Part 1: It's life Jim, but not as we know it.
"Contact SETI, contact every damn agency and field station we have. Give me confirmation!"
Lt. Colonel Beth Danner (retired), even after a solid forty years' experience at IASA, was feeling pretty close to hyperventilating herself at that moment. It wasn't the first extra-terrestrial UFO sighting she'd been present at, far from it. The junior staff members were always getting themselves worked up over some blip on the radars, but this was different. This was not a blip, unless every satellite in Earth's orbit had conspired to give her a heart attack. This was something real. It had appeared out of nowhere, so it couldn't be an asteroid. It was too big to be a defunct probe. Despite all her years of practice in remaining sceptical, she was one confirmation away from dancing round the room.
"Sir!"
The man known universally as DK (so universally that she wouldn't even have known his real name if she hadn't read his personnel report) looked up from the screen he'd been working at, looking properly excited for the first time since his partner and best friend Commander John Crichton had apparently been swallowed by a singularity some three years before.
Beth resisted the temptation to hold her breath. "Yes DK, do you have something to report?" she asked, playing the calm-commander role that she was so good at.
"Confirmation," DK replied simply, a grin the size of the Grand Canyon breaking over his face.
Beth's heartbeat jumped to a dangerously fast rate. "Thank you," she said, trying to keep her cool in the midst of chaos. She took a deep breath, forcing the enormity of the situation out of her mind. Something she'd never found difficult before.
"Well," she added, pausing a moment, eyes sweeping over the rows of people holding their breath, "we can't afford to waste anymore time. We need to know what that thing is, we need to contact it, we need every detail we can possibly get. You know your jobs, get started."
The effect of these words was strangely reminiscent of throwing a piece of meat into a tank of hungry piranhas. The IASA staff, who were almost to a man (despite years of equal-opportunity legislation they were still mostly men) as alien-happy as they come, went from 0 to 60 in a micro-second. The race had begun.
Beth Danner sat down at her desk, hiding her trembling hands underneath it. Oh if this could be real! First contact...if she could have lived to see it. The day she'd dreamed of for as long as she could remember. Her ultimate fantasy.
***
Three hours later, optimism had given way to frustration and worry.
"Nothing!" DK said, looking helplessly at the Colonel. "We tried everything. Prime numbers, the standard SETI greeting and every other thing they might possibly recognise. Nothing. No response."
Jack Crichton put a hand on his shoulder. DK had snatched a second to call him the moment confirmation had been received. The super-quick message 'Jack. UFO confirmed. Come now,' had been enough to make him slam his foot onto the accelerator and risk at least $1000 in speeding fines to get there in time. But he understood better than most the many false alarms that are part of an alien-hunter's life.
"Whatever it is, it hasn't attacked," he pointed out. "We have received nothing to indicate that it is hostile. And we still believe it to be a ship."
DK tried for a smile. He didn't quite pull it off. "You're right. I...just hoped...."
Jack Crichton nodded. He had hoped too. Hoped that, by some miracle, it was John on that ship. Home again.
"So, what do we do now?" one of the juniors asked, finally voicing what everyone was thinking but hadn't dared to say. "Just wait and hope they don't attack?"
DK, Col. Jack Crichton and Lt. Col. Beth Danner all exchanged glances.
"It doesn't seem that we have much choice," Jack answered, grimly.
***
Crais winced as Talyn's command slowly swam into focus. His head felt as if Talyn had landed on it. But, then again, he did seem to still be alive which, under the circumstances, was an unexpected surprise.
He struggled to prop himself up on his elbows, wincing again. He must have cracked a rib, or several. He looked around him. Talyn, at least from this angle, looked relatively unhurt, but was transparently in sleep mode. Whatever had happened to them during their starburst, they hadn't escaped without injury.
Crais slowly pulled his sore body to its feet. He caught a glimpse of something out of the viewscreen and moved gingerly over to it to take a closer look. His lips parted slightly. Was that....?
He'd only seen it once before, and then only as a 'billboard' from the ancients. Could he possibly have found his way to Earth?
He had to wake Talyn. He had to find out what had happened after they'd starburst. But, before that, he had to go to medical.
