Crichton looked up as Zhaan entered command. "How is he?"
"He should be fine. Chiana is watching him."
"When do you expect him to come to?"
"I have no way of telling exactly, but soon." Zhaan gave him a little smile.
Crichton turned to the others. "We need to decide what we are we going to do with him."
"Set him down on his planet and then starburst the frell away from here." Aeryn stated firmly.
"Aren't you in the least bit curious why he went to all this trouble to escape? He could be in danger there. Shouldn't we at least give him a chance to explain himself?"
"Do not forget that he was taking us back to his planet. He could be a bounty hunter bringing us in. We could find the place crawling with Peacekeepers when we get there." D'Argo argued.
"He's pretty young for a bounty hunter, D'Argo." Crichton reasoned. "He's just a child. Maybe he needs help and a place to stay."
"He cannot stay aboard Moya!" Aeryn glared at Crichton, her hands clenched into fists. "And he should consider himself fortunate that we are letting him leave with his life."
"And Ms Sun is the first one to mention the possibility of killing him. Colour me anything but surprised." His mocking tone didn't mask his anger.
She took a step forward. "What the frell is that supposed to mean?"
"You said it yourself, Aeryn, you'd shoot him again if you could." Crichton shot back, refusing to be intimidated by the very angry woman in front of him.
"No, I would shoot him again if I had to."
"It would do no harm to ask him what his motives were." Zhaan said trying to calm things down.
"Yotz to that! I say we space him now and turn Moya around. His actions have shown him to be untrustworthy."
" If that were the only criteria, Spanky, we would have spaced you long ago."
"Have circumstances not forced us all at one time or another to resort to desperate acts?" Zhaan interjected. "I agree with John. We should speak to him before deciding his fate."
Thank you, Zhaan." He looked around the others.
"Very well." D'Argo agreed.
"Oh, don't look at me! You never frelling listen to me anyway. What difference does it make what I think?" Rygel grumbled.
"I'm gonna take that as a yes, Rygel." Crichton turned towards Aeryn in time to see her turn and walk out of the command.
"Aeryn!" Crichton called after her.
Zhaan put her hand on his arm. "You were a little hard on her, John. You have to remember that she shares a special bond with Pilot and is naturally unforgiving to those who would harm him."
"Yeah, I know." He put his hand over the Delvian's. "I better go apologise." He gave a wan smile as he backed towards the door. "You might want to stand by with some ice and bandages."
"I feel certain they won't be needed." She smiled back, watching him leave.
"Pilot?" D'Argo directed his voice toward the clamshell. "We need Moya to stay where she is until we decide what to do with Tarone."
"Understood."
The Luxan turned to Zhaan. "I hope we do not regret showing some measure of mercy to this child."
Zhaan nodded but said nothing.
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Crichton had to run down the corridor to catch Aeryn. "Hey! Where are you going?"
She didn't slow her pace or look at him. "To my quarters."
"Slow down, will you?"
"Why? So you can lecture me on how I should overlook Tarone's actions? He threatened to kill us all!"
"He's just a kid, Aeryn." Crichton's voice sounded weary even to his own ears
"I have eyes, Crichton." She bit back.
"Do you really want to turn your back on him without giving him a second chance?"
"If he were 10 cycles older would we even be having this conversation? You should pay more attention to his actions and less to his appearance."
Crichton sighed and increased his pace so he was in front of her, walking backwards. "People do stupid things in their youth, Aeryn. I did. God knows what Rygel was doing in his teens – probably plotting against some close family member or other. Zhaan had anger management issues. Pilot was making reckless deals to see the stars. I'm willing to bet that D'Argo could tell a few tales. Chiana…well she is young and doing stupid things." He put his hands out to stop her. " And you, Aeryn, in your youth, you became a Peacekeeper."
"I know what I was, Crichton!" She snapped impatiently, pushing past him.
He fell in beside her once more and continued. "The point is that we were all given the chance to put our mistakes, our past misdeeds, behind us. You changed, became more than you were. Why can't you be willing to allow someone else the chance to do the same?"
"And if Scorpius were lying in the tier 8 cells, you'd give him a second chance, would you?"
He smiled without humour "No" he conceded, "Scorpy is beyond redemption in my book. But Tarone is just a child. He gave us a scare, sure. But he hasn't actually hurt anyone and we don't know that he would've."
"We don't know that he wouldn't have."
"Which is exactly why we need to find out more about him."
She sighed. "Fine. We'll listen to what he has to say and decide whether he should be given a second chance." She palmed open her door and paused, still facing away from him. "But remember that I shot him in defence of this crew and ship. You were there and agreed with that course of action. I will not be made to be the…bad guy… because I did what needed to be done at the time."
He came up close behind her, circling her waist with one arm, leaning the other against the wall. Resting his chin lightly on her shoulder, he spoke softly into her ear. "I'm sorry, Aeryn. You're right about that. I shouldn't have bitched at you for shooting him. I'm angry with the situation not with you." He brought his other arm down to circle her waist. "And thank you for agreeing to listen to him." He felt her nod then pull away from him.
