Beka looked around the disgusting station. Everything seemed to be brown and covered in rust or some weird substance that you did not want to get in your nose, throat, eyes or pretty much any where near you.

It looked like it was almost closing time and there were few people around. Those that were were passed out, dead or looked as though they should be.

She wouldn’t have dreamed of docking here unless she had no choice. And this was one of those times. She, Rev and Vex Pak had been on a routine salvage on Veias Spell, a respectable trading planet when the natives decided that they didn’t appreciate people paying for ship parts with fake currency.

That was Vex’s fault. He was new to her crew and Beka knew that he was a liability but at the time she needed more manpower onboard her ship, the Maru. Vex had insisted that his fake currency was undetectable, but he failed to remember that Geran’s, the species that was dealing the engine parts, had advanced eyesight. Idiot.

On Veias the penalty for this was death. The penalty for swearing was death, for chrissake. Obviously Beka wouldn’t stand for that. So the two fled, along with the engine parts, back to the Maru, where Rev fired up the ship.

Unfortunately Geran’s were also extremely persistent when it came to upholding the law - and had also fired up their ships, and followed.

And so, here she was, on the putrid floating station, Harmony Regas. A pretty name for such a cess pit of filth, gambling, booze, drugs and everything to do with scum under the stars.

The Maru had been heavily damaged by the Geran ships and Beka desperately needed parts. Ironic that it was searching for engine parts that got her in this mess in the first place.

She had shaken them off when they passed through a fleet of Hielians so she had bought them a little time. Now she needed those parts.

Beka approached the pitiful excuse for a bar. It was an uneven rusty slab of long metal, barely balancing on two barrels. It was littered with aliens and humans alike, most of them passed out. One of them looked like he had been dead for a week. Nid Flies were circling his corpse.

Beka had to try hard not to gag and the rancid odour. She mistakingly put her hands on the bar and retracted them when she got what could only be described as goo on her hands.

The bar tender - a bulky alien with a saggy face covered with a thin layer of fur - saw the blonde woman a mile away. She wasn’t the usual type he got in here. He plodded over to her. She looked clean, which was often a sign that someone had money.

“What do you want?” He croaked.

“I need some parts for my ship” Beka said confidently.

The bartender just snorted, highly amused, and walked away. Helpful. Beka thought as she sighed and turned around.

As she scanned the room her eyes were drawn to a pathetic body slumped over a table. It was a human with blonde hair, ruffled and messy. He was wearing a loud Hawaiian shirt and holding an empty glass in his limp hand.

She did n’t give the man a second thought until she saw the three large aliens advancing towards him. She watched, intrigued at what three tough looking aliens that might as well have walked out of prison that same day, would want with a scrawny guy like him.

“You.” The larger of the three growled. The man didn’t move.

The third alien let out a blaring growl and swept the clutter of glasses from the man’s table. The second grabbed the poor guy by the scruff of his shirt. He awoke with a start. From what Beka could tell he was either blind drunk, on drugs or just extremely ill. Maybe it was a mixture of all three.

“Oh! Uh, hey, I was just coming to find you guys” The man lied, not very well.

The alien released his hold on the man - by throwing him across the room. The poor guy crashed into several tables and chairs and finally tumbled to a stop after sliding across the grimy floor.

Beka turned to the bartender. “Hey, aren’t you going to call security?” She whispered, not wanting any unwanted attention.

“That is security.” He grunted. Beka, appalled, turned back to the barely conscious heap on the floor across the room. The three attackers strolled over to where the guy had landed and looked ready to inflict some more pain.

Beka couldn’t imagine what they could possibly have against this man that was literally half their size. Mind you, she didn’t come to these places very often.

When one of the huge assailants kicked the man square in the chest, she couldn’t let it go on any longer. She strode over to the aliens with her hand ready by her gun.

“Why don’t you back off?” She said sternly. Best to give them a chance and all.

The leader let out a guttural laugh which made her cringe.

“Look, the little lady wants to protect this scum! How romantic.” He bellowed. His buddies snorted but stopped when Beka pulled out her gun quicker than a rabbit on steroids.

“Why don’t you mind you own business?” The second alien said, in a different tone, ignoring the quiet moan of pain from the man who was still in a heap on the floor.

