A New Era, Part 3

A/N: Sorry that it took so long, but RL took over. I hope to post part 4 soon, before I go on vacation. Thanks for waiting so long, and for reading. Don't forget to review, 'kay? Tell me if you like where this is headed.

A New Era, Part 3
Copyright 2001

Kaelen Selara looked up when she heard footsteps approach and eventually halt in front of her dark cell. Standing up, she took a few steps towards the only source of light available to her: a small, barred window in the heavy cell door. Microts later, a Peacekeeper peered inside. Upon confirming that the prisoner was still where she was supposed to be, he opened the door, but made no move to step inside. Instead, he stood there, his pulse rifle aimed at her, prepared for any attack.

"You'll have to share your..." He paused a moment, "quarters from now on. The cells are overflowing with the likes of you." The Peacekeeper smiled sadistically. "Soon, we might get the pleasure of executing some of you." He said, now laughing maniacally. Then, he stepped aside, allowing two other Peacekeepers to push a darkened form into the small room.

Selara waited until she had heard the familiar sound of the lock falling into place, before moving into action. She crawled over to the still and silent form lying in the center of the small cell and tentatively reached out her hand towards it. Almost instantly, the stranger reacted and in the dim light, she saw the face of a handsome, young man. In that short moment of time, she also saw confusion and pain in his blue eyes.

"You're in a prison cell. If you'd like, you can have one of the three remaining corners," she pointed to the corners in question," but I'd choose the one farthest from the door. You'll have to salvage a blanket from the piece of cloth lying on the ground, if you get cold." She finished, taking a small step closer to the stranger, kneeling next to him.

His eyes settled on her face. "Who are you?" he asked. In the dim light, he could hardly see her face or any of her other features, so he focused on her bright green eyes that seemed to light up every now and then.

"I'm Kaelen Selara, former Peacekeeper officer. Three weekens ago, the Peacekeepers accused me of treason and conspiring against Peacekeeper High Command. The next thing I knew, I was in this cell. What about you?" she asked, settling on the floor. "What did you do to get in here?"

Not knowing whether he should keep his cover intact or not, John decided to play it safe. "I'm Larraq, Peacekeeper Commando. I came to the planet for supplies and they accused me of similar things." He said, also settling on the floor. "I was with someone else, do you know where they took her?"

Selara shook her head. "I haven't heard anything about any new prisoners, except that the Peacekeepers are randomly arresting fellow Peacekeepers for at least a monen now." She said, "If your friend is still alive, she'll be held in the same cell block as you. They'll need to confirm their suspicions before they can act accordingly."

John nodded and looked around. Slowly, his eyes were adjusting to the darkness in the cell, and he could make out a few items on the floor. In one corner, he could make out a sleeping mat. "I take it that corner is already taken?" He asked, looking at Selara.

"That's my side. There are some blankets by the door. If you want a sleeping mat, I still have some trusted friends among the Peacekeepers; they can give you whatever you want." She said, standing up again and moving to her sleeping mat.

John looked down for a moment, seemingly in thought. Then, he looked up and, standing up, he slowly walked over to sit in the corner opposite of Selara. There, he shook off his jacket. Selara looked over to him and, upon seeing the state he was in, sucked in her breath.

"You're injured." She said, quickly moving over to him. "Didn't they treat your wounds?" She asked, reaching out her hand to examine Johns wound.

"It's just a burn and it doesn't really hurt anymore. I'll be okay." He replied, moving away from her searching hands. "They missed me when they shot at us." He said, explaining.

Selara nodded and moved back to her side of the room.

No one spoke for a moment and from far away; they could hear the echoing sounds of marching Peacekeepers and the screaming of other prisoners.

********

D'Argo stormed towards the docking bay, entering just in time to see Chiana rushing out of the transport pod. She ran towards him, holding him close.

"Where are they?" He asked when she was clinging to him.

