Chapter 17

Asa hurried through the corridors and entered the main meeting room to find all his senior staff gathered around the grand table. They poured over the map marked with their latest intelligence, looking up at Asa as he approached.

'Is it true?' Asa asked hurriedly.

'The shield is back and it's as strong as it always has been, our hope has been restored,' one of the men commented, a smile creeping across his face.

'Don't speak to soon about hope,' Asa gravely warned. 'As much as no more of the monsters can come in, we also have it that none of those monsters can leave,' he spun around. 'Guards, bring me Seamus Harper now! I want him here by any means before nightfall, understand!' he yelled with sudden anger.

The room fell silent as Asa's orders were immediately acted on, with guards leaving the room. Asa slowly calmed his breathing and walked to the window, the earlier sounds of conflict had ceased for a moment, and he knew there was confusion all around about developments. The Drago Kasov had obviously assumed they had destroyed the shield, yet somehow Harper had reactivated it and returned it to full power. Asa closed his eyes, knowing the Dragans would now destroy his beautiful city, with no where else to go they wouldn't stop until they had found a way to destroy that shield, but a smaller part of him feared for his alien friend, knowing Harper had just made himself an even bigger target.

Harper pressed himself tightly against the stone wall, hearing the footfall echos of a Dragan squadron against the stone streets scurry past. He knew they'd be looking for him and Harper was doing his best to avoid the open streets, keeping to the shadows and side lanes. He needed to get to the west of the city, knowing the Commonwealth were there, deciding to take the chance to trust them and believe they could fight the other side in this war.

He was terrified as he tried to calm his breathing, and tried to work on instinct alone as he continued to move at pace along the streets. He had vague memories of good shortcuts and routes to take but he still wished his memories were firmer. One small mercy was that he felt clear headed finally, after being hit with a double dose of whatever those guards were making him inhale. Harper still felt confused however, Asa was his friend and he trusted him but then there was the whole issue with the drugs, he was obviously addicted in some way but it didn't seem like he craved the drug, just responded to it or maybe he just didn't realise he had the craving, nothing made sense lately.

Harper took a deep breath as he paused again, always listening to any noise around him. A woman's scream caught his attention, and almost ran through him with an icy chill, there was more shouting, and it sounded like three or four males but the woman's cry for help was so desperate that Harper couldn't keep hiding. Slowly he moved forward, unable to ignore her pleas any longer and peered around a corner to see a legion of Nietzschean soldiers were rounding up a few of the residents, but had taken a particular interest in one of the women, singling her out as they secured her to a timber frame.

'Tell us what you know, lady!' the Dragan soldier then demanded.

'I know nothing,' the woman pleaded.

'You expect me to believe that?'

'I don't know, we're never told anything, we just live and raise our family, we don't get involved in the running of the city, please, don't hurt me,' she begged.

'Anyone out there,' the guard then turned to the gathered people, all looking every bit as terrified as the next person, all cowering under the presence of the Dragan soldiers as they lorded over them. 'Anyone who might know anything about how the shields were raised, speak now or watch your friend suffer!'

'The alien did it!' a voice cried out, followed by murmurs of agreement and Harper leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes.

'Who knows where I might find this alien? Don't try and hide him, I have ten more of our forces across the eastern part of the city doing the exact same exercise, so it's really pointless trying to protect him!' the guard announced with pleasure.

'We wouldn't try and hide that scum, he lives around the Palace, go and find that traitor there!' a voice defiantly called out.

Harper moved quickly, as much as he wanted to put that woman out of her misery he couldn't give himself up so easily, not when he felt he still had something to offer, and with no support from the locals. With some speed now he moved swiftly, hearing the Dragan soldiers around every corner, they were tormenting the people of Edenia and it was in a single quest to find him, Harper knew he had to get off the street soon, it was getting too dangerous.

After nearly twenty minutes of moving through the shadows, and down the side passages avoiding all contact with anyone, Harper was met with a barricade that separated him from the rest of the city. He paused and kept out of sight before seeing some drying clothes and more importantly a cloak. With haste he took the cloak and even though it was still slightly damp he wrapped it around himself and put the hood up. Moving away from the barricade, Harper scanned the area for an opportunity and wished he had Trance's ability to teleport as he saw no openings in the crudely constructed wall that now separated the East of the city from the rest of Edenia. It wasn't a large construction, the buildings were all linked and close together, so the Nietzscheans only had to ensure the walkways to the rest of the city were blocked but finally Harper saw an opportunity, where a building with a balcony was pretty close to a building outside the zone, and Harper was confident he could make up the space between by either jumping or climbing.

