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Peja's Wonderful World of Makebelieve Import
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2020-11-04
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1/1
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Third World

Summary:

(PG-13 HARPER FIC)
Submitted through the AndromedaAcendant] mailing list.

Notes:

(See the end of the work for notes.)

Work Text:

Third World
by new_age_craig

The sound of the alarm blasted through the corridors. Harper pulled himself out from underneath the generator and sat up, looking quite dazed.

"Rommie...." he said yawning, "Is this another drill, because I'm really busy right now"

For a second there was no answer and Harper felt a slight chill at the bottom of his spine. Although he always had too much pride to admit it, he secretly hated any signs of trouble, especially after the incident with the Magog.

"You'd better get up here Harper," came the reply, "We've entered some sort of temporal distortion but it's like nothing I've ever encountered before"

"Oh I can't wait to see what scary, life threatening adventure we're gonna get ourselves into this time" groaned Harper, slowly standing up.

He put down his tool and stood thinking to himself. The insomnia was starting to affect him now, with Harper finding every day a challenge. He had chosen not to take the injection Trance had suggested. The thought of another batch of foreign bodies inside of him was enough to make him quiver.

As he was about to leave the deck Harper noticed the laser gun on the bench next to him. It was almost screaming at Harper to pick it up. He studied it for a moment then proceeded to hook it to his pants.

"Just in case" he said to himself.

Harper had found himself being very paranoid lately, but he would never dream of saying anything, knowing all the unwanted attention it would get him; Trance keeping an eye on his every move, Tyr looking down on him as if he was nothing but a coward. Harper had a delicate ego that he would protect at all costs.

Walking with a slow pace along the corridor, Harper found himself thinking back to the times before he ever set foot on the Andromeda. Sure they were dangerous times aswell, but they were the lesser of two evils, yet he had never felt as if that was where he belonged. The past ten years Harper had moved around so much that he had found it difficult to settle anywhere. However, the Andromeda had become a place where he had been able to call home, despite being light-years away from the place they had been the day before. But hey, every day gave birth to a new adventure. And isn't that what life is all about?

All of a sudden there was an almighty bang, snapping Harper out of his daydream. The shockwaves caused were powerful enough to knock Harper straight off his feet. He hit the floor hard, and was certain he had heard his wrist break on impact.

"Dammit, arghh" Harper moaned, holding his wrist protectively.

Another bang roared through the ship. By now the alarm had stopped, Harper feared there were serious damages.

Everything had become blurry. Harper sat up trying to regain focus, when he was just in time to see a blue wave of energy sweep through the corridor, and pass right through him. There was an icy cold feeling before everything turned black.

***

Harper awoke to find his head throbbing with pain.

"Man, did I get laid out or what?" he said straining to sit up properly.

The light hurt his eyes, he figured he had been out a while. Looking around, Harper realised he was on the medi-deck. The bench felt soft and comforting. It suddenly came to Harper's attention that his wrist was completely healed.

"Trance" he said smiling to himself.

Harper found the energy to swing himself around and stand up. There was no sound of the alarm, and everything seemed normal; or at least as normal as things could be on the Andromeda.

Harper took a couple of steps forward when he found, to his absolute horror that he was within a force field.

"What the...is this someone's twisted idea of joke cause if it is I don't find it funny," Harper said, a serious tone in his voice. "Playing pranks is my job." He continued.

Harper began to notice that things had changed about the deck, certain things had been rearranged. He shrugged it off and just figured Trance had just got bored with the same old setting. She always had enjoyed a change in surroundings.

The sound of footsteps heading towards him caught Harper's attention.

"Finally," he said, "Maybe someone is gonna explain to me what's going on."

To Harper's great surprise, the purple pixie that he had once known and loved came walking around the corner, tail and all. Harper's cheesy smile faded and his jaw dropped.

"Trance?" said Harper, his heart beating heavy in his chest.

The mysterious beauty stopped and stared hard at Harper, a look of loathing and hatred in her eyes.....

 

PART 2

"W-what's going Trance?" stammered Harper.

Trance walked forward till she was standing just outside of the force field. She stared deep into Harper's eyes. Her face was as bright and beautiful as always, but her expression was menacing.

"You aren't fooling anyone." her voice was low and harsh.

Harper tried to speak but he couldn't find the words. Everything seemed surreal. It had crossed Harper's mind that he could be dreaming but the pain in his head ruled out that theory.

Finally he took a deep breath and spoke, "Trance......I don't know what's going on, there was this explosion and..."

"How dare you?" she interrupted. "Don't try and insult my intelligence with petty stories. You should have thought twice before setting foot on this ship."

Again, Harper was speechless. There was so much he wanted to say yet the words just wouldn't come out.

Trance turned around and left the room. It was clear that she was too angry and upset to go on.

A million thoughts rushed through Harper's mind at once. He was unable to make sense of it all. A joke this certainly was not. Everything was still a bit blurry. Harper laid back down on the bench; the comforting material greeted his back.

Before long, he fell asleep. The dreams were strange and unsettling. The sound of heavy footsteps awoke him. He didn't' even notice that he had appeared to overcome his insomnia. Harper springed up, ready to confront his shipmate.

