"Frell," Aeryn sighed, listening to the conversation John and his father were having.
If John's people already knew they were there, then that changed everything. They no longer had the element of surprise, which meant they could no longer quietly retrieve Natalie and Chiana and leave with no casualties. Earth's military would undoubtedly be on high alert and would most likely try to shoot down any ship entering the atmosphere without authorization. No, humans didn't have technology that was anywhere close to what they had on Moya, but they had only one Marauder and three Prowlers. That wasn't enough to rescue two people being held in maximum security facilities.
Watching John sit down tiredly at the strategy table, she heard to him say, "How did they get everything up and running so fast anyway?"
"You'd be amazed at what frightened government officials and military personnel are capable of," Jack responded. "You wouldn't believe how scared some people were when Talyn arrived."
"They were frightened of a scientist and a trelk?" Aeryn asked, an incredulous grin on her face.
"Was that Aeryn?" she heard Jack ask over the comms.
"Uh, yes," she stammered in surprise. She wasn't expecting John's father to know who she was. Although, she had to admit that it always had been a possibility that Natalie and Chiana had told all of Earth everything about them already.
"Well, they weren't so much afraid of them, but of what they represented."
"That life did exist 'out there'," John added.
"Unfortunately, yes," Jack responded.
"I figured as much."
Aeryn could see in John's eyes that he was thinking about the incident with the Ancients and what they'd all been through. It appeared that John's worst fears were coming true.
"Look, John, I'm going to need to go soon," Jack said. "Now that the military knows you're here, they're probably going to call on IASA, especially me, to 'help' soon. They can't know I've already been in contact with you."
"All right, Dad," John replied. "We'll call you back later so you can fill us in on what's going on down there, and to figure out what we're going to do about Natalie and Chi."
"Bye, Son," Jack quickly said, the comms channel closing immediately afterward.
"Bye, Dad," John mumbled, then sighed.
Aeryn could tell John didn't like the situation one bit. He didn't want to have to put his father and his sister in jeopardy, but they didn't have a choice since Jack and Liv (as she heard John call her) were already involved. She sat down sideways on the stool beside him, and suggested softly, "If they already know we're here, there's no point in hiding."
"Yeah, there's no point."
"Zhaan?" Aeryn softly asked, looking at the Delvian seated at the head of the table. Zhaan nodded in response, then asked Pilot to take them into Earth orbit. As Zhaan instructed Pilot, Aeryn took John's hand in hers and said, "They'll be all right."
"I'm not so sure."
"Your father's a hero on your planet, isn't he? Your people can't be likely to imprison a hero or his family."
"Humans are funny that way." Looking at her, he continued, "We want to see our heroes fail."
"So, essentially we're frelled?"
"Pretty much."
"That's nothing new," she stated deadpan, then watched a small smile grow on John's face.
"No, it's not," he answered, giving her hand a squeeze. "This might actually work."
"Our plans usually do somehow," she said, smiling back at him.
"So, what is the plan?" Jothee asked from the end of the strategy table.
Suddenly, John cringed and let out a painful groan. His eyes fluttered shut as he dipped his head, raising his hand to pinch the bridge of his nose. Aeryn immediately scooted forward to the edge of her seat, her hand still gripping his as she raised her other hand to his cheek. She worriedly asked, "John, are you okay?"
"It was only a question," Jothee said.
Aeryn flung her head around to glare at the young Luxan, then turned her attention back to John as Zhaan came up to him, kneeling on the floor next to him. The priestess asked, "John, are you all right?"
"That's kind of a stupid question," he mumbled through gritted teeth.
"Just answer the frelling question," Aeryn stated.
"My head feels like someone's pounding it up against a wall," he answered, nearly toppling over in pain.
Aeryn and Zhaan managed to catch him as Jothee ran over to help in some way. They straightened John up and Aeryn nodded to Zhaan. The Delvian reached into one of the folds of her robe and pulled out a small vial. She removed the cap, held it in front of John's mouth, and ordered, "Drink this."
