Fear: The Last Resort
Title: Fear: The Last Resort
Author: szhismine
Disclaimer: I do not own Andromeda. Yet. *enter evil laugh*
Author's Note: This is a reply to the challenge project started by Zion's Starfish. the challenge (by Parisindy) is:
"I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain."
-Frank Herbert, Dune, "Litany Against Fear", 1965
write a harper story based on the above quote must contain harper owies but no main character death.
Author's Note 2: I finally edited this for spaces.
Rating: PG to PG-13
Spoilers: Bunker Hill, To Loose the Fateful Lightning, It's Hour Come Round at Last/The Widening Gyre.
Summary: A certain drift and a few incidents make the crew of the Andromeda race against time to find Dylan and Harper.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Round and round the clock turns.
A tick, a tock,
a life, a death.
The circle of life never ceases to amaze all.
- Ulatempa Poetess
"Wild" C.Y 9831
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*2100 hours*
It started as a normal day, a day which would soon be filled with hardship and questioned loyalty. A day which would start bad (which was normal, in any case), and end worse.
So the Andromeda was at the Andi Drift. Why it was named after a boy (or quite possibly a girl), no one knew. They were about to sign the Commonwealth Charter. Dylan, Beka, Tyr, Trance, and Harper were at the ceremony. Rommie stayed onboard. She was watching the ceremony, however; she was tapped into the security cameras, thanks to a certain spiky-haired genius, who was, at this very moment, talking with Trance while drinking his fourth champagne glass.
"Harper, I think you should stop drinking," Trance whined.
Harper shrugged. "Fine. But it takes more than a few glasses of champagne to get this genius drunk." His sentence was finished with a hiccough. Harper blushed, embarrased.
The commander of the drift, who goes by the name Zenon, pressed the button on the flexi, ratifying the charter, therefore becoming a member of the Systems Commonwealth. The crowd cheered, the crew clapped, and Zenon looked pleased with himself. For unknown to the Andromeda and her crew, a conspiracy was growing within the bowels of the Milky Way Galaxy. And in the middle of the conspiracy was Andi Drift and it's suspicious commander.
So, while Dylan and his friends were unknowingly getting themselves caught in this conspiracy, two nietzschean destroyers and fifty nietzschean officers were slowing sneaking around the drift. Zenon, expecting it, blinded the internal sensors so no one would ever suspect a nietzschean army was making it's way towards the middle of the drift where the party was. No one suspected anything.
"So, captain Hunt," Tyr muttered as the crowd mingled. "Why exactly did you introduce this pathetic drift into the Commonwealth?"
Dylan sighed. "Because, Tyr, Andi Drift is one of the largest manufacturers of certain parts needed for certain future Commonwealth ships," Dylan murmured, keeping his
voice low.
Tyr was about to say something else, when the fifty nietzscheans that were hiding on the drift appeared, pointing their guns at the confused crowd.
"Don't move!" The leader of the commando shouted. Everyone simultaneously raised their hands, except for the crew of the Andromeda, who just looked very annoyed.
*Cut to the Andromeda*
Speaking of the Andromeda, Rommie was having problems of her own. The nietzschean ships started firing on her. She had two choices--A:stay there, be no help to the crew and get destroyed for no good reason, and B: leave now and find out what the nietzscheans are up too. After reflecting on the situation for 0.0011 seconds, she chose B. She left the drift, did a hard 180 and destroyed the two ships without any effort.
"That was easy," Rommie muttered.
"Too easy." Andromeda appeared on the screen. "You would think if nietzscheans would want to destroy me, they would make themselves a lot less vulnerable."
"Hmmm," Rommie agreed.
*Cut to the drift*
"Now what do we do?" Trance whispered to Dylan. The nietzscheans had definately "crashed the party"; everyone was sitting on the floor, scared for their lives, like in a typical hostage situation.
"Don't worry, we'll think of something," Dylan replied. But Trance could tell that he wasn't completely confident about his words, and that unnerved her.
After ten minutes, Zenon decided to start the deception. He asked (rather loudly),"So, are you gonna tell us what you want or are you just going to strut around like you own the place?" he asked while mimicking a panicked person. The leader walked over to him menacingly, and Zenon recoiled. But the nietzscheans knew not to hurt him, despite half the team complaining about the plan going much smoother without the "kludge's help".
But the leader knew better. So he swallowed his pride and glared at Zenon.
"You will find out soon enough," he grunted.
"Typical nietzschean response," Harper muttered under his breath. One of the nietzscheans growled, and turned to his colleague and they both started whispering angrily. Harper rolled his eyes. Dylan shot him a warning look. "What?" Harper asked, aggravated.
"You," the nietzschean leader told Zenon. "Come with me," he ordered. He grabbed Zenon's coat collar and hauled him down the corridor. "Hey, easy on the coat," he complained.
The nietzschean growled. Once they were out of earshot from everyone, he let go of Zenon's coat. "Don't push it," he threatened, brandishing his gun warningly.
Zenon gazed at his gun. "Yeah, like you would really shoot me, Neander," he sneered.
Neander glanced up and down the corridors. "So, what now?" he asked.
Zenon smiled and took a small computer disk out of his pocket. He gave it to Neander. "Download this virus into the onboard computer. I programmed it myself. It knows every weakness in the system. It will shut off all power except for life support. Life support systems will stay intact for ten hours. Then, while we make our escape, the drift starts to collapse and fall apart. There wouldn't be any air left to breathe, and the drift will self-destruct thrity minutes after life support is gone."
Neander nodded in comprehension.
"So boss, what's our next move?" Harper asked Dylan when Zenon and Neander left.
"Yeah Dylan, we have to think of something," Beka agreed.
"Look, I don't know exactly what's going on. We need some more time to think up a plan."
Just then, the power shut down. Everyone started screaming.
"That can't be good," Harper murmured.
*Cut to the Andromeda*
"That can't be good," Rommie said out loud. Her sensors detected a major power shortage on he drift.
Andromeda's holographic form appeared next to Rommie. "No, it isn't. And my scans of the drift show that a virus was downloaded into the computer core, seconds before the power shortage. It shut down everything except artificial gravity and life support for about ten hours. Then the drift will be destroyed."
Another Andromeda appeared on the main viewer. "And, as far as I can tell, the drift is already experiencing some . . . maintenance problems."
Rommie raised her eyebrow. "What do you mean?" she asked, even though she could figure it out for herself. Several grids and maps of the drift's architecture appeared on the screen.
Andromeda pointed out several points and labeled them. "That's what I mean."
Rommie sighed. "Great," she muttered angrily.
*Cut to the drift*
The drift shook. The nietzscheans had left, of course, and with them was Zenon.
"Damn him," Dylan muttered.
"It would seem that we were set up. What a shocking surprise," Tyr commented sarcastically.
"Hey, I thought being sarcastic was my job," Harper said.
"It is. I was merely saying something you wouldn't say," Tyr replied.
Dylan sighed. "Okay, okay, I get the point. Thank you, Mr. Anasazi and Mr. Harper,"
Dylan said. Harper and Tyr looked at each other and grinned.
Beka, however, was not amused. "Guys, can we be serious here? I'm betting the nietzscheans attacked the Andromeda, so we can't leave, the drift is failing and falling apart, you you two--" she pointed to Tyr and Harper angrily, "--are having a sarcasm contest?" Beka yelled.
