1.1 TITLE: Uncovered: The Trance and Harper Novel
AUTHOR: Rosie
RATING: PG-13
SPOILERS: None so far, I don't think.
ARCHIVE: Please ask.
COMMENTS: This is the first part in a fic project I'm doing, chronicling the relationship between Trance and Harper from pre-Andromeda to present day, working through all the eps. Since I'm still working my way through Season One, viewing wise, and just saw Ties that Blind, I might get some things wrong. If anything jumps out and hits you that's horribly wrong, please let me know. Nicely, so that my fragile ego doesn't implode.
1.2
1.3 Book One
1.4 Chapter One
"Ow!"
Seamus Harper sat up from where he was fixing circuitry aboard the Eureka Maru and hit his head on an open switchboard door. Cursing under his breath, he shut the door and grabbed his nanowelder. Repairs were nearly done – he had no idea how this hunk of bolts and metal could go anywhere, he had to do repairs often enough. Lucky for Beka Valentine, the ships captain, he was a super genius, otherwise the Eureka Maru would probably be residing in some scrap heap at this point.
"Where would this hunk of junk be without me," Harper muttered with a smirk.
"Somewhere else," piped up a sweet voice. He turned to see Trance with a cup of coffee in one hand. "Coffee?"
"Lifesaver, absolute lifesaver," he told her, eagerly snatching the coffee and drinking it all in one gulp. Trance watched in awed amusement.
"You know that it won't disappear if you don't drink it all in one go, right?" she asked with a smile. "Just checking."
Harper rolled his eyes, opened the switchboard door and began rewiring it. Trance watched with interest.
"Beka told me to tell you to make sure you make sure the Slipstream is operating properly," Trance added. Harper sighed.
"I thought I just did that, but I'll check again," he told her, crawling under the open door and looking at the Slipstream drive again. He cursed again when he saw it was malfunctioning – again.
"I don't think it likes you very much," Trance commented.
"The slipstream answers to no one," Harper told her. "This'll take me a few hours, maybe you should go."
"I have nothing else to do," she answered. "Can I stay here?"
"Okay, but you've got to promise to be quiet, okay?"
"Okay."
Harper could hear her moving around and getting comfortable. In a way, it was kind of nice how they could hang out without having to talk. A really comfortable friendship. He'd gotten really used to having Trance around – he'd never had a friend like her. Everyone else he knew had been all about survival – and so had he. But with Trance, you could be forgiven for thinking she didn't have a care in the world.
But there was much more to Trance Gemini than what meets the eye…
~~~~~~~~~~
The crew of the Maru – Beka, Rev Bem and Harper – had all gotten off at a spaceport to get supplies. Beka was getting new parts for the Maru, Rev was going with her, and Harper had decided to just cruise around for awhile, see the sights of the place. Half an hour of wandering later, he'd come to the conclusion that he'd seen all there was to see.
Until he caught sight of a cute humanoid girl, walking down the street in a cute little tank top and shorts, blonde hair pinned up in an elaborate style. But that wasn't the first thing he noticed. The first thing he noticed was that all the skin he could see – and there was a lot – was a shade of light purple. The next thing he noticed was that she had a long purple tail, extending from the small of her back all the way to the floor.
Once he'd processed all that, he realised that during the period of time it had taken him to check her out, she'd stolen money off three different people. All of a sudden he lost her in the crowd, and felt a little disappointed.
Next thing he knew he felt a hand on his butt. Quick as he could he spun around to see who it was – and came face to face with the purple girl. She stared at him with big wide brown eyes.
"Oh no you don't," he said, taking the money she'd stolen off him back. He'd give her credit: she was good at what she did, he hadn't even felt her hand go into his pocket.
"Sorry," she said softly, smiling hesitantly and turning to go. He grabbed her arm before she left.
"Wait!" he called out, dragging her towards him. She turned around and faced him, a puzzled look on her face. "Uh, I'm Harper."
The purple girl gave him another strange look. Obviously, she wasn't used to people making polite small talk after she'd been caught picking their pocket. "My name is Trance Gemini."
They stood there in stalemate silence for awhile, until Harper felt a hand on his shoulder.
