Five Arns

Summary: This is an account written by Lieutenant Ilana Scholl as she prepares to leave Scorpius' command carrier. She has a five-arn break and sets about writing the thoughts she had suppressed knowing that if she was found she would be executed. Set between Incubator and Into the Lion's Den.

Rating PG (occasional swearing.)

Disclaimer: I don't own Farscape or hold any rights to it, I just used the characters for my own creativity and plus I am not smart enough to think of any better ones.

Feedback always appreciated.

Another pilot was murdered today by Scorpius' insane attempts to unlock the secrets of wormholes! Officer Jared Freden twenty-one cycles old, barely starting what could have been a distinguished career. What I am writing is insubordination, I know, I know I could get into a lot of trouble if this is ever found, but it won't be for the simple reason that I am going to destroy this journal once I have left.

The past cycle and a half have been horrendous. We lost one and a half cycles ago the best Captain I have ever served under, Bialar Crais. For the last cycle of his captaincy he became consumed though with vengeance against one man, John Crichton. Some of my fellow officers questioned him but I never did! For I know what it is like to have your brother murdered because mine was; murdered by the Scarrans, tortured, mutilated, dispersed, leaving me with nothing of my brother. Oh I had a few of his possessions that were dumped in my room by that insidious little worm Braca.

What really hurt me though was that Crais defected and joined with Crichton, the man who murdered his brother! I'm not saying that Crichton is anything like the Scarrans, he's not, but he still took away the most precious thing to Crais. Crais is now the Commander of Talyn, the leviathan hybrid. That must be magnificent, I know how long he studied trying to make such an entity. I cannot despise him for the simple reason he was good to me when Keeven, my brother, was murdered and I must repay the kindness.

Lieutenant Miklo Braca, officer of the fleet, blah, blah, blah and the rest of the frelling dren he spouts when someone more senior than he is asks what his name is. He is possibly the worst officer on this ship apart from Scorpius. He is so far up Scorpius' arse that he is a walking, talking enema. The puppet controlled by Scorpius, salivating at the prospect of serving his master. I am loyal to my senior officers, I do not question them without cause, but there is a limit to your loyalty. You cannot serve a Captain that is irrational and who is putting the lives of your fellow officers at risk. That is why I took advantage of this transfer, I need to get off this Command Carrier before I am forced before I am forced to take matters into my own hands.

I am going to the Luxan Territories to help with the fledging defence pact. I was especially asked for by Commandant Mele-On Grayza after she was impressed by my work on the Royal Planet. I am to be promoted to Commander and I will be seeking to integrate my skills as a diplomat with my abilities as a soldier. Commander Ilana Scholl has a certain ring to it but it is not something I am obsessed with. The plain truth is that I would rather work with barbarous, ill-educated Luxans then work under Scorpius.

We Peacekeepers are pure bloods, we adhere to stringent policies over the purity of our race and yet I have had to serve under a hybrid! It smacks of hypocrisy, it is only because he is half Scarran and High Command believe that he will be able to supply information about Scarran weapons, tactics and plans that he is not dead! All Scarrans are the same though; they are all murderous savages, and they all are torturers who thrive on the pain they inflict. Scorpius is a Scarran you can tell his heritage because it was him who developed the Aurora Chair; I have seen officers in that chair and their sickening screams as their brains are torn apart are enough to make even the most resilient Peacekeeper sick! I think though that Scorpius could be a spy for the simple reason that what the Scarrans must have taught him before he defected to the Peacekeepers must still have a baring on him. Who is to say that he won't give this precious information to the Scarrans, if he did it would destroy the Peacekeepers; we could not fight against wormholes!

I feel though for the people I leave behind, those with similar views especially. We are not a minority, most sixty, seventy percent of the crew have similar views to me, some even have views that are more radical than mine; there are whispers of mutiny but I doubt anything will happen, people are too frightened of Scorpius' infamous temper. That temper is like a volcano, unpredictable, uncontrollable, and unreasonable.

What do I think about Commander Crichton, well I think that he is a murderer, after all there were many innocents on the Gammack base he destroyed, for all that though I think he deserves to succeed even if it to defeat Scorpius. The others on the ship, the Hynerian, the Luxan and the former Peacekeeper Aeryn Sun do not deserve their liberty, they are all criminals and should be treated accordingly. If it was up to me I would kill Crichton so that the supposed knowledge that is in his head could not be used by anyone, us, the Scarrans, the Nebari. That knowledge could destroy us even if we had it! Do not be fooled, we all have our own agenda's and all of us desire power. Wormhole technology is a weapon I would not give to no one, especially Scorpius.

Well I have four arns left a five-arn break I have never heard of anything so absurd. I am wondering whether it is an elaborate ruse by Scorpius so that he knows where I am, after all I have challenged him once or twice, never enough to get me arrested on a charge of insubordination, I am not that direct, but perhaps enough to raise his suspicions.

So this is it, my last few arns on this septic ship. I have a few friends to say goodbye too and a few little clerical things to do but this time tomorrow I will be approaching the Luxan territories and with that my chance of a new life away from my enemies. I just hope that the crew can find it in themselves to wait until Scorpius is humiliated by High Command and relieved of duty. It is coming I can feel it but I fear others are not as patient as I am.