Disclaimer: If Andromeda belonged to me, the series would have introduced my character Pearl 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…

ATTENTION!

I have a new album in my bio. So go check out my bio and click on the link to my photo album. From there just click on Fanfiction – My one and only Pearl and it will take you to some photo's I found or made that will give you an idea of my characters.

Title My one and Only Pearl

Author Ivory Core

Chapter 15: "I'm just burrowing The Maru"

Back on the Andromeda, Pearl and the Ivory Core (which had entered Pearl again) were trying to convince an over-protective woman if they could burrow her ship.

"LIKE HELL I WILL!" Beka yelled as she placed her hands on hips and looked at Pearl like she had sprung two heads.

"There is no way I'm going to let you go and take my baby on some SUICIDE MISSION!" Beka clearly stated.

Pearl, the Ivory Core, and the rest of the crew were all in Command Deck. After Pearl found out that Harper had been kidnapped, she had immediately left to find Beka.

On the way to Command Deck, she had passed by Medical. Just when she passed the door, it opened to reveal Tyr, completely restored and a little confused as to what had happened.

But his confusion heightened when he watched the Ivory Core pass by him. Pearl didn't notice as Tyr's eyes expanded in shock as he watched 'himself' turn the corner.

He roughly shook his head, and started to follow Dylan who had been following the group.

When they all reached Command Deck, Tyr didn't see 'himself' anywhere. Thinking that he had imagined it, he shrugged it off.

Now, when Pearl found Beka she was standing next to Rommie. Pearl was never the type to go beating around the bush in anything.

So she had walked right up to Beka and had asked her if she could burrow the Eureka Maru and therefore save her brothers.

Well, we already knew Bekas' response. "I am not going to let you take my baby!" Beka repeated for the thousands time as Pearl tried to explain what she had in mind.

"Beka, it's not liking I'm going to hurt it." Pearl tried to explain. "I'm just going to install OZ into your ships matrix and do the old switcharoo with Gerksand and the Ivory Core."

Beka stepped up to Pearl and started to make a point. "Let's say that I agree with your heroic plan. There is just one problem…ME!" Beka yelled into Pearls face.

"If I went along with you, I will feel much better." Beka explained.

Pearl rolled her eyes and exasperatedly shook her head. "Gerksand is expecting me to go to his location alone and with no one else." Pearl explained.

"You see Pearl, that's were this mission to save Harper turns to suicide." Beka stated.

"You alone, are no match for his forces. Even if you were the Chief Engineer of your ship, look how he ripped it to shreds." Beka said.

"Just think of what he'll do to my baby?" Beka said with fear in her voice. "No way, there is no way I'm going to let a sixteen year old drive my baby! And THAT'S final!" Beka confirmed.

Pearl turned towards Dylan. "Um…a little help would go a long way Dylan. My plan is the only plan…"

"You see, that's were you're wrong Pearl. Your plan isn't the only plan. There are many others, one that don't involve risking your life on something that we could all help you with." Dylan stated with sympathy.

Pearl looked at Dylan with unbelief. She then shifted her gaze over to Trance. When Trance turned her head away and seemed to look around, Pearl shifted her gaze across each crew member.

"So that's it then. You won't help me save my brothers!" Pearl screamed.

"We are going to help you save them Pearl, but not by following your plan." Dylan stated as he walked up to his consol.

"Andromeda, track down where those ships disappeared too. I want those coordinates so that we can pin point were they took Harper." Dylan ordered.

"Scanning." Andromeda stated as she scanned the area.

Pearl was pissed. Not only did Beka didn't allow her to burrow the Eureka Maru, Dylan didn't back her up.

"Fine!" With that Pearl stepped up the ramp and left Command Deck.

Dylan was about to order her back, but was stopped by Beka.

"Let her go. She's a teenage, instant roman candle. Let her cool down a bit before you go after her." Beka suggested as she sat on to piloting seat.

Dylan nodded and continued with what he was doing. No one noticed as Trance left Command Deck to follow Pearl.

Pearl had walked all the way to Hanger 4. She was so ticked off, that it wouldn't be surprising if dark clouds rolled in above her head and lighting striked.

