Maybe that frelling clone was right. She had hesitated hadn't she? The red brute wasn't that big
and she was used to fighting tougher foes. Everything was a mess. Aeryn opened her eyes and
felt tiny pricks against her skin. The asphalt her head lay on was digging into her. 'What just
happened?' It took a moment for her eyesight to clear up. There was a pool of blood beside her.

"You have no idea how long I've been waiting to do this." The man lifted his pulse rifle and fired
several shots. He smiled as the red creature collapsed to the ground and died. Jezik holstered his
weapon and looked around. He spotted the Nebari. "Is your friend alright?"

Chiana, her eyes still wide with surprise, nodded slowly. She threw the heavy body off of her and
stood up. "Who the frell are you?" She momentarily forgot about the ex-peacekeeper lying at
her feet.

"My name is Jezik. I'm the warden." He walked over to her and smiled. "You're tougher than
you look little girl." There didn't appear to be any injuries.

She scowled at him. "I'm not a little girl." Chiana felt her boot touch something and she
immediately looked down. "Frell, Aeryn!" She knelt down and looked into the Sebacean's
vacant eyes. "You ok?"

It took her a moment to realize that the blood was not coming from her head. Aeryn blinked and
then looked up at the Nebari. "What happened to having my back?" Her voice came out weaker
than she expected. It hadn't been that hard a blow.

"Hey, you're the one who was moaning about me being here in the first place. Don't try blaming
me now." Chiana extended a hand to her and smiled. She liked being the one still standing after
the battle. Especially when Aeryn was watching.

Jezik stared at the two women with an awkward sense of amusement. He didn't know anything
about the Nebari but Aeryn Sun was a familiar name. Perhaps the stories he'd heard had been
exaggerated after all. "I hate to interrupt, but.."

Chiana and Aeryn both looked up at him. The ex-peacekeeper was the first to speak. "You saved
us? Why?" That familiar feeling of suspicion was always there no matter what she did. Aeryn
stood up and wiped the dirt off her clothes. There was a bit of blood coming from the gash on
her cheek but not much else.

"We don't get too many Sebaceans around here. Stirs the local population up. I'd been
watching." He started to change his mind. There was a certain look in her eyes that he
recognized. Jezik felt like he was being scanned. "I don't suppose you want to thank me."

Chiana put herself in between the two soldiers. "We do. Don't we Aeryn?" She started to
glance back but quickly changed her mind. "You gonna let us go too?"

Aeryn looked down at Chiana and sighed. She thought about all her excursions with Crichton in
the past. He wasn't looking like such an idiot now. 'Don't do that!' The ex-peacekeeper finally
made full eye contact with Jezik. "Thank you."

Jezik was suddenly aware of his surroundings. Besides the three of them, the rest of the room
was littered with fallen bodies. The guard reached down and touched his pulse rifle. He couldn't
possibly have hit all of them. "You, Nebari. Are you carrying a weapon?"

Chiana fought to keep the innocent look on her face but it was too hard. "I'm Chiana, and no I
don't have a weapon." She smiled weakly and took a step back.

"I'm going to move the two of you into a private cell. But you've got to give it to me first." He
motioned for the guards at the door to come in. They immediately raised their weapons and
aimed them.

Aeryn spotted the bulge in her companion's clothing. It surprised her that the soldier hadn't
caught it sooner. "Give it to him."

The younger woman groaned. She whispered, "Shut the frell up." It didn't have any effect on
Aeryn and Jezik was still waiting. "Fine." Chiana pulled the tiny pistol out from under her top
and handed it to the man.

"Thank you very much." Jezik smiled and turned to leave. He nodded to the other two guards as
he left. They returned the gesture.

"Alright ladies, come with us."

Aeryn looked from Chiana to the new arrivals. "No, I'm not worried."



It looked like twilight. That moment when the last rays of sunlight cross over the land. John
hadn't bothered to check how many suns this planet had. There where too many other things on
his mind. He wasn't about to look up now. The astronaut was staring at a tiny pebble lying in
front of him. It looked orange now.

"You promised me John." Harvey pushed his face into the human's view but got no reaction. He
was the faraway look and groaned. "Are you listening to me?"

John's shoulders slumped a little more but he lifted his head. The neural clone was the only thing
in front of him not tinted orange by the light. "Promises get broken, Harv. Deal with it." He
reached forward and picked up the pebble. It weighed next to nothing in his hand. That was
probably a metaphor for something.

