Disclaimer: If Andromeda belonged to me, the series would have brought Rhade during the first season and allowed him to stay with the crew all the way to the fifth season. Not to mention, my character Pearlana would have been a part of the Andromeda crew.
But I guess that's why we have fanfiction. The only one that belongs 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 18: Into the Lions den
BTW: This is Pearl's POV during the last moments before she entered 'slipstream'.
As soon as the Ivory Core left Pearls mind, she regained herself and slowly opened her eyes. She was greeted with the old memory of how the Omega Orion once looked.
The Eureka Maru was no more, or at least for the time being. The interior was completely transformed into a metallic shielding all around the deck and floor. Even the controls were changed into the traditional way of the technology coming from Pearls people.
"Aw, pretty." Trance stated in awe.
Pearl looked over her the back of her seat and saw Trance delicately tracing the intricate patterns and symbols that glowed as it crossed all over the deck.
Looking around, Pearl definitely felt like she was back on the Orion. It took a moment to remember that she had to give Beka back her ship later, even though the Maru looked better this way. In Pearls opinion of course.
"Ummm, Pearl?" Trance suddenly asked.
Pearl turned her head to face Trance. "Yeah?"
"What happened to the controls? What are these saucer things leaning beside my chair?" Trance asked.
Pearl smiled from ear to ear at Trance's confusion. She should have known that Trance would not understand her people's technology.
Getting up from her chair, Pearl walked over to Trance.
"These 'saucer things' are the manual controls. Just place your hand over the disk…that's it…see how it glows blue? That's telling you that it registers you as the controller.
That screen that just appeared in front of us, that's showing us the systems matrix and functions. From here, you can do anything. Even fly the ship if the main controls were damaged." Pearl explained.
"Oh, I get it!" Trance excitedly stated as she placed her hand on one of the disks. Like a child playing a game, Trance moved this way and that as she maneuvered the disk to the right, left, forward and back.
"So, you're good with the controls?" Pearl asked, but seeing Trance actually having fun as she maneuvered around, didn't wait for an answer.
So Pearl walked back to her seat and sat down. Flicking some switches, the wall screen in front of her shimmered away to reveal the stars of outer space.
In front of the seat, there was a low silver bar with several different pressure points. Already knowing which was which, Pearl pressed the point nearest to her. Instantly, large disks began to rise from either side of her chair.
The disks glowed red as they rose up. When they reached the height of the armrest on Pearls chair, they leaned inwards towards the chair so that Pearl could place her hands on either one of them.
The exterior of the ship was going through the last metamorphous. As Pearl prepared herself, she knew that the Andromeda was watching the transformation. No doubt Beka was furious now.
"So what are you going to call her?" Trance suddenly asked.
Pearl snapped her head up and turned to face Trance. "Her?"
"Yeah, the ship." Trance stated while motioning with her hand around. "What are you going to call her?"
That took Pearl by surprise. It never occurred to her that she should name the ship anything. It was the Eureka Maru, and she had temporarily 'burrowed' it without permission.
"I mean, we can call it for now something else until we bring it back to Beka. It would be fun to name the ship." Trance suggested. She seemed shy but excited at the same time.
"I suppose…" Pearl pondered over this one. What could she call this temporary ship for the time being? Trance was right though, it would be fun to name the ship, even if it was only for a little while.
"How about…?" Pearl began. A name that would signify the mission was needed. A name to signify her mission was needed.
"…The Avenger." Pearl stated with inner fire.
"A name that will justify what I'm about to do. Avenge my Captain and those men and woman of the Omega Orion." Pearl dangerously whispered.
Suddenly, the screen reflected electric blue sparks that went up and down the length of the Avenger.
"What's happening?" Trance asked.
"Transformation complete." replied Pearl.
With her hands on the disks, Pearl started to push forward on the disks. Immediately the ship started to move forward, the engines powered up with the slightest touch of Pearls hand.
"Neat…" Trance whispered.
"The Avenger to the Andromeda." Pearl clearly called out.
The shrill voice of Beka was Pearls welcome message.
"THE WHAT!" Beka screamed over the com.
"Well, for now it is The Avenger. But I promise you Beka, I will return the ship back to normal…when I get back." Pearl quickly explained over the com.
