Title: Coming of Age
Author: AKA Jipster
Archive: only at Command Deck
Rating: R (precaution only - just in case things get extreme)
A completely new standalone story with NO reference to any previous fanfic written by the AKA of Jipster
Summery: Dylan, Rhade, Beka and Harper are making their way to the city of Edenia, a forified stone city that has purposely protected itself from the outside for many centuries. The diplomatic mission involves a trek of two days, and along the way Harper reveals a small part of his past to them that becomes even more real when they walk through the towering walls into the city and discover the truth about their invitation to visit.
Warning: the usual Jips fic angst and twisty turneys, oh and cliffhangers. Violence naturally, oh and a lil bit of good ole torture. Some mild to moderate bad smells, and a little touch of intrigue that might drive you batty.
"Where the hell is Harper?"
Beka stood by the flap of the temporary shelter, as the wind picked up and the rain clouds above threatened to unleash its load onto them. She turned around to Rhade and Dylan, demanding an answer.
"He went for a walk, he knows the storm is approaching, Beka, I'm sure he'll be back in good time," Dylan offered.
"A walk?" Beka gestured to the dense trees and unknown terrain outside.
"He wanted to explore, let the kid have some fun, it's not like he gets out much," Rhade dismissed Beka's concerns.
"The mother hen look really doesn't suit you, Beka," Dylan then remarked with amusement.
Beka looked at her two companions with frustration and joined them by the heater Harper had set up before he had disappeared on some stupid explore. "I'm not being a mother hen, it's just he knew this storm was approaching, we came down here knowing a storm would hinder our progress for a few hours," she rubbed her hands together, feeling the chill of the approaching storm. "We were prepared for once, for this, so why has he now decided to throw all those plans aside and wander off?" she stressed. "We've seen the footage on these storms, they are not pretty."
"Beka, this isn't about Harper is it? Its about being planet side during this storm, look, it's ok to be afraid," Rhade spoke with an amused calm.
"I'm not afraid," Beka shot back.
"You're a spacer who hates planets, and hates weather," Rhade reminded her.
"Ok, I'll shut up," Beka snapped wrapping her arms around herself, and she looked upwards as a gust of wind hit the shelter. "Ok, maybe I'm a little concerned, I just don't like the unpredictability of it all, and just being sat here doing nothing but waiting for the weather to do it's thing," she frowned. "I'll just be happier when we are back up there," she finished, and huddled up a little more, as silence returned and they all focused on the heater and the warmth it offered them.
All three of them then looked upwards as the rain began to hit the shelter, and Dylan pre-empted Beka's next question by pulling out his communicator and activating it.
"Harper, where the hell are you?" Dylan transmitted, looking at the appreciative glance Beka threw him.
The communicator cackled before Harper's voice responded. "Just outside, boss," he spoke loudly to be heard over the wind and rain.
"Would you mind just coming inside, Mr Harper?" Dylan requested tiredly.
Moments later Harper bounded into the shelter, soaked through from the downpour but beaming like a child. "Hey boss, what do you want?" Harper asked when it wasn't immediately obvious.
"For you to come inside, you psycho," Beka scolded. "What are you doing out there, look at yourself!"
"It's just a storm, a bit of rain," Harper offered. "What's the problem?"
"Harper, it's more than just a storm," Dylan challenged calmly. "Now change out of those wet clothes, and get some of this food inside you," he ordered.
"But you should see it out there, it beautiful, especially when the lightening strikes," Harper enthused before Dylan gave him an icy stare, matched only by Beka's. "Shesh," Harper complained under his breath and moved to the cordoned off sleeping area to follow orders.
As he started to change the delayed reaction to the cold hit him, and he began to shiver. He had been just fine outside, enjoying the elements and silently cursed his crew mates for stopping his fun, now he had to spend the new few hours sitting by a heater, missing all the fun outside. It had been so long since he had felt rain against his skin, safe rain that wouldn't harm him. It had been years since he had smelled that deep rich aroma of a storm, and seen the natural beauty of a night sky being lit up by lightening; they just didn't understand or appreciate the same things that he did.
