Disclaimer: I don't own Andromeda. Not even close--though if I lived in that universe, I think I'd end up as Harper, the way my life goes. ::sigh::

Notes: Sorry about the wait again. Technical difficulties. This is a little short, but I hope, *hope*, to have another part out this evening.

Thanks to Konayn, Mary Rose, Parisindy bg, Iverson (lol g glad to make you happy !), Brat64 (thanks), Raven (Thanks for the advice, I may be using it in the near future :^)), Amelia (lol Harper's glad too), Spooky-girl (I'm glad), Antares(g thanks!), and Stefanie Dale (lolPlan? I have a Plan? Now I'm wondering what you're thinking g). Really, the encouragement means a lot to me. ::smile:: Thanks.

Wanta throw rotten tomatoes? Feedback is welcome.

Just a reminder:

Early Days

By: Ghost

Chapter 9~

~~*~~

*hisssss--click*

*boom—creak. hisssss*

The ship shuddered, as Harper's eyes snapped open.

Dock. They had docked. He knew the sound and feel of it even in this strange ship.

How long…? His eyes sought out the chron on the wall. 06:53. Seven hours. He had slept for seven hours. He never slept that long. Or that deep. He had slept almost all the way through dock—a noisy, jarring process. Not good, he thought, stumbling from his bunk. Not good at all.

His brain felt sluggish, groggy. It had to be the pain-killers. Taken on an empty stomach, and after blood-loss, they had hit his system like a ton of bricks. In less then an hour he'd been down for the count.

Not that they weren't sounding good right now. His arm throbbed hotly, it time with his heartbeat. And his head ached, feeling tender and heavy, like it was packed with hot, jagged rocks.

But no more pills, he thought irritably, awkwardly pulling on his shirt, one-handed. They pulled him too far under. Pain could be lived with, letting down his guard was deadly. There had been a day when he would never have been so relaxed, so *lax*. Back on Earth when everyone had been hunting him, and he'd had to fight for every new day. Not for the first time, he wondered if he was going soft. First he'd let himself get set-up and handed over to the Fungus, now he gets made by Beka for something that he could've done (much better) but didn't, and then allowed himself to be drugged into a deep sleep. Christ. At this rate he was lucky he was still breathing.

He ran his good hand through sleep tangled hair and wondered if other people his age felt so…used up and burnt out.

Not that he knew his age, exactly.

Sighing he left his room in search of Beka or breakfast…which ever he ran into first.

~~*~~

She was sitting at the galley table, cup of coffee in front of her. Super, he could eat and get shot at the same time. One stop shopping.

He nodded a greeting to her muttered 'good-morning', and pulled open the 'fridge. Sealed containers held egg constitute, sausage, some leftover caned fruit. He looked over his shoulder. "You and Tev had breakfast?"

She nodded, turning her cup in small, precise circles on the table. "Just before we came into dock. We would've woken you, but you seemed to need the sleep more." She gestured at the 'fridge. "Go ahead and warm some up. You can eat while we talk."

"Ma'am, yes, ma'am." He muttered the words, and stuck the containers in the warmer. Set the fruit on the table, and grabbed utensils in time for the warmer to go ding. Sausage and eggs joined the fruit, and he sat, staring at the plates.

"What?" she asked, obviously confused that he hadn't started wolfing the food like normal.

He shrugged, giving her a half-smile. "I somehow get the feeling I'm gonna loose my appetite as soon as you start talking."

"Then you should eat now." She didn't argue with him. He sighed, knowing his morning had just gone from low to truly bad.

He scooped some faux-eggs onto his fork. "So…?"

"So." She shifted slightly. It dawned on him, she really wasn't all that much older then him. At least, he didn't think so…. "Wanta tell me what's going on?"

"Not really?" He looked at her. She wasn't amused. He sighed. "What do you want to know?"

"You and Tosand?"

He took another bite. The eggs were cold in the middle. "Me and the Fungus? Well, we dated for awhile, but in the end we knew it wouldn't last. He was rotting, and I was busy pursuing my career—"

"Seamus…" There was a hint of a warning growl in her voice."

He dropped his fork. "Well, what the hell do you think! He *owned* my ass. I didn't have a lot of choice about anything. Do you think I *wanted* that think in my arm? Do you think I wanted any of this?"

She set back slightly. Sighed. "Easy, Harper. Eat while you've got the chance." She watched him as he dug back into the food, without enthusiasm. "Maybe I'm going about this the wrong way." She smiled bitterly, "I have to admit, I can't really read you. I'm not used to that. It's throwing me off a bit."

He shrugged. "You're not exactly transparent either, you know."

