Disclaimer: Yeah yeah yeah, Andromeda does not belong to me. If it did, some things would have been answered that weren't and I would own all the Rhades. But as you can see, I don't…
The only ones that belong to me would be Pearlana and my own ideas…
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Title My one and Only Pearl
Author Ivory Core
Chapter 14: Calm Moments before the Storm
A humming sound…followed by voices whispering amongst themselves all surrounded Pearlana as she slowly regained consciousness.
She slowly opened her eyes, but quickly shut them when the blinding light above sent pain straight up into her brain.
Pearlana kept her eyes closed but strained to hear the conversation that was still going on next to her.
"Will she be alright?" A voice asked his voice coated with concern.
Pearlana recognized the voice to belong to Gaheris.
"Yeah, apart from having a splitting headache when she wakes up and a sprained wrist; I'll say she'll survive." The other voice replied.
Pearlana knew that smart-ass mouth anywhere….it was Shamus.
"But you said something about her brain activity?" Gaheris questioned. Pearlana could just imagine Gaheris with his arms crossed over his chest as he spoke to Shamus.
"Yes, about that. I frankly don't know what it means. It could just be the aftermath of the small radiation poisoning she went through. After all, she wasn't sitting on her seat the entire time we were traveling through the portal.
Hell, you could say that she became the human cannon ball she had warned about earlier." Shamus stated.
"Would you stop talking about me like I'm not here?" Pearlana had had enough and had spoken up.
She opened her eyes and was just able to see both the Captain and Shamus jump at Pearlanas sudden words.
But they quickly regained themselves. Gaheris reached out and gently placed Pearlanas hand into his own.
"Glad to know that you're back in the land of the living." Gaheris said as he smiled down at Pearlana.
Pearlana furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. She then began to get up, but quickly stopped when a rush of pain entered her brain.
"I'll just rest a bit…" Pearlana said as she eased herself back unto the bed she was lying on.
"Pearlana, what was the last thing you remember?" Shamus asked as Pearlana lay down again on the bed.
Pearlana thought about this one for a while. To her, it was like her brain was one giant jigsaw puzzle. But after a moment of carefully retracing her steps, everything came rushing back to her…many of it not pretty.
"THE ABYSS!" Pearlana suddenly screamed out as she once again shot up to a sitting position.
She ignored the pain and tried to get up and unto the floor, but Shamus and Gaheris were preventing her from doing just that.
"Easy Pearlana." Gaheris said as he tried to ease Pearlana back onto the bed, but she pushed his hand away.
"No! The Abyss is on this ship! The Ivory Core showed it to me!" Pearlana explained as she tried to push away both Shamus' and Gaheris' efforts to place her back on the bed.
"The Ivory Core showed it to you?" Shamus questioned. Not believing a word of it.
Ok, so the Ivory Core center had been damaged during the trip through the Gateway. And now they had no power for their engines for a while. But there was no indication that the Ivory Core has left its place at any given time.
But that was just it. The Ivory Core never left its place in time. But in a pocket…time does not exists.
"Pearlana, you are under a lot of stress. You didn't strap in and during the trip you were pelted around engineering like you were a rag doll. Just rest and everything…" Gaheris tried to calm down Pearlana, but she would have none of it.
"I'M NOT LOOSING IT!" Pearlana screamed at them.
Just then, the First Officer entered Medic Bay. He stopped and watched as the two tried to keep a screaming Chief Engineer into calming down.
"SOMEONE HAS BETRAYED US! SOMEONE HAS SOLD US TO THE ABYSS!" Pearlana practically screamed herself hoarse.
She was just about to start screaming again, when she suddenly winced in pain. Then her eyes began to droop. Soon after her body went limp and she immediately began to fall forward.
Gaheris caught her and held her as she was knocked out. But before she completely was out, he heard her say one word under her breath.
"Jerk" With that Pearlana was out cold.
Looking behind Pearlana, Gaheris saw Shamus with a very guilty look on his face. He was holding a small device, looking to be a medical needle with blue liquid inside. Some of it was gone.
"She is never going to forgive for that." Shamus said to himself as he reached over to wrap his arms around Pearlanas waist and gently place her unto the bed.
Gaheris watched as Shamus gently placed his sister unto the bed and tucked her in with one of the blankets.
