Part 28
The Maru navigated through the rocks with care and caution, avoiding the ones that could do a lot of damage. Beka felt numb as she contemplated that these rocks once formed a planet, Harper's birthplace, his home Earth. They had picked up the slip fighters signal a few minutes after the destruction, but for an agonising hour they were forced to wait at a safe distance until the debris had settled, and even then the Andromeda was too big to travel through the rocks and destruction, so Beka had volunteered to pilot the Maru fearing what she might find.
Behind her she heard footsteps, Rhade had insisted on joining her and somewhere else in the ship was Rommie and Doyle, but Beka wasn't in the mood for company as she focused on the beacon that they could hear getting closer.
"There," Rhade spoke up, and gestured to the right of the view screen beyond into the mass of stars, and Beka saw the reflection of the slip fighter's hull. It was floating aimlessly as Beka instructed Rhade to ready the bucky cables.
It seemed to take hours, but finally the slip fighter gently settled on board. Beka handed command to Rhade and already knowing Rommie and Doyle were ahead of her, she made her way to the cargo bay with haste. By the time she reached the bay, Doyle and Rommie were examining the exterior of the hull but outwardly they seemed optimistic.
"Hull integrity held, there's no damage to oxygen supply but levels are registering as low, the slip fighter was not properly prepped before leaving," Rommie stated, but Beka caught sight of the unconscious human sitting inside and rushed forward.
"Let's get him out," Beka ordered, and Doyle assisted Rommie in removing the canopy and after some effort it was manually released. "Seamus?" Beka tried to wake him, but he was out cold. She checked his life signs and almost hugged both Rommie and Doyle on finding them strong. "Get him to the infirmary, and let's get back to the Andromeda."
"Do you think he would he have come back?" Rhade quietly asked, as he watched Beka. She had been ordered to eat and get some rest, and he had assigned himself the duty of making sure she got some food inside her.
"I don't know," Beka offered with a shrug. "Earth was his home and just lately he hasn't felt that comfort and now he's going to have no where."
"The Maru?" Rhade suggested.
"Bad memories," Beka reluctantly revealed. "Ever since that time we were stranded, I think the Maru has become a place he doesn't quite feel the same about anymore," she offered sadly.
"It's the closest thing he has to a home now," Rhade shrugged.
"This place, the Andromeda is probably a better bet, that's if he chooses to stay," Beka frowned. "With the reappearance of Tarn Vedra however, who knows what Dylan's plans are, he might not even want us to stick around and I wouldn't blame him."
"It's too soon to be discussing our futures," Rhade stated thoughtfully. "I'm sure in time things will work themselves out."
"How's Trance holding up?" Beka asked.
"She's occupying her time helping Kalika and her brother's family settle into life in this universe, she's trying to find them sanctuary on a planet that will accept them," Rhade revealed. "Kalika is hesitant to leave."
"Harper?" Beka guessed.
"What she sees in him I don't know," Rhade smirked and then frowned. "Trance mentioned in passing or by accident, I'm not sure, that her sister hasn't gone, and that her people are still on their mission."
"They did that to Earth, to Harper," Beka seethed. "All those lives lost because one person lived, how does that make things right?" Beka stressed shaking her head. "And Harper will know that, he'll know it's his fault I mean how are you supposed to console a guy who through no fault of his own caused the destruction of a whole planet?"
"That guy can sure attract trouble," Rhade remarked with a heavy sigh, as he watched Beka continue to play with her food. "You should get some rest, rather than move your food around a plate."
"I'm scared, Rhade, this won't end until Harper is dead, you realise that?" Beka stated with emotions rising. "Trance's sister will continue to make him a target until that day."
"You would think self proclaimed guardians of the universe would have better things to do with their time than worry about a worthless kludge," Rhade spoke as he got to his feet, and felt the glare Beka now threw him. "What? He is," he defended himself.
