Hello, Review Crew! Hey, look, another update! Aren't you surprised? See what happens when you get your own place and find some good peace in your life? Yeah, writing happens!
Disclaimer: Oh, lovies, we've been over this so many times… I own Jezze, Hunak, Kaluah, TBT, and the Hellion Virus. Anything else isn't mine, though I DEARLY wish it was. I wish I could meet Ms. Black and Mr. Browder. And everyone else. :P
Jezze's Story, Chapter 13
Aeryn and Jezze burst into Pilot's Den, D'Argo and John hot on their heels. Jezze swung up to crouch on Pilot's console while the rest of her family crowded around. She studied the panel and listened to Moya's noises with a scowl on her young face.
What do you hear? Pilot asked her in the tongue he had taught her years ago.
Jezze answered in rapid-fire, barely seeming to breathe between sentence fragments. Moya's fear. Internal sensors seem normal, atmospheres are at optimum. No abnormal thermal readings, no unclassified cargoes or life-forms. Nothing inside Moya indicates a problem. Why is she afraid?
John and Aeryn watched the exchange, and then glanced down at their ten-year old son, whose face was creased in concentration, as though if he only tried hard enough, he would be able to understand the words passing between his sister and her mentor.
John lifted his son to the console so he could see, then addressed Pilot. "What's going on?"
"Moya is afraid, but nothing indicates a problem, so I don't understand what she's afraid of. It's frightening to me, as well, Commander." Pilot's voice was soft with concern.
"So you called us all here because Moya is having a panic attack?" John replied, confusion in his voice.
"And why wouldn't he?" Aeryn asked him. "When do you remember Moya EVER having a panic attack? We've been aboard for over ten cycles now, and Moya's never panicked before."
"Um… Actually… She has every cause," Jezze interrupted, her voice thick with fear. "There's a Scarren ship floating dead out there."
Aeryn's Prowler soared out of the hangar, John's module right behind it.
"John, you don't have to follow me… You KNOW that module isn't going to do you ANY good with the Scarrens," Aeryn called over the comms to her husband. "It has no firepower; it can't possibly stand it's own if there's anything alive out on that ship."
"Well, according to Pilot, there's not so much as an energy signal coming from the engines. And Jezze said she didn't see anything on the weaponry, either. And I'm not letting you go out here alone."
"You should have stayed behind with D'Argo and Jezze. They need their father."
"Just as much as they need their mother, as it turns out," John retorted, his tone sharp through Aeryn's comms. "So don't give me that dren about the kids needing me. They need us BOTH, so let's try to live through this, okay? There and back, that's it. We aren't going to stay. I don't want another episode like we had on the Zelbinion."
Aeryn rolled her eyes. "As long as there's no PK Techs aboard, we shouldn't have an episode like we did on the Zelbinion, then should we?"
John laughed. "That was before you liked me, remember?" His tone softened as he teased her.
"Sure, John. The point is that I'M the one who married you and bore your children." John could hear the smile in her voice, and that made him smile as well. "Docking now," she continued, maneuvering her Prowler to connect to the dead ship.
"Right behind you, baby." John docked as close to her as he dared, climbing out of his own ship and waiting for his wife to grab her pulse rifle and join him.
She wasn't too far behind him. She kissed him lightly, glancing back at his module. "I don't know why you insisted on bringing that bucket of dren. We both fit inside my Prowler."
"Well yeah," he allowed, "but if there's something we should bring back, then we can put it in the module and pull it behind us."
Aeryn considered, then nodded, her ponytail bouncing slightly. "Fair enough. Let's make this quick." She turned…
And came face to face with Scorpius.
DUN DUN DUN!
More of a filler chapter than anything, but there you go. I HAD to bring him in. Just wait, though, it gets better. ;)
-CP