"John, drink it," Aeryn said. "It will help with the pain."
John nodded his head, letting go of the bridge of his nose to take the vial from Zhaan, then downed the potion. Almost immediately, Aeryn could see the relief in John's face as he handed the vial back to Zhaan. She asked, "Better?"
"Yeah," he answered. He kept his eyes closed, still feeling some pain and said, "That was the worst I've had yet."
"We should find a diagnosan immediately, John," Zhaan suggested. "I can alleviate the pain, but I am not skilled enough to cure you."
Opening his eyes, he looked at Zhaan and stated, "After we get Natalie and Chiana back. We're not leaving without them."
"Of course," Zhaan said softly.
Aeryn shared a knowing look with her Delvian friend; John could be very stubborn at times. All she could do – all any of them could do – was hope that they would be able to rescue their two imprisoned friends in short order. But things never went the way they hoped or expected.
Suddenly, John cringed again and shuddered. Aeryn gripped his hand tighter as Zhaan cupped the back of his neck in her hand and asked, "Is the headache back?"
"No," he shuddered. "I've got this horrible aftertaste in my mouth."
Both Aeryn and Zhaan let out sighs, but Aeryn's was more of annoyance than relief.
"What did you put in that stuff anyway?" John groaned.
As Zhaan stood, her hand still at the back of John's neck and a smile on her face, she said, "I believe you would be better off not knowing."
"Ignorance is bliss, as you say," Aeryn said, concern still in her eyes. She couldn't help but be concerned about him; she cared too much about him not to. She wanted to do whatever it took to protect him and keep him safe. But she understood that other lives were at stake, as well. So, they had to time this just right.
"In that case," John sighed, turning to rest his forehead against Aeryn's, "I won't ask again."
Silence filled the command for a short period of time as the massive Leviathan entered Earth orbit, broken only by the steady humming and pulsing of Moya's systems. But the only thing that Aeryn could hear was the sound of John's calming breathing. He had that effect on her. Unfortunately, Jothee had an effect on her, as well. He was much like Chiana had been when they'd first brought her on board Moya, and he annoyed the dren out of her. She had to admit, though, he did have some redeeming qualities. His bad timing made it difficult to see that at times.
He said, "If you two are finished, we're coming up on Talyn."
The two separated and shared an irritated look and sigh. They turned toward the forward portal and saw Talyn's tail several metras in front of them. She said, "We'd better get ready."
"Right," John replied. "I'll go round up Crais, and you and Jothee go round up the guys who are going with him."
"I'll meet you in the maintenance bay."
----------------------------------------------------
"Welcome to Talyn," John announced as he led Aeryn, Crais, Jothee, and their 'entourage', consisting of two dozen different species and genders with all of their 'gear', down the transport pod ramp to the deck of docking bay one. When it came to Crais and Talyn, John wanted to cover all his bases. He also figured it would be a good idea not to put all his eggs in one basket, so he managed to convince several of the slaves they had rescued to come with them to Talyn, and to keep an eye on Crais.
"Who in the hezmana named him Talyn, anyway?" Jothee asked as everyone gathered in the docking bay.
"I did," Aeryn answered, remembering having a similar conversation little more than two cycles before. Looking calmly at Jothee, she added, "I named him after my father."
"Peacekeeper ship, Peacekeeper name," the hybrid mumbled.
"Crais," John intervened, "Why don't you go up to the bridge? And take Jothee with you."
"Of course," Crais responded, nodding once, and walked to the maintenance bay and to the hatch inside it leading to the myriad of corridors inside the ship.
"Thanks a lot, Crichton," Jothee griped, following Crais to the maintenance bay.
"Ah, kids," John sighed. Turning to Aeryn, John asked, "Why don't you help the others find some quarters once you all get all the gear and currency unloaded?"
