Part 19
Dylan allowed his head to clear, as he lay on the wet stone floor of his cell. He felt the blood running down his chin, and the swelling of his eyes, remaining still to stay alert. He sensed two people circling him, and he saw their heavy boots as they passed his line of sight.
For the past hour they had teased and beaten him, punishment for orders he never gave to a colleague he hadn't seen since Kenan marched him away. Wanting to yell out at the injustice, Dylan instead reassured himself that better he be here, than Harper, especially after the ordeal he knew his engineer had already suffered due to these people.
Deep down however there was a growing concern, Andromeda had not showed and he knew that could only mean one thing, that fifty-fifty chance that she had of breaking down Edenia's defences were falling into the impossible category. Dylan knew now that Harper was at least doing something, even if at his expense, he had to believe that Harper had also noticed the delay and that right this minute, his wayward engineer was working to fix the problem, it was all that was keeping him going. There was always that element of doubt however, and Dylan didn't want to doubt one of his own, but he feared whether Harper was fighting on the right side, whether the human had learnt anything in the time he had served on the Andromeda.
Another blow to the head soon cancelled all thought, as Dylan rolled across the floor with the impact, with more blood and swelling following.
The stone tower loomed above them in a remote part of the city, and no one else was around as Beka, Rhade, Zal and Harper circled the structure. It rose nearly fifty foot into the air, and at the top there was a module that enabled the shield above them to remain secure and help blanket the city from the universe outside.
"I need to get inside, to the mechanics of this place," Harper stressed.
"There's no door," Zal stated as he felt the bricks of the wall. "I've heard the entrance is beneath us, underground, that the whole city has a network of tunnels for the official types to move around without fear of us natives harming them."
"And why the hell would they fear showing their ugly faces round here?" Harper mocked, with a sneer then looked up. "Up there, the window," Harper pointed.
"Seems about your size," Zal agreed, and Harper didn't hesitate to find some hand holds and then foot holds, to start climbing.
"Wait!" Beka stepped forward, realising the development. "Harper you can not climb up there, that window is as least twenty foot up!"
"You see any other way?" Harper asked.
"No," Beka conceded, as she tried to think of other options.
"Let the monkey boy climb, I'll remain beneath his decent should he fall, I'll break it at least," Rhade offered.
"I would prefer a soft landing, so I'll aim for your head," Harper stated, before scooting up the wall some more and out of Rhade's reach.
"Be careful!" Beka called up. "One of us should go with him, once he's inside he'll be on his own, and how the hell does he plan to get back out? He hasn't thought ahead," she stressed.
"I'll go," Zal offered and without waiting for an answer he began climbing after Harper.
"Great, just great," Beka exclaimed. "Now we have the original idiot boy as our only hope of keeping Harper safe," she sighed, and then looked up to see Harper had made great progress on his own, and was nearly at the window when he stopped suddenly. "Harper?" Beka called with concern, seeing no reason why he would stop when he was so close.
Zal looked up and saw what Beka had seen, but being closer and more aware, he knew why Harper had stopped. "Ok Harper, you're waiting for me, I'll be right there," Zal called out, giving the two on the ground a possible reason why Harper had stopped, and hiding the truth.
"Couldn't he wait inside, what the hell?" Beka showed her confusion to Rhade.
"When does Harper ever do things the easy way, probably showing off to his new monkey friend," Rhade shrugged.
Beka continued to watch as Zal finally reached Harper, and although a bit slow to start, Harper began moving again but with less grace than before, and Zal appeared to be helping him.
"I don't like Zal," Beka then spoke with seriousness.
"Kid seems harmless enough, a little out there, but harmless," Rhade responded, seeing Harper climb through the window.
"I don't get him, or why Harper is acting all great pals with him," Beka crossed her arms now, after both men had disappeared into the tower without incident, so she turned around and leant against the wall. "He's obviously hurt Harper, I saw how freaked out he was when I first bumped into him, yet Harper acts as though they've been friends for life around him, something isn't right there."
"Their friendship is sudden," Rhade was forced to concede to what he saw as Beka's paranoia.
"I think it's forced," Beka stated without looking at Rhade.
"Forced?" Rhade checked he understood what she was suggesting.
"Zal has something on Harper, maybe this stupid act is just that, an act," Beka explained. "Harper doesn't just act like this with strangers normally, something is wrong, very wrong and we've just let Zal follow Harper into that tower."
"Would Harper simply let someone intimidate him like that, into pretending to be his friend?" Rhade wasn't convinced.
"I don't know, but I know there's something going on," Beka stressed. "I don't like Zal and I don't want him messing with Harper's head, whatever it is I am going to stop it."
"Beka, I'm sure if Harper is in trouble he'd find a way to tell you," Rhade attempted to reason. "I saw nothing to suggest that Zal was in anyway controlling or influencing Harper."
"There's something, and I intend to find out what," Beka stated with determination.
Inside the tower, Harper let his head fall back, and took some deep breaths. Zal looked on with concern, before smiling.
"Your timing sucks," Zal stressed. "Clinging to the side of the tower and you have a dizzy spell, I want to check my contract because I never agreed to stupid shit like that. Covering for you is one thing but if you're going to choose the most idiotic moments to fall dizzy, I don't want to know," he continued to rant with mocking tones.
"I know, I know," Harper smiled finally. "Sorry, but good save, Beka didn't even call up to check I was ok after you said that, you convinced her," he added impressed.
"You scared me, ok?" Zal simply said and moved away, to look around the small room they found themselves in.
Harper concentrated on composing himself before considering Zal's words. "Why does it bother you that I scared you?"
Zal turned to him, looking uncertain. "Because we're friends, right?"
"Maybe," Harper admitted.
