- Chapter 5.
- How quickly a life could end. For the last half arn, Aeryn had considered that with little thought to anything else. The image of D'Argo's ship firing and obliterating a living creature within microts played in her mind, over and over. She had tried to shake the image but it had only brought on others. Zhaan. Xhalax. Crais and Talyn. John himself, all the deaths she had seen in the last cycle, some more intimate than others but all of them the same. How quickly a life could end.
- She watched as John suited up into the Peacekeeper infantry uniform—heavy black helmet, broad chest and shoulder guards, shiny black boots. The helmet completely covered his face. As long as he left it on, he would be one more faceless Peacekeeper out of thousands. If he took it off and was spotted, it would be over and she would be faced with his death again. Fatalism was creeping over her soul and she could not fight it off. Were they truly fated to end it like this?
- She had no plan, not one that was laid out, piece by piece, as a soldier should. She knew they were landing in the cargo bay and that Scorpius' assessment of security was correct. She knew they were disguised well enough. She knew where the child was kept and who was keeping watch over it. She even had an idea of how they would get back to the Marauder with the child in tow. It was what she didn't know that worried her. Her mind was too clouded with love, regret and fear to see how their enemies might strike. Or maybe she had just finally refused to do so.
- In spite of John's protests, she believed that Scorpius' goals, at least this time, were equal to theirs—get off and on the carrier before they were found out. She had thrown Scorpius back in containment more for John's sake than for hers. He had given her the information she'd wanted and she'd no option but to hope that it was true, to hope that John's value to him and concern over Grayza exceeded any personal vendetta he might have against them. Scorpius was a patient creature and he would bide his time until he felt it was appropriate to regain his command. Or kill them.
- "So, do I looked like a Nazi?" John turned to her and put the helmet on his head. "I can hardly breathe. How do Sebaceans handle it?"
- "We get used to it." She stared at him in the uniform then at herself, trying to overcome the disgust she felt at seeing herself like this again. They'd all had their intentions—Scorpius' not to return to the carrier so soon and hers to never return at all. What was it she'd heard John saythe road to hell was paved with good intentions. She now had an understanding of what that meant.
- John took off the helmet and stood at the console across from her, glancing briefly at the flashing lights that meant nothing to him and then back at her.
- "You've been quiet, baby," he said. "And it would be a stupid question to ask if anything was wrong. Do you want to talk?" He came up behind her and rubbed her shoulders as best he could. She turned to him and smiled but she felt no humor in it. Exhaustion was snaking its way through her bones and she was doing all she could to keep it at bay.
- "II look at you and I see him. But now it's you, too." She felt John pull back a bit. She took his hand and turned to face him. "No," she said firmly. "There is no difference anymore." She paused. "Before anything else happensI want you to know. I love you, John Crichton. You. And I'm sorry."
- She turned away before he could kiss her. He touched her hair, his hand brushing against her neck and then he turned and walked back to his place across from her and they both stared at what lay ahead.
____________________________
- Commandant Mele-on Grayza was visiting the breeding sector. When the call to stations had sounded, Co-kurra Strapa had done the first thing that had occurred to him. He had taken the infant—A'lya Lyczac—a pack of nutrients, a blanket and a few other essentials and had gone to cargo bay thirteen, the last one in this sector, to hide and hope that she would not cry before he could get there.
- His hopes had been answered, assisted by the sleeping serum that he had administered to her. She had slept soundly through his passage, bundled up like cargo, her supplies kept in a black pack attached to his belt. No one had bothered to stop or search him.
- Scorpius had pulled Co-kurra from the wreckage of the Aurora Chair after John Crichton had drained Co-kurra's mind of any useful wormhole knowledge. At first Co-kurra had thought Scorpius would kill him for failing to see through Crichton's deception but Scorpius had surprised him. Instead, he had become Scorpius' ally. He had dispatched the Marauder crew that had found Scorpius buried on the planet, Arnessk. He had encrypted and fitted the communications on the Marauder that had been left for Scorpius. And he was the one whom Scorpius would contact when he felt it was time to return to the carrier.
