Chapter 13

The touch panel deactivated and Beka sat back in the chair. For the past ninety minutes she had tried to grill the prisoner but he wasn't giving anything away. Finally she decided enough was enough and using the communications Harper had in his house, she'd called for the palace guards to come round, informing Asa of developments with the intruder. Asa had seemed shocked by the events, and asked a lot of questions that Beka had no answer for.

It was another five minutes before the small group of soldiers arrived and they quickly took the prisoner away, leaving Beka to lock up and finally make her way up to bed. She noticed the time and knew she'd have to wake Harper soon, to check he was ok, so she quietly entered his room. As her eyes adjusted to the low light she observed that he wasn't having a restful sleep, in fact he seemed distressed as he turned and tensed in his sleep. Moving to his side she reached out and tried to wake him but he only groaned and shirked away clearly troubled as he experienced some sort of nightmare in his sleep.

'Harper, come on, wake up,' Beka encouraged and decided to get more of a hold on him, becoming concerned by his state. He struggled in her hold, almost whined as he tried to free himself, still asleep and oblivious to her presence. 'Harper, it's ok, wake up, it's just a nightmare,' she stressed, and had to stay alert as he thrashed about with more strength suddenly. She got a firm hold around him, moving onto the bed, sitting behind him so she could both protect Harper from himself, and attempt to wake him up. 'Harper!' Beka spoke louder now, her arms wrapped around his chest, trying to keep him still. Suddenly he tensed and stopped moving, and she sensed he was finally awake.

'Get them off me!' Harper yelled, struggling harder to free himself.

'Harper, it's ok, I've got you, you're safe,' Beka insisted, and she was reminded of earlier times when Harper used to suffer nightmares on the Maru, shortly after leaving Earth. It had been quite a while since she'd had to do this, and she never remembered it being this hard to snap him out of his nightmares. 'Seamus, calm down,' she encouraged feeling his rapid breathing and uncertainty.

'Help me!' Harper stressed with panic.

'I'm helping you, it's safe now,' Beka soothed.

'It hurts,' Harper whined now, almost deflated as he finally realised he wasn't being attacked.

Beka gently removed her hold around him and rested against the wall behind the bed, letting Harper lean back to rest against her, his head rolled against her shoulder. 'You're safe now, Harper.'

'What were those things?' Harper wearily asked; his face caked in perspiration.

'Nothing was here, it was just a nightmare,' Beka responded calmly.

'But,' Harper's breathing quickened slightly. 'I'm bleeding, it's hurts, I feel so weak,' he murmured tiredly.

'Harper you're not bleeding,' Beka insisted, but checked the cut above his eye finding it was still sealed and healing.

'All over, they ripped me to shreds! Can't you see?' Harper protested wildly.

'Open your eyes, Harper, look at yourself, you're not bleeding, I promise,' Beka insisted and watched as Harper slowly brought his arms into view and he could clearly see he was unharmed, he then felt his bare chest and found no cuts.

'It felt so real,' he offered in shock. 'I was being attacked, they were all over me.'

Beka gently stroked his forehead, trying to calm him down and by the way he was relaxing into her hold Beka knew her actions were working. 'It was just a nightmare, a pretty vivid one but that's all it was.'

'What were those things?' Harper asked. 'They were all fur and claws, teeth and they paralysed me, I couldn't move or stop them,' his panic rose again.

Beka closed her eyes for a moment and sighed. 'Magog.'

'Wait,' Harper spoke with confusion. 'Rev Bem, on the ship, you said he was one of those.'

'He is,' Beka agreed. 'He's different; he's not a monster like the ones you saw in your nightmares.'

'I remember hearing myself curse that word, I didn't think I meant Rev,' Harper remembered. 'My nightmares felt so real, Beka, why?'

The question Beka was hoping Harper wouldn't ask. 'A few years ago you were attacked,' she simply said.

