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Trance's Tale - Epilogue
Time: CY 10088 May 5166Location: the Eureka Maru
"I see," said Beka drawing out the two words when Trance was through with her story.
"You don't seem very surprised by it," said Trance.
"No," agreed Beka as she put down the cup of coffee she had been holding. "It's pretty much what I expected ever since the day I first met you. I can understand you not wanting to tell Harper about it, but I think you should have done so well before now. He shouldn't have had to find out this way."
Harper started to say something but closed his mouth when Beka made a 'zip it ' sign, slashing her finger across her mouth.
"What does bother me is that you didn't tell me about it before we landed." Beka's voice was calm and controlled but Trance knew from previous experience that when Beka was this calm when she was reprimanding one of her crew it meant she was furious. The younger woman tried to meet Beka's eyes and failed, turning them down towards her own coffee cup which had sat untouched from the start of her story.
"You could have put all of us in danger," continued Beka. "If Sikes or Fagin learned you were here and tried to move against you, we wouldn't have had any advance warning. And what about the police? There's a good chance they'll hear about you being here as well. If you'd told me before we landed I'd have kept you out of sight aboard the Maru. When Harper and I go out tomorrow we'll be constantly looking over our shoulders because we've been associated with you."
"You know, Boss," said Harper deciding it was time to speak up for his wife, "if it wasn't for a lot of luck and some good people you could have been Jenni. From what Trance said it doesn't sound as if Jenni's father was any better than yours. But you had your brother, and later when your father died you had the Abernathys."
"I'm nothing like that whore," said Beka indignantly.
"No," pressed Harper, "but you could have been." Before Beka could fashion a retort he came at her from another angle. "You've told me what your father did. He dealt the junk that Jenni is addicted to. Jenni and Concepcion looked after Trance when she was stranded here, tried to keep her out of trouble. If it hadn't been for them she wouldn't be here with us now. Like it or not, Boss, we owe them. So what are we going to do?"
Continued in the story Trance's Gift co written by Xeromem and mizor
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