Disclaimer -- still own nothin' but Reese and the Aakresians.
Author's Note -- sorry it took so long to get this up guys! I'll try to get the next chapter up faster! Thanx for being patient! ;-) I feel I must tell you something for this chapter…it contains fluff. You've been warned.
A Dish Best Served Cold
Reese and Trance, both clad entirely in black, quietly walked down the Andromeda's corridors toward the docking bay, careful not to wake anyone. Harper had gone to ensure a clean getaway, and the two girls were taking the blasters they'd liberated from the weapons locker to the Aakresian cargo ship Reese had arrived in.
"What's going o-?"
The question was asked from behind them, and Reese whirled around and had the blaster to the follower's head before the sentence was finished.
"Whoa, whoa, Peanut!" It was Rafe. "Just chill for a second!"
"Rafe," Reese half-hissed, half-sighed, and dropped the blaster to her side. "What are you doing out here?"
"Investigating a strange noise," he smirked. "You sure aren't very quiet. And what are you doing out here?"
"It's a secret," Trance made a face that was as close to mysterious as she could manage.
"I see," Rafe eyed the blasters suspiciously. "A secret that requires being armed and prepared for a Magog attack?" Trance's face fell momentarily, then she regained her composure.
"Not Magog," Reese told him. "Aakresians."
"Huh? Why?"
"We're infiltrating Mako Shipping and Transport."
"And when did you suddenly get the urge to commit suicide?"
"When I found out that they've got Beka."
Rafe gaped at her. "What?"
"It's true," Trance nodded. "Mr. Price tricked us into thinking that the Maru had exploded so that he could kidnap Beka without having to deal with us. We're going to rescue her."
Rafe looked back and forth between the two girls, then settled his gaze on Reese. "You know what'll happen if they catch you, Peanut," he said seriously.
She checked the charge on her blaster, then spun it on her finger and slammed it into the holster on her hip. "Yup."
"You're crazy."
"See last answer."
Reese pushed past her cousin, and Trance followed suit, headed once again for the docking bay. Rafe hurried to catch up to them, got in front once again, and leaned against the wall, blocking their path. "There's no way in hell I'm letting you go back there."
"Like you have a choice?" she scoffed.
"Reese," he gripped her shoulders and lowered his face to hers, looking eye-to-eye with her. "They will kill you on sight!"
"Uh, am I missing something here?" Trance was mildly confused.
"A few minor details that I'll explain to you later," Reese tried to push past again.
"Minor details like the two of us being wanted on felony charges," he told Trance, stopping Reese with his hand over her face. "Dead or alive."
"You never mentioned that," Trance gaped at Reese.
"Yeah, well, I didn't think it was that important," she said after smacking Rafe's hand away, shrugging her shoulders in her arrogant manor.
"We dodged bounty hunters for years," Rafe said.
"They never caught us," Reese replied indignantly.
"We barely got off Aakresia with our heads still attached."
"That's 'cause I was piloting."
"Did I mention the bounty hunters?"
"Rafe!" she whisper-yelled, realizing that their arguing may wake Dylan. He stopped and looked at her, wondering what she could possibly say that would make this mission sound like a sane idea. "I don't care about all that, because my priorities are helping my family when it's in trouble, and that's not just you and Beka. That's Trance, Harper and Rev too. I don't care how insane this sounds, and I don't care that I just might not make it back from this one. If there's the slightest possibility that Beka is alive on Aakresia, then that's where I'm going. And not you, or the Wonderful Captain Dylan, or a cosmic storm, or the entire freaking Magog army can stop me. Got it?"
Rafe's mouth moved, but no words would come out, and Reese pushed past him again, with Trance quickly following her. When he finally realized that he did not know how to stop her from going, he did the first thing that popped into his head. He chased after them and grabbed the back of Reese's black shirt. "I'm going with you."
"No way," she pushed him backwards.
"Like you have a choice?" he imitated her, and Trance didn't bother concealing her amusement.
She fixed a death glare on him, but he countered with puppy eyes. "When did you suddenly get the urge to commit suicide?" she quoted his words, and he grinned their identical grin.
"Just like old times?" he suggested, holding out his hand for a gun.
