It's tuesday folks and not a moment too soon. Though I did take great
advantage of the weekend hiatus to write what you are about to read. I
hope you enjoy it and as always, A huge THANK YOU to all who are reading.
Fic: Insiders p6 by: Neuroscpr (mtrx9991@yahoo.com) rating: pg-13 spoilers up to: current
P7 MIGHT be posted on THURSDAY. IF Not, I'll post some sort of message wednesday morning. Sorry about that.
chapter 6
A heavy silence fell over the transport pod as Scorpius' words settled into everyone's mind. None of the three aboard seemed to notice as the hatch slid shut and its adjacent pod floated off into space. They were stuck now, the three of them, on the pod that Arno had stolen.
Scorpius, pulse rifle at his side, watched Crichton with a look that seemed very much like concern. To have seen him in that moment, his Scarran enemies would have called him weak.
"Peacekeeper?" Chiana whispered though no one was paying any attention.
Both she and the hybrid had their eyes on John Crichton. Although his face registered no change, something had obviously shifted inside him.
John took a step back, his own eyes scanning wildly around the room. The words he'd heard danced around in his head. "Peacekeeper?" He echoed just before sliding down into a crouched position.
"Yes John," Scorpius answered.
Without actually realizing it, John let his hands slip down to the floor beneath him. There they found two things. A clump of Arno's hair and the dead man's pulse pistol. John's fingers closed around the latter of the two.
Chiana pushed past her hybrid companion and hurried to John's side. Placing her gloved hands gently on his shoulder, she sighed. "You know Aeryn wouldn't do that right?" She asked. "Right?"
John turned slightly toward the Nebari and shook his head. "Maybe Pip," he said. "Unless...."
Scorpius took a step back as Crichton jumped to his feet. A microt later he found himself pointing a gun at the one person he could not afford to shoot.
With full knowledge of that fact, John raised his pistol and aimed it back at Scorpius. "What did you do to her?" He asked in an eerily calm voice. "What did you make her do?"
The hybrid lowered his weapon and let it drop to the floor. His chances of being shot did not decrease by much because of it.
"I did nothing to Aeryn Sun," he answered. "She was already with them when I found her."
John's grip on the pistol tightened as he moved forward. "Aeryn wouldn't do that!" He shouted. "What did you do?"
"You better tell him," Chiana interjected. "I think he's going to shoot you."
Scorpius growled but managed to keep his coolant rod from exploding. "I speak the truth to you, John," he said. "I would not risk anything else."
The gun in John's hand stayed steady.
"The group Officer Sun was involved with," Scorpius continued, "is an unofficial branch of the Peacekeepers."
"Unofficial?" John asked. "What? Like the MIB or something?"
Scorpius ignored the comment. "Only those with top clearance know that the group has, or perhaps had, any ties with the Peacekeepers."
As soon as the hybrid finished speaking, John walked forward and tapped the edge of his pistol against the coolant chamber on Scorpius' head.
"Keep talking," he said.
The sound of corridor traffic nearly blocked out the chorus of spiteful remarks that greeted Aeryn throughout the ship. Upon arriving, she had almost forgotten that these people did not know why she was here. That she had been one of them again in some form.
Aeryn had not managed to shake her two guards when she reached the detention center on Grayza's diplomatic ship. Stopping just outside the door, she turned to face them.
"You sure you want to go in there Officer Sun," the taller one asked. His name was Cralik and he did not find his current duty fulfilling.
"The intelligent choice would be to forget you ever knew him," Prekna chipped in. The other member of Aeryn's entourage felt pride in his work.
Aeryn stared from one to the other with a stationary scowl on her face. Neither man seemed to be fazed by it but she did not give in. "I won't be long," she said and started to turn. Before she could accomplish that, however, Aeryn felt a pulse rifle against her back.
"The only place you're going unsupervised is to my chamber," Cralik shouted with a laugh. "Didn't think that would work did you?"
Aeryn shook her head as she moved to face the door. "No, I suppose not," she said and continued into the detention center.