***
It was five hours since the first sighting. The IASA command crew (which seemed to have expanded quite considerably as word got around) had moved past waiting in terrified silence. Death might be inevitable, but it certainly seemed to be taking its time. And it was well past lunch time and everyone was hungry. No-one had admitted to being the one who called Domino's, but somehow a truckload of pizza had arrived anyway. Now everyone was eating, drinking beer (usually banned from the centre, but Lt. Col. Danner seemed to have decided to be blind for the day) and making cheerful conversation. If they were going to go out, they were going to go out full and drunk.
Jack Crichton and DK sat, sharing a large pepperoni pizza (with anchovies on Jack's half), both trying to keep their mind off the man - son and friend respectively - whom they couldn't give up hope of seeing again. The same thought was constantly running through each of their heads as they sat there in silence. Please let this be something to do with John. To be honest, neither of them really believed that it was, but hope was the one thing they had left.
***
A wormhole. The starburst had sent them through a wormhole. Just like the one Crichton had been through, the one Scorpius had created, the ones Crais had sacrificed himself and Talyn for, to prevent them falling into Peacekeeper or Scarran hands. Or hadn't, but that had been his expectation. So, this could really be Earth. How ironic. Crichton had been obsessed with finding his home himself, or at least preventing the Peacekeepers finding it. He'd never dreamed that Crais would. Crais had never dreamed that Crais would.
Crichton's world had no contact with aliens, he was sure that Crichton had said that. Perhaps the best thing he could do would be to leave as quickly as he could. But then, he must be countless light-cycles from where he'd been before. If he merely left, he'd never get back to the uncharted territories. That would make him safe from Scorpius, but he had only limited supplies on board. And if this part of the galaxy was uninhabited....
And there was something else. This odd feeling that he had a responsibility to make contact. Crichton might never return to his home. It was ridiculous for him to feel this way. He'd spent the first cycle of his acquaintance with Crichton trying to kill him and they'd never exactly become friends. Perhaps the version of him that had died and he had reached a tenuous understanding, but that was all. But still...if he just flew away....
His decision made, no matter how pathetically human-like, Crais used Talyn's intelligence-gathering facilities to hack into one of the satellites orbiting the planet. A first-cycle cadet could have managed it. Crichton had been right. Not only would Earth have no chance against the Scarrans, they'd have no chance against practically any of the sentient races in the galaxy. He adjusted Talyn's long-range comms to synchronise with theirs and began his message.
***
"Sir!" one of the least drunk crew members exclaimed. "We're getting a transmission!"
The room fell silent instantly.
"Well, let's hear it!" Lt. Col. Danner replied, hurriedly putting down her slice of Hawaiian pizza and wiping a piece of mozzarella from her chin.
The message was broadcast over the room's speakers. Everyone listened.
"Well," DK said, when it was finished. "That was...uh...informative."
"Colonel," Beth Danner asked, closing her eyes for a moment, "did that sound like any language you are familiar with?"
"None," Jack Crichton replied simply.
"We need a language expert up here," Beth said, sounding the epitome of calm despite her churning insides. "Meanwhile, send out the SETI greeting again. Maybe they just didn't receive it last time."
"Yes sir!" half a dozen voices responded.
***
Crais sighed in irritation. He had sent a perfectly simple message and they had replied with this frankly bizarre transmission. Why precisely Crichton's people thought that a nude picture was the most suitable way of making contact with other races was beyond his comprehension. It did seem that humans really were exactly like Sebaceans on the exterior, but that was not what he was here to determine.
Translator microbes. Of course, Humans didn't have them. He'd known that, but he'd forgotten. Obviously making contact would not simply be a matter of stating his presence. They didn't speak Sebacean, he didn't speak Human. He couldn't write Human. He could think of nothing that they might recognise. Except....
"Talyn," he said, "show me the surveillance logs."
***
"Sir...something's happening!" an over-enthusiastic junior exclaimed.
"What precisely?" Beth asked, beginning to lose patience. The so-called language experts couldn't make head or tail of the message they'd received, even after three damn hours. The occupants of the alien craft could be declaring war or trying to make a hair appointment, for all they knew.
"I think...I think they're using our satellite to download something to our computer!"
"It could be a computer virus," Jack Crichton said, getting up from his perch on the desk.
"Or it could be a communication," Beth added.
They exchanged a glance.
"Your command," Jack said quietly. He'd known her too long to pull rank on this one.
"We stay," Beth said, opening the command to the room at large. "Let them continue the download."
