Alternity Chapter 7 = Planetside

Alternity - Chapter 7

Planetside

Arkland was one of the human populated planets that had joined the Than Hegemony. The Than were a warm blooded species, but they looked more like insects than they did anything else. They were slightly shorter than the average human, four limbed and walked erect but they had compound eyes, a chitinous exoskeleton, antennae, and reproduced by laying eggs. In some ways their society resembled an ant nest, with individuals being divided into castes that could be distinguished from each other by the color of their carapace. The Than had survived the Commonwealth's civil war comparatively well and had established a relatively stable and peaceful empire. They were the dominant political power in the Triangulum Galaxy and had colonies and protectorates in the other two galaxies that had once made up the Systems Commonwealth as well. Their empire included numerous worlds dominated by other species that had joined the Hegemony voluntarily, sacrificing political autonomy and some personal freedom for security. Arkland was one of those worlds. From Beka's point of view it meant that the police were only slightly corrupt and the spaceport would only overcharge them for services rendered rather than gouge them.

"Harper, go out to the port and see what you can do about acquiring the help you'll need to calibrate the slipstream generator focusing lens. And take Trance with you, she bargains better than you do." Actually Trance was far from an effective bargainer but Beka wanted her off the ship and away from Harkness and his men.

Harper and Trance returned from arranging for the services of a calibration van and went directly to the engine room. Harper slid under the slipstream generator while Trance sat on the deck passing and receiving tools as requested. To anyone who casually looked into the engineering compartment, Trance was alone, since Harper was completely concealed by the slipstream generator.

After a while Harper heard footsteps entering the compartment. He suspected it was probably one of Harkness's men checking up on him and started to slide out from under the generator. Before he had done more than put down his tools he heard Trance exclaim 'Get your hands off of me!" followed by the sound of ripping fabric. As he scrambled to get out from under the machinery he heard one of the Twins say, "You're stronger than you look. That will make it more fun." There was the sound of a slap followed by a meatier sound of a fist hitting flesh and a gasp of pain from Trance.

By this time, Harper had his gauss pistol out and his head far out enough from under the slipstream generator to see two pairs of legs - Trance's and someone else's. He didn't bother to get the rest of the way clear of the generator or shout a warning. He simply took careful aim and put several rounds into the legs of whichever twin was manhandling Trance.

The sounds of the shots followed by the scream of pain from the wounded twin brought Harkness, the rest of his men, and Beka all running into the engineering compartment with weapons drawn. Beka took in the scene before her, Trance standing, shaking in fear with a torn blouse and a bruise on her cheek, Harper who was now standing up, weapon drawn with a look of murderous rage on his face, and Harkness's man lying on the ground in a pool of blood moaning in pain. Before she could begin to berate Harkness, he looked down at the wounded man with a total lack of sympathy saying "Willis, you're a pig, he should've shot you in the balls. You two," he said indicating Eyebrows and Muscles," get him out of here and to a hospital. Willis, you'd better hope you can get patched up before we lift off, or you're going to be left behind."

He turned his attentions to Trance "You'll survive. Go get some new clothes, then go forward to the command deck with your captain and stay there." Turning to face Beka he continued. "From now on make sure either you or the boy is with the girl at all times." Then to Harper, "You and the girl were lucky this time, but if it happens again you might not be so fortunate. So unless you want a repeat occurrence that may not turn out so well for you and your shipmate I suggest you get this bucket spaceworthy so we can get to Lykos."

Harkness turned his back to Harper and started to walk towards the common room when he abruptly stopped and turned to face the younger man. "By the way, good shooting kid, but if I were you I'd watch my back real carefully from now on and keep my weapon close by." After delivering his warning he left Harper to his work while Beka took the badly shaken Trance forward to her cabin.

Late that evening Harper's repair work was interrupted by Beka's voice coming over the intraship communications system. "Take a break Harper, and come up and eat."

Irritated at the interruption, but realizing that he was famished, the engineer walked forward. By unspoken agreement the ship had been divided into two sections, the crew of the Maru staying on the command deck and in Beka's quarters immediately aft of it while Harkness and his gang occupied the common room and the crew's quarters.

