Part 30

"All done?"

Beka nodded her head with a smile as Colin took her plate, and she looked around at how normal everything appeared to be. Beka had to remind herself that she was actually a prisoner, but she had just enjoyed the most interesting meal of her life, with someone who seemed to hit her every level with their interests and life stories.

Colin was also a spacer by birth and had lived his life travelling the stars with a Nietzschean pride on the trade runs, not too dissimilar to Beka's upbringing, except it was his father who had left, to seek his calling, leaving him with his mother and younger brother. Only one night he had been taken by force, Yussuf's guards had shown up and almost destroyed the ship that was his home. Now he was in this camp as security for his father, a man he hardly remembered, or wished to see again, but apparently as his eldest son, his father wished him no harm, and so worked for Yussuf and effectively determined that his son would remain a prisoner.

The story had affected Beka on a level that she didn't quite understand, she felt for Colin, to be in this situation and not even give a damn about the person who had put him there. At least she knew that whilst she was not hassled, it meant that Harper was doing ok, at least she had to cling to that assumption.

When Colin returned, Beka found that she had more questions and thankfully Colin seemed willing to answer every query she had.

"So, if say your reason for being here dies, or is killed," Beka began. "Do you get set free?"

Colin only smirked. "In all the time I've been here, no one has left, does that answer your question?" he asked. "Even those who die here are buried here, no one leaves," he added.

"Maybe you could try sugar coating your answers?" Beka mocked, and looked down at the hot drink she was holding. "How difficult is it to leave? I mean, surely there's a way?"

"If there is, no one has found it, everyone has been accounted for since this camp was opened nearly thirty years ago," Colin explained.

"And you think this will all end in a few days?" Beka questioned.

"Counting on it," Colin nodded his head.

"So what can I do to help?" Beka asked.

Colin took a deep breath. "I ask nothing more than you make the Commonwealth aware of these people, and help them, they have been exiled from existence for so long, and they'll need help."

"I can do that," Beka agreed. "But I can also kick ass, there must be more I can do."

"Tell me about the one you are here for," Colin asked.

"Harper?" Beka relaxed a little as she remembered her special little runt with fondness. "He's wired, a genius with annoying flaws, all of which serve only to annoy me," she smiled. "Give him a screwdriver, and he'll build you a slip stream drive in ten seconds," she offered.

"Impressed," Colin offered. "So are you two," he hinted.

"No," Beka immediately answered. "I've sometimes, especially in the beginning, kind of considered it but now, definitely will not happen," she grinned.

"What's changed?" Colin appeared intrigued.

"We have, we know each other so well, our friendship moved beyond romance," Beka explained thoughtfully. "And I think he's found love now, whether it has a future I don't know, I doubt it as things stand right now, but what's he's found is so very different to what we have."

"How does it make you feel, to have such a good friend discover a love you don't think will last?" Colin asked, and he then drank his hot drink.

"What is this, counselling?" Beka defended, but she smiled when he shrugged. "I was jealous in part, I felt in some ways that I was losing him, but I also didn't trust the girl, and one day you'll find out why."

"Why not now?" Colin asked.

"Because it's too sensitive," Beka simply said. "In the wrong hands, and it doesn't mean I don't trust you, but its information that might inadvertently get my friend killed, so don't push, ok?"

"You protect your friend well," Colin said. "I admire that, I hope that one day you would do the same for me, that I could reach that level of trust with you."

"Harper's had to work hard for that trust," Beka responded, and finished her drink. "Surely there's something else I can do than tell you bed time stories?"

"Kiss me goodnight?" Colin tested, a smile creeping across his face.

"How about wishing you a good night and saying I'll see you in the morning?" Beka suggested and got to her feet.

"That works too, but you're welcome to stay, we have enough room here and I'm sure you will not be expected home tonight," Colin gestured.

Beka looked at Colin, knowing it was late now and she had been more than enough trouble already for Gretna. "Ok, I'll stay but don't read too much into this," Beka warned.

