Chapter 11

Harper let his head drop for second, as he tried to think. Everything seemed familiar but he had no answers, he couldn't think of a way to stop the rapid energy drain that was weakening the shields but he felt he should know the answer. He remembered fearing this could happen, and for the past six months he had vague recollections of working round the clock to try and counter act such an attack but it was happening right now, happening right before his eyes and all he had done was slow it down when he should have stopped it ever happening in the first place. If he'd had the time, had remained fit and well, this wouldn't be happening, he realised.

As much as he had feared it could happen, Harper knew he had been confident that he could prevent it happening so how had it then happened, how had the shields been compromised? The question was confusing him more than the problem itself, and now his mind was just a jumbled mess of not knowing and confusions. His head was pounding, and he felt like he had a furnace burning inside of him as he tried to focus. Harper had tried for a while to ignore the feverish symptoms he felt, but now he guessed the virus had sparked up again, distracting him, to add to his concern and worry. The guards had given him something earlier to try and keep him focused when he was faltering, something to pick him up and it had felt welcomed with instant results, but now he felt worse.

'This is no use, he's as useless as the rest of us, we should prepare now for the invasion,' a man spoke up from a small group in the corner of the room.

'Its really happening, I don't believe it,' another Edenian spoke up with fear.

'Everyone, leave, return to your love ones and prepare for whatever is coming, and be strong,' the first man ordered and soon the men filtered out of the control room leaving only Harper and his armed guard escort, as well as the man giving orders.

'So, Seamus, you no longer have the answers,' the man spoke up. 'Surprised, I'm not.'

Harper looked troubled before he spoke. 'I tried,' he simply offered. 'Abez, believe me, I tried, but the drain is happening too quickly, and there is little any of us can do now to prevent this.'

Abez looked at Harper, up and down, his older features seemed harsher in the low light and he didn't seem too impressed. 'You're held in great esteem with my people, our leader has provided you well, but I'm not impressed with your games, and so called skills, alien, we all know the truth about you,' he spat.

Harper frowned and wiped his brow with his sleeve. 'Not exactly like you've hidden your feelings from me,' he countered. 'Yeah, that's right, don't think I didn't hear your back chat, your sly comments to turn your men against me,' Harper stressed, allowing his frustrations to vent his anger. 'You've waited for this day, the day I finally ran out of answers, and don't you dare enjoy it because I've seen a preview of what's out there and if you think I'm bad, you're gonna get a hell of a shock.'

'I have no doubts about that, Seamus,' Abez glared at him, standing his ground. 'I always suspected this would happen, from the day you and your kind first arrived, bad news, I always said it would lead to this.'

'Ok, enough, we need to get Harper back to the palace,' one of the guards spoke up.

'Yeah, run and hide, while the city burns,' Abez sneered as Harper was escorted away, only able to glare back at the older man, wishing he could have done more than to prove Abez right.

'There has to be something I can do,' Harper stressed once they had gained enough distance from Abez. He wasn't speaking to anyone in particular but the three guards with him seemed to be listening, and waiting for him to continue. 'The shields must have back up power, some other source it can draw from, anything,' he spoke aloud, not expecting an answer 'But my minds a blank, nothing is there, no answers, dammit!' he stressed with obvious frustration.

'Here,' one of the guards got Harper's attention and as he turned to look at the guard Harper inhaled a strong scent that almost disorientated him, another dose of his medicine and Harper felt a small wash of relief as it went to work. The guard quickly steadied him, and the aroma remained strong to his senses. 'You looked ready for another little pick me up,' the guard half smiled.

Harper blinked his eyes and steadied himself. A sudden burst of energy overcame him, as he straightened up and looked around at the guards. 'A pick me up, yeah,' he almost slurred with bliss, and took a breath of fresher air, feeling a buzz inside. 'What the crap is that stuff?' he then asked with curiosity, suddenly aware of the reaction it had on him, and his gut churning as he tried to clear his head.

'Your medicines,' the guard hinted.

'Sure,' Harper returned, trying to focus as he blinked his eyes, he felt better and ready to go but he no longer felt like he was in control.

'Look, I know you're forgetting a lot but don't have a go at us,' the guard protested. 'We're all under orders here,' he complained.

Harper was about to speak when suddenly an explosion shook the ground they were stood on, and all four men fell to the ground for safety as the building rocked.

