"You do see the inherent flaw in that approach, don't you?"
"No choice, Chiana. I either go after Scorpius or he comes after me. I'm tired of running," he told her as he put his long black leather coat on, and checked to make sure Winona was secure in his thigh holster.
Chiana glanced down at Winona and a sly smile flitted across her face. "I don't want you to go down to the commerce planet, Crichton."
"Why, Pip, did you see something happening? One of your visions?" he asked the Nebari.
"Yeah, I saw you get killed, Crichton. And I've got a bad feeling about this planet, and about your plan. Don't go, okay?" While she talked she had moved closer to him and quickly grabbed for his pulse pistol before he had a chance to realize her intention.
"Come on, Chiana, give it back!" he ordered, and he held his hand out, waiting for her to comply. She moved away from him and he lunged for his gun, but Chiana was lighter on her feet and quickly danced away.
"I know you won't go down there without your pulse pistol, so give it up Crichton, 'cause you aren't getting this back!" she taunted.
He sighed in exasperation and turned around to rummage in his few belongings. "No problem, Chiana. I've got another one and while I would prefer taking Winona, I'm still going down to the planet. You and I have talked about this. We have a saying on Earth, `A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do.' I think that pretty much covers it."
"Not to me," Chiana frowned. "I think that is the stupidest saying I've ever heard. Makes me want to keep you here all the more - you're not smart enough to beat Scorpius."
Crichton turned and gave her his complete attention. "You could be right, Chiana, but I still have to try. Look, I know you think I'm crazy to do this, and I guess D'Argo and Jool think so too, and I really don't care what Rygel thinks, but this is just something I have to do. And even if Crais and Aeryn hadn't volunteered to come with me, I'd still do it. I have to."
"So you won't change your mind?" Chiana asked him.
"Nope." He softened the word with a smile, and then turned back to get a spare clip for his pulse pistol.
"Then I guess it's up to me to stop you." With that comment she aimed his pulse pistol at his backside.
He had just enough time to turn around at the familiar whine, before she shot him in the left leg, just above his kneecap. Chiana watched in horror as he collapsed to the floor, a look of agony on his face, holding his leg and then yelling at her, "Damn it, Chiana, what the hell did you do that for? Damn it, that hurts!" he cried as he attempted to hold his leg and comm D'Argo at the same time. Blood spurted from between his fingers as he tried to put pressure on his wound. He realized he was losing feeling in his leg and he didn't have the strength to stop his own bleeding.
"Chiana, get over here and put pressure on this or I'm going to bleed to death and it's going to be your fault!" he ordered, then turned to yell into his comm, "D'Argo, I'm in my quarters and I've been shot. I need you to get me to the infirmary!"
D'Argo's crisp response came back, "Crichton, what the hezmana are you talking about? How did you get shot?"
"Look, D'Argo, just get here, I'll explain later." Crichton turned to Chiana, "Press harder, Chi, or I'm gonna lose too much blood. Press as hard as you can, right on the wound," he grunted from the pain even as he said this.
Chiana was quickly regretting her whole plan. Considering she had made it up on the spot, this wasn't a surprise. She could tell Crichton was in a lot of pain, and she knew she would be in deep dren as soon as the others came and he told them what she had done. She had no sooner had that thought then D'Argo ran into the cell and gave her a look of suspicion as he quickly knelt to lift Crichton in his arms as he would lift a child.
"Keep applying pressure, Chi, all the way to the infirmary, or I won't make it there," Crichton managed to tell her before the room tilted away from him and things went black.
* * *
"I can't believe you just shot him," Jool complained as she worked on Crichton's leg. He was unconscious and stripped down to his undershorts and tank top as he lay on the examining table. Jool had managed to stop the bleeding and was efficiently working to repair his artery and seal the wound - but that didn't stop her from feeling pretty angry at Chiana.
"I didn't just shoot him," Chiana yelled at her, "I tried to reason with him first, but he wouldn't listen."
Jool glanced meaningfully at Crichton's unconscious form, and then replied, "Yeah, well he's definitely not going to listen now! What were you thinking? He's a human, Chiana, you can't just shoot him and expect him to survive. He's deficient. It's amazing he's survived as long as he has with all his physical deficits. Don't ever do this again, and I am not kidding," she hissed at Chiana.
"Yeah, well, I didn't see you coming up with a better idea, and don't tell me you want him to track down Scorpius. I know you feel the same way about this whole plan of his," Chiana shot back at Jool.
"Yeah, I do, but I'm not going to try to kill him to stop him from getting killed. You do see the inherent flaw in that approach, don't you?" Jool asked sarcastically. D'Argo had had enough of this conversation. "You both need to stop arguing and just take care of Crichton. Aeryn and Crais have already gone down to the commerce planet - they'll get the information Crichton needs and come back in a few arns. In the meantime, I would rather listen to two rifgens mating then hear any more from you two."
