Title: Mr. Crichton Goes to Washington
Author: DOKChairman
Time/Spoilers: This takes place three monens after the end of Rystal.
Disclaimer: Farscape is the property of The Jim Henson Company, Rockne S. O'Bannon, the SCI-FI Channel (even though they don't deserve it), Hallmark Entertainment, and Nine Network Australia. The only thing that belongs to me is my original story and my original characters.
Author's Note: Alright everybody. Here it is, the long awaited, by me at least, continuation of my Rystal Trilogy. You must read Part 1 first, Rystal, or else things taking place in this story will make absolutely no sense. I dedicate this story to everyone who read and reviewed the first part, and who gave me such wonderful feedback and encouragement. Thank you very much.
Chapter 1: The Calm Before the Storm
The sound of flesh beating against flesh echoed loudly across the cavernous room. It was a sound all too familiar to John Crichton's ears, and he let out a sigh because of it. It seemed that he couldn't go a day without some form of violence muscling its way into his life. Just once, he would like to have a nice peaceful day. Without anyone trying to beat him, mind frell him, or just plain old kill him. The same went for his friends.
Fortunately, at least for the time being, he wasn't the one getting the dren kicked out of him. No, that honor belonged to the radiant Aeryn Sun and the equally stunning Juli Fallon. If John wasn't so tired and swamped with work, the thought of those two women getting all sweaty and worked up might have turned him on, but instead it just annoyed him. Did they have to spar all the time?
It seemed like any time he wanted to find the two women, his first stop was the training room aboard the command carrier Kraylor. Since coming aboard the carrier, Aeryn seemed like she was in the best shape of her life. Which was saying something because Aeryn already had an incredible body as far as John was concerned.
John finally rounded a corner and came face to face with one of the large sparring mats set aside for hand to hand combat training. On the mat were the two women he expected to see, both wearing their workout clothes. Which only served to depress John even more because both outfits left little to the imagination, at least his imagination, and yet John could still not make himself become interested. God he needed a vacation.
Once he found himself a decent vantage point, John leaned up against a wall and decided to watch the action for a little while. Both women were so into their sparring that they didn't even notice he had walked in. It really was an impressive sight.
John knew first hand how great a fighter Aeryn was, but he also knew that Juli was better. Or had been better he thought with surprise when he saw Aeryn surprise Juli with a lightning fast kick to her right side that doubled her over. Aeryn followed her kick up with a knee to the face that sent Juli reeling backwards. Aeryn then pressed her advantage, and before Juli could recover, swept her legs out from beneath her and pinned her to the ground with a knee to the throat.
Whoa! John was impressed. Maybe Aeryn training constantly wasn't a bad thing. Before they had started spending the majority of their time aboard the Kraylor, Aeryn would have never been able to beat Juli in a fight. Despite how good Aeryn was, Juli was an ex-Disruptor and they just weren't evenly matched. Now it seemed that wasn't the case.
John saw Aeryn slowly remove her knee from Juli's throat, and Juli brought her hand up to gingerly rub the spot. John saw Juli shoot Aeryn an impressed grin and Aeryn stuck her hand out to help Juli up. Juli took the hand and soon both women were standing, both trying to catch their breath after their intense match.
Since it seemed like there was a lull in the fighting, John figured it was as good a time as any to make his presence known.
John loudly cleared his throat and started walking towards them. John noticed with some amusement that both women jumped in surprise at his sudden presence. His smile was soon replaced with a frown though when he was close enough to talk. He had to remember that he was angry at one of them.
However, before John could even open his mouth, Juli started talking. "I know John, I know. I'm late."
John got angry. "Yer damn right your late. God, Juli. I've got enough dren as it is on my plate. I don't need you addin' to it as well." John then turned accusingly to Aeryn. "And you! You have to stop encouraging her. You're older. You're supposed to be a good influence on her."
Aeryn flashed John an unapologetic look of defiance and said, "I am a good influence. If it wasn't for me, Juli would never train. She's a soldier John, not a diplomat."
John's face reddened slightly at Aeryn's defiance. "Yeah, well I don't give a frell what she is supposed to be. Right now is what I care about, and right now she's supposed to be helping me with those idiot Council members."
Juli stepped in between the two before their argument could escalate into a fight. Juli attempted to appease John, "I'm sorry John. I know how busy you are and I promise to make this up to you. I just forgot what time it was."
John attempted to stare down Aeryn, but as usual she wasn't backing down. Frell it! John said gruffly, "Whatever Juli, I don't care. Take all the time you want."
John then turned around and stalked away. As soon as he turned the corner and was out of sight he slowed down. He felt like such a child. Storming away from that fight like he had. But god damnit, their carefree attitude was just making his life more miserable.
