I just love reviews! They give me incentive to put another part out...so here
you go! Chapter 3!
The sensation I felt was strange...it felt like someone had turned me on with a flip of a switch and my body was trying to manage the sudden surge of power... My brain felt foggy and my nose ached. I looked down just in time to see the red liquid drip down in a long pouring stream landing on my pants. I quickly reached up but not before I was tackled fiercely to the ground...The light speed jarring instantly made me flash back to a 9 year-old me being tackled by the slumgangs. I flailed my arms wildly as the person struggled to restrain me. It was strange, this moment was the first time Shane hadn't been around when I was afraid and I was quit relieved. I struggled with my eyes fused shut. I refused to see the leader of the slumgangs....straddling me and preparing to do what he had done before. I was quickly restrained and I grimaced knowing pain was next on the agenda.
"Wait! Wait! Har...Harper?" A voice called. It couldn't be anyone else but Beka.
I opened my eyes and blinked away the blur of confusion. I was overwhelmingly disoriented and my head felt like it weight a ton. A big shadow was in my direct line of vision so I squinted to figure out what it was.
"Dylan?" I said as the tall and heavy man stopped struggling with me and stared wildly. He straddled my hips and his weight was crushing me making me feel like I was becoming part of the grating. My eyes continued to adjust but slowly. I could see his right eye was turning a deep shade of purple and he struggled to breathe letting out a gurgling wheeze. I knew right away that that was Shane's doing. I looked past Dylan to a very scared and worried Beka. Lines of stress and worry had crept around her eyes and mouth making her appear older then she was. Dylan stared angrily at me as the gravity made the blood from my nose slid down my cheek and into my ear annoyingly. It made me remember the many nights when I use to cry myself to sleep staring at the ceiling and fruitlessly wishing Shane would just disappear one day. I use to pray, plead and beg for him to just pack his things and leave never to return. I use to cry so long and so hard that the redundancy of wiping tears that I knew would gather again would dawn on me and I would just let them run their course, They'd slide down my cheek and into my ear making me flinch with annoyance but not breaking me out of my woeful mood enough to wipe them away. Dylan loosened his grip on my wrists only to pick up the force lance beside me and aim. My body tensed and my mind stilled. His face was like steel. His lips were tight and his chin was held high...like she was trying to regain the dignity that Shane had stripped from him. His chest heaved and I could tell the anger was building to critical levels. Beka slowly walked up to Dylan and grabbed his shoulder.
"Harper is that you?" She said and I nodded slowly never taking my eyes off of Dylan. Somehow she could tell when I was back when no one else could....just like my mother could. I was so frightened to learn of what I might have done or said...What Shane might have done. I wanted to cry but with the look on Dylan's face and this force lance pointed at my head...shitting my pants seemed like the more appropriate thing to do.
"Dylan...." I said but he quickly shushed me stuffing the force lance into my eye agonizingly...He shuddered with both pain and unrelenting anger which made the force lance dig deeper into my socket. I arched my back somehow thinking that might ease the pain, when in fact it didn't help at all. I took a quick intake of air leaving my mouth gaping in shock. Would he shoot?
"Dylan stop! He couldn't help it! IT WASN'T HIM!" She said she screamed close to tears. Whatever I had done had been bad enough for Beka to worry that Dylan might actually fire that weapon into my eye through my head and through this floor. I didn't know if that was good or bad...I didn't want to face what I had done and what I might have said. I was never a fan of suicide but this was one of those times when Black Death would be preferred over this cold living. His icy glare was terrible and I wish he'd just shoot.
"Like hell it wasn't him! So it wasn't him to gave me this black eye and these broken ribs. It wasn't him who slapped you around and called you a whore , and it wasn't him who shot Drake." His words hit me like a ton of bricks. I had shot someone? But worst of all...I had hit beka?
"I...I..." I stuttered...I needed something to say in my defense but there wasn't anything I could say. Drake? He must have been the man who was here before I blacked out. It took me awhile to figure out who it was that stood beside Dylan. He was a tall man. He wore all black and his skin was a dark bronze. His smile triggered my memory. That same smile that had prompted so much fear that I later found was justified when I was 9. The leader of the hellgang...the slumgang.
"Is he dead." I whispered slowly and softly. Forgetting about the weapon jabbed in my eye just long enough to get the words out.
"DO YOU WANT HIM DEAD!!?" Dylan yelled furiously. Spit flew from his mouth and his eye seemed to turn a shade darker which only made me feel worse. I had beaten up my captain and my friend...the only friend I really trusted and I had shot someone.
