Part 27
The command deck was quiet as Trance and Rommie focused on their work, they occasionally glanced up, but their exchanged glances offered nothing new. Trance had a growing feeling of unease inside her, and she couldn't explain it, and didn't know if it was just a general concern for her missing friends, or something deeper within trying to show her a way, a means to find her friends.
"I have something," Rommie suddenly announced, and Trance hurried over to her console. "I have found traces of one of Yussuf's ships, it entered slipstream through a different portal, but has left enough of a trail and we should be able to track it."
Trance looked cautious. "Should we assume this is genuine, and not a trick by Yussuf?"
Rommie immediately shook her head. "The complaint is a common one in older ships, and almost undetectable by today's standards and it is no longer the threat to a ships systems that it once was," Rommie offered. "However, with me being of let's say advanced years, I still have the capabilities to detect this occurrence, when in the past it was an advantage to be able to detect this problem early on and catch it, before it became a threat."
"Well I'd say it's an advantage today also," Trance assured her. "I'll let Dylan know that we have found something."
Dani hated the silence, and as she looked at Seamus, she hated it even more. It had been over an hour since she had brought him to her quarters and he had barely spoken a word, he wasn't hungry and didn't want anything, and she knew that he did and it was frustrating for her to see him like this. Since he had come on board, Dani knew he had hardly eaten, at least nothing substantial, and she could see the painful marks that covered him, and after Yussuf had abused his port, Dani wasn't stupid, she knew he must still be feeling the effects of that, but here he was cutting her out.
With her frustrations now at maximum, Dani moved to Harper and stood directly in front of him, demanding his attention.
"What was I suppose to do?" Dani finally asked. "I thought I was helping you, Shay, I thought you wanted the cleansing sessions and the imprisonment to end," she protested. "I thought you'd appreciate that I didn't forget about you, and it would have been easy enough for me to do that, but I didn't," Dani stressed, but still she was met by a blank expression, and she put her hands on his bare shoulders.
"Don't touch me!" Harper snapped, and he jerked her hold away from him, and jumped down from the stool he'd been sat on.
Dani immediately offered a non aggressive gesture with her hands, and she couldn't understand why this was so hard for Harper to understand, that she was trying to help him.
There was a silence in the room now, and the tension was high between them, and nothing was said, as they both seemed to try and understand the other one.
Harper moved further away from Dani with anger clear in his movements, after her touch had aggravated the tender sores that covered his torso. Couldn't she see the marks on his skin, he wondered with anger still burning inside of him. Nothing Dani could say to him right now could make a difference to the despair he felt inside, and his mind repeated like a mantra constantly reminding him of the words he feared most in his life, 'you are a slave now'.
Dani was speaking again, pleading almost for him to say something, but to Harper it sounding like unintelligible noise, an irritant, and he just wanted to be left alone, and he didn't want to face his future, not like this.
"So you're just going to give up, as easy as that?"
Harper found that he heard those words clearly, and he could suddenly hear the hurt in Dani's voice now. It was his Dani, who just the day before, he had wanted nothing more than to be in her complete company, with her full attention. Feeling aware now of his surroundings, as if waking up to the reality, Harper didn't want to hear Dani sounding like she was, this wasn't her fault, as much as it wasn't his, but he was still uncertain about everything that had developed.
"I'm not giving up," Harper responded finally, his mood only softening slightly, he didn't want to purposely hurt Dani but at the same time, he still couldn't believe that she didn't understand why he was reacting like this.
Dani moved closer, obviously encouraged by the fact he was responding finally, and Harper now looked into her eyes and saw how desperate she was for his attention.
"Shay, please, I didn't do this out of spite or to degrade you, I promise," Dani pleaded, and she gently took his hands, now careful not to aggravate his injuries.
Harper looked at his hands in Dani's hold, and seemed more aware of what Dani was feeling now. "I know that, and I don't think that," he explained with care, his words and delivery slightly awkward.
"Then what are you thinking, Shay?" Dani asked with confusion.
Harper closed his eyes, taking a needed breath to try and think of the best way to explain. "I can't be this," he gestured to himself, moving his hands from her hold. "I can't be a slave, Dani," he admitted and he looked troubled suddenly, and his hands now nervously fidgeted.
"You have to try," Dani insisted. "Shay, it'll be in name only I promise, but can't you see this is the only way that we can work together, to help ourselves and to regain freedom? The minute we are out of Yussuf's hands, everything will change back to how it was."
