Stark entered the cell via an access channel, studied his charge. He did not need to be in contact to feel the waves of pain and rage emanating off Ashan. He did not speak, but walked up to him and put his hand on Ashan's face.

Ashan was startled by Starks appearance. He had studied this little known phenomenon but had never met a Stykera Banik. The hand on his face was seeping the rage from Ashan, leaving only the grief. Impervious to those looking on, Ashan collapsed, weeping into Stark. Stark removed his mask, the light filling the room, enveloping both men. Linking was very easy, Stark noted. Either he was very ready to embrace his own death, or he was gifted extraverbally. Stark realized it was death he sought.

Something deep in the recesses of this man's mind, Stark saw something that would not allow him to ease the man into the peaceful death he sought. He replaced his mask.

"She is still alive." Stark looked at Ashan, gauging his reaction. A fragile hope flared briefly.

"She is alive" Stark repeated. "Alive! Alive! Alive! Alive!" He sing- songed out of the room. Starks moments of lucidity were generally never long.

Ashan was unsure of what to believe. He had heard of the Banik Stykera abilities, but of the madness as well. But could she be alive? Why could he not sense their bond?

He threw back his head and howled. He bowed his head; the hair that had escaped from its band fell forward to obscure part of his face.



"Creepy." Said Chiana, who had just come around the corner.

"Yeah, Stark has such a charming bedside manner." Crichton quipped.

"Pilot asked me to bring him some food cubes." Chiana explained her presence.

John doubted it was Pilot's order, more likely Chiana's own curiosity that drew her down to this level.

"So, who is he?" Chiana asked.

D'Argo was irritated at Chiana's interest, mistaking it for her usual shippiness.

Chiana peered in at the man bent forward. She stepped back a minute.

"Looks harmless."

At that Ashan raised his head.

"You?" He abruptly rose to look at Chiana. "You were in a vision.why? Who are you?"

She backed away, nearly tripping herself in her haste to leave. She paused a moment. In an uncharacteristic display of vulnerability.

"I don't know." She fled.

The assembled crew looked uncertain as how to proceed.

"May I make a request?" it was Ashan who broke the uncomfortable silence. "Please.ask Moya to move into range to contact Talyn. I need to know."

He did not look up, he would meet no one's eyes. The earlier rage was still hanging in the atmosphere. The silence stretched out to its former discomfort. Pilot responded.

"Moya will consider your request."



On Talyn.

Crais had rushed forward in time to catch K'Tahli when she fainted. Rainne touched K'Tahli's face, assured Crais she was essentially unharmed.

"You have such a way with women." Rainne smiled at Crais as he picked up the unconscious girl. Crais did not return the smile, but his countenance softened a bit.

"Talyn, please assist Rainne in running diagnostics on any potential damage you may have incurred." Crais gave the gentle order. He turned to Rainne. "I will see to our guest and return."



In vacant quarters down the passageway, Crais laid K'Tahli gently on the bunk. He studied her for a moment. Talyn had explained to him that she had been on the now deceased leviathan. Teleportation was not unusual in some races, and it was hard to discern K'Tahli's origins. He brushed a stray lock of her hair from her forehead. He never did that with anyone but Rainne. Her eyes fluttered open, focused, went wide.

"Captain." she tried to sit up. He sat back, stiffly, as if his own kindness embarrassed him.

"Allow me to apologize if I gave you a fright. I meant you no harm."

His formal tone was back, and it was an obvious attempt at distancing himself. K'Tahli thought for a moment of trying to seek his mind, then rejected the idea. Trust would be essential to develop with this man. Ashan's brother.the thought of it warmed her, she smiled.

"You." she faltered. Something about his cool formality made her hesitate to share her discovery. "You look very much like someone I am close to." She finished. It was truth, just not the whole truth. She put her hand to her forehead and swayed slightly, as if dizzy. The ploy worked as she planned and he put his hands on her arms to steady her. She allowed the skin-to-skin contact to let her communicate the essence of her relationship with Crais. The tactile neural bond gave no facts; just let him feel what she felt. He dropped his hands from her arms as quickly as decorum would allow.

"Talyn!" He stood abruptly. "Send Rainne to these quarters."

K'Tahli studied the clenched jaw and watched Crais easily slip his emotions back into control. That was very much unlike Ashan.

Rainne came in and looked at Crais.

"Talyn said you sent for me?"

K'Tahli saw the expression change again on Crais. Ah, she thought to herself, there is something the brothers do share. An intense ability to love.

"I will see to Talyn. Please see that our guest is comfortable. We will need to prepare to contact Moya." He strode from the room.



The women regarded each other from across the room.

"Are you all right?" Rainne asked.

"I am. Thank you." K'Tahli regarded Rainne carefully. She was an ethereally pretty woman. Her eyes were a deep green that seemed to tell the story of her life to any who cared to look. Despite a haunted look behind the kindness, there was steel. Rainne would not be a good one to underestimate, but a worthy friend to have.