Harper listened at the door and didn't hear anyone inside, so with a quick glance in both directions he kicked the door open and entered. The building was in darkness and Harper easily moved up the stairs and found the front facing room with the view. He stepped onto the balcony, making sure to keep out of sight of the soldiers and surveyed the distance between both buildings. It wasn't far and Harper surmised that it was a blind spot in the enemy lines that he had to exploit. With care he climbed up onto the stone wall that surrounding the balcony and immediately heard shouting from below, some soldier had got lucky and had spotted him by chance and it drove Harper on to jump. He pushed off the wall with everything he had, he felt the air around him and then with as much determination as he could summon he reached out to grab the other side. Harper barely made the space between the two buildings but he got enough to cling desperately to the other balcony wall. He caught his breath for a moment as his feet dangled over the street and the safe side of the barricade below, before hearing the soldiers enter the building he had just jumped from and he scrambled up, using all the strength he had in his upper body to pull himself up. As the shouts grew nearer, Harper fell onto the opposite balcony and then pushed himself up to his feet ignoring the pain of his muscles as he ran, barely missing being hit by gunfire, as the soldiers all reached the balcony opposite.

Knowing the soldiers wouldn't follow; Harper still ran and bolted out of the building into a quiet street. He looked back wide eyed at the other side of the barricade and finally allowed himself to breath, as he began to walk with pace once again, taking care to ensure his cloak was wrapped around him and the hood was up. He knew Asa would not be happy, so now he was avoiding the palace guards, having got past the soldiers of the Drago Kasov.

He noticed in the distance the dominating presence of the palace and he saw people were gathered. Curiosity got the better of him as he changed direction from heading west to see what was happening. It took him a good few minutes to finally reach the square and when he did he froze, seeing Beka on the platform with some palace guards for company. Harper pushed forward, eager to find out what was happening and then heard a guard speak.

'So, as punishment for Seamus Harper who is yet to be caught,' the guard announced mid-sentence. 'His cohort, Beka Valentine, will take the punishment for the city.' The crowd jeered Beka as she was marched forward.

Harper flinched suddenly; his memory flashed an image as the feeling of something familiar rushed over him. He remembered something similar, he saw himself on the platform, and he saw Beka, Rhade and Dylan and his excitement at finally seeing a memory containing these people was quickly over ridden when he saw Beka being attached to the device.

'No,' Harper whispered with fear and pushed himself further forward, the cloak still disguising his appearance. Frantically he pushed forward, with no idea of his intentions but he knew he had to stop what was about to happen to his friend. But what could he do? At that moment he was in the thick of a rowdy mob who would tear him limb from limb the second he made it known who he was, he panicked, but still drove forward, intending to approach the platform and then once out of the crowd he would reveal his identity.

The crowd began to cheer with expectation and Harper was finding it harder to push through as he got closer to the front, bodies surrounded him, packed in and all jostling for the best positions near the front. People were starting to get annoyed with him, shoving him away and blocking his progress. Harper used his lithe and small frame to find the gaps, and finally after a lot of effort, he made it to the front, only to hear the first of Beka's screams as they struck her secured body. Harper felt every bit of the strike as if it had been him who had been hit, and he realised without thinking too much that he knew all too well what it felt like to be on the receiving end without remembering why.

Harper knew he had to stop this and suddenly jumped up, as he did so he yelled for them to stop drawing attention to himself; while placing his foot on the top of the barrier that separated the crowd from the showpiece. The moment he did this, he found a masked hooded and heavily cloaked guy immediately pull him from the crowd with aggression, clearly not happy at what he saw as an attempt to disrupt proceedings and with a heavy hand clamped over Harper's mouth; he was literally carried away. Harper hit, kicked and bit the giant carrying him, as he desperately tried to free himself of the hold, finding he was slung over one shoulder, but he needed to stop them hurting Beka and he wasn't going to let this oath stop him. Suddenly the oath stopped and turned Harper around abruptly, placing him in an upright position and straightening him up, but still with the hand over his mouth as Harper was shoved around until his back was to the oath.

'Look,' a voice spoke and Harper instinctively looked to where the oath pointed.

Harper wanted to keep fighting the man but when he focused he saw a swarm of men taking on the palace guards, and he saw Beka was being untied, she was being rescued. The crowds in fear were rapidly dispersing and mayhem ensured. Harper felt himself being grabbed and lifted once again by the oath, a hand still clamped tightly over his mouth, but this time Harper didn't struggle as he tried to work out what was going on, before he looked at the figure that had grabbed him, seeing they had removed their mask and hood, recognising Rhade.

