Berret unleashed a straight punch toward Chiana's head. A split microt before his fist arrived at its target, the Nebari woman sidestepped and deflected his arm with her left hand. Holding on to his out stretched limb, she dropped low and moved under it; her right hand delivered a blow to his rib cage as she passed underneath. Continuing her motion, she stepped out from under his trapped arm to his right side and pulled hard downward. The Shrike left his feet as she forced him into a headfirst flip and landed flat on his back on the practice mat. In the blink of an eye, Chiana pounced on top of her husband and pinned him down.
"What's the matter, Old Man? Losing your touch?" she jeered.
Berret cocked his head and gave her a smirk. Grabbing on to both her forearms, he suddenly bucked his hips and with a little help from a knee to Chiana's backside sent her sailing over his head to land in the same position on her back. Berret pulled himself up into a handstand right behind her as she went over and came down on top of her. Their positions now reversed.
"Not at all, Little Girl," he responded and then pinched the tip of her nose between his thumb and forefinger. Chiana growled menacingly and wrapped her strong legs around Berret's waist and locked them tight. She reached up behind his left arm and gripped high on his shoulder. Balling her other hand into a fist she smashed it down into his left elbow causing the joint to fold. At the same time she pulled down hard on his shoulder, causing the Shrike to roll to his left. With her legs locked around him she rode him all the way over until she was again on top. Leaning in close, she snarled only a few hentas away from his face,
"I told you before to never play with my nose!"
Berret looked up at his wife and then quickly pecked a kiss on the topic of their current discussion.
"But it's my second most favorite part," he told her after.
Despite trying to keep a straight face, Chiana cracked a smile at his antics.
"Are the two of you going to combat train or play Nebari love games?" asked D'argo's gruff voice from off the mats. Chiana looked up and over to where the Luxan was standing.
"Well... they're one in the same," she commented offhandedly.
D'argo rolled his eyes. "Children! I'm surrounded by children," he said to nobody in particular.
Chiana and Berret practiced a few more exercises and where just about to end the session when the gym chamber's door slid open and Nerri, Jalen, and Chulee came in from Moya's corridor. The little girl rode upon her uncle's back while the boy trotted along side them. Berret watched his son for a few microts; happy to see he was recovering well from his wounds from the battle at the apartments on Hyneria. The boy's chest only pained him occasionally and Zhaan reassured Chiana and himself that the pains would lessen as he grew older and added more body mass. After almost a quarter cycle, Zhaan and the med-techs had cleared him to be able to travel again on Moya two weekens ago and the crew had left Hyneria a weeken later to continue their transport business. The four children were happy to be back aboard the Leviathan even though that meant they had to spent part of each solar day being schooled by Andar, Malika, and Zhaan. They didn't mind so much the self-defense / fighting classes that Aeryn taught because they considered them fun. Berret himself taught them rolling, tumbling, and evasive exercises that went with his style of empty hand combat but he still refused to teach them any of the other skills he possessed, much to Aeryn's opposition that the children should start to learn what he could teach them. To his surprise the crew's two Luxans were his biggest supporters. Jothee and D'argo believing they should wait until the crew's offspring were older before teaching them certain things about fighting. Nerri even started helping teach the children some of his skills. Though Berret failed to see why the children needed to know how to use sonic lock-picks, Aeryn and the others for some reason thought the skill might come in handy and even had Nerri instruct them in how to use them. He stopped debating the subject when Chiana seemed to think it was something that every young Nebari should know. The children however thought it was something fun, like solving mechanical puzzles with sound waves.
Nerri bounced up to his sister and her bond-mate, making his small passenger giggle at the unsteady ride.
"Aren't you taking the playful uncle routine too far?" asked Berret.
The Nebari man smiled and replied, " I'll be heading back to my base on Nebari Secondus soon and I don't know when I will be back to see the children, so I'm making the best use of the time I have left with them now."
"Well, it's your back," said Chiana using a towel to wipe sweat off her body.
"I'm sure Chulee's forgotten how to walk by now," Berret said to Chiana teasingly. Nerri made a show of flipping the girl up over his head and landing the giggling child on her feet. Swatting her on the backside he told her to go play with her brother while he talked to her parents.
"See... no harm done," said the Rebel leader as the girl scampered away. "Zhaan asked me to come down and tell you when ever you're ready to leave on the cargo run she'll meet you in the landing bay," Nerri told Berret.
Berret thanked Nerri for delivering the message and turned to his lithe bond-mate. "It looks like its time to get back to work," he said.
"I thought we were just working," said Chiana with a grin.
"No," he drawled, "I was working... you were fooling around."
Chiana gave a mock cry of insult and threw her balled up towel at her husband's back as he turned to walk away. She followed that assault by leaping up on his back to ride there as they left the room on their way to their quarters to shower. Nerri looked over at D'argo who was going through a combat drill on the mats.
"Didn't they just complain about me letting Chulee do that?" he asked.
"Yes," said the Luxan with a grin. "But sometimes the two of them act Chulee's age anyway."
After showering Berret said goodbye to his wife and children. Picking up his travel bag he went to the landing bay after comming Zhaan to tell her he was on his way to begin their three solar day trip. He arrived in the bay to find Jothee giving the Transport Pod a final systems check. Joban's daughter, Tamilla, was there with him assisting with the test out.
"Good morning, uncle. How was your training session this morning?" the young man asked.
"Morning, Jothee. You know how it goes.... you practice, your father grapes about details in your technique.... you practice some more, he finds something else to complain about," Berret said.
"Yes. That sounds like father alright," chuckled the boy. "Tamilla and I have check the Pod over for your and aunt Zhaan's trip. Everything is in ship-shape," reported Jothee.