Rainne watched the girl size her up, make her decision. From what she could remember, Rainne made friends easily, people naturally liked her. But this was different. There was a connection. Unlike Crais' reaction to the connection, Rainne welcomed it.

"I meant to thank you for pulling Crais from the cluster. He means a great deal to me."

"I had guessed as much." K'Tahli smiled. Emotional expression was not easy for Rainne, either. Rainne smiled back at her.

"K'Tahli? I know that Crais can be.difficult.but most people don't faint just at his name. What happened?"

Rainne phrased the question gently. She had made a similar determination about K'Tahli. There was steel in her too. She had gone without hesitation into the cluster for a stranger, she had teleported, which had to require some nerve. But something about Crais had broken through her defenses. She reminded Rainne a bit of a wolf she had read about on the station. The animal was fierce and intelligent, but loved for life and could teach loyalty to the Peacekeepers.

"Where to begin."

"You recognized Crais. Were you in Peacekeeper custody?" Rainne asked, but somehow she did not think that was the case.

"No!" K'Tahli quickly reassured Rainne. "I was never in Peacekeeper custody. Until our families were destroyed a few solar days ago, I had no real contact with them. We lived on a remote planet that was ignored by the PK." K'Tahli's face clouded at the mention of the attack on their families.

"Why did they ignore it?"

"Solar flares made communication difficult, technology virtually impossible. It was home to healers, psychics, teleports and holistic sciences. Some escaped there, it was a refuge for many. My own mother fled to the planet when she carried me." A tear escaped at the mention of her mother, it fell unnoticed.

"Was your mother fleeing Peacekeepers too?"

"No. Our people have very strict laws about bloodline purity, and recreation without a sanctioned, bonded mate. My mother fell in love with a passing trader of mixed heritage. When her father discovered she carried a child, he planned her execution. She fled." Rainne winced at K'Tahli's mention of an execution for being in love.

"Then how do you know Bialar?"

K'Tahli looked directly at Rainne. There was nothing to denote a reason for distrust.

"I am married to his youngest brother."

"But his brother was killed!" Rainne vaguely noted that K'Tahli had not used the past tense.

K'Tahli, not knowing about Tauvo, was taken aback a moment. There had been two! And one she would never know.She bent her head a moment and mourned for a man she never knew. Her eyes were hot but dry when she looked back up at Rainne.

"Rainne. Let me tell you what I know. Ashan knows more, and Marata would have been able to tell it all, but she was killed as well."

Rainne nodded her assent. She was stunned, but had no reason not to believe K'Tahli. Rainne considered asking Talyn not to vid chip the conversation, but rejected the idea.

"Ashan's mother was pregnant when her boys were conscripted. Despite knowing that Sebacean boys were meant to be Peacekeepers, their removal was her undoing. She hid the pregnancy, and brought her infant son to our out- of-the-way system. She gave him to a couple known for their compassion. She asked only that he be kept from the Peacekeepers and devote his life to a peaceful pursuit."

"How did you know it was Bialar's mother?" Rainne asked.

"Our people do not have secondary names, or middle names. Some do not even use surnames. Marata named Ashan with a middle name- perhaps even then she knew he might run into his brothers. His name is Ashan Crais Ferrian."

K'Tahli sat back against the wall. Talyn could feel her, and pulsed warmly behind her back. Rainne watched the lights as Talyn pulsed behind K'Tahli's back.

"I think the leviathan somehow knows. Is that possible?" K'Tahli asked.

"Normally, I would not know how to answer that. My bond with Talyn is very new. He might." Rainne made a mental note to ask Talyn.

K'Tahli closed her eyes and allowed a smile. Rainne saw the blissful expression and asked about it.

"What are you smiling about?"

"Oh Rainne, you should see my Ashan! The resemblance is so strong. They both have jet hair and eyes you could fall into and never return.they both are intense in all they do, charming when they want to be."

Rainne could not help but smile. The smile faded a bit. She remembered her dream- Bialar was not fighting with himself.he was fighting his brother.

"K'Tahli, Crais will not welcome this news."

K'Tahli had sensed that earlier but had no idea why.

"I felt that from him. Why is that?"

"His other brother, Tauvo. During a battle, a spacecraft clipped his prowler, sending him to his death. Crais still wrestles with that loss. He only recently opened himself enough to love me. He may choose to shield against more pain and not accept your story."

They sat together in silence, the heavy news between them.

"You realize that would make you my sister. I would welcome that." K'Tahli said.

Rainne shifted, dropped her gaze.

"Crais and I are not married." Rainne admitted. She was not sure how K'Tahli's beliefs may or may not mirror those of her people.

"Of course you are not. Your relationship is too new. I grew up next to Ashan's home, we played together as children. Still, when we decided to become man and wife, it took us years to make sure. Please do not fear that my heritage would cause me to pass judgment on you."

"Thank you." Rainne hesitated, and then reached over to enfold her new sister in an embrace.

Crais found them like that as he strode in to announce Moya's approach.