Inside, a corridor as far as the eye could see stretched out in front of her. Lining each wall were cells of the same size and dimension. Each held a detainee trapped in their own prison of red and black. Aeryn spotted the warden and moved in his direction. "And what do you want?" The warden asked.
Aeryn did not bother to scowl at him. She simply stated her business.
The warden eyed her suspiciously but answered. "You'll find the Luxan in cell four-o-eight," he said. He then turned to the guards and said, " need any help with this one?"
Prekna shook his head in response. "Naw, we have our orders," he said.
"If she tries anything, shoot the Luxan," Cralik finished.
Taking advantage of their dialogue, Aeryn moved ahead until she stood in front of D'Argo's cell. Peering into the darkness, she could just make out his form among the shadows.
"Don't tell me, you're a prison guard now," D'Argo said without waiting for her to begin.
Aeryn, suddenly unable to remember what she had wanted to say, could barely mumble out a, "No."
D'Argo walked; his face was almost touching the bars. Had he done this, the electrical charge would have thrown him backward with enough force to kill a small child. "What do you want Aeryn?" He asked coldly.
"A chance to explain," Aeryn said. Seeing him behind the bars made her feel weak inside. Such a feeling was not befitting a peacekeeper. She felt sick to her stomach.
"There's an explanation for this?" D'Argo asked.
Aeryn nodded. "I'm sorry," she said.
D'Argo stared at the woman on the other side of the bars and immediately admitted that no peacekeeper he had ever seen looked like she did at that moment. The look of horror and guilt on her face had not changed since their arrival. Despite his anger, D'Argo almost felt sorry for her. More than anything else, he felt sorry for Crichton.
"Will you give me the chance to explain?" Aeryn asked.
The Luxan growled an affirmation.
The Scarran ship floated beside Grayza's diplomatic ship, its engines only at half power. In the pilot's seat, Braca watched his radar screen with only mild interest. The events of the past solar day had shaken loose something that had nearly been lost amidst the fog of Grayza's sweat. His face showed a resolve that had been too long in coming.
"You know what to do?" A voice asked from within the confines of his memory.
"Yes," the captain answered only to himself.
Behind him the ship opened up into a small chamber that led to the hangar. There Klavic and his nameless assistant were busy setting everything back into place.
Braca took his time getting out of his chair but still did not manage to catch what appeared on the superior Scarran scanning equipment. A small dot, the representation of a Leviathan transport pod, began to move across the screen.
"I know exactly what to do," Braca said as he headed for the rear section of the ship. As he reached the entrance, Klavic looked up to greet him.
"New orders captain?" The Scarran asked.
Braca shook his head. "No, we are to maintain course and follow the carrier," he answered.
Klavic grinned horrendously. "Good," he said.
"Does that mean the lesson is over?" Braca asked.
The Scarran's smile disappeared. "That really depends on you doesn't it?"
Braca responded with his own evil grin in fine form. "I believe there is one thing I may be able to teach you," he said.
"And what's that?" Klavic asked.
Without responding, the captain reached up and slammed his fist down on the hangar door controls. Within half a microt, the doors to space burst open and gave a magnificent view of the stars. Both Klavic and his assistant's shouts were lost in the din as they were picked up and forced out into the darkness. As soon as this happened, Braca hit the button again and the doors closed.
"Goodbye Scarran," Braca said as he turned back toward the cockpit. Once inside, he flipped on the communication system and typed in his code.
Commandant Grayza did not appear on the screen.
"Have you disposed of him?" The voice asked.
Braca nodded his confirmation. "I have sir," he said. "The ship was not damaged"
"Well done captain," the voice said. "It will be a valuable study tool." "How else may I be of service sir?" Braca asked.
The man on the screen smiled. "I'll let you decide captain," he said. "I am confident in your abilities." With that, the monitor went black.
Braca shut it off and looked out at the black ship that dwarfed his own. "Yes sir," he whispered.
