Chapter 9 – Missing
Chapter 9 – Missing

"What do you mean you lost her?"  D'Argo said urgently. "John!"  He grasped the human's face, trying to make him focus.  "John!"

"I don't know what happened, D'Argo…I…the rope went taut and it…it wouldn't budge."  He shook his head. " I tried to swim back but the current…it was too strong, so I tried to pull myself back."  He covered his face with his hands, muffling his voice. "The rope came away in my hands.  She was gone."

D'Argo placed his hand on the human's shoulder trying to give him some comfort.  He swapped a frantic look with Chiana.  Out of the corner of his eye he saw Jothee move towards the pool again and turned hopefully, only to see Hailen and then Damor emerging from the water.  He left Crichton's side to rush up to them.  "Did you see Aeryn?" 

They both looked at him blankly.

"Aeryn became detached from Crichton on the last section."  D'Argo said impatiently.  " Did you see her?"

Hailen looked over at Crichton who was sitting with his head in his hands and then back at D'Argo. "No, I did not see her."  Damor shook his head as confirmation.

Crichton looked up, a faint glimmer of hope in his eyes. "But if something had happened to her, you would've seen her.  Right?"  He scrambled to his feet. "Maybe…maybe she panicked when the rope came away and got turned around.  She could've gone back the other way and reached an air pocket.  She could still be down there.  She could still be alive." As he spoke he was throwing off his blanket, preparing to take to the water again, shrugging off Chiana's restraining hands.

Damor stepped between the human and the pool. " I am sorry.  If she had managed to go back along the tunnel we would have seen her.  Besides the current is very strong on that last section.  I fear that an inexperienced swimmer would not be able to make it."

"You said that you had trouble with the current, Crichton."  Chiana reminded him softly.

Crichton closed his eyes. "So where's her…" He just couldn't say it. "Where is she?"

Damor frowned. "Perhaps she did get disorientated as you suggest.  There are other tunnels off the main way that she might have gone down by accident or been dragged into by the current."

"I saw no other tunnels." D'Argo frowned.

"Neither did I."  Rygel agreed.

"They are not obvious as you travel along the main tunnel, but the entrances are located behind the main rock walls in parts of the narrower sections.  These walls have large spaces behind them, which split off the tunnel at various stages, but you have to know where to look.  You were probably so concerned with negotiating that part of the tunnel that you did not notice these others."

"So we look there."  Crichton said impatiently.  "We go down there and we look for her." 

Hailen looked at him sadly.  "If she did enter one of the other tunnels then she is dead.  You must accept this."

Crichton looked at her as if he couldn't quite understand what she was saying.  D'Argo put his hand out towards his friend, but Crichton shoved it away "NO!"  He left his arm extended, enforcing a distance between him and the Luxan.  "No."  He said less forcefully.  "We've got to look for her if there's a chance.  No matter how small that chance is.  I've got to look for her."  He looked at his friends helplessly, tears running down his face.  "Please. You have to understand…we have to try.  We have to."  He said hoarsely.  Chiana came up to his side and wrapped her arms tightly around his middle.  He looked down at her.  " I told her everything would be fine.  I forced her to swim through that tunnel and I promised her she wouldn't drown.  I looked her in the eye and promised her."  He looked up at D'Argo.  "Even if…I don't want to leave her here.  She shouldn't be here."  He said quietly.

Rygel looked at Damor.  "I assume that you can swim against the current?"  Damor nodded and Rygel continued. " Show me these other tunnels that Aeryn might have gone down."  D'Argo thought the Dominar's voice sounded strange.

"You can't go into the tunnels!"  Hailen said anxiously.  "It's too dangerous.  It's certain death."

"I'm hardly going to drown, am I?"  Rygel hobbled towards the pool edge, attaching a com to his robe.  "Just show me where these tunnels are."

"Thank you, Rygel." Crichton said hoarsely.

"Yes.  Well.  Despite all appearances to the contrary, she was my friend too."  The Hynerian said gruffly 

Crichton nodded and watched Damor and Rygel disappear into the pool.  He continued to stare into the water long after they had both disappeared from sight. 

D'Argo watched him closely, fearful that he would try to re-enter the tunnel himself.  He was so engrossed in his task that it took him a few microts to notice Hailen standing beside him and another few to notice that she was shivering.  He took the blanket from around his own shoulders and passed it to her.  "Tell me, if the current in this tunnel is so strong, how do your people get back to the other island?"

