[Hawkeye]

Hmmm. Im gonna post this here story because i came up with the idea a while ago and it wouldnt go away. However, (and i realise i say this with everything i post) im not all that happy with it. I haven’t actually seen any episodes with golden trance, so i apologise if her character is a little (or a lot) off. I think this is the first story ive posted here, so feedback welcome, but pleases be gentle!

Title: The Future Past
Author: Hawkeye
Rating: uuuh PG-13 I guess?
Summary: Trance-centric. anything else would just give it away!
Disclaimer: I don’t own Andromeda or the Characters, but I DO own the rest of the crap in this story


The world in front of them grew slowly as Beka guided the Andromeda gently into an orbit. Trance was stood in front of the view screens, smiling at the green-blue forest world. Harper wandered in and stood for a second, sharing the view.
“So why are we here again?”
Andromeda’s hologram flickered to life and glared at him.
“As you well know, we’re in bad need of supplies and parts for the slipstream core.”
Harper nodded. “So why are we here?”
Rommie spitted him with a glare. “Garundi is technologically advanced, and has the parts we need.”
“But….”
“But, they prefer to rely on natural products and biotechnology.”
Trance turned from the screen and smiled at the hologram. “Which means I can pick up some new plants and read up on the Garundi’s newest biotechnology.”
Harper grimaced. “Personally, I wouldn’t trust a plant to do a machine’s job, but so long as my Golden Goddess is happy, I’m happy.”
Trance smiled sweetly and turned back to the screen.

A throat being cleared caught their attention. Dylan nodded towards the screen and spoke. “The Garundi people have an inbuilt dislike and distrust of anything mechanical. While they aren’t above using them if there’s no other option, they take an instant dislike to anyone carrying ‘unnatural’ objects.”
Tyr glared at him. “How are we planning on reaching the surface then? The last time I looked, the Maru was decidedly… ‘un-natural’.”
“They will send us up one of their transports to use. But we will abide by their rules and won’t be carrying gauze rifles. Knives are acceptable however.”
Tyr nodded and left, presumably to put together a collection of weapons for the trip.

Moments later, Beka looked over from the pilot’s station. “We’re in a stable orbit and the Garundi central government has sent us a welcome. I think they want to talk to us about the charter.”
Dylan nodded. “Tyr and I will meet with the government, Beka, you and Trance will go meet with the head of their biotechnology and horticultural section.”
Beka made a face. “I have to go planet side? With all the…weather…and the dirt?”

Trance glared back at the blonde woman. “I’ll meet you in the transport as soon as it arrives.” She turned to the short human standing next to her. “What are you going to be doing Harper?”

“Oh, Tyr’s been on at me for a while about upgrading the fire control systems. I’ll start on that.”

Just over half an hour later, the transport from Garundi touched down in the Andromeda’s hanger. The Garundi pilots refused to exit the ship, but were cordial enough once the four crew-members had boarded and they launched again.

Minutes later, they landed in a small clearing just outside the planets capitol city. Most of Garundi was covered in dense forests, with just a few clearings where large communities gathered and lived. Evolution had forced them to adopt certain advances, but throughout their evolution they had managed to shun mechanical devices. They had all of the facilities that any other planet had, but while someone else would use excavators to dig a hole, the Garundi would use bio-engineered life forms that ate the soil and excreted it as something useful to them.
Dylan looked around in wonder as they walked down one of the main streets. As Rommie had explained to them, the buildings weren’t built on this planet, they were grown. Few of them stretched to over 3 stories, but many were extremely broad, grey-green in colour, with smooth walls and flat roofs. They all had plants growing on the roofs, camouflaging them when viewed from space or from a fly-over.

Shortly after they entered the main city, they were met by an entourage. The Garundi people were tall, a little over 7 feet with slim bodies that belied their natural strength. They wore simple tunics for the most part, except the guards who kept long swords at their hips or the politicians who wore strange robes that indicated their importance. Most of the people carried knives of some sort, whether long or short. Rommie had explained that the physiology of the people gave them tremendous strength, especially in their hands.

After a short discussion, Dylan and Tyr went one way with a small group to discuss the possibilities of supplies and entry to the rebuilt commonwealth. Apparently all the technology that ended up on planet was located in a small dump well outside the city, where few people were inclined to go. They ended up in a large building near the centre of the city where they were met by two Garundi wearing ornate headdresses. They were assured that these two were members of the local government, in charge of storing off-world technologies.

Trance and Beka met with the horticultural specialists who excitedly spoke to Trance about their technology and techniques. While the two wandered about, Trance in a kind of daze as she walked among the beautiful plants, Beka tried to keep her distance. She walked down the centre of the walkways, as far from the dirt as she could.
Finally, Trance bowed to the Garundi horticulturist and wandered back to the star ship captain.
“They’ve agreed to trade some plants and technological journals for a couple of our Tundra flowers and other rare hybrids.”
Beka flashed a sarcastic smile. “Great, fantastic! Can we go now?”

Trance mock glared at her. “Yes, as soon as we make the trade, we can leave. Although I would like to…”
“Oh no Trance, as soon as this is done we’re getting to nice, clean….” She looked up as rain started to fall. “…Space. Where water comes from a tap, not from the sky.”
She turned her back on a giggling Trance and started stalking back to the Garundi transport.

This post has been edited by hawkeye: 08 May 2003 - 12:35 AM

[doxymom]

{{Hawkeye}}

Great beginning! I like the detail of your world of Garundi. You added lots of cool little details that bring it alive.

I haven't noticed golden Trance giggle at all, but I'm sure she still would occassionally.

You have an interesting start. Please, finish.

Anna

[parisindy]

Great start ... i'm looking forward to more!

[Hawkeye]

you asked for it!

Dylan and Tyr had found the red tape surrounding procurement of supplies was thicker than expected and negotiations lasted well into the night. Finally, they communicated with Andromeda and had a pod sent down on autopilot. It landed just outside the technology dump, disgorging several Maria bots that began to load on the appropriate parts.

