Thanks for the reviews people. Here is another chapter.
Disclaimer Alert: I do not own Andromeda or Star Trek Voyager or their characters.
Chapter 17
Harper looked around at their surroundings and settled his gaze on his companion. "Well kid, at least they gave us a better than even chance of getting through the week."
"Well I wasn't given a death sentence," Q2 replied, attempting some humor.
Harper chuckled in spite of himself. "Come on let's find a place to call home for a week."
The Harper and Q2 decided to walk to their destination in an effort to avoid the Nietzschean patrols. Harper also avoided the refugee camps in town as he didn't want word to get out that there were two new kludge arrivals in town.
After a couple miles of walking Harper noticed Q2 was looking tired. The engineer stopped and peered through the dusty window in one the nearby buildings. Seeing it was empty, Harper kicked the door open.
Judging by the trash left in the front room, the place had been lived in recently. Harper kicked over a small box, causing several cockroaches to scurry away. Q2 didn't even flinch at the sight. Harper guessed the young man had seen worse looking creatures in his young life as a Q.
Q2 spied a broken down piece of metal that looked like it had once been a can opener. The teenager picked up the rusty hunk of metal and studied it. "Now why would somebody keep something this useless?"
Harper turned around to look at former can opener. "Whoever lived here must have figured to use it for parts of some sort. I used to keep all kind of stuff like that myself when I lived down here."
Q2 let the can opener drop to the floor, having become bored by useless hunk of rusted metal. He wiped his hands together to get rid of the dust the can opener left behind. "So what do we do now Harper? We can't just sit here for one of your Earth weeks hiding out."
Harper pulled out two food bars from his jacket and handed one to Q2. "Why not? The judge didn't say you had to do anything while you were here. He just said you had to spend a week here."
Q2 sat down in an old abandoned chair. The chair was full of holes and had springs pushing through, nearly cutting the teen's left thigh. "Okay, go ahead and meet up with your old gang. I'll wait here."
"Oh no you don't, anywhere I go you go. We're joined at the hip," Harper stated as he began munching on his food bar.
Q2 opened the wrapper on his food bar with suspiciously. "Whatever you say. I'm at your mercy down here."
"And don't you forget it kiddo," Harper replied. "So what should I call you? I mean I know all of us lesser mortal types call you Q2 but is that really your name?"
Q2 was surprised at the question. No human he had come in contact with had ever seemed to care. "My name with the Q Continuum is one you wouldn't be able to pronounce, that's why we're simply called Q."
Harper laughed to himself at the confusion that must cause. "Well then what human name would you like to have?"
Q2 didn't need to take any time to consider the question as he had already picked out a name for himself. "I'd like to go by the name Simon."
"Simon it is then. How ya doin' Simon?' Harper said offering his hand to Q2.
Q2 shook the engineer's hand as he joined in the joke. Despite his fear of what would happen to him in the next week Q2/Simon was actually beginning to feel excited by the challenge. For once in his young life Q2 was facing a challenge; this time a bigger challenge than being babysat by Captain Janeway and her crew.
Harper noticed the pleased look on the teenager's face. "So what are you thinking Simon? You look kinda pleased with yourself right now. And that's not a good thing in my book."
Q2 rushed to defend his current lack of concern over his welfare. "I know I should be more concerned about my well being, but do you realize that this is the first time I've ever faced a real life and death situation. We did have the Q War but I wasn't involved in that due to my age."
"Trust me you don't want to have to fight for survival Simon," Harper warned as he downed the last of his bar.
Q2 wasn't fazed. He was serious and just maybe this human would listen to him and understand. "As much as I don't wish to die Harper, I don't wish to live in a boring life where I have no worry about death or any other concerns. The kind of life we Qs live is not really living. Sure we can go anywhere. We can manipulate time, space and just about anything else. But we don't face any real challenges except keeping ourselves from being bored."
Harper nodded his understanding. "You may not believe me but I actually know where you're coming from. I don't know what I'd do if I didn't have things to repair on Andromeda. I know I'd be bored out of my gourd."
The teenager was mildly surprised that a mere human seemed to understand and share his problems. "My mother and the rest of the Q Continuum don't seem to care or know how it is for me. "
"I noticed you left out your father from your list," Harper pointed out. "He understands you?"
"Sort of but he's not good at the buddy-buddy stuff. He means well enough I guess but he's more interested in his own life," Q2 explained with melancholy in his voice.
