Chapter 35
"I failed," Dylan whispered again as he hung his head in defeat and the faint words echoed throughout the silent command deck.
Beka stared on in utter shock. A year? They would have to leave her Seamus down in that squalored hole for a whole year!? Over her dead body they would. Harper won out over the Commonwealth any day in her mind. Her anger boiled up inside until it was ready to burst. She then took aim and fired at the barer of the bad news. "YOU SURE AS HELL FAILED!! 'I'll get him out, I promise, we won't leave without him, I promise,'" Beka mocked in Dylan's voice. "Any other promises you'd like to break while you're at it Captain Terrific?!" By now, Beka was raging only inches away from Dylan's downcast face as tear slid down into the bag under his eye. "Don't you dear cry!!! You caused this! You forced Harper off the ship! You don't get to cry over him YOU BASTARD!!!" Beka quickly broke away from her stare with Dylan knowing that if she stayed that close for one second longer Dylan would leave command as a bloody mess. She began pacing madly as she continued her rant at full volume.
Dylan just stood there, taking in every vial hateful word Beka shot at him. He never yelled back, never tried to stop her. He knew that he deserved this, hell, he expected it and even craved it. Harper was going to have to rot in that cell for year while he, the magnificent Dylan Hunt, the mockery of a captain that couldn't even free his own engineer, would be enjoying all the comforts of Andromeda. Beka's loathing was getting off easy in Dylan's mind. He should be down there with Harper, or better yet instead of Harper. That idea had even popped into his mind. A trade, Harper's freedom for his imprisonment. But the idea could never find it's way to his mouth. He was too much of a coward to face a year in that hole and yet he just sent Harper to such a fate. Yell Beka, yell.
And that she did. She yelled so much that she changed her hair color subconsciously. Pacing the deck with furry, she was now a flaming redhead.
Behind Beka stood the forgotten about Trance who fidgeted nervously in a manner very similar to her young purple self. As Beka screamed, Trance was looking at the futures. A swarm of butterflies fluttered around her stomach as she realized what had to be done. In order to preserve the perfect possible future, Harper had to stay in jail. They had to leave him down there. The butterflies slowly turned into dragons which chewed ferociously on her stomach lining. How could she even go along with this plan, how could she walk this path without hating herself? She wanted to be next to Beka screaming her head off, yelling at Dylan to fight for Harper's freedom, to come up with some other way. But, she knew there was no other way that would not plunge the future into a insurmountable darkness. A Commonwealth discarded, a crew torn apart, fugitives from the Saber-Jaguars and viewed as unwelcome hypocrites in the eyes of every planet in the Universe. So instead of yelling, instead of fighting for Harper, Trance stood back and watched and waited. Watched as Beka tore Dylan's heart out, watched as Harper rotted in the cell and waited for the perfect future to finally arrive some day.
Still yelling, even though her voice was going horse, Beka screamed something about betrayal, trust, etc., etc., but Tyr had turned out the screeching human. He was too busy trying to convince himself not to bust into the prison, break the neck of every guard there, grab the boy and race away. He knew what that would mean for his survival, for his larger plans and yet for some reason the thought of a jail break would not leave his mind. 'Damn that boy for getting under my skin,' he cursed himself as he pressed his open palm harder against the wall, hoping to push down the image of him swooping down and rescuing the annoying little professor. 'Damn him.'
Rommie stood next to her captain as she counted the number of times Beka had used the "F" word in the last five minutes. Thirty-six so far, very impressive. The android was quite happy that no one had tried to stop Beka's tirade seeing that she was currently living vicariously thought her spunky first officer. She couldn't agree more with everything Beka was saying, they couldn't leave Harper down there, not now, not ever. He had saved them all and now they were just going to abandon him? It wasn't right, wasn't fair...but then again life isn't fair. It's cruel and cold and unforgiving. She knew this, her logic chips told her so. They also told her that they had to leave him, that it was their only choice and her programming told her that she had to stand by her captain. Damn Harper for programming her so well.
"...can you just stand there? You're going to kill Harper!" Beka screamed as her body finally began to feel the effects of her long outburst. Her clenched fists shook at her sides as she bit her quivering lip to keep the harshest words locked in her mind. Word that she knew she would forever regret saying.
