Old Friends, Part 17: Stay
Rommie
ran to where Orion lay on the deck, and was shocked when he suddenly sat up,
"Man, I hate it when that happens! Ruined my favorite uniform too."
Rommie was shocked, "How? That shot should have killed you!" Orion
laughed and tapped his chest, resulting in a hollow metallic sound,
"Titanium trauma-plate: had it installed during The Fall. Guarantied to
stop all known hand-held weapons." He got to his feet, "The universe
is a dangerous place Andromeda: Take no chances."
Harper
walked over to Mary: she was standing with her hands on her knees, breathing
heavily. He gently rested a hand on her shoulder, "Hay babe, you ok?"
She suddenly span-round, her elbow catching Harper on the side of the head:
knocking him to the ground. She screamed when she saw what she had done, and
gently lifted him up, "Seamus! Are you ok?" Harper rolled his eyes,
"What was that for?"
Orion
sighed, "Mary has trouble dealing with aggression after a fight. She can be
very touchy for a while." Harper blinked, rubbing his jaw, "I'd never
have guessed." Tyr looked on from across the corridor, "It's her
Nietzschean side: my people build up a battle-rage that can take hours to
dissipate." Mary had started to cry, "I could have killed you!"
Harper held her in his arms, "It's ok. I'm fine: No harm, no foul."
Dylan turned to the others, "Let's get these prisoners to the brig. We'll drop them off back at the Drift." The others helped him to shepherd the remaining Drago-Kazov soldiers away, leaving Mary and Harper alone.
Rommie
was able, with help from Orion, to re-connect the main AI to the rest of the
ship. Andromeda's holographic form appeared in command, "Thank you for
that, I was getting cramped in there." Dylan smiled, "It's good to
have you back. Can you make it to the Drift under your own power?"
Andromeda shook her head, "No, the missile strike didn't do much damage,
but my engines are still off-line. I'll need a tow." Mark nodded,
"I'll get Whisper right on it."
The
Shoulder of Orion slowly pulled the Andromeda back to the drift. Harper and Mary
spent most of this time working to repair the sub-light drive, but eventually
called it quits for the day.
Two
hours later, Harper lay in bed, Mary in his arms. He looked down at her,
"Stay." Mary blinked and looked at him, "You mean here on
Andromeda, with you?" Harper nodded, "Yes. Given the crew he's already
got, I doubt Dylan will mind." Mary kissed him, "I wish I could
Seamus, but I have some things I needed to work out for my self. I need to find
out who and what I really am. Then I'll come back, I promise." Harper
smiled, "You better." He kissed her again, and soon he had no
questions.