Title: The Storm
Author: shadowkat83
Rating: R (for violence)
Summary: The crew of the Andromeda is caught in a storm amongst friends and enemies.
Harper's usual happy mood was magnified ten fold on this planet. It had been centuries since anyone was allowed on this paradise of a world but finally the inhabitance had agreed to once again see what the universe had to offer. I watched Harper and Trance dance from the balcony of our shared suite. He danced around with Trance in a show of joy that wasn't quite harper-ish. I'd seen him dance, I'd seen him run, jump, and laugh but never this heartfelt. It was wonderful to see him like this. I smiled and leaned against the railing breathing in the clean air. I continued to smile and chuckle at the rambunctious, kids that were slowly finding out what bugs stung and pinched, much to their dismay. I wished I could throw all this commonwealth dignity to the side and roll around in the greenery but I hadn't forgotten that I was here for diplomatic reasons and had to look dignified at all times, even though I was standing on the balcony in my Commonwealth issue pajamas. I guess that wasn't to dignified. My thoughts were interrupted when Harper yelped and ran in place comically trying to shake something big and slimy off his finger.
"AHHH! Get it off!" he screamed as Trance pried the weird looking bug off his finger and set it down in a near by shrub. She seemed at one with nature and I found myself staring in awe at how she fit in with the purples of the surrounding foliage. Harper wiped his eyes and tried to pull himself together which only sent Trance into a fit of laughter.
"Hey that wasn't funny! Come here!" Harper said lashing out playfully and once again they were on the move. They giggled loudly and I watched shaking my head like any parent would do. I couldn't help but think of them as my kids. Both Trance and Harper had a sort of naive charm. Harper not so much naive but more a rebellious teen that needed to be kept on track. Harper finally caught Trance by the tail and they both laughed loudly before falling back into the multitude of flowers in the huge field. I breathed out heavily and paced back into the room running my hands through my hair and rubbing the back of my neck to release the stress that had been building since the day we had arrived on this planet. The stress and tedium of diplomatic gathering not only bored me but also left me drained. I looked over the huge suite they had given us. The ceiling had to have been over 10 feet high and the room was twice the size of Andromeda's bridge. Sigh.It's been 2 days and I already miss Andromeda. I find myself comparing everything to her.Seeing if paradise measures up to the one I had in orbit around this planet. I trusted Rommie to take care of .er.herself until I got back which would be in 3 more days but it was hard to leave my ship in someone elses hands.Even if it was her own hands. I laughed at my own confusion and looked over to the two lumps that still laid in bed lazily. Tyr hadn't wanted to come in the first place and since he couldn't find anyone to kill or torment he'd decided to stay in bed and get his beauty sleep, of course with his knife nestled tightly next to him. I shook my head at his lack of trust and turned my attention to the stirring lump in the bed adjacent to his.
"Could you tell Harper and Trance to keep it down." Beka groaned, covering her face with a pillow. At that moment Harper decided to burst out into song which only infuriated Beka.
"Jeremiah was a bullfrog!" Harper screamed following it up with more lyrics. Beka's eyes squinted in anger and she stormed over to the window.
"Harper! Jeez! Shut-up!" Beka screamed letting the veins pop out of her neck and letting the spit fly. I drew back knowing an angry Beka wasn't anything to play with.
"Who was that Harper?" Trance asked innocently. She couldn't see cause of the glare of the sun. Harper looked up shading his eye with his hand.
"Oh don't worry. It was just some blonde lunatic." Harper said loudly. He gave Beka the finger and stalked off dragging Trance along. I laughed..Family unity? Yeah right.
"Finally, some quiet! Between you and Harper's Snoring and Tyr's incessant growling, I've gotten absolutely no sleep. NONE!" She said to me. She stood with boxers and a white tank on. Her hair was frazzled and the bags under her eyes hung loosely. I grimaced and nodded letting her get back to bed immediately.
"We have a meeting with the Rollan people at 7 and we all must."