"Thank you, Jothee...Tamilla," said the Shrike with a smile at the young woman. Tamilla smiled shyly back and Berret remembered the first few solar days she was aboard Moya for this trip. The Sebacean girl had to be constantly reminded for the first two days to call the crewmates by their names instead of the silly titles Rygel had given them as sort of a half joke. The only one she was comfortable using their proper name around was Jothee. John finally had to resort to what he called his "Crusher Crichton" wrestler imitation and each time the girl used one of the titles, John would throw his hands in the air as if he was in front of an imaginary crowd. He would then stomp around the deck while making strange grunting noises and then pounce on the girl, grabbing her in a headlock and vigorously using his other hand to mess her hair up. This was followed by his parading around the deck some more with the giggling girl still under his arm while he played to the invisible crowd. The four other children seemed to think this was very amusing and cheered loudly, when John finally released the girl they all clamored to be next in line to face "Crusher Crichton". Eventually the girl relaxed enough to start using the crew's names, except Berret had a feeling that the two Delvian Priestess still left her a little in awe. It probably also didn't help that when Jothee asked permission for the girl to accompany them on the run that both fathers grilled the youngsters about their intentions toward each other. Facing one of the men would have been bad enough, but facing both the huge Luxan and the big Sebacean man together had to be daunting for the youths. Privately Berret thought both fathers secretly were enjoying their offspring's nervousness and played the strict parental roles only to insure that they behaved themselves on the journey.
Zhaan swept into the landing bay dressed in her traveling robes and greeted everyone with a smile and a cheery good morning. Jothee help the Delvian Pa'u stow a few extra packages she'd brought with her and then he and Tamilla cleared the landing bay as Berret sealed the Pod's hatch. Moving to the pilot's seat beside Zhaan, Berret ran one last check of the control board as the Priestess did the same on her side. Berret liked traveling with the Delvian woman. The only other member of Moya's crew he'd become closer too was Chiana. Zhaan had help the Shrike over many cycles to piece together his memory and past before the Black Syndicate and it was difficult not to develop a close bond with someone who has spent a great deal of time with you in each other's minds. Besides that point, Zhaan had lived so long and had done so much that she always had something interesting to discuss. Berret found he could sit and listen to her for arns or engage her in any number of debates, most of which he lost, about almost any subject. In the strange hierarchy of Moya's crew, where Aeryn and D'argo were the military might and minds, his bond-mate Chiana was the devious planner, Malika and Andar had knowledge and know-how, and Crichton was a wild card, Zhaan was the backbone of the group. She possessed a little or a lot of everything and made it all flow together into one unit. She was healer, scientist, warrior, priestess, mother, friend, and sister all rolled into one. While D'argo was her heart, John... of all persons, was her strength. Even after eleven cycles, Berret wasn't sure where he fit in with the group. He only knew that somehow he did and they all worked well together. He'd always thought that was because of Zhaan's influence, always ready to steer a crewmate whose gone astray back on to the right path, to fit back together with the team. Zhaan was the one who first pointed out to Berret that he was in love with Chiana whether he knew it or not. At a time when the Nebari girl was ready to give up hoping for a real relationship with the Shrike, a few well spoken words from the Delvian help the ex-assassin sort through what he felt and opened his eyes to what he was about to lose forever.
Berret nodded to the smiling Delvian sitting across from him, telling her all systems checked out. Zhaan keyed her comm. "John, we are ready to depart now," she said.
There was a strange crackle of static and a deep voice came over the comm link.
"*Crackle*... Roger that, Flight Big Blue One.... please taxi to runway two-zero-niner. You are clear for take-off. Please fasten your seat belts and return your trays to the upright position. Thank you for flying the friendly skies on Crichton Airlines...*crackle*"
Zhaan glanced at Berret and shook her head. "I suppose that means we are clear to leave Moya," she said as she released the Pod's magnetic skids. "Over ten cycles and I still do not understand half of what that man says."
"Don't look at me," replied Berret as he lifted the Pod and sent it out of Moya's hanger bay into open space. "I have no idea what an air line would have to do with piloting this Pod or why it's named after John."
Zhaan smiled and shrugged her shoulders, "I guess we will have to file it under another Crichton-like mystery."
"There seems to be a lot of those," said Berret. "How do you suppose Aeryn puts up with it?"
"I suppose with help from the Goddess.... and a good belt of Raslek every now and then," replied Zhaan chuckling.
"I didn't know they made Raslek that strong," Berret quipped as Zhaan fed in the coordinates for their destination.
The next two solar days were mostly uneventful for Zhaan and Berret. They arrived at their destination and the Delvian negotiated with a Biomaterial supplier for some raw materials they needed for Andar and Malika's Terza Root transportation support system that they had invented. While they made a fairly good living transporting cargo, the rare and delicate medicinal plants were easily worth four times what they could make on a normal cargo run. Zhaan had even managed to find a different strand of Terza seeds for Malika to analyze and hopefully use to improve their current strain of plants. They had a few arns to wait while their order was loaded aboard their Transport Pod, so the pair wandered through a small market and purchased a few items. Zhaan found a small Luxan statue that she thought D'argo would appreciate. Berret, not having much in the way of fashion sense, bought a scarf for Chiana and only after Zhaan assured him several times that his bond-mate would like the item. The children were easier to find something for. At one point he had considered buying Chulee a new doll, but the girl had several dozen and only really bothered with her Nebari doll that she'd had since birth. It was a Nebari custom that when a child was born that a doll was made that resembled the mother and was left in the baby's crib to watch protectively over the infant. Jalen was more active then Chulee and his Nebari doll did not last much past his second birthday. The only other doll the child played with often was the one that Joban's daughter Nella gave her, so Berret decided to buy several games that all the children could play with. The young girl who was the clerk at the shop smiled flirtingly at Berret as he made his purchases. Berret smiled back to be friendly and polite, only to have a slyly smirking Zhaan reach over and flick his Nebari Bonding earring with the tip of one blue finger.
"Be careful, Studmuffin. You're a bonded man," she teased in a whisper that was still loud enough for the girl to overhear.
