Chapter Three

Aeryn stood transfixed as the prowler sped away, her pulse rifle lying useless at her feet. She should have known this would happen, she should have predicted John would do something like this. No one knew better than her how Scorpius affected him, and with Harvey back, she should have known better than to let him anywhere near him. She should have come here alone, or with Chiana, and they should have killed them and starburst away.

She knelt down, picking up the pulse rifle, and she noticed as she did, that her hands were shaking. "Pilot," she whispered. Her voice was shaking, too, but she knew, whatever measures she might have taken to prevent this it was in motion now—and John was right, they had to leave, or they would remain as leverage to be used against him. "Is the prowler clear?"

"Yes, Officer Sun…is…is something the matter?"

Aeryn blinked back tears as she got to her feet. "Starburst immediately, Pilot," she said, before shutting down the comms and starting towards tier three.

She placed her hand against the wall as she walked, keeping herself steady. She didn't know why she felt so suddenly weak. So suddenly cold. She could hear her own voice in the back of her mind, whispering, I will not accept this as a trade off for losing you…

Chiana, with D'Argo in her arms, and Stark, Noranti, and Rygel behind her came out in the hall to meet her. Chiana froze when she saw her, and carefully handed off D'Argo to Noranti. She took a cautious step forward, watching Aeryn warily. "We went to starburst," she said.

Aeryn nodded dully. The weapon in her hand slipped to the ground, but she didn't flinch when the metal crashed against the floor.

Chiana swallowed. "Where's Crichton?" she asked, and when she got no answer tears began to build in her eyes because she already knew. "Where is he?" Chiana was almost shouting now, but Aeryn remained unmoved, she stood there, her eyes fixed on D'Argo, like a statue.

"He's gone," she whispered finally, her eyes moving from D'Argo to Chiana and sparking somewhat back to life. "He had to be the frelling hero again."

Chiana shook her head. "No, no—he couldn't…why…why didn't you just kill Scorpius?"

"He would have fired on your position," Aeryn said tonelessly. "So he went with him."

The three others standing behind them had been silent through this all, stunned by the realization of what had happened, and when Stark reached out to place a hand on Chiana's shoulder she pulled away. She shook her head. "Well…ah…we'll just have to get him back," she said determinedly. "We always do."

"He said not to come for him," Aeryn said uncertainly. "He wants us to get D'Argo somewhere safe." If this had been a few monens earlier, if it was just her and John, she would already have been gone. She would have taken on the command carrier single-handedly and dragged John back with her, but that wasn't practical now. Not with another life in her hands.

She wondered if this was how her mother had felt, when they had asked her to choose, asked her to pick, her lover's life or her child's. She looked at her child, her son, and she knew she had to protect him, but she wasn't Xhalax, and she didn't think she could trade John's life for his. She couldn't trade his for John's either—she needed them both.

So, yes, she had to protect her child, but she couldn't leave John with Scorpius, either. Not for anything. She just needed a plan, and she needed somewhere safe to place D'Argo. "We need to get him away from all of this. Somewhere safe," she said again, as though such a place might actually exist.

Chiana shook her head. "Moya's always been the safest place for us, and we said we were going to do this together. Crichton may have decided he doesn't need us, but that doesn't mean we don't need him." Chiana moved up to Aeryn. "We get him back," she said firmly. "Right?" Aeryn met her eyes. "We get him back, Aeryn, no matter what."

Aeryn nodded, and then glanced at the others. Noranti smiled at her sadly, and even Rygel didn't protest. Stark watched her quietly, his mask still off, the scarred pink flesh moving slightly as the energy caught underneath fought to get out. They were a strange group of people, she knew, looking back to Chiana's determined gaze. But they were also the best friends she could have hoped for, and she realized that she had forgotten, as John had forgotten, that they were supposed to stick together.

They were so much stronger that way. She tilted her head back and took D'Argo from Noranti, before starting for command. "We need a plan," she said, her voice remaining steady.

They followed her without a word.

—

The prowler landed inside the command carrier docking bay with a dull thud, and John winced. His memories of command carriers were always less than fond, and it had always been the last place he wanted to find himself again. He heard Scorpius's voice whisper, "Welcome home, John," but he knew it was Harvey speaking, because Scorpius was looking at him, from the front seat, and his mouth wasn't moving.