Colin grinned. "I wouldn't even attempt to assume with Beka Valentine, you scare me too much."

"I do?" Beka quickly asked, caught out by his admission.

"I've only known you for a day and you've threatened me more times than Yussuf has in my lifetime," he mocked, as he pulled out an extra bed from under the couch.

"That's so unfair," Beka argued, but knew he was probably right. "Besides, I didn't mean them 'all'," she offered, and then smirked.

"I tell you what, by staying here tonight, I'm thinking that you are buying into our way of thinking, right?" Colin stated.

"I would say that's right," Beka agreed, and considered it was about time Colin accepted her offer of help.

"Then, say tomorrow, how about I talk the plans over with you?" Colin suggested. "As someone with battle experience, working with the Commonwealth, coming up against such things as the Magog, I'm sure plans for freeing this camp on the overthrow of Yussuf shouldn't be too difficult."

Beka stepped forward without word and lightly kissed Colin on the cheek. "I like that plan," she smiled as she moved away again. "Oh, that was your goodnight kiss, by the way," she offered awkwardly, when Colin didn't move.

"And I will be having sweet dreams tonight," Colin proclaimed, as he seemed to glide from the room to Beka's amusement.

Under the cover of darkness, Dylan and Rommie reached the first parameter fence and checked the defences without fear of being detected. Rommie was in deep concentration for a moment before turning to Dylan.

"Highly advance stuff, but I believe we can find a weakness, I am not detecting a high presence of guards on duty," Rommie finally reported.

"Would people risk rescuing anyone from here, knowing they are security to the safety of another?" Dylan reasoned. "Which begs the question, should we attempt anything knowing that Harper's life may depend just as much of Beka's safety, as Beka's safety is reliant on Harper?" he questioned.

"A conundrum," Rommie agreed. "However, if we make their communications the first point of attack, no one outside of this camp will know."

"I like your thinking," Dylan had to smile. "Cut them off, and we'll still have a few hours before any kind of patrol could investigate from Yussuf's base," he considered. "Let's do it, and then we find a way in, there's enough activity on the main gate to be able to come up with some sort of plan."

"There's three main gates remember," Rommie frowned.

"Good job there are not many guards then," Dylan hinted and they quickly moved away, to plan disabling the communications.

Harper grimaced even before he was fully awake, and it took him a moment to focus on the fact he was conscious again. Why did he always have to wake up when his body was hurting the most, he considered, and took a painful intake of breath, his lungs felt like lead now and he felt the restraint on his breathing. Moving slightly he heard the clink of chains and he finally opened his eyes to find heavy shackles around his wrists once again.

Blinking his eyes to encourage consciousness, or more of it, Harper tried to remember what had happened but it was all a blur. His mind then reminded him harshly of being a slave and his heart dropped once again, the pit in his stomach grew wider, this was it, waking up in chains, and unable to do anything about anything.

"He's awake," a gruff voice announced with disinterest and Harper was soon joined by two ubers, both wearing black vest tops and looking fit for business, whatever that business was. They both lifted him up, either side, grabbing under his shoulders to drag him out of the cell, not acknowledging him as a human being in any form.

"Let's get this over with, I don't appreciate baby sitting details, why has this stupid kludge been brought along anyway?" the first one complained, with short blond hair, he looked the younger of the two.

"This thing," the one of Harper's right answered, bigger built and looking more experienced with life, and he roughly pushed Harper's head to one side to try and show the other one the data port. "Yussuf said the kludge is useful with it, and we might access the place quicker."

"Can we trust it?" the blonde asked.

"Do we have a choice, Yussuf has ordered we use him, so we use him," the older man stated.

"It, it's not a 'him'," the blonde snapped arrogantly.

All the while Harper allowed himself to be dragged, listening to the exchange with interest and rage burning inside, hearing himself spoken like that was rapidly returning him to his youth, a past he thought was left long behind and now it was smacking him right in the face.