John hung his head as he walked to the exit of the training room. He was just so tired. It had been monens since he had had a full nights sleep. Not since the Peacekeeper-Scarren war had begun, had John had more than six arns. There was just too much to do. And unfortunately, the things that needed to be done were things only he could do.
Almost overnight, he had become responsible for the lives of over a billion people. As if that wasn't bad enough, the knowledge that he was finally beginning to truly understand wormholes weighed heavily on his mind. It wasn't until he began to understand the raw power behind wormhole tech that he finally understood why Scorpious had been so interested in it. With the power of wormholes, he could easily alter the fate of the universe. That thought more than anything unsettled him.
Nobody should have that much power and John felt uncomfortable knowing he possessed it. The only bright spot to the whole wormhole mess was that if he wanted to, he could probably figure out a way to get back to Earth. That was something he had been considering for a long time.
As much as he had gotten used to the Uncharted Territories, and more specifically Moya, there were still large parts of him that missed home. At least once before he died, he would like to visit Earth and let his family know what had happened to him. However, he knew that if he was ever going to visit Earth he had to do it sooner than later.
As much as he didn't like to think about it, his father was not a young man. Life without his wife had not been easy on Jack Crichton, but his pain had been tempered by the fact that he still had his children. John knew, however, that it was more than likely his father thought he was dead, and John was afraid of what that would do to his father. He worried that his father's health may have suffered due to having to go through so much pain. Jack was a strong man, possibly the strongest John had ever met, but even he would have difficulty handling two devastatating losses in such a relatively short time. John was afraid that if he waited too long, his father may be dead before he ever made it back. That was something he desperately didn't want to happen.
Unfortunately, things on Rotar were not going as smoothly as he had hoped. It had been three monens since Rotar ridded itself of its Peacekeeper presence and things were still in disarray.
The planet had started to rebuild, starting with the major cities. John knew that it would take monens, possibly even cycles to repair even half the damage the war had caused, but they had to get started somewhere.
John walked through the door of the training room and started his way down one of the carrier's long passageway. As his head was still down, he was walking aimlessly down the halls. Occasionally, he would pass someone in the passageway, but he never acknowledged them. They simply did the smart thing and stayed out of his way.
After a few hundred microts, John suddenly stopped and looked up to get a bearing on his surroundings. He had been so preoccupied with his thoughts that he had no idea where he was. The Kraylor was a very large ship, bigger than any ship John had ever been on, and it was easy to get lost on it if one wasn't paying attention to where they were going.
Frell! John was going to need directions if he was ever going to make it to the Council meeting in time. For once thankful that the Kraylor had a full crew, even though they were all ex-Peacekeepers, John knew he wouldn't have to look very hard to find someone who could tell him where to go.
John knew that he should have memorized the basic plan of the ship by now, but he just hadn't had the time. Besides, it had taken John monens before he had learned where everything was on Moya, and the Kraylor was almost twice Moya's size.
After about thirty microts of walking down the passageway, John came upon a tech working on what looked like a bundle of wires and components. John walked up to the Sebacean man sheepishly and said embarrassedly, "Hey there! Do ya think ya can tell me how to get to Deck Velka 3? I seem to have lost my way"
The man looked up in surprise at John and said quickly, "Um...yes sir. If you go down this passageway for about 100 microts, you should come across a lift that will take you to where you want to go." When the man was finished he quickly turned back to his work. It was obvious that he thought the conversation was over.
John sighed at the man's display. It annoyed him how people viewed him on the ship. It was even worse down on the planet. It wasn't that the tech was trying to ignore him, it was just the opposite. The tech was so awed by the presence of the great John Crichton that he was too afraid to actually join John in conversation. John snorted to himself. The great John Crichton! What a joke. The only thing that kept him from going insane from all the hero worship was that nobody from Moya viewed him like everyone else did. Despite all he had done in the last three monens, they still looked at him like he was the hapless human that had accidentally been shot through a wormhole. Granted, how they viewed him was nowhere near as bad as it had been his first cycle, but that opinion still existed in the minds of his crew mates.
Well, John had had enough. He was going to get this tech to talk to him if it was the last thing he did. John moved closer to the man who was pointedly concentrating on his work, and leaned over his shoulder to see what he was doing. He would make himself such a nuisance that the tech would have to say something.
"What ya doing?" John asked the man curiously.
To John's surprise the tech actually looked annoyed with him. Maybe everyone wasn't as impressed with him as he thought. This could get interesting.
The man looked at John out of the corner of his eye as he continued working. "I'm repairing a faulty wire in the navigational system. Sir."
