Part 24
Beka walked along the walkway of the Maru towards the cockpit and stopped on seeing Trance preparing some food. She smiled as she approached, seeing the care Trance was taking, knowing it was for Harper.
"How's the patient, has he woken yet?" Beka casually asked.
"He's still sleeping, I will be waking him soon so he can eat, you can see him if you want," Trance smiled back.
"I'm about to head out, Dylan's got a lead on the missing people so we need to check it out," Beka seemed disappointed. "I always seem to be doing other things when he wakes."
"I'm sure he'll be on his feet soon," Trance offered.
"He must have suffered some shock when he got back here, he seemed surprisingly mobile when we dug him out the rubble," Beka remembered with an air of confusion.
"He's suffering from the rash and his cough too, it was probably just adrenalin of the rescue that let him make it to the Maru before he crashed," Trance suggested thoughtfully.
Beka nodded her head. "Yeah, makes sense, but we could sure use his help to get Doyle operational again, if what he said was true that she knows where our missing people are, we're running out of time to find Kalika and the others."
"I wish I felt something, but I have nothing," Trance appeared sad.
"Just concentrate on getting Harper back on his feet," Beka requested, and heard Rhade call her name. "I better go, and tell Harper I said hi and see if you can't get him to stay awake a little longer so I can speak to him when we return."
"I'll see what I can do," Trance took the bowl of food and watched as Beka left, before slowly moving towards the crew quarters to where Harper was sleeping. Putting the bowl down next to his cot, Trance pulled out a med spray and pressed it to Harper's neck. Moments later Harper awoke with a start and stared wide eye at Trance.
"Time to eat," Trance smiled, and Harper just stared at her unsure. "Your rash is proceeding nicely," she noted seeing it had now covered his shoulder and was fast approaching his neck and face. "Do you still remember who you are?"
Harper closed his eyes, and attempted to control his breathing for a moment. "I'm Harper, but who the hell are you?"
"Feisty, you still remember enough, shame, I was hoping I wouldn't have to knock you out again," Trance frowned. "However I think its time to restrain you, your illness is making you prone to anger, right?"
"It's not the illness," Harper sneered through the grogginess of the drugs Trance had been filling him with. "You can't keep knocking me out, they'll find out," he stressed defiantly. "Just tell me where the real Trance is, what have you done to her!"
"How do you know I am not her?" Trance asked, as she moved to the side and retrieved a box of rigging equipment from a side store.
"I just know, and you wouldn't be knocking me out every five minutes if you were her," Harper returned, and he tried to back away, his back hitting the wall that his cot rested against. Harper could only watch with the fear as the fake Trance slowly approach with a length of cord in her hands.
"I am Trance," Trance responded with menace.
"A hellish freakish Trance maybe but not my Trance," Harper returned with force and then heard noise from another part of the Maru, and he guessed it was the others. "HELP!" Harper began yelling loudly, enough that they would hear.
Trance momentarily panicked, having thought the others would have left the ship by now but thinking quickly she fell to the ground just before the others came sprinting to the crew quarters.
"We must restrain him, the illness, it's bad, Beka," Trance stammered and gave the impression that Harper had been the cause of her now being on the floor.
"No!" Harper stressed, as Rhade and Dylan immediately approached. "That's not Trance! She's knocking me out, she's not Trance," he insisted manically, and started to dodge any attempts to restrain him. "Listen to me, that's not Trance!"
"The rash has spread since last night," Rhade pointed out looking at Harper.
"I'm ok, I know who I am but who the hell is she!" Harper gestured to Trance, who was now being helped to her feet by Beka.
"It's ok, Harper, you're disorientated, it's the illness not Trance," Dylan calmly spoke.
"It's not the illness," Harper began to get a sinking feeling that Trance had conned them, and he knew his appearance wasn't helping his case feeling the perspiration that covered him. Taking some calming breaths, Harper looked at Beka with care. "I'm Seamus Harper, and I know I'm forgetting things, I know the illness is taking hold but I'd never forget my Trance, and that isn't her!"
"He's delirious, Dylan, we need to restrain him for his own safety," Trance stressed now, looking worried.
"We should restrain him," Beka spoke with care. "For his own safety, Rhade, go and make Trance her favourite drink, she needs to sit down for five minutes after her shock."
"I'm not leaving," Trance refused.
"Trance, we need to get Harper comfortable for his own safety and your presence is disturbing him, please?" Beka stated.
"Go Trance, Rhade will look after you," Dylan supported and Rhade gestured to Trance to follow him, and with reluctance the golden alien left them.
