Past Reflections 16/?

Disclaimer: Andromeda, Harper, Tyr etc. Don't belong to me, unfortunately. No infringement intended.

Authors Notes: Rated R due to possible slash content and violence. I have been having some formatting problems, so if this comes out crazy bear with me.

The Unannounced Visitor

"I assume you wanted something." Harper commented softly without removing his head from the table. When Tyr did not answer immediately, Harper lifted his head to glare at him.

"You have been excessively quiet since we got back." Tyr said, looking over the seemingly exhausted engineer.

"I'm just tired, Big Guy." Harper explained semi-truthfully. "You know me, I'm usually in engineering during missions, so I'm not exactly used to the physical demands. I was still wired last night once we got back, and I couldn't get to sleep until late."

"You are sure?" Tyr asked questioningly.

"Absolutely… But thanks for the concern. It makes me all warm and fuzzy." Harper joked as he fairly skipped out of the room.

"Fuzzy?" Tyr called after the retreating engineer causing the blonde to laugh uproariously.

The blonde's good humour lasted most of the day as Harper continued fixing the parts of the Andromeda that he didn't get a chance to after the attack. This was quite a bit of work for anyone, even a genius engineer of Harper's caliber, so he was busy non-stop until Dylan called the crew to the docking bay to welcome an unexpected visitor on board.

Harper shuffled out from under the circuit board he had been working under exasperatedly. "How does Captain Terrific expect me to get any work done around here when he keeps interrupting me?" Harper questioned the ceiling as he made his way toward the docking bay. "Let him wonder why the weapon's don't work when we're under attack." Harper entered the docking bay still mumbling to himself as the others noted his entrance.

"Good of you to join us, Mister Harper." Dylan said, moving to the side so that Harper got his first view of their guest. He almost took a step back from the angry Nietzschean who was by turns glaring at him and Tyr, but held his ground at the last moment.

"Hey Charlie, how's it hanging?" Harper asked casually, keeping a hand on his dagger, a movement not lost on Bolivar. "What brings you to the Andromeda?"

"You know perfectly well why I am here, kludge! Now you will fix my ship immediately." Bolivar growled menacingly.

"Now Archduke if you would just calm down, I am sure that whatever the problem is can be settled in a timely manner." Dylan interjected calmly, stepping in front of the furious Nietzschean.

"The problem, Captain, is that this mud foot has incapacitated my ship!" The archduke bellowed.

"Mister Harper, is this true?"

"You already know very well that I sabotaged their ship." Harper explained, "It is not my fault that his people are so incompetent that they cannot fix it."

"Surely your crew can disengage a simple bomb?" Dylan asked, somewhat confused by Bolivar's extreme reaction.

"We could if it was simply a bomb." Bolivar explained, gaining some semblance of calm. "However it would be accurate to say he infiltrated the Ship's systems after we disabled the bomb closed off a few essential command pathways."

"Shall we discuss what I closed off, Charlie?" Harper asked, glaring at the Archduke.

"That is not the point, Harper." Dylan interjected.

"But Dylan-" Harper said only to be interrupted by Dylan.

"You will fix his ship." Dylan ordered. "Since we are all back aboard the Andromeda, there is no need for such extreme measures."

"You can't be serious." Harper argued heatedly. "He would sell us out in a second if he thought it was in his best interest."

"Now is neither the time or place to address your hatred of Nietzscheans, however, the same could be said of Tyr and yet you seem to trust him. The Jaguar are a part of our charter, and blackmailing members of the commonwealth is hardly the precedent we wish to set." Dylan reiterated, ignoring Harper's reaction when he mentioned Tyr. "In fact it is a fine way to start a war. Now I don't want to know what you did to the Archduke's systems, but fix it immediately."

Harper wasn't too thrilled, but Dylan didn't seem likely to change his mind, even if it was an incredibly naïve decision.

"Fine." Harper answered impassively. "Let me get some more tools before I begin."