Title: Redemption
Author: Banshae, 2001
Rating: R (violence, implied rape, cussing)
Disclaimer: You know and I know that I don't own these characters. I'm just borrowing them for my own little passion plays. However, I DO own the original characters and places, so no snurching!
Spoilers: All of seasons 1 & 2, pretty much all of season three, up to IP: Icarus Abides
Archiving: You actually want this?! Just let me know: morgayne@hotmail.com, so I can jump up and down and do a happy dance.
Summary: Takes place after IP: Icarus Abides. Talyn's crew stops off at a commerce planet and Aeryn turns up missing.
Special thanks to Felix, who argued with me and encouraged me and gave me great ideas. This fic wouldn't have been the same without him. Thanks also to Darkman, Intrepid Beta Reader.

Redemption: Part 11

Part 11

"Better, better, better, oh you're feeling better. Good, good!"

Alaethe slid slowly off the bed and smiled at the one called Stark. "Yes, I am much better, thank you." She took a couple of experimental steps toward the center of the room and was gratified to feel her strength returning. Stark followed a few paces behind her, his voice a steady murmur she found oddly encouraging.

She stopped walking after a few circuits of the room. Stark almost trod on her heels, then caught his balance, "Oh sorry sorry! Must watch where we walk, sorry, sorry!" Then he seemed to forget he was supposed to be watching her, because he wandered slowly out into the corridor, hugging himself and muttering.

Finding herself alone, Alaethe took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Now was a good time to discover more about her situation. The three who had taken her from Kelhvek's grasp did not seem to want to harm her, but she needed to be sure.

Carefully, she lowered her mental defenses, ready to snap them back up in an instant if need be. She was immediately immersed in the sound of the universe around her. Every living creature had its own distinctive note. Some were gentle, others strident. There were darkly insistent sounds and blindingly bright sounds. The notes blended together in a cacophony played out against the all-encompassing hum of the life energy of the universe itself.

She let the glorious Song of Life wash over and through her, filling all her senses. Her physical body was forgotten; she existed only as a single note among a multitude of others. Only a lifetime of training allowed her to maintain a sense of self, though there was always the danger that she would lose herself in the Song. Less skilled Singers had reveled in the Song for too long, allowing their bodies to waste away and die. Centering on that danger, she held tightly to her own uniqueness even as she narrowed her focus to the area immediately surrounding her physical self. Concentrating, she began to tease the threads of individual sounds from the greater voice of the Song:

A brightly drumming baritone note of deep red laced with yellow strength not yet tempered by age the blazing blue of loyalty Ka D'Argo

An insistent yellow-green note overlaid with the deep blue wisdom gained by many cycles of living greediness, but no evil in it a soft blue haze of loyalty Dominar Rygel

A blaze of almost blinding white and the gentle blue-green of healing the note was discordant and bleakly grey with loneliness Stark

Another note tinged with grey also softly, trustingly green blazing blue as well the sound tasted odd and she recognized it immediately John Crichton

A martial, deep reddish brown overlaid with a golden sheen the note was strangely doubled youth and age a dichotomy of old, black rage and newer, bluer loyalty Bialar Crais?

Alaethe moved blindly forward, her hands unerringly homing in on a curved wall. She cried out and bit her lip without feeling it, her whole body thrumming with a doubled note of bright gold and crimson. The sound was so strong it drowned out the others, the colors so incandescent her senses were dazzled. Reaching toward the fire, she called out with her mind:

Who are you?

******


"Holy crap."

Crais glanced away from the destruction on the viewscreen, "The Reaver seems to have left the system. Tayln's sensors do not pick up any Peacekpeeper ships within range."

"Why the hell would they stick around? Everything's been blown to smithereens already." John stared at the screen, a sick knot of fear settling in his stomach. The viewscreen showed Tesso3or rather, what was left of Tesso3. The Reaver had destroyed more than half the station, including both docking rings. Debris was everywhere, most of it totally unrecognizable. The station was completely dark but for emergency lights flickering intermittently in the core. "How many people were on that station?"

"Not very many any more." Rygel said flatly. "Frelling Peacekeepers."

"They still have life support," Crais pointed out. "There are also emergency shuttles attached to the core and the rest of the docking rings. They are broadcasting a distress signal on all frequencies; rescue and repair crews will be arriving shortly."