'I think I was seeing my memories of those times,' Harper offered unsure. 'I saw two different attacks, one with this big dude with dreadlocks, I think we were on that ship, and there was another place, not sure where but the Magog looked different but they attacked me the same,' Harper remembered. 'How did I escape? I mean I assume this really happened, so how did I escape?' Harper asked and Beka saw him tracing a feint scar across his chest, one she assumed was courtesy of one of his encounters with the Magog, probably the latter one just before Seefra.

'The first time they took you to their ship and Dylan rescued you,' Beka answered.

'Dylan rescued me?' Harper questioned. 'That must have been pretty brave, I mean these creatures are monsters,' he stressed.

'It was crazy, but he didn't fail and you lived to fight another day,' Beka brightened, purposely avoiding telling Harper about the eggs he also came away with.

'The other attack,' Harper then began with confusion. 'It was like the first, except for the slight appearance changes, but they disappeared, one minute they were carving me up for lunch and the next they'd gone,' he frowned. 'It was like I was suddenly falling, and then you woke me up.'

'Seefra,' Beka sighed. 'The second time Trance pulled you out of their attack using magic, took you right from the attack and placed you in another universe,' she tried to explain.

Harper just stared at her for a moment before taking a deep breath. 'I guess its one way for my memories to return,' Harper frowned. 'Though I don't think I'll get much sleep if my memories are all that bad.'

'I wish it wasn't like this,' Beka admitted, seeing how shaken and disorientated Harper was.

'Did you learn anything from that guy?' Harper then asked.

'He wasn't talking,' Beka responded. 'I called the guards to take him away.'

'Beka,' Harper then spoke, and she noticed his tone was slightly different. 'I should have said something earlier but I think I know that guy.'

'You do?' Beka asked.

'My Zodd captain,' Harper offered.

'Oh crap, he was telling the truth about that?' Beka realised with horror, but sensed Harper was holding back. 'What else?'

'What?' Harper tried to act dismissive.

'Harper, I've known you long enough to know when you have more to say,' Beka stated.

'It's nothing,' Harper shook his head.

'Harper, talk to me.'

'You said that before, 'talk to me', what is that, do I never talk to you?' Harper questioned, as if avoiding the subject.

'I say it because I do know you Harper, and I know when you want to talk but for reasons unknown choose not to,' Beka stated. 'It's a habit you developed in the months before you moved to Edenia, you suddenly became quiet and trust me, you were rarely quiet before,' Beka half smiled, but remembered her concern for her friend as he slowly drank himself to despair, and most likely death if he hadn't decided to move to Edenia.

'Why would I do that?' Harper asked, genuinely confused.

'I don't know,' Beka admitted. 'But you scared me, more than I let on during those months, I was unable to help you, and it's how you ended up here.'

'What did I do?' Harper shifted slightly so he could look at Beka.

'You turned to drink initially, but it was after one particularly bad session where I don't know what happened but you were on a binge for a couple of days before we found you worse for wear, looked like you'd been in at least two or three bar fights,' Beka remembered gravely. 'After that it was as if you'd let go, given up,' she frowned.

'Sorry,' Harper offered.

'Don't apologise, having you still here and at least motivated again is more than enough for me,' Beka squeezed him gently. 'So come on, talk to me about this guy.'

'I don't remember clear details but I used to meet with him, I don't think I particularly liked him but he got me to join his Zodd team, and we used to talk about the security of the place, and Edenia in general,' Harper half shrugged.

'He's not a guard though, or security, the guards recognise him but not as one of their own when they collected him, they said he was a known trouble maker,' Beka pointed out.

Harper took a deep breath. 'Beka, I'm starting to suspect that I might not have been involved in totally legal activities.'

'Keep talking,' Beka encouraged.

'My memories are sketchy at best but the ones I do have, it's like I'm viewing them as a different person,' Harper tried to explain. 'And the more I try to make sense of them the more I'm beginning to suspect I wasn't exactly playing onside with the law.'

'It wouldn't be the first time,' Beka tried to sound calm, but inside she began to feel a creeping dread.

'I think I remember doing stuff that at the time it was like I was trying to cover my tracks,' Harper continued. 'I remember being anxious, I was desperately trying to do something without alerting people to what I was doing.'

