The Face of Fear
By: Ian K.
Rating: R. Violence. Not too much of it, but nature of some of the violence requires the R rating.
Spoilers: Yes-Season One and Two.
Disclaimer: I did not create Farscape, the universe of Farscape, or its characters. I merely borrowed them for this story, for which I will receive no monetary compensation. No infringement of copyright intended.
Time Frame: Somewhere between "the Ugly Truth" and "Liars, Guns, and Money".
Summary: Moya's crew is confronted with a force that attacks them with their own greatest fears.
***************************************
"Fear is the true enemy, the only enemy." Sun Tzu, the Art of War
*
It was hungry. It waited in its self-made shadows, waited for its next meal. So long, so long since a ripe food source came along. So long since it has had fresh food.
It waited. The thing had infinite patience. It was without ending. The thing had existed since the dawn of time, and would live beyond its end. A being that long alive must learn the value of patience.
Ah, now the patience paid off. Fresh prey entered the horizon. A ship, a ship with passengers. A ship alive itself. Both living ship and the crew aboard her filled with doubts and fears. Perfect. The thing prepared for the arrival of fresh prey.
**
"It's a nebula, so what?" said Rygel.
The crew of Moya stood in the command, eyeing the swirling mass of particles that now loomed on Moya's viewing screen. It was large, approximately 1 million metras across. It would take Moya at least two days to cross the nebula if they went through it.
"Yes, it's a nebula, Sparky," replied Crichton. "But it may also be a good place to hide from the Peacekeepers. Throw them off the scent. What do you think, Aeryn?"
"Its directly in our path, anyway. Why go around it when we can go through it? What do you think Pilot? Would Moya be able to cross that nebula unharmed?"
"It should not present Moya a problem, Officer Sun. My scans show that there is nothing in the Nebula's composition that could harm Moya."
"But what if there is something in the Nebula that could harm us?" asked Chiana.
"Like what," said Crichton. "That nebula is thick enough to cloud scanners. If the Peacekeepers were hiding in there, they wouldn't be able to detect us going though it. They'd be blind as a bat."
"We will be blind as well if we go through there," inserted D'Argo.
"Moya should be able to navigate through the nebula if we go slowly," said Pilot.
"How long would it take if we went around it, Pilot?" asked Zhaan.
"At least 4 times as long, Zhaan."
"That would delay our arrival at Lorgana," said Aeryn. "I want us to get there as soon as possible to fix the damage done to my Prowler when CHIANA crashed it."
"Look, I have had enough..."retorted Chiana.
"Ladies," interrupted Crichton. "Let's not rehash this again, please."
Both women gave each other a cold stare before turning their eyes back towards the view screens.
"Now, it seems we are all agreed that we should go through the nebula," said Crichton. "Any objections?"
No objection was made by any member of the crew. "Good. Pilot, take us in."
"Done, Commander Crichton."
***
The thing was pleased. The ship and its troubled crew was coming into its realm. Now, it would feed.
****
John and Aeryn were in the hanger, each working on their respective ships. Well, Aeryn was working on what was left of her ship. Aeryn could do some of the repairs, but most of them had to wait until Moya reached the planet of Lorgana.
"So, Aeryn," began John, in an attempt to make conversation. "These people on Lorgana. They are supposed to be good engineers?"
"Yes, they are. But they won't be the ones working on my Prowler. All the actual work is done by their robots."
"Robots, really. You mean, like DRD's?"
"No. Their robots are large, bipedal machines. They are built that way to be more efficient."
"You mean they're made like people? People sized robots?"
"Yes, that's one way of looking at it."
"Great, just peachy," said Crichton in a low, sarcastic voice.
"John, what's the matter? You don't like robots, or something?"
"No, not really. Well, I mean I've never known any robots personally. Well, I take that back. I met Robby the Robot at a scifi convention once."
"Who?"
"Never mind. Let's just say robots make me nervous."
"Why?"
"Never mind. You'd laugh, think it was crazy."
"John, I sometimes think half the things you say are crazy. What's one more?" Aeryn approached John. She stood right next to him and waited for him to answer her. John looked up, and saw the determined look in Aeryn's eyes. She wanted answers, and he better give them, or he would have one pissed off ex-Peacekeeper on his hands.
"Okay, Aeryn. I'll tell you, but your gonna think its stupid." John put down the tool he was using and looked at Aeryn. "When I was young, Aeryn, there was this TV show I watched. You remember, I told you about TV."
"Yes, that device that shows entertainment programs on a view screen."
"Yeah, well this show I watched. It was called 'Battlestar Galactica'." Aeryn gave him an incredulous look. "Long story, Aeryn. The point is that there were these robots on that show called Cylons. They were big, bad, and had this mean looking red, electronic eyes that flashed across their heads. Ooohh, they gave me the creeps. They wanted to wipe out all of humanity because we were inferior, and..." Crichton looked at Aeryn, who was grinning from ear to ear.
"See, Aeryn. I told you. You think this is silly."
Crichton turned back to his work, while Aeryn began chuckling at him. "John, you have to admit that the whole conception is silly. You are afraid of fictional robots on an entertainment program."
"Yes, Aeryn, I know the subject of the fear is silly. But, it's a childhood thing. Sometimes, children are afraid of silly things. Things that go bump in the night, and they are often silly things to adults. But these are still deep rooted fears."
"I'm sorry, John," said Aeryn, as she slowed her chuckling. "I didn't mean to make light of your fears."
"Don't get me wrong, Aeryn. I'm not afraid of robots, they just make me, I don't know, nervous." Crichton looked at Aeryn, and decided to turn the conversation to her. "What about you, Aeryn? Any childhood fears?"
Aeryn's face became serious. "No, John. I am a warrior." Aeryn turned and went back to work on her Prowler.
"Even warriors have fears, Aeryn. You were still a kid. You may not have had much of a childhood, but you were still a child with children's fears."
"The only thing I feared as a child, John, was not being good enough at my training."
"No, I don't buy it. There must have been something, some little thing that scared you when you were young. Come on, Aeryn. Whatever it is, no matter how silly, I won't laugh. I may giggle a little, but never laugh."
"My fears were of nothing so childish, John. Certainly nothing to laugh at."
Crichton walked over to Aeryn. "But there were fears, Aeryn."
Aeryn tried to ignore him, continue working. John was not ready to give up. He grabbed her hand, moving it to put down the tool. He used his other hand to tough her chin, and gently turn her face towards his. "Tell me, Aeryn."
Aeryn looked away again, moving to go back to her work. Crichton shrugged his shoulders, and began to walk away. That is when she spoke to him in a low voice.
"Scarrens."
John turned around and faced Aeryn. She was looking at him thoughtfully. It took him a few moments to process what she had said. Once he did, Crichton responded.
"Scarrens? Is that what you said?"
"Yes, Scarrens. As a young person, I was afraid of Scarrens. I still am, a bit."
"Well, Aeryn, their big, mean, ugly, smelly...what's there not to fear about them. There is nothing to be ashamed of there."
"I was not, am not, afraid of facing them in battle. I am...When I was about 14 cycles, we were trained, taught about the various species that were the Peacekeeper's enemies. This included the Scarrens. Do you know what Scarrens do to female Peacekeepers they capture?"
Crichton was silent for a moment before replying. "I'm not sure I want to know."
"Where do you think Scorpius came from? At least, that's where I assume he came from."
Crichton looked at Aeryn for a long moment before speaking. "Rape."
"Very brutal rape. Scarrens enjoy raping women they capture because it gives them a sense of power over their enemy. They especially enjoy it when it's a Sebacean woman. Scarrens are very brutal in their sexual practices. The victim is incapacitated by the Scarren's mind control abilities. Still conscious, but unable to move, the Scarren brutalizes the woman's body. Many Sebacean victims do not survive the assault."
"My God," said Crichton in a low tone. "They told you about that at such a young age."
"I was 14 cycles old, John. I was already in combat training, learning how to kill my enemies. We were thoroughly...briefed."
Aeryn turned away, returning to her work. John walked up to her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry, Aeryn. I'll never let a Scarren get near you."
Aeryn looked at him with her fierce, warrior expression on her face. "I can take care of myself, Crichton."
D'Argo walked into the hanger and approached the pair. "Crichton. Moya is experiencing some amnexous blockage on tier 7. I need you help clearing it."
"Right, let's go," replied Crichton. He turned to Aeryn on her way out. "We'll talk more later, if you want."
"Perhaps," said Aeryn.
She returned to her work as John and D'Argo left the hanger. As the pair made their way to tier seven, Crichton decided to make conversation.
"So, D'Argo. Aeryn and I were just talking about childhood fears. I was wondering, anything scare you when you were a child?"
"Of course."
"You, D'Argo. Its hard to believe anything could scare you."
"It is a poor warrior indeed, Crichton, that can not admit their fears. If one can not admit their fears, one can not face them."
"So, what were they?"
D'Argo was silent for a moment. "I suppose the thing that scared me the most as a child was this creature that my father told me about in one of his war stories. It was called a Sarger. My father said that it was a large, slobbering beast with long fangs and knife like fingers. It consumed men whole and took 20 Luxan warriors to kill."
"You think he was telling you the truth, or do you think it was just a story?"
"I was sure it was the truth at the time. It kept me up at night sometimes with fear. I was young, I grew older and learned not to give into my fears, but to overcome them."
*****
Aeryn had decided to take a break from her repair work on the Prowler. She faced the fact that she had done all she could do for her beloved ship until they reached Lorgana.
The ex-Peacekeeper went to the dining hall to get something to eat. She found Zhaan, Chiana, and Rygel already in there eating. Aeryn sat down next to Zhaan.
"Hello, Aeryn. Repairs going alright?" asked the Delvian priestess.
"As well as can be expected. The robots on Lorgana will have to do the rest." A slight chuckle escaped from Aeryn's mouth, and was noticed by Zhaan and the others.
"Hey, what's so funny?" asked Chiana.
"Oh, nothing. Its just a conversation John and I were having. We were talking about childhood fears, and his was rather...silly."
"Aeryn," said Zhaan. "I would advise not to make a mockery over childhood fears. They can be very intimidating, even into adulthood."
"I know that, Zhaan," replied Aeryn. "Just the subject of his fears were rather...laughable. While we're talking about it, what did you fear as a child, Zhaan?"
"Nothing really as a child, my dear. My childhood was actually quite...glorious. No, my fears came later in life. I suppose my greatest was that the spirit of the man I killed would come back to haunt me. Perhaps that is one reason why I still pursue the seek, to repay my debts to the goddess. What about you, Rygel? Did the Dominar fear anything as a child?"
"Yeah," chimed Chiana. "What were you afraid of as a little squirt?"
"I feared nothing. I am a Dominar. I was to rule over an empire with 600 billion..."
"Oh, please," said Chiana. "You are a short, little guy. There must have been something that scared you."
"Alright, I'll tell you, if only to get you to leave me alone about it. I was afraid of...Hynerian margules."
"What?" said the three women in unison.
"I was afraid of them. When I was young, I fell asleep once while eating modules. I dreamed they were attacking me, getting back at me for eating them. I awoke to find my face in a bowl full of them. I thought the dream was coming true, and ended up screaming. That gave me bad dreams for weekens."
Aeryn, Chiana, and Zhaan burst out laughing. Chiana fell out of her seat with laughter as the vision of what Rygel just told her came into her head full force.
"Humph," said Rygel. "I knew I shouldn't have told you wretches. I'll go and enjoy my food in peace and quiet." With that, Rygel scooted out of the room on his throne sled, leaving the women and their laughter.
A few moments after Rygel left, the three women finally stopped laughing. "I will apologize for us later," said Zhaan. "So, Chiana. That leaves you. What are your deepest fears?"
Chiana's face became serious for a moment. After a few tense seconds, she responded to the question. "I fear that my people will one day find me, and make me as emotionless as they are."
The Nebari girl got up, and left the room quietly. Aeryn and Zhaan looked at each other, and returned to their meals in silence.
******
The thing saw into their minds, listened to their words. It heard all, saw all that went on in its realm. It knew now the method of feeding, the utensil it would use. The emotion of fear stirred strong emotions in beings like these. The thing decided to use fear as its tool. It would feed well this time.
*******************************************
"Hear the loud alarum bells, Brazen Bells!
What a tale of terror, now, their turbulency
tells!
In the startled ear of night
How they scream out their affright!
Too much horrified to speak,
They can only shriek, shriek."