"Yes, yes, I was there too. She promised never to leave you." The clone shook his head in
disgust. He never expected too much from Crichton but this was ridiculous. "The rules have
changed John. It's time to move on."

The pebble went flying through the air and landed without a sound. It was starting to get dark.
John met his inner voice's eyes for the first time. They looked just slightly more hollow than his
own. "You don't think she'll come back?"

Harvey threw up his hands in submission. "Is that what you need to hear? Perhaps I haven't
learned as much as I thought from you. It's always about hope isn't it?" He stood up and looked
off into the horizon. "Yes John, I think she'll come back."

Crichton shook his head. "You're just saying that to make me feel better."

Despite the fact that he was only a mental image, Harvey felt his right eye begin to twitch. Even
more amazing was the fact that he was trying to help John Crichton kill Scorpius. Something
he'd already prevented at least twice. "I'm serious John. Before I just wanted you to put her out
of your mind. But yes, I think Aeryn Sun will come back. She needs you." He felt the imaginary
bile rise in his throat.

John smirked and nodded at the clone. "You can go now." The image evaporated and he was
once again sitting alone in the street. He stood up and looked back at the prison building behind
him. Aeryn was still in there doing god knows what. Something else caught his eye.

Two men, dressed in the same prison guard uniforms he had seen before, were standing a ways
down the road. They were looking right at him. One of them had a radio-type device in his hand.
John considered that he was being paranoid. 'I don't think that applies out here.' He tapped his
comm. "Crais?"

No sound came from the device for about a minute and then it started to crackle with static. The
voice that came through sounded far away. "What is it Crichton? We agreed not to use comms."

John cursed himself silently. "Sorry, I forgot. You picking up anything strange up there?" He
strained his eyes to see Talyn up in the sky somewhere. The gun ship was probably well out of
range anyways.

"Talyn detects nothing out of the ordinary." There was a catch in the ex-captain's voice at the
end. "Wait, there is something." Crais sounded worried now.

The human walked out of sight and waited for a reply. He couldn't tell if the guards had followed
and he wasn't about to check. "What something?"

Crais answered right away this time. "A heavily encrypted data signal is being sent long-range.
Talyn cannot break through." The hybrid leviathan's signature beeps came through in the
background. Crais answered something indistinct in reply.

"Crais! I'm coming up. Make sure Talyn knows it's me." John considered what he had just said.
Maybe it would be better if Talyn didn't know. 'I hate my life.'



Aeryn's hands were ice cold. She clasped them together and looked around the new cell. It was
indeed private as Jezik had said. Just not quite private enough.

"Who do you think this guy is?" Chiana came over and sat down beside the Sebacean. Her eyes
sparkled with curiosity despite the darkness.

She shook her head and leaned back against the wall. "I have no idea." Aeryn didn't want to talk
to the little trelk now. She just wanted to be quiet for a moment. Like that was possible.

Chiana groaned. "What is it with you? You can't even be civil with me." She crossed her arms
in front of her and looked at the ground. Honestly, she didn't think pouting would work with
Aeryn but it was worth a shot.

Aeryn looked over at the Nebari and felt the anger swell up inside her. "I don't like you Chiana.
I never have."

The words took her a bit by surprise. Not that she didn't know it already, but it was different out
loud. "You didn't like Crichton either. At first." Chiana glanced up to see if the words got a
response.

She felt herself go stiff. Aeryn met the younger woman's gaze and felt even colder. She'd seen
many things in those eyes before. Much that annoyed her. This was different. Chiana looked
sad. "Who says I like him now?"

Chiana stared at her companion in confusion for a moment. Then she started to laugh. It felt
good actually. "If I didn't know better, I'd say that was a joke."

Aeryn couldn't fight it from coming. She smiled. It felt so strange to be sitting here talking to
Chiana. After everything that had happened, she hadn't really spoken to anyone. "I've never had
a female friend. I wouldn't know how to."

Before Chiana could answer, the cell doors opened. There were some whispers from the darkness
beyond and then Jezik entered. His face looked sterner than before but he wasn't holding a
weapon. "We don't have much time."

The ex-peacekeeper stood up immediately. She recognized those words and knew what they
meant. Trouble was coming. "Who are you?"

Jezik looked at her and then at the Nebari. "That's not important right now. I have to explain
what's going on and then the two of you have to leave."

Chiana got up and walked over beside Aeryn. Her hand went to the place where her gun had
been. Not anymore. "You're letting us go?"

He ignored the comment and kept his gaze on Aeryn. Her face betrayed no emotion that he could
read. "You may have noticed that peacekeepers aren't exactly welcome around here."

