Pretty Things
by Jessie
Part 5
Disclaimer, etc. in Part 1.
Authors Note: Sorry that this took so long to be posted. Other stories and ideas got in the way of this one and I kind of got sidetracked. But now I'm back on task and I plan to post chapters more regularly. Hope you guys enjoy. And I absolutely love feedback. Your comments always brighten my day.
***
"Harper." She gave him a withering look. "Why did you come here?" Her voice was stern and continued to radiate with a coldness that couldn't possibly be coming from any part of the Trance that he knew.
"I, uh . . ." he stumbled over his words, caught off guard by her tone.
"You shouldn't have come." She placed an emphasis on each word, maintaining that edge that she had worked so hard to commandeer. It sent chills down his spine.
It sent chills down hers as well, but she wouldn't let him see that.
"Like hell I shouldn't have. What do you think you're doing?" He regretted his words as soon as he'd said them. No matter how strangely Trance was behaving he couldn't stand using words or a tone with her like the one he had just used.
Her face softened as she was momentarily unable to keep the hurt out of her eyes, and his features softened as well in response.
But she pulled herself together, pursed her lips again, and glared to the best of her abilities.
"Look," He started over, trying to contain his emotions. "Dylan wouldn't talk to you so I . . ." But she interrupted him, becoming increasingly better at this charade.
"You really shouldn't have come Harper. You don't know what you're doing."
"Neither do you." His indignant reply broke her heart in more ways than one, but she would not show it.
She refused to show it.
"I know exactly what I'm doing. You shouldn't be here. Damn it Harper." His eyes widened in obvious shock. He couldn't recall a time when she had even come close to swearing.
And perhaps that was the final straw. Hearing her speak to him like that, listening to words that should never be allowed to come from something so innocent and sweet- a part of him felt like dying.
"I . . ." He hesitated. He didn't know what to say.
Out of all the things in the universe that seemed to have been created purely for his displeasure- the Nietzscheans, the Magog, the vaguely human products of war and poverty- he had been certain that Trance was safe. Trance was the one thing that he could count on to remain good and without completely self serving motives.
If there had ever been a reason for him to break down, her sudden proof that everything that he believed in was wrong, was it.
Trance stiffened. She wasn't sure who she was hurting more- Harper or herself.
But this couldn't be real, Harper told himself, calling upon the determination that had been so thick in his veins before. Something had to be wrong, there had to be a reason for Trance to be acting this way. This wasn't her, and he knew it. Something had to be going on that he just didn't understand. He couldn't accept this act of hers.
Because somehow he knew. It was an act. It had to be.
*
"No sign of them." Beka put her weight on her hip as she faced Dylan with a smirk that related everything that was on her mind. Frustration, anger, and a touch of fear- no matter how hard she tried, these emotions always came through in her features.
"If you were Trance, where would you go?" Captain Hunt actually seemed curious about what her response might be, and she was slightly surprised by this, having not expected to be asked for an opinion.
"You're asking me about Trance?" Beka gave him the most incredulous sounding tone she could muster, given the situation. "You might as well be asking Tyr for tips on the best method of suicide."
He gave her a look. "Point taken."
Beka smirked half-heartedly, and glanced around where they stood on the space station.
She both loved and hated crowded space ports like these. They were familiar to her, as she had grown up flying from one to the next. But they also represented a part of her life which she hadn't become completely comfortable with yet.
"What about Harper?" Dylan looked at her hopefully, but she didn't have much of anything- especially hope- to offer.
"Harper? Knowing Seamus, he's probably nestled in some bar somewhere. Maybe chasing after girls."
"Or just one girl." Dylan almost muttered the addendum, though he had kept his voice loud enough for her to hear him clearly and react accordingly.
"You think he left to go look for Trance?"
"I think he left to drag Trance back to the Andromeda." He paused and looked at her. "Don't you?"
"Well . . . yeah, but . . ." Of course she knew that that was the reason for her engineer's departure, but . . . well- this was Seamus Harper they were talking about. There wasn't a whole lot in the way of chivalry when it came to that boy. So . . . well, it just felt weird saying aloud things like what his real motives might be.
Beka glanced around again, itching to be moving instead of standing around and waiting for Dylan to reach a decision or give an order of some kind.
"Do you think he found her?" Beka asked with little emotion other than sarcasm apparent in her voice.
Hunt seemed to think about this for a moment, staring off into space like he did whenever he was feeling 'in-charge'.
She tried not to smirk.
