"Apparitions"
Time: Twenty-five cycles after Fractures
Disclaimer: I didn't create Farscape, didn't create the characters and don't make a plug nickel off of it.
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Part Two: What Dreams May Come.
After showering and dressing, I stopped at the Central Chamber for a handful of food cubes and a cup of amestos. (It's a hot beverage, usually drank in the morning because of its high levels of naturally occurring stimulants. Dad said it was a suitable substitute for both coffee and chocolate, whatever they are.) I knew Mattis was waiting for me in the maintenance bay; we had to rewire the control matrices on one of the transport pods. I just wasn't in any hurry to get there. Instead, I took my cup of amestos and headed for Pilot's den.
As I made my way to the den, my subconscious started bringing up memories. It seemed like every dench of Moya's interior, every panel, every door, sparked a memory. I don't think Mattis or anyone else fully understands it, but I sometimes feel like I'm intimately linked to Moya. (Well, Mom did give birth to me in the maintenance bay.)
Moya is the only home I've ever known. I had listened to Dad's stories of Earth and had looked forward to the day he found (or created) the wormhole that lead there. It really sounds like a beautiful place. I'm probably never going to see it now. All I do now is live one day to the next, try to do the right thing and hope I'm living up to whatever expectations they had for me.
I don't know if anyone else noticed it, but to me, Moya had started to feel like a house with most of the family moved out, just as a new family is moving in. Four cycles ago, D'Argo and Jool decided it was time to move on and left Moya to start the frotash farm he always talked about. (Though how the two of them ended up together I'll never know.) And as for Rygel.that was both bad luck and bad timing, but I'll still never forgive myself for letting him down. He never had a chance.
Since I'm never going to leave Moya while still drawing breath, that left me with only Chiana and Stark for companionship. But when we met up with Lhatan and Tashina and literally found Mattis Bohr, we welcomed them with almost open arms. (Given Moya's history, we were a little uncertain about accepting a Peacekeeper into our midst. It was Pilot who reminded us that Mom was once a Peacekeeper, and Crais had shown that anyone could change. Besides, Mattis was a Tech.) Things have been pretty calm and settled the last few cycles.
So why do I have this nagging feeling it's all about to end?
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When I walked into the den, I saw Chiana leaning against Pilot's console. Since I've known her as a playmate when I was a kid, and as a surrogate mother who took most of the responsibility for raising me after Mom and Dad disappeared, I can't believe some of the stories I'd heard about her. Supposedly, she was some kind of wild child, with a knack for first getting into then getting out of trouble. Aside from being able to pick any lock in existence, I haven't seen it. Guess that's what having a kid thrust on you can do.
Chiana glanced back at me and smiled. "Good morning. How d'you feel?"
I shrugged and fought back a yawn. "All right, I guess. I suppose Moya told Pilot that I had the nightmare again."
Pilot nodded. "Moya did mention that you woke up suddenly. She also told me that you said you were all right. With all due respect, Vanessa, you have looked better."
I finished the amestos and sighed. "Thank you, Pilot. I can always count on you to brighten my mornings." I glanced at Chiana and tried to ignore the faint traces of age that were starting to show, the tiny wrinkles around her eyes and the way her face seemed to have thinned over the cycles. Not to mention that she had started wearing her hair longer, which didn't suit her at all. "I think Mattis is starting to worry about it a bit. He tried to hide it this morning, but."
"Excuse me, Vanessa," Pilot said in that distracted tone of voice he gets when Moya's telling him something. "There appears to be an object at the very edge of Moya's sensor range, off the treblin side."
My instincts started screaming trouble. "Can you tell what it is?"
"It's too small and too distant to identify. However, there doesn't appear to be any life forms or power readings."
"Really?" I climbed up onto the console and looked over the readouts. "It could be nothing, Pilot, but."
Chiana started looking concerned. "But you think there's something more to it?" Her eyes darted to one side and she bit her lower lip.
I watched her, knowing what was happening. "You're having another one of those flashes again, aren't you? Come on, Chi. Tell me what it is."
Chiana looked up at me and shook her head. "No, it was nothing. What do you have in mind?"
I climbed from the console and started for the door. "I'll take out the Prowler and investigate. If it's anything important, Moya can swing over and pick it up. If it's not, then we can ignore it and wait for Tashina and Lhatan to return. Aren't they late? I thought Ilanics were more prompt than this."
"Don't change the subject," Chiana said as she started walking next to me. "You have the same bad habit as your father. You just can't turn away from a mystery."
