Chapter 12 – Rating and disclaimers as Chapter 1

The End of the Beginning

I had no idea what Seamus Harper had in mind when he jacked into the computer controls on my container door. The moment we were inside he grabbed me and practically threw me across the empty space before pressing me up against the metal wall.

I soon realised why. He hadn't just disabled the automated weapons hidden in the container roof he'd reprogrammed them. He must have put a delay on them. The Nietzschean guard who followed us in was almost cut to pieces by the concentrated fire that hit him.

Unfortunately for us Zeus had held back and hadn't come inside, neither had Rafe. I was in two minds about Rafe. He was my brother even if he had tricked me into being captured by the Dragan.

The gunfire continued for another 30 seconds or so. I heard Harper grunt in pain and his body jerked as one of the rounds hit him. He managed to stay upright and I heard him cursing under his breath. Once the defences had run out of ammunition he released me.

"Hey Boss, you need to lose a little weight," he joked. "I must have underestimated your body mass when I did the calculations to find the safe area."

"Harper, where are you hit?" I was so worried about his condition that I didn't notice Zeus and Rafe entering the storage space.

Harper grimaced. "It's OK Boss, just nicked my leg, it's not serious but it hurts like Hell." He leaned against me for support as the Nietzschean and my worthless brother came over to us.

The Dragan was mad, that is the only way to describe him. I'm sure that in those few minutes his sanity had totally deserted him. He grabbed Harper by his hair and pulled him away from me.

"My ship you little shit," he screamed in Harper's face. Harper smiled at him. The boy certainly had one big fat death wish. The outraged Nietzschean shook Harper, twisting his fingers tighter in the young human's hair. "You filthy little kludge I am going to kill you with my bare hands. Take a good look round this is the last thing you are ever going to see."

Zeus turned to me. "I'll take you back to your ship, I intend to enjoy myself with you. You'll wish that your father had never impregnated your mother." He threw Harper to the floor and advanced on me. "In fact I think I'll sample you now, a little appetiser before the main course." He reached out and ripped my shirt from me, leaving my upper body totally exposed. I heard Rafe gasp from somewhere behind him. He turned on my brother. "Get out," Zeus hissed. "Take the mudfoot with you." Rafe hesitated. "Don't you understand Common," the Nietzschean roared at him?" Rafe stood his ground. "She's my sister," he said. "This wasn't part of our bargain, she wasn't meant to be harmed."

Zeus left me and advanced on Rafe. "Do you want the same treatment as the mudfoot?" He was screaming in rage now. I've always thought that Nietzscheans had superior self-control but Zeus certainly wasn't a good example.

Rafe stumbled backwards, raising his weapon as he did. Zeus must have forgotten that the other Valentine was armed. As the Dragan got nearer, Rafe took aim and shot the man between the eyes. Zeus hit the floor with a crash; his body twitched a couple of times then was still.

Rafe came over to me. He removed his jacket and handed it to me. His face had lost its half-witted look and he certainly wasn't giggling any more. It seemed that the idiot on drugs act was just that, an act. "I'm sorry Beka," he said. "I didn't think that he would harm you. We made a deal that he would let you go once he'd retrieved his cargo. I thought I could trust his word." He shrugged. "I should have known better than to trust a Dragan."

"What happened out there?" I wanted to know why Zeus had been ranting about his ship. Rafe shrugged. "He got a comm from the Maru, something about his vessel self destructing. The link went dead after that so I don't know any more than that. Zeus was pretty certain that your engineer had something to do with it."

A small cough from the floor alerted us that Harper had something to say. "Seamus Zelazny Harper at your service, freakin genius, Dragan ships destroyed to order. Have data port will travel." He looked dreadful but that unstoppable sense of humour was still working.

Rafe helped him up. Harper stared at him warily, after all Rafe did still have the gun. My engineer looked round at the empty container. "So Boss, where's the cargo?" "Yes little sister," Rafe joined in. I'd be interested to know that too."

I smiled at them both. "Well, confession time boys. There is no cargo. I destroyed it. As soon as I realised that the Dragan's were using me to run Flash I dumped it out of the air lock and used it for target practice. They'd told me the cargo was computer parts so of course the first thing I did was check to see what it really was."

Rafe looked astonished and then he gave a genuine roar of laughter very unlike the irritating giggling that had been part of his persona for the last few days. I joined in and we both laughed until we cried.

"Boss," Harper's voice cut through our amusement. "We forgot about Trance, that Dragan bastard left one of his guards with her. If he's touched her." His voice trailed off, his face was grey under the harsh glare of the container's lighting.

My stomach lurched how could I have forgotten about Trance.

There was a noise outside, Rafe span round his hand reaching for his gun. A small purple figure stood in the doorway; behind it was a larger fur covered one.

"Trance." Harper tried to run to her but his wounded leg gave way and he fell to the floor. She rushed over to him and put her arms round him. "It's all right Harper, Rev Bem dealt with the Nietzschean."

Rev smiled, not for the first time I was very glad that he was on my side. "I didn't damage him at all, we tied him up and dumped him in an alleyway." He bent down and picked Harper up, cradling him in his arms. He carried him back to the Maru and he and Trance soon had the boy's wounds tended to. They put him to bed in the crew quarters; Rev sat by his side until he fell asleep and for some time afterwards.

Rafe declined to return with us. We'd locked the bodies of Zeus and his companion in my cargo container. As long as the rent was paid for it no one would open it.

The next morning we were ready to leave. I paid a visit to Harper before we lifted off. He was sitting up in bed drinking a Sparky cola and laughing at something Trance had said to him. I looked him straight in the eye. "I'm sorry kid, I didn't want you to get mixed up in this, once you'd left the Maru I didn't think you'd come back again. I'm very pleased you did though. We'll take you back to your new job now."

He grinned at me, cleaned up and after a good night's sleep he once again looked painfully young. "I'd rather have my old job back thanks," he replied. "But please no more secrets." He looked puzzled. "By the way Boss, if it wasn't the Dragans who was it that sabotaged the Maru?"

"By the Divine, I'd forgotten that. I sighed and sat down next to him. "Well, Harper," I said. "This is what happened…………….

THE END

Coming soon on all new Andromeda.

We find out who sabotaged the Maru.

We hear the story of how Harper got his dataport.

We meet the black sheep of the Valentine family once more – yes the return of Rafe Valentine.