The lights were turned off when Aeryn entered the room that had been assigned to her. She breathed a sigh of relief when the door shut, her guards on the other side. Alone in the darkness, she slid to the floor and spooned her face into her waiting hands.
'Is that everything?' D'Argo's voice echoed inside her mind.
'I thought I could just push it away, ignore it,' she remembered herself answering. 'Just come back to Moya and pretend it never happened.'
'But you could have told us Aeryn.' He had responded. 'We would have understood. He would have understood.'
The last part Aeryn had to repeat out loud. Those words which had locked her into the path she was now on. "I wouldn't let myself believe that," she whispered. "Even now, he's paying for my mistake."
"What was that?" A voice said from the darkness.
Aeryn reached instinctively for the pulse pistol on her belt but quickly realized it wasn't there. Searching the room, she finally settled on the shadow of a man she recognized.
"Admiral?" She asked.
"Hello Officer Sun," the Admiral said as he walked up to her. Looking down at the broken woman before him, he almost managed a smile. Her own mistake had been his long before. "You were speaking with the Luxan?"
"I was," Aeryn answered.
The Admiral nodded. "I cannot say I was surprised when you did not return," he said. "You did not belong there in the first place."
"I tried to," Aeryn whispered.
"Many have joined for the same reasons as you Aeryn," the Admiral continued. "That is why we have the reputation of being ex-peacekeepers. Being a peacekeeper does not mean what it used to. You were not the first traitor or irreversible contaminant to join, though you may be the last."
"I did this," Aeryn said. "When Grayza."
"It would have come eventually," the admiral interrupted. "Whether we allowed you to join or not."
"On that you are correct Admiral," another voice broke in.
Aeryn rose to her feet as the figure of Commandant Grayza entered the room through another door. She noticed immediately that Grayza held a pistol in her hand.
"After all this time, the last of you will finally die," Grayza said. "Although I do appreciate your help Officer Sun."
"Commandant Grayza!" The admiral shouted with hand planted firmly over his face. "I hope you do not expect High Command to sit idly by while you."
Grayza fired a single shot from her pistol. The pulse blast entered the Admiral's chest and slowly burned its way through one vital organ after another. He dropped to the floor and breathed no more.
Aeryn, unable to speak after what she had just seen, lunged forward at the Commandant. Unfortunately, her rage proved insufficient. Grayza blocked the maneuver and then plunged her fist into Aeryn's back.
Hit hard, Aeryn slumped to the ground. Her last bit of strength evaporated when Grayza reached down and placed a wet hand over her mouth. She felt a tingling sensation run through her and then nothing.
"Do not attempt to move," Grayza said.
Aeryn did as she was told.
The commandant smiled maliciously. "I still remember the look of surprise on your face that day, Officer Sun," she said. "Standing in a row with all your supposedly ex-peacekeeper comrades, not expecting to see me walk through the door."
Grayza knelt down close enough so that she could smell her own sweat on Aeryn's face. "Did you know what you were then?" She asked. "A peacekeeper, and my perfect opportunity."
"Yes," was the only word that made it through Aeryn's mouth.
"Commandant Grayza," the comm system announced from above. "The transport pod will be in visual range in half an arn."
Grayza stood up in one quick motion and left Aeryn alone on the floor. "Thank you," she said to the ceiling before looking back at Aeryn. "I am sure you are as eager as I to see John Crichton again." The commandant smiled as her hand dipped between the curves within her blouse.
Lying on the ground, Aeryn could do only as she had been instructed. Insider her mind, however, several different facts came together to form a conclusion. "Arnessk," Aeryn whispered. She did not attempt to move.
"John? Can you hear me?"
Chiana knelt down beside the human and waved her hand in front of him a few times. Each time she did, his eyes moved to follow. Yet John did not answer.
"You really think it was a good idea to explain all of that to him now?" She asked.
Scorpius looked up from his seat at the controls and narrowed his eyes. "There was no choice," he said. "I would have been shot otherwise."
"I see nothing wrong with that," John said, suddenly awake.
"Crichton, you alright?" Chiana asked.
