Massive apologies for the delay in posting, a mad busy time with stupid deadlines kept me from writing for the past month and

Massive apologies for the delay in posting, a mad busy time with stupid deadlines kept me from writing for the past month and I was consumed by my day job of building websites but I have caught up, and now have my spare time back, so the story shall finally continue…. Thanks for reading!

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Part 31

The cold dampness shook him, but it was welcomed and he heard a moan escape his lips as he enjoyed the cooling sensation.

'Harper?'

The voice was jarring, familiar but couldn't be placed. Harper wearily opened his eyes; feeling tired and weak, everything was an effort and he wanted to just enjoy the coolness of the cloth he could feel against his forehead.

'Hey, look at me, Harper, are you awake?'

'mmm,' Harper managed, unfocused.

'Ok, take your time,' the voice encouraged. 'You're ok, you're in the best place you can be in at the moment, ok, maybe there's better places but you're healing and your injuries have been fixed, you should be up and about in no time.'

'Who?' Harper could only manage, his eyes refusing to focus as they stayed half opened, nothing was making sense.

'It's Tark, it's ok if you don't remember me just yet, no rush, but I was assigned to you because Uriah couldn't bear to assign one of his team to your care, so I was volunteered with the instructions of making sure you didn't die,' Tark spoke in barely a whisper. 'So thanks for not dying, I appreciate it, you saved my life again, kid,' Tark joked continuing to whisper, it seemed he was not wishing to attract attention.

The cooling cloth returned fresher to Harper's forehead and he relaxed into its soothing properties, as Tark continued to speak not needing Harper's acknowledgement that he was actually listening.

'No one else is caring for you, Harper, it's just me, Uriah sees you only as an unwanted disease in his pristine temporary hospital,' Tark explained. 'He comes over, checks your readings if you're lucky, wishes that you would die of natural causes already, and then goes but thankfully he needs you to be well as much as I do, his life depends on it,' Tark explained and Harper only listened. 'So he has been taking care to administer drugs and the right treatments for your injuries, as far as I can tell, but he's just not straining himself in giving you the most care he can.'

'Tark,' Harper whispered, remembering the Nietzschean now as his rescuer come kidnapper, come ally and he knew he could probably trust him, Tark was certainly talking to him as a friend, but the situation had probably forced that on him after Harper had saved him from being killed as a traitor.

'What is it, Harper?' Tark asked.

'Water, thirsty,' Harper managed and a short moment later found a glass to his lips, as Tark helped him to take a few sips. There was something restricting his movement, his neck was strapped down, as was most of his body. 'Take these off,' Harper said with agitation as he tried to move, but found the restraints only gave him a small amount of mobility.

'No, Harper relax, don't struggle, I can't remove these, not yet anyway, just relax, it's ok, I won't let them hurt you,' Tark offered quickly and with confidence.

Harper relaxed slowly, as he became more awake and aware of his surroundings. The makeshift infirmary looked like any other he'd been in, and there had been a few. Around him he saw Nietzschean soldiers, injured on the cots, the room was pretty big and it looked like the Dragans had taken a few hits, as medical teams scurried around to meet the demand.

'We're being largely ignored,' Tark spoke as if reading Harper's mind.

'I'm just a kludge,' Harper knew why that was.

'But with orders not to die through negligence,' Tark offered. 'So as much as they'd love to completely ignore you, they can't afford to. You had Uriah pretty worried for a time, and rightly so, you were struggling, even Asa seemed concerned,' Tark remembered.

'Where is Asa?' Harper asked.

'Uriah ordered him out of the infirmary, he was making too much noise, demanding too much attention for you,' Tark offered. 'That's why I was brought here to look after you, I was considered the only Nietzschean who had enough care that you lived, that I would show reasonable attention to your care.'

'Your life is in my hands,' Harper remarked.

'Don't I know it,' Tark agreed.

'You know you're a dead man, right?'

'I have a fair idea that will be my fate,' Tark spoke with no emotion. 'But whilst you keep giving me the opportunity to save my skin, I'm taking it in the hope you might actually be able to fix this mess.'

