Title: Beat the Devil

Author: LittleRedhead

Rating: PG 13

Spoilers: None that I know of.

Summary: A routine trip for supplies turns out to be anything but routine for Beka and Harper.

Disclaimer: I do not own Andromeda or its characters. I am making absolutely no money from this story.

Chapter 1

Beka Valentine sat in the cockpit of the Eureka Maru pouring over navigational charts. It had been a long trip to Hephaestus Drift to get supplies and the blonde pilot was tired.

"Hey Boss, how much longer did you say it would be before we hit Hephaestus Drift?" Harper asked from the Maru's engine room.

Beka turned around to face the spiky haired engineer. "We should be there in another hour."

Harper sighed as he sat in the seat next Beka. "No offence Boss, but this has to be the most boring birthday I've spent since I don't know when."

Beka turned to engineer and offered a sympathetic look. "I'm sorry Harper. I know you planning a more celebratory kind of birthday, but you know how Dylan is when he wants a job done."

"Yeah I know Dylan is counting on the supplies we're picking up. But that's okay; you know I'm not into make a big deal out of my birthday. It's just that I thought we could maybe have just a teeny bit of fun."

"Isn't there something you can fix on the Maru to keep busy?" Beka suggested, trying to get his mind off the boredom. Being an engineering genius Harper was easily bored.

"Nah, I've already fixed everything there was to be fixed," Harper replied.

Beka wasn't surprised. Harper was too quick at repairs for his own good sometimes. Truth was the blonde pilot would be just as bored as Harper if she had engaged the Maru's autopilot. "Okay, so why don't you just relax and read a holo novel or something?"

Harper slumped further down into his seat, as far as his seat belt would allow. "I check the supply and there's none I haven't read that are worth reading. Which reminds me; you really need to update your holo novel library," he teased.

Beka flashed a semi-annoyed glare at Harper, causing the engineer to immediately clam up. The Earther unbuckled his seatbelt and headed off in search of a Sparky. Before he could get to the case of Sparky's back in the kitchen the Maru was rocked violently.

"Hold on Harper, we've got some pirates firing at us," Beka shouted over her shoulder. Beka was answered by silence and turned her back to piloting the Maru out of danger. Beka managed to open up a slipstream route and managed to lose the mercenaries that had attacked her ship.

The area was notorious for ships being attacked by pirates, but Beka had no choice about which route to take. This system had the only slipstream route to Hephaestus Drift from Andromeda's location. At least that's what Beka told Harper. Her real destination was Bamar, a little planet that was rumored to have CDs with old Earth music. Beka wanted to pick up one of the CDs as a surprise gift for Harper.

Unfortunately the pirates changed Beka's plans. The blonde pilot exited slipstream to save stress on the Maru. "What's the damage Harper?"

Harper poked his head into the cockpit. "Boss the environmental controls are at about 25 and the engine won't take much more thanks to those jokers that attacked us. You're gonna need to land soon."

Beka didn't need Harper to tell her about the trouble with her ship. Her experience told her the Maru needed repairs right away. "I'm already plotting a course. I'm heading for Kalasan."

"Is that the only planet available? You know nobody goes to that planet of their own free will it's that bad. Why couldn't we be closer to a place like Infinity Atoll?" Harper grumbled.

"Just get back to engineering and keep this ship running long enough for me to land her." Beka ordered.

Harper rushed back to engineering and started working on the overheating engines. The environmental systems could wait. Harper pulled out a socket wrench from his tool belt and set to removing one of the panels. A few minutes later the engineer had nearly finished jury rigging the Maru's engine.

"I made some quick repairs that should last long enough for us to get to Kalasan," Harper informed as he buckled himself into one of the seats.

"Keep your fingers crossed that the repairs hold," Beka advised as she struggled with the controls.

Harper crossed raised his right hand to show Beka his crossed fingers. "Way ahead of you Boss."

Beka and Harper were now flying through Karasan atmosphere. The temperature rose in the cockpit as the ground come closer. Beka looked for a level and open space to land the Maru, finally finding a vacant field where she set the Maru down hard. Harper and Beka were jostled in their seats until the Maru finally came to a halt.

Beka unbuckled her seatbelt and stood up. "How you doing Shorty?"

Harper looked around and smiled. "Considering the alternative, I'm fine. Nothing broken here."

Beka and Harper stepped over various items strewn on the floor as they visually scanned the Maru for damage. On first glance the Maru did not appear to have any damage that couldn't be repaired.

"Looks like you got your work cut out for you kid," Beka announced as she eyed some exposed wiring.

Harper glanced at the same wiring and frowned. "Yeah but at least we and the Maru are pretty much in one piece. On the down side it looks like we're gonna need to find a village nearby to get some parts."

"I was expecting as much," Beka admitted. "I suppose we might as well check the coordinates and see what's nearby."

Harper attempted to turn on the Maru's navigation system and when it failed to respond the engineer kicked the console. The navigation screen flickered to life, producing a triumphant laugh from Harper.