Reese gave him one. "They'll never expect us to be stupid enough to go back there. Let's go."
*
"Valentines are a stubborn breed," Braighle argued. "The remaining two will hear of what's happened. They will come back here to make sure."
"They can't be that stupid," Price shook his head.
The two were in Dreegan Mako's office, arguing their respective cases for the owner of the company and - practically - the planet. The Nietzschean, a skilled bounty hunter, insisted that her surviving family members would not take Rebecca Valentine's "death" entirely seriously. He made it clear that he would know; he'd been tracking the two wanted criminals for years, though it had become increasingly more difficult since they'd parted ways.
"In fact," he told Mako. "The only reason I am here, and accepted the first mission to attack Trans-Galactic's cargo freighter was because the last place I'd tracked the girl to was right here on Aakresia."
"Impossible," Price scoffed. "She could not have been under our noses without our knowing."
Braighle took an intimidating step toward the reptilian being. "Are you calling me a liar?" his voice was calm, but his dark eyes were intense.
Price's slimy forked tongue nervously licked his scaly lips. "Of course not," he shook his head. "I was merely pointing out that it is highly unlikely that she would be able to evade our security patrols."
"Well, she did," the Nietzschean replied bluntly. "And she'll do it again. She's resourceful; and highly skilled with a blaster. And I have received word from my sources that she is now aboard the Andromeda Ascendant."
"Now you go too far, Mr. Braighle," Mako interjected. "Price was shown every room on that ship. He would have noticed her had she been there, isn't that right, Mr. Price?"
Price was now deep in thought. Why did this sound so very likely all of a sudden? "The girl," he muttered to himself. "Hunt called her Valentine."
"What did you say?"
Price looked up at Mako. "She was there, sir. I remember now. There was a strange girl that I knew I recognized, but I didn't know from where. I realize now that I'd seen her on the Wanted posters throughout the city."
The intercom buzzed, and Mako's secretary stated that there was someone with an urgent message for him. Mako pushed the button for the doors to his office to open, and the being rushed in and whispered into his ear. Mako grinned.
"She will contact the other," Braighle said. "They will return."
Mako looked up as he dismissed the messenger with a wave of his hand. "Good," he replied, slightly catching the other two off-guard. "We will have a crucial ace-in-the-hole. Gentlemen, come with me. I have something of great interest to show you."
*
"Okay, boys and girls, now that we are on board the direct flight to beautiful Aakresia, I'd like to take this moment to congratulate myself on the brilliant job of hotwiring Rommie, preventing her from detecting our departure for this little field trip," Harper announced, his usual charming smile plastered onto his face. "By the time they figure out where we've gone, we'll already be on the way back. Applause is appreciated, autographs will be signed later. Thank you."
Reese, slouched comfortably in the pilot's seat, swiveled it around to face Harper, and, with one foot up on the paneling before her, clapped sarcastically. Trance laughed at his silly humour, and applauded vigorously from the co-pilot's seat.
"Yeah, Trance, 'cause his head isn't big enough already," Reese rolled her eyes.
"Wouldn't you like to know?" Harper grinned, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively at her.
"Kiss my ass, Harper," she pulled off her boot and hurled it at him.
He ducked. "You know," he popped back up again. "I would, but I really think you would enjoy that way too much." He failed to duck as her remaining boot collided with his forehead. "Ow!"
"You two should really learn how to manage your anger," Trance smirked.
"Hey, I'm not the one with the killer footwear, Trance," Harper rubbed the already-forming lump on his forehead, and turned to Reese. "Who throws their boot, honestly?"
"Obviously I do, dumbass," she retorted, and held out her hand. "Now give 'em back."
"Ah ha, I don't think so," he shook his head, waving her boots back and forth in front of him.
"Harper, give 'em back!"
"You want 'em? Come get 'em!" he took off elsewhere in the cargo freighter.
"Oh, you are so dead!" she sprung out of her seat, and chased him, bare-footed, through the ship.
Rafe walked through the door as Reese ran out, and he squished himself against the frame to keep from getting bowled over. "Whoa, what the hell's going on here?"
"Well, human behavior is among the most odd in the universe, but I think it's called flirting," Trance explained with a shrug.
