Part 15

There was calm, and then suddenly an eruption of pain and fury as Harper snapped his eyes open from a once peaceful sleep, to awake in unbelievable pain that almost paralysed him for the moment. After some needed breaths, Harper screamed out and then lashed out at the figure closest to him, as he stumbled to his knees, disorientated and feeling as though his entire body was in flames.

"Harper!"

It took a moment to register but Harper finally focused enough to recognise the voice, as he discovered the source of his pain, and brought a hand up to his port.

"Zal," Harper managed between fevered breaths. His mind was a flurry of emotion and confusion, as he attempted to remain conscious and upright. "What," he barely managed, unable to continue through the pain.

"I didn't want you to be in pain anymore," Zal offered, breaking through Harper's turmoil.

"What did you freaking do!" Harper snapped, although he already had a fair idea as his hand tentatively touched around his port, and his senses were shooting pains back to his troubled conscience.

"Calm down," Zal offered brightly. "It's all gone, well about from that round bit, I tried more of the stuff but I think it didn't work."

"What?" Harper showed his confusion, as he staggered to his feet.

"I poured this over your neck," Zal gestured to the half empty bottle he now held. "I know you said no, but you're a friend, and I couldn't just sit here and not help a friend."

"I said no for a freaking reason!" Harper continued to growl with his eyes tightly shut, and when another wave of pain became unbearable he lashed out at the easiest target, and sent Zal crashing to the ground under his own weight.

Zal in turn attempted to defend himself under Harper's pain induced attack, and they both matched each other for a few moments, as they each took hits. Another wave of pain crippled Harper finally, allowing Zal to gain an upper hand, and he twisted the human around and onto his back, pinning him to the ground until Harper was aware again.

Harper's first instincts were to start fighting again, but it was quickly obvious that all his energy had left had left his body and he simply took some defeated shallow breaths, caked in perspiration and the pain now more a dull thud that was uncomfortable but bearable.

"I was helping you, you freak," Zal finally pushed his weight down onto Harper to make his point, and then stood up with anger. "Next time, I won't bother."

"Good," Harper recovered his senses enough to respond, as Zal left the room.

Harper simply lay still now, recovering his breath and composing his thoughts. The sharp and shocking pain was subsiding gradually, and the annoying sting of the burning and exposed sore skin replaced it. Something wasn't right, and Harper sensed that now, as he realised a lot of the extreme pain had come from within, as if he had pins and needles inside his head, or more correctly his neck.

His hand reached once more for the now uncovered port, and he felt the surface of it with some care. Almost immediately he felt the problem, as his fingertips glanced over the usually sealed entrance, finding it partially open.

"Crap," Harper murmured with fear in his voice. The port was in an active state, as if he was jacked in, something was keeping the port open, making it believe a jack or other instrument was inserted, it was trying to communicate, it was trying to do its function.

Harper closed his eyes, remembering the dizzy spells and tiredness he had experienced lately. What he and others had put down to the drink and sickness was more likely now to be his continuingly active port draining his energy, and the ports attempts to work and operate, thinking it was attached to a system must have caused the dizziness.

"Harper!" a panicked voice sounded.

"Junia," Harper now wearily returned, attempting to sound normal but he could hear his own weak voice.

"What happened, your neck its," Junia paused. "It's bad," she simply concluded. "You didn't try and remove that stuff yourself did you?" she questioned with concern.

"Zal," Harper returned.

"I told him not to!" Junia stated with anger. "He never listens, that boy is going to get us all killed at this rate with his stupid ideas."

"Help me," Harper simply said, as he attempted to sit up.

"I think you should remain where you are," Junia offered.

"Help me," Harper repeated, and this time with more strength behind his request.

Junia took hold of Harper's arm and helped him to sit up, for a moment Harper wavered as he was hit with a fresh wave of pain.

"You should rest," Junia insisted once more.

Harper ignored Junia's advice and proceeded to get to his feet, finding his balance before staggering forward and reaching for some of the bottles that were stacked in the room. Before Junia could stop him, Harper suddenly drenched his neck in more of the fluid, with a desperate need now to rid himself of the metal that had found its way into his port. Immediately his face creased up, and Junia reached him just in time, before Harper fell back to his knees.

Forcing the bottle from his grasp she instead pressed it to his lips. "Drink, you'll need this," Junia insisted, forcing the struggling Harper to take the liquid.

Harper finally found the momentum to push the bottle away after a few needed gulps and then sank completely to the floor, all his energy gone. Junia moved beside him, and simply waited until Harper acknowledged her again.

"My head," Harper finally spoke between staggered breaths, lying prone on the ground. "It's tripping."

"Tripping?" Junia questioned with confusion.

"I can live in two realities, real and artificial," Harper attempted to explain. "With this thing," he gestured to his port. "Right now, it thinks I'm partially in both worlds, and it wasn't the drink, like I thought," he managed before needing to regain his focus. "I need to get all this junk out of my port."

"What?" Junia was lost, and it was clear to see.

"Take a look," Harper encouraged, though his patience was waning.

Junia nervously leant closer to Harper, and took a closer look at his port.

"Can you see the metal that was covering my neck?" Harper asked quietly.

"It's coming out of the port," Junia observed.

"I need it all out," Harper stressed. "Help me."

