Thanks again for the reviews. It's greatly appreciated. I'm happy to see that I've finally got a story people actually like. I'll try to post at least every other day from now on, if not every day, but I can't promise anything. Ah… Summer vacation is great for an aspiring writer…
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"Harper?" a soft female voice reached his ears. He was going through the stages of regaining consciousness, and right now he was regaining his hearing. "Beka, I think he's waking up." It was Trance. Somehow he figured she'd be the one watching over him while he was unconscious, especially since he'd taken Bobby's attention off of her. Soon his eyelids twitched and he opened his eyes, narrowing them to block out some of the bright light. Trance hovered over him like a worried mother, with a warm smile on her face, running her hand ever so gently through his hair. For a moment he thought he was five again, back at home in his mother's cradling arms. Then the pain in his ribs came back and he was rudely pulled back into reality. "Harper, are you okay?" Trance asked. He moaned in pain for a moment, thinking she had asked a stupid question.
"I feel like I just came from the fountain of youth," he replied sarcastically. He brought his hand to his forehead and rested his wrist on it. "What's the damage report?"
"Bruised ribs and a mild concussion," Trance reported. "You should stay in bed for the rest of the day. And I'm giving you some medicine for that rash…"
Harper wanted to laugh, but he knew it would hurt too much, so he only smiled. "Normally I'd praise you for telling me I should stay in bed, but our deal was that I work for room and board. I haven't even finished the life support system yet, ergo I can't stay in bed all day."
Beka appeared next to Trance and gave him a look that could kill. "My boyfriend beat you up, I think that qualifies you for some down time, shorty," she told him. "If you won't stay in bed for the rest of the day, at least do all the easy work. I don't need you making your injuries worse, because I really can't afford any medical bills right now."
Harper held out a hand and Trance helped him sit up. She handed him a shirt, but it wasn't the one he'd arrived on the Maru in. He grumbled as he took the shirt, but he put it on nonetheless. "Damn you and your hospitality," he said, half jokingly. His eyes slowly wandered to meet Trance's and he noticed the look of pity in the dark orbs. "So, you saw the scars, then?" Trance looked at the floor and nodded. "I told you I was on a slave ship. I did tell you that I tried to get away once, right? You don't get caught and walk away with a slap on the wrist. It's more like… forty lashes with a barbed whip." He shrugged and hopped off the medical bed he was sitting on. "I'll be in the machine shop if you need me." His steps echoed as he entered the corridor and headed back to the machine shop. Trance looked up at Beka, who sighed heavily and left the room, heading in the opposite direction as Harper.
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Beka entered the Maru's brig and glared daggers at Bobby, who sat in one of the tiny cells. She tried to remember exactly how she got him in that cell. Her adrenaline must have kicked in when she saw him pounding Harper into a wall because she could remember throwing him out into the corridor after screaming her head off at him. He looked up at her and frowned, his disappointment in himself showing through his expression.
"Well, you didn't kill him," Beka informed him. "For a minute there I thought you did, but then Trance told me he still had a pulse." Bobby remained silent as he watched her feet as she paced to and fro in front of his cell. She suddenly stopped pacing and turned to him with a quiet rage in her stance. "WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR PROBLEM?!" she finally screamed, her face flushing red with anger. "He's half your size, Bobby. You could have easily crushed his skull and we'd have a dead kid on our hands, leaving me to explain to the authorities that MY BOYFRIEND IS A MURDERER!"
"Hey, why do you care so much anyway?" Bobby asked loudly. "He's just a lousy mud foot, you don't need to worry about him so much."
Beka screamed to vent some of her anger and grabbed her red hair, ready to pull it out. "He's a human being, Bobby! He's not some bug that you can squish because you don't like the way he looks. And in case you haven't noticed, he's been working his ass off trying to fix my ship since he got here. I think we owe him a little more gratitude than bruising his ribs and knocking him out, 'cause I don't know about you, but that's not exactly the thanks I'd want." She started pacing again, flexing her hands into fists and then relaxing them repeatedly. The wheels in her mind were working overtime and she was about to blow steam out her ears. Her main focus was what to do about Bobby. Harper seemed like he really did know what he was doing, and he'd been doing a good job so far, so she didn't want to get rid of him. Bobby was a complete asshole, but he was her boyfriend and she felt like she needed that kind of stability. Then again, having Bobby as a boyfriend was anything BUT stable. She began to wonder if she was ready to get rid of Bobby. He'd been warned before that if he pulled anything remotely stupid or dangerous, he'd get kicked off the ship. 'That time is now,' she decided in her mind. "Bobby… I want you off this ship in two hours." She unlocked his cell and left the door open for him. "If you're not gone in two hours, and if you're lucky, I'll call the authorities and have you arrested for trespassing before I shoot your manhood off." She spun on her heals and walked out of the brig, a smug, self-satisfied grin on her face, while Bobby still sat in his cell in complete shock.
