-Holiday-

Title: "Holiday"

Rating: PG-13

Status: Complete- 4 chapters and an epilogue.

Season: Early third season.

Summary: What do you do when the face of the enemy becomes your own?

Disclaimer: I don't own Andromeda. If I did you'd feel really sorry for Harper. :D

Author's notes: Well, I'm at it again. I've stol-- *cough* borrowed another plotline from Stargate. I can't help it, folks, they're too much fun! I actually wasn't planning on writing this one, but realized I couldn't do the other I really wanted without having the backstory in this fic. (Any Stargate fans guess which episode? *grin*)

Another Annoying Note That I Just Want To Point Out: If grammar is my opponent, spelling is my arch-nemesis, people. That's just a warning. If you see anything wrong, major or minor, please tell me because I'd love to fix it. I have no (real life) friends interested in Andromeda… so my beta list for this fandom is very short.

-Chapter 1-

~*~

"Know thy self, know thy enemy.

A thousand battles, a thousand victories."

-Sun Tzu

~*~

There was no doubt in Harper's mind: it was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. A sunset on Verdul didn't come close; the prism caves of Salo IV couldn't hold a candle to it; a dozen scantily clad Asga females weren't nearly as tempting. The hoverboard was freakin' perfect.

"Pleeease, Dylan. I'll be good, I promise. I'll clean my quarters, I'll do extra maintenance check ups, I'll cook the crew dinner, I'll-- I'll polish your boots with my toothbrush!"

Seamus Harper was three seconds away from getting on his knees and begging shamelessly. Fortunately for the human engineer, and his toothbrush, the man being persuaded gave up.

"Okay, Harper," Dylan said, throwing both hands in the air. "You're right. With all the upgrades you've been doing, you do deserve a bonus."

"So, you'll pay half?" Harper asked.

"I'll pay more than half."

"O captain my captain-- you so rock!" Harper blurted, throwing his arms around the taller man. Looking down at the blonde head planted in his chest, Dylan shrugged and glanced up at Tyr.

The Nietzschean raised an eyebrow. "Remind me to never get him a gift of any kind." He looked away. "Not that I ever planned to anyway."

As Harper let go of his asphyxiating hold on Dylan, Beka crossed her arms and came to stand before her commanding officer. "You know Dylan, if you give a mudfoot a mug of beer, they're gonna want another. If you give them-"

"I would not!" Harper protested, turning towards his longtime friend. "Though I could use a new tool belt, hint hint."

"In your dreams, Seamus. The last new thing I bought you ended up in Andromeda's garbage disposal."

As Harper opened his lips to reply, Dylan put a hand up to stop the retort. "Look, I've got to get to the meeting with the High Councilor. I allowed you to come Harper because I knew you'd want to see the Hover Convention for yourself, so be good." He looked at Tyr and Beka. "You two as well."

"What?" Beka asked, mouth dropping. "I'm appalled you think so little of me."

Dylan smiled. "You tend to attract trouble, Beka. Andromeda has the statistics." He handed Harper a creditchip and then turned towards the shop's exit. "I'll contact you in an hour and we'll rendezvous. Have fun you three."

"Statistics my ass," Beka mocked at Dylan's retreating form, but glanced over at Tyr. "He was joking… right?"

The Nietzschean choose not to comment.

Off by the counter, Harper made the final transaction for his new board. When he returned to the others Beka was the first to notice the lack of purchase in his arms.

"Where's the board?" she asked.

"I'm getting it personalized. The guy said he could have it delivered to the ship in about a day. We were planning on staying at least that long anyway."

"It's time to leave then," Tyr said, staring off towards the door. "We've wasted enough time here already."

Rolling his eyes, Harper followed, Beka close behind. As they exited the shop he clutched the purchase chip tightly in his hand, unwilling to lose the precious bit of technology that named him owner of the brand new hoverboard.

Outside the streets were filled with people-- Harper's kind of people. The engineer had wanted nothing more than to kiss Lady Luck when Dylan told him the Andromeda was stopping on Kabelea for Commonwealth charter talks. The same week as Hov-Con XXVI.

"Where to now?" Beka asked, gently resting her hand on her forcelance. She didn't expect to use it of course, but being on land tended to put her off sometimes. On the Maru she could outrun anything. On strange terra firma she felt… trapped.

"I'd prefer something to eat," Tyr said, looking over at the people carrying food around them. "We've been here for several hours already."