"That's me. Daddy's little girl. Look, Chiana, Mom taught me how to fly the Prowler, and she was the best pilot in the Uncharted Territories. Don't worry about it."
"Aeryn said that to me once, right before she fell through a wormhole into another universe. Look, just promise me you'll be careful."
"When am I not careful?"
Chiana stopped walking. "Do you really want an answer?"
Instead of answering, I tapped my comm. "Mattis, prep the Prowler."
"The Prowler? What about the transport pod?"
"Moya's picking up something at the very edge of her sensor range. I want to check it out."
Mattis sighed. "I'm never going to get used to your curiosity. It'll be ready by the time you get down here."
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I adjusted my oculars then checked the rear screens. Moya was receding quickly as I opened up the Prowler's engines. "You have a lock on the object, Mattis?"
"Uh-huh." I listened to him throwing switches. "And I cannot help but be impressed. The systems are fully functional. Not bad for a relic."
"A relic? This is not a relic. This is an antique. And I will have you know that Mom liberated this Prowler from Scorpius's command carrier as it was tearing itself to pieces after Talyn went to starburst in the hanger."
Mattis sounded amused. "Liberated? You mean procured. Snurched, if you will."
Okay, technically Mattis was right. Mom did hijack this Prowler from the carrier. I just wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of knowing he was right. "We quibble over semantics. Now, are you picking up anything?"
"It's small, about the size of the Prowler. As Pilot said, there are no life signs, no indication of generated power. Whatever it is, it's quite dead." Mattis leaned forward and his hand appeared over my shoulder. "There it is."
It was nothing more than a small dot in the distance. I adjusted the magnification on the oculars and frowned as the images dancing in front of my eyes changed. "It's a Prowler, one of the new ones." It was a bit more streamlined than my Prowler and carried one more cannon. "Whoever he is, he's a long way from home. There aren't any bases out here in the middle of nowhere."
Chiana sounded a little concerned over the headset. "What do you want to do about it?"
"Mattis confirmed there's no life and no power. So the pilot's dead. I think we should bring it onboard."
"Is that really a good idea?"
"Even if it's too damaged to fly on its own, it'll still provide spare parts for this one. I think it's worth it." I looked over the Prowler, trying to spot the markings that indicated its home base or command ship. There was nothing, just the standard Peacekeeper black and red paint job.
"Very well, Vanessa. Changing course to intercept. One microt." Pilot was silent for a moment. "I am receiving a message from Tashina. She and Lhatan will arrive in about two arns. Also, Talyn is on approach, wishing to rendezvous. Crais wants to speak to you."
I closed my eyes and let my head fall back against the ejection seat. "Great. The uncle you hope you'll never see again. All right, Pilot. Put him through."
There was a click as Pilot switched frequencies, then the voice of Bialar Crais. "Vanessa, I need to speak to you immediately. Where are you?"
Even though it's been nearly thirty cycles since he left the Peacekeepers, Crais still sounds like a Peacekeeper captain. "Mattis and I are out in the Prowler, trying to figure out why there's another Prowler out here, dead and drifting. What's the matter? Talyn talking back to you again?"
"No. Talyn and I have reached an agreement on that point. This is far more important, more so to you than to me."
I sighed. It was probably nothing; Crais has an annoying habit of overreacting to things. "Well, Moya can't go anywhere until Tashina and Lhatan return, and that's not for another two arns. Mind making a little side trip, Mattis?"
"Would it matter if I said no?"
"Wouldn't matter at all." I looked over the drifting Prowler again and headed back toward Moya. After a few microts, I saw Talyn, just poking out from Moya's far side. "Pilot, bring that Prowler onboard. I'm going to find out what's got Crais's numnas in a twist."
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Dad called them rattlers, that nagging feeling you get right before things go horribly wrong. I got them real bad while on approach to Talyn. It wasn't until I was climbing out of the Prowler that I found the reason for my sudden case of nerves.
In one corner of Talyn's maintenance bay sat the Farscape module, looking like it had been through a war, but still intact. I walked up to it slowly, wondering if I was dreaming again.
I turned when I heard footsteps coming into the bay. Crais didn't look like he'd changed much, maybe a little more gray in his hair, and maybe his eyes were more tired than they had been the last time I'd seen him. But he still carried himself with the same borderline arrogant demeanor that he apparently had while a Peacekeeper captain.
Mattis looked over the module, frowning. "I'll never say anything bad about the Prowler again. Is that what I think it is? Is that your father's module?"
