Title: Rystal
Author: DOKChairman
Time/Spoilers: I really have no idea when this takes place, but if I had to say, it takes place before John was twinned, but after Zhaan dies. Everything before that is fair game.
Summary: After a disastrous fight with Aeryn, John is abandoned on a strange planet. He soon discovers an ancient and mysterious prophecy that leads to open warfare with the Peacekeepers, and maybe a way home.
Disclaimer: "Farscape", its characters, and its situations don't belong to me - they are the propertyof The Jim Henson Company, Rockne S. O'Bannon, the Sci-Fi Channel, Hallmark Entertainment, and Nine Network Australia. The only thing that belongs to me is the original story and characters.
Author's Note: Oh, in case anyone hasn't figured it out yet, this takes place in an alternate timeline than Season 3. I have no intention of dealing with any of the issues that occurred during that time.
Second Author's Note: I would like to thank those who have given me feedback; it is much appreciated. Like before, any and all feedback is encouraged, especially constructive criticism. Oh, and I have things planned for Juli that may or may not change people's opinion of her.
Third Author's Note: I am finally back on track with how I want my story to be. It will not be till Chapter 10 when we meet up with Moya and the others again.
"Perhaps you can. You have every incentive. The welfare of Earth hangs on your doing so and, as you have told me, your own career."
"What good is incentive? If you ordered me to fly by flapping my arms and told me further that if I failed, I would be promptly killed by slow torture and that Earth would be blown up and all its population destroyed, I would have enormous incentive to flap my wings and fly-and yet still be unable to do so."
-Isaac Asimov, The Robots of Dawn
Chapter 9: Saluting the Flag
A few arns after the events in No, That's MY Boomstick! -
John awoke groggily. He was temporarily confused. He didn't remember making it back to his quarters in the base, so why was he in bed? It then came all rushing back to him as he sat up on the bed he was laying on. He remembered taking a walk and then meeting two Peacekeepers. He remembered being knocked unconscious from behind. Everything after that he obviously had no memory of.
He got off the bed and searched the room he was in. The room was dark and sparse. It had only the bed in it. It was obviously a cell of some kind. John then made his way toward the door. The door was locked, as he expected it to be, and was made of some very solid metal.
John began banging on the door and started yelling, "Hey, anyone out there? Let me out of here!"
John continued banging and yelling for a few microts more, and then quit after not getting any kind of response. John then began examining the room again. The room had smooth walls, made out of the same material as the door. Obviously he wasn't go to escape through one of the walls. He then began looking around the room for a possible weapon. Since the only piece of furniture in the room was the cot and since it was bolted to the floor, John didn't have any luck.
There was nothing in the room he could use as a weapon, except maybe…the sheets! He could tear the sheet into some kind of rope and maybe use it to strangle somebody or something. John knew he was reaching, but it was the only thing he could think of. He wasn't about to sit idly by in some Peacekeeper prison.
John began tearing the sheets into long strips, and then tying them together. If I can disable a guard and take his weapon, I could get out of here.
He had just finished making his rope when he heard two sets of footsteps coming down the hall towards his door. John hurriedly scurried to the other side of the door. He would be behind the door when it opened and then he could grab whoever came through from behind.
John slowed his breathing and tried to calm himself. The last thing he wanted was for whoever came through the door to know where he was because he was breathing too hard. John heard a key being inserted into the door and then the door swung open.
A Sebacean male entered, speaking as he did. "Alright, Crichton, I'm here to take you to see the Admiral."
It was the same Peacekeeper that had captured him in the mountains. The man entered, light spilling into the dark cell from the open doorway. "Crichton? Crichton? Where the frell are you?" When the man got no response, he took his pulse pistol out its holster.
John waited until he moved away from the door into open space before lunging forward. John wrapped his hybrid rope around the man's throat and pulled back. The man let out a strangled 'oomph' when John pulled him into the shadows behind the door. The man tried to turn his pistol around so that he could fire at John, but John chopped down on his extended arm causing him to drop the weapon. John then tightened his grip on the rope. John felt the man go limp, losing unconscious from lack of air. John stopped choking, he had no desire to kill him, and he just wanted him out of the way.
John picked up the man's pulse pistol. It wasn't Wynonna, but it would have to do. John pulled the unconscious man behind the door, hiding him from view. John had thought that he had heard two sets of footsteps coming down the hall, but when he cautiously looked out the open doorway he saw no one. John just shook his head. Must be hearing things.
