She brought up the weapon design as often as she dared while still maintaining a casual air about it. He had clarified a few things that had been omitted from Jackson's translation, but there were still numerous points that needed to be addressed. Soon she wouldn't have to worry about arousing suspicion. She was confident that would all evaporate once they became intimate. He was a male after all, and in her experience, that had always been the case.
She was leaning against him again. He sat against a bare wall in their current hideout, exhausted from the day of hiding and running. She decided to take a chance. Moving a little closer, she slowly started to rub her forehead along his cheek while gently stroking his arm. Instead of relaxing into her as she had expected, he stiffened for a microt and then essentially went limp, not pulling away, but not encouraging her either.
What the frell was that? She didn't know what to make of the reaction. Had she misread him? Had he actually been trying to manipulate her these past days? Or was he simply tired? She would back off for now, but if this continued, there would be no point in carrying on with this deception.
--------------------
This was becoming ridiculous. They had been alone and on the run for days now, yet he still refused to react in any way to her fairly blatant advances. He had revealed a few things about Jackson's translations, but now she wasn't sure if these were distortions as well or if he had been doling out carefully planned bits of information. She still didn't know whether it would be possible to form enough of a bond with him for it to be worth all this effort. Now was the time to find out.
Subtlety hadn't worked. Perhaps something more overt was in order. It clearly wasn't a matter of attraction. He had to have been attracted to her. She knew how men had always reacted to her. If he suspected her loyalties too strongly, then it was time to end the charade. However, it might simply be that he was deluding himself in his sense of obligation to Sun. If she pressed the issue rather than leaving him to make a decision, he might give in.
They had just settled into the basement of another non-descript building belonging to one of her "friends". Calis watched as Crichton look around appraisingly.
"Well, it's not much, but at least it's better than that last ..."
She didn't give him a chance to finish. Dropping any pretence of weakness, she pushed him roughly against the near wall, pressed herself into him and began to kiss him deeply. For a microt, she was certain he would respond. He started to kiss back and placed his hands on her shoulders. Then to her utter disbelief, he pushed her away.
"Sa'di, we shouldn't. This is a really bad idea."
"Why the frell not? It's not as if we have any hope of coming out of this alive. We might as well take what little pleasure we can. I'm attracted to you, and a microt ago you seemed interested too. So what's wrong."
For several microts, she saw indecision on his face. This settled into a look of resolve mixed with resignation. He stepped away from her.
"Look, it's not like that for me. I haven't given up hope yet, and even if I had, it wouldn't change anything. I love Aeryn. It doesn't matter if she's here or not or if I ever see her again. I won't betray her ..."
He cut the sentence short, almost as if it should have ended in another word. He continued.
"I know we've both been under a lot of stress, Sa'di, and I'm sorry if I did anything to mislead you in any way ..."
The idiot was still talking, but she was no longer listening.
"Oh, frell this!"
She grabbed his shoulder, twisting it around, and struck him in the solar plexus. As he began to double over, she struck again at the back of his neck. He fell unconscious at her feet.
"I suppose we have to do this the hard way now."
--------------------
Daniel Jackson no longer knew what he was saying. He might have been babbling incoherently or he might have been revealing everything he had ever learned while working at the SGC. All he knew for certain was that Scorpius was with him and that he was screaming.
--------------------
It was completely irrational, but Aeryn had come to despise this. It didn't seem to bother the humans, so she said nothing about it, but it never felt right. She was born and raised in space and had traveled between the stars her whole life, but not like this. This was simply unnatural.
She had been through the gate only a few times, mainly to acclimate her to the feeling. Carter had nearly had to shove her through once or twice. This time, it was for real. The surveillance team had already been on Brinisa for 20 hours now, and the mission would begin within the day.
She was dressed in a familiar uniform, although it felt quite different and was made of different material. The humans had reproduced them to her specification, and every member of the small strike force looked like an officer in the Pleisars. She was dressed as a Lieutenant and would do the early talking if any talking was necessary.
Braca was with them, bound, under guard, and looking thoroughly miserable. He would accompany them to Brinisa and remain on a Tok'ra transport until the end of the mission and would then be dropped off at the edge of the city. Aeryn was a little surprised that the humans had decided to honor their agreement with him. Like Braca, she hadn't really expected it.
With the exception of Aeryn, who carried her pulse rifle and pistol, the other members of the team were armed with a combination of human projectile weapons and Goa'uld devices. In the past few weekens, Aeryn had become thoroughly familiar with all of them. Most team members carried FN P-90's as their primary weapon. These vaguely resembled pulse rifles, and the similarity would work to their advantage. Teal'c carried his staff weapon. Sidearms consisted of a combination of human handguns and Goa'uld Zats. Each of the two strike forces was equipped with a Barrett M82 sniper rifle. Aeryn had seen this weapon in action and was certain it would penetrate the relatively light armor of most Peacekeeper vessels.
She looked around at the faces of the humans. Once again, the contrast struck her. She had come to know these people over the past few weekens, especially the members of SG1. They could be frivolous and distracted at times, much like John, but now she saw only determination and deadly seriousness. She had no question about their competence. Having trained with them, she knew these people were very good indeed.
The most recent report indicated that John and Jackson had transmitted their location that day. The humans on the ground had tracked them to a building on the outskirts of the city. As of their last contact, it seemed that the humans and their Peacekeeper companion hadn't left the building.
O'Neill nodded to Carter who touched one of their two Asgard dialing devices. The second was carried by Major Ealing, who would lead the attack on the Brinisi gate.
The Stargate came to life, and O'Neill simply said, "Let's get moving."
Aeryn hesitated a little again, closed her eyes and stepped through. From this point out, failure was not an option. Soon she would be reunited with John or she would die in the attempt.
--------------------
Crichton felt a throbbing pain behind his eyes. He started to open them, but was having trouble focusing. A distant sounding voice began to come through clearer and was just starting to make sense.
"Welcome back," it said in a pleasant tone.
He looked up and saw Sa'di seated on a crate opposite him. It was Sa'di, but not Sa'di. She had altered her manner of dress when they first went on the run, and that had been a noticeable change, but it was nothing like this. Now she was a completely different person. Her bearing, her movements, everything spoke of competence, strength and self-possession.
Crichton tried to move. It was only then that he realized he was seated on a sturdy chair. His legs were bound to its, his arms were tied behind him and secured to the chair, his fingers were interlaced, and a loop secured his thumbs together and back. There was also a tight binding crisscrossing his chest. He wasn't going anywhere.
"I considered leaving you free to see how much fight you had in you, but this is better. There's no point in having you hurt yourself unnecessarily."
"Sa'di, what are you doing? Get me out of this thing."
"Drop the act, Crichton. I think you've known for some time that I'm not who I seem, and if you didn't before, you do now. Allow me to introduce myself properly."
She stood up, at attention if Crichton was any judge.
"Commander Serina Calis, 12th Disruptor Directorate."
"You're a Peacekeeper? And a disruptor...."
"Yes. I understand you have some ... experience with one of us. She certainly had a few things to say about you. Pity I didn't get a chance to confirm her observations myself."
Crichton tried to ignore the implications of that. "What do you want with me?"
"What do you think? Information. I want to know everything you and Jackson found out about the relativistic weapon. This is just a matter of convenience, you understand. Scorpius has already extracted enough information from Jackson to establish a translation base for the disks. Our scientists will work out the rest with or without your help, but since you have some experience with wormholes and went through the translation with Jackson in detail, your perspective might prove valuable in saving a little time."
"Daniel is alive?"
"Yes, although I imagine he wishes otherwise right now."
She smiled, but it was a parody of a real smile. It never reached her eyes. She stood and began to pace lightly. John glanced at the backpack on the far side of the room when her back was turned. It didn't look as though it had been disturbed, but she had probably searched it. With any luck, she didn't recognize the components that made up the transmitter when they were disassembled. He had managed a transmission earlier that day, but that obviously wouldn't be happening any more.
