Sorry gang I just noticed that the last part of chapter 23 was cut off so I
replaced that chapter. You may want to give it a re-read .
Thanks to everyone who has comment and stuck with me through this one. I promise the chapters will be coming faster now.
(((((hugs))))))
Harper cough weakly as he leaned against the bulkhead. Beka stood a few feet away. She had taken the lead and a hand full of shrillers. She glanced back at him with concern. He waved at her signaling that he was okay.
It took him a while to make the Shrillers but Beka helped some. She also found something he could use as a crutch. Using the crutch hurt his taped ribs but he wasn't about to tell Beka that. He was holding her back and he didn't want to be responsible for her not being able to get to the others. He feared he might have already held her back too much. Everyone was probably dead even that Magog priest that asked him for forgiveness. Harper picked at the now dirty bandage around his hand and thought of the conundrum that was Rev Bem.
"Harper!" Beka hissed forcing him to focus on the situation in front of him. She indicated with a tilt of her head that there were Magog around the corner. He held up the old gauss gun that Beka had found for him on the Maru. It wasn't that heavy but his hands shook. He did his best to keep his aim steady as he covered Beka's back and balanced on his homemade crutch.
Beka pulled the wire on the Shriller and tossed it around the corner like a mini grenade.
Beka looked confused like she wasn't sure it worked but then Harper heard the Magog start to scream and roar. Harper noted the small smile that graced Beka's lips. It was something he wished she did more.
The complaints of the Magog grew louder. Harper grinned. Shrillers were still fun.
Beka stepped out in to the open and started firing. By the time he hobbled over there were half a dozen Magog corpses laying ten feet ahead. "Damn, I wanted to do that."
Beka chuckled and mussed his hair. "You okay to keep going?"
"Yeah, I would kill for a beer though."
"Harper!"
"Well I could!"
"Well if we find the other's I'll buy you a case of Sparky okay?"
"Deal."
Harper limped out in to the main corridor. Beka quickly followed and passed him. "We'll have to be more careful now. They'll know were here."
She looked around the corner and continued forward waiting ever so often for him to catch up.
They met six more Magog patrols and had more then one close call before they finally reached Command Deck. Beka was about to bang on the door but to their surprise it swung open.
There was a loud squeal and a purple blur.
Harper fond him self hitting the deck with a thump. His broken ribs jolted causing him to see stars. "Ow!" he complained.
Beka embraced the purple girl with tears in her eyes. "Trance you're alive!"
"Yup," beamed trance happily. Her tail twitched back and fourth. Harper Swiped at it so he didn't get a mouthful.
"How? I've been trying to contact you for days!"
"Hello!" Whined Harper from his sitting position. "Injured mudfoot here."
Beka snickered and pulled him to his feet. "What are you doing sitting around?"
"Ha ha. Glad to see you Trance." Trance pulled him in to a light hug. Then she stepped back and noticed his injuries for the first time.
"What happed to you?"
"I was going to ask you the same thing."
A low rumble growl turned all their attentions down the corridor.
"We better get inside." Motioned Beka.
Harper let out a low whistle. The place was in shambles. Harper hopped up to the destroyed pilot's chair and touched it with reverence. I didn't even get to sit in it. He looked up at the ceiling wires and panels hung lose charred black with smoke. Circuits popped and spark randomly
Rommie's hologram popped in to existence beside him. "Rommie!" He squealed in an unconscious imitation of Trance's greeting to Beka. He did his best hug the empty air.
Rommie looked down at him bemused as he hugged himself happily. "I'm glad to see you to."
"Gawd, what a mess." Intoned Beka with surprise.
Rommie actually looked offended.
"Rommie? Are you okay now?" Beka asked as she pulled the young engineer back from the hologram.
Rommie nodded. "In the way that you mean yes. Though I am a little embarrassed. My old memory now seems integrated with my new memories. There is a lot of damage though and I am unable to locate my AI body."
Beka turned to Trance and Rommie addressing both of them. "So fill me in. What happened and why couldn't I get a hold of you?"
