Chapter 4: Twists of Fate
John noticed the worried Nebari getting interested in some nearby pieces of jewellery and other unique artifacts. She eventually stopped paying attention to him altogether. "Well, Chi, I'm going to grab some of the stuff Pilot needs, so I might be gone for an arn or two, okay? I'm trust you'll keep yourself occupied." Chiana mumbled something in reply as she gazed over an interesting broach. "I'll take that as a yes," John said, then headed for the nearest doctor Pilot had located for him.
The doctor proved to be most cooperative when John showed him the hefty sum of gems that had been in Elack's cargo bay, not to mention a few healthy taps on his pulse pistol. Things went more smoothly than anticipated. The doctor asked him a few questions about his unique physiology and symptoms, then ran a few scans. The medic, who was about eight feet tall with various tentacles and green skin, told John that he would contact the Leviathan when the diagnosis was complete. "Thanks, doc. At least not all doctors in the Uncharteds are complete psychopaths."
The doctor stared at him intently. "No sir, thank you," the doctor said, smiling, while bouncing a bag of gems in his hand.
John walked out slowly, a wave of dizziness returning but nothing life- threatening. He went to grab the drug that would keep Pilot awake; despite it being used as a decoy; Pilot really needed something to keep her alert. Her drowsiness could end up getting them all killed someday.
Suddenly, something caught his attention. "No frelling way. My eyes must be screwin' with me," he said as he caught sight of a head of raven coloured hair whipping around a corner. Crichton rubbed his eyes. "I must be hallucinating or something. Oh well, better follow just in case." John disappeared into the shadows like a wraith.
Chiana looked keenly at a necklace on display. "Hey John, will you look at this?" Only the wind answered her. "John?" She looked around, but he was nowhere in sight. "Frelling human. Where'd he go?" She suddenly remembered what he said earlier. "Oh frell." Chiana ran through the bustling crowds to find her alien companion.
John followed the familiar woman unseen. He wove through alleys and shadows without anyone noticing. A sixth sense caused the woman to stop suddenly and turn. She scanned the crowd behind her. Crichton squinted to get a good look. "Oh man. Aeryn," he whispered. She ducked into an alley. "It could still be all in my head, man."
Aeryn looked around the crowd. She had that funny feeling she was being followed. She un-holstered her pulse pistol and moved slowly into a dark alley. Trash was strewn about and smoke rose out of pipes sticking up gracelessly from the ground. Dust swirled everywhere. Water dripped from the buildings, leaving the usually dry landscape moist. Her shoes made crunching sounds as she moved, the dripping sound placing her into a rhythm. She looked all around, keeping herself aware of the surroundings and staying as vigilant as possible.
A deep cool and calm voice cut through the darkness. "Don't move, put your pistol down."
'Frell' she thought. 'To be captured like this.' She swore mentally at herself and at everything. 'Well at least the man was a professional.' Aeryn turned to the shadow on the right where the voice came from. A pulse pistol was easily seen poking out from the shadow. Quickly, with terrifying speed, she brought her pistol to bear only to see a bright flash and her pulse gun falling to the ground in pieces. Suddenly the figure stepped out, leaving the shadows covering half of his features. The smoke blurred his features.
"I'm really getting sick of guns constantly being pointed at my head."
Aeryn gasped. There was no mistaking that voice, standing in front of her was the figure of John Crichton.
John heard Aeryn gasp. He slowly lowered his gun but kept it ready just in case. 'Hey, you never know.' He told himself silently; then he heard Aeryn swear. 'Uh oh that isn't good,' he thought.
"What the frell are you doing here Crichton!" she hissed.
"Getting supplies! What the hell are you doing here!" John shouted defensively.
"That's none of your business."
John threw his hands in the air. "None of my business!" he shouted. Struggling with his tired and worn emotions, he managed to calm himself down. "Why'd you leave?" he asked, to hell with subtlety. He felt naked before her; he dreaded her answer.
"None of your business," Aeryn whispered back.
His anger came back full force. "None of my business! Oh, honey, you just screwed yourself saying that. It is plenty my business, for two reasons."
