TITLE: Guilty in the Mind
AUTHOR: Eloy Brightdreamer
RATING: PG-13
SUMMARY: A distraught Crichton returns to the ship saying that he accidentally did something horrible. But things are not always as they seem...
WARNINGS: Apparent character death, gratuitous angst. The SACC will kill me for this. :)
SPOILERS: "Look at the Princess," "A Human Reaction"
SETTING: Between "Beware of Dog" and "Won't Get Fooled Again."
DATE STARTED: 1/2/01
FEEDBACK: Send it my way! Flames will be used to cook Ramen noodles.
ARCHIVE: Just ask!
DISCLAIMER: Farscape and its characters are the property of Jim Henson Productions and the Sci-Fi Channel. No profit was made from this story.
NOTES: ~~~~~~~~~~~ denotes a flashback
Part 3: Prisoner
John awoke slowly to the gentle pressure of something cool and damp on his forehead. When the coolness moved away, he forced his eyes open, then started back in alarm. Scorpius sat beside the bed, a cold compress in his hand. "Get away from me!" Crichton shouted, pressing himself against the wall.
"Whoa, hey, John, it's me, Chiana," the black-clad creature said. John blinked, then rubbed his eyes. When he looked up again, the Nebari sat beside him.
"Oh... God, I'm sorry, Chi," he mumbled. "I thought I saw... never mind, I was probably just dreaming."
"Hey, don't worry about it," she soothed. "You've had fever all night, though Zhaan can't figure out why."
John nodded weakly, already feeling himself slip back into the fuzzy realm between sleep and wakefulness. Eventually, he found himself standing alone in an impenetrable white fog. "Listen to me, John," an all-too-familiar voice spoke behind him.
Crichton whirled around, but could see no one in the dream-mist. "Stay out of my mind, Scorpy," he warned.
"But you see, I have no choice," the incorporeal voice replied. "Your memories have been tampered with by someone other than myself, so the memory chip I implanted in your brain has been activated."
"You put a chip in my head?"
"Yes, but you won't remember that once you awaken. What I need you to do now is break through the false memory."
"Why is everyone always so frelling interested in my memories?!"
Scorpius' voice chuckled. "I've already raised your body's temperature to make your brain more receptive to my signals. I'm here to help, John, but you must remember... remember what really happened."
John was on the verge of replying when the fog abruptly cleared, and he found himself back in the marketplace where Aeryn had died. Once again he saw the soldiers marching toward him... the fight beginning...
*Aeryn's chest dripping blood.*
No... she was up and fighting next to him. One of the men clubbed her in the head and she dropped to the ground.
*"You know... I've always loved you..."*
*"Don't go..."*
Aeryn was being carried away by their attackers, unconscious but still alive. Chained and bound, John followed helplessly into a large nondescript building. As the dream-memory continued, one thought kept running wildly through his mind, over and over.
*She's alive! Aeryn's alive!*
*****************************
Aeryn Sun paced restlessly in her cell. Ten steps to the softly padded bed, turn right, five steps to the bathroom door, turn right again, five steps to the stuffed chair, then five more to the locked door. Despite the comfortable furnishings of the softly-lit room, the immovable door told Aeryn all she needed to know that she was a prisoner. A large viewscreen facing the chair also made her suspect that she was being watched. The shiny surface was unbreakable, as was the door--she'd hurt her wrists pounding on them. The furniture was firmly fastened to the floor, so she'd been unable to procure any sort of weapon.
She stopped pacing and tugged impatiently at the hem of her shirt. The grey knit pullover and pants were soft and loosely-fitting, but Aeryn preferred the familiarity of her leather outfit, complete with the pulse pistol at her hip. But all that had obviously been taken, along with Crichton... she closed her eyes and thought back to when they'd been captured. She didn't know how long ago it was, but all she remembered was being attacked in the market--after that it was all a blank.
Clenching her fists, Aeryn resisted the urge to stamp her bare foot on the carpet. Instead, she dropped to the floor and began doing push-ups. When her shoulders tired, she flipped over and commenced with sit-ups. After only a few, however, the room started spinning and an intense wave of nausea washed over her. She closed her eyes and lay still, gulping air until the feeling passed. *I must have been drugged,* she thought, dragging herself into the chair. As she dropped into it, the viewscreen across the room abruptly came to life, revealing a plump, balding man in a blue lab coat.
"Good evening, Miss Sun," the man said. "I trust you're comfortable here."
Aeryn stared at him stonily. "I'd be more comfortable if you'd unlock the frelling door."
He smiled gently. "I'm afraid that's not possible, Miss Sun."
"Where's John Crichton?" Aeryn demanded. "He was with me earlier. And I'd like to know who you are and why you're holding us prisoner."
"Your companion has been returned safely to his ship, unharmed."
"He'll be back for me."
"I think not. Our memory-altering techniques are very thorough. Crichton believes that you are dead, so he won't be coming back here anytime soon."
"Who are you?" Aeryn asked again, after a surprised pause.
The little man beamed. "I'm Dr. Dao Horath, in charge of reproductive procedure. You are located in Oricron, the central breeding center of Silexa IV."
"Breeding center?" Aeryn didn't like the sound of that.
Dr. Horath looked sad. "A tragic necessity, I'm afraid. You see, nearly all of our women were wiped out by a biological weapon five cycles ago during our great war with Silexa III. By the time our scientists developed a vaccine, only a handful of females remained. We also sent a modified version of the virus to our enemies, so they are in the same predicament as ourselves. In order to preserve the species, these breeding centers were developed so that women could live in comfort and produce as many children as possible until our society is stable again."
"Live as prisoners, you mean," Aeryn retorted. "So, do you kidnap all the Sebacean women who visit your planet, or did you make an exception for me?"
"Do you think we'd have a memory-altering device if you were the first?" No reply came to Aeryn's mind, so she glared at the doctor as he continued. "Now, normally at this point you'd begin the impregnation process, but you seem to be ahead of schedule."
"What do you mean?"
"Surely you knew? During our preliminary tests, we discovered a six-weeken-old male fetus already inside you. You're pregnant, Miss Sun. Congratulations."
To be continued...