She just hoped that Beka will understand, unlikely though.
"No Pearl, you will restore my ship right now!" Beka answered.
Nope, Beka won't understand. Pearl softly sighed to herself, but she was wasting time. Pearl closed her eyes and spreads her fingers all the way over the disk.
This one action activated the slip stream runners on the ship.
"I'm just burrowing the Maru, Beka. I promise I'll be back…with my brothers." Pearl clearly stated.
She then heard Dylan speak over the com. "Pearl, I'm ordering you to stop this and come back."
During this time, Pearl was seriously pissed off over everything that had happened. She was about to reply to Dylan that she doesn't take orders from him, but bit her tongue before hastily answering.
"I'm sorry Dylan, but my brothers lives are at stake. I will NOT loose them again." Pearl than disconnected the com channel.
She knew Dylan would be pissed at her, but she'll dwell on that later.
"Trance, you had better buckle up. It's going to be a bumpy ride, short but bumpy." Pearl warned as she straightened her back, buckled up and flexed her fingers.
"Ok Ivory, its show time." Pearl stated.
The Ivory Core slowly emerged out of Pearl and like a gun shot, shot straight out of the deck and zoomed straight into the power grid.
"What is it doing?" Trance curiously asked.
"Ever time traveled, Trance?" Pearl asked as she powered up the engines.
Trance was about to reply 'yes'; since she did take the Andromeda almost 300 hundred years into the past before. But instead, she said no.
"Then this should be an experience for you." Pearl replied.
A ripple of power emitted all around them, signaling that Ivory was installed into the ships power grid.
And then, both Trance and Pearl witnessed a portal opening right in front of them. But it didn't look like an ordinary slipstream portal. The tunnel spins at a pace that made the tunnel look like liquid. Mixtures of gold and blue light spun around and around.
"Hold on, Trance!" Pearl called out as she pushed forward on the disk. Immediately the Avenger shot straight for the tunnel.
"The Andromeda is preparing launching bucking cables!" Trance stated.
"No going back now…" Pearl stated to herself than to anyone else.
A second later, the Avenger completely entered the tunnel in a flash of gold light.
Once entering the tunnel, it was like piloting in an ordinary slipstream. Pearl piloted their way safely through the sides and tunnels of the stream.
"I never saw a slipstream like this before…"
But as they were traveling, a ship passed by their side screen. Now nothing was odd about another ship passing by, but the ship was impossible.
"Pearl…That's the Avenger!" Trance stated in shock.
It was true. The Avenger passed right by them and disappeared into another tunnel that had appeared inside the stream. They disappeared in a flash of green light.
"Hold on Trance!" Pearl called out as she did a sharp turn to her left.
Pearl did a complete U turn in the stream, sharp enough that Trance lost her balance and fell to the floor. She gripped the nearest thing to her, which was a bar, and held on.
"Activating OZ shielding." Pearl stated as she pressed down on the disk to her right.
An instant later, in a flash of gold light, the Avenger exited the tunnel and entered normal space. A minute passed with absolute silence.
Pearl ran her fingers through her hair and sighed deeply. She then got up as the disks on either side of her chair, with the absence of her hands, retreated themselves back into the floor.
Pearl turned towards Trance and found her sprawled on the floor, her tail tightly wrapped around the bar.
"You ok?" Pearl asked as she stepped up Trance. She offered her hand to Trance, who gratefully took it.
When Trance was on her feet she looked over Pearls shoulder towards the screen.
"Where are we?" Trance asked.
"It's not a question of where, but a question of when." Pearl replied. She then turned her gaze to the screen.
Pearl walked towards it and maneuvered the ship a little to the right. The image that appeared before them made Trance gape in shock.
"Pearl, what are we doing here?" Trance asked. "They will spot us."
Pearl merely chuckled as she shook her head.
"No they won't. They can't spot us, because they can't see us." Pearl explained as she swept her hand over the screen.
The Andromeda Ascendant loomed over them, making their ship look like a bug compared to it.
"They can't see us, nor track us." Pearl explained as she calmly walked out of the deck followed closely by Trance.
