Title: The Journey Home
Chapter 18: The Storm
Rated: R
***
Cassandra woke when she heard a very pitiful cry from the floor. She opened her
eyes sleepily and looked down. Draco looked up at her and cried again. "What are
you doing on the floor?" she whispered softly. She reached down and picked him
up. Draco started purring. She rolled over onto her back, setting the kitten on
her chest, and lightly petting his head. "Shh," she whispered as Draco's purrs
began to grow in volume.
The kitten ignored her and tried to get comfortable. Deciding that Cassandra
wouldn't be nearly as comfortable to sleep on as the lump in the bed beside her,
Draco walked over and climbed on Crais. Cassandra giggled as Crais opened his
eyes to see a pair of blue cat eyes staring at him.
"What is it doing?" he whispered.
Cassandra laughed. "He likes you," she replied softly. Sure enough Draco settled
down on his chest and closed his eyes. Cassandra smiled at the uneasy look on her
lover's face. She kissed his cheek and cuddle in close to him. "I like you, too,"
she whispered, yawning, drifting into sleep. If she had been awake only a few
microts longer, she would have seen one of her lover's rare smiles.
***
"We've all been briefed on what has transpired up here, and we all agreed to take
the microbes. Dr. Mayfield can continue to be the control, and Ms. Tanya Stanislaski
has also agreed to remain without the microbes."
"Are you sure about this? I mean once you have them, you have them for life," John
once again tried to explain.
"Yes, yes. We know all that."
John still felt a little unsure about ordering the DRDs to inject them. There were
ten new faces on Moya, each a politician for some country that had a vested interest
in the Space Station. The three scientists were also back, as well as Col. Jack
Crichton and Dr. David Kirkland.
"How long will it take before they begin to work?" asked Mr. Winston Adams, the
British Ambassador.
"Yes, when can we expect to understand everyone?" asked Mr. Charles Jones, the
American Ambassador.
"You should be able to understand everyone by now," Zhaan replied softly, taking
in the uneasy expression on John's face.
"Yes, I say, these are wonderful little buggers!" Mr. Adams said excitedly.
***
The calm before the storm.
In retrospect, each wondered if there wasn't something that should have tipped
them off. Some sign that told them something bad was about to happen. Guilty
recriminations aside, there was nothing anyone could have done. Perhaps it was
fate, if you believe in such things.
***
"It is beautiful, Pilot. You and Cassandra did a wonderful job."
"Thank you, Aeryn. But you can see the problem. Cassandra is still trying to come
up with a way to allow the DRDs some mobility in there, but she hasn't managed to
come up with anything."
"Yes, I see what you mean." Without DRDs, Pilot wouldn't be able to tell what was
going on in the room. He could monitor the plants, the waterfall, etc. but he
wouldn't be able to monitor if anyone was in the room, much less what they were
doing. Aeryn walked farther into the room. She placed Jack at the base of one of
the trees so she could survey the room.
"John suggested that we set up video cameras," Pilot added. "But I would rather
not if we can help it. The DRDs are much easier to monitor through."
Aeryn didn't comment, allowing Pilot to keep up a steady stream of chatter. He
stopped after awhile with a sigh. "John is bringing them around on another tour,"
he sighed.
Aeryn grinned. "Well, I'd better get out of here then, he said he would bring
them by." Her comm. clicked off and she started back to the center of the room
where she left Jack.
Catching a slight movement out of the corner of her eye, Aeryn started to turn.
In a blur of motion, she felt a sharp pain in her back, and she gave a startled
cry. The pain shot through her again, and her pain-muddled head informed her
that she had felt this before. The pain came again. She gasped for breath,
coughing, tasting blood in her mouth. She slumped to the ground. She felt hands
rip away her comm. badge; she heard a voice whisper that her evil would spread no
farther.
"John..." she coughed, her brain bringing forth the one person she loved with all
of her being. John was coming here, he could get hurt... 'You are already hurt.
You've been stabbed three times in the back,' a voice calmly stated in her mind.
"Jack..." Her baby. Her baby was here. 'And so is he...' the voice said. Her
blood seeped into the grass beneath her; she was dying.
***
"This is our new hydroponics," John said as the door opened.
"You brought all this up from Earth?" Mr. Jones asked.
"Yep, it'll be our little slice of home," John replied entering in the room. He
stopped abruptly. The hairs on the back of his neck raised. Something felt
wrong. He glanced at Cassandra. The shudder that rippled through her told him
she felt it to.
D'Argo sniffed the air. "Blood."
"What?" Cassandra asked startled.
"I smell blood," he replied ignoring the startled gasps from the Humans.
The three fanned out, searching. Everyone heard the cry of a baby. The Humans
by the door were confused; the three searching were gripped by a sudden fear.