Dylan took the pause to finally speak up. Taking in a deep shaky breath, he began. "B-Beka, I agree with you. I hate myself for even considering leaving him, but we have no other choice. The Saber-Jaguar pride is too important a member of the Commonwealth to piss off. If we break Harper out just like we all want to, then the Saber-Jaguars would pull out of the Commonwealth and would take with them several other powerful planets. They already stated so much in the negotiations. Even if they suspect us of planning a break out, they said they would leave the Commonwealth." Dylan's fists tighten as he remembered the smug look on the Sabers' ugly faces as they played with the power of their new found leverage over the Commonwealth. Having the Andromeda's only engineer as a legal prisoner in their jails was a gold mind for their pride and they were not about to give him up easily.
"Believe me on this Beka, I've been over it thousands of times in my head. We have to leave him down there...but, we will not leave him in his current state. In the deal I got us full access to Harper. We are allowed down into his cell with guards present at any time during visitor hours. We will not leave until we are all satisfied with his health, both mentally and physically. And when we do leave, we will be coming back often to check on him. We might have to leave him, but I refuse to abandon him." He looked sternly at Beka. Her expression was hard to read. Angry? Pacified? Listening? Thinking? He continued on in ignorance. "Beka, I need you to promise me something, promise me you won't go and do anything stupid...please."
Beka looked Dylan over before she spoke. "Do you want a Dylan promise or a real promise?"
The bridge fell dead to the tension between the two captains.
After noticing Dylan wasn't going to reply, Beka's harsh voice filled the air. "Don't worry, Dylan, I won't do anything stupid." She then turned on her heels and walked calmly out of command.
A quiet Dylan turned to Rommie. "Keep an eye on her, that went too well."
Rommie nodded silently in agreement knowing full well that Beka would not leave Harper down there without one hell of a fight.
*************
As it was decided earlier, only Beka and Dylan went down to see Harper the next day. This was the day Harper would learn of his future. Beka had insisted on going down alone, insisting that only she should be there when Harper found out that they were leaving him. After another long shouting match, Dylan had convinced Beka that he needed to be the one to tell Harper. It was his responsibility and his punishment for failing to keep a promise to Harper once more. Dylan was starting to hate his score sheet with the small human.
It was a long quiet walk to the prison that morning as tension alone filled the space between the two captains. They entered the depressing prison and were escorted by the well armed warden and a guard to Harper's cell.
The warden pulled out his remote and pressed in some commands until the grated door unlocked with a thundering sound that reverberated down the long empty corridor. "Captain," the warden grumbled as he displayed the open cell with one hand and clutched at his weapon with the other.
Looking over at his first officer, Dylan didn't see the spunky jovial blonde he had come to love. While she was a blonde again, her features were now hard and angry. Her lips were in a tight sneer and her eyes were fueled by anger over the whole situation. He turned towards her and put a comforting hand on her stiff shoulder. "Beka, I'm truly sorry. I wish there was another way." She only replied with a harsher glare. Sighing, Dylan turned and approached the now open hole in the ground.
Looking down into the darkness, his stomach boarded a roller coaster and was already plummeting down that first steep drop. "Here goes everything," he whispered to himself as he dropped down to the floor three feet below.
His boots hit the metal floor with a loud echoing thud and he squatted down to see the hell he had just entered. It was small, drafty, and after he tried to take a deep calming breath, he discovered it had a very, very rancid odor. Blood, urine, bile, feces, sweat, and something else. After only a few seconds in the cell, he realized what the mystery scent was....hopelessness.
Blood drained from his face as it finally hit him that he had condemned Harper to stay in this place for year. Harper...where was he? Dylan had been so caught up in the overwhelming conditions of the hole that he hadn't spotted his reason for being down there. Quickly scanning the small area he saw his engineer right off the bat. In the darkest corner was a crouching figure. The faint light from above outlined Harper's features: Clothes that hung off his skeletal body, the hard lines that his sunken cheekbones now created and the bottomless bags that seemed to be a permanent fixture under his unblinking eyes. Dylan wasn't even sure if the boy had noticed his arrival or not. Harper seemed fixated on the wall across from him as if it held the meaning of life and if he blinked, he would miss it.