'Oh god, Harper,' Beka frowned as she held his head against her. 'You have to keep this information between you and me, ok? Until we can be sure, it might be that you're just confused and interpreting it wrong,' she offered.

'I know I'm missing several pieces of the jigsaw but I can't help being suspicious of my own actions, Beka, something isn't right and I think I'm pretty much involved in that something,' Harper feared.

'And if that guy is connected, then we've just handed him over to the Palace guards to be interrogated,' Beka then realised.

There was a knock on the main door downstairs and then the sound of a door opening. Beka and Harper seemed to freeze before Beka reached for her gun that was resting in its holder on her hip. 'They have a key,' Beka stated as they heard the door close.

'I can't remember where my own key is, let alone who I may have given copies to,' Harper frowned, as they heard someone coming up the stairs.

There was a light knock on the door and a voice they recognised. 'Come in, Asa, we're still awake,' Beka called out, and rested her gun on the bed, relaxing slightly.

'I'm not disturbing anything am I?' Asa asked seeing the two of them on the bed with Harper resting against Beka, looking cosy.

'No, no, just Harper having a nightmare, so I'm trying to calm him down,' Beka half smiled.

'Are you ok, Shay?' Asa asked him.

'Better now,' Harper simply said, as he sat up and away from Beka.

'I just wanted to check you were both ok after that incident earlier,' Asa motioned and moved to Harper, putting his hand to Harper's face to check the injury to his eye. 'That eye is going to be closed in the morning,' he noted, seeing it was already partially closed.

Beka watched with interest as Harper seemed completely at ease with Asa checking his injury, especially after his earlier unease in the Palace and then the fear he'd shown when he thought he saw Asa torturing him in a flashback. It occurred to her that neither Harper or Asa found this whole exchange strange, it was nearly 3am and Asa had just entered Harper's house as if it was a perfectly normal thing to do.

'We're fine,' Harper offered. 'I'm just having trouble sleeping, seems my memories are trying to entertain me.'

'Probably the blow to the head mixed with everything else fighting for attention in that head of yours,' Asa teased. 'Well you both look fine, just remember if you need anything just let me know, I have guards posted all around this area as well as the Palace, I'm hoping it will be enough to keep trouble at bay,' he stated.

'The intruder,' Beka then spoke up. 'What will happen to him?'

'We'll interrogate him, he's a regular to the palace prisons,' Asa considered. 'We'll get the reasons for his troubling you, and then probably sentence him to some time in prison.'

Beka watched as Asa left, and waiting until she heard the front door lock again before she spoke. 'Does he do that often?'

'Do what?' Harper absently asked.

'Check on you in the middle of the night?'

Harper shrugged. 'He's like the king here, it's not like I can stop him. He's come round a few times I think, woken me up if he's needed me to check something with the system and he used to send the guards round quite a bit. I think he feels responsible for me, he doesn't like people giving me any crap.'

'Harper he doesn't own you and last time I checked you were still a free man,' Beka stated.

'He's a friend Beka, closest thing I have to family here, what's the problem?' Harper dismissed. 'He's often said he sees me as a son, so he's just concerned, he's not the problem, just that palace,' he added by way of explanation.

'You said you saw him torturing you,' Beka argued lightly.

'And the more I think about it the more I think you're right, I misinterpreted it, my brain is all jumbled, I mean, Asa wouldn't hurt me,' Harper offered sincerely.

'I guess,' Beka decided to drop the subject, and then moved from behind Harper and off his bed. 'Get some more rest,' she ordered as she got to her feet. 'I'll be back in a couple of hours.'

'I'm ok, you know,' Harper offered.

'Just to be sure,' Beka spoke fondly and then sighed. 'I think tomorrow we should find Dylan and Rhade, we should find the Commonwealth camp,' she suggested.

'Why? We're safe here,' Harper answered.

'After what you've just told me I'm not sure we are,' Beka stated and couldn't help the bad feeling she had. 'Something isn't right, and I think you feel the same,' she added.

Harper settled down and brought the covers up over him again. 'You're asking me to trust you when I hardly even know you,' Harper spoke.