"I got those parts you needed to fix the ship," said Beka from behind him. Rev came to stand beside Harper. "Now you can fix it, and we can get back to the insanity that is our existence."
"We all know how I love insanity," Harper sarcastically added.
Trance smiled, a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. Harper thought she looked a little uncomfortable. He glanced at his Magog companion. Rev was an extremely peaceful Wayist, but his appearance could be frightening to those who didn't know him. Harper was trying to figure out how to put Trance at ease when Beka whacked his arm.
"What the hell was that for?" he snapped.
"Aren't you going to introduce us to your friend?" Beka scolded, regarding Trance with a cool glance. "God, Harper, have I taught you no manners?"
Harper smirked. "The only thing you've taught me, boss, is how to fly the Maru if you ever got your butt in so much hot water you couldn't park it in the pilots seat."
Beka whacked him again, and Trance gave another hollow smile.
"Okay, okay, okay," Harper grumbled. "Meet Trance Gemini. Trance, this is Beka Valentine, captain of the Eureka Maru, and that's Rev Bem, our local Magog Wayist."
"You're a Wayist?" Trance asked.
"Indeed I am," answered Rev with a discrete nod.
"I've met Wayists before – a group of them took me in when I got into a bit of a hard spot a few months back," Trance said with affection in her voice. "They were great – gave me some money so I could get back on my feet, kept me off the streets."
"It is the will of the Divine we do what little we can to help others in times of need," Rev said.
"So what do you do, Trance?" Beka inquired briskly. Harper watched Trance tense, then realised it wasn't Rev she was afraid of. Which surprised him. Beka wasn't exactly terrifying to look at. Then again, she could be a little intimidating at times. Obviously, now was one of those times. She was sizing Trance up, taking in the purple skin, and the tail. Trying to decide what to make of her.
"I, um, odd jobs," Trance nervously answered. "Whatever I can get, you know? I've kept gardens, I've been a medic, I've spent time as an ES officer for a Than ship…"
"An ES officer?" Beka asked. Trance nodded. "That's the one thing our ship needs. Our last ES officer…"
"Retired," Harper put in sarcastically.
"I'm sure it would be nice to retire," Trance said, completely oblivious to Harpers joke.
"He bought the farm," Harper tried again.
"A farm would be nice, too," Trance agreed. Harper sighed, and Beka stifled a laugh. Trance visibly relaxed.
"Are you interested in the position, Trance?" Beka asked, once she'd gotten her amusement under control.
"Me? Um, sure!" Trance beamed. Harper had never met anyone who could pull off actual beaming before. "It's better than what I'm do right now."
"Which is?"
"Absolutely nothing," she grinned, tail swinging around a bit.
"We want to get back to the Maru, gets weapons back online and get the heck off this rock as soon as possible," Beka told them. "We have to pick up a cargo load in three days."
"I have some stuff I need to go get," Trance informed them all. "I'll go get it now, where should I meet you?"
"Take Harper with you," Beka said. "I'm sure the 'genius' can find the Maru."
Trance looked uncomfortable at that, too. Slowly Harper realised he'd been staring at her the entire time. So what? he told himself, she's hot. Checking out hot girls is a completely normal hobby. Sure, most of the girls I check out ain't purple, but ya work with what's there.
"I'll see you at the Maru in an hour," Beka told him. "We still have some things we need to get." She walked off, but not before whispering a parting comment in his ear: "Harper, it's rude to stare."
With that, she and Rev disappeared into the crowd, leaving him alone with a… sparkly purple babe.
"Right, an hour," he muttered, looking down. "Let's go get your stuff."
He looked up to see Trance looking at him with a faint smile. Her smile broadened as she caught his gaze. "Let's go," she agreed, turning around and walking. Harper followed her, occasionally glimpsing at her tail. It was purple, like the rest of her, and it seemed to move with a will of its own. As if the tail had read his thoughts, it brushed up against his leg.
About 10 minutes of walking later, they arrived at a dark alley. Trance hesitantly headed down the alley, tail shifting nervously. Harper was about to say something, then thought better of it. They continued down the alley, until they were at the end. There stood what looked like a large dumpster. Trance headed towards it and walked behind it. Harper followed, to see Trance picking up a ratty looking knapsack and a pair of shoes. A mildew-y rug lay on the ground, and Trance pulled a grey blanket out from underneath it. She shoved it in her knapsack, took a quick look around then darted back into the alley.