"Sure," she answered with a nod. "What about you?"
"I'm gonna see if I can find Natalie's transponder."
"Talyn did say he'd show you where it is."
"Yeah…"
"What? You don't trust him?"
"No, I trust him. I'm just worried he'll be more preoccupied with Crais."
"You think Crais will do something Talyn won't like?"
"One can only hope." Glancing at the others standing off to the side, waiting, John said, "You'd better get going. They look like they're starting to get antsy."
"Right."
"Right," John repeated, giving Aeryn's arm a squeeze, then turned toward the maintenance bay.
----------------------------------------------------
Palming the door sensor to his left, John stepped through the hatch into Natalie's quarters as it slid open. He came to a halt, though, and nearly did a double take. There were clothes, bottles, food trays, papers, vid-chips, and data chips strewn all over the room. As he walked around the strategy table, he mumbled, "I guess you never get maid service up here."
He walked around the room, being careful not to step on anything, and saw a DRD sitting on top of a nightstand in the bedroom, apparently waiting for him. Walking into the bedroom, he sat down on the bed next to the nightstand and said, "You here to help me get Nat's transponder?"
The DRD nodded once with a squeak in response.
"So, where is it?"
The DRD looked down at the nightstand.
"In here?" Receiving another squeak, John opened the top drawer and peered inside. Looking back at the DRD, he asked, "So where is it?"
John watched as an arm emerged from the body of the DRD and lowered a welding torch to the lockbox inside the drawer. The small robot activated the torch and began cutting through the locking mechanism on the box. After a few microts, John watched as the locking mechanism fell into the box with a muffled 'clank'.
"Thanks," he said, reaching into the drawer as the DRD retracted its arm. He pulled out the box, set it in his lap, and opened it. Inside, under the severed locking mechanism, which he promptly removed, was the mission patch that Natalie had managed to save from the clothes with which she came on board Moya, which had been destroyed by the Leviathan's iriscentent fluid. The patch was practically all that was left. It was in the shape of the space shuttle and at the bottom was the mission number 'STS 94'. Around the outer edge of the shuttle were the last names of Natalie's crew. On the trailing edge of the left wing was the name of the man who had tried to kidnap him: McDaniel. On the opposite trailing edge was the name Twombly, and along the leading edges of both wings were the names Johansen, Porter, Jarrett, and Grant.
John had known Johansen and Porter. Seeing their corpses along with the bodies of the other astronauts inside the shuttle cockpit had been difficult to bear. Both Johansen and Porter had families, and Porter had two grandchildren. He knew the others had families, as well, but Natalie had never said a word about any of them. She had trained with them for so long that John was sure she had taken their deaths especially hard. She hadn't shown it, but he knew her, and knew their deaths had affected her deeply.
Setting the mission patch aside, John saw Natalie's transponder in the lower left corner of the box. Picking it up, he noticed the long spike protruding from the back of it. He couldn't imagine sticking the device into the back of anyone's neck. He also noticed that the device was deactivated. Looking at the DRD, he asked, "So, how do I get this thing to work?"
The DRD activated a laser pointer on its head and aimed it at a button in the center of the transponder. John pressed the button and the transponder came to life, its four lights blinking in succession. John shut off the transponder by pressing the button again, then placed it inside the pouch on his belt.
He looked into the lockbox again and saw the tape recorder and mini-cassettes he had given Natalie a short while after she arrived. Tracing his fingers over the worn IASA emblem, he remembered how he had wanted to help her adjust to her new life aboard Moya. He hoped it had helped her out during her first few weeks on Moya.
John could help but be curious if it had worked. He laid his thumb experimentally on the 'play' button, but he couldn't listen in on someone else's private, and most likely personal, conversation. He remembered his own conversations with his father. They were very personal and he wouldn't have wanted anyone listening in on them. He set the tape recorder back in the lockbox, then shut the box and set it back in the drawer, closing it.
