"Beware those who are lost unless you are willing to travel to the ends of the earth to find them."
Ambassador Bartlet
CY 8764
When they reached the abandoned ship both Harper and Beka donned Bio-Suits. It was merely a precautionary measure. They were not sure how long the ship had been adrift of even if it's life support was indeed up and running.
When they had docked and entered the ship through the air look Harper pulled a small folded keypad from his pocket. It was actually a tiny computer able to fold because it used materials similar to fiber optics instead of hard-core wiring. He pulled out a small bendable screen that rested inside the keypad, when not in use, for practicality. When he turned it on, the screen gave a dull blue glow. He typed into the keypad. "Life support is still running, but it seems to be just about the only thing still running."
Beka nodded. She removed her helmet and shook her head a little to stir up the hair that the helmet had flattened out.
The two traced the hallway that led from the airlock, to the command deck. The Command deck was abnormally clear. There were no dead bodies, no holes, and no laser pockmarks. Just like the outside of the ship, the inside appeared unscathed. However, there was still the matter of the internal workings. There was still a chance the wiring was flawed or the slipdrive damaged.
Harper and Beka scanned the deck in the dim yellow light.
Harper headed to the control station and traced his fingers lightly across the controls. It was indeed dead.
Just then Beka chanced upon a small plug. She walked over to Harper and handed it to him.
"What do you want me to do with this?" He already knew but he did like the idea.
Beka looked at him indicating she was fully aware that he knew what she had in mind.
Harper crossed his arms. "I'm not plugging that in. I don't know where it's been."
Beka shook her head. "It was over there near the weapons panel." She smiled wryly. "Don't tell me you're afraid of a little dust."
Harper put a finger tentatively to his port. "My port is a sensitive piece of equipment." He recrossed his arms.
"Come on." Beka put her arm around his shoulder in a half hug holding the plug up in front of his face. "If you plug in we can find out if there's anything wrong with the ship what supplies it has and where all that "loot" is." She grinned and he begrudgingly took the plug and plugged in. He was instantaneously transported into the ships VR matrix.
A few seconds later the ships power was restored and it hummed and vibrated with fresh electricity. That brought many new questions in to play. It had been possible that the ships internal wiring had been damaged by fire and that life support, being one of the ships basic functions was all that still worked. It had even been possible that the ship had been left and no one bothered to shut off the power that eventually died, once again leaving only basic functions operating. But what kind of people abandoned a ship and managed to turn off all functions but life support? No one was on the ship to need it. In fact if it wasn't internally damaged, what kind of people had the money to just leave it adrift?
This led Beka to believe that the ship was privately owned. She questioned whether it had really been abandoned or if the owners had the intent to return. This would mean the ship was not free game and they were trespassing.
After a few minutes Harper exited the system. He removed the plug and lightly brushed his port unsure of how clean the plug had been. Beka looked flushed.
"I think we should leave." She cursed herself for her erred judgement.
Harper looked at her, his blue eyes slightly glazed from his virtual endeavor. "Why?"
"I don't think the ship is abandoned."
Harper nodded. "It's privately owned too."
He said it so matter-of-factly that Beka looked at him in confusion.
Harper sat himself down in a nearby chair. "It's called Shadow Amongst The Stars, and there were only four crew members.
"Okay, so my suspicions are confirmed. Now let's get out of here. We don't want to be here when they get back."
Harper made no attempts to stand up "They won't be coming back."
Beka waited for his explanation.
"Their slipstream core shorted out from faulty wiring. The person who constructed this ship obviously didn't have the slightest clue what he was doing. Well, I guess, technically everything else is functioning normal so he did have a clue but..." He shook his head. "Anyway I assume that Sintu-Anaris was the nearest planet to buy the parts to fix it..."
Beka was getting impatient. "So how do you know they won't be coming back?"
