This is 2 stories based on 2 challenges. One by Zion's Starfish that squeezed these first lines from the clever people of the Slipstream BBS board, another by iloveharper-he'smine in which Dylan hurts Harper (on purpose). I had 2 ideas that differed slightly; but couldn't decide which one I liked better. In a tactic similar to my "The Bar Was Loud" Series, I wrote both. So I present Mutiny -A and Mutiny-B. Let me know which one you liked better.

Also note I hit a huge block on "Learning to adjust". (It needs a plot) As compensation both Mutiny-A and Mutiny-B have been posted in their entirety. Do not be over whelmed.


Mutiny-A
By: X
X0832001@yahoo.com
Rated: PG
Disclaimer: I own nothing and am getting no money.
A/N: Because of one of the quotes I worked in this story Trance is gold, but has a tail. The challenge quotes I used are courtesy of RFranke (2x) and BR48

"Mutiny is such an ugly word, my dear Captain," Rommie purred. She really wished it hadn't come down to this. Unfortunately she had to do what she knew was right. Oh her hologram had tried to dissuade her from her current position. But as the avatar looked down the barrel of the Gaus gun at the shocked face of her captain she knew she had his undivided attention.

"I just want to talk to you about Harper." She never let the aim of her weapon venture from his forehead. Dylan noticed that.
"Rommie, you don't even like Harper."
"Dylan, he is my creator, I like him well enough." She flipped her head back to adjust her blue streaked hair. "Besides I'd be doing this for any of the crew. I am making a moral objection."
"So this isn't Mutiny?"
"That depends on you captain. If you don't consider my position" she tightened her grip on the trigger "then it will become one."
"Rommie! You are willing to overthrow me? Be serious, you are programmed to follow my orders"
"This body is an individual; I have emotions, thoughts, and a set of beliefs"
"High Guard beliefs Rommie, you were programmed with the beliefs of the High Guard." He moved to get out of his chair. He felt the heat of her weapon discharge next to his left ear. It had been incredibly close.
"I think you know I could have hit you. I have pretty good aim. Of course it is only 99.99999% accurate, next time I might hit you."
"What the hell is wrong with you Rommie?! All this is because Harper got arrested?"
"You let the Vedrans lock that boy away Dylan- for treason! You know Harper isn't treacherous."
"Rommie you didn't hear what he said! What he said was treason."
"What did he say?" Dylan relaxed; confident Rommie would understand his actions. Rommie shot the wall and left another large scorch mark. "Did I not just ask a question Dylan?" she smiled.

Trance lay across the slipstream chair, her tail swaying back and forth casually, and she wondered if she'd have to kill Tyr. Rommie was in Dylan's office right now demanding they go back for Harper. If he refused the women of Andromeda were going to reorganize the power structure around here. Would Tyr go along with this, probably not. In which case, he would be dealt with like Dylan because they were determined in their mission. All the passion Dylan had for restoring the Commonwealth Harper's friends had and more about getting him back. Oh Trance could be quite ruthless if she felt threatened and mutinies could make one feel quite threatened. Having her best friend locked away made her feel even more threatened.

She glanced over at Beka who was pretending to be interested in the stars. Beka stood near the door to Dylan's office. She couldn't believe the situation. Dylan had let the Vedrans arrest Harper. Their crewmate Harper, their friend Harper was in jail and Hunt was going to just leave him there. Leave their friend in a prison labeled a traitor to the Commonwealth. "Beka, what about Tyr?" she asked
"Don't worry Trance he'll be on our side."
"Are you sure?"
"A captain can only lead a ship the engineer keeps lead-able. Andromeda needs Harper to keep her running."
"And Tyr?"
"Knows it's best for his survival to have a ship that runs"
"Good then we won't have to kill him." Trance stated simply. Beka laughed at the joke. Trance wondered why she was laughing.

The Andromeda Ascendant had been asked to visit Tarn Vedra a little more than a week ago. The Vedrans wanted a report on the state of the new Commonwealth. Dylan had been thrilled by their interest. Actually Rommie had been pretty pleased at the recognition herself. So in full diplomatic mode Dylan had paraded out his crew, the signed charter, and all three rings of the circus. Unfortunately, that meant showing off Harper too. While Harper was a completely brilliant young man and an asset to the crew, he had the social graces of a chimp in a tutu. Still, arrested on charges of treason did not stem from improper use of cutlery.

