Though John was cringing from the pain, his voice was strong. "I have no Sebacean backgrounds to deny!"
The guard gave him a look and raised his staff again when the green eyed man interfered. "Enough! He doesn't need any of this before the memory test. It will be hard enough on him as it is. Take him. It is time."
As he was being dragged off, he said under his breath, "Good job, Harvey. I thought we were trying to get me out of trouble."
**********************
"You sure you don't wanna come?" Chiana asked the Gondilot that she had been talking to.
"And risk getting caught and facing a worse punishment?" he asked with a snort. "I don't think so."
Chiana shrugged. "Too bad," she turned away and added under her breath, "that you don't have the mivonks to try to escape." She worked on the lock and it was open in less than a minute. "Too easy." The door opened a crack and she was about to push it open some more when noises farther down the hall than she could see caused her to pull it shut.
"Sounds like someone escaped from the lower levels," another inmate said.
"What's in the lower levels?"
"Sebaceans. Any they find are taken down there. Then they're usually . . disposed of after a week or two of trying to find out why they come to Gondilea."
'John looks like a Sebacean,' Chiana thought, 'and this sort of trouble seems to follow him all over the Uncharted Territories.' "Is there any way to find out if they are Sebacean or not?"
"We know what a Sebacean looks like," the Gondilot said almost rudely.
"But what if they aren't Sebacean?"
"First, they have to convince the council that they aren't Sebacean. Then I guess a memory test would find out the truth or not. Of course then you might consider yourself dead anyway after one of those."
A row of sickening thwaps, like wood hitting flesh, drew her attention back out to the hall. Between each thwap, a man said one word that formed this sentence, "You will not deny your Sebacean backgrounds any longer!" She had a feeling it was him then, but her stomach did a flip when a voice clearly belonging to John Crichton said, "I have no Sebacean backgrounds to deny!"
"You called that one."
"Wish I hadn't," Chiana said, not really paying attention because she was listening at the door.
"You were right," he responded, obviously still impressed. This situation had never occurred before.
"Yeah," she said, turning around. Her pale skin was clearly paler as she said, "You were, too."
The man rushed over to her. "Hey, are you okay?"
"I just heard them say they were taking him for a memory test."
"Huh. Well, I doubt we'll see him again."
"Why?"
"The memory test drains the victims so much and the medical engineers don't want to waste supplies on them even though they conceivably could be treated, so they are discarded. They die of malnutrition in the cells. Be glad you don't know that guy."
"I do know that guy. He's a friend of mine. A very close friend."
The Gondilot backed away. "You are friends with a Sebacean?" he asked in surprise.
"No. Well, yes, but not that one. He's a human. He just looks like a Sebacean."
"A human?"
She nodded. "And he'd be the only one stupid enough to try to escape."
"May I remind you that you're trying to escape?"
"But John is about as subtle as the stench of a budong." She opened the door again, her motivation to escape momentarily replaced by the motivation to rescue Crichton.
"Don't," she was warned. "After something like that happens, we're lectured to about what we didn't hear. If you leave now, they're going to see you and then you can't go rescue your friend."
She looked longingly into the hall, but realized he was right when she heard the clanks of the guards. The door closed, and she backed away from it. The guard's voice filled all of the cells, but she wasn't listening. It might of well have been in ancient Luxan the way she was interested in it. She needed to get John out of there. And fast.
**********************
D'Argo watched as the transport landed amidst the other ships of people who came to the bazaar. No one noticed; outsiders saw them as fellow shoppers and the Gondilots saw them as fresh meat to sink their teeth into and suck out as much currency as possible. Moya's transport was as inconspicuous as anyone could have hoped.
D'Argo went to greet them, but stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Aeryn's amazing likeness to a Nebari. He dipped his head at a passing shopper and continued on his way.
"That's good," he commented. "How did you get her hair to stand up like that?" Aeryn simply glared at him.
"Where is John?" she asked, abruptly changing the subject.
"In that large building at the other end of the booths," he answered, moving in said direction. Aeryn and Zhaan went along. "The front gate is guarded," D'Argo continued. "I couldn't get past it."
"It?" Zhaan asked.
"It calls itself 'Mulkin.'"
"Mulkin?" Aeryn made sure that's what she heard.
"Do you know the creature, Aeryn?"
"I know the race, not that one in particular. They all call themselves 'Mulkin.' It would be a logical choice to guard a building with Sebaceans inside. They hate us about as much as these Gondilots do." After the clear "Why?" expressions on her shipmates' faces, she elaborated. "The Mulkin homeworld had elements and minerals we could use to easily make more destructive weapons. They would have three times the power and less time and resources to make them. The minerals were deeply imbedded within the rocks of the surface, and the only way to get them out was to pelt the mountains and cliff sides with what we already had. We had no concern for the inferior animals that inhabited the planet. Eventually, we used them as slave labour for their strength. A few escaped, but we thought nothing of it until they started breeding."
