Part 43
"Harper, I can feel you, you need to disconnect now before I completely shut down the final system. I don't want to lose you."
"Andromeda?" Dylan's voice disturbed her thoughts and Rommie flashed onto the screen before her crew mates. "How many of the ship's systems are there to go before complete shut down?" Rico's ship was now in near darkness, and eerily quiet with the few systems that remained online.
"Only the basic elements of the core operating system are still active, those controlling this console, and the doors," Rommie answered. "I have set all the doors to open, so that we may leave once complete shutdown is initialised."
"Can we disconnect Harper now?" Beka asked.
"His connection is still fluctuating, the cable he is using was never adequate for the task and has hindered my attempts to help, or communicate with, him," Rommie confirmed.
"He only made it to access the system for a few minutes, never for this," Beka remembered sadly, her hand aching from pressing the bandage to her friend's wounded neck, but not caring, determined to help him in any way she could.
"We have to do this now, or it may be too late," Trance insisted.
"I was hoping I might have been able to talk Harper into disconnecting before I switched the final system off," Rommie returned with obvious concern.
"We're all agreed that this is what we have to do," Dylan stated, and in turn each of the crew nodded their head in agreement to disconnecting Harper manually from the ship's mainframe. With their united approval, Dylan stepped forward in front of the Harper. "Andromeda, shut down the rest of the systems, we'll see you outside," Dylan stated and moved his hand to Harper's port, with one final glance at the concerned faces of his crew, Dylan pulled the connector out of Harper's port and instantly dropped it as it sparked dangerously in his hold.
Harper's body immediately relaxed and slumped into Beka's hold, and she immediately took his weight being careful not to relax the pressure she had to his neck but to everyone's surprise after a brief moment of calm Harper suddenly became animated, sitting up and he struggled in Beka's hold.
"Whao, Harper calm down, it's ok," Beka assured him, but couldn't keep the pressure on his neck, as he frantically thrashed about.
"Where," Harper gasped out in pain, as his face grimaced, and he reached out with his hands. "I can't see, I'm blind, Rico, no," he managed in short panicked breaths, clearly struggling to understand the sudden influx of new information having returned to his own body.
"Seamus, its ok," Trance now moved to quickly reassure the human. "You're injured, you need to stay still, Seamus, you're eyes are swollen shut, you are not blind, it's ok," she stressed, rubbing his arms in a calming manner but with his continued panicked movements she could see he was unable to comprehend her words, and more seriously he was losing precious blood from his neck wound.
Rhade had also seen that Harper was harming himself by his frantic panicking, and got a tight hold on the human to restrain him, despite the smaller man's confused and continued protests. Trance quickly took the opportunity to retrieve a sedative from the med pack, and she wasted no time in administering it, as Beka replaced the bandage, to once more stem the blood flow.
"We need to get him to med deck, he's losing too much blood and his life signs are growing weaker," Trance spoke with haste, seeing that Harper's little outburst had soaked up the last of his energy, as perspiration covered him now.
"Rhade," Dylan gestured to the Nietzschean to assist Trance, and with Beka they urgently transported Harper to medical.
"You can trap me in this cell but you know it won't hold me, this won't stop me," Yussuf declared loudly, his rants had been sounding for the past ten minutes since they'd locked him up.
Kane stood outside, out of sight from Yussuf but hearing every word. His arms were wrapped around his body, as he tried to calm down his nerves, and accept what he had done had been right.
"He's just talk now," Dani quietly spoke, not wanting Yussuf to hear her. "We have to believe that," she added.
"I feel sick," Kane admitted. "Not very Nietzschean though, is it?" he smirked. "We're supposed to be arrogant in victory, not sick," he mocked himself, and failed to notice the two men who arrived to join him.
"Not necessarily," Rhade spoke up having heard Kane's admission, as he stopped before the younger Nietzschean, Dylan stood beside him. "We are only superior humans after all," he added with a wry smile that seemed to help Kane relax.
"How's Seamus?" Dani asked towards Dylan.
"It looks bad, he's on med deck at the moment so we've left them to it, Trance is doing all she can to help him," Dylan moved forward, and took in the sight of Yussuf and a few of his supporters in the brig. "Did he come quietly?" he then asked towards Kane.
"Not exactly quietly, but there was an ounce of willingness about it," Kane observed with a smirk.
"Captain Hunt, don't you dare believe you have won this!" Yussuf loudly declared on seeing, and hearing the High Guard Captain. "Is Dani there? I want to speak to my Dani, you've brainwashed her, told her lies!"
Dani shrugged towards Dylan, as he looked at her. "Funny," she quietly remarked. "It's like I'm hearing him for the first time, and hearing the crap he spews," she sighed.
"I know what you mean, he must have had some powerful hold on us all and we just never knew, I'm not even sure how we broke the spell," Kane offered as he rubbed his face. "Can I leave him with you now?" Kane wearily asked Dylan. "I want to get away from his mad rants, just in case he draws me in again, I need to decide what I'm going to do now."