John studied what the man was doing. It was good work, the man obviously knew what he was doing. John didn't think he could do any better. John leaned back and flashed a grin at the man's back. "Cool. That's some good work. Reminds me of myself and some of my poor boy chores back on Moya."
The man stopped working and looked at John in surprise. He leaned back until he was sitting on his haunches and placed the tool he was using down on the ground. When he spoke, he did so with wonder in his voice. "You did tech work? On a leviathan?"
John grinned. "You bet. You don't think I've always been such a hotshot do you? A man's got to start somewhere." John turned his voice into a whisper and he moved closer to the man. "Don't tell anyone I said this, but without me, Moya would have fallen apart a long time ago." John leaned back and schooled his face into a look of subdued pride. Ok, maybe he was stretching the truth a little bit, but he had contributed to Moya's continued existence on a number of occasions.
The man actually smiled at John and said, "I've always wanted to be assigned to a leviathan. They are so much more fascinating than a mechanoid ship. You know what I mean?"
John nodded his head. "I know. I almost suffered a coronary when I first realized I was walking around inside a living ship. I've seen some really bad stuff out here, but Moya is one of the few good things I've managed to come across."
Both men grew silent in quiet contemplation. John's eyes suddenly lit up and he got a pleased smile on his face. "Hey. I bet I could get you onto Moya. Hell, I've been meaning to visit her for a while now. I could give you a tour myself. What do you say?"
The man's face immediately lit up in pleasure, but it quickly became subdued. "I'm sorry sir, but I can't. My duties preclude me from leaving the ship at any time. Besides, my duty shift doesn't end for another five arns."
John waved his hand dismissively. What was the point in being the boss if he couldn't exploit his power every once in a while? "Are you forgetting who's in charge here? I think I can persuade your captain to let you leave the ship."
The man still wasn't convinced. Damn Peacekeeper sense of duty was still trying to hold him back, John thought disdainly. It was too bad that sense of duty didn't apply to former disruptors who were suppose to show up for meetings on time.
"Look. I promise you won't get in trouble and this may be your only chance to see a leviathan up close and personal. Trust me."
That seemed to end the debate in the man's mind and he nodded his head in acquiesce. John smiled his boyish grin and said eagerly, "Great! We'll leave right now."
John faltered for a second when he remembered that he was supposed to be meeting with the Rotarian High Council right about now, but he simply pushed that thought to the side. It was about damn time he did something for himself, and visiting Moya was just the thing he needed to take his mind off his troubles for a little while. He didn't care if he was blowing the Council off. He needed this.
Besides, an irrational part of his brain reasoned, if Juli could blow off the meeting, then so could he. Never mind that it was hypocritical of him to do so, especially after scolding Juli for not sticking to her responsibilities. As boss, it was his prerogative.
John's mind was brought back to the present when the tech protested, "But sir, I thought you had to be somewhere?"
John just shrugged his shoulders. "Nah. It can wait. Oh, and please call me John. I hate being called sir."
The tech looked uncomfortable at addressing John as John but he nodded his head in acceptance. He then said, "My name is Norrsk Fir."
John grinned and stuck out his hand. Norrsk stared at the hand hesitantly and then grasped John's hand in a firm grip. John shook his hand and said, "Nice to meet ya Norrsk Fir." John then moved to Norrsk's side and placed his arm around his shoulders. "I think you and I are going to get along great."
Juli picked her towel up off the floor of the training room and began to wipe the sweat off of her body. As she did so she asked the woman next to her, who was also drying herself off, if they had really frelled up.
Aeryn shrugged her shoulders and said pensively, "Maybe. He seemed really mad when he left. Maybe I shouldn't have said what I did."
Juli got contemplative. "You know he's right don't you? We have been spending too much time in here and I've been neglecting my duties lately. This training has been great for both of us but I think we should stop doing it so often. John really does need my help."
Aeryn frowned. "I know. He can just be so infuriating sometimes."
Juli laughed. "I know what you mean. Sometimes you can't decide whether or not you want to kill him or frell him."
Aeryn laughed uncomfortably and started to wipe her face. Juli, meanwhile, continued talking, "Speaking of frelling, I think you should know that John and the good captain have been spending a lot of time together lately." Juli tried to gauge Aeryn's reaction to her words, but other than a tightening of her jaw, Aeryn did not let anything slip. "I don't know if they're frelling, but John has been seen leaving her quarters late in the sleep cycle at least three times in the last weeken."
Aeryn wrapped her towel around her shoulders and fixed Juli with a glare. "Why are you telling me this?"
Juli shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. Just felt like you deserved to know."
