1.
"You have got to be kidding?"
Moments earlier John Crichton had witnessed the Leviathan, Moya, being pulled into a wormhole that had opened almost on top of her. Everything that he'd had happen to him in the Uncharted Territories, so far, had not prepared him for this; stuck in the Farscape 1 with almost no fuel, no planets within reach with the reserves he had left and limited life support so that he couldn't even hope to drift somewhere (if he even knew where to drift to). Everyone else, who had been off Moya, had left her sensor range before she'd been taken, so they were almost certainly out of comms range. For only the second time since he'd been in the Uncharted Territories, John Crichton felt totally helpless; everything that was running through his mind told him that he was toast.
"John."
"Huh?"
"John, I'm sorry."
"You're sorry? Harvey, you surprise even me, though I can't understand why you're sorry."
"Quite simple, John. I didn't reveal what I knew earlier, if I had, we would have been back aboard Moya and she would have avoided that wormhole."
John sat quietly for a moment, running this through his mind, "No, she wouldn't, and we would have just been with her when it happened, is all. I can accept co-incidences, but a wormhole opening up on Moya like that was targeted, the odds of it being chance are way beyond being astronomical. Nope, she was taken and I think I know who."
"You mean..."
"Yep, the Pathfinders. With everything that's happened these last few monens I'd almost put them from my mind, but I knew they would be around eventually. Just not quite with such bad timing or style."
An uncomfortable silence settled in the small cockpit. Neither occupant seemingly willing to discuss the fate ahead of them, though Harvey's face seemed unusually animated as if conducting an internal dialogue of his own. Apparently reaching a conclusion, Harvey leaned forward and pointed to the communications console that had been added to Farscape 1, "This is what's going to save us, if anything can, John."
"How? D'Argo is definitely out of range and Aeryn is almost certainly too."
"I have knowledge, John, of how we can boost the output. Remember, I know everything you know, but you do not know everything I know. There is one problem though."
"And?"
"We have to cannibalise the receiver to make the necessary modifications, and it's not reversible. We will be able to send out a signal, but we will not know if anyone has responded until they either rescue us, or we die."
"Remind me to recommend you to The Samaritans if we ever get to Earth, Harvey."
With Harvey guiding John, pointing out when necessary, the modifications are made using the limited tools available. Valuable time ticks away, but nothing can be done to hasten the process, only a full workshop would have allowed speedier progress. Fully aware of how much time has passed, Crichton leans back with a sigh, "Is that everything? Its not gonna fry the moment I try sending a signal?"
"I most certainly hope not, John. With what we had available you have done an amazing job, it is safe to use, but I can never guarantee the stability of the components already in place. Time grows short, even with these modifications; I calculate that Aeryn Sun will be soon out of range. Do what is needed."
Reactivating the console, Crichton leans forward and speaks as calmly as he can, "Aeryn, heck anyone that can hear this, this is an emergency broadcast. I am marooned with no reliable means of propulsion with resources running low. I repeat, this is an emergency broadcast, I am marooned with no propulsion and life support running out. Do not respond as I have no means of receiving, just get here as soon as possible.
"What now, Harvey?"
"Get the console to rebroadcast it for you, otherwise you will be wasting precious oxygen, John. There is one thing more that I can do now, if you relax I can slow your breathing and your biologics for you, it will allow you to extend what we have left. I could even suspend your life if necessary, but it is not advisable for extended periods, especially as it requires a good atmosphere to be resuscitated in."
"Gonna tuck me in?" With that John leant back and closed his eyes.
Cue Opening Credits
2.
"Crichton!"
What was that? Someone is calling my name? Must be lack of oxygen, though don't you normally see hallucinations?
"Crichton!"
And why is it a dead man's voice? Heck, it's a hallucination, doesn't have to make sense. But why would it be Crais? I've been suspicious of him for so long, yet he came through for us in the end. Boy, was that a surprise.
"Crichton, are you still alive?"
Barely, but what a cruel way for my mind to remind me of that fact. Get a dead man to ask me if I'm alive.
"Crichton, biologic sensors are still not working properly and the docking web is non-functional. If you are alive and have enough fuel remaining you must dock manually, Talyn has manoeuvred as closely as possible, but you must dock by yourself!"
Cool, Talyn has come to carry me off to the afterlife. A chariot to take me to Valhalla, or whatever the Peacekeepers go to when they die. I'm beginning to like this hallucination after all.
"Talyn, can you boost sound levels at their end?"
A few bleeps and bloops can be heard.
"CRICHTON!"
With a start, Crichton sat up, almost hitting the cockpit canopy, rising so quickly. The air was starting to get thick and muggy, but that had come from Crichton's comm. badge, not the console or his mind. The inside of the canopy was lined with condensation, how long had he been out? Checking a display on the console he figured almost 3 solar days, Harvey had done a good job and been true to his word. But was this still a hallucination?
Reaching out warily, Crichton touched the canopy and started to wipe a clear patch. Doing a double take, Crichton looked back at the console then back out through the canopy to make sure he was seeing what he thought he had. Sure as beans is beans, that was Talyn out there. He was in one heck of a state though, he was still missing the tip of one of his outriggers, "That's the main piece we buried", thought Crichton. All along his hull were breaches, even sections missing in places, he had taken a battering on a scale unseen before. But he was still there.
Unbelieving, Crichton pulled the comm. badge nearer his mouth, "Crais? You're alive?"
"Just about and, so it would seem, are you, Crichton. Against all odds. We seem to have someone, or something, looking favourably upon us."
"I'm not one to comment on gods, or higher beings, Crais. I believe in making my own luck as much as possible, play the long odds and they pay- out big time."
"The odds are not growing anymore favourable whilst you stay out there; I recommend that we discuss this further once you have brought your craft on board. You can find me in the med-bay."
"Med-bay? Since when did Talyn have a med-bay?"
"Just get on board, Crichton."
With the engines powered back up, Crichton carefully docked inside Talyn, with fuel reserves so low a mistake would cause serious complications. Life was already complicated enough. With the systems powered down Crichton waited until he was sure it was safe to crack the canopy open, he didn't want to find himself opening the limited air he had left to a vacuum. After climbing out, he turned to discover one of Talyn's DRD's waiting for him, "Hi Talyn, never expected to see you again. Come to show me the way, have you?"
The DRD turned and headed down the passageway with Crichton following. All round the ship were signs of ongoing repairs, there were more DRD's than before, but still not as many as were obviously needed. Climbing in and around looses struts, conduits and cabling, all the while trying to keep sight of the DRD, Crichton considered what state Crais must be in if this was how badly damaged Talyn must be. Realising that he would find out, soon enough, he forced his way onwards trying to catch up with the DRD that was making the most of its lead.
Eventually they turned into a chamber, Crichton realised that it wasn't too far from the vestigial Pilots den that Talyn had formed. Walking into the low-lit room Crichton called out, "Hello! Anyone home?"
"This way," came the reply.
As Crichton turned to the voice and his eyes adjusted to the light level, he was stopped in his tracks. The chamber consisted of three bays, laid out in a cross with the fourth arm leading back out; in the bay on the right as he'd come in was, the best description Crichton could think of, a pod. The top surface sloped down to the floor with the other sides running almost vertical, sat on the peak was Crais' head.
"OK, that's way worse than anything I could think of. How much did losing your head hurt?"
Crais gave a short deep laugh, "Don't worry Crichton, its not that bad, the rest of my body is actually in here, inside this." As Crais indicated, the best he could, with his head at the pod that encased him. "This is an intensive medical treatment facility. It was always intended that Talyn would grow this eventually, but not until he'd grown more himself. It was to be an adaptation of the Pilot's den, as you know we didn't entirely remove that from his genetic make-up. We saw the way that a Leviathan fed its Pilot and adapted it so that it could be used as a source of nutrition supply for those severely injured. With a few other modifications it could actively heal the injured as well.
"I am glad that this part of Talyn's modification did work, he actually forced the growth of this chamber after the Starburst from the Command Carrier. It took a lot of precious resources that he really needed for himself, but he knew he could repair himself over time. I, however, needed it rather more urgently."
"We thought you were both dead," interrupted Crichton. "You said that Starbursting in an enclosed space would kill a Leviathan?"
"An ordinary Leviathan, yes it would, but Talyn I was not so sure of either way. There was no way of knowing until it had been attempted, but that was not my concern; stopping Scorpius' research and getting my revenge came higher. Personal and altruistic gains at the same time, not many people get that chance and I took it in both hands quite gladly." A broad grin spread across Crais' face, "It feels quite good, on both counts."
"So what happened, we found debris?"
"I can only go on what Talyn related to me after I regained consciousness; Talyn himself came out of Starburst with considerable damage, but still conscious. A huge amount of the internal passages and chambers were exposed to vacuum, Talyn sealed as much as he could before the atmosphere completely escaped. Obviously he was unable to Starburst again, in fact he was barely able to produce propulsion at all, but in a determined effort he turned, nudged himself out of the debris and started to drift in a different direction to all his lost components. At this point he himself shutdown, but before that he commanded his remaining DRD's to repair and reproduce.
"He recovered about a solar day later and realised I was still alive. I'd broken nearly every major bone in my body and had come very close to being crippled. His DRD's had decided to help me; it seems they consider me as much a part of this ship as anything else on it. They had only been able to stabilise me though, they were unable to carry out any invasive procedures to carry out "repairs" on me. Looking into his databanks, Talyn discovered the planned med-bay chamber, he diverted precious resources into force-growing it. As soon as it was ready, he had the DRD's bring me here. It was another five days before I came too.
"Can you excuse me for now, Crichton, I am still some way from being fully recovered and I grow tired. It has taken considerable effort to retrieve you."
"Yeah, sure, Crais. I'll see what I can help Talyn with, as far as repairs go, I know those little fellers can't always do everything so easily." With that Crichton turned away and headed towards the entrance, Crais' eyes drooping as he went. Stopping at the doorway, Crichton looked back, "Crais?"
"Yes, Crichton?" replied Crais, with the tone of the disturbed on the edge of sleep.
"Thank you." Crichton walked on, realising it was something he would never have expected to truly mean before.
3.
Two days later, Crais was fit enough to be released from the pod. He was still unsteady on his feet, but able to make his way around Talyn reasonably comfortably. He took his time, seemingly inspecting the ongoing repairs as he went, but just as much to disguise the fatigue he was suffering. Although his injuries were healed, 14 solar days in the "pod", as Crichton had decided to call it, had seriously depleted his strength. Further time in it would have fixed that also, but there were things that needed doing and he couldn't sit on his eema waiting for them to happen. No, he had to push on.
"Crichton, where are you?"
"Down in Talyn's rear-end, Crais. We've just about got his propulsion systems restored back to normal, another half arn and we should be good to go. Have you got your sea legs back yet?"
"I wish you'd stop using these drenning colloquialisms, Crichton. They play havoc with the translator microbes. But if you mean am I mobile again, then yes, I am moving once more. Thank you for your concern. When you're finished can you come to Command, we have to discuss our course of action."
"Will do, Crais, will do."
Crais continued his laboured journey to Command. As much as he wanted to avoid showing weakness, he knew he was going to have to return to the pod during his sleep periods; by time they found anyone else he should be fully restored, having only Crichton see him now was bearable. It took longer than he'd expected to reach his destination, arriving only a few minutes before Crichton turned up.
"Yo, Crais! Good to see you up and around, would never have known you should be in a wheelchair."
"A 'well-chair'? Is this some kind of human healing device?"
