Title: The Journey Home
Chapter 21: What Happens Next
Rated: R
***
With knowledge, the need for revenge had passed. If Dr. Price had only one
personality, it would have been different. John accepted that. He would have
killed him and not looked back. He wondered if he should feel shocked at the
thought. It would have been in cold blood even if the man was guilty. Strange.
He expected to feel guilty or at least a small amount of remorse for his
almost-action. He felt neither.
"You should feel proud of yourself, John. You have evolved into a highly
intelligent and cold-blooded killer," Harvey remarked. "You shouldn't feel
remorse! They are just bugs waiting to be crushed under your heel!"
Never-mind. Guilt and remorse have set in... big time. ...and Aeryn is going
to kill me when she finds out what I almost did...
"Go away, Harvey."
John was surprised when he left without comment. With his back to the
neural-clone, John hadn't seen the relieved smile on Harvey's face. After
spending years delving into John's mind, Harvey had begun to feel like an uncle
to John, and what John had needed was a slap in the face. 'He will begin feeling
better soon,' Harvey thought happily. 'What would you ever do without me, John?'
he thought with an ironic smile and disappeared deeper in John's mind.
John sat silently for a few microts before Aeryn began to stir. He touched the
bandage on his neck and grimaced. Aeryn was going to be pissed. He briefly
entertained thoughts of escape before reluctantly dismissing them.
"John?" she spoke softly, opening her eyes.
"Hey, Baby..." John started nervously.
Aeryn's eyes began to clear of their drugged sleep and settled into focus. She
instantly noticed the bandage on his neck. "What happened? she asked concerned.
Probably because of the drugs, she didn't connect his injury to a fight, instead
placing the blame on repairing some part of Moya.
"Yeah... I figured you'd notice that..."
"Did it happen when you were repairing something?"
John's eyes lit when she presented him with a possible escape, then dimmed,
knowing it would get worse the longer he waited to tell her.
"Not exactly..."
~~~
Chiana and Cassandra were packing up the last of the Human equipment when they
suddenly heard a blood-curdling scream. They dropped everything and ran to the
scream. As they got closer they realized it was coming from the medical bay
where Aeryn was. Getting still closer the scream began to make sense as words
were distinguished.
"YOU DID WHAT?!"
"Aeryn's awake," Chiana commented when they stopped in the hallway.
"John told her what happened," Cassandra added.
"She's taking it pretty well."
"Yeah. I lost the bet. I figured she'd have gotten a hold of a pulse pistol,"
Cassandra replied laughing.
Chiana's reply was cut off by the sound of a pulse blast. "Frell!" Chiana yelped
and the two ran to go save John from Aeryn. Of course they were doing this more
for Aeryn... she'd feel bad after she calmed down.
***
All of the politicians and scientists were off Moya, taken immediately to the
Space Station and dumped there. Dr. Price was given into their custody as well,
the crew of Moya wanted nothing to do with him. Jack and DK, however, were still
on board.
Jack was playing mediator between his son and his daughter-in-law, though he was
a biased mediator, throwing in comments about the recklessness that John had
displayed and others like it.
DK was with Chiana. Upon his return to Moya with the politicians, he and Chiana
had picked up where they left off. Without a doubt they were friends. Chiana
couldn't help but want more from the charming Human. She realized that this was
something she couldn't play around with. All her mistakes were glaringly
apparent to her, and she resolved not to make them again with DK. If that meant
they never had a true relationship, then that was the way it was to be. She
didn't want to hurt him. She had hurt D'Argo so bad... A relationship that had
failure written all over it from the beginning. She wished for the impossible,
that maybe he returned her regard.
***
Tensions between the crew of Moya and the Humans on Earth were high due to the
events that had taken place. The invitation they had extended to the Humans was
revoked, even John and Cassandra wanted nothing more to do with Earth. They had
already done all they could to warn them and prepare them for the war.
The media was kept in the dark about the events that occurred on Moya, only
allowed to know the benefits and the threat of danger they had provided. Some
video was released on what the aliens looked like as well as what the President
considered "general information." Everything else was labeled top secret. Until
the scientists could fully understand the technologies they had been given, the
governments involved were determined to keep it under wraps.
***
It was two days after the Humans left Moya that Jack and DK prepared to leave.
After much procrastination, they finally made their way to the docking bay.
D'Argo would fly them over, he was the only one who was healthy enough and
wouldn't be emotionally affected by their departure.
Jack hugged them all and stepped back towards the transport, clearing his throat
in an attempt to hold back his tears. DK embraced them all as well. Chiana was
the last he said good-bye to. He gave her a light kiss on the cheek that made
her heart lurch in her chest.