"NO! PLEASE...I'M SORRY...I ...I ..IT WASN'T ME ..." I said pitifully. Beka spoke up from behind Dylan. Her voice was quiet as if she wasn't sure whether she should be sticking up for me or ramming her own force lance in my other eye.
"Harper has a sever case of ...split personality disorder. Dylan...it wasn't him" She said again pleadingly. I noticed the blood smeared on Dylan's fist and realized that he was the one who had given me the bloody nose. I had assumed it was him but that was the proof. He still sat...straddling my hips snorting and clenching his teeth in anger he pulled the force lance away from my eye but my socket still felt like something large was stuffed in it. He dropped the lance next to him and it clattered on the floor noisily breaking the awkward silence momentarily. He hung his head and his breathing was the only sound. He revved his fist back and came down hard. I braced for impact and heard his fist smack loudly onto the hollow grated floor inches from my head. He roared angrily and picked himself up off of me gingerly...holding his ribs and exhaling the pain. What had I done...he done?
"Split personality..." He whispered...his gaze now seemed distant. He stood a few feet away from me looking down at me like he had just scrapped me off the bottom of his shoe. I looked away but I could still feel his eye burning into me.
" LOOK AT ME HARPER!" He screamed uncharacteristically. I would have taken slavery any day over seeing that much disappointment on his face.
"THIS IS THE DAMAGE YOU'VE CAUSED!" He continued sorely. He pressed his neck communicator
"Rommie...Take Mr. Harper to the Med Deck. Confine him to a bed until further notice. When he's secure have Trance look him over." I shuddered at his words and the even-ness of his tone. He'd said confine. I knew what that meant that meant being strapped down to the bed like a lunatic. The only problem was I was a lunatic and shane had gotten out of restraints before.
"Dylan I think you should get looked at too." Beka said only to get a twisted gaze from Dylan in return.
"I will, I just need to think some things through first." He said crossing his arms.
"I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry." I kept saying but the damage was done. I knew both me and Beka were in hot water. And the things he needed to think through would be our stay on this ship. I looked at Beka and she instantly looked away. Usually I can stand the cold shoulder but not from Beka...it felt like I had disappointed my surrogate mother. Hot bile rose in my throat as I thought about the possibilities of what I had done and what I was capable of. My vision had cleared and I realized where I was. I was on the Maru. How did I get here? I have no clue. Footsteps came rushing up and both Beka and Dylan turned to see an irate Tyr running with his biggest gun already powered up and ready. Shitting my pants seemed more and more like the right thing to do. Dylan stopped him of course...he might have hated me, found me a loose cannon, an annoying and seemingly dangerous piece of work but he was still captain.
"The situation has been neutralized." Dylan said. The rest of his words were only for Tyr. He whispered and Tyr's eyes squinted at me as if to say "one day little man. Watch your back." I squirmed a little under his gaze only making him visibly tighten his grip on his gun. I stilled immediately. I wiped the blood from my face and tried without luck to get the blood out of my ear. Rommie plus two Maria bots showed up to carry me away to my interrogation. I would have to explain what Shane was, who he was, and why he caused so much damage. The real question would be why I didn't warn him about this...this possible risk to his ship and his mission. I knew Dylan well enough to know that he would milk as much info from Trance and Beka before actually talking to me. And between the both of them he'd find that I was a lunatic and needed to be confined to quarter and later thrown out of an air lock into magog space. Rommie grabbed me coldly and yanked me to my feet. I hadn't expected her to be nice...I had hurt her Captain. The walk to med deck was long and tooo quiet.
Dylans Pov 2 hours later
I sat in the observation deck. Anger welling up and making my throat tight.
"Split personality disorder?" I scoffed. It seemed ridiculous but I looked up the disorder anyway. It cleared up why Harper had looked so menacing. I remember I had to catch a gasp in my throat when I saw him look up from under his lashes and stare at Drake. What was it about Drake that got to him? I don't know...all I know is that he was on him in a flash. A fury of fists and kicks connecting astonishingly fast and amazingly accurate. I jumped in the fight to tear Harper off but it only seemed to enrage him...before I could even think of drawing my weapon Harper had turned his attack on me. It seemed like I had the size advantage but he used my size against me, catching me off balance when I lashed out. I flinched just thinking of the beating I had gotten from my once quirky engineer. He seemed like a different person...he was a different person. He skillfully beat me down talking and mumbling the whole time about the corruption of the commonwealth and about my supposed superiority complex. He grabbed my force lance from my holster whirled around and shot Drake instantly sending him into a screaming pain riddled ball heaped pitifully against the wall. Harper laughed this laugh that I could never forget. It didn't' even sound like it could possible come from him...this high pitched scream of a laugh. It sickened me to see him hunched over in laughter after shooting someone. Beka ran up from behind him and tried to restrain him only to be pushed away....He laughed and revved back his arm only to stop inches from her face. His face softened considerably for a second and the ambiance was strangely captivating. He looked around like he had just remembered something important, grinned, and ran down the corridor dodging Tyrs attacks. Beka ran over to me and I waved her off and pointed to Drake. She checked his pulse and called Trance to pick him up because I was too winded to make that order.