"Not really, but people who are still healing use them. Makes it easier for them to get around, could ask the DRD's to make you one? Just be thankful you don't need the ones that some people use, back on Earth."
"I will be alright, Crichton. Just need to make sure I rest well when I'm not needed. Right now, I am needed; we have to plan a course of action now that Talyn's normal propulsion is restored. You've suggested we find Officer Sun first and I agree, I know you have personal reasons for that as much as anything else, but the way I see it, she is likely to be the closest one right now. I am aware of the mercenary group you described, they are not easy to find, so the odds are that Aeryn will be on nearby planets trying to find information on them.
"If we find her, with luck, she will have information on the route that D'Argo was taking in his craft. We have the advantage now that Talyn's propulsion is much greater than either Aeryn's Prowler, or D'Argo's craft. Although they have a five solar day head start, we should be able to make that up."
"Well, which way do we head then? I have no idea where to go right now."
"Good fortune is on our side, Talyn, bring up the navigation display." A holographic representation of local space blossomed into view in the centre of Command. Pointing to a particular marker, Crais continued, "This is Talyn, over here are the nearest populated planets to where I found you. Your drift was not that great when we came upon you, so I'm assuming that this is where Aeryn would have headed for. The Prowler is not suited for extended journeys, so it makes sense to head for the nearest population centre to start making enquiries, or gain berthing on a longer range craft.
"As I said, fortune is with us; I am aware that this mercenary group either operates from this area, or at least has a major contact in this area. If Aeryn is seeking them out she should still be in this area. She should already be there by now, at Prowler cruising speed, it will takes us approximately two solar days to reach the first of the planets."
"Then what are we waiting for? Get Talyn's shiny butt into gear."
"I have been preparing Talyn whilst we speak, Crichton, he's been testing out the repairs and checking that we can achieve maximum speed. Everything seems to be satisfactory and Talyn informs me we are ready to depart."
"The way I see it, you have to actually be somewhere to be able to depart; there's nothing here, so get moving."
"We are already underway."
Crichton didn't seem to be ready to make any further movement, which frustrated Crais as he was beginning to feel fatigued already. He'd obviously underestimated his condition, it seemed that he would have to spend longer in the pods than he'd envisioned. He didn't want to make his destination too obvious, but Crichton seemed to have something on his mind and wasn't ready to depart before Crais. He would have to make Crichton's mind up for him, "Something else?"
"Crais, does Talyn's Pilot den still exist? The one that shouldn't have grown?"
"Yes, it is still there, I believe that the med-bay will eventually grow into that area as Talyn grows. For now, I have commanded Talyn to keep it sealed." Crais was puzzled, where was this leading?
"Could I use it to bond temporarily with Talyn? I need to communicate with him, but it's not something I can do verbally, I believe the best way would be for us to do it is in the same way a Pilot does."
Crais had had his command of Talyn stolen once before, by that fahrbot Stark, there was no way he was going to allow that to happen again. Indignation rose up inside him, forcing him to stand straighter, "You're trying to steal control of Talyn whilst I'm weakened? Do you think my mind has gone, as well as my strength? You must think I am worse than Stark, either that, or you are!"
Completely surprised by this response, Crichton backed away with his hands raised, placatingly, in front of him. "Whoa, Crais, calm down! Do whatever you need to guarantee that I can't do it! All I want is to communicate with Talyn, not control him. I just want to see if Talyn can understand something and judge his capabilities. That's all. Period."
"Sorry, Crichton, you caught me off-guard. I hadn't expected such a question; I will ask Talyn if it is possible. If it is, I will arrange for the chamber to be unsealed for your access. Now, maybe you can help me with something?"
"Sure, what is it?"
"Take my arm and give me some support, this exchange has weakened me even further and I need to return to the pod in med-bay. I need to be in full health in two days time, showing weakness in the negotiations we are likely to be making will be tantamount to suicide."
Seeing how unsteady he was becoming, Crichton rushed forward and caught Crais as his strength ebbed away. Be damned what Crais thought of his appearance, Crichton slung him over his shoulder and carried him out of Command heading for the med-bay. A short time later Crichton entered the, now unsealed, Pilot's den.
4.
After getting no leads at the first planet, things didn't seem to be going much better at the second. Talyn had already been in orbit for half a day with communications channels being opened regularly for most of it. Crais was revelling in the play of words being exchanged with the various contacts being made; fully refreshed from the extra time in the pods he was making good use of his renewed vigour. Although Talyn had been disarmed by the Peacekeepers whilst aboard the Command Carrier, he was in the process of growing a new weapon, but those Crais was talking to did not know this. He had made good use of this lack of knowledge several times already and was about to use it again with his current contact.
"You are well aware of this ship's reputation; you know we have totally destroyed those who have opposed us, including a Shadow Depository. I am more than sure that you know people who would be glad to have us, at their behest. Or do I need to arrange a demonstration of this ship's effectiveness?"
The effect on the alien on the other end of the comm. link was obvious, even with four compound eyes making it difficult to read its face. Talyn's reputation truly seemed to have a frightening affect when used this way, especially now with the rumours of a Peacekeeper Command Carrier being single-handedly destroyed by him. The alien seemed to succumb to its agitation and made its only safe decision, "Yes, I do know of who you speak, but I am afraid I cannot make contact with them for a few solar days yet. We have agreed upon times for transmissions, I can contact them in an emergency but if I do that for what you ask, I am as surely dead as if I refused to answer your questions.
"Is there anything I can do for you in the meantime? Supplies, entertainment, recreational items?" Crais keyed up an image of Aeryn in the display alongside his own face, "Have you seen this woman? We need to find her before we proceed any further in this matter."
The alien made a shuffling gesture, which seemed to indicate an affirmative, his reply confirmed this, "Yes, she was here just over a solar day ago. She was after the same thing as you, hoping to join the group of 'specialists'. I did in fact ask for a demonstration of her skills before I would consider her request, she performed admirably and I agreed to pass on her request when the time came. My guards were not so happy with her performance, however, but that is their problem and they should recover in a few days."
Crichton had been keeping out of sight until now, slowly getting more and more desperate as each new contact had been unable to help them. With a confirmation he jumped up from the recess he had been crouching in and ran up beside Crais, "Where is she? Is she here? Did she go somewhere else?"
"Calm down, Crichton. I'm sure our friend here will oblige us if he has that knowledge."
"Yes, yes, yes I do know where she is," the alien started punching at a control pad just of screen, obviously keen to please and not cause disfavour and the repercussions it would entail. A planet, its co- ordinates and a flashing marker upon the surface appeared on the display, "This is where she went, I gave her the exact same information. She should be there by now."
"And what is this location, you have given us?"
"It's a Diagnosan medical facility; there are a lot of specialists there. She said she had been in contact with a lot of different species and wanted to make sure she wasn't carrying anything that could be contaminating."
Crichton's face paled upon hearing this, his legs buckled and he gripped the console to stop himself from collapsing. "Crais," gasped Crichton, "we have to get moving, now. We have to get there before, before….. Before Aeryn does something stupid."
Crais, surprised and confused by Crichton's reaction, thanked the alien and informed him they would be in contact again soon. Once the comm. link had been broken he gave Talyn instructions on reaching the location given as fast as possible. He then turned and helped Crichton to his quarters, whereupon Crichton collapsed on his bed and curled into a foetal position. What in Hezmana had caused this response? Aeryn was going to be joining a group of Peacekeepers and she was just being cautious; even though they had left the ranks, some of them could still very easily be concerned with "contamination", it was so deeply ingrained in Peacekeeper culture.
"Crichton, what's wrong? Are you in pain?"
"It's Aeryn, Crais. I think she's pregnant. What that thing said, it sounded like she's considering an abortion. We have to get there and stop her." With that, Crichton rolled over with his back to Crais.
"You should have said before, Crichton. Talyn! Give it everything you can, we must reach that facility as quickly as possible!" Crais is caught off guard by a sudden shift as Talyn accelerates; even he is surprised by the effort that Talyn is making. Talyn obviously feared that Aeryn was making a mistake too.
5.
Talyn swooped down on the planet, no time to wait in orbit, heading directly for the imposing medical structure. The tall slender build of the Diagnosans was reflected in the facilities that they built as well. As Talyn swept past, the Farscape module was seen to emerge from a docking bay. The pilot is obviously in a rush as the landing almost results in a collision with other craft deposited outside the structure, only narrowly averted by a last minute panicked manoeuvre. The canopy is cracked open even before the module has rolled to a stop, once it has Crichton climbs out and dashes towards the portal in the side of the building.
Inside, Crichton comes skidding to a halt, the last thing he expected to see here, heck in the Uncharted Territories period, is a reception desk with "someone" sat behind the counter. Whilst not exactly planning on arriving all guns blazing, Crichton had been expecting to have to coerce, or cajole, someone into doing something they didn't want to. Now he had to rely upon skills he hadn't used for some time, being polite. Approaching the counter, Crichton tried to gauge what species the receptionist was. He was pretty certain, from the facemask, that she must be a Diagnosan; the only conclusion, Crichton could make, is that the males were the good- looking ones of the species.
"Hi!"
"Can I help you?"
"Yes, I'm looking for someone. I've been given to believe that they are here."
"A doctor or a patient?"
"A patient. A Sebacean woman, her name is Aeryn Sun, but I don't know if she will have used that here. It's possible she may be pregnant and I'm afraid she may be making a mistake, right now. It's urgent that I speak to her."
"And you are?"
"I may be the father. Sort of. I hope."
Despite being a different species, the look that the receptionist gave Crichton was definitely quizzical, "Your name?"
"Oh! Sorry! Crichton, John Crichton."
"Give me a few microts and I will check for you."
The receptionist started accessing her console, Crichton leant over the counter to try and see what the display showed. A quick look of reprimand from the receptionist shooed Crichton away from her desk. Left to pace impatiently, he wondered if the looks that receptionists could inflict on people were universal. Finding what she needed, the receptionist used a comm. device to speak to someone elsewhere, getting a satisfactory answer she waved Crichton over. "Use the transport over there; go up to level 10, someone will meet you."
Crichton jogged over to the transporter, the door opened as he approached and closed after he entered. As it climbed up through the floors he rested his hand on Winona, concealed at the small of his back; he didn't like it when he was informed "someone will meet you". It put him on edge, the display indicated he was approaching level 10, his hand gripped the Pulse Pistol more tightly. The doors opened and there was a Diagnosan nurse waiting for him, "John Crichton?"
"Yes, that's me."
"Come this way, please. Someone will come out to see you when they're finished."
Realising he'd been prepared to blow away whoever had been there when the doors opened, Crichton relaxed and released his hold on Winona. "I've got to get a grip, not everyone is out to kill me," thought John. "Excuse me, nurse? If you don't mind, I'm trying to stop something drastically wrong from happening here. I would rather whoever is with Aeryn, right now, came and spoke with me before they're finished."
"Don't worry, John Crichton. Aeryn Sun is only having an examination at this moment. There are no procedures currently scheduled for her."
"Thanks, you don't realise how good that makes me feel to hear that." Crichton began to relax, he wasn't too late yet.
"That's alright; we are used to high levels of distress and emotion here. It is common in inter-species relationships." With that enigmatic statement running through his mind, the nurse left Crichton in the waiting area that he'd been led to. It was half an arn before anyone else came to see him, as it turned out it was a Diagnosan doctor.
"John Crichton?"
"That's me, Doc. Not like you've got a lot of other people to choose from though." As Crichton swept his arms around to indicate the empty waiting room.
