Part 2

Dylan Hunt stood on the hanger deck of the Andromeda, and surveyed the newcomer with caution, as expected she acted very much like a slave would, standing close to Rhade and not making eye contact.

"Dani, you are safe here, and you are free on board this ship," Dylan announced softly, sensing the slaves uncertainty. "We do not wish for you to be a slave during your stay here."

"We haven't been able to get her to react to us yet, captain," Rhade informed Dylan.

"I think she's too well versed in accepting us as her superiors," Beka frowned sadly. "She wont talk, only obey," she added with an air of frustration.

Dylan stepped forward and lifted Dani's chin up so he could attempt to make eye contact. "Dani, my name is Captain Dylan Hunt, we are hoping that you will be able to help us."

For a moment Dani's eyes narrowed slightly, giving away the first hint to her awareness of her surroundings.

"Take her to med deck for now, let Trance check her out to ensure she's in good health, then we'll try to make her feel comfortable enough to talk to us," Dylan ordered towards Rhade. "And good work the two of you, you did well," Dylan added towards Beka and Rhade.

"You gave me this mission, Dylan, I'm not going to mess it up," Beka stated confidently.

"That's good to hear," Dylan said with a hint of amusement, before leaving the deck.

Rhade stared at Beka for a moment, and Beka couldn't ignore it. "What?" she asked.

Rhade frowned. "I glad that you finally accept that this is your mission, maybe now I won't have to carry you so much," he hinted with a secret smile.

"I appreciate your help, Rhade," Beka smirked and then frowned. "To be honest I didn't think we had a chance of getting this girl, slave, spy whatever she is, away from Yussuf, but now we have, it's my mission now," Beka insisted. "I'm not going to fail, I will find out what she is, and what use she can be to us," she stated assuredly.

"That's commendable commitment," Rhade observed.

"You know, Rhade, I've done some more research on this Yussuf guy, do you know that there are rewards being offered to the person," Beka looked at Rhade. "Or persons, who bring down Yussuf's empire?"

"I am aware of these rewards," Rhade agreed cagily.

"So this is my mission," she strongly indicated.

"Our mission is to discover how this girl fits into Yussuf's plans," Rhade reminded Beka. "Not to bring down his empire," he added slyly, whilst making sure the slave wasn't able to eavesdrop their conversation as they left the hanger deck.

"I know," Beka defended. "I just have a feeling that we could be already half way to possibly denting Yussuf's operation," Beka revealed and looked at the girl who walked ahead of them. "This girl, she holds the key, I just know it and I'm not going to rest until I discover what her secret is, at whatever cost," Beka insisted and left the deck.

"I'm sure the Commonwealth will salute your efforts," Rhade offered with mild amusement.

"What do you mean she wasn't there?" Yussuf screamed in anger.

The room went silent, allowing the alpha male to strut around the room with fury blazing from his pores, and he glared at the messenger who had informed him of the news.

"Dani does not wander off, she is too well trained," Yussuf confirmed. "Are you sure they went to the correct place?"

"I double and triple checked, sir, I even went with them to the meeting point, she wasn't there," the messenger stated.

"Then where is she?" Yussuf exclaimed loudly, his arms gesturing his confusion. "Less than an hour ago I left my lovely Dani in the market place, out of the way, she understood my instructions, and she gave me no reason to doubt her."

"The market place has surveillance, we will study that in the hope of gaining more information about her disappearance," the messenger confirmed.

"Do that," Yussuf stressed with obvious distress. "We can not afford to lose Dani, she is an asset unlike any other I have. She is carrying information that could potentially be very harmful to me, and to Dani."

"We understand your concerns," the messenger bowed as he exited the room.

Trance smiled as she walked around the newcomer and she put a reassuring hand on the girls arm, sat on a cot on med deck. "Don't worry, we won't hurt you," she said softly, and the girl said nothing in reply.

Trance made the move to scan the visitor, but Dani quickly showed fear to Trance's actions forcing the alien to stop, for fear of Dani hurting herself.

