Chapter 3 - Rating and disclaimers as for chapter 1
In the quarters he was temporarily sharing with Beka, Tyr was beginning to suffer from Flash withdrawal.
His muscles twitched uncontrollably. He writhed on the bed as cramps knotted his legs.
During one particularly bad spasm he bit through his lip. Throughout it all he made no
sound, not even a groan escaped him.
Beka watched as he suffered. She tried to hold him but he was moving so violently that it
was impossible. During one short period when he seemed slightly calmer she removed a small
phial from the pouch he was wearing round his waist.
She measured the dose into the dropper and approached him. He shook his head vehemently.
"No Beka, I can overcome this." As he spoke another wave of pain tore through his body.
He slumped into semi consciousness and as he did so she inserted the drops into each of
his eyes. She felt guilty about taking advantage of his weakened state but she could not
bear to watch his agony.
She looked longingly at the small bottle. She wanted the stuff so much, her entire body
cried out for it. She had to be strong for him. Beka put the Flash away reluctantly, she
could no longer see it but she could feel the craving for the drug pulling her.
She climbed up onto the bed and put her arms round Tyr. She held him close and he turned
towards her and began caressing her, gently at first, then as the drug took hold of him the
caresses became more urgent. They coupled fiercely; it couldn't be described as an act of
love. It was more basic than that. When it was over Beka slept. Tyr could not rest he
paced the room too wired to do anything but walk endlessly. Since the latest dose of the
drug his stumbling gait had disappeared. Physically he seemed unchanged, inside his mind
all was turmoil. Fear and pain and guilt vied for dominance.
He heard faint scrabbling sounds from the crawl space above the room. That little kludge
Harper had been spying on them. He would have to be dealt with, but not just yet. It must
be made to look like an accident. Tyr remembered the growing friendship that he'd had with
Harper. He would have to put that behind him, he couldn't afford to remember his previous
life. The crew of the Andromeda was doomed and he couldn't do anything to change that.
In the crawl space Harper was silently crying. Large tears ran down his face and he did
nothing to stop them. He'd seen most of what had happened in Tyr's quarters. He'd seen
Beka administer the Flash to the big Nietzschean. He'd seen the longing in her face when
she looked at the drug. He'd moved away when it became obvious that they were going to
have sex. He wasn't a voyeur. He was there because of his concern for his friends.
Hell they were more than friends? Tyr had saved his sorry butt on more than one occasion
and Beka, well he'd worshipped Beka from the first time he'd set eyes on her on board the
Maru.
One good point about the whole sorry mess was that Beka appeared to be drug free. If he
could manage to get her alone maybe he could talk to her. He crawled back through the maze
of the crawl space until he was above his own quarters. He dropped down through the grating
onto his bed. He knew that he wasn't going to sleep that night. He picked up a book that
was lying on the table beside him. It was one that Tyr had lent him just a few short weeks
ago.
Tyr had handed it to him. "Thought you might enjoy reading this boy? It's a story from one
of your ancient Earth authors. It is exciting and well written and although I believe it is
intended to be a book for children there is much in it to think about."
Harper had been meaning to read the book ever since but somehow there was always something
to fix or tweak and he usually went to bed exhausted. He opened the book and started
reading.
From the first page the story held his attention. By the morning he had read the entire
book. Harper had noticed Tyr's name written inside the cover with a date. The Nietzschean
must have been very young when he had first read it; the volume was well worn and had
obviously been one of his favourites.
Harper was touched by the thought that Tyr would loan one of his treasured possessions to
a scruffy, untidy engineer. It made him even more determined to get the Tyr that he knew
and loved back again. Whoa were had that come from, he loved Tyr? Yes in a way he did
love Tyr. He loved him in the way that you love a big brother. One who also loves you
although he appears to have little time for you? One who would die for you?
With renewed energy despite his lack of sleep Harper waited in the corridor outside Tyr's
quarters. He waited a long while until finally Beka came through the door. She looked
round her cautiously then headed for the galley. Harper came up behind her and touched
her gently on the shoulder. She jumped and turned on him. She was holding a gauss pistol
in her hand and he heard it charging as she pointed it straight at his head.
