Just A Girl

Part 4

Everything onboard the Eureka Maru was still and silent when Beka stepped inside. She was comforted by the familiarity of her ship, the only home she had ever known. It was old, but the dingy metal bulkheads, the faded paint, and the dim lights that were never quite bright enough to cast away all the shadows, was all she ever needed. Sure, she dreamed of manning the helm of some shiny new ship, sleek, painted in vivid colors, with bright, full-spectrum lighting, fresh coffee in the morning, a shower in every room, and bots that took care of menial tasks like cooking and housekeeping. Every pilot wanted free run of a vessel equal to a High Guard ship-of-the-line, but if she never made it to the top (which she knew she never would), the Eureka Maru would be enough.

All the lights were dimmed save for the one that originated in the galley. Rev Bem was up early, as was his custom. Beka had to admit that she was not sure if he had even gone to bed. He did not need as much sleep as she and her young Engineer, and could go for days without it if need be. When concern for the safety of a crewmember compelled him, he was known to forgo sleep altogether until said crewmember was safely back home. She moved into the galley to see him seated as still as sculpture on a stool, his head bowed in prayer or meditation. He looked up as she entered.

"Are you all right?" He asked, "I was concerned when you did not return."

"I'm fine, but we may have a problem. How long has Harper been asleep?" She moved across the galley to stand at the entrance to the berthing room. Through the shadows, she could see the lump that was her young engineer on one of the top bunks.

"Our young friend turned in some four hours ago," Rev answered patiently.

"Good, he's slept enough." She climbed up onto the ladder to Harper's bunk.

"May I ask what this is about?" She placed a hand on the kid's shoulder and began to shake.

"I'll tell you in a minute, first I need to get this one up." Harper grumbled, but did not otherwise stir. "Harper, get your scrawny little butt up. I have a job for you." Beka heard Rev's footsteps behind him.

"Is this really necessary? He does not sleep so well usually, and I believe he may have been drinking prior to retiring." Rev's concern for the boy was valid. She hated waking him as well. Harper had been with them for a year, and he was a work in progress. She had taken a mess of a boy off of Earth and groomed him into something a little more presentable, though he still had his problems. Amongst them were his restless nights. His sleep was plagued with nightmares, even a year after leaving the horrors of Earth, and sometimes his mind just worked too much to allow him rest. Therefore, it was a shame to interrupt his alcohol induced deep sleep, but he was the only one who could do what she needed done, and she needed it done immediately.

"I have no doubts that he's been drinking, but I need him. Harper, come on." She gave him a shove and he rolled over onto his back, eyes still closed.

"Aw, boss," grumbled the boy.

"I have a job for you." His face twitched and he opened his bleary eyes.

"Boss, I was havin' an amazing dream," he said in a whine, "there were these girls--" She caught a whiff of stale alcohol and wrinkled her nose. At least one thing could be said for Harper, even though went out and drank an entire bar every time they put in at a drift, she could at least expect him in bed early. The only exceptions were the rare occasions when some woman who'd had a bit too much to drink, or unusual taste in men, allowed him to crash in her bed for the night. Lucky for her, this was not one of those nights.

"I'm sorry, but I need you. Come on, get up, and hurry." She hopped off the ladder, her boots crashing loudly against the deck plates. Pain shot up her ankle, but she ignored it. Harper sat up slowly, grumbling something incoherent. Beka was glad she could not understand.

She took a seat beside Rev in the galley and a moment later the red-eyed Harper stumbled in. He had not bothered to change out of the gaudy orange t-shirt he had been wearing the day before, which was now rumpled and sticking to him, and his sandy blonde hair was mussed and standing up on one side. All and all he was a half-drunk and pathetic sight to see, but even so, she knew she could trust him to get the job done, and get it done right. Harper made a beeline for the cooler and took out a Sparky cola. It opened with a hiss and he downed it in a series of loud gulps. Perhaps, she thought, he needed some more training in manors…

"What's this about?" he finally asked after letting go a rather loud and distasteful burp.

"We may have a problem. I need you to hack into the Drift's computers and find any secret files Greg Neiman may have saved on there." Harper blanched.

