"Harper, we only have two hours until ...!"

"I know already!" He yelled out the conduit. "Two hours 'til the Jaguars. I'm working as fast as I can."

"Alright." Beka actually sounded sheepish. "Um ... right ... good."

Harper chuckled as Beka left him alone. She had it for the Jaguar Charlie. He didn't know what went on the last time the guy was on board but ... He slipped the code disk into it slot and smiled. "How's that feel?"

"It looks good." Andromeda's hologram appeared as if standing on his knee.

"Let's run a complete check."

"That will take twelve minutes, seventeen seconds." She stated.

"I've earn the break." He argued playfully.

She grinned and nodded.  "Commencing diagnostic."

"What's next?" He shifted, scattering her hologram. "Sorry Babe."

She pretended to stretch. "Let's see, manicure?"

"Weapon's code upgrade complete." He grinned. "Your claws are gorgeous."

"Lunch."

"You're still hungry? Tell Dylan to fine you a nice sun to nibble at."

She laughed. "I'm fine but you need lunch. Beka brought down a sandwich."

Harper blushed. "I'll thank her later I promise." He crawled out of the tube and grabbed the sandwich. "What is with her and Charlie anyway."

"His name is Charlemagne Bolivar."

"Yeah, Yeah. So? She's been picky as hell about everything being perfect. She even did his guest quarters herself."

"Captain Valentine has been picky about everything about this meeting. Not just about the Jaguar Alpha."

"Come on, you can tell me." He coxed. "Did they ring the bell? Do the horizontal samba? Make the most of the mamba?"

Andromeda laughed and shook her head. "My bath tickles."

"That was subtle. "Harper grinned and checked his pad. "Can you put up with it for ten more minutes? Once the bots are in position you won't feel them." He swallowed the last of his sandwich then grabbed the milk.

She gave a convincing long suffering sigh. "I suppose I ... " She looked sharply to the left.

"What is it?" He froze.

She shivered. "Another sensor echo."

Harper set down his glass. "Damn, again? The diagnostic didn't show anything." He stood and grabbed his tools. "That's next. Can you tell Trance I'll be late to help her?"

"Thank you." She smiled sweetly. "Oh, environmentals could ..."

"That too." He promised then leered. "Would I pass up the chance at a chest x-ray? And what a lovely chest it is."

She shook her head but smiled anyway. "You're slipping. You almost didn't make that remark."

He blushed. "I'm a little tired here."

"I know." She soothed. "Why don't you tell him?"

"He's a Nietzschean!" Harper gasped.

"Nietzschean males do engage in non-reproductive sexual relations."

"That's the first time I've ever heard it put that way." Harper blinked at her. "Even if Tyr did go for men. I'm human, a kludge. He wouldn't go for me, even if he did ... his people sure wouldn't."

She frowned and opened her mouth to argue but Harper cut her off.

"I love you, I do, but let it go. Please? I'm okay. I can handle it. Okay? Let's get back to work, huh?"

"I have informed Beka of the sensor check. She wants to know if she should set up a drone net."

"I don't know. I need a peek first." He shook his head and walked out the door. "Start a diagnostic on your environmental systems and I'll look at them after sensors."

"Right." She answered as he headed down the corridor. "Harper, my environmentals have been accessed."

"Who's in there?" He turned and hit the door pad.

"No one."

The door opened and Andromeda appeared in the center of the room looking confused and worried.

Harper walked around her hologram and frowned at the display. "The system is open and prepped to override security alert."

"Duck!" Andromeda yelled then sounded her alarms. "I have a saboteur in Environmental primary control!"

Harper obeyed Andromeda instantly and rolled back. He didn't see the guy he forced off balance but heard Andromeda's rage as he scrambled.

"Security alert. Saboteur in Environmental primary control. It's a Darsian!" She announced. "Harper my defenses in here are down. I can't help you."

"Help yourself!" He gasped as he scrambled back from the seven foot snake. "Damn snake."

The thing was tall and slender, hairless with grey, green leather like skin. It didn't have ears but Andromeda had told him that they had little slits on either side of the head. They couldn't hear like he could, not naturally, but had implants to help them deal with other species. This one's hood was open between the shoulders and head, just like cobra's from Earth. It was freaky.