"Stop it!" Berret said. "You know I would never do that... and that name sounds strange enough when John says it. He still hasn't explained what it means so that I understand what the frell he's talking about."
The clerk was still watching the whispered conversation when Berret looked back up. He smiled again at the girl and on the spur of the moment draped his arm around Zhaan's shoulder and told the clerk,
"We're expecting our first born and she's a little nervous," he looked back at the Delvian lovingly and added, "... Aren't you, Love Bunny?"
Zhaan nearly choked at the unexpected comment and Berret made a show of patting her on the back.
"Delvians get a little jealous and act twitchy when they're in that condition," he said confidentially aside to the young girl. The clerk nodded in agreement and congratulated the couple as they left the shop.
Outside Zhaan had a fit of laughter and when she was able to catch her breath said,
"That was a good one, I give you I deserved that," she admitted. "Love Bunny?" she asked him.
"Another of John's strange pet names I heard him call Aeryn once," Berret told her.
"And what did Aeryn do when he did," Zhaan asked.
"The usual, scowled and growled at him," he replied.
They were one solar day out on the return journey to Moya. Again the trip had been uneventful. The most interesting incidents they had were several discussions on various topics and one conversation that had turned into a real debate. To Berret's pleasure, while he had not won the debate, he had not exactly lost it either. Zhaan was lounging in the rear passenger compartment reading a very old edition of a book on herbs she'd found at the market and Berret was idly passing his time catching up and reading over data files that Rygel had sent the crew to keep them updated on the progress of the war between the Peacekeepers and Scarrens when the collision alert sounded. Berret switched his reader over to the sensors and looked over the streaming information. After a few microts he brought the Pod to a halt and called for Zhaan to join him.
"What is it, Jared?" asked the Delvian.
"I'm not sure, something really strange. Passive sensor scans say we are approaching something solid and the Active scans say there's nothing there. Visual and Radar scans confirm the Active scans findings... there's nothing out there," reported the Shrike.
"It could be a malfunction in the P-scan sensor array," thought the Delvian out loud. She thought a micron more then added. "We are passing through a sector of space that's close to were there was a major battle between the Scarrens and PK forces about a weeken ago. Didn't Rygel report that the Scarrens had developed a new weapon? A Multi-phasic Particle weapon of some sort and that they had been testing it?"
Berret shrugged his shoulders. "I'm sorry, Zhaan. I haven't caught up that far in the reports yet," apologized the ex-assassin.
"Well, no harm," smiled the Pa'u. "It may just be residual particles left from the weapon's use if they employed it at the battle. As long as the active scans and other sensors agree that there nothing out there in our way, I see no reason why we can't continue home."
"Sounds good to me," agreed Berret as he reactivated the Pod's main engines.
The Pod soared forward for a few microts unaffected. Zhaan started to return to the rear compartment to pick up reading her book when the craft began to shake slightly.
"What's that?" asked Zhaan coming back up to the pilot's station.
"We have a slight flux in the power core," said Berret as he read the instruments. The shaking grew worse suddenly and the Transport Pod seemed to jump in place, making Zhaan and Berret see two of everything for a split microt. Immediately the ship engine's smoothed out as if nothing had happened. Berret and Zhaan looked at each other and then he checked over his control board.
"Whatever it was, it's gone now. Everything reads normal again," he told her.
"I've never seen a Pod act like that before," said Zhaan concerned.
"Internal sensors read no damage to systems. Maybe the engine intakes inhaled something they couldn't use as fuel-mixture, and it just shook things up until it was spit out again?" Berret offered.
"That is one possibility, though the intake filters shouldn't have let that happen," she said.
"Then maybe we have a defective one somewhere," Berret replied.
"That may be it. There's nothing that can be done about it until we reach Moya anyway. Keep a watch on the core readings and let me know if there's any change," Zhaan ordered.
Berret threw her a mock salute. "Aye, Aye, Captain Blue," he said.
The Delvian chuckled. "You are becoming more like Crichton everyday."
Berret turned in the pilot's seat as she left the cockpit. "Well, there's no reason to be insulting!" he said to her departing back.
Berret sat watch arn after arn. For some reason he had the uneasy feeling that instead of getting closer to home, he was moving farther away from it... away from Chiana and the kids. He shook his head, knowing the feeling was absurd. On the navigation screen Moya's plexxing beacon was glowing bright, calling her Pod home to her. Berret tried to relax but the closer the beacon got to the Pod, the more he was feeling further from his family. He rubbed his eyes and concluded that he was simply tired and after spending so much time on Hyneria with Chiana and the children close-by every day, that he just wasn't use to being away from them for so long. He tried staring out at the starscape looking to ease his mind that way but even the bright points of light seemed wrong, almost alien to him. When Zhaan awoke from her short nap to relieve him at the pilot's station, he still wasn't able to shake the strange feeling but decided it was just homesickness so he didn't concern the Priestess with it. Glad to get away from the cockpit, he retired to the rear compartment and laid down for his own short rest. His rest was peaceful and several arns later they were approaching the Leviathan ship. Pilot's voice welcomed them home as Zhaan commed Moya. Berret looked up at the massive landing bay port as it swallowed the transport. Despite his earlier feelings, it was good to be home again.
Zhaan was first to depart the Transport Pod into Moya's landing bay. Crichton, Aeryn, and D'argo were there in the bay to greet them.
"Hey Blue!" called John waving. "How was your trip?" he asked as she descended the Pod's staircase.
"Uneventful, except for a strange power fluxuation in the Pod's power core and the passive sensors giving false readings," she called back. "We'll have to have Pilot send some DRD's to look at it," she finished looking up at the others as her feet touched Moya's deck. Strangely Crichton and the others seemed frozen as statues, but exploded into action a microt later as they scrambled for weapons.
Confused Zhaan looked around herself to see what danger had caused her friends' alarm.