"You are a most interesting, specimen. Your species is unknown in this region of space, but it has to be said that you seem strangely compatible with the Sebacean species."
"Well that's kinda why I'm here, Doc. Is Aeryn pregnant still?"
"Yes, she is at the moment. That is also why she is here."
"At the moment? Just what does that mean?"
"It means she is pregnant at this moment. Please come this way, Aeryn Sun wishes to talk with you." The doctor led a protesting Crichton to a nearby room, ushered him inside and closed the door in Crichton's face. Turning around, Crichton saw a bed with Aeryn sat on the edge of it, head down with eyes averted.
"Aeryn?"
No answer.
"Aeryn?"
Again, no answer.
Crichton walked across the room and sat down on the bed, beside Aeryn; he reached out and took her hand. With fingers interlocked, he let them rest where their legs touched. Time passed, not sure whether it was monens or arns, they sat there drinking in each other's presence. Eventually, Crichton knew he had to ask.
"Why?"
"Why didn't I tell you I was pregnant? I told you, I couldn't live with you knowing you would eventually die again. If I told you that I was pregnant, you would never have left me!"
"No. Why are you having an abortion?" Aeryn's hand tightened painfully on John's, her head lifted up with eyes wide. Her other hand lashed out and struck a stinging blow across his face.
Whilst glad it hadn't been a Pantak Jab, Crichton had to know what was going on. "What in Hezmana was that for? I'm the one who should be out of his head with rage?"
"You angry? Where the frell did you get that idea from? What ever made you think I was having an abortion? You didn't even know I was pregnant and you come and ask me that?"
"You told your contact that you needed to be cleansed of any contamination from other species, what do you expect me to think? You're joining a group of ex-Peacekeepers and I can't see you getting that far with them when you're carrying a child!"
"John, I've still got a few monens in which I can be active in to prove myself to them, they may be mercenaries, but they're still Sebaceans. They have a life they live, from what I have heard they are actually a small colony, I could fit in there and bring up a child quite safely."
"A few monens? How long is a Sebacean pregnancy?"
"Normally 18, that's why I came here. This facility has a reputation for dealing with inter-species breeding. They can check for any possible problems that can result from the genetic differences. That would have been the only reason that I would have ever considered aborting our child, if it had been incapable of living beyond the birth.
"As it turns out, our child is perfectly healthy. It seems to be growing at a rate comparable to normal Sebacean gestation periods."
"It?"
"Yes, John, I didn't want to know whether it was male or female, it doesn't matter to me. It's our child. But John, there is something else you need to know. I wasn't sure until the examination." Aeryn held out her hand to Crichton, again, and pulled him back down to the bed beside her.
"If you're sure about it, I'm not sure I can take much more in." Crichton reached his arm around Aeryn's shoulders and pulled her closer; she rested her head on his shoulder and continued, "The child is yours John."
"What!" Crichton's eyes widened and he looked down to Aeryn, he stuttered, "But you and I, since the doubling, it was only ever him? Never me, how?"
"Well, it's just as much his as yours, John. We conceived before you were doubled, the father is John Crichton. That's you, original and unique." Crichton laughed at that, he'd spent so long going on about how he was the John Crichton, but now it didn't matter.
"Have to get you back to the ship, we have to get going."
"I can't go with you, I've told you that already."
"Aeryn, think of Talyn."
"Why? He's dead, along with Crais, why should that make me come back to you?"
"Talyn's still alive, so is Crais, they're in orbit waiting for us. But that's not what I meant."
"But, but, but how? We buried him in the Leviathan graveyard, there were only pieces left!" Crichton calmed Aeryn down and explained everything that had happened. How Moya had been taken, how Crichton had survived and been rescued, and finally how they had repaired Talyn then come searching for her. Aeryn took this all in, then she rose from the bed and walked towards the door. She stopped halfway there, "This is exactly what I was talking about, John. You're about to head off into danger once more, I can't be there when your luck runs out again!"
"Aeryn, think of Talyn. Not the ship, your father."
"Why, what has he got to do with this? I never knew him."
"Exactly. You've always missed him; you knew that your mother was out there somewhere, because she came to see you that one night. But you always missed not knowing them together, to show the love they felt for each other and for you. You know that our love for each other is as strong as that, but you would deny it to our child! You would let fear stop that, but I know you, you are not truly afraid of anything. Come with me, we will grow old together and we will have a family that we can be proud of and love.
"Aeryn? Just talk to me, tell me something, anything."
Aeryn turned to face John; tears were running down her face. "John," she said. They both moved forward and held onto each other. They stood there, quietly crying.
6.
"Talyn, why is there a craft approaching and why am I only just aware of it?"
A series of bleeps and bloops answered Crais' question.
"A 'Special Delivery' for Crichton? Why wasn't it arranged for when he returns with Aeryn? More importantly, why wasn't I informed and why did you try to hide it?"
Talyn replied.
"I see, it was better that I didn't know. I am most displeased that you felt you couldn't trust me." Some more bleeps, "It's not a matter of trust? More a case of safer I didn't know. Well, I will await Crichton's return for him to explain what is going on, aboard my own ship."
Closing his eyes, Crais concentrated on viewing the docking bay that the craft was using. Talyn was resisting his efforts to see what was happening, Crais was not used to this response so had trouble coping. The crew of the craft had disembarked and unloaded a container; a group of Talyn's DRD's were waiting, some with their weapons deployed already, whilst others were handling a case containing currency. Crais' currency. He knew he should be getting annoyed at this secrecy, but he felt intrigued instead. Crais knew that Crichton would keep to his word about not taking control of Talyn away from him, so what had he done to convince Talyn to do this?
The deal had been concluded, the crew were leaving and the DRD's were taking the container away with them. Dismissing concern for the parting craft, Crais instead focussed on the DRD's with the container, where were they taking it? Talyn was aware that Crais was watching and was doing his best to close down the observation of his secret. Crais, however, was determined to know what was going on. Following the group, he tracked their route from the docking bay noting each turn they took and every bulkhead they passed through. As they approached one corridor Crais suddenly found he was unable to follow any further, it was as if Talyn literally was unable to monitor this part of his internal structure.
Realising he was no longer able to track the DRD's, Crais set out on foot to the docking bay. Whilst he was there he made a search to see if there were any clues as to the identity of the visitors, or their cargo, finding no obvious sign Crais left to follow the route he had observed. He took the same turns as the DRD's took, watching out for the tell-tale signs he'd learned to observe whilst navigating around Talyn, eventually he found the passage the DRD's had taken down which he couldn't follow using Talyn's senses. Nothing stood out to mark it as any different to the rest of the ship as it rounded a bend and disappeared from sight. To confirm, Crais closed his eyes and checked his location through Talyn's senses and had the same strange sensation he always had as he watched himself.
This was the right location; satisfied, Crais started walking down the passage, he rounded the bend and stopped. There was a wall facing him, the passage just stopped, with no opening leading off it. Where in Hezmana had those DRD's gone with that container? Crichton had some explaining to do, when he returned, as it turned out this was another 12 arns.
* * * * *
"Crais, we're on our way. The two of us are leaving the Diagnosan site now, will be with you soon."
"That's good to hear Crichton; I'll meet you in the docking bay."
"Thanks Crais, but we don't really need the red carpet treatment."
"But I insist Crichton, I must welcome you both back on board."
The Prowler and the Farscape module climbed out of the atmosphere to the awaiting Talyn. Crichton hung back to allow Aeryn's Prowler to enter first, jinking in behind as she passed, "Ladies first and you deserve the red carpet more than me." The two craft touched down and Aeryn and Crichton climbed out, Crichton jogged over to Aeryn grabbed her by the waist, lifted and swung her round. As he lowered her, he pulled Aeryn in close to him.
"What's that for?"
"Just because."
"Because what?"
"Because, right now, I am the happiest man in the entire universe."
The seal for the docking bay cracked open and Crais walked through, hands held behind his back. He approached the happy couple with a smile on his face, stopping a respectful distance away, "Welcome back, Aeryn Sun. I take it that there is good news for Crichton. Congratulations."
With that, Crais whipped a Pulse Pistol out from behind his back and trained it dead-centre on Crichton's face. Without the weapon wavering, he signalled for Aeryn to stand aside. "Now, John Crichton, maybe you can explain to me what the frell you are planning with Talyn?"
"Oh crap…"
"Yes, you may well say that. I don't pretend to understand exactly what it means, but I understand the sentiment."
"Darn it, he let it slip? I was hoping to make sure Talyn was ready before I told you. How did you find out? I wanted to check everything he'd done was A-OK and fully working, guess I'll just have to show you it first."
"No, Talyn didn't let it slip; he did a very good job of trying to cover it up. But a shared nervous system means that something will slip through eventually, especially with as long as we have been bonded. What infuriates me, though, is that you felt you couldn't trust me; I thought that I had proven myself by now."
"Crais, it's not about trust, well, actually it is. You need to trust me on this; we did it to protect you. If you didn't know, then no-one could get the information out of you."
"Thank you for considering my safety, Crichton, but I prefer to make my own decisions about my welfare. Now, maybe you can tell me what you have been doing?"
Crichton noticed something out of the corner of his eye; it was Aeryn, desperately trying to hide a smirk on her face. She bought her hand up to try and conceal it better but it was too obvious. What was going on here? This wasn't anything funny? "Aeryn, why are you trying to stop yourself from laughing? I have a gun in my face and someone seriously PO'ed on the other end of it!"
"He's not angry, John, he's played you! The Pulse Pistol is empty; there is no charge in it!"
Crichton cocked his head to one side so he could check the load indicator, it was indeed as Aeryn said, empty. As he lifted his head back up he looked at Crais. There was a broad grin spread across his face, as his eyes locked with Crichton's his mouth cracked open and he let out a loud guffaw. "Crichton, a word of warning. I am not a man to cross. Luckily for you, you have only ever been honest with me. You have been suspicious, you have hated, you have pitied me; but you have always been honest about it.
"Now, maybe you can be honest again." Crais lowered the Pulse Pistol and gestured for Crichton to lead the way back into Talyn.
"And tell you what we've been doing? I think it would be easier to show you. Talyn, is it all ready? Two bleeps for yes, one bleep for no."
Two short bleeps rang out across the landing area.
"Let's go then. Aeryn, Crais, go up to Command and wait. Me, I've got to go to the Pilot's Den. Talyn will need assistance for the first few times we do this."
With that they walked out of the docking bay and headed towards Command, as they passed the den Crichton split off and entered. "Talk to you two in a few." Crais and Aeryn carried on to Command. Whilst they were waiting, Crais was showing signs of being uncomfortable; Aeryn picked up on it very quickly, "What's up, Crais? You're not normally very reticent about speaking your mind. You might as well ask, John told me that you know what he was worried about."
"I was worried with how long it took both of you to return, I feared that Crichton had been too late. If he had it would have destroyed him, with everything he has been through so far it would have been the ultimate irony. Deadly danger at every turn, only to be undone by words not being said. So. What happened?"
"The delay was a thorough examination, Crais. The Diagnosans wanted to ensure that there were no problems that could arise in our off-spring. They could only really do it whilst Crichton was there, so we had to take the opportunity. Without him they could only tell me that there were no problems at present."
"I see, so Crichton did not have to persuade you?"
"No, there was never any intention of that. It was purely to tell others what they expected to hear."
At that moment Crichton's voice came over the comms system, "Aeryn, can you give the details of the route, D'Argo is taking, to Talyn?"
"Sure, John," Aeryn bent over the console and entered the details, "that should be it. Can Talyn predict where they should be?"