"That's it. The module that was the key to Dad's wormhole research. It disappeared ten cycles ago, along with Mom and Dad." As Crais stopped at my side, I said, "Is this some kind of joke?"
Crais shook his head slowly and crossed his arms. "No, Vanessa. I would not joke about this. I found the module drifting, unpowered and unmanned. There is no trace of your parents in it. However, you know the module's systems better than I do."
I nodded, only half listening to him. Crais found the module unmanned? I was suddenly very confused. The module disappeared down a wormhole, but how did it get back out here without Mom and Dad in it? Did they launch it? I didn't know what to think.
Mattis leaned close and spoke in a quiet, reassuring voice. "Well, we should get this back to Moya, open it up and see what we can find out. Don't worry, Vanessa. We'll figure out what happened." He reached over and took my hand.
I smiled at him. "Of course we will. Pilot."
Pilot sounded a little unsettled over the comm. "Vanessa, I was about to call you. Something odd just happened."
"What's going on?"
"We brought the Prowler you found onboard. When there was no sign of danger, Chiana and Stark opened the canopy. Instead of a pilot, the cockpit was filled with a thick red fluid."
I saw Crais's eyes go wide. "What is it, Crais?"
Instead of answering, Crais stepped away from me, lost in thought. "How much do you know about wormhole technology, Vanessa?"
"Almost nothing. Dad said he would start training me in wormhole tech when I was old enough. Unfortunately, thirteen cycles wasn't old enough. Why?"
"When Scorpius first started his wormhole experiments, he experienced a number of.difficulties. He was able to create stable wormholes, but there were problems with the organic tests. All the Prowlers he sent in came back undamaged, but their pilots suffered from cellular liquification, which reduced them to nothing more than an organic soup."
I inhaled deeply. "And you think someone may have restarted Scorpius's experiments? You think there's a connection between finding the module and the Prowler?"
"It is possible, Vanessa. Although, given the way High Command treated Scorpius, it may be a rogue project."
Chiana's voice was a concerned whisper. "Vanessa? Are you all right?"
I blinked. "Yeah, fine. Come on, Mattis. Let's get the module back to Moya." I started back to the Prowler, but stopped and looked back at the Farscape module. "If the module's here, where are you," I whispered. "Where are you?"
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TO BE CONTINUED
Disclaimer: I didn't create Farscape, didn't create the characters and don't make a plug nickel off of it.
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Part Two: What Dreams May Come.
After showering and dressing, I stopped at the Central Chamber for a handful of food cubes and a cup of amestos. (It's a hot beverage, usually drank in the morning because of its high levels of naturally occurring stimulants. Dad said it was a suitable substitute for both coffee and chocolate, whatever they are.) I knew Mattis was waiting for me in the maintenance bay; we had to rewire the control matrices on one of the transport pods. I just wasn't in any hurry to get there. Instead, I took my cup of amestos and headed for Pilot's den.
As I made my way to the den, my subconscious started bringing up memories. It seemed like every dench of Moya's interior, every panel, every door, sparked a memory. I don't think Mattis or anyone else fully understands it, but I sometimes feel like I'm intimately linked to Moya. (Well, Mom did give birth to me in the maintenance bay.)
Moya is the only home I've ever known. I had listened to Dad's stories of Earth and had looked forward to the day he found (or created) the wormhole that lead there. It really sounds like a beautiful place. I'm probably never going to see it now. All I do now is live one day to the next, try to do the right thing and hope I'm living up to whatever expectations they had for me.
I don't know if anyone else noticed it, but to me, Moya had started to feel like a house with most of the family moved out, just as a new family is moving in. Four cycles ago, D'Argo and Jool decided it was time to move on and left Moya to start the frotash farm he always talked about. (Though how the two of them ended up together I'll never know.) And as for Rygel.that was both bad luck and bad timing, but I'll still never forgive myself for letting him down. He never had a chance.
Since I'm never going to leave Moya while still drawing breath, that left me with only Chiana and Stark for companionship. But when we met up with Lhatan and Tashina and literally found Mattis Bohr, we welcomed them with almost open arms. (Given Moya's history, we were a little uncertain about accepting a Peacekeeper into our midst. It was Pilot who reminded us that Mom was once a Peacekeeper, and Crais had shown that anyone could change. Besides, Mattis was a Tech.) Things have been pretty calm and settled the last few cycles.
So why do I have this nagging feeling it's all about to end?