John looked at her and finally managed a genuine smile. "Yeah Pip, I'm ok," he said and stood up.
"Can we now return to the business at hand?" Scorpius asked.
The human nodded his head in agreement but then stopped short. "And that would be?"
Scorpius clenched his fists but forced himself to remain otherwise calm. "Leaving this area before we are spotted by Commandant Grayza."
"No deal Scorpy," John said and motioned for the hybrid to stand up. "If Aeryn and D'Argo are on that ship we're going after them."
"We are?" Chiana asked.
"That is suicide John!" The hybrid said. "You cannot risk."
"I'll risk whatever the hell I please," John interrupted. "Pip, you onboard with this?"
Chiana moved up beside the human and nodded her head. "Just don't get me killed ok?"
John took the pod off autopilot and steered it toward the giant red dot that had just appeared on the screen. "You get another vision?"
The Nebari shook her head. "No way," she said. "No visions, no blindness."
"Makes sense," John answered.
"Do you at least have a plan for this rescue?" Scorpius asked from behind them.
Outside, a large planet began to take over most of the view. From his seat, John could see that it was mostly water. 'Looks kinda like Earth,' he thought. A black dot then appeared as a contrast to the blue landscape.
"Course I do Scorp," John answered.
Chiana leaned in close to John's ear. "Really?" She asked.
"Course not," John whispered back.
Aeryn could feel the ship protesting beneath her as it shifted course to intercept John Crichton's transport pod. Her face lay against the cold steel with lines of salty liquid dripping down into a pool beside it. She dared not close her eyes for what waited in the darkness.
"Are you locked on," Grayza asked from somewhere behind her. The commandant stood facing a wall monitor, her prey just now coming into view.
The comm system beside the monitor burst to life. "All scanners are tracking its position ma'am," a voice said.
"Have the hangar doors open for them," Grayza said.
Even as she spoke, the commandant realized something was wrong. The transport pod, her prize safely inside, did not maintain its course toward her ship. Instead it continued straight on to the planet they were orbiting.
"Bridge, please explain what just happened," she ordered.
"Ma'am, we've not been able to raise the pilot on comms," the voice said. "The pod appears to be making directly for the planet."
"Thank you, I can see that," Grayza said shrilly. "Do something about it!"
"Ma'am, following would put us within the planet's atmosphere," the voice answered. "The ship could not handle that much stress for very lo."
"Do it!" Grayza shouted. Staring intently at the screen, she felt her anger rising uncharacteristically. "What are you doing Crichton?"
Aeryn felt the ship move again as it headed toward the planet below. She imagined the atmosphere's heat tearing away at the metal that protected them. With so large a ship, the chances of destruction increased with each passing metra. "I'm sorry," she whispered and closed her eyes.
"Ma'am!" The voice said with renewed alarm. "A weapons system has locked onto us!"
Grayza, a genuine look of confusion on her face, took a deep breath and responded. "To whom do we owe this?" She asked.
"The Scarran vessel behind us," was the answer.
"Braca," Grayza said with little trace of emotion.
As if on cue, Braca's face appeared on the wall monitor. The captain had a look of determination that Grayza had never seen before. She was finally beginning to worry.
"Captain, would you mind explaining why your ship's weapons are aiming at me?" She asked with a thin mask of patience.
Braca did not need to mask his emotions. He was as calm as his image portrayed him to be. "Commandant Mele-On Grayza, by order of High Command, are you are removed from duty," he stated.
"On what grounds?" Grayza asked.
"Abuse of power, conspiracy against your superiors, and destruction of valuable assets," Braca listed unemotionally.
Grayza's eyes went wide as the first explosion rocked her ship and sent sparks flying from every piece of electronic equipment in the room.
"Thank you for the lesson," Braca said and cut the communication.
From the cockpit of his new Scarran ship, the captain watched as Grayza's diplomatic vessel plummeted into the atmosphere. Beyond the fireball it created, he could see a tiny transport pod that would inevitably die with it. The thought made Braca smile. He leaned back in his chair and watched in silence as a strange sense of freedom washed over him.
