Chapter 16

'Keep moving,' the guard encouraged as Harper stopped, before feeling the nudge in his back.

Harper felt agitated and looked around for something, anything that he could use to distract or delay the arrival at the control room. The tunnels seemed to be closing in around him, and he felt some anxiety close to that of suffocating. He thought about Beka, her words ran round his head but somehow he knew he had little choice, once Asa mentioned the oath it was like a trigger and he knew what he had to do, he just had no idea why he had felt it so strongly.

'Keep moving!' the guard barked again, and Harper hadn't even realised he had stopped. Ever since Asa had spoken to him about the oath he had felt different, something wasn't right and he didn't feel like he was in total control, there was something so very close in his mind that he just couldn't see, a memory, a feeling, something that was distracting his every being.

Harper suddenly felt himself being pushed up against the tunnel wall; he stared wide eyed into the face of one of the guards who held his arm across Harper's throat. It was as if his mind was working five seconds slower than his body, he wasn't feeling too great.

'You look like you're about due a pick me up, might as well get back into the routine, alien, we're pretty close and you know how it goes,' the guard stated and Harper had no choice as he was suddenly overwhelmed by the strong scent once again. It totally overpowered his senses for a moment and he felt his body suddenly relax as the guards held him up. He felt a hand holding onto his hair, keeping his head from falling forward, before slowly his vision focused and he felt more alert. With renewed energy he was pushed forward and quickly found his balance, now walking with purpose as he wiped the blood from his nose without reaction.

'What's your orders, alien?' one of the guards asked.

'Destroy everything,' Harper answered without missing a beat.

'You're wasting your time with that alien, but I guess he's not so much an alien to you, is he? More of a what, exactly?'

Beka opened her eyes and tried to figure out who had just spoken, she glanced to her right and saw the intruder from the previous night stood at the bars, in the adjacent cell.

'He's drugged, controlled, you realise that right?' the man asked. 'Surprised to see you here though, you must have really pissed Asa off, usually anyone that close to the kid is protected, part of the inner sanctum of all that is alien; it's the only explanation for that waste of space Zal.'

'Who are you?' Beka asked tiredly, not really listening to him.

'Jashen,' he revealed.

'Forgive me if I don't act pleased to see you but people who threaten my friends tend to have that effect on me,' Beka explained and returned to pretending to sleep, she then opened her eyes. 'Drugged, controlled?' she questioned sitting up.

Jashen smiled with amusement. 'Wondered if you caught that.'

Beka got to her feet and moved to the bars. 'Keep talking.'

'I would, but this place is more bugged than,' Jashen considered it for a moment. 'Never mind, the walls just have ears and you know; I'm not in a good position here at the moment.'

'Wimp,' Beka dismissed and moved away again.

'So what did you do?' Jashen asked.

'To be honest, I don't know,' Beka admitted. 'Tried to help,' she offered.

'Asa isn't big on help, he's more of a control freak,' Jashen frowned. 'Doesn't trust anyone since that bitch of a wife made a fool of him a few years back.'

'I remember that,' Beka thought back to her previous time on Edenia when Ezra, Asa's ex-wife, had cheated on him.

'I remember you from before,' Jashen then smiled. 'I was one of Asa's followers back then, and I saw that magic he did just before you guys left; I believed that magic but then Seamus Harper returned.'

'What's Harper got to do with it?' Beka idly asked, trying not to sound interested.

'Six months ago I was put on a special assignment by Asa, I worked in his security forces, I used to spy on those who needed an eye kept on them,' Jashen looked around. 'It's why I know this place is bugged,' Jashen purposely waved to the wall and Beka guessed it contained a hidden camera. 'That assignment was to keep an eye on Harper.'

'What did Harper do to need that sort of monitoring?' Beka asked.

'He showed up,' Jashen simply said.

'You mean from day one?' Beka checked.

'Practically from the first hour,' Jashen frowned, and then looked towards the wall again. 'You know I'd love to say more, but I don't think the guys are smart enough to keep up, so maybe I should let them rest before I start the next chapter,' Jashen sneered.

'Just tell me one thing,' Beka asked her voice low. 'Asa?'

