Chapter 6

Beka hesitated before she walked onto med deck; it had been so long since she had been on the Andromeda that she'd almost forgotten how much she hated this one place. When she saw the familiar sight of her friend on the med bed, she remembered why she hated it. Harper never seemed to be far away from the med deck and today was certainly no different.

To her surprise she saw Trance talking to Harper, and she moved a little faster to his side. Seeing his eyes were open she noticed the heavy bandage to the side of his face and head, before realising he was not responding too well.

'What's going on?' Beka asked Trance.

'Seamus woke up about twenty minutes ago, but he's not quite with us as yet,' she offered.

'What do you mean?'

'Harper took a severe blow to the head, Beka, it's going to take time for things to settle down,' Trance simply said.

'Rebecca,' Rev's voice then spoke, and she glanced over to the Magog who was stood by the console, noticing how more human in appearance he looked now as if for the first time since the reunion. 'Young Harper is simply traumatised, he is unable to respond to us because of his injuries and the shock of what happened.'

'He's ok though, right?' Beka couldn't hide her concern. 'I mean I know he was effectively shot in the head but he's awake, so that's good, right?'

'Correct,' Rev agreed but she sensed a 'but' before he spoke it. 'But the force of the impact of that shot, albeit an electrical discharge rather than a penetrating shot was still enough to cause some damage.'

'Damage?' Beka had dreaded hearing the results.

'I'm afraid some things can not be fixed,' Rev looked troubled as he moved to Harper's side.

'What do you mean?' Beka asked.

'There has been some brain damage, and we also suspect some loss of hearing in the right ear,' Rev revealed and Beka took an intake of breath, as she digested the news.

'I knew it would be serious but hearing it confirmed is still a shock,' Beka spoke with care. 'How serious is the brain damage?'

'It could have been worse,' Trance offered as she returned to Harper's side. 'We believe he'll be ok enough to still function, certainly to work, it's not so bad that he shouldn't make a decent and full recovery, it will not hinder his quality of life.'

'Well that's something,' Beka showed some relief.

'We do however suspect that the part of the brain most affected is long term memory,' Rev then stated.

'But, he needs that, he won't be able to function without that,' Beka stressed.

'He will function perfectly fine, and with his data port any information he needs to do his job will be able to be retained but it will be memories that might not be so easy to recall, unless he kept a very thorough diary. I'm afraid young Mister Harper will not be able to remember much past a month or so at a time for the rest of his life, unless he can become disciplined in making a note of everything,' Rev offered sadly. 'He's fortunate to have the data port at least, and that the area of the brain that utilises the port is intact, it will offer a means to recall information and not have to rely so much on his brain to do that.'

'Will he remember us?' Beka asked with fear.

Trance looked apprehensive. 'Its unlikely judging by the results, he might remember snippets or nothing at all, he may remember the events of the past few months if we're lucky but its likely events leading up to the injury will be hazy at best, its what often happens with brain injuries,' Trance frowned.

'We've not been a part of his life for six months,' Beka realised. 'He only found out about the reunion a day or so ago, there's every chance he wont know who we are,' she wanted to cry but kept her emotions in check, as the impact of Harper's injury hit her more.

'If you have anything that might gain Harper's trust, to show him we are friends and that he should not fear us, then it would be a good idea to gather them together,' Trance suggested. 'Rommie is compiling as much as she can on Harper's life as part of her crew, so if you have anything from the Maru that will help, it will be needed.'

Beka numbly nodded her head, and held Harper's hand noticing his other hand in a cast. 'Is everything else ok?'

'Some bruises and a couple of small fractures in his wrist, nothing too serious and should be healed completely in a couple of days,' Rev responded.

'He didn't deserve this, none of this,' Beka stressed. 'We should have just let him be,' she stated with some anger.

'Beka, what happened couldn't have been prevented, and it could have been a lot worse had Rhade not reacted to the threat in the manner he did,' Trance spoke with assurance.

Beka nodded her head. 'I know,' she stared at Harper who's eyes remained open but he wasn't focused on anything. 'How long is he going to be like this?'

'As long as it takes him to know what to do next, right this minute he's very confused, his brain isn't recovered enough, its still swollen so until that time there's very little we can do to help him,' Rev answered.

Beka frowned and took a seat beside the cot, determined not to leave Harper alone as she began a vigil by his side.

It was almost missed, but Beka realised a second or two later that Harper had moved his head. She sat up, having rested her head for a moment on the cot; she had been by his side now for nearly seven hours refusing to move.

'Harper?'

'Where am I?' Harper asked quietly.

'It doesn't matter, how are you feeling?' Beka asked getting to her feet so he could see her better.

'Not sure, kinda groggy,' Harper admitted. 'I feel like I should know you,' he then offered and Beka tried not to react, her fears realised when he was unable to recognise her.

'It's ok, you suffered a blow to the head, things are a little confused,' she smiled fondly, hoping not to alarm him too much.

'Ok,' Harper considered. 'I forget your name but I know, somehow, that I know you,' he offered.

Beka smiled at the vote of confidence, taking his good hand into hers. 'I'll look after you, Seamus, don't worry.'

'Is Harper awake?'

Beka glanced around and saw Trance walking over. 'Yeah, and he's aware,' she smiled but felt Harper's hand tense up as Trance moved into view. 'It's ok, Harper, this is Trance, she's a friend.'

'Harper?' Trance seemed a little upset to cause the reaction she did. 'It's ok, we'll make you better.'

Beka still felt tension in Harper's hold on her hand, and gently stroked the side of his head not bandaged. 'You can trust her,' she offered and felt Harper relax slightly.