Dylan Hunt, complete in highguard uniform, entered and stood before him. He looked somewhat taller and more muscular. The stern expression on his face intimidated Harper a little.

"Dylan, thank God, listen...I don't know what's going on here but something is seriously not right," started Harper.

Before he could say another word, Dylan cut in, "Who are you, and what are you doing aboard my ship?"

"I-it's me, Harper, don't you recognise me Dylan?" Harper's voice was shaky.

For a moment Dylan said nothing. He seemed to be studying Harper, as if he was a new species of alien.

"I recognise you." He replied.

Harper sighed with relief.

"But Seamus Harper died on this ship a year ago, now I'm gonna ask you one more time...who are you?"

Harpers stomach turned. He was unable to accept what he was hearing.

"Dylan...what are you talking about, I..didn't die, I am Harper, can't you see that?"

Dylan didn't speak, he just stared hard.

Rommie suddenly appeared beside Dylan. She looked the same as usual, smart and pretty. She was the first one to look at Harper as if he was a person.

"What's wrong?" Dylan asked.

"Well I have been scanning our intruder since we first found him. Everything checks out, blood group, tissue damage, brain patterns; every time he spoke I ran scans testing his pulse rate, sweat levels and pupil dialation. It seems that he is telling the truth. This really is Harper."

Dylan's expression changed. Harper felt such a relief. Dylan looked at Harper, who had a smug look on his face as if to say `I told you so'.

"Rommie open the force field," said Dylan.

Harper stepped out, still a bit unsure of what was going to happen.

"So....." started Dylan. "come with me, I wanna know everything."

***

Trance, Dylan, and Rommie surrounded Harper as he told his story in full detail. He almost didn't recognise hydroponics. It was a lot bigger and the view of the stars was much better. Everyone was sat down, very intrigued by what Harper had to say.

"....and then the next thing I know I wake up on the medi-deck and the old Trance is back."

"Old Trance?" asked Dylan curiously.

"Long story," he said. "Basically she swapped places with her future self, who was almost unrecognisable," he took a drink of his coffee. " Also she got her tail shot off ages ago."

Trance grabbed her tail and held it protectively.

"Rommie?" Dylan looked at her.

"What I....or your Andromeda entered was more than a temporal distortion. Only a few cases have ever been recorded but to put it simple, this distortion is like a rip in time and space. It sends out electrical charges which are able to transfer living matter into an alternate state. I am quite surprised your Andromeda didn't recognise that."

"Whoa whoa whoa!" Harper sounded nervous. "Are you telling me that I'm in like.........another dimension?"

"To put it simply, yes" Rommie replied.

All of this was too much for Harper to take in. His head still ached like hell, and he was trapped in another reality. This wasn't exactly in the bounds of every day occurrences.

"I...I think I need to lie down" he said.

"Good idea..." said Dylan. "Trance will take you to your quarters. You have a rest then we can figure out what to do from there."

"Come on." Trance said smiling. She took Harper by the hand and led him out to his quarters.

Harper noticed the interior of the ship was a lot different from the Andromeda he was used to. Everything was either a different colour or not in the normal place.

There was a sense of uneasiness between Trance and Harper. Harper was lost in his thoughts and was unsure how to act towards Trance, after all, this was a completely different reality, therefore wouldn't that make Trance a completely different person?

"I'm sorry," Trance broke the silence.

"Huh?" Harper was still miles away.

"What I said, I'm sorry, I didn't know..."

"Don't worry about it babe," Harper said smiling. "These things happen."

Trance stopped and raised an eyebrow. "Really? I'd love to hear about the last time you ended up in an alternate reality where you were accused of being an imposter."

They both smiled at each other. As far as Harper could see this was the same best friend he had always had. Trance noticed that he kept glancing at her tail and grinning. She said nothing.

When they finally reached Harper's quarters Trance hugged him.

"It's good to see you again." She said

Harper enjoyed the embrace, despite the fact that Trance's grip was strong and he could barley breathe.

Harper soon fell asleep again and found himself dreaming of Trance. He awoke several times due to the intensity of his dreams. He could feel his emotions for Trance were beginning to control him.

"Come on," he said to himself. "Get a grip."

Harper got up and sat on the edge of the bed. He took a big drink of water and wiped the perspiration from his forehead.

All of a sudden Rommie appeared before Harper.

"Jeez Rommie, tell me before you're gonna do that."

"Sorry. Could you please go down to the landing bay and check the Eureka Maru for errors? One of our crew members has just returned from an away mission and she's reported problems with the scanners."

"Yeah sure, I'm on it"

Rommie smiled.

"One thing though," said Harper.

"Yes?"

"Can you tell me where the landing bay is?"

***

Harper watched as the shutter opened, revealing a landing bay twice the size of the one on his Andromeda.

"Cool!" Harper scoped the landing bay with amazement. "The things I could build in here."

Harper began walking towards the Eureka Maru, which looked inferior in such a big area. Still impressed with his surroundings, he began to wonder what other surprises this ship had in store for him.

Before he could react, Harper felt a strong hand grab his shoulder, and then his legs gave way, sending him to the ground.

