Title: The Core of all Lies
Author: Shakia
Spoilers: Maybe, none so far
Summary: Trish, a captian of a small ship named Ceteri, saves Harper from slave traders who tell him they have proof the Andromeda crew sold him to them. Harper convinces Trish to help him find Andromeda. After four long years of searching they finally find her, but it's anything but the reunion they expected when they find out what Andromeda's dealt with through out those four years.
Disclaimer: I, unfortunatley, don't own Andromeda, Harper, or anything on the Andromeda show. Wish I did though! But I do at least own the charachter Trish and any other characters...I made up X.x
Author's Notes: I know, another fic X.x but for the record I started writing this before I started writing Barley alive or Lost! -grins innocently- Anyways, please review and tell me what you think of it! I hope you like the fic! :3
"Is it them?" Harper asked eagerly, attempting to look over Tish's shoulder. She shot him an annoyed glance and gave him a small shove.
"I'm not sure yet." She replied, returning her gaze to the flexi in her hands. "You know Harper, for such a big and famous ship Andromeda can sure be one heck of a hard time to find." She sighed, studying the data. It had been four years since she had met Seamus. She had learned to harden her heart in her life time but somehow Harper had gotten to her. They shared a lot of the same pain and experiances. It turned out that he had been kidnapped by slave traders. She was on the drift getting suplies at the time when she met up with him he was being beaten by two thugs. She still couldn't understand why she had did it especially considering she had seen worse things happen. It was a cruel universe after all. She had researched a bit on the compound of the slave area, but in the end realized she could never pull off a rescue and live to tell the tale. She ended up spending every last trone she had on her to "buy" him. She had explained stiffly to him she was not his master and would let him go if he worked off what all of what she had spent on him. That, she knew would take one heck of a long time too considering all the trones she had before he had come along. He had told her he was an engineer for the Andromeda. First she was sure he was lying and didn't give it a second thought. But after he not only fixed her engines and slipstream drive, but doubled their efficiancy she began to believe him. After a few months they had gotten to know eachother pretty well and finally then he was almost finished working off his debt. Although a few times she had caught him trying to sneak off before that. Finally he was done. She had been sad to see him go and even knew she would miss him. Ironically enough she met up with him not two weeks later to find him being chased and outnumbered by Drago Kazuf in a shuttle. Agian she saved his butt and she promised she would help him find the Andromeda. Unfortunatley it wasn't as easy as she had thought it would be. The planets of the Common Wealth all were highly gaurded and you could never predict exactly where the Andromeda would be. They had sent loads of messaged, which had mysteriously never been responded to. So they followed all the rumors and facts. Finally they had bought off some Nightsider for the information of Andromeda's next cordanence. She never made it her main goal in life to find the Andromeda though. It had always been a side hobby for them. They had been through countless adventures together and had obviously known eachother very well by now. From the point they had first met to now it had been almost four years. Finally though, finally they found her.
"If that Nightsider double tricked us I'm going to shove that furry rat nose of his up his..." She muttered as she read through the flexi, before pausing, her eyes widening. She suddenlt broke into a grin. "Shay, I think this is it!" She announced. Harper stared at her.
"Really?" He asked hopefully.
"Yea." She said, beaming at him and handing him the flexi. He skimmed through it and his face a lit with excitment.
"Tish, if it weren't oh so wrong I'd kiss you." He assured her happily.
"Your welcome." She said casually, leaning back in her chair. He frowned.
"Wonder if they still want me." He mumered uncertainly. Tish paused, her face becoming solem.
"No matter what the slavers said Harper, we can't be sure if it was Andromeda who sold you to them." She reminded him. He sighed, raking his hand through his hair.
"Yea, but they had proof-" He began.
"Which could have been false. We've been through this. You said you knew Beka for five years. Why would she just turn around and abandon you like that?" She challenged. He shrugged.
"Yea, but she didn't really bother to come back after two weeks, did she?" He muttered, lowering his head back to the flexi. Tish sighed.
"Yes, well, we'll see when we get there won't we?" She asked, placing a hand on his shoulder. He gave a doubtful shrug and a nod.
"Anyways, Ceteri, please download these coordinates." She dirrected her ship before strolling over to the pilot seat. She glanced over her shoulder to Harper as she took the controls. "You can go rest if you want." She reminded him. He gave her a weak smile.
"Tish...thanks for everything you've done for me. Really, I-" He began greatfully.
"Shay, it was no problem. And before you start, you know how I can't stand mushy stuff." She said, flashing him a grin.
"I'm serious. You wasted three years..." He sighed.
"Wasted? I don't know about that. I mean we've been on loads of stuff together. Like trapped on some doomed planet surrounded by Magog. That one was fun. Or how about the time we blew up a sun? Or those countless times Andar and his thugs tried to capture you. Or when you single handedly got into a high gaurded base to save me? Remember, I'm just as wanted as you for being...well, you know." She said with a nod to him. "I think I owe you equally as much." She grinned, pushing the controls foreword through space. Harper nodded uncertianly, taping the flexi agianst his hands. The ship jolted into slipstream forcing Tish to lean back in her chair and Harper to be thrown to the ground. After a few moments the Ceteri agian jolted into normal space.
"Ow." Harper moaned, slowly picking himself up. "Thanks for the warning." He muttered, rubbing his head. She laughed.
"After all these years I thought you would have know I never give warnin-" She joked before stoping dead in her speach, staring before her in awe. Harper scrambled toward her and the view screen, his jaw hanging slightly ajar.
"It's her." He breathed. "It's really Andromeda!" He laughed, punching his fist into the air.
"Unidentified ship, please respond." Dylan's voice rang through the com. Tish got up from her seat and moved aside to let Harper through.