"Yep, he's plotting worst and best case scenarios for distance along that route now, we're going to try for the closest point first. Asking around we should find if they've stopped anywhere, Talyn's normal drive would catch up with them reasonably quickly but we're going to skip along the route and bracket them."
"But Starburst isn't that accurate," argued Crais.
"Who said anything about Starburst? Talyn, crank her up. You two may want to take a peek out the front."
Aeryn and Crais turned toward the view screen, a blue-white spark of light appeared. It quickly blossomed into the familiar features of a Wormhole. "Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the ride of your life! YEEEEEEEEEEEEHAAAAAAAAAAAW!" With that, Talyn, under Crichton's guidance, plunged into the Wormhole.
7.
"Ahh, D'Argo?"
"Yes, Chiana?"
"Can I make a suggestion?"
"Of course you can, though we may not necessarily do anything about it."
"Well this one, we are going to do. Next planet we can safely trade on, we're buying some more gloves for me to use. These ones are getting, well, kind of soggy." Chiana was currently piloting the Growler, to do so, however, she had to wear gloves with DNA from D'Argo coated on them. It didn't do so good to dwell on exactly how he did it, just get them on and definitely not think about it. At all. Thankfully the navigation system was doing most of the work, so there wasn't a constant requirement to grip the control yoke.
The one drawback, though, was that you had to keep the gloves on in case of an emergency. That meant you couldn't fold your arms, or for that matter bring them near your body or clothes. Frankly, Chiana was finding it more exhausting keeping her hands firmly in one place than any other part of her shift on watch. In the nine solar days, since leaving Moya, life had become a monotonous pattern of shifts on watch in the cockpit. Rygel was more, or less, useless as he couldn't handle the yoke and his throne sled at the same time. The only relief they'd had was the two brief stops they'd made on commerce planets to re-supply their stores, which was thanks to Rygel as he'd not stopped eating.
Even after two cycles of knowing Rygel, Chiana still couldn't figure how something so small could consume so much food. It should be physically impossible; it was as if Rygel was bigger on the inside than on the outside, she wondered if his stomach existed in a different dimension to the rest of his body. Frell, she was bored, how was she going to survive this journey. She craved excitement and this trip was going to take several more weekens before they even got to drop Rygel off, in his former domain. Frell, frell, frell, frell, frell, she was just about ready to scream!
Which is exactly what she did, but not from frustration. Chiana's body tensed as an energy wave passed through her. Oh frell, it was another vision! She thought that maybe they'd stopped; it had been a while since her last one. That was when the flash came and she was seeing something else: Crais, Crichton and Aeryn stood waiting for them in Talyn's docking bay. Then it faded. What dren was this? Crais and Talyn were dead, Crichton had been planning to plunge into the nearest Wormhole headed home and Aeryn was going off to be a soldier again!
"Chiana! Are you okay?" D'Argo was stood over Chiana, holding her shoulders, shaking her gently.
"Of course she isn't! She's gone fahrbot in this confined space. We need to find a place to land, so we can get some better food than we've picked up on our last two stops."
"What a surprise, Rygel. Thinking of your stomach. Chiana? What was it?"
"It was another one of my visions, D'Argo. But this time it seemed to be a flashback, there's no other way to make sense of what I saw. The only thing is, I don't ever recall being in that exact situation."
"And what exactly did you see?"
"Crais, on Talyn, with Aeryn and Crichton."
"I told you D'Argo, she's gone fahrbot. I'm going to check what the nearest planet is we can safely land on." Rygel floated over to the console to check the navigation display; as he did, something caught his eye, the sensor display. There was something on the long-range sensors, initial tracking information suggested it was heading for them. "D'Argo, I think you'd better take Chiana's place and look at this. I think we have company."
"Dren, can't get any info at this range. I don't want to let it get closer, but we can't tell what it is yet. I don't want to have to start making any detours; this journey is going to take enough time already. We'll have to wait until it gets into the standard sensor range and hope it's just a co-incidence."
"D'Argo, you should know, by now, it's never a co-incidence where we're concerned."
"Thank you, Rygel, but I am trying to live a life that doesn't assume that's always the case!"
"Whatever you wish, D'Argo, but I am finding a safe place to secure myself and my throne." With that, Rygel floated off into the rear of the Growler. With the space vacated, Chiana was able to clamber into the other seat in the cockpit; she debated with herself whether she should take the gloves off. Realising D'Argo couldn't do everything by himself, she reluctantly decided to keep them on.
"How long before we can get some info?"
"Too soon, they are definitely heading for us. I've made some slight course changes and they're compensating. I hate it when Rygel is right."
Chiana thought discretion was the best option and didn't reply. She leant forward and studied the sensor display; she really needed to learn to read this language as she couldn't really deduce anything from what she could see, other than that the craft was getting closer. As she watched the blip crossed a marker and more ancient Luxan script started appearing next to it, obviously the target had passed into range of the standard sensor. D'Argo studied the display after Chiana caught his attention, still not fluent with reading his ancient tongue he double checked what he was seeing. He glanced up at Chiana then looked back to the display.
"What?" asked Chiana.
"We're stopping, you take the controls and I'm handling the weapon system."
"It's that bad then?"
"I don't know, I'm just being prepared."
"I'm not sure I like the sound of this."
D'Argo pulled down the targeting scope and indicated that Chiana should take the yoke. He targeted the approaching craft in the scope, still not clearly visible, but bounded by a reticule in the view. As the microts ticked past the tension in the cockpit mounted. His eyes start hurting as he strains to stop himself from blinking, not wanting to miss getting the first clear look at the approaching craft. There it was. Surely he was seeing things? D'Argo checked that everything was operating correctly, yes, it all was.
"Chiana, are you sure that was a flashback you had?"
"I don't see what else it could be."
"Well, I suggest you look," D'Argo paused as he made sure he was pointing in the right direction, "just over there."
Chiana stared intently where D'Argo had pointed, eventually a speck appeared and grew rapidly in size. Chiana looked back and forth to D'Argo and the approaching craft, her mouth hanging slack. Eventually she realised how she must look and felt she had to ask if he saw the same as what she thought she was seeing.
"That's. That's Talyn?"
"It certainly looks like him and the sensors seem to confirm it. I just don't know how."
"It's Talyn! It's Talyn! Yi-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi-yah!" With that, Chiana leapt out of her seat, dashed up to the back of the Growler and jerked Rygel out of his hiding place. She held on to him tightly as she span and danced back up the length of the ship, all the time crying out, "Its Talyn!" She finally climbed back into her seat and sat Rygel down in her lap.
"Look Rygel! It's Talyn! He's alive!"
Rygel finally pulled his composure together again and remembered to sound indignant at his brusque treatment from Chiana. "Harumph! How dare you treat me that way! You're forgetting I am a Dominar to 6 billion subjects. As happy as I am to see that Talyn is still alive, you should remember to treat me with more reverence."
"Former Dominar, Ryg', former."
"Not for much longer, upon my return that will be quickly rectified. Hold on a microt."
"Yes Ryg'?" said Chiana knowingly.
"If Talyn is here, then that means there's a problem. If there's a problem, they're coming for you to help. If you help, I'm not getting back home! Frell! I knew the universe was going to plot against me! It could never go that smoothly, oh no!" Rygel hopped off Chiana's lap and waddled back up the craft to retrieve his throne sled.
"D'Argo! My main man! Are you there?" Was that Crichton? "D'Argo? You there, man? Come in, D'Argo!"
"Crichton?"
"That's the voice I was waiting to hear! Get that thing on board, we've got some catching up to do."
"I assume you have a good reason to interrupt me in my business, Crichton?"
"I'm kinda hoping you'll put it on hold, D'Argo. Something pretty urgent has come up and we need all of you. Come aboard and we'll tell you what's happened."
Sensing that revenge was going to be very cold by the time it happened, D'Argo manoeuvred into Talyn's awaiting docking bay. As the Growler touched down, the entrance was already open and there were Crais, Crichton and Aeryn waiting for them. "What was it you were saying earlier, Chiana?"
"OK, so it wasn't a flashback! Can you blame me for doubting what I saw? Anyway, let's get out there and find out what's going on."
The hatch on the Growler opened and they all piled out, Chiana especially in a rush to see her friends again. Chiana was all hugs, D'Argo was strong handshakes and Rygel was small waves. Then it was down to business, D'Argo was unwilling to go further into Talyn until he knew what was happening. It had to be something important for him to give up his quest.
Crichton began to explain what had happened; very quickly it became very obvious that they would help. Revenge could wait, a friend in need could not be deserted in their time of peril. Everyone went back on board the Growler to help unload all the personal gear, as they all walked into Talyn, Crichton and D'Argo held back.
"John, what happened?"
"I've already explained that to you, that's why you're coming with us."
"No, I mean you. When we last saw you, you were preparing to open a wormhole and return home to Erp. You'd accepted that Aeryn would never go home with you."
"I realised my mistake D'Argo, I was just going to Earth. Home is where the heart is and my heart is with Aeryn."
D'Argo slapped Crichton lightly on his back and then pulled him into the interior of Talyn. He wanted to get this over and done with as fast as possible.
* * * * *
"Let me get this straight, Crichton, you took the most wanted and feared technology in the universe and built it into Talyn? Talyn has not exactly been the most controlled of creatures recently, John. Sorry if I cause offence, Talyn, but even you know that it's true."
"Talyn's straightened out a lot since you last saw him, putting your life on the line does tend to do that a bit. Plus I've been bonded with him, not full control sort of thing, but we've been sharing memories and feelings. He's becoming a whole more rounded 'person'."
"Enough to be trusted with this?"
"Yes. I have to bond with him when we go through Wormholes, just to guide him and to feel how he responds, that tells me as much about someone as anything else. His sense of wonder has become his motivation; pretty soon he'll know how to do it instinctively and I won't have to bond with him. I'll miss that, but I promised Crais that I would only do it as long as necessary."
"Well it's already done; we can't undo it without destroying Talyn. I for one don't want to see that happen after what he did for us. Isn't it about time we got going?"
"Yep, I'm just heading off to the den. You had better get with the others in Command; it's the next safest place on this ship."
"What's the plan?"
"Gonna do like we did with the Pathfinders, travel through a series of wormholes in quick succession. Hopefully we can pick up some signals from Moya, or clues to what happened."
With that John and D'Argo split up. D'Argo proceeded to Command where everyone else was waiting. Aeryn walked up to him, "Thank you for doing this D'Argo, I know how much your mission meant to you, but this requires all of us. Moya protected us for so long, now we need to protect her."
"Good evening, Ladies and Gentleman. For tonight's entertainment we are proud to present the Wormhole Waltz! If you would like to take your places, the music will begin soon. Talyn are you ready to play?" At that moment a tune started to play throughout Talyn, only one person on board recognised it, The Blue Danube. "Thank you, Talyn! This bonding does have a certain advantage, perfect recall straight into a storage facility.
"OK, if you look to the front, pretty soon the fun will commence!"
"You'll enjoy this D'Argo, even under these circumstances. A controlled flight through a Wormhole is unlike anything else you have ever seen."
"Thanks Aeryn, I hope it is. The last time I was in a Wormhole left unpleasant memories for me." At that moment the blue/white spark appeared and then the Wormhole blossomed. It caused equal measures of fear and awe.
"Uh, I think we have a problem guys and gals."
"What is it, John?"
"I didn't create that Wormhole, Aeryn. We were just powering up the engines when it appeared. I think someone is extending us an invitation, do we accept it though?"