Harper stood up and walked over to the main control panel. He pressed a previously dead button and the screen in front of them came alive. He pushed few more buttons in sequence and white text floated across the screen. A stock female computer voice read the words out loud. "Accessing Old Transmissions. Last Transmission: 30 Days Ago"
Harper pulled up a file and the screen turned to static and then faded into picture. It had been recorded at close range and all they could see was the head and torso of a human looking couple robed in layers of dark brown clothing and the edge of a wooden table. The background was obscured by their forms and kept Beka from confirming if the couple was on Sintu-Anaris or not. It still seemed a likely bet due to the drift of the ship.
The woman, a blonde stand of hair plastered to her cloaked forehead, spoke first her hushed hurried tones unsettling. "Our money was not accepted here..."
The man next to her leaned in. "Our money is of a federation that was apparently in less than great standing with the Anarians. Their government red flagged us."
The woman cut the man off adding to the sense of urgency of the message. "When we were interrogated they found that your Uncle Marius used to be a smuggler. Obviously, we had no idea..."
"He has a record galaxies long and they mistook our ignorance for a ploy to protect him. We were tagged as accomplices..."
"They locked us up but were unable to capture your Uncle..."
"But he came back for us and although we managed to escape he was caught..."
"We are going to try and go back for him..."
"Sit tight. Everything will be al..." There was a loud crash. The woman smacked the man, her green eyes full of anger and fear. " I thought you made sure this was a secure line!" Then an unknown muffled voice was heard. There was the sound of a blaster firing and the screen went fuzzy and then black. "Transmission Terminated" The computer said.
"See? No worries" said Harper jokingly but his smile was weighed down by the seriousness of the transmission. Beka looked at the empty screen disturbed. "I wonder who the transmission was to?" she said solemnly.
"Whoever it was, they're long gone now." Harper hooked up his keypad and began to download the schematics and access codes of the ship. When he finished he could sense Beka was still disheartened. The mention of Marius reminded her of her Uncle Sid and the memory of him always brought on a slew of several other unwanted memories with it.
Harper frowned. "We could, just leave," he suggested sympathetically.
Beka shook herself from her memories. "Huh? Oh. No, uh, let's press on, shall we."
"Okay boss." He put his arm around Beka's shoulder and forced a smile. Beka sighed and touched the hand that rested on her shoulder. This friendly gesture made her smile and she was ready for some well deserved, she justified, loot.
The first place they headed for was the Med-Bay. It was not loot but the medicine justified looting in their mind. It meant they cared about the health and well being of the crew as well as themselves.
It was a small, cramped room that smelled of perfumed medicines with a small cot bolted to the wall for efficiency purposes. It appeared to be able to fold down to lay flat against the wall when not in use. Beka packed some of the loose equipment into a simple brown bag while Harper packed some of the vials of medicine into a small bag he had stuffed with some left over plastic packaging material in order to keep sensitive, fragile objects protected.
After the Med-Bay was successfully cleaned out, the two headed for the crew's quarters but on the way there, Harper spotted what resembled a machine shop and both agreed to a brief split.
Beka entered the first of two rooms. The one she entered had one large bed on the far wall and a smaller one a few feet away from it. It seemed an equal balance of masculine and feminine tastes: a desk on one side, a vanity on the other, the large bed with a neutral beige blanked and the smaller bed draped in a pastel pink.
Beka walked over to the vanity looking for jewelry and found a jewelry box. It was a simple box made from heaven duster- a plant commonly found in the Radula system about three slipstream jumps away from Sintu-Anaris. It had the appearance of misted crystal but the strength and resistance of the strongest metal. Its durability was what allowed it to grow in the harsh Radula system and it was one of their most valued exports.
She ran her fingers across the coarse surface for a brief moment before opening the box. It was full of gold and silver chains; cheap earth metals. She ran her fingers through them disdainfully. They had been worth something long ago, not as jewelry, but as a component in several electrical devices but electronics that had evolved over the centuries had left those metals in the dust. Now, most technology was so powerful that those metals would melt within minutes.