- Co-kurra had gotten that call too, much more quickly than he had expected. He had warned Scorpius to wait until Grayza had weakened, until her shaky hold on the carrier had relaxed. Her powers over the other males on the ship were short-lived and only the most dull-witted of them were still susceptible to her special brand of persuasion. He was not one of those males. Their plan had been to meet in bay twelve but Co-kurra had chosen this route instead. There were more holds and hiding places and passageways that were not part of the ship's overall schematics. He would hold out here until he could make his way back to their meeting point. If he could make it back at all.
- He placed the still sleeping infant in a storage container he'd found, one used for transport of small, living creatures. He stole a look at her before securing her. She was a beautiful child; the mix of both species creating a DNA signature that would make her immune to heat delirium, adding to the Sebacean strength. He had brain patterns of both Aeryn Sun and John Crichton from their times spent in the Chair. Crichton's intellect was superior and the child seemed to have a similar pattern based on the tests Co-kurra had run so far. She was a scientific discovery. To his dismay, Co-kurra had also found that she was only an infant, a living creature and he had felt moved beyond the science of it all.
- He touched her head and she stirred a bit but still slept as he awaited orders.
_________________________________
- "Where is she?" Grayza's voice broke through the stillness as she marched through the breeding sector, two peacekeeper officers flanking her and Braca following at her heels. The techs were lined up in formation, each one stationed near a group of infants, all of whom meant nothing to Grayza.
- "You." She stopped and turned to a female tech. "Where is the infant A'lya Lyczac?"
- "Ma'am, I do not know, Ma'am." The tech's voice trembled. Instilling fear always motivated Grayza and she stood, staring down at the hapless tech, absolutely sure this one knew nothing but not willing to let her off so easily.
- "Who are you hiding, Technician?" Her pale lavender eyes stared into the tech's dark ones. "Is there someone here you are protecting? Certainly, that protection is not worth the price of your life." She motioned to the two officers and they both stood on either side of the tech, waiting for Grayza's orders
- "I do not know that infant," the tech continued. "Ma'am, there are one hundred children in this sector alone. I am only responsible for five." The tech glanced at the officers on either side of her.
- Grayza turned to Braca. "Is this true?"
- Braca nodded shakily. "Yes, Ma'am. The one you seek isn't here. Co-kurra is the tech and I do not see him in formation."
- "The call was for all techs. Why isn't he here? Who is in charge?"
- Another technician stepped forward quickly, a heavyset female who looked fit only for tech work. "I am. Senior Technician Pak. Co-kurra has not reported for duty and appears to have gone missing. We have sounded the alarm for him."
Grayza nodded in satisfaction. "So it's just a matter of time, then. The carrier will be searched." She turned to Braca. "If the child escapes with him, you will have an appointment with the chair, Captain. Please bear that in mind." She turned briskly, Braca so close behind her that he nearly fell with her movement. "Technicians, dismissed," she said.
*****
"Unlock me!" Scorpius had been yelling at them for awhile now. John had lost track of how long. He stood behind Aeryn at the navigational console as she guided the Marauder smoothly into landing bay twelve. Apparently "Officer Mol" wasn't too important because no one had tried to get them on the horn since their initial contact.
"What're we going to do with him?" John asked. Aeryn completed her landing procedures and then grabbed her helmet. There had been little talk between them as though she had wanted to clear her mind of any emotional baggage. They were going into battle and it was something Aeryn Sun understood better than he did.
"Unlock him," she said. She pulled the helmet over her head and he did the same, their comms tucked safely inside their clothing. Scorpius' assurances that the comms could not be traced hadn't left him real confident but they didn't have a lot of options. And he figured Aeryn was right. Scorpy wanted to be caught here about as much as they did.
"Unlock him? What?" That one threw him for a loop and he took the helmet off to look at her. She stopped and grabbed it out of his hand and pulled it roughly over his head again.
"What the hell are you doing?" he asked, rubbing his neck where the helmet had made contact. "That hurt."