He was going to have to live with two of them. Sikozu smiled at him before she jumped down to the metal floor and he winced again. And Sikozu. Two Scorpius's and one Sikozu, on a command carrier. With his luck, Grayza was probably lurking around somewhere, too.

Scorpius and Sikozu watched him impatiently. "Crichton, are you coming?" Sikozu asked haughtily and he reluctantly pulled himself up, and fell down next to them.

He noticed the way the sentries lining the back wall tensed when they saw him, and though their weapons weren't quite aimed at him, they were only a hair away. "Nice welcoming party," John said. "You arrange all this for little 'ole me?"

Scorpius gave one of his not-laughs and aimed a smile at the floor. "Not quite, John, I'm afraid the precautions were not my idea but the crew's. They fear you."

John glanced at them and saw Scorpius was right. The last time he had been on Scorpius's command carrier they had watched him with disdain, certainly, suspicion and curiosity, but this was more than that. This was terror—directed at him. He supposed he couldn't really blame them. He had almost killed the universe.

"You should not have to worry about them harassing you, Crichton," Sikozu said sweetly. "I'm sure they are all too frightened to get too close. They do not know you as I do."

"Did you ever think maybe you don't know me as well as you think?" John asked, glancing at her sideways.

Sikozu raised her chin and continued to watch him, but she didn't respond.

When neither Scorpius nor Sikozu immediately moved, John raised his eyebrows. "Well? You gonna give me the grand tour, or what?"

Scorpius nodded and motioned Sikozu ahead of him. "Follow me, John."

"You're the boss man," he said, before catching pace beside him and humming 'Follow the Leader' under his breath. He figured if he was going to be stuck here for awhile, the least he could do was be annoying until he found a way out.

The room Scorpius led them to was large and circular, with a round table in the center that took up most of the floor space. He assumed it was some kind of conference room, or planning area, and he ran his hand along the edge of the table, his fingers absentmindedly running over a series of keys, as he looked around. "Nice set up you got here, Scorpius. All you need is a big chair at the back wall and a white cat."

Scorpius ignored his words, but followed his progress closely. "This is the map room. This is all we have charted of the Uncharted Territories," Scorpius said, hitting a button and bringing a translucent star map to hover above the surface of the table.

John glanced at it and whistled, impressed despite himself. "You better be careful, Scorp, you chart too much more of it and you're gonna have to think up a new name."

Scorpius glanced at him, almost looking amused. "Your wit never ceases to amaze me, John."

John grinned at him widely, falsely, as though he actually gave a damn whether or not Scorpius had reason to be amazed. "Flattery will get you nowhere. Why don't we get to the point?"

"I'm planning a series of attacks on the Scarran Empire," Scorpius said simply, and John was less than surprised. "I want you to give me locations of stable wormholes, so I can arrange surprise attacks, do reconnaissance with a fail proof escape route—"

"Ect, ect, ad nauseam," John said, cutting him off. "What do you really want?" Scorpius didn't answer and John wandered back over to him, until they were less than a foot apart. "I saw you…" John said softly. "When that black hole was doubling and doubling and taking everything with it and you…you were getting off on it, weren't you? You didn't even care that we'd be the first to go. You just wanted them all dead."

Scorpius glanced at him, contemplatively, but did not speak.

John shook his head and turned away from him. "I'm not going to be some instrument for you to use to destroy the universe, Scorpius. I've done enough damage to it already."

Scorpius acted as though he had not heard him. "Enter the coordinates of all the stable wormholes you can remember, Crichton. If you have trouble, Sikozu will assist you." He turned to her. "Sikozu, take him to his new quarters when he is finished. See that he is guarded well."

Sikozu nodded and Scorpius, with a glance back at John, left the room. John for his part leaned forward on the table, his eyes caught up in the swirling mass of stars and planets hovering in front of him. So much life, he thought, and he wondered how much of it would be destroyed if Scorpius had his way.

"You have no intention of helping us," Sikozu sneered, "do you? You've never cared for anything but your own pathetic problems."