"Wake me when he regain consciousness." She said before stepping inside her quarters and shutting the door behind her.
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The first thing Tarone saw when he opened his eyes was a light grey face staring down at him with enormous dark eyes.
"Yep, I was right Zhaan, He's definitely waking up."
The grey face disappeared and a blue one took its place. She turned away. "Call the others, Chiana." Then turned her attention back to him. "How are you feeling?"
He raised his hand to his head and felt the dressing there.
"You were shot in the shoulder. I have immobilised your arm to aid the healing process. Your hit your head when you fell, but it is not serious."
He looked at her warily.
"If you are in pain, I can give you something that will help."
He started to nod, but then thought better of it. "Yes."
"Chiana, help me sit him up."
Even with help Tarone struggled to sit. His whole body felt heavy and his head ached. He gratefully took the small cup of milky liquid he was offered and drank it down. "Thank you."
"I am Pa'u Zotoh Zhaan. This is Chiana. The others are coming down. They are eager to talk to you."
As if on cue, the door to his room opened and the two Sebaceans and the Luxan entered, closely followed by the Hynerian. They looked at him and then looked at Zhaan who nodded and sat down across the cell. The male Sebacean stood by his bedside.
"Hi. I'm John Crichton." He turned slightly to indicate his shipmates. "This is Officer Aeryn Sun, Ka D'Argo and Dominar Rygel XVI."
Tarone looked at his visitors in turn but made no comment.
Crichton continued. "We are more than just a little curious about why you smuggled yourself onto Moya, only to get her to take you back where you started?"
Tarone dropped his gaze to his lap, but said nothing.
Rygel hovered forwards "Well, I've heard nothing here to change my mind. Let's space him and be done with it." He turned his throne sled to go.
"I had to go back to find my brother." Tarone's voice was almost a whisper.
"Your brother?" Chiana said quickly.
"Yes. We were supposed to hide amongst your supplies to get on your ship and away from Tean, then wait until we were a sufficient distance away, too far for you to return without inconvenience, and then announce our presence and hope that you would set us down on the next planet you came to."
"How could you be sure that we wouldn't just kill you?" D'Argo frowned.
"We couldn't but we saw you" he looked at Zhaan and D'Argo "in the marketplace and you seemed reasonable people. Not soldiers or pirates." He looked uneasily at Crichton and Aeryn, dressed in their Peacekeeper leathers. He was grateful when he felt Zhaan's hand squeeze his arm reassuringly. " So we took the chance and hid inside the crates. I waited until I was brought on board and when everything seemed quiet, I broke out. But when I went to look for my brother, Tiva, I could not find him. I knew then that I had to get back to the planet and I could not take the risk that you would refuse to return."
"So you sneaked up on Pilot and hijacked Moya." Crichton looked at him. "How old are you?"
Tarone struggled to sit up straighter "Nearly 14 cycles."
"And your brother?"
"Tiva is only 10. Without me he is alone and I fear what will happen to him. I beg you, please take me back to Tean."
"Why were you so desperate to leave in the first place?"
"Tiva and I are Selacks. We, like the rest of our people, were born into slavery. We work long hours for no pay and little food, serving our masters and making items that they can sell for a healthy profit. Unfortunately Tiva is sickly and a little simple. When he was younger I could cover up for him, doing enough work for the both of us, but as he gets older he is expected to produce more and more and it is getting harder to hide his condition from our masters. A Selack who is sick or old or cannot work is cast out to fend for themself or die of starvation. I cannot risk that happening to Tiva, he cannot look after himself. So I decided we should run away."
"Where are your parents?"
"They both died shortly after Tiva was born."
Crichton looked at his crewmates. "Well? I vote we help him find his brother and get them to a safe planet."
"I agree." Said Aeryn, nodding. Tarone saw Crichton beam at her and her more muted response.
"As do I." D'Argo said solemnly.
"Yes." Said Zhaan.
"Chi?"
"Yeah, I know what it's like to be separated from your brother. We should help him."
"Pilot?"
"Moya and I are ready to continue to Tean, Commander."
"Well, that just leaves you, Napoleon."
"It is clear that we must take swift action to help. I am a dominar of justice. We must go back to Tean and help reunite Tarone with his brother."
Crichton looked as if Rygel's answer surprised him a little, but he grinned. "Well, thank you, your Eminence."
"Thank you all. I cannot express how grateful I am." Tarone smiled. "How long will it take us to reach Tean?"
"Pilot?"
"One and a half arns, Officer Sun."
"Is this your first time in space, Tarone?" Aeryn said kindly.
"Yes."
"Well, when you feel better, you must let me show you Moya's terrace." She smiled. "The stars look amazing from there."
He returned her smile. "I would like that."
Tarone watched as they all filed out of his cell, except for the Pa'u, who came and felt his brow.
"I can't believe that you are all going to help me."
She smiled kindly at him. "We all know what it is like to be desperate and to need help. We will happily do this for you and your brother."
Tarone began to swing his legs over the side of the bed, but Zhaan stopped him " You should conserve your strength."
Tarone set his feet on the floor and smiled at her. "Thank you, but I think it is time I got up."
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TBC