"Are we close enough to scan the coordinates on the planet?" John asked, moving closer.

"Yes" Crais' hands worked over the console, entering the information. "Talyn, scan these coordinates for Officer Sun's life signs. Use a cascading decca search pattern and provide us with a view on the screen."

Talyn burbled in reply. In moments, the viewscreen held an image of the exchange site. From orbit, it was a huge flat area ringed on all sides by small hills.

"Magnify." Crais told the Leviathan. The hills became mountains, the flat area a blue-green ocean.

"Is that water?" John asked.

Crais shook his head, "No, according to the sensors it is a very thick landmass, covered with native vegetation. Magnify again, Talyn."

John sucked in a breath. Now they could clearly see a small transport, surrounded by a scorched ring of matted grass. There was more crushed vegetation, in the vague shape of a ship, only a short distance away. Two smaller, darker shapes were scattered around the shuttle.

"Magnify."

The dark shapes resolved into bodies. John's heart pounded painfully for a moment before he realized both bodies had pale hair; neither of them were Aeryn. Someone or something had run away from where both ships had landed, crushing the grass into a short path which ended abruptly not far from the clearing.

John clenched his hands in frustration. He knew what Crais was going to say and wasn't surprised when the ex-Peackeeper turned to him, "Talyn does not find any Sebecean life signs within a 10,000 metra radius of these coordinates."

"Can we get an energy signature at all?" D'Argo asked when John remained silent and staring at the viewscreen.

"The sensors read multiple signatures, but none large enough to be a sentient being, and none are Sebecean." Crais said. His brows drew together as he assimilated the data Talyn was relaying. "However, it seems that there have been three ships in this area in a short period of time."

"Three?" John turned to him. "One's down there right now: the slaver's transport with his dead crew. It looks like another one landed right there-" he pointed "-that's most likely the Marauder. Who's the third guy?"

"Strange. Talyn senses the engine signature of a Marauder, but he also says another ship of non-Peacekeeper design was in this area. However, he cannot identify the ship's engines in his data banks."

"Right then, Aeryn's not on the planet with the dead slavers," Rygel held up a hand and ticked off one finger. "The Marauder was here, but left-" Another finger. "Presumably without Aeryn aboard, because they attacked the space station. If they'd gotten her, they would have taken her directly back to a command carrier and not called in the Reaver-" A third finger. "And another ship has been down there at some point-" He put out his thumb and looked at the others triumphantly. "It would be safe to assume someone else has taken Aeryn, yes? Someone who got here before the Marauder. They killed the slavers because they had no intention of paying the bounty, and they took her. The Marauder arrived, found her gone and went to the station to discover her whereabouts.

"So, since it's unlikely Aeryn is anywhere on the planet or in the immediate vicinity, I say we leave this system as quickly as possible. Before the Reaver returns!" Rygel finished.

"Shut up, Guido." John snapped.

"Wait," D'Argo looked apologetic, but continued, "The Hynerian slug is likely right about most of it, John."

John held up his hands and shook his head, "I'll buy the third party snagging her if you can give me a reason someone would risk pissing off the Peacekeepers like that. It just doesn't make sense!"

"A competitor of Kelhvek's?" Rygel offered. John shot him a glare and he subsided into grumbling.

"Can we trace the signature of the third ship?" John asked, turning to Crais.

"Talyn says the ship must have some type of stealthing tech. He cannot trace it past the planet's atmosphere."

John was about to open his mouth again when the deck under his feet shivered. "What was the hell was that?" He asked, turning to Crais. "Is it the Reaver again?"

Crais looked perplexed; he put one hand up to implant at the nape of his neck, "I don't know- Talyn?" The lights flashed and there was a series of chirps in answer. "What?"

"What the Hezmana is going on, Crais?" D'Argo demanded.

"Talyn is-communicating with another," the ex-Peacekeeper's glare focused on John, "It's that frelling Singer you insisted we bring aboard!"

"Why are you guys always blaming this crap on me?" John snapped back.

"Because your ideas always get us into trouble like this," D'Argo retorted. He grabbed John and propelled him toward the door. "Come. It was your idea to bring her with us, so you can help me take care of this little problem."

"Try tracing that signal!" John shouted over his shoulder as he was manhandled out of Talyn's Command.


TBC...