"I won't hurt you, I just need to ensure you are in good health," Trance soothed but she could see if made little difference, the girl was clearly afraid of Trance's motives and actions, she couldn't even raise the scanner to the girl at distance without the slave getting frantic.

"I can determine that Dani is as healthy as can be expected of a slave," Rommie stated as she appeared on a screen nearby. "Although my scans are just cautionary, I do not believe Dani to be a health risk, not even to Harper."

Trance took a deep breath with the information Rommie had presented. "Well, you appear to be in good health then, I see no reason to further traumatise you today," she conceded, hoping that she would get a closer more in depth look at a later stage, before she glanced at the security team. "Escort Dani to the guest quarters and await further instruction," Trance ordered, and the team moved towards the slave, giving her space as they gestured to Dani to follow them.

"So is she hot?" Harper asked as he settled down at the meeting desk, Dylan had called a meeting and for once Harper had managed to arrive in good time, enough time to quiz his friend.

"Harper," Trance responded with disgust, as they settled down into their chairs. "She's traumatised and very afraid."

"I might have a chance then," Harper joked but could see Trance didn't share his amusement so immediately backed off.

Dylan walked into the room with Beka and Rhade following, and they took their seats with Rommie, Harper and Trance looking on.

"Trance," Dylan began. "You were unable to proceed with the medical?"

"Every time I got near to the girl she freaked out," Trance recounted. "But Rommie's scans determined that there was no threat, health wise."

"Same happened to us, the whole freaking out thing if we got too close," Beka spoke up. "We'd try to talk to her but she was too afraid to speak to us, she doesn't seem comfortable and shows classic signs of having been conditioned for slavery."

"She is a typical Nietzschean's slave," Rhade now spoke up. "Never speaks, not even to her true master and if she does speak, it's only when she feels completely safe that it's ok to do so," he explained with care. "Like if she is responding to an order or command," Rhade added.

"Nietzshean slaves, oh boy, are they ever on my list of people not to invite to a party," Harper remarked. "It's a waste of time even talking to them," he stated, and crossed his arms.

Rhade simply glanced at Harper before continuing. "This experience, the new environment to what she is use to, you will find that she will not question why she is here," he continued. "But the fact we're asking nothing of her, I believe that it's bound to cause issues with Dani's trained mentality, she will be confused," Rhade thoughtfully offered. "However at this time, she does willingly go where ever you wish for her to go, she will follow and be led, and she doesn't resist."

"She only resists when we talk to her, ask her questions," Beka spoke up. "We did actually wonder if maybe her instructions from her master was simply to only follow, go where you are asked to go. Hence why we are getting nothing else from her and why it was so easy to get her to come with us in the marketplace," Beka picked up.

"She has responded, in part to you though, Rhade," Dylan checked.

"Only out of respect I believe, for being the person who found her, but I haven't been able to get her to talk or even eat," Rhade shrugged.

"More like she's copped an eyeful of your bone blades, and bingo, instant respect," Harper spoke up casually, but with a hint of spite as he crossed his arms. "Trust me, slaves are always respectful of those things, no matter who wears them."

"That's not really true in your case," Rhade said with amusement.

"Hey, I'm not a slave," Harper reminded him bluntly, taking offence to Rhade's words more so than he would normally. "I'm an equal and don't you ever forget that!" he stated firmly, surprising those around him.

"In your twisted mind maybe you are," Rhade couldn't help but remark, although aware that he had touched something of a raw nerve in the human.

"Bonehead," Harper snapped and looked away, showing disinterest now in the meeting.

Dylan took a deep breath to signal his growing intolerance towards the two sparring crewmembers. "So suggestions?" he asked finally, once he was happy that Harper and Rhade had finished.

Rommie leaned forward a little. "If we pamper her a little, maybe she will come out of her shell and realise that we are the good guys?" Rommie suggested.

"Coming from a war ship that's almost a scary suggestion," Harper commented with a sly grin, before continuing, his tone showing a frustration. "Look, you can give her all the bubble baths a chick might need, it'll make no difference to a conditioned slave. Besides, even if she does take the comforts it will be because she'll feel its what you want, and what you want is what she wants, she's a slave and keeping you happy keeps her away from the hand that beats her."

