By Erin_Cale
Disclaimer: See first part.
***
Dylan entered the Machine shop, not quite knowing what to expect. However, he wasn’t prepared for what he found inside. Kathryn and Harper were on their backs underneath the generator. They appeared to be talking, laughing, and having a generally good time. Dylan had to fight off a sudden wave of jealousy as he saw Harper’s hand accidentally brush against Kathryn’s arm in search of a tool.
Being polite, Dylan coughed. From underneath the generator, he heard a bang and a muffled curse, mixing with the sound of Kathryn chuckling. When the two of them got out, Dylan noticed that both were in need of a bath. They had smudges of various things on them and Harper had a screw caught in his hair. Kathryn seemed to notice the screw at the same time as Dylan and nudged Harper in a friendly manner.
“I think you have something in your hair.”
Harper placed his hand on top of his head, searching for the offending object. When he found it he muttered, “Crap. Not again.” He turned and walked behind the generator so that nobody would have to watch him as he tried to tug the screw loose from his hair.
Kathryn turned her gaze back to Dylan. “Hi.”
“Hi.” Dylan promptly forgot what he had come to ask. “Uh- I, um...”
Kathryn smiled and chuckled softly. “Did you come down here to ask me something?”
“Uh, yeah. But I, uh, forgot what it was.” Dylan could feel his cheeks reddening with embarrassment. He needed to get help. First the comment about “checking the figure” with Beka, now he had forgotten what he wanted to ask Kathryn. What was his problem?
“Okay. Do you want me to wait while you try to think of it or will you think better if I go back to work on the generator?”
Somewhere in a dark corner of Dylan’s mind, Jiminy Cricket cleared away some spider webs. “I remember now! I wanted to ask you if you knew anything about a being that cannot be detected by my ship but a bright flash came right before and right after his arrival.”
“Sounds like Q. Where was this?” Kathryn asked, immediately serious.
“Trance’s quarters.”
“Is she all right?”
“Yes,” Dylan answered suspiciously. “Why wouldn’t she be?”
“Because sometimes Qs don’t know their own powers. So sometimes the person is either physically affected or emotionally.” Kathryn gave him a crooked smile. “Or both.”
“Oh. Well, Trance is fine. Andromeda told me that Trance talked to the Q in a language that Andromeda couldn’t translate and that Trance seemed vary frustrated when the being left.”
“Qs often have that effect on people.”
“Got it!” came a cry from behind the generator. The cry was then followed by a loud thud and more muffled curses. When Harper finally appeared he explained, “I got the screw loose but in tugging it out I slipped and fell to the floor.” Dylan and Kathryn started laughing. “What?!” Dylan gestured to a spot on his face, indicating that Harper had something on his own. Harper pulled out a piece of metal and shined it until he was able to see his face. When he saw his reflection, he muttered something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like “And the day hasn’t ended yet.” For there was a huge rust-orange stripe across his forehead.
Dylan turned back to his companion as Harper retreated back behind the generator again. “How close are you to finishing?”
“Pretty close. We’ve got about thirty more minutes of work to do on it.”
“Okay. Then I’ll meet you right outside the Machine shop in a half hour.”
Kathryn smiled again. “You got it.”
***