Suddenly she ran across a gold chain with a charm on it. She held it up to the light to get a better view. The golden charm had been carved into an angel and it glimmered in the light. It reminded her of a doll she had once had, long ago, when she had still lived on the Maru with her family. When she had held her uncle and father in such a high regard. When her brother was still with her. The angel was a symbol of peace and innocence. A voice inside her head whispered to her to put it on. She shook her head. How could she possibly look good in such cheap metal? But she clasped it around her neck and looked at herself in the mirror. It fit perfectly as if made for her.
Just then she heard footsteps behind her. She turned around to look at a grinning Harper. He had two large sheets of metal and after he laid them against a wall she could see he had stuffed his pockets with various tools. She couldn't help but laugh.
He traced her neck with his eyes and wrinkled his brow. "What's that?" He had a slight hint of accusation embedded in his tone and she could tell he knew what it was.
She touched the charm lightly. "Don't tell me you've never seen a necklace," she said jokingly.
"No" he winced, " I've seen jewelry, just none like that."
Beka could tell by his tone that to him the necklace brought bad memories She tucked it in her shirt but this didn't seem to appease Harper. His breathing had deepened and he became lost in memory.
He could see his mother and father. They had tried to protect him. He could see their blood, their broken bodies lying lifeless on the ground. He buried them in a place he thought untread upon. He remembered his mother's sole prized possession next to him, a golden chain with an angel upon it. She wore it always. No one stole it, as no one wanted it. It had lain upon her corpse when he buried her. He wasn't sure if that was the same chain but he found even the possibility unsettling. What kind of creature would dig up a corpse to pilfer a necklace that had no value whatsoever with the exception of sentiment?
"Harper?" he heard a voice echo through the darkness. "Harper!"
The world began to fade beck in and Beka breathed a sigh of relief as her friend came to. "Are you okay?"
Harper shook away the last remnants of the memory. "Fine."
"You were shaking." Beka placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. "I was really worried."
Harper stared at the floor.
"Harper? Harper, look at me."
Harper glanced up to meet Beka's eyes, forced a smile, and lowered his gaze again.
"What's wrong?"
Harper said nothing.
"Harper, I've known you for over five years. I can tell something is wrong." She lifted his chin and held it so that their eyes met.
"I'm f..." he was cut off by the sound of something breaking.
The tension from the memory of his mother's death caused his body to return to survival mode and one of the first lessons was- if you had a weapon you fire. With startling speed Harper drew a blaster from a holster at his hip. Beka barely managed to hit it before the discharge. There, in front of them, stood a frightened little girl with glass at her feet. A blaster whole marred the wall less than a foot away from her.
Harper almost dropped the weapon upon seeing the child's face. It was horrifying to think that he had almost shot her. He quickly reholstered the weapon and put his hands up in an apologetic submission-like fashion.
Beka put a hand to her temple. "I thought Rommie said there were no signs of life on this ship"
Harper wrinkled his brow in confusion jolted back into the present. "She did." He gave out an exasperated sigh. "Don't tell me her sensors are on the fritz! I just ran diagnostic this morning! Hopefully it's merely cosmic interference- radiation. If it's a virus and it went unnoticed by diagnostic, I'll have to shut down Rommie's sensors. To shut down just the sensors and not the whole friggin' ship I'll have to install firewalls and I'll have to completely tear the system apart. I'll have to shift piece by piece through information for the abnormality. That's like finding a needle in a haystack the size of Sintu-Anaris!"
"Okay." Beka tried to change the subject cursing herself for even mentioning it.
Harper was unfazed. "Do you know how long that will take? Everything will have to ..."
"Harper..."
"...be put on hold. And all the man hou..."
"Harper," Beka said firmly, "I'm sure it's just radiation."
Harper frowned. Even the prospect of an unknown virus stressed him.
Beka walked towards the child but with each step she took forward, the child instinctively moved backwards until she hit the wall. "Don't worry, we won't hurt you," Beka attempted but she could see fear in the child's dark green eyes. They were the same color as the woman's in the transmission and her hair was the same shade of blonde. Those had to be her parents she concluded.
She stood back up and sighed. "We have a problem."