"Our employer? Why are you having second thoughts about him now? A bad date is no reason to wake me up at a god-awful hour and risk my life." Beka ignored his comment and let him get on to where he was truly going. These quick-spoken and self-absorbed ramblings were typical of Harper, especially when he was afraid of something. "C'mon boss, Segway Drift's personal and secret files are protected by a row of killer firewalls that need a finger print and personal code to get through, and if you somehow manage to hack your way in, you have to avoid hundreds of hidden trip-wires which will knock you unconscious and send the authorities after you! The penalty for hacking on Segway is either an all expenses paid trip to the nearest Nietzchean run prison planet, or a lengthy interrogation followed by a quick, but very painful, death." She held in her sympathy. She knew what she was asking him to do was very dangerous, but now was not the time to coddle. She had confidence in his abilities, and knowledge of the danger would keep him careful. Harper needed a strong hand to guide him, not a doting mother figure.

"Can you do it?" She asked in matter-of-fact tone. She leaned her body forward with her hands folded on the table and looked straight into his eyes. They were getting clearer and more focused by the second. Not a thing in the universe could sober Harper up faster than the challenge of a job. His hand went up to a shiny metal ring in his neck, the dataport he had saved his money for and had installed a few months before.

"Are you kidding? I am a freakin' genius. I just wanted you to know what you were getting me into. What do you want me to look for exactly?"

"Anything he has hidden. If he is hiding it, it can't be good, and I have my suspicions. Now go, and hurry. Greg expects us to be ready by tomorrow night and I need to know what's in those files."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm going," the boy grumbled, and promptly turned on heal towards the airlock. Beka sighed and slumped into her seat, exhausted. Rev's eyes were on her. She knew the questions he would ask, though she was not sure she had the answers. She gave him a small nod to let him know it was all right to start the inquisition.

"What is this all about, Beka?" he asked as he stood up and moved beside her. His fur covered hand reached out, and with a gentleness that seemed impossible for so frightening a creature, began to examine the bandages on her arm. If anyone had told her years ago that she would share a tiny starship with a Magog, she would have told them to lay off the drink, but Rev, like Harper had come into her world a person in need and never left.

"I think we may have signed up for more than a stolen supplies run, Neiman might be using us as an accomplice to mass murder."

"Does this have anything to do with that?" He lifted the bandage, and once satisfied that everything was all right, replaced it, "I did not know we had the funds for a clinic."

"No, this happened on the lower decks, that's another story though. And, I didn't spend any money at the clinic I was taken there by… by a girl."

"A girl?" Rev took a seat directly beside her. By his tone, it was clear he knew there was more to the story. He always knew.

"A slave girl. She's the most interesting being I have ever seen. She's purple and has a tail. She served us at Ariano's tonight. I was coming back to the ship and she found me and dragged me to a free clinic that she helps the Drift's doctor run late at night."

"That was very kind of her." Rev said. Beka just nodded and then after a moment said,

"She was with Neiman tonight. He purchased her services."

"It was she who told you of the danger?"

"Yeah." Rev nodded and Beka stayed silent. She blinked slowly in an attempt to fight off her tiredness. If things kept going the way they were, she would not be getting any sleep tonight. Rev moved to make her a pot of coffee as if he had read her mind.

"You believe her?"

"She has no reason to lie to me." Rev did not reply, instead the room filled with the sound of percolating coffee. The smell of the strong brew filled the room and she felt more alert at just the scent of it. She took a deep breath and risked closing her eyes. Behind them, she saw Trance being hauled away from her, and the look in her eyes that said only Beka could help. Suddenly, she slammed her fist against the hard metal table. The force of the blow sent a burst of pain up her arm and then continued to sting. "God Rev, I can't get her out of my head!"

Her old friend did not seem at all startled by her outburst, and why should he? There was not much she could do to frighten a Magog, one of the most fearsome sentient species in the Tri-Galaxies. Moreover, he was used to her sudden bouts of temper, having served beside her for years. His look was one of utmost compassion when he said in reply,

"Tell me about her."