Cue Closing Credits
"You have got to be kidding?"
Moments earlier John Crichton had witnessed the Leviathan, Moya, being pulled into a wormhole that had opened almost on top of her. Everything that he'd had happen to him in the Uncharted Territories, so far, had not prepared him for this; stuck in the Farscape 1 with almost no fuel, no planets within reach with the reserves he had left and limited life support so that he couldn't even hope to drift somewhere (if he even knew where to drift to). Everyone else, who had been off Moya, had left her sensor range before she'd been taken, so they were almost certainly out of comms range. For only the second time since he'd been in the Uncharted Territories, John Crichton felt totally helpless; everything that was running through his mind told him that he was toast.
"John."
"Huh?"
"John, I'm sorry."
"You're sorry? Harvey, you surprise even me, though I can't understand why you're sorry."
"Quite simple, John. I didn't reveal what I knew earlier, if I had, we would have been back aboard Moya and she would have avoided that wormhole."
John sat quietly for a moment, running this through his mind, "No, she wouldn't, and we would have just been with her when it happened, is all. I can accept co-incidences, but a wormhole opening up on Moya like that was targeted, the odds of it being chance are way beyond being astronomical. Nope, she was taken and I think I know who."
"You mean..."
"Yep, the Pathfinders. With everything that's happened these last few monens I'd almost put them from my mind, but I knew they would be around eventually. Just not quite with such bad timing or style."
An uncomfortable silence settled in the small cockpit. Neither occupant seemingly willing to discuss the fate ahead of them, though Harvey's face seemed unusually animated as if conducting an internal dialogue of his own. Apparently reaching a conclusion, Harvey leaned forward and pointed to the communications console that had been added to Farscape 1, "This is what's going to save us, if anything can, John."
"How? D'Argo is definitely out of range and Aeryn is almost certainly too."
"I have knowledge, John, of how we can boost the output. Remember, I know everything you know, but you do not know everything I know. There is one problem though."
"And?"
"We have to cannibalise the receiver to make the necessary modifications, and it's not reversible. We will be able to send out a signal, but we will not know if anyone has responded until they either rescue us, or we die."
"Remind me to recommend you to The Samaritans if we ever get to Earth, Harvey."
With Harvey guiding John, pointing out when necessary, the modifications are made using the limited tools available. Valuable time ticks away, but nothing can be done to hasten the process, only a full workshop would have allowed speedier progress. Fully aware of how much time has passed, Crichton leans back with a sigh, "Is that everything? Its not gonna fry the moment I try sending a signal?"
"I most certainly hope not, John. With what we had available you have done an amazing job, it is safe to use, but I can never guarantee the stability of the components already in place. Time grows short, even with these modifications; I calculate that Aeryn Sun will be soon out of range. Do what is needed."
Reactivating the console, Crichton leans forward and speaks as calmly as he can, "Aeryn, heck anyone that can hear this, this is an emergency broadcast. I am marooned with no reliable means of propulsion with resources running low. I repeat, this is an emergency broadcast, I am marooned with no propulsion and life support running out. Do not respond as I have no means of receiving, just get here as soon as possible.
"What now, Harvey?"
"Get the console to rebroadcast it for you, otherwise you will be wasting precious oxygen, John. There is one thing more that I can do now, if you relax I can slow your breathing and your biologics for you, it will allow you to extend what we have left. I could even suspend your life if necessary, but it is not advisable for extended periods, especially as it requires a good atmosphere to be resuscitated in."
"Gonna tuck me in?" With that John leant back and closed his eyes.
Cue Opening Credits
2.
"Crichton!"
What was that? Someone is calling my name? Must be lack of oxygen, though don't you normally see hallucinations?
"Crichton!"
And why is it a dead man's voice? Heck, it's a hallucination, doesn't have to make sense. But why would it be Crais? I've been suspicious of him for so long, yet he came through for us in the end. Boy, was that a surprise.
"Crichton, are you still alive?"
Barely, but what a cruel way for my mind to remind me of that fact. Get a dead man to ask me if I'm alive.
"Crichton, biologic sensors are still not working properly and the docking web is non-functional. If you are alive and have enough fuel remaining you must dock manually, Talyn has manoeuvred as closely as possible, but you must dock by yourself!"
Cool, Talyn has come to carry me off to the afterlife. A chariot to take me to Valhalla, or whatever the Peacekeepers go to when they die. I'm beginning to like this hallucination after all.
"Talyn, can you boost sound levels at their end?"
A few bleeps and bloops can be heard.
"CRICHTON!"
With a start, Crichton sat up, almost hitting the cockpit canopy, rising so quickly. The air was starting to get thick and muggy, but that had come from Crichton's comm. badge, not the console or his mind. The inside of the canopy was lined with condensation, how long had he been out? Checking a display on the console he figured almost 3 solar days, Harvey had done a good job and been true to his word. But was this still a hallucination?
Reaching out warily, Crichton touched the canopy and started to wipe a clear patch. Doing a double take, Crichton looked back at the console then back out through the canopy to make sure he was seeing what he thought he had. Sure as beans is beans, that was Talyn out there. He was in one heck of a state though, he was still missing the tip of one of his outriggers, "That's the main piece we buried", thought Crichton. All along his hull were breaches, even sections missing in places, he had taken a battering on a scale unseen before. But he was still there.
Unbelieving, Crichton pulled the comm. badge nearer his mouth, "Crais? You're alive?"
"Just about and, so it would seem, are you, Crichton. Against all odds. We seem to have someone, or something, looking favourably upon us."
"I'm not one to comment on gods, or higher beings, Crais. I believe in making my own luck as much as possible, play the long odds and they pay- out big time."
"The odds are not growing anymore favourable whilst you stay out there; I recommend that we discuss this further once you have brought your craft on board. You can find me in the med-bay."
"Med-bay? Since when did Talyn have a med-bay?"
"Just get on board, Crichton."
With the engines powered back up, Crichton carefully docked inside Talyn, with fuel reserves so low a mistake would cause serious complications. Life was already complicated enough. With the systems powered down Crichton waited until he was sure it was safe to crack the canopy open, he didn't want to find himself opening the limited air he had left to a vacuum. After climbing out, he turned to discover one of Talyn's DRD's waiting for him, "Hi Talyn, never expected to see you again. Come to show me the way, have you?"
The DRD turned and headed down the passageway with Crichton following. All round the ship were signs of ongoing repairs, there were more DRD's than before, but still not as many as were obviously needed. Climbing in and around looses struts, conduits and cabling, all the while trying to keep sight of the DRD, Crichton considered what state Crais must be in if this was how badly damaged Talyn must be. Realising that he would find out, soon enough, he forced his way onwards trying to catch up with the DRD that was making the most of its lead.
Eventually they turned into a chamber, Crichton realised that it wasn't too far from the vestigial Pilots den that Talyn had formed. Walking into the low-lit room Crichton called out, "Hello! Anyone home?"
"This way," came the reply.
As Crichton turned to the voice and his eyes adjusted to the light level, he was stopped in his tracks. The chamber consisted of three bays, laid out in a cross with the fourth arm leading back out; in the bay on the right as he'd come in was, the best description Crichton could think of, a pod. The top surface sloped down to the floor with the other sides running almost vertical, sat on the peak was Crais' head.
"OK, that's way worse than anything I could think of. How much did losing your head hurt?"
Crais gave a short deep laugh, "Don't worry Crichton, its not that bad, the rest of my body is actually in here, inside this." As Crais indicated, the best he could, with his head at the pod that encased him. "This is an intensive medical treatment facility. It was always intended that Talyn would grow this eventually, but not until he'd grown more himself. It was to be an adaptation of the Pilot's den, as you know we didn't entirely remove that from his genetic make-up. We saw the way that a Leviathan fed its Pilot and adapted it so that it could be used as a source of nutrition supply for those severely injured. With a few other modifications it could actively heal the injured as well.
"I am glad that this part of Talyn's modification did work, he actually forced the growth of this chamber after the Starburst from the Command Carrier. It took a lot of precious resources that he really needed for himself, but he knew he could repair himself over time. I, however, needed it rather more urgently."
"We thought you were both dead," interrupted Crichton. "You said that Starbursting in an enclosed space would kill a Leviathan?"
"An ordinary Leviathan, yes it would, but Talyn I was not so sure of either way. There was no way of knowing until it had been attempted, but that was not my concern; stopping Scorpius' research and getting my revenge came higher. Personal and altruistic gains at the same time, not many people get that chance and I took it in both hands quite gladly." A broad grin spread across Crais' face, "It feels quite good, on both counts."
"So what happened, we found debris?"
"I can only go on what Talyn related to me after I regained consciousness; Talyn himself came out of Starburst with considerable damage, but still conscious. A huge amount of the internal passages and chambers were exposed to vacuum, Talyn sealed as much as he could before the atmosphere completely escaped. Obviously he was unable to Starburst again, in fact he was barely able to produce propulsion at all, but in a determined effort he turned, nudged himself out of the debris and started to drift in a different direction to all his lost components. At this point he himself shutdown, but before that he commanded his remaining DRD's to repair and reproduce.
"He recovered about a solar day later and realised I was still alive. I'd broken nearly every major bone in my body and had come very close to being crippled. His DRD's had decided to help me; it seems they consider me as much a part of this ship as anything else on it. They had only been able to stabilise me though, they were unable to carry out any invasive procedures to carry out "repairs" on me. Looking into his databanks, Talyn discovered the planned med-bay chamber, he diverted precious resources into force-growing it. As soon as it was ready, he had the DRD's bring me here. It was another five days before I came too.
"Can you excuse me for now, Crichton, I am still some way from being fully recovered and I grow tired. It has taken considerable effort to retrieve you."
"Yeah, sure, Crais. I'll see what I can help Talyn with, as far as repairs go, I know those little fellers can't always do everything so easily." With that Crichton turned away and headed towards the entrance, Crais' eyes drooping as he went. Stopping at the doorway, Crichton looked back, "Crais?"
"Yes, Crichton?" replied Crais, with the tone of the disturbed on the edge of sleep.
"Thank you." Crichton walked on, realising it was something he would never have expected to truly mean before.
3.
Two days later, Crais was fit enough to be released from the pod. He was still unsteady on his feet, but able to make his way around Talyn reasonably comfortably. He took his time, seemingly inspecting the ongoing repairs as he went, but just as much to disguise the fatigue he was suffering. Although his injuries were healed, 14 solar days in the "pod", as Crichton had decided to call it, had seriously depleted his strength. Further time in it would have fixed that also, but there were things that needed doing and he couldn't sit on his eema waiting for them to happen. No, he had to push on.
"Crichton, where are you?"
"Down in Talyn's rear-end, Crais. We've just about got his propulsion systems restored back to normal, another half arn and we should be good to go. Have you got your sea legs back yet?"
"I wish you'd stop using these drenning colloquialisms, Crichton. They play havoc with the translator microbes. But if you mean am I mobile again, then yes, I am moving once more. Thank you for your concern. When you're finished can you come to Command, we have to discuss our course of action."
"Will do, Crais, will do."
Crais continued his laboured journey to Command. As much as he wanted to avoid showing weakness, he knew he was going to have to return to the pod during his sleep periods; by time they found anyone else he should be fully restored, having only Crichton see him now was bearable. It took longer than he'd expected to reach his destination, arriving only a few minutes before Crichton turned up.
"Yo, Crais! Good to see you up and around, would never have known you should be in a wheelchair."
"A 'well-chair'? Is this some kind of human healing device?"
