***Chapter Three***
He'd never noticed that Trance bit her fingernails. Standing at Docking Bay 12, waiting for Andromeda, Harper sent the occasional glance towards his lavender companion, who had her fingers in her mouth, chewing nervously. Oddly enough, the fact that he didn't notice that little fact irritated him. He barely knew anything about Trance, but he'd taken to collecting every tiny, useless piece of information, trying to make up for the fact that he knew nothing about who she was and where she came from. He knew which ones were her favourite plants (a pink lily named John), knew what her favourite food was (tomato omelette), knew what her favourite kind of music was (she had a particular liking for the sound of the violin), knew she liked cocktails (especially fruity flavoured ones) and even knew that she slept in light blue pyjamas. But he hadn't noticed that she bit her fingernails.
"They're late," Trance said, fidgeting and looking around the crowd of people, all different species. "Do you think maybe they forgot to pick us up? Maybe they've got caught up somewhere or someone attacked them and they had to abandon ship except the Maru crashed and now they're all dead on some planet somewhere and -"
"Relax, babe, Rommie's much too smart to let herself get killed over the two days we've been here," Harper assured her. "Besides, much as I hate to admit it, she can get by without me for more than two days, even if I am a super genius and my skills are greatly envied around the galaxy."
"I don't know, Harper, that French girl at the bar didn't seem very impressed with your 'skills'," the purple girl answered, a smile working its way across her face. Harper couldn't help but smile back.
"Aha, look, there's a Trance smile, just what I need this fine, uh, afternoon," he said. He put his arm around her playfully. "Now, why don't you tell Agony Aunt Harper what's troubling my purple princess, hmm?"
Trance groaned, smiling in spite of herself. "Do you have any idea of how wrong that sounds?"
He took his arm off her shoulder. "Well, now that I think about it, yeah, that is wrong... wait, I detect a classic Trance Gemini change of subject taking place here. Let's get to the point, shall we? You usually love shore missions. Heck, you've volunteered for nearly all of them. Then we go to that bar and all of a sudden you can't wait to get out and back to the Andromeda. Something's fishy about this, and I think you owe me an explanation."
"Okay then," Trance said slowly. Harper blinked. That was it? He was going to get a straight answer from Trance Gemini? Her hand moved towards her mouth and he grabbed it by the wrist mid-way.
"Enough with the nail-biting."
"I... I just ran into someone I really didn't need to see right about now," she said in a rush. "An old... acquaintance."
"Really Trance, I'd call us more than just acquaintances," came a voice from behind them. Trance went nearly white, and Harper turned to face whatever it was that had shaken her so badly, anger bubbling up inside him. He opened his mouth to speak then stopped as he got an eyeful of Trances 'acquaintance'.
A humanoid. Dark brown wavy hair down to her shoulders. A low cut top and pants. Big, dark brown, nearly black eyes. A mischievous, but very seductive raspberry coloured smile. But what caught his attention was her luminous purple skin and long purple tail, moving slowly from side to side. She had Trance's nose, Trance's mouth, Trance's figure, and Trance's cheekbones... with some subtle differences. This girl seemed older than Trance, although he would have pegged them at roughly the same age, maybe a year or two difference. But one thing was for certain - she was definitely Trance's species.
"Hi," the girl said, her smile in full force. Harper smiled hesitantly back.
"Um, hi," he answered. She extended her hand, and Harper took it, noticing the long, manicured black nails, so different to Trance's, yet so alike.
"Little sister, you didn't mention me to your friend here," she said, still not taking her eyes off Harper.
"Must have slipped my mind," came Trance's icy tone, which brought Harper back to reality. This girl, no matter how gorgeous, was the reason Trance had freaked out at the bar. She could be dangerous. He'd met his share of dangerous women - even the most beautiful could have laser guns in their underwear, ready to strike when they got you 'alone'.
"No harm done," the girl said cheerfully, and Harper suddenly backtracked on the conversation. Wait a minute... little sister?
"Harper, this is my big sister, Tangent," Trance said coolly, her voice even. Harper looked over, and saw that she was using every muscle in her body to stop from shaking. This is some really odd family, and that's saying a lot - I've met Beka's brother.
"A pleasure to meet you," said Tangent, smile still in place. "Trance, you never told me your friend was so handsome."
Whoa. "Hey, they call me the love god, baby!" Harper joked, in disbelief. Trance's sister was flirting with him! This was just too unreal... and it wasn't in his nature to ignore come-ons from pretty girls.
"I'm sure they do."
"Tangent's going to stay with us aboard the Andromeda for awhile," Trance piped up. "If Dylan agrees, of course."
