Disclaimer: See Chapter One
I'm so sorry that it took me so long to post this chapter. I was preoccupied being ill and stuff. Anyway, all the lovely reviews!! Thank you, they really do make me happy with the story and all. I always have so much fun thinking up a quote to go with each chapter! Anyways, here is chapter seven:
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"People don't believe in heroes anymore. No-one expects to be saved from evil. But it seems only fair that if there are still dragons in this world, there should still be heroes left to fight them"
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Harper woke up slowly, his mind wandering, just listening to the sounds around him. Then he remembered some of what had been happening the last few days. He sat up, suddenly fully awake. Beka and Dylan were at either side of his bed.
He didn't know where he was or what was going on. Then he realised that he'd fallen unconscious. Damn, he was in for it now. He was supposed to be working here and these people were gonna be pretty mad that he'd been sleeping instead of working.
His eyes darted from one to the other. He wasn't sure what was going to happen. It was the uncertainty that scared him the most. Not knowing what to expect. You'd think by now he had grown used to the unexpected but how can you get used to something that is always different?
Hunt spoke, from Harper's left. Harper had switched his gaze to his hands and was trying to resist the urge to look up.
"How are you feeling?" Harper barely registered the words, his terror was building. A long silence followed Dylan's question and he exchanged a glance with Captain Valentine wondering why the young man hadn't answered him.
He reached out to place his hand on the young man's shoulder but Harper jerked away, almost instinctively. He spoke then, quietly, almost desperately.
"I'm sorry, I'm really sorry...I didn't mean to collapse, it won't happen again......"
Beka decided it was time for her to step in. Dylan was kind of at a loss here. He wasn't used to this kind of stuff, darkness, deprivation, slavery. To him it was something of the past and he had never imagined that it would be something of the future.
"Listen to me. It's alright. No-one is going to hurt you. It doesn't matter that you collapsed earlier. If you are worried that you missed your shift, don't worry about it you can make it up later. That's not important now. First we need to ask you some questions okay?"
Beka's voice was commanding. She was very clear making sure Harper heard every word. And when she asked her last question she waited for an answer. Her reply was a barely perceptible nod. Good, he had understood her.
She looked to Dylan seeing if he wanted to take it from here. He shook his head slightly, motioning for her to continue.
"Okay, first question. What colour are my eyes?" Harper was now very confused. What kind of a question was that? How was he supposed to know?
"Well?" "I don't know Ma'am, I'm sorry."
Beka frowned. He wasn't catching on. She'd have to keep trying.
"Why don't you look and tell me what colour my eyes are?" This was greeted with some hesitation from Harper. He was sure it was some trick to try and catch him unawares. Finally he gave in and looked up, quickly, and then down again.
"Blue, Ma'am, your eyes are blue."
"What about Captain Hunt's eyes?" He looked quickly at Captain Hunt and reported back.
"His eyes are blue as well, Ma'am." Beka almost sighed with exasperation, he really wasn't getting this. Then she had a very good idea.
"Harper, what colour is my hair?" He did the same as before and told her her hair colour. She repeated the question for Captain Hunt and got another answer. Dylan realised what she was trying to accomplish but he wasn't sure how she planned on doing it.
"Harper what colour is my hair now?" He looked up, frowned and stared, forgetting to look back down.
"My hair changes a lot Harper. It changes to any colour I want. So maybe it would be easier if your kept your head up so you'll know if my hair changes colour. It might also help you avoid bumping into things, or tripping over things. We wouldn't want you to knock yourself unconscious again would we?"
He shook his head and looked back down, then realising his mistake, looked up again. Beka's hair was now green. She resembled Harper's idea of a witch. Harper was busy contemplating that thought when her hair resumed it's first colour.
"So Harper, do you want something to eat? Trance is bringing you something from the mess."
Trance? Who was Trance again. Oh yeah, the purple girl who had helped him. He wondered if she changed colour too. He'd have to keep his head up just to make sure.
Beka decided to continue the questioning.
"So Harper, where are you from?"
She and Dylan spent the next hour asking Harper questions. They found out a bit about him. Firstly, he was from Earth. She had guessed as much. Secondly, he was older than he looked, but not by much. Thirdly, he really was an mechanic and had been working for the Dragans for a while.
