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"Hold.
Herein a vast journey lies
in the span of an instant."
― Seefra-One Chamber Inscription, Vedran
He was… aware. That was all he knew.
Then, he was aware of discomfort. A certain amount of pain. The coolness of whatever it was pressed against him ― or him against it? A metallic smell.
Then, a groan. And another one.
The sound of dragging. On a floor.
A voice, calling out… a name. His name. And other names. Urgent and familiar.
"…Captain. Dylan!"
More groans. Some of them coming from him.
He opened his eyes, needing a moment for the perpendicular world to come into focus.
It was the Andromeda's bridge… and it looked like it had been a warzone recently. Blown panels, smudges, hanging wires and hoses, rubble from damage to the ceiling and walls.
Beka Valentine was nearby, supporting herself with her elbows as she raised her head to look around. Blinking rapidly, she had the expression of someone who had just been stunned by an overly bright light… or a blow to the head.
Behind her, Rommie quickly sprung up to her feet, seemingly none the worse for wear. Confusion was written on her frowning face, though.
A hand planted on each side, Dylan Hunt began to rise up, but settled for sitting on the floor. Taking in his surroundings, he noticed a still partly prone Seamus Harper looking back at him, mouth open and questions written on his face.
Next to Harper, Trance Gemini looked apprehensive, even shocked. And she looked… different. Not the ginger woman in a dress whom he expected, but… red-haired, with a gold-tinted skin that sparkled. Odd, Dylan thought.
Hearing a shifting sound behind him, he turned to see Telemachus Rhade rising shakily, looking as if he had a headache. Dylan noticed that his hair was short. Another unexpected feature.
"Ooh-kay… will anyone tell me what the hell just happened?" Harper queried.
From a working screen, Andromeda spoke up. "Well, you all regained consciousness within seconds of each other, less than half a minute after I rebooted. To further compound the strangeness of the situation, I have no data available on how any of you got here," the ship's core AI said airily.
Trance breathed sharply. "Something's wrong," she exclaimed in distress. "This wasn't supposed to happen!"
"What is it, Trance?" Dylan asked, sensing trouble.
"I… don't know," Trance seemed… lost.
"She's right," Beka said, back on her feet and exploring the bridge. "Our Andromeda wasn't this damaged." And yet, she was looking around with a frown as if she wasn't entirely certain of that claim.
"Trance, why are you… you know…" Harper gesticulated at the woman in question.
"I don't know," she repeated. Extending her hands before her, turning them palm up then down, she considered herself with disbelief. "I… shouldn't be here. Not like this."
Rhade's eyes went all over the bridge, as if he could find an answer if he looked hard enough.
"Rhade and Trance look like they did before Seefra," Dylan mused.
"Seefra," Harper gasped, eyes wide. "We were…" he trailed off.
Beka stared ahead, seemingly at nothing in particular. "In the Route of Ages… right? We were dragging Trance's sun, and the Spirit of the Abyss, to… destroy it? But it all feels like…"
"A dream," Rhade finished her thought. "I remember things, moments… but it's all so… hazy," he squinted.
Dylan tried to recollect what had happened before he woke up in this place. But try as he might, all he had were fragments, feelings, impressions about places and people and stretches of time that all seemed to blend together. And the more he tried to make sense to it, the more he had the sensation that it was running away from him, that he had forgotten so much already. Indeed, like after a vivid dream.
"You think we just… imagined it all?" Beka said, shaking her head. "But how did we all dream the same thing, then?"
Harper wagged a finger, taking a few steps toward their ship's android avatar. "Hey, Rommie… you got anything? From Seefra?"
Blinking, she responded, "I do."
"You do?" Harper was flabbergasted. Clearly he hadn't expected that.
"Yes. But it's… fragmentary," she said. "A lot of our data is damaged, corrupted. There's a lot that I can't piece together, but there are some good records, at least."
Andromeda's holographic avatar materialized and took over where Rommie left off. "What's strange is that, when compared to the ship's internal clock, the Seefra files are dated to the future."
"What?!" Dylan exclaimed.
But Trance nodded, finally seeming to have gotten past her shock. "I don't think we went through to that system. It seems like just one possible but unrealized future."
"I thought you couldn't tell the difference?" Dylan countered.
"I'm here, Dylan. And I'm like… this," she indicated her own body. "Yet I know that I sacrificed myself. I should be… dead. And none of us should be here."
"So, we were here, and then we were in Seefra, right?" Harper said quickly, eyes darting between his various crewmates. To their nods, he continued, "Then we, err…" he frowned, jogging his memory, "we nailed the Abyss, and were supposed to exit the Route of Ages. Via slipstream. And we ended up… here," he splayed his hands.
"That would be accurate, assuming that those events truly happened" Holo-Andromeda nodded placidly.
"Andromeda, you said that the internal clock shows a different time," Rhade recalled. "What time is it? And where are we?"
"Current stardate is CY 10091, day 4. Functioning passive sensors show that we are in the Nirvana system."
"Nirvana system?! That's where the Arkology is," Rhade exclaimed.