"We were giving reports to the Vedrans." Another shot hit the wall.
"Dylan I was there. Harper was the last report. Skip to the part where you came back alone from that meeting and we hit the slipstream before you even told us Harper wasn't with you." Dylan sighed heavily. Rommie landed a shot millimeters away from his hand resting on the desk, spraying singed flexies onto the floor. "I am serious Dylan. Why did we leave Harper?"
"His entire report was 'Andromeda's doin' fine.' Then he sat back down. Needless to say the Vedrans were a little unsatisfied, it was an incomplete report. He told them he didn't report to them. He said they let the old Commonwealth die while they hid out from the universe and he had no desire to help them get their fingers in the new one."
"And they arrested him for treason?"
"Well they wanted to court martial him but he pointed out he's not actually an officer and he didn't give a crap what they thought about him."
"And that is treason? What about Freedom of Speech?" She asked, incredulous that Dylan had apparently forgotten about it.
"I believe in that, it's a precept of the Commonwealth charter. But Rommie, he insulted the Vedrans. The Vedrans are the people that brought order to the universe with their founding of the Commonwealth. We flourished for thousands of years because of the Vedrans and Harper insulted them."

"Dylan, freedom of speech means even if you and I disagree with Harper's opinion we don't punish him for it."
"They ordered me to leave and I left. Rommie, we are High Guard officers, we need to stop this foolishness right now!" He bolted up from his chair. She shot him.

Dylan awoke on Med Deck. "You shot me Rommie" he marveled.
"Well, you were making me mad Dylan."
"So you shot me?" He tried to sit up but was held down by restraints.
"I stunned you"
"She should have done worse" that was Beka. Dylan couldn't see her from his limited vantage point but he knew she was in the room.
"I take it we are heading back to Tarn Veda" he asked
"Yep" That was Trance; Dylan was very uncomfortable under her gaze. Apparently everyone was in on this because that left only Tyr to be making the slipstream jumps. Apparently he was alone on this moral high ground. Trance smiled sweetly, almost reminiscent of her purple past, and he felt a shift from uncomfortable to afraid.

All in all this was one of the nicest prisons Seamus Harper had ever had the joy of being incarcerated in. The Vedrans were completely civil towards him, he wasn't abused and meals came on schedule. Of course when Harper was usually in jail he'd actually done something wrong. This time they had locked him up for saying what was on his mind. He really knew better, he should have just given the report, sat still and been quiet. But the blue horse people really were just too high and mighty. Well, their great Commonwealth had never done one damn thing for him and he wasn't going to kiss up to them for spending 300 years hiding.

He touched his swollen eye. Not a gift of the Vedrans but actually Dylan. As soon as the words that led to this retched situation had left his lips, his captain laid that meaty fist of his into his engineer's face. The security officers that had brought him here had been forced to pick him up off the floor a good 15 feet from the table. Harper smirked knowing that part probably never made it into Dylan's retelling of the story.

The punishment for treason was pretty severe. Harper could actually be executed. He planed to avoid that one if possible. Most likely they would just lock him away to die about 20 years from now, forgotten by everyone. Weird thing was Harper would let it happen. Somewhere during these last couple years flying around fighting the good fight Seamus Harper, a nasty street punk from Earth had gotten ideals. He wasn't going to bow down, beg for forgiveness from the Vedrans and recant what he had said. He had the right to say whatever he wanted. The hypocrites could lock him away down here but he wasn't wrong.

So Harper flopped back down on the bunk. He was the only prisoner on the hall and more bored than anything else. He was supposed to think about what he had done and why it was wrong, how it hurt society and that malarkey. That's why he was alone; he was supposed to be having deep thoughts. He realized he was waiting to be rescued. Fat chance that would happen. Dylan wasn't coming back. They'd given him an order and he would obey. Andromeda wouldn't follow Beka over Dylan. Maybe Beka and the Maru would come. He didn't want to build up hope but it was at least possible. Sighing he decided on doing the thing least like thinking he could manage. He began counting little dots in the ceiling. He wasn't wrong.