"You're using what the enemies used, that stuff to make them invisible." Trance stated.
Pearl stopped and turned toward Trance.
"Yes Trance, I'm using OZ. It holds many possibilities other than changing into different things." Pearl stated.
Trance nodded her head in understanding. "Ok, but what did you mean 'by a question of when'?"
They had reached the small engineering room. Like a mini version of the engineering on the Orion, the room held a cylinder tube in the center.
Inside the tube, a blue/gold mist swirled around. When Trance and Pearl entered the room, Ivory emerged from the tube and floated before them.
"We are exactly thirty minutes in the past." Pearl explained as she walked into the room, Ivory floating beside her.
"Thirty minutes?" Trance repeated in awe.
"Ivory here can bend time to its will. That portal we went through was just a time pocket of sorts." Pearl explained.
"If you noticed, I took a sharp U turn in the tunnel. The longer you go straight in the tunnel, the faster time will rewind in normal space. It was a short ride, but complicating." Pearl stated.
"But what about that other ship? Was that a past Avenger or a future one?" Trance asked.
"I believe that was a future Avenger. Probably us when we leave here." Pearl calmly explained as she tapped some consoles near the tube.
After a moment, Pearl turned away from the consol and headed out of the room; Trance and Ivory following her. To Trance, Pearl seemed different.
She seemed more stern and formal, like the way Dylan explained to her about protocols in the Commonwealth. Pearl was acting like a practical officer.
A total of four minutes went by with not a word for Pearl. She was holding a flexi in her hand and occasionally tapping the pad and having a frown of concentration on her face.
"Pearl, what are you doing?" Trance asked after a heavy five minutes of silence.
"I'm extracting the information from the Andromeda in order to contact Gerksand." Pearl quickly stated.
"Oh." Trance quietly replied as she heavily sat down on her chair. She was getting bored.
For a while she watched Ivory hover in place near to Pearl. Counting how many times the blue and gold light flashed.
"Got it!" Pearl suddenly stated which caused both Ivory and Trance to jump. Well for Ivory, she just trembled a little.
Pearl then walked over to her seat and sat down. She was about place her hand over the left disk, but suddenly stopped and seemed to remember something.
She turned over in her chair and looked back Trance and Ivory.
"Ummm, Trance. Could you make yourself scarce? I'm about to contact Gerksand and…" But Trance interrupted.
"Nuf said, I understand." With that, Trance left the room her purple tail the last thing seen before it disappeared outside the door.
Pearl smiled; she was glad that Trance was here. She brought a sense of peace with her, not to mention a bit of luck.
Pearl then shifted her gaze to Ivory. She raised her eye brow as she watched Ivory blink rapidly.
"No you can't stay. Gerksand must think that this…" Pearl holds up the metal case containing Trojan-Horse. "…is you."
For a reply, Ivory zoomed straight for Pearl and not giving Pearl a chance, entered her.
"Stubborn…thing!" Pearl angrily stated as she felt Ivory merge minds.
You need me. More than you will ever know. Ivory stated in her mind. Now, let's get this show on the road!
"Great! Now you're catching human phrases." Pearl muttered to herself as she placed her hand over the disk to right.
Instantly at the presence of Pearls hand above, the disk rose up to meet her out stretched hand. When her fingers touched the top of it, the screen flared to life in front of Pearl.
She then entered the correct frequency in order to contact Gerksand. She made sure that the Andromeda would not be able to know about the frequency.
Not a minute passed after Pearl entered the frequency when she got a reply back.
A second later, the image of Gerksand appeared on the screen. Pearl swallowed hard. Not from fear, but to stop herself from spitting on Gerksand's sneering face.
"Pearlana! What a pleasant surprise." Gerksand smoothly stated.
"Shut your crap Gerksand." Pearl spoke through clenched teeth.
"Tisks tisks. Such strong language, Pearlana." Gerksand toyed.
Pearl gripped her arm rest and grinded her teeth. Her 'strong language' was nothing compared to what was forming inside Pearls mind. Biting her tongue, she held it in though.
"But I can see you're impatient. So let's get down to business. I believe you have thought over my offer?"
"Yes…"
"And…?"