"Shut-up Dylan.just.shut-up." She said dramatically clawing her way back into bed and turning her back towards me. I looked over to Tyr who was looking on quite amused. We both shrugged it off like any man who had been yelled at by a woman would. Tyr growled childishly and Beka stiffened with anger once again covering her face with her pillow and screaming into it. Tyr chuckled and so did I. Under normal circumstances I would never had roomed with the girls.just to keep things proper. But in this society a "family" always roomed together. They had strict rules on family and they wouldn't have even thought of signing onto the commonwealth if we didn't show the same family unity. It had taken me weeks to convince them that even though we weren't tied by blood we were still a family unit. I looked over at the table next to my untidy bed and groaned at the documents that I still had to read before our meeting at 7. I sat back down and began but I couldn't shake my thoughts about Harper. Harper's mood was usually a pleasant one but I could tell it was a cover for all the pain he had felt in his life. His quick wit and well-placed quips were his exaggerated way of telling everyone not to worry, His way of saying 'look at me, I can make jokes even in the most desperate of situations.I'm fine see?' Unfortunately it back fired and I had been feeling more and more concerned for my manic engineer. The more joy he exuded the more I felt like he was hiding and the joy he was exhibiting today only made my skin crawl. One of these days Harper's not going to be able to hide his pain behind a witty remark. One of these days he's going to explode and take us all down with him. I sipped my coffee and shook my thoughts of Harper's mental collapse away and focused on the documents in front of me. This was very important for the future of the commonwealth. This world had let out a beacon a few months ago announcing their willingness to listen and maybe allie with another world for trade purposes. Unfortunately the commonwealth wasn't the only ones to receive the message. This meeting at 7 will be a fight between me and the Drago Katsov pride who answered the beacon as well. The Than had heard the beacon and agreed to send a representative to listen to the debate and report back but they have put me in charge of speaking on their behalf. Their faith in the commonwealth was flattering but only gave me more work to do, having to learn Than legislature. I was happy that they decided to let the commonwealth speak for them in a way because of their tight family structure which would prove that the commonwealth could work with a people who have a society structured around family units. I knew that would give us a big one up. Our only real obstacle was making sure that this planet. doesn't fall into the hands of the Drago Katsov pride. I knew they would use the materials the Rollan people had to terrorize this system and then later terrorize the very world they gotten the materials from. The Drago's "family unit" was in the room next to ours, which was why Harper spent the least amount of time possible in the building and why Tyr slept with a knife. I shuddered to think of what they would do to this beautiful piece of heaven and I was tempted to bring a weapon along as well but violence is strictly prohibited on this world and would be the fastest way to get kicked out of the alie running leaving the Drago's to win The Rollan's favor by default. These diplomatic proceedings would require finesse and cunning, something I know I posses but it's also something I know Tyr possesses and was pretty damn good at it. Tyr sauntered over, holding his belt and pushing his hair out of his face like usual. He sat in front of me propping his feet on the table and pulling out a book leisurely.
"I assume your thinking about how you're going to handle the Drago Katsov." He said smoothly, turning the page of his book that looked humorously small compared to his bulk.
"Actually I was thinking about you."
"Is that so?"
"Yep. I was thinking about how your gonna help me in the proceedings today at 7."
"Oh, and how will I be helping you?" Tyr said with and aire of amusment in his voice.
"I'm thinking you can help me understand how the Neitzchean mind works."
"How the Neitzchean mind works? All this time I thought you knew. Evidently you've been blowing hot air." Tyr said chuckling and closing his book with an anticipation for an answer.
"Tyr. All I need is your council. If you think they are being shifty then you tell me."
"They are Nietzcheans.they are always shifty." He said seeming to be tired of our talk now. He shifted with boredom in his seat.
"But I understand what you mean and I can do that for you but what will I get in return?"
"Piece of mind knowing that you helped to stop the Drago Katsov from taking this world?" Tyr shook his head slowly never tearing his stern brown eyes away from mine.
"hmmm.not good huh? Well, I could.I don't know.Give you access to a slipfighter so you can go off in search of whatever you've been asking Beka to borrow the Maru to find." Tyr raised his book and leaned back haughtily.
"That'll do." He said nonchalantly but I knew he was pleased.
"I smiled and stared down at the papers again. Tyr was making me a little uneasy but no more then usual. He was always scheming and I had no idea what his next plan was. I caught myself comparing Tyr to Rhade.I was trying to see if All the signs in Rhade that I'd missed I could find in Tyr before he back stabbed me. Just then Harper and Trance came bursting in and a groan came from Beka. Harper tracked in dirt and grass. His hair was matted to his head from sweat and the knees of his red cargo pants were stained green but he didn't seem to care. The smile on his face was huge and he ran in huffing and exhausted.