"Oh man Dylan, you have no idea how truley beautiful your voice sounds right now. In fact I think it's the most beautiful thing I've heard in years!" He exclaimed joyfully through the com. There was a long pause before Dylan's face appeared on the view screen. He looked absulutley shocked as he stared at Harper. Harper beamed at him, braking out into a smile. "Man boss, you seriously need to make Andromeda easier to find." He laughed. Tish smiled happily at Harper. She was very happy for him, yes, but would miss him. Before Harper came she had always been alone and preffered it that way. He had changed that and frankly now she thought of him more as family. They had been through a lot.
"Harper." Beka said breathlessly from the piloting station. They all looked shocked, to doubtful and even to mistrusting.
"Yea!" He chimed, his head bobbing excitedly in acknowledgment. Dylan swallowed.
"We saw you die." He stated shortly. Harper furrowed brows, looking at them awkwardly. Dylan gave a slight cough. "Look, I'm really sorry, we've just been through a lot of tricks concerning...Harper." He explained. A sudden frown appeared on his face.
"Like what?" He asked cautiously, looking from each of them in turn.
"Try loads of clones." Beka snapped suddenly. "All conveniantly coming back from the dead and then trying and nearly sucseeding in destroying us." She shot, glaring at him. "Dylan, let's just screw it this time and save a lot of people a lot more grief." She growled, reaching to disconect transmitions.
"Oh no you don't!" Tish said, stepping toward the screen. "We've been searching for your forsaken ship for over four years now. We've nearly died hundreds of times trying to get to it and have been disapointed on so many occasions I've basically lost track. You have no right to do this to Harper." She growled.
"And who are you?" Dylan questioned. She shot him a glare.
"The captain of this ship." She said coldly. Harper looked over to her doubtfully.
"Naw Tish, it's alright." He assured her quietly. She suddenly found herself wanting slightly to let this go. Then Harper could stay here and she wouldn't be alone again. She quickly brushed the thought away and came to her sences.
"We haven't come all this way just to turn back." She told him sharply. Beka gave a harsh laugh.
"Bull." She muttered under her breath. "Dylan, you know as well as I do what has happened before. Three times before!" She said exhasperatedly. Dylan hesitated. Beka stared at him in disbelief. "You aren't seriously considering it. The last one just went through our walls like the Abyss's little soldiers. We can't even put him in the brig without taking a big risk." She stated.
"I'll have to agree with Beka." Tyr stated from weapons contol. Dylan sighed.
"I'm sorry, but this time we won't fall for any more of these tricks. Hunt out." He said stiffly. The screen went blank. Tish and Harper stared at the screen in disbelief falling silent for a long moment.
"Harper, I'll-I'll keep trying." Tish promised, braking the silence. Harper didn't respond or even look away from the still blank screen. His face was unreadable. "I'll try to get them to let you prove-" She began.
"No. No, it's alright." He said coldly. "I'll...I'll be in engineering." He muttered and before Tish could stop him he tore out of the room. She heaved a sigh before glaring at the screen. She wouldn't let them do that. Not after all this time. She hailed them agian, staring grimly at the screen.
"Look, maybe we can some how prove Harper is really Harper. Maybe something he'd only know. You have to give him a chance. I've been with him for four years so know him pretty darn well. I found him on a slave trading planet, he had been kidnapped. His slave traitors said you all sold him to them and even had the proof. This whole "Harper clone" thing might be some trick to keep him off your ship or it might be true. Either way, I don't care. He's been through more then you can imagine and we both have given up more then you could know to find you. You can't just destroy him like that!" She said through the com. She paused and sighed, trying to regain control of her emotions. "Please, please just give him one chance." She whispered, before sending the transmition. She sighed, leaning back in her chair. After a while she got to her feet and headed to engineering. Finally she reached the latter leading down to it. She hastily slid down it to find Harper sitting by the engine doing repairs.
"Shay..." She began hesitantly.
"I don't want to talk about it Tish." He replied sourly.
"I know." She replied, slowly heading toward him. He paused, relaxing his hold on his tools and looked up to her.
"What if they really did sell me to them? We were short on supplies and had no money and Dyllan was angry at me and-" He began hastily.
"Shay, if they were the people you said they were then I'm sure they didn't." She replied. He sighed, dropping his tools and lowering his head.
"Incoming transmition." The female voice of the Ceteri reported. She stood for another moment, looking to him.
"I'll be right back." She promised softly. He lifted his head for but a moment.
"Yea, well take your time." He muttered, reaching for his tools again. She crawled back up the latter and jogged to the view screen. It flashed on and Dyllan appeared on screen. She looked to him expectantly, her jaw locked and face cold.
"We've decided to give you a chance and are welcome to board." He sighed. Tish did notice however that only Dyllan looked up to it. She gave him a nod.
"Thank you." She said, smiling wearily. He nodded in responce before cutting the transmition.
"Harper!" She called over the com line.
"Yea?" He responded dryly.
"They're giving you a chance." She explained, thrusting the Ceteni foreword toward the opening in the docking bay.
"Tish, I told you-" He began.
"And as the captian I'm telling you to get your butt up here!" She ordered sharply. The Ceteri entered the massive ship and began to gently land. Harper appeared reluctantly around the corner. She got to her feet and looked over to him.
"Welcome home Seamus." She said softly as the ship rattled to a stop. "Now, let's go meet your former crew, shall we?" She asked, walking over to him. He hastily paused, shooting her a glance "Thanks Tish...really." He sighed honestly, giving her a defeated shrug. She grinned.
"Hey, what are friends for?" She asked before leading him out of the ship. Andromeda was shockingly a lot bigger then it had looked. Even the docking port was big enough to be a dozen ships. Harper's mood had suddenly changed as he looked about the port. Even there he seemed to be more relaxed. Harper began to explain to her everything about the docking bay before finally explaining rapidly every detial about Andromeda since the last time he had seen it. She had heard it all before now but let him soak in everything as they walked down the ramp. They were immiedietly greeted by Dyllan, Beka, Tyr and Rommie, all armed with weapons and pointing at them.