When she reached Hanger 4, she immediately kicked the first thing she saw, which happened to be her brother's suitcase.

Now, Shamus' job on the Omega Orion was to be the ships medical officer. Pearl had thought that Shamus should have been an engineer since he liked anything that had to deal with technology. Something that both Pearl and her brothers shared in common.

But even though Shamus' position was to be ships medical officer, it didn't stop his constant experiments and ideas from pouring out.

So when Pearl kicked her brothers suitcase, and while ignoring the pain on her toe, she watched as all his contents spilled out unto the floor…since it was open all ready.

Pearl bent down and picked up the first thing she saw, which was a picture frame with a picture of her and Shamus. He had two fingers pointed up behind Pearls head and he was giving that mischief smirk of his.

But when Pearl pressed the small button that was to the corner of the frame, the picture vanished to be replaced with the next picture that had happened right after the other picture was taken.

This picture showed a different scene all together. Shamus was on his stomach on the floor with Pearl standing over him. Her right foot was right on top of Shamus' back while her arms were raised like she had won in a wrestling match.

Pearl smiled as he delicately touched the photo. She had always found a way to get on top of things. Even if it was getting on top of her brother, it counted as something. She was never the type to give up…at anything.

Pearl placed the photo frame back inside the suitcase and sat down on the floor. She tightly her legs up to her chest and thought about what she was about to do.

The worst possible outcome, if she did it and came back with her brothers, would be Dylan locking her up in the brig and having to go through the torture of listening to Beka bite your head off as she rants about how you took her baby.

But to Pearl it would be more like she had burrowed her baby…without permission.

But she would rather go through all of that if it meant that her brother were safe and sound on the Andromeda. And it wouldn't hurt either if Gerksand was dead under Pearls own hand.

Pearls eyes darkened at that thought. She made a promise to Gerksand and she was going to keep it.

"Ok Pearl, let's think. Let's say you do take the Eureka Maru and install OZ into it so that you can travel without being detected by either the Andromeda or Gerksands operational base.

What about the Ivory Core. Gerksands wants it and like hell you're going to give it to him." Pearl thought to herself.

Then a voice entered Pearls thoughts. She knew it was the Ivory Core.

You had said to the Andromeda Crew that you were going to do the…and I quote…the old switcharoo with me?

"Yeah, but I was expecting some help from them in developing something that could DO that. But since they don't want to go with my plan…well it's only you and me." Pearl stated out loud.

But Pearlana, you were the Chief Engineer of the Omega Orion. You are just like your brother, both of them I might add. You invent things and upgrade them. Surely you have something that could help you. Ivory Core stated.

Pearl thought about this long and hard. Ivory was right, she had invented many things during her free time back in Meladeen. In fact, she had created something; actually she had stolen something and made it better.

Pearl got up and walked towards her own suitcase. She kneeled in front it and opened it.

Um…what are you doing? Ivory questioned as Pearl pulled out things from her suitcase and tossed them to the side.

"A couple of years back, Shamus was messing with a new idea of his. Or for that matter it could have come from Harper himself." Pearl stated as she rummaged in her suitcase.

"Anyway, he made this computer virus which he called 'Trojan Horse' that anyone could miss lead it as a harmless disk." Pearl stated as she pulled out a small blue box from her suitcase.

She opened the box and inside, resting on soft blue material, was a small disk the size of a quarter.

"But after he created it, he understood that it was far dangerous to use. So he destroyed it." Pearl explained.

She then picked the disk up and brought it up to her face.

"But I found Shamus' schematics for the virus. I followed it and made a new one, but this one even deadlier then the first."

And why would you recreate this dangerous virus? Ivory questioned with worry.

"Because Ivory, you never know when you'll need it." Pearl stated as she turned the disk around.

It looks like a computer chip.But what does it do? Ivory stated as it too looked at the device in Pearls hand.

"Exactly what its name states. Looking like a harmless music disc, no one would know that it carries a coded virus that once activated will literally chew up any system computer and overload a core reactor." Pearl calmly stated.

If the Ivory Core had a face, it would have dropped its mouth in shock.

"Once installed, it would take thirty seconds for it to activate and spread the virus. After that you have exactly sixty seconds to get your butt of the ship before Trojan reaches the core reactor." Pearl explained.

