TITLE: A Mother's Love
AUTHOR: player
CATEGORY: Action/Adventure
RATING: R: Language, graphic violence, and sexual situations
SPOILERS: Season 1, and Season 2 up to OOTM
SUMMARY: How far will a mother go to protect her child?
DISCLAIMER: I don't own the characters, and you know the rest.
ARCHIVING: If you want it, ask me first.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is a sequel to my previous fanfic "Going Home?" and a certain razor-toothed vorlag makes an appearance as well. I started writing this fic way before the LGM Trilogy and DMD aired, and I had no idea what TPTB were going to do in those episodes so this is just my version of what could've ended.
Thank you, Sharon, for inspiring me to write this fic. And thanks to 13thNight and Aleria for being my wonderful Beta Readers.
*******: Indicates flashback.
A Mother's Love
"This sucks," sighed Natalie as she threw herself onto her bed in the cell she had moved into. It had been just over two weeks since she was brought on board the massive leviathan, and she had spent nearly every, waking, moment learning about Moya's systems. Or at least was trying to learn. The technology she saw was amazing, and nothing like she had ever seen before. It was nothing like anyone from Earth, with the exception of John, had ever seen before, or had even dreamt of before. When John and Aeryn had first told her they were going to teach her about Moya's systems so she could eventually help out, she had been thrilled, but frightened at the prospect. She thought that after a few days she would understand some of the technology she saw, and maybe start to pull some of her own weight. But after more than week of learning, she still had no idea of what was going on or how anything worked. The others were being patient with her, but some of them still thought she was an idiot. She was starting to feel like one too.
'Well, at least they trust me. Somewhat,' Natalie thought. She thought that after what McDaniel, who had come through the wormhole with her from Earth to this side of the Universe, did to them, that at least one of them would have thrown her out of an air lock by now, but they hadn't. With the exception of John and Aeryn they mostly stayed away from her, which was understandable because McDaniel's actions had practically cost everyone their lives. But what surprised her was the fact that Rygel didn't trust her, which was strange considering what he did for her. Or, maybe he did trust her, just not around the food. Having another mouth to feed was the one thing he had been bitching about since she had been stranded in the UT's. He even suggested that they not allow her to eat because of the problems she caused.
A few days ago while she was working with John in one of Moya's access shafts she had accidentally caused a rupture in one of Moya's iriscentent fluid tanks, and ruined her clothing. She managed to repair the broken tank, well, actually, John repaired it while she watched, but they lost most of the fluid, which was why they were on their way to a commerce planet. And with John's help she found some new clothes, a dark gray shirt, black trousers, and black boots. She was thankful that they had found clothes for her to wear because she didn't want to have to walk around Moya naked, but they itched like hell, so sometimes she thought walking around naked wasn't such a bad idea. She talked to Zhaan about it and the crew's resident doctor was able to make something for her, but it only helped a little so she was still scratching.
She felt something digging into her back that she hadn't felt before because of her exhaustion. She reached behind her to scratch her back thinking it was the shirt she wore, but instead she felt the tape recorder that John had given her a few days ago, along with several tapes. He told her if she ever wanted to talk to someone, but couldn't talk to him or one of the others, to use the tape recorder to make messages for people she cared about back on Earth. She accepted his gift, but she hadn't used it since she didn't have the time. She pulled it out from behind her and really looked at it for the first time, and noticed how worn the logo was and how many scratches were on it. She figured John must have used it often, but she wondered if he used it so much, then why had he given it to her? That was something she had to ask him, but as long as she had it she might as well use it like he said.
She knew immediately whom she wanted to record a message for and pressed the record button, bringing the recorder to her lips. "Hi, Jason," she started. "I know this is crazy. I mean you'll never actually get this, but I'm putting to use some good advice someone gave me." She pushed the stop button trying to fight back the tears that were threatening to spill over. After a few minutes, she regained her composure and brought the recorder back to her lips. When she pushed record, she heard a very loud moan coming from the quarters down the corridor that the microphone was sure to have picked up. "That's it, I'm getting new quarters," she quickly said into the recorder as she tried to sit up, but immediately fell back down. "Tomorrow," Grant added, then turned off the recorder, and fell into a much-needed slumber.
###
John was having the best dream of his life. He dreamt that he had gone back to Earth, and that he had a hero's homecoming with a tickertape parade. But the best part was that Aeryn had followed him, and was now living with him on Earth. He was at his dad's house in Florida, and had been celebrating Memorial Day weekend. He was in the backyard barbequing shrimps, T-bone steaks, and baby-back ribs with his sisters, and his Dad and DK were inside with Aeryn watching the Winston Cup race in Charlotte. Well, they weren't exactly watching. His Dad and DK were trying to explain stock car racing to Aeryn, but the more they tried to explain the more confused she got. Just as he was about to marinate the ribs with his grandmother's homemade barbeque sauce he thought he heard the distinct sound of water running in the shower.
He woke up to find himself in a bed with a shower running not too far from him, and a strange humming sound. He wondered how drunk he had been the night before to end up in this strange place, but the memories of the past cycle and half came rushing back. He remembered everything, and groaned when he remembered what he had been put through. But he also remembered what had happened just a few arns ago, and cracked a huge smile at the memories of what he and Aeryn had shared. Every moan was like music to his ears, and every touch had set him on fire. His smile grew larger as he thought of her standing in his shower with Moya's cleansing fluids cascading down her body. His reverie broke as the water turned off. He opened his eyes and turned his head to see the love of his life standing naked in front of the wall with her back to him. He eyed her tattoos, short braids, and tentacles.
He wondered what the hell was going on as she turned around. His eyes widened in horror as the realization that she was actually he, and that he just happened to be D'Argo. "Good morning, big boy," D'Argo purred as he slowly crawled onto the bed and on top of John, then leaned down to give him a kiss.
John woke with a start and quickly sat up breathing heavily with sweat covering his body. He immediately looked to his side and saw Aeryn Sun who had woken up when he did, and was thankfully still the female of her species. "What's wrong? What is it?" she said with concern for her tortured lover as she sat up, and protectively wrapped her arms around his waist.
"Huh?" he said as he looked at her then shook his head to get rid of the last remnants of sleep. "Oh, it's uh, it's nothing, I'm alright. I just had a bad dream, a very bad dream."
"Do you want to talk about it?"
That got his attention, and he looked at her with amazement. He thought he would never hear her ask him that, but she had changed in the cycle and a half since that fateful day on the Commerce Planet where he told her she could be more. Love can do that to people, whether they're Sebacean, or Delvian, or Luxan, or Human. Love can change people for the better, and sometimes for the worse, but in this case it was definitely for the better because now she would openly show that she cared about him. "Well?" she said as she grinned at the expression on his face.
"Actually, um," John paused then shifted uncomfortably as he remembered his dream. Why is it that you always remember nightmares, and always forget the good dreams, he thought as his mind wandered. "Actually, Aeryn, I'd rather not. It's not something any guy would want to talk about," he said getting back to the subject at hand. He shifted uncomfortably under her gaze hoping she'd understand because he really didn't want to explain his dream about D'Argo to her.
"Alright, if you don't think you need to," she said then tenderly kissed him as they sank back down onto the bed. She laid her head on his chest with a contented sigh, and thought about all they had to do before they arrived at the Commerce Planet. She didn't want to get up, but they did have a lot of work to do. "We should get up now. We only have a few arns to do the maintenance on the transport pod before we reach the Commerce Planet."
"Yeah, we should get up now" he said then softly kissed the top of her head. "But I really don't want to right now."
"Neither do I," she teased reaching under the sheets to stroke him, showing him just what she meant.
"Then I'm glad we're in agreement." He smiled and rolled on top of her, and gave her a very erotic kiss.
###
D'Argo sat alone on his bed just staring at nothing as he had every night for the past weeken and a half. It was at night when he missed Chiana the most, but he wouldn't do anything about it. His honor wouldn't allow him to do anything about it. In his mind she had betrayed him by having sex with McDaniel, and because she betrayed him she would no longer be a part of his life. She had tried to explain why she did what she did, and she tried to tell him that she did feel sorry about it, but he wouldn't listen. He didn't want to listen because if he did he might have taken her back, and in his mind if he did take her back he would have no honor.
He tried to keep his mind off of Chiana by focusing on finding his son, Jothee, but Chiana was always there in the back of his mind even when he tried to forget her. Of course, the fact that John and Aeryn had finally started to mate wasn't helping any.
He heard their sounds of pleasure coming from down the corridor, and cursed because it was the second time in the last four arns he had to go through listening to them. And smelling them. He was the only one onboard who could smell the scents they were making with their mating, and he hated every microt of it. When they finally did start to mate a part of him had been happy for them just like the rest of the crew, well, except for Rygel. As usual, he just bitched about it. But a part of D'Argo hated them for it. He hated them because they reminded him of what he and Chiana had, and they had reminded him over and over every single night since they had started sharing a bed. So he just sighed when he heard another moan, and hung his head muttering "Hezmana, don't those two ever sleep?"
###
Natalie took in her surrounding with awe, and thought, 'this is a Commerce Planet?' When John had told her about Commerce Planets, she was not expecting what she saw at all. As soon as Moya had gone into orbit the first thing that Natalie had noticed was that there were thousands of other ships of different designs circling the planet. Aeryn had piloted the transport pod with John in the co-pilot's seat, and Natalie watched their every move hoping that they would teach her how to fly the craft. She was the last to step out of the pod following John and Aeryn, whom she was told to stay with while Zhaan accompanied Chiana and D'Argo kept an eye on Rygel. Natalie was immediately floored by what she saw. There were spacecraft taking off from everywhere weaving in between buildings that were hundreds of stories high. The Commerce Planet was the most incredible place she had ever seen.
It was the first time she had been on another planet, and she was more excited now than she had ever been. She never dreamed of seeing the many different types of aliens that were there. Every once in awhile, when she would see something that caught her eye, she would stop to look, but a few seconds later would be pulled away by either John or Aeryn. Her curiosity kept getting the better of her, and she kept forgetting that Scorpius was hunting the crew. But that was Natalie. She knew her curiosity would end up causing trouble sooner or later, and from what John had told her about the Uncharted Territories, trouble would come more likely sooner than later.
She glanced at a large ball of fur, and assumed that it had just come off of a very large animal. A slight movement from the fur caught her eye, and peaked her curiosity into dangerous levels: levels that were very dangerous for her, and her new crewmates. She walked up to it and reached out to try to touch it, but it moved some more, making Natalie stop right in her tracks. When she stopped, it raised its head, and looked right at her, baring his razor sharp teeth.
"His name's Lari. He's a razor toothed vorlag," the vendor said from behind her, startling her. She turned around to look at the vender, and saw that he was a young Sebacean in his early teens. "He's perfectly harmless so you can pet him if you want to." Natalie turned around, and crouched cautiously, reaching out to scratch the vorlag behind his ear. She smiled when he pressed his head against her palm, silently asking her to continue, and she did. "But he's not for sale."
"No, I didn't think he was," she said as stopped scratching the vorlag, and got up from her position on the ground. "Besides, I don't have anything to trade, and I doubt my friends..." She frantically turned around looking down one side of the street then the other trying to find John and Aeryn. "Oh, shit. Where the hell'd they go?"
John and Aeryn were walking along one of the many streets of the overcrowded planet, hand in hand, not paying attention to where they were supposed to be going, and not paying attention to what they were doing. "Where'd she go?" John blurted out once he noticed that Natalie wasn't with them anymore.
"She's right..." Aeryn said as she turned around and took her hand out of John's grasp looking for Grant. "Where is she?"
"She was right behind us."
"You lost her? Great, just frelling great, I knew we should've left her on Moya. She's just like you used to be." Aeryn said looking at him then stomped off back the way they came letting everyone in her path know, with the look on her face, that she was very pissed off. She activated her comms and yelled, "D'Argo, Zhaan, Chiana, Crichton lost Grant. We need you to help us look for her."
"I lost her? Whadda 'ya mean I lost?" he yelled as he ran to catch up with Aeryn.
Chiana and Zhaan looked at each other knowingly at yet another argument between the 'happy couple', and also knowing from past experience with John that Natalie would get separated from them. "With how much the two of them frell, you'd think they'd get passed arguing."
"Chiana," Zhaan scolded.
"What? It's not like you weren't thinking the same thing," Chiana shot back defensively.
Exasperatedly, Zhaan brought her comms up to her mouth. "Where did you last see Natalie, Aeryn?" she said with her usual calm demeanor.
"She was with us while we were walking along the food stands."
"Well, I say we leave her. It would mean one less mouth to feed, and more food for me," Rygel bitched while twiddling his fingers. Everyone rolled their eyes and let out exasperated sighs.
D'Argo activated his comms while staring daggers at Rygel who had gone back to negotiating for some more jewels. "We'll work our way there, and try to look for her. Let's go, Your Lowness," D'Argo said and grabbed Rygel's thronesled, dragging him away from the jewelry stand.