"What about this chip?" Harper questioned to his shoulder, and he could almost feel the alien technology inside of him. "I know how it goes, you can't just get rid of them and even when you do the damage is already done, it marks you for life with no chance of any surgery hiding the truth, Dani so it'll always be there," he stressed with growing anger. "I've seen good men, women, even children go crazy just by what this chip represents, even after finding freedom, and even after it's removed, its still there, the evidence is there for all to see, don't' you get that?" he stated firmly and with conviction.
Dani took a moment before responding. "Is it really so bad, that you would prefer death to survival?" Dani questioned strongly. "Are you that shallow that a simple mark, and that's all it is, Shay, that's all it is, but this makes you ready to give up on the chance for freedom?"
The silence from Harper confirmed Dani's worst fears and she moved away, so as not to show her reaction to this. With her back now to him, Dani continued to speak. "OK, so yeah in some situations, in the coming days you will have to act the slave, Shay, I admit that and I don't envy you that task, I've been there, I know what it's like, but I thought," she paused. "I thought what we had was worth that, I thought you actually gave a damn about me and that maybe we had something worth fighting for but it seems you were just playing me for a fool, a nice bit of stuff perhaps, what was I?" Dani now turned to face him with burning anger in her eyes now. "Was I just a nice distraction for you, couldn't believe your luck, eh?" she accused him. "Some stupid slave girl throws herself at you and you act all surprised, claim that you have issues to make me work harder for your affections, then you go all genuine about sharing those feelings, but you're just like any other, right?" she questioned. "You saw an opportunity, and you took it, and then what, thanks, now get out of my sight because you disgust me?"
"No!" Harper returned angrily. "This isn't about you, Dani, not everything is about you," he argued, but inside her anger and words were affecting him on a personal level and he softened his voice. "Dani, this isn't about us, either," he concluded, and he found a seat and collapsed into it.
"Then what is it about?" Dani asked.
Harper closed his eyes, clearly tormented by what he was feeling. "It's about," he attempted to speak, but words struggled to follow. "I don't want to be a slave," he finally spoke. "I haven't wanted much from life, not really, but the one constant has always been that I'd never be a puppet or a slave to no one."
"And you're not, Shay," Dani stressed with frustration, and she moved closer to him and sat on the floor by his chair. "Shay, what can I say to make you understand that?" Dani asked, desperate to help Harper to understand, she hated seeing him like this, and because of something she had done.
"I get your plan," Harper returned sharply. "Just play along, and things will be fine, right?" he stated with some bitterness. "I can't do that," his voice was raised, and his tone changed sharply, as he stared at Dani.
Dani began to nod her head, remaining calm to Harper's outburst. "OK," she simply said and got to her feet again. "Shay, I hate to say this but you're wrong, and this isn't about what you want, and this isn't just about you," Dani stated with determination now. "It's all about us, and what we need to do, and right now whether you like it or not, we need to do this, we both need to do this," she stressed eagerly.
"Do what?" Harper asked tiredly, seeming to rapidly be losing interest.
"Shay, how else are we going to win Yussuf's trust so that at some point in the future he'll send us both away on a mission, and one that we'll have no intention of returning from?" Dani questioned but Harper didn't respond. "I need you to do this, and I'm sorry that you have had no choice in the matter, but that's just how things are so you either play along, or you'll find that you truly are a fricking slave at my beck and call, Seamus, so it's your call."
Harper looked up at Dani with sudden confusion. "You'd force me to be your slave?"
"Too damn straight I would," Dani returned with anger and passion behind her voice. "I want my freedom and it's your fault that I feel this way, so you're going to help me, and quite frankly you not exactly in a position to keep protesting," Dani answered honestly, and then sighed on seeing the still hurt expression in Seamus's eyes. "Don't make me force you to help me, Shay, that's all I ask of you right now."
"Dani," Harper now spoke with confusion, as he sat forward, he was shaking his head, as he struggled to find the words. "Do you even hear what you're asking of me? Have you forgotten everything I have told you, what I was like when we first met?"
"I know, I know," Dani sighed, stepping back for a moment. "And I'm not exactly ecstatic about making your worst nightmare come true, but tell me the alternative, tell me what were you planning to do?" Dani asked with a final act of desperation.
Harper looked away, and shrugged a little, there was a long silence before he finally spoke. "Wait for the Andromeda to rescue me?" he offered awkwardly.