"Hey guys look out the window!" He shouted pointing with one hand while the other was holding his chest.
"What's going on?" I said. Seeing Harper bent over in exhaustion shouting about looking out the window scared me. I expected to see the Drago chasing behind him.
"Just look out the window. Snow!" Beka rolled over intrigued and Tyr lowered his book reluctantly. I gazed out the window and gasped in awe.
"Snow?" I said. Harper looked pleased with all of our reactions.
"It's weird cause it was so sunny a minuet ago and then out of the blue snow started coming down!" Trance said sitting on her bed and hugging her pillow with excitement.
"Harper said that it use to snow on earth.It's cold! And it's pretty!" Harper and Trance smiled at each other and Beka got up to stand beside me at the window. The temperature outside was starting to drop And the huge flakes whirled around mindlessly. Trance piped in again and her childlike excitement even made me excited.
"Harper says that it might not stick though cause the ground is to hot." She frowned.
"But if it keep up for long enough it might stick and we can drink hot chocolate and bundle up in our blankets and later he'll show us how to make a snowman!" Tyr finally growled obviously tired of Trance's outbursts of joy.
"A snowman?"
"Yeah! It's a man made out of snow and you have to find him a hat and scarf and use buttons for eyes and a mouth and a carrot for a nose and then you.."
"Well, obviously some of use have forgotten the reason why we are here." Tyr said draining the room of all it's fun. He stared at all of us with his lips tight and his brow furrowed. Then he shifted angrily and returned to his book. Harper sighed heavily and walked over to Trance.
"Don't' worry I'll still teach you even if Tyr wants to be a big grouch." Harper said getting no response from Tyr. Trance nodded and ran to the balcony where she danced in the falling flurries. Harper soon followed and reluctantly I stepped out into the bizarre white flakes that were falling all around. I looked up and they seemed to be falling from nowhere. I was amazed and held out my hand to catch them and watch them melt. Beka stepped out with her hands wrapped around herself. She shivered slightly at the cold air that was taking over all the heat at an astonishing rate.
"I've never seen snow before. I've heard of it once though." She said smiling slightly. It was a major difference from the way she looked before, screaming for Harper to shut up.
"Neither have I" I said. I watched Harper lean over the balcony with his eyes closed. The snowflakes landed in his hair and on his lashes. He seemed to be in heaven and I smiled at him. I remembered I had the meeting to get ready for at 7 but it wasn't everyday that I got to see snow.and it wasn't every day that I got to see my engineer this content with life. No whining, no witty remark, no pessimism or fear. He looked back at me and smiled lazily and we just stared at each other.
"Snow." He mouthed to me and I nodded. His content was good to see but it also hurt. I knew he wouldn't stay that happy for long. I knew when the snow was gone.when we had to leave this planet that smile would vanish and the superficial lopsided smile the crew had gotten use to would return. I shivered harshly once the cold reached my bones and looked around to see everyone even Tyr being affected by the cold.
"I think you should come in unless you want to die of pneumonia." Tyr said.
"Oh wow Tyr didn't know you cared. I'm touched." Beka said looking back into the room at the bored neitzchean.
"You getting sick would only delay the diplomatic proceedings hence making my stay on this." He looked out the window at the gradually increasing snow flurries.
".Unpredictable planet longer then it should be." He returned to his book and Beka scoffed stepping inside and shaking the flakes out of her hair and onto a very angry Tyr.
"Oops.I'm so unpredictable." She said strutting to the bathroom. Tyr growled angrily and attempted to get up but I grabbed his shoulder.
"A family unit remember." Tyr brushed my hand off and continued to move so I had to try another tactic.
"slipfighter.." Tyr looked at me breathed out heavily and then sat back down and returned to his book. I looked back outside and watched Harper stick his tongue out and catch the white flurries. Trance watched next to me and whispered to me.
"I think this is good for him. He needed this." She smiled and hopped off to her closet to choose what multicolored outfit she would wear today. I sat down to focus on the papers in front of me but I caught myself looking around Tyr to watch Harper. Who would have thought A sunny day and a Snowy afternoon could do so much for that man... The boy, kid, hell I didn't know his age but it's done a lot. I tore myself away from him and back to the documents screaming for attention. Maybe I would have a talk with Harper after the meeting.
