TITLE: Break

NOTES: Things are gonna get worse before they get better ;)

CHAPTER ELEVEN ~ Time Will Tell

"No greater killer than time, no greater pain than waiting."
The Aleth-Dracena teachings 3:23

CY 3423

^~*~^Forget the drugs, it was the stress that was going to finish Harper off. The investigation had put enough pressure on him, but with covering up his growing habit and the fact that he had been seeing ghosts, he was working on overdrive. Getting the incriminating wallet from Rommie was a small worry compared to his latest task; to somehow obtain a medical certificate stating that he had an infection he didn't have - without going to see a doctor. He had considered simply giving evidence in the investigation to save all the trouble, but he couldn't risk screwing up in there again, or rather he couldn't risk *Lane* screwing up everything.

So the choice was made; Harper would have to make acquaint himself with the Ostarian criminal underground and find out where to get hold of false medical documents. How had it come to this? Rather than dwelling on that particular thought, Harper got moving. The others were attending another question session in the halls. It was Beka's turn on the stand, and she was no doubt doing everything in her power to fight for Andromeda's innocence - and Harper's, if she needed to. Since the others were all tied up elsewhere, Harper wasted no time heading for the same club he and Trance had wound up in before. He guessed the minute he set eyes on the place that suspect dealings were going on somewhere inside. He hoped they would work for his advantage.

The club was pretty busy, which was a good sign. *Well* he thought *Only fools waste time* - it was something that Rev had once told him. If Rev were here he would no doubt be filling his head with all kinds of religious philosophical crap that didn't help anyone, especially Harper. But he had more important things to think about than Rev right now.

An hour into his not-so-joyful stay at the club, Harper had picked out a few select people whom he thought looked, well, shifty, and subtly hinted that he was looking for something that might be considered illegal, and this time he didn't mean drugs.

A stranger approached Harper at the bar. "Hey. I hear you're looking for something that can't be obtained by the 'usual' methods?"

"That depends, can you get it for me?" Harper replied.

"Whatever you need, I can get," the man said. "Call me Daeg."

"I need medical documents."

"No problem. Birth certificates, death certificates, blood tests, what's your pleasure?"

"I need a form that says I have Trisentian flu," Harper told the man. He had picked up the particular flu once a couple of years back, and the symptoms corresponded roughly with what the others had seen in the halls.

"Trisentian flu? Pretty rare to catch that, you know," Daeg said.

"You'd be surprised what I can catch," Harper mumbled. He cursed his weak immune system every time he caught a bug, an infection or a disease. It was just another thing that made him hate himself for being weak.

"I can have it in two days,"

Harper wasn't pleased. "I need it by tonight," he said urgently.

"Tonight?! You know, you leave things till the last minute, it's gonna cost you. And it's gonna cost you."

"How much?" Harper asked.

"Considering I'll have to postpone some other 'projects', I'd say...twenty-thousand thrones," Daeg replied, not knowing how lucky he was that Harper wasn't in one of his bad moods.

"Twenty-thousand? I may not be from this planet but I'm not an idiot. Ten thou, not a throne more."

"What are you trying to bankrupt me? Alright, seventeen, but that's the best I can do," Daeg insisted.

"I said ten," Harper growled. He could come across as quite menacing when he wanted to - and he wanted to.

Daeg laughed uneasily. "Okay, okay, you got me, ten it is. I'll need your name. Medical documents have to have the full name of the patient."

"Seamus Zelazny Harper," he replied reluctantly. It wasn't a good idea to give your name to a criminal. Criminals could always give it away without permission. But in this case he supposed there was no choice.

"Okay, I'll meet you out back at midnight with the forms."

"I'll be there."


Meanwhile at the halls of justice, the investigation was still going on. Trance was now on the stand and Dylan remained quietly optimistic that her unique perspective would once again prove to be an eye-opener.