“Why don’t you bathe?” She retorted. One of them snapped and lunged at her. He was quickly knocked back by the shock of the pulse gun. The room was silent except for the sizzling skin from the aliens wound. If it weren’t for his size, he’d be dead. He rolled over and staggered to his feet.

Finally, the others backed off slowly. When they deemed it a safe distance they turned around and quickened the pace. She heard one of them say “We’ll kill him later.” And then the other replied; “Yeah, if he doesn’t kill himself first.” And then they were gone, their harsh laughter echoing through the corridor.

Sure they were gone, Beka turned to the man, expecting a thank you at least. Instead she found him staring at nothing, shivering. He was in a bad way. His eyes were bloodshot and the pupils were dilated. It wasn’t Flash but it looked equally bad. She felt sorry for him. She knew what drugs like Flash did to people. Those aliens were probably dealers or something.

Against her better judgement telling her to stay the hell out of the situation, she hauled the guy up and dragged him back to the Maru.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“He looks dead.” Vex said, not really caring.

“He’s not dead yet.” Beka snapped. For some reason she felt the need to help this kid. Maybe it was that damned good heart of hers again.

“I will pray for him” Rev stated. Beka knew he meant well but she could use some medical supplies more than a prayer right now. It looked like the guy was on the verge of death.

“You don’t even know his name?” Vex asked.

“What does that matter?! Now help me, would you? Go and get the emergency medi-kit.” She ordered.

“Screw that! I’m not wasting time saving this junkie while our adversaries are getting closer. Or had you forgotten?” He said defiantly. He didn’t give her a chance to answer and left Beka to get the supplies herself.

Rev looked down at the body. He had hope for him. The Divine had put this man in his path for a reason. In Rev’s minds, nothing happened by chance. Even so he was in a very bad way. A layer of sweat veiled over his flesh and his eyes looked into nothing while he shivered violently.

Rev closed his eyes and prayed until Beka returned. She immediately injected a needle into the patient’s arm. Rev looked at the rare worry on Beka’s face and felt sure she would succeed. “He could be bleeding internally I need a laser-torch to heal his cracked ribs.” She looked up at Rev, asking him, without speaking. They didn’t have that kind of tool onboard.

“I will see what I can do.” With that he nodded politely and left. Beka knew that a Magog would have more impact to get things done on this station, although she hated to ask him to exploit his newfound Wayism by making threats and generally acting like a Magog. But in this case she felt it was justified.

As she watched Rev go she wondered why she had felt so compelled to help the stranger. Maybe it was because he looked so helpless. He didn’t look like just another junkie.

The stranger stirred.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Vex looked around the shop. It was pretty much full of junk. Something in the corner caught his eye.

He dug around the pile of scrap and held up a space-suit. It looked in perfect condition. Vex smiled as he walked over to the counter.

“What do you want for this?” He demanded.

One of the two weasely looking men smiled over-pleasantly and told him that it would cost two thousand Jerats.

“I’ll give you one thousand.”

“One thousand seven hundred.” The second alien hissed.

“Whatever” Vex said impatiently. He didn’t care much about the price seeing as he still had some of the fake money from their last escapade. He might as well use them up.

“Done”

As he left he smirked to himself. What a loser.

As the man left the first alien gave a raspy cackle. “Heh heh, I’ve been trying to get rid of that suit for years. It’s torn and the emergency pressure seal is faulty”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Hey” Beka said gently.

The stranger took short sharp gasps of breath and his eyes darted around the room. “Where am I?”

“You say that every time you wake up?” She asked. “Woah, woah,” She said as he tried to sit up. “You’re in a bad way, I suggest you stay put.”

“Ah geez, what happened to me?” He said, only just acknowledging the pain in his chest. It hurt when he breathed. He fought off the dizziness as he waited from an answer from whoever the hell was talking to him.

“You were attacked by the security guys. But I think you were in bad shape before that. You remember?”

No. He admitted with his silence.

“I’m not surprised, you were wasted. And drunk.” She scolded.

“Hey, uh, who are you again?”

“Beka Valentine. Captain of this ship.”

“What ship?” Beka couldn’t help but smile. She assumed he was joking. He seemed to be sobering up.

“Alright, you’re turn. I saved your ass now the least you can do is tell me who you are and why were those guys after you?”

“Seamus Harper. Pleased to make your acquaintance.”

“And?” She waited for an answer to her second question.

