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Exit Strategies - Episode #202 (spoilers below!) (Click here for review)

Returning with parts, the Maru is under fire with Dylan, Beka, Rev Bem and Tyr aboard. Tyr identifies the attackers as Mandau Pride Nietzschean slavers. Since Andromeda is still dead in space Dylan decides not to contact her. With heavy damage they slipstream, are followed and end up crash landing on an ice planet. On the Andromeda, Trance and Rommie finish 3 weeks of picking up Magog corpses. When asked to help Harper starts blasting the corpses!

Meanwhile, Dylan wakes with a head injury but the rest are ok. The emergency locator is broke and they have no heat or fuel. As they begin repairs Tyr discovers Rev is lightheaded from 3 weeks of fasting (to atone for his recent killings). On the Andromeda he eats live salmon in Hydroponics since Magog can only digest food they kill. To Dylan and Beka, Tyr voices concern Rev will become feral, but Beka trust him and therefore Dylan.

Dylan heads out to scout for inhabitants and uses his forcelance to burn marks on trees, in the process finding the bedrock is unstable, resulting in sinkholes. Meanwhile Beka asks Tyr why the slavers seemed to recognize the Maru and also about his mysterious trip in the Maru to Enga's Redoubt.

Dylan approaches a settlement and finds Nietzscheans who fire on him. Tyr rescues him and is addressed by name by the Nietzscheans, but they manage to escape. Beka has been reassuring Rev that she trusts his faith will sustain. However, when Dylan and Tyr return they come under fire creating a sinkhole and the Maru falls 73 meters down.

Dylan lands on Beka (comments he doesn't mind hugs, only kisses), but is unharmed. The planet has been heavily mined and they find this was done by Squorms (huge genetically engineered macrofauna that eat raw ore, leaves behind refined metal, and attracted by magnetic pulses). Rev at this point is desperate since his body will soon start digesting itself. Tyr suggests luring the Nietzscheans, then destroying the Maru to take their ships. Beka refuses to allow her home to be blown up, and when Dylan agrees they leave to explore the caverns and find another way out.

Earlier on the Andromeda, Rommie found Harper hid in the access tunnels and sick of the smell of Magog all over the ship and the overwhelming memories. Now he is in Medical, looking at the larvae inside and drinking beer. He complains to them and holds a gun to his stomach, prepared to kill himself only to be stopped by Rommie.

Dylan finds a Magnetic Accelerator, used to shoot refined ore into space. They decide to use Squorm residues to make wires to the Maru. They will reduce the Maru's mass to zero, glide to the accelerator and use launch.

However, at the Maru they find all weapons missing. Tyr uses these to bargain with the Nietzscheans who had aided him in recovering Drago-Museveni's remains. They are angry he left them as he made his escape. He tries to explain he'd been shot down, but they want to ransom the remains to the Dragans. They take the weapons but turn on Tyr.

Meanwhile, Rommie pleads with Harper for help since there is a leak in an AP transfer line which if not fixed will blow the ship up. Harper doesn't care, but she reminds him that she has her own demons inside (like the "backup Rommie") and can relate to what he's going through. He ends up relenting and saves the ship with seconds to spare.

Rev begs Beka to shoot him since he is only a creation of the Spirit of the Abyss rather than the Divine. Beka doesn't want him to give up, saying he may not have been created by the Divine, she is sure the Divine has plans for him.

Dylan finds Tyr and they manage to escape the Nietzscheans and get back to the Maru. Beka has the ship in place at the launcher, but the Nietzscheans block their path. The Squorms appear and devour the Nietzscheans and they are able to use the accelerator to launch into space, planning to slingshot around the sun to get fuel.

On the Andromeda Harper visits Rev to ensure he's okay. Rev promises to keep Harper in his prayers and Harper sincerely thanks him. Dylan accuses Tyr of becoming a liability and asks why he is part of the crew. Tyr admits he believed he could take the ship away or use it for his own plans. However, after meeting the coming menace of the Magog worldship he has re-thought his priorities and realizes he needs Dylan as much as Dylan needs him.

Synopsis 10/15/01 by Larry Kramer

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