Part 27

'So who have they got?'

'Some alien I think.'

'They've been holed up in there for over a day now, is it Beka?'

'Naw, it's that bitch, I hope they burn her alive.'

Zal frowned still looking at the guarded building, and then smirked, as he looked at Naomi. 'Jealousy is such a strange emotion coming from you, especially after what you did to Shay.'

Naomi just glared towards the small building. 'It was her fault I did that, she was jealous of me, I didn't even like that guy and I didn't know what I was doing, she freaked on me!' Naomi returned sharply, clearly angered.

'Oh so she physically put you in that bed with that old guy, and you weren't the one all over him?' Zal mocked, and then recoiled as Naomi slapped him hard across the face.

'You're a waste of space Zal, don't bother dropping the act that you hate me, I know you're not acting, so just keep out of my sight,' Naomi warned and then moved quickly when she saw two Neitzschean soldiers approaching.

'Tell Junia I love her, and I can't help it that I'm such a good actor,' Zal called after Naomi with some desperation but Naomi just glared at him for a second before disappearing, and he grinned.

'Get back to work!' the first soldier yelled towards Zal.

'Going, going,' Zal muttered under his breath and adjusted the heavy sack on his back and started to walk again. For two weeks he had been forced to work in the fields, fetching the carrying the produce the female captives were told to grow and harvest. All the food was going onto the Nietzschean tables and they were seeing very little of it at the end of each day. He felt exhausted and starved, his mind was wandering more and he just wanted to stop, to sit down and then sleep for a very long time.

It had been the same thing each day, and it now felt longer than the two weeks they had been in the camp. Each night he found a quiet spot and hoped Junia and his little boy were safe, knowing most likely they were not and his concern for his unborn child continued to increase, but he was unable to see them even though they were in the same camp. Junia, as well as Naomi, had been placed with the children to care for them, as far as he could determine, while the other females worked the fields. In some ways he was glad Junia had escaped having to harvest the fields in her condition, knowing she was more in her element taking care of people, especially children.

Zal had found himself remembering very brief conversations with Shay, when the alien had opened up a little about his previous life before Edenia, before the spaceships and now Zal felt he understood Harper a little more, knowing this was probably very close to the life Harper grew up with and he wondered how he'd found the strength to survive and make it to adulthood, and then wondered with fear if his little boy, Zelazny would by a twist of crappy fate, face the same upbringing as his namesake.

Hearing a door open behind him Zal glanced back and caught sight of the alien Naomi had mentioned, and when he saw the golden alien Harper introduced him to as Trance he felt confusion, but also some hope. Confusion because she was usually so strong, but now she looked weak, different somehow all tied up and being marched between six soldiers towards another building, and he felt hope because it meant Harper's friends were here and they were kicking butt. He smiled as he thought of Beka, knowing she would be all guns blazing to fix the mess, and knowing Harper would be safe as long as she was nearby.

He stumbled slightly and then cried out in pain as the sound of a whip soon connected with the back of his legs. He glared at the Neitzshean that pointed him on his way deeper into the field, as he slowly recovered his footing.

Harper panicked as he awoke and instinctively struggled, as someone else held him and it took a sharp tug on his hair for Harper to freeze, and focus. Tark held him firmly, glaring into his eyes until Harper finally stopped struggling.

'I'm not going to hurt you,' Tark then calmly spoke, and then tugged at Harper's shirt.

'What the crap are you doing?' Harper struggled again and this time Tark took a swipe at Harper's head, dazing the human momentarily.

'You need to get cleaned up, you're covered in blood and grime and I don't want you getting sick, again,' Tark spoke with impatience as he succeeded in removing Harper's shirt.

Harper took a deep breath. 'I can do this myself,' he growled.

'Oh really?' Tark asked his words laced with sarcasm.

Harper made to move, but then sharply remembered his broken hands and the needle jammed in his knee and grimaced.

'How about you let uncle Tark help?' Tark stated with arrogance, as he tugged on Harper's pants.

Harper closed his eyes, the humiliation becoming too much as he let the Nietzschean continue. He felt the cold as Tark moved away, and he knew he was now naked and lying on some sort of surface, probably the counter in his bathroom, remembering that they had returned to his house. Harper shivered and he wasn't sure if it was the cold, or in fear as he heard water now running into the bath.

