Thanks for the great reviews! Here's Chapter 7, let me know what you think! {{{hugs}}}}
Still C.Y. 11008
Harper tried to take a deep breath but it turned into another round of coughing. Trance held his head and helped him drink some water from his canteen. When he was finished she attempted to make him a little more comfortable. "Maybe you should rest." She said, wanting, needing to hear more but not willing to have him exhaust himself.
Harper shook his head slightly and winced. "No, I have to finish, it won't be long now." Trance held his hand again and lovingly caressed his cheek.
"Ok." she said.
"I guess the six months I was in stasis was pretty hard on you. Dylan told me later that you nearly worked yourself to death trying to find a cure. He was so worried that he asked Hohne to come on board and help you full-time. The cure was really very ironic. Hohne developed nanobots that when surgically implanted into the larvae, would literally eat the little buggers from the inside out." Harper chuckled again. "Serves 'em right! Anyway, you guys tried it out on me and it worked. Those little freeloaders didn't stand a chance. It took awhile but eventually I woke up. I was totally expecting to be in the hear-after, boy was I surprised when the first thing I saw was Tyr's ugly mug." Harper smiled at the memory. "I looked for you right away but Rommie said you had been ordered to remain in bed until I woke up, seeings how you were so tired and all.
When you finally came into medical, something between us changed, I don't know how to describe it, everything just kinda clicked into place. We didn't even have to say anything to know what we were feeling. We were in love." Harper's voice caught in his throat, he blinked rapidly, trying to keep the tears at bay. "We took it slow, it was damn hard for me, but we wanted to savor the experience of dating, you know, dinner and dancing, holo-vids in your room, the works. Finally, I couldn't wait any longer. I proposed and you accepted. Long story short, Dylan married us on the Andromeda, in hydroponics, of course. We spent an entire month honeymooning on Infinity. It was the happiest time of my life, up until then, anyway. I shoulda known it was too good to last. That big idiot had to go and get himself killed." Harper finished with a tinge of bitterness borne from terrible suffering.
"Who? Harper, what happened?" Trance asked. She had been marveling at Harper's tale, trying to imagine them getting married. What she would have worn and how handsome he would have looked but his last sentence brought her back to reality.
"Well, shortly after our honeymoon, Beka came up with this hair-brained scheme to find the Engine of Creation." Harper rolled his eyes. "I was off with Rommie on a supply run. Beka convinced you and Tyr to go along for the ride. Something about needing three people to get it or some dumb shit. Only you and Beka came back. You were hysterical and Beka was practically catatonic. It turned out that the planet was littered with ancient booby-traps. One of 'em got Tyr. He didn't even get to go down in battle like he'd always dreamed, he was taken out by some stupid poisoned darts." Harper trembled with grief and pain, his eyes anguished. "I missed him so much, he had become like a brother to me. Beka blamed herself. She said she was in charge of the mission, so she felt like she was responsible. She...she almost left us for good. The whole ship was grieving. I didn't think any of us would ever be happy again."
Trance smoothed his hair and kissed his cheek. "I'm so sorry." She whispered.
Harper smiled faintly at her concern. "It was really rough, everything was falling apart. Dylan tried to continue rebuilding the Commonwealth but all the wind had gone out of his sails. His heart didn't seem to be in it anymore. Rommie was upset too, she hated loosing crewmembers but she hated even more what Tyr's death was doing to the rest of us. Time passed slowly those first months after Tyr was killed, but as they say, time heals all wounds.
I'll never forget the day we were finally able to move on. I was working in the slipstream core, just kinda plunking around, not really fixing anything, feeling sorry for myself. You came over the intercom and said that you had a surprise for me. I called it a day and headed home. When I entered our quarters, the lights in our room were turned all the way down. You had lit exotic candles and put them everywhere. The table was set with official High Guard dishes, you know, the ones we save for dignitaries and the like. Oh, you were so beautiful, you had your hair up and it was sparkling in the candle light and you had on this amazing dress that was slit up to here and cut down to there..."
"Harper?" Trance said when Harper didn't continue.
