Thanks for the reviews. Oh, and I forgot the disclaimer thingy last chapter. I don't own "Andromeda" or the characters included in it. No money for this story, although it would be nice… Can I send out letters in envelopes with those "Non-Profit Organization: No Postage Needed" spaces now?
Oh, and these are the lyrics to the song Harper will be listening to sometime in this chapter. DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own this song, Statemachine does.
BATTERED AND BRUISED by Statemachine
Guess I had to be kind of blind not to see
How it was bound to be in vain
Hung around for the plot to thicken
While being stabbed again and again
This time I'll burn all bridges leading back
Cause I'm not sure I'm strong enough
I simply have to bail
I'm far too frail to be at the receiving end
I feel torn apart and abused
Battered and bruised
I guess I'm stupid to nurture an addiction to hope
But it's not my only vice
I surrendered again thought things would change
Now imagine my surprise
This time I'll burn all bridges leading back
Cause I'm not sure I'm strong enough
I simply have to bail
I'm far too frail to be at the receiving end
I feel torn apart and abused
Battered and bruised
Words by Mårten Kellerman
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Harper looked at the mess of wires before him and smiled a bit. 'I haven't done this in a while…' he thought. It was true. He hadn't had a job in engineering since he'd been on this planet. All of his jobs had been delivering parts to ships that already had engineers. He'd been dying for a job doing what he knew best: fixing things that others had broken. When Beka and Trance showed up at his door six hours previously, he felt so relieved.
He turned to the small console behind him and pushed a button, turning on some music he'd found in the Maru's archives. The band had existed thousands of years ago, but he didn't care. After reading the lyrics to the song, "Battered and Bruised" by Statemachine, he decided he had to hear it. Electronic "synthpop" music blasted through the speakers in the Maru's machine shop and his smile broadened tenfold. "My kind of music," he mumbled to himself. He cleared a space in the web of wires surrounding him and sat on the floor, and then began sorting through the wires to make sense of them all.
That was how Beka found him a few hours later, still sorting through the jungle of wires. Most of them were braided together and tossed into organized piles. He was now sitting in the far left corner of the room working on a group of black and silver wires. The music was still blaring, the same song she'd been hearing since he turned it on. She supposed the song was appropriate for him. "I feel torn apart and abused/ Battered and bruised," were some of the lyrics. Harper must not have heard her come in, because he never looked up from the wires and his head still bobbed lightly to the music. She cleared her throat to get his attention and it worked. His head snapped up and he dropped the wires, standing up quickly.
"Sorry, I didn't hear you come in," he apologized. His words were so rapid she almost couldn't understand him.
"Relax, shorty," Beka laughed. "I just wanted to see how you were doing. Everybody else is asleep. I can never sleep while my baby's being fixed." Harper raised an eyebrow at her and tried to hide his smile. "Don't… say… anything… This ship is my life, okay? I was born on it, I was raised on it, and I'll probably die on it." Harper put his hands up in silent surrender. "Aren't you hungry yet?"
Harper's baby blues wandered for a moment. "Yeah, actually, I am," he answered. "Can I have my leftovers from dinner now?"
Beka sighed. "You don't have to ask, you know," she told him. "It's your food, eat it if you want. And you're welcome to anything you can find in the mess hall. It was part of our deal, remember?" She picked up one of the braids of wires, this one colored red, white, and yellow. "What are all these wires from?"
"Life support. That's what the problem was. Your last engineer must have been bad a wiring. He had everything all mixed up."
Beka narrowed her eyes. "I was the last one to rewire life support, thank you very much… And I don't know very much about engineering. I told you I was bad."
Harper looked like he'd given himself a mental slap in the face. "It actually wasn't bad for somebody who doesn't know anything about engineering." 'Way to stick your foot in your mouth, Harper,' he thought. "Well… I'm going to go eat now, okay?"
"Let me show you to the mess hall," Beka said, dropping the wires back on the ground.
"I can find it. I memorized the map of the Maru before I started working." He smiled and left the machine shop, leaving Beka astonished.