Edgar Allen Poe, "The Bells"
*
D'Argo and Crichton were just about finished clearing the amnexous blockage on Tier Seven. It took them about half an arn, but luckily the blockage wasn't too bad.
"Well, that was easy enough?" said Crichton.
Just then, the lights on that Tier dimmed. "Uh oh, spoke to soon," said Crichton. He activated his comm. "Yo, Pilot. We're getting some kind of power drain down here. Its not another amnexous blockage is it?"
"No, Crichton. Moya is experiencing a systems wide power loss of some kind, but I can't find the source of the problem. Wait a moment." A few seconds passed before Pilot continued. "Crichton, D'Argo. The DRD's are reporting movement on the tier below you. I can't seem to localize it, but it is definitely not any member of the crew."
D'Argo drew his qualta blade, while Crichton pulled his pulse pistol from his holster. "Do we have intruders, Pilot?" asked D'Argo.
"Unknown. I am not detecting any life forms. Just movement. The power drain is having an increasing effect on all systems. We will start to loose more systems shortly, including comms."
"We'll check it out, Pilot," said Crichton. "You try and run down that power drain. Get Aeryn to help you."
Crichton deactivated his comm and, with a nod to D'Argo, the two made there way below to the next tier. Moya's lighting systems continued to blink on an off, and dimmed more and more. Strange sounds filled the hallways as Crichton and D'Argo made their way onto Tier 8.
The pair came across a closed door that should lead to an empty storage room. D'Argo covered the door with his qualta rifle, while Crichton activated the door mechanism to open it. The door swung open and revealed a darkened room. They couldn't see anything at first, but they did begin to hear a noise, a series of swooshing noises, almost electronic.
Crichton thought he recognized the sound, but could not place it. "Hey, D'Argo..." John could not finish his sentence. The two men saw a series of flashing red lights approaching them from the dark interior of the storage room. The lights got closer and closer. The sound became louder as the lights approached. Finally, the approaching forms began to take definite shape.
A look that reflected a mixture of shock and terror appeared on Crichton's face. He was barely able to mutter a few words to D'Argo. "Big guy, run."
D'Argo looked at him, and Crichton screamed, "Run! NOW!"
A series of laser blasts emanated from the approaching forms, as Crichton and D'Argo ran for cover. The Luxan and Human turned to look at their attackers. They saw a group of at least 10 large, man shaped robots coming out of the room, firing some kind of laser rifles at them. The leading robot spoke to the others in a cold, electronic voice.
"Organic life forms detected. Eliminate them."
The other robots responded. "By your command."
Crichton and D'Argo fired at the robots, dropping one or two of them. The robots that were hit fell to the floor, small explosions ripping through their frames from the pulse blasts. The robots returned fire on the two members of Moya's crew. Outnumbered, Crichton and D'Argo retreated at a run down Moya's corridor.
They got to a door, and activated the door mechanism. Under a hail of laser fire, the door swung closed, providing at least a temporary barrier between the two men and their robotic attackers.
John and D'Argo leaned against the door, panting for breath. "How did those machines get on board?" asked D'Argo. "And what the frell are they?!"
"Cylons," said Crichton, out of breath. "Those things are CYLONS! This aint happening! This can't be happening!"
"What the frell are Cylons?"
"Fictional robots from a TV show I watched as a kid."
The sound of pounding came from the other side of the door, making the two men step away from it. "Well," said D'Argo. "They don't seem so FICTIONAL to me, Crichton!!"
"That's the point, D'Argo. They are fictional, so how the frell did they get here?!"
Crichton activated his comm. "Aeryn! Anybody! D'Argo and I are on tier 8, near junction 4. We are under attack. We need..."
Just then, a loud roar came from one of the corridors leading away from the junction they were at. D'Argo and Crichton froze at the sound, and looked at each other with identical "what now" looks.
From the corridor where the noise came from, a shadow advanced along the wall, a big shadow. A few moments later, the source of that shadow came into view. A large creature, with huge fangs and long claws came down the hallway, and approached the two men. It stopped at the junction and roared at Crichton and D'Argo.
"A sarger!" said D'Argo. "That is a sarger!"
"Holy shit!" said Crichton. "You mean, that's the monster you told me about earlier, the one that took 20 Luxans to kill!"
D'Argo nodded in reply. "Oh great," said Crichton, looking back at the door between them and the Cylons. "Take your pick. The devil or the deep blue sea."
**
Aeryn came racing down the corridor when she heard Crichton's message over the comm. He hadn't had a chance to say who or what was attacking him and D'Argo, but it sounded like they were in a lot of trouble. They needed her, and she ran like mad to get to them.
As she rounded a corner, she tripped and fell over something that was sticking out into the corridor. When Aeryn turned around to see what it was, a feeling of sheer terror swept over her.
Standing over her was a Scarren, a big one. It snarled at her, apparently being the one that caused her to trip and fall to the ground.
Instinctively, Aeryn reached for her pulse pistol and moved to draw it from her holster. The Scarren simply kicked the gun out of Aeryn's hand, and quickly reached down to pick Aeryn up by her neck. He pulled her to his face.
"Well," snarled the Scarren. "What have I caught here? A Peacekeeper female. A lovely one at that." The Scarren began to rub Aeryn's midriff with his free hand.
Aeryn was choking under the Scarren's grip, but managed to keep her fear and weakening reflexes in check for a moment or two longer. Thinking quickly, and seeing an opening, Aeryn gave a swift, hard kick between the Scarren's legs.
Groaning in pain, the Scarren dropped Aeryn to the ground. She got up from the ground to look for her pulse pistol, but the corridor was too dark to see it. Deciding she did not want to go hand to hand with such a powerful Scarren, Aeryn decided to retreat.
She ran down the corridor to find a weapon or get help. Aeryn tried her comms, but they were not working, having finally succumbed to the power drain. The shaken woman decided that the best place to find help would be command.
***
Chiana made her way down the darkened corridor, trying to get to command. When she walked past the dining hall, she heard a noise come from inside the room. The Nebari girl paused to try and see the source of the noise, but the room was too dark.
"Rygel," she said towards the darkened dining hall. She thought it might be the little Hynerian getting food.
Slowly, she walked into the room, expecting to find Rygel gorging himself on food cubes, or his precious Hynerian margules. As soon as she stepped into the room, the door to the dining hall swung shut.
Chiana turned around to try and open the door, but could not seem to open it for some reason.
"You can not get out, Chiana," said a voice from behind her.
The voice sounded familiar to Chiana. The scared Nebari girl slowly turned to see the source of the voice. When she turned, a light illuminated part of the room. Under that light stood Salis, the Nebari agent who had captured her nearly a cycle ago. The dead Nebari agent.
"No," said Chiana. "You can't be here. You're dead," she said with a weak sob.
"I am here, Chiana. I am here to help you, to fix you," he said with a meloding voice. "You can not escape your fate Chiana."
Chiana turned around and pounded on the door, screaming for help. "No one can help you Chiana," said Salis. "No one can keep you from your fate."
Chiana cringed into the corner of the room as Salis approached her. "NOOOO!!!!!" she screamed.
****
Rygel was asleep in his quarters, unaware of the turbulence happening around him. He had just finished a large helping of Hynerian margules, and was resting up for his next big eating binge.
A noise woke up the little Hynerian from his slumber. He looked around the room, but it was dark and hard to see. "Lights," said Rygel. "Come on, lights," he repeated.
Rygel could then make out movement, a lot of movement all around his cell. The hynerian reached for a small light that he kept by his bed and turned it on.
He caught his breath as he saw that the walls and the floor were covered with scurrying Hynerian margules. The moved around in waves and waves, thousands of them everywhere Rygel could see.
They advanced onto his bed, getting closer and closer to the Hynerian. "Yotz!" screamed Rygel, as he scurried onto his throne sled. He hovered mid air, and activated his comm. "Help, someone help me!" The comm did not work, and Rygel shivered with fear as every inch of his quarters was covered with living margules, out to get him in revenge for eating them.
*****
Aeryn raced down the corridor, attempting to get to a weapon or to find help. She did not see the Scarren in pursuit, but she was not about to slow down and wait for him unarmed.
As she came around a corner, she almost ran into Zhaan. The concerned Delvian put her hand on the shoulder of the out of breath Sebacean woman.
"What is it, my dear? What are you running from?"
"A Scarren, Zhaan. Back there. It attacked me. I need to get to a weapon."
"You are wounded, my dear," she said, examining the bruising and cuts on her neck. "Come with me to the medical bay, where I can attend to those wounds."
"No, Zhaan. A weapon."
"The weapons locker is nearby. Come."
The two women made their way to the medical bay, which was just down the corridor. The weapons locker was not far beyond that.
When they reached the medical bay, Aeryn stopped Zhaan. "Go ahead and get the medicines you need, Zhaan. I'm going down the corridor to the weapons locker to get a pulse rifle."
"Very well," replied Zhaan.
Zhaan stepped into the medical bay, as Aeryn turned to go down the corridor. Just then, the door to the medical bay swung abruptly shut.
Aeryn turned around and headed back to the door. She tried to open it, but the door mechanism seemed jammed.
"Zhaan," yelled Aeryn through the door.
Inside the room, Zhaan was going to reply to Aeryn's call from the other side of the door. But before she could, a figure stepped from the darkness. "Hello, Zhaan."
Zhaan turned to see a Delvian male standing before her. To her shock and horror, the man who stood before her was her former lover, her dead former lover. The one she had killed. His face and body were deformed, decayed from apparent decomposition. He had a look of death about him that made Zhaan freeze with fear.
"I have waited so long, Zhaan," said the Delvian to Zhaan. "Now, I will have my revenge."
Meanwhile, outside the door, Aeryn attempted to get the door mechanism to operate. She pounded on the door, attempting to get Zhaan's attention, but for some reason got no response.
Aeryn heard a noise come from behind her. She turned around and came face to face with her Scarren attacker. The beast stood between Aeryn and her only means of escape down the corridor. He was twice her size, three times her strength, and she was unarmed.
Dread and fear from deep inside Aeryn threatened to overwhelm her as she was confronted by the Scarren with no means of escape. She was a warrior, and had faced enemies in battle before. But this time, she could not hold back her fear.
Aeryn pounded on the door even harder. "Zhaan!," she screamed. "ZHAAN! HELP ME!" Her fear, her terror, was winning as the Scarren got closer and closer to her. As played out in her childhood nightmares, Aeryn had nowhere to go and could not find the strength to resist.
The Scarren grabbed Aeryn again by the throat and reveled in the look of sheer terror written all over his victim's face. He struck her across the face, knocking her to the floor.
The beast grabbed Aeryn by both of her legs, and dragged her down the corridor like an animal. "I will make you pay for what you did to me, you Peacekeeper bitch!"
"HEELLPP MEE!!" Aeryn screamed, as the Scarren dragged her down the hallway.
******************************
"He has not learned the lesson of life who does not every day surmount a fear."
Ralph Waldo Emerson, "Courage".
*
"It is all in your mind," thought Pilot to Moya. "There is no control collar. You are not back in Peacekeeper custody. You are safe."
At that moment, the door to Pilot's chamber opened. Pilot looked up, hoping to see one of Moya's crew walk in the door. Instead, he was greeted with the sight of a squad of armed Peacekeepers marching into the chamber. They were followed by a Peacekeeper officer, one who looked very familiar to Pilot.
To Pilot's shock, he realized that the Peacekeeper officer looked exactly like Lt. Velorek. The Peacekeepers pointed their weapons at Pilot, and the officer spoke to Pilot.
"You are to be replaced by a new Pilot. It has become clear that you can not be relied upon to control this Leviathan for us."
"But..."started Pilot.
"Take aim," said the officer to his men. Pilot reacted quickly. He had the DRD's attack the Peacekeeper's with their laser guns. The Peacekeepers took cover, and were temporarily pinned down by the fire from the DRD's.
Pilot knew the DRD's couldn't hold off the Peacekeepers for long, but hopefully they could delay his attackers long enough for help to arrive.
**
Crichton and D'Argo raced through the lower tiers of Moya, being chased by both Cylons and a Sarger beast. D'Argo hated running from a fight, but he was wise enough to know that he and Crichton were totally out matched by both threats. They needed to get help.
The pair finally made it to one of Moya's access shafts. They used it to get to the upper levels, after finding all other exits cut off by either the Sarger or Cylons. After a long climb, the two men found themselves on an upper tier, near Pilot's den.
"So what now?" asked Crichton.