"Yeah, right, Trance," Rafe laughed. "That's a good one."
"Is that so unbelievable?"
"Reese is too smart to get involved with that kind of stuff," he shook his head, filling Reese's spot in the pilot's seat.
"I think you'd be surprised," her eyes twinkled.
"Doubtful."
"Wanna bet?"
Rafe turned to look at her with an amused smirk and a raised eyebrow. Her facial expression read that she was dead serious, and Rafe couldn't resist a gamble. "How much?"
"I have one-hundred-and-twenty thrones back on the Andromeda that say Harper and Reese become the crew's newest item of gossip," Trance stated matter-of-factly.
Rafe shook his head with an exhaled laugh. "You're on."
"Shake on it," she cocked her head imperiously. He did, and they both sat back confidently.
They flew in silence for a few minutes; Rafe checking the course settings to prepare for slipstream, and Trance stealing curious sidelong glances at him.
"Something wrong?" he asked finally.
"I was just wondering," she admitted. "What happened to you and Reese back on Aakresia that's so terrible to have bounty hunters after you?"
"Um, yeah," he cleared his throat nervously. "I'm surprised she didn't mention it before with you guys going there and all...well, actually, scratch that. I'm not surprised," he shook his head quickly. "Reese and I were pulling a smuggling scam, nothing out of the ordinary. Just some of their mass-produced industrial supplies, y'know, like ship parts or whatever," he shrugged. "I can't even remember who we were smuggling for, it was so insignificant. Reese probably remembers, she's pretty good at that kind of thing."
"Yes, she is," Trance agreed, gently coaxing him to continue.
"Yeah, anyway, the Aakresian law officers caught us, I guess they'd been tipped off or something. We had to ditch the last load and make a break back to the ship, but they were tailing us pretty close. The lead guy caught Reese, but she flipped him over her shoulder and into some piping. Now, I dunno why he wasn't wearing a helmet or whatever, but he hit real hard and died from a brain hemorrhage, or so they were reporting."
"Oh my gosh," Trance exhaled her words softly.
"I don't know how much the bounty is now, but we were charged with murdering the guy, and they tacked on drug dealing for emphasis, saying we were smuggling flash or something. Must've seen Reese's eyes...I think that's how she got the strength to throw the guy like that."
"No wonder you think she's crazy to go back."
"She'd be crazier not to go. Beka got her ass out of a lot of trouble," he admitted. "Most of which I got her into."
"You took good care of her though," Trance stated. "She's alive, isn't she?"
"I'd give my sister the credit for that one. She probably wouldn't be if she'd stayed with me. I mean, I never tried to get her off of flash. Never even gave it a thought."
"Call it one of those life's mistakes she learned from," Trance smiled encouragingly. "And I bet that if you asked her, she wouldn't take back those years for anything."
Rafe grinned at her. "How much?" Trance laughed and shook her head.
*
"Harper? I know you're in here," Reese stated, her voice echoing through the cargo bay, her bare feet slapping on the damp metal floor.
"Very intuitive," he appeared from behind the open door. "I am, however, no longer one with your head-smashing boots," he showed her his empty hands, and, grinning, leaned close to her face. "Sorry."
She assumed her much-used very-funny-Harper-now-get-a-life-and-give-it-up stance, complete with her arms folded over her chest. "Ha, ha. Spill it, Seamus, where are they?"
He eyed the rows and rows of crates. "Oh, I have a feeling they're somewhere close by, Teresa."
"You didn't," she gaped at him.
"Didn't I?"
She scanned the cargo, mouth hanging open in disbelief. Normally, she would've just drilled a nice solid punch into his gut and laid him out - especially for using her full name - but for some reason she just stood there like a moron, completely unsure of what to do. Uh, okay, Reese, THINK. If you were Harper, which crate would you---oh jeez, THERE's a scary thought. Being Harper has just knocked Nietzschean bounty hunters out of your #1 worst nightmare slot. Gah, just start looking, they've gotta be close cuz he didn't have that much time to hide 'em. She shivered, and sloshed through the puddles on the ground to the first row of crates. Kay, this floor is frikkin' freezing, why the hell is it so wet in here? She opened the first few crates and glared at Harper.