"What's going on?" she asked as the barrels of pulse weapons were aimed in her direction.
"Who the frell is that!" demanded Aeryn.
"Who is who?" asked the Delvian... more confused.
"Him," said John pointing at the Pod behind her.
Zhaan turned to see Berret frozen in place on the staircase behind her, looking just as baffled as she did.
"Is this some sort of joke, Crichton? You know very well who Jared is," said Zhaan exasperated.
"Zhaan, just move away from him," John said seriously. "We've never seen him before in our lives."
Zhaan looked back over he shoulder at the Shrike, finding herself at a loss for words to explain the other's behavior. Berret on the other hand, had a sudden cold feeling that he was looking at strangers wearing the faces of his friends.
"Zhaan," Berret cautioned, "Be careful, there is something odd going on here."
"Yes! And that something is you," snarled the Luxan. "Put your hands up!" he ordered.
"D'argo! What is the matter with you all?" shouted Zhaan.
"Easy, Zhaan," Berret whispered to her while easing his hands into the air.
Zhaan wouldn't be curbed until she got to the bottom of why her friends were acting so strangely. She was just about to demand more answers when Rygel floated into the bay.
"What the yotz is going on in here!" the Hynerian asked.
Stunned, Zhaan instead asked, "What is Rygel doing here? And where are the children?"
"What children, Zhaan?" Aeryn asked, her pistol never wavering from Berret.
"Yours and John's... and Jared and Chiana's," she said simply.
"What are you talking about, Blue?" asked Crichton just as Chiana arrived in the bay.
"Who's talking about me?" she asked, then seeing the standoff, "Who the frells' that?" nodding her head at Berret. Berret mouth dropped as he saw her. Chiana's hair was now as short as when they first met over eleven cycles ago. She was also dressed in the same outfit with the fur shoulder pads. An outfit that had long ago been reduced to rags by wear and time. Zhaan began to realize something was not right at that same microt.
She turned to the Shrike, "Something is terribly wrong here."
"That's what I've been trying to tell you," answered Berret finally getting over the shock of seeing his wife.
"Enough fun and games, Zhaan. Who is this guy? And where's Stark?" John questioned.
"Stark? John, we haven't seen Stark since your escape from Scorpius' Gammack Base almost twelve cycles ago," said the Delvian.
"Twelve cycles! Have you lost your mind?" asked Rygel. "That happened less then one cycle ago."
"And what do you mean you haven't seen Stark? You left here together three solar days ago in that Pod," stated D'argo.
"And for the last time... who the frell is he!" demanded John pointing at Berret.
"John... all of you calm down. Jared is a friend," Zhaan asked looking from one to another. "I need some time to figure out what is going on here. This whole thing is not right."
"How do we know he hasn't done something to Zhaan?" said Aeryn to the others.
"We do not!" growled D'argo. "Chiana, get his weapon," he ordered.
The Nebari girl balked at the command. "Ah-no, not me. I'm not going anywhere near him," she said ducking closer beside D'argo.
"I would never do anything to hurt you," Berret said to her, feeling strangely upset at her reaction to him.
"Like I would believe that," hurled the girl almost behind the Luxan now. "I don't like the way he's looking at me," she said to D'argo.
"Of course Jared would never hurt Chiana!" snapped Zhaan.
"And how do you know that for sure?" the Nebari shot back.
"Because he's your bond-mate and loves you," she answered.
The surprise showed on Chiana's face. "Oh yeah? Well... that's news to me!" she finally was able to say.
"Zhaan," said Berret quietly, still holding the girl's gaze. "That is not our Chiana."
"Not you too!" Zhaan said turning to Berret. "Who else can she be then?" She turned back to the others. "Where are Malika and Andar? Maybe they can help straighten this out."
Now the others looked from one to another, confused again. "Who are they?" asked Aeryn.
"Malika and Andar?" repeated John, and then shrugged his shoulders.
"The other Delvian and Sebacean here aboard Moya," Zhaan supplied.
"Zhaan, you are the only Delvian and I am the only Sebacean here on Moya," said Aeryn carefully. "Whatever he has done to you to frell your mind we'll make him undo it," she said stepping close and pulling the pistol from Berret's holster.
"D'argo, I don't like this. Whatever's going on here is creeping me out," said Chiana to the Luxan as she wrapped her arms around his waist. To Zhaan's dismay, D'argo's arm wrapped around the girl and held her tight.
"D'argo! What do you think you're doing?" demanded a hurt Zhaan taking a step toward the pair.
D'argo looked shocked at the change in the Priestess and he had no idea what she was upset about or what to say to her.
"What is going on between you and Chiana?" she then demanded from him.
"Ah, Zhaan?" cut in Crichton, "Darg and Chi have been an item for about a quarter cycle or so... remember?"
"I most certainly do not!" shouted the Pa'u.
As much as D'argo and he had become friends over the cycles, Berret still didn't like the idea of his bond-mate and the Luxan being together. It left a sick feeling in his stomach, but it only added proof to his suspicion that Zhaan and he were not where they were suppose to be, that this Moya and her crew where not the ones they knew. Still he knew what Zhaan had to be feeling. He step forward and the others took a step backwards, their weapons rising to cover him. He made a point of slowly moving the few steps to the Delvian. He gently reached out a hand and grabbed onto the shaking woman's arm. Knowing he couldn't move her if she didn't want to be moved, he called her name until she turned to look at him. His heart went out to the woman as tears started to form in the blue eyes. The other's watched uneasy as she went into his arms. "What is happening here, Jared?" she asked in a whisper.
"I think that somehow we are on a different Moya from ours. That is not your D'argo or my Chiana," he told her. "I also think that this is about ten cycles in the past... judging by everyone's appearance and relative age. You're going to have to come to terms with this situation if we are going to figure out what happened. I can't do this by myself, Zhaan. I need you."