"Understand this, John. You are no longer necessary. However, your cooperation might make things a little easier for you."
"You mean easier for you. Not exactly at the top of my list of priorities right now."
She smiled again. "I was hoping you would say something like that."
Sa'di or Serina, or whatever her name was, moved without warning and struck him hard in the ribs. He started to cough uncontrollably.
Once he had gained a little composure, he choked out, "That wasn't very nice. Shouldn't you be taking me to Scorpy about now? I don't think he would appreciate damaged good."
"As I said, John. You are no longer necessary, and my rank affords me a little latitude. Besides, I am curious about you. You are a very strange creature."
"I've heard that before."
"So answer me this. Why did you really reject my advances? I don't believe all that nonsense about Sun. Is it because you suspected my identity?"
"No. Well, yeah, but mainly it was the nonsense."
She seemed to consider that for a few moments.
"How very odd. You're not lying, are you? I can't imagine how such a twisted situation could have developed. You I can understand. You're a primitive. Sun is another matter. Perhaps they missed something during the genetic screenings."
"Yeah. They missed the fact that she has a soul. It's very un-Peacekeeper. Take you for example."
Calis chuckled at that. "As I said, you are intriguing. I regret not having had the opportunity to have sex with you. Chatto's reports were quite explicit about your encounter."
He ignored the reference to his indiscretion of three cycles earlier. "Wouldn't that contaminate you?"
"Don't be foolish. I am a disruptor."
Obviously in her mind, that was explanation enough.
"Well, no point worrying about missed opportunities. Let's start, shall we? You will begin by explaining the stabilization mechanism in detail. How do you filter out the high frequency lateral instabilities while maintaining a completely uniform field strength?"
"I don't know. Maybe you pad the gate with food cubes."
She backhanded him hard enough to draw blood, but there was no anger. Her expression never changed.
"You used to pull the wings of insects when you were a kid, didn't you?"
--------------------
Some of the details were different, but the feeling was the same. This mixture of anticipation and eerie calm was something she had known countless times in her former life. Aeryn was on a transport vessel, albeit like nothing she had ever seen before, on her way to engage the enemy, who this time were her own people. She was in the company of fellow soldiers, but they were aliens she would have dismissed as primitives just a handful of cycles ago. None of that seemed significant now. The one difference that did matter to her was the objective. As a Peacekeeper, combat had always been a matter of following orders, of playing her small part for the greater good as she perceived it then. It was probably how many of her present comrades felt in their own, decidedly non-Peacekeeper way. For her, there were no abstractions or greater goals. This was entirely personal. She was here to get John back.
Aeryn forced herself to focus on the present and on the broad outline of the plan. The humans on this vessel would attack the Brinisi base directly. Those on the other ship would attack the gate. O'Neill and Carter would collect whatever they could from the base before it went up. She and Teal'c would recover John and Jackson. They had received a final report from the reconnaissance team microts earlier confirming that no one had moved from the location of Jackson's last transmission. The details had been worked out carefully, but everyone involved knew that nothing like this ever went exactly according to plan. Even if they performed flawlessly, luck, perhaps good but most likely bad, would factor into things in unexpected ways.
O'Neill interrupted her thoughts.
"Listen up, everyone. We reach Brinisa in under an hour. Last chance to review the basics."
"Sorenson's people should already have explosives set up throughout the Eastern quarter of the city. We know that's where off duty Peacekeepers have been spending most of their time and where most of them are quartered.
"Ealing's team will intercept the morning replacement for the guard detail at the gate. They know the route they're going to take and where to hit them quickly and quietly. The explosives go off at about local dawn, hopefully with a minimum of collateral damage. Ealing should be arriving at the gate just about then. His people take out the guards before anyone notices, take the gate room, set it up to burn to the ground and get out through the gate.
"With any luck, the explosions and whatever other trouble the recon people can cause will divert some of the troops at the base towards the gate and city proper. We blend into the general confusion, and head into the base without attracting attention. Carter and I head to the research labs Braca told us about. The rest of you place our little presents throughout the building as planned. We get in and out in under 10 minutes and without anyone noticing.
"Smith draws attention away from our exit with the Barrett. We scatter and reassemble at the rendezvous point 40 minutes from the start of the mission. Don't be late. We won't be waiting for stragglers.
"While the rest of us are busy with all that, Aeryn and Teal'c snatch Daniel and Crichton from Mata Hari. As far as we know, she's still playing her part, so that should go pretty smoothly."
--------------------
Calis absently rubbed her knuckles. They were beginning to bruise. The human had proved remarkably resilient. She had read Scorpius' reports of his experience with the Aurora chair. Scorpius had attributed his greater resistance compared to most Sebaceans to the differences in brain chemistry and neural pathways. Calis suspected now that there was a bit more to it. There was certainly more to Crichton than the past few weekens with him had indicated.
He was asleep now, or perhaps unconscious, but it was nothing she couldn't rouse him from. It had given both him and her a small respite and a little time to rest. She didn't want her own fatigue to show in any way, and she didn't want to kill him accidentally. He hadn't really revealed anything of use about the weapon. A few items had slipped out here and there, but that was hardly the point. Jackson had already given them enough of a starting point to make both humans redundant.
Calis realized that this had started to become personal. She knew objectively that her behavior was fast approaching the unprofessional, but she allowed herself the indulgence this time. She would break this alien before she killed him. It was curiosity, she told herself, nothing more.
She took a good look at him, almost as if for the first time since her interrogation had started. She hadn't been subtle. Peacekeepers often employed chemicals and advanced technology in these matters, but just as often, they relied on more traditional methods. His face and upper body sported multiple bruises and cuts, some deep. His eyes were almost swollen shut. There were puncture wounds on his thighs and upper arms. The last of these was accompanied by burn marks, both to cauterize and to persuade. His breathing was labored, probably because of the two or three ribs she had cracked. His right leg hung in an unnatural fashion. That had been a mistake. He had lost consciousness when she broke it, and it took considerable effort to bring him around again. His shoulders were at an odd angle from where she had dislocated them. Grinding bone against bone at the shoulder blades had proved an interesting method of getting his attention. His hands looked a little strange too because of the broken thumbs.
He had been out for a few hundred microts. That was long enough. She walked behind him, grabbed his shoulders and twisted. The resulting scream was evidence enough that he was awake.
She walked around to face him.
"Did you have a refreshing nap, John?"
His voice was hoarse from excessive use.
"Yeah. Had a nice dream. You were in it. You, a deep pit and some rattlesnakes."
She smiled coldly at his irrelevancy. "I believe we were talking about field strengths and accelerations."
He gasped out an answer. "I told you what I know. There's nothing else to say about it. You have to know that by now."
"I will decide when I know what I need to know from you, John."
His head shot up, and he smiled unexpectedly. The effect on that battered face was disturbing, and Calis cursed herself for reacting even a fraction.
"This has nothing to do with the weapon does it? It's because I didn't frell you."
"Don't be an idiot." That had come out louder and faster than she had intended. She quickly regained her composure before continuing. "As I told you, I'm not expecting any great revelations from you, but anything I get is better than nothing. I also want to see what you are made of. Not very much, it would seem. No Peacekeeper would have broken as easily as you have."
"Oh, I don't think I'm broken just yet, do you? And I've met all kinds of Peacekeepers."
Calis ignored this. "Of course, if you had been sensible, none of this would have been necessary. I guarantee you would have enjoyed yourself. Instead, here you sit, bleeding and in pain. You see what your blind allegiance to that traitorous trelk has earned you?"
"So let me see if I've got this straight. My choices were torture or sex with you .... I think I made the right decision."
She drove her fist into his torso with all her considerable strength. He blacked out again.
