Future Possibilities, part 2
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: see part 1
***
Command:
" John?" Aeryn's voice echoed through command. From a distance she watched her mate trying to repair something underneath one of the main control consoles. It wasn't looking good.
" What's wrong, Aeryn?" John asked, ceasing his work on the console.
" It's late. You said you would come to read Leslie a bedtime story about an arn and a half ago," she softly stated as she walked towards him and came to a stand still in front of John.
" Damn. I'm sorry, Aeryn. I don't exactly know what's up with me," he replied somewhat frustrated, throwing the tool he had been using back into the toolbox.
" It's Xhal," Aeryn concluded as she sat down next to John on the floor. A surprised expression flashed across John's face. How did she know? He always tried his best to hide his worries from her. John felt her fingers lovingly touch his cheek, urging him to look at her.
" Yes. How did you know?"
" I knew because I know you, John. After all these cycles there's nothing you can hide from me. If you want to know how our son is doing, you could of course ask Neri to tell you."
" I'm sick and tired of having to ask Neri about his whereabouts, Aeryn. I figure Neri might feel the same way as I do by now. The kid's off on some quest again and is who knows where or doing what for that matter," John sighed, leaning against the console.
" We all worry about him, John. But it's something he wants to do and you know what it's like when he's made up his mind," Aeryn spoke.
" Yeah...there's no chance of changin' it, especially with that stubborn streak of his. I know I told him that he needed to be his own kind of hero and not feel like he's standing in my shadow. But his choice of career wasn't exactly what I had in mind when I spoke those words out loud to him."
"He's fighting for a cause he believes is just," Aeryn smiled sadly. " As a mother I only want to protect him, but as a soldier I understand why he has chosen to do this. We can't protect him anymore, John. We need to trust in the fact that this is what makes Xhal happy. The both of us have given him all the necessary tools of survival a person needs in the Charted and Uncharted territories. There's nothing more we could have done for him."
" You're right, Aeryn," John replied, kissing her. A smile lingered on both their faces as they broke off the kiss. There was a better place than command to continue what they had started with their kiss. " Is Leslie mad at me?"
" Our daughter told me to tell you that she forgives you," Aeryn laughed as she remembered her conversation with their five cycle old daughter. " But she expects you to make it up to her by letting her fly with me in the prowler."
" I guess she leaves me no other chance," John chuckled as he got up from the floor.
" And there's more..." Aeryn stated dryly, letting John pull her up and take her in his arms.
" There's more?" John asked amazed. Leslie was like a miniature version of Aeryn in every possible way. Aeryn's pregnancy had been a surprise to say the least, because they hadn't planned it. When his daughter had been born he had felt like the luckiest man alive in the universe. The arrival of Leslie had completed their family.
" Yes. I..."
Before Aeryn could finish what she intended to say, Chiana ran into command and was obviously looking distraught. " Sorry to disturb you two, but I need to talk to you. It's about Xhal."
***
Xhal rubbed his eyes and yawned as he checked the readings on the small screen to his left. He tried to focus, but all he saw were blurry figures and what seemed to be complete gibberish. Flying for sixteen arns straight was finally starting to take its toll on him. The small cockpit of their marrauder class ship seemed even smaller than it normally did.
" Xhal, you still awake?"
He nearly jumped up from his chair upon hearing the voice of his tactical officer, Merac Yulon. Xhal turned to look over his shoulder and saw Merac leaning against the opened doorway. " Yeah, pretty much. Did Teris send you?"
Merac nodded. " She told me that if I wouldn't drag your eema out of here to get some sleep, she'd hurt me in ways I'd never imagined. Having heard that I decided that my life is too precious to lose, so I practically ran faster than I've ever done. I've must have broken several speed records to get here."
" If I had been in your shoes I would have done the same damn thing," Xhal laughed as he got out of the pilot's chair. With a swift gesture he signalled his intentions to the other man. Xhal ran his fingers through his spiky pitch black hair as he walked over to his friend." It's all yours, Merac. I certainly don't want you to face Teris's wrath if it aint necessary. She probably told you to knock me out cold if I refused to comply."
" Not in so many words..." Merac replied with a big grin plastered all over his face. He could literally see how tired Xhal was. Right about now he was actually glad Teris had forced him to take over the helm from their leader. It was a miracle that Xhal had managed to stay awake for this long since he hadn't even slept one microt after hearing the rumor about the Scarrans, which had been well over thirty-eight arns ago.
" I guess I'll be off to bed then," Xhal spoke, trying to fight off another yawn. "Wake me when we've reached our destination."
