Chapter 12

Harper slowly became aware, opening his eyes he knew he wasn't alone as he tried to figure out where he was. He wasn't in his own bed, and he could hear people talking nearby, but it was dark and only the flicker of lamps gave any illumination.

He then awoke with a start when he realised he was in a much larger room, and that there were close to ten people stood around a table across the room. He felt disorientated and couldn't remember where he was, or why.

'Seamus,' a voice spoke up and Harper saw Asa approaching, quickly followed by Beka.

'Where am I?'

'Inside the palace, you're safe, but Edenia is under attack, do you remember?' Asa brought him up to speed, placing his hand on Harper's chest so he wouldn't move too quickly.

'Of course,' Harper suddenly remembered the explosions after the Dragans finally disabled the shields. 'Oh man,' he rubbed his head and tried to focus, as he relaxed and lay back.

'How you feeling?' Beka then asked.

'Fine, just a bit spaced,' Harper answered and wrapped the blanket around his shoulders as he moved to sit up on the lounger he'd been placed on. 'What happened?'

'You passed out, part exhaustion, part virus flaring up and part, I suspect, exposure to Dragan warfare,' Beka brushed Harper's hair back from his face and checked the marks. 'Seems the marks are less prominent now,' she commented.

'Drink this, I think you need it,' Asa offered Harper a green bottle.

'You still drink that crap?' Beka frowned at Asa.

Asa smiled. 'It's still the best tonic and Shay looks like he needs it,' he added.

'Thanks,' Harper grinned as he took a couple of gulps from the bottle. He then grabbed his shirt from the side of the bed and put it on. 'Are we trapped in here?'

'No, you just found yourself here,' Asa answered.

'So it's ok to return home?' Harper asked, as he slowly got to his feet.

'Are you crazy?' Beka checked, as she moved closer to Harper.

Harper looked at her. 'I want to go home, I want to freshen up and I'm hungry,' he argued.

'We do have washrooms and food here,' Asa remarked before Beka could speak.

'I know, but homes home,' Harper made to move.

'It's not safe out there, Harper, there's a war going on,' Beka gestured.

'The Dragans are east side and we're not, we're at least three miles from where they are,' Harper dismissed looking over to the map on the large table. 'No offence but I want to go home to my own bed,' he then paused. 'Oh crap, we didn't get you a bed,' he stressed looking at Beka.

'So we have to stay here, you're not going home alone,' Beka stressed.

'What?' Harper narrowed his eyes. 'Why the hell not?' he questioned with some annoyance.

'Seamus, Shay, it's ok, I'll have some guards bring one of the beds from here to your house within the hour, Beka's right, no one should be alone at the moment,' Asa quickly interjected.

'Ok,' Harper reluctantly agreed. 'Sorry,' the then offered to Beka. 'I'm just not use to being told what to do.'

'No, it's ok,' Beka dismissed. 'You're right, I can't tell you what to do anymore, it's not like I'm your captain.' She looked at Asa and then to Harper. 'Look, if you don't want me staying with you I could always stay here, right?' Beka offered and Asa readily agreed.

'No, its fine, I'm sorry, of course you should come back with me, you're my guest,' Harper gestured to Beka to join him.

'Keep an eye on him,' Asa then requested of Beka as she moved to Harper's side.

'Asa,' Harper complained in a whine. 'I don't need looking after.'

'We all do, especially now, there's a war brewing outside and we don't know who's going to reach this side of the city first,' Asa warned, and then watched the two aliens leave the room, knowing it was a risk to let them leave the safety of the palace so easily. He looked over to the two guards who had remained after bringing Harper back, and Asa just nodded to them, before they quickly left the room with silent orders.

Beka paused at the door before they left the palace, and Harper stopped to look at her.

'What's wrong?' he asked.

'This feels wrong, Harper,' Beka admitted. 'We shouldn't leave this place, it's protected.'

Harper looked at her. 'I don't like it here, never have done, I just want to go home, this place gives me the creeps,' he looked around with distraction.

'It's safe here,' Beka reminded him.

'Maybe so,' Harper reluctantly agreed, but looked troubled. 'I can't explain it but I can't stay here, I just don't feel safe.'

Beka looked at Harper with curiosity. 'A gut feeling?' she questioned and just saw Harper nod his head. 'Well ok, let's get going then,' Beka agreed, and they opened the door and headed the short distance to Harper's home.