TBC (THURSDAY I HOPE)
Neuroscpr
Fic: Insiders p6 by: Neuroscpr (mtrx9991@yahoo.com) rating: pg-13 spoilers up to: current
P7 MIGHT be posted on THURSDAY. IF Not, I'll post some sort of message wednesday morning. Sorry about that.
chapter 6
A heavy silence fell over the transport pod as Scorpius' words settled into everyone's mind. None of the three aboard seemed to notice as the hatch slid shut and its adjacent pod floated off into space. They were stuck now, the three of them, on the pod that Arno had stolen.
Scorpius, pulse rifle at his side, watched Crichton with a look that seemed very much like concern. To have seen him in that moment, his Scarran enemies would have called him weak.
"Peacekeeper?" Chiana whispered though no one was paying any attention.
Both she and the hybrid had their eyes on John Crichton. Although his face registered no change, something had obviously shifted inside him.
John took a step back, his own eyes scanning wildly around the room. The words he'd heard danced around in his head. "Peacekeeper?" He echoed just before sliding down into a crouched position.
"Yes John," Scorpius answered.
Without actually realizing it, John let his hands slip down to the floor beneath him. There they found two things. A clump of Arno's hair and the dead man's pulse pistol. John's fingers closed around the latter of the two.
Chiana pushed past her hybrid companion and hurried to John's side. Placing her gloved hands gently on his shoulder, she sighed. "You know Aeryn wouldn't do that right?" She asked. "Right?"
John turned slightly toward the Nebari and shook his head. "Maybe Pip," he said. "Unless...."
Scorpius took a step back as Crichton jumped to his feet. A microt later he found himself pointing a gun at the one person he could not afford to shoot.
With full knowledge of that fact, John raised his pistol and aimed it back at Scorpius. "What did you do to her?" He asked in an eerily calm voice. "What did you make her do?"
The hybrid lowered his weapon and let it drop to the floor. His chances of being shot did not decrease by much because of it.
"I did nothing to Aeryn Sun," he answered. "She was already with them when I found her."
John's grip on the pistol tightened as he moved forward. "Aeryn wouldn't do that!" He shouted. "What did you do?"
"You better tell him," Chiana interjected. "I think he's going to shoot you."
Scorpius growled but managed to keep his coolant rod from exploding. "I speak the truth to you, John," he said. "I would not risk anything else."
The gun in John's hand stayed steady.
"The group Officer Sun was involved with," Scorpius continued, "is an unofficial branch of the Peacekeepers."
"Unofficial?" John asked. "What? Like the MIB or something?"
Scorpius ignored the comment. "Only those with top clearance know that the group has, or perhaps had, any ties with the Peacekeepers."
As soon as the hybrid finished speaking, John walked forward and tapped the edge of his pistol against the coolant chamber on Scorpius' head.
"Keep talking," he said.
The sound of corridor traffic nearly blocked out the chorus of spiteful remarks that greeted Aeryn throughout the ship. Upon arriving, she had almost forgotten that these people did not know why she was here. That she had been one of them again in some form.
Aeryn had not managed to shake her two guards when she reached the detention center on Grayza's diplomatic ship. Stopping just outside the door, she turned to face them.
"You sure you want to go in there Officer Sun," the taller one asked. His name was Cralik and he did not find his current duty fulfilling.
"The intelligent choice would be to forget you ever knew him," Prekna chipped in. The other member of Aeryn's entourage felt pride in his work.
Aeryn stared from one to the other with a stationary scowl on her face. Neither man seemed to be fazed by it but she did not give in. "I won't be long," she said and started to turn. Before she could accomplish that, however, Aeryn felt a pulse rifle against her back.
"The only place you're going unsupervised is to my chamber," Cralik shouted with a laugh. "Didn't think that would work did you?"
Aeryn shook her head as she moved to face the door. "No, I suppose not," she said and continued into the detention center.