As he stood up, he tried to think of what else Natalie would need when they eventually broke her out of prison. Looking around the room, he paid particular attention to all the clothes and thought that she would most likely need something else to wear besides the orange or white jumpsuit he was sure they put her in. But they wouldn't have time to stop for her to change. Although, one thing he was sure she'd need were shoes. He doubted the prison system would let her keep her old boots.
Calling out, he asked, "Hey, Talyn, did Natalie have an extra pair of boots?" Hearing the DRD squeaking, he looked down at it, still on the nightstand, and saw it shake its head. "Didn't think so."
Carefully walking through the mess on the floor, John made his way to the hatch, then turned around to take another look at Natalie's quarters. Shaking his head, he walked out and mumbled, "And I thought I was messy."
----------------------------------------------------
Closing his eyes, Crais reveled in his surroundings. He was back where he belonged – on the bridge of Talyn. But he hated that he was no longer in command. He hated even more so that Talyn no longer trusted him. Talyn would not even listen to him when he tried to explain that Scorpius had implanted a neural chip in his mind and he had not been in control. It was almost as if Talyn were becoming like Crichton and Grant. That thought disturbed him in a way. If Talyn could become like Grant, now that the two were joined, then how would the troubled gunship have turned out if he were still in command.
"Crais," the ex-captain suddenly heard Crichton say from behind as he walked onto the bridge. The human had impeccable timing.
Turning, Crais watched Crichton as he passed Jothee, who stood against the central hammond side pylon, and came to stand at the hammond side override console. "Checking up on me?" he asked.
Crichton checked a readout of Earth's military activities on the console, then turned to Jothee and said, "Why don't you go on and get outta here? Try to get some decent quarters if you can."
"It's about frelling time," Jothee mumbled, uncrossing his arms and turning to walk off the bridge, the hatch closing behind him.
Crais knew why Crichton was there. The human was there to make sure he 'behaved'. But if Crichton wanted to play his little game, Crais was more than happy to accommodate him. He had all the time in the universe, unlike the man who stood before him.
Walking up to Crichton, his hands behind his back, Crais intruded upon his personal space and asked, "Is there something I can help you with, Commander?"
"Nope," Crichton answered, crossing his arms and leaning back against the console.
"Then, is there something you want?"
"No," he answered, shaking his head.
"When will you learn, Crichton, that I will not do anything to jeopardize your safety, or the safety of anyone else onboard Moya?"
"That's something I will never learn, Crais, because it will never be on the curriculum."
"And why is that?"
"Your track record speaks for itself."
"Out of curiosity, just what would it take for me to earn your trust?" He didn't think even Crichton himself knew the exact answer to that question.
Crichton remained silent for several microts and looked off into the middle distance as he contemplated his answer. Finally, he said, "Well, for starters, why don't you tell me what really happened to Rygel."
Cautiously jogging through the smoke filled cave, a pulse rifle in one hand and a pulse pistol in the other, Crais tried to follow Ciryn and the last few members of her personal guard who were still alive. Fortunately, the Sebacean woman and her guards couldn't keep quiet. Their voices echoed throughout the cave and allowed Crais to track them.
Through the haze of the exploded makeshift smoke bombs, he could see bright lights ahead of him and increased his pace, knowing that a hangar wasn't too far away. Coming up to the entrance to the underground hangar, Crais slowed down, then knelt and hid behind an outcrop of rock along the bottom of the opening. He watched as Ciryn and three of her bodyguards walked to her waiting ship. She ordered the other five to secure the hangar and ensure her escape.
Readying his weapons, Crais took careful aim at the three bodyguards surrounding Ciryn, then fired three shots, killing all three and leaving Ciryn vulnerable. The remaining five scrambled to Ciryn, firing their weapons at Crais, sending shards of rock everywhere, just as he knew they would. He quickly hid behind the rock as the pulse blasts impacted around him.