Yeah, there's one problem. You said that the virus had to be 'installed' in order for it to activate. How are you going to install it? Ivory questioned.

Pearl merely smiled knowingly as she pulled out a silver strand of hair that was hidden amongst her flaming hair.

She brought it up to her face, knowing that Ivory could see it as well.

Ah! Of course!

"That's right, Ivory; the answer to save my brothers was with me the entire time." Pearl stated as she placed the silver strand in the palm of her hand.

Pearl then placed Trojan-Horse on top of the silver strand in the palm of her hand. She raised her hand up to her face so that she was eye level with it.

"OZ, reshape as of Ivory Core. Do not withdraw shape by any other order other than myself. Confirmation code Alpha 43, Strike Strike." Pearl clearly ordered.

Right in front of Pearl, the silver strand began to reshape into a puddle in Pearls hand. It completely summered Trojan in its deeps before once again reshaping itself.

A couple of seconds later, OZ reshaped itself to become the Ivory Core. And hidden inside was Trojan-Horse, waiting for the moment to unleash destruction all across Gerksand ship.

OZ/Ivory Core floated in front of Pearls face, almost like it was waiting for her next order.

Ok, so we have Trojan disguised as me. Now what? Ivory questioned.

"Now…" Pearl started as she slowly got up with OZ floating up beside her. "…we risk everything to save my brothers."

Sounds like fun. Ivory sarcastically stated.

Since Hanger 4 was shut off from Andromedas sensors by the attack earlier that day, Andromeda had not a clue on the events that had occurred just then.

Pearl, after placing OZ/Trojan (A/N which we will call Trojan from now on) in a secured metal case, left Hanger 4 and made her way towards the Eureka Maru's docking port.

On the way, Pearl kept on thinking that Beka was going to kill her when she found out. No, not kill her but mutilate her into space dust.

If you keep on thinking like that, your confidence is sure to leave you. Ivory clearly stated. It was getting extremely annoyed at Pearls thoughts, after all their minds were merged together.

Neither of them noticed Trance slowly following them.

Finally they reached the hanger where the Eureka Maru was docked. Pearl looked up at ship and only one thought crossed her mind.

"What a bucket of bolts! I knew Beka had a ship, but jeesh! I'm surprised it could actually fly!" Pearl thought to herself.

Well, appearances aren't everything. Perhaps it looks better from the inside. Ivory suggested.

Pearl shrugged her shoulders and walked up towards the Eureka Maru. Once inside, she had guessed that Ivory was right. It did look a lot better from the inside; except for the fact of Sparky Cola cans all lying on the floor.

"Harper." Pearl stated as she picked up one of the cans after placing the metal case on top of the counter.

Thinking of Harper made Pearl realized just how much she missed him. It also shoved away any doubt that was still surrounding Pearls mind. The fury on what Gerksand had done was enough to spark back that intense fiery gaze back into Pearls golden eyes.

Without looking, Pearl tossed the can of Sparky Cola over her head. A second later, Pearl was rewarded with the sound of the can entering the trash bin.

"Bull's-eye!" Pearl stated as she turned towards the metal case.

"And that will be my mark when I'm through with you Gerksand." Pearl swore as she picked up the case and headed for the cockpit.

When she reached the cockpit, Pearl had to admit that she wasn't familiar with the controls. She placed the case next to her as she seated herself on seat.

"Ok Pearl lets familiarize yourself with these controls." Pearl said to herself as she looked over the buttons and…joint-stick?

"What is a joint-stick doing here?" Pearl questioned as she gripped the handle of it.

"That's to maneuver the Maru around in space and to travel through slipstreams." A voice answered behind Pearl.

Pearl jumped at least a foot in the air before quickly turning her head and looking up to find Trance beaming down at her from the rail.

"TRANCE! What are you doing here!" Pearl questioned in shock.

She then placed her hand up, palm facing Trance. "Oh no wait, let me guess. Dylan sent you, didn't he? And now you're going to bust me aren't you?"

"No, Dylan didn't send me. I came on my own." Trance cheerfully replied as she stepped down the stairs to stand next to Pearl who was sitting on the pilot seat. "And I'm not going to tell Dylan either."

