CHAPTER SIX ~ Masks
"Sometimes even the wearer is fooled by the mask."
Hereca Yuka-Sen; Almanian prophet
CY 6643
^~*~^
Harper's mind was beginning to warm up now, recalling flashes of memory from the night before. What was he thinking? An incredible wave of guilt had washed over his body. Ironic, that guilt was what he was trying to get rid of in the first place. He had succumb to temptation, and broken the promise that he made to himself the day Beka took him away from his past.
After Harper left Carna he drifted for a while before eventually returning to Earth to see if anyone he knew was still alive. A morbid quest, but leaving his remaining family was something he desperately regretted. He didn't like what he found when he got there. Family and friends gone, Nietzscheans running riot, it killed him twice over to see his homeland like that, and knowing that he could have been there to try and stop it, for whatever difference it could have made.
He couldn't stay there, that was for sure, so when Beka and her loser boyfriend turned up, he saw it as a golden opportunity to start afresh. He vowed that same day to leave behind his entire time on Carna and begin a new life. He'd even lied to Beka about it on the day they met, claiming it was his first time in space.
And now, over five years later, here he was breaking that solemn vow. What kind of person broke their own promises?
*No more,* he ordered himself. *This ends now.* But Harper knew that one couldn't come off of a toxin as strong as Hex just like that. It wasn't like Flash, which was mild compared to HX-18. The dose needed to be reduced gradually. The two syringes left were hopefully enough to do this. His hands shook as he slowly injected half of the second dose of Hex into his left arm.^~*~^
"I don't like this, Beka. We're losing him," Trance told Beka, quite out of the blue. They were waiting in reception for Harper.
"It's going to take time, you know that. Things like what happened won't just go away," Beka replied. Oh how she wished she was lying. She yearned for it to all go away, and for everything to be okay again. For Harper to be okay again. Deep down she supposed that could never happen, but she still tried to believe it.
"I do know that. But I also know if he keeps shutting off like this we'll never get him back," Trance insisted. She needed to do something, to act, but she couldn't see what. Beka wouldn't even admit to herself that there was anything wrong, and it was clear she wasn't ready to accept otherwise quite yet.
The conversation couldn't progress any further because the subject of it showed up.
"Mornin' ladies," Harper said with a chirpy voice that didn't match his sleep-deprived eyes.
"My god, you look like hell," Beka exclaimed.
Harper had attempted to clean himself up but obviously he hadn't succeeded. "So I got a little hangover, sue me," he grimaced in reply. Trance noted his speech was slightly faster than usual, but put it down to nerves.
"You're on the stand in ten minutes, are you still going through with this?" Trance asked, hoping that he would say 'no, I'm going back to bed' but alas, he didn't.
"You betcha. Let's roll."
^~*~^
"And then you proceeded to integrate Andromeda's mainframe with the same program."
"Yes. By then it had developed into something much more sophisticated than its original design," Rommie told the board of representatives. The Hall of Justice was dramatically named to fit with the buildings design. Arches and elaborate decor were the main theme. The room the investigation was set in was the main hall, which comprised of a room about the size of the command deck, with a long table which the representatives sat at. Rommie was standing opposite in a small booth and Dylan and Tyr were seated in a slightly elevated stand to the right side of her.
"Which was?" the representative from the Persiad homeworld asked of the integral catalyst for the Autriva disaster - the Vengeance program.
"To eliminate those responsible for Harper's death," Rommie replied.
"Do you blame Seamus Harper for what happened to you?" Terren, another representative asked.
"Not for a second," Rommie replied decisively.
"But wasn't it his poorly designed program that caused the deaths of the people of Autriva?" Terren inquired, clearly pushing for someone to blame. It was hopeless. Rommie could not be tricked, coerced or pushed into anything, by anyone.
"With all due respect, the program was not poorly designed. There was simply an oversight."
"So you're saying the lives of two hundred or so colonists were lost due to a simple oversight?"
"No, I am saying life does not always give you what you expect."
"Very well. Thank-you for your assistance. The next to be questioned will...Seamus Harper, chief engineer," Gidarn announced after looking at a flexi.
Harper, Beka and Trance had arrived outside the hall. Harper was wired from his last dose of Hex, and was in no condition to give any kind of statement. However, this fact did nothing to deter the engineer. His masquerade could not fail, he needed it now more than ever.
"It isn't too late to back out you know," Trance told Harper gently.
"Will everyone just stop trying to stop me from doing this, what's the big deal?!" Harper snapped, his voice filled with aggravation. "What, are you afraid I'll let it slip that I'm a murderer?"
"Harper," Beka stated, attempting to pull him from whatever road he was going down.
"Sorry. I'm good. Really, it'll be over in no time." He smiled, his mood and demeanour changing instantly.
Beka and Trance exchanged worried looks as Harper pushed open the door.
^~*~^
End of chapter six