John started walking down the hall as quietly as he could. While he did he realized a few things. He realized that he wasn't in a prison, but had been in some kind of crew quarters. Secondly, he realized, from the hum he was hearing, he was on a ship. Even though he had been living planet side for more than two monens, he was still so used to the sounds a ship made that he almost didn't notice it. Unfortunately, he couldn't tell if the ship was moving or not. As much as he hated what he had to do on Rotar, he didn't want to abandon them.
He had made it all the way toward the end of the hall, when he came to a T-junction. He had to make a decision. Right or left? He didn't know what kind of ship he was on, or where he even was on the ship, so he had no idea which direction would lead him to freedom. After brief consideration, he decided to go right. It was a bad decision.
As soon as he walked five steps down the right hallway he came face to face with the person he thought he had heard walking down the hall earlier. It was the other Peacekeeper from the mountains, the one who never talked.
Both men were so surprised at seeing each other that it took them a while before they reacted to each other. Because John already had his pulse pistol out, he had a distinct advantage over the other man. Unfortunately, he never got to exploit that advantage. Seeing that he would never get his own pistol out in time, the Peacekeeper lunged at John and tackled him sending them both to the ground. The Peacekeeper grabbed John's arm when he tried to bring the pistol around to fire and they began wrestling for control of the gun.
John brought his other hand up and punched the other man in the face repeatedly, but the other man still held on to his gun. John then brought his knee up and nailed the guy in his groin, making him double up in intense pain. John grimaced along with him. He hated fighting dirty, but when his life was on the line, everything was fair game. The man finally let go of John's arm and moved into a fetal position. John looked at him with pity before hitting him over the head with his pulse pistol, knocking him unconscious.
John quickly grabbed the man and dragged him back to his still open cell. He took the man's pulse pistol, his comm, and then left him in the cell with the other man. John used the ident chip that he had taken from the first man to lock the two Peacekeepers in his cell before moving back to the end of the hallway. He decided to go left this time.
Admiral Ev Bach smiled at his Executive Officer, Captain Lorana Verity, as he watched John Crichton over the security monitors in his office, quickly and efficiently disable two of his most experienced and well trained officers. "He is quite capable, is he not?" The admiral questioned the captain.
The captain, still staring at the monitors, responded, "Very capable, sir."
The admiral continued, "Not to mention imaginative. Using the linens on the bed as a weapon was quite ingenious. No Peacekeeper would have ever thought to do that. We will have to make sure that all linens are removed from prisoners' cells from now on."
The captain stopped staring at the monitors long enough to face the admiral as she spoke, "Of course, sir. I will see to it."
The admiral, ignoring the captain, continued talking about the wonders of John Crichton. "I am quite surprised, pleased, but surprised that he did not kill Vorel and Graf. He only disabled them. Such compassion is rarely seen in a Peacekeeper."
The captain decided to point out the obvious, "He is not a Peacekeeper, sir."
The admiral smiled indulgently at his captain. "I know that he is not a Peacekeeper. If he were, I would not have gone to all the trouble that I have gone through to bring him here."
The admiral stopped talking and studied John's image on the monitor in front of him. The human was currently making his way to the command carrier's hangar bay. Whether by chance or design, the human had found the correct path to freedom and that was something the admiral could not allow. The admiral was thoroughly impressed that the human had not encountered very many people. He seemed to instinctively avoid places where ship's personnel congregated. Those he did encounter he was able to deceive into thinking that he was one of them. He had let this test go far enough.
The admiral finally stopped looking at the monitors and turned to fully face his captain. "Wake Vorel and Graf and make sure that they are appropriately punished for their failure."
The captain stood at attention as she received her orders. "Of course sir. What did you have in mind?"
The admiral waved his hand distractedly, "I'm sure that whatever you come up with will be quite adequate, captain."
The admiral turned back to the monitor and pressed a button that activated the ship's comm system in that part of the ship. "That is quite enough, John Crichton. There is no need to go any further. I wish to meet you, face to face. Please wait. Someone will be along to escort you to my office. Do not resist, I don't want to hurt you, but I can not allow you to leave."
The admiral saw the human stop moving and look up at the ceiling. Almost instantly he spotted the camera and looked right into it. He saw the human smile up at the camera and then bring his pulse pistol up. The last thing the admiral saw before the camera was destroyed by the pulse blast was the human making some kind of gesture with one of the fingers on his hand.
