CHAPTER NINE ~ Eye of the Deceiver
"God help you when lies become easier to tell than the truth."
Unknown
^~*~^
Harper stared at Rommie's lifeless figure on the floor. He didn't want to have to shut her down, but it was necessary. He had installed the emergency shut-down protocol inside the avatar when he was purging the Vengeance program from her systems. He hadn't expected to have to use it so soon but he couldn't have her telling the others, or knowing about his drug use. It would cause nothing but trouble, and he had caused enough if that already.
Now all Harper needed was a cover story. Something that would happily explain away his odd behaviour, the disappearances and now, his wound. Of course, a good excuse was like Tarn Vedra - exceptionally difficult to find. After two or three minutes wearing a hole in the carpet from pacing, he came up with a story that would have to do, and set about altering Rommie's memory of what he had told her.
^~*~^
"Dylan, it's me," Rommie's voice echoed in Dylan's ear. He was in the hall, waiting for the representatives to come back with their declaration.
"Go ahead," he said quietly, hoping Rommie had good news.
"I'm with Harper. He's been attacked but he's okay, we're waiting outside for you," she told her Captain.
"Acknowledged."
Beka, who overheard, immediately got up and left, ignoring the rule that no-one was to leave once the session had begun. She didn't care. Nobody attacked her Harper.
The representatives entered the room and sat down.
^~*~^
Outside the halls Harper was shifting uncomfortably. His plan had worked; Rommie had no idea what he had told her. Instead he had spun a story about a stranger picking a fight with him at the bar the night he got back late. After feeling ill while he was on the stand, he went to get some air and was attacked again by the same stranger. It was a little vague, but it covered most of the angles.
"What happened, who did it, and where are they?" Beka demanded when she approached the awaiting pair. The gash down Harper's face looked nasty.
"I'm fine, it's just a little scrape, that's all," Harper reassured her. In all actuality every movement of his face and jaw reopened the healing wound, and stung like crazy. He had cleaned it up as best he could before coming down.
"Harper has an infection. I won't know more until we get him back the Andromeda," Rommie explained.
"So is that's why you ran out before?" Beka deducted.
"It was hot in there!" Harper protested. The argument Beka and Tyr had had stuck in his mind. He couldn't stand anyone, let alone Beka, to see him as weak.
"What's going on in there?" Rommie asked Beka. Under the influence of Harper's readjustments, she was impelled to downplay the seriousness of the 'attack', so the others wouldn't worry.
"I don't know," Beka replied. "I think Dylan will call for a postponement of the Q&A sessions. Given the circumstances," she added.
Speaking of the devil, Dylan exited the hall followed by Trance and Tyr. "The investigation is being suspended pending further notice," Dylan informed them. "So, Mr Harper. What have you been up to?" he asked, pleased to find his engineer was still standing at the very least.
"Saved some puppies, helped the needy, donated to charity, you know, the usual," Harper said, his voice still a little faster than usual.
"Uh-huh, and what have you *actually* been up to?"
"Harper was threatened by someone in the bar last night, and attacked by the same person today," Rommie told him.
"What? Why didn't you say something?" Trance questioned. If he was threatened, why did he leave the bar by himself?
"Oh right, like I need you to smother me some more," Harper said back, a rebellious trace of hatred seeping into his tone. The others didn't seem to pick up on it, mistaking it for just another of Harper's sarcastic comments.
"We should file a report about this attacker," Beka announced.
"Please, he's probably long gone by now. I just wanna get this damn investigation over with so we can get back to Andromeda," Harper dismissed. Besides, there was no point searching for an attacker that didn't exist.
"What? Harper, we can't just let this guy get away with it," Beka disputed.
"The boy's right, it would be a waste of time," Tyr said. "The sooner this trial is over, the sooner I get to see the back of this vile place." This time the others were pretty sure he was being serious.
"We can't let a criminal go unpunished," Dylan said, then realised how else his statement could be interpreted. Harper was a criminal, and they had decided to cover it up. Silence fell over the group like a ton of bricks and the floor suddenly became the most interesting thing to look at.
Trance gave a slight cough to alleviate the tension. "I'm going back to the arboretum. Harper, why don't you come with me?"
"Plants and trees aren't my idea of fun, Trance," Harper declined.
Trance wasn't going to take no for an answer. "Well, I'm not letting you out of my sight, so you might as well come along."
Even in his deluded state, Harper knew it was better to go with her. "Fine, but I need my jacket first."
When the pair were out of earshot, the remaining three stopped watching their every word.
"Inform me when this pathetic drama has been dealt with," Tyr said, and left. His suspicions were the most accurate of all the crew. Even though the others couldn't see the fine mess they were creating by coddling the boy, he saw it as plain as day. But Tyr Anasazi would not play ships counsellor. The only problems he cared about were his own.
Beka watched her crew leave until only she Dylan and Rommie were left. "It's not gonna go back to normal, is it?" she said reflectively, and walked away without waiting for a reply.
^~*~^
End of chapter nine