"There is another tunnel we use.  It is much longer, but the current is not so strong."  She looked over at Crichton as she blotted her soaking hair with the blanket.  "He looks very upset."

"I fear that he will not survive this blow."  The Luxan said sadly.

Hailen looked at him, disbelieving.  " I hope you will not mind me saying so, but they did not appear that close."

"Their relationship was not without its problems but you should not doubt the strength of feeling between them."

Hailen nodded solemnly and continued to rub at her hair.  D'Argo felt a sense of relief as she moved off.  He liked the girl, but he did not want to concentrate on anything now except his friends and his own loss.  He felt his eyes suddenly fill with tears as he thought about Aeryn Sun.  Two monens ago he had felt the pain of her death keenly and he had rejoiced at her miraculous return as much as anyone, except perhaps Crichton.  To have her ripped away from them again was too cruel for words.  He silently cursed the Gods that had allowed this to happen. 

Seeing Jothee walking towards him, he quickly wiped away his tears.

"Should I contact Moya?  Tell Stark and Zhaan what has happened?"

D'Argo closed his eyes for a microt.  In amongst everything else he had forgotten Zhaan.  She didn't know and telling her would be hard. D'Argo shook his head at his son.  "No, Jothee.  I will tell them when we are on board Moya."  He looked sadly over at Chiana and John, still standing by the pool.  

Chiana had replaced Crichton's blanket over his shoulders.   Although she continued to speak to him softly, her own tears running down her face, there was no sign that the human heard her.  He seemed to have retreated within himself.

Chiana cast a worried look at D'Argo.  It was clear that she didn't know what to do or say for their friend.  D'Argo continued to look on as she took Crichton's cold hand in hers and stood beside him, her head leaning against his shoulder.   

"I am sorry about Aeryn Sun."  Hailen stood in front of Crichton.  If he knew she was there, he gave no sign. 

"Thanks Hailen."  Chiana tried to smile kindly at the girl.  "Could you get Crichton another blanket or something…and a warm drink?  Jothee'll show you where."  Hailen seemed reluctant to go.  "Please, Hailen."  Chiana said firmly.  The girl nodded and withdrew.

D'Argo felt his hearts swell with pride at the way Chiana was handling the situation.  Placing her own grief second to care for and protect her stricken crewmate.  She had come a long way from the girl they had reluctantly allowed to join them over a cycle ago.  She was a vibrant, caring young woman and he loved her deeply.  Something he didn't tell her often enough.  He promised himself that he would rectify that situation.  Just as soon as they left this cursed place. 

He focussed on Crichton again.  He looked like an empty shell.  D'Argo remembered only too well the pain and grief he had felt when he had lost Lolaan.  It had nearly broken him.  And yet he had managed to do the unthinkable.  He had gotten past all the unhappiness and the guilt to live and found a new love.  Not better, not worse, but different and just as wonderful.  He hoped that John would give himself time to do the same.  But his instincts were telling him that he would soon be witnessing the human's death.  Not by what the human had once called 'suicide', but by some accident borne out of a carelessness that comes from not caring whether you live or die:  a rash decision whilst under fire; an accident in his module due to poor maintenance; a fall; eating something that his delicate human system could not handle.  The list of possibilities was endless but all led to the same place.

D'Argo wasn't sure how long he had stood there, watching Crichton, when a sudden sound made him switch his attention to the pool as Damor emerged from the water, gasping for breath.

"What did you find?"  D'Argo demanded.

"Nothing."  The boy said standing up and accepting the blanket that his sister offered.  "Dominar Rygel said he was going to check the tunnels to see if he could find your friend."  He shivered.  "But he will never make it."

D'Argo growled. "Hynerian's are aquatic.  Rygel should be in no danger."

"But the current in the other tunnels is so strong, I do not see how he will swim against it.  He may well survive the water, and he may even find Aeryn Sun's body if it is down there, but he will not be able to get out again."

Chiana had pulled Crichton away from the pool and coaxed him into sitting down.  She had wrapped a second blanket around him and he held the hot drink that Hailen had brought in his frozen hands.  He seemed lost in his own thoughts.

D'Argo knelt in front of them.  "John?"  When he received no answer he looked at Chiana.  "How is he?"

She smiled sadly.  "Quiet."  D'Argo reached out and wiped away a tear from her cheek and she leant into his palm.

"Rygel's back."  Jothee shouted reaching into the pool and pulling the little Hynerian out of the water.