The guards suddenly stopped firing and shouted to Ciryn to get onto the transport. Crais immediately dropped to the ground on his abdomen, but remained partially hidden by the outcrop for cover, and fired his pulse rifle, hitting two of the guards in the back and burning through their spinal cords, killing them instantly. The remaining guards and Ciryn dropped to the ground for cover. Fortunately, Crais was a good shot. He had a clear shot at the heads of two of the guards and took them out, then watched Ciryn and her last guard try to press themselves against the ground for protection. Unfortunately, the last guard's body was partially obscured by Ciryn, whom he wanted to keep alive for the moment.
Activating the scope on his rifle, he targeted the bodyguard's leg, which was sticking out from behind Ciryn's head, and fired. The Sebacean cried out in pain and drew in his leg, clutching at it as he rolled on the ground. Crais then watched a terrified Ciryn get up and try to run to safety in her transport. Crais immediately shot the guard in the back of the neck, killing him, then shot at a spot on the ground not too far in front of Ciryn. The pulse blast impacted the ground just as she neared the area and several shards of rock were flung into the woman's feet and legs, sending her tumbling to the ground.
Crais stood, holstering his pistol, and walked to where Ciryn lay moaning, crying, and squirming in agony. Suddenly he heard a noise behind him and spun around, dropping to one knee and raising his rifle. He faced another of Ciryn's personal guards who had his rifle raised and aimed it at Crais. The former Captain could tell the guard was about to fire. But Crais began to squeeze the trigger on his rifle to ensure his safety. Before he could fire, someone shot the guard in the back. As the Sebacean collapsed, Crais saw Rygel floating in his thronesled with a small pulse pistol in hand.
"Dominar Rygel," Crais greeted, standing up.
"Crais," Rygel said, returning the greeting as he floated toward the ex-Captain.
"Why are you here?" he asked suspiciously. "You should be with the others, getting ready to return to Moya."
"I couldn't leave without saying 'goodbye' properly."
"Goodbye?"
"Yes, goodbye," he answered, raising his pistol and firing it at Ciryn. The pulse blasts burned through her head, killing her instantly.
"Very appropriate," Crais said, nodding.
"Thank you," the small Dominar replied, returning the nod.
"As a matter of fact…" Crais began, walking to the entrance of the cave. "I am glad that you are here."
"Well, I would imagine that you are," Rygel said, following Crais. "If I hadn't been here you would be dead."
"Of course," Crais said, playing along. Stopping before the entrance to the cave network, he added, "So, I owe you my life."
"Yes, you do, don't you?"
Turning around to face Rygel, Crais answered, "Which is exactly why I will not kill you."
"What?" Rygel blurted out, fear emanating from him in waves.
"You betrayed us, Dominar Rygel, and if you come with us, you may betray us again. You are a threat to the others' survival. And their survival ensures my survival." Walking up to Rygel, he added, "However, as you said, I owe you my life."
"What… will you do with me?" he softly asked, his earbrows drooping toward his face.
"If you attempt to follow me and if you attempt to reach the surface before we leave, I will kill you," Crais answered, then turned around and marched out of the cavern, leaving Rygel behind.
Crichton would never understand. He cherished life to the point that he would give an ally, even a former ally, a second chance which that ally did not deserve. He said, "It is as I said, Crichton."
"Right," Crichton drawled in response. Turning to Talyn's beta channel, he added, "Talyn, if he does anything, shoot him."
Turning away from Crichton to look out the forward portal, the former Peacekeeper thought, Predictable.
He listened as Crichton pushed himself off the console and made his way to the hatch, then stopped and sighed, "Wait, Talyn." Crichton turned around, placing his hand on his hip and raising his hand to rub his forehead. "If he does something, don't shoot him. Just keep your guns on him and have one of your DRD's come get Aeryn or me."
As the human turned around again and walked off the bridge, Crais smirked as his previous thought passed through his mind again.
