By Darkman
Rating: PG for minor violence and language.
Category: Action/Adventure
Time/Spoilers: Some Season 3 spoilers. Takes place somewhere near the end of Season 3 after John and Aeryn's resolution of their relationship problems
Summary: After a strange encounter on a Commerce planet, the crew begins to plan their assault on Scorpius, but they need more currency.
Disclaimer: I don't own them, didn't create them, and certainly don't profit from them. Wish I did or had. I promise that I'll put them back where I found them.
Chapter 8 – Doubts and Worries
John rolled over and reached for Aeryn, only to find her pillow. Sitting up sleepily, he looked around the room. His eyes fell upon the area where Aeryn had thrown her leathers and noticed them gone. Now he was wide-awake.
"Pilot, where is Aeryn?" he asked with a slight note of anxiety.
"Officer Sun took a transport pod to Talyn almost an arn ago," was Pilot's calm reply.
"An arn! Did she say why?"
"No, Commander, she said nothing to me."
John began to dress hurriedly. Before he could finish, a familiar silky voice stopped him.
"What's the matter, John? Are you beginning to doubt Officer Sun, hmmmm?"
"Not now, Harvey. I don't have time for you right now."
"On the contrary, John. I'm only here because you need me to clarify the doubts you don't even want to admit to yourself."
"Harvey, I AM NOT having any doubts about Aeryn. Understand?"
"Really? Then why are you near panic right now? Are you thinking of your earlier conversation about the disruptor? Allow me to refresh your memory."
In a perfect rendition of Aeryn's accent and cadence, Harvey quoted Aeryn's questions to John during their argument about Jenavian, "If you learned that I had promised Crais that I would recreate with him in return for his assistance in saving you from Scorpius, how would you feel? If you later learned that I had kept my part of the bargain, how would you feel then?"
"Yeah, I remember perfectly," was the mumbled reply.
"You see, John, I know you so well that I even know how you felt then. I think I am detecting jealousy. Isn't that correct, John?"
"And what if you are?"
John's petulant reply caused Harvey to smile triumphantly. "Because John, jealousy is the epitome of doubt. You doubt yourself. You doubt everything because of your late twin and his, shall we say, 'personal time,' with Officer Sun. Now you are wondering if Officer Sun is, well, paying her debt."
John finished dressing and glanced at Harvey with narrowed eyes. "Yeah, Harvey, once again you're right. However, standing here talking to you isn't going to answer any questions, is it?" John left his cell shaking his head, the sight of Harvey's supercilious grin filling his mind.
TALYN, one arn before
Aeryn entered Talyn's command with a determined look on her face. Thrusting the holochip into Crais' hand, she demanded, "Explain this, if you can."
Placing the chip in a viewer, Crais gasped as Velorek's image appeared. As he hesitated, Aeryn grabbed his arm and spun him around.
"Well, is that who I think it is?" Aeryn snapped.
Crais looked down, clearly embarrassed and at a momentary loss for words. He turned to study the image carefully. Regaining his composure, he turned back. "And who do you think it is?" he managed to say before Aeryn grabbed his tunic and pulled him very close.
"I don't have to think. I know who he is. You reported him dead by torture and the living death," Aeryn snarled. "Obviously I was misinformed because he looks to be very much alive. I want an explanation, Crais, and I want it now."
Crais pulled himself free and straightened his tunic. His Peacekeeper mask fell smoothly into place. In an imperious tone, he asked, "Why would I owe you or anyone an explanation?"
Aeryn crossed her arms. "How many times have you lied to us, to me, since you took command of Talyn? For a refreshing change of pace, I would like the truth. If any of the others learns of your lies, we will have to find someone else to take Talyn into battle because you will be dead."
Crais shrugged, seemingly resigned, "He was placed on a transport pod to be taken back to my Command Carrier for execution. Some of his friends in the Tech Corps assisted him in escaping. Of course, his guards were executed for their lack of diligence, but the damage was done."
"And why was his death widely reported to all of the crew?"
"How would it have affected morale if it were known that a prisoner had escaped?"
"What a pile of dren," Aeryn snorted. "Morale was the least of your worries. You were concerned with how an escape would undermine your authority. You would have looked weak and incompetent to all of us. You wanted to avoid embarrassment. I'm also sure you didn't want High Command finding out, either."
Crais looked down and replied, "To be sure. I placed a few private wanted beacons on planets where bounty hunters would see them. I never received any responses, but before I could investigate on my own, Scorpius took my carrier and … well, you know the rest."