'Man, I forgot how cold it gets here at night,' Harper offered, wrapping his arms around himself.

'You're also recovering from a virus, probably feeling the cold more than you usually would,' Beka pointed out.

'I feel fine,' Harper responded, but still looked cold while Beka found it comfortable enough.

'What are the Dragan's planning?' Beka thought out loud. 'I don't like not doing anything.'

'What can we do, they've attacked already,' Harper moved to his front door and unlocked it.

'Try and stop them doing anymore damage,' Beka suggested as she followed Harper into the house.

'How the hell would we do that, we're just two people, and they have an entire army!' Harper exclaimed and quickly lit the open fire.

'You really don't remember anything of your past life, do you?' Beka sadly spoke after a moment of watching the fire take hold and illuminate the room.

Harper stopped warming his hands and let his head drop; he was crouched in front of the open fire. 'Are you trying to suggest I would normally go head first into battle with a defiant war cry?' Harper mocked. 'Forgive me, but I kinda find that hard to believe.'

'You didn't do that, but you also didn't pretend it wasn't happening, you'd do something,' Beka countered, not appreciating his attitude.

'I don't know how to fix this! I tried, ok, I really tried but I have nothing!' he yelled and then Harper paused, taking a deep breath. 'I tried, but I don't know the solution to this,' he simply finished in a calmer manner.

'I know, and I'm sorry, I wasn't implying you hadn't tried,' Beka offered moving closer to him. 'Just not use to not doing anything,' she frowned sadly.

Harper looked at her with a stern stare. 'Earlier, when those explosions had died down and I went outside I felt something,' he began with some uncertainty. 'It was strong and I couldn't stop this overwhelming sense of loss that I was feeling, I could hear people crying, there was all this despair around me and I felt something familiar about it all.'

Beka moved to his side and crouched down. 'I'd say you probably experienced very similar events on your home world, and subconsciously today reminded you of those times.'

'On Earth?' Harper questioned and saw Beka nod. 'It was bad wasn't it?'

'You could say that,' Beka agreed. 'But this isn't the time or place to discuss this, now we're here you should freshen up and then get some sleep.'

'But you don't have a bed,' Harper noted.

'I can stay up and wait for the one Asa promised, but you need to sleep this virus out of your system, its growing weaker but while it's still inside you it could cause the same results that happened today,' Beka stated and helped Harper to his feet. 'You can't afford to be sick at the moment, especially with the Dragans up to their usual dirty tricks.'

'I said I feel fine,' Harper repeated himself.

'Even so, you've had a rough day so get some rest while you still can, I'm not so sure things will settle down around here for a while,' Beka frowned.

'Beka,' Harper then spoke, and looked uneasy as he looked at her. 'I know I keep saying I feel fine, but in some ways I don't feel fine,' he stated.

'How so?' Beka asked concerned.

'I don't know,' he admitted and looked away. 'I know something isn't right, and its part the reason why I wanted to leave the palace, I can't explain but I knew I shouldn't stay there,' a flash of anger crossed his face. 'This is just so frustrating, why can't I remember anything!' he stressed, and took a deep calming breath. 'It's like I know I'm forgetting something important but its not there, even what I do remember is hazy, Beka, I can fix this but I don't know how,' he stated with despair.

'Before, when you were on Edenia, do you remember anything of being ill?' Beka chose to ask, concerned by Harper's frustration and wanting to help.

'I remember Zal and Junia fussing,' Harper considered. 'They tried to get me to stop working but I was stubborn, I just had to get something done.'

'What?' Beka asked.

'I think it was increasing security, strengthening the shield, it was like I feared or suspected this would happen, that there was a weakness,' Harper remembered. 'I knew there was a vulnerability to the defensive shield, but then I got ill, and I finally conceded that I couldn't keep working and now look what's happened,' Harper spoke with a hollow voice. 'This is my fault, I didn't complete my work and now I don't remember how.'

'Harper, I'm sure you did all you could but we suspect technology just finally caught up with Edenia tech,' Beka comforted him, putting a hand on his arm fondly.

Harper moved away, still troubled. 'Part of the reason I think I wanted to get away from the palace was because when I first woke up I had this overwhelming feeling that I'd been captured, found out,' Harper explained with confusion in his eyes. 'Just like that feeling I had when I heard those people crying for their loss, it was the same feeling, Beka,' he stressed with a trace of fear in his voice.