Crichton seemed to reanimate immediately and he rushed over to the poolside.  "Rygel?"

Rygel looked up at the human. "I've only come to get a flashlight before I go into one of the tunnels.  It's dark and I can't see a frelling thing down there."

D'Argo held out a flashlight.  "Rygel, Damor says that if you go down one of the tunnels you might not be able to swim against the current to get back out."

"Yotz!  I've been part way in already and managed to get out.  The current is strong, but is no match for a Hynerian.  Besides, none of Damor's people have ever been down these tunnels, so how the frell do they know what it's like?"

D'Argo nodded.  It was rare that Rygel acted bravely, but it was something that he was capable of given the right set of circumstances.  However, those circumstances usually involved saving himself, and D'Argo was surprised that he had chosen to place himself in danger in this instance.  He suspected it had more to do with Crichton than with Aeryn.  Looking at Crichton now, D'Argo thought that it would take someone made out of stone not to want to do everything they could to help him.  Zhaan was fond of saying that despite his many faults, Rygel had a good heart.  Although D'Argo had to admit that most days he saw little evidence to support her theory. 

As the Hynerian disappeared underneath the water again, Crichton backed away from the pool, helplessly.  "I can't just sit here, Chi, I'm gonna go crazy."

"There's nothing we can do until Rygel looks in those tunnels."  Chiana said softly.

Crichton's voice broke. "If only I had swum behind and let Rygel take the rope.  Maybe I could've helped her.  Or if I'd been a better swimmer.  Maybe she would be here now."

"It wasn't your fault."  Hailen said, her face full of concern for the human.  "The current is so strong, very few could swim against it."  Hailen put her hand on Crichton's arm but he jerked violently away from her touch, banging into Chiana in the process and making her stumble.  Hailen stood looking at the human, not knowing what to say or do for him.

D'Argo's hand on her shoulder made the girl jump.  "Hailen, we need to start getting your people up to Moya so we can leave this place.  Your father already has them gathering food.  Can you start loading up a transport?  I'll be along in a microt."  He watched her go and then turned back towards Crichton.  "Maybe you should go too, John."  He said gently.

Crichton shook his head.  "No, I want to be here when Rygel gets back."

"Chiana?"

"I'll stay too."

"Very well, I'll be back soon.  Com me if anything happens."

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Stark and Zhaan met the transport in the hanger.

"Thank the Goddess you are safe!"  Zhaan came rushing up to D'Argo.  "But who are all these people?"  She said, watching Grisott and around 15 others come down the transport steps.

"It's a long story."  D'Argo told her.  "But first I have something important I must tell you."  D'Argo turned to Grisott.  "Stark will show you where you can stay."  He looked at Stark who nodded and then he turned back to Zhaan.  "Perhaps we should go to your quarters."

She inclined her head slightly, a worried look settling over her features.

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Chiana placed another drink in Crichton's cold hands and sat down beside him once more.  "Sorry if it's a bit lukewarm, it's raining heavily out there."

"Aeryn loved the rain."  Chiana felt he was talking more to himself than to her.  "It fascinated her, even when we were on the run on the false Earth."

"What happened on the false Earth?"  She tried to keep him talking, to keep him there with her instead of buried inside his head.  " D'Argo told me that he and Rygel were taken out of the simulation early.  So, what happened to you and Aeryn?"

"We went on the run from the military guys, thinking they'd killed Rygel and D'Argo and would come for Aeryn next."  He cocked his head slightly to one side, a ghost of a smile on his lips at the memory. "We made love for the first time, the only time."  The smile was replaced by a look of self-loathing. " And then, when I realised that my world was fake, I abandoned her, thinking that she was fake too.  I left her alone in a strange world surrounded by people that she thought were going to kill and then dissect her.  I never apologised to her for that.  I guess now I never will."  He looked at the Nebari with tired, red-rimmed eyes.  " I failed her then, I failed her when that chip took me over, and today I failed her again."

"Nerri once told me that, sometimes, no matter what you do, things don't turn out the way you want them to."  She took his hand between her two much smaller gloved ones. "You can't blame yourself for this.  Aeryn wouldn't have blamed you.  She loved you, Crichton.  We never heard her say it but we all knew."

"I just…I just don't know how I'm going to go on without her." Crichton let out a sob and threw his full cup away from him, lowering his head to his hands.  Chiana put her hand on his back and gently rubbed, hoping that it would give him some comfort, but knowing, deep down, that nothing would.

