Part 8

The quarters were as Trance had left them, and in her usual spot Dani was asleep. Gently Trance attempted to wake Dani, and after a few gentle shakes, Dani's eyes opened. Like every other day, Dani stared blankly at Trance, partly in fear, and the golden alien couldn't hide her disappointment, it was clear that the talk with Harper had done nothing for guest relations.

"Here's some breakfast," Trance indicated, but Dani did not react, and just looked terrified by her intrusion. "I'll leave it right here," Trance gestured and placed the food down before backing away, usually she would stay and attempt to talk, but she had feared this and needed to leave to gather her thoughts.

Without a word Trance left Dani's quarters with sadness, she had hoped that Harper might have helped Dani, and she couldn't help but feel disappointment. As she walked she began to wonder just how much of an effort Harper had made, she felt guilty for doubting Harper but he had been adamant about not wanting to help Dani, she still had hoped that he could have moved beyond that.

"So?"

Beka's voice interrupted Trance's thoughts and she looked away from the blonde captain's inquisitive stare.

"Nothing, right?" Beka guessed.

"We don't know what happened," Trance found herself responding, as always defending Harper.

"But she's the same right?" Beka stated; her voice clipped with annoyance.

"Yes, but maybe she needs time," Trance suggested.

"Time is something we do not have, you heard Dylan, he's planning to give her back," Beka showed her frustration. "He's had enough sleep, let's find out what he actually did, if anything," she gestured with a growing anger, and headed towards Harper's quarters.

"Ok, ok, give me a few seconds here!"

Beka took a deep breath, waiting for Harper to respond to his door chime, she had already activated it ten times before he'd even yelled at her. Beside her, Trance didn't seem too impressed by Beka's method of waking Harper.

"Remember yesterday," Trance simply said, knowing that Harper would probably be feeling more of the effects of his accident the day before.

"I won't touch him," Beka gestured defensively. "But we need answers, I need answers, I'm not going to fail this mission over some stupid girl with something to hide," she fumed. The frustrations of her failure to break the slave were now showing, she had pinned a lot of hope on Harper making progress and it looked very much like he hadn't done anything to help her.

Harper was still adjusting his shirt as the doors finally opened, Beka and Trance stepped into his quarters and they spotted immediately that Harper wasn't moving too freely.

"What do you want?" he snapped, as he moved back to his bed to sit down, feeling pain in parts of his body he wasn't aware were able to feel pain.

"Details, so spill," Beka responded, and found a seat.

Trance noticed Harper rubbing his head and moved beside him. "I have painkillers if you need them," she offered.

Harper took a deep breath, he wasn't surprised by the visit but he didn't know what to say to either of them, they wanted answers that he wasn't ready to give, he had only just woken up. "A painkiller would be just great," Harper softened his voice, looking gratefully towards Trance, both for her offer and the distraction. "There's not a muscle in this body that doesn't hurt," he explained with a frown.

"That's to be expected," Trance smiled, and she administered the painkiller.

"Harper, you know we're on a deadline here, last time I spoke to Dylan he mentioned handing Dani back as soon as this evening," Beka spoke up, her urgency clear on the matter. "This morning she is no different to how she's always been, what the hell happened last night?" she demanded.

"Nothing happened, we talked, and I just need to think about stuff," Harper simply responded, but avoided Beka's gaze.

"Stuff?" Beka pushed, her voice laced with disbelief.

"Yeah," Harper shrugged, trying to ignore the shooting pains that small action caused him and the unrelenting stare Beka now aimed at him.

"Any information could greatly benefit us right now, Seamus," Trance encouraged softly.

"I know that, ok?" Harper offered, on the defensive. "Give me time to think, and get something to eat, it's too early for this crap," he complained groggily.

"Just tell me what I want to know and we'll leave," Beka stressed.

Harper looked at the manic look in Beka's eyes, and he thought of Dani, what she had said to him and inside he felt a surprising conflict. He wanted to tell Beka, of course he did without question but he didn't appreciate her all that much right that minute, having barged into his quarters demanding the information. His body ached, his head was thumping, and now his quarters had been taken over by possessed beings posing as his crewmates. With a heavy sigh, Harper stared at Beka, she was looking at him like she owned him or something, and she hadn't even asked how he was. No, Harper decided, if Beka wanted the information she would have to work for it, even if it was out of pure spite on his part, it was way too early in the morning for this.