"Tyr. Get reinforcements" I had said...obviously fighting wasn't going to take him down. Tyr jogged off and I stumbled to my feet following behind an irate yet scared Beka. Her eyes seemed to know what was happening.
"Andromeda Locate Mr Harper" I crocked.
"Harper has just entered the Maru and is out of my sensor range." She said evenly in her typical Rommie tone. Beka looked at me and ran full force for the docking bay. If anyone could hack the Maru and steal her it was Harper. We finally made it onto the Maru only to stumble into Harper's trap. I didn't know what hit me. All I knew was that I fell and I fell hard. My chest felt caved in and I couldn't move or get air. Harper grabbed Beka by the hair masterfully. She struggled but Harper blocked all punches and grabbed her by her hair again. She grunted in both pain and surprise and her face balled up with the effort to keep up with Harper's long strides.
"Give me the access codes." He said evenly. I couldn't' see them at this point...I could barely breathe. They had turned the corner but I could hear them just fine. Beka refused and Harper demanded more firmly doing something to make Beka yelp out and ignite me with energy. I stumbled to my feet grabbing my swollen chest and stepping over the pipe I assumed Harper had used to do this damage. I knew a rib was broken but Beka's yelp continued to burn in my heart.
"Give me the Codes you stupid whore!" He shouted....I wondered where the hell tyr was when you needed him. I picked up the pipe only to find that harper had taken beka's weapon and had it aimed and ready for my entry...I ducked just in time to miss my head getting shot off. The quick movement made some of my ribs shift and I moaned with blinding pain
"Come on Dylan. Why do you always have to be the hero!" His voice was a high pitched child like voice. Light yet psychotic. Shivers of old fears came back...his voice reminded me of monsters under my bed and witches in my closet.
"Harper! What the hell is this about! Let beka go!"
"ohh you wanna negotiate huh?"
"How about you tell Beka to give me the codes! I'll blow her brains out if you don't" He said mockingly
"Let her go Harper!" I screamed and he laughed again...I shuddered. I pushed my neck communicator and whispered to rommie.
"Rommie I need you to remove the AG field from this docking bay and vent the coolent tanks on deck 19." I knew the act of releasing the coolent tanks would be enough to rock anyone who wasn't inside an AG field anyone who was inside one would barely feel a thing.
"Acknowledged"
There was a moment of silence then the Maru rocked violently sending all three of us flying in all different directions. I slid on the floor and in all the confusion grabbed wildly for the forcelance that had fell from harpers hand. Harper slowly stood and I punched him without hesitation bloodying his nose. He fell back and then stood on wobbly legs...He looked around dazed and confused but I wasn't done with him yet..I tackled him and then lost all control over my anger. I shook my head at how utterly angry I was that he had shot a man, attacked me, and treated beka like a piece of shit.
I sat here in the obs deck awaiting Beka and Trance's arrivel. If any two people could explain in depth what just happened they could. I could here their tentative footsteps behind me.
"I'm disappointed in both of you." I began. I rubbed the bridge of my nose and suppressed the need to scream and punch and kick and all out beat the holy shit out of both of them.
"You have not only compromised my ship, and my mission, but also the health and wellbeing of this crew." I stood and turned so they can see the spreading brousies and cuts on my face and arms. Trance drew back a little and I could tell she was in disbelief that her little engeenier could do something like this.
"I know that both of you knew about this...Knew there was a problem and you took lengths to keep this information from me." Trance pipped up.
"Dylan all I knew was that he was moody so I diagnosed him with manic depression and prescribed some meds accordingly....He never told me he was violent and on the meds he seemed fine, He didn't seem like a threat." She said letting her words drift.
"And you Beka?"
"I had promised him Dylan" Beka said matter of factly which made me boil over with rage.