"Oh really, then why didn't you back me up back on Command Deck?" Pearl questioned, her temper rising.

"Well you see Pearl, we don't really know much about how Gerksand works. But you do." Trance explained.

"And that answers my question how exactly?" Pearl sarcasm asked.

Trance then placed a hand on Pearls shoulder, causing Pearl to look up at Trance.

"It answers your question in the sense that you will have better luck in finding Harper and saving him then Dylan could ever do." Trance stated.

Pearl looked at Trance with shock written all across her face. She didn't expect Trance to say THAT! After all, Dylan was like a…Greek god or something. But Pearl was glad that Trance believed in her so much to say that.

"Thank you, Trance." That was all Pearl could say.

Trance smiled and patted Pearls shoulder. "Now, would you like a crash course on how to pilot the Eureka Maru?" Trance pleasantly questioned.

They didn't call Pearl a quick learner for nothing. In less than a couple of minutes, Pearl understood the basic controls of the Maru and how to pilot it.

"Thank you, Trance." Pearl said as she started to power up the ship. "I mean, I'll be installing OZ once we're in space. But thank you for teaching me the basics."

"You're quite welcome." Trance replied as she took her post in the back.

"I'm overriding the systems so that the doors will open." Trance stated.

"You can do that?" Pearl asked as she watched the doors of the hanger bay open.

"You'll be surprised by the things I can do." Trance replied.

"I wouldn't doubt it." Pearl stated as she strapped herself onto the seat. She then gripped the joint-stick and fired up the engines.

"She's gonna kill me." Pearl stated to know one particular as she piloted the Maru out of the hanger and straight into space, quite smoothly for a first timer too.

Dylan, Tyr, Beka and Rommie were all in Command Deck figuring out a way to track down and save Harper.

Dylan was a little unnerved at the way Pearl had reacted. Knowing full well that she was Harpers sister, he knew that Harper tended to act with his emotions then with his head. He just hoped that Pearl wasn't irrational in her choices.

Suddenly Andromeda appeared on the screen. "Captain!" She called out.

Dylan looked up to face the screen. "What is it?" He asked, fearing that something was wrong.

Rommie turned to Dylan with a look of disbelief.

"Pearl has taken the Eureka Maru." Rommie hesitantly stated. She knew what was coming next.

"SHE DID WHAT!" Beka screamed.

Yep, that's what was coming next.

"Andromeda, put it on screen." Dylan calmly asked. He was going to put a stop to this.

Andromeda shifted away to reveal the Eureka Maru with the engines fired up.

"Open a view channel on Pearl. Dylan ordered.

"I can't, she blocked out the channel." Rommie stated.

"Then open com channel with the Maru." Dylan quickly ordered.

Andromeda blinked once and nodded her head.

"Com link opened." Rommie confirmed.

A sound was heard signifying that the com was open.

"Pearl, explain yourself." Dylan ordered.

"Shit!" Pearl thought to herself as she heard Dylan on the other end.

"I thought I disabled the channel!" Pearl stated to herself.

Apparently not the com channel. Ivory stated.

"Thank you for telling me that." Pearl replied sarcastically.

Pearl turned to Trance. Trance was busy entering the proper codes into the Maru's matrix so that Pearl could install OZ into it.

She looked up towards Pearl and wordlessly stated that she needn't one more minute. Pearl nodded and reached into her pocket.

She pulled out a small transparent case with a quad of silver goo inside. Just a bar of OZ was enough to install an entire shielding over a full sized ship like the Maru. Once Trance readied the Maru, Pearl would install this case into the slot beside her and OZ will take it from there.

She just hoped that it would be soon. She had no idea what Dylan would do.

Silence from the other end…

"Pearl. Respond!" Dylan ordered again.

No reply, just silence.

"She's is choosing to ignore us." Rommie stated.

Dylan was about to repeat himself when Beka walked down the platform and not so calmly spoke to Pearl.

"PEARL! You get your butt back her with my ship or so help me I will kill you!" Beka threatened.

Pearl immediately cringed at the voice of Beka from the com.

"She's really pissed off." Pearl thought to herself.

Maybe once you save Harper and return the Maru she'll lighten up a bit. Ivory suggested.