Harper waited until Trance was clear of the room before lowering his voice. "Please, you have to believe me," Harper stressed.
"Why don't you think that's Trance?" Dylan asked.
"Isn't it obvious?" Harper returned and saw they both wanted more and he calmed down enough to compose an answer. "How many times have I been treated by Trance, it may have been three years since the last time but I never forgot her warmth and her special care," Harper stated seriously. "Trust me, that's not Trance, she's all wrong," he stated. "She knocked me out, I don't even know how long I've been here but she keeps knocking me out so I won't speak, she's up to something, please believe me."
Beka and Dylan simply looked at each other and with a brief nod of their heads they both took Harper by surprise and began to restrain him. Immediately Harper protested loudly, and struggled against their actions.
"That's it Harper, keep objecting and loudly but listen to me," Dylan whispered and Harper continued to struggle. "We've suspected the same about Trance, we just had no proof, we don't want her thinking we've cottoned onto her, so I'm sorry but we need to restrain you to play along," Dylan hurriedly explained as Harper caught on quickly and continued to yell out, fighting the restraints.
"Just don't hurt yourself," Beka added with concern, once she'd secured his feet to the bed frame.
"Don't leave me with her, please?" Harper momentarily panicked.
"If one of us stays now, she might suspect that we know," Dylan frowned.
"Great, you know I'm getting tired of this habit you've picked up of leaving me in dangerous situations, first Seefra, then the bar, now this," Harper sneered.
"Harper, as soon as we've found the others we will then look for Trance but we can't leave Seefra until we find Kalika, she has the only cure that can save you," Beka said with sadness.
"Don't worry about me, find Trance," Harper begged.
Beka looked sadly at Harper, and then to Dylan. "He's delirious, let's go find Kalika," she stated, and then moved past Dylan leaving the room.
"We won't be long," Dylan promised.
"Don't leave me," Harper attempted once again.
"She may not be our Trance, but she won't do anything stupid," Dylan stated quietly.
"You keep saying I'm the final piece in the puzzle for you leaving this system, you remember that system that's collapsing around us," Harper mocked with anger. "Now I know I'm slowly losing my mind again but if her intentions are bad, and she's replaced Trance, then how the hell do you figure she won't do anything stupid and involve me in that stupid plan?" he sneered.
"Rock and a hard place, Harper, we can't afford to let her know we're onto her, for Trance's sake," Dylan simply said and his expression showed what a difficult decision he was making.
Harper relaxed, conceding to his words. "I'll try to stay alive then," he simply said, looking away. "For Trance," he added quietly. "My Trance."
"We'd appreciate that effort, and I promise I will do everything in my power to ensure we all leave this system in one piece, all of us," Dylan stated.
"You've broken promises before Dylan, and at my expense," Harper returned without emotion.
"Then I owe you this one," Dylan simply responded before leaving the room.
"Eight days? I leave it in his care for eight days and," Sembler was speechless as he surveyed the site where his bar once stood.
"Come on, are you surprised?" Nat asked.
"Actually yes, this rubble used to be a building that used to be my bar!" Sembler raged, and then jumped onto the rubble to begin moving the rocks. "I need it, where is it? If its destroyed its going to put a real dent in my friendship with Harper," Sembler then fussed.
Nat rolled her eyes. "Forget that dumb picture, Semb," she stressed, and then paused. "Hey, Semb, we have company."
"Huh?" Sembler spun around and saw Dylan Hunt, Beka Valentine and Telemachus Rhade heading their way. "Crap."
"Took the words right out of my mouth," Nat frowned, knowing they had already been spotted.
"Sembler?" Rhade spoke up as they approached. "What the hell, I thought you'd done a runner!" he exclaimed as he navigated over the rocks and embraced his old pal.
"Rhade," Sembler returned as he pulled from the embrace. "What the hell happened here?"
"Harper," Rhade simply answered.
"Right," Sembler looked at Nat. "Where is the little scamp, he owes me a bar."
"You put a kludge in charge, you should expect nothing less," Rhade offered looking around.
"Why did you give the bar to Harper?" Dylan now stepped forward. "And where did you go?"
"I felt he deserved a break, but it seems others didn't," Sembler looked around at the rubble. "I went out of town, a retreat of sorts."
"What about you?" Beka asked as she moved closer to Nat.
"I met up with Sembler as he was leaving, decided to tag along," Nat shrugged. "We all need spiritual cleansing at one time or another."
"So what's going on, where's Harper and why did this happen?" Sembler asked.
