Ch. 10

Surveillance

Harper blinked rapidly to try and get his eyes to moisten. The flickering light of the small, flat hand-held screen he had thrown together made his eyes burn and his head throb. Adding to this was the annoying ache in his back from keeping his spine curved for countless hours. He was huddled against the wall of the duct, leaning forward with his arms around the screen to see the image that flicked from one area of the ship to the other. A long cord similar to those he used for his data port coiled from the screen to a jack on the control panel.

He was keeping watch of the progression of the various ubers wandering the corridors, and had been for two days with few breaks. In all that time he had yet to actually see any of them do anything. There came moments when one of the oversized males would stop at a console, and each time Harper would go tense and move his face so close to the screen his nose almost touched it. But then the uber would move on, keeping his arms either folded or by his side, never having touched a thing.

Harper was seeing this now with a tan-skinned soldier with brown hair done up in dreds similar to Tyr's. He was hovering about a wall console, though Harper paid little attention to it to know which. The uber was looking it over in bored interest for several long minutes, then moved on.

" Dang it!" Harper snapped shrilly, jerking back and thumping his head against the wall. He snapped his hand up to the bruised area, seething furiously.

" Stupid, careful, uber," Harper growled.

" Harper," came Rommie's slightly exasperated voice. " I think it's time you took a break. You haven't slept and you haven't had a proper meal for two days. You're becoming delirious."

Harper shook his pounding head. " No, no way. I close my eyes for two seconds and it's bye-bye Andromeda."

" I highly doubt that the Nietzschean diplomats will bring down this ship just because you were taking a nap. Besides, they have yet to do anything even remotely suspicious other than these continuing tours. And though I must admit that these 'tours' are good reason to wonder about their intentions, they are not enough for you to kill yourself over."

Harper rubbed his eyes irritably. He had heard Rommie's words, but would not let them register. He flipped from image to image, faster and faster. He paused when the ubers paused, then flipped again.

" Harper?" Rommie said.

Harper stopped when the dark-skinned uber with the bald pate slowed when approaching command only to turn and go the other way.

" Harper?"

It was as though these ubers were playing a game. They knew Harper was watching them so was leading him on, trying to distract him from what he really needed to see.

" Harper!"

That was it. They knew Harper was on to them. They were toying with him.

" HARPER!"

Harper jolted back to reality and knocked his head against the wall once more.

" What!" he practically snarled.

" Go, rest, eat or I'll report you to Dylan and suggest he lock you in you room until the Nietzscheans have gone."

" What!" Harper replied, rubbing his head. " You wouldn't…"

" I would and I will if you don't go now."

" But…"

" Now! Harper."

Harper went rigid with anger, considering for a brief moment spiting Andromeda and continuing his surveillance. He looked back at the screen, but saw only static. Then the static cleared back to the image of an empty corridor. This was the twentieth time this had happened, and Harper still could not find the cause.

Then Harper noticed that the screen appeared to be shaking. But it was not the screen, it was his hands, and not because he was angry he knew. He could barely hold the screen up anymore, light as it was.

Harper narrowed his eyes in frustration, then yanked the cord from the jack, wrapping it around the screen tightly.

" I suggest you not go to your own quarters," Rommie said. " Anayla has found particular interest in that area of the ship. As well as the machine shop."

Now a part of Harper's shaking was due to anger. " Great, just great. All I need now is a few parasites, a couple of good beatings, no food and it'd be earth all over again."

" I suggest staying in Rev Bem's quarters for the time being. He has yet to be bothered by any of the Nietzscheans."

Harper began crawling through the ducts. " Doesn't mean they won't."

AAAAAAAAAAAA

Trance watched in mild amusement as Harper downed his food without even chewing. She had brought it to him only a minute ago and he was already finishing, most likely so he could return to the ducts and take up whatever it was he had been doing. She would have to stop him if he tried, though. Rommie had told her. Trance had a serum all ready in case Harper tried. She kept it hidden in her hands folded behind her back.

Rev Bem was meditating within the shadows off to the side and seemed oblivious to the two beings' presence. But he was aware, Trance knew.

When Harper finished his dinner he set the tray aside. He was sitting on the floor, and Trance waited in great patience for the moment when he would stand up and make for the access door. To her slight surprise, Harper did no such thing. Instead he looked around Rev's quarters with an expression of deep worry, rubbing at the back of his neck.

" Better?" Trance asked chipperly. The answer, however, was made apparent without words. Harper's face was pale, his eyes red-rimmed and the skin beneath his eyes shadowed. All in all, he did not look well, and Trance had the sneaking suspicion that he was not. It took very little to make Harper sick, and he had been very stressed for several days now.