"Harper?" Dylan asked in a quiet gentle voice knowing full well what his presence might do to the precarious nature of Harper's mind.
With his eyes still locked on the wall, Harper's body stiffened at the mere sound of Dylan's voice.
"I'm not here to hurt you." Dylan lied knowing what a year in this place could do to a person. "I can't tell you how sorry I am for all my past actions. Under Calastor control or under my own volition, I was wrong for what I did and said. I had the whole situation backwards. I was trying to protect us from you when I should have been trying to protect you from us and for that I will forever be sorry."
Dylan's words echoed around the small space and into Harper's brain. A glean of a cold sweat arose from beneath the layers of filth on his face. His pulse quickened and small tremors begun to shake his body, but his eyes remained unmoving.
Trying to ease Harper's anxiety, Dylan backed up all he could into his own corner. His larger body mirrored Harper's crouching position as best as it could. For a man of Dylan's size, the cell seemed even more claustrophobic. Dylan had only been down there for a few minutes and still had the open hatchway above him, and yet he already wanted out. His stomach hit the triple loop on the roller coaster. How could he condemn Harper to this? He swallowed down his conscious and continued on. "Harper...I have some news. Um...you know that I've been negotiating your release into our care and well, er...we've reached a, um, outcome." The word agreement had popped into Dylan's mind but this was in no way agreeable...this was vial. "Oh god, how do I tell you this...I guess just say it, right? Ok, well, I did all I could, b-but I could only get you released after you serve a year of your sentence. God Harper, I'm sorry, so sorry. I failed you, again, and after you saved us." He could hold in his emotions no longer as tears began to roll down his face. "I can't tell you how much I want you out of here, away from any pain. You've experienced more than anyone should and there I go failing you again." The High Guard captain stopped speaking long enough to wipe away his tear and choke down the lump that had took up residence in his throat. His stomach was on the corkscrew turns on the coaster now. "Even though we'll have to leave, we will come back often to see you, I swear. We will not let you fall any farther away from us Harper. And in a y-y-year, we will march back down here and take you away from this hell forever. Ok Harper?"
But of course Harper didn't respond to Dylan's sniffling plea. He didn't even wipe off the bead of sweat that hung precariously off his nose.
Believing for a second Harper was truly gone, Dylan's stomach jumped the coaster track and plumped to the darkness below. "Harper? Did you even hear me?
A small weak voice burned into Dylan's soul. "Yes, I heard you."
"And?" Dylan prepped.
"And, fine, whatever." Cold, flat, unnerving, empty.
"Harper? I just told you we have to leave you here for a whole year and that's all you have to say?" Dylan was flabbergasted.
"Yes."
Carefully Dylan leaned forward hoping for some reaction from the statue of Harper.
"You can leave now." Voice still cold and eyes still unmoving.
"No! Not until you've yelled at me, attacked me or show some sign of being alive in that shell of a body!!" He inched closer to Harper hoping to see some spark of life.
"Please leave now."
Ignoring the stern order, Dylan did the opposite and reached out a trembling hand towards Harper. Then doing the unthinkable, Dylan gently grasped Harper's stick of an arm. Instantly Harper jumped to life as he ripped his arm way from Dylan and replaced it with a swift kick to Dylan's stomach. Even in his weakened state, Harper's kick managed to send the larger man flying across the cell and into the wall. "I SAID LEAVE!!!" Anger transformed Harper's face into that of a ghastly monster.
Gasping for breath, Dylan's eyes widened as he stared across at the stranger Harper had become. Looking deeper into the earther's eyes, Dylan realized that it was no stranger staring at him with such hate, it was the man that massacred 3,000 Pythos. That was the face that had popped out of that duct and smiled at the puddles of Ex-Pythos that he had created. That was the Harper that years of hurt, pain and death had created in order to survive.
Dylan held his chest as he tried to comfort his newly broken ribs. "H-Harper, it's ok, I'll leave, I'll leave." He began to stand up. "But we will be coming back no matter what you say or do to us. You cannot get rid of us this easily." He warned as his head and then body disappeared through the lighted hole above.