"Not really, but people who are still healing use them. Makes it easier for them to get around, could ask the DRD's to make you one? Just be thankful you don't need the ones that some people use, back on Earth."
"I will be alright, Crichton. Just need to make sure I rest well when I'm not needed. Right now, I am needed; we have to plan a course of action now that Talyn's normal propulsion is restored. You've suggested we find Officer Sun first and I agree, I know you have personal reasons for that as much as anything else, but the way I see it, she is likely to be the closest one right now. I am aware of the mercenary group you described, they are not easy to find, so the odds are that Aeryn will be on nearby planets trying to find information on them.
"If we find her, with luck, she will have information on the route that D'Argo was taking in his craft. We have the advantage now that Talyn's propulsion is much greater than either Aeryn's Prowler, or D'Argo's craft. Although they have a five solar day head start, we should be able to make that up."
"Well, which way do we head then? I have no idea where to go right now."
"Good fortune is on our side, Talyn, bring up the navigation display." A holographic representation of local space blossomed into view in the centre of Command. Pointing to a particular marker, Crais continued, "This is Talyn, over here are the nearest populated planets to where I found you. Your drift was not that great when we came upon you, so I'm assuming that this is where Aeryn would have headed for. The Prowler is not suited for extended journeys, so it makes sense to head for the nearest population centre to start making enquiries, or gain berthing on a longer range craft.
"As I said, fortune is with us; I am aware that this mercenary group either operates from this area, or at least has a major contact in this area. If Aeryn is seeking them out she should still be in this area. She should already be there by now, at Prowler cruising speed, it will takes us approximately two solar days to reach the first of the planets."
"Then what are we waiting for? Get Talyn's shiny butt into gear."
"I have been preparing Talyn whilst we speak, Crichton, he's been testing out the repairs and checking that we can achieve maximum speed. Everything seems to be satisfactory and Talyn informs me we are ready to depart."
"The way I see it, you have to actually be somewhere to be able to depart; there's nothing here, so get moving."
"We are already underway."
Crichton didn't seem to be ready to make any further movement, which frustrated Crais as he was beginning to feel fatigued already. He'd obviously underestimated his condition, it seemed that he would have to spend longer in the pods than he'd envisioned. He didn't want to make his destination too obvious, but Crichton seemed to have something on his mind and wasn't ready to depart before Crais. He would have to make Crichton's mind up for him, "Something else?"
"Crais, does Talyn's Pilot den still exist? The one that shouldn't have grown?"
"Yes, it is still there, I believe that the med-bay will eventually grow into that area as Talyn grows. For now, I have commanded Talyn to keep it sealed." Crais was puzzled, where was this leading?
"Could I use it to bond temporarily with Talyn? I need to communicate with him, but it's not something I can do verbally, I believe the best way would be for us to do it is in the same way a Pilot does."
Crais had had his command of Talyn stolen once before, by that fahrbot Stark, there was no way he was going to allow that to happen again. Indignation rose up inside him, forcing him to stand straighter, "You're trying to steal control of Talyn whilst I'm weakened? Do you think my mind has gone, as well as my strength? You must think I am worse than Stark, either that, or you are!"
Completely surprised by this response, Crichton backed away with his hands raised, placatingly, in front of him. "Whoa, Crais, calm down! Do whatever you need to guarantee that I can't do it! All I want is to communicate with Talyn, not control him. I just want to see if Talyn can understand something and judge his capabilities. That's all. Period."
"Sorry, Crichton, you caught me off-guard. I hadn't expected such a question; I will ask Talyn if it is possible. If it is, I will arrange for the chamber to be unsealed for your access. Now, maybe you can help me with something?"
"Sure, what is it?"
"Take my arm and give me some support, this exchange has weakened me even further and I need to return to the pod in med-bay. I need to be in full health in two days time, showing weakness in the negotiations we are likely to be making will be tantamount to suicide."
Seeing how unsteady he was becoming, Crichton rushed forward and caught Crais as his strength ebbed away. Be damned what Crais thought of his appearance, Crichton slung him over his shoulder and carried him out of Command heading for the med-bay. A short time later Crichton entered the, now unsealed, Pilot's den.
4.
After getting no leads at the first planet, things didn't seem to be going much better at the second. Talyn had already been in orbit for half a day with communications channels being opened regularly for most of it. Crais was revelling in the play of words being exchanged with the various contacts being made; fully refreshed from the extra time in the pods he was making good use of his renewed vigour. Although Talyn had been disarmed by the Peacekeepers whilst aboard the Command Carrier, he was in the process of growing a new weapon, but those Crais was talking to did not know this. He had made good use of this lack of knowledge several times already and was about to use it again with his current contact.
"You are well aware of this ship's reputation; you know we have totally destroyed those who have opposed us, including a Shadow Depository. I am more than sure that you know people who would be glad to have us, at their behest. Or do I need to arrange a demonstration of this ship's effectiveness?"
The effect on the alien on the other end of the comm. link was obvious, even with four compound eyes making it difficult to read its face. Talyn's reputation truly seemed to have a frightening affect when used this way, especially now with the rumours of a Peacekeeper Command Carrier being single-handedly destroyed by him. The alien seemed to succumb to its agitation and made its only safe decision, "Yes, I do know of who you speak, but I am afraid I cannot make contact with them for a few solar days yet. We have agreed upon times for transmissions, I can contact them in an emergency but if I do that for what you ask, I am as surely dead as if I refused to answer your questions.
"Is there anything I can do for you in the meantime? Supplies, entertainment, recreational items?" Crais keyed up an image of Aeryn in the display alongside his own face, "Have you seen this woman? We need to find her before we proceed any further in this matter."
The alien made a shuffling gesture, which seemed to indicate an affirmative, his reply confirmed this, "Yes, she was here just over a solar day ago. She was after the same thing as you, hoping to join the group of 'specialists'. I did in fact ask for a demonstration of her skills before I would consider her request, she performed admirably and I agreed to pass on her request when the time came. My guards were not so happy with her performance, however, but that is their problem and they should recover in a few days."
Crichton had been keeping out of sight until now, slowly getting more and more desperate as each new contact had been unable to help them. With a confirmation he jumped up from the recess he had been crouching in and ran up beside Crais, "Where is she? Is she here? Did she go somewhere else?"
"Calm down, Crichton. I'm sure our friend here will oblige us if he has that knowledge."
"Yes, yes, yes I do know where she is," the alien started punching at a control pad just of screen, obviously keen to please and not cause disfavour and the repercussions it would entail. A planet, its co- ordinates and a flashing marker upon the surface appeared on the display, "This is where she went, I gave her the exact same information. She should be there by now."
"And what is this location, you have given us?"
"It's a Diagnosan medical facility; there are a lot of specialists there. She said she had been in contact with a lot of different species and wanted to make sure she wasn't carrying anything that could be contaminating."
Crichton's face paled upon hearing this, his legs buckled and he gripped the console to stop himself from collapsing. "Crais," gasped Crichton, "we have to get moving, now. We have to get there before, before….. Before Aeryn does something stupid."
Crais, surprised and confused by Crichton's reaction, thanked the alien and informed him they would be in contact again soon. Once the comm. link had been broken he gave Talyn instructions on reaching the location given as fast as possible. He then turned and helped Crichton to his quarters, whereupon Crichton collapsed on his bed and curled into a foetal position. What in Hezmana had caused this response? Aeryn was going to be joining a group of Peacekeepers and she was just being cautious; even though they had left the ranks, some of them could still very easily be concerned with "contamination", it was so deeply ingrained in Peacekeeper culture.
"Crichton, what's wrong? Are you in pain?"
"It's Aeryn, Crais. I think she's pregnant. What that thing said, it sounded like she's considering an abortion. We have to get there and stop her." With that, Crichton rolled over with his back to Crais.
"You should have said before, Crichton. Talyn! Give it everything you can, we must reach that facility as quickly as possible!" Crais is caught off guard by a sudden shift as Talyn accelerates; even he is surprised by the effort that Talyn is making. Talyn obviously feared that Aeryn was making a mistake too.
5.
Talyn swooped down on the planet, no time to wait in orbit, heading directly for the imposing medical structure. The tall slender build of the Diagnosans was reflected in the facilities that they built as well. As Talyn swept past, the Farscape module was seen to emerge from a docking bay. The pilot is obviously in a rush as the landing almost results in a collision with other craft deposited outside the structure, only narrowly averted by a last minute panicked manoeuvre. The canopy is cracked open even before the module has rolled to a stop, once it has Crichton climbs out and dashes towards the portal in the side of the building.
Inside, Crichton comes skidding to a halt, the last thing he expected to see here, heck in the Uncharted Territories period, is a reception desk with "someone" sat behind the counter. Whilst not exactly planning on arriving all guns blazing, Crichton had been expecting to have to coerce, or cajole, someone into doing something they didn't want to. Now he had to rely upon skills he hadn't used for some time, being polite. Approaching the counter, Crichton tried to gauge what species the receptionist was. He was pretty certain, from the facemask, that she must be a Diagnosan; the only conclusion, Crichton could make, is that the males were the good- looking ones of the species.
"Hi!"
"Can I help you?"
"Yes, I'm looking for someone. I've been given to believe that they are here."
"A doctor or a patient?"
"A patient. A Sebacean woman, her name is Aeryn Sun, but I don't know if she will have used that here. It's possible she may be pregnant and I'm afraid she may be making a mistake, right now. It's urgent that I speak to her."
"And you are?"
"I may be the father. Sort of. I hope."
Despite being a different species, the look that the receptionist gave Crichton was definitely quizzical, "Your name?"
"Oh! Sorry! Crichton, John Crichton."
"Give me a few microts and I will check for you."
The receptionist started accessing her console, Crichton leant over the counter to try and see what the display showed. A quick look of reprimand from the receptionist shooed Crichton away from her desk. Left to pace impatiently, he wondered if the looks that receptionists could inflict on people were universal. Finding what she needed, the receptionist used a comm. device to speak to someone elsewhere, getting a satisfactory answer she waved Crichton over. "Use the transport over there; go up to level 10, someone will meet you."
Crichton jogged over to the transporter, the door opened as he approached and closed after he entered. As it climbed up through the floors he rested his hand on Winona, concealed at the small of his back; he didn't like it when he was informed "someone will meet you". It put him on edge, the display indicated he was approaching level 10, his hand gripped the Pulse Pistol more tightly. The doors opened and there was a Diagnosan nurse waiting for him, "John Crichton?"
"Yes, that's me."
"Come this way, please. Someone will come out to see you when they're finished."
Realising he'd been prepared to blow away whoever had been there when the doors opened, Crichton relaxed and released his hold on Winona. "I've got to get a grip, not everyone is out to kill me," thought John. "Excuse me, nurse? If you don't mind, I'm trying to stop something drastically wrong from happening here. I would rather whoever is with Aeryn, right now, came and spoke with me before they're finished."
"Don't worry, John Crichton. Aeryn Sun is only having an examination at this moment. There are no procedures currently scheduled for her."
"Thanks, you don't realise how good that makes me feel to hear that." Crichton began to relax, he wasn't too late yet.
"That's alright; we are used to high levels of distress and emotion here. It is common in inter-species relationships." With that enigmatic statement running through his mind, the nurse left Crichton in the waiting area that he'd been led to. It was half an arn before anyone else came to see him, as it turned out it was a Diagnosan doctor.
"John Crichton?"
"That's me, Doc. Not like you've got a lot of other people to choose from though." As Crichton swept his arms around to indicate the empty waiting room.