Jool and Chiana glared at each other but managed not to say anything more. Jool was about to wrap Crichton's wound when Pilot's worried voice informed them that a Scarren dreadnaught had just entered the system and was nearing the planet. Crichton groaned and opened his eyes, just as Pilot displayed the visual of the dreadnaught. "Hell, that's big. Do you think it's a coincidence, or are they after Talyn?" he asked.
"I don't know," replied D'Argo. "Pilot, inform Crais and Aeryn that we are starbursting out of here. Tell them to get aboard Talyn and we'll meet up later as planned," D'Argo ordered. Pilot assented, and D'Argo and Jool reached out to hold Crichton on the exam table as Moya began her familiar defense procedure.
* * *
After two solar days of bed rest, Crichton was about to climb the walls. Chiana was at his beck and call the entire time - she had told him she would make up for shooting him, but he decided to forego calling her and hobble down to get his own breakfast. D'Argo had fashioned him a cane that he now reached for. Chiana's timing couldn't have been worse - they were due planet side in just a few days, and he really hadn't planned on hobbling around while they tried to purchase weapons.
The crew had figured if they split up they could get twice as much accomplished, but they hadn't counted on doing that quite so soon. The dreadnaught had definitely changed their plans. The information Crichton had about their current destination, Desnia, was that they could find some high-tech weapons there that they would find nowhere else. That sounded intriguing. He definitely wanted some weapons that would give them an unexpected edge. Now he reckoned he would not be able to pull off much of an intimidating image - definitely not with a cane and a limp. He briefly entertained the idea of letting D'Argo go down without him, but he wasn't sure what kind of weapons he wanted - and he knew he would have to rely on his gut instincts to make his choices. And this was, after all, his mission. D'Argo had already declined to join him, so he didn't feel that he could just assign this task to him, all things considered. As he made his way to Moya's mess, he fretted once again about Aeryn being alone with Crais aboard Talyn.
He admitted to himself that more than anything else he was angry with Chiana for causing him to be apart from Aeryn. Again. At least, before, he had known he could count on his twin to watch over her. And that had gone to hezmana in a handbasket. He didn't want to be reminded of his twin's death. He quickly grabbed some food cubes and sat down.
Rygel was looking at him from across the table. No doubt his royal highness would finish eating whatever Crichton left behind. Rygel knew the human well enough to know he would be off his feed. He looked down at his plate and decided to force himself to eat every food cube - not only because he ought to keep his strength up, but also for the added bonus of disappointing the little green eating machine. He smiled - Rygel could always be counted on to have a ravenous appetite. In that, at least, he was completely reliable.
Chiana walked in just as he had that thought. "I could have brought those to you, Crichton," she scolded.
He looked up and smiled at her, "Not this time, Chi, I'm back to doing for myself. Thanks, though, you've been a real help to me these last few days."
Chiana grinned at him as she sat down to eat. "No visions this time, right?" Crichton teased her.
"Hey, I really did see you get killed, okay?" she frowned at him.
"Yeah, let's talk about that a little," he told her seriously. "How did you see me die?" She looked up at him, and then down at her plate again.
"I saw you get shot," she muttered.
"Yeah? Well, I don't suppose you noticed, but I did get shot," he looked at her meaningfully.
"Yeah, I know. I figured that part out," she fidgeted with her food, and then looked up at him. "I didn't see anything else but you being shot - so obviously it happened on Moya and I just didn't realize. I was trying to keep you safe," she finished with some heat.
"Well, I appreciate that, Chiana, but your track record isn't that great so far. From now on, maybe you just need to let us know exactly what you see, and we'll try to make our own decisions based on your information. I'm beginning to wonder, though, if we can change anything. Every time you have a vision it happens, one way or another." They both looked at each other as they pondered that line of thought.
"All right," she agreed, "Next time I see anything I'll try to talk to everyone about it. But that'll work only if there's time - and I have no idea after I have these visions when they're gonna become reality."
"Well, I figure that's the best we can do, Chi. We live with danger on and off Moya, and if your visions give us an edge, that's great, and if they don't, well, then we have to live with that too." She nodded at him and went back to her food, feeling a little better now that they had finally talked about it. She could tell Crichton wasn't angry with her any more - that definitely made her feel better. Jool and D'Argo had gone around for the last three solar days giving her looks - as though they thought she had gone completely fahrbot. It wasn't her fault she had this ability - she certainly didn't ask for it, and she was still trying to figure it out. She found herself secretly hoping that at some point she would save one of their lives - maybe all of them - and that would show them that she really did know what she was doing.