"We need suggestions, Harper, not your opinion," Beka now spoke up, her tone suggesting the seriousness in which she was taking her mission.

Harper threw Beka an angered stare. "In a couple of days, when you're banging your head against the walls because this slave is not responding to you, then you'll realise just how helpful I'm being here," Harper stressed, then sat back indicating his position on the subject. "This mission is a waste of time, trust me."

There was silence in the room for a moment as Harper's words settled, both Beka and Dylan deciding whether to react to Harper's statement or let it go. Trance sensed the atmosphere forming and decided to speak up.

"Dani is obviously afraid of Rhade as well as respectful, she sees him as her temporary master," Trance stated, as she glanced around the table. "In Beka and Dylan she senses their authority and power, something she is trained to instantly respect, and never question or talk back to, and in me, she's unsure of what I am, but my position as someone who helps others, in her mind, could place me above her, and therefore by default she will not speak to me."

"She really sounds well trained," Dylan observed. "And I would guess that Rommie would provide the same reaction."

"Rommie is the entire ship, an android and the voice that controls everything and that can be very daunting to a slave who feels they do not belong here," Trance agreed. "Which leaves Harper."

"What? Whoa," Harper instantly reacted, sitting forward again. "What do you mean that leaves Harper? What's that suppose to mean?"

"Harper, you've already shown us that you have a good understanding of a slave's psyche in the comments you have made here," Trance explained with care. "I think you could help this girl, and in turn help us to progress with our mission."

"My mission," Beka reminded Harper sharply, to emphasise the importance she personally felt towards the success.

"You think I can help this slave?" Harper objected and immediately stood up, as if feeling suddenly threatened. "You're trying to say that out of all of us, that I'm being tagged as the best diplomat for this job?" he said with obvious surprise and a hint of amusement still laced with a surprising growing anger.

"As strange as it sounds, I have to agree," Beka supported Trance. "Harper, you could have a unique insight into how Dani thinks."

"What do you mean by that?" Harper asked abruptly looking confused, and now moving away from the table to pace behind Trance. "Maybe it's because you see me as the lowest life form on the crew, or the closest you have to this slave, or maybe because I'm not like any of you superior beings?" he stated accusingly and ignoring all reason. "Yeah, send in the kludge, he speaks her language," he said with spite now.

"That's not it Harper," Beka attempted to calm the situation, seeing how suddenly worked up the engineer had become, and feeling partially responsible. "I need a breakthrough on this mission, Harper, why shouldn't I turn to you?"

"Turn to me, yes, that's one thing, but asking me to deal with this slave for reasons I can only assume relate to my past, then that's a whole other issue," Harper fumed.

"Harper," Trance now spoke with fondness. "You understand things that we can't possibly relate to, and yes I form that assumption based in part to your upbringing, I believe your experiences could help Dani to form some kind of bond with you, to trust you and help us achieve our ultimate aim with this mission."

"This is a joke," Harper stood still with his hands on his hips, shaking his head to show his disbelief, now clearly looking hurt.

"Harper, this mission is important to me, I wouldn't ask if it wasn't," Beka attempted to find some common ground with the engineer, she didn't like seeing him like this, he looked so insulted and hurt at the suggestion being made and she didn't fully understand why.

Harper now looked distressed, and so cut up as he looked at everyone in turn. "Yeah, so I was a mud foot, you got me on that, and I can't deny it can I?" Harper explained, trying to keep a hold on his growing emotions. "But note the 'was', I'm not going to insult this girls intelligence by making out that I know anything of what she's been through," he spoke with passion. "And just so you can get inside her head," he added firmly. A few seconds later when no one else spoke, Harper felt that he had no choice but to leave the room, fearing he could say something he would regret if he didn't.

Beka looked around the table before she got to her feet. "I'll go talk to him," she offered and quickly went after the engineer.

TBC