John didn't know who the guy who had just talked to him was, but he must have been high on some really crazy stuff if he thought John was just going to surrender to the Peacekeepers. After John had destroyed the camera, he started making his way to the end of the hallway.
John knew he was close. He knew that he was close to freedom. After the incident with the two guards, and he had started randomly choosing hallways to walk down, Harvey had finally gotten fed up and made his presence known. Now Harvey was guiding him through the labyrinth of the command carrier's hallways. Harvey had informed John, after careful study of John's surroundings, that he was aboard a command carrier and that he was taking him to the hangar bay.
Once again, Harvey was responsible for saving John's life. Not only had Harvey told him how to get to the hangar bay, but he also knew how to avoid all the ship's personnel. When John did encounter someone from the crew, Harvey provided him with the right things to say to make the person think he was part of the crew as well. John hated having to depend on Harvey like he was, but it was the only way he was going to get away alive.
John placed his stolen ident chip in the locking mechanism of the door and opened it. He stepped through the door and found himself in the massive hangar bay of the command carrier. John mouth dropped open slightly in awe. He had thought that the docking bay in Moya was huge, but it was nothing compared to the sheer size of the hangar bay in front of him. There were hundreds of Prowlers, Marauders, and an assortment of other ships that John had never seen before strewn across the floor of the hangar bay.
People were scurrying around from ship to ship, performing maintenance and other activities on the ships. John had to hide behind some crates to avoid being seen by the techs. He slowly moved from one piece of cover to another, trying to make as little sound as possible. He had to get to a Prowler. If he could make it to a Prowler, he could get off the ship and find out where he was. He only hoped that he had not left Rotar. If he had, then he would be royally screwed.
John saw a Prowler that was partially separated from the rest, alone next to a bunch of what looked like cesium fuel barrels. Perfect! I can get to that one without being seen. John started making his way toward the Prowler. When he was about halfway there he noticed a slight problem. There was a tech performing maintenance on the Prowler. His body had been hidden by the Prowler's wing and John had not seen him.
John would have to take the tech out, but he would have to do it without drawing attention to himself. That meant his stolen pulse pistol was out of the question. Any shot would be heard throughout the hangar. He could use his makeshift rope again. He could do the same thing to the tech that he had done to the Peacekeeper that had captured him.
John moved quietly toward the Prowler. Luckily the tech had his head buried in the cockpit of the prowler and did not see John as he snuck up behind him. John waited until the tech was standing upright before lunging forward and wrapping his rope around the guy's throat. John pulled tight and waited for the tech to go limp. When he did, John pulled the tech behind the barrels. John hoped no one would spot the missing tech until he was gone.
John started climbing into the Prowler when he heard a voice yell at him from behind, "Stop right there Crichton! I will shoot you if you try to get into that Prowler."
John slowly got out of the Prowler and turned around. Facing him was the Peacekeeper that had captured him on Rotar and that he had strangled in his cell. John could see an angry red line across the man's throat where his rope had cut into his skin. John winced when he saw that.
The man started talking again as four soldiers ran up to him. "The admiral is not pleased by your disobedience of his orders."
John just laughed as the soldiers took his two pistols. "You tell your admiral that I don't give a flying frell about his damn orders. I don't cooperate with Peacekeepers."
The man frowned at John's impertinence. "You can tell the admiral yourself. I'm taking you to meet him. And I have orders that if you try anything I can do anything I want to you short of killing you. So please refrain from causing trouble."
It took John and his five guards ten minutes to get to the admiral's office. When they finally arrived, Vorel, he had told John his name as they were walking, stationed the four soldiers outside the door as he escorted John inside. When John had heard that he was going to see an admiral, he had expected the admiral's office to be decorated much like Crais's quarters had been when he still commanded his own ship. Rygel had told him about the multiple trophies and alien heads that had decorated his quarters. So when John entered the admiral's office he was surprised by the sparseness of the room.
There were some tapestries adorning the walls of the room, the Peacekeeper symbol could be seen decorating the back wall, and there was a throne-like chair with what looked like video monitors surrounding the chair. That was all John saw. There weren't any trophies, or dead aliens, or really any other personal decoration touches.