None of the Garundi were prepared to go to the dump, so Dylan and Tyr walked alone, discussing the parts they were going to obtain and the schedule for installing them. Suddenly, Tyr stopped dead in his tracks.
“There are some…people ahead.”
Dylan strained his eyes but couldn’t make out anyone. “Are you sure?”
Tyr gave him a withering look before answering. “Of course. They are trying very hard to be silent.”
Dylan tried to see movement again but failed. “We were lead to believe that few of the Garundi came here.”
“Never the less, there are some people ahead. In the bushes on the left side of the path.”
“Ok, be on your guard. As we draw level dive into the bushes on the right.”

As they drew level with the bushes, an almost inaudible whisper rose from the side of the road. A second later, 5 of the native aliens rose and leaped towards Dylan and Tyr. The two men dove to the side of the road and drew their knives simultaneously, rolling and rising in a defensive stance.

As they rose, ready to fight, they looked on in disbelief as a robed figure dispassionately slit the throat or the last attacker. Looking around them, they saw the bodies of nine more Garundi people. Each had been killed by single stab wounds to vital organs.

Still in a defensive stance, the two men rose and walked carefully towards the figure. It was difficult to make out any features in the low light, and as they got closer they saw it was clad in a long robe with a deep hood that obscured all of the facial features. It was, however definitely not Garundi.

As Dylan and Tyr approached, Dylan could see a battered and scarred jumpsuit underneath the robe, with equally scarred and battered leather boots. Every inch was showed person who had survived in the wild for far too long and seen too much. As they drew closer to the figure, Dylan decided the person was male; however the man was careful to hide any physical features under the hood and his hands were covered by thin pilot’s gloves. In fact, Dylan noticed, not an inch of skin was visible.
He still held two long knives, coated with the green blood that was until recently the vital fluid in ten Garundi people. As the man checked the bodies and frisked them for weapons and valuables, he slowly drew the knives under the cloak, presumably to sheath them.
Finally, he stood and addressed Dylan and Tyr.
“You came from the ship in orbit?”
Dylan nodded once, slowly and a sigh escaped from under the man’s hood.
“I’ve been stuck on this planet for five years. Will you take me with you?”

Dylan shared a look with Tyr. “You saved us so that we would take you away from this planet?”
“I was going to intercept you on the way to the technology dump and happened to come across these soldiers waiting to ambush you.”
Dylan frowned. “Soldiers? Why would they ambush us, they were in negotiations to join the Commonwealth…”
The man dismissed Dylan’s words with a wave of his hand. “They would never have joined. They are afraid that if they join the Commonwealth, technology would be forced upon them. They are willing to kill to keep their way of life.”

Dylan decided to at least pretend to accept the answer for the time being and changed the subject. “Why have you been stuck here? There may not be much interstellar traffic, but there is some.”
A snorted laugh came from underneath the hood. “I’m not really….welcome here. While they let tolerate me in the forest, they would kill me on site if I appeared in any of the towns or cities.”
Dylan frowned. “Why would they do that?”
“Let’s just say…I don’t fit in with their beliefs.” He indicated the sprawled bodies. “We should leave before anyone realises what’s happened here.”
Dylan’s gaze hardened as he took in the dead bodies... “Are you sure you had to kill them? Wasn’t there a way to...dissarm the situation?”
The hooded man cocked his head to one side. “What does it matter? They’re dead.” His icy tone cut through Dylan and he let it drop. A side glance to Tyr let him know that the Nietzschean would watch this newcomer’s every step.

“We have to get some spare parts at the dump. We’re expecting to meet a ship there. If you’ll help us load the supplies, we’ll take you off the planet. We’re due at Sinti in a couple of weeks, we can drop you off there, mister….?”
The man stuck out a gloved hand, but still didn’t remove his hood. “Garm. My name is Garm.”
“Garm then.”

They reached the dump shortly afterwards and found it deserted. The pod from the andromeda was waiting for them, loaded and ready. As they took off, Garm kept a close eye on the sensors. When he spoke, it was done calmly with a measured tone.
“I would suggest you begin evasive manoeuvres.”
Dylan glanced at his screen. “Why?”
“They’re shooting at us.”
Dylan and Tyr looked at the readings again. Tyr spoke first. “There’s nothing there. Just some natural atmospheric disturbances.”
The ship rocked as it was hit and Garm spoke again.
“They’re firing sonic weapons, trying to use intensely concentrated sound waves to damage the ship.”
Another explosion rocked the ship and Tyr spoke again. “To great effect it seems, the slip-drive and communications systems just went offline.”
Dylan took the controls and sent them into a spin. “Well it’s a good job we don’t have to go to slipstream for once. Entering hanger in 30 seconds.”
The Andromeda cut in towards the small pod, absorbing the fire from the surface and protecting Dylan’s ship. Seconds later, they touched down inside the hanger and the giant ship turned and sped towards open space and the safety of slipstream.

As soon as Andromeda gave the all-clear, the ramp dropped down with a clank and disgorged Tyr and Dylan. Trance and Rommie were standing ready to meet them, presumably to see if anyone needed assistance.
As Garm exited the ship, he took in the hanger before settling his eyes on the two women. He suddenly stopped, still as a statue and appeared to be staring at them. Dylan noticed the sudden change in his demeanour and frowned slightly. “Are you ok?”
Garm didn’t answer; he just stood, swaying ever so slightly. Slowly, he raised an arm and pointed a gloved finger at Trance. When he finally spoke, the single word he uttered dripped with hatred and pain. “You...”

[ElJay]

Hmmm -- good beginning! LOL @ "…Space. Where water comes from a tap, not from the sky." Poor Beka! She *hates* planets!

[Hawkeye]

Before anyone could speak or react, he sprinted towards the golden woman and tackled her to the floor. His fist lashed out in a savage punch to the face, cutting her above her right eye. She tried in vain to push him off, but he was fighting like a madman. He got in one more punch before Rommie and Tyr pulled him off, but they were still barely able to hold him back.
“You BITCH! How could you leave me there to die? You were meant to be my friend!”

As Tyr struggled with Garm, he pulled off the deep hood that had covered his face. The collected crew, with the exception of Tyr gasped as Garm’s features were revealed. He couldn’t have been older than 20, but the entire top left side of his face was covered with a scuffed and scratched metal plate that covered his eye, replacing it with a glowing red optical sensor. It extended back to cover his ear, but stopped just short of his mouth. Any further bionics were hidden by the shaggy black hair that hung down past his neck. In the harsh artificial light of the hanger, they could all see the scar tissue around the edge of the face plate and the savage scar that travelled down his right cheek.