"Oh why 'cause you can't live without me?" Aeryn said vehemently.
That took John aback. "What's wrong Aeryn, are you okay?"
"Of course I'm not okay, you frelling deficient. Leave me alone and don't tell anyone I'm here, not even Pilot."
Crichton was feeling a little hurt but wrote it off to Peacekeeper PMS. "I couldn't tell Pilot even if I wanted to. I don't even know where Moya is!"
Now it was Aeryn's turn to be taken aback. "What?"
"Well, after you left, Moya got sucked through a wormhole while I was stuck outside in my poor deficient module running out of air. So, there I was, drifting in the middle of a Leviathan graveyard, alone."
Aeryn steeled herself. She had to hurt John and hurt him bad. She couldn't see him die again, couldn't live through it. She couldn't afford to love him again. He needed to forget about her. Aeryn was unable to admit she was scared. How could she be worthy of him? Not only had she left, she'd gone to the resistance and had multiple recreation partners. One of whom was her commanding officer. He had to get away from her.
Breathing deeply, she started twisting the knife into the heart of the man she loved. "A graveyard is where all dead things belong. You're a ghost, Crichton, a spectre. The unworthy of a honourable name. You aren't the man I loved, what great things have you done? I hate you, Crichton, for living when John died! Crichton, you're a copy, a worthless copy. You should've died, it should have been you. I hate you, leave me alone!"
The look in John's eyes almost broke her heart. "What about the pregnancy?" he whispered softly.
How did he know? She wondered desperately. Little did he know the kid might not even be Crichton's. Aeryn continued her tirade "What do you mean our child? It's not your child; you are nothing but a corpse to me. The fact that this child might carry your DNA sickens me. That's right, it might not even be your child! I hope it isn't. Sometimes I wonder if the universe really needs another bastard child of John Crichton."
He staggered backwards almost as if it were a physical blow. Aeryn suddenly grew worried; perhaps she'd gone too far. No, this needed to be done. "Besides, I've found someone, someone that knows how to recreate. Someone who gives me what I want and knows how I want it without all the incessant chatter and nonsense, someone better than you. Leave me alone, Crichton." She saw John visibly weaken and grow pale. Aeryn grew increasingly concerned, but continued. "Goodbye." The last word seemed to slam John in the face as he took a step back.
She stared into John's face, and what she saw frightened her. Not rage, pain, or sadness. Nothing was visible. His eyes, the windows into his universe, were closed; an emotionless mask was in its place. He looked empty. The only thing she saw was acceptance, and that scared her more than anything.
Something grabbed her attention. His hands were shaking. The human seemed to be shivering. A small line of blood seeped down the side of his right ear. Concern blossomed. What was wrong with him? What didn't she know?
His voice brought her out of her line of thought. His eyes were lowered gazing downward. It seemed as a giant weight had been dropped upon his shoulders. John's voice cracked and came out as a whisper. The sound of every carefully spoken word almost made Aeryn drop to her knees in agony. "I'm sorry for all I've done to you. You have no idea how sorry. I know you would've been so happy if you hadn't stood up for me, you'd be the happy peacekeeper you always wanted to be. The illusion you had as a peacekeeper is better than the reality you have now. I'm so sorry for that, nothing is worse then shattering an illusion that makes one happy," a single tear dropped from his left eye. "I'll do what all good ghosts do. I'll disappear. Goodbye Officer Sun." Within a blink of an eye, at a speed that startled Aeryn, she was all-alone in the alley as the wind sped by. The only sound was the dripping of water from the pipes.
Aeryn began to sob without restraint. She dropped to the ground as if her strings had been cut. 'Oh, what have I done, what have I done?'
John wove through the streets blindly. She was right, in every way. Everything she said was damn right, and only she had the guts to tell him. So final, it pounded into his head. A headache like no other berated him, the word "Goodbye" jackhammered into his skull.