Harper stood there a little longer, taking in the scene. Memories of living on Earth flooded his brain. Only years back, he'd been living in an alley, similar to this one. Then when he finally got off the planet, he'd found an apartment of sorts, but been kicked out due to lack of rent. He'd lived in an alley then, too. He shouldn't have been forced to resort to something like that. [I]And neither should Trance,[/I] he told himself. [I]Thank God she's joining us on the Maru… any longer here and she'll get really sick.[/I] The place stank. It really did.
He was about to leave when he caught sight of something shiny. He leant over to pick it up. It was a metal box. Harper opened it to find it full of sparkly clips and hair… things. He smiled. They looked like the kind of thing Trance would wear in her hair. Sparkly like she was.
"We should go," Trance called. Harper quickly headed back out into the alley, clutching the box. Once he was there, he quickly shoved his find into Trance's hands.
"Um, you left this behind," he said awkwardly.
"My hairstuff!" she exclaimed happily. "Thank you, Harper… it would have been really, really bad if I'd left this behind." With some ceremony, she rummaged through the box and pulled out some credit chips. "I'm starved, do you want to go get something to eat?"
Harper barely had time to nod in agreement before she headed down the alley back into the main street. He followed her, a bit confused. If you were forced to live in an alley, you'd think you'd keep ya money somewhere safe, Harper mused to himself. Then he took a look at Trance, happily bouncing down the road, bad mood from before apparently gone.
****
About half an hour later, Trance and Harper approached the Maru. Harper watched Trance's expression as she took a look at what was to become her new home.
"It's, um, very nice," she offered with a smile.
"It's a hunk of junk," Harper said, smirking. "Just don't tell Beka I said that or she'll probably shish kebab me." One look at Trance's pale face made Harper instantly regret the joke. "Hey, I was just kidding," he told her. "Beka is one of the nicest people I know… just don't tell her [I]that[/I], either."
"She seemed kind of… scary," Trance admitted.
"That's until you get to know her," he said confidently. "Underneath the tough-as-nails persona she's all hearts, flowers and sunshine."
"Really?"
"No." Harper grinned. "But one thing I can tell you for sure is that she's loyal. Once you're a friend, you're a friend for life."
"Sounds like a good kind of friend to have," Trance agreed.
"Are we going to stand here staring at my ship all day or are we going to board it?" a voice from behind them asked. Harper turned to see Rev and Beka standing there, Beka with an expression on her face he'd never seen before. Harper wondered how long she'd been listening in.
"Much as I appreciate the view, I would rather not stay out here any longer," Rev said. "The locals do not appear to be friend towards Magog."
"Not many people are," Beka agreed. She looked Trance in the eye. "The universe isn't all hearts, flowers and sunshine."
Trance met Bekas gaze. "No," she answered softly, "it isn't." Beka nodded, looking at Trance with new understanding. Harper wasn't sure what was going on, but at least they seemed more comfortable around each other.
Beka punched in her access codes, and the crew followed her aboard the Maru…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Would you like me to go get you some more coffee?"
"Huh?" Harper sat up from where he was working, and promptly hit his head on the open switchboard door – again. "Ow!"
"Sorry," Trance apologised. "I didn't mean to distract you."
"It's okay, I was just thinking."
"About what?"
"Do you remember when we met?" he asked Trance, turning to face her.
"Yup," she said, nodding. "And Beka was so scary…"
"Is she still scary?" he teased.
"No."
"You know what the one thing I remember most is?" he said. "You were sleeping in that alley, yet you had like a whole bunch of thrones in that hairtie box of yours. Why didn't you rent an apartment or something?"
"I wanted to save the thrones," she told him seriously. "I still have them, you know. In case I ever need them. In case anything ever happens to the Maru and I have to live on my own again."
"I don't think that's going to happen for quite some time," Harper answered. "You don't have to worry about it, you know."
"I do," Trance argued softly. "You've gotta have an escape route, Harper. Remember that." She stood up and dusted off her shorts. "You want that coffee?"
"Sure."
She disappeared off down the hall, leaving Harper still pondering the many mysteries that made up Trance Gemini.
