Aeryn looked up at the knock on her door, expecting John to come through it as it opened. Instead, the diminutive linguist who they had met the day before slipped in.

"I'm sorry if I am disturbing you, but I was curious how you are able to understand us. I know I still won't understand what you are saying, but if you could bring me the means of translation you use, I would greatly appriate it." The woman smiled.

Aeryn nodded, wondering why the woman had come to her, instead of asking Chrighton. "I need to get to my Prowler."

Dr. Mineko Fuji cocked her head to one side a moment, trying to figure out which language she knew came closest to what she had just heard. "Your ship?" She beamed when the woman nodded, briefly. "I can get us there in a few minutes." Mineko silently thanked the powers-that-be that she had the proper security clearences to get them to the subterranean hanger, with all the mess going on over thier heads. "Come on."

*The sooner I can get my hands on whatever they use to translate stuff, the more likely I will be able to deliver it to the General. She's quite frustrated at having to rely on translators for most of her dealings with various governments.* She hurried down the corridor, with the Aeryn behind her.

Jack Chrighton held the arm rests on his seat in a white-knuckled death grip. He had been on many plane flights, had flown planes himself, but he made a firm promise to his rebellious insides that he would never get on a plane that Major Jacky Merrick was piloting, ever again. *She is trying to get us through to Earth Core's base in one piece. Remember that, Jack.* He tried to focus on what was ahead of them, instead of on the hair-raising flight. *I still don't know if I can believe it. John's really back.*

"You all right, dad?" His daughter was watching him, concerned.

"I'm fine, Julia."

She smiled. "Major Merrick's flying getting to you? I know it's getting to me." She looked over the back of her seat to check on her two sons. "Though Joshua and Ryan seem to be taking it all in a stride."

The intercom came on. " This is Major Merrick. Hang on. The ride's going to get a bit rough. Some pilots think they can take pot-shots at us."

Jack tightened his grip on the arm rests, and closed his eyes. *Why did I say I'd come?*

Jacky tried to keep in mind that she wasn't flying her fighter, but it was hard to do. Especially with the F-22's that she knew had to be on her tail. *It's hard to miss thier signiture. Why in God's name did they send those after us? Did they think we wouldn't see them...SHIT!* Jacky took the small jet into a steep climb, thankful that the thing could go into space. *Not that anyone has ever had to test that theory. Wish I didn't.*

Jacky watched as the sky above her went from blue to black, shaking her head as she engaged the space drive, as she preferred to call it, and keeping an eye on her radar for anything trying to follow. As far as she knew, the US still hadn't been able to get anything that could fly in both space and in atmoshpere. "Sorry about that folks, but the flight is going to take longer than we th...Holy mother of God!" Jacky's eyes widened at the ship in front of her. It was sleek and gleaming, with what was very obviously a gun pointed directly at her. "Major Merrick to Attu Island. WTF? There's a friggin' huge ship up here with a gun pointed at me. Did the US develop something I wasn't briefed on?"

"Attu Island to Major Merrick. Jesus H. Christ, girl, calm down. I don't know what's up there, but it sure as hell ain't U.S. made. They still haven't gotton any furthur than in-atmosphere fighters. Upper atmosphere, mind you, and there's talk of out-of-atmoshpere commerial transport, but of course, that's commerial, not millitary." The com officer had a note of annoyance in his voice. "Look, Major, you're going to have to hold in orbit or something for a few hours. We can't clear the strip for you to land, anyway." There was a pause. "Holy shit, how'd she get over there? She doesn't have any security clearence. Hold on, Major Merrick, I think you're going to have company soon. Friendly company."

Aeryn dodged the fighters as she took off, as her passenger kept a very firm grip on her seat.

"Just get us out of here, quickly, please?" Dr. Fuji's voice was a squeak of terror.

Aeryn raised an eyebrow, and ignored the woman, her Peacekeeper trained instincts kicking in. She focused on the nearest target, and watched it explode in a brilliant display as she searched for another.