Aeryn remembered what had happened at the bar. "I've seen that. You think they might try to
get us in here?"

Jezik shook his head. "I'm not worried about them right now. Listen closely." He turned and
checked the door. The other guards had left. "The moment they recognized who you were, a
signal was sent out to all peacekeeper ships within range. They'll be here soon."

The Nebari was confused. "But you just said people here hate peacekeepers. Why would they
help them?"

The man nodded. "I said the locals hated them. The police force is a different matter. They've
managed to keep a presence here without anyone knowing about it."

That was the last alarm bell Aeryn needed. She rushed forward and grabbed him by the collar.
"Then how do you know about it?"

Jezik grabbed her wrists and squeezed. She was strong but not nearly enough for him. Seeing the
point, Aeryn let go. "I am a peacekeeper." He reached into his coat and pulled out a pk id chip.
"But not the one you should be worried about."

Chiana stepped up into she was bumping into the woman in front of her. "I don't trust him."

Aeryn nodded. "Neither do I." She turned her attention back to stranger. "Why would you try
to help us?"

Jezik narrowed his eyes and leaned in close to the two in front of him. "Because your mother
asked me to."



The doors to command slid open with a whoosh. John walked into the room with his eyes on the
auto-guns above his head. It wouldn't be the first time those frelling things had him in their
sights. He spotted Crais standing by the forward portal. The ex-captain had a dark look on his
face.

"She wouldn't come back with you?" Crais already knew the answer to that question. Talyn had
informed him right away that the pod only carried one passenger. The wrong one apparently.

John shook his head. "I didn't even talk to her. Chiana gave me the message." He walked over
beside the Sebacean and looked out the window. There was nothing there.

Crais studied the human carefully for a moment. He'd never known John Crichton to give up that
easily. "Did you at least inform them of the situation?" The monitor beside him showed the
progress that Talyn had made in decoding the message. It wasn't good.

"No Crais, I didn't." John turned to face the man and shrugged. "I couldn't exactly go back in
and ask that they please not arrest me." He noticed that his raised voice had gotten Talyn's
attention. Beeping sounds came from above.

Bialar ignored his ship's concerns. "I see your point." He passed his hand over the console
beside him and a holo-display came up. It showed nothing but empty space. "What then, do you
suggest we do?"

John pressed his hands against his temples and practically growled. It was so hard to think with
all the frelling crap already taking up so much room. He knew that Aeryn wouldn't come back
with him unless there was no other choice. Things hadn't gotten that bad yet. The human also
knew that staying here with Talyn was too dangerous. He looked over at Crais. "We go."

The ex-captain wasn't sure he heard right. Talyn replayed the words in his head as if
understanding how he felt. "I'm going to assume that was an irrational outburst. We cannot
leave Aeryn here to die."

"Crais! She's not coming with us! That's her not me talking so put the blame where it belongs."
John felt the anger burn inside him. Or was that grief? "We have a job to do so let's get on with
it."

The conflict he was feeling was made much worse by Talyn's. "You're suggesting we attack
Scorpius without her?" Crais saw the look on John's face. He was amazed to find himself
agreeing with him. There was no other choice. "Then we have another problem to deal with."

'That's good, that's good! Concentrate on the plan. Push her out of your mind!' John wasn't
sure if that was him or Harvey but it sounded like good advice. "What problem?"

Crais nodded and replaced the display with a schematic. "This is my former command carrier." A
feeling that could called nostalgia came to the surface. Talyn was confused by it. "We should be
able to board her without being detected. But completing the task could prove more difficult."

John smiled in mock confidence. "You let me worry about Scorpy. I'll get him." He saw the
look on Crais' face and shut up.

"I'm not talking about that. Scorpius must have his information stored on the ship's database,
which means it can be remote accessed by High Command." Bialar tried not to sound overly
dramatic but the speech was necessary. "Destroying the ship won't eliminate the information."


"I don't know. Scorpy isn't a share with the rest of the class kind of guy." John found himself
amazed at how quickly the conversation had switched. All of the sudden he was talking strategy
with frelling Crais.

"We have to purge the information from the Peacekeeper central network." Crais pointed
towards Talyn's own computer system. "Talyn can access the network but he cannot change it.
It'll have to be done from the carrier's central computer."

John didn't understand what the problem was. "So, we grab a tech on the way in. What's the big
deal?"

Bialar frowned. "It is most likely that Scorpius has restaffed the ship. Any tech we might find
would rather die than do what we need." He waited for Crichton to retort something foolish.

