Someday I hope to buy a dusty oil lamp at a garage sale and fulfill some
wishes. Until then, Andromeda does not belong to me. Harper does not
belong to me. Heck, not even one little Perseid belongs to me. No profit
is made.
***
A Vedran Creation Myth
Harper shouldered his way through the midday crowd, clutching the citizen papers against his chest. He was sweating, he realized, even though he could see his breath. It had been too long since he'd been in this familiar danger- the kind where fighting would be suicide and the ability to look harmless kept you alive.
No wonder the people of this planet were small and scrawny like him.
Everything was grey- the heavy sky, the tired buildings, the filthy snow and the filthier humans. The whole scene around him was like a sun bleached photograph and felt about as real. Surreal, perhaps, but Harper never dreamt in black and white.
He had done his homework and was decked in frayed and washed out clothes- a threadbare jacket and oversized pants completely devoid of color. They were clothes that would catch no one's eye on this planet- not a thief's, not a Nietzschean guard's, and not the eye of a worried captain trained for the loud colors of his usual apparel. There was an art to being inconspicuous, a talent that the young engineer possessed.
Ahead the road split among the complexes of the 'human residential sector'. It had looked like the delta of a river on the map he'd been shown. And what had seemed to cross the road like an over-sized dam now came into view. Yet another checkpoint- Damn.
The Nietzschean patrolman on duty was looked bored to tears, but seemed to find little slivers of enjoyment in harassing the human pedestrians. He grinned maliciously when Harper approached the checkpoint. Harper's stomach tightened- he had seen that grin on Tyr before, and it was often followed by the death of some poor bastard.
"Hey, Kludge! Where are you of to in such a hurry?" The patrolman leaned back in his chair, his hand resting casually on his gauss gun, and looked expectantly at Harper.
For a terrified nano-second, Harper thought the Nietzschean was waiting for his last words. Then he remembered the citizen documents clamped in his hand. Forcing himself to relax, he held them out silently.
Harper tried his best not to squirm as the papers were scrutinized. Of course the guard couldn't possibly know the papers were fake. Using Andromeda's full spectrum of utilities (and an added few of his own) had made counterfeiting a cinch. Everything was there- from the planet's holographic insignia to the inlaid metal treads. Those things were a freakin' work of art and completely believable. He had even run them through the slipstream drive a few times to give them that well-worn feel. No, there was no way the guard could know. Stupid Uber probably just liked seeing him squirm. Too bad it was working.
"It says here you're an engineer," the guard said suddenly. "I doubt that. If you ever gain a use in life, kludge, it will be as a participant in Nietzschean target practice."
A thousand comebacks chased each other through Harper's mind. It was with monumental effort he stayed silent and meek. His papers were finally handed back to him. Just then, a grungy pack of human teenagers approached. They were laughing loudly and obviously drunk. Taking the distraction, Harper slipped quietly past the Uber and into the most-run down section of a run down-city on a planet whose sky he was beginning to hate.
***
"When I find him, I'm going to wring his neck for this!" Beka fumed. She was pacing across Command while Trance and Dylan sat on the raised steps of slipstream control. Rommie stood beside her captain as she watched Beka's compulsive zigzags. Slightly apart from the group, Tyr leaned against a wall, an expression of mild boredom on his face.
"Shouldn't you be happy that Harper did not take the Maru this time?" Rommie ventured.
"No! He should have taken the Maru!" At the shocked looks she received, Beka calmed enough to explain. "I got sick of everyone 'borrowing' the Maru, so I installed a remote tracking device. If he'd taken my ship, I'd be half way to shaking sense into that runt by now. Besides." Beka's face reddened a bit, "I worry. And the Maru has seat belts."
"Beka, I don't like it either that Harper left without a word, but he's not a prisoner onboard Andromeda. Harper is a grown man. I'm sure he can take care of himself." Dylan said. Rommie, whose built-in sensors made her a walking lie detector, cast Dylan a sideways look.
Trance spoke up. "Maybe we're doing this wrong." Four pairs of eyes turned to the intuitive alien, who gave a nervous smile. "We know Harper doesn't want to be found. He went to a lot of trouble to shield himself from Andromeda. He didn't take the Maru for a reason. We aren't missing any vessels, so he must have bought or built a ship, probably for this purpose. He was doing repairs all day yesterday, remember? He knew he was leaving and made sure we'd be okay without him for awhile. He did a lot of planning."
Beka sat down next to Trance. "Alright, detective Gemini. But how does this help?" It came off more sarcastic than she had intended. She softened her tone. "We've combed his machine shop and his usual haunts and I even checked his room," Beka shuddered at the recent memory. "We found nothing strange. Well. stranger than usual, that is."
"You forgot one place where he spends his time," Tyr said. It was the first he'd spoken since the meeting at Command had been called. He had been thinking the problem over carefully, though he feigned unconcern. "I believe the boy spends much time within the ship's programming."
Rommie turned to her weapon's officer. "I've scanned my matrix. He entered to set up a shielding program, but that's all he did as far as I can tell."
"Wait. Rommie, when Harper fixes you, what does he use for mechanical references?" Asked Beka.
Rommie considered this. "He normally brings up files from my technical database, or searches through the Commonwealth library."
Dylan brightened at this. "Rommie, can you find out which files were opened by Harper this week? Search your entire library database?"
Rommie nodded and closed her eyes. "Listing all files accessed by Harper this past week." A list of file names appeared on the main vid screen. The list began to scroll as more and more file names were added. Soon the list was scrolling too fast to read. It was like watching movie credits on fast forward. "Harper accessed 69,069 files this past week."