"Argh man that hurt"

Harper opened his eyes to see a tall beautiful woman stood over him. She was about six foot tall, black, well toned, and with long braided hair. The stranger offered her hand to Harper. Harper took it and pulled himself up.

"You need some work on your reflexes." said the woman. Her voice was soft and comforting.

"Hey babe, you can take me out anytime you want." Harper replied smiling. "Seamus Harper, sex god and genius." He said shaking her hand, before realising she was a nietzschean.

"Tyra, warrior nietzschean." The woman answered.

Harper didn't know what to say. For a second or two he was a bit stunned. "I-I'm, sorry, did you say Tyra?"

The woman nodded.

"Awesome!" said Harper laughing. "Oh I can't wait to see Beka and Rev."

A look of confusement spread across Tyra's face. "Beka and Rev? Who are they?"

 

 

PART 3

Harper listened carefully as Trance talked. Every word seemed to be a struggle, as if it hurt her to talk about it.

"We worked with Beka Valentine for three years. In that time she became like a sister to us. But there was thisone time, while we were dropping off some cargo, a Magog ship surprised us. They invaded our ship and said if we didn't give them our fuel....they would rip us apart. We were co-operating when Beka pulled out her laser gun. She wasn't fast enough. They made us watch while they beat her to within an inch of her life. Then they just left; pleased with what they had done," a tear rolled down Trance's cheek.

Harper put his hand on her shoulder, "I'm sorry."

Trance sat up, trying to get a hold of her self. "My Harper did everything he could, but it was too late. Beka told us to take the ship and leave. Not long after she......she died. We took her body down to the planet surface and buried it. It wasn't long after that we came across the Andromeda. Tyra and her crew had found it first but were apprehended by Dylan. The rest is history."

Harper sat quietly, still absorbing the information.

"So who was this Rev you mentioned?" Trance changed the subject.

"Rev Bem," smiled Harper. "He was a great man. Almost as great as me. He would have been a big help to your crew. I mean for a Magog he was..."

"You befriended a Magog?" interrupted Tyra, as she walked through the door. "Are you insane?"

"Hey!" said Harper standing up. "Rev is a good man. All he wanted was peace, he wasn't like the others."

"Ha! There is about as much chance of finding as peaceful Magog as..."

"As there is of finding a Nietzschean aboard a ship that's trying to rebuild the commonwealth?" snapped Trance.

Tyra scowled at Trance before turning her attention to Harper. "Dylan wants to see you. Apparently there are some Tazoans coming aboard and he requires your presence."

Tyra stood for a second watching Trance, as if she was expecting her to speak. She then turned and left the room.

Harper looked at Trance who shrugged it off.

"I guess we better get up to the bridge. I think you'll like the Tazoans." Said Trance getting up.

"Sounds like fun... but one thing, first," Harper grabbed Trance's hand. "Tell me.......what happened to your Harper?" Suddenly Harper wished he hadn't said anything, as Trance's seemed to freeze up.

She took a deep breath. "There was a problem with one of the monitors in engineering," she began. "Harper w.....he went down to fix it and..."

Harper listened with anticipation.

"and it exploded, it killed him instantly." Trance continued.

Harper was about to say something but Trance didn't give him the chance, "Come on we better not keep Dylan waiting." She said, her tail swinging provocatively as she left the room.

Harper suddenly felt thankful for the reality he had been living. Nothing could have prepared him for what had happened, and for what lay ahead of him.

***

Harper was amazed at the bridge, again the size astounded him, and it looked so much more advanced than his Andromeda.

"This is so cool." He said looking around him.

"Why thank you." Smiled Rommie.

As he checked everything out something suddenly came to Harper's attention. "How do you manage a ship like this with only three people?"

Rommie cut him a sharp look.

"And an incredibly gorgeous, smart AI of course." He backed himself up.

Dylan stood up laughing, "Well you said it. Andromeda is very smart. I'd dare say her and myself could manage this ship by ourselves if we had to."

"And I dare say if it wasn't for me you, Trance, and Andromeda wouldn't even be here." Tyra said harshly.

"Wow Tyra," Harper scratched his head. "It seems I can't escape your egotistical wrath even in another reality."

Trance giggled, yet Tyra was not amused.

"Dylan, the Tazoans are about to board." Rommie announced.

"Excellent. Come on guys, lets give them a warm welcome." Dylan said as he motioned to the crew.

"Aren't we forgetting something?" Harper said.

Everyone looked at him in confusement.

"Well in case you didn't noticed I don't belong here, and I'd really like to know how I'm gonna get back."

"I'm working on it," Rommie replied. "But you've got to give me a bit of time, this is a complicated matter which I have never dealt with before."

"But you can get me back, right?" questioned Harper.

Rommie looked him straight in the eyes, "I can't guarantee it."

Dylan found himself filled with sorrow, as he thought about what this could mean for Harper. "We'll do everything we can," he said calmly. "I promise you if there's a way of getting you back, we'll find it."

He patted him gently on the back then left the bridge, Tyra and Trance following closely behind. Harper realized there was little he could do, so he decided to just go along with the situation; for now anyway.