Everyone in the room held their breath until the download was finished. When it was, the one in charge looked over to Beth and Jack.
"Well, what are you waiting for?" Beth said. "Hit the play button."
Every pair of eyes turned to the huge screen on the wall. At first there was nothing, then a picture flashed onto it.
Jack Crichton and DK both went weak at the knees. Staring at them was the face of John Crichton, presumed dead. For one brief moment, hearts soared.
Then they hit the ground. "If John were there he could have spoken to us direct," DK said, common sense shooting hope down. "Whatever is on that ship, it's obviously not from Earth."
Jack Crichton nodded, the pain of crashed hopes constricting his chest. "But whatever it is has obviously seen John, it may be able to give us some news of him."
Their attention flashed back to the screen as the image shifted. What followed was a montage of Crichton speaking. Obviously the alien had compiled clips of some sort of video footage in order to speak to them in a language they would understand. The speech was stilted, but understandable.
"I am. Crais. I know. John Crichton. I'm here. In. Peace. I mean. No. Harm. I. Seek. Jack Crichton."
"DK," Jack asked, when the speech had finished, "did you hear that?"
"Yes sir!" DK replied, breaking out into a smile once again.
They got no further before the image on the screen began changing again. They fell silent to watch. Now it was showing another montage, once of Crichton moving around a strange red and black world that almost looked...alive.
They saw Crichton swipe his hand over a panel of some kind and a door opened. He strode through it.
"Yo, Crais,"
"That's the...." DK began, then stopped when the image shifted to their 'alien'.
Two of them. A male and a female - or so they appeared. Who spoke the language they had heard on their earlier message. Who looked completely human.
"Holy fuck."
The fact that someone had said that didn't surprise anyone. The fact that it was Lt.Col Danner did. In the thirty years he'd known her, Jack Crichton had never heard her use that word and yet he wasn't surprised that she'd used it now.
Every occupant of the room stared at the scene. It didn't make much sense because they could only understand what Crichton was saying, but the message fulfilled Crais' purpose.
"That's...the alien who's on that ship," DK said, managing to finish his sentence this time. "That guy. And the other is...someone else."
The image on the screen shifted again. To Crichton and the female alien. They were sitting, half-lying, together, looking out into space through a small viewing panel. Crichton had a notebook in his hands. He was showing her something on it. He spoke, but this clip had no sound. It was obvious, though, that he'd asked her a question. She smiled and they leant towards each other, their lips melting into a kiss. The scene froze there.
"Well...." DK said. "I guess...that answers one question. And...er...throws up a few others."
Jack stared at the screen, taking in the image of his son...and the woman he so obviously loved. The woman who just happened to be a human-looking alien.
The image changed once again. Another speech montage.
"I need to. Speak. With. Jack Crichton. Please. Send him. To. Me."
Every eye in the room turned to Jack.
"I will...inform Mission Control that we need to schedule a shuttle launch as soon as possible," Jack said, officially to Beth and DK but really to everyone.
DK looked distinctly doubtful. "Knowing IASA, it'll take six months just to set up the committee to discuss it."
"For this," Beth replied, managing a small smile, "I think even IASA could cut it down a little. I've made a few friends in high places, it's time to collect on all the debts I'm owed."
"Sir...it could be a trap." DK couldn't in good conscience keep silent on that.
Jack nodded. "For John...I will take that risk."
***
Crais had begun monitoring communications traffic in earnest, so he knew when to expect the launch. When the tiny shuttle was launched from the larger one and began to approach Talyn, he deployed the docking web and brought it aboard. Then, giving Talyn strict instructions not to open the inner bay doors until he arrived, he left command and headed to the docking bay.
***
Jack Crichton climbed out of the shuttle pod, slowly and cautiously. At least the air here was breathable. He looked around him in awe, taking in the larger transport pods already occupying the bay as well as the strange, flesh-like walls. He didn't know what on Earth, or rather off Earth, he should expect. Whether this was even genuine. But if this...creature...knew something about his son then he'd risk death and worse.
The bay doors suddenly swished open...and the alien man he'd seen on the clips strode into the room. A tiny robot, that appeared to have accompanied him, moved forward towards Jack. It resembled a large, mechanical ladybug. He didn't know whether he should move away from it or not. It rolled up to him...and stuck something into his foot.