"Wait a minute," Dylan thought out loud. Everyone looked at him. "The nietzscheans probably downloaded a virus into the system, right?" Dylan asked. Everyone nodded. "Well, all we have to do is destroy the computer virus and restore the drift's systems," Dylan said while looking intently at Harper. Harper looked over his shoulder and back at Dylan. "Wait a second. You want me to hack into the VR matrix of the drift, destroy the virus, save everyone, and become the hero?"
Dylan nodded. "Yeah."
Harper thought about it for a few seconds, then shrugged. "Okay," he agreed.
*Cut to the Andromeda*
Meanwhile on the Andromeda, Rommie was following the nietzschean fighter that left the drift. That is, until it entered slipstream.
"Damnit," Rommie cursed.
"Well, that's the end of that," Andromeda commented.
Rommie nodded. "Let's go back to the drift."
"Aye Aye," Andromeda replied.
*Cut to the drift*
"Alright Harper, what can you tell us about the virus?" Beka asked.
*Cut to the VR Matrix*
Harper said through the comm line, "It's fast. And energy consuming. And time consuming. Did I mention fast?" Harper's voice was panicky.
*Cut to the drift*
Dylan frowned. "Harper, are you alright?"
*Cut to the VR Matrix*
Harper didn't reply. He was too busy looking for the override files that weren't corrupted. They would help destroy the main effects of the virus. Harper was glancing from number to number, code to code, trying to find it.
"Man, this is tough," he muttered to himself. He walked gingerly around the infected areas that the virus was eating through. Harper replied angrily, "No, I am not alright. One wrong move, and us, Andi Drift, and everything in the whole freaking system will explode in a massive fireworks show for everyone in the next three solar systems to see."
"Oh," Dylan replied. Harper rolled his eyes.
Suddenly, an alarm went off somewhere in the system. Harper knew what it was in a millesecond. "Uh oh," was all he said before the files beneath him opened up, and he started falling. He was thrown out of the matrix. But that was the least of his worries.
*Cut to the drift*
The first thing Harper felt again was a sharp pain in his neck. It kept growing until he almost cried out in pain. He felt cold. Then heard whispering voices. They were soft at first, then grew louder as Harper began to wake up.
"Trance, are you sure he's going to be alright?" Beka asked, worried.
Trance nodded. "He'll be awake any minute now."
"But what happened to him?" Dylan asked, pacing around in a circle with his hands behind his back.
"Must have been a circuit overload."
"Or maybe it was something else entirely," Tyr commented.
Dylan stopped pacing and frowned at Tyr. What do you mean by that?"
Tyr shrugged. "Just trying to keep our options open."
Dylan was about to start pacing around again when Harper found enough enrgy to groan in pain. Everyone looked down at him. Harper slowly opened his eyes.
"Mr. Harper," Dylan said while bending down next to him. "You alright?"
"What happened?" he asked.
"We were hoping you could tell us," Tyr commented.
Harper sighed. "Well, at least I know I didn't die and go to heaven," he muttered. Tyr chuckled. Harper slowly sat up, helped by Trance and Beka. "Thanks," he said meekly.
"How do you feel?" Trance asked while checking him out.
"I, um..." Harper stopped talking as Trance took took his arm and felt his pulse.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
"Just giving you a little check-up, that's all," she said.
"Well, thanks for the concern, but I don't need it," he said while slipping his arm out of Trance's grip. Trance frowned.
"Harper..."
"Fine, you win," Harper said. Trance smiled in triumph and continued checking him over.
"He'll be fine," she said to everyone three minutes later.
"That's what i've been trying to tell you," Harper whined. Beka punched him playfully on
the shoulder. She and Dylan helped Harper stand up. Just then, the drift buckled.
"Not again," Dylan moaned. Just then, the metal plating underneath them slanted to one side. Harper and Dylan banged against the wall, while Tyr, Beka, and Trance managed to
grab hold of the other wall. There was a horrible snap, and the part of the floor Harper and Dylan were on gave away.
"Dylan!" Beka exclaimed. But it was too late. Harper and Dylan fell into the bowels of Andi Drift.
*Cut to Dylan and Harper*
Dylan was the first to wake up. He gingerly moved his hand and waved it in front of his face. 'Okay, so I'm not blind. That's good', he thought as he slowly sat up. He looked around.
He was in a small, circular room, about ten meters long and five meters wide. It was dimly lit. He looked up. There seemed to be kilometers between him and where he fell. He sighed. He looked around some more and saw a figure sprawled on the floor. Harper.
"Oh no," he muttered to himself. He scrambled over to where Harper was lying. He turned him over.
The first thing Dylan noted was a long gash on Harper's forehead. It was bleeding severly. There were several bruises around it, as well as on his arms. There were numerous cuts and scratches on his arms, too. But what really made Dylan panic for the life of his engineer was the cut on his neck. It wasn't big. actually it was quite small, it wasn't bleeding, and it wasn't even near his artery. The problem was the shrapnel that made the cut also cut across Harper's dataport, which was connected to his brain. On closer inspection, Dylan could even see a piece of the shrapnel still embedded in his dataport. By the looks of it, Dylan figured Harper may never wake up.
*Cut to the drift*
"We have to do something," Beka whined, worried. The rest of the crew were pacing around the gaping hole Dylan and Harper fell through.
"I don't know, Beka," Trance said while looking down the hole. "Looks like they fell down a long way. At least four or five storeys. They could have maybe survived that, but imagine what they fell through," she said, turning towards Beka.
"Well, let's, for sake of argument, assume they're alive," Tyr said. "What would we do?"
"We have to work hard to get the drift back on-line. Do whatever it takes." Beka ordered.
Just then, the drift powered up.
*Cut to Dylan and Harper*
Dylan was caught off-guard when the lights came back on. He looked around him. He was in a storage room full of equipment. He looked up through the hole he fell through. What seemed like kilometers before now only seemed like several feet. As he looked back at Harper he could see several more injuries he couldn't see before.
"Dylan?" Came a voice. Dylan pressed on his sub-vocal implant. "Rommie? Is that you?"
*Cut to the Andromeda*
"Yes Dylan, it is me," Rommie replied. She was monitoring the drift from the Andromeda.
"But...how?"
"I hacked into the drift's database. Although Harper wasn't able to destroy the virus, I was. How is Harper, by the way?" Rommie asked, full of concern.
"Not good. He has several injuries, including damage to his dataport."
Rommie sighed in frustration.
*Cut to Dylan and Harper*
"Rommie," Dylan said, "I don't know if we'll be able to save him. There doesn't seem to be any way out of here, and if there was, it was probably destroyed. I want you to contact Beka and the others and inform them of the situation. Dylan out." Dylan sighed and took Harper's pulse again. At the feel of Dylan's cool skin, Harper returned to his senses and his eyes fluttered open.
"Harper?" Dylan said softly.
Harper's eyes travelled over to Dylan and scanned the rest of the room. Harper closed his eyes briefly and opened them again. "Where are we?" he said at last.
"We fell about four or five storeys when the drift buckled. Do you remember that?" Harper nodded.
"And lemme guess. We're trapped here, right?" Harper asked.
"That's pretty much it," Dylan said. Dylan glanced at Harper for a second. "How are you feeling?"