They started to board the transport and Chiana took a half-step forward. "Wait!"
she cried. She turned back and looked at John, the turmoil in her eyes obvious.
"Please," she said softly. "Can't they stay?"
John looked from Chiana to his father and his friend. "If you want to?" he spoke
hesitant of their reply.
"Hell yeah, we want to stay!" DK said grinning.
John grinned. He wanted to ask them, but was afraid of their answer. Chiana had
solved that easily enough... of course he wanted to know why Chiana wanted them
to stay, but he could wait. She would tell Cassandra who would tell Crais, and
John would be able to worm it out of him.
***
After sending a message to Earth saying Jack and DK would be staying, Moya and
Talyn starburst. A few days later found Crais, Cassandra, D'Argo, and John on
Talyn planning battle strategies. John would have preferred to be with Aeryn
while she recovered... but she was still threatening to kill him for endangering
his life.
Jool stayed in the medical bay with Aeryn. Jool kept giving her sedatives to
prevent Aeryn from driving her crazy. She spent all her time wrapped up in the
medical textbooks Cassandra had bought.
Stark and Zhaan spent their time in the 'Hydroponics Bay' as Cassandra had dubbed
it. Chiana continued to teach DK about Moya and her technology as well as
sending him a smoldering look when she thought he wouldn't notice. Rygel and
Jack were given the job of babysitting Xhalax and little Jack who they began
calling JC. With one active youngster, an infant, a puppy and two kittens to
care for, the two were well worn out by the end of each day.
Things had begun to settle down as they prepared to enter the war. The future
was uncertain, but they intended to be ready for it. First stop: the Luxan
home-world.
***
~fin~
WELL... what do ya think? Please review or send me an e-mail!
so that is the end of this story. wow! when i first thought of this story i had
no idea it was going to be like this, it really took me for a ride! i hope you
guys had as much fun reading it as i did writing it! thanks to the peps who
reviewed and e-mailed me with encouragement, i'm really grateful.
so... i've already gotten requests for another sequal. should i? and if i do
should it be placed BE (before Earth) or AE (after Earth)? tell me what you
think!
...also, i'm sorry it took so long to get this last chapter out. i ended up
getting real sick, but i'm on meds now so i'm feeling better! I'm hoping that
within a week i'll be completely better. i hate being sick, *makes a disgusted
face* lol
~Artemis Luna Diana~
Chapter 21: What Happens Next
Rated: R
***
With knowledge, the need for revenge had passed. If Dr. Price had only one
personality, it would have been different. John accepted that. He would have
killed him and not looked back. He wondered if he should feel shocked at the
thought. It would have been in cold blood even if the man was guilty. Strange.
He expected to feel guilty or at least a small amount of remorse for his
almost-action. He felt neither.
"You should feel proud of yourself, John. You have evolved into a highly
intelligent and cold-blooded killer," Harvey remarked. "You shouldn't feel
remorse! They are just bugs waiting to be crushed under your heel!"
Never-mind. Guilt and remorse have set in... big time. ...and Aeryn is going
to kill me when she finds out what I almost did...
"Go away, Harvey."
John was surprised when he left without comment. With his back to the
neural-clone, John hadn't seen the relieved smile on Harvey's face. After
spending years delving into John's mind, Harvey had begun to feel like an uncle
to John, and what John had needed was a slap in the face. 'He will begin feeling
better soon,' Harvey thought happily. 'What would you ever do without me, John?'
he thought with an ironic smile and disappeared deeper in John's mind.
John sat silently for a few microts before Aeryn began to stir. He touched the
bandage on his neck and grimaced. Aeryn was going to be pissed. He briefly
entertained thoughts of escape before reluctantly dismissing them.
"John?" she spoke softly, opening her eyes.
"Hey, Baby..." John started nervously.
Aeryn's eyes began to clear of their drugged sleep and settled into focus. She
instantly noticed the bandage on his neck. "What happened? she asked concerned.
Probably because of the drugs, she didn't connect his injury to a fight, instead
placing the blame on repairing some part of Moya.
"Yeah... I figured you'd notice that..."
"Did it happen when you were repairing something?"
John's eyes lit when she presented him with a possible escape, then dimmed,
knowing it would get worse the longer he waited to tell her.
"Not exactly..."
~~~
Chiana and Cassandra were packing up the last of the Human equipment when they
suddenly heard a blood-curdling scream. They dropped everything and ran to the
scream. As they got closer they realized it was coming from the medical bay
where Aeryn was. Getting still closer the scream began to make sense as words
were distinguished.
"YOU DID WHAT?!"
"Aeryn's awake," Chiana commented when they stopped in the hallway.
"John told her what happened," Cassandra added.