"They didn't come back... I couldn't reach them..." She said. When D'Argo lifted her chin to look at her, he saw that her eyes were wide with fear. "When I wanted to get back into the city, there were Peacekeepers heading towards the transport pod. I didn't know what to do." She continued. "D'Argo, I left them there..."

He could see the look of despair in her eyes. "You did the right thing, Chiana. We can go back for them later, when everything is calm again, back on the planet." He spoke, holding her close again. "Right now we have another problem on our hands."

Chiana looked up. "What other problem?" She asked, looking up at him.

"We need to get to Command." He started as he pulled her with him towards Moya's hallways. "Pilot detected a Peacekeeper Command carrier headed towards the planet. As soon as you landed the pod, he started moving us to a safer location. There's an uninhabited planet nearby, it will hide us from the Peacekeepers." D'Argo explained while they rushed towards Command.

Reaching their destination, they entered Command and joined the others at the console in front of the view screen. They could see the approaching Command carrier coming closer and becoming clearer.

"It's is still headed towards the planet." Pilot notified them, monitoring the various sensor readings. "The planet is preventing them from detecting us." He said as they watched the Command carrier reaching the spaceport. "We're blocked from their view."

Zhaan turned to Chiana, for the moment no longer interested in the Command carrier and its actions. "Did you get the supplies?" She asked, looking at the young Nebari.

Chiana nodded. "Before I lost contact with John and Aeryn, we manage to find the food supplies and most of the spare parts we needed. I left them in the pod." She replied, glancing sideways at the view screen every now and then. "How are we going to get Aeryn and John back?" she asked.

"Who says we need them back? We got what we needed, we should leave this system." Rygel piped up from his throne sled.

"I disagree." D'Argo said, standing behind Chiana. "They are valued friends and they risked their lives to get food supplies we all needed badly. How would you feel if we abandoned you at the first possible moment?" He spoke, his voice rising in volume.

It was Zhaan who came in between them. "We can't do anything until the Command carrier is gone. Until then, we should think about a plan to rescue them from the planet."

*********

Selara and John looked up, when the silence was broken as they heard the door to their being opened. A microt later, a Peacekeeper stepped in, his pulse rifle aimed at both of the cells occupants. Confirming that both of them weren't a threat to him at this moment, he took one step back and motioned to one of the three Peacekeepers, who were waiting near the door. The Peacekeeper in question, took one step forward and set down a plate filled with food in the corner near the door. Then, he stepped out of the cell again, only to return microts later with another Peacekeeper, dragging an unconscious form with them. Once they were standing in the middle of the small cell, they dropped their quarry and exited the cell once more.

"Dinner time." The remaining Peacekeeper spoke before, he too, left the cell.

As Selara immediately moved towards the plate left by the Peacekeepers, John moved towards the silent form.

"Aeryn," he whispered softly, wiping a loose strand of hair from her face. When she stirred, he searched her for any injuries, remembering his last vision of her, lying bleeding and nearly unconscious on the streets of Xi'an. His searching hands slowed down, when he felt a soggy patch of clothing. Examining the wound, he found that it was already bandaged, but still bleeding. He looked up when Selara kneeled down next to him.

"What is her condition?" she asked, looking Aeryn over.

"She's worse of than I am. Her wound is still bleeding, but the Peacekeepers bandaged it." John spoke, looking at her.

"She can have my sleeping mat, for the moment. I'll try to contact the others from my team, they will help us." Selara said, before handing John a plate. "You must eat now, to gather your strength. It won't be long before they'll return to interrogate you."

John nodded slowly, before he gathered Aeryn in his arms and carried her over to Selara's sleeping mat. Laying her down gently, he sat down beside her, taking the plate Selara handed him. He picked up the spoon-like object and glanced at his 'dinner'. To him, it looked vaguely like brown bean soup, which would probably taste better than the brownish mush on his plate. He played with the alien food for a moment, pushing it around on his plate with his spoon, before he dared a taste.

