Chapter 11
"In the mirror, I saw my eyes glitter.
I flung back the sticky red sheets,
and there, like I said - and ain't life a bitch -
was his head on a platter."
From Salome by Carol Ann Duffy
-
'I don't like this! I don't like it! I never agreed to this! I thought…'
'You thought what? I told you that I would talk to them. Me. Not you.'
'But…'
'Seamus…' Reb bit back a derisive response. He knew that he could not treat Harper like a crewmember. He didn't want to hurt his twin anyway. It would be like tossing insults at a mirror. Instead, he picked up the two items that were to prove the most valuable to him throughout the day, rolled them in his fingertips. One, Harper had explained, was a chip similar to the hair colour-changing nanobots that Beka had for her hair. They would turn Reb's hair a darker blonde, identical to Harper's. The other was a small piece of moulded metal with a few LED's in it, one side of which was coated in adhesive so that it would attach itself to the base of Reb's skull. 'Does this actually work?' Reb asked, intrigued.
Harper laughed. 'If getting a dataport was this easy, I need to go have a word with a couple of Earth surgeons who lied Beka out of about 2000 thrones. No, you need a major operation to get one installed, and then it takes years to learn how to use it properly.' He saw Reb looking disappointed out of the corner of his eye and grinned. 'Jealous?'
'Hmmm? Oh… er… no. Definitely not. Well maybe,' Reb stammered. He sighed. 'This is just another reason I need you, Seamus.'
'Yeah, but there's still the tiny obstacle that Dylan and Beka need me, and the date for them saying otherwise is the same date as the freezing-over of hell,' Harper replied dismissively. 'Here, get changed.' He tossed a bundle of his clothes at Reb.
'Will they fit?' Reb asked, smiling.
'I'd bet a fixed game of Yeshi Dono on it.'
-
Dylan stood alone in Command, plotting co-ordinates for their next destination. Suddenly the hairs on the back of his head prickled. He rubbed them and spun round. Harper was sitting on a railing behind him, head bent back a little as if he was trying to get a better angle on a picture. He smiled lazily. 'Hey, Dylan.'
This was strange. Was this Harper or… no he had the dataport, and his hair wasn't peroxided. Maybe Reb was having a bad influence on him.
'Harper,' Dylan said, forcing a grin. 'You scared me.'
'Oh.' Silence. Normally this would lead Dylan to decide that Reb was having a good influence on Harper, but right now the absent of jokes and quips and mindless babbling made the Captain nervous.
'Look Harper, was there anything that you actually wanted? Because I'm kind of busy right now!' Dylan snapped. It was a lie, but something about Harper was grating on his nerves more than usual. However, his engineer didn't look at all offended, just cocked his head to one side, hopped off of the railing and moved forward until he was standing face to… chest, with Dylan. Harper looked up and smiled.
'Things've been a little crazy recently, haven't they?' he asked mildly, as if commenting on the weather.
'Um… yes?' Dylan responded as best he could. 'What with all this alternate universe stuff. I'm surprised that you're not more overwhelmed by it,' he added a little suspiciously.
Harper sucked in a deep breath, then let it out, looking at Dylan as though he was rather stupid. 'Puh-lease. There's very little can shock me. In fact, I think it's kinda cool. Now there's twice the fun. Though I suppose I can see why you might be a little… threatened.' He left the sentence hanging casually in the air. Dylan knew what Harper was expecting him to say.
'Threatened? What makes you think that?' Dylan questioned with what he hoped was a bemused smile.
'Well… y'are kind of dependent on me. I guess dependency makes people feel a little vulnerable. And now that there's two of me… I suppose you must be a little intimidated.' Triumph tugged impatiently at the corners of his mouth. Dylan gritted his teeth.
'Harper, I do not depend on you,' he said, a little too quickly. He made an effort to calm himself. 'We… we depend on each other. That's what makes us…' he was going to say 'such good friends'. 'Such good crewmates.'
Harper laughed without a trace of humour. 'Yeah so… I guess what you're saying is that we are as important as each other. I get that. Yeah - but I'm the engineer. Can't have a ship without an engineer. Can't have a Captain without a ship. Therefore you can't have a Captain without an engineer.'
'True,' Dylan snarled, stepping closer, his blood boiling in his veins. At least he was still taller than Harper; it wasn't so bad as long as he could carry on looking down at him. 'I do need an engineer, Mr Harper. But you forget that you're not the only engineer in this universe. There are plenty more to choose from who would be happy to replace you, and I bet they'd be a damn sight less insubordinate, too!' He couldn't help himself; Dylan didn't like to be baited, and Harper was provoking him beyond belief. 'Maybe I get a Perseid; they've got some real good engineers on Sinti. Like your precious Hohne, eh? He knew things that you couldn't even begin to comprehend!'
He had mentioned Hohne. This was the part where Harper snapped back a fist and tried to slug him, and Dylan caught him, and made him listen and apologised and made Harper feel bad. That was what should have happened, but it didn't. Harper snorted and tossed his head dismissively.
'Face it, Dylan. You couldn't operate this ship without me. You need me. If I left right now you wouldn't know what the hell to do with yourself.'
Dylan lost it. He placed his hands on Harper's chest and shoved his engineer roughly. It wasn't too hard a push but Harper fell down anyway, and looked up at Dylan with glittering eyes. Feeling he had the upper hand, and unable to stop the adrenaline from coursing through his veins, Dylan yelled, 'Well that's where you're mistaken, Harper! I don't need you! In fact, if you left right now I'd be happy about it, you irritating, good-for-nothing kludge!'
-
'No way am I going with Reb,' Harper assured himself happily as he took his gauss gun, damaged from where Reb had kicked it away, apart. He removed the bullets and inspected it closely with his sharp eyes whilst talking to himself. 'He'll never get Dylan to say it. Dylan does need me here. He needs me. He does.'
Then the Captain's voice broke out over a com line that Reb had set up earlier. 'Well that's where you're mistaken, Harper! I don't need you! In fact, if you left right now I'd be happy about it, you irritating, good-for-nothing kludge!'
Harper breathed in deeply. He carefully set the weapon down on the table, let the bullets go so that they clattered to the floor and rolled in all directions. He folded his arms and buried his face in them so that the material of his clothing would absorb the angry tears. He hated Dylan.
Harper took comfort in the one thing that he was sure of. Whatever he does, Reb won't make Beka say it. I'm her little brother, she needs me. Beka needs me. She does. Beka won't say it. She needs me. She won't say it ever ever ever. She won't say it. She won't say that she doesn't need me.
-
I am very, very sorry. Feel free to complain. In fact, I implore you to complain! And thank you for your past comments!
Bree1387 - You like Harper more than Reb now? Hehe... we can all be slightly manipulative when we want to be... hehe!
Mo Cat - Cough drop gratefully accepted. Coughreviewcough I might need something stronger!
squid109 - Harper is famous for setting himself up, glad you find it fascinating. It is my method of subliminal messaging. gnigassem lanimilbus fo dohtem ym si ti.
Darkness Amber - You and your big mouth are always extremely welcome! :D Aten't they, Reb? Reb? Reb has run away to be evil
Fwe - Lovely dance you're doing there! Almost as lovely as the review Blush