He walked into an abandoned alley and steadied himself against a wall. He felt like crap, on so many levels. How could anyone feel this bad? Cold sweat poured from his body. Crichton stared at his hands, which were shaking wildly. Muscles all over his body began cramping. A sharp pain in his abdomen and chest brought him to the ground. His whole body began to vibrate and the dizziness became stronger than ever, causing extreme nausea. Blood ran from his nose and ears. John's stomach clenched and he began to throw up more of the red liquid. 'Oh man I'm gonna die. This has got to be the worst hangover in the universe. I mean gawd, getting the consequences without the sweet intoxication? Gotta admit the universe is one sick son of a bitch,' he thought. Suddenly, sweet relief came to a battered John in the form of unconsciousness as he lay on the ground slowly bleeding to death.
Chiana ran around the city in a panic. "Where is the frelling human!" She yelled to no one in particular. She looked into an alley and saw a dark shape whimpering. She walked closer. "Are you alright?" Chiana asked the shadowy figure cautiously.
"Chi?" a dishevelled woman croaked.
Chiana got a closer look. Dark black hair, the voice was familiar. She was shocked. What had happened to her? "Aeryn? Where've you been? What's wrong?" By it owns devise the answer crept to Chiana slowly. 'Please, I hope it's not what I think it is,' she prayed silently.
Aeryn looked at her sadly. "John found me and I said some extremely hurtful things. I can't see him die again, I'm not strong enough," she wiped the tears away with her sleeve. "I thought that it would keep him away, so eventually he'd find someone who deserves him more. How can I be worthy of that sort of devotion? Some of the things I said hurt him beyond my intent; I was so cruel. I think I've made a horrible mistake." She downcast her eyes again as the tears began to flow freely once more.
Chiana stared stricken in panic. "Oh, no. Frell!"
Aeryn looked up at her. "What?"
"John's been really depressed, and I swear he's been sick the last few days."
Aeryn shuddered. "Depressed? How depressed?"
Chiana looked at her grimly. "I'd keep him away from a pulse pistol depressed. Something always kept him from...y-you know...harming himself. I never knew what. Now...." She shrugged. "Which way did he go?"
Aeryn shook her head suppressing the urge to sniffle. "I don't know. He moved so fast, so silently. I never knew he could do that. It was like he just blended into the darkness."
Chiana shivered. She looked down at her comm.
"Don't bother, John probably turned it off."
Chi nodded. They stalked off together looking for John Crichton.
In a strange twist of fate, John's comms were not turned off. In fact, Pilot's voice brought him back to consciousness. "What is it?" he groaned.
Pilot's voice bellowed from the device. "Dr. Vrigo would like to speak to you. He says your diagnosis is complete."
"Patch him in Pilot."
The doctor suddenly replaced Pilot's voice. John nodded at the Doctor's statements, though he knew the doc couldn't see his actions. "Thanks, doc," John sighed. "Well at least not all the news today's been bad. I knew my luck had to bounce back at some point," he said, trying to lift his spirits. The attempt was miserable. "I wanna go home." A crazy desperate idea crept into his tortured mind. He rushed for his module.
Chiana and Aeryn walked, searching for a sign of the human. The one they got was not promising. On the ground was a pool of blood, red blood, red human-like blood.
"We don't know that's Crichton's; that could be anybody's. Let's hurry up and find him, and he'll be okay, wait and see." Chiana stammered as she ran off.
Aeryn nodded quietly and ran after her though she felt less optimistic.
Something John said earlier surfaced to the forefront of Chi's thoughts. "I wanna go home," she whispered.
Aeryn looked at her strangely. "What?"
"That's something John told me earlier when he was asleep. What if he's going to try to get home?"
"Wouldn't that be a good thing?" Aeryn asked confused.
"You don't understand. He has no idea what the frell he's doing, he's going to end up killing himself and for some reason I have the feeling he wouldn't care if that happened." Chiana explained her voice sounding strangled.
"You came here in his module didn't you?" Aeryn asked growing increasingly worried.
Chi only nodded. They ran towards the parked module as fast as they could. They arrived just in time to see the module shoot off into the sky. Tears materialized on Chiana's cheeks. Together they slumped to the ground in defeat. Chiana beat the ground with her fist, her mounting. To Aeryn's complete surprise, the little grey Nebari moved close to her ear and whispered icily, "If Crichton dies, I will kill you." Aeryn knew Chiana meant it.