"I can't read him with my sensors!"

"Recalibrate!" Harper threw a wrench and watch him not see it coming. "Find the others!"

"Working. Tyr is on his way."

The Darsian hissed and his snake tongue flicked out.

Harper threw a screw driver and watched him miss that too. "This guys a snake, right? A reptile? Sees by heat? Crank up the heat!"

"Cold. They have a low tolerance for the cold."

"Then do it!" He yelled as the Darsian jumped at him. "Drop the ... NO!" He screamed as the Darsian landed on him, tongue flicking out. "Protect ..."

The cracking of Harper's rib cage was lost as Tyr rushed in. "Harper? Ship?"

"Harper is down. The Darsian is moving. I am dropping the temperature. My sensors are now calibrated to read him. Can you hear him?"

Tyr listened for a moment but shook his head. "Harper is masking him." He growled. "I hate Darsians. Get some droids down here. Direction-visual only."

Andromeda nodded silently then signed where the Darsian was.

Tyr moved up, toward the main console. Harper was moving. He sounded badly hurt but staying as quiet as he could. His breathing was severely labored. Andromeda stopped him and frowned.

Harper pulled himself to the interface and punched in a crazy idea.

Andromeda smiled, she should have thought of that. "Tyr, leave."

"What? Harper ..."

"Go. Now!"

Tyr growled and moved forward.

Harper pulled himself along the wall. The nearest tube was only five feet away. He could crawl to the next hatch and ... Damn. The snake was coming back. He flicked at Harper then ignored him. That was twice the jerk had passed on him. Then Harper saw the fangs.

You didn't play with environmentals, you just didn't. It's the air you breath. But this guy was playing with it, working to over ride the
security alert. The Darsians were hitching a ride, and would be off the ship before ... the Jaguar arrived. Son of a bitch. Darsian toxin.

He saw Tyr coming around then the Darsian's fangs started dripping. Not good. Not Tyr!

Harper pushed off the wall and staggered forward. "Tyr, it's a trap." He rasped to spite the pain of just breathing.

Tyr heard him and moved faster, then the Darsian saw him and it was a race between Harper trying to get between Tyr and the Darsian, and Tyr and the Darsian trying to get at each other.

"No." Harper sobbed.

"Tyr, behind you!" Andromeda rushed.

Tyr jerked around but there was no one there. He spun back just as the Darsian tried to push Harper away.

Harper made a grab at the mouth and the Darsian reacted out of instinct. He screamed as he was sprayed and fell jerked back.

"NO!" Tyr raged and fired at the Darsian as it ducked back.

"Tyr forget it. Get Harper into the shower! Hurry!" Andromeda ordered. "I am implementing his idea. GO!"

"T-T-Tyr ..." Harper sobbed as he started convulsing.

***

Tyr watched the engineer as he lay on the med bed. The serum was working. Harper's temperature was up, higher them the venom could tolerate, but he was stable and would survive.

Tyr was ready with water when he woke.

"No more."

"Drink it." Tyr ordered and pressed the glass to his lips.

Harper drank and looked around. "Snake guy?"

"Gone."

Harper closed his eyes. "I hurt all over."

"Rest."

Andromeda's hologram appeared on the far side of the bed but said nothing as they watched the engineer sleep.

***

Tyr didn't have the time to be gently as he grabbed Harper and ran for the doors, which slammed shut as soon as he was through. Another set opened a few feet away and he heard water running.

"Trance has been notified and is in route to med deck to prepare." Andromeda stated as Tyr entered the shower area .

"Why let him be sprayed!" Tyr demanded harshly even as he was gentle laying Harper on the floor and started washing his face. "He was injured. I am stronger."

"The Darsian didn't spray Harper before then was going to spray you."

"I am Nietzschean."

"I am aware of that fact." Andromeda clipped.

"I am better suited to survive Darsian toxin." He tore Harper's shirt and felt his ribs.

"I have ordered a stretcher."

"Order a self diagnostic!"

"I did what Harper would have wanted! He could have gotten into the access tube but he ... He made his choice."