Author: shadowkat83
Rating: R (for violence)
Summary: The crew of the Andromeda is caught in a storm amongst friends and enemies.
Harper's usual happy mood was magnified ten fold on this planet. It had been centuries since anyone was allowed on this paradise of a world but finally the inhabitance had agreed to once again see what the universe had to offer. I watched Harper and Trance dance from the balcony of our shared suite. He danced around with Trance in a show of joy that wasn't quite harper-ish. I'd seen him dance, I'd seen him run, jump, and laugh but never this heartfelt. It was wonderful to see him like this. I smiled and leaned against the railing breathing in the clean air. I continued to smile and chuckle at the rambunctious, kids that were slowly finding out what bugs stung and pinched, much to their dismay. I wished I could throw all this commonwealth dignity to the side and roll around in the greenery but I hadn't forgotten that I was here for diplomatic reasons and had to look dignified at all times, even though I was standing on the balcony in my Commonwealth issue pajamas. I guess that wasn't to dignified. My thoughts were interrupted when Harper yelped and ran in place comically trying to shake something big and slimy off his finger.
"AHHH! Get it off!" he screamed as Trance pried the weird looking bug off his finger and set it down in a near by shrub. She seemed at one with nature and I found myself staring in awe at how she fit in with the purples of the surrounding foliage. Harper wiped his eyes and tried to pull himself together which only sent Trance into a fit of laughter.
"Hey that wasn't funny! Come here!" Harper said lashing out playfully and once again they were on the move. They giggled loudly and I watched shaking my head like any parent would do. I couldn't help but think of them as my kids. Both Trance and Harper had a sort of naive charm. Harper not so much naive but more a rebellious teen that needed to be kept on track. Harper finally caught Trance by the tail and they both laughed loudly before falling back into the multitude of flowers in the huge field. I breathed out heavily and paced back into the room running my hands through my hair and rubbing the back of my neck to release the stress that had been building since the day we had arrived on this planet. The stress and tedium of diplomatic gathering not only bored me but also left me drained. I looked over the huge suite they had given us. The ceiling had to have been over 10 feet high and the room was twice the size of Andromeda's bridge. Sigh.It's been 2 days and I already miss Andromeda. I find myself comparing everything to her.Seeing if paradise measures up to the one I had in orbit around this planet. I trusted Rommie to take care of .er.herself until I got back which would be in 3 more days but it was hard to leave my ship in someone elses hands.Even if it was her own hands. I laughed at my own confusion and looked over to the two lumps that still laid in bed lazily. Tyr hadn't wanted to come in the first place and since he couldn't find anyone to kill or torment he'd decided to stay in bed and get his beauty sleep, of course with his knife nestled tightly next to him. I shook my head at his lack of trust and turned my attention to the stirring lump in the bed adjacent to his.
"Could you tell Harper and Trance to keep it down." Beka groaned, covering her face with a pillow. At that moment Harper decided to burst out into song which only infuriated Beka.
"Jeremiah was a bullfrog!" Harper screamed following it up with more lyrics. Beka's eyes squinted in anger and she stormed over to the window.
"Harper! Jeez! Shut-up!" Beka screamed letting the veins pop out of her neck and letting the spit fly. I drew back knowing an angry Beka wasn't anything to play with.
"Who was that Harper?" Trance asked innocently. She couldn't see cause of the glare of the sun. Harper looked up shading his eye with his hand.
"Oh don't worry. It was just some blonde lunatic." Harper said loudly. He gave Beka the finger and stalked off dragging Trance along. I laughed..Family unity? Yeah right.
"Finally, some quiet! Between you and Harper's Snoring and Tyr's incessant growling, I've gotten absolutely no sleep. NONE!" She said to me. She stood with boxers and a white tank on. Her hair was frazzled and the bags under her eyes hung loosely. I grimaced and nodded letting her get back to bed immediately.
"We have a meeting with the Rollan people at 7 and we all must."
