A Light Before the Dark 3 Aeryn Flux, a farscape fanfic

A Light 3 – Aeryn Flux

Rating: PG-13 for bits of gore & rough language

Setting: Soon after Chiana arrives – just before "Through the Looking Glass"

Disclaimer: Farscape belongs to other people. I'm doing this for fun, not profit.

Notes:This story was originally going to include Durka, but "Liars, Guns & Money" put an end to that plotline. Serves me right for not writing this up sooner. The basic idea for this story first came to me over a year ago. I'd given up ever actually writing it, but then this opportunity presented itself. The title, of course, is a play on the name of my other favorite brunette mayhem machine, Æon Flux.

If you haven't read "A Light 2 – Girl Talk" you're going to have trouble following this story, at least at first.

Feedback: Yes, please! Do I have to beg?

Do not repost this story to the Internet without my written permission.

Under blue moon I saw you
So soon you will take me
Up in your arms, too late to beg you
Or cancel it, though I know it must be
The killing time

Unwillingly mine.

- Echo & the Bunnymen - "The Killing Moon"

Aeryn's body collapsed in a heap at Lord Dewi's feet.

"You didn't have to do that!" Riit shouted at him as he struggled against the pair restraining him.

"Is she dead?" Dewi coolly asked one of his henchmen.

The Fotok bent over Aeryn and felt for any signs of life.

"Yes, Lord. The Peacekeeper is quite dead."

"Good," Dewi responded as he motioned for his men to release Riit. "You are free to leave," he added. "Go and find your Nebari whore before her people do." He kicked Aeryn's body. "And take your trash with you."

Riit gathered Aeryn into his arms and hurried out of the bunker. He laid her out on the ground just outside the entrance and began to run six of his hands over her body, searching.

He noticed a gray blur come around a corner and then, suddenly, in a cloud of dust, Chiana was standing in front of him.

"What happened?" she asked breathlessly as she looked down at Aeryn. The Sebacean's ashen color told her the answer. "Why?"

"Dewi thought she was a Peacekeeper spy," Riit answered.

"We've got to get her to Moya!"

"There isn't time! Now, let me concentrate!"

Chiana watched in growing panic and puzzlement as Riit's hands continued to play over Aeryn's prone form.

"What are you doing?" she finally asked.

"All Fotok who travel among infidels are taught how to kill with their Garments. Only a few of us know how to reverse the process, or even know it can be done."

"Can you?"

"Yes, if I can find the right points on her body in time. Dewi gave her a shock to stop her heart. Starting it again is a more precise task."

Riit splayed out several of his Garment-covered hands around Aeryn's head and chest. "Here we go…"

Aeryn's body shuddered.

"Did it work?" asked Chiana hopefully.

"No. She is still not breathing. We may be too late."

"Keep trying!"

Again Aeryn's body jumped to no effect.

"I will try increasing the power."

The result was no different. Riit began to rise.

"You can't give up!" Chiana implored him, tugging at his sleeve to pull him back down to Aeryn.

"Any more power would in itself be fatal."

"You have to try! You're no healer; you could be wrong!"

"Very well…" Riit agreed as he again bent over Aeryn. "This would kill either of us," he added.

Aeryn convulsed violently… and then coughed.

"You did it!" Chiana shouted as the former Peacekeeper drew in a gasping breath.

Aeryn looked up with a dazed look on her pallid face. "What the frell happened?" she managed. "Dewi… he…" Her expression changed to one of rage. "Get off me!" she shouted as she pushed Riit back and jumped to her feet only to immediately collapse again.

"I don't think you should have tried to get up so quickly," Riit playfully chided her. "You are still oxygen starved. I'm surprised you're even conscious. Your body must have some means of shielding your brain from such deprivations. If you would like, I can carry you to the landing pads."

"No thank you. I can make it on my own," Aeryn answered as she tried and failed to get up.

"Let him take you, Aeryn," Chiana said, as she bent down next to her shipmate. "I can hide here in the bunker while Riit takes you back. You can rest in the pod when D'Argo and Crichton get here. You'll be safe there."

"Will they let you stay in the bunker?" Aeryn asked in disbelief.

"If they have any honor at all, they must," Riit told her.

"And it's a good place to hide," Chiana added. "I doubt they'll want the Nebari nosing around in their little lair. And if they don't let me stay, I'll head out of town in the direction we went during the attack. That'll take me in the opposite direction they'll be coming from."

