Author's note: For some reason I can't place a dividing line between sections so when you see "Divider" it represents the dividing line.
In time of test, family is best. –Burmese Proverb
Family Test
"Hey, Harper, who's the brunette with Doyle?" asked Beka as she took a seat at the bar.
"That's my daughter," Harper said proudly.
"You're what?!" said Beka in a surprised tone.
"My daughter, Finola Tanith Harper," replied Harper.
Beka burst out laughing at the thought of Harper having a kid.
"You have a kid!" Beka said while laughing loudly. The woman heard the laugh and ran over to Beka.
"Aunt Beka! I'm so happy to see you," said the strange woman as she threw her arms around Beka. Beka looked slightly unnerved as the woman gave her a hug.
"Hey kid, why are you hugging me?" asked Beka as she pulled herself away.
"Because you're one of my aunts, and I haven't seen you in such a long time," the woman replied looking at Beka. Beka could see that the woman had Harpers' nose and eyes.
"I'm your what?"
"My aunt, I'd like to explain but this isn't the best place to talk because the walls have ears," she replied mysteriously.
"Can I least know your name?"
"My name is Finola Tanith Harper, but you can all me Nola," Nola replied as she gave Beka another hug. Beka returned the hug weakly.
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"So do you understand what your mission is, Rhade?" asked Elam.
"Yeah, I get the woman and bring her here," said Rhade impatiently.
"You may go," said Elam waving his hand. Rhade walked out of the dimly light room and into the bright light of the sun.
"Why is Elam so interested in this woman? And why does he look somewhat like Thomas?" thought Rhade as he walked toward the bar.
"Just get in and get out," he repeated to himself as he walked through the doorway. He stopped and looked around for the woman. He spied her sitting at the bar counter next to Doyle. He saw that her dark hair was pulled back in two braids, and she was wearing a short sleeve green shirt and tight brown pants. On either side of her waist there appeared to be forcelances. Rhade did a double take at the sight of the force lances.
"How the hell does she have forcelances," he thought as he walked toward her. Just as he reached the woman Doyle turned around and saw him standing there.
"Nola, this is Rhade," said Doyle. The dark haired woman jumped out of her seat and gave Rhade a hug. Rhade looked at Doyle questioningly.
"I'm so happy to see you again, Uncle Rhade," the dark haired woman said as she pulled away.
"Who are you and how do you know my name?" asked Rhade bluntly.
"I'm Harpers' daughter, Finola Tanith Harper, but you can call me Nola," she replied.
Rhade stood there with his mouth open and stared at Finola in shock.
"Boggles the mind doesn't it," said Beka as she stood next to Rhade and patted him on the shoulder.
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"Where is Rhade? He should've been here by now?" thought Elam as he paced in his study. There was a rap at the door and Elam yelled "Come in."
A hooded figure came in and bowed before Elam.
"Well, what is it, Senka? I haven't got all day!" snapped Elam.
"Elam, Rhade has found out and it appears he going to join her," replied Senka.
Elam threw a glass at a wall which caused Senka to jump.
"Get out! Don't come back here unless you have good news!" he yelled which sent Senka scurrying from the study. She ran into Thomas in her haste to escape Elam temper.
"Oh, Thomas, I didn't see you. I'm so sorry."
"Is everything all right?"
'Your brother is in one of his moods, again. It appears Rhade has lost sight of his assignment. Now if you excuse me, I must go," she said with some urgency.
Thomas nodded his head yes which sent Senka hurrying away.
"I wonder what my brother is doing dealing with that traitorous Rhade. And I wonder what assignment Senka was talking about?" thought Thomas as he walked toward his brothers' study. As he stood outside the study he heard the shattering of glass repeatedly.
"That temper of his will never get him anywhere," Thomas thought as he shook his head sadly. He entered the door and ducked his head as a glass came sailing at it.
"You really should perfect that aim of yours, Elam," said Thomas as he took a seat.
"What do you want brother?" snapped Elam.
"I just came by to see how you are but by the looks of it you're in a bad mood with all that glass strewn about. You know mother wouldn't like what you're doing," chided Thomas.
"How many times have I told you not to bring mother into the conversation, you bastard!?" screamed Elam as he threw a glass at Thomas. Thomas moved his head out of the way and clicked his tongue at his brother.
"Dear Elam, you really need to watch where you're throwing things."