"Shut-up Dylan.just.shut-up." She said dramatically clawing her way back into bed and turning her back towards me. I looked over to Tyr who was looking on quite amused. We both shrugged it off like any man who had been yelled at by a woman would. Tyr growled childishly and Beka stiffened with anger once again covering her face with her pillow and screaming into it. Tyr chuckled and so did I. Under normal circumstances I would never had roomed with the girls.just to keep things proper. But in this society a "family" always roomed together. They had strict rules on family and they wouldn't have even thought of signing onto the commonwealth if we didn't show the same family unity. It had taken me weeks to convince them that even though we weren't tied by blood we were still a family unit. I looked over at the table next to my untidy bed and groaned at the documents that I still had to read before our meeting at 7. I sat back down and began but I couldn't shake my thoughts about Harper. Harper's mood was usually a pleasant one but I could tell it was a cover for all the pain he had felt in his life. His quick wit and well-placed quips were his exaggerated way of telling everyone not to worry, His way of saying 'look at me, I can make jokes even in the most desperate of situations.I'm fine see?' Unfortunately it back fired and I had been feeling more and more concerned for my manic engineer. The more joy he exuded the more I felt like he was hiding and the joy he was exhibiting today only made my skin crawl. One of these days Harper's not going to be able to hide his pain behind a witty remark. One of these days he's going to explode and take us all down with him. I sipped my coffee and shook my thoughts of Harper's mental collapse away and focused on the documents in front of me. This was very important for the future of the commonwealth. This world had let out a beacon a few months ago announcing their willingness to listen and maybe allie with another world for trade purposes. Unfortunately the commonwealth wasn't the only ones to receive the message. This meeting at 7 will be a fight between me and the Drago Katsov pride who answered the beacon as well. The Than had heard the beacon and agreed to send a representative to listen to the debate and report back but they have put me in charge of speaking on their behalf. Their faith in the commonwealth was flattering but only gave me more work to do, having to learn Than legislature. I was happy that they decided to let the commonwealth speak for them in a way because of their tight family structure which would prove that the commonwealth could work with a people who have a society structured around family units. I knew that would give us a big one up. Our only real obstacle was making sure that this planet. doesn't fall into the hands of the Drago Katsov pride. I knew they would use the materials the Rollan people had to terrorize this system and then later terrorize the very world they gotten the materials from. The Drago's "family unit" was in the room next to ours, which was why Harper spent the least amount of time possible in the building and why Tyr slept with a knife. I shuddered to think of what they would do to this beautiful piece of heaven and I was tempted to bring a weapon along as well but violence is strictly prohibited on this world and would be the fastest way to get kicked out of the alie running leaving the Drago's to win The Rollan's favor by default. These diplomatic proceedings would require finesse and cunning, something I know I posses but it's also something I know Tyr possesses and was pretty damn good at it. Tyr sauntered over, holding his belt and pushing his hair out of his face like usual. He sat in front of me propping his feet on the table and pulling out a book leisurely.
"I assume your thinking about how you're going to handle the Drago Katsov." He said smoothly, turning the page of his book that looked humorously small compared to his bulk.
"Actually I was thinking about you."
"Is that so?"
"Yep. I was thinking about how your gonna help me in the proceedings today at 7."
"Oh, and how will I be helping you?" Tyr said with and aire of amusment in his voice.
"I'm thinking you can help me understand how the Neitzchean mind works."
"How the Neitzchean mind works? All this time I thought you knew. Evidently you've been blowing hot air." Tyr said chuckling and closing his book with an anticipation for an answer.
"Tyr. All I need is your council. If you think they are being shifty then you tell me."
"They are Nietzcheans.they are always shifty." He said seeming to be tired of our talk now. He shifted with boredom in his seat.
"But I understand what you mean and I can do that for you but what will I get in return?"
"Piece of mind knowing that you helped to stop the Drago Katsov from taking this world?" Tyr shook his head slowly never tearing his stern brown eyes away from mine.
"hmmm.not good huh? Well, I could.I don't know.Give you access to a slipfighter so you can go off in search of whatever you've been asking Beka to borrow the Maru to find." Tyr raised his book and leaned back haughtily.
"That'll do." He said nonchalantly but I knew he was pleased.
"I smiled and stared down at the papers again. Tyr was making me a little uneasy but no more then usual. He was always scheming and I had no idea what his next plan was. I caught myself comparing Tyr to Rhade.I was trying to see if All the signs in Rhade that I'd missed I could find in Tyr before he back stabbed me. Just then Harper and Trance came bursting in and a groan came from Beka. Harper tracked in dirt and grass. His hair was matted to his head from sweat and the knees of his red cargo pants were stained green but he didn't seem to care. The smile on his face was huge and he ran in huffing and exhausted.