Dylan walked into the landing bay, smiling cheerfully. "With these guys on our side, our chances of rebuilding the commonwealth will increase greatly."

"You know your problem Dylan, you are far too trusting." Said Tyra, unconvinced that things would work as smoothly as Dylan hoped.

The crew walked towards the entrance, each with their own anxiety of how the meeting would turn out.

Dylan, Harper, Rommie, Tyra, and Trance stood patiently as the deck doors began to open. To their great surprise it was not the Tazoans, which stood before them, but six nietzscheans, heavily armed.

They charged forward, the leader knocking Dylan off his feet with a forcelance. The rest of the Andromeda crew went for cover as the Nietzscheans began firing.

Harper dragged Trance behind a crate, just in time, as energy beams blasted off the walls beside them. The noise was deafening, and sparks bounced off every sold structure.

"What are we gonna do!?" panicked Trance.

Harper unhooked the laser gun from his pants and held it tightly at his chest. "Don't move." He ordered.

Harper peered around the corner several times before finally making a run for it, shooting with perfect aim. He hit two of the intruders before diving safely behind another crate.

The other four nietzscheans were not in site, yet their shots could be clearly heard. Dylan lay motionless on the floor. From such a distance Harper was unable to tell whether or not he was still alive. He motioned to Trance, for her to run across to him. As she was about to make a run for it, a large Nietzschean woman appeared behind her. Harper didn't have time to warn her, but quick thinking allowed him to let off a clean shot, instantly taking the Nietzschean down.

Trance quickly got up and ran over to Harper, miming a thank you as she seated herself next to him.

"Dammit I gotta get to Dylan," he said, looking in all directions.

Forcelance blasts could still be heard from the other side of the landing bay. Harper sat for a second, considering his options. After a blast narrowly missed his head, Trance leaped up and ran back over to the other crate, obviously with a plan in mind.

"You gotta be kidding me" Harper said gritting his teeth.

Trance ran over to the Nietzschean that had been incapacitated by Harper. She picked up the forcelance and studied it for a second, before giving Harper an informative glance, and running over to Dylan's motionless body.

Harper let out a quick sigh before following Trance to cover her back. As soon as he came out from behind the crate, a powerful blast hit him on the shoulder, sending him to the ground. Pain shot through his body, and for a moment Harper feared that he had been paralyzed.

Trance looked up, a blank expression on her face. With precise timing she turned around and fired the forcelance, taking out the Nietzschean who was about to take her out. She smiled, extremely satisfied with her work.

Harper moaned with pain, as he covered the wound in an attempt to stop the blood. A struggle could be heard before the firing finally stopped. Tyra re-appeared, dragging one of the

Nietzschean intruders behind her. She let go off the body once realizing the carnage before her.

"Is he alive?" she asked Trance sternly.

"Yeah I think he'll be ok, but I'm gonna have to get him to the medi deck."

"Okay, how about you Harper?" Tyra asked him. "That wound looks bad."

Harper sat up and examined the wound. His white T-shirt was soaked with blood. "Just a scratch." He said.

Tyra cracked half a smile. Trance was still checking out Dylan.

"Rommie what the hell just happened?" asked Harper.

"Well the ship is that of the Tazoans. The Nietzcheans must have taken over it in order to get themselves aboard. We've been in an ongoing battle with the nietzscheans for a long time. They are continuously trying to destroy us, in fear that we will succeed in rebuilding the commonwealth."

"Why didn't you stop them? And why didn't the forcelance defense systems go off when Trance grabbed it," Harper asked, sounding quite dazed.

Rommie didn't seem to understand the question.

"Of course," Harper said realizing his mistake. "Alternate reality yada yada yada. Anyway I think we better get to the medi deck."

Trance nodded in agreement.

"Okay, I better contact the Tazoans and............uh oh!" Rommie exclaimed.

"uh oh?" Tyra began walking towards Rommie.

"Five Nietzschean ships have just uncloaked. They're weapons are powered and they are closing in on us, fast."

There was an eerie feeling in the atmosphere, as Harper sat staring at Dylan's unconscious body.

 

PART 4

Harper pulled himself up, his wound still bleeding. For some strange reason he felt as if it was his job to take charge of the situation.

"Trance, I'll help you get Dylan to medi deck then I need you to check him out. Do whatever is neccasary. Tyra, you get up to the bridge and help Rommie."

Normally Tyra hated taking orders but even she was feeling intimidated by the situation.

"There's something else," said Rommie, causing further panic.

"You mean things could actually be any worse?" Harper said staring at Rommie.

"You only took out five of the Nietzscheans, there were six."

"So where's the other one?" Trance asked, her heart pounding in her chest.

"My scanners detect that he's heading for engineering. Most likely to take out the generator."

"A suicide mission! So are you gonna stop him or what?" Harper was getting impatient. "I...can't. He's attached a special anti-interference device to himself that prevents any AI from harming him physically."

Harper's jaw dropped. "Could this day suck any more? Okay okay, Trance do you think you could get Dylan to the medi deck by yourself?"

Trance looked at Harper trying to comprehend what had just said. "Errrr.........I guess I could try."