"I could do with some chow," Harper added. "My stomach's about to start munching on itself."

"Food it is then," Beka said, motioning towards the carts lining the street. "Pick a type any type."

~*~

The threesome spent thirty standard minutes eating and watching the crowd around them. After each finding at cart with suitable provisions, they'd converged in a tiny center of the city. Not the center, the metropolis was too large for that, but in several areas breaks in the buildings allowed for people to sit and relax. There was no better place for the venders.

Harper stared off into a fountain, watching the water bubble and fall. He tossed a piece of his lunch next to the stone edge. A tiny flock of birds (what kind he couldn't say) saw the morsel and dived for it, squawking at each other angrily. He'd seen people throw money into fountains, but the practice made little sense to him. He had never really understand why anyone would waste money on such an activity. Back home those few little coins could have gone towards bread or clothing, not wishes. Wishing didn't work… most of the time.

"Do you remember that planet, Seamus? Leku something?"

Harper turned his head to look at Beka. She popped the last bit of food into her mouth and continued.

"It was about a month after I'd picked you up from Earth. I had to make a supply run and you went down with me. I left you for a minute and when I came back you were diving in that fountain for the money. I had to drag your wet butt out of there before the people lynched us." She smiled, putting an arm over his shoulder. "For a guy who didn't like water too much, you were pretty eager to jump in."

"You had to tell it," Harper muttered, ducking from under her arm and frowning. "How was I supposed to know the money went to the local orphanage? I saw free credits and went for 'em. Finders keepers, Beka."

"Yeah," she answered, "but you wouldn't of been able to keep your head, and I wouldn't of been able to find the rest of your body if we'd stayed there much longer. You ticked off a lot people down there. There were Wayists chasing you, Harper."

"How could I forget? One of the monks tripped over his robes and knocked the other two over," Harper answered, barely restraining his laugh. He sobered a moment later, looking up at Beka. "If Rev were here right now he'd tell me I was committing a sin. 'Now Master Harper, thou shalt not tease religious figures.'"

"At least those priests weren't Magog," she added. "That chase wouldn't of lasted long."

"Don't remind me," Harper muttered then felt eyes, other than Beka's, staring at him. "What?"

"I said nothing," Tyr said, crossing his dark arms.

"You didn't say say anything, but I know that look," Seamus replied. "It's your 'The- Little-Professor's-psychotic-and-I-should-end-his-miserable-little-existence-right- now' look."

"Harper," Tyr said, staring down at the human's head, "I don't know why you feel the need to quote the entire crew this afternoon, but that was not what I wanted to tell you. I was going to say it would be in your best interest to throw the rest of your lunch away before you're mauled by a flock of birds. With teeth."

Harper turned quickly, taking note of the dozen or so creatures eyeing him hungrily. "Teeth?" he gulped.

"Yes."

"Good birdies," Harper muttered, opening his palm and quickly tossing the remaining morsels to the side. Sure enough the birds swept down upon the food, fighting each other for the crumbs.

When Harper glanced towards Tyr again the Nietzschean's back was slightly turned, but he swore he could almost see Tyr smiling.

"Come on you two. We didn't come down here for idol chatter," Beka said and smiled, showing a row of pearly whites. "Lets go shopping."

"I prefer to call it procuring what we need," Tyr replied as he glanced back at her.

"Men," Beka muttered dolefully and pointed to her left. "Lets head this way."

The three walked onward, glancing occasionally inside the various shops. Harper was content to let them gander but he had plans on heading towards the convention center sooner or later. The newest hoverboards were being displayed, along with every accessory a rider could want. Dek Farplay was also scheduled to appear later in the day and he didn't want to miss it. He'd had a long conversation with Rommie when she'd asked who Dek Farplay was. Besides being the best hoverboard rider in three galaxies, he'd passed nearly every record to become the master of the sport. For Harper, meeting Dek would have been like meeting The Devine, up close and personal.

"Why don't we take a transport? It'll get us to the center faster," Harper suggested. He looked at Tyr. "Well go ahead, wave one down or something. Use your brute strength."

"I thought you knew where this place was, Harper?" Beka asked.

"I have a map… but I think it's wrong."

"You have a map," Tyr repeated, "but it's wrong?"

"I uh, got it from some guy on the side of the road," he murmured, shouldering past his friends. "Fine. Forget the transport. I think it's this way."

