Disclaimer--I don't own anyone on the Andromeda's crew (though I WISH I owned Harper…), except the newly instated Reese

Disclaimer--I don't own anyone on the Andromeda's crew (though I WISH I owned Harper…), except the newly instated Reese. She's mine, as are the Aakresians. That's all. Enjoy! And review plz!

Loyalties

Reese Valentine sat in the farthest and darkest corner of the Observations Deck. The only thing she wanted in the entire universe right now was to be alone, as had been her desire since the accident. Unfortunately, nobody on board the Andromeda Ascendant seemed willing to give her that luxury. There was always someone hunting her down, trying to get her to talk about her feelings. That kind of crap made Reese's stomach turn.

Rev Bem had performed a really moving memorial service for Beka, and everyone had said a few words about their departed crewmate. Everyone except Reese, that is. She'd taken one look at the photograph of her big cousin, and any words that she might have said were permanently stuck in her throat.

She had gone on, performing her duties on the starship almost without a word. Her spirit had been broken, and nobody knew how to help her.

Harper watched her on one of Rommie's security cameras. He wished there was something he could tell her that would ease the tremendous pain she was in, but he knew there were no such words for that, and she would just tune him out if he even mentioned it.

"It's upsetting, isn't it," Rommie's holographic image commented.

"Tell me about it," Harper agreed. "I don't know what to do, Rommie. I couldn't ever talk about what happened to me as a kid. She shouldn't have to go through the same thing. It...it isn't fair." He mumbled the last part, eyes back on the screen.

Rommie watched him, arms folded, eyebrow raised. "So go to her."

"She won't talk to me," Harper scoffed.

"I didn't say talk to her."

Harper turned his gaze to the hologram beside him, and knew that she was right. He nodded understandingly, turned, and walked swiftly down the hallway toward the Obs Deck.

The doors hissed open and Harper's eyes scanned the room for Reese. She was hard to spot; clad entirely in black and huddled to conceal any skin that would give her away should the light hit it. He didn't blame her for taking these precautions, though; this was the fourth place she'd been in to be by herself. The others had discovered her other hiding places.

Harper slowly made his way over to her dark corner and sat down beside his friend. She didn't react to his presence, and he rested his head against the wall.

"Hey," was all he said.

"Go away, Harper," her voice was muffled as her head was in her lap. "I don't want to talk."

"Hey, I'm just sitting here," he shook his head. "I don't wanna talk either. Bad idea, that talking."

They sat in silence for a time, and Harper began to think that this wouldn't work. He turned his head to look at her, and she hadn't moved. Her arms were gripped so tightly around her legs that her knuckles were turning white, and he could barely make out the sound of her breathing.

She's worse than I thought, was his reaction, and he knew she was probably making herself sick. He raised his hand and took a lock of her dark brown hair between his fingers, letting her know that he was there without saying a word.

Reese finally produced a reaction, and her shoulders began to tremble. Harper carefully put his arms around her comfortingly, and she broke down, releasing the grip on her own body, and sobbed into his shoulder.

* * *

Beka forced her eyes open and was met with only blackness. The back of her head was throbbing, and when she went to put her hand over the pain, she found that they were shackled to the wall.

Her senses gradually came back to her, and she discovered that she was sitting on a cold, hard cracked stone floor. She couldn't see anything, but she could smell the dampness and rot that was usually associated with either the slums or prison, and she guessed it was the latter.

She tasted blood in her mouth and discovered that her bottom lip was split wide open. The last thing she remembered was being thrown face-first into the steel wall of the Eureka Maru after being double-crossed by the Aakresian ambassador.

That slimy bastard, she thought, testing the shackles. They were strong, and there was no way that she would be able to break them. Not by herself, anyway...not in her weakened condition.

She sat back and leaned her head against the cold wall. She had no clue where they were keeping her ship, and there was no way she could contact the Andromeda either. This along with the fact that she had no idea what she had done to piss off a race of reptilian humanoids led Beka to the conclusion that, at least for the time being, she was screwed. How the hell am I going to get out of this one?

*

Harper entered the bridge looking emotionally exhausted. Dylan and Rommie were the only ones present, and they regarded him with a look of understanding on their faces.

"How is she?" Dylan asked.

"Sleeping," Harper replied. "Something she hasn't done for-"

"Eighty-six hours, forty-seven minutes and ten seconds," Rommie cut him off. "I've been monitoring her actions."

"Yeah, well, I don't blame her," Harper shook his head.

"And, how are you?" Dylan looked at his Chief Engineer with concern.

"Who, me? Oh, I'm fine," he shrugged. "As fine as one can be in this situation. Actually, I don't know. I have no idea what to think or do or anything."

"That's understandable," Rommie stated.

"Yeah," Harper frowned. "It hurts so much, y'know? I mean, me, Trance, Reese, Rev...Beka gave us all a second chance to make something of our lives. Now she's gone. How are we supposed to go on without her?" He roughly wiped his eyes and tried to regain control of his emotions. "That reminds me, has anyone contacted Rafe?"

"That completely slipped my mind," Dylan shook his head. "I'll do it immediately."