It tasted better than he had expected. It was a familiar taste, resembling the taste of the brown food cubes. He ate the food slowly, emptying his plate fifteen minutes later. Then, he stood up and walked towards a forgotten plate in the corner by the door. Picking it up, he moved back to where Aeryn lay and crouched down.

"Aeryn, I brought you something to eat." He spoke softly, pulling her into a sitting position. She leaned against his chest and he moved her with him, leaning against the wall. She too, played with her food for a few microts, until John stilled her hand.

"It tastes better than it looks, trust me." He spoke, letting go of her hand again.

"I'm not hungry." She replied, dropping the spoon back on her plate.

John sighed. "I know, but you need to gain your strength, in case they come for us." He explained, grabbing a spoonful of the brown mush and holding it in front of her mouth. "Don't make me feed you..." he spoke, almost able to see the small smile she returned him, before taking the spoon from his hands.

John was woken up from an exhausted sleep, when he heard an high pitched wail. Instantly, he nudged Aeryns shoulder, waking her. Seeing her eyes open, his attention momentarily shifted towards the other side of the cell. Selara was already awake and on her feet, listening intently for any sounds outside. He heard the sound of footsteps coming closer and from far away, he could faintly hear orders being shouted to the Peacekeeper grunts.

"What's happening?" asked a familiar voice. Looking down at the woman lying in his arms, he shook his head.

"I don't know what's going on." He replied, before looking back at Selara, who hadn't moved a dench. "Selara, what's going on?" He whispered. His only reply was the waving of her hand, telling him to be still. He strained to hear any sound that would tell him anything about the situation outside. Again, he hear running soldiers passing by and their voices, accompanied by the sounds of weapons fire.

"Selara!" He hissed at the Peacekeeper, when they heard a loud explosion in the corridor next to their cell. A micron later, they could hear the cries of pain from injured Peacekeepers and the loud voices of their attackers, running through the corridors.

Three pair of eyes were locked on the door, as on the outside, the footsteps came to an halt. John moved closer to Aeryn, unconsciously gripping her hand tighter, when the locking mechanism came to life. Slowly, the heavy cell door was pushed open and the barrel of a pulse rifle appeared, followed by a Peacekeeper. The soldier advanced, glancing at all three of them, until he motioned with his hand to stand up and follow him.

Once outside the cell, they were met by another group of Peacekeepers, carrying two wounded soldiers and bringing five more prisoners with them. The Peacekeeper who had entered their cell, moved towards the other group.

"We've cleared all the cellblocks on this level, prepare to evacuate." The leader from the other group ordered, glancing sideways at Aeryn and John. "Who are they? They weren't on the prisoner manifest." The Peacekeeper spoke, advancing on them.

"I don't know who they are, but they're Sebaceans, we can't just leave them here." the other Peacekeeper replied, following the second Peacekeeper.

"They're Peacekeepers," Selara spoke up, "this is Larraq, they arrested him for treason as well."

The Peacekeeper nodded in return. "Take them with us." As John passed the Peacekeeper, he could feel his stare in his back.

As the now larger group rounded the corner, they were met by heavy gunfire.

"Surrender yourselves!" One of the Peacekeepers shooting at them, called when it was silent for a moment.

John looked at Selara, who was now holding a weapon of her own. "What's is going on here?" He asked her.

"The rebels just freed you and your companion from a Peacekeeper prison cell, Larraq." She replied, before she looked around the corner, shooting at the Peacekeepers blocking the hallway. Satisfied with the results, she turned back to John. "Listen, I don't know which side you're on, but the Peacekeepers see you as one of us now. You might as well help us out of here." she said, handing him a sidearm.

*********

"Pilot, are you picking up anything from the planet?" D'Argo asked the symbiont.

"No, but I am picking up something else." He answered. "There is another Command carrier coming our way."

TBC