Chapter 35

Aeryn

Bad feeling? Aeryn turned her head a fraction and gave Crichton a dirty look. Yes, he was right, for there was a bad feeling in the air. But considering how frelled up her life had been since the docking web had snagged her Prowler, bad feeling did not exactly describe the last few monens more like half a cycle. Declared contaminated, losing her rank, position, even her sense of self was…

John coughed. "This is all so degrading," he whispered as he looked around the crowd at their captors.

"Yes," she replied, "degrading, and humiliating."

"If that's all this ends up being, we'll be very lucky. I've got a feeling this will end up being a lot worse than being painted green from head to toe. But it was a frat party after all and there was beer involved…" he coughed and his voice fell. "And then the cops showed up. Not exactly my best weekend memory."

"Frat party?" D'Argo probed.

"It's when a bunch of men live together at college and they throw a party. Frat means fraternity. DK and I are frat brothers."

"Well whatever you and DK do when you're together," D'Argo sniffed, "it's none of our business."

Aeryn rolled her eyes at D'Argo. DK was, John had told her, his closest Urp friend and was the controller of his Farscape project. "D'Argo! I don't think that's what John said; did you?"

"NO!" John blurted out but he stopped when he saw she was grinning at him. "Right…"

Adnon was further stirring up his people, calling their prisoners all sorts of nasty things, and most of the words he was using were not in John's Uncharted Territories vocabulary. "This guy must be running for office," John commented. "He sounds like a two-bit politician running in a tight race. Or like a backwoods work camp boss…" He looked around at the crowd and thought his second comment may be the right one for most of the Lackos standing about were dressed in tattered garments, their fur matted with grime, and they rocked from foot to foot in a slow dance of utter boredom. "Aeryn, look. Look around."

She did as he asked. "What? Just a bunch of natives."

"Look at their eyes."

Aeryn looked a second time taking a slightly longer time as she focused on stances, facial expressions, the way hands were held, shoulders slanted or not, the way long furry ears were tilted, and she felt her pulse beat faster as her vision got sharper - all senses on alert. "Yes…"

"See how they just don't give a damn?" John went on. "I bet things are not going well down here and Adnon is using us as a rallying point; all to keep the troops in line. He's giving them a common enemy - us. It's an old trick."

D'Argo shook his head, tenkas flapping. "You may be right, Crichton. Look at the way they're starting to give us looks from the corner of their eyes."

"And baring their teeth, as well," Aeryn said now with some alarm. "I wish I had my gun back."

John sighed. "Yeah, wait a minute!"

"What's that John?" Aeryn asked.

"When that thing was hauling me down that tunnel and when I really came to, my pulse pistol was gone. I had assumed that Winona was lost. So how did that guy get it?" he nodded at the diminutive guard.

D'Argo "So why did you decide to name your gun?"

John rolled his eyes. "Look - because she rides on my hip?"

"Huh?"

"Winona? Winona Ryder, the actress?" John stood there on this alien world and as he saw the confused look that D'Argo and Aeryn exchanged, he knew that he was really, really, far from home.

Aeryn Sun centered herself and brought her mind back to what she was seeing and she did not like it. "They are starting to get anxious." She now heard a murmur of rising voices, the soft rustle of shifting feet and saw the rise of faces, more teeth showing. "More than anxious."

Overseer Adnon was now screaming and yelling. "They are our enemies! They wish to destroy the Shrine! They are aliens! Out-worlders! And they DO NOT BELONG HERE!"

"They're sure as hell not cute little bunnies anymore, are they?" John whispered at her side. "We need a plan."

Aeryn looked up at his face. "You have a plan?"

"I said we needed a plan, Aeryn."

D'Argo took a half step to their backs. "If we make a run for it, maybe one of us can escape."

"To where?" Aeryn asked. "To that furnace outside? I'd not last two hundred microts out in that heat," she sniffed. "And you'd not last much longer. And besides we don't know how to get out of this cave."

Crichton whirled to the side and squatted down in front of the guard who held his pistol. "Why don't you like us?"

The thing bared his teeth as he shakily held the pistol at a stubby arm's length. "You are… strangers."

John crouched down and lowered his voice. "Look here friend…"

"You're not my friend," it said.

"Okay. It's a big bad universe out there and without friends…" he looked up at Aeryn and D'Argo, "we're all just screwed when things go to hell."

"Like that's news?" The gun rose and pushed against his chest. "Back off you… you…"

"Human. I'm a human. Name's John Crichton." He turned and pointed to his companions. "Her name is Aeryn Sun and the big guy is Ka D'Argo." His attention swung back to the thing. "So what's yours?"

The furry thing stood a little straighter, pulled the gun's muzzle away from John's breastbone and whispered, "Pulta. Pulta Crackit. Third Level Mining Excavator, but I'm hoping to be promoted to Assistant Second Level soon."

John stuck out his hand. "Nice to meet you Pulta; call me John."

The thing warily shifted his paws on the pistol, then raised one and took John's. "Johhhnn," he drawled out. "And what are you?"

Aeryn heard John's whispered words. "Astronaut; a lost astronaut, just trying to get home."

Home, she thought. Just where is home to you Aeryn? No longer on a command carrier that was certain. Was it her Prowler parked in Moya's landing bay or the former prison cell across the tier from John Crichton's aboard the Leviathan? And what was home to John Crichton? Did he mean his planet or a dwelling somewhere on that place he called Urp, no Earth, she corrected herself? She felt John's hand reach out and taking hers gave it a tug so she bent down.

"Aeryn meet my new friend, Pulta Crackit," he said.

"I'm Officer Aeryn Sun," she said, it being an old habit that still died hard.

The thing's nose went into overtime sniffing. "Yes…" it said, "you are together?"

Aeryn gave John, who was grinning at her, a confused look. "No, we're not… ahem. Not really."

Pulta smiled and patted her hand. "Now, nice to meet you but…" he motioned with John's gun. "Back off."

She stood and pulled John upright. "Well that went well," she said sarcastically.

"You never know Aeryn; you never know." John waved to Pulta who winked back at them, still holding John's gun out timidly. "I think the little guy is plenty scared."

"Of us or of Adnon?" She nodded to the Overseer who was still haranguing his town folk.

John gave her a toothy grin, his eyes flashing. "Maybe we can change the equation?" Then he pushed his way through the crowd, sprang up on the rock next to Adnon and holding his hands out yelled, "Hello everybody! And how are you doing today? My name's John Crichton and I just want be friends! Capisce?"

D'Argo groaned. "There he goes again. Crazy human!"

Aeryn laughed. "Not as crazy as you might think," she answered then pushed through the crowd to join John.

Notes:

Capisce = Italian word which means 'understand?' or 'got it?'