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"I am going back to get the rest."  D'Argo said.  He had changed into dry of clothes and had had something to eat, but he still looked tired and drawn.

"Perhaps you should try and get some rest, D'Argo."  Zhaan said.  "The others can bring the other transport up when they are ready."

"No.  I do not want to leave Crichton for any longer than is necessary.  Chiana cannot restrain him if he decides to do something foolish."

Zhaan nodded sadly.  "Yes.  Yes, of course."  She seemed to lose her balance and her hand went out to grab a nearby consul to steady herself.  Stark immediately came to her side, placing one arm around her waist and holding her hand in the other to give her support.  "Thank you, Stark."  She smiled weakly. " Perhaps I will take some of my own advice and retire to my quarters.  But on the way let us visit Pilot.  Aeryn was as dear to him as she was to the rest of us and he will be in great pain at her passing."  Stark nodded and began to lead her away.

D'Argo watched them go with great sadness.  He wondered what Zhaan must be feeling, slowly dying due to a sacrifice that was ultimately for nothing.  Aeryn was dead anyway.  He felt Jothee come up behind him.  "Stay here, Jothee, and help Stark take care of Zhaan. Offer to cook her something to tempt her to eat.  She needs to keep her strength up."

"But…"

"Please, Jothee.  Do this one thing for me."

"Yes, father."

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"Has Rygel not returned?"  D'Argo asked Chiana.

Chiana shook her head miserably.  "It's been nearly 8 arns."  She left Crichton's side and moved stiffly over to D'Argo.  "We need to get him back to Moya."

"Agreed."  The Luxan knelt before Crichton and clasped his neck, causing the human to look up at him.  "We must go back to Moya now, John."

"But, Rygel…"

"We will remain in orbit for another few arns. If Rygel can, he will com us and we will pick him up.  If not, then there is nothing we can do.  Either way, it will achieve nothing to stay here."

"Oh, God…Rygel."  Crichton dropped his head, tears beginning to flow again.  D'Argo brought his friends head to his shoulder for a microt, trying and failing to find the words to comfort him, as he had tried and failed for Zhaan only two arns earlier.

D'Argo and Chiana coaxed Crichton to his feet and took him to the transports. D'Argo piloted one, and Chiana the other, back to Moya.

Crichton sat in the back of D'Argo's transport, staring into space.  Hailen sat beside him, holding his hand, as D'Argo had instructed her to do, convinced that she was witnessing a man's heart actually breaking.

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Chiana entered command 4 arns after getting back to Moya.  She was the last to arrive.

Zhaan, Stark, D'Argo, Jothee and Grisott were already there, gathered around the strategy table looking sombre.

"We…we're going to leave him, aren't we?"  She said.

"Chiana…" D'Argo started wearily.

"Aren't we?"  She stared at the big Luxan accusingly.

"Grisott has explained to us the nature of these tunnels that Rygel went to explore."  Zhaan said gently.

Grisott took over.  "The current in the tunnels is extremely strong and although no one has ever been down them for obvious reasons, we have experimented; letting small location devices go into the tunnels to…"

"Small location devices?"  Chiana knew the interruption was petty, she didn't care about his stupid location devices, but she was angry with Grisott and his people and his planet that had brought such tragedy into their lives.

"Yes."  Grisott continued pleasantly.  "We used to use them to keep track of our animals when we kept them, before the water covered all the grazing land.  Now we mostly use them for keeping track of our children and the Mevi.  We were interested in all the underwater tunnels as they represented the only safe way for us to travel so we let these devices be swept into the tunnels and kept track of them as they travelled someway under the hill.  They then seemed to stop travelling, but continued to get fainter and fainter until we could not pick up a signal any more.  None of these devices were ever recovered.  Based on this evidence, we think that the water probably flows down deeper and deeper to underground caverns and eventually escapes though cracks in the rock."

"So you're saying that Rygel is…"

Grisott nodded at her sorrowfully.  "If what we suspect is true, then the water falls down considerable distances.  In the unlikely event that he survived these falls, we would not be able to get to him."

"Well…couldn't someone go down there with a rope, find him and then be pulled back?"  She looked around the faces in the room for some support.

Grisott shook his head.  "The rope would have to be very long and whoever went would either have to be able to breathe underwater or have an air supply with them."

"We have air tanks!"

"Chiana, we cannot take such a risk to recover a body."  D'Argo hated being the voice of reason on this occasion.