With a frown, Harper grabbed a blanket and wrapped himself up in it before he returned to the main living area, and found a seat next to Beka by the heater. The others were in deep discussion now, and Dylan absently handed Harper a mug of hot tea, that he grabbed with both hands, appreciating the warmth, as he took a few sips.
Catching up with the conversation, Harper realised they were discussing their childhood, Rhade was in full flow recounting a camping trip he had been on with his father and younger brother. Beka and Dylan were hanging onto his every word, Harper noticed, with Dylan adding his own anecdotes of similar experiences camping with his own family, Harper kept quiet as he focused on finishing his drink, before Beka handed him a metal tin that contained some heated food rations.
"There was this one time where I thought we were goners for sure," Rhade then began. "I must have been twelve, my brother nearly ten and we were walking behind father, a very proud guy," he noted.
"Really, an uber, proud, who'd of thought?" Harper chipped in, with mocking tones only to be met by icy stares, before Rhade continued.
"This huge Orkad appeared from nowhere, a cat like creature the size of a Magog, teeth showing, I thought we were all dead for sure," Rhade exclaimed with a wide smile. "You got to appreciate I was just a kid, and at that age I'd seen very little other than the settlement where we lived, our annual retreat into the forest was our one adventure a year as kids, and this creature was like something out of a nightmare," he offered fondly, remembering his memories.
"So what happened?" Beka enthused. "You must have been terrified," she added, gripped by the story from Rhade's youth.
"My father took two shots at it, and then with pure panic in his face, turned and told us to run, and I swear we didn't stop till we reached our tent, and even then I didn't sleep much that night," Rhade admitted. "My father told me years later that he'd killed the beast with his first shot, but he wanted us to feel genuine fear, to make us respect fear, it was all a trick," he added with a smile.
"Seems like it worked," Dylan responded, sounding as though he approved of the elder Rhade's actions.
Harper tucked into his food as Beka began to recount her own story, and he listened with interest as she spoke of the only beasts that she encountered were of the drug fuelled ones her father called friends.
"Must have been scary as a child," Dylan remarked.
Beka shrugged. "I had this hiding place on the Maru," she offered.
Harper smirked. "Behind the engine relays, under the deck plates," he offered, having found her hiding place shortly after joining her crew.
"Thank you, Harper, yes," Beka lightly hit his arm. "Anyway, luckily for me my father's dead head friends weren't as sneaky as Seamus, and never found me, I was safe there," she frowned.
"I think I was twelve when I had my first proper brush with death," Dylan now spoke up.
"My god, what happened?" Beka asked with interest.
"I was rock climbing with my father," Dylan remembered. "I didn't secure my rope tightly enough, half way up the face of this mountain my safety ropes came away, leaving me stranded nearly two hundred feet above rocky ground."
"Must have been terrifying," Beka returned.
"Thankfully the rescue teams spotted it, and were able to get to me within five minutes, and just before the ropes split," Dylan played it down, as he poured himself some more tea.
"I bet you never slacked on your ropes again," Rhade remarked.
"I sure didn't," Dylan smiled. "That was a lesson learned the hard way."
Harper put his empty tin down, and moved to refill his mug with more tea. When he settled down again he noticed that the conversation had died down, and they all seemed to be lost in their own memories. With a frown, Harper cupped his mug, seeking the warmth in his hands, and closed his eyes to listen to the storm outside, the wind was howling now as the rain bombarded them.
The shelter was more than adequate to protect them from the storm, but a part of Harper wanted to rush outside again to appreciate it more, he knew however that he was now in his only dry change of clothes and didn't fancy risking being soggy for the next few days during their mission on this planet.
Opening his eyes again, Harper realised that a fresh discussion still had not happened and his fellow crewmates were just sat in silence now. They hadn't asked him about his own experiences as a kid, but then he hadn't offered anything and Harper wondered if they just didn't want to ask, or want to know, or if they were being diplomatic in thinking he might not want to remember, knowing where he came from.
Harper put his mug down, and cleared his throat, still unsure if he should speak up but deciding the silence was worse than anything that he could tell them, so with a nervous smile he spoke up. "You know, there was this one time when I accidentally fell down a disused elevator shaft."