Beka and Tyr glanced at each other a moment then hesitantly followed their wayward engineer.

Twenty minutes later the pair was ready to strangle that same engineer.

"I thought-- hmm, it's got to be this way-- I swear it was this way," Harper garbled out, gripping the flexi in his hand. "This says that the center should be right here."

"There aren't any people, Harper," Tyr said while looking around him. "This isn't it."

"Thank you Señor Obvious," Seamus said. He glanced around him at the empty buildings then peered over at the others. "Maybe there's someone inside who knows. These look like old apartments."

"Harper," Beka replied, "these look like old abandoned factories."

"Doesn't mean there isn't anyone there. Trust me, on Earth abandoned factories were like luxury hotels. Come on," Harper said.

Rolling her eyes, Beka extended a hand towards the building. "You first. Maybe you're map will help."

"You're about as funny dipoid measles," the engineer muttered as he walked towards the entrance. "Trust me on that, I've had 'em twice. They're a hoot."

He paused a moment before the wide door. Carefully putting one hand on his gun, he used the other to touch the keypad embedded on the wall. It beeped at him but reluctantly allowed them access. With a bit of a groan the door slid open to reveal an empty room. No, a very dusty, empty room that didn't appear to have had much foot traffic in the last decade or two.

"Honey, I'm home," Beka muttered.

"Hold on, hold on," Harper said glancing around the room. "There's another door over there."

"And on to door number two. There better be a good prize, Harper." Beka grinned at the blonde engineer, though he refused to take the bait.

Touching the 'open' key next to the entrance, Harper waited to hear the metallic hiss of the doors coming apart. When nothing happened he blinked and hit it again. Still nada.

"Come on, Professor," Tyr said, glancing outside the first entry way. "There's nothing here."

"Hold your equines," Harper said, reaching into a side pocket and producing his port's jack cable. Gently inserting one end into his cerebral port and the other into the keypad, Harper searched for the locking mechanism. It was a tough code, but he'd yet to find one he couldn't bypass.

"Seamus, this isn't smart," Beka said.

"Call me curious."

"Dad used to tell me curiously killed the captain," she replied, looking back at Tyr.

The door hissed open and Beka turned back to glare. Harper unhooked the cable and stored it in his pocket.

"There we go. It just needed to say 'auh' for Doctor Harper."

When Beka didn't responded to his comment, Harper looked up to see her no longer glaring. She wasn't even looking at him, but past him. Twisting himself sideways, Seamus gazed into the new room.

"Harper," Captain Valentine finally said from behind him, "I take that abandoned comment back."

The engineer nodded slowly as he stepped forward. Unlike the dilapidated exterior, the room looked about as high-tech as the Andromeda Ascendant's bridge. It was smaller than what he expected and the gray, marble colored walls were plain, but the ceiling ascended much higher than that of Command back on the ship. It faintly reminded Harper of his workspace in the machine shop, save for the long red shrouds that hung over some of the tables. He could faintly make out the colors and the shapes of the pieces of machinery on display behind the curtains but no specific details.

"Look at all this stuff," Seamus muttered, peering down at a counter full of unknown, yet tempting technology.

Beka stared as well, walking towards one of the tables. "Looks like somebody's closed up for the winter." She gently pushed aside one of the red curtains to pick up a small device that appeared similar to a flexi. Not sure which button activated it, Beka touched three colored icons before the sheet lit up. "Interesting."

"What?" Tyr asked, coming to stand over her right shoulder.

"It looks like a flexi that's been-- modified. I can't read any of this though."

"Hey guys," Harper said. When they turned to look at him he pointed towards a shrouded alcove of the room. "I wonder what's in there."

"I am in there."

All three crew members drew their weapons, aiming at the alcove. It was dimly lit but even in the low light the figure of a person could be seen clearly making its way out. Pushing through the crimson material that covered the archway was an old man. From what Harper could guess, he looked like he was going on ninety-- in human years.

"I am unarmed."

"And you are?" Beka asked, her forcelance pointed directly at the man's chest.

The stranger leaned forward a bit, his back hunched up to the point of bending over, but said nothing.

It was Tyr who moved first. Walking forward, forehead wrinkling in a moment of contemplation, he came within a foot of the man and matched the elder's unwavering blue gaze. "Your name is Machello."

"Do I know you?" the man asked, tilting his head ever so slightly.