"What have you given me?" he demanded, jerking back from it.
"Translator microbes," the alien said, after waiting a moment. To Jack's astonishment, he could understand him. "They allow you to understand my language. They are quite harmless to humans, Crichton has had them for over three cycles."
"You were telling the truth? You know my son?"
Crais nodded sharply. "I am Bialar Crais. I am afraid that he is not currently aboard Talyn - this ship. My appearance here was...unexpected. I merely wish to give you what assurance I can as to his health and then depart."
"He is alive?" Jack asked, holding his breath.
Crais nodded again. "To the best of my knowledge. I last saw him one solar day ago."
Jack closed his eyes. "Thank God," he said. "Thank God."
Crais wasn't sure who God was, but it was obviously someone important to Crichton's father. He cleared his throat.
"I can...provide you with some information about your son. I would have transferred it all with my earlier communications, but I did not wish to alarm you with such a large amount of information. Crichton...has mentioned that you have had no contact with other species before."
Jack studied him curiously from a safe distance, noting the fire arm at Crais' hip. "What species are you?" he asked.
"I am Sebacean."
"You look...remarkably similar to Humans.... And...the woman on the message you sent. She is...Sebacean also."
Crais nodded again. "Her name is Aeryn Sun," he said, matter-of-factly.
"And she's...they're a couple?"
Crais considered how to answer that. "Their...relationship has tended to be somewhat...difficult, but I have no doubt of their...mutual affection."
"And what is your relationship with my son?"
That was even harder to answer. "I...would not call us friends," Crais said, trying to avoid the word 'enemies'. "But I believe we have...learned to tolerate each other."
"That...doesn't sound promising," Jack said, feeling rather uncomfortable.
"We met under...unfortunate circumstances, which I am not prepared to discuss," Crais replied, in a tone that said firmly 'case closed'.
Jack took the hint. "Where is my son?" he asked.
"He is in another part of this galaxy, far from here. He resides aboard a ship called Moya, who is the mother of my ship."
"Mother?" Jack asked, stupefied. "This ship is alive?!"
"Talyn and Moya are both leviathans, living ships."
Jack looked around him again, in even more wonder this time. "Can I see the rest of your ship?" he asked.
"I will escort you to Talyn's command. You will go nowhere unsupervised."
"Understood," Jack answered, not willing to risk angering him. God only knew what he might do, for all Jack knew he secreted poisonous venom or turned into a monster when agitated.
He followed Crais at a swift marching pace through the ship, staring at it as he passed. The same words kept repeating over and over in his brain. This ship is alive, it's alive! He couldn't help noticing what looked like damaged conduits all over the ship.
"The ship appears to have sustained damage," he ventured to say.
Crais didn't even slow his pace. "We were both injured during starburst and our voyage through the wormhole."
"Wormhole? Starburst?"
"Starburst allows Talyn to travel vast distances almost instantaneously. Wormholes are a phenomenon, usually naturally occurring, which provide the same function. Crichton himself left this part of the galaxy through a wormhole." Crais answered, wondering irritably if the entire Crichton family was this inquisitive.
They reached command, Jack having asking another dozen questions en route. The view confronting him made his mouth fall open and all speech desert him. Here he could stand and look down on Earth. It was a sight he'd seen before, but he'd never dreamed that he would stand without a space suit, on a alien ship, and look down on the planet he called home.
After a moment, he asked the only question he had left for now.
"Can I...would you permit me to bring others here?"
Crais looked at him sharply. "It is not my intention to instruct the human race on space exploration, nor to have my ship overrun by humans."
"Only family members...and DK," Jack said, willing to press this point. "It would be the experience of a lifetime and they will want to see where John has spent at least some of his time."
Crais sighed. "Very well," he answered. "But I will not tolerate anyone interfering with my ship. Talyn requires extensive maintenance before we can hope to leave here. I will not allow you or your family to roam freely on this ship and I cannot escort you myself at all hours of the day."
Jack nodded, pleased that he had agreed. "It will take us some time to find everyone and to return here. Give me two days."
Crais nodded. "I will escort you back to the hanger bay. In the meantime, I will transmit all the information of value that I have to your command, please inform them of this."
With a last look out of the viewscreen, Jack Crichton left Talyn's bridge. He might not have seen his son, but suddenly he felt as if John was one step closer to home.