"Any luck?" he smirked.
She tried to think of a sarcastic comeback, but all she could manage was a scowl. That's not like me, she pondered that realization briefly before dismissing it as nothing. She could see him watching her out of the corner of her eye, causing a strange sensation to shoot up her spine. Yeah, like I need an audience to find my boots. That's not why you don't want him watching you, another part of her mind stated. I don't care if he's watching me, she argued. Sure, sure. I don't! I couldn't give a fat Nightsider's ass if he stared at me with his big eyes and cute smirk all--CUTE?!?!? There it is. I didn't just--CUTE??? I did not just say that. Uh, yeah you did. Nonononono, I was being sarcastic. I was--it was a joke, get it? Ha, ha, laugh it off, Reese! Laugh it off!
Nervous chuckling escaped her lips, and Harper cocked his head.
"What's so funny?"
"Nothing," she quickly replied, kneeling down in the water and opening another crate.
"Hmm," he nodded. "Bet it's not as funny as your boots being behind the door the whole time."
She snapped her head up just in time to see him lifting her boots from the shadows with an evil grin on his face. Her eyes widened. "You-"
"-Never said they were in the cargo," he finished for her, then took off down the corridor again.
"Sonuva bitch," she cursed as she jumped to her feet and pursued him again. He was slow to make the turn into the cockpit area, and she caught up to him and tackled him around the ankles. "GIVE THEM BACK!"
"No!" he managed through hysterical laughter and wiggled his feet free, then pushed himself to his knees. Reese was quick, though, and wrapped her arms around his neck from behind. Struggling, he stood up, and, with a hard motion to one side, swung her around infront of him. The momentum knocked them both to the floor, Harper on top of Reese.
There was a fleeting second where they stared, dumbfounded, into each other's eyes, and then Reese quickly shoved him off in one panicky instant.
They both stood, avoiding the other's gaze, and realized with horror that Rafe and Trance were both watching them, wide-eyed, obviously trying to contain a surge of uncontrollable laughter.
"We-um-we-are we ready to enter slipstream?" Reese sputtered, nervously scratching her shoulder as Harper tensely ran his fingers through his hair.
"Just awaiting your orders, C-Captain Valentine," Rafe's voice wavered as he determinedly suppressed the threatening hysterics.
She scowled. "I'll take it from here, then," and she pushed him out of the pilot's seat.
"I'm gonna go to the Engine room and make sure everything's working, and, yeah," Harper quickly excused himself, and Trance stood up and followed him.
Rafe pushed himself off the floor and into the co-pilot's seat. "So-"
"Shut the hell up," she cut him off and engaged the slipstream.
*
Trance braced herself against the ship's frame as it jolted from the slipstream. She was standing outside the Engine room, trying to convince Harper to come out as she still found Engine rooms disgusting.
"Harper?"
"Go away, Trance, I don't wanna talk about it."
"Talk about what?" she tried to sound innocent. He appeared at the door with a very, very unimpressed look upon his face, shook his head, then slunk back into the Engine room. "Oh, come on, Harper!" she stamped her foot lightly in protest. "We always talk about things that are bothering us! And you always say that I make you feel better when you're upset, well, even though I don't quite understand what there is to get upset about, exactly."
He appeared again. "Upset? What are you talking about? I'm not upset. Not one little bit."
"Then why are you hiding?"
"I'm not hiding! I'm working!" he leaned in the room and twisted a few knobs near a pressure gauge. "See? Working. Not hiding."
"Oh, okay." They stood facing each other with arms folded, faces set in determination. "So...Reese is pretty special, huh?" she couldn't hold it any longer.
"Special? Her? Pfft," he rolled his eyes. "What've you been smokin'?"
*
"What's up with you and Harper?" Rafe was anything but subtle.
"Nothing is up with me and Harper!" Reese countered, not taking her eyes off the slipstream maze before them. "Why the hell would you think that anything is up with me and Harper?"
"Well, gee, I wonder."
"Let me tell you something about Harper..."
*
"Trance, she's completely egotistical, y'know? I mean, 'hey, I'm Reese, the galaxies revolve around me cuz I'm the best damn pilot alive'," he spun around as he said it. "Do you know how hard it is to talk to someone who's so-"
*
"-Completely self-centred!" Reese exclaimed. "Do you even know what it's like to talk to someone who spends all of their time singing their own praises?"