"The tech police were trying to get revenge on us for what we did," Beka answered.
"No surprise they targeted my bar then, considering I hosted the celebration party for their destruction," Sembler remarked. "Is Harper ok?"
"Not exactly, and we should be heading back," Dylan gestured to Rhade and Beka. "Our tip off hasn't amounted to anything."
"Tip off?" Nat questioned.
"We heard word that we might find answers if we visited the bar again," Beka responded casually. "But all we've found is you."
"Two people who disappeared just before all this crap happened, who just gave Harper a bar, giving him a place to go when he had no where else," Rhade remarked, and his tone caught Dylan and Beka's attention.
"Hey, what are you suggesting?" Sembler smiled nervously.
"That maybe our tip off wasn't a waste of time," Rhade remarked.
"I had nothing to do with this," Sembler returned.
"He didn't, what is this?" Nat defended.
"If that's true you'll have no problems with coming back to the Maru with us, I'm sure you're worried about Harper, I mean you cared enough to give him your bar," Beka challenged.
"Sure," Sembler agreed a little flustered, and Nat nodded her head next to him.
"Or just tell us where they are, so we can get the hell off this rock and try and save this sorry planet," Rhade stated, moving beside Sembler who suddenly felt threatened by the Neitzschean.
"Where who are?" Sembler gasped.
Nat looked at the three people in turn, finishing with Rhade and then frowned. "Give it up Semb, they already know," she offered. "Didn't you say you wanted this to end, well this is our chance, let's end it."
"What do you mean?" Beka asked.
"You want the women and children? Then follow me," Nat gestured.
"Nat!" Sembler stressed.
"Sembler it's over, you've lost the bar and respect, lets at least do something right," Nat responded and began to walk.
Harper felt vulnerable in the position he'd been left, and silently struggled against his restraints. His mind felt fuzzy and his skin hot, the rash was spreading and he could almost feel the effects of the illness slowly taking hold. To add to his worries, Trance finally appeared at the door and walked towards him.
"You really thought you'd be able to convince them over me?" Trance asked bitterly.
"Had to try," Harper returned, and renewed his efforts to free himself.
"You've only succeeded in making sure they never listen to any word you speak again," Trance goaded, as she placed her hand on Harper's bare chest and immediately the human grimaced. "They need you that much is true, just as they need Trance but they are too stupid to realise how close they are to losing you both."
"So Trance is still alive?" Harper gasped with the realisation, and Trance noticeably flinched, realising her error.
"Not for much longer, you are both travelling along a path fraught with danger," Trance smiled, and it made Harper shiver, as her hand stroked his collar bone and then down over his heart and she began to press down.
It took a moment for the discomfort to register, as Harper felt the pressure begin to impede and he struggled not to react, feeling as though his heart was being squashed. He then screamed out on hearing a bone crack, and moments later the pain registered but Trance stopped and smiled. "Marika was right, you do enjoy the pain."
"What?" Harper gasped, surprised by the mention of Marika's name. "Go to hell, ah, wait you're already here," he stressed through gritted teeth, wishing the others would return already and he tried to struggle but the pain in his shoulder and chest beat him.
"You will soon be consumed by the illness," Trance confidently spoke.
"I don't think so," Harper returned suddenly, and his breathing quickened as his brain went into overdrive. "It's all in my head," he stressed.
"Madness usually is," Trance half smiled.
"No, you're telling me I'm going to be ill, I see the rash and I've believed it but I should be screaming and ranting by now," Harper realised with renewed hope. "Only the rash has come back, not the illness!"
"I figured you to be smart, I'm almost impressed," Trance stated. "Pity for you that your friends are not so smart," she added. "When they return, they won't be surprised if you're a gibbering wreck of a being." Harper tensed suddenly afraid of the look Trance was giving him. "I want to show you something, and it's going to drive you insane."
"No," Harper repeated and shook his head as her hand rested on his forehead. Harper tensed up and screamed as his conscious was suddenly flooded with images of people, men, women and children screaming and running for cover, chaos overwhelmed him and all he could see was destruction and panic and then he realised he was home, his home in Boston moments before everything exploded around him and then nothing, everything was gone and there was only silence where moments earlier screams could be heard.
Taking some shaky breaths, Harper opened his eyes on realising Trance had long since removed her hand, he stared at Trance and was consumed once more by the images he had seen.
"Welcome to your future, I hope you enjoy the ride," Trance simply spoke leaving Harper wide eyed and in shock, alone with his tortured thoughts.
TBC