"Wait, listen," replied D'Argo. They could hear the sounds of gun fire coming from the direction of Pilot's den.
"Come on," said Crichton, as he raced down the corridor with gun in hand, closely followed by D'Argo.
They arrived at Pilot's den to find Moya's symbiont under attack from a squad of Peacekeepers. The DRD's were putting up a good fight, but were ultimately no match for the Peacekeeper squad.
Crichton and D'Argo counted to three, then burst into the room firing at the Peacekeepers. Caught off guard, and caught in a crossfire, the Peacekeeper squad was eliminated in several microts.
Out of breath, Crichton and D'Argo approached Pilot. "Are you alright?" asked Crichton.
"Yes, thank you both. Where did those Peacekeepers come from?"
"I don't know, Pilot," said Crichton.
"We were attacked by other enemies on the lower tiers," said D'Argo. "We don't know how they got aboard either."
"How's Moya?" asked Crichton.
"Not good," said Pilot. "The power drain is increasing slowly. Also, she is very frightened because she thinks she has a control collar on again."
"Does she?" asked D'Argo.
"No, but she insists that she does."
"Wait, anybody seeing a pattern here," said Crichton. "We've been runnin around like ducks in a hunt so much I haven't seen it until now. D'Argo, you said the thing that scared you the most was a Sarger. Bingo, one appears on board. Cylons were something that spooked me as a child..."
"And now we have Cylons attacking Moya," finished D'Argo.
"Right. Now, Pilot and Moya are being plagued by their fears coming to life. Do you see what I mean? Something is making all of our deepest fears come alive. Pilot, where are the others."
"I don't know. I am having problems keeping in contact with the DRD's outside of this chamber. Another effect of the power drain."
"We have to tell the others, or their fears will be attacking them as well," said D'Argo.
"They probably already are," replied Crichton. In that instant, Crichton froze. He was remembering his conversation with Aeryn earlier, the one about: "Scarrens," he said.
"What did you say?" said D'Argo.
"Oh my God," said Crichton. "I have to find Aeryn. D'Argo, you try and find the others."
"Right," said D'Argo, as he ran from the room.
"Pilot, where was Aeryn's last know position."
***
The Scarren had dragged Aeryn back to her own quarters. Once there, the beast threw Aeryn onto her bed. She quickly got up off of the bed, only to be struck hard across the face by the Scarren. The blow knocked the wind out of her and sent her body falling back onto the bed.
"If you cooperate," said the Scarren, "I may let you live when I finish with you."
The Scarren jumped onto Aeryn, and began to use his mind control abilities to paralyze her temporarily. After a few moments, Aeryn succumbed to the Scarren's powers. Satisfied his prey was rendered helpless, but still conscious, the Scarren got up and began to remove his clothing.
Aeryn looked up at the now naked Scarren who was approaching her. She wanted to cry out, to fight back, but she could not move. She was paralyzed by the Scarren's mind control and by her own fear. The Scarren began to touch Aeryn's body roughly, squeezing her hard enough to bruise her. He finally grabbed her by the hair with one hand. The other hand went down to Aeryn's vest and ripped it open.
Aeryn fought for control of her body, fought to overcome her fear and the Scarren's mind control. She did so quietly so as not to tip off the Scarren that she was regaining her strength. Meanwhile, the Scarren eyed Aeryn's now bare chest lustily, his eyes moving down to her pants.
Still holding Aeryn by her hair, the Scarren reached down to Aeryn's pants to remove the last barrier between him and the object of his violent desire. Aeryn finally felt herself begin to be able to move. The warrior woman used every ounce of strength she could muster to fight her paralysis. In one last burst of effort, Aeryn put all of her strength into a desperate move.
Without warning, Aeryn knocked away the Scarren's grip on her hair, and landed a blow to the Scarren's head near his right eye. While the Scarren was temporarily stunned and caught off guard, Aeryn swung herself off of the bed.
She made a dash for her trunk to retrieve her spare pulse pistol. Before she could get the trunk open, the Scarren was on her again, grabbing at her torso trying to force her back to the bed.
"Stop fighting, you Peacekeeper whore!" said the Scarren.
Aeryn landed both of her elbows into the Scarren's chest, knocking him back away from her. She swung several kicks at the Scarren, knocking him onto the bed. Aeryn then turned back to her trunk, opened it, and retrieved her pistol.
As the Scarren attacked yet again, Aeryn spun around and fired her pistol into the Scarren at close range. She kept firing and firing at the Scarren in an unrelenting barrage of pulse blasts. The Scarren fell to the floor in a heap, even as Aeryn continued firing. Long after the Scarren was dead, his chest seared to a crisp by the fire, Aeryn kept firing.
She screamed a long, desperate scream as she finally stopped firing. A few moments later, as she stood looking at her dead attacker, Crichton came racing into the room with his gun drawn and ready.
He looked at the scene and took in all that was before him. There was a dead Scarren on the deck, his chest blasted to hell. Aeryn stood over him, pistol in hand still pointed at the lifeless beast. Her vest was ripped open, leaving her chest exposed. Normally, Crichton would have been turned on by Aeryn's naked breasts, but sex was the last thing on his mind at the moment.
Crichton walked over to Aeryn and took the gun from her hand. He took off his own vest and put it on Aeryn, snapping the fasteners shut to cover Aeryn's chest. John took Aeryn's chin and turned her to face him.
"Aeryn, are you alright?" asked John.
Aeryn tried to answer, but she was still in shock. John took her in his arms and held her tight. She quietly sobbed into John's chest, as he stroked her hair and told her she was safe.
They stayed that way for several minutes, enjoying the security they found in each other. Eventually, Aeryn broke from John's embrace and looked at him with red, swollen eyes.
"What the frell is happening here?" asked Aeryn.
"I don't know, exactly. Something is making our fears come alive. D'Argo and I have had some encounters with our deepest fears, as has Pilot and Moya. D'Argo is trying to track down Zhaan, Chiana, and Rygel. I was looking for you because...of what you told me about your fears earlier. I decided to try your quarters first because it was near your last known position according to Pilot. I heard shooting and your scream, and here I am. I'm sorry I'm late, baby," he concluded, as he kissed her forehead.
"I handled it, John," said Aeryn. "Now, we need to find the others."
"Yeah, and we need to make a trip to the weapons locker. If the others are running into anything like we have, we're gonna need some bigger guns."
****
Zhaan was praying to the Goddess, praying for relief from the demon that now tormented her. The spirit of her former lover, the one she killed, circled the chanting priestess like a shark, waiting for an opening to strike.
"Praying to the goddess, Zhaan,"said the deformed spirit. "You make redemption for my murder by calling yourself a Pau. Ha! I don't know whether to laugh or weep!"
Zhaan tried to ignore the spirit, and continued chanting.
"You think that becoming a Pau, pursuing the seek, makes amends for my murder! If you think so, you are about to be proven wrong. Redemption for you can only come in payment, and I will make sure that you-will-pay!"
Zhaan continued chanting. The spirit grabbed Zhaan on her arm and shook her violently. The priestess could feel his cold grip, his lifeless eyes bearing into her. "I WILL NOT BE IGNORED BY YOU, BITCH!" said the spirit. "You must pay for what you have done!"
*****
Chiana struggled against her bonds, struggled to free herself before Salis could mind cleanse her. She had put up a good fight, but ultimately her fear hampered her ability to fight back and Salis got the upper hand.
Now, he had Chiana hooked up to the mind cleansing device. "This is only a temporary measure, of course," said Salis, "until I can get you back home to be fully cleansed."
"You are dead! You can't take me home! You are not real!"
"Of course, child," replied Salis sardonically. "Then you should not be affected by what I am about to do to you."
******
Rygel flew around his quarters, looking for a means of escaping the rampaging margules. But the things somehow sealed the door and he can't get out of his room. With only the open air as a barrier between his throne sled and his attackers, Rygel waited in fear for rescue.
*******
Crichton and Aeryn came out of the weapons locker, pulse rifles in hand and ready for action. They decided on a course of action.
"We should split up," said Aeryn. "That way we can cover more ground looking for the others."
"Wait, Aeryn, are you sure we should? I mean..."
Aeryn smiled at John. "Thank you, but I'll be alright. We have to..."
Just then, a laser blast crashed into the wall next to Aeryn. Both she and Crichton took cover as a dozen Cylons came around the corner, guns blazing.
"What the frell?!" said Aeryn.
"Aeryn, honey, meet the Cylons."
She gave him a startled look, but they soon came out from hiding and began blasting their attackers with their pulse rifles. The pair methodically jumped from cover point to cover point, firing and covering as they advanced down the hallway. The Cylons began crashing to the ground as they were hit, sparks and small explosions ripping through their frames as they were destroyed.
After a few minutes of combat, all of the Cylons had been taken out by a determined and skilled assault from Crichton and Aeryn. The two looked at the scene; a corridor littered with destroyed Cylons. They then at each other, and spoke simultaneously.
"Sorry about the mess."
The two made their way down the hallway through the wreckage of destroyed Cylons. When they rounded the next junction, Aeryn spoke again.
"John, we need to split up. I'll go to find Zhaan. Last I saw her, she was behind a sealed door in the medical bay."
"Right. I'll go look for D'Argo. If we find them or the others, we all meet in command to formulate a strategy and figure out exactly what the hell is going on."
They nodded, and went their separate ways through the villain plagued ship. Crichton headed towards the hangar hoping to find someone there. As he entered the hanger, the door to the room abruptly closed behind him.
Crichton turned and raced to get out, but was too late. He pounded on the door with his fist once or twice, and moved to blast it with his pulse rifle. Just then, he heard a voice from behind him.
"Hello, Crichton."
The voice was unmistakable. Crichton would know it anywhere. He turned and, with a sarcastic smile, spoke to the figure before him.
"Well, Scorpius. With all of the ugly things that have been showing up on this ship in the past few arns, I was wondering when you were going to show."
"I wouldn't miss an opportunity to get you in my grasp. My aurora chair is all set up for you. Come quietly, and I may let you live."
Crichton raised his pulse rifle. "Not a chance, Scorpy. You see, this time, I have the gun, and I am going to blast you with it. Too bad, though. Your probably not the real Scorpy, just like those Cylons weren't real. Well, sianara, Scorpy."
Crichton blasted the image of Scorpius before him. His shots had no effect on his tormentor. "OOHH," said Scorpius. "That stung."
The Scarren half-breed then knocked the rifle out of Crichton's hand, and grabbed him by the back of his neck. Keeping Crichton in a chokehold, Scorpius began dragging Crichton towards an aurora chair.
"Did you think you could kill me that easily, John?" asked Scorpius with a sneer. "Oh, you have absolutely no conception of what it takes to overcome me. I am not those simple robots you and Aeryn Sun destroyed. I am much harder."
************************************************
"Nothing is so much to be feared as fear."
Henry David Thoreau, from his "Journal", September 27, 1851.
*
Aeryn found herself again outside the door to the medical bay. She had to turn around to make sure that the Scarren that had tormented her was not again coming up behind her. She knew it was dead, but she still had to reassure herself of this fact.
She attempted to open the door, but still got know response from the door mechanism. Aeryn knew there was a ventilation duct she could use to get into the medical bay and headed there at a run.
Meanwhile, inside the medical bay, Zhaan was being tormented by the spirit of the man she long ago killed. The priestess was laying on the floor crying as the deformed spirit circled her, tormenting her.
"How did it feel, Zhaan? How did it feel to rip the life out of me?! ONE WHO YOU SUPPOSEDLY LOVED! But no! You did not love me!"
"I did!"
"NO! You are incapable of love! You are incapable of true caring! You are a FRAUD!! The high and mighty Zhaan. The all caring, healing Pau! HA! The greatest joke I have ever heard of!"
"I do care for others! I pursue the seek to redeem myself, to serve others...."
"LIES! LIES! LIES! LIES! LIES! Your pursuit of the seek is a facade! A pretty picture you put on for others. But remember, I know the REAL Zhaan! I know the violence you are capable of! I know FIRST HAND what you are capable of. You care for no one but yourself!"
Just then, a loud clang rang out through the darkened room, followed by Aeryn jumping to the deck from an open ventilation port near the ceiling. The ex-Peacekeeper pointed her pulse rifle at the Delvian spirit.
"Stay where you are!" said Aeryn.
The spirit laughed at her. Aeryn fired at the spirit, only to have the pulse blasts pass through his form like he wasn't even there.