Harper stood up and walked towards the door. "Well I'm sure you two will work things out. You care about each other which is the main thing."
Q2 joined Harper in the doorway. "I hope so. Where are we going?"
"We're going to meet up with some of my old gang," Harper informed.
"You want to try to find out if your cousin is still alive?" Q2 asked nonchalantly.
His question caught Harper off guard. The engineer knew the teenager had some way of knowing things they weren't told, but this was a little creepy. "Yeah I'd like to know for sure. How did you know that?"
Q2's expression gave away the fact that he had heard the question more than once before. "I'm a Q and we know most everything. We're not bound by time or space. We can travel back in time like to when you brother was leading the rebellion here on Earth."
Harper's eyes brightened with realization. "Then you can tell me if Brendan is still alive."
"Well, I could. If your cousin is dead what would you do? Would you go back to the Andromeda or would you stay here on Earth and lead a rebellion?" Q2 asked bluntly.
Harper couldn't handle not knowing something, especially something this important. He had always been that way since he was a young boy. "You're a smart kid so I think you know the answer already. So tell me the truth."
Q2 straightened his posture as bracing himself for a struggle. "No. You didn't really come here to look after me. You just wanted to find out if your cousin is still alive. Looking after me was just to impress the Q Continuum and give you an excuse for going to Earth that Captain Hunt would believe."
"Believe what you want Simon. I'll find out the truth about Brendan so why make me waste our time," Harper responded.
"Do what you want, but I'm not going anywhere," Q2 said as he turned around and headed for the couch.
Harper started to lunge for Q2 when footsteps sounded outside. Harper and Q2 ducked into on of the back rooms. Harper looked around for a hidden entrance and was rewarded when a one of the tiles on the floor gave way, exposing a short piece of rope. Harper grabbed the rope which was revealed to be attached to a piece of wood covered by tiles. The tile covered piece of wood had been covering a hole large enough to accommodate Harper and Q2.
Harper and Q2 remained silent as they listened to footsteps thump above them. They couldn't see who was walking around the room but could hear the sound of furniture being moved and knocked to the floor. To his surprise Harper could feel Q2 tremble beside him. The teenager remained silent and kept still in spite of his fear as the footsteps came closer.
Disclaimer Alert: I do not own Andromeda or Star Trek Voyager or their characters.
Chapter 17
Harper looked around at their surroundings and settled his gaze on his companion. "Well kid, at least they gave us a better than even chance of getting through the week."
"Well I wasn't given a death sentence," Q2 replied, attempting some humor.
Harper chuckled in spite of himself. "Come on let's find a place to call home for a week."
The Harper and Q2 decided to walk to their destination in an effort to avoid the Nietzschean patrols. Harper also avoided the refugee camps in town as he didn't want word to get out that there were two new kludge arrivals in town.
After a couple miles of walking Harper noticed Q2 was looking tired. The engineer stopped and peered through the dusty window in one the nearby buildings. Seeing it was empty, Harper kicked the door open.
Judging by the trash left in the front room, the place had been lived in recently. Harper kicked over a small box, causing several cockroaches to scurry away. Q2 didn't even flinch at the sight. Harper guessed the young man had seen worse looking creatures in his young life as a Q.
Q2 spied a broken down piece of metal that looked like it had once been a can opener. The teenager picked up the rusty hunk of metal and studied it. "Now why would somebody keep something this useless?"
Harper turned around to look at former can opener. "Whoever lived here must have figured to use it for parts of some sort. I used to keep all kind of stuff like that myself when I lived down here."
Q2 let the can opener drop to the floor, having become bored by useless hunk of rusted metal. He wiped his hands together to get rid of the dust the can opener left behind. "So what do we do now Harper? We can't just sit here for one of your Earth weeks hiding out."
Harper pulled out two food bars from his jacket and handed one to Q2. "Why not? The judge didn't say you had to do anything while you were here. He just said you had to spend a week here."
Q2 sat down in an old abandoned chair. The chair was full of holes and had springs pushing through, nearly cutting the teen's left thigh. "Okay, go ahead and meet up with your old gang. I'll wait here."
"Oh no you don't, anywhere I go you go. We're joined at the hip," Harper stated as he began munching on his food bar.
Q2 opened the wrapper on his food bar with suspiciously. "Whatever you say. I'm at your mercy down here."