Harper always loved hearing stories on earth and it had been a long time since he had one. His Dad used to tell them and he would always try to make them funnier then they were. Some times he tried to hard and his dad ended up being funnier then the story. His cousin Brendan always told scary stories of Neitzscheans and wars. His mom always told dreamy stories. Ones that had strange creatures called dragons and took place in places where the grass was green. In her stories the good guys always went on big quests and found treasure. He liked all the stories equally and now. He settled his sore body down on the deck beside the pilot's chair and looked at Trance eagerly wondering what kind of stories a purple pixie could tell.
Trance smiled at him kindly and turned towards Beka to tell her tale.
"After the first explosion you left to find Harper... Rommie was starting to get better. She tried to fly out of the worldship's range but then there was a second explosion. It took out the slipstream drive and the thruster's. Dylan was thrown. I tried to help him but then something exploded. When I woke up Dylan was gone. I d-didn't know what to do." She sniffed.
Beka reached forward taking the younger women's hand to try to reassure her.
"Rommie was better but still a little confused so I tried to help her."
Beka cover her mouth with her free hand and gasped. "Trance you didn't!?"
"I was scared and alone I didn't know what to do." She sobbed.
Harper couldn't sit there silent any longer. This was a horrible story. "What are you to going on about? Where are the other's? What's wrong with Trance trying to help Rommie? There wasn't even any dragons!"
The two women turned to stare at him.
"Er, Never mind." Harper blushed.
Beka rolled her eyes. Trance you may want to check him for head injuries.
"Hey!" He replied indignant.
Beka walked over to him with a sigh. "Harper you remember how you told me once that you were good with machines. You just understood them."
Seamus nodded.
Beka smiled sadly. "Hohne even said you were a genius. We'll Trance is supper smart at a lot of things. She can fix just about anything organic. But when it comes to machines she is your polar opposite."
Harper's mouth dropped open.
"When we crashed on earth, I was fixing the coffee maker." Trance interjected sadly. "Everything is always my fault."
Harper looked away confused. He wanted to leap up and yell hell, of course it wasn't her fault they crashed it was an accident. Yet, at the same time if they hadn't come to earth Fergus and Raven would still be running and calling for him. Then again there was chance that they would be dead anyway and Raven got to see the stars and die in a happy place. Thinking of all the what if's was giving him a headache.
"Trance, "He rubbed at the bridge of his nose. "I don't know why things happened but they did. You didn't mean to crash on earth and in the end that's all that matters."
It was like dam burst in Trance's eyes. Water dripped of her chin as she wrapped her arms around Harper's shoulders.
Damnit, he was trying to maker her quit crying now she was sobbing and his shoulder was getting wet. He looked up at Beka helplessly.
Beka tried unsuccessfully to hide a smirk behind her hand. "Okay, Trance leave the poor boy alone. We need to concentrate here."
Trance stood up wiped her eyes and instantly looked like she had never been crying.
"So," Beka continued. "You haven't heard from anyone else?"
Trance shook her head. "Not since Dylan went missing and when I couldn't get a hold of anyone I tried to fix the Comms."
Rommie popped in then. "I'm sorry to say Trance I think Comms were the only thing still working until...Also it seems my AI personality is limited to Command Deck."
Harper wanted to take a look at one of the consoles maybe he could do something. He stood up a little to quickly and he teetered unsteadily trying to balance on one foot. Standing up jarred his ribs and he wrapped his arms around his middle. The deck seemed to twist funny and he tried to suppress a groan as he did his best not to throw up.
Beka was at his side in an instant. "Whoa there sport. I shouldn't have let you out to play so soon."
Harper tried to shake her off lightly. "I'm okay, we had to come."
"Well, now thanks to you we can move around the ship a little so we'll be able to look for the other's. We'll find you some meds so you can rest."
"Beka," It even sounded whiney to him.
"No, that's an order... We're going to need your help getting Rommie in one piece again and for that I need you in one piece."
Trance took Beka's place at Harper's side. Harper's arms didn't reach up to Trance's shoulders. So Trance wrapped her arms around his shoulders and looped her tail in one of his belt loops.
Beka unbarricaded the door, and cautiously looked both ways. There wasn't a Magog in sight it was almost to easy. "It's quiet." She whispered.