Trance recovered her voice first, but when she spoke it was barely above a whisper. “Garm…what are you doing here?” her eyes were wide with shock, apparently not just at Garm’s physical appearance, but at his general presence.
The young man didn’t answer immediately, but screamed and made a renewed attempt to lunge at Trance and wrap his fingers round her throat. The combined android and Nietzschean strength just managed to hold him back.
“After you left me to DIE, I barely escaped with my life!
“But that was in the future, You shouldn’t BE HERE!” now Trance was shouting too, and Dylan was fast loosing track of things.
“Tyr, Rommie, take Garm to V-deck!”
As they left, almost carrying a still struggling Garm, Dylan helped Trance to her feet, “That cut looks bad, you’d better get to medical.”

The two walked in silence to med deck and the silence continued as Trance tended to her injuries. Finally, she sat up on a bed and looked at the deck plating.
“You want to know about Garm.” It was a statement, not a question. Dylan nodded.
She jumped off the bed and started pacing, trying to put thoughts together in her head. Finally, she stopped, but still didn’t look at Dylan.
“The future I came from…I implied that it was just me and Beka on the Maru. The truth is, after Harper died, we needed someone to keep the ship in working order.”
She sighed dejectedly, all the fight leaving her for a second making her look for all the universe like the lost purple girl they had last seen nearly two years ago.
“I think we took Garm on because he reminded us all of Harper. He was from some Nietzschean slave planet that he never talked about. No parents or family, but he loved to fix things. He was only a kid really, but he could keep things running pretty well.

“Just before I came back, we needed some parts. The only place within range that we could get them was a Nietzschean garrison world. Beka and I were too well known, so Garm went in while we landed on one of the moons and waited. He was meant to be there a day or so, locate and steal the things we need, then we’d meet him and escape.”
She sighed. “As soon as I realised what was happening, I had Beka take us away from the moon orbiting the garrison planet. The energy of the tesseract fields would have given us away to the Nietzschean’s. I assumed that after I switched places Beka would go back in and pick him up.”

Dylan sat back on the desk. “What happened?”

Trance looked at the ceiling and closed her eyes. “I’ve no idea.”

Dylan rubbed his hand over his face. “Look, you’ve been with us for nearly two years. Garm told Tyr and me that he’d been stuck on that planet for five years.”
She thought for a second before her eyes widened in sudden understanding. “Harper’s Tesseract machine! That must have had something to do with it. But even if Beka didn’t go straight back to pick her up, he shouldn’t be here and he most definitely shouldn’t remember me!”

Dylan moved to put an arm around her shoulders. “Not that I’m disputing your story Trance, but I have trouble believing you took on Garm because he reminded you of Harper. He cut up ten soldiers on the planet without a second thought. And he attacked you.”

Trance closed her eyes again. “I don’t know Dylan, the Garm I knew used to hate killing people, and he wouldn’t carry a gun unless Beka or I forced him too. The first time he had to shoot someone, he didn’t talk and hardly moved for days. I don’t know how he survived childhood, he never talked about it. And…I don’t know how he got those injuries; he was fine when I left.”
She smiled a little, just for a second. “I think he had a crush on me too. That was another thing that reminded us of Harper. He never said anything about it and wasn’t as blatant as Harper, but…”
Dylan nodded. “I think it’s time we got some answers from Garm, don’t you?”

[ElJay]

Looks at the previous two posting times Thank you for your prompt response! That's what I call service.

[Anastashia]

Very nice hawkeye

[Hawkeye]

may as well post the next bit i guess. It's written so no sense in holding it back! Thank you to all for the feedback!

They left the med-deck and made their way in silence again towards the brig.
Andromeda’s hologram flickered to life outside the cells of V-deck. “He allowed himself to be locked up without a fight.”
Dylan nodded. As he entered, Garm stood up. As Trance entered timidly, he grabbed the bars tightly. He had replaced his hood but the seething anger emanated from every inch of his body.
Dylan let the silence hang for a few seconds before he spoke. “Garm, what happened on that garrison planet?”

Garm looked up at them. “I really don’t want to talk about it.”
Dylan took a seat opposite the cell and looked at him. “If you tell us, maybe we can help.”
“It’s been my experience, captain, that no problems were ever solved by talking.”
Dylan looked slightly distressed. “But you have to talk about your problems! How else can we help you?”
“I really don’t want, or need, your help.”
Trance stepped forward. “Garm…”
She didn’t get any further before Garm cut her off. “And I want to speak to you even less. Or was my little demonstration in the hanger lost on you?”
Trance shut up and took a step back. Dylan looked between her and the man in the cell. “Trance has told me her side of the story. If we’re going to decide what to do with you, we need your side as well.”

Garm was a few seconds in answering. Finally, he sighed. “Before or after they abandoned me.”
“Both.”
There was another pause, his grip on the bars never slackening. In the next hour, he recounted how he first met Trance and Beka, his time on the Maru and finally, his mission to the garrison planet,
“I waited at the pick up point for 12 hours. 12 hours in the open among Uber patrols. When I realised you had abandoned me to the Nietzschean’s tender mercies, I tried to steal a ship to get off planet.” He paused and turned his head to look at Trance. “But the patrols found me first.”
Trance stared back, not allowing any emotion to show through the golden warrior façade.
Garm angrily hit the bars with both fists and turned away, staring at the back of the cell. Turning suddenly, he whipped back his hood showing the metal faceplate and scar, coupled with an angry grimace. When he hit the plate with his hand, it gave off a metallic ‘pang.’ “I got THIS from a pulse blast at close range.”
He pulled off his right glove to expose a metal hand uncovered by synthetic skin. Garm brandished at the two people standing opposite him. “And I got THIS courtesy of a mono-filament whip.
“I…somehow managed to drag myself onto a cargo ship took off. Then I must have passed out in slip-stream and next thing I knew I was waking up on Garundi.”
He moved to sit down at the back of the cell, his head in his hands. “I crashed the ship and got picked up by a couple of the natives who are less averse to using technology. That’s where I picked up this little addition.” He tapped his leg, letting the metallic ring echo around the cell.
At Dylan’s raised eyebrow, he continued. “It’s not a well-known fact, but there is a significant movement on Garundi of people who want technology to be integrated into their society. The government is willing to do anything to keep those people out of the public light, even going as far as murder. They’re scared sh*tless that if they join the commonwealth, those voices will gain volume.”
Dylan nodded in understanding. “Please continue.”