Zhaan brushed away a tear and nodded her head, "I'm sorry, Jared. After so long being with him, it was just a shock to realize that he and Chiana are together," she said.
"Believe me, I know what you're feeling," replied Berret. "We just have to remember this is not our place and time. We are going to have to find out what happened to us and as fast as we can."
"What's the matter, Old Man? Losing your touch?" she jeered.
Berret cocked his head and gave her a smirk. Grabbing on to both her forearms, he suddenly bucked his hips and with a little help from a knee to Chiana's backside sent her sailing over his head to land in the same position on her back. Berret pulled himself up into a handstand right behind her as she went over and came down on top of her. Their positions now reversed.
"Not at all, Little Girl," he responded and then pinched the tip of her nose between his thumb and forefinger. Chiana growled menacingly and wrapped her strong legs around Berret's waist and locked them tight. She reached up behind his left arm and gripped high on his shoulder. Balling her other hand into a fist she smashed it down into his left elbow causing the joint to fold. At the same time she pulled down hard on his shoulder, causing the Shrike to roll to his left. With her legs locked around him she rode him all the way over until she was again on top. Leaning in close, she snarled only a few hentas away from his face,
"I told you before to never play with my nose!"
Berret looked up at his wife and then quickly pecked a kiss on the topic of their current discussion.
"But it's my second most favorite part," he told her after.
Despite trying to keep a straight face, Chiana cracked a smile at his antics.
"Are the two of you going to combat train or play Nebari love games?" asked D'argo's gruff voice from off the mats. Chiana looked up and over to where the Luxan was standing.
"Well... they're one in the same," she commented offhandedly.
D'argo rolled his eyes. "Children! I'm surrounded by children," he said to nobody in particular.
Chiana and Berret practiced a few more exercises and where just about to end the session when the gym chamber's door slid open and Nerri, Jalen, and Chulee came in from Moya's corridor. The little girl rode upon her uncle's back while the boy trotted along side them. Berret watched his son for a few microts; happy to see he was recovering well from his wounds from the battle at the apartments on Hyneria. The boy's chest only pained him occasionally and Zhaan reassured Chiana and himself that the pains would lessen as he grew older and added more body mass. After almost a quarter cycle, Zhaan and the med-techs had cleared him to be able to travel again on Moya two weekens ago and the crew had left Hyneria a weeken later to continue their transport business. The four children were happy to be back aboard the Leviathan even though that meant they had to spent part of each solar day being schooled by Andar, Malika, and Zhaan. They didn't mind so much the self-defense / fighting classes that Aeryn taught because they considered them fun. Berret himself taught them rolling, tumbling, and evasive exercises that went with his style of empty hand combat but he still refused to teach them any of the other skills he possessed, much to Aeryn's opposition that the children should start to learn what he could teach them. To his surprise the crew's two Luxans were his biggest supporters. Jothee and D'argo believing they should wait until the crew's offspring were older before teaching them certain things about fighting. Nerri even started helping teach the children some of his skills. Though Berret failed to see why the children needed to know how to use sonic lock-picks, Aeryn and the others for some reason thought the skill might come in handy and even had Nerri instruct them in how to use them. He stopped debating the subject when Chiana seemed to think it was something that every young Nebari should know. The children however thought it was something fun, like solving mechanical puzzles with sound waves.
Nerri bounced up to his sister and her bond-mate, making his small passenger giggle at the unsteady ride.
"Aren't you taking the playful uncle routine too far?" asked Berret.
The Nebari man smiled and replied, " I'll be heading back to my base on Nebari Secondus soon and I don't know when I will be back to see the children, so I'm making the best use of the time I have left with them now."
"Well, it's your back," said Chiana using a towel to wipe sweat off her body.
"I'm sure Chulee's forgotten how to walk by now," Berret said to Chiana teasingly. Nerri made a show of flipping the girl up over his head and landing the giggling child on her feet. Swatting her on the backside he told her to go play with her brother while he talked to her parents.
"See... no harm done," said the Rebel leader as the girl scampered away. "Zhaan asked me to come down and tell you when ever you're ready to leave on the cargo run she'll meet you in the landing bay," Nerri told Berret.
Berret thanked Nerri for delivering the message and turned to his lithe bond-mate. "It looks like its time to get back to work," he said.
"I thought we were just working," said Chiana with a grin.
"No," he drawled, "I was working... you were fooling around."
Chiana gave a mock cry of insult and threw her balled up towel at her husband's back as he turned to walk away. She followed that assault by leaping up on his back to ride there as they left the room on their way to their quarters to shower. Nerri looked over at D'argo who was going through a combat drill on the mats.
"Didn't they just complain about me letting Chulee do that?" he asked.
"Yes," said the Luxan with a grin. "But sometimes the two of them act Chulee's age anyway."
After showering Berret said goodbye to his wife and children. Picking up his travel bag he went to the landing bay after comming Zhaan to tell her he was on his way to begin their three solar day trip. He arrived in the bay to find Jothee giving the Transport Pod a final systems check. Joban's daughter, Tamilla, was there with him assisting with the test out.
"Good morning, uncle. How was your training session this morning?" the young man asked.
"Morning, Jothee. You know how it goes.... you practice, your father grapes about details in your technique.... you practice some more, he finds something else to complain about," Berret said.
"Yes. That sounds like father alright," chuckled the boy. "Tamilla and I have check the Pod over for your and aunt Zhaan's trip. Everything is in ship-shape," reported Jothee.
