Title: Egg Whisk
Chapter 2
By: X
X0832001@yahoo.com
Disclaimer: I own nothing and am getting no money
"Sure then." Louisa led Dylan and Beka through a doorway. "Now he's a little skittish around crowds, but we should be OK." The dark haired woman explained. Louisa led them down a narrow hall and up a couple of stairs to the guest rooms. The hall was long and brightly lit. One of the 'guests' was walking down the hall towards them. She, a willow waif all of 17, was dressed all in black, long skirt brushing on the ground. She was staring and her feet and humming quietly.
Dylan leaned over to Louisa and whispered, "Did she come in with Harper?"
"No, Neitzchien slave ship." The girl passed them without looking up. "She's just a little quirky. Unfortunately we didn't recover many from the compound with Mr. Harper. We were lucky to get the 3 we did." Halfway down the hall Louisa stopped and knocked. "Mr. Harper? Are you in there?" There was no answer.
"Harper?" asked Dylan
"You in there Shorty?" Beka added to let her friend know his friends were on the other side. The door opened inward slowly. Harper was standing there. His short hair looked blonder and his eyes were a brilliant blue. These features were so striking because his skin was a bloodless white. Dylan has never seen someone so pale. The pastiness was further accentuated by his un-Harper-like clothes. Well fit cuffed trousers and a button down shirt, both completely black just make him seem smaller and weaker.
"Hey bosses, you found me." He said quietly, his eyes continually scanning them and the hallway behind them. Dylan clapped his hand to the boy's bony shoulder. Harper jumped back at least 3 feet, eyes squeezed shut, head cast towards the floor.
"Sorry" Dylan apologized
"Yeah, whatever, sir" Harper mumbled. Beka stepped in.
"No problem Harper, take your time, things'll get back to normal eventually." A tiny smile appeared on the young man's face for the briefest of a moment. "Let's go home."
He jumped when he saw Trance and Tyr waiting on the Maru. "Sorry" he mumbled, eyes cast on the floor. The Elmarins had been quite clear on the matter of eye contact. The "prisoners" were a weapon, a commodity, not people and not good enough to look an Elmarin in the eye. It wasn't an unheard of demand to Harper; the Neitzchiens didn't want to see your eyes either. But Harper had been stubborn as always and refused to go back to his days of cowering before his masters. When he'd left Earth he'd vowed those days were over. They'd beat him mercilessly for it. The pain had been overwhelming, it was all he could feel, all there was. Eventually he dropped his gaze, picked his battles so the pain would stop. It hadn't of course.
He especially couldn't look Tyr in the eyes. The whole ordeal hadn't just created its own quirks and phobias but also drawn on the great Earth formed ones. It was stupid and he knew it. Tyr had nothing to do with what had happened, he didn't even have anything to do with the Neitzchiens that had kept him locked away on Earth. But when he saw those bone spurs he couldn't help seeing them pressed against him, and feel the pain that always followed. That memory of pain triggered immediately the Elmarins. Pain on top of pain hit him and he just wanted to run and hide somewhere.
"No problem Harper" Trance smiled warmly. She was an expert at covering her thoughts. She smiled like everything was fine when it wasn't. Harper sat down and buckled in. Trance was horrified at the state Harper was in. She watched him and just marveled at how heartless those that had done this were. She had seen so many horrible things, knew haw bad man could be. But just knowing and even remembering was different than the live moments of it. What the hell had they done to him? How could they have done that to someone like Harper? No words in Common described what she felt as she watched him rest his head against his thin arm. To describe the horror and disgust she felt she needed to go all the way back to the long forgotten language of her own people.
Tyr smiled without showing teeth. "Good to have you back Little Professor"
"Yeah" the smile didn't quite reach his eyes and his eyes still didn't reach Tyr. He couldn't really smile at a time like this. The Elmarins had practically destroyed Harper; this shell that they had left might never recover. He wondered just how many times Harper could be put back together.
The trip back to Andromeda was a quiet one. Harper kept looking around; they were all looking at him. Well, until Beka insisted they stop gawking or she'd be busting some gourds. Harper smiled a little at her threat.
"It's OK Beka; it's good to be missed."
"Well you were that Harper, by the Divine, it was the longest 3 months" Trance sighed
"Yeah, time didn't go too quickly for me either"
"Oh! I'm sorry; I know it was so much worse for you…"
"It's OK Trance, bad things happen, I'll be Ok." Harper assured her quietly. Looking at the interaction between them, seeing that somber maturity in Harper made Beka want to rush over and hug him. She wanted to somehow get it into his brain that even though it was unfair, he was strong enough to overcome this.