"Contact SETI, contact every damn agency and field station we have. Give me confirmation!"
Lt. Colonel Beth Danner (retired), even after a solid forty years' experience at IASA, was feeling pretty close to hyperventilating herself at that moment. It wasn't the first extra-terrestrial UFO sighting she'd been present at, far from it. The junior staff members were always getting themselves worked up over some blip on the radars, but this was different. This was not a blip, unless every satellite in Earth's orbit had conspired to give her a heart attack. This was something real. It had appeared out of nowhere, so it couldn't be an asteroid. It was too big to be a defunct probe. Despite all her years of practice in remaining sceptical, she was one confirmation away from dancing round the room.
"Sir!"
The man known universally as DK (so universally that she wouldn't even have known his real name if she hadn't read his personnel report) looked up from the screen he'd been working at, looking properly excited for the first time since his partner and best friend Commander John Crichton had apparently been swallowed by a singularity some three years before.
Beth resisted the temptation to hold her breath. "Yes DK, do you have something to report?" she asked, playing the calm-commander role that she was so good at.
"Confirmation," DK replied simply, a grin the size of the Grand Canyon breaking over his face.
Beth's heartbeat jumped to a dangerously fast rate. "Thank you," she said, trying to keep her cool in the midst of chaos. She took a deep breath, forcing the enormity of the situation out of her mind. Something she'd never found difficult before.
"Well," she added, pausing a moment, eyes sweeping over the rows of people holding their breath, "we can't afford to waste anymore time. We need to know what that thing is, we need to contact it, we need every detail we can possibly get. You know your jobs, get started."
The effect of these words was strangely reminiscent of throwing a piece of meat into a tank of hungry piranhas. The IASA staff, who were almost to a man (despite years of equal-opportunity legislation they were still mostly men) as alien-happy as they come, went from 0 to 60 in a micro-second. The race had begun.
Beth Danner sat down at her desk, hiding her trembling hands underneath it. Oh if this could be real! First contact...if she could have lived to see it. The day she'd dreamed of for as long as she could remember. Her ultimate fantasy.
***
Three hours later, optimism had given way to frustration and worry.
"Nothing!" DK said, looking helplessly at the Colonel. "We tried everything. Prime numbers, the standard SETI greeting and every other thing they might possibly recognise. Nothing. No response."
Jack Crichton put a hand on his shoulder. DK had snatched a second to call him the moment confirmation had been received. The super-quick message 'Jack. UFO confirmed. Come now,' had been enough to make him slam his foot onto the accelerator and risk at least $1000 in speeding fines to get there in time. But he understood better than most the many false alarms that are part of an alien-hunter's life.
"Whatever it is, it hasn't attacked," he pointed out. "We have received nothing to indicate that it is hostile. And we still believe it to be a ship."
DK tried for a smile. He didn't quite pull it off. "You're right. I...just hoped...."
Jack Crichton nodded. He had hoped too. Hoped that, by some miracle, it was John on that ship. Home again.
"So, what do we do now?" one of the juniors asked, finally voicing what everyone was thinking but hadn't dared to say. "Just wait and hope they don't attack?"
DK, Col. Jack Crichton and Lt. Col. Beth Danner all exchanged glances.
"It doesn't seem that we have much choice," Jack answered, grimly.
***
Crais winced as Talyn's command slowly swam into focus. His head felt as if Talyn had landed on it. But, then again, he did seem to still be alive which, under the circumstances, was an unexpected surprise.
He struggled to prop himself up on his elbows, wincing again. He must have cracked a rib, or several. He looked around him. Talyn, at least from this angle, looked relatively unhurt, but was transparently in sleep mode. Whatever had happened to them during their starburst, they hadn't escaped without injury.
Crais slowly pulled his sore body to its feet. He caught a glimpse of something out of the viewscreen and moved gingerly over to it to take a closer look. His lips parted slightly. Was that....?
He'd only seen it once before, and then only as a 'billboard' from the ancients. Could he possibly have found his way to Earth?
He had to wake Talyn. He had to find out what had happened after they'd starburst. But, before that, he had to go to medical.