All attention immediately turned to him without word, and Harper could tell now that they hadn't expected him to share any stories from his youth, but he persisted. "I must have fallen about hundred feet but my fall was broken by a soft landing, on rubbish that had accumulated at the bottom of the shaft."
"Were you ok?" Beka asked, with concern in her voice.
Harper briefly smiled, almost a smirk, his mind considering the notion that having fallen over a hundred feet that he could possibly be ok, that he might have bounced miraculously but he pushed that thought away, briefly glancing at Beka. "I must have been knocked out because the next time I opened my eyes it was pitch black, the daylight was gone," he took a breath, collecting his thoughts. "I could hear my name being called, but I had cracked some ribs and I couldn't yell back without pain," he remembered with a frown, focused on his mug that he gripped now, as if for dear life, not having to look up to see he had everyone's attention. "The shouting only lasted a few minutes though, I guess an uber patrol must have been near."
"So what happened?" Rhade prompted with interest.
"I found a gap in the shaft and crawled through it, and I was in some underground space, apparently cars or something used to be stored there," Harper calmly spoke. "Then I spotted some ubers," and he naturally glanced at Rhade, before looking away.
"I've never stayed so still in my life," Harper smirked. "I knew they knew I was there, and they turned the entire space over convinced I was there but they couldn't find me," he stressed, with a hint of pride. "Even when they threw the box I was hiding in across the floor, I made no sound, not even a whimper, and even though it hurt like hell, I didn't make a sound," he stated proudly, and he looked at his crewmates in turn, seeing the same unsure expression from each of them, not sharing his joy at managing to stay hidden, not understanding. "They finally left in defeat, and I waited a couple of hours before I found a way out and returned home," he finished quickly, and with less enthusiasm.
"Your family must have been pleased to see you safe," Dylan remarked.
Harper looked up at the captain for a moment, before looking at the others. "At that age I was just another mouth to feed," Harper finally returned distantly. "And now I had injuries as well, no good for anyone," he added with a shrug.
"Even still, your parents must have been pleased," Beka offered.
"They'd already died by then," Harper answered, not taking his eyes off the mug, as he quickly finished his tea, beginning to feel uncomfortable suddenly.
"Sorry," Beka quickly responded, reminding Harper why they probably didn't ask him to share a story from his youth, and for a moment he felt awkward and a little guilty for dampening the mood.
"How old were you?" Rhade then enquired.
Harper looked at Rhade and considered the question, not having an immediate answer. "I dunno, I was still considered a minor then, a burden, and Brendan had just started going with the elders to search for food making him useful, an adult in the elder's eyes," he then frowned. "I was only in that building because I was bored, with Brendan no longer around all the time, and my other cousins still being dependants, infants," he shrugged. "I was two years younger than Brendan so at that point I must have been five or six," he shrugged casually, hoping for a change of topic if he dismissed his own story.
"Five or six!" Beka exclaimed, and Harper knew his plan to quickly dismiss his story had backfired, as he look away, leaving Beka to instantly appear to regret her outburst.
"It's a childhood story," Harper offered defensively. "I thought that's what the topic was," he added curtly.
"I think Beka was just expecting you to be a little older than five or six, when you spoke of the search for you being called off, and dealing with the Nietzscheans," Dylan reasoned. "I think we all did."
"Yeah, well we all know my childhood wasn't like any of yours, that it was a whole heap of crappiness, what did you expect?" Harper stated with a hint of bitterness. "I never had camping trips, or went rock climbing," he paused for a moment. "I did see drug heads," he offered to Beka. "But unlike you, I didn't have any hiding place," he said quietly, and threw his mug to the ground. "I had to grow up quick, everyone did," he added in almost a whisper, as he brought his hand to his face to contain his emotions, and remain calm.
"I think we should change the subject," Dylan suggested diplomatically.
"We could always talk about the weather," Harper quipped, eager to move the topic on, and looking upwards as the wind continued to howl.
"What is this weird fascination you have with the weather?" Beka asked, by way of assisting the change in subject.