"Cold. Or is it hot? Nah, i'm cold," Harper replied before breaking up in a fit of coughing. Dylan felt his forehead.
"You're getting a fever," Dylan diagnosed.
"Great. On top of being injured, i'm sick. Again. Lucky me," Harper commented. He closed his eyes and sighed.
*flashback*
When Harper opened his eyes again, it was morning. He sat straight up. Today was the day. He jumped out of his bed (if you could call it that), and rushed to the main part of his little shelter. The lady there was humming happily to herself. She had long blond hair and blue eyes. She smiled as Harper ran into the room.
"Good morning, Seamus," she said.
Harper smiled. "Good morning mom! Where's dad?" Harper was in a happy mood today.
"He's outside with Uncle Sandy."
Harper rushed out of his shelter, crossing several others. His family and friends were all living in their make-shift shelters inside the ghetto. As he passed, one of them called out.
"Shay!"
Harper turned and ran to Jenny, the girl who called his name. She was the same age as Harper, beginning today.
"Happy birthday Seamus!" she giggled as she gave him a huge hug.
"Thanks Jen."
"So, what's it like to be eight years old?"
Harper looked around him. "Everything seems..."
"Fun?"
Harper grinned. "Yeah. Wanna go outside with me?"
Jenny shrugged. "Okay." Together they ran up the ladder, only to be greeted by a gloomy sun, dark storm clouds, and an awful smell. But Harper didn't care. He saw his father standing outside, scanning the area. He ran over and gave him a big hug.
"Hey dad!"
His father grinned. "Hey, Seamus. Happy birthday!" he exclaimed. He turned to Jenny.
"And how are you, little miss?"
Jenny blushed. "Fine."
Harper's father gave a small, deep chuckle. "You two...I will die a happy man if I see you two together."
Harper and Jenny blushed. "Dad..." Harper whined.
Jenny made a face. "No offense, Mr. Harper, but I would die a sad lady if Seamus and I ever kiss."
Mr. Harper laughed. "Really now? Well, i'm gonna have to do something about that," he said. He gave a small wink and left, leaving the two disgusted children alone.
*end flashback*
"Harper?" Dylan gently shook him, trying to get him awake. Harper's eyes fluttered for a moment, but stayed shut.
"Great," Dylan muttered.
*cut to the drift*
"What?" Beka exclaimed.
"I told you, Beka. Harper and Dylan are trapped, with no means to get free," Rommie told the rest of the crew.
"Well there must be some way to--"
"I'm sorry Beka," Rommie interupted. "But there is nothing we can do. We can't drop supplies to them, it would be dangerous. They would either break or fall on Dylan and Harper. They will die of dehydration soon. And the storage basement was hardly ever used, so there is no way to get in and out. And if there is, it has been destroyed when the drift had the power shortage." Rommie finished. Beka, Tyr and Trance were all silent.
Finally, Beka had an idea.
*flashback*
"Jenny, come on! I have something to show you that you'll really like!" Harper exclaimed. Jenny came running up behind him.
"Oh, what is it?" she asked, excited.
Harper and Jenny were now both nine years old. Their true colors were beginning to show; Jenny had a great sense of humor (which was starting to rub off Harper), and Harper had a real knack of fixing anything with a computer chip in it. Even though he found many things to fix and didn't have any tools to fix them, he was still a little engineer.
Harper squeezed through the hole in the fence. Jenny followed him. They came to a beautiful forest with dozens of healthy trees with thick branches. It seemed to be the only thing that wasn't affected by pollution for miles. All the leaves were turning colors; there were leaves that were deep red, orange, yellow, brown, green, and even purple.
Jenny squealed in delight. "A yucata forest!"
Harper grinned. "Pretty amazing, huh? I discovered it a few days ago. I was hiding here after a nietzschean raid." Harper's grin faded as he remembered that day. Everything started peacefully. Then the nietzschean commando started blowing it's way into the ghetto. The nietzschean officers were cruel and brutal. They grabbed every child they could get their hands on. They killed the parents who tried to save their children.
Two of those dead parents included Harper's.
"Shay, is something wrong?" Jenny asked.
Jenny wasn't at the ghetto the day the of the nietzschean raid. She was at Glouchester,
visiting her dying aunt.
"Well, see . . . a few days ago, when you were gone, the ubers raided the ghetto, looking for kids. They killed the adults who tried to defend them . . . and, they..." Harper stopped, unable to say more.
"Oh Shay, I'm so sorry," Jenny said, giving Harper a hug.
"Thanks Jenny," Harper replied, returning the hug gladly.
*End flashback*
"Jenny," Harper muttered.
Dylan glanced at Harper. Harper's eyes snapped open. He groaned. "Don't tell me we're still here," he complained.
Dylan gave a small smile. "I'm afraid we are," Dylan replied while checking Harper over. His cuts were getting better, but the injury to his dataport was getting worse. Harper sighed.
"Harper, who's Jenny?" Dylan asked, trying to keep Harper awake.
"She was a friend of mine in Boston."
Dylan raised his eyebrows. "Really?"
"Yeah, We knew each other ever since we were five. We did everything together. We even made a little treehouse in a yucata forest once."
Dylan frowned. "I remember hearing something about a yucata forest once at Mobius Academy before the fall, but I forget exactly what they are."
"They're trees that grow only on Earth, in any types of enviroment. They're really rare, especially on Earth now. But nietzscheans don't like going near them. Only if there are humans hiding there." Harper explained. Dylan nodded, showing his comprehension.
*Cut to the nietzschean ship*
"OW! What the hell?" Zenon exclaimed as the door to his quarters burst open. He had been locked in his room after some malfunction. And according to the sensors, all the nietzscheans onboard were dead. So there he was, pinned to the wall by a very angry Tyr.
"You are the commander of Andi Drift, are you not?"
"Yeah..."
"SHUT UP! And you know the drift like you know yourself, am I correct?"
"Yes you are--"
"I said shut up. So you are coming with me. You are going to help us. And when you're done i'll decide whether to keep you alive or not. Do we have an understanding?" Zenon nodded. Tyr loosened his grip on Zenon and pushed him forward. "Move," he growled.
*flashback*
"Hey Seamus, wait!" Jenny called. But Harper just kept walking. "I didn't mean it," she exclaimed. "I didn't plan it or anything, it just sorta . . . happened. You can understand, can't you?" Harper stopped walking, but didn't say anything. "And why are you mad at me in the first place?" she asked.
Tall, blond and thirteen years old, Jenny had grown up into a beautiful girl, despite being awfully thin, like everyone else. Harper was also fairly tall, his dirty blond hair pasted to his head by dirt and sweat. Right now, he was very angry.
*end flashback*
"You loved her, didn't you?" Dylan asked as loudly as he could. Harper, too weak to reply, merely nodded. "Then what happened?" Harper looked at Dylan. But instead of seeing him, he saw the worst moment in his life. Worse than when his parents died, worse than when his cousins were infested with Magog eggs, worse than when he was infested with Magog eggs. The one moment in his life when he made a decision that would haunt him for the rest of his days.
*flashback*
"Seamus!" Harper woke up with a start. He had been dreaming about being free from Earth (which is what everyone dreamed about if they weren't having nightmares). He had a bad feeling. And when Earthers had a bad feeling, it was time to trust their instincts.