"Rommie's sensor's are down. There is no way to tell if anyone else is still alive. Maybe... maybe it's quiet for a reason."
"Harper no," Beka turned towards where the younger man stood in Trance's arms. "I've learned a lot about you now it's time you learned something about me. I don't give up on my crew. No one gets left behind."
Harper looked suddenly down at the ground not wanting to meet her eyes. She didn't even think about what she said. He knew she meant it. Hell, he admired it. But, it never once occurred to her that he wasn't crew. She'd never leave any member of her crew behind. But that didn't mean she wouldn't leave him behind. Maybe not now, but someday. "Let's just go okay."
Beka stood there for a moment but then returned her focus back on the corridor.
Beka lead the way as they walked.
Trance gripped him a little tighter with her tail. "It's weird don't you think?" As she negotiated Harper around yet another Magog body. "It's like you guys found me and they all disappeared."
"Magog aren't real smart but sometimes they can be tricky they could still be around."
"I don't know Rev Bem was really smart."
Harper scowled. "He ran away to join the rest of his kind. He's no different."
Trance's eyes sparkled a little. "Are you so sure?"
"Shhh" whispered Beka waving her arm at them suddenly. Trance pulled Harper back against the bulkhead and waited.
Beka pulled the string on a shriller and let it fly. Screeches could be heard from the corridor a head. Trance flinched visibly beside him.
"You can hear the shrillers?" He asked Trance worriedly.
"Yes, but it's not bad. It's just I can feel them screaming."
"What!?" Before he got his explanation Beka started firing. Harper pulled his own gauss gun out.
"Harper! Where did you get that? I don't thing you should have a gun." Trance tried to wrestle the weapon from his grip.
"Trance let go! Beka gave it to me it's mine."
The two wrestled for a moment. Harper losing his grip and balance tumble to the floor. "It's mine!" He complained indignantly.
Beka strode over to them. "If you two are done horsing around the coast is clear." She stated dryly.
"Beka, she took my gun."
Beka grabbed his arm and helped him to his feet. "Trance give it back to him."
"You really think it's good for him to have a weapon!?" Trance sounded surprised.
"No, actually I don't but frankly I would rather him have it then be left defenseless."
"Hey," Harper complained. "I'm not defenseless."
"Harper you can't even walk properly. Now lets go!" Beka replied exasperated.
It took them a full twenty minutes to weave their way to medical. Once there Trance helped up on to the bed he had been using. Slowly she removed Beka's bandages and the temporary cast.
Harper winced but said very little. He simply listened as Beka planned.
"I think first we should check the escape pods maybe they were forced to abandon ship. After that we really may need to concentrate on getting Rommie back in order. We need those internal defenses on. Now that she recognizes us again it shouldn't be a problem. We need to get rid of theses damn Magog. Trance do you have any...er... ideas on where we should look other then the escape pods?"
"I think the escape pods then Rommie." Trance whispered. "I don't think it will help us to look anywhere else."
"Why?" Harper finally piped up. "I mean how do you know? They could be anywhere. The Magog could have dragged them off some where..."
Beka held her hand up to stop his barrage. "Trance is really good at finding stuff. She's my lucky charm."
The purple girl smiled sadly.
She injected Nanobots in to Harper's leg, ribs and hand. She attached some sort of gel pack to his arm and stated it was to help with infection. Harper didn't like that one but trance was even more stubborn and insisted on it. The gel felt slimy and it made that part of his arm cold. Lastly she wrapped his leg again with a heavy bandage after giving him another injection for the pain.
"I feel like a pin cushion!" he complained but no one listened. They didn't have meds on earth. So all of this seems so strange. On earth you either lived or died it was as simple as that. You certainly didn't have people filling you full of nanobots. He tried to cross his arms in a pout but Trance wouldn't even allow that.
"No you'll pull the gel pack off and your burn hasn't healed yet."
Harper resisted the urge to stick out his tongue.
Beka took his hand and sat down beside Harper on the edge of his bed. Her hair fell in to her eyes and she didn't even bother swiping it away. She was totally focused on him. "Harper I need you to listen to what I have to say."
Harper turned to listen to her. She was acting very serious and he became anxious. "What?"