She faced him, helmet on, her hands on his arms, clutching him hard. He couldn't see her eyes even this close. "Do not take that off again, John. Once we step out of this ship, we are Peacekeepers. Nothing more."
"All right." He reached for her helmet and slid it off her head. He couldn't get a read on her expression. It was as if she'd been transformed back to what she'd been before, poker face firmly in place. Peacekeeper Aeryn. He knew better and he understood why it had to be like this. StillHe removed his helmet one more time then ran his fingers over her cheekbones and kissed her. She didn't move away.
"For luck," he said finally. He handed her helmet back to her and put on his own then went to the containment area. "Scorpy, Aeryn's taking pity on you, though I'm not sure why." He unlocked the enclosure and Scorpius stepped out.
"You certainly look like a Peacekeeper," he said. "Let's hope that you are convincing when the time comes." He started for the door of the Marauder but Aeryn blocked his path, Peacekeeper rifle in hand.
"You're not leaving without us," she said, the rifle pointed at his chest.
"Aeryn, remind me why he's out?" John asked.
"John, locked up here I am a liability," Scorpius said. "Officer Sun understands that. Every Marauder is eventually searched for contraband. I would be located, questions would be asked" He smiled. "I, of course, would be forced to answer them. Who brought me here? John Crichton. Where is he? Looking for his child in the breeding sector. The persuasion required would be minimal. I'm not going to wager that your life is worth more than mine." He leaned in towards John, confidentially. "Grayza's ways do not work on me, John. I wish that I could say the same for you. You may be an even a bigger liability to Officer Sun than I."
"What is he talking about?" Aeryn asked. Her voice was nasal, muffled by the helmet. It reminded John, absurdly, of those storm troopers in Star Wars. They all sounded and looked the same. That was the point, wasn't it?
"It'll be fine, Aeryn." He turned back to Scorpius. "We do this right and we won't be running into Grayza. And how come you didn't tell me before that this thing's going to be searched?"
"It's of no consequence," Scorpius said. "You obtain what you came for, you return here and then you leave, using the same procedure as going in. I have other plans. Officer Sun understands the process and will return at the appropriate time. My spy will reset the voice command to answer to hers."
"It sounds like you and Aeryn have been making plans without me." John took the helmet off again and wiped the sweat from his eyes. "And since I didn't find any place to lie down and take a nap, it kind of makes me wonder when you two had time to communicate. I mean, it wasn't in front of me." He looked at Aeryn and waited but she refused to remove the helmet.
"You haven't answered me, John," she said.
"There isn't something else going on here, is there, Aeryn?" John said. He turned to Scorpius. "You fried her in the chair, you took her baby" He grabbed Scorpius and pushed him up against the wall. "What the hell else did you do to her? Harvey's cousin hiding in her someplace?"
"John, what did he mean?" she asked.
"Obfuscation, John." Scorpius shook him off and moved away from the door. "Answer her question and I will answer yours."
"John" Aeryn's voice told him that she was running out of patience.
"Heppel oil," he said. "Ever heard of it?" Maybe it was a bad time to dispel his personal demons. He had managed to hold them at bay this far, convincing himself that he wouldn't have to worry about Grayza because they weren't going to see her. He would no more expect to run into her as he would expect to see the President of the Unites States walking through downtown Washington.
"I know what it is," Aeryn said softly. She took off her helmet now and he recognized what he saw. It looked like pity, to him. Her gaze held his, boring into him that way only she knew. He wanted to turn away, to just skip the whole damn thing but he couldn't tear himself away from her.
"Grayza" he began. He turned towards Scorpius but Aeryn cupped her hands around his face before he could move.
"Don't," she said. "You don't have to say anything."
"Aeryn"
"No." She put two fingers to his lips to quiet him. "I know what it is," she repeated. "I understand what it does. And I understand what it did to you. Don't re-live it for my sake. I understand." She kept her hands on his face. "Now the question is, what do we do about this?" She released him and looked at Scorpius as if she really expected an answer.
"I have reason to believe that she is" Scorpius paused, almost politely. "Weakening. Perhaps fortune will smile upon you, Crichton."