"And is that how you survived Earth?" Dani questioned, almost mocking him. "You were willing to let Yussuf continue beating you, killing you slowly, in the hope the Andromeda will sweep in and save the day?"
"Maybe blow a few things up?" Harper then added quietly, realising he had given it very little thought, so content now to rely on the Andromeda and her crew for his survival now, had he really grown so soft since leaving Earth that he was happy to leave it to others to save his life?
"This isn't the Andromeda," Dani began with care. "Things are different here, different rules and ways of doing things, and you better start thinking like a kludge, or you're not going to survive much longer," Dani stressed with a hard edge to her voice. "This is my playing field now, I know the rules and I know the game, so are you with me, kludge?" Dani asked, and she knew that Harper hated her referring to him by that word and it showed in his expression as he sat back again. "Shay, please listen to me, you have to get over this and just as you tried to show me how evil Yussuf was, when I wouldn't listen, you now have to listen to me when I say that I know what I'm doing, even if it means this," Dani gestured to him.
With reluctance, Harper finally looked at Dani. "So what do I have to do?"
Dani showed her relief to Harper's words and she offered him a smile by return. "We have to convince Yussuf that we're the real deal; and that you are assisting me, and we have to make sure that everyone around here, the hangers on and the cohorts also believe it."
"What does that involve exactly or is my imagination good enough?" Harper asked quietly, still disliking the notion but feeling he had little say in the matter.
"Well," Dani moved closer to him, and she knelt in front of him. "You have to be seen to act on my every whim," she smiled suggestively.
Harper tried not to look at Dani but his gaze kept returning to her smile. "Don't," he simply stated.
"Don't what?" Dani asked innocently, but with a wicked smile.
"Don't enjoy this so much, don't make it seem so," Harper hesitated, as if battling his true nature. "So appealing," he finally responded, but his frown soon succumbed to a brief smile. "And I'm still not liking this," he added in his own defence, but Dani's smile continued to taunt him. "Stop looking at me like that when I'm trying to be mad at you," Harper protested lightly.
"I need some attention," Dani spoke as she continued to grin, and being careful to avoid contact with Harper's upper body, she moved forward to kiss him. "I hope you're not sore here," she asked before making contact.
The touch felt like heaven after so much pain and Harper soon found himself responding to her advance. After a few moments, Dani moved away and looked at him. "Now we've sorted that out, I want to treat your injuries, as my assistant it's in my best interest that you are comfortable and fit."
Harper took her hand as she offered him assistance to stand up, and she walked him towards a back room. "This is your room, sorry for the lack of soft furnishings, but there's a bed, a couch, a table and simple accessories, including some basic clothing," Dani guided quickly, gesturing around the small and somewhat dark room. "You are expected to sleep and eat in here, note the 'expected'," she hinted. "But you must wear the clothes."
"Uniform you mean," Harper corrected her, as he moved over to the clothes and checked them out.
"Seamus," Dani began to protest, feeling he was having second thoughts about his acceptance.
"No, its ok, it's cool, least its clothes," Harper conceded with a heavy sigh, and put them back on the dresser. "Anything else I should know?"
"You have to ensure I eat at least three times a day, that I have assistance whilst I dress and bathe, real tough work," Dani couldn't help but smile. "And whilst I move around outside of this room, you have to be by my side and ready to do anything required of you, simple stuff really," Dani offered.
"It's not that simple, not for me, not at all," Harper returned, his voice lacking emotion and he avoided her glance, as she looked over to him. "You have forgotten to mention the obligatory beatings, the handing over of all your self respect, and free thought, to act like nothing more than a stupid slave," he stated abruptly, close to losing it again as the full weight of the situation hit him again.
"We will have to work out a way to make this believable, Shay," Dani stated gravely. "If we don't then we are both in big trouble," Dani opened a cupboard and retrieved her medical supplies. "Let's begin by making you more comfortable, so lie face down on the couch, let's clean and tend to those cuts on your back."
Harper didn't say a word as he moved to the couch and complied with his orders, and with a sinking feeling he knew he'd have to get use to it, and decided to at least try and accept it, knowing deep down that Dani was right, that this was the best plan for their survival but he still didn't have to like it, as he clung tightly to any form of free thought on his part.
Beka cursed once more as she caught her hand again, and she put her injured finger to her mouth for a second before resuming her task. Before her she had a dismantled kitchen appliance, and various other pieces of junk that she was trying to make something out of.
"Beka," Gretna's voice sounded from the doorway. "Are you trying to get me shot?"