Mineko opened her eyes just in time to see an American fighter jet explode into flame, and tumble from the sky. *Oh my. I don't think she's going to get us out of here quickly. I wish I had remembered how much I HATE flying. In anything.* She squeezed her eyes shut, clinging tighter to the back of Aeryn's seat. *Please say this is over sooner, rather than later.*

First Lieutenant Joseph Smith watched as his squadron leader was blasted into oblivion by the strange new fighter that didn't show up on his radar. He had seen it out of the corner of his eyes, just before the fatal expolsion. "Lieutenant Smith to Alpha quadron, Captain's down. Do not, I repeat, do not attempt to engage the new fighter in combat."

*Not that they can lock onto it when it doesn't show up on radar. What the hell do these people have down there? And why won't they share it?*

He disobeyed his own orders, coming around to bring the new fighter into his field of view, keeping his eyes focused on it. He fired off his missles at the fighter, watching in amazement as it avoided the heat seekers, destroying them, and came around to face him. *Shit.* He hit the ejection button seconds before his jet exploded, much as his commanding officer's had.

Aeryn deftly detonated the missles at a safe distance from her Prowler, wheeling around to face the jet that had launched them. She saw the pilot eject just in time to avoid being crisped by the fireball his fighter became. She then turned her attention to the large aircraft that were closing on the island. Behind her, she heard a hissed curse that the microbes didn't translate.

"Tey'll destroy years of careful research. Those towering idiots! Do they want to set space tech back to the stone age?" Dr. Fugi sputtered off into angry silence.

Aeryn wondered about the sanity of her human passenger, as she locked onto one of the craft, firing. It went down, still miles short of its target, and Aeryn started after the next.

Talyn quearied Crais as to why he wasn't coming back. *Can I shoot them?* He was estatic about the idea of being able to play target practice again. With truely moving targets, instead of asteroids.

*Talyn...* Crais paused, as if he was talking to someone else. *Yes, Talyn, you may.*

Talyn happily changed his course, descending into the planet's atmosphere, already targeting the larger aircraft. He exulted as they one-by-one tumbled towards the ocean, some shot down by Aeryn, some by his own powerful guns. He locked onto one of the smaller ones, only to have Crais tell him no.

*Why not?*

*Some of the smaller ones are friendly, Talyn. Let them fight it out.*

Talyn pouted, as he continued to target one of the smaller ones.

*No, Talyn. Let them go. Pick up Officer Sun, and the other craft you sensed earlier. The other cannot defend itself from the fighters.*

Talyn griped as he complied, contacting Aeryn's Prowler, and asking her if he could use the fighters as target practice.

"No, Talyn. They're not a danger to you, or to Crais. You leave them to me."

I stepped into the now-empty conference room to find it occupied by one of our guests. I ignored him, sitting at one of the unoccupied chairs, and settling my head in my hands. *Would I really have the courage to push the panic button if they got one of their damned nuclear bunker busters in here? Or heaven forbid, managed to get a foothold on the island?*

Crais looked up, hearing the muffled thump of someone sitting down in a chair. The leader of the small millitary group that controlled the base Chrighton had brought them to had her head in her hands.

"Who the hell decided I'd be a good leader?" Her voice was low, and her face still hidden by her hands. Crais thought she hadn't noticed he was there, until she looked up at him. "I hate even knowing I'm sending people out to die. I'm a terrible public speaker. I don't which end of a ship is which or what the hell system is what in just about everything on this base. The only thing I'm even remotely good at is long-term strategy. And don't ask me to try and plan a battle, or command people in one. I can't." She shook her head, a bitter, cynical look on her face. "Why the hell did they choose me? I don't even know why I'm talking to you about this. Or at you, really, since I won't understand a word you're saying." A sharp bark of laughter. "Maybe because I don't know you. And they do say it's easier to talk to a stranger about your problems than a friend." She lasped into silence.

*Talyn, have Officer Sun excort the other craft down here.*

*Why?*

Crais thought a moment. *We're going to take these people off this planet before they get killed.*

*Why?*

Before Crais could answer that, Chrighton walked in, looking for him. "Yo, Crais, my man! What's happening?"

Crais raised a single eyebrow at the human's antics. "I speaking with Talyn about transporting these people off this planet."

John blinked, certain he had heard Crais wrong. "What?"

"Talyn and I are going to assist these people, and take them to a planet they can settle, and avoid the problems they are facing here, if they wish to go."

"Are you insane? Do you know how many people you're talking about? There are over four thousand people on this base alone."