Harper bit down hard on the hand covering his mouth and heard Rhade exclaim and let go of him, pushing him down to the ground in the angered reaction.

'You stupid little ass, I'm saving your life, you ungrateful,' Rhade cursed and then paused as he examined the bite wound on his hand.

'I can walk myself,' Harper simply picked himself up and adjusted his cloak, and began to walk.

'Not without me,' Rhade grabbed Harper's shoulder roughly and ensured Harper was in step with him. 'You have such a way with people, you know that?'

'How did you know I'd be there?' Harper idly asked.

'Once we figured Beka was in trouble, we second guessed that you might show up if you could, it's something of a certainty with you, and seeing as it was your fault she was there at all,' Rhade remarked testily. 'I had men infiltrate the crowd control the palace hired, I got lucky you chose my area to jump the fence,' he answered but noticed the lack of comment from Harper, but with the hood covering his face it was hard to tell what Harper reaction was. 'You're quiet,' Rhade then offered.

'Am I your prisoner, did you win the catch the Harper contest?' Harper asked with some spite in his voice.

'More walking, less talking,' Rhade encouraged Harper to walk faster as they made their way back to the Commonwealth camp, they had ventured too close to the palace today and he wanted to be back on safe and secured territory before he began talking to Harper.

'I don't know who to trust, I don't even trust myself,' Harper stated, as he kept pace with Rhade.

Rhade looked upwards; they were only a couple of streets away from the barricade of the commonwealth zone. 'Just keep walking, and then we'll talk.'

'Halt!'

Rhade instinctively grabbed Harper and made sure he was close to him and that he was still hidden by the cloak, as the palace guards stood their ground.

'They're not soldiers, they just open doors,' Harper hissed. 'They might have weapons but they're not trained for battle.'

'We know,' Rhade hissed back. 'In answer to your question, right now you're our prisoner, do your role and do it well,' Rhade stressed and roughly grabbed Harper, causing the human to struggle on instinct. Around Rhade a cluster of his men revealed their guns, and the palace guards hesitated.

'We don't mean you any harm, our war is with the others,' Rhade announced loudly.

'Who have your captured and why?' the guard asked, standing his ground.

Harper felt Rhade hesitate and remained unmoving. 'It's of no interest to you,' Rhade returned.

'Remove the hood, let us see their face,' the guard persisted.

Rhade didn't respond, and instead got a firmer grip on Harper, moving a hand around his throat to ensure Harper didn't move. Harper tensed, he didn't want to be revealed and he played the part of prisoner as well as he could, which considering that's how he was being treated by Rhade, wasn't too difficult.

'Move aside, don't make war where we could form an allegiance,' Rhade reasoned.

There was a low rumbling of voices and Rhade glanced over, recognising the arrival of Asa to proceedings, flanked by more men.

'You have Seamus Harper,' Asa guessed. 'Let me see him, if that's not Seamus Harper then I'd like to know who this person is and why you infiltrated my security to take the opportunity, and I further commend you for your strike, you have shown us we have a lot to learn.'

Harper felt the rough removal of his hood, and he stared at Asa before looking away, seeing anger in the old man's eyes.

'Harper is our prisoner now, even with your men we outnumber you,' Rhade declared. 'And we have what you want, let us go now and we might negotiate a deal.'

'I am willing to listen to a deal, but we find ourselves in an impossible position thanks to that man,' Asa directed at Harper. 'We know you are good people, we know Harper controls our hope, and we would be foolish to disregard that.'

'Are you proposing an allegiance?' Rhade questioned.

'Let's save us all some time and I'll simply say yes, we wish to join you, and we will follow your lead,' Asa stated. 'I want Harper secured in the palace where he can be best protected, I'm sure you can appreciate that we can't let him fall into enemy hands.'

'We keep Harper with us, until things are secured,' Rhade stated and Harper shifted uncomfortably, not appreciating being treated like some piece of property.

'Very well,' Asa conceded a little too easily for Rhade's liking, and he remained alert, as Asa continued. 'You will move your barricades to include the palace and surrounding streets, and we will relinquish all military control to you, effectively given you the western region,' Asa declared.

'You submit easily,' Rhade remarked.

'We have no army, as you well know,' Asa stated. 'And with the shields now raised we have to do what we can to protect our survival, and most of my people have moved to the west from the east during the night,' Asa informed them. 'We feel you were more open to negotiations and your people, Beka and Seamus Harper, have encouraged me at length to consider an allegiance,' Asa confirmed. 'Don't let it be said that I don't listen to reason.'

'Very well, my men will move out and secure as much of the city as we can at this time, with the aim being to secure the west, but for now Harper stays with us in our strong hold until such a time we are in a position to do otherwise,' Rhade decided.

