Part 22

Harper felt the cold damp cloth against his face, and wearily opened his eyes feeling more relaxed than he ever remembered. Unable to focus, Harper could make out someone beside him, and he tried to see who it was.

"It's me, Dani," Dani finally answered, lightly taking his hand. "I'm told you've been asleep for nearly ten hours."

"I have?" Harper questioned unsure, and he noticed a different tone in Dani's voice, for the first time since he'd been here she seemed happy to be with him, like how he remembered her.

"I don't know, but you look rested," Dani offered unsure.

"How can you know but not know?" Harper asked with confusion, and a brief smile.

"Short term memory issues, remember?" Dani said with amusement, a brief laugh followed.

"Of course, how did I forget that?" Harper smirked, and didn't appear too concerned as he pushed himself up to a sitting position, then noticed that Dani was sat on his bed, by her close proximity to him. "Are you allowed to sit on my bed like that, considering the arrangement?" he asked.

"I'm no longer assigned to you," Dani returned brightly.

"You're not?" Harper asked, with obvious sadness.

"Got the confirmation this morning, so I guess I was told yesterday," Dani stated casually. "Spoke to Yussuf a few minutes ago, he said he explained everything more clearly to me yesterday but basically wants us to be friends," she added a little cautiously. "He said I should be pleased that he was able to bring you here, after he rescued you."

"I'm pleased he did bring me here, I've missed this, I was starting to worry that you wouldn't give me another chance," Harper remarked, and then brought his hand up to where he thought Dani's face was, and her hand intercepted his to guide him the rest of the way. "I'm sure your problem, the short term memory thing, I'm sure it went away," Harper then spoke with confusion.

"Don't be silly, I have brain damage, it can't be fixed," Dani corrected him with amusement, as his hand lightly touched her face. "Oh and that reminds me, something can be fixed, the doctors are going to complete the treatment to return you sight today," Dani beamed. "Isn't that great?"

Harper tried to share her joy, but he was still distracted by something, but he didn't know what. Then another thought struck him, as he sat up some more and removed his hand from Dani's face. "How long have I been blind?"

"I don't know," Dani answered truthfully.

"I don't know either, surely for it to be fixed it must have worked at some point?" Harper questioned.

"I remember when you could see, that one memory I have of you saving me," Dani offered.

"Why have I forgotten? I can't even remember how it happened," he added, now concerned.

"Maybe you didn't want to remember?" Dani suggested. "Anyway, Yussuf is encouraging our friendship, I think that's why I'm no longer assigned to serve you, so, we don't have to worry."

"Were we worried?" Harper asked with a crooked smile.

"You were worried," Dani offered with her own smile. "You said you were, that I wouldn't give you a chance, well now, I'm going to give you a chance."

"For me, or for Yussuf," Harper countered with seriousness now, he still had an uneasy feeling.

Dani frowned. "I don't know," she admitted, and seemed about to back off when Harper stopped her from moving.

"I said that I was just happy being here with you," Harper explained softly. "Nothing has changed in that respect, so while you work it out, I'll be right here," he offered. "And maybe the fog in my own mind will clear too," he added with a smirk.

"That sounds good," Dani agreed.

"Yeah," Harper tried to share her enthusiasm, but deep down he still had mixed feelings, as the doors to the quarters opened and a medical team came in.

"Time to go," Dani figured, and squeezed Harper's hand, as he stared at the fuzzy image he saw of her.

"Do you remember me at all now?" Harper then asked, needing to know.

"Not exactly, no," Dani responded honestly. "I just have a chance to get to know you now, if that's what you want?"

"A chance is good, I'm willing to take that chance on you, Dani," Harper smiled, but behind the smile he was still a little concerned about something, a nagging feeling inside that was telling him to remember something but he couldn't think what.

With gentle encouragement from the medical team, Harper was led from his room to the infirmary, with Dani by his side.


The drift's central square was vibrant with life, but as Beka approached her crewmates there was not a smile amongst them. They hadn't wanted to believe it, but there was no denying the truth.

"Gerentex still dead?" Rhade asked flippantly, and then looked away as Beka's glare confirmed his words.

"I, erm, I just got it confirmed," Beka then said a little hesitantly. "A couple of light years from here Gerentex was ambushed by Nietzscheans," Beka relayed what she had found out. "His ship was destroyed, and his dead body was the only thing they found on what was left of his ship floating in space, they," Beka frowned. "They showed me pictures, the rat was a pest, but after everything he didn't deserve that, no one does."

Trance reached a hand out and comforted Beka, as Dylan moved forward. "We need another lead, do you have anything?" he asked softly, aware of Beka's distress and feeling she needed a distraction.

Beka looked up and sighed. "Gerentex was going to be the best lead, now I don't know what to suggest," she looked down.

"What about your friend Colin?" Rhade suggested.

Beka looked up, and frowned. "I haven't spoken to him since he left the Andromeda," Beka returned.

"He might know something," Dylan supported. "He's a part of what's going on at the moment and if we are going to find Harper, then we need to be where the action is," Dylan stated with hope.

Beka looked at him. "When did this become more a search for Harper and less me trying to prove Harper was still alive to be found?" she queried with confusion.

"You had me eighty-percent convinced there was someone to find, this has confirmed it," Dylan spoke and held up a chip, that he placed in his handheld device.

Beka looked at the image of Harper that appeared, and then at Dylan. "A notice of the bounty on Harper's head?" she asked, still confused.

"The date it was re-issued was the day before yesterday," Dylan pointed out. "It states that he was last seen on this very drift three days ago."