Chiana felt something close to panic. "But Rygel took a risk to go and try to recover Aeryn's."

"And it cost him his life."  D'Argo stated simply.

Zhaan placed a hand on the Nebari's shoulder. "I am sorry, Chiana.  I grieve for Aeryn and Rygel as you do, but you must see that there is little point in remaining here."  She turned to the others.  "We should go."

Chiana's heart was heavy as she left command.  She knew that Zhaan and the others were right.  There was no point waiting any longer.  But she was finding it hard to imagine Moya without Rygel or Aeryn onboard.  She had never been exactly close to Aeryn, and she had spent most of her time with Rygel arguing or trying to cheat him, but they were both unique and irreplaceable in what she had come to think of as her family on Moya. 

Chiana went to mourn her friends with the only other person she felt would truly understand.

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Chiana was not surprised to find Crichton in Aeryn's quarters.  He was lying on her bed, still in the same clothes he had made the swim in.  When she entered she couldn't tell whether he was asleep or awake.

"Crichton?"  She said gently.  He looked up at her immediately and sat up.  "No.  You don't have to.  Not for me."

"Hey, Pip."  He gave her a wan smile.  They fell into silence for a few microts.  "Moya's started moving again."

"Ah, yeah.  Looks like Rygel didn't make it.  No point in hanging around here any longer."  The tears that welled up in her eyes betrayed her casual words.

Crichton slowly got up and wrapped his arms around her.  He had no tears left, but he felt grief never the less.

Chiana pulled back for a microt, looking up at him.  "The others will miss him but I think that we were the only two that really loved Rygel."  She felt him bring her head back towards his chest and she gratefully hugged him again.  As she did so, she noticed the rope, still dangling from his waist and drew back, intending to take it off.  Then she stopped.

"Why do you think you lost Aeryn?"

"What?"

"I mean, why do you think the rope came away like that?"

"She…she untied it, I guess."  He gathered the rope up and held the end, contemplating it. 

 Chiana gently removed the rope from Crichton's hand and wrapped it around her own waist.  "Look."  She said, stepping back.

"Chi, just do me a favour and leave it, uh?"  He sounded annoyed.

"Look at the rope." She repeated.

Suddenly he realised what she was getting at.  The rope was too short.  Way too short.  He couldn't believe that he hadn't noticed before.  While he was still trying to get his head around what that meant, Chiana showed him the end of the rope again.  He took it in his hand staring at it. There was no fraying.  It had not broken.  It had been cut.  Not as he had originally assumed, by him on Grisott's island.  But by someone else. 

He felt like he was going to throw up.

"Did Aeryn have a knife with her?"  Crichton looked up at the sound of Chiana's voice.  He seemed a little disorientated.  "Crichton, did Aeryn have a knife with her?"

He frowned. "I…I don't know.  She started keeping one in her boot after…" he tailed off  " but she took her boots off to swim through the tunnel."  He looked down at the rope in his hands and then started to look around him.  "Frell!  I left our things down on that planet."  He activated his com.  "Hey, Pilot!  Turn Moya around.  We have to go back."

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A little under an arn later, Crichton ran into the pool chamber with Chiana close behind.  He looked around almost desperately until he spotted the pack that he had brought through the tunnel on his back.  He grabbed it and tipped out the contents onto the stone floor. 

Amongst the boots and the jackets and the weapons and the coms lay Aeryn's knife. 

"She didn't cut it."  He reached for his pistol and started to move back towards the exit.  "And the list of who could've is pretty short."

A worried frown crossed Chiana's face.  "Wait, what are you going to do?"

He turned back to look at her, but when she saw his face she almost gasped.  His features were the same but somehow different. Harder.  And his eyes held nothing but cold rage.  "I'm going to find out who cut this rope" he told her quietly, calmly "and then I'm going to kill them."

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12 Arns earlier:

Aeryn held tightly on to the rock.  She knew she had to let go.  She had made up her mind to do so several times but each time her hands just wouldn't comply.

She was in a small air pocket and she was alone.  The current in the tunnel below her was so strong that it was dragging her legs away from under her.  She knew that if she stayed here, eventually, when she lost her grip through cold or fatigue, she would be swept into the dark of the tunnel and she would stand no chance.  If she wanted to survive she had to take the risk and go now.  While she was strong and awake.  While she could kick and hold her breath.  At least then, if there was another air pocket she stood some chance of reaching it.

She made her decision and took a deep breath…

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To Be Continued.