'Shay,' Asa then spoke up with familiarity and fondness, and Harper glanced at him unsure. 'I want you to know that I understand why you did what you did, I'm not angry,' Asa simply said before moving away.

'What was all that about?' Rhade asked as he began to roughly move Harper along, all too aware of possible tricks, he wasn't so stupid as to trust Asa completely.

'Damned if I know,' Harper answered, still feeling Rhade's hold around his neck albeit not so tightly now. 'I disobeyed him, usually he's not so understanding.'

'How so, has he punished you before?' Rhade asked by way of conversation.

'Yeah,' Harper simply said not offering any more.

They remained walking in silence until they reached a small previously disused building that had been converted by the commonwealth into a secure holding facility. Rhade opened a hatch once they were inside and led Harper down the stairs before pushing him into a small holding cell in the basement, the only one.

'You'll be safe here for now,' Rhade stated. 'We have this building occupied at all times and there's only one way in, one way out,' Rhade gestured as he tested the bars to the cell.

'So I am a prisoner,' Harper figured.

'For your own safety,' Rhade repeated, and then took hold of Harper's chin. 'Who gave you the black eye?'

Harper appeared tired and reluctant to talk but finally sighed when Rhade didn't get the hint. 'Well technically it was this guy who I can't remember the name of, he captains my Zodd team, but then Trance took a swing at me too, I think she made it look worse than it feels.'

'Trance?' Rhade questioned, checking he heard right.

'Not your Trance, the other one,' Harper said, with Rhade keeping a tight grip on his face, still examining the damage.

'Other one?' Rhade asked confused.

Harper took a deep breath and finally shoved Rhade's hold off him. 'The Trance who was on Andromeda when I woke up wasn't Trance, at least that's what I'm guessing anyway, and that none of you noticed,' Harper said as he sat down on the bunk. 'Though my memory isn't what it was, and I don't know what I'm saying half the time, it's all nonsense to me,' he frowned, as he lay down and put his hands behind his head.

'One of her doubles?' Rhade said with annoyance. 'I can't believe we were fooled again,' he hissed with anger.

'She wanted me to raise the shield, I refused, so she tried to force me,' Harper remembered.

'But you raised them anyway,' Rhade reminded him.

'Didn't have much choice, Asa was trying to force me to destroy the entire system, and I couldn't do that, it's all Edenia has as a defence,' Harper reasoned.

'Asa was trying to force you?' Rhade seemed as lost as Harper had recently been in trying to work out what was going on.

'He's the boss around here,' Harper shrugged.

'But you defied him?'

'For the greater good,' Harper answered with little conviction.

'And you gave other Trance exactly what she wanted, which is?' Rhade tried to prompt him.

'She never said why,' Harper offered.

'Where is she now?'

'She left, she needed to teleport out before the shields were raised so she didn't get trapped in Edenia I guess,' Harper shrugged.

'So she's out there, and we're all in here,' Rhade suddenly began to think about things. 'She told Dylan and Rommie they should come down to the front line, she particularly told Dylan to come down here, encouraged him.'

'Sounds like she wanted him trapped in Edenia,' Harper offered.

'All the commonwealths best men are down here, and I'm guessing the Dragans have pretty much their best fighters down here too, we're all trapped inside this freaking shield with no means of communicating with the outside universe,' Rhade fumed as he began to realise the bigger picture.

'What does that mean?' Harper idly asked, feeling tiredness creeping up on him, and his energy waning.

'That the two of the main superpowers in this universe are effectively trapped, caught and out of action,' Rhade feared. 'You have to take the shields down.'

'I can't do that,' Harper shook his head, and felt Rhade suddenly grab his shirt, roughly pulling him up and pushing him against the holding cell wall.

'This is no longer about Edenia, Harper, it's bigger than that, this is about the universe!' Rhade stressed angrily. 'You will release us! You have to disable the shields!'

'The control room is in Dragan territory but they don't know it,' Harper said, while trying to struggle against Rhade's hold. 'Its underground and you know, it's not the easiest place to find, and the only people who can find it via those tunnels are Asa's men,' he frowned. 'I might have worked there for however long but I was never allowed to know how to get there, I always needed an escort and they did stuff to make sure I forgot the way,' Harper explained with an edge to his voice.

'But we've been there before, we have plans, we remember,' Rhade countered.

'They changed security after the original means of reaching the room were destroyed,' Harper frowned.

'The building that used to hide the control bunker underneath it was destroyed when I was last here, I thought the city layout was different in that area in the plans, smaller buildings are located around there now and its hard to know which one exactly sits on top of the bunker, I guess they changed the access tunnels beneath the city as well during reconstruction,' Rhade reasoned and sighed.