"Ivory, listen to the tone of Bekas voice! Do you THINK she will 'lighten up'?" Pearl questioned.

Um…no. Ivory stated.

"I didn't think so." Pearl replied.

Just then, the computer flared to life. Pearl turned back to Trance, who gave her the thumbs up as she took her seat.

Pearl smiled and returned the thumbs up to Trance. She then looked at the transparent case before pushing into the slot.

A couple of seconds ticked by and then very slowly from the slot, OZ began to ooze out.

Pearl watched as OZ seemed to enlarge itself the more it covered the interior of the ship. OZ seeped underneath Pearls feet and all around her. It covered the controls, the floor, the ceiling and it would soon cover them.

"Ewe." Pearl heard Trance say as OZ oozed itself all around them.

Pearl turned her head and wordlessly motioned for Trance to stay calm. OZ won't work properly if she didn't stay calm.

Trance nodded her head in understanding and tightly closed her eyes as OZ began to ooze over her until she was completely covered.

Pearl softly smiled at the way Trance was behaving. It was quite strange really and cute at the same time. Because sometimes she acted like a teenager such as herself, but other times she acted like a child.

Suddenly Pearl felt OZ ooze up her leg. It felt like ice was oozing up her leg and all too soon she couldn't feel her own feet or legs.

She was never afraid of OZ. Back home on Meladeen, everyone had to go through training in order to accept OZ as it covered you. Not many people liked it and could stand it.

Not even Shamus had passed, but since he was ships medical officer, he passed the endurance with a C.

Pearl on the other hand, passed it with a B. She accepted OZ as it oozed up to waist and up to her chest. This was the part that she hated the most, when OZ covered her chest.

It felt like your lungs were freezing. You never felt pain, but the feeling of OZ seeping into you and registering you as a part of its new form was always an unpleasant feeling.

Pearls breathing began to heighten up as OZ seeped itself into her body and she began to loose feeling of her body.

Just a few more seconds…Ivory comforted Pearl as it felt what she was feeling.

Then OZ completely covered Pearl from head to toe.

"Ivory…take over." Pearl stated as she allowed Ivory to completely gain control over her mind.

There was silence for quite some time…until a voice spoke up on the other end of the line.

"Activating OZ shielding in five…four…three…two…one!" The voice sounded like a collective of voices all molded into one.

Dylan turned to Rommie with a question on his face, but he snapped his back towards the screen at the sound of Bekas voice.

"WHAT THE HELL IS SHE DOING TO MY SHIP!" Beka quested as she screamed at the sight that was forming in front of them.

And yes, forming was right. The Eureka Maru, at first was just there, but now it seemed like strange silver goo was completely covering the Maru until not one bit of it was seen.

And then…right before everyone's eyes, the Maru began to shift in shape.

No one said a word as they watched in silent shock as the Maru completely changed into a silver slick ship with a pointed front and back. In absolute amazement as they watched this new ship take shape. It was like the Maru was never there.

Electric blue sparks went up and down the silver plaiting of the ship as the transformation was complete.

All in Command Deck didn't say a word. Not even Beka said anything, probably because she was trying to understand on what had just happened.

Then Tyr broke the silence.

"Well, she definitely holds the element of surprise." He said as he leaned forward.

Dylan, Rommie, and Beka all turned their head to stare at Tyr. Tyr looked at them and gave them a puzzled look.

"What?" He questioned.

"The Avenger to the Andromeda." The voice of Pearl spoke up over the com.

"THE WHAT!" Beka seemed to snap out of her stupor at the mention of the name that Pearl had called HER ship.

"Well, for now it is The Avenger. But I promise you Beka, I will return your ship back to normal…when I get back." Pearl explained over the com.

"No Pearl, you will restore my ship right now!" Beka yelled.

Silence for a while from the other end. Then everyone's attention turned to the Eureka Maru…or for now The Avenger, when the slipstream runners opened.

"I'm just burrowing the Maru, Beka. I promise I'll be back…with my brothers." Pearls voice spoke over the com.

"Pearl, I'm ordering you to stop this and come back." Dylan clearly spoke out.