Harper jumped off his make-shift bed and grabbed his gun. He cautiously looked around the ghetto, only to have half a dozen bullets come zooming towards his face. He drew back, but he knew he had to find Jenny. He took a deep breath, and ran.
*end flashback*
"You were attacked?" Dylan asked. Harper nodded. "The nietzscheans would come often into the ghetto. Either for slaves, or just because thy felt like killing someone for--" he was interupted by a state of coughing. "My neck hurts," he moaned. Dylan checked his forehead. His fever was rapidly rising. "So, what then?"
*flashback*
"Jenny!" Harper exlaimed when he finally reached her. She was trying to force several nietzscheans to let go of her.
"Get off, you freaks!" she yelled, hitting a nietzschean in the face as hard as she could.
The nietzscheans just laughed and tightened their grip on her. That is, until Harper shot them.
Jenny ran over to him. "Oh thank you, thank you so--" she was cut off by a gunshot.
*end flashback*
"They killed her?" Dylan asked, horrified. Harper nodded.
*flashback*
Jenny fell in Harper's arms. Harper, acting quickly, shot the nietzschean that shot Jenny.
He caught Jenny and slowly helped her to the floor.
Harper could tell there was no help for her. She was bleeding severly, and she could hardly breathe. "Seamus..." Jenny moaned pathetically while shaking uncontrollably.
"Shhhh . . . it's okay, Jenny. It's gonna be alright," he whispered, fighting back the tears.
"Seamus..." Jenny took something out of her pocket. It was a crumpled up piece of paper, which looked very old. "My d-dad gave this to me when I was five. He t-t-told-told me that whenever I was afraid to read this and reflect on what the words mean. I want you to take it. You'll need it one day," she said. Her words sounded more like a prediction than friendly advice. A few minutes later, she died.
*end flashback*
"Harper, I-I had no idea," Dylan stammered. Harper hung his head, as if in shame. "No one does. I never told anyone. Not even Beka. I used to have nightmares about that night. I still do, sometimes," Harper admitted. "I usually engage privacy mode in the night, but I have a feeling Rommie overrides my command, which is starting to turn into a request."
Dylan nodded, not in understanding but in sympathy. "What was written on the piece of paper?"
"I don't know. It looked like it was a torn page from an old Earth book. I usually keep it in my toolbelt, but I, um..." Harper looked around him seem, "seem to have lost it."
Dylan looked around too. He spied Harper's toolbelt from underneath a pile of rubble.
He fished it out and handed it to Harper. Harper rumaged around in it. He finally found the piece of paper, smoothed it out, and began reading:
"I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain." Harper stared at the paper for a few seconds. "Wow. You know, I never read this until today. Jenny was right. I would need it someday. I guess I was just saving it."
Dylan smiled. "I always referred to fear as the last resort." Harper gave a small smile in return before breaking into a hacking fit of coughing. Dylan quickly checked him over. Something was wrong. Harper didn't stop coughing. When he finally did, he started slipping into unconsiousness. "Harper!" Dylan exclaimed, trying to keep him awake. But it didn't work. Dylan eased Harper onto the floor. He was so pale. Dylan was extremely worried. 'I hope Beka and the others find a way to help us soon,' he thought.
*Cut to the drift*
"So, are you gonna help us or not?" Rommie asked Zenon for the tenth time. It was kind of hard for him to answer, though, since Tyr had in in a headlock.
"I will if your uber lets me go," came his muffled voice. Rommie nodded, and Tyr let him go. Zenon straightened up, clutching his throat. He glared at Tyr, who growled at him. Rommie held out a flexi with the drift's schematics on it. Zenon grabbed it and looked over it briefly. He marked out several points and showed them to Rommie. "There's the entrance. The storage room was used mainly for weapons. We hid the door for security measures. I'll be glad to show it to you," Zenon said, glancing at Tyr's enormous arm muscles as he spoke. Beka smiled. "Alright then," she agreed.
*Cut to Dylan and Harper*
Dylan sighed. It was so quiet with no one to talk to. Especially if Harper was there.
Usually when the crew would get bored, they would go talk to Harper. Dylan remembered once when they were hiding inbetween two suns while waiting for a supply ship to bring them supplies so they could leave, eventually everyone got so bored they all went to talk to Harper in his machine shop at the same time. They all arrived one after the other; it was actually quite comical. By then, Harper had drank ten sparkies, so he was so hyper he did impressions of everyone on the ship, getting himself beaten in the process.
But it was fun.
'What's happening to us?' Dylan thought to himself. 'What happened to the not-so-stressful times, when even though we were on a mission, we could relax and have fun.'
'Ah,' another little voice said in the back of his head. 'Maybe it's not happening to us, maybe it's happening to you. You gotta lighten up there, Dylan'. Dylan started laughed at that thought. Sounded like something Harper would say. Dylan sighed again.
*flashback*
Dylan grinned. Today was the day. The big day he was waiting for: His first date with Sarah.
The doors to his dormatories whooshed open, and Sarah Riley entered cautiously.
Dylan's smile suddenly got bigger. "Sarah. Glad you could make it." He gestured towards the bar. "Drink?"
*end flashback*
Dylan glanced at the unconcious Harper. His head wound stopped bleeding, and the blood dried up. His bruises stayed the same, but he somehow managed to get new ones. And his dataport . . . Dylan didn't want to think of his dataport.
"Dylan?" It was Rommie.
"Yes Rommie?" Dylan replied gloomily.
Suddenly a hidden door opened. "We're here," she announced. Dylan smiled and stood up. "Alright, Rommie. Just in time," he added, glancing towards Harper, who was being attended to by Trance. Dylan saw Zenon standing back. "You little..." Dylan grabbed him and banged him against the wall. "What the hell were you thinking? You are going to suffer, you blockhead. If we were in the Roman times, I would have fed you to the lions the first time I laid my eyes on you. You are going to be in so much trouble for this." Dylan threatened.
Zenon was about to reply when Trance beat him to it. "Dylan, we need to get Harper back on the Andromeda immediately. If we don't do something soon, he's going to die," Trance said.
*Cut to the Andromeda*
The first thing Harper saw when he woke up was Trance standing over him with her medical scanner. "How are you feeling?" she asked.
Harper sat up. He touched his dataport gingerly, which was covered with a bandage.
"How long was I out?" he asked.
Trance shrugged. "A few hours. You woke up before then, but I gave you a sedative because I needed to start surgery on your neck."
Harper nodded. He looked around. "Am I gonna be all right?"
Trance smiled. "You'll be just fine."
*Cut to Hydroponics*
"Mr. Harper," Dylan said as he entered Hydroponics. Harper was leaning on the window, staring out to the stars. Dylan walked over next to him. "How are you feeling?"
"Fine," Harper replied. "Trance said she repaired all the neural damage, and my cut is healing, so I-I'll be alright," he said.
Dylan nodded. "Good," he said.
Harper decided to change the subject. "So, what are you going to do about the Armenians?"
The Armenians were a group of people who were, well, slightly bizarre. They've kept saying to the Commonwealth government that they keep seeing relatives of theirs who were dead walking around. Of course, things were rather complicated since the supposedly "walking dead" disappeared.
"Well, the Commonwealth official got a contact who knows what's going on. They want us to meet with her." Dylan handed the flexi with the information on it. Harper took it and looked at the picture of the contact. He let out an audible gasp.
It was Jenny.