"Harper." Beka said dryly, her weapon pointed dirrectly at him. Harper stared at her for a long moment. Beka was the person Tish had heard most about. She had been in sense an older sister to Harper. The one person he trusted and loved more than anyone else. She had even saved him from Earth.
"We said we'd give you a chance." Dylan explained coldly. "And we will. But unless we know you are Harper-" Dyllan began.
"Which you aren't." Beka muttered, glaring at him. Dyllan looked over to her.
"We will have to treat you like a threat." Rommie concluded.
"This is one sucky family reunion." Tish muttered as she raised her hands in the air. Harper did the same and Rommie motioned them to follow her. Harper's eyes went over every detial of the ship as they walked through the halls.
"You will be confined to quarters during your stay and won't go anywhere else unless I say so." Dylan instructed, making it clear that he was in charge. "At the moment we're going to have Trance check you out." He explained.
"Trance? You mean that golden girl?" Tish asked, looking over to Dyllan. He continued to eye her stonily but nodded all the same. Finally they reached Med Deck and were greeted by Trance. She paused at the door, looking Harper up and down. Her breath caught in her throat and suddenly she threw her arms around him.
"Harper!" She cried, clinging onto him. Tish stared, stunned slightly by her reaction. Dyllan moved foreword and placed a hand on Trance's shoulder.
"Trance, we can't be sure he's not another one." Dyllan warned. Trance looked up to him, her eyes watering with joy. She gave a small laugh and released Harper, but clutched his hands tightly.
"No, no, it's him!" She insisted joyfully. "Oh Harper, we thought we had lost you." She went on. Harper seemed just as stunned as they were. Trance continued to beam and Dyllan cleared his throat.
"Trance, can I please have a word?" He asked uneasily, shifting his gaze to Harper for a moment. Trance nodded.
"Yea, sure!" She said, although seemed very reluctant to release her hold on his hands.
"Could you two please go over there?" Dyllan asked, motioning to the beds. Tish nodded and dragged Harper over to them, her question imiedietly bursting from her once they reached the beds.
"How did she know?" She asked awkwardly. Harper merley grinned.
"Well, I've told you how Trance sometimes is weird with that kind of stuff." He told her.
"At least someone here is smart enough to realize." Tish muttered, before hastily adding, "No offence..." Harper shrugged half heartedly.
"Yea..." He murmered nervously. Tish looked to the door where Dyllan and Trance had left out of and shut her eyes, straining to catch some of their conversation.
"How can you be sure Trance?" She heard Dyllan ask.
"I just know Dyllan! It's really him!" She squealed. Dyllan sighed.
"Look, be careful." He said. "I don't want to lose you. We nearly lost you last time. Just-stay away from him for the time being." He ordered. She returned her attention to Harper who waited expectanlty.
"Well?" He asked anxiously.
"Nothing, just what we might have suspected. Dyllan asking Trance how she knows, her saying she just does and Dyllan telling her to be careful." She explained. Harper nodded.
"Sometimes I can't help but value those neat powers you have." Harper said, patting her on the shoulder. She shrugged.
"I didn't find out anything." She reminded him.
"Yea, but whenever they do go off to talk you sure will." He pointed out.
"There more trouble then they're worth." She muttered bitterly.
"Ah, those bounty hunters and experimental pycos were just jealous." He assured her. She chuckled.
"Yea, sure Seamus." She laughed. Trance and Dyllan came back into the room. Trance seemed to be itching to rush over and give Harper another hug but manages to restrained herself.
"Trance, can you check them out? Look over they're blood work and such?" Dyllan asked. Tish tenced.
"Uh, blood work?" She asked, exchanging looks with Harper.
"Is there a problem with that?" Dyllan asked suspiciously.
"Uh, actually Dyllan-" He paused nervously when catching Dyllan's look. " "Captian Hunt"," He continued with a roll of his eyes. "See, Tish here's DNA and stuff was sorta changed." He explained. "We've been trying to out run a load of mondo freaky scientist freaks for the past three years because of it." He explained and added with a nod toward Tish, "She's also-...uh, I mean from a slave planet like me." He concluded. Dyllan studied them icily.
"I'll make note of that." He said coldly.
"I'm sure you will." Tish muttered under her breath. Dyllan nodded to Trance and whispered for her to be careful before heading out the door. Trance looked ready to explode.
"Where have you been all these years?! How'd you get back?? What happened??" She asked rapidly, rushing over to them.
"Well," Harper began, holding out his fingers, "Slave traitors, Tish and her ship rescuing me, running continuously from a load of science geeks, slave owners, and bounty hunters, looking nonstop for the Andromeda, transmitions being ignored by the Andromeda and some Nightsider selling us information on Andromeda's next slipstream jump." Harper explained, beaming at her.
"Harper, I missed you so much." She announced, reaching for her medical tools. He laughed.
"Yea, I missed you like heck too!" He exclaimed, beaming.
"I'll have to give you guys a shot and go through some more medical stuff." She explained hastily. Tish nodded reluctantly.
"Yea, alright." She murmered uneasily and began toying with the necklace laced around her neck nervously. Tish was always very uneasy around medical gear. It reminded her far to much of that lab she had been in most of her childhood life.
"Thank you so much for taking care of Harper." She said gratfully and if possible her smile grew. Tish grinned wearily.
"Hey, no problem." She said with a nod.
"Oh, sorry." Harper began with a sudden realization. "Trance, Trish, Trish, Trance." He said, motioning to the two of them. Trance nodded.
"An honor to meet you." Trance stated, with a nod. She reached out her hand to Trish. Trish excepted it and nodded.
"Same here." She said, flashing her a grin.
"So, uh, what'ch you guys been doing for the last four years?" Harper asked as Trance prepared to take a blood sample from him.
"It was hard after we thought you died. It took us a while to get back on our feet, but we were able to restore a lot of the Common Wealth." She explained as she removed the shot from Harper's arm. Trish felt the uneasyness grow as Trance prepared to take a blood sample from her.