He sighed. “My leg and arm were too far gone to save and had to be replaced. They only told me AFTER they fixed me up that as a cyborg I wouldn’t be allowed into their cities and if I ever ran across other Garundi, I’d probably be beaten to death. I found out how true that was a couple of days later when I had to fight my way past 3 angry Garundi with just a rusty piece of debris to defend myself. This all meant I had no way of getting off planet until you came along.”

Garm replaced the glove as he spoke, his voice cold and dripping anger. “Why Trance, why did you leave me?”
The golden woman didn’t speak, she just kept staring at the young man in the cage. Dylan stepped in. “Garm, this is difficult to explain…”
He went on to explain about Harper and the tesseract machine, about Trance switching places and about what Trance had told him about her future.

If anything, the young man was even angrier. “I don’t buy it captain. If this is the past, why am I here? Time travel isn’t one of my specialties.”
Trance managed to recover herself and finally spoke. “I don’t know. Tesseracts mess up space and time, maybe Harper and Rommie can come up with an answer.”

Garm snorted his derision. “Right, so you switched places with your past self and I somehow got dragged along for the ride. I’m not as naïve as when you left me Trance, I won’t buy anything you say, not anymore.”

Dylan had a sudden thought. “Andromeda, can you ask Beka to join us?”

Garm’s head snapped up. “What makes you think I want to see her either?”
Trance didn’t answer and Dylan motioned for him to be patient. As they waited for the first officer to arrive, Garm retook his position, sat on the bed in the cell.

Finally, she walked in. When she saw the metal face plate, she hesitated a little, remembering what had become of Bobby. Garm stared at her, mouth hanging open in shock. “Beka…?”
She looked confused, but gave a faint smile. “You’re Garm, right?”
“Of course I am, you know…Beka, what happened to your eye-piece and…”

Dylan stepped in. “She hasn’t got any of them. It hasn’t happened yet, and we’re hoping it won’t ever happen. What I’ve told you is the truth.”

Garm stood back from the bars and gazed at Beka in wonder. “You’re blonde..”
Trance smiled a little, but was careful to hide it from Garm. For a second he’d sounded almost like she remembered.
Beka looked between Trance and Dylan for a clue, but neither moved a muscle. “I’ve… been blonde for years.” She frowned. “So, why did you attack Trance?”
The angry face returned. “Why the hell do you think? Because you two abandoned me.” Beka looked confused and Trance gave her an ‘I’ll explain later’ look.

Dylan stared at Garm and contemplated his possible courses of action. “If I let you free, will you attack them?”
Garm’s gaze jumped from Beka to Trance, back to Dylan. Finally, he replaced his hood and leant against the bars of the cage. “If what you’ve told me is true…and I intend to check the facts with your computer…Then…” He paused and the next words seemed difficult for him to spit out. “Then they have no reason to be afraid. But I would recommend they keep their distance.”



It was a few hours later, after Dylan had released him from the brig, and Garm was trying to get used to sleeping in a bed. A real bed. Even before Trance and Beka betrayed him, his bed on the Maru hadn’t been this comfortable. It was so comfortable it was almost uncomfortable. He couldn’t sleep.

After his release, he had been taken on a tour by the ships engineer and the ships avatar. He’d never seen anything like it before, the technology, the beauty of the entire ship, inside and out.
He had to admit he liked Harper; the engineer had taken great pleasure in describing the ship and her systems and seemed to know her better than the ship’s AI herself. Garm even had to admit he was a little like he had been before…

That led his thoughts back to the past five years. Half a decade. He’d been certain that he’d been abandoned on that garrison planet. He’d been stranded on Garundi with replacement body parts that didn’t fit properly and weren’t optimised perfectly for his body. The avatar…Rommie? had relayed a message from Trance about going to medical and having them sorted out, but he’d declined. He wasn’t feeling too well off on the self-control front. Even though he’d told Dylan he wouldn’t attack them, he wasn’t sure he could hold himself to his word.

Rommie had shown him her records. He really had travelled back in time with Trance. But, he reasoned, records can be falsified.

And then there was Beka…there was no way that could be faked. He’d had to repair her cyborg implants from time to time and knew how badly she’d been hurt. Short of cloning and accelerated growth, there was no way she could have turned up like she had. And why would anyone go to all that trouble just to get him?

Exhausted, he stripped off most of his clothing. Battered leather jacket, torn and repaired t shirt, battered and ripped jeans. His trusty boots, his cloak and his weapons. Two knives, some cooking implements, some other bits and pieces he’d picked up over two years. He’d traded away the few things he’d had with him when he crashed to get the two knives and they’d served him well. They’d killed many people.
That thought brought up memories, and the faces of all the people he’d killed sped past his eyes. He tried to reason that each one had deserved to die, but a small part of him knew that in each case there could have been a way to resolve the situation peacefully. Pushing the memories aside, Garm sat heavily on the bed.

He looked down at his arm. The framework looked almost skeletal in appearance, with wire and sub-processors encased in boxes throughout the frame. It began at about the mid-bicep, the result of running into a Nietzschean with a mono-filament whip. Garm winced as he recalled the feeling of his arm being sliced in two as he drew his weapon, of feeling the blood vessels being scorched and sealed at the same time. That cauterisation of veins and arteries had probably saved his life, but the pain had been excruciating.
Phantom limb pain had haunted him for about a year afterwards. He could swear he’d felt pain in his toes or fingers, but when he went to scratch, he encountered only the metal replacements. He’d come close to insanity in those first 12 months, he still wasn’t sure how he’d come through it.
‘Maybe I haven’t,’ he thought. ‘That would certainly explain a few things.’

Lying back, he stared at the ceiling for a moment, contemplating his situation. Paranoia got the better of him and he rose, taking one of his knives and placing it under his pillow. Getting back under the covers, he soon fell into a deep sleep.

Over the past two years, Garm had grown paranoid and developed almost a sixth sense. That was how he knew that someone was in his room.
Without opening his eye, he listened and tried to bring his brain up to date. He refrained from powering up the optical as the red glow would give him away.