" I need to know where they are," Harper said distractedly.

" Who?" Trance asked, though she already knew.

" Those – those ubers, and that woman." Harper said this with a great amount of loathing. He then winced, following it up by straightening and twisting his upper body to cause the individual vertebrae of his backbone to pop.

Trance made a face. " Ewww!"

" Ow!" Harper said, sagging. " That was supposed to feel good. Man my head hurts. But I have to know where they are…"

He started to rise, so Trance moved over to him to force him back down by pushing on his shoulder.

" Actually, you have to rest. Rommie said so." She then placed her hand on his forehead, and her suspicions were confirmed. " Wow, you're really warm. See what happens when you don't take care of yourself?"

Harper narrowed his eyes. " Hey, I'm used to it."

Trance squeezed his shoulder in reassurance. " This isn't earth, Harper. You don't have to put up with a life like that anymore."

Harper shoved at the food tray with his foot to send it sliding part way across the room. " I know. I just… I can't… they're up to something, I know it! Rommie's malfunctions didn't happen until they arrived. Coincidence? I don't think so. They're doing something and I gotta find it."

He made to rise again, only to be forced back down.

" Harper," Trance said. " You were told to rest. A few hours of sleep isn't going to hurt anyone." She then brought out the medicine in its injector. " Don't force me to use this."

Harper sagged again, almost as though in defeat. He began rubbing his neck once more but his gaze showed only weariness.

" Actually," he quietly said, " maybe you should. I won't be able to sleep. I don't care how tired I am, it ain't gonna happen."

Trance nodded and knelt to inject the vapor into Harper's neck below his data port. But before she could, Harper jerked his head around to look at her, and there was such terror in his eyes that it startled Trance.

" They won't come here, right?" he asked her with a kind of pleading desperation in his voice. Trance still had her hand on his shoulder and could feel his small, rigid frame trembling. " 'Cause that's how it happened last time. I was sick, they came, bad crap happened…" he gave a nervous laugh. " Be kinda weird if it happens all over again. I'm just saying." He shrank back slightly. " They won't find me here though, right?"

Trance stared at him for a moment, hoping that what he saw in her own features was kindness and not pity, since Harper hated pity. The last time she had felt this sad for the little human was when she had to tell him that they could not remove the Magog larvae without killing him.

Trance placed her arm across Harper's shoulders in a quick hug. " We won't let them, I promise. Ready?"

Harper nodded, still shaking and still filled with far too much fear. Trance placed the injector against his neck right on a pulse so the medicine would travel faster. She pressed the release and the vapor entered the engineer with a hiss.

" It will take a few seconds," Trance said. Harper nodded again, then with Trance's help moved onto the bed that Rev rarely used. Harper barely had time to lie down before he was out, breathing softly. Trance was moving Harper's legs onto the bed, and felt Rev's presence as he moved up beside her.

" Finally asleep, I see," he said in his hoarse but gentle voice.

" He still had to take the medication to do it," Trance replied. She looked over at the Wayist.

Rev was shaking his head sadly. " This is a strange ordeal for master Harper, having the murderer of his parent's so near. Though I try to reserve judgment, I must admit that I do not doubt his suspicions. They are proving themselves to be sound."

Trance pressed her lips into a tight, thoughtful line. " You'll stay with him, right?" she asked Rev. " Make sure no one comes?"

The Magog bowed his head slightly. " Of course. Believe me when I say it will prove no difficult task. The Nietzschean diplomats have been making an excellent effort in avoiding me. I strongly doubt that they will come visit any time soon."

Trance beamed at Rev, then turned quickly around, making sure not to whack Rev with her tail.

" Where are you off too?" Rev asked curiously. She turned back to him momentarily to give him a wry grin but gave to reply. On heading out she snatched up the tray with her tail and hurried from Rev's room.

The purple girl hurried down the corridor to drop the tray off at the mess. She then went in search of the nearest Nietszchean (Tyr not included.) It was a simple search since they seemed incapable of sitting still. She came upon the dark-skinned guard with the bald head as he strolled without purpose down the metallic halls. Trance watched him from around the corner where she hid, only to emerge when the Nietszchean turned. Her tread was soft and so silent not even Nietszchean super hearing could catch it.

Trance was good at sneaking. Few else would think this of her since she tended to get caught after a time, but only because she wanted to be caught. Everything she did held intention behind it, including being caught after slipping about unnoticed for a certain amount of time.