'It doesn't mean a thing,' Beka assured him. 'You were unconscious, confused, you woke up in a strange place, of course you would panic.'

'No,' Harper shook his head. 'This was real, I felt like I was a prisoner.'

Beka looked at the genuine fear on her friends face and she couldn't help believing his sentiments. 'Do you think you've been a prisoner in the palace before maybe?'

'Yeah,' Harper nodded his head.

Beka thought back to the previous time she'd been to Edenia and then she remembered. 'You were once,' she recalled. 'With Rhade, I remember you were both taken to the palace, and you both said you were held in compartments under the floorboards,' Beka stated.

Harper frowned. 'What?'

'Long story, but that's what you felt, it had nothing to do with the work you were doing in the past few months,' Beka enthused.

'I don't know,' Harper considered. 'It was waking up in that room, with all those people around,' he offered with a shrug. 'It felt recent.' At that moment Harper froze and almost stumbled, as Beka quickly moved to his side.

'Harper, what's wrong?'

'Nothing, nothing I'm fine,' Harper quickly recovered. 'Just, wow, I saw something, like a memory I think but it felt detached.'

'What of?' Beka asked anxiously.

'Asa,' Harper revealed. 'And I think he was torturing me,' Harper remembered.

'Asa?'

'Yeah,' Harper numbly spoke now. 'I was in that room I woke up in and I felt scared, Asa was torturing me, and I felt pain.'

Beka considered Harper's words but they didn't make sense, but she remembered Asa betraying them once before, when he tried to stop Harper reaching the control room. He'd only acted on what he'd believed in; it wasn't against Harper as such. 'Harper, are you sure it wasn't Asa trying to help you, I'm sure when you were ill you could have been delusional, you may have thought he was hurting you when he might have been just trying to make you more comfortable through your illness.'

'I guess,' Harper reluctantly admitted. 'But I know what I felt when I had that feeling earlier with the crying, and I know what I felt just then,' he looked troubled as he moved to a chair.

'Harper, how was he hurting you, do you remember?' Beka asked with care.

Harper sat forward and looked at his arm, immediately he moved his sleeve up and held his forearm, his hand brushed over the skin just below his elbow. 'I have scars,' he noticed.

Beka moved forward and as she did she hoped to find old scars, she wanted to find some way to prove Asa was innocent not wishing to believe the alternative but she saw the recent looking scars that looked like they had once been deep looking slashes across his arm. 'This is what Asa was doing?'

'Yeah, and some others,' Harper stated, his stare fixed on the scars.

'They weren't tending to them?' Beka checked.

Harper considered her question. 'I don't think so,' he admitted.

'But he could have been?' Beka offered with some hope.

'I don't know, I just saw a flash and felt pain, saw Asa and I was scared,' Harper replaced his shirt sleeve and sat back, rubbing his temples. 'I don't know what to think, I just want to remember!'

'Don't be so hard on yourself,' Beka suggested and heard a knock at the door quickly followed by a voice announcing a bed delivery. 'Go and get some rest, we'll talk more in the morning, don't worry,' Beka offered and Harper wearily got to his feet, and without warning hugged Beka goodnight before moving up the stairs as Beka went to answer the door.

The guards were efficient and quick at moving the bed inside and into one of the spare rooms upstairs. Once they were done and leaving, Beka began to relish the chance for a good nights sleep until she noticed one of the guards hanging back looking at the closed door to Harper's room.

'Problem?' Beka prompted when he didn't notice her looking at him.

'No, no,' the guard offered and quickly moved to leave, but he stopped and turned back to Beka. 'Is it true that he's lost his memory?'

'Any reason why you're asking?' Beka frowned.

The guard struggled for a moment to find an answer. 'Just curious, he plays on our Zodd team, the palace team, he's getting pretty good so I guess I'm just wondering if he remembers what he's learnt,' the guard offered.

'It's hard to tell but remembers some of the past few months or so, give or take the last week or two,' Beka informed him.

'So he would remember he plays Zodd, that's good,' the guard smiled.

'Now tell me the real reason,' Beka stepped closer, her face stern.

The guard backed away slightly, unnerved. 'That was the real reason, honest, I'm the team captain, I need to know,' he stammered.

'A war was waged in your city today and you're concerned about the Zodd team?' Beka considered. 'You really think there will be a game anytime soon?'

'Might be a distraction,' the guard flustered.

