"Apparitions" Time: Twenty-five cycles after Dog With Two Bones

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 Twenty-five: Sacrifice

[i]The module was tumbling out of control, despite her best efforts. Above her, the view alternated between the darkness of space and the wormhole she had opened. In front of her, the control panel was alternating between being dead and shining with a sea of red warning indicators. The only system that seemed to be functioning was the comms. Given the voices that were screaming in her ears, she was beginning to wish the comm would get frelled, too.

She tried to remain calm as she reached out and started throwing switches, trying to get some kind of positive reaction. When throwing switches didn't work, she resorted to pounding on the console.

The voices were quiet for a microt. She growled in frustration and said, "Okay, I'm in trouble."[/i]

"Vanessa? Now's not the time for daydreams!"

Vanessa blinked and shook her head. She looked around Command at the faces that stared at her. "Um.sorry. Guess I was in my own world there." She looked down at the main console. "Pilot, what's the status of the Vigilante?"

"Closing rapidly, Vanessa." On the clamshell, Pilot looked distressed. "They'll be in range of the imobilizer pulse in thirty microts."

"How much longer until we can starburst?" John sounded annoyed over the comm.

"At least another arn, Commander."

Aeryn's voice replaced John's on the comm. "Just once, just once I'd like to have time to spare. Why is there never enough time?" They heard her fire her Prowler's cannons. "Tashina! Behind you!"

Tashina's voice was an angry hiss. "Thank you, Officer Sun!"

Mattis leaned on the console. "Note for the future, everyone! When we get out of this, maybe we should look into getting our hands on a defense shield."

"We tried that once. It got frelled." Chiana paced around Command, nervously wringing her hands.

Vanessa traded a worried look with Mattis. "Crais, how're you doing?"

"The Marauders are proving to be more trouble than expected. Talyn has taken some damage, but nothing critical yet."

"As soon as you're clear."

"Vanessa, the Vigilante is signaling us."

She considered quickly. "Maybe we can buy some time. Put them on, Pilot."

On the main screen, the image of Captain Abetan appeared. "Crew of Leviathan Moya, halt your forward progress and prepare to be boarded."

"Hello, Captain. Can't we talk about this? It was just a misunderstanding."

"A misunderstanding? You've crippled the entire base and interfered with a Peacekeeper research project."

"Every situation has a resolution, Captain. What'll it take?"

Abetan considered. "I want the wormhole information. Turn that over to me and I'll consider letting Moya and her crew go."

"As simple as that? Just turn over the information and we starburst away. Is that it?"

"That's it, Vanessa. Just turn over the information and you can go. It can be either Crichton or yourself."

Vanessa frowned. "So, either Sikozu or your faithful sidekick Misata passed that little tidbit on to you. Where's the good Lieutenant, anyway?"

"Lieutenant Katsur is on Bia'thera, supervising the repairs on the base's reactor."

"And Sikozu," Chiana asked.

"Chief Scientist Sikozu is also on the base, patiently waiting for the information."

"Well, we wouldn't want that now, would we? Tell you what, Captain. Give us an arn to think about it, then we'll get back to you."

"You have a quarter arn. After that, you will be boarded." The screen went blank.

They stared in silence for a few microts. "If anyone has any ideas," Mattis said quietly, "now would be the time for them."

They heard John sigh. "Only one thing to do. Pilot, have a DRD get the module ready."

Vanessa felt a sense of doom come over her. "Dad."

"When I'm clear, get out of here at Moya's best speed."

"Dad, wait!" Vanessa looked at Chiana then ran from Command.

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As she ran for the maintenance bay, Vanessa's mind raced.

[i]He's going to do what I was planning on doing. I can't let him do that! I didn't find him only to lose him again![/i]

She didn't slow as she rounded a corner and ploughed into Xhalax. The Ancient looked at ease, despite the tension in the air.

"What's going on, Vanessa," she asked.

"Just the Peacekeepers being difficult. Look, if you don't have anything useful to offer, then go keep Furlow company."

"You're on your way to the maintenance bay. What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to keep my father from doing something stupid."

".by doing something stupid yourself? Are you sure?"

Vanessa's head jerked back as images exploded into her mind.

[i]She tried to remain calm as she reached out and started throwing switches, trying to get some kind of positive reaction. When throwing switches didn't work, she resorted to pounding on the console.

The voices were quiet for a microt. She growled in frustration and said, "Okay, I'm in trouble."

Her father sounded near panic. "Vanessa, honey, it's not the control matrices again, is it?"

"No! It's like someone threw water on a fire! Everything just dies on me!" Vanessa looked up through the canopy and watched the wormhole grow larger. "I think something's pulling me into the wormhole!"

The wormhole flared with blinding light.

"Vanessa!"

"Vanessa!"[/i]

Her head jerked forward as the images stopped. "What the frell.what're you doing? I don't have time for this!"