"I will trade the Ivory Core for my brothers. And read my lips Gerksand, I will trade the Ivory Core for both of my brothers." Pearl clearly stated.
Gerksand nodded his head. "Good choice. I knew you would make the right choice."
Pearl watched as he tapped something on his consol. "I'm sending you the slipstream route now. Follow them and you'll arrive at Omar'sha."
Pearl nodded her head and watched as the Gerksand disappeared from the screen for it to show the correct route.
When the downloading was complete, Pearl heard Gerksand over the com.
"See you soon…" And then Gerksand cut the com.
Not that Pearl minded either. Before she downloaded the directions, she made sure to scan for any virus. Knowing Gerksand, well you never know what he'll do.
"You can up out now Trance." Pearl called out, knowing full well that Trance was near.
Trance peeked from outside the door. She then walked in and took her place behind her consol.
As Pearl downloaded the directions and memorized them, Trance was looking around. She had to admit that it was all very neat. Perhaps Dylan will allow Pearl to install OZ into the Andromeda.
But thinking about Andromeda and Rommie, Trance shook her head. There was no way Andromeda was going to allow that.
Absentmindedly, Trance turned away from the consol to look towards the screen. Her mouth dropped at the sight.
"Look Pearl! It's…us…" Trance excitedly stated as she pointed.
Pearl looked up and saw the Eureka Maru launch out of the hanger. It was strange to see the ship, the way it use to look and seeing it now. Not to mention even weirder the fact that past Trance and Pearl were on that ship.
"Can they see us?" Pearl heard Trance ask.
Pearl shook her head. "No, OZ does a pretty good job in hiding us from their sensors…I mean our sensors. Or…never mind." Pearl shuts her mouth.
Time was confusing, and she didn't want a headache right now.
She finished downloading the directions, and integrated them into the system.
"Ok, looks like we're good to go. All we have to do is weight for the opportune moment and we're off." Pearl stated as she released herself from the straps on the seat and stood up.
Trance watched as Pearl closed her eyes and rolled her shoulders backwards as she flexed them. In doing so caused Pearl to suddenly wince in pain.
"Are you ok Pearl?" Trance asked, worried.
Pearl snapped her eyes open and looked at Trance. "Uh? Oh, yeah. I'm ok, just…a memory." Pearl replied.
She then turned towards the door. Before she left though, she turned towards Trance.
"Call me when the Eureka Maru…" She stated while motioning towards their past selves. "…turns into the Avenger. Ok?"
Trance nodded her head and watched as Pearl disappeared down the corridor. And she thought that she was cryptic. Pearl was keeping her own secrets as well.
As Pearl walked down the corridor, she was going through turmoil of thoughts and memories. Some of those memories were all too fresh.
She placed her hand over her chest, feeling the rhythm of her heartbeat. She remembered, back on the Orion, how close she felt to death. The pain when she was shot was oh so clear to her.
Even though Ivory healed her wound and brought her back into the land of the living, Pearl knew that she had been dead for a good long minute. She remembered darkness…just darkness every which way she looked.
And then…silence. No, not really silence because she had heard whispers. Whispers echoed all around her in the darkness, but she didn't see who they came from. And then pain coming from her back to shoot all the way towards her chest.
It was then that she had opened her eyes, only for her to look straight into the blue eyes of a man that she had never seen before.
Smirking to herself, Pearl remembered her own reaction; screaming at the top of her lungs for them to get away from her. Or more exactly, for them to get the hell away from her.
Then she found out that she wasn't wearing her nano-langue, not that you needed it when you were on the Omega Orion because everyone spoke the same language.
She remembered when Trance tried to calm her down. If only they knew everything that she had gone through.
Pearl roughly shook her head. That was the past, and thiswas the present. She had to keep her mind clear if she wanted to carry out her plan…
"Pearl! They just transformed!" Pearl heard Trance call out.
This is it…are you ready?" Ivory asked.
"I was born ready." Pearl answered. But that was not what she was really thinking. Inside she was shaking from head to toe, and Ivory knew it.
Pearl made it to command and saw that the Eureka Maru was completely transformed. From this prospective, Pearl understood why Beka was so pissed at her. The Eureka Maru looked like a completely different ship now.