They both whirled toward the entrance to Command as they heard John say, "The rest of what and who is this guy?"
John walked into Command and carefully examined the holo-image hovering in the air. Aeryn and Crais looked at each other and hesitated. Crais broke the tense silence, "That is Lt. Velorek, late of the Peacekeeper technical corps and the renegade Ch'rall has in reserve."
John's head snapped around toward Aeryn. "The same Velorek you told me about?" he asked.
Aeryn lowered her eyes and nodded. "Crais just told me he managed to escape before receiving the living death."
John started chuckling. "This is just great. Here I was worrying about you and Crais, when a former lover shows up. Our mission is difficult enough without the past interfering. Did you two have a nice cozy conversation or is this just old home week? You know, none of us can afford distractions like this now."
Aeryn looked stunned and confused. "Why would you worry about Crais and me? You don't think I considered recreating with Crais, do you?"
"The thought had crossed my mind, Sunshine. You brought it up when we were discussing Jenavian, remember?"
"Of course, I remember. Would it make any difference?" It did to your twin, she thought.
"You're damned straight it would make a difference. That's one thing I don't think I could stand."
Aeryn nodded. You two really were identical in every way, she thought with a smile.
Crais looked at them both with a slightly bemused expression. "If I may interrupt this little interlude, I believe we have a slightly larger problem than the survival of Lt. Velorek. Ch'rall has shown great disregard for Peacekeepers and has lied to us at least once. The question now becomes whether we can trust him."
"Actually I was having a little problem trusting you, Crais. Now I have to worry about Ch'rall, not to mention Velorek and coming up with some kind of plan to board a Command Carrier," John said in a weary tone. Turning to Aeryn, he asked, "What do you think? Should we even try to enlist Velorek or just send Ch'rall on his merry way and do this ourselves?"
Aeryn shrugged and cocked her head, considering for a moment. "I don't think we can enlist Velorek. Being a renegade probably means he's also a mercenary. We can afford to pay him, but that would give us four people to watch and worry about."
Both Crais and John asked at the same time, "Four??"
"Are you forgetting Rygel and Chiana?"
"Dominar Rygel may be greedy and self-serving, but I have seen him rise to the occasion numerous times. Let's just say his motivations are sometimes different from ours," Crais declared. "As for Chiana, she performed with excellence in a very difficult situation."
John coughed and added, "Yeah, here's something I never thought I'd say, but I agree with Crais. Sparky and Chi have their moments, but they've been loyal when it counts and you know it Aeryn."
"Yes, I do. I just wanted to be sure that we were agreed. I really worry more about following one of John's plans than I do about the others," she grinned.
John heaved a large sigh and said in an exasperated tone, "Here we go again. Everyone's a critic. At least my plans leave some room for improvisation."
"A well-devised plan should require no 'improvisation' as you call it. Training and preparation make all the difference," Crais retorted.
"You and I both know that you can't plan for everything. When the shooting starts, neatness goes out the window and you have to adapt," John snapped.
If Aeryn had ever been to a tennis match, she would have recognized her actions. Her head swiveled back and forth as Crais and Crichton parried. She decided to stop the bickering, "OK, OK. We need to stop and focus. We have two main questions: do we trust Ch'rall and do we utilize Velorek?"
Both men stopped as if someone had thrown cold water on them. John actually shook himself.
Crais sighed, "Right, as usual, Officer Sun. I say we use Ch'rall to contact Velorek. He may be quite useful."
John looked sharply at Aeryn, "Is that going to be a problem? I mean…"
"I know exactly what you mean, John. No, it won't be a problem for me. I don't know about Velorek, however."
Crais nodded. "Yes, an uncomfortable situation at best. Inviting the lover you betrayed for Prowler duty to work with us against the Peacekeepers might be less than pleasant."
John folded his arms and laughed, "What about you, Crais? You're the guy who tortured him and sentenced him to death. You don't think he might have a few problems with all of that?"
Aeryn raised her voice, "Will you two stop it? If Velorek agrees to join us, I'm sure it will be currency that defines his loyalty and not past events."
Both John and Crais slowly shook their heads, unconvinced.
"Bad mojo, Aeryn. Don't ever underestimate the feelings that being betrayed and tortured create," John sighed. I should know better than anyone, he thought. "But if you two think he can help, I'm willing to go along." I've got a real bad feeling about this, he thought with a slight frown.
At that moment, Crichton could have challenged Chiana as chief seer of the future.
End Chapter 8