"I can imagine."
Reese didn't notice his comment. "And also, he's so sarcastic! I can't even-"
*
"-Get a straight answer out of her half the time cuz she's gotta put on that smirk and crack some joke about whatever was just said. That is unbelievably-"
*
"-Annoying!" Reese spat. "And you know what else? This conversation is over." She pulled the ship out of slipstream with a lurch, and Rafe sat back in his seat with a big grin plastered all over his face, his confidence in winning the bet with Trance just boosted.
*
Harper and Trance both steadied themselves as the freighter roughly exited the slipstream, and Harper sighed. "You really wanna know how special she is, Trance?" Trance nodded encouragingly. "You remember how, oh, I dunno, suicidal I was after the World Ship?" She nodded again. "Well, the moment I saw Reese walk through the doors to the Bridge, everything just went away. I actually forgot about everything that happened, I even forgot about Stinky and Turdbrain here-" he pointed to his stomach, "-that's how special she is. It just seemed like things were right again, like everything was gonna be okay."
"Everything is gonna be okay, Harper," Trance comforted him.
"No, Trance, but now I believe it, see?" he said. "She...she makes me think there's something to live for besides waiting for my stomach to burst open, y'know?"
She smiled understandingly. "You should tell her that."
"I can't tell her that," he scoffed, turning to go back into the Engine room.
"Yes, you can," she grabbed his wrist.
"No, I can't," he turned back to her. "If I told her what was inside of me right now, and what that means is probably gonna happen...I mean, why would she even take a chance on that?"
"You aren't even going to give her the choice?"
Before Harper could reply, Reese's voice, sounding slightly agitated broke over the ship's intercom. "You guys get ready. We gotta land outside the city limits to avoid the patrols. Be prepared to run for cover."
Harper turned his emotion-filled eyes away from Trance as he returned to the cockpit.
*
Captain Dylan Hunt had barely arrived on the Bridge after a - lately - rare good night's sleep. He was slightly confused as to where Trance was since she was supposed to be here, but he shrugged off the concern.
"Dylan?" Rommie's screen-based avatar looked disturbed. "Something's wrong."
Dylan looked up with a quizzical expression. "What is it, Rommie?"
"I am unable to access certain frames of my memory storage system," she replied. "They seem to be encrypted, but I do not know the access codes."
"That's odd," the Captain raised an eyebrow. "Could be a glitch in the system?"
"Could be," Rommie admitted.
"I'll get Harper right on it. Shipwide," he commanded, and the Andromeda patched him through. "Mr. Harper, would you please report to the Bridge immediately." It wasn't a question. There was no response after a few moments. "Mr. Harper?"
"Dylan, I can't locate Harper on board," Rommie frowned. Her frown deepened as she continued. "I can't find Trance, Reese, or Rafe either."
"What?" Dylan hoped he'd misheard.
"They're gone."
Dylan clenched his teeth. What had he done to get stuck with the habitually AWOL crew from hell? "Do you know where they are?"
Rommie paused, scanning. "I'm sorry. That information seems to be in the encrypted files."
"Harper. He's covering their tracks."
"I should be able to by-pass his security with a little time. I'll know what's happened within the hour."
"Do it," Dylan agreed, then stomped off the Bridge grumbling, why me? why me? This was going to be a very long day.
*
Dreegan Mako walked imperially through the dungeons, flanked on either side by Price and Braighle. They came to the cell used to interrogate prisoners and entered. Inside were three guards standing over a man, who sat, with his head hanging forward, on a hard wooden chair.
"Welcome to my humble abode, Mr. Profit," Mako sneered.
The man slowly forced his head up to look at his addresser. Sam Profit, otherwise known as Sid Barry, frowned in recognition. Or rather, he frowned as best he could. His jaw was swollen and turning a shade of dark purple, and he was bleeding from a cut above his right eyebrow.
"Why did you bring me here?" he managed to get out.
"I would think you would be able to recognize a favour when you got one, Profit," Mako replied. "It's better than being chopped into little pieces on Sigma Gamma I, isn't it?"