"I like the rain," Harper grinned. "On Earth, you couldn't play in the rain unless you wanted to have your skin burned off," he then frowned, as he remembered. "But it always fascinated me, sometimes I'd let the rain fall on my hand, it hurt like hell later when the burn kicked in, but just so I could feel it," he grinned, more to himself as the others simply looked on.
"You are a psycho," Beka sighed, and Harper realised he had dragged the topic down again, so attempted to lift it up.
"Remember that time you took me to see the ocean?" Harper enthused towards Beka. "That first vacation you took me on after you realised I'd never taken a vacation before, you took me to that beach and I surfed for a week."
"Yeah, I remember," Beka now smiled with fondness.
"The first time I'd ever touched natural water without it leaving a mark," Harper exclaimed. "Man, that was like heaven," Harper beamed with his memories, his hands outstretched as if reliving them right there.
Beka lost her smile. "Ok, back up," she demanded. "The first time you'd touched water without it leaving a mark?" she checked. "Are you telling me that was the first time you'd ever surfed, or swam, or played in water full stop?" she asked pointedly.
Harper's grin gave his guilt away. "Yeah," he finally admitted. "Because if I'd have told you it was my first time, you'd have gone all mother on me," he accused. "You have this way about you, like you need to protect me, I'm not complaining but sometimes it's not cool, and I really wanted to surf," he attempted to explain.
Rhade and Dylan both smirked, indicating that they agreed with Harper's assessment.
"But you were swimming immediately, and then you were simply a natural on the surfboard, I just assumed that you'd done it before," Beka remembered now with disbelief. "I can't believe that was your first time."
"I'm a quick study, what can I say, first times are always special with the Harper," Harper grinned mischievously, and then shrugged. "Besides, I'd dreamed of doing that stuff all my life, I had these old torn books on Earth for a long time, and I memorised every picture, every move," he explained.
"Of all the books you could have read from Earth, its back catalogue of classic literature, and you chose to occupy your time studying surf books?" Rhade mocked.
"He looked at the pictures, Rhade," Beka pointed out what Harper had said. "This kid couldn't read or write when he found himself on my ship, he could barely speak Common."
"Thank you, Beka," Harper responded, and grabbed a bottle of beer. "Here, take my ego, bash it some more," he gestured, as he opened the beer. "Besides I could talk, and read and write, just not so much in common, there are other languages in this universe."
"And there's a reason that common is the most common language," Beka countered playfully. "Actually he was ok with basic conversation, it was only noticeable when we started visiting drifts, and the different dialects and slang came into play," Beka smiled fondly at Harper, and Harper knew she wasn't being vindictive, just making conversation.
"Common was the uber language," Harper then stated in his defence. "No offence, Rhade, but we mud foots didn't want to sound like our oppressors, we had our own language that they didn't understand, and our exposure to Common was just what the Jerkoffs used."
"You must have spent a bit of time with the Dragans then, to be able to converse at any length in common," Rhade noted, with a hidden smile.
"I may have spent some time in their top hotels, taking advantage of their excellent service standards," Harper hinted with a scowl, and looked down for a moment, and Rhade couldn't help but look away with sadness, as he realised what Harper was suggesting.
"Are you seriously telling me that when you joined the Maru you couldn't completely understand Common?" Dylan then questioned, astonished. "You only joined the Andromeda five years later, and I had no idea."
"This helped," Harper tapped his data port. "I was able to download loads of information regarding the nuances in the language, plus it helped me to learn to read and write the language, so I fitted in," he shrugged nonchalantly.
"It also kept his butt on the Maru, once he was able to download the schematics into that thing he became the engineer you know today," Beka grinned. "He likes you to think it's a natural genius, but it's all artificial," Beka mocked Harper now.
"Not true," Harper protested. "I still have to understand the information I put in here, figure out the best solutions, and identify stuff, the port is just my resource for that stuff, it assists that's all," he finished looking a little put out.
"I know, I'm just teasing," Beka put an arm around Harper's shoulders fondly.
"So just for my own reference and stuff," Harper now ventured, a little unsure but needing to know. "When do you all consider you came of age, took responsibility and stuff, became an adult?" he asked with interest.