'Ok, happy thoughts.' She told herself as she looked to the ceilling.
"You ready?" Trance asked, a hint of concern in her voice. She looked back at Trance and nodded.
"Oh yea, I'm fine." She assured her nervously. Trance nodded uncertainly before readying her needle. Trish returned her gaze to the ceiling and winced as she felt the needle enter her arm, but didn't say anything about it. Trance removed it she let out a breath she didn't realize she had been holding. She glanced over to Harper who gave her a reasuring smile, though didn't dare say anything about it. She was glad he didn't.
Trance headed over to a desk with the samples and began running her fingers across a computer screen next to it.
"Hey, uh, Trance?" Harper began uneasily. Trance glanced behind her and smiled, though continued her work.
"Yea?" She asked lightly.
"Dyllan and Beka said something about clones?" He questioned hastily. A frown appeared on her face and she paused in her work.
"Yea." She stated quitley and didn't say more till about a moment later. "Someone sent three clones of you. They were human and everything. But they couldn't really have the emotions you had. Or many memories. They sent them at seperate times, all through the course of the years." She explained as she continued working while she spoke. "Beka nearly died the first time. We had to replace her arm with a metal one." She said softly, hurt and pain etching her features as she recalled it. "She wears long sleaves and gloves to cover it." She explained as an afterthought. Trish looked over to Harper, her thoughts on the bloodwork all but forgotten. He looked grim and uneasy. Trance swallowed. "We saw you die. All of us. We had a funeral and everything." She explained wearily. She paused again, before finally continuing. "The second one did a lot of damage. Beka shot it down. That really killed her to do that. Even though she knew it wasn't you, it hurt her a lot." She said. "The last one nearly killed me and Beka again. And we think that whoever sent them works for the Abyss because it could walk through walls." She explained quitley as she ran a scanning device over the samples.
Silence reigned in the room for quite some time. Trish studied Harper worriedly, hoping that there was some way he could be excepted into the Andromeda crew again.
-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-
"Here's where you will be staying." Dylan said stonily and nodded to Harper. Harper nodded uneasily before heading into the guest quarters. Trish didn't like the fact that she couldn't keep an eye on Harper, but figured he'd be alright. If worst came to worst she was sure he would have something up his sleave. Dylan motioned for her to follow him before heading foreword. His face was still unreadable and his walk was stiff.
"I want you to know that we've equipt Andromeda with sensors that will immidiatly detect if someone goes through walls using Abyss's technoligy." He warned her.
"Thanks, I'm touched." She drawled as they stopped by another door. He flashed her a dark look before she entered the room. The door swished shut behind her and beeped as though to confirm that it was locked. She let her eyes travel over the room and raised her brows. Wow, Seamus really hadn't been kidding when he had been telling her about Andromeda. The room had a large bed in the center, a bathroom equipt with a shower, nice looking tables, a few computers, and even what looked like an auto chef. "Wow." She stated after a moment before heading toward the large bed. She sat on the edge of it and looked over the wall. Andromeda really was amazing. Even through Harper's discriptions she would've never imagined her to be this beautiful. She gave a small smile as she recalled him telling her with pride that he had built the AI, Rommie, and had redone and fixed the bridge himself after a Magog attack. She knew more about this crew then they would realize.
'Speaking of which...' She thought as she shut her eyes and consentrated on the sounds around her. Finally after a long couple of minutes she heard distant voices. The more she consentrated on them, the more clearer they got.
"Dylan, you can't keep him here!" She heard Beka's voice say furiously. She guessed they were a deck or two above her.
"Beka, I'm giving him a chance." He told her softly. She laughed.
"A chance?! A chance? How can you even think about that?! Or did you forget what the last three have done to us?" She snapped.
"Beka, I think it's really him this time. And the ship's logs do indicate as much." She heard Trance say.
"How can you be sure Trance, huh? Especially how the last one nearly killed you!" She asked. There was a pause. "That's what I thought." Beka muttered.
"Beka, calm down. We'll make sure both of them are secure and we'll have Trance go over them for any of the anomilies the last clones showed." He assured her.
"We saw him die Dyllan! I saw him die!" She told him exhausperatedly.
"I know Beka." He said softly.
"It could have been one of the clones we saw die." Trance put in.
"I'll have to agree with Beka on this one. We all saw him die and the abyss sent three of them to try and destroy us. Who says he won't send anymore?" Tyr asked.
"There wasn't proof of aging." Trance said suddenly after a small moment of silence.
"What?" Beka asked irritabley.
"Before, the other clones didn't check out to have aged the amount they should have. Wether it be by one week or by a year. Harper has." She said.
"Yea, so the Abyss is getting better at this." Beka said bitterly.
"Beka, I know how much it hurts for him to be on board, but until we find otherwise I'm giving him a chance." Dylan told her. "But just one chance." He added. Trish heard her give a sigh.
"I think we should take more cautions Dyllan." Tyr said. "Maybe innteragate him and the girl. See if they're stories match and are checked out and see what we can learn." Tyr told them. There was another pause.
"Alright Tyr, you and I should probably-" He started.
"I want to also." Beka suddenly put in. Silence. "Beka...I don't think-" Dyllan began.
"Please Dylan." She said.
"Alright. You, Tyr, and I will try that. Rommie, keep going over their ships logs, dig up everything you can. Trance keep going over what you found and tell me the results." Trish heard him say, before adding, "And Tyr, please try and not injer them." Dylan sighed.
"No promises." He growled. Trish pulled herself back to the room and opened her eyes to see the wall staring back at her. She sighed and threw her head back against the bed. This was going to be a very, very long day. She concluded irritabley.