"What?" Beka snatched the device from Dylan and read the information for herself. "I was right," she smiled brightly. "Harper is still alive, he was with me on the Maru, I'm not crazy!" she exclaimed with joy.

"Beka," Trance's voice brought her back to the reality, sensing a problem. "He was last seen on this drift with Gerentex, who is now dead."

Beka nodded her head, knowing the situation. "But there were no other bodies on that ship."

"Harper had this bounty on his head, we should find out if it's been claimed," Dylan solemnly spoke, trying not to fear the worse.

"And we need to find out who has or had the bounty on his head," Rhade pointed out. "The notice claims identity of the issuer revealed only on a need to know basis, which I assume is proof you have Harper."

Beka frowned. "We should get going, I'll try to contact Colin, you guys can find out what you can about this bounty, meet on the Maru for departure in an hour," she ordered, and no one objected as Dylan left with Rhade, and Trance walked beside her to return to the Maru.


Harper awoke to darkness and immediately tensed with panic, taking a sharp intake of breath feeling numbed, and unsure.

"Seamus, it's ok, I'm here," Dani's voice comforted him.

"I can't see," Harper managed and brought his hands to his face, feeling something over his eyes. "What's covering my eyes?"

"It's a bandage, you've got to keep it on for a couple of days whilst the work they performed on your eyes heals and settles down," Dani assured him. "Don't worry I'll take care of you," she added with care.

"My head feels like it full of dough," Harper frowned, calming down as he attempted to relax.

"You're on heavy medication, they wanted to ensure your fits would not hinder your recovery," Dani explained. "I asked the doctors a lot of questions, made sure they gave me good answers."

"Thanks," Harper spoke genuinely, although the uneasy feeling was still there in his gut and he still wasn't sure why.

"Do you want to go for a walk?" Dani then asked.

"It's ok for me to get up?" Harper checked, with some surprise.

"The doctors said you could, that light exercise wouldn't be a problem," Dani explained. "We could resume our walk through the gardens, you never saw the lake, I mean you never reached the lake."

Harper smirked. "You don't have to correct yourself, it's not like I haven't heard that slip of the tongue a thousand times already, I know what you meant," he offered with a smile.

"Well soon it won't be a slip of the tongue, the operation went according to plan," Dani enthused. "You should have sight again over the next week or so."

"Not immediately?" Harper asked.

"You're eyes will take a while to adjust, things will still be fuzzy when the bandages are removed but you will see a rapid improvement until full sight returns," Dani answered confidently, and it was clear she had asked a lot of questioned, Harper realised.

As Dani helped Harper from his bed, they heard raised voices outside of the room and paused for a moment to try and determine the source. Suddenly the doors opened and in a flurry of movement Harper heard people charging in.

"What's going on?" Harper demanded towards Dani, his instincts snapping to alert.

"You two follow us," a loud voice demanded.

"Iwan, what's going on?" Dani asked, as she quickly encouraged Harper to walk with her.

"Intruders, all over the palace," Iwan explained to Dani. "Yussuf has requested that I escort you to one of the bunkers, from there we will lead you to his space port for evacuation."

"Evacuation?" Harper spluttered, hating being in the dark again. "How serious is this?"

"Serious enough for Yussuf to order evacuation, you two included, now move," Iwan ordered.

They hurried along, and Harper realised he was only wearing a pair of pyjama bottoms, as the cold stone clad floor froze his feet and sent a chill through him, as he walked. Seeming to sense this, from his side Dani demanded that one of the guards escorting them gave up his jacket, and Harper didn't complain as the heavy garment was soon wrapped around him.

Suddenly there was gunfire heard ahead of them and the whole group stopped and Harper felt himself pushed against the wall. Harper felt more than useless as his bandaged eyes prevented him even having a slightest idea of their location, he thought he'd be use to not seeing, but it had been surprising how quickly he had grown accustomed to the blurred and light filled landscape, returning to darkness was hard to take.

Since he had left his bed, Dani had remained by his side, keeping a protective arm around his waist and he was grateful for that, as the gunshots got closer and his uncertainty rose, wishing he could do more, as his imagination tried to fill in the blanks possibly making things worse.

"We're blocked off from the bunker, we need find another way around," Iwan was heard to say. "Our orders were to protect these two, and get them to safety, so think," he ordered his men, but there were little options being offered.

"Where's Yussuf, is he ok?" Dani asked with concern.

"We do not know, orders were flying about, we assume like you he is trying to reach the sanctuary of the bunker," Iwan stated, but sounded concerned now, as his control of the situation seemed to waver. "Let's move away from this area at least," he then decided and Harper felt himself being ushered in a new direction.

An explosion hit an area in close proximity to them and Harper was grabbed by Dani as they barely managed to stay standing, but he heard a few of the guards stumble to the floor in agony.

"All of you freeze!" a new voice then yelled, as if speaking through a mask. "This palace is being claimed in the name of the Resisters and you are now our prisoners!"

"What's going on?" Harper whispered to Dani.

"We're being separated," Dani returned with fear.

"Me and you?" Harper checked in panicked tones, as Dani moved him once more, all he could hear now was what he assumed were Resisters kicking the guards.

"No, the guards and us two, we're being separated," Dani stressed in a hushed voice, before Harper felt himself being pushed by a new person, and with Dani, to one side.

"Tell them we have the final two, the palace is secured," the masked man announced, and Harper then found his hands being roughly tied behind his back, before being pushed forward with Dani, as the intruders prisoners.

TBC