"So your promise means more to you then the lives of this crew!"
"I never thought it would come to this! He told me he had split personality disorder just in case something like this ever happened.....just in case."
"Why is this happening now??"
"His data port was installed when he was 15 not only to give him an advantage as an engineer but to suppress his alter...Shane. But now it's malfunctioning and his disorder is back. I tired to tell you about it in the café...but Rommie called you to the bridge before I had the chance"
"Shane..." I scoffed and paced in front of them.
"He's had split personality disorder since he was 9. He wanted to just forget about it and live his life. He never thought this would happen...he just told me just in case. He needs to get to a doc and get his data port fixed before his disorder gets worse."
"Worse?"
"Before Shane takes over completely."
"I have never heard of a procedure like this." I said exasperated
"That's because Harper is probably the only person to ever go through the procedure and a Dr. Keets from earth is the only doctor who can do the procedure."
"That's funny...Drakes last name is keets." I mumbled more to myself then anyone else.
"What's Drakes condition?" I asked a startled Trance. I could tell that this was the first time she had ever heard about Harper's disorder and she was trying to let it all sink in.
"He's fine, The nanobots have almost completely healed the wound." She said innocently. Her tail winding around mindlessly beside her.
"And Harper" I said micro breathing so my ribs wouldn't expand.
"Physically he's fine. But he's really quiet...can tell he's really sorry. From what Rommis told me I didn't think it would be a good idea for him to be in the same room with Drake so I put him in the back." I nodded my understanding and felt a wave of dizziness sweep over me. In all my anger I had almost forgotten about the extent on my injuries.
"Dylan....I think you should come to med lab too..." She said more like a question then a statement. I was still angry but I couldn't help but smile at Trance. She constantly tired to avoid conflict...every statement was a suggestion rather then a command or something matter of fact. I gathered myself once again remembering the pain. I nodded to her and she walked over to help me. Beka attempted to come my way but the anger and disappointment I let gravitate to my face stopped her in her tracks. She was my first officer and her duty was to tell me of any threats. She had overlooked her duty because of a personal relationship and I wasn't going to have that on my ship.
"Beka you are confined to quarters until further notice." I said over my shoulder as Trance struggled to get me to med deck.
"Why am I confined to quarters!" She said loudly and with disregard to my rank she walked up to me and placed her hand defiantly on her hips.
"You're confined to quarters because you withheld information that could have prevented this situation. Instead of telling me of Harpers condition you hid it. Beka...This isn't a game. You can't tell me after the damage is done to beware...it's to late now...if anyone is responsible for this....it's you. You have intentionally neglected your duties as first officer and there for relieved of duty." I said evenly. I had learned that getting worked up with Beka only made her feel more in control. If I stayed in control and didn't let her rudeness sway me, my words would have more meaning.
"I understand" She said letting her hands slide from her waist. Her eyes searched the surrounding area...any excuse not to look at me. Trance tugged gently and I followed. I felt sore and broken. I finally entered med lab to see Harper bound tightly to a table with a maria bot standing close by.
Harper's Pov
I looked over to see Dylan being ushered in by Trance. The bruises had spread to there full size and I grimaced at the thought that I had beaten my captain mercilessly. I wanted to say something but I didn't think it would help so I stayed quiet. The restraints dug deeply into my wrists and ankles thanks to Rommie's lose of bedside manner. I knew she was so angry with me she could kill me herself. I had finally completely wigged out and I had lost the trust of every member of this ship. There was a slight hum in the back of my mind. He was there...waiting for me to put my guard down. He was like a scavenger...feeding off my used emotions. Oddly I wondered if my hair was ok and I chuckled inwardly at the stupidity of my thoughts. Laughter is the best medicine I thought. Dylan gingerly laid down on the table next to mine, about 5 feet away. He couldn't look at me and I could tell his breathing and pulse had quickened from the sheer sight of me. I was numb. A part of me new this was what happens when your mentally insane, it knew how this would play out. Just like how my other relationships played out were people run away screaming aimlessly into the night. The other part of me really didn't' want to lose this. I had made a good life here. That part wasn't ready to give up. I heard a noise from the back and I shifted my gaze to the other side of the room. A man sauntered in looking pale and spent. I struggled against my restraints....my first reaction was to run. It was Drake. I hadn't killed him...my shock gave Shane a little leeway and once again I bolted the door and he banged and begged to be let out.
"You shot me Shay...Nice to see you too...We've got a few things to discuss." His face seemed to crack in the middle horizontally and those big teeth shone through frighteningly.
