Chapter 3

Aeryn landed the Prowler like the expert she was, so softly that John scarcely noticed that they weren't flying anymore. It had taken them two additional days to reach Arnessk, with one small stop in between, just long enough to eat, stretch and catch a few hours of sleep. He hadn't actually seen her sleep yet, but he knew she must have at some point. The stress of flying was starting to wear on her; he could see it in the dark circles under her eyes and the way her breath came in and out in long stretches, as if she was trying to conserve her energy.

They hadn't spoken much after he'd directed her to Arnessk and the closeness that had been growing between them seemed to have ground to a halt as she had shifted her focus to the mission ahead of them. He'd noticed that her hands had moved with certainty after he'd found the coordinates to Arnessk. She sat with her back straight and he had discreetly kept his hands to himself. Maybe she'd been right about emotions. This was too big a deal for them to screw it up wondering and trying to work out their relationship, whatever it was now.

He sat back as she went through her final landing procedures, and allowed his mind to wander where it had refused to go before, to how that baby had come to be. Sex ed? Well, it was obvious, John-boy, he thought. The other you and Aeryn were frelling like rabbits and she either didn't know or didn't care whether or not birth control was involved. Sure, he supposed it made sense in the Peacekeeper world. They'd told her where to fight and where to die, right? Yeah, it was reasonable to assume that they would have taken care of that little matter of birth control along with any other inoculations against disease, no decisions or knowledge on her part. Sure. Made perfect sense.

The hatch popped open and he looked up as Aeryn stood. "We're here," she announced. She offered him her hand and waited as he unbuckled himself from the harness. He took it and she helped pull him to his feet. He heard both his knees pop as he stood.

"Damn legs feel like wet spaghetti," he said, stretching, then moved his head from side to side until his neck cracked.

"All that noise would be enough to wake the dead," she said. She let go of his hand and reached down for her weapons, some canisters of water and a length of rope before handing him one of the pulse rifles. He hadn't even wanted to know about the rope. He put the strap over his shoulder then followed Aeryn out as the hatch closed neatly behind him. "Just what is this trip supposed to accomplish?" she asked, still not sure that he was making the right call.

"Like I said, Jool's still here. We figured it was Peacekeeper free." He looked at her and realized he'd have to come clean now. "Aeryn, you can't keep pushing yourself. This is a good place to hang and regroup. We're not leaving until you've gotten some sleep and we've come up with a better plan."

"So." She narrowed her eyes at him. "This is the plan to come up with the plan. I see, John." She smiled unpleasantly. "You propose 'parking' me here until you can convince me to turn back. Is that the plan?"

"Nope." He shook his head and started off in the direction of Jool's dig site. "I wish there was some place we could stash this thing," he said, eyeing the Prowler. She had managed to land between some trees but the Prowler was still too visible for his taste. "That ship of D'Argo's can hide itself. It just disappears."

"Hmm," she said. "Unfortunate we don't have it. It might have figured in your 'plan'." She looked around, her eyes narrowing as she stared into the horizon and then she turned to him. "Or are you here to make sure Scorpius is really dead?"

He bit his lip to keep from smiling. "Baby, I didn't know I was so easy to read." He took her by the arm and pulled her forward. "It's a kill two birds with one stone thing." She looked at him blankly. "You know, we're here. You rest, I check out to make sure he's really most sincerely dead and then we get the hell off." It had been fluttering in the back of his mind—he's not dead, he's not dead, he's not dead. Or maybe that was just Harvey trying to get out. But he knew he would have to clear his own head if they had any chance of getting onto the carrier.

"Are you all right?" She stopped and looked at his grip on her arm. "I'm not going anywhere, John. You don't have to hold on so tight."

"Ah, yeah. Sorry." He released her arm and pulled Winona from his holster, just in case the boogieman decided to jump out from behind any trees. Fortunately, there'd been few structures left on the planet. Between those landmarks and the water, she'd set them down pretty close to the dig site.

"I think we're close," he said. The air was heavy after the controlled atmosphere of the Prowler and his chest felt tight, like he'd been climbing a mountain. The futility of this mission was crushing down on him, mingling with memories of his last time on the planet and what might lie ahead of them—a baby that he only knew of through hearsay. What if the old woman had been wrong and they were risking their lives for something that didn't even exist? God knew she was crazy as a bat. She could have easily screwed with Aeryn's memories as easily as she had toyed with him. It could all be a lie.

"John, you're thinking again. Good. Aeryn Sun has a valid point about all that sentimentality. It's for sissies, John. Sissies and dead men." There was a John Wayne twist to the words. The voice was in his ear—inside his head, buzzing like an annoying little mosquito that wouldn't land long enough to squash.

"Harvey. Where the hell have you been, son? Been missing you." Like a toothache. "So I need to know. Scorpius is dead, right? I saw him killed and buried. Right?"