"Thank you, Jothee...Tamilla," said the Shrike with a smile at the young woman. Tamilla smiled shyly back and Berret remembered the first few solar days she was aboard Moya for this trip. The Sebacean girl had to be constantly reminded for the first two days to call the crewmates by their names instead of the silly titles Rygel had given them as sort of a half joke. The only one she was comfortable using their proper name around was Jothee. John finally had to resort to what he called his "Crusher Crichton" wrestler imitation and each time the girl used one of the titles, John would throw his hands in the air as if he was in front of an imaginary crowd. He would then stomp around the deck while making strange grunting noises and then pounce on the girl, grabbing her in a headlock and vigorously using his other hand to mess her hair up. This was followed by his parading around the deck some more with the giggling girl still under his arm while he played to the invisible crowd. The four other children seemed to think this was very amusing and cheered loudly, when John finally released the girl they all clamored to be next in line to face "Crusher Crichton". Eventually the girl relaxed enough to start using the crew's names, except Berret had a feeling that the two Delvian Priestess still left her a little in awe. It probably also didn't help that when Jothee asked permission for the girl to accompany them on the run that both fathers grilled the youngsters about their intentions toward each other. Facing one of the men would have been bad enough, but facing both the huge Luxan and the big Sebacean man together had to be daunting for the youths. Privately Berret thought both fathers secretly were enjoying their offspring's nervousness and played the strict parental roles only to insure that they behaved themselves on the journey.
Zhaan swept into the landing bay dressed in her traveling robes and greeted everyone with a smile and a cheery good morning. Jothee help the Delvian Pa'u stow a few extra packages she'd brought with her and then he and Tamilla cleared the landing bay as Berret sealed the Pod's hatch. Moving to the pilot's seat beside Zhaan, Berret ran one last check of the control board as the Priestess did the same on her side. Berret liked traveling with the Delvian woman. The only other member of Moya's crew he'd become closer too was Chiana. Zhaan had help the Shrike over many cycles to piece together his memory and past before the Black Syndicate and it was difficult not to develop a close bond with someone who has spent a great deal of time with you in each other's minds. Besides that point, Zhaan had lived so long and had done so much that she always had something interesting to discuss. Berret found he could sit and listen to her for arns or engage her in any number of debates, most of which he lost, about almost any subject. In the strange hierarchy of Moya's crew, where Aeryn and D'argo were the military might and minds, his bond-mate Chiana was the devious planner, Malika and Andar had knowledge and know-how, and Crichton was a wild card, Zhaan was the backbone of the group. She possessed a little or a lot of everything and made it all flow together into one unit. She was healer, scientist, warrior, priestess, mother, friend, and sister all rolled into one. While D'argo was her heart, John... of all persons, was her strength. Even after eleven cycles, Berret wasn't sure where he fit in with the group. He only knew that somehow he did and they all worked well together. He'd always thought that was because of Zhaan's influence, always ready to steer a crewmate whose gone astray back on to the right path, to fit back together with the team. Zhaan was the one who first pointed out to Berret that he was in love with Chiana whether he knew it or not. At a time when the Nebari girl was ready to give up hoping for a real relationship with the Shrike, a few well spoken words from the Delvian help the ex-assassin sort through what he felt and opened his eyes to what he was about to lose forever.
Berret nodded to the smiling Delvian sitting across from him, telling her all systems checked out. Zhaan keyed her comm. "John, we are ready to depart now," she said.
There was a strange crackle of static and a deep voice came over the comm link.
"*Crackle*... Roger that, Flight Big Blue One.... please taxi to runway two-zero-niner. You are clear for take-off. Please fasten your seat belts and return your trays to the upright position. Thank you for flying the friendly skies on Crichton Airlines...*crackle*"
Zhaan glanced at Berret and shook her head. "I suppose that means we are clear to leave Moya," she said as she released the Pod's magnetic skids. "Over ten cycles and I still do not understand half of what that man says."
"Don't look at me," replied Berret as he lifted the Pod and sent it out of Moya's hanger bay into open space. "I have no idea what an air line would have to do with piloting this Pod or why it's named after John."
Zhaan smiled and shrugged her shoulders, "I guess we will have to file it under another Crichton-like mystery."
"There seems to be a lot of those," said Berret. "How do you suppose Aeryn puts up with it?"
"I suppose with help from the Goddess.... and a good belt of Raslek every now and then," replied Zhaan chuckling.
"I didn't know they made Raslek that strong," Berret quipped as Zhaan fed in the coordinates for their destination.
The next two solar days were mostly uneventful for Zhaan and Berret. They arrived at their destination and the Delvian negotiated with a Biomaterial supplier for some raw materials they needed for Andar and Malika's Terza Root transportation support system that they had invented. While they made a fairly good living transporting cargo, the rare and delicate medicinal plants were easily worth four times what they could make on a normal cargo run. Zhaan had even managed to find a different strand of Terza seeds for Malika to analyze and hopefully use to improve their current strain of plants. They had a few arns to wait while their order was loaded aboard their Transport Pod, so the pair wandered through a small market and purchased a few items. Zhaan found a small Luxan statue that she thought D'argo would appreciate. Berret, not having much in the way of fashion sense, bought a scarf for Chiana and only after Zhaan assured him several times that his bond-mate would like the item. The children were easier to find something for. At one point he had considered buying Chulee a new doll, but the girl had several dozen and only really bothered with her Nebari doll that she'd had since birth. It was a Nebari custom that when a child was born that a doll was made that resembled the mother and was left in the baby's crib to watch protectively over the infant. Jalen was more active then Chulee and his Nebari doll did not last much past his second birthday. The only other doll the child played with often was the one that Joban's daughter Nella gave her, so Berret decided to buy several games that all the children could play with. The young girl who was the clerk at the shop smiled flirtingly at Berret as he made his purchases. Berret smiled back to be friendly and polite, only to have a slyly smirking Zhaan reach over and flick his Nebari Bonding earring with the tip of one blue finger.
"Be careful, Studmuffin. You're a bonded man," she teased in a whisper that was still loud enough for the girl to overhear.
"Stop it!" Berret said. "You know I would never do that... and that name sounds strange enough when John says it. He still hasn't explained what it means so that I understand what the frell he's talking about."