“You know you really don’t want me to go into that.....” He started and tried to get up. Bad idea. Dizziness and pain grasped him and he immediately collapsed despite Beka’s efforts to catch him.

“Like I said. I wouldn’t get up if I were you.”

When he was safely back on the table, Harper spoke again. “Why did you help me?” He asked. She must want something. He thought. No-one helps you out unless they want something.

“I’ve been asking myself that same question.” At that moment Rev came in with the laser torch. Beka didn’t want to ask how he got hold of it.

“Ah, I see our patient is awake.” He smiled.

Harper’s reaction was one of sheer horror, shock and pure alarm. Beka had seen people react to the Magog badly before but this guy was way different. He leapt off the table completely ignoring his obvious pain and made an attempt to get away. His breathing got erratic and his eyes widened, fixed on the Magog.

“Woah, woah, woah, it’s okay! It’s okay, Harper, look at me.” Beka said calmly. “Harper, look at me.” She repeated softly. His eyes shifted to her but he kept the Magog in his sights.

“This is Rev Bem. He’s a Wayist. He is not like other Magog, okay?” She explained carefully.

“All Magog are the same.” He breathed.

“No, Harper. I will not hurt you. I am not your enemy” He tried. “Look, I brought this to help you!” He held up the laser torch. “It will heal - “ Harper cut him off.

“I know what it does!” He snapped. He was now wedged into the corner, sprawled against the wall. He shut his eyes and shook off something that Beka couldn’t see. Maybe it was the pain. Or maybe it was a hangover.

“Then let us help you.” Beka said. Harper’s breathing slowed as Rev backed off slightly and Beka looked at him reassuringly. He was going to black out anyway. He might as well let these weirdo’s help him.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Vex arrived back at the Maru hoping the pitiful excuse for a man was gone. He didn’t know why Beka wanted to help and he didn’t care.

He found Beka sitting in the medical room - if you could call it that - by the bed. It looked like he didn’t get his wish.

“I found some engine parts, cheap. But they need repairing.”

“That won’t do us much good. I’m not an engineer, are you?”

“If you didn’t waste your time helping this corpse maybe we could go and find an engineer.” He snarled and left. Beka strongly disliked that man.

Harper stirred again.

Since he had collapsed earlier he and Rev had fixed his ribs so all that remained now were a few sore bruises. It had also become apparent that it wasn’t only drugs that was aiding Harper’s condition. He also had symptoms of various diseases that she couldn’t put her finger on. It dawned on Beka that he must have grown up on Earth. Maybe even in a refugee camp. That would explain his weak immune system and his violent reaction towards Rev.

Once again, his eyes were open.

“Hey you.” She said. He didn’t answer. “We, uh, fixed you up.” She told him, and added quietly; “For the most part anyway.”

“I need......” He broke off.

“Right.” She knew what he was going to say. “What exactly are you taking anyway?”

“I need water.” He said weakly.

“Oh.” Beka said, slightly embarrassed. “I’ll go and get you some.” With that she left.

Harper waited until he was sure the woman was gone and sat up. His chest didnt hurt so much now and he was grateful. But he needed a fix to keep focussed. He reached into his pocket and prayed that his needle hadn’t broken when Altas had thrown him across the room. He had remembered that.

He brought it out and looked at it. It hadn’t broken. Thankyou. He whispered and went to inject the clear substance into his arm.

“What are you doing?” Beka’s voice came from behind him. Damn. The needle dropped out of his hand as he jumped. “Do you think I’m an idiot?”

Harper didn’t answer. He was still for a moment and then swung off the bed to grab the needle. Beka was too quick though and snatched it.

“You’re not having this.” She stated.

“I need it.” He said with a hint of desperation and anger in his voice. Who the hell was she to tell him what to do?! So what, she saved his life. He didn’t ask her to!

“You have to stop taking this. It’s going to kill you.” She yelled, as of he were an idiot.

“I need it.” He repeated, in a more urgent tone.

“You grew up on Earth. Am I right?”

“What?” Harper asked, eyes and mind fixed on the needle.

“Did you?”

“Yeah, so?”

“You barely have an immune system as it is, you have god knows how many diseases and you sure as hell can’t live through taking any more of this crap!” She shouted.

“Alright, fine, just give me that needle.” He hadn’t heard anything she had said.