Xhalax stepped close to her. "Isn't this what you were planning on? Of course, you weren't expecting Moya to be damaged, were you."

"Stay the frell out of my head!" Vanessa pushed past Xhalax and started running.

In the maintenance bay, Vanessa found John leaning into the module. "Dad, you're not going anywhere!"

"I have to, Vanessa." John straightened and turned to Vanessa. "The good of the many, the needs of the few and all that crap. Keep an eye on your mother for me." He reached out to his daughter and held her close. "I'm sorry we didn't have more time together. I would've liked to have gotten to know Mattis better."

Vanessa stepped from John's embrace and tried to hold back tears. "I guess this is goodbye."

John forced a smile onto his face. "We don't say goodbye." He leaned to one side as Mattis ran into the maintenance bay. "Take care of Moya and my daughter." He turned and started to climb into the module.

Vanessa watched him then glanced back at Mattis. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath and whispered, "We don't say goodbye. But we do say sorry."

As Mattis watched, Vanessa reached out and pulled John away from the module. As he staggered back, she struck him with a pantak jab. As John's unconscious body dropped to the floor, Mattis rushed forward. "Vanessa, what the frell are you." He was barely aware of Vanessa's foot striking the side of his head.

Vanessa watched Mattis fall as tears began to run down her cheeks. "I'm sorry, Mattis." She knelt next to him and kissed him once on the cheek. "I love you."

Vanessa looked up as Xhalax stepped into the maintenance bay. "Are you going to try and stop me, too?"

"No. You must do what you feel is right."

"Fine." She slapped her comm. "Pilot, remember the promise Moya made."

Pilot was silent for a microt. "Without starburst, we won't be able to get away quickly."

"Then get going at Moya's best speed!" Vanessa squeezed her eyes shut and tried to stop the tears. "Goodbye, Pilot."

"As your father said, we do not say goodbye. Until you return, Vanessa."

She looked around one last time and climbed into the module.

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Aeryn pulled her Prowler away from the last of the attackers and grimly nodded. "That's the last of them, I think." She dabbed sweat from her forehead and stretched out kinks in her neck.

"I agree, Officer Sun," Tashina said, sounding tired. "I prefer to take on multiple targets, but there's an upward limit of how many I can handle at once."

"Agreed. Crais, how are you and Talyn?"

"One Marauder is left, Aeryn. One of Talyn's cannons has been damaged, but the second cannon is still functional. It will only be a matter of microts."

"Good. Hopefully, your DRDs will be able to repair the cannon before we have to engage the Vigilante."

"Perhaps it would be better to make a strategic withdrawal," Tashina said. "If Talyn can still starburst, perhaps Moya can ride his wake.wait. Officer Sun, are you picking this up?"

Aeryn looked down at her tracking screens. She could see one small point pulling away from the larger bulk of Moya. "What the frell? Who's taking off? We're still under combat conditions out here!"

"It's your daughter," John said, sounding like he was just waking up from a deep sleep. "The base commander gave us an ultimatum of turning over the wormhole information. So I was going to do the noble thing and turn myself over to them."

"So what's Vanessa going to do? Turn herself over?" There was disbelief in Tashina's voice. "That has a low probability of success."

"I don't think she's going to turn herself over," Chiana said. "She's heading away from the Vigilante."

"Away? What the frell."

The comms clicked and Vanessa's voice was heard. "Captain Abetan, this is Vanessa Sun. I have the information you want. I'm in the small module leaving Moya. If you want the information, come and get it. Catch me if you can."

On her screen, Aeryn could see the module begin to accelerate, heading for open space. "Vanessa, what are you doing?"

"Buying you some time. It's like Dad said, the needs of the many, the good of the few. One life for eight."

"Ten," Stark corrected. "Don't forget about Xhalax and Furlow."

"They don't count for me. Take care of yourselves."

[i]"Vanessa!"[/i]

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In the module's cockpit, Vanessa adjusted her oculars and tried to ignore the voices that were calling out to her. She felt calm now that she had made the decision to pilot the module in place of her father.

She glanced down at the screens arrayed before her and nodded when she saw the Vigilante begin to close on her. "That's it. Come on over. I've got what you're looking for. I've got it right here." Vanessa reached over and gently touched the controls for the displacement engine, careful not to engage it yet. She hoped the calculations she had punched in had been correct. There would only be one try at stopping the Vigilante. After that, the displacement engine would be useless.

The comm clicked and one voice sounded over the others. "Vanessa, this is Lieutenant Katsur. Don't do anything foolish. Despite what you may think, I've come to respect you. If you sacrifice yourself, it would be a waste of good material."

"Good material? Is that supposed to be a compliment? Sorry, Lieutenant. There's only one way for this to end." [i] Though I don't think it's the way you expect it to end, Misata old girl.[/i]

"I see. So, further conversation would be a waste of time?"

"It's yours to waste, Lieutenant."