" Aye, Sir," Marec saluted as he sat down in the pilot seat and began to check the readings displayed on the screen. In about three arns they would reach their destination: the leviathan Moya. It was about time to send Moya a message about their pending arrival.
*
Walking through the small corridor, Xhal stopped for a moment to listen to the familiar engine sounds of the marauder. This ship had become home for him after having left behind his life on Moya. Even when his crew and he were back at the base, he spent most of his time on the marauder despite the fact that he had his own room back at the base. Two years ago he had decided to leave Moya in order to fight under the command of Neri. Looking back his choice had been the best thing he could have done at the time and he certainly felt no regret about making the decision of becoming his own kind of hero.
He had assembled a loyal crew around him during the past two years, a crew for which he would go to hell and back for. They were his family, like those on Moya were his mother and father's family. His crew were considered outcast by the other fighters, but respected nonetheless. He knew Neri had certainly voiced his disagreement about a couple of people he had added to his crew, finding them a too great a liability. Neri was very protective of him, because the Nebari had promised Xhal's parents to look after him.
" Xhalar..."
" Teris, what are you still doing up? You should be sleeping," Xhal looked up surprised, after noticing her standing at the end of the corridor outside of the sleeping area. She was wearing her black underwear and seemed unaffected by the cold platings of the ship. Her curly strawberry blonde hair playfully danced on her shoulders and her green eyes showed her concern for his well-being.
" I wasn't sure Marec would be able to convince you until I heard the sounds of your footsteps," she spoke softly. " You look tired, Xhal."
He nodded. " I am tired. Thank you for doing what you did, Ter. I really appreciate it."
She smiled as she shrugged. " It's what every second-in-command would do for their commanding officer. Besides I don't want to be the one who tells Neri you killed yourself by being too stubborn to take a break, so you could get some sleep."
" Speaking of getting some sleep. My bunk bed is awaiting my arrival and yours is getting cold," Xhal grinned as he continued on his way. He heard her sigh after he had passed her by.
The blackness of the sleeping area welcomed them as they made their way to their personal bunks. While sitting on his bed Xhal pulled of his boots as quietly as he possible could. Too tired to take off his clothes, he just laid down on his bed. Xhal was vast asleep before his head had even hit the pillow.
***
Moya:
" Did something happen to him?"
" Well, that's just it. I contacted Neri about an arn ago, because I noticed how concerned you were and figured I'd help you out..." Chiana frowned as she looked at her friends. They were both trying to hide their feeling, but it was evident that Aeryn was better at it than John. She didn't want to stand in their shoes right about now, even though she could imagine what was going through their minds.
" Is he okay, Chiana?" Aeryn asked, grabbing hold of John's hand and sqeezing it.
" That's the thing...Neri doesn't know. Xhal took off with his crew after reading some of the recently gathered intel and Neri hasn't heard from him since. He doesn't know what the intel was about because Xhal has apparantly taken it with him and nobody else besides Xhal has had the chance to read it. So Neri has no idea if Xhal's okay or if something has happened to him."
" Damn that kid of ours!" John shouted in frustration. " How can he be so frelling stupid? This is not something we taught him, Aeryn. You just don't go storming off somewhere without a solid plan. For all we know he could be dead."
" Aeryn...commander Crichton. I might have something of interest to you," Pilot spoke as he appeared on the clam shell in command. " I have received a recorded message from a marauder class vessel. It has something to do with Xhalar."
" Please play it on the main screen, Pilot," Aeryn stated as she walked over to one of the console and pushed several button. John and Chiana followed her lead and joined her at the console.
A Sebacean face appeared on the screen in front of them.
" This is Officer Merac Yulon of the marauder class vessel ' The Phoenix'. We request a rendez-vous with the Leviathan Moya. Code decca-alpha-decca. It is of an urgent matter."
" Pilot, mute sound," Aeryn spoke. She looked over at Pilot's image on the clam shell. Aeryn was getting a bad vibe about the whole thing. " Did they say anything about when they would be arriving at our position?'
" Their estimated arrival is in two and a half arns. Are you expecting trouble, Aeryn?" Pilot asked curiously.
" Pilot, I want security on alert and two of our squads armed and ready at the airlock after the Phoenix has docked with us,"
" Aeryn..." Chiana interrupted. " The Phoenix is Xhal's ship."
" We know, Chiana. But without knowing what happened we can't afford any unnecesarry risks," John finished. He knew why Aeryn was doing this. Their enemies knew about their son and could have planned something to strike back at them. Moya was carying a lot of people. People who needed to be protected from harm.