Dylan was greeted back into the light by a worried Beka who's outstretched hand said more that a thousand words could. As he got to his feet he looked over at the warden and guard who both had sick satisfied grins on their sleazy faces. This Andromeda crew was the most entertainment they've had in years.
"That went well," Beka snarked.
"Yah, wonderfully." He winced as he fingered his new injury.
"I want some time alone with him," Beka said sternly. It was not a request, more of an order that if one valued one's life, one would follow.
"I figured as much."
Looking over her shoulders at the two Nietzscheans, Beka continued. "With no guards either."
The big thug of a warden stepped up next to the feisty human. "Well, Hon, if you want that, then you're gonna have to take you're pretty little kludge ass down into that cell as we lock you in. It's not that I don't trust you, well, it is that exactly." He stroked his large weapon.
"Fine," Beka replied quickly as she dropped into the cell without a moment of hesitation. Crouching down into the darkness below she replied, "Lock it."
All of the large muscular males above let their jaws hit the floor at the blonde's complete willingness to jump into that stinking rotting hell hole. She jumped into it as if she was jumping into a Jacuzzi not some claustrophobic prison cell.
Once the warden shook the shock from his system, he pulled out his remote and locked the cell. "Yell when you want out. We'll be in the next corridor over....maybe," he snickered.
After hearing the three sets of boots march away from the cell door and disappear down the corridor, Beka finally took in what she had just committed herself to being confined in. It was so small and seemed to grow smaller by the moment. She had the sudden urge to stretch out, to do whatever the tiny space wouldn't allow her to do. As the smell of the cell made its way to her brain, she started taking in short shallow breaths in order to lessen her exposure to the foul offending air. Her eyes scanned the darkness until they laid eyes on Harper who was crouching down in a ready-to-attack position in the corner. His chest was moving rapidly as his lungs sucked in the cool air at a fast, ragged pace. His eyes stared at her from behind his limp, disheveled hair, held the fury of a wild trapped animal. Her heart raced as the fear of the situation just kicked in. Harper wouldn't harm her...would he?
"Hey Shorty." She managed to croak out through her fear without sounding completely terrified.
Thankfully at the sound of her voice, his breaths calmed and he blinked away the wild beast from his eyes.
"Can I come closer?" She asked as her fear diminished.
Harper silently nodded as he let his legs slid out from under him and rested his back against the cool wall. If his back could still feel sensations, the cool bite from the metal would have sent shivers through his body.
"Thanks." Beka slowly made her way across the short distance of the cell. Not wanting to see what she was about to sit in, Beka quickly plopped down directly across from her adopted brother. Unbeknownst to her, her head laid right in front of the Beka shaped stain. She looked across at her lost friend, at the thing he had become. Shallow face shrouded in darkness, eyes that would never quite meet her gaze, filthy rags that made a sad substitute for clothing and hung from his body like clothes hung over a clothesline. She looked at his face trying to find an inch of skin that was not a bruise or covered by layers of dirt or blood. Where were the bright clothing, the sparkling eyes, the bouncing ball of energy that she couldn't even get to sit still long enough for him to chug down a can of Sparky Cola? She desperately searched his face for any sign of her Harper.
"How are you doing?" She knew, stupid question to ask a condemned man, but it was all her brain could come up with.
"Dandy," he replied quietly as he fidgeted with one of the many loose threads on his pants. The fidgeting and sarcastic reply rose Beka's hopes that maybe her Harper was still in there somewhere.
"Are the medicines working? Are you feeling any better?"
"Yah, it only hurts when I breath now." He watched as the thread wound its way around his finger. "Beka, what do you want?"
"Get to the point huh? Ok, fine." As she leaned forward so that she was only inches from his emotionless face, she realized how badly he smelled. It was a mix of alcohol and the lovely scent of the cell only amplified. Maybe it was him that smelled so bad and not the cell. Pushing away the thoughts of his odor, she reminded herself why she was down there. She kept her voice low so that only he could hear her. "I'm here to tell you that you're leaving this shit hole. Screw Dylan, screw the Commonwealth. I'm coming for you tonight, so be ready. I said I won't leave you here and I won't." Unlike some people, she kept her promises.