'This kid is amazing,' she thought. 'I wonder if he'd be interested in staying on board when we leave…'
Trance climbed out of her bunk the next morning and stretched her hands to the ceiling, letting her tail swish from side to side to work out the kinks of sleep. For a moment she forgot the events of the previous day, but the sounds of somebody crawling through the conduits above her reminded her that Harper was on board. She smiled and made her way to the mess hall to get some water and maybe something to eat. On her way there, she passed Beka's quarters and saw that Beka was in her private shower, but Bobby was not in the room.
Upon arrival at the mess hall, Trance was unpleasantly surprised to see Bobby sitting at the table eating a sandwich. He glared at her as she made her way to the refrigerator to get a bottle of water, watching her every move. She tried to ignore him, but eventually she could feel his eyes on her. She spun around and glared back at him, pursing her lips into a thin, plum colored line. "Do you mind?" she growled softly but harshly.
"What did you say?" he growled back, not quite as soft as her. "Don't you start mouthing off, you purple wench."
"If you touch me, Beka will kick you off this ship," Trance warned. Bobby started laughing at her comment, standing up and getting closer to the small purple girl. He was twice her size when he stood up.
"Beka doesn't have the guts to kick me off this ship," he said as he reached his hand out and brushed Trance's cheek. She backed into the counter behind her and tried to push him away. "She loves me too much, you know that. She won't do anything to me."
"She might not, but I will," Harper's voice interrupted Bobby's moment. Bobby spun around, only to be met by Harper's fist in his face. Harper must have crawled into the mess hall from one of the conduits when nobody was paying attention. He staggered for a moment, shocked that somebody had hit him. His disorientation didn't last long, though, and he grabbed Harper by the collar of his shirt, lifting him off the floor. "Don't you ever touch me again, you little rat," he warned.
"Don't you ever touch Trance again, you big…" He didn't get to finish his sentence. Bobby slammed him into a wall, knocking the wind out of him, and started kneeing him in the abdomen, throwing in a few punches to his face. Before long, he felt Bobby's grip on him loosen and he fell to the floor, gasping to catch his breath. In his dazed state, he didn't hear Beka's shouts or Trance's soft words of comfort. His head spun from the pain, and soon he was slipping into unconsciousness. The last thing he felt before he fell completely into oblivion was Trance's warm hand brushing his hair back from his face.
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This one wasn't as long as the first chapter, but I warned you that that would happen. So? Is my "promising" beginning continuing into a promising story? Review if you want.
Oh, and these are the lyrics to the song Harper will be listening to sometime in this chapter. DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own this song, Statemachine does.
BATTERED AND BRUISED by Statemachine
Guess I had to be kind of blind not to see
How it was bound to be in vain
Hung around for the plot to thicken
While being stabbed again and again
This time I'll burn all bridges leading back
Cause I'm not sure I'm strong enough
I simply have to bail
I'm far too frail to be at the receiving end
I feel torn apart and abused
Battered and bruised
I guess I'm stupid to nurture an addiction to hope
But it's not my only vice
I surrendered again thought things would change
Now imagine my surprise
This time I'll burn all bridges leading back
Cause I'm not sure I'm strong enough
I simply have to bail
I'm far too frail to be at the receiving end
I feel torn apart and abused
Battered and bruised
Words by Mårten Kellerman
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Harper looked at the mess of wires before him and smiled a bit. 'I haven't done this in a while…' he thought. It was true. He hadn't had a job in engineering since he'd been on this planet. All of his jobs had been delivering parts to ships that already had engineers. He'd been dying for a job doing what he knew best: fixing things that others had broken. When Beka and Trance showed up at his door six hours previously, he felt so relieved.
He turned to the small console behind him and pushed a button, turning on some music he'd found in the Maru's archives. The band had existed thousands of years ago, but he didn't care. After reading the lyrics to the song, "Battered and Bruised" by Statemachine, he decided he had to hear it. Electronic "synthpop" music blasted through the speakers in the Maru's machine shop and his smile broadened tenfold. "My kind of music," he mumbled to himself. He cleared a space in the web of wires surrounding him and sat on the floor, and then began sorting through the wires to make sense of them all.
That was how Beka found him a few hours later, still sorting through the jungle of wires. Most of them were braided together and tossed into organized piles. He was now sitting in the far left corner of the room working on a group of black and silver wires. The music was still blaring, the same song she'd been hearing since he turned it on. She supposed the song was appropriate for him. "I feel torn apart and abused/ Battered and bruised," were some of the lyrics. Harper must not have heard her come in, because he never looked up from the wires and his head still bobbed lightly to the music. She cleared her throat to get his attention and it worked. His head snapped up and he dropped the wires, standing up quickly.