AUTHOR: Rosie
RATING: PG-13
SPOILERS: None so far, I don't think.
ARCHIVE: Please ask.
COMMENTS: This is the first part in a fic project I'm doing, chronicling the relationship between Trance and Harper from pre-Andromeda to present day, working through all the eps. Since I'm still working my way through Season One, viewing wise, and just saw Ties that Blind, I might get some things wrong. If anything jumps out and hits you that's horribly wrong, please let me know. Nicely, so that my fragile ego doesn't implode.
1.2
1.3 Book One
1.4 Chapter One
"Ow!"
Seamus Harper sat up from where he was fixing circuitry aboard the Eureka Maru and hit his head on an open switchboard door. Cursing under his breath, he shut the door and grabbed his nanowelder. Repairs were nearly done – he had no idea how this hunk of bolts and metal could go anywhere, he had to do repairs often enough. Lucky for Beka Valentine, the ships captain, he was a super genius, otherwise the Eureka Maru would probably be residing in some scrap heap at this point.
"Where would this hunk of junk be without me," Harper muttered with a smirk.
"Somewhere else," piped up a sweet voice. He turned to see Trance with a cup of coffee in one hand. "Coffee?"
"Lifesaver, absolute lifesaver," he told her, eagerly snatching the coffee and drinking it all in one gulp. Trance watched in awed amusement.
"You know that it won't disappear if you don't drink it all in one go, right?" she asked with a smile. "Just checking."
Harper rolled his eyes, opened the switchboard door and began rewiring it. Trance watched with interest.
"Beka told me to tell you to make sure you make sure the Slipstream is operating properly," Trance added. Harper sighed.
"I thought I just did that, but I'll check again," he told her, crawling under the open door and looking at the Slipstream drive again. He cursed again when he saw it was malfunctioning – again.
"I don't think it likes you very much," Trance commented.
"The slipstream answers to no one," Harper told her. "This'll take me a few hours, maybe you should go."
"I have nothing else to do," she answered. "Can I stay here?"
"Okay, but you've got to promise to be quiet, okay?"
"Okay."
Harper could hear her moving around and getting comfortable. In a way, it was kind of nice how they could hang out without having to talk. A really comfortable friendship. He'd gotten really used to having Trance around – he'd never had a friend like her. Everyone else he knew had been all about survival – and so had he. But with Trance, you could be forgiven for thinking she didn't have a care in the world.
But there was much more to Trance Gemini than what meets the eye…
~~~~~~~~~~
The crew of the Maru – Beka, Rev Bem and Harper – had all gotten off at a spaceport to get supplies. Beka was getting new parts for the Maru, Rev was going with her, and Harper had decided to just cruise around for awhile, see the sights of the place. Half an hour of wandering later, he'd come to the conclusion that he'd seen all there was to see.
Until he caught sight of a cute humanoid girl, walking down the street in a cute little tank top and shorts, blonde hair pinned up in an elaborate style. But that wasn't the first thing he noticed. The first thing he noticed was that all the skin he could see – and there was a lot – was a shade of light purple. The next thing he noticed was that she had a long purple tail, extending from the small of her back all the way to the floor.
Once he'd processed all that, he realised that during the period of time it had taken him to check her out, she'd stolen money off three different people. All of a sudden he lost her in the crowd, and felt a little disappointed.
Next thing he knew he felt a hand on his butt. Quick as he could he spun around to see who it was – and came face to face with the purple girl. She stared at him with big wide brown eyes.
"Oh no you don't," he said, taking the money she'd stolen off him back. He'd give her credit: she was good at what she did, he hadn't even felt her hand go into his pocket.
"Sorry," she said softly, smiling hesitantly and turning to go. He grabbed her arm before she left.
"Wait!" he called out, dragging her towards him. She turned around and faced him, a puzzled look on her face. "Uh, I'm Harper."
The purple girl gave him another strange look. Obviously, she wasn't used to people making polite small talk after she'd been caught picking their pocket. "My name is Trance Gemini."
They stood there in stalemate silence for awhile, until Harper felt a hand on his shoulder.
"I got those parts you needed to fix the ship," said Beka from behind him. Rev came to stand beside Harper. "Now you can fix it, and we can get back to the insanity that is our existence."