That got Harper's full attention as he jerked his head up to look at his soon to be rescuer and forgot about the thread.
"Yah, I thought that would get those eyes to look up finally." Beka smiled as she saw a glimpse of her old Seamus. He was indeed still alive somewhere in there. "Soon you and I will be in the Maru, flying around free as the birds. Just like old times." Her face lit up as images of her and Harper enjoying a carefree life on the Maru filled her mind. She had expected Harper to mirror her joy but, as always, her expectations were crushed.
Harper's eyes grew hard as he swallowed down the rock that had lodged itself in his throat. "No, Beka, we won't." His voice was calm but determined. "You have to leave me here. You hav-"
"NO!" Beka yelled aghast before she remembered to keep her voice down. "Damn it, do we have to go over this again. You're worth it Seamus. You don't belong down here."
"Yes I do, but that's not why I have to stay and why you can't break me out. Think about it Beka. This is not some two bit pathetic drift. This is a Saber-Jaguar drift. They won't just let me escape. They will hunt us down like wild animals until they capture us and stick us back down here...and this is if we're lucky. And it would be us, Beka, US!! Not just me, but you too. I won't let you suffer that fate for me."
"They won't catch us, ok. We've done this before." Her hand jumped to his knee before he could jerk it away. "I refuse to leave you down here."
He looked down at her hand, so soft and pure even with the hardness that working on the Maru had caused. He knew she would never make it down here, she'd go crazy within a week of being confined. Beka never did prison cells well and she had never been in an uber prison before. He wouldn't be able to live with himself if she got trapped down here too. He had to convince her to leave him for her own good and knew of only one sure fire way to do so.
Slowly he moved his quivering blackened hand over her soft peach one and embraced it in a tight grasp. "Beka." He looked up at her face as his eyes fought to find their target. After many readjustments they finally locked onto her sweet blue eyes. "Beka, you have to leave me, not for Dylan, not for the freak'n Commonwealth, but for me and for yourself. I couldn't live with myself if you get caught because of me. I'm not worth one more person sacrificing any part of themselves for. Too many...it must stop...you can't be one of them." He rambled on as his eye bore into her soul trying desperately to get her to understand.
"B-But, Seamus, you are worth it, you are, you so are." Her other hand fell on top of his and her warmth surround his cold hand. "I can't leave you here. I-"
"Yes you can, and you will because I can survive this punishment. A year in here will be a piece of cake." He hoped that would be enough, that he wouldn't have to go on with the reasoning behind that statement. He so wanted her to say 'Ok, I trust you. I'll see you in a year,' and to get up and leave. But it was never that easy with stubborn Beka.
"Stop lying to me Harper. Look at you, starved, dehydrated, beaten and distant. This is no place for you to be, especially after what you've just been through. You need medical treatment, a soft bed, warm covers, food, water...I could go on for hours. You can't last down here a month let alone a year. Now shut up and let me rescue you."
'Damn you Beka,' he cursed in his mind. Now she was here to rescue him. Now, of all times, a wish of his finally came true but it carried with it a lovely evil twist. 'I can't let her do it, I can't.' He dropped his eyes and brought up his other hand on top of hers. Now his coldness invaded the warmth of her hand. Drawing strength from the contact, he willed himself to tell her what he knew she had to hear before she would leave. "Beka, I can survive this because I've already survived so much worse. I'm guessing you've probably already seen my scars, the ones that match your new ones...and I'm guessing you've already put two and two together...but you don't know the whole story. I've never told anyone this before and I never want to again, so just listen and try to understand that I can survive a year in here." He looked up at Beka, her eyes ripe with tears, her mouth closed tightly signaling a wiliness to listen to what he had to say. She was always good at that, at shutting up when he was finally willing to speak of his past. He dropped his head back down and closed his eyes as he allowed the memories of that horrid monstrosity of a year to flood back into his consciousness. He realized that nightmares would haunt him for months because of this trip down memory lane, but there was no other way.