John stopped studying the room and instead studied the two occupants in the room. Sitting in the chair was an old man; dressed in a simple, black Peacekeeper uniform. If John hadn't been told that the man in front of him was an admiral, he would have never guessed on his own. He was a good looking man, or at least had been, with still gray hair and a gray goatee. The most remarkable thing though, the feature that John couldn't help but notice, were his eyes. His eyes were as gray as his hair, but unlike his body, they showed no sign of age. They were clear, alert, and very intelligent. John understood as soon as he looked into the man's eyes why he was an admiral. This was a man that demanded your respect.
John then studied the other occupant in the room. Standing next to the admiral, was a woman dressed in what John instantly recognized was a Captain's uniform. The woman was close to Aeryn's age, which shocked John that a woman that young could already be a captain, and was strikingly beautiful. She had long, flowing, black hair that she kept in a tight braid. Her facial features had a certain patrician quality to them, almost like she was royalty or something. But like the man she was standing next to, the most amazing feature were her eyes. Her eyes were also completely gray, and instead of the admiral's contemplative look, her eyes had a piercing quality to them. Like she could search your soul with her eyes. John felt a shiver run down his back. He had never seen eyes so beautiful before.
Almost instantly John made the connection between the two. It wasn't hard to do. The eyes were a dead give away. He decided to voice his newfound knowledge, "I gotta ask. How did you pull it off?" John directed his question at the man in front of him.
The admiral was confused; he had no idea what the human was talking about. "What do you mean, John Crichton?"
John rolled his eyes. "Come on, I want to know. How did you manage to have your daughter be your captain? I thought Peacekeepers weren't allowed to know who their children were?"
Both the admiral and the captain were visibly shocked, the admiral especially. He had heard that Crichton was unusually intelligent for a primitive, but his comment had seriously reevaluated his opinion of the man. It had taken the human less than thirty microts to make the connection between him and his captain. Bach knew right then and there that he had made the right decision in bringing John Crichton aboard his ship.
The admiral wanted to know how Crichton had figured it out. "How do you know that she is my daughter?"
John just shrugged his shoulders, "The eyes are a dead give away. The odds of two completely unrelated people having the same exact color of eyes with the same look of intelligence, not to mention that you both look very similar, are too great to think otherwise. I just put two and two together and assumed that she was your daughter. Anyone could make the same connection if they looked hard enough."
The admiral smiled at John appreciatively, "They said that you were smart, but I had no idea how right they were until now. As for how I have managed to raise my daughter, let's just say that a man of my status is allowed certain liberties and leave it at that."
John figured that that was the best he was going to get out of the man and decided to drop the question. "So who are you and what do you want from me?"
The admiral spoke up, "I am Admiral Ev Bach and this is my daughter Captain Lorana Verity. And it is not a question of what you could do for me, but more like what I can do for you."
John was more than a little surprised by the admiral's comment. "Wait. Could you repeat that again, because I could have sworn that you just said that you wanted to help me and I know that that can't be right?" John then stuck one of his fingers in his ear, and began acting like he was trying to clean it out.
Lorana, who had been so quiet and stoic since John had come in, started laughing at John's behavior. John stopped what he was doing and stared at the captain. John didn't think it was possible but she was actually more beautiful when she smiled. He shook off his temporary distraction and refocused back on the admiral.
When the admiral spoke, he did so with sadness and regret in his voice. "I understand your reluctance, Crichton. I know of everything that you have been put through since you came through your wormhole and ended up in our part of the Universe. I realize that you have only seen the dregs of the Peacekeeper fleet. I don't really blame you for your hatred and distrust of us after everything Crais and that abomination Scorpius has put you through. But you must realize that not all Peacekeepers are like that."
"There are still some of us that believe in the old ways. That believes in actual justice, not righteous vengeance, and fairness. Not all of us are as corrupt and contemptible as the Peacekeepers you have been exposed to. You must understand, Crichton, that Peacekeepers used to be respected, honored, and loved. We were feared, yes, but only by those who sought to break the law. We used to protect the galaxy, but now we enslave it. I want to bring back the old ways, John Crichton, and I want to help you do it."
John just stared at Bach like he had grown a second head. "Uh?"
The admiral understood John's confusion. "I know what you are doing down on the planet of Rotar. I have known for some time, actually. I know that in only a few short monens you have turned a group of bothersome resistance fighters, into a full-fledged rebellion against Peacekeeper rule. Your daring attack on the Peacekeeper armory proves that you have become a force to be reckoned with."
