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 4: Truth

Pregnant! The doctor's words faded into an indistinct babble as Aeryn's mind traveled back to the day she knew the child had been conceived. Six weekens ago, they had just come back from the royal planet where Crichton was suppose to remain as a statue for 80 cycles, married to a princess whose DNA was compatible only with his. Aeryn had been devastated at the thought of losing him, but could find no way to articulate her emotions. After unexpectedly having him returned to her, Aeryn, still at a loss for words, had simply presented him with a small vial of the DNA-testing kiss solution. After their sweet-tasting kiss, she'd turned and walked wordlessly out of the maintenance bay, leaving the next move to him and hoping she'd done the right thing.

Sure enough, after a few microts she heard his footsteps following her down the corridor. He'd caught up to her outside the door to her quarters, clasping her in his arms and kissing her passionately. This time, she hadn't resisted, and pressed her body even closer to his. After several eternal moments, she'd broken free, but only to open the door and pull him inside. They'd made love that night, not with the desperate passion they'd had on the false Earth so long ago, but as an expression of the deep feelings to which neither could form words to communicate. And from that, now, a child--John's son--grew within her. But these bastards wanted to take him away from her! Slowly, she tuned back in to the words that Dr. Horath was speaking.

"...need to run a few more routine tests now, so if you'll just step over to the door, we'll get started."

"I won't cooperate."

"Now, Miss Sun, we can do this the easy way or the hard way. I trust you won't be difficult?"

Aeryn gave a short laugh. "You should put your trust elsewhere."

Dr. Horath sighed. "I was hoping it wouldn't come to this, but..." He reached over and adjusted something off-camera. Immediately, a bluish-white mist began streaming from vents in the ceiling. Aeryn dropped to the floor and tried to crawl to the bed for a blanket to protect her breathing, but the gas soon overwhelmed her and she slipped into unconsciousness.

*********************

Chiana looked up from her seat by John's bed as D'Argo entered the med bay behind her. "How is he?" he inquired, moving up behind her and placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Better, now. Finally sleeping... Zhaan made something for him to bring his fever down." She nodded toward the far corner of the room where the Delvian lay curled up on another bed, fast asleep. "He's been delirious for the past few arns. First he was talking to Scorpius, then awhile back he started yelling that Aeryn was alive. Scared the grot out of me when he did, too!"

As if on cue, John suddenly sat up straight, his eyes wild. "We've got to go back," he gasped. "She's still alive... I remember..."

D'Argo sat on the edge of the bed and placed his hand on the human's shoulder. "It's all right, John," he said, trying to get him to lie back down. But Crichton knocked the hand away and pushed himself up so that his back was against the wall.

"You don't understand, I remember it all now. We left her there!"

"John, you were dreaming," Zhaan said, coming up to stand behind Chiana.

"No no no no no... I remember! Just listen to me," he begged, his hands clenching the covers.

D'Argo sighed. "All right, John. We're listening."

Crichton took a deep breath. "I was given a false memory. The fight started like I told you before, but now I remember how it really ended."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As John scrambled to his feet after being thrown into the knife kiosk, he felt two strong pairs of hands grip his arms. He struggled, but soon his wrists were bound behind his back. Blinking his eyes to clear the blood from them, he turned his head and saw Aeryn lying on the ground to the side of him. "Aeryn!" he called out, fearing the worst. To his relief, she stirred and moaned slightly as one of the soldiers leaned down and injected something into her arm. "Hey, what're you doing?" John shouted, attempting to go toward her. Two of the men grabbed him and forced him to his knees, where he could only watch helplessly as several others lifted the unconscious woman onto a stretcher.

Soon, he found himself being propelled rapidly through the streets, surrounded by the black-clad guards. He could only catch glimpses of Aeryn being carried in front of him, so he contented himself with asking numerous questions of their captors. After repeatedly inquiring as to why they were being abducted, he became frustrated with the silence which was his only answer. Finally he fell silent as they entered a tall, windowless building with the word "Oricron Breeding Center" inscribed over the grey metal doors. When they entered , Aeryn was taken down a long hallway, while John was brought into a small, bare, white-walled room and strapped into a metal chair in the center. As the guards left, a tall, thin man wearing a blue lab coat entered the room. John glared at him. "Are you gonna tell me what the hell's going on?"

"Of course," the man answered. "You're at the Oricron breeding center. You will soon return to your ship, while your companion stays here and assists us in the rebuilding of our society."

"I'm not going anywhere without her."

"Oh, you will. By the time you leave here, you'll think she's already dead. But first..." He walked over and strapped a metal band across John's forehead. "You're going to tell me everything about yourself and your friend. What are your names?"

Crichton opened his mouth to tell the man to go frell himself, but to his surprise, the words that came out were, "I'm John Crichton, and she's Aeryn Sun."

The man smiled. "Good, I'm glad you're going to be cooperative."

Shaking with frustration, John answered every question his interrogator asked. Finally, the man nodded. "Thank you for your help. You won't remember any of this, of course." Still unable to speak, John could only clench his teeth as the taller man continued. "Your memory-altering process will begin now. If it's any consolation, know that Miss Sun will be treated well, even though you won't remember that she's here. Goodbye, Mr. Crichton. And believe me when I say I am truly sorry." With that, he reached out and touched a button on the wall.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"After that, I blacked out and woke up in the marketplace like I told you before," John concluded.

"How were you able to break through the false memory?" Zhaan asked.

He shook his head, staring down at his hands. "I don't know. While I was asleep, I somehow remembered the truth. And it wasn't a dream! I know that for sure." He shuddered, then looked up. "You all believe me, right? We've got to go back and get Aeryn!"

"Already done," Pilot's voice came over the comm. "We will be back at Silexa in approximately five arns."

************************

Sitting on the bed, Aeryn picked idly at the plate of food cubes on her lap. They'd been on the floor of her cell when she'd awakened, but no one had spoken to her as of yet. Chewing on one of the tasteless squares, she absentmindedly rubbed a hand across her abdomen. She'd never thought of herself as the mothering type, but now an intense desire to protect the life within her arose. "Don't worry, I'll get us out of here," she whispered. *And find John,* she thought. *He's already got one child he'll never see... I won't let that happen again.* She was startled out of her reverie by a faint buzzing noise as the communications screen activated again. Standing up, she moved over to it, only to see Dr. Horath glaring at her.

"I'm very disappointed in you, Miss Sun," he said. "You should have told us the fetus was only half Sebacean."

An icy lump of dread suddenly manifested itself in Aeryn's stomach. "Why?"

"Our blood must be kept pure!" he shouted, then calmed. "No matter. The fetus will be removed immediately so that you can start over again. Your abortion procedure is scheduled for three arns from now." Before Aeryn could reply, the screen went blank again.

"No," she whispered, then louder, "No!" She began pounding on the screen, her fists emphasizing her words. "I... won't... let... you! You... can't... take... my... baby!"

Finally, exhausted and with bruised and bloodied knuckles, she slid to the floor and rested her head on her knees. She was sound asleep when the drugged mist poured from the vents once again.

To be continued...