He was on the Andromeda Ascendant. Trance and Beka were here. He’d gone back in time somehow. None of that explained why he could hear someone trying to be quiet. And they were at the end of his bed. Usually the inbuilt sensors in his cyborg enhancements let him identify at least the species of an attacker. However, as he concentrated, the only thing he could pick up was a space in the room where there was a complete lack of anything. It was subtly different to an empty space, and that scared the hell out of him.
His arm had ended up under his pillow in his sleep and was resting just to the side of the knife. In a blur he grabbed it and whipped it around, simultaneously turning and grabbing the arm of the intruder.
They were caught off guard and toppled over onto the bed. In the same movement, he pulled the intruder onto the bed and straddled their waist, pointing the knife at their throat.

[Sambalam84]

Cool story! I hope there will be more soon. This Garm guy is kinda interesting. I hope he sticks around for a while.

More story please!

[Hawkeye]

In honour of my 19th birthday today (and the fact that i have exams ALL BLOODY WEEK!!), im gonna post a nice long chapter. Thanks to everyone for reading and reviewing.

Trance let out a short cry before Garm’s hand tightened on her mouth.
“What are you doing here?” His voice was calm and measured, but there was no mistaking the anger in his face. His organic eye was blazing with almost the intensity of his robotic one and the knife was quivering centimetres from her throat.

As he released her mouth enough for her to speak, Garm noticed with interest that for the first time in the years since he’d first met her, she looked scared. Not just scared, but terrified. He knew he’d changed during his exile, but the fact that he could scare Trance shook him slightly.
Her eyes were scanning his face, before moving down to his upper body. He felt a flush of embarrassment as he thought she was checking him out. Then he realised her eyes were lingering on the scars that crisscrossed his body, reminders of his escape from one planet and his crash on another. Finally, she spoke.
“You’ve been asleep a long time…Dylan wanted to see you and…I wanted to talk to you.”

Garm was in turmoil. A large part of him wanted to thrust forward and kill her. Another part was remembering why he’d liked her and wanted to forgive her. Another part was slowly trying to believe that she was telling the truth and he’d been wrong all along.

In the end he settled for sitting there, staring at her, knife pointed at her throat. He took a second to check his implants’ internal clock. The comfortable bed had meant he had indeed slept longer than he’d meant to.
“We don’t have anything to talk about.”

“Garm…I told you yesterday, I never meant to abandon you, but I had to come to the past, I needed to change the future...”
Garm made an inarticulate noise of frustration and derision. “The future, the past, what does it matter? I’m not YOU Trance, I can’t see the future and I sure as hell can’t change it!”
The knife was waving dangerously.
“All I can do anything about is the present, and that’s where you left me. Your good intentions for the future of the universe left me like this!”
She was crying now, tears spilling down her cheeks. “Garm, you know I never meant to hurt you!”
“Trance, you never told us about you or your past, but I pieced some things together. I know if killing one person now meant that things would turn out better in a thousand years, you’d do it because you’d probably still be there to see the results.”

Andromeda picked up on the conversation and her hologram appeared in the room.
“Garm…let her go.”
He didn’t move.
“Garm let her go now…”
Garm could hear footsteps in the distance, pounding down the corridor towards him.

The three parts in his mind were still struggling for control, the fight becoming more intense. “GAAAHHH!!!!”
As Tyr and Dylan ran into the room, he threw the knife across the room in frustration where it embedded itself in a wall, quivering.
Getting off the bed, he picked up his trousers and shirt and left the room. He walked down the corridor, dressing as he went, towards the med deck. As he passed Dylan and Tyr, he didn’t even register their presence.
They entered the quarters he’d been assigned just as a very shaken Trance exited, pushing past them and ignoring Dylan’s requests for an explanation.



Garm sat at a table, savouring the first cup of coffee he’d tasted in what seemed like decades. He knew when Beka Valentine entered the room. The improvements his robotic implants had given him were a boon on the hostile planet. His hearing was better than a Nietzschean’s. He could see into both the UV and IR range as well as being able to see much further with his cyborg eye than normal. He had some rudimentary sensors built in and a cybernetic port nestled under his hair.

So when Beka entered, he didn’t turn because he’d known she was coming for about 30 seconds before she made her entrance.

She sat down opposite him and stared at him in silence for a few seconds. He couldn’t help but snort in amusement, but he still didn’t smile. It had been a long time since he’d smiled, since he’d had something to smile about, and he wasn’t sure if he still could.
“What’s funny?”
“The last time we met, it was you with the implants and coffee. You asked me to go down to that planet and steal some supplies.”
“What did you say?”
Garm raised an eyebrow at her. “That’s pretty obvious isn’t it? I said ok.”
Beka smiled. That was something he’d rarely seen before, and he allowed himself to notice that she was quite beautiful. Maybe he’d never seen past the metal before.

“Trance told me about…us. I really don’t think she…either of us meant to abandon you.”
Garm looked at her. “Do you really think you know anything about her?”
Beka’s look became sterner and she met his gaze. “She’s my friend. I trust her.”
“So did I. And look what happened to me.”

The silence hung between them for a few seconds.
“Will you try to kill her…or me?”
Garm thought for a second. “I don’t know.”

Beka left shortly after, leaving Garm to his thoughts.


Over the next few days, Garm slowly settled into a kind of existence on the Andromeda. He walked about with the hood of his cloak up most of the time as if he was ashamed of the injuries he’d suffered. No one called him on it; they were trying to let him settle in, even if he was only going to be with them a little while.
He helped Harper with repairs and Harper announced that if Garm stayed about much longer he’d be out of a job. The skills he’d learnt on the Maru were coming back to him and it seemed that if you could keep the Maru flying, you could do just about anything.
Garm also stood some watches on the bridge with Beka and Dylan, who began to teach him about the various stations on the bridge.
He talked to Tyr about survival and tactics and the Nietzschean taught him how to shoot. When it came to fighting with knives, he found there was little he could teach the young man.
But Garm tried to keep out of the way of Trance. When she was in the same room he’d clam up and wouldn’t speak to anyone. If they happened to pass in the corridor, he’d tense up and press himself to the opposite wall as he passed.