"I know all this admiral. I've been living it for the last two monens. I don't need you to tell me, I understand."
The admiral leaned forward in his chair as he spoke more earnestly, "I don't think you do Crichton. Before the armory attack, the rebellion on Rotar was of very little concern to High Command, but now that you have so thoroughly embarrassed the Peacekeepers by successfully destroying a target that was supposed to be impenetrable, you have grown in significant importance. The Peacekeepers must destroy the rebellion on Rotar or risk it spreading to other planets in this sector. As we speak, three Peacekeeper command carriers are en route to Rotar with over 100,000 troops. When they get here, they will send down those troops and destroy your Rystalva as soon as possible."
John could not believe his ears. 100,000 troops! Christ! I got to get down there and warn them. John urgently spoke to the admiral, "You say you want to help me, so help me! Let me go so that I can warn my people and prepare for the attack."
Bach could see the urgency in John and he understood because he was feeling the same urgency in himself. "I can't do that, Crichton. Or I should say that I'm not supposed to do that. I have orders directly from High Command to capture you and turn you over to them. You are no longer wanted just by Scorpius, High Command wants you as well."
John let his shoulders slump in defeat and he hung his head. "If you are going to turn me in, then what the hell is the point of all this?"
"I'm not going to turn you in John Crichton. In fact I am going to do the opposite, I am going to let you go. I don't want you and your rebellion to fail; I want you to win. If you can actually defeat the Peacekeepers, then it might cause High Command to reevaluate how it conducts itself. Besides, I like you and want to help you. I want to bring back the way it used to be, and if that means that I must destroy the current version of the Peacekeepers to do it, then so be it."
John was speechless. It took him a while to grasp what Bach was saying. "Are you saying that you want to join the resistance?"
Bach smiled at John. "Yes, Crichton, I do. I wish to join you. You tell me what you want me to do, and I will do it."
John just stared. "I think you got that backwards, admiral. Shouldn't it be me that is taking orders from you?"
"No. You are the leader of the Rystalva. The people on Rotar respect, love, and follow you because of who you are. I do not think that they would be as willing to follow a Peacekeeper admiral, than they would to follow you. I will not usurp your authority. Besides, I have given orders to people all my life, it will be nice to actually take orders from someone else for a change."
John didn't know what to say. To have a Peacekeeper admiral, with an entire command carrier, on his side could be a huge advantage. They might actually stand a chance, especially with three regular Peacekeeper command carriers on the way. John spoke up, "Everyone with you feels the same way you do? I don't want to have to deal with someone who can't control his own people."
When Bach spoke, it was with steel in his voice. "Do not worry about my crew. They are loyal to me and will do what I tell them to do. Many of them feel the same way I do."
John accepted what Bach said at face value, he had to. "Alright. I gotta ask, though, if you wanted to meet me why didn't you just pick up the phone and give me a call. Why did you have to capture me?"
"I wasn't entirely sure if you were the kind of man that I needed. If you weren't then I could turn you over to High Command and no one would wonder why I had you. Since you were the kind of person that I was looking for, I wanted to meet you and I seriously doubt you would have agreed to meet with a Peacekeeper admiral just because he wanted to talk to you about changing sides. I knew that you would need proof of my loyalties."
John understood. "I understand, I do, but do you realize how much trouble you caused me? I mean Juli must be going out of her mind by now. She'll probably not even let me go to the bathroom without someone watching over me now that this has happened."
The admiral let out a surprisingly large laugh. "I do understand, Crichton. I have been told of how overprotective Juli Fallon is of you. I am sorry, I did not realize how miserable my actions would make you feel."
"Wait! How do you know about Juli?"
Bach smiled secretively at John. "Please, isn't it obvious. I have contacts inside your organization that have kept me apprized of the situation down on the planet. How did you think I knew where to find you? Your base is supposed to be a secret isn't it?"
John groaned at his own thick headedness. He knew that he should have seen that coming. "Right, sorry I asked."
"I think it is time we got you back down to the planet. By now your organization will be searching everywhere for you and we must return you before they do something stupid that draws unwanted attention to them. Vorel and Graf will take you back to the planet. They will remain as your liaisons to me. They will follow whatever orders you give to them."
John turned to the man next to him and began to apologize, "Uh…look I'm sorry about the whole strangling and knocking unconscious thing."
Vorel cut John off before he could say anything else, "Forget it. I was actually quite impressed and I deserved what happened to me for being so easily fooled."