"Frell ...." She had let the human get to her. This was becoming counterproductive, and Crichton no longer served any real purpose. It would be best to eliminate him now, but she decided not to make that move in too much haste. It was almost morning, and she had been cooped up in this basement for nearly three days. She needed to get some air. His execution could wait for that.
--------------------
Ramirez had been watching the building for over 50 hours. There had been one transmission and nothing after that. No one had left or entered in all that time. Until now. The woman emerged alone. There was something about her appearance that disturbed him. The assault teams was scheduled to begin their strikes in just under 30 minutes. His orders were to stay out of the way until Teal'c and Sun arrived, but his instincts told him that something was seriously wrong and that delaying would be a mistake. Despite the risk to himself, the captives and the mission, he decided to take a chance.
He waited until she was out of sight, hid the receiver, and headed for the building. The doors were unlocked. He made his way inside, and a quick inspection led him to the basement entrance. He went in carefully, armed, like the rest of his team, with only a knife of local manufacture. The risk of discovery by passing Peacekeeper patrols was too great to allow anything else.
He saw Crichton, whom he recognized from the briefings. He was clearly in very bad shape and seemed to be unconscious. Jackson was nowhere in sight. He tried to wake Crichton while carefully cutting through his bonds. Crichton started to come out of it.
"Hey, you awake? Come on. Get up. We have to get out of here. You just need to hold on a little longer. They'll be coming any time now."
For a moment he saw a look of hope and the shadow of a smile began to form, but then Crichton's eyes focused on something to the right and went wide. Ramirez spun around knife in hand, and lunged towards the direction Crichton was looking. He was too slow. Calis was standing at the entrance with a weapon pointed at his chest. He had only a moment to register the absolute calm on her face as she fired, and then everything went black.
--------------------
Teal'c was dressed in local clothing and carried his weapon like an ordinary staff. He and Aeryn had made their way through the city within sight of each other but far enough apart not to appear to be together. Things had gone smoothly for the most part. The only incident had been when one of the routine patrols had stopped Teal'c. Aeryn had managed to overtake him from behind before they could ask him anything. The patrol consisted of young Officers barely out training, and it had taken little effort for "Lt. Sun" to berate them on their lack of discipline and anything else she could think of. They were more than happy to be elsewhere by the time Aeryn was done.
They arrived at the location Sorenson had transmitted, only to find that their contact was missing. Aeryn couldn't help feeling that things had already started to go wrong.
"Where the frell is he? Could he have panicked at the sight of a patrol?"
"Sgt. Ramirez is a capable warrior. He would not have abandoned this position without good reason."
"So something went wrong. I say we head into the building now."
"That would be unwise, Aeryn Sun. I too wish to rescue our companions, but we cannot jeopardize the mission by revealing our presence too soon." He glanced at his watch. "The explosives will detonate in 12 minutes. We must wait until then."
--------------------
"Who the frell was this, and what did he mean by 'They'll be coming any time'?"
Crichton said nothing. He had said nothing for nearly a third of an arn as Calis carefully examined the body of the man she had just killed. He seemed ordinary enough, dressed in the clothing of a Brinisi tradesman. The only unusual thing about him was the knife he carried. Brinisi did not normally carry weapons. Calis thought he might be a member of the small resistance group that had sprung up, but how could he have known about her or Crichton?
"I know you haven't been in contact with any Brinisi, so how did he know you were here, and why would he care?"
Calis had a flash of intuition. The idea was preposterous, but she hadn't advanced as far as she had by ignoring possibilities, however remote.
She had read the medical reports on Crichton, and there was an easy way to tell. She drew her knife and made a an incision along the abdomen. It was messy, but squeamishness was not something most Peacekeepers had in them. This was wrong. There was an unusual structure where the paraphoram should be. Brinisi were almost identical to Sebaceans internally, and this thing wasn't a Brinisi.
She jumped to her feet, pulled out a communicator and contacted Scorpius directly.
"Sir, we have a situation..."
Before she could say anything further, she, and probably everyone else in the city, heard a series of loud explosions to the East.
--------------------
It would be dawn in nearly a quarter arn, and the platoon currently guarding the entrance to the portal chamber was awaiting relief that would never come.
Seven men in Peacekeeper uniforms approached the guard detail from the far side of the small valley. To the soldiers who had been standing in the cold for arns, this was a welcome sight. At a distance, the P-90s the newcomers carried looked like pulse rifles, and their approach was timed so that getting a good look at those weapons would be the last thing on anyone's mind by the time they were close enough for it to matter.
A series of loud explosions sounded from somewhere in the city, in the direction opposite the approach of their comrades. The Peacekeepers were instantly on alert, weapons at the ready, but with their attention focused in the wrong direction. They were totally unprepared as the special ops team calmly joined them and proceeded to shoot with cold efficiency.
The humans rapidly filed into the building housing the gate. This time, luck was not on their side and one of the techs working in the control room sounded an alarm. The handful of soldiers in the facility responded haphazardly, and there was a short exchange of fire. In under two minutes, all the Peacekeepers, soldiers and techs were dead. One of their own was also down.
They quickly set incendiary devices throughout the gate room, in the control chamber and on every major piece of Brinisi hardware. They then sprayed the room with a chemical accelerant. The equipment in direct contact with the thermite charges would reach a temperature of 3000 Kelvin and stay nearly that hot for close to a minute. Tests on the material recovered by SG1 revealed that this would be enough to turn anything but the gate itself to slag. The rest of the facility would burn for at least 30 minutes at nearly 1800 Kelvin. There would be nothing left to recover.
Conventional explosives would seal the entrances so that the Peacekeepers would be unable to do anything about the fire, even if they could react in time and with the right counteragents, an unlikely but not impossible prospect.
The team worked fast. The alarm would bring reinforcement any minute, but they were prepared for that as well. As soon as the guards outside had been eliminated, two of the team, in hiding until then, had taken up position at the entrance to the facility with the .50 caliber sniper rifle. As the two marauders with commando reinforcement approached, they fired into the propulsor units, where Officer Sun had indicated the vessels were most vulnerable. The marauders were as ill equipped for this sort of primitive firepower as the Peacekeeper soldiers had been. Both ships exploded in mid- air.
When all was ready, Major Ealing activated the 15 second delay on the explosives and touched the Asgard dialing device. The Stargate came to life, and humans filed through moments before everything went up in flames. From the sound of the explosions to their exit via the gate, the operation had lasted just over 7 minutes.
--------------------
"Yes sir, I hear them as well."
[It must be what remains of the Brinisi forces in the city. It seems they are better organized than we suspected.]
"I don't think so, sir. Someone tried to rescue Crichton. A cursory examination seems to indicate that he is human."
[Human .... could he be one of the human gate travelers, perhaps separated from the others and left behind.]
"No, sir. I was present when the humans arrived through the gate. There were four of them, and this wasn't one of them. I can only conclude that they have some other means of traveling from their planet to Brinisa."
There was a slight pause.
[This could prove very valuable, Commander. Is the human in any condition to be questioned?]
"No, sir. I was forced to kill him. However, he said something to Crichton about others coming. I suspect there are more of them in the city, and they may attempt to rescue Crichton. I request that you send reinforcements right away. An attack on the base is also a possibility. Those explosions may have been a diversion."
[Thank you for your assessment, Commander. You seem to have an uncanny grasp of the obvious. I have already ordered forces to your location and have placed the base on alert. However, the initial reaction to all this excitement has left us in a temporary state of confusion. It seems most of our troops have already been dispatched to the Eastern quarter of the city. We are attempting to correct that situation. I suggest you do what you can to defend your position until reinforcements arrive.]
"Yes, sir." She disengaged her comms.
"Frelling, self-righteous half-breed," she muttered under her breath.
"Kind of makes you wonder, doesn't it?" Crichton was lucid again, but he could barely speak above a whisper.