There was silence for a moment. Then Beka resumed her fuming. "When I find that boy.!"
***
A Vedran Creation Myth
Harper shouldered his way through the midday crowd, clutching the citizen papers against his chest. He was sweating, he realized, even though he could see his breath. It had been too long since he'd been in this familiar danger- the kind where fighting would be suicide and the ability to look harmless kept you alive.
No wonder the people of this planet were small and scrawny like him.
Everything was grey- the heavy sky, the tired buildings, the filthy snow and the filthier humans. The whole scene around him was like a sun bleached photograph and felt about as real. Surreal, perhaps, but Harper never dreamt in black and white.
He had done his homework and was decked in frayed and washed out clothes- a threadbare jacket and oversized pants completely devoid of color. They were clothes that would catch no one's eye on this planet- not a thief's, not a Nietzschean guard's, and not the eye of a worried captain trained for the loud colors of his usual apparel. There was an art to being inconspicuous, a talent that the young engineer possessed.
Ahead the road split among the complexes of the 'human residential sector'. It had looked like the delta of a river on the map he'd been shown. And what had seemed to cross the road like an over-sized dam now came into view. Yet another checkpoint- Damn.
The Nietzschean patrolman on duty was looked bored to tears, but seemed to find little slivers of enjoyment in harassing the human pedestrians. He grinned maliciously when Harper approached the checkpoint. Harper's stomach tightened- he had seen that grin on Tyr before, and it was often followed by the death of some poor bastard.
"Hey, Kludge! Where are you of to in such a hurry?" The patrolman leaned back in his chair, his hand resting casually on his gauss gun, and looked expectantly at Harper.
For a terrified nano-second, Harper thought the Nietzschean was waiting for his last words. Then he remembered the citizen documents clamped in his hand. Forcing himself to relax, he held them out silently.
Harper tried his best not to squirm as the papers were scrutinized. Of course the guard couldn't possibly know the papers were fake. Using Andromeda's full spectrum of utilities (and an added few of his own) had made counterfeiting a cinch. Everything was there- from the planet's holographic insignia to the inlaid metal treads. Those things were a freakin' work of art and completely believable. He had even run them through the slipstream drive a few times to give them that well-worn feel. No, there was no way the guard could know. Stupid Uber probably just liked seeing him squirm. Too bad it was working.
"It says here you're an engineer," the guard said suddenly. "I doubt that. If you ever gain a use in life, kludge, it will be as a participant in Nietzschean target practice."
A thousand comebacks chased each other through Harper's mind. It was with monumental effort he stayed silent and meek. His papers were finally handed back to him. Just then, a grungy pack of human teenagers approached. They were laughing loudly and obviously drunk. Taking the distraction, Harper slipped quietly past the Uber and into the most-run down section of a run down-city on a planet whose sky he was beginning to hate.
***
"When I find him, I'm going to wring his neck for this!" Beka fumed. She was pacing across Command while Trance and Dylan sat on the raised steps of slipstream control. Rommie stood beside her captain as she watched Beka's compulsive zigzags. Slightly apart from the group, Tyr leaned against a wall, an expression of mild boredom on his face.
"Shouldn't you be happy that Harper did not take the Maru this time?" Rommie ventured.
"No! He should have taken the Maru!" At the shocked looks she received, Beka calmed enough to explain. "I got sick of everyone 'borrowing' the Maru, so I installed a remote tracking device. If he'd taken my ship, I'd be half way to shaking sense into that runt by now. Besides." Beka's face reddened a bit, "I worry. And the Maru has seat belts."
"Beka, I don't like it either that Harper left without a word, but he's not a prisoner onboard Andromeda. Harper is a grown man. I'm sure he can take care of himself." Dylan said. Rommie, whose built-in sensors made her a walking lie detector, cast Dylan a sideways look.
Trance spoke up. "Maybe we're doing this wrong." Four pairs of eyes turned to the intuitive alien, who gave a nervous smile. "We know Harper doesn't want to be found. He went to a lot of trouble to shield himself from Andromeda. He didn't take the Maru for a reason. We aren't missing any vessels, so he must have bought or built a ship, probably for this purpose. He was doing repairs all day yesterday, remember? He knew he was leaving and made sure we'd be okay without him for awhile. He did a lot of planning."
Beka sat down next to Trance. "Alright, detective Gemini. But how does this help?" It came off more sarcastic than she had intended. She softened her tone. "We've combed his machine shop and his usual haunts and I even checked his room," Beka shuddered at the recent memory. "We found nothing strange. Well. stranger than usual, that is."
"You forgot one place where he spends his time," Tyr said. It was the first he'd spoken since the meeting at Command had been called. He had been thinking the problem over carefully, though he feigned unconcern. "I believe the boy spends much time within the ship's programming."
Rommie turned to her weapon's officer. "I've scanned my matrix. He entered to set up a shielding program, but that's all he did as far as I can tell."
"Wait. Rommie, when Harper fixes you, what does he use for mechanical references?" Asked Beka.
Rommie considered this. "He normally brings up files from my technical database, or searches through the Commonwealth library."
Dylan brightened at this. "Rommie, can you find out which files were opened by Harper this week? Search your entire library database?"
Rommie nodded and closed her eyes. "Listing all files accessed by Harper this past week." A list of file names appeared on the main vid screen. The list began to scroll as more and more file names were added. Soon the list was scrolling too fast to read. It was like watching movie credits on fast forward. "Harper accessed 69,069 files this past week."
There was silence for a moment. Then Beka resumed her fuming. "When I find that boy.!"