'I can barely move, or stay awake,' Harper reminded him.

'I know, I'm as good as dead,' Tark sighed.

'Sorry,' Harper offered tiredly.

Tark smirked. 'It means a lot that you've said that, now get some rest, I have your back, don't worry about that.'

--

Dylan stared at the man across the desk from him, and Jashen showed no emotion as he stared back, his hands tied and two guards stood either side of him.

'So you have no explanation for your actions?' Dylan asked.

'I was trying to help,' Jashen simply stated.

'Help who?' Dylan questioned. 'Harper? By shooting him?'

Jashen looked away with agitation. 'I want peace restored to my city!'

Dylan rubbed his face, tiredness was beginning to creep into his body and he wanted nothing more than to solve the mess Edenia was currently in. 'Jashen, what you did today could have jeopardised a quick resolution, possibly even killed the one guy who can fix this.'

'You two were getting nowhere, you and the ubers are using my city to fight your little war, innocents are suffering because of you!' Jashen objected. 'I have no care about your history or your battles before now! I just wanted you both to know Edenia isn't totally helpless.'

'So you represent Edenia's army?' Dylan asked.

'Not officially, but we care just the same,' Jashen stated, avoiding eye contact. 'We knew this was coming, Seamus kept warning us that we should be prepared and so he helped us, and in return he was going to guarantee the city would remain in our hands, but that never came about.'

'How come?' Dylan asked.

'He decided we weren't strong enough, that we weren't ready, so he quit on us and decided to take his chances with Asa's proposal, and we all know how that faired,' Jashen frowned. 'We were just trying to prove a point but I guess in doing so, he's had his point more than proven,' he figured. 'I'm sorry, ok, I really thought I could help,' Jashen sighed.

'Least you have some intelligence inside that head of yours,' Dylan remarked and gestured to the two guards to stand down and leave the room. The captain stood up and untied Jashen's hands. 'How big was your army?'

Jashen shrugged, showing reluctance to admit the answer. 'About twenty-five,' he finally spoke.

'I can see why Harper possibly looked elsewhere,' Dylan remarked and Jashen could only smirk.

'We just didn't know what he wanted, not at first,' Jashen offered. 'We didn't really get what he was trying to say, and then he introduced us to some Ubers and suddenly half our men didn't want to know, I guess we're not ready for any of this.'

'He introduced you to the ubers?' Dylan caught.

'Yeah, they were here before all the troubles, Harper was working for them and he convinced them to give us some combat training, that's when my guys got scared,' Jashen offered. 'But the ubers knew they couldn't trust Harper, so that's when they enlisted me to act as the go-between.'

'How did you meet Harper, again?'

'I was Asa's right hand man in his security forces, when Harper first arrived in the city I was ordered to keep an eye on him, and I made the first mistake, I befriended him,' Jashen offered. 'When I objected to the restrictions being placed on Harper, the drugs to control him I was banished, and Harper told me go to the ubers and he probably saved my life, Asa attempted to kill me, still thinks he succeeded but the ubers protected me.'

'If that was the case why didn't Asa say anything back in that field hospital, you were right there when Asa took Harper away,' Dylan remembered.

'He never saw me, if you remember I kept pretty quiet during that exchange, kept my head low and for a reason,' Jashen half smiled.

'At what cost did the ubers protect you?' Dylan then asked, guessing there was more.

'I kept an eye on Harper,' Jashen offered with an ironic laugh.

'You don't work for the ubers now?' Dylan checked.

'As I told you before, I did, and then I jumped ship, again,' Jashen offered. 'As soon as Harper made his decision to take up Asa's offer I knew I was as good as dead, what men were left I took with me, away from the ubers, and we've been living in the shadows ever since, waiting for this war and trying to prepare.'

'At least some of the pieces are starting to fall into place,' Dylan frowned and considered what Jashen had told him.

'If I can be of any help,' Jashen spoke up.