'Look, kid, I'm not some dumb ass; I know why you're afraid,' Tark then spoke with a reasonable tone.

'I'm not a kid,' Harper returned, his eyes still closed.

'No, you're not,' Tark agreed. 'And I'm not a monster. I just thought you'd appreciate getting cleaned up, you must be killing with those injuries.' Harper only offered a huff of disbelief, and Tark sighed. 'I served on Earth, I know things were bad for your kind, I know to you we are monsters regardless but we're not on Earth now, so why don't we just leave that all behind?'

'Why?' Harper asked, and finally opened his eyes. 'I'm still your prisoner, I have worth that you want, why should I think anything's changed? Your kind doesn't belong here, just like they didn't belong on Earth so you see, nothing has changed!' Harper yelled.

'Ok, you're emotional, I remember that about humans but remember, you don't belong here either, so that makes us even on Edenia, they want us both off their planet if they had their way,' Tark offered. 'I do just want to get you cleaned up, so just calm down.'

Harper closed his eyes again as Tark carried him to the bath tub and with surprising care lowered Harper into the warm and welcoming water. Letting out a moan as the water touched the many cuts and sores that littered his body, Harper soon relaxed into the water and for a moment enjoyed its qualities.

'I'll cut you a deal,' Tark then offered. 'If you let me get you clean, we'll never mention this to anyone, ever?'

Harper saw Tark had a wash cloth, ready to go and he felt conflicted. Number one rule in the camps, you never let any uber near, especially when you were so vulnerable and you never accepted their offers to help, certainly never a deal, it always led to bad. Harper didn't necessarily think Tark had any bad intentions, but his ingrained instincts kept up their guard and he couldn't help but not trust the uber, years on Earth had instilled that into him. He did however hurt, and with his hands broken there was very little he could do for himself and Tark appeared willing to help, and had already taken him away from the hands of Hertzler.

'Ok, deal,' Harper simply said in a low bitter voice, and attempted to relax as the humiliation of letting an uber help him began.

Lars attempted to be as calm as possible, as he walked into the holding cell area of the palace. No one appeared to be any the wiser of the plan he had devised with Tark, as he walked freely towards Asa's cell.

'Prisoner stand!' Lars spoke up.

Asa quickly got to his feet and hurried to the bars. 'You're one of the guards looking after Harper.'

'Correct, now shut up and let me talk, tell me where the control room is!' He ordered and then moved slightly closer, his voice rapidly turning into a whisper. 'We have rescued Harper, taken him away, we intend to protect him and overthrow Hertzler.'

'I have nothing to say!' Asa loudly returned for the benefit of any bugs in the room before he lowered his voice. 'I will help you, but this place,' he gestured with his eyes around them to indicate they were not free to talk.

'Then you leave us little choice,' Lars loudly proclaimed and began to unlock the cell doors. 'Just follow me; we'll have more privacy in one of the interview rooms to talk.'

'Take me with you, please, let me be with Harper,' Asa whispered hurriedly.

'Not in the plans, old man,' Lars whispered as he marched Asa along the corridor.

'I won't tell you anything then,' Asa then stated.

'Making Harper worthless and surplus to requirements, you wouldn't want that now, would you?'

'You're bluffing,' Asa looked at Lars but his expression gave nothing away, as they reached the room. 'Strange isn't it, how few soldiers there are in the area just at a time you wish to talk to me,' Asa then noticed idly.

Lars froze, the door was already half open and he saw the ambush waiting for him inside, they had known about his plans for Harper, and he guessed Hertzler must have already returned to find Harper gone and he inwardly cursed in the split second he had he whispered to Asa. 'Go, I think the kludges have a saying, something like there's no place like home!' he stressed before pushing Asa away.

'Harper was right about one thing, ubers are dumb,' Asa half smiled as the first round of weapon fire from the ambush inside the room hit Lars squarely on the chest and Asa didn't look back. Asa ran and quickly found a secret shortcut in his own Palace, although knowing soldiers would not follow, he still found his escape before he relaxed, happy to see Hertzler was keeping his end of the deal.

'Who did this to your hands?' Tark asked.

'Trance,' Harper answered. He was back on the flat surface, partially clothed in shorts and t-shirt after his somewhat relaxing bath. Tark was now playing nurse as he tried to bandage Harper's broken hands.