"Maybe that's what we should be doing, asking that question, why is this universe so cut up about Seamus Harper, what is the reason?" Beka asked, finding new determination with the question as she cleared her food away and walked with Rhade. "To blow up an entire planet, I mean why not just kill him if they have that much firepower?"
"It's not that simple."
Beka and Rhade turned around to find Trance stood behind them, only not their Trance, the imposter.
"What the hell do you want?" Beka demanded.
"Seamus Harper, I thought that was obvious?" the fake Trance answered.
"Why?" Rhade asked before Beka had the chance. "Why not just kill him, you could have done it a thousand times over already, why play these games?"
"She can't," Beka spoke up knowingly, and she moved forward. "Why are you here, why are you talking to us, what do you need?"
"What makes you think I need anything?" the impostor asked.
Beka grew in confidence as she stood in front of the being that looked identical to their Trance, only Beka had learned to spot the differences that Harper himself had noticed immediately. Her stance and manner were very different to their own Trance.
"You wouldn't be here talking to us if you didn't," Beka countered. "So spill, tell me what you want."
The fake Trance looked at Beka before glancing away, and suddenly they were all aware of another presence in the room. The real Trance walked towards them, her confidence obvious as she looked down on her other self.
"This is not about Harper," Trance stated towards Beka and Rhade. "It's all about me, it has been since the start," she announced. "My people banished me for my actions in saving Harper but they made one fatal error."
"They did?" Beka asked.
"They allowed me to separate, to be in one time as two people, and I tricked them and in doing so I saved Harper all over again, and this time they couldn't stop me," Trance smiled.
"But," the fake Trance began. "No, that can't be. You tricked me, not our people!"
Trance turned to her other self. "When I came through that tesseract and I told you to go, I was supposed to let Harper die, but there was no way I would right your original wrong, absolutely no way, you weren't the only one to care about Harper, we both did, we are the same person," Trance explained with care.
"But, you have inflicted your error, our error on to this universe," the fake Trance explained, but Trance was already shaking her head. "You were supposed to fix this! I'm trying to fix this!"
"I'm sorry that you went back to that place so innocent and vulnerable, to be so twisted by hate into this war against me, and against Harper, your friend, do you remember him at all?" Trance asked with care.
"I remember bits," the fake Trance offered.
Beka moved forward some more, her face showing shock. "Is that," she began and then paused, when her Trance simply nodded her head. "Trance?"
"She's grown up since you last saw her, and her head has been twisted by my people to hate Harper, and me, and those in this time line for making her leave," the older Trance explained. "She truly believes we're the evil ones, who deserve to be tormented and she has learned to use her powers on the one she believes is to blame for her banishment, the reason her life was turned upside down."
"But Harper has suffered, not you," Beka countered, picking up on Trance's words.
"Hurting me would have no effect, she is me, but they have twisted her head enough to hate Harper, and now she has grown to finally be able to see me and her as two different people, when we are the same, nothing has changed," Trance stressed.
"My head has not been twisted!" the younger Trance argued. "And you are not me!"
"So much hate," the older Trance reflected sadly. "She won't stop until Harper and I, and this time line have suffered as much as we can take. She is strong now, nearly as strong as me and hate is her source of power"
"Trance, you have to stop," Beka moved forward, seeing a more vulnerable being now, and no longer seeing the impostor who threatened them. Looking beyond the similarities of the golden alien, Beka could now see her old friend, the one she served with on the Maru before they found the Andromeda. Her lucky charm was all grown up and in need of help. "You can't punish us anymore, we're your friends."
"Friends?" Rhade remarked, finally finding his voice. "If you ask me we've now got double the riddles," he seethed, looking at the two Trances.
"I am not you," Trance glared at her older self. "We're sisters, nothing more."
"That's what they want you to believe, but you are Trance Gemini like myself," Trance returned and then looked at Beka. "Only I can fix this, but first I need to know I have a place here."
"What? Of course you do, Trance," Beka exclaimed.