The clerk was still watching the whispered conversation when Berret looked back up. He smiled again at the girl and on the spur of the moment draped his arm around Zhaan's shoulder and told the clerk,
"We're expecting our first born and she's a little nervous," he looked back at the Delvian lovingly and added, "... Aren't you, Love Bunny?"
Zhaan nearly choked at the unexpected comment and Berret made a show of patting her on the back.
"Delvians get a little jealous and act twitchy when they're in that condition," he said confidentially aside to the young girl. The clerk nodded in agreement and congratulated the couple as they left the shop.
Outside Zhaan had a fit of laughter and when she was able to catch her breath said,
"That was a good one, I give you I deserved that," she admitted. "Love Bunny?" she asked him.
"Another of John's strange pet names I heard him call Aeryn once," Berret told her.
"And what did Aeryn do when he did," Zhaan asked.
"The usual, scowled and growled at him," he replied.
They were one solar day out on the return journey to Moya. Again the trip had been uneventful. The most interesting incidents they had were several discussions on various topics and one conversation that had turned into a real debate. To Berret's pleasure, while he had not won the debate, he had not exactly lost it either. Zhaan was lounging in the rear passenger compartment reading a very old edition of a book on herbs she'd found at the market and Berret was idly passing his time catching up and reading over data files that Rygel had sent the crew to keep them updated on the progress of the war between the Peacekeepers and Scarrens when the collision alert sounded. Berret switched his reader over to the sensors and looked over the streaming information. After a few microts he brought the Pod to a halt and called for Zhaan to join him.
"What is it, Jared?" asked the Delvian.
"I'm not sure, something really strange. Passive sensor scans say we are approaching something solid and the Active scans say there's nothing there. Visual and Radar scans confirm the Active scans findings... there's nothing out there," reported the Shrike.
"It could be a malfunction in the P-scan sensor array," thought the Delvian out loud. She thought a micron more then added. "We are passing through a sector of space that's close to were there was a major battle between the Scarrens and PK forces about a weeken ago. Didn't Rygel report that the Scarrens had developed a new weapon? A Multi-phasic Particle weapon of some sort and that they had been testing it?"
Berret shrugged his shoulders. "I'm sorry, Zhaan. I haven't caught up that far in the reports yet," apologized the ex-assassin.
"Well, no harm," smiled the Pa'u. "It may just be residual particles left from the weapon's use if they employed it at the battle. As long as the active scans and other sensors agree that there nothing out there in our way, I see no reason why we can't continue home."
"Sounds good to me," agreed Berret as he reactivated the Pod's main engines.
The Pod soared forward for a few microts unaffected. Zhaan started to return to the rear compartment to pick up reading her book when the craft began to shake slightly.
"What's that?" asked Zhaan coming back up to the pilot's station.
"We have a slight flux in the power core," said Berret as he read the instruments. The shaking grew worse suddenly and the Transport Pod seemed to jump in place, making Zhaan and Berret see two of everything for a split microt. Immediately the ship engine's smoothed out as if nothing had happened. Berret and Zhaan looked at each other and then he checked over his control board.
"Whatever it was, it's gone now. Everything reads normal again," he told her.
"I've never seen a Pod act like that before," said Zhaan concerned.
"Internal sensors read no damage to systems. Maybe the engine intakes inhaled something they couldn't use as fuel-mixture, and it just shook things up until it was spit out again?" Berret offered.
"That is one possibility, though the intake filters shouldn't have let that happen," she said.
"Then maybe we have a defective one somewhere," Berret replied.
"That may be it. There's nothing that can be done about it until we reach Moya anyway. Keep a watch on the core readings and let me know if there's any change," Zhaan ordered.
Berret threw her a mock salute. "Aye, Aye, Captain Blue," he said.
The Delvian chuckled. "You are becoming more like Crichton everyday."
Berret turned in the pilot's seat as she left the cockpit. "Well, there's no reason to be insulting!" he said to her departing back.
Berret sat watch arn after arn. For some reason he had the uneasy feeling that instead of getting closer to home, he was moving farther away from it... away from Chiana and the kids. He shook his head, knowing the feeling was absurd. On the navigation screen Moya's plexxing beacon was glowing bright, calling her Pod home to her. Berret tried to relax but the closer the beacon got to the Pod, the more he was feeling further from his family. He rubbed his eyes and concluded that he was simply tired and after spending so much time on Hyneria with Chiana and the children close-by every day, that he just wasn't use to being away from them for so long. He tried staring out at the starscape looking to ease his mind that way but even the bright points of light seemed wrong, almost alien to him. When Zhaan awoke from her short nap to relieve him at the pilot's station, he still wasn't able to shake the strange feeling but decided it was just homesickness so he didn't concern the Priestess with it. Glad to get away from the cockpit, he retired to the rear compartment and laid down for his own short rest. His rest was peaceful and several arns later they were approaching the Leviathan ship. Pilot's voice welcomed them home as Zhaan commed Moya. Berret looked up at the massive landing bay port as it swallowed the transport. Despite his earlier feelings, it was good to be home again.
Zhaan was first to depart the Transport Pod into Moya's landing bay. Crichton, Aeryn, and D'argo were there in the bay to greet them.
"Hey Blue!" called John waving. "How was your trip?" he asked as she descended the Pod's staircase.
"Uneventful, except for a strange power fluxuation in the Pod's power core and the passive sensors giving false readings," she called back. "We'll have to have Pilot send some DRD's to look at it," she finished looking up at the others as her feet touched Moya's deck. Strangely Crichton and the others seemed frozen as statues, but exploded into action a microt later as they scrambled for weapons.
Confused Zhaan looked around herself to see what danger had caused her friends' alarm.
"What's going on?" she asked as the barrels of pulse weapons were aimed in her direction.
"Who the frell is that!" demanded Aeryn.
"Who is who?" asked the Delvian... more confused.
"Him," said John pointing at the Pod behind her.