- - - - - - - - - - -
TBC...So what do you think so far? Please, please review! Also I might make a lot of prequels (and sequals) once I'm finished with this one. (About Trish's and Harper's adventures and the crew's without Harper during the four years) Tell me what you think of that too! :3
Author: Shakia
Spoilers: Maybe, none so far
Summary: Trish, a captian of a small ship named Ceteri, saves Harper from slave traders who tell him they have proof the Andromeda crew sold him to them. Harper convinces Trish to help him find Andromeda. After four long years of searching they finally find her, but it's anything but the reunion they expected when they find out what Andromeda's dealt with through out those four years.
Disclaimer: I, unfortunatley, don't own Andromeda, Harper, or anything on the Andromeda show. Wish I did though! But I do at least own the charachter Trish and any other characters...I made up X.x
Author's Notes: I know, another fic X.x but for the record I started writing this before I started writing Barley alive or Lost! -grins innocently- Anyways, please review and tell me what you think of it! I hope you like the fic! :3
"Is it them?" Harper asked eagerly, attempting to look over Tish's shoulder. She shot him an annoyed glance and gave him a small shove.
"I'm not sure yet." She replied, returning her gaze to the flexi in her hands. "You know Harper, for such a big and famous ship Andromeda can sure be one heck of a hard time to find." She sighed, studying the data. It had been four years since she had met Seamus. She had learned to harden her heart in her life time but somehow Harper had gotten to her. They shared a lot of the same pain and experiances. It turned out that he had been kidnapped by slave traders. She was on the drift getting suplies at the time when she met up with him he was being beaten by two thugs. She still couldn't understand why she had did it especially considering she had seen worse things happen. It was a cruel universe after all. She had researched a bit on the compound of the slave area, but in the end realized she could never pull off a rescue and live to tell the tale. She ended up spending every last trone she had on her to "buy" him. She had explained stiffly to him she was not his master and would let him go if he worked off what all of what she had spent on him. That, she knew would take one heck of a long time too considering all the trones she had before he had come along. He had told her he was an engineer for the Andromeda. First she was sure he was lying and didn't give it a second thought. But after he not only fixed her engines and slipstream drive, but doubled their efficiancy she began to believe him. After a few months they had gotten to know eachother pretty well and finally then he was almost finished working off his debt. Although a few times she had caught him trying to sneak off before that. Finally he was done. She had been sad to see him go and even knew she would miss him. Ironically enough she met up with him not two weeks later to find him being chased and outnumbered by Drago Kazuf in a shuttle. Agian she saved his butt and she promised she would help him find the Andromeda. Unfortunatley it wasn't as easy as she had thought it would be. The planets of the Common Wealth all were highly gaurded and you could never predict exactly where the Andromeda would be. They had sent loads of messaged, which had mysteriously never been responded to. So they followed all the rumors and facts. Finally they had bought off some Nightsider for the information of Andromeda's next cordanence. She never made it her main goal in life to find the Andromeda though. It had always been a side hobby for them. They had been through countless adventures together and had obviously known eachother very well by now. From the point they had first met to now it had been almost four years. Finally though, finally they found her.
"If that Nightsider double tricked us I'm going to shove that furry rat nose of his up his..." She muttered as she read through the flexi, before pausing, her eyes widening. She suddenlt broke into a grin. "Shay, I think this is it!" She announced. Harper stared at her.
"Really?" He asked hopefully.
"Yea." She said, beaming at him and handing him the flexi. He skimmed through it and his face a lit with excitment.
"Tish, if it weren't oh so wrong I'd kiss you." He assured her happily.
"Your welcome." She said casually, leaning back in her chair. He frowned.
"Wonder if they still want me." He mumered uncertainly. Tish paused, her face becoming solem.
"No matter what the slavers said Harper, we can't be sure if it was Andromeda who sold you to them." She reminded him. He sighed, raking his hand through his hair.
"Yea, but they had proof-" He began.
"Which could have been false. We've been through this. You said you knew Beka for five years. Why would she just turn around and abandon you like that?" She challenged. He shrugged.
"Yea, but she didn't really bother to come back after two weeks, did she?" He muttered, lowering his head back to the flexi. Tish sighed.
"Yes, well, we'll see when we get there won't we?" She asked, placing a hand on his shoulder. He gave a doubtful shrug and a nod.
"Anyways, Ceteri, please download these coordinates." She dirrected her ship before strolling over to the pilot seat. She glanced over her shoulder to Harper as she took the controls. "You can go rest if you want." She reminded him. He gave her a weak smile.
"Tish...thanks for everything you've done for me. Really, I-" He began greatfully.
"Shay, it was no problem. And before you start, you know how I can't stand mushy stuff." She said, flashing him a grin.
"I'm serious. You wasted three years..." He sighed.
"Wasted? I don't know about that. I mean we've been on loads of stuff together. Like trapped on some doomed planet surrounded by Magog. That one was fun. Or how about the time we blew up a sun? Or those countless times Andar and his thugs tried to capture you. Or when you single handedly got into a high gaurded base to save me? Remember, I'm just as wanted as you for being...well, you know." She said with a nod to him. "I think I owe you equally as much." She grinned, pushing the controls foreword through space. Harper nodded uncertianly, taping the flexi agianst his hands. The ship jolted into slipstream forcing Tish to lean back in her chair and Harper to be thrown to the ground. After a few moments the Ceteri agian jolted into normal space.
"Ow." Harper moaned, slowly picking himself up. "Thanks for the warning." He muttered, rubbing his head. She laughed.
"After all these years I thought you would have know I never give warnin-" She joked before stoping dead in her speach, staring before her in awe. Harper scrambled toward her and the view screen, his jaw hanging slightly ajar.
"It's her." He breathed. "It's really Andromeda!" He laughed, punching his fist into the air.
"Unidentified ship, please respond." Dylan's voice rang through the com. Tish got up from her seat and moved aside to let Harper through.