'This might help clear some of the fog,' Trance pressed an injector to Harper's neck but Beka noticed the fear in his eyes as he stared at the golden alien. 'Try to sit up,' Trance then requested and Beka moved forward to assist as they gently brought Harper to a sitting position. Harper grimaced slightly as he got use to the adjustment in position; his vision wavered slightly before he focused on the area around him.

'Where am I?' Harper asked again.

'You're on the Andromeda,' Beka answered.

'Andromeda, I know that I think,' Harper responded with confusion clear in his voice.

'You used to serve on her crew,' Beka prompted.

'Yeah,' Harper seemed to agree. 'That feels right, did I lose my memory?' he then asked.

Beka smirked. 'You did, and you're smart enough to know it, nothing gets past you, Seamus Harper,' she smiled.

'How bad?' he then asked.

Trance moved to his side to answer. 'It might be tough going at first, but we think from our tests that you may only recall up to two months of your life in memories at the moment,' she answered. 'You're missing quite a bit of your past but already you've displayed instincts that suggest its all still there, just disconnected.'

'So, be a patient patient and I'll be ok?' Harper quipped.

'Shame the bad jokes didn't get disconnected,' Beka rolled her eyes.

'I need to change the dressing on your head, once that's done I would suggest you spend some time walking around the ship, see if you can't jog a few memories to get you on your way,' Trance suggested.

'I'll help you,' Beka offered to Harper. 'I know a few places that might help you to remember.'

Harper was encouraged to lay back down as Trance began to work on removing the heavy bandage from the side of his head. Beka watched and noticed that already the damage was healing, where she had feared it would scar but she also knew it would require more time before it was completely healed. Looking at her friend she also knew it went far deeper than the surface wounds they could see, as Harper seemed unnaturally nervous around Trance and she wondered where that fear was coming from. It took Trance nearly ten minutes to complete her work and clear Harper to leave, and he promptly got to his feet with Beka's help.

'Seamus, if you feel any dizziness or signs of a headache then ask Beka to take you back to your quarters to rest,' Trance ordered and walked up to Beka with a couple of injectors. 'Give him these if he has any complaints or problems.'

'Me?' Beka responded, looking at Trance with confusion.

'I think Harper would prefer you to take care of him,' Trance simply indicated and Beka caught on, realising Trance had sensed how uncomfortable Harper was around her.

'I'll make sure he's ok,' Beka assured her, and gestured to Harper to leave med deck with her.

'Is she mad at me?' Harper asked once they'd walked far enough away.

'No, just sensitive to your well being,' Beka answered and saw Harper was troubled. 'She cares about you, and that includes making sure you're ok, and if she's making you uneasy she won't push,' she added.

'I didn't mean to be like that, I can't explain, she's a stranger to me and I don't know,' Harper shrugged with confusion. 'I mean you're a stranger too, but my gut doesn't fear you.'

'Well, you and Trance have a history that maybe deep down we never appreciated affected you more than we realised,' Beka considered, remembering Harper's initial reluctance to accept the gold Trance after she changed.

'So who else is on this crew?' Harper idly asked.

'There's just five others,' Beka answered. 'Dylan Hunt, a three hundred year old relic from the Old Commonwealth, Rhade, a Nietzschean commander, Rev Bem, a Magog who has evolved, Doyle, who you actually constructed, an android and likewise for Rommie, who is also the avatar for this ship and keeping strangely quiet for her,' Beka paused awaiting some comeback but it seemed Rommie was keeping a respectful distance. 'And then Trance and I make up the motley crew.'

'If you didn't have a straight face right now I'd be telling you to stop mocking me, seriously that's the crew?' Harper asked.

'We're not exactly conventional,' Beka grinned. 'We're also no longer a crew, when you had your accident we were on a sort of reunion,' she added.

'So what I do remember, Edenia, my house and work there, is actually correct?' Harper checked and Beka nodded her head.

'We had a mission there once and you had quiet an experience, that when things disbanded on this ship, you chose to escape to Edenia, to escape some horrors you had experienced,' Beka explained.

'Which I no longer remember,' Harper frowned.

'It may only be temporary,' Beka assured him.

'It feels strange,' Harper began before he paused and stopped walking. 'I know I'm missing whole chunks of memory and data about myself but I don't feel anything towards that, I don't feel a great need to know, all I really want is to go home to what I do know,' he paused for a second. 'On Edenia, no offence,' he quickly offered, sensing he might be saying the wrong thing.

Beka didn't respond immediately, and felt sadness with his words, knowing he was missing so much from his memories but on reflection she realised for the most part it probably wasn't a bad thing with the life he had had. 'We're working on a way to get you home, Harper, its not going to be easy,' she warned. 'The guys that hurt you, we don't think they're done yet.'

'Oh,' Harper simply responded. 'Is it connected to Edenia, I know it's a fortress, a valuable outpost to whoever can claim it, and that's why it's so heavily protected, right?'

'Something like that,' Beka agreed.

'I'm the only one who completely understands that tech,' Harper remembered, seemingly glad to remember something.

'Afraid so,' Beka sighed. 'And we will return you safely to it, I promise.'

Harper half smiled but didn't respond, instead he began to walk again. 'Could you show me to my quarters?'

'Sure, are you feeling ok?' Beka asked.

'Just tired, and maybe the start of a headache coming on,' Harper answered.

'You never used to be so honest or responsible with getting some rest,' Beka half smiled. 'Always claimed we were making a fuss,' she added by way of explanation.

Harper simply smirked. 'Maybe I've forgotten my bad habits?' he suggested, and Beka began to wonder if there would be any personality change with his loss of memory, if he'd forgotten any other traits she was so used to.

TBC