To Be Continued...
The sensation I felt was strange...it felt like someone had turned me on with a flip of a switch and my body was trying to manage the sudden surge of power... My brain felt foggy and my nose ached. I looked down just in time to see the red liquid drip down in a long pouring stream landing on my pants. I quickly reached up but not before I was tackled fiercely to the ground...The light speed jarring instantly made me flash back to a 9 year-old me being tackled by the slumgangs. I flailed my arms wildly as the person struggled to restrain me. It was strange, this moment was the first time Shane hadn't been around when I was afraid and I was quit relieved. I struggled with my eyes fused shut. I refused to see the leader of the slumgangs....straddling me and preparing to do what he had done before. I was quickly restrained and I grimaced knowing pain was next on the agenda.
"Wait! Wait! Har...Harper?" A voice called. It couldn't be anyone else but Beka.
I opened my eyes and blinked away the blur of confusion. I was overwhelmingly disoriented and my head felt like it weight a ton. A big shadow was in my direct line of vision so I squinted to figure out what it was.
"Dylan?" I said as the tall and heavy man stopped struggling with me and stared wildly. He straddled my hips and his weight was crushing me making me feel like I was becoming part of the grating. My eyes continued to adjust but slowly. I could see his right eye was turning a deep shade of purple and he struggled to breathe letting out a gurgling wheeze. I knew right away that that was Shane's doing. I looked past Dylan to a very scared and worried Beka. Lines of stress and worry had crept around her eyes and mouth making her appear older then she was. Dylan stared angrily at me as the gravity made the blood from my nose slid down my cheek and into my ear annoyingly. It made me remember the many nights when I use to cry myself to sleep staring at the ceiling and fruitlessly wishing Shane would just disappear one day. I use to pray, plead and beg for him to just pack his things and leave never to return. I use to cry so long and so hard that the redundancy of wiping tears that I knew would gather again would dawn on me and I would just let them run their course, They'd slide down my cheek and into my ear making me flinch with annoyance but not breaking me out of my woeful mood enough to wipe them away. Dylan loosened his grip on my wrists only to pick up the force lance beside me and aim. My body tensed and my mind stilled. His face was like steel. His lips were tight and his chin was held high...like she was trying to regain the dignity that Shane had stripped from him. His chest heaved and I could tell the anger was building to critical levels. Beka slowly walked up to Dylan and grabbed his shoulder.
"Harper is that you?" She said and I nodded slowly never taking my eyes off of Dylan. Somehow she could tell when I was back when no one else could....just like my mother could. I was so frightened to learn of what I might have done or said...What Shane might have done. I wanted to cry but with the look on Dylan's face and this force lance pointed at my head...shitting my pants seemed like the more appropriate thing to do.
"Dylan...." I said but he quickly shushed me stuffing the force lance into my eye agonizingly...He shuddered with both pain and unrelenting anger which made the force lance dig deeper into my socket. I arched my back somehow thinking that might ease the pain, when in fact it didn't help at all. I took a quick intake of air leaving my mouth gaping in shock. Would he shoot?
"Dylan stop! He couldn't help it! IT WASN'T HIM!" She said she screamed close to tears. Whatever I had done had been bad enough for Beka to worry that Dylan might actually fire that weapon into my eye through my head and through this floor. I didn't know if that was good or bad...I didn't want to face what I had done and what I might have said. I was never a fan of suicide but this was one of those times when Black Death would be preferred over this cold living. His icy glare was terrible and I wish he'd just shoot.
"Like hell it wasn't him! So it wasn't him to gave me this black eye and these broken ribs. It wasn't him who slapped you around and called you a whore , and it wasn't him who shot Drake." His words hit me like a ton of bricks. I had shot someone? But worst of all...I had hit beka?
"I...I..." I stuttered...I needed something to say in my defense but there wasn't anything I could say. Drake? He must have been the man who was here before I blacked out. It took me awhile to figure out who it was that stood beside Dylan. He was a tall man. He wore all black and his skin was a dark bronze. His smile triggered my memory. That same smile that had prompted so much fear that I later found was justified when I was 9. The leader of the hellgang...the slumgang.
"Is he dead." I whispered slowly and softly. Forgetting about the weapon jabbed in my eye just long enough to get the words out.
"DO YOU WANT HIM DEAD!!?" Dylan yelled furiously. Spit flew from his mouth and his eye seemed to turn a shade darker which only made me feel worse. I had beaten up my captain and my friend...the only friend I really trusted and I had shot someone.
