Disclaimer: Quotes are from Alison Krauss, That kind of love.
I'm going change the summary as the story progresses, this is an extra long chapter, because I haven't posted for a few days. Thanks for the reviews, they're all very encouraging!
"Who would sell their soul for love, or waste one tear on compromise. It should easy enough, to know a heartache in disguise"
So, anyway there Harper was, sitting, staring after Tara. Do you ever just stop for a second, look around you and wonder how you got where you are? How you ended up in this situation?
Well, that was what Harper was thinking. Right after the endless chant of 'oh my God I'm a father' or 'maybe a father'.
He didn't know if she'd kept the baby. The Tara he'd known would have, but maybe she wasn't the person he'd known and he wasn't sure what her family, who she'd left to be with, would have thought of the situation.
But, five years, and now he was stuck here, realising too late he needed to go after her because he didn't know where she lived or how contact her. And he needed answers before his head exploded with all the thoughts blinking through it.
It was like an adrenaline rush, the kind you get when you almost get hit by a bus and then it dies and your left exhausted and drained.
He stood up, a little unsteady, and then headed out of the cafe, not really paying attention to how much he paid for the bill.
'How could she do this to him? Not tell him! Well, of course she thought he was dead and they'd had a huge argument right before she left.'
He didn't know what to do, how to contact her. But as he stepped out of the cafe a waitress ran out after him.
"Sir!, excuse me sir but I think your friend left this" She held out a black purse, the one Tara had been carrying. She must have forgotten it in her hurry to run away from him.
"Oh, thanks" he mumbled as he took it from her. Then it hit him, there might be ID or an address or contact number in this. He might be able to get answers. And he needed answers, she owed him those at least.
He headed back to the Maru, he'd have to go back to the Andromeda first, give Dylan the supplies he'd gotten and then take the Maru and go find Tara. All in good time.
I did consider leaving the chapter like this but I won't....
Back on Andromeda,
Harper landed the Maru and went out to see the others. He's checked out Tara's purse on the way back. She lived on the space station he'd been buying supplies at.
He would have to go back and find her. But he didn't want to tell his friends what was going on, not yet. He just needed a reason to go back.
He met Dylan on his way to command. He had a plan.
"Hey Dylan, I'm back!"
"Did you get everything we needed?" Dylan looked distracted.
"Almost, but I met this dealer who can have a replacement flux valve by tomorrow so I'm going to head back to the station to pick it up. He's giving me a good deal on it."
"Great, you can take Trance with you" Harper looked up at him with barely disguised horror.
Dylan laughed. "It's not that bad Harper, Trance just mentioned that she wanted to go shopping for some things or plants, something like that. Just agree to meet her back at the Maru."
Harper did not want Trance to know what he was doing, she had a tendency to know things before everyone else and to know if something was going on.
She would be too curious about everything. And he wasn't ready or prepared for that. He smiled at Dylan and said, "Sure". Then he headed to his quarters, to think.
He tossed and turned as the minutes and hours ticked by, it was a long time before the sleep overtook him. And then he dreamed, of battles, ships and a screaming child.
. . .
The next day on their way to the station
"ETA about an hour, okay Trance?" Harper looked over his shoulder at Trance who was reading something.
He turned back to his sitting and staring at the screen.
A sudden beeping woke him from his reverie, it was a distress call.
"Trance we're receiving a distress call from the station, audio only"
He played the message.
"This is Lesonta station, we have been attacked and boarded by the Drago-Katsof pride we need immediate assistance, this is Lesonta...."
Harper turned the message off and looked at Trance.
"Trance send a message to the Andromeda, tell Dylan to get here and that we'll go on ahead."
"But Harper, are you sure we shouldn't wait for them?"
There was a population of maybe 400 on the station, it was small but it serviced a large area.
"We could wait Trance but by the time they get there it may be too late."
Trance heard the urgency in his voice and an undertone of something she couldn't quite place. She went to send the message to the Andromeda.
. . .
They were too late anyway, by some minutes. The Drago-Katsof were gone by the time they'd arrived.
They docked and entered the station. There was widespread panic, people screaming running. They finally got someone to tell them what happened.
"They were gathering up people, young and fit people...just taking them from their homes, their beds........"
They were gathering slaves, ever since the slave revolts they had been gathering more and more to try and compensate. There had been other attacks like this. They're target this time had been mostly young people.
Harper made the decision, he needed to find Tara, but first they needed to help.
"Where is your infirmary?" Trance was asking questions of a security guard trying to direct people.
He gave her directions and she set off with Harper following her.
There were cries all around them, people looking for those they'd lost, people comforting others. It was just like being back on Earth after a magog raid.
He found her, in the infirmary. She had been shot in the chest, she was barely conscious and her chances didn't look good.
When she saw Harper, her eyes lit up and she tried to speak.
Harper shushed her, trying to calm her.
"They took her Harper, they took her, you have to find her." There were tears streaming down her face and Harper realised, his face too.
"Her name is Aurora, I named her after the Northern lights, remember Harper. You have to find her, please......."
She faded into unconsciousness. Harper gently wiped the tears from her face and whispered "The tears of the stars."