As Harper and Garm passed Trance, the engineer noticed Garm’s reaction.
“Why do you do that?”
“I don’t know, it’s just…I keep thinking she means to finish the job when I least expect it.”
“What job?”
“Kill me.”
Harper stopped and grabbed Garm's shoulder, turning him around.
“This is Trance we’re talking about. She wouldn’t kill you.”
Garm gave him a look that chilled him to the bone. It was a look that said he’d seen her kill before and knew it wasn’t above her.

Harper, Rommie and Garm sat down in the mess hall and discussed the last five years of Garm’s life. After four hours they left and walked to command. When everyone was assembled, Harper spoke.
“Ok, we think we’ve got an answer.”
Dylan indicated for him to continue.
“When we made the tesseract fields, they started to mess with space and time all over the ship. One of them opened and let Trance switch place with herself.” He nodded to Trance who was standing uneasily next to Beka.
“Rommie’s sensors indicated that space was affected in the area of the fields for a period of time afterwards. If it affected space, it also affected the slipstream. Now normally, it would probably only result in the strings being slightly harder to navigate than normal. But if you were unconscious, well…”
Garm spoke for the first time since entering the room. “You’d get sent back in time 5 years.”
Harper nodded. “Just like the opening and closing fields, the amount of time you got sent back was random. You could just as easily have been sent back to before the Commonwealth was even formed.”
Garm stood at the back of the command deck, enveloped in the long cloak he wore. He was silent as Harper continued his explanation, and when he finished he turned and left without a word.


Four days after he’d arrived, he was sitting a shift on command with Dylan when he suddenly doubled over in pain, clutching his stomach.
“Garm…Are you ok?”
The teenager nodded and gritted his teeth. “I'm fine. Just gets a little twinge every now and then.”
A groan escaped his lips and Dylan shook his head.
“Come on, let’s go see Trance.” As Garm resisted, Dylan looked him in the eye. “I’ll be there, she won’t hurt you. You can’t carry on like this.”


Twenty minutes later, Garm was lying on a bed, tensed up, as Trance ran a scanner over him. He didn’t look her in the eyes and she gave up trying to catch his attention. She soon found out what was wrong and called Dylan over. As she spoke, he continued to stare at the ceiling.
“When Garm’s got hurt, the damage was too bad for the Garundi to repair with natural remedies so they installed cyborg technology. It appears that they didn’t do too good a job.”
She went on to outline the damage that was being caused by the improperly fitted technology and her proposed plan of action. It would involve a short operation.

Garm gave his consent and Trance left to prepare. It would be so easy, he thought. She could slip in the operation, kill him and pass it off as an accident. And he’d be dead, another loose end tied up like he’d seen her do so many times before.

As Trance left the room, she called Harper and asked him to meet her in medical. He arrived shortly afterwards and she quickly ran over the operation with him.
“I want you to take a look at his cyborg implants and see if you can improve the work.”
Harper nodded. “It’s a little outside my specialty, but I did build Rommie. I’ll give it a go.”
Trance sat heavily at a table and looked up at the blonde human.
“What is it Harper, why is he so afraid of me?”
Harper sighed. “He’s been through a lot Trance, but he’s still just a teenager. He thinks your just waiting for a chance to finish him off.”
Trance sat down heavily. “Harper, I’m actually scared of him, like no one else I’ve ever met. When I left him he was so much like you, now he’ll kill without a second thought, he’ll slit someone’s throat as easily as you open a can of sparky.”

Harper sat opposite her and met her gaze. “Now you see how I felt when you turned up.”
She looked up at him in shock. “What…”
“Trance, when I woke up that morning, you were a sweet, innocent purple babe and my best friend. By the time I went to sleep that night you’d changed into a dark, golden warrior woman who I didn’t particularly like.”
Trance looked down at the table. “I never realised you felt that way.”
Harper put his hand on top of hers and smiled. “Well I did. But I gave you a chance. I got to know you. And now we’re friends again. If you give Garm the same chance maybe the same thing will happen.”

Harper rose and went to see the young man lying on the operating room table, leaving Trance to prepare for the operation.


There was a stab of light as his optical system came back online. His organic eye remained closed, but his red optic surveyed his surroundings. He was alive.
A moment of panic shot through his being as he realised he couldn’t feel his arm. Sitting bolt upright, a surprised Harper rolled his chair backwards.
“Easy…”
Garm looked at his arm, watched it flex and turn. He realised that it wasn’t that he couldn’t feel it; it was that he couldn’t feel the pain in it that had been a part of his existence for the past 5 years.
Harper watched him carefully before indicating his arm. “This cyborg technology is pretty good; it just needed to be optimised a little. Tweaked to fit as it were. The face plate should fit better now too”

Garm sat back and raised a hand to his face. It did feel better. “My leg…and my stomach still hurts.”
Trance entered the room but kept her distance, almost afraid that he was going to lash out at her when he heard what she had to say.
“The damage to your internal organs and leg were more severe…I repaired the damage, but you’ll still feel some pain and the implants will begin to damage them again. And…Harper can’t do anything to improve the fit.”
He looked at Harper, who nodded, a little abashed.
Closing his organic eye and dimming the output from his optic, Garm sat and thought. At a signal from Trance, Harper left.

Finally, he spoke. Trance expected him to respond with an accusation, or an insult. But he surprised her.
“Thank you.” He still hadn’t opened his eyes, and the dim red optic showed that he had cut the input from it. “You didn’t have to help me.”

Trance walked over to him and tentatively put a hand on his shoulder. He flinched, but didn’t move away. She spoke quietly.
“Yes, I did.”

[ElJay]

{{{{{{{{Hawkeye}}}}}}}} Happy Birthday and thanks for the present! Most folks get presents on their birthday rather than giving them, but I'm not complaining at all! I'm really enjoying this story -- you're keeping me guessing about Garm and whether he's a good guy or a bad guy; so far, it could go either way. Great job on all of it.

[Hawkeye]

thanks Eljay! im at university at the moment (and in the middle of my exams grrrr) so i dont get any presents for a couple of weeks when i get home. so, tonight i have a chocolate muffin with a candle and a rather large bottle of Kronenburg 1664 beer. now if thats not decent preperation for a maths exam, i dont know what is!!

next chapter will be up either tonight or tomorrow.

thanks again!

[Hawkeye]

well apparently it'll be posted tonight. theres only one--or possibly 2--chapters left after this.