"NO! PLEASE...I'M SORRY...I ...I ..IT WASN'T ME ..." I said pitifully. Beka spoke up from behind Dylan. Her voice was quiet as if she wasn't sure whether she should be sticking up for me or ramming her own force lance in my other eye.
"Harper has a sever case of ...split personality disorder. Dylan...it wasn't him" She said again pleadingly. I noticed the blood smeared on Dylan's fist and realized that he was the one who had given me the bloody nose. I had assumed it was him but that was the proof. He still sat...straddling my hips snorting and clenching his teeth in anger he pulled the force lance away from my eye but my socket still felt like something large was stuffed in it. He dropped the lance next to him and it clattered on the floor noisily breaking the awkward silence momentarily. He hung his head and his breathing was the only sound. He revved his fist back and came down hard. I braced for impact and heard his fist smack loudly onto the hollow grated floor inches from my head. He roared angrily and picked himself up off of me gingerly...holding his ribs and exhaling the pain. What had I done...he done?
"Split personality..." He whispered...his gaze now seemed distant. He stood a few feet away from me looking down at me like he had just scrapped me off the bottom of his shoe. I looked away but I could still feel his eye burning into me.
" LOOK AT ME HARPER!" He screamed uncharacteristically. I would have taken slavery any day over seeing that much disappointment on his face.
"THIS IS THE DAMAGE YOU'VE CAUSED!" He continued sorely. He pressed his neck communicator
"Rommie...Take Mr. Harper to the Med Deck. Confine him to a bed until further notice. When he's secure have Trance look him over." I shuddered at his words and the even-ness of his tone. He'd said confine. I knew what that meant that meant being strapped down to the bed like a lunatic. The only problem was I was a lunatic and shane had gotten out of restraints before.
"Dylan I think you should get looked at too." Beka said only to get a twisted gaze from Dylan in return.
"I will, I just need to think some things through first." He said crossing his arms.
"I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry." I kept saying but the damage was done. I knew both me and Beka were in hot water. And the things he needed to think through would be our stay on this ship. I looked at Beka and she instantly looked away. Usually I can stand the cold shoulder but not from Beka...it felt like I had disappointed my surrogate mother. Hot bile rose in my throat as I thought about the possibilities of what I had done and what I was capable of. My vision had cleared and I realized where I was. I was on the Maru. How did I get here? I have no clue. Footsteps came rushing up and both Beka and Dylan turned to see an irate Tyr running with his biggest gun already powered up and ready. Shitting my pants seemed more and more like the right thing to do. Dylan stopped him of course...he might have hated me, found me a loose cannon, an annoying and seemingly dangerous piece of work but he was still captain.
"The situation has been neutralized." Dylan said. The rest of his words were only for Tyr. He whispered and Tyr's eyes squinted at me as if to say "one day little man. Watch your back." I squirmed a little under his gaze only making him visibly tighten his grip on his gun. I stilled immediately. I wiped the blood from my face and tried without luck to get the blood out of my ear. Rommie plus two Maria bots showed up to carry me away to my interrogation. I would have to explain what Shane was, who he was, and why he caused so much damage. The real question would be why I didn't warn him about this...this possible risk to his ship and his mission. I knew Dylan well enough to know that he would milk as much info from Trance and Beka before actually talking to me. And between the both of them he'd find that I was a lunatic and needed to be confined to quarter and later thrown out of an air lock into magog space. Rommie grabbed me coldly and yanked me to my feet. I hadn't expected her to be nice...I had hurt her Captain. The walk to med deck was long and tooo quiet.
Dylans Pov 2 hours later
I sat in the observation deck. Anger welling up and making my throat tight.
"Split personality disorder?" I scoffed. It seemed ridiculous but I looked up the disorder anyway. It cleared up why Harper had looked so menacing. I remember I had to catch a gasp in my throat when I saw him look up from under his lashes and stare at Drake. What was it about Drake that got to him? I don't know...all I know is that he was on him in a flash. A fury of fists and kicks connecting astonishingly fast and amazingly accurate. I jumped in the fight to tear Harper off but it only seemed to enrage him...before I could even think of drawing my weapon Harper had turned his attack on me. It seemed like I had the size advantage but he used my size against me, catching me off balance when I lashed out. I flinched just thinking of the beating I had gotten from my once quirky engineer. He seemed like a different person...he was a different person. He skillfully beat me down talking and mumbling the whole time about the corruption of the commonwealth and about my supposed superiority complex. He grabbed my force lance from my holster whirled around and shot Drake instantly sending him into a screaming pain riddled ball heaped pitifully against the wall. Harper laughed this laugh that I could never forget. It didn't' even sound like it could possible come from him...this high pitched scream of a laugh. It sickened me to see him hunched over in laughter after shooting someone. Beka ran up from behind him and tried to restrain him only to be pushed away....He laughed and revved back his arm only to stop inches from her face. His face softened considerably for a second and the ambiance was strangely captivating. He looked around like he had just remembered something important, grinned, and ran down the corridor dodging Tyrs attacks. Beka ran over to me and I waved her off and pointed to Drake. She checked his pulse and called Trance to pick him up because I was too winded to make that order.
