The woman looked at her captive. After two arns, she had let up on the... tests, her victim's brain, deprived of all sensory input barring pain, had shut down for a while. There really wasn't any more that needed to be learned about the anomaly anyway, not as long as it could be... repaired. No, No, she had to admit that she was rather enjoying teaching this ungrateful runaway just what happened when the generous guidance of their people was thrown back in their faces. She turned away, deciding to leave the girl to rest for a while She'd need her strength, after all.

As she passed Ferra's slightly battered form, small dried rivulets of blueish blood trailing down her neck from where the Collar's needles punctured her skin, she let out a small laugh. Ferra's eyes flickered at the sound, her dreams once again filled with pain and blood, fear and agony. With one last look at her captive, Sial moved for the door. Yes, this one would be interesting to break, but the real prize was still outside of her grasp.

"This has happened to other Nebari?" Chiana was pacing around the centre chamber, more restless than ever. Noranti was sat making a stew from some sort of vermin on the counter, the foul smell robbing Chiana of what little patience she normally would have had. The two new arrivals, Farris, a blocky male with a scar down his left cheek and Stalli, a female who seemed extremely quiet and intense, claimed to be from Nerri's cell of the resistance, here under his orders. She'd been trying to get information on his whereabouts, how he was, any news on him, desperate for anything that would reunite her with him, but they avoided the questions, deflecting them with ease. Instead, they told her what they knew about her visions.

"Yes. One of our comrades started seeing flashes of the future about two cycles ago. At first, we thought she had been imagining it, but after a while, it became obvious that she really was seeing what was yet to be."

"Well, how... what caused it?"

"We don't know. We were passing through some sort of ion storm, she was struck by some kind of energy. We thought she was a gonner. But she just got up and carried on as normal. About a weeken later, she started... seeing things, hearing them, and then we realised that something must have happened to her, to cause her to see the future. It even saved our butts on a couple of occasions."

"Where is she? Can I meet her?" Chiana moved around the counter, towards Farris. The two visitors looked at each other, then back at Chiana.

"We don't know. Several of our cell were on the planet. Ferra..." He looked down, "We lost contact with her. Two solar days ago." He looked back at Chiana. "We think the Establishment got her. They've been pretty keen on capturing her. An agent on the inside told us... He said they know about her powers, that they've been looking for others with the same ability."

"Woah, hold on a minute here." Crichton stood up from his seat near the wall, Winona still in his hand. "You're saying that the Establishment are huntin' down anyone with this ability?"

Farris nodded.

Chiana tensed visibly. "Do they... do they know about me?"

"We think so. They seem to be following your movements closely."

"Wait," Rygel said, floating on his Thronesled at table-height, his self-importance making him seem even higher. "What makes you think we're in any position to help you?"

"Your exploits are becoming legendary. Your names are known throughout the uncharted territories. You took down a Shadow Depository and a full Command Carrier! There're only four of us here, including Ferra and our operative. Only two who can fight. We need firepower, and yours is among the best."

"What's in it for... OW! What was that for you frelling tralk?" Rygel exclaimed. Chiana pulled her hand away from his ear.

"We'll do it." She said.

Crichton sighed and sat down. "And here we go again. Can we have just one week without a fight?"

Half an arn later, Crichton moved towards Scorpius' quarters. Rounding the doorway, he paused, his first instinct, as ever on seeing the Scarren-Sebacean half-breed was to go for his gun. The object of his nightmares was sitting near a table, talking with Sikozu. Crichton stuck his head into the room, making his presence known..

"Sputnik. You're needed in the transport hanger. Cap'n D'Argo's got a job for you on the planet." She got up, giving Scorpius one final look "Are you certain that the coolant rods are sufficient?"

"Yes." Scorpius gave her a slight smile. "This new mixture seems to be more efficient. I will be fine."

As Sikozu left the room, Crichton moved towards Scorpius, keeping the table between them.

"Scorp, I'm gonna need you to stay up here while we do this."

"But John. I'm here to safeguard you. If you're going..."

"No. Stay. Here." Crichton went to leave the room, but turned around at the door. "And what did I tell you about calling me John?"

"Chiana! You are not going and that's final!" D'Argo said "We can't risk them capturing you too!"

"D'Argo, you can't stop me! I need to help!" She had a pleading look on her face, as she ran sideways, looking at D'Argo while still keeping up with him.

"No!" They reached the mantainance bay.D'Argo moved towards his ship. Crichton, Aeryn and Sikozu were all inside already, waiting for him.

"D'Argo...please!" The look on her face was enough to melt anyone's heart. Apart, it seemed, from that of one stubborn Luxan.