The End
Title: Fear: The Last Resort
Author: szhismine
Disclaimer: I do not own Andromeda. Yet. *enter evil laugh*
Author's Note: This is a reply to the challenge project started by Zion's Starfish. the challenge (by Parisindy) is:
"I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain."
-Frank Herbert, Dune, "Litany Against Fear", 1965
write a harper story based on the above quote must contain harper owies but no main character death.
Author's Note 2: I finally edited this for spaces.
Rating: PG to PG-13
Spoilers: Bunker Hill, To Loose the Fateful Lightning, It's Hour Come Round at Last/The Widening Gyre.
Summary: A certain drift and a few incidents make the crew of the Andromeda race against time to find Dylan and Harper.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Round and round the clock turns.
A tick, a tock,
a life, a death.
The circle of life never ceases to amaze all.
- Ulatempa Poetess
"Wild" C.Y 9831
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*2100 hours*
It started as a normal day, a day which would soon be filled with hardship and questioned loyalty. A day which would start bad (which was normal, in any case), and end worse.
So the Andromeda was at the Andi Drift. Why it was named after a boy (or quite possibly a girl), no one knew. They were about to sign the Commonwealth Charter. Dylan, Beka, Tyr, Trance, and Harper were at the ceremony. Rommie stayed onboard. She was watching the ceremony, however; she was tapped into the security cameras, thanks to a certain spiky-haired genius, who was, at this very moment, talking with Trance while drinking his fourth champagne glass.
"Harper, I think you should stop drinking," Trance whined.
Harper shrugged. "Fine. But it takes more than a few glasses of champagne to get this genius drunk." His sentence was finished with a hiccough. Harper blushed, embarrased.
The commander of the drift, who goes by the name Zenon, pressed the button on the flexi, ratifying the charter, therefore becoming a member of the Systems Commonwealth. The crowd cheered, the crew clapped, and Zenon looked pleased with himself. For unknown to the Andromeda and her crew, a conspiracy was growing within the bowels of the Milky Way Galaxy. And in the middle of the conspiracy was Andi Drift and it's suspicious commander.
So, while Dylan and his friends were unknowingly getting themselves caught in this conspiracy, two nietzschean destroyers and fifty nietzschean officers were slowing sneaking around the drift. Zenon, expecting it, blinded the internal sensors so no one would ever suspect a nietzschean army was making it's way towards the middle of the drift where the party was. No one suspected anything.
"So, captain Hunt," Tyr muttered as the crowd mingled. "Why exactly did you introduce this pathetic drift into the Commonwealth?"
Dylan sighed. "Because, Tyr, Andi Drift is one of the largest manufacturers of certain parts needed for certain future Commonwealth ships," Dylan murmured, keeping his
voice low.
Tyr was about to say something else, when the fifty nietzscheans that were hiding on the drift appeared, pointing their guns at the confused crowd.
"Don't move!" The leader of the commando shouted. Everyone simultaneously raised their hands, except for the crew of the Andromeda, who just looked very annoyed.
*Cut to the Andromeda*
Speaking of the Andromeda, Rommie was having problems of her own. The nietzschean ships started firing on her. She had two choices--A:stay there, be no help to the crew and get destroyed for no good reason, and B: leave now and find out what the nietzscheans are up too. After reflecting on the situation for 0.0011 seconds, she chose B. She left the drift, did a hard 180 and destroyed the two ships without any effort.
"That was easy," Rommie muttered.
"Too easy." Andromeda appeared on the screen. "You would think if nietzscheans would want to destroy me, they would make themselves a lot less vulnerable."
"Hmmm," Rommie agreed.
*Cut to the drift*
"Now what do we do?" Trance whispered to Dylan. The nietzscheans had definately "crashed the party"; everyone was sitting on the floor, scared for their lives, like in a typical hostage situation.
"Don't worry, we'll think of something," Dylan replied. But Trance could tell that he wasn't completely confident about his words, and that unnerved her.
After ten minutes, Zenon decided to start the deception. He asked (rather loudly),"So, are you gonna tell us what you want or are you just going to strut around like you own the place?" he asked while mimicking a panicked person. The leader walked over to him menacingly, and Zenon recoiled. But the nietzscheans knew not to hurt him, despite half the team complaining about the plan going much smoother without the "kludge's help".
But the leader knew better. So he swallowed his pride and glared at Zenon.
"You will find out soon enough," he grunted.
"Typical nietzschean response," Harper muttered under his breath. One of the nietzscheans growled, and turned to his colleague and they both started whispering angrily. Harper rolled his eyes. Dylan shot him a warning look. "What?" Harper asked, aggravated.
"You," the nietzschean leader told Zenon. "Come with me," he ordered. He grabbed Zenon's coat collar and hauled him down the corridor. "Hey, easy on the coat," he complained.
The nietzschean growled. Once they were out of earshot from everyone, he let go of Zenon's coat. "Don't push it," he threatened, brandishing his gun warningly.
Zenon gazed at his gun. "Yeah, like you would really shoot me, Neander," he sneered.
Neander glanced up and down the corridors. "So, what now?" he asked.
Zenon smiled and took a small computer disk out of his pocket. He gave it to Neander. "Download this virus into the onboard computer. I programmed it myself. It knows every weakness in the system. It will shut off all power except for life support. Life support systems will stay intact for ten hours. Then, while we make our escape, the drift starts to collapse and fall apart. There wouldn't be any air left to breathe, and the drift will self-destruct thrity minutes after life support is gone."
Neander nodded in comprehension.
"So boss, what's our next move?" Harper asked Dylan when Zenon and Neander left.
"Yeah Dylan, we have to think of something," Beka agreed.
"Look, I don't know exactly what's going on. We need some more time to think up a plan."
Just then, the power shut down. Everyone started screaming.
"That can't be good," Harper murmured.
*Cut to the Andromeda*
"That can't be good," Rommie said out loud. Her sensors detected a major power shortage on he drift.
Andromeda's holographic form appeared next to Rommie. "No, it isn't. And my scans of the drift show that a virus was downloaded into the computer core, seconds before the power shortage. It shut down everything except artificial gravity and life support for about ten hours. Then the drift will be destroyed."
Another Andromeda appeared on the main viewer. "And, as far as I can tell, the drift is already experiencing some . . . maintenance problems."
Rommie raised her eyebrow. "What do you mean?" she asked, even though she could figure it out for herself. Several grids and maps of the drift's architecture appeared on the screen.
Andromeda pointed out several points and labeled them. "That's what I mean."
Rommie sighed. "Great," she muttered angrily.
*Cut to the drift*
The drift shook. The nietzscheans had left, of course, and with them was Zenon.
"Damn him," Dylan muttered.
"It would seem that we were set up. What a shocking surprise," Tyr commented sarcastically.
"Hey, I thought being sarcastic was my job," Harper said.
"It is. I was merely saying something you wouldn't say," Tyr replied.
Dylan sighed. "Okay, okay, I get the point. Thank you, Mr. Anasazi and Mr. Harper,"
Dylan said. Harper and Tyr looked at each other and grinned.
Beka, however, was not amused. "Guys, can we be serious here? I'm betting the nietzscheans attacked the Andromeda, so we can't leave, the drift is failing and falling apart, you you two--" she pointed to Tyr and Harper angrily, "--are having a sarcasm contest?" Beka yelled.