"You are a most interesting, specimen. Your species is unknown in this region of space, but it has to be said that you seem strangely compatible with the Sebacean species."
"Well that's kinda why I'm here, Doc. Is Aeryn pregnant still?"
"Yes, she is at the moment. That is also why she is here."
"At the moment? Just what does that mean?"
"It means she is pregnant at this moment. Please come this way, Aeryn Sun wishes to talk with you." The doctor led a protesting Crichton to a nearby room, ushered him inside and closed the door in Crichton's face. Turning around, Crichton saw a bed with Aeryn sat on the edge of it, head down with eyes averted.
"Aeryn?"
No answer.
"Aeryn?"
Again, no answer.
Crichton walked across the room and sat down on the bed, beside Aeryn; he reached out and took her hand. With fingers interlocked, he let them rest where their legs touched. Time passed, not sure whether it was monens or arns, they sat there drinking in each other's presence. Eventually, Crichton knew he had to ask.
"Why?"
"Why didn't I tell you I was pregnant? I told you, I couldn't live with you knowing you would eventually die again. If I told you that I was pregnant, you would never have left me!"
"No. Why are you having an abortion?" Aeryn's hand tightened painfully on John's, her head lifted up with eyes wide. Her other hand lashed out and struck a stinging blow across his face.
Whilst glad it hadn't been a Pantak Jab, Crichton had to know what was going on. "What in Hezmana was that for? I'm the one who should be out of his head with rage?"
"You angry? Where the frell did you get that idea from? What ever made you think I was having an abortion? You didn't even know I was pregnant and you come and ask me that?"
"You told your contact that you needed to be cleansed of any contamination from other species, what do you expect me to think? You're joining a group of ex-Peacekeepers and I can't see you getting that far with them when you're carrying a child!"
"John, I've still got a few monens in which I can be active in to prove myself to them, they may be mercenaries, but they're still Sebaceans. They have a life they live, from what I have heard they are actually a small colony, I could fit in there and bring up a child quite safely."
"A few monens? How long is a Sebacean pregnancy?"
"Normally 18, that's why I came here. This facility has a reputation for dealing with inter-species breeding. They can check for any possible problems that can result from the genetic differences. That would have been the only reason that I would have ever considered aborting our child, if it had been incapable of living beyond the birth.
"As it turns out, our child is perfectly healthy. It seems to be growing at a rate comparable to normal Sebacean gestation periods."
"It?"
"Yes, John, I didn't want to know whether it was male or female, it doesn't matter to me. It's our child. But John, there is something else you need to know. I wasn't sure until the examination." Aeryn held out her hand to Crichton, again, and pulled him back down to the bed beside her.
"If you're sure about it, I'm not sure I can take much more in." Crichton reached his arm around Aeryn's shoulders and pulled her closer; she rested her head on his shoulder and continued, "The child is yours John."
"What!" Crichton's eyes widened and he looked down to Aeryn, he stuttered, "But you and I, since the doubling, it was only ever him? Never me, how?"
"Well, it's just as much his as yours, John. We conceived before you were doubled, the father is John Crichton. That's you, original and unique." Crichton laughed at that, he'd spent so long going on about how he was the John Crichton, but now it didn't matter.
"Have to get you back to the ship, we have to get going."
"I can't go with you, I've told you that already."
"Aeryn, think of Talyn."
"Why? He's dead, along with Crais, why should that make me come back to you?"
"Talyn's still alive, so is Crais, they're in orbit waiting for us. But that's not what I meant."
"But, but, but how? We buried him in the Leviathan graveyard, there were only pieces left!" Crichton calmed Aeryn down and explained everything that had happened. How Moya had been taken, how Crichton had survived and been rescued, and finally how they had repaired Talyn then come searching for her. Aeryn took this all in, then she rose from the bed and walked towards the door. She stopped halfway there, "This is exactly what I was talking about, John. You're about to head off into danger once more, I can't be there when your luck runs out again!"
"Aeryn, think of Talyn. Not the ship, your father."
"Why, what has he got to do with this? I never knew him."
"Exactly. You've always missed him; you knew that your mother was out there somewhere, because she came to see you that one night. But you always missed not knowing them together, to show the love they felt for each other and for you. You know that our love for each other is as strong as that, but you would deny it to our child! You would let fear stop that, but I know you, you are not truly afraid of anything. Come with me, we will grow old together and we will have a family that we can be proud of and love.
"Aeryn? Just talk to me, tell me something, anything."
Aeryn turned to face John; tears were running down her face. "John," she said. They both moved forward and held onto each other. They stood there, quietly crying.
6.
"Talyn, why is there a craft approaching and why am I only just aware of it?"
A series of bleeps and bloops answered Crais' question.
"A 'Special Delivery' for Crichton? Why wasn't it arranged for when he returns with Aeryn? More importantly, why wasn't I informed and why did you try to hide it?"
Talyn replied.
"I see, it was better that I didn't know. I am most displeased that you felt you couldn't trust me." Some more bleeps, "It's not a matter of trust? More a case of safer I didn't know. Well, I will await Crichton's return for him to explain what is going on, aboard my own ship."
Closing his eyes, Crais concentrated on viewing the docking bay that the craft was using. Talyn was resisting his efforts to see what was happening, Crais was not used to this response so had trouble coping. The crew of the craft had disembarked and unloaded a container; a group of Talyn's DRD's were waiting, some with their weapons deployed already, whilst others were handling a case containing currency. Crais' currency. He knew he should be getting annoyed at this secrecy, but he felt intrigued instead. Crais knew that Crichton would keep to his word about not taking control of Talyn away from him, so what had he done to convince Talyn to do this?
The deal had been concluded, the crew were leaving and the DRD's were taking the container away with them. Dismissing concern for the parting craft, Crais instead focussed on the DRD's with the container, where were they taking it? Talyn was aware that Crais was watching and was doing his best to close down the observation of his secret. Crais, however, was determined to know what was going on. Following the group, he tracked their route from the docking bay noting each turn they took and every bulkhead they passed through. As they approached one corridor Crais suddenly found he was unable to follow any further, it was as if Talyn literally was unable to monitor this part of his internal structure.
Realising he was no longer able to track the DRD's, Crais set out on foot to the docking bay. Whilst he was there he made a search to see if there were any clues as to the identity of the visitors, or their cargo, finding no obvious sign Crais left to follow the route he had observed. He took the same turns as the DRD's took, watching out for the tell-tale signs he'd learned to observe whilst navigating around Talyn, eventually he found the passage the DRD's had taken down which he couldn't follow using Talyn's senses. Nothing stood out to mark it as any different to the rest of the ship as it rounded a bend and disappeared from sight. To confirm, Crais closed his eyes and checked his location through Talyn's senses and had the same strange sensation he always had as he watched himself.
This was the right location; satisfied, Crais started walking down the passage, he rounded the bend and stopped. There was a wall facing him, the passage just stopped, with no opening leading off it. Where in Hezmana had those DRD's gone with that container? Crichton had some explaining to do, when he returned, as it turned out this was another 12 arns.
* * * * *
"Crais, we're on our way. The two of us are leaving the Diagnosan site now, will be with you soon."
"That's good to hear Crichton; I'll meet you in the docking bay."
"Thanks Crais, but we don't really need the red carpet treatment."
"But I insist Crichton, I must welcome you both back on board."
The Prowler and the Farscape module climbed out of the atmosphere to the awaiting Talyn. Crichton hung back to allow Aeryn's Prowler to enter first, jinking in behind as she passed, "Ladies first and you deserve the red carpet more than me." The two craft touched down and Aeryn and Crichton climbed out, Crichton jogged over to Aeryn grabbed her by the waist, lifted and swung her round. As he lowered her, he pulled Aeryn in close to him.
"What's that for?"
"Just because."
"Because what?"
"Because, right now, I am the happiest man in the entire universe."
The seal for the docking bay cracked open and Crais walked through, hands held behind his back. He approached the happy couple with a smile on his face, stopping a respectful distance away, "Welcome back, Aeryn Sun. I take it that there is good news for Crichton. Congratulations."
With that, Crais whipped a Pulse Pistol out from behind his back and trained it dead-centre on Crichton's face. Without the weapon wavering, he signalled for Aeryn to stand aside. "Now, John Crichton, maybe you can explain to me what the frell you are planning with Talyn?"
"Oh crap…"
"Yes, you may well say that. I don't pretend to understand exactly what it means, but I understand the sentiment."
"Darn it, he let it slip? I was hoping to make sure Talyn was ready before I told you. How did you find out? I wanted to check everything he'd done was A-OK and fully working, guess I'll just have to show you it first."
"No, Talyn didn't let it slip; he did a very good job of trying to cover it up. But a shared nervous system means that something will slip through eventually, especially with as long as we have been bonded. What infuriates me, though, is that you felt you couldn't trust me; I thought that I had proven myself by now."
"Crais, it's not about trust, well, actually it is. You need to trust me on this; we did it to protect you. If you didn't know, then no-one could get the information out of you."
"Thank you for considering my safety, Crichton, but I prefer to make my own decisions about my welfare. Now, maybe you can tell me what you have been doing?"
Crichton noticed something out of the corner of his eye; it was Aeryn, desperately trying to hide a smirk on her face. She bought her hand up to try and conceal it better but it was too obvious. What was going on here? This wasn't anything funny? "Aeryn, why are you trying to stop yourself from laughing? I have a gun in my face and someone seriously PO'ed on the other end of it!"
"He's not angry, John, he's played you! The Pulse Pistol is empty; there is no charge in it!"
Crichton cocked his head to one side so he could check the load indicator, it was indeed as Aeryn said, empty. As he lifted his head back up he looked at Crais. There was a broad grin spread across his face, as his eyes locked with Crichton's his mouth cracked open and he let out a loud guffaw. "Crichton, a word of warning. I am not a man to cross. Luckily for you, you have only ever been honest with me. You have been suspicious, you have hated, you have pitied me; but you have always been honest about it.
"Now, maybe you can be honest again." Crais lowered the Pulse Pistol and gestured for Crichton to lead the way back into Talyn.
"And tell you what we've been doing? I think it would be easier to show you. Talyn, is it all ready? Two bleeps for yes, one bleep for no."
Two short bleeps rang out across the landing area.
"Let's go then. Aeryn, Crais, go up to Command and wait. Me, I've got to go to the Pilot's Den. Talyn will need assistance for the first few times we do this."
With that they walked out of the docking bay and headed towards Command, as they passed the den Crichton split off and entered. "Talk to you two in a few." Crais and Aeryn carried on to Command. Whilst they were waiting, Crais was showing signs of being uncomfortable; Aeryn picked up on it very quickly, "What's up, Crais? You're not normally very reticent about speaking your mind. You might as well ask, John told me that you know what he was worried about."
"I was worried with how long it took both of you to return, I feared that Crichton had been too late. If he had it would have destroyed him, with everything he has been through so far it would have been the ultimate irony. Deadly danger at every turn, only to be undone by words not being said. So. What happened?"
"The delay was a thorough examination, Crais. The Diagnosans wanted to ensure that there were no problems that could arise in our off-spring. They could only really do it whilst Crichton was there, so we had to take the opportunity. Without him they could only tell me that there were no problems at present."
"I see, so Crichton did not have to persuade you?"
"No, there was never any intention of that. It was purely to tell others what they expected to hear."
At that moment Crichton's voice came over the comms system, "Aeryn, can you give the details of the route, D'Argo is taking, to Talyn?"
"Sure, John," Aeryn bent over the console and entered the details, "that should be it. Can Talyn predict where they should be?"