"We need to find the other's like you know. You're hurt and need to rest. We need to hurry and get control of this situation. I need everyone's help."
"What can I do?" his voice squeaked nervously.
Beka squeezed his hand. "Trance has a natural instinct for finding people and things. I need to go with her. But, we can't be dragging you along. You're hurt and I need you to stay here. Hold the fort."
"You're leaving me behind!" He pulled his hand from Beka's. "I knew you were going to dump me on that planet with the Priest but I never thought you would leave me to the Magog. I know I'm not an asset but I promise I'll try harder! I'm good under pressure you'll see. Please just don't leave me behind!" The words poured out of his mouth in a nearly incoherent stream.
"Shh, shh." Beka pulled him against her shoulder. "We're going to come back for you. We're not leaving you behind. I'm going to barricade you in her and I'm going to leave you some Shrillers and some other weapons. It's safer for you here and the ship's a mess there is debris everywhere, that bum leg would cause you problems. There is only one entrance, so if you run in to problems you can handle it. Besides we'll be right back less then an hour. You'll be safe here."
"I don't want to be safe. I don't want to be alone!" Harper was nearly frantic.
"I need to go Kiddo, but I promise you I won't leave you I'll be back. I need you to trust me. I know it's a big thing I'm asking but I wouldn't ask if I didn't think you could handle it. Can you trust me?"
Harper pulled away from her embrace and said nothing. What could he say?! He had seen member's of his family torn apart by Magog. When the time came though they were never alone. Maybe it was his fate to die alone. He closed his eyes for a brief moment of escape and wished fervently for the comfort of his mother and father. They did not come. "Go." He whispered to Beka.
Trance laid his gauss gun at his side as Beka handed him some Shrillers.
Beka smiled sadly. "Like I said, we'll block the door and we'll be right back." It was obviously said to comfort him but it didn't.
Harper gave a brief nod; he felt completely numb and didn't trust his voice to respond.
Beka headed for the door. Trance took one last look back at him before she helped Beka close the door.
He picked up the gauss gun and stared at the door as the minutes passed. The silence seemed infinite and he had never felt so alone.
Then he heard a noise on the other side of the door
TBC
Thanks to everyone who has comment and stuck with me through this one. I promise the chapters will be coming faster now.
(((((hugs))))))
Harper cough weakly as he leaned against the bulkhead. Beka stood a few feet away. She had taken the lead and a hand full of shrillers. She glanced back at him with concern. He waved at her signaling that he was okay.
It took him a while to make the Shrillers but Beka helped some. She also found something he could use as a crutch. Using the crutch hurt his taped ribs but he wasn't about to tell Beka that. He was holding her back and he didn't want to be responsible for her not being able to get to the others. He feared he might have already held her back too much. Everyone was probably dead even that Magog priest that asked him for forgiveness. Harper picked at the now dirty bandage around his hand and thought of the conundrum that was Rev Bem.
"Harper!" Beka hissed forcing him to focus on the situation in front of him. She indicated with a tilt of her head that there were Magog around the corner. He held up the old gauss gun that Beka had found for him on the Maru. It wasn't that heavy but his hands shook. He did his best to keep his aim steady as he covered Beka's back and balanced on his homemade crutch.
Beka pulled the wire on the Shriller and tossed it around the corner like a mini grenade.
Beka looked confused like she wasn't sure it worked but then Harper heard the Magog start to scream and roar. Harper noted the small smile that graced Beka's lips. It was something he wished she did more.
The complaints of the Magog grew louder. Harper grinned. Shrillers were still fun.
Beka stepped out in to the open and started firing. By the time he hobbled over there were half a dozen Magog corpses laying ten feet ahead. "Damn, I wanted to do that."
Beka chuckled and mussed his hair. "You okay to keep going?"
"Yeah, I would kill for a beer though."
"Harper!"
"Well I could!"
"Well if we find the other's I'll buy you a case of Sparky okay?"
"Deal."
Harper limped out in to the main corridor. Beka quickly followed and passed him. "We'll have to be more careful now. They'll know were here."
She looked around the corner and continued forward waiting ever so often for him to catch up.