Inside, a corridor as far as the eye could see stretched out in front of her. Lining each wall were cells of the same size and dimension. Each held a detainee trapped in their own prison of red and black. Aeryn spotted the warden and moved in his direction. "And what do you want?" The warden asked.
Aeryn did not bother to scowl at him. She simply stated her business.
The warden eyed her suspiciously but answered. "You'll find the Luxan in cell four-o-eight," he said. He then turned to the guards and said, " need any help with this one?"
Prekna shook his head in response. "Naw, we have our orders," he said.
"If she tries anything, shoot the Luxan," Cralik finished.
Taking advantage of their dialogue, Aeryn moved ahead until she stood in front of D'Argo's cell. Peering into the darkness, she could just make out his form among the shadows.
"Don't tell me, you're a prison guard now," D'Argo said without waiting for her to begin.
Aeryn, suddenly unable to remember what she had wanted to say, could barely mumble out a, "No."
D'Argo walked; his face was almost touching the bars. Had he done this, the electrical charge would have thrown him backward with enough force to kill a small child. "What do you want Aeryn?" He asked coldly.
"A chance to explain," Aeryn said. Seeing him behind the bars made her feel weak inside. Such a feeling was not befitting a peacekeeper. She felt sick to her stomach.
"There's an explanation for this?" D'Argo asked.
Aeryn nodded. "I'm sorry," she said.
D'Argo stared at the woman on the other side of the bars and immediately admitted that no peacekeeper he had ever seen looked like she did at that moment. The look of horror and guilt on her face had not changed since their arrival. Despite his anger, D'Argo almost felt sorry for her. More than anything else, he felt sorry for Crichton.
"Will you give me the chance to explain?" Aeryn asked.
The Luxan growled an affirmation.
The Scarran ship floated beside Grayza's diplomatic ship, its engines only at half power. In the pilot's seat, Braca watched his radar screen with only mild interest. The events of the past solar day had shaken loose something that had nearly been lost amidst the fog of Grayza's sweat. His face showed a resolve that had been too long in coming.
"You know what to do?" A voice asked from within the confines of his memory.
"Yes," the captain answered only to himself.
Behind him the ship opened up into a small chamber that led to the hangar. There Klavic and his nameless assistant were busy setting everything back into place.
Braca took his time getting out of his chair but still did not manage to catch what appeared on the superior Scarran scanning equipment. A small dot, the representation of a Leviathan transport pod, began to move across the screen.
"I know exactly what to do," Braca said as he headed for the rear section of the ship. As he reached the entrance, Klavic looked up to greet him.
"New orders captain?" The Scarran asked.
Braca shook his head. "No, we are to maintain course and follow the carrier," he answered.
Klavic grinned horrendously. "Good," he said.
"Does that mean the lesson is over?" Braca asked.
The Scarran's smile disappeared. "That really depends on you doesn't it?"
Braca responded with his own evil grin in fine form. "I believe there is one thing I may be able to teach you," he said.
"And what's that?" Klavic asked.
Without responding, the captain reached up and slammed his fist down on the hangar door controls. Within half a microt, the doors to space burst open and gave a magnificent view of the stars. Both Klavic and his assistant's shouts were lost in the din as they were picked up and forced out into the darkness. As soon as this happened, Braca hit the button again and the doors closed.
"Goodbye Scarran," Braca said as he turned back toward the cockpit. Once inside, he flipped on the communication system and typed in his code.
Commandant Grayza did not appear on the screen.
"Have you disposed of him?" The voice asked.
Braca nodded his confirmation. "I have sir," he said. "The ship was not damaged"
"Well done captain," the voice said. "It will be a valuable study tool." "How else may I be of service sir?" Braca asked.
The man on the screen smiled. "I'll let you decide captain," he said. "I am confident in your abilities." With that, the monitor went black.
Braca shut it off and looked out at the black ship that dwarfed his own. "Yes sir," he whispered.
The lights were turned off when Aeryn entered the room that had been assigned to her. She breathed a sigh of relief when the door shut, her guards on the other side. Alone in the darkness, she slid to the floor and spooned her face into her waiting hands.