"How will we find you?" Aeryn asked.

"Riit will be able to track me down. Won't you?"

"In these conditions I should have no trouble. And we can always contact you via your comm link if we need help."

"Alright then, it's settled."

"Wait a frelling microt!" Aeryn complained. "I haven't agreed to any… Riit! Put me down this instant!"

"See ya," Chiana said with her customary short laugh and head tilt as she headed down into the bunker.

"What is that?" John asked D'Argo as they descended the transport pod stairs. "It looks like a cross between the Grim Reaper and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar."

"That," the Luxan answered with distaste, as he noted the tall black form moving across the landing pads towards them, "Is a Fotok."

As the Fotok approached John noticed that he couldn't really focus on the creature. The outlines of it's clothing seemed oddly blurred.

"Why can't I see it clearly?"

"That shroud must have some sort of defensive shielding built into it."

The Fotok came to a stop. "You are from the Leviathan Moya?" came the metallic voice.

"Yes," John answered. "I'm John Crichton and this is Ka D'Argo. Were you sent…"

"Where are Chiana and Aeryn?" D'Argo demanded impatiently.

"Chiana was with me," Hamarr answered evenly, as she shut down her Garment's shielding. "But then she decided to run back to our local Lord's bunker. I assume they are both still there."

"Why didn't she just come here with you?" John asked.

"We did not know who would arrive here first – you or the Nebari. Chiana therefore thought it best that she find somewhere to hide. Since her pursuers will not be interested in me, I came ahead to fetch you."

"Have you seen any other Nebari?" D'Argo inquired.

"No. They have not arrived yet, but I expect they will be here soon. We must hurry. They will be landing right where we now stand."

"That's going to make getting past them and outta here… difficult," John observed.

"All the more reason to make haste; you may be able to get away before they arrive," Hamarr concluded. "This way," she added as she turned and started back into the town.

They had only gone a few steps when another Fotok emerged from between buildings.

"That Fotok," John said as he pointed. "It's carrying Aeryn!"

D'Argo and John ran to Riit, who was having increasing difficulty with his burden.

"I'm not frelling telling you again - put me down!" they could hear Aeryn demanding as they came up to Riit.

"She seems alright," D'Argo observed wryly.

"I am alright!" Aeryn asserted. "But Riit refuses to let go of me!"

"I told you I would carry you until we got to the landing pads, and here we are. Are you sure you can stand on your own now?"

"Yes. Perfectly."

"Why were you unable to walk?" D'Argo asked as Riit set Aeryn down.

"It's a long story," Aeryn answered as she started off purposefully towards the transport pod. "I hope you brought some more weapons."

"We brought your usual arsenal," John responded as he started after her. "But if Salis was any indication, I don't think we'll need serious firepower against the Nebari anyway."

"I'm not interested in the Nebari," Aeryn said flatly.

John gave her a questioning look.

"I have a little score to settle."

Shaking his head, John walked back to D'Argo and the Fotok to wait for Aeryn to reemerge.

"Loaded for bear, as always," he remarked to himself as she came out with her pulse cannon on her hip, a pulse rifle slung over each shoulder and a pistol strapped to each thigh.

"Where are you going?" Hamarr asked her as she strode right past their small group.

"I'm going to get Chiana," Aeryn shot back. "I'll cover her if there's any trouble."

"Do you need all those weapons?"

Aeryn ignored the question and headed off into the town.

"You know Peacekeepers," John then remarked to the Fotok. "It's always 'peace through superior firepower' with them."

"Look," D'Argo said, pointing into the sky. "Here come the Nebari." He turned to John. "We need a plan," he said gravely.

"And I think I've got one."

"This will never work," D'Argo complained.

"Just shut up and look mean and nasty," John implored. "That should be easy for you."

"For a warrior, bluffing is not honorable."

"It worked well enough on those Sheyangs when we found the Zelbinion, didn't it? Just play along - or do you want to end up mind frelled into a zombie like Durka was? And remember what Pilot said that ship could do to Moya."

"You have a point," the Luxan growled.

The two of them moved to flank Riit and Hamarr as the three Nebari shuttles came in for a landing. The quartet watched as four Nebari emerged along with two other creatures.

"Blood Trackers," D'Argo observed.

"Great, just great," John replied. "Just stick to the plan. They don't know anything more than the Nebari do."

