"What?"

"That, at the end there. Someone's moving this way."

Chiana's blood went cold. "We've been found."


D'Argo and Aeryn split on the ground level of the building. She had gone up and he had gone down. He now made his way silently (or as silent as a Luxan can be) through the dimly lit corridors. He was still moving down, and it was getting even darker.

He turned the corner at the end of the hall and came upon another that had some small rooms in it, but one in particular caught his attention. The door to that room was unlike all the others. It was thick metal and larger in height. It opened and four Gondilots in orange coats came from that room and entered a room on the other side. The coast looked clear to D'Argo, so he started forward.

He had just taken about four steps when he saw movement at the end of the hall. He could just make out two shapes moving in his direction. One seemed to be supporting the other, who could hardly stand, let alone run as they were trying to do. He squinted, trying to see them clearly, but it was too dark.

He didn't feel that it was a threat; they certainly didn't move like they could be anyone he'd have a problem with. Figuring that they couldn't apprehend him even if they tried, he started forward. They stopped. They were watching him. The one that was bearing the weight of the other one tried to back up causing the injured one to cry out.

'I know that yelp,' D'Argo thought. He stepped a little closer. The unhurt one took a protective stance (as well as they could while holding up the other one) between him and D'Argo. 'And that silhouette looks familiar, too.'

"John?" D'Argo asked. The standing one relaxed a little. Now D'Argo could see that she was definitely a female, and he had no doubt as to which one. "Chiana, it's D'Argo," he said as loud as he dared what with the four men dressed in orange right in the other room. He heard whispering between her and who was obviously John. John nodded his head and then-- 'That nod looked a little too weak.' Fine. John shook his head a little too weakly and then Chiana helped him move forward to D'Argo. D'Argo went to meet them.

When he got there, he saw the pain etched in John's face and the cold sweat he had broken into. His breathing was awfully laboured, and he was sure John wasn't going to stay conscious much longer.

"He doesn't need to be walking," he hissed, more at whoever did this to John than at Chiana, but she didn't see it that way.

"I-I'm sorry, D'Argo. I couldn't carry--"

"It's okay, Chiana," he rectified his mistake quickly. "I'm not angry at you. I'm angry at the toeskas who did this to John." He was practically steaming in anger.

D'Argo picked up John who whimpered. He had to bite his tongue to keep from screaming as D'Argo hit one of the more painful bruises causing searing pain to shoot through his body, but he was aware that there were people in this area and he had to be as quiet as possible. Tears streamed down his face at the pain, and he almost lost consciousness because of it, but he refused to scream.

"Now we have to go find Aeryn," D'Argo informed Chiana as they started running. John was too far gone in the pain that racked his body to hear what he was saying.

"Aeryn's down here? Isn't she sick? And don't you know that since she's a Sebacean--"

"I presume that she's better since Zhaan gave her the medication and she came down here. As for the Sebacean thing, we've got that covered."

"Where is Aeryn?"

"I'll find her. Aeryn?" he said through the comms. "Are you there, Aeryn?"

"I'm here, D'Argo," answered her stuffy voice.

"I've got them. Go back to the ground level and wait for us to get there."

"Understood."

Chiana ran faster. "Then let's get the hezmana out of here."


Aeryn was on her way down the same way she came up. Her stomach suddenly turned on her and she tossed the proverbial cookies right there in the hallway. "Frelling Zhaan and her frelling medicine," she mumbled to herself, grumpy beyond words. "She should frelling make something that would frelling do something besides frelling tasting bad and not frelling making me feel any frelling better." Aeryn absentmindedly scratched lower back and continued down the hall.

Next to her, a door opened and three men in purple suits stepped out and stopped when they saw her.

"What are you doing in this section, Nebari?" one of them asked.

"I'm just looking around. Am I not allowed to be here?"

"No, you aren't."

"Then will you show me the way out?"

"I'm sorry, people don't just wander into restricted areas especially when they are clearly marked. We are going to have to take you with us."

"No."

"No? And just why not?"

"Because I don't have time for this." With that, she swiftly moved forward with her pulse pistol in hand. She hit the nearest one with the butt of it and gave another a pantac jab. The last one held a ready stance, but she kicked his legs out from under him and he hit his head on the wall. She nodded curtly at the three unconscious guards.

