Chapter 5

Andromeda shook as Beka's hands expertly piloted her out of the slipstream and toward the rendezvous point. Due to Beka's expert piloting, they arrived there earlier than planed. They now had time to kill.

Beka/Velac pushed up the slipstream piloting console and started to look around command. It was quiet. The void of space filtered through the view screen and filled the room. Beka's lungs let out a sigh of air. "Where are those guys. I hope they're not killing the toy," she mumbled to herself.

Then, as if on cue, the command doors hissed open and the silence was broken. In strolled the bodies of Trance, Dylan and Tyr. The large Nietzschean had in his arms the body of the bloody, beaten engineer.

"Took you guys long enough," complained Beka/Velac as she marched up to the group.

"Man that was fun," exclaimed Dylan/Fex with a huge sneer on his face which seemed oddly out of place.

"Where do you what him?" asked the burden-laden Tyr/Nixic.

Seeing that there were no chairs on command, Beka's finger pointed to one of the corners away from any of the computer consoles. "Just throw him there."

The large Nietzschean ambled over to the appointed corner and heaved the body on the ground. The engineer landed with a thud but disturbingly there was no groan or movement to accompany the thud.

Beka's eyes grew concerned as she finally saw the state of her prisoner. "Shit guys. I said NOT to have too much fun with him! Is he even alive?" screamed the voice of a leader. Velac didn't have to lead Beka's body over to the heap of flesh and bones lying in the corner. Beka's mind was already begging to go over to check on her adopted little brother. All Velac had to do was to order her legs not to break in to a sprint. As she neared him, her non-corporal stomach started to churn. If she had control of her digestive system she would have been heaving onto the shinny command floor right now. The closer she got, the more damage she saw on his fragile body. She finally reached him and knelt down next to the broken body.

Beka mentally threw up when she saw the full extent of the beating. His young face was now varying shades of blues and violets with lovely splatters of red. His blond mess of hair was now partially dyed red from his own life giving bodily fluids. But his left arm was the most grotesque wound. The upper arm was now in a figure eight. His bicep was crushed to half it's normal size. Beka was on her fifth round of mental heaves at this point. Thankfully, some might say, she did see Harper's chest rising and falling, but each breath seemed like is was the result of great effort. Both Beka and Velac were happy to see that rise of his chest, but Velac was happy because it meant she could have her fun with their little toy.

The alien leader was about to turn away from the lump on the ground when something caught her interest. It was Harper's bloody, inflamed data port. She turned Beka's body to face the others. "Did you guys do this?" she asked pointing to the port.

All three aliens commanded their bodies to walk over to the corner and to look at the wound in question. Dylan/Fex was the first one to speak up. "No Velac, that was already there when we got to him. I wish it was our work. It looks like it was very painful." A cold grin grew on his face.

"Mmmm..." pondered Beka/Velac. "I wonder if that is why Melak wasn't able to take over this one's body. If he was plugged into the AI when we merged then his mind and body would not have be able to be hijacked."

"Then where is Melak?" asked Trance/Nixic as she looked over the port with interest.

"Who the hell knows and who the hell cares!" spat out Tyr's booming voice. Stolic was getting bored just standing around playing detective. "I wanna have more fun with our toy. Why did he have to be so....mortal?" uncharacteristically whined Tyr's voice.

Beka/Velac looked up at the child-like Nietzschean. "Oh young naive Stolic. That is what nano-bots are for. Nixic, run down to Medical and grab some supplies. I'll show you amateurs how to have some real fun."

*******

Harpers world consisted of two things right now, pain and darkness. The darkness was slowly starting to leave him, but his pain was intensifying. He felt his ribs crack with every breath he struggled to take. He felt the warm blood trickling out of his nose and out of the other cuts on his face. He tasted the metallic fluid that was invading his mouth. He felt pain everywhere, from his throbbing arm to his little toe.

As his thoughts were returning to him, he remembered what happened...actually who happened. He still could see Tyr's grinning face as Tyr's large fist made contact with his face. He could still hear Dylan's laugh after they broke another one of his ribs. And he could still feel Trance's warm breath on the back of his neck as she restrained him for the duration of the beating. As he felt the pain surge though his broken body, he remembered that his friends, his family, had done this to him. The few people he had actually let into his world and had trusted. Deep down Harper knew that the aliens were controlling his friends, but their betrayal still hurt more than the physical pain.