"Uh, Dylan?" Harper added. "I think Reese'll wanna do it when she gets up."

"Of course," Dylan nodded.

*

Dreegan Mako sat at his desk. He was smiling. He had the woman locked up in a very isolated cell. And he had Trans-Galactic practically in his grasp. It was safe to say that he was happier than he had been in a very long time.

Price and Braighle stood next to his desk. He turned to them, a sly look on his reptilian face.

"Any word from Profit yet?" he asked Price.

"Not yet, sir," Price shook his head. "But I happen to know that Trans-Galactic headquarters has been paid a visit by Sigma Gamma I law enforcers."

"Excellent," Mako licked his lips.

* * *

The airlock doors shut and locked, and the door to the docking bay slid open as Reese entered. She slowly approached the ship, and watched as the tall, dark-haired, slender man dressed entirely in black, descended the ramp.

"Rafe," Reese called his name. He smiled slightly in recognition and walked toward her. "I'm so glad you're here."

"Hey, Peanut, of course I'm here. And it's good to see you again," Rafe Valentine replied.

"Yeah," was all Reese could reply, feeling herself get choked up again. Ever since Harper had gotten her to release the tears, she couldn't put them back in. She had vowed to kill him for that.

Rafe understood and hugged his little cousin tightly. "When did it happen?"

"I think a week ago, now," Reese replied.

There was a pause, and the two cousins just stood, not knowing how to say what they were thinking. "Thanks for getting a hold of me," Rafe said after a moment.

"Just doin' my job."

*

"Rafe," Dylan greeted the man as he and Reese entered the Bridge. "Good to see you again."

"I wish it could have been under better circumstances, Captain Hunt," Rafe replied, shaking Dylan's hand.

"Indeed," Dylan nodded. "But make yourself at home. You are always welcome aboard my ship."

Trance looked over at Reese, who stood with her back to the room at her station. The purple girl cautiously walked over to her friend, a look of concern on her innocent face.

"Reese, uh, just because Beka's gone doesn't mean you have to leave too, ok?" she blurted.

Reese turned her head, regarding Trance with a raised eyebrow. "I'm not going anywhere, kiddo."

"Oh, well that's good," Trance smiled.

"Why would you think that?"

"Oh, well, because I thought that since Rafe is here you might, you know, want to go back to your old life as his partner," she shrugged.

Reese nodded, now understanding what Trance was talking about. "I promised Beka I would look after you guys. I'm not going to desert you, not a chance in hell."

"Thank you," Trance smiled.

*

Harper was inspecting the Aakresian ship that had brought the ambassadors to the Andromeda. All he wanted to do was keep busy, to keep his mind off the pain, and this ship was the only thing he could think of that needed fixing right now. Rommie had grown impatient with his incessant tinkering while she was trying to operate.

He had checked out the engines and the thrusters, and couldn't seem to figure out what was directly wrong with them, though they were indeed not receiving any power.

"What the hell?" he wondered aloud, scrunching up his nose. The only thing he could think of was that maybe a fuse had blown, or a connector cable had shorted out.

Harper walked to the cockpit and pried off the steel cover under the control panel. He looked inside and furrowed his eyebrows. The main power cable hung loose from its socket, like it had been intentionally detached and left.

*

Beka squinted from the bright light that spilled into her cell as a door opened. A tall, muscular figure was silhouetted against it, and Beka recognized it as the Neitzschean that had attacked her on her ship. She sat up as straight as her shackles would allow, ready to defend herself if necessary.

But instead of assaulting her in any way, the Neitzschean placed a bowl of what she supposed could pass as food before her.

"What do you think you're doing?" she spat.

"I thought that was obvious," he replied.

Beka scowled, angry that he was so quick with his sarcasm. "What the hell is going on here?"

"You're a prisoner."

"Of whom?" Beka growled, tired of playing games.

"Does it matter?"

It was rapidly becoming clear to Beka that this Neitzschean was useless to try and get information from. "Well, Mister Conversationalist, since you've been so much help, I'd appreciate it if you'd just bugger off now," she told him flatly.

"Always the hothead, Valentine," he smirked. "Just like your brother."

"What do you know about Rafe?" she demanded, but he simply chuckled and left the cell. "Damn you!" she spat after him, then turned her attention to her meal. The shackles prevented her from picking it up with her hands. "This could be interesting," she mumbled to herself as she stretched her feet out to pull the bowl closer.

*

Mako pushed the button on his desk and the door to his office opened. Price entered, carrying several flexis, and looking rather stressed.

"You had news for me, Mr. Price?" Mako asked.

"Yessir," Price nodded, fumbling through his flexis. "Our spies have reported that the Sigma Gamma I officers could not locate Profit in Trans-Galactic Headquarters. It would appear that he had gotten word of Ms. Valentine's 'demise'."

"Hmm," Mako thought for a moment. "Profit can't stay hidden forever. It is only a matter of time before he is found."

"Of course, Sir," Price agreed. "I will double our spy circuit. We'll find him."

"I have no doubt."

*

Harper entered the bridge, a troubled expression on his face. He saw Dylan talking to Rafe by the viewscreen, and he quickly moved to where Reese and Trance we working.