With eyes still closed and with a tight grip on Beka's hands to remind him of the present, he began to talk. He told her of the burial that brought him out that night, of the chase, the kills, and of the capture. He told her of the massive panic that overwhelmed him when he woke up strapped to that concrete slab which wreaked of the blood, sweat and pain of the last uber plaything. He told her of his first experience, of the pain and terror as he fought so hard against the restraints that he still had scars to this day from where they dug into his skin. He told her of the weeks that followed, of the session with one particularly evil uber who had a fascination with rusted nails and screws. He told her of the months that followed, of the pain from not being able to move a muscle for that long a time. Of the insatiable thirst that drove him to drink his own blood that poured down his face after one particularly ugly session. Too caught up in the past, he didn't notice the tremors that shook his body in the present world of the jail cell. With his eyes still closed, he told her about his 17th birthday and then about the escape through the pile of living corpses and about his long journey back to safety and life.
Silence hung over the pair as both choked back tears, Harper's of the pain from the past and Beka from overwhelming empathy.
Now back in his present hell, Harper pulled back one hand to wipe away the tears before he opened his eyes and looked at Beka. "Do you understand? Are you able to leave me now?"
Beka let the tears roll down her face. What he had just told her made her want to rescue him even more, to protect him from any more pain, and yet she could still see his twisted logic. He had already been through more horror than she could ever imagine. No wonder he had nightmares every night. Compared to what he just told her, the prison cell they were in was a luxury hotel. How could she go against his wish, how could she take the chance of causing him any more anguish by adding the guilt of her fate to his conscious. As much as she hated to admit it, he was right. She could never survive in this cell. Already, she was itching to be let out and it had only been an hour or so. Wiping away her own tears she gave Harper the answer he needed to hear. "I understand and will do as you wish...but, we will be coming back to check on you, bring you food, water and medicine. You might have had to go through your last hell alone, but his time you got us kiddo." She shifted her weight to her feet as she got up and moved next to Harper, never once letting go of his hand. "And now that we finally found you, we will not lose you again." She place her free arm around his tiny famished frame and pulled him into her. Surprisingly to both, he let her embrace him and even leaned into her as he rested his weary head on her shoulder.
Together they sat in silence, hands still embraced in their joined lap, Beka's arm holding Harper tightly against her as his tremors completely vanished for the first time since this whole thing started. Without a word being spoken for hours, they sat there healing each other until Dylan and the Nietzscheans approached the cell.
"Times up Princess." The warden spoke loudly as the cage door hissed open.
Beka let go of her embrace of Harper. "I'll be back tomorrow. Are you gonna be okay?" She brushed away the hair that fell on his face, his spikes completely lost.
"I am now," he whispered.
"Good." She quickly kissed him on the forehead. "Ick, patooe. Harper, you need a bath," she joked as a small smile appeared through the grime on his face.
"For some reason I don't think they offer that here at Hotel d'la Shit-hole," he joked back.
She smiled as she got up and headed for the opening. "Tomorrow," she reminded him as she disappeared through the hole in the ceiling.
The noise of solitude filled the cell once more as the door locked and as the footsteps faded into nothingness.
Harper stared at his Beka stain as he resumed his normal position, but this time he was free from tremors or rocking. He stared at the stain all night in order to keep away the nightmares he knew would come with sleep. Nightmares that had previously been locked away deep in his mind, nightmares that now wanted to come out to play. Silently he calculated how many nights he would be able to go before he would have to face the monstrous sandman and the past horrors his slumber would bring.
**********
Over the next five days, Harper had many visitors. Everyone came to see him, to talk, spend time with him and let him know how much they wanted him back. Sometimes they were successful on that mission, other times Harper simply shut them out.
Talking to Harper was beginning to be like playing Russian roulette. Which personality would they get this minute? Would it be the silent sullen Harper or the open-almost-back-to-normal Harper or, if unlucky, it could be the violent paranoid Harper. Unfortunately for Dylan, he got to see the latter Harper the most.