'Is that everything?' D'Argo's voice echoed inside her mind.
'I thought I could just push it away, ignore it,' she remembered herself answering. 'Just come back to Moya and pretend it never happened.'
'But you could have told us Aeryn.' He had responded. 'We would have understood. He would have understood.'
The last part Aeryn had to repeat out loud. Those words which had locked her into the path she was now on. "I wouldn't let myself believe that," she whispered. "Even now, he's paying for my mistake."
"What was that?" A voice said from the darkness.
Aeryn reached instinctively for the pulse pistol on her belt but quickly realized it wasn't there. Searching the room, she finally settled on the shadow of a man she recognized.
"Admiral?" She asked.
"Hello Officer Sun," the Admiral said as he walked up to her. Looking down at the broken woman before him, he almost managed a smile. Her own mistake had been his long before. "You were speaking with the Luxan?"
"I was," Aeryn answered.
The Admiral nodded. "I cannot say I was surprised when you did not return," he said. "You did not belong there in the first place."
"I tried to," Aeryn whispered.
"Many have joined for the same reasons as you Aeryn," the Admiral continued. "That is why we have the reputation of being ex-peacekeepers. Being a peacekeeper does not mean what it used to. You were not the first traitor or irreversible contaminant to join, though you may be the last."
"I did this," Aeryn said. "When Grayza."
"It would have come eventually," the admiral interrupted. "Whether we allowed you to join or not."
"On that you are correct Admiral," another voice broke in.
Aeryn rose to her feet as the figure of Commandant Grayza entered the room through another door. She noticed immediately that Grayza held a pistol in her hand.
"After all this time, the last of you will finally die," Grayza said. "Although I do appreciate your help Officer Sun."
"Commandant Grayza!" The admiral shouted with hand planted firmly over his face. "I hope you do not expect High Command to sit idly by while you."
Grayza fired a single shot from her pistol. The pulse blast entered the Admiral's chest and slowly burned its way through one vital organ after another. He dropped to the floor and breathed no more.
Aeryn, unable to speak after what she had just seen, lunged forward at the Commandant. Unfortunately, her rage proved insufficient. Grayza blocked the maneuver and then plunged her fist into Aeryn's back.
Hit hard, Aeryn slumped to the ground. Her last bit of strength evaporated when Grayza reached down and placed a wet hand over her mouth. She felt a tingling sensation run through her and then nothing.
"Do not attempt to move," Grayza said.
Aeryn did as she was told.
The commandant smiled maliciously. "I still remember the look of surprise on your face that day, Officer Sun," she said. "Standing in a row with all your supposedly ex-peacekeeper comrades, not expecting to see me walk through the door."
Grayza knelt down close enough so that she could smell her own sweat on Aeryn's face. "Did you know what you were then?" She asked. "A peacekeeper, and my perfect opportunity."
"Yes," was the only word that made it through Aeryn's mouth.
"Commandant Grayza," the comm system announced from above. "The transport pod will be in visual range in half an arn."
Grayza stood up in one quick motion and left Aeryn alone on the floor. "Thank you," she said to the ceiling before looking back at Aeryn. "I am sure you are as eager as I to see John Crichton again." The commandant smiled as her hand dipped between the curves within her blouse.
Lying on the ground, Aeryn could do only as she had been instructed. Insider her mind, however, several different facts came together to form a conclusion. "Arnessk," Aeryn whispered. She did not attempt to move.
"John? Can you hear me?"
Chiana knelt down beside the human and waved her hand in front of him a few times. Each time she did, his eyes moved to follow. Yet John did not answer.
"You really think it was a good idea to explain all of that to him now?" She asked.
Scorpius looked up from his seat at the controls and narrowed his eyes. "There was no choice," he said. "I would have been shot otherwise."
"I see nothing wrong with that," John said, suddenly awake.
"Crichton, you alright?" Chiana asked.
John looked at her and finally managed a genuine smile. "Yeah Pip, I'm ok," he said and stood up.