It was two days later when the attack came. The Andromeda had been damaged a week before they arrived at Garundi and even with Garm’s help, it still wasn’t working at top efficiency.
The Drago-Katzov ships emerged as the Andromeda was traversing some difficult gravity wells, preventing them from running to slipstream. Fire control only took a few hits before it went down, and before Harper and Garm could bring it up again they were boarded.

Harper and Garm were in engineering when the Nietzschean’s finally came for them. The attackers had been diverted by heavy resistance from the rest of the crew, but they couldn’t keep them occupied forever. Harper was working frantically to bring the internal defences back online while Garm was standing guard at the door.

As the Nietzschean’s fought their way down the corridor to engineering against Garm’s withering fire, Harper kept a running commentary on the repairs.

Finally, just as the first Nietzschean’s moved into engineering, the last connection snapped into place and all over the ship the whine of internal defences powering up could be heard. Against Rommie’s fire, they didn’t stand a chance and retreated towards their ship. As Harper rose and left the room, he looked around curiously. “Garm?”
But the young man was nowhere to be found.

Harper ran to command where the others were observing the departure of the Nietzschean ships under renewed fire from the newly repaired fire control systems. As he burst in, they turned to acknowledge his presence.

“Is Garm here?”
Trance frowned. “Isn’t he with you?”
Harper shook his head. “He was guarding the door, but I can’t find him.”

Rommie tilted her head as she absorbed information. “I have something.”

She turned to the view screens as they showed a security recording of the Nietzschean’s leaving the ship. As she enlarged and resolved the image, a figure could be seen, slumped between two large soldiers. The metal face plate gleamed under the artificial lights.

Trance stared, wide eyed. “No…..”


The ship sped into a frenzy of action. No one considered for a second leaving Garm to the Drago-Katzov. He had been quiet, sullen and had attacked Trance, but at the same time he had managed to connect with each of them somehow, and they all new they would go to rescue him before Dylan gave the order.

Harper ran down to engineering with Rommie and Tyr and they began working on repairs. Beka piloted while Trance plotted various slip routes that they could follow before she, Dylan and Beka whittled them down into the most likely solution. Shortly afterwards, the Andromeda leapt into slipstream.

Garm woke up in a small cell onboard the Drago-katzov destroyer. His first reaction was to panic and try to pull the bars apart. That idea lasted about a nanosecond before he realised that the reinforced metal wasn’t going to budge an inch.
His second instinct was to fly in a rage. Trance had abandoned him again! He had almost believed her that she hadn’t left him alone 5 years ago. He was so close to believing that she’d had good reasons and that she never wanted to hurt him. He was even beginning to believe that he had indeed been brought back in time. Then this happened.

A small part of his brain told him that Trance hadn’t had anything to do with it, that it wasn’t her fault he’d been taken, but he shoved that annoying voice down. Rage is easier to deal with.

He heard a door opening and strained to see who was coming. As they walked up to his cell he saw it was a very large Nietzschean and his entourage who were all just as big if not larger.
Garm hid a cringe as all his ideas about overpowering them crumbled before his eyes.
The Nietzschean who was in charge spoke.
“Welcome to the Drago-Katzov destroyer ‘Blood Vengeance.’ We had hoped to take over the Andromeda but you and you’re little friends…managed to repel our attack. Nietzschean’s detest failure, so we will make ourselves feel better by torturing you to within an inch of your life.”
The ship shuddered as it dropped out of slipstream and the Nietzschean smiled a mirthless smile. “But first we’re going to take you to your new home.”

His new ‘home’ was a hollowed out asteroid floating alone in space, orbiting a desolate red-giant.
The ride down to the surface was done in a small cargo pod, with his hands restrained behind him and his feet locked to the deck. A group of three Nietzschean’s sat and watched him, occasionally hitting him if they thought he was looking at them the wrong way. By the time they reached the surface and he was put into another cell, his organic eye was swollen and his lip was split and bleeding.

As he sat waiting for the torture to start, he heard the sounds of distant rumbling. The sensors built into his implants weren’t anywhere near powerful enough to detect what was causing it, so he sat and idly hoped that the asteroid wasn’t unstable.


Trance, Dylan and Beka gathered around the main view screen. Trance was agitated and hadn’t stood still since they learnt about Garm's abduction. At the moment she was pacing back and forth while she spoke.
“We’re way out on the rim here; this is on the edge of Drago-Katzov space. The closest base here is…” she waited for Andromeda to circle and enlarge a system. “…this asteroid. It’s small, out of the way, basically just an outpost and supply depot. The Nietzschean’s stationed there are probably bored. We would have destroyed that attack in minutes if we hadn’t already been damaged; it was probably an unauthorised strike.”
Tyr walked in as Trance spoke and nodded as she finished. “The…people… stationed on that rock probably have inferior genes and are put there to keep them out of the way. That’s the only excuse for such poor tactics. “He moved to his station. “The little professor says our slip-drive is operational again.”

Dylan nodded. “Then that’s our next stop. Beka?”
“I’m already on it.” The blonde pilot was already powering up the pilots station.

The trip to the asteroid wasn’t terribly long, but Trance frantically paced the deck of Command the entire time. Dylan caught her eye and tried to give her a reassuring smile.
“It’ll be ok Trance, we’ll find him.”
Trance looked angry. “Dylan, he already thinks I abandoned him before, now he’s going to think I did it again! I was so close to convincing him, he’d even started talking to me, I was so close!”
Dylan nodded. “And that’s another reason why we have to get him back.”

The andromeda flew into the system and easily dispatched the defensive perimeter of ships. As they moved into an orbit around the asteroid, Tyr manned the weapons station and fired a continuous barrage down to the surface, destroying the ground based defences.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity to Trance, he looked up from his station. “Ground defences neutralised.”
Dylan nodded. “Tyr, Harper, you’re with me.”
Harpers face appeared on the screen. “Why me?” he whined.
“We may need to hack into the security system. Meet us in the Maru.”
Harper grudgingly nodded and the screen went dark.
“I’m coming too.” Trance walked towards the door as Dylan weighed his options. On the one hand, he didn’t want any more people on the surface than necessary. On the other hand, he wasn’t sure if he or Tyr could stop her and there was no way she was going to be talked out of it. “Ok Trance. Beka, you have command.”