"What was she talking about just now, about someone betraying us to the Abyss?" Gaheris questioned as he followed Shamus to one of the monitors.
Shamus tapped a series of buttons and soon a diagram of Pearlanas brain appeared.
"I love my sister very much. And I know she doesn't make up stories at all. Maybe she would pull a harmless prank on you, but she won't play around with something this serious." Shamus explained as he kept on tapping buttons.
"So you believe her?" Gaheris questioned.
"I believe that she was on to something. But for her safety, I tranquilized her. She's going to be seriously pissed at me later, but by then I'll be able to have some answers to back her up."
"You lost me." Gaheris pointed out.
Shamus turned around to face Gaheris. "Pearlanas brain waves are higher than usual. Like I said before, it could be the radiation she went through." Shamus began.
"But that doesn't explain the time laps." With that Shamus turned around and tapped one button.
The small screen in front of them turned on. Both Shamus and Gaheris had no idea that they were being watched from the door.
The screen was replaying the exact moments when they entered the Gateway. Gaheris watched as Pearlana gave the order for everyone to strap in.
He watched as she ran to her seat…than she suddenly disappeared.
"Where did she go!" Gaheris questioned in shock.
"According to the computer, she didn't go anywhere. But we can't see her. It's almost like she was there, but not in the same time frame as us." Shamus explained in excitement.
"So what you're saying is that Pearlana was sent to another plain of existence while we were traveling through the Gateway." Gaheris said as he slowly understood Shamus' theory.
"If that is true, if what you're saying is true; then where was Pearlana during that time?" Gaheris questioned.
"Ah! That's were the other little goody comes into play." Shamus said as he turned once again to the screen.
"Now during the time we were traveling…" Shamus said as he magnified the screen to the Ivory Core center.
"…The Ivory Core was giving off some strange burst of energy here and there." As he stated this, Gaheris watched as burst of blue/gold energy spread across engineering.
When one of the burst passed through the place that Pearlana had suddenly disappeared from, he immediately noticed something.
"Replay that last part, and magnify to right here." Gaheris ordered as he pointed towards the spot were he had seen something.
Shamus did what was ordered and both watched the zoomed in spot where Gaheris had indicated.
When the blue/light energy burst across the area that Pearlana had been before, an almost transparent image of Pearlana could be seen walking towards the Ivory Core's Center.
"Oh Pearlana, what did you go through?" Gaheris asked himself as he watched the scene unfold.
Then both Shamus and Gaheris were snapped out of their reverie by the sudden clearly of ones throat that was coming from behind them.
Shamus quickly erased the screen so that it showed blank as he turned towards the sound.
"First Officer Gerksand, what brings you here?" Gaheris questioned, suspicion rising.
To be frank, he had never much liked Gerksand. Apart from Gerksand having trouble in following orders, he also never hid the fact that he was a Nietzschean. If Gaheris didn't stop him, their cover would have been blown years ago.
"I wanted to inform you in person that all systems have been checked out. The main power grid had been damaged by the Ivory Core's sudden outburst of energy and it would take several days to repair it." Gerksand stated.
His gaze then shifted towards Pearlana.
"Is the Chief Engineering doing well?" He questioned with a calm demeanor.
"Yes, she's just recuperating." Gaheris replied as he stepped up to stand next to the bed.
"Good, we wouldn't want anything to happen to our engineer." Gerksand said, his eyes flashing.
"Indeed." Was all Gaheris replied.
Shamus looked at both men in turn. Gaheris eyes sparked with a hidden message straight as Gerksand.
To Shamus, it was like those old earth cartoons he had watched during his last trip to this dimension. About when someone was threatening someone, an image of either a tomb stone with the words R.I.Ps or a scull with crossbones would appear.
In Gaheris case, Shamus thought that if an image were to appear in his eyes. It would probably be the image of daggers shooting straight at Gerksand.
"Well, I can tell when I'm not needed. I bid you good day Captain, Doctor." With that Gerksand walked out of Medic Bay.
"Just a thought here, but maybe he's the one that Pearlana was talking about betraying us." Shamus suggested after a pause.
"Gerksand may be rebellious, but he doesn't have the guts to side with the Abyss. I have known him since we were kids." Gaheris stated.
Shamus just shook his head. He remembered the first time he met Gaheris. He was a teen at the time, but Shamus remembered he had never seen him before in Meladeen.