Beka dropped the needle and stamped on it.

“NO!!!! DO YOU REALISE WHAT I WENT THROUGH TO GET THAT?!?!??!” He bellowed and leapt of the table, lunging towards Beka. She should have been able to stop him in his weak state but his attack took her by surprise and she was knocked over.

She managed to stand but before she could regain focus, Harper’s hands were around her throat. She couldn’t breathe. She dug her nails into his hands to no avail. She couldn’t do anything but look into Harper’s manic eyes.

As Beka was on the verge of blacking out, Vex entered. “HEY!” He shouted when he saw what was going on. The distraction was long enough for Harper to loosen his grip and Beka to thrust him off of her.

Vex couldn’t wait to say ‘I told you so’ as the paranoid addict rushed past him and out of sight.

“What are you waiting for, go after him!” Beka gasped.

“Why?” He shrugged. “He just tried to kill you.” He reminded her.

“You listen to me you asshole” She whispered as she grabbed his shirt. “I care because you don’t. Maybe I feel the need to help people because I’m human.” She spat, accusing the shell of a man of having no humanity. With that she walked away holding her hands to her throat.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Beka hadn’t followed Harper. In spite of what she had said to Vex, she was wondering why she still wanted to help Harper. He did try to kill her. But was it because of the drugs? The illness? It was hard to tell if thre was a real person underneath the utter wreck who had strangled her.

Rev entered quietly and heard her thoughts. “I admire you Beka.” He said causing her to look up from her trance. She had been blindly attempting to get the engine parts Vex had found to work. She knew she couldn’t do it but she needed to do something. Anything.

“Huh. I haven’t heard that before.”

“Well you should have. You are an amazing person. Your will to help that stranger,” He began. “was the most amiable act I have witnessed in a long time.”

“I don’t know why I did it. He didn’t seem to want any help. He did try to kill me.” She continued fiddling with the wires.

“The universe does not always provide you with what you ask for. It provides you with what you need.” He told her. One of many appropriate quotes he spouted at times of need.

“Need. Huh. Harper said something about that. He was so desperate. He wanted it so much even though he knew it was killing him. That and all the other crap that’s happening to him.”

“Do really think that? That these things are ‘happening’ to him? Did it occur to you that perhaps Harper purposefully got himself addicted to drugs?”

It hadn’t occurred to her, no. Beka’s mind didn’t work like that. She assumed everyone was a victim to society or something. It was an obscure way of dealing - or not dealing as it were - with things. “You’re saying you think he wants to kill himself?”

“I’m not saying anything Beka. I’m simply opening your mind to new possibilities. Don’t presume to know this man. And perhaps you could consider that he was put in our path for a reason.”

Beka smiled. How did Rev always know what to say? She didn’t really believe in the Divine but the rest of what her furry friend had said made up her mind. She would seek Harper out and help him. Whether he wanted help or not. Anyway, from what she had seen, no-one else was going to save him.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Harper wandered the corridors, lost. More like disorientated. He hadn’t had a fix in a long time and that damned woman had destroyed what he had gotten with the remainder of his money. Stolen money. Money which he hadn’t fully paid.

Harper had left unpaid debts all over the galaxy. He would usually hitch a ride with someone - or steal one - to evade the local law of each station he landed on. While he was there he would scour the ship for another fix. Stealing and gambling to make the cash.

Now it had become routine. But Harper knew deep somewhere in his subconscious that he wanted everything to end. What was there to live for anyway?

As he roamed the dank, foul smelling passage he stumbled on a rogue metal rod and fell to the ground. His will power wouldn’t let him get up. It would only allow him to close his eyes and fade away.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Beka hadn’t found Harper in the bar which she had expected. Those guys from security looked as though they weren’t going to let whatever matter they had with him drop easily and would probably be back. Rev was with her, assisting her with the search.

So Beka had found the residence corridors and was searching them. Harper wasn’t the only junkie on the station. Nid flies buzzed around dead corpses that cluttered the passageways. Other pitiful messes lay unconscious or wasted in doorways.

Rev edged near them to check if they were the man they was looking for but he didn’t recognise any of the blank faces.

Both the companions tried to keep a firm resolve and not get swept away with all the sadness of the countless pathetic lives she had passed by.