Jashen looked Beka in eye and the slightest of movements confirmed to her, his head moving just a fraction from side to side, that Asa was not a man to trust. She took a deep breath, not totally prepared to believe a guy she had hours earlier called the guards on, but she was willing to bet that there was a lot more she needed to find out. The last six months, it seemed even clearer now, had been anything but trouble free for Harper.

Harper used the palm of his hand to rub his forehead, it wasn't exactly a head ache but he needed to focus and was having trouble doing so.

'Just destroy the thing so we can get out of here, alien,' the guard ordered, growing tired of waiting.

'I can't just destroy it, I have to think of how to best disable it, so no one else can rebuild it, and it takes time,' Harper sneered, continuing to work as he spoke.

'Well hurry up, Asa doesn't want any delays,' the guard insisted and Harper sensed the guard was under some pressure to make sure he did as Asa wanted. Harper frowned, his head was a little fuzzy but he was beginning to remember moments like these previously, when he'd suddenly become aware of being in places he had no recollection of being in before. He knew he was being drugged, and it wasn't the first time. Harper was starting to remember more things now, and during the last few minutes his brain had triggered a load of old memories from the past six months, but he couldn't remember how it started or why. With frustration Harper hit out at the machine in front of him and rolled his shoulders, wanting his mind to be cleared of the confusion and haze.

'Hey, quit messing about, and do your work, alien,' the guard ordered loudly.

'I'm trying ok, but for some reason I can't think too straight at the moment,' Harper sneered, and took his pad. 'Maybe if you quit hitting me with that shit, I might work faster?'

'Asa gave me orders, ok?'

'Well tell Asa it doesn't help, I need what I still have of my mind to think, and drugging it up doesn't exactly help,' Harper snapped, as he continued to work, his mind rapidly clearing of the haze as he was finally able to focus.

The guards remained silent, letting him get to work before Harper stopped and realised what he was doing and he froze with the realisation. He was almost working on automatic, he didn't want to destroy the control room but there he was actively and very automatically preparing to destroy it. What had got into him he frantically thought, he wasn't in control he realised and stepped away from the controls.

'Hey, alien,' the guard immediately moved towards him. 'Back to work, what's got into you?'

'I can't do this,' Harper stressed, slightly panicked.

'Oh I don't think you have a choice, alien,' the guard sneered, and shoved Harper back towards the controls. Harper braced himself; leaning on the controls he took some steady breaths. 'Work!' the guard yelled, and moved behind him. 'Or I'll use this,' he stated waving his weapon.

'Yeah, that's a good plan,' Harper mocked. 'You do remember I'm the only one who knows how to do this stuff, right?'

Harper felt his hair being grabbed as he was with force turned around and pushed back against the controls, the guard going nose to nose. 'Don't get above yourself, alien, we still have this,' he waved the container holding the strong smelling substance. 'Makes you do what we want, remember?'

Harper stared at the liquid as it moved about in the container and he slowly conceded that maybe he didn't have the advantage.

'Now, do as ordered,' the guard reasoned and let go of Harper's hair. 'Anymore stoppages and you get another dose, understand?'

Straightening up, Harper rolled his shoulders and then looked at the controls again. He felt a huge sense of wanting to destroy the controls, even though he had the desire not to, and the conflicting thoughts were giving him a headache. Slowly he let the strength of suggestion take over as he saw himself begin to activate the necessary commands to self destruct the console, which would ultimately make the unit unusable.

This wasn't right, and Harper began to fight the impulses again, unable to stop himself he was suddenly aware of a bright light and then a couple of grunts, before he found the strength to turn around and showed his surprise.

'Trance,' Harper spoke, and saw the guards had been incapacitated. He semi collapsed against the controls, weakened by the drug as his body finally buckled under the strain.

'Harper, please, reactivate the shield,' Trance calmly requested.

'I can't,' Harper gasped, and felt Trance help him back up and support some of his weight. 'I don't remember the language.'

'Stop trying, it'll come back,' Trance softly spoke.

Perspiration caked Harper now as his body attempted to recover some of its strength, he felt the warm touch of Trance's hand on his back and it energised him as he felt some control return. 'You're not Trance, are you?'