Thinking that he must have come from one of the moon colonies, he dropped the subject. It never occurred to him that they had a type of alien amongst them.
He remembered that Gaheris had always worn a thick silver brace wrapped around each arm. He never questioned what it was used for, but he wondered what it did. It sent out an electronic pulse, but it was too big to be anything big like a tracking device.
Shamus, being the way he is with his witty mind, came to the conclusion that it was a type of image enhancer. He didn't know for what because Gaheris looked like to be quite normal. Why would he need to change his appearance?
But then, Shamus never thought that the image enhancer was actually used for 'disappearing' both Gaheris' and Gerksands' bone blades from public view.
"Well as much as this is all fascinating, I'm going to take Pearlana to her room. I think she'll be more forgiving if she woke up in her own bed." Shamus stated as he walked over to the other side of Pearlanas bed.
He then looked up at Gaheris. "Um…do you mind Captain?" Shamus asked. He knew that that kind of language could take him right to a cell, but Gaheris seemed not to mind.
"Sorry. When she wakes up, report to me. Maybe we could get to the bottom of all of his." With that Gaheris left Medic Bay.
Once Gaheris was gone, Shamus brought his right arm underneath Pearlanas neck and then his other arm underneath her legs.
Some thought that because Shamus was so small, and might I say it, looking a little puny. That he didn't have the strength to pick up anyone. Little did they know that Shamus (as well as his DD) had an inner strength in them of mind and build.
When Pearlana was in Shamus' arms, he started to walk towards a small pad that was a little away from his station.
Surrounding that silver pad, three holes in the floor could be seen. Once Shamus stepped unto the pad, out of each hole raised three silver balls.
"State destination." The computer requested.
"Pearlanas courtiers, authorization code…" All the crew members had to have a pass code for their room if they entered it using the Portal-pad.
Pearlanas code, wanting to be different than the others, was quite different. On the other hand, it gave off the typical idea of a teenager. Shamus was the only one who knew her code.
"…'Come at your own risk'." Shamus muttered.
"Confirmed." The computer stated as the silver balls split open above Shamus' head.
"I hate this part…" Shamus said under his breath as he felt himself being cut into puzzle pieces as he was transported to Pearlanas room.
Shamus' eyes were tightly shut went he completely materialized inside Pearlanas room. When the silver balls retracted into the floor, was when Shamus opened his eyes.
He had been holding his breath the entire time and just now let it out in a whoosh of air.
Shamus shifted Pearlana in his arms and walked towards her bedroom. As he walked, he had to admit that Pearlana knew how to decorate her place to her liking.
Her room was basically in the colors of green, silver, and red; her three favorite combinations. Small trinkets were dangling from the ceilings. Mostly the trinkets were spare parts that were unusable, designs that to Pearlana were pretty and basically anything that sparkled.
Shamus had to smile at that thought. He had always thought that Pearlana had grown up too fast over the years when she was in training. But looking at her 'sanctuary' (as she liked to call it), Shamus knew that she was still Pearlana.
A sixteen year old girl who still had her hopes and dreams for the future. Whatever they might be…
Shamus reached her bedroom and gently placed her unto the bed. When he laid her down, she mumbled something that sounded like 'I'm gonna kill him'.
Shamus gulped, knowing that she was referring to him.
"Note to self. Make sure you're not here when she wakes up." Shamus stated to himself.
Shamus looked down at his sisters sleeping form. When they brought her to medic deck, one of his staff members had helped to change Pearlana into a white gown that looked like a nightgown.
Pearlanas real nightgown, or more preciously her pajama, was a spaghetti strap silver (or grey) silk gown that came down to rest above her knees.
She wasn't a girly girly in her choice of style. And her being a teenager was enough.
But Shamus decided to leave her with the gown. So Shamus brought the covers up and lifted it over Pearlanas sleeping form.
He gently tucked his sister in, just like the golden days when he use to read to her or tell her stories about his adventures in this dimension. She would always fall asleep right in the beginning to the story.
But Shamus continued in telling the story, so that Pearlana would have dreams with his adventures.
Shamus leaned over his sister and kissed her on the cheek before tucking the sheet up to her chin. Even in sleep, Pearlana snuggled deeper into the covers. Shamus smiled as he got up.