"Hey! Just what the frell do you mean I lost her?" John said as he grabbed Aeryn's arm and spun her around. "If I recall, we were both supposed to be watching her so don't you dare put all of this on me."
She pulled her arm out of John's grasp and shot back. "If you hadn't been distracting me then none of this would have happened in the first place."
"Distracting you? Just what the frell..." he stopped, and brought his hand up to rub his eyes then hooked his thumbs in his belt and looked at her tiredly. "We really don't have time for this so let's just find Natalie, and THEN we'll talk once we're back on Moya."
"Agreed," she said as she turned, and stalked off.
John sighed as he watched her walk away, and tiredly shook his head. 'Sometimes talking to her is like trying to talk to a pulse rifle,' he thought and ran to catch up with her.
Natalie had absolutely no idea where she was. All of the narrow and crowded streets looked the same to her, and she was starting to panic. She looked down a side street not paying attention to where she was going, and accidentally walked into something large. "What the..." she mumbled then looked up to find that she had just walked into someone with a very large tattoo on the right side of his face, and a strange mark on his brow. She looked around him, and saw that he wasn't alone. There were at least eight other guys with him all with tattoos, and the same weird mark in between their eyebrows. They had really bad teeth too. "Uh oh."
As the leader of the gang looked down at her a sadistic grin started to grow on his face, "Hey look at this. It's a Sebacean trelk."
"Whoa, hey, I'm not a Sebacean, alright? Now I'm sorry for bumping into you so I'll just be on my way, okay?" Natalie said backing away from the guy who was licking his lips, and grinning like a madman. He suddenly reached out and grabbed her hair then pulled her head back, and gave her a harsh kiss. She struggled against him, and tried to push him away but he was too strong. He forced his tongue into her mouth, and fondled one of her breasts while his men watched and laughed. She hoped that one of the "people" who were walking by would stop to help, but all they did was watch for a few seconds then walk away.
"Let her go you son of a hezmot," Natalie heard coming from behind her a few yards away. She immediately recognized the voice as D'Argo's, and relaxed somewhat since at least one of her crewmates was there.
"Big Ugly", as Natalie started to call him, looked up to see who was interrupting him, and saw that a Luxan warrior was pointing his rifle at him. But he also saw that the Luxan wasn't alone. There was a Hynerian with him. In fact it was the same Hynerian he had beat in a game of Tardec on a pregnant leviathan. "I remember you Hynerian. Because of you we spent five monens searching for nothing."
"Five monens? Kcrackic, you yotz, you're an even bigger idiot than I gave you credit for," Rygel yelled before going into a fit of laughter. Even D'Argo had to smirk when Rygel said that.
The people standing at nearby stands were watching the scene play out before their eyes, and sensing that it was going to get worse before it got better, started to scatter all around the pirates and the three members of Moya's crew who were there. Some of the people even ran in between the two sides, and right into D'Argo's line of fire. When John and Aeryn rounded a corner they saw the scattering shoppers, and gave each other a knowing look. They drew their pulse pistols, and used the crowds to their advantage to flank the Zenetan Pirates who held their shipmate hostage.
"Because of you, Hynerian, and that Delvian bitch of yours, we are lost, I lost Staanz, and I also lost one of my best men," Kcrackic said as he roughly raised Natalie, and placed one hand on her chin and the other behind her head ready to snap her neck. "So maybe I should take one of yours."
"Well, if you're going to do that, could you at least take a breath mint first? Your bad breath is not the last thing I wanna be smelling before I die," Natalie said as she scrunched up her face. That remark only caused "Big Ugly" to tighten his grip on her. Natalie knew saying that was really stupid, but she couldn't help herself; she just had to say it. She kept telling herself that the others were going to get her out of the tight spot she found herself in, and tried to quell her fears. She was doing a pretty good job of it, but not as good a job as she hoped because she saw that D'Argo knew she was afraid.
"Say goodbye to your friend, Hynerian," Kcrackic said as he tightened his grip even more, and moved his arms to snap her neck. Time seemed to slow down and Natalie saw her life flash before her eyes. She wished she had the chance to say goodbye to her friends, her parents and brothers, and especially Jason. She looked through the crowd that was passing in front of her, and glanced at Zhaan and Chiana who had just arrived and stood behind D'Argo. She then looked right into D'Argo's eyes, and silently pleaded with him to shoot her personal Grim Reaper.
"Don't even think about it. Not unless you want me to turn your head into a canoe," John said from a few yards to the side of where Natalie and Kcrackic were standing. She turned her head slightly to see that John was holding a pulse pistol on Big Ugly, and another pistol on a guy behind them. Aeryn pointed her pistol at the group of pirates, ready to shoot anyone that moved. Kcrackic saw John and Aeryn, guns leveled at his group, long coats catching in the wind, and slightly loosened his grip on Natalie, but didn't let her go.
"Now let her go," John said sternly as he looked into Kcrackic's eyes, and tried to intimidate him. All Kcrackic did was stand there, and stare at John. John fired a warning shot that grazed the Zenetan's ear, and burned it causing Kcrackic to flinch in pain. "I said let her go, because if you don't the next time it'll be your eye instead of your ear."
Kcrackic did as John said thinking that the two standing to his side were Peacekeepers, and released Natalie from his death grip.
"Natalie, c'mon," John said while still looking at Kcrackic, and pointing his pistol at him and his subordinate. Natalie wanted to go over to John, but she felt she had to do something first. She turned around to face Big Ugly (or Kcrackic as she had learned but she still preferred Big Ugly) and looked him right in the eye when he turned his head to face her. As hard as she could she kneed him in his crotch. His eyes went wide with shock before the pain finally registered in his brain, and he doubled over in pain moaning and screaming as loud as he could. All the males who saw what Natalie did flinched as if they were in pain themselves. Even John and D'Argo flinched knowing the kind of pain that Kcrackic was experiencing. Natalie stood over Big Ugly and admired her work with a triumphant smile before she turned around, and started to walk over to where John was. But because she had her back turned she couldn't see that Kcrackic had reached for his gun while he was still on the ground.
Fortunately for her, D'Argo did see it, and fired at Kcrackic. The blast hit him square in the stomach, and pushed him back into the legs of his men toppling them over. Natalie spun around to see what happened behind her when she heard the shot, and saw that Big Ugly's men had drawn their weapons and were starting to get up. "Aw, shit," she yelled and ran for cover behind a nearby booth. D'Argo took cover behind a pile of crates and barrels with Zhaan, Chiana, and Rygel ducking inside a booth as all hell broke loose, and the Zenetan Pirates started shooting at anything that moved.
One of Kcrackic's men tried to shoot at Aeryn, but before he could squeeze the trigger she shot him right between his eyes as she jumped back over a counter and into a booth with John right by her side, spraying the Zenetan's gray matter onto the pirate behind him. John and Aeryn both tucked and rolled as they landed, and tried to avoid rolling into anything inside it that might skewer them. They sat up and leaned up against the counter with dust and debris falling on them as the shots meant for them hit the opposite wall. "Ohhh, she just had to crack his nuts didn't she?" John asked loudly over the sound of gunfire going all around them, and the sound of pulse blasts ricocheting off the other side of the metal counter they were hiding behind
"She what?" Aeryn yelled back wondering just what the frell he was talking about.
"She...never mind, now's not the time," he yelled as he popped up and fired using both pistols at three pirates who were running along the booths on the other side of the street. He managed to hit one of them in the leg, but the other two jumped inside a booth avoiding the pulse fire. As Crichton was about to duck back down, another pirate who had taken up a position on top of one of the booths across the street fired at him. The pulse blast went between his legs and through his coat, but before the sniper had time to get off another shot, Aeryn popped up and killed him.
After John and Aeryn ducked back down, he took off his duster to inspect it, and mumbled "Frell. If that was a little higher..." he trailed off as he and Aeryn looked at each other not wanting to think about what might have happened. Then a pulse blast broke through the weakened metal of the counter they were hiding behind sending shrapnel into their bodies, and knocking them to the ground.
###
D'Argo popped up from his position behind the crates and raised his qualta blade, set to full power, to his shoulder, and fired at four of the pirates who were hiding two to each side of the inside of the entrance of a building. He shot the Zenetan who was kneeling on the right side of the entrance in the chest, and because his rifle was set to full power the blast went through the Zenetan's chest and hit the Pirate behind him or her (he couldn't tell, and didn't really care) in the groin knocking them back into the building and killed them both. After he shot those Zenetans, the other two opened fire, and he ducked back down. The Zenetan who was standing on the right motioned to move to the other side, but at the same time D'Argo stood up, took aim, and killed him. Before the pirate fell to the ground the remaining pirate stood up, and he and D'Argo aimed their weapons at each other. D'Argo looked at the Zenetan, and pulled the trigger but nothing happened. His eyes widened in shock as he remembered that the rifle had been on full power the entire time causing the charge to run out. D'Argo stood tall still looking at the pirate and still holding his rifle at the ready position waiting for the inevitable. The Zenetan smiled showing his rotted teeth, and pulled the trigger on his rifle.
Nothing happened.
The charge on the Zenetans rifle had run out as well, and his eyes widened as he realized that if he didn't do something the Luxan would kill him. So he did the only thing he could think of, he threw his rifle at the Luxan. D'Argo leaned to the right while converting his rifle back into a sword, and the rifle landed on the ground behind him with a thud. He looked at the Zenetan who had closed his eyes, and heaved his qualta blade at him. But instead of landing in the pirate's chest, the blade lodged itself in the wall right next to him. D'Argo sighed and cursed himself for not having better aim.
When the pirate heard the sound of the qualta blade hitting the wall he opened his eyes and grinned, diving for a rifle that belonged to one of his comrades. As soon as the pirate had motioned to move, D'Argo picked up one of the extremely heavy metal barrels that he had been hiding behind, and threw it at the Zenetan. As soon as the pirate picked up the rifle and aimed it at D'Argo, the barrel landed on top of him crushing his head underneath its immense weight. D'Argo moved out from behind his position and walked up to the wall pulling his qualta blade out of it.
An explosion coming from down the street had gained his attention, and he saw that two Zenetans were demolishing a booth. He assumed that John and Aeryn were inside it so he sheathed his sword and picked up one of the Zenetan's rifles, and ran as fast as he could to try to save his friends, hoping that he wasn't too late.
### The sounds of John's and Aeryn's coughing could be heard coming from the cloud of dust and smoke in the booth alerting the remaining Zenetans to the fact that the people they were shooting at were still alive. They started shooting at the booth once again.
Through the dissipating cloud John and Aeryn looked at each other coughing. When they heard the first shot they scrambled off the ground with their pistols and dived to either side of the booth, trying to avoid the pulse fire coming through the large hole in the counter. "You okay?" John yelled, looking through the pulse fire, and flinched as he pulled one of several large pieces of shrapnel from his left fore arm.
"No, I'm not okay!" Aeryn yelled back as she took off her coat, and found that several small pieces of metal had lodged themselves in her right arm as well.
"Well, neither am I," he yelled back, and with a look they both quickly stood up and let loose a barrage of pulse fire at the booth across the street. Out of the corner of their eyes they saw D'Argo coming down the street. When he was close enough to the action, D'Argo opened fire on the booth with the rifle he had taken. With D'Argo's added firepower the trio utterly destroyed the booth killing the two Zenetans inside.
###
Moya and Pilot were orbiting the Commerce Planet, content with their union awaiting the return of their crew and family with the vital fluids that the massive Leviathan so desperately needed if they were to continue running from Scorpius.
"Hey, Pilot?" John's tired question came through the comms.
"I am here Commander," he responded. He could tell from the exhaustion and pain in Crichton's voice that something bad had happened; something very bad.
"We ran into the Zenetan Pirates down here," he sighed. "And they were a little pissed at us because of what Rygel did to 'em."
"Is everyone alright?" Pilot nervously asked hoping for the best along with Moya.
"Yeah, we're all alright, but Aeryn and I caught some shrapnel. We found a medical technician and managed to lose the cops." Pilot's eyebrows shot up not understanding the word 'cops'. But he ignored it and decided to ask Crichton about it (along with a lot of other things) at a later time. Crichton continued, "He's working on Aeryn right now, and I'm up next. Rygel's going to work out a deal for payment, and hopefully we'll still have enough to buy the iriscentent fluid. It's going to be a few more arns so you and Moya sit tight."
"We will, as you say, sit tight, Commander," Pilot responded wondering just how many Earth expressions their human shipmate knew.
'Why does he always say things that no one can understand?' Moya asked through her bonding with Pilot.
'I do not know, but what is strange is that I find that I can understand some of his...unique sayings...' Pilot was about to continue, but was interrupted by an incoming message being broadcasted on all comms channel. Pilot put the signal on his 'clamshell' and he was not expecting what he saw.