"Are you the Fotok who contacted us?" one of the Nebari asked.

"Yes," Riit answered.

"Where is Chiana?" another one asked.

"She is no longer here," Riit responded. "She left with her companions on their ship last night. I'm sure that by now they must be well out of this system."

The Nebari exchanged glances. "And just why did you let her go?" one asked.

"We knew of no reason for keeping her here. Is she in some sort of peril that you are so eager to gather her back to your flock?"

"She is a very dangerous and mentally unbalanced criminal."

"Did you make our Lord aware of this?"

"Yes, we did."

"Then it is no wonder that he let her go," Hamarr said to the Nebari's surprise. "It was barely tolerable that we were honor bound to shelter her in the first place. To have to mingle with infidels is bad enough, but criminals…"

"We are sorry to have brought you all this way for nothing," Riit added.

The Nebari again all looked at each other.

"These four have all had recent contact with a Nebari female," one of the Blood Trackers announced as it sniffed the air. "This one in particular," it added, pointing at Riit.

"Did we ever deny we had been around this 'Chiana' that you seek?" Hamarr asked.

"No, no, you hadn't," the Tracker answered, nonplused. "But the scent - it is very strong."

"Being stuck together in a bunker for a couple of days will do that," John added aggressively.

"And just what is your part in this, Sebacean?" asked one of the Nebari suspiciously.

"As we deal in weapons, we find it useful to have some 'muscle' of our own," Riit told them. "We, of course, refuse to sully ourselves in such matters."

"A Sebacean and a Luxan working together? That must have taken some doing."

"We are well compensated for our troubles," D'Argo responded. "And our coworkers."

"This one is not Sebacean," said one of the Nebari, who was holding some sort of device. "The readings are too different."

"That explains the oddness of his scent," the Tracker observed.

"It's true," John answered. "I'm not Sebacean. Big deal."

"Just where are you from?" asked the Nebari with the device. "We are familiar with all of the races in this part of the galaxy."

"Then, obviously, I'm not from this part of the galaxy, am I? When people call me Sebacean I usually let it pass so I don't have to put up with silly questions like yours. My friends here have learned to do the same. Now, can we get back to business?"

"Is the scanner picking up any signs of Chiana?" asked the Nebari who now appeared to be the one in charge.

"No, but its range is too limited to cover the entire city or find her if she is underground."

"Then we will have to search for her."

"What part of 'she is no longer here' did you fail to understand?" asked D'Argo pointedly. "Searching for her would be a waste of your time."

"We must be certain. That should be no concern of yours," the Nebari leader said evenly.

"Ah, but it is," Riit interjected sharply. "You doubt our word. You suggest we lie. The Chosen do not usually tolerate such behavior from infidels like you."

The outlines of Riit's Garment suddenly became blurred as he activated its shielding. Hamarr did the same. D'Argo took this as a cue to level his Qualta blade at the Nebari and John followed suit with his pulse rifle.

"If you wish to remain in the good graces of the Fotok here, you will leave," Riit announced gravely. "Now!"

"You do not dare challenge us," the lead Nebari responded coolly.

"Are you really so ignorant of how the Chosen treat those who cross them?" asked Riit icily.

"We should cleanse the entire Fotok population here," one of the Nebari observed.

"That is not an idle threat," said the head Nebari.

"Yes, we all know of the might of the Nebari," Riit answered. "But consider how many Nebari lives such a course of action would cost. And all for the sake of finding a girl who is not here."

The Nebari all looked at one another again.

"Now leave before you do something else to offend us," Riit added with finality.

To John and D'Argo's surprise the Nebari began to leave.

"We are sorry for doubting you," the Nebari leader said. "We all know of the honorable nature of your people, and want nothing but cordial relations with you."

"And we understand your eagerness to complete your task," said Hamarr. "Good luck in tracking down your quarry."

"Well, that was easy," D'Argo said sarcastically as the Nebari ships departed.

"Hey, I told you it would work," John told him. "No problemo."

D'Argo growled at him.

"Just why did they back down so quickly?" John asked the Fotok.

"Our kind are known for being easily offended by, and ruthless towards, other species," Riit told him.

"It is a reputation we earned long ago and find useful to this day," Hamarr added.

"Yeah, I see how that could come in handy," John replied. He turned to D'Argo. "We should find Chiana and Aeryn get the hell out of here."

