Chapter 9

Crais noticed that Aeryn was spending a lot of time on Talyn while the gunship recuperated. Not that he minded. He enjoyed her company. She seemed more relaxed each time she visited, more like the Aeryn he remembered.

When Talyn's repairs were nearly complete, he approached her in one of the passageways. "Aeryn, Talyn and I were wondering if you would be willing to consider a transfer."

"To here?"

"He takes great comfort in your presence. I believe it has helped significantly in his recovery."

"They really need me with the pilots. Many of them aren't very well trained."

"I have reviewed the reports of your work. You have done an excellent job not only teaching them to be better pilots, but also improving the quality of the other instructors. I believe that the pilot training program can survive without you."

She paused a moment before answering. "I don't know. I enjoy being here with Talyn, but…"

"But what?" He was curious about her reluctance. She had always seemed more relaxed when onboard Talyn. A part of him wondered if he had anything to do with her reluctance, whether he was an unwelcome reminder of her past. He placed his hand on her shoulder. "He needs you." What he didn't tell her was that he needed her as a friend, too. He had grown accustomed to confiding in her.

"I'm a pilot, Bialar," she said simply, as though that would solve the argument.

He smiled and gave a small chuckle. "While Talyn has not had fighters until now, they were always an integral part of his design. He was genetically encoded to produce armed transport pods. Due to your familiarity with Leviathan transport pods and Prowlers, you are actually the ideal candidate to test the prototype."

"Armed transport pods? He's actually growing them?"

"A prototype for now. I could not anticipate every difficulty when the project was first conceived."

"And why didn't he do this before?" she asked suspiciously.

"It was not something he was programmed to do until he neared maturity, since it was assumed that he would initially be protected by a squadron of Prowlers from the Command Carrier. The intent was to concentrate first on growth and development of his other weapons systems. I… have changed priorities, since fighters are more important to the organization we are with now." He waited for her to make her decision. He was almost certain that she would accept.

"What sort of input would I have on the project?"

"A significant amount. Talyn respects your opinion, as do I."

"It sounds like a good opportunity."

"I will put in the transfer request. I would not anticipate it taking too long." He knew this was best for her. She needed a friend, as did he.

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Crais and Aeryn stood in the hangar bay staring at the new pod. It was red, sleek, smaller than a regular transport pod and very visibly armed.

"It's beautiful," Aeryn said in amazement.

"It is," he said proudly, grinning broadly at the look of admiration on her face. "And it is ready for it's first flight. I will accompany you so that you may more easily communicate with Talyn."

The two of them boarded the combat pod, and Crais guided her through the differences in the pre-flight checks. She smoothly piloted the pod out of the hangar and a safe distance from Talyn before conducting maneuvers.

Crais watched her and thought that she had never looked more happy or beautiful. "What is your assessment?" he asked.

"It's amazing. The controls are much more intuitive than those of a Prowler."

He grinned at her enthusiasm. While he had never been a pilot for the Peacekeepers, he had solicited input from Tauvo when the programming for the combat pod was developed. "Try the weapons."

She activated the weapons, and a heads up display appeared in front of her, allowing her to easily target a nearby asteroid, which she quickly destroyed. "This is truly incredible."

"I thought you might appreciate it."

"The synthesis of Leviathan and Peacekeeper technology is perfect. It feels so natural."

"I believe that is a result of your previous bonding with Talyn."

"And probably the fact I share Pilot's DNA."

He had not been aware of that. "Which will combine to make you the perfect instructor pilot for the combat pods."

"It shouldn't take long for anyone familiar with a Prowler to become proficient with these. Do you mind if I fly around for a while, get familiar with the ship?"

"Not at all," he replied. He enjoyed watching her. She seemed so free of her past and in her natural element as a pilot. After a few moments, he said, "You are doing an excellent job."

"Thank you," she replied. "And thank you for the opportunity to be the first to fly the combat pod. Would you like to take the controls?"

When she shifted controls to him, he found that they were very similar to a regular transport pod. He elected not to try the weapons; he knew that he would not be as proficient as she had been.

Once they landed and she started the shutdown sequence, she thanked him again. "I appreciate your allowing me to be the first to pilot one of these."