"And don't you forget it kiddo," Harper replied. "So what should I call you? I mean I know all of us lesser mortal types call you Q2 but is that really your name?"
Q2 was surprised at the question. No human he had come in contact with had ever seemed to care. "My name with the Q Continuum is one you wouldn't be able to pronounce, that's why we're simply called Q."
Harper laughed to himself at the confusion that must cause. "Well then what human name would you like to have?"
Q2 didn't need to take any time to consider the question as he had already picked out a name for himself. "I'd like to go by the name Simon."
"Simon it is then. How ya doin' Simon?' Harper said offering his hand to Q2.
Q2 shook the engineer's hand as he joined in the joke. Despite his fear of what would happen to him in the next week Q2/Simon was actually beginning to feel excited by the challenge. For once in his young life Q2 was facing a challenge; this time a bigger challenge than being babysat by Captain Janeway and her crew.
Harper noticed the pleased look on the teenager's face. "So what are you thinking Simon? You look kinda pleased with yourself right now. And that's not a good thing in my book."
Q2 rushed to defend his current lack of concern over his welfare. "I know I should be more concerned about my well being, but do you realize that this is the first time I've ever faced a real life and death situation. We did have the Q War but I wasn't involved in that due to my age."
"Trust me you don't want to have to fight for survival Simon," Harper warned as he downed the last of his bar.
Q2 wasn't fazed. He was serious and just maybe this human would listen to him and understand. "As much as I don't wish to die Harper, I don't wish to live in a boring life where I have no worry about death or any other concerns. The kind of life we Qs live is not really living. Sure we can go anywhere. We can manipulate time, space and just about anything else. But we don't face any real challenges except keeping ourselves from being bored."
Harper nodded his understanding. "You may not believe me but I actually know where you're coming from. I don't know what I'd do if I didn't have things to repair on Andromeda. I know I'd be bored out of my gourd."
The teenager was mildly surprised that a mere human seemed to understand and share his problems. "My mother and the rest of the Q Continuum don't seem to care or know how it is for me. "
"I noticed you left out your father from your list," Harper pointed out. "He understands you?"
"Sort of but he's not good at the buddy-buddy stuff. He means well enough I guess but he's more interested in his own life," Q2 explained with melancholy in his voice.
Harper stood up and walked towards the door. "Well I'm sure you two will work things out. You care about each other which is the main thing."
Q2 joined Harper in the doorway. "I hope so. Where are we going?"
"We're going to meet up with some of my old gang," Harper informed.
"You want to try to find out if your cousin is still alive?" Q2 asked nonchalantly.
His question caught Harper off guard. The engineer knew the teenager had some way of knowing things they weren't told, but this was a little creepy. "Yeah I'd like to know for sure. How did you know that?"
Q2's expression gave away the fact that he had heard the question more than once before. "I'm a Q and we know most everything. We're not bound by time or space. We can travel back in time like to when you brother was leading the rebellion here on Earth."
Harper's eyes brightened with realization. "Then you can tell me if Brendan is still alive."
"Well, I could. If your cousin is dead what would you do? Would you go back to the Andromeda or would you stay here on Earth and lead a rebellion?" Q2 asked bluntly.
Harper couldn't handle not knowing something, especially something this important. He had always been that way since he was a young boy. "You're a smart kid so I think you know the answer already. So tell me the truth."
Q2 straightened his posture as bracing himself for a struggle. "No. You didn't really come here to look after me. You just wanted to find out if your cousin is still alive. Looking after me was just to impress the Q Continuum and give you an excuse for going to Earth that Captain Hunt would believe."
"Believe what you want Simon. I'll find out the truth about Brendan so why make me waste our time," Harper responded.
"Do what you want, but I'm not going anywhere," Q2 said as he turned around and headed for the couch.
Harper started to lunge for Q2 when footsteps sounded outside. Harper and Q2 ducked into on of the back rooms. Harper looked around for a hidden entrance and was rewarded when a one of the tiles on the floor gave way, exposing a short piece of rope. Harper grabbed the rope which was revealed to be attached to a piece of wood covered by tiles. The tile covered piece of wood had been covering a hole large enough to accommodate Harper and Q2.
Harper and Q2 remained silent as they listened to footsteps thump above them. They couldn't see who was walking around the room but could hear the sound of furniture being moved and knocked to the floor. To his surprise Harper could feel Q2 tremble beside him. The teenager remained silent and kept still in spite of his fear as the footsteps came closer.