Idyll Thoughts
a tag to D Minus Zero
by Laura Boeff
Seamus Harper realized, he was awake. Had been for a short while, listening to the soft
sounds of the ship around him. The ever present hum of the engines, the scuffling of a
droid doing whatever it was doing and the beep of the medical equipment by his bed.
Hummm... Forcing tired eyes open, Harper blinked against the diffused light
above his bed. He wasn't surprised to find himself alone, Trance probably off catching a
nap. She'd been a real trooper. Harper had to remember to thank her. Sure as clockwork
Trance would show up and prepare the exact amount of radioactive combative solution
as prescribed by the computer and deliver it to Harper every two hours. Coaxing the
normally sleeping engineer to drink it. Not that he minded, the stuff didn't actually taste
that bad. Sort of like water laced with lemon, and he had to admit, it was working. His
breathing was definitely a lot easier and the coughing fits were now the exception and not
the norm. That, and he no longer tasted his own blood when hacking up a lung. That was
a relief.
Rubbing a hand across his face, Harper paused for a yawn, smiling slightly at the
sight of his white t-shirt sleeve. He was still dressed. He'd shed the blue shirt and boots
but refused to lose anymore clothing then that. Trance had been a touch exasperated,
trying to convince him he'd be more comfortable without the bulky orange pants and old
t-shirt. Harper had teased her that she just wanted to see him naked, but the reason he
clung to his cloths was much darker then his light words let on.
Only the dead are naked.
It was that way in the camps. Harper shivered, remembering the one time he went
to one of the refugee camps *hospitals*. Mortuary for the living was more like it. His gut
clenched. They took your clothes when you were going to die. When it was decided you
had no chance, or weren't worth bothering with, your clothes were removed and you
were covered with a thin sheet till you died. As long as you had your clothes, you were
going to live. It wasn't just like that only in the hospitals though. It was like that
everywhere. But the hospital.... It only drove home the old saying.
Only the dead are naked.
He shivered again, as he always did remembering the camps. That's why he
couldn't strip down anymore then he was. Not here. He couldn't explain, wasn't going to
try, but as long as he wasn't naked, he wouldn't die here on the medical deck. And that
was a good thing.
Harper pulled his thoughts from the mire of his past. Wasn't like anyone was
going to give up on him here, so there was no need to get worked up over it. Even if he had
done something stupid like get sick. Not like he wanted to. He was slightly awed by the
fact that he had literally worked till he dropped. Harper loved a challenge, don't get him
wrong, couldn't resist proving he was just as good as he boasted he was -and he was- but
this time....
Something was different. When he had found blood flecking across his hand he'd
been... annoyed. Not scared, strangely enough. Most people would be a bit freaked when
they hacked up their own blood. But Harper had been annoyed. Annoyed at the thought
of something getting in the way of him getting the FMS done for Dylan.
Dylan. What was it about the guy? What was it about him that made Harper work
so damn hard to do his best every time? To do his best and not let the older man down. It
wasn't like Harper had known the guy long or really had anything to prove. But there was
something special about Dylan. Beka could command his respect, sure, but Dylan...
Dylan inspired him. The man had... had a sort of optimism, a faith in what he was doing
that was so strong, he oozed it from every pore. He believed! In what he was doing. What
they were doing. And it wasn't just the belief of a fanatic, blinded to anything but his
own ideals. No. It was just a belief in humankind and that all hope wasn't lost yet.
That was what got to Harper. It was Dylan's sense of hope. It was something you
just didn't see anywhere these days. In the camps, in space, or at the trade ports. No one
had hope these days. No believed in a brighter future.
No one, but Dylan.
Harper chuckled at himself. Great, he was becoming an idealist. Ohhh.. he was in
trouble now. But he couldn't help it. Something about just that sense of hope attracted
him. Maybe it was the novelty of the emotion. Maybe it was something in him that had
wanted to believe, but never had the slightest inkling of doing so before. But, stupid as
the idea was, Harper was starting to have hope too. And belief, in Dylan and his hair
brain thinking.
He couldn't call the guy stupid. Dylan pulled it off, their escape, and man, he
pulled it off with class. Harper hadn't been real cognitive when Dylan laid it on the line
for Beka. What he planned to do with the Maru, whether she was in the ship or not. But
he was aware enough to know this guy had serious guts standing up to Beka and Tyr like
that. That, and it'd been cool how Dylan refused to let Beka take him over his dead body.
He didn't want to leave the ship, though he couldn't actually get the words out right. He
knew what Dylan was up too, and so far, it was the only idea he saw as having merit. Sure
beat Tyr's let's charge them and die with glory thing. How his species managed to live long
enough to have kids was beyond him. Another reason to like Dylan. He could stand up
fearlessly to Tyr one moment and next be sitting with him confessing he could screw up
just as much as the next guy. Dylan wasn't so full of himself to hide his weakness, but he
could radiate such strength that it made the people around him stronger.