The spirit lifted his hand and the rifle flew from Aeryn's hand to crash to the floor on the other side of the room. A bolt of light emanated from the Delvian which engulfed Aeryn and paralyzed her. The spirit circled the helpless form of Aeryn Sun, and spoke to Zhaan.
"So, this is one of your crew. A Peacekeeper. Typical. You would fit in well with their kind. Violent, savage. A perfect crewmate for you. Perhaps I will kill her first, then you."
"NO!" screamed Zhaan. "Don't. Leave her alone. Your quarrel is with me! Let her live. If you must take someone, take me!"
The spirit looked at Zhaan with surprise. "WHAT! This can not be! You would give your life for this...thing?"
"I would give my life to protect life, yes. Life is a gift from the goddess. To give life to protect life is the ultimate show of devotion to the goddess."
The spirit seemed to writhe in pain, and began to dissipate. "No," it said. "This can not be correct. The Zhaan I knew..."
"IS GONE!" said Zhaan, as she got up off the floor. "I am not the person you knew! I am a Pau, I am a believer in the teachings of the goddess. You have no power over me! Your power comes from fear, from hate! You can not harm me because I have rejected my hate, and I now I reject my fear of you!"
The spirit cried out, and then disappeared. The energy field holding Aeryn also vanished, releasing a confused Aeryn from its grip. "What the frell...what happened?" asked Aeryn.
"My fear is gone, and so is the embodiment of my fear," said Zhaan, as she went over to help her comrade.
**
"It is almost time, Chiana," said Salis calmly. "Soon, you will be free of all violent emotion."
"You can't do this!" replied Chiana. "You are not real!"
Salis simply smiled, as he prepared the equipment needed to temporarily cleanse Chiana. The scared Nebari girl screamed for help as she came closer and closer to the realization of her worst nightmare.
Just as Salis was about to begin, a pounding was heard on the door to the mess hall. "Chiana!" someone screamed from the other side of the door.
Chiana knew the voice, and it was like music to her ears. "D'Argo!" she shouted. "Help!"
A shot rang out from the other side of the door. The Luxan was able to blast the door mechanism, releasing the lock on the door. Now, with sheer muscle power, D'Argo pushed open the door and burst into the room.
He found Chiana laying on the floor, apparently very scared. But upon further examination of the room, he could not see anything there that would frighten her.
"What happened?" asked D'Argo.
"Well..."began Chiana. But before she could answer, she realized that Salis and his mind cleansing machine were gone. Only a dark, empty room filled her eyes as she looked around for her tormentor.
She ran into D'Argo's waiting arms. "Thanks, D'Argo," she said. "I don't know what would have happened..."
"What was going on?"
"Um, ask me later. Look, just what the frell is happening on this ship."
"I don't know, exactly. Crichton seems to think that some...force is making our fears come to life. But, I can't go into that now. You need to get to command, you should be safe there. I have something to take care of."
"But wait, where are you going?" asked Chiana to the departing Luxan.
"To kill a Sarger."
"A what?"
***
Crichton was strapped into the Aurora Chair, just as he had been when he was on the Gammack Base. A sneering Scorpius stood nearby, testing some of his controls before beginning.
"Just a few more moments, Crichton," said Scorpius. "A few more moments before we can begin our...discussion."
As Scorpius continued to operate the controls to the Aurora Chair, Crichton began to think he was seeing double. Now, standing on the other side of the room, was another Scorpius, who was staring at Crichton with a perturbed look on his face.
"Crichton, you are being controlled by your fear," said the second Scorpius. "You must resist it."
"Oh, great," said Crichton sarcastically. "Now there are two of you. Its like a Doublemint Gum commercial." He then began to sing. " 'Double your pleasure, double your fun...'"
"Acting insane will not help you, Crichton," said the Scorpius that was standing at the controls of the Aurora Chair.
"FOCUS, John," said the second Scorpius. "You must resist this false image. This isn't real, but it could damage you. RESIST!"
"We are ready to begin, Crichton," said the other Scorpius.
"Wait, um, I think there is something you need to know," said Crichton.
"What is that?"
"Come here," said Crichton.
"Why?" asked Scorpius suspiciously.
"There is something I want to show you."
"Stop this nonsense," said Scorpius, as he walked over to Crichton. "Nothing is going to stop what is coming."
"Not even that Scarren standing over there," said Crichton, pointing towards the door.
Scorpius turned quickly to look at where Crichton was pointing to. Seeing his chance, Crichton broke free of his bonds and grabbed Scorpius. John threw his tormentor into the Aurora Chair's view screen, ramming the creature's head into the screen with a hard crash.
"WHAT A LOOSER!" yelled Crichton. "Fell for the oldest trick IN THE BOOK!" he added with a demented laugh.
While Scorpius was temporarily dazed by the attack, Crichton ran towards the door. He tried the door mechanism, but found that he was unable to open it.
Turning around, Crichton saw that Scorpius was recovering quickly. The second Scorpius then spoke to him again.
"Quickly, John. Think fast!" said the image.
John did just that. He went for a small tool kit sitting on a nearby work bench. Working quickly, he used the tools to open up the panel for the door mechanism to hot wire the controls.
Crichton could hear Scorpius slowly approaching him from behind. The embattled human had mere moments before the fiend would get to him. With a few final adjustments, Crichton was able to get the door to open just enough to get through.
With Scorpius only inches away, Crichton made his escape through the barely opened door, pushing it shut behind him. John did not wait around for Scorpius to get through the door. He took off running down the corridor to find the others.
****
D'Argo followed the sound of the Sarger's roar as he stalked down the corridor, qualta blade at the ready. The Luxan was getting ever closer to his quary, ever closer to the embodiment of his fear.
He froze as he saw the shadow of the Sarger advance along the wall in his direction. The shadow loomed larger and larger as the creature came down he corridor. D'Argo stood ready to fire at the creature as it came around the corner.
The Sarger came into view, roaring with it huge mouth filled with rows of sharp teeth. D'Argo froze for a moment, temporarily paralyzed with fear. The monster reared its claws and prepared to strike at D'Argo.
The Luxan came out of his daze and opened fire on the beast with his qualta rifle. The blasts from the rifle seemed to bounce off of the Sarger, and merely seemed to irritate the savage creature.
It roared once again, and approached D'Argo at high speed. D'Argo let out a roar of his own, raised his qualta blade, and moved to meet the Sarger's attack.
**********************************************
"Let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself..."
US President Franklin D. Roosevelt, First Inaugural Address, 1932.
*
Crichton ran into command out of breath. Once there, he found Aeryn, Zhaan, and Chiana discussing the situation at hand. When they saw Crichton, they rushed to him.
"John, are you alright?" asked Aeryn.
"Yeah, just...peachy. I just ran into Scorpius back in the maintenance bay...well, actually two of them. Anyhow, where are D'Argo and Rygel?"
"We don't know where Rygel is," said Zhaan. "And Chiana said that D'Argo was going to confront a creature called a Sarger."
"Alone!" said Crichton. "Um, did he say where, Chi?"
"No."
"Great," replied Crichton. "Well, not much we can do to help him directly. It would take too long to find him. But, maybe we can help him and help us all indirectly."
"What do you mean, John?" asked Zhaan.
"Look, all of this started when we entered this nebula, right?"
"Yes," replied Aeryn. "But how could this nebula..."
"Never mind how," said Crichton. "The point is that we get out of this nebula, we can get out of this Vincent Price movie that has been showing around here."
"So, how do we do that?" asked Chiana.
"Well, what is Moya's top cruising speed right now?"
"I spoke to Pilot before coming here," said Aeryn. "He says we can just about make Hetch 3, but that's as fast as we can go because of this frelling power drain."
"What about reserve power?"
"We have some," replied Aeryn, "but I'll have to check with Pilot to see how much we have?"
"See if we have enough for a starburst," said Crichton.
"Inside a nebula," said Zhaan. "That may be unwise."
"Well, its either that, or crawl out of this place with Stephen King's stepchildren chasing us around the ship. That is, if we can get out before all of Moya's power is drained off. I say we have to risk it."
"I agree," chimed in Aeryn. "I'll go to Pilot and brief him on our plan."
"Good, be careful," said Crichton. Aeryn nodded a reply and ran out of command. Meanwhile, Crichton, Zhaan, and Chiana did a system's check to get ready for the Starburst.
**
D'Argo went sliding across the floor of the corridor. He was bleeding in several places, wounds received from his fight with the Sarger. The proud Luxan had once again lunged at the beast, only to have it knock D'Argo across the room like a rag doll.
The Luxan warrior quickly got up, and looked for an opening to attack. He made a lunge for the creature's midsection, but the Sarger swiped at D'Argo with his claws, knocking him off balance.
The Sarger then charged D'Argo, who desperately fought off the attacking predator with his qualta blade. He fought bravely against the Sarger, but knew that the odds of him defeating it were not good.
***
Aeryn came running back onto command from Pilot's chamber to report to the others. "Pilot says that if he transfers all available power, he should be able to have Moya starburst. But, it will take a long time for Moya to build back up her energy reserves."
"Well, we really don't have a choice," replied Crichton.
"Pilot and Moya agree," said Aeryn. "The starburst will occur in exactly 45 microts."
The crew readied themselves for the starburst, hoping this would work. The microts passed by like arns as the crew waited for the starburst. Meanwhile, each had an opportunity to ponder on the fears they had confronted, and how they had met those fears. Some where able to overcome their fear alone, others needed help. But, in the end, fear always lost when confronted by strength and conviction.
Finally, Crichton, Aeryn, Zhaan, and Chiana could feel the familiar build up of energy for starburst. They readied themselves, as Moya lunged into a rough starburst.
****
D'Argo was knocked to the ground by what was apparently a starburst, as was the Sarger. When he recovered from the shock of what had happened, the Luxan looked for his opponent. Instead, all he found was an empty corridor. The Sarger was gone.
Perplexed by what had happened, D'Argo slowly rose from the floor and made his way towards the upper tiers to find the others.
*****
Crichton, Aeryn, Zhaan, and Chiana got themselves up from the floor and gathered themselves back into some kind of order. They looked out through the view screen and, much to their relief, they saw that Moya had cleared the Nebula.
They each sighed with relief at the thought that the nightmare was over, that everything would get back to normal. At least, what passed for normal on Moya.
A few minutes later, D'Argo came limping onto command, severely wounded. Zhaan and Chiana rushed to him and began to help him to the medical bay. On the way out of command, D'Argo began to tell the story of his great battle with the Sarger.
Crichton and Aeryn were left alone on command. They stared at each other for a long moment. Both were dirtied and bruised from their ordeals. Aeryn still wore Crichton's red vest, snapped together over her torn vest. Although disheveled in their appearance, they were none the worse for wear.
"Well," said Aeryn. "I'll go check on Pilot. Then, I'm going to change clothes."
"I'll come with you," said Crichton.
"I can change my own clothes, thank you," said Aeryn with a smirk.
Crichton smiled at the beautiful Sebacean woman. It was good to hear her make a joke after what she had gone through.
"Fine, I'll just accompany you as far as Pilot's den," said Crichton. "Unless you want my help changing your clothes," he concluded in a husky voice.
Aeryn ignored the last comment, and left command with John by her side. "So," began Aeryn. "How did you get away from the incarnation of Scorpius?"
"A little cunning, a little luck, a little stupidity on the part of the...whatever it was. Anyhow, it was good to know that we can face down our fears." Then, he spoke with a pontificating tone. " 'The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.'"
"What?" asked Aeryn.
"Just something an important leader on my world said once. I thought it was appropriate."
"Hmm" was the only reply Aeryn gave.
They rounded a corner, and ran into a startled Rygel. He shook from fear, and was just barely able to speak. "Are...are they...gone?"
"Are what gone?" asked Crichton. "Where have you been?"
"You mean you didn't see them?" replied Rygel.
"See what?" asked Aeryn.
"Yeah," chimed in Crichton. "Look, we have seen a lot of weird stuff over the past few arns. You are going to have to narrow it down for us."
"In my quarters, I was..." Rygel paused for a moment and considered before speaking. He then smiled, and said: "Nothing. Never mind. It was, nothing," said Rygel with a disingenuous laugh. The little Hynerian continued down the corridor as John and Aeryn stared at him with perplexed looks on their faces.
******
The thing had lost its food source. The ship and its crew had escaped from its realm. They were among the lucky few who did. Oh, well. It had fed well on the fears of the ship and its crew. The supply of food would do for now. It would be enough to sustain the thing until more prey came along. There would always be more prey, just as there would always be fear in its many forms and faces.