John sat in his module, fully exhilarated. One of his only joys left to him in the universe was to be able to fly. Despite the pounding and insults his module had received John loved it, now he loved more than anything else, it was the only thing he allowed himself to love anymore. He commed Pilot, "Hey Mother Teresa, I have to be...leaving now," Crichton said gently, struggling to find the words, what else could he say?
"Why Commander Crichton?"
John started to tear up. "There's nothing left for me here anymore. If you'll tell the others to look in my quarters, they'll find data recordings for everyone, even you. Thank you for everything, Pilot. I'll miss you very much. Goodbye," John said, quivering, fearing to say anymore.
Pilot's voice answered him sadly; she could and would not do anything to stop him. "Goodbye, John."
John smiled silently to himself at the use of his first name. He placed his module in orbit. "Time to rock and roll." He put the module to full throttle. Where'd he'd end up, he didn't know. Dead most likely -- burning up in the atmosphere was highly probable. The chances of a wormhole opening up were astronomical at best. Opening one and getting home was impossible. But honestly, what did he have to lose?
Chiana and Aeryn looked up into the silent sky. They saw something streak across the heavens. They saw it come around again leaving behind a fiery trail. Suddenly, something amazing occurred. A blue flash temporarily blinded them. Then the streak disappeared. Chiana and Aeryn stared silently, wishing and hoping. "Goodbye John," Chiana murmured sadly. Standing up suddenly she shouted, "I love you John!" The grey Nebari fell back down to the ground with a thud. She continued to stare at the sky.
A blue flash exploded in front of John. 'Oh my god. It worked,' he thought, surprised. Then he remembered his last few wormhole trips. "Ah crap I hate this part!" He screamed. John's stomach wretched as the module flew in and burst forward at impossible speeds leaving Crichton plastered into his seat as the g forces pushed his sickly body. Rattlers vibrated in his stomach. The module tumbled over and sideways out of control. "OH SHIT!!!!" screamed John as he passed out. His last thoughts were if he'd ever find home.
John noticed the worried Nebari getting interested in some nearby pieces of jewellery and other unique artifacts. She eventually stopped paying attention to him altogether. "Well, Chi, I'm going to grab some of the stuff Pilot needs, so I might be gone for an arn or two, okay? I'm trust you'll keep yourself occupied." Chiana mumbled something in reply as she gazed over an interesting broach. "I'll take that as a yes," John said, then headed for the nearest doctor Pilot had located for him.
The doctor proved to be most cooperative when John showed him the hefty sum of gems that had been in Elack's cargo bay, not to mention a few healthy taps on his pulse pistol. Things went more smoothly than anticipated. The doctor asked him a few questions about his unique physiology and symptoms, then ran a few scans. The medic, who was about eight feet tall with various tentacles and green skin, told John that he would contact the Leviathan when the diagnosis was complete. "Thanks, doc. At least not all doctors in the Uncharteds are complete psychopaths."
The doctor stared at him intently. "No sir, thank you," the doctor said, smiling, while bouncing a bag of gems in his hand.
John walked out slowly, a wave of dizziness returning but nothing life- threatening. He went to grab the drug that would keep Pilot awake; despite it being used as a decoy; Pilot really needed something to keep her alert. Her drowsiness could end up getting them all killed someday.
Suddenly, something caught his attention. "No frelling way. My eyes must be screwin' with me," he said as he caught sight of a head of raven coloured hair whipping around a corner. Crichton rubbed his eyes. "I must be hallucinating or something. Oh well, better follow just in case." John disappeared into the shadows like a wraith.
Chiana looked keenly at a necklace on display. "Hey John, will you look at this?" Only the wind answered her. "John?" She looked around, but he was nowhere in sight. "Frelling human. Where'd he go?" She suddenly remembered what he said earlier. "Oh frell." Chiana ran through the bustling crowds to find her alien companion.
John followed the familiar woman unseen. He wove through alleys and shadows without anyone noticing. A sixth sense caused the woman to stop suddenly and turn. She scanned the crowd behind her. Crichton squinted to get a good look. "Oh man. Aeryn," he whispered. She ducked into an alley. "It could still be all in my head, man."
