Title: First Impressions

Author: Luz Maria

Fandom: Andromeda

Status: Complete

Rating: PG13 for Language

Archive: Ask first by e-mail at luzmaria8@att.net

Feedback: Would love it, please.

Disclaimer: Nope, not mine. Just playing with them…

Summary: One of the many stories out there that answers the question, so,

how did Beka meet Harper?

Beka Valentine stood leaning against the bar at the edge of the crowd and

waited. Her blonde hair, normally worn down, was tied back in a neat ponytail

and the silver sweater and leather skirt she wore was festive. Probably too

much, considering the dive she was waiting in now. The bar was dark and dingy,

with low lights constantly flashing on and off so you could barely see who you

are dancing with, and even for your standard space station fare the music was a

little too loud for her taste. Ancient earth "techno" music can be wonderful,

but not at this volume she thought.

'I'd be gone already if it weren't for my broken slipstream drive,' she thought.

'Now where the fuck is that nightsider Rev recommended?' Beka took a long sip

from the wine she ordered at the bar (what they called wine, anyway) and looked

around the place with a frown. She hated traveling and she hated salvage runs,

she really did. But she was trying to get her sick father out of debt. Again.

And her brother Rafe's little scams weren't helping her any. His latest one,

which involved disguising oneself as an officer from the Free Trade Alliance in

an effort to get past customs easier, didn't sit well with her. He'd been gone

on this latest scam for almost six months now, longer than he usually is.

About the only thing going well in her life was Rev Bem, a Wayist monk she

hired. His advice in the past couple of years, and his resistance to his natural

urges as a Magog in order to follow the teaches of the Anointed, earned her

respect and made Beka realize that she couldn't spend the rest of her life

pulling the con on everyone she met like her dad and brother have. Rev Bem was

more than a monk and her science officer. He'd become her friend. No, this

Valentine was going to do something respectful with her life. Even if it meant

salvage runs for the rest of her life.

'Ok, if that son of a bitch nightsider doesn't show up to fix my drive by the

time I finish my drink, I'm bailing.' She took another long sip from her wine

and watched the crowd. A group of Perseids were huddled around a dirty table in

one corner, looking unusually paranoid, in heated discussion. Most of the rest

of the crowd were humans and a few Than dancing to the music. Beka signed and

took a third sip. She didn't notice the mudfoot approached her until he actually

spoke.

"Hey babe, wanna dance?"

Beka turned to the man. He was her height, with a small build, dark blonde hair

and blue eyes. He looked no more than nineteen or twenty to her, but mudfoots

always look a little bit underdeveloped than their actual years. He was carrying

a knapsack that seemed to hold the contents of his life in it. His clothes were

neat and clean, but obviously worn from months, if not years of use. This one

looked as if he'd been around the galaxy a few times and been treated like shit

in the process. "No thanks, I'm waiting for someone."

"You've been standing here a long time, doll. I think that someone has finally

arrived." He smiled at her.

'He must be joking,' she thought. 'I don't have time for this shit.' "Look,

ah..."

"The name's Seamus, babe. Seamus Harper, Genius Extraordinaire."

"Look Seamus, I'm waiting to meet someone to do a job for me, and unless you can

fix a slipstream drive I'd like you to leave me alone now, ok?" Beka turned away

from the young man and eyed the crowd again.

"Blondie, slipstream drives are my specialty." Seamus looked very smug, like a

kid standing at a food replicator who just ordered a hot fudge sundae the size

of a watermelon. Seeing how thin this poor guy was, he actually could use a few

of those in him right about now.

"I'm serious, Mr. Harper. I need a pro, not a self proclaimed handy man."

The smile disappeared from Seamus' face. Looking slightly insulted, he said to

Beka, "So am I. Look, you need help with your drive, right? Well, I got off

Earth two years ago because I have this knack for fixing anything you can throw

at me. I've been the engineer on at least six or seven ships and I got a few

names right here in this bar you can check with for references if you don't

believe me. Trust me Miss..."

"Valentine."

"Miss Valentine, I can fix your drive. In fact, since you are so beautiful, I'll

do it for free. All I ask for is a date." He winked at her.

Beka finally finished her drink. No nightsider, great. Thanks a lot. Another

wasted night at this station unless... Oh, what the hell, how dangerous can this

kid be?

"You know what, Mr. Harper? If you can fix my drive, I'll give you something

better than a date."

"Oh yeah? What's that?" Seamus' expression suddenly looked hopeful and he leaned

in close to Beka.

"I'll give you a job. My engineer just quit on me a couple of weeks ago, and if

you are half as good as you are boasting, I could use the help."

Seamus thought for a second. "Ok then, you show me your drive, I'll show you

what I can do with it." He gave her a slight leer.

Beka rolled her eyes. This was gonna be a long night, she just knew it.

"Let's go."

*****************

The Eureka Maru was a small tubular ship, really dark and really old. Harper

followed the attractive blonde to her ship with a grin. 'I'll just tinker with

the drive, chat her up, maybe get a little... uh... action, I mean, hey, she is

hot, and be on my way. Same old, same old.' He waited for her to open up the

hatchway. "So, uh, where did you find this dump?"

Beka looked at Harper as she keyed in the code for the hatchway to open. "I was

born here. It's my home."

Whoops. "Oh, it's..."

"A dump. But it's at least my dump. I took over after my dad got sick. We had a

crew of three but one of them is gone for medical reasons. The other, my science

officer, is a Wayist monk. Come on, you'll meet him shortly." She led the way

into the ship.