Before he left the room, he turned towards his sister. She looked so peaceful there, that it took Shamus a while to remember that his little sister was no longer little but sixteen.
He watched as she automatically, with her right hand, reached under her pillow. She appeared to grip something underneath her pillow and she immediately gave out a soft sigh as she relaxed.
Shamus didn't know what was underneath her pillow to give Pearlana such a state of relaxation, but he figured it must be pretty important to her.
With one last look, Shamus turned and walked towards the pad that would take him back to medic. He would check on Pearlana later…or maybe he'll just wait until she comes to and goes to him.
But then again, he didn't know which would be worse. He comes to her or her coming to him.
Shamus just shrugged his shoulder and stepped unto the pad. Whatever happened, he just hopes it would be swift…
Below the decks, near to the docked hanger where the battle cruisers were located, Gerksand is seen walking down the hall towards the hanger.
A sliding door is before him. Before he walks in, he looks behind him. Seeing no one, he enters the room.
Immediately about two hundred men straighten themselves and solute to Gerksand as he steps in.
"Is the plan in motion?" Gerksand questions as steps up to one of the soldiers.
"Yes sir, all commutation has been shut down. They won't be able to communicate with anyone on the Omega." The man replied.
"Have you made sure that they won't suspect anything?" Gerksand questioned the soldier to his right.
"A virus has been implanted to the systems computer. As far as they will know, nothing is amiss." The other man replied.
Gerksand nodded his head and walked towards one slightly trembling soldier.
"And what about the subjects to be gained?" Gerksand calmly questioned.
The young man looked up at Gerksand, visibly shaking in his boots.
"The…Ivory Core is oper…operational in its…Center." The man stuttered.
"Though…it hasn't given any…activity…since we…we entered the dimension." The man quickly spoke.
Gerksand calmly waved his hand to the side, dismissing the idea. "That is of no concern. The Ivory Core is in its Center, that's all that matters." He stated.
"Now, what of the girl?" Gerksand questioned, his voice getting dangerously darker.
"Asleep, in her room." The young man said.
"Good. All of you…begin the operation. You all know your groups.
Group B, take the attack cruisers and once you enter space, open fire on the Orion. But remember not to destroy it but cripple it." Gerksand ordered.
"Group A, ready the explosives to destroy the Main power grid. But wait for my command." Gerksand said as he walked down the hanger.
Everyone around, at his orders, rushed around the area and prepared themselves for the task at hand. Group B entered the attack cruisers and started to power up. Group A removed the explosives from the trunks and readied them.
"Group C and I will retrieve the girl and take hostage some of the more useful crew members." Gerksand stated.
Suddenly a haunting, unearthly sound erupted from all around them. It sounded like a calling, but for some it was like a haunting melody of music. Music filled with power…and hate.
Then out of the darkness a blood red ripple appeared. It glowed with a fury intensity that scorched the wall unit it was coming out of.
Then, like a bird opening his wings, a creature spread its arms out wide. Like molten lava, a figure that looked like to be a man appeared before them.
But this creature was no man. It screeched like a creature of the night, evil and menacing.
Eyes glowed in red, but if one were to look deep into its eyes. They would discover twin black holes illuminated within the very core of his eyes.
This evil being…was known as the Abyss.
Immediately at the presence of the Abyss, Gerksand bowed down and soon after the other soldiers followed suit.
Then the Abyss began to echo in a screeching sound that made everyone winced at it.
Gerksand seemed to be the only one who could understand what the Abyss was saying, because his eyebrows went up in shock as the Abyss spoke while rising his arms up.
"Yes, yes I understand." Gerksand said as he bent down again.
As the Abyss began to literally enter himself to disappear from sight, first his hands entered his body soon following his arms, he looked directly at Gerksands mechanical bands that he was still wearing around his writs.
Instantly, Gerksand felt an unbearable heat on his wrist. He hissed in pain as he watched his image enhancer melt away in a puddle of steaming silver onto the floor.
When the band was off, immediately Gerksand dangerously pointed bone blades appeared.
Then the Abyss disappeared completely.
The soldiers all got up and looked down at Gerksand who was still kneeling. He appeared to be admiring his bone blades, turning his arm this way and that to get a view of them.
Then his head snapped up. "There's been a change of plans. Group C and I will take hostage Mr. Harper and a few others. The Captain as well will be taken hostage." Gerksand stated.