***
It was five hours since the first sighting. The IASA command crew (which seemed to have expanded quite considerably as word got around) had moved past waiting in terrified silence. Death might be inevitable, but it certainly seemed to be taking its time. And it was well past lunch time and everyone was hungry. No-one had admitted to being the one who called Domino's, but somehow a truckload of pizza had arrived anyway. Now everyone was eating, drinking beer (usually banned from the centre, but Lt. Col. Danner seemed to have decided to be blind for the day) and making cheerful conversation. If they were going to go out, they were going to go out full and drunk.
Jack Crichton and DK sat, sharing a large pepperoni pizza (with anchovies on Jack's half), both trying to keep their mind off the man - son and friend respectively - whom they couldn't give up hope of seeing again. The same thought was constantly running through each of their heads as they sat there in silence. Please let this be something to do with John. To be honest, neither of them really believed that it was, but hope was the one thing they had left.
***
A wormhole. The starburst had sent them through a wormhole. Just like the one Crichton had been through, the one Scorpius had created, the ones Crais had sacrificed himself and Talyn for, to prevent them falling into Peacekeeper or Scarran hands. Or hadn't, but that had been his expectation. So, this could really be Earth. How ironic. Crichton had been obsessed with finding his home himself, or at least preventing the Peacekeepers finding it. He'd never dreamed that Crais would. Crais had never dreamed that Crais would.
Crichton's world had no contact with aliens, he was sure that Crichton had said that. Perhaps the best thing he could do would be to leave as quickly as he could. But then, he must be countless light-cycles from where he'd been before. If he merely left, he'd never get back to the uncharted territories. That would make him safe from Scorpius, but he had only limited supplies on board. And if this part of the galaxy was uninhabited....
And there was something else. This odd feeling that he had a responsibility to make contact. Crichton might never return to his home. It was ridiculous for him to feel this way. He'd spent the first cycle of his acquaintance with Crichton trying to kill him and they'd never exactly become friends. Perhaps the version of him that had died and he had reached a tenuous understanding, but that was all. But still...if he just flew away....
His decision made, no matter how pathetically human-like, Crais used Talyn's intelligence-gathering facilities to hack into one of the satellites orbiting the planet. A first-cycle cadet could have managed it. Crichton had been right. Not only would Earth have no chance against the Scarrans, they'd have no chance against practically any of the sentient races in the galaxy. He adjusted Talyn's long-range comms to synchronise with theirs and began his message.
***
"Sir!" one of the least drunk crew members exclaimed. "We're getting a transmission!"
The room fell silent instantly.
"Well, let's hear it!" Lt. Col. Danner replied, hurriedly putting down her slice of Hawaiian pizza and wiping a piece of mozzarella from her chin.
The message was broadcast over the room's speakers. Everyone listened.
"Well," DK said, when it was finished. "That was...uh...informative."
"Colonel," Beth Danner asked, closing her eyes for a moment, "did that sound like any language you are familiar with?"
"None," Jack Crichton replied simply.
"We need a language expert up here," Beth said, sounding the epitome of calm despite her churning insides. "Meanwhile, send out the SETI greeting again. Maybe they just didn't receive it last time."
"Yes sir!" half a dozen voices responded.
***
Crais sighed in irritation. He had sent a perfectly simple message and they had replied with this frankly bizarre transmission. Why precisely Crichton's people thought that a nude picture was the most suitable way of making contact with other races was beyond his comprehension. It did seem that humans really were exactly like Sebaceans on the exterior, but that was not what he was here to determine.
Translator microbes. Of course, Humans didn't have them. He'd known that, but he'd forgotten. Obviously making contact would not simply be a matter of stating his presence. They didn't speak Sebacean, he didn't speak Human. He couldn't write Human. He could think of nothing that they might recognise. Except....
"Talyn," he said, "show me the surveillance logs."
***
"Sir...something's happening!" an over-enthusiastic junior exclaimed.
"What precisely?" Beth asked, beginning to lose patience. The so-called language experts couldn't make head or tail of the message they'd received, even after three damn hours. The occupants of the alien craft could be declaring war or trying to make a hair appointment, for all they knew.
"I think...I think they're using our satellite to download something to our computer!"
"It could be a computer virus," Jack Crichton said, getting up from his perch on the desk.
"Or it could be a communication," Beth added.
They exchanged a glance.
"Your command," Jack said quietly. He'd known her too long to pull rank on this one.
"We stay," Beth said, opening the command to the room at large. "Let them continue the download."
