(no subject)
Things were bad. Time and space were fouled up and Trance hadn't seen it coming. All around the Andromeda and the Maru, time was being distorted in the present, the past, and the future. Not only that, Trance couldn't see any futures. That was even more bad. She always saw futures. Always saw hundreds and thousands of realities playing out before her. And now, there was just the one.
Beka had already met her future self. A scary future self. So, it shouldn't have come as a shock to Trance, then, when she and Beka came across another Trance. Trance watched on in awe as her future self moved with ruthless and efficient ease, killing a handful of Kalderans. This was her, or would be.
She barely had time to take it in before her other self was shouting. "Behind you!" She responded without thought to the voice - her own - and moved out of the way. In their shock, both Trance and Beka had missed a Kalderan behind them. The new Trance, hadn't, though, even if Trance and Beka were blocking her line of sight to them.
"Trance?!" Beka asked incredulously. Clearly, she was having trouble believing it.
"Beka," the future Trance said, smiling. "I forgot how beautiful you were."
It only made Trance remember what the future Beka had been like. She'd had patch over her eye and a mechanical arm. Trance shuddered to think how that'd happened. She moved past Beka to study her future self.
"Uhh, thanks," Beka replied.
And then Trance wasn't paying attention to Beka anymore. She was studying the gold woman in front of her.
"You're me," she said slowly, feeling out the explanation. "From the future."
"More or less," her future self replied and Trance felt rebuked. She'd been imprecise. But then again, she'd had to be, keeping things from the crew.
Remembering Beka, she asked, "Did everything turn out the way it was supposed to?"
"No," her other self answered. Trance could hear the truth behind the words, though. "Things are bad and they're getting worse. I made a lot of mistakes."
So they'd followed orders. Everything had turned out the way her people had meant it to, but her friends, their friends, had paid the price.
"So are we going to lose?" Trance asked. By the look in her alternate self's eyes, she'd realized that Trance was talking about Andromeda's crew and not her people's plan.
"At best, we're not going to win. You know what we have to do."
It wasn't a question. Trance didn't think she'd be able to say no. But she also wasn't sure she should. She'd gotten close to the crew over the last year and a half. They were her friends. Her family. If they didn't make it out, she wasn't sure she'd be able to forgive herself. But still, she had to make sure.
"Is it the only way?"
"There is one perfect possible future, but I have not seen it, yet."
So that was it, then. It was the only way.
"Umm," Beka said, holding up a hand. "Could someone provide me with a translation, please?"
There was the only downside. She'd have to leave behind everyone. Beka. Harper. Dylan. Rommie. Even Tyr. She knew she'd see them again. Or at least would, provided she did what she was supposed to. It was little comfort, but she held it around her. There was no use in making Beka mistrust her future self any more than she already would.
"Beka," she said, saying her goodbyes to the one person she could. "I have to go, but don't worry. I'm, I'm not really leaving. I'm just…changing. Everything will be okay, you'll see."
She turned, giving her future self one last glance. Take care of them, that glance said. And then she turned and walked into the disturbance she knew would appear.
There was a moment of nothingness and then she found herself walking on a beach. She looked around her and saw nothing but trees and beach. And still, she couldn't sense anything about the future. She was living in the moment, as any normal human would do.
"Hello?" she started calling, picking a direction and walking. Hopefully, she'd find someone soon. The place couldn't be abandoned.
Beka had already met her future self. A scary future self. So, it shouldn't have come as a shock to Trance, then, when she and Beka came across another Trance. Trance watched on in awe as her future self moved with ruthless and efficient ease, killing a handful of Kalderans. This was her, or would be.
She barely had time to take it in before her other self was shouting. "Behind you!" She responded without thought to the voice - her own - and moved out of the way. In their shock, both Trance and Beka had missed a Kalderan behind them. The new Trance, hadn't, though, even if Trance and Beka were blocking her line of sight to them.
"Trance?!" Beka asked incredulously. Clearly, she was having trouble believing it.
"Beka," the future Trance said, smiling. "I forgot how beautiful you were."
It only made Trance remember what the future Beka had been like. She'd had patch over her eye and a mechanical arm. Trance shuddered to think how that'd happened. She moved past Beka to study her future self.
"Uhh, thanks," Beka replied.
And then Trance wasn't paying attention to Beka anymore. She was studying the gold woman in front of her.
"You're me," she said slowly, feeling out the explanation. "From the future."
"More or less," her future self replied and Trance felt rebuked. She'd been imprecise. But then again, she'd had to be, keeping things from the crew.
Remembering Beka, she asked, "Did everything turn out the way it was supposed to?"
"No," her other self answered. Trance could hear the truth behind the words, though. "Things are bad and they're getting worse. I made a lot of mistakes."
So they'd followed orders. Everything had turned out the way her people had meant it to, but her friends, their friends, had paid the price.
"So are we going to lose?" Trance asked. By the look in her alternate self's eyes, she'd realized that Trance was talking about Andromeda's crew and not her people's plan.
"At best, we're not going to win. You know what we have to do."
It wasn't a question. Trance didn't think she'd be able to say no. But she also wasn't sure she should. She'd gotten close to the crew over the last year and a half. They were her friends. Her family. If they didn't make it out, she wasn't sure she'd be able to forgive herself. But still, she had to make sure.
"Is it the only way?"
"There is one perfect possible future, but I have not seen it, yet."
So that was it, then. It was the only way.
"Umm," Beka said, holding up a hand. "Could someone provide me with a translation, please?"
There was the only downside. She'd have to leave behind everyone. Beka. Harper. Dylan. Rommie. Even Tyr. She knew she'd see them again. Or at least would, provided she did what she was supposed to. It was little comfort, but she held it around her. There was no use in making Beka mistrust her future self any more than she already would.
"Beka," she said, saying her goodbyes to the one person she could. "I have to go, but don't worry. I'm, I'm not really leaving. I'm just…changing. Everything will be okay, you'll see."
She turned, giving her future self one last glance. Take care of them, that glance said. And then she turned and walked into the disturbance she knew would appear.
There was a moment of nothingness and then she found herself walking on a beach. She looked around her and saw nothing but trees and beach. And still, she couldn't sense anything about the future. She was living in the moment, as any normal human would do.
"Hello?" she started calling, picking a direction and walking. Hopefully, she'd find someone soon. The place couldn't be abandoned.