"Accidents are the natural cause of the universe. There is no going through life and only witnessing the positive, the universe is a balance," Trance said reflectively. She was perfectly calm and allowed the forces of chance to guide her words.

"I'm not denying that what happened was a terrible tragedy, I'm simply saying trying to blame someone for something that had to happen won't do any good."

"Ms. Gemini, you seem to have grasped a clarity of this situation that some of may never achieve. But I think I am starting to see. Thank-you," S'Ren said.

Trance was happy she had managed to change someone's perspective, even slightly. She thanked whatever forces had aided her fortune and left the stand.

The representatives shared some secretive banter. Finally Terren stood. "After hearing facts and testimonies over these past days, we feel enough information has been gathered to make a final decision."

Everyone in the room tensed. The final decision could stretch from Dylan getting his command back to Andromeda being dismantled and Rommie along with her.

"We shall adjourn for as long as needed to make our final judgement., then you will be called for an official hearing," Terren announced.

The representatives each stood and left, apart from Gidarn who stayed behind. "Captain Hunt, I will need to see those medical certificates of your chief engineer. It's just procedure, you understand."

"Of course," Dylan replied. Gidarn followed the others out and only the Andromeda's crew was left.

"I think that went well," Rommie said first.

"You did a great job Trance," Dylan congratulated. Trance replied with a smile.

Tyr did nothing but grimace. To him it was blindingly obvious that the destruction of the Autriva colonies was nothing but an accident. It was no great loss either. The Autrivans had nothing of worth to give the Commonwealth and in ten years no-one would remember them anyway. This whole investigation was a pitiful quest for justice. But justice couldn't be found where no-one was to blame.


Later that night Harper was waiting in the cold alley behind the club at ten past midnight. He had spoken to the others during the course of the day, though mostly through the coms. He had lied to them, saying he was at the hospital, waiting for his results. Now that they were all asleep he had snuck out to meet with Daeg - but so far Daeg was a no-show.

Some noise from behind made Harper turn around. Expecting to see Daeg, he was in for a shock when four nasty-looking men rounded the corner with weapons aimed straight for him. They closed off every exit. Harper knew it was useless going for his sidearm - he was outnumbered and surrounded - and they would probably level him before he could get off a shot.

Another evil-looking man came around the corner. The phrase 'You wouldn't want to meet him in a dark alley' could have been written about this guy. "You didn't think you could get away with that, did you?" he said in a low raspy voice.

"Sorry pal, I think you got the wrong guy," Harper said. He'd never seen the man before in his life.

"I think not. You're going to pay for what you did, one way or another,"

"Woah woah, wait a second, I don't even know who you are!" Harper protested.

"I apologise for not introducing myself. My name is Thorne. We have never met, but we have a mutual friend and right now he's not feeling too well. You see, someone almost killed him last night."

Harper went ghostly pale. The dealer was alive, that was something, but Harper still had to pay for his actions. By the looks of the situation, it wasn't going to be pretty.

Thorne continued. "His jaw was broken, and it was only a few hours ago we were able to understand his ramblings. He gave a description of his attacker. And that was you."

Harper didn't say anything - what was there he could say? 'Sorry'? What good would that do?

"It's not that I care about my employees, there are plenty more where that came from. However, he was carrying something for me that wasn't meant for you."

Harper was confused. If he didn't care about the dealer, why would they go to so much trouble just for a wallet of Hex? Surely it wasn't that great a loss...

"It wasn't HX. It was something that shouldn't have been wasted on the likes of you. And I want it back."

"Then I guess this isn't your lucky day, cuz it's all gone," Harper said, worried. In truth there were still two full syringes left, but he'd be damned if he let those out of his grasp.

"Then you are in more trouble than you bargained for," Thorne smiled. "Come on boys, there's no use wasting ammo. Time will kill this one for us."

The five men left the alley laughing. Harper was momentarily pleased he had escaped with his life, until that last sentence sunk into his mind. Another problem had just made its way into Harper's growing collection.


End of chapter eleven