"As if I didn't have to save everyone's ass enough in my own reality." Harper said as he walked out of the landing bay, the laser gun firmly in his hand.

Tyra helped Trance pick up Dylan and lean him against her shoulder, with Trance's knees almost giving way to the weight.

"You sure you don't need a hand?" asked Tyra.

"Nope," said Trance struggling to hold Dylan up, "You just get to the bridge and help Rommie. I'll be fine."

Just then a blast hit the ship, causing strong vibrations.

"I need you up here now Tyra" said Rommie's voice.

Tyra quickly left the landing bay and headed to the bridge.

The Nietzschean ships had surrounded the Andromeda and were continuously firing shots. Rommie knew her shields would not hold for much longer.

Harper slowly stepped out of the lift, his eyes darting everywhere. Engineering was right ahead, and he could hear the sound of footsteps on the metal flooring.

He cautiously entered the generator room but there was no one in site. The area was unfamiliar to Harper; it was so much different than the engineering deck he was used to. Again the size was a factor, as well as panels that he did not recognize. Harper's palms were sweaty and he was a bit nervous. Nietzscheans weren't the kind of species he'd want to have a picnic with on a warm summer's day.

The size of the generator made Harper look small and insignificant. It hummed loudly, drowning out Harper's heavy breathing. Suddenly a noise echoed from behind the generator, it was as if something heavy had been dropped.

Harper slid up against the machinery, his back straight, and his gun ready at his side. He counted to three under his breath, then turned the corner, the laser gun pointing directly ahead of him.

"Oh crap." He said turning round just in time to see the Nietzschean fist collide with his face.

The punch sent Harper staggering backwards, but somehow he managed to stop himself from falling.

Harper and the Nietzschean both aimed their weapons at each other. The nietzschean was a male, quite tall and equipped with armour, yet he wasn't as muscular as the others.

"Drop your weapon." The intruder demanded.

"okay," Harper shrugged. "Just give me a second to make sure hell has frozen over."

"Do you know what we do to cocky humans who challenge our authority?" growled the Nietzschean.

"I'm guessing it ain't tea and biscuits." Replied Harper.

An expression of anger spread across the Nietzschean's face. "You know that all I need to do is get a few shots on the generator and we're all blown to pieces."

Harper pretended to be taking in what the Nietzschean had said. "Okay then how about this. We both put our weapons down at the same time, then we fight bare handed. One on one. You win then the generators all yours."

"You honestly think you can take me?" laughed the Nietzschean.

Harper raised and eyebrow and smiled.

"Oh I'm going to enjoy this."

Both Harper and the Nietzschean bent down slowly, placing their weapons on the ground. As they stood up, the Nietzschean pulled out a knife that had been strapped to his ankle and lunged forward. Harper just managed to dodge out of the way, and dive to the ground. The Nietzschean stumbled into the metal railings as Harper grabbed the laser gun and fired a shot. Somehow he missed, and blasted the metal structure, producing many sparks which, for a second, seemed to blind the Nietzschean.

Before Harper could fire another shot, his attacker threw himself on top of Harper, knocking Harper's gun out of his hand andattempting to force the blade into his throat.

***

"Launching torpedo's." Said Tyra as she watched two Nietzschean ships on an intercept course with the Andromeda.

Four torpedos were launched, all of which collided with one of the ships, instantly destroying it. The second ship maneuvered its way through the debris and let off a few shots at the Andromeda. The ship shook from the impact.

The remaining four ships were well built and had managed to dodge previous firing. They moved around the Andromeda in elliptical patterns in an attempt to make it harder to get a precise shot. The ships were one third the size of the Andromeda yet were impressively armored.

"Shield's aren't going to hold much longer." Rommie said, panicking slightly.

"We aren't backing down yet," Declared Tyra. "Proceed to launch X-966 bombs."

Rommie was shocked by Tyra's request. She looked into Tyra's eyes, as if trying to figure out whether or not she was serious. Another blast shook the ship, this time it was a lot harder.

"Well!?" said Tyra impatiently.

"Tyra, we only have four of them, and they are for extreme circumstances only."

"What do you call this? A walk in the park?"

"We can go to slipstream and..."

"Those are class 9 Nietzschean destroyer's, it wouldn't be too difficult for them to follow us. The fact that they have been sent to destroy us proves that their alliance is getting desperate. Believe me if we destroy these now it's gonna save us a lot of trouble in the future. It may even save our lives."

***

Harper struggled to stop the Nietzschean from slitting his throat. He had both hands on his attacker's wrist, but the Nietzschean was a lot stronger than Harper.

"Foolish human," laughed the warrior. "If I wasn;t going to destroy this ship and everything in it, I would hang you on my wall."

Harper was getting weaker. The loss of blood had dazed him a bit, and the Nietzscheans strength was hard to compete with. Out of the corner of his eye, Harper saw the perfect oppurtunity.

With all the strength he had left Harper lifted his leg and kicked the pipe on his left. The pipe burst, letting out boiling hot steam straight onto the Nietzschean's body.

The Nietzschean screamed with pain, and pushed himself backwards, landing hard on the ground.