"I'm sorry Dylan, but my brothers lives are at stake. I will NOT loose them again." With that the com channel was disconnected.

"Dammit!" Dylan cursed as he tried to get the com back, but Pearl disabled it.

"Dylan!" Rommie's voice rang out.

Dylan turned his head to Rommie and noticed that she was looking straight ahead. He too looked were she was looking at and literally his jaw immediately dropped.

A slipstream portal had opened, or at least it looked like one. But it had mixes of gold and blue, swirling like a tunnel.

"Andromeda, what is that?" Dylan quested as he watched the Maru…Avenger…head straight for it.

"I'm not sure Captain. The anomaly is sending off minimal time dilations while the Maru is sending a Tesseract pulse straight into it." Andromeda explained.

"Time travel?" Rommie questioned.

"No not time travel. It's a pocket in space…in time." Dylan stated with wonder.

But he snapped out of it, when the Maru was aiming straight for it.

"Andromeda! Launch bunking cables, bring Pearl back!" Dylan ordered.

But it was too late for that command. The Maru entered the tunnel and disappeared within. A flash of gold light surrounded the tunnel and then…nothing.

"Andromeda, can you follow them?" Dylan asked.

"I'm sorry Dylan, but I do not know where she is going." Rommie stated.

Suddenly Andromeda flashed on screen. "Dylan, I regret to inform you that our hour is up to speak to Gerksand about the trade." She informed.

Everyone didn't say anything. Their hour was up. Now they had no way of knowing where Harper was.

"Trance, I could use your insight right about now." Dylan said as he turned to the post of where Trance should have been.

"Trance?"

Just then, Rev entered Command Deck. "Dylan, Trance is not on board." He worriedly stated.

"Dylan, it appears that Trance has accompanied Pearl." Andromeda stated.

"Great, that's just great!" Dylan exclaimed.

Beka turned to Dylan. "Ok, now what?"

Dylan looked at the place in space were the Maru had disappeared. With a heavy sigh he turned towards Rommie.

"Rommie, scan the area for any slipstream events. Maybe we'll be lucky and find some bread crumbs." Dylan stated as he started to tap his consol.

Rev looked at Dylan with curiosity as he stepped up to his post.

"It's a long story Rev." Dylan stated as he noticed the look on Rev's face.

"So that's it then! We're going to look for bread crumbs while a SIXTEEN YEAR OLD fly's my baby across god know where!" Beka exasperatedly yelled.

Dylan gave her a look that pretty much said to shut up. Now was not the time to squabble over Pearl taking the Maru.

Bigger things had to be dealt with. Now instead of one person missing, they now had two. And the problem was that they didn't know where to start looking for them.

Dylan looked up at his consol and straight at was the Maru had disappeared too.

"Be careful Pearl. Wherever you are, please be careful."

SORRY! So sorry about this late chapter! But I'm back and the next chapter will come soon.

QUESTION! Does anyone know what Harper has under his pillow?

I was watching "Be all my sins remembered" yesterday and I was wondering what Harper has under his pillow.

Anyone who can answer me this question gets one free imaginary life-size manikin of your choice from any man in the Andromeda series.

If your not sure, make a guess. I would love to know what you think Harper is keeping under his pillow. :)

Now to the thank yous for the following Reviewers:

ZELINIA – LOL! So true. Let's see what happens. I'm so happy that you liked the last chapter. Cuteness from a brother and a sister. In the next chapter, I'll start off where I left you all in the last chapter. Thanks for reviewing! It means a lot. Oh, and don't forget to try and answer the question above. :)

Marymelon3 – Sorry about getting you confused. You see, I tried to make the odd numbered chapters to deal with Pearl from before she came to the Andromeda. And the even chapters were supposed to deal with Pearl in the present with the Andromeda and all. But somewhere along the line…I screwed up. Sorry again! But I'll state on what happens in the chapters to come so that you won't be confused. For example, in the next chapter we will start were I left you all in chapter 14. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask. Anyway, I'm so glad that you liked the new photos! Glad to know that you liked the first one. I found that somewhere and I immediately loved it too. Well, so happy that you are enjoying the story so much. Hope you liked this one. Oh, and before I forget. Don't forget to try and answer the question above. :)

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!