"I would think we'd have found him by now if he wasn't with her." He made the statement sound obvious and simplistic, but it took her a moment to catch the implied meaning behind it.
She raised a hand, along with her eyebrows, in what amounted to an expression of obvious disbelief mixed with outright curiosity- about to berate him with questions of whether or not her interpretation of his words was accurate. But she was distracted by someone walking towards them abruptly.
Tyr strode forward from out of the crowd of people and aliens, and Beka's pulse quickened slightly for no immediate or apparent reason.
She decided to attribute this to the fear of losing most of her crew. Two out of three of them were missing, and she couldn't help feeling as though it were partly- if not mostly- her fault.
Dylan cringed a little at the sight of the large Nietzschean heading in their direction, an expression on his face that clearly related his lack of amusement.
"Tyr . . ." But he didn't get a chance to finish as Tyr growled menacingly and glared at the Captain.
"Tell me you've found at least one of them." Tyr's building frustration was not lost on them.
Dylan brushed off the tone without hesitation, and would have smiled if this was any other day, and Tyr was just being Tyr. But, instead he frowned, slowly losing hope.
A new question had entered his mind, and it seemed even more depressing than the last. How would he ever rebuild his Commonwealth if he couldn't even keep a crew of six together?
"Okay, but I'd be lying." Beka's sarcastic tone was not unusual, so neither of the men said anything about it. If it seemed slightly more caustic than expected, than they attributed it to her frustration at losing her good luck charm and the young engineer that she had- though against her better judgement- taken under her wing.
Or, at the least, she had given him a somewhat steady source of income and a place to sleep at night. It was better than what he'd had before she came along.
"They couldn't have left the station without a ship." Dylan stated the obvious, but Tyr was too wrapped up in his own anger to even roll his eyes.
"Well the Maru's still tucked safely away in bed, and I would think Rommie would have alerted us if any of the other ships were missing." Captain Hunt nodded his head absently at Beka's words.
"They have to be here somewhere." Tyr glared at the other two- mainly focusing his anger on Dylan, but not letting Beka escape unscathed.
"Uh oh."
Beka's eye's widened at her own sudden admission. Both Dylan and Tyr slowly turned their heads to stare at her and she cringed a little under their gaze.
Of course.
They *would* pay attention to her when she was making a mistake. How typical of men.
TBC
by Jessie
Part 5
Disclaimer, etc. in Part 1.
Authors Note: Sorry that this took so long to be posted. Other stories and ideas got in the way of this one and I kind of got sidetracked. But now I'm back on task and I plan to post chapters more regularly. Hope you guys enjoy. And I absolutely love feedback. Your comments always brighten my day.
***
"Harper." She gave him a withering look. "Why did you come here?" Her voice was stern and continued to radiate with a coldness that couldn't possibly be coming from any part of the Trance that he knew.
"I, uh . . ." he stumbled over his words, caught off guard by her tone.
"You shouldn't have come." She placed an emphasis on each word, maintaining that edge that she had worked so hard to commandeer. It sent chills down his spine.
It sent chills down hers as well, but she wouldn't let him see that.
"Like hell I shouldn't have. What do you think you're doing?" He regretted his words as soon as he'd said them. No matter how strangely Trance was behaving he couldn't stand using words or a tone with her like the one he had just used.
Her face softened as she was momentarily unable to keep the hurt out of her eyes, and his features softened as well in response.
But she pulled herself together, pursed her lips again, and glared to the best of her abilities.
"Look," He started over, trying to contain his emotions. "Dylan wouldn't talk to you so I . . ." But she interrupted him, becoming increasingly better at this charade.
"You really shouldn't have come Harper. You don't know what you're doing."
"Neither do you." His indignant reply broke her heart in more ways than one, but she would not show it.
She refused to show it.
"I know exactly what I'm doing. You shouldn't be here. Damn it Harper." His eyes widened in obvious shock. He couldn't recall a time when she had even come close to swearing.
And perhaps that was the final straw. Hearing her speak to him like that, listening to words that should never be allowed to come from something so innocent and sweet- a part of him felt like dying.
"I . . ." He hesitated. He didn't know what to say.
Out of all the things in the universe that seemed to have been created purely for his displeasure- the Nietzscheans, the Magog, the vaguely human products of war and poverty- he had been certain that Trance was safe. Trance was the one thing that he could count on to remain good and without completely self serving motives.
If there had ever been a reason for him to break down, her sudden proof that everything that he believed in was wrong, was it.
Trance stiffened. She wasn't sure who she was hurting more- Harper or herself.
