Chapter 6

Day five

Dylan and Tyr walked around the station, so far they hadn't found any one who had seen anything; they were all 'in the bathroom'.

Commander Kalen had failed to respond to Dylan's request for security tapes.

"Do you think it a little strange that Kalen found Harper both times in that room?" Tyr asked after Dylan mentioned her lack of contact.

Dylan stopped and faced Tyr but looked around the station.

"Just because Harper wasn't allowed in, doesn't mean Kalen's not," Dylan pointed out.

"If that's true then why does no one seem to know it exists?" Tyr asked.

Dylan glanced at the door; Tyr was right; there was no one going near or even standing guard by it.

"And why didn't she call security when she found him? Why call us? Surly she knew that you would ask to punish him yourself," Tyr asked.

"It's almost like she didn't want security to know," Dylan said. "Speaking of things not wanting to be known..."

Tyr looked at Dylan feeling he was going to ask what happened to Harper's arm, so Tyr got there first.

"It was an accident," Tyr said trying to hide the hint of guilt he felt.

"So it actually happened," Dylan asked.

"I provoked him, he instinctively reacted," Tyr said looking away.

"And sliced his own arm?" Dylan said.

"I also instinctively reacted," Tyr admitted.

"So you decided that it would be alright to cut his arm open with a insanely deep cut that grazed the bone and could have cut his arm off entirely," Dylan said reasonably.

Tyr didn't answer for a moment.

"If I could go back and fix it I would but I can't, and-" Tyr began speaking before Dylan. "He never asked for an apology and never blamed me for anything, so why should you?"

Dylan sighed.

"How could you say that with him like that…?" Dylan said getting exasperated. "I mean…" he trailed off showing how worried his was without wanting too.

"He may be an annoying little man, but he survived on earth for twenty and had managed to survive since then, he can make it through this week," Tyr said.

Dylan looked at him and gave a small smile when Trance interrupted their conversation.

"Dylan?" Trance called through the comm. Link.

"Yes Trance?" Dylan answered.

"I have something to show you," she replied.

"We'll be right there," Dylan ended and lead the way to the air lock.

000

Dylan entered med deck with Tyr to see Rommie already there.

"What is it?" Dylan asked.

"When did commander Kalen tell us Harper had been shot?" Trance questioned looking up.

"Two hours ago, why?" Dylan answered.

"The entrance wound is at least five hours old," Trance said.

"Kalen could have found him three hours after the fact," Dylan suggested.

"Rommie tell him what you found," Trance said.

"When I was looking through the stations systems again for that virus, I stumbled across the security logs that showed how many times the door opened. It logged when Harper entered the first time, three hours later, Kalen found him and called us. Three hours later, Harper entered again. One hour after that Kalen went in," Rommie stated.

"What does that prove?" Tyr asked.

"That was five hours ago," Trance said.

Dylan raised his eyebrows, "exactly when Harper was shot."

"Yes, and in the three hours before she contacted us the door opened three more times," Rommie said.

"Two people in. Three out. One back in," Trance said.

Dylan looked at Trance.

"That means Kalen saw the shooter and did nothing about it or-" began Trance.

"Or she is the shooter and she doesn't care," Dylan ended.

Trance gave him a small smile.

"I'll try and get her on the communiqué," Rommie said and she left them room. Tyr gave Dylan a long glance then followed her out.

Trance just smiled again then turned her back.

Dylan looked through the glass doors into the other room where Harper occupied the med bed, he, although being unconscious, held fast to a small tattered book that it seemed to Dylan that Harper thought if he were to let go of that book he might as well let go of everything.

000

Trance watched struggling with falling hopes, despite her best efforts, no matter how slowly, his vitals were still falling.

Trance sighed something wasn't quite right with this illness, although it was deadly the way it was attacking Harper's whatever he had left immune system it was as though it was waiting for him to finish something first before it killed him.

Trance watched his face his eyes were moving beneath his eyelids as though if he were in the dream cycle of sleep. The purple girl started to think and a strange thought occurred to her.

"Trance."

Came a low voice behind her and the thought was driven from her head.

She turned to see Rev Bem standing in the doorway with a hand on the wall.