Harvey had taken position under a tree in John's mind, sitting carefully on a rock as he flicked falling leaves off his arm. Nothing like a summer picnic, John supposed, and good old Harvey was the ant.

"John, your agony interests me deeply. I'm glad you've fixed your sights on rescuing Aeryn's child. It gives you a reason to go on, don't you think? And just imagine how grateful she'll be when you've found the little one. You'll be her hero. No more Mr. black shirt to compete with."

"I am Mr. black shirt now so cut the crap," he muttered.

"Let's not get too cocky. Women are a fickle lot." Harvey stood up and elbowed him then whispered. "She's not looking well, John. You may want to consider one of the other females when you return to Moya with the child. A little quid pro quo for Aeryn?"

"I don't play that way." He walked on, hearing Aeryn's footsteps behind him as she swatted through brush and tree limbs. "You haven't answered my question."

"How would you expect me to know? You saw him. Why not believe what you see?"

"Because I don't trust everything I see. Like you, for example. I'm not sure I believe everything I hear either."

"Oh, John. Once a trusting soul and now…" He shook his head. "You realize Aeryn Sun has lost her edge. Have you noticed that, John? She'll lead you straight to your death." He gulped. "And mine."

"Now, that would be the good part. I trust her a helluva lot more than I trust you, Harv. So shut the hell up already."

"'It's too late, she's gone too far, she's lost the sun…she's come undone,'" Harvey sang, off-key no less, and then started dot-dahing his way through the refrain.

"Yeah, yeah. You have a real career in lounge singing. Are you here to help me out or annoy the crap out of me?"

"Consider. I allowed you to hear what the old woman had to say. Do you really believe I would have misled you? Do you really believe that Aeryn just imagined what she told you on Moya? Or are you just choosing to believe that because you truly don't want to see the incarnation of Aeryn's love for…" he paused. "Well, for the other you. It's a difficult situation, I imagine. I suspect the green eyed monster is rearing its ugly head as we speak."

"Thank again, Harvey. You're a freaking genius."

Harvey took a bow. "And I have a song for you too—'don't you remember you told me you loved me, baby. Said you'd be coming back this way again, baby. Baby, baby, baby—" He held out the word "baby" and then finally, he was quiet.

"Crap. The Carpenters," John said. He stepped forward onto air then felt Aeryn's hand on the waistband of his pants. She pulled him backwards and he lost his balance and fell, both of them landing in a heap on the ground near Scorpius' freshly dug up grave. His pistol clattered away from him and he grabbed for it and stuck it back in his holster.

"What the frell is the matter with you?" Aeryn said. Her elbows were scraped and bloodied from the fall. She looked at him as she sat, her eyes flashing angrily.

"God. I'm sorry, Aeryn." He scrambled to his feet and then offered his hand to her. She took it and he pulled her up then dusted her off. "I…I wasn't looking where I was going…"

"That much is obvious." She put a finger to his forehead. "Ignore him, John. For your sake if nothing else."

He nodded and turned towards the grave. She stood beside him, holding his arm and they both looked down. The ground was still damp and he could see clumps of dirt clinging to the edge of the gravesite.

Aeryn sucked in her breath. "Frell me dead," she said. She released his arm and dropped to her knees, sticking her fingers in a clump of dirt and rubbing it between her fingertips. He stood next to her, looking down. He's not dead, he's not dead, he's not dead…Just like it had been nagging him all along. And he'd walked them right into it.

"I don't believe it," John said. He stared into the depths of the six-foot hole and then backed way, taking Winona from her holster and glancing around. "It's possible someone just dug up the body," he offered.

"John." The voice came from behind him. He whirled around, Winona held out in front of him, ready to shoot. Aeryn scrambled to her feet and grabbed her rifle. "You are indeed predictable," Scorpius continued. "And I didn't have to utilize a neural clone to get you here. I had no idea our thoughts were so synchronized." He spread his arms wide like a host graciously welcoming his guests. He stepped towards them and Aeryn leveled her rifle at his mid-section.

"Stand fast, Scorpius," she said. John saw her finger play on the trigger.

"Officer Sun. So good to see you again. I see I gave you the proper coordinates and you were eventually able to locate Moya—and Crichton."

"Let's skip the chit-chat." John kept Winona leveled at Scorpius and stood next to Aeryn. "Tell me you have a secret twin. A clone maybe? Tell me you're a ghost. Tell me I'm crazy. Tell me that the son of a bitch I saw shot and buried is still dead."

Scorpius laughed and shook his head. "So sorry, John. As much as I would love to accommodate you, I cannot. As you can see—both of you—I am very much alive."

"Dracula," John said. "Freakin' Dracula. That it? Would a stake through the heart get rid of you? Garlic? Holy water?" He walked calmly to Scorpius and put Winona to Scorpius' temple. "Or how about I just blow your stinking head off. Would that do it?"