'What the hell?' one of the guards exclaimed with fright.

'What was that?' the other one asked.

'Hey, Harper are you ok?' the lead guard asked, as Harper looked up and wiped blood from his nose with his sleeve. Harper cleared the rest of the dust that had been kicked up from his face and held his sleeve to his nose.

'I'm fine, but,' Harper looked upwards as another explosion rocked the city. 'That however means only one thing, the shield is down and the city is under attack,' he stressed as another explosion shook the ground they lay upon.


Rhade took cover as he felt the force of the third explosion to rock the city of Edenia, already inside its perimeter walls thanks to the shield coming down, Rhade called his men to action and ordered them into the city, the war had started and now it was all about getting as much territory secured in the name of the Commonwealth as possible. He stood and watched as nearly two hundred of his troops entered the city, and he hoped the reinforcements promised would be arriving soon to assist.


Beka glance up and checked to see if the coast was clear, taking refuge underneath a solid table while the building had been under fire, she slowly got up and tentatively walked towards a window and saw the bellowing smoke that now covered the once peaceful skyline. She could see all of the eastern part of the city, buildings that had been demolished by the explosions and there were distant screams, innocents caught up in the mess around them and she could hear distinct shouting of Nietzschean task forces gathering prisoners and taking over the city. She was scared, this felt too real, too close for comfort and for the first time in her life she felt vulnerable to the attack and she numbly felt the empty space on her thigh where her weapon would normally sit, cursing herself for leaving it at the house.

Taking some deep composed breaths she tried to figure out her next move, her thoughts turned to Harper and hoping he was safe, knowing he was with palace guards calmed her slightly but she knew she needed to find him. Her thoughts then turned to Dylan and Rhade, they were supposed to be protecting them from the outside but obviously the Dragans had still managed to break through, and she wondered if there was any cost to that.

'Beka.'

Beka spun around and almost forgot to breath again on seeing Trance now stood in her room, looking immaculate and as if a raging war hadn't just begun right on their doorstep.

'Trance, I forgot you'd mastered the teleportation thing,' Beka recovered her senses and tried to calm down. 'What's going on?'

'The Commonwealth are at war with the Dragans, and unfortunately the location is right here in Edenia,' Trance answered.

'The Commonwealth are fighting; you mean this is now a territorial war?' Beka checked and saw Trance agree. 'I guess it's a strategic position to have but the commonwealth are fighting for it, not defending it?'

'Edenia had its chance to be protected, now it's there for the taking,' Trance simply answered and Beka tried not to react, knowing Trance was just the messenger.

'Fine, ok, whatever, but I need to find Harper,' Beka suddenly spoke.

'Harper is fine, you don't have to worry, he is safe,' Trance assured her.

'He is?' Beka asked unsure.

'You should stay here where it's safe also, you will be of no use to anyone running around the streets as they are, and you wouldn't find Harper,' Trance simply said and before Beka could argue her point, Trance disappeared.

'But,' Beka offered and tried to remain calm. 'That makes no sense, how can anyone be safe in this city right now?' she finished, speaking to herself, and then wondering why she was doubting her friend.


'We have to get back to the palace,' the lead guard spoke with urgency.

'Don't let me stop you,' Harper gestured and the four men all got to their feet and began moving again. The explosions had for the moment ceased and they made good progress, leaving the building that had sheltered them from the aerial onslaught.

As they stepped outside they saw other Edenian's also venturing out to see the damage to their city. The once indestructible stone city was in parts reduced to nothing but rubble, entire buildings had been destroyed and it became clear that those buildings hadn't been empty by the sudden wails that began to erupt as people realised the price that had been paid for the attack.

Harper stopped, hearing the wails he froze, stricken with fear, deep down it had reminded him of something, something bad yet familiar but he couldn't place what or where. The grief he now felt, the sense of loss was something he felt he knew all too well, but didn't recollect. The situation suddenly hit him, as he began to appreciate the events around him, seeing those distraught by grief and rage that the attack had provoked. These people had never known war, had never experienced another race just bombarding their city and taking it over, yet Harper felt something ugly and familiar about it all and he felt sick, sick for the people who were now just beginning to realise their lives were about to change, and possibly would never be the same again.