"What the frell do you want?"
"Oh, nothing. Just thinking out loud. You guys are always talking about this racial superiority crap, but when it comes down to it, it's just another meaningless slogan. I mean look at you, cream of the PK crop, yet you're taking orders from old Scorpy."
She struck him across the face, and his head snapped to the side and then drooped forward, motionless. He'd done it again, managed to unbalance her. She had to stay calm. The situation required a level head.
"I don't have time for this dren. I was planning to kill you, but you have a temporary reprieve, Crichton."
He had just been promoted from condemned prisoner to bait. Calis went around to the back of the building to wait for the rescue attempt she was sure was coming.
--------------------
"There are the explosions, let's move."
"I advise extreme caution, Aeryn Sun. Sgt. Ramirez's disappearance indicates that we may encounter difficulty. We should approach from opposite ends of the building."
"Fine, you go around the back."
She was already on the move before Teal'c could say anything further.
He circled around the building and found a rear entrance. He stepped through cautiously, looking for any possible points of concealment. Too late, he saw a narrow passageway that hadn't been immediately visible from near the entrance. Just as his attention was drawn to it, a figure stepped out, weapon at the ready, and fired at his chest.
The last think he remembered was sinking to his knees as the staff weapon slipped out of his hand.
--------------------
Aeryn tried to maintain some cover as she advanced towards the building. Now that she was this close, she had to maintain control. A careless move at this point might cost John his life. She saw no one as she approached the building's front entrance. She stepped through, pulse rifle raised, and noticed footsteps tracked in the dust. There were several different ones, but one set had become familiar over the past few weekens. They had been made by military issue boots of the sort the humans wore. She followed them to a basement doorway.
Aeryn descended the stairs slowly, trying to see as far as she could in the dim light. A few hentas from the bottom of the staircase, she saw a body and froze. Forcing herself forward, she got a clearer look and started breathing again when she noticed that the hair was too dark to be John's. It wasn't Jackson either, which meant that the fate of Sgt. Ramirez was no longer a mystery.
She stepped carefully around Ramirez's body and scanned the room. The only illumination was a dim light, under which sat a man on a wooden chair. It took her a moment to recognize the broken and battered figure as John Crichton. She couldn't tell if he was dead or alive. Suppressing the overwhelming urge to run up to him, she advanced slowly.
A pulse rifle blast missed her by a hair and she dove for cover behind some crates, returning fire in the direction the shot had originated.
From somewhere in the darkened corner of the basement opposite her position, she heard, "Officer Sun, this is a surprise. I never expected you to risk yourself by coming after him in person."
"So let's see how much this primitive really means to you. I have him clearly in sight. Unless you step forward and drop your weapon, he dies. And don't expect any help from the other human. I have already dealt with him."
"Why the frell should I do anything you say? You'll kill us both anyway."
"Don't be so melodramatic, Sun. I have no desire to harm either of you. The human has already revealed everything he knows. He is of no use to me. You may be a fugitive, but so is the Captain who declared you contaminated. You are no longer anyone's priority. Step forward, drop your rifle, and I will release him into your care. You have until the count of ten."
"You're lying!"
"What you choose to believe is your problem, but I will fire on ten. One .... two ...."
Aeryn had only a moment to think. Teal'c was down, possibly dead. She couldn't see Calis. Any attempt to open fire would mean John's death.
"Six .... seven ...."
She was out of options, and only one choice remained. She held her pulse rifle over her head, stood up and walked slowly towards John. The counting stopped.
--------------------
Security was lax, as promised. There were guards posted at the base perimeter, but the Peacekeepers obviously expected nothing of substance from the locals. The explosions went off on schedule, and the early morning quiet was disrupted by a mass of bodies, most heading towards the Eastern quarter of the city.
The twelve men comprising the assault team were scattered outside the base, doing their best not to draw attention. As the alarms sounded, and troops began streaming out, the humans quietly inserted themselves into the confused rush. The overall movement of troops was out and away from the base, but there was enough traffic in all directions to allow them to move in unobserved. They closed on the main building from different directions, and entered in staggered groups of two and three. Each small group headed to its pre-assigned starting point at the extreme corners of the building.
They expected little or no resistance going in and met none, but once they started working, there was the possibility of individual Peacekeepers stumbling across them. Each team worked back towards the entrance placing small metallic devices in preplanned locations. One or two men attached the devices to the walls while the remaining man covered them. Most of the teams had progressed more than half way back towards the entrance when things started to go wrong.
They were to maintain radio silence except in extreme emergency, but Lt. Smith 's voice suddenly sounded. From his concealed position on a small hill overlooking the compound, he could see a sudden shift in Peacekeeper troop movement back towards the base. The men in the building continued to work methodically, but they now realized that a smooth exit would be unlikely.
By the time most of them were down to two or three remaining devices, they started to hear the enemy approaching along the hallways. Instead of the light, disorganized opposition they had hoped for, the twelve men, all near the entrance of the building, but still scattered, faced scores of Peacekeepers who were ready for them. The last of the devices were abandoned, and several furious but short firefights broke out as each small team encountered opposition. Within ten minutes of entering the building, all twelve were dead.
--------------------
O'Neill and Carter had entered with the others, but they headed directly for the central laboratory. They passed several Peacekeeper and Brinisi techs, none of whom bothered with the two 'Officers', and made their way to the secure facility housing the disks, the weapon schematics and Daniel's translations. Braca had told them that all the material from the gate site was being stored here, and that the translations were being analyzed on the base. In a genuine stroke of luck, the information was not being relayed to the ships in orbit for fear of compromising security.
O'Neill punched in the pass code Braca had supplied, hoping that no one had thought to change it. To their relief, the door opened. Explosives would not be necessary.
They walked in to find Daniel Jackson standing in the center of the room with a female Peacekeeper holding a weapon to his head. Off to the side was a creature who had to be Scorpius.
"Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter, if I am not mistaken. Daniel has told me a great deal about the two of you. I suggest you surrender your weapons. This facility will be surrounded by my troops very shortly, and I know enough of you to know that you have not come this far to risk Daniel's life."
O'Neill bluffed. "We're here for the disks, not Daniel. Besides, there are two of us, and you're not armed. It looks to me like we have the advantage here."
"My aide is expendable, and you are no threat to me. I am part Scarren, as you may know, and your primitive weapons will have no effect."
O'Neill had casually leveled his weapon at Scorpius' shoulder while listening to Carter's running translation. "You know, we get a lot of that."
He fired without warning. Scorpius was thrown back violently. There was a spurt of dark blood followed by an utterly inhuman bellow.
The Peacekeeper had clearly not expected this turn of events. She seemed to hesitate for an instant and started to bring her pistol around to fire at O'Neill. At that moment, Jackson went limp and dropped far enough to give Carter a clean shot at her head. She took it.
"Carter, gather everything you can. Daniel, you o.k.?"
He was slumped against the body of the dead Peacekeeper. "Uh .... no. I haven't exactly been on vacation here. Glad you guys finally showed up."
"Don't worry. We'll have you back on your feet in no time."
"Crichton. He's still with the woman. She's some kind of spy, by the way."
"We know. Teal'c and Aeryn are getting him."
Carter interrupted them, "Sir, I think we've got everything. I'll set the explosives." She turned to Jackson. "How are you doing, Daniel?"
"Oh, about as well as when Jack asked me a couple of seconds ago."
"We'll have you out of here in no time. Sir, what do we do with him?" She pointed at Scorpius who was leaning against the far wall and bleeding freely.
"It looks like the mission's been compromised. We take him with us. We're probably going to need the insurance."
He walked over to Scorpius.
"Hey, you. Get on your feet. You're coming with us."
The voice that responded sounded nothing like the one that had initially greeted them. It was deep and guttural.
"How!?"
O'Neill glanced at Carter, and she supplied the explanation.