"And what about the Chief Engineer?" Someone asked.
Gerksand slowly got up and turned towards the questioner. "The Abyss will take care of her." He stated with an evil grin across his face.
After he spoke, everyone pretty much understood that the plan was in motion. Gerksand would accompany Group A to their destination before joining Group C in Deck 11.
When Gerksand and Group A reached the main power grid, no one was in sight.
Gerksand lit a cigarette and started smoking as he watched Group A prepares the explosives around the power grid.
They would occasionally look towards Gerksand with apprehension as he smoked. If she dropped that thing any time soon, it could blow them all up with the main power grid.
When everything was set, the soldiers took a step back away from the power grid. But they noticed that Gerksand was acting…like he was on high.
He then placed his finger to his lips. "Do you hear that?" He whispered like a child playing a game.
The soldiers listened, but couldn't hear anything. So they shook their heads in no.
"Exactly!" Gerksand excitedly stated. "Complete silence all around."
He then motioned for the others to follow if up the stairs leading to the top floor. When they made it, they were a good fifty feet above the power grid.
Gerksand was still smoking his cigarette. But then he blew on the end of it and leaned over the railing.
He looked at the lit cigarette and then down to the power grid that was packed with explosives that once detected a flammable substance…it would immediately blow.
Gerksand looked towards his soldiers, who took a hesitantly step back. Gerksand looked like he was loosing it.
Gerksand then turned his attention back to the power grid below. With one last look at cigarette…he let it go.
"I love the calm moments…before the storm." Gerksand spoke out as he watched the cigarette fall.
When Gerksand made no move to move, the soldiers had to literally pull him out of the room and towards the safety of another deck that was close by.
They had barely made it when the explosion rocked the ship around them. The explosion started a chain reaction that spread all across the lower decks of the Omega Orion.
Those who were trapped in those decks, never even had a chance. Of course the computer took care of the fires with the sprinkler system and depressurizing the area. But the damage was already done.
If the crew of the Omega Orion thought that they had no power before, well now they were as good as dead in the water. And that was just the first wave of assault coming from Gerksand and his men.
The second wave would soon begin. This one will come from a full scale assault from the attack cruisers that had been waiting patiently outside in space for the explosion.
When the ships main power grid blew up, the explosion made a gaping hole for all soldiers to see in space. That was their signal to begin.
The attack on the Omega Orion had begun…
Ok, I tried. But it just proves to be too much for one chapter. So in chapter 16, I'll continue where I left off here.
The next chapter we will see what Pearlana has up her sleeve. And some confusions will be cleared up.
A special thank you to the following Reviewers:
Marymelon3 – YAY! You saw the pictures! I'm so glad you liked them. I added two more. One of them I added for you since I see you love Harper. (Smiles) While the other my friend told me post it. I guess just for effect. Though it was the ONLY picture I could find with the subject on it. LOL! Yeah, you're right. Now that with Harper having a DD, there's plenty of him to go around. LOL! As for Tyr, he was rescued by Dylan and Pearl in chapter 11. I thought I put that there. I'll go check if I made a mistake anywhere. But I'll answer that question in the upcoming chapter. Thanks for reviewing! It means so much to me.
Jade Rhade – HA! I read your fic! And I so love it! So please don't remove it. (Goes on knees and begs…please) As for the chapter, I'm so glad you enjoyed it! I enjoyed writing it, and had been dying to post the surprise with Rhade living. (Claps for joy) This story is beginning to pick up the pace. All action is in the chapter to come…at least until the end. But that's not due for a while. Thanks for reviewing! It does a heart good to have a loving reviewer who enjoys your fic. (Sniffs while wiping a tear away)
ZELINIA – Thanks for the tip. I'll keep that in mind. And so happy that you are happy again. Sorry about scaring you there, I didn't mean it the way it sounded. I just guessed that people will be pissed at me since Gaheris will for a moment be thought of as dead but he won't be. Oh well, everything's alright now. Thanks for reviewing! And I'm so happy that you enjoyed the fic!
P.S. As for Gaheris and Pearl…that will be explained in due time. MWUAHAHAHA!
THANKS TO ALL WHO READ THIS FIC! Even if you don't review, though I wish you would, I hope that for a few minutes I entertained your curios minds.
HAVE A GREAT DAY!