Harshly, Aeryn said, "Well I don't want to know. John can do whatever he wants in his personal life. He doesn't owe me any explanations and it's none of my business."
"I know, I know. I just thought you would want to be completely informed if you decided to ever make it your business." Juli tried to calm Aeryn down. She should have known better than to bring up John being involved with another woman. She knew how she felt about the idea and she could only imagine what Aeryn was feeling.
Aeryn turned around and started to walk towards the exit. "I appreciate your concern Juli, but its not necessary. John and I have an...understanding. After what I did to him, I still don't think he trusts me and until he does, we can never form a relationship. You should just let it be."
When Aeryn reached the end of the sparring mat she turned back around and waited for Juli to catch up to her. Juli jogged towards her and they started walking toward the exit together. "You know Juli, John would not be very happy if he knew you were following him."
Juli grinned and said, "Well, as John likes to say, what he doesn't know won't hurt him. Its my job to know where John is at all times. And its not like I follow him around personally, I have one of the security people do it. Someone he doesn't even know, that way he'll never suspect he's being watched."
Aeryn laughed conspiratorially. She was about to say something when Juli's comm bleeped. Juli responded immediately, "Yes?"
The voice of the Kraylor's captain, Lorana Verity, came over the comm. "Juli, do you know where John is?"
"He should be at the Council meeting. He's not there?" Juli asked.
"No he's not, and the Council is not happy. I've been looking form him for the last quarter arn, but nobody seems to know where he is." Both Juli and Aeryn could hear the worry in Lorana's voice and it made them both angry. Neither of them liked how close John and the captain seemed to be getting.
"We just saw him a little over a quarter arn ago. He said he was going to the meeting. Have you contacted security?"
"Of course I have. Besides, as head of security, aren't you suppose to know where John is? I thought you always have someone following him?" Lorana asked scornfully.
Surprise appeared on Juli's face. She didn't know that Lorana knew what was going on. It shouldn't have surprised her though. Lorana was the captain of the ship after all, and she wouldn't be a good captain if she didn't know what was going on aboard her own ship. And Lorana was a very good captain.
Juli responded tightly to Lorana's accusation, "Like I said, I thought he was going to the meeting. Are Vorel and Graf missing as well?"
Lorana hesitated before answering, "I don't know. Let me check." There was a long pause before Lorana's voice came back on the comm. When she did, there was noticeable relief in her voice. "You were right, they're gone as well."
Juli nodded her head even though Lorana could not see her do it. It was something she had picked up from John. "There you go then. As long as Vorel and Graf are gone, I don't think there's anything to worry about. John probably just decided to go-what's the word I'm looking for here?"
Aeryn answered her. "Cruising. John likes to go cruising when he gets stressed."
"Thanks. Like I was saying Lorana, John probably decided to go cruising." Juli made sure she pronounced the unfamiliar word the correct way.
"But what about the meeting? The Council will not be happy that he's gone."
"Don't worry about the Council. I'll handle them." Juli jumped on the chance to help make up for her earlier irresponsibility.
Lorana was unsure. "Are you sure that's wise? They may see it as an insult if only you show up."
"I said don't worry about it Lorana. I know how to handle the Council." Juli said forcefully.
"All right. I'll comm the Council and tell them you're on your way. And make sure you find out where John is. Its not good for him to be out of contact for this long." Lorana ordered.
Despite the fact that Juli was not under her command, Juli felt herself acknowledging the command she had been given. Sometimes it was hard to override her Peacekeeper upbringing.
A beep emanated from the comm, signifying that Lorana had signed off, and Juli turned to face Aeryn. With a self suffering groan, Juli said, "Next time we see John, remind me to kick his eema for leaving the ship without telling me. He should know by now how much that pisses me off."
Aeryn laughed sharply. "If you think that John is going to stop doing something just because it annoys you, you've got another thing coming. The day John Crichton stops being unpredictable is the day I become a Delvian priest."
Juli sighed. "I can hope though can't I?"
Aeryn shrugged her shoulders. "No reason not too, although it probably won't do you any good. But as John likes to say, all we have is hope. I hope that someday John will finally trust me again. Unfortunately, I don't know if that day will ever happen."
The transport pod landed gently in Moya's cavernous hangar bay, and John turned to the man next to him and flashed him a grin. "She's gonna blow your socks off man. I hope you're ready."
Norrsk Fir could only nod his head; he was too nervous to do anything else. He was about to live out his dream. For many cycles, he had tried to transfer to the bio-mechanoid division of Peacekeeper Tech, but every single time he was denied. The common excuse, he thought bitterly, was that he was too good a tech to be wasted on a purely scientific endeavor. He had been trained to serve on a warship, and serve on a warship was what he would do.