But this couldn't be real, Harper told himself, calling upon the determination that had been so thick in his veins before. Something had to be wrong, there had to be a reason for Trance to be acting this way. This wasn't her, and he knew it. Something had to be going on that he just didn't understand. He couldn't accept this act of hers.
Because somehow he knew. It was an act. It had to be.
*
"No sign of them." Beka put her weight on her hip as she faced Dylan with a smirk that related everything that was on her mind. Frustration, anger, and a touch of fear- no matter how hard she tried, these emotions always came through in her features.
"If you were Trance, where would you go?" Captain Hunt actually seemed curious about what her response might be, and she was slightly surprised by this, having not expected to be asked for an opinion.
"You're asking me about Trance?" Beka gave him the most incredulous sounding tone she could muster, given the situation. "You might as well be asking Tyr for tips on the best method of suicide."
He gave her a look. "Point taken."
Beka smirked half-heartedly, and glanced around where they stood on the space station.
She both loved and hated crowded space ports like these. They were familiar to her, as she had grown up flying from one to the next. But they also represented a part of her life which she hadn't become completely comfortable with yet.
"What about Harper?" Dylan looked at her hopefully, but she didn't have much of anything- especially hope- to offer.
"Harper? Knowing Seamus, he's probably nestled in some bar somewhere. Maybe chasing after girls."
"Or just one girl." Dylan almost muttered the addendum, though he had kept his voice loud enough for her to hear him clearly and react accordingly.
"You think he left to go look for Trance?"
"I think he left to drag Trance back to the Andromeda." He paused and looked at her. "Don't you?"
"Well . . . yeah, but . . ." Of course she knew that that was the reason for her engineer's departure, but . . . well- this was Seamus Harper they were talking about. There wasn't a whole lot in the way of chivalry when it came to that boy. So . . . well, it just felt weird saying aloud things like what his real motives might be.
Beka glanced around again, itching to be moving instead of standing around and waiting for Dylan to reach a decision or give an order of some kind.
"Do you think he found her?" Beka asked with little emotion other than sarcasm apparent in her voice.
Hunt seemed to think about this for a moment, staring off into space like he did whenever he was feeling 'in-charge'.
She tried not to smirk.
"I would think we'd have found him by now if he wasn't with her." He made the statement sound obvious and simplistic, but it took her a moment to catch the implied meaning behind it.
She raised a hand, along with her eyebrows, in what amounted to an expression of obvious disbelief mixed with outright curiosity- about to berate him with questions of whether or not her interpretation of his words was accurate. But she was distracted by someone walking towards them abruptly.
Tyr strode forward from out of the crowd of people and aliens, and Beka's pulse quickened slightly for no immediate or apparent reason.
She decided to attribute this to the fear of losing most of her crew. Two out of three of them were missing, and she couldn't help feeling as though it were partly- if not mostly- her fault.
Dylan cringed a little at the sight of the large Nietzschean heading in their direction, an expression on his face that clearly related his lack of amusement.
"Tyr . . ." But he didn't get a chance to finish as Tyr growled menacingly and glared at the Captain.
"Tell me you've found at least one of them." Tyr's building frustration was not lost on them.
Dylan brushed off the tone without hesitation, and would have smiled if this was any other day, and Tyr was just being Tyr. But, instead he frowned, slowly losing hope.
A new question had entered his mind, and it seemed even more depressing than the last. How would he ever rebuild his Commonwealth if he couldn't even keep a crew of six together?
"Okay, but I'd be lying." Beka's sarcastic tone was not unusual, so neither of the men said anything about it. If it seemed slightly more caustic than expected, than they attributed it to her frustration at losing her good luck charm and the young engineer that she had- though against her better judgement- taken under her wing.
Or, at the least, she had given him a somewhat steady source of income and a place to sleep at night. It was better than what he'd had before she came along.
"They couldn't have left the station without a ship." Dylan stated the obvious, but Tyr was too wrapped up in his own anger to even roll his eyes.
"Well the Maru's still tucked safely away in bed, and I would think Rommie would have alerted us if any of the other ships were missing." Captain Hunt nodded his head absently at Beka's words.
"They have to be here somewhere." Tyr glared at the other two- mainly focusing his anger on Dylan, but not letting Beka escape unscathed.
"Uh oh."
Beka's eye's widened at her own sudden admission. Both Dylan and Tyr slowly turned their heads to stare at her and she cringed a little under their gaze.
Of course.
They *would* pay attention to her when she was making a mistake. How typical of men.
TBC