John didn't look at her, and didn't answer the question. "Tell me, Ms. Sikozu Svala Shanti Sugaysi Shanu," he said, turning towards her now, and noticing with some satisfaction the way her eyes widened at the use of her full name. He just bet she hadn't thought he would remember it. "Just how did you keep Scorpius from killing you?"

"You've done worse to each other than I ever have," Sikozu said self-importantly. "And he always forgives you." When John didn't look convinced, Sikozu turned her eyes back to the map and continued. "Our goals, which were at one point diverging, have merged again. Scorpius will not waste an ally for the sake of revenge."

"As long as said ally isn't Scarran, you mean," John said.

Sikozu tilted her head in acknowledgement. "He told me that he would have done no less in my position, and I wonder, Crichton, would you?"

He didn't look at her. "I…tried to save the Eidelons, and now they're all almost dead. I tried my best to create peace, and Scorpius wants to make war again. I'm done, Sikozu. You want to save your people, then good luck, I hope you do, but you're on your own."

Sikozu's mouth tightened, and as she entered something into the keys, John noticed she was using slightly more pressure than was strictly necessary. "You asked why Scorpius did not kill me, but you never asked how I remained alive at all."

John scanned the planets on the map, looking for something familiar and seeing nothing. "What makes you think I would care?" he asked.

Sikozu cast him a quick furtive glance, before looking away again. "You destroyed that entire planet," she said, "and almost me with it."

"My heart bleeds," Crichton said, stepping back from the table to examine the wall instead.

"Grunschlk, of all creatures, aided my escape," Sikozu continued, either oblivious to John's disinterest or simply ignoring it. "Together we were able to find an old transport and escape the planet before it broke apart. Grayza intercepted us, and pulled us aboard her ship. She did not know, at the time, that I had been…providing information to the Scarrans, she knew only I had fled with Scorpius and believed I might be useful."

"How lucky for you," John said vaguely.

"Grunschlk," Sikozu said, "was not so lucky. Grayza had him executed on sight, and would have me as well, later, had Scorpius not intervened."

"Is there a point to this little fairy tale?" John asked impatiently.

Sikozu tensed slightly, but ignored him. "The other with us, well…there was no hope for him, but Grayza, in a moment of rare optimism, put him in stasis to use as a possible bargaining chip."

John frowned slightly, glancing at her for the first time since she had started her speech. "What other—who else escaped?"

Sikozu took a deep breath and wouldn't meet his eyes. She moved over to another console and started speaking in a deliberately casual tone, as though she were trying to pull his mind to a different subject. "What you said, earlier, about my killing D'Argo, that isn't true."

John felt the anger build back up again, along with something else he wasn't willing to face, and he glared over at her. "You sold us out, Sputnik, they found us 'cause of you, ergo, he's dead because of you."

Sikozu paused and glanced up at him. "Perhaps some of the blame of what happened might rest with me," she said, "but he is not dead."

John felt the whole room tilt, he grabbed onto the console next to him, his fingers spreading out over the keys—heedless of which ones he pushed. "You're lying," he said, and the words sounded harsh, as though his throat had dried up and he'd forgotten how to speak.

Sikozu stepped forward, watching him with something close to compassion. "He is in stasis aboard this command carrier," she said. "Do not allow yourself hope, Crichton, he is, as Grunschlk said, effectively dead. The wound is fatal. The blood would not run clear."

He closed his eyes, and he could hear his heart pounding so loudly in his chest he was sure Sikozu must hear it too. "Why is he in stasis then?" he asked, quietly, his voice breaking over the words. His eyes snapped up to glare at her, and when he took a step forward she took one back. "What is he, some kind of goddamn trophy?"

Sikozu shook her head, holding out her hands to appease him. "It isn't like that."

"Then tell me, red, what it is it like?" John's voice had shifted again, become falsely seductive, and Sikozu had watched him long enough to know giving the wrong answer would be a very bad idea.

"There might be a way," she said haltingly, "there might be one thing that could save him."

John tilted his head to the side, watching her for lies. "What one thing?" he asked slowly.

Sikozu shook her head. "You'd have to ask Scorpius about that."

John's eyes were burning brightly, dangerous, as Sikozu could see, and she understood now, though it had taken monens and a war, just how very dangerous he was. "I want to see D'Argo," he said firmly. "Now. I want to see him."