"Hey guys look out the window!" He shouted pointing with one hand while the other was holding his chest.
"What's going on?" I said. Seeing Harper bent over in exhaustion shouting about looking out the window scared me. I expected to see the Drago chasing behind him.
"Just look out the window. Snow!" Beka rolled over intrigued and Tyr lowered his book reluctantly. I gazed out the window and gasped in awe.
"Snow?" I said. Harper looked pleased with all of our reactions.
"It's weird cause it was so sunny a minuet ago and then out of the blue snow started coming down!" Trance said sitting on her bed and hugging her pillow with excitement.
"Harper said that it use to snow on earth.It's cold! And it's pretty!" Harper and Trance smiled at each other and Beka got up to stand beside me at the window. The temperature outside was starting to drop And the huge flakes whirled around mindlessly. Trance piped in again and her childlike excitement even made me excited.
"Harper says that it might not stick though cause the ground is to hot." She frowned.
"But if it keep up for long enough it might stick and we can drink hot chocolate and bundle up in our blankets and later he'll show us how to make a snowman!" Tyr finally growled obviously tired of Trance's outbursts of joy.
"A snowman?"
"Yeah! It's a man made out of snow and you have to find him a hat and scarf and use buttons for eyes and a mouth and a carrot for a nose and then you.."
"Well, obviously some of use have forgotten the reason why we are here." Tyr said draining the room of all it's fun. He stared at all of us with his lips tight and his brow furrowed. Then he shifted angrily and returned to his book. Harper sighed heavily and walked over to Trance.
"Don't' worry I'll still teach you even if Tyr wants to be a big grouch." Harper said getting no response from Tyr. Trance nodded and ran to the balcony where she danced in the falling flurries. Harper soon followed and reluctantly I stepped out into the bizarre white flakes that were falling all around. I looked up and they seemed to be falling from nowhere. I was amazed and held out my hand to catch them and watch them melt. Beka stepped out with her hands wrapped around herself. She shivered slightly at the cold air that was taking over all the heat at an astonishing rate.
"I've never seen snow before. I've heard of it once though." She said smiling slightly. It was a major difference from the way she looked before, screaming for Harper to shut up.
"Neither have I" I said. I watched Harper lean over the balcony with his eyes closed. The snowflakes landed in his hair and on his lashes. He seemed to be in heaven and I smiled at him. I remembered I had the meeting to get ready for at 7 but it wasn't everyday that I got to see snow.and it wasn't every day that I got to see my engineer this content with life. No whining, no witty remark, no pessimism or fear. He looked back at me and smiled lazily and we just stared at each other.
"Snow." He mouthed to me and I nodded. His content was good to see but it also hurt. I knew he wouldn't stay that happy for long. I knew when the snow was gone.when we had to leave this planet that smile would vanish and the superficial lopsided smile the crew had gotten use to would return. I shivered harshly once the cold reached my bones and looked around to see everyone even Tyr being affected by the cold.
"I think you should come in unless you want to die of pneumonia." Tyr said.
"Oh wow Tyr didn't know you cared. I'm touched." Beka said looking back into the room at the bored neitzchean.
"You getting sick would only delay the diplomatic proceedings hence making my stay on this." He looked out the window at the gradually increasing snow flurries.
".Unpredictable planet longer then it should be." He returned to his book and Beka scoffed stepping inside and shaking the flakes out of her hair and onto a very angry Tyr.
"Oops.I'm so unpredictable." She said strutting to the bathroom. Tyr growled angrily and attempted to get up but I grabbed his shoulder.
"A family unit remember." Tyr brushed my hand off and continued to move so I had to try another tactic.
"slipfighter.." Tyr looked at me breathed out heavily and then sat back down and returned to his book. I looked back outside and watched Harper stick his tongue out and catch the white flurries. Trance watched next to me and whispered to me.
"I think this is good for him. He needed this." She smiled and hopped off to her closet to choose what multicolored outfit she would wear today. I sat down to focus on the papers in front of me but I caught myself looking around Tyr to watch Harper. Who would have thought A sunny day and a Snowy afternoon could do so much for that man... The boy, kid, hell I didn't know his age but it's done a lot. I tore myself away from him and back to the documents screaming for attention. Maybe I would have a talk with Harper after the meeting.