"Tyr. Get reinforcements" I had said...obviously fighting wasn't going to take him down. Tyr jogged off and I stumbled to my feet following behind an irate yet scared Beka. Her eyes seemed to know what was happening.
"Andromeda Locate Mr Harper" I crocked.
"Harper has just entered the Maru and is out of my sensor range." She said evenly in her typical Rommie tone. Beka looked at me and ran full force for the docking bay. If anyone could hack the Maru and steal her it was Harper. We finally made it onto the Maru only to stumble into Harper's trap. I didn't know what hit me. All I knew was that I fell and I fell hard. My chest felt caved in and I couldn't move or get air. Harper grabbed Beka by the hair masterfully. She struggled but Harper blocked all punches and grabbed her by her hair again. She grunted in both pain and surprise and her face balled up with the effort to keep up with Harper's long strides.
"Give me the access codes." He said evenly. I couldn't' see them at this point...I could barely breathe. They had turned the corner but I could hear them just fine. Beka refused and Harper demanded more firmly doing something to make Beka yelp out and ignite me with energy. I stumbled to my feet grabbing my swollen chest and stepping over the pipe I assumed Harper had used to do this damage. I knew a rib was broken but Beka's yelp continued to burn in my heart.
"Give me the Codes you stupid whore!" He shouted....I wondered where the hell tyr was when you needed him. I picked up the pipe only to find that harper had taken beka's weapon and had it aimed and ready for my entry...I ducked just in time to miss my head getting shot off. The quick movement made some of my ribs shift and I moaned with blinding pain
"Come on Dylan. Why do you always have to be the hero!" His voice was a high pitched child like voice. Light yet psychotic. Shivers of old fears came back...his voice reminded me of monsters under my bed and witches in my closet.
"Harper! What the hell is this about! Let beka go!"
"ohh you wanna negotiate huh?"
"How about you tell Beka to give me the codes! I'll blow her brains out if you don't" He said mockingly
"Let her go Harper!" I screamed and he laughed again...I shuddered. I pushed my neck communicator and whispered to rommie.
"Rommie I need you to remove the AG field from this docking bay and vent the coolent tanks on deck 19." I knew the act of releasing the coolent tanks would be enough to rock anyone who wasn't inside an AG field anyone who was inside one would barely feel a thing.
"Acknowledged"
There was a moment of silence then the Maru rocked violently sending all three of us flying in all different directions. I slid on the floor and in all the confusion grabbed wildly for the forcelance that had fell from harpers hand. Harper slowly stood and I punched him without hesitation bloodying his nose. He fell back and then stood on wobbly legs...He looked around dazed and confused but I wasn't done with him yet..I tackled him and then lost all control over my anger. I shook my head at how utterly angry I was that he had shot a man, attacked me, and treated beka like a piece of shit.
I sat here in the obs deck awaiting Beka and Trance's arrivel. If any two people could explain in depth what just happened they could. I could here their tentative footsteps behind me.
"I'm disappointed in both of you." I began. I rubbed the bridge of my nose and suppressed the need to scream and punch and kick and all out beat the holy shit out of both of them.
"You have not only compromised my ship, and my mission, but also the health and wellbeing of this crew." I stood and turned so they can see the spreading brousies and cuts on my face and arms. Trance drew back a little and I could tell she was in disbelief that her little engeenier could do something like this.
"I know that both of you knew about this...Knew there was a problem and you took lengths to keep this information from me." Trance pipped up.
"Dylan all I knew was that he was moody so I diagnosed him with manic depression and prescribed some meds accordingly....He never told me he was violent and on the meds he seemed fine, He didn't seem like a threat." She said letting her words drift.
"And you Beka?"
"I had promised him Dylan" Beka said matter of factly which made me boil over with rage.
"So your promise means more to you then the lives of this crew!"