"Not me," Trance stated and then looked at her younger self. "This is her time, not mine."
"But she's," Beka paused and just stared at the imposter.
"No, I can't," the younger Trance stuttered.
"You can't be serious," Rhade stressed. "She's tried to kill Harper and blew up his home planet, no, this is a joke. You want to keep her here?"
"No joke," Trance offered. "My work is now done, Seefra is my home now, my sun is there and I have no reason to stay, my younger self belongs in this universe and amongst good people, she won't be able to return to her people now, even if she doesn't believe it now, she will and we need to ensure she handles that knowledge responsibly," Trance smiled knowingly. "For my sake, I need this time line to remain intact; it's been my life's work."
"I don't want this!" the younger alien spoke with fury.
"You will," Trance explained. "If you have a place to stay."
"Trance, I want to look after Harper first, I don't think I can," Beka hesitated and took a deep breath. "I'm not sure I can trust her, not after everything she's done, if she is the reason Harper has suffered so much because of her."
"She is me, the me you first befriended and took in when you had no idea who I was, but you found a way to trust me," Trance spoke with care, and then glanced at her younger self who had tried a couple of times to disappear. "You are banished, and it's my fault again, they know what I have told you and they already know you know I speak the truth," she explained with regret. "Your powers will return in time, you need to now learn to harness them from this universe, not our centre."
"I can't do this," the younger Trance's emotions began to show. "I promised them I would fix this, I told them I would make things right."
The older Trance looked at Beka with care. "Please, she needs guidance and understanding, she is your Trance," Trance spoke knowingly. "The Trance I was never able to be. You will not see me again in your lifetime, I am from a time very far into your future but you will start to see my younger self grow into who I am now," Trance smiled fondly at her youth. "There are many timelines and paths between me and her right now, and I trust you Beka to help me on my way to reaching me," she smiled wickedly.
"But," Beka tried to find an excuse, fearing the responsibility, but the decision was taken out of her hands as the older Trance disappeared in a flash of light.
"She's gone," the younger Trance announced.
"Her eyes work fine," Rhade remarked.
"I mean I don't feel her, she has left this plane, this universe," Trance offered. "I'm all alone, I can't go home."
"Funny, thanks to you either can Harper, you have some common ground," Rhade snapped. "This is a joke," he repeated again.
"Trance," Beka spoke with care, a little uneasy. "These are the ground rules, you will stop making Harper the target," Beka began, and to her surprise Trance was willing to listen, as she continued to set the rules.
Kalika moved slowly and with caution as she approached the lone figure, sitting on the deck of the walkway, his feet dangling over the slip stream core of the Andromeda Ascendant. Harper had been awake for over a day but his experience still left him quietly traumatised, and it was clear to see in his fixed blank expression.
"Seamus?" Barely a flicker of recognition registered on his face as Kalika sat down and joined him. "I'm sorry," she added, wishing she could find the words to say.
"Can't believe it's all gone," Harper murmured.
"Hard to imagine there's no going back," Kalika spoke knowingly.
Harper frowned and then glanced at Kalika. "I guess you do know how it feels."
"Not really, I know in my heart of hearts Seefra still exists, I just can't reach it," Kalika offered.
"Do you regret coming with us?" Harper asked.
"No," Kalika partly smiled. "Already I have seen the vastness of your universe, so much to explore and experience, I am grateful for the opportunity."
"I wish I could have shown you Earth," Harper shrugged.
"I wish that too," Kalika nodded her head sadly. "I've missed you."
"I've not gone anywhere," Harper responded.
"Felt like you had, I was so worried," Kalika admitted.
"I'm all cured now, all fixed, you don't have to look after me anymore," Harper spoke but his voice lacked emotion, as he looked down into the slipstream core.
"Still feel like I do," Kalika smiled now as she looked at Harper. "But I know I have to stand in line, behind Beka, Rommie, Doyle, Trance," she reeled off.