Suddenly, the sliprunners on the ship were activated.
"Buckle up Trance!" Pearl called out as she ran towards her seat. She jumped on it and bucked herself in.
Trance didn't need to be told twice. She already knew what it felt like to NOT listen to Pearls warnings. She buckled herself onto her seat and even tightened it.
"What are you going to do?" Trance asked as she watched Pearl pilot the ship so that it was right behind their past selves.
"You see Trance, Oz can do a lot of things. Even conceal us from others, but it can't conceal slipstream events." Pearl explained.
"So you're going to use the same slipstream as our past selves." Trance replied.
"Hopefully…" Pearl muttered to herself as she piloted the ship towards the just opened slipstream route.
Pearl was right behind their future selves, and when they entered slipstream she followed closely behind.
"Wave goodbye to the Avenger, Trance." Pearl spoke up with a laugh as she turned down a tunnel. A great flash of green light later, and Pearl was navigating thought normal slipstream like a rollercoaster.
No time dilatations, no going back in time; just normal slipstream that would take them to their destination.
She was no expert like Beka was, but she could pilot in a slipstream pretty fairly.
They exited slipstream and reentered it when Pearl found the next slipstream route. After exactly three jumps, they were now piloting through the last slipstream route.
At this time, Pearl was so tense she was gripping the silver disks too tightly.
Pearlana, relax. You won't save your brothers if you're a nervous wreck. Ivory carefully stated
"Easy for you to say…" Pearl replied while clenched her teeth.
Pearl safely existed slipstream and entered normal space. For a moment, Pearl wondered if Gerksand had given her the wrong directions.
The reason for this would be that there was nothing in front of them. No planets, no space port, nothing but a clutter of meteors.
"This can't be right." Pearl stated to herself as she tapped her consol.
Trance was scanning the area, for anything peculiar. It was then that she found something.
"I'm picking up a high energy signal from one of the meteors." Trance stated.
"That's can't be possible. Who in their right minds would make a base out of a meteor?" Pearl questioned as she turned towards Trance.
Trance just shrugged her shoulders and continued her scanning.
Pearl turned towards the screen and for a moment looked towards the meteors. To think that her brothers were in one of those meteors, she just couldn't believe it.
"Um…Pearl?" Pearl turned her gaze away from the screen to look towards Trance.
Trance looked towards Pearl, her face in absolute shock.
"Remember that energy signal I told you about?" She asked.
Pearl nodded her head.
"It moved…"
"What do you mean 'it moved'?"
Trance seemed to look past Pearl and towards the screen. Pearl watched as Trance's eyes expanded.
"There's something really bad behind me isn't there?" Pearl questioned.
All Trance could do was nod. Very slowly, Pearl turned away from Trance and looked towards the screen.
"HOLY SHIT!" Pearl screamed as she quickly maneuvered the ship away from the mass that was coming straight for them.
It was a meteor all right, but this sucker triples the size of the Omega Orion. This bad boy could probably take the Andromeda and the Omega Orion in just one of those hangers.
"Wait a minute. Hangers…?" Pearl questioned to herself as she looked closely at the meteor.
Now getting a good look at it, Pearl saw that the meteor did have hangers. Thousands of them, along with lights, and technology that Pearl knew was there own.
"Son of a…"
"Pearl, it doesn't do any good to swear."
Pearl gave Trance a glare. "Now you're starting to sound like my mother."
"I'll take that as a compliment…"
Suddenly, one of the hangers from the meteor opened up. Then a voice echoed all around them from the com.
"Welcome to Omar'sha. We've been expecting you." Then the com was cut off.
"This is it." Pearl stated as they were pulled in.
"Um…what's the plan?" Trance suddenly asked.
Pearl turned away from the screen and got up from her seat. She then walked over towards Trance. She then placed her hand over her heart.
"Trance, I need you to be a temporary hostess for…"
"NO PEARL!" Trance suddenly yelled.
"What's your problem? The Ivory Core doesn't bite."
Trance seemed flustered all of a sudden; almost like she didn't know how to explain to Pearl why she would not take Ivory.
"It's just think that…Ivory will be better off with you." Trance explained.