Harper looked exhausted but he didn't sleep. He was too anxious with so many people around. When you slept they always got you. Ripped you away from the peace and brought on the pain. So Harper stayed awake and watching.
It was such a relief to have him back, even in this state. It was a complete miracle. Tyr was surprised how much he had missed the little professor. Beka finally felt like something was patching that gapping hole having Harper abducting had put in the pit of her stomach. Trance was glowing as the possible futures unfolded one after another after another. Dylan was piloting but couldn't keep the smile from his lips. His crew was back together. With all this thinking and musing going on there was no conversation to speak of. No one wanted to be the one to broach the topic if the Elmarins and what they had done to Harper. What had Harper done for them? It was much easier just to stay quiet.
Harper walked the halls of Andromeda slowly with Beka. They had docked and the crew had gone their separate ways; leaving Harper alone with Beka. It was hard to believe he was back. All that time he spent in that little room, that awful, awful little room was in the past. No more chains, no more beatings. It drove him crazy the way his body was reacting to being back. The rational part of his mind knew everything was going to be fine, he was safe here, and these were his friends. But this stupid body of his still jerked away from their touch, leery of having hands on him. He hated the way he jumped at loud sounds. It wasn't just his body. Despite that practical voice there was also the ridiculous fearful one. That voice said not to get too comfortable because he wasn't safe here, he wasn't safe anywhere. He yawned. The fight within him made his so tired. Luckily his quarters were nearby. "Boss, I'm kind of tired. Could I sleep?"
"Sure Shorty. You still gotta get your strength back." Beka led him back to his quarters, letting him lean on her as it got harder. He couldn't explain why he felt a little more comfortable with Beka than the others. Maybe because it was she had done this before and it worked out that time.
Beka looked around as the rest of the crew watched her intently. She'd had Andromeda call this meeting once Harper was safely asleep. He was a mess mentally but also needed time for his physical injuries to heal. The Cooperation had patched up all the broken bones and stitched the holes back together. Trance researched a treatment plan for his nutritional recovery when they got back. But this meeting wasn't about the physical recovery.
Varied worried expressions were on the faces of the crew. Trance had never seen Harper this bad. By the time she had joined the crew Beka had gotten him past this point. It was hard to see her friend like this, so wary and broken. Tyr was disgusted at the Elmarins and what they had done to the little professor. The kid had superior genes and they had just exploited them. He had been nothing more than a brain to them. They'd destroyed the rest of him, all his other traits to make him their tool. Rommie kept her eyes downcast. She and Harper had promised to fix each other. But she didn't know how to fix this. She was a Warship. She wasn't the one to go pick up prisoners of war, she went to war. She was simply frustrated at how useless these situations made her feel. Harper clearly needed them, but what were they supposed to do?
Dylan looked at his first officer. She was the only one who knew how to bring back their Harper. She had seen this side of Harper before; she had helped him get past the horrors of his life on Earth. He'd had that cocky punk attitude, trying to keep everyone away and convince them he was some tough guy. But she'd eventually seen through the act and helped him drop his defensives. She hoped they could get past what had happened to Harper this time, convince the young man he was safe.
Beka took a deep breath. "Well, there a, a couple things I've learned that should help us here." She stammered a little because she was remembering how she had learned these things. These were the quirky little habits someone picked up scraping the bottom of the barrel for just enough to survive one more day. One would think some greaser punk wouldn't mind being touched or wouldn't spook easily. The fact he jumped like a scared cat if you put your hand on his back had been the first of many signs that Harper was no average hooligan. "1.) Don't sneak up on him, make noise when you walk. He'll knock you flat before he sees who you are." She looked at Tyr, "I'm putting bells on your boots Mr. Neitz." Tyr didn't protest; it wasn't the time. "2.) Don't touch him, we'll work up to it but for now it just makes him nervous." Dylan sighed, very true he mused. "3.) Keep your weapons away from him and watch out because he can make just about anything a weapon." Beka couldn't help but smirk at the memory of walking into the kitchen and finding Harper keeping Rev at bay with an egg whisk. "Just act normal, he'll come around slowly." There were mummers of agreement from the crew.
Time passed and Harper did eventually come around. It started with little things like eating with utensils, sitting at the table. Then not jumping at loud sounds and being able to sleep through the whole night without screaming. They didn't rush him and other things followed. Considering the horrible thing that had been done to him it was amazing that he was back to his cocky, joking self in just a few months.
Then the Elmarins came back into the picture. They wanted to join the Commonwealth and the Andromeda had been ordered to bring a delegation to the next council meeting.