Cassandra found little Jack nestled at the base of a tree. He had obviously woken
and found himself alone, scared he had cried out. Cassandra picked him up, and he
quieted. "John!" she called. There was no way anyone would leave Jack alone.
Something was definitely wrong.
She heard D'Argo cry out in shock. "John!" he roared.
She heard John go tearing through the bushes toward D'Argo, and she followed. She
crashed into the clearing and stopped horrified. Aeryn lay bleeding on the ground,
three vicious stab wounds in her back. John fell to her side, carefully rolling her
over, praying that she was still breathing. Her ragged moan brought a temporary
relief to them.
"Zhaan! Jool! Aeryn's been stabbed! We are bringing her up!" D'Argo shouted into
his comm. badge. He pushed John out of the way and lifted her into his arms. Her
blood streaming over his hands.
John followed him, anxiously pleading with Aeryn to stay with him. Her moans and
gasps of pain were horrible to hear. Cassandra followed them clutching Jack to her
chest like a lifeline.
The Humans by the door were shocked to see them carrying the dying Aeryn and little
Jack towards them. Jack and DK let out gasps of horror before rushing to them. The
whole group ran to Zhaan's apothecary. They picked up crew members as they went,
meeting Zhaan and Jool once they entered. Everyone on board Moya stood outside the
room, some pacing, some crying, others in shock... and one who was secretly happy.
One who was irritated that he hadn't known about the baby. He would have killed it
too.
John sat on the floor, silent tears streaming down his face, staring at his hands.
They were covered in her blood. Xhalax was curled up next to him sobbing. He was
numb. He couldn't even comfort his daughter.
Cassandra stood sobbing in Crais's arms. Chiana stood next to them, tears streaming
down her face, soft hiccups escaping every time she drew a breath. Stark sat on the
floor, chanting. Zhaan would call him in if there was nothing more they could do.
Rygel floated aimlessly, listless. D'Argo paced, restless. He stared at the Humans.
One of them had done this. He slammed his fist into the wall, a fist still covered in
Aeryn's blood.
"Which one of you did this?!" he roared starting towards the frightened Humans.
"D'Argo." D'Argo turned at John's soft-spoken word. "Not yet." D'Argo's anger
deflated. John wasn't ready for vengeance yet.
"Is Mommy going to die?" Xhalax asked.
"No, she's not," Chiana said firmly.
John's gaze snapped up and locked onto Chiana. "Did you see something?"
Zhaan stepped out at that point. John stood. "Aeryn?" he whispered softly.
"We have stopped the bleeding and repaired the damage to her back... but," Zhaan
glanced down, then slowly walked to John. "She lost a lot of blood, John. She's
still unconscious."
"Can I see her?" he asked hoarsely.
"Yes." Zhaan waited until he entered followed closely by Xhalax, before allowing
her tears to slip. She cleared her throat and turned to everyone else. She walked
over to Jack and took Aeryn's son from him. She walked back into the lab, emerging
a few microts later without little Jack. Everyone was still silent. "Perhaps it is
time that you all learned a little about us," she said wiping a tear from her cheek.
The Humans looked a little uneasy, the crew of Moya were unreadable. "John and Aeryn
are married. Have been for over four cycles. Xhalax is their daughter, and Jack is
their son." She ignored the surprised gasps from the Humans. "D'Argo and Jool are
married and expecting their first child. Stark and I are also married." She glanced
at Cassandra and Crais once before continuing. "Crais and Cassandra are lovers." Jack
shot a startled glance at the recently revealed couple. "Everyone living on this ship
considers everyone else to be family. One of you has hurt this family, make no
mistake, whoever did this will be found... and I pity them, for John will show you no
mercy." Her tone, severe and unwavering, left little to doubt that there would be a
price for this action. "D'Argo, lock them all up. None of them were left alone, so
whoever it was must have managed to slip away. We don't want that happening again.
Lock them all up together." Zhaan turned away and entered the lab again.
D'Argo, Crais, Cassandra, and Chiana wasted no time in locking every single Human on
board up in one of the cells. There would be a price for this... perhaps even Moya's
crew didn't know how high.
***
TBC
WELL... what do ya think? Please review or send me an e-mail!
so who do you all think did it? to be honest, i don't even know. when i write
the next chapter, whoever it was will reveal themselves to me. i'm thinking that
there will be two more chapters and then the story will be done. so was anyone
expecting this?
oh, btw... THANK YOU!!!! I HAVE OVER 100 REVIEWS!!! i told my mom if i hit over
100 i was going to throw myself a party, so that's what i'm doing right at this
moment! i'm eating lemon cake (my fav!) and drinking sparkling grape juice! thanks
peps! ...now don't think this lets you off the hook, i still expect reviews!