"Oh man Dylan, you have no idea how truley beautiful your voice sounds right now. In fact I think it's the most beautiful thing I've heard in years!" He exclaimed joyfully through the com. There was a long pause before Dylan's face appeared on the view screen. He looked absulutley shocked as he stared at Harper. Harper beamed at him, braking out into a smile. "Man boss, you seriously need to make Andromeda easier to find." He laughed. Tish smiled happily at Harper. She was very happy for him, yes, but would miss him. Before Harper came she had always been alone and preffered it that way. He had changed that and frankly now she thought of him more as family. They had been through a lot.
"Harper." Beka said breathlessly from the piloting station. They all looked shocked, to doubtful and even to mistrusting.
"Yea!" He chimed, his head bobbing excitedly in acknowledgment. Dylan swallowed.
"We saw you die." He stated shortly. Harper furrowed brows, looking at them awkwardly. Dylan gave a slight cough. "Look, I'm really sorry, we've just been through a lot of tricks concerning...Harper." He explained. A sudden frown appeared on his face.
"Like what?" He asked cautiously, looking from each of them in turn.
"Try loads of clones." Beka snapped suddenly. "All conveniantly coming back from the dead and then trying and nearly sucseeding in destroying us." She shot, glaring at him. "Dylan, let's just screw it this time and save a lot of people a lot more grief." She growled, reaching to disconect transmitions.
"Oh no you don't!" Tish said, stepping toward the screen. "We've been searching for your forsaken ship for over four years now. We've nearly died hundreds of times trying to get to it and have been disapointed on so many occasions I've basically lost track. You have no right to do this to Harper." She growled.
"And who are you?" Dylan questioned. She shot him a glare.
"The captain of this ship." She said coldly. Harper looked over to her doubtfully.
"Naw Tish, it's alright." He assured her quietly. She suddenly found herself wanting slightly to let this go. Then Harper could stay here and she wouldn't be alone again. She quickly brushed the thought away and came to her sences.
"We haven't come all this way just to turn back." She told him sharply. Beka gave a harsh laugh.
"Bull." She muttered under her breath. "Dylan, you know as well as I do what has happened before. Three times before!" She said exhasperatedly. Dylan hesitated. Beka stared at him in disbelief. "You aren't seriously considering it. The last one just went through our walls like the Abyss's little soldiers. We can't even put him in the brig without taking a big risk." She stated.
"I'll have to agree with Beka." Tyr stated from weapons contol. Dylan sighed.
"I'm sorry, but this time we won't fall for any more of these tricks. Hunt out." He said stiffly. The screen went blank. Tish and Harper stared at the screen in disbelief falling silent for a long moment.
"Harper, I'll-I'll keep trying." Tish promised, braking the silence. Harper didn't respond or even look away from the still blank screen. His face was unreadable. "I'll try to get them to let you prove-" She began.
"No. No, it's alright." He said coldly. "I'll...I'll be in engineering." He muttered and before Tish could stop him he tore out of the room. She heaved a sigh before glaring at the screen. She wouldn't let them do that. Not after all this time. She hailed them agian, staring grimly at the screen.
"Look, maybe we can some how prove Harper is really Harper. Maybe something he'd only know. You have to give him a chance. I've been with him for four years so know him pretty darn well. I found him on a slave trading planet, he had been kidnapped. His slave traitors said you all sold him to them and even had the proof. This whole "Harper clone" thing might be some trick to keep him off your ship or it might be true. Either way, I don't care. He's been through more then you can imagine and we both have given up more then you could know to find you. You can't just destroy him like that!" She said through the com. She paused and sighed, trying to regain control of her emotions. "Please, please just give him one chance." She whispered, before sending the transmition. She sighed, leaning back in her chair. After a while she got to her feet and headed to engineering. Finally she reached the latter leading down to it. She hastily slid down it to find Harper sitting by the engine doing repairs.
"Shay..." She began hesitantly.
"I don't want to talk about it Tish." He replied sourly.
"I know." She replied, slowly heading toward him. He paused, relaxing his hold on his tools and looked up to her.
"What if they really did sell me to them? We were short on supplies and had no money and Dyllan was angry at me and-" He began hastily.
"Shay, if they were the people you said they were then I'm sure they didn't." She replied. He sighed, dropping his tools and lowering his head.
"Incoming transmition." The female voice of the Ceteri reported. She stood for another moment, looking to him.
"I'll be right back." She promised softly. He lifted his head for but a moment.
"Yea, well take your time." He muttered, reaching for his tools again. She crawled back up the latter and jogged to the view screen. It flashed on and Dyllan appeared on screen. She looked to him expectantly, her jaw locked and face cold.
"We've decided to give you a chance and are welcome to board." He sighed. Tish did notice however that only Dyllan looked up to it. She gave him a nod.
"Thank you." She said, smiling wearily. He nodded in responce before cutting the transmition.
"Harper!" She called over the com line.
"Yea?" He responded dryly.
"They're giving you a chance." She explained, thrusting the Ceteni foreword toward the opening in the docking bay.
"Tish, I told you-" He began.
"And as the captian I'm telling you to get your butt up here!" She ordered sharply. The Ceteri entered the massive ship and began to gently land. Harper appeared reluctantly around the corner. She got to her feet and looked over to him.
"Welcome home Seamus." She said softly as the ship rattled to a stop. "Now, let's go meet your former crew, shall we?" She asked, walking over to him. He hastily paused, shooting her a glance "Thanks Tish...really." He sighed honestly, giving her a defeated shrug. She grinned.
"Hey, what are friends for?" She asked before leading him out of the ship. Andromeda was shockingly a lot bigger then it had looked. Even the docking port was big enough to be a dozen ships. Harper's mood had suddenly changed as he looked about the port. Even there he seemed to be more relaxed. Harper began to explain to her everything about the docking bay before finally explaining rapidly every detial about Andromeda since the last time he had seen it. She had heard it all before now but let him soak in everything as they walked down the ramp. They were immiedietly greeted by Dyllan, Beka, Tyr and Rommie, all armed with weapons and pointing at them.