"I never thought it would come to this! He told me he had split personality disorder just in case something like this ever happened.....just in case."
"Why is this happening now??"
"His data port was installed when he was 15 not only to give him an advantage as an engineer but to suppress his alter...Shane. But now it's malfunctioning and his disorder is back. I tired to tell you about it in the café...but Rommie called you to the bridge before I had the chance"
"Shane..." I scoffed and paced in front of them.
"He's had split personality disorder since he was 9. He wanted to just forget about it and live his life. He never thought this would happen...he just told me just in case. He needs to get to a doc and get his data port fixed before his disorder gets worse."
"Worse?"
"Before Shane takes over completely."
"I have never heard of a procedure like this." I said exasperated
"That's because Harper is probably the only person to ever go through the procedure and a Dr. Keets from earth is the only doctor who can do the procedure."
"That's funny...Drakes last name is keets." I mumbled more to myself then anyone else.
"What's Drakes condition?" I asked a startled Trance. I could tell that this was the first time she had ever heard about Harper's disorder and she was trying to let it all sink in.
"He's fine, The nanobots have almost completely healed the wound." She said innocently. Her tail winding around mindlessly beside her.
"And Harper" I said micro breathing so my ribs wouldn't expand.
"Physically he's fine. But he's really quiet...can tell he's really sorry. From what Rommis told me I didn't think it would be a good idea for him to be in the same room with Drake so I put him in the back." I nodded my understanding and felt a wave of dizziness sweep over me. In all my anger I had almost forgotten about the extent on my injuries.
"Dylan....I think you should come to med lab too..." She said more like a question then a statement. I was still angry but I couldn't help but smile at Trance. She constantly tired to avoid conflict...every statement was a suggestion rather then a command or something matter of fact. I gathered myself once again remembering the pain. I nodded to her and she walked over to help me. Beka attempted to come my way but the anger and disappointment I let gravitate to my face stopped her in her tracks. She was my first officer and her duty was to tell me of any threats. She had overlooked her duty because of a personal relationship and I wasn't going to have that on my ship.
"Beka you are confined to quarters until further notice." I said over my shoulder as Trance struggled to get me to med deck.
"Why am I confined to quarters!" She said loudly and with disregard to my rank she walked up to me and placed her hand defiantly on her hips.
"You're confined to quarters because you withheld information that could have prevented this situation. Instead of telling me of Harpers condition you hid it. Beka...This isn't a game. You can't tell me after the damage is done to beware...it's to late now...if anyone is responsible for this....it's you. You have intentionally neglected your duties as first officer and there for relieved of duty." I said evenly. I had learned that getting worked up with Beka only made her feel more in control. If I stayed in control and didn't let her rudeness sway me, my words would have more meaning.
"I understand" She said letting her hands slide from her waist. Her eyes searched the surrounding area...any excuse not to look at me. Trance tugged gently and I followed. I felt sore and broken. I finally entered med lab to see Harper bound tightly to a table with a maria bot standing close by.
Harper's Pov
I looked over to see Dylan being ushered in by Trance. The bruises had spread to there full size and I grimaced at the thought that I had beaten my captain mercilessly. I wanted to say something but I didn't think it would help so I stayed quiet. The restraints dug deeply into my wrists and ankles thanks to Rommie's lose of bedside manner. I knew she was so angry with me she could kill me herself. I had finally completely wigged out and I had lost the trust of every member of this ship. There was a slight hum in the back of my mind. He was there...waiting for me to put my guard down. He was like a scavenger...feeding off my used emotions. Oddly I wondered if my hair was ok and I chuckled inwardly at the stupidity of my thoughts. Laughter is the best medicine I thought. Dylan gingerly laid down on the table next to mine, about 5 feet away. He couldn't look at me and I could tell his breathing and pulse had quickened from the sheer sight of me. I was numb. A part of me new this was what happens when your mentally insane, it knew how this would play out. Just like how my other relationships played out were people run away screaming aimlessly into the night. The other part of me really didn't' want to lose this. I had made a good life here. That part wasn't ready to give up. I heard a noise from the back and I shifted my gaze to the other side of the room. A man sauntered in looking pale and spent. I struggled against my restraints....my first reaction was to run. It was Drake. I hadn't killed him...my shock gave Shane a little leeway and once again I bolted the door and he banged and begged to be let out.
"You shot me Shay...Nice to see you too...We've got a few things to discuss." His face seemed to crack in the middle horizontally and those big teeth shone through frighteningly.
To Be Continued...