Part 4: Rebirth
~~~
Scorpius regarded Grunchlk from the corner of his eye. The disgusting man stood in the med lab, his hands bound as med techs bustled around him. In the center of the room, the cryopod lay, hooked up to various machines.
"You can unfreeze her?" Scorpius asked.
Grunchlk nodded quickly. Anything to get Scorpius off his back. He hadn't been fed in nearly a weekan, and Scorpius knew it. "Well, I can unfreeze her, but I don't know if I can revive her. She was nearly dead when we put her in."
"You will remove the defector from cryostasis, and make sure that she remains alive. If you fail to do so, you will be killed. Do you understand me?"
Grunchlk nodded vigorously.
"You, Officer Pelkan," Scorpius commanded. The soldier pulled himself up straighter, nervous in the halfbreed's presence. "I am entrusting you to contact me as soon as the process has been completed. Failure to do so will be severely punished."
"Yes, sir," Pelkan said, gulping to himself.
"Good. I will be in my quarters." With that, Scorpius exited the med lab.
Grunchlk breathed a sigh of relief, until Pelkan caught him. "What are you waiting for? You heard what Scorpius said – get working."
Grunchlk held up his hands. "Well, maybe I could, if I weren't cuffed."
Pelkan sighed, and stepped forward to unlock the bindings. "You make one false move, and I will see to it that you won't ever move again," he warned. To press his point home, he nudged Grunchlk with the muzzle of his pulse rifle.
"Right, Peacekeeper, right," Grunchlk said. "Now, which of you techs is most familiar with cryogenics?"
~~~
Scorpius entered his quarters, still seething. It had been nearly two weekans since he had retrieved the chip from John Crichton's head, but there had been many difficulties. The neurochip had informed him that all of the information had been gathered. However, the neurochip had either lied, or the Diagnosan had damaged it when he'd removed it from the Human's brain.
In either case, the information was unintelligible. The memories were present – of that, Scorpius was sure. But they were jumbled together with other memories that seemed to have nothing to do with wormholes. Little of it was accessible. And to make matters worse – he couldn't understand the system of measurements used. As far as he could tell, the measurements used were some strange, antiquated Earth system.
The neurochip hadn't been able to decipher the system. For that, Scorpius knew, it would take a Human. And he had left the lone Human in the Uncharted Territories to die on a deserted ice planet. However, he had seen Crichton's friends in action to save him before. It was quite likely that they would do so again. The more Scorpius thought about it, the more sure he became that John Crichton was not dead.
And for this, he was increasingly pleased with his foresight in bringing the Peacekeeper defector's body aboard. It appeared that she would become useful after all.
~~~
Despite his appearance, Grunchlk was not a stupid man. He had been smart enough to strike up a partnership with Diagnosan Tocot, which had made him a very rich man. And although he was nowhere near as skilled as the doctor when it came to medical practices, he had spent more than his fair share in the donor bank taking care of the cryopods.
In fact, the cryopods had been his main responsibility. Grunchlk had spent cycles familiarizing himself with them, and soon had completely taken over the task of freezing and thawing out donor bodies. The Diagnosan had been grateful for Grunchlk's assistance in this area – it was one less job that he'd have to do himself.
And Grunchlk knew that this was the only reason his life had been spared. Scorpius needed him too badly.
Grunchlk stood in the med lab, examining the body of the Sebacean woman. She appeared to be only sleeping, but the blue-tinged pallor of her face told a different tale. She was nearly dead. He worked under the watchful eye of Pelkan, but he soon became immersed in his work and no longer noticed the Peacekeeper's stare. He glanced at a printout of the woman's DNA patterns, then frowned.
He looked again, carefully. Her DNA, while basically Sebacean, contained something strange. Slowly, it dawned on him – at some point, her DNA had been meddled with, and there had been permanent side effects – which included a slight mutation in the basic structure.
"Tech?" he asked, still studying the readout.
One of the techs that had been assigned to assist him came forward, a slightly annoyed look on her face. Janera Querz was a woman of short stature, with dark eyes and equally dark hair. She had been serving on the command carrier for nearly five cycles – long enough to remember Crais' other projects. "What is it?" she snapped impatiently.
"This woman isn't fully Sebacean. Someone's tinkered with her DNA," Grunchlk said, pointing to the printout. "I can't quite tell what species it is, though."