***
Command:
" John?" Aeryn's voice echoed through command. From a distance she watched her mate trying to repair something underneath one of the main control consoles. It wasn't looking good.
" What's wrong, Aeryn?" John asked, ceasing his work on the console.
" It's late. You said you would come to read Leslie a bedtime story about an arn and a half ago," she softly stated as she walked towards him and came to a stand still in front of John.
" Damn. I'm sorry, Aeryn. I don't exactly know what's up with me," he replied somewhat frustrated, throwing the tool he had been using back into the toolbox.
" It's Xhal," Aeryn concluded as she sat down next to John on the floor. A surprised expression flashed across John's face. How did she know? He always tried his best to hide his worries from her. John felt her fingers lovingly touch his cheek, urging him to look at her.
" Yes. How did you know?"
" I knew because I know you, John. After all these cycles there's nothing you can hide from me. If you want to know how our son is doing, you could of course ask Neri to tell you."
" I'm sick and tired of having to ask Neri about his whereabouts, Aeryn. I figure Neri might feel the same way as I do by now. The kid's off on some quest again and is who knows where or doing what for that matter," John sighed, leaning against the console.
" We all worry about him, John. But it's something he wants to do and you know what it's like when he's made up his mind," Aeryn spoke.
" Yeah...there's no chance of changin' it, especially with that stubborn streak of his. I know I told him that he needed to be his own kind of hero and not feel like he's standing in my shadow. But his choice of career wasn't exactly what I had in mind when I spoke those words out loud to him."
"He's fighting for a cause he believes is just," Aeryn smiled sadly. " As a mother I only want to protect him, but as a soldier I understand why he has chosen to do this. We can't protect him anymore, John. We need to trust in the fact that this is what makes Xhal happy. The both of us have given him all the necessary tools of survival a person needs in the Charted and Uncharted territories. There's nothing more we could have done for him."
" You're right, Aeryn," John replied, kissing her. A smile lingered on both their faces as they broke off the kiss. There was a better place than command to continue what they had started with their kiss. " Is Leslie mad at me?"
" Our daughter told me to tell you that she forgives you," Aeryn laughed as she remembered her conversation with their five cycle old daughter. " But she expects you to make it up to her by letting her fly with me in the prowler."
" I guess she leaves me no other chance," John chuckled as he got up from the floor.
" And there's more..." Aeryn stated dryly, letting John pull her up and take her in his arms.
" There's more?" John asked amazed. Leslie was like a miniature version of Aeryn in every possible way. Aeryn's pregnancy had been a surprise to say the least, because they hadn't planned it. When his daughter had been born he had felt like the luckiest man alive in the universe. The arrival of Leslie had completed their family.
" Yes. I..."
Before Aeryn could finish what she intended to say, Chiana ran into command and was obviously looking distraught. " Sorry to disturb you two, but I need to talk to you. It's about Xhal."
***
Xhal rubbed his eyes and yawned as he checked the readings on the small screen to his left. He tried to focus, but all he saw were blurry figures and what seemed to be complete gibberish. Flying for sixteen arns straight was finally starting to take its toll on him. The small cockpit of their marrauder class ship seemed even smaller than it normally did.
" Xhal, you still awake?"
He nearly jumped up from his chair upon hearing the voice of his tactical officer, Merac Yulon. Xhal turned to look over his shoulder and saw Merac leaning against the opened doorway. " Yeah, pretty much. Did Teris send you?"
Merac nodded. " She told me that if I wouldn't drag your eema out of here to get some sleep, she'd hurt me in ways I'd never imagined. Having heard that I decided that my life is too precious to lose, so I practically ran faster than I've ever done. I've must have broken several speed records to get here."
" If I had been in your shoes I would have done the same damn thing," Xhal laughed as he got out of the pilot's chair. With a swift gesture he signalled his intentions to the other man. Xhal ran his fingers through his spiky pitch black hair as he walked over to his friend." It's all yours, Merac. I certainly don't want you to face Teris's wrath if it aint necessary. She probably told you to knock me out cold if I refused to comply."
" Not in so many words..." Merac replied with a big grin plastered all over his face. He could literally see how tired Xhal was. Right about now he was actually glad Teris had forced him to take over the helm from their leader. It was a miracle that Xhal had managed to stay awake for this long since he hadn't even slept one microt after hearing the rumor about the Scarrans, which had been well over thirty-eight arns ago.
" I guess I'll be off to bed then," Xhal spoke, trying to fight off another yawn. "Wake me when we've reached our destination."