"Oh, you know. Primitive weapons. They never seem to behave. Now I said it once already, and I won't repeat it a third time. On your feet. Or would you like to see what happens when I fire this thing at your head?"
Scorpius staggered to his feet.
"Carter, you get Daniel. I'll escort our friend here."
--------------------
"Drop the rifle and kick it towards my voice."
She complied.
"Now your pistol."
Aeryn unholstered her pistol and kicked it in the direction of the rifle, all the while keeping an eye on John. To her immense relief, he was breathing, although with obvious difficulty. His head snapped up unexpectedly, and he tried to focus in her direction.
His voice was a hoarse whisper, "Aeryn? You ... get out ... she's here ..."
She tried to keep her voice steady, "It's alright, John. Don't try to talk."
An armed figure slowly stepped out of the darkness and walked toward her. Aeryn recognized the woman she had known as Sa'di, but this was obviously no longer a meek scientist.
"I didn't think you would do it. You're really willing to throw your life away for this alien piece of dren. I've read your record, Sun. You showed promise. You might even have secured your own command in time. I can't believe you gave up everything for him."
Aeryn refused to react. She knew it would do no good.
"I'll admit, he's not a bad frell, and very eager .... but still ...."
That required no thought. She knew instantly that Calis was lying. Aeryn realized that her disbelief must have registered on her face, because a moment later, she saw a brief flash of embarrassment from the other woman. This was covered as quickly as it appeared.
"You said you would let us go."
"I lied, you frelling traitor. You are a disgrace to everything we Peacekeepers stand for. You betrayed your oath for an alien."
"I betrayed my oath because my oath meant nothing, and we Peacekeepers," she spat out the word with every ounce of contempt in her, "stand for nothing."
That got a reaction. Calis was enraged.
"Maybe a few rounds in the Aurora chair will reveal how the genetic screenings allowed something like you to live. But first, you get to watch him die."
She started to point her rifle at John's head. Aeryn prepared to throw herself at Calis. It would almost certainly be suicide, but she had no choice. Just as she was about to lunge forward, she heard a sound that had become familiar over the past few weekens and saw blue arcs encircle Calis' body. The disruptor fell heavily to the ground. Aeryn instinctively picked up her rifle and slung it across her shoulder.
When she looked up, she saw Teal'c leaning against the rear entrance to the basement as the Zat slid out of his hand onto the ground. There was a prominent burn mark on his torso.
"Are you alright?" she called across the room.
"I will live," Teal'c answered weakly.
Aeryn immediately turned to John, drew her knife and cut his bonds. She was appalled by his appearance, and the strange way his legs were arranged worried her.
"John? Can you understand me?"
"Aeryn .... she .... lying .... never."
Aeryn tried to be as comforting as her current state would allow. "I know, John. Don't worry about any of that now. We need to get you out of here."
"More soldiers coming .... heard her."
Aeryn started to move faster. She tentatively stretched John's leg and could feel the break. His sharp intake of breath told her of the pain it caused. Ignoring it, she hauled him up and supported his weight as best she could. Teal'c had made his way over to them.
"Allow me to assist you."
"Can you manage? You're hurt."
"My symbiote will repair the damage in time. Until then, I will endure the discomfort."
Each took one shoulder to support his weight. As they started to make their way across the basement towards the exit, Aeryn noticed that John's arms were hanging loosely at the shoulders. She had a burning desire to go back and finish Calis, but there was no time for that sort of indulgence now, and the sometimes annoying moral compass with which she was now burdened told her that it would be wrong to kill the disruptor in her present condition.
--------------------
The fuzziness was starting to fade, and she could see again. She was in intense pain, and her muscles seemed no longer to be under her control. Forcing her head up somehow, she saw three figures heading away from her. She could not allow him to escape now, no matter the cost.
Calis had been trained to ignore pain, and there was considerable pain to ignore, but there was more to this. She felt no response from any of her limbs. Through an act of immense concentration, she forced her right hand down to the knife concealed in her boot. She still felt nothing, but she saw her body respond. Planning out the motion carefully in her head, she willed her body to respond once again. It did.
She rose in one swift if somewhat clumsy motion and threw herself across the few hentas separating her from the central figure in the trio. Then she saw her hand drive the knife into his back.
Sun turn towards her as the other human took Crichton's full weight. She saw Sun's left hand shoot out to grasp the back of her head and twist it. She recognized the move instantly and knew what was coming. She heard, but never felt, the sharp crack as the palm of Sun's right hand contacted violently with her chin. As she slumped to the ground, she had a few moments to considered how odd everything looked from this angle, with her head hanging loosely on her neck. Those thoughts didn't last long. Her vision started to fade, and she knew she would be dead in a few microts. At least she had taken Crichton with her.
--------------------
Aeryn examined John's stab wound in absolute terror. She was no medic, but she could tell that the bleeding wasn't as extensive as it would have been if the knife had penetrated deeply or pierced a vital organ. She suspected that it had been deflected off a rib. Still, he was bleeding continuously and had lost consciousness. They took a moment to bind the wound with the only available material, strips from Calis' dress, and then started to move. If John was right, the Peacekeepers would be upon them soon.
Aeryn and Teal'c half carried and half dragged John out of the building. In his current condition, there was no way they could get him to the rendezvous point in time. They managed to get away from the building and headed toward the city center.
Once they were far enough away, they stopped in an alley.
"You should go. We can't possibly get him there in time."
"I could say the same to you, Aeryn Sun."
Aeryn shook her head. There was nothing to discuss. "I will not abandon him."
"And I will not abandon either of you. Therefore, I propose that we find some way for all three of us to join our comrades."
"Look, there's no frelling way we can get there on foot with John like this...."
She had a thought. "Maybe we don't need to. Stay with him for a few microts. I'll be back." She leaned in close to John's unconscious form, gently touched his face and whispered into his ear, her voice trembling, "You hold on, you hear me. I am frelling well not going to lose you now." Then she ran quickly around a corner.
It didn't take long. She saw a Brinisi ground vehicle carrying two Peacekeeper techs and stood in its path. The vehicle stopped and one of the techs got out.
"Sir, we are under orders to return to base."
"Frell your orders. I have two prisoners in need of immediate transport. I'm taking your vehicle."
The tech who had spoken hesitated. "This is highly irregular."
She struck the him hard across the jaw with the butt of her rifle, knocking him to the ground, and turned to the other one still in the vehicle.
"Do I get an argument from you as well?"
He scrambled out and stood at attention. "No, Sir!"
"Pick up your friend and get back to base. Now!"
She didn't wait to see what they would do. Aeryn had been a Peacekeeper most of her life, and although it now embarrassed her to do this, she knew that the techs would do as they were instructed without question.
She returned to the alley. "Help me get him up. We have a vehicle."
They got John into the back and headed directly to the rendezvous point.
--------------------
"This is going to be tricky."
They hadn't gone far when they found themselves faced with a wall of Peacekeepers blocking their exit.
"Tell them to back off now."
Scorpius did nothing.
O'Neill shoved the barrel of his P-90 roughly against the back of Scorpius' head.
"Like I said, I don't like to repeat myself. Do it."
"You will stand down."
The Peacekeepers looked around in confusion.
"Immediately!"
To a man, they backed away.
O'Neill lead the way with Scorpius in front of him. Carter supported part of Daniel's weight on one arm while holding her weapon with the other.
"What about the others, Sir?"
"Let's hope some of them made it out. We'll find out when we get back to the ship."
Upon leaving the building, O'Neill led them to one of the vehicles parked near the entrance. The Peacekeepers had been ordered to remain well away. As they approached their objective, Scorpius took the instant's distraction offered by a low flying prowler to throw himself at the humans. It wouldn't have worked except that the sudden surge of strength came as a surprise to them. O'Neill managed to fire from a prone position but only hit Scorpius in the leg. There was no time for a second shot as the Peacekeepers who had been waiting near the building entrance made their way towards them.