"Can we now return to the business at hand?" Scorpius asked.
The human nodded his head in agreement but then stopped short. "And that would be?"
Scorpius clenched his fists but forced himself to remain otherwise calm. "Leaving this area before we are spotted by Commandant Grayza."
"No deal Scorpy," John said and motioned for the hybrid to stand up. "If Aeryn and D'Argo are on that ship we're going after them."
"We are?" Chiana asked.
"That is suicide John!" The hybrid said. "You cannot risk."
"I'll risk whatever the hell I please," John interrupted. "Pip, you onboard with this?"
Chiana moved up beside the human and nodded her head. "Just don't get me killed ok?"
John took the pod off autopilot and steered it toward the giant red dot that had just appeared on the screen. "You get another vision?"
The Nebari shook her head. "No way," she said. "No visions, no blindness."
"Makes sense," John answered.
"Do you at least have a plan for this rescue?" Scorpius asked from behind them.
Outside, a large planet began to take over most of the view. From his seat, John could see that it was mostly water. 'Looks kinda like Earth,' he thought. A black dot then appeared as a contrast to the blue landscape.
"Course I do Scorp," John answered.
Chiana leaned in close to John's ear. "Really?" She asked.
"Course not," John whispered back.
Aeryn could feel the ship protesting beneath her as it shifted course to intercept John Crichton's transport pod. Her face lay against the cold steel with lines of salty liquid dripping down into a pool beside it. She dared not close her eyes for what waited in the darkness.
"Are you locked on," Grayza asked from somewhere behind her. The commandant stood facing a wall monitor, her prey just now coming into view.
The comm system beside the monitor burst to life. "All scanners are tracking its position ma'am," a voice said.
"Have the hangar doors open for them," Grayza said.
Even as she spoke, the commandant realized something was wrong. The transport pod, her prize safely inside, did not maintain its course toward her ship. Instead it continued straight on to the planet they were orbiting.
"Bridge, please explain what just happened," she ordered.
"Ma'am, we've not been able to raise the pilot on comms," the voice said. "The pod appears to be making directly for the planet."
"Thank you, I can see that," Grayza said shrilly. "Do something about it!"
"Ma'am, following would put us within the planet's atmosphere," the voice answered. "The ship could not handle that much stress for very lo."
"Do it!" Grayza shouted. Staring intently at the screen, she felt her anger rising uncharacteristically. "What are you doing Crichton?"
Aeryn felt the ship move again as it headed toward the planet below. She imagined the atmosphere's heat tearing away at the metal that protected them. With so large a ship, the chances of destruction increased with each passing metra. "I'm sorry," she whispered and closed her eyes.
"Ma'am!" The voice said with renewed alarm. "A weapons system has locked onto us!"
Grayza, a genuine look of confusion on her face, took a deep breath and responded. "To whom do we owe this?" She asked.
"The Scarran vessel behind us," was the answer.
"Braca," Grayza said with little trace of emotion.
As if on cue, Braca's face appeared on the wall monitor. The captain had a look of determination that Grayza had never seen before. She was finally beginning to worry.
"Captain, would you mind explaining why your ship's weapons are aiming at me?" She asked with a thin mask of patience.
Braca did not need to mask his emotions. He was as calm as his image portrayed him to be. "Commandant Mele-On Grayza, by order of High Command, are you are removed from duty," he stated.
"On what grounds?" Grayza asked.
"Abuse of power, conspiracy against your superiors, and destruction of valuable assets," Braca listed unemotionally.
Grayza's eyes went wide as the first explosion rocked her ship and sent sparks flying from every piece of electronic equipment in the room.
"Thank you for the lesson," Braca said and cut the communication.
From the cockpit of his new Scarran ship, the captain watched as Grayza's diplomatic vessel plummeted into the atmosphere. Beyond the fireball it created, he could see a tiny transport pod that would inevitably die with it. The thought made Braca smile. He leaned back in his chair and watched in silence as a strange sense of freedom washed over him.
TBC (THURSDAY I HOPE)
Neuroscpr