He wasn't fortunate enough to have connections in the Peacekeeper hierarchy like some techs he knew. Those techs could get reassigned anywhere in the fleet, no matter what their training specified. And he wasn't smart or qualified enough, despite his training and impeccable service record, to be assigned to the special operations branch of Peacekeeper Tech. He was stuck where he was at.
He had hoped when Admiral Bach and the ship had broken away from the Peacekeepers that he would no longer be confined to a single area of study, but just like before, all his requests to be transferred had been refused. Things were too busy they would say. Transferring critical personnel away from their duty stations to less important sections was simply a misuse of resources. Which was something the ship couldn't afford.
But when John Crichton himself had asked him to come along with him to visit the leviathan Moya, Norrsk had finally seen an opportunity. If it hadn't been for his constant disappointment at seeing his hopes dashed, and if it hadn't been for his sense of duty to the ship and his training, he would have jumped on the opportunity to leave with the human as soon as he had opened him mouth. Instead, he had protested and tried to refuse.
He just praised whatever deity was out there that John Crichton was more stubborn than he was. He was still amazed by the fact that he was in a transport pod with the leader of the rebellion sitting right next to him, and that he was about to set foot on a real leviathan. He was finally accomplishing his one and only goal.
John could see the nervousness written plainly on the skittish tech's face and he smiled sympathetically. "Hey, relax. It may seem like a bit much at first, but after a few microts you'll get used to her. Moya's a big sweetheart."
John then turned his head to look at the two men sitting behind him. "You guys alright back there? You've been quieter than usual."
The two men in question, Vorel and Graf, both shrugged their shoulders in tandem. John smiled inwardly at that. It seemed some of his human gestures were starting to rub off on them. Because Graf could not talk, Vorel responded to John's question. "We saw how much you were enjoying yourself and did not want to disturb you."
John snorted. "Since when has that ever stopped you before?"
Vorel smiled a toothy smile. "Well, since Juli didn't tell us to keep you out of trouble, we've decided to let you do whatever you want on this trip. Besides, we plan to get all our enjoyment we normally get at watching you squirm when Juli finds out you left the ship without telling her."
John swore. "Damn, I knew I forgot something."
Norrsk turned to John worriedly. "You didn't tell anyone you were leaving? That means they'll think I deserted my duty station!" Norrsk was getting a little bent out of shape.
John shot a death glare at Vorel and tried to reassure Norrsk that everything was going to be all right. "Don't worry! I told you already that you won't get in trouble. Just relax."
Norrsk stopped panicking and John got out of his seat. "We better get this over with before he blows a gasket and messes himself all over the floor."
Norrsk didn't fully understand exactly what John had said, but he got the gist of the insult. He let out a cry of indignation, "Hey! Your not the one who'll get spaced for deserting your station. I am. So back the frell off!"
John stared at Norrsk in shock and then started laughing. "Oh man, if you could see your face. I was starting to worry if I had made a mistake in bringing you with me, but now I know I didn't. You scared me there for a few microts though."
Norrsk stared at John. "You are very strange, sir."
John laughed and made his way to the exit. "Don't I know it."
John then went through the exit and down the stairs, Vorel and Graf right behind him. To John's pleasant surprise, D'argo and Chiana were waiting for him. John grinned widely and swaggered up to the pair.
"Big guy! Pip! How you guys doing?"
D'argo grinned and Chiana gave John a hug. D'argo greeted John in his gruff voice, "John its good to see you."
Chiana chimed in, "Yeah old man. Why didn't you tell us you were coming John? We could have set up a party."
John blushed and said, "Well, you see, I kind of snuck out. Nobody knows I'm here."
A disapproving look appeared on D'argo's face. "I don't think Aeryn will be very happy about that."
"Yeah well, I don't care. I needed a break and Moya was the only place I could think of where I could relax without somebody asking me to do something every five microts. Besides, I promised my new friend Norrsk here to give him a personal tour of Moya." John dragged Norrsk closer to present him to the two.
Norrsk nervously looked over the two aliens and he shifted uncomfortably. It was the first time he had ever been so close to a Luxan before. The Nebari didn't intimidate him very much, although she did move strangely. Plus, he thought she was very attractive, for an alien that is.
"Uh...hi" Norrsk said quietly.
Chiana purred and moved closer to the tech. After looking him over she turned to John and said, "He's cute. Where'd you find him?"
Norrsk blushed at Chiana's compliment. John, meanwhile, just shrugged his shoulders and said, "I don't know. I was just taking a leisurely stroll when I happened to walk by him working on one of the ship's systems. We got to talkin, he told me he'd always wanted to see a leviathan, and I decided to take him on a trip to Moya. Purely spur of the moment decision."