'Come on, we have to go,' the lead guard encouraged Harper to move.

'No,' Harper dismissed as he continued to stare at the devastation around him, his gut twisting more and more as he felt weak suddenly, both with fever and with despair.

'Come on,' the guard further encouraged, grabbing Harper's arm.

'You!' a shaky voice announced and Harper spun around to see an Edenian speaking directly to him. 'You did this.'

'No,' Harper protested.

'You brought this upon us, things were fine before your kind turned up,' the Edenian scowled, his words biting.

'I helped you,' Harper stressed.

'We have to go,' the guard grabbed Harper's arm with more force and began to drag him through the growing group of Edenians now looking at Harper.

Harper felt his other arm being grabbed and pulled roughly back, stopping the guard from moving any further, but he didn't let go as Harper found himself being pulled between the guard and the Edenian citizen.

'He did this, can't you see?' the Edenian questioned the guard.

'This is not the answer,' the guard remained level headed. 'Don't take this out on this man, he doesn't deserve that.'

'He deserves everything we can give him,' the man sneered.

Harper felt suddenly weak and short of breath, unable to remain standing, and he was burning up. He slumped in both their holds, falling to his knees, letting his head drop as the effects of the medicine seemed to rapidly disappear.

'He's sick, we're trying to get him back to the palace, you don't need to find yourself trapped with a sick alien, so let me take him away from here,' the guard quickly said, thinking on his feet.

The Edenian hastily let go of Harper, seeing the state Harper was in and he backed away. 'Take him and his diseased being away, you deserve each other,' the man sneered, as the guard gathered Harper up and slung him over his shoulder. Without further delay he gestured to the other two guards to follow him and they headed back to the palace.


Beka paced the room, Asa sat at the large round table and no one spoke as his aides and assistants tried to figure out what was happening.

'Are you sure the Commonwealth are also trying to take this city?' Asa checked, as Beka turned to him.

'It's what Trance said, but I don't know, doesn't seem like their usual tactic,' Beka shrugged.

'So far we have lost pretty much all the East side, the Nietzschean forces have pretty much secured the main entrance and a large area of the city,' a man spoke up, gesturing to a large map of Edenia spread out on the table before them. 'They have set up camp in this area,' he pointed out. 'I suspect they plan to take the city in stages, as more of their men arrive.'

'If the Commonwealth are also taking this city I would guess this could be them,' Beka gestured to the small activity that had been recorded on the West side of the city. 'It's not usual for the Dragans to do a two prong attack, this isn't their style, they like to overpower in one huge force,' she added. 'If the Commonwealth are here, that's them,' she stressed.

'As I see it the palace is equal distance now between both camps, and far enough away that we have some time to think of defence,' Asa noted. 'But we have no armed forces, none that could take on either side.'

'I would say use what you have to protect the palace,' Beka stated. 'And protect the tunnels beneath the city; it's likely the Dragans do not know about those.'

'The commonwealth do, however,' Asa stated.

'If I were to chose who I would like to take over a city I would chose the Commonwealth,' Beka simply said. 'You are not strong enough to fight both sides but you have the option of an allegiance, and I would strongly recommend you chose the side of Dylan Hunt if you want your people to survive this war.'

'I would second that,' the first man spoke up and soon the room was murmuring in agreement.

'I think we have a plan,' Asa half smiled, and then turned as the door opened and three guards rushed in, one carrying a man on his back who Asa quickly recognised.

'Seamus!' Asa got to his feet, as Beka spun around to see her friend being laid out onto one of the long seats.

Beka moved to where they were all stood around Harper, and she quickly moved to his side, seeing he was perspiring and barely conscious. 'His virus has flared up again,' Beka fussed, seeing red blotches now covering her friends face and neck.

'He's looked pretty rough for the past couple of hours,' the guard spoke with some uncertainty. 'He seemed to be getting more and more stressed with his work and then this,' the guard gestured generally to the situation outside.

'His temperature is high,' Beka noted more calmly. 'Can we get some cold water, anything to help bring it down?' she asked and saw a person dash off. 'He seems fine otherwise, no obvious sign of fever,' she closely observed his breathing and didn't hear any blocked airways, as Harper began to lightly doze. 'These marks,' she then gestured to the red blotches that were sporadically placed and she cautiously moved the sleeves of his shirt up his arms seeing the marks on both arms before she checked his stomach and chest. 'They're less flared under the shirt, less irritated,' she frowned.