Not by much, Sid thought angrily, not at all surprised that the Aakresian knew about what he'd done. Mako's spy net was second only to his own. And now even that was in question.
"But enough with the idle chit-chat. We simply must get down to business," Mako continued. "I believe you know exactly what I want, Mr. Profit. Unless you've been so rudely ignoring the little messages I've been sending your way." The Aakresian grinned menacingly.
"You can't have my company, Mako," Sid shook his head. "I built that damn company from the bottom. It's everything to me."
"What use is it to you if you can never show your face in public again?" Mako hissed. Sid dropped his head again, realizing what the situation was. "I thought as much." He turned to the guards. "Lock him up. Give him some time to think. I'll be back to speak with him later." The guards nodded, and dragged Sid from the room.
"What are you planning, sir?" Price asked, anxious to be in on the scheme.
"I'm going to make him an offer he can't refuse," Mako grinned, and turned to his associate. "Then I'll stab him in the back. It's what I do best, afterall."
The two exchanged a victorious sneer.
Another guard rushed into the room, and bowed to Mako before speaking. "Sir, one of our own freighters has just entered the atmosphere, but it hasn't requested clearance to land. We assume its destination lies outside of the main city. What should we do?"
Mako turned to Braighle, whose interest had been captured by the news. "It's them," the Nietzschean assured him.
"Do not interrupt their course," Mako ordered. "But put the guards on alert. Allow them to enter the city, but do not make it too easy on them. Let them believe they've beaten security."
"Yessir," the guard rushed from the room again.
"Now, if you'll excuse me, sir," Braighle drew his sidearm and checked the charge. "I have pressing business to attend to."
"By all means," Mako nodded. "And remember, Braighle. The bounty is for alive or dead."
Braighle smiled slightly, and left.
*
"Halt, intruders!"
"Yes, of course, officer," Reese rolled her eyes as the four of them sprinted toward the city limits. If they could make it into the slums, they could probably lose the patrolmen. If they could make it.
A gunshot buried itself into the rock beside Rafe's head, and he jumped back, nearly knocking over Harper. The two regained their balance and raced to catch up to Reese and Trance, who were fighting to keep their footing on the jagged hills of the rocky desert outside the city. The hot dry climate was ideal for the planet's reptilian inhabitants, but its open landscape was rather inconvenient when being pursued and dodging bullets.
The city itself was composed of underground tunnels buried into the rock face, with the tall buildings and skyscrapers protruding from the top of the plateaus. The slums were located on the ground level, where the tunnel entrances were. The air was cool and the rent was cheap, but the area was almost always flooded from the pressure of the water pipes that transported the life-giving liquid from the underground reservoirs deep inside the planet.
The group made it into the tunnels and ran through to a section of the slums, seemingly a market. There was an assortment of small merchant stands, including a trading post, to one side, and a bar to the near-left. Multiple species of lifeforms milled about. Most were Aakresian, but some were Nietzschean, some Chichan, some Perseid, several were human, and there were a handful of others.
"We should scatter," Reese suggested to the others. "Mingle around for a bit until the heat dies down, then we'll regroup and form a plan."
"Good idea," Rafe nodded. "See you in a bit." He wandered off.
Harper cast a nervous glance at Reese, who latched onto Trance's wrist. "I need to talk to you," she whispered to the purple girl, who nodded, and they quickly went to one of the stands. Harper watched them go, then shrugged, and made his way to the bar.
"So what's so important?" Trance asked, picking up a small trinket from the shelf.
"Trance, you may know me very well, but I also know you," Reese smirked. "And I'd wager a Nightsider's ransom that you already know what's so important, don't you?"
"Maybe," Trance admitted.
The youngest Valentine kept a cautious eye on the tunnel entrance as she spoke. "I've always thought of Harper as just a friend, y'know, someone to joke around with. But when I came back, I realized how much I'd missed him. I mean, I missed you guys too, of course, but I really missed Harper. And, I'm not sure that's a good thing."
"Of course it's a good thing, Reese," Trance told her. "It's the greatest thing, if you let it be. Love can be-"
"A disaster."
"I'm not sure I understand what you mean."