'I've never been able to fool you,' Trance remarked. 'It's the second time in as many months you've worked it out.'

'I don't remember the first time,' Harper spoke as he tried to relax, willing the characters to make sense on the screen.

Trance's hand moved up his back and gently massaged the back of his neck. 'I can't fix everything, Seamus, but I'll do what I can for you,' she offered.

Harper glanced at her, and partly returned the smile. 'What do I call you, if you're not Trance?'

'I'm still Trance,' she offered.

'Doesn't that get confusing?' he idly asked, and found himself beginning to program the sequence into the controls, enjoying her touch and no longer fearing the golden alien.

'Only when we exist in the same time, we just try not to,' Trance offered.

'The Trance they remember, where is she?'

'She's someplace,' Trance simply responded.

'They miss her,' Harper continued to work, picking up the pace and letting his instincts and experience lead the way. 'You're not like their Trance; you're not exactly fighting on the right side.'

'Didn't bother you before,' Trance secretly smiled.

Harper paused, before turning to Trance. 'You're taking advantage of me.'

'You wish,' Trance coyly smiled.

'Stop mocking me,' Harper yelled with frustration, and moved away from the controls, finding with relief that he had full control of his actions. 'Tell me what's going on, tell me everything! Why the hell do you want me to raise the shields again?'

Trance calmly walked up to Harper and put her hand on his chest, staring directly into his eyes and he visibly calmed down. 'Raise the shields,' she simply said.

'Why?' Harper asked.

'You know why,' Trance stated. 'It's what you want, remember?'

Harper looked away with frustration. 'That's not an answer; I need to know why you want the shield raised.'

'In five minutes the guards will wake up, I'm not sure you should be here for that, now whether you've raised the shields or not in that time be sure of one thing, you won't be allowed near these controls of your own free will again for a long while, if ever,' Trance stated very precisely and with an edge to her voice. 'You have a choice, Seamus Harper, do you raise the shields or do you not? How can you best serve Edenia?'

Harper glanced at the controls and then at the unconscious guards, estimating if he did anything he had to act now so he could give himself the chance to escape once he was done.

'I know you will make the smart decision,' Trance half smiled and then reached forward and kissed him, taking Harper by surprise before she backed off and then in the blink of an eye disappeared.

Stunned momentarily, Harper gathered his senses and moved to the controls. Pausing for a second he made his decision, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath he knew he had to believe in himself.

Rhade glanced over to the central command position; the building housed all their operations and served as the strong hold for their army. He could see Dylan Hunt issuing orders and he half smiled, knowing many others in his position would feel threatened but Rhade knew they needed all the help they could get for this war.

Moving over to his former captain, Rhade grinned. 'You're enjoying this a little too much,' he commented.

'Me?' Dylan acted surprised. 'Just doing what I can to help.'

'Getting us more men would be great about now,' Rhade remarked.

'We have three more units on their way, should be here by nightfall,' Dylan stated. 'That should give us a bit more backbone,' he offered.

'That's something, we're seriously outnumbered, and we need to gain more ground before the Dragans start moving,' Rhade stressed.

'I'm planning to return to the Andromeda to make our case to the council to supply more forces here, especially air support,' Dylan looked upwards and as he did so a suddenly eruption of power seemed to light up the air. 'What the hell?'

'The shield,' Rhade figured immediately. 'I thought the defences had been destroyed by the Dragans,' he frowned, and then glanced around.

'Sir!' a young man came running towards Rhade. 'Reports are saying the shield is back, it's all around the city, and we're cut off from the outside!'

Rhade glanced at Dylan who looked equally bemused, as the news sunk in. 'It has to be Harper,' Dylan remarked finally. 'He's trapped us all inside this city.'

'We have enough supplies for maybe two weeks, but we also have a pretty strong Dragan army in here with us,' Rhade stressed. 'We need to get word out, we need that shield back down, and we need to find that pain in the ass Harper!' Rhade fumed and turned on his heels to begin issuing new orders.

Dylan could only slyly smile as he looked upwards. 'I hope you were of sound mind when you activated the shield, Mr Harper, you better know what you're doing,' he simply said.

TBC