Considering the information he had, Harper figured, it demanded more respect than Beka was showing him. He wasn't some stupid kludge that she could treat like crap, and Dani was not going to see him being so weak with this crew, she had to see that he had a place in this crew, and that he didn't always roll over and obey them, that he had a voice and purpose.

Dani had to see why it was, that some people became slaves to the ubers, and others didn't, she had to understand why he never got caught, and that its possible for humans to stand up to the ubers, maybe then she'd know why they were two very different people.

Harper now looked at Beka with a new determination, if he was going to release this information, then he expected some respect in return. It shouldn't just be expected that he would release it, he never use to, it wasn't his way and his way was, and always will be Earth's way.

"Just get out of my face, Beka, I said I need time, you'll find out in good time, and when I'm ready," Harper stated firmly, and pushed past the blonde captain to show his mood was not a good one.

"Excuse me?" Beka caught, hands now on hips and showing an air of disbelief to Harper's attitude, it had caught her off guard. "Why can't you just tell me now and what's with the attitude?" she questioned.

"Because its too early," Harper responded from the bathroom, and they could hear the sounds of running water, as he freshened up a little.

"OK, fine," Beka looked at Trance who simply shrugged.

"Good," Harper returned from the bathroom, and as he walked back towards his bunk he grabbed a can of sparky cola, needing both the refreshment and distraction.

"Even though you know we need this information urgently, you still want me to wait until you're ready? Who promoted you to such a regal position?" Beka asked pointedly, her voice almost mocking him. "Don't make me pull rank here, Harper."

Harper just glared at Beka but let her words go without comment, and he glanced at Trance before looking more calmly at Beka again. "I'm not even sure that what I know will help the mission, so just let me think about it, and then everyone will benefit," Harper reasoned.

Beka looked away, and didn't respond immediately; finally she looked back at him and frowned. "I just want to help this girl, Harper, and I think you do too, deep down, and we both know that giving her back to Yussuf is not the answer, right?" she now reasoned trying to get onside with the engineer now.

"Wrong," Harper returned to both Beka and Trance's surprise. "Maybe handing her back isn't all that bad," he shrugged, but his words were not sounding totally convincing, however knowing more about her purpose had settled his concerns, especially learning that she wasn't exactly a slave. He wasn't entirely happy that she worked for Yussuf but that wasn't his problem, and she was of almost sound mind, she wasn't conditioned or brainwashed, so if she wanted to, Harper knew that she could walk away but she chose not too, and he pretty much respected that. Harper then looked at Beka and saw her growing anger at his words.

"How can you say that, Harper?" Beka questioned. "We hand her back and we lose the opportunity to help her!"

"And what the hell has that got to do with me?" Harper asked without care. "Maybe she doesn't want our help, maybe she can't help us, maybe that's what I'll be telling you later, that she's a waste of time," Harper stated loudly. "If I haven't told you once, I've told you a thousand times, dealing with," Harper hesitated as he caught his own words and he stopped that train of thought, as he composed himself again. "Maybe she's beyond help, even our help," he finished finally.

"Well," Beka exclaimed with frustration now. "You've spoken to the girl, no one else on board has, so you tell me," Beka stressed, trying to play the humanitarian card whilst also passing the buck back to Harper.

"You know, this has nothing to do with Dani," Harper deflected Beka's question. "It's all about you, Beka, you not being able to handle the failure of this mission, and the fact you have failed to break her," he remarked to completely change the subject.

"That is so not true!" Beka protested loudly.

"Come on Beka, after it was so easy to take her from Yussuf, you thought it would be child's play to break her and she has beaten you, yes you, the great Beka Valentine," Harper now smiled as he taunted her, turning the tables on his boss. "And you can't handle that can you?" he now goaded.

Beka got to her feet, clearly not happy with Harper's accusations about her. "You do know her secret, don't you? In fact I'm willing to bet that you know everything," Beka guessed, and was deadly serious in her tone now as she approached Harper.