The End
By: Ian K.
Rating: R. Violence. Not too much of it, but nature of some of the violence requires the R rating.
Spoilers: Yes-Season One and Two.
Disclaimer: I did not create Farscape, the universe of Farscape, or its characters. I merely borrowed them for this story, for which I will receive no monetary compensation. No infringement of copyright intended.
Time Frame: Somewhere between "the Ugly Truth" and "Liars, Guns, and Money".
Summary: Moya's crew is confronted with a force that attacks them with their own greatest fears.
***************************************
"Fear is the true enemy, the only enemy." Sun Tzu, the Art of War
*
It was hungry. It waited in its self-made shadows, waited for its next meal. So long, so long since a ripe food source came along. So long since it has had fresh food.
It waited. The thing had infinite patience. It was without ending. The thing had existed since the dawn of time, and would live beyond its end. A being that long alive must learn the value of patience.
Ah, now the patience paid off. Fresh prey entered the horizon. A ship, a ship with passengers. A ship alive itself. Both living ship and the crew aboard her filled with doubts and fears. Perfect. The thing prepared for the arrival of fresh prey.
**
"It's a nebula, so what?" said Rygel.
The crew of Moya stood in the command, eyeing the swirling mass of particles that now loomed on Moya's viewing screen. It was large, approximately 1 million metras across. It would take Moya at least two days to cross the nebula if they went through it.
"Yes, it's a nebula, Sparky," replied Crichton. "But it may also be a good place to hide from the Peacekeepers. Throw them off the scent. What do you think, Aeryn?"
"Its directly in our path, anyway. Why go around it when we can go through it? What do you think Pilot? Would Moya be able to cross that nebula unharmed?"
"It should not present Moya a problem, Officer Sun. My scans show that there is nothing in the Nebula's composition that could harm Moya."
"But what if there is something in the Nebula that could harm us?" asked Chiana.
"Like what," said Crichton. "That nebula is thick enough to cloud scanners. If the Peacekeepers were hiding in there, they wouldn't be able to detect us going though it. They'd be blind as a bat."
"We will be blind as well if we go through there," inserted D'Argo.
"Moya should be able to navigate through the nebula if we go slowly," said Pilot.
"How long would it take if we went around it, Pilot?" asked Zhaan.
"At least 4 times as long, Zhaan."
"That would delay our arrival at Lorgana," said Aeryn. "I want us to get there as soon as possible to fix the damage done to my Prowler when CHIANA crashed it."
"Look, I have had enough..."retorted Chiana.
"Ladies," interrupted Crichton. "Let's not rehash this again, please."
Both women gave each other a cold stare before turning their eyes back towards the view screens.
"Now, it seems we are all agreed that we should go through the nebula," said Crichton. "Any objections?"
No objection was made by any member of the crew. "Good. Pilot, take us in."
"Done, Commander Crichton."
***
The thing was pleased. The ship and its troubled crew was coming into its realm. Now, it would feed.
****
John and Aeryn were in the hanger, each working on their respective ships. Well, Aeryn was working on what was left of her ship. Aeryn could do some of the repairs, but most of them had to wait until Moya reached the planet of Lorgana.
"So, Aeryn," began John, in an attempt to make conversation. "These people on Lorgana. They are supposed to be good engineers?"
"Yes, they are. But they won't be the ones working on my Prowler. All the actual work is done by their robots."
"Robots, really. You mean, like DRD's?"
"No. Their robots are large, bipedal machines. They are built that way to be more efficient."
"You mean they're made like people? People sized robots?"
"Yes, that's one way of looking at it."
"Great, just peachy," said Crichton in a low, sarcastic voice.
"John, what's the matter? You don't like robots, or something?"
"No, not really. Well, I mean I've never known any robots personally. Well, I take that back. I met Robby the Robot at a scifi convention once."
"Who?"
"Never mind. Let's just say robots make me nervous."
"Why?"
"Never mind. You'd laugh, think it was crazy."
"John, I sometimes think half the things you say are crazy. What's one more?" Aeryn approached John. She stood right next to him and waited for him to answer her. John looked up, and saw the determined look in Aeryn's eyes. She wanted answers, and he better give them, or he would have one pissed off ex-Peacekeeper on his hands.
"Okay, Aeryn. I'll tell you, but your gonna think its stupid." John put down the tool he was using and looked at Aeryn. "When I was young, Aeryn, there was this TV show I watched. You remember, I told you about TV."
"Yes, that device that shows entertainment programs on a view screen."
"Yeah, well this show I watched. It was called 'Battlestar Galactica'." Aeryn gave him an incredulous look. "Long story, Aeryn. The point is that there were these robots on that show called Cylons. They were big, bad, and had this mean looking red, electronic eyes that flashed across their heads. Ooohh, they gave me the creeps. They wanted to wipe out all of humanity because we were inferior, and..." Crichton looked at Aeryn, who was grinning from ear to ear.
"See, Aeryn. I told you. You think this is silly."
Crichton turned back to his work, while Aeryn began chuckling at him. "John, you have to admit that the whole conception is silly. You are afraid of fictional robots on an entertainment program."
"Yes, Aeryn, I know the subject of the fear is silly. But, it's a childhood thing. Sometimes, children are afraid of silly things. Things that go bump in the night, and they are often silly things to adults. But these are still deep rooted fears."
"I'm sorry, John," said Aeryn, as she slowed her chuckling. "I didn't mean to make light of your fears."
"Don't get me wrong, Aeryn. I'm not afraid of robots, they just make me, I don't know, nervous." Crichton looked at Aeryn, and decided to turn the conversation to her. "What about you, Aeryn? Any childhood fears?"
Aeryn's face became serious. "No, John. I am a warrior." Aeryn turned and went back to work on her Prowler.
"Even warriors have fears, Aeryn. You were still a kid. You may not have had much of a childhood, but you were still a child with children's fears."
"The only thing I feared as a child, John, was not being good enough at my training."
"No, I don't buy it. There must have been something, some little thing that scared you when you were young. Come on, Aeryn. Whatever it is, no matter how silly, I won't laugh. I may giggle a little, but never laugh."
"My fears were of nothing so childish, John. Certainly nothing to laugh at."
Crichton walked over to Aeryn. "But there were fears, Aeryn."
Aeryn tried to ignore him, continue working. John was not ready to give up. He grabbed her hand, moving it to put down the tool. He used his other hand to tough her chin, and gently turn her face towards his. "Tell me, Aeryn."
Aeryn looked away again, moving to go back to her work. Crichton shrugged his shoulders, and began to walk away. That is when she spoke to him in a low voice.
"Scarrens."
John turned around and faced Aeryn. She was looking at him thoughtfully. It took him a few moments to process what she had said. Once he did, Crichton responded.
"Scarrens? Is that what you said?"
"Yes, Scarrens. As a young person, I was afraid of Scarrens. I still am, a bit."
"Well, Aeryn, their big, mean, ugly, smelly...what's there not to fear about them. There is nothing to be ashamed of there."
"I was not, am not, afraid of facing them in battle. I am...When I was about 14 cycles, we were trained, taught about the various species that were the Peacekeeper's enemies. This included the Scarrens. Do you know what Scarrens do to female Peacekeepers they capture?"
Crichton was silent for a moment before replying. "I'm not sure I want to know."
"Where do you think Scorpius came from? At least, that's where I assume he came from."
Crichton looked at Aeryn for a long moment before speaking. "Rape."
"Very brutal rape. Scarrens enjoy raping women they capture because it gives them a sense of power over their enemy. They especially enjoy it when it's a Sebacean woman. Scarrens are very brutal in their sexual practices. The victim is incapacitated by the Scarren's mind control abilities. Still conscious, but unable to move, the Scarren brutalizes the woman's body. Many Sebacean victims do not survive the assault."
"My God," said Crichton in a low tone. "They told you about that at such a young age."
"I was 14 cycles old, John. I was already in combat training, learning how to kill my enemies. We were thoroughly...briefed."
Aeryn turned away, returning to her work. John walked up to her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry, Aeryn. I'll never let a Scarren get near you."
Aeryn looked at him with her fierce, warrior expression on her face. "I can take care of myself, Crichton."
D'Argo walked into the hanger and approached the pair. "Crichton. Moya is experiencing some amnexous blockage on tier 7. I need you help clearing it."
"Right, let's go," replied Crichton. He turned to Aeryn on her way out. "We'll talk more later, if you want."
"Perhaps," said Aeryn.
She returned to her work as John and D'Argo left the hanger. As the pair made their way to tier seven, Crichton decided to make conversation.
"So, D'Argo. Aeryn and I were just talking about childhood fears. I was wondering, anything scare you when you were a child?"
"Of course."
"You, D'Argo. Its hard to believe anything could scare you."
"It is a poor warrior indeed, Crichton, that can not admit their fears. If one can not admit their fears, one can not face them."
"So, what were they?"
D'Argo was silent for a moment. "I suppose the thing that scared me the most as a child was this creature that my father told me about in one of his war stories. It was called a Sarger. My father said that it was a large, slobbering beast with long fangs and knife like fingers. It consumed men whole and took 20 Luxan warriors to kill."
"You think he was telling you the truth, or do you think it was just a story?"
"I was sure it was the truth at the time. It kept me up at night sometimes with fear. I was young, I grew older and learned not to give into my fears, but to overcome them."
*****
Aeryn had decided to take a break from her repair work on the Prowler. She faced the fact that she had done all she could do for her beloved ship until they reached Lorgana.
The ex-Peacekeeper went to the dining hall to get something to eat. She found Zhaan, Chiana, and Rygel already in there eating. Aeryn sat down next to Zhaan.
"Hello, Aeryn. Repairs going alright?" asked the Delvian priestess.
"As well as can be expected. The robots on Lorgana will have to do the rest." A slight chuckle escaped from Aeryn's mouth, and was noticed by Zhaan and the others.
"Hey, what's so funny?" asked Chiana.
"Oh, nothing. Its just a conversation John and I were having. We were talking about childhood fears, and his was rather...silly."
"Aeryn," said Zhaan. "I would advise not to make a mockery over childhood fears. They can be very intimidating, even into adulthood."
"I know that, Zhaan," replied Aeryn. "Just the subject of his fears were rather...laughable. While we're talking about it, what did you fear as a child, Zhaan?"
"Nothing really as a child, my dear. My childhood was actually quite...glorious. No, my fears came later in life. I suppose my greatest was that the spirit of the man I killed would come back to haunt me. Perhaps that is one reason why I still pursue the seek, to repay my debts to the goddess. What about you, Rygel? Did the Dominar fear anything as a child?"
"Yeah," chimed Chiana. "What were you afraid of as a little squirt?"
"I feared nothing. I am a Dominar. I was to rule over an empire with 600 billion..."
"Oh, please," said Chiana. "You are a short, little guy. There must have been something that scared you."
"Alright, I'll tell you, if only to get you to leave me alone about it. I was afraid of...Hynerian margules."
"What?" said the three women in unison.
"I was afraid of them. When I was young, I fell asleep once while eating modules. I dreamed they were attacking me, getting back at me for eating them. I awoke to find my face in a bowl full of them. I thought the dream was coming true, and ended up screaming. That gave me bad dreams for weekens."
Aeryn, Chiana, and Zhaan burst out laughing. Chiana fell out of her seat with laughter as the vision of what Rygel just told her came into her head full force.
"Humph," said Rygel. "I knew I shouldn't have told you wretches. I'll go and enjoy my food in peace and quiet." With that, Rygel scooted out of the room on his throne sled, leaving the women and their laughter.
A few moments after Rygel left, the three women finally stopped laughing. "I will apologize for us later," said Zhaan. "So, Chiana. That leaves you. What are your deepest fears?"
Chiana's face became serious for a moment. After a few tense seconds, she responded to the question. "I fear that my people will one day find me, and make me as emotionless as they are."
The Nebari girl got up, and left the room quietly. Aeryn and Zhaan looked at each other, and returned to their meals in silence.
******
The thing saw into their minds, listened to their words. It heard all, saw all that went on in its realm. It knew now the method of feeding, the utensil it would use. The emotion of fear stirred strong emotions in beings like these. The thing decided to use fear as its tool. It would feed well this time.
*******************************************
"Hear the loud alarum bells, Brazen Bells!
What a tale of terror, now, their turbulency
tells!
In the startled ear of night
How they scream out their affright!
Too much horrified to speak,
They can only shriek, shriek."