'I think for now you've helped enough, but I'll keep your offer in mind, for now though you're our guest,' Dylan stated and tapped on the door, a guard entered. 'Take him down to secured rooms but keep him separate from his men, for now.'

'Sir,' the guard grabbed Jashen's elbow and he was escorted from the room, leaving Dylan with more questions.

--

Tark kept an eye on Harper as he slowly moved around the room. Uriah had moved him to a side room as soon as he was out of danger, wasting no time in trying to wash his hands of the kludge. As a result, Harper was receiving no medical advice on how soon he could return to normality, and not even Tark could threaten him enough to make him rest more. Harper was simply restless, and as he recovered he remembered more about the task at hand, and his urgency to get moving increased.

'So what is your plan?' Tark asked.

'Making it up as I go along,' Harper offered.

'Seriously,' Tark responded.

Harper stopped and shrugged. 'I don't know, right now all I want to do is get to that control room, after that it all depends on how much the city has gone to hell, and how much I can still realistically do.'

Tark noticed Harper falter slightly with his next step and moved to his side. 'Back into bed, you still need to rest.'

'I'm ok,' Harper tried to protest but his knee gave way, and he reluctantly returned to the bed.

'Do you need any medicine?' Tark asked.

'No more drugs,' Harper returned, but grimaced as he tried to get comfortable and then glanced at his hands, both in casts designed with extended boards to keep the fingers straight. 'A new form of Nietzschean torture,' he remarked.

Tark only smirked. 'Uriah seemed quite impressed by the amount of damage you had to your hands, I got the impression you need to keep those casts on for a while for any hope of using your hands again.'

'Great,' Harper moaned.

'The doc seemed optimistic that your knee will be fine now those pins are out,' Tark then added. 'You just need to try and rest, so you don't aggravate it, but I guess you didn't hear me say that before you got up several times to walk on it.'

'I don't have time to just rest and recover, there's a war going on unless it's escaped your attention,' Harper partly snapped.

'Harper, the people you are so desperate to save have tried to kill you several times already,' Tark reminded him. 'That last bullet you took was from Edenian's themselves, get the message, they don't want your help so help yourself instead.'

'It was just Jashen,' Harper dismissed. 'He doesn't count.'

'Jashen?'

'A friend,' Harper responded.

'Your friends have a habit of shooting you?' Tark asked.

'You'd be surprised the company I keep, it's like I like hanging out with my worst enemies,' Harper purposely glanced at Tark.

'That was low,' Tark offered, and saw Harper look away. 'So, you still just want to get to that control room?'

'Yeah,' Harper simply replied. 'I don't care how.'

There was some shouting in the distance, coming from outside and Tark moved to the barred window. Harper sat up with interest, as Tark glanced around at a sudden flurry of activity.

'What's going on out there?' Harper asked.

'They are pointing upwards,' Tark offered and narrowed his eyes. 'Wow,' he then simply said. 'The shield is down, there's ships descending in the East, they look like Commonwealth.'

'The shield is down? That's impossible,' Harper moved quickly to the window. 'No, no way, I thought Dylan was bluffing, they can't have figured it out! This is bad, very bad.'

'Relax; doesn't this take the pressure off you?' Tark asked.

'Are you kidding, we're both dead meat now, surplus to requirements, what will they want with us now if the Commonwealth have control?' Harper panicked. 'This is end game, Commonwealth have won, the Dragans will just leave, shooting us before they go!'

'They won't just leave, they still want this planet for strategic purposes,' Tark argued. 'So, the Commonwealth figured out getting the shield down, that's not what Hertzler wants, he wants full control and you're the only one who can give him that in the timeframe he wants.'

Harper was silent as he moved back to his bunk; he didn't look convinced as he shook his head. 'We have to escape.'

'We can't escape,' Tark stated. 'There's guards posted all down this corridor, I've already checked,' he gestured.

'Check again, maybe the shield coming down has caused confusion, other priorities, we could take advantage,' Harper enthused and with a sigh, Tark moved to the door and slowly opened it, taking care not to make too much noise for any guards to notice. He glanced back at Harper. 'Looks clear,' he whispered.