Harper continued to smile, and remained confident until Beka entered what he considered his personal space, and the smile soon left him and he started to back away. "I just don't see the point in keeping her here, she isn't helping is she?" he offered, a little unsure as to whether Beka was a threat now, and having no idea why he was fighting Beka when that was never his intention, he had just wanted some more time to think, a chance to wake up properly. "Look, give me a couple of hours and I will, I promise, I'll tell you everything but right now I'm a little grouchy, a little tired still," he stressed. "I'll tell you stuff, just not yet," Harper stammered, under Beka's scrutiny.

"I don't believe you, Harper, I don't know what game you're playing here, but you must have forgotten who I am," Beka stated firmly and clearly, and she started to prod him to make her points even more clearer. "And I know you only boast when you know something we don't, that we need to know, and that sounded very much to me like boasting," Beka pointed out, her voice even and threatening. "Why else would you suddenly have no problem about returning her?" she figured. "And you do not turn on privacy mode, especially not your special privacy mode, to small talk, Harper," Beka had almost backed Harper into the wall now.

"Beka, is this a good point to remind you about the whole not touching Harper comment you made less than five minutes ago?" Trance interrupted, seeing genuine fear in Harper, and intent from Beka.

"Yeah, Beka, if Trance said you said that, you must have," Harper added, almost in vain as Beka grabbed his shirt.

"Beka, I'm sure if Harper does know anything he'll just say it, right Seamus?" Trance strongly indicated to Harper that she felt he should say something.

"Right," Harper rapidly agreed, but Beka remained focused on him with a terrifying hold.

"So speak to me," Beka encouraged and gently nudged the engineer backwards into the wall.

Harper felt the wall against his back under Beka's pushes, and it gave him the opportunity he needed. With Beka's next push, Harper yelled out in fake pain and it was enough to make Beka let go of him with sudden instinctive guilt, and he expertly dodged away from her before anyone could stop him, and Harper bolted from his quarters, soon finding an access tunnel, disappearing away from the interrogation.

"Rommie," Beka yelled.

"I have him on sensors," Rommie indicated by voice only, pre-empting Beka's command.

"The minute he emerges from those damn tunnels, I want to be there waiting for him," Beka ordered, she'd had her fill of Harper for one day and she wasn't going to let this drop, she wanted to know what had got into him, and what Dani had said to him, for him to act this way. She couldn't concede defeat to breaking the slave, and there was no way Harper would elude her questioning, he knew something that would hold the key to her success, of that she had no doubt and he was not going to get in her way.

"Understood," Andromeda returned as Beka's thoughts raged.

"Beka, what if he doesn't know anything of use to us?" Trance attempted to reason.

"Then he would have just told us," Beka reasoned with confidence.

"He tried to," Trance explained.

"And he would have succeeded in convincing me, if he hadn't of been right about my feelings on this case," Beka conceded with a heavy, and more composed sigh. "I don't want to fail this mission, and Harper knows that, but he also knows what I need to know. It puts him in a crappy position, I realise that, but he knows what he has to do to get out of it," she stressed.

"So why doesn't he just tell you?" Trance was a little confused.

"I don't know," Beka shrugged with honesty. "But if I do know Harper then he probably has a good reason, better than he's just tired, but that doesn't help me right now."

"I'm sure he will tell you, maybe he does just need some time to think," Trance offered.

"Maybe, but I know Harper well," Beka simply said, before she attempted a smile. "For reasons unknown he's chosen to protect Dani, rather than help me," she concluded with sadness.

"Must be important then," Trance frowned.

"Which makes me even more concerned about what exactly we have on board with Dani, if Harper is protecting her like this," Beka stated and moved out of Harper's quarters. "What is her game, and why is Harper now involved like this, to the point he's running out on me?"

"You think she's a threat?" Trance asked as she followed Beka.

"If she is, I'm not sure what kind of threat yet," Beka answered.

"I don't follow," Trance admitted.

"Is she a threat just to this ship, just to Harper, or to both?" Beka offered. "We know next to nothing about her other than rumours, we don't know where her training lies, if she is even trained, and now we have Harper somewhere on this ship hiding from me, aren't you a little concerned?"

"Now I am," Trance was forced to admit.

"Harper and Earth, always a dangerous combination, and it brings the worst out in him," Beka frowned. "I should have realised this would happen, Dani is bringing it all back to him, all those emotions and instincts of his past, whether she knows it or not Dani has caused this reaction, it's like some sort of trigger in Harper where his past is concerned."

