Part 6
How long had he been hiding, was he dreaming or hiding, was any of this real?
The Magog screams had filled his head, his imagination had consumed him, and the passage of time was no longer registering. He could feel the cold sweat that covered him, and now he remembered Rommie, all she had said was 'stay safe' and then he was stumbling back to the floor having been hit by an explosion that somehow he had almost seen coming, even without sight.
His heart raced, and in that moment uncertainty became his mantra. Hearing Magog, the shrills and sensing the tension, Harper instinctively jumped when he felt someone touching his arm.
"Seamus, are you back with me yet?"
"Beka?" Harper whispered in hurried breaths.
"Hey, you've stopped zoning," Beka's voice sounded cheerful.
"Where are we?" Harper asked.
"On the Maru," Beka answered, and he could hear her moving around where he was sat, which he guessed was on the deck, and leaning against the bulkhead.
"The Arkology?" Harper tensed, as he prepared to move again.
"It's gone, Harper," Beka's voice lost its joy. "It was destroyed."
"The Andromeda?" Harper ventured.
"Harper," Beka's voice conveyed sadness now, as Harper felt her kneeling beside him now. "It's all gone, Arkology, The Andromeda, even that damn World Ship."
"Gone?" Harper's voice was caught in his throat now. "But we survived?" Harper checked unsure of what he was hearing.
"When you didn't respond to my hails, but my instruments said you were still active," Beka paused, troubled by her own memories. "I came back for you, Seamus, and luckily you had stumbled towards the airlock, I was able to reach you only meeting a handful of Magog."
"I don't remember," Harper offered shakily.
"You seemed in shock and I'm not surprised, I think I'm suffering a bit with that myself at the moment, Harper," Beka admitted, her voice shaky, and she sat on the deck next to him. "It's all gone, Seamus, and I could only watch on helpless, as it all blew up and one by one everything was destroyed," she paused to take a needed breath. "I barely managed to get the Maru a safe enough distance away before the destruction started and at one point it was like the destruction was reaching out to draw us back in, it was scary stuff, and I don't think all that I saw was natural, other powers were at work," she recounted, and Harper was struggling to remember ever hearing Beka sounding so afraid.
Not knowing what else to do, Harper put his good hand out to where he figured Beka was, and she took it. They remained silent for a moment, taking comfort from each other as the realisation hit them both.
"So it's just us now," Harper asked quietly to break the silence.
"Trance was on the Andromeda when it exploded," Beka remembered, and felt Harper shudder. "Rhade and Rommie were left behind on the Arkology, I couldn't find them," she stressed.
"Rommie was killed," Harper remembered, his voice conveying his own distress and shock now.
"Killed?" Beka checked.
"The Magog did something, I don't know what exactly, but she was saving my sorry ass, I just know that she exploded right in front of me, and she knew she was going to," Harper's eyes were close to tears and he couldn't finish the sentence, as Beka put an arm around him now.
"I'm sorry, Seamus," Beka offered.
"What about Dylan?" Harper then asked, composing himself a little.
"He was in a slip fighter at the end, I don't know why, but the Maru took some pretty bad hits around that time so I couldn't help him, I had to get us away from there, but I think he was trying to get to the Route of Ages, I just doubt he made it, there was so much battle fire in that part," Beka sighed. "Even if he did make it, we both know it's no better through that thing, without Rommie or Trance he'll never make his way back, if he is alive," she frowned.
"What are we going to do?" Harper now asked with fear.
"We barely have enough rations for the moment, but we have credit, so I say we lay low and just sort ourselves out before we do anything else," Beka suggested, finding some strength in her voice. "Didn't you want to go someplace, before this whole Arkology madness?"
Harper tried to remember, all his notes and research had been destroyed with the Andromeda and that thought froze him momentarily, to think all of that had gone now. With a gentle nudge, Beka encouraged him to remember.
"There's a research centre close to Sinti, in the same system at least, that specialises in eye injuries like mine," Harper offered quietly, it seemed ridiculous now to be even considering this, with all that had happened, but Beka was encouraging him now. His good hand absently moved to his port as he inwardly accessed what little information he still carried from his research.
"Then we'll go," Beka enthused, then caught hold of one of Harper's arms. "And these bandages on your wrists need changing, so let's set the course and then get you cleaned up."
"Beka, if my eyes can't be fixed, and with the Andromeda gone, what hope do I have," Harper began.
"Harper, don't go there just yet, ok?" Beka requested calmly. "We're both in some form of shock and making things seem worse is not a good plan, we have to stay positive," she started firmly, as she knelt down before him. "I know things seem bleak right now, but I need you to stay strong, I need you Harper, help me get through this, ok?"
Harper began to nod his head in understanding, but his sightless eyes looked somewhere beyond Beka, and it almost broke her heart to see her friend reduced to this, as she left him where he sat to prep the Maru for its next journey.
"He's still alive!"
"I was told the Andromeda and all her crew were destroyed in that battle with the World Ship," the man in the shadows spoke with confusion, looking at Gerentex.
"The Maru survived, and with it Rebecca Valentine and young Seamus Harper," Gerentex informed him. "So can I resume my bounty?"
"By all means," the man smiled. "I want Seamus Harper dead by the end of the week; he can not still be breathing whilst my family suffers because of him."
"They are currently on one of the Sinti planets, it appears they are trying to recover his sight," Gerentex offered and stepped back as the man got to his feet.
"No!" the man seethed, still in the shadows. "That was his punishment and he must not be allowed to see again, is that understood?"
"Perfectly," Gerentex bowed his head, before leaving the room.
A female came out of the light, as the door closed behind Gerentex. "Dear brother, you need to learn to control that anger," she smiled. "That kludge is not worth a heart condition."
"Our brother is facing death because of that Kludge, and we've been banished because we failed with our revenge against the girl, Dani," the man stressed. "I need that kludges head on a stake before we lose every shred of pride we once possessed."
"Killing a kludge will be only small payback, Rico," the female spoke.
"Maybe so, Darla," Rico glanced up at his sister. "But it sure will be satisfying."
"The kludges were together," Darla now spoke. "They were lovers, and Yussuf knew all about them, we should use that to our advantage."
"Dani doesn't remember anything, they got her head fixed so she would forget," Rico dismissed.
"But the other kludge remembers, you may have taken away his sight but you didn't take his heart," Darla grinned now. "And Yussuf will remember the kludge, the kludge that saved his life, the kludge he owes his life to."
"Killing the kludge is doing Yussuf's work for him," Rico then realised and stood up, his mind a flurry. "I want Gerentex brought back here, the plan has changed!" he ordered loudly, as his sister smiled happily at the development.
TBC