'That gold chick?'

'Yeah,' Harper nodded his head.

'She's hot, and a little scary,' Tark idly spoke as he felt Harper tense up, knowing he was not the most skilled at medical matters, as he attempted to secure the bandages on his hands. Harper seemed to agree with a sad but ironic expression, intriguing Tark. 'Can she appear at any time?'

'Yeah, usually when you least want it,' Harper agreed, as he looked at his now wrapped hands and frowned. Happy at least that he had some drugs in the house to ease the pain he felt.

'Your knee looks bad,' Tark commented, trying to test the movement but Harper could only cry out in pain and tense up again. 'I can't touch either of the needles, they are too embedded and I don't think you could survive the pain of removal on these painkillers,' he offered. 'I'll put it in a splint of some kind, lessen the accidental movement, at least make it more comfortable for you?'

'Yeah, whatever,' Harper grimaced. 'When do we go to the control room?'

'As soon as Lars gets back, with the directions from your friend Asa,' Tark answered.

'He won't talk,' Harper simply said.

'Not like we have many options,' Tark reasoned.

'I need food, I need energy, I feel weak,' Harper then spoke with growing agitation.

'Ok, ok, one problem at a time, let me finish fixing your knee in a splint,' Tark complained.

'I need to be fully awake and focused when I go to the control room,' Harper stressed. 'Promise me I will be.'

Tark stopped and looked at Harper. 'What are you planning?'

'Nothing,' Harper rapidly backed down. 'Asa never let me have full control whenever he let me visit the control room, he'd drug me up so I was only able to do what he got his guards to influence me to do.'

'Ok, I'll make sure I don't give you that drug, easily done,' Tark answered cockily.

'It's not that easy!' Harper snapped. 'You already know about Trance and her 'ability' to just appear, and you know Asa has the drug to have his hold on me, not to mention those damn control bots I now have inside me, thanks for that by the way,' Harper snidely mentioned. 'You just can't be lax about this, ok? Everyone who wants a piece of me has a piece of me, I could lose control at any time and that is bad,' Harper stressed. 'If you truly do want to help me and if you really do want my help, then don't mock me,' Harper stated firmly.

'What have the Commonwealth got?' Tark asked.

'What?' Harper questioned.

'That gold chick, us and Asa have some hold on you, what about the Commonwealth, surely they are a part of this too,' Tark mentioned. 'I just need to know all possibilities.'

Harper took a deep breath. 'They have people I actually give a damn about, the ability to make me see sense, probably makes them the most dangerous,' he figured.

'Whatever you have planned, the Commonwealth won't like?' Tark pushed with interest.

'My friends, if I can still call them that, won't like it,' Harper shrugged. 'But I'm not doing this for them, I'm doing this to just end this stupid war and take all this crap away from Edenia.'

'Ok, I'm hearing you, you'll have our support Harper, both Lars and myself know it's in our best interest to protect you, so relax, our necks are on the line now so we have a lot to lose if you mess up,' Tark insisted. 'No pressure,' he half smiled.

Harper visibly relaxed. 'You called me Harper; that tells me a lot.'

'That I'm not joking around, that I do want to help you, if you help me?' Tark checked and saw Harper nod his head. 'If it means anything the Boston camp was notorious for being the worst and toughest on Earth, I was assigned to the Johannesburg one, we heard all kinds of crap. Lars was Boston, and he used to tell me stuff that blew my mind,' he offered as he finished the splint around Harper's knee.

Harper took a deep breath, as Tark assisted him in sitting up and then took his weight so they could move down the stairs to the kitchen area. 'Why have you taken this risk? There's so few places to run if Hertzler comes after you,' Harper asked as Tark seated him in one of the chairs at the table.

'Lars,' Tark answered cryptically. 'I've grown up with him, we were boyhood friends, done so much by his side, come through the ranks, shared our dreams,' Tark fondly recalled. 'When you were first brought in I saw you as nothing more than a kludge, expected Lars to be the same but I saw something different, he admires you, he talked of you like he would a hero but don't tell him I said that,' Tark offered with a grin. 'It just got me thinking,' Tark began to arrange some food to find a meal, his attention fully on the preparation.