"Go ahead, and thanks for stopping his attempt to take my ship," Dylan smiled.
"He was never going to get far," Kane offered. "Those men who he rallied to join him were just his barber, dresser and a few decorators, hardly an army even though they were Nietzscheans," he smiled.
Dani moved next to Kane. "Your ship defences were never threatened by them, although they might have given your ship an extreme makeover if we hadn't stopped them," she smiled pleased to see the others smile with her, before she hesitated. "I've decided that I'm going to be helping Kane with his plans for this sector, I've agreed to work with him, with stuff, in helping this sector," she added awkwardly.
"That's quite a task ahead of you," Dylan observed. "Any assistance you need, you know we'll do what we can, with the limited resources we have," Dylan added.
"Things have changed for all of us, captain, with the reappearance of Tarn Vedra, your home, and the Commonwealth as it is," Kane stated. "Maybe we'll be helping each other in time," he offered, then turned to Dani. "We should see if we can retrieve anything of my brother's ship, I'd like it to be the beginnings of my own command," he smiled. "Will it be ok to keep the ship on board until such a time we can get it operational again?"
"Of course, you are welcome on board for as long as you need, use whatever you need from my ship to assist you, just keep me informed," Dylan confirmed. "Dani, will you want to visit Harper?" Dylan asked, as he saw Dani and Kane make to leave.
"Yeah," Dani absently answered. "But when he's up to visits, I don't want to disturb the others or his recovery," she then saw something in both Dylan and Rhade's expressions. "He will be ok, right?"
"We have to hope," Dylan simply said. "We'll keep you informed," he added, before Kane encouraged Dani to leave with him, and they walked into the corridor, behind them hearing Yussuf yelling more obscenities towards Dylan, as the captain turned his attention to the prisoner.
Kane kept glancing at Dani as they walked along the corridor, until she caught him and stopped walking. "What?"
"You used to speak of love for the human, Harper, now he is ill, his life in danger, and you barely seem concerned," Kane observed with caution.
"I do care," Dani returned sharply, and then looked away. "It's just I feel you need my support more, Seamus has all the help he needs right now, me hanging around won't do anything to help him."
Kane took hold of her arms, and made sure she was looking at him. "I appreciate that you want to help me, you don't know how much it means to me to see you thinking for yourself, using your own mind and beating the control Yussuf had on you, on your own," he stressed. "But Seamus Harper was not a part of Yussuf's hold on you, don't push him away in the same way you are pushing Yussuf from your life."
"Yes he was, Kane, Harper was all about Yussuf's hold on me and I can't be stupid enough to think otherwise, not the way things are now, not now I've come so far," Dani dismissed, speaking quickly and with confidence. "I felt what I did for Harper because Yussuf wanted me to, it was all a part of his plan to get this damn ship," she exclaimed with anger. "I still feel something for Harper, it's true, but I also know that Yussuf won that one, I have to move on, I will never be able to look at Seamus again without wondering how much of my feelings are mine, and how much are Yussuf's wishes," she explained.
"Is that fair to Harper, to decide all this without him having a say?" Kane asked with care.
"I doubt after all Harper's been through, that he'll be completely convinced or sure of what we actually had together, if it was ever the real thing," Dani admitted.
Kane nodded his head, aware enough of Yussuf's use of Harper to know that Dani was in part being realistic. "Give him a chance, that's all I ask, you just never know, Dani," he offered warmly. "Maybe the two of you can defy Yussuf, maybe he did want this and brought you together, but maybe the two of you want something different, something stronger; just don't be so quick to dismiss what you had together."
"I'll see him, when he's better, and talk if we have to, if he even wants to," Dani simply said and began walking again, leaving Kane to frown, before moving to catch up with her.
Dylan and Rhade joined up with Beka as they waited in a quieter section of the med deck, Trance soon arrived and they exchanged concerned glances before she spoke.
"For the moment he's stable at least," Trance began, avoiding eye contact in an attempt to remain professional. "I have him on life support only as a precaution, but his life signs are growing stronger."
"That's a relief," Beka remarked.
"Has he suffered any damage?" Rhade asked.
"It's too early to say, but the signs are positive," Trance offered brightly. "His scans are not showing any irregularities," she added. "I think Rommie reached him in time, his brain waves and patterns are showing only mild signs of trauma."
"When will he wake up?" Dylan asked, glancing over to the human who was surrounded by machines at the other end of the deck.
"Could be at any time, but I am hoping he stays unconscious for a few more hours to allow his body more time to heal," Trance offered with a sigh. "His eyes are still partially swollen shut, and we don't want a repeat of the last time he woke up," she added.
Beka crossed her arms, remembering all too well. "Is his neck ok?"
"It was a clean cut at least, so I have been able to seal the wound, he should suffer no further effects, and he won't even have a scar," Trance smiled.
"Sounds like the little man has once again defied the odds," Rhade remarked, then paused as he turned to Beka. "So tell me is it true that he can see again?" he added.