"Even feeling like dren, I've still got it." She stopped and contemplated what she said for a split second. "I've been around John for too long," she concluded.

Finally, she got to the place that she had come in. To her left, she saw D'Argo and company heading toward the opening, but she didn't pay much attention. She went through, and then through the surrounding wall to meet up with Zhaan.

"Are you itching?" Zhaan asked after a few microts.

"What?"

"You've been scratching your back ever since you came out of that place."

"I haven't noticed."

D'Argo stepped through the hole followed by Chiana. Aeryn didn't notice that he was carrying John before. She gaped openly at his condition.

"Ooh," D'Argo groaned, seeing John in full light. "I didn't noticed the extent of his injuries in that dark place." His eyes turned cold. "They will pay."

"N-No, D'Argo," John said voicelessly. "J . . . Just gotta get b-back to Moya is all." He moved his head slightly. The strain of that simple movement was evident in the lines that creased his brow. "T-Tired."

"Why is he so tired?" Zhaan asked, a concerned look on her blue features.

"They gave him something called a memory test," Chiana answered. "It sucks the life right out of you. But not all of it is from the memory test," she said as something flitted across her face.

John caught sight of Aeryn and reached an arm out to her. "Oh, h-hey, baby. Y-You look good." Aeryn reached for it, but before she could grab it, it fell limp toward the ground.

"John?!" she asked urgently. Zhaan rushed to him.

"He's just asleep," she said with relief. "But it does look like some of the abrasions are infected. We must get him home. I can treat him there."

D'Argo nodded and led the way back to the transport. They all circled around John trying to block people's view of him. One Gondilot saw him, however, and let out a piercing scream.

"Sebacean! There! With the two Nebari!"

A mother of some race grabbed her six children by their upper hands and scurried away as fast as her three legs could carry her.

"Here we go again," D'Argo grumbled. There was more yelling and screaming before the guards actually showed up behind them.

"Stay there!" they ordered. John stirred at the commotion, but still did not wake up.

D'Argo was in a full run now, and the others were having trouble keeping up with him especially Aeryn. At one point, she had to stop to vomit. The bouncing of her stomach was not good with this Styrinthian Flu deal. Zhaan waited with her, holding back her hair. She knew letting Aeryn go down there was a bad idea.

Finally, they reached the transport. Zhaan, Chiana, and Aeryn moved quickly to the controls while D'Argo stabilized John so he wouldn't roll around. They had just lifted off when they felt a small weight on the back.

"Come out now!" the voice said. It sounded close. Very close.

"Are they hanging on to the back of the transport?" Chiana asked.

"If they are, they'll get off soon," Aeryn said, starting to fly away. The weight on the back dropped off before too long, and they were on the way back to Moya.


When they got back to Moya, there was the feeling of a StarBurst, and then Zhaan told D'Argo to bring Crichton into her lab and she ushered Aeryn in herself. On the bed, there was something shaking under the blanket. To give D'Argo a place to put John, Aeryn swept up the corners of the blanket, encasing the quivering lump. D'Argo put John down as a gasp was heard from inside the blanket.

"What the yotz it going on?!" Rygel's angry voice shouted, although it was muffled through the metallic-coloured cloth. "I demand you put me down this instant! Obey your dominar!"

Aeryn let go of one side of the blanket, causing the Hynerian to tumble onto the floor. "As you wish, your lowness," she said sarcastically. She then put the blanket over John who had started trembling ever so slightly. Gently she caressed his face, being careful not to touch any bruised or hurt areas, though it was hard to dodge them. She began trembling, too, but it wasn't for the same reason as John. She was shaking with rage. Zhaan, noticing they were about to have a very angry, vengeful, destructive, and sick Sebacean on their hands, brought the attention back to Rygel.

"What are you doing, Rygel?"

"I was hiding from the DRDs," he said, still angry at being tossed on the floor. "They attacked me."

"He thinks he was hiding," Pilot corrected. "Moya merely became bored with him and the DRDs went back to their regular maintenance duties."

"Yotz," Ryg said under his breath. He waddled out of the room in search of his ThroneSled.

"Zhaan," D'Argo said, once again bringing the attention back to John, "he started running a fever in the transport, and his perspiration is cold. The infections are also getting worse."