"Yep, he's plotting worst and best case scenarios for distance along that route now, we're going to try for the closest point first. Asking around we should find if they've stopped anywhere, Talyn's normal drive would catch up with them reasonably quickly but we're going to skip along the route and bracket them."
"But Starburst isn't that accurate," argued Crais.
"Who said anything about Starburst? Talyn, crank her up. You two may want to take a peek out the front."
Aeryn and Crais turned toward the view screen, a blue-white spark of light appeared. It quickly blossomed into the familiar features of a Wormhole. "Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the ride of your life! YEEEEEEEEEEEEHAAAAAAAAAAAW!" With that, Talyn, under Crichton's guidance, plunged into the Wormhole.
7.
"Ahh, D'Argo?"
"Yes, Chiana?"
"Can I make a suggestion?"
"Of course you can, though we may not necessarily do anything about it."
"Well this one, we are going to do. Next planet we can safely trade on, we're buying some more gloves for me to use. These ones are getting, well, kind of soggy." Chiana was currently piloting the Growler, to do so, however, she had to wear gloves with DNA from D'Argo coated on them. It didn't do so good to dwell on exactly how he did it, just get them on and definitely not think about it. At all. Thankfully the navigation system was doing most of the work, so there wasn't a constant requirement to grip the control yoke.
The one drawback, though, was that you had to keep the gloves on in case of an emergency. That meant you couldn't fold your arms, or for that matter bring them near your body or clothes. Frankly, Chiana was finding it more exhausting keeping her hands firmly in one place than any other part of her shift on watch. In the nine solar days, since leaving Moya, life had become a monotonous pattern of shifts on watch in the cockpit. Rygel was more, or less, useless as he couldn't handle the yoke and his throne sled at the same time. The only relief they'd had was the two brief stops they'd made on commerce planets to re-supply their stores, which was thanks to Rygel as he'd not stopped eating.
Even after two cycles of knowing Rygel, Chiana still couldn't figure how something so small could consume so much food. It should be physically impossible; it was as if Rygel was bigger on the inside than on the outside, she wondered if his stomach existed in a different dimension to the rest of his body. Frell, she was bored, how was she going to survive this journey. She craved excitement and this trip was going to take several more weekens before they even got to drop Rygel off, in his former domain. Frell, frell, frell, frell, frell, she was just about ready to scream!
Which is exactly what she did, but not from frustration. Chiana's body tensed as an energy wave passed through her. Oh frell, it was another vision! She thought that maybe they'd stopped; it had been a while since her last one. That was when the flash came and she was seeing something else: Crais, Crichton and Aeryn stood waiting for them in Talyn's docking bay. Then it faded. What dren was this? Crais and Talyn were dead, Crichton had been planning to plunge into the nearest Wormhole headed home and Aeryn was going off to be a soldier again!
"Chiana! Are you okay?" D'Argo was stood over Chiana, holding her shoulders, shaking her gently.
"Of course she isn't! She's gone fahrbot in this confined space. We need to find a place to land, so we can get some better food than we've picked up on our last two stops."
"What a surprise, Rygel. Thinking of your stomach. Chiana? What was it?"
"It was another one of my visions, D'Argo. But this time it seemed to be a flashback, there's no other way to make sense of what I saw. The only thing is, I don't ever recall being in that exact situation."
"And what exactly did you see?"
"Crais, on Talyn, with Aeryn and Crichton."
"I told you D'Argo, she's gone fahrbot. I'm going to check what the nearest planet is we can safely land on." Rygel floated over to the console to check the navigation display; as he did, something caught his eye, the sensor display. There was something on the long-range sensors, initial tracking information suggested it was heading for them. "D'Argo, I think you'd better take Chiana's place and look at this. I think we have company."
"Dren, can't get any info at this range. I don't want to let it get closer, but we can't tell what it is yet. I don't want to have to start making any detours; this journey is going to take enough time already. We'll have to wait until it gets into the standard sensor range and hope it's just a co-incidence."
"D'Argo, you should know, by now, it's never a co-incidence where we're concerned."
"Thank you, Rygel, but I am trying to live a life that doesn't assume that's always the case!"
"Whatever you wish, D'Argo, but I am finding a safe place to secure myself and my throne." With that, Rygel floated off into the rear of the Growler. With the space vacated, Chiana was able to clamber into the other seat in the cockpit; she debated with herself whether she should take the gloves off. Realising D'Argo couldn't do everything by himself, she reluctantly decided to keep them on.
"How long before we can get some info?"
"Too soon, they are definitely heading for us. I've made some slight course changes and they're compensating. I hate it when Rygel is right."
Chiana thought discretion was the best option and didn't reply. She leant forward and studied the sensor display; she really needed to learn to read this language as she couldn't really deduce anything from what she could see, other than that the craft was getting closer. As she watched the blip crossed a marker and more ancient Luxan script started appearing next to it, obviously the target had passed into range of the standard sensor. D'Argo studied the display after Chiana caught his attention, still not fluent with reading his ancient tongue he double checked what he was seeing. He glanced up at Chiana then looked back to the display.
"What?" asked Chiana.
"We're stopping, you take the controls and I'm handling the weapon system."
"It's that bad then?"
"I don't know, I'm just being prepared."
"I'm not sure I like the sound of this."
D'Argo pulled down the targeting scope and indicated that Chiana should take the yoke. He targeted the approaching craft in the scope, still not clearly visible, but bounded by a reticule in the view. As the microts ticked past the tension in the cockpit mounted. His eyes start hurting as he strains to stop himself from blinking, not wanting to miss getting the first clear look at the approaching craft. There it was. Surely he was seeing things? D'Argo checked that everything was operating correctly, yes, it all was.
"Chiana, are you sure that was a flashback you had?"
"I don't see what else it could be."
"Well, I suggest you look," D'Argo paused as he made sure he was pointing in the right direction, "just over there."
Chiana stared intently where D'Argo had pointed, eventually a speck appeared and grew rapidly in size. Chiana looked back and forth to D'Argo and the approaching craft, her mouth hanging slack. Eventually she realised how she must look and felt she had to ask if he saw the same as what she thought she was seeing.
"That's. That's Talyn?"
"It certainly looks like him and the sensors seem to confirm it. I just don't know how."
"It's Talyn! It's Talyn! Yi-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi-yah!" With that, Chiana leapt out of her seat, dashed up to the back of the Growler and jerked Rygel out of his hiding place. She held on to him tightly as she span and danced back up the length of the ship, all the time crying out, "Its Talyn!" She finally climbed back into her seat and sat Rygel down in her lap.
"Look Rygel! It's Talyn! He's alive!"
Rygel finally pulled his composure together again and remembered to sound indignant at his brusque treatment from Chiana. "Harumph! How dare you treat me that way! You're forgetting I am a Dominar to 6 billion subjects. As happy as I am to see that Talyn is still alive, you should remember to treat me with more reverence."
"Former Dominar, Ryg', former."
"Not for much longer, upon my return that will be quickly rectified. Hold on a microt."
"Yes Ryg'?" said Chiana knowingly.
"If Talyn is here, then that means there's a problem. If there's a problem, they're coming for you to help. If you help, I'm not getting back home! Frell! I knew the universe was going to plot against me! It could never go that smoothly, oh no!" Rygel hopped off Chiana's lap and waddled back up the craft to retrieve his throne sled.
"D'Argo! My main man! Are you there?" Was that Crichton? "D'Argo? You there, man? Come in, D'Argo!"
"Crichton?"
"That's the voice I was waiting to hear! Get that thing on board, we've got some catching up to do."
"I assume you have a good reason to interrupt me in my business, Crichton?"
"I'm kinda hoping you'll put it on hold, D'Argo. Something pretty urgent has come up and we need all of you. Come aboard and we'll tell you what's happened."
Sensing that revenge was going to be very cold by the time it happened, D'Argo manoeuvred into Talyn's awaiting docking bay. As the Growler touched down, the entrance was already open and there were Crais, Crichton and Aeryn waiting for them. "What was it you were saying earlier, Chiana?"
"OK, so it wasn't a flashback! Can you blame me for doubting what I saw? Anyway, let's get out there and find out what's going on."
The hatch on the Growler opened and they all piled out, Chiana especially in a rush to see her friends again. Chiana was all hugs, D'Argo was strong handshakes and Rygel was small waves. Then it was down to business, D'Argo was unwilling to go further into Talyn until he knew what was happening. It had to be something important for him to give up his quest.
Crichton began to explain what had happened; very quickly it became very obvious that they would help. Revenge could wait, a friend in need could not be deserted in their time of peril. Everyone went back on board the Growler to help unload all the personal gear, as they all walked into Talyn, Crichton and D'Argo held back.
"John, what happened?"
"I've already explained that to you, that's why you're coming with us."
"No, I mean you. When we last saw you, you were preparing to open a wormhole and return home to Erp. You'd accepted that Aeryn would never go home with you."
"I realised my mistake D'Argo, I was just going to Earth. Home is where the heart is and my heart is with Aeryn."
D'Argo slapped Crichton lightly on his back and then pulled him into the interior of Talyn. He wanted to get this over and done with as fast as possible.
* * * * *
"Let me get this straight, Crichton, you took the most wanted and feared technology in the universe and built it into Talyn? Talyn has not exactly been the most controlled of creatures recently, John. Sorry if I cause offence, Talyn, but even you know that it's true."
"Talyn's straightened out a lot since you last saw him, putting your life on the line does tend to do that a bit. Plus I've been bonded with him, not full control sort of thing, but we've been sharing memories and feelings. He's becoming a whole more rounded 'person'."
"Enough to be trusted with this?"
"Yes. I have to bond with him when we go through Wormholes, just to guide him and to feel how he responds, that tells me as much about someone as anything else. His sense of wonder has become his motivation; pretty soon he'll know how to do it instinctively and I won't have to bond with him. I'll miss that, but I promised Crais that I would only do it as long as necessary."
"Well it's already done; we can't undo it without destroying Talyn. I for one don't want to see that happen after what he did for us. Isn't it about time we got going?"
"Yep, I'm just heading off to the den. You had better get with the others in Command; it's the next safest place on this ship."
"What's the plan?"
"Gonna do like we did with the Pathfinders, travel through a series of wormholes in quick succession. Hopefully we can pick up some signals from Moya, or clues to what happened."
With that John and D'Argo split up. D'Argo proceeded to Command where everyone else was waiting. Aeryn walked up to him, "Thank you for doing this D'Argo, I know how much your mission meant to you, but this requires all of us. Moya protected us for so long, now we need to protect her."
"Good evening, Ladies and Gentleman. For tonight's entertainment we are proud to present the Wormhole Waltz! If you would like to take your places, the music will begin soon. Talyn are you ready to play?" At that moment a tune started to play throughout Talyn, only one person on board recognised it, The Blue Danube. "Thank you, Talyn! This bonding does have a certain advantage, perfect recall straight into a storage facility.
"OK, if you look to the front, pretty soon the fun will commence!"
"You'll enjoy this D'Argo, even under these circumstances. A controlled flight through a Wormhole is unlike anything else you have ever seen."
"Thanks Aeryn, I hope it is. The last time I was in a Wormhole left unpleasant memories for me." At that moment the blue/white spark appeared and then the Wormhole blossomed. It caused equal measures of fear and awe.
"Uh, I think we have a problem guys and gals."
"What is it, John?"
"I didn't create that Wormhole, Aeryn. We were just powering up the engines when it appeared. I think someone is extending us an invitation, do we accept it though?"
Cue Closing Credits