TITLE: Vengeance - Chapter Eight - Waiting for My Sky to Fall

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing from the Andromeda series, I'm just borrowing.

NOTES: Sorry it's a bit late, I've been celebrating my A Level grades (An E, C, B and A, not too shabby!) but here's chapter 8. Hee hee there are still revelations to come....



CHAPTER EIGHT - Waiting for My Sky to Fall



"Those who mistake knowledge for understanding are usually lacking in both."

- Kaxan proverb

^~*~^



Harper recognised the med-deck not from the sight but from the smell. He hated that smell, it was so sterile. It reminded him that he was weaker than everyone else. Since he was on med-deck Harper knew he couldn't be dead. Besides, why would hell turn out to be onboard the Andromeda? Maybe hell was actually living with his guilt. Living a lie. This arose several questions in Harper's mind and a sickening feeling that the others knew of his actions.

He sat up, immediately holding his side as the pain rushed through him from the gunshot wound. Where was everybody? "Rommie?" He called hoarsely. There was no reply. Maybe the others were busy saving the galaxy or something. How long had he been asleep? He called the others on the comm but it wasn't working. Typical. He's gone and everything stops working. *Suppose I'll have to find them myself.* He thought, though he had no idea what he would say to them. It depended on how much they knew.

Harper headed for the doors but they didn't open. What the hell was going on? Was he a prisoner? There was no way he was just going sit in this room and wait while no-one talked to him. He checked around and found a few wires he could use to connect to the door systems.

The armoured doors opened easily and Harper stepped out - only to be fired upon my Rommie's internal defences. Harper quickly fell back into the room and closed the doors. This was getting ridiculous. He went over to an access panel and tried to hook into Andromeda's main system, to turn off the defences, but before he could get the chance an electric shock bolted through his body, causing him to shout out.

*Mental note; don't try that again.*

Harper sat there for twenty minutes, trying and failing to connect to Andromeda's systems, before he decided to just make a run for it. Opening the doors, he ducked under the weapons fire and managed to get round the corner. Then he set off for someone to give him some answers.

^~*~^

Dylan went to Command to try and talk to Andromeda while Beka and Trance split up and went to find Rommie to talk to her. They figured this way their chances of successfully convincing Andromeda to stop were doubled.

On her search, Trance decided to check on Harper once again. She took out the defence weapons that Andromeda had brought online and entered med-deck, but she found the room empty. Astonished, she tried to use the comm to contact Harper. There was no answer. Andromeda must have cut communications. Poor Harper. He was probably wandering around trying to figure out what the hell was going on. First he gets shot and then Andromeda tries to kill him.

Trance was about to leave when she noticed a bag leaning against the bio-bed. Something told her to look inside, and her gut instincts were never to be ignored. She emptied it to find a few gadgets Harper took with him to Autriva but also a holo-imager. Perplexed, Trance activated the device.

A miniature hologram of a dark-haired boy with a golden tattoo appeared and began to speak. "I am Prince Elri of Calliope, son of Prince Eltan. My father was killed on Carna in the Veddri system by one of the residents of Carna before I was born. It is in his memory that we as a people must address the many problems on this wasteland of a planet." The boy went on about Carna being a cesspit of drugs and murder that should not be left to get on with it's existence.

Trance wondered what Harper was doing with the imager. It made no sense to her at

all. Harper was the only person that could clear up her many questions, and he was somewhere on the ship, alone and in danger.

^~*~^

Harper had two more decks to go before he reached Command and he was making slow progress thanks to his wound. It had torn again and the bandage was stained with bright red blood.

So far he had seen no crew whatsoever, which confused and alarmed him somewhat. Maybe they had all abandoned ship and forgotten about him. It was what he deserved. Then he heard the internal defences go off, not where he was standing but a little distance off, round the corner. There was someone else onboard after all.

Having felt a wave of relief, Harper suddenly realised it could be anyone. Intruders, aliens, hell, even Lane Farrow. He had no idea who could come round that corner, and he was completely unarmed.

The fear was enough to make Harper at least duck round a corner so he could see who was approaching. The suspense was like a thick, tangible substance as he waited. And then, Beka Valentine came around the corner. Harper has never been so pleased to see someone, yet at the same time an immense dread swept over him. How much did she know? Harper sheepishly stepped out from behind the corner.

"Harper!" Beka exclaimed happily, if a little shocked. She threw her arms around him in an unexpected hug. "We didn't know if you were going to wake up!"

She pulled away embarrassed when Harper cringed at the pain in his chest. "Glad to see I was missed." Harper smiled lop-sidedly. "Looks like you coulda done with my help, what's goin on around here?" He asked, as if nothing were wrong.

"I'll explain everything later. First, what the hell happened on Autriva? Why did that woman shoot you?"

Harper thought fast. It seemed Beka didn't know his secret. Whatever was going on with Andromeda must have distracted them from investigating too deep. The best thing he could do was play dumb. "I don't know. One moment some stranger waltzes into my room and the next she's pulling a gun on me."

"We thought you were a goner." Beka said meaningfully.

"How long was I out?" Harper asked, ignoring the out-of-character sentiment.

"About a day. Things have gone to hell without you, I don't even know where to start."

"The beginning?" Harper suggested.

Beka explained the whole situation, from Autriva's destruction to the Ethereal's deadline, to Harper's program. "It was called 'Vengeance'." She explained, after telling him about their suspicions.

Harper was visible swayed. "*What?*"

"We think it malfunctioned somehow after you died in the operating room."

"Woah, woah, woah, I was dead?" Harper said in disbelief.

"You really had us scared Harper." Beka said sincerely.

Harper didn't understand. Why would the Vengeance program have even activated?

"Are you okay?" Beka asked when Harper went silent..

"Huh? Oh, yeah. I'm fine."

Beka didn't quite know what it was, but something bothered her about Harper's demeanor. He was acting cautious, almost guilty. There wasn't much time to find out though. Beka knew Harper was the only one who could end to all this chaos. And Harper knew he was the one who caused it in the first place.

^~*~^

End of chapter eight

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