"I could think of no better pilot to have the honor. Talyn has made a log of our flight. I would like review it with you. Perhaps we can determine what adjustments, if any, need to be made to future models."

"Sure."

He led her to his quarters where they could work in private at his holo-table. It took them several arns to go through all the data and to optimize the design.

"These are going to be an amazing asset," she said when they were finished.

"They are." She looked up as the door opened and a DRD wheeled itself in, carrying a tray. "Is it that late?"

Crais consulted with Talyn. "It is. I see that Talyn has sent enough for two… if you would like to eat here."

They ate in silence at first, both mentally reviewing the events of the day. When Crais was nearly finished eating, he had an idea about the combat pod controls and activated the display in front of Aeryn. Moving around the table, he leaned over her. "I believe that it might be more efficient to re-arrange the controls like this."

She analyzed his changes. "Yes, I think you are right. That does make more sense."

It had been a while since he had been this close to Aeryn, and he found that she was still using the same floral scents in her hair. It seemed so long ago. He wondered if it was out of habit now, or if she meant something more. Suddenly, he was reminded of how long it had been since he had been with a woman. He wanted to say something, but had no idea what he could say that would not drive her away.

She seemed to feel his breath on her neck, but rather than pulling away, she slowly turned to face him.

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After half a cycle with the renegades, Talyn was fully healed, and Crais had had the time to explore the instability in his personality matrix. That seemed to be repaired also. While Talyn still had all his memories, he was not quite the same as he had been. Crais had expected this when he had shut Talyn down.

Aeryn had definitely been a valuable asset in Talyn's recovery. He saw her as a calming presence, and Crais had taken behavioral queues from her. Of course, a near death experience had a way of changing a person's life, and in his case, it had been a change for the better.

Talyn had produced a dozen combat pods, and she had done an excellent job training the new pilots. They still were not as proficient as they had been in their Prowlers, but that was to be expected since none of them had much experience with Leviathans.

Now, he could tell that she was getting restless. She wasn't the only one. From the first, he had tried to place his mark on the organization, to work to try to set up true Peacekeepers as they were supposed to be. But at every turn, he always seemed to meet more resistance. He had known that it would take time, but he was beginning to think that it might take more time than she was willing to devote. Now, it was likely that she was missing Crichton. They hadn't really talked about what had happened between her and the surviving Crichton. He was not one to meddle in someone else's personal life, but he could tell that she was thinking about her dead lover's twin again, even if she didn't mention it to him.

Her restlessness had led her to ask to be reassigned from fighter duty to the covert operations group. Knowing how unhappy she was—she was becoming visibly more morose day by day— he had reluctantly agreed.

Her squad had been sent on a mission of questionable value. They had been sent to Hokathia to remove the despotic Prime Hokathian from power. In his opinion, Hokathia was a planet that was not worthy of their attention. It wasn't even a regional power. He had argued against this political assassination, but had been overruled, though he could tell some of the others had secretly agreed with him. This could be the catalyst he needed to start asserting control over the organization.

Now, he was waiting for their return. Checking the time with Talyn, he contemplated the fact that the team should have returned by now. He would give them another arn before he sent a scout to report back.

Do you think she's all right? asked Talyn.

Crais could definitely feel the concern the gunship felt for her. I don't know. She is very capable, but it is not like her to be late. A part of him wanted to send a scout out now, but that was not procedure. It would not do for him to show favoritism.

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The scout had been gone for an arn and should be reporting in soon. Crais stood impatiently in command, harassing his watch officer and continually checking the scanners for signs of the scout vessel, which was a modified transport pod that shared Talyn's stealth capabilities.

When Talyn received an incoming communication, Crais immediately activated the comms. "Report."

"Captain, the mission was a success. The Prime Hokathian has been eliminated. I found one of our operatives. She seems to be suffering from some sort of heat delirium, but I cannot find a cause."

"Stand by for starburst," Crais ordered. To the scout, he barked, "Maintain your present position. We will rendezvous momentarily." After Talyn starbursted, he ordered the medical team to the docking bay and then hurried there himself.