Aeryn looked around the crowd. She had that funny feeling she was being followed. She un-holstered her pulse pistol and moved slowly into a dark alley. Trash was strewn about and smoke rose out of pipes sticking up gracelessly from the ground. Dust swirled everywhere. Water dripped from the buildings, leaving the usually dry landscape moist. Her shoes made crunching sounds as she moved, the dripping sound placing her into a rhythm. She looked all around, keeping herself aware of the surroundings and staying as vigilant as possible.
A deep cool and calm voice cut through the darkness. "Don't move, put your pistol down."
'Frell' she thought. 'To be captured like this.' She swore mentally at herself and at everything. 'Well at least the man was a professional.' Aeryn turned to the shadow on the right where the voice came from. A pulse pistol was easily seen poking out from the shadow. Quickly, with terrifying speed, she brought her pistol to bear only to see a bright flash and her pulse gun falling to the ground in pieces. Suddenly the figure stepped out, leaving the shadows covering half of his features. The smoke blurred his features.
"I'm really getting sick of guns constantly being pointed at my head."
Aeryn gasped. There was no mistaking that voice, standing in front of her was the figure of John Crichton.
John heard Aeryn gasp. He slowly lowered his gun but kept it ready just in case. 'Hey, you never know.' He told himself silently; then he heard Aeryn swear. 'Uh oh that isn't good,' he thought.
"What the frell are you doing here Crichton!" she hissed.
"Getting supplies! What the hell are you doing here!" John shouted defensively.
"That's none of your business."
John threw his hands in the air. "None of my business!" he shouted. Struggling with his tired and worn emotions, he managed to calm himself down. "Why'd you leave?" he asked, to hell with subtlety. He felt naked before her; he dreaded her answer.
"None of your business," Aeryn whispered back.
His anger came back full force. "None of my business! Oh, honey, you just screwed yourself saying that. It is plenty my business, for two reasons."
"Oh why 'cause you can't live without me?" Aeryn said vehemently.
That took John aback. "What's wrong Aeryn, are you okay?"
"Of course I'm not okay, you frelling deficient. Leave me alone and don't tell anyone I'm here, not even Pilot."
Crichton was feeling a little hurt but wrote it off to Peacekeeper PMS. "I couldn't tell Pilot even if I wanted to. I don't even know where Moya is!"
Now it was Aeryn's turn to be taken aback. "What?"
"Well, after you left, Moya got sucked through a wormhole while I was stuck outside in my poor deficient module running out of air. So, there I was, drifting in the middle of a Leviathan graveyard, alone."
Aeryn steeled herself. She had to hurt John and hurt him bad. She couldn't see him die again, couldn't live through it. She couldn't afford to love him again. He needed to forget about her. Aeryn was unable to admit she was scared. How could she be worthy of him? Not only had she left, she'd gone to the resistance and had multiple recreation partners. One of whom was her commanding officer. He had to get away from her.
Breathing deeply, she started twisting the knife into the heart of the man she loved. "A graveyard is where all dead things belong. You're a ghost, Crichton, a spectre. The unworthy of a honourable name. You aren't the man I loved, what great things have you done? I hate you, Crichton, for living when John died! Crichton, you're a copy, a worthless copy. You should've died, it should have been you. I hate you, leave me alone!"
The look in John's eyes almost broke her heart. "What about the pregnancy?" he whispered softly.
How did he know? She wondered desperately. Little did he know the kid might not even be Crichton's. Aeryn continued her tirade "What do you mean our child? It's not your child; you are nothing but a corpse to me. The fact that this child might carry your DNA sickens me. That's right, it might not even be your child! I hope it isn't. Sometimes I wonder if the universe really needs another bastard child of John Crichton."
He staggered backwards almost as if it were a physical blow. Aeryn suddenly grew worried; perhaps she'd gone too far. No, this needed to be done. "Besides, I've found someone, someone that knows how to recreate. Someone who gives me what I want and knows how I want it without all the incessant chatter and nonsense, someone better than you. Leave me alone, Crichton." She saw John visibly weaken and grow pale. Aeryn grew increasingly concerned, but continued. "Goodbye." The last word seemed to slam John in the face as he took a step back.