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When I walked into the den, I saw Chiana leaning against Pilot's console. Since I've known her as a playmate when I was a kid, and as a surrogate mother who took most of the responsibility for raising me after Mom and Dad disappeared, I can't believe some of the stories I'd heard about her. Supposedly, she was some kind of wild child, with a knack for first getting into then getting out of trouble. Aside from being able to pick any lock in existence, I haven't seen it. Guess that's what having a kid thrust on you can do.
Chiana glanced back at me and smiled. "Good morning. How d'you feel?"
I shrugged and fought back a yawn. "All right, I guess. I suppose Moya told Pilot that I had the nightmare again."
Pilot nodded. "Moya did mention that you woke up suddenly. She also told me that you said you were all right. With all due respect, Vanessa, you have looked better."
I finished the amestos and sighed. "Thank you, Pilot. I can always count on you to brighten my mornings." I glanced at Chiana and tried to ignore the faint traces of age that were starting to show, the tiny wrinkles around her eyes and the way her face seemed to have thinned over the cycles. Not to mention that she had started wearing her hair longer, which didn't suit her at all. "I think Mattis is starting to worry about it a bit. He tried to hide it this morning, but."
"Excuse me, Vanessa," Pilot said in that distracted tone of voice he gets when Moya's telling him something. "There appears to be an object at the very edge of Moya's sensor range, off the treblin side."
My instincts started screaming trouble. "Can you tell what it is?"
"It's too small and too distant to identify. However, there doesn't appear to be any life forms or power readings."
"Really?" I climbed up onto the console and looked over the readouts. "It could be nothing, Pilot, but."
Chiana started looking concerned. "But you think there's something more to it?" Her eyes darted to one side and she bit her lower lip.
I watched her, knowing what was happening. "You're having another one of those flashes again, aren't you? Come on, Chi. Tell me what it is."
Chiana looked up at me and shook her head. "No, it was nothing. What do you have in mind?"
I climbed from the console and started for the door. "I'll take out the Prowler and investigate. If it's anything important, Moya can swing over and pick it up. If it's not, then we can ignore it and wait for Tashina and Lhatan to return. Aren't they late? I thought Ilanics were more prompt than this."
"Don't change the subject," Chiana said as she started walking next to me. "You have the same bad habit as your father. You just can't turn away from a mystery."
"That's me. Daddy's little girl. Look, Chiana, Mom taught me how to fly the Prowler, and she was the best pilot in the Uncharted Territories. Don't worry about it."
"Aeryn said that to me once, right before she fell through a wormhole into another universe. Look, just promise me you'll be careful."
"When am I not careful?"
Chiana stopped walking. "Do you really want an answer?"
Instead of answering, I tapped my comm. "Mattis, prep the Prowler."
"The Prowler? What about the transport pod?"
"Moya's picking up something at the very edge of her sensor range. I want to check it out."
Mattis sighed. "I'm never going to get used to your curiosity. It'll be ready by the time you get down here."
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I adjusted my oculars then checked the rear screens. Moya was receding quickly as I opened up the Prowler's engines. "You have a lock on the object, Mattis?"
"Uh-huh." I listened to him throwing switches. "And I cannot help but be impressed. The systems are fully functional. Not bad for a relic."
"A relic? This is not a relic. This is an antique. And I will have you know that Mom liberated this Prowler from Scorpius's command carrier as it was tearing itself to pieces after Talyn went to starburst in the hanger."
Mattis sounded amused. "Liberated? You mean procured. Snurched, if you will."
Okay, technically Mattis was right. Mom did hijack this Prowler from the carrier. I just wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of knowing he was right. "We quibble over semantics. Now, are you picking up anything?"
"It's small, about the size of the Prowler. As Pilot said, there are no life signs, no indication of generated power. Whatever it is, it's quite dead." Mattis leaned forward and his hand appeared over my shoulder. "There it is."
It was nothing more than a small dot in the distance. I adjusted the magnification on the oculars and frowned as the images dancing in front of my eyes changed. "It's a Prowler, one of the new ones." It was a bit more streamlined than my Prowler and carried one more cannon. "Whoever he is, he's a long way from home. There aren't any bases out here in the middle of nowhere."
Chiana sounded a little concerned over the headset. "What do you want to do about it?"
"Mattis confirmed there's no life and no power. So the pilot's dead. I think we should bring it onboard."
"Is that really a good idea?"
"Even if it's too damaged to fly on its own, it'll still provide spare parts for this one. I think it's worth it." I looked over the Prowler, trying to spot the markings that indicated its home base or command ship. There was nothing, just the standard Peacekeeper black and red paint job.