Elam stormed over to his brother and grabbed Thomas by the shoulders. He shoved him up against a wall and said "Stay the out of my way Thomas, or I will kill you!"
Elam shoved his brother out of the room and locked the door. Thomas straightened his clothes and walked to his study to contemplate this problem.
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Finola peeked around the corner and saw her mother and Aunt Rommie having an argument. She knew that they wouldn't notice her missing, not with all the yelling going on. She silently slipped down to the machine shop to her dad. She peeked around a box and saw her father and Uncle Dylan talking.
"Listen, Mr. Harper, you're work around here is getting shoddy! Why the last repair you did almost killed us!" Dylan said.
"That last repair was shoddy!? I did everything perfect! It's one of crewmember that's screwing things up!" yelled Harper as he threw down a tool. The tool bounced off the table and landed at Dylan's feet.
Dylan looked at Harper coolly before saying anything, "This just like the time you………"
"Don't you dare bring that up?! We both know that couldn't have been avoided!" Harper retorted loudly.
Finola moved closer to her father and Uncle Dylan, but just as she was about there a shot rang out. She saw her father slump to the floor and Uncle Dylan run off.
Finola let out a scream and jolted up in bed. She heard footsteps running toward the room, and saw that it was her father coming to see if she was alright.
"Is everything okay, Nola?" he asked as he sat down on the bed.
"I just had a bad dream, that's all." She said softly. Nola didn't want her father to know that his death was cause by her Uncle Dylan. She smiled at him, and tried to ingrain his face in her mind.
"Do you want to talk about it?"
"I'd rather not, but maybe sometimes." Finola offered.
Harper hesitated before saying "If that's what you want, Nola."
She smiled at him and gave him a hug. Harper was stunned for a second but returned the hug. Finola let go and gave her father a quick kiss as he got up to leave.
"Night Nola," he said as he left her room.
"Night, Dad," she replied. She heard her fathers' footsteps fade away before going back to sleep.
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"You mean she screamed in the middle of the night and then didn't want to talk about it?" said Doyle.
"Yeah, and the strange thing is she looked visibly shaken by something. I just hope she tells us soon what she's doing here?" replied Harper.
"I can tell you right now," they heard Finola say. Both Harper and Doyle looked up and saw the woman standing in the doorway. She took a seat at the table and smiled at both of them.
"I'm here to make sure something bad doesn't happen between you and Uncle Dylan," she said bluntly.
"Could you elaborate a little more, Nola?" asked Harper.
"I'm sorry but I can't."
"Well, if you talk about that then why don't you tell us how we're related?" said Doyle.
"Dad fell in love and got married. My biological mother died giving birth to me, and I grew up thinking you were my mother. I didn't find out the truth until I turned fifteen."
Both Doyle and Harper sat there with their mouths open and stared at Finola. She offered a weak smile and said "When can I see the Andromeda?"
"How about later today?" Harper offered.
"That sounds wonderful," replied Finola with a smile.
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As Finola walked off the Maru she saw her Aunt Trance standing beside Uncle Dylan. She willed herself not to panic as she walked closer to them.
"Don't panic! This Uncle Dylan is not the one that killed your father," she repeated silently. She smiled and gave Trance a hug which Trance didn't find the least bit surprising. She took several deep breaths and went over to Dylan. She knew she had to face her fears some time. She looked at his face and saw his smile, that god awful smug smile. She reached out and slapped him on the face.
"You killed my dad, you bastard!" Finola yelled.
There was a stunned silence and no one made a move to catch Finola as she ran from the docking bay. Finola raced through the corridors going toward the only safe place she knew of. She could feel the tears streaming down her face but she didn't stop to wipe them away. She huddled in her favorite spot in the machine shop.
"I really blew it. Now Mom and Dad won't trust me anymore. I knew I should have kept my emotions in check," she thought as she gazed around the room. Her eyes feel on the spot where her father had died.
"Uncle Rhade found me a few hours later hunkering over Dads' dead body. He didn't say anything; he just picked me up and carried me to the med bay. Uncle Rhade really didn't mind having me around but Uncle Dylan just ignored me. I never told anyone what I saw until now. Everyone just assumed that I'd come across his body after he'd died. Everyone, except Uncle Dylan, helped Mom raise me." Finola thought as she stared at the spot where her father died. She could feel the tears forming and didn't try and stop them.