Everyone in the room held their breath until the download was finished. When it was, the one in charge looked over to Beth and Jack.
"Well, what are you waiting for?" Beth said. "Hit the play button."
Every pair of eyes turned to the huge screen on the wall. At first there was nothing, then a picture flashed onto it.
Jack Crichton and DK both went weak at the knees. Staring at them was the face of John Crichton, presumed dead. For one brief moment, hearts soared.
Then they hit the ground. "If John were there he could have spoken to us direct," DK said, common sense shooting hope down. "Whatever is on that ship, it's obviously not from Earth."
Jack Crichton nodded, the pain of crashed hopes constricting his chest. "But whatever it is has obviously seen John, it may be able to give us some news of him."
Their attention flashed back to the screen as the image shifted. What followed was a montage of Crichton speaking. Obviously the alien had compiled clips of some sort of video footage in order to speak to them in a language they would understand. The speech was stilted, but understandable.
"I am. Crais. I know. John Crichton. I'm here. In. Peace. I mean. No. Harm. I. Seek. Jack Crichton."
"DK," Jack asked, when the speech had finished, "did you hear that?"
"Yes sir!" DK replied, breaking out into a smile once again.
They got no further before the image on the screen began changing again. They fell silent to watch. Now it was showing another montage, once of Crichton moving around a strange red and black world that almost looked...alive.
They saw Crichton swipe his hand over a panel of some kind and a door opened. He strode through it.
"Yo, Crais,"
"That's the...." DK began, then stopped when the image shifted to their 'alien'.
Two of them. A male and a female - or so they appeared. Who spoke the language they had heard on their earlier message. Who looked completely human.
"Holy fuck."
The fact that someone had said that didn't surprise anyone. The fact that it was Lt.Col Danner did. In the thirty years he'd known her, Jack Crichton had never heard her use that word and yet he wasn't surprised that she'd used it now.
Every occupant of the room stared at the scene. It didn't make much sense because they could only understand what Crichton was saying, but the message fulfilled Crais' purpose.
"That's...the alien who's on that ship," DK said, managing to finish his sentence this time. "That guy. And the other is...someone else."
The image on the screen shifted again. To Crichton and the female alien. They were sitting, half-lying, together, looking out into space through a small viewing panel. Crichton had a notebook in his hands. He was showing her something on it. He spoke, but this clip had no sound. It was obvious, though, that he'd asked her a question. She smiled and they leant towards each other, their lips melting into a kiss. The scene froze there.
"Well...." DK said. "I guess...that answers one question. And...er...throws up a few others."
Jack stared at the screen, taking in the image of his son...and the woman he so obviously loved. The woman who just happened to be a human-looking alien.
The image changed once again. Another speech montage.
"I need to. Speak. With. Jack Crichton. Please. Send him. To. Me."
Every eye in the room turned to Jack.
"I will...inform Mission Control that we need to schedule a shuttle launch as soon as possible," Jack said, officially to Beth and DK but really to everyone.
DK looked distinctly doubtful. "Knowing IASA, it'll take six months just to set up the committee to discuss it."
"For this," Beth replied, managing a small smile, "I think even IASA could cut it down a little. I've made a few friends in high places, it's time to collect on all the debts I'm owed."
"Sir...it could be a trap." DK couldn't in good conscience keep silent on that.
Jack nodded. "For John...I will take that risk."
***
Crais had begun monitoring communications traffic in earnest, so he knew when to expect the launch. When the tiny shuttle was launched from the larger one and began to approach Talyn, he deployed the docking web and brought it aboard. Then, giving Talyn strict instructions not to open the inner bay doors until he arrived, he left command and headed to the docking bay.
***
Jack Crichton climbed out of the shuttle pod, slowly and cautiously. At least the air here was breathable. He looked around him in awe, taking in the larger transport pods already occupying the bay as well as the strange, flesh-like walls. He didn't know what on Earth, or rather off Earth, he should expect. Whether this was even genuine. But if this...creature...knew something about his son then he'd risk death and worse.
The bay doors suddenly swished open...and the alien man he'd seen on the clips strode into the room. A tiny robot, that appeared to have accompanied him, moved forward towards Jack. It resembled a large, mechanical ladybug. He didn't know whether he should move away from it or not. It rolled up to him...and stuck something into his foot.