"And the answer to my question is" John waited.
"No. I did nothing to Officer Sun. Nothing else." He turned to Aeryn. "You understand procedure and regulation. We are talking about nothing more than that. I am giving you access because you can fly a Marauder. John cannot." He looked at John. "Is that sufficient explanation?"
"I'll believe you a lot more when I get what we came for and we're the hell out of here." He nodded at Aeryn and she opened the door. He looked around. Nothing but a few techs in the distance and none of them seemed the slightest bit interested in them.
"Let's go, Scorpy Sue," he said. "I want to see if you've frelled us over or not."
"You should have let Officer Sun plan your exit strategy, John." Scorpius looked close to nervous but it was obvious he wasn't going to make a stink about it. Aeryn shouldered the rifle. There was no reason for any of them to call attention to themselves.
"He walks between us," she said. "I will lead. We'll go to the first cargo hold we see until we can tie him up again."
"Okay." He prodded Scorpius in the back, Winona holstered at his side. Scorpius raised his hands in mock surrender then dropped them to his sides as they followed Aeryn out of the Marauder. The door closed behind them quietly and they were in landing bay twelve. They stepped away from the Marauder and began walking towards a cargo hold about three hundred feet away.
"Wait." Scorpius stopped and put his hand to his head as though he was listening to something. John almost walked into him. He fought the urge to take off his helmet and he felt sweat running down his back. This was too easy, way too easy. Dread tickled his spine and his stomach started doing flip-flops. He'd been in confined spaces, he'd worn helmets but he'd never felt this claustrophobic before.
"We have to keep going," Aeryn said. "Scorpius."
"Aeryn," John said quietly. "I can't breathe in this thing. I need to take it off."
"Don't touch it." She slapped his hand away from his head. "Scorpius?" Her head turned towards Scorpius.
"An alarm has sounded," Scorpius said. "He informs me that they're searching for him." He moved his hand from his head and turned to John. "You are on your own. Shoot me now if you wish but I will not risk my capture for you." He broke away from them and walked calmly towards the Marauder.
"Damn!" John whispered. "Scorpius! Scorp—"
"It's too late, John. He's gone." Her hand gripped his arm and she pulled him around the corner into the cargo hold, shutting the door behind them.
"The son of a bitch is taking our getaway car," he muttered. He pulled the helmet off and took a deep breath. No doubt, he would have made a crappy Peacekeeper. "What the hell are we going to do now?"
"Scorpius' ally has been discovered," she said. "If they haven't already found him, they're going to search every part of this ship. Every landing bay, every cargo hold." She took off her helmet and rubbed her forehead in thought. "There's another way. If we don't arouse suspicion, if we can perhaps keep one step ahead of themplay our parts, participate in the search if we have to."
"Yeah?" John said. "Saw that in a movie once. Sort of. The heroes and heroine end up trapped in a giant trash compactor"
Aeryn shook her head, not quite following him. "A movie. One of those talking pictures? Yoda? That serves no purpose at this point, John."
He grinned at her. "It kind of gives me an idea though, about hiding out. This thing has sewers, vents, airductsIt's like a city."
"Yes, but—"
"Do they search all that when they're looking for someone?"
"Typically, no. Because no one would be foolish enough to conceal themselves in the sewers or ventilation shafts."
"Except us. No one but us, Aeryn. And if we can figure out a way to get from this level to the breeding sector level we might still have a chance. And we still have the comms and D'Argo out there."
"That's insane," she said. "We can't risk D'Argo and the others. It's enough that we've asked them to come this far."
"No more insane than coming back here in the first place. With our record, you didn't really think it would be easy, did you?" He brushed a strand of hair away from her face.
"Perhaps I didn't really think at all." The cargo hold was about the size of a small shower stall and they were jammed in there with actual cargo. He stood less than a foot from her. She sighed and looked at him then leaned in and kissed him.
"For luck, as you say," she said. She grabbed the door handle; the door pulled away from her hand. There wasn't enough room for John to reach for his pulse pistol. They were at the mercy of whatever was on the other side of the door.