They met six more Magog patrols and had more then one close call before they finally reached Command Deck. Beka was about to bang on the door but to their surprise it swung open.
There was a loud squeal and a purple blur.
Harper fond him self hitting the deck with a thump. His broken ribs jolted causing him to see stars. "Ow!" he complained.
Beka embraced the purple girl with tears in her eyes. "Trance you're alive!"
"Yup," beamed trance happily. Her tail twitched back and fourth. Harper Swiped at it so he didn't get a mouthful.
"How? I've been trying to contact you for days!"
"Hello!" Whined Harper from his sitting position. "Injured mudfoot here."
Beka snickered and pulled him to his feet. "What are you doing sitting around?"
"Ha ha. Glad to see you Trance." Trance pulled him in to a light hug. Then she stepped back and noticed his injuries for the first time.
"What happed to you?"
"I was going to ask you the same thing."
A low rumble growl turned all their attentions down the corridor.
"We better get inside." Motioned Beka.
Harper let out a low whistle. The place was in shambles. Harper hopped up to the destroyed pilot's chair and touched it with reverence. I didn't even get to sit in it. He looked up at the ceiling wires and panels hung lose charred black with smoke. Circuits popped and spark randomly
Rommie's hologram popped in to existence beside him. "Rommie!" He squealed in an unconscious imitation of Trance's greeting to Beka. He did his best hug the empty air.
Rommie looked down at him bemused as he hugged himself happily. "I'm glad to see you to."
"Gawd, what a mess." Intoned Beka with surprise.
Rommie actually looked offended.
"Rommie? Are you okay now?" Beka asked as she pulled the young engineer back from the hologram.
Rommie nodded. "In the way that you mean yes. Though I am a little embarrassed. My old memory now seems integrated with my new memories. There is a lot of damage though and I am unable to locate my AI body."
Beka turned to Trance and Rommie addressing both of them. "So fill me in. What happened and why couldn't I get a hold of you?"
Harper always loved hearing stories on earth and it had been a long time since he had one. His Dad used to tell them and he would always try to make them funnier then they were. Some times he tried to hard and his dad ended up being funnier then the story. His cousin Brendan always told scary stories of Neitzscheans and wars. His mom always told dreamy stories. Ones that had strange creatures called dragons and took place in places where the grass was green. In her stories the good guys always went on big quests and found treasure. He liked all the stories equally and now. He settled his sore body down on the deck beside the pilot's chair and looked at Trance eagerly wondering what kind of stories a purple pixie could tell.
Trance smiled at him kindly and turned towards Beka to tell her tale.
"After the first explosion you left to find Harper... Rommie was starting to get better. She tried to fly out of the worldship's range but then there was a second explosion. It took out the slipstream drive and the thruster's. Dylan was thrown. I tried to help him but then something exploded. When I woke up Dylan was gone. I d-didn't know what to do." She sniffed.
Beka reached forward taking the younger women's hand to try to reassure her.
"Rommie was better but still a little confused so I tried to help her."
Beka cover her mouth with her free hand and gasped. "Trance you didn't!?"
"I was scared and alone I didn't know what to do." She sobbed.
Harper couldn't sit there silent any longer. This was a horrible story. "What are you to going on about? Where are the other's? What's wrong with Trance trying to help Rommie? There wasn't even any dragons!"
The two women turned to stare at him.
"Er, Never mind." Harper blushed.
Beka rolled her eyes. Trance you may want to check him for head injuries.
"Hey!" He replied indignant.
Beka walked over to him with a sigh. "Harper you remember how you told me once that you were good with machines. You just understood them."
Seamus nodded.
Beka smiled sadly. "Hohne even said you were a genius. We'll Trance is supper smart at a lot of things. She can fix just about anything organic. But when it comes to machines she is your polar opposite."
Harper's mouth dropped open.
"When we crashed on earth, I was fixing the coffee maker." Trance interjected sadly. "Everything is always my fault."
Harper looked away confused. He wanted to leap up and yell hell, of course it wasn't her fault they crashed it was an accident. Yet, at the same time if they hadn't come to earth Fergus and Raven would still be running and calling for him. Then again there was chance that they would be dead anyway and Raven got to see the stars and die in a happy place. Thinking of all the what if's was giving him a headache.