Edgar Allen Poe, "The Bells"
*
D'Argo and Crichton were just about finished clearing the amnexous blockage on Tier Seven. It took them about half an arn, but luckily the blockage wasn't too bad.
"Well, that was easy enough?" said Crichton.
Just then, the lights on that Tier dimmed. "Uh oh, spoke to soon," said Crichton. He activated his comm. "Yo, Pilot. We're getting some kind of power drain down here. Its not another amnexous blockage is it?"
"No, Crichton. Moya is experiencing a systems wide power loss of some kind, but I can't find the source of the problem. Wait a moment." A few seconds passed before Pilot continued. "Crichton, D'Argo. The DRD's are reporting movement on the tier below you. I can't seem to localize it, but it is definitely not any member of the crew."
D'Argo drew his qualta blade, while Crichton pulled his pulse pistol from his holster. "Do we have intruders, Pilot?" asked D'Argo.
"Unknown. I am not detecting any life forms. Just movement. The power drain is having an increasing effect on all systems. We will start to loose more systems shortly, including comms."
"We'll check it out, Pilot," said Crichton. "You try and run down that power drain. Get Aeryn to help you."
Crichton deactivated his comm and, with a nod to D'Argo, the two made there way below to the next tier. Moya's lighting systems continued to blink on an off, and dimmed more and more. Strange sounds filled the hallways as Crichton and D'Argo made their way onto Tier 8.
The pair came across a closed door that should lead to an empty storage room. D'Argo covered the door with his qualta rifle, while Crichton activated the door mechanism to open it. The door swung open and revealed a darkened room. They couldn't see anything at first, but they did begin to hear a noise, a series of swooshing noises, almost electronic.
Crichton thought he recognized the sound, but could not place it. "Hey, D'Argo..." John could not finish his sentence. The two men saw a series of flashing red lights approaching them from the dark interior of the storage room. The lights got closer and closer. The sound became louder as the lights approached. Finally, the approaching forms began to take definite shape.
A look that reflected a mixture of shock and terror appeared on Crichton's face. He was barely able to mutter a few words to D'Argo. "Big guy, run."
D'Argo looked at him, and Crichton screamed, "Run! NOW!"
A series of laser blasts emanated from the approaching forms, as Crichton and D'Argo ran for cover. The Luxan and Human turned to look at their attackers. They saw a group of at least 10 large, man shaped robots coming out of the room, firing some kind of laser rifles at them. The leading robot spoke to the others in a cold, electronic voice.
"Organic life forms detected. Eliminate them."
The other robots responded. "By your command."
Crichton and D'Argo fired at the robots, dropping one or two of them. The robots that were hit fell to the floor, small explosions ripping through their frames from the pulse blasts. The robots returned fire on the two members of Moya's crew. Outnumbered, Crichton and D'Argo retreated at a run down Moya's corridor.
They got to a door, and activated the door mechanism. Under a hail of laser fire, the door swung closed, providing at least a temporary barrier between the two men and their robotic attackers.
John and D'Argo leaned against the door, panting for breath. "How did those machines get on board?" asked D'Argo. "And what the frell are they?!"
"Cylons," said Crichton, out of breath. "Those things are CYLONS! This aint happening! This can't be happening!"
"What the frell are Cylons?"
"Fictional robots from a TV show I watched as a kid."
The sound of pounding came from the other side of the door, making the two men step away from it. "Well," said D'Argo. "They don't seem so FICTIONAL to me, Crichton!!"
"That's the point, D'Argo. They are fictional, so how the frell did they get here?!"
Crichton activated his comm. "Aeryn! Anybody! D'Argo and I are on tier 8, near junction 4. We are under attack. We need..."
Just then, a loud roar came from one of the corridors leading away from the junction they were at. D'Argo and Crichton froze at the sound, and looked at each other with identical "what now" looks.
From the corridor where the noise came from, a shadow advanced along the wall, a big shadow. A few moments later, the source of that shadow came into view. A large creature, with huge fangs and long claws came down the hallway, and approached the two men. It stopped at the junction and roared at Crichton and D'Argo.
"A sarger!" said D'Argo. "That is a sarger!"
"Holy shit!" said Crichton. "You mean, that's the monster you told me about earlier, the one that took 20 Luxans to kill!"
D'Argo nodded in reply. "Oh great," said Crichton, looking back at the door between them and the Cylons. "Take your pick. The devil or the deep blue sea."
**
Aeryn came racing down the corridor when she heard Crichton's message over the comm. He hadn't had a chance to say who or what was attacking him and D'Argo, but it sounded like they were in a lot of trouble. They needed her, and she ran like mad to get to them.
As she rounded a corner, she tripped and fell over something that was sticking out into the corridor. When Aeryn turned around to see what it was, a feeling of sheer terror swept over her.
Standing over her was a Scarren, a big one. It snarled at her, apparently being the one that caused her to trip and fall to the ground.
Instinctively, Aeryn reached for her pulse pistol and moved to draw it from her holster. The Scarren simply kicked the gun out of Aeryn's hand, and quickly reached down to pick Aeryn up by her neck. He pulled her to his face.
"Well," snarled the Scarren. "What have I caught here? A Peacekeeper female. A lovely one at that." The Scarren began to rub Aeryn's midriff with his free hand.
Aeryn was choking under the Scarren's grip, but managed to keep her fear and weakening reflexes in check for a moment or two longer. Thinking quickly, and seeing an opening, Aeryn gave a swift, hard kick between the Scarren's legs.
Groaning in pain, the Scarren dropped Aeryn to the ground. She got up from the ground to look for her pulse pistol, but the corridor was too dark to see it. Deciding she did not want to go hand to hand with such a powerful Scarren, Aeryn decided to retreat.
She ran down the corridor to find a weapon or get help. Aeryn tried her comms, but they were not working, having finally succumbed to the power drain. The shaken woman decided that the best place to find help would be command.
***
Chiana made her way down the darkened corridor, trying to get to command. When she walked past the dining hall, she heard a noise come from inside the room. The Nebari girl paused to try and see the source of the noise, but the room was too dark.
"Rygel," she said towards the darkened dining hall. She thought it might be the little Hynerian getting food.
Slowly, she walked into the room, expecting to find Rygel gorging himself on food cubes, or his precious Hynerian margules. As soon as she stepped into the room, the door to the dining hall swung shut.
Chiana turned around to try and open the door, but could not seem to open it for some reason.
"You can not get out, Chiana," said a voice from behind her.
The voice sounded familiar to Chiana. The scared Nebari girl slowly turned to see the source of the voice. When she turned, a light illuminated part of the room. Under that light stood Salis, the Nebari agent who had captured her nearly a cycle ago. The dead Nebari agent.
"No," said Chiana. "You can't be here. You're dead," she said with a weak sob.
"I am here, Chiana. I am here to help you, to fix you," he said with a meloding voice. "You can not escape your fate Chiana."
Chiana turned around and pounded on the door, screaming for help. "No one can help you Chiana," said Salis. "No one can keep you from your fate."
Chiana cringed into the corner of the room as Salis approached her. "NOOOO!!!!!" she screamed.
****
Rygel was asleep in his quarters, unaware of the turbulence happening around him. He had just finished a large helping of Hynerian margules, and was resting up for his next big eating binge.
A noise woke up the little Hynerian from his slumber. He looked around the room, but it was dark and hard to see. "Lights," said Rygel. "Come on, lights," he repeated.
Rygel could then make out movement, a lot of movement all around his cell. The hynerian reached for a small light that he kept by his bed and turned it on.
He caught his breath as he saw that the walls and the floor were covered with scurrying Hynerian margules. The moved around in waves and waves, thousands of them everywhere Rygel could see.
They advanced onto his bed, getting closer and closer to the Hynerian. "Yotz!" screamed Rygel, as he scurried onto his throne sled. He hovered mid air, and activated his comm. "Help, someone help me!" The comm did not work, and Rygel shivered with fear as every inch of his quarters was covered with living margules, out to get him in revenge for eating them.
*****
Aeryn raced down the corridor, attempting to get to a weapon or to find help. She did not see the Scarren in pursuit, but she was not about to slow down and wait for him unarmed.
As she came around a corner, she almost ran into Zhaan. The concerned Delvian put her hand on the shoulder of the out of breath Sebacean woman.
"What is it, my dear? What are you running from?"
"A Scarren, Zhaan. Back there. It attacked me. I need to get to a weapon."
"You are wounded, my dear," she said, examining the bruising and cuts on her neck. "Come with me to the medical bay, where I can attend to those wounds."
"No, Zhaan. A weapon."
"The weapons locker is nearby. Come."
The two women made their way to the medical bay, which was just down the corridor. The weapons locker was not far beyond that.
When they reached the medical bay, Aeryn stopped Zhaan. "Go ahead and get the medicines you need, Zhaan. I'm going down the corridor to the weapons locker to get a pulse rifle."
"Very well," replied Zhaan.
Zhaan stepped into the medical bay, as Aeryn turned to go down the corridor. Just then, the door to the medical bay swung abruptly shut.
Aeryn turned around and headed back to the door. She tried to open it, but the door mechanism seemed jammed.
"Zhaan," yelled Aeryn through the door.
Inside the room, Zhaan was going to reply to Aeryn's call from the other side of the door. But before she could, a figure stepped from the darkness. "Hello, Zhaan."
Zhaan turned to see a Delvian male standing before her. To her shock and horror, the man who stood before her was her former lover, her dead former lover. The one she had killed. His face and body were deformed, decayed from apparent decomposition. He had a look of death about him that made Zhaan freeze with fear.
"I have waited so long, Zhaan," said the Delvian to Zhaan. "Now, I will have my revenge."
Meanwhile, outside the door, Aeryn attempted to get the door mechanism to operate. She pounded on the door, attempting to get Zhaan's attention, but for some reason got no response.
Aeryn heard a noise come from behind her. She turned around and came face to face with her Scarren attacker. The beast stood between Aeryn and her only means of escape down the corridor. He was twice her size, three times her strength, and she was unarmed.
Dread and fear from deep inside Aeryn threatened to overwhelm her as she was confronted by the Scarren with no means of escape. She was a warrior, and had faced enemies in battle before. But this time, she could not hold back her fear.
Aeryn pounded on the door even harder. "Zhaan!," she screamed. "ZHAAN! HELP ME!" Her fear, her terror, was winning as the Scarren got closer and closer to her. As played out in her childhood nightmares, Aeryn had nowhere to go and could not find the strength to resist.
The Scarren grabbed Aeryn again by the throat and reveled in the look of sheer terror written all over his victim's face. He struck her across the face, knocking her to the floor.
The beast grabbed Aeryn by both of her legs, and dragged her down the corridor like an animal. "I will make you pay for what you did to me, you Peacekeeper bitch!"
"HEELLPP MEE!!" Aeryn screamed, as the Scarren dragged her down the hallway.
******************************
"He has not learned the lesson of life who does not every day surmount a fear."
Ralph Waldo Emerson, "Courage".
*
"It is all in your mind," thought Pilot to Moya. "There is no control collar. You are not back in Peacekeeper custody. You are safe."
At that moment, the door to Pilot's chamber opened. Pilot looked up, hoping to see one of Moya's crew walk in the door. Instead, he was greeted with the sight of a squad of armed Peacekeepers marching into the chamber. They were followed by a Peacekeeper officer, one who looked very familiar to Pilot.
To Pilot's shock, he realized that the Peacekeeper officer looked exactly like Lt. Velorek. The Peacekeepers pointed their weapons at Pilot, and the officer spoke to Pilot.
"You are to be replaced by a new Pilot. It has become clear that you can not be relied upon to control this Leviathan for us."
"But..."started Pilot.
"Take aim," said the officer to his men. Pilot reacted quickly. He had the DRD's attack the Peacekeeper's with their laser guns. The Peacekeepers took cover, and were temporarily pinned down by the fire from the DRD's.
Pilot knew the DRD's couldn't hold off the Peacekeepers for long, but hopefully they could delay his attackers long enough for help to arrive.
**
Crichton and D'Argo raced through the lower tiers of Moya, being chased by both Cylons and a Sarger beast. D'Argo hated running from a fight, but he was wise enough to know that he and Crichton were totally out matched by both threats. They needed to get help.
The pair finally made it to one of Moya's access shafts. They used it to get to the upper levels, after finding all other exits cut off by either the Sarger or Cylons. After a long climb, the two men found themselves on an upper tier, near Pilot's den.
"So what now?" asked Crichton.
"Wait, listen," replied D'Argo. They could hear the sounds of gun fire coming from the direction of Pilot's den.