Trance frowned as she considered Beka's theory. "His anger at her being on board, and to our suggestion that he could help, maybe his reaction was more to do with what he's feeling now?" she offered. "Maybe he can't control it, but he realises this, and his anger before was more because he knew that this would happen if he got involved, that he would become like this, the conflict?" she continued.

Beka stopped and looked at Trance. "He could have been trying to protect himself, us even," Beka conceded, to show that she understood what Trance was trying to say.

"Beka, Harper rarely talks about where he came from, we simply assume it was tough from what little he does say," Trance explained. "We don't know who he was when he lived like that, and by bringing someone like Dani on board, it caused a reaction in him from the first minute that we never understood, just like we don't fully understand his reaction now," Trance reasoned.

"I have enough to deal with breaking Dani, I don't know if I have time to deal with Harper as well," Beka sighed. "I simply need to know what she told him, is that really asking so much?" she asked, then moved away, leaving Trance to simply shrug.

Harper rested in the conduit, feeling he had travelled deep enough into Andromeda's systems to escape the scrutiny of Beka Valentine. He finally allowed himself to think about what had just happened, and he now felt confusion. Letting his head fall back against the side of the conduit, Harper took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

"Why didn't I just tell Beka?" he finally spoke up with frustration. With high mocking tones he answered himself. "Because we don't tell on our own, that's not the way, Earthers stick together," he stressed with annoyance and a touch of petulance, showing anger to his own reaction, and hitting out at the conduit around him. "I can trust Beka, and I don't trust Dani, great one Seamus, go and pick on the one person who won't betray you, smart freaking move there!" He continued with growing turmoil at his own actions. "She's a freaking slave, she can say she isn't but she's still uber scum," he added with venom, his breathing rapid. "And this isn't Earth for freaks sake, the rules are different up here," he finally said to himself, reminding himself of the side he should be taking.

"Harper?" Rommie's hologram appeared close by.

Harper seemed displeased by the intrusion. "Do you have to keep doing that?" he asked sharply.

Rommie just looked at him. "You are suppose to be resting, captain's orders, remember?"

"I am resting," Harper protested, gesturing to his sitting position.

"Why did you run from Beka?" Rommie finally asked, her almost innocent tones making the question sound reasonable.

Harper rubbed his face before answering. "Because I'm a fool, because I'm nothing but a stupid freaking kludge after all," he honestly replied, and with anger. "Putting the words of brainless slave ahead of my friends."

"Her name is Dani, and you are not stupid," Rommie calmly pointed out.

"Really? So I hide out in the conduits for fun?" Harper responded quickly, before attempting to relax. "Look, Rom doll I'm not in the best of moods right now, I'm sorry but can we not do this?"

"Are you ok?" Rommie had to ask, her face showing concern.

"Yeah," Harper attempted to relax. "Just the abrupt wake up call, the accusations, freaking pains from my stupid stunt yesterday, you know it gets to a guy before he's had a chance for his two cans of morning sparky," he gestured, and finally a familiar smile arrived on his face, albeit not very convincing, as he was clearly worked up still.

Rommie offered a smile of her own. "Beka does want to see you, when you are ready," she informed him, letting on that she would keep him hidden until he was able to face her.

Harper simply smirked. "I bet she does," he frowned. "Where is she now?"

"She has just arrived on Obs deck with Trance," Rommie answered, before blinking out of sight, Harper sat back and resting his head against the bulk head, giving himself some time to think.

Yussuf stared out to the cityscape before him and slyly smiled, he turned to the man in the room with him and gestured to his men to reward the courier.

"You have done well to inform me of Dani's location," Yussuf beamed.

"It was a pleasure, sir," the courier bowed, and was then encouraged to leave the room with his reward.

Yussuf took a deep breath in contemplation. "Send my fighters to intercept the Andromeda Ascendant, we need to send a message to this Valentine and Rhade," Yussuf ordered. "Its time to take back what's mine, so warn them, cripple them and then await my orders."

"This is a high guard warship, sir," one of his men warned.

"Then send my best fighters, and lots of them," Yussuf stated casually. "I will not be in awe of the ones who stole from me! I think it's time to put into practice that technology we acquired," he smiled, and his thoughts turned to sweet revenge and payback for those who dared to take his Dani.

TBC