"Okay, well, when I was working with Rafe, we never let ourselves get involved with anyone," Reese explained. "It was like our unspoken policy; our minds were completely on the job. We both had our own reasons. Mine was Bobby."
"Beka's old boyfriend?"
"The very same. I hated the way she let him treat her. He made me so angry. That's part of the reason why I left when Rafe asked me. Then, four years later, when Beka found me after I nearly OD'd on flash, she was still with him. She'd gone back to him after Uncle Iggy died. He made her weak, but I couldn't say anything because she saved my life. I had no right to say anything about her choices, so I didn't. I let him treat me like garbage, too. He always told me I was nothing but a worthless little druggie and a waste of life. And, well, I guess he was right."
"No, don't ever think that."
Reese shrugged, and continued. "And then the way she was after he left her for the last time - how she was crying her eyes out and ready to give up? I swore that would never happen to me. Beka is like..." she searched for the right word.
"Your hero?" Trance offered.
"Yeah, and he almost wrecked her. I'll never forgive him for it."
"But Harper is nothing like Bobby."
"No, no he's not," Reese agreed. "Harper is different. Harper's always been different because he's my best friend. But the weakness would be the same. I couldn't even get my damn boots back from him."
"Oh, I'm sure you're just being paranoid."
"Trance, I couldn't even think of a comeback."
"Maybe you're maturing?" Reese rolled her eyes. "Okay, fine, but that's not weakness! That's, um, lack of sleep?" Reese grinned. "Reese, Harper's a sweet guy, and he would never treat you like the way Bobby treated Beka. And you said you missed him, right? Maybe you should make the most of your time together?"
Reese raised an eyebrow. "Trance, you're awfully intent on convincing me of Harper's good points. Either he told you something, or you've got money riding on me. Which one?"
"Oh, a little from column A, a little from column B," Trance smiled, mumbling to herself.
"What?"
"Nothing."
"Come on, spill it."
Trance watched the guards that were near the tunnel entrance as they took one last look around, then exited the market down another tunnel. "Maybe we should go find the others now," she changed the subject, and left for the bar.
"No, what are you hiding?" Reese persisted, but Trance continued to walk. Then Reese realized something. "Wait, what did you mean by making the most of our time together? Trance? What's going on?" Reese frowned, wondering now if there was something her friends had neglected to tell her, and hurried to the bar.
*
Harper miserably sucked on his - already - third bottle of Neubayern Weisbrau, head in hand, telling the bartender about how much life sucked.
"It's not fair, y'know? I mean, one minute I'm all ready to tell the universe to kiss my ass for the crappy hand it dealt me, and then all of a sudden, the girl of my dreams walks back into my life. Now what do I do, huh? Am I supposed to just tell her that while she's been gone, I've become a walking roach motel? Pfft, like that's gonna happen. You know what I'm talkin' about?" The bartender shook his head. "'Course you don't. Why would you? Aakresians are all about business. You guys only mate for procreation, right?"
"'Fraid so, pal," the bartender smiled sympathetically. "You want another beer, or what?"
Harper eyed his now-empty bottle. "Yeah."
"Make it two," Rafe sat down beside him and slapped him on the back. "Why so glum, chum?"
"Well, you try having Magog parasites renting out your body and see if you're still ridin' cloud nine, okay?" was Harper's inebriated reply, and he froze when he realized what he'd just let slip.
"What?" Rafe hoped he'd misheard.
"Huh?"
"What did you say?"
"When?"
"Just now!"
"Oh, I dunno."
"Harper!" Rafe was getting alarmed. "Either you tell me or I tell Reese what you just said."
"No!" Harper snapped his head around to look him in the eyes. "Please, don't tell Reese."
"So you were serious, then?" Harper didn't respond, cracking open the beer the bartender had set before them and taking a long drink. "How could that be true?"
"It's a long story," Harper shrugged. "Just, please, promise me you won't tell Reese."
"Okay," Rafe nodded. "But only if you promise to tell her yourself."
"Yeah, yeah."
"Harper, I mean it. It isn't fair to keep this from her. She is your best friend, right?"
"Oh, you just had to throw that at me, didn't you?" He looked toward the bar entrance and saw the two girls enter. "Okay, okay, I promise. I'll tell her."