In the quarters he was temporarily sharing with Beka, Tyr was beginning to suffer from Flash withdrawal.
His muscles twitched uncontrollably. He writhed on the bed as cramps knotted his legs.
During one particularly bad spasm he bit through his lip. Throughout it all he made no
sound, not even a groan escaped him.
Beka watched as he suffered. She tried to hold him but he was moving so violently that it
was impossible. During one short period when he seemed slightly calmer she removed a small
phial from the pouch he was wearing round his waist.
She measured the dose into the dropper and approached him. He shook his head vehemently.
"No Beka, I can overcome this." As he spoke another wave of pain tore through his body.
He slumped into semi consciousness and as he did so she inserted the drops into each of
his eyes. She felt guilty about taking advantage of his weakened state but she could not
bear to watch his agony.
She looked longingly at the small bottle. She wanted the stuff so much, her entire body
cried out for it. She had to be strong for him. Beka put the Flash away reluctantly, she
could no longer see it but she could feel the craving for the drug pulling her.
She climbed up onto the bed and put her arms round Tyr. She held him close and he turned
towards her and began caressing her, gently at first, then as the drug took hold of him the
caresses became more urgent. They coupled fiercely; it couldn't be described as an act of
love. It was more basic than that. When it was over Beka slept. Tyr could not rest he
paced the room too wired to do anything but walk endlessly. Since the latest dose of the
drug his stumbling gait had disappeared. Physically he seemed unchanged, inside his mind
all was turmoil. Fear and pain and guilt vied for dominance.
He heard faint scrabbling sounds from the crawl space above the room. That little kludge
Harper had been spying on them. He would have to be dealt with, but not just yet. It must
be made to look like an accident. Tyr remembered the growing friendship that he'd had with
Harper. He would have to put that behind him, he couldn't afford to remember his previous
life. The crew of the Andromeda was doomed and he couldn't do anything to change that.
In the crawl space Harper was silently crying. Large tears ran down his face and he did
nothing to stop them. He'd seen most of what had happened in Tyr's quarters. He'd seen
Beka administer the Flash to the big Nietzschean. He'd seen the longing in her face when
she looked at the drug. He'd moved away when it became obvious that they were going to
have sex. He wasn't a voyeur. He was there because of his concern for his friends.
Hell they were more than friends? Tyr had saved his sorry butt on more than one occasion
and Beka, well he'd worshipped Beka from the first time he'd set eyes on her on board the
Maru.
One good point about the whole sorry mess was that Beka appeared to be drug free. If he
could manage to get her alone maybe he could talk to her. He crawled back through the maze
of the crawl space until he was above his own quarters. He dropped down through the grating
onto his bed. He knew that he wasn't going to sleep that night. He picked up a book that
was lying on the table beside him. It was one that Tyr had lent him just a few short weeks
ago.
Tyr had handed it to him. "Thought you might enjoy reading this boy? It's a story from one
of your ancient Earth authors. It is exciting and well written and although I believe it is
intended to be a book for children there is much in it to think about."
Harper had been meaning to read the book ever since but somehow there was always something
to fix or tweak and he usually went to bed exhausted. He opened the book and started
reading.
From the first page the story held his attention. By the morning he had read the entire
book. Harper had noticed Tyr's name written inside the cover with a date. The Nietzschean
must have been very young when he had first read it; the volume was well worn and had
obviously been one of his favourites.
Harper was touched by the thought that Tyr would loan one of his treasured possessions to
a scruffy, untidy engineer. It made him even more determined to get the Tyr that he knew
and loved back again. Whoa were had that come from, he loved Tyr? Yes in a way he did
love Tyr. He loved him in the way that you love a big brother. One who also loves you
although he appears to have little time for you? One who would die for you?
With renewed energy despite his lack of sleep Harper waited in the corridor outside Tyr's
quarters. He waited a long while until finally Beka came through the door. She looked
round her cautiously then headed for the galley. Harper came up behind her and touched
her gently on the shoulder. She jumped and turned on him. She was holding a gauss pistol
in her hand and he heard it charging as she pointed it straight at his head.