"Attention, Leviathan Moya," the sneering leather clad face said. "I have your son the gunship, and Crais. If you do not wish to see your son destroyed, you will deliver John Crichton to me at the coordinates provided." Pilot gasped from the news that he had just heard, and shared the terror his life partner felt. "Once I have the wormhole technology that Crichton possesses, I will release the gunship and Crais. I expect you to be there with Crichton in four arns."
### "You didn't have a choice, John. If you hadn't killed them they would've killed us," Aeryn said when she noticed the expression on John's face. He nodded in acknowledgement but didn't say anything, and lay down on the table on his stomach with his head hanging to allow the technician to cut away his shirt and remove the shrapnel from his back while Aeryn was carefully putting on a gray shirt. She knew he still had a problem with killing even if he didn't have a choice, but the way he had closed himself off afterwards scared her. He hadn't gotten over the fact that he had caused McDaniel's death, and killing the Zenetans was only making him worse because he kept everything bottled up inside and wasn't willing to talk about it.
She didn't know what to do about that, and what to do for him. She was trained to be soldier and a killer so she knew how to deal with killing, but she hadn't been trained to help ease the suffering of others. Seeing the man she loved in the state he was in broke her heart; she wished that she hadn't been raised as a Peacekeeper so she could care for him. He had been through so much in the past two cycles, and so much had been done to him. He didn't want or need any of what had happened, but what he did need right then and there was her. But she was too unsure of herself - she had never been in this kind of situation. She wished that there was something that she could do for him, but then again, she was also still angry with him for causing what had happened. If he hadn't been distracting her she would've been able to keep an eye on Grant, and keep her from running into Kcrackic. She was so confused about what to do; she wished that she had been raised on Earth with John so that she would know what to do, and how to care for him.
Her thoughts took a sharp turn with the thought of his home world. Lately she found that her thoughts always turned to Earth, what had happened and what might happen. She cared deeply for him and loved him, and she knew that if they did find Earth that he wouldn't go back. But she couldn't help dwelling on that, even though she had been trained to do otherwise. Using one of John's expressions she thought, 'All my training completely goes out the window when I'm with him or think about him.' She tried to push those thoughts to the back of her mind, and focus on finding a way to help John but those thoughts wouldn't go without a fight.
******* "Can you take me with you?" she said as she stopped them all in the corridor, and turned to McDaniel.
"What?" yelled John and McDaniel, as they looked at her like she had just gone psycho.
"Aeryn what the hell are you saying?" John asked as he grabbed her arm.
"I'm not going to leave you John, and I am not going to stay here now that that Marauder is on its way."
"Aeryn, what the hell is wrong with you? Don't you remember what happened in that simulation? What this piece of dren is doing right now should make you realize that the Ancients, I mean I was right."
"I do realize that John, but you should realize that I will never leave you just as you promised that you would never leave me."
*********
She had asked McDaniel if he could take her with him because she didn't want to leave John, or at least that's what she wanted him to believe, and that she was only trying to stall for Grant who she had seen sneaking up behind him with a pipe. But she wasn't so sure anymore that she had been just trying to stall McDaniel. She was willing to follow John anywhere he went, but she did say that she wouldn't follow him to Earth if he went back. 'Is that entirely true?' Aeryn wondered. 'If he did go back to Earth, would I follow him?' He did say that he would never leave her, not even for Earth, but if he was forced to go back again she wasn't so sure that she wouldn't follow him.
Her reverie broke when she heard the technician say he was finished and walked out of the room, and watched John as he sat up and looked at her. Her breath caught and her heart started to race when he looked at her, and she wondered why something so simple would cause that reaction.
"Aeryn? Baby, you okay?" John asked noticing that Aeryn's thoughts were metras away. It worried him because Aeryn never got that way. She was always so focused on what was going on around her, and she never got distracted.
"What?" she responded distractedly not noticing at first that he had spoke.
"I said are you okay? You looked like you were pretty far away there for a microt."
"Oh," she said shaking her head trying to snap herself out of it. The fact that he didn't have a shirt on wasn't helping any, either. "I was just thinking..."
"Thinking?" He raised his eyebrows at that and had an expression on his face that said 'wow', but she it slide and didn't say anything about it. "So, what about?"
"Nothing important," she said as she moved to sit next to him on the table, and held his hand. "How are you feeling?"
"I'm hurting, but I'll be alright. How about you? How are you feeling?"
"I'm alright. A little worried, but I'm alright."
Before John could ask her what she was worried about, even though he had a feeling that she was worried about him, Chiana burst into the room with their clothes. But when she saw that Crichton was shirtless she stopped in her tracks, and was speechless. She had always wondered what he looked like underneath that shirt, and now that she knew she could hardly think. "Chiana," Aeryn said sternly knowing what the little trelk would be thinking.
"Oh, uh, yeah, I got your clothes," she said trying to keep her eyes from John's chest. "I found a tailor who could fix your coat and vest, Aeryn," she timidly said handing Aeryn her clothing. "But I didn't have enough money to get your clothes fixed, Crichton, or to get you anything new, so I snurched these." She handed him a black t-shirt and a jacket that was similar to a Peacekeeper Special-Ops jacket, but instead of being black and red, it was all black and didn't have the rank insignia over the right shoulder.
"You stole them?" Aeryn harshly asked.
"What? Would you rather have Crichton walking around half naked for the rest of the time we're here?" Aeryn conceded that Chiana did have a point, and as much as she liked to look at John's bare chest she didn't want anyone else seeing him like that, especially not Chiana.
"Well, uh, thanks, Pip," John said as he inspected the jacket looking for anything that might do something to him. He figured that with everything that's happened to him, he wasn't going to take any chances.
"Yes, thank you, Chiana. Now leave," Aeryn said as she stood up, and glared at her Nebari crewmate.
"Alright, alright, I'm going," she said as she walked towards the door. But she couldn't help but smile and turn around to look at Crichton's chest again, and look below his belt wondering just how big he was.
Aeryn saw where Chiana's eyes had gone, and knew what she was thinking and moved to grab her. But before she could do that, John grabbed her arm, and allowed Chiana to walk out unscathed. She whirled around to ask John what the frell he was doing, but he spoke first. "Aeryn, it's okay. You shouldn't worry about her. I'm yours and I'll ALWAYS be yours."
Aeryn ducked her head to hide her embarrassment over her possessiveness, and jealousy. She had never felt that way about anyone before, and was extremely embarrassed that she felt that way about John. She knew she had nothing to worry about, and that John was faithful to her despite Chiana's flirting. But she couldn't help but feel that she might lose him some day to someone who was smarter, or more beautiful, or - thinking back to what happened on the Zelbinion - to someone who was like Gilina. After standing there for a long while with John, she turned around and took off her shirt, but before she could completely take it off, John caught her arms holding them in place above her head using the shirt to cover her eyes. "Crichton, what are you doing?" she asked, but he didn't respond. She had to admit to herself that she was slightly afraid of what John was doing since he had never done that before, but she told herself to trust him because he had no reason to cause her any harm. John turned her back around, and gave her kiss that was so full of promise that it put all her fears to rest.
He broke the kiss after a few microts, and left them both gasping for air. As soon as he could talk he answered her question. "Well, Aeryn, I'm taking advantage of the situation." She could hear the triumphant smile on his face so she decided to just play along, and follow his lead. He spun them around with her still in his grasp, and laid her down on the examination table. She was waiting for him to kiss her again, but instead he didn't do anything but hold her arms over her head. After what felt like forever she felt his lips brush hers. Unfortunately, a loud crash from the other room completely ruined the mood. John heavily laid his head down on her chest and sighed. "Can't we get a frelling break here?"
"Tonight, John." She smiled thinking of what she could do to him as payback. "Now, can you please get off me?"
"Yeah," he said as he released her, and slowly got up to get dressed.
###
When Chiana walked into the next room she wasn't entirely paying attention to the situation, as she was still thinking about a half-naked John. She knew John loved Aeryn, and that he wouldn't cheat on her, but that didn't mean that she couldn't fantasize about him, and appreciate his assets. A yell from D'Argo finally brought her out of her trance, and she noticed that Zhaan and Rygel weren't there. They were probably still negotiating the technician's fee, and she also noticed that D'Argo and Grant were arguing. "What did you think you were doing?"
"What do you mean what did I think I was doing? Did you actually expect me not to do anything after what he did to me?" Natalie yelled back getting in D'Argo's face.
"If you hadn't kneed Kcrackic, then we would not have been in that situation," he yelled back towering over her.
Chiana had seen enough of D'Argo trying to control everything, and jumped into the fight. "Back off, D'Argo," she yelled stepping between him and Grant. "She didn't do anything wrong."
"What she did was foolish, and put us all in danger!"
"She did what any female in her situation would've done, and you don't have the right to tell her what to do!"
"If someone doesn't tell her what to do, she could get us all killed," D'Argo yelled back out of pure emotion. Neither he nor Chiana realized that their argument described their own situation perfectly.
"Oh, and were you this way with Crichton when he joined the crew?"
"No, but..." he tried started, but Chiana interrupted him.
"Or, are you just saying that because Grant's female?"
"No, it's not..." D'Argo was at a loss for words because in a way Chiana was right. He did feel that way because Grant was female, and he saw her as needing his protection and felt that she shouldn't have to fight for herself. He had to admit to himself that he saw nearly all females who weren't warriors that way, but he wasn't going to admit that to the others. He still had his pride, after all. And he couldn't argue with Chiana. He still felt greatly for her, and he didn't want to hurt her.
"Well?" Chiana asked, impatiently folding her arms and cocking her head. All D'Argo could do was look at her, then turn away and walk to the other side of the room with his back to them. Satisfied that D'Argo wouldn't cause any more trouble than he had already, Chiana turned around to look up at Grant. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah," she said, looking at Chiana then turning her attention to the sulking Luxan. "I'm good. I just wasn't expecting that from him since he doesn't act that way around anyone else."
"Before you came on board, D'Argo and I were having GREAT sex, but when we weren't having sex he'd treat me just like he's treating you now," Chiana said sadly while looking at her ex-lover, and remembering all the times when they had been happy. "He'd treat me like someone who couldn't take care of herself, someone like Lo'Laan..."
"Lo'Laan, as in D'Argo's wife? The one who was killed by her brother?"
"Yeah," Chiana said sadly.
"So, uh...what do you mean someone like, Lo'Laan?" Natalie asked hesitantly trying not to dig herself into a deep hole.
"What I mean is," Chiana said loudly, making sure that D'Argo heard her. "Someone who doesn't know how to take care of herself, someone who will agree with everything he says no matter how stupid or crazy, someone who he can boss around, and someone not like us, Grant."
"Wow..." Grant said, not knowing what else to say. She thought that D'Argo would WANT to be with someone like Chiana or Aeryn because he was a warrior, and would want a warrior as his wife. But she never expected to hear that D'Argo wanted to be with someone who was that timid. She opened her mouth to try to say something, but the sound of Rygel's voice praising himself for negotiating the price for John and Aeryn's healing made her groan. When Grant first met Rygel, she thought he was actually kind of cute because he reminded her so much of Yoda, but the way he acted was so different from what Yoda was that she couldn't help but laugh. But now that she'd had to live with him for more than two weeks, and had to put up with his incessant chatting, eating habits, and bodily functions, whenever she saw him she cringed and would gladly shove him out of an airlock if the crewmates voted to do it.
"Those stupid probactos," Rygel said. Zhaan followed him through the door smiling and nodding her head in agreement to appease the deposed Dominar. "They didn't know what they were getting themselves into when they started negotiating with me."
"Yes, of course, Rygel," Zhaan said once they were in the room. She had noticed the tense situation right away, but didn't want to say anything about it until Rygel finished. She had some idea of what had happened since D'Argo and Chiana were standing at opposite sides of the room, but she asked Chiana what happened, anyway, just to be sure and to see if there was anything that she could do to help. "Chiana," she said quietly. "What happened?"
"Nothing. Nothing at all." Chiana was too upset to talk about it with her "mother", and frankly, she didn't want Zhaan getting in the middle of what was happening between her and D'Argo, trying to fix the situation just like a mom. Zhaan sensed what her younger crewmate was thinking, and she decided to let Chiana and D'Argo to work it out themselves.
"D'Argo!" they heard a familiar voice yell from the corridor and someone they never thought they would ever see again came running into the room. Staanz. She ran over to a very stunned D'Argo, and hugged him. Zhaan was trying, but failing, to suppress a fit of giggles while Rygel harrumphed in disgust and left the room. Staanz looked up into D'Argo's embarrassed eyes and spoke softly. "I heard that you killed Kcrackic, D'Argo. Thank you. Thank you for saving my life. How can I ever repay you Ka D'Argo?"
Natalie and Chiana were trying to fight off fits of giggles themselves, but they failed miserably and burst into laughter. "Who...the frell...is that?" Chiana asked in between bouts of laughter.
D'Argo ignored her question, and was trying to think of a way out of the situation he was in. "Uh, you, um, don't have to do anything. Now could you..."