"What in hell are you talking about?" General Lauria Ishar was glaring at John, occasionally sharing that same glare with Crais.

"Bialar here just wants to transport Earth Core off Earth."

"NO!" My temper exploaded. "Do you know what the hell you're talking about? There are seven thousand, six hundred thirty-nine people in Earth Core, men, women and children. Three hundred seventy-four grounded in Sudan, three hundred nine en route to Tokyo from Somalia, and nine hundred eighty-six in Tokyo, waiting for our escort. Four hundred sixty-seven are out there on our ships, and two hundred seventeen are on the various planes defending Attu Island. Three thousand four hundred and thirty-three took thier Christmas holiday to go home and be with thier families. You couldn't hold them all on one friggin' ship, I don't care how big it is, and you couldn't convince half of them to leave in the first place. And I will not leave my people behind to be imprisoned and killed, and I will not see them die here when there may be a way to get off." I was standing, the chair somewhere, having bounced off the wall, and my hands were clenched into fists. I could feel blood beginning to trickle from cuts I'd managed to make in my palms, from my fingernails. "No bloody way."

I stalked out of the room, seething. *There is no way they could get us that would leave onto any one ship, and I will not leave behind those willing to leave. Damnit all! Today is simply getting worse and worse. Next thing you know, I'm going to be told the U.S. has a foot hold on the island, and they're sending in a bunker buster.*

Major Jacky Merrick felt the sting of an injection, and momentarily glared at the little robot-like thing that had done it. "I don't like injections, you little tin pot! Particularly from something with no bedside manner." She looked up again. "What was that suppossed to accomplish, anyway."

"It injected translator microbes, so you can understand what I am saying." Aeryn was watching Dr. Fuji, whose face lit up with a broad grin.

"This is so intriguing. What I wouldn't give for the time to explore how exactly these work. Not that I would be able to. Hmm, I wonder what Lucus and Stephan would make of these things. They'd have a field day..."

"Whoa, girl. Please, before you start talking to yourself." Jacky shook her head. "This is cool and all, but I don't want to know how they work. Just good enough that they do." She headed back for her plane. "But I still have to get Jack and company to Attu. And my fighters weren't exactly space-worthy." She looked over at Aeryn. "Could you give us cover on the way back? So I can get this bird down there in one piece."

Aeryn nodded, wanting to get back to John. "Certainly."

Crais struggled to free his hands from the bonds that kept them behind his back, watching the woman who held a water-filled balloon in her hand. She grinned, and threw it, aiming for Crais's face. He ducked, and it splatted against the wall behind him, as the other soldiers hooted. A few minutes after the General had stalked out, a couple of soldiers had come in, with a pair of manacles and broad grins. They'd whispered something to Chrighton, and he'd begun to grin as well, not boding well fro the ex-Peacekeeper Captain as they turned to face him.

He'd ended up in a large, fairly empty room, his coat taken off him, and his hands manacled behind his back. Several men and women, and a few children had stood at the other end, with things they called "balloons" filled with water. As soon as the soldiers had left him against the one wall, and locked the door, they'd started throwing them at him, socking him to the skin in microts.

I grinned to myself as I watched Major Merrick come out of the hanger, with her passengers, and Officer Sun, and Dr. Fuji. "So that's how she got over here. Well, did you get what you wanted, Dr. Fuji?"

"Yes, actually, General. I got a dose for you as well." Dr. Fuji tilted her head. "What is it, General?"

"Nothing much. One of our guests is currently playing the target in a game of water-balloon dodgeball." I shrugged. "So, what is this miricle thing that allows you to understand them?"

"They're called translator microbes. They..."

"That's fine, Doctor. I don't need to know how they work." I shook my head. *Have to cut off her lectures in the bud, or we'll be standing here all day.*

"Shall we?" I motioned them to precede me into the base transport, to go back to the barracks, which were better protected under a mountain of rock.

Author's note: A little hectic, but here's chapter two. At least three more reviews before I post the next chapter. Oh, and tell me if you think I should let Crais get off easy, or should one of the kids get in a really lucky hit with the water balloons?

Author's Note 2: The first part of my website for Farscape stuff should be up by Wednesday. Links to other websites, at the moment. I hope to have Earth Core's website up by May 25th, and the rest by the end of May, or June at the latest.