******
"Co-kurra!" John blinked at the light illuminating Co-kurra's oddly shaped head. The little creature stared at him, almost surprised. "What the hell are you doing here?"
Co-kurra looked left and right and then pulled Aeryn's arm. Aeryn pulled back and would have pulled him into the cargo hold but there just wasn't enough room.
"Release me," she said, her voice deadly and Co-kurra did what he was told.
"There is no time, Crichton." He looked around again, furtively. "You must do as I say or you will lose it all."
"Say what?" John blinked at him and shook his head. "No"
"Scorpius' informant," Aeryn said. John felt her take a deep breath against him. "I remember." She stepped forward and grabbed the little creature by the throat. "You were there, weren't you, Co-kurra. You were the technician Scorpius enlisted—"
"Aeryn," John whispered into her ear. "Let him go. It's not going to change anything now." He pressed on her arm gently, forcing it down and she released her grip. "Now let's put our gear back on before someone sees us."
She nodded and they both pulled the heavy, black helmets over
their heads so that he could return to near suffocation.
"Scorpy left you holding the bag, Co-kurra, so I hope you're not going to screw us too," John said. "We might be your only hope." He leaned into the cargo hold and picked up his rifle. Aeryn had never taken hers off.
"Oh, no, Crichton, Scorpius has done no such thing. I am only here to tell you where you can find your daughter and how you can leave this carrier without being seen." Co-kurra held his hands in front of him, tapping his fingers together nervously. The guy had always been a bundle of nerves and it only served to set John off even more.
"I don't trust him," Aeryn said. She reached for the pulse pistol holstered at her side.
"You trusted Scorpius and now you're going to jam on this guy? Come on." He touched her elbow. "Aeryn, think about it. We've come this far." He turned his head towards Co-kurra. "How do you know, Co-kurra?"
"He's a breeding tech," Aeryn said. "You can tell by his uniform insignia."
"Oh, hey, I skipped that part of Peacekeeper training, Aeryn. So he's the guy who's been watching over her." He reached for Winona and pulled her from the holster, sticking the pistol in Co-kurra's face. "Am I right, Co-kurra? Have you been A'lya's nanny? And please, don't lie. I hate being lied to and I am totally out of patience." He felt Aeryn flinch at the mention of A'lya's name. It was still too fresh and new to her, startling to know that the baby even had a name.
"I have hidden her in cargo bay thirteen," Co-kurra said, his voice trembling. "The hold used for living creatures. Officer Sun will know which that is. Please, Crichton, you must believe me. Your time is running short. Your child lives but possibly not for much longer if you don't act quickly."
"Lucky thirteen." John kept the pistol in Co-kurra's face. "How come Scorpy said it was twelve?"
"II had to change. It doesn't matter. In her nutrient pack, you'll find schematics to the passageway we used to release Officer Sun before" He looked away, disturbed, then back at Aeryn. "I am sorry, Officer Sun. I was only following orders."
"And this passageway does what?" John said.
"It's your trash compactor', John," Aeryn said. It was her turn to act as the voice of reason. Her hand moved to his, covering both it and the pulse pistol until he lowered the gun and re-holstered it. "And you're right. We've come this far. Let's not waste more time here." She moved past Co-Kurra, not looking at him again and then stopped and waited for John. "Let's go."
She started into a jog. John looked at her and then back at Co-kurra but he was already scurrying back towards the place where the Marauder had been stationed. It was gone. He ran towards Aeryn's side and she slowed down a bit, her gait even and controlled.
"You know, they barely got out of the trash compactor," he said.
"And we'll be lucky to get out of here," she said, "So I think my example parallels yours."
"You've got a lot to learn about the movies, Aeryn," he said softly.
She laughed and cocked her head towards him. "Frell you, Crichton," she said and he thought he heard her laugh again.
*****
There were two Peacekeepers posted at the entry to bay thirteen. It was less than John had expected. The odds were good, as far as he was concerned. Two to two and he had a pissed off ex-Peacekeeper with raging maternal instinct on his side. Those were good odds indeed. The area itself was much less imposing than the place they'd left, like a storage room someone had tacked on at the last minute. He wondered if Aeryn remembered this the way she had remembered Co-kurra, if all of it was bringing back more memories and pain to cloud her judgment. If it was, she wasn't giving it away.