"D'Argo, I heard that you still need a mate, and I am still very lonely..." Staanz grinned hoping that D'Argo would accept her proposal, but instead D'Argo got angry and growled. He picked Staanz up off the floor, and threw her off him. Fortunately for Staanz there was a doctor near-by because when she landed she went through a table.
The others were shocked into silence. They never thought they would see D'Argo do something like what he did to Staanz. Sure, he had thrown people around before, but never any females. Zhaan was the first to regain her composure after a few microts, and moved to see if there was anything she could do to help. But surprisingly, Staanz got up apparently unharmed, and with a grin on her face. "So D'Argo, you like it rough, eh?"
"What the frell is going on out here?" Aeryn asked as she and John came out of the operating room, and found them selves in the unusual situation.
"Uh, D'Argo?" John started when he saw Staanz staring at D'Argo with a gleam in her eye. "Do you...I mean...do you, uh, want us to leave so you, and, uh, Staanz can...ah, have some...private time?"
"No, and we are leaving," D'Argo said sternly and quickly stomped out of the room. The others just looked at each other, sighed and left the room, but Staanz stopped John and Aeryn.
"Could you two tell D'Argo that my ship is still being repaired so I'm going to be here for a few more solar days?" Staanz asked sheepishly.
John and Aeryn looked at each other and they both thought, 'what the frell?' John was the first to speak, "Um, yeah sure, Staanz. We'll let him know."
"Thank you," she responded quietly, and slowly walked out of the room.
"So...you want to tell him?" John asked watching Staanz walk out then turned to Aeryn. She looked back at him, rolled her eyes, and shook her head. John grinned at her, "It was just a suggestion."
Aeryn smiled back, and tried to say something but was interrupted when John's comms came to life and Pilot's calm voice came through. "Commander Crichton, please respond."
### Scorpius' transmission had repeatedly replayed in Moya's and Pilot's thoughts for the past quarter of an arn, "Attention, Leviathan Moya. I have your son the gunship, and Crais. If you do not wish to see your son destroyed, you will deliver John Crichton to me at the coordinates provided. Once I have the wormhole technology that Crichton possesses, I will release the gunship and Crais. I expect you to be there with Crichton in four arns."
They didn't know what to do. Because, either Scorpius was lying, and he didn't have Talyn, or he did have him. But if he did have him, they couldn't give up Crichton to Scorpius to save him. But if they weren't going to give up Crichton, then what would they do? Their crew could help come up with a plan, but they didn't have enough time to come up with one. 'Could they come up with a plan if we told them?' Moya worriedly asked.
'I don't know,' Pilot responded. In the past the crew had come up with plans that had worked, but they had time on their side then. And when Scorpius had captured one Crichton, he hadn't been willing to kill him, and he hadn't known about the rest of the crew. This time he probably did know what the rest of the crew looked like, and this time he was threatening to kill someone if they didn't deliver Crichton.
There was only another three-and-a-half arns left, and it would take them over three arns to get to the coordinates that Scorpius provided. They didn't have very much time left, and they had to make a decision. It would be a decision that would affect everyone, whether they turned Crichton in or not. Moya, blinded by her maternal instincts to protect her son no matter the cost, made a decision. Because of his bond with Moya, Pilot knew instantly what the decision that his life partner made was. Because Talyn was involved, and there was a very strong possibility that he would be destroyed, Pilot knew that there was no way that he would be able to change her mind, and stop her from making him carry out the plan she had just come up with.
Activating a comms channel, Pilot contacted their human companion initiating Moya's plan. "Commander Crichton, please respond."
"Yeah, Pilot, what's up?" Crichton responded laughingly. The Leviathan and her symbiont could hear Crichton's smile through his voice, and knew that something good had happened. It made what they were about to do even more difficult, but Moya pressed on not wanting to find out that her son had been destroyed because they were late.
"Commander, could you please return to Moya? There is a problem, and we need YOUR assistance," he said hoping that his forced calm demeanor was convincing.
"Yeah, sure, Pilot. I'll be up in few microts." Both Pilot and Moya could hear the disappointment in his voice, and knew that he didn't want to leave Aeryn. But they knew that he couldn't say no to them, either.
Aeryn. What would they tell her when she found out what they had done? Aeryn cared about Talyn as much as they did, but Crichton was her mate and she cared more about him than anything else. They knew that she wouldn't forgive them for what they were about to do, and that she would try to rescue Crichton and might lose her life in the process. How could they do that to her as well? But Moya didn't think they had any other choice, and as soon as Crichton came aboard she would go to the coordinates that Scorpius provided to turn him over.
It was a high price to pay for Talyn's freedom, but a mother's love is a mother's love.
### 'This better not take too long,' John thought while piloting the transport pod. He wanted to get back to Aeryn as quickly as possible, and so they could get the iriscentent fluid that Rygel was still negotiating for loaded onto the transport pod, and get it back up to Moya. He knew that Moya needed the fluid, but he wanted to get back to Aeryn even more. Without Aeryn he felt as though he'd fall apart. He needed her more than anyone knew because she was, in a way, his anchor. She kept him sane in an insane place. She had been his anchor since day one, whether he had realized it or not. And she was also the love of his life. He didn't know when he would tell her that, and he didn't know when she would be able to hear him say it. All he did know was that he needed her now, after everything that he had been through: after having been killed, after having been in the aurora chair, and after having killed.
He knew that over that past cycle-and-a-half that he had become harder, and that somewhere along the way he had lost his innocence. He also knew that with the way things were going, the John Crichton of old would never be back. In fact, the John Crichton of old was dead. He missed the wide-eyed and innocent scientist that he used to be, and it bothered him that he hadn't realized how he had changed until he had seen on the forward portal the shuttle that they found Natalie and Chris on. But in some ways he was glad the old John Crichton was dead, because the old John Crichton would never have been able to survive for as long as he had. He would never have been able to get through the things he had been through. The old wide-eyed and innocent Crichton was too much of a burden on the rest of the crew, and while he had gotten the crew out of most tense situations, he had to take into account that he had actually caused most of them. But he still mourned the loss of what he once was. 'Maybe it's for the best,' he thought. The "old John" had to die to make way for the "new John" if he was to survive in the Uncharted Territories. But it made matters more difficult in that, every time he saw Natalie, he was reminded of the death of his innocence.
But none of that mattered at the moment because he had his duties. Pilot had asked him to help out with something, and he needed to focus on that. And whatever it was that Pilot wanted him to help out with, he knew he could handle it. That was another thing that had changed about him; when he was first brought on board Moya, he had absolutely no idea how anything worked, and no one wanted him to touch anything out of the fear that he would blow something up. Now, the crew would look to him to fix all their problems. 'I need a vacation,' he thought.
John landed the transport pod on its pad inside Moya, and once everything shut down, he stepped out and walked into the maintenance bay. "Alright, Pilot, I'm here. What's up?"
"What's up?" Pilot asked through the comms with confusion.
"Yeah, Pilot, why do you need me?"
"Oh. Moya and I need your assistance with something in the command."
"Alright. I'll be there in a few microts."
Moya and Pilot dreaded every step Crichton took, for he became closer and closer to losing his life the closer he was to command. Even though Pilot knew his pleas to Moya not to turn Crichton over to Scorpius would go unnoticed, he at least had to try to convince her not to do what they were about to do. But what Pilot didn't know was that Moya was listening to his pleas, and each and every one of his pleas tore her apart. She didn't want to give up Crichton, but she couldn't find any other alternative. It was a choice that she never thought she would have to make, but her son's life mattered more to her than anything else despite the fact that he abandoned her. She still loved him. He was still her son, and Scorpius had him.
She hated Scorpius, and that scared her because she had never hated anyone in her life, not even Crais and the Peacekeepers who imprisoned her, because Leviathans weren't like that. The Builders never intended to have any Leviathan hate anyone, and a part of her was worried about what they might think. But another part of her didn't care. She wanted Scorpius to pay for what he was putting her through by kidnapping Talyn and making her choose between her son and Crichton.
That was another thing that scared her. She wanted revenge. She wanted Scorpius to pay for not only what he was putting her through she also wanted him to pay for what he had put the rest of the crew through. She wanted him to pay for torturing Crichton and Stark, for killing Gilina, for chasing them for the past half cycle...but in a weird way they all owed Scorpius a debt of gratitude because if it weren't for him, McDaniel would probably have taken Crichton and Aeryn to Earth with him as his prisoners. But she still wanted Scorpius to pay with his blood. But with what she was about to do she would likely never get her revenge.
Moya's DRD's reported that Crichton had just passed the central chamber. He would be in command in a matter of microts and when he entered, both Moya and Pilot knew, his life would be over. Most likely, their lives would be over as well, but they wouldn't die. The crew would most likely leave them because of what they were about to do, and neither Moya nor Pilot could or would blame them for leaving. If the crew left them, it would be worse than death; they needed their crew more than ever before. They needed their family to help them get through what they were being forced to do.
John strolled into command, and saw that Pilot's image was in the clamshell. "Alright, Pilot, what's up?" he asked as he walked up to the strategy table and watched the large being.
Pilot nonchalantly looked down at his console, surreptitiously rechecking that he was about to press the right panel. Moya wanted to be sure that Crichton wouldn't be able to leave somehow, so she was planning on sealing off command, with Pilot's assistance of course, and have the DRD's keep him under guard until they reached their destination. And at least with the armed DRD's watching him, they would be able to stop him from doing anything to Moya, from altering her flight path to damaging her in some way. And Moya hoped they could even stop him from harming himself if he felt he had to in order to stop Scorpius from capturing him.
Pilot noticed that his arm was shaking, but there wasn't a thing he could do about it, not with all the things he was feeling. He was afraid. He was so very afraid about what could happen when they turned over Crichton. He was afraid that when they turned over Crichton to Scorpius that he wouldn't let go of Talyn, or that Scorpius would recapture Moya, or even worse, that Scorpius might destroy Moya. There were so many things that could happen, so many things that could go wrong that even his multi-tasking brain couldn't conceive of all the possibilities.
"Uh, Pilot? You still with me here?" John asked after several microts of watching the top of Pilot's massive head, waiting for an answer.
Pilot looked up to see Crichton's questioning gaze. He hadn't realized that he had been so distracted and had kept Crichton waiting. He was hoping that he wasn't showing his fear, but he knew that he probably didn't look very well. "Oh, uh, yes, Commander, I am fine. I was just discussing something with Moya."
"Are you okay, Pilot? You look like someone just walked over your grave."
"No, I am not fine, Commander, and I am sorry. Moya and I are both so very sorry for this," Pilot said quietly as he pushed down the panel on his console sealing off command.
John spun around when he heard the sound of both exits closing. He ran over to the nearest door to try to somehow keep it from sealing shut or to get out before it did. Unfortunately, he wasn't fast enough, and was trapped inside command. He turned around, walked back to the strategy table with a determined set to his jaw, and yelled, "Pilot, what the frell are you doing? What the frell is going on?"
"We are terribly sorry, Com..." he started to call him, but it didn't seem appropriate with what was happening. "John." He looked right into Crichton's eyes. He saw confusion and fear, but he also saw defiance, and anger. Those were emotions Pilot had expected, but the look in Crichton's eyes was something that he had never been responsible for before. What he saw in John's eyes was something that would stay with him and Moya for the rest of their lives, and they welcomed it as a reminder of what they were doing and what Talyn's freedom would cost them not only physically, but emotionally as well. Like Crichton, they had lost their innocence, and would be forever changed. "John, there is something you have to see." Pilot depressed a panel on his console and replayed Scorpius' transmission on the forward portal.
John's expression hardened when he saw Scorpius', but he listened to what the half-breed had to say, none-the-less. "Attention, Leviathan Moya, I have your son the gunship, and Crais. If you do not wish to see your son destroyed, you will deliver John Crichton to me at the coordinates provided. Once I have the wormhole technology that Crichton possesses, I will release the gunship and Crais. I expect you to be there with Crichton in four arns."
"Frell," Crichton whispered as he closed his eyes and sighed. "Pilot there has to be another way, we CAN find another way," he pleaded desperately. He did not want to go back to Scorpius.
"I am sorry, John, but Moya feels that there is no other way, and I cannot convince her otherwise. I am so very sorry," Pilot said as he activated propulsion. "We are leaving orbit now."
"Dammit, Pilot, you know that I'll do whatever it takes to get Talyn back, but I am not going back to Scorpy," John quietly said.
"John, I am truly sorry. Like I have said, I cannot convince Moya that there are other ways to save Talyn from Scorpius," Pilot softly responded. "She believes that this is the only way, and if we are to make it to the coordinates Scorpius gave us in four arns we must leave now."
"Then let me talk to her, Pilot. Maybe I can convince her, otherwise," John implored desperately.
"She does not wish to talk to you. Can you understand why?"