She kept to the Nietszchean's trail tightly without ever losing him. When he stopped, she stopped, crouched, and watched. So far the Nietszchean had yet to do anything. However, even the simplest action, no matter how small, could speak volumes. Trance soon noticed that the only time the Nietszchean stopped was when he came upon something of a technical nature such as a console or control panel. He would lean in close to study it, or move in close looking upward as though studying the ceiling.

Trance let out a silent breath of frustration. Suspicious, yes, but nothing more.

Finally, she gave up on the dark-skinned uber to move on and seek out another. She went back the way she had come, turning down three corridors, when she was stopped by Andromeda's hologram.

" Harper was unable to find any evidence of tampering. I do not think your surveillance will prove any more useful."

Trance shrugged. " Well, I can try. Besides, it will make Harper feel better knowing someone else was keeping an eye on things for him. Besides just you, I mean."

" In all truth," holo-Rommies said. " It's not such a bad plan. My surveillance systems are proving difficult. They become disrupted without warning and I cannot diagnose why. Harper has tried to locate the problem but is unable to."

Trance nodded in sympathy. " I know. And now he's sick."

Holo-Rommie lifted a single eyebrow, the closest indication of surprise for the hologram. " Sick? That would explain his rise in body temperature. He'll need to be observed should it grow any worse."

" Rev is with him. Oh! I should ask Beka to help, and Rommie. I mean android Rommie, since you're also Rommie. I mean you should ask Rommie, I mean yourself…"

" I understand," Holo-Rommie said. She then looked upward for a moment. " My avatar is on her way. I'll go tell Beka. You should keep following."

With that, Holo-Rommie vanished. Trance smiled excitedly. Normally she was told to do the complete opposite.

She returned to her search of the corridor for more ubers, only to slow when a strange feeling came over her. It was like a tugging at the back of her mind, pulling her toward something. So she followed it where ever it strengthened.

Three turns later she came upon Anayla taking a sauntering, solitary walk. The white hared Nietszchean was not with her, and this struck Trance as being odd. She did not like it and would have searched out Anayla's bodyguard but the feeling had guided her here, so this was where she needed to be.

In her scrutiny, Anayla's cool gaze finally settled on Trance, and the woman smiled.

" Trance Gemini," she said as though speaking to someone of renown. Trance smiled back at her nervously, feigning surprise at the Lady's acknowledgment of her. But Trance was not surprised at all. Of course this woman would take the time to learn everyone's name. It was through the crew that she hoped to get to Harper.

Trance smiled inwardly with knowing. Her innocence would give the Nietszchean woman a false sense of superiority. Her verbal trickery would be simple, but Trance had tricks of her own.

" You know me?" Trance asked sweetly.

" Of course. Your captain did introduce us. Unlike some of my people, I take introductions very seriously. I must thank you for the plants you placed in my quarters. They are quite lovely."

Trance folded her hands behind her back, rocking on her heels and coiling her tail.

" Thank you. I love plants. Would you like me to show you hydroponics? Dylan lets me collect all kinds of pretty plants…"

Anayla held up her hand. " Perhaps later. You know, Miss Gemini…"

" You can call me Trance," Trance said.

" Trance. I have yet to meet all of your crew. Your engineer was not there during the introductions, and I would very much like to meet him. He has done such wonderful work on this ship. Can you tell me where I might find him?"

Trance grimaced apologetically. " That might not be a good idea. He hasn't been feeling well lately."

" That's all right. My immune system is quite capable of handling anything."

Trance sensed Anayla was making a mockery of Harper, but Trance had never been one to give way to anger often.

" I'm sorry, I can't tell you where he is," Trance said.

" Are you certain?"

Trance nodded.

" Oh." Anayla then brushed past Trance, though still smiling politely.

" I don't think he wants to see you," Trance said, turning to watch Anayla's retreating back. The Lady stopped when Trance said this.

" Really?" She said, turning as well. She was still grinning. " He said that?"

Trance shrugged helplessly. " Well, you did kill his parents. I think he's still really upset about it. I don't think he likes you very much."

Anayla's brow lifted in slight surprise. " He remembers me then?"

" Maybe you shouldn't try to meet him. It might not be a good idea."

A shadow seemed to pass over Anayla's features, darkness filling her eyes.

" Is that a threat, my dear Miss Gemini? Are you threatening me?"

Trance lifted her shoulders, scratching the back of her head with the tip of her tail.

" Not really. But even if I was, I'm not the one you should be worried about."

With that said, Trance smiled, waved farewell, and continued on merrily down the hall.

TBC