Beka looked up and then sighed, the old lady was rapidly growing on her but she did have an annoying habit of playing the guilt card.
"I can't just sit around doing nothing," Beka explained.
"There are jobs you can do, you only have to ask," Gretna told her, and had repeatedly told her since Beka had arrived.
"I don't want those jobs," Beka lightly argued.
"Why are you making my life so difficult?" Gretna innocently asked, but still managed to quickly clean the door handle, before she turned and walked away.
"Gretna, wait," Beka got to her feet and followed the older lady. "I'm not doing this to spite you, I'm doing this because I have to," Beka explained. "If I don't and I find myself a nice job in this camp, then I'm accepting my situation and I'm not ready to do that yet."
Gretna looked closely at Beka, and there was a fondness in her eyes as she looked at Beka with care. "Follow me," she simply said.
"Where are we going?" Beka asked, as the old lady grabbed her shawl and moved to the door of her home.
"Just follow," Gretna simply said, and Beka had no choice but to follow her.
They stepped out into the sunshine, and Beka glanced around at the fellow residents of the camp, as they went about their business. If it wasn't for the fences that Beka knew existed, this could be any thriving community on any planet that she may have visited in her lifetime. The presence of their captors was almost non-existent if you stayed away from the parameter.
Gretna continued to walk briskly through the streets of the camp, and Beka hated the feeling she was getting that this place could be her home for a long while. She was already missing the stars, and the feeling of a space ship beneath her feet, everything around her was too natural, and too contaminated by nature for her liking, give her artificial environments any day of the week.
The older lady continued to walk until they reached a brick building, and without stopping Gretna stepped inside, with Beka following closely behind her. Beka quickly recognised the establishment as some kind of bar, a quiet bar, and there was no music or entertainment other than the drink, but it was definitely a meeting place of sorts for the community to join and share alcoholic beverages. Beka was a little surprised to find it here, but then she had realised early on that the people here treated this camp as a town, their home, and so it wasn't all that odd when she considered it.
Beka was gestured to wait by Gretna, and she saw the old lady disappear towards the back of the establishment. Looking around, Beka took the time to scan the patrons, and she couldn't help but feel the almost jovial vibe that surrounded her. All of these people were prisoners, but they didn't act as though they were here against their will. They looked like any community she had come across in her travels, and they appeared to be making the best of what they had, there were friendships that she could see, laughter and chat surrounding her. Beka hated it, she hated what she was seeing, acceptance of Yussuf's will, it was by his will that these people were here, separated from their families and their real homes, but they were accepting this, and it made her sick.
"Beka," Gretna's voice broke through her thoughts, and Beka turned and saw the older lady gesturing for her to follow. The blonde captain walked through the bar, following Gretna until they reached a booth. "This is Colin, you may find it of interest to speak to him about your interests," Gretna simply said, and to Beka's surprise the older lady left them.
"Beka Valentine?" Colin stood up and offered his hand.
"Colin," Beka returned, as she accepted his greeting with a hand shake, and she took the seat opposite him.
"So, tell me about yourself," Colin requested.
"I'm paranoid, tell me about yourself," Beka stated sharply.
Colin gave her a wry smile. "OK, well that's a good start, but I can't tell you, I have to show you."
"If that's a pick up line, you should be warned that I've been known to kill for less," Beka responded.
"I can see why Gretna has passed you onto me," Colin simply responded, and then stood up. "Do you want to see what I'm offering, or do you want to continue to cause Gretna concern?"
Beka didn't speak and instead stood up to show her answer, and she proceeded to follow Colin through the bar and they walked outside. Walking alongside the new acquaintance, Beka glanced at him a couple of times to try and get an idea of what he could be, and why Gretna had passed her onto this guy. He looked nice enough, reminded her of the sort of people she used to associate with, with hints of confidence that Bobby use to display, and mixed with the arrogance and tone of her brother Rafe. There was something else, and Beka couldn't help but notice the cut of Colin's jacket, especially around the lower arms and she had to say something.
"You're a Nietzschean," Beka observed.
"Well spotted, usually it takes a while longer before people guess," Colin returned.
"I've had some experience around Nietzscheans, so how come you're here?" Beka asked.
"Same reason you are, I'm here for security," Colin stated in a low voice.
Beka observed him as they continued to walk, and she sensed for the first time since arriving a certain level of resentment from someone other than her. "Can I ask who you are security for?"
"Once I know you a little better, and once I trust you," Colin simply responded, and then stopped, gesturing to a doorway. "We're here, so do you still want to know about me?"