Querz took the printout from him, scanning it over. For a moment, the mutations looked vaguely familiar. Then, suddenly, it snapped in place. She'd seen them before – over three cycles ago. "Pilot DNA?" she asked. "How the frell did a Peacekeeper grunt like this defector end up with Pilot DNA?"
"Don't know, and it's not my concern," Grunchlk said, a relieved look spreading over his grubby features. "But it's probably saved her life."
~~~
Nerz entered Scorpius' quarters to find him contemplating the information gathered from the chip again. "Sir," she said loudly. "The prisoner, Grunchlk, has said that he has found something that may be able to assure that the defector Aeryn Sun will live."
Scorpius set aside the printouts he had been examining and looked at his assistant expectantly. "Continue."
"Her DNA has been compromised by another species –" Nerz began.
Scorpius cut her off in mid-sentence. "Is it Human?" His face remained inscrutable, but there was a dangerous undertone to his voice.
"No, sir. It appears to be the DNA of a Leviathan's Pilot; most likely taken from the Pilot aboard Moya."
"Ah. I see. Pilots have regenerative anatomies, do they not?" Scorpius asked.
"As far as our med techs have been able to discern, yes. They believe that by possessing this DNA, she will be able to regenerate cells that would otherwise be permanently damaged."
Scorpius picked up the printouts again. "Have the med techs thaw her. As soon as she is revived, I want to be notified. Is that understood?"
"Sir," Nerz said, and exited his chambers.
"Yes, things are coming to fruition now," Scorpius mused. He was almost pleased enough to smile.
~~~
The first thing she noticed upon waking was that she was cold. Freezing. The second thing she noticed was that she couldn't move, and couldn't speak. She barely managed to open her eyes.
The bright lights seared her eyes, and all she could see was white. As she slowly adjusted, she became aware of the sounds. Sounds that were distinct and familiar – sounds that she had spent most of her life hearing. Sounds of a command carrier.
Aeryn Sun felt a ball of dread form in the pit of her stomach. The last thing she could remember was ice water, closing over her head. Had she died? How the frell had she gotten onto a command carrier? Suddenly, a head eclipsed the bright lights.
"I see you're up, eh?" the voice said. "You're lucky. That frelled up DNA of yours saved you."
She knew the face – the doctor's assistant from the ice planet. What had his name been?
Before she could attempt to form a response, the man was pulled back. "You. Go to that corner, now. Pelkan, guard them both. If Grunchlk moves, shoot him, but don't kill him," Braca said. He then turned his attention to Aeryn. "Scorpius wants you alive, traitor. How lucky for you."
He pulled away from her line of sight. Again, she was left unspoken to. She listened to the sounds carefully, trying to force her frozen limbs to move. Aeryn soon discerned that she was in a med lab. From what she could understand of the techs that bustled about, occasionally crossing her vision, she indeed been frozen. She had been on the verge of death.
As soon as she had discovered this, she grew bored with the knowledge. There were more pressing concerns. If she was on the command carrier, had the others also been captured? More importantly – had Crichton been captured? Was he dead even now, or being tortured? If he'd not been taken, did he know that she was alive?
The train of worried thoughts was cut off as Scorpius entered the room, Nerz and Braca trailing in his wake. He stopped several hentas from where she lay on a medical table, studying her.
"Former Officer Aeryn Sun, prowler pilot. Pleisar regiment, Icarion company, if I am not mistaken," he said in a conversational voice. "Deemed irreversibly contaminated by Crais, weren't you? Because of John Crichton." He paused again, regarding her. "Now we know the true extent of your contamination. You are not even fully a Sebacean any longer, not to mention being Crichton's trelk."
A cold fury rose in Aeryn, but her state of paralysis wouldn't allow her to act on it. The best she could do was make a low, guttural sound in her throat. It's meaning was apparently not lost on Scorpius.
"Ah. I suppose you have many questions, hmm? I suppose you would like to know what has become of Crichton and the others, yes?" he looked away from her, towards Grunchlk. "How much longer until she is fully recovered?"
Grunchlk shook his head and then shrugged his shoulders. "Dunno. Could be a few solar days. I've never had anyone live alive long enough after being thawed out to get better."
"Pelkan, escort Grunchlk back to his cell. As for Officer Sun, I want her in high security containment. No one is allowed to enter her cell besides me. Is that understood, Braca?"