"That's what he meant when he said, 'Boom Mulkin home.' I thought he meant his home here."
They reached the building and discreetly moved to a part of the surrounding wall that was out of Mulkin's eyesight. Zhaan examined the situation.
"We will need another way in," she said. "There has to be another way through the wall than the front gate."
Aeryn touched the thick stones that made up the wall. "Zhaan, you said that you got the Vulkdralgon serum from someone here. Would he have anything to eat the way through this stone?" She jumped at the sound of a grunt and then rock crumbling behind her and turned around.
"Unnecessary," D'Argo said. He was standing next to a gaping hole in the wall that wasn't there before. The handle of his Qualta Blade was dirty and faced toward the hole. "I found a weak spot," he shrugged.
"D'Argo and I will go in and look for John," Aeryn instructed. "Zhaan, you stay out here. If we don't come back, take Moya and StarBurst the hezmana out of here."
"What about Chiana?" Zhaan asked.
"She should be on Moya," D'Argo huffed. Zhaan shook her head. "Then, knowing Chiana, she will be in there." He nodded his head toward the building.
Aeryn sighed. "Then, D'Argo, you and I will split up and look for both Chiana and Crichton. Let's go." Aeryn and D'Argo disappeared through the hole in the wall.
**********************
John was shoved unceremoniously into a room with four locals in orange lab coats busying themselves around a chair. The chair had a nasty-looking headband with two thin metal prongs on the inside, clearly designed to go in the head.
"I am so sick of chairs screwing with my memory," John mumbled.
The techs looked up at John stumbling in. "He has been trouble," the man with the green eyes said. "Give him the full treatment." He looked at each tech sternly before a smug look broke out on his face as he looked a final time at John before shutting the door.
The men in orange pushed him into the chair. As they moved the headband into place, he winced at the glean of the sharp metal. "Is this gonna hurt?" he asked. The only response he got was the two techs in front of him glancing at one another before continuing brining the band down.
John felt the pressure of the band, but there was slightly more pressure at his temples. He heard two clicks on either side of his head, one preceding the other. Then the prongs slid into the soft flesh of his temples, and he howled in pain. The world started going black around him. He tried to clear his head, but to no avail. His eyelids were too heavy to hold up anymore, so he let them fall, bathing his world in darkness.
**********************
John found himself in his mind watching his life through the eyes of the John that lived the moments. It was shooting by at an alarming rate. It slowed and stopped when he was about six. He saw that he was playing with the rocket ship that his dad got him as an apology for not being there the previous week. John watched as he hid the ship behind the couch.
"I always wondered where I put that thing," he said, a smile touching his lips from the memory. "Maybe this won't be so bad."
Life sped up again and, as if to spite him, stopped at a funeral. Past John moved toward the casket to look inside. Current John wanted to look away, knowing what he'd see and not wanting to see it again. But he was looking through Past John's eyes, and he couldn't control what was happening and he peered into the casket anyway, right into his mother's face.
Current John yelled for the Gondilots to stop or go to another memory in hopes they would hear him. They either didn't hear or ignored his cries. It wasn't until Past John finished the eulogy that life took off again. He realized that he felt extremely tired while life was moving at this speed, and the more it happened, the more drained he felt.
He knew by now that they had to believe that he wasn't a Peacekeeper, but they still kept going. He felt tired enough to collapse if he could. Finally, they slowed down enough that John could see where he was. He was in his module, already in orbit around Earth. For the second time, he was sucked through a wormhole.
Again, the Peacekeeper ship hit the Farscape 1 module and slammed into the asteroid. The Peacekeeper ship that had Crais' brother in it. He felt the module being brought toward Moya with the docking web. Then life went by again.
He knew he was getting toward the end of this test when he caught a glimpse of a sick Aeryn. Life was still moving very quickly, and soon it was over. The last image was one of the faces of the Gondilots.
The techs moved in and took off the band. The tiredness was still with him after the test had ended. He gulped for air, but still didn't seem to be able to get enough of it. He tried to get out of the chair on his own, but his exhausted muscles wouldn't cooperate. The techs pressed a button on the wall, and soon the man with the green eyes came in.
"What did you find?"
