Follows Affirming Flame. A companion piece to "Harper" and "Andromeda". Enjoy
Dylan
by Eryn Grant
"So Mr. Harper," Dylan panted as he looked over his shoulder towards their pursuers. Aiming his force lance in their general direction, he let off a burst of shots. "Any suggestions?"
"Duck," Harper yelled as he barrelled into Dylan. They both hit the ground heavily in a tangle of legs and arms, as a barrage of fire flew over their heads."One of your better ideas Mr. Harper," Dylan huffed winded. With a groan, he rolled over untangling himself from Harper. Grabbing his dropped force lance, he dragged himself and Harper towards some rocks. "Any more suggestions?"
"That we get outta here," Harper winced as he sat up. Rubbing at his ribs, he peaked his head over the top of the rock staring into the distance. "But we had better come up with a plan before they," he stabbed his drawn gun in their pursuers' direction. "Get their act together and find us."
Dylan nodded as he peered over the top of their hiding place. Turning back, he leant against the rock glancing sideways at Harper. "By the way, thank you."
"You're welcome," Harper grinned at Dylan. "But next time I save your High Guard ass, could you try not landing on the ribs," he rubbed at his chest again.
"I'll do my very best," Dylan smiled back. "Come on," he pulled at Harper's arm. "I saw a cave entrance up there," Dylan pointed upwards. "We'll hide there until Beka comes to get us."
Harper peaked his head over the top of the rock again. "I'll meet you up there," he called as he scurried off in the opposite direction before Dylan could protest.
"Harper," Dylan raised his eyes in exasperation. "Note to self. Kick Harper's ass when he gets back," he murmured to himself as he started up the hill towards the cave entrance he had seen using the cover of the thick trees, bushes and rocks to hide his progress. He reached the cave easily - keeping low, Dylan scanned the area looking for signs of Harper. He couldn't see his engineer, but noticed that their pursuers seemed to be running off, away from the hill. He sighed to himself as he entered the cave to wait for Harper's return.
Half an hour later, Harper limped into the depths of the cave to find that Dylan had risked starting a small fire. "Hey boss," he slumped down on the ground with a small groan.
"Where have you been?" Dylan demanded angrily. "You could have been caught by our friends out there," he waved his hand in the direction of the cave entrance.
"Nah. Trust the Harper," Harper grinned. "I led them off in the other direction."
"You did what?" Dylan couldn't help letting his mouth drop open in surprise.
"I led them off in the other direction," Harper repeated slowly amused at Dylan's puzzled look. He shrugged his shoulders. "My cousins and I did it all the time back on earth with the Nietzschean raiding parties, "Harper explained. "And trust me these guys aren't as smart as a bunch of Nietzscheans."
Dylan sat down next to Harper. "There is more to you that meets the eye, Mr. Harper," he glanced sideways at his young engineer. "I'm impressed."
Harper shrugged again as he lolled his head back against the cave wall. "No biggie," he replied. Dylan noticed that Harper's expression had taken on a sad faraway look, and couldn't help wondering what his engineer was thinking about. He resisted the temptation to ask, deciding to remain silent. "So," Harper murmured as he squirmed around trying to get comfortable. Rolling his head towards Dylan, he smiled slightly. "I guess this means that the Kradons don't wanna join the Commonwealth?"
Dylan stifled a snort. "You Mr. Harper," he leaned forward poking at their small fire. "Are the master of understatement."
Harper sighed. "Guess you win some, and you lose some," he closed his eyes.
Dylan narrowed his eyes at his engineer getting the distinct impression that there was more meaning in the statement than Harper would ever let on to. "Mmmmm," he nodded in agreement. "We'll have to find a way to warn Beka," Dylan mused. "I don't want the Kradons shooting the Maru down."
"Already done," Harper replied opening his eyes. "Told you....,""I know," Dylan interrupted. "Trust in the Harper."
"You got it," Harper grinned. "And I never leave home without it," he produced his dataport lead from his pocket. "And you didn't seem to be making any new buddies on the Council of Elders. And I sorta.... well," he blushed staring down at his boots.
"Go on," Dylan encouraged.
"I didn't like them so I slipped away and plugged into their communications network," Harper looked at Dylan earnestly. "Just in case your diplomatic magic stuff didn't work out."
"I might have won," Dylan protested with a smile - he poked distractedly at the fire again."Yeah right," Harper grinned back. "No chance." Harper closed his eyes again as he leant his head back against the wall. He winced as he drew a leg up trying to get comfortable.
"Harper?" Dylan asked concerned. "Are you hurt?"
Harper sighed to himself. "No not really. Just scraped my leg on some rocks," he replied. "Nothing serious. I'll live."
"Harper," Dylan threatened. "Beka will have my hide if anything happens to you."
"It's OK. Really," Harper grinned at Dylan. "I'm good, and I'll tell her it wasn't your fault," he teased. "She'll be cool."
Dylan didn't look convinced but he smiled back at Harper. "Why don't you get some sleep?" he suggested. "I'll take first watch," Dylan started to move towards the cave entrance.
"OK. You're the boss," Harper shifted position to lay down. He wiggled around a bit until he found a comfortable piece of ground. Closing his eyes, he curled up on his side, his head resting on his arm - his breathing evened out as he descended into sleep.
Dylan crouched at the entrance to the cave - he couldn't see their pursuers. He breathed a sigh of relief - looking over his shoulder at Harper's sleeping form, he marvelled at how his engineer could sleep on the hard ground. Dylan shook his head as he stared out into the distance, his mind lazily tossing thoughts around.
Dylan frowned to himself suddenly guilty wondering if he had hurt Harper's feelings with his obvious surprise at the younger man's survival skills. He hadn't meant to - he had been genuinely impressed, and he chastised himself silently for his arrogance in supposing that it was only possible for High Guard officers to have such sharp, honed survival skills and instincts. He had learned his skills, the easy way, at the High Guard Academy, but guessed that Harper had probably learnt the hard way and at an early age. Dylan knew that the scars ran deep even though Harper managed to hide them well. He never talked about his childhood, only allowing glimpses of himself and his past when he was upset or angry.
Dylan had made a point of looking up the history of the last 300 years when he had found himself marooned and seemingly alone - it hadn't made pretty reading with slave planets, such as Earth, and their inhabitants suffering the ravishes of war, disease and hunger as well as the occupation of a cruel and ruthless race.
Dylan couldn't even begin to guess at the pain that Harper had suffered on Earth, but Harper had survived. He had survived his savage childhood when all of his family had either died at the hands of their masters, the Magog or from hunger or disease. And despite his weak immune system and the constant illnesses, Harper continued to prove that he was a survivor.
Dylan turned as Harper stirred in his sleep. He watched as his engineer wriggled around for a minute as he changed position, rolling onto his back. "I'm doing this for him," Dylan thought. "And all the Harpers out there," he stared out into the darkness, astounded that he hadn't thought of it before. His dream of restoring the Commonwealth was for all those, like Harper, who had been hurt, enslaved and abused all of their lives. And Dylan believed fervently that they all deserved the chance to live in peace, free from hate and fear.
Dylan had learned a lesson in humility today, and from someone he had least expected. He knew he would never fully understand the pain and hurt that Harper, and those like him, had suffered but maybe if he let Harper teach him, may be he could learn. It was a beginning.
He nodded to himself determined as Beka's voice came over his communications unit. "Your ride is here," she said. "And the meter is running."
"On our way," Dylan replied as he hurried back into the cave to wake Harper.
THE END
eryn.grant@ntlworld.com