'They look more like a reaction than an illness,' Asa now observed.

Beka gently moved Harper as she removed his shirt to more closely examine the red marks and found herself agreeing with Asa. 'Did anyone else close to the explosions suffer this reaction?' Beka asked the guards.

'Not to my knowledge, I was right with him and I'm ok,' the guard responded.

Beka checked Harper was asleep before she spoke. 'The Drago-Kasov pride used to control Harper's home planet, Earth,' she began. 'They were known to use chemical warfare so its possible the weapons they used to destroy parts of this city were ones originally intended for Earth, as a means of controlling the humans there,' Beka sighed. 'If Harper was already weak with the virus flaring up again, and his weak immune system I would say he probably had some sort of contact with a toxin the explosions released into the air on impact, thankfully if there is a silver lining it doesn't seem to have the same effect on the Edenians.'

'Will he be ok?' Asa asked.

'I think so, he's sleeping easily enough and his breathing is fine,' Beka considered. 'I just want to try and get his temperature down,' she gestured for the cold water to be brought forward and she found a cloth had been brought with it. Carefully she arranged the cloth and soaked it in the water before gently placing it across Harper's forehead. Immediately he shirked but quickly settled down, as the soothing effect soon overcame him.

'Asa, we need to ensure this palace is guarded,' one of the men spoke, and Beka guessed he was one of the men in charge of the guards.

'Lock down the palace and make sure all points are protected, especially the tunnels, give me a report on potential weak spots as soon as you know,' Asa ordered and a small group of men left the room to follow his orders and he turned to another guy. 'Rosh, I want to set up a safe zone,' he glanced at Beka who nodded her head. 'In the report Beka did, it details how to station men at certain points, get volunteers, any man willing and arm them as best you can, give what training you can, we must protect at least some of this city,' he stressed and sighed as Rosh left the room, in search of a ad-hoc army.

'My people do not know war,' Asa shook his head sadly.

'Nothing can prepare you,' Beka offered.

'I'm sure an army would have been good, though,' Asa remarked and moved away.

With less people around now, Beka found herself relaxing, seeing Harper was comfortable, as she moved away to let him sleep. She saw one of the guards assigned to him retrieve a blanket and cover him up, and she had to smile at how far he was taking his role seriously.

'Have we heard from Zal or Junia?' Beka then asked Asa.

'Not yet,' Asa frowned.

'And Naomi, I think she's Harper's girl?' Beka then thought to ask.

Asa looked at Beka with surprise. 'You know about Naomi?'

'She stopped by this morning,' Beka stated. 'She seemed pretty happy to see Harper,' Beka smiled.

'Well it's no surprise really,' Asa grinned. 'She was worried when he left like he did; I think she feared he wouldn't come back.'

'About that, Zal seemed pretty annoyed that Harper did come back,' Beka stated. 'I got the impression Zal didn't think it was a good idea that he returned.'

'Come, sit with me,' Asa requested and moved Beka away from the small group of people who continued to discuss the situation. He gestured to a window seat and they both sat down, for a moment they stared outside the palace at the destruction, both knowing there was little they could do. 'Zal is a good man, I would usually say boy but he's done a lot of growing up since you were last here, but he still tends to exaggerate minor details, he has a vivid imagination that he always lets himself get carried away with.'

'I can see that,' Beka smiled fondly. 'He means no harm, correct?'

'Correct but you know, sometimes he does something that just makes us all stop and think and when he physically removed Seamus from our care and sent him off planet, he made us realise that we'd ceased to see him as a person, but as an object of scientific interest in our bid to cure him of the mystery virus, that was wrong and it took Zal's crazy methods to make us see that,' Asa explained.

'Zal is someone I like, but I'm never sure why, he's everything I usually hate,' Beka grinned. 'But he's a smart one, if his methods aren't exactly orthodox, he seems to look after his own, I'm glad he helped you to see sense in how you were looking after Harper,' she offered. 'I can see that you care about Harper,' she added and saw Asa slowly nod his head fondly. 'The house you gave him, and seeing how happy he was when he first returned to see us, I've never seen Harper like this before,' she smiled.