"Now we have to clean it," the blonde continued to complain, and he roughly pushed Harper into the show cubicle.

Harper immediately showed his panic, not the acid not again, his skin had only just calmed down after the last time. With a frantic air, he tried to push himself up against the wall, anything to try and protect him from the spray, and the blonde Nietzschean could only laugh at him.

"Look at the kludge, he knows what's coming," the blonde continued to mock.

"Give it a rest," the older uber spat, and he seemed to be showing slightly more compassion towards Harper. "This kid is on our mission, just remember they are as sentient as you and I, don't think they are past revenge, you never know," he warned the younger man.

"The kludge would never be in a position to save my life, I wouldn't allow it," the blonde arrogantly proclaimed.

"Who said he'd save your life anyway, but take it away, you just never know what opportunities a kludge might take if someone pisses him off enough, say keeps talking with their huge mouth," the older one complained. "Hell even my trigger finger is getting itchy right this minute," he added.

The blonde shrugged the older mans concerns away and sat in the corner whilst the other Nietzschean prepared the shower. All the while Harper had listened to the exchange with interest, he always liked to be aware of any conflict and the older uber spoke wisely, with his old Earth habits kicking in, he knew any chance he could get to seek revenge against the blonde one would be taken, just like in days of old. Gone now were his morale responsibilities that Beka instilled in him, and that Dylan, Trance, and more so Rev further encouraged, this was back to his playing field, and old rules applied once more.

"Stand up, kludge," the older man ordered, and Harper had no problem complying with this uber, at least he had shown an ounce of respect towards him. "Take off your clothes," he then instructed and Harper knew not to hang around, and with the restraints around his wrists giving him enough to work with he could follow the order promptly. "This is going to sting, but don't worry, we're on a tight schedule so we won't be long," the older uber confirmed, as the blonde smirked.

That was something at least Harper considered, as the first rush of treated water came down on him, soaking him in seconds and then he felt the familiar stinging sensation. The uber barked at him to clean himself, and with his eyes tightly shut, Harper went through the motions whilst trying to ignore the sharp pains he felt around his newer injuries. Almost as soon as the shower has started the fresh colder water crashed down on him, taking his breath away as he shivered instantly under the barrage of icy water.

Next thing Harper realised he had both ubers around him, removing him from the shower area and into the next room. The blonde one continued to mock him, and didn't let up for a minute as he ordered Harper to remain standing in the middle of a new room.

"Going to dress those wounds now, we can't let you get sick on us in the field," the older uber announced.

"He's so weak and puny do we really have to drag it along with us, the walk to the airlock will be too much for this kludge," the blonde remarked.

"Rico, give is a rest," the older uber snapped, and then turned his attention to Harper, lifting his head up to see the damage to his face. "That's quite a bruise you have there, appears to be healing well however, already purple, a good sign," he encouraged. "Do you speak?" he then asked, as he applied some gel substance to the area around Harper's right temple.

"Yeah," Harper responded, the ubers touch was surprisingly gentle.

"My name is Kane, the annoying upstart is my kid brother Rico," the uber stated.

"You're telling it our names?" Rico protested loudly.

"He was never a popular kid," Kane informed Harper, and it felt as though it was at Rico's expense. "Do you have a name?"

"Seamus," Harper revealed.

"Sounds like a typical Earth name," Kane responded. "Well Seamus, I think you're all cleaned up, let me just check your back, I noticed you've become familiar with the stick during your stay," Kane stated and examined his back. "Or should I say during your life," he corrected on closer inspection, reminding Harper why he hated his back being on show.

"I have his new clothes," a female voice now sounded, and Harper panicked slightly, knowing that he was in a state of undress that he would prefer not to be in when meeting females for the first time.

"This is my sister Darla," Kane announced. "And don't worry, nothing you have she hasn't seen before."

"What are you suggesting dear brother?" Darla then asked innocently, and she walked around Harper, furthering his embarrassment.