"We all know how I love insanity," Harper sarcastically added.
Trance smiled, a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. Harper thought she looked a little uncomfortable. He glanced at his Magog companion. Rev was an extremely peaceful Wayist, but his appearance could be frightening to those who didn't know him. Harper was trying to figure out how to put Trance at ease when Beka whacked his arm.
"What the hell was that for?" he snapped.
"Aren't you going to introduce us to your friend?" Beka scolded, regarding Trance with a cool glance. "God, Harper, have I taught you no manners?"
Harper smirked. "The only thing you've taught me, boss, is how to fly the Maru if you ever got your butt in so much hot water you couldn't park it in the pilots seat."
Beka whacked him again, and Trance gave another hollow smile.
"Okay, okay, okay," Harper grumbled. "Meet Trance Gemini. Trance, this is Beka Valentine, captain of the Eureka Maru, and that's Rev Bem, our local Magog Wayist."
"You're a Wayist?" Trance asked.
"Indeed I am," answered Rev with a discrete nod.
"I've met Wayists before – a group of them took me in when I got into a bit of a hard spot a few months back," Trance said with affection in her voice. "They were great – gave me some money so I could get back on my feet, kept me off the streets."
"It is the will of the Divine we do what little we can to help others in times of need," Rev said.
"So what do you do, Trance?" Beka inquired briskly. Harper watched Trance tense, then realised it wasn't Rev she was afraid of. Which surprised him. Beka wasn't exactly terrifying to look at. Then again, she could be a little intimidating at times. Obviously, now was one of those times. She was sizing Trance up, taking in the purple skin, and the tail. Trying to decide what to make of her.
"I, um, odd jobs," Trance nervously answered. "Whatever I can get, you know? I've kept gardens, I've been a medic, I've spent time as an ES officer for a Than ship…"
"An ES officer?" Beka asked. Trance nodded. "That's the one thing our ship needs. Our last ES officer…"
"Retired," Harper put in sarcastically.
"I'm sure it would be nice to retire," Trance said, completely oblivious to Harpers joke.
"He bought the farm," Harper tried again.
"A farm would be nice, too," Trance agreed. Harper sighed, and Beka stifled a laugh. Trance visibly relaxed.
"Are you interested in the position, Trance?" Beka asked, once she'd gotten her amusement under control.
"Me? Um, sure!" Trance beamed. Harper had never met anyone who could pull off actual beaming before. "It's better than what I'm do right now."
"Which is?"
"Absolutely nothing," she grinned, tail swinging around a bit.
"We want to get back to the Maru, gets weapons back online and get the heck off this rock as soon as possible," Beka told them. "We have to pick up a cargo load in three days."
"I have some stuff I need to go get," Trance informed them all. "I'll go get it now, where should I meet you?"
"Take Harper with you," Beka said. "I'm sure the 'genius' can find the Maru."
Trance looked uncomfortable at that, too. Slowly Harper realised he'd been staring at her the entire time. So what? he told himself, she's hot. Checking out hot girls is a completely normal hobby. Sure, most of the girls I check out ain't purple, but ya work with what's there.
"I'll see you at the Maru in an hour," Beka told him. "We still have some things we need to get." She walked off, but not before whispering a parting comment in his ear: "Harper, it's rude to stare."
With that, she and Rev disappeared into the crowd, leaving him alone with a… sparkly purple babe.
"Right, an hour," he muttered, looking down. "Let's go get your stuff."
He looked up to see Trance looking at him with a faint smile. Her smile broadened as she caught his gaze. "Let's go," she agreed, turning around and walking. Harper followed her, occasionally glimpsing at her tail. It was purple, like the rest of her, and it seemed to move with a will of its own. As if the tail had read his thoughts, it brushed up against his leg.
About 10 minutes of walking later, they arrived at a dark alley. Trance hesitantly headed down the alley, tail shifting nervously. Harper was about to say something, then thought better of it. They continued down the alley, until they were at the end. There stood what looked like a large dumpster. Trance headed towards it and walked behind it. Harper followed, to see Trance picking up a ratty looking knapsack and a pair of shoes. A mildew-y rug lay on the ground, and Trance pulled a grey blanket out from underneath it. She shoved it in her knapsack, took a quick look around then darted back into the alley.