"She's taking it pretty well."
"Yeah. I lost the bet. I figured she'd have gotten a hold of a pulse pistol,"
Cassandra replied laughing.
Chiana's reply was cut off by the sound of a pulse blast. "Frell!" Chiana yelped
and the two ran to go save John from Aeryn. Of course they were doing this more
for Aeryn... she'd feel bad after she calmed down.
***
All of the politicians and scientists were off Moya, taken immediately to the
Space Station and dumped there. Dr. Price was given into their custody as well,
the crew of Moya wanted nothing to do with him. Jack and DK, however, were still
on board.
Jack was playing mediator between his son and his daughter-in-law, though he was
a biased mediator, throwing in comments about the recklessness that John had
displayed and others like it.
DK was with Chiana. Upon his return to Moya with the politicians, he and Chiana
had picked up where they left off. Without a doubt they were friends. Chiana
couldn't help but want more from the charming Human. She realized that this was
something she couldn't play around with. All her mistakes were glaringly
apparent to her, and she resolved not to make them again with DK. If that meant
they never had a true relationship, then that was the way it was to be. She
didn't want to hurt him. She had hurt D'Argo so bad... A relationship that had
failure written all over it from the beginning. She wished for the impossible,
that maybe he returned her regard.
***
Tensions between the crew of Moya and the Humans on Earth were high due to the
events that had taken place. The invitation they had extended to the Humans was
revoked, even John and Cassandra wanted nothing more to do with Earth. They had
already done all they could to warn them and prepare them for the war.
The media was kept in the dark about the events that occurred on Moya, only
allowed to know the benefits and the threat of danger they had provided. Some
video was released on what the aliens looked like as well as what the President
considered "general information." Everything else was labeled top secret. Until
the scientists could fully understand the technologies they had been given, the
governments involved were determined to keep it under wraps.
***
It was two days after the Humans left Moya that Jack and DK prepared to leave.
After much procrastination, they finally made their way to the docking bay.
D'Argo would fly them over, he was the only one who was healthy enough and
wouldn't be emotionally affected by their departure.
Jack hugged them all and stepped back towards the transport, clearing his throat
in an attempt to hold back his tears. DK embraced them all as well. Chiana was
the last he said good-bye to. He gave her a light kiss on the cheek that made
her heart lurch in her chest.
They started to board the transport and Chiana took a half-step forward. "Wait!"
she cried. She turned back and looked at John, the turmoil in her eyes obvious.
"Please," she said softly. "Can't they stay?"
John looked from Chiana to his father and his friend. "If you want to?" he spoke
hesitant of their reply.
"Hell yeah, we want to stay!" DK said grinning.
John grinned. He wanted to ask them, but was afraid of their answer. Chiana had
solved that easily enough... of course he wanted to know why Chiana wanted them
to stay, but he could wait. She would tell Cassandra who would tell Crais, and
John would be able to worm it out of him.
***
After sending a message to Earth saying Jack and DK would be staying, Moya and
Talyn starburst. A few days later found Crais, Cassandra, D'Argo, and John on
Talyn planning battle strategies. John would have preferred to be with Aeryn
while she recovered... but she was still threatening to kill him for endangering
his life.
Jool stayed in the medical bay with Aeryn. Jool kept giving her sedatives to
prevent Aeryn from driving her crazy. She spent all her time wrapped up in the
medical textbooks Cassandra had bought.
Stark and Zhaan spent their time in the 'Hydroponics Bay' as Cassandra had dubbed
it. Chiana continued to teach DK about Moya and her technology as well as
sending him a smoldering look when she thought he wouldn't notice. Rygel and
Jack were given the job of babysitting Xhalax and little Jack who they began
calling JC. With one active youngster, an infant, a puppy and two kittens to
care for, the two were well worn out by the end of each day.
Things had begun to settle down as they prepared to enter the war. The future
was uncertain, but they intended to be ready for it. First stop: the Luxan
home-world.
***
~fin~
WELL... what do ya think? Please review or send me an e-mail!
so that is the end of this story. wow! when i first thought of this story i had
no idea it was going to be like this, it really took me for a ride! i hope you
guys had as much fun reading it as i did writing it! thanks to the peps who
reviewed and e-mailed me with encouragement, i'm really grateful.
so... i've already gotten requests for another sequal. should i? and if i do
should it be placed BE (before Earth) or AE (after Earth)? tell me what you
think!
...also, i'm sorry it took so long to get this last chapter out. i ended up
getting real sick, but i'm on meds now so i'm feeling better! I'm hoping that
within a week i'll be completely better. i hate being sick, *makes a disgusted
face* lol
~Artemis Luna Diana~