Then Beka told him who they were. She told him about her crew and about Dale. She learned that he and Harper had been friends for a while too. Then Dylan told Harper a little about the Commonwealth. While he was telling him, Harper started smiling.
"You've heard of the Commonwealth before?"
Harper nodded. "Yes sir, they were the heroes who fought the Dragans but the Dragans were more powerful and they won. Then the heroes went away."
Dylan smiled a little sadly at Harper's tale. "They're not gone Harper, it may seem like they are but they are just out there waiting for the right time to come back and win the fight."
Trance walked in the door at that moment and almost dropped the tray she was holding as the ship rocked suddenly. She steadied herself. Andromeda's voice was heard over the comms.
"We're under attack by an unidentified ship. All crew members to the bridge."
Dylan and Beka took off leaving Trance with an unperturbed Harper. He was used to attacks and alarms. Like background noise. He was sitting on the side of the bed and she set the food down beside him.
"Eat up!" There was some kind of soup and bread. Though Harper was really hungry he forced himself to eat slowly. Trance busied herself with other things. From time to time the ship rocked with explosions. After he eat Harper fell asleep again. The battle continued.
***
He woke to the sound of silence. Trance was sitting on a chair next to his bed, reading. She smiled when she saw he was awake. The door opened and she turned to see who it was.
Dylan and Beka walked back in, talking to each other. Or more correctly arguing with each other.
"Dylan we can't stay in this sun. Pretty soon the Andromeda won't be able to protect us from the suns radiation and we'll probably begin to resemble a magog barbecue!"
They had stopped just inside the door. Trance noticed that Harper was very alert and wary. Maybe it was the fact that Beka was practically shouting at Dylan.
"Listen, I have a plan. Just give me some time and I'll let you know what we're going to do."
Beka muttered something, turned and walked out the door.
Dylan turned his attention back to Trance and Harper. He quickly explained the situation to Trance who did not look too happy at the thought of the Andromeda basking in the sun.
Then he spoke to Harper, who was still very confused about exactly what was going on here. He wasn't ready to believe that this was a safe and happy haven he had wandered into, especially not the way Hunt and Captain Valentine had just been arguing.
"Harper, you are a mechanic right?" At Harper nod, he continued. "Well, how are you at building?" Trance who had gone to run some environmental scans of the radiation levels looked over at them, curious as to what was happening.
Dylan handed Harper the flexi in his hand. "Do you think you could build this?"
Harper examined the flexi carefully. Mechanics and engineering, it was all second nature to him. He had all the information he needed, the Nietzcheans had supplied him with various programs to run through his port.
"Yes, sir, I think I can make this. But I'll need materials and tool...."
Dylan smiled and Harper felt encouraged by this. It was a friendly warm smile, not like the smirks and grins that Granzen was always giving him.
"That's no problem, Trance will help you find everything you need and if you need any assistance Andromeda will be happy to provide it."
Dylan gave some orders to Trance and left for command. Leaving a confused Harper and a cheerful Trance. Trance knew that Dylan was being careful to make sure that Harper didn't come into close contact with Tyr and Rev any time soon. He obviously was not ready for that.
Trance knew that Harper had been treated very badly before. The scans she had run while he was unconscious showed malnutrition, bruises, cuts, evidence of many old injuries. And mentally he was almost in the same state, though his fear had lessened slightly from when he had first met her.
With the project Dylan had given him though, he seemed almost excited but also cautious and wary. Probably afraid that he might do something wrong. But he needn't worry, Trance knew that he was capable of doing much better than just putting pieces together, he could be a real creative genius if he had the chance.
The big picture, it didn't look so bright as she'd expected. Things were still a little off, their calculations were still wrong. She was hoping the problem would right itself but things sometimes even natural things didn't fix right.
Sometimes the universe made mistakes, like having lots of dragons but forgetting about the heroes. The universe tried to fix that though because it brought Dylan. But one man by himself, even a hero, wasn't enough.
She knew that the one big thing was coming soon, the big fork in the road. Either Dylan would go alone or they'd go with him. Dylan might have been a hero, but everyone know that heroes need friends.
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Can you guess which episode this is? Reviews are always appreciated!