"Oh, yeah, right...uh, it was actually the meal that was supposed to give me a clue to your surprise. You served *baby* carrots, *baby* corn, *baby* potatoes, and some kind of synthetic *baby* back ribs. I was getting used to living with a vegetarian but even *I* thought it was a little much. Man, was I dense. You kept giving me these silly looks the whole time I was eating. I was completely oblivious. You finally got a frustrated with me and had to spell it out. 'Harper, I'm pregnant' you said. I literally choked on a piece of *baby* corn. After you saved me from a very embarrassing death, we laughed and cried and laughed so hard we cried. It was amazing, I wasn't scared at all, I always thought I would be but it felt so right."
Trance smiled as he continued to relate the events of that night. She marveled at the fact that even battered and beaten Harper could still talk the hind leg off a Vedran.
"Everyone was so happy for us. Even Beka started to come out of her depression. We all had something to rally around. I spoiled you rotten. I fussed over you so bad that Dylan had to threaten my Sparky stash just so I would get some work done. Meanwhile we were still flying around, getting attacked, helping people yada, yada, yada. Then one day, Poof! The Commonwealth was restored! Fifty member worlds and a whole fleet of ships rescued from a Neitzschean stronghold." Harper's face beamed with pride. "Dylan was thrilled, but we still had a lot of work to do to get ready for the Magog world ship. I kept working on my mega bomb, and you...well, gestated.
You'd think with all that we had been through that nothing could surprise us anymore. You'd be wrong, we got the mother of all surprises in the form of a distress call from someone claiming to be Tyr's wife! His WIFE! Her pride, Orca, was under attack from some morons that called themselves the Knights of Genetic Purity. Dylan called them Genites, I called them assholes. Anyway off we zoomed to rescue the Orcas. Big battle, lots of explosions, Dylan and Rommie went to the asteroid that the Orcas were living on to start evacuations. Beka and I tried to hold off the Genites but they had some awesome toys and very advanced technology. We held our own for awhile but we were outnumbered and outgunned. We had to get out of there. The Maru barely made it off the surface before the whole asteroid was destroyed. We all ran to the docking bay to try and help with the Orca refugees but only three people came out of the Maru. Dylan, Rommie and an older Neitzschean lady carrying a baby. Dylan introduced her as Olma, matriarch of Orca pride and sole survivor. He introduced the baby as Tamerlane Anasazi, out of Freya by Tyr. Well, you could have knocked me over with a feather. We all stood there, silent for a minute, just staring at the baby, he was so cute, Trance, you just went bananas over him. Dylan invited Olma to stay on the Andromeda for her and Tamerlane's protection. She agreed and we all helped raise the little bugger. I'd never been around Neitzschean children so I was amazed at how quickly they matured. By the time your due date rolled around, he was walking and starting to speak in complete sentences." Harper shook his head in awe, wincing slightly at the pain the action caused. He closed his eyes and waited for the sensation to pass.
"I think you need to rest now." Trance said, disentangling her hand from his. She started to get up, planning on searching for something for him to eat and a clean source of water; the level in his canteen was dangerously low.
Harper reached desperately for her hand, his eyes pleading, "Please, Trance, I need to get this out." He gave a shaky laugh, "I'm kinda on a roll here."
Trance sighed and grasped his outstretched hand. She stared into his fevered eyes and nodded sadly for him to continue.
"You were even more beautiful when you were pregnant. They say pregnant women have a glow about them, well, you glowed more than any of 'em. I mean that literally, you freakin' glowed in the dark! I had to wear a blindfold to bed just so I could get some sleep." Trance giggled in spite of herself and that earned her one of Harper's patented lopsided grins.
"Finally it was time for the big event. I was a nervous wreck, you were so calm and as usual you helped me get a grip. We did just as we had practiced and in no time we had a beautiful baby girl. Ah, Trance, I wish this you coulda seen her. She was the most amazing thing I had ever seen. She came out squallin' to beat the band but as soon as she saw us, she calmed right down. She was light pink in color, but you said she'd probably darken to a sunset shade of orchid. She looked almost exactly like you, pointy ears, your lips, and your huge eyes. She didn't have a tail though, I was almost relieved, I couldn't for the life of me figure out how we were gonna keep a diaper on her if we had to deal with a tail.