'I do care about Harper, and I do want what's best for him,' Asa agreed. 'I know what he means to us as a people, but as a person his heart is in the right place, when he first came back we did a lot of talking, soul searching he called it and I think he just needed something to believe in again, and I think we have that something here,' Asa smiled warmly. 'And with Zal, well that's as good an explanation as any for that boy,' Asa agreed, and then looked at Beka with seriousness. 'Zal doesn't like Naomi; just as a warning I wouldn't mention her around him.'

'Oh, ok, thanks for the warning, any reason?' Beka asked with interest.

'He thinks she's just interested in Seamus because he's different, because he's an alien, Zal has said many hurtful things to suggest she's using him,' Asa frowned, as he gazed outside. 'He thinks he's protecting Seamus, but to everyone else he seems to just be getting in the way, confusing Seamus over his feelings for her.'

'And what do you think?' Beka asked, seeing more in the older man's expression.

'Naomi is my niece,' Asa simply responded. 'It's how she even got introduced to Seamus, so you could say I'm not exactly seeing eye to eye with Zal right at the moment.'

'I see,' Beka responded, it made sense she figured and it led to another question she could ask. 'Harper seemed to be surprised this morning that she was all over him, with his memory loss he was confused. It seemed he remembered they broke up, after she was caught with someone else?' Beka ventured.

'With Saul, one of my researchers,' Asa simply said, and then looked at Beka before frowning. 'I've never seen Harper so upset or angry, it really wasn't pretty and it made Naomi realise the true extent of her actions, but then Harper got ill and she was by his side everyday,' Asa remembered. 'Which didn't please Zal, but Harper was in my care when he became sick so I wasn't going to stop my niece seeing him. They are good for each other,' he finished with some purpose.

Beka considered his words, seeing a look in Asa's expression she began to recognise and she narrowed her eyes. 'You knew Harper had lost his memories,' Beka stated with realisation. 'Naomi and Harper never made it up, did they?'

'Junia came by yesterday evening, she needed my authorisation on a project she's conducting and she mentioned Harper had stopped by on his return, and of his memory loss,' Asa admitted. 'Naomi was in the next room with her mother who was visiting me, my sister, she over heard everything.'

'I don't believe she'd do that,' Beka got to her feet with obvious disgust.

'Beka, Naomi cares for Harper, she loves him,' Asa stressed.

'I don't think now is the time to discuss this,' Beka returned and moved over to where the discussions regarding the war were taking place.

'Beka, please,' Asa caught her up. 'Give Naomi a chance to show Harper that she's learnt her lesson.'

'Asa, I know she's your family but she's building this new trust on a lie, and that's never going to bode well,' Beka simply said. 'Don't ask me not to let Harper know about this, he's my friend and I love him, I don't want to see him get hurt.'

Asa's head dropped. 'I will let Naomi know she's to stop the pretence,' he offered.

'Look, I saw the two of them this morning,' Beka offered with some compassion, as she looked at Asa. 'I can tell he's smitten with her, as much as she is with him, truth be told it made me smile, I guess I've never seen Harper like that before,' she admitted. 'I only saw them for a few minutes but it was enough, so all I would say is encourage Naomi to stop holding things back from Harper, he's strong, he's smart and he's a fair guy underneath the surface, he just doesn't like games, ok? Enough women have played him in the past that he's a lot wiser to it than you think.'

'I will let her know, and thank you,' Asa then smiled. 'It's good to know you don't think she's a total monster like Zal and Junia seem to think.'

'In Zal's case he's probably just jealous,' Beka teased.

'Well there is that, regardless of his now married state and being a father, with another child on the way, I think he still has a small flame for a certain someone,' Asa grinned cheekily.

Beka laughed to herself and she knew as she looked on to where men continued to discuss plans, that there was very little she could do or contribute. Looking around she moved back to the window, as Asa joined in the debate, receiving updates and she looked outside as the nights skies drew in. Things seemed to have settled, and she saw a convey of residents who were seen moving in small groups, physically hauling themselves and their possessions away from where the Dragans were setting up camp to the east. She hoped Zal, Junia and the little one was safe, as well as Naomi, knowing there was definitely something between her and Harper. Thankfully their homes were not in any of the affected areas but that could change so quickly, depending on which front moved first, which territories were claimed next. She didn't like being in the middle of a war zone.

TBC