Quid pro quo
By Dawn Nyberg
Disclaimer: Tribune owns the characters of Andromeda. No profit is being made.
READ and REVIEW!
******************************************************************
Daybreak had not yet arrived on Brescia. Harper sat on the edge of his bed – his mind elsewhere as one hand mindlessly spun a knife in intricate spins and moves. The door opening snapped him from his thoughts as a guard showed someone in and closed the door. He looked up.
"Little Man." Tyr's greeting had become familiar to Harper in the year he had known him. Despite everything that was currently happening he still smiled at the Nietzschean.
"Hey, Big guy. You shouldn't have come."
"Well, that point is moot now, I'm here."
"Why?"
"I'm not sure really."
"Beka, hate me?"
"She's quite angry, but her fuse will eventually burn out."
"Yeah … but, you don't know her like I do. She can carry a grudge a long time."
"Harper?"
"I know what you want to ask Tyr. Look, it was one year out of my life that I became what I was made to be. I was made into the man that committed murder. Louden killed my older brother. Shot him in the back. Yeah, I killed him – he deserved it."
"Brother? I thought you were an only child."
"Just because I never mentioned my family beyond my Mother and Father – does not mean I didn't have any. Not even Beka knows I had a brother. You're the first."
"What was his name?"
"Ian… Ian Xavier Harper. Look after our parents died in a Nietzschean slave raid we were all the other had. My brother was a freedom fighter of sorts even before they died. He taught me what I know, but I learned more after he died."
"Continue…" Tyr prompted. He knew the sun would be up soon and the trials would begin.
"Look, I saw Louden kill my brother. I saw his face, but my brother didn't die instantly. He put a name to the face for me. Louden killed him over a game of Johng-Johng. He was a poor loser. And, he shot my brother in the back like a coward and left him for dead. I found out where his transport was bound for and I readied myself for a year, and then I hunted him down like the dog he was. Gavin was there when I killed him. I fought with Louden and then I stabbed him in the heart – he died instantly. He got better than my brother did. It took Ian ten awful minutes to die. His death was agony. I left Brescia and never looked back. I went back to using my real name and tried to forget my life for that year. I even returned to the camps. I thought I could lose myself in there. Then I met Beka and she got me off Earth and out of the camps. I never told her any of it."
"So, it's come full circle then. You avenged your brother's death and now he avenges his six years later. So, he doesn't know why you did what you did?"
"I never stuck around to explain things. Like it would have mattered, anyway."
"Are you prepared to kill him Harper?"
"I'm not prepared to die," his answer wasn't complete, but he wouldn't get the chance to finish it. The door opened. Two guards appeared.
"It is time."
Harper stood. He smiled and nodded at Tyr and started to walk past him.
"Boy?" Harper stopped and looked at Tyr. "Endure." It was one word, but it meant the world to Seamus. He offered a quick nod and left.
** The Grand Hall **
"Mr. Harper the first trial is one of tolerance to pain. If you scream or call out before the trial is complete you will be killed. Do you understand?"
"Yes."
Dylan and the others sat on the sidelines along with other trial watchers. They couldn't speak to Harper or interfere. That would mean death for him. Beka had reluctantly at Trance's request come to watch. She felt betrayed by the boy and at the moment was trying to convince herself she didn't care for him – at all. It was a task harder than she thought it would be.
The Chancellor spoke, "Insert your hand in the box." Harper looked at the box she spoke of. It was a small and silver and large enough to fit his hand slightly past his wrist. "Remember, Mr. Harper, if you call out or scream in pain or remove your hand before the trial is complete you will be killed." Harper said nothing. He inserted his hand.
"You feel a tickle … there." She looked at him. He stared at the box.
He felt it. A small tickle that became burning. Heat began to build inside the box – intense heat. Harper's brow was sweating as his face began to show signs of discomfort. He remained silent. The heat intensified to the sensation of fire. A hot fire that began to eat at his flesh. The pain began to consume him. His knees fought against buckling. Dylan sat watching… the knowing the pain he saw in Harper's eyes was intense. He sat with his hands in tight fists. He could even feel the tension coming from Tyr. He knew the Nietzschean had slipped out in the early hours and gone to see Harper, but he didn't speak of what was said and Dylan wasn't going to ask.
Harper felt a pain that was so intense that tears began to silently fall down his face. He was flushed from the pain. The fire he felt eat at his flesh turned to a liquid feeling that quickly turned to a caustic pain that ate at his burned flesh. In the back of his mind he knew the sensation – it was acid. His knees buckled, but he remained silent and kept his hand in the box. Beka could barely watch any longer. As mad as she was at him – he didn't deserve this.
The pain reached its crescendo and Harper was just about to end the pain by screaming and the pain stopped. "You have survived the first trial."
Harper looked at her with fevered eyes. "Remove your hand, Mr. Harper." He was afraid to. He didn't want to see what surely must be a hand burned to the bone. He removed his hand and looked at it. It was perfect – not a mark on it. "The box simulates terrible pain, but no real injury is incurred. You have survived the first trial."
Harper's hand was fine, but he wasn't. The pain he endured had taken a toll on him. "Your first trial is over Mr. Harper. The next will begin this afternoon when the sun has reached its peak." Harper knew what she meant – the next trial was at Noon.
He was taken away. His knees were visibly weak as he was lead away. He couldn't bring himself to look at the crew of the Andromeda. Beka couldn't take her eyes off of him.
Harper was returned to his holding room and as he lay down on the bed he wondered if he had the strength to make it through the next trial.
Noon was going to come very soon … too soon.
