The Contemplation

Dylan watched, leaning over a railing over engineering. It seemed less lively without Harper, but it hadn't collapsed. When Dylan had made his decision and said:

"Lieutenant Flinte you're in charge until Harper gets back."

He never realised with how much vigour and enthusiasm Jason Flinte would take to it. He knew that Jason was a good guy, smart and competent, that's why he chose him...and he wouldn't be off on personal project building all the time either. Perhaps he would follow orders as well. Was the only reason for Jason Flinte not being Chief Engineer because of Dylan's bias towards Harper? Somehow is didn't seem right that somebody who worked so hard and was a perfect candidate for Chief Engineer should be held back because Harper had an unfair advantage. How would Harper take it if he got demoted in place of Flinte?

Dylan stopped himself. Sure he had threatened Harper with losing his job on a third strike...but he was being unfair. For one thing, there was never a first strike, which meant Harper still had one 'strike' left. Harper worked hard too, and ok so maybe he spent a lot of time on other projects, but those other projects had saved their lives plenty of times in the past, they were not built purely for himself, they usually benefited the whole crew. Besides, none of the engineering team was honestly smarter than Harper- he was genuinely the best engineer. Something form his training sprang to mind...

A leader doesn't have to be the best at the job, just the best at communicating and leading.

Dylan shook his head of these thoughts. Things had gone well enough with Harper in charge so why change? Dylan was too angry with Harper for his judgement to be fair. His anger began to ease as he remembered all Harper had been through. He needed a break, he probably just forgot he was supposed to ask, he hadn't grown up with Commonwealth schooling after all, as Beka had been reminding him among other things. Beka was no pushover, she'd had Harper as an engineer for longer, so Dylan sighed and gave in. That didn't mean Harper was getting off easy when he got back though. After last time he should have known better, and despite her sticking up for him, he could tell Beka wasn't too happy with him either.

The Return

As soon as Harper stepped out of the Maru and into the glare of Dylan and Beka, he knew what he'd been dreading for the past hour or so was about to take place. He tried to form the words he'd planned, to tell them the truth, but as soon as he thought of Brendan all he could do was try not to break down in front of them. As it happened he couldn't get a word in edgeways if he'd wanted to.

Dylan and Beka started, and had they not been so angry they might have noticed the clenched jaw and pained look. Beka may have defended him, but that didn't mean she thought it was ok, and was expressing as much. For Harper the situation was unbearable. He needed support from them. He'd lost the only family he's had left and he didn't need this. He cut them off with a terse 'Shut up!' and stormed out.