All That Glitters, part 1:

Not What It Looks Like

She grabbed the strong arm proffered, and felt the behemoth effortlessly drag her to her feet. Grabbing onto a nearby wall for support, she instinctively raised a hand to shield her eyes from the sparks that flew everywhere around them.

"Pilot!" John was picking himself up from the floor as well, with an expression of anxiety that Vala could all too easily relate to. "What was that?"

"Commander, Moya could not perform a full starburst!" The disembodied voice that she had come to identify as "Pilot" covered the crackling of the electrical cables. "While the damage from the gravity field was not extensive, starbursting under these conditions appeared harmful to the baby—"

Vala's eyebrows shot upwards. Baby? They were still talking about the ship, right?

"—so she had to interrupt it. Moya is adamant that she will not attempt another starburst under less than optimal conditions," the pilot informed them, and she could detect a note of agitation behind his otherwise tranquil speech.

"Great," D'Argo groaned. "So this leaves us where, Pilot?"

"I am attempting to establish our surroundings. We have not traveled far from our previous location."

"What about the approaching ship?" John seemed to suddenly remember.

"I am afraid I have more bad news. Before going into starburst, Moya recognized the markings of the ship. It is a vessel she has encountered before, when Peacekeepers control collar was still in place." Vala heard the distinctive note of disdain in the pilot's voice, and noticed John visibly wince. "The crew of the vessel had occasional…financial dealings with the officers on Moya. She does not know what these encounters were, but given their infrequent and relatively covert nature, we can assume—"

"Bounty hunters," D'Argo finished for him.

"Of course they would be…" John commented with rich sarcasm. "Any chance they're not out here looking for us?"

Vala rolled her eyes. It seemed that, in all times and all universes, it was her destiny to be targeted by bounty hunters. Grimly, she hoped their potential pursuers resembled Tenat and Jup, the reptilian mercenaries she'd already double-crossed twice.

"Pilot, how long before Moya can starburst again?"

"She will not do it until all her neural connections are intact again, and until the pressure in the lower utility tiers has returned to normal levels. I estimate at least eight arns."

"If that ship comes after us, they'll be here faster than that."

"Then I suggest we get working—"

"Someone is needed in command," 'Pilot' interrupted, and the behemoth nodded curtly.

"I'll get the TS plexus working," he stated, grabbing one of the instruments Vala had not identified yet. He then gave her an expectative look, and she quickly caught on.

"And I…will go…to command," she guessed. Did they actually expect her to fly the ship? "Aaaallright…" she intoned to herself with a half-amused, half-wary shrug, and turned to leave. "I'll see you boys later…"

Once in the corridor, she stopped. They really needed maps on the ship! Vala smiled with relief as she noticed one of the small, yellow robots rolling down towards her. It was worth a try…after all, it had worked last time…

"Okay…" she fixed her palms on her knees and bent slightly towards it, speaking in a slow tone, "I need you to show me the way to command. Got that, little fellow?" The robot chirped in a high-pitched tone, and she grinned. "That's right, take me to comman—"

"Aeryn, what the heck are you doing?"

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Still wary, he watched her with a confused, half-alert, half-doubtful expression. He hadn't decided whether to believe her or not…until he recalled his own experience with the Ancient "communication device". Consciences could transcend space and physical form. He fixed her with searching eyes, almost hoping he could see the foreign soul beyond Vala's familiar appearance. Aeryn had crossed her arms expectantly, and was returning the stare with a long-practiced matter-of-fact air. In the background, the alarms seemed to have become louder, more ominous.

Eventually, Daniel decided conversation had to start at some point.

"So, erm…what's your name?"

"Aeryn Sun," she replied, then held up a warning finger, "and that's as much as you get to know. I'm still deciding whether or not to…"

'Trust' was too much to say, she reckoned.

"Consider…" she eventually chose, after a short deliberation, "your version of the facts. So don't ask too many questions."

"Not ask questions?" Daniel repeated with wide-eyed disbelief. "You…you drop this on me and expect me not to ask questions?"

Torn between enthusiasm and concern, he didn't know what to say next. Aeryn took advantage of the moment of silence to start her own round of inquiries.

"Where am I?" she demanded, suddenly all-business.

"Uh…" Daniel frowned for a moment, considering the best answer. "On…Earth?" he ventured.

Her jaw went slack. The next moment, her eyes narrowed in annoyance.

"Frell you, Crichton," she growled under her breath, and Daniel didn't need his extensive linguistics knowledge to know what that meant. Beyond the need to cringe at the profanity, his scientific curiosity was piqued.

"I take it you heard of our planet?"

"Heard of it?" Not willingly, that much was certain, but Crichton could go on and on. She rolled her eyes. "All too much," she replied dryly.

Almost against herself, Aeryn admitted she was intrigued by the discovery. If the man in front of her spoke the truth, she was on Crichton's home planet. With renewed curiosity, she measured Daniel once more. He actually resembled John to some extent. Did all men of the species look alike? A planet full of Crichtons—slight variations in model and size. Covering a smirk, she thought of quite a few Peacekeeper female officers who wouldn't mind stopping on Earth for a recalibration of fluid levels.

The moment the involuntary thought crossed her mind, she chased it away furiously. Inconspicuously, she rubbed her cheek to cover the slight blush, and mentally noted to spend less time around Crichton.

"How did you here?" Daniel asked. "Was it an Ancient device? Where did you come from?"

She pursed her lips. Apparently he wasn't too clear on the 'no questions' part. On the other hand, she had at least two honest, harmless answers to offer.

"I have no idea how I got here," she confessed, letting her frustration show. "I've no recollection of any devices that could cause this kind of travel. Wait," she frowned, as the meaning of his words registered, "you mean you've had this happen before?"

"Yeah…" Daniel drawled, wincing as he recalled the avalanche of disasters that had ensued the last time they'd used one of the devices. "You see, the Ancients created a technology that allowed the conscience of an individual to travel across huge distances, so I suppose you must have somehow come into contact with—"

His words froze in midair. Aeryn gestured for him to go on, but he lifted his right index to get her attention.

"Listen…"

It took her precisely one moment to get his meaning.

"The alarms…they stopped."

"This could be either very good," Daniel said slowly, and she finished the sentence for him:

"…or very bad." She grimaced. If all humans had Crichton's knack for trouble, her money would be on the latter. "Whichever it is," she stated per way of consolation, "I'm sure we'll find out very quickly."

As if on cue, the door opened with a loud metal screech, and John's perfect look-alike, 'Mitchell', followed the muzzle of his weapon into the room. A consternated expression set on the man's face as he saw the two people inside. He opened his mouth to say something, blinked slowly, looking for a phrase to match the moment, then promptly snapped his mouth shut. Instead, he tilted his head, cocking both eyebrows and giving Daniel a long look.

Daniel groaned loudly.

"This," he stated, wiggling a finger between himself and Aeryn, "isn't what it looks like."