"Which is part of the problem. We're… kinda alike, in some ways. It's knocking us for a loop. Both of us are used to playing things close to the vest. Keeping our mouths shut and our eyes open. Of being the *least* trustworthy person in the room. We're clashing. But…" She leaned forward, eyes glittering slightly, "We don't have to be. I think we could work well together. We could both walk out of this situation with…more then we had going in." She leaned back again, crossing her arms over her chest. "But for that to happen, I have to know who's behind my back. And why he's back there.

"In short, either you came clean with me, and Tev and I cut you in on the deal, or you spend the next few weeks locked in the damned closet, except for the times we take you down to work on the engines under heavy guard."

She looked at him, "Either way. I really don't care. I like you, Harper. In spite of myself, I do. Divinity only knows why I should like a short, dishonest, annoying, little genius, but I do. You should take the deal, Harper. I'll only offer it once."

He looked at her, trying to gage the offer, and it's truth, by her eyes. He sighed. "How much do you want to know?"

"Tosand."

He stirred his eggs. "Not much to know. The device is called a clip. He used it to keep us in the shop. When he sent me out here, he told me to report our progress… and if it looked like you were going to renege on the deal. So the family would have the heads up."

She nodded slightly, as if she had expected that. She sipped at her coffee. "What have you told him so far?"

"Nothing. My last message was almost four days ago, and we were sitting dead."

She looked up, a hint of anger in her eyes. "I thought we were being honest here, Harper."

He rolled his eyes, he couldn't help it. "I *am* being honest! Whatever message you think you stumbled across yesterday, it wasn't me!"

She slammed her cup down, surging to her feet, hands braced against the table. "Do you think I'm stupid? I know how to run a TraceRoute. You sent a message yesterday, from the engine room, and routed it through the mail folders."

He growled in complete frustration. "Why the hell would I go through the mail folders? Only a rank amateur would go through the mail folders! And though I may be a lot of things, no ones *ever* called me an amateur."

It was Beka's turn to roll her eyes, "And just how would a super genius do it."

Harper shoved himself away from the table, and pulling open the access, pointed out the new jack. "Surprise number two: that may look like an ordinary jack, but look at the sub-circuitry, boss," he snarled.

Beka pushed him out of the way, looking at what he had pointed out. Then she looked up, gazing at his port, before meeting his eyes. "You rigged my ship with a bio-cyber interface? And stuck it in the galley?"

He shrugged, "It seemed like a good idea at the time."

"And you used this to send your messages to Tosand?"

He nodded, watching her warily.

"So, if I believe you-- which I'm not saying I do, 'cos you could've just gotten impatient and used the engine room—you really didn't send that message yesterday."

"That's what I've been saying!" He knew he sounded exasperated. Hell, he *was* exasperated.

She looked at him flatly. "Well, if you didn't send it, then who did?"

Harper rolled his eyes again. Beka just brought it out in him. "How the fuck should I know? I was locked in a closet all day." Turning, he pulled a Sparkly out of the fridge, not feeling at all guilty about it. This one, he felt he'd earned.

As he opened it, taking a bracing swig, the comm went off.

"Beka? I've got the EVU's ready. We're prepped to go in." Tev barked over the comm.

Beka looked at him, her thoughts plain to read in her eyes.

He shrugged. She frowned.

There was no trace of it in her voice as she answered, though. "Thanks, Tev. Prince Charming has awoken and will grace us with his presence. We'll be down in five." She logged off the comm. Looked at him.

"Tev's been with me for a long time."

He shrugged again, looking away.

"She worked with my dad before me."

He didn't answer.


"Can you use that," she gestured at the port, "to find out if she's been in the system?"

He nodded. "If she's been there, I can find it."

Beka pulled in a deep breath, running a frustrated hand through her longish hair. "Fine. Good. But not right now. We're going into the station, and she'll…wonder if we're not at the airlock like now."

He nodded, tossing the now empty soda can into the recycler. Started out the door.

When Beka grabbed his arm. "But later…we need to get together."

He nodded. And followed her to the airlock.

~~*~~

To trust, or not to trust. That was the question.

Or maybe it was just *who* to trust. Tev, who had worked on her father's Maru, who had been the only to stick with her after he died, who had been her trusted friend and ally for years. —Or a snot-nosed brat, who had enough demons to fill hell running around in his head, who was an admitted thief, liar, and spy, who had no reason *not* to point the finger at the only other available target. And who, she admitted, she felt an odd sort of connection to.

It didn't seem like a hard decision did it?

She sighed, looking at the two of them helping each other into their EVU's.

No, it didn't *seem* hard.

She sealed the last seam on her suit and checked her air supply. The turned to her, waiting for orders. Tev was closing her helmet, and Harper, was just putting his on.

Taking a deep breath, she waited until the were ready, and triggered the airlock, opening the door into the station for the first time in over three hundred years.

"Guys?" They looked at her. "Don't get dead."

They both nodded, stepping into the eerily still station bay.

"Here we go." Beka muttered, and, mind full of worries, heart full of doubts, stepped out of the Maru after her crew.

~~*~~