"Get dressed," Kane ordered Harper, who wasted no time once again in following an order. He had only managed to get his pants on when Darla stepped up to him, placing her hand on his chest, with a suggestive smile.

"I don't know, he's different to what I'm use to," Darla purred.

"He's also a kludge, they carried germs," Rico snapped with disgust at his sister.

"That's just a myth," Darla argued.

"So, if that's true, then why the showers?" Rico returned.

"He's clean, didn't you just shower him?" Darla grinned.

"Kludge," Rico emphasised, no longer using sentences to make his point.

Kane just stood and watched as his sister stroked the slave's chest. "Darla, we are on a tight schedule could you put the slave down so he can continue to get dressed?"

"Is he coming with us?" Darla asked, with a spark of excitement about her.

"Not if he's going to be such a distraction to you, no," Kane warned.

"I'm just kidding, I wouldn't be seen dead with a kludge," Darla turned quickly, and Harper continued to get dressed, dismissing her advances for nothing more than an action to taunt both her brothers, for very different reasons.

"Look, Seamus," Kane now spoke quietly. "They are just kids, but they are my family, any thoughts you may have towards their continued good health, although they may be shared with my own, I would urge you not to do anything stupid, do you catch my drift?" Kane warned. "They are family," he added.

"Don't worry, I have my own reasons not to want to cause trouble," Harper responded, as he finished dressing by putting on some heavy boots. Remembering Dani and having no idea where she was or if she knew he was here, hoping that he didn't do anything to ruin their plan.

Harper got to his feet, he felt better and the shower hadn't inflamed his skin nearly as much as last time, to his relief. The clothes felt better as well, and having boots on again was a blessed relief, he felt more himself again, but he knew not to get too confident.

A sudden in take of breath, followed by a sharp pain, caught Harper unawares, and he was reminded of how restricted his breathing seemed to be now. Kane had also noticed and reached for the medical kit, taking out the scanner and frowning. "You have lung damage," he reported.

"I know," Harper returned. "Received before I got this gig," he grimaced, as he tried to walk though the pain.

"Take this, it might have to relieve the pressure a bit," Kane offered. "We can't have you collapsing on the job."

Harper took the device and felt like hugging Kane, he recognised it as an inhaler and knew any substance it might contain would help, and he inhaled quickly, almost feeling the healing effects immediately. "Thanks that has helped a lot," Harper said with a genuine air.

They now reached a room where Yussuf was sat waiting for them, and he looked at Harper, now dressed in the same black attired as the rest of his team and he seemed impressed by how well the kludge had scrubbed up.

"Test the port now that the kludge is here," Yussuf ordered to a man stood beside him.

Harper realised then that everyone but him had already been briefed on the mission and was only on a need to know basis, and right that minute he didn't need to know anything other than if his port was working with whatever device they had.

Mentally Harper prepared for connection, unsure if the man approaching him would give him fair warning and as it turned out he didn't, as a connector was placed into the port without word. Harper braced this time and was able to accept it without much resistance and he took a moment to translate the data.

"What do you see?" Yussuf asked, the semi conscious Harper.

"Plans," Harper revealed a little distracted by the new information inside of him. "Ways in, ways out," he added.

"That's all you need to know, you get us in, and you get us out, that is your job, and your only job," Yussuf declared.

"What about the main access core?" Harper asked before thinking.

"You are not on the team to do anything important kludge, you open a door you close the door, that is all," Yussuf snapped.

"Ewan, stood beside you will be doing the advanced stuff," Kane answered Harper.

'Advanced stuff?' Harper inwardly fumed and he knew just by looking at the kid that he could easily outsmart him when it came to infiltrating foreign computer systems, yet he was expected to just open and close doors when there was much more interesting activities to help with. But he was in no position to complain, he had a job to do and he would do it like a good little slave, at least, that is, unless he got bored and found an opportunity to do more on this crappy mission, he considered to himself.

TBC