Harper stood there a little longer, taking in the scene. Memories of living on Earth flooded his brain. Only years back, he'd been living in an alley, similar to this one. Then when he finally got off the planet, he'd found an apartment of sorts, but been kicked out due to lack of rent. He'd lived in an alley then, too. He shouldn't have been forced to resort to something like that. [I]And neither should Trance,[/I] he told himself. [I]Thank God she's joining us on the Maru… any longer here and she'll get really sick.[/I] The place stank. It really did.
He was about to leave when he caught sight of something shiny. He leant over to pick it up. It was a metal box. Harper opened it to find it full of sparkly clips and hair… things. He smiled. They looked like the kind of thing Trance would wear in her hair. Sparkly like she was.
"We should go," Trance called. Harper quickly headed back out into the alley, clutching the box. Once he was there, he quickly shoved his find into Trance's hands.
"Um, you left this behind," he said awkwardly.
"My hairstuff!" she exclaimed happily. "Thank you, Harper… it would have been really, really bad if I'd left this behind." With some ceremony, she rummaged through the box and pulled out some credit chips. "I'm starved, do you want to go get something to eat?"
Harper barely had time to nod in agreement before she headed down the alley back into the main street. He followed her, a bit confused. If you were forced to live in an alley, you'd think you'd keep ya money somewhere safe, Harper mused to himself. Then he took a look at Trance, happily bouncing down the road, bad mood from before apparently gone.
****
About half an hour later, Trance and Harper approached the Maru. Harper watched Trance's expression as she took a look at what was to become her new home.
"It's, um, very nice," she offered with a smile.
"It's a hunk of junk," Harper said, smirking. "Just don't tell Beka I said that or she'll probably shish kebab me." One look at Trance's pale face made Harper instantly regret the joke. "Hey, I was just kidding," he told her. "Beka is one of the nicest people I know… just don't tell her [I]that[/I], either."
"She seemed kind of… scary," Trance admitted.
"That's until you get to know her," he said confidently. "Underneath the tough-as-nails persona she's all hearts, flowers and sunshine."
"Really?"
"No." Harper grinned. "But one thing I can tell you for sure is that she's loyal. Once you're a friend, you're a friend for life."
"Sounds like a good kind of friend to have," Trance agreed.
"Are we going to stand here staring at my ship all day or are we going to board it?" a voice from behind them asked. Harper turned to see Rev and Beka standing there, Beka with an expression on her face he'd never seen before. Harper wondered how long she'd been listening in.
"Much as I appreciate the view, I would rather not stay out here any longer," Rev said. "The locals do not appear to be friend towards Magog."
"Not many people are," Beka agreed. She looked Trance in the eye. "The universe isn't all hearts, flowers and sunshine."
Trance met Bekas gaze. "No," she answered softly, "it isn't." Beka nodded, looking at Trance with new understanding. Harper wasn't sure what was going on, but at least they seemed more comfortable around each other.
Beka punched in her access codes, and the crew followed her aboard the Maru…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Would you like me to go get you some more coffee?"
"Huh?" Harper sat up from where he was working, and promptly hit his head on the open switchboard door – again. "Ow!"
"Sorry," Trance apologised. "I didn't mean to distract you."
"It's okay, I was just thinking."
"About what?"
"Do you remember when we met?" he asked Trance, turning to face her.
"Yup," she said, nodding. "And Beka was so scary…"
"Is she still scary?" he teased.
"No."
"You know what the one thing I remember most is?" he said. "You were sleeping in that alley, yet you had like a whole bunch of thrones in that hairtie box of yours. Why didn't you rent an apartment or something?"
"I wanted to save the thrones," she told him seriously. "I still have them, you know. In case I ever need them. In case anything ever happens to the Maru and I have to live on my own again."
"I don't think that's going to happen for quite some time," Harper answered. "You don't have to worry about it, you know."
"I do," Trance argued softly. "You've gotta have an escape route, Harper. Remember that." She stood up and dusted off her shorts. "You want that coffee?"
"Sure."
She disappeared off down the hall, leaving Harper still pondering the many mysteries that made up Trance Gemini.