The heads of the two closest Peacekeepers exploded in rapid succession. The others took cover, and the three humans took the unexpected opportunity to get into the vehicle and out of the base as fast as possible. They heard the sound of equipment exploding behind them. It was too small and sporadic to be the main building going up. It must have been Smith.
--------------------
From his concealed position, Lt Smith saw that only SG1 had emerged from the base. They appeared to have a prisoner, and the Peacekeepers were keeping clear of them. He saw the prisoner break away and the Peacekeepers begin to advance. His mission had been to provide some cover for the assault team's retreat by destroying some equipment at the far end of the base, parked prowlers or marauders. Now he found himself engaging individual Peacekeepers. It worked well enough to get them to keep their heads down and let SG1 get away.
Once they were out of the base, he continued to fire at any large target that presented itself. He knew that remaining in a fixed position this long was a mistake, but there was no other cover for the three running from the base. He saw a lone prowler approach. He took aim and prepared to fire. The prowler fired first.
--------------------
Within the main building of the Brinisi base, the small metallic devices the humans had placed began to spew a colorless gas. It spread quickly throughout the outer hallways. The devices exploded simultaneously, igniting the gas and resulting in fireballs that spread throughout the hallways and into the laboratory facilities. The heat caused instant condensation of the gaseous accelerant, which now covered key points of the building. The resulting fire would burn as hot as the one at the gate and would be as difficult to extinguish.
--------------------
Aeryn drove like a maniac, partly because of her unfamiliarity with the vehicle, but mostly because she was desperate to get John to the ship. The streets were almost deserted. The Brinisi, practical people to begin with, had learned over the preceding weekens how to stay out of the way, and the recent explosions had been more than enough incentive to keep most of them indoors. They passed a few Peacekeepers near the center of the city, but no one paid them any special attention. As they approached the Western outskirts, the streets became totally empty.
They were early by more than 5 minutes. Sorenson's small reconnaissance team had already assembled at the marker where they were supposed to wait. Aeryn and Teal'c lifted John out and carried him towards the assembled humans.
Sorenson glanced at Crichton and said, "Flint, take a look at him."
Aeryn instantly blocked his approach. She hadn't worked with these particular humans, and didn't really trust anyone at the moment.
"It's alright, he's a medic."
She relented marginally, but maintained her grip on John. The human medic examined the hastily prepared bandages, already soaked through with blood. Humans, Aeryn had discovered, were very easy to read, and she didn't like the look in this man's eyes.
"We can't do anything here, but we need to take a look at this as soon as we get back to the ship."
Aeryn nodded, pulled John down to the ground and held him in a death grip.
Sorenson addressed Teal'c. "Ramirez?"
"Sgt. Ramirez was killed while attempting to rescue Dr. Crichton. Rest assured that he died as a warrior."
Sorenson looked away. Aeryn could tell that he took the loss personally, something a Peacekeeper would never have done for a lost subordinate.
--------------------
"We're nearly there sir, and we haven't been spotted yet."
Carter peered out from the back of the vehicle at the marauders scouring the city. There was nothing to distinguish their transport from any of the others, and Smith's diversion combined with some very fancy driving from O'Neill had insured that the Peacekeepers had lost track of them at the base.
Their luck failed at the last minute. As they approached the pickup site, Carter noticed that one of the marauders had turned towards them. By the time they stopped and joined the others waiting at the marker, three other marauders had converged on their position from different directions, and several prowlers circled overhead. The commandos poured out and started to advance as soon as the ships landed. Fortunately for the humans, it seemed that their orders were to capture rather than kill. Carter was certain that they would already be dead otherwise.
The humans arranged themselves in two small semi-circles separated by a few feet, weapons at the ready and prepared for the worst. The larger group consisted of Aeryn, Crichton, SG-1 and Flint. The remainder of Sorenson's team made up the other.
A Peacekeeper addressed them from the far end of the street. Everyone turned to Carter.
"He wants us to drop our weapons and surrender."
O'Neill asked quietly, "How much longer?"
Carter glanced at her watch. "Should be any second, sir."
No sooner had she said this than two ships materialized overhead and two columns of rings descended on the two groups. A moment later, they were on the Tok'ra vessels.
O'Neill addressed the pilot. "Are they following?"
"They are attempting to do so, but it will serve no purpose." With that, the Tok'ra touched a control to activate the hyperdrive, and the Peacekeepers were left far behind.
Carter approached Aeryn. She had moved aside slightly to allow Sorenson's medic to work on John but wouldn't let go of his hand.
"Ask him how John is?"
Carter relayed the question.
"The knife didn't penetrate too deeply and I don't think there are any internal injuries, but he's bleeding badly. I changed the dressing, but it's already starting to soak through. I don't think we can control it." He paused for a few moments looking back and forth from Carter to Aeryn. "I don't think he's going to survive the trip back to the gate."
Aeryn's face became ashen. Carter would not have imagined her capable of that look of utter defeat. She snapped out of it with frightening abruptness.
"What about the Brinisi gate?"
"We can't get to it, Aeryn. That part of it went according to plan."
"We will frelling well do something! I am not going to sit here and watch him die! What about one of the other Alliance worlds. This ship is faster than anything I've seen before. We should be able to get to one in time."
Carter didn't want to destroy her hopes, but she needed to inject some reality into the situation.
"Would they help us, Aeryn? I want to save John too, but we can't risk everyone else. If you could point us to someone who we're certain will help, we would do our best to get there."
Aeryn's face suddenly lit up.
"My comm. .... It's not a fake like the ones you're wearing. Is there some way to use all this dren," she waved her hand at the alien technology, " to contact Moya with it?"
"Wait, it's been weeks. Would your ship even be there?"
"I don't know, but we can try."
Carter had a quick conversation with O'Neill and then took Aeryn's comm. to the ship's communications array. She understood this technology better than any other human. A scan of the Sebacean device revealed the working frequencies, and she quickly determined that the Tok'ra technology could boost the signal far beyond anything the device had been designed for.
"Aeryn, get over here."
Aeryn left Crichton's side with obvious reluctance.
"This might work, but only if they're still there, of course. I boosted the signal and narrowed it enough to hit anything in orbit of the planet where Moya is supposed to be. Here goes nothing. Speak into that."
"Can anyone hear me? D'argo? Zhaan?"
There was silence for a few agonizing moments. Then, [Aeryn? Where the hezmana are you? How are you contacting us?]
The relief in Aeryn's voice was mixed with an obvious trace of irritation. "Never mind. Tell Zhaan that John is injured. He is bleeding badly. We should be there in .... ," she looked to Carter.
"About 30 minutes."
"Approximately half an arn. We will be arriving on an alien ship. Be ready for us."
[Understood.]
--------------------
D'argo waited in the docking bay. He was alone. Zhaan was preparing to receive Crichton and Chiana was helping. Rygel was off somewhere, stuffing his face as usual. Stark was doing whatever it was Stark did. He had wanted to leave this place weekens ago but had been overruled. He didn't want to abandon his comrades, but the chance that they could escape the Peacekeeper occupation was vanishingly small. No one on the planet had been able to explain why the Peacekeepers would take a single city on Brinisa. It seemed preposterous that they would expend those resources for Crichton or Aeryn alone. The others had come to no definitive decision about staying or leaving. It was Pilot who refused to leave while there was still any hope.
The ship arrived on schedule and was like nothing he had ever seen. D'argo didn't know what to expect, so he drew his Qualta blade and waited. Aeryn emerged first, followed by a number of Peacekeepers, one of whom was helping Aeryn carry Crichton on a stretcher of some kind. D'argo was confused.
"Stop! I demand to know why these Peacekeepers are here."