By Dawn Nyberg
Disclaimer: Tribune owns the characters of Andromeda. No profit is being made.
READ and REVIEW!
******************************************************************
Daybreak had not yet arrived on Brescia. Harper sat on the edge of his bed – his mind elsewhere as one hand mindlessly spun a knife in intricate spins and moves. The door opening snapped him from his thoughts as a guard showed someone in and closed the door. He looked up.
"Little Man." Tyr's greeting had become familiar to Harper in the year he had known him. Despite everything that was currently happening he still smiled at the Nietzschean.
"Hey, Big guy. You shouldn't have come."
"Well, that point is moot now, I'm here."
"Why?"
"I'm not sure really."
"Beka, hate me?"
"She's quite angry, but her fuse will eventually burn out."
"Yeah … but, you don't know her like I do. She can carry a grudge a long time."
"Harper?"
"I know what you want to ask Tyr. Look, it was one year out of my life that I became what I was made to be. I was made into the man that committed murder. Louden killed my older brother. Shot him in the back. Yeah, I killed him – he deserved it."
"Brother? I thought you were an only child."
"Just because I never mentioned my family beyond my Mother and Father – does not mean I didn't have any. Not even Beka knows I had a brother. You're the first."
"What was his name?"
"Ian… Ian Xavier Harper. Look after our parents died in a Nietzschean slave raid we were all the other had. My brother was a freedom fighter of sorts even before they died. He taught me what I know, but I learned more after he died."
"Continue…" Tyr prompted. He knew the sun would be up soon and the trials would begin.
"Look, I saw Louden kill my brother. I saw his face, but my brother didn't die instantly. He put a name to the face for me. Louden killed him over a game of Johng-Johng. He was a poor loser. And, he shot my brother in the back like a coward and left him for dead. I found out where his transport was bound for and I readied myself for a year, and then I hunted him down like the dog he was. Gavin was there when I killed him. I fought with Louden and then I stabbed him in the heart – he died instantly. He got better than my brother did. It took Ian ten awful minutes to die. His death was agony. I left Brescia and never looked back. I went back to using my real name and tried to forget my life for that year. I even returned to the camps. I thought I could lose myself in there. Then I met Beka and she got me off Earth and out of the camps. I never told her any of it."
"So, it's come full circle then. You avenged your brother's death and now he avenges his six years later. So, he doesn't know why you did what you did?"
"I never stuck around to explain things. Like it would have mattered, anyway."
"Are you prepared to kill him Harper?"
"I'm not prepared to die," his answer wasn't complete, but he wouldn't get the chance to finish it. The door opened. Two guards appeared.
"It is time."
Harper stood. He smiled and nodded at Tyr and started to walk past him.
"Boy?" Harper stopped and looked at Tyr. "Endure." It was one word, but it meant the world to Seamus. He offered a quick nod and left.
** The Grand Hall **
"Mr. Harper the first trial is one of tolerance to pain. If you scream or call out before the trial is complete you will be killed. Do you understand?"
"Yes."
Dylan and the others sat on the sidelines along with other trial watchers. They couldn't speak to Harper or interfere. That would mean death for him. Beka had reluctantly at Trance's request come to watch. She felt betrayed by the boy and at the moment was trying to convince herself she didn't care for him – at all. It was a task harder than she thought it would be.
The Chancellor spoke, "Insert your hand in the box." Harper looked at the box she spoke of. It was a small and silver and large enough to fit his hand slightly past his wrist. "Remember, Mr. Harper, if you call out or scream in pain or remove your hand before the trial is complete you will be killed." Harper said nothing. He inserted his hand.
"You feel a tickle … there." She looked at him. He stared at the box.
He felt it. A small tickle that became burning. Heat began to build inside the box – intense heat. Harper's brow was sweating as his face began to show signs of discomfort. He remained silent. The heat intensified to the sensation of fire. A hot fire that began to eat at his flesh. The pain began to consume him. His knees fought against buckling. Dylan sat watching… the knowing the pain he saw in Harper's eyes was intense. He sat with his hands in tight fists. He could even feel the tension coming from Tyr. He knew the Nietzschean had slipped out in the early hours and gone to see Harper, but he didn't speak of what was said and Dylan wasn't going to ask.
Harper felt a pain that was so intense that tears began to silently fall down his face. He was flushed from the pain. The fire he felt eat at his flesh turned to a liquid feeling that quickly turned to a caustic pain that ate at his burned flesh. In the back of his mind he knew the sensation – it was acid. His knees buckled, but he remained silent and kept his hand in the box. Beka could barely watch any longer. As mad as she was at him – he didn't deserve this.
The pain reached its crescendo and Harper was just about to end the pain by screaming and the pain stopped. "You have survived the first trial."
Harper looked at her with fevered eyes. "Remove your hand, Mr. Harper." He was afraid to. He didn't want to see what surely must be a hand burned to the bone. He removed his hand and looked at it. It was perfect – not a mark on it. "The box simulates terrible pain, but no real injury is incurred. You have survived the first trial."
Harper's hand was fine, but he wasn't. The pain he endured had taken a toll on him. "Your first trial is over Mr. Harper. The next will begin this afternoon when the sun has reached its peak." Harper knew what she meant – the next trial was at Noon.
He was taken away. His knees were visibly weak as he was lead away. He couldn't bring himself to look at the crew of the Andromeda. Beka couldn't take her eyes off of him.
Harper was returned to his holding room and as he lay down on the bed he wondered if he had the strength to make it through the next trial.
Noon was going to come very soon … too soon.