Part 12

"I'm not waiting, if he's not here in the next minute I'm going," Beka fumed, and already the passengers on board her ship were bugging her.

Rhade moved to her side in the pilot's chair. "Beka, if you do nothing else I would encourage you to wait for Dylan, trust me."

"Trust Dylan you mean, and I swear I'm about here with the trusting Dylan," Beka continued to rant.

Rhade's communicator beeped and it was the sign that Dylan was close. "He's here, so get ready to launch on Dylan's mark," Rhade's voice showed the relief he felt as he hurried back through the Maru, pushing past the refugees and towards the ramp.

By the time Rhade reached the ramp he saw Dylan fire a shot, and then saw Cutter fall down lifeless. Moments later Cutters guards, now unarmed joined them on board the Maru and Dylan closed the doors. "Beka, let's go," Dylan ordered and almost immediately the Maru came to life and lifted from the planet.

"Is he onboard?" Rhade asked.

"I told them to take him to the crew quarters," Dylan swiftly stated, and they began to head there.

"He should be undisturbed there, most of the refugees are located in the storage hold, they wanted to stay together," Rhade responded. "Beka doesn't know, so when are we going to tell her?"

"As soon as we know his condition," Dylan paused. "Rhade he has the illness, and it looks bad," Dylan added with concern.

"Great, so not only have you brought him back but now he could die on us, I'm sure Beka will appreciate that," Rhade fumed.

"I brought him back, removing the doubt, that's what's important right now," Dylan insisted.

"How bad is it?" Rhade asked with a frown.

"Almost all of his skin, from what I could see is infected, his upper body and face," Dylan frowned. "He was unconscious, and I assume he's in the same state as the others."

"He can't talk?" Rhade asked.

"I'm not sure, Lucas mentioned that the illness was taking him faster than they normally see, and I guess that's down to his immune system," Dylan stated before they both stopped, and saw Lucas and Kalika securing Harper to the bunk.

"Is that necessary?" Rhade questioned.

"You saw those infected at the camp, uncontrolled anger, Harper has the same condition," Dylan answered.

"Beka won't like this," Rhade remarked.

Dylan moved forward and retrieved the oil from his pocket, with care he handed it to Kalika who looked ready to cry with joy, her hand covered his hand as she held the bottle. "Thank you, thank you so much for this."

"Just try and make him better," Dylan simply asked.

With a brief nod of her head, and once her brother was satisfied that Harper was secured, she moved to the human's side and poured some of the oil onto her hands, rubbing them together. With care she then placed her hands on Harper's chest, and began applying the oil to the infected skin.

Immediately Harper reacted, still unconscious his body tensed and he was suddenly awake and crying out seemingly in pain. Kalika persisted with her treatment despite Harper's struggles, and she soon managed to spread the oil over his chest and then over his face.

"What about his back, I'm assuming that's as bad?" Rhade asked.

"For the moment we only need concentrate on one area, in this case I have easy access to his chest and face so once he is cured of the anger and illness, we can work on curing the rest of his skin condition, we need to apply enough of the oil to counteract the illness inside, before we focus on the outside elements," Kalika stated.

"I can't watch this," Rhade decided and turned away. "I've never heard of any illness needing you to be oiled up to find a cure," he stressed under his breath. "You sure this is legit?"

"Its how Tolek saved my life," Dylan countered as they both left the quarters.

"Is that what she told you?" Rhade smirked. "Or did she just want you oiled up and in her bed?"

Dylan couldn't help the expression now on his face. "I never questioned it, but I felt better."

"I bet you did, I've seen Tolek, I sure hope I fall ill soon," Rhade teased.

"Rhade, this is serious," Dylan stressed, but knew the Nietzschean was having fun at his expense. "What do we tell Beka?"

"I suggest not opening with 'Harper's alive and being oiled down in the crew quarters by a strange lady obviously smitten by him'," Rhade offered. "It could be worse, you could have offered to oil him down, oh bad image," Rhade grimaced.

"Rhade, I'm starting to think I preferred you when your hair was still short and you hero worshiped me," Dylan observed and moved away, leaving Rhade to stand alone.