"No," Try answered, "but as a boy I was shown images of you. It's been many years but--" He turned towards Beka and Harper. "This man is an enemy of Nietzscheans. I remember my father hunting him when I was a child."

"What did he do?" Harper asked. The old guy didn't look like an enemy of the Niets to him. More likely a victim.

"He was creating technology to fight Nietzscheans and the Magog. Weapons and chemicals programmed to attack the very genetics of both races," Tyr said coolly. "I know of nearly a dozen destroyed Magog nests all due to this man."

For someone staring at an so-called archenemy, Harper thought, his friend look rather calm.

"He was captured and tortured," Tyr went on, "but before they could extract anything he killed several guards and escaped."

"He did all that?" Beka asked uncertainly.

"I am not this person you speak of," the man, Machello, said as he turned back towards the alcove. "You are mistaken. I have been here a very long time. Alone."

"Uh, look, you don't have to be afraid," Harper responded, stepping forward to catch the stranger. "We're not Nietzscheans. At least she and I aren't. And him," he pointed over at Tyr, "well he's a little short on bone blades so you really can't call him a full enemy."

"We're not?" the man asked, facing Harper and widening his eyes. "Of course we are not! But-- if we are not Nietzscheans, who are we?"

Harper glanced at Beka but the blonde captain only shrugged. "Well, uh, I'm Harper. Seamus Harper from the planet Earth."

"Yes!" the man exclaimed, hitting his foot against the ground. "That's right-- I am Seamus Harper from the planet Earth. Pleased to meet you!"

"Uh, no-- no, I'm Seamus Harper."

"No!" Machello exclaimed. "I am Seamus Harper!"

"Oh boy," Beka muttered, turning towards the man. "Uh, hey, so what is all this stuff? Weapons to fight the Nietzscheans? Or Magog?"

"Yes," the man agreed, "weapons to fight the Nietzscheans and Magog!"

"Sweet," Harper said, staring towards the shrouded items. "You think you could show us how they work?"

Machello stared at the earthling a moment, his blue eyes roaming from Harper's body. "Are we sure we are not Nietzschean?"

"Hell yeah." Harper didn't think Tyr would be too happy with this idea, but weapons to fight Magog (not that he didn't mind killing few Niets) would be a great asset to Andromeda's armory.

"You! You!" the man cried, pointing at Harper. "Here, quickly! Inventions to fight the Nietzscheans!"

Shrugging his shoulders, Harper followed Machello to one of the smaller pedestals. The old man pulled off one of the shrouds, revealing a outlandish looking device. Though the craftsmanship was advanced, it reminded Seamus of two bicycle handles pasted together. He guessed the device to be about two feet high with the handles on each side measuring about three. Both sets of them jetted out a edge of the device. Machello came to stand before one set of the handles, motioning for him to move to the adjacent one.

"Now what?" Harper asked as he came to rest across from the old man. Machello placed his hands on each side of the grips, waiting for the engineer to do the same. Harper complied.

As Beka watched the two converse, her forcelance slowly began to lower. The man had been unarmed, and she didn't hesitate to think Harper could take him if he tried something. And that was saying a lot on Harper's part.

As Seamus submitted to the elderly man's request and placed his hands on the machine, Beka felt her curiosity peak. Until that is, both Harper and the man froze, eyes widening in shock. She could smell the distinct odor of electricity burning something as both men let go of the device at the same time. Beka was about to ask if they were alright but she didn't get a chance-- the old man toppled backwards with a moan and hit the floor.

"Harper?" she asked, voice laced with concern.

"I'm fine-- I think," Harper said, stepping around the pedestal to stare down at Machello. "Are you all right, sir?"

Tyr moved to he elderly man and placed two fingers under his neck. "He has a faint pulse."

Sheathing her lance, Beka nodded at Tyr. "Help me get him up and we'll take him back to the ship." When he asked her why she just shrugged, reaching for the man's arm. "This might have been our fault. The least we can do is get him some decent medical treatment. Have you seen the hospitals on this planet?"

After the pair lifted Machello off the floor, Tyr carefully picked the smaller man up in his arms and sighed. "Lets move then. We have a long walk."

~*~ TBC…. ~*~

So, what do you think so far? Is it time to get out the rotten tomatoes? Come on, I can take 'em. The chapters for this story are fewer than my last (insert shameless plug here) so the slower exposition has pretty much been covered. If you know the Stargate episode I think you know what's what. If not, stay tuned.

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