Tyr and Rommie had finally made their way to his cell, each bringing food and water every time. Rommie even tried to clean the filthy boy one day but was greeted with a violent jerk back and a horrifying scream of "don't touch me", followed by frantic rocking that lasted long after she had to leave. Tyr had tried to wash the cell, more so for his own heightened sense of smell than for Harper's well-being...or so he said. But the second the wet rag even neared that special stain, Harper freaked out and kicked the large Nietzschean out of the very small cell. Tyr left the cell worrying about the boy's sanity as he overheard Harper whispering alone in his cell. "You ok Bek? That stupid uber didn't hurt you, did he?"
Four days after Harper had shared his painful past with Beka, the sandman hadn't won the battle against Harper's will. On the morning of the fourth day, Trance showed up bright and early, all alone with only a large basket by her side. She crawled down into the cell with him as the disgruntled warden locked them in. The warden then walked over to the next corridor to wait for that strange golden alien to call for him. Thanks to this kludge he was having to actually work now and his porn collection in his office was quickly collecting a thick layer of dust.
Opening up the basket, Trance pulled out all of Harper's favorite foods, several Sparkies, a nice clean red and white checkered sheet and some fresh candles. Within seconds, the cell was transformed into a romantic picnic for two. Harper's stomach was getting used to the idea of visitors again and ate hardily. After all the food was gone, the golden alien managed to weasel her way next to Harper and pulled his head into her lap. She fiddled with his filthy hair and picked out any lice she found. Minutes later Harper felt a warm sensation fill his being as his eyelids grew heavier until the weight was too much and darkness enveloped him. As a light golden glow illuminated around Trance's hands on Harper's head, Harper found himself falling into a much needed dreamless slumber and found his allusive serenity in the darkness.
But that next morning everything changed. In the middle of the previous night, Dylan received an urgent message from one of the Perseids' colonies. Apparently the Pythos' new Alpha was having a grand old time at the poor intellectuals expense. The situation was quickly spiraling out of control and the most powerful warship in the universe was badly needed. The crew of Andromeda had to head out that day before any more people suffered under the cruel hands of the Pythos.
That fateful morning, Harper sat alone in his cell, staring at his toes as he wiggled them back and forth. He was calculating the speed of each toe and then the time it would take each of them to race around his cell. So far his right big toe was the undefeated champion. His calculations for the big Cell 500 Circuit race were rudely interrupted by the sound of a stamped of footsteps heading his way. Two, three, five, eight....yes, eight pairs of boots were nearing his cell. 'This cannot be good,' he panicked.
The door clicked loudly and hissed open and Dylan's boots appeared in the cell. Now used to the smell and confinement of Harper's home, Dylan only flinched slightly upon entrance.
"Mr. Harper," he said as he squatted down in the most comfortable position a man of his size could in that small of a space. "Um...you knew the time would come when we would have to leave, right?"
Harper nodded.
"Well, unfortunately, its come a lot sooner than I had hoped. We have to help the Perseids with a slight Pythos infestation. I'm sorry." Dylan looked at his boots as he cursed himself for what Duty was forcing him to do. "I wanted to bring you a change of clothes, some blankets and some other supplies, but the lovely warden forbid us from leave anything with you...jail policy and all. I'm really sorry for that too."
"It's okay," Harper whispered. He still didn't feel he deserved any of those things anyways.
"No, it's not okay Harper! You should at least get clothing without bloodstains and holes in them...at least that." He paused as he forced his emotions back down deep inside him where they belonged. "We have to leave now. Everyone is here to say goodbye but we will be back to see you as soon as we can. Do you understand that?"
"Mm-uh," Harper muttered as an affirmative, his eyes still locked on his toes.
"No Harper, look at me."
Slowly he raised his head up to look towards the crouching crisp clean captain. He looked so out of place amongst the filth of the walls and floor. Almost like a hologram.
"Now look in my eyes."
This Harper found much more difficult. Every time his eyes found Dylan's black pupils, all he could see was the reflection of himself begging Dylan to stop hitting him. Finally Harper's eyes settled on Dylan's eyebrows which seemed to satisfy the captain.
"Now listen...we will come back, we will not abandon you Seamus Harper. You have to remember that while we are gone, okay? So repeat after me...'We will come back.'"
