to stem the flow, I know," Beka said with determined focus.
"I need to check your injuries," Trance offered towards the blond captain, seeing her arms covered in cuts from Rico's attack, but Beka immediately dismissed Trance's attempts to check them.
"It can wait, no main arteries," Beka stressed, not looking away from Harper.
Rommie appeared on a nearby screen, her presence able to be more obvious within Rico's ship now. "I am unable to determine Harper's presence. It appears that his consciousness is spread too thinly for me to locate his actual position."
"What options do we have?" Rhade asked with frustration.
"There is one," Rommie decided, but her expression showed concern.
"Tell us," Dylan ordered.
"I can shut down each of this ship's systems in turn, until the ship is completely offline, with no systems to control, technically Harper should then be able to be disconnected," Rommie informed them.
"The but?" Beka prompted.
"It could also kill Harper, depending on how aware he still is, if he holds onto the system for any reason when I shut it down, it will do damage, possibly permanent," Rommie frowned.
All eyes now turned to Dylan to make the decision, and he hesitated slightly. Beka kept her hand to Harper's neck, with the bandage pressed firmly against the life threatening wound. The blood trickled from Harper's other knife wounds after the attack reminding Dylan that time was not on their side, and he remembered that Harper had looked in bad shape even before the Nietzschean had partly slit his throat.
"Do it, Andromeda, begin shutting the systems down," Dylan decided. "We have no other choice."
There was silence as Rommie complied with the order, and both Trance and Beka moved to try and comfort Harper as his body began to twitch with each system shut down.
"Hold in there, Seamus," Beka spoke with concern.
"He won't make it, his life signs are growing weaker," Trance stressed, as she checked her medical scanner.
"He'll make it, he won't give up without a fight," Rhade stated with conviction.
Dylan looked on without emotion, unable to completely comprehend what he was possibly witnessing before him, as they battled to save Harper.
Kane walked briskly through the corridors of the Andromeda, knowing what he had to do, having just seen his only brother shot down for a pointless cause. That was it, Kane considered, enough was enough and he was not going to idly stand by any longer to watch lives being destroyed around him.
"Kane, wait up," Dani's voice sounded.
"Dani, I thought you would stay with your friend," Kane spoke, without looking at Dani as she got into step with him.
"I have," Dani answered.
"I meant Harper," Kane responded, focused on his task.
"And I mean you," Dani returned. "Seamus has enough people watching out for him, you need a little support right now, and you know what, I really want to see you kick Yussuf's butt."
"I'm not planning on kicking Yussuf's butt," Kane had to smile.
"You are planning on stopping him though?" Dani checked.
"Yeah, things need to be said," Kane confirmed and turned a corner as he gestured to the men around him to arm their weapons. "You know, Dani, in a way I'm doing this because of you."
"Me? Hey, don't blame me, you volunteered to do this," Dani protested lightly.
Kane smiled again. "I mean you pointed out something that I needed to hear, that I hadn't realised," he offered. "We've all been controlled in some way by that man without even knowing it, and it has to stop, now is as good a time as any. Maybe my brother wasn't all that bad, he'd just had enough, and realised it before I could but he lost focus and became consumed by something Yussuf had denied him all his life, control," Kane explained with passion. "I intend to continue his work now against Yussuf and destroy the man's influence and tyranny in this system."
"Mind if I tag along?" Dani asked brightly.
"I thought you were planning on leaving the system, leaving all this behind, maybe pursing your friendship with Harper?" Kane stated, as he armed his own weapon.
Dani didn't answer and soon they were on command and waiting for Yussuf to acknowledge them.
"Ah, so the rest of my pride finally decide to turn up," Yussuf declared arrogantly. "Hey, Kane, take a look at these systems will you, we can't figure them out."
"No," Kane calmly answered, and it was enough to get Yussuf's attention. "You will stop your futile attempts to take this ship, there is a complete lockdown, you will never be able to access the systems. If you had been paying attention earlier, instead of ranting, maybe you would have already known that."
"Excuse me?" Yussuf asked, clearly taken aback by a loyal subject of his pride talking to him in such a way. "Kane, care to explain your attitude, are you mocking me?"
"It's over, and has been for a while," Kane declared and gestured for weapons to be aimed. "My brother initiated your downfall, now I'm going to ensure his death wasn't completely in vain."
Yussuf took in the number of weapons now trained on him, and glanced around with concern to his own men who had so far failed to react. "Are you going to allow your leader to be spoken to like this? To be threatened in this manner?"
"Are you going to continue following a man who has lost everything, especially any respect he once had?" Kane countered to Yussuf's men. "He has no more riches to make your lives ridiculously comfortable, you stick with him, and you'll be living on handouts and on the run for the rest of your lives."
"Kane speak the truth," Dani spoke up now, moving to Kane's side in support. "Yussuf has used us all, and now it's our time to stand on our own feet, this is our system once more, are we simply going to hand it back to a man who only abuses the power we gave him?"
"Dani, my Dani," Yussuf spoke with hurt in his voice.
"You took my life, Yussuf, made me believe what you wanted me to believe by giving me comfort, but it's over, you can't use me anymore," Dani answered bluntly. "You tried to give me everything I wanted, but never my freedom; you hid that from me by blinding me with wealth and privileges."
"I wanted only the best for you, Dani, only the best I could give you," Yussuf responded, clearly distraught.
"I know, honestly this hurts me as much as it hurts you, and you'll always mean so much to me but this is the end, it's over, you can't be allowed to control us or this system any more. I've broken the damage you did to my head, I'm thinking clearly for the first time in my life," Dani stressed. "This is what I want now, no riches or comforts, I just want my own free will, I've been told too much, seen too much and finally I'm able to make up my own mind," she added with joy.
"That kludge," Yussuf sneered, about to launch into a rant but Dani stepped forward with purpose.
"No," Dani insisted loudly. "He won't get the blame for this one, Yussuf, you've destroyed yourself by trying to control too many people's lives, this is your fault, you own undoing!"
"Give yourself up, and allow me to make the first step in stopping all this, maybe give you a chance to see the errors of your ways, and begin to give this system some real genuine hope," Kane requested calmly.
Yussuf looked around and saw little support for him from his own men, only weapons and uncertainty and after a moment he threw his hands up. "I will offer my defeat, but just for the moment, Kane, for you, and for Dani if this is what you want of me and for those too scared to stand with me right now," Yussuf declared. "But I can not tell you that this, whatever this really is, is over," he added defiantly.
Kane looked to Colin, who in turn gestured to two other men and they went to Yussuf with caution, before securing him. Dani couldn't hide her smile and she turned to Kane, as the Nietzschean stood tall watching Yussuf being led towards the brig, and she eagerly offered him a hug, and they embraced closely with their first taste of success.
TBC