She stared into John's face, and what she saw frightened her. Not rage, pain, or sadness. Nothing was visible. His eyes, the windows into his universe, were closed; an emotionless mask was in its place. He looked empty. The only thing she saw was acceptance, and that scared her more than anything.
Something grabbed her attention. His hands were shaking. The human seemed to be shivering. A small line of blood seeped down the side of his right ear. Concern blossomed. What was wrong with him? What didn't she know?
His voice brought her out of her line of thought. His eyes were lowered gazing downward. It seemed as a giant weight had been dropped upon his shoulders. John's voice cracked and came out as a whisper. The sound of every carefully spoken word almost made Aeryn drop to her knees in agony. "I'm sorry for all I've done to you. You have no idea how sorry. I know you would've been so happy if you hadn't stood up for me, you'd be the happy peacekeeper you always wanted to be. The illusion you had as a peacekeeper is better than the reality you have now. I'm so sorry for that, nothing is worse then shattering an illusion that makes one happy," a single tear dropped from his left eye. "I'll do what all good ghosts do. I'll disappear. Goodbye Officer Sun." Within a blink of an eye, at a speed that startled Aeryn, she was all-alone in the alley as the wind sped by. The only sound was the dripping of water from the pipes.
Aeryn began to sob without restraint. She dropped to the ground as if her strings had been cut. 'Oh, what have I done, what have I done?'
John wove through the streets blindly. She was right, in every way. Everything she said was damn right, and only she had the guts to tell him. So final, it pounded into his head. A headache like no other berated him, the word "Goodbye" jackhammered into his skull.
He walked into an abandoned alley and steadied himself against a wall. He felt like crap, on so many levels. How could anyone feel this bad? Cold sweat poured from his body. Crichton stared at his hands, which were shaking wildly. Muscles all over his body began cramping. A sharp pain in his abdomen and chest brought him to the ground. His whole body began to vibrate and the dizziness became stronger than ever, causing extreme nausea. Blood ran from his nose and ears. John's stomach clenched and he began to throw up more of the red liquid. 'Oh man I'm gonna die. This has got to be the worst hangover in the universe. I mean gawd, getting the consequences without the sweet intoxication? Gotta admit the universe is one sick son of a bitch,' he thought. Suddenly, sweet relief came to a battered John in the form of unconsciousness as he lay on the ground slowly bleeding to death.
Chiana ran around the city in a panic. "Where is the frelling human!" She yelled to no one in particular. She looked into an alley and saw a dark shape whimpering. She walked closer. "Are you alright?" Chiana asked the shadowy figure cautiously.
"Chi?" a dishevelled woman croaked.
Chiana got a closer look. Dark black hair, the voice was familiar. She was shocked. What had happened to her? "Aeryn? Where've you been? What's wrong?" By it owns devise the answer crept to Chiana slowly. 'Please, I hope it's not what I think it is,' she prayed silently.
Aeryn looked at her sadly. "John found me and I said some extremely hurtful things. I can't see him die again, I'm not strong enough," she wiped the tears away with her sleeve. "I thought that it would keep him away, so eventually he'd find someone who deserves him more. How can I be worthy of that sort of devotion? Some of the things I said hurt him beyond my intent; I was so cruel. I think I've made a horrible mistake." She downcast her eyes again as the tears began to flow freely once more.
Chiana stared stricken in panic. "Oh, no. Frell!"
Aeryn looked up at her. "What?"
"John's been really depressed, and I swear he's been sick the last few days."
Aeryn shuddered. "Depressed? How depressed?"
Chiana looked at her grimly. "I'd keep him away from a pulse pistol depressed. Something always kept him from...y-you know...harming himself. I never knew what. Now...." She shrugged. "Which way did he go?"
Aeryn shook her head suppressing the urge to sniffle. "I don't know. He moved so fast, so silently. I never knew he could do that. It was like he just blended into the darkness."