The Maru's interior was almost as dark on the inside than the outside. It seemed

small, but relatively well kept despite it's age. It was homey and the blonde

was comfortable with her surroundings.

"Rev, put something decent on. We've got company."

Harper heard a deep but pleasant sounding voice nearby. "I'll be right there,

Beka. I'm in the middle of prayer."

Harper looked around. "Which way is engineering?"

"In the back. Want some coffee first?" Beka filled two mugs with hot water.

"Sure that would be..." Harper's eyed widened in shock and he began to shake his

head slowly. A huge Magog in a red robe emerged behind Beka and was walking

slowly towards them. 'Omigod, he's gonna kill her' he thought.

Beka blinked and turned around. "Oh, hi Rev."

"Tha... that's the monk?" Harper swayed a little on his feet.

"Yes. He's a..."

Harper fainted.

*****************

Beka watched as the young man rested fitfully on the spare bunk. "I didn't think

to tell him, Rev. I mean, even I forget sometimes."

Rev nodded and looked to the man with concern. "I understand the man's fear. If

he is a mudfoot as you say, then his contact with my kind would have been

unpleasant to say the least. He may not even be aware that some of us now follow

The Way."

Beka nodded and applied a cool compress to Harper's head. "Think he'll be

alright?"

"Possibly. Maybe it would be best if I left the ship while the young man made

repairs."

"No, don't do that, Rev." Beka stood and faced her friend. "I offered him a job

as the new engineer if he can fix the drive. He needs to be used to your

presence."

Harper stirred and moaned slightly. He opened his eyes and looked at both Beka

and Rev. Then he shivered with an expression of fear and disgust. "Shit, I

wasn't dreaming."

Beka smiled at the man. "I'm sorry, I should have warned you that Rev is a

converted Magog."

"I didn't know Magogs could be." Harper sat up and looked at Beka, still afraid

of the Magog. "Is he really harmless?"

"Trust me, Mr. Harper, you are safer around him than you are around me. Rev

won't so much as eat a tuna sandwich because the fish would have to be killed

prior to preparation. Isn't that right Rev?"

Rev Bem nodded. "Part of being is Wayist is to become a vegetarian. The whole

idea is to respect life for what it is. Any... protein requirements I need I

satisfy in a modified ovo-lacto diet." Rev extended a clawed hand to Harper.

"Welcome aboard Master..."

"Harper." Harper hesitated for a moment before taking his hand. "I'm sorry I

fainted back there. I'm used to..."

"I understand the reaction, Master Harper, believe me." Rev smiled at the young

man and Harper winced slightly.

Beka shrugged. "Now that that's settled... would you like to take a look at my

drive now?"

"Show the doctor his patient." Harper got up and followed Beka down a level and

to the back of the Maru to engineering.

******************

Harper looked around him as he surveyed engineering. Whomever had the job before

him kept the place a mess, even by an engineer's standards. There were tools all

over the floor in front of the slipstream drive, almost as if someone left in

haste. The former engineer's jacket still hung in one corner of the room.

"Somebody wasn't very neat about his job."

Beka shrugged. "Our prior engineer suffered a bad spell after exposure to

radiation from the drive. There's a leak but I've not been able to fix it."

Harper looked a bit confused. "But exposure to slipstream radiation shouldn't

cause a person to leave their job..."

"It can if the person is addicted to flash and his immunity is slightly reduced

due to malnutrition." Beka made a face. "Think you can fix the drive?"

Harper looked around a bit at the drive. "I think so. Hand me that nanowelder,

will ya?"

Beka passed Harper the nanowelder and he got to work on sealing the leak. Once

the leak was sealed Harper removed a damaged booster and began to tinker with

it. Beka watched him for a while as he took it apart, cleaned it, repaired a

broken washer, put it back together, and reinstalled it. "That's one down," he

said. "Three more to go. I should be done in a couple of hours, but this drive

is pretty old. You're gonna have to replace it eventually, or need to have

someone constantly maintain it until you get a new one."

Beka nodded and continued to watch the man. "I'm hoping the next salvage run

will earn enough for that."

Harper looked up at Beka. "You do salvage runs? That's dangerous work."

Beka shrugged. "It's a living. And an honest one."

"How did you meet... uh..."

"Rev? It's a long story. Let's just say that I needed to get away for a while

from the Maru and I kind of fell in his lap. When it was time to come home, I

brought Rev with me."

Harper nodded and finished cleaning the second booster. This one didn't need to

be fixed. He reinstalled it as Beka walked away from him and was working on the

third when Beka returned with two steaming cups of coffee. Handing one to Harper

she said, "Hope you take it black."

"You can tell." Harper took a sip. "This is almost done. So when do I get my

date?"

"A date? I told you, if you fix the drive, you'd get a job." Beka tilted her

head to one side.

"A job huh? And how often do you get to do salvage runs?"

"A couple of times a year. You'd get a salary, plus commission, room and board.

All I ask is that you do your job and treat everyone else on board with

respect."

Harper leaned against the drive and rubbed his chin, looking at Beka. A job

would be nice. His luck with the ladies has been a little lacking lately and

maybe something stable, like another job, would help with that. He looked over

Beka. She seemed pretty put together, and if she can live with a Magog and not

get eaten, she must be a piece of work. "I'm in."

"Welcome aboard Seamus."

"Call me Harper, Boss. I never liked Seamus." He smiled at his new captain and

got back to work.

--End --