Pearl raised her eye brow. "Trance, Ivory can't come with me."
And why can't I come? Ivory suddenly questioned.
Pearl sighed and placed her fingers to her temple and began to rub them.
"Look you two, we are about to enter enemy territory. You Trance are to stay here and place yourself in the engine room. That place holds a high quantity of OZ and should conceal you from scanners." Pearl stated.
"And as for you, Ivory, you are to stay with Trance."
No.
"No?"
That's right. Read my lips. If I had any…but that's not the point. The point is I will not leave you. Besides, Gerksand won't be able to know that I'm with you. Ivory firmly stated.
"And why is that?" Pearl questioned.
It is quite simple really. I am a part of you, whether you like it or not.
"Forgive me, but I don't like the sound of that." Pearl stated out loud.
It was then that they heard the sound of clampers as the Avenger had fully entered the hanger.
Pearl turned towards Trance, who was grinning to herself. If the Ivory Core could smirk it would have since Pearls resolve was already shaking.
"What did I do to disserve such stubborn…beings!" Pearl screeched as she stumped towards her seat to pick up Trojan.
With Trojan in her hand, Pearl walked up to Trance.
"Wipe that smile off your face. And also, be prepared to make a fast gateway when I return with the others." Pearl instructed.
Trance figured that already. So she decided to familiarize herself with the controls of the Avenger.
Pearl was about to head out of the command, but doubled back and stared straight at Trance.
"Also…be prepared to leave…with or without me." Pearl calmly stated.
Before she could get a reply from Trance, Pearl quickly walked out of command and headed for the doors.
From the corner of her eye, she saw Trance take one look towards her and then head towards engineering.
Pearl then shifted her gaze towards the door and with silence watched as it slowly opened to reveal the hanger deck.
A whole squadron of officers 'greeted' (if you can use that term) her with their rifles at the ready. They stared at Pearl and then towards the swirling blue/gold mist that was inside the sphere in hands.
"We are to escort you to the Commander." One of the men stated.
Pearl kept her features tight like a stone, hiding all emotions. She slowly stepped down the ramp and towards the guards.
"You are caring one forcelance. Hand it over." Another guard ordered.
Without hesitation, Pearl reached towards her forcelance and pulled it out. Before giving it to him, she pressed a small button on the hilt. It made no sound, or blinked. But what ever Pearl did, it was for a reason.
The guard took the forcelance and seemed to jump back away from Pearl. She had to keep a straight face so that she wouldn't smirk. They were afraid of her.
All of them, Pearl could see it in their eyes. No doubt Gerksand had stated not to underestimate her.
"Good, let them fear me. It makes things so much easier." Pearl stated to herself as she followed the guards out of the hanger.
Gone was Pearls fear and tension. In it place was a deep calm that surprised Pearl at first. But then she felt Ivory merge minds with her. It was then that she was thankful that Ivory pestered to stay with her.
"And so we enter…" Ivory began.
"…into the lions den." Pearl finished.
Her mission had begun…
AHA! Another chapter bites the dust! Next will real come soon. Hope you liked this chapter!
And now for a special thank to the following reviewers:
Lostlondi – (takes a bow) thank you thank you! Glad to hear that you are enjoying the story. Hope you liked this new installment. YAY! You saw the pictures! I'm so glad that you did. I posted a new pic, gives an idea on what Gerksand looks like. Creepy…lol. Well, I'm off to write the next chapter. Later!
Jade Rhade – I knew you changed your name at some point. Well personally, I like this one. The reason: 1) Jade – jades and emeralds are my favorite stones. 2) it's from your story which gives a curiosity as to what your story is about. And 3) which is obvious. It has RHADE in it! So don't change it again. :D
Now as for your questions:
"You talk too much!" is a variation from what Dylan said during the first episode of Season 1. It's when he's battling with Gaheris. Gaheris talks about something of '…you shall weep the whirlwind' (or something like that) and Dylan states that "you know what your problem is, Rhade? You talk too much."
And as for the man who told Pearlana what to do, that was just some random officer. I should have stated who though. I'll go change that. If you have any other questions, don't hesitate to ask. Catch later! And I hope you enjoyed the chapter!
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!