"Yes?" she asked with fiend happiness.

"Would you mind if I talked to Harper?" he questioned.

"Of course not," Trance said placing a flexi down and pushing a button on one of her machines. "I'll just be… somewhere, if you need me."

Rev Bem nodded and Trance walked past him.

Rev sat down beside Harper as he lay sleep fighting this strange unknown virus that was tearing his insides apart. Rev looked fondly at the sleeping figure before him and a slight pang of pity erupted in his stomach. Harper was so young and strong; he had survived almost 20 years on earth and since then and know he was losing a battle which he is totally outmatched. Rev hung on to the thought for a moment what had happened when Beka had first recruited him, the thing Harper would never repeat and then Beka would never say for following his lead.

Rev looked the book that was clamped tightly in Harper hands, he didn't know what that book meant to Harper but he could see it meant very much to him at least. Rev sighed he didn't know what to do for him other than pray and he had done that since Harper first fell unconscious and if there was any Divine Intervention Rev hadn't seen it yet.

"Harper," Rev said in his low growl.

Harper's eyes fluttered and Rev looked a little amazed.

Rev looked at the machines Trances had set up monitoring his life signs; there were no different then they were when he walked in.

Rev looked back disappointed then frowned confusing.

He whipped around to look again, the signs were not moving, they weren't going up, but they weren't going down either, which they had been steadily doing.

Suddenly Harper's voice echoed through the med. deck.

"NO! I WON'T! I CAN'T!"

Rev jumped as Harper yelled and he went quickly to his side.

"Harper, calm down," he talked loudly to be heard over his yelling.

I WON'T DO IT! LEAVE ME ALONE! I ALREADY LOST HER AND I CAN'T LOSE YOU TOO! THE MAGOG AND NIETZCHIANS CAN'T TAKE AWAY MY FAMILY!"

Tears started to pour from Harper's eyes as he thrashed around on the table screaming.

"Harper, please!" Rev pleaded holding down his arms so not too hurt himself, Harper squeezed the book in his right hand and continued to yell.

Rev sighed, "Andromeda, find Trance and get her up here."

Harper stopped yelling just as suddenly as he had started, but the tears still came and he started to shake uncontrollably even with the thick blanket.

000

Harper sat huddled in the corner of the tunnel he was in. His twin cousins, Cahan and Duncan, lay dead in front of him. Seamus hid his head and rocked in the corner, no matter how many times he washed his hands, he couldn't get the feeling of blood off of them. The bloody knife lay beside him menacing and innocent compared to what Seamus had done.

Harper hit the wall with his fist. Tears made his throat swelled up and he looked away. Never in his life, had he thought of what he had done that day, save for moments afterwards where he considered joining his cousins.

Kao appeared.

"You have to watch this," she said as the memory began to replay itself.

"I can't," Harper said weakly.

"If you don't watch this then you can't move on," Kao urged.

"Then I guess I'm not going anywhere," Harper said.

Kao looked worried.

"Kao, do you see what I did?" Harper asked exasperated. "I never want to relive that."

"I know," Kao replied, "but some things you don't have a choice in."

Harper turned to look at that scarring day.

Seamus walked into the tunnel where his cousins were staying, have being moved away from everyone else as they decided what to do with them as the Magog larvae grew in their stomachs.

Perhaps Duncan had heard Seamus's footsteps or merely new he was coming to see them but whatever the reason, he was standing waiting for Seamus to come to him.

"Duncan, you shouldn't be standing," Seamus said worrisome.

"I heard what Mother said," Duncan replied.

"You can possibly think that it was her idea!" Seamus blurted without thinking that the others didn't want the twins to know about that terrible conversation.

"No I don't think it was her idea," Duncan replied. "But we think it is a good idea."

"No."

"I talked with Cahan, he agreed before he fell unconscious," Duncan explained.

"That not what is going to happen," Seamus said firmly.

"You would rather keep us in pain and then have an odd dozen Magog running around?"

Seamus didn't answer.

"I didn't think so. This way works for everyone." Duncan replied.

"What are you going to do?" Seamus asked.

"I don't have the strength to put us both out of our misery," Duncan said.

Seamus watched shocked as Duncan handed him a knife.

000