"John." Aeryn's voice was soft. John turned to her as she lowered the rifle slightly.

"Let's just shoot the bastard and move on," John began. He grabbed Scorpius by the neck.

"He…" She faltered. "He has information. About the child."

John looked at her. Uncertainty furrowed her brow. He could see her finger still twitching on the trigger but the rifle now pointed at the ground. Instinct told her to shoot but intellect told her that there might be some value in letting Scorpius live. He understood her conundrum completely.

"Officer Sun. You recognize that knowledge equals power," Scorpius said.

"Grasshopper, I have so missed your philosophy lessons," John said. "How about you stick a sock in it?" He bashed the butt of his pistol into the base of Scorpius' neck and Scorpius collapsed in front of him. Aeryn looked down at Scorpius' prone body and then back at John.

"You didn't kill him, did you?" She moved forward and pushed at him with the toe of her boot, then connected a little harder and a little harder. Before John realized it, she was kicking Scorpius with all her strength. He grabbed her by the arms and pulled her towards him.

"Aeryn. You didn't want him dead, remember?" He held her fast against him, her back to his chest, restraining her as best he could. He felt her tense up, breathing heavily and then she went limp.

"I want what he took from me," she said. Her voice was strong, certain now. John released her. She turned to him and her eyes were cold. He stepped back. "Then we can do whatever you want with him," she said.

******

"There's a Prowler over here," D'Argo called to Chiana, who was lagging behind him with Sikozu, both of them armed. After Jool's priests had seen Scorpius, he had decided to take matters into his own hands and, surprisingly the two girls had agreed to go with him, leaving the old woman behind with Jool. They'd been uncharacteristically quiet, guns drawn, as they all kept watch for the impossible—namely a walking, talking Scorpius. He was grateful that John and Aeryn weren't with them.

"What, do you think that's his?" Chiana asked. "You don't think he's just sitting there waiting, do you?"

He couldn't tell if it was sarcasm or fear that he heard in her voice. He hissed at her, annoyed, climbed the Prowler's steps and opened the canopy. There was nothing distinctive about this particular Prowler. It looked worn and battle scarred with smudges on its wings and along the hatch as though it had fled the tail end of an explosion.

"D'Argo?" Chiana said then turned in frustration. "Great. See any Peacekeepers anywhere?" She stopped at the base of the Prowler's steps and looked at him, quickly losing patience.

"There's nothing here," Sikozu said, quickly canvassing the area and returning. "This single Prowler. I see nothing else."

"It appears as though there were two people in this Prowler." D'Argo looked at the imprints on both seats and sniffed the air. "And they were in here for some time."

"What?" Chiana said. "Like nine solar days or so?"

D'Argo glared at her and climbed down the steps to stand next to her. "It's them. I can detect their scents. Crichton is so…"

"Smelly?" Sikozu offered.

"Distinctive," D'Argo finished. "I have no frelling idea why they're here but we'd better find them before Scorpius does. I don't want to have to dig a grave for John or Aeryn."

"I don't know, D'Argo," Chiana began. "They may return here…"

"Then why don't you wait here?" Sikozu said. "If it's someone else, just shoot them."

Chiana smiled snidely at her. "Yeah, thanks, Red. Why don't you wait and maybe some else will just shoot you?"

"You two can argue it out," D'Argo said. "I'm going to look for them. You might want to make yourselves useful and help me."

"Big D." D'Argo turned and saw John, his hand on Scorpius' shoulder, and Aeryn walking behind Scorpius, her rifle pointed at him. Scorpius' hands were tied in front of him but D'Argo raised his Qualta Blade level with Scorpius' chest and stood, ready.

"Should I kill him here or would you like to do the honors, Aeryn?" D'Argo asked as they stopped in front of him. Aeryn shook her head wearily, eyes closed and then looked at him.

"We've decided to let him live," she said. "For now." She pushed the gun further into the small of Scorpius' back.

John slapped Scorpius on the shoulder, the force pushing him forward. "See, Scorp here dug his little self out of his grave with the help of some friends. And now he wants us to help him get back on the carrier. Don't you just dig it, D'Argo? Get it—Dig?"

D'Argo heard the fake cheeriness in John's voice—his expression was tight and didn't match his tone. Aeryn looked ready to collapse from a lack of sleep. Neither was in any condition to fly anywhere with Scorpius, whether the half-breed had been freshly resuscitated or not.

"You're not going anywhere with him," D'Argo said, his Qualta still at the ready.

"Yeah, man, we are." John looked at Scorpius who didn't appear intimidated in any way. If anything, it was evident that he was in charge, as much as the rifle and the rope might have said otherwise. "D'Argo, it's like this. We take Scorpy back and he gives us the kid. See how it works?"