Chiana shivered. She looked down at her comm.
"Don't bother, John probably turned it off."
Chi nodded. They stalked off together looking for John Crichton.
In a strange twist of fate, John's comms were not turned off. In fact, Pilot's voice brought him back to consciousness. "What is it?" he groaned.
Pilot's voice bellowed from the device. "Dr. Vrigo would like to speak to you. He says your diagnosis is complete."
"Patch him in Pilot."
The doctor suddenly replaced Pilot's voice. John nodded at the Doctor's statements, though he knew the doc couldn't see his actions. "Thanks, doc," John sighed. "Well at least not all the news today's been bad. I knew my luck had to bounce back at some point," he said, trying to lift his spirits. The attempt was miserable. "I wanna go home." A crazy desperate idea crept into his tortured mind. He rushed for his module.
Chiana and Aeryn walked, searching for a sign of the human. The one they got was not promising. On the ground was a pool of blood, red blood, red human-like blood.
"We don't know that's Crichton's; that could be anybody's. Let's hurry up and find him, and he'll be okay, wait and see." Chiana stammered as she ran off.
Aeryn nodded quietly and ran after her though she felt less optimistic.
Something John said earlier surfaced to the forefront of Chi's thoughts. "I wanna go home," she whispered.
Aeryn looked at her strangely. "What?"
"That's something John told me earlier when he was asleep. What if he's going to try to get home?"
"Wouldn't that be a good thing?" Aeryn asked confused.
"You don't understand. He has no idea what the frell he's doing, he's going to end up killing himself and for some reason I have the feeling he wouldn't care if that happened." Chiana explained her voice sounding strangled.
"You came here in his module didn't you?" Aeryn asked growing increasingly worried.
Chi only nodded. They ran towards the parked module as fast as they could. They arrived just in time to see the module shoot off into the sky. Tears materialized on Chiana's cheeks. Together they slumped to the ground in defeat. Chiana beat the ground with her fist, her mounting. To Aeryn's complete surprise, the little grey Nebari moved close to her ear and whispered icily, "If Crichton dies, I will kill you." Aeryn knew Chiana meant it.
John sat in his module, fully exhilarated. One of his only joys left to him in the universe was to be able to fly. Despite the pounding and insults his module had received John loved it, now he loved more than anything else, it was the only thing he allowed himself to love anymore. He commed Pilot, "Hey Mother Teresa, I have to be...leaving now," Crichton said gently, struggling to find the words, what else could he say?
"Why Commander Crichton?"
John started to tear up. "There's nothing left for me here anymore. If you'll tell the others to look in my quarters, they'll find data recordings for everyone, even you. Thank you for everything, Pilot. I'll miss you very much. Goodbye," John said, quivering, fearing to say anymore.
Pilot's voice answered him sadly; she could and would not do anything to stop him. "Goodbye, John."
John smiled silently to himself at the use of his first name. He placed his module in orbit. "Time to rock and roll." He put the module to full throttle. Where'd he'd end up, he didn't know. Dead most likely -- burning up in the atmosphere was highly probable. The chances of a wormhole opening up were astronomical at best. Opening one and getting home was impossible. But honestly, what did he have to lose?
Chiana and Aeryn looked up into the silent sky. They saw something streak across the heavens. They saw it come around again leaving behind a fiery trail. Suddenly, something amazing occurred. A blue flash temporarily blinded them. Then the streak disappeared. Chiana and Aeryn stared silently, wishing and hoping. "Goodbye John," Chiana murmured sadly. Standing up suddenly she shouted, "I love you John!" The grey Nebari fell back down to the ground with a thud. She continued to stare at the sky.
A blue flash exploded in front of John. 'Oh my god. It worked,' he thought, surprised. Then he remembered his last few wormhole trips. "Ah crap I hate this part!" He screamed. John's stomach wretched as the module flew in and burst forward at impossible speeds leaving Crichton plastered into his seat as the g forces pushed his sickly body. Rattlers vibrated in his stomach. The module tumbled over and sideways out of control. "OH SHIT!!!!" screamed John as he passed out. His last thoughts were if he'd ever find home.