"Wait a minute," Dylan thought out loud. Everyone looked at him. "The nietzscheans probably downloaded a virus into the system, right?" Dylan asked. Everyone nodded. "Well, all we have to do is destroy the computer virus and restore the drift's systems," Dylan said while looking intently at Harper. Harper looked over his shoulder and back at Dylan. "Wait a second. You want me to hack into the VR matrix of the drift, destroy the virus, save everyone, and become the hero?"
Dylan nodded. "Yeah."
Harper thought about it for a few seconds, then shrugged. "Okay," he agreed.
*Cut to the Andromeda*
Meanwhile on the Andromeda, Rommie was following the nietzschean fighter that left the drift. That is, until it entered slipstream.
"Damnit," Rommie cursed.
"Well, that's the end of that," Andromeda commented.
Rommie nodded. "Let's go back to the drift."
"Aye Aye," Andromeda replied.
*Cut to the drift*
"Alright Harper, what can you tell us about the virus?" Beka asked.
*Cut to the VR Matrix*
Harper said through the comm line, "It's fast. And energy consuming. And time consuming. Did I mention fast?" Harper's voice was panicky.
*Cut to the drift*
Dylan frowned. "Harper, are you alright?"
*Cut to the VR Matrix*
Harper didn't reply. He was too busy looking for the override files that weren't corrupted. They would help destroy the main effects of the virus. Harper was glancing from number to number, code to code, trying to find it.
"Man, this is tough," he muttered to himself. He walked gingerly around the infected areas that the virus was eating through. Harper replied angrily, "No, I am not alright. One wrong move, and us, Andi Drift, and everything in the whole freaking system will explode in a massive fireworks show for everyone in the next three solar systems to see."
"Oh," Dylan replied. Harper rolled his eyes.
Suddenly, an alarm went off somewhere in the system. Harper knew what it was in a millesecond. "Uh oh," was all he said before the files beneath him opened up, and he started falling. He was thrown out of the matrix. But that was the least of his worries.
*Cut to the drift*
The first thing Harper felt again was a sharp pain in his neck. It kept growing until he almost cried out in pain. He felt cold. Then heard whispering voices. They were soft at first, then grew louder as Harper began to wake up.
"Trance, are you sure he's going to be alright?" Beka asked, worried.
Trance nodded. "He'll be awake any minute now."
"But what happened to him?" Dylan asked, pacing around in a circle with his hands behind his back.
"Must have been a circuit overload."
"Or maybe it was something else entirely," Tyr commented.
Dylan stopped pacing and frowned at Tyr. What do you mean by that?"
Tyr shrugged. "Just trying to keep our options open."
Dylan was about to start pacing around again when Harper found enough enrgy to groan in pain. Everyone looked down at him. Harper slowly opened his eyes.
"Mr. Harper," Dylan said while bending down next to him. "You alright?"
"What happened?" he asked.
"We were hoping you could tell us," Tyr commented.
Harper sighed. "Well, at least I know I didn't die and go to heaven," he muttered. Tyr chuckled. Harper slowly sat up, helped by Trance and Beka. "Thanks," he said meekly.
"How do you feel?" Trance asked while checking him out.
"I, um..." Harper stopped talking as Trance took took his arm and felt his pulse.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
"Just giving you a little check-up, that's all," she said.
"Well, thanks for the concern, but I don't need it," he said while slipping his arm out of Trance's grip. Trance frowned.
"Harper..."
"Fine, you win," Harper said. Trance smiled in triumph and continued checking him over.
"He'll be fine," she said to everyone three minutes later.
"That's what i've been trying to tell you," Harper whined. Beka punched him playfully on
the shoulder. She and Dylan helped Harper stand up. Just then, the drift buckled.
"Not again," Dylan moaned. Just then, the metal plating underneath them slanted to one side. Harper and Dylan banged against the wall, while Tyr, Beka, and Trance managed to
grab hold of the other wall. There was a horrible snap, and the part of the floor Harper and Dylan were on gave away.
"Dylan!" Beka exclaimed. But it was too late. Harper and Dylan fell into the bowels of Andi Drift.
*Cut to Dylan and Harper*
Dylan was the first to wake up. He gingerly moved his hand and waved it in front of his face. 'Okay, so I'm not blind. That's good', he thought as he slowly sat up. He looked around.
He was in a small, circular room, about ten meters long and five meters wide. It was dimly lit. He looked up. There seemed to be kilometers between him and where he fell. He sighed. He looked around some more and saw a figure sprawled on the floor. Harper.
"Oh no," he muttered to himself. He scrambled over to where Harper was lying. He turned him over.
The first thing Dylan noted was a long gash on Harper's forehead. It was bleeding severly. There were several bruises around it, as well as on his arms. There were numerous cuts and scratches on his arms, too. But what really made Dylan panic for the life of his engineer was the cut on his neck. It wasn't big. actually it was quite small, it wasn't bleeding, and it wasn't even near his artery. The problem was the shrapnel that made the cut also cut across Harper's dataport, which was connected to his brain. On closer inspection, Dylan could even see a piece of the shrapnel still embedded in his dataport. By the looks of it, Dylan figured Harper may never wake up.
*Cut to the drift*
"We have to do something," Beka whined, worried. The rest of the crew were pacing around the gaping hole Dylan and Harper fell through.
"I don't know, Beka," Trance said while looking down the hole. "Looks like they fell down a long way. At least four or five storeys. They could have maybe survived that, but imagine what they fell through," she said, turning towards Beka.
"Well, let's, for sake of argument, assume they're alive," Tyr said. "What would we do?"
"We have to work hard to get the drift back on-line. Do whatever it takes." Beka ordered.
Just then, the drift powered up.
*Cut to Dylan and Harper*
Dylan was caught off-guard when the lights came back on. He looked around him. He was in a storage room full of equipment. He looked up through the hole he fell through. What seemed like kilometers before now only seemed like several feet. As he looked back at Harper he could see several more injuries he couldn't see before.
"Dylan?" Came a voice. Dylan pressed on his sub-vocal implant. "Rommie? Is that you?"
*Cut to the Andromeda*
"Yes Dylan, it is me," Rommie replied. She was monitoring the drift from the Andromeda.
"But...how?"
"I hacked into the drift's database. Although Harper wasn't able to destroy the virus, I was. How is Harper, by the way?" Rommie asked, full of concern.
"Not good. He has several injuries, including damage to his dataport."
Rommie sighed in frustration.
*Cut to Dylan and Harper*
"Rommie," Dylan said, "I don't know if we'll be able to save him. There doesn't seem to be any way out of here, and if there was, it was probably destroyed. I want you to contact Beka and the others and inform them of the situation. Dylan out." Dylan sighed and took Harper's pulse again. At the feel of Dylan's cool skin, Harper returned to his senses and his eyes fluttered open.
"Harper?" Dylan said softly.
Harper's eyes travelled over to Dylan and scanned the rest of the room. Harper closed his eyes briefly and opened them again. "Where are we?" he said at last.
"We fell about four or five storeys when the drift buckled. Do you remember that?" Harper nodded.
"And lemme guess. We're trapped here, right?" Harper asked.
"That's pretty much it," Dylan said. Dylan glanced at Harper for a second. "How are you feeling?"