Bach spoke up one last time, "Any time you need anything, just ask. Vorel will relay your request to me and I will make it happen. Good luck."
John felt a lot better now that he had Wynonna back. The comforting weight along his thigh calmed him. He always felt so naked without her. She was the only pulse pistol that could make him feel better; all the others just didn't quite do it. He didn't know why he was so attached to her, but he was.
Of course the fact that he was back on Rotar and was walking through the mountains that he had explored so completely, might have had something to do with the fact that he was feeling better. They had landed in a Marauder not too far from the base and had hidden it. Vorel didn't want anyone else to know of its location.
They were only about a quarter of a metra from the base, so they should have been spotted by now. John was expecting any moment for someone, probably Juli, to come rushing out to meet him. John had learned from Vorel that he had been missing for only a day, but John knew that was far too long. He knew that Juli was probably totally freaking.
John had made sure that Vorel and Graf gave him their weapons. He knew that as worried as Juli would be, she would probably shoot anybody on sight that even looked the least bit threatening to John.
Sure enough, after only a few microts, John saw a group of people rushing towards him. It was Juli and the rest of the Magnificent Seven. When Juli got close enough that John could see the expression on her face, he let out a groan. She was pissed. I better remind the guys not to do anything.
John stopped, and so Vorel and Graf stopped as well. "Remember what I told you. I know her, so right now she is probably really pissed at you two. I will do everything I can to make sure she goes easy on you, but I can't promise you anything. Just don't make any threatening gestures."
Both Vorel and Graf nodded their heads at John and then brought their hands up to their sides. They stuck their hands out to show that they were empty and weren't going to do anything.
Juli and the rest of John's bodyguards finally reached them, and they immediately sprung into action. Without being told to, the two Rotarians grabbed Vorel and Graf and shoved them to the ground. They then placed one of their feet on their backs to keep them from getting back up, while one of the Sebaceans searched their bodies for weapons.
Juli was the only one not doing anything. She was standing in front of John and just looking at him. Without a warning, she lunged at John and wrapped him up in a big hug. John quickly got over his surprise and hugged Juli back. He could tell that she needed this, it was her way of making sure he was really there.
While they were still hugging, Juli began babbling, "I am so happy that you are all right. I-I-I thought that when you didn't check in something horrible had happened to you. I've been looking for you, but I couldn't find you. I tried, I really tried to find you, but I couldn't find you. I'm so sorry." Juli started crying.
John was shocked. He had never seen Juli cry before; she must be really shaken up. He stopped hugging Juli and stepped back far enough so that he could look at her. He sometimes forgot how young Juli was, that she was only a very young woman, and it took a situation like this to remind him. She looked so childlike with tears running down her cheeks and her eyes so wide and pleading.
John couldn't help but feel bad even though he had no control over what had happened. He hated it when women he cared about started to cry because of him. He had to reassure her that it wasn't her fault and that she couldn't have done anything. "Hey, it's okay, Juli. It wasn't your fault, you couldn't have done anything. I don't blame you for not finding me. You couldn't have found me, I wasn't even on the planet."
Juli visibly calmed with John's words. "It's just that I got so worried that I would never see you again. And we really needed you. The Peacekeepers have been very active the last day and we could have really used your leadership."
John put his hands up in front of him. "I know that you were worried, it's sweet. But I had no control over what happened."
Juli smiled at John, "I know it wasn't your fault, but if you had let me go with you this would have never happened. But we won't get into that now, though we will talk about it." Juli then sobered and looked at the two Peacekeepers who were still lying on the ground. She walked over to them and then crouched down in front of them, looking them over. "Believe me, John, it's taking all my self control not to kill these two. They should die for taking you away from me-us when we needed you the most."
John chose to ignore Juli's slip of the tongue. "No Juli, you can't kill them. I'll explain everything to you, but these two are friends. Let them go."
Juli stood up and looked at John like he was crazy but followed his order nonetheless. With a gesture of her hand, the two Rotarians stepped off Vorel and Graf, and they slowly got to their feet. They began dusting themselves off as they stood.
Juli spoke to the two Rotarians, "We're going back to base and I want you to watch these two. If they try anything, kill them."
Juli then turned and walked back to John. They began walking back to base. "So, John, tell me everything. I want to know what the frell happened."
John smiled, the old Juli was back. It was going to be a long hike back.