"Yeah," John whispered. "If she talks to me there's the chance that she won't turn me over." He was terrified of going back to Scorpius, and of what Scorpy would do to him if he were captured. But what about Talyn? He couldn't let Talyn be destroyed no matter how much he wanted to get away from Scorpius. Crais on the other hand...well, Scorpius could do whatever the frell he wanted to do to Crais, but he still couldn't let anything happen to Talyn. He wouldn't be able to forgive himself if Talyn was destroyed because he was afraid of Scorpius. "Checkmate," John said as he sat heavily on a stool next to the strategy table, and looked out the forward portal. Scorpy had finally won, and all it had taken was kidnapping Talyn. He just hoped that Scorpius would keep his word, and let Talyn go as soon as he got what he wanted. He also hoped that Aeryn would find a way to get him out the situation he was in. Or at least kill him if she couldn't help him. He knew she loved him, and that she would do anything for him, but he didn't know if she would be willing to kill him if it came to that. "Alright, Pilot, if we're going to do this then let's get it over with. Full steam ahead."
"Excuse me?" the confused Pilot asked. He had no idea what 'full steam ahead' meant, but he guessed that John had asked for maximum thrust. But...he had to ask just to make sure.
"Full maximum thrust, Pilot. Let's get there as soon as possible."
"Of course, John. Initiating maximum thrust..."
"And Pilot, I want to record a message to the others..."
###
It hadn't even been an hour since Natalie had arrived on the Commerce Planet, and she was already hating every minute of it. At the moment, she was waiting with the rest of the crew at the raised landing platform where the forty barrels of iriscentent fluid, which Rygel had quickly negotiated for, was being readied to be loaded onto the transport pod as soon as John got back. She hoped that he would bring the transport pod back soon so that she could get off this godforsaken place. When she had first arrived at the commerce planet she had been excited at the prospect of being on another planet, getting the chance to learn something new, and meeting more alien races. Instead she was nearly raped, had been in the middle of a gunfight, and got into an argument with D'Argo. But she did learn something new; all men, no matter where you went, were the same. Well, maybe not all men, there were a few exceptions, and John was one of them. She hoped that Jason would be one, too.
Although, she learned that all men were basically the same all over the universe, she was surprised that D'Argo felt the way he did about women. In the two weeks that she had been aboard Moya he had never shown any signs that he felt that some women, including her and Chiana, needed to be protected and shouldn't have to fight. She had been taken completely by surprise with the revelation about D'Argo because she had seen him fight with Aeryn, and he never once looked compelled to protect her. She wished that he would extend the same courtesy to her because she could take care of herself, but it didn't look like that was going to happen any time soon. Particularly after what Chiana had told her, and what she had figured out from the argument she had witnessed between her and D'Argo. Maybe, if she could prove that she could take care of herself and didn't need D'Argo's protection, he would back off. With her curiosity, and the fact that she tended to be a magnet for trouble in the UT's, it wouldn't be too long before she could prove that what she had learned when she was a child could help her.
Natalie had grown up in a Navy family-both of her brothers were in the Navy and her father was the Commanding Officer of the U.S.S Abraham Lincoln when she went up with McDaniel. She had to learn how to protect herself in her own little way against all the boys at school who would pick on her when she was child. When little Jimmy Willis (the son of the executive officer of the U.S.S. Nimitz which was in its first deployment in the Mediterranean Sea at the time) had first picked on her during a game of dodge ball in the first-grade, she found out first-hand just what happened to a boy if you hit him between his legs with a ball or anything else. After that, no one would pick on her because they were afraid of her, but if some of the other boys did try to pick on her, she would use that so-called technique. She had also learned a few fighting moves from her brothers when she was old enough. But what they taught her hadn't taken too well so she relied on what she had learned in the first grade; if you hit a guy between his legs, he'll go down.
Natalie had hoped that what she had learned in the first grade applied to Kcrackic because of what he was doing to her, but in the time she had spent in the Uncharted Territories she had learned not to base anything on what she had learned on Earth. When Kcrackic went down after she kneed him, she didn't think that he was stupid enough to pull his gun on her with D'Argo aiming his qualta blade at him. However, Kcrackic HAD been stupid enough to pull his gun and everything just went wrong from there. 'Maybe D'Argo was right,' she thought. She wanted to believe that even if she hadn't kneed Kcrackic that he still would have pulled his weapon on her, but the more she thought about the situation the more she realized that in a way D'Argo was right. But she also had a feeling that something good would come out of the fight with the Zenetans.
Truth be told, she didn't really know what to believe. She was so confused about everything, but didn't realize it. She was still trying to make sense of it on her own. Nothing on Earth had prepared her for what she was experiencing in the Uncharted Territories, and she really had no idea how to handle the situations she found herself in. She wondered if it had been that difficult for John when he had first arrived in the UT's. Since he had been so open with her about how he handled certain things, she hoped that he would help her get through this, too. That is if he ever got back with the transport pod to pick them up. "Where the hell is he anyway?" she asked impatiently wanting to get off the Commerce Planet as soon as possible.
"Don't worry, my dear, he will be back soon," Zhaan said soothingly. "I'm sure that, whatever the problem is, he will be able to take care of it."
"Yeah," Natalie said. She knew he could take care of whatever the problem was, but did he have to take so damn long? Zhaan's serene voice wasn't helping very much, either. Natalie wanted to get off that hellhole of a planet right then and there, and the fact that they were out in the open where any transport passing over them could see who they were, and that they didn't have a means of transportation made her extremely uneasy, so she started pacing.
She paced along the edge of the platform, and unintentionally attracted D'Argo's attention. When he saw Natalie start to pace he could tell that she was uneasy, which was understandable considering what took place not too long ago. He was about to tell her to get away from the edge because she might fall, but then remembered the argument he'd had with Chiana and stopped. He knew that if he did tell Natalie it would sound like an order and Chiana would stand-up for Natalie, saying that she could do whatever she wanted to do. He really didn't want to get into an argument. It would hurt too much to get into an argument with them, especially if he got into another argument with Natalie.
Chiana was right in a way, one of the only reasons why he wanted to tell Natalie what to do was because she was female, and he believed that he had to protect her and Chiana, even from themselves. But he knew he couldn't do that anymore. He had to respect the fact that Chiana and Natalie could take care of themselves, no matter how much he wanted to step in and tell them that they couldn't do something because he thought it was too dangerous. Even if she thought she wouldn't get hurt doing what she was doing. It made him worry so much at times that she might get hurt that he couldn't help himself, he had to tell her what to do. He couldn't fail to protect her as he felt he had failed protect Lo'Laan and Jothee.
"C'mon, John, where are you?" Natalie mumbled as she stopped and looked up to try to find the transport pod trough all the various types of transports that were flying overhead. She looked back down at her boots, and started to pace again, thinking that she was never going to get off that planet, when she felt someone's eyes on her. She looked around the landing platform and saw D'Argo blatantly staring at her, but no one else seemed to notice. "Uh, D'Argo?" she asked, but D'Argo kept staring at her. "Yoo-hoo, Earth to D'Argo?"
D'Argo finally snapped out of it not realizing that he had been staring at Natalie, and looked at his boots, avoiding her gaze and the gazes of the others who had taken an interest in what was happening. Without raising his head, he looked back up at Natalie, who was expecting an answer. "I, uh, was, uh, just..."
"You were what?" Natalie impatiently asked.
"Yeah, D'Argo what were you doing?" Chiana suspiciously piped in. She noticed that D'Argo had been staring at Natalie, but didn't want to say anything first out of fear of getting into another argument with him.
"I, uh, I was just..." he started, but was interrupted.
"D'Argo, Zhaan, Aeryn, I need to speak with you," Staanz yelled as she ran up the stairs and onto the landing pad, trying to catch her breath as the crew turned to her when they heard the sound of her voice. "I ran all the way over here as soon as I got the message."
"What message?" D'Argo asked as he walked over to Staanz, forgetting about their little incident.
"I got a message from Crichton just now, and he wanted me to deliver it to you."
"A message? What kind of a message? Why didn't he contact us himself?" Aeryn asked worriedly. Now that she and John were together, she usually feared the worst if anyone said anything about him, and he wasn't there to tell her himself. Now that they were together, she didn't want to lose him to anyone or anything. "Well, show it to us."
"The message is in my ship's data stores so come on," Staanz said as she walked off the landing platform with Aeryn right on her heels.
Aeryn stopped and turned around before going down the stairs. "Zhaan, Rygel, you two stay here with the iriscentent fluid,"
D'Argo was about to follow Aeryn and Staanz, but noticed that Natalie and Chiana were following him. Forgetting his earlier resolve, he ordered, "You two stay here with Zhaan and Rygel,"
"You can kiss my rosy-red ass D'Argo. I'm going," Natalie said to the Luxan as she shouldered passed him and followed Aeryn and Staanz down the stairs.
"Yeah, what she said," Chiana loudly said to D'Argo as she walked around him leaving him with his jaw on the floor and Zhaan with a grin on her face. Once D'Argo got over his shock at being spoken to like that by the women, he straightened up and followed them down the stairs.
###
The first thing that the four members of Moya's crew who had followed Staanz noticed when they boarded her ship was the stench. D'Argo had thought it was even worse than the first time he had been aboard. The others were doing their best to ignore the smell and were visibly upset, but Natalie had literally turned white. "Gawd, I'm gonna throw up." She put her hand to her mouth and swallowed to try to keep down the bile she could feel rising up from her stomach. It didn't work. She frantically looked around for a spot out of the way, and ran past everyone to a corner behind the pilot's seat, and coughed up everything she had eaten for the past few days. Chiana quickly ran after her and held up Grant's hair and rubbed her back as she threw up to try to help calm her down. Grant straightened up as best she could after the heaves subsided, and nodded to Chiana to let her know that she was okay. But a concerned D'Argo, only paying attention to the fact that she was still fairly pale, didn't see her nod and asked, "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'll be alright," she said before she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.
"Are you sure? Maybe you should leave..." D'Argo tried to suggest, but Natalie stopped him.
"No," she said looking right at him. "I said I was going to see what John had to say so I'm not. Going. Anywhere." Natalie and D'Argo had a silent standoff, with the others looking on, before D'Argo backed off, and turned away.
"Oh will you two stop? We have more important things to do, " Aeryn said impatiently. After D'Argo acquiesced she turned to Staanz, "Now show us the recording."
"What? Oh, right...the recording," Staanz said distractedly. She could tell something was going on with D'Argo, but didn't want to say anything out of fear of screwing things up between them. "Over here." She sat down in the pilot's seat, and activated the data store that contained the recording.
The holographic image of John came up on the display. He looked tired and defeated, and that worried Aeryn. "Hey, guys," John said then paused as if looking for the right words, and with a sigh he continued. "Moya...Moya just got a transmission from Scorpy. He said that if she doesn't deliver me to him, he'll destroy Talyn and kill Crais. He's not lying...so we don't have a choice. Moya is going to take me to the coordinates I've included, and I'm going over to Scorpy."
The members of Moya's crew who were there went numb with what Crichton told them. They all had unshed tears, with the exception of D'Argo who was on the verge of hyper-rage. What was surprising was that Aeryn looked like she was on the verge of crying.
"We don't have a choice...I...uh, Aeryn...I...there's something I have to tell you...I didn't' want to tell you like this, but I might not get a chance again." They all knew what he was going to say, and that he hadn't before because they all knew Aeryn wasn't ready to hear him say it. Natalie looked over at Aeryn, and saw that she was shaking her head. She couldn't tell if it was because she didn't want to believe that John was giving himself up, or because she didn't want to hear what John was about to say.
"I love you, Aeryn."
###
None of them expected what they had just learned, and they were all too stunned to do anything as John's image faded. As Natalie somewhat regained her composure she looked at Aeryn, and saw that she had stopped crying and looked like she was about to go into a hyper-rage of her own. Natalie knew John was an honorable man, and that what he had done wasn't out of character, but from what she had seen of him, she had thought he was a fighter. He wouldn't just give up even. He would at least have given them the coordinates of where he was going to meet Scorpius...then it hit her, "Hey, did...did you guys see that?" They all turned to look at her, wondering what she was talking about, and she looked right back at them. "Right after he said that Moya was going to take him to where Scorpy told him to go, it looked like it...jumped."
Aeryn realized what Grant was talking about, and kicked herself for not noticing it herself before, for letting her emotions get in the way. She looked at Staanz who had become nervous all of a sudden, violently shoved her off the pilot's seat and onto the floor, and accessed the ship's data stores. "The message has been tampered with..." Aeryn said as she checked the ships data stores even further. She then looked right at Staanz, and she looked like she was going to kill her. "She erased part of the message."
Once what Aeryn had told him sunk in, D'Argo looked down at Staanz, who was trying to crawl away, and with a hiss of rage, grabbed her by her collar with his left hand, picking her up, and grabbed her throat with his right, raising her up off the floor. "Why did you erase part of the message?"
