Just Another Commodity
By: X
X0832001@yahoo.com
Rated PG-13 for Cursing
Disclaimer: I own nothing and am getting no money
"I was in here yesterday. I'd like Harper again." Beka had returned, bright and early the next day to get Harper to finish the job.
"Who?"
"Harper"
"I'm sorry; we identify our employees by number. Do you know his?"
"Uhm" she rooted through her pockets and found the card Harper had given her. 82420"
"Alright then" the secretary typed away at her key pad. Then she frowned. Beka frowned. "82420 has died." She tapped a few more keys. "May I suggest 771983, she has been healing quite well and we offer a reduced rate on her services."
"What! Harper's dead?!" Looking a little put out the secretary tapped a few more keys.
"82420 was selected to have a neural port put in. He died soon after the surgery was complete; about 30 minutes ago." Beka was shocked. Rev put a hand on her shoulder.
"I want to see him" she said
"That is completely against several of our policies. I cannot allow you..." the secretary shut her mouth so fast her jaw clicked. Rev was advancing on her and a growl bubbled in his throat. The secretary pointed to a door behind her, threw them two scrapes of plastic from her desk and pretended to be totally engrossed in her computer.
Sliding the plastic threw a card reader outside the door gained them entry to the sterile white room. The room was empty except for a tall, solid, dark haired man at a sink cleaning blood from instruments and the body of the man who'd been repairing her ship yesterday.
The alive man looked up. "What are you doing here?" He demanded.
"We knew him" she gestured to Harper.
"Oh, none of them have had visitors before." This had happened before. "You can't hang around here though. I've still got things to do, people to see." He smiled, the bastard smiled and Beka wanted to rip that grin from his face. She stepped closer to the bed.
He was so still. The metal port that had ultimately killed him shone brightly in the dim light and looked like an alien invader clutching the mudfoot's badly bruised throat. Nobody had bothered to clean up the blood. Red was smeared on pale skin and the table Harper laid on. Streaks in the tabletop blood sickened her. They were claw marks. He's been awake. Maybe under a local, but he had spent his last minutes desperately trying to break free. Bands still held the corpse across the forehead and under his arms. They'd tied him down. Tied down and struggling was how Harper left life. Beka twisted her fingers in Rev's fur and held back her tears and her rage. It just wasn't right. Yesterday that kid had been fixing her engines. He'd cracked a few jokes and done an amazing job with the repairs. Today he was a corpse; a lifeless bruised pile of flesh.
The man stepped over to the body. Looking down he shook his head. "I knew he didn't stand a chance. A little Earth runt like him, their bodies just aren't resilient enough. I mean they grow up in pitiable little refugee camps. God, their bodies are always a mess."
"You knew he wouldn't make it?"
"No doubt. Earthers can be stubborn as hell, but being stubborn can't keep you alive."
"His body" mumbled Rev so softly Beka was the only one to hear.
"What are you going to do with the body?"
"Burn it. Can't even salvage the damn port, it'd already made the connections in his brain when he bit it." Beka couldn't believe how carelessly they spoke about Harper. It was if he hadn't been a human life to them. He was just 082420, easily replaceable by 082421, 082422 or any other kid desperate enough to give up everything.
"Can I take it?" she asked. She couldn't explain why, she hadn't known him well. She normally didn't have this great revere for the dead. But for some reason she wanted to at least bury the kid properly. He seemed to deserve that.
"Fine, save me the trouble."
It took less than a second to undo the straps. The medic, or mortician or murder depending on your view, leaned down and thrust his shoulder into Harper's middle. Straightening up he let the body hang limply over his broad shoulder. "You going to carry him fur ball?" Rev hurried over, repressed his urge to growl and take a large chunk from one of this man's vital organs, and cradled the younger man's body. Then, without waiting for Beka he hurried for the door.
Beka rushed after him. "Rev!" She called as he raced towards the Maru. "Rev!" she yelled again. He continued to ignore her until they were a good distance from the main compound and nearing their own ship.
"He's not dead." The Maggog explained.
"What?!"
"Very nearly so, but the boy still lives"
"Were you going to tell me?"
"I wasn't positive until now. But, he doesn't smell like death. He has a chance Beka."
Rev gently laid Harper on the lower bunk in crew quarters. Beka scooped up the limp wrist and felt for a pulse. After a few gut wrenching seconds she was pretty sure she had found the weak, sporadic beat of his heart. Leaning her ear to his mouth she picked up a faint trace of breath. Whirling around to face Rev she ordered, "He needs blood; get the transfusion kit from the first aid kit and a packet of insta-blood." Beka happened to keep a few packages of the blood substitute. They didn't need to be refrigerated and worked with all but the rarest human blood types. She felt a little bad that she may be tempting Rev by having the blood around but right now she was thrilled to have it.
Rev returned, dropped off the blood and went to pilot them off this moon. They certainly didn't need Personnel Unlimited Inc. finding out their employee was still alive. Also, they needed to get him to a doctor that would prefer him alive. Death probably broke whatever contract Harper had. Rev found himself growling at the thought of the indifferent man back on the moon. He'd have quite a lot of mediating and prayer to do tonight.
The doctor said it was an utter miracle the boy was still alive; the luckiest kid he'd encountered. When the swelling went down in his brain and they'd pumped him so full of blood and chemicals Beka was sure the tiny kid would burst, it looked like he'd pull through. Beka and Rev were both thrilled.
But Beka wondered if the kid would be thrilled. They'd kidnapped him away from his job. Maybe he had friends there. He could have been there for years; he had been there at least 2 years of his young life. She and Rev had plucked him out of the life he knew and she realized she'd assumed he's work on the Maru.
Harper was still far too weak to consider a matter as important as what he wanted to do with his life. The boy couldn't support the weight of his own head long enough to drink a glass of water. Luckily salvage was a business that lent itself well to also playing nurse. Beka rummaged the ship for the requested valuables and was still able to look in on Harper as he gained his strength back. Like a mother hen she kept him tucked in and made sure he took all his meds and drank plenty of water (with a little help). He'd wake up occasionally but was mostly incoherent. Beka would smile at him as he mumbled and his eyes rolled around wildly or were just closed. Something in this kid just brought out her motherly instincts. So the Maru went on the little run they had found and the boy slept. Harper had never in his life been so well treated.
Rev was there when he woke up aware of where he was. He was sitting on the corner of the bed, reading aloud to his patient when he heard him moan. "What the hell was I drinking last night?" followed in a mumbled tone.
"Master Harper, you're awake!"
"I'm too stubborn to die." Seeing the person he was conversing with was Rev the boy tried to bolt but couldn't get himself out of bed.
"I won't hurt you Master Harper" the Maggog assured him. Weak, in pain, dizzy, and sore Harper lay back down.
"So you are like the Casper the Friendly Ghost of Maggog…"
Beka could not believe her eyes. After finishing the salvage she had set a course for their next big job. Once the navigation was set she decided to check on Harper. She found the mudfoot sitting up, talking to Rev and not screaming. Would the wonders never cease? "Hey" she greeted
"Hi-ya boss"
"I see you're feeling better."
"Yeah, Rev told me about what happened." He gingerly touched the port in his neck. "And about this thing" Beka nodded.
"We won't make you stay with us; if you want we can drop you off somewhere. Even back with Personnel Unlimited if you want." She hoped he didn't want to go back. He deserved much better than the way they treated him there. She was pleased with his response.
He struggled to pull himself up farther in the bed. "No! I want to stay here boss."
"Are you sure?"
"Boss, no one has ever done anything like this for me. I wanna stay."