When he arrived at the command deck, Beka and Trance were eating something out of boxes; Beka handed him an unopened box. "Eat, it's some type of noodle cooked in a meat sauce. It probably won't poison you, and doesn't taste too bad."

Trance gave Harper one of her solar flare smiles but her interest seemed focused on the news flexie she was reading.

"What ya reading, babe? Hey, this is good. I wonder what sort of meat they put in it."

When Tramce didn't answer, he took a closer look at her. Her face showed an uneasy, almost dreading expression. It was the look of someone on the brink of memories better forgotten.

"Trance?"

"Oh, sorry." She appeared almost happy for the interruption. "I'm reading something about an accident on Tesla Drift. There was some sort of chemical pollution and the children are getting older."

"What's so strange about that?" asked Harper. "Children are supposed to get older."

"This isn't normal aging, Harper," answered Trance. "It's abnormal aging. They have what is called progeria. The chemical was some sort of mutagen that effects the gene that keeps the nuclei of cells stable. It's as if their bodies are aging at an accelerated rate." She tapped the flexie and handed it to him. "Here, look at that."

Harper took the flexie there among the lurid headlines and nearly hysterical prose was an image of what appeared to be a wizened old dwarf. "And?"

"He's six years old, Harper."

"What?" exclaimed Beka, who had been looking over Harper's shoulder at the image.

"He's six years old and before another year is out he'll undoubtedly be dead from old age. It's horrible. Mentally he's six years old. He wants to run and play, like any other child, but his body is that of an old man." She paused for a moment then continued, "We can help them, you know."

"Huh? How?" asked Harper. Then the realization set in. "No way. You're going to suggest that we take the Regenatrol to this place instead of Lykos, aren't you? Trance, if we don't take this cargo to Lykos I don't go to Glitterdust, and no Glitterdust means I die in a few years. There's no way I am going to sign my own execution papers."

The volume of his voice had started to increase and Beka made a 'shushing' sound. "Hold it down, Harper," she said. "Trance, have you thought about this? Harper is part of our family. Hell, you share a bed with him. If we don't get the Regenatrol to Lykos he doesn't get his treatment. Are you really going to ask him to sacrifice his own life for a bunch of kids he's never seen?"

"I don't want him to die either, Beka. But don't you remember what Rev used to tell us? That the universe gives us what we need, not what we want. Do you really think this is a coincidence, Harper getting ill, the manufacturer of Harper's medicine just happening to have Regenatrol HGH at this time, our slipstream failure, and now we find out about the problem on Tesla Drift?"

"Does this have anything to do with the perfect future you're always talking about?" asked Harper. "The one where the Commonwealth is restored and we all live happily ever after? Because if it is, it seems like it is going to be a mighty short future for me."

"I don't know, Harper, but I do know it's the right thing to do. And I believe that good results come from good intentions."

"Trance, I really don't care what you foresee. Why should I throw away my life for a bunch of kids when we won't be able to help all of them?"

"Harper, do you remember what you used to tell me about the refugee camps and the Than aid workers? How much did that aid mean to you?

"A lot."

"And could they help everyone on the planet?"

"Of course not, they didn't have nearly enough in the way of supplies."

"And how did living on Earth affect their health?"

"It could kill them, literally. The Bugs evolved in a desert climate. Between the humidity, the cold and the pollution, most of them became ill at one time or another and some of them died."

"So why do you think they did it if they couldn't help everyone and there was a chance that going to Earth might kill them?"

"Because they felt it was the right thing..." his voice trailed off as he realized where the path he had been led down went. "I don't want to die, Trance. I don't want to leave you and Beka."

"I don't want you to die either, Harper. But I do know this - no matter what happens you will never be truly taken away from me. Someway, somehow we will always be together."

Harper turned his attention to Beka. She had kept silent during the discussion, instinctively realizing that the decision needed to be between Trance and Harper since it was their lives that were most directly involved in his decision. "A new delivery location OK with you, Boss?" he asked.

Chapter 6

Chapter 8