Rhade and Shauna's team met little resistance as they entered the science lab.
Upon entering they surprised two guards in the main hallway. Rhade and Shauna dispatched them with ease.
"Search the rooms!" Rhade told the rest of the team. "If Mr. Styvers is here we need to find him quickly."
The squad split up and began searching, killing any Ubers that they happened to encounter. It didn't take long for them to come to the realization that john Styvers was most definitely not being held there.
Rhade looked at Shauna and saw a look of disappointment on her face.
He also thought that he saw a tear. "Do androids cry?" Rhade thought.
"Don't worry." Rhade told her. "If he's not here, that just means that he's at the prison. Rommie and Rick will find him. I know they will."
Rhade placed his hand gently on her shoulder in an attempt to comfort and reassure her.
"I know." Shauna said. "It's just that I miss him so much and I'm afraid what they might have done to him. They treat organics bad enough Rhade, but when it comes to AI's,… They treat us as if we were scrap metal. To them we are merely machines to be used and then discarded when no longer useful. With all the whippings and torture that they can subject the organics to, there's one thing that they can't do to them."
"What's that?" Rhade asked.
"They can't change what they are or what they think." Shauna said. "AI's on the other hand can be altered, reprogrammed, or…. deleted."
"I'm sure that hasn't happened." Rhade wished he could be certain of the words that he was telling her, but if John Styvers had already performed whatever function the Dragans captured him for, there was a strong possibility that they would not find him totally intact.
"You're a lousy liar Rhade."
"It doesn't help me any that you can read my vitals like Andromeda." Rhade said. "There is, however, a chance he hasn't received any permanent damage."
"Thanks Rhade. So, what do we do now?"
"I'll leave ten squad members here to retain control of the lab, while the rest of us go and see if Harper and Becka's team need any help."
"What about the prison?" Shauna asked.
"I'm sure Rommie, Rick, and the War Bot can handle things over there, but if you want we can go there first."
"No Rhade. You're right. Our resources would be of better use in aiding Harper's team. Rick can handle himself and I'm sure that, being a High Guard warship's Avatar, Rommie knows a few things about fighting as well."
"That she does." Rhade replied. "That she does."
With ten soldiers left behind todefend their possession of the science lab, the rest of the team moved out to join up with Harper's squad.
The flames from the burning building climbed high into the night sky.
Brendan fired a shot and the last Uber fell to the ground.
"Pretty good shooting." Gloria said. "Ever think of joining the High Guard?"
"If I live through this war to free Earth," Brendan said, "I'll think about it."
"You should. You would make a fine captain, and I just happen to know where there's a High Guard war ship in need of a captain." Gloria smiled.
"I may have to do some serious thinking about this." Brendan said. He looked into her eyes and realized for the first time how absolutely beautiful they were. The light from the blazing fire caused them to sparkle. Several seconds passed and he realized that he was staring at her. He quickly turned his head away and cleared his throat.
"Um,.. It sounds like the battle is getting pretty intense at Uber headquarters." Brendan said.
"It sounds like it." Gloria agreed.
Brendan turned toward his team.
Alright everybody I want you to check your ammo. Make sure your weapons are fully loaded. Rest time is over. It's time to finish …."
Brendan didn't get to finish his sentence. A Nietzchean, thought to be dead, raised up and shot Brendan in the back. Almost instantly the same Uber was fired upon by more than a dozen Resistance fighters. The Uber died as Brendan fell to the ground.
Gloria put her arms around him and lifted him up causing him to moan in pain.
"I'm sorry Brendan." Gloria said.
"Leave me Gloria." He groaned. "It hurts."
"I know it hurts, but I'm not leaving you here." She told him "I'm taking you back to Eternity. Trance can help you."
"I'm dying. Nobody can help me… now."
Brendan passed out from the pain. Gloria checked his vitals and although his pulse was very weak, he was still alive.
"Matt Stephenson!" Gloria shouted.