" Aye, Sir," Marec saluted as he sat down in the pilot seat and began to check the readings displayed on the screen. In about three arns they would reach their destination: the leviathan Moya. It was about time to send Moya a message about their pending arrival.
*
Walking through the small corridor, Xhal stopped for a moment to listen to the familiar engine sounds of the marauder. This ship had become home for him after having left behind his life on Moya. Even when his crew and he were back at the base, he spent most of his time on the marauder despite the fact that he had his own room back at the base. Two years ago he had decided to leave Moya in order to fight under the command of Neri. Looking back his choice had been the best thing he could have done at the time and he certainly felt no regret about making the decision of becoming his own kind of hero.
He had assembled a loyal crew around him during the past two years, a crew for which he would go to hell and back for. They were his family, like those on Moya were his mother and father's family. His crew were considered outcast by the other fighters, but respected nonetheless. He knew Neri had certainly voiced his disagreement about a couple of people he had added to his crew, finding them a too great a liability. Neri was very protective of him, because the Nebari had promised Xhal's parents to look after him.
" Xhalar..."
" Teris, what are you still doing up? You should be sleeping," Xhal looked up surprised, after noticing her standing at the end of the corridor outside of the sleeping area. She was wearing her black underwear and seemed unaffected by the cold platings of the ship. Her curly strawberry blonde hair playfully danced on her shoulders and her green eyes showed her concern for his well-being.
" I wasn't sure Marec would be able to convince you until I heard the sounds of your footsteps," she spoke softly. " You look tired, Xhal."
He nodded. " I am tired. Thank you for doing what you did, Ter. I really appreciate it."
She smiled as she shrugged. " It's what every second-in-command would do for their commanding officer. Besides I don't want to be the one who tells Neri you killed yourself by being too stubborn to take a break, so you could get some sleep."
" Speaking of getting some sleep. My bunk bed is awaiting my arrival and yours is getting cold," Xhal grinned as he continued on his way. He heard her sigh after he had passed her by.
The blackness of the sleeping area welcomed them as they made their way to their personal bunks. While sitting on his bed Xhal pulled of his boots as quietly as he possible could. Too tired to take off his clothes, he just laid down on his bed. Xhal was vast asleep before his head had even hit the pillow.
***
Moya:
" Did something happen to him?"
" Well, that's just it. I contacted Neri about an arn ago, because I noticed how concerned you were and figured I'd help you out..." Chiana frowned as she looked at her friends. They were both trying to hide their feeling, but it was evident that Aeryn was better at it than John. She didn't want to stand in their shoes right about now, even though she could imagine what was going through their minds.
" Is he okay, Chiana?" Aeryn asked, grabbing hold of John's hand and sqeezing it.
" That's the thing...Neri doesn't know. Xhal took off with his crew after reading some of the recently gathered intel and Neri hasn't heard from him since. He doesn't know what the intel was about because Xhal has apparantly taken it with him and nobody else besides Xhal has had the chance to read it. So Neri has no idea if Xhal's okay or if something has happened to him."
" Damn that kid of ours!" John shouted in frustration. " How can he be so frelling stupid? This is not something we taught him, Aeryn. You just don't go storming off somewhere without a solid plan. For all we know he could be dead."
" Aeryn...commander Crichton. I might have something of interest to you," Pilot spoke as he appeared on the clam shell in command. " I have received a recorded message from a marauder class vessel. It has something to do with Xhalar."
" Please play it on the main screen, Pilot," Aeryn stated as she walked over to one of the console and pushed several button. John and Chiana followed her lead and joined her at the console.
A Sebacean face appeared on the screen in front of them.
" This is Officer Merac Yulon of the marauder class vessel ' The Phoenix'. We request a rendez-vous with the Leviathan Moya. Code decca-alpha-decca. It is of an urgent matter."
" Pilot, mute sound," Aeryn spoke. She looked over at Pilot's image on the clam shell. Aeryn was getting a bad vibe about the whole thing. " Did they say anything about when they would be arriving at our position?'
" Their estimated arrival is in two and a half arns. Are you expecting trouble, Aeryn?" Pilot asked curiously.
" Pilot, I want security on alert and two of our squads armed and ready at the airlock after the Phoenix has docked with us,"
" Aeryn..." Chiana interrupted. " The Phoenix is Xhal's ship."
" We know, Chiana. But without knowing what happened we can't afford any unnecesarry risks," John finished. He knew why Aeryn was doing this. Their enemies knew about their son and could have planned something to strike back at them. Moya was carying a lot of people. People who needed to be protected from harm.