"Correct. Star positions indicate that the internal time is correct, and that two weeks have passed since our battle with the Magog Worldship," Andromeda pointed out, far calmer than any of the others appeared to be, with the exception of Rommie.
"Err… are they still here? The Magog?" Harper asked, a certain amount of dread apparent in his voice.
"With the amount of damage to my systems, I can't be sure," Andromeda replied. "However, if they are still present within the system, they are not currently anywhere near us."
"Oh, thank god," Harper let out a breath.
"What about inside the ship?" Beka inquired. Harper's eyes darted to her, alert.
"I don't know," Andromeda responded. Suddenly, everyone shared worried looks with each other.
"But we're working on it," Rommie reassured them. "We're attempting to reroute from damaged systems, and should have access to the internal feeds shortly. Hopefully."
"Well, I'm ready to roll. I'll fix you up in no time," Harper offered.
"No need," Andromeda stated. "At least not right now. I've just re-established partial response from internal sensors, though I have little or no data from decks 10 through 23, 40 through 45 and 53 through 63. I can, however, tell you that we have intruders on board."
"Aw, hell," Harper held up his arms and let them drop with a thud.
"Great, waking up to a party" Beka quipped.
Rhade took out his force lance.
"So, who are our guests?" Dylan queried.
Looking upward, the hologram began, "Quite the variety of people. We have a squad of six Kalderans, currently engaged in a literal firefight with a power-suited Pyrian on Deck 9. A group of four Nietzscheans, Mandau Pride by their markings, are making their way through Deck 28. Two others from Drago-Kazov Pride are on Deck 50, currently exchanging fire with and retreating from nine Magog, one of whom is of the evolved variant. Three of their Pride brethren are dead."
"Oh, great," Harper commented.
"Reminds me of that time we had tesseracts all over the place," Beka recalled. "That's gotta be it." She shook her head, obviously not thrilled at the prospect.
"We don't see any sign of active tesseracting happening now, though," Rommie countered.
"There's more," Holo-Andromeda continued. "Ten Ogami are running through Deck 37, and may meet up with the group of four Genite stormtroopers who are headed in their general direction. There's a dead Inari and two dead baseline Humans in a depressurized area of Deck 47, and a Pyrian who apparently asphyxiated on Deck 8, thanks to having no protective gear for our atmosphere. There's also a lone, unarmed Perseid in the hydroponic garden. He seems very confused," Andromeda finished on a mildly concerned note.
Dylan sighed. "Would that be all of them?"
"Uncertain," Andromeda responded. "I have no way to know what is happening in the areas where I have no sensory input. There are likely to be more people there."
"Sounds like the nanobots are a no-go?" Harper asked, referring to the ship's additional method of surveilance.
"They are unresponsive," the AI confirmed.
"Do you see any sign of others from our crew?" Beka asked.
"Negative," Andromeda replied. Something flashed on Beka's face, a momentary burst of grief.
"Nobody?" Harper said quietly, his horrified glances going between Rommie and Andromeda's hologram.
Rommie shook her head. She seemed sad and sympathetic to their sorrow and disbelief.
"That's what I was afraid of," Dylan admitted dejectedly. "They were all dead by the time I reached the Route of Ages."
"Yes. Nothing could be done for them at that time," Trance confirmed, a haunted look in her eyes.
For several moments, a despondent quiet descended over the crew assembled in the Command Center.
Their Nietzschean crewmate broke the silence, voice steady and determined. "We'll have time to mourn them later. Right now, we have a ship to regain control of." He raised his force lance and tapped it for emphasis.
"Out of the fire, and into the frying pan we come," Beka remarked.
"Do you have internal defenses online?" Rhade asked their AI's hologram.
"No. I will need help with restoring them," she addressed Harper.
"You got it, hon! The Harper is on the way!" Seamus pointed both index fingers at the hologram. He seemed to be trying to get back into his element, though the still apparent grief made the cheer seem forced.
"Rommie," Dylan spoke, "You'll be with him. Get us internal defense, then see if you can reach all the remaining sensors," he instructed.
Rommie nodded.
"Oh, what about artificial gravity?" Beka inquired. "Would be nice to just have them kiss the floor."
"Unresponsive as well. We're stuck on the current settings for now," Andromeda said.
"Andromeda, seal off as many sections as you can. I want our 'guests' slowed down as much as possible," Dylan said.
"Already done," the core AI said from the nearby screen. The hologram, having looked her way, then just nodded to Dylan in confirmation.
"Our buddies all seem to have come separately from each other. So… we pick 'em off one by one?" Beka suggested.
"Well, don't shoot unless they're hostile," Dylan answered. "Though I'm guessing a lot of them will be. But yeah, one at a time. Best not split up unless they're getting near Harper and Rommie, or about to do something dangerous to the ship. Keep us posted on that, Andromeda."
"I will, Dylan."
"I suggest we start with the Mandau," Rhade proposed. "They're relatively close, and not busy with anyone else. Could become a problem."
"We'll do that," Dylan concurred. "Let's go, everyone."