~Artemis Luna Diana~
Chapter 18: The Storm
Rated: R
***
Cassandra woke when she heard a very pitiful cry from the floor. She opened her
eyes sleepily and looked down. Draco looked up at her and cried again. "What are
you doing on the floor?" she whispered softly. She reached down and picked him
up. Draco started purring. She rolled over onto her back, setting the kitten on
her chest, and lightly petting his head. "Shh," she whispered as Draco's purrs
began to grow in volume.
The kitten ignored her and tried to get comfortable. Deciding that Cassandra
wouldn't be nearly as comfortable to sleep on as the lump in the bed beside her,
Draco walked over and climbed on Crais. Cassandra giggled as Crais opened his
eyes to see a pair of blue cat eyes staring at him.
"What is it doing?" he whispered.
Cassandra laughed. "He likes you," she replied softly. Sure enough Draco settled
down on his chest and closed his eyes. Cassandra smiled at the uneasy look on her
lover's face. She kissed his cheek and cuddle in close to him. "I like you, too,"
she whispered, yawning, drifting into sleep. If she had been awake only a few
microts longer, she would have seen one of her lover's rare smiles.
***
"We've all been briefed on what has transpired up here, and we all agreed to take
the microbes. Dr. Mayfield can continue to be the control, and Ms. Tanya Stanislaski
has also agreed to remain without the microbes."
"Are you sure about this? I mean once you have them, you have them for life," John
once again tried to explain.
"Yes, yes. We know all that."
John still felt a little unsure about ordering the DRDs to inject them. There were
ten new faces on Moya, each a politician for some country that had a vested interest
in the Space Station. The three scientists were also back, as well as Col. Jack
Crichton and Dr. David Kirkland.
"How long will it take before they begin to work?" asked Mr. Winston Adams, the
British Ambassador.
"Yes, when can we expect to understand everyone?" asked Mr. Charles Jones, the
American Ambassador.
"You should be able to understand everyone by now," Zhaan replied softly, taking
in the uneasy expression on John's face.
"Yes, I say, these are wonderful little buggers!" Mr. Adams said excitedly.
***
The calm before the storm.
In retrospect, each wondered if there wasn't something that should have tipped
them off. Some sign that told them something bad was about to happen. Guilty
recriminations aside, there was nothing anyone could have done. Perhaps it was
fate, if you believe in such things.
***
"It is beautiful, Pilot. You and Cassandra did a wonderful job."
"Thank you, Aeryn. But you can see the problem. Cassandra is still trying to come
up with a way to allow the DRDs some mobility in there, but she hasn't managed to
come up with anything."
"Yes, I see what you mean." Without DRDs, Pilot wouldn't be able to tell what was
going on in the room. He could monitor the plants, the waterfall, etc. but he
wouldn't be able to monitor if anyone was in the room, much less what they were
doing. Aeryn walked farther into the room. She placed Jack at the base of one of
the trees so she could survey the room.
"John suggested that we set up video cameras," Pilot added. "But I would rather
not if we can help it. The DRDs are much easier to monitor through."
Aeryn didn't comment, allowing Pilot to keep up a steady stream of chatter. He
stopped after awhile with a sigh. "John is bringing them around on another tour,"
he sighed.
Aeryn grinned. "Well, I'd better get out of here then, he said he would bring
them by." Her comm. clicked off and she started back to the center of the room
where she left Jack.
Catching a slight movement out of the corner of her eye, Aeryn started to turn.
In a blur of motion, she felt a sharp pain in her back, and she gave a startled
cry. The pain shot through her again, and her pain-muddled head informed her
that she had felt this before. The pain came again. She gasped for breath,
coughing, tasting blood in her mouth. She slumped to the ground. She felt hands
rip away her comm. badge; she heard a voice whisper that her evil would spread no
farther.
"John..." she coughed, her brain bringing forth the one person she loved with all
of her being. John was coming here, he could get hurt... 'You are already hurt.
You've been stabbed three times in the back,' a voice calmly stated in her mind.
"Jack..." Her baby. Her baby was here. 'And so is he...' the voice said. Her
blood seeped into the grass beneath her; she was dying.
***
"This is our new hydroponics," John said as the door opened.
"You brought all this up from Earth?" Mr. Jones asked.
"Yep, it'll be our little slice of home," John replied entering in the room. He
stopped abruptly. The hairs on the back of his neck raised. Something felt
wrong. He glanced at Cassandra. The shudder that rippled through her told him
she felt it to.
D'Argo sniffed the air. "Blood."
"What?" Cassandra asked startled.
"I smell blood," he replied ignoring the startled gasps from the Humans.
The three fanned out, searching. Everyone heard the cry of a baby. The Humans
by the door were confused; the three searching were gripped by a sudden fear.