"You once promised to kill me. Now we're working together. Forgive me if I'm a little skeptical
of Peacekeeper resolve." John didn't like the look he got from Crais.

"That was a very unusual situation Crichton. You must trust me. We need outside assistance."
Crais was immediately hit with the weight of what he had just said. How far he was willing to go.

John's shoulders slumped. He glanced out the window again and sighed. "Great, so where the
hell are we going to get a tech?"



The Marauder cut its engines and came to a halt on the planet's surface. It was a great credit to
the ship's captain that he had avoided detection by Talyn. Of course, he didn't even know the
hybrid leviathan was in the area.

Captain Onin took his hand off the controls and turned to face his only passenger. The two men
stared at each other for a moment. He finally smiled to ease the tension. "Do you really think
we'll find Aeryn Sun?"

Keller looked down at his shoes and frowned. His superior's endless enthusiasm had gotten quite
annoying. "I wouldn't know sir. I'm only a tech."

"Oh come on! You've heard the reports just as I have. Don't tell me you're not the least bit
curious to see if it's all true." Onin stood up and headed for the door.

He had in fact heard the reports and much more about the infamous peacekeeper traitor. Her
name had been stricken from most public news but word still got around. The prowler pilot who
took up with John Crichton and Bialar Crais. Well, very few knew about the second man. Not
even Captain Onin. Keller reached into his side bag and pulled out a pulse pistol. "Sir?"

Onin answered without turning around. "What is it?" He started to push open the hatch when a
pulse blast exploded into his back. "What the frell!" Sadly, those were his last words. The dead
captain slumped to the ground in a heap.

"I'm sorry I had to do that." There was no hint of sarcasm in the tech's voice. He wasn't used to
killing people. It was a new habit. Keller opened his bag and made sure everything was there. It
was time to go.



Aeryn sat staring at the now shut cell doors with her mouth still hanging open. It had taken her
some time to make sure she'd heard the words correctly. This man claimed to be acting on her
mother's orders. The initial shock had given way to suspicion. Aeryn held no more romantic
illusions about Xhalax Sun.

"You don't believe him do you?" Chiana came up beside her and frowned when she saw the look
on Aeryn's face. Fortunately, Jezik had been called away to deal with something. Otherwise, she
wasn't sure if Aeryn could have held out.

She looked up at the Nebari and wiped her eyes. There were no tears there but she'd gotten used
to doing it. "He's lying."

Chiana nodded. "So where does that leave us?" She jumped up onto the bench and tried to reach
the small holes along the ceiling's edge.

"They'll probably kill us. Maybe torture." Aeryn ignored what her companion was doing and
took in what she had just said. The idea of life and death produced mixed feelings in her. She
saw Crichton's face in both directions. 'Stop it!'

Her hands gripped the uneven stone above and she hoisted herself up. Chiana was disappointed
to find that the hole was way too small for her to fit through. "I guess that makes me the
optimist." Through the darkness, she spotted something.

Outside, a wide street opened up and made its way towards the edge of town. Chiana could see a
lone figure walking in their direction. The rest of the area appeared to be deserted. She focused
her attention on the person. There was something in his right hand. Every microt or so it blinked
red and then went dark again. "Aeryn, come look at this."

Aeryn did not move. "What is it?"

Chiana's eyes widened. The light had stopped blinking. She searched her memory for what that
meant. It had to be in there somewhere. A moment of clarity hit her. "Oh frell!"

The wall beside the two women exploded inward and sent chunks of stone rocketing across the
room. Chiana was flung from her perch and knocked to the ground. She found herself next to
Aeryn. The ex-peacekeeper looked angry.


Aeryn didn't get a chance to express her feelings. She felt something take hold of her neck and
lift her off the ground. A man, probably Sebacean, was standing in front of her with a detonator
in his other hand. "Who the frell are you?"

Keller took in the sight of Aeryn Sun's face and smiled. "You're not exactly how I pictured you."
He dropped the detonator and pulled a white pistol out of his bag. "I'm sorry about this." The
stun gun fired and she fell towards him.

Chiana forced herself up only to be thrown back by a stun blast. She felt her limbs go numb but
didn't lose consciousness. "Ha! It'll take more than that to-." A fist came down and smashed
her across the face.

It was a few microts before she could open her eyes again. Chiana found herself staring down the
barrel of a pulse rifle.

"Where is she?!" Jezik removed the gun from her face and looked up at the giant hole in the wall.
He gritted his teeth in anger and kicked the Nebari viciously. "Tell me or I'll kill you."