Tears of the stars, Part 5
Disclaimer: Lyrics from the Devlins.

The update delay was because the site was down, and our internet connection was lost for a few days. Thanks to anyone who has reviewed so far. And I will be finishing this story but not today. It has rained every day since May here but we've had one nice day of sunshine yesterday and about 100,000 more umbrella's have been sold than usual.

Since it's been a while since I could update, I'll do a quick summary of the story so far.

Harper met a former girlfriend, Tara, while shopping, finds out that when she left him four years ago she'd been pregnant with his child. He goes back to find Tara only to find the station had been attacked, Tara was badly hurt and his daughter, Aurora, has been taken by the Dragans along with a lot of the other stationers. The Andromeda sets off to find them but while making enquires in a system bordering the Drago-Katsof territory, Harper is attacked and finds himself aboard a slave ship heading to a Dragans planet and all the stationers are with him. The universe has a strange sense of humour, with jokes only it finds funny. And so we continue where we left off........

Back on the Maru

"How could we have been so stupid! Leaving him alone in a system notorious for slave trading. I really am Captain idiot!"

Dylan was pacing along the Maru's deck. A very concerned Beka was leaning against the wall.

"Your not the only idiot here, we should have been more careful"

"Careful?! Beka, we lost him and we have witnesses saying they saw him attacked and captured by men working for Sidius Wrench. We may as well have sold him ourselves the way we just left him on that street."

They were both so busy telling each other what idiots they were that they did not notice Tyr walk in.

He silently observed the shouting match between them, and when both Dylan and Beka paused to take a breath he spoke, in his usual Tyr manner.

"If you two are quite finished establishing how idiotic we have all been, may I suggest we concentrate on finding Harper" he shouted the last few words at them and they both stared at Tyr, silenced by his rage.

With that he walked out to talk to Rommie who was piloting them back to the Andromeda. Without a word both Beka and Dylan followed.

. . .

Harper was walking around the room they were being held in. There were bunks on three of the four walls, the fourth wall was where the door was. There were about 100 people give or take in the room, it was small and crowded. Not much care given to comfort but then it was a slave ship.

There were people sitting, lying, standing. They all looked worried and the atmosphere was tense. The sandy-haired young man with him was called Kieran.

*note: Kieran or Ciaran. The English spelling might be more recognised so I used it instead of the Irish*

He was from Lesonta station and had been captured during the raid. When Harper asked him about Tara he hadn't known her. So now they were looking for someone who might know where his daughter was.

"I'd only been working on the station a few weeks, I don't know everyone but I know the people who've been there the longest."

A lot of the people here were young, but Harper couldn't see any children and didn't know what Aurora looked like.

While he looked around Kieran went to talk to some people sitting in a group on some of the bunks. One of the women nodded her head to his questioning and said something that was so soft even Harper's sharp hearing couldn't hear it.

Kieran walked back to him. The look on his face was grim.

"Did you find out anything?"

Harper voice was anxious, he was beginning to suspect something bad, very bad was going on. He knew from the report that a number of children were taken from the station but none of them were here. There were a number of reasons that this could have happened but Harper didn't like any of them.

"Well, the women I was talking to knows Tara and said she'd a daughter everyone called 'Rora and that she was with the group who where captured. But, all the children were separated from us when we boarded the ship. So she is on the ship, but........."

Harper didn't need Kieran to finish the sentence. They didn't know where she was and they couldn't get out of the room. Well, not yet anyway. The genius Harper had a plan.

. . .

Back on the Andromeda..... Three hours after the loss of Harper

"I located and tracked Harper lifesigns but he was on a ship that entered Drago-Katsof space just over an hour ago"

"Well than, Beka, follow that ship!"

"You have a plan" Beka looked at him questioningly

"I have a plan"

Beka stared at him for a few seconds, then..

"Heading into Drago-Katsof space" and quietly she whispered "Hold on Harper, we're coming"

. . .