"Trance, "He rubbed at the bridge of his nose. "I don't know why things happened but they did. You didn't mean to crash on earth and in the end that's all that matters."
It was like dam burst in Trance's eyes. Water dripped of her chin as she wrapped her arms around Harper's shoulders.
Damnit, he was trying to maker her quit crying now she was sobbing and his shoulder was getting wet. He looked up at Beka helplessly.
Beka tried unsuccessfully to hide a smirk behind her hand. "Okay, Trance leave the poor boy alone. We need to concentrate here."
Trance stood up wiped her eyes and instantly looked like she had never been crying.
"So," Beka continued. "You haven't heard from anyone else?"
Trance shook her head. "Not since Dylan went missing and when I couldn't get a hold of anyone I tried to fix the Comms."
Rommie popped in then. "I'm sorry to say Trance I think Comms were the only thing still working until...Also it seems my AI personality is limited to Command Deck."
Harper wanted to take a look at one of the consoles maybe he could do something. He stood up a little to quickly and he teetered unsteadily trying to balance on one foot. Standing up jarred his ribs and he wrapped his arms around his middle. The deck seemed to twist funny and he tried to suppress a groan as he did his best not to throw up.
Beka was at his side in an instant. "Whoa there sport. I shouldn't have let you out to play so soon."
Harper tried to shake her off lightly. "I'm okay, we had to come."
"Well, now thanks to you we can move around the ship a little so we'll be able to look for the other's. We'll find you some meds so you can rest."
"Beka," It even sounded whiney to him.
"No, that's an order... We're going to need your help getting Rommie in one piece again and for that I need you in one piece."
Trance took Beka's place at Harper's side. Harper's arms didn't reach up to Trance's shoulders. So Trance wrapped her arms around his shoulders and looped her tail in one of his belt loops.
Beka unbarricaded the door, and cautiously looked both ways. There wasn't a Magog in sight it was almost to easy. "It's quiet." She whispered.
"Rommie's sensor's are down. There is no way to tell if anyone else is still alive. Maybe... maybe it's quiet for a reason."
"Harper no," Beka turned towards where the younger man stood in Trance's arms. "I've learned a lot about you now it's time you learned something about me. I don't give up on my crew. No one gets left behind."
Harper looked suddenly down at the ground not wanting to meet her eyes. She didn't even think about what she said. He knew she meant it. Hell, he admired it. But, it never once occurred to her that he wasn't crew. She'd never leave any member of her crew behind. But that didn't mean she wouldn't leave him behind. Maybe not now, but someday. "Let's just go okay."
Beka stood there for a moment but then returned her focus back on the corridor.
Beka lead the way as they walked.
Trance gripped him a little tighter with her tail. "It's weird don't you think?" As she negotiated Harper around yet another Magog body. "It's like you guys found me and they all disappeared."
"Magog aren't real smart but sometimes they can be tricky they could still be around."
"I don't know Rev Bem was really smart."
Harper scowled. "He ran away to join the rest of his kind. He's no different."
Trance's eyes sparkled a little. "Are you so sure?"
"Shhh" whispered Beka waving her arm at them suddenly. Trance pulled Harper back against the bulkhead and waited.
Beka pulled the string on a shriller and let it fly. Screeches could be heard from the corridor a head. Trance flinched visibly beside him.
"You can hear the shrillers?" He asked Trance worriedly.
"Yes, but it's not bad. It's just I can feel them screaming."
"What!?" Before he got his explanation Beka started firing. Harper pulled his own gauss gun out.
"Harper! Where did you get that? I don't thing you should have a gun." Trance tried to wrestle the weapon from his grip.
"Trance let go! Beka gave it to me it's mine."
The two wrestled for a moment. Harper losing his grip and balance tumble to the floor. "It's mine!" He complained indignantly.
Beka strode over to them. "If you two are done horsing around the coast is clear." She stated dryly.
"Beka, she took my gun."
Beka grabbed his arm and helped him to his feet. "Trance give it back to him."
"You really think it's good for him to have a weapon!?" Trance sounded surprised.
"No, actually I don't but frankly I would rather him have it then be left defenseless."