"He was wrong to say that!" scolded Dylan. Trance had mercifully left the room, the young woman in a foul mood was certainly something to avoid.
"He's entitled to his opinion." Beka exasperated. "And you left him behind because you disagree with him."
"Harper is a good guy, but the way he acted, what he said was wrong. The Vedrans were within their rights to arrest him."
"And what about his rights?"
Rommie decided to try a different angle. "Beka, Harper doesn't have rights."
"What whose side are you on Rommie? Of course he does!"
"Actually Harper is from Earth. It's not a part of our Commonwealth and therefore not covered by the privileges given to our members. It's a slave world of the Neitzchiens; Drago-Katzov own Harper's territory. They do not give rights to their slaves and therefore Harper has no rights of any kind." She began to unstrap Dylan. "You were right sir; Harper is merely a piece of Neitzchien property. It's not our place to change that, treat him like he's one of us. The emotions of this avatar simply clouded my judgment. I should not have shot you. I apologize."

Dylan sat up, "Rommie! This has nothing to do with where Harper was born. All sentient life has certain natural rights. It's a principle of the Commonwealth long upheld by the High Guard."
"I'm sorry sir, I don't understand. Neitzchien law is quite clear. He's like a stray puppy; Beka's pet. Just because he's human doesn't mean he is entitled to anything." How it hurt to say these things about her friend. Beka was fuming. She'd knocked over a tray of instruments and was on the brink of tearing into Rommie. The avatar hoped Beka picked up on the point she was making soon; before dismantling was suggested.
"Natural rights Rommie! A government can't take them away from you."
"The Neitzchiens would disagree. Natural rights were an idea created by a now overthrown government." A light went on behind Beka's eyes. Despite her continued glaring Rommie knew she understood.
"Well, they're wrong Rommie; the undeniable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are for everybody."
"Harper has some odd opinions on pursuing happiness, I doubt Jefferson was safe guarding Harper's right to flirt with my avatar."
"He was. Well, sort of." Dylan was thinking. The words of Jefferson, Paine, and Rousseau that he had learned as a child floated around his head. "He is a human being and he has the right to say what is on his mind."
"Does he now?" cooed Beka
"I guess he does."

The Andromeda arrived at Tarn Vedra less than an hour later. The entire crew went planet side to state their case. They weren't leaving without Harper this time. Even Tyr stood behind Dylan as they strode unannounced into the main hall. Needless to say the Vedrans were a little surprised.
"Captain Hunt, what are you doing here?" asked a woman who must have been the highest ranking in the room.
"We've come to take Harper with us."
"I'm afraid he has been convicted and is serving a long sentence for the blasphemy he spoke."
"I take responsibility for the rudeness. He never signed up for the High Guard and shouldn't be expected to be an officer. He's also entitled to his opinion." Dylan spoke clearly and with conviction."
"Your request is going against a decision of the Vedran government."
"Your incarceration of that man is going against a decision of the Vedran government that formed the Commonwealth more than 300 years ago."
"Article 4 of the Commonwealth Charter- 'The right to speak freely without fear of retaliation is guaranteed to all within the boarders of our member worlds.'" Rommie supplied.
"I chose my crew Harper is a part of it, and we aren't leaving without him." Dylan stated firmly. Tyr slowly and deliberately drummed his fingers on the solid handle of his force lance. Trance smiled that dangerous smile and Beka was clearly cooling the area around her by several degrees with her icy stare.

Harper smiled as he finished off the last of the Sparky in his can. Dylan had apologized, he was back on Andromeda and that quality thinking time had given him several new weapon ideas. Jail always did make him think of weapons. It was just weird like that. Rommie strode in.
"Hey Rom-doll, heard you were quite an influence in my rescue. Thanks Babe."
"You could have chosen a better time to voice your point of view, but there was no reason to lock you up."
"Wow, Freedom of speech rocks."
"Harper, I love you dearly, but if you ever even think of doing that again I will take and break each and every single bone in your body, including the little ones in the ear no one ever thinks about. One mutiny per person is all I do. We start decorum lessons in the morning."

The End