After we made ourselves presentable, we allowed the crew to come in and meet the newest member of Andromeda. They all ooh'd an ahh'd, I was so proud. I felt like I was ten feet tall. Tamerlane came right up to us, looked at the baby and said 'Unca Harper, Auntie Trance, whatcha gonna call her?' Olma signed and left the room. She disliked the fact that Tamerlane hung around me so much, she said I was a 'bad grammatical influence' and that my 'sentence structure was atrocious' if she had known everything I was teaching that kid, she would've skewered me on the spot." Harper snickered. "Oh, yeah, anyway, I picked Tamerlane up so he could get a better look at the baby and I said, 'Tamerlane Anasazi out of Freya by Tyr, meet Kyla Siobhan Gemini Harper' Kyla opened her eyes and they looked at each other, actually they stared at each other. There was an instant connection between them; it was a little eerie. 'Hi Kyla' he said softly, 'You can call me Tam.' Kyla gurgled and cooed. She reached out her little hand and he held it. From that moment on, they were practically inseparable." Harper's eyes took on a far away look and his lids began to droop. "I think I'm ready to take a break, Trance." He mumbled. He forced his eyes open and looked at her, "You'll stay with me, right?"
"I'm not going anywhere. Close your eyes. I'll be right here when you wake up." She held his face gently in her hands and lightly kissed his forehead. He sighed softly, closed his eyes and instantly slipped into a fevered doze. Trance continued to hold his face, tracing every contour with her eyes, comparing this Harper to the one in her memory. *20 years* She thought. A lot had happened to him; a lot had changed in this universe. She reluctantly released his face and turned her attention to the fire. It needed more fuel. She looked around and once again noticed the utter destruction surrounding her. Harper's words echoed in her mind *all this can be traced back to our daughter* How? How could someone who was obviously loved so dearly be responsible for such devastation? Trance had to restrain herself from shaking Harper awake and making him answer her questions. Instead she concentrated on finding wood for the fire.
**********************
TBC
Still C.Y. 11008
Harper tried to take a deep breath but it turned into another round of coughing. Trance held his head and helped him drink some water from his canteen. When he was finished she attempted to make him a little more comfortable. "Maybe you should rest." She said, wanting, needing to hear more but not willing to have him exhaust himself.
Harper shook his head slightly and winced. "No, I have to finish, it won't be long now." Trance held his hand again and lovingly caressed his cheek.
"Ok." she said.
"I guess the six months I was in stasis was pretty hard on you. Dylan told me later that you nearly worked yourself to death trying to find a cure. He was so worried that he asked Hohne to come on board and help you full-time. The cure was really very ironic. Hohne developed nanobots that when surgically implanted into the larvae, would literally eat the little buggers from the inside out." Harper chuckled again. "Serves 'em right! Anyway, you guys tried it out on me and it worked. Those little freeloaders didn't stand a chance. It took awhile but eventually I woke up. I was totally expecting to be in the hear-after, boy was I surprised when the first thing I saw was Tyr's ugly mug." Harper smiled at the memory. "I looked for you right away but Rommie said you had been ordered to remain in bed until I woke up, seeings how you were so tired and all.
When you finally came into medical, something between us changed, I don't know how to describe it, everything just kinda clicked into place. We didn't even have to say anything to know what we were feeling. We were in love." Harper's voice caught in his throat, he blinked rapidly, trying to keep the tears at bay. "We took it slow, it was damn hard for me, but we wanted to savor the experience of dating, you know, dinner and dancing, holo-vids in your room, the works. Finally, I couldn't wait any longer. I proposed and you accepted. Long story short, Dylan married us on the Andromeda, in hydroponics, of course. We spent an entire month honeymooning on Infinity. It was the happiest time of my life, up until then, anyway. I shoulda known it was too good to last. That big idiot had to go and get himself killed." Harper finished with a tinge of bitterness borne from terrible suffering.