"The two of you should go with Hamarr to the bunker," Riit suggested. "I will stay here in case they return on their own, or in case the Nebari do."

"Cool. It's a plan. Let's go, D'Argo."

The trio arrived to find Chiana crouching next to the blasted entrance to the bunker, out of which a small trail of smoke was rising.

"What is that?" John asked with a wrinkle of his nose as they got closer.

It's like rancid North Carolina barbecue, he thought to himself.

Suddenly Hamarr stopped dead in her tracks. "That smell! It's…"

D'Argo was about to ask Hamarr to finish her thought when it became clear to them that Chiana was crying.

"Are you alright?" he asked as he bent over her small form.

"Yeah," she sniffed, her face streaked by the trails of her black tears. "I'm not hurt or anything. But Aeryn…"

"But Aeryn what?" John asked with alarm.

"She came into the bunker. There was shooting – lots of shooting. I ran up here."

"So where is she?"

"She hasn't come back out."

John immediately hurried through the blown out door into the bunker.

"John! Wait!" D'Argo called after him. "It might be a trap!" He turned to Hamarr. "You must come with me, to talk to your people."

"I don't think that will be necessary," Hamarr said weakly. She began to back away. "Excuse me. I think I'm going to be ill."

D'Argo growled and started after Crichton.

He quickly arrived in the common area at the end of the entryway to find John standing in the middle of the room with a horrified look on his face. He scanned the room looking for Aeryn. All he saw, however, were the smoldering cloaked bodies of a number of Fotok and some charred furniture.

"She… she must have done this," John said as he fought to keep himself composed.

"This sort of butchery could only have come from her using her pulse cannon on them," D'Argo informed him as he noted the bits of flesh and splashes of pale green blood all over the walls and floor.

"But what about the shielding in their cloaks?"

"Obviously it wasn't powerful enough."

They then heard someone coming down a hallway towards them.

"Spread out," D'Argo whispered to John. "We don't know who or what that is."

A moment later Aeryn strode calmly into the room, her cannon still on her hip. "Sorry about the mess," she said in faux apology.

D'Argo and John both lowered their weapons. "I am glad to see you are unhurt," the Luxan told her.

"What did you do here?" John asked in growing agitation.

"I killed them," Aeryn said flatly. "I killed them all."

"How… how many?"

"At least fifteen. Maybe twenty."

"Holy shit, Aeryn! Twenty?!"

"Did you deal with the Nebari?"

"What?" John asked in astonishment at Aeryn's lack of emotion or even concern about the scene around her.

"Yeah, yeah, they're gone," he managed.

"Good, because there's a lot of material here we could use. I'll need you two to help me carry as much of it back as possible."

"What sort of material?" D'Argo asked.

"Weapons mostly. Crichton, why don't you look around and see if you can find where they kept their food."

John blanched at the thought of food, but soon composed himself somewhat again.

"Just, just tell me one thing, Aeryn – why?" he implored.

"They killed me."

John and D'Argo looked at each other in bewilderment as Aeryn headed out of the room.

"This way," she told them.

After giving Riit and Hamarr the obligatory tour of Moya before they returned to their trader, John headed for the galley, only to find Aeryn there eating some of the food they'd brought back from the planet.

Not who I wanted to see just now, he thought.

"Hey," he said, as he moved around the perimeter of the room so as to avoid contact as much as possible.

"Hey," Aeryn responded between bites. "You should try this, Crichton, before Rygel gets hold of it."

John made a non-committal noise and started out of the room, but, before he could leave, Aeryn sprang up and grabbed his arm.

"John, is there something wrong?"

"You might say that," he said as he tried and failed to pull away.

"Then talk to me about it."

"No. I don't feel like it."

"You never let me get away with saying that when you want me to talk."

John sighed. "You're right. But, I really think I need some time to think before I say anything to you about today."

"And why is that?"

"I… I thought I knew you, Aeryn."

John pulled himself forcefully from her grip.

"I thought Officer Sun was gone, but now I'm not so sure." He looked her squarely in the eye. "And I don't think Officer Sun is someone I want to be around very much," he added and then walked purposefully out of the room.

Aeryn stormed back to her quarters.

That presumptive frelling primitive… Why I put up with… Sometimes I just want to space…

Upon arrival she threw herself onto her bunk and stared up at the ceiling as if she were trying to bore a hole in it. Eventually a noise from the doorway drew her attention. She jumped to her feet.