"No! That's FINAL Chiana." He turned quickly, Qualtha Blade in hand, and stalked up the ramp into the ship. A few moments later, she heard the ship's powerplant whining as it warmed up.

Chiana watched Lo'La depart, the slightly insectoid ship suddenly looking graceful as it's wings unfolded. Her anger rose in her chest, until she thought she'd burst from it. Frell him anyway! She could take care of herself. She had before.

"Pilot," She said, "Get a transport pod ready. I'm going down there."

"But Chiana," the voice from her Comms replied, "Ka D'Argo said..."

"I don't care what he said, Pilot. Just do it!"

"I can't! Not without his..."

"Pilot," She said, in a low voice, "I don't know if you have mivonks or not, but if you don't get a transport ready and let me go, I'm going to make frelling sure you don't!"

Pilot sighed. An angry, murderous Luxan, or an angry, viscious Nebari. Not much of a choice. He set the DRDs to working on a transport pod...

Crichton rounded the corner. The low, sandy warehouse, about the size of a small apartment block, that the apparent "informant" had claimed Ferra was being held in lay in front of him. 3 Guards. No, 4, one patrolling the perimeter. No Nebari among them, though. Sighing, he started to turn around, reaching for his Comms to tell the others what his recon had revealed. He froze as he felt the cold metal of a gun at the base of his skull, his heart suddenly beating twice as fast.

"Don't move." a voice said behind him, the menace not even an undertone.

"Make that five..." Crichton said, under his breath. Why did he alway have to volunteer...?

"They've got him! Sikozu called from her vantage point on a nearby rooftop, her uncanny abilty to shift her centre of gravity giving her a perch which anyone else would slip from in an instant.

D'Argo let loose a Luxan curse. There went their element of surprise. "Sikozu, do you think you can get to that building unnoticed?"

"Maybe. Crichton's capture seems to have distracted them. I think I could get to the roof. But we can't do anything. They're too heavily armed. If we try to attack, we'll be killed."

"Do it. We're not leaving him."

"But..."

"Do it!"

Sikozu sighed and moved off, towards the large, flat roof of the warehouse.

Ferra awoke once again, her head, neck, back, arms and pretty much every other part of her body aching. She didn't remember much of what happened before she passed out, only blinding, sickening pain, pain travelling through her head, her eyes. Making it seem as if her brain was on fire. She would have told them anything, anything to get them to stop, to end the feeling that every cell in her body was being hammered with ice-cold picks, her heart being squeezed and her brain bubbling and boiling like a stew in a pot. She was afraid of what she might do, what she might say if it happened again. She was afraid of what she might have already done or said. The odd thing was... she didn't remember being asked any questions. Just the cruel, cold laughter of her captor. No, not cold. She seemed to have been enjoying it.

Looking up, she saw the reason for her rude awakening. A sebacean male, tied against one of the four pillars, side towards her. He was yelling at the top of his voice, his words echoing in the huge space.

"Hey! Hey! Guys? You know, this has all been a big misunderstanding! I was just looking for the bathroom and I got turned around! Hey!" He stopped, apparently to catch his breath, letting his head drop.

"Wh...Who are you?" Ferra asked, timerously.

"Hey, you're awake back there?" He looked up, turning his head around to try to see the source of the voice. "Thank god! My name's John Crichton, I'm here to rescue you." He looked at her awkwardly, his head turned as far to the left as it would go, a wry grin on his face. "Well, that was the plan, anyway. Don't worry, this happens a lot. My friends'll be here soon. Probably."

Ferra, for some reason, didn't find this comforting at all. She leaned her head back against the headrest, trying to think of anything besides the pain.

Sikozu moved over the rooftop of the warehouse where Crichton had been taken prisoner. She wasn't sure how she'd let those crazy fools talk her into scouting the building out, but it seemed she was stuck. As always the sensible course of action, to accept the casualties and retreat, was ignored. She shook her head. They were all crazy. How they'd evaded the Peacekeepers for three cycles was beyond her. Well, she was stuck, until she found a better prospect anyway.

Looking around, she saw a skylight. Moving towards it she looked down into the dark space below. A chair was directly beneath her, in the middle of the pool of light provided by the skylight. A white-haired figure, the Nebari girl, was sitting in it. She couldn't see Crichton in her small field of view, but Ferra seemed to be looking at something, talking excitedly to someone in the deep shadows off to the sides. It didn't look like an interrogation. Realising that she wouldn't learn any more here, she moved to the edge of the roof, examining the guards, studying their movements. As she moved across, she failed to see the streak of a transport pod coming in to land...