"No we don't." Harper frowned. Flashes of his parents overwhelmed him. "We... we should leave." He walked over to the large metal panels.
Beka grabbed his shoulder and turned him to face her. He avoided her eyes.
"Leave? You have to be kidding, right? Tell me you're kidding. Leave a poor defenseless child alone on a dead ship when her family is..."
Harper turned from her. "We don't know that! They may not even be her parents! Besides, she's been fine for the last month at least. She could have been here for weeks before that transmission."
"Harper!"
"Look." He turned back to her his blue eyes flickering with pain and anger.
"We're not even supposed to be here! We came without permission! Looting is one thing but ...," he sighed.
Beka scowled. "Am I missing something here? Harper, you, of all people. You can't seriously want to leave her on a dead ship. I don't believe that. Not for a second. There's something else. Something you're not telling me."
Harper flinched. He turned back to the panels and rested his hand on them. "A Warship is no place for a little girl."
"Harper what's wrong?"
Harper frowned and clutched the metal. His grip was so tight that it cut through his bio suit and right through the flesh of his hand.
Beka walked over to him and clasped her hand over his. His grip loosened and she held her hand over the wound to stop the blood. His head was still turned from her and she whispered in his ear. "Harper."
"Look," he said slowly, his voice rigid yet vulnerable. "Little children, they need constant supervision and protection." He closed his eyes. "Forget it."
There was a pause before Beka spoke again. "You know you can tell me anything. Right?"
"Ya. Sure." He pulled his hand away. He picked up the metal panels and headed for the Maru. He was ignoring the cut on his hand that was leaving a trail of blood behind him.
She hated to see him like this but she couldn't just leave a little girl to starve or suffocate. She put a weary hand to her forehead and walked over to the little girl who stood cowering in the corner.
She tried to smile but it was difficult. "I'm sorry if we, uh, scared you." She knelt so she could be at eye level with the child and perhaps not so intimidating. "My name is Beka Valentine. Do you have a name?"
The child continued to whimper.
Beka put a hand to her forehead. This wasn't working. Maybe she should have left with Harper. She stood up but the child reach out and grasped the bottom of her shirt.
"Y-you mentioned my parents," she said timidly.
This confused Beka. "Didn't you see the transmission?"
"I-I'm not allowed to play in the Command Deck."
Beka was about to tell her what had happened but the child's eyes were sad and her lip was quivering. In the end she didn't have the heart to tell her. "Your parents" she began, "are, uh, are going to be longer than they expected. And they, uh, asked us to pick you up, because, uh, your ships provisions are running low. And, um, when they're ready they'll, uh, send transmission and we'll bring you back."
The child seemed skeptical at first but nodded and took Beka's hand.
They headed for the Maru and Beka situated the child was situated on her old bunk. "Thank you Ms. Valentine," the child said softly, as Beka was about to leave.
She was taken aback. She turned back towards the child. "You can call me Beka."
The child nodded. "Thank you Ms. Beka."
Beka smiled and left the room. The formalities weren't necessary but they were endearing.
She found Harper in the control room leaning on the railing. His hand was still bleeding. She walked over too him and grasped his arm. "Come on, let me clean that up." She was expecting some objection but none came.
She led him to a first aid kit stashed under her captain's chair and pulled out a small glass bottle with a blue liquid. "This might sting."
Harper said nothing and avoided eye contact.
She poured the liquid on his hand and although he flinched, he remained silent. She then carefully wrapped some gauze around his hand.
"Is she here?"
Beka nodded.
"So what do you intend to do with her? She has nowhere to go. Do you just intend to keep her on the Andromeda? And what do you intend to do with her when our ship is being blown to bits?"
Beka frowned. "I don't know."
There was a pause. Harper's questions grew harsher. "If the Magog raid our ship again, are you going to protect her till you die? Are you willing to die to protect her?"
"I- I don't know."
Harper shook his head bitterly. "No. You don't."
Beka looked at him sadly. Her blue eyes full of confusion and hurt.
Harper winced. "I-I'm sorry."