"I don't know, I think you've pushed your way into the line ahead of at least three of them, just behind Beka, and I'm only saying that because Beka will kick my butt if I dare put you ahead of her," Harper now found a smile as he considered that thought.
Kalika laughed and then looked at Harper. "You're strong enough to get through this, I know you are."
Harper took a deep breath. "I don't know," Harper dismissed. "Everything is changing, and I have no idea where I'll end up."
"I do," Kalika confidently spoke. "Wherever Beka goes."
"How can you be so sure I'll go with Beka?"
"Well since Dylan announced his retirement and the decommissioning of the Andromeda as a frontline warship, I've just had this hunch," Kalika grinned. "I feel you'd have a problem serving under Captain Rhade of the Andromeda Ascendant, patrolling trade routes for the next three years."
"My main problem would be taking him and the mission seriously," Harper smirked. "This ship is capable of still holding the front line, to suggest it's not is madness, just won't be the same," he stressed.
"See, I knew it, the minute Beka stepped down her commission, I knew you wouldn't be too far behind," Kalika exclaimed.
"But I haven't, not yet," Harper pointed out.
"So what's stopping you?"
"All my life I just wanted something that no one could take away from me," Harper explained. "I'm not sure I'm ready to give up my rank and title, even if it is just some chief engineer on a decommissioned warship, it still means everything to me."
"You're staying?" Kalika checked.
Harper shrugged. "I've been offered a couple of other warships in need of a chief engineer," he stated, and stared intently into the slipstream core now. "Those three years I spent on Seefra, and then seeing my home reduced to space dust has made me think," he spoke with sadness.
"Seamus, I'm sure I won't be the only one to tell you this but right now you need your friends around you, you don't need other commissions on ships full of strangers," Kalika stated seriously.
"I was thinking that maybe you'd like to come with me, you know, friendly face and all," Harper awkwardly asked. "I don't know which ship I'll go with yet but both allow for, you know, other people to join me."
"Seamus," Kalika tried to find the words.
"It was just a thought, I mean I seriously don't know," Harper hurriedly explained.
"I would say yes if I didn't think it would absolutely destroy Beka," Kalika offered.
"This has to be my decision," Harper emphasised and then seemed uncomfortable. "And I think we have something, and we shouldn't ignore that."
Kalika took Harper's hand into her own, as she moved closer to him. "I think so too, and it's why I asked Beka if I could join her crew as a medical officer."
"You did?" Harper checked.
"Trance will look after the environmental things and assist me," Kalika smiled.
"Trance, yeah, great," Harper spoke lacking enthusiasm, but his expression giving nothing away.
Kalika looked at Harper for a moment. "Trance has lost her powers, she's lost in this universe just like me, just like you. Being away from her people is doing her good, she's realising her errors and Beka needs a crew, she can't rely on me and Trance to keep that ship, ship shaped," Kalika half smiled.
"You have it all planned out," Harper realised. "Why did I even bother to try and work things out myself?"
"It's not like that," Kalika was quick to speak.
"That's not my Trance, I lost my Trance and I accepted what happened when she changed but a third time is a lot of ask," Harper simply spoke, his eyes still fixed on the core. "She hates me."
"She's already making progress, remembering her past," Kalika took care to explain. "I believe she's able to work through her own issues."
"Maybe I'm not," Harper stressed.
"You're strong, stronger than any of us," Kalika assured him. "And are you really turning down the chance to be the only male member of an all female crew?"
Harper found a smirk. "I heard that Doyle has decided to stay with Rhade, and Rommie."
"You can't have us all," Kalika joked.
"I would love to try," Harper couldn't help himself and felt a friendly nudge from Kalika. "I need to think about it," he then added with a sigh, and for the first time held eye contact with Kalika.
"Don't take too long," Kalika offered him a quick hug and then got to her feet, leaving Harper alone with his thoughts.
To be concluded