"D'argo, get the frell out of my way or I will kill you myself." Aeryn's voice was ice cold.
Whatever was going on, he knew that there was no arguing with Aeryn when she was in that state, and that her threat was not an idle one. He also got his first look at Crichton as she strode past him, and silently made way for the strange assembly.
A woman walked up to him and looked at him a little apprehensively. "We're not Peacekeepers. We're humans like John, and one of us is in need of medical attention."
"Humans? How is that possible? And how are you piloting such an advanced ship?"
"It's a long story. Right now, we need to get to the infirmary, so if you don't mind ...."
She was followed by two males, supporting a third between them. They followed Aeryn to the medical bay.
"What the frell is going on?" he demanded of no one in particular.
D'argo was confused. At least he was used to the feeling.
--------------------
Aeryn was hovering over her expectantly, and although she understood her shipmates concern, it wasn't making her job any easier.
"Will he be alright?"
"I've managed to control the bleeding, but his injuries are extensive, and he has already lost a great deal of blood. It is fortunate that we have a supply of his blood in reserve. We both know he is strong, Aeryn. The Goddess willing, he will recover."
Aeryn nodded absently, and Zhaan noticed for the first time how tired she looked. It was as if days of unending stress had suddenly reached a culmination. She still didn't know what had happened or how the other humans had arrived aboard Moya, but explanations could wait.
"You look exhausted, child. Perhaps you should consider getting some rest. John will be fine on his own for a little while."
She took a seat near John's bed and announced in a tone that would admit no argument, "He's been on his own enough. I'm not going anywhere."
"Uh .... pardon me, ma'am." It was the human woman. "You seem to be a doctor. Our friend here has been through quite a lot. Do you suppose you could take a look at him next?"
"Of course. You may call me, Zhaan, by the way."
"Samantha."
She walked to the other bed, around which were gathered the other humans. None of them looked particularly comfortable with her presence. Aeryn had said that only the female and the male with the strange symbol on his forehead would be able to understand her.
"Samantha, would you please ask the others to step aside."
Carter relayed the request, and Zhaan ran a scanner over Jackson when the others stepped away.
"He has internal injuries consistent with severe electrical shocks. I imagine he is in considerable pain."
"You can say that again," Jackson managed to croak.
"You understand her?" O'Neill asked.
"Microbes."
Zhaan addressed Jackson directly. "I can treat your wounds, but I can do nothing for the internal damage. Your injuries are not life-threatening as far as I can tell, but I cannot be certain of anything. I fear that my knowledge of human physiology is quite limited."
"Thank you anyway," Carter offered. Then turning to Jackson, she said, "I'm sure Janet can fix you right up once we get home, Daniel."
"I could offer you something for the pain. It was worked on John in the past with no ill effects, so there should be no problem."
"I'll take it. Anything's got to be better than how I feel now."
She turned to the tall human, the other one who could understand her.
"You appear to be injured as well. Would you like me to examine you?"
"I am grateful for the offer, but it is unnecessary. I would, however, appreciate the opportunity to perform my daily meditation in private. I carry within me a symbiotic life form which will facilitate my recovery while I meditate."
"You heal yourself through meditation? And you carry another life within you? I would appreciate the chance to discuss these matters with you when you feel better."
He bowed slightly and said, "I would welcome the opportunity."
--------------------
The medication Zhaan had given Jackson seemed to stabilize his condition. He managed to recover enough to start badgering everyone aboard about their respective languages and cultures. Rygel was an especially interesting subject because of his background, but they all fascinated him. It was going well enough until he encountered Stark, who was a little too strange for even his curiosity.
Carter split her time between studying as much of the Peacekeeper equipment as she could get her hands on and talking to Pilot about Moya's biomechanoid technology.
After spending several hours in a deep state of kel'no'reem, Teal'c spent the remainder of the day in conversation with Zhaan. They were joined by Flint who had essentially attached himself to her as a means of avoiding Chiana, whose early attention had him more than a little spooked.
O'Neill wandered through Moya's hallways and eventually found himself on the terrace. The astronomer in him couldn't help but wish he had a telescope. For most of the day, he had been shadowed by D'argo, who apparently identified him as the primary potential threat. At one point he had turned around and said, "Hey, tentacle boy, I know you're back there." This earned him a growl, and even if he couldn't understand the language, the meaning was quite clear.
--------------------
At ship's evening, Carter walked into the medical bay. Aeryn was there as expected. She hadn't budged all day.
"How is he, Aeryn?"
"Zhaan says he's stable. He regained consciousness a few times, but he was still disoriented. It will take time."
"How long are you planning to sit with him?"
"As long as it takes."
Carter suppressed a smile. John had done very well for himself with Aeryn Sun. She was happy for her friend, for both her friends.
"Aeryn, there's something we need to talk about. Col. O'Neill thought it might be best coming from me."
Aeryn looked at her suspiciously. "What?"
"We can't wait much longer. Now that the Peacekeepers know about us, we can't take chances, not with the gate on the staging planet and not with the Asgard technology. We have to get back to the gate within 20 hours, and it will take another 15 just to get from here to there. After that, the support personnel have orders to gate back to Earth, and the address will be permanently locked out of our computers. Not that it really matters for us anyway, since they're going to take the only Asgard dialing device with them."
"Zhaan says John shouldn't be moved."
"I spoke with her a little while ago. She said it might be dangerous to move him now, but she doesn't know how dangerous."
"Couldn't you just come back to the other planet in a few weekens? Moya could make it there by then."
"Even if it was approved, and it wouldn't be because of the security risk, there wouldn't be any way to coordinate it. Besides which, the Asgard aren't going to let us hold on to their toys much longer."
Aeryn said nothing for a few moments, apparently absorbed in thought.
"You have a decision to make."
"There is no decision. I will not risk John's life, no matter what, not even if he hates me for it."
Carter nodded in acknowledgment. "For what it's worth, I think you're making the right choice. And Aeryn, no matter what happens, I know he's not going to blame you. I haven't had much of a chance to get reacquainted with John, but I have spent a fair amount of time with you in the past couple of weeks. I think he's going to be happy as long as he's with you, wherever that is."
Aeryn cast her eyes down, grateful for Carter's words, but at a loss for a response. A very soft "Thank you" was all she could manage.
--------------------
Everyone including Aeryn, who had finally agreed to leave John for a few microts, was gathered in the main docking bay to bid the humans farewell. There was a brief exchange of supplies. The humans left some medicines for Crichton and some food, which Rygel immediately claimed. They took with them some of Zhaan's herbs, a small collection of various pieces of Peacekeeper technology, and a supply of translator microbes for further study.
Aeryn found herself unexpectedly emotional at the impending departure of the humans. She shook hands with each of them, and wished Teal'c and O'Neill well. Carter was last.
"It's been a pleasure to get to know you, Aeryn."
"Likewise. I .... consider you a friend."
She leaned in closer, so that only Aeryn would hear. "You're the best thing that's ever happened to him. Take care of him."
Aeryn smiled at Carter. "Thank you. I plan to."
"Be sure to look me up when you two eventually get to Earth. I know John, and I've gotten to know you, so it's definitely 'when' not 'if'."
"We will. Goodbye, Samantha."
--------------------
Crichton had been working on his module for nearly an arn. Much longer, and he knew Aeryn would come after him. His progress over the past few weekens had been good, but Aeryn still refused to let him overtax himself. It was impossible to argue with her when it came to his recovery. He wasn't complaining too much. He knew that she only did it because she loved him.
As he walked back to his and Aeryn's quarters, he felt a strange sense of foreboding. Moya seemed unnaturally silent. He hadn't noticed earlier, but he had been completely absorbed in his work.
Crichton hit his comms. "Pilot, is there something wrong with Moya? It's awfully quiet. I haven't even seen a DRD in close to an arn." There was no response. "Pilot?.... Aeryn, you there? Pilot's not responding." Again, there was no response. "D'argo? Chiana? Zhaan? Anybody there?" When there was still no response, he started to move as fast as his still healing leg would let him.