"Maybe?" Zal questioned with a confused frown. "What's the deal here, you ask for my help but can't admit to being my friend?" he added, and waited for Harper's response.
"I've only known you a couple of days, Zal, and you've beaten me up twice already in that time," Harper reminded him, finding an awkward smile. "You obviously have decided I'm a friend, but I can't do that so quickly, blame it on me being an alien, ok?"
Zal looked away with a smirk, and sighed. "Not many people give me the time of day, most people go swarming after Buz, but you didn't, you gave me the time of day and for that, I consider you a friend, ok?"
"Ok," Harper agreed, wanting to drop the subject before things got too heavy. "What happened to Buz anyway? After that first night I never saw him again."
"He's always busy doing stuff," Zal shrugged, without further explanation.
"I thought he'd be the one I'd firebomb the city with, if the truth be known," Harper admitted, remembering their chat that first evening when everyone else was asleep. "I never thought it would be you, especially after that first fight."
"Yeah, well it wasn't Buz; it was me, so deal with it, Ok!" Zal suddenly yelled and turned, walking away from Harper.
Harper got to his feet, finally feeling more human after his latest dizzy spell. "Zal, we have work to do," Harper simply said to return focus. "Whatever issues you have with Buz, don't drag me into it, I was just saying, that's all," he offered, as he finally took stock of the room they were in.
"What do you mean?" Zal quickly asked.
"You're jealous of Buz," Harper offered casually, as he examined an energy cell in the corner of the room.
"Am not!" Zal protested angrily before Harper stood in front of him.
"Zal, work, that stuff we need to do, remember?" Harper prompted, tiring of the conversation and wishing for once that Rhade had joined him instead of Zal, before gesturing to the ladder that would take them to the floor below.
"Harper, I'll only say this once," Zal suddenly spoke, his hand moved to Harper's shoulder to ensure he had the human's attention. "Never trust Buz, not ever."
Harper felt a chill from the tone of Zal's voice, and sudden seriousness which was unlike Zal. In a blink of an eye the smile and cockiness had returned and Zal was grinning, before he descended down the ladder, leaving Harper to simply wonder what had just happened.
Beka paced the area around the tower, already she had circled it three times in the hope that it might somehow help matters, but knowing it did very little. Rhade was stood across the street, leaning against one of the buildings that were overshadowed by the tower.
"They've only been gone ten minutes," Rhade pointed out calmly.
"Let me guess, you think Harper's is fine and I should quit worrying?" Beka responded, as she walked over.
"You know me so well," Rhade grinned.
"I can't wait until we're out of this place, it's starting to drive me nuts," Beka admitted, as she stood next to Rhade. "All this stone, the heat, the shadows, the freaks that live here," she continued.
"Beka, diplomacy mission, remember?" Rhade smirked.
Beka leaned back against the wall and sighed, looking up at the window in the hope of seeing something that would enable her to quit worrying, she then looked at Rhade and remembered their previous conversation about Harper.
"I love him," Beka then spoke.
"Who?" Rhade asked, not on the same wavelength.
"Harper," Beka returned casually. "You asked 'why Harper', well that's your answer."
Rhade seemed momentarily confused. "The reason you let him stay on the Maru was because you loved him?" he questioned.
"The reason why I care," Beka responded. "Why I give a damn when I can't be there with him, why I need to know he's safe."
"You're right, this place is making you crazy," Rhade returned smiling.
"I'm serious," Beka stated.
"So am I," Rhade teased, and saw Beka resume her pacing.
"It's not that kind of love, I don't want to be with him in that way," Beka attempted to explain. "And it's not exactly brotherly love either, I don't love him because I have to," she added. "He's my best friend."
"Beka, you don't have to explain, I realise that," Rhade offered with more sincerity now.
Beka looked back at the tower, glancing at the window she had seen Harper disappear into. "You were right," Beka then announced.
"About what?" Rhade asked.
"Your answer to 'why Harper'," she returned, without looking up as she scuffed her boots on the stone ground. "I let him stay because he was willing to do anything to help me," she admitted with a heavy heart, one she had had trouble finding and believing. "The kid was so desperate to be away from Earth, and I knew if I suggested he pursue his curiosity in how things worked, it could work to my advantage and save me money in the long run, it was a business decision, nothing else, but things changed along the way, ok?"
"Ok," Rhade accepted. "The more you got to know him, the more he progressed the more you came around to liking him, and accepting him."
"Something like that," Beka agreed. "I just didn't like hearing it when you said it, because things have changed so much, and we have come so far," she added quickly.
"Harper is a lucky man," the Nietzschean smiled.
Beka now smirked. "I would use a lot of words to describe Harper but that will never be one of them."
A sudden commotion coming from down the street suddenly caught their attention, and immediately they both snapped alert as they spotted a group of people heading their way.
"What the hell," Beka spoke urgently.
"I really don't think we should wait around to find out, they do not look friendly," Rhade put an arm around Beka and encouraged her to move with him, as they headed away from the approaching voices.
Their actions in moving away only seemed to encourage the group to quicken their approach, and soon Rhade and Beka were running down the narrow stone streets trying to escape the sudden pack of Edenian's that chased them. At each turn, Rhade tried to guess the next best route to take, as Beka updated him on those that followed but before long it was becoming clear that the options were drying up, as the hunting group began to surround them, appearing at every corner and street Rhade attempted to use.
Slowly, Rhade and Beka moved back to back, as the group closed the distance between them, circling the two crew mates. They were yelling and shouting in a language that neither Rhade nor Beka could understand, and it was almost tribal as they began to chant.
"I'm really starting to hate this place," Beka remarked to Rhade, her eyes focused and alert on the people stepping closer to her.
TBC