'Let's go,' Harper urged.

'Go where?' Tark questioned.

'Anywhere but here, hell back to my house like last time,' Harper stressed. 'Let's just,' Harper was cut short as Tark quickly closed the door and physically pushed Harper back to the bunk, slamming him down just as the door opened.

'Traitor, bring the kludge,' a young soldier ordered.

'Where are we going?' Tark asked.

'You do not question me, traitor,' the young upstart returned with contempt.

Tark glanced to one side, holding back words he wanted to say to the man several years his junior. With a show of what remained of his authority Tark roughly grabbed Harper and they left the room following the boy soldier.

'You can take him,' Harper whispered, as he was manhandled by Tark along the corridor, and all he received in response was a shove in the back. 'Just saying,' Harper complained knowing Tark was protecting them both with his treatment, saving face to appear to dislike his duty of being a kludge's babysitter.

They arrived in one of the rooms in the basement, the lack of windows made it appear quite dark with only a few lights illuminating the surroundings.

'Seamus!' Asa's voice spoke up from the darkness, and Harper narrowed his eyes to see Asa in the corner secured but looking ok.

'Be quiet!' Hertzler spoke with annoyance, as he stepped forward. 'I would assume you noticed the latest events from your private room.'

'Yeah,' Harper simply answered.

'Step back from the human,' Hertzler ordered towards Tark who dutifully obeyed, stepping back about five paces. 'You're looking well,' Hertzler observed, but he was clearly struggling to be civil, as his voice lacked any emotion.

'I'm alive,' Harper offered.

'My doctor was very impressed with your rate of recovery,' Hertzler gestured to Uriah, who stood looking a little concerned in the far corner. 'I was surprised to find you off the critical list so soon, and recovering in a private room no less, and away from the infirmary.'

'I'm a model patient,' Harper responded, and he glanced at Uriah, sensing the good doctor was a little worried and he wonder if there was something he should be concerned about.

'Seamus Harper,' Hertzler then announced with a heavy sigh. 'The shield has come down which implies that the Commonwealth's brains have figured out the system,' he stated.

'There's more to that system than just lowering a shield,' Harper argued.

'You told us you were the only one smart enough to work it, Seamus,' Hertzler spoke with obvious anger. 'Or did you forget that you've help the Commonwealth too like the good little two faced back stabbing kludge you are?'

Harper rolled his eyes. 'If I could have just got to the control room when I wanted to go there, we wouldn't be in this situation,' Harper sneered glancing at Asa. 'All I've had lately is people stopping me doing what I can do.'

'Maybe so, but we now face the question of whether our time is best spent pursuing this troublesome quest, or if we should just leave whilst the shield is down and cut our losses,' Hertzler announced.

'You mean give up, and admit defeat to the Commonwealth?' Harper tested. The sly smile showed amusement in Hertzler's expression, but Harper knew he was treading dangerously.

'You know us better than that, kludge, much better, in fact you know first hand that we never go away,' Hertzler declared and Harper could only agree. 'So, tell us how to defeat the Commonwealth, how to kill Dylan Hunt.'

'What?' Harper checked.

'They stand in our way,' Hertzler simply said.

'You need a kludge to tell you what to do?' Harper stalled, and felt the full force of Hertlzer's fist as it caught him in a right hook, sending him to the ground.

'One comment too many, kludge, first warning,' Hertzler stated, as Tark stepped in and assisted Harper to a standing position again.

With some unsteadiness, Harper cleared his head and focused. 'I can't help you, I don't know any weakness for Dylan Hunt,' Harper offered with a genuine air.

Hertzler stared at him for a short while and the silence was almost suffocating until the Neitzschean finally spoke. 'Very well, you are of no use to us then until we have secured the control room, lock them all up I'm sick of the sight of them, him, Asa and the traitor, they slow us down with their weaknesses,' Hertzler decided and quickly left the room.

Harper was quickly grabbed by the nearest guards and he glanced around seeing Tark and Asa also being led away, and his hopes of ever reaching the control room began to fade fast.

--

TBC