They held their breath on the trip down as a damaged surface to air battery targeted them. Their was a collective sigh of relief as the shot detonated early, blowing the emplacement to pieces. Dylan and Harper glared at Tyr who merely shrugged and went back to studying his console. Trance kept her eyes glued to the screen as she scanned and rescanned the complex for human bio-signs.

Humans could be differentiated from Nietzschean’s using scanners, but it was often difficult. Garm’s cyborg technology would make his signature even further from the surrounding Nietzschean’s, so it wasn’t a surprise when a blip began flashing on her console.

The coordinates were transferred to Dylan at the pilot’s seat where he selected a suitable landing site. As the Maru touched down, small weapons fire from the complex pinged off the hull.

The crew ran from the ship, pouring fire back at the buildings. The Nietzschean’s stationed on the asteroid may have had inferior genes, but they still had weapons and even a badly aimed shot could kill a person.
It was a complete stalemate as both sides fired from behind there respective covers. Finally, Tyr managed to throw a small grenade through the door of the prison block where the majority of the fire was coming from, expecting to cause a distraction while they ran forward.

A series of explosions ripped along the front of the house and defensive fire dropped considerably. Puzzled, Tyr, Dylan, Harper and Trance approached the building, cautious of a trap.
As they reached the door, Harper whistled. The Nietzschean’s had stacked weapons and fuel along the corridor, and when Tyr’s explosive set one off, the next was ignited in turn. Harper surveyed the damage and winced. “Fratricide.”

Trance had moved ahead of the others and was walking down the remains of the corridor, knives drawn.
“Trance, wait!”
As they ran to catch up with her, it was obvious that waiting wasn’t on her agenda. As they drew level, a Nietzschean twice her size rounded the corner, weapon drawn.
Before anyone could react, Trance had stabbed him twice in the chest and once in the throat before he dropped lifelessly to the floor.
Harper grimaced. “Ok, so I think we can guess where Garm got his killer lessons from.”
Trance silenced him with a glare and they rounded another corner.

As they walked along the seemingly endless number of identical corridors, Trance finally spoke. “It’s this one.”
As they rounded a new corner, they came face to face with another guard. 3 weapons converged and shot before he could react, dropping him to the floor.

[Hawkeye]

The last one. ahhhhh.....

Garm heard the commotion outside the door and watched the lone guard in his corridor go to investigate. By concentrating, he tried to focus on the door and who was outside. When he got his answer, his jaw dropped.
“It can’t be…”
Since he’d come onboard, he’d found his inbuilt sensors couldn’t pick up Trance. In fact, the only way he knew if she was near was by the complete lack of a presence. If his sensor picked up a void on his readings, he guessed it was her. Unfortunately, he could only differentiate between a void and normal space when he really concentrated as he was doing at the moment. And there was a void outside the door.


Harper plugged his data port into the wall and began to decode the system. He snorted to himself. “Amateurs. There’s only 3 levels of security and a virus release that’s at least a year out of date.” He concentrated for a second before the door opened. “Et Voila!”
As Tyr and Dylan entered, they simultaneously raised their weapons and shot the guard who was about half way to the door. Both shots caught him in the side and he span round, falling to the floor.

Garm got off his makeshift bed and came to the cell door.
“I can’t believe it!”
Trance stepped forward and smiled tentatively. “You didn’t think we were going to leave you behind did you?”

At that moment, Harper managed to open the cage doors and Garm ran out. For a second, Trance was scared that he was going to hit her again, but as his hood fell back, Trance could see that Garm was grinning widely. He grabbed Trance in a tight hug. It felt good, she thought as she hugged him back and buried her head in his shoulder. Suddenly he jerked in her arms. Stepping back, she looked up into his shocked face. He looked down as a red spot on his t-shirt slowly began to grow in size. He touched it gingerly and his fingers came away bloody.
“NOOO!!!”
Her scream ripped through the surrounding crew as they turned and watched Garm slide to the floor. 3 guns converged and fired on the dying guard who had fired the shot.

Trance supported his head in her lap as she tried to staunch the flow of blood from his stomach. “We’ve got to get him to medical!”
As Dylan sprinted off to get the Maru warmed up, Garm grabbed her hand gently, stopping her from touching his stomach.
“Trance…” his voice was quiet, child like. “Don’t bother Trance.”
“No, you’re not going to die, not now; we came to rescue you!”
“You have Trance…”He tried to laugh, but it turned into a pained cough. “Five years in the wilderness turned me into something I never wanted to be. You brought me back Trance.” He coughed again. “I’m tired, Trance. I’m tired of killing people, I’m tired of being nasty to people. I’ve been in pain for five years and I’m just sick and tired of it.”
He reached up and brushed a rapidly cooling hand across her cheek. “I’m sorry I hit you Trance and…that I accused you of abandoning me. I…love…” he struggled for breath once and looked up at her again, this time with eyes that were full of fear. “I’m scared Trance.”
She hugged him tighter. “I’m here with you Garm, don’t be scared.”
The Maru’s engines roared to life nearby. Garm grabbed her arm with his metal hand. “Don’t leave me; I don’t want to be alone again.”
“You wont be..” tears were rolling down her cheeks as Harper knelt down by her side and put an arm around her shoulder.
Garm tried to smile, but a trickle of blood from the corner of his mouth ruined the gesture. He looked up at Harper. “Look after her for me.”
Harper was going to point out that it was often Trance who had to look after him, but it didn’t seem the right time. He merely nodded.
Trance leant over him again and kissed him gently on the lips. As she straightened, he smiled once and breathed out a long, halting breath.

He didn’t breathe in again.

Harper reached over and gently closed Garm’s eye, staring up at the stars like a child seeing the wonders of the universe for the first time, stripped of the layers of defence and hatred he’d built up to survive a hostile universe.

Tyr spoke into his com and Dylan ran in a few seconds later, stopping as he saw Trance clutching Harper, sobbing uncontrollably, Garm's lifeless body in her lap. Tyr looked up when the high guard captain skidded to a stop. Gently, he walked over to Trance and picked Garm up, walking over to the Maru without a word. Minutes later, they took off for space again.

The End...

[ElJay]

sniff *Stupid allergies* I'm not crying, honest I'm not. Except maybe because this story is over Good job Hawkeye! And Good Luck on all your finals Tips back a virtual bottle of Kronenburg in salute. Thanks for the story.

[parisindy]

GREAT STORY!!