"Owch, dammit!" Harper shook his hand, which had come into contact with the steam. The leaking pipe was all that separated Harper and the intruder.

"Now you're about to see what happens when you mess with the cocky short ass." Said Harper picking up his gun.

The Nietzschean, however, had stopped moving. Harper slowly began walking backwards, before making his way round to the other side of the huge generator. He could have sworn that he had heard a moan, and so proceeded with cautions. His hand was red and blistered and stung with pain. Harper knew he needed to get his wounds checked out fast.

Harper crept around the corner, read to fire. The Nietzschean lay motionless on the floor. Harper wasn't convinced. The steam hissed loudly as it escaped from the damaged pipe. Harper let off a shot about ten centimeter's away from the Nietzschean's arm, but nothing happened.

As he move a bit closer the Nietzschean swung his legs round, knocking Harper to the ground. The gun flew across the floor. The Nietzschean propelled himslef of the ground, placing a hand on the gun. Harper saw what was happening, and with a burst of energy, jumped on top of his opponent.

The two men wrestled on the ground attempting to gain control of the weapon. A few accidental shots were let off, hitting the generator but causing no damage. Harper and the Nietzschean groaned as they struggled with each other. They were careful not to come into contact with the steam but the ground was hard and unforgiving. Another shot was let off, yet this time both men stopped. The gun dropped, and Harper stared at his blood soaked hands.

***

"Preparing to launch X-966 bombs." Said Rommie.

Tyra left her panel to view the monitors. A smile spread across her face. "They are all well within range." She said.

"There's still time to change your mind Tyra. You know if we're careful enough I'm sure I could take the remaining ships out with torpedo's."

"Frankly it's a risk I'm not willing to take. I have come too far and been through too much to let the miscalculation's of an AI be the death of me."

"I resent that." Rommie said quietly.

One of the Nietzschean ships suddenly shot a torpedo, almost damaging Andromeda's shields completely.

"Okay that was a bad one, if we are gonna do this it's gonna have to be now." Stated Rommie.

"Then what are you waiting for?" Tyra said shaking her head.

"Hold on to something." Rommie said as she released one of the bombs.

It got so far out then suddenly exploded, sending massive shockwaves, which destroyed everything they hit. The Nietzschean ships were practically melted by the explosion, with absolutley nothing being left of them.

Tyra smiled, "Ahh the sweet smell of victory."

"I wouldn't get too exited yet," warned Rommie. "one of the ships had locked onto me and cloaked."

"Where is it now?"

"I don't know. My sensors aren't detecting it anymore."

Tyra seemed to be thinking hard. "Is it possible to..."

She was cut off as the Nietzschean ship fired, the blast causing the monitor to blow up. Tyra was sent flying into the air; she hit one of the control panels before landing on the floor, her head bleeding heavily.

***

"Oh my God, Harper!" Trance exclaimed as Harper nearly collapsed on the medi deck floor.

Trance ran over to check him out. "I'll be okay," said Harper. "I can't believe I finally got to kick some Nietzschean ass."

Trance helped him onto the bench where she proceeded to run scanners over him.

"Hmmm....that shoulder wound is pretty bad and you've got two broken ribs, but you're a fixer upper."

Harper faked a smile. He was in so much pain but, again, had too much pride to let on.

"How's Dylan?" he asked.

Trance suddenly stopped, a blank look appeared on her face.

"Trance? What's wrong? Is he okay?" Harper strained to sit up.

Trance sighed and looked Harper directly in the eyes. "He's dead Seamus."

Harper was stunned. His stomach churned and he suddenly felt as if the whole universe had just ended. "Trance I...I'm sorry, oh man this is just too much."

Trance put down her scanner and began stroking Harper's face. "Everything will work out fine, I promise."

Harper lay back, the days events swimming in his head. This may not have been his reality but Dylan was still Dylan, and the fact that he was dead hurt, bad. He had completely forgotten about the situation with the Nietzschean ships. The next thing Harper knew, he had fallen asleep and then awoke to see Trance talking to Rommie. By the time everything was back into focus Rommie had gone.

"What's going on?" he asked.

Trance walked over to the bench. "I just asked Rommie to give us some privacy." She smiled.

"Privacy?"

"I just wanted some time to talk to you. After all, you are almsot identical to my husband, except maybe a bit skinnier."

Harper was getting to used to surprises, but still had to stop himself from letting his jaw drop. "You mean, you and...me...errr...your Harper were...?"

Trance nodded. "I was under the impression that you and your Trance were also married."

"I wish." Muttered Harper.

Trance took Harper's hand. "You're worried aren't you?"

Harper made a face, "Me? Worried? Of course not"

Trance stared at him, a serious look on her face.

"Okay, yeah. I'm worried I'm not gonna get back home."

Trance said nothing, she just squeezed his hand even tighter.

"Hey, speaking of home, where are you actually from? My Trance is always so secretive, I don't get it. What could she have to hide?"

"Isn't the universe a more exiting place when there's a bit of mystery?" Trance smiled.

"Oh come on," moaned Harper, "at least tell me the name of your planet."