"Tell who what?" Reese asked, coming up behind and throwing her arms around the two of them.
"Tell you that you are an absolute goddess, Captain Valentine," Harper wrapped his arm around her waist.
"Whoa, and you are absolutely drunk," she grinned, and pulled the bottle of beer from his hand. "I think I'd better confiscate this." She knocked back a mouthful and patted him on the back. "Okay, boys, let's get this show on the road."
The four of them moved to one of the tables and began to discuss where Beka would be being held, and what was the best way to go about getting her out. They were so engrossed in their conversation that they did not notice the Aakresian guards from before enter and approach the bartender. Trance looked up as she noticed movement out of the corner of her eye, and witnessed the bartender pointing them out to the guards.
"Um, guys?" she interrupted the conversation and motioned toward the bar. The others looked.
"Oh, for the love of the Divine," Reese clenched her teeth and they jumped to their feet.
"Hold it right there!" one guard commanded, obviously not convincingly, as the fugitives ran out the door.
They took off down a different tunnel from where they'd come in, hoping to be able to run fast enough to shake their pursuers. The guards were remarkably quick, however, and began firing their guns at them as they gave chase. One bullet punctured a gas pipe attached to the rock wall, and the force of the explosion propelled Reese through the air a few feet, and then she crashed into the dirt ground.
"You okay?" Harper asked her, pulling her to her feet.
"Yeah, don't worry about it," she nodded, now clutching her arm close to her body, and they continued running. After a few more minutes, they stopped. "I think we lost them."
"Yeah," Harper agreed, catching his breath. "Where's Trance and Rafe?"
Reese looked around, then stomped her foot. "We must've gotten separated when the pipe blew," she groaned.
"It's alright, we'll find them," he assured her, examining her shoulder.
She winced, and wrenched it away from him. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making sure you didn't separate your shoulder."
"How would you even know?" she scoffed, poking him. "You're drunk."
"I am not!"
"Harper, you guzzled four beers in about fifteen minutes."
"Three and a half," he corrected her. "You stole the last bit. And it doesn't matter because that's nothing. I am not drunk."
"And my shoulder is not separated."
"Fine."
"Fine."
They continued down the tunnels in silence.
*
"Dylan, I have completed the decoding process for the encrypted files," Rommie reported. "I now have access to everything Harper hid from me, including the visual recordings of their actions last night."
"On screen," Dylan ordered, and Rev and Tyr looked up in interest. Immediately the image of Harper, Trance, and Reese talking on the Bridge appeared. Their entire conversation about how the transmission of the Eureka Maru exploding had been faked, and that they were going to rescue Beka was revealed. "Oh my God," Dylan was near speechless, having caught the most important bit of the conversation: Beka was alive.
"Captain Hunt," Tyr called his name. "If I may be so bold as to offer a suggestion, I believe that we should retrieve them immediately. If what they say is true, if Beka has been kidnapped and we have been led to accept her death a true, then these little lizard men are much more dangerous than thought to be."
"You're right, Tyr," Dylan nodded. "They could be in serious trouble. Plot a return course to Aakresia. We're getting them out of there." Tyr went to work. "I don't understand, Rev," Dylan frowned. "Why did they hide this from me? Did they not think that I would want to rescue Beka if there was even a slight possibility that she were alive?"
"With all due respect, Dylan," the Magog folded his hands together. "I believe that they may have thought you would be somewhat of a liability. You have proven yourself to be very direct in problem solving, and prefer to negociate rather than enter into conflict. However, I have known Reese for quite some time, and she reacts in quite the opposite manor. Much like young Harper, she is reckless and eager for revenge. I fear that she will do something rather rash if she lets her thirst for vengeance rule her judgement, as she has done so many times in the past."
"Yeah, well, let's hope it doesn't get them into trouble," Dylan was empathetic.
"I will pray that it doesn't," Rev declared. "And Dylan? Please forgive their imprudence. They are still children, and have much to learn."
Dylan nodded understandingly, then set to engage slipstream.
To Be Continued...
Hey! Everyone getting excited about what's gonna happen? Hehe, hope so. Well, don't forget to review!