"Hey, I didn't cause this," Rhade called after him. "Never forget why I'm like I am now, Captain Hunt, sir!" he mocked saluted, and then smirked. "So what does a guy have to do around here to get some oiled action?"

"Don't make me answer that," Dylan called back.

Sembler had been observing Doyle for a while; she seemed distracted and kept looking to one side. With care he moved alongside her as she cleaned a table.

"Hey babe, what's up?" Sembler asked.

"I'm not sure," Doyle answered. "I feel as though I should be elsewhere, but I don't know why."

"What do you feel?"

"I have this weird feeling that Harper is close by," Doyle admitted.

"How could you know that?" Sembler asked, naturally looking around.

"I've never felt this feeling before, but it doesn't feel good," Doyle continued. "It's as if he's hurt, or suffering and I should be going to him, to help him."

"You have like some weird sixth sense detector thing maybe?" Sembler suggested.

"He's been hurt before when I've been elsewhere, and I've not felt this," Doyle stated.

"Maybe before you were around him enough not to notice his absence as much as you have lately, so if he is somehow back on the radar, you're extra sensitive to it?" Sembler offered calmly.

Doyle stood stock still. "I think Harper is alive but in need of help, I think you're right, I need to find him."

"Doyle, you still have an hour of your shift left," Sembler reminded her. "And you don't know that I'm right, I am just a humble bar tender after all."

"I'm finding it hard to ignore these feelings," Doyle stated.

"Just finish your shift, please? We're busy, I need you, you're special, remember?" Sembler smiled.

"That special line will only work for a little while longer, Sembler," Doyle answered, but nodded her head to agree to finish her shift, even though she wanted to investigate the feelings she was sensing.

Dylan simply watched as Beka expertly negotiated the landing on Seefra One. They were safe and the refugees could begin their new life away from the illness that had dogged them for so long, they were free. As Beka removed the harness, Dylan moved forward.

"Beka, we need to talk."

"If this is about my attitude forget it, I'm working for myself now and little favours involving my ship will most definitely be few and far between from now on," Beka pre-empted.

"I appreciate that you're making a life for yourself now but hear me out," Dylan attempted to speak.

"No, Dylan, you hear me out," Beka stood her ground. "I've lost a day's work coming to your rescue and I don't appreciate having complete strangers and their diseases on my ship because you felt sorry for them."

"They are not all complete strangers, Beka," Dylan tried once more to speak.

"Oh don't think Rhade didn't tell me all about your little bit on the side, what do you want to tell me, that you're getting married after two hours of courtship?" Beka mocked.

Dylan grabbed Beka's arms to stop her. "Listen to me," he ordered sternly.

"Ok," Beka felt unsure about his stance, but did as he said.

"I found Harper."

Beka's entire front slipped away as his words sunk in. Slowly she began to breath again, and then attempted to talk.

"Harper?"

"He's on board," Dylan informed her.

"He's on the Maru?" Beka checked, completely shell shocked now.

"He has the disease you didn't want me bringing on board, but I figured like most things you'd let it go for Harper," Dylan half smiled.

"I want to see him," Beka stressed.

Dylan still held her, and prevented her from pushing past him. "He's ill, Beka, and it's not looking good."

"I want to see him," Beka repeated slowly.

"He's not himself, ok?" Dylan checked she understood.

"Ok I get it, he's ill and he's not himself, please, just let me see him for myself," Beka asked. "Just five minutes ago I could only believe he was dead, so I can take ill, ill means still alive, ill means I can see him."

"Just don't get your hopes up," Dylan advised and Beka just nodded her head in understanding, as he finally let her go and walked with her to the crew quarters.

Despite Dylan's warnings, Beka still caught her breath and stopped at the entrance to the crew quarters on seeing Harper. Dylan put a reassuring arm around her shoulders, and walked Beka the rest of the way in. Without word, Beka moved to Harper's side, only briefly acknowledging the other two people with him before focusing on the disease ravage skin that covered her friend.

Tentatively Beka reached out and touched Harper's cheek, tracing a thin scar that she hadn't seen on him before, but didn't seem to be due to the illness. The many legions across his face and chest didn't seem to bother her, as Beka continued to gently stroke her friend's skin with fondness. Despite herself, her eyes began to water and she closed them for a moment to get control back.