"Yes Mam."
"You have command of the team until I return. Take them to Faneuil Hall and help Harper's team to take over the Dragan's headquarters."
"Yes Mam!" Replied. "Do you need anyone to help you with Mr. Lahey?"
"No thanks." Gloria replied. "I can handle him."
Gloria left, running as quickly as she could back to Eternity, carrying Brendan in her arms. As she carried him, she contacted Eternity and informed her that Brendan was in need of emergency medical treatment.
Gloria arrived at Eternity's boarding ramp and was met by Lena Jenson and Eternity's solid holographic form.
"Where's Trance?" Gloria asked.
"She's in Medical preparing for surgery."
Gloria continued into Eternity's corridors and rushed Brendan to Medical.
Onboard the starship Andromeda, Dylan entered Medical to talk to Admiral Stark, who had just recently became conscious.
Andromeda's hologram appeared next to Dylan.
"Stark." Dylan said. "You have some explaining to do."
"I'm not saying anything in front of that thing." Stark said indicating Andromeda's form.
"You'll talk in front of her and treat her with respect or I'll shoot you out an airlock and let Andromeda use your dead body for target practice."
"You wouldn't dare."
"You've already violated more Commonwealth laws than I can count." Dylan said. "Specifically you tried to blow up Andromeda, my ship! I could kill you now and save the courts a lot of time and paperwork."
"Alright she can stay, but just keep her away from me."
"I told you to treat her with respect." Dylan said angrily. "What do you have against Andromeda? She's never done anything to you."
"You are correct captain." Admiral Stark said. "But one of her kind is responsible for what happened to my boy, and I won't rest till I see every AI in the known galaxies erased and destroyed."
"This is about your son? Captain Stark?" Dylan asked. "That's just ludicrous! He never blamed Star for what happened to him."
"He might not blame her Captain Hunt, but I do."
"Dylan?" Andromeda asked. "I'm not finding any records of a Captain Stark in any of my data files."
"He was the captain of a new top secret Commonwealth exploration vessel named the Shining Star." Dylan explained. "Approximately two months before we defeated the Abyss, the Shining Star and her crew exited slipstream in uncharted space. They were immediately hit by a large asteroid.
They suffered no major damage but the Slipstream drive was temporarily offline. The Shining Star's engineer reassured the captain that it would be back online within the hour."
"Unfortunately," Stark said. "Their science officer made another discovery."
"They detected a strange radioactive cloud moving toward the slip portal." Dylan said. "After sending probes into the cloud they determined that it was lethal to all organic life and the Shining Star wasn't equipped with shielding strong enough to protect her crew. They projected that the cloud would totally cut them off from the portal, and their only way back home, in less than twenty five minutes."
"What did they do?" Andromeda asked.
"Captain Stark ordered his crew to take slipfighters and pilot them through the slip portal before they were cut off by the radiation cloud. The captain stayed to finish the repairs and pilot Star back home."
"She killed him!" Stark shouted.
"She did no such thing." Dylan said. "You watched the security logs. She tried her best to convince him to leave with the others. Besides that, he's not dead!"
"He might as well be!" Replied Admiral Stark. "He stayed because he loved her. He fell in love with a machine, and because of that unnatural love, nearly seventy five percent of his body was destroyed. He barely made it through the slipstream before falling out of the pilot's chair. Do you have any idea what it's like to be a Nietzchean male with a son that's incapable of producing an offspring?"
"You're pathetic." Dylan said shaking his head. "Your son was able to cope with this, but you can't cope with the embarrassment! I understand that with the aid of the new body that his engineer and medical team constructed, he is able to do practically everything any other man can do."
"Almost." Stark agreed. "Except for the one thing that Nietzcheans prize the most. As for his "new body",... The engineers on board the Shining Star, it seems, were not as talented as your Mr. Seamus Harper. The term "Man" no longer accurately describes he that was my son. A more accurate term for Captain Tony Stark would be "Iron Man".