"You want me to pour this stuff directly into that?" the female questioned with doubt. "You just did that and almost blacked out."

"It's working though," Harper managed, and Junia had to accept that he was right, seeing the liquid metal was slowly dribbling out of the port. "Please," Harper pleaded.

"I don't think I can," Junia feared what Harper was asking her to do, and her hand lightly brushed the side of Harper's face and before he could respond, his eyes closed and unconsciousness took him. "Sorry," Junia offered quietly, before gently moving Harper to a more comfortable lying down position to sleep off his continued sickness.

"Is he ok?" Zal then asked from the door.

"What did you do to him?" Junia demanded, quickly getting to her feet to confront the lanky Edenian. "I expressly told you not to do anything," she added, when Zal failed to respond.

"I wanted to help, I thought he'd appreciate it if he didn't know," Zal shrugged. "He doesn't look good."

"He's exhausted, that's all, what you did must have taken what little energy he has right now away, you took a very silly risk!" Junia chastised her friend.

"Don't care, what does it matter anyway, he's just a stupid alien," Zal snapped, not appreciating Junia's anger and he stormed away, leaving Junia to sit quietly down to observe the human, hoping that he'd be ok and that he wouldn't have to ask her to help him again.

Beka kept walking, having tired of doing nothing and with a deep down need to do something in trying to locate Harper. Dylan was too preoccupied with Asa, listening to the old man whittle on about nothing that was helping them to locate the wayward young human that she desperately needed to see again.

Rhade's words had affected her deeply, more so because of the truth that surrounded them. Beka knew that deep down there was no way she would have kept a scrap like Harper around, especially with Bobby clouding her judgement, she would have just followed his plan of dumping the kid at the first opportunity even if she felt bad for doing so, she would have gone along with it for Bobby, and for the peace.

It troubled Beka now, in hindsight, as her mind forced her to consider what might have happened to Harper if he hadn't exposed Bobby's ill gains with the weapons. By that simple action, Harper guaranteed his future, became a part of something bigger than either of them could have imagined, and all because she wanted to prove a point. She sighed, proving a point to a dead man, she considered, remembering her actions in ending Bobby's life, even though half cyborg, he was still the man she wanted to beat, needed to prove a point to.

She had lucked out with Harper, of all the mudfoots they could have rescued, she ended up with one with a brain capable of doing so much, adapting to her requirements at that time, with a ship that was breaking down and in desperate need of some tender loving care. Up stepped Harper, happy to do whatever she required of him, happily risking his health by getting an implant done, even though he'd convinced himself it was his own choice, Beka had done little to discourage him and as his confidence and abilities grew, she became dependant on him to the point she began to feel responsible for the danger she now presented him with, as he fully emerged himself in her less than legal activities and more often than not life threatening situations.

Harper never failed her, and that's why she cared, she could never allow herself to fail him, after all he had done. It wasn't that she felt she owed him anything, and she would never claim that he owed her anything, they simply complimented each other and if either one of them was in trouble, the other would ultimately feel it, deep down, in that unspoken tryst that they at some time bonded with. Beka frowned, knowing Rhade would never understand, after all, she barely understood it herself. She loved Harper, but at the same time he drove her to distraction and frustration, he annoyed the hell out of her. She trusted Harper but it didn't stop her concern that he was always in over his head, and she knew that she could depend on Harper, but she would never admit that she needed him, and it seemed that he just knew it was true without her having to tell him.

So lost in her thoughts in trying to figure out her feelings for Harper, Beka missed the Edenian that suddenly clattered into her, sending Beka to the ground. In a flurry of confusion and panic, Beka quickly got back on her feet and adopted the attack pose as the Edenian did likewise, glaring at each other for a split second before the panicked male suddenly backed away.

"I didn't mean it, how did you know?"

"What?" Beka questioned.

"I was just trying to help, I didn't know he had found you, and the others, please don't hurt me!"

"I'm not going to hurt you," Beka assured the panicked young man.

"I didn't mean to hurt Harper, I was trying to help!"

"OK, now I'm going to hurt you, where the hell is Harper and what the hell did you do?" Beka marched forward, grabbing the arm of the Edenian tightly.

"I didn't mean it, he had that stuff on his neck, and I was trying to help!"

"OK, you were trying to help. I'm getting that, but tell me where he is!" Beka stressed.

"You're hurting me, and you said you wouldn't hurt me."

"Who are you?"

"Zal, I'm friends with Harper, honest, don't hurt me!" Zal insisted, terrified of the hold Beka had on him. "It was just an accident; I was just trying to help!"

"Take me to Harper. Let me see what you did to him," Beka requested, trying to sound calmer but failing.

"No!" Zal suddenly pushed Beka away with his full body weight, and before she could react he was already running.

Giving chase, Beka attempted to keep up but it was clear the young man knew the area better and on turning a corner, Beka realised Zal had gone, he had eluded her.

"Damn it!" Beka snapped twisted round hopelessly, and for a few minutes she tried to keep up the pursuit before accepting that Zal had disappeared. "Harper!" Beka yelled out, her last hope that maybe he was nearby, if Zal's claims were right, but there was nothing in return and after a few more minutes, Beka accepted defeat, needing to tell the others what she had learned she began the long walk back to where Rhade and Dylan were busy doing nothing.

TBC