"Beka?" Dylan prompted. "Are you ok?"

"Why is he secured?" Beka asked blinking away the tears that threatened, her hands now clasping one of Harper's, as she observed the deep gashed marks around both his wrists where the binds had roughly rubbed his skin.

"To protect him from himself, the illness causes anger and violence," the man to Beka's right spoke up. "My name is Lucas," he offered on seeing Beka's confusion. "My sister Kalika has been looking after your friend for the past few weeks."

"Hi," Kalika offered nervously.

"These ropes are hurting him," Beka pointed out the marks around his wrists caused by the restraints.

"The damage has been done by himself, when he is awake again you will see how powerless we are to stop him," Kalika offered. "His shoulder is damaged too from the struggles and strains he puts upon himself," she offered. "He must have recently been injured there, for it to be weak from the start."

"Doyle would know," Beka absently offered, still clutching Harper's hand. "Will he be ok?"

"It's hard to tell, the oil has already calmed the more sensitive areas of skin, but we truly do not know the true extent of the illness within him yet," Kalika offered. "He has been weakened further by an extra element; he's had difficulty breathing and signs of fever at various times that I can't explain."

Beka closed her eyes and sighed loudly. "The Gogorum virus," she answered softly. "He's suffered with it for some time now, especially at times of stress."

"It has not helped his fight against the illness," Kalika frowned. "There have been times where he has struggled to breath, and all I could do was hold him and calm him," she added.

"Then you probably saved his life a number of times over," Beka briefly smiled. "Stress is what causes the virus to wake up, so if you calmed him then it would have retreated."

"My sister is a natural at knowing what to do in times of need," Lucas proclaimed proudly.

"He's due another treatment," Kalika then announced and reached for the oil bottle. Beka moved aside as the female moved forward and simply watched as she poured the oil into her hands and began to work it into Harper's skin with precision.

"When he gets better he's going to kick himself for not being awake to witness this," Beka remarked.

"This treatment could continue for many weeks for Harper, until the illness is completely cleared," Kalika announced.

"I only got one treatment, I should have stayed down longer," Dylan frowned.

Harper's body suddenly tensed as he became conscious again and like before his reaction was to fight the application to his skin. He strained against the restraints, fighting their hold over him. Fierce expressions and unheard words started coming from his mouth, as he locked angered eyes with Kalika, as if fighting her attempts to save him.

Dylan put a comforting arm around Beka as she watched with some concern, seeing her friend acting nothing short of an animal came as a huge shock. Even after Kalika had finished, Harper continued to struggle and speak continuously to himself, words that only he could hear inside his head. Kalika seemed oblivious to the rage, as she carefully tended to Harper, finishing the application of the oil to the areas she was treating.

Exhausted, Harper relaxed once more and appeared to settle down, as Kalika gently stroked the side of his face in a calming manner. He was taking deep breaths, and it was clear to hear that he had slight congestion in his lungs. Beka looked around the quarters and located the med pack, quickly opening it to take out the injector.

"This will calm the virus, make it easier for him to breathe," Beka offered to Kalika before administering the drug into Harper's system. Over the next few minutes they could hear and see an improvement in Harper's breathing, as he slipped into a deep sleep.

"So what now?" Beka asked.

"My brother and I must find a place to live, to begin our new life," Kalika stated.

"Harper stays here," Beka immediately spoke.

"Harper needs constant care," Kalika returned. "He can not be left alone."

"We can take him to the Andromeda, for the short term Kalika and Lucas can make their home there," Dylan offered.

"The ship is cold, and running at half power, Dylan, you can't expect Harper to recover in those conditions," Beka argued. "He stays on the Maru."

"Then so shall I," Kalika remained defiant.

"I'm not fussed," Lucas offered with a brief wave of his hand.

"Beka?" Dylan prompted for a response.

"She can stay, she's right, Harper needs round the clock care and I can't give him that, not if we want to eat and stay warm," Beka spoke with slight reluctance, and then sighed as she gave it more thought. "Kalika I would love you to stay, you obviously care about Harper's welfare so that's good enough for me," she smiled.