"That's your plan?" Sikozu burst out. "That is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard." She looked at Aeryn. "I was led to believe that you were once a Peacekeeper officer. You do realize the stupidity of this idea, don't you?"

"Hey, hey, Sputnik, hold up there," John said. "This is where it gets interesting. We ride with Scorpy back to the carrier and pretend to be his prisoners. He turns us over to Grayza and then breaks us out with the kid and we all live happily ever after." John drew Winona from his holster and pointed it at Scorpius' head. "I don't think so, Grasshopper. But it was truly a lovely thought."

"John," Scorpius sighed and looked at D'Argo. "Ka D'Argo, you're a warrior. Tell John that walking onto the carrier is suicide. I have spies there, people who can assist us in other ways."

D'Argo growled at him. "Do not look to me, Scorpius. If it had been my decision, I would have already killed you." He turned to Aeryn. "So what do you plan to do?"

"Whoever rescued him left a Marauder," Aeryn said. "It's equipped to get past the security in place on the carrier. He has already assured us of that."

"And you believe him?" D'Argo asked it softly but he still saw her recoil defensively.

"I don't believe we have a choice," she said. "He has the ability to fly past the established checkpoints undetected. But we may need a back up." She looked at him. D'Argo saw her resolve and knew that whatever she requested, he would not reject. "Will you help us?"

"I will do whatever you ask," he said without looking at Chiana or Sikozu.

******

"So the gang left you this, huh?" John stood behind Scorpius, Winona still pointed at Scorpius' head. Aeryn hadn't given up the rifle and they still had D'Argo and the girls backing them up. Yeah, their firepower was pretty impressive but not as much as the Marauder that Scorpy's homeboys had left him. The Marauder was at least three times the size of one of Moya's transports and towered over them all. It beat riding coach.

"Yes, it's a Marauder," Scorpius said. He sounded irritated with them, like they were a bunch of kids playing soldier with one pissed off adult. "And, yes, Officer Sun, I meant what I said about its abilities. What more do you need to see?"

"Ah," D'Argo began. "Where are the commandos who rescued you? Hiding in there?" He pointed his Qualta blade in the direction of the ship.

"Idiot, you would already be dead if they were still here," Scorpius hissed. "Their orders were to move with stealth. They've succeeded." He turned to Aeryn. "You would not recognize them if you saw them again."

"Just tell me how to open the frelling door," she said and pushed him towards the ship with the point of the rifle. He turned to her, whispered a code and she keyed it in. John watched, awed, as a ramp slid forward seamlessly from the base of the Marauder.

"Whatever plan you have, John, it won't succeed," Scorpius said. "It was not my intent to return to the carrier so soon after…"

"After rising from the dead?" John finished. "Sorry to spoil your plans, Scorpius. But you kind of frelled with ours too so I'd say we're pretty much even. Why don't you stand over there like a good little cricket so we can talk?" He motioned to Chiana and she nodded, taking the rifle from him.

"Come on," she said. "Let's move. And don't think for a minute I wouldn't blow your frelling head off so don't mess with me."

Scorpius nodded. "As you wish." He shook his head at them, almost in pity and allowed Chiana to stand guard over him.

"You too, Sputnik," John said. "Give her some help."

Sikozu frowned. "You might want someone available to point out that the logistics of whatever plan you make guarantees its failure."

"Aren't you ever quiet?" Aeryn said. "Just move." She raised her own rifle at Sikozu who followed Chiana a few feet away. She turned to John and the three of them—D'Argo, John and Aeryn moved a few feet further from Scorpius.

John turned to D'Argo and put his hand on the Luxan's broad shoulder. "You're sure about this, D? Because it's going to get dangerous."

D'Argo turned to Aeryn. She kept her gaze on the butt of the rifle, intent on not pressuring him any further.

"Just tell me about this frelled up plan of yours," D'Argo said.

"Okay, big guy, this is the thing. That ship of yours can pretty much take out anything, right?" John began.

"Well, of course, but it wouldn't match up against a Command Carrier."

"No, no," John said. "I know that. But it can do a few things. It can run interference, it can take out a Prowler and it can cloak itself. Have you tried to hide it while flying?"

D'Argo laughed, his deep voice booming. "Oh, so I am the prey? That's the plan?" He shook his head. "The girls aren't going to like it, John. They'll fight, they'll cry, they'll whine." He stopped and looked at Aeryn. "Not much more than they deserve. It might just be worth the ride."

"We're thinking that you might be able to lure them away a little if they start following us or getting antsy," John said. "And then maybe just disappear. Does Lo'La leave any energy signature when she disappears?"

D'Argo pursed his lips. "Considering that I only recently realized she could disappear, I don't think I know the answer to that."

John clapped him on the shoulder. "Helluva a way to find out, huh, big guy?"