"What are you talking about? I didn't erase anything," Staanz fired back trying to convince D'Argo that she was telling the truth, but they all saw through it.
Aeryn, who wasn't in the mood for Staanz' games, pulled her pistol, and strode to where D'Argo was holding Staanz dangling. She shoved the barrel of her pistol into Staanz' right eye, and menacingly said, "You will tell us now, or I will kill you, you piece of dren."
Staanz looked at Aeryn, and saw that she meant every word that she had said, then looked at D'Argo and saw Aeryn's feelings mirrored in his eyes. She then looked at the Nebari, and saw that she looked equally angry. Then at the sebacean standing next to her, who looked really confused and had her arms crossed over her chest. "Wait, wait, wait...just hold on for one second..." Natalie stammered. "Aeryn just called you a she...so you're...what...a female?"
D'Argo and Aeryn looked at each other then at Grant with a look on their faces that said, 'of course she's female,' while Chiana, who had also thought that Staanz was a male, as well, looked on in confusion, too.
"Yes, I am female," replied Staanz, happily accepting the distraction the Sebacean had given D'Argo and Aeryn. "Actually, I'm considered quite the beauty."
"Wow," Natalie said, but she was still confused. "If you're female then that would make Kcrackic female, too, and if Kcrackic was female ..."
"Enough! All of you, enough! Now what did you erase and why did you erase it?" Aeryn yelled.
"Okay, I didn't mean to erase all of what I erased. Just the parts that were about me and my ship," Staanz said quickly. "But I ended up erasing not only erasing those parts but the parts where Crichton talked about when Scorpius wanted him to be at the coordinates, and how long it would take him to get there, and all that dren."
"What did he say about the time?" D'Argo asked crushing Staanz' throat even more under his massive grip, but all that came out of Staanz' mouth were a few incomprehensible sounds.
"Uh, D'Argo..." Natalie said taking a step forward, and pointedly catching his and Aeryn's eyes. "He, I mean, she can't talk if she can't breathe."
D'Argo looked back at Natalie, and realized that she was right. "Oh," he said looking slightly embarrassed at having been corrected by her. He loosened his grip on Staanz' throat, and she gasped and coughed, taking in the much needed air. "Now tell us!"
"He said...that Scorpius said that if Crichton...wasn't at the coordinates in four arns...he'll kill Talyn," Staanz said hoarsely while gasping for air between words. "And that it would take Moya over three arns to get there...and that they had already wasted an arn...so they had to leave when they did...if they wanted to get to the location within four arns."
"Why did you want to erase part of the message?" Aeryn asked emphasizing her question by shoving her pulse pistol more firmly into Staanz' eye.
"Well," Staanz said using her other eye to look at Aeryn. "He said you should use my ship to try to catch up with Moya, or find her that way you won't have to pay for transportation, because I owe you since you're the ones who killed Kcrackic."
D'Argo and Aeryn looked at each other, and seeing that they both had the same idea Aeryn re-holstered her pulse pistol, and sat down on the pilot's seat setting course for the landing pad where Zhaan, Rygel, and the iriscentent fluid were waiting. D'Argo on, the other hand, looked for something to tie Staanz up with while still holding her dangling by the throat.
###
"Where the yotz are they?" Rygel asked looking up at the sky from his slouched position on his throne-sled. "They've been gone forever."
"They will be back soon enough, sweet Rygel. It has been less than a quarter arn since they left," Zhaan said placidly from her seat on one of the barrels, only slightly mollifying the deposed Dominar.
"Less than a quarter arn? You must be fahrbot," he yelled. "It has been much longer than that."
"How can you be so certain of that Rygel? You are bored are you not?" she asked with a knowing smile.
"Yes, I am bored...bored, bored, bored, bored, bored. What is your point?"
"It is well known, Rygel, that time does seem to slow down to most beings who have nothing to do, while in reality it has not, so be patient."
"Be patient? Ha!" he said sitting up higher in his throne-sled. "I am the Dominar of over six billion subjects. I don't have to be patient."
Zhaan smiled serenely at Rygel's normal reaction and gently shook her head. "Of course, Dominar Rygel." The reaction that Zhaan had to Rygel was one that everyone expected from her, but if they had seen what was going on inside they would see the battle she was fighting with herself. The part of herself that she was fighting wanted to rip Rygel's earbrows off, and feed them to him, and she knew she could not allow that part of her to win because the dark impulses she had would scare even Scorpius. She used all of her strength to hide the battle going on inside her, and to try to suppress her violent tendencies.
But it was getting harder and harder for her to control those tendencies, especially after several recent events. Her fight with the malevolent being, Maldis, her episode with the budding process after having gone so long without meat, and her detainment on board the Halosian vessel had strained her control. However, in those events she didn't have a choice because her friends, no, her family needed her, but she felt that those events had started something that she would fear for a long time to come.
"What the frell..." Rygel sputtered, looking up and drawing Zhaan's attention to the incoming ship. Zhaan immediately recognized it as Staanz' ship, which meant the message from John contained something terrible, and stood up to take cover behind the barrels.
The ship landed on the platform, sending a cloud of dust in all directions and causing both Zhaan and Rygel to choke. As soon as the ship had powered down she approached the hatch and opened it, stepping inside with Rygel right behind her. She asked to no one in particular, "What has happened?"
"Crichton has taken Moya to turn himself over to Scorpius to save Talyn," D'Argo answered her while he secured Staanz to a corner of the ship with several bundles of cable.
"He what?" Rygel yelled. "Has he gone mad?"
"Rygel," Zhaan warned sternly. "What do you mean to save Talyn?"
"Scorpius captured Talyn and Crais, and said if John didn't turn himself over he'll destroy Talyn and kill Crais," Aeryn answered while securing the ship's systems.
"By the goddess..." Zhaan muttered. She was so shocked by the news that she could hardly think, but she did notice Natalie and Chiana standing off to the side watching the goings on while D'Argo and Aeryn were about to walk out to load the iriscentent fluid.
"Hey," Staanz yelled seeing the barrels of fluid on the platform through the open hatch. "Just how many barrels do you have?"
"It's none of your concern," Aeryn yelled over her shoulder.
"Yes it is," Staanz yelled back. "Because if you bring too many barrels on board we'll be too heavy to take-off."
That got everyone's attention.
"What do you mean we'll be too heavy to take-off?" Chiana asked as she walked over to stand in front of Staanz.
"Just what I said. I've got so much stuff on this ship that if we load too many barrels of...whatever it is you have, we'll never take-off," Staanz shot back.
"Then we'll dump your garbage," D'Argo said as he moved to the hatch that led to the cargo hold.
"You can't do that," Staanz yelled, struggling against the cables.
"Watch us," D'Argo said back.
"No, I'm serious. That's not garbage, that's vital equipment that we need," she yelled, stopping D'Argo and Aeryn in their tracks. "Well, most would consider it garbage, but we still need that equipment."
"Why do we need that equipment?" Aeryn asked.
"Those are spare parts. This ship breaks down so much that I've had to stock up on them. Why do you think I came here in the first place?" she asked, reminding Aeryn that she had told her and John that she was getting her ship repaired.
"Well, we need the iriscentent fluid so we'll dump what we can, and load as much of the fluid as possible," Aeryn ordered, leaving no room for negotiation as she walked into the cargo hold with D'Argo and Zhaan following her.
"I don't believe this," Rygel grumbled, flying his throne-sled to the cargo-hold. "I am the Dominar of over six-billion subjects, and I am reduced to throwing out the trash."
"Oh, c'mon Rygel," Grant said, bringing up the rear. "Garbage should be right up your alley. Besides, you just might find something you can eat back there."
###
For three arns, Crichton aimlessly wandered the golden corridors of the ship he had called home for the past one-and-a-half cycles remembering all the good days. Unfortunately, you couldn't have the good days without the bad. He had to admit, though, that those bad days brought the crew closer together. Because of those bad days the crew had grown from a group of fugitives who would've killed each other at the drop of a hat if they thought it was necessary, to a group of fugitives who would die for each other and had become a family.
He nearly passed the door to the central chamber, but turned around, retracing his steps, and went in. Looking around the empty room, he remembered all the meals they had shared, and the conversations that went with those meals. He smiled at the memories of the meals he shared with Aeryn, and at the memory of handing her a tray of food cubes in the shape of a smiley face. Walking back into the corridor he remembered the last meal he had before one of the worst weekens of his life had started. He remembered the laughter from the stories they shared...that was definitely one of the good days.
He kept wandering until he came to the quarters he shared with Aeryn. He just stood in the doorway and studied everything that was inside. The day he had convinced her to move in and the day they started to share quarters was one of the best days of his life, and he cherished every single moment he had with her.
*****
It was a weeken after the incident with McDaniel, and it took some convincing, but he talked her into moving in with him. At first, she didn't want to because she had told him that things were working just fine the way they were, and she didn't want to change the dynamics of the crew. But he knew that she was also afraid. She had let slip that moving in with him was a personal indulgence, and as a warrior she knew that personal indulgences could fracture a small crew. But he didn't really care if it would fracture a crew or not just as long as they were together. He finally convinced her to share quarters.
He told her that it would make things easier for them to be together at night instead of having to choose whose quarters they would stay in since they had started making love. Aeryn's military mind saw the practicality of moving in together, despite her reservations, and she agreed to move into his quarters. That had shocked John; he didn't think that she would want to move into HIS quarters.
"Well, for one thing," Aeryn started while she was lying with John in his bed. "You have more belongings than I do. So it will be much easier for me to move in with you than it will be for you to move in with me. And your quarters are closer to command."
"Always the pragmatist, aren't you?" he asked and gave her a kiss.
"I have to be since YOU are always thinking with what's in your pants," she said giving him one of her radiant smiles.
"Not always, Aeryn."
"No?" she asked incredulously pulling back slightly.
"No, Aeryn, not always," he said defensively.
"Hmm, well what about Matala? Or how about the New Moon of Delvia? Or when you were stranded on Aquaria? Or how about when you and I first met, hmmm?" she asked him trying to keep a smile off her face.
"When we first met?" he repeated disbelievingly with a grin on his face trying to keep his voice down. "What have you been smoking?"
"Oh, don't give me that," she responded no longer trying to hide her amusement. "You had 'frell me' written all over your face," she said unconsciously using one of his expressions.
He looked at her in disbelief, and at seeing her smug smile he quickly moved in to kiss her. When he did his momentum pushed them both off the bed, and onto the floor, but they were a little too busy to notice.
*****
She had been wrong about all those other times, but she was somewhat right in that a part of him did want frell her when he first saw her. After all, Aeryn was EXTREMELY attractive, and he was a guy; how could it NOT cross his mind?
He walked away from their quarters and started back down the corridor. He came upon the open cell doors to Natalie's quarters. He took a peek inside, and saw his tape recorder sitting on the small table at the other end of the room along with several of the unused tapes her gave her. He remembered that he had wanted to record one final message to his father before Natalie and Chris left for Earth. Even though no one was going back to Earth now, he still had to let his Dad know what had happened to him before he turned himself over to Scorpius.
He walked in and sat down on the stool next to the table, and just stared at the recorder. It was a few microts before he snapped himself out of his reverie, and took the recorder in his hand. He saw there was a tape already in it, and pushed the eject button. He took out the tape, knowing that whatever was on it was private and meant only for whoever it was addressed to.
He put in one of the unused tapes, but he didn't really know what to say. 'Just talk from the heart,' he thought to himself. "Hey Dad," he started. "It's been awhile since I've made one of these for you, but I've had a lot going on lately...and I haven't really needed to record anything..." he paused trying to decide what direction he wanted to go.
"A few weeks ago we picked up a shuttle from Earth. They went through a wormhole, Dad. It was probably the same wormhole that I created...and I found out later on that they had orders to take me into custody if they found me so they knew there was a chance I was still alive." He took a look around Natalie's quarters remembering what had happened. "But some things happened, and McDaniel, the mission commander, was killed when he tried to go back through the wormhole...and Natalie Grant was left behind."
He sighed and turned around so that he sat with his back against the table, trying to get more comfortable. "I have to admit, Dad, that I didn't want to go back to Earth." He laughed to himself at the mental image he had of his father's reaction to his statement. "Yeah, can you believe it? Me? Not wanting to go back to Earth? Well, I've told you about Aeryn so...I'm sure you can understand why I don't want to come back."
He could hear his Dad's reaction in his mind, No, of course I don't understand, Son. Why can't you just bring her here with you? "I know what you're thinking right now, and I can't bring her...you and I both know what'll happen if I do...no matter how much we want to believe otherwise." He sighed again, and continued. "And Aeryn didn't want to come. If I had decided to come back, she would've stayed behind. She was scared, Dad...and I promised that I wouldn't leave her."