With that Trance's smile faded and she grabbed Harper by the throat, throwing him off the bench, straight into the wall.

"Earth." She said grabbing one of the surgical knives.

 

PART 5

Harper swallowed hard, his back firmly up against the wall. Trance had a menacing smile on her face, and gripped the knife tightly.

"Trance, I don't understand, why?" Harper said, a shaky tone in his voice.

Trance stopped about 2 meter's away from Harper. "You know, my Harper was just as curious as you. I wish I could have seen his face when I told him the truth, but hey, I suppose watching a monitor blow up in his face was the next best thing."

Something suddenly hit Harper. "You killed him?"

"Ah you're catching on," smiled Trance. "Dylan was already unconscious so he wasn't much of a challenge, but hey, it was still fun."

Harper wanted to be sick. This was worse than any nightmare he had ever had. "But...why?"

For a second Trance just looked at him, as if trying to figure out whether or not she should say anything.

She sat down on the edge of one of the benches. "It's been hard keeping up this act for six years. But I had to do it. My life, millions of lives depended on it."

Harper was confused, and the wound in his shoulder was hurting so badly now, it was becoming hard for him to concentrate. "Trance I still don't..."

"We have been hidden for thousands of years on a planet in the Fzanxe system. Seven hundred years from now my species will come out of hiding and become allies with the Magog. We will invade earth by the millions, and eventually turn on the Magog, defeating them. All humans will be erased and earth will be claimed as our own planet."

Harper twisted his face, "How could you possibly know all of this?"

Trance laughed, "Because, babe, I will be born nine hundred years from now. About 50 years after that the restored commonwealth will launch an attack, many of our people will be lost."

Harper was beginning to see things a little more clearly, "So you're... from the future?"

"First prize to Seamus Harper." Trance said sarcastically.

Harper noticed a laser gun lying on the floor about six feet away from him. "Then why did you come here? What was the point?"

Trance looked angry, "Haven't you figured it out by now? I was sent back in time to make sure the commonwealth was not restored. And the fact is, it was because of our Harper that the commonwealth became active again."

Harper almost wanted to smile but restrained himself, "You mean...I save the universe? Well that figures. But why didn't you just kill your Harper the very first time you saw him, surely that would have been the intelligent thing to do."

"Cause and effect Harper. I had to make sure certain events happen before I could do anything. And that includes waiting for you to show up."

"You knew I was coming?"

"I know everything which happens within the next nine hundred and fifty years." Said Trance as she got up, and started walking towards Harper. "Sorry Harper, but I have to do this. It's for my people."

"One thing first." Harper said putting his hand out.

Trance stopped.

"If you know everything that's gonna happen for the next nine hundred and fifty years then tell me, why didn't you see this coming?"

With a burst of energy Harper jumped forward and grabbed the laser gun, and quickly turned around, pointing the gun at Trance's head. "You gonna put that knife down or am I gonna have to shoot you?"

Trance laughed, "Harper Harper Harper. Think about this. Even if you kill me and get home, what about your Trance?"

"Huh?"

"Well, although these are alternate realities, the same things generally apply. For example, the reason Tyra is a female here is just because of a change when her parent's gametes fused. So what makes you think your Trance is gonna be any different than me. She'll have still had to come from the same planet."

Harper realized Trance could be right, yet he could not accept that his Trance had been a mercanary all along. "It's over Trance."

"Oh is it? What do you think Rommie is gonna do when she sees this? We are in privacy mode. Remember?"

With that Trance knocked Harper's gun out of his hand with her tail, then grabbed Harper, the knife about a centimeter from his throat. She kissed him on the cheek, "Bye Harper."

All of a sudden there was gun fire, and Trance dropped to the floor. Rommie stood at the doorway, a forcelance in her hands.

"Hey babe, nice timing, but what happened to privacy mode? I always knew you were a little eavesdropper."

"Actually I never eavesdrop." Rommie proclaimed. "As it happens I thought Trance's behavior was a little odd lately and I just wanted to keep an eye on her."

"So you heard everything?"

"Yeah. I'm actually very surprised that I was not able to detect that she was lying. She's had us fooled all this time." Rommie sounded sad.

***

Trance lay motionless within the cell.

"So what are you going to do with her?" asked Harper.

"I'm not sure. Either way she can never be set free."

Harper nodded with agreement. "So what happened with those ships?"

"I took most of them out but one got away and......."

"And what?"

"It's Tyra...the ship caused a power surge in one of my control panels. There was nothing I could do."

Harper already knew what Rommie meant but couldn't admit it to himself, "Are you saying she's...?"

Rommie said nothing. Harper slumped against the wall, his face buried in his hands.

"I can't....I can't deal with this. I wish Rev Bem was here. He'd probably tell me that this was some sort of test from the divine. But still, he was a good friend."

Rommie kneeled down to Harper's level. "I know this is hard but you have to say strong. Besides, I think I can get you home."

Harper looked up, a tear rolling down his cheek. "How?"

His wound had been bandaged up and wasn't as painful anymore.