'What is your name and rank?' Beka then asked, and she saw the hesitation and quickly pulled her gun from its holster. She had finally reacquainted herself with it having felt naked without it for much of the day, after not having a chance to put it on that morning. 'I asked you a question,' Beka demanded. At that moment the door to Harper's room opened. 'Harper! Stay inside!' Beka yelled but it was too late, the would be guard ceased the opportunity and grabbed Harper in a headlock and Harper had no time to react, finding himself caught in a strong hold.

'I think enough with the questions,' the guard mocked.

'Who are you and what do you want?' Beka asked.

'None of your business, alien, and I have what I want,' the man stated with a smile and using Harper as a shield began to walk down the stairs backwards.

Beka felt helpless and was about to fire a warning shot when she saw Harper purposely push back, unsteadying the man holding him and they both fell back, tumbling down the stairs and landing in a heap at the bottom. The would-be-kidnapper took all the impact as Harper landed heavily on top of him and quickly rolled away. Beka began to descend the stairs but already the guy got to his feet and grabbed the nearest object, throwing it with force towards her, and Beka had to duck to narrowly miss being hit. She heard a crash once she'd recovered her composure and hurried down the rest of the stairs to find the man and Harper grappling in the living area, falling over the furniture and crashing into the walls as both of them tried to get the upper hand.

Beka fired her weapon and for a moment they both froze and looked at her, but Harper was too distracted to notice as the guy sent him crashing to the ground with a left hook that completely stunned him. Beka fired off another shot and she saw the intruder grunt and then fall to the ground, Harper groaned as the man landed across him.

Hurrying to his side, Beka pushed the weighty if unconscious intruder off of Harper and checked his reactions. She saw blood pouring down the side of his face from a cut to his eyelid from the left hook the guy had dealt him. 'Harper, come on, speak to me,' Beka encouraged and found Harper was semi-conscious as he scrunched up his face in pain. 'Come on, to your feet,' Beka gently moved him to a sitting position and then checked his eyes, they were unfocused and dazed. 'Stay here, don't move, just have some housekeeping to deal with,' Beka ordered as she gently lay Harper back down on his side.

She moved to the intruder's side and roughly pulled his arms back; securing them with a belt she retrieved from Harper's pants. She then found some fabric ties on the chairs Harper had and she rapidly used them to secure the intruder's feet and then put one around his mouth. Once happy that he was secured and not going anywhere, she put him in the small side room and locked the door.

Moving back to Harper's side, Beka found he was still groaning and with some effort got him to his feet before dragging him up the stairs and to his room. He was reactive enough that she could get him to take some of his own weight, but for the most part she was struggling with him until she could lay him down on his bed. 'Come on, Harper, it was just a small punch,' Beka fussed, finding a first aid kit and quickly cleaning up the wound above his eye. She put some temporary stitches across it and finally Harper began to stir.

'What happened?'

'Not exactly sure,' Beka admitted. 'Some guy posed as one of the guards, and I think he was planning to take you away someplace, it didn't look good,' Beka frowned.

'And you saved my ass?' Harper checked.

'You did some of the work as well, to save your own ass,' Beka pointed out.

'Ow,' Harper grimaced rubbing his shoulder.

'Falling down a flight of stairs would do that to a guy,' Beka frowned again.

'Seemed a good idea at the time,' Harper winced as he rolled his shoulder.

'You realise now that I won't be able to let you sleep for longer than two hours,' Beka sighed.

'Sorry,' Harper offered, wearily looking at her.

'Don't apologise, you did well,' Beka gently rubbed his good shoulder in a comforting way.

'What if more people come like him?' Harper then asked.

'Then we'll have to keep fighting them off,' Beka shrugged.

'What did he want me for?' Harper frowned.

Beka considered the question, but had no answer. 'I don't know, but I'll soon find out, he's still alive and in this house and I have some questions.'

'You seem used to this sort of thing,' Harper observed.

'Because I am, it's what I do,' Beka smiled. 'Least what I used to do, I might be a little rusty but it's been too long, I knew tagging along with you again would bring back the adventure in my life,' Beka teased now, but Harper just looked more confused. 'Just try to sleep and don't worry, I have your back.'

'Ok,' Harper settled down and his eyelids became heavy, as he began to succumb to sleep.

'I'll be waking you up every two hours as a precaution ok, so no growling when I do,' Beka warned as she got to her feet, seeing the faintest of smiles from Harper to her words but she could see he was already rapidly falling into sleep.

TBC