"Reese?" he called her name. "I've found something you might be interested in."

"Oh yeah?" she smirked. "And I wouldn't have to accompany you to your room for you to show me this, now would I?" Trance giggled at the comment.

Harper shook his head. "No. This is serious," he replied gravely.

The smirk left Reese's face. "Harper, what's wrong?"

"Follow me."

*

"You know what this means, Reese."

She looked at the cable Harper held in his hand, then shifted her gaze to his blue eyes. "It's a cable, Harper. So what?"

"What do you mean, 'so what'?" Harper snapped. "Reese, this clearly shows that Price's ship did not malfunction. It was sabotaged, and Beka was set up."

"This is stupid, Harper!" Reese replied. "Why would Price want Beka dead, so much that he would be willing to lose his life in the process?"

"Maybe they're not dead," Trance suggested.

Both turned to look at her. "What do you mean, Trance?" Reese was defensive. "We all saw the ship explode."

"Well, what if what we saw wasn't real?" she shrugged. "Like a decoy or something?"

"That gives me an idea," Harper rubbed his chin. "Trance, it's your night on the Bridge, right?" She nodded. "Okay, Reese, meet us there tonight. I think I'll be able to provide all the answers."

*

Reese sat on her bed, staring at the ceiling, working out the recent events in her head. If Harper was right, if the ship had been sabotaged, and Beka had been murdered, then it was possible that the Aakresians had followed her to find Beka. And that also meant that she could be next on their list. Or perhaps it was Rafe who was next, and she had aided them by calling him here. Even if it was possible that Beka was still alive, and this was all an elaborate trap, anyone named Valentine was in serious danger.

And that meant that she had to take responsibility for what she had done.

She slowly got up off her bed and walked to the door. It slid open, and she forced herself to take each and every step to the Andromeda's Bridge. The corridors were so quiet, and her footsteps seemed to echo through the darkness.

The Bridge doors hissed open and Harper and Trance looked up, looks of relief on their faces. Rommie's image was on the viewscreen.

"Okay, Harper," Reese shoved her hands into her pockets and regarded him with a skeptical look. "I'm here. Whadda you got?"

"The truth, Baby, just the truth," he replied without hesitation. "Alright, ladies, the tour has now started. If you'll turn your attention to the image of perfection on the viewscreen-"

"Harper, just get on with it," Reese rolled her eyes.

"Alright, fine, let's not get hostile, okay?" he raised an eyebrow, wondering at her sudden impatience with his quirky personality. "I've done some digging into Rommie's files, and I think I've found the missing puzzle piece we're all interested in. Observe."

Harper punched a code into the keypad, and the Rommie's image disappeared to be replaced by the Eureka Maru as it exploded in space.

"So what?" Reese asked. "Everything that's seen on that screen is recorded and filed away."

"Yeah, but that's the thing," Harper shook his head.

Rommie's image re-appeared. "That recording was not located in the file used for storing events seen outside," she informed them. "Harper discovered it in the file used for incoming transmissions."

"Meaning it's a pre-recorded image that was sent to us from the Maru," Harper concluded. "What we were seeing was used to make us believe that everyone aboard had been killed, while the Aakresians made a, uh, quick getaway with our dear friend's ship."

"So Beka is alive then?" Trance beamed.

"Presumably," Rommie confirmed. "And being held prisoner on Aakresia."

"What this discovery doesn't explain is, uh, why our lizard friends wanted to fake their own deaths and kidnap Beka in the first place," Harper went on. "Any ideas?"

"Kill 'em," Reese muttered.

"What?" Trance looked at her.

"The bastards wanna make it look like they're dead, I say we go down there and give 'em a hand," Reese replied, a cold look in her eyes. "We are getting Beka back."

"That's the Reese I remember," Harper grinned.

"But-but how are we going to convince Dylan to let us go?" Trance tried to reason with Reese.

"We don't tell him," she shook her head. We have two Aakresian cargo ships here-"

"Two?" the young girl questioned.

"That's where I got mine, too," Reese replied. "I'm not leaving my cousin, who pulled me out of the gutter, to die in some lizard-freak's prison. So I say we go on a secret mission and get Beka back, right now."

"I'm with you, babe," Harper said. "My loyalties lie with Beka. Trance? Are you in?"

Trance regarded her two friends, unsure of what she should say. Of course, she wanted Beka back. But the path that Reese and Harper were taking, their eagerness for a bloody revenge, made her skin crawl.

"Yeah, I'm in," she replied, her voice hesitant. She thought that she should go with them to maybe serve as the voice of reason...or at least try to keep them out of trouble.

"I'm sorry to interrupt your plans," Rommie called their attention. "But you can't just leave without the captain's clearance."

"Oh come on, Rommie!" Harper pleaded. "This is Beka! Dylan doesn't have to know where we went...right? Besides, we won't be long."

Rommie raised an eyebrow, then her facial features softened. "I suppose you would just override my security circuits anyway," she smiled slightly.

"Rommie, you're da bomb," he grinned. "I'll be sure to pick up some logic chips for you." He winked at her as the three of them left the Bridge.

To be continued...