"Cold. Or is it hot? Nah, i'm cold," Harper replied before breaking up in a fit of coughing. Dylan felt his forehead.
"You're getting a fever," Dylan diagnosed.
"Great. On top of being injured, i'm sick. Again. Lucky me," Harper commented. He closed his eyes and sighed.
*flashback*
When Harper opened his eyes again, it was morning. He sat straight up. Today was the day. He jumped out of his bed (if you could call it that), and rushed to the main part of his little shelter. The lady there was humming happily to herself. She had long blond hair and blue eyes. She smiled as Harper ran into the room.
"Good morning, Seamus," she said.
Harper smiled. "Good morning mom! Where's dad?" Harper was in a happy mood today.
"He's outside with Uncle Sandy."
Harper rushed out of his shelter, crossing several others. His family and friends were all living in their make-shift shelters inside the ghetto. As he passed, one of them called out.
"Shay!"
Harper turned and ran to Jenny, the girl who called his name. She was the same age as Harper, beginning today.
"Happy birthday Seamus!" she giggled as she gave him a huge hug.
"Thanks Jen."
"So, what's it like to be eight years old?"
Harper looked around him. "Everything seems..."
"Fun?"
Harper grinned. "Yeah. Wanna go outside with me?"
Jenny shrugged. "Okay." Together they ran up the ladder, only to be greeted by a gloomy sun, dark storm clouds, and an awful smell. But Harper didn't care. He saw his father standing outside, scanning the area. He ran over and gave him a big hug.
"Hey dad!"
His father grinned. "Hey, Seamus. Happy birthday!" he exclaimed. He turned to Jenny.
"And how are you, little miss?"
Jenny blushed. "Fine."
Harper's father gave a small, deep chuckle. "You two...I will die a happy man if I see you two together."
Harper and Jenny blushed. "Dad..." Harper whined.
Jenny made a face. "No offense, Mr. Harper, but I would die a sad lady if Seamus and I ever kiss."
Mr. Harper laughed. "Really now? Well, i'm gonna have to do something about that," he said. He gave a small wink and left, leaving the two disgusted children alone.
*end flashback*
"Harper?" Dylan gently shook him, trying to get him awake. Harper's eyes fluttered for a moment, but stayed shut.
"Great," Dylan muttered.
*cut to the drift*
"What?" Beka exclaimed.
"I told you, Beka. Harper and Dylan are trapped, with no means to get free," Rommie told the rest of the crew.
"Well there must be some way to--"
"I'm sorry Beka," Rommie interupted. "But there is nothing we can do. We can't drop supplies to them, it would be dangerous. They would either break or fall on Dylan and Harper. They will die of dehydration soon. And the storage basement was hardly ever used, so there is no way to get in and out. And if there is, it has been destroyed when the drift had the power shortage." Rommie finished. Beka, Tyr and Trance were all silent.
Finally, Beka had an idea.
*flashback*
"Jenny, come on! I have something to show you that you'll really like!" Harper exclaimed. Jenny came running up behind him.
"Oh, what is it?" she asked, excited.
Harper and Jenny were now both nine years old. Their true colors were beginning to show; Jenny had a great sense of humor (which was starting to rub off Harper), and Harper had a real knack of fixing anything with a computer chip in it. Even though he found many things to fix and didn't have any tools to fix them, he was still a little engineer.
Harper squeezed through the hole in the fence. Jenny followed him. They came to a beautiful forest with dozens of healthy trees with thick branches. It seemed to be the only thing that wasn't affected by pollution for miles. All the leaves were turning colors; there were leaves that were deep red, orange, yellow, brown, green, and even purple.
Jenny squealed in delight. "A yucata forest!"
Harper grinned. "Pretty amazing, huh? I discovered it a few days ago. I was hiding here after a nietzschean raid." Harper's grin faded as he remembered that day. Everything started peacefully. Then the nietzschean commando started blowing it's way into the ghetto. The nietzschean officers were cruel and brutal. They grabbed every child they could get their hands on. They killed the parents who tried to save their children.
Two of those dead parents included Harper's.
"Shay, is something wrong?" Jenny asked.
Jenny wasn't at the ghetto the day the of the nietzschean raid. She was at Glouchester,
visiting her dying aunt.
"Well, see . . . a few days ago, when you were gone, the ubers raided the ghetto, looking for kids. They killed the adults who tried to defend them . . . and, they..." Harper stopped, unable to say more.
"Oh Shay, I'm so sorry," Jenny said, giving Harper a hug.
"Thanks Jenny," Harper replied, returning the hug gladly.
*End flashback*
"Jenny," Harper muttered.
Dylan glanced at Harper. Harper's eyes snapped open. He groaned. "Don't tell me we're still here," he complained.
Dylan gave a small smile. "I'm afraid we are," Dylan replied while checking Harper over. His cuts were getting better, but the injury to his dataport was getting worse. Harper sighed.
"Harper, who's Jenny?" Dylan asked, trying to keep Harper awake.
"She was a friend of mine in Boston."
Dylan raised his eyebrows. "Really?"
"Yeah, We knew each other ever since we were five. We did everything together. We even made a little treehouse in a yucata forest once."
Dylan frowned. "I remember hearing something about a yucata forest once at Mobius Academy before the fall, but I forget exactly what they are."
"They're trees that grow only on Earth, in any types of enviroment. They're really rare, especially on Earth now. But nietzscheans don't like going near them. Only if there are humans hiding there." Harper explained. Dylan nodded, showing his comprehension.
*Cut to the nietzschean ship*
"OW! What the hell?" Zenon exclaimed as the door to his quarters burst open. He had been locked in his room after some malfunction. And according to the sensors, all the nietzscheans onboard were dead. So there he was, pinned to the wall by a very angry Tyr.
"You are the commander of Andi Drift, are you not?"
"Yeah..."
"SHUT UP! And you know the drift like you know yourself, am I correct?"
"Yes you are--"
"I said shut up. So you are coming with me. You are going to help us. And when you're done i'll decide whether to keep you alive or not. Do we have an understanding?" Zenon nodded. Tyr loosened his grip on Zenon and pushed him forward. "Move," he growled.
*flashback*
"Hey Seamus, wait!" Jenny called. But Harper just kept walking. "I didn't mean it," she exclaimed. "I didn't plan it or anything, it just sorta . . . happened. You can understand, can't you?" Harper stopped walking, but didn't say anything. "And why are you mad at me in the first place?" she asked.
Tall, blond and thirteen years old, Jenny had grown up into a beautiful girl, despite being awfully thin, like everyone else. Harper was also fairly tall, his dirty blond hair pasted to his head by dirt and sweat. Right now, he was very angry.
*end flashback*
"You loved her, didn't you?" Dylan asked as loudly as he could. Harper, too weak to reply, merely nodded. "Then what happened?" Harper looked at Dylan. But instead of seeing him, he saw the worst moment in his life. Worse than when his parents died, worse than when his cousins were infested with Magog eggs, worse than when he was infested with Magog eggs. The one moment in his life when he made a decision that would haunt him for the rest of his days.
*flashback*
"Seamus!" Harper woke up with a start. He had been dreaming about being free from Earth (which is what everyone dreamed about if they weren't having nightmares). He had a bad feeling. And when Earthers had a bad feeling, it was time to trust their instincts.