"Riit… Um…"

"Am I disturbing you?"

That voice…

Aeryn shook her head to clear it.

"I sense you are upset. Forgive my intrusion. I will come back later."

"No, wait. Don't leave. I wanted to talk to you."

Riit tilted his head questioningly at her.

"I… I wanted to thank you. You saved my life down there today."

"My kind had done you the ultimate injury. I am glad that I was able to undo it."

"You're still glad even after what I did?"

"Yes, even after what you did. They were a dishonorable band of thieves and dealers in death. No one will mourn their passing, and, in our society, that is just about the worst thing you could say about anyone."

Aeryn shook her head again. "I don't understand you. They were your own people. How can you forgive me so easily?"

"Do you need to be forgiven?"

"By you, yes. I owe you a great debt. I don't want to add to it, as I can never repay you as it is."

"You've saved Chiana from a horrible fate more than once. At the very least I consider us even."

Aeryn's eyes began to fill with tears. "Thank you."

Riit brought a Garment-clad hand to her cheek. Aeryn marveled at the profound feeling of warm comfort and sympathy the touch gave her.

"I never thought I'd ever see a Peacekeeper cry."

"I'm not a Peacekeeper any more."

"Indeed, a Peacekeeper would not have thought twice, nor felt any misgivings, about what you did today."

"And a Peacekeeper would never have bothered to help a member of another race, either."

"Is that what is really troubling you? From what Chiana tells me, she is not alone among the various other species you've helped since you came aboard Moya. You have come a long way in such a short time. You should feel very proud of yourself."

"Proud of myself?" Aeryn asked in disbelief as she turned away from Riit. "I feel only shame – shame that I ever felt that way at all! What you did for me today threw that into the starkest relief possible."

"We all have things in our past we regret. You didn't choose to be a Peacekeeper, did you?"

"No, I was born on a command carrier. It was all I'd ever known."

"Then be thankful that, unlike the rest of your former comrades, you have come out of the darkness and into the light."

Aeryn turned back to Riit. "Your words are very kind." She smiled. "I think I'm beginning to understand what Chiana sees in you."

"And I see what she sees in you, as well."

Riit turned to leave.

"Don't go yet," Aeryn asked.

"Is there something more you wished of me?"

"Could I see you?"

With Riit off talking to Aeryn, Hamarr went in search of Chiana, finally finding her on a remote tier in the far rear of Moya.

"It is fortunate that Nebari are so easy to track, otherwise I might never have found you back here," she said as she came upon Chiana.

"After what happened, I just wanted to be alone for a while."

"I can understand that. I would imagine that few Nebari have seen the sort of violence you saw today."

"They were kind to us. How could they have turned on Aeryn so completely?"

"Their generosity only extended as far as their money purses would allow. They saw Aeryn as a threat and acted accordingly, though rashly and foolishly."

"I did warn them."

"Did you, indeed?"

"Yeah, but at the time I thought it was a load of dren. I didn't think that she was capable of what she did. She killed them all without getting so much as a scratch."

"Peacekeepers are usually very proficient. That is why their services are in such demand."

"So, why did you want to find me?"

"A transport from our ship will be arriving shortly with the goods Aeryn purchased and the foodstuffs Riit promised you. I wanted to know if you would like to come back with us for a short visit."

"I would like to see Sussen, Victan and the others, but I don't think it's a good idea."

"Why is that?"

"It's hard being around Riit. The trip up here in the pod made my skin crawl."

"The craving is still strong?"

"It's been strong all along. I was finally beginning to think I was getting better when we arrived at this trash heap of a planet. Seeing him again – being with him again – has just made it all worse."

"I would imagine that being around any of the Chosen at all is difficult for you."

"Frelling right it is. All part of me wants to do is come back to you. I would never have gone into that bunker in the first place if there weren't people all around shooting at each other."

"If it is any consolation, I believe that Riit feels even worse about the situation than you do."

"I know. It breaks my heart to be causing him pain."

"He is strong. He will be alright, just as you will be."

Chiana nodded.

"Now come with me. At least you can say hello to the crew coming over in the transport."

Immediately after everyone had seen off the Fotok, Aeryn arrived in Command to find Chiana watching their ship recede as Moya broke orbit.

"I thought I'd find you here," she told the young Nebari.

Chiana looked at Aeryn warily. "Yeah, I just wanted to get one last look."

"So did I."