"Hey," Harper complained. "I'm not defenseless."
"Harper you can't even walk properly. Now lets go!" Beka replied exasperated.
It took them a full twenty minutes to weave their way to medical. Once there Trance helped up on to the bed he had been using. Slowly she removed Beka's bandages and the temporary cast.
Harper winced but said very little. He simply listened as Beka planned.
"I think first we should check the escape pods maybe they were forced to abandon ship. After that we really may need to concentrate on getting Rommie back in order. We need those internal defenses on. Now that she recognizes us again it shouldn't be a problem. We need to get rid of theses damn Magog. Trance do you have any...er... ideas on where we should look other then the escape pods?"
"I think the escape pods then Rommie." Trance whispered. "I don't think it will help us to look anywhere else."
"Why?" Harper finally piped up. "I mean how do you know? They could be anywhere. The Magog could have dragged them off some where..."
Beka held her hand up to stop his barrage. "Trance is really good at finding stuff. She's my lucky charm."
The purple girl smiled sadly.
She injected Nanobots in to Harper's leg, ribs and hand. She attached some sort of gel pack to his arm and stated it was to help with infection. Harper didn't like that one but trance was even more stubborn and insisted on it. The gel felt slimy and it made that part of his arm cold. Lastly she wrapped his leg again with a heavy bandage after giving him another injection for the pain.
"I feel like a pin cushion!" he complained but no one listened. They didn't have meds on earth. So all of this seems so strange. On earth you either lived or died it was as simple as that. You certainly didn't have people filling you full of nanobots. He tried to cross his arms in a pout but Trance wouldn't even allow that.
"No you'll pull the gel pack off and your burn hasn't healed yet."
Harper resisted the urge to stick out his tongue.
Beka took his hand and sat down beside Harper on the edge of his bed. Her hair fell in to her eyes and she didn't even bother swiping it away. She was totally focused on him. "Harper I need you to listen to what I have to say."
Harper turned to listen to her. She was acting very serious and he became anxious. "What?"
"We need to find the other's like you know. You're hurt and need to rest. We need to hurry and get control of this situation. I need everyone's help."
"What can I do?" his voice squeaked nervously.
Beka squeezed his hand. "Trance has a natural instinct for finding people and things. I need to go with her. But, we can't be dragging you along. You're hurt and I need you to stay here. Hold the fort."
"You're leaving me behind!" He pulled his hand from Beka's. "I knew you were going to dump me on that planet with the Priest but I never thought you would leave me to the Magog. I know I'm not an asset but I promise I'll try harder! I'm good under pressure you'll see. Please just don't leave me behind!" The words poured out of his mouth in a nearly incoherent stream.
"Shh, shh." Beka pulled him against her shoulder. "We're going to come back for you. We're not leaving you behind. I'm going to barricade you in her and I'm going to leave you some Shrillers and some other weapons. It's safer for you here and the ship's a mess there is debris everywhere, that bum leg would cause you problems. There is only one entrance, so if you run in to problems you can handle it. Besides we'll be right back less then an hour. You'll be safe here."
"I don't want to be safe. I don't want to be alone!" Harper was nearly frantic.
"I need to go Kiddo, but I promise you I won't leave you I'll be back. I need you to trust me. I know it's a big thing I'm asking but I wouldn't ask if I didn't think you could handle it. Can you trust me?"
Harper pulled away from her embrace and said nothing. What could he say?! He had seen member's of his family torn apart by Magog. When the time came though they were never alone. Maybe it was his fate to die alone. He closed his eyes for a brief moment of escape and wished fervently for the comfort of his mother and father. They did not come. "Go." He whispered to Beka.
Trance laid his gauss gun at his side as Beka handed him some Shrillers.
Beka smiled sadly. "Like I said, we'll block the door and we'll be right back." It was obviously said to comfort him but it didn't.
Harper gave a brief nod; he felt completely numb and didn't trust his voice to respond.
Beka headed for the door. Trance took one last look back at him before she helped Beka close the door.
He picked up the gauss gun and stared at the door as the minutes passed. The silence seemed infinite and he had never felt so alone.
Then he heard a noise on the other side of the door
TBC