Chiana focused back on Norrsk. "Oooo, a tech. I like smart men."
D'argo chuckled and said, "Chiana, you like all men."
Chiana just grinned in response and after seeing how uncomfortable she was making the Sebacean, moved away and resumed her spot standing next to D'argo.
"Where's everyone else?" John asked curiously. Since the end of the rebellion on Rotar, Moya had taken in quite a few new crew members. Some to make up for the absence of John, Aeryn, and Rygel, others to simply flesh out the crew.
Jayn Fyy, the former Peacekeeper commando, and if the rumors John heard were true, D'argo's new lover, had moved onto Moya to become her new doctor. Since Zhaan's absence, Moya had been without a properly trained diagnosan for some time, and Jayn was more than happy to settle on Moya and start a new life. A number of techs had been assigned as maintenance personnel as well. Even two former Prowler pilots had wanted to live on Moya, along with their Prowlers.
Of course, most of the former crew still lived on Moya as well. D'argo, Chiana, Stark, and Jool all still lived on Moya. Technically, John, Aeryn, and Rygel still lived there as well, but they had been spending so much time on the Kraylor that they hardly ever spent anytime on Moya.
D'argo responded vaguely to John's question, "Oh they're around somewhere. We only found out you were coming a hundred microts before you landed."
"I guess I'll just have to make sure I say hi to everyone before I leave." John then stopped and turned to Norrsk. "All right, its time to start the tour. First stop, Pilot."
Juli left the conference room exhausted and physically drained. It had taken her two arns, but she had finally gotten the Council to calm down and listen to what she had to say. If she wasn't doing this to make up to John, she would have probably taken out her pulse pistol and killed every single one of the whiny, overbearing, and power hungry drannits. No, as enjoyable as killing them all would have been, she knew she couldn't do it. For one thing, the mess would have been a bitch to clean up.
Juli sighed and started walking the long way to her quarters. She was actually going to go to bed early for once. She had others things to do, like make sure John got safely back from his trip to Moya and debrief him on the meeting she had just left, but she was just too tired to care.
She had found out just before she had started the Council meeting that John was in fact on Moya. She had thought that was where he had gone, so that was the first place she checked. She made sure she gave Vorel and Graf their instructions and then she had decided to let John have his fun. She could yell at him when he came back on board later.
With visions of her bed dancing in front of her eyes, Juli hastened her pace to her quarters. Halfway there her comm beeped. Juli froze in mid stride and stared evilly at the small device. For the longest time she just stared at it, hoping it would just disappear and never bother her again. Unfortunately, it did nothing of the sort.
Sighing loudly in resignation, Juli activated her comm. The captain's voice assaulted her ears, dashing all hopes she had of an early night. "Juli, I need you to come to the operations room immediately. Its an emergency."
An emergency? Her first panicked thought went immediately to John, but she knew it was doubtful he could be the cause. Moya was only a few thousand metras away. Any threat to her would also be a threat to the Kraylor, and as far as she knew, the ship was not on combat alert.
Juli responded, "I'll be there in thirty microts Lorana."
Juli didn't wait for Lorana's acknowledgment and took off running towards the nearest lift. After about ten microts she reached one of the special command level lifts, and it quickly took off in the direction of the operations room. As she was waiting, Juli tried to think of anything that could warrant an emergency meeting. The only thing she could think of was that it had to do with the war.
In the three monens since the start of the Peacekeeper-Scarren war, things had been relatively quiet. Admiral Bach and the Peacekeeper fleet he had led had destroyed most of the Scarren invasion fleet that was poised to conquer the sector. Juli knew that it would take them some time to replenish their forces, but it had taken everyone by surprise that it had taken them this long. Juli was starting to believe that the delay was deliberate and that the Scarrens were waiting for something. What that thing they were waiting for was, was something everyone wanted to know.
The lift came to a stop and Juli burst out of the lift and into the passageway. It only took her a few microts more to run the remaining distance to the operations room. Juli entered her authorization code into the door's lock, and when it accepted her code, she walked in.
To her surprise, it looked like she was the last to arrive. Overlooking a large table-like vid screen of the Rotarian sector and its surrounding systems, were the twelve Primes of the Rystalva, Toben, Aeryn, Lorana, and Dominar Rygel XVI.
Lorana looked up from studying the vid screen and Juli could see a serious look on her face. "Juli, good, you're here. I have some bad news. Intelligence reports have just come in from our contacts in the Special Directorate that the Scarrens are finally on the move. A Scarren attack fleet hit the Peacekeeper sector headquarters on Granilet IV about two arns ago. The Peacekeeper defenses held, but our analysis suggests it is only a matter of time before the base is overrun. Tactical suggests no more than a solar day."