Harper jumped off his make-shift bed and grabbed his gun. He cautiously looked around the ghetto, only to have half a dozen bullets come zooming towards his face. He drew back, but he knew he had to find Jenny. He took a deep breath, and ran.
*end flashback*
"You were attacked?" Dylan asked. Harper nodded. "The nietzscheans would come often into the ghetto. Either for slaves, or just because thy felt like killing someone for--" he was interupted by a state of coughing. "My neck hurts," he moaned. Dylan checked his forehead. His fever was rapidly rising. "So, what then?"
*flashback*
"Jenny!" Harper exlaimed when he finally reached her. She was trying to force several nietzscheans to let go of her.
"Get off, you freaks!" she yelled, hitting a nietzschean in the face as hard as she could.
The nietzscheans just laughed and tightened their grip on her. That is, until Harper shot them.
Jenny ran over to him. "Oh thank you, thank you so--" she was cut off by a gunshot.
*end flashback*
"They killed her?" Dylan asked, horrified. Harper nodded.
*flashback*
Jenny fell in Harper's arms. Harper, acting quickly, shot the nietzschean that shot Jenny.
He caught Jenny and slowly helped her to the floor.
Harper could tell there was no help for her. She was bleeding severly, and she could hardly breathe. "Seamus..." Jenny moaned pathetically while shaking uncontrollably.
"Shhhh . . . it's okay, Jenny. It's gonna be alright," he whispered, fighting back the tears.
"Seamus..." Jenny took something out of her pocket. It was a crumpled up piece of paper, which looked very old. "My d-dad gave this to me when I was five. He t-t-told-told me that whenever I was afraid to read this and reflect on what the words mean. I want you to take it. You'll need it one day," she said. Her words sounded more like a prediction than friendly advice. A few minutes later, she died.
*end flashback*
"Harper, I-I had no idea," Dylan stammered. Harper hung his head, as if in shame. "No one does. I never told anyone. Not even Beka. I used to have nightmares about that night. I still do, sometimes," Harper admitted. "I usually engage privacy mode in the night, but I have a feeling Rommie overrides my command, which is starting to turn into a request."
Dylan nodded, not in understanding but in sympathy. "What was written on the piece of paper?"
"I don't know. It looked like it was a torn page from an old Earth book. I usually keep it in my toolbelt, but I, um..." Harper looked around him seem, "seem to have lost it."
Dylan looked around too. He spied Harper's toolbelt from underneath a pile of rubble.
He fished it out and handed it to Harper. Harper rumaged around in it. He finally found the piece of paper, smoothed it out, and began reading:
"I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain." Harper stared at the paper for a few seconds. "Wow. You know, I never read this until today. Jenny was right. I would need it someday. I guess I was just saving it."
Dylan smiled. "I always referred to fear as the last resort." Harper gave a small smile in return before breaking into a hacking fit of coughing. Dylan quickly checked him over. Something was wrong. Harper didn't stop coughing. When he finally did, he started slipping into unconsiousness. "Harper!" Dylan exclaimed, trying to keep him awake. But it didn't work. Dylan eased Harper onto the floor. He was so pale. Dylan was extremely worried. 'I hope Beka and the others find a way to help us soon,' he thought.
*Cut to the drift*
"So, are you gonna help us or not?" Rommie asked Zenon for the tenth time. It was kind of hard for him to answer, though, since Tyr had in in a headlock.
"I will if your uber lets me go," came his muffled voice. Rommie nodded, and Tyr let him go. Zenon straightened up, clutching his throat. He glared at Tyr, who growled at him. Rommie held out a flexi with the drift's schematics on it. Zenon grabbed it and looked over it briefly. He marked out several points and showed them to Rommie. "There's the entrance. The storage room was used mainly for weapons. We hid the door for security measures. I'll be glad to show it to you," Zenon said, glancing at Tyr's enormous arm muscles as he spoke. Beka smiled. "Alright then," she agreed.
*Cut to Dylan and Harper*
Dylan sighed. It was so quiet with no one to talk to. Especially if Harper was there.
Usually when the crew would get bored, they would go talk to Harper. Dylan remembered once when they were hiding inbetween two suns while waiting for a supply ship to bring them supplies so they could leave, eventually everyone got so bored they all went to talk to Harper in his machine shop at the same time. They all arrived one after the other; it was actually quite comical. By then, Harper had drank ten sparkies, so he was so hyper he did impressions of everyone on the ship, getting himself beaten in the process.
But it was fun.
'What's happening to us?' Dylan thought to himself. 'What happened to the not-so-stressful times, when even though we were on a mission, we could relax and have fun.'
'Ah,' another little voice said in the back of his head. 'Maybe it's not happening to us, maybe it's happening to you. You gotta lighten up there, Dylan'. Dylan started laughed at that thought. Sounded like something Harper would say. Dylan sighed again.
*flashback*
Dylan grinned. Today was the day. The big day he was waiting for: His first date with Sarah.
The doors to his dormatories whooshed open, and Sarah Riley entered cautiously.
Dylan's smile suddenly got bigger. "Sarah. Glad you could make it." He gestured towards the bar. "Drink?"
*end flashback*
Dylan glanced at the unconcious Harper. His head wound stopped bleeding, and the blood dried up. His bruises stayed the same, but he somehow managed to get new ones. And his dataport . . . Dylan didn't want to think of his dataport.
"Dylan?" It was Rommie.
"Yes Rommie?" Dylan replied gloomily.
Suddenly a hidden door opened. "We're here," she announced. Dylan smiled and stood up. "Alright, Rommie. Just in time," he added, glancing towards Harper, who was being attended to by Trance. Dylan saw Zenon standing back. "You little..." Dylan grabbed him and banged him against the wall. "What the hell were you thinking? You are going to suffer, you blockhead. If we were in the Roman times, I would have fed you to the lions the first time I laid my eyes on you. You are going to be in so much trouble for this." Dylan threatened.
Zenon was about to reply when Trance beat him to it. "Dylan, we need to get Harper back on the Andromeda immediately. If we don't do something soon, he's going to die," Trance said.
*Cut to the Andromeda*
The first thing Harper saw when he woke up was Trance standing over him with her medical scanner. "How are you feeling?" she asked.
Harper sat up. He touched his dataport gingerly, which was covered with a bandage.
"How long was I out?" he asked.
Trance shrugged. "A few hours. You woke up before then, but I gave you a sedative because I needed to start surgery on your neck."
Harper nodded. He looked around. "Am I gonna be all right?"
Trance smiled. "You'll be just fine."
*Cut to Hydroponics*
"Mr. Harper," Dylan said as he entered Hydroponics. Harper was leaning on the window, staring out to the stars. Dylan walked over next to him. "How are you feeling?"
"Fine," Harper replied. "Trance said she repaired all the neural damage, and my cut is healing, so I-I'll be alright," he said.
Dylan nodded. "Good," he said.
Harper decided to change the subject. "So, what are you going to do about the Armenians?"
The Armenians were a group of people who were, well, slightly bizarre. They've kept saying to the Commonwealth government that they keep seeing relatives of theirs who were dead walking around. Of course, things were rather complicated since the supposedly "walking dead" disappeared.
"Well, the Commonwealth official got a contact who knows what's going on. They want us to meet with her." Dylan handed the flexi with the information on it. Harper took it and looked at the picture of the contact. He let out an audible gasp.
It was Jenny.
The End