CHAPTER EIGHTEEN ~ As It Seems

"Cry not for those who are lost. Some may yet return."

Kirrien proverb

CY 122

^~*~^"Where are you going?" Beka called as she tried to catch up with Harper. He had run out of the med-deck before she had a chance to stop him. As she did she mentally kicked herself. Restraints would have been a good idea.

"I'm going to find her," Harper replied with determinism.

"Find who? Lane? Harper, she's dead!"

Harper stopped his brisk stride and turned, causing Beka to practically bump into him. "She's not dead!" he shouted.

Beka tried to see things his way. Maybe that would change his mind. "Alright, alright. I believe you," she said.

Harper studied her closely. Was she telling the truth? Or was she just trying to keep him there long enough so the others could grab him and lock him up? The paranoia was difficult to suppress.

"Please stay. I'll protect you from her," Beka tried.

Harper shook his head. "You can't. She's in my head. She made take all that crap and now I, I can't even think straight."

"I know what you're going through...." Beka started, but didn't get a chance to carry on. Harper broke. He didn't care about holding back his obvious state. "Oh really?! Little Miss Flash Addict knows what I'm going through?!" he shouted. "Let me tell you something Beka, Flash is about as strong as coffee, you're just WEAK."

Beka couldn't believe the man standing before her was the same Harper she knew. The Harper she knew would never make a mockery of one of the biggest ordeals she had ever been through. The Harper that had been with her through thick and thin would never raise his voice towards her, let alone call her weak. Such a rapid change was a shock to her system.

Harper looked shocked at the sound of his own voice. "Oh god...I'm sorry..."

"It's okay," Beka said.

"You see?!" Harper started walking again. "This is why I have to find out how she did this to me, and make her get out of my head."

Beka followed. "I understand, just, don't go on your own. Wait until we've finished the mission, then we'll all go."

"You've gotta be kidding me," Lane laughed, walking backwards in front of Harper. "Is that the best she can do? A monkey would have been more convincing."

"Please Harper," Beka pleaded. "Please stay, we'll all help you."

Harper turned once more and looked her straight in the eye. "I don't want or need your help." It was the biggest lie he had ever told.

^~*~^

"Beka to Command. Dylan, Harper's awake and he's trying to take the Maru. Can you lock the hangar deck?"

Dylan had tried to take in all the information Beka had just given him. He started toward the hangar deck.

"Dylan, the situation in the Ferran system can't wait much longer," Andromeda reminded.

"I know. Just give me a minute," he replied, and exited.

*Should have restrained him.* he thought. *Should have cancelled his command codes. Should have seen this coming, should have stopped it before it started.*

Dylan met Beka in the corridor. "What's going on?"

"He's insisting that Lane Farrow is still alive, and is somehow responsible for everything that's happened. He wants to go and find her," Beka explained briefly.

"Lane Farrow? But she's - "

"Dead, I know, but he won't accept it. He wants to go back to Ostara."

Dylan thought for a moment. "We have to let him go."

"What?!" Beka yelled.

"He's dangerous right now, and if he wants to leave, he'll find a way whether we let him go or not. I'd rather he didn't see us as the people trying to hold him against his will."

"Even if it's for his own good?" Beka demanded.

"We have to get our priorities straight. We're on a mission, Beka, and we're running out of time." Dylan really didn't like being a Captain sometimes. "Andromeda, set a slip route to Persephone Point and prepare for transit."

Beka couldn't believe what she was hearing. "I won't abandon him," she said, and continued to stop Harper from making another huge mistake.

^~*~^

Harper reached the hangar deck and found it wasn't locked. They were going to let him go?

"Some friends, huh?" Lane smirked.

"Just shut the hell up!" Harper yelled and went to prep the Maru. Soon he'd have his proof and he's be free from Lane forever.

"Harper, wait!" Beka yelled as she finally arrived , out of breath. "I'm coming with you."

"No, you're not," Harper replied.

"I wasn't asking," Beka said angrily. She approached him, but didn't get far. Harper whipped his sidearm from his pocket and pointed it at her.

"No, Beka. She'll just make me hurt you, and that's the last thing I want to do." He had no intention of using his gun, but hoped that it would prove his point.

"This isn't you. It's just the drugs screwing up your head. You're not like this."

"Which is exactly why I have to go."

They stared for a moment, trying to find something inside the other that they knew. Harper lowered his gun, but just as Beka thought he was about to give up, he hit the control switch and the Maru's door closed.

"No! Harper, wait!"

"The hangar doors will open in two minutes, you have to get out," Andromeda told a distraught Beka.

Beka stood for a moment, one thought one her mind; this could be the last time she saw Harper alive. Then the Valentine stubbornness that ran through her veins kicked in. This would NOT be the last time she saw Harper. She was going to march straight up to Command and use the grappling hooks to drag the Maru back in by it's her heels.

The ship shuddered slightly as Andromeda entered slipstream.

^~*~^

Harper was away from the Andromeda before he had time to stop and think about the hurt in Beka's eyes.

"Harper? Why are you doing this?" A voice came over the Maru's com. It was Andromeda, trying her hand at convincing the frantic engineer to stay. Instead it just reminded him of what he had done to Rommie. He would have thought Andromeda of all people would want him off the ship.

"Don't even bother," Harper scowled.

"You're in danger," Andromeda tried. "The drug you were taking is impure, you'll be dead before we can come back and get you."

"She's lying. It's pathetic, it really is," Lane dismissed. She was leaning casually over the railings behind the pilot's chair.

"Trance is trying to make up something that will help you," Andromeda continued. "Just stay until she can finish it. Please," she insisted.

"If I stay I'll end up hurting you, or the others. I can't let myself do that again,"

"Wait...Harper, something's wrong! Intru - "

The com went dead.

^~*~^

Beka arrived in Command just in time for the ship to rock and the room was plunged into darkness.

"Andromeda? Andromeda, respond," Dylan called. He didn't know what happened. As soon as they exited slipstream into Persephone Point there was an explosion, and then everything just went dead. Now Andromeda wasn't responding and only minimal back-up systems were operational.

Tyr, find the source of that explosion and report back. Tyr was about to leave when the Command doors opened and he was faced with four guns aimed at his chest.

"Nobody is going anywhere."

^~*~^

End of chapter eighteen

Next: The Good Fight