John had to laugh at his words, and at his current situation. "I promised her I wouldn't leave her, but here I am...leaving her...but this time I don't have a choice..." John said, but a squeak to his left drew his attention away from the tape recorder. He looked over at a DRD that had just come into the room for a few microts, then continued with what he had to say. "Scorpy finally beat me, Dad. He captured Talyn, and he say's he'll destroy him if I don't turn myself in..."
Pilot and Moya had been watching John through the DRD they assigned to follow him since he had left the command. They watched him talking to the father they knew he would never see again. They watched him as he told his father about why he was turning himself in. Even though Pilot felt that he and Moya were responsible, he was still grateful that John left out the part about them taking John against his will before he agreed to come with them of his own accord.
Right then and there, Moya and Pilot both vowed to find Earth for John, and when they did, they would deliver the recording that John had made for his family. It was the least they could do after everything that John had done for them.
They watched him turn off the tape recorder, and remove the tape. He stood up taking the tape with him, and walked out of Natalie's quarters heading for his own quarters. He found the small collection of tapes that he had, and added the tape he had just made. "Pilot?" they heard him ask as he looked right at the DRD.
"Yes, John, we know," Pilot responded solemnly as his console alerted him to something that he and Moya had been dreading for the past four arns. "John, we are approaching the coordinates that Scorpius provided, and a Command Carrier is there."
"Thanks, Pilot."
John made his way back to command, and saw Scorpius' sneering gaze on the forward portal. "Alright, Scorpy, we're here. Now let Talyn go."
"Crichton, I said that once I had the wormhole knowledge you possess, only then would I let Talyn go," Scorpius replied.
"Alright, fine," John said, showing every bit of anger he had on his face. "Have it your way, Scorpy, just as long as you keep your word that you will let Talyn go as soon as you have what you need from me."
"You have my word, Crichton. I am sending a marauder to escort you here..."
"No," John interrupted. "I'll take a transport pod." At Scorpius' questioning gaze, he shook his head and laughed. "C'mon, Scorpy, it's not like I have anywhere to run to."
"Very well, but if you do anything, Crichton, not only will I destroy Talyn, but I will destroy Moya, as well."
"I'll be there in a few microts," he yelled over his shoulder as he walked out of command, and down to the transport hangar. When he got there, he found that Pilot had readied a transport pod for him to take. Once he was inside the pod, he slowly secured the hatch savoring his last few microts of freedom. He sat down heavily in the pilot's seat, and started the pod's engines. "Alright, Pilot, open the outer doors," he ordered through the pod's external comms. "And, Pilot, Moya...thank you...for everything. It's been one helluva ride."
John took off leaving his home, he knew, for the last time. He piloted the pod to the looming carrier, and he was sure that Scorpius was watching his every move. But he didn't care, for at that moment, it was just open space, the transport pod, and he. He wanted to enjoy his last few microts of freedom and flying gave him what he wanted, even if he was flying right into Scorpy's clutches.
John could immediately see the Peacekeeper guards through the pod's forward portal as soon as he had docked in the carrier's transport hangar. He didn't see Scorpy, but John knew that Scorpius was there, waiting for him. He shut down the pod's systems and opened the hatch to find Scorpius waiting for him at the bottom of the ladder. "Well, here I am, Scorpy," John said as he climbed down the ladder, his eyes never leaving the Scarran half-breed's. "You win."
"Of course I have Crichton. It was...inevitable," Scorpius said as John stepped onto the hangar's metal floor with a loud clank. "Take him to his cell."
###
Natalie opened her eyes to find D'Argo worriedly looking down at her. "D'Argo?"
"Yes. Do you know where you are?" the Luxan asked softly.
"Um," she started turning her head to take in her surroundings. "Yeah, I'm on the floor."
D'Argo smiled at that wondering if all humans were like his two human shipmates. "How do you feel?"
"Like shit."
"You look it," he said laughingly, causing Natalie to smile.
"So what happened?"
"You passed out..."
"I gathered that," Natalie said, and closed her eyes at feeling nauseous again.
"Zhaan examined you, and believes that it was something on board."
"Yeah, like the smell. How can you stand it? I mean, you have the best nose out of all of us..." she trailed off realizing where exactly she was. She opened her eyes again and looked up into D'Argo's concerned filled eyes. "Um, D'Argo? Why is my head in your lap?"
"I, uh...um..."D'Argo stammered. If Natalie could have seen under his beard and braids, she would realize that he was blushing. He gently cleared his throat, well, as gently as any Luxon could. "I...there wasn't anything on board that would make you comfortable so I...you know, thought it would be best."
"You thought it would be best?" Natalie asked sitting up. "Look, D'Argo, I appreciate your concern and help, but I can take care of myself."
"Oh," he said quietly then got up and walked to the other side of the ship. He had tried to hide the crestfallen look on his face, but both Natalie and Chiana had seen it.
'Please don't tell me he feels the way I think he feels,' Natalie thought as she watched D'Argo dejectedly walk away. She then looked at Chiana, who was watching D'Argo as well, and saw a single tear rolling down her cheek. 'Oh, God, she still loves him. Great...I'm in the middle of a damn soap opera. Can't I get a fucking break here?'
In despair, Zhaan watched the situation unfold from her seat by the hatch, and for a moment she was allowed a respite from the war she was fighting with herself. She wanted to help both D'Argo and Chiana, but she couldn't decide whom to help first. D'Argo was a good friend to her, and she knew of the pain he endured because of what happened to Lo'Laan and Jothee, and that the situation was causing him even greater pain, but she had to consider what Chiana was going through as well.
Zhaan knew that Chiana's ideas of relationships and love were warped because of her past, which was why she acted like...a trelk. Chiana had lost as much as D'Argo had...she lost the only family she knew. So she had looked to D'Argo for comfort. But his treatment of her, during and after their relationship, had caused her pain, instead.
Zhaan also knew that HER help was not wanted by either one of them. She knew she was too mothering for them, and that they wouldn't appreciate her trying to placate them so she decided to just back off. She looked around at her family...at D'Argo standing dejectedly on one side of the ship with Natalie sitting on the floor on the other side, with Chiana watching them from the front of the ship, Aeryn was doing her best to pilot the "piece of dren", as she called it, without Staanz' help, as she was still tied up; and at Rygel, who was experimentally tasting some of the food Staanz had to offer. The Priestess saw that they all carried the pain of loss in one form or another, and she wished she could help them all. But like D'Argo and Chiana, the others didn't want HER help. So she watched on as Chiana got up and left.
Chiana couldn't take it anymore. She had to get as far away from D'Argo as she could, so she got up and walked into the cargo hold while everyone, with the exception of D'Argo, watched. But she didn't care. She shut the hatch, walked to the far end of the hold behind a stack of crates, slumped against the wall, trying to regain her composure. She felt the tears in her eyes spill over so she closed her eyes, slid down to the floor, and wrapped her arms around her drawn up knees resting her head against the wall.
She knew she had frelled up, literally, and had tried to apologize to D'Argo about it, but he hadn't accepted. She understood, after thinking about it for some time, that she had hurt him severely. But what she didn't understand was why he hadn't accepted her apology, and why he was acting the way he was; especially why he was acting the way he was around Grant. Chiana thought that she and D'Argo still had something despite the fact that she had frelled McDaniel, and she wished that he would give her another chance. But it seemed like the only thing they did was argue.
She wished she and D'Argo had what John and Aeryn had, and that they could work things out like the happy couple did by talking things out. But D'Argo couldn't be talked to. He had too much of a bad temper, and was too immature. If things didn't go his way, he would get angry and end the conversation, leave, or hit something. 'It'll never work,' she realized.
"Chiana?" She opened her eyes, and looked around at the sound of someone calling her name. She was so upset that she hadn't even realized that anyone had come in. "Where are you?" The voice belonged to Grant. She was one of the last people she wanted to see at the moment, but at least she wasn't Zhaan.
Natalie came around the side of a stack of crates and saw Chiana sitting on the floor. When Chiana looked up at her, Natalie could tell that she had been crying, and to Natalie, she looked like a small child. "Chiana..." she started as she took a few tentative steps forward.
Chiana closed her eyes and laid her head down on her knees. "Go away Grant."
"Look, I know you want to be alone right now, but sometimes talking to someone can help. And I'm willing to listen," Natalie said, but didn't get an answer. 'At least she didn't tell me to go away again,' she thought, and cautiously took a seat next to Chiana; far enough away, but close enough to let the young Nebari know that she was there for her. Chiana remained silent, and Natalie knew that they both had something to say. With a sigh she decided to start the conversation, but Chiana interrupted her.
"Why is D'Argo doing what he's doing?" she said with a sob, lifting her head and looking into Grant's eyes. It broke Natalie's heart to see so much pain in the teenager's eyes, and her maternal side kicked in. Natalie scooted closer to her, wrapping an arm around Chiana's shoulders, and let her new-found friend rest her head on her shoulder.
"Well, D'Argo's a warrior, and from what I've seen he lives by a certain code of honor," Natalie said stroking Chiana's hair. "And I'm guessing that his code of honor won't let him be with you because of what you did." Knowing how rebellious Chiana could be, and knowing what she was probably thinking, Natalie continued. "Yeah, I know it sucks, and that you can't understand because...well because you don't HAVE a code of honor...I KNOW that he still cares about you..."
"If he still cares about me, then why...why is he THAT way around you?" Chiana interrupted quietly as the tears started to spill over again.
"Well, I'm here for one thing...and I guess because I don't really know how things work around here, he sees me in the same way he sees you...and like I said...because of his code of honor." That seemed to calm Chiana some, and Natalie continued once again. "I'll talk to D'Argo for you, and see what I can do to try to fix this."
"No, don't..." Chiana sputtered, sitting up looking at Grant. "Look, it's never going to work between D'Argo and me, so...just don't, okay?"
"Alright," Natalie said, knowing that now was not the time to push her on the subject. "But I still have to talk to him. I really don't want D'Argo on my ass..." she started, but at Chiana's confused gaze, Natalie knew she had no idea what she meant. "It's a human expression."
"That's some expression."
"Yeah, it is..." Natalie said with a laugh, causing Chiana to laugh, too.
Chiana saw that Grant still had something to say even though they were both laughing, and asked once they had both gotten over their fit, "And?"
"And?" Natalie asked, forgetting for a few seconds about her original train of thought. "Oh, and...and it might make things easier if I did talk to him...for all of us..."
Chiana heard the truth behind Grant's words, but she could also tell that Grant was hiding something. But she didn't care. If Grant had something to hide that was her business. After all, Chiana was hiding something of her own from the crew.
###
Upon receiving new instructions, the little DRD cautiously pushed open the access panel next to the pilot's seat that it had been hiding under ever since Pilot had prepared the transport pod, and tentatively looked around the cockpit of the pod. Seeing that the cockpit was deserted, the droid slowly rolled out of it's hiding place, and over to the forward portal. As it reached its destination, it caught a glimpse of Crichton's black leather clad figure being led out of the transport hangar by at least half-a-dozen guards, and followed by Scorpius.
'The experiment worked,' Pilot thought excitedly as he and Moya watched Crichton and the guards through the DRD, but when Scorpius came into view, Pilot let loose an unnatural growl...at least, it was unnatural for the normally placid Pilot. It was so unnatural that he had inadvertently frightened Moya with his intense anger, and made her think that he was angry with her for making him go along with her plan knowing that he hadn't approved. Pilot did his best to calm the Leviathan, and to reassure her that he was not angry with her, but with Scorpius for putting them in that position in the first place. But she could still feel some of his anger, and he knew that a part of her still believed that he was angry with her so he focused all of his attention and emotions on their experiment with the DRD to try to distract her.
They knew they needed to find a way to track Crichton to give the rest of the crew a chance to rescue him, and they needed someway to atone for their part in handing Crichton over to Scorpius. They had come up with a plan that they knew Crichton would've been proud of. They needed some way to track where the command carrier and Crichton were going, so Pilot had assigned a DRD to stay with the transport pod. Since the DRD was tied to Moya, and was literally her eyes and ears, they had hoped that they would still be able to use the DRD in that way. And because Pilot could keep track of all the DRD on board Moya, they had hoped that Pilot could keep track of the DRD while it was somewhere else.
What Moya and Pilot had attempted to do had never been done before because there had never been the need for having a DRD leave a Leviathan. But when they had tried it, to their surprise, it had worked. They had been able to track the DRD as the transport pod left Moya, and landed on the command carrier. When the command carrier left the joined pair there to wait, they had feared that they would lose the connection because of the distance between the DRD and themselves, but they hadn't, and after they had given Crichton enough time to leave the pod, Pilot instructed the DRD to leave it's hiding place.
Now all Moya and Pilot could do was hope that they would still be able to track the DRD to the carrier's destination, and hope that their family would be able to catch up with them as soon as possible.
###
John had been sitting in his cell for arns, but he didn't know the exact amount of time he had been there. The fact that he was both bored and afraid didn't make matters any better for him, so he tried to keep himself occupied.