"Come on," said Crichton, as he raced down the corridor with gun in hand, closely followed by D'Argo.
They arrived at Pilot's den to find Moya's symbiont under attack from a squad of Peacekeepers. The DRD's were putting up a good fight, but were ultimately no match for the Peacekeeper squad.
Crichton and D'Argo counted to three, then burst into the room firing at the Peacekeepers. Caught off guard, and caught in a crossfire, the Peacekeeper squad was eliminated in several microts.
Out of breath, Crichton and D'Argo approached Pilot. "Are you alright?" asked Crichton.
"Yes, thank you both. Where did those Peacekeepers come from?"
"I don't know, Pilot," said Crichton.
"We were attacked by other enemies on the lower tiers," said D'Argo. "We don't know how they got aboard either."
"How's Moya?" asked Crichton.
"Not good," said Pilot. "The power drain is increasing slowly. Also, she is very frightened because she thinks she has a control collar on again."
"Does she?" asked D'Argo.
"No, but she insists that she does."
"Wait, anybody seeing a pattern here," said Crichton. "We've been runnin around like ducks in a hunt so much I haven't seen it until now. D'Argo, you said the thing that scared you the most was a Sarger. Bingo, one appears on board. Cylons were something that spooked me as a child..."
"And now we have Cylons attacking Moya," finished D'Argo.
"Right. Now, Pilot and Moya are being plagued by their fears coming to life. Do you see what I mean? Something is making all of our deepest fears come alive. Pilot, where are the others."
"I don't know. I am having problems keeping in contact with the DRD's outside of this chamber. Another effect of the power drain."
"We have to tell the others, or their fears will be attacking them as well," said D'Argo.
"They probably already are," replied Crichton. In that instant, Crichton froze. He was remembering his conversation with Aeryn earlier, the one about: "Scarrens," he said.
"What did you say?" said D'Argo.
"Oh my God," said Crichton. "I have to find Aeryn. D'Argo, you try and find the others."
"Right," said D'Argo, as he ran from the room.
"Pilot, where was Aeryn's last know position."
***
The Scarren had dragged Aeryn back to her own quarters. Once there, the beast threw Aeryn onto her bed. She quickly got up off of the bed, only to be struck hard across the face by the Scarren. The blow knocked the wind out of her and sent her body falling back onto the bed.
"If you cooperate," said the Scarren, "I may let you live when I finish with you."
The Scarren jumped onto Aeryn, and began to use his mind control abilities to paralyze her temporarily. After a few moments, Aeryn succumbed to the Scarren's powers. Satisfied his prey was rendered helpless, but still conscious, the Scarren got up and began to remove his clothing.
Aeryn looked up at the now naked Scarren who was approaching her. She wanted to cry out, to fight back, but she could not move. She was paralyzed by the Scarren's mind control and by her own fear. The Scarren began to touch Aeryn's body roughly, squeezing her hard enough to bruise her. He finally grabbed her by the hair with one hand. The other hand went down to Aeryn's vest and ripped it open.
Aeryn fought for control of her body, fought to overcome her fear and the Scarren's mind control. She did so quietly so as not to tip off the Scarren that she was regaining her strength. Meanwhile, the Scarren eyed Aeryn's now bare chest lustily, his eyes moving down to her pants.
Still holding Aeryn by her hair, the Scarren reached down to Aeryn's pants to remove the last barrier between him and the object of his violent desire. Aeryn finally felt herself begin to be able to move. The warrior woman used every ounce of strength she could muster to fight her paralysis. In one last burst of effort, Aeryn put all of her strength into a desperate move.
Without warning, Aeryn knocked away the Scarren's grip on her hair, and landed a blow to the Scarren's head near his right eye. While the Scarren was temporarily stunned and caught off guard, Aeryn swung herself off of the bed.
She made a dash for her trunk to retrieve her spare pulse pistol. Before she could get the trunk open, the Scarren was on her again, grabbing at her torso trying to force her back to the bed.
"Stop fighting, you Peacekeeper whore!" said the Scarren.
Aeryn landed both of her elbows into the Scarren's chest, knocking him back away from her. She swung several kicks at the Scarren, knocking him onto the bed. Aeryn then turned back to her trunk, opened it, and retrieved her pistol.
As the Scarren attacked yet again, Aeryn spun around and fired her pistol into the Scarren at close range. She kept firing and firing at the Scarren in an unrelenting barrage of pulse blasts. The Scarren fell to the floor in a heap, even as Aeryn continued firing. Long after the Scarren was dead, his chest seared to a crisp by the fire, Aeryn kept firing.
She screamed a long, desperate scream as she finally stopped firing. A few moments later, as she stood looking at her dead attacker, Crichton came racing into the room with his gun drawn and ready.
He looked at the scene and took in all that was before him. There was a dead Scarren on the deck, his chest blasted to hell. Aeryn stood over him, pistol in hand still pointed at the lifeless beast. Her vest was ripped open, leaving her chest exposed. Normally, Crichton would have been turned on by Aeryn's naked breasts, but sex was the last thing on his mind at the moment.
Crichton walked over to Aeryn and took the gun from her hand. He took off his own vest and put it on Aeryn, snapping the fasteners shut to cover Aeryn's chest. John took Aeryn's chin and turned her to face him.
"Aeryn, are you alright?" asked John.
Aeryn tried to answer, but she was still in shock. John took her in his arms and held her tight. She quietly sobbed into John's chest, as he stroked her hair and told her she was safe.
They stayed that way for several minutes, enjoying the security they found in each other. Eventually, Aeryn broke from John's embrace and looked at him with red, swollen eyes.
"What the frell is happening here?" asked Aeryn.
"I don't know, exactly. Something is making our fears come alive. D'Argo and I have had some encounters with our deepest fears, as has Pilot and Moya. D'Argo is trying to track down Zhaan, Chiana, and Rygel. I was looking for you because...of what you told me about your fears earlier. I decided to try your quarters first because it was near your last known position according to Pilot. I heard shooting and your scream, and here I am. I'm sorry I'm late, baby," he concluded, as he kissed her forehead.
"I handled it, John," said Aeryn. "Now, we need to find the others."
"Yeah, and we need to make a trip to the weapons locker. If the others are running into anything like we have, we're gonna need some bigger guns."
****
Zhaan was praying to the Goddess, praying for relief from the demon that now tormented her. The spirit of her former lover, the one she killed, circled the chanting priestess like a shark, waiting for an opening to strike.
"Praying to the goddess, Zhaan,"said the deformed spirit. "You make redemption for my murder by calling yourself a Pau. Ha! I don't know whether to laugh or weep!"
Zhaan tried to ignore the spirit, and continued chanting.
"You think that becoming a Pau, pursuing the seek, makes amends for my murder! If you think so, you are about to be proven wrong. Redemption for you can only come in payment, and I will make sure that you-will-pay!"
Zhaan continued chanting. The spirit grabbed Zhaan on her arm and shook her violently. The priestess could feel his cold grip, his lifeless eyes bearing into her. "I WILL NOT BE IGNORED BY YOU, BITCH!" said the spirit. "You must pay for what you have done!"
*****
Chiana struggled against her bonds, struggled to free herself before Salis could mind cleanse her. She had put up a good fight, but ultimately her fear hampered her ability to fight back and Salis got the upper hand.
Now, he had Chiana hooked up to the mind cleansing device. "This is only a temporary measure, of course," said Salis, "until I can get you back home to be fully cleansed."
"You are dead! You can't take me home! You are not real!"
"Of course, child," replied Salis sardonically. "Then you should not be affected by what I am about to do to you."
******
Rygel flew around his quarters, looking for a means of escaping the rampaging margules. But the things somehow sealed the door and he can't get out of his room. With only the open air as a barrier between his throne sled and his attackers, Rygel waited in fear for rescue.
*******
Crichton and Aeryn came out of the weapons locker, pulse rifles in hand and ready for action. They decided on a course of action.
"We should split up," said Aeryn. "That way we can cover more ground looking for the others."
"Wait, Aeryn, are you sure we should? I mean..."
Aeryn smiled at John. "Thank you, but I'll be alright. We have to..."
Just then, a laser blast crashed into the wall next to Aeryn. Both she and Crichton took cover as a dozen Cylons came around the corner, guns blazing.
"What the frell?!" said Aeryn.
"Aeryn, honey, meet the Cylons."
She gave him a startled look, but they soon came out from hiding and began blasting their attackers with their pulse rifles. The pair methodically jumped from cover point to cover point, firing and covering as they advanced down the hallway. The Cylons began crashing to the ground as they were hit, sparks and small explosions ripping through their frames as they were destroyed.
After a few minutes of combat, all of the Cylons had been taken out by a determined and skilled assault from Crichton and Aeryn. The two looked at the scene; a corridor littered with destroyed Cylons. They then at each other, and spoke simultaneously.
"Sorry about the mess."
The two made their way down the hallway through the wreckage of destroyed Cylons. When they rounded the next junction, Aeryn spoke again.
"John, we need to split up. I'll go to find Zhaan. Last I saw her, she was behind a sealed door in the medical bay."
"Right. I'll go look for D'Argo. If we find them or the others, we all meet in command to formulate a strategy and figure out exactly what the hell is going on."
They nodded, and went their separate ways through the villain plagued ship. Crichton headed towards the hangar hoping to find someone there. As he entered the hanger, the door to the room abruptly closed behind him.
Crichton turned and raced to get out, but was too late. He pounded on the door with his fist once or twice, and moved to blast it with his pulse rifle. Just then, he heard a voice from behind him.
"Hello, Crichton."
The voice was unmistakable. Crichton would know it anywhere. He turned and, with a sarcastic smile, spoke to the figure before him.
"Well, Scorpius. With all of the ugly things that have been showing up on this ship in the past few arns, I was wondering when you were going to show."
"I wouldn't miss an opportunity to get you in my grasp. My aurora chair is all set up for you. Come quietly, and I may let you live."
Crichton raised his pulse rifle. "Not a chance, Scorpy. You see, this time, I have the gun, and I am going to blast you with it. Too bad, though. Your probably not the real Scorpy, just like those Cylons weren't real. Well, sianara, Scorpy."
Crichton blasted the image of Scorpius before him. His shots had no effect on his tormentor. "OOHH," said Scorpius. "That stung."
The Scarren half-breed then knocked the rifle out of Crichton's hand, and grabbed him by the back of his neck. Keeping Crichton in a chokehold, Scorpius began dragging Crichton towards an aurora chair.
"Did you think you could kill me that easily, John?" asked Scorpius with a sneer. "Oh, you have absolutely no conception of what it takes to overcome me. I am not those simple robots you and Aeryn Sun destroyed. I am much harder."
************************************************
"Nothing is so much to be feared as fear."
Henry David Thoreau, from his "Journal", September 27, 1851.
*
Aeryn found herself again outside the door to the medical bay. She had to turn around to make sure that the Scarren that had tormented her was not again coming up behind her. She knew it was dead, but she still had to reassure herself of this fact.
She attempted to open the door, but still got know response from the door mechanism. Aeryn knew there was a ventilation duct she could use to get into the medical bay and headed there at a run.
Meanwhile, inside the medical bay, Zhaan was being tormented by the spirit of the man she long ago killed. The priestess was laying on the floor crying as the deformed spirit circled her, tormenting her.
"How did it feel, Zhaan? How did it feel to rip the life out of me?! ONE WHO YOU SUPPOSEDLY LOVED! But no! You did not love me!"
"I did!"
"NO! You are incapable of love! You are incapable of true caring! You are a FRAUD!! The high and mighty Zhaan. The all caring, healing Pau! HA! The greatest joke I have ever heard of!"
"I do care for others! I pursue the seek to redeem myself, to serve others...."
"LIES! LIES! LIES! LIES! LIES! Your pursuit of the seek is a facade! A pretty picture you put on for others. But remember, I know the REAL Zhaan! I know the violence you are capable of! I know FIRST HAND what you are capable of. You care for no one but yourself!"
Just then, a loud clang rang out through the darkened room, followed by Aeryn jumping to the deck from an open ventilation port near the ceiling. The ex-Peacekeeper pointed her pulse rifle at the Delvian spirit.
"Stay where you are!" said Aeryn.
The spirit laughed at her. Aeryn fired at the spirit, only to have the pulse blasts pass through his form like he wasn't even there.