"Harper." Beka said dryly, her weapon pointed dirrectly at him. Harper stared at her for a long moment. Beka was the person Tish had heard most about. She had been in sense an older sister to Harper. The one person he trusted and loved more than anyone else. She had even saved him from Earth.
"We said we'd give you a chance." Dylan explained coldly. "And we will. But unless we know you are Harper-" Dyllan began.
"Which you aren't." Beka muttered, glaring at him. Dyllan looked over to her.
"We will have to treat you like a threat." Rommie concluded.
"This is one sucky family reunion." Tish muttered as she raised her hands in the air. Harper did the same and Rommie motioned them to follow her. Harper's eyes went over every detial of the ship as they walked through the halls.
"You will be confined to quarters during your stay and won't go anywhere else unless I say so." Dylan instructed, making it clear that he was in charge. "At the moment we're going to have Trance check you out." He explained.
"Trance? You mean that golden girl?" Tish asked, looking over to Dyllan. He continued to eye her stonily but nodded all the same. Finally they reached Med Deck and were greeted by Trance. She paused at the door, looking Harper up and down. Her breath caught in her throat and suddenly she threw her arms around him.
"Harper!" She cried, clinging onto him. Tish stared, stunned slightly by her reaction. Dyllan moved foreword and placed a hand on Trance's shoulder.
"Trance, we can't be sure he's not another one." Dyllan warned. Trance looked up to him, her eyes watering with joy. She gave a small laugh and released Harper, but clutched his hands tightly.
"No, no, it's him!" She insisted joyfully. "Oh Harper, we thought we had lost you." She went on. Harper seemed just as stunned as they were. Trance continued to beam and Dyllan cleared his throat.
"Trance, can I please have a word?" He asked uneasily, shifting his gaze to Harper for a moment. Trance nodded.
"Yea, sure!" She said, although seemed very reluctant to release her hold on his hands.
"Could you two please go over there?" Dyllan asked, motioning to the beds. Tish nodded and dragged Harper over to them, her question imiedietly bursting from her once they reached the beds.
"How did she know?" She asked awkwardly. Harper merley grinned.
"Well, I've told you how Trance sometimes is weird with that kind of stuff." He told her.
"At least someone here is smart enough to realize." Tish muttered, before hastily adding, "No offence..." Harper shrugged half heartedly.
"Yea..." He murmered nervously. Tish looked to the door where Dyllan and Trance had left out of and shut her eyes, straining to catch some of their conversation.
"How can you be sure Trance?" She heard Dyllan ask.
"I just know Dyllan! It's really him!" She squealed. Dyllan sighed.
"Look, be careful." He said. "I don't want to lose you. We nearly lost you last time. Just-stay away from him for the time being." He ordered. She returned her attention to Harper who waited expectanlty.
"Well?" He asked anxiously.
"Nothing, just what we might have suspected. Dyllan asking Trance how she knows, her saying she just does and Dyllan telling her to be careful." She explained. Harper nodded.
"Sometimes I can't help but value those neat powers you have." Harper said, patting her on the shoulder. She shrugged.
"I didn't find out anything." She reminded him.
"Yea, but whenever they do go off to talk you sure will." He pointed out.
"There more trouble then they're worth." She muttered bitterly.
"Ah, those bounty hunters and experimental pycos were just jealous." He assured her. She chuckled.
"Yea, sure Seamus." She laughed. Trance and Dyllan came back into the room. Trance seemed to be itching to rush over and give Harper another hug but manages to restrained herself.
"Trance, can you check them out? Look over they're blood work and such?" Dyllan asked. Tish tenced.
"Uh, blood work?" She asked, exchanging looks with Harper.
"Is there a problem with that?" Dyllan asked suspiciously.
"Uh, actually Dyllan-" He paused nervously when catching Dyllan's look. " "Captian Hunt"," He continued with a roll of his eyes. "See, Tish here's DNA and stuff was sorta changed." He explained. "We've been trying to out run a load of mondo freaky scientist freaks for the past three years because of it." He explained and added with a nod toward Tish, "She's also-...uh, I mean from a slave planet like me." He concluded. Dyllan studied them icily.
"I'll make note of that." He said coldly.
"I'm sure you will." Tish muttered under her breath. Dyllan nodded to Trance and whispered for her to be careful before heading out the door. Trance looked ready to explode.
"Where have you been all these years?! How'd you get back?? What happened??" She asked rapidly, rushing over to them.
"Well," Harper began, holding out his fingers, "Slave traitors, Tish and her ship rescuing me, running continuously from a load of science geeks, slave owners, and bounty hunters, looking nonstop for the Andromeda, transmitions being ignored by the Andromeda and some Nightsider selling us information on Andromeda's next slipstream jump." Harper explained, beaming at her.
"Harper, I missed you so much." She announced, reaching for her medical tools. He laughed.
"Yea, I missed you like heck too!" He exclaimed, beaming.
"I'll have to give you guys a shot and go through some more medical stuff." She explained hastily. Tish nodded reluctantly.
"Yea, alright." She murmered uneasily and began toying with the necklace laced around her neck nervously. Tish was always very uneasy around medical gear. It reminded her far to much of that lab she had been in most of her childhood life.
"Thank you so much for taking care of Harper." She said gratfully and if possible her smile grew. Tish grinned wearily.
"Hey, no problem." She said with a nod.
"Oh, sorry." Harper began with a sudden realization. "Trance, Trish, Trish, Trance." He said, motioning to the two of them. Trance nodded.
"An honor to meet you." Trance stated, with a nod. She reached out her hand to Trish. Trish excepted it and nodded.
"Same here." She said, flashing her a grin.
"So, uh, what'ch you guys been doing for the last four years?" Harper asked as Trance prepared to take a blood sample from him.
"It was hard after we thought you died. It took us a while to get back on our feet, but we were able to restore a lot of the Common Wealth." She explained as she removed the shot from Harper's arm. Trish felt the uneasyness grow as Trance prepared to take a blood sample from her.