Beka frowned but realized through his apology that he was pliable, for the moment, at least. She looked him right in the eye and stroked his hand lightly with her thumb. "Harper, this isn't going to be easy. I'm going to need your help." He broke eye contact and turned his attention to the floor but she could tell he was listening. "I don't want Dylan to know just yet... not until I figure out what I am going to do with her in the long run."
Harper frowned. "And you need me to?"
"Just to watch her for a little while."
Harper shook his head. "Beka, look, I thought I made it clear. I don't wanna be a part of..."
"Please, Harper."
"Why me, Beka?"
"You work, you practically live, in that machine shop of yours. The crew rarely ever goes in there and there are hoards of large equipment and wires. It's the perfect place to hide her. And you know how to keep her out of Rommie's sight."
"Rommie." Harper winced. "I forgot about her. She'll sense the child the moment she sets foot on the Andromeda." He frowned. "Unless her sensors are on the fritz."
"Will you do this for me, Harper?"
Harper pulled his hand away from her. He remained silent contemplating his decision.
"Seamus, please."
He lifted his head and looked her in the eyes but after a second closed his eyes and turned away. "Fine." Without another word he left the room.
Beka frowned and sat down in her chair. She laid a weary head on her hand.
He had agreed but it sounded more like submission. She hated to see him like this. One simple, little excursion. One simple raid of an abandoned ship, so innocent, so tantalizing, reminiscent of their old Maru days. How could something that seemed so harmless cause so much trouble? Harper's naive, innocent nature had been stripped away revealing the sad broken man underneath and she caused it. She pulled out the gold chain and held the charm in her fist.
Dylan wouldn't be away from Sintu Anaris forever she reminded herself, and she headed back for the Andromeda, alone in the large, hollow cockpit.
Harper entered the old quarters of the Maru where the child still sat on Beka's bunk. As he advanced, she shied away. In his hands he held two gleaming silver cuffs that looked strangely like broken handcuffs. He sighed. "Come here." The child shied away again. Harper rolled his eyes. "Unless you want us to leave you on this ship, I need to put these on you."
"Did I do something wrong," the child asked timidly.
Harper sat down beside her. "No, these are a precautionary measure. They will keep you off of Andromeda's sensors."
The child furrowed her brow "Why do I have to be off the sensors?"
"Because." He tried not to let his annoyance show. "We don't want our captain to know you're here yet."
"Why? Ms. Beka said you came to take care of me 'till my parents return from Sintu-Anaris."
Harper frowned. Now, not only were they smuggling a child onto a warship, but they were lying to her too.
"Fine, then you're, uh, wearing the cuffs, to, um, test them for me. Ya, I, uh, wanted to see if they worked. And, uh, the ultimate test is, is to see if I can hide your from, the, uh, captain. There."
The child accepted the answer and eyed the electrical bracelets curiously. "You built these?"
Harper nodded.
"Mr...Mr...uh..."
"Harper."
The child nodded. "Mr. Harper, when we reach the ship, um, would you show me how they work?"
Harper was taken aback by the question. "Are you really interested in that?"
The child blushed and nodded.
Harper smiled. Finally, someone showed a real interest in him and his talent instead of just calling upon him when they needed something done. And it was a child no less. She had to be no older than six.
He left the room, a small smile, remnants of his old self, present on his face but when he reached the cockpit, where Beka sat piloting the ship, it faded.
He looked at her accusingly. "You lied to her."
Beka winced at her friend's tone.
"I couldn't bear to tell her that her parents were dead. Don't tell me you couldn't see where I was coming from."
"But you lied, Beka."
Beka jerked her head to face him. Anger flared in her normally calm blue eyes. "So I lied, Harper! Did you tell her the truth?"
Harper didn't answer.
"So you're as bad as I am! Okay?"
She turned back to the window and sighed. "I- I'm sorry."
Harper shook his head. "You're not fit to wear that necklace."
Beka turned back to him. "What? What are you talking about, Harper?"
Harper didn't answer and turned to leave.
"Harper? Seamus!" She closed her eyes in frustration. "Damn it."