I would like to thank everyone for reading and for the kind reviews. Here's another chapter. I hope you like it.
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:) Iv'e been having a hard time inserting more than one space between paragraphs. I thought this might help. :)
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Sari had listened eagerly to every word of Harper's tale. She wanted to understand as much as she could about her new protector. This being the first time that she had ever left the lab's controlled environment, she was to say the least a bit nervous. The fact that Harper's friend Rommie joined them made her feel a little better about leaving. She knew right away that Rommie was an android and the Andromeda Ascendant's avatar. She hoped that they would become friends, but she didn't even know if she would be with them long enough to develop such a relationship.
In many ways she was still very much like a child. The Doc gave her information, taught her the basics of interacting with organic life forms, and he had a team of specialists train her in various techniques of self defense, but she was still having a hard time understanding her emotions.
The thing that bothered her the most was the visions and dreams.
She was told that they would soon pass, but instead they were happening more frequently. She knew that most sentient beings dreamed, but this seemed different than what she had heard of normal dreams. They were more like memories, but the lab had been her home since the day she was created, so if they weren't dreams and they weren't memories, what could they be?
Harper finished talking and it seemed that Sari's mind was elsewhere.
"Are you ok Sari?" Harper asked. "I didn't intend to bore you to sleep, although I've been known to do that."
"I'm sorry Harper." Sari said. "Truthfully, I heard every word. So, today you no longer feel hate toward the Magog and Nietzcheans?"
"Well,… uh,… I wouldn't go as far as to say that." Harper said. "But I do now realize that there can possibly be some good in both, and that it's wrong to hate or judge somebody based on their species."
"Everything you've done," Rommie said, "since you've been here, it's a part of your past that you didn't want to revisit isn't it?"
"I'm not proud of what I did Rommie. In fact I wish I could forget I ever was that person. Rommie,… it got to the point that I,…"
"You what Harper?" Rommie asked, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. "What did you do?"
"It got to the point,… that I enjoyed it." Harper said as he looked to the ground in shame. "Today when I killed those first two in the alley, there was a rush that I hadn't felt in a long time. I liked it Rommie. Divine help me, I liked it! By the time the group attacked me in the street, I was feeling a high that no Flash could compare to. There was no feeling of compassion or mercy. I felt totally justified by what I was doing. I was performing a public service." Harper's words were mixed with a combination of crying and a disturbing laugh. "And you know, the irony of it is that's exactly what they taught me. They just never dreamed it would be used against them. After I left their organization I did my best to bury that part of my life. I threw myself into repairing the Maru and anything else I could think of to keep my mind from remembering what I did and what I had become." Harper took a deep breath then continued. "They made me what I was Rommie, and this mission brought it all back. I don't know if I can ever bury that part of me again."
Rommie looked at the man standing next to her and realized that he no longer looked like the small sickly boy that crawled through her service ducts. His stature hadn't changed, but there was a look in his eyes that she hadn't seen before. This was not a man that needed protected. This instead, was a man that others, if they ever crossed him, needed protected from. Rommie realized something else from Harper's own words, and that was that he couldn't control himself. His mentality while he was fighting reminded Rommie of some records she read once of an ancient people from Earth called Vikings, particularly their warriors that they called Berserkers.
Rommie knew that it troubled Harper greatly what he had done, but what was worse was that he may be unable to control this long time hidden part of his nature. She began to wonder how Dylan could do this to him. Dylan somehow found out about Harper's past and thought what? That it would come in handy on this mission? He probably never even gave any thought to how it might effect Harper.
"Don't worry Harper." Rommie said. "You'll get through this. Then we'll have a long talk with Captain Hunt."
Rommie placed her arm around Harper's shoulders, as they continued to walk back to the spaceport.
Before they made it to the spaceport, they noticed a large crowd of men standing outside a small tavern.
"What's going on down there?" Harper asked. "Is the place giving away free beer or something?"
"It doesn't look like any of them are going inside." Sari said.
"She's right Harper. They seem to be waiting for something, or someone."
"Any chance you can boost your audio sensors and hear what they're saying ?" Harper asked.
"Yes." Both ladies answered. Rommie looked at Sari and smiled. Sari smiled back.
"It seems I'm the only one lacking superior hearing," Harper said. "So will you two gorgeous ladies please let me know what you hear?"
"We will Harper." Rommie said. "Also it might be wise to stay out of sight until we find out what's going on."
"Good idea." Harper said, as they hid behind several cargo crates. "I don't think any of them noticed us yet, although our current entourage is still watching us."
"They haven't made a move yet." Rommie said. "But that doesn't mean they won't."
"I'll watch the men behind us." Sari said. "I'll let you know if they begin to move toward our position. Unfortunately, I will be unable to monitor the conversation of the men outside the business that sells intoxicating fluids."
"Thanks Sari." Harper said. "Rommie can take care of monitoring the others."
Sari watched the men from the P.A.G.A.N. organization while Rommie monitored the words being spoken outside Felix Rain's tavern. Harper adjusted his gun belt, checked his guns and reloaded, checked and rechecked the explosives inside his coat's inner pockets, and waited for Rommie or Sari to inform him of some news of their pursuers, or of the new group ahead of them outside the "business that sells intoxicating fluids", as Sari had called it.
Harper didn't have to wait long.
"Harper." Rommie said. "Becca and Rhade are in that tavern and these men are waiting for them."
"I'm assuming that they're not waiting to wish them a good day." Harper said.
"Not a chance. It seems they are after "the package" Rommie said, as she looked at Sari. "For some reason they think that Becca has it."
"Do you get the feeling that nobody knows what the package really is?" Harper asked.
"That seems very probable." Rommie said. "Even Dylan didn't know what the package would be, and you only found out after you talked to Doctor Brown at the lab."
"What are we going to do?" Harper asked. "We can't just sit out here and wait for them to jump Becca and Rhade. We need to …."
"Harper." Sari said, interrupting Harper. "Our pursuers are on the move."
Harper drew his guns and prepared to do anything in his power to protect Sari and complete his mission. Rommie drew her force lance as well. There was no way she was going to let anyone hurt her Harper.
But when the pursuers neared the position where they were hiding, they walked on by.
"What are they up to?" Sari asked.
"I think I know." Harper said. "They just found something too tempting to pass up."
"You're talking about the men outside the tavern?" Rommie asked.
"I'll bet if you scanned them, you would find out that all of them are genetically altered in one way or another." Harper said. "If what I think is about to happen, happens, we should be able to get Rhade and Becca out of there and safely back to the Maru."