Creature Comforts: Farscape Fan Fic: Part 2 By Rozi

Back on board Moya, Jool was letting Tricket the second settle in. She put his cage down in her quarters and opened the door, "Come on ickle baby, this is your new home," she gurgled encouragingly. It poked it's head half way out, looked around and tucked it back in again. Jool smiled, "Come on, I won't hurt you…" She said and sighed. She needed… encouragement. She picked up more food cubes from her bag and laid them out in a trail towards her arms, she waited. The karret poked its head out of the cage and saw the food cubes. It leapt out to follow the trail, swallowing each food cube one by one. Jool leapt forward and scooped it up, it squirmed a bit, but then calmed down when it realised that if it stayed longer it might get some more food. She cuddled it tightly and cooed, "Aren't you just the sweetest little thing?"

"Where the hezmana did that thing come from?"

Jool turned at the voice; D'argo was standing in the doorway, arms folded. Jool was lost for words for a moment, but she bunched up her face defiantly "This is a karret, his name is Tricket the Second and he's mine."

"He is leaving!" D'argo marched towards Jool "Believe me, we DON'T want that thing on here because they cause trouble!"

Jool shielded Tricket away from him "What possible trouble could he cause? Look!" She held up Tricket to his face, the Luxen glared at it "I'll it's sweet but-" He then had to duck as it hissed and swung a claw at his face. Jool tugged him away from D'argo's face and hugged him close "You upset him," she snarled accusingly. She stroked Tricket lovingly whilst D'argo glared at it. "Jool?" He said sweetly.

"Hmmm?"

"If you don't get rid of it, then I'll jettison it!" He cried making a leap for it. Jool let out an eardrum-bursting scream at the top of her lungs and D'argo was forced to cover his ears.

Jool ran down the corridor "You are not laying a finger on him! You'll have to come through me first!" She cried as she ran. She ran into Command and saw John staring out of the viewer. "HELP! He's trying to kill my karret!" She squealed.

"What?" Just when John thought he was hearing things he saw Jool run towards him with the little fur-ball in her hands. D'argo followed her angrily into Command "That thing is not staying!" He cried, "John, back me up, we can't let that thing stay here! Remember the vorc?" 

John looked at the creature curled up in Jool's arms and sighed. "God, not again," he muttered. Out loud he said "Look, Jool, I know that thing is cute, adorable and fluffy, but believe me, the last thing we need is sweet little alien critters."

"He won't hurt a living soul!" Jool wailed.

"At the moment, but we don't know what that thing could do. It could eat us all alive, multiply, spew acid crap for all we know!" He leaned back on the control panel "Next commerce planet we get to, we leave it there-"

"NO!"

"Jool, stop being so childish-" D'argo began.

"None of you have been nice to me! None of you like me! Tricket is the only thing that has shown a little bit of kindness towards me! You are not getting rid of him!" She screamed.

John hung his head, he understood what Jool meant and he remembered when his Dad wouldn't let his dog come with him to summer camp when he was ten. God, he was so afraid of being by himself with no one else who knew him that he desperately wanted at least his dog with him. Of course, this was different; he knew his dog wouldn't turn into a parasitic alien. "Sorry Jool that thing's got to go."

"NO!"

"D'argo?"

They carried Jool as kindly as they could back to her quarters and prised the karret out her hands. Trying desperately to ignore the screeches from Jool they placed her in her quarters and shut the door. "You frelling bastards!" She screamed, "How dare you! You are not my dad! You have no right to do this!" They walked off with the karret struggling in its cage.

D'argo and Crichton headed towards the docking bays "I say we just throw it out," snarled D'argo "We'd be better off, who knows what it could do if left alone?" John sighed "Yeah, I know, but we have to be sympathetic, you have to admit, we haven't been nice to Jool lately," he said.

"No."

"Besides, what harm can it do at the moment? It's in a cage and it doesn't look as if it will get out."

"You don't know that John."

"True, but it is kinda cute."

"It's a vicious little dren."

John looked at the thing in the cage, "Hey lil'guy-" it swiped at him with a needle filled paw and caught him on the nose "OW!" cried John, and swore as only an earthman could.

"Told you," remarked D'argo.

John glared at him, holding his bleeding nose "Very funny," he growled "We still ain't gonna jettison it."

Jool sat in her room sobbing, she was angry, really angry. She tapped her com "Pilot?" She said.

"Yes Jool?" came the reply.

"When will we get to the next commerce planet?"

"In the next quarter arn, I already know that they are going to put your pet there."

"We can't just abandon him! It's cruel!"

"I'm sorry Jool, but they are right. We have to leave it, for Moya and all of your safety."

"But, he's… mine…" Jool sobbed again.

"I am so sorry."

A quarter of an arn later the smoky, busy air of the commerce planet was in their lungs. They stood in an alley, Jool held the cage with Tricket in it and John put his hand on her shoulder "Right Jool, I'm sorry to do this to you, but the carrot has got to go," Crichton said firmly, he was starting to feel like his dad "We can't risk everyone else on Moya."

Jool nodded mournfully and opened the door to the cage, "Out you go," she said quietly. The creature leapt out without too much fight and hopped away. Jool turned away and sobbed into John's shoulder, he hugged her tight "I'm sure he'll find somewhere nice to live," he whispered reassuringly, even though he had a feeling that five minutes later it will probably get hit with by what ever passed for a car around here. Carrot road kill. "Come on, we'd better get back." They turned to walk away.

What John didn't notice was Jool opening the cage door, inside was a pile of food cubes. She felt the slight increase of weight and the cage jolted.

She grinned, success.

Back on the transport pod she held the cage tightly to her and didn't say a word on the way back. If any one tried to say anything to her, John would signal to leave her be. Chiana however was never always to take orders. "I'm sorry you had to get rid of the little fur ball," she said.

Jool scowled "No you're not."

Chiana grinned, "Nope, you're right!"

"Chi, be a bit more sympathetic will you?" John called back from the controls. D'argo fumed "Personally, I'm glad we got rid of it."

"Yeah, but now that we did, we got to be a little nicer to her."

"Fine, as long as I never see it again."

"What're you complaining about? The little bastard got me on the nose, it didn't give you a scratch."

"I don't like cute little furry creatures. They mean trouble."

John sighed "Good thing you never saw Bambi," he muttered. 

When they docked and got out Jool turned to the others "Can I go to my quarters? I want to be alone for a while."

"Why? It's not as if you lost anyone important," spat Chiana disgustedly.

"Sure Jool, if you need anything just bleep," said Crichton, giving Chiana a look.

"Thank you John."

Jool almost felt guilty about betraying his trust, but not really that guilty. She waited until the doors to her quarters were shut, took off her com and hid it in her bag, which was then stuffed under her bed. She sat down on her bed, put the cage on her lap and opened the door. Tricket hopped onto her lap and looked up at her with the biggest pair of eyes she had ever seen "Told you," Jool gurgled "Mommy's never ever gonna let anything bad happen to you!"