Tark then frowned. 'I knew then you were some big deal, I've never seen Hertzler so worked up over a kludge and you seem to have some huge reputation on this planet, being the one and all, so when Lars suggested we make use of the opportunity before us, it made sense and I was relieved,' he looked a little hesitant before he spoke again. 'If it means anything I didn't think you deserved any of that crap Hertzler was putting you through, those needles were just extreme,' Tark exclaimed with horror.

'So you're a softy at heart?' Harper teased and saw Tark spin around, a chopping knife in hand.

'You're brave or stupid to mock a Nietzschean who holds a big knife in their hands,' Tark offered, but smiled and resumed his work on preparing a quick meal. 'You seem to be more relaxed around Nietzscheans than I thought you would be, it didn't take me long to convince you to trust me.'

'Who says I trust you?' Harper asked flippantly.

'Ok, but you're talking to me now, not growling or biting,' Tark offered.

'Maybe since Earth I've had opportunities to learn more about Ubers, learn they're not all asses like the Drago Jerkoffs,' Harper responded.

'Cute name for my pride, kludge, I am still holding a knife,' Tark thought to mention and Harper just smirked.

'I never thought I'd see the day I'd meet a decent Nietzschean, then I met and have worked with two, well, decent to a point, so then I thought I'd never meet a decent Dragan, and here you are, you've rescued me, you're looking after me and now you are preparing me a meal,' Harper spoke with surprise. 'Maybe I'm still on the drugs?' Harper mockingly suggested.

'It's nothing special, just some odd looking wraps with a sauce I have no idea what it is, just eat because the options aren't high,' Tark put the two roughly prepared wraps with an assortment of ingredients in front of Harper.

'This is crap,' Harper stated with a frown at the food, and without looking at Tark he sighed. 'You're still holding that knife, right?'

'You got it,' Tark answered and then froze as there was a light knock at the door, before the lock turned. 'We locked that door,' Tark whispered as Harper's fear grew, and without hesitation Tark moved closer to Harper and kept a firm grip on the knife as the door opened and a figure hurried inside.

'Relax, it's just me,' Asa whispered breathlessly, and relocked the door. He checked the side window before making sure the curtains remained closed and he dimmed a couple of the lights, heading towards Harper and Tark.

'Where's Lars?' Tark asked. 'The plan was he'd get information from you, not send you right here!'

'I'm sorry, Lars didn't make it,' Asa announced hurriedly, his focus on Harper.

'What?' Tark was clearly taken aback before he stepped towards Asa with menace.

Asa quickly explained. 'Lars told me to come here, to escape before they could kill me as well, I understand we need to get to the control room,' Asa offered and then looked at Harper, who was attempting to get hold of one of the wraps he'd been given, his broken hands not co-operating. 'What on Edenia are you eating, boy?'

'He made me eat it,' Harper mocked and then saw Tark was in shock, realising it wasn't the time to joke. 'I'm sorry about your friend,' Harper offered with sincerity to Tark as he put the wrap down, and knowing Asa was surprised by the gesture.

'Shay, we can't trust this man,' Asa then spoke up and revealed the weapon he was holding.

'Whoa, hold on,' Harper ignored his pains and got to his feet to stand between Asa and Tark, who seemed oblivious to the threat or just didn't care in that moment. 'He's done nothing but help me, Asa, don't be stupid. Give the guy a break; he's just lost a lifelong friend!'

'Seamus we don't have time for nostalgia, he is the enemy and we need to act fast, Hertzler has killed the other one and they'll be turning this city over looking for us, we have to move and we have to do it without him,' Asa stressed and grabbed hold of Harper, dragging him the short distance towards him but Harper instead stumbled as his knee gave out and he fell to the ground in pain.

'Leave him alone!' Tark announced loudly and brandished the knife he still held, snapping out of his shock with Asa's treatment. 'You will tell us where the control room is and you will wait here while I take Harper there.'

'No, never, I'm taking Harper and you're going no where,' Asa declared but before Asa could react Harper spun on his back, using his good leg to strike and topple Asa causing his shot to fire wide of it's mark. Asa landed heavily beside Harper and this time Harper failed to protect himself as Asa lashed out in fury connecting with the side of Harper's head sharply. When Harper focused he found the nozzle of Asa's gun pointed right at him.

Harper calmed his breathing. 'Asa,' he spoke slowly and looked Asa directly in the eyes. 'Please, you have to trust me.'

tbc