When they made another turn Beka spotted the familiar bright colours of the shirt Harper was wearing. He was lying motionless on the floor, his back to her. She paused before approaching his still form, afraid that he was already dead and that she was too late.

Beka gathered herself together and neared him. He was alive. Barely. “Rev, he’s gonna die if we don’t help.”

“What do you need?” Rev asked, eager to assist.

“We need medical supplies. Chemicals. We have to get those drugs out of his system and then maybe we can find out why he’s ill. But we can’t do that here. We have to get him back to the Maru.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Once again Beka found herself on her trusty ship, tending to Harper. She had sent Rev for supplies again. This time she was too concerned about the man she barely knew to feel any guilt. Besides, Rev was just as concerned though he didn’t show it.

Vex was sleeping. Typical. When all this was over she was going to fire him. Until she found a replacement.

Rev soon arrived back with supplies and they began flushing Harper’s blood from the harmful substances. The process had been continuing for close to twenty minutes when the entire ship violently shook.

Beka awoke with a start. She had fallen asleep by Harper’s bed.

The station shook again. The entire station. It could only mean one thing.

“They’ve found us.” Vex said as he rushed into to get Beka.

“Oh god, we can’t even take off!” Beka exclaimed and ran to Command where Rev was manning one of the consoles.

“Three ships in firing distance,” He read.

“No kidding” Vex shouted sarcastically.

“They haven’t got a fix on our exact location so they are attempting to destroy the entire station!” Rev shouted regrettably as the ship quaked once more.

“I’ll go and see what I can do.” Vex offered. Beka was sure it was more to save his own life rather than the millions aboard the station. He left hurriedly for engineering.

The three could hear screams and shouts arising from outside. Beka took the liberty of locking the doors. Panic in this kind of place usually led to looting and sheer hysteria.

“Beka, we can take off but we won’t have Slipstream.” Vex shouted over the comms. Beka was stunned that he could have managed to get just that. She steered clear of the Harmony Regas moments before it exploded.

Beka and Bev had no time to feel sorrow for the lives that had just been lost because right now they were worried about losing their own lives. There was no way they could outrun the Gerans. They’re ships were far superior. Plus the Maru had little defensive capabilities right now.

The ship was being fired upon right left and centre and it couldn’t take much more of a beating.

Beka did her best to avoid the hits but failed more than enough. After several near misses, the Maru was hit dead on. Beka lost consciousness as did Vex who had been on his way back to Command.

Rev fought the fire that sparked up but soon collapsed of smoke inhalation. In what he thought to be his last moments he prayed for the souls on Harmony Regas. He prayed for his friends. And he prayed for himself.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Beka’s eyes flickered open. She was on the Maru, that much she could tell. It was the smell of it. Her vision was blurry but as she scanned the room she could she a flash of bright colours. Her memories of what had happened flooded back to her as someone spoke.

“Hey! You feeling better?” A chirpy voice said. It was only when Beka’s vision quickly returned that she recognised it was Harper.

“Harper?” She asked, not quite believing that the man before her was the same wreck she had seen earlier.

“Hey, you remembered! I’m touched.” He said, injecting something into her arm.

“What’s that?”

“Just something for the pain. You hit your head pretty bad.” He replied.

“What happened?” Beka’s memory was still a little hazy.

“Well I woke up on your ship. I didn’t quite remember what I was doing here but you were under attack. Thought you might have needed help. I found my way to engineering and fixed your Slipstream drive. Then I got us the hell away from those nasty guys who were firing on us. Oh, your friends are fine by the way. Even the - Magog” He said with a hint of uncertainty. “They weren’t hurt too bad.”

Beka looked on astonished. She started to ask him a question but he cut her off.

“Hey. You saved me, so I thought I’d repay the favour.”

He was silent and Beka followed suit as she slowly got up from the table. Finally Beka broke the silence. “How did you recover so quickly?”

Harper took a breath. “To tell you the truth I’m not fully recovered. But thanks to you I’m on the way.”

“And the Slipstream drive? You fixed it?”

“Yeah. I’m an engineer. Or I was before....” He stopped, staring at his feet. Beka had heard all that she needed to know. She had saved his life and in return he had saved hers, her ship as well as Rev and Vex.

“Hey. Thanks.” She said simply. “Listen, I’ve been looking for an engineer to join my crew. Whaddaya say?”

Despite the hell he had been through, Harper smiled.

END

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