"Sorry, I didn't hear you come in," he apologized. His words were so rapid she almost couldn't understand him.
"Relax, shorty," Beka laughed. "I just wanted to see how you were doing. Everybody else is asleep. I can never sleep while my baby's being fixed." Harper raised an eyebrow at her and tried to hide his smile. "Don't… say… anything… This ship is my life, okay? I was born on it, I was raised on it, and I'll probably die on it." Harper put his hands up in silent surrender. "Aren't you hungry yet?"
Harper's baby blues wandered for a moment. "Yeah, actually, I am," he answered. "Can I have my leftovers from dinner now?"
Beka sighed. "You don't have to ask, you know," she told him. "It's your food, eat it if you want. And you're welcome to anything you can find in the mess hall. It was part of our deal, remember?" She picked up one of the braids of wires, this one colored red, white, and yellow. "What are all these wires from?"
"Life support. That's what the problem was. Your last engineer must have been bad a wiring. He had everything all mixed up."
Beka narrowed her eyes. "I was the last one to rewire life support, thank you very much… And I don't know very much about engineering. I told you I was bad."
Harper looked like he'd given himself a mental slap in the face. "It actually wasn't bad for somebody who doesn't know anything about engineering." 'Way to stick your foot in your mouth, Harper,' he thought. "Well… I'm going to go eat now, okay?"
"Let me show you to the mess hall," Beka said, dropping the wires back on the ground.
"I can find it. I memorized the map of the Maru before I started working." He smiled and left the machine shop, leaving Beka astonished.
'This kid is amazing,' she thought. 'I wonder if he'd be interested in staying on board when we leave…'
Trance climbed out of her bunk the next morning and stretched her hands to the ceiling, letting her tail swish from side to side to work out the kinks of sleep. For a moment she forgot the events of the previous day, but the sounds of somebody crawling through the conduits above her reminded her that Harper was on board. She smiled and made her way to the mess hall to get some water and maybe something to eat. On her way there, she passed Beka's quarters and saw that Beka was in her private shower, but Bobby was not in the room.
Upon arrival at the mess hall, Trance was unpleasantly surprised to see Bobby sitting at the table eating a sandwich. He glared at her as she made her way to the refrigerator to get a bottle of water, watching her every move. She tried to ignore him, but eventually she could feel his eyes on her. She spun around and glared back at him, pursing her lips into a thin, plum colored line. "Do you mind?" she growled softly but harshly.
"What did you say?" he growled back, not quite as soft as her. "Don't you start mouthing off, you purple wench."
"If you touch me, Beka will kick you off this ship," Trance warned. Bobby started laughing at her comment, standing up and getting closer to the small purple girl. He was twice her size when he stood up.
"Beka doesn't have the guts to kick me off this ship," he said as he reached his hand out and brushed Trance's cheek. She backed into the counter behind her and tried to push him away. "She loves me too much, you know that. She won't do anything to me."
"She might not, but I will," Harper's voice interrupted Bobby's moment. Bobby spun around, only to be met by Harper's fist in his face. Harper must have crawled into the mess hall from one of the conduits when nobody was paying attention. He staggered for a moment, shocked that somebody had hit him. His disorientation didn't last long, though, and he grabbed Harper by the collar of his shirt, lifting him off the floor. "Don't you ever touch me again, you little rat," he warned.
"Don't you ever touch Trance again, you big…" He didn't get to finish his sentence. Bobby slammed him into a wall, knocking the wind out of him, and started kneeing him in the abdomen, throwing in a few punches to his face. Before long, he felt Bobby's grip on him loosen and he fell to the floor, gasping to catch his breath. In his dazed state, he didn't hear Beka's shouts or Trance's soft words of comfort. His head spun from the pain, and soon he was slipping into unconsciousness. The last thing he felt before he fell completely into oblivion was Trance's warm hand brushing his hair back from his face.
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This one wasn't as long as the first chapter, but I warned you that that would happen. So? Is my "promising" beginning continuing into a promising story? Review if you want.