By asking around and doing a little bit of digging Harper had come up with some tools of a sort. Bits of wire, pieces of metal. Stuff that hadn't been taken off people as they were brought on.

He had been working on the door for an hour already. He wasn't worried about being interrupted. There were no visible cameras in the room and there was a supply of food and water probably supposed to last them the trip.

The others in the room were grouped around him. When they realised what he was trying to do, most offered the bits and pieces they had and Harper had found some useful things to work with. A few people who knew something about locks were offering their advice, but it was slow going.

Kieran asked him a question and he turned to hear what he was saying when suddenly sparks flew and the door opened. He had managed to short the lock.

While he had been working they had been coming up with a plan. Two groups of people would leave the room, going in different directions and trying to find the children and since there was probably a small crew on this ship, try to find the command centre and somehow gain control.

Anyone with any kind of military knowledge or just strength was asked to volunteer as well as some good engineers. There were eight in each group. The rest of the people would stay and the door would be closed, just in case they were checked up on.

The two groups sorted themselves out and said their goodbyes. Harper knew that if they ran into the crew, who were Nietzchean, that some of them might get killed, but it was better than waiting to arrive at a slave planet.

He and Kieran took the lead and quietly and carefully began walking down the corridor.
. . .

"Waiting... waiting for the right queues, waiting in a daydream, waiting in the slipstream, waiting, waiting through your whole life, waiting for an ideal.....

"How long until we reach the ship?" Dylan was watching all the screens anxiously.

"Approximately 30 minutes"

"Any sign of Nietzchean forces?"

"None, but we are on the outskirts of their territory, they may not have noticed us yet"

Dylan laughed but it wasn't a happy laugh.

"Oh I'm sure they've noticed, they're just biding their time"

Dylan's expression was grim, it mirrored Beak's and Trances, Rommies and even Tyrs. He hated the waiting.

".......and if you ever need someone, I'll still be waiting. I said it's alright..... it's alright"

. . .

Harper needed a plan and he needed it fast. They had checked three rooms so far. But they were exactly like theirs only empty.

Any minute now they were going to be found. As they rounded the corner a fourth room came into sight and Harper heard the distinct sound of crying from behind the door. He reached the door and opened it.

There were about twenty children in the room. Some were crying loudly and some quietly. Some were just sitting on the floor rocking back and forth. Some were curled up on the bunk beds. A few were standing, sitting looking calm, but scared.

As they saw Harper some ran and hid on and under the bunks. Other backed away to the far end of the room, wary. But some of the older children stood their ground, others that were sitting stood up and looked at the group as they walked into the room.

Kieran stood beside Harper and smiled.

"We found them."

As the others of the group filed in there were shouts of recognition. And some of the children ran to the adults. Others stayed where they were and some of the adults came to them. Harper looked around at the children. He had no idea what she looked like.

Then he saw a girl, she looked about five. She was standing beside one of the bunks and she was staring at him. He face reminded him of Tara, her eyes were the same colour, her face the same shape, her hair was long and dark.

He walked towards her and she looked up at him. He crouched down beside her. His heart was playing a beat of it's own. He spoke softly, quietly so as not to frighten her.

"What's your name?"

"Aurora" her lip trembled and her eyes were shiny, she looked like she was going to cry.

He smiled softly at her and said, "My names Harper, and I'm here to take you home"

Harper would never be able to describe the emotion he felt when the little girl smiled at him, her brown eyes shining with happiness. It was something akin to joy, only more than that.

Nor would he ever be able to describe how he felt, when the voice at the door spoke and he looked up to see two Nietzcheans with big weapons standing there.

"Well isn't this a nice little reunion........"

. . .

Okay we've got maybe two or three chapters till the end of this story. Hopefully it'll be done over the next week or so. I hope anyone who is reading it is enjoying it and that I'm not boring, or confusing or upsetting anyone. All and any reviews are very appreciated.