Chiana flinched slightly as Aeryn came up next to her.

"It's alright, Chiana. You don't have to be frightened of me."

"Isn't that what you Peacekeepers want? For everyone to be afraid of you?"

"It may be what Peacekeepers want, but it's not what I want."

"Could have fooled me. I think everyone but D'Argo is scared to death of you."

"He's a warrior, so he's the only one who really understands why I did what I did."

"Oh, I understand just fine. I just can't believe it. You really are a killing machine."

"Of course I am. I was trained my entire life to be one."

Chiana was struck by the matter-of-factness of Aeryn's self-evaluation.

"It's just not something I've had any real experience with before," she said quietly. "There aren't any Nebari like you. We don't have soldiers. We don't…"

"You don't kill."

"No."

"You just take away a person's mind and reprogram the shell that's left."

"That's better, isn't it?"

"I don't know. I would imagine that Durka would say he'd rather have died than stayed 'cleansed'." Aeryn looked Chiana in the eyes. "I seem to recall you saying much the same thing as well."

"Yeah, I guess I did."

Aeryn turned back to the viewscreen. The Fotok ship was long gone.

"He showed himself to me."

"He did?"

"Yes. I don't know why they hide themselves. They're not particularly unusual for beings from a moderately low gravity world."

"Clinical as usual. But then soldiers can't let emotions cloud their evaluations, can they?"

"Oh, I don't know. Not long ago I'd have added how grotesque and obviously inferior to Sebaceans they are. When everyone is a potential enemy it helps to automatically judge them to be your lesser."

"I suppose that makes killing them easier," observed Chiana with distaste.

"That's right," Aeryn answered to Chiana's surprise. "I didn't realize that until recently. All my training about other species was geared to making it easier for me to be emotionally detached when I had to kill them. It was all part of the Peacekeepers' objective of keeping us from feeling our natural empathy for others."

"Was it really that bad?"

"Yes. When I first got here Crichton had to explain to me what the word 'compassion' meant. I told him I hated the feeling."

"Do you still?"

"No. What's happened here on Moya has shown me that other life forms are not worthless or inferior." Aeryn smiled. "I'm almost to the point where I could call Riit beautiful."

"I got there a long time ago."

"You'll miss him, won't you?"

"Of course."

Aeryn began heading out of Command. "Maybe someday I'll learn what it's like to miss someone or be missed."

Oh, I bet you already have a pretty good idea, Chiana thought as she bit her lip to keep from saying so aloud.

Aeryn was in the exercise area pounding on some equipment when John tracked her down.

"Hey," he said to her.

"What do you want?" she shot back.

"I just wanted to talk."

"I'm tired of talking, Crichton. I'm through explaining myself to all of you. I did what I did, now just let it go. Besides, I thought you didn't want to be around me anymore."

"That feeling's passed," he said with a slight smile. "I realize now that I might have done the same thing in your place."

"I know what wanting revenge is like," he added as he remembered how he had waited years to wreck a motorcycle to get back at someone who'd wronged him. "And, after what they did to you, I guess they got what they deserved."

Aeryn came over to him, put a hand on his shoulder and asked, "Do you really mean that?"

"Yeah, I think I do."

Aeryn suddenly realized that John's understanding was the only one she really cared about having.

"So," John continued. "Did you see anything?"

"When?"

"You know – when you were dead."

"No. It was like when we were caught in the Flax and you didn't see anything. It was just blackness."

"Well, now that's really depressing," John observed with a grin.

"Maybe it's like you said then - that it wasn't my time yet, or maybe my body hadn't really started to die."

"Or maybe you Sebaceans are right and there is nothing after death."

"That is depressing," Aeryn said with a smile.

"But there is some good news – Chiana's whipping up a feast with all that food we got from the Fotok trader."

"Can she cook?"

"Riit told me she was the cook's assistant on their ship. Besides, however it turns out it's gotta be better than food cubes."

"A thief and a chef – who would have thought."

"I know, so we better get up there before Rygel eats it all."

"Good idea."

"And speaking of Sparky, while you were stuck down on the planet, he was talking about trading Moya in for a faster ship. That was brought on by Pilot's saying that we probably can't starburst anymore because of Moya's pregnancy. And, to top it all off, D'Argo's been grousing about leaving too."

"Sounds like we'll have a wonderful time at dinner, then."

"Yep. One big, happy family - just like always."