"It's true, the treatment somehow worked, and he can see just fine," Beka smiled, with relief evident on her face. "I never thought he would see again, a few hours ago I wasn't even sure he'd breathe again but somehow he always pulls through."
"Trance," Rommie's voice suddenly broke through and Trance needed no further words, as she hurried past the gathered crew and made her way back to Harper's side. An alarm was sounding from one of the machines, and Trance wasted no time in checking Harper's vitals.
"What's going on?" Beka immediately asked, reaching Harper's side.
"Something's wrong," Trance could only reply as she frantically worked, preparing an injector and administering some drugs into Harper's system.
"What kind of wrong, Trance, talk to us," Dylan demanded, seeing nothing obvious.
Trance continued working before she spoke again to answer Dylan's question. "Harper's brain activity is fluctuating dangerously, it's gone from an almost coma like state of deep sleep, to one of high activity in the space of a few minutes, this is not good, not considering," she idly spoke as she took some more scans.
"Considering what?" Rhade pushed.
"Considering what Harper suffered after his exposure to the sleep depravation device," Trance returned.
"That was weeks ago," Beka dismissed.
"And those weeks mean nothing when we're dealing with the human brain," Trance snapped. "Harper needed time to recover from the forced removal of that SDD that controlled his brain patterns to prevent sleep, not enough time has passed till now. Harper has been exposed to another form of brain control, by becoming that ship's core control, and I suspect he's been exposed to other forms of control too at the hand of Yussuf," Trance insisted firmly. "I set a monitor to specifically watch out for this, I feared this might occur," she added, concentrating on treating Harper.
"So it's possible he has suffered permanent damage," Dylan concluded.
"It's more possible now that this alarm has sounded," Trance agreed.
"You said there were no irregularities," Beka reminded the golden alien pointedly.
"I was looking for swellings on the brain, irregular patterns that are usually a clear sign of damage, and there were none till this point," Trance offered patiently, finally focusing on Beka as she stood beside Harper's cot. "But the human brain is not that simple, and we have to be realistic."
Beka composed her emotions and sighed before speaking. "But there is a chance he'll be ok?"
"There's still a chance, yes," Trance agreed. "All I can do is try to maintain the balance in his brain's neural activities, to prevent overload and collapse, brain death," she spoke with a degree of seriousness that made the situation clear to all. "I know it looks bad right now, but this is just a minor set back, and so long as I'm able to respond, and treat any further strikes there's no reason that Harper shouldn't fully recover."
"But what if these attacks don't stop?" Beka asked with a frown. "What if they continue even after he was woken up? You can't be with him twenty-four-seven, Trance."
"Then we'll deal with it, if the times comes," Trance responded calmly.
"Trance is right, and it's too early to say when this could mean for Harper," Dylan spoke up. "I suggest we try and get some rest and allow Trance some space to do her work, to help Harper."
Beka and Rhade nodded their heads, and reluctantly moved away under Dylan's direction to leave Trance to her work.
Dani crawled between consoles and exposed their workings, after a quick glance she moved back to the centre of the room.
"I don't think there's anything wrong with these consoles," Dani announced.
Kane looked up from his work. "They don't work, Dani," he smiled.
"I know," Dani returned. "But I can't see anything wrong," she added.
"Except they don't actually work," Kane offered, without looking up.
"I know," Dani shrugged.
"I'll check them later," Kane offered, as he replaced the plating on the console he was working on.
"Sorry, engineering was never my thing," Dani got to her feet, as Kane stood up. "Is there anything else I could do?"
"Go and see Harper?" Kane requested.
"He hasn't woken up yet," Dani responded, as they began to walk and a short silence followed before Dani spoke again. "I will see him, before we leave."
"What if he's still unconscious?" Kane asked.
"Then I'll keep in touch," Dani stopped, just before they left Rico's ship to step onto the Andromeda's docking bay. "Kane, what is your problem here?"
"My problem?" Kane offered defensively.
"Yeah, you seem to think I don't want to see, or don't care about Harper, you couldn't be more wrong," Dani protested.
"Your lack of concern simply concerns me," Kane offered, and he began to walk again.
"What do you want?" Dani asked, catching up with Kane as they left the ship. "You want me to be an emotional mess, you want me to be with him and away from you, is that what it is? You don't want me with you?" she demanded.
"No, it's not any of those," Kane sighed, as he continued walking. "Just ignore me; I have a lot going on."
"Which is why I'm with you, Kane," Dani insisted, and she reached out to stop him. "We can do this, and do this together, Kane, so we have to stick together and make this work."
"It won't be easy," Kane softly said. "A Nietzschean and a human," he added.
"A Nietzschean and a kludge, you mean," Dani frowned, and turned away.
"No, Dani, that's not it," Kane was quick to speak.
"Isn't it?" Dani checked, unconvinced and she moved away from Kane. "Look, I'll go and see Harper, ok, I'll see you later," she stated and quickly left Kane alone.
TBC
