Title: Same Difference
Author: Marcel Bestebroer
Spoilers: Assuming you've seen the series and the mini, none.
Beta: Chaz
Rating: K
Disclaimer: Not mine and I make no money with this.
Notes: I really have to many old fics lying around.
Patiently she waited until someone would come near her. At some point they would, she was sure of it. There was no progress so far and soon they'd take her away. To pass the time, she went over the events in her head.
She heard her commanding officer order something, but most of it came through as static. That was probably caused by the blue phenomenon in her path. Whatever she tried, nothing seemed to work. That blue phenomenon was clearly pulling her towards it.
Eventually she was inside the phenomenon and before she could blink she was out again, near an unknown planet. Moments later she collided with an old archaic ship. The collision completely destroyed the small vessel and its occupant. Her ship was still in good shape, but she still had to find a landing place and try to make some minor repairs. The planet's sole moon was no option, so she set course for the planet.
In hindsight, it would have been a good idea to scan for life first and choose an out-of-the-way location that provided decent defensive capabilities. She turned her head when she heard the door opening, unobtrusively readied herself. The elderly male, who had spoken to her before, entered alone. Once he was close enough, she jammed the needle into his arm and pressed the release.
Immediately the door closed behind him. The male attacked her, but she easily blocked his blows. After a few moments she threw him on the floor and straddled him. "Can you understand what I'm saying now?"
The surprise in his eyes was almost comical. He nodded slowly.
At that moment the comms in the room activated. "Colonel, are you alright?"
She helped him get up and allowed him to move to the transparent wall.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Only thing bruised is my ego."
"Colonel, you understand we need to keep you in quarantine now. There's no telling what she injected you with."
"Translator microbes. They colonize your brain to help you understand most spoken languages."
The elder man nodded. "At least we know what it is, but I understand the precaution."
"We know what what is?"
The older man seemed confused for a moment before it registered on him that he was the only one who understood her. "What she injected me with. She calls it translator microbes. They colonize the brain." He paused. "I can understand her!"
"Good. Ask her why she's here and why she killed your son."
"I came through a blue phenomenon I've never encountered before and ended up here. A barely space-worthy ship collided with me and, oh-! Your son?"
The elder nodded. "Yeah. So, you're saying it was an accident?"
She nodded again. "I was still trying to determine where I had ended up when I suddenly noticed that ship. We were too close for me to avoid the collision."
"And you have no..."
"Colonel, we can only understand your half of the conversation. Inform us of what she's saying."
"Oh, sorry. She came through an unknown blue phenomenon which spit her out on our doorstep. She and my son collided before either apparently had a chance to avoid it." He turned back to her. "You have no idea where you are?"
She shook her head. "No. The navigational computer doesn't recognize any of the stellar configurations around."
He held out his right hand, palm held inwards. "I'm Colonel Jack Crichton."
Hesitantly she held out her hand in the same manner. "I'm Officer Aeryn Sun, Special Peacekeeper Commando, Ikarion Company, Pleisar Regiment."
With his other hand he steered her hand towards his other and then grasped it, shaking his arm up and down. "Pleasure to meet you, Officer Aeryn Sun."
"Officer? She's part of some kind military force? Are there others of her kind coming?"
The older man shook his head and let out a sigh. "Can it, Holt. As she already explained, she doesn't know how she got here or where she is in relation to her own world."
Aeryn registered an odd hissing sound and looked around to identify the source.
"We cannot take that risk."
"Holt! What the hell are you doing?"
"Getting rid of the problem. Undoubtedly her friends are trying to locate her. We can dispose of her and her belongings so they won't have anything to locate."
"And what about me?"
"Oh, come one, Colonel. She injected you with something. You're obviously contaminated."
Aeryn looked at the Colonel. "Not much of a difference with where I come from."
She watched the man drop first. Obviously their species, regardless of how much they looked like her, was clearly inferior. Now she was responsible for killing both the son and the father. Did this man have more children? Children, who like her, would never see their father again. No, not like her. She'd never seen, would never see, her father. She had only seen her mother once, when she was little.
Aeryn knew her life would end soon, too. Not the warrior's death she'd imagined. Frell, she hadn't even lasted for more than a few arns. Perhaps the son was fortunate he wasn't sucked into that thing. He wouldn't have lasted for more than a few microts.