Lorana then paused and turned her head to look at Lieutenant Vin, the Kraylor's tactical officer, and his staff who were nestled off in a corner of the large room. They were frantically punching information into their data screens. "Lieutenant, the border please."
Juli looked down and the holo image on the vid screen changed to show a map of the Rotarian-Scarren border. Lorana resumed her briefing, "Unfortunately, the news gets worse. Our lookout posts along the border have reported an increase in Scarren activity. According to reports, at least six dreadnoughts have been deployed in the last arn."
Toben, a large Rotarian and the Rystalva's second in command, interrupted Lorana's briefing with a question. "Do we know if the Scarrens plan to invade?"
Lorana shook her head. "No sir. So far the Scarrens are just sitting there."
Aeryn added, "They must know how weak our defenses are."
"Agreed. Either the Scarrens do not intend to invade this system or else they are waiting for something. What that is, we don't know yet." Lorana reported.
Juli asked a question of her own, "Perhaps they are trying to bait us? Make us attack them like your father did."
Lorana said skeptically, "It's possible, but doubtfull. As Officer Sun pointed out, they must know that Rotar has very little in defensive capabilities. The Kraylor could handle two, maybe three dreadnoughts, but in no way can it stand up against a full invasion fleet. If they wanted to, there would be very little we could do to stop them from invading."
Juli felt a hollow pit form in her stomach. This was what they had all been dreading for the last three monens. That the Scarrens would finally decide to attack the sector and conquer Rotar. Rotar and its extensive space ports were essential to maintaining any fleet in the Uncharted Territories. Frell, Rotar was the only system in two sectors that even had a space port. The Scarrens would not be able to maintain their hold on any conquered territory without Rotar.
Juli's eyes suddenly widened as a thought came to her. "Does John know about any of this yet?"
Lorana shook her head and said, "No. We've tried to comm Moya multiple times in the last quarter arn but we have been unable to get a response. Before you came in, I was about to send out a Marauder team to bring him back."
Toben, speaking in his deep voice, added, "A good idea. John must know what's going on. Send out the team and bring him in now. We can't afford to waste any time."
Juli was about to volunteer to go get John when Aeryn beat her to it. "You guys don't need me right now. I'll take a transport pod and go fetch John. I'll be back in half an arn."
Aeryn then left without waiting for a confirmation of her plan. Juli felt a small smile form when she saw Lorana's reaction to Aeryn's sudden departure. The frown quickly left the captain's face and she focused back on the map.
Now that the debriefing was over, Toben assumed control of the meeting. Effectively in charge until John was found, Toben began issuing orders. He first spoke to Lorana. "I want the Kraylor placed on combat alert, and I want rotating Prowler patrols every arn. I want to know the microt those dreadnoughts cross the border. Oh and see if you can comm Captain Crais. The last I heard he was in this sector and any help he could provide would be of great assistance."
Lorana accepted her orders and immediately walked over to talk quietly to her tactical officer. Toben then focused his attention on the twelve Primes of the Rystalva. "Prepare your units for an invasion. If the Scarrens do attack, our ground forces will be the only hope we have of actually defeating them. I realize that against Scarrens there is little that we can do, but every bit helps."
Toben then focused his attention on the diminutive Dominar. "As for you Dominar, as distasteful as the thought is, I want you to begin thinking of ways to solve this matter diplomatically. If we can avoid an invasion through diplomacy, then you are our best chance."
Juli laughed slightly when the Hynerian drew himself up to his full height. Disdainfully he said, "Deal with Scarrens? Are you farbot? There is no dealing with those monsters, but I will do my best. Personally, I think we should leave orbit immediately. But that's just me."
Toben just ignored Rygel and moved to talk more in-depth with the primes. Juli moved up to the floating former Dominar and mock admonished him. "Now Rygel, that's not a very brave sentiment."
Rygel snorted and said in his usual pragmatic tone. "Bravery is for the man too stupid to realize he has already lost and that the best corse of action is too retreat. As you well know, I am not stupid."
Juli decided to use one of John's favorite nicknames for Rygel. "Oh I know you're not Sparky." She then rubbed his head between his ears and walked away, laughing at Rygel's protests at being touched by a filthy Sebacean.
"...and this is the most important part of Moya: the central chamber. Where one can find an assortment of fine cuisine from a number of exotic worlds." John then stuck his head into the refrigeration unit and pulled out a tray of food cubes. "Oooo, look. Brown food cubes. Oh and it must be our lucky day, because can you believe it, orange food cubes as well."