"Ha! Maru, you're no match for Seamus Harper," the engineer boasted. The engineer grabbed a flexi and quickly wrote down directions to the nearest village before turning off the navigation system.

Beka and Harper quickly gathered some supplies and began hiking in the direction of the village of Ayrn. The hike was relatively easy with the terrain mostly flat farmland.

An hour later they arrived at the outskirts of Ayrn where they met an older couple. Ayrn was a small agricultural village and the couple was carrying a basket of one of their crops, which looked like a sort of blue vegetable

Beka approached the couple to ask for directions. "Excuse me; we had to make an emergency landing not far from here. Could you tell me where we could get some parts?"

The man appeared nodded his head slightly and pointed to his left. "There's a place not far in that direction. Just following the main trail and it'll take you right to the shop."

"Thanks mister," Beka said as she purchased a couple of the vegetables. Beka handed one of the vegetables to Harper as they walked along. The blonde pilot carefully broke open the long narrow vegetable and took a small bite.

Harper was reluctant to eat the strange food. After a little prodding from Beka the engineer tentatively bit into the foreign-looking food before a satisfied smiled crossed his face. "This isn't too bad, it takes a little getting used to but it's not totally awful."

"Good, it's about time you found something you like besides Sparky Cola," Beka teased.

The duo strolled casually along the main street of Ayrn. It was run down, having seen better days. A good portion of the population appeared to be jobless. Beggars lined the street corners, eliciting annoyed looks from the rest of the townspeople. Beka surmised that the economy was hurt by the pirate attacks scaring off most space traffic.

Beka easily spotted the small store where Harper was able to find the needed supplies for the Maru. The spare parts managed to take up most of their ready cash. Beka and Harper were both surprised to find everything they needed so it was no surprise the shop owner charged a premium price. Ayrn was such a small, out of the way village that bringing in supplies cost a good amount of thrones.

Beka to agree to a have a bite to eat before returning to the Maru to start the repairs after seeing the relatively inexpensive prices on a menu posted outside of the diner next door.

Beka and Harper still ordered the cheapest items on the menu which gave them a few thrones to spare.

On the way back to the Maru, Harper began to wheeze and fell behind Beka. A short time later the engineer stopped and sat down on a walk and took deep breaths, trying to slow down his breathing. "Hang on Boss; I just need to catch my breath."

Beka turned around and watched the young Earther with concern. She couldn't help notice her friend's pale complexion and pulled an oxygen mask from the first aide travel kit she was carrying. "Here, this should help," the blonde said as she fit the mask over the engineer's mouth.

Harper sucked in the oxygen and calmed down but his clammy skin still gave Beka cause for concern. "Think you can make it to the Maru?"

The engineer nodded his head. "Yeah, I'm good. I just had a little trouble breathing there for a minute."

"Maybe I should try to get us a ride back," Beka offered as she put the oxygen mask back inside the first aid pack.

"I said I'm okay Beka," Harper protested as he continued walking back to the Maru.

The duo made it to the Maru without any further complications. Beka kept a watch on Harper as they worked on making the necessary repairs. An hour into the repairs Harper dropped a wrench.

Harper muttered under his breath and reached down to pick up the wrench. The engineer hoped Beka wouldn't comment, but knew she would as soon as the blonde approached him.

"It's been a long day so why don't we take a break," Beka suggested, not mentioning wrench incident.

The Earther normally would have argued but he felt tired and his muscles were a little weak. He assumed it was from the walking he had done. Usually exercise didn't bother him like this, but Harper guessed that his earlier meal might have disagreed with him. Suddenly Harper felt light headed and began to have trouble focusing his eyes.

Beka saw Harper sway and moved closer just in time to catch the engineer as his legs gave out. Beka eased Harper down to the deck and leaned him against the bulkhead. "Are you still with me Shorty?"

Harper looked up at the blonde pilot and smiled weakly. "Yeah, I just got a little light headed.

"I'll help you to your bunk," Beka offered as she helped the Earther to his feet.

After getting Harper settled into bed Beka returned to making the repairs. Fortunately most of the repairs had already been completed. Two hours later the Maru was space worthy.

Beka returned to check on Harper's condition. She leaned over and brushed a few stray locks of spiky hair from his sweaty face. Beka put a cool compress on Harper's forehead before she left for the cockpit.

Beka attempted to contact the nearest hospital on Kalasan. The blonde pilot smashed her fist down onto the console in front of her in frustration. The emergency rooms in the hospitals on the planet were filled to overflowing. They either not accepting any more patients or there was a long wait. Most likely Harper would be put far down on the list, Beka was told by the emergency switchboard. That mean Harper would have to sit in the Emergency waiting room for hours on end before being admitted. Even then, without the funds to pay for the hospital services, any hospital they went to would just send Harper away.

Beka thought these days were behind her. Before joining the Andromeda's crew Beka had to deal with this same scenario on many occasions when Harper became sick or injured on some backwater planet.

Since the Andromeda was only a few hours away by slipstream, Beka decided to take Harper back to have Trance work on him. Beka finished the pre flight check and guided the Maru off of the planet. She set a course for Andromeda, hoping she would there in time for Harper.