"Two," she said. "We've had worse odds."
"Yeah," he agreed. "Plan?"
"Shift change," she said. "Follow my lead and don't say anything." She turned to him, her helmet cocked at an odd angle as though she was trying to search out his eyes. "Are you ready?"
"Let's roll," he said.
She nodded and straightened up. "Walk next to me, in formation. Same pace. We're a unit, John. Remember that."
"Like football campyeah, I'll remember, Aeryn." He stood next to her and then they started forward. He could hardly see out of the helmet, his inferior vision a detriment. He stumbled and she caught his arm. He quickly fell back into pace with her. It was like being in the passageways of Moya. Walking and talking. He concentrated on that until they stopped in front of the two guards.
"You're relieved of duty," Aeryn said. "Orders of Captain Braca."
"We have no such orders." The guard stepped forward. Aeryn did too, challenging him. John stayed where he was, eyeing the other guard and then looked back at Aeryn. She and the guard walked around each other, each sizing up the other. Whatever she'd become in the last three cycles was sublimated to what she'd been before that—one hundred percent Peacekeeper. He watched as this odd dance continued, at one point not sure which Peacekeeper was which.
"Captain Braca insists that you return to command for further orders," she said. "Failure to follow this command will result in disciplinary action. There is a technician, Co-kurra, who has left the carrier without authorization. He is believed to have last been seen in bay eleven. You are wasting valuable time."
The guard stopped and stepped back then looked at her. "I don't believe you have any orders from the Captain." He turned to his partner. "Do you?"
"I think they've just come from the lounge," the partner said. A female. "Too much fellip nectar, eh, mate?"
Efficient, ruthless killing machines, John thought. Deep down they were all just grunts.
"Oh, you're going to make this difficult, are you?" Aeryn said. "Stand aside." The guard she'd argued with rushed her. She sidestepped him and stuck out her fist enough to land a blow to his chest. He fell to the ground with a heavy smack. His partner looked at John, John looked at Aeryn and then he did exactly what he'd learned in football camp. He lowered his shoulder and lunged at his dance partner, hitting her square in the abdomen and knocking her to the ground as well, where she lay still.
"Now what?" he breathed out, rubbing the back of his neck.
Aeryn's sparring partner held his chest and sat up. She kicked him once under the chin and he fell backwards like a sack of cement.
"Now we get what we came for." She grabbed John's arm and stepped over the two fallen Peacekeepers through the doorway.
*****
Chiana spotted the ships on the scan before D'Argo did, two Prowlers following a Marauder that by all accounts looked to be going as fast as it possibly could.
"D'Argo!" Chiana elbowed him and pointed to the scanner and then the viewport. "It's them and there are Peacekeepers on their eemas."
"What?" D'Argo checked his screen. They had been cloaked for the better part of two arns. So far, no one had spotted them. "Sikozu, get them on the comms before I start chasing the frelling thing."
"Crichton? Aeryn? Do you hear me?" she said. There was static as the comm tried to find its frequency and then a voice. It wasn't the one D'Argo wanted to hear.
"Sikozu." It was Scorpius. D'Argo hissed and took the comm from her hand.
"Scorpius. Let me talk to Crichton or Aeryn."
"Officer Sun is piloting this Marauder and Crichton was injured in a fire fight with the Peacekeepers. Rather than argue with me, I suggest you provide cover so that we can escape the Prowlers."D'Argo looked at the two girls and both of them just stared back, neither offering any suggestion.
"Well?" he said finally. "Do you believe him?"
Chiana shook her head. "Not for a microt. I think you should shoot the whole frelling lot of em."
D'Argo shook his head in frustration and then turned back to the comm. "Until I hear from Crichton or Aeryn, you are on your own, Scorpius," he said.
They all heard the angry growl from the other end of the comm and then a high pitched squeal as the link went dead.