"Who? Harper, what happened?" Trance asked. She had been marveling at Harper's tale, trying to imagine them getting married. What she would have worn and how handsome he would have looked but his last sentence brought her back to reality.
"Well, shortly after our honeymoon, Beka came up with this hair-brained scheme to find the Engine of Creation." Harper rolled his eyes. "I was off with Rommie on a supply run. Beka convinced you and Tyr to go along for the ride. Something about needing three people to get it or some dumb shit. Only you and Beka came back. You were hysterical and Beka was practically catatonic. It turned out that the planet was littered with ancient booby-traps. One of 'em got Tyr. He didn't even get to go down in battle like he'd always dreamed, he was taken out by some stupid poisoned darts." Harper trembled with grief and pain, his eyes anguished. "I missed him so much, he had become like a brother to me. Beka blamed herself. She said she was in charge of the mission, so she felt like she was responsible. She...she almost left us for good. The whole ship was grieving. I didn't think any of us would ever be happy again."
Trance smoothed his hair and kissed his cheek. "I'm so sorry." She whispered.
Harper smiled faintly at her concern. "It was really rough, everything was falling apart. Dylan tried to continue rebuilding the Commonwealth but all the wind had gone out of his sails. His heart didn't seem to be in it anymore. Rommie was upset too, she hated loosing crewmembers but she hated even more what Tyr's death was doing to the rest of us. Time passed slowly those first months after Tyr was killed, but as they say, time heals all wounds.
I'll never forget the day we were finally able to move on. I was working in the slipstream core, just kinda plunking around, not really fixing anything, feeling sorry for myself. You came over the intercom and said that you had a surprise for me. I called it a day and headed home. When I entered our quarters, the lights in our room were turned all the way down. You had lit exotic candles and put them everywhere. The table was set with official High Guard dishes, you know, the ones we save for dignitaries and the like. Oh, you were so beautiful, you had your hair up and it was sparkling in the candle light and you had on this amazing dress that was slit up to here and cut down to there..."
"Harper?" Trance said when Harper didn't continue.
"Oh, yeah, right...uh, it was actually the meal that was supposed to give me a clue to your surprise. You served *baby* carrots, *baby* corn, *baby* potatoes, and some kind of synthetic *baby* back ribs. I was getting used to living with a vegetarian but even *I* thought it was a little much. Man, was I dense. You kept giving me these silly looks the whole time I was eating. I was completely oblivious. You finally got a frustrated with me and had to spell it out. 'Harper, I'm pregnant' you said. I literally choked on a piece of *baby* corn. After you saved me from a very embarrassing death, we laughed and cried and laughed so hard we cried. It was amazing, I wasn't scared at all, I always thought I would be but it felt so right."
Trance smiled as he continued to relate the events of that night. She marveled at the fact that even battered and beaten Harper could still talk the hind leg off a Vedran.
"Everyone was so happy for us. Even Beka started to come out of her depression. We all had something to rally around. I spoiled you rotten. I fussed over you so bad that Dylan had to threaten my Sparky stash just so I would get some work done. Meanwhile we were still flying around, getting attacked, helping people yada, yada, yada. Then one day, Poof! The Commonwealth was restored! Fifty member worlds and a whole fleet of ships rescued from a Neitzschean stronghold." Harper's face beamed with pride. "Dylan was thrilled, but we still had a lot of work to do to get ready for the Magog world ship. I kept working on my mega bomb, and you...well, gestated.