"Well, it's a long shot, but I'm going to slipstream to the nearest temporal distortion. When I scanned you for the first time your body was still charged after the energy wave hit you. If I can somehow get the distortion to come into contact with me without causing any damage, I can duplicate the charge and send it through your body. This should create a rip which can transfer your matter back to it's original state in time and space."

Harper pondered the idea. "What are the chances of it working?"

Rommie was reluctant but Harper deserved the truth. "About 1 in 10".

"I'll do it." Said Harper without any hesitation.

"But Harper there is a risk that you might..."

"I'll do it."

***

Tyra's body lay on the bridge floor, covered with a sheet. Harper tried his best not to look at it.

"What are you gonna do if you manage to get me back home? With Dylan and Tyra gone, and Trance....well you'll be on your own. Wait a second. Doesn't this mean that Trance has won? If the commonwealth isn't restored then..."

"Harper think about this rationally. This isn't your problem. If you hadn't of came here then Trance still would have killed Dylan and Tyra. Besides, there are still many planets which have decided to help us. I could go to one of them and maybe be of some use there. There is still hope."

"Yeah I guess." Said Harper sitting in Dylan's chair.

"You ready?"

"Readier than I'll ever be. Transiting to slipstream."

Harper found that this Andromeda was a lot harder to steer through slipstream, and a hell of a lot bumpier. The journey took about 15 seconds. Harper was anxious about what would happen with the commonwealth after all of this, but he realized that Rommie was right, and there was nothing he could do to change anything. At least not in this reality.

"Exiting slipstream now."

There were no planets in sight, but the distortion was clearly visible. The colors were amazing, even Harper admired them.

"Harper one of the Nietzschean ships have followed us."

"How'd they do that? Dammit, just launch everything you've got at them."

"I have a better idea." Said Rommie.

Andromeda began heading towards the distortion, the Nietzschean ship right on her tail.

"Rommie surely you're not thinking of flying into that thing?"

Rommie said nothing.

"Okay maybe you are, but isn't it a tad dangerous?"

"That ship has class E lasers, it wouldn't take much for it to destroy me, especially after the damage I took off the other ships."

Harper sat back down. "Maybe I should have been a postman. Yeah a postman, that would have been much less dangerous."

"They're charging their weapons. Hold on to something Harper, we're about to enter the distortion."

Harper gripped the seat tightly. Andromeda flew into the temporal mass, shaking violently upon entering.

"Is this supposed to be happening?" asked Harper

The Nietzschean ship stopped just outside of the distortion. The Andromeda was only shaking mildly now, and all that could be seen was a mass of colors and energy clouds.

"Okay Harper, when the distortion hits me with an energy wave, I'm gonna immediately duplicate the charge that brought you here. You won't have time to prepare, so just be ready."

"Got ya." Said Harper standing up again.

"I don't think so." Said Trance as she entered the bridge, a laser gun pointing at Harper.

"How did you get outta that cell?" Harper was shocked.

"I have my ways." She smiled.

Rommie began walking towards Trance, "Put the weapon down Trance or I'm going to have to kill you."

"Oh okay sure, after all this time I'll just give up right here right now." Her expression changed and she fired a shot at Rommie.

Rommie dived out of the way. Trance then turned her attention to Harper and began firing. Harper ran behind one of the panels.

"Please Trance, you still have a chance to stop this." Said Harper, sweat teaming down his forehead.

Trance ignored him and kept firing. Harper noticed his laser gun was gone. Tyra's body lay about three feet from him.

Sparks flew everywhere as Trance fired in all directions. Rommie was hid behind another panel at the other end of the bridge.

Harper laid himself flat on the floor and crawled towards Tyra's body. He lifted up part of the sheet to find a laser gun was hooked to Tyra's leather pants.

"Thanks Tyra." He said grabbing it.

Harper slid back towards the panel. Trance begun to make her way round to Harper's position, unaware that he was armed.

"This is it Harper," she said. "You always wanted to die like a hero. Well now you get the second best thing."

At that moment Harper jumped from behind the panel and fired a shot at Trance. The distortion sent an energy wave through the ship. Just before Harper hit the ground he felt a strong sensation through his body.

Harper awoke to see that he was in the corridor where the first wave had hit him. The gun was still in his hand and his bandaged shoulder was still bloodstained. Harper sat up and looked around.

"She did it. I don't believe it. She did it." He lay back down and began laughing to himself. "Thank you Rommie!"

"Harper what are you doing?" asked Trance standing over him.

Harper looked up to see the golden Trance he had just begun to get used to. "Man am I glad to see you." He said standing up.

Trance looked confused. "Are you okay? We've been looking all over for you, we thought you'd been kidnapped or something."

"I am fine now." He said hugging her.

Trance returned the hug, her embrace was strong. Harper then remembered the things that the other Trance had told him.

If Trance was evil in one dimension, then in the other, she'd be basically the same, with only a few differences in her past and self.

"Trance?" he said still holding her.

"Yeah Harper."

"Why are you always so secretive about things. How much harm could it do to just tell us where you are from?"

For a moment Trance said nothing. "I could tell you," she then laughed. "But I'd have to kill you."

THE END

Notes:

This orphaned work was originally on Pejas WWOMB posted by author new_age_craig.
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