"Very well, Vanessa. Changing course to intercept. One microt." Pilot was silent for a moment. "I am receiving a message from Tashina. She and Lhatan will arrive in about two arns. Also, Talyn is on approach, wishing to rendezvous. Crais wants to speak to you."
I closed my eyes and let my head fall back against the ejection seat. "Great. The uncle you hope you'll never see again. All right, Pilot. Put him through."
There was a click as Pilot switched frequencies, then the voice of Bialar Crais. "Vanessa, I need to speak to you immediately. Where are you?"
Even though it's been nearly thirty cycles since he left the Peacekeepers, Crais still sounds like a Peacekeeper captain. "Mattis and I are out in the Prowler, trying to figure out why there's another Prowler out here, dead and drifting. What's the matter? Talyn talking back to you again?"
"No. Talyn and I have reached an agreement on that point. This is far more important, more so to you than to me."
I sighed. It was probably nothing; Crais has an annoying habit of overreacting to things. "Well, Moya can't go anywhere until Tashina and Lhatan return, and that's not for another two arns. Mind making a little side trip, Mattis?"
"Would it matter if I said no?"
"Wouldn't matter at all." I looked over the drifting Prowler again and headed back toward Moya. After a few microts, I saw Talyn, just poking out from Moya's far side. "Pilot, bring that Prowler onboard. I'm going to find out what's got Crais's numnas in a twist."
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Dad called them rattlers, that nagging feeling you get right before things go horribly wrong. I got them real bad while on approach to Talyn. It wasn't until I was climbing out of the Prowler that I found the reason for my sudden case of nerves.
In one corner of Talyn's maintenance bay sat the Farscape module, looking like it had been through a war, but still intact. I walked up to it slowly, wondering if I was dreaming again.
I turned when I heard footsteps coming into the bay. Crais didn't look like he'd changed much, maybe a little more gray in his hair, and maybe his eyes were more tired than they had been the last time I'd seen him. But he still carried himself with the same borderline arrogant demeanor that he apparently had while a Peacekeeper captain.
Mattis looked over the module, frowning. "I'll never say anything bad about the Prowler again. Is that what I think it is? Is that your father's module?"
"That's it. The module that was the key to Dad's wormhole research. It disappeared ten cycles ago, along with Mom and Dad." As Crais stopped at my side, I said, "Is this some kind of joke?"
Crais shook his head slowly and crossed his arms. "No, Vanessa. I would not joke about this. I found the module drifting, unpowered and unmanned. There is no trace of your parents in it. However, you know the module's systems better than I do."
I nodded, only half listening to him. Crais found the module unmanned? I was suddenly very confused. The module disappeared down a wormhole, but how did it get back out here without Mom and Dad in it? Did they launch it? I didn't know what to think.
Mattis leaned close and spoke in a quiet, reassuring voice. "Well, we should get this back to Moya, open it up and see what we can find out. Don't worry, Vanessa. We'll figure out what happened." He reached over and took my hand.
I smiled at him. "Of course we will. Pilot."
Pilot sounded a little unsettled over the comm. "Vanessa, I was about to call you. Something odd just happened."
"What's going on?"
"We brought the Prowler you found onboard. When there was no sign of danger, Chiana and Stark opened the canopy. Instead of a pilot, the cockpit was filled with a thick red fluid."
I saw Crais's eyes go wide. "What is it, Crais?"
Instead of answering, Crais stepped away from me, lost in thought. "How much do you know about wormhole technology, Vanessa?"
"Almost nothing. Dad said he would start training me in wormhole tech when I was old enough. Unfortunately, thirteen cycles wasn't old enough. Why?"
"When Scorpius first started his wormhole experiments, he experienced a number of.difficulties. He was able to create stable wormholes, but there were problems with the organic tests. All the Prowlers he sent in came back undamaged, but their pilots suffered from cellular liquification, which reduced them to nothing more than an organic soup."
I inhaled deeply. "And you think someone may have restarted Scorpius's experiments? You think there's a connection between finding the module and the Prowler?"
"It is possible, Vanessa. Although, given the way High Command treated Scorpius, it may be a rogue project."
Chiana's voice was a concerned whisper. "Vanessa? Are you all right?"
I blinked. "Yeah, fine. Come on, Mattis. Let's get the module back to Moya." I started back to the Prowler, but stopped and looked back at the Farscape module. "If the module's here, where are you," I whispered. "Where are you?"
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TO BE CONTINUED