You'd think with all that we had been through that nothing could surprise us anymore. You'd be wrong, we got the mother of all surprises in the form of a distress call from someone claiming to be Tyr's wife! His WIFE! Her pride, Orca, was under attack from some morons that called themselves the Knights of Genetic Purity. Dylan called them Genites, I called them assholes. Anyway off we zoomed to rescue the Orcas. Big battle, lots of explosions, Dylan and Rommie went to the asteroid that the Orcas were living on to start evacuations. Beka and I tried to hold off the Genites but they had some awesome toys and very advanced technology. We held our own for awhile but we were outnumbered and outgunned. We had to get out of there. The Maru barely made it off the surface before the whole asteroid was destroyed. We all ran to the docking bay to try and help with the Orca refugees but only three people came out of the Maru. Dylan, Rommie and an older Neitzschean lady carrying a baby. Dylan introduced her as Olma, matriarch of Orca pride and sole survivor. He introduced the baby as Tamerlane Anasazi, out of Freya by Tyr. Well, you could have knocked me over with a feather. We all stood there, silent for a minute, just staring at the baby, he was so cute, Trance, you just went bananas over him. Dylan invited Olma to stay on the Andromeda for her and Tamerlane's protection. She agreed and we all helped raise the little bugger. I'd never been around Neitzschean children so I was amazed at how quickly they matured. By the time your due date rolled around, he was walking and starting to speak in complete sentences." Harper shook his head in awe, wincing slightly at the pain the action caused. He closed his eyes and waited for the sensation to pass.
"I think you need to rest now." Trance said, disentangling her hand from his. She started to get up, planning on searching for something for him to eat and a clean source of water; the level in his canteen was dangerously low.
Harper reached desperately for her hand, his eyes pleading, "Please, Trance, I need to get this out." He gave a shaky laugh, "I'm kinda on a roll here."
Trance sighed and grasped his outstretched hand. She stared into his fevered eyes and nodded sadly for him to continue.
"You were even more beautiful when you were pregnant. They say pregnant women have a glow about them, well, you glowed more than any of 'em. I mean that literally, you freakin' glowed in the dark! I had to wear a blindfold to bed just so I could get some sleep." Trance giggled in spite of herself and that earned her one of Harper's patented lopsided grins.
"Finally it was time for the big event. I was a nervous wreck, you were so calm and as usual you helped me get a grip. We did just as we had practiced and in no time we had a beautiful baby girl. Ah, Trance, I wish this you coulda seen her. She was the most amazing thing I had ever seen. She came out squallin' to beat the band but as soon as she saw us, she calmed right down. She was light pink in color, but you said she'd probably darken to a sunset shade of orchid. She looked almost exactly like you, pointy ears, your lips, and your huge eyes. She didn't have a tail though, I was almost relieved, I couldn't for the life of me figure out how we were gonna keep a diaper on her if we had to deal with a tail.
After we made ourselves presentable, we allowed the crew to come in and meet the newest member of Andromeda. They all ooh'd an ahh'd, I was so proud. I felt like I was ten feet tall. Tamerlane came right up to us, looked at the baby and said 'Unca Harper, Auntie Trance, whatcha gonna call her?' Olma signed and left the room. She disliked the fact that Tamerlane hung around me so much, she said I was a 'bad grammatical influence' and that my 'sentence structure was atrocious' if she had known everything I was teaching that kid, she would've skewered me on the spot." Harper snickered. "Oh, yeah, anyway, I picked Tamerlane up so he could get a better look at the baby and I said, 'Tamerlane Anasazi out of Freya by Tyr, meet Kyla Siobhan Gemini Harper' Kyla opened her eyes and they looked at each other, actually they stared at each other. There was an instant connection between them; it was a little eerie. 'Hi Kyla' he said softly, 'You can call me Tam.' Kyla gurgled and cooed. She reached out her little hand and he held it. From that moment on, they were practically inseparable." Harper's eyes took on a far away look and his lids began to droop. "I think I'm ready to take a break, Trance." He mumbled. He forced his eyes open and looked at her, "You'll stay with me, right?"
"I'm not going anywhere. Close your eyes. I'll be right here when you wake up." She held his face gently in her hands and lightly kissed his forehead. He sighed softly, closed his eyes and instantly slipped into a fevered doze. Trance continued to hold his face, tracing every contour with her eyes, comparing this Harper to the one in her memory. *20 years* She thought. A lot had happened to him; a lot had changed in this universe. She reluctantly released his face and turned her attention to the fire. It needed more fuel. She looked around and once again noticed the utter destruction surrounding her. Harper's words echoed in her mind *all this can be traced back to our daughter* How? How could someone who was obviously loved so dearly be responsible for such devastation? Trance had to restrain herself from shaking Harper awake and making him answer her questions. Instead she concentrated on finding wood for the fire.
**********************
TBC