Tiredly, she moved to the pilot's chair-her chair. As she sat down, she immediate felt relaxed in its familiarity. This was her ship. She belonged on its bridge. This was the only place she had ever really called home. All she wanted was to take it far away and hide in it forever. But she couldn't. Dylan had calmly showed her that.
Reviewing the conversation in medical, she angrily threw the thing closest to her. It skidded across the floor loudly before coming to a stop beneath the view screen. It was a screwdriver or some other random tool that Harper had apparently left by accident.
At the thought of Harper, anger flared inside her again. He lay in medical thanks to Dylan's stupid plans and yet her crew adamantly insisted his ways were best. She scoffed aloud. Tyr was right. Dylan's plans would only get them killed.
Well screw him, Beka thought bitterly. They had pulled him from the black hole and suddenly he was in control of everything. He rubbed her like an out-of-date moral. Who was he to expect her help-and to tamper with her ship?
She stood up. There was no way he'd get away with this. With an angry surge of adrenaline, she stormed out of command. As she went down the corridors, her eyes scanned for the foreign object implanted in her ship. Logically, she had already narrowed down the possible places. She came to the engine room and continued looking. After removing several panels, she found it.
It was embedded in the circuitry fairly loosely. It was bigger than Beka had expected. With little care, she yanked it out.
It came out easily. As she held it in her hands, her first instinct was to hurl it against a bulkhead and smash it to a billion pieces.
But she found she couldn't do that.
She examined it carefully, only to find she didn't understand any of the circuitry. The piece of metal and wires distinctively had Harper's building style. The parts were mismatched, yet artfully woven together. It was well made.
Beka swore. She couldn't destroy it. She couldn't destroy the only thing that would save them. Dylan had her cornered. There was no way out except to swallow her pride and go with him. The Maru would never make it alone, neither would the Andromeda. They needed each other.
Shaking her head, Beka almost smiled to herself. Even being 300 years out of date, Dylan could still devise battle plans. He had no idea what he was up against, but he still seemed to know what he was doing. Beka didn't know if he was an unrealistic fool or an idealistic hero. Maybe he was both-maybe they were the same thing.
So what did that make her? Her crew was ready to follow Dylan on his impossible journey. Would she lead their pursuit? Would she be blind allowing herself to be led by the blind?
No, that couldn't be her. But it was time for Beka to accept reality. After being on the Andromeda and sharing in that dream for awhile, she knew she could never go back to the Maru. She had to follow their fearless leader. And maybe he didn't know it yet, but he needed her. She knew the terrain, and she knew the time. He could blindly lead, if she would follow with eyes wide open. As he marched boldly along, she would look down for holes. And together, maybe they could do anything. Even rebuild a 300 year old dream.
The End