Alright. Disclaimer Alert! I do not own Andromeda or its characters. They belong to somebody who makes more money than I. Thank to all of you who have read this story and especially to those who have taken the time to review it. On to Chapter 7 ****************************************************************

The rest of Andromeda's crew contemplated what Trance had just told them. Having served with Harper they knew the engineer was not a coward. Harper had risked this life to save theirs on numerous times.

Dylan wasn't about to let Harper believe himself a coward. Dylan had awarded the engineer one of the captain's High Guard medals. Dylan awarded the medal after Harper during an altercation with two unsavory men named Zeus and Abelard. Zeus had a gun pointed at Dylan when Harper stepped in front of the captain and informed Zeus the he would have to go through the engineer first if he wanted to get to Dylan. "Mr. Harper, you could not have saved your parents that day no matter how hard you tried," Dylan argued, "If you had turned yourself in they would torn themselves up inside with grief. Do you hear me? They wanted you alive and out of Nietzschean hands and were willing to die to see it happen."

"Dylan is right," Tyr agreed. "Your parents wanted you to survive and you did. Think of how they would feel seeing you know. What do think they would say?"

Harper gave no response. He was still in another reality created by his own mind.

Beka looked at Dylan with a hurt expression. "Dylan, can we talk? It's about Harper."

"Trance, why don't you take Harper to his quarters and keep talking to him?" Beka suggested. "I'll come by in a few minutes."

Trance and Beka stood on each side of Harper and placed a hand under his elbows. "Let's go to your quarters Harper," Trance suggested as she carefully and patiently led the engineer to the door. "You look like you could use some rest right now."

"We've said everything we could think of and it hasn't done any good!" Beka exclaimed in frustration once Trance had taken Harper out of earshot. "I wish I had never found that disk."

"Don't you dare blame yourself Beka Valentine," Dylan commanded with a no nonsense tone in his voice.

But Beka Valentine did blame herself, and to make matters worse she had made Seamus Harper her responsibility ever since he had stowed away on the Eureka Maru five years earlier. Beka had promised herself she would take care of Harper and now she had been responsible for the torment he as going through right now. "Why not Dylan? The poor man had to relive the worst moment in his life because I brought back that disk."

Dylan put his hands on Beka's shoulders as a frown formed on his face. "You have nothing to be guilty about Beka. You only brought back the disk. Those Nietzscheans are the guilty ones. Don't take the blame off of them and put it on your shoulders."

"If you continue to blame yourself Beka, the guilt will destroy you. That would just add another life to the list of those destroyed by the alpha of the Puma Pride," Tyr announced matter-of-factly.

"What if Harper never comes around?" Beka asked. It was the question she knew the rest had to have asked themselves. "I know it's not a pleasant thought, but we have to consider that possibility and I don't know if I can stand seeing that blank look staring back at me."

"Harper needs time to come around Beka. Humans do not always come out of a catatonic state quickly, but they do eventually come around, although it may take some time,' Rommie stated with authority.

"Dylan was glad to have Rommie's calm logic at a time like this. Maybe she could reason with the stubborn Beka Valentine. "Rommie's right," Dylan agreed.

Beka turned to the ship's AI asking, "Are you sure Rommie? What are the odds?" Beka wasn't so sure the ship's AI was being totally forthcoming.

"I am not programmed to lie to except in extreme circumstances," Rommie announced. "The odds of Harper coming out of the catatonic state he is in are roughly 4 to 1 in favor.

While not the best odds, they were better than Beka had expected. Her face brightened slightly and she managed to regain some of her trademark stoicism.

"See, there's no reason to be so down and think Harper won't recover. For now, all of us need to keep up a positive attitude around Harper. Don't let him know you're worried. In the meantime, we should go about our normal routine and try to take our minds off of Harper for awhile."

"Now that's the first practical suggestion I have heard so far," Tyr stated, ever the pragmatic Nietzschean.

"Now, let's get back to work people. Rommie, I want a status report on Harper every hour," Dylan instructed.

With that, Rommie, Tyr, Beka, and Dylan all left Machine Shop 2. Tyr went back to repairing his weapons and Dylan went back to his quarters to finish his paperwork.

AI Rommie went to work on installing her anti virus system that Harper had programmed her to install automatically by herself in case he wasn't able to get to it in time. The AI told herself that she hadn't lied to Harper about being due for an upgrade of her anti-virus program. Sure Harper might remember that he had programmed Rommie to automatically update her anti- virus program, but she couldn't be sure if he would in his condition. Anyway, she couldn't think of anything else to say at the time that wouldn't be a lie and she had been programmed not to lie. Some AI she turned out to be.

Beka headed for Harper's quarters to make sure Trance got him there safely. It wasn't that she didn't trust Trance. She knew Trance cared about Harper and Beka had learned to trust the mysterious golden-skinned alien. No matter what she told Dylan, she still felt responsible for Harper and was determined to keep an eye on the young engineer.

When Beka got to Harper's quarters she found him sitting on his bunk with Trance sitting beside him at his left. The ship's medic was holding Harper's hand and stroking his blond spiky hair as she spoke to him.

"Beka's here Harper," Trance told the engineer in case he wasn't aware.

"Hi Harper," Beka greeted cheerfully.

Harper continued to ignore everything around him. His gaze remained fixed straight ahead as he paid no attention to the two women.

Beka continued to press on and continue the one-sided conversation as she sat down on the bunk at Harper's right side. "I just thought I would stop by and see if you need anything from the mess hall. I'm on my way by there and thought you might want me to pick up a can or two of Sparky."

"So Beka, how about you me and Rommie meeting on the Maru tonight. We're about do for another clubhouse meeting," Trance suggested.

Beka immediately knew that Trance was just trying to make small talk for Harper's sake, hoping something that was said would bring him around. "Sounds good to me. I don't know about Rommie. She's still upset about Harper not being able to update her anti-virus program."

"All crew to the bridge!" Dylan ordered over the com.

"Duty calls," Beka remarked as she stood up.

"Harper, Beka and I have to go now. We'll be back as soon as possible," Trance promised.