Cassandra found little Jack nestled at the base of a tree. He had obviously woken
and found himself alone, scared he had cried out. Cassandra picked him up, and he
quieted. "John!" she called. There was no way anyone would leave Jack alone.
Something was definitely wrong.
She heard D'Argo cry out in shock. "John!" he roared.
She heard John go tearing through the bushes toward D'Argo, and she followed. She
crashed into the clearing and stopped horrified. Aeryn lay bleeding on the ground,
three vicious stab wounds in her back. John fell to her side, carefully rolling her
over, praying that she was still breathing. Her ragged moan brought a temporary
relief to them.
"Zhaan! Jool! Aeryn's been stabbed! We are bringing her up!" D'Argo shouted into
his comm. badge. He pushed John out of the way and lifted her into his arms. Her
blood streaming over his hands.
John followed him, anxiously pleading with Aeryn to stay with him. Her moans and
gasps of pain were horrible to hear. Cassandra followed them clutching Jack to her
chest like a lifeline.
The Humans by the door were shocked to see them carrying the dying Aeryn and little
Jack towards them. Jack and DK let out gasps of horror before rushing to them. The
whole group ran to Zhaan's apothecary. They picked up crew members as they went,
meeting Zhaan and Jool once they entered. Everyone on board Moya stood outside the
room, some pacing, some crying, others in shock... and one who was secretly happy.
One who was irritated that he hadn't known about the baby. He would have killed it
too.
John sat on the floor, silent tears streaming down his face, staring at his hands.
They were covered in her blood. Xhalax was curled up next to him sobbing. He was
numb. He couldn't even comfort his daughter.
Cassandra stood sobbing in Crais's arms. Chiana stood next to them, tears streaming
down her face, soft hiccups escaping every time she drew a breath. Stark sat on the
floor, chanting. Zhaan would call him in if there was nothing more they could do.
Rygel floated aimlessly, listless. D'Argo paced, restless. He stared at the Humans.
One of them had done this. He slammed his fist into the wall, a fist still covered in
Aeryn's blood.
"Which one of you did this?!" he roared starting towards the frightened Humans.
"D'Argo." D'Argo turned at John's soft-spoken word. "Not yet." D'Argo's anger
deflated. John wasn't ready for vengeance yet.
"Is Mommy going to die?" Xhalax asked.
"No, she's not," Chiana said firmly.
John's gaze snapped up and locked onto Chiana. "Did you see something?"
Zhaan stepped out at that point. John stood. "Aeryn?" he whispered softly.
"We have stopped the bleeding and repaired the damage to her back... but," Zhaan
glanced down, then slowly walked to John. "She lost a lot of blood, John. She's
still unconscious."
"Can I see her?" he asked hoarsely.
"Yes." Zhaan waited until he entered followed closely by Xhalax, before allowing
her tears to slip. She cleared her throat and turned to everyone else. She walked
over to Jack and took Aeryn's son from him. She walked back into the lab, emerging
a few microts later without little Jack. Everyone was still silent. "Perhaps it is
time that you all learned a little about us," she said wiping a tear from her cheek.
The Humans looked a little uneasy, the crew of Moya were unreadable. "John and Aeryn
are married. Have been for over four cycles. Xhalax is their daughter, and Jack is
their son." She ignored the surprised gasps from the Humans. "D'Argo and Jool are
married and expecting their first child. Stark and I are also married." She glanced
at Cassandra and Crais once before continuing. "Crais and Cassandra are lovers." Jack
shot a startled glance at the recently revealed couple. "Everyone living on this ship
considers everyone else to be family. One of you has hurt this family, make no
mistake, whoever did this will be found... and I pity them, for John will show you no
mercy." Her tone, severe and unwavering, left little to doubt that there would be a
price for this action. "D'Argo, lock them all up. None of them were left alone, so
whoever it was must have managed to slip away. We don't want that happening again.
Lock them all up together." Zhaan turned away and entered the lab again.
D'Argo, Crais, Cassandra, and Chiana wasted no time in locking every single Human on
board up in one of the cells. There would be a price for this... perhaps even Moya's
crew didn't know how high.
***
TBC
WELL... what do ya think? Please review or send me an e-mail!
so who do you all think did it? to be honest, i don't even know. when i write
the next chapter, whoever it was will reveal themselves to me. i'm thinking that
there will be two more chapters and then the story will be done. so was anyone
expecting this?
oh, btw... THANK YOU!!!! I HAVE OVER 100 REVIEWS!!! i told my mom if i hit over
100 i was going to throw myself a party, so that's what i'm doing right at this
moment! i'm eating lemon cake (my fav!) and drinking sparkling grape juice! thanks
peps! ...now don't think this lets you off the hook, i still expect reviews!
~Artemis Luna Diana~