Zhaan turned to see Berret frozen in place on the staircase behind her, looking just as baffled as she did.
"Is this some sort of joke, Crichton? You know very well who Jared is," said Zhaan exasperated.
"Zhaan, just move away from him," John said seriously. "We've never seen him before in our lives."
Zhaan looked back over he shoulder at the Shrike, finding herself at a loss for words to explain the other's behavior. Berret on the other hand, had a sudden cold feeling that he was looking at strangers wearing the faces of his friends.
"Zhaan," Berret cautioned, "Be careful, there is something odd going on here."
"Yes! And that something is you," snarled the Luxan. "Put your hands up!" he ordered.
"D'argo! What is the matter with you all?" shouted Zhaan.
"Easy, Zhaan," Berret whispered to her while easing his hands into the air.
Zhaan wouldn't be curbed until she got to the bottom of why her friends were acting so strangely. She was just about to demand more answers when Rygel floated into the bay.
"What the yotz is going on in here!" the Hynerian asked.
Stunned, Zhaan instead asked, "What is Rygel doing here? And where are the children?"
"What children, Zhaan?" Aeryn asked, her pistol never wavering from Berret.
"Yours and John's... and Jared and Chiana's," she said simply.
"What are you talking about, Blue?" asked Crichton just as Chiana arrived in the bay.
"Who's talking about me?" she asked, then seeing the standoff, "Who the frells' that?" nodding her head at Berret. Berret mouth dropped as he saw her. Chiana's hair was now as short as when they first met over eleven cycles ago. She was also dressed in the same outfit with the fur shoulder pads. An outfit that had long ago been reduced to rags by wear and time. Zhaan began to realize something was not right at that same microt.
She turned to the Shrike, "Something is terribly wrong here."
"That's what I've been trying to tell you," answered Berret finally getting over the shock of seeing his wife.
"Enough fun and games, Zhaan. Who is this guy? And where's Stark?" John questioned.
"Stark? John, we haven't seen Stark since your escape from Scorpius' Gammack Base almost twelve cycles ago," said the Delvian.
"Twelve cycles! Have you lost your mind?" asked Rygel. "That happened less then one cycle ago."
"And what do you mean you haven't seen Stark? You left here together three solar days ago in that Pod," stated D'argo.
"And for the last time... who the frell is he!" demanded John pointing at Berret.
"John... all of you calm down. Jared is a friend," Zhaan asked looking from one to another. "I need some time to figure out what is going on here. This whole thing is not right."
"How do we know he hasn't done something to Zhaan?" said Aeryn to the others.
"We do not!" growled D'argo. "Chiana, get his weapon," he ordered.
The Nebari girl balked at the command. "Ah-no, not me. I'm not going anywhere near him," she said ducking closer beside D'argo.
"I would never do anything to hurt you," Berret said to her, feeling strangely upset at her reaction to him.
"Like I would believe that," hurled the girl almost behind the Luxan now. "I don't like the way he's looking at me," she said to D'argo.
"Of course Jared would never hurt Chiana!" snapped Zhaan.
"And how do you know that for sure?" the Nebari shot back.
"Because he's your bond-mate and loves you," she answered.
The surprise showed on Chiana's face. "Oh yeah? Well... that's news to me!" she finally was able to say.
"Zhaan," said Berret quietly, still holding the girl's gaze. "That is not our Chiana."
"Not you too!" Zhaan said turning to Berret. "Who else can she be then?" She turned back to the others. "Where are Malika and Andar? Maybe they can help straighten this out."
Now the others looked from one to another, confused again. "Who are they?" asked Aeryn.
"Malika and Andar?" repeated John, and then shrugged his shoulders.
"The other Delvian and Sebacean here aboard Moya," Zhaan supplied.
"Zhaan, you are the only Delvian and I am the only Sebacean here on Moya," said Aeryn carefully. "Whatever he has done to you to frell your mind we'll make him undo it," she said stepping close and pulling the pistol from Berret's holster.
"D'argo, I don't like this. Whatever's going on here is creeping me out," said Chiana to the Luxan as she wrapped her arms around his waist. To Zhaan's dismay, D'argo's arm wrapped around the girl and held her tight.
"D'argo! What do you think you're doing?" demanded a hurt Zhaan taking a step toward the pair.
D'argo looked shocked at the change in the Priestess and he had no idea what she was upset about or what to say to her.
"What is going on between you and Chiana?" she then demanded from him.
"Ah, Zhaan?" cut in Crichton, "Darg and Chi have been an item for about a quarter cycle or so... remember?"
"I most certainly do not!" shouted the Pa'u.
As much as D'argo and he had become friends over the cycles, Berret still didn't like the idea of his bond-mate and the Luxan being together. It left a sick feeling in his stomach, but it only added proof to his suspicion that Zhaan and he were not where they were suppose to be, that this Moya and her crew where not the ones they knew. Still he knew what Zhaan had to be feeling. He step forward and the others took a step backwards, their weapons rising to cover him. He made a point of slowly moving the few steps to the Delvian. He gently reached out a hand and grabbed onto the shaking woman's arm. Knowing he couldn't move her if she didn't want to be moved, he called her name until she turned to look at him. His heart went out to the woman as tears started to form in the blue eyes. The other's watched uneasy as she went into his arms. "What is happening here, Jared?" she asked in a whisper.
"I think that somehow we are on a different Moya from ours. That is not your D'argo or my Chiana," he told her. "I also think that this is about ten cycles in the past... judging by everyone's appearance and relative age. You're going to have to come to terms with this situation if we are going to figure out what happened. I can't do this by myself, Zhaan. I need you."
Zhaan brushed away a tear and nodded her head, "I'm sorry, Jared. After so long being with him, it was just a shock to realize that he and Chiana are together," she said.
"Believe me, I know what you're feeling," replied Berret. "We just have to remember this is not our place and time. We are going to have to find out what happened to us and as fast as we can."