The spirit lifted his hand and the rifle flew from Aeryn's hand to crash to the floor on the other side of the room. A bolt of light emanated from the Delvian which engulfed Aeryn and paralyzed her. The spirit circled the helpless form of Aeryn Sun, and spoke to Zhaan.
"So, this is one of your crew. A Peacekeeper. Typical. You would fit in well with their kind. Violent, savage. A perfect crewmate for you. Perhaps I will kill her first, then you."
"NO!" screamed Zhaan. "Don't. Leave her alone. Your quarrel is with me! Let her live. If you must take someone, take me!"
The spirit looked at Zhaan with surprise. "WHAT! This can not be! You would give your life for this...thing?"
"I would give my life to protect life, yes. Life is a gift from the goddess. To give life to protect life is the ultimate show of devotion to the goddess."
The spirit seemed to writhe in pain, and began to dissipate. "No," it said. "This can not be correct. The Zhaan I knew..."
"IS GONE!" said Zhaan, as she got up off the floor. "I am not the person you knew! I am a Pau, I am a believer in the teachings of the goddess. You have no power over me! Your power comes from fear, from hate! You can not harm me because I have rejected my hate, and I now I reject my fear of you!"
The spirit cried out, and then disappeared. The energy field holding Aeryn also vanished, releasing a confused Aeryn from its grip. "What the frell...what happened?" asked Aeryn.
"My fear is gone, and so is the embodiment of my fear," said Zhaan, as she went over to help her comrade.
**
"It is almost time, Chiana," said Salis calmly. "Soon, you will be free of all violent emotion."
"You can't do this!" replied Chiana. "You are not real!"
Salis simply smiled, as he prepared the equipment needed to temporarily cleanse Chiana. The scared Nebari girl screamed for help as she came closer and closer to the realization of her worst nightmare.
Just as Salis was about to begin, a pounding was heard on the door to the mess hall. "Chiana!" someone screamed from the other side of the door.
Chiana knew the voice, and it was like music to her ears. "D'Argo!" she shouted. "Help!"
A shot rang out from the other side of the door. The Luxan was able to blast the door mechanism, releasing the lock on the door. Now, with sheer muscle power, D'Argo pushed open the door and burst into the room.
He found Chiana laying on the floor, apparently very scared. But upon further examination of the room, he could not see anything there that would frighten her.
"What happened?" asked D'Argo.
"Well..."began Chiana. But before she could answer, she realized that Salis and his mind cleansing machine were gone. Only a dark, empty room filled her eyes as she looked around for her tormentor.
She ran into D'Argo's waiting arms. "Thanks, D'Argo," she said. "I don't know what would have happened..."
"What was going on?"
"Um, ask me later. Look, just what the frell is happening on this ship."
"I don't know, exactly. Crichton seems to think that some...force is making our fears come to life. But, I can't go into that now. You need to get to command, you should be safe there. I have something to take care of."
"But wait, where are you going?" asked Chiana to the departing Luxan.
"To kill a Sarger."
"A what?"
***
Crichton was strapped into the Aurora Chair, just as he had been when he was on the Gammack Base. A sneering Scorpius stood nearby, testing some of his controls before beginning.
"Just a few more moments, Crichton," said Scorpius. "A few more moments before we can begin our...discussion."
As Scorpius continued to operate the controls to the Aurora Chair, Crichton began to think he was seeing double. Now, standing on the other side of the room, was another Scorpius, who was staring at Crichton with a perturbed look on his face.
"Crichton, you are being controlled by your fear," said the second Scorpius. "You must resist it."
"Oh, great," said Crichton sarcastically. "Now there are two of you. Its like a Doublemint Gum commercial." He then began to sing. " 'Double your pleasure, double your fun...'"
"Acting insane will not help you, Crichton," said the Scorpius that was standing at the controls of the Aurora Chair.
"FOCUS, John," said the second Scorpius. "You must resist this false image. This isn't real, but it could damage you. RESIST!"
"We are ready to begin, Crichton," said the other Scorpius.
"Wait, um, I think there is something you need to know," said Crichton.
"What is that?"
"Come here," said Crichton.
"Why?" asked Scorpius suspiciously.
"There is something I want to show you."
"Stop this nonsense," said Scorpius, as he walked over to Crichton. "Nothing is going to stop what is coming."
"Not even that Scarren standing over there," said Crichton, pointing towards the door.
Scorpius turned quickly to look at where Crichton was pointing to. Seeing his chance, Crichton broke free of his bonds and grabbed Scorpius. John threw his tormentor into the Aurora Chair's view screen, ramming the creature's head into the screen with a hard crash.
"WHAT A LOOSER!" yelled Crichton. "Fell for the oldest trick IN THE BOOK!" he added with a demented laugh.
While Scorpius was temporarily dazed by the attack, Crichton ran towards the door. He tried the door mechanism, but found that he was unable to open it.
Turning around, Crichton saw that Scorpius was recovering quickly. The second Scorpius then spoke to him again.
"Quickly, John. Think fast!" said the image.
John did just that. He went for a small tool kit sitting on a nearby work bench. Working quickly, he used the tools to open up the panel for the door mechanism to hot wire the controls.
Crichton could hear Scorpius slowly approaching him from behind. The embattled human had mere moments before the fiend would get to him. With a few final adjustments, Crichton was able to get the door to open just enough to get through.
With Scorpius only inches away, Crichton made his escape through the barely opened door, pushing it shut behind him. John did not wait around for Scorpius to get through the door. He took off running down the corridor to find the others.
****
D'Argo followed the sound of the Sarger's roar as he stalked down the corridor, qualta blade at the ready. The Luxan was getting ever closer to his quary, ever closer to the embodiment of his fear.
He froze as he saw the shadow of the Sarger advance along the wall in his direction. The shadow loomed larger and larger as the creature came down he corridor. D'Argo stood ready to fire at the creature as it came around the corner.
The Sarger came into view, roaring with it huge mouth filled with rows of sharp teeth. D'Argo froze for a moment, temporarily paralyzed with fear. The monster reared its claws and prepared to strike at D'Argo.
The Luxan came out of his daze and opened fire on the beast with his qualta rifle. The blasts from the rifle seemed to bounce off of the Sarger, and merely seemed to irritate the savage creature.
It roared once again, and approached D'Argo at high speed. D'Argo let out a roar of his own, raised his qualta blade, and moved to meet the Sarger's attack.
**********************************************
"Let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself..."
US President Franklin D. Roosevelt, First Inaugural Address, 1932.
*
Crichton ran into command out of breath. Once there, he found Aeryn, Zhaan, and Chiana discussing the situation at hand. When they saw Crichton, they rushed to him.
"John, are you alright?" asked Aeryn.
"Yeah, just...peachy. I just ran into Scorpius back in the maintenance bay...well, actually two of them. Anyhow, where are D'Argo and Rygel?"
"We don't know where Rygel is," said Zhaan. "And Chiana said that D'Argo was going to confront a creature called a Sarger."
"Alone!" said Crichton. "Um, did he say where, Chi?"
"No."
"Great," replied Crichton. "Well, not much we can do to help him directly. It would take too long to find him. But, maybe we can help him and help us all indirectly."
"What do you mean, John?" asked Zhaan.
"Look, all of this started when we entered this nebula, right?"
"Yes," replied Aeryn. "But how could this nebula..."
"Never mind how," said Crichton. "The point is that we get out of this nebula, we can get out of this Vincent Price movie that has been showing around here."
"So, how do we do that?" asked Chiana.
"Well, what is Moya's top cruising speed right now?"
"I spoke to Pilot before coming here," said Aeryn. "He says we can just about make Hetch 3, but that's as fast as we can go because of this frelling power drain."
"What about reserve power?"
"We have some," replied Aeryn, "but I'll have to check with Pilot to see how much we have?"
"See if we have enough for a starburst," said Crichton.
"Inside a nebula," said Zhaan. "That may be unwise."
"Well, its either that, or crawl out of this place with Stephen King's stepchildren chasing us around the ship. That is, if we can get out before all of Moya's power is drained off. I say we have to risk it."
"I agree," chimed in Aeryn. "I'll go to Pilot and brief him on our plan."
"Good, be careful," said Crichton. Aeryn nodded a reply and ran out of command. Meanwhile, Crichton, Zhaan, and Chiana did a system's check to get ready for the Starburst.
**
D'Argo went sliding across the floor of the corridor. He was bleeding in several places, wounds received from his fight with the Sarger. The proud Luxan had once again lunged at the beast, only to have it knock D'Argo across the room like a rag doll.
The Luxan warrior quickly got up, and looked for an opening to attack. He made a lunge for the creature's midsection, but the Sarger swiped at D'Argo with his claws, knocking him off balance.
The Sarger then charged D'Argo, who desperately fought off the attacking predator with his qualta blade. He fought bravely against the Sarger, but knew that the odds of him defeating it were not good.
***
Aeryn came running back onto command from Pilot's chamber to report to the others. "Pilot says that if he transfers all available power, he should be able to have Moya starburst. But, it will take a long time for Moya to build back up her energy reserves."
"Well, we really don't have a choice," replied Crichton.
"Pilot and Moya agree," said Aeryn. "The starburst will occur in exactly 45 microts."
The crew readied themselves for the starburst, hoping this would work. The microts passed by like arns as the crew waited for the starburst. Meanwhile, each had an opportunity to ponder on the fears they had confronted, and how they had met those fears. Some where able to overcome their fear alone, others needed help. But, in the end, fear always lost when confronted by strength and conviction.
Finally, Crichton, Aeryn, Zhaan, and Chiana could feel the familiar build up of energy for starburst. They readied themselves, as Moya lunged into a rough starburst.
****
D'Argo was knocked to the ground by what was apparently a starburst, as was the Sarger. When he recovered from the shock of what had happened, the Luxan looked for his opponent. Instead, all he found was an empty corridor. The Sarger was gone.
Perplexed by what had happened, D'Argo slowly rose from the floor and made his way towards the upper tiers to find the others.
*****
Crichton, Aeryn, Zhaan, and Chiana got themselves up from the floor and gathered themselves back into some kind of order. They looked out through the view screen and, much to their relief, they saw that Moya had cleared the Nebula.
They each sighed with relief at the thought that the nightmare was over, that everything would get back to normal. At least, what passed for normal on Moya.
A few minutes later, D'Argo came limping onto command, severely wounded. Zhaan and Chiana rushed to him and began to help him to the medical bay. On the way out of command, D'Argo began to tell the story of his great battle with the Sarger.
Crichton and Aeryn were left alone on command. They stared at each other for a long moment. Both were dirtied and bruised from their ordeals. Aeryn still wore Crichton's red vest, snapped together over her torn vest. Although disheveled in their appearance, they were none the worse for wear.
"Well," said Aeryn. "I'll go check on Pilot. Then, I'm going to change clothes."
"I'll come with you," said Crichton.
"I can change my own clothes, thank you," said Aeryn with a smirk.
Crichton smiled at the beautiful Sebacean woman. It was good to hear her make a joke after what she had gone through.
"Fine, I'll just accompany you as far as Pilot's den," said Crichton. "Unless you want my help changing your clothes," he concluded in a husky voice.
Aeryn ignored the last comment, and left command with John by her side. "So," began Aeryn. "How did you get away from the incarnation of Scorpius?"
"A little cunning, a little luck, a little stupidity on the part of the...whatever it was. Anyhow, it was good to know that we can face down our fears." Then, he spoke with a pontificating tone. " 'The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.'"
"What?" asked Aeryn.
"Just something an important leader on my world said once. I thought it was appropriate."
"Hmm" was the only reply Aeryn gave.
They rounded a corner, and ran into a startled Rygel. He shook from fear, and was just barely able to speak. "Are...are they...gone?"
"Are what gone?" asked Crichton. "Where have you been?"
"You mean you didn't see them?" replied Rygel.
"See what?" asked Aeryn.
"Yeah," chimed in Crichton. "Look, we have seen a lot of weird stuff over the past few arns. You are going to have to narrow it down for us."
"In my quarters, I was..." Rygel paused for a moment and considered before speaking. He then smiled, and said: "Nothing. Never mind. It was, nothing," said Rygel with a disingenuous laugh. The little Hynerian continued down the corridor as John and Aeryn stared at him with perplexed looks on their faces.
******
The thing had lost its food source. The ship and its crew had escaped from its realm. They were among the lucky few who did. Oh, well. It had fed well on the fears of the ship and its crew. The supply of food would do for now. It would be enough to sustain the thing until more prey came along. There would always be more prey, just as there would always be fear in its many forms and faces.
The End