"What? When were you planning on telling me this?" Harper interjected, staring at Trance. "Not that I mind, but..." What the hell is going on? You freak out when you meet your own sister in a bar; you freak out about for quite some time then you invite her on board? He suddenly realised that, in fact, he hadn't got a straight answer from Trance.
He'd just gotten more questions.
***
"Let me get this straight - we have not just one, but two purple girls aboard this ship?" asked Tyr as the crew, minus Trance and her sister, stood in command. "Requesting permission to use an escape pod, and get out of here, Captain Hunt."
"She seemed nice enough," Dylan answered thoughtfully. "Perhaps it will be good for Trance to have someone her own species around... I worry about her sometimes, she seems lonely."
"Why would she be lonely?" Harper answered sharply. "She's got me - us, all of us."
"Gemini," Rommie mused. "Ancient Earth astrology - Gemini meant "the twins". One of the twelve astrological signs. Therefore, it's perfectly logical that Trance should have a twin."
"Actually, I think Tangent is older than Trance," Harper offered. "She called Trance her little sister."
"Either way, she's perfectly welcome aboard Andromeda," Dylan said, shooting a pointed look at Tyr, who rolled his eyes and stalked out of the room. "Did Trance say how long her sister would be staying?"
"Does Trance usually say anything about her family?" Beka answered.
"Point taken."
"I'm gonna go and stock up my Sparky," Harper told them all. "See you later."
He left command and headed down the corridors to his quarters. It was only seconds later when he realised Tyr was by his side.
"What's the full story behind this sister?" Tyr asked Harper sharply. "There's something odd about her and I want to know what it is."
"Wish I could tell you, but the only thing different about her was that she found me very attractive, not that there's anything odd about that, it's just that it takes a very special kind of woman to recognize the full advantages and talents of the Harper -"
"Maintain concentration, boy!" Tyr snapped. "Was there anything else?"
Harper frowned. "Unless you count the fact that Trance is terrified of her, there isn't really much to go by, but I know what you mean - there's something really weird about Tangent."
"You're saying that the purple one is afraid of one of her kind? One who shares her DNA?"
"If purple pixies even have DNA."
It was Tyrs turn to frown. "Trance may be an annoying, energetic little purple... thing, but she does not scare easily. That is to her credit." He paused. "We should keep an eye on this Tangent."
"I'll definitely keep an eye on her," Harper offered. Tyr shot him a look.
"Just keep your eyes where they should be looking."
He'd never noticed that Trance bit her fingernails. Standing at Docking Bay 12, waiting for Andromeda, Harper sent the occasional glance towards his lavender companion, who had her fingers in her mouth, chewing nervously. Oddly enough, the fact that he didn't notice that little fact irritated him. He barely knew anything about Trance, but he'd taken to collecting every tiny, useless piece of information, trying to make up for the fact that he knew nothing about who she was and where she came from. He knew which ones were her favourite plants (a pink lily named John), knew what her favourite food was (tomato omelette), knew what her favourite kind of music was (she had a particular liking for the sound of the violin), knew she liked cocktails (especially fruity flavoured ones) and even knew that she slept in light blue pyjamas. But he hadn't noticed that she bit her fingernails.
"They're late," Trance said, fidgeting and looking around the crowd of people, all different species. "Do you think maybe they forgot to pick us up? Maybe they've got caught up somewhere or someone attacked them and they had to abandon ship except the Maru crashed and now they're all dead on some planet somewhere and -"
"Relax, babe, Rommie's much too smart to let herself get killed over the two days we've been here," Harper assured her. "Besides, much as I hate to admit it, she can get by without me for more than two days, even if I am a super genius and my skills are greatly envied around the galaxy."
"I don't know, Harper, that French girl at the bar didn't seem very impressed with your 'skills'," the purple girl answered, a smile working its way across her face. Harper couldn't help but smile back.
"Aha, look, there's a Trance smile, just what I need this fine, uh, afternoon," he said. He put his arm around her playfully. "Now, why don't you tell Agony Aunt Harper what's troubling my purple princess, hmm?"
Trance groaned, smiling in spite of herself. "Do you have any idea of how wrong that sounds?"
He took his arm off her shoulder. "Well, now that I think about it, yeah, that is wrong... wait, I detect a classic Trance Gemini change of subject taking place here. Let's get to the point, shall we? You usually love shore missions. Heck, you've volunteered for nearly all of them. Then we go to that bar and all of a sudden you can't wait to get out and back to the Andromeda. Something's fishy about this, and I think you owe me an explanation."
"Okay then," Trance said slowly. Harper blinked. That was it? He was going to get a straight answer from Trance Gemini? Her hand moved towards her mouth and he grabbed it by the wrist mid-way.
"Enough with the nail-biting."