She looked at the angry red welts on his head, arms, and back. Indeed, they were larger and as Zhaan felt them, she realized they were hotter. Also, they were darker than they had been before, the red almost purple in places, but that could be because of bruises starting to show around the wounds.

"Antibiotics," she declared, moving to her table. Without looking up, she said to D'Argo, "You can go now." Aeryn started to go with him, and almost like Zhaan had eyes in the back of her head, she said, "Not you, Aeryn."

"Zhaan," Aeryn started to protest her need to be there, "it is not necessary f--"

"Sit," she commanded in a no-nonsense tone. Zhaan turned, holding a vial. She put the contents into a syringe and injected them into Crichton. "That should be strong enough to knock those infections out if he takes a smaller dose for a little over a week. Now, Aeryn," she turned stern, "why did you go down to the planet when you knew you weren't well?"

Aeryn scratched. "The thought of me sitting up here with Rygel either being bored or annoyed out of my mind while you were down there rescuing Crichton didn't sit well with me."

"Obviously," Zhaan said. "I had to hold your hair back one of those times that the thought didn't sit well with you. How many times did you vomit, Aeryn?"

" . . . . . Four," she answered sheepishly all the while continuing to scratch.

"Turn around."

"What?"

"Aeryn . . . "

"Fine." Aeryn complied to Zhaan's wishes.

Zhaan lifted up the back of her shirt and looked at the skin. "Hmm," she said curiously. "Are you experiencing the itching anywhere else?"

"On my arms and my neck, but I won't scratch there with this goop on me."

"Then take off this cream and get back here," she ordered when Aeryn turned around again.

"What is it?"

"I can't be sure until I see a bigger effected area, possibly in one of the other places you mentioned."

As Aeryn walked out, Chiana walked in. "How is he?" she asked.

"I've given him a big dose of antibiotics, so the infections should dissipate soon. Other than that, he needs some time to get his energy back and his cuts to close up and the bruises to heal."

"What about . . . " she drifted off and let her gesture do the talking, which was her hands pointing to her head.

"I can't be sure, Chiana," Zhaan said. "He's been fine from the other times his mind has been raped, but . . . "

"But what if this is the mind frell that he doesn't recover from?" Chiana finished Zhaan's statement.

"The human is strong," Rygel said from the hallway. Zhaan and Chiana looked in surprise at the Hynerian's compliment. "He will make it through. I have faith in him. He knows we need him, and he wouldn't let us down." He started to fly away, but stopped. Almost as a second thought, he added, "Don't tell him I said that." Then he disappeared around a corner.

"Well, that was . . . "

"Interesting."

"Zhaan!" Aeryn said sharply when she came back into the room. "Look at what your frelling make up did to me!" She held out her arms. There was a prominent rash on them as well as on her neck and upper chest.

"There is some affected area on your back. There was no cream there because it was not exposed skin." When she finished looking at the rash, she said, "I think it's actually from the medicine I gave you for the Styrinthian Flu."

Aeryn dropped her hands to her side. "This is natural, right? Soon it will start making me feel better."

"I'm afraid not." A look of grief came over her face as she looked at John. "All that trouble to put you into a worse condition than you were already. It didn't need to happen."

"Don't worry 'bout it, Blue," John said quietly as he regained consciousness. "If it didn't need to happen, it wouldn't've happened," he added, trying to reassure her.

"Of course, John," she said as she stepped out of the room. She grabbed Chiana on her way out to give Aeryn and Crichton some time alone.

"How ya doin'?" John asked her with one eye barely open. Aeryn sat on the bed beside him.

"I've been better," she said. "Are you feeling any better than when we were on the planet?"

"A little. I think even getting out of that hostile environment was enough."

"I'm so sorry, John," Aeryn said after a pause, her voice breaking.

"Wha' for?"

"It's all my fault. I shouldn't have gotten sick--"

"You can't control that." John's voice, though quiet, was stern when he said this. "It's not your fault at all. Don't blame yourself. If you want to blame anyone, blame me. I'm the one that insisted I go down there."

"Alright."

"Wh-What?"

"Alright, I blame you." A bright smile lit up her face. "And don't think I will forgive you for this, either." She laid down beside him, aiming her body away from any sore spots, and put her arm delicately on unhurt parts of his chest. She felt them both drifting back into sleep. "Thank you," she mumbled as she felt sleep claim her.

End.

Now I'm bored.