"Sir," Braca nodded. "What about medical attention?"
Scorpius stared at him scathingly. Braca quailed under the glare. "My orders stand, Lieutenant Braca."
~~~
The room was always the same. Constant. The lights never changed, and there were no windows. She hadn't seen anyone in… however long it had been since she had been placed here. On occasion, the sound of boots stamping past the room reached her, but more often than not, the silence was deafening.
Aeryn's cell was sterile, to say the least. There was a commode and sink, made of cold metal. A small cot slumped against the wall. The lights, which were never dimmed and never grew brighter were set in the ceiling, protected from any prisoner who might try to break them. And then there was the camera, which monitored her constantly, like an impassive eye.
She couldn't remember being moved to the cell. Aeryn had fallen back into an unconscious state not long after Scorpius had appeared. The next time she had awoken, she had already been installed into her cell.
For days, she slipped in and out of a dreamless sleep. Her body was slowly recuperating from the effects of the freezing process, a recovery that would have been speeded by proper medical attention and care. Occasionally, when she woke, she would find a tray of food cubes and water on the floor beside the cot. Occasionally, she mustered enough strength to eat and drink. But she never saw anyone. All meals were brought when she was sleeping.
Initially, after she had regained some strength, she had begun trying to keep track of the time. The meals seemed to come at regular intervals – twice a day. But she soon lost count. Was it night, or day? How much time had passed? The lights made it impossible to track the passage of time, and she gave up.
At nearly every moment, she expected soldiers to burst through the door and kill her – or worse, induce the living death. But it never happened. Aeryn passed her time slowly. At first, she had been too weak to even walk. Soon, she was making stumbling progress around the confines of her cell, ever aware of the camera. Not long after that, she began to exercise again.
The cryostasis had weakened her muscles, and it showed when she began her regimen. She had to move slowly, gradually rebuilding her strength. She knew that any attempts to escape would be precarious at best, and she needed to be in the best shape possible.
And the camera still watched, and no one came. The silence and isolation was beginning to get to her. Aeryn had too much time to think, and even more time to worry over her friends. Especially Crichton.
~~~
John stood by the transport pod, watching the crowd. His right hand never strayed far from the holster where his pistol sat. He waited, watching as the inhabitants of another commerce planet went about the business of living. Soon, he spotted the distinct blue hue of Zhaan, threading its way towards him.
As soon as she arrived, he looked at her expectantly, the question in his eyes. The same question he'd asked on every stop they'd made.
"I'm sorry, John. I asked around the market place; there have been no sightings of a Peacekeeper command carrier in the area," she said, shaking her head.
His shoulders slumped immediately. Zhaan came to him, taking his arm. They'd been searching for nearly two monens. Two monens, and no one had seen a marauder, let alone a command carrier.
"We'll find them, John. No matter how long it takes," she said. He nodded numbly, allowing Zhaan to lead him back to the transport.
As soon as they had entered, he took out the pad and stylus he'd been using to communicate. "The others?"
"Rygel is trying to make deals again. We may be able to pick up something tastier than food cubes here. Jothee, Chiana, and D'Argo have the other pod; they will be able to bring the supplies aboard. It's best that we get you off the planet. The local populace does not have a high opinion of Peacekeepers here."
He nodded again, and let Zhaan pilot the pod back to Moya as he stewed in his gloomy thoughts. The past two monens had been difficult on all of them. Pilot had been taking Aeryn's loss almost as badly as Crichton. What was worse was that Pilot refused to have any interaction with John. He was still blaming him for Aeryn's death.
Soon after leaving the atmosphere of the planet, Moya and Talyn came into view, hulking masses among the other ships that waited in orbit around the planet. They had all been surprised when Crais had agreed to join them in searching for the command carriers – all of them, save Crichton. He knew that Crais, too, had a vendetta to settle with Scorpius. Scorpius had put him in the chair as well.
However, Crais had remained, for the most part, on Talyn. John also suspected another reason behind Crais' presence: Talyn had been growing more and more independent of Crais' command in the past months. He had responded to Moya's cry for help against his wishes, and if Talyn wanted to remain with his mother as she healed, there was little Crais would be able to do, short of leaving the ship.
All told, Crichton still refused to trust Crais, even though the others were slowly allowing him growing measures of trust. As much as John distrusted Crais, he also knew that he might prove useful.
~~~