Maybe that's why Beka was always annoyed at him. She was the cynic, the
eternal pessimist and him the eternal optimist. Hum, how long till those two ended up in
bed together? They always said opposites attract and you couldn't get more opposite than
Beka and Dylan. Well.. maybe Dylan and Tyr, but Harper wasn't laying any money on
that one.
He had to go to the bathroom.
Harper blinked and let out a snort. Okay. He just found a point against the
multiple glasses of medicine Trance had been pouring down his throat. He had to piss big
time.
"Damn... mother nature's calling and she's not happy," he muttered. It meant he had
to get up. He could do that. Was feeling well enough to do that. And even if he wasn't
feeling well enough to that, he was going to do it anyway. He refused to lay in bed and
pee his pants. Bad enough he had a messed up immune system -he could really choke
Beka for announcing that to all the world- but he wasn't going to add poor bladder
control to the list of physical weakness'. Harper rolled to his side and got an elbow under
himself. Oh, Beka wasn't trying to be mean, she was just sparring verbally with Dylan again;
showing how much she knew versus how little he did. Yup, they would either kill each
other or end up in the sack together.
"Hey, looky here," Harper chuckled as he realized he'd managed to sit up. He
pulled his legs over the edge of the bed and let them dangle, rubbing his hands across his
face. He didn't feel all that bad. He wasn't dying anymore, that was for sure, and that was
always a good thing.
"Resting is usually done better lying down," a voice chuckled in mild reproach.
Harper jerked and looked up in surprise as Dylan came wandering into the room.
"I've got a bladder about the go supernova and you're cracking jokes," Harper
muttered, raising an eyebrow. "What brings you out this time of night.. day... whatever?"
"Morning ships time," Dylan answered holding an arm out that Harper accepted
as he got his feet on the ground. Hey, his legs didn't collapse. Good job guys!
"Just heading up to the bridge and wanted to see how you're doing."
"Oh.... lousy," Harper said thoughtfully. "How's the ship doing?"
"Fine."
"Everything getting fixed?"
"Just fine."
"You wouldn't tell me the truth right now if I threatened your life, would you?"
Dylan smiled. "Nope." He kept the helping hand on Harper's elbow as they made
their way to the head. "You just worry about getting healthy. I promise you I won't let
everything get fixed and leave you with nothing to do."
Harper raised a wry eyebrow. "Me, have nothing to do? If you haven't noticed,
I'm sort of indispensable,"
"That you are," Dylan agreed releasing him and allowing him a moment of
privacy to deal with his stupid need to piss.
Harper wasn't real surprised to find Dylan waiting patiently for him outside the
bathroom. The engineer waved off the helping hand. Not having his bladder threatening
to do very rude things to his body sure helped and he wanted to show he could handle
walking on his own.
And, not surprising, Dylan just nodded slightly as if he understood. Yup. Dylan
wasn't run of the mill. That was for sure. Harper made it back to bed, rolling onto the
soft mattress. Another point for this ship. It had soft beds, even in the medical. Beds and
fresh coffee. What more could a guy ask for?
"Sooo.... anything exciting in the world of the living?" he asked even while a
yawn tried to escape. 'Look,' Harper told his body, 'I am trying to recover but that
doesn't mean I can't stay awake a few minutes!'
"Andromeda is working on a course that hopefully will keep us out of harms way
for awhile while we get ourselves put back together. Beka's tallying up the damage to the
Maru..."
"She'll fix it," Harper interrupted without hesitation.
Dylan nodded. "I know she will. And I'm going to hear about it every step of the
way," he chuckled. Harper smirked. Yup, in bed together.
"And Tyr?"
"And Tyr is Tyr... Though I think he's learning about playing within the rules a
little more."
"When did you become a miracle worker?" Harper snorted.
"Little game called basketball. I'll teach you if you want."
"Humm... Physical exertion without female companionship... Think I'll pass,"
Harper said dryly. Dylan laughed and patted him on the shoulder.
"Well, how about you keep all exertion to a minimum and just rest? You've still
got a way to go," the older man pointed out.
"That, I can do," Harper assured cheekily, eyes dropping close. "See, I'm resting."
"And doing a fine job."
Harper let out his own chuckle as he listened to Dylan's fading footsteps as the
large man left him to catch some more sleep. Oh joy. But he didn't really mind. Harper
had full faith in the fact he was going to need his strength. One thing he was learning
about hope was that it kept you on your toes. Dylan and his mission, his faith, would keep
them on their toes. And bitch and moan as they all might, Harper sensed that in the end,
they would follow that crazy High Guard to the ends of the universe.
Well... everyone but maybe Tyr. But Dylan even had hope for that no brainer.
With a small smile, Harper fell back to sleep not really all that worried. No matter
what would come.