The comm was silent for a microt. "Very well, then. Just so you know, I will rise from this failure."

Vanessa couldn't keep a smile from her face. "And I'll be there waiting for you. Goodbye, Lieutenant." She made an adjustment on the console and opened the module's engines wide.

Her eyes lingered on the tracking screens, watching the distance from Moya increase, while the distance to the Vigilante decreased. [i]Is this far enough?[/i]

There was another click. This time, Abetan's voice was heard. "Module, this is Captain Abetan."

"Yes, Captain, I know who it is. Is that the best you can do? Surely that big Vigilante can move faster than this little module. Or are you afraid of what I might do?"

Abetan's voice sounded filled with rage. "Afraid? Who do you think you are, talking to me."

"Who do I think I am? I am Vanessa Sun, daughter of John Crichton and Aeryn Sun. And I am the last living being you'll ever see!" She studied the screens a microt longer, reached over and slapped the displacement engine's controls. As the engine activated, Vanessa put the module into a widening spiral.

John's voice sounded desperate over the comm. "Vanessa.what the frell are you doing?"

"Eliminating a threat. Don't worry. I've got it under control." She looked up as the wormhole flared to life. As indicators began to register the change in local space, a cruel smile crossed Vanessa's face. "Deal with that, Captain."

The Vigilante continued forward, though Vanessa could see the vessel begin to alter course for the wormhole. She could see thrusters firing, trying to angle away. "Having some problems there, Captain?"

The anger in Abetan's voice grew, becoming murderous. "What the frell have you done?"

Vanessa kept her voice calm and level, even as she began to feel horror begin to boil inside her body. "A wormhole is a fascinating phenomena, Captain. You can use one to travel from one side of the galaxy to the other in mere microts. You can even travel to different realities, though that's not a good idea. You can attach one end to a star and use it like a cannon. Or you can twist its gravity flux and suck a starship down like a bug. What do you think of that, Captain?"

Abetan's raging voice was lost in static. The Vigilante was beginning to lose its fight with the sudden surge of gravity that had taken hold of it and was dragging it down into the wormhole. The vessel began to tumble as its pilots lost control. The comm went dead as the Vigilante disappeared down the wormhole.

Vanessa stared at the mouth of the wormhole as tears began to run down her face. "Bye.bye." she whispered.

Mattis sounded like he was in a daze. "Frell.me.dead. Where did you send them?"

She took a deep breath and fought back the tears. "Somewhere else. If they survive the trip, we'll still never see them again."

John's voice was quiet. "Vanessa, don't ever do anything like that again. I don't want you completely following in my footsteps."

"Don't worry. I don't think I'll try anything this dangerous again." She inhaled deeply and wiped her eyes. "All right. Let me close this wormhole and head back. Who knows how long it'll be before a comm.[i]what the frell!"[/i]

The nose of the module dipped sharply, and the small craft began to tumble back toward the wormhole. The console lights began to flicker madly. "Oh frell!"

"Vanessa."

"I don't know! It felt like someone reached out and slapped the module. I'm beginning to tumble!" Desperately, she began to work, trying to regain some control.

The tracking screen cleared for a microt, and Vanessa could see the two Prowlers begin to close on her. "Vanessa, hold on," Aeryn said. "We'll tow you out."

"No, Mom! Stay away! The gravity flux is still reversed! It'll drag you in, too." She threw a few more switches and looked up.

Above her, the view was alternating between the darkness of space and the wormhole. In front of her, the console continued to alternate between being dead and shining with a sea of red warning indicators. The only system that seemed to be functioning was the comms. Given the voices that were screaming in her ears, Vanessa was beginning to wish the comm would get frelled, too.

She tried to remain calm as she reached out and started throwing switches, trying to get some kind of positive reaction. When throwing switches didn't work, she resorted to pounding on the console.

The voices were quiet for a microt. She growled in frustration and said, "Okay, I'm in trouble."

Her father sounded near panic. "Vanessa, honey, it's not the control matrices again, is it?"

"No! It's like someone threw water on a fire! Everything just died on me!" Vanessa looked up through the canopy and watched the wormhole grow larger. "Nothing's working."

There was desperation in Aeryn's voice. "Vanessa, you have to do something."

"There's nothing left to do, Mom. I can't get any kind of reaction, good or bad." Vanessa leaned back in the chair and reached under her shirt. She stared at the locket, then opened it and again started crying as she looked at the images of her parents. "I'm sorry I failed you all. I love you all."

The screens cleared for another microt, telling her that she had past the wormhole's event horizon.

The wormhole flared with blinding light.

"Vanessa!"

[i]"Vanessa!"[/i]

The light drowned out everything. Soon, even the voices of her family and friends was lost. A sense of serenity swept over Vanessa.

After what seemed like arns, she heard the man's voice.

"Time."

TO BE CONCLUDED (Maybe)