'Yet you admit to me that you think you might be betraying this city, that you suspect you were up to illegal activities when you also claim the man in charge of this place, the king, sees you as a son?' Beka frowned. 'You trusted me with that information, yet you can't trust my judgement on where we're safest?'

Harper didn't answer and instead closed his eyes, and Beka saw her cue to leave and find a couple of hours sleep. She couldn't help but wonder what Harper had been doing for the past six months, why Asa seemed so fatherly to him and who that guy was who tried to take him.

Beka left his room and sighed heavily, before retreating to her own room and closing the door behind her. Out of the shadows, Asa slowly moved down the stairs, having over heard there last exchange after leaving, he glanced at the door to Harper's room before slowly moving down the stairs, and leaving the house.

Beka was finally in her own bed, and she found herself remembering back to when Harper arrived at the reunion, wanting to remember some clue she may have missed, as she settled down for bed. Beka had been convinced by his declaration that everything was great and he was keeping out of trouble. The more she relayed his words from memory, the more convinced she became that he was hiding the truth, putting on a brave face and she remembered now how he was in no hurry to return.

He had definitely talked about doing a bit of travelling on the Maru with her, like old times, and making no hasty decisions to return to Edenia too soon. Why hadn't she picked up on these statements, it was clear to her now that Harper was trying to tell her something without making it obvious he was in trouble and she'd missed all the signs.

Beka tried to imagine what it must be like for Harper, the more she spent time with him, the more she became convinced that the memory loss was greater than he was letting on. He seemed to have no clear memories, not even of his time on Edenia, and she knew he was scared, lost and unsure about everything, even himself. It was an unsettling feeling to know her friend was struggling to even trust himself, and she knew she had to work harder to convince him that she was a friend, and had his best interests at heart but Harper's instincts were for his own survival and she could see those instincts in everything he was doing. With a heavy sigh, Beka closed her eyes and tried to get some sleep.

'Trance, how can I help you?' Dylan asked, seeing the golden alien at the door to his office.

'I was wondering how things were progressing on Edenia?' Trance asked.

'Rhade's men have secured a small area to the west side of the city,' Dylan explained and brought up a map of the city and began to point out the area. 'Men are advancing to these points and I think by day light we should have most of the West secured, we're concentrating on moving as many citizens as we can below ground into the tunnels to protect them from the Dragan forces, and getting supplies to them,' Dylan stressed.

Trance looked at Dylan. 'The Andromeda has a full compliment of Commonwealth staff, you should go down to the Edenia and truly get back into the field, I'm sure Rhade would appreciate the support.'

Dylan smiled knowingly. 'I'm not sure I could be of any use down there, I'm an old man now.'

'Don't be so silly, Dylan, you've only been retired for a year and your experience in battle could prove vital, you and Rommie should go down and assist, properly reform the old crew,' Trance stressed.

Dylan frowned. 'It would be good to give Rommie something else to think about, since she found Doyle incapacitated, she's been a little distracted when we could use her help.'

'How is Doyle?' Trance asked.

'It seems from first tests that she simply overloaded,' Dylan frowned. 'Seems hard to believe Harper could have built something that could have done that, but there's no other explanation for her ceasing to be, Doyle is effectively dead at the moment,' he sighed.

'It's so sad, especially as it seems now Harper wouldn't have the ability to rebuild her,' Trance offered sadly.

'Let's not dwell, I'm sure we can help Doyle just right now we have to focus on making sure Edenia doesn't fall into Dragan control,' Dylan stated.

'You should go down, lead from the front,' Trance encouraged. 'They need you.'

'The Andromeda does seem to be in good hands, Captain Roseby although not military is very capable of following orders,' Dylan agreed. 'Maybe I could be of more use down there,' he considered and seemed to brighten. 'I will talk to the council and then to Rommie, thanks Trance, I think I needed to hear it, to believe it,' he grinned.

'My pleasure,' Trance offered, as Dylan quickly left his office to return to command, and with a sly smile she blinked out of sight.

TBC