Sweets for the Sweet
By ElJay
"There ya go, Doll-face. Good as new and twice as lovely." Harper grinned as he said it, knowing that she loved compliments. Name a lady that didn't, and warship or not, Andromeda was all lady. Granted, most ladies didn't find a new sensor array a real turn-on, but she wasn't just any lady.
"Hmm. I think this might turn out better than I anticipated. Did you manage to boost the gain? The specs said 12,000 kilometers, but I swear I'm picking up Beta Draconis and that's 13,500 and change. That pulsar has a very distinctive pattern; I'd know it anywhere."
Yep, Harper mused, she sounded pleased, so he preened just a little. "Yeah, I tweaked it a little. The basic design was good, but there were a couple of research papers last year about quantum divergences and pattern recognition ... it just seemed like the designers hadn't kept up with the tech. You like?"
The statuesque image nodded, then smiled back at him. "Very much, but I think you had better disconnect now; you've been in here for several hours and you know Rev Bem told you not to overextend yourself."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah! We don't want the kids to get restless. Whatever. Ok, I'll be a good boy and go home now. Night Rom-Doll."
He pulled the jack out of his neck, straightened up from his comfortable slouch in the corner of the machine shop, and opened his eyes to find Dylan standing in front of him ... right in front of him. He squawked and fell off the stool.
"Crap, Dylan, don't do that! How long have you been standing there, anyhow?" Harper took the offensive so the other man wouldn't have time to notice how his knees were shaking as he picked himself up.
"Oh, I've been here long enough to know you've been in there," he gestured at the interface port, "Too long. It's past midnight and you haven't eaten yet. C'mon, I think we can scare up a late night snack, if you're interested."
"Nah. No thanks, I'm good. Think I'll turn in. Tomorrow's another busy day." He faked a yawn and a stretch that fooled neither of them, and ushered the Captain out of the shop so he could ostensibly get ready for bed. He actually did sprawl out on the bunk, but sleep was still far away. He folded his arms behind his head and stared at the ceiling for a while, instead.
"He's worried about you. They all are." Rommie's holo-image stood beside his left hip, looking as worried as she said the others were. Her voice was soft with concern.
"I know. Thing is Darlin' they're worried about the wrong stuff. They're trying to keep me from dyin', I know that. But I only really feel alive when I'm with you. The more they try to protect me, the deader I am. When I'm inside you; in the VR matrix, in your conduits, your circuits, wherever, that's the only time I can forget .... I need to forget sometimes. I want to forget ... everything but you."
They talked for a long time before he finally dropped off. She stayed for a long time afterward, just watching him.
* * *
"Mr. Harper! Harper, can you hear me? Mr. Harper, report." Hunt was becoming more agitated by the minute. "Andromeda, locate Mr. Harper."
"Dylan, calm down. He's fine. He's just ... taking a short nap. I'll make sure he goes to see Trance when he wakes up, but for now, he's fine. See for yourself."
The main viewer changed from Andromeda's sedate features to display a small, disheveled figure curled into a neat little ball, sleeping peacefully in a corner of conduit J-27, his head pillowed on his jacket, a rare smile touching his pale lips.
The Captain looked even more concerned, this time about his ship's AI. "Are you sure that doesn't ... bother you? That he's 'sleeping' with you after a fashion? It seems kind of creepy."
"No. I think it's sweet. Just like he is."
The End
To ElJay's Fan Fiction
Home