"What have you given me?" he demanded, jerking back from it.
"Translator microbes," the alien said, after waiting a moment. To Jack's astonishment, he could understand him. "They allow you to understand my language. They are quite harmless to humans, Crichton has had them for over three cycles."
"You were telling the truth? You know my son?"
Crais nodded sharply. "I am Bialar Crais. I am afraid that he is not currently aboard Talyn - this ship. My appearance here was...unexpected. I merely wish to give you what assurance I can as to his health and then depart."
"He is alive?" Jack asked, holding his breath.
Crais nodded again. "To the best of my knowledge. I last saw him one solar day ago."
Jack closed his eyes. "Thank God," he said. "Thank God."
Crais wasn't sure who God was, but it was obviously someone important to Crichton's father. He cleared his throat.
"I can...provide you with some information about your son. I would have transferred it all with my earlier communications, but I did not wish to alarm you with such a large amount of information. Crichton...has mentioned that you have had no contact with other species before."
Jack studied him curiously from a safe distance, noting the fire arm at Crais' hip. "What species are you?" he asked.
"I am Sebacean."
"You look...remarkably similar to Humans.... And...the woman on the message you sent. She is...Sebacean also."
Crais nodded again. "Her name is Aeryn Sun," he said, matter-of-factly.
"And she's...they're a couple?"
Crais considered how to answer that. "Their...relationship has tended to be somewhat...difficult, but I have no doubt of their...mutual affection."
"And what is your relationship with my son?"
That was even harder to answer. "I...would not call us friends," Crais said, trying to avoid the word 'enemies'. "But I believe we have...learned to tolerate each other."
"That...doesn't sound promising," Jack said, feeling rather uncomfortable.
"We met under...unfortunate circumstances, which I am not prepared to discuss," Crais replied, in a tone that said firmly 'case closed'.
Jack took the hint. "Where is my son?" he asked.
"He is in another part of this galaxy, far from here. He resides aboard a ship called Moya, who is the mother of my ship."
"Mother?" Jack asked, stupefied. "This ship is alive?!"
"Talyn and Moya are both leviathans, living ships."
Jack looked around him again, in even more wonder this time. "Can I see the rest of your ship?" he asked.
"I will escort you to Talyn's command. You will go nowhere unsupervised."
"Understood," Jack answered, not willing to risk angering him. God only knew what he might do, for all Jack knew he secreted poisonous venom or turned into a monster when agitated.
He followed Crais at a swift marching pace through the ship, staring at it as he passed. The same words kept repeating over and over in his brain. This ship is alive, it's alive! He couldn't help noticing what looked like damaged conduits all over the ship.
"The ship appears to have sustained damage," he ventured to say.
Crais didn't even slow his pace. "We were both injured during starburst and our voyage through the wormhole."
"Wormhole? Starburst?"
"Starburst allows Talyn to travel vast distances almost instantaneously. Wormholes are a phenomenon, usually naturally occurring, which provide the same function. Crichton himself left this part of the galaxy through a wormhole." Crais answered, wondering irritably if the entire Crichton family was this inquisitive.
They reached command, Jack having asking another dozen questions en route. The view confronting him made his mouth fall open and all speech desert him. Here he could stand and look down on Earth. It was a sight he'd seen before, but he'd never dreamed that he would stand without a space suit, on a alien ship, and look down on the planet he called home.
After a moment, he asked the only question he had left for now.
"Can I...would you permit me to bring others here?"
Crais looked at him sharply. "It is not my intention to instruct the human race on space exploration, nor to have my ship overrun by humans."
"Only family members...and DK," Jack said, willing to press this point. "It would be the experience of a lifetime and they will want to see where John has spent at least some of his time."
Crais sighed. "Very well," he answered. "But I will not tolerate anyone interfering with my ship. Talyn requires extensive maintenance before we can hope to leave here. I will not allow you or your family to roam freely on this ship and I cannot escort you myself at all hours of the day."
Jack nodded, pleased that he had agreed. "It will take us some time to find everyone and to return here. Give me two days."
Crais nodded. "I will escort you back to the hanger bay. In the meantime, I will transmit all the information of value that I have to your command, please inform them of this."
With a last look out of the viewscreen, Jack Crichton left Talyn's bridge. He might not have seen his son, but suddenly he felt as if John was one step closer to home.