"That depends," Beka answered. "Do you hate this place as much as I do?"
"Yes," Colin returned without having to think about it.
"Then I'm interested in learning more about you," Beka confirmed and stepped inside, with Colin following.
An hour could make all the difference and now Dani looked at Seamus Harper with an amused smile, he had his eyes closed and was looking every bit at peace and in comfort, as he wallowed in her sunken bath tub, allowing the medically treated water to soothe his damaged skin.
"Hey," Dani spoke up. "You can't stay in there all day," she stated with a smile.
"Is that an order or an observation?" Harper asked; his eyes remained closed, holding onto the relaxed state he was currently in.
"It's a fact, the treatment loses its effectiveness the longer you remain in there," Dani pointed out, and she threw him a fresh towel.
Reluctantly Harper removed himself from the long soak, and had to admit that he felt rejuvenated, and his skin didn't feel nearly as tender as it had been.
"How are you feeling now?" Dani asked, as Harper grabbed another towel to dry himself.
Harper looked a little sheepish. "Better, thanks," he offered quietly. "Sorry I flew off the handle at you earlier, it threw me, a lot," he shrugged.
"I understand, don't worry," Dani returned briskly. "Let's now dress those cuts on your back."
"No," Harper objected, as he finished drying.
"Shay," Dani was about to protest but he cut her off.
"I heard Yussuf, I heard him tell you that he wants me to suffer," Harper returned gravely. "And I know what we have to do now, and I will force myself to accept it, so we have to start playing the game, to claim back freedom," Harper said with care. "I'm ready, whatever lies ahead now, I don't care," he stressed.
"Shay, you're scaring me a little now," Dani admitted, sensing he had gone from one extreme to the other now, and she was unsure of his mental state as she looked at him.
"Think about it," Harper moved closer to Dani, and his hands brushed gently along her arms. "I'm your slave now," he spoke slowly, and paused for a moment as he seemingly accepted his role. "I can't be treated like an equal anymore, and you will mark me, and you don't cover those marks up," he stated gravely. "I'm your trophy now, a sign of your power, I belong to Yussuf's Pride, I'm your property," he continued, his voice lacking emotion as he spoke.
"Don't, please, Shay," Dani looked down, as his hands continued to run up and down her arms with affection, but his words were making everything too real for her now, and she began to fully understand her own actions, and what they meant to Harper.
"Yussuf will not want to see me all patched up and having a great time," Harper stated softly now, and his hand moved to her chin, lifting her face up, and he then leaned forward and kissed her. "I have to admit, Dani, I've never known a girl like you, have never felt like this about anyone before, but if this is love, man, no wonder I've had so much trouble with it all my life," he now grinned, his face lightly brushing Dani's cheek.
"Can I touch you now?" Dani asked with some amusement, at that moment all thoughts of her actions vanished under Seamus's gaze.
"Only one way to find out," Harper hinted by return, and was answered by Dani reaching forward and embracing him tightly.
"I wish there could be another way," Dani said, as she leaned into his shoulder.
"Oh, I don't know," Harper brightened slightly, as he relished holding Dani so close once again, forgetting his own troubles and seeking comfort where he could. "There's one kind of slave that I don't mind being," he began, and he made himself clearer by kissing her again.
Dani pulled away with a smile. "I don't think they have that kind of slave in Yussuf's pride, certainly not of the male variety," Dani pointed out.
"I could be the first?" Harper offered with a cheeky grin, pleasing Dani more than anything to see him genuinely smiling again.
"Hate to kill the mood, but we can't stay cooped up in here all day or Yussuf will get suspicious," Dani frowned. "Are you ready for your first test?"
"No," Harper admitted, as the reality hit him once again.
"Get dressed and get ready, because it's dinner in ten minutes," Dani observed with sudden urgency.
"Oh what do you think we'll be having?" Harper mocked.
"I hope you're joking," Dani smiled with sadness. "But little tip, when you clear up my plates, and return them to the kitchen, ask for Charlie and say I sent you, he'll make sure you get a good shout on the scraps."
"Great," Harper frowned, and moved to his room.
"Shay," Dani called him before he disappeared into his room. "Don't hide anything from me, ok? Don't be proud, I want to help you through this, you have a friend in me, and I just want you to know that, ok?"
Harper just nodded his head, before he entered his room to get ready, and Dani couldn't help but fear for the both of them, with so much that could go wrong with their plan.
TBC