"I... I just ran into someone I really didn't need to see right about now," she said in a rush. "An old... acquaintance."
"Really Trance, I'd call us more than just acquaintances," came a voice from behind them. Trance went nearly white, and Harper turned to face whatever it was that had shaken her so badly, anger bubbling up inside him. He opened his mouth to speak then stopped as he got an eyeful of Trances 'acquaintance'.
A humanoid. Dark brown wavy hair down to her shoulders. A low cut top and pants. Big, dark brown, nearly black eyes. A mischievous, but very seductive raspberry coloured smile. But what caught his attention was her luminous purple skin and long purple tail, moving slowly from side to side. She had Trance's nose, Trance's mouth, Trance's figure, and Trance's cheekbones... with some subtle differences. This girl seemed older than Trance, although he would have pegged them at roughly the same age, maybe a year or two difference. But one thing was for certain - she was definitely Trance's species.
"Hi," the girl said, her smile in full force. Harper smiled hesitantly back.
"Um, hi," he answered. She extended her hand, and Harper took it, noticing the long, manicured black nails, so different to Trance's, yet so alike.
"Little sister, you didn't mention me to your friend here," she said, still not taking her eyes off Harper.
"Must have slipped my mind," came Trance's icy tone, which brought Harper back to reality. This girl, no matter how gorgeous, was the reason Trance had freaked out at the bar. She could be dangerous. He'd met his share of dangerous women - even the most beautiful could have laser guns in their underwear, ready to strike when they got you 'alone'.
"No harm done," the girl said cheerfully, and Harper suddenly backtracked on the conversation. Wait a minute... little sister?
"Harper, this is my big sister, Tangent," Trance said coolly, her voice even. Harper looked over, and saw that she was using every muscle in her body to stop from shaking. This is some really odd family, and that's saying a lot - I've met Beka's brother.
"A pleasure to meet you," said Tangent, smile still in place. "Trance, you never told me your friend was so handsome."
Whoa. "Hey, they call me the love god, baby!" Harper joked, in disbelief. Trance's sister was flirting with him! This was just too unreal... and it wasn't in his nature to ignore come-ons from pretty girls.
"I'm sure they do."
"Tangent's going to stay with us aboard the Andromeda for awhile," Trance piped up. "If Dylan agrees, of course."
"What? When were you planning on telling me this?" Harper interjected, staring at Trance. "Not that I mind, but..." What the hell is going on? You freak out when you meet your own sister in a bar; you freak out about for quite some time then you invite her on board? He suddenly realised that, in fact, he hadn't got a straight answer from Trance.
He'd just gotten more questions.
***
"Let me get this straight - we have not just one, but two purple girls aboard this ship?" asked Tyr as the crew, minus Trance and her sister, stood in command. "Requesting permission to use an escape pod, and get out of here, Captain Hunt."
"She seemed nice enough," Dylan answered thoughtfully. "Perhaps it will be good for Trance to have someone her own species around... I worry about her sometimes, she seems lonely."
"Why would she be lonely?" Harper answered sharply. "She's got me - us, all of us."
"Gemini," Rommie mused. "Ancient Earth astrology - Gemini meant "the twins". One of the twelve astrological signs. Therefore, it's perfectly logical that Trance should have a twin."
"Actually, I think Tangent is older than Trance," Harper offered. "She called Trance her little sister."
"Either way, she's perfectly welcome aboard Andromeda," Dylan said, shooting a pointed look at Tyr, who rolled his eyes and stalked out of the room. "Did Trance say how long her sister would be staying?"
"Does Trance usually say anything about her family?" Beka answered.
"Point taken."
"I'm gonna go and stock up my Sparky," Harper told them all. "See you later."
He left command and headed down the corridors to his quarters. It was only seconds later when he realised Tyr was by his side.
"What's the full story behind this sister?" Tyr asked Harper sharply. "There's something odd about her and I want to know what it is."
"Wish I could tell you, but the only thing different about her was that she found me very attractive, not that there's anything odd about that, it's just that it takes a very special kind of woman to recognize the full advantages and talents of the Harper -"
"Maintain concentration, boy!" Tyr snapped. "Was there anything else?"
Harper frowned. "Unless you count the fact that Trance is terrified of her, there isn't really much to go by, but I know what you mean - there's something really weird about Tangent."
"You're saying that the purple one is afraid of one of her kind? One who shares her DNA?"
"If purple pixies even have DNA."
It was Tyrs turn to frown. "Trance may be an annoying, energetic little purple... thing, but she does not scare easily. That is to her credit." He paused. "We should keep an eye on this Tangent."
"I'll definitely keep an eye on her," Harper offered. Tyr shot him a look.
"Just keep your eyes where they should be looking."