"Harper...wakey wakey," a familiar female's voice filled his ears. Hope rose in Harper's heart. He loved that voice. Whenever he was coming back to the world of the living he wanted to hear that voice. That was Beka's voice.

"Come on toy. Wake up. Mommy wants to play," the voice teased.

Dread replaced the hope in his heart. This does not sound good. Maybe I should just play dead, he thought. His thoughts were then interrupted by a blow to his face.

"Come on! Wake up you miserable mudfoot!" The voice then paused. Beka's voice started up again but this time it sounded distant, like she had turned her head. "Nixic, inject him with some more nano-bots."

Harper felt the cold point of the syringe press against the uninjured side of his neck. It's always a bad sign when the bad guys heal you, thought Harper. He learned this through his years on Earth and his many encounters with the Nietzscheans there.

Play dead, play dead, he repeated to himself. That plan was ruined when excruciating pain shot through his body originating from pressure placed on his wounded arm.

"Agghhh!!!" A scream escaped his dry throat as his aching body leapt to a sitting position. His world spun as his eyes adjusted to the new light and movement. Slowly a familiar face came into view. He could make out the blond hair and the strong cheeks. Beka. Usually he wanted to see this face, but today it was the last face in the world he wanted to wake up to.

"Thanks for joining us Harper," said Beka's voice. The words were dripping with sarcasm.

"He-he, no prob...um...you wouldn't be interested in letting us all go, would you?" Harper struggled to get the sentence out of his dry, sore throat.

Beka came closer to his face. Harper felt trapped. On both sides of him were walls and in front of him was a very ruthless looking Beka who was backed up by three equally ruthless looking friends.

"No, sorry. We like these bodies, this ship and....you," she whispered as she caressed his cheek. "But you see, there's a problem. They," she pointed to the others behind her, "got to have their fun, but 'cause I was flying this ship I missed out. And I'm in some serious need of some fun." She ended by running her hand through Harper's bloody hair.

Harper's response was a hard swallow hoping to push down the rising sense of dread. He'd try to run if only he thought he could get up without passing out. This did not seem like a possibility seeing that his world was still a spinning and blurry mess.

Beka's voice continued as she stroked his bruised cheek, "Now, now, don't worry. I'm much gentler. I won't hurt you like these barbarians did."

A growl could be heard originating from Dylan's throat.

"No offence," added Beka/Velac as she looked over her shoulder at the others. She turned back to face Harper. Beka's face was touching Harper's as she caressed up against him. "I'm more into enlightenment. I think you really need to know what Beka thinks of you." Beka's hand reached forward to wipe away some of the blood on Harper's forehead. She continued, "Not what she tells you or what she leads you to believe, but what she really thinks of you. You see, I know all that she knows and feels. I know just what she thinks of her little pet mudfoot. But I really think it's best that you hear it from her mouth and her mind. Let me get her for you." Beka/Velac stopped talking. She took her hand way from Harper's trembling face as her eyes rolled back into her head.

Inside of Beka's mind, Velac was calling for Beka. But Beka knew all. She knew what Velac was planning, she knew how it would devastate Harper and she knew that she had to fight Velac for Harper's sake and the sake of their friendship.

Velac was finally able to grab onto Beka's metal self and tried to control her through pain. Beka's mind felt like it was on fire. For Harper, she thought as she withstood the agony. The more she fought it, the more intense the burning sensation got until it was unbearable. And since she was locked in her own mind, she couldn't pass out. Wave after wave of pain flooded through her mind. She just couldn't fight it anymore. As she started to let Velac call up her consciousness, the pain diminished and light filled her previous dark existence. She found that her voice worked again.

"H-H-Harper," Beka sputtered to get out.

Even thought the voice was the same, the tone and energy Beka's body now emitted made it clear that the real Beka was speaking.

"B-Beka?" croaked Harper with a hint of hope and relief in his voice.

"It is me Harper. Listen, don't believe......AAGGHHHH!!' screamed Beka in pain as she arched backwards. She was trying to warn him, but Velac was in control of what Beka said here and helping Harper was not in the script. Again, after waves of pain, Beka finally gave into Velac.

Beka straightened up and looked into Harper's sparkling blue eyes. The same eyes that filled her life with laughter and joy. The same eyes that she was about to fill with tears. Hesitantly, she began to speak.