A pause. "We will come back," mocked Harper.
"Mr. Harper..." Dylan warned.
Sighing, the blonde gave in. "Fine, you will come back."
"That's the best I'm gonna get from you, isn't it?"
"Yep."
"Ok, I'll take it. And Mr. Harper, if any of those goons up there, the warden or the guards, abuse you in any way, if they don't give you proper food like I've arranged, then I need you to tell us okay. Can you promise me you'll do that?"
Harper nodded.
"Say it."
"I promise."
"Good." Dylan inched forward but, as always, Harper inched an equally distance back. Not wanting to force the issue, Dylan returned to his previous location. "Uh, Harper, you survive, ok, and remember how much we need you and that we will be coming back soon."
Again, the condemned man simply nodded as Dylan looked on with regret so large that it could fill the whole of Andromeda.
Without another word, Dylan hopped out of the cell and was replaced by the much more pleasing form of Rommie.
The same conversation occurred again and then again with Trance and then with Tyr. Though Tyr's did involve the Nietzschean promising to seriously disable any prison employee who might lay a hand on the engineer. A small smile crept into Harper's lips as Tyr explained vividly what he had planned.
Beka was the last to drop down into the cell. She quickly rushed over and pulled Harper into a hug before he even had the chance to pull away.
"I can stay here, you know," she whispered into his ear as she kept her embrace locked firmly around his bony body.
Deciding to enjoy his last piece of comfort, Harper hugged back. "I know, but you can't," he whispered back. "You're needed on the Andromeda and you'd go crazy staying in a boring place like this drift."
"True," Beka choked out sadly. She pulled back from the embrace and took Harper's face in her hands, forcing him to look at her. "Listen sport, you hang in there ok. We both know you can get through this but I want you to get through this with your sanity intact. I need my Seamus back, okay?"
Harper nodded with difficulty as she still held his face. He looked at her and saw the tears building up behind her eyes and the wrinkles forming on her chin as she struggled to keep her emotions in cheek.
"Damn it, I wasn't going to cry," she cursed.
Harper wiped away a stray tear and replaced it with a smug of dirt on her clean face. "I'll be okay. It will be a piece of cake. Look, I have free range of movement." He waved his arms around. "And there are no torture instruments lining the walls and I even have a lovely skylight." He gestured up to the grated ceiling. "And, you'll be coming back. Really Beka, I can do this, I'll be fine. Now you go and save the chin heads and kick some Pytho ass for me. 'Kay?"
Sniffling, Beka forced her tears back down. Harper was being so strong and she need to do the same for him. "Okay. You just better be here when we come back. I don't wanna be greeted by that quite lost stranger we found here earlier."
Harper nodded as he too had to force down his own tears which wanted to come out and play with Beka's. "Go now..." He pushed her away as he felt control slipping from his grasp.
Taking one last long look at her Seamus, Beka got up to leave the cell. She got as far as the opening before she suddenly turned around and rushed back to Harper for one last embrace. "Just remember that I love you Seamus Harper and that I always will." With that said, she let him go and quickly disappeared through opened hatch.
The door hissed closed and locked as the parade of feet marched away with the dragging sadness of a funeral precession.
And Seamus Harper was alone again.
The solitude didn't last too long as soon another smaller group of foot steps approached his cell. Looking up, Harper saw exactly what his years living under uber control had taught him to expect.
The warden and two large guards stood over his cell looking down at him with a bloodlust angry look that only ubers could pull off. Each had a different instrument of pain grasped in their ugly fat fists. A whip, a club and, oh joy, a taser device.
"You think you're special, do you kludge?" The warden's raspy voice spat out as he let the club fall repeatedly into his open palm. "Special Commonwealth kludge, with special privileges. Well, we'll show you how special you truly are." A evil grin grew on his snarling face as Harper's only line of protection betrayed him by hissing open.
Boot appeared on the floor in front of Harper, followed by the guard's ugly face and then a large hairy bonebladed arm which reached forward and grabbed a handful of Harper's shirt.
"It's play time boy." The guard grinned as he yanked Harper away from his corner, away from his Beka stain and up into the painful light above.
TBC......