Tyr was quiet for a moment, considering the ship's anger in defense of her engineer. "Why?"

Andromeda hesitated then chose to interoperate the question as Harper would. "We found tampering in my environmental, that is ... when he attacked.

"He was caught. He never would have been able to escape once he attacked. But I could only read him visually. He could have left and I wouldn't have seen him. Why attack?"

"Environmentals?"

Harper groaned as Tyr touched a completely broken rib.

"Sshh." Tyr soothed gently.

"The stretcher is here." The doors opened and two droids entered.

"What was he after in the system?"

She paused a moment. "Security over ride. He had started to open atmospheric contaminants." She awed.

Tyr eased Harper on to the stretcher. "The Jaguar. If the Darsian had released a toxin into the system ... How is the saboteur."

"Frozen solid." She smiled. "Harper suggested sealing the room and spraying liquid hydrogen. It worked very well."

Tyr approved of her satisfied tone. "Collect his head was venom analysis."

"And the body?"

"Search it for any additional toxin then ... there are fish in hydroponics are there not?"

"Yes, there are." She nodded with a slow smile.

Once Harper was in Med deck, under Trance's care Tyr turned to the hologram and glared. "Now perform a diagnostic on yourself." he snapped. "Harper is an engineer not a combat soldier. I am faster, stronger, healthier. You should not have presumed to know his thoughts."

"All right, that's enough." Dylan stepped forward but Andromeda placed her hologram squarely in front of Tyr.

"Do you think he can enter my matrix and I wouldn't learn his thoughts and feeling?" She snapped harshly. "I will do a self diagnostic but remember this, I was designed, programmed, to work for, to serve, my Captain, but I work with my engineers. That I only have one makes the bond that much stronger. Do you think I wanted to let Harper get sprayed? Do you think I want to see him suffer?" She flickered in outrage then regained control. "He is my engineer. I did want he would have wanted me to do. I helped him save you."

There was a long silence as Tyr and Andromeda glared at each other then the doors opened and a droid entered carrying the still frozen head of the saboteur.

"What the ..." Dylan gasped.

"There are six other Darsians on board." Andromeda stated casually. "Fish food or space debris?"

"V-deck." Dylan ordered as he starred at the two.

"Okay, " Beka moved closer. "You two, separate corners. You can fight it out later."

***

"What are you doing?"

"Oh, man, I gotta go."

"You are not getting out of that bed."

"Tyr, my bladder is ready to bust. All that water's got to go somewhere."

"Trance left a bed pan."

"Oh, no. No, please."

Tyr grinned and helped him to the wash room, then after a few minutes helped him back to bed.

"Ah, thanks man." Harper blushed.

Tyr nodded then was silent for a moment. "What you did was foolish. You could have died."

"Or you." Harper mumbled then yawned. "What?"

Tyr was still undecided, an appalling position. Annoyed with himself he leaned over and kissed the smaller man.

Harper gasped. "What are you doing?"

"I am making my feelings known." He answered as he cupped his cheek. "Rest, we will talk tomorrow."

Harper blushed and turned over to stare to the wall.

Most of the lights went out then the covers were fixed over him. "Rest."

"How did you find out?" He asked the darkened room.

"In your fever, you demonstrated that the evidence I took as fear was actually attraction."

"I was sick, you can't ... "

"I can. The fact that you are not arguing your interest confirms it."

Harper turned to look at him, sitting on the next bed. "You never showed any interest before."

"And risk be refused?" Tyr almost laughed. Casual interest had indeed become far more because of this event. He laid back in the bed.

"You're going to sleep here?"

"Someone needs to be here. Trance is exhausted and Beka is ... occupied. Dylan?" He snorted.

"Beka is occupied? The Jaguar,  Charlie is ... Beka's making it with the Jaguar Boss?"

Tyr stared at him for a moment then nodded only to smile at his laughter. "Rest now."

Harper groaned and held his head. "Laughing bad."

"Lay down." Tyr ordered and pressed him back.

"Tyr ... I ... thanks for staying." He blushed and turned over.

Tyr hesitated for a moment then went back to his bed and laid back to watch him sleep.

end.

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