Sikozu shook her head. "There is nothing you can—"

"Don't waste your time, John," Harvey whispered in his ear, but John pretended as though he wasn't there, and for Sikozu, he wasn't. John stepped up to her, lowering his head to meet her eyes. "Now," he said slowly, and Sikozu didn't dare say no.

—

John walked into the room, and the cold mist that covered the floor swirled around his boots. There was a cryopod in the center of the room, one similar to the one that had held Jool, and he approached it slowly, his heart pounding in his ears. He could see the frost covering the glass when he stepped up beside it, and he could hear Sikozu shifting impatiently behind him. He ignored her, he couldn't move any faster than he was.

He placed his hand against the glass, spread the bits of ice off to the side, and his breath caught when he saw D'Argo asleep inside. Blood stained his shirt and his braids, the corners of his mouth, but he looked strangely peaceful beneath the red—John found that to be a small conciliation. His hand was shaking when he removed it from the glass and he took a staggering step back.

Harvey appeared on the other side, in medical scrubs, and he stared at John over D'Argo with manic eyes. "Pull the plug, John! He suffers, have some mercy!" John blinked, conscious of Harvey but trying so hard not to be, as the neural clone yelled, "Pull the plug!" one more time before he disappeared.

Sikozu moved up beside him. "He took out an entire unit of Scarran and Charrid troops before we found him," she said softly. "He was still conscious, but barely. Grunschlk and I carried him with us. By the time we reached Grayza's command carrier I was sure he was dead, but he is exceptionally resilient."

John said nothing in response. Nothing she said had surprised him. He already knew what D'Argo was capable of, but he was worried that it didn't include surviving this.

"Luxans always have been an amazing species." This voice was soft like Sikozu's, but it did not hold the same semblance of regret, and John winced when he heard it. "Built for war."

John's eyes remained fixed on D'Argo's face. "Can you save him?" he demanded without turning.

"It's possible," Scorpius admitted, "but unlikely."

"You've underestimated us before," John said, his tone lacking the bravado he usually would have taken the effort to put there.

"You are correct, John," Scorpius allowed, "but not even you will live forever."

"I don't want to live forever, Scorpy. Getting to see my kid's tenth birthday, that would be nice. His first date. Graduation. A wedding in black leather." John spun around. "That would be nice." Scorpius watched him, his gaze calculating, and John stepped forward so they were face to face. "And D'Argo, see, he had dreams too. So you tell me, how do we fix this?"

Scorpius paused for a moment, and cast a mildly censuring glance at Sikozu.

She was quick to defend herself. "I had to tell him about D'Argo, Scorpius, he wasn't planning on cooperating. And Moya will be extremely difficult, likely impossible, to track down without Crichton on board and your ability to locate him. I thought we needed to give him new incentive."

"And here I thought you told me out of the goodness of your heart," John said slowly, his eyes remaining on Scorpius. He paused for a moment, making sure he had Scorpius's attention, before speaking again. "You save him, Scorpius, and I'll help you."

"I've heard that from you before, Crichton," Scorpius said slyly. "I thought when I spared your family you were going to help me."

John flashed him a grin. "Things change. You help him or you get nothing from me."

Scorpius looked past John towards D'Argo. "His injuries are severe. Medical attention alone will not save him. However, I know a Luxan Orican who is indebted to me," Scorpius said reluctantly, "and who may be able to facilitate his healing with their Ritual of—"

"Renewal," John said, finishing the sentence. "Yeah. I've heard of it. My last experience didn't go so well."

Scorpius glanced back at John, and he looked impressed. "You are well traveled, Crichton."

John was unmoved by Scorpius's admiration. "I've got the postcards to prove it."

Scorpius looked back to D'Argo. "The Orican lives on a small insignificant planet that is out of our way, I have not as of yet had the opportunity nor the inclination to hand Ka D'Argo over to her care."

John stepped directly in front of him. "You've got the incentive to now," he whispered, his voice deadly. "Because if you don't…I'm not going to help you."

"I will do what I can for your friend, John," Scorpius said, measuring his words, "but you must do something for me first."

John watched him warily, and he had the worst feeling that whatever Scorpius asked of him, for D'Argo, he would do it.

TBC….