Part 23
The Maru exited the slip point with ease, and Beka immediately took a scan of the surrounding space. Behind her Dylan also checked the read outs and they both confirmed they had reached their destination.
"Beka, I want to come with you when you meet Colin," Dylan spoke up.
"I was waiting for this," Beka frowned.
Dylan tried to sense Beka's mood, before deciding to continue. "It makes sense, the bounty has not been claimed, so we still do not know the lay of the land, and I won't let you go and see him alone, if you prefer you can take Rhade, but you are not going alone."
Beka twisted around in her seat, a crooked smile on her face. "I was waiting for you to volunteer to accompany me, because I want you to," she assured him with a quick smile. "I don't like this situation any more than you do, and we don't know that it's not Colin's little gang of Resisters who have Harper, or even set the bounty on him."
"Agreed," Dylan nodded his head. "At this time it could be any of the three factions, Yussuf, Rico or the Resister who have him."
Beka's screen suddenly came alive as Rhade's face appeared, from the serving area of the ship. "Are you guys checking out this sub space transmission being broadcast?"
"No, why?" Beka asked.
"Looks like we've found Harper," Rhade remarked. "Who in turn, has found trouble, check it out," Rhade's face disappeared and in its place a shot of the Resisters badge of unity was flashing on the screen, before it cut to one of the leaders.
'We have been successful, the Resisters have taken control of the seat of power, Yussuf and his pride have fallen to our attack,' the middle aged man declared with defiance. 'Today we all win; today we see victory, today the Resisters will start to make a difference.'
The picture then changed to a chamber within Yussuf's Palace, and Beka recognised the general decoration that she had seen inside the place during her imprisonment there. It was a large room, something close to a banqueting hall, and as the picture zoomed in, Beka saw a row of people seemingly on their knees, prisoners of the Resisters, but on closer inspection their hands were tied and they were partially hanging from a beam above them, as their knees hovered slightly above the floor, and only their feet made contact with the ground.
Yussuf came into shot, looking angry and ready to strike anyone who got close enough but in no position to do so. The camera then panned along the line, Beka saw how the prisoners had been stripped of any wealth or identity. They were wearing torn and cheap looking attire now, and clearly not what they were used to, with the men only wearing shorts, and the women barely wearing a long vest to keep their modesty in check. Various wives and family members were being shown now, then immediate staff and the important members of Yussuf's army, then finally the camera focused on Dani and Beka took a deep breath, next to Dani she recognised Harper.
"Harper," Beka spoke with concern. "What the hell is he doing in that line up? Harper is not a part of that pride and he's done nothing against this sector!" she stressed. "And why are his eyes covered, what have they done to him?"
"I don't know, it must be in relation to his actions in saving Yussuf's life, denying the Resisters earlier plan," Dylan admitted. "It looks to me like they are simply trophies, on display to humiliate the Yussuf pride I can't see any evidence of beatings."
"Yet," Beka sneered. "We have to do something."
"Colin will know already why you have contacted him, he will make the connection," Dylan pointed out.
"What do you suggest?"
"Normally I would suggest talking, and rationalisation," Dylan shrugged. "But something tells me that won't work here, Beka, Yussuf has ruled this sector with an iron fist, he is a tyrant and normally we'd support this kind of uprising."
"We wouldn't support this, this is wrong," Beka gestured to the screen.
"If Harper wasn't involved wouldn't we, in some small way, be pleased that the people have finally risen up and defeated the Yussuf pride, their common enemy? Displayed their tyrant in this manner?" Dylan suggested. "And taken some joy in doing so?"
"Harper doesn't deserve to be tarred as an enemy of these people," Beka protested.
"I agree, which means we have work to do," Dylan stood up.
"In what way?" Beka could see Dylan had a plan.
"The Resisters are selling themselves as the good guys to this sector, they are heroes, and we have enough evidence to support that Harper is one of the good guys too, and is a victim in all this based on a misunderstanding," Dylan offered. "The Resisters will not want anyone questioning their new found saviour status."
"We blackmail them?" Beka smirked, but clearly liking the plan. "If they don't give us Harper, unharmed, we'll start making noises that they have an innocent man, that they are no better than Yussuf?" she smiled now.
"We talk to Colin, see how he reacts to this," Dylan stated. "We'll have Rhade and Trance ready to clear Harper's name, should Colin or his friends do anything to us."
"I like this plan," Beka agreed.
The pain in his shoulders was beginning to drain him, and in that moment Harper knew he'd be willing to do anything to get out of the situation he'd found himself in. On that thought, Harper was still a little unsure exactly why he was in the situation he was now in. Was it because he was simply living in Yussuf's palace, or was it something else, he had forgotten a lot lately, he considered, and that bad feeling in his gut began working overtime.
He had heard a lot of cries of pains in the past hour, and figured he wasn't the only one in that painful position, he had heard Yussuf speaking, or rather threatening the intruders who had done this, and he knew Dani was by his side, as his own personal darkness continued and he relied on his hearing to get any idea of what was going on.
Harper shifted slightly, to try and relieve some of the weight on his shoulders, and felt sharp pains now in his wrists, as the ropes aggravated and burned his skin. He felt frustration now, wishing he wasn't in this position, feeling unable to do anything about it and then not being able to see, to look into the eyes of his captors.
"And finally, the two kludges of the pride," a voice announced suddenly, drawing Harper's attention back to the room. "We have Dani, the adoptive daughter in some eyes, the suspected lover in others, and the known spy!"
There were a chorus of jeers now in the room, and Harper was horrified to hear the sound of someone being hit, closely followed by a cry of pain from Dani.
"Leave her alone!" Harper cried out, and struggled in his restraints as his instincts kicked in to protect those closest to him.
"And then there's the kludge who saved the tyrants life," the voice sounded closer now, and Harper yelped suddenly, as a hand roughly grabbed his hair and pulled his head back. "Despite a sizable bounty on his head, blindness and being a worthless specimen of humanity, has managed to stay alive for all his crimes."
Harper took a breath, and realised the fear he now had, and tried to replace it with determination, as he felt the weight of his captor's hand grabbing his hair, as it pulled him down against the restraints putting additional pressure on his already sore shoulders.
"Payback is long overdue for foiling our plan," the voice hissed into his ear.
"Beka!"
"I'm watching, I'm watching."
Beka bit her nails nervously, feeling useless as she could only sit and watch proceedings and had been for the past couple of hours, glued to the screen. This had been the first time they'd paid any attention to Harper and she felt sick to the stomach, seeing Harper at the mercy of the Resisters, and they were still a few light years away from their meeting with Colin. A hand was felt on her shoulders, but she failed to react, as Rhade sat beside her now.
"They will pay also," Rhade simply said, remembering the words he had heard broadcast by the guy holding Harper aggressively.
"Do you sense that Harper is only partially aware of what's going on here?" Beka asked in a low concerned voice.
"Unless someone has told him this is being beamed across the sector, I'm sure he has no idea of the gravity of the situation," Rhade frowned. "He appears too calm, too relaxed."
"I think I'd personally prefer to not know what they are doing, than just sit here watching, why are they doing this, broadcasting this?" Beka snapped, getting to her feet. "They really think this will win them more support?"
"They are nothing more than animals; did you see what they did to Yussuf's second wife?" Rhade stressed with obvious disgust. "She is still unconscious and hanging in her restraints."
"This is sick," Beka said, but couldn't tear her attention away from the screen. "We have to stop this."
"We will," Rhade assured her, and at that moment they heard Harper's cry of pain as the Resister backhanded him.
TBC