Harper stifled his laughter as he watched Beka leave from a conduit above the brig. He'd heard the commotion and found a good viewing spot right above Bobby's cell. Beka's words about him being a human being stuck in his mind. Was it possible that somebody actually cared about him? Beka was actually kicking her boyfriend off of her ship to keep him from having to deal with Bobby anymore. This was the first time since his mother died that somebody was actually protecting him from harm. The bartender that took him to the clinic when he first arrived on this planet was a friend, no doubt about that, but he would never do something this drastic to help him. Maybe he'd finally found a place where he was accepted as a person, not property. Maybe he'd like to stay on this ship as a permanent engineer…
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Harper slipped out of the conduit into the machine shop a few hours after Beka's ordeal with Bobby and wrapped an arm around his ribs. Maybe crawling through the conduits wasn't such a good idea. At least he'd finally finished fixing the life support system. He smiled contentedly at the cool air that was now venting into the room since he'd fixed the system. "I need a drink," he said out loud, even though he was alone.
Beka was sitting at a table in the mess hall when he got there. She was running her finger along the rim of a tall, clear glass filled with what looked like whiskey. It was obvious that she'd been crying, but Harper figured she'd probably deny it like most women. He quietly entered the room taking small steps. He didn't want to take any chances that she wouldn't be upset because he was the reason she's kicked Bobby off the ship. She looked up at him and smiled softly, trying to look happier than she really was. It failed horribly because her eyes were puffy and red and her tears had stained her cheeks.
"I heard everything," he admitted quietly. "I could say thanks, but it doesn't look like it'll help any. I'll say it anyway. Thanks, Captain Valentine."
"Call me Beka, please," she said. "Anything but 'Captain Valentine.' It makes me think of my dad." She motioned for him to sit down across from her and went to the cabinet to get another glass for him. "Do you drink, shorty?"
"Not really," he answered. "It usually makes me sick." She took the empty glass to the fridge and got him a bottle of water instead. "Thanks," he said when she handed him the glass and water. He hesitated to open the bottle, watching her as she sat back down and took a sip of her whiskey. "I'm sorry, boss."
"It's not your fault," Beka sighed, waving a hand to dismiss his apology. "I warned him before about touching my crew members." Harper's heart skipped a beat when she said that. She considered him a member of her crew? "This time he crossed a very broad line in the sand. I should be apologizing to you for his stupidity." She looked confused for a moment as she looked around the room. Raising a hand in front of the vent next to the table, she smiled. "You fixed life support. Thanks, ki… Harper. So does this mean you'll actually stick around to fix my ship?"
Harper smiled and nodded, finally opening the bottle and drinking the water straight from it instead of dirtying the glass. Beka could tell by the look in his eyes that there was more to his answer. He noticed the expectant look on her face and sighed. "I was even wondering if you wanted a full-time engineer… Permanently… Meaning I leave with you when…"
"I get it, Harper," Beka interrupted with a smile. "If that's what you really want. I mean, I would love to have you stay. You won't have to worry about Bobby anymore." Harper's pleading blue orbs looked like puppy dog eyes for a split second and Beka's heart caved in. "Welcome aboard," she laughed.
Harper celebrated silently, careful not to jar his ribs too much. The smile on his face was almost foreign to Beka. She hadn't seen him give a genuine smile like this one since he'd been on the ship. He took another sip of his water and continued smiling. Beka felt like she'd just saved his life by letting him become a member of her crew. "Pardon the cliché," Harper said, "but I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship…"
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AW! Happy sappy moment there at the end… sighs happily and smiles Review if you so desire it. More to come soon.