Once the scout was onboard and he saw that the injured operative was not Aeryn, he felt a momentary sensation of relief. "What happened?" he ordered as the doctor examined the injured soldier.

"Af-after the assassination, they-they released a gas. We ran for our ships, but t-the delirium started."

"Doctor?" Crais asked.

"Her delirium is increasing quickly. I will see what I can do to counteract it, to stabilize her before it becomes fatal."

Crais watched the medical team hurry their patient out of the docking bay. "Lt. Etan, disperse the fleet in a search pattern near Hokathia. Two of our operatives are injured and in need of assistance." He knew that this was irrational behavior for two lives that might already be lost, but one of them was Aeryn. She was his one true friend in this organization, and he was not going to lose her, regardless of what the others—any or all of them—thought.

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Four arns after Crais ordered the search, they found one of the Prowlers. It was not Aeryn's and the pilot's heat delirium had progressed to the living death. Knowing that continuing the search any longer would be fruitless, he gave the order to cancel it. There were better uses of their resources, and he had learned his lesson regarding pointless quests. He could only wish now that he had been more persuasive when he'd spoken out against this mission.

He resolved that they would not embark on any other such foolish missions. While they seemed to have a mission statement of sorts, an ultimate objective, they did not always seem to follow it. That was about to change.

Once the fleet was reformed, he sent them off on his patrol mission as he took Talyn back to their stronghold.

As he was sitting in his office trying to read reports, the doctor came to see him. "I have done everything I could, made all the analyses that I could. I regret to report that I have been unable to stave off the living death. Since we are returning to the stronghold, I will provide our central research lab with a full report, including every bit of data that I managed to collect. Hopefully, they can determine what the agent is, so that we will have a cure for this in the future."

"I have confidence that our researchers will unlock the secret to this agent. Thank you, Doctor." He rubbed his temples after he was left alone. First and foremost, Aeryn had been a pilot. He never should have given in to her desires to move to covert operations. But she had always been careful, and besides, he had thought that she would make an excellent addition and hopefully even improve their covert ops branch. She could have been his eyes and ears, a reliable foothold into that end of the organization.

He pushed the guilt aside, telling himself that she had made her own decision. He had outlined his doubts regarding the mission to her, but she had still decided to embark on it. He had not ever controlled her.

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Rather than try to overtly take control, he had elected a more covert method of gaining support from the others. He knew there were a few that believed just as he did and would support him when the time came, but unfortunately, they did not constitute a majority. He also knew that there were those who would never support him. Then there were those in the middle, those who were too cautious, too afraid of change. Those were the ones he needed to sway to his side.

It took quite a bit longer than he had anticipated. This was mostly due to the fact that he and Talyn could not remain off station for long. Talyn was too valuable an asset to keep at headquarters, and Talyn would not go on patrol without Crais due to their symbiotic relationship. Crais thought that was the only thing that would hamper his leadership. Still, he knew that they really needed to be more nomadic in order to control this sector with their limited forces.

Once he had some measure of control, he began to mold the organization into something more mobile, more of a presence in the sector. Talyn became a mobile command center.

For a quarter cycle, they were both too busy to realize that something was missing. But over time, they both came to realize that controlling a military organization was not enough.

Crais spent the next half cycle working to instill his command method in the senior leadership and ensure the shipbuilding program was more effective than it had been so far. Once he felt that the organization could sustain itself without his constant presence, he announced that he and Talyn would go on an expedition to recruit new forces. He had no intention of actually doing so, but his followers would think a journey to find Talyn's mother was a tremendous waste of time. However, he felt that he really had little choice—they had been hearing news about what was happening between the Peacekeepers and the Scarrans, and Talyn had become quite concerned.

After ensuring that all was in order, he and Talyn left on their quest. He had told his forces that he would contact them periodically so that they knew he was still alive. He had no idea if they would ever return. This had not been as fulfilling as he had hoped.

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A/N: Many thanks to nota for helping me flesh out this chapter better than it had been. I hope to have the next one up in a couple of weeks, but we'll see how cooperative the muses are going to be. Obviously, this will be the last of the flashback chapters. Best guess, two or three chapters remain.