"Like I said before, she is the most interesting species I have ever seen. I don't know what her people are called, or where in this giant universe they might come from, but it must be far away because I've never even heard of people like her. She's beautiful… and smart, very smart, too smart to be a slave." Rev set a cup of coffee down in front of her. The steam rose in tendrils towards the inlaid lights on the cupboard above the table.

"Many smart girls find themselves in situations they cannot get out of. It can be difficult to watch." Rev replied as he took a seat beside her once more. She gave her friend a weary smile. He knew more of the injustice of it all than she did. He of all people could understand.

"You can't take to heart every bad situation you see. She has it better than millions of girls her age. I shouldn't even care, but it's – it's hard to explain what it is about her. It's like she's completely innocent." Beka took another sip of coffee as she tried to order her thoughts. Rev waited, ever the patient one, for her to finish. "Trance – that's her name – has all but admitted to me that she is a thief, and I know what girls like her have to do behind closed doors, and yet despite all that, she's not jaded. She still cares about and trusts strangers… just like a child. I think she believes I can help her." The last part was said quietly.

"Did you give her any indication you would?" Rev asked.

"No. I mean she's just a girl. No matter how innocent she is, or how unique, she's just another slave girl. I've seen the look of hope in the eyes of girls worst off than she is; I've heard at least a thousand stories. I can't just give in to every one of them, I can barely take care of what I have." She stared into the dark depths of her coffee cup as if the answers she was seeking were hiding within the brew. She felt a warm, furry hand cover her own and looked up at the kindness displayed on a face that to most was a nightmare come true.

"We hear thousands of voices each day, millions in a year. Most of them are quiet. We hear what they have to say and then we forget, but every once in a while one voice calls louder than all the rest and it is difficult to ignore. Do we not owe it to that voice to listen?" Beka stared into Rev's wise old eyes. At one time, his voice had called out to her. She had been making a supply run when a Wayist monk had begged her for a favor. A fellow monk, he'd said, needed immediate passage off the planet for his life was in grave danger. He was a good man, caring, and devout in his religion. He would work for his passage if she would only keep an open mind. She had been ready to say no, but she had been piloting the Maru by herself for a while, aching and lonely after her father's death, so she agreed. She almost changed her mind when she found out Rev was Magog, but the medallion around his neck and the testimony of the other monk, a human man, sealed the deal. She never once regretted that decision. She shook her head.

"Rev, I didn't come here looking for another project. I wanted a job and an officer, but a trained officer, an adult. She'll be like Harper; she'll need to be taken care of, and she'll have to be trained." Rev nodded.

"Indeed, and Harper is quite a handful sometimes." Rev said in agreement. Beka gave a soft chuckle.

"Not sometimes, all the time. And what about Harper?"

"If they are close in age, they are likely to become friends. Perhaps a friend is what he needs." Beka nodded, but there was a frown on her face.

"That could be bad, too. Vexpeg wasn't even nice to Harper and his death was hard on the kid. God forbid he and Trance become friends and then something happens to her… or what if they become more than friends? She's pretty, and you know Harper. This job is dangerous. If we lost her, it would kill him." Rev patted her hand.

"It sounds as if you have already made up your mind. It is good to look towards the future and see the larger picture, but you must not concern yourself with the details in the present. Do what you feel is right, that is all you can do."

"You're right," Beka said, standing up. She downed the rest of her coffee. "You're absolutely right." She walked out of the galley without another word and headed towards the small closet she called her quarters. It was nothing fancy; a bunk, a desk, storage compartments beneath the bed and hanging from the ceiling, and layers of pictures on the walls, but it was hers and she did not have to share. She knelt before the desk and tapped in a code to unlock the bottom drawer. She pulled out a small metal box with a complex electronic lock and pressed her finger to it. It scanned her fingerprint and opened. Inside was her entire fortune, a pittance, but it would have to do. She pocketed a bag of 450 thrones and made her way back towards the galley just as Harper was coming in, an information storage device in his hands. He handed it to her.

"You weren't kidding when you we might have a problem. That guy is seriously psycho." Beka glanced at the material on the screen. She scrolled down until she reached the end, all the while her sense of unease growing. Trance was right, though she had missed an important detail. Greg Neiman never intended to let the Maru go intact.