"Thank you," Kalika smiled in return.

Dylan looked at Lucas and gestured to him to follow. "You can have my old place to start your new life, your sister can join you when she has finished her work here," Dylan offered.

Kalika briefly said her goodbyes to her brother, and watched both men leave before turning back to Beka. "You care for Harper too."

"I've known him a long time," Beka answered and moved back to his side. "I've lost count of the times I've feared he was dead."

"He's very strong."

"In some ways, more so than in other ways," Beka half smiled, as she pushed his hair up to a more familiar style. She jumped back on instinct when Harper suddenly jerked his head, and his expression showed anger even though his eyes remained closed.

"Get use to that," Kalika warned. "He's not himself."

Beka took a deep breath and nodded her head, understanding. "Some would say he's not been himself for a while."

"Tell me about him, I only know what I see here," Kalika requested as she sat on the opposite bunk, facing Beka who now sat on the edge of Harper's bunk.

Beka didn't know where to begin, and for a moment she considered her response as she looked at him. "He'll drive you crazy," she simply said with fondness.

"In a good way?" Kalika smiled.

"In every way possible, you don't know what you're getting involved with here, Seamus Harper is a trip and a half, believe me," Beka concluded.

"Seamus?"

"That's his first name, but he rarely uses it, he prefers Harper," Beka answered.

"I prefer Seamus," Kalika returned. "But I will continue to call him Harper, tell me more about him."

"You seem awfully interested in him," Beka seemed amused.

"For weeks he has been a stranger to me, I wasn't entirely sure I had his name right until that moment he spoke it for me," Kalika remembered.

"You've spoken to him, when he's been like this," Beka asked with interest.

"A few days ago he woke up and for the first time he seemed calm and focused and was able to speak, but only with some effort, and he could only manage his name, and repeating mine," Kalika offered. "It's given me hope."

"That's something," Beka agreed and then frowned. "Harper is a natural genius; I fear this disease could rob him of that."

"A genius?" Kalika checked she had heard right. "I now fear the same," she admitted with sadness.

"He could do amazing things with science, and technology," Beka continued.

"That explains why he was with Marika, and why she would chose him over my brother," Kalika absently remarked.

"What do you mean?" Beka was curious now.

"My brother brought Harper with him through anger, he didn't like the fact that Harper and Marika had relations," Kalika said diplomatically.

"You mean she," Beka prompted without speaking.

"My brother claimed they shared a bed," Kalika stated.

"I thought his love for her was puppy, I never considered it was returned," Beka stood up a little troubled by the development. "So your brother saved Harper but his intentions were not heroic?" she checked.

"I'm not sure exactly what happened, Lucas hasn't fully explained but I believe he caught Harper hitting Marika," Kalika remembered.

"He hit her?" Beka couldn't comprehend what was being said.

"My brother was angry, he had some mad fixation with Marika, she led him on to believe she would help him start a new life if he brought her enough quartz," Kalika frowned. "When he saw Harper hurt her, he took his chance to take him before the tech police renegades could, and after landing, somehow Harper escaped, I don't know how and Lucas won't say," Kalika paused as she focused on her hands. "A few days later Harper was brought to me by some locals, they knew Lucas had lost him and by then he was already infected by the quartz crystal."

"Sounds like Harper's luck, he never goes looking for trouble but it always finds him," Beka frowned. "He'll be ok though, right?"

"Hard to say," Kalika admitted. "But the signs are good, already his skin is responding to the oil, before these legions were almost red raw, but now they are losing their harsh colour," she motioned.

"I need to get some supplies, if you need anything raise me on this com unit," Beka threw Kalika a unit. "Anything, just call ok?" she insisted.

"I will, thanks," Kalika acknowledged. "When you return you will need to show me around, especially to a galley so I can prepare some food for Harper, he hasn't eaten today."

"No problem, what sort of food is he eating? I'll pick some more up?" Beka offered.

"Simple basic food, that can be liquefied," Kalika answered. "Depending on how responsive he is, depends on whether he eats willingly or is force," she sighed.

Beka tried not to react to her words, and simply nodded her head in understanding. "I'll be back soon."

TBC