"When I was sixteen and entered the High Guard Acadamy," Dylan confidently announced. "My parents no longer supported me, and I was on my own, had to take responsibility for my own actions."
"The same," Rhade agreed. "Although I was pretty independent from the age of fourteen, I was in charge of a number of societies in my educational years around that time."
Beka hesitated. "I guess when my dad died, early twenties, but I was running things from about the age of seventeen when his problem got worse," she shrugged. "It was when I started taking on the running of the Maru, and the business to survive, that I truly felt grown up in the self accepting way."
Harper considered the responses, knowing his own and frowned, bringing his knees up to his chest as he considered his own answer.
"You have that look to suggest mid to late teens seems a bit old for you and that milestone to occur," Dylan observed correctly, looking at Harper now, and Harper could only smirk, knowing the captain had guessed right.
"It's three to one," Harper pointed out cryptically. "Meaning it's you guys who were normal, had your childhood as you should, came of age at a time right for this universe," he offered with a fake smile. "I was told once by one of the elders that in Earth's past the age of eighteen was considered the step up to adulthood," he continued. "In some cultures it was twenty-one," he added with eyebrows raised.
"I'm guessing you made that step a bit earlier?" Beka conceded.
"My parents were killed when I was five I think," Harper simply spoke, with no emotion now. "Then my Aunt and uncle who took me in, they were killed within three weeks of each other a few years later, Magog and Uber attacks," he stated calmly but distantly, as he stared off to a place past Dylan and Rhade, his arms wrapped around his drawn up legs. "So, when I was about nine I guess, it was up to me and Brendan to make sure the kids were fed and kept safe, I guess that's when things became more real for me, I took on responsibilities," his voice was oddly calm, as the others took in the revelation.
"How many kids are we talking about?" Beka asked.
"There was Brendan's brother and sister, who were also my cousins, a couple of cousins from my mothers side about twice removed, but they were almost nine themselves so they soon split, I don't know what happened to them," Harper idly spoke. "Then there were the three orphan kids from the magog attack that claimed my aunt, her husband, my uncle, had promised my aunt before she died to keep them safe so we kind of inherited that promise when my uncle was killed by the ubers, after he stupidly demanded more rations."
"So seven kids, then five when the other two come of age," Beka worked out.
"We weren't their parents or anything," Harper objected quickly. "We just made sure they had food, and stayed safe till we could teach them to look after themselves, till they were ready to take that on," he tried to dismiss his own actions.
"When they turned nine or ten?" Beka checked, and Harper simply nodded.
"I can't imagine you being responsible for a pet rabbit, let alone seven kids, Rhade had to admit.
For the first time that evening Harper showed some emotion, but contained his initial reactions to Rhade's words. He looked down at his empty beer bottle, wishing he hadn't spoken of his past now, and blaming the alcohol, as old but familiar feelings returned to the surface that he didn't want his friends to see.
"I have to admit I would never have guessed," Beka offered softly, with less mocking tones, somehow seeing that the time for jokes had passed.
"I never said I was any good at it," Harper finally spoke, barely containing inner emotions now, and as he got to his feet the others could tell something had upset Harper but they didn't have any further clues as to what. "I'm tired, I'm going to get some sleep," Harper offered briskly, before he disappeared to the cordoned off space.
With Harper only the other side of the shelter, and only a thin wall between them, Beka let her head drop with a silent muttering of 'crap'.
"Beka?" Dylan whispered now, knowing she was reacting to Harper's exit, and both Dylan and Rhade moved closer to Beka so they could hear a possible explanation.
"Come on Dylan, we've heard him speak of his cousins, his dead cousins," Beka stated in hushed tones.
"Oh no," Dylan took a deep breath, with the realisation.
"They died before he joined the Maru, I don't know when they died, but what if they died when he was responsible for them?" Beka questioned.
"We've just inadvertently put our foot in it," Rhade remarked. They all stared at the heater for a few more minutes before, with a silent motion they all decided it was time to get some rest whilst the storm still raged outside.
TBC