John grinned at D'argo and said sarcastically, "And to think that I'm stuck eating real food on the Kraylor. You guys are so spoiled."
Chiana said hopefully, "Well, if your tired of the food, you can always come back to Moya."
"I'd like to Chi, really I would, but I have too much to do and I just can't do the stuff I need to do on Moya. Besides, I don't think Moya, you guys, or Pilot would appreciate a few hundred Peacekeepers traipsing through the ship."
Vorel interrupted. "Ex-Peacekeepers John."
John nodded his head absentmindedly. "Uh, yeah. Whatever."
Pilot's face suddenly appeared on the clamshell in the central chamber. He looked agitated and worried. "Commander Crichton, a transport pod is approaching from the Kraylor."
John sighed. "I'm surprised it took them this long to come and get me. I swear, they keep me on a shorter leash than a dog." John then directed a question at Pilot, "Are they comming us Pilot?"
"I don't know. As you know, Moya has been experiencing problems with her comms ever since Tech Fir accidentally pulled out one of Moya's comm relays."
John noticed out of the corner of his eye, Norrsk blushing furiously and trying to draw as little attention to himself as possible. John felt for him. He had made a few mistakes when he had first come aboard Moya. And it had been an honest mistake.
In reality, it was probably more his fault than Norrsk's. He had been showing off one of Moya's systems, when Chiana had distracted him. Norrsk had asked him a question about the comm system, and instead of giving him his full attention, he had only made a half heartened attempt to tell Norrsk what he wanted to know. The result being, Norrsk had accidentally fiddled with the wrong set of wires.
Thankfully, neither Moya or Pilot held what happened against Norrsk. John had tried fixing the problem, but it was more a job for the DRD's then a human, so John had left the problem for Pilot to solve. Pilot had assured him that the problem would be fixed soon, but it had been an arn since the incident and the comm was still on the fritz. John was seriously contemplating taking a second look at the thing, but if someone was coming to get him, it didn't look like he was going to get much of a chance.
John turned back to look at Pilot. "All right Pilot. Have the transport pod land in the hangar bay. I'll leave right now to meet them. They're probably here for me anyway."
"Of course Commander Crichton. Deploying the docking web now."
Pilot then signed off and John turned to face the others. He said sadly, "I wish I didn't have to, but it looks like its time for me to leave. You guys wanna come with me to the hangar bay?"
D'argo responded gruffly, "Of course John."
John and the others all left the central chamber and started the trek toward the hangar bay. As they walked, John positioned himself so that he was next to Norrsk. Placing a comforting hand on the man's shoulder, John tried to convince him that what had happened earlier wasn't his fault. "I know that this probably wasn't how you pictured this turning out, but what happened wasn't your fault. If anything, its my fault. You asked me a question and I was too distracted to give you the right answer."
Norrsk looked at him with a pained look on his face. "You might have been distracted, but I was the one who pulled the wires. I should know the difference between a comm relay and a temperature relay. I suppose this just proves what my superiors have been saying. That I'm just not suited for a bio-mechanoid."
John was having none of that. "Didn't I just tell you that what happened wasn't your fault? I'm one of your superiors too and I'm telling you I think you're perfect for tech work on a leviathan. How many other techs do you know who would be so worried about frelling up as much as you are? I know that you aren't worried because you're afraid of being reprimanded, but because you're worried that you hurt Moya. That proves right there you're perfect for the job."
Norrsk still didn't seem convinced but he did drop the subject. Which was good because they had just reached the hangar bay. To John's surprise, Aeryn was waiting for them.
John immediately asked, "What's up Aeryn?"
Aeryn responded quickly, "It's the Scarrens John. They launched an attack against the Peacekeepers at Granilet IV three arns ago."
All the color drained out of John's face. Shakingly he asked, "How bad?"
Aeryn responded in her clipped tone, "Bad. Lorana doesn't think the base will last longer than a solar day. And John, the Scarrens are massing on the border."
John started to feel hopeless but he quickly squashed that emotion. That was something he couldn't afford to feel. There were too many people depending on him. "All right. I'm guessing that you're here to take me back." Aeryn nodded her head in confirmation. "Ok, then lets go. I assume that Toben and Lorana have already started making preparations?"
"Yes John. The Kraylor has moved to combat alert status and Toben has ordered the Rystalva to ready themselves for an invasion." Aeryn answered succinctly.
John sighed sadly. "I was hoping this would never happen, but it looks like war has finally come."
Next time on Farscape: John suffers a nightmare involving his father, the Scarrens attack more Peacekeeper bases, and John must decide whether or not he should visit Earth.