'Oh and Asa might act like he likes me, but I really think it is just an act to keep me sweet so I don't take over the city, because technically I could having the access to the controls that I do,' Harper shrugged. 'Just not interested, and I'd have to give my whole self to the system to be any kind of threat to Asa, he just doesn't get that, it's too technical for him to appreciate,' Harper stressed.

'So now you've raised the shields, and gone against Asa's orders?' Rhade prompted.

'I think they'll kill me first opportunity they get,' Harper answered truthfully. 'I signed a contract to Asa swearing my allegiance and I broke that by reinstating the shield against direct orders, I'm as good as dead,' Harper closed his eyes. 'I've made myself a threat.'

'Asa will not get the opportunity to kill you,' Rhade assured him and let him go. 'Can't make any promises about me however if you don't at least consider helping us.'

Harper remained by the wall and let his head fall back against it, tiredness mixed with fear overwhelmed him for a moment and he felt weak, as the days events caught up with him, adrenalin suddenly ran out, before Harper felt light headed. The room began to spin, and Harper leaned into the wall to try and focus and steady himself, he heard Rhade speaking and felt his weight being taken, and Rhade helping him to the bunk, before being laid down. He was shaking, and felt suddenly hot as his breathing became rapid, his eyes stung as he closed them tight.

After a few minutes the initial rush died down and Harper found awareness returning, what had been confused noise slowly became understood words as Rhade's voice finally made sense.

'Come on, Harper speak to me, you're scaring me here,' Rhade spoke, as if not expecting an answer. Harper opened his eyes and saw Rhade glancing with urgency to the door, before looking back and seeing Harper was awake. 'Harper? Can you hear me?'

'Yeah,' Harper whispered.

'What the hell just happened?' Rhade asked with concern.

'I don't know,' Harper spoke with his own confusion clear, hugging himself, as he felt the after effects of the attack, then he felt a strange sensation in his nose and saw Rhade freeze for a moment.

'No, no way,' Rhade began shaking his head. 'I don't believe this.' The warm liquid felt strange to Harper, as it suddenly began to flow down his nose and onto the bunk. 'I just gave you a quick dose of smelling salts, not enough to cause this again, Harper, not unless,' he paused, and didn't say anymore.

Harper felt a cloth being placed against his nose and his head being moved forward. 'Not unless what?' Harper asked.

'Last time we were here we came across addicts, and we were told that those with long exposure to the bantra drug got nose bleeds like this,' Rhade explained as he fussed over Harper. 'You also got bleeds but it wasn't because of the bantra plant, you had a past addiction that just made you vulnerable but only after a few lengthy exposures, which now begs the question, why is your nose bleeding now?'

'Asa,' Harper mumbled, his energy levels low. 'His guards keep giving me this stuff, they call it pick me ups, this strong smelling stuff,' Harper remembered the overwhelming qualities and suddenly felt a need for another dose, needing some energy from somewhere. 'Their way of making sure I'm distracted enough not to remember how to get to the control room unaided, they must have really feared me,' he smirked ironically, and then began to cough as his body seized up again before he just stopped, the need growing stronger inside.

'Harper, Harper, snap out of it,' Rhade suddenly clicked his fingers and Harper realised he had become distracted by the thought of the drug, and he froze slightly.

'What just happened?' Harper hesitantly asked.

'You zoned,' Rhade answered. 'Your eyes just glazed and it was weird,' he admitted. 'What the hell has happened to you on this damn planet, Harper,' Rhade then spoke with some concern as the truth dawned on him. 'There is no way, even at your lowest, you would have voluntarily become an addict, I can't believe that for a second.'

'I don't' know for sure, I just know I remember being hit with the stuff twice while at the control room last,' Harper groggily spoke, as he was laid back down. 'Did Asa know about my weakness for the drug?'

'Yeah,' Rhade nodded his head. 'It was his ex-wife who tried to convince us you were an addict before,' he remembered sadly.

'I don't think what those ubers did to me is the only reason things are hazy, of all the things to freaking remember, why did I have to remember I'm an addict?' Harper complained as he moaned into his bunk, the need crippling him, as he fought another wave of discomfort.

'You're not an addict, this is just a set back and you're strong enough to beat this, Harper,' Rhade stated with conviction. 'Whatever they've done to you, Harper, you're safe now, I promise,' Rhade assured him. 'Get some rest if you can, and I'll make sure someone is keeping an eye on you at all times ok?' Rhade stated but Harper was already asleep.

TBC