He paused at the door to his quarters before forcing down his apprehension and stepping through. He saw her lying on the bed and let out the breath he hadn't realized he was holding. She was asleep. That was odd for Aeryn, since it wasn't the sleep cycle and she never took naps. He supposed that she must simply be exhausted from looking after him nonstop all these weeks. Still, he should wake her. She would be annoyed if he let her sleep through dinner.
He stepped closer and the hallway light he had been blocking struck her face. He stopped in his tracks. She was absolutely pale. Crichton had only ever seen her look like that once, and that had been the worst experience of his life. He looked further down. The sheets, normally a reflective gold, were stained deep red.
Before he could take another step towards her, he saw a movement out of the corner of his eye. A figure stepped out of the shadows at the far end of the room. It was someone he had never expected to see again.
When Calis spoke, her voice was deadly calm. "Hello, John. It took me long enough to find you. You and I never got a chance to finish our conversation." She casually glanced at Aeryn, lying motionless. "Don't worry about your trelk bothering us this time. She's dead."
--------------------
She woke to the sudden movement by her side well before she heard the sound. She looked up quickly to see him sitting bolt upright. It took a moment to register that the anguished yell was actually her name. Aeryn sat up, took his head in her hands and turned him to face her. He had a wild, unfocused look that momentarily terrified her.
"John! John! Stop it ...."
He came out of it as recognition dawned.
"Aeryn!? You're o.k.? God, you're o.k."
With that, he enfolded her in a crushing embrace and buried his face in the crook of her neck. She could feel him wince as she made contact with the bandages covering his ribs, but he wouldn't let go. His breathing was ragged and she could feel him trembling. She held him and quietly stroked his hair and massaged the back of his neck. When he finally seemed to calm down a little, she gently pushed him away and forced him to lie back down. She got down next to him and put her arm around him, trying to avoid his injuries. The past few days had made her something of an expert at that.
It had been five days since the humans had left Moya and two since Zhaan had released John from the infirmary. He was no longer in any danger, but his injuries would take time to heal. Zhaan had applied a salve to the burns and cuts. She claimed there would be little or no scarring. The broken bones were bound in place and infused with a chemical to help the bonds strengthen more rapidly. It would still be another four or five weekens before his body was completely healed. That was far more time than would have been required if they had access to a proper medical facility, but far less than it would have taken without Zhaan's intervention.
"Are you in a mood to talk?" she asked quietly.
She hoped that he would be. John's body would heal, but right now, Aeryn was more concerned about his mind. He had been through worse in his time in the Uncharted Territories, but how much could one man take?
"What was it this time?" This wasn't the first bad dream.
John hesitated for a few microts, and then told her about the dream. Aeryn breathed a sigh of relief. He was talking, and she knew everything would be alright.
The dream was confusing. Her part in it was a little strange.
"I can understand the disruptor, but why would you be dreaming about her hurting me?"
"I don't know. Maybe it's just because I was so worried about you when we were apart. Maybe that just got mixed in with everything else ...."
She leaned over and kissed him gently before settling back next to him. "I was worried about you too." He smiled a little at that.
"You must be getting sick of this. The pathetic human, afraid of his own shadow."
She felt an unexpected flash of anger. "There is nothing pathetic or cowardly about you. I never want to hear you say anything like that again." Aeryn regretted her tone as soon as the words were out, but John just looked amused.
"Yes, ma'am."
"Well, good then. I have never considered you a coward, John. I want you to understand that, and I want you to know how proud of you I am. I may not always have been able to express it, but it's how I have always felt."
Aeryn hesitated before bringing up the thoughts this line of conversation had forced to mind, but now seemed as good a time as any.
"It was worse before wasn't it? I mean after the Aurora chair. Before you knew about the chip."
John seemed to think about it for a few moments. "Yeah, I suppose it was."
Aeryn looked away and became very quiet. The vague feelings of guilt that had been nagging at her for over two cycles had started to surface and take form. John gently turned her face back to look at him. His hands were still bound to allow the breaks to heal properly, so the motion was a little awkward.
"What's wrong?"
"I ...." She swallowed before continuing haltingly. "I'm sorry I couldn't be of more .... comfort to you then. I knew you needed it, or at least that you needed something .... I just didn't know what to do or how to help. I should have tried harder."
Aeryn didn't know what to expect. Perhaps forgiveness or maybe even accusation. The look of utter disbelief she saw on John's face took her by surprise.
"Aeryn, how long have you been carrying this around? I wish you had said something earlier." He started to stroke her hair clumsily and continued. "Listen to me. You are the only thing that kept me sane back then. I don't ever want you to think you failed me in any way. I know how hard an adjustment you've had to make over the past few cycles and how much you've had to overcome for us to be where we are now. I never expected it to be easy, and I will never begrudge you the time it took. So just stop thinking like that, o.k.?"
She opened her mouth and closed it again, not sure what to say. A slight nod was all she could manage. Aeryn had wanted him to understand and hoped that he could, but until now, never really believed that he already did. She thought of the period of extreme awkwardness between them that had followed her resurrection two and a half cycles ago. They had come so far since then. It really had been a remarkable journey for both of them.
Now that this was out in the open, there was something else she wanted to address. They had long ago talked about John's indiscretion on the Royal Planet, and in time, that had been forgiven and forgotten, but there were things neither of them had really expressed.
"I don't know why I'm bringing this up now. Maybe the disruptor just reminded me of some things .... on the Royal Planet, when I left you, I didn't mean .... that is, I didn't understand ...."
He cut her off. "You were disappointed in me. I know. There was a lot going on, and I just couldn't take any more."
"I should have tried harder to understand what you were going through."
This time he didn't contradict her. "Maybe. Or maybe it just wasn't possible back then. Either way, I'm the one who screwed up in the end. I know that. I won't make excuses for myself."
There it was. Out in the open. And it hadn't been as bad as she thought it would be. She closed the distance between them and gingerly put her head on his shoulder, making sure she wasn't causing him any discomfort.
He kissed the top of her head and said, "I love you, Aeryn."
She looked up at him and said, "I love you too, John."
He looked back in surprise. Aeryn did her best not to look too smug, but she knew she wasn't pulling it off very well.
"What the heck was that, Aeryn? You sounded funny."
"I said it in English."
She watched as an idiotic grin descended over his face. "You were busy on Earth, weren't you?"
"Well, you don't think I wasted all my time thinking about you. I had a very productive few weekens on your planet."
"I wish I had been there to see that."
"So do I."
She hesitated slightly before continuing.
"We haven't had much of a chance to really talk in the past few days. You were still groggy from Zhaan's medicines. You haven't said anything about missing your chance to go home. I'm sorry about that, John, but I couldn't risk it .... I should have stopped her from stabbing you. I got careless and ...."
"Aeryn, stop it. Nothing that happened was your fault, so don't even think of blaming yourself. If it hadn't been for you, I would be dead right now. None of that really matters anyway. The only thing that matters is that we're together again."
She held him just a little tighter.
"Tell the truth, Aeryn, you're not all that disappointed to be back on Moya, are you?"
"I won't lie to you. I liked what I saw of your Earth, but Moya is the only home I have ever known."
He spoke a little hesitantly when he asked, "If we ever get another chance, do you think you could try to make the adjustment?"
She had to smile at, "Of course. You've made enough for me. Anyway, I was telling you the truth. I liked your Earth. I think I could learn to live there."
That seemed to satisfy him because he just kissed her again.
"So, tell me everything. What did you see and do?"
She settled in and got comfortable. This was going to be a long conversation, and she was looking forward to it as much as he seemed to be.
"Well, first of all, I tried that chocolate you keep going on about ...."