"With no guarantee, it seemed to me, at least it should be fair. But if it's only tears and pain, isn't it still worth the cost? Like some sweet saving grace or a river we must cross"
I'm going change the summary as the story progresses, this is an extra long chapter, because I haven't posted for a few days. Thanks for the reviews, they're all very encouraging!
"Who would sell their soul for love, or waste one tear on compromise. It should easy enough, to know a heartache in disguise"
So, anyway there Harper was, sitting, staring after Tara. Do you ever just stop for a second, look around you and wonder how you got where you are? How you ended up in this situation?
Well, that was what Harper was thinking. Right after the endless chant of 'oh my God I'm a father' or 'maybe a father'.
He didn't know if she'd kept the baby. The Tara he'd known would have, but maybe she wasn't the person he'd known and he wasn't sure what her family, who she'd left to be with, would have thought of the situation.
But, five years, and now he was stuck here, realising too late he needed to go after her because he didn't know where she lived or how contact her. And he needed answers before his head exploded with all the thoughts blinking through it.
It was like an adrenaline rush, the kind you get when you almost get hit by a bus and then it dies and your left exhausted and drained.
He stood up, a little unsteady, and then headed out of the cafe, not really paying attention to how much he paid for the bill.
'How could she do this to him? Not tell him! Well, of course she thought he was dead and they'd had a huge argument right before she left.'
He didn't know what to do, how to contact her. But as he stepped out of the cafe a waitress ran out after him.
"Sir!, excuse me sir but I think your friend left this" She held out a black purse, the one Tara had been carrying. She must have forgotten it in her hurry to run away from him.
"Oh, thanks" he mumbled as he took it from her. Then it hit him, there might be ID or an address or contact number in this. He might be able to get answers. And he needed answers, she owed him those at least.
He headed back to the Maru, he'd have to go back to the Andromeda first, give Dylan the supplies he'd gotten and then take the Maru and go find Tara. All in good time.
I did consider leaving the chapter like this but I won't....
Back on Andromeda,
Harper landed the Maru and went out to see the others. He's checked out Tara's purse on the way back. She lived on the space station he'd been buying supplies at.
He would have to go back and find her. But he didn't want to tell his friends what was going on, not yet. He just needed a reason to go back.
He met Dylan on his way to command. He had a plan.
"Hey Dylan, I'm back!"
"Did you get everything we needed?" Dylan looked distracted.
"Almost, but I met this dealer who can have a replacement flux valve by tomorrow so I'm going to head back to the station to pick it up. He's giving me a good deal on it."
"Great, you can take Trance with you" Harper looked up at him with barely disguised horror.
Dylan laughed. "It's not that bad Harper, Trance just mentioned that she wanted to go shopping for some things or plants, something like that. Just agree to meet her back at the Maru."
Harper did not want Trance to know what he was doing, she had a tendency to know things before everyone else and to know if something was going on.
She would be too curious about everything. And he wasn't ready or prepared for that. He smiled at Dylan and said, "Sure". Then he headed to his quarters, to think.
He tossed and turned as the minutes and hours ticked by, it was a long time before the sleep overtook him. And then he dreamed, of battles, ships and a screaming child.
. . .
The next day on their way to the station
"ETA about an hour, okay Trance?" Harper looked over his shoulder at Trance who was reading something.
He turned back to his sitting and staring at the screen.
A sudden beeping woke him from his reverie, it was a distress call.
"Trance we're receiving a distress call from the station, audio only"
He played the message.
"This is Lesonta station, we have been attacked and boarded by the Drago-Katsof pride we need immediate assistance, this is Lesonta...."
Harper turned the message off and looked at Trance.
"Trance send a message to the Andromeda, tell Dylan to get here and that we'll go on ahead."
"But Harper, are you sure we shouldn't wait for them?"
There was a population of maybe 400 on the station, it was small but it serviced a large area.
"We could wait Trance but by the time they get there it may be too late."
Trance heard the urgency in his voice and an undertone of something she couldn't quite place. She went to send the message to the Andromeda.
. . .
They were too late anyway, by some minutes. The Drago-Katsof were gone by the time they'd arrived.
They docked and entered the station. There was widespread panic, people screaming running. They finally got someone to tell them what happened.
"They were gathering up people, young and fit people...just taking them from their homes, their beds........"
They were gathering slaves, ever since the slave revolts they had been gathering more and more to try and compensate. There had been other attacks like this. They're target this time had been mostly young people.
Harper made the decision, he needed to find Tara, but first they needed to help.
"Where is your infirmary?" Trance was asking questions of a security guard trying to direct people.
He gave her directions and she set off with Harper following her.
There were cries all around them, people looking for those they'd lost, people comforting others. It was just like being back on Earth after a magog raid.
He found her, in the infirmary. She had been shot in the chest, she was barely conscious and her chances didn't look good.
When she saw Harper, her eyes lit up and she tried to speak.
Harper shushed her, trying to calm her.
"They took her Harper, they took her, you have to find her." There were tears streaming down her face and Harper realised, his face too.
"Her name is Aurora, I named her after the Northern lights, remember Harper. You have to find her, please......."
She faded into unconsciousness. Harper gently wiped the tears from her face and whispered "The tears of the stars."
"With no guarantee, it seemed to me, at least it should be fair. But if it's only tears and pain, isn't it still worth the cost? Like some sweet saving grace or a river we must cross"