"Seamus Zealanzy Harper, my little pet mudfoot. My cheap labor....my slave." Beka paused. She couldn't do it. She could already see the hurt in Harper's eyes. But Velac sent more agony through Beka's mind and she continued out of weakness. "Do you know how many times I've been tempted to throw you out of the Maru's airlock? How many times I wanted to smack that constant gibbering mouth of yours off your pathetic face? Everyday since I brought you onboard! Which I only did due to a misplaced sense of pity." Beka swallowed hard. She could hear Harper's heart breaking. His eyes were slowly starting to make their way to the floor. Beka did as Velac commanded. She grabbed his chin and yanked his face upward. "LOOK AT ME BOY!!" she screamed. She tighten her clasp on his chin until he jerked away in pain, but his dejected eyes remained locked onto hers.

"Do you know why I kept you around? Do you!? So I could feel superior over someone. So I could feel empowered every time I had to rescue your pathetic runt ass out of trouble. You are the best ego trip in the known universe Seamus. Hell, an ameba looks more competent compared to you." Harper's eyes dropped again. This time his face was meet with a hard slap across his already stinging cheeks. "LOOK AT ME BOY!! See you can't even follow a simple instruction. How pathetic! When I look at you all I see is a ego whore. A skinny, weak, incompetent, runt of a ego whore!" Beka screamed as she quickly pushed herself off of the floor. She started to kick at Harper's dejected form. "A SKINNY" ...kick... "WEAK" ...kick... "INCOMPETENT"... kick... "RUNT"... kick... "OF A EGO WHORE!!!"... big strong kick .

Harper was curled up into a fetal position, writhing from the pains of both the kicks and of the words. Tears were welling up behind his eyes but he refused to let them fall. Beka had hit on all of his fears. He hoped it was just the alien talking, but he wasn't sure. Maybe Beka really did feel that way. Maybe the alien just embellished a little. Maybe he was just a useless ego whore. The tears continued to build up.

Beka stared down at the curled up form. Her heart was breaking too. She should have been stronger, should have fought more. But she didn't and she failed Harper. She failed their friendship. She failed.

Velac started to push Beka's mind back into her deep consciousness. Beka didn't fight this time. She went back willingly. She didn't deserve anything. Not a body, not a mind and not a friend like Harper. She welcomed the darkness of her own mind.

Velac turned Beka to face her comrades. Their faces were quite a site. Jaws on the floor, eyes wide open. Silence.

Dylan's hands broke that silence with a round of applause. "Wow, that was....amazing."

Beka/Velac took a little bow as the tears in Harper's eyes finally broke through and ran down his face. Tears were now mixing with blood.

"Thank you, thank you" joked Beka/Velac. The tone and energy of the body showed no sign of the real Beka. She was deep inside crying non-existent tears. "See young ones, THAT is how you have fun. It's all in....."

"BEEP...BEEP" Andromeda's computers interrupted Velac's speech.

"Report Stolic," demanded Beka/Velac as she regained her professional composure.

Tyr/Stolic was the closest to the beeping console. He punched in a few commands and looked back up. His strong angled face was filled with a smug smile. "They're here," he chimed.

All eyes went to the view screen as Tyr/Stolic punched up the image.

Harper's wet eyes managed to get a glimpse of the screen. What he saw filled his insides with more dread. He was actually quite surprised he could fit more dread in himself.

The view screen was filled with the image of three ships. The ships the aliens were meeting up with. Each ship was twice the size of Andromeda with what looked like ten times the amount of fire power. And heading towards Andromeda was a rather large transport pod.

Beka broke the awe-inspired silence. "Grab him and lets go meet our allies. We don't want to keep them waiting." She marched off towards the command doors. Tyr and Dylan approached Harper's corner from hell. They each grabbed an arm and yanked him upright. Tyr/Stolic was lucky enough to get Harper's bad arm and was having fun playing with it. "Gee, does this hurt" Tyr/Stolic teased as he squeezed the malformed arm repeatedly.

"Aggghh...no," grunted Harper. But he wasn't completely lying. The nano-bots were working. He was feeling a bit better. He only felt like he was worked over by 20 Nietzscheans instead of 40. My day is finally getting better, he thought as the bodies of Dylan and Tyr dragged him off to meet his new owners.

TBC