'Ok, happy thoughts.' She told herself as she looked to the ceilling.
"You ready?" Trance asked, a hint of concern in her voice. She looked back at Trance and nodded.
"Oh yea, I'm fine." She assured her nervously. Trance nodded uncertainly before readying her needle. Trish returned her gaze to the ceiling and winced as she felt the needle enter her arm, but didn't say anything about it. Trance removed it she let out a breath she didn't realize she had been holding. She glanced over to Harper who gave her a reasuring smile, though didn't dare say anything about it. She was glad he didn't.
Trance headed over to a desk with the samples and began running her fingers across a computer screen next to it.
"Hey, uh, Trance?" Harper began uneasily. Trance glanced behind her and smiled, though continued her work.
"Yea?" She asked lightly.
"Dyllan and Beka said something about clones?" He questioned hastily. A frown appeared on her face and she paused in her work.
"Yea." She stated quitley and didn't say more till about a moment later. "Someone sent three clones of you. They were human and everything. But they couldn't really have the emotions you had. Or many memories. They sent them at seperate times, all through the course of the years." She explained as she continued working while she spoke. "Beka nearly died the first time. We had to replace her arm with a metal one." She said softly, hurt and pain etching her features as she recalled it. "She wears long sleaves and gloves to cover it." She explained as an afterthought. Trish looked over to Harper, her thoughts on the bloodwork all but forgotten. He looked grim and uneasy. Trance swallowed. "We saw you die. All of us. We had a funeral and everything." She explained wearily. She paused again, before finally continuing. "The second one did a lot of damage. Beka shot it down. That really killed her to do that. Even though she knew it wasn't you, it hurt her a lot." She said. "The last one nearly killed me and Beka again. And we think that whoever sent them works for the Abyss because it could walk through walls." She explained quitley as she ran a scanning device over the samples.
Silence reigned in the room for quite some time. Trish studied Harper worriedly, hoping that there was some way he could be excepted into the Andromeda crew again.
-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-
"Here's where you will be staying." Dylan said stonily and nodded to Harper. Harper nodded uneasily before heading into the guest quarters. Trish didn't like the fact that she couldn't keep an eye on Harper, but figured he'd be alright. If worst came to worst she was sure he would have something up his sleave. Dylan motioned for her to follow him before heading foreword. His face was still unreadable and his walk was stiff.
"I want you to know that we've equipt Andromeda with sensors that will immidiatly detect if someone goes through walls using Abyss's technoligy." He warned her.
"Thanks, I'm touched." She drawled as they stopped by another door. He flashed her a dark look before she entered the room. The door swished shut behind her and beeped as though to confirm that it was locked. She let her eyes travel over the room and raised her brows. Wow, Seamus really hadn't been kidding when he had been telling her about Andromeda. The room had a large bed in the center, a bathroom equipt with a shower, nice looking tables, a few computers, and even what looked like an auto chef. "Wow." She stated after a moment before heading toward the large bed. She sat on the edge of it and looked over the wall. Andromeda really was amazing. Even through Harper's discriptions she would've never imagined her to be this beautiful. She gave a small smile as she recalled him telling her with pride that he had built the AI, Rommie, and had redone and fixed the bridge himself after a Magog attack. She knew more about this crew then they would realize.
'Speaking of which...' She thought as she shut her eyes and consentrated on the sounds around her. Finally after a long couple of minutes she heard distant voices. The more she consentrated on them, the more clearer they got.
"Dylan, you can't keep him here!" She heard Beka's voice say furiously. She guessed they were a deck or two above her.
"Beka, I'm giving him a chance." He told her softly. She laughed.
"A chance?! A chance? How can you even think about that?! Or did you forget what the last three have done to us?" She snapped.
"Beka, I think it's really him this time. And the ship's logs do indicate as much." She heard Trance say.
"How can you be sure Trance, huh? Especially how the last one nearly killed you!" She asked. There was a pause. "That's what I thought." Beka muttered.
"Beka, calm down. We'll make sure both of them are secure and we'll have Trance go over them for any of the anomilies the last clones showed." He assured her.
"We saw him die Dyllan! I saw him die!" She told him exhausperatedly.
"I know Beka." He said softly.
"It could have been one of the clones we saw die." Trance put in.
"I'll have to agree with Beka on this one. We all saw him die and the abyss sent three of them to try and destroy us. Who says he won't send anymore?" Tyr asked.
"There wasn't proof of aging." Trance said suddenly after a small moment of silence.
"What?" Beka asked irritabley.
"Before, the other clones didn't check out to have aged the amount they should have. Wether it be by one week or by a year. Harper has." She said.
"Yea, so the Abyss is getting better at this." Beka said bitterly.
"Beka, I know how much it hurts for him to be on board, but until we find otherwise I'm giving him a chance." Dylan told her. "But just one chance." He added. Trish heard her give a sigh.
"I think we should take more cautions Dyllan." Tyr said. "Maybe innteragate him and the girl. See if they're stories match and are checked out and see what we can learn." Tyr told them. There was another pause.
"Alright Tyr, you and I should probably-" He started.
"I want to also." Beka suddenly put in. Silence. "Beka...I don't think-" Dyllan began.
"Please Dylan." She said.
"Alright. You, Tyr, and I will try that. Rommie, keep going over their ships logs, dig up everything you can. Trance keep going over what you found and tell me the results." Trish heard him say, before adding, "And Tyr, please try and not injer them." Dylan sighed.
"No promises." He growled. Trish pulled herself back to the room and opened her eyes to see the wall staring back at her. She sighed and threw her head back against the bed. This was going to be a very, very long day. She concluded irritabley.
- - - - - - - - - - -
TBC...So what do you think so far? Please, please review! Also I might make a lot of prequels (and sequals) once I'm finished with this one. (About Trish's and Harper's adventures and the crew's without Harper during the four years) Tell me what you think of that too! :3