He thought about making obscene gestures at the camera in the wall (which would make him feel a whole lot better), but because the Peacekeepers watching him wouldn't know what he was doing, it wouldn't be very fun. And he knew that he would only end up wasting energy that he would probably need later with whatever Scorpius had in store for him. So he scratched that idea, and just sat there below the camera.
Anything physical he could do would be a waste of energy, and he didn't really want to think since anything he could think of would most likely lead to thinking about what Scorpy was going to do. But he couldn't keep his mind off Aeryn no matter how much he wanted to keep his mind clear.
He knew that she was probably really pissed that he turned himself in, but he was more afraid for Pilot, and what Aeryn would do to him when she found out what he and Moya had done. He hoped that she wouldn't do anything too rash, but she could be hot headed at times. He smiled to himself remembering all the times they had argued about practically nothing because they had both been too hot headed.
He heard the sound of Peacekeeper standard issue boots stomping on the metal deck coming towards his cell, and he tensed, preparing himself for whatever they he in store for him. He had no idea what Scorpius had prepared for him; it might be another round in the aurora chair, or it could be a lobotomy. But whatever it was, John knew it would be painful, and knew that he had to prepare himself for the worst.
The footsteps slowed as they reached his cell door then stopped. John anxiously waited for whatever was coming, but who ever it was that was standing in front of his cell was sure taking his sweet time. For the longest while, it seemed to John, nothing happened. Then he heard the Peacekeeper shuffle his or her feet, John stood up, and waited to face what ever was to come.
But the Peacekeeper walked away. "Okay" John said out loud. He looked around confusedly, not understanding what was going on. Then it dawned on him. 'Scorpy, you bastard,' he thought with a sarcastic smile on his face. He realized that Scorpius was just trying to shake him up, to keep him guessing, and to keep him off balance.
John wasn't about to let Scorpy have the satisfaction of doing that to him, or having that much power over him. So he flashed one of his smiles at the camera in case Scorpius was watching to let the leather-faced piece of dren know that his scare tactics wouldn't work then took his seat underneath the camera once again.
###
It had taken them nearly four-and-a-half arns, but they were closing in on the coordinates Crichton had given them. They hoped that Moya would still be there because they knew that Scorpius had already taken John. Aeryn hoped that John or Pilot had found some way of tracking where the command carrier was going because if they had, she would go after him, and rescue him...no matter what.
Natalie looked around the cockpit of the extremely disgusting, smelly, and, above all else, slow ship, and her eyes settled on Aeryn. She saw on Aeryn's face a determination she had never seen before, and knew from what she had heard and seen of Aeryn that she was going to save John. Or die trying. She also looked at D'Argo, who was understandably standing on the other side of the cockpit, and saw the same determination to save John on his face. And she was going to help them to save him. She swore to herself that she would. Not only because John was the only other human there, but because he and the rest of the crew had given her a chance after she was stranded there. She would do anything to help them.
"So what's your plan?" Staanz asked from his position on the floor tied to the wall.
"It's of no concern to you," Aeryn said coldly.
"Yes it is, if it involves me in any way."
"Once we get to Moya, we'll let you go. That's all you need to know."
"Good. Just as long as you don't need me."
When Staanz asked what the plan was, Natalie was hoping that Aeryn would tell her, since she had forgotten that she didn't know what the plan was either. When Aeryn didn't say anything, Natalie was a little disappointed because she hadn't wanted to ask Aeryn herself. Not with the look on her face that said, 'if you frell with me, I'll kill you.' In the state that Aeryn was in, Natalie was a little afraid of interrupting her. But she mustered up her courage, and walked over to Aeryn, who was in the pilot's seat, and stood next to her. "So, Aeryn...what is the plan?" Aeryn looked up at Natalie, but said nothing. "Since John is my friend, and it IS my concern, I want to know. I want to help."
Aeryn saw in Grant's eyes that she meant every word, and that, if necessary, she would help. Aeryn knew that Natalie could help in her own way since she had saved her and Crichton from McDaniel. But Aeryn also knew that Natalie still wasn't familiar with how the technology worked in the Uncharted Territories, and that Natalie might not be able to kill, even if it meant saving the rest of the crew. "Alright," Aeryn said. "I'm going to find John, and rescue him."
"That's not much of a plan."
"It's all we have right now," Aeryn responded turning back to the console to concentrate on flying the ship.
Chiana watched the conversation between the two women with interest. She couldn't hear what they were saying since she was too far away, but she guessed that they were talking about the plan. Grant turned around with a worried expression on her face, and made her way back to her spot standing next to Chiana. Seeing that look on Grant's face made Chiana worried as well. "What was that about?"
"I asked her what the plan was..." Natalie said leaning up against the bulkhead next to Chiana.
"And?" Chiana pushed.
"And..." Natalie started gazing at the floor. "She said she's going to find John and rescue him."
"That's not much of a plan."
"That's what I said," Natalie said as she turned to Chiana with her eyebrows raised.
"There's Moya," Aeryn said to no one in particular.
"Here we go," Natalie mumbled.
###
John had completely lost all track of time and was getting pretty pissed at Scorpy's mind games. He knew that it was almost time for him to face the music when he felt the massive command carrier slow down, and heard the sound of several Peacekeepers coming down the corridor. They stopped in front of his cell door and he stood up, knowing what was coming. But instead of a half-dozen guards bursting into the room he heard the one voice that he had grown to hate on the ship's internal comms.
"Hello, Crichton," Scorpius said jauntily. "I hope you've enjoyed the trip because we have reached our destination."
"Already?" John yelled out. "And I was SO looking forward to the peanuts and the in-flight movie."
"I am sorry to disappoint you, Crichton..."
"Yeah, right," Crichton mumbled while Scorpius spoke.
"But it is time."
Crichton watched the cell door, waiting once again for the guards to come in to take him to where ever it was they were going, but instead he heard a hissing sound coming from somewhere within his cell. He looked around frantically for where the sound that he knew was some kind of knockout gas was coming from. He turned around, coughing, and saw the gas coming through the vents behind him. He could already feel himself fading and started to run to the door to try to breath through the small crack at the bottom, but stumbled and fell to his knees. He tried crawling, but he became weaker and weaker with every passing second. He managed to crawl to within a few feet of the door, but collapsed as the blackness of unconsciousness consumed him.
###
He saw flashes of light passing over him as he slowly regained consciousness, and started to remember the events of the past few arns. John groaned at those memories and tried to move, but when he did, he felt that his head, arms, legs, and torso were strapped down to what he realized was a table. His eyes shot open, and he started to struggle against his restraints, but to no avail. Then he heard THAT voice again.
"Welcome back, Crichton," Scorpy said as his leather thong-clad face came into John's field of vision.
"What the frell is going on, you freak?" John yelled as he started to struggle against the restraints again.
"Now, now, John, is that any way to talk to the person who has done more for you in the past half cycle than anyone else?"
"For me? How about what you've done TO me, you bastard? Now what the hell is going on?"
"You'll see Crichton," Scorpy said, as the walked into a room. Crichton couldn't tell where he was exactly because his head was restrained, but he did overhear Scorpius talking to a female Peacekeeper. "Is everything ready?"
"Yes, Scorpius," the soft, beautiful voice said. It had surprised Crichton because he hadn't thought that any Peacekeeper female could sound like her. "All instruments haven been readied, and the patient is ready for surgery."
"Surgery?" John yelled to no one in particular. He started to panic, and struggled once again hoping that his movements would loosen his restraints, giving him a chance. A masked Peacekeeper came into view above him with an instrument that looked a lot like a power drill. "What the hell is that? What the hell is going on?"
"Calm down, Crichton. The surgeon is only going to remove the neuro-bio tracer that contains the wormhole technology from your brain."
"What? I swear, Scorpy, once I get outta here, I'm gonna kill you!"
"Do it," Scorpius calmly said, addressing the surgeon. The surgeon and his assistants flipped the table over, and Crichton realized for the first time that his head was strapped to a restraint that left the back of his head exposed.
"Dammit, Scorpy..." was the last thing John yelled as the surgeon injected him with a sedative that took immediate effect. He was out like a light before the surgeon had time to remove the dispenser from his neck.
###
She stood off to the side behind Scorpius watching the surgeons as they carefully removed the neuro-chip from Crichton taking care to leave his brain intact as per Scorpius' orders. She was a lonely Peacekeeper female no one wanted to be associated with because of her position, but she didn't care. All that mattered was what she was there to do.
She was going to kill Scorpius. She was going to get her revenge for what he had done. And the Human, Crichton, was going to help her get her revenge.
###
"I have managed to track the DRD aboard the transport pod, and it appears to have stopped," pilot said as he addressed the crew who had gathered around the strategy table in command. After Aeryn had docked Staanz' ship with Moya, they had unloaded the five barrels of iriscentent fluid they had been able to bring with them, and let Staanz go, but not before Staanz proposed to D'Argo one last time. Fortunately for Staanz, she was a fast runner, and was able to get back to her ship and leave before D'Argo could kill her.
They had replenished Moya's iriscentent fluid tanks as best they could with the little fluid they were able to bring with them. Unfortunately, they were not sure if it was enough fluid to allow Moya to starburst even once. And what good is a rescue if you don't get away? That was something they were worried about because they would need to starburst away once they brought Crichton on board. But they had to risk it. Besides, there was a much greater chance that they would be found and killed while trying to rescue Crichton.
"Alright, so if we do find the command carrier, what then?" Natalie asked. "I mean what are we going to do if John is still on the carrier? No offense, Aeryn, but your plan sucked, and there are just too many variables that can go wrong here. Now, I want to get John back just as much as you do, but we can't exactly just fly a transport pod on board, pop the hatch, and ask 'Could you please give John back to us'."
"You're right, but BECAUSE we don't know anything we're going to have to do what John does..." Aeryn paused looking right at Grant. "We have to make it up as we go along."
"That's what I thought," Natalie responded, then thought on it for a few seconds. "Oh, what the hell, why not? At least it's something. So let's do it."
"Wait! How do we know if the Peacekeepers didn't just dump the transport pod?" Rygel piped, in looking at his shipmates. "It's not as if they need it for anything, and it would be taking up valuable space." Everyone looked at him blankly, digesting what he had to say. "I want him back as much as the rest of you," he said causing everyone look right at him in complete shock with his revelation. "But I'm just being realistic."
"If there's the chance that they didn't, we have to take it," Aeryn said sternly allowing no argument from the others.
"Agreed," D'Argo said. "He would do the same for us, and he is my ally and friend and I will not abandon him."
"And when we do rescue him, I will kill Scorpius for doing this to him. Then I'm going to kill Crichton for giving himself up," 'and for breaking his promise to never leave me,' Aeryn silently added.
Pilot ducked his head in shame at what Aeryn said. He knew that he had to tell them everything, but he was afraid of what they might do to Moya and him. The others saw his movement in the clamshell, and they all became concerned because it wasn't something that Pilot usually did.
"Pilot? What's wrong?" Zhaan asked.
Pilot looked up at her question. He looked around the command at each member of the crew, finally settling on Aeryn with utter sadness on his face.
"Pilot, what is it?" Aeryn asked softly.
He sighed, and bowed his massive head once again. "There is something you all should know..." he paused, and looked back up at Aeryn before continuing. "The message Scorpius sent was addressed to Moya." Pilot didn't need to look at the others to know that they had stunned expression on their faces, but he was still watching Aeryn, who was intensely watching him, trying to figure out just what he was trying to say. "He said that Moya was to deliver John to this location...we agreed, and took John from the commerce planet..."
With the exception of two, the crew all started shouting at him at the same time.
"What?" D'Argo yelled.
"Pilot, how could you?" Zhaan asked, standing up from her seat at the strategy table.
"Why the frell did you and Moya do that?" Chiana yelled, standing up as well.
"Well, yotz, I say we leave before they betray us all..." Rygel bitched.
"We didn't have a choice!" Pilot yelled, sending them into silence. He had never yelled before at anyone, and it took them completely by surprise. "If we didn't deliver John to Scorpius, he said he would destroy Talyn."
"You should've told us, Pilot," D'Argo yelled as he turned abruptly breaking the silence, his tentas flying, and started to pace around the command then turned back around. "We could've come up with a plan to rescue Talyn."
"Yes, we could have, but what would you have done if Scorpius had captured Jothee, Ka D'Argo, and said that he would spare your son's life only if you turned in Crichton?"
D'Argo was sent into a stunned silence once again. Would he have he done the same if Scorpius had captured Jothee? "No," he said confidently. "I would NEVER betray a friend or an ally."
"I did not think so," he sighed. "But John DID agree to go," Pilot added, revealing the truth, and the four most vocal members of the crew started to yell at the same time again.
"He what?" D'Argo and Chiana said at the same time.
"What do you mean, Pilot?" Zhaan asked.
"I knew he was crazy, but I didn't think he was that crazy," Rygel yelled.
"He agreed to come," Pilot said back to them. "His exact words were 'Alright, Pilot, if we're going to do this then let's g