"He is not a Peacekeeper," they said. "Though they look the same on the outside, there are anatomical differences as well as behavioral ones. We found him as a child playing instead of training. Then there was a mourning celebration for his dead mother where he gave a speech. And we found out how he came to be out here since his planet is nowhere close. This man is not a Sebacean, and he isn't here to hurt us. He came to find a medicine to cure a sick . . friend." John noted through the haze that they left out the fact that his friend was a Sebacean.
The green eyed man looked at John without the slightest tinge of remorse. "Hmm. I will inform the empress. Take him away."
The guards came in and helped him back to his cell. Actually, it was more of a drag than a help. He wasn't really able to move. When they got to the cell, they threw him in and he hit the floor. Unable to move because of how weak he felt, he laid there. 'Maybe just some sleep will help,' he thought, already most of the way out. 'Just some sleep . . . '
**********************
Finally, their lecture was over and Chiana was able to get out of the cell. She made one last offer to the inmate, but she was met with the same answer.
"I'm telling you, girl, I will not risk being caught out there. And I don't think you should either."
So Chiana left the cell on her own and went the way the guards had gone earlier, but soon she came to a fork. She looked down each side. The right one seemed to veer down and get darker while the left one stayed at the same level and brightness, although it wasn't very bright to begin with. She chose the right one, thinking that something as dark sounding as that memory test dren would be kept below the main floor.
After a few microts of walking down the hall, she heard guards walking toward her. She ducked into the nearest room (which just happened to be empty) and waited for them to pass. She peered out the little window in the upper quadrant of the door and saw that the guards were carrying a terribly familiar face.
"John," she whispered when she recognized him, though it was hard to do so because he looked so different. He had dark circles under his eyes, his cheeks were hollow, and he was awfully pale, like he hadn't eaten or slept in days. They had only been here for a few arns, certainly not long enough for something like that to happen. Unless . . .
"Frelling memory test!" she whispered sharply, understanding what happened. When the guards were gone, she crept out of the room and followed stealthily after them.
They dragged John back to the fork and through the hall that Chiana had neglected to go into. They marched down that hallway a piece and tossed him carelessly into a cell. Chiana had to hide behind a conveniently placed column attached to the wall as they turned briskly and walked back the other way.
When she was sure they were gone, she rushed to the cell. They hadn't bothered to lock it, and when she opened the door, she saw why.
John was lying on the floor. From his position, she guess that he hadn't attempted to move since they threw him in there. She ran to his side.
"John? Can you hear me?" John stirred slightly, but made no other movement. She realized he was asleep. "John, wake up. We have to get back. Moya, remember? Wake up, Crichton!"
John lifted his head and looked into Chiana's eyes. His were red. "Oh, hey, Pip," he said, just barely loud enough to here. "You here to save me?"
"What did they do to you, John?" she asked, her voice breaking at his appearance. Amidst the sunken cheeks and the dark circles, there were some bruises and abrasions that looked like he had been beaten. Most of them were on his body, but one or two were on his face. And, on his temples, there were two small puncture wounds and from the looks of them, they were getting infected. "Unsanitary drenhole," she mumbled, eyeing the two red inflamed wounds.
His face was contorted into a look of pain and exhaustion. "Let's just say that it's tough being a Sebacean look-alike," he joked breathlessly, obviously drained. Chiana smiled slightly.
"At least I know you still have your odd sense of humour. C'mon. We've got to get you out of here. Can you walk?"
"I think I can . . . lumber. Slowly. While resting every few minutes."
"That will have to do. Let's get you up." She grabbed his arm to help him up and he hissed in pain. She quickly withdrew her hand.
"Don't worry about it, Pip," he said in a groan. "I'll be in a lot more than that while I move. Just help me up."
Chiana complied, carrying more of John's weight than he was. Leaning on her clearly hurt his abused side, but he did it anyway knowing that it was the only way they could have even a slim chance to escape.
"If I'm too much of an encumbrance to you," John said as they started moving, "leave me behind."
"If I had any intention of leaving you, I wouldn't have wasted my time to come get you in the first place," Chiana responded almost harshly.
They moved, slowly, down the hallway, but Chiana was determined to show John that he didn't put her in danger. They reached the fork and were about to go down the corridor to get out when they heard more guards coming their way. They had to go back down the right hall and let the guards pass. Chiana caught a glimpse of a beautiful, and clearly rich, woman walking down towards John's cell. She didn't wait to see what was going to happen. She just carried John down the dimly lit hall.
They were moving down the hall faster than